Creepin' Crawlies
"This Halloween thing sounds fun," Broadcast said as he wandered into the med bay.
"Which part of it?" Ratchet asked, accessing the Internet to look up the word even as he spoke.
"Goin' house to house an' yellin' 'Trick or Treat' an' collectin' energy goodies!" Broadcast leaped and flipped his way onto the table where the medic was working.
"Those 'goodies' are formulated for human children. What would you do with them? You cannot consume them -- not that you would need that type of stimulant if you could."
"Naw. I'd give it to Sam an' Mikaela. Sam said I'm a good height for posin' as a kid. Even Rhythm an' Blues could come along!" Broadcast grinned.
"Three times the candy, eh?" Ratchet cast a dubious glance at him. "You do realize, do you not, that you are being used?"
The comms officer shrugged. "So? They get the candy, I get to pretend I'm a human an' not get any weird looks for it."
"Broadcast, among the traditions of Halloween, actual children go trick-or-treating. Sam and Mikaela are considered too old, which means you are definitely too old. Act your age, not your height."
"Aw, lighten up, Ratch! It's just a bit of fun. Plus a cultural experience. I mean, what's the point of givin' sweetened stimulants to creatures whose systems ain't mature enough to process such a high energy input? Why carve up the food source known as a 'pumpkin'? Why are arachnids more frightening on Halloween than other days? Man, you could blow a circuit with these nonsensical things. I say it's just fun!" Broadcast threw a fist in the air for emphasis.
"It does have historical roots that are not centered on overcharging children's systems. I suggest you look them up and take note. Rather fascinating, in my opinion."
"Already did. Pretty cool, but I like the partyin' aspect!"
Ratchet chuckled and shook his head. "All right, all right, I concede your point. If you insist on this, be very careful. You are child-sized but not child built. Keep your torso and limbs covered at all times, even if you have to glue a costume on. I'll figure out how to remove it afterward. And be careful of how you walk."
"Paranoid much, doc?" Broadcast smiled teasingly.
"Being overly cautious is what keeps us safe on this planet. Blow this and I will make sure you are stuck as a stereo for the next two years."
"Hey, hey, no need to be drastic. Half the fun is the disguise." Broadcast skittered off the table before Ratchet could make any other threats.
Sam picked up Mikaela at six o'clock on Halloween night, going the long way home past the junkyard, pulling over just long enough for Broadcast to pop out from the bushes and usher Rhythm and Blues into the backseat. The two minimechs hunkered down behind Mikaela's seat while Broadcast buckled in behind Sam. He promptly grabbed the plastic bag beside him and pulled it over his head, costumes and all, to hide himself. "Sweet," he said, voice muffled.
Mikaela and Sam laughed. Bumblebee sighed through his radio. "Broadcast, I have to tell you that you are being ridiculous about this."
"Thanks! You do know I'm just bein' silly for the sake'a bein' silly, right?"
"Of course. But if we were anywhere else, I would be embarrassed to be in your company."
"Lighten up, 'Bee. I'd rather you be in my shoes right now, considerin' ev'rything you went through. A little fun after all the war is what we need! So, aaaaannyway..." Broadcast pulled up the edge of the bag to look at Mikaela, since Sam was busy pretending to drive. "Where are we startin'? I figured I'd get the route mapped out so I don't have to spend as much time directin' R&B."
"We're starting on Sam's street, then going to Hamilton Avenue and over to Clove Road after that." She continued to list streets until they pulled into the Witwicky's driveway. Before they got out, Sam addressed the car.
"Bumblebee, you have my permission to lay a smackdown on anyone who tries to egg or TP you." He started to open the door, then closed it and twisted around to view the backseat. "Broadcast, I know my parents have some understanding of you guys, but try not to scare my mom too much, please?"
The small mech had the bag wrapped around him like a hooded cloak. "Now why would I do that?" He quickly unfolded the bag and held the handles like a human would, then waited for Sam to move the seat forward so he could get out, Rhythm and Blues following. They transformed and took their place as a set of speakers behind his shoulders.
He hummed as he carried the bag toward the house, slowing to let Sam enter first. "Mom! I'm back!"
Broadcast grinned and hopped up onto the patio. Mikaela held the door for him. "Thank you, ma'am." He bobbed his head, then together they entered the kitchen where Mrs. Witwicky was stirring a pot on the stove. She turned, a smile on her face. She first saw Mikaela, then paused, confused, then looked down. Broadcast gave a little wave. "Hello, Mrs. Witwicky. It's nice to meet you."
"Oh, isn't he cute! I didn't know they came this small." She reached to pat his head.
Broadcast smoothly danced out of reach. "Sorry, don't mean t'be rude, ma'am, but sensitive equipment and all." He raised his multiple antennae and made them 'wave' at her.
She drew back. "Oh, my, I'm sorry. I didn't know! I'll be more careful from now on."
Broadcast continued to smile, flattening his antennae. "No probs, Mrs. W." He held out a three-fingered hand. With a teensy bit of trepidation and with a light grip she shook it. She was surprised that it felt soft, unaware that he was channeling low-frequency vibrations into it so it would feel that way. Broadcast let go and gave a salute. "Catch ya later, Mrs. W." He turned and followed Sam and Mikaela upstairs, but as he went Rhythm and Blues detached themselves, transformed, and gave Mrs. Witwicky identical salutes while she stood with a hand to her chest in surprise. "Later!" Then they jogged off after Broadcast.
"Nice work on the sizin', Sam. If I didn't know any better I'd think they were actual human kids!" Broadcast admired the astronaut suits that had been picked out for Rhythm and Blues. They didn't even need fake helmets, their own heads looked made for it with their rounded tops and visors. Broadcast had folded their side antennae down flat to add to the effect, and Mikaela had made semi-circles of styrofoam to cover the bottom of their faces, completing the helmet look.
Broadcast was dressed as a warlock, a wig of slicked-back black hair covering his own antennae and a voluminous cloak with a high collar helped distract from how skinny he was under the black suit. He did have his LED display exposed, shining a red light on his features. He liked the creepy effect. He also had a domino mask on a stick to hide the glow of his optics. While the amount of plating on his face made him have the most human-like appearance out of all the Autobots he still needed to play it safe.
Sam had pulled out some old clothes of his, jeans with holes in the knees and a shirt with a torn-out elbow, and had ripped them up further. He had added fake blood where the holes were, with some added pale makeup in true zombie fashion. Mikaela was wearing an every day black skirt and matching shirt, with green and black striped stockings, ankle boots with thick soles, and a witch hat covered in purple glitter. When she came back after changing in the guest bedroom, Broadcast played a soundbite of the Wicked Witch of the West laughing. "You are lookin' fine, Mikaela! Be my date, will ya? We'd make a better pair than you with Zombie Boy."
"Hey!" Sam protested, feigning offense. "I match fine with her. I came back from the dead for her." He grinned.
Mikaela cackled and imitated a witchy voice. "That's because I took his heart with a spell. He's cursed to walk as the living dead forever."
Laughing, the five of them went downstairs and presented themselves to Mrs Witwicky. She clapped her hands. "Very nice, all of you!" She pressed canvas grocery bags into the hands of the small Autobots and Sam as well.
"Mom, we're not--"
"Shhh," she said, winking at him. "Remember to share, and come home before ten! Have fun!" She shooed them out the door, dropping a miniature candy bar into Broadcast's bag on the way.
"Later, 'Bee!" the comms officer called as he slapped the Camaro's door. Rhythm and Blues did the same. Bumblebee sighed at the childishness, yet chuckled afterward.
"Remember what I said," Sam warned again. "We'll explain it away as a Halloween trick."
"So that one is not played on me, yes," Bumblebee agreed. "Enjoy yourselves."
"All right!" Broadcast exclaimed as they stepped out on to the sidewalk and saw the numerous groups of children scattered amongst the houses, assorted adults milling around and chatting while the kids collected their candy. Mikaela grabbed his mask before it fell and purposely pressed it against his face. He gripped the stick again but looked up at her with indignation.
She chuckled gently. "You really love this, don't you? We haven't even started yet."
"Yeah, sorry...but...man, I love being able to just i walk /i among humans without havin' to worry about becomin' a media circus."
"Then keep that mask up, and let's go!" Mikaela grabbed his free hand and hauled him toward the first house on the left. Sam waited for Rhythm and Blues to go next, making sure Broadcast didn't forget to keep the minimechs in motion.
Four neighborhoods later the crowds of younger children had gone for the night while the mid-to-older crowd was still out and about. Sam, Mikaela, and Broadcast were having a grand old time. The Autobot had never felt so relaxed before. He was almost ready to convince himself that he was a real human child. He didn't share the thought with Sam and Mikaela.
They entered a cul-de-sac, two houses to either side and a fifth at the end, all generously spaced out. While the four had open yards with short fences, the fifth had high evergreen bushes that made it hard to tell if the porch light was on. A lit jack-o-lantern sat beside the wrought iron gate, however. Broadcast headed straight for it. "That place looks cool. Let's start there an' zigzag our way out."
Mikaela eyed the tall bushes warily. "Sam, have you been here before?"
"Can't remember." Sam scratched his head. "I thought we came here when I was little. Maybe they've had renovations since then."
"C'mon!" Broadcast called. He was at the gate, holding it open while Rhythm and Blues ran through. He darted after them.
Mikaela took off toward the gate. "Okay, now he's acting too much like a kid!" Sam beat her to it and held the gate open for her. "Uhm, no, you can go first, thanks."
Sam uttered an awkward chuckle then entered the yard. He cleared only the bushes before stopping due to the glow of Broadcast's uncovered optics. The Autobot was staring around in amazement at the unwieldy evergreen bushes all across the yard that were accompanied by smaller, bare, scraggly trees. All of them were covered in spiderwebs.
"Nice. Wonder how many bags of that synthesized webbing they went through?" Broadcast strayed off the flagstone walkway to touch a web. Something scurried off a tree branch and onto his arm. "Oop! A real spider!" He raised his arm to watch the arachnid wander along the fabric, waiting until it found its way onto his fingers, then he held it next to the branch. "Back you go. Man, they just need a few more pumpkins an' it'd be perfect."
Mikaela leaned her head on Sam's shoulder. "No porch light. They might be closed up for the night."
Broadcast continued on up the walkway. "Maybe they left a bowl out like that one place. Won't hurt to check, right?"
Sam leaned his head back a little to mutter to Mikaela, "Wonder if it's as crummy inside as it is outside?" She giggled and they ran after Broadcast, an unspoken race to the wooden steps leading up to the door.
They reached it at the same time, and Broadcast looked at them doubtfully. "Eh, no bowl. Oh well." He turned to step down even as Sam peered into the window beside the door.
"Huh. Nobody's dusted this room recently. Wonder who put the pumpkin out?"
Mikaela looked in the opposite window. "Here, either."
Then the porch dropped out from under them.
Three screams echoed until it sounded like there were twenty. When they landed, the floor crackled beneath the weight like dried leaves. It was pitch black and the ground felt like there were far too many leaf stems. Twin blue lights blinked into existence to Mikaela's right. She knew it could be only one thing and started to crawl toward it. The lights brightened until she could see Sam. All the while the crackling sound continued every time one of them moved. Twigs were poking at her hands.
"You two all right?" Broadcast called. His optics dimmed slightly but then he turned on the LED screen in his chest, creating a soft yellow glow. Rhythm and Blues were in place on his back. In another stroke of absurdity, their candy bags were skewered on the strut between them. His costume was in shreds as a result. He directed the light at Mikaela, then Sam. His face took on a horrified look and he pointed the light at his own feet.
Mikaela wished he hadn't. It wasn't dried leaves and sticks they were crawling on. She screamed again, scrambling to her feet and batted frantically at her clothes. Sam jumped up as well with a more subdued noise, although he slapped at the clinging insect husks just as fervently. "Whoa! Okay, I know some people don't clean under their porches regularly but this--" He wiped his hands on his jeans numerous times. "--is pushing it."
Broadcast leaned back, pointing his light upward, brightening it as he did so. It shown up and up without encountering anything. "Sam, we ain't just under the porch. I can't detect the stairs or anything."
"You sure?" Sam asked.
Broadcast shot him an exasperated look. "Sam, I'm--"
"Yeah, I know, sorry. Just hoping, is all."
"Hmm." Broadcast turned, attempting to locate the walls and with luck, a door. To his left was a wall, but not one of wood or cement. It appeared to be a thick layer of cobwebs, with more insect husks dangling in the strands to prove it.
Mikaela backed into Sam. "This is just disgusting! Where i are /i we?"
"There's a door," Broadcast announced, pointing to the wall opposite the cobwebs where a flight of wooden stairs led to a narrow, peeling door. "My sensors aren't picking up anything, so it's probably safe."
"Probably doesn't inspire confidence, Broadcast," Sam chided. He took Mikaela's hand and led her to the stairs. "But we have to go up to get out, so..."
The small Autobot made his way over to them, the beam of light from his chest narrowing as he came closer until it was focused on the stairs, which were fortunately free of dead insects. The humans went first so Broadcast could illuminate the way for them, and he remained a step below so he could keep enough light ahead of them. Sam grasped the door knob, then glanced at Broadcast. "Do you have a laser gun or something in case there are more spiderwebs?"
"Sorry, I ain't armed."
"Great. Okay, here goes." Sam turned the door knob, shoving the door open and releasing the knob to shield his face from any surprises. The door banged into the wall loud enough to reverberate through the house.
"Good job," Mikaela hissed, peering past him to the empty hallway. "If there is anyone home, they definitely know we're here."
"You two want me to go first? Your heart rates are runnin' pretty high," Broadcast offered. "Or should I keep the light behind you?"
"Better if you lead," Sam said, dropping any pretense of keeping his dignity. "We could end up scared of our own shadows."
"Okie-dokie. Let's go then." Broadcast slipped past them and stepped up into the hall. Mikaela followed right after, and Sam brought up the rear, closing the door very carefully. There was a doorway to their immediate right and Broadcast turned, then paused, frowning. "This should face the front of the house but there ain't no windows. Guess those stairs didn't lead all the way up. Gotta be another staircase somewhere."
He cast his light over furniture that was covered in drop clothes -- and plenty of dust. Small cobwebs occupied every corner, and seemed to form a curtain of their own over an old television set, its stand, and the floor lamp next to it. The webs draped a doorway to the next room. Broadcast calmly pushed them aside. The next room was bare. The floorboards creaked as soon as he put a foot down over the threshold. He took another step, then the antennae array on his head stood straight up. "Mikaela," he whispered, "Where's Sam? I don't hear him."
She instinctively put a hand on the mech's shoulder as she turned to look behind her. Sam wasn't there. "Sam?" she called quietly. "Sam? Where are you?" Broadcast turned to shine his light into the room they had just left. It was greeted by a wide swath of cobwebs that had not extended that far just a moment ago. "Sam?" She hesitated, then tried to push the webbing aside. It billowed outward but did not part.
Broadcast took Mikaela's hand from his shoulder and held it, then moved to push at the webbing with his other hand. This time it parted. He brightened his light as he shined it around the room. There was no sign of Sam. Everything was as it had been before.
"Oh, great, where is he?" Mikaela whispered with anger. "He better not have set this up as a joke. I will kill him."
Broadcast looked around at the ceiling. "Anomaly detected."
"What?" Mikaela looked at him, startled.
"My light ain't reachin' the ceilin'. Somethin's weird here. We should find that staircase." He gently tugged her hand, leading her into the next room. The floor creaked the entire way across, and continued to do so even after they cleared the next doorway. Mikaela tightened her hand around Broadcast's and found herself hurrying to keep pace with his sprint-like strides. They went into a room with stacks of paintings against every wall. Mikaela stopped short, yanking Broadcast off his feet and backward. He caught his balance and followed her gaze to a painting that was blocking the doorway. It was a portrait of a young man with a terrified look on his face, the background filled with spiderwebs. It was Sam. Mikaela covered her mouth with one hand and started to turn to run.
Broadcast grabbed her other hand again, stopping her. "No. C'mon. We gotta go up a floor. Remember, you said he coulda set this up. He coulda had that done weeks ago."
She jerked her hand free, giving him an unhappy look. "And you better not be in on this, or I'll kill you both."
"Hey, I don't know nothin', an' that's the truth. Autobot's honor. C'mon, please?" She glanced at the painting again, her frown becoming uneasy. "Listen, Mikaela, I'm scared, too. I can't get a good measure of this place because the sound ain't workin' like it should. Trust me, we gotta go up another floor." He looked at her beseechingly before going to the doorway and moving the painting aside. After a moment, he got a better grip on it with one hand to carry it along and then beckoned to Mikaela. She reluctantly followed him out.
A right turn into another small hallway yielded another set of stairs leading up, this one enclosed by a narrow stairwell. Mikaela went first as a necessity to reach the door knob. It opened onto a broad landing, a circular staircase of wrought iron a few feet away that spiraled up into the shadows of what she presumed to be another floor of the house. She felt behind her for Broadcast's shoulder as she walked out on the landing. Given the layout -- excluding the spiral staircase -- she expected the landing would have a balcony-like section that would give a view of the room with the covered furniture. She gave a little sigh of relief. That would explain where Sam could have gone, assuming he had set up a trick.
All of a sudden Broadcast's light lurched around, flitting across the area then abruptly pointing at the floor. "Stop messing around," Mikaela quietly scolded him. The light continued to bounce, then turned green and dimmed. She raised her voice. "Seriously, you guys, I'm going to get you back for this. I was having fun before, but this is getting stupid now." Something clattered to the floor and she jumped, letting out a shriek despite having expected another trick. She squinted in what little light there was. Two bright blue beams suddenly flared up and she leaped back. The beams raced toward her and claws grabbed at her legs. She cried out, slapping at them, then realized it was Rhythm and Blues. She paused and tapped the top of their heads, not knowing if it would mean anything to them. They stopped grabbing at her and pointed upward, hopping insistently. She looked up, searching for the green light.
At first it seemed to be obscured, then she saw the glint of metal and was able to make out Broadcast's shape, the green a highlight around his chest. His optics were just pinpricks of blue floating above the LED screen. His face was still. Suddenly his arms jerked in opposite directions, something white attached to his wrists giving off its own gleam. Mikaela began to rub her hands together, both from irritation and anxiety. She still wanted to figure this for a trick, but didn't know what to do to get the guys to stop.
One of the minimechs let out a kind of hiss from its vents, then made a sound like a throat clearing. At the same time the light disappeared from Broadcast's optics. "Whoa," said the same minimech. "Didn't think that'd work."
"B-Broadcast?" Mikaela asked. Last she had heard, Rhythm and Blues couldn't talk on their own.
"Ratchet told me they had vocal processors in the event of an emergency transfer. I think this counts." His voice sounded a little deeper, but she took it as a reason for relief.
"Please tell me this is just a joke?"
"Sorry, babe, this is for real. I don't know what's going on. Just call me Rhythm for now, it'll help me keep focus." Both small mechs brightened their visors to shed more light on the area.
Mikaela gasped. The extra light revealed Sam hanging like a ragdoll in a web to their right -- where the balcony was. The wrought iron railing was five feet below him. Mikaela went toward it, looking for a way to get him down. "Sam? Are you all right?" She glanced up, judging the distance before stepping on one of the bottom design curls in the iron and making a grab for his foot. She missed and stepped up higher, trying to keep one hand on top of the railing while reaching. She had to let go of it, and wobbled as she made a grab. Her fingertips brushed the sole of his sneaker but it wasn't enough to jar him. It did wake something else, however.
Appearing out of the darkness itself, tiny spiders crawled from around Sam's legs and shoes onto Mikaela's hand. She screamed and then flailed as she began to lose her balance. Rhythm ran up and grabbed the bottom of her shirt before she went over the railing. He released her as she stepped back down on the landing. She immediately began to hop around shaking her arms. "Gross! Gross! Get them off!"
"Uh, Mikaela, they're, uh--" Rhythm backed up, pointing to her shoulder. She stopped and turned her head. A spider sat there waving half its legs at her hair. As she watched it began to grow in size. She slapped it off her shoulder and ran to Rhythm's side. Blues came up to her and gestured to be picked up. Mikaela nodded unnecessarily and put him on her shoulders, giving her a perfect light of her own while keeping the minimech with them. All around them the spiders that had been on Sam were growing until they were bigger than Rhythm and Blues. Rhythm swore. "This ain't good."
"SAM!" Mikaela screamed. Blues pointed its light directly in Sam's face. The boy uttered a groan. "Sam! Sam!" Mikaela called again in hopes of waking him.
There was a hiss from behind her and she whirled around. The painting of Sam was laying on the floor yet was moving -- being moved. Tiny legs stuck out from the side where Blues' light was shining. Mikaela backed away, not wanting to see what was under it. The hissing came again. Blues' hands closed around her forehead as the minimech ensured it wasn't going to fall off if she made any sudden moves. Meanwhile, the spiders were withdrawing into the dark corners of the room.
"Mikaela!" Rhythm called. "Gimme a lift!"
She turned, startled to hear what sounded even less like Broadcast's voice, but she hurried back over to the railing. She picked up Rhythm while Blues stood up on her shoulders. Rhythm then climbed on top of Blues and made a jump toward Sam's legs. He caught hold and began swishing his thin arms through the webs around Sam's legs, working his way up to the boy's arms. He patted Sam's face while holding onto his shoulders. "You hear me, Sam? C'mon, gotta get you down, and you need to be awake for it."
Sam muttered something that came out as, "...Zzz yerr..." Then he lifted his head and shook it slightly. His eyes went wide upon seeing the visored face close to his.
"C'mon, no more time for hangin' around." Rhythm lightly slapped his cheek and then moved up to start freeing Sam's arms. "Swing a l'il bit so you're over the landing. On three."
Sam rocked his legs to get some swing momentum going, and when Rhythm judged him to be over the landing, he spun around, cutting through the last of the webbing. Sam stumbled but safely landed on the floor, Rhythm along for the ride then settling down on the boy's shoulders as Blues had. Mikaela clasped Sam's arm to steady him. "I'm glad I don't have to kill you for tricking me, but I really don't want to be here right now!"
"Whu--!!" Sam grabbed her shoulders and pulled her down as the painting came flying at them.
Mikaela made a despairing face. "WHY do these things keep happening when I'm around you?! You and your strangeness crap!"
"I promise you, this one isn't my fault! Unless my great-grandpa is haunting me for trying to sell his stuff..." Sam's attention was drawn to the hissing noise. Rhythm directed his visor's light toward it.
"... ...That's a lotta bugs," the minimech said. The floor was covered in tiny waving legs and antennae, mandibles and multiple eyes, wings and glittering carapaces. And they were moving toward them. He flicked his visor upward. The wall was covered with them, and more bugs were crawling in from holes in the paneling. Mikaela uttered a squeak, too overwhelmed to get a scream out.
"I suggest we run," Sam said, reaching for Mikaela's hand.
"Ya fail to notice something, Sam?" Rhythm leaned over the boy's head and looked directly at him, shining light in his eyes.
"Wait--what--but wait, you sound like--"
Rhythm sat back and tapped the top of Sam's head then looked upward, his visor's light barely reaching Broadcast's form. The green light on his chest was almost out.
Sam swore. "How do we get him -- I mean, you -- down?" He glanced toward the approaching wave of insects. Mikaela was steadily backing toward the balcony. "This is gross."
"Not ta mention completely unnatural," Rhythm scoffed. "These bugs ain't the type t' hang in a crowd together."
"Guys..?" Mikaela spoke up. "Not the time for scientific discussions. This place is haunted and I want to leave now!"
A second later the spiders reappeared. There were fewer of them, but they were much larger than before. Some were coming down off the webbing that just now appeared to be covering every wall. Sam let out a high-pitched shriek. Mikaela didn't bother to tease him. She was now clutching his arm. Rhythm leaped down from the boy's shoulders and ran at one of the nearest spiders.
"Rhythm! What do you think you're doing?!" Mikaela cried. "Let's just run! Ratchet can build you a new body!" She went to go after him, but Sam snatched her hand back just as another spider leaped with its mandibles clacking. He pulled her toward the balcony.
Rhythm kept going, gathering himself then jumping on top of the spider he had aimed for. He was on it for only two seconds before he jumped again onto another spider. He grabbed its legs and as it tried to flick him off, he switched his hold to other legs. When it bucked and flailed again, he flipped upward, grabbing the next spider. His spindly form danced among theirs as he worked his way higher.
Below, Sam and Mikaela were backed against the railing as the spiders on the floor closed in around them, mandibles dripping with dark fluid. Webbing shot out across the balcony from the upper corners, trapping the two against the railing while forming a wall between them and the spiders. They weren't comforted by the sight. They held on to each other, waiting for jaws to close unseen on their legs. "Sam...it figures...we weren't killed when we were in the middle of giant alien robots battling each other. Instead, we're stuck in a haunted house." She glanced down into the room of furniture, expecting to see another hoard of bugs. Then she screeched and slapped at her leg, coming up with a millipede flowing around her arm. She flicked it over the railing. It disappeared in mid-flight. "We're going to die."
Sam stared at where the bug had disappeared, then took her hand. "Maybe not." He looked up, hoping to see Rhythm's visor through the webbing. As it so happened, the point above where the webbing crossed in front of them was clear and gave a view of the wall across the way. Rhythm was climbing his way toward his Broadcast body. The LED screen was shining more brightly now, the color a strong blue. Rhythm took a leap and landed on the body. The strands snapped and both plummeted to the floor, followed by loud crunching sounds and an electronic squeal. Blues' light was inadequate to reach beyond the web wall.
Then the light went out and the two humans were left in total darkness with the feeling of the webs wafting toward them. Sam brushed at his face and Mikaela began swatting about herself, wondering how many unseen insects had reached them and if she would notice any of them before they found a place to bite. She began to hyperventilate. Sam squeezed her hand, although his breathing was no slower. A part of him hoped someone like Ironhide or Ratchet would come crashing through a wall, lights or guns blazing. Abruptly the webs went still and the anticipated feeling of crawling bugs went away. Sam couldn't even hear his own breathing anymore. He hoped that didn't mean he had been poisoned by a spider bite. Or that bugs had crawled into his ears. He immediately wretched at the thought and pulled at his ears. Nothing was there except some cobweb in his hair.
"DUCK!" a voice grated out. They both reacted as one, although Sam looked up in time to see a lone speaker go flying through the web wall. He and Mikaela stood as Broadcast came next, his arms out to catch hold of theirs. They leaned back as he did so and together they tumbled off the railing as grasping spider legs surged through the webbing after them. Mikaela shut her eyes, waiting to smack against a wall or some piece of furniture, praying there was a nice big couch below them.
Instead she landed sprawled on wet grass. She felt the cool blades with her hand, then yanked it back as she touched something made of metal. She sat up and saw Broadcast, face up with his LED screen projecting a dark purple light. "Broadcast, are you in there again?"
He didn't reply. She looked around for Rhythm or Blues, knowing Rhythm could still be in alt mode. Sam was sitting up a few feet away. They looked at each other and then glanced behind them at the back of the house. There were no doors and the windows were a good ten feet up. They both scrambled to their feet, Sam tossing Broadcast over his shoulder while Mikaela grabbed Blues and the lone speaker, and then dashed as fast as they could between the bushes that they hoped would lead into the next yard. When they reached the street they didn't see that the jack-o-lantern that had been outside the gate was now skewered on one of the spiked posts, a large spider perched on top of its stem.
They didn't stop until they reached the end of Sam's street, where they collapsed on the sidewalk, gasping for air. Sam eased Broadcast off his shoulder onto the ground, then rubbed the shoulder as he leaned over. Mikaela sat, leaning Blues on Broadcast and placing Rhythm beside him. She took off her boots one at a time, shaking them out in case an insect had hitched a ride.
"If it weren't for meeting the Decepticons before this, I think I would have gone insane back there," she said.
"You and me both," Sam agreed. He shifted around to look Broadcast over. "Hey, B-man, can you hear me? I don't think I can tote you back home and I don't have the 'Bot hotline number in my phone." He hesitated twice before tapping the Play button on the mech's chest. He wasn't sure if it did anything or not, but a few seconds later a series of zeros appeared on the LED screen.
"Ohhh, my achin' processin' unit. Uhh... Are we outside? Thanks for gettin' me out." Broadcast sat up, rubbing the side of his head.
"Uhm, Broadcast, you got us out." Mikaela traded worried glances with Sam, hoping that nothing had gone wrong when the comms officer had transferred back to his real body.
"I did? Can't remember. I remember bein' grabbed by somethin' an' bein' hauled up, an' I released R&B to alert you to my predicament. Felt a power drain after that, an' then I was here."
Mikaela took it upon herself to explain since Sam had been unconscious at the time. "You -- I guess -- downloaded into Rhythm and kinda rescued yourself, then us. I suppose that would be draining." Sam nodded helpfully.
Broadcast lowered his head, face plating flattening. His LED screen flashed the time: ten seventeen. "Guys, I...can't do that. Ratchet hasn't finished the hardware installation for it."
"But then who--" The humans traded looks again.
Sam hunched his shoulders. "I think you know..." he started, addressing Mikaela.
"You know, too," she whispered.
"Would y'all mind tellin' me what you know?" Broadcast asked, peering from one human to the other.
Mikaela picked up Rhythm and gently held the speaker between her hands before handing it to Broadcast. "That place was haunted, but it wasn't only angry spirits that were with us. We had a good one with us, too."
End