Sunny Returns
or
Golden Ghost
"…hey Sun?"
"…what?"
"Wanna prank your brother and the rest of the Autobots? Come back with a big bang?"
The freshly-painted golden frontliner eyed the medic's evil grin warily. "…maybe. Why?"
The grin grew. "Oh, you know…I just thought we could surprise them for, say, Hallowe'en or something…"
"…that human holiday coming up in a couple of cycles?"
"Yep."
A matching evil grin slowly appeared. "What do you have in mind?"
"Right, so, we're almost done with preparations, but there are still a couple things you can help with," the medic proclaimed cheerfully as he bounced deeper into the warehouse, followed closely by Sunstreaker.
He eyed the damp cave walls warily. Who knew what damage that moisture could do to his paint…
The winged mech burst into a large cavern just big enough for them to walk around without bending over. Sun paused in the entrance, distracted from the danger to his paint by the sheer multitude of security feeds and screens, displaying places all over the world. It was almost as bad as one of Red Alert's offices!
"Don't just stand there, Sun, get over here," the medic said distractedly. "Yo, BB, you there? I got a new recruit."
The golden frontliner slowly walked over, staring at a collection of screens on the left that showed a bunch of catapults and…small orange things, a couple of which were gradually leaking…colors.
"Hellooooooooo? BB? Baseball Bat? Anyone there?"
"…yeah, I'm here! Sorry MM, I was finishing up the fluff cannons…so, new recruit?"
"Yup! I'm thinking of calling him GG, or 'Golden Ghost.' It would suit him."
'MM?' Sunstreaker mouthed in confusion. 'Baseball Bat? Golden Ghost?'
"Right then, it's official! Welcome to the Poltergeists, Golden Ghost!"
Sun raised a brow, crossing his arms. "Golden Ghost?"
"Yup, it's a codename! We all use them during October, it's lots of fun. I'm MM, or Mastermind. BB, the first one you talked to, is Baseball Bat. The spazzy one is CF, or Coffee Freak, and the grumpy one is MB, or Mama Bear," the self-proclaimed Mastermind declared cheerfully, ignoring BB and CF's laughter at MB's indignant snarl over the comm lines.
"I never agreed to that codename!" the grump snarled.
"Too bad, because it suits you perfectly! Now then, what mayhem prep do we still need to accomplish?"
Sunstreaker couldn't help it. He burst into laughter, quickly clapping a servo over his mouth in a desperate attempt to muffle the noise.
Mastermind flapped a servo at him, having a hard time suppressing his own giggles as they hid in the trees to evade the patrol car.
But the irony was just too funny! Using their own security against them like that…it gave him so many ideas to use on Red Alert when he saw the mech next!
"C-chimichangas."
"Ooo, right, I forgot about that…but, wait…maybe…"
CF muttered incomprehensibly to himself in cybertronian. Sun was reluctantly impressed that they didn't need to say more than one word to each other to convey complex concepts.
"Oh, wait, CF! Chupacabra!"
"Ooo! A-and, taquito-!"
"Goat-!"
"N-neon-!"
"And cow bunny!"
"Y-YES! G-GENIUS!"
"MUA-HA-HA! THEY'LL NEVER KNOW WHAT HIT THEM!"
Sun just kind of stared as Mastermind cackled evilly, rapidly creating some kind of virus involving zombie bunnies on his screen. "…right…"
"And now…it begins."
Sunstreaker grinned evilly alongside Mastermind as they stood in front of the screens at one of the mech's many hidden lairs.
"Mastermind to the Poltergeists, Operation: Prank the World…is a go. Let's kick their afts, team!"
"Sir yes sir!"
Hallowe'en morning dawned (at 6 am, UTC London time)…and with it, the release of the Poltergeists' prank. After last year, in which the Poltergeists hit both Oceania and Antarctica at the same time (and succeeding in their goal of pranking all the continents), the entire world lived in fear/anticipation of where and what they would strike next.
Unfortunately for the world, the internationally-wanted pranksters chose to hit…all of it.
Baseball Bat, aka Judy Witwicky, hit the button to unleash the pumpkin catapults. Pumpkin bits, sparkly neon paint, bagged candy, and the traditional mocking letters hit the streets of every settlement in the world with a population over 10,000.
(Although they made an exception for the largest research station in Antarctica, just so they could say they hit every continent at once.)
Mama Bear, aka Barricade, cackled madly as he hit the button to set off the airbags in almost every police and/or law enforcement vehicle around the world. It had taken forever, and if MM hadn't needed so little recharge, they never would've been able to pull it off effectively. But they did…and the neon feathers, sparkles, tie-dye packets, and mocking notes packed into each one exploded everywhere.
Coffee Freak, aka Fritz, laughed maniacally in his mind as he slipped around the U.N. Headquarters like a pro.
In his wake, paint grenades repainted every room. Screens displayed in psychedelic colors, with the set language changing at random. Jack o' Lanterns were left everywhere, of all shapes, sizes, and designs. (Once more, Fritz blessed his subspace.) Chairs were replaced with giant, gaudy, over-stuffed monstrosities of armchairs. Various colored dyes were added to cleaning supplies, designed to only show up two hours after the cleaners were used.
And the U.N. chamber itself…was completely made over to look like it had been taken directly from the set of Tim Burton's 'The Nightmare Before Christmas.'
His work done, CF slipped out to go lock himself in a lair and cackle gleefully till he dropped.
Mastermind, aka Marie Fixit Callahan, beamed proudly as she sent the virus. Now everything on the entire Internet would be displayed backwards, and only in shades of bright pink, green, and gold!
Plus, little zombie bunnies would randomly pop up on pages all over the world for the next month to loudly sing 'God Bless My Underwear,' which had become the Poltergeists' unofficial theme song.
Golden Ghost, aka Sunstreaker, just grinned with a wild look in his optics as he pressed the giant red button.
Fireworks, planted in strategically hidden locations around the globe, went off and burst into the sky, displaying all sorts of traditional Hallowe'en-y imagery. Dragons danced around the Jack o' Lanterns, witches soared by on their brooms, skeletons tangoed with other monsters…and watching above them all, sat a winged white ghost on a throne of skulls: a Poltergeist, wearing a blue crown and a maniacal grin. Surrounding the Poltergeist were his minions: a silver ghost cradling coffee and a crazy grin; a gray ghost brandishing a baseball bat; a black-and-white ghost, scowling grumpily, leaning against a polar bear; and a smirking golden ghost, casually holding a silver sword against his shoulder.
Below the Poltergeists was a message:
'Twelve years in a row, and you still haven't caught us!
Better up your game, lads!
Have a Happy Hallowe'en!
-from your friendly neighborhood Poltergeists!'
