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Chapter three
"What how is that possible… It couldn't just eat Bulkhead!" Arcee exclaimed.
Then all heard what sounded like footsteps coming from upstairs. A quick glance at the group showed that everyone was together, minus Bulkhead.
"What was that!?" Bumblebee squeaked.
"Bee up or down?" Arcee asked.
"What?" Bumblebee questioned.
"Do you want to go check upstairs? Or do you want to head down where Bulk went?" she clarified.
"Oh no! There's no way I'm going up there," Bumblebee huffed.
"Fine, you can go down where the metal eating ghost is," she said. "I'll scout upstairs."
"Uh... I'll go upstairs. I was just making sure that you weren't afriad," Bumblebee said slowly, his optics wide.
"Yeah, sure you were," Arcee muttered while rolling her optics.
….
Bulkhead crawled through the dark, tight tunnel. "These tunnels must have been made for humans," Bulkhead said while trying to get through the tunnels. He stopped. "What am I saying? Of course they were made for humans!"
It then occurred to him he had no idea how to get out of the tunnel or where he was even going. A quick check showed that he couldn't reach the others through the comm link. As if his predicament couldn't get any worse, a bunch of rocks fell on him.
"Get me out of this freaking place!" Bulkhead shouted.
….
Only part of Bulkhead's words could be heard through the tunnel. Everyone was silent when they heard the faint sound of Bulkhead's voice.
"Eeking? Is that what he said? Eeking?" Bumblebee asked, startled. He could have sworn he heard Bulkhead shout, but what the Wrecker said was a mystery.
"He's leaking!" Miko shrieked.
"He is not leaking unless he's leaking energon," Arcee exclaimed. "We don't have any fluids in our cybertronian bodies besides energon!"
"Seaking? Is he seeking?" Jack asked.
"That makes even less sense than leaking and eeking combined!" Arcee snapped.
…..
A bunch of dust fell on Bulkhead and got in his optics.
"Get this dust out of my face!" Bulkhead yelled.
…...
"Ace?" Raf offered.
"Okay that sounds worse than the last one," Arcee said.
Bumblebee had a bunch of words running through his mind: ace, base, case, dace, face. 'Face' sounded pretty good, but he didn't one to say anything based on what Arcee's response would be.
…
More rock's tumbled on Bulkhead, denting his helm as he tried to move forward.
"I hate this place!" he yelled.
….
Everyone was tense. The two remaining autobots stood protectively in front of the children. Though Arcee wouldn't admit it, this ghost town was giving her the creeps. She was contemplating on what to do when they all heard Bulkhead's scream. 'Ate,' That's what she heard, and it was obvious she wasn't the only one.
"Ate. Eating. He is being eaten!" Miko cried out.
"Do ghosts even eat people?" Jack asked, startled as he moved closer to his guardian.
"What about scraplets?" Raf squeaked.
"Something is eating Bulkhead's face!" Miko sobbed.
"He's dieing. Bulkhead is being eaten alive!" Bumblebee shrieked.
Raf looked at Bee, startled.
"What did Bumblebee say?" Miko demanded.
"Everybody calm down, " Arcee said, looking directly at Bumblebee. "We're getting Ratchet."
"We need Optimus. We need an army,"
"Stop it, Bee. I'm calling Ratchet," Arcee repeated.
….
Ratchet was actually enjoying the peace and quiet back at base. Optimus had gone on a patrol; the kids were out. He didn't have to deal with Miko's endless prattling, and he didn't have to worry about fixing anything that Bulkhead broke.
Just when he was allowing himself to relax, Arcee commed him.
"Arcee, what is going on?" Ratchet asked, concerned. He knew the femme wouldn't contact him without a reason. He could faintly hear Bumblebee in the background saying something about scraplets, and Miko sobbing. He then heard Arcee yelling that everything was fine; then Ratchet heard someone get smacked.
"What's that high pitch noise I am hearing?" Ratchet demanded. So much for peace and quiet.
….
"Oh, that's Miko crying-" Arcee was cut off by Bee who turned his comlink on.
"We found a scraplet nest!" Bumblebee said.
"Did you say scraplet? There's a nest?" Ratchet demanded through the link.
"All we know is that Bulkhead is missing," Arcee explained.
"Bulkhead? How could you lose something that big?" Ratchet asked.
"The ghost brought Bulkhead to the scraplets. I think they're working together!" Bumblebee yelled.
"Will you shut up!" Arcee
"Should I call optimus and let him know about the scraplets teaming up with the ghosts?" Ratchet asked. He was starting to doubt everyone's sanity.
"No! No, need to alert him," Arcee said quickly, shooting Bumblee a glare.
…..
"Alright. I'm heading over," Ratchet said as he opened a ground bridge. Young bots these days! So needy.
…
Relieved that Ratchet was on his way, Arcee surveyed the gaping hole that had swallowed Bulkhead. She was the smallest autobot, so she should fit, and she had to get down there to rescue Bulkhead.
"If I'm going down there, I'll need a rope. I can't fly," Arcee said.
A quick look around the room showed that every rope there was was either rotted, short, or wouldn't hold the weight of a metal alien: the ropes were useless.
There was an old little closet Bee spotted. He motioned to Raf to come with him and check it out: it was a very little closet. Pulling on the door, Bee was puzzled to find it stuck. Groaning in annoyance, he gave a firm yank, only to have the door disintegrate and spray dust and splinters all over Raf. Raf started coughing. "Well that's not good," Bumblebee said. If everything here was falling apart, how were they going to find something strong and sturdy for Arcee?
"Cool! A hemp rope," Raf exclaimed, standing next to him. The small boy pushed his glasses up as he studied the contents in the closet. "I had read about these in history class."
Bumblebee blinked. "A what?"
"A hemp rope is supposed to be very strong and sturdy," Raf exclaimed, gathering up the coils of rope.
"But how come we never heard about it before?" Bumblebee asked as he helped his human companion.
"Eh...it's illegal now in the US," Raf answered.
Bumblebee frowned. "Why?"
"Eh, American economics," Raf answered.
The yellow autobot shrugged. He didn't care about human culture right now. Arcee needed to find Bulkhead. He eyed the heavy rope: if it was strong, then Arcee could use it.
"Here you go," Raf said as he gave it to Arcee.
"So, this is where Bulk disappeared?" Arcee asked, glancing down the large hole. The back room Bulkhead was last seen in was a tight fit for the two autobots, and they had to be careful where they stepped.
Arcee grabbed hold of the rope. "Don't drop me, Bee. And be ready to quickly pull me up." Bee just looked at her "Don't worry. I won't drop you," Bumblebee told her as he began to lower Arcee into the darkness. Arcee turned her light on, illuminating the shaft.
With Arcee carefully lowering down into the hole, Bee was given more space.
Bee's senses were on high alert as he slowly lowered Arcee down. But a noise behind him caused his hands to loosen slightly as he looked around. The kids were all with him. So where did that noise come from? Possible scenarios of ghosts and demon possessed monsters ran through his mind. Why did he think it was a good idea to look up human ghosts stories?
…..
Ratchet knew he would have to leave the ground bridge open if he wanted to get back to base. He didn't like it, but since no one else in the team was around to close it, the bridge would need to remain open. Besides, how else would they get back with no one at base to re-open it?
Ratchet didn't think he would have to worry about civilians seeing the strange, green glow in a ghost town: even if humans saw the glow, they would probably attribute it to paranormal activity.
…
The strange noise happened again, this time closer. Bee's hands, in his fright, slackened enough for the rope to slip through his grasp.
"Arcee!" Bumblebee screamed, lunging for the rope, only to miss and watch it fall into the darkness...along with the blue femme.
….
"I am going to kill him if that ghost and scraplet team doesn't kill him first!" Arcee growled to herself as she picked herself up. Luckily it wasn't a very large fall. But it still hurt
