Chapter 3

Balancing on the tips of her feet, Skywarp reached up to push the bucket into place above the door. She didn't care who walked in after she had made a hasty retreat, but she knew that they were going to look lovely in such a brilliant shade of orange.

"You know that everyone is aware that you are the only one who does juvenile pranks like this," Thundercracker commented from where he was leaning against the wall watching. "Megatron and Soundwave will be after you in less than a breem."

"Let them," Skywarp replied as she backed away slowly, holding her hands up to tell the bucket not to fall yet. "It boosts morale and I've never been in the brig for longer than a joor. We all know that Megatron doesn't like to punish me for making everyone laugh."

Thundercracker let out a soft sigh before he stood up straight and started off down the hallway. "Get moving then."

Snickering, Skywarp followed him, skipping along until they turned the corner. Right on cue, a loud crash echoed after them and was quickly followed by a furious bellow. Skywarp let out a loud cackle of glee before she rushed down the hallway before the victim could figure out where she was.

"I got Onslaught!" she howled in delight. "Oh, I can't wait to see the video replay!"

Thundercracker hurried behind her, grabbing her wing and dragging her into a room. He covered her mouth to keep her silent, making her listen as thunderous footsteps charged past their hiding place. Onslaught sounded furious at the prospect of being orange. Grinning devilishly, Skywarp wiggled out of Thundercracker's grip and rubbed her hands in glee.

"This is perfect," she snickered. "Swindle will make a bit of credits from his darling older brother, don't you think?"

"Why would you care about Swindle?" Thundercracker huffed as he shook his head. "Unless you bought the paint off of Swindle and…you two are horrible, did you know that?"

"We're Decepticons," Skywarp replied in mock offense. "That is what we do!"

"Turn on your fellow Con for your amusement?"

"No, ensure that the other profits from our machinations," Skywarp preened.

Thundercracker gave her an odd look, blinking a few times before he reached out and poked her head at an alarmingly fast pace. "Did you get a momentary processor alignment?" he demanded. "You just used a word that should not be in your vocabulary, Skywarp. You are not a smart mech, Sky."

Backpedaling quickly, Skywarp huffed. "I heard Starscream say it; it sounded smartical," she whined before crossing her arms over her chest. "Stop stealing my thunder."

Relaxing a little, Thundercracker shook his head. "Come on, we should head out for patrols before Megatron finds us."

Barely holding in her sigh of relief, Skywarp followed Thundercracker. She had not even thought that using the word "machinations" would not be something "Skywarp the Decepticon Seeker" would say. Frag, no one else seemed to notice when she had little slip-ups like that, but Thundercracker always seemed ready to turn and poke at her for speaking so strangely. But, what else were friends supposed to do?

Megatron was waiting for them when they returned from patrol. His optics were darker than normal, but his stance was relaxed and Skywarp thought one hip was higher than the other as he stood on the landing pad. They were in trouble, but she was not about to get her wings ripped off.

"Skywarp," he growled as she landed in front of him and knelt at his feet, "I received several reports about you painting Onslaught a rather vulgar shade of orange. Care to explain?"

"It was a prank, sir," Skywarp replied as sweetly as she could, making sure to not giggle at the idea of Onslaught stomping around in bright orange paint. "Not anything more."

"I see," Megatron said around a rather deep revving of his engine. "Regardless of how amusing such a thing is, I expect you to report to the brig for your joor of punishment. That goes for you too, Thundercracker."

Thundercracker jumped in shock beside her, his wings flaring indignantly. "But, sir!"

"Enough," Megatron growled, his gaze alone making Thundercracker flatten himself to the ground to stop any wrath from falling on his head. "You know your friend well enough, Thundercracker, and should have been able to restrain him."

"I understand, sir," Thundercracker grumbled.

As they stood up and moved past Megatron, Thundercracker gave her a glare and a rough push down the hallway. "Thanks a lot, Sky," he grumbled.

"Sorry," Skywarp laughed as she headed for the brig. "But at least we can be together."

"I should tie your wings together and roll you down the hallway," Thundercracker grumbled.

"But you wouldn't because you know I'd get even in the most evil way possible," Skywarp grinned as she moved down into the brig. "Who's in charge of brigtime today?"

Soundwave looked over at her and it took every nerve cluster in her chassis not to run screaming through the base. Instead, she hid behind Thundercracker and pushed him forward.

"Oh dear sweet, ever-loving Primus!" she wailed in mock terror. "Take him first! He's more fun to poke!"

Soundwave just kept his face towards her. It was hard to tell if he was confused or annoyed, but Thundercracker easily tossed her over his shoulder and walked towards one of the cells.

"Open that one up, would you, Soundwave?" he asked before dropping Skywarp unceremoniously on her aft. "He needs a time out."

Staring at Thundercracker in horror, Skywarp started quivering her lip. "T-thundercracker," she whined.

"Don't even start with me," he huffed before he stepped into his own cell and laid down on the berth. "Just sit it out like a good mech and try not to annoy Soundwave into electrocuting you."

Skywarp vented a huge sigh as if it was a huge effort on her part and slunk all the way over to the berth. Rolling over so that her back was towards the glowing bars of the cell, she let a huge smirk cross her face. Thundercracker was sooooooo getting it later.