Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers in any way shape or form.

The Prank

BOOM! Red Alert cursed inwardly as he walked toward the area where he'd heard the distinctive sound of a security camera exploding, courtesy of the twins, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. "I'm gonna REALLY nail those two this time," he snarled under his breath, "I'll see them put on clean-up duty for so long..." Red Alert froze mid sentence, staring in total shock at the damage that the twins had done. There was a large black spot on the wall and blackened fragments of metal that had once been a security camera laying on the floor. Red Alert sighed as he walked over to the remains of the camera. 'This won't be easy to replace,' he thought to himself as he forlornly bent down to pick up the pieces. He was so focused on the burnt, twisted metal, that he failed to notice the two large balloons hanging right above him. Nor did he notice the two figures behind him throwing darts at the balloons. POP! POP! Red Alert heard the two balloons pop, but before he could react, he was drenched in blue and pink paint. "Sideswipe! Sunstreaker!" Red Alert roared. The objects of his fury quickly transformed and took off toward the exit. Cursing to himself, the security director quickly transformed and took off after them.

He caught up to the troublesome twins just outside the Ark's entrance. It quickly became apparent to Red Alert that Sideswipe and Sunstreaker wanted him to catch up with them. The thought that the Trouble Twins had set up a trap crossed Red Alert's CPU, but he was too angry to focus on the thought.
"Hee, hee, hee, this is gonna be fun!" Sideswipe said to Sunstreaker over their shared bond as they raced into the woods near the Ark side by side, "Red Alert has no clue." Sunstreaker snickered internally, already seeing the look on their paranoid security director's face when the final phase of their prank was completed. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker continued down the road, making sure that they didn't lose their victim. "I don't know about you," Sunstreaker said to Sideswipe, "but I love this season the humans call 'autumn'." If Sideswipe hadn't been in vehicle mode, he would have nodded in response. "If it wasn't for the fact that the trees shed their leaves during this time of the year, we wouldn't have been able to pull this prank off."

Red Alert continued to chase the twins through the woods. He vaguely wondered where the twins were going, and if they had a trap set up in the woods, but he was still too angry to worry about what else Sideswipe and Sunstreaker had in store for him. "When I catch those two troublemakers, they'll wish they'd never been created!," he thought angrily.

"We're almost there!," Sideswipe said excitedly. Up ahead, he could see the large pile of leaves that they had gathered just for the occasion. On a premeditated cue, they both sped up, and just before reaching the leaf pile, they both swerved in opposite directions.

At first, Red Alert was confused when he saw Sideswipe and Sunstreaker split up. His first thought was that they were trying to avoid being caught. That's when he noticed the pile of leaves. He slammed on his brakes, but it was too late. Leaves went flying everywhere as he plowed through them. Unable to see where he was going, he slammed into a nearby tree. That's when he heard the familiar laughter of Sideswipe and Sunstreaker.

Sideswipe couldn't remember the last time he laughed so hard. Their prank turned out much better than even he could have imagined. Sunstreaker was doubled over with laughter next to him. "Should we use the pine cones?," Sideswipe managed to choke out. "Yeah...let's...," Sunstreaker uttered between laughs. Then they turned and picked up some pine cones from their hidden stash, still laughing.

After a few minutes, Red Alert managed to transform painfully. "Twins," he half growled half moaned, "I'm gonna personally off-line you." He secretly wished for a Decepticon attack. 'Then the twins would forget about pranking me for awhile.' Looking around, he spotted the twins standing nearby, pine cones in their hands. "Don't even think about it," he snarled, giving them a look that would send even Megatron running for his life. Naturally, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker didn't listen to him.

Hoist was in Wheeljack's lab finishing up tests on the engineer's latest invention, when Red Alert staggered in. "Hello Hoist," Red Alert muttered weakly. Hoist started to return Red Alert's greeting even as he looked up, but the greeting died as soon as he saw his mate. "Red Alert!," Hoist cried, shocked by his appearance, "what happened to you?" Red Alert stood just inside the doorway, covered in blue and pink paint, leaves, and pine cones and there was a large dent in his chest. "Two someones named Sideswipe and Sunstreaker happened to me," Red Alert moaned. "I really need a hug right now." Hoist was quick to oblige. "Come on, Red Alert, let's get you fixed up," Hoist said gently as he led his mate toward the medbay.