Fallout: Adaptions
"Truth or Dare"
by Nan00k

This was written for my long-time beta, Shantastic, for her birthday a few years ago (if you can believe it). It's a very silly story, but hey, you've come to expect this, haven't you?

There are some "spoilers" for future chapter installments in this chapter, but nothing terribly major.

This takes place after Danny goes viral, so to speak, so that's why she has her camera with her. I'm warning you now: this is total silliness!

.

Overall Warnings: canon character/OC, character deaths, foul language, violence, disturbing imagery and discussion, religious ideological discussions, slash (aka two or more asexual aliens who are seen as male), and original characters
Disclaimer: Transformers © Dreamworks/Hasbro. The original characters found in this story were created explicitly for this story and its sibling stories.

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Camera in hand, Danny crossed the threshold of the tiny room Bluestreak and Kass shared on their shuttle home. It was a tight fit for everyone, but it was the safest place for right now. If Prowl or Lennox caught wind of their game, Sideswipe had warned her, they would have called it off. It was too personal and too fun, the frontliner had said, mocking their commanders. Danny didn't know if she agreed that neither Prowl nor Lennox understood fun, but they certainly would have reservations about the game. At least Woodstock would like this, but he was in London right now.

Her plan was simple: get a few mechs (Trailbreaker, Hound, Jolt, Bluestreak and Sideswipe had been off duty and willing), plus a few humans (Rachel and Barns had agreed to help since Kass was working with Ratchet), and settle everyone down for maybe an hour worth of game play. She had her regular camera ready to use for the occasion, because this wasn't just about playing Truth or Dare.

Ever since Prowl, Woodstock, and Keller green-lit her Youtube channel Get to Know 'Bot-Us , Danny had felt she was successful in doing public relations work with the people of Earth. Millions of people had visited her page and most of the comments had been positive. Humanity liked seeing the Autobots in a casual setting and Danny did her best to give them as much access as possible for them to know these aliens weren't really robots. It seemed to work, and Danny actively tried to think of new ways to connect to their audience.

Sideswipe had suggested they play Truth or Dare in the rec room earlier that week, but that had appealed to Danny for an episode. It was a dangerous game, maybe, considering just who would be playing, but it could be funny. And funny, Danny had learned in the last six months, sold spectacularly online.

The last person to arrive was Jolt, who had to sneak past Ironhide in order to get to Bluestreak's room, since they didn't want the officers involved. With the mechs taking up ninety percent of the floor and berth space, the humans climbed up to the desk and Danny set the camera up there carefully. She was still learning how to use the technology, but it wasn't difficult. Getting everyone into the frame was still interesting…

"Let's play," Sideswipe complained impatiently. Rachel had taken a book out to read during the wait.

Danny huffed. "I'm working as fast as I can." She didn't really have a script to start with, so she had to think up a quick opener as she finished tinkering with the tripod.

After several minutes of nitpicking the position, Danny turned and gave her friends the cue that they were starting. It wasn't live, so she could edit it later. Actually, she mused, she'd have to edit it, even if she got her lines flawlessly.

This game… would need a lot of censoring. Otherwise, Prowl would glitch, Woodstock would curse a lot, and Danny would have to answer to Keller. And he wasn't very nice when he got angry.

Camera light on, Danny stood back and waved into the dark lens, knowing her friends were paying the camera attention now, too.

"Welcome, Youtube, to the first ever Get to Know 'Bot-Us special! My name is Danny, in case you're new. Anyway, today, I've organized a game with some of my Autobot and human friends, for everyone to really get a chance to know who we are," she said cheerfully. She motioned behind her at the circle of mech and humans. "Today, we're playing 'Truth or Dare.' It's the first time some of our mech friends are playing this. Actually, it's the first time most of them have even heard of it, but we'll teach it to them."

"I have a bad feeling about this," Trailbreaker rumbled. Hound laughed.

Danny grinned. "Don't. It's not too crazy. Well, with Sideswipe and Barns, we're sort of doomed, but don't worry anyway," she said, making Jolt laugh. Danny hastily pointed around their circle. "Now, let's introduce everyone. The dark armored mech is Trailbreaker. Beside him is Sideswipe, then Bluestreak, and Jolt is the blue one on the end. Up here on the human-safe desk is my fiancé Barns and our friend Rachel. And of course on this end, the handsome green guy is Hound. You guys know him."

"Howdy!" the dark green mech called, as friendly as always. He was still famous for his official appearances with Keller, even years later.

"Oh, Primus," Sideswipe sighed. Jolt snickered.

Sidestepping the teasing, Danny waved her hands excitedly. "Okay, here's how we're playing. We're starting off at a random person picking the person across from them. After that person does truth or dare, they then move to pick the person on the right hand of the person who asked them the question. We keep going until, well, I'm not sure." She turned and gave her friends a smile. "But does everyone understand?"

Eyes narrowed, Rachel looked disgruntled. "Why did you make this so complicated?" she demanded. Danny frowned.

"Fine," she muttered. She pointed at the red mech toward the center of the circle. "Sideswipe, you go first."

"Oh, God, we're going to die," Rachel immediately said.

"Shut up!" Sideswipe shot back. He sniffed indignantly. "I don't use my best tricks in the first round."

Danny was counting on Sideswipe, Jolt and Barns to make this funny, but she also shared Rachel's dread. She hoped they wouldn't be too offensive. "You're asking Rachel first," Danny explained, pointing at the blond woman who looked alarmed. "Then, she picks the person to your right, who happens to be Trailbreaker. He would then ask Barns when it's his turn to ask. Got it?"

Bluestreak smiled happily. "Okay." The others nodded, though Hound was still looking uncertain.

"Why not just do it randomly ? This makes no sense!" Rachel continued to complain, but Barns hushed her.

"So!" Danny sat down with flourish, hopeful for a smooth beginning. "Let's get started."

"Alrighty then…" Sideswipe began, rubbing his hands together dramatically. He leered across the circle at his human target. "Rachel. Truth or dare?"

While distrustful, Rachel fearlessly met her "step-brother's" grin with a glare. "Truth," she said. At Barns' scoff, she pointed around the circle aggressively. "I don't trust any single one of you mofos." Trailbreaker laughed loudly at that.

Sideswipe caught their attention by leaning closer. "Is your hair naturally blond?" he asked.

Rachel's eyes narrowed even more. "Of course not. I dyed it every week while running around the apocalypse," she snapped, sarcastic. "Are you stupid ?Yes , it's natural!"

"Yeah, she's related to the neurotic blond kid who's dating Kass," Jolt added.

"Miles isn't too bad," Bluestreak said, a bit reluctant.

Danny sighed. At least the question hadn't been too offensive. "Whatever. Next!" she called. She pointed at her friend. "Rachel, you ask the next person next to Sideswipe."

That person happened to be Trailbreaker, who smiled politely at Rachel, who was staring at him intensely, obviously thinking hard on her question.

"Truth or dare?" she asked.

"Well, I suppose I'll go with dare," Trailbreaker replied, chuckling. "Not much you humans can do to us to embarrass us."

"Wanna bet?" Danny asked, grinning. She already had a few ideas—

"I dare you," Rachel began, "to lick Hound's optic."

There was a long silence.

" WHAT ? !" Sideswipe screeched while Jolt fell over laughing. Trailbreaker had made a harsh grinding sound, like a human might make a gasp.

"You heard me," Rachel said, smirking mercilessly. She pointed at Trailbreaker and then at Hound. "You guys have tongue-like things. Lick his eyeball."

Let it never be said that she wasn't Jazz's daughter , Danny thought, even if Thundercracker's scowl was her more common imitation.

"What the hell is wrong with you? !" Sideswipe continued, now hysterical.

"Hey!" Danny exclaimed. "I don't want to censor everything you say!"

Trailbreaker looked revolted. "Oh, Primus, are you serious? Can I change to Truth?" he asked, desperately toward Danny.

"Nope!" Rachel told him, smirking wickedly. "Lick it, or chicken out."

With no one backing him up and Sideswipe giggling madly, Trailbreaker slowly turned his helm and looked at his smaller friend. "…Hound?" he questioned, unsure. Danny wondered if he was asking permission.

Hound was flustered. "Why me?" the tracker complained. He looked torn between amused and actually upset. "If Ratchet hears about this, he's going to turn us all into spare parts."

"Well, not me," Rachel said, grinning confidently. "Sucks for you mechs though."

"Ugh." Trailbreaker looked disgruntled. "This has to be the stupidest thing I've ever done."

"The best thing I've ever SEEN ," Sideswipe crowed, still beside himself. "Or yet to see. Get to it!"

His battle mask already retracted, Trailbreaker moved slower toward Hound, who was staring at him with wild dismay. Barns was laughing the whole time, which probably didn't help, but at least Sideswipe was only watching the whole thing with the eager eyes of a gleeful hawk. Hound didn't move an inch, the brave mech that he was, even though he looked like he wanted to. Trailbreaker moved painfully slow, which probably only added to the tense silence of the room.

Optics shuttered tightly, Trailbreaker finally was close enough to stick his glossa out (a poor copy for a human tongue, but Danny was sure scientists watching the video would probably wet themselves at the concept anyway) and it touched the outer edge of Hound's right optic, which Danny was vaguely certain was only open because Hound was too stunned to move.

Danny abruptly realized her jaw was hanging open in a breathless grin the entire time. Sideswipe squealed. Trailbreaker immediately backed away from Hound straight into the berth wall.

" There !" Trailbreaker made a horrid face, which was odd for him, since he didn't often partake in Jazz or Wildrider's habit of mimicking human facial expressions. Hound was busy shielding his shuttered optics while the other mechs laughed loudly at their expense. "Primus above, you guys are ruthless . Mirage is gonna kick my aft for that."

Rachel smirked. "Buddy, I ain't even started," she said, surprising Danny. Normally she hated these games, but maybe she was just in a competitive mood. She pointed at Trailbreaker. "But it's now your turn."

Despite being visibly discomforted, Trailbreaker always was one of the more easy-going mechs and was quick to forgive. "Right," he muttered. He looked up at the desk. "That would be Barns I'm asking."

"Oh, goody," Barns replied, still amused by the previous antics. He pursed his lips, considering. "I pick… dare."

Jolt laughed. "Brave man." He was, Danny mused, since now all bets were off when it came to ridiculous dares. They couldn't expect what would happen next now.

"Okay. I dare you to… hmm." Trailbreaker peered at the human with a scrutinizing visor. "I saw you do a backflip before."

Barns laughed loudly. "Ha! Want me to do that here? I'll do it on the floor, not up high." The table they were on was too high to consider doing such tricks on.

"No, not that," Trailbreaker replied. He pointed at the desktop. "I dare you to walk on your hands. The length of the desk."

Danny held a hand up to her face. "Ooooh." Bluestreak and Jolt both looked up with interest; human flexibility was always a source of amusement for the mechs, who simply weren't anywhere near as bendable as humans were.

Despite the mild danger of the heights involved, Barns stood up and seemed just as amused as his friends. "Ha, okay, I can do that," he said genially. He clasped his hands together. "I think. Give me space."

Rachel and Danny backed up to the back of the desk to give Barns room, while Bluestreak and Hound took positions at either end of the desk, just in case Barns tipped over near the ledges. Danny was nervous watching the man tip forward so close to the edge of the table, but within only two tries, he was upside down. Jolt and Bluestreak were amused by the trick, while Sideswipe and Trailbreaker looked mildly disturbed; to them, it must have seemed unnatural.

At a hilarious pace, Barns made it across the table only on his hands. His friends cheered him on after he almost tipped to the side about half way across, but Danny was happy when he finally got to Hound's side of the desk and gracefully tipped his feet back to the ground.

"Whew!" he exclaimed. His face was red from being upside down, but he smiled at Trailbreaker, looking for his approval. "Did I succeed?"

"Yeah." The dark mech shook his helm, bemused. "Sigma, human bodies are weird."

"We're flexible ," Danny reminded him.

"My turn to ask!" Barns said. His gaze shifted to the right of Trailbreaker. "Ah, Hound. Truth or Dare?"

"Primus protect me," Hound prayed, glancing upwards jokingly before he looked back at the brown haired man. "Truth."

Barns' smile turned into a grin. "Is it true you punched Optimus Prime in the face?"

"Whoa, what ?" Jolt exclaimed, stunned. Sideswipe again cracked up, while Danny herself momentarily choked. "Why have I never heard this story?"

Hound, however, did not seem nearly as amused as the others did. "I—wait, how did ya hear about that ? !" he demanded, horrified.

"I have my sources," Barns replied simply. "Namely, Jazz. But anyway, is it true?"

There was a pause. Every eye and optic was on poor Hound, who seemed to grow smaller and small under the attention. A brief mental struggle flashed through his optics.

"…Yes," he admitted, sounding meek. Bluestreak gasped.

" How ? !" Rachel demanded, baffled. "He has, like, six feet on you!"

All at once, Hound began to ramble. "We were under attack, b'fore Iacon had fallen!" he exclaimed hurriedly. "I had gone out t'give th' frontliners more cover, but we had t'fall back. I turned a corner around a debris pile an' he just sorta came up outta no where. I lashed out. Luckily, it was superficial, an' he hardly gave it no attention." The tracker ran a hand over his faceplates, the closest to blushing from embarrassment Danny had ever seen a mech be. "Primus, I musta apologized fer decaorns."

Despite the fact Sideswipe, Barns, and Jolt were laughing over it, and the rest of the group were equally amused but held their laughter back for Hound's sake, no one really knew how to respond to the story. Danny was glad they had this moment, even if it was embarrassing for poor Hound; it definitely showed a human side to the mechs.

"I'm still in awe you managed to hit him in the face," Rachel admitted, eyes narrowed. "How did you reach ?" The height difference was pretty poignant.

Hound grimaced. "I'm not even sure," he muttered, sheepish.

Barns and Sideswipe cracked up again. Danny giggled behind her hand and was sincerely glad they were recording this, just for their own memory keeping.

"Ha, ha," Hound grouched. "My turn. Jolt, truth or dare?"

They continued around the circle quickly. Jolt chose to do his own shortly lived hand-stand, Bluestreak told an (irritatingly) long story about his first love affair with some security 'bot which had sent Danny, Rachel, and Barns covering their ears in mild horror, and Sideswipe completed the first round by choosing to prank call a local TV station by pretending to be Sector-7 trying to set up an interview, with Agent Simmons' phone number as the callback number. Danny herself had to throw a handful of ice cubes down her shirt, which had been an ordeal all by itself trying to get the ice from the kitchen without alerting the NEST soldiers. But they had been okay, otherwise.

An odd silence fell over the group once Sideswipe had finished his phone call. Danny bit her lip, trying to think of something to do instead of just ending the game. It seemed so… brief.

"Wanna go another round?" Sideswipe suddenly said, looking mildly hopeful. Most of them had signed up for a single game, but now, everyone seemed interested. Even the ones who had been embarrassed.

Danny grinned enthusiastically. "Sure! We gotta." Her fans demanded it.

"Right," Barns joked. He turned to the others. "Sideswipe, truth or dare?"

Another round was had, and it became even sillier. The only really negative thing that had happened was when Jolt challenged Rachel to flash her chest at the camera, but that was quickly voted out (Vortex's wrath wasn't worth the joke by any means) so he instead asked her to sing a popular song. By the end of the second round, Bluestreak had signed most of NEST's officers up for free Pampers samples, and Danny had survived the Cinnamon Challenge (they promised to clean the mess up later before Kass got upset about her room being messy.)

Again, they were left at the end of the round feeling oddly disappointed.

"We gotta up the stakes here," Sideswipe complained. "Let's make this tougher."

Danny nodded, though she was a bit worried about going too crazy. They had done okay so far. They hadn't attracted any of the officers, at least.

Not yet.

"Jolt, truth or dare?" Trailbreaker began, looking down the circle at the mech in question.

"Dare," the blue Autobot replied, confident.

"I dare you…" the huge dark mech began, visor narrowed, "to dance."

Jolt frowned. "Dance? That isn't hard."

"…behind at least four of the officers on base, provocatively."

There was another pause. Jolt looked stunned and Sideswipe had frozen with his hands clutched at his faceplates, looking utterly gleeful. Rachel had choked. Bluestreak looked torn between asking a question and simply giggling.

"You sick slagger," Jolt swore. He grinned. "I'll do it!"

"Oh, my God," Barns said, laughing. He covered his face with his hands.

"Guys, I don't know," Danny began, nervous. It was pretty funny, though.

"Bonus fer not getting caught," Hound added, laughing. "Double bonus if ya get Prime."

Grabbing her camera, Danny nearly fell over laughing at that image. They might get caught, but they'd go down on tape, at least.

0000

They had a few officers on Earth. The more obvious ones were Optimus, Ratchet, Ironhide, and Prowl. Three out of the four were suicidal to try, and even Optimus probably would have gotten angry if he caught Jolt. However, they had other options. Mirage was head of Special Ops (Hound had shot that idea down quickly, though) and Jazz was a lieutenant now, so he counted. Both would probably catch a prankster in a matter of nano-seconds, however, so they were out, too.

Danny had ruled out Optimus eventually, since she didn't think pranking the Autobot leader publically would be good PR (Woodstock had told her that a few months ago, actually). They did have some other officers, like Smokescreen, who was under Prowl in Tactical, and Silverbolt, who was an officer because he was the leader of the Aerialbots. Hot Shot wasn't on Earth currently.

"Okay, I'm gonna go after Smokescreen first," Jolt said, whispering to their small group who had followed him. Hound and Bluestreak had agreed to stay behind to avoid drawing a large crowd, while Trailbreaker and Barns were playing watch guards out in the hallway.

Sideswipe frowned. "His doorwings would pick you up in like a second." That was true, since the doorwings on Praxians were high-powered sensory panels. Danny quickly explained that to the camera.

"I'm gonna keep my distance," Jolt replied, confident. Poor Smokescreen was inside the command center currently, hooked up to the human computers. He was alone, since Prowl was busy with the humans elsewhere on base and it was lunchtime for any human officers who worked with him.

"Oh, Primus, this is going to end hysterically," Trailbreaker said. He had laughed more in the last hour than Danny had ever remembered him doing before.

They were very lucky Red Alert had yet to set up security cameras, or else people in charge of monitoring the halls would have seen their oddly large group move toward the command center. Danny had to rush a bit to keep up with Jolt, just to make sure she had him on tape. She wondered, belatedly, what the rest of their NEST friends would say after the video went up. She doubted Smokescreen or the other targeted officers would find Jolt's prank amusing.

Then again, this was hilarious, so Danny didn't pay those doubts much heed. She was too busy trying not to laugh as Jolt slipped inside the command center while the rest of them tried to be as quiet as possible a little ways down the hallway. Danny took up the position by the door in order to get the whole thing on camera.

Jolt was a master at distractions, just like Jazz and Sideswipe were. He greeted Smokescreen cheerfully, which Smokescreen did turn around for.

"Just uploading some patrol data for Prowl," Jolt said. Smokescreen nodded and turned back to his own work. Jolt had pretended to hook into the computer perpendicular to the gray mech, but once Smokescreen had turned around, Jolt immediately turned and started to dance.

Danny had seen just as many music videos as her three closest human friends had, courtesy of other humans on base, or from Jazz's "human tutoring." She had never found the more vulgar dance moves attractive (though she marveled at the human ability for bending one's body into odd shapes), but now… it was hilarious.

Shameless, Jolt began to mimic some of the worst dances Danny remembered seeing online and on MTV . Without the music to accompany it, Danny had wondered if it would have the same effect. She was proven wrong by the enthusiastic Jolt, who began to rhythmically sashay behind Smokescreen, with just enough distance between them that Smokescreen's doorwings didn't notice the air disturbance.

Barely able to withhold her laughter, Danny wondered how difficult it would be to add music in later to the video files, just to make it even better.

Jolt continued to dance for almost a full minute, hands on his helm, thrusting his hips out toward Smokescreen and alternatively reversing he gesture with his aft. Danny clasped a hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle, which unfortunately blew Jolt's cover.

Whirling around, Smokescreen immediately honed in on Jolt, who had hastily finished off his last thrust and threw his arms over his head as if mimicking a human stretch. Smokescreen hesitated at the sight.

"What the Pit are you doing?" the Praxian asked, optics narrowed in suspicion. There wasn't anything accusatory in his tone or posture, so he must have just missed seeing that last dance move.

"Sorry, had to stretch," Jolt replied, grinning. He swirled out of the room gracefully. "Later, Smokey!"

He skipped past Danny, who barely managed to dodge to the side. She couldn't hold back her laughter as she stumbled after him. Sideswipe gave him a round of applause while Trailbreaker and the other humans simply cracked up at Jolt elegant bow.

One down, three more to go , Danny thought cheerfully.

Their next target found them. Danny had seen Sideswipe's gaze go to Ironhide when they saw him headed their way out in Hangar B. Jolt went ahead without them, nearly walking past Ironhide's travel route before he stopped and pretended to only notice Ironhide then.

"Hey, 'Hide!" Jolt said cheerfully as the older mech passed.

Unsurprisingly, Ironhide didn't pay him (or polite exchanges) much attention. "Hmph." He walked straight past the junction where the shuttle and the hangar met, where the rest of their group were waiting in gleeful silence.

Jolt neatly closed the distance between him and the weapons' specialist, shimmying into a dance right behind him. Danny was amazed at his stealth; Jazz should have recommended the blue mech for their Special Ops, honestly. For the spectators, they were less subtle. When Jolt started to pretend shake his way up Ironhide's back while amazing keeping pace with the departing mech, Sideswipe finally cracked, which only set Barns and Trailbreaker off.

Ironhide whipped around at the laughter and Jolt barely managed to stop dancing in time. He played it off smoothly by pretending to ask the mech about an upcoming weapons drill and Ironhide irritably told him the date, obviously not trusting the laughing group not that far away. Still, Ironhide let Jolt go without questioning the source of the hysterical Lambo in the shuttle entrance.

Jolt wasn't nearly as amused when he got up to their group. "Shut up, you're gonna give me away if you laugh the whole time!" he hissed, mainly at Sideswipe.

Barns was almost in tears. "I can't… this is too much!" he said, laughing into the crook of his arm as he leaned against the wall. Danny could barely keep the camera still in her hands. Trying to be a non-partial videographer was impossible at this rate.

"Two more!" Trailbreaker announced. He pushed Jolt ahead of them back out toward the hangar and they scouted for another officer.

They found some of the Aerialbots back in the rec room, or rather, the converted Hangar A. Slingshot, Air Raid and Silverbolt were playing video games on the modified Xbox 360 WJ had made up for them. Danny liked the Aerialbots a lot and they seemed to really like Earth culture. For the three on the huge bench-couch thing Hoist had constructed, their attentions were easily ensnared by the games. Danny picked out a corner to set the camera up to watch their expressions as Jolt slid up behind them.

"'Sup, 'Bots," Jolt said coyly.

"Hey," Silverbolt replied, without even flinching. Neither of his brothers looked up either as Jolt abruptly and silently began to dance behind them. The TV was mesmerizing like that.

"Can you ask the humans to get more video games?" Air Raid asked, oblivious to Jolt sliding and jutting his pelvic region behind his helm. "We're almost done GTA IV ."

"Sure," Jolt said, never having to take a breath that would have revealed his seamless dancing efforts. Danny made a rather obnoxious sound as he continued to talk calmly. "Oh, hey, I loved that mission. Did you steal the ambulance yet—?"

How the hell they managed to survive that, Danny wasn't sure. She had to literally cover her mouth and nose at one point to stop herself from laughing out loud as Jolt danced for nearly a full minute, and the fliers never noticed. Even when Slingshot eventually did look up, Jolt neatly finished a move and covered it smoothly by patting Silverbolt on the shoulder and said his goodbyes. Danny stumbled out after him before the 'Bots could ask them what the camera was for.

This was turning out to be the best dare yet. Danny gave herself and her friends a moment to collect themselves outside (Rachel and Barns were beside themselves with giggles), and they tried to figure out who would be Jolt's next victim.

"Last one." Sideswipe sent his blue friend an oddly dreamy look. "Go the distance, dude."

Jolt's expression hardened as he apparently thought of his remaining options. "…Where's med-bay?" he asked, optics glinting in the fluorescent light of the corridor.

Danny grinned. "You are my hero," she told him, meaning it emphatically.

They had to be extremely careful with the last target; even Sideswipe sobered up to a serious state as they crept as innocently as possible toward the med-bay and science bay areas. Danny could hear WJ and Beachcomber talking cheerfully down the hall, but luckily, Ratchet was the only mech in the med-bay. She wasn't sure what he worked on when there was no one was injured, but he always did seem busy.

The plan was simple, but required a volunteer. Rachel reminded them that Kass was on duty, too, so she quickly dashed in to get Kass to talk "about some stuff." Kass had been indifferent to the sudden request, but once she saw the whole herd of them (especially Sideswipe's grin), she tried to backpedal into the room.

Danny quickly reassured her it wasn't a prank-prank, especially not toward her. A rushed explanation of the game made Kass grow more and more suspicious. She didn't look pleased when they asked her for her help.

"You're joking," Kass said, eyes narrowed particularly at the camera in Danny's hands.

Jolt grinned. "Come on, Kass, help a mech out," he pleaded.

After much prodding, Kass agreed to distract Ratchet, but that was it. She went back into the med-bay stiffly, and Danny hoped she'd be able to pull the joke off. Kass could keep a pretty straight face, but not to the extent Barns or Jazz could. They waited a minute before Jolt inched his way into the med-bay, again as silent as a cat.

Kass had asked Ratchet to help her look at an elbow joint she was supposed to be learning how to repair in a fake arm he had set up for her. While the medic calmly explained the inner workings of the wiring, Jolt struck. Danny had to lean somewhat into the room in order to get anything but Jolt's backside.

They had to give both Jolt and Ratchet credit. Jolt lasted a total of twenty seconds, and even though Trailbreaker had demanded thirty or above, the target sort of made ten seconds seem like a world record. Ratchet, despite being just a "simple" medic, validated the long standing rumor that he had both optics on the back of his helm as well as some kind of supernatural six-sense when it came to idiots within his presence.

Jolt was in mid-hip thrust when Ratchet spun around from a nervous Kass on the med-bay table with a surprised expression that instantly turned murderous.

" JOLT !" the medic roared. Jolt stopped dancing and his face dropped.

Sideswipe gasped. "Oh, slag, run !" He didn't wait a second hanging around; neither did Trailbreaker or Barns outside.

"Abort, abort!" Danny screamed, dashing after him and Rachel back into the hallway as Ratchet began to hurl tools at Jolt, who by the sound of it didn't get away in time. Danny glanced down at her camera as they ran full speed down the hallway. "That was Ratchet, in case you guys forgot."

She doubted her viewers would have forgotten the Autobot CMO, especially after earlier videos of him screaming. This one would probably be the most infamous, considering the resulting flee from his rage was more akin to some kind of "found-footage" horror movie than a nice introduction video. Even still, she counted it as a success, since even humans had screaming, angry people.

…she sincerely hoped Ratchet never found the resulting video, however. Just in case.

0000

After Jolt managed to escape Ratchet's wrath (it took him about half an hour, and only because Kass had pleaded his case), the game resumed. Despite the close call, everyone seemed even more excited to continue the game and increase the stakes. Perhaps it was the adrenaline, Danny thought.

"Sideswipe, I dare you to get pulled over by the cops," Rachel said, after mulling her prompt over.

Sideswipe snorted. "Pfff, I already do that," he said, unimpressed. Hound sighed quietly; they had all heard Prowl's opinions about how much trouble the Lambo twins got into.

Rachel continued, grinning. "And act like you're drunk. You have to get them to give you a sobriety test."

That gave everyone pause, even while Danny tried to remember if this was a legal thing or not.

"…Challenge accepted," Sideswipe said at length, as if he were accepting a mission to blow up Nemesis single handedly. He exchanged a high-five with Jolt. "I'll do it tonight while on patrol. Can't do it any other time."

Danny decided to save that part of the game for the next day's episode, simply to keep the dare a secret from any officers who ended up watching the first half that evening, before Sideswipe's dare. She knew Prowl, if he ever found out, was going to kill all of them. Regardless, the game continued.

0000

Bluestreak didn't bet big, but as the rounds increased, the gunner finally went with a daring Dare. Barns had grinned so maliciously, Danny felt the immediate need to defend their Praxian friend from whatever her fiancé had in store for him. Luckily, it didn't turn out too dangerous.

… Too dangerous.

"You need to paint something visible on Tracks' back," Barns told him. He laughed at Bluestreak's dismayed face and drooping doorwings.

"B-but if he catches me…" the gunner began, worried. He had the right to be concerned; next to Sunstreaker, Tracks was the most obsessive-compulsive mech when it came to his appearance.

"It'll be a great prank, Blue," Danny reassured him. Besides, catching the act on camera would help point out Tracks as an example of Cybertronians having similar neuroses as humans. She considered that a bonus.

Bluestreak still hesitated. "What if he gets angry?" he asked, clearly nervous that Tracks would physically confront him.

Normally, Danny would defend a fellow Autobot by saying that was unlikely, but since it was Tracks… he could be just as aggressive as the twins. It was a legitimate concern that Danny was certain she'd edit out of the final video. Woodstock would be so proud of her increasing PR senses.

"We'll back you up," Trailbreaker said, encouraging.

"Yeah, and he knows Sunny and me would beat his aft back to Mars if he did anything to you," Sideswipe added, clapping Bluestreak on the back hard enough to jostle him. "Come on, Blue, let's do this!"

It didn't take much convincing Bluestreak to do something when the whole group was prodding him to do it. They borrowed some of Kass' paints and grabbed a brush large enough that Bluestreak could use, and headed off toward the rec room. By that point, the TV had shifted over to the control of some of the other off-duty mechs, including Jabber. Bluestreak waved his duplicate self over to their game-playing group near the hallway entrance.

"Jabber, I need your help," he said to his twin in a hurried whisper. Jabber lit up and they quickly filled him in on the plan.

Just as his duplicate did, Jabber wilted a bit. "Isn't that dangerous?" he asked. Danny could always tell the two mechs apart by how unused to pranks Jabber was compared to Bluestreak, who had spent a decade living with Jazz and Barns.

"Yeah, but it'll be hilarious." Sideswipe helm-bumped his mate. "Come onnnn, Jabs, let's have some fun with that afthead."

It didn't take long to get Jabber on their side either. He moved back over to the couch and proceeded to engage Tracks in a one-sided (and probably unwanted) discussion about Earth animals he found to be adorable. Bluestreak took that time to move up as quickly (and innocuously) as possible. Beachcomber saw him move in with the raised paintbrush, but Sideswipe and Trailbreaker hurriedly comm'd him, Danny learned later, to remain quiet. They were lucky he enjoyed pranks, too, since he remained silent and watched with a smile.

They couldn't risk going up en-masse, so Trailbreaker obligingly held Danny up in the air with her camera to get a distance shot of Bluestreak tentatively moving his paint brush over the small of Tracks' back, where a rectangular piece of armor stuck out. The brush had a limited amount of white paint on it, so whatever he was drawing must have been simple, which Danny was content with. Hound had moved in a bit with Rachel to bear witness to the act.

After a tense minute or two, Bluestreak all but dropped his brush and sped-walked back over to them. He nervously ran past them out the door, probably to hide back in his room until they followed.

"What did he paint? Did he write 'kick me'?" Sideswipe asked, excited, when Rachel and Hound moved back over to the main group again.

"Nope." Rachel arched an eyebrow at him. "He drew a cat."

There was a pause. "…What?" Jolt asked.

"It's Bluestreak ," Hound replied after he disappeared, as if that explained everything.

It sort of did. "Point," Sideswipe conceded. He waved goodbye to Jabber, who was scheduled for a patrol soon, so he couldn't join them.

They barely made it halfway back to the shuttle dorms when they heard the echoing sound of Tracks' enraged screams.

This video was definitely going to get them killed, Danny mused. Totally worth it!

0000

It was Jolt's turn to ask Rachel. Danny knew something bad was about to happen, considering the evil glint in Jolt's optics. Rachel faced him down bravely and adamantly declared, "Dare."

"I dare you to go kiss Agent Simmons," the blue mech replied bluntly.

Before anyone else had the chance to react at that insane dare, Rachel was on her feet, enraged. "FUCK YOU!" she screamed.

Danny waved her hands toward the camera. "Whoa! Language!" she exclaimed.

"No, fuck you," Rachel continued, seething toward Jolt. " No damn way."

"Why not?" Sideswipe demanded, frowning.

"For two very good reasons. The first being that if Vortex finds out, he's going to kill that creeper, and we'll get in trouble with Keller," she spat. She pointed at herself. "Second reason being that I'll kill myself afterwards, too."

"You have to do a dare though!" Sideswipe complained. "You made Trailbreaker lick Hound's optic!"

Rachel's glare increased tenfold. "HOUND ISN'T AGENT SIMMONS!" she howled.

Silence.

"She has a point," Hound said, reluctant.

"Sorry, Simmons," Danny whispered to the camera, not entirely apologetic.

Frustrated, Jolt tried to compromise. "Fine! You have to do something to him remotely sexual."

"Oh, God," Barns said, the pitiful prayer muffled by his hands again. Danny herself was vaguely sickened. It was a good thing Kass wasn't there, or else she would probably have gone to get an officer.

"Slap his ass instead," Sideswipe offered, grinning again.

That only made Rachel go redder. "WHAT? !" she shrieked. Danny winced at the volume.

"Ya can just say ya meant t' punch him in th' back," Hound offered, chuckling. Trailbreaker was just shaking his helm.

Sideswipe nodded sagely. "That's sort of normal for you," he added. Danny snorted.

Rachel glared at both mechs. "Shut up," she hissed. With an angry growl, she threw her hands up. "Oh, fuck's sake, fine !"

Jolt and Sideswipe exchanged a high-five over Bluestreak, who ducked. "Yessss!"

Like a wave of water, Sideswipe and Jolt quickly riled Hound and Trailbreaker to follow them after Rachel, who had climbed off the desk and marched out the door with as much dignity as possible. Danny admired her courage, but was beginning to dread what sort of outcome this might have.

While that herd disappeared out the door and Danny went to grab the camera, Bluestreak looked worriedly over at Danny and Barns.

"Does this mean Rachel is cheating on Vortex?" he asked in a quiet voice, concern in his optics.

Barns choked. "Not a chance in Hell, Blue," Danny said, trying desperately not to laugh.

0000

"Yo, Simmons."

Agent Simmons had about three seconds to look up from the document in his hands to notice Rachel's menacing approach from behind, but that wasn't enough time.

"Wha— HEY !"

Danny was holding the camera from the doorway, grinning mostly from sheer adrenaline. Rachel had marched up behind the ex-Sector-7 agent and slapped him on the rear with enough force that the taller man stumbled forward. He spun around and seemed struck speechless as he gawked at the blond woman.

"Oops. Meant to break your spine," Rachel said without prompt. She turned around, ignoring the bewildered stares of other NEST soldiers nearby. She was holding the offending hand up in the air away from herself as if it wasn't actually a part of her body. "Time to wash my hands until the first three layers of skin come off."

Simmons had turned a rather poignant shade of red and sputtered angrily.

"I will not tolerate sexual harassment in the workplace!" he exclaimed.

Turning to walk backwards, Rachel gestured downwards violently. "Suck my dick !" she called back.

"Rachel!" Danny shouted, aghast. She'd definitely have to cut that!

Poking in his head into the lobby at Simmons' indignant yelling, Prowl immediately focused in on the humans. " What is going on?" he demanded.

"Gotta go!" Danny replied quickly, grabbing Rachel and they dashed out of the room. Their accomplices ran with them before Prowl could even have the chance to catch up.

"I think we may want to call it a night," Barns said, breathless.

The others reluctantly agreed, especially when Ratchet ran into them and took aim at Jolt again. Danny turned her overheated camera off and rushed back to her room to get editing.

0000

Five Hours Later

Approximately three hours after uploaded the edited and severely censored video ( boy , she was getting better at this editing software), Danny went over to the hangar where the non-Green Card mechs recharged temporarily. She sat down next to Jolt, who was sitting innocently in his alt-mode.

"So," Danny began.

"So," Jolt answered, prompting more of a response.

Danny pursed her lips. "The good news is that my viewer numbers have increased and people liked you guys," she said. "Jazz was jealous he couldn't make it, but he said we were funny."

Jolt's tires moved to the side a bit, like he was shifting on his feet. "The bad news?" he asked.

"Woodstock and Prowl found the video, too."

Silence.

"Well. Slag," he said.

Danny grimaced. "Slag," she agreed.

0000

About two hours after reprimanding the responsible mechs and confiscating the raw footage which definitely would cause a stir if it were ever released, Prowl had hoped the indecent game those eight had played earlier would fade from memory. There had been general chaos on base, with Simmons screaming about lawsuits and Ratchet having a spark-attack over all of the somewhat dangerous things (and insultive things, like Jolt's dancing, which had created a firestorm online) found in the video. Prowl had also endured a forty-minute conversation with Keller over the phone, who was none-too-pleased by the media attention the video was getting. Woodstock claimed it had done well by them, but that did little to please the Director.

The positive side of this was that it was just another example to give humanity that the mechs were just like them. The negative side was this had made all of them look incredibly stupid . The pundits were having a field day with this.

Primus knew why any of his soldiers would ever participate in such a ridiculous activity, but he knew Danny was a force to be reckoned with, just like Jazz. She was very lucky they had had such success with her Youtube channel before, or else, Prowl would have had his way and gotten rid of it, and thus, the threat of indecent exposure of their army's more idiotic members.

After all of that chaos earlier, Prowl had almost begun to relax. Those accountable were lectured and everyone had gone back to their duties. The patrols had gone out and everything was calm on base. At last, it was over.

It was, at least, until Arcee entered his office, wearing a strained grimace.

"Sir, the Plumas police department just called. They said they have a speeding mech who won't leave them alone, who is also demanding a sobriety test," she said. A pained look crossed her faceplates. "Their description of the mech's exterior fits Sideswipe."

Prowl glared at the wall behind her and his doorwings twitched.

" DANNY !"

.

End "Truth or Dare."

Next, Arcee and Wildrider take their relationship to the next level. With some drastic miscalculations.

.

A/Ns:
-Yes, Jolt was doing the Ellen DeGeneres Dance Challenge. Google it for better visuals…
-Yes, Jabber = this time's Bluestreak. Bluestreak is from the year 2054, Jabber is from 2009. Same mech, only with very faint personality differences. His chapter is upcoming.
-Yes, Bluestreak and Sunny are dating (or the Cybertronian version of it.) Yes, Jabber and Sideswipe are dating. Again, future chapter.
-"The Cinnamon Challenge" – is a very unpleasant challenge where you try to eat one tablespoon of Cinnamon without the use of water in over sixty seconds. Don't try it, seriously.