Bouncing Balls 9
Title: Bouncing Balls 9
Rating: G
Characters/Pairings: Swindle and the original Decepticon culprit
Warnings: None
Universe: G1
Disclaimer: I, in no way, shape, or form, own the Transformers© franchise or the characters it contains. They belong to Has/Tak, No infringement intended.
Summary: Epilogue
For Andi, who wanted to know which Decepticon bought the balls from Swindle. Seeing as how I sorta had it in my head all along, I threw this together for you. Hope this works. He proved difficult to write because he covered his tracks so well and was not about to confess. Did you see him as the one?
Epilogue
Swindle sat back in his chair, his feet propped up on the corner of the desk. He gazed thoughtfully at the silver disc his business partner had just given him. He hadn’t been surprised to get the message from Sideswipe and Smokescreen that they wanted to meet. After all, he usually met with each of his Autobot contacts, albeit separately, a couple times a year. He’d known both since before the war. Sideswipe was one of a few Autobots he had done legitimate business with, while he and Smokescreen had done not so legitimate business. War or not, opposite factions or not, you don’t just cut ties with reliable business contacts. What had been a surprise was that upon his showing up, they wanted to sell, not buy. And even more unusual was what they wanted to sell. He’d made them work pretty hard trying to convince him just why he should buy the things. Eventually, he had ‘reluctantly’ agreed to a deal.
Yes, his processor had seen the possibilities amongst the Decepticons prank crowd after Smokescreen and Sideswipe had first called the things prank equipment. He had narrowed his choices down quickly, but as he had been calculating between Frenzy and Skywarp as to which would offer the best profit, he’d realized a third possibility. Not as profitable in the monetary sense, this one could prove profitable in other ways. The Con in question needed to be approached cautiously, but, he had been inconvenienced enough by the prank crowd that he might just prove receptive.
Swindle looked over at his business partner who was currently jacked into the computer display.
“So did this all work out for you?”
--BETTER THAN I HOPED, SINCE COMING OFF PUNISHMENT DETAIL, SOUNDWAVE HAS KEPT THEM TO BUSY TO GET INTO TROUBLE-- was the response that appeared on the screen.
“Hmm, yes I suppose, but I don’t think this is going to curb their behavior.”
--IT WON’T, BUT SEEING THEM CLEANING THE BAYS AND BRIG AGAIN WAS... SATISFACTORY--
“Especially since it wasn’t their fault?”
--IT IS ALWAYS THEIR FAULT... THEY JUST WEREN’T… THE INSTIGATORS THIS TIME--
“And no one suspects it wasn’t them.”
It had not been a question, merely a statement of fact. But Ravage answered anyway. -I AM A SABOTUER, I DON’T LEAVE TRACKS, AND YOU’RE TO SLIPPERY TO GET CAUGHT--
Left unsaid was Ravage’s admission that it had been a good alliance, something he would never admit to anyone, and he was actually impressed that Swindle had dared approach him about it. He’d hesitated initially, and had been ready to pound Swindle, then his stealthy CPU had kicked in. Watching some of the Nemesis’ pranksters, especially his brothers, get blamed and blaming each other had indeed been quite satisfactory. It had worked better than any plan could have, because he'd had no controll over what any of the pranksters would do with the balls after he and Swindle had initially dumped them in Starscream's quarters. Knowing the Air Commander would blame Skywarp and make his trinemates clean the balls up had been the only real sure thing. Skywarp had reacted as anticipated though, going after the twin cassettes. Who in turn had gone after the Seeker. In the end, the only disappointment had been Scrapper’s ‘free pass’ to the Seekers. Oh well.
Swindle held no illusions that the partnership with Ravage was anything other than temporary. As with any business contract, it was good only within the terms of the deal and only as long as the prank lasted. Having been hit by the pranksters himself in the past, the risk of approaching Ravage had panned out. He agreed fully with Ravage, this whole bouncing ball affair had been satisfactory. Swindle turned his attention back to the disc in his hand.
“So you think the Autobots would want a copy of the highlight reel?”
A/N - Thank you to everyone who has read, commented and followed along on this pranks adventure. I find it amazing how this short little drabble one-shot grew to be nine ‘stories’ long. I hope you enjoyed this light hearted look at some of our favorite robots. I know several of you wanted more, but I’m not nearly as creative as the Autobot and Decepticon pranksters are. ;D
Rating: G
Characters/Pairings: Swindle and the original Decepticon culprit
Warnings: None
Universe: G1
Disclaimer: I, in no way, shape, or form, own the Transformers© franchise or the characters it contains. They belong to Has/Tak, No infringement intended.
Summary: Epilogue
For Andi, who wanted to know which Decepticon bought the balls from Swindle. Seeing as how I sorta had it in my head all along, I threw this together for you. Hope this works. He proved difficult to write because he covered his tracks so well and was not about to confess. Did you see him as the one?
Epilogue
Swindle sat back in his chair, his feet propped up on the corner of the desk. He gazed thoughtfully at the silver disc his business partner had just given him. He hadn’t been surprised to get the message from Sideswipe and Smokescreen that they wanted to meet. After all, he usually met with each of his Autobot contacts, albeit separately, a couple times a year. He’d known both since before the war. Sideswipe was one of a few Autobots he had done legitimate business with, while he and Smokescreen had done not so legitimate business. War or not, opposite factions or not, you don’t just cut ties with reliable business contacts. What had been a surprise was that upon his showing up, they wanted to sell, not buy. And even more unusual was what they wanted to sell. He’d made them work pretty hard trying to convince him just why he should buy the things. Eventually, he had ‘reluctantly’ agreed to a deal.
Yes, his processor had seen the possibilities amongst the Decepticons prank crowd after Smokescreen and Sideswipe had first called the things prank equipment. He had narrowed his choices down quickly, but as he had been calculating between Frenzy and Skywarp as to which would offer the best profit, he’d realized a third possibility. Not as profitable in the monetary sense, this one could prove profitable in other ways. The Con in question needed to be approached cautiously, but, he had been inconvenienced enough by the prank crowd that he might just prove receptive.
Swindle looked over at his business partner who was currently jacked into the computer display.
“So did this all work out for you?”
--BETTER THAN I HOPED, SINCE COMING OFF PUNISHMENT DETAIL, SOUNDWAVE HAS KEPT THEM TO BUSY TO GET INTO TROUBLE-- was the response that appeared on the screen.
“Hmm, yes I suppose, but I don’t think this is going to curb their behavior.”
--IT WON’T, BUT SEEING THEM CLEANING THE BAYS AND BRIG AGAIN WAS... SATISFACTORY--
“Especially since it wasn’t their fault?”
--IT IS ALWAYS THEIR FAULT... THEY JUST WEREN’T… THE INSTIGATORS THIS TIME--
“And no one suspects it wasn’t them.”
It had not been a question, merely a statement of fact. But Ravage answered anyway. -I AM A SABOTUER, I DON’T LEAVE TRACKS, AND YOU’RE TO SLIPPERY TO GET CAUGHT--
Left unsaid was Ravage’s admission that it had been a good alliance, something he would never admit to anyone, and he was actually impressed that Swindle had dared approach him about it. He’d hesitated initially, and had been ready to pound Swindle, then his stealthy CPU had kicked in. Watching some of the Nemesis’ pranksters, especially his brothers, get blamed and blaming each other had indeed been quite satisfactory. It had worked better than any plan could have, because he'd had no controll over what any of the pranksters would do with the balls after he and Swindle had initially dumped them in Starscream's quarters. Knowing the Air Commander would blame Skywarp and make his trinemates clean the balls up had been the only real sure thing. Skywarp had reacted as anticipated though, going after the twin cassettes. Who in turn had gone after the Seeker. In the end, the only disappointment had been Scrapper’s ‘free pass’ to the Seekers. Oh well.
Swindle held no illusions that the partnership with Ravage was anything other than temporary. As with any business contract, it was good only within the terms of the deal and only as long as the prank lasted. Having been hit by the pranksters himself in the past, the risk of approaching Ravage had panned out. He agreed fully with Ravage, this whole bouncing ball affair had been satisfactory. Swindle turned his attention back to the disc in his hand.
“So you think the Autobots would want a copy of the highlight reel?”
A/N - Thank you to everyone who has read, commented and followed along on this pranks adventure. I find it amazing how this short little drabble one-shot grew to be nine ‘stories’ long. I hope you enjoyed this light hearted look at some of our favorite robots. I know several of you wanted more, but I’m not nearly as creative as the Autobot and Decepticon pranksters are. ;D