"Oh great, where is he?" Mikaela whispered with anger. "He better not have set this up as a joke. I will kill him."

Broadcast looked around at the ceiling. "Anomaly detected."

"What?" Mikaela looked at him, startled.

"My light ain't reachin' the ceilin'. Somethin's weird here. We should find that staircase." He gently tugged her hand, leading her into the next room. The floor creaked the entire way across, and continued to do so even after they cleared the next doorway. Mikaela tightened her hand around Broadcast's and found herself hurrying to keep pace with his sprint-like strides. They went into a room with stacks of paintings against every wall. Mikaela stopped short, yanking Broadcast off his feet and backward. He caught his balance and followed her gaze to a painting that was blocking the doorway. It was a portrait of a young man with a terrified look on his face, the background filled with spiderwebs. It was Sam. Mikaela covered her mouth with one hand and started to turn to run.

Broadcast grabbed her other hand again, stopping her. "No. C'mon. We gotta go up a floor. Remember, you said he coulda set this up. He coulda had that done weeks ago."

She jerked her hand free, giving him an unhappy look. "And you better not be in on this, or I'll kill you both."

"Hey, I don't know nothin', an' that's the truth. Autobot's honor. C'mon, please?" She glanced at the painting again, her frown becoming uneasy. "Listen, Mikaela, I'm scared, too. I can't get a good measure of this place because the sound ain't workin' like it should. Trust me, we gotta go up another floor." He looked at her beseechingly before going to the doorway and moving the painting aside. After a moment, he got a better grip on it with one hand to carry it along and then beckoned to Mikaela. She reluctantly followed him out.

A right turn into another small hallway yielded another set of stairs leading up, this one enclosed by a narrow stairwell. Mikaela went first as a necessity to reach the door knob. It opened onto a broad landing, a circular staircase of wrought iron a few feet away that spiraled up into the shadows of what she presumed to be another floor of the house. She felt behind her for Broadcast's shoulder as she walked out on the landing. Given the layout -- excluding the spiral staircase -- she expected the landing would have a balcony-like section that would give a view of the room with the covered furniture. She gave a little sigh of relief. That would explain where Sam could have gone, assuming he had set up a trick.

All of a sudden Broadcast's light lurched around, flitting across the area then abruptly pointing at the floor. "Stop messing around," Mikaela quietly scolded him. The light continued to bounce, then turned green and dimmed. She raised her voice. "Seriously, you guys, I'm going to get you back for this. I was having fun before, but this is getting stupid now." Something clattered to the floor and she jumped, letting out a shriek despite having expected another trick. She squinted in what little light there was. Two bright blue beams suddenly flared up and she leaped back. The beams raced toward her and claws grabbed at her legs. She cried out, slapping at them, then realized it was Rhythm and Blues. She paused and tapped the top of their heads, not knowing if it would mean anything to them. They stopped grabbing at her and pointed upward, hopping insistently. She looked up, searching for the green light.

At first it seemed to be obscured, then she saw the glint of metal and was able to make out Broadcast's shape, the green a highlight around his chest. His optics were just pinpricks of blue floating above the LED screen. His face was still. Suddenly his arms jerked in opposite directions, something white attached to his wrists giving off its own gleam. Mikaela began to rub her hands together, both from irritation and anxiety. She still wanted to figure this for a trick, but didn't know what to do to get the guys to stop.

One of the minimechs let out a kind of hiss from its vents, then made a sound like a throat clearing. At the same time the light disappeared from Broadcast's optics. "Whoa," said the same minimech. "Didn't think that'd work."

"B-Broadcast?" Mikaela asked. Last she had heard, Rhythm and Blues couldn't talk on their own.

"Ratchet told me they had vocal processors in the event of an emergency transfer. I think this counts." His voice sounded a little deeper, but she took it as a reason for relief.

"Please tell me this is just a joke?"

"Sorry, babe, this is for real. I don't know what's going on. Just call me Rhythm for now, it'll help me keep focus." Both small mechs brightened their visors to shed more light on the area.

Mikaela gasped. The extra light revealed Sam hanging like a ragdoll in a web to their right -- where the balcony was. The wrought iron railing was five feet below him. Mikaela went toward it, looking for a way to get him down. "Sam? Are you all right?" She glanced up, judging the distance before stepping on one of the bottom design curls in the iron and making a grab for his foot. She missed and stepped up higher, trying to keep one hand on top of the railing while reaching. She had to let go of it, and wobbled as she made a grab. Her fingertips brushed the sole of his sneaker but it wasn't enough to jar him. It did wake something else, however.

Appearing out of the darkness itself, tiny spiders crawled from around Sam's legs and shoes onto Mikaela's hand. She screamed and then flailed as she began to lose her balance. Rhythm ran up and grabbed the bottom of her shirt before she went over the railing. He released her as she stepped back down on the landing. She immediately began to hop around shaking her arms. "Gross! Gross! Get them off!"

"Uh, Mikaela, they're, uh--" Rhythm backed up, pointing to her shoulder. She stopped and turned her head. A spider sat there waving half its legs at her hair. As she watched it began to grow in size. She slapped it off her shoulder and ran to Rhythm's side. Blues came up to her and gestured to be picked up. Mikaela nodded unnecessarily and put him on her shoulders, giving her a perfect light of her own while keeping the minimech with them. All around them the spiders that had been on Sam were growing until they were bigger than Rhythm and Blues. Rhythm swore. "This ain't good."

"SAM!" Mikaela screamed. Blues pointed its light directly in Sam's face. The boy uttered a groan. "Sam! Sam!" Mikaela called again in hopes of waking him.

There was a hiss from behind her and she whirled around. The painting of Sam was laying on the floor yet was moving -- being moved. Tiny legs stuck out from the side where Blues' light was shining. Mikaela backed away, not wanting to see what was under it. The hissing came again. Blues' hands closed around her forehead as the minimech ensured it wasn't going to fall off if she made any sudden moves. Meanwhile, the spiders were withdrawing into the dark corners of the room.

"Mikaela!" Rhythm called. "Gimme a lift!"

She turned, startled to hear what sounded even less like Broadcast's voice, but she hurried back over to the railing. She picked up Rhythm while Blues stood up on her shoulders. Rhythm then climbed on top of Blues and made a jump toward Sam's legs. He caught hold and began swishing his thin arms through the webs around Sam's legs, working his way up to the boy's arms. He patted Sam's face while holding onto his shoulders. "You hear me, Sam? C'mon, gotta get you down, and you need to be awake for it."

Sam muttered something that came out as, "...Zzz yerr..." Then he lifted his head and shook it slightly. His eyes went wide upon seeing the visored face close to his.

"C'mon, no more time for hangin' around." Rhythm lightly slapped his cheek and then moved up to start freeing Sam's arms. "Swing a l'il bit so you're over the landing. On three."

Sam rocked his legs to get some swing momentum going, and when Rhythm judged him to be over the landing, he spun around, cutting through the last of the webbing. Sam stumbled but safely landed on the floor, Rhythm along for the ride then settling down on the boy's shoulders as Blues had. Mikaela clasped Sam's arm to steady him. "I'm glad I don't have to kill you for tricking me, but I really don't want to be here right now."

"Whu--!!" Sam grabbed her shoulders and pulled her down as the painting came flying at them.

Mikaela made a despairing face. "WHY do these things keep happening when I'm around you?! You and your strangeness crap!"

"I promise you, this one isn't my fault! Unless my great-grandpa is haunting me for trying to sell his stuff..." Sam's attention was drawn to the hissing noise. Rhythm directed his visor's light toward it.

"... ...That's a lotta bugs," the minimech said. The floor was covered in tiny waving legs and antennae, mandibles and multiple eyes, wings and glittering carapaces. And they were moving toward them. He flicked his visor upward. The wall was covered with them, and more bugs were crawling in from holes in the paneling. Mikaela uttered a squeak, too overwhelmed to get a scream out.

"I suggest we run," Sam said, reaching for Mikaela's hand.

"Ya fail to notice something, Sam?" Rhythm leaned over the boy's head and looked directly at him, shining light in his eyes.

"Wait--what--but wait, you sound like--"

Rhythm sat back and tapped the top of Sam's head then looked upward, his visor's light barely reaching Broadcast's form. The green light on his chest was almost out.

Sam swore. "How do we get him -- I mean, you -- down?" He glanced toward the approaching wave of insects. Mikaela was steadily backing toward the balcony. "This is gross."

"Not ta mention completely unnatural," Rhythm scoffed. "These bugs ain't the type t' hang in a crowd together."

"Guys..?" Mikaela spoke up. "Not the time for scientific discussions. This place is haunted and I want to leave now!"

A second later the spiders reappeared. There were fewer of them, but they were much larger than before. Some were coming down off the webbing that just now appeared to be covering every wall. Sam let out a high-pitched shriek. Mikaela didn't bother to tease him. She was now clutching his arm. Rhythm leaped down from the boy's shoulders and ran at one of the nearest spiders.

"Rhythm! What do you think you're doing?!" Mikaela cried. "Let's just run! Ratchet can build you a new body!" She went to go after him, but Sam snatched her hand back just as another spider leaped with its mandibles clacking. He pulled her toward the balcony.

Rhythm kept going, gathering himself then jumping on top of the spider he had aimed for. He was on it for only two seconds before he jumped again onto another spider. He grabbed its legs and as it tried to flick him off, he switched his hold to other legs. When it bucked and flailed again, he flipped upward, grabbing the next spider. His spindly form danced among theirs as he worked his way higher.

Below, Sam and Mikaela were backed against the railing as the spiders on the floor closed in around them, mandibles dripping with dark fluid. Webbing shot out across the balcony from the upper corners, trapping the two against the railing while forming a wall between them and the spiders. They weren't comforted by the sight. They held on to each other, waiting for jaws to close unseen on their legs. "Sam...it figures...we weren't killed when we were in the middle of giant alien robots battling each other. Instead, we're stuck in a haunted house." She glanced down into the room of furniture, expecting to see another hoard of bugs. Then she screeched and slapped at her leg, coming up with a millipede flowing around her arm. She flicked it over the railing. It disappeared in mid-flight. "We're going to die."

Sam stared at where the bug had disappeared, then took her hand. "Maybe not." He looked up, hoping to see Rhythm's visor through the webbing. As it so happened, the point above where the webbing crossed in front of them was clear and gave a view of the wall across the way. Rhythm was climbing his way toward his Broadcast body. The LED screen was shining more brightly now, the color a strong blue. Rhythm took a leap and landed on the body. The strands snapped and both plummeted to the floor, followed by loud crunching sounds and an electronic squeal. Blues' light was inadequate to reach beyond the web wall.

Then the light went out and the two humans were left in total darkness with the feeling of the webs wafting toward them. Sam brushed at his face and Mikaela began swatting about herself, wondering how many unseen insects had reached them and if she would notice any of them before they found a place to bite. She began to hyperventilate. Sam squeezed her hand, although his breathing was no slower. A part of him hoped someone like Ironhide or Ratchet would come crashing through a wall, lights or guns blazing. Abruptly the webs went still and the anticipated feeling of crawling bugs went away. Sam couldn't even hear his own breathing anymore. He hoped that didn't mean he had been poisoned by a spider bite. Or that bugs had crawled into his ears. He immediately wretched at the thought and pulled at his ears. Nothing was there except some cobweb in his hair.

"DUCK!" a voice grated out. They both reacted as one, although Sam looked up in time to see a lone speaker go flying through the web wall. He and Mikaela stood as Broadcast came next, his arms out to catch hold of theirs. They leaned back as he did so and together they tumbled off the railing as grasping spider legs surged through the webbing after them. Mikaela shut her eyes, waiting to smack against a wall or some piece of furniture, praying there was a nice big couch below them.

Instead she landed sprawled on wet grass. She felt the cool blades with her hand, then yanked it back as she touched something made of metal. She sat up and saw Broadcast, face up with his LED screen projecting a dark purple light. "Broadcast, are you in there again?"

He didn't reply. She looked around for Rhythm or Blues, knowing Rhythm could still be in alt mode. Sam was sitting up a few feet away. They looked at each other and then glanced behind them at the back of the house. There were no doors and the windows were a good ten feet up. They both scrambled to their feet, Sam tossing Broadcast over his shoulder while Mikaela grabbed Blues and the lone speaker, and then dashed as fast as they could between the bushes that they hoped would lead into the next yard. When they reached the street they didn't see that the jack-o-lantern that had been outside the gate was now skewered on one of the spiked posts, a large spider perched on top of its stem.

~*~

They didn't stop until they reached the end of Sam's street, where they collapsed on the sidewalk, gasping for air. Sam eased Broadcast off his shoulder onto the ground, then rubbed the shoulder as he leaned over. Mikaela sat, leaning Blues on Broadcast and placing Rhythm beside him. She took off her boots one at a time, shaking them out in case an insect had hitched a ride.

"If it weren't for meeting the Decepticons before this, I think I would have gone insane back there," she said.

"You and me both," Sam agreed. He shifted around to look Broadcast over. "Hey, B-man, can you hear me? I don't think I can tote you back home and I don't have the 'Bot hotline number in my phone." He hesitated twice before tapping the Play button on the mech's chest. He wasn't sure if it did anything or not, but a few seconds later a series of zeros appeared on the LED screen.

"Ohhh, my achin' processin' unit. Uhh... Are we outside? Thanks for gettin' me out." Broadcast sat up, rubbing the side of his head.

"Uhm, Broadcast, you got us out." Mikaela traded worried glances with Sam, hoping that nothing had gone wrong when the comms officer had transferred back to his real body.

"I did? Can't remember. I remember bein' grabbed by somethin' an' bein' hauled up, an' I released R&B to alert you to my predicament. Felt a power drain after that, an' then I was here."

Mikaela took it upon herself to explain since Sam had been unconscious at the time. "You -- I guess -- downloaded into Rhythm and kinda rescued yourself, then us. I suppose that would be draining." Sam nodded helpfully.

Broadcast lowered his head, face plating flattening. His LED screen flashed the time: ten seventeen. "Guys, I...can't do that. Ratchet hasn't finished the hardware installation for it."

"But then who--" The humans traded looks again.

Sam hunched his shoulders. "I think you know..." he started, addressing Mikaela.

"You know, too," she whispered.

"Would y'all mind tellin' me what you know?" Broadcast asked, peering from one human to the other.

Mikaela picked up Rhythm and gently held the speaker between her hands before handing it to Broadcast. "That place was haunted, but it wasn't only angry spirits that were with us. We had a good one with us, too."

~End~

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(c) 2007 S. Loweck. This work may not be copied, distributed, or reprinted without the author's permission. Transformers belong to Hasbro/Takara/Paramont/Dreamworks.