Note: LeslieM, hug your mama for me. :D Take care out there in the big world tonight, all.
-0-And now, back to the madness
The Diego Diaries: Game Day 4
=0=The Game
They would talk about it for vorns, the day that Kaon's yellow and black Cavalier got the ball from Vos. The number of times mechs had been able to do that on the toss could be counted on one ped. It was mathematically constructed to disallow the side that won the last tosser to get the following one.
It happened this time.
It was so fast, so comical, so SLAGGING AWESOME that some of the crowd didn't see it for a moment.
"What the frag is that fragger doing, Thundercracker?" Starscream said leaning forward as if that would allow him to peer more closely into the slagging sporting miracle happening before him. He had Pip in his lap, the tiny hatchling chewing on the pole that held his ada's Vos banner. Pip didn't care. He was content. His ada and the rest of his family however were puzzling for a moment, then it came to them.
A Kaon slagger had stolen the toss.
WTF?! -every Seeker in the stadium and all the other folks from Vos
On the pitch, Vos stood waiting for the moment to spring and flatten everything within the reach of their brawny arms. They stood, then peered over their shoulders as two big slaggers ran full bore for the goalie like two out of control bottle rockets looking to slam into some hapless doofus' crotch on a drunken Fourth of July.
Or Boxing Day.
Or Chinese New Year.
Or end of 'you name it' event.
Like that.
WTF?! -Vos Avengers offensive line feeling the offense
An entire army of Vos Avengers turned on the steam and began to converge on the two slaggers slowing down as they approached the goalie. That poor sod was stunting all over the place holding up his arms, dancing back and forth in front of the two Kaon forwards like a June bug on a barbecue grill. "HELP ME, YOU SLAGGERS!" he yelled over the suddenly rising roar of the crowd.
The SLAGGERS *were* trying, Primus give them that. They were thundering toward the two Kaon forwards like fifteen tons of shale sliding down a mountainside in a winter rain. They ran like someone wanted to beat them with their own fan belts, which their coaches probably would at halftime. They ran like a fat kid going for the last doughnut on the plate.
But it was for not.
Dancing on his peds looking SLAGGING beautiful without even knowing it, Sunstreaker passed the ball backwards BEHIND HIS SLAGGING BACK to his brother who caught it on a SEVENTY DEGREE ANGLE. Sideswipe turning again on a FIFTY DEGREE INCLINE passed it backwards to his brother, the ball flying off his servo at an impossible angle and speed as he faked the goalie out. Sunstreaker caught it and jumped, a beautiful long powerful jump, shooting it like Michael Jordan through the hoop to score.
Only then did the Vos cavalry arrive.
They stood together, the two, tall, beautiful, calmly pleased as if this were a battlefield and they had slain the last Decepticon with their RIGHTEOUS FURY. Then they turned and walked side by side to the other end of the field where the rest of their team was standing in the same place they had when they lined up for the toss. It was beautiful. It was amazing.
It was glorious.
-0-In the booth
"I am still tryin' to figure out how Sunstreaker did that, Blaster," Jazz said shaking his helm. In the broadcast, they were seen as the sportscaster and color mech to all the watchers and listeners everywhere on two planets the same as any Earth sporting broadcast. The humans would get their turn after the game. The deal with MCA and IntraComm was that Jazz and Blaster would run the game teaching human viewers as they did about what they saw and the whys.
Like now.
They replayed the tape and slowed it a little. It was easy to see then what Sunstreaker had done. The toss was made and the ref jumped back. Sunstreaker exploded off his peds at the moment the ball left the ref's servo. Up and up he went, his arms and legs kicking like he was swimming as he actually propelled over the Vos line snagging the ball as he did. He had flipped over behind his counterpart and began to fly like the win, his skates giving him the advantage. As he did all of this Sideswipe had leaped into the air jumping over the top of the line himself. They were on the ground and within scoring range before the mechs on both sides even knew the ball was gone.
Blaster blinked. "Let's see that again."
*Ball was tossed.
*Yellow and black bot leaps and begins to swim through the air.
*Yellow and black bot grabs ball and flips over the top of his counterpart
*Yellow and black bot lands on his peds and skates off
*Red and black bot does the same thing sans ball
*Both skate and sucker goalie out of his spark plugs
*Yellow and black bot scores
*Both stand godlike, like metallic Hercules', then walk back proudly
*But modestly.
*For them.
"Well, that explains things. I think," Blaster said with a chuckle. "I have done a lot of games both here and on Cybertron but I've never seen anyone steal the other team's toss. They don't throw the toss so that the other team can steal it, Jazz."
"I know. Sunny was swimmin' in the air. I think I need a drop cloth," he said with a laugh.
Blaster and Revet roared. 'Vette smiled around his cookie.
-0-Johnson Space Center
"I think I need one too." -Lola and Cindy Teasdale
/... you and me too, sister …/ -Louis from Flight Control
-0-In a California bar
"What just happened? Did that fragger SWIM IN THE AIR?! Can they do that?" -man A, B, C
Bartender looks at them and shakes head. /...Of course they can swim in the air. They're machines, right? Right?../ Pauses for a moment, then smiles. /... I'm way too sober for this.../
-0-At a nice house
"WOW! THAT WAS AWESOME!"
Everyone turns and smiles at Pastor Bob who is standing with his mouth hanging open. They grin at each other.
"That's right, son," Mama Annie said nodding. "It is awesome."
-0-Cucamonga
"What the hell? That was great. I think I just lost large on Vos."
"I told you but you wouldn't listen."
Loser rolls eyes and settles back with his pie and Jack Daniels. Winner plots a down payment on a Lamborghini. Its the least he can do.
-0-At the game
They walked to the sideline like the demigods that they were.
In the mind of those who bet on Kaon.
To Vos fans, they would need to acquire horns and a tail to match what they felt for both.
They were engulfed by their teammates. Their coach when he stopped dancing and waggling his aft at the coaches of Vos would hug them too.
Everyone lined up again.
In the stands, Ratchet began once more to explain what Sunstreaker did to Sunspot who missed the nuances, the actions were so fast. The replays on the monitors at both ends showing the play and Jazz and Blaster explaining it helped.
Prowl stood with a slight frown marring the perfection of his smooth white brow. This wasn't a good sign. He figured Kaon would be the opponent but this was scary. This had to have countermeasures. He would have to go and personally give the halftime speech to the team on that fabled orn.
Or something.
Ratchet who was watching him out of the corner of his optics grinned. All was good in his world. Maybe if Kaon and Praxus slagged each other hard enough his beloved Iacon would win by default. He had no pride. He would take it whichever way he could.
He never pretended to be a loyal ada. Not on the important things.
Mostly.
He grinned and the game began again.
-0-On the line
They faced each other, the Vos and Kaon teams. Vos was pissed.
"You slagger. You think that's funny."
The Kaon center, Hugo-not grinned. "Faked you out. Suck it up and bring your 'A' game. We did."
The Vos center looked down the line at his teammates. "Bring the slagging 'A' game he says."
They snorted, real smoke exiting their sinus passages and looked at the Kaon team with homicidal passion. "'A' game. You want the 'A' game?" they grumbled. "We'll bring you the slagging 'A' game."
A whistle broke up the moment and they all turned to a peeved ref. "If you ladies are through?"
Both teams glared at him and got set. This time the Vos center would get the ball. He would also be buried under eighteen tons of mechs from Kaon who dropped in -literally- to say hi.
The scrum was on as they punched and grabbed, all of them getting to their peds again to move like a massive turtle here and there around the field. They leaned forward on both sides each locking arms to push their team toward the goalies who could have taken up knitting so hopelessly deadlocked was the moment. Bracket glanced down field and spotted his counterpart, his angst and fury leaching off him like a leaching thing.
Been there, done that. Slagger.
Bracket hunkered down on the off chance that the ball would manage to make its way out of the pile of welds that made up the teams of Vos and Kaon.
It would take a while.
-0-In the stands
"Can I look now?"
"No, Only One," Payload said as he sat with Caro.
"You will tell me won't you?" His bond, a well raised and genuinely sweet office supervisor who managed the off world business, legal and patent matters of their planet cringed at the pile up.
Payload smiled and looked fondly at his onliest Only One sitting with his servos over his optics. "I will."
"Good. Is Mars okay?" Caro asked.
"He's asleep in my hold."
"Good. This might be too intense for him, Payload."
"I see your point," Payload said with a grin.
Nearby sitting together, Silverclaw, the trine, Red Cloud and his family including his ward, Aurora watched with a dawning realization that their city and city-state was going to get slagged to the Pit.
Probably.
Starscream futzed and fritzed. "This is the Pit. Who said that groundling slagger could fly like that? Who gave him permission to SWIM over our team?"
Thundercracker who barely contained his mirth shook his helm. "No one, Star," he said with as much sympathy as he could manage.
Silverclaw who sat with his many sons and grandsons smirked. "This is a debacle I will tell you but that pair, those twins have bearings."
"They are mad," Starscream said shaking his helm. "I don't have many older memories, Elder, but I do have their faces leering into my cockpit, the slaggers."
So it would go for the duration of the game to everyone but Starscream's great amusement.
In a corner of the stadium where the stature challenged seemed to congregate for games, Leader-1, his wondrous bond, Lumi and their wards, Mudflap and Skids watched with a large group of micro-mini and mini-cons including Bumblebee and his very tall enraptured pre-bond, First Aide.
"This is exciting," Mudflap said to Lumi.
Lumi grinned and patted his arm. "It is. Maybe one day we can have mini-con adult teams. Maybe you two can play."
"That would be wonderful," Skids said with a nod. "Don't you think so, Mudflap?"
That bot nodded. Leader-1 grinned. Lumi grinned. They were comical when they didn't try hard to learn and show their good manners and sociability. But they were progressing and learning a trade which made both of them very happy. When they graduated their first levels in the construction program they were working, a party would be had by all. The twins would be overwhelmed. It would be the first time in their lives anyone cared enough to do that for them.
They would still get plowed though. Some things change, some never change.
-0-On the field
They pushed toward Kaon, that group giving ground grudgingly.
"PUSH THEM! SLAGGERS! MAKE THEM EAT IT!" their center cried out as the group pushed and pushed. Kaon pushed back.
Vos made them eat it pushing harder.
Kaon pushed back.
Vos made them eat it pushing harder.
Then the ball squirted out.
=0=TBC
2012 (12)
I am going to be writing this all night if I can. I think I can. It is my goal right now. :D I want to go out of the third year and start the fourth of this story with a bang. If you are wondering where the New Year thing is, on Mars it will be in two weeks. Their calendar is askew because of the length of days and years. Right now, the party is on Diego. Unfortunately, no one is there. LOL!
I wish a beautiful and flawlessly happy year for all of you. Equine Colleges, hospital bound readers, soldiers, college students, parents, working people and all, you are dear to me. It is my privilege to share the madness with you who live on every continent and in fabled lands I only see in documentaries on the boob tube. There is so much story to write and then the sequel is making me already take notes that this is probably not the last Autobot City Adult Football League championship run up that there will be.
I want to give readers a world to inhabit for a while where there are laughs, love and good cheer. I like to think that hope is possible for all of us. In the world of Diego Garcia, that is something that they work for everyday. Thank you for the great cheer of your company. Happy New Year, my dear friends.
The management and Pip. (my dog) :D