Optimus knelt down and examined the corpse of the once infamous Cybertronian serial killer, responsible for the deaths of nearly three-hundred Autobot Elite Guard members and their friends, many of whom Optimus were aligned with.
"Wow that was easy, wasn't it?" Arcee said as she examined the corpse of the mangled beast before her. "Guess it's a happy Halloween after all."
"Rest assured, Arcee. This is but the beginning to a much larger endgame." Optimus said, rising from the ground. He looked down at the lifeless eyes of Wierdwolf, the eyes of a murderer who long ago, nearly took the life of Elita-1, Optimus' love.
Optimus focused his eyes, through the reflection of Wierdwolf's eyes, a dark figure was revealed, roosting in the trees above the unsuspecting Autobot soldiers. The being opened its long black wings as it lurched over, the decaying tree it perched on bending under its weight. Optimus paused as the other Autobots watch in confusion.
"Optimus?" Bulkhead spoke, waving a hand in front of Optimus' emotionless face, "Does he have a glitch or something?"
In a blitz of speed and precision Optimus whipped around, his hand shifting form and mass as a powerful Ion blaster formed, firing up at the creature with deadly aim, three shots piercing into its torso as it fell to the ground, tattered, broken, and…
Fake.
The animatronic vampire bat sparked and sizzled before dying out on the ground, its cutesy smile looking up at Optimus, who shifted his gun back into his arm, retaining a serious expression across his face.
"Well, this is one for the trophy room." Wheeljack picked up the bat and examined the design as he spoke.
Bulkhead swatted the decoration from Wheeljack's hand, sending his old friend a gaze that said to back off. "Prime, hey, I know you have a thing about bats, after...that's not important but, you can't shoot every rodent with wings here, or the entire neighborhood will look like an Iacon shooting range!"
Lowering his eyes, Optimus turned and made his way to the center of the field, the other Autobots around him in a circular formation, "Autobots, while Weirdwolf may play a part in the murders of the human children, we must remember the report attacks from the sky, and from beneath the surface, neither of which are Weirdwolf's M.O."
"Maybe he's mixing things up?" Arcee said shifting her weight to the side as a light layer of fog blanketed the area, an unforeseen stalker walking low to the ground, slipping underneath the surface via a remote sewer line.
A series of beeps and hums emanated from Bumblebee as his hand motions spoke for him, his vocal processors not showing any signs of future recovery.
"Bumblebee is right." Optimus said clearly, without any doubt in his scout's words. "Weirdwolf is a serial killer, he does not mix things up, he has a specified target, unless, he is being given orders…he is not the mastermind behind these murders, Autobots, whoever is behind this...is still out there."
Luna sat triumphantly on the park bench with Cheetor, still combined into her sleek and powerful Savage Claw mode. Unwrapping a small chocolate bar, Luna tried to open her mouth, but a metallic face guard blocks her attempts, as small children dressed as ghosts and Robert Downy Jr. stroll by.
"So…how do I eat without a mouth? Or lips! Or even-ugh!" Luna said, tossing the candy away in frustration, nailing a kid on the side of the head.
"Oh boo hoo, now you know how I feel." Cheetor mocked via the mental link.
Cheetor, like all Cybertronians, use energon for sustenance, unable to enjoy such human delicacies as a Hershey's kiss or peanut butter cup, he felt the need to celebrate such a holiday to be pointless.
"Get that broom stick out of your aft and try to have some fun, besides." Luna converted their shared arm into a small rifle, the barrel spinning around filled with ammunition. "I've got the eggs if you have the target! Personally, I'd recommend that house that gave us a penny."
Cheetor groaned mentally and severed their combination, the two now sitting next to each other on the bench as shocked civilians stared in shock and awe. The duo sat there awkwardly.
"Umm…I thought, you know, civilians don't notice transformation sequences...like on TV." Luna said quietly to Cheetor.
"Yeah, um no, they can see it all…..STOP STARING!" Cheetor exclaimed as the crowds dispersed.
Optimus Prime looked around the area as the fog grew thicker, the other Autobots huddling together by instinct to watch their perimeter. Optimus peered throughout the fog, the twisted trucks of the trees highlighted throughout the dense fog.
A pair of red eyes peers out from the fog, steadily creeping towards the group, low to the ground, cloaked from their eyes. "Oh this will be too easy." The being said as it made its way towards Optimus.
"Okay, I'm done with this!" Arcee said in frustration, firing wildly into the fog, clumps of dirt and grass flying in the air as the energon rounds exploded on contact with the earth.
"Hey, how about the Wrecker approach?" Wheeljack quipped, drawing his two Cyberax blades, spinning them at high speeds as the fog blew away.
As the fog lifted the beast within lashed out, seeing the chance of a sneak attack blow away with the fog, "DIE AUTOBOTS!" Skullcruncher said as his mighty tail lashed out, the large spiked Decepticon crashed into the Autobots, Arcee and Bumblebee rolling off into the woods as Bulkhead, Wheeljack, and Ratchet hit the ground hard.
Optimus knelt down, the spiked tail of Skullcruncher tearing into his leg deeply, crippling the great Autobot leader. "Skullcruncher..." Optimus muttered.
"It's been such a long time." Skullcruncher teased. The dark green coloration of his think armory hides blending in well with the foliage of the ground, "Your spark will be delicious!" The jaws of Skullcruncher's alligator form opened wide as the large bot lunged forward with surprising speed.
"NO, SKULLCRUNCHER!" Optimus roared, his body moving in a swift motion, grappling with the reptilian Decepticon murderer, "You will atone for those you have taken!"
Skullcruncher's entire body spun in a vicious death roll the spikes covering his metallic body shredding into the body of Optimus Prime. Skullcruncher dropped to the ground as Optimus clenched his chest, sparks flying from the multiple tears and cuts on his body.
"Like it? Just something I picked up from the natives here." Skullcruncher snickered with a sadistic grin; the Decepticon snapped his jaws as Skullcruncher's short legs dragged himself closer to Optimus, kneeling in pain as the wounds intensified.
Arcee began to wake up, standing up unsteadily, moving towards Optimus, "No…Optimus…NOOOO!"
Skullcruncher lunged in a death charge, jaws open toward Optimus' leg.
Optimus' eyes opened, as a blue eye shined in his pupils, the power of the Matrix driving his spirit to fight back, "Skullcruncher!" Optimus called out, his hands gripping the top and bottom of the beast's jaws.
"Oh Optimus, we both know how this works, just like last time. You capture me, I break out, and I destroy dozens of your friends, and the cycle continues." Skullcruncher sneered, "Go ahead, and break out the stasis cuffs!" Skullcruncher laughed, taunting the Autobot leader.
Optimus' eyes did not falter as he leaned down, staring into the red eyes of Skullcruncher, "I see now what the elders did not. You will never stop your acts of violence and cruelty; you deserve no second chances, for the good of all Cybertronians!" Optimus shouted, using all his strength to pull back the jaws of Skullcruncher, snapping them right off the hinges, oil and sparks flying onto the ground.
As Skullcruncher screeched with his final flickers of his spark, Optimus tossed down the two pieces of his jaw to the ground, standing over the wreckage of Skullcruncher, "May Primus show you more mercy then you showed those you victimized." Optimus lowered his head, and went over to the others.
"Wow, nice moves." Arcee said, smiling faintly, "Maybe you should've gone as King Kong instead, go Gorilla tonight." Arcee smiled slightly and laughed as Bumblebee stood up behind her, dusting himself off.
Optimus shook his head and frowned. Ratchet and Bulkhead walked over to the others, their bodies covered in the dirt and foliage they collided into, their body shapes imprinted in the ground.
"Optimus! You must go back for repairs!" Ratchet exclaimed, in a panic over the amount of damage Optimus had obtained in the fight with Skullcruncher.
"No need old friend, the night is nearly over, and with Skullcruncher gone, the less danger the humans are in." Optimus said, the cool Halloween air blowing through the trees as amber leaves danced through the sky.
"But Optimus-" Wheeljack said, clutching his damaged arm, "I have the feeling the endgame is still, still comin'!"
"I feel it too." Optimus said, his eyes looking up at the full Halloween moon.
Luna and Cheetor looked around as the crowds of people in the streets began to act oddly.
"Umm…it's not even midnight and people are already turning in? What the hell?" Luna said, as the parents and adults began to return to their houses, turning off the lights as the entire neighborhood fell dark. "Okay, this can't be normal, and-"
Luna watched in shock as the children of the neighborhood lined up in the middle of the street, their eyes blank and faces expressionless.
"Is this a part of Halloween? Some new tradition I'm not familiar with?" Cheetor asked, puzzled with the humans behavior, the costumed children began to chant an unusual ritual. Cheetor leaped up and eyes widened, "No…no freaking way!"
"What are you talking about? Cheetor?" Luna asked, uneasy about the situation
"Luna, they're talking in Cybertronian!"
The chanting grew louder as a dark figure hovered over the town, its bright luminous purple eyes piercing through the night.
"Cybertronian? How is that even possible?" Luna asked, stepping away from the possessed children. Luna thought normal children were creepy enough, but possessed ones were even worse.
Cheetor nodded, his jaw dropping, "Okay, I'm a little rusty but…it sounds like they're chanting…"
"Chanting what?" Luna screeched in a panic.
"T-take the life we have to offer," A pause, "bring forth the rising darkness of the chaos lord."
Luna shook her head, her arm converting to a gun just in case, a bead of cold sweat trailing down the back of her neck. "Well….damn."
A large bat like creature landed in the center of the town, its ears twitching as the beast's eyes grew brighter, a high pitched echo pulsing from the creature. "That's it, come my children of the night, your blood shall fuel the chaos lord!"
The beast extended its long black wings as the children knelt down in a ritualistic circle, the pointed fangs and claws of the bat gleaming in the night, coated in the dried blood of past victims, "FULFILL THE BLOOD OATHE! BRING FORTH A NEW AGE OF DEATH AND DARKNESS!" The creature lashed out, shredding claws and ripping fangs lunging towards the helpless children.
"The endgame begins." Optimus whispered.