Stormfire: Robotic Holidays

Holiday Stories 2014: Stormfire
Robotic Holidays

It was winter in Exition, which really didn’t mean anything. It did not snow, and the only reason it got colder was because there was a huge cloud of fallout in the air. Jetstream hated this weather. It made his joints hard to move.
He yawned and lay down on the ground. There were no duties for the day, as Stride was currently out on a scouting patrol. This meant that he had the entire day to freeze. Oh, what fun…
Watchman approached him. “What’s going on?”
“Bored out of my mind.” Jetstream growled. “And it’s cold to top it off. What is with this weather?”
“It is cold.” Watchman commented. “Certainly enough to freeze one’s joints, I’d say.”
Jetstream yawned. “The Battle Gears are scouting, which means I have an entire day to suffer through the cold.”
“What do you wanna do?”
“Let’s go exploring then, shall we?” Jetstream smirked. “We’ve got a very busy day ahead of us, you know?
“Sure.”
Jetstream lashd out his clawshots and rode to the top of a skyscraper. Watchman drove his swords through the skyscraper and followed. Halfway up, Jetstream lowered himself down halfway and spoke to Watchman.
“Dude, there’s something up here!” Jetstream cried. “I don’t know what it is exactly, but it…it’s pretty weird.”
“What is it?” asked Watchman.
Jetstream shrugged. “Come up here and see.”
The two robots made their way to the top and peered over the edge. They discovered a ghost-like creature relaxing on a lawn chair. He held up a sun tanning mirror and wore sunglasses. Both of the robots stared in curiosity at the strange phenomenon.
“What the hell is that?” asked Jetstream.
“It might be some sort of ghost.” Watchman spoke. “I’ve heard many stories about delirious people seeing apparitions such as this.”
“Do you think he’s dangerous?” asked Jetstream.
“Let’s find out.” Watchman growled. The two of them readied themselves and leaped onto the roof. They towered over the ghost, being as they were both at least seven feet tall. It immediately dropped its tanning mirror and covered its face with its arms.
“Please! Don’t hurt me!”
“Who are you?” growled Jetstream.
“My name is Holy.” He explained. “I’m the Spirit of the Holidays. I’ve come to spread the joy of the holidays.”
“’Spirit of the Holidays’? That sounds a little suspicious…” Jetstream grumbled.
“No, it’s legitimate.” Holy nodded. “I promise.”
“Prove it.”
Holy thought for a moment. “Well, I can’t really prove anything other than the fact that I’m a spirit.”
Watchman nodded. “He’s a Holiday Spirit? What is that?”
“Beats me.” Jetstream grumbled. “Must be some sort of gimmick that the Battle Gears have to try and bolster morale.”
“What are you referring to?” asked Holy.
“There’s been a war here on Exition.” Watchman explained. “We’re currently rebelling against the Fuel Empire, who have embargoed all supplies on the rest of the world.”
Holy shook his head. “That’s terrible. What’s going to happen?”
“Who knows?” grumbled Jetstream. “All we know is that the Battle Gears will prevail.”
“Battle Gears…is that the team you guys are on?”
“Yes.” Jetstream spoke. “We’re the rebellion.”
“As Frederick Douglass said, the only thing worse than rebellion is the thing that causes rebellion.”
“What does that mean?” asked Holy.
“No idea.” Replied Jetstream.
Holy murmured. “Well, in any case, I don’t have much to offer you, but in the name of the Spirit of the Holidays, I will be giving you each candy canes to snack on.” He handed two each to Jetstream and Watchman. “Enjoy.”
Jetstream glanced at the candies. “Thanks.”
Holy grinned. “My pleasure. Now I have to go, but I do hope you guys have a Happy Holidays. So long!”
Holy waved farewell before engulfing himself in a flash of light and disappearing in thin air. Jetstream yawned. “Well, what are we supposed to do with all this candy?”
“What do you mean?” asked Watchman.
“We can’t eat candy, we’re robots.”
Watchman frowned. “Well, that does seem like a problem…”
Jetstream smashed the candy cane in half and discovered it was filled with oil. “Well, damn. That Holy guy filled these things with oil.”
“Really?” Watchman smashed his candy canes. “How great! The oil will smooth our joints from the cold.”
Jetstream finished running the oil over his plates. “Well, this isn’t so bad after all!”
Watchman smirked. “Wanna head back?”
“I guess so.”
Jetstream and Watchman leaped off of the building and began heading back to the Battle Gears Camp.