Transformations

by MidnightBloom14

This was NOT the summer vacation that Danny Fenton had in mind, taking a trip to Jasper Nevada for a few months with his parents was definitely not part of the plan, but adventure always seems to find him anyways when he discovers talking robots that can turn into cars. No Slash, possible fluff, includes all of team prime from season 2.

10. In for a big shock

Hey everyone! Happy Halloween! *walks in with failure tattooed on my forehead* here's the long awaited chapter that was supposed to come out last month but didn't (parents been fighting alot) but was also delayed due to the oneshot titled 'Miniaturized' (by the way, if anyone would be interested to check it out and leave a review it would really make my day!) but since I didn't want to leave anyone on another cliffhanger I expanded this chapter! this literally two chapters' in one. 22,314 words, there are also a few headcannons in here! (some from tumblr)

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the following characters just the fanfic, I do not own Transformers Prime (Hasbro) or Danny Phantom (Butch Hartman)

Reviews~

guest 4~yes really!

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Danny looked briefly behind him witnessing the dome officially seal off the central room trapping them in the pipeline, noticing that Jack and Raf weren't behind them. Dread settled in his gut slowing in his flight considerably "Jack?!" Danny yelled out his voice beginning to crack near the end out of fear "Raf?!" there was no answer.

Smokescreen whipped his head around edge of the wall with a broken, cracked grin with eyes staring hollowly ahead at them causing Danny to stiffen. Miko gripped his arm tightly watching the possessed bot with caution "we need to get away from him; from here now. Whatever you do, do not turn your back to him." she instructed slowly in a near whisper her eyes never leaving the threat, Smokescreen still hadn't left his spot which could of been a good or a very bad sign, Danny began to get the feeling all that was about to change. He was still slightly taken aback at Miko's sudden change in attitude due to the recent events, she was no longer her energetic grinning self instead replaced by a stern commanding persona. But when Danny turned to face her that was when he made his mistake which was made obvious by Miko's appalled expression.

"Dude! I told you not to turn your back!" she whispered yelled at him before pulling Danny along with a surprising amount of strength as she ran. A burst of static filled laughter that sounded like it was being made by a garbage disposal followed by screeching metal dragging against the floor echoed behind them, facing the threat Danny's mouth went agape, Smokescreen's appearance was growing slightly more horrific by the minute; his jaw looked like it was going to fall off soon in the slacken position it was in, his optics and biolights kept flickering to black and back to a dull blue illuminating the deep scratches making them appear more prominent, that twisted smile somehow never left. "What the heck-? like wha-? how is he-? that ain't right." Danny fumbled to form a complete sentence shocked at Smokescreen's increasingly gruesome look."Jeez Smokescreen, when you let yourself go you really let yourself go, like you go all out. Go big or go home as the saying goes."

Despite the grim situation Danny's sarcastic wit never left him, a strangled screech bounced off the walls creating a loud echo that rattled their insides. "Do you think that made him mad?" Danny asked Miko lightheartedly only to flinch as she shot him a dirty look "uh, what do you think?" she snapped sarcastically "while your chitchatting-the guy who can fly- I'm doing all the leg work." Danny ducked his head embarrassingly "hah right, sorry." Swiftly he pulled her into his arms and shot down the dark corridor, his white glow fading from their pursuer's view.

However being able to see was another problem since the lights were gone, steadily Danny's eyes adjusted to the gloom but he couldn't see more then twenty inches ahead of him. Danny came to a halt, descending onto the ground and placing Miko down, he hadn't a clue which of the many hallways they were under but at least they lost their pursuer. With the flick of the wrist an ectoball came to life in his palm as a light source casting a green sheen against the shadows. "Okay, what's the plan?" Miko asked, she may have seemed calm but her posture told Danny that she was on high alert. "We find the others," came his simple response "once we regroup we'll form our next course of action to save the bots and stop Technus."

Miko nodded noting the slight authoritative tone edging into his voice, what she found odd though was that Danny stood on the ground instead of hovering midair which was per the norm since meeting the strange ghost teen. Now Miko could see that he was shorter then what he appeared to be, she having a good four inches height difference, this newly acquired fact sparked a question within her curious mind "how old were you when you died?" Danny's eyebrows shot up in surprise but none of it leaked into his tone when he answered "fourteen...Why?" Miko crossed her arms as they began walking, there was no point in standing around when there was a problem at hand. "You just act older that's all." Danny rubbed the back of his neck with a uncertain bashfulness "uh... Thanks I guess?"

"I'm guessing you've been at this for awhile then, like fighting your own kind." Miko stated offhandedly making a small grimace appear on his face as Danny's gaze shifted downward feeling a lump form in his throat, scuffing his heel against the dusty floor "yeah..." he replied halfheartedly not liking the way this conversation was heading and decided to redirect it. A brief memory sprung to mind that he wouldn't mind getting answers to. "So what happened the other day? between you and Jack I mean; why did you get so upset? I've been meaning to ask but it never seemed like the right time."

Miko's expression instantly turned sour as she bit her lip and glared at their lightless pathway, "Miko?" Danny pried further, Miko spun on her heel to face him lips becoming taut shooting him a flinty glare "because," she bit out "every time I try to prove myself I'm always turned down." Now he was confused "why would you need to prove-?"

"because everyone around here thinks I'm not capable of handling myself! my parents, Jack, the bots, even you!" before Danny could protest against that she cut him off "don't try to deny it, that's exactly why you left me up on the ridge. My whole life I wasn't allowed to make my own decisions my parents chose everything for me and created something I'm not! piano lessons? their idea!" Miko whispered harshly "they controlled what I was going to wear, where I was supposed to be, who my friends were; everything! the only thing they allowed me to do was let me adopt my two cats. They wanted me to be this-this perfect little doll that they got to dress up and drag everywhere! up until I was nine I was scared of trying to be my own person because I thought they would be disappointed in the daughter they were trying to raise and take it away, so anything I really liked had to be kept a secret." Miko exhaled heavily collecting her thoughts on what she was going to say next, the tension in her shoulders fading as she continued calmly "I literally jumped at the chance to leave Japan when I was offered to participate in the student exchange program, the farther away from my parents the better. See this?" she asked pulling at the pink strip in her hair "I chopped off some of my hair and dyed it pink as soon as I came to my host parents' house." a rebellious glint sparkled in her eyes that Danny had seen many times before in Sam's, the reminder almost made him smile at the familiarity.

"I took up electric guitar, trying my hand at art and participated in riots! anything my parents would've wanted I did the opposite; and when I met the Autobots it got even better, Bulk being the most accepting person I've ever met. They became like the family and friends I never had." The excited note in her voice faded and became somber "but I don't want to be a person who stands by as the world falls apart. I want to be helping to save it, help in anyway I can not by cowering behind someone else's shield."

The explanation made sense, taking it all in Danny nodded understandingly "I get it," he admitted "my parents-when I was uh alive- always wanted me to be a part of the family business you could say but I wanted to be an astronaut, they never really listened to what I wanted being too consumed with their work." His sister pretty much raised him now that he thought about it, sure they would acknowledge he actually existed every now and then especially when he got called in by the principal but they always seemed to acknowledge Jazz more seeing how accomplished she was with being at the top of her classes and is an aspiring physiologist always had Danny a bit envious of the attention, especially when they'll say things like "why can't you be more like Jazz?" which drove him up the wall when he was trying his best. Danny always felt he would need to prove himself to his parents, to show them he wasn't a disappointment, no amount of reassuring's he got from them just sounded fake and pitiful. He found it ironic when Jazz tried to prove to him that she could be a capable member of their team, he'd always thought that she was a snobbish fink; held herself in high regards always insisting that she was a 'mature' young adult that would grate on his nerves to no end. But when Danny finally snapped at her he instantly regretted it, she just wanted to help.

Miko would be no different.

Danny motioned for them to stop "step into my office." Miko's eyebrow shot up questionably "you don't have an office." Danny's other hand quickly glowed blue creating something that suspiciously resembled a lumpy Jack out of ice before waving her off "yeah yeah, but just humor me for a sec. I may not be a physiologist or whatever but here's something I think that will help. I call it: 'hello misplaced aggression'." He then crafted a ice mallet and handed it over to her "here have a go." Miko's eyes assessed the mallet over in her hands quietly feeling the chill it gave off running up into her arms and down to the marrow of her bones, casting a sideways glance at Danny who shrugged back "hey it works for me."

She drew in a small breath bringing it high above her hand for a reconsidering minute before bringing it down upon the ice statue, pounding it repeatedly causing fractures to appear with each grunt she made. "And Jack? he acts just like them, acting like he cares, always being the responsible one, the one to most likely go on missions while I'm stuck at base."

BAM! a deeper fracture appeared stating that the icy figure was at it's breaking point.

"But really he's just trying to control me like everyone else!" with one final swing it shattered, ice raining everywhere like broken glass. Miko panted heavily as her breathless outburst caught up to her, the ice mallet slipped from numb fingers shattering as well rendering it obsolete.

"I just want to prove to them that I can do this."

An unfamiliar weight on his hip evoked Danny's attention, identifying it to be the freeze ray he made not too long ago and grabbed it. "Then prove yourself. Prove yourself by helping me save the bots and take down Technus." Danny's ectoball disappeared as his white aura flared as a light so he'd have his hands free. Danny grabbed her hand uncurling her clenched fingers and placing the pistol in them. The two made eye contact determination blazing fiercely in the sets of hazel and radioactive green iris', having a common goal that they were going to achieve no matter what it took. "You do realize you just promoted taking your violence out on others right?" she asked somewhat amused as he shrugged "eh, more or less." Miko smirked shaking her head "well anyways, I just wanna let you know I got your back."Miko stated firmly bringing a smirk to appear on Danny's face as he allowed her to jump onto his back getting a good hold onto her feet and continued in their path via airborne. "And I got yours."

---

~~~~~~TFP~~~~~~

His legs ached as they passed what must have been the fifth corridor feeling the burning in his lungs grow more intense. Raf tighten his one armed hold over his laptop and the scanner Ratchet had dropped and managed to snag during all the confusion, his legs struggled to compete with Jack's longer strides. Raf bit his lip trying to keep in the need to ask for a much needed break but with knowing the danger that was following them at a rapid pace made it easier to push the feeling aside and keep going. Jack held a vice grip around his wrist pulling Raf along as they continued to run, Jack's head was on a constant swivel ears perked for any sound. The back up generator hasn't turned on yet had them running blind and having to rely on their memory as they ran through the dark. Raf was certain the sound of their feet pounding against the ground was forever going to be ringing in his ears falling into rhythm with his pounding heart.

Jack pulled the younger teen through a doorway entering a dark room, jumping he slammed his fist against a button on the side wall making the door slide close with a relieving thunk. They panted heavily inhaling as much oxygen they could bring into their starved lungs. Raf felt Jack's hand leave his wrist eliciting a lump of apprehension to settle in his throat not wanting to be left alone. "J-Jack?" Raf called out hugging the electronic devices closer to his chest wishing he could see in this pitch black room.

"I'm over here."

Jack's voice came from Raf's far left, a click noise followed as a bright yellow glow illuminated Jack's face as he held up a small lighter. Raf went to his side instantly not trusting anything to not suddenly leap out from the shadows and grab him. "Where are we?" he asked as the older teen used the lighter as flashlight looking for something "Arcee's room" he answered coming upon a chest and rummaged through it "this is her stash of extra mission supplies in case of an emergency." He pulled out a large flashlight and glowstick in which he handed the former over to Raf "always be prepared." He said with a grim smile.

Raf flicked the switch on when Jack shut the lighter off, the sixteen year old snapped the glow stick and shook it achieving it to glow yellow. The reminder of why they were put into this situation to begin with made his stomach feel raw with fear. That will to protect he had always seen in their optics since meeting the team had been vanquished so suddenly it almost seemed hard to believe, like a hot coal being extinguished still had him reeling. It was almost like a dream-no, more like a nightmare, the reality of it all seemed imagined; it just had to be a bad dream. But Raf wasn't waking up, reality was progressively getting worse and him having a panic attack right now seemed plausible. "Jack? you don't think everyone's gone for good right?" he asked needing reassurance that there was a way to save the bots and he wasn't just trying to place his hope into something that was ultimately a lost cause. Being chased by a zombified Skyquake was enough to last him a lifetime, he didn't want to be hunted down by their cybertronian friends and possibly be killed by them.

No! Raf immediately felt ashamed for even having these thoughts, Bumblebee wouldn't have been so quick to consider giving up, he would've been thinking of a way to get whatever it was making the bots go insane out. If their positions were reversed Bumblebee would stop at nothing to save him even if there was a slim chance of him being successful, it was one of the many reasons Raf looked up to his guardian. Raf hadn't gave up on Bee when he was being controlled by Megatron, he wouldn't do so now not when everyone's life was at stake. Jack's harden look soften upon seeing Raf's fearful expression, kneeling down in front of Raf he placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it comfortingly "our guys are going to be just fine Raf, we just need to find Phantom."

"Why?"

"Because he obviously recognized that thing-err ghost so he must know a way to defeat it" he rationalized. "We just got-" Jack paused mid sentence and clamped a hand over Raf's mouth signalling him to be quiet, Raf dully nodded as they listened.

CANK, CANK CANK.

Something was moving around above them , they needed to leave before the room became fully compromised. Careful as to not make a sound, they edged their way to the door, Jack raised a fist and slammed it against the button once more, the door slid open as Jack poked his head out scanning the perimeter before his eyes landed on something glowing at the end of the hallway and jerked his head back from view before he was spotted. "Someone's lurking around at the end of the hall" Jack whispered "I think it might be Ratchet. When I give the signal we run the other way." Raf nodded as they got into position, "alright" he whispered back. The bot at the end of the hall was hunched over swaying languorously, dragging it's upper appendages along the ground mindlessly making a screeching noise leaving a fine spray of sparks in it's wake. The possessed bot threw it's head this way and that making incoherent growls as it searched for something, Raf swallowed heavily; that something was most likely them. It reared it's head back looking down the way it came creating an opening for them. "Now!" Jack's hold around his wrist returned as the duo put on a burst of speed and ran as fast as humanly possible, heartbeats drumming loudly somewhat masking their breathless panting. The sound of their running feet must have caught the bot's attention, it began to give chase letting out a monstrous screech that sounded too much like an Insecticon, his blood pumping in his veins instantly turned to ice feeling the urge to scream just wanting to vocalize his growing panic.

Raf glanced over his shoulder, the light from his flashlight bounced across the bot chasing them until it caught a flash of silver dragging along the ground and after the light flickered over it again Raf recognized it with growing dread as Ratchet's surgical blades. Turns out Jack's hunch was right, Ratchet was going full on Terminator on them or at least the thing possessing his body was. A flash of silver appeared in the air, and for a tantalizing moment it hovered there until Ratchet brought the blade down missing them by inches. "Scrheeee!"

Scrap scrap scrap! he's right above us! Jack's hand tighten around Raf's wrist as he spared a quick glance behind them, Ratchet was way too close for comfort for his liking. Ratchet's surgical blade swung upwards again to take another swing at them, Raf was depending on him and so were the bots, Jack was determined not to let them die. Finding renewed strength he miraculously pulled Raf into a fireman's carry and ran.

The screeching behind them steadily got quieter but despite this Jack's instincts continued to tell him to run, with the added weight on his shoulders he pushed on searching for a safe place to hide. Jack must have been running for a good five minutes before his legs gave out on him, the strain of the constant running finally became too much for his trembling legs. Raf tumbled into a roll at the unexpected crash lading, feeling a bruise blossom on his hip when he landed hard on his dropped flashlight. Groaning Raf pushed himself to his knees, it was with good fortune that none of the electronic devices were damaged in the tumble. His chocolate brown eyes searched for his former carrier, the glowstick rocked back in forth beside him before going still. With a trembling hand he picked it up looking to the direction to where they came, the soft golden glow rested on a prone figure gasping for breath. "Jack!" Raf whispered worriedly "are you okay?"

A fit of coughs overtook his laborious gasps, Raf scurried to his side and rolled him onto his side to promote a better airflow, through his strained inhaling he managed a nod. The sweat on Jack's forehead soaked his front bangs showing just how much getting away from Ratchet had taken out of him, Raf chewed his lip eyeing the rise and fall of the older teen's chest with troubling thoughts. They were already exhausted, outrunning the mindless medic led to the outcome of Jack collapsing just showed how much they were in over their heads. They couldn't do this forever and the bots had more of an advantage at finding them before they can begin to get their energy back. It's already been a half hour and there was still no sign of Danny or Miko, perhaps they had been captured or worse? Raf quickly shook the thoughts away before they became darker, he needed to think positive, there was still a chance that they were still around avoiding the bots like they were.

Maybe they were having better luck then him and Jack.

Finally the burning in Jack's lungs faded to a more manageable sting, oxygen cycled more easier now through his mouth. Shakily he pushed himself to his feet leaning onto the wall for support as he felt a stinging sensation shoot up into his foot instantly picking it off the floor with a with a wince. the concern in Raf's eyes grew, handing him the glowstick back as he went to pick up his abandoned flashlight he felt the ground tremble beneath his hand making him freeze. "Jack..." Raf swallowed heavily, Jack lifted his head from it's slouched position and glanced at him "Yeah?"

"I hear footsteps. Loud footsteps."

Jack instantly tensed, stumbling to make his way over to the younger boy holding back a hiss whenever he put pressure on his foot settling for walking with a limp. The Bot was defiantly closer now, with every step sent quakes under their feet, growing more intense with every footfall. Jack's mouth seemed to become drier finding it hard to swallow the lump of apprehension growing in his throat, he felt hot and cold and the same time.

Thunk, Thunk.

They could try to run again, but Jack seriously doubted they would get very far and there was no where to hide so that wasn't even an option.

HAAHNK...HAh HAAAHhheerrrm...

What the heck was that!? It sounded like a distorted cassette tape being put into rewind and slowed down laughter echoing off the walls as the result. It was the exact sound Jack had heard countless times in every horror movie or show he seen, right before the physco killer came around the corner with its weapon of choice dressed in blood wearing a face of insanity. This can't be happening, this can't be happening, THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING. Jack's heart and mind was racing, terrified into ignorant disbelief not wanting to believe this was happening.

A silhouette appeared around the corner, flickering blue optics gazed about languorously teetering forward, Jack felt his veins turn to ice when that dead stare landed on them, the blue glow faintly revealed a sadistic wide doll-like grin as a resounding shinkt rang out. Raf shakily raised the flashlight onto the approaching figure, nearly dropping it in shock upon seeing who it was. That cruel grin and cold blooded demeanor was something that defiantly shouldn't be described as Optimus Prime at all, but there he was, staggering towards them with his signature blade catching fragments of light. He was too close, too close to be able to do anything to avoid him, they had nothing to defend themselves.

They were going to die.

"Optimus please!" Raf cried out fearfully "you don't want to do this!" the possessed Optimus had backed them into a corner, leering closer; just above them. The blade was posed to strike, their hearts pulsed against their rib cages. "No child.. I want to!" the voice that came out of Optimus' mouth sounded like the ghost's from earlier with hints of the Prime's vocals and static. Then something happened, Optimus' optics flickered to a brighter blue as he let a groan, grabbing his bladed servo and clutching it tightly to his chassis. Every dent and missing pieces in his armor flickered to a green ooze briefly before stabilizing back into it's gruesome appearance. "Ja-Jack.." Optimus stuttered out strenuously "Rafael..."

Jack's tensed stance relaxed some hearing the Prime's normal voice, somehow he was fighting the ghost that was controlling him but for how long he was still going to be in control was uncertain. "Optimus?" Jack asked as he met Optimus' eyes which would flicker to black every few seconds. "I...errghh I need you... To get Raf...You...You- need to..." The strain it was taking just for Optimus to try to communicate with them was heart wrenching, his frame was trembling as he fell to his knees groaning with effort with the internal battle he was experiencing. Was he trying to tell them how to stop the ghost? Raf peeked worriedly from behind Jack's outstretched arm as a form of protection "Optimus..Are you okay?" despite wanting to reassure Raf, Optimus had to put his energy into what he wanted to get across before it was too late. The ghost was hacking through his firewalls at an exponential rate, the fight for regaining control over his body again had been intense, the ghost thought he had been pushed away to the far corners of his processor and let his guard down, it was then Optimus had seized his chance and got back some form of control. But now the ghost was back and fighting back harder, he could feel himself losing and his consciousness fading away. "What is it you need us to do?" Jack asked successfully pushing aside his fear and injury and ready to take action when Optimus gave the order, the makings of a true solider if he had time to ponder the thought further. The black in his optics lasted longer this time, the shudders racking through his frame were more powerful this time, the sound of something shutting down pierced the air as his optics became blue for one last time he managed to say one thing.

"Run!"

The maniacal Cheshire cat grin returned just as Jack and Raf took off heading for the direction Optimus had came from. "You really thought that I would be giving up this stud-alicious of a body that easy?" crazed laughter rang through out the air behind them, it didn't sound like it was chasing them but they kept running not wanting to chance it.

---

~~~~~~DP~~~~~~

"Do you think it's bad we haven't ran into anyone yet?" Miko questioned keeping her head turned for anyone approaching from behind. Danny glanced around their flight path scanning with suspicious eyes at every dark corner they neared. "Depends on how you want to look at it I guess, I mean, do you want to encounter any of them when they're in this state?" Danny shuddered as Smokescreen's haunted look came to mind. Their condition seemed to deteriorate the longer Technus had them under his control, by now they probably looked like the exact things nightmares were made of.

"Just thinking what if they found Jack and Raf and that's what keeping them occupied?" Miko stated pointedly tensing when she swore she saw a shadow move. "Hey, shine that ghost ray thing back towards this way for a moment." Danny didn't hesitate and did as requested, having the light source increase in mass for the darker areas as his hand moved from left to right in a sweeping motion. Danny's eyes narrowed as his bottom lip jutted out "I don't see anything there." Miko glanced over his shoulder looking unconvinced "can you cut the lights for a few seconds?"

Danny eyed her like she had also gone crazy making her roll her eyes "ughhh, just trust me okay?" Danny grimaced before sighing, extinguishing the light within his hand leaving them in the dark. Danny felt Miko's warm breathing tickling his ear as they stared anxiously waiting for something that probably wasn't even there. Miko leaned closer to his ear "I've been wondering, what exactly does my gun thingy do?" she whispered. "It fires ice blasts." Danny whispered back but quickly continued as he felt her tense in excitement feeling a squeal of excitement coming "But. You only got eight blasts before the ice crystal runs out and will need to come to me for a refill."

Miko made a muffled groan "that sucks. Why can't you just make the ice crystal bigger?"

"Any bigger and it will overload it, which admittedly does suck. So when you use it you got to make every shot count." Despite not liking the turnout, Miko nodded understandingly "got it."

Clink.

The duo's eyes instantly snapped to where the noise sounded from growing rigid. Danny's hand instantly went aflame in radioactive light shining it into the same direction, Bulkhead stood in the middle of the hallway, jaw hanging askew and his paint job chipping away greatly, starring hollowly at them optics shuttering in and out, small streams of blue leaking from dark cracks. "Hoooooly bed sheets!" Danny yelled jumping a foot in the air at how close Bulkhead, the one on the team who's not at all agile or at the very least quiet for that matter had managed to sneak up on them and was now standing less than ten feet away from them. At least Bulkhead wasn't coming after them. "Okay that is just creepy." Miko said just above a whisper, not liking the way her guardian was watching them, seeming to analyses their very beings, like he was trying to predict what they were going to do next. Danny narrowed his eyes at the threat and began making sweeping motions with his other hand "hey! get of here! scat! shoo, shoo! don't need to be stalking the halls like some kind of child molester! now shoo!" Miko slapped him lightly on the back of his head "he's not some dog! stop talking to him like that."

Danny glared mockingly at her "and do you have a better idea to get him to leave without causing him harm?"

"let me try to talk him, I know Bulk is still in there somewhere and I might be able to bring him out." She reasoned. Danny chewed his bottom lip uncertainly, it could work or it might not, but they couldn't automatically disregard there being a slight chance at getting through to the olive green bot. Reluctantly he nodded, descending downwards allowing her to get down and walk towards Bulkhead, nothing about this sat right with him but he couldn't deny her the chance to getting through to her best friend, Danny would just hover a few inches away from her just in case anything happens.

Miko walked cautiously towards the stilled mech locking eyes with the soulless optics. "Bulkhead?" she called up to him receiving no response "I know somewhere inside you can still hear me and I just want to let you know that I'm not giving up on you, so don't give up to this lunatic. Your strong Bulk! the strongest bot I know." Bulkhead's body shuddered slightly like a ripple effect of a bright green before disappearing, becoming still and silent once more as he stared at her. Miko took this as a sign a she was getting through to him "so fight him! I know you can take him easily." Danny's shoulders became less stiff.

is it actually working? Bulkhead's frame shivered more intensely now, it looked like what Miko was saying was getting through to him.

Bulkhead let out an animalistic screech looking between insanely excited and cannibalistic. His fist turned into a wrecking ball and swung down at Miko. Guess not! Danny quickly relinquished his light source and dove for her and turned them both intangible just as the now spiked wrecking ball came down passing through them and into the floor creating a giant indention, Danny rocketed back into the air arms crisscrossed over Miko's midsection getting far out of the giant's reach, Miko began to squirm "hey! I was getting through to him!" she protested. Danny turned them both intangible again and phased them through the upper floor before replying "nope! you had your chance now visiting hours are over with cray-cray. We'll try again later once we got a straitjacket and a therapist." Miko grumbled in dissatisfaction "I thought you trusted me?" slowing down to a hover to shift her into a more comfortable position "I do trust you it's just him I don't trust. He's waning in and out of the deep end at the moment and I wouldn't put it past him to unintentionally hurt you, not when Technus is using him as his personal puppet."

Miko huffed, understanding seeping into her expression and began to fiddle with the ice pistol, thumb grazing the side of it lazily as she went back to gazing behind them as lookout, not speaking after that. Danny frowned at her sudden silence and sighed, looking back to their flight path with no intended destination in mind.

They must have been at this for an hour already and they were still no closer to stopping the technology obsessed ghost, this would've been so much easier with his team consisting of his two best friends and the occasional assistance from his sister, they worked well with each other for they knew how each operated, Tucker was tech support who was also a genius in his own right, Sam fought from the sidelines for a fast retreat so she could attack from another angle and was also a decent strategist, Jazz was the thinker; supplying excuses for them when they needed them as well as backup support while Danny was the one on the front lines who did all the fighting. They functioned quite well together, sure they had their ups and downs but they worked through it, they knew each others weaknesses and faults; they helped support one another to make up for it. But this. This makeshift group of teenagers were new to him, he didn't know their strong suits and how well their functionality as a unit was, they might be completely chaotic, breaking out into petty arguments might be run of the mill for them, Danny witnessed it first hand when he saw how easily Jack and Miko got into it and left the problem unresolved between them. Granted, this wasn't Amity Park, Amity dealt with ghosts on a daily basis, Jasper apparently had robots, it was an entirely different playing field. Danny heaved a sigh, he really needed to stop wishing that his friends were here with him and make due with what he has.

He cocked his head to the side upon hearing a distant noise, focusing, he forced his hearing to listen further, blocking out the sound of Miko's breathing allowing his ears to travel. Thump thump thump thump...

It sounded like someone was running, a few halls down maybe. Too light and deliberate to be the bots, too afraid. There was a heavier thump every few seconds which confused him to no end. The person was growing exhausted, their strides becoming more clumsy, sluggish more reckless.

It's them! Danny eyes widen at the realization "Jack and Raf!" he whispered catching Miko's attention "they're in trouble. Hang on." Was the only warning she received before Danny zipped towards the noise as she let out a quiet as possible whoop. Halls rushed past his vision as his eyes scanned for the two boys, soft green lights appearing upon what his vision laid on. Danny nearly passed the next hallway up when he spotted a yellow glowstick running farther down the hall, backtracking he flew after them. Danny was just behind Jack, reaching out he tapped him on the shoulder to catch his attention.

Bad decision.

Jack nearly tripped in his limp as he let out a scream which made Raf also scream as Jack hugged him tight hoping to shield the younger boy, out of panic Raf swung the flashlight he was carrying down on Danny's head,hard. He and Miko crashed into the ground unconsciously dropping her as he let out a painful "ooww!" luckily it wasn't from a great height. Black spots dotted his vision as he rubbed the sore spot, blinking them away he looked up at the bleary figures of the ones he was searching for. "Owww..." He moaned out again "watch where your swinging that thing would you?" Jack and Raf instantly relaxed as they realized who it was and not another physco chasing them, Raf brought the electronics up to his face shamefully as he looked down at him apologetically "sorry, I just reacted."

Danny's vision cleared up, upon hearing the sincerity in the apology he shrugged "its okay, it was accident." Miko groaned beside him, lifting her face up and shot him a halfhearted glare "jeez, before you drop someone next time can ya warn them?" Danny rubbed the back of his neck meekly "oops." Pushing herself up she stood upright smirking at her human friends as she dusted herself off "great! looks like the band's back together! Harmonica-lad and Techno-keys united with their lead guitarist." She announced enthusiastically in hopes of lightening up the mood. Danny frowned as he eyed Jack and Raf, it was reasonable to be a bit jumpy when someone was chasing you, but they were too uneasy. The way they kept glancing about fidgeting every few seconds unsettled him, being out in the open like this was probably sending their nerves through the roofs. "Who was it?" Danny questioned face hardening "was it bad?"

Raf's uneasy eyes met his, fingers tapping softly against his laptop's back casing thinking on what he wanted to say. "Just Ratchet and Optimus... But there might have been a third one in Arcee's room, I'm not sure..." Raf trailed off no longer feeling able to meet his eyes, upon closer inspection Danny saw that the chestnut haired boy was quivering revealing just how much the encounter spooked him making his gut turn guiltily, that guilt intensified when he noticed how Jack was favoring his foot. Floating the brief distance between them Danny's aura flared to provided better lighting, glancing upwards at Jack he asked "how's your foot feeling?" Jack scratched the back of his head uncomfortably "eh, not too bad I guess, it's probably just a sprain." Danny prodded his foot experimentally, eliciting a small hiss to escape Jack's clenched teeth before Danny pronounced his verdict. "Defiantly sprained; though not badly, you should defiantly put some ice on it. Lucky for you I'm like a personal ice dispenser!" Danny said offering a cheerful smile showing him two glowing blue fingers before bringing them to his foot, tapping lightly against the abused fabric a fine layer of frost covered the painful area inside the sneaker.

"How's that?" he asked looking up from his handiwork, Jack shifted his foot and nodded looking a little relieved "feels a bit better now, thanks." Danny dusted off his hands for show as he bounced to his feet puffing his chest out proudly "no problem, now we just need to-"

A unnatural shiver went down their spines, the silence surrounding them suddenly seemed off, a tune softly played distantly as it neared their location. A music box playing My Grandfather's Clock sang eerily through the silence, with every key played on the xylophone sent foreboding piercing into their chests, something that would be playing at a haunted carnival or someone with a sick sense of humor. No matter where they looked they couldn't pin where the music was coming from echoing from all sides. The long drawled out sound of a floorboard creaking came from the end of the hall, "no, no no no no!" Miko whispered with fearful eyes, "I died every time in the game when this song was playing! something horrible is going to happen!" hallway lights began flickering in blinding white sporadically making it hard to see experiencing loss of vision at the sudden brightness. Blinking the black spots away Danny swore he spotted something shift. "Uh, guys?" he said trying to get their attention. "I might just be seeing things but I'm positive there's someone over there." The group of humans looked towards where the Ghost Boy pointed, trying to see past the flashing overhanging lights finding a silhouette, a set of blue optics was watching them before disappearing altogether.

"Oh god I hate this," Jack whispered, dread lacing every word "I hate this so much."

The music diminished to allow warped laughter to take it's place, it sounded like it came from the right, but they weren't entirely certain. Miko raised the pistol and fired at where she thought it was coming from, they were greeted by silence in return and the lights to turn off. Miko sighed shakily feeling slightly relieved "I think I got 'em." A sudden burst of statistic laughter screeched mockingly beside them seeing rows of razor sharp teeth whir into motion gleaming in the light of Danny's aura.

"AHHHHHH!" everyone screamed at the sudden appearance, Danny fired off multiple blasts of ectoplasm per second at the fiendish adversary missing every time but successfully distracting it. "I need everyone to group hug right now!" Danny shouted over the 'pew pew' noises. Whether them being compliant or to shocked to question it, they did so anyway; Jack and Miko wrapping their arms around Raf in a tight huddle. Firing in one last blast Danny whirled around and formed a ghost shield around them, the energy from his hands wafted around the bubble and brought them airborne in front of him, making a hasty retreat to find refuge unknown to him if the bot was giving chase.

---

~~~~~~TECHNUS~~~~~~

Technus' fingers flew across the digital keyboard he'd conjured up within the system, hacking his way through one of the twenty firewalls he had already bypassed. The computer was heavily encrypted, someone with great skill had programmed these firewalls whom must be a hacker themselves if they were able to keep him out this long, as much as Technus would hate to admit it but he wasn't at the top of his game; he dared to say he is outdated even, he'd came across so many new strands of coding that needed deciphering only able to picking out bits and pieces and was still having a rough time, this coder was probably as good as Phantom's friend, that Foley kid, perhaps even better. It was like it was programmed into another language with bits of code he recognized only improved.

Technus frowned, he refused to find a code he can't crack, he was nearly into the governments mainframe once so if he could bypass all that he could surely get pass these. But thanks to this little expedition through the maze of firewalls, he was learning how the alien coding worked and was able to translate a few of them back into regular English, this came especially in handy for keeping his new toys in check, lifting his left hand he swiped a collection of images into view, seeing what the robots were witnessing through their optics. Breaking down a few of their built in barriers had been difficult but not impossible, but when one-namely the giant red and blue mech- fell out of line and tried to break free from the control of his mind chips he was forced to step in transferring himself away from his work through the energy connection and into the rebelling robot's mind to interfere, hacking a few more firewalls and locking him within a small corner in his mind where his memories were stored; that should keep him busy for long while.

Just to think all this beautiful advanced technology would've went to waste for he hadn't escaped the Ghost child's clutches and taken the path he chosen that night.

Flashback

Technus abandoned the fight scene taking flight away from his adversary while he was down. As much as he hated to admit it, Technus had been severely weakened since he had put all his energy into those electronics to create his robotic form, he needed to flee before Danny Phantom regained his bearings and captured him in that accursed thermos and take his mind control chips away.

Technus flew through a neighborhood, anywhere he could hideout for the time being until the halfa given up searching for him. Rain pelted on his form tiring him further but he traveled on until a light and a tug from his ghost core caught his eye, backtracking he came up to house with a bedroom window seeing what was calling out to his obsession. There on the desk in the room was a laptop, screen on illuminating the furniture slightly. There was no one around.

Technus phased through the wall, barely taking notice of the guitar and Slash Monkey posters adorning the walls, instead was staring fixated at the laptop which seemed to be in the process of downloading something.

The technology obsessed ghost grinned.

Yes, this would do nicely. He would hide out in this person's laptop regaining his strength and lie and wait to strike again. And with that plan in mind he phased into the computer where he learned all about the Five Night's at Freddy's game which Miko played the next morning, alternating his appearance as his strength grew as he became more and more fascinated with the terrifying game.

Back to the present, his former plan would've been considered small scale in comparison to the added addition of giant mechs wielding quite the firepower to take over the world, while he brought the virtual to the real world, his new recruits would be his army obliterating anyone who stood his way, a.k.a. that Phantom brat. There was upsides and downsides to his new machines, the upside being they were sentient beings who could analyse a battle situation and act accordingly to his orders which became less of a chance of them being destroyed, plus be someone to rant his plans of conquest to. Downside, they were sentient beings, they had thoughts of their own apparently which could lead to a rebellion against his command.

Despite the fact that he failed to successfully trap Phantom within the main area so he could torture the humans utilizing the bots to hunt them down and eventually kill them cause what the heck, he was living in the moment and he felt like it, Phantom would've been devastated seeing as there wouldn't be anything for him to do about it, Technus knew it would've crushed him, seeing as he was the hero type and all. Technus watched the screen from the yellow bot's point of view, as much as he enjoyed experiencing the game when the human girl had played, Technus felt like adding his own special touch to the real life inspired event transpiring at the moment through out the military base, in his opinion he had improved it for the better. So what if the bots became more insane when left alone for too long? it just made all the more fun and exciting, just because Technus was cooped up within the virtual cyberspace of coding didn't mean he wouldn't mind some entertainment.

A ping sounded upon decoding another strand of code "yes! I, Technus, master of all technology has decrypted another firewall!" Technus exclaimed "now just onto-" Technus paused as more firewalls appeared, he growled in frustration "the twenty two of a hundred to go."

---

~~~~~~DP~~~~~~

Danny turned them intangible phasing through the vent granting, settling down in the vent shaft, his bubble dispersed into little fading fragments freeing its passengers from the cramped space, beginning to shift about to get the kinks out of their joints Danny raised a finger to his lips signalling for silence. A set of headlights lit the dark corridor from far down, Danny leaned as far as he dared near the grate to get a better look; a shadow of a car was seen, a distant rumble sounded from its engine threateningly, like it was anticipating the thrilling challenge of the hunt. Danny swallowed uneasily, does it know were here and is just waiting for us to come out? the thought left him unsettled but he didn't want to give the threat any further reason to believe they were here by checking, it was best to just sit tight.

The car let out puffs of exhaust that sounded like a heavy breath of a growl, it was so loud it was almost like they were next to them. The engine rumbled again before driving along slowly; deliberately to freak them out. Danny's eye darted to the side when he caught movement coming from Raf.

Raf's nose twitched involuntarily, eyes beginning to squint as his mouth pulled in a disgruntled frown, Danny instantly recognized the signs of the beginning of a sneeze, dust particles could be seen floating around in the airspace lazily due to the disturbance of them hiding away in the vent. Miko watched Danny's wide eyes as he waved frantically at her and pointed beside her, turning her gaze her eyes widened a fraction mouthing an 'oh' upon seeing the twelve year old boy struggle to hold in a sneeze. Quickly her hand flew towards his mouth, thumb and pointer finger pinching below his nose in attempts at stopping his sneeze. She sent him a warning glance that said 'sneeze and we are all dead' that made Raf gulp in understanding.

The vehicle was nearly pass the vent grate, Danny continued to watch it carefully. The vehicle looked to be Smokescreen, dang how did he get back to the upper levels so fast? he thought he'd managed to throw him off their trail but now his presence said otherwise. Defiantly looking a bit worse for wear, he mused crestfallen, at this rate all that's going to be left of the bots were black hollowed, half caved in frames of an endoskeletons. After five minutes the Not-Smokescreen left, everyone exhaled a breath of relief. Green lights from Phantom's eyes scanned over them seeming to do a roll call, looking satisfied to find no one missing. It was then Jack decided to take charge "now that we are all regrouped we need to form a plan." He didn't seem to notice the slight pout on the Ghost boy's face as he mumbled something incoherent.

"First things first," Jack continued shifting his injured foot into a more comfortable position looking directly at Miko "where did you get a gun?" his expression showed obvious disapproval making her scowl in annoyance "I'm borrowing it." Was the only information she gave to him as her eyes narrowed dangerously, Danny and Raf was sensing an oncoming argument. "Really? from who cause you always seem to get the definition of 'borrowing' and 'stealing' mixed up. You don't know the responsibilities of handling a-"

"Oh and your all about responsibility aren't ya Jack?"

"can you guys please stop?" Raf asked but his request went unheard.

"Like you know the first thing about it? your just looking for your next thrill to fill that quota of yours!"

"Guys." Danny tried this time.

"Well at least I'm not a total jerk who thinks he can boss everyone around! maybe I should ice-blast that head of yours to get you to chill."

"I'm just trying to keep everyone safe including you from your reckless behavior!"

"Well stop okay? I can take care of myself and I don't need anyone else doing it for me!"

"Enough!" Danny's eyes flared a vibrant green successfully shutting the bickering teenagers up. "I gave it to her, she knows the responsibilities that came with it when I entrusted it to her. She told you she was borrowing it and you should've left it at that, how can you expect to work together if you don't trust what she's telling you?" when the two refused to look at each other he continued "I know its not easy getting along with someone you don't like, believe me, I've been there. But you got to look at the bigger picture here! your friends are in danger and are under the control of a technology controlling ghost who intends to take over the world! you need to put your differences aside and work together if you want to save your friends, if not this is never going to work."

Jack and Miko continued to ignore one another refusing to meet the other's eye, venting in irritation not yet willing to back down and take back what was said. The tension in the air was heavy, Raf sat uncomfortably between the two just wishing Danny to turn him invisible. Finally they both relented, equally deciding to save it for another time. "The monochrome anime wannabe is right" Miko sighed a little dramatically eliciting a indignant "hey!" from Danny. "So what do we do now, leader?" Miko addressed to Jack.

Jack ignored the gibe and scratched his chin in thought, "we need to know what were up against. Phantom?" Danny wanted to roll his eyes at the use of his last name but thought better of it. "Right Technus, you guys already know he's a ghost for one thing." All the deadpanned looks he received in response made him cough embarrassed "he has powers over all things electrical and technological which is why all the devices in the main room went haywire. Recently he built some neural transmitter chips and used them on the bots, throw in the added bonus of his powers into the mix which is how he was able to control them. Technus is a total motor mouth, start a conversation with him and he's spewing out his his plans for conquest leaving him temporarily distracted. I need to get him out of his upgraded robotic suit otherwise he's gonna be impossible to defeat though."

"Which means we need to get back to the central room." Jack affirmed receiving a nod in confirmation. "Problem is we need to get there without being spotted, but chances are they can sense us if any of our previous encounters will prove that."

"This dude here's a ghost, I'm sure he can turn us invisible." Miko pointed out nodding towards Danny whom shrugged "I can turn us invisible but its not going to be any help. Technus can sense me coming when I'm using my powers when he's this powerful, and since his ghostly influence is inside the bots right now it just makes its radius a bit better." A sudden thought came to him as his mood brighten a bit "hey Miko's been playing the game, maybe you know something that will help us."

Miko's eyebrows shot up in surprise for a brief few seconds, before frowning in consideration "well first of all we are supposed to be set up in a small office or something which we weren't supposed to leave but seeing as that ghost made the bots chase us out of the central room we didn't really get much of a choice. The animatronics in the game roam the facility much like our guys are doing in the base and gradually make their way to your location, but if you spot them before they get the chance to attack you all ya gotta do is watch them a bit and they'll eventually disappear, problem is this can leave you open for attack from another animatronic-or Autobot in our case-from another angle. The game starts at midnight and ends six a.m. when you clear the level, after that the animatronics get more aggressive and more frequent but they all attack at certain times so you just need to time the counter attack right. Chica and Bonnie are the speed types- and now that I think about Smokescreen was behaving a little bit like Bonnie-Freddy's the leader, Foxy is pretty dangerous and pops up at random times and even though there's more the last character I've encountered was Balloon Boy. Apparently the reason they come after you is because they think your naked or something like that and shove you into a spare mechanical costume killing you in the process." She snapped her fingers trying to recall something oblivious to the looks of absolute horror the rest of the group wore before it came to her "video feed! we need a live video feed to track their movements."

Jack frowned "from what I've seen the base doesn't have security cameras and if there any left behind from when the military used to use this place then it's somewhere in storage." Miko threw her head back and let out a small groan at this information. Raf looked downward in disappointment, something flashed across his face before his face brighten at being hit with an idea. Opening and waking up his laptop he activated a program and began typing in memorized codes with quick muscle memory "maybe not but we can make our own." The proclamation garnered everyone's attention, faces silently asking him to elaborate. "Well," Raf continued "with this program I'm creating will act as a main security feed hub, connecting to a shared signal I'm going to send out to your cellphones right about...Now." A collective ping sounded from their phones as they pulled them into view, a message appearing on the screen offering a ' 1.0.' awaiting for download. Danny eyed the message circumspectly thumb hovering over the download option "after it downloads it's not going to give my phone a virus right?" Danny inquired skeptically as the others already downloaded the option without hesitation. Raf placed his phone beside him and resumed in his task "no it won't, the codes are proofread I know what I'm doing." Was all that he provided.

Still a little cautionary he sighed in defeat "okay then." Tapping the 'accept' download, he'll have Tucker check his phone over when all this was over. After a few more taps Raf addressed them again "standby for device linkup." A cycling circle appeared on all their screens as they waited which didn't have to be too long right after fifteen seconds it finished. "Everyone, try moving the camera on your phone to different areas." A live video feed appeared on Raf's computer screen of the vent cover, Miko's boot, one aimed at the far end of the vent and the last one at Danny's spooky glowing orbs. "Yes it's working!" Raf cheered quietly, Miko leaned over and looked at the computer screen, grinning when she saw what the little genius accomplished and clapped him on the back "great job Raf! we got ourselves some DIY security cameras, hooyeah!" Collective shushes were directed at the enthusiastic Wrecker in training, she smiled a bit sheepishly in response "oops, sorry."

Danny cleared his throat "right, back to the plan; what are we supposed to do with our phones?" despite getting the gist of the game he felt like they were missing something crucial, the way the bot's reacted compared to the animatronics didn't fit, like they were more aggressive and seemed to attack every few seconds, they weren't... He didn't know how to properly describe it but they weren't following in line with the program of the game it seemed like.

Raf slipped his phone back into his pocket and grabbed the scanner resting by his side, fiddling around with it he somehow removed the back panel and began pulling out a few wires. "I was thinking once we get back to the central room we'll set them up in the nearby halls to keep an eye on things while we try to fight off Technus without the bot's forming a sneak attack leaving us unprepared, then with the camera's in place we can anticipate where they'll make their move from." Danny shot him an incredulous look "your not fighting Technus, that's my job. When I said I needed to get him out of his upgraded suit I meant I was going to be doing all the heavy hitting, you guys can help but from at a distance and only when I need it." Miko looked positively miffed at that fixing him with a glare "dude! I thought we were in this together?"

"We are!" Danny strained to keep his voice to a whisper "but I won't be having anyone else getting physically involved in the fight and risk them getting hurt."

"That's a lousy excuse." Miko grumbled back before Jack cut in "we know that where you come from you like doing the solo hero act but it isn't going to work this time, these are our friends, we are not just going to sit around doing nothing. You said it yourself, we need to work together to combat this."

Danny was pulling at fistfuls of white hair now growing increasingly irritated. After a minute he relinquished his tight hold on his hair "fine" he said hoping to satisfy them for now, he'll deal with this problem again later. Glancing back at Raf his brows furrowed in confusion, what was he doing now? he had taken taken out the computer chip from the scanner and rewired it, seeming to run into a problem if Raf's frown said anything. "Hey" Danny greeted upon getting closer "what are you up to now?" Raf blinked up at him looking a little lost for words at the moment. "Oh! I'm-uh, just rewiring this scanner trying to get it to work again, it was meant for scanning life signals before Ratchet dropped it, but for some reason it won't scan." Danny peered closer, peering into the inner mechanism of the uncomfortably large device seeing as it was meant for much larger hands. His eyes continued to trail until they landed on a small slightly bent wire failing to connect to a circuit board. "I think I see the problem." Danny notified Raf "hold on I'm going to see if I can fix it."

"Danny wait-"

Too late, Danny already stuck his finger in there trying to get the bend out of the wire, unfortunately with his kind of luck his finger touched something it shouldn't had sending a small jolt of electricity to shoot up into his arm which he quickly yanked back.

"Chhaoorrriip!"

Danny's hands quickly flew to his mouth at the unexpected noise like he said a swear word, small barely visible sound waves escaped before suddenly being blocked off. Everyone stared at him with wide eyed expressions. "What was that?" Jack questioned slowly, Danny looked to him revealing a wide eyed look of his own "I-I don't know... That never happened before." Miko was staring at him looking awed "that. Was.Adorable. You sounded like a mama cheetah calling out for her cubs only with a slight rumble! can you do it again?"

Danny could already feel the heat beginning to rise in his cheeks "what? that wasn't cute, it was-" suddenly he trailed off, looking off distantly at something that wasn't seen tilting his head slightly. Miko waved a hand in front of his unresponsive face "hello? you still with us?" after snapping her fingers he seemed to come out of his trance. "Sorry, what were you saying?" he asked. The three humans exchanged worried glances before looking back in his direction "what happened? you kinda zoned out on us for a moment there." Jack inquired. Danny swept his bangs from out of his face stalling for time to formulate a sentence "I don't know, it was like I just started seeing something that wasn't there. Like a sorta vision but it was pretty blurry."

Raf frowned contemplating, this sounded very familiar. His eyes opened a fraction, no that couldn't be it, could it? there was only one way to find out. "Do you think you can stick your finger back in here again?" Raf asked. The Ghost Boy looked very bemused at the weird request "you want me to stick my finger back in there... To get shocked again?" Raf shook his head "no, I have a theory" he responded quickly "please it would only take a second."

Danny eyed the device with foreboding before looking at Raf's pleading brown eyes. Danny lost his will, with a weary sigh he relented, sticking his finger back into the same place as before in the scanner. The expectant zap returned bringing out the weird sound his vocals were able to make.

"Chhaaaoorrrip!"

After the sonic waves left his mouth Danny ducked his head down in embarrassment feeling warmth in his cheeks for making that degrading sound. He was never going to live this down if word got out about it. The returning ping entered his mind as an image began to form. It was the central room to the base, the place they wanted to be, and it was just a few turns in the air vent away. Danny snapped back into reality "I just saw a way into the main room." he whispered in disbelief "but that's impossible! it's not like I left to scope the place out." Miko shrugged "maybe its a ghost thing."

"That," Raf began "or a form of echolocation. When Danny stuck his finger inside of the scanner he must have touched it's main components, his ghost energy crossed transference with the scanners electromagnet and used his vocals as an output, the result creating a sonic wave pulsed through the area before bouncing back to its originated source, like bats or whales for example. So by using the scanner, Danny can perform echolocation."

Miko perked up leaning forward on her fist "that is so cool!" Jack nodded in agreement "you could probably check for the bots being in the area too." He pointed out. Danny had gone quiet; maybe they had said something wrong or perhaps this new found development was freaking him out? but they didn't have to ponder it too long when Danny wore a telltale smirk answering "or, you might call it ecto-location." The obvious joke hoping to gain a few laughs only reined in silence "get it? cause ghosts are made out of ectoplasm? so I replaced the echo with ecto in echolocation? anybody?" trying further but still had the same result "aw, you guys are no fun."

Gathering up their things they made to move again, Danny taking point holding the scanner in hand for if he needed to perform another sweep, Raf behind him holding his laptop trying to adjust the camera settings, Jack held the flashlight, glowstick and everyone's cellphones and Miko took up rear, ice pistol drawn and ready to fire if needed. After a few minutes of silent walking Danny came to a halt, frozen to the spot when something came to him.

"Aw shish-kabob."

Jack looked up ahead but didn't see anything to warrant that kind of response out of their ghostly guide, "what is it?"

"They're in the vents."

Childish laughter echoed somewhere behind them. "Hello" the voice continued, Miko began shoving everyone forward trying to get everyone to pick up the pace "scrap! that sounded like Balloon Boy!" no one liked the sound of this 'Balloon Boy' especially not with the way it was giggling, like it knew something they didn't, it was up to something. The mischievous in it's voice was not masked from the feigned tone of innocence, you could hear it as clear as day. Something was telling them to look behind them, just knowing something was there but not wanting to confirm it. Nonetheless they looked, surprised to find nothing there. When they turned around to continue their journey, there at the end of the vent shaft blue optics glowed brightly against the contrast of the darkness. "Hi."

Cue the screams of "scrap!" or "crud!" from the group of teenagers. There was two ways out of this, either take the vent that took a left but stood at an equal distance between them and this 'Balloon Boy' wannabe but risk being attacked by the bot waiting for them, or backtrack the way they came losing progress to putting an end to this. "Were gonna have to chance it." Jack whispered to them, Raf was hesitant, Miko looked ready to leap into action already and Danny looked ready to blast something but offered a nod in agreement. The stare down between them and their shady enemy was unrelenting, neither wanting to make a move in case something backfired, that was until Danny decided to make a move firing at ice blast he managed to freeze one of it's limbs to the bottom paneling, the bot jerked letting out a slight squeal at being stuck. "Go go go!" Danny shouted urging them forward, the trio didn't need to be told twice running for the exit tunnel. The bot let out an angry screech at seeing its quarry getting away, struggling more fiercely against its restraints, fractures began to appear in the ice with every thrash, Danny could hear the ice splintering from the brute force. Thinking quickly Danny poured ice out onto the ground creating a sleet pathway to where they were heading much to everyone's surprise as they slipped on it, due to their accelerated movement sent them sliding across the icy pathway following where the sleet trail headed, gravity propelling them forward. They would've probably taken in how fun this actually was seeing as they were sort of bobsledding if they weren't so terrified of their situation.

The bot let out a static filled snarl as the ice holding it in place shattered, setting the possessed monstrosity free bounding towards them at a startling speed. Danny quickly curved the ice flow as they neared the turn; making subtle changes here and there when it looked like one of them was going to slip out of the bank. A shadow of a hand swiped at them one to miss and crack the ice they'd already slid across. An uncovered vent leading out into the open greeted them as they launched out of it and would've crashed to the ground if Danny hadn't quickly created an ectoplasmic bowl landing in it safely as he lowered them to the ground. Danny glanced about uncertain about which direction they should take, "ah screw it" sticking his finger into the back panel of the scanner again producing what looked like the downplayed version of his Ghostly Wail out of his mouth aiming towards their right. The image of the main entrance entered his mind as the sound bounced back gratification easing into him a bit for nailing the direction down on the first try.

"Come on we need to head this way!" notifying his substitute team whom were already getting back to their feet. A mighty thud sounded beside them as the bot landed somewhere near automatically making them freeze up. Powering up a large ectoblast to see what they were up against. Bits of faded yellow armor could be seen among the horrifying endoskeleton instantly becoming recognizable making his mouth drop. "Bumblebee? wha-hey!" to Danny's surprise the not-Bumblebee tried to snatch the scanner from his hands, starting a tug-a-war between the two; hearing Miko behind him commenting "Bee got the Balloon Boy coding? huh, I'm disappointed in myself for not pegging it to him sooner." Danny glowered at Bee still trying to yank it back "you scared the crud out of us just so you can steal our stuff? dude you need to get your agenda's straight!" Turning the scanner intangible he yanked it back with a shrewd smirk of victory only to be short lived when Bee snatched him up in a fluid motion and before Danny could even react, shoved him into his exposed mouth, chopping down with a sickening 'crunch' making the Ghost boy disperse into mist, scanner clattering forgotten on the floor.

Audible gasps of horror pierced the sudden quiet, staring at the frozen scene with sickening terror making their hearts pound in fright yelling at them to 'run'. "Oh my freaking gosh," Miko breathed out with wide eyes "Bumblebee just ate Danny!" Everything was becoming too much, Raf was at his breaking point tears threatening to spill from his eyes and trying to hold back a sob. Bumblebee wouldn't do this... Why would he?..How..? Bee never would've done something so gruesome, never... But the scene replayed over and over again in his mind, Danny not even having the time to scream since Bumblebee did it so fast, no remorse on an expressionless face. Jack kept the flashlight directed on the bot wanting to keep him within their sights, Miko brought the ice pistol in front of her threateningly aiming directly at Bee, her arm shook slightly as she took deep breaths trying to calm her racing heart. "Come any closer and I blast ya into a glacier!" Miko warned as her voice rose in pitch out of fear.

But Bumblebee hadn't moved from his spot, his optics had shut down leaving them pitch black and lifeless. A moment passed before Bumblebee's frame shuddered, bright green goop appeared on his body before slinking off onto the ground and disappearing, leaving him looking like his regular self with nothing missing from his armor, whatever was on him had cast an illusion on his body making him appear to be deteriorating. Raf felt numb, hesitantly calling out to his guardian "Bee?" another shudder raked his frame before familiar blue optics onlined warbling a groan holding a servo to his helm, looking around his eyes landed on Raf, both tensing immediately when their eyes met. Bee pulled his arms close to his chassis as his doorwings lowered pitifully backing away from his ward, Jack and Miko sensing their fear coming off of them in waves, noting the absence of a certain ghost. Bumblebee's tanks churned at the thought, not wanting to ask the dreaded question but he needed to know what happened. "D-did I hurt anyone?" he whimpered quietly not entirely meeting Raf's eye. Raf felt slightly relieved when he heard his friend's voice again, but he couldn't find the heart to tell Bee the truth, he already looked ashamed how it is even when he didn't know what he's done.

"Yo, I found the virus Technus had implanted inside of Bee's head and got rid of it, he should be back to normal now." Danny called out to them suddenly popping into existence dusting the broken bits of the neural chip off his hands making everyone jump back at his sudden presence looking ready to scream. Danny blinked at them "what? you look like you've seen a ghost." Chuckling a bit at the coincidental pun.

"You were dead!" Jack exclaimed making Danny snort followed up with a roll of his eyes "nothing new there seeing as I'm already dead."

"Then what happened when Bee swallowed you whole then, huh?" Miko pointed out not noticing the distressed whimper Bumblebee made upon hearing that. Danny arched an eyebrow "oh that? I just did a form of overshadowing and slipped into his mind to find the plug on Technus' operation he had running in there, got rid of it and came back out not wanting to overstay my welcome. Speaking of which" Danny turned to face Bumblebee, stunned to see him shuddering backing away from the rest of them, now he was worried. Flying to his side Danny touched Bee's shoulder as a sign of comfort but Bee jerked away from the touch, when Danny looked into his optics he saw regret, guilt and sadness, not only that but he was afraid, afraid of himself to suddenly lash out. His optics whirred as coolant began to gather. Danny motioned for Raf to come over as he tried to maintain eye contact with Bumblebee which was hard as he kept looking away. Danny chewed his lip trying to think on how he should approach the matter, cause darn it, how do you comfort a giant alien robot? any movement he made felt awkward and didn't even know where to begin, he wasn't the best at comforting someone his forte was fighting and coming up with puns on the fly, not emotional support since he had great deal of problems of his own.

Suck it up Fenton, Bumblebee needs you right now, so just try and hope for the best. "Hey," Danny called out softly, mood becoming solemn "what's wrong?" Bee's fist clenched tighter against his arm plating, sitting down he brought his knees up leaning his face into them, doorwings pressing against his back making him look smaller. Raf walked up to him and patted his leg alerting him of his presence "please Bee?" Bumblebee shivered. "I let it happen again." He finally replied to them. Danny and Raf exchanged a glance before Danny asked "let what happen?"

"I let myself be controlled again after I vowed to never let it happen again!" Bee cried "I couldn't stop Megatron, and I didn't stop Technus. They both locked me away into that dark abyss that I couldn't find a way out of. I kept trying but it wasn't enough." Bee's fists clenched tighter, fingers digging deeper into the plating that would surely leave dents but he didn't care. "I'm a failure to everyone." So many questions were racing in Danny's mind, but the prominent one being of the fact Megatron somehow managed to control him and made him do something that Bumblebee couldn't forgive himself for. But he couldn't ponder this further; perhaps later, Bumblebee needed him now in the present and not focusing on his past.

"Come on Bee," Raf sighed "you are not a failure; nor useless for that matter. So don't be so hard on yourself since everyone else got corrupted too, if there was a way to have escaped Technus' control you and the others would've done so by now." Bumblebee wasn't entirely listening to what Raf was saying, looking the other way, Danny appeared in his line of sight not even a moment after "Raf's right" Danny pointed out "there was nothing you could've done. Someone once said to me that failure is when you don't even try, don't even try to do the right thing because it's too much work, that someone one was you. You tried, Bee. You tried your best and that's all that matters, take your own advice." Bumblebee stood up angrily, glowering at the floor optics whirring inward out of frustration "yeah? well I also said to learn from your mistakes, I obviously didn't. I had the most experience about being controlled when the others don't, I should've done something more!"

"I know you feel guilty about this but there was nothing more you could've done! I saw the transmitter chip, it was keeping you trapped inside your head."

Bumblebee whirled on Danny, tired of hearing things he didn't want to hear "I should've tried harder! you realize how much he's taken away from us?! all the problems he caused?! if it wasn't for me Megatron wouldn't even be alive!" The outburst made Raf flinch, Jack and Miko stood off to the side unable to understand what the scout was going on about but catching the gist of it, seeing the scout grow more distressed with every warble."How can you hope to understand what I'm going though?" Danny gaze went downcast. This was why he was so upset, Megatron apparently was the equivalent to Vlad and Pariah Dark fused into one; perhaps worse, had started this war they were fighting back on their home planet and had been screwing with them ever since. He had caused a great deal of pain and suffering to the Autobot faction, Bumblebee being just one of many that were affected from the warlord's actions. From what Danny was guessing Bee had been presented with the chance to end Megatron's existence, to end all the suffering he'd brought into the world though, never was able to fall through on it but why he didn't Danny was uncertain for he was missing the pieces to this massive puzzle, and now with this Technus fiasco it was bringing back the memories, making him relive the nightmare over.

"I understand what your going through, more than you know." Danny said, voice nearing a whisper and before Bumblebee could ask Danny continued "remember on the first day I came to base I mentioned mind control? well, a circus had came to Amity Park awhile back; Circus Gothica. The ringleader, Freakshow had this crystal ball staff that he used to control the ghosts that were in his circus, I caught a glance of that thing and fell under its spell and Freakshow didn't hesitate to use me as one of his pawns. Freakshow made me do things I'm not proud of; he made me rob places for him and nearly made me injure one of my friends, twice." Pausing to allow it to sink a bit hoping it would get through to the scout."I know it's probably nothing compared to whatever Megatron has put you through but I want to let you know I understand what it feels like to not be in control of your actions, to be powerless, to be someones puppet; the guilt you feel afterwards. Heck, I was still hung up over the incident months after it happened, news reporters would question my true motives after that making me feel worse. But after awhile my friends convinced me it wasn't my fault which it wasn't, I never would've done those things in my life at least not intentionally, you wouldn't have either. So stop blaming yourself, this is Megatron's fault and sooner or later he's going to get what's coming to him, you don't need to feel guilty over something that was out of your control."

Bumblebee stood in silence optics downcast, contemplating what he'd said. With some relief Danny saw Bumblebee stop digging his fingers into his arm plating becoming lax, a sign that he no longer thought that he would unintentionally harm any of them making soft unintelligible clicks. Bumblebee lifted his helm meeting his eyes, looking a lot more composed now and gave an accepting nod "your probably right." Danny smiled warmly as Raf concurred "of course he's right Bee" a small smile etching onto his face from seeing his friend's mood returning to normal. Miko coughed to get their attention "now that you guys bonded and all that mushiness, we got to still stop Technus remember?" despite the slightly rude interruption, she was right. Technus was probably halfway through decoding through the base's defenses and who knew if there was going to be lingering damage to the rest of the Autobots the longer those chips were inside of their heads. They murmured in agreement at that walking back to rejoin Jack and Miko. When Raf was out of ear shot Danny leaned in close to Bumblebee's audial "hey if you ever want to talk about it, I'm willing to listen." He whispered. Bumblebee cocked his head to the side, gratitude glowed in soft blue at the offer nodding politely that said he'll consider it.

A green wall appeared as soon as Danny floated forward, sealing Bumblebee off on the otherside. Danny whipped around catching the flash of green illuminate the walls, everyone's expressions mirroring confusion "what the..." Danny started only to be cut off as a voice echoed throughout the small space "congrats to making it to your third hour of living children, Phantom." Technus greeted, throwing in Danny's last name as an afterthought seeming a bit annoyed "though how long that is still going to remain a fact remains to be seen. I've seen you taken the mind chip out of my machine by overshadowing it, however you shall not be able to pull the same stunt again on the others. You can try but lets just say the results will be shocking." Bumblebee bristled at the claim of ownership over him as Technus cackled out of delight for the riddle he given which could mean anything. "Bumblebee is not anyone's to claim!" Raf shouted at the disembodied voice growing defensive over his friend for someone to speak about him in such a way before running over trying to push his way through the shimmering shield.

"That's what this machine's name is? I just resorted to calling it 'Beeper'."

Bumblebee's body shook with unsuppressed rage, balling his fist he punched at the shield in an attempt to break it, the sound of his fists assaulting it reverberated across the wall but nothing more. "Oh you think your getting off that easy?" he addressed to the scout, Bee paused to search for where the voice was coming from, glaring at the unseen source. It was unsettling that Technus could hear and see where everyone was and yet they couldn't see where he was viewing them from. "Bumblebee, take the other hallway and meet up with us in the main room." Jack called out, Bumblebee looked hesitant, not comfortable leaving them alone again, but nodded nonetheless. Raf smiled strainfully placing a palm against the divider separating them "we'll find each other again" he said to not only reassure his friend but himself as well.

Bright blue lights appeared behind Bumblebee causing Danny to gasp startled "Bumblebee! behind you!" he shouted, so that's how Technus was doing it, he had someone spying on them from the shadows, Danny pounded against the barrier just wanting to pull him through to safety "get out of here Bee!" Bumblebee glanced back and forth conflicted "I can't leave you guys!" steadily the lights grew closer and closer, sparks flew from the walls as it dragged clawed servos against them. Raf was growing desperate "please Bumblebee just go!" he begged, a wide grin was seen now grinding it's teeth together with a high pitched 'clink'. "We'll be alright."

Sadly he warbled lowly in concession, with a farewell nod Bumblebee ran towards the bot, looking to meet it head on until the last second he ducked into another hall entrance disappearing from view. The blue optics faded away as they gave chase after the yellow Autobot. They stood there for a few tense seconds finding it hard to move, a lump forming in their throats as the sound of screeching could be heard growing distant, no one dared to ask if they thought he'd made it.

"Come on," Jack motioned them to follow "were almost there now." The group reluctantly followed, the weight of the situation bearing down on their shoulders seemed heavier heading to face off with the ghost behind this.

Raf paused for a brief moment glancing behind him with sad eyes, whispering to the ever present darkness as a silent prayer for his guardian. "Stay safe."

A gentel breeze stirred past them smelling of a crisp chill with a tinge of dust, the quiet seemed deafening for not even a conversation took place. the group's - Phantom aside- legs trembled whether it being from running pass their limits or from fear was uncertain, deciding it was probably from both.

A green sheen radiated on the flat surfaces just as the foyer came into view. Miko eyed the room from where she stood, green emergency lights flickered signalling the power outage that needed to be dealt with illuminating the abandoned sparking cables that once held the Autobots captive, aside from that nothing really stood out to be an immediate threat. Deeming it safe to pass they walked through eyeing every dark space skeptically, a dull thud echoed behind them instantly whipping around to face where the sound came from.

Danny sat on his rear rubbing at his face looking slightly pained, like he had just floated right into a wall. "Dude you okay?" Miko questioned bemused at Phantom's sudden in-cognizant state "what did you even walk into?" Jack looked to be thinking the same thing for he was checking the doorway for anything out of place. Standing up with a grunt Danny stuck his hand out towards them only to be stopped, green shimmered beneath his finger tips making the unseen force come into view, annoyance crossed his features as he tapped against it "ghost shield" he muttered. Jack arched an eyebrow "wait, if this is a ghost shield then how come we couldn't pass through the one that was blocking us from Bumblebee but can pass through this one while you can't?"

Danny was trying to find answers for that himself until it struck him, the ghost shield his parents built had gone missing and neither of them could find where it disappeared to, but now he knew exactly where it was. "Because its an artificial ghost shield, it will allow humans through but not ghosts" he said "the one Technus was using earlier is the real deal. Do you guys see any box looking devices anywhere?"

After a minute of searching Raf piped up "there's one on the ceiling near the rafters." He informed him making Danny want to throw his head back and groan, figures, he put's it out of reach so no one can get to it. "There's noway you guys are going to be able to take it out. Look I'm going to go find another way in so just sit tight." This way he be able to go human and pass through easily "Raf, your good with computers right?" receiving a nod Danny continued "I need you to try to hack through the firewalls Technus put up so I can get in there and whoop his butt, think you can do that for me?" Raf stood straighter nodding with a confident smile.

"I don't need to try, I know I can"

Danny smirked at the sudden positivity, "great. Jack pass me the phones, I'll set them up when I leave, keep lookout." After Jack handed him the phones he turned to address their third member "Miko, you still got that pistol?" said person let out a scoff before showcasing the weapon "like you need to ask."

"good, your on defense; if anyone tries to attack don't hold back. Since you know the most about this game make sure everyone knows what they're doing. There's one thing I gotta ask, is there any way to change the settings of the game?" he asked "Eh unless your talking about the custom level then yeah." She replied with a shrug making Danny deflate a little as he sighed "I was afraid of that." Jack frowned "why what's wrong?"

"the rules of the game no longer apply, your playing at Technus' rules now which means that anything can happen so you need to be on your toes. The guy can be a total jerk." Danny grumbled "for now, everyone just try to stay alive till I get back, look both ways before you cross the street, don't do drugs, stay in school and all that good super hero advice." With a melodramatic salute he vanished, literary and figuratively as he flew back the way they had came.

Coming to a stop he shot a bit of ecto goop on the wall and set one of the phones there before continuing in his flight. Danny planned to go back into the airvent like before to get into the central room that way, become human for a bit to get pass the barrier and go ghost just as quickly, and if anyone questioned him he'll say the ghost shield was only blocking that entrance or something.

Him making stops to set the cameras up finally ceased as he placed the third one up having dove into the floor and placing one down in the pipeline, he'll place the last one in one of the airvents. Blue icy rings passed over his head transforming him back into Fenton just as his feet touched the floor. Danny suddenly felt weird, he never been inside the base in his human form and now everything seemed oddly big. Being in ghost form was like having a confidence booster, knowing the power that lied beneath your finger tips to easily defend yourself tended to do that, his ghost core's energy would become more prominent at the center of his chest and that was enough to make anyone feel a bit cocky. But now he was human again, shy little Danny Fenton who couldn't even defend himself from the bullies at school, or at least in everyone else's eyes.

Even though he's a little shy at times his demeanor could instantly switch from timid to throwing you into a wall if provoked.

Danny walked on, shoving his hands and phone into faded blue jeans searching the halls for the air duct they came from earlier, soft turquoise-green lights lit his path. He knew it was around here somewhere for the place wasn't that big, maybe it was around this corner-

"Oh crud" Danny whispered eyes wide as dinner plates feeling his blood run cold, Bumblebee stood in front of him with his weapon drawn and pointed at him. Danny quickly raised his hands in surrender blinking the glow from his eyes hopefully before the Autobot noticed. Surprise appeared on Bee's face for his sudden appearance, buzzing questionably at him. Now this situation would be fine if he was still in ghost form and hadn't decided now was the right time to switch back to human, maybe he could play this off. Yeah, I can do this just think...Swag.

"Oh wow! um... a giant robot! this is sooo cool! and it's not going to hurt me because it's uh...it's...Cute?" Danny offered with a shrug, smiling ostentatiously for good measure but even he wasn't impressed by the display and neither was Bumblebee. Passed with flying colors, note the sarcasm. Bumblebee's optics trailed over him in a scrutinizing manner, he felt sweat beginning to run down his face as the inspection continued. Recognition continuously crossed his face for a brief moment of time before returning to reconsidering, fortunately during this time his weapons lowered, if he had shot at him though Danny doubted he would, Danny would've gone intangible to avoid the detonation but consequently revealing himself. Maybe this could still work, maybe he'd think he was Jack or something; they looked sorta alike unless Bee took notice of the obvious height difference and change of clothes. Or perhaps he'd think that some random kid had somehow managed to sneak into their base without them noticing.

"Danny?"

He was so screwed.

---

~~~~~~TFP~~~~~~

Jack gripped the flashlight tighter pacing the perimeter ignoring the pain that would shoot up into his foot, sweat dripped down his back growing more tense preparing himself for an attack. He aimed it at the entrance leading to the pipeline glancing about for anything lurking in the darkness. A sense of relief flowed over him for finding nothing there. "Danny has three cameras online." Raf announced alerting them of their progress before going back to work.

Miko twirled the pistol between her fingers looking about idly, "he doesn't waste time does he?" she thought out loud pursing her lips as she glanced over Raf's shoulder "wonder how long its going to take for him to get back here so we can kick some butt already." Raf shrugged in response "don't know, but maybe he met up with Bumblebee" he stated hopefully.

Jack smiled sadly at Raf's forced optimism though none of them saw it. They had already compiled a list of everyone they'd encountered so far and Arcee's name was missing from the rollcall, worrying and frightening him at the same time. Worried for Technus might of done something to her after Smokescreen's words of advice and might be keeping her locked up somewhere, and frightened for she was stealthy; she could sneak into a room without you noticing and was quick about it, making her all the more deadly like a prowling snake. Jack shifted the flashlight towards the ceiling near the rafters, straining his eyes as the shadows moved along with the light looking for anything.

Nothing.

Jack gave a weary sigh dragging a hand down his perspiring face, he couldn't believe how stressed the situation made him, Decepticons? sure that was something to naturally stress out over seeing as their moto is to either kill on sight or bring in for questioning followed by painful torture as they held you prisoner. The Autobots? his mind still couldn't wrap around the fact that they had gone to the dark side at the moment and kept forgetting that it was the bots hunting them and not some foreign enemy like scraplets. Jack couldn't count how many times he turned around to address his guardian to be temporarily confused before reality reared its big ugly head into his gut.

Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger he supposed, if he could just look pass the fact that the bots were trying to kill them- in the graphic way Miko described which made him want to vomit- and pretend this was a training exercise Arcee had set up then he might be able to push his fear aside.

"wait, pull up camera two Raf I think I see something." Miko requested, pausing in his work Raf did what he was asked, clicking on the second tab to enlarge the video feed. What they saw made them jump instantly catching Jack's attention. "Is tha-at Ratchet?" Raf squeaked staring horrified at the homicidal denta wide grin filling the screen. "Ew I think he got something in his teeth." Miko pointed out with a frown, Jack hobbled over to get a better look and grimaced, turning to face her "Miko! is there anything we can do to get rid of him?!" Jack whispered harshly as he felt his heart beginning to race. Miko nodded "we just need to keep an eye on the camera and that door" she pointed out "keep the flashlight on him for a few minutes and he will leave...Hopefully."

"What do you mean 'hopefully'?"

"well you heard what Danny said, the rules of FNAF might not apply anymore so I dunno if it's entirely going to work Jack." Miko responded folding her arms across her chest "I still got the gun so we're not entirely defenseless either."

"Uh guys?" Raf called "Ratchet's gone"

"well scrap." Miko muttered bringing the pistol up and ran towards the entry way, Jack trailing behind her pointing the flashlight into the gloom, and sure enough, there was corrupt-Ratchet snarling a heavy breath as the light caught the side of his face. Jack gulped uneasily keeping the light source steady in trembling hands, the way corrupt-Ratchet stared at him unnerved him to say the least and it wasn't helping matters that the memory of the corrupted bot chasing him with a cannibalistic fury was still fresh in his mind. A minute passed and Jack grew antsy "why isn't he leaving?" he whispered through clenched teeth to Miko whom twitched her finger against the trigger reflexively, licking her chapped lips before responding. "I don't have all the answers, yeesh." And if they thought corrupt-Ratchet was the worse of their problems at the moment-

"Bulkhead's coming in through the pipeline!"

Jack felt a shiver of fear run down his spine as Miko flat out abandoned him leaving him defenseless against corrupt-Ratchet, running off towards the basement entrance she called out over her shoulder "I got it covered!" out of the corner of his eye he saw the glowstick he had given her earlier within her other hand as she came to a stop. Gripping both ends tightly in both hands she brought it down over her knee, a nice snap rang out when it broke in half at the force. Yellow splatters stained her hands and clothing before she chucked it into the corridor covering it in glowing splotches giving enough of light source to see anyone coming, clattering to a roll no longer in use. Just in time too, for corrupt-Bulkhead came around the corner staggering at a surprising speed, nonetheless she fell into an easy stance preparing for the recoil of the blast. "I don't wanna do this to you Bulk," she admitted, grip tightening and eyes locking onto her target "but your leaving me no other choice." Her words fell on deaf audio receptors, still coming towards her like a savage dog just wanting to sink it's teeth into it's prey, energon dripped like a stream from his slacken jaw. For a breathtaking second she hesitated; not having the heart to shoot her friend. But it needed to be done before her lack of action was regretted on both accounts.

A sharp ping sang through the air, a stream of blue light burst from the barrel of the gun creating a giant wall of ice crystals and a rush of chilly air rushing pass her. Blinking open her eyes she sighed in relief as she saw Bulkhead's access to them had been sealed off with a thick blockade of ice, corrupt-Bulkhead stood still, momentarily confused at the sudden change in events. Curiously it pawed at the wall before drawing the cluster of a servo back hissing in irritation before disappearing from sight. "Got it taken care of!" she called running back towards them.

"Great, can you do whatever you did to get rid of him over here cause he still won't leave." Jack called back eyes not leaving corrupt-Ratchet whom twitched in anticipation. Miko skidded to a halt bouncing to her feet to re-right herself, aiming the gun towards the current threat. "No problem, just one one blast should block him off."

Raf looked up from his hacking to see what they were talking about before his eyes went wide "No!" he shouted to Miko "you can't block off that entrance, Bumblebee still needs a way of getting in here."

"Well we can't be having Ratchet shoving us into spare robot parts either so we need to make a choice here!" she shouted over her shoulder fingers twitching in anticipation.

A crash sounded somewhere behind them making Miko and Raf whip their heads towards it seeing as Jack needed to maintain eye contact, just below an open vent grate boxes toppled over from the sudden disturbance burying whoever fell on them. A faint flash of light was sighted from underneath before vanishing, the boxes shifted before a head of unruly white hair stuck out revealing it to be the friendly Phantom. "Well you can forget about that, he's no longer coming." Danny answered firing a warning ectoblast to scare Ratchet off.

---

~~~~~~DP~~~~~~

Bumblebee was nearly to the foyer, after a few more turns he'd be there. That is, until his audials picked up someone coming around the corner. Out of reflex his Twin barreled blaster was drawn and pointed just as the source came around the corner, the person was not what he was expecting.

What the slag?

A young teen stood with his hands brought up to show he was unarmed, at a quick glance he could've been mistaken for Jack if one wasn't paying attention but this was not the case with Bumblebee, examining the boy closely. Jet black hair, icy blue eyes, thin frame and small in size. His scanners in his internal hub picked up a life signal so this wasn't an illusion. The teenager smiled nervously "Oh wow! um... a giant robot! this is sooo cool! and it's not going to hurt me because it's uh...it's...Cute?" shrugging his shoulders uncertainly. That voice. Bumblebee heard it before, somewhere yet he couldn't place it, not yet at least. Bumblebee suddenly realized his weapons were still aimed at the teen which probably wasn't helping to make him feel any less nervous.

This teenager's sudden appearance made no sense, he couldn't have possibly snuck into base without them noticing and as much as he hated to admit it would've been easy prey by now and killed off by his controlled teammates. So how? he defiantly wasn't Jack, Miko, Raf or Phantom... A thought suddenly came to him. It couldn't be... Could it? no, Danny is a ghost so that should mean he's dead. Bee reasoned, but is he really? the concept of ghosts may have a different meaning then what we believe them to be. But how can this be? he looked entirely different earlier and last time Ratchet checked he didn't have a heartbeat but some type of energy source at his center. All these thoughts were so confusing, wishing he could just talk to someone about this, preferably Ratchet seeing as this was in his area of expertise. Bumblebee wanted answers and the only way he was going to get them was to question the teenager. Here goes nothing, vents letting out a puff of air he said "Danny?" not expecting to get a reaction but the result was instantaneous.

Bullets of sweat ran down his face lips pursing into a tight line. Danny couldn't believe how fast the bot had put it together but he wasn't ready to confirm the other's suspicions, the best course of action was to deny any claims until he couldn't deny no longer, Danny refused to have his secret be blown, not now, not until he was certain he can entrust him with something like this. "Whaaaat? who's Danny? I'm uh, I'm... Sam."

Danny's heart pounded in his ears from growing dread cause, oh my freaking gosh someone else knows my secret, how could I had let this happen? how is Bumblebee going to take this? will it be good? bad? I am such an idiot! Bumblebee's going to tell everyone on his team who turns out works for the government. Oh no! the government! this is bad, bad, bad super bad! the Guys in White will be on my case in a instant wanting to bring me in for experiments saying I'm a threat to the world that needs to be dealt with like in every gore film Sam had me and Tucker watch. What if they bring in my parents to conduct the experiments? they wouldn't waste the chance to rip me apart molecule by molecule. Oh my gosh, I can't breathe, I don't think I'm breathing anymore there's not enough air in my lungs why can't I breathe!? He forgot that Bumblebee was still standing there until he felt a finger stroke his back bringing him back to reality. "Sam, breathe." Bumblebee instructed gently, Danny looked up at him feeling slightly irritated, what do you think I'm trying to do? puke out a hairball?despite the retort on the tip of his tongue he held it in, nonetheless Danny appreciated the effort that Bumblebee was making to quell his panic.

"Take a breath and hold it," Bumblebee continued to instruct, a shuddering gasp escaped his lips as he followed the command as Bumblebee nodded encouragingly. "Great, now I'm going to count to five and then I want you to release it, got it?" receiving a nod in confirmation Bumblebee began to count. "One...Two...Three...Four...Five and release, good. Now breathe in and hold it until I count to five." The process repeated with shivery exhales and inhales until Danny found himself breathing more smoothly, he couldn't believe that he had a panic attack, he'd only had about four since getting ghost-powers and only under a great deal of stress, mostly when trying to get projects and homework done a day before it was due and were going to affect a big part of his grades; not that they weren't already in the toilet. "Thanks for that." Danny said gratefully feeling the tension beginning to leave his shoulders, Bumblebee shrugged buzzing and chirruping a "no problem" waving off the thank-you like it was nothing, that made the corners of his mouth twitch upwards.

But just as quickly it ceased as Danny's shoulders sagged in defeat. He was so bad at this, being able to keep things from people especially those who've taken the time to get to know him, Danny could not find it in himself to lie to another person; it was time to come clean. "You've got me," Danny wiped a hand down his face "my name's not Sam it's Danny."

That gave Bee pause for a minute, not saying a word thinking this information over and choosing what he wanted to say next. "What are you?" Danny scuffed his shoes against the ground childishly before responding "a Halfa, I guess since that's what the other ghosts call me." "But your human." Bumblebee stated earning a nod "I thought you were like a dead person?" Danny scratched his neck sheepishly "I'm both actually."

Bumblebee appeared to be frowning in contemplation "how? were your parents, like one a ghost and one human?" Danny frowned oddly "what? no. Look I'll explain everything later, now's not the right time to be explaining my lifestory right now seeing as Technus is still on the loose, but can you please, keep this to yourself for now and not tell anybody?" Bumblebee looked uncertain, like he thought Danny was plotting some alternative motive to leave and never return as soon as he got the chance, which admittedly, didn't sound so bad to Danny. Finally Bumblebee sighed, "you promise?" ah, so he found one of my weaknesses, he mused. Danny crossed two fingers over the center of his chest and raised them "scout's honor."

"Aw isn't this just touching?" Technus' nasally voice chimed in tauntingly. Danny clicked his tongue "told ya." Technus ignored him continuing with his monologue "sorry to break up this little reunion but I believe this belongs to me." Before they could react, a sparking tentacle sprang from the shadows like a silver serpent connecting to the back of Bumblebee's helm sending it's electrical current through the poor bot's head eliciting a high pitched wail to leave his damaged vocalizer making him fall forward "Bee!" Danny shouted. The lightning dancing across his frame continued, flashes of white electricity burned at Danny's retinas having to look away until it ended. Danny glanced about with his spotty vision for Technus or for one of his cronies, nothing but darkness greeted him at every turn, he couldn't even find where the sparking cable disappeared to. If Technus just left Bumblebee here then that must mean he placed another chip inside the scout's head again. Climbing up onto the bot's frame until he stood just behind Bumblebee's head readying a hand to reach in and pull it out "no problem, I'll just reach in and-yow!" Danny hissed painfully shaking the sharp surge of electricity that shot up into his hand out, feeling his muscles spasm at the unexpected assault. A mocking laugh echoed around him distantly, it defiantly belonged to Technus.

Bumblebee will be up and running in a minute to murder him. Great. Should've known it wasn't going to be that simple and that Technus wasn't bluffing, I need to just get back to everyone else. He took off into a sprint heading into the direction he was heading into before, not long after that he found what he was looking for. Shimmying back inside the vent once he'd jumped up and snagged the edge, he set up the last phone (having it facing away from him of course) and headed off on his way.

"And that's when I tripped and tumbled into those boxes over there and now here I am." Danny explained to the group, leaving out the part regarding his identity reveal and panic attack when they'd asked him what happened to the scout. Jack and Miko sighed disappointingly before resuming in their assigned tasks, Raf looked greatly dishearten at the information, tapping fingers coming to a stop squeezing his eyes shut wearing a disgruntled frown. A heavy sigh left him a moment after just as a small ping sounded "the firewalls are down leaving an opening to an attack." Raf informed him monotonously "I don't know how long I can keep it open so you need to do whatever it is quickly."

Danny squeezed Raf's shoulder comfortingly before walking towards the main console, glancing back over his shoulder Danny called out to him "don't worry about Bumblebee, he's going to be fine just like everyone else when I evict Technus out of the system." Raf looked down at his keyboard for a moment before meeting his eyes, a small smile beginning to emerge "make sure to blast him extra hard for me okay?" Danny smirked, nodding understandingly giving a thumbs up "you got it." And with that he dived into the machine becoming intangible for a brief moment before getting sucked into the cyberspace.

Upon opening his eyes, Danny was greeted by a blackish-green world with strands of unknown neon blue coding flew past him at light speeds standing out against the backdrop. Danny looked around trying to decide which direction he should head into but everything looked the same, nothing appeared to span out for miles.

"Great, now what?" he asked aloud to the infinite void. Now's not the time to be clueless, he reminded himself, there's gotta be a clue to where I can find Technus. Danny was brought out of his musings when he noticed something. The coding. Some of the coding was not like the others, they kept glitching up like they were foreign to the system. Hesitantly he raised a hand and touched a strand that neared him, fingers brushing through splitting it apart momentarily before it rejoined itself. Bingo. That coding had came from his left Danny realized dusting his finger tips to remove any of the residue from the strategical text, and like all coding they all were outputted from a source, the programmer. That source in this situation was Technus.

Not wasting another second he sailed through the masses of texts like a bullet. It must of taken at least two minutes before something came into view, that something being a giant floating bubble wrapped entirely of coded text that Danny couldn't register as useful in his mind due to it not being in his area of expertise. Literal gibberish worded text sprang out from the enclosure like chains buoying it into place, if the place didn't already say 'intimidating' then Danny didn't know what else Technus could add to it to make it more so. Orbiting around Danny looked for an access point, for awhile he thought there wasn't and he was going to have to make one himself until he spotted a slowly closing white hole hidden among the brambles. "So that's what Raf meant when he got me an opening." Danny mused, diving towards the vanishing light without pause avoiding the overhanging chains effortlessly, clearing the entrance just as the shrinking hole closed.

There stood Technus; all in his robotic glory appearing to not have notice his presence here. "No no no!" Technus shouted angrily slamming a fist onto the virtual keyboard shattering it "how is this possible?! I thought I infected every device the silo had to offer?!" Danny smirked triumphantly at the news knowing he was referring to Raf's laptop "it's called double checking and not getting caught up in the glory of looking stupid" Danny announced tauntingly to gain his attention, a snarl graced Technus' face as he whirled on him "not you again! not when I'm so close to world domination!" well that didn't sound appealing at all. Danny batted his eyelashes bashfully "yes it I! here to deliver you a personal message from everyone here." his fist was engulfed by an ectoplasmic flame just as Danny launched himself at Technus.

"Get Rekt!"

Too stunned to react in time, a hard punch was delivered to the side of Technus' jaw making him stumble. Regathering his bearings Technus shot out a glowing fist animating tendrils to rush after the Ghost Boy "how dare you use such slang on me!?" Technus spat managing to snag Danny's foot and spun him around a bit before throwing him into a wall "I, Technus; master of all technology is not a noob at this!" Danny shook his head to clear his wavering vision just as another tendril shot at him he leaped to the side, narrowly avoiding it. I'm making him angry, good. He'd be easier distract this way. "Uh are you sure about that? cause it seems to me that your really bad at this." Danny turned intangible right when the cable was inches away from grabbing him "oh I know! how about a compromise? you just surrender and I can suck you up into the thermos right now to save you the embarrassment of being defeated by me, again." Dozens of ectoplasmic spears appeared on either side of Technus floating haphazardly seeming to be suspended in time for a brief moment, with the flick of the wrist they shot forward. "Well I tried."

Danny flew towards his opponent never minding the spears as he dodged, twisted, ducked and flipped accordingly. He could feel the disturbance in the air as the projectiles sliced through the airspace and passed him, a slight sting blossomed in his cheek as a spear grazed just below his eye as ectoplasm bled from the wound. Danny brought back his foot and swung, creating a massive dent in Technus' armor on impact, kicking off for a boost to avoid the blast Technus shot his way. "You little brat! come back here so I can crush you!"

"Um no, that's why I left in the first place; your a bad host." Danny replied firing an ectoblast back at him, swerving back for the counter attack. But Technus was ready this time, awaiting till the the last second he ducked out of the way and snatched Danny swiftly from the air, sending volts of electricity through his hand Danny let out a scream of pain. With his assault finished Technus threw him to the floor of the dome, watching the teenager with a malicious grin "are you ready for more?" Danny's muscles spasm involuntarily feeling the electricity still sparking along his body lying prone for an attack. He struggled to get up, but his limbs refused to support his weight trembling with strain.

His efforts paid off as he managed to float upwards, cracking his neck side to side as his eyes flashed a brighter green "What, I'm just getting started."

---

~~~~~~TFP~~~~~~

As soon as Danny left that's when the bots decided to show out. First it was Bulkhead staring at them for long, uncomfortable periods of time. Then it was Bumblebee running pass the entrance every so often to freak them out, oh and there was also Ratchet; he was currently grinding his surgical blades against the walls like he was sharpening them wearing a wide physcopathic grin as he did so. And Smokescreen was currently ramming his body into the ice wall nonstop and they were pretty certain that it wouldn't hold long if he kept at it.

Thud!

"Oh give it rest Smokey! it's not going to brake!" Miko yelled over her shoulder finally growing annoyed with the bot's antics. The crystal in her pistol was down by less then half and she probably had about three shots left before it was useless, it wasn't just her stuff that was going to mess up their survival plan, the batteries in Jack's flashlight were starting to die and kept flickering, leaving him to turn it off unless it was absolutely necessary for use so there's that.

She sure wished she'd asked Danny for a refill before he- which Miko found to be super cool- went inside the computer system. Now she really did need to make every shot count and only fire it if needed. Miko found herself yawning tiredly, rubbing at her eyes relentlessly to keep herself from hallucinating, being chased by giant robots really took a lot out of you, especially if its been hours since it started. Miko really wanted to get some pictures of this so she could show Bulkhead how rad she was during all this; it was the least she should get out of this whole ordeal.

Something clattered behind them making Jack turn around to face it, seeing the vent grate rattle like it had been used recently, "Miko did you lock up the vent?" he asked receiving a incredulous expression instantly "me? I thought you were going to do it."

Something blue flashed in their peripheral vision just as they spun around there was nothing there. "This isn't good." Jack muttered glancing around cautiously. "No duh." Miko answered sarcastically, she was met by a side glare from him telling her to shut it. "Raf is anyone popping up on the cameras?" Jack questioned, jumping when he heard something scratching near the groundbridge tunnel. Raf typed frantically feeling his hands starting to perspire from nervousness, "no, I don't even see Bulkhead or Optimus anymore" no matter how many times he tried to adjust the camera quality no one appeared.

"They're closing in on us," Raf realized, eyes growing wide with dawning horror and nearly froze as fear dug it's greedy claws into his stomach. Jack turned just in time to see rows of sharp teeth glint in the flashing warning lights, the pink and blue accents among the dark endoskeleton were easily recognizable as well in size.

"Arcee is in the room right over there!" pointing at the dark area she was currently inhabiting, an eerie screech of static rang out loudly from her making the trio jump. "I see Optimus and he doesn't seem ready to give up." Miko piped in. Optimus stumbled to the ice barricade like he had just been kicked out of the local bar and had one too many drinks pushing Smokescreen aside who watched on with a dumbstruck smile. Optimus bladed servo was back as he stabbed at the wall with rapid precision making hairline fractures surface. There was no doubt that the Autobot leader would succeed in his task, remembering he had shattered the blockade from earlier with little to no effort.

Jack just realized Miko was swearing fluidly in Japanese nonstop as she kept reaiming her gun at Optimus and Smokescreen, Bumblebee and Ratchet and Arcee trying to decide who was the immediate threat right now as they inched closer and closer to where they stood. Jack's eyes darted around desperately looking for a place to buy them some time, there wasn't alot of options available to them but maybe they could get themselves a few more minutes of protection from the lift. Grabbing Raf by the shoulder until he stood up, Jack motioned them to follow him "come on! we need to get to higher ground!" Jack commanded sternly leaving no room for argument.

That was when the sound of something akin to broken glass pierced the sudden quiet.

---

~~~~~~DP~~~~~~

Danny hopped backwards as a barrage of electric strikes hit the ground, avoiding the onslaught as it came. Finally Technus paused in his attack to rethink his tactics, now it was Danny's chance. Charging up his fist he rushed towards at his opponent at a breakneck speed, landing dozens of punches before vanishing and reappearing at random places before Technus could grab him.

By now Technus' armor was littered with deep dents revealing sparking wires. but Danny wasn't finished yet sweeping out his hand he shot an energy wave at Technus' midsection, an explosion was seen when the blast hit making the technology obsess ghost's form glitch trying to become stable again in the virtual world. "Give it up Technus, it's not long now before you lose your hold here." Danny announced just before he was body slammed into the wall. Technus leered at him as his hands tighten around Danny's arm in a vice grip threatening to snap the bone if it became any tighter, "never! for you see I have one last card in play. My robotic army is seconds away from killing off your new friends, all you got to do to save them is leave now." Technus pulled up a screen showing what he said to be true, Danny watched with dread as the bots got closer and closer to the kids, weapons drawn and malicious grins graced their faces as they stared hollowly at them not an ounce of recognition upon seeing their human friends.

"So you can finish hacking the last firewall so you can get into the government system and take over the world?" Danny asked irritated as the grin on Technus' face grew wider "why yes, that is exactly why."

"Then no." Danny replied as his eyes and hands glowed blue "so if were done trying to come to an agreement then I'm just going to whoop your sorry tin-can." A giant icicle impaled Technus' robot suit in the chest right before the ectoplasm in it exploded shattering the cyberspace world around them tossing them back into reality.

Danny and Technus -now out of his suit after it exploded-tumbled into a roll trading blows with each other, electricity and ectoblasts flew wildly through the air not once landing on their opponent. Danny kneed him in the gut momentarily distracting Technus as he reached for his thermos only to grasp open air. "Dang I really need to fix the clasp on that thing" Danny muttered ducking another electric blast missing the side of his head scorching the ground beneath him. "You shall pay for destroying my masterpiece of a suit!" Technus spat grabbing at Danny's throat before lifting them both to their feet. Danny's hands scrambled for purchase trying to remove the hands that were blocking air from entering his lungs, glancing about desperately for his missing thermos.

Finally he saw it rolling to a stop near the lift steps, looking up he saw the teens being cornered by the bots backing up against the computer modules. "Jack!" Danny shouted "I really need that thermos!" Jack took his eyes off the bots and looked to where Danny pointed seeing the metallic device just as Optimus stepped over it reaching a hand towards them screeching insanely. Despite the obvious threat getting ready to attack them Jack ran for the device, ducking the hand that swept for him as he grabbed it. "Great now aim it and suck him into the thermos!" Danny yelled. Jack did as he was told; uncapping the lid like he seen Danny do before he aimed "how do I get it to turn on?" he asked "just press the button!"

"what about you?"

"I'll be fine!"

Technus turned to face the sixteen year old and cackled "go ahead and try! I'll take us both!"

"don't listen to him and just do it!"

Jack glanced hesitantly behind him where Miko and Raf were becoming smaller and smaller in the crowd as Miko shot another ice blast in warning before facing forward, taking aim he fired. Danny quickly turned intangible slipping into the floor before he got sucked into the blast radius, Technus on the other hand was too slow to react, his screams of anguish pierced the airwaves as he struggled to escape the suction but only was preventing the inevitable for a few seconds before being sucked inside as Jack quickly recapped it.

The Autobots came to halt instantly, a layer of green shimmered across their armor before falling off into ectoplasm and vanished leaving them like their normal selves just as the lights came back on. A chorus of groans were heard as they rubbed at their heads, "ugh, what happened?" Arcee asked tiredly blinking unsteady optics into focus and she checked out her surroundings. "Technus happened." Jack announced to them all "but no worries, I've got him right here." Shaking the thermos when he held it up for them all to see. "Yeah!" Miko piped in as she ran down the steps to give Bulkhead's leg a hug "he was controlling all you guys to attack us." Smokescreen shuddered as he looked himself over "is that why I feel so dirty?" he asked with wide optics. Bulkhead rubbed at his helm and groaned "man I have a massive processor ache."

Danny slid in from the floor rejoining them with a relieved smile "glad to your all back." Optimus straighten his posture from leaning over on the railing "its great to be back. Was anyone harmed when we not in control of our actions?" the Prime inquired voice taking on a serious tone. "I just sprained my foot; though none of you guys had anything to do with it." Jack answered quickly "it'll heal in a few weeks or less." Optimus nodded taking in the information, though sadden by the events there was nothing they could do to change it now.

---

Ratchet finished scanning everyone over for processor damage not wanting to take any chances. Nothing was amiss so that was one less thing to worry about. Everyone was still traumatized by it as the bots stood off to the side just seeming to shrink in on themselves, just glad the nightmare was over.

Danny hovered midair unconsciously doing a roll call in his mind as his eyes trailed over everyone to assure himself that everyone was fine now, that was until he met eyes with Bumblebee was he reminded that Bee now knew his secret and right now he didn't feel like explaining it all, growing uncomfortable Danny looked away floating lower in hopes to lessen the chance of Bumblebee coming over to question him. Fortunately for him Bumblebee stayed were he was as Danny sighed in relief.

Just not right now, not after this ordeal. Just later.

He promised.

---

sorry if it was confusing or had a lot of spelling errors or it wasn't that scary, (i'm tired; eyes are burning, got back trick or treating, sue me) but if you can take the time to leave a review it would really mean a lot! you can just say what part you liked as well :3