A tad late – blame my sister for luring me in with horror movies and college launching work at me for that one – but a lil' something I wrote for Halloween.

Cybertrons stars were low in the sky, casting shadows that extended for as long as the eye could see. Different constellations were coming into view, their stars cheekily winking at its onlookers.

Prowl ex-vented heavily as he looked up at them wistfully, dearly wishing that he were at his apartment cutting down on the next days workload. But it was not to be. Jazz had somehow persuaded him to come out with himself, Mirage, Hound, Tracks and Blaster to the series of mazes that had been set up in Iacon as part of the 'terror fest' that happened once a year on the 10th full moon. As to why that time of year had been decided Prowl had no idea, however it was the single day of the year creators let their creations take candy from strangers.

Luckily, Prowl was never disturbed by sparklings and younglings knocking on his door demanding sweet energon goodies. No, only Jazz was brave enough to do that.

The purpose of the mazes was to scare those who went in. They each had a different theme and layout, and were crawling with actors dressed up as the un-dead, their job to leap out and scare you senseless.

Prowl was wondering why Jazz was even here – he was easily scared by things jumping out at him. No matter. It wasn't him who would have to console a sobbing Jazz.

After showing proof of their booking to the assistant at the gate, they were let in. The gate snapped shut behind them with a final click, deciding their fate. They were stuck in this maze system until they reached the other side.

Entering the first maze, something cold and gloopy dripped down onto them. Mirage luckily didn't get touched by it, making it through fast enough to have missed it, however the others were not so lucky. Tracks shrieked and began to instantly complain about his finish – he sounded almost exactly like Sunstreaker and the resemblance was simply uncanny – Jazz yelped and immediately latched onto Prowls arm, and he had a feeling that the Polyhexian wouldn't be letting go any time soon.

"Jazz, it's just goo. You don't have to hold onto me." He said irritably, trying to peel Jazz's fingers off of his arm.

"But Prooooowwlleerrr I'm scared!" Jazz whined, allowing his fingers to be prized off. He could easily latch back on later when he was really scared. Blaster laughed good naturedly, clapping Jazz on the back. "It's fine, nothin' real."

Just as Blaster had finished talking, the lights suddenly went out with a crackling noise. Straight away, Prowl felt a pair of arms pull his arm into a death-grip and he wasn't about to pry it off, quickly turning to grip onto the arms owner. He was loath to admit it, but he was also scared senseless.

Not that he'd ever tell anyone.

There was a clicking noise and the ground vibrated for a few long klicks before settling back down again. The lights flickered back on again, although they weren't even half as bright as before, making it somewhat difficult to see. They often flickered, swinging slightly.

Right.

On they went.

Prowl, being the first one to enter the maze, was the one who was right at the front. Jazz was glued to his side and it didn't look as if he was going to be going anywhere any time soon, but no one was complaining. He was looking around, trying to find out why the floor vibrated. Nothing had changed. Peculiar. Why bother wasting energy on that?

Up ahead of them was a light that didn't come back on again. From where they were standing, they could hear something wet and sloppy dripping onto the floor with the occasional splash of something a little denser than liquid falling down. Jazz dimmed his visor and shrunk back behind Prowl, peeking through the gap between his arm and side.

The mech was training in Special Ops and Prowl found himself wondering how he managed to get top marks. He was scared of everything.

Prowl swallowed audibly and began to edge forwards, Jazz shuffling along behind him, reluctant to lose the grip he had on him. The other four remained where they were, silently deciding to let the black and white pair find out what was hidden in the darkness before they followed. It wasn't cowardice – oh no, definitely not. It was survival instinct.

They almost instantly regretted it when they heard a loud clicking noise within the darkness and a gush of wind before dead silence.

Hound almost timidly went forward, using his sensors to see what had happened before he paused and activated them again.

"What is it, Hound?" Mirage asked, moving to stand beside him. Tracks wasn't really paying much attention, still trying to get the goo off his paint. It has started to dry and turn into a gunky, sticky mess.

"They're not there."

"I'm sorry?"

"They're… gone. Poof. Vanished."

Mirage spluttered, reaching forwards to look at the scanning device in Hounds arm. Sure enough, the radar came up blank. Nothing was there. Well, if they wanted to find out where Prowl and Jazz had gone, they'd have to follow them, wouldn't they? He swallowed hard and looked up at Hound, who gave him a decidedly terrified look back. Ignoring the fact that they were probably being watched via security cameras right now and concentrating more on not wanting to be alone in this god-forsaken place, they immediately held hands and started walking forwards and into the pitch black hallway.

Safety in numbers, right?

Blaster could only watch on in mortification as he watched them go. He was now stuck with Tracks of all mechs to walk this maze with. He sighed and rubbed a hand over his faceplate. Time to get this over with.

He began to move forwards, Tracks scampering after him when he realized that the other had started moving again, and into the darkness.

Only to come out on the other side very much alone. He wasn't expecting Prowl and Jazz to be there, suspecting that they'd been tricked and fallen through some kind of trick wall into another part of the maze, but he was expecting to see Mirage and Hound there.

Only he didn't.

Tracks stepped out after him, still flicking bits of goo off of himself.

Oh, joy.

Prowl didn't know how a mech could scream so loudly or if they were even meant to reach that pitch.

They were in the middle of the hall when suddenly, they heard a clicking noise and they were thrown to the side, falling over and slamming into the wall. Jazz had screamed and clung onto Prowl for dear life, trembling like a leaf, while Prowl had just stumbled and struggled to stay on his feet.

They both sat in a heap on the floor, disorientated, before the lights came back on again.

Blood red light filtered through the hall, making it harder to see. Prowl looked down at himself to work out where to begin in untangling them – and prizing Jazz's fingers off where they most certainly should not be – and he stalled.

Jazz's visor was off, optics most likely squeezed shut, and he was covered in splatters of a glowing pink substance that looked like energon. Prowl would almost think that he was offline if it weren't for the fact he was shaking and gripping onto him.

He wiped some of it away with his digits, pulling them away to inspect it. A trail of it followed after and he quickly summarized that it was the goo from earlier.

How clever.

Before he could continue studying it with his own kind of morbid fascination, Jazz had onlined his visor again and was beginning to untangle himself from Prowl, quickly muttering apologies. They both helped each other stand and looked around to see just where they were.

The way they'd come from was now a dead end. Jazz knocked on it to find that it wasn't thin and hollow – it was rock solid. It wouldn't have slid into place without being very noisy. He sighed and shrugged, looking down the other end of the hallway.

The floor was wet with a dark liquid that glistened in the red light. Where they were standing was dry and untouched, however it lead to a slope that went down into the fluid.

Well, no point in standing still.

Prowl began to edge down the slope, uncertain as he didn't know just how deep the liquid was. Jazz squeaked something that sounded like 'Don't leave me!' before quickly scuttling after him, not quite having the same mindset and going straight down the slope and into the liquid.

Turns out Prowl shouldn't have worried as it was merely and inch thick.

Feeling significantly more confident now, the two continued, Jazz sticking close to Prowls side. All they could hear was the sound of their own systems running and the splashes of their pedes as they walked.

Suddenly, before a corner, Prowl stopped and threw his arm out, stopping Jazz from continuing too. When Jazz was about to protest, Prowl raised a single sigit to his lips. Shh.

Jazz flattened himself against the wall behind Prowl, deciding to question him on this later, when he heard it.

Someone was walking towards them.

No – not walking.

Running.

His optics widened behind his visor and he pulled Prowl back so he was also flat against the wall. He hissed in annoyance but decided that it was probably best to comply.

A mech that was covered in rust, energon, and wide open wounds ran past them, an optic hanging lose from its socket. Jazz barely refrained from making a sound, and he quickly pulled Prowl after him as he darted away.

Their pedes were slipping and sliding in the liquid now, and they were both finding it difficult to stay upright. They slowed down to a walk again, panting slightly.

"What the frag was that?" Prowl panted, looking behind them to make sure it hadn't followed them. Satisfied that it hadn't, he turned back around.

"Ah have no idea, and Ah have no intention ta find out."

They continued to walk onwards, carefully treading as to not make much noise, when Jazz felt something breathing against his neck.

With a whimper of fear, he slowly turned around to come face to face with the mech from before.

His breath stank of oxidized metal, his denta cracked and chipped. What was left of his remaining optic was shattered and a dull orange. A clawed hand reached upwards and reached out towards Jazz's face and he screamed.

Prowl jumped so hard he completely left the ground, his doorwings shooting upwards into a shocked 'v' shape. Jazz had leapt towards Prowl and hastily put the Praxian mech in between him and the zombie.

Clearly, Jazz had decided that he'd rather use his best friend as a shield rather than grab his hand and run.

Prowl, on the other hand, was thinking a bit more clearly and he took hold of Jazz and started running.

They stopped paying attention to where they were going after the third turn, and they didn't stop going until they were gasping for breath. They'd lost the mech a few turns back, but they weren't going to take any chances.

Jazz slowly sunk down to the floor, heaving air in through his vents. He wouldn't hesitate to admit that he was terrified, and he was starting to regret agreeing to come. All he wanted was to see the unbreakable Prowl scream – himself being chased through a maze by a zombie was most certainly not what he had expected!

"Ah'm startin' ta regret agreein' ta come" Jazz weakly admitted, slowly pushing himself back up again. Prowl was silent as he looked over at Jazz, helping him up. He hummed, glancing up and down before making eye contact with the Polyhexian. "And spend the entire cycle alone in your apartment?"

Jazz hadn't thought of that. Blaster was his roommate and he would have gone regardless to whether or not Jazz was. He couldn't get enough of the terror fest, finding the sensation of being scared strutless exhilarating and addictive.

"Probably not."

Prowl hummed again, looking around himself. He couldn't hear anyone coming their way, but he could see another slope that lead up to a part of hallway that was dry and not partially submerged in an unknown fluid. At the end of it was a door.

A way out, perhaps?

He got Jazz's attention and indicated the door. The mech was only too happy to bound forward excitedly.

Exactly three joors and twenty-seven clicks after they went in, all six of them popped out of the other side. In the dark, nobody could see the coolant that had streamed down their faces.

All of them, but Prowls.

His face was completely and totally dry, barring the goo from their entrance and stray splashes of various liquids, and Jazz found himself to be envious of him. His optics were stinging with the high quantity of coolant that had nothing short of exploded out from them, and now and then there would be a stray sniff. He was still holding onto Prowls arm, knees trembling and knocking together.

While Blaster was still running on his high and eager to go on and do more, Jazz was quick to back out and refused to visit the other attractions. Nope. He was set on going back home and hiding under his blanket until the stars rose again.

The only thing Jazz had gotten out of this night was that he had heard Prowl scream like a femme.

In fairness, Jazz had leapt into his arms, but Prowl had caught him. And pulled him in closer.

Overall, it was a humiliating experience that they were bound to laugh about within the next decacycle.

Seeing that Jazz was still jumpy and in no state to get himself back to his apartment safely, in addition to the fact he wanted to go back home himself, Prowl decided to take Jazz back to his apartment until Blaster returned.

So that was how it ended up with Jazz being curled up with most of the blankets on Prowls berth, optics glued to the television screen that was showing a movie featuring organic animals – a fox and a dog, Prowl believed – while trying to forget the past four joors of his life.

"It wasn't that bad." Prowl commented as he sat down next to him, passing him a cube of energon. Jazz accepted it gratefully and held it in his hands for a moment to warm them. He fixed his friend with a glare.

"Tha'," He began, narrowing his visor, "was the worst experience of my life."

"You do realize that all of the mechs we encountered were actors-"

"Dun make it any less scary!"

Prowl huffed out of his vents, taking a sip from his cube. "I'm dreading getting those dents knocked out." He grumbled, gesturing to the arm Jazz had practically mauled. It was covered in finger-sized dents that were of varying degrees of depth. Jazz winced empathetically.

"Sorry."

Prowl just grunted, sipping from his cube again. "It was rather enjoyable, seeing you shriek like that."

"Ya makin' fun of meh?!"

"Of course."

Jazz huffed, sitting back firmly down on his aft. He quietly stared down into his cube for a few moments before he spoke again.

"Thank ya."

"What for?"

"Fer comin'. Ah'd have been on meh lonesome otherwise, an' Ah'd still be there right now."

"And here I was thinking you invited me because you enjoyed my company."

"It's not like that Prowler! Ya fun ta be around. It was fun, wasn't it?"

"I will admit that yes, it was."

"See? Ah knew ya'd like it."

"My audials tell me otherwise." Prowl teased, rubbing one for extra effect. Jazz pouted and promptly decided to ignore him. It wasn't his fault he screamed that loudly! "But Jazz?"

"Yeah?"

"Next year, please don't be so loud."

There's a post on my tumblr that kinda explains why I'm not updating or haven't really been active. It's a really shitty excuse but I think ya'll at least deserve something.

~Llama