Shattered Shenanigans

22: A Race?

"What happened?" Soundwave asked as they drove back in, noticing the unusual amount of dents and dirt on him.

"A dust cloud." Ratchet lied, noticing that Optimus was embarrassed.

"A dust cloud did that?" Soundwave added in disbelief.

"Twas a big one." Ratchet added and got back to work.

"Should we get a cube?" Optimus asked.

Ratchet hesitated, "Sure." He said and followed Optimus. Then there was Megatron, "Back already are you?" Ratchet sneered.

"Huh? Back from where?" Megatron asked.

Optimus mouthed a 'sorry' as he followed the grumpy medic. "You could try being more polite." He whispered at him.

"Hmpf!"

"He is not the Megatron we know." Optimus added, "Less sarcastic too-"

"Still looks like him." Ratchet grumbled.

"His plating is lighter and his optics are blue-"

"You've been staring into his optics have you?"

"It is noticeable. I thought you knew better to judge bots based on their appearance alone." Optimus argued.

"Fine." Ratchet said but Optimus felt that would not be the end of it. "And don't splash energon onto me this time." He added as he handed him a cube.

"Thank you, I won't." Optimus said and started to drink. Then Dreadwing came out of nowhere, Optimus let out a strangled noise in surprise.

"Excuse me." He started and they stepped out of the way. He took a cube to go.

"How can he be so stealthy?" Ratchet grumbled when he was well out of audial shot.

"It is not that hard." Optimus said.

"Really?" Ratchet said sarcastically. "Go on, prove it."

Optimus blinked, "How would I-"

"Sneak up on someone." Ratchet said in a playful tone.

"I have already, and I have had things thrown at me." Optimus protested. "I do not wish to repeat the process."

"Hmfp!" Ratchet grumbled.

"Not everyone has creaking joints-" Optimus started and narrowly avoided the slap Ratchet aimed at him.

"See how you do at this age." Ratchet snorted and finished his cube. "Need to get back to work." He muttered as he headed back to the main room. They were soon enough assaulted with the children's shrieks. Ratchet scowled.

"Come on! It'll be fun!" Miko started as the other bots watched her. "It's not populated-"

"It could be hazardous-" Megatron started.

"What? Scared you'll lose?" Miko shot back.

"What is this about?" Ratchet asked Soundwave.

"Miko wants to have one big race which we all partake in." Soundwave started.

Ratchet blinked, "Four of you are fliers." He started.

"She doesn't care." Soundwave rolled his optics.

"We can hold a separate race for you guys!" Miko started as if it were a no brainer, "Raf already mapped out a track-"

"Ohhhhhh, lets see!" Knockout started, all giddy and looked down at his computer, "A flat race?" He asked, slightly less elastic.

"It's safe." Raf said and suddenly Megatron was more interested.

"Safe?"

"And boring." Knockout added.

"Well, I don't have a problem with it since it is safe." Megatron said.

"EYYYYYY! Then everyone will race!" Miko started.

Optimus was starting to realize he would have to participate. He started to sink into the shadows with Ratchet following.

"Where are you two going?" Dreadwing started as he walked in, not having heard the conversation.

"You too!" Miko started in their direction.

"I can not-" Optimus started.

"Why not?" Soundwave started and Optimus gestured to his dents.

"How did that happen?" Megatron started, very worried.

"Dust cloud." Ratchet lied through his denta. "Would be best not to drive while already injured." He mumbled.

"I will stay-" Optimus started.

"I'll work on the generator." Ratchet added.

"I will-" Soundwave started.

"Laserbeak can do it, you're coming." Megatron grumbled and Soundwave let out a huff.

"I'll watch them." Dreadwing started.

"Why does he-" Soundwave argued.

"Very well." Megatron said and within five minutes they were all gone.

"Finally, some peace and quiet." Ratchet grumbled and took his time working on the generator. Optimus was left with Dreadwing, trying to figure out what to do.

"Do you require assistance?" Optimus asked.

"The left vent is clogged..." Ratchet started and pointed to a mop. "If you could clean it out-"

"Got it." Optimus said.

"Is there anything else-" Dreadwing started.

"The generator starts floating occasionally-"

"I'll be a paper weight, right." Dreadwing grumbled and sat on the generator, just in time too because it started floating. "Ep!"

"Great timing." Ratchet snickered.

Optimus removed the vent from the floating generator and was assaulted with a plume of dust, "Nrgh!" He started as he waved the mop around. The evil Autobots clearly don't maintain their equipment. As soon as he started scrubbing, he wished he had a bigger mop.

-

-

"It's getting late." Dreadwing started and hopped off the generator, Optimus happily took his place and sat on it.

"Ah ha." Ratchet mumbled but clearly thought otherwise.

"I'm going to recharge." Dreadwing said and headed off.

Optimus waited a bit untill he was out of sight, "What is taking the others so long?" He asked Laserbeak and he showed a rough distance of the track. "Ah." They were certainly going to be a little sore. "When are you finished?" Optimus asked Ratchet.

"Soon."

Ratchet's definition of 'soon': 2-4 hours

"I'm not tired." He added.

"Do you require me to sit-" Optimus started but the thing started to wobble again.

"Yes, why?"

"I would like to clean off this dust." He said and Ratchet looked up only to recoil.

"Argh! Fine, I'll turn it off." He started, clearly taking pity on his attire.

"Thank you." He said and hopped off, then he caught Ratchet trying to hide his yawn. "Ratchet-"

"Fine!" At least he could admit to defeat (unlike Bumblebee).

They both wondered off, Ratchet somewhat reluctant.

Optimus turned on the shower and was once again assaulted with cold coolant. "Ep!" He started and desperately tried to turn up the heat. After two minutes of struggling, he concluded something was broken and took a cold shower.

When he headed back to his berthroom, Ratchet was already recharging.