Alphabet Meme - Fics pt 2
Second round of fics right here. You can find the first batch here. And still have a few prompts open here... Again, all are rated G to PG
Letter/prompt: H is for Home
Chosen by: lonegamer78
Character(s): Tracks and Mirage
He could scarcely believe it. After some 20-odd years of living on an alien planet - not counting the other 4 million spent in space and stasis - he was finally back on the planet of his bir… creation. As soon as the shuttle door opened, he was one of the first out, transforming and revving his engine, eager to be off.
He took a moment to look around, at the gleaming metal and towering spires that rose above, reaching for the stars. There was a time he dreamed that he could stretch out his hand and pick them out of the sky, and he remembered gliding effortlessly along the highways without a care in the world.
The gentle squeal of rubber on metal brought him out of his day dream. Of course, he could no longer glide. Tyres fixed him to the ground he once floated above, and through them he could feel the planet below him, aware of it’s grinds and groans… it’s pain.
As he set off for his city, he could feel the scars of the streets under his wheels, alike, but unlike those on the Earth road that led to the Ark. There the scars came from a planet that was alive, constantly moving and creating. Here, the scars were those of destruction, a harsh reminder that the planet might never move again.
The city spires loomed as he drove in, silent and dark. He could hear his engine echo through some of the narrow alleys and streets. He couldn’t see the stars anymore. Not that he could in the cities on Earth, but that had been because the city lights outshone the stars, and somehow he barely noticed it amongst all the life and noise of the inhabitants.
There were no inhabitants here - at least no living ones. The last of them had moved to stronger, more heavily fortified areas, or left the planet entirely. Anyone he’s ever known, they were probably gone, and it was likely he would never see them again.
Why had he been so eager to come here again? Making a detour through dark and silent streets, he headed back to the landing docks, trying to shake off the chill that had started to settle on his chassis. Perhaps he would be in time to catch the return flight….
Both mechs pulled up to the landing docks around the same time.
“Tracks…?”
“Mirage?”
“Fancy seeing you back here. Come to see the shuttle off?”
“Likewise. No, I’m getting back on it. You?”
“Likewise.”
“I thought you wanted to stay.”
“I thought you did?” Mirage transformed and sighed. “It wasn’t what I was hoping for. I think I hoped for too much.”
“I think I did, too.” Tracks transformed as well, then gestured to the ramp. “Shall we go?”
Mirage nodded. “Let’s go home.” He led the way up the ramp.
~END.
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Letter/prompt: P is for Paper
Chosen by: aprys
Characters: Jazz, Bumblebee, Mikaela (Movie)
“I’m bored,” Jazz announced to the hangar at large.
Heads went up at this proclamation. Someone cursed, another groaned, a third let out a resigned sigh. Jazz didn’t know whether to feel flattered or insulted.
“I can blow you up,” Ironhide offered. “Ow! Ratchet…!”
“I’m the one who has to clean up your mess. Keep your cannons where I cant see them,” Ratchet replied.
“If you can even hit the broadside of the hangar anymore, old timer,” Jazz retorted.
“Jazz, don’t bait him.” That was Optimus.
The white Solstice’s reply was cut off by the sound of a high performance engine, and he perked up. That would be Bumblebee, and given that today was a Friday, Sam and Mikaela were probably with him. At last, someone to play with.
Alas, Jazz’s good mood was cut tragically short when Mikaela stalked in on treacherously high heels, face darker than a thundercloud, and stomped her way angrily up the small flight of human-sized stairs to the upper level. Sam and Bumblebee followed her in at a respectable distance.
“Well, someone has her panties in a twist,” Jazz remarked.
A book hit him squarely on the head. “Piss off, Jazz!” echoed from above.
“Dude, just let her chill out,” Sam advised, going over to Ratchet’s workstation and hauling himself onto a bench to get a better look at what the medic was doing.
Jazz looked at Bumblebee, who shrugged, then picked up the book and tucked it into an arm compartment. That done, he jumped up, grabbed the ledge and vaulted himself onto the upper level, slinking into the room where Mikaela sat fuming at a desk.
“I’m not talking to you right now,” she said.
“Ooh ouch, I’m wounded,” Jazz replied. “What happened?”
“Punched a bitch.”
“Really?” Jazz sounded impressed.
“Whore called me a whore.” Mikaela shrugged. “Punched her out.”
“And you’re still mad because?”
“I have to write a paper over the weekend as ‘constructive punishment’ they called it. ‘Juvenile delinquents and their impact on society’ with a case study.” She huffed. “There goes my weekend. Where am I going to find a bunch of juvenile delinquents? I mean besides the obvious.”
Jazz smirked and went to the door. “Hey Bee, get up here!” Mikaela stared at him. “What? They didn’t specify what species.”
Bumblebee peeped in, optics questioning and curious. “You hollered?”
“Mikki needs to know a couple of stories about our Academy days. Reckon we have a few good ones for her?”
The Camaro’s optics brightened. “The Jazz and Bumblebee days?” He chuckled. “I don’t know if they’re appropriate.”
“She just needs the good stuff… after all, they never specified what kind of impact right?” Jazz asked.
Mikaela’s mood lightened considerably. “So you’re saying I should give them something totally unexpected?”
“Exactly.”
“Well then, tell me some stories.”
Bumblebee glanced at Jazz. “Well, back at the Academy, there used to be this one wall that everyone said was impossible to climb. Always had the least guard because the instructors were so confident that no one could climb it.”
“Bee and I, well, we were sure that if the Cons ever wanted to get in, that was the wall they’d go for, only nobody took us seriously.” Jazz grinned. “So one night, we scaled the wall, from the inside first, and when we got to the top we made a huge racket to get all the instructors’ attention before climbing down on the other side.”
“You should have seen the look on Ironhide’s face.” Bumblebee giggled. “I thought for sure he’d blast us where we stood.”
Jazz chuckled. “Anyway, they sent a patrol around to the outside to fetch us in, but Bee and I had a point to prove, so we started climbing up the wall again, from the outside.”
“Did you make it?” Mikaela asked.
“Eventually. The instructors were about ready to vaporize us when we reached the top again and did a little victory dance, but Ratchet wouldn’t let them. We’d just proved that their wall wasn’t as impenetrable as they thought; though we did get about a week’s worth of drainage maintenance duty.”
Bumblebee’s optics brightened. “Not long after that, a group of Cons attacked the Academy along that very wall. They weren’t expecting the added guard however.”
“And we handed their afts to them,” Jazz added.
Mikaela snorted. “Yeah, I’m sure you did. Now tell me another one.”…
-----
On Monday afternoon, Jazz tagged along with Bumblebee to give Mikaela a ride home. He was also curious about how her paper had done.
“What did you get?” he asked once she was strapped in.
“A B-minus.”
“What? Why?”
“They didn’t get why I gave Ironhide big cannons.”
“Huh? What’s not to get?”
“Let’s just say they didn’t understand the concept of ‘What Would Ironhide Do?’”
~END.
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Letter/prompt: Z is for zoo
Chosen by: coriopsis
Characters: Jazz and Prowl (Animated)
Jazz sized the other ninja up from across the room, head tilted and hands resting on his hips in disbelief.
“Now c’mon Prowl, you’ve told me a lot of strange things about this planet, but this is goin’ a li’l too far, dig?”
“I’m being perfectly honest with you Jazz, and have I given you any reason in the past to doubt me?”
“Well no, but there’s always a first time.”
“Don’t you trust me?” Prowl pouted slightly, but there was a sparkle in his optics.
“Aww, y’know I do, but admit it… something like that doesn’t really exist.”
“What if I could show it to you?”
Jazz stared at him. “Seriously?”
Prowl smirked just the tiniest bit. “And if can prove such a creature is real, what do I get in return?”
“Barrel o’ high grade, on me.”
“Sounds fair.” Oh it sounded more than fair. “Follow me then.”
-----
The Detroit City Zoo was a little place, but boasted some of the more unusual of the world’s animals, which was what made it one of the city’s top tourist attractions. Prowl led Jazz inside, carefully making his way through the crowds of people to one of the exibits. Jazz followed him, curiosity growing by the second.
At last they stopped infront of a small enclosure, landscaped to make it look like a riverbank with more water than land. The barrier were large clear panels so people could get a look at what happened underwater as well as above it. Prowl made Jazz crouch with him and gestured to a small creature that swam in the slightly murky water.
“See.”
Jazz looked. Then he stared. Then he gaped… It was a small mammal, warm blooded for sure, but it had webbed feet like an otter, a tail like a beaver, a bill like a duck and it could swim like a fish in the water and scamper decently enough on land. It was like someone had taken different parts of different animals and put them together to make this… thing.
“Crazy…” His tone was that of disbelief, and it was unbelievable, but there he was looking at it. “What is it?”
“It’s called a Platypus,” Prowl replied. “It also lays eggs, but suckles its young like a mammal. It can only be found in the wild on a small continent south of the Equator called Australia.”
“Well I’ll be slagged.” Jazz straightened and shook his head. “Just never know what you’ll find next on this planet.”
“You’d be surprised.” Prowl stood with him.
“I dunno what t’say man.”
“Well…” Prowl crossed his arms. “ ‘Here’s that barrel of high grade I promised you’ would be a good place to start.”
~END.
Enjoy! And feedback welcome.