"Roll over, Bob! Come on!" Sunstreaker said, trying to teach his Insecticon, Bob, some tricks.
Bob just snorted and continued to lay on his stomach, eyeing Sunstreaker with disinterest.
"You still trying to train that bug?" Sideswipe laughed, walking into the rec room.
Sunstreaker glared at his twin. "It's a lot easier than it would be to train you to do anything useful!"
Sideswipe just snorted and took an energon cube before planting himself on the couch to watch his brother work with the Insecticon. Sunstreaker had had Bob since they were younglings, and not once had Sunny been able to teach the Insecticon any tricks.
Sunstreaker stood. "Bob, stay". He then walked off a few steps, and Bob made no effort to follow.
"See! He did it!" Sunny said triumphantly.
"That's not a trick!" Sideswipe said. "He does that all the time!"
Sunstreaker crossed his arms and watched his pet rest his head on his front legs and start falling asleep. Maybe this wasn't going to be as easy as he had thought.
Prowl walked into the rec room with his pet flyt, Green, perched on his shoulders. "What are you two doing?" he asked.
"I'm just watching Sunny and his wonder pet". Sideswipe said, taking a swig of energon.
Green flew from Prowl's shoulder and perched herself on Bob's back, the Insecticon not even flinching.
"Maybe Green can teach him some tricks". Sideswipe quipped. "Then again, I just don't think Bob has any kind of talent".
"Bob can do a lot of stuff!" Sunstreaker said, defending his pet. "He just doesn't feel like doing anything right now!"
Sideswipe snorted. "When does he ever feel like doing anything besides sleeping and drooling? Look at Green, she can tell when Cons are in the area and she'll let you know! She's a great scout, you couldn't get Bob to do something like that".
"It took a long time to train Green". Prowl said. He gave a low whistle and the flyt obediently flew onto Prowl's outstretched arm.
Sunstreaker rolled his eyes. "So she's a guard flyt, big deal. She hasn't got much personality, you never see her do any tricks just for fun".
"Green can do other things besides scouting". Prowl said.
"So do you think Green could actually beat Bob at doing tricks?" Sunstreaker asked.
"I didn't say that, and I think you're just getting frustrated you can't teach Bob anything".
"I've taught Bob tricks! Tell you what, how about a little contest? We'll just see which one of them is the more talented pet!"
"Sunstreaker, competitions like that are petty and do nothing but cause everyone involved to get worked up over nothing". Prowl sighed. "Besides, Green would win so why bother having a contest?"
"Oh, you think Green is better than Bob, huh?"
"I didn't mean it like that", Prowl said quickly. "It's just that -"
"Nevermind!" Sunstreaker said. "Pet contest, tomorrow afternoon!" with a grunt, Sunny picked up Bob and walked out of the rec room.
"My money's on Green". Sideswipe told Prowl, scratching the flyt on her head.
The next day, Sunstreaker walked into the rec room, where Prowl and Green were waiting. Sideswipe and Bumblebee were sitting on the couch, waiting for the 'competition' to start.
Prowl looked bored as he watched Sunstreaker sit Bob down on the floor. He obviously thought this was a ridiculous waste of time, but not being the type to back down from a challenge, had shown up anyway.
"Okay, we'll start off with something simple, to get warmed up", Sunstreaker said. He turned his attention to Bob. "Bob, speak!"
Bob sat up on his hind legs and gave a grunt.
"Good boy!" Sunstreaker said, tossing a scraplet egg to the Insecticon. Sideswipe yawned.
Prowl made a gesture with his hand and Green gave a loud chirp, earning a piece of skitter.
"Okay, now we start doing some real tricks". Sunny said. He placed a rust stick on Bob's nose. "Okay Bob, keep that balanced!"
Bob sat very still.
"Ugh, this is so boring!" Sideswipe groaned.
"Okay, Bob, you can eat it now".
Bob continued to sit very still.
Sunstreaker took the rust stick and handed it to Bob, who eagerly munched on it. Sideswipe gave a slow, sarcastic clap.
"Green, catch". Prowl tossed a piece of skitter high into the air, and Green flew up and caught it, then settled herself on the perch in the corner to enjoy her treat.
Sunstreaker rolled his eyes.
"How did you teach her to do that stuff?" Bumblebee asked.
"Clicker training". Prowl replied. He turned to Sunstreaker. "It might work with Bob".
Sunstreaker scowled.
Half an hour later, Bumblebee and Sideswipe were becoming a little bored. Bob and Green had been doing one basic trick after another, and neither of them had disobeyed any command. So far, the two pets seemed to be tied.
Sunstreaker was now setting up a ramp, then he left the room and returned with Afterburner.
"You sure about this?" Afterburner asked, sounding none too thrilled.
"Just do what I told you to do!" Sunstreaker snapped.
With a sigh, Afterburner transformed into his motorcycle mode. Sunstreaker picked up Bob and placed him on Afterburner's seat, then he entered his vehicle mode and parked in front of the ramp.
"Now!" Sunstreaker ordered.
Afterburner drove a small circle to gain some speed then drove up the ramp, launching himself over Sunstreaker and landing on the other side of the room, Bob still sitting on the seat.
"Top that!" Sunstreaker said, returning to bot mode.
"Bob didn't do anything!" Sideswipe said. "All he did was sit there, Afterburner is the one who did the trick. Which was pretty cool, by the way".
"Thanks". Afterburner said, returning to bot mode and setting Bob down on the floor. Afterburner made a face when he placed a hand on his back, which was covered in drool. "I'm taking a shower", he turned and walked out of the room.
Prowl took two hoops and tossed them into the air, giving a whistle. Green flew up and swooped in and out of the hoops as they twirled in the air. Bumblebee and Sideswipe clapped.
"Cool!" Bumblebee said as Green flew onto Prowl's shoulder and demanded a reward.
"I think they've both had enough work for one day". Prowl said.
"You're just afraid Green can't keep up with Bob!" Sunstreaker said.
"Sunstreaker, you're making too big of a deal out of this!" Prowl said. "You wanted to have a contest, I agreed, and we did it! Insecticons are hard to train".
"Are you implying flyts are better than Insecticons?" Sunstreaker asked.
"Stop putting words in my mouth!" Prowl said, exasperated. "But yes, flyts are easier to train than Insecticons".
While Prowl and Sunstreaker got into a debate about how flyts were better than Insecticons, and vice versa, Sideswipe and Bumblebee stood and walked out of the room.
Bob and Green sat on the floor watching their owners. Green gave a chirp and Bob grunted in answer.
What they were saying about Prowl and Sunstreaker was anyone's guess.