Cover Me 124
May. 12th, 2009 09:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blkdragonqueenI just finnished this. No lie! So if you think my spelling, grammar and tiny mistakes were bad before, you haven't seen anything yet! And a BIG hug to Colleen for giving me some insight on Canadian roadways. Where I live, you drive and see a cow, drive for another hour and see another cow, drive some more and see just for variety, a pig and then you drive some more and see the same cow you passed the first slaggin time.
Cover Me Fan News: Brought to you by rabbit food. If your plot bunnies are multiplying rapidly, you need it asap! Skyjack certainly has started something here! I now have a new fanfanfic! FireFlyODoom has a few cute short snippits staring... the SPARKLINGS! ^_^ Aww. It's titled "Sparklings" and is a bit of a guessing game! Enjoy! I certainly did!
Chapter One Hundred Twenty Four: Pet Names
Becoming friends with the Terraformers, or “gremlins” as they were still called by more than a few seemed to have been the easy part of the introductions. Coming up with actual names for the four was a whole other thing all together. They had stuck with Inferno’s rather reluctant suggestion of “Dispensor” for the vending machine, but they were still at a loss as to what to call the others.
The large black tuck was seated in the dirt, apparently having gotten tired from just standing around, his small companion in his lap as he stared up at the group of mechs still chatting away. Inferno was glaring at the X-box again, which was still perched precariously on Red’s shoulder and if Groundhog didn’t know any better, he would have sworn that the white mech was mocking the large Autobot. The scout managed to catch Red’s optics and the smaller fire vehicle gave him a long-suffering look before turning back to the conversation. “Well we can’t just go around calling them ‘hey you’ all the time,” Red argued.
“Then what do you want to call them?” Hound asked looking down at the black truck. The emerald green optics stared back at him unwaveringly. “Any one got any ideas?”
“Hmm,” Red frowned as he looked at the small white mech on his shoulder the best he could. “No clue. Inferno?”
“What?” Inferno jumped as he was suddenly addressed and a scowl graced his features. “What are you asking me for?” he asked angrily before pointing at the white mech that was chortling too himself. “That’s the thing that bit me!”
“Oh yeah,” Rollerforce grinned. “He did bite ya, didn’t he?”
Inferno glared and Groundhog elbowed the larger ‘Con. “Enough ‘Force,” he chastised before he turned back to the others. “So that’s the one with the acid? I should probably get a sample of that.”
“I would suspect more than that,” Red said with a small frown as he looked over at the others. “We don’t even know what that one can do,” he said pointing at the round mech in the trucks lap.
“It kind of looks like a spider,” Maggie said with a small shudder.
“What? You don’t like spiders?” Fig teased and the woman just glared at him.
“Who would?” she argued with a disgusted frown.
“It is kind of neat though,” Mikaela stated as she looked down at the small mech.
The truck didn’t seem to like everyone looking at its small companion as he suddenly lifted up the spider like mech and put it behind him. Red gave what he hoped was a reassuring smile but it seemed it was unnecessary as the smaller mech just went around the truck and came back to the front from the other side. Red couldn’t tell if the thing even had optics but the legs were impressive. “Legs?” he suggested hesitantly.
“Um, no,” Rollerforce shook his head.
“Hm… Arachnid?” Hound offered.
“I don’t know about that…” Groundhog shook his head. “Maybe a variation? Like Blackarachnia.”
“Sounds too girly,” Rollerforce told him.
“What’s wrong with sounding girly?” Mikaela demanded and Rollerforce was surprised to see all four of the human females glaring at him, even Carol.
“Err…”
“What’s so hard about picking a name?” Simmons frowned as he looked over at the small group of mechs.
“You don’t have kids, do you?” Carol frowned.
Judy chuckled. “Even coming up with Mojo’s name was hard,” she admitted. “What about how you got your names?”
The Cybertronions in the courtyard looked over at the woman surprised. “Usually our caretakers picked names based on our personalities and what we do,” Red told her.
“Like how Rollerforce tends to just run anyone over,” Motorhead chuckled.
“I do not,” Rollerforce instantly snarled. Motorhead looked over at the Autobots with a look that read, “you see?” on his face.
Red chuckled as he looked back at the small mech. “He certainly has spindly legs though.”
“So just go with that,” Inferno stated as he shook his head.
“With what?” Hound asked, amazed that Inferno was speaking up once again.
“‘Spindle’?” Red turned back to his husband, surprised himself but instantly picking up on what his husband had zeroed in on. A small smirk appeared on his face. “That’s two,” he chuckled.
“Two what?” Inferno asked with a small frown.
“Two you’ve named,” Groundhog laughed.
Inferno looked stunned by the revelation but quickly went back to his irritated expression. “Whatever,” he muttered though Red instantly knew that Inferno was secretly embarrassed.
He was tempted to say something but decided against it as he got back to the conversation. “So ‘Spindle’ it is,” he laughed. “Now what about the others?”
“Maybe we should call the X-box something with an X in it,” Bluestreak spoke for the first time.
“What? Like ‘X-con’ or something?” Groundhog asked looking at the small mech.
There was a small chortle from Mikaela and all the mechs glanced over at her as her shoulders shook with laughter. “Don’t tell me that the guys had you watching ‘X-men’,” she snickered at the puzzled blue mech.
Bluestreak looked confused but there was a whoop from Fig. “Best movies EVER!” he laughed as he pumped a fist in the air. “Can’t wait for the forth one. The graphics are supposed to be the bomb!”
“There’s going to be a fourth one?” Mikaela groaned at the announcement. “Ten to one the boys are going to want me to go with them to see it at the drive in so I can ‘drive’ one of the mechs.”
“What are ‘X-men’?” Bluestreak looked at the girl baffled.
“And what’s a ‘movie’?” Motorhead asked curiously.
“You mean like those discs that Barricade had delivered?” Red asked curiously.
“Huh?” Fig glanced over at Mikaela. “What discs?”
“Oh, ‘Cade and the boys ordered a whole box full of movies. They even have their own entertainment center in their hanger,” Judy rolled her eyes.
“No kidding, like what?” Fig asked curiously.
“This is the first I’m hearing about it,” Glen added. “What’d they get?”
“Can we get back to the subject at hand?” Groundhog chuckled. “X-box kind of needs a name…”
The others looked back at the tiny ‘Con chastised, all save Inferno, Carol and Simmons. “I think I’m going to go start on dinner,” Carol announced as she turned around and began heading back towards the mess hall. “Judy?”
“I’ll be there in a minuet! I just want to see how this ends,” Judy called out before she turned back to the group. “So any ideas?”
“Extreme?” Motorhead suggested hesitantly.
“Maybe something to do with his acid,” Mikaela offered. “You said you’re usually named after what you do.”
“Toxic?” Red offered.
“Neurotoxic!” Rollerforce cried out after a quick browse on the web.
“I like that,” Hound nodded. “It goes with not only his weapon, but personality as well.” And the X-box hissed at Inferno as if proving Hound’s point.
“I swear Red, I’m going to knock that gremlin right off your head if it continues this,” Inferno frowned.
“Inferno,” Red sighed. “He doesn’t know any better.”
“Yeah, think of it as training for your own kid,” Judy chuckled.
“Oh like the pit it is!” Inferno nearly bellowed.
Mikaela and Maggie both chuckled while Simmons rolled his eyes and Glen seemed completely unaffected by the conversation. “Do you think he would let us play games?” he asked curiously.
“Glen!” Maggie yelped, appalled.
“What?” he huffed back at her. “Since we can’t go down to the underground computer room and we can’t leave the base, what else is there to do?”
Maggie frowned as the mechs glanced at one another. “So two down, two to go,” Groundhog chuckled as Blaster finally returned.
“Did you mention the Gremlins?” Red asked curiously as Blaster came back over.
The communications officer shook his head. “And deprive us of the chaos when they finally do return?” he grinned widely.
The Autobots and humans all began laughing in some degree as the Decepticons watched the others amused. “They’re starting to scare me,” Groundhog teased.
“They’re more like us then… us!” Rollerforce chuckled. Inferno frowned at him but the two ‘Cons just looked back innocently.
“How’s the group doing?” Red asked Blaster, ignoring the small glaring contest going on behind him.
The other red mech shrugged. “They’re almost to the border, that’s all I know,” he told them. “So what’s the verdict out here?”
“So far we have Neurotoxic and Spindle,” Hound announced pointing to each one respectively. “Now all we have left is him.” Everyone turned to the large Escalade still seated on the ground and of all things drawing random shapes in the dirt. He startled when he found everyone looking at him, even Dispensor was poking him again and chirping sporadically.
“Maybe something Earth based,” Judy suggested. “I mean he is an SUV.”
“What do SUV’s do anyway?” Motorhead asked curiously. “It can’t be any different that us.”
“They’re more off road vehicles,” Fig explained. “More for the rough terrain.”
“Rockclimber?” Groundhog suggested.
“Rockpounder?” Motorhead countered.
“Hmm,” Hound thought a moment. “Dustcloud?”
“Uh, no,” Red shook his head, a small smile on his face. “How about something more to do with the roads?”
“Asymmetrical?” Blaster chuckled.
“We could call him Cactus if we really want to drive ‘Hide bonkers,” Bluestreak laughed.
Motorhead glanced over at the cackling blue mech. “What’s a ‘cactus’?”
“A plant that seems to drive Ironhide to distraction,” Red chuckled, causing Neurotoxic to cling against his light. “So I don’t think we should torture him any more than we already are.”
“I can’t believe we’re keeping this from them,” Inferno sighed, sending a small glare at the white mech on his shoulder.
“What are they going to do about it?” Rollerforce chuckled before he turned to the large black mech still sitting in the dirt chirping quietly with Spindle and Dispensor. “Mudmaker?”
It was then that the mech, who had still been drawing randomly in the dirt started flicking little rocks randomly and Dispensor let out a small shriek as one pelted him and that sent the two into rapid chatter. “I think I’ve got it,” Groundhog said with a triumphant grin. “Gravelgrinder!”
“Works for me!” Inferno threw up his hands. “Seriously, they’re just names.”
“Inferno,” Red frowned.
Inferno just shrugged before he turned back towards the small group. “So we’ve named them. Wonderful. Now where are we going to keep them?”
Red’s face fell at that question and he looked back at the newly named mechs. “Err…”
“That’s what I thought,” Inferno shook his head.
“Maybe they’ll go back down into the underground base?” Bluestreak offered.
“Doubt it,” Motorhead shook his head and Bluestreak sent him a rather annoyed glare that had Motorhead looking surprised. “What? I’m just saying that… I didn’t mean,” he began desperately as Bluestreak moved around Hound and placed the scout between them. “I just meant-”
Rollerforce and Groundhog shook their own heads as they watched their teammate try to formulate his words only to make a mess out of them. “Why can’t you just throw them in the main hanger?” Groundhog inquired curiously. “It certainly is big enough.”
“With our computer in there?” Blaster asked horrified.
“Not to mention all of Wheeljack’s and Ratchet’s equipment,” Hound added with a small chuckle.
“And the Gremlin box, which the whole point of having it was to keep them from getting our sensitive equipment,” Red finished with a sharp nod, almost shaking poor Neurotoxic off his shoulder.
“Speaking of Ratchet’s equipment, you said you were going to look at Red’s glitch,” Inferno frowned as he turned back to Groundhog and glared at him accusingly.
Groundhog let out a small huff. “I still have no idea what you’re referring to but whatever. Red?” he asked turning around to face the Autobot and held out his hands. “Whenever is good for you.”
Red just sighed, his shoulders slumping making it hard for Neurotoxic to hang on. “Now’s fine. He’ll just keep complaining until I do get it looked at anyway,” he sighed as he gestured to the hovering Inferno as he turned to head towards the main hanger.
“What? I just want to make sure you’re okay!” Inferno persisted.
Red frowned at him. “Despite the fact that I keep telling you that I am?”
“I just feel better having a medic confirm that you are… even if it is a ‘Con medic,” Inferno added the last part under his breath and Red whirled back around.
“Will you let it drop? I swear to Primus, you are worse than the youngsters!” Red snapped, pointing to Bluestreak and Motorhead and by default, Hound because he was between them.
“Whoa! Leave me out of this!” Hound snickered as he ducked out from between the two.
Bluestreak didn’t seem to mind this however as he was also glaring at Inferno and Red. “I’m not a sparkling you know,” he growled.
Red sighed. “I know.”
“But what do we do with them?” Blaster asked curiously as he pointed at the mechs in the dirt. Spindle had now burrowed himself under a rather large pile of dirt that Gravelgrinder was pouring over him while Dispensor was trying his best to smash it with Spindle still there.
“They certainly act like sparklings,” Hound laughed as he watched their antics.
“Kids are apparently the same no matter what species,” Judy mused as she turned. “I’d best help Carol out in the kitchen.”
“I’m out of here,” Simmons announced, having spoken for the first time in a long while. “This place is so ridiculous.”
“You can’t leave yet,” Red stated, alarmed by Simmons declaration.
“I’m not going to leave the base,” Simmons huffed. “I’ll be in my room.”
Red nodded satisfied, as Glen and Maggie also announced their leave before Hound spoke up, a thoughtful tone to his voice. “You know, with the fence line and the moat behind it, it’s doubtful that they’ll leave.”
“And if we keep the main hangers closed, that should keep them from getting into trouble,” Groundhog nodded in agreement.
Red thought about it for a moment. “Sounds feasible.”
“In theory,” Inferno huffed. “If they get off base and a human sees them, don’t come crying to me. Now about Red,” he turned back to Groundhog and gave him a pointed stare.
“Right, I don’t think he’s going to let this go Red,” Groundhog chuckled.
“I told you,” Red sighed.
The three turned and began making their way to the main hanger leaving the rest to fend for themselves. “Well this has been an entertaining day, huh?” Motorhead grinned over at Bluestreak. The small blue Autobot just frowned back at him and Motorhead instantly deflated. Bluestreak then nodded at him and the ‘Con instantly perked back up.
Rollerforce shook his head before he turned to Hound. “So what was that about a ‘glitch’?”
“What?” Hound took his gaze away from the young mechs playing in the dirt to look at the large Decepticon. “Oh, Red. He was injured during those first few attacks on Tyger Pax. His internal master chip was damaged and Ratchet unfortunately stated that he couldn’t get to it without hurting anything else.”
“But what does the glitch do?” Motorhead inquired, finally looking away from Bluestreak long enough to ask.
“Fritz’s out every once in a while and causes Red to be a bit more paranoid than he already is,” Blaster clarified with a shrug.
“Paranoid?” Rollerforce frowned.
“Er… well he was the last time we saw him,” Blaster stated with another puzzled look.
“Clearly, something here on Earth got to him,” Bluestreak frowned.
“Possible,” Hound shrugged. “We have no idea what happened to him between running into that asteroid and our own arrival here on Earth.”
“Asteroid?” Motorhead asked curiously. “What happened?”
“Got caught in a meteor show, no big deal,” Bluestreak shrugged nonchalantly though both Hound and Blaster could instantly tell he was dying to go into detail.
“Oh wow! And you guys made it through?” Motorhead unwillingly gave Bluestreak all the incentive he needed. He began to go into a long and embellished story of the meteor shower that in all honestly couldn’t have been as large as a small moon, which was the image Bluestreak was portraying.
Hound went back to watching the new Terraformers, which he was still thinking of as “gremlins”. It seemed as if they had not realized that their fourth companion was no longer in the courtyard as Dispensor looked up and began chatting rapidly. The newly christened Gravelgrinder suddenly leaped to his feet, startling Spindle out of his lap. Gravelgrinder seemed not to notice his companion’s predicament however as he let out a sharp whistle and there was an answering one from the main hanger.
“Oh slag,” Hound muttered as both Gravelgrinder and Dispensor rushed towards the sound, Spindle hurrying to catch up.
Rollerforce chuckled beside him. “They sure don’t like to be separated, do they?”
“Could you blame them?” Mikaela asked as she looked at Blaster pointedly. The communications officer reached down and allowed her to climb aboard while Hound got Fig.
“No, we can’t,” he sighed as they followed after the mechs; already hearing Red and Groundhog trying to get Inferno out of what seemed to be a stunned stupor. “Not at all.”
“So what’s this about a glitch?” Groundhog asked as he started pulling out Ratchet’s tools from the boxcar.
“It’s just something that happened during the war,” Red tried to shrug it off.
“It’s not ‘just something’,” Inferno instantly contradicted. “You were damaged and it causes you pain.”
“You’re in pain?” Groundhog’s head snapped up at this announcement.
Red pulled a face. “More like an annoyance,” he huffed. “And it hasn’t been so bad lately. Some static shock but on the whole, no pain in my main wiring.”
“Really?” Groundhog asked, fascinated.
Inferno didn’t seem convinced however. “What are you talking about?” he asked the smaller fire truck. “You’re constantly in pain from the shorting outs.”
Red shrugged. “What can I say? It’s more like an annoyance now more than anything.”
“Red,” Inferno said softly, worry still prominent in his voice.
Red gave him a small smile and Groundhog was hesitant to interrupt, but he knew he had to. “All right you two, I kind of need access to Red if I want to check him out.” He held up Ratchet’s main large scanner. “So where am I looking?”
“Up here,” Red sighed lifting his arm to point behind his left light on the top of his head only to encounter a small obstruction. Neurotoxic was still seated on his shoulder and the white mech had instantly latched onto his finger. “Oh, forgot about you,” he chuckled.
“I can’t check you out with him on your shoulder,” Groundhog stated with a small smirk.
“No, I know,” Red nodded as he brought up his hands and gave the small white mech a little nudge. “Off,” he commanded.
The little white mech started grasping at Red’s hands, not even bothering to get down and Inferno growled. “Down,” he snapped at the mech.
The green optics turned to look at Inferno before he went back to playing with Red’s hands. Inferno looked angry and Red looked lost before Groundhog sighed and took a small step forward. Neurotoxic took his gaze away from Red to look at the small green ‘Con that was looking him right in the optics.
The two stared at one another for a long moment before Groundhog frowned at him. “Down,” Groundhog said firmly, pointing at the boxcar that Red was seated on.
Neurotoxic looked as if he wasn’t going to obey when he suddenly slid off of Red’s shoulder and placed himself right next to the small Autobot. Red looked relieved and Inferno just looked gob smacked. “How in the pit did you manage that?” the large mech asked.
Groundhog shrugged. “Same way I get Rollerforce or Motorhead to do anything, present a firm front and don’t back down.” He smirked.
Inferno looked stunned. “But that’s what I was doing!”
Groundhog shrugged as he brought up the scanner and looked over the indicated spot on Red’s head. “Well, he did bite you already. Maybe he doesn’t think you’re much of a threat.”
Inferno looked aghast and Red had to hide his small smile behind his hand. “I still think you’re pretty impressive,” he told his distraught mate.
Inferno frowned but said nothing more as he just waited for the verdict from Groundhog. Groundhog himself was looking at the screen in surprise. “I thought you said this was a major malfunction,” he said accusingly.
“It is,” Inferno growled as Red practically jumped.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” the smaller red Autobot demanded, a note of fright in his voice.
Groundhog frowned. “Well, I do see something that looks like a crack in the main circuit but it seems as if it’s welded itself back together.” He frowned as he moved the scanner to another position and looked at the screen. “No… its more like it melted and overlapped itself. Not well, but it’s defiantly no longer detached.”
The two mechs just stared at him as Neurotoxic climbed into Red’s lap. “You’re kidding,” Red gaped as he subconsciously brought up his hands to steady the small mech.
Groundhog just nodded. “I would almost say it overheated and that’s what reconnected the board. Though some of the wires were also melted in the… goop.”
“‘Goop’?” Inferno repeated dazedly.
There was suddenly a loud sound from the courtyard and Neurotoxic instantly perked up. He then startled everyone when he let out a piercing whistle. Groundhog chuckled as he looked down at the white mech and back at the two larger gremlins bolting into the hanger. “They certainly are fond of one another,” he laughed.
Inferno just continued to stand there stunned. “‘Goop’?”
Groundhog looked over at the fire rig. “Are you okay?” he asked. “Inferno?”
“Inferno?” Red called out.
Inferno however was still stuck on one main point. “‘Goop’?”
Red just shook his head. “My poor firebot,” he snickered as he turned to tell Hound and Bluestreak the good news.
-To Be Continued
Author's Note: Yeah, a bit rushed. ^^; So sorry! Anyway, please join us tomorrow for chapter One Hundred Twenty Five: The Top Dog
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Date: 2009-05-12 04:19 pm (UTC)LOL Inferno actually naming 2 Gremlins and acting all embarrassed about it. This was too cute. Spindle, Neurotoxic and Gravelgrinder. Cool and appropriate names. :P
And Groundhog being all intimidating while Inferno is all gobsmacked. “Well, he did bite you already. Maybe he doesn’t think you’re much of a threat.” LOL Poor Inferno.
Kohako_Shadow
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Date: 2009-05-13 06:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-13 07:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-12 04:32 pm (UTC)Misha
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Date: 2009-05-13 06:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-12 10:25 pm (UTC)*0.o Confused*
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Date: 2009-05-13 12:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-13 06:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-13 06:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-13 04:22 am (UTC)And you fixed Red! That's too cool. Was it the Energon wave?
I can't wait to see what your going to do with the Terrabots... Or was it Terra something else? Oh hell, I'm gonna have to go look now! But they are way fun.
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Date: 2009-05-13 06:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-13 07:22 am (UTC)I don't know if you already have the sparkling names picked out, but if you're struggling, you could have a thread where people could throw out name ideas. I did this with a friend who was trying to name her story. We probably wound up with 200 suggestions from bad to great contributed by our writing group, ironically, from one of the bad ones we derived the title.
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Date: 2009-10-03 07:52 pm (UTC)I have to feel bad for inferno, he didn't realize Red was fixed. Hell RED didn't realize he was fixed.
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Date: 2009-10-03 11:31 pm (UTC)