The Diego Diaries: Football 3 (564) edited
-0-In the riot
Blurr grabbed his codpiece, whistled loudly in the rudest fashion, then limped toward the bench. That was when the mob came over the wall. An entire forward section of the fans began to climb over the wall. The two Day Watch officers turned around just in time to be buried under a churning mass of angry individuals who decided to add some color of their own to the moment.
Cybertronian football was nothing if not interactive.
They raised up their arms in self defense, then disappeared. Like an over boiling pot on a stove, the mass churned downward, then forward heading toward the bench and Blurr whose actions had been caught on several cameras and in true Cybertronian fashion broadcast all over the hell and gone.
-0-The sportscasters on Earth
"Oh shit. Look at that." -Tom, unaware that his mike was live
"Yeah. I would pay a year's salary to be at that game. Fuck Costas, Olbermann and the others." -Bob Osborn unaware that his mike was live too.
Neither would be fired since they were expressing the sentiments of seven billion people at the time.
-0-Sports bar in Cally
"WHAT THE FUCK!? I WANT TO BE THERE! NOW!" -man B
"I WANT TO WIN MY BET! DAMN IT!" -man A
"YOU ARE AN IDIOT!" -man C to man B
-0-Nice house, nicer people
"Oh, Grandpa. I want to be there." -Little Pastor Bob
"Keep wishing, grandson. You never know." -Grandpa Leonard glancing at Grandma Annie who grinned back.
-0-Springer
He stood at the entrance of the tunnel that led to the lockers from the field. That is, he was on the opposite side of the fracas. "OH SLAG!" he said. Sprinting across the field with a speed that always startled humans, he leaped, then landed in the middle of the mess. Living up to his name, he gripped a mech with both servos lifting them off the ground. Cracking them together, he dropped them. Moving forward, he repeated that effort two more times.
Wash, rinse, repeat.
After a moment with six dizzy mechs staggering around, Springer reached the two buried Watchmen. Several other Watch mechs from around that side of the stadium reached them too.
"That was fast. Now you know why they call him Springer. He can jump from the ground to the top of a three story buildin' without breakin' a sweat. He is a triple changer. That is, he has three different modes to change to rather than one like the rest of us. He is also among the few Autobots that have a flight mode. Springer is goin' to slag them all to the Pit before this is over. He's still smartin' from the mini-con riot in the last game."
"I've been in broadcasting forever, Jazz and I have to tell you, I have never seen a funnier riot in a football game than the mini cons. I still find myself laughing over that one," Blaster said with a chuckle.
"You and half the world, Blaster," Jazz replied. "It looks like Springer has it under control."
Springer organized the mob having seven of the tipsy fans dragged off to temporary detention in the stadium itself. It was a closer lockup and had monitors available in the greater room where their cage was located. Why should the Watch mechs miss the game dragging them to the Courthouse lockup?
As the section settled, the crowd roared its approval. The cameras had lingered on the fracas including the amusing sight of Springer in heated argument with a shorter mechanism. That mechanism was giving him hell about dragging his son off and Springer was leaning down giving it back. Then the older mechanism huffed off back to his seats and his ticked off bond.
Springer turned to walk back to his place across the field and got a mix of catcalls, mad applause, a couple of propositions that could be clearly heard with a Stanix accent, several cups thrown at him, mad laughter and the worshipful congratulations of Lon. Kup was watching along with Old Hercy as he crossed back to where they stood. "That youngling is pretty good."
Hercy nodded. "Springer's got prospects."
Kup grinned.
Springer walked toward them, then turned to stand. "Frag Blurr for starting a riot."
"True that, but sometimes a mech has to be a mech," Hercy said as he stood between them, a much smaller old timey appearing mech with serious internal upgrades and no fear. He looked like Robby the Robot hanging out with serious robots, his format was so (deceptively) simple but he carried in subspace the accumulated wisdom and upgrades of a lifetime of warfare. Anyone who messed with him faced annihilation.
Kup and Springer looked down at the little mech, then grinned. "If you say so, *Dad*," Springer said.
"I do," Hercy said with the sure knowledge that he was afraid of nothing.
That was why he was a legend. That is why the other mechs gave ground and props to him. He was that side of the awesome scale.
The game began to reorganize.
Kaon and Praxus lined up again, the ginormous mechs of the other side bereft of their (not so) secret weapon. They both hunkered down. The ball was snapped and passed off to a fast mechanism who was to Blurr what skateboards were to supersonic jets. Fast but nothing more. He took the pass back and ran to the right, then the left, then backwards, then to the side, then pivoted to the other side, then ran back to the middle before getting flattened. He was right back where they started from but the scrum was on.
Mechs piled up, some of them getting to their feet as the 'turtle' formed. It began to go back and forth as they powered in to gain ground. Fists flew underneath but the ball carrier was surrounded by enormous mechs taking the pounding for him as they pressed forward toward the goal.
Bracket watched them intently, his body the last line of defense for his side. He was an extraordinary goalie who had been asked to join Praxus. He had demurred and joined Kaon instead. Kaon was his hometown and he could never play for any team but his own. He set himself bracing for anything. Then he waited.
The sheer bulk of the Praxian team pushed forward, the melee growing as they went. From the sidelines one could get a great view of the fight beneath the hard shell of the turtle. They were disturbingly hard and merciless but the relentlessness of their determination could not be denied.
-0-In the stands
"Wow. That looks like it hurts," Tress said as he sat next to his son. Smokey was there with his genitors and grandgenitors watching as the game slagged on. Hot Rod was doing security duty and therefore the 'hanging out' planned by both was on hold.
"It's supposed to, Ada," Smokey said as he watched the melee heat up even more. "They're going to expand the league to twelve teams for next season. I'm going to play."
"NO YOU'RE NOT!" -Moda and Tress
Smokescreen and Devcon just grinned.
Smokey on the other servo sighed.
-0-Nearby
"GRANDATAR! I LOVE THIS GAME! WHEN ARE SUNSTREAKER AND SIDESWIPE GOING TO PLAY?" Sunspot asked excitedly as he sat in his grandatar's arms.
"They will when the offense for Kaon begins," Tie Down said with a grin. He held Sunspot up so he could see. They were in a tight group two sections down from their usual place for security. No one was going to get the intel about the families of senior Autobots if they could prevent it. Even if someone mentioned it accidentally on the feed, it would be censored before 'leaked'.
"I CAN'T WAIT! IT WILL BE SO GREAT! SUNSTREAKER AND SIDESWIPE WILL WIN THIS GAME! KAON IS GOING TO BE CHAMPIONS! I KNOW THIS TO BE TRUE! THIS GAME IS SO FUN!" Sunspot said with a giant smile.
Kestrel watched the little Seeker with a grin of his own. He was holding T-Bar as Tagg stood with Spirit. All of the infants were gathered together in the safety of the family, sheltered from the enemy sitting nearby. None of the three visitors would find out about their existence this go around.
Down the rows all around this stadium, the one next door and at the set aside place outside of Terra, families, individuals, all manner of Cybertronians enjoyed themselves. The giants stood staring over the high walls of the stadium watching the game together, laughing and pointing to the play down below. The mood was ecstatic.
Cyclonus who sat watching the game was having the same feelings as the other two beside him. He felt homesickness for his planet overtaking him filling him with a melancholy that he usually could contain. Not today. Even as he enjoyed this game surrounded by his own kind, he felt sadness in his spark.
Slacker on the other hand was enjoying himself, yelling and clapping, watching the game with as much enthusiasm as anyone else. Paragon who sat next to him was more reserved but no less enthusiastic. He just kept 99% of it inside. Soundwave was Soundwave. Silent, watchful, internal.
-0-In the scrum
"FRAGGER! YOU STEPPED ON MY SERVO!"
"FRAG YOU! EAT IT!"
"GET HIM! KILL HIM! GRIND HIM INTO DUST! FRAG! YOU PUNCHED MY COD PIECE!"
"SORRY! NO I'M NOT! LET GO OF MY FACE!"
And so it went.
-0-Bar in Cally
"GET THEM! KILL THEM! GRIND THEM INTO DUST!"
-0-Diego Garcia Rec Room
"That is scary."
"It is."
"They are bad ass."
"They are."
"How much do you have on Kaon?"
"Two shift details and fifty bucks."
"Oh."
"You?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?"
Nods. "I want them both to win."
"I hear ya."
-0-On the field
The scrum continued ever onward toward Bracket who was now fronted by the two defensive backs who had crawled out of the scrum, over the backs of the turtle and off to their end field. They set themselves for the inevitable clash that was slowly inching their way. As they did they watched as two bots popped up standing in the middle of the mass. They began to swing on each other, their fists landing hard as they battled pinioned in the middle of the turtle.
-0-Nice house, nicer family
"Wow, Grandma. Is that legal?" Little Pastor Bob asked.
"There are no flags or calls, grandson, so it must be," Grandma Annie said with a grin. "Rather exciting isn't it."
Everyone turned to look at her, then the television, then her. Then they grinned and nodded.
-0-On the field
The mech with the ball found daylight, then crept out of the scrum. He moved away as nonchalant as he could, then began to run like the wind. The scrum continued, then it paused. Everyone at once stood up and looked around frantically. They all turned toward the Kaon side, then as one ran like a herd of buffalo if said buffalo were driving any number of buff trucks and off road vehicles. The screaming was nearly at lethal levels.
The tremors of their pedfalls could be felt by the humans as they stood screaming on the sidelines for a defense from Kaon. Praxus had the ball and the others began to run like the wind to support their player. The humans who were mostly rooting for Kaon because of the twins and Bluestreak … and Ratchet and a bunch of micro-mini-cons from Kaon who were interfaces for the big bots to the humans at the NEST HQ … those individuals ... screamed for defense too. Prime himself had no outward preference although inside he did. /... GO! GO! GO!GO!GO!.../
He had to live with Prowl.
"WHAT THE FRAG! GET HIM! GET HIS SORRY AFT! MAKE HIM EAT THAT BALL!" Ratchet said as he jumped up and down. He turned and punched Paragon in the gut. Then he turned and began to scream once again.
Paragon who doubled over, then stood up, considered returning the favor but he didn't. He had been to football games before. Getting slagged in the stands was part of the experience. He stood rubbing his gut while sending vibes to Praxus. Obviously, Ratchet wanted the other team to win. Frag Ratchet he thought. Soundwave smirked slightly. Ratchet actually went up a notch in his book.
The player ran on with teammates forming up around him, most of them dragging a Kaon player behind them. They were slowed but they were seriously determined to not be denied.
The Kaon and Praxus benches were on their peds screaming like banshees. Sideswipe and Topsy held Sunstreaker by the peds as he clawed his way toward the field screaming every swear word he knew from nine million years of slumming everywhere with everyone. Clawing the ground as he struggled to join the team on the field, he slowly moved down field dragging two mechs behind him.
-0-At the point of no return
The wing flamed in heading toward Bracket and his backs. He had the ball in his grasp and the hopes of all Praxians everywhere from all times and places holding their breath. (If they could breath they would have. Consider it metaphorical or something. Like that.)
He paused, then passed the ball. A big mech caught it and charged into a back sending him tea kettle over aft. Passing it back, he charged Bracket with his fist cocked back. A whistle blew and everyone froze. Turning, staring at the ref who thought rushing a goalie with a cocked fist was a bad idea, they turned and began to chase the ref's aft. The ball handler watched with disbelief as half of Praxus's team began to chase a ref who ran like the wind toward Springer and Drift on the sideline. The ref leaped into the air, then passed the two just as half of the Praxus team did likewise.
The collision was spectacular.
-0-TBC December 25, 2013
NOTE: I think FF was down half the day. I will try and post more. Huggies, everyone. -me