"Oh great, rain. Ah well, at least it'll be cooler afterward, right?" Spike said as they walked out of the door of the shop and felt the thick moisture in the air beginning to swell. The winds had picked up and the breeze felt slightly cool as it flew in from the opposing side of the warm front.
As they walked down the street a flash of lighting sent them both to jump and Spike looked down at Cyandog to see the poor little Medabot shaking. He did not like thunderstorms, especially being outside in them.
"Come on buddy, we're not too far from home now. Just a few more blocks." Spike said reassuringly and Cyandog, being as brave as he could nodded quickly and they began to pick up their pace.
Another flash of lightning made Cyandog yelp and Spike grabbed hold of his hand as he began to jog, the thunder that followed made Cyandog whimper in fright and Spike grumbled to himself about the timing of the storm. It wasn't bad enough that it was ungodly hot all day, but now there was going to be rain and they had to walk in it!
As they got a block from their house the rain began to pour down in bucketfuls. It was so think Spike could barely see Cyandog behind him let alone where his own house was, and he secretly hoped his homing instinct would kick in and he'd be able to rely on that to get home in the storm.

They had run a bit longer than they should have and Spike's reaction was to stop under the nearest overhang of a building to rest and gather his thoughts. He was soaked to the bone and looking down he saw Cyandog was dripping wet. Characteristically the little blue Medabot shook himself much like a dog to get some of the condensation off, but afterward he was still very soaked. Spike could only imaging how pathetic he'd look if Cyandog was a real dog and he knelt down to try and wipe a bit of the water off his Medabot's visor so he could at least see before he turned and looked out from under the overhang.
"Boy, it's really coming down!" He said nervously and he heard Cyandog agree just as nervously.
"I wonder where we are? I know this grocery store isn't anywhere near our house so had to have overrun the distance by quite a ways." Spike said as he looked up and into the dark window of the closed store.
"I don't want to be a pain Spike, but I want to go home now." Cyandog said and even being a machine his voice had manipulated itself to sound as though he was shivering from head to foot.
"I know buddy, but we should at least wait until the rain lets up a bit before we go out in it again. I can't see my hand in front of my face in this rain." Spike admitted honestly and he slouched down to sit, with his back against the bricks of the store's front wall just under the window.
It was a full ten minutes before the rains let up in the slightest but as they did it became apparent that Spike's guess was indeed very right. He couldn't recognize any of the shops of houses around them and in part it made him nervous. Were they lost?
"Can we go now Boss?" Cyandog said nervously as a large flash of lightning illuminated the sky and Spike turned to see the Medabot scooting closer to him.
The downpour had drowned out most of the thunder and lightning but now that the rain was less intense the lightning and thunder were again prevalent.
"I guess we should at least try and retrace our steps, but you stick close to me Cyandog and don't fall behind ok?" Spike said as he stood up and looked down at his Medabot. Cyandog nodded with gusto; he had no intention of falling behind and for good reason. Medabots were made out of metal, and everyone knows how much lightning loves to strike metal. One strike would easily fry a Medabot's circuits beyond repair.
"Alright, come on Cyandog." Spike said and he grabbed hold of the Medabot's hand again and they stepped out into the rain, instantly feeling it soaking back into their already damp bodies.
Spike decided to stick close to the buildings and they walked under as many overhangs as they could to avoid both the rain and risk of lightning striking them. They walked two blocks backward from where they were and Spike still couldn't recognize anything around them.
"Where are we?" he thought to himself as they kept walking and he turned his head slightly to look down and back at Cyandog who was cleverly keeping his eyes to the ground to avoid seeing as much lightning as possible, but the thunder still scared him enough to make up for it.
Finally after walking for nearly a half hour, even though he didn't want to admit it Spike had concluded they were lost. However, he didn't dare say it to Cyandog because even for being a tough little sport the Medabot was still pretty sensitive and telling him such news would surely make him nervous beyond consolidation.
Just then a thought occurred to Spike and he turned to Cyandog, knelt down, and put his hands on the little Medabot's shoulders.
"Cyandog, don't you have like a homing signal in your programming?" Spike asked and Cyandog thought for a moment and then nodded saying "Uh huh, at least I think I do."
Great! All they'd have to do is let Cyandog lead the way back home, easy as pie!
"Ok, well how about it? Can you find your way back home from here?" Spike asked and Cyandog waited a moment and then turned his head to look every which way he physically could, and Spike could see Cyandog's feet shifting slightly as if they were trying just as hard to pick a direction to walk in as his head was for a place to focus on.
After a few moments Cyandog's shoulders dropped and he bowed his head in shame. "I think the rain might have soaked too far into my body Spike, I can't pick up the directions for home."
Cyandog sounded so sad Spike almost wanted to cry for that reason alone, but primarily his main concern was the fact that now even with the built in homing programming Cyandog had they couldn't find their way home. This day was just getting worse and worse!
"It's ok Buddy, I know you tried. It was just a thought; an idea. We'll make it home, come on." Spike said trying not to sound too disappointed to keep Cyandog's spirits as high as possible and Cyandog looked as though he swallowed hard but nodded.
"I'm sorry Spike; maybe if I dry out a little it'll come back to me?" Cyandog said as they began to walk again, and Spike chuckled with a nod replying with "I'm sure it will. This is just some wicked rain; even I'm feeling a bit fuzzy in my head."
Despite how unfruitful their attempt had getting home was proving to be there was one good part of it, the rain was finally letting up and was only just a light showering of droplets here and there. However, it was still very cold now as the wind blew in from the north and Spike shivered in his wet clothes.