| abstract
| - Outskirts of San Francisco, California Northern California still struggles to maintain its natural beauty, even though it is teeming with people and fighting with all the problems of a modern society. For the most part, the hilly green city of San Francisco succeeds in that venture. Still, you get the sense of vast overcrowding pushing at the seams of this place, where no privacy can truly be afforded. Even the outskirts and suburbs overflow with people. Near the outskirts of San Francisco, there sits a warehouse all dressed up for Halloween. On the outside, this appears to be a fairly mundane Haunted House. Yes, they've got the orange and purple lights going everywhere, there's little cardboard cutouts of pumpkins, witches, vampires and such set up in front, and various other sundry decorations. Nevertheless, there's a crowd of humans waiting to go inside, having heard that this is supposedly going to be the most terrifying haunted house of all time. Not everyone believes it, though. "Ha! Gimme a break, the Autobots are so family-friendly it's pathetic," scoffs one young man to his friends. "This is going to be pathetic, you'll see." He smirks, turning to look towards the guy who supposedly designed the haunted house, Repugnus... and his smirk withers when he realizes Repugnus is staring right at him. Something... unsettling about that gaze. Repugnus smiles as he looks away. He's in costume, of course. He's wearing the dark black attire of a nobleman, complete with tophat, cape, cane, and... a knife? "Well, I can hardly blame the skeptics. I mean, I had some pretty shoddy stuff to work with and little time. Ah well," he remarks to anyone who cares. Landmine arrives from Uptown San Francisco to the west. Landmine has arrived. Rodimus Prime arrives from Uptown San Francisco to the west. Rodimus Prime has arrived. First Aid drives up in ambulance mode. Though... it's looking a bit different now. His normal ambulance markings have been covered up, replaced with a red racing stripe that tapers near the front. A bunch of bizarre technical equipment rests on the roof of the vehicle, and his Autobot insignias have been replaced with larger ones with a cartoon inside a crossed out circle. The ambulance comes to a stop in time to hear Repugnus talking about the haunted house. "Sounds like there's something strange... in the neighborhood." First Aid transforms into robot mode, now sporting a black backpack with a hose connected to a modified rifle. His red chest has been recoloured white to match the rest of him. "Who ya gonna call?" Landmine transforms to his robot mode! Jayson Redfield is here, clad in his Indiana Jones costume. And yes, that's a real whip he's carrying. His left eye seems to flare slightly as he adjusts his hand, peering over at the young man who spoke. Of course, the guy's probably about his own age, but that doesn't matter right now. "Don't be so sure, man," he says. "This was designed by *Repugnus* of all mechs..." As he hears First Aid, Jayson cocks his head in the medic's direction, grinning a little. "Hey, if you summon the Ghostbusters, that'd be *awesome*." While Jayson is dressed like Indiana Jones, Greg is dressed as chewbacca. "Arrrrrgh," he says, in a perfect imitation of Chewie. Andi Lassiter is wearing her tough biker gal costume, minding the ticket booth and making sure that the predetermined number of people are let through at a time. That includes Autobots and Junkions. Only so many of each per group, and don't try to mess with her about it. Amber MacKenzie slowly ambles away from Alameda, a bit out of breath from scaling one of San Francisco's trademark hills at too quick a pace. The crowd of strangely-dressed people catches her eye, and she stops for a short breather while staring at the crowd, the warehouse, and the decorations. "Bloody hell," she mutters under her breath. "I totally forgot the date..." Needless to say, she's not in costume. Landmine rolls up behind First Aid, and transforms- somewhere along the line, he aquired a transformer-sized fedora, and managed to makeshift a whip out of a line of steel cable, coiled up at his right hip. He looks over- and then spies Jayson, at which point his expression falls. "...well, slag." Wipeout is sitting down near the house, entertaining some young tuykes with a ham-and-cheesey horror story concerning the Planet-Devourer, Unicron. She's obvoisly enjoying herself. "...And then, the Devourer opened it's gaping maw, roaring with a thousand voices!" Flaming Winnebago rolls up. Lo and behold, none other than Rodimus Prime himself on the street on the far side of the warehouse. Unlike other Autobots, he's not done up in any costumes or otherwise fancy additions to his vehicular mode or otherwise. Come on, with -that- flaming paintjob, it's like he's been waiting for this season all year, right? So is he here to partake in the festivities and join in with the others? Not exactly. You-know-who is involved, so it wouldn't be a far assumption that he's here to doublecheck and make sure no explosions, bodies or violations of the rights of sentient beings are going to transpire. First Aid laughs at Jayson. "Hey hey, looking good there, 'Junior'." First Aid thought The Last Crusade was the best of the three. Glancing over at the ticket booth, he does a double take at Andi's biker outfit. That's something he never thought he'd see her wear. To Greg, he comments, "You're a little hairy and tall to be Short Round, aren't you?" He doesn't notice Amber just yet because she failed to dress up for the occasion. He glances over his shoulder at Landmine and oofs. "Well... maybe you're from two different movies?" He idly waves to Rodimus Prime. Jayson Redfield beams at First Aid. "Thanks!" He laughs a bit, then notices Landmine, and snorts in amusement. "Ain't this a coincidence..." He thinks for a moment, considering First Aid's suggestion, then snaps his fingers. "Got it. You're the Indy from the fourth movie. I'm from the first three." He grins. The Global Pose Tracker marks that Amber MacKenzie has 'skipped' her action for this round. Landmine hmms at First Aid, and then looks down to Jayson. "Oh, c'mon. Can I at least be from the Fifth movie? That one was the best!" Jayson Redfield suppresses a snicker. "Sure, Landmine, if y'want." Wipeout continues her extravagant story, embellishing the actual events. "The shuttle was cripped; the Autobots had no choice but to land in a desolate place and hope that the Unicronians wouldn't find them. But the Devourer could see all..." Greg MacLeod noogies Jayson. "Grrauuuuugh," he wookie-roars. Jayson Redfield acks as Greg noogies him. "Hey, stop that! You're messin' up my hair, bro!" First Aid puts his hands on his hips, "Ugh, the cross over with Tomb Raider? It jumped the shark right then and there, Landmine." Repugnus claps his hands when he sees how many Autobots are here. "Awesome! Tons of bots for our first little tour! Even Prime's here for the fun! Now, here's the deal, guys. I want to make sure that no one who goes in there is armed. So, before you go in, I need you to place all your weapons inside that gun case over there--" He points towards such a case, tended by a gumby Autobot, who salutes. "For those of you with built-in weapons, I'll need you to empty your ammunition or capacitors or what-have-you so they can't fire. This is a really scary place, after all, and I don't want anyone shooting at anyone else out of alarm. No exceptions!" He smiles. "Oh, and... be sure to sign these waivers," he says, and begins handing little white papers to the humans below him. "Holding us blameless in the event you suffer a heart problem due to the... heheh.... sheer terror you will find within." The papers say a little more than that, but a bunch of humans begin to sign anyway. "Have to agree with First Aid," Jayson comments before turning to the one of the papers and looking it over. He's a little suspicious! Landmine blinks. "But he rode a motorcycle over a giant squid, not a shark!" he lets the point slip as Repugnus tells him to give up his weaponry...and, well, most notably doesn't. The miner shoots a glance over to Rodimus Prime- no doubt letting the commander make the decision. Amber MacKenzie unhurriedly wanders towards the warehouse, picking her way through a cluster of kids dressed as Ewoks, teens dressed as vampires - she rolls her eyes at those - and a T-100000 from the recently-released nineteenth Terminator movie. Her green eyes narrow when she spots the Autobots - in costume, no less. The Monsterbot's speech catches her attention next, and a brow arches. She pauses, frowning in thought. Torque has to walk to the warehouse due to her costume not exactly able to work in her altmode. But it's worth it when she finally shows up, all decked out in her halloween garb. A lot of her more larger, normal armor has been replaced with a much more appealing, curvy one, the entirety coated in what looks like liquid black latex. Though of course she leaves her joints unpainted to allow movement. Helmet is replaced with a more close fitted one, her antennas covered in what looks like.. psuedo cat ears? Other features include some claws installed on her fingertips, a moveable tail at her backside, and a whip on a utility belt. "Hope I didn't miss anything." The femme grins when she moves up to the others, though she blinks at the mention of waivers. "Waivers? Hope it's safe in there for them, Repugnus." "Don't worry," First Aid tells Repugnus, "I'll only bringing my proton gun." He hoists up his Ghostbusters rifle. If he had a mouth, he'd be smiling right now. It's just a harmless prop. "Out of curiosity, what's the real reason you want everybody unarmed?" To Landmine, he comments, "I think it was supposed to be the Kraken, actually." Jayson Redfield points out to Landmine, "Jumping the shark is just an expression." Flaming Winnebago finally rises up in transformation, stepping over the sidewalk and along the outskirts of the crowd to circle around and get a better look at the proceedings. Any looks sent his way get a nod in return, but Repugnus notably has most of his attention, for good reason. "I just thought since I happened to be in the area anyway..." And by 'in the area' he means he was sitting back in his office in Metroplex and finally decided he REALLY better go make sure this isn't going to end up in a police raid, "...so I thought I'd stop by and just see how it goes with your first...customers." He's picking his words carefully. Being polite. Diplomatic. As he stands with his hands folded oh so calmly behind his back...and looming off to the side. The trailer disengages and vanishes into thin air as Rodimus Prime's legs swing down. Arms unfold and head emerges as he stands up in his robot mode. The papers also state that the signer will hold the Autobots blameless in case they are attacked or captured. The wording is rather facetious, so maybe it's all meant in jest? "So long as the Autobots put their guns away, it'll be one of the safest places on Earth," Repugnus declares. "Everyone will just have to remember to follow me along the haunted warehouse, too. For if you stray from the path... well, I can't be held accountable if somebody's kid is snatched by a ghost!" He smiles at First Aid. "Real reason? That was the real reason. It's like you don't trust me, First Aid. The *nerve.*" Out loud, he declares. "So, who wants to go in first, huh?" A bunch of humans, young and old, including the smug guy from before, raise their hands. "Okay, you guys are first up. Any.... Autobots taking part? Or maybe you want to hang out with the *scaredy bots.*" He flashes Prime a grin, as if to suggest he's the first of the scaredy bots. Wipeout looks dissapointed as her audience leaves to get in line for the warehouse. "Well call me the dingo's baby!" "Just put the hat back on, nobody'll notice," Wookie-Greg says. Jayson Redfield exhales deeply. "Guess I'll go in with the next group..." He glances toward ROdimus thoughtfully, wondering if the Autobot leader is going to give in to Repugnus's unspoken challenge of entering the haunted house. "Mmmhmmm," First Aid replies to Repugnus. Darn straight he doesn't trust Repugnus. The explanation makes no sense. He gets ready to follow the Monsterbot. Besides, he has his death dealing surgical lasers if need be. Holstering his proton rifle over his shoulder, the Protectobot raises his hand along with the humans. He scoffs at Repugnus's taunt. "I ain't afraid of no ghost," he volunteers. And the challenge is dropped! Never one to back down from an adventure, Landmine steps forward- he summons his Astro-blaster from subspace and plunks it down in the bin, and then tilts his chin upward at a defiant angle. He grins, then looks over his shoulder as he hastily signs the wavier without really reading it in-depth. Oh dear. "C'mon! How bad can it be?" Jayson Redfield suppresses another snicker. "Go in there and bust some ghosts, First Aid!" Encore has arrived. Encore transforms into his robot mode, lighting a cigar and adjusting his hat. "Stay outside? Tch. I didn't spend half the day getting ready just to stand outside." Torque smirks, moving in line before taking a glance around at the fellow Bots. "Nice costumes by the way, everyone. I say we all have one of those Halloween parties after this." She grins, moveable tail actually flicking a bit behind her as cat ears wiggle. Andi Lassiter says, "Repugnus, you've got the 911 signal prepped just in case someone panics, right?" She takes the waivers and tickets from the people volunteering to go first. "All right, I think everyone's ready here." First Aid may not trust Repugnus, but he does trust Andi. That's what's so scary about all this. Andi and... Repugnus? Teaming up!? The Protectobot has faced down the meanest warriors the Decepticons can throw at him, waded into hellish war zones, and performed repairs on mechs in the trenches while under fire, but... Andi and Repugnus?! That in of itself has First Aid a bit worried. Encore smirks and gets in line behind the other autobots, casually smoking a cigar. He's... well, he's not in costume at all, though he /has/ stuck a pair of devil-horns onto his helmet in deference to the occasion. "Personally I reckon this is gonna be a laff." "Believe me, Repugnus. The only thing that would possibly worry me about this whole event is what's currently standing outside the warehouse and not in it." Rodimus shoots a glance right -back- at Repugnus for good measure at that, before finally relinquishing his rifle. Not to the Autobot on guard though, but to his nearby trailer, which opens up like a weapons locker, before he finally moves to follow after. Somewhere deep inside he's lamenting at the fact that once upon a time he would have just cut loose and enjoyed himself at something like this without thinking too hard about it. These days, all he can do is think too hard about things. Encore is very protective about his Bofors gun, and looks to Prime for permission before stashing the big 40mm cannon with his guns. Not even Fanfare gets to touch the L70 cannon, so i's a measure of how much trust he has in Rodimus... Wipeout eases into line shyly, an odd action from a Junkion. Thruth be told, she has no idea what;s going on, but it looks fun! She ends up standing near some humans - well, assumedly himans, they could be Cassettebots, after all. She gives up her rifle and pistol with a shrug. Repugnus nods to Andi Lassiter, grinning. "Don't worry, if someone gets TOO scared we'll have them out of there in a jiffy." He glances towards the crowd of humans. "And you WILL get scared, I promise you. More scared than you've ever been!" He holds a remote out to the warehouse, depresses a button, and it slowly opens with a rattle of metal. And once the bay doors are open, you witness the horror of... ...plastic witches, cloth vampires, cardboard Frankenstein's monsters, and a lot of other really lame things. There's some stock Halloween "scary" music playing, with your typical witch's cackles and wolf howls. "Oh, man, I knew it!" says the heckler from before. "This place sucks!" Repugnus purses his lips tightly, as if annoyed, then waves everyone inside. "Eh-heh... now, this is just the start, come along." Greg MacLeod pfffts as he walks inside. "This ought to be good," he says to Jayson. First Aid, having deposited his photon pistol and decrystallizer in the Rodi-locker, heads back to rejoin the others. His proton rifle and ecto trap will have to do in the event of any ghosts showing up. He follows Repugnus in. "I don't know, so far it's pretty tame actually." He bobs his head in time with the 'scary' Halloween music. "I think I like it." Ho ho ho, little does First Aid realize... Wipeout looks around confused. "This is so old hat and last year." She shrugs. "At least the vampires don't sparkle." Torque quirks a brow as she moves in with everyone, observing the rather... lame decorations. "Let's hope this is just part of the start, Repugnus. ...Or honestly? I'd be rather disappointed in your scare tactics." Landmine is...rather unimpressed as he leads on at the head of the group. "Knew it." he says with a sigh. "I mean, if he -really- wanted to make it scary, he would've put it in deep space. Zero G can be pretty disorienting, if you don't know what you're doing. Not to mention the hard vaccum." he shrugs, and rattles on- at which point he even goes so far as to poke at a cardboard Frankenstein. "You know," Jayson remarks, mostly to Greg, "they should've chosen to play the Halloween theme. Or Thriller. That would've been *awesome*." He looks around. "And you be quiet," he tells the heckler. "If Repugnus is involved, it's only bound to get freaky. VERY freaky." Encore rolls his eyes and snorts, following behind casually once he's disarmed. "I doubt ol' Puggy can put a scare on me. Fanny once said I was too stupid to be scared." Oddly, he seems kinda proud of this fact... Rodimus Prime more or less keeps back from the front of the group, though he's certainly one of the tallest present. And with a paintjob that you could spot a mile away to boot. The...cardboard cutouts and traditional 'mundane' decorations get a glance, but Rodimus doesn't comment on that of course, taking the time to reflect on recent happenings and otherwise. Though the heckler's words do reach his audials, prompting the Autobot Leader to tilt his head curiously as he....never takes his gaze off Repugnus. Mistrusting or just really curious? You decide. Andi Lassiter watches as everyone included in the first group steps inside, and keys the bay doors to close behind them. No way out now. "Have fun in there," she calls after them. "Pfft," the heckler snorts, waving a hand at Jayson. "Whatever. Frickin' Autobots are sissies." Repugnus sighs out loud. "Like I said, I had little time, few resources, and a 250 dollar gift card from Wal-Mart. You use what you got." Once he leads everyone inside, the bay doors close behind everyone. "And now we're sealed in, helpless before the creatures of the night! Beware!" He mock-gasps, pointing off to the side. Zombies! Yes, shambling zombies, some of whom look so gnawed on that you can see their bones and organs. "Ha, just some guys in costumes," the heckler snarks, though that doesn't really explain the zombie with a gaping hole in its chest, or the one with no head... "Quickly, everyone, run!" Repugnus cries, trying to lead the guests down a makeshift hall of cardboard walls with black drapes thrown over them. A witch lunges out a side passage, reaches at the guests, and cackles, then runs off. "Lame," the heckler decrees. "Not Repugnus," Jayson points out. "I've heard horror stories." And he doesn't care if Repugnus hears him; the Monsterbot probably takes pride in his reputation. Encore me narrows his eyes. "Nah." He responds to the heclker. "Anamatronics or holograms, easy. Look, you can see through that one." He laughs, quietly. "Pretty good 'olograms or anamatronics though, I gotta point out. Now shut'cher yap, will ya?" Rodimus Prime narrows one optic as he eyes the....zombies that are shambling along, but as the group is already starting to move after Repugnus by that point, he doesn't have time to linger before he's stepping after them. "I suppose I should be grateful he didn't try to take one of the Sharkticons alive...." Landmine isn't too concerned with the shambling zombies...being a towering metal robot makes squishy organic undead seem a little less impressive! He hmms, and tilts his hat back as he makes his way down after Repugnus- "You know, Repugnus, I thought you'd do better than this. Or is Grotusque hiding behind a corner to say 'boo?'" Wipeout takes care not to step on any of the squishies around her. "Aww, c'mon where's the double trouble toil and boil?!" she gripes, a bit irritated. Junkion was scarier than this! First Aid shoots the heckler a look. "Hey now, Repugnus worked hard on this. Lets give him the benefit of the doubt, shall we?" First Aid doesn't hold any grudges against Pug despite their previous arguments. He glances at the zombies... say, how did Repugnus pull off that make-up job? Some kind of animatronics? "Yeah that's what I was thinking," he tells Encore. He doesn't have much time to think about it before he's forced to jog along with the others. "Whatever it is it's brilliant," Greg says, sticking close to Jayson. "What are you supposed to be anyway, Landmine? ..A cowboy?" Torque inquires curiously as she looks to the mech ahead of the crowd, though her attentions get drawn elsewhere when Repugnus announces the zombies off to the side. The realistic look of them seems a little.. concering to her, the femme erking softly before shuffling on ahead. Encore smirks at Torque "'e's Indy, ain't 'e?" Repugnus does take pride in his reputation, oh, yes. "Can't train Sharkticons too well, not unless you're a Quint," Repugnus tells Rodimus. "And I'm crazy, not *stupid.*" He sighs. "I was considering having the other Monsterbots help, but Doublecross is two idiots on one torso, and Grotesque would try to ruin the fun just to troll me, the bastard. To the rest of the group, Repugnus declares, "Look up there!" He points upwards at the ceiling, as ghosts begin to swirl around up above, their chains clanking and moaning in despair. And all the while, a white mist begins to form along the floor. Now some of the guests are looking kind of nervous. It's a pretty realistic effect. However, the heckler snarks, "Oh, you wusses. It's just holograms, like they said." "I'm Indiana Jones." Landmine explains. "But one of the humans went dressed that way too- how was I to know?" he shrugs. "But yeah, Indiana Jones. From the fifth one, where he goes to the moon." and he pushes aside another curtain to peek upwards at the ghosts. "...Huh." is all he has to say about that. "...First Aid, does that ghost-gun thing actually work? Just, um, asking." Encore looks up at the ghost, and then scowls at the heckler. "I carry ductape, you know." he says, casually. "Might wanna think about that before ruinin' other people's fun." He looks up with a grin, chuckling. "THat's not bad, though." Jayson Redfield waves his mechanical hand dismissively at Landmine. "Hey, no shame in that. It's actually nice to see a 'Bot who's an Indy fan." He hms to himself as the mist appears. "Nice touch." Rodimus Prime is of course one of those Autobots who has a head that rises above most others, so when the ghosts come down from the ceiling he has to lean to one side, one hand raised to try and ward off any contact with his face in the process. "Yeah well tame and normal isn't necessarily a -bad- thing you know..." He may be saying this for the heckler's benefit, though it's at this point that he looks waaay down and sees the mist that's starting to gather below. Well this is starting to look more normal as one would expect for a haunted house, right? Even if a floor mist isn't exactly high enough to even come up to the equivelant of an Autobot's ankle. Wipeout gives the heckler a good glare, her rusty brown-red optics glowing brightly in the dark. She then steps back a bit, bumping into a Bot. She ducks her head in apology. "Heebie jeebies, ghosts and creepies. Not my piece of cake, no no no." First Aid dutifully looks up at the ghosts. He takes aim with his proton pack gun and says, "Pew, pew, pew!" That should answer Landmine's question for him. First Aid grins, idly reaching for his backpack so he can snag his ecto trap in case he needs it. He ignores the heckler. He won't let any silly billy ruin /his/ fun, thank you very much! He doesn't notice the mist, what with his focus being up at the ghosts. Torque nods at the explaination, getting it now. But when she looks up to spot the ghosts she gets a rather fun idea in her head, just to act playful on Halloween. "Oh no, ghosts!" She obviously plays it up, sounding more than dramatic as she moves to Landmine, placing hands on his shoulders from behind, head peeking over one to bat her optics. "Won't you save me from the ghosts, Mr. Jones?" The heckler, like most people of his ilk, backs off when challenged by someone bigger and more intimidating than him, lowering his head, and glaring at the floor as the Autobots tell him off and give him dirty looks. Repugnus smiles. The evening seems to be looking up a little more. But then, the ghosts and white mists start to flicker a bit. Repugnus frowns up at it, clears his throat nervously. "That's not supposed to happen. Well... let's continue." "Mommy!!!" shrieks a little boy near the back. "I saw something! I saw big red eyes back there!" His mother pats him on the head, smiling. "Oh, that's probably just another hologram, son, don't worry" But the kid stamps his feet. "No, it wasn't, it was real, I saw it!" James Bailey arrives from Uptown San Francisco to the west. James Bailey has arrived. Jayson Redfield jerks his head in the kid's direction, frowning thoughtfully. Maybe there IS more to this, like he expected. "Don't worry, kid," he says reassuringly. "The Autobots will keep you safe from anything that might be lurking around." He adjusts his hat and gives the kid a grin. Rodimus Prime listens idly to the words from the kid, and his mother's reassurance, though he makes no point of showing that he's been listening in that way either. Ducking under another 'ghost', the Autobot leader makes his way to the front of the group, closer to the Monsterbot. "Should I ask how you and Andi of all people got into this together, by the way?" Landmine blinks his optics as Torque drapes herself over his sturdy frame. "Uh. Sure!" he says, in a rather bad approximation of Harrison Ford. He meanders on bravely. "I'll protect you, uh-" he turns his head to peer at the femme. "Cat...lady? Humans are always talking about crazy cat ladies, right?" Jayson Redfield asides to Landmine, "She's Catwoman." Wipeout supresses an urge to scream loudly. Not that she' James Bailey walks up next to Andi, peering at the doors she just shut. "'Haunted Warehouse'?" he queries, tone of of resignation. Encore ducks under the nearest ghost and follows Repugnus, chuckling quietly as he steps over the heckler. "Not bad so far, Pug." He comments. "Gonna 'ave to do better'n that to spook me though, c'mon, let's stop playin 'round eh?" Remedy has arrived. Andi Lassiter looks at James, a completely wicked grin slowly spreading across her face. "Why, yes. A haunted house." Torque looks both hurt and distraught at his assumption of her being a crazy cat lady. "I'm ..Catwoman. You know, one of Batman's enemies? From the comics and shows?" Ears droop in a bit of disappointment, but she otherwise stays close, not knowing what Repugnus has cooked up, though the terrified protests from the little boy are none too reassuring. Wipeout supresses an urge to scream loudly. Not that she's scared; she's not, not at all. A scream would at the the atmosphere, that's all. That creaking, shaking metallic sound? No way is that Wipeout shaking in fear. It's just... a sound effect, that's all! First Aid lowers his proton rifle and chuckkles, kneeling before the little kid. "Don't worry, friend. The Autobots won't let any mean ol' ghosts come after you. Protectobot's honour." He makes the cub scout signal with his hand. It's around now that he becomes aware of the mist. Huh, this place is more advanced than he thought. Repugnus smiles. "Oh, I don't know, I think she's taken a liking to me. Who knows why! Maybe it's just the natural kinship I feel with humans. They are so... flawed. Like me!" The grin he flashes at Prime is probably the scariest thing in here so far. "Now, Encore, I know it's hard to scare a seasoned warrior like you, but these humans, well, some of them might be a little timid than that. Just bear with me, and..." The lights go out. Repugnus glances around. More pairs of red lights, close together move around, followed by metal footsteps. "Uh... sorry, everyone, we'll have the lights back on a moment--" Repugnus says, but then... something strange happens. "Come here, flesh creature!" cries a shrill voice, and several humans shriek as they are dragged away into the shadows. "What the hell--" Repugnus blurts out. A dark decepticon drops down, shouting, "DIE AUTOBOTS!", raising two pistols and shoots kinda randomly, loud, but, careful observers wouldn't see any bullet holes "Batman? He's not in the Indiana Jones movies. He never hung out with Alan Quartermain, did he? Or Rick O'Connell? Lara-" and then the lights go out, and the screams start. "Here we go." he says, and takes his hat off- all the better to activate his miner's headlamp, which he shines about. At least he's used to no-light situations like this! And then as the decepticon sweeps in, Landmine shoves Torque none-too gently out of the way and readies himself for a brawl! Encore's hip-compartment opens up and from it he draws his pistol, aiming it at the Decepticon. He pauses, however, when two of the blasts hit him without damage. "...what the...?" "What the hell!" Jayson exclaims at the same time as Repugnus. He has to wonder if this is all staged, and Repugnus is even sicker than he thought. But then again, Andi's involved as well...so if it IS staged, Andi's a very frightening woman. Either way, Jayson is alarmed, and immediately on alert. Just in case this is NOT staged, he bolts into the shadows after the victims. James Bailey leans just a tiny fraction of a degree farther from Andi. Probably just shifting his weight to the other leg. And not a subconcious reaction at all. He tilts his head to one side, listening. "Did you hear that? 'Die Autobots'?" He mimics the Decepticon's voice from inside. "That's pretty clever. Wonder if the Autobots do anything like this on their planet." First Aid gives the kid a friendly pat (sort of like petting a kitty) before standing up again just in time for the lights to go out. He's not falling for this! Uh huh, Repugnus is suddenly acting all polite now. I think not! But then the red lights begin flashing, and First Aid visibly jolts. A shrill voice appears, grabbing at the humans. "No!" he races after one of them even as an evil Decepticon comes down and cuts loose with his and/or her pistols. That's it. The moment the Decepticon drops down, Wipeout lets out a scream. "They're gonna EAT US!!!!" she cries loudly, ducking away from the fire. But then she notices that there aren't any bullet holes. She shrugs; might as well play along. "A natural kinship with humans. Right. I'll believe -that- the day that Galvatron decides to lay down his cannon and give peace a chance..." And then the lights are going out, and he can hear people shrieking and there's a...Decepticon leaping down? Even Rodimus isn't immune to an initial reaction, his right forearm snapping up at first as the 'shots' ring out, but he -is- oneof those careful observers that notes the fire coming from the dark figure isn't causing any kind of damage anywhere. And that prompts him to give the Monsterbot another sharp glance, "Repugnus..." As if waiting for some ind of explanation. Torque's ice blue optics are the only things illuminated on her when the lights go out, the femme glancing about with a hardly distinguishable eep. And then the humans start screaming, red eyes appear, and she shoved out of harms way by Landmine. "Repugnus! Whatever you've planned out isn't funny anymore." She hisses at him, quick to move with First Aid to try and grab a human befre they're dragged away, but she's too late as the creatures carries them from sight. "Which Decepticon was that?" Greg exclaims, "It sure looks realistic!" Repugnus reaches out to Encore's gun to lower it. "No, don't shoot in here, you might hurt the humans!" And then, Repugnus takes a hit to the shoulder, and screams in pain as sparks fly out from the wound. Some of the humans see that and scream. "We're gonna die, we're gonna die, oh shit, what are we gonna do now?!" the heckler says, panting in terror. And who shot Repugnus? Why, none other than Scourge, who tosses aside the cheap cardboard walls with a wave of his hands. "Well, well, what have we here? Looks like the Autobots stumbled upon our secret base AGAIN, but this time the fools disarmed themselves! Haha! Decepticons, destroy them!" "Damn it, people," Repugnus wheezes as he puts a hand over his burnt shoulder. "I didn't plan this! Look, just... we have to get the humans out of here! Come on!" He waves at the humans and begins running off. The humans, surrounded by horrible Decepticons and acclimated to the idea of following the Monsterbot, run after him. Repugnus barrels through the cardboard hallways, happening upon an open hatch with a ramp leading underground. "That wasn't there--gah, it's the only cover around, quick, inside!" And he leads the humans within! Andi Lassiter blinks and looks at the closed bay door, hoping her surprised expression is convincing. "Um, James? That's not part of the house." The dark con steps in, seeming very careful not to step on anyone, even as she... wait, she? is putting more shots into the room. She is kinda set into the role, so far that she misses the reaction from Roddy. The terrible Decepticon steps further into the room, when, something a little odd shows up in her paint scheem. A blotch of red... seems kinda similar to the ones that the Autobots are sporting "How'd they get in here?" Landmine says- he's not panicking...yet, at least- he glances around as chaos reigns- and then finally transforms! He hunkers down in buggy mode, and then lights up every lamp he's got- last thing the 'bots need now is to step on some poor human in the dark! He rolls along- and makes a note to activate certain sensors as well... Landmine transforms to his space-buggy mode! "WE ARE GOING TO DIE! GAME OVER MAN, GAME OVER!" screams out one of the teenaged guests. Encore raises his pistol to take aim at the Decepticon. "I know somethin ain't up, Pug, you don't normally care about 'umans." He keeps careful aim on the 'Scourge', glancing at Rodimus for confirmation to fire. "Confirm my shot, sir!" he calls out. "I've got clear aim on Scourge, but... something dun feel right. Puggy's being too caring and..." He shrugs expressively. "I ain't... sure, sir." Rodimus Prime just staaaaaaaares at Repugnus for the longest moment. Even after he seems to take the shot to the shoulder, never taking his optics off of the Monsterbot the whole time. Then, and only then does he look elsewhere, optics narrowing as what looks like none other than Scourge shows up as well. And then the Monsterbot is bolting for it for a nearby hatch, and the humans are of course following after Repugnus like he was the pied piper. "I really don't think that..." he starts, one hand raising, but there's nothing to be said as they're already moving off, and Rodimus simply grunts. His raised hand turns into a wave to follow, "Let's get after them already!" James Bailey gives Andi a quick look. "What do you mean? How could it--" he pauses, then smiles slightly. "Oh...okay, I get it now. Sorry!" The last word is said in a lowered voice, almost a whisper. Then he clears his throat and says in a louder projected voice, "Well...what do you think, Lassiter? Should we send some reinforcements in there after the Autobots?" He glances around, gaze stopping on a small group of youths waiting in line for their turn who are dressed up as various military characters. James even flashes a quick approving wink at the one dressed up as an EDC Exo-Pilot. Wipeout picks up a couple of scared humans, and cradles them in her arms. "Shhh, shhh, don't get your oanties in a twist! We'll just move along, nothing to see here." She follows Repugnus's lead, wondering what's up next. Andi Lassiter flashes a quick smile back at James, then lightly pushes on his arm. "No, sorry. You're going to have to get in line like everyone else." First Aid, Jayson, and Torque are all after the kidnapped humans. They don't get far, however, before SCOURGE makes his appearance. The Protectobot freezes, turning back towards the surroudned humans. He shifts into Ecto-1 mode, rolling up between them and the Decepticons. "Get in!" he shouts. His siren naturally turns on in an emergency like this, but all it does is play the Ghostbusters theme song. Space-Buggy's tires squeal against the ground- and he's pulled back into the darkness, his halogens blinking out! Uh oh. Landmine transforms to his robot mode! Jayson Redfield barely has time to react to the presence of Scourge, and First Aid's shouting, before something grabs him and pulls him deeper into the shadows, where he vanishes from sight. Not a sound emerges, at least, for a moment...and then a bloodcurdling scream is heard, from none other than Jayson himself! Encore swears quietly, aiming his pistol in all directions, still not sure if he should fire or not. On the plus side, the humans are gone so he can fire. On the minus side, he doesn't know where they are, or if they're in trouble. "Cockit..." he mutters quietly, deciding on a course of action. He re-holsters the pistol and makes for where Repugnus led the humans, shoulder-barging any Autobot, Decepticon, or faux-con in his path out of the way! The one time she's significantly less armored and /this/ happens. Torque has all the luck. Optics flash bright when she freezes at the sight of Scourge, the femme erking before being quick to corral any remaining humans along in Repugnus' direction, wondering what in Primus' name was happening. "How the slag did he get in here??" She calls after Repugnus, though the question was open to anyone. "Jayson why are you screaming? That's a fake Sweep, isn't it?" Greg wonders. James Bailey turns his gaze back towards the doors, listening to some of the sounds from within (mostly Autobot voices, or people shouting...or screaming). "Wow, they're really getting into this," he muses. Andi Lassiter grins at James again. "Hey, Repugnus DID say this will be the /scariest/ haunted warehouse ever." The dark con gahs, looking down, "Maybe if I capture some of these FLESHLINGS, the bots will come out to play!" She bends close to gaze at the group of humans close to her feet, holstering a pistol to free a hand, reaching down to pick up one of the teens who seemed the most scared, "Come Fleshling, we must draw out the Autobots!" The teen is brought close to glowing cerulean optics, before she shouts, "COME, BOTS! Rescue this Fleshling, or are the beliefs they have FALSE!" "Mommy, I wet myself!" yells a young boy. Encore skids to a halt and turns to charge at the dark con. "Ten-twenty-one, HUT!" he calls out with a snarl, putting his shoulder down low in an attempt to catch the dark con square in the gut with one of his propellors - meaning his wing can catch the kid and roll him to safety. He's not gonna feel all that groovy afterwards, but he'll be alive, and intact... A bunch of frightened women and children climb inside First-Aid, sobbing quietly to themselves and thankful for the sanctuary First-Aid provides. Hopefully there aren't any Ghostbusters-themed scares in here or they might REALLY freak out. "I don't know!" Repugnus yells back at Torque. "Maybe he was already here! Geeze, we have the worst freaking luck, of ALL the places to put a haunted house on top of..." Regardless, he continues to lead the humans deeper down the house, humans following. Soon, they find themselves in a hallway adjacent to a laboratory. Repugnus peers into the laboratory through its clear windows, and is visibly shocked. The humans follow his gaze and gasp. Within, the humans who have disappeared thus far are strapped to tables, being operated on by Hook and Scrapper of the Constructicons. "Hmmm... do I recognize you?" Scrapper casually asks one of the victims, some blond-haired kid with his guts opened up and spilling out on the floor. Mixmaster walks in a moment after, carrying a certain Pretender with him. "What do I do with this one?" Mixmaster asks. "Can I put him in the acid? Ooh, please can I put him in the acid?" Jayson Redfield does not respond to Greg. Probably because he's strapped to a table with his insides falling out. And the worst part? He's still alive! "Help me!" he cries desperately. First Aid is nice and comfortable in here. There is a plush Slimer, but that isn't too scary. The doors shut on their own accord, and First Aid curses his lack of a decrystallizer cannon and photon pistol. Of all the luck. First they have to give up their weapons, and then they run into a Decepticon ambush! It's almost as if it was PLANNED to be this way. First Aid pauses. "Waaaaaaaaaaiiit a second..." "Wow these are some top notch special effects," Greg says, "Jayson, your insides are hanging out and everything! Uh, help? Oh, ok. I guess you're strapped down too tightly. For a moment, the con's eyes widen as she sees Encore charge her. She shifts a bit, maybe to take less damage from the charge, or to put the humans who are still inside the house out of danger. She OOFS as she's slammed, her one hand... stretching out to help guide the teen down Encore's wing. She snarls, and pushs up at bot, "FILTHY AUTOBOT! GET OFF ME!" Torque follows along behind Repugnus and the humans while the others deal with Scourge and the dark Con. She quirks a brow when they all stop to look in somewhere, peering into the lab herself to spot... /very/ convincingly flayed open humans as well as Landmine over Mixmaster's shoulder. "Primus! The humans! And Landmine! Damnit, Repugnus!" Her optics blazing bright in worry now as she tries to break the glass with a fist.... but it bounces off? She tries again and again, but something prevents her! And this is rather distressing. Wipeout protectively holds the few humans she was able to pick up in her arms, moving forward, but shielding the humans from the gory view. "Big boss ain't gonna be happy with this, no sirry Bob." I can't find who you're trying to page with: lassiter Unable to page: lassiter Encore feels the movements and narrows his optics at the con, moving up face-to-face. "I nearly fraggin shot you" he whispers through gritted teeth, making it /look/ all the world like he's attempting to choke the life out of her. He rolls away from the kid that slid down his wing, placing her ontop of him in the 'duel' Landmine ...has been in better shape. His optics are dim- and there's a few panels missing from him already, showing bare circuitry and wiring underneath. Coincidentally, his table's the one that's closest to the window...and as the other 'bots get closer, he suddenly lunges upwards, pounding on the glass! He opens his mouth to say something- but no voice comes out! Soundproof glass...or is that damaged spot on the side of his neck to blame! Rodimus Prime is STILL watching Repugnus almost the whole time. Though he's saying nothing as he follows after the group. The sounds of ruckus behind him also half has his attention, that is until everyone is coming to a halt and gaping in horror or throwing punches at the apparent glass or otherwise. "This is..." He trails off, glaring through the glass and spotting the humans flayed open and laying there? There's more than a few things that aren't adding up, in his mind. But what is he supposed to do? React like an Autobot should, that's what, lunging out with one of his own fists and smashing it forcefully into the 'glass' though it also holds fast for the moment. "Repugnus..." He shifts his glance back towards the Monsterbot again, something almost dangerous in his tone. The dark con turns her head slightly to grin where the humans can't see it, "So my enterance was effective? SOrry... but, sometimes the best acts are unscripted." She rahrs, staring down at the bot, "Why are you autobots so SOFT!" She rakes her clawed fingers down Encore's face, really doing only superficial damage, before rising up, her pistol aimed, "Shall I let you live so you can carry my story to the other bots of how I, Poison defeated you?!" Suddenly, Wipeout's voice is heard. "Aww, don't do me like that Jack!!!" Several human screams accompany hers. "Ok... it's going to be ok," the Ecto-1 tells his passengers. "I... think this is all a part of the show." Pause. "Does anyone have any medical conditions I should know about? I assure you I am well versed in treatment for heart attack victims." First Aid is gonna kill Repugnus. Encore winks, just once, his holster popping open again. With a few subtle movements, he's got his pistol pointed... at the place where the Sun Doth Not Shine. "Shoot me, and I promise you that, if you survive, your arse'll hurt till the end of time." Of course, the gun is now loaded with blanks, just in case things get even more interesting and fun. "YOu wanna try this again, luv?" Repugnus curses. "We can't get to them! We're blocked off by a forcefield!" The Constructicons finally notice them. Hook turns, and gives a derisive snort. Scrapper says. "Ah, more subjects. Don't worry, you'll all get your turn on the operating table. Now, Mixmaster, that's a waste of good parts. Help us graft on the cybernetic augmentations, would you?" And so the Constructicons begin to attach metallic parts onto the various victims, and onto Landmine, as well. "Dammit, Prime, there's nothing we can do for them!" Repugnus yells, and waves the humans down the corridor. "Come on!" And he leads the group further down into what looks like some sort of trash room. Except it isn't just trash. "Oh geeze," Repugnus says, and the humans gasp at the horrors in this room. Inside are body parts from other guests, heaped carelessly on top of each other--even an Autobot might be in here! Repugnus reaches out to try and help, but a forcefield snaps to life in front of him and he yanks his hand away. "Ack--damn!" Wipeout's head is sticking out of a pile, clearly not attached to her torso anymorw. Her optics light up, wide and flickering wildly. "SAVE YOURSELVES!" her head bellows, electricity sparking in her neck stump. "Prime... You're gotta make it to the end! YOU MUST DO THIS FOR US!" Torque looks genuinely upset, hands on the forcefield glass as she watches the Cons get to work on Landmine and the humans. But... there's nothing she can do. Eventually she manages to drag herself away to follow the others, freezing the second she enters the next room. "I... think I'm gonna be sick.." She holds a hand to her mouth, a few also disgusted and upset humans moving away from her in case she actually does heave. Rodimus Prime has been trying to hold it in all this time, but he can't help burst out a bit as he whirls in place, "Sure, except since when are -you- so concerned about the lives of..." But of course Repugnus is already on the move with the others and once again Rodimus is left standing on his own once more. He casts one glance back into the 'lab' and the constructicons within, before giving a low grumble and jogging after the others, biting down whatever other thoughts are boiling through his mind. Of course this next room is no better, but for the moment Rodimus can just stand at the back and...smoulder a bit. Figuratively speaking. The dark con snorts, "And you'll be dead, Autobot!" She seems to contemplates things, before walking up to step on ENcore's shoulder, and shoots twice. Each shot seems to spray luminous purple goo, similar to energon where the rounds impacted, kneelign down to whisper, She tromps off, looking for more Autobots to slaughter Torque stays at the back of the group, trying to recover, but eeps when she's silently grabbed from behind and hauled off, a pair of deadly red optics in the shadows she's silently dragged into and away from the group. "Daddy.... Daddy why are they so MEEEEEAAAAAAAAAANNN!?!: shrieks a a little girl. Rodimus Prime can't help but idly wonder what kind of parents bring their little kid into a haunted house that's advertised as being terrifying. Encore fires too - with a loud BANG and, of course, the appropriate splat of purplish goo. In his case, it's one of his enershine blends, one that he hasn't tested for 'skin' contact action yet, so this serves two purposes - it makes her look like she got shot in the butt, and it tests to see if this blend can be absorbed through the outer plating. We'll know the latter is true if 'Poison' starts bobbing off the ceiling. Playing 'grievously injured', he begins to slowly crawl, as if barely functioning, towards the hatch where the others went. Repugnus turns, about to say something to Torque, but instead he blurts out, "Look out!!!" as a pair of hands reaches out for Torque and pulls her away into the darkness. "Oh, Primus! Oh, damn--" He peers into the shadows, squinting. "I'm sorry, Wipeout, I'm sorry!" he cries, running after her. He leads the humans onwards, holding a flashlight out so everyone can see, and this room is perhaps the most horrifying and sickening of all. Even the humans who put on a brave face before are horrified at they see here. Scavenger has Torque shackled to a wall, and here and there on her body it appears that several of the human guests have been grafted, in big fleshy blobs, along her body here and there. But the upper torsos of these humans still appear to be intact, and they're screaming. Scavenger looks up, holding a scalpel. "You like? It's a new kind of gestalt! I made it myself!" "Damn you Constructicons!" Repugnus yells, trying to lunge at Scavenger, but, you guessed it, another force field. "Saaaaaaaaaavvvvvvvveeeeee uuuuuuuussssssssss...." Some of the humans wail. First Aid manages to calm down his passengers somewhat, but as he can see what some of these other exhibits are from here, he decides to stay put. "We'll, ah, we'll just stay here I think." Is that the sound of Constructicons brutalizing people up ahead? "Yeah, we'll just stay here. Lemme see if I can find some soft, soothing jazz on the radio..." A kid inside First Aid pipes up with, "Mr. Ambulance Man? Could you... could you teleport out of here please? I don't want to be here anymore!" He begins sobbing a little again. Unfortuenatly for First Aid, all he can get to play is 'This Is Halloween'. The Marilyn Manson version, to be exactly. "Make it stop, Mommy!" a little boy sobs. Torque hangs limply from the wall, letting the shackles support her weight, her expression dead and hollow as she stares at the ground. Several slivers of energon blood course down over her and the humans, fixing with the red of their own as it pools below. Shaking, the femme seems to be muttering something softly, gradually getting louder and louder, "..kill me.. kill me...Kill me.. Kill me!" She finally looks up to the survivors on the other side of the glass, her face all scratched up, optics pouring energon blood like tears as she suddenly screams, "KILLMEKILLMEKILLMEKILLMEKILLME" Rodimus Prime half turns when he realizes that now Torque is gone as well, and then Repugnus is on the move once more and...another grotesque scene is on display for the others. Deliberately, the Autobot leader is keeping to the back by this point, and looking a bit on edge given the way he's glancing all around. Though maybe for all the wrong reasons. Plus there's the fact of the forcefields...which Repugnus seems to keep conveniently revealing. "I think..." He says, his words careful. Punctuated line by line as if he were being VERY cautious in how he speaks, "...we need to get the humans out of here. Immediately." Especially given how they're all reacting by this point. The dark con acks as she is hit. She starts to sway a little, like she's experiencing something... off. Of course, where the round hit, some of the dark paint runs, revealing safe bot butt, and not evil con toocus. She staggers, dropping to a knee, leaning against a structure a bit, She looks at the humans close to her, "They call me Poison, and it's time for you to meet my minions!" She activates something internally, before from the shadows come figures that would likely be familiar, shuffling, with red glowing eyes... Encore, once out of sight of everyone and with a grin like a really big kid, pulls off his helmet and applies a good-sized dent to his own forehead. Then he paints more of the enershine goop onto his face and makes it look like it's dribbling from his eyes and mouth, as well as the dent. Then he resumes crawling towards First Aid and the others. "Help... me..." First Aid switches off the radio. "What I meant to say was, lets just listen to the calming silence of... er, nothing." To the little kid, he says, "I have never allowed harm to come to an innocent under my charge, and I don't intend to start now. What's your name?" he asks the little boy. Then Encore starts crawling at him, looking brutally injured. But oh ho ho, First Aid is a doctor. He ain't falling for that! "Encore, I have seriously frightened individuals in here. Maybe the joke's gone on long enough..." He hopes the humans can't hear the evil dark Con. Repugnus glares at Prime, looking aggravated. "Dammit, that's what I've been trying to do!" he yells, and waves down to the other humans. "Come on, I think I see an exit this way!" And, giving Torque one last pained look, he runs off towards an open door, which appears to lead into a loading elevator. The humans, seeing an escape, eagerly follow him up onto it. Repugnus begins pressing in buttons onto a control panel, and yells, "Everybody get on! We can make it!" However, the horror is not yet over! Following the Autobots and humans onto the elevator are all the victims the 'cons claimed before, except now they've been... *changed.* Humans now have cybernetic parts all over their bodies, and Transformer victims have fleshy bits on them. And now, much like the zombies from the beginning, they shamble towards the "surviving" humans and Autobots, moaning and groaning, arms outstretched. "Hurry! Shit shit shit, hurry!" the heckler yells up at Repugnus. The zombies are a bit better programmed than the nightmare Puggy has been running. THe older kids get a bigger scare than the little ones, but still a scare. Meanwhile, the dark con is still leaning there, trying to get the stuff out of her systems before she moves again. Rodimus Prime is about to say something in response to Repugnus, but then closes his mouth again. As the group, what's left of it, jogs towards the elevator, he follows suit, ducking a bit under the edge of the entranceway and taking up a position that he's at least somewhat physically between the humans and the shambling 'horde' as they start to draw closer. The Prime still remains oddly silent, though at least he's not staring at Repugnus anymore, and is instead watching the humans intently the whole time. Encore gives First Aid a flat look and just crawls a bit faster past him, before slowing down to crawl dramatically into the room where Repugnus and the others are, bleeding profusely and leaving something of a trail. "Help... me...." He drools, spitting 'energon' "I'm Francis," the little boy says. "I like My Little Po--EEEEE!!!" He shrieks, pointing out the window at Encore's "bloody" face, curls up onto the floor crying. Wipeout's head dangles from a few wires, having been vaguely reattached to her torso. However, her arms and legs aren't right! A leg stickls out of her right shoulder socket, and the arm that should have been there is in her left leg socket. "BRAAAAAAAAINNNS!" she groans out, loudly. Landmine shambles. He's...not very good at it, but then again, haphazard Constructicon surgery often doesn't have pretty results. He just makes a "HNNGNHRGHN." sort of noise as he lumbers forwards. And he even lost his hat somewhere along the line! Tragic. It seems that the Constructicons tried making a Human Centipede. Not pretty. At all. Greg MacLeod almost ralphs. "Ok, that's getting TOO good now," he says. "No! Come back! Help me!" Torque screams after them as the group hurries off, her pleads suddenly shifting to an unseen force before her screams are cut short. Not long after she begins shuffling out of a corridor to join the horde, a single bloody optic rolling in the elevator's direction since the other one appears to have been ripped out. The femme gives an inward mix of a hiss and gurggle, starting to shamble unsteadily in the living group's direction. The humans still connected to her gnash and hiss in hungry, arms outstretching in the direction of the tastey flesh not too far ahead. One even manages to come loose, landing with a splat on the ground before trying to pull itself with its arms. The exposed part beneath on Torque now shows bits of flesh hanging off and exposed wires, thick congealed energon blood dripping and splatting onto the floor, leaving a trail behind. The humans, overwhelmed with horror at the things coming after them, desperately beg Repugnus to get them out of there. Repugnus gasps, panting in terror as he presses more buttons... which don't actually do anything... except for one button, which he finally presses when the zombies are nearly on top of them, and the elevator begins to rise up. Up above, a hatch opens to the surface, and the humans seem quite relieved to escape. "Shit, was that real? Was that real?" the heckler asks Repugnus. But Repugnus doesn't respond. Instead, he leans forward, his face obscured by the large hat he's wearing.. "Dude, was that real!?!" Then Repugnus whirls around, his face covered in a mass of squirming human flesh. "YOU TELL ME! HAHAHAHA!" The remaining humans scream in terror, and heckler himself collapses to the ground, having used up all his sanity points, and is now reduced to a quivering heap on the floor. "Fooled you!" Repugnus says casually, tossing away the mask he was wearing. The elevator's now up on the surface, and the survivors see that they're okay. "Yep, none of that was real, you can relax now. But boy howdy, I told you you'd be scared, didn't I?" The dark con glowers as she hears the screams from further ahead. Apparently she didn't spend quite as much time as she should have with Puggy to get an idea of what he had in mind. As she finally gets the whatever out of her system, she sends the zombies back with her remote, moving ahead to see what the monsterbot has done, as well as to see if there's anything she might be able to do... to 'help'. She spies the ambulance, pushing Encore away and leaning down to look into the ambulance, likely scaring the snot out of the occupants, "AH, a convenient carrier for some fleshlings to take away" First Aid meanwhile is slowly making his way out. There's a little boy in him that looks like he might make a mess on the upholstery at any moment. He hates being a party pooper, but his compassion for the feelings of others come first. First Aid prepares to slowly make his way out. There's a little boy in him that looks like he might make a mess on the upholstery at any moment. He hates being a party pooper, but his compassion for the feelings of others come first. But before he can get moving, an eeeevil dark Con comes after him. <> Encore collapses in a heap as Repugnus and co rise out of sight, sitting up and giggling as soon as the whole thing's done. Rodimus Prime takes the ride up on the elevator with the others, straightening up as they emerge into the surface once more. He frowns as the humans give that last scream, particularly the heckler that collapses onto the ground, but finally he just sighs and shakes his head, putting one hand to his forehead like there was the sudden onset of a headache. For a few moments, he says nothing until finally... "I -would- say that you went a bit overboard, Repugnus," Rodimus rubs at his chin as he watches the humans for a few moments more, "...except for the fact I know darned well the humans themselves run haunted houses just as graphic around this time of year, and they're as popular as ever." Rodimus Prime adds for good measure, "I -really- wish the parents wouldn't bring their little kids to these things though." "Dad, THAT WAS AWESOME!" yells a ten year old girl. "LET "Let's do it again!" The dark con picks up the ambulance, very carefully, and turns around so the scary scary isn't visible, moving past anyone and opening the door enough to set the ambulance down just as carefully. She looks back, She moves around to look inside the ambulance, waves, "Enjoy your night out, and hope to see you next year." Wipeout meets up with the rest of the exit group, still reattaching her arm. "Yo Big Boss, we came in peace, and all's well that ends well, right?" Andi Lassiter watches as a small portion of the original group emerge from a second bay door in the main face of the warehouse, appearing shaken. The remainder of the group appear from around the side of the warehouse, including Jayson, Landmine, Wipeout, Torque, and several others. First Aid glances inward, seeing people crying and clutching their chest. <<...could be better. How, uh, how is it going in there? Did Repugnus scare all the people he wanted?>> Fortunately, Remedy's waving and friendly farewell does a lot to help them recover, and the little boy even gives Remedy a wave. Such a nice, evil Decepticon. Repugnus laughs as the humans begin to leave. "Oh, come on, Prime! You know kids love this stuff! Hell, I bet the lot of them were BEGGING their parents to take them here. And some of them were probably braver than their parents!" He points at the ten year old girl who wanted to go in again. "See? Now, THIS is why Andi called me in. Because I got a mess of horrors in this head 'o mine." He grins. The little girl waves up at Repugnus. "You're the bestest, Mister!" Once the humans are safely outside Torque stops and stands upright, chuckling, "Wow, that was way more fun than I'd thought! Hope Repugnus comes up with something even better next year." A little later she comes up to the surface, back in her Catwoman costume without a scratch on her. "Hope everyone had fun. I certainly did!" She chuckles softly again. "Heh, I still say the Bots need to throw a halloween party like the humans do." Repugnus gives the girl a thumbs-up, then tells Prime, "Finally, some recognition!" "You are one sick bastard, Repugnus," Jayson says nonchalantly as he dusts off his sleeves, very much not gutted open. He adjusts his hat, flashing a grin at the Monsterbot. "But Miss Lassiter is probably even sicker." Remedy sits down, rapping gently on the side of FIrst Aid, "Okay, all kids out of the pool. It's safe..." She works at clearing some of the dark paint from her, so she looks a bit more friendly, especially the red autobot symbol Greg MacLeod comes out, leading Jayson. "It's ok, it was all fake, it was all fake." Rodimus Prime crosses his arms and just continues to stand to one side, idly watching the kids that are responding enthusiastically. "Well I hope for their sake that -all- the kids that decide to come here end up enjoying it and don't come away scarred from the experience." He finally lets out a sigh, shoulders drooping a bit. Well he came along to see for himself and at least a few...concerns have been satisfied at least. "So long as they just remain figments of your ideas then, Repugnus. Fine. Time was once maybe I would have enjoyed it a little more myself..." Little known fact. When you're injected with the Wisdom of the Ancients it tends to kill a little bit of the 'wild funseeker' part of your personality. Not that Rodimus would ever admit to that. "I think I'll settle for some nice relaxing fishing for my entertainment." A pause, before he adds. "Without Sharkticons." Though punching that one's teeth in was kind of fun. A little. Wipeout finally finishes reattaching her arm, and grins. "Woo-hoo, that was the bomb-diggity! HAPPY HALLOWEENIES!" She kneels down to look at some of the humans, and gives them a thumbs up. Encore steps out of the place and laughs, lighting himself a cigar. He hands Remedy a cleaning cloth, working on scrubbing the purple stuff from himself. "I think blend Purple 32 needs a bit more refinement..." he comments. "And more testing to see what it actually /does/..." Andi Lassiter waves to everyone emerging from the warehouse, then looks at the line of people waiting. "Repugnus, are you ready for the next tour group?" Repugnus gives Rodimus a sly grin. "Oh, this is the LEAST I could have shown them... Ah well, we can't all be young, carefree Autobots, though, can we?" He turns away, stepping up to Jayson and giving him a shrug. "Well, what did you expect? Still, glad everyone played along." He glances over at Torque. "I thought for sure you'd freak out over that costume they had you wear." Torque rolls her optics and snorts at Repugnus, giving a flick of her Catwoman tail. "Pug, I'm a medic. It's a lot harder to freak me out. But still, remind me to buy you and Andi drinks. Awesome job this year." The femme smiles to the monsterbot, cat ears twitching in enthusiasm. Encore smirks to Repugnus "Next time, get me involved and I'll make it even better. You'd be surprised what subtle, short-duration psychotropics can do to enhance a place like this. I'm sure I can get something that works on organics, too. Mess with the endochrine system a little bit..." "I think we lost Jayse here," Greg says, hauling his friend away. First Aid opens up his doors, and the kids and parents slowly get out. They're shaken, but they're starting to appreciate just how much work must have gone into that haunted house. One little girl just stares at Remedy in shock as she wipes off her Decepticonness, returning back to her more well known Autobot colours. <> First Aid agrees nervously. Repugnus peers down at Andi Lassiter. "Hm? Oh, sorry, was relishing Prime's reaction. Yeah, just a sec. Gotta give the volunteers a bit of time to rearrange everything." He rubs his chin, staring back at Torque. "Yeah, I suppose you've seen a lot of messed up stuff before. And... interesting idea, Encore, but I don't want anyone to say I drugged them. Not sure I could make a waiver to cover THAT..." Encore smirks "You couldn't, no. But a fiver says I can get you insurance for it this time next year." Andi Lassiter looks from Repugnus to Encore. "I'd rather we not go there, Encore. At least not in a public venue." Repugnus squints at Encore. "Reeeeallllly...." Rodimus Prime plays killjoy from the sidelines, "NO psychotropic drugs of any kind whatsoever." Encore looks over at Andi and nods "Sorry Pug, been overruled. Unless you can get a private ven- sorry both of ya, been overruled again." He shrugs his shoulders helplessly. Remedy heys, "I don't mind being a 'baddie', but, no, drugs would push things beyond entertainment to life threatening." Repugnus pouts. "Drat. Well, guess we'll just have to stick to good old fashioned mind-numbing terror!" Torque simply shakes her head with a smirk, "Well, you all have fun. I'm gonna go unwind for the night. Later!" She grins and waves to everyone before moving off back to base. "You've traumatized Jayson for life!" Greg complains, looking up at Repugnus. Encore shakes his head "I could probably tailor them, but I've been overruled and, well, you got a point, never know if someone's gonna have a bad reaction. You need another baddie though, Pug, sign me up! I can come up with all kindsa icky-lookin' gloops" Andi Lassiter turns to look at Greg, all but smirking at him. "Are you sure this was truly Repugnus' doing?" "Ok, it was either Repugnus' doing, or some hard trolls," Greg says. Encore shakes his head "I could probably tailor them, but I've been overruled and, well, you got a point, never know if someone's gonna have a bad reaction. You need another baddie though, Pug, sign me up! I can come up with all kindsa icky-lookin' gloops" He grins, pulling out his pistol and shooting Repugnus in the thigh with it. It looks like a proper energon blood-splat, but on closer inspection it's just some kind of magenta-purple glowing gloop contained in the plastic shell of the round. Repugnus will start feeling a bit odd. Wipeout is back sitting down, telling the story h=of how the Autobot saved the universe from the monsterous Unicron. Autobots AND Junkions, ind you. Repugnus grins down at Greg. "Mission accomplished!" Non-chalantly, he nods at Torque. "Sure. Might even take you up on that drinking." Though he doesn't like being drunk that much... He peers back at Encore. "Hrmmm. You're about as tall as one of the bigger Decepticons... Have to work on the dimensions. And.... urrrr.... whu? You... sure it's a good idea to put that stuff in me? Had a Torkulon doctor give me some "meds" once." He glares. "It turned out... *bad.*" Encore smirks quietly "It's just an enerhol blend, 'lax. You'll be a bit woozy an' it'll prolly calm you down a bit, bit that's it." First Aid has successfully seen his passengers to safety, and so transforms back into Ghostbuster mode. The Protectobot rejoins the others. "I'll admit it was an effective haunted house. Reminds me to go over those waiver forms with a fine tooth comb later." Also, he as to admit it was a good idea after all that nobody was armed.
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