Beast Wars: Mobius 56

"So..." Cheetor dented his fingers on a gravestone, bored out of his wits. "You want to try tombstone rubbing while we wait?"

"Tombstone rubbing?" asked Rattrap.

"It's a human thing. They take paper and place it over the grave, and with a pencil, they trace the grave."

"Got a pencil and paper?"

"No."

"Then no."

A loud scream echoed around the mountains. "Slag! That was Blackarachnia!" Cheetor was about to take off running, only to stop when he realized Rattrap wasn't moving. "You know," he said to the rat Maximal. "Optimus said you'll move when you feel like it, well, I feel that is now!" And he grabbed him and strapped him to his back tight, no matter how many times Rattrap squirmed.

(!)

The two Maximals followed where they last heard the screams, and saw a frightening sight: a Maximized Silverbolt pulling on a pair of spider legs sticking out of the ground. A white hand flicked him away, and sucked Blackarachnia into the ground.

"What was that thing?!" screamed Rattrap.

"Something pulled my beloved into the ground!" Silverbolt began digging into the ground, only to be stopped by Cheetor.

"Digging into the ground won't help!" he chastised. "We got to call Optimus and tell him what's happened."

"Already tried that," groaned Silverbolt. "All I got was this creepy laughter, and it wasn't his. It sounded high-pitched. The same thing happened when I tried to call the others."

"The ghosts got 'em!" screamed Rattrap.

"Do you need a Rattrap snack?" teased Cheetor.

"Don't you dare, whiskers." After regaining his composure, Rattrap finally asked, "Okay, Silverbolt. Where was the place you last heard from Optiums?"

Silverbolt tapped his chin, thinking. "At Church Hill."

"That's where we have to go," concluded Cheetor. "I just hope whatever situation the guys are in, it's nothing too serious."

(!)

At Church Hill, the three Maximals looked all around, ignoring the curious animals that occasionally popped out of the jack-o-lanterns to give them a scare. Well, Rattrap was the one currently shivering as he tried to look frantically around for his comrades. "It doesn't make sense!" he squeaked. "How could they just vanish into thin air?!"

"They didn't," said Silverbolt. "They were pulled underground just like my beloved. There was no digging involved either."

"The only question I have is," pondered Cheetor. "How do you kill a ghost?"

"Was that a rhetorical question?" asked Rattrap. Groaning from the lack of response, he slumped back on a grave stone, then felt a slight breeze on his heel. "Hmm?"

"Did you find something?"

"I think there's a hole under this grave, like a cave. I can feel air coming out of it."

"Well, this is where we have to dig then."

"What?!"

Cheetor grinned. "I thought rats liked to hide in cold dark holes?"

"Not this one! I prefer light bathed places. Like the beaches with all the babe-bots."

"Come on, do it for Optimus. I don't think he would like it if one of his best was acting like a coward."

That did it. "I AM NO COWARD! I just...don't like to be here!"

"Then prove you are not!"

His pride hurt, Rattrap Maximized and blasted the grave, revealing a set of stairs. "There! Happy?! Now let's get our friends and the Chaos Emerald and get out of here!"

(!)
Somewhere underground...

"Anyone still functioning? Groan if you mean yes!" Optiums' replies were Knuckles and Blackarachnia's groans. "Alright, where are we?"

"In some underground prison," she replied. "But, where are Sonic and the others?"

"I think I saw someone drag them in here but-" Knuckles stopped when he made a shiver.

A chorus of eerie giggling echoed in the shadows, and multiple pairs of red and yellow eyes shined from the darkness. Beneath the eyes appeared glowing blue mouths with jagged black teeth.

"Alright, you ghouls!" hissed Blackarachnia. "Where are-"

"Issss thisss what you're looking for?" Someone held out a giant white jewel in their palm. The Maximals and Knuckles nodded. "Not take it!" the eerie voice said. "Second chance at life it gave usss... We take it! We took heavy risk being in the light, but it was worth it!"

"No!" argued Knuckles. "The Chaos Emerald's energy has driven you mad, corrupted you to think this way!"

"Not corrupt."

The red echidna's eyes widened. "Sonic?"

"Enlightened us. We're pathetic as spirits with no ability to feel warmth, taste food, breath air."

"Bunnie? Antoine?" Blackarachnia recognized those voices.

"And Tails is with you, isn't he?" demanded Optimus.

Tails' voice giggled. "Of course. We need living bodies. And soon, the souls will be asleep forever once night falls. And now, it's your turn, echidna."

Optimus narrowed his eyes. "And what of us?"

"No need for robots, gorilla and spider. You will be scrap."

"Scrap...scrap...scrap...scrap...scrap...scra-"

BOOM! Three Maximized Maximals blasted their way into the room, showering it with a beam of daylight.

"Oh, thank goodness!" cried out Knuckles. "For a minute, I thought I would be-"

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHH! The possessed people let out a frightened scream. "The light! Too bright!"

"So that's your weakness, eh?" sneered Blackarachnia. Spitting out webs from her spinneret, she entangled the closest shadows, revealed to be Antoine and Tails and pulled them into the column of light. They screamed, then passed out as the spirits floated up to heaven. More shadows grabbed Blackarachnia and Optimus and pinned them to the ground.

"Scrap them...scrap them..."

"Optimus Primal, MAXIMIZE!"

"Blackarachnia, MAXIMIZE!

The two Maximals turned to Robot Mode and grabbed the shadows, hurling them into the light. Sonic and Bunnie shrieked as the ghosts possessing them were expelled from their bodies.

"Make the hole bigger!" shouted Rattrap. "Let there be more light!" He blasted more holes in the ceiling, bringing in more light into the chamber. The ghosts screamed in agony as their hosts were bathed in light, and were forcibly expelled from them. The people passed out and collapsed onto the floor. The white Chaos Emerald slipped from Sonic's hand and rolled to Rattrap's feet. He picked it up and smirked. "Who's the coward now?"

"Well, that's one way to conquer your fears. Not how I would do it, but still," said Optimus with pride. "You did well, Rattrap, even if it was an odd way to stand up to it."

"Well, I learned that there is something I'm afraid of more: Being called a coward in the face of battle when I should be there to help."

"Glad you learned that lesson," agreed Blackarachnia.

Suddenly, there were shrieks and screams and the sound of a stampede. All the kidnapped victims started running out of the room and into the light. "Hey!" shouted Rattrap. "No thanks, ingrates?!"

"Leave them," said Optimus. "We got what we - You're still here?"

All the ghosts hid in the shadows and away from the light, looks of fright on their faces. "Don't hurt usss...pleasssse."

"You possessed us and kidnapped people! How were we supposed to react?" shouted Sonic.

"Shiny stone made usss...didn't mean to. Want to haunt in peace."

"Uh, boss," said Silverbolt. "We got some Predacon signatures heading this way."

Optimus thought for a while. "We'll let you be and take the Chaos Emerald," he said to the ghosts. "If you can do us a favor."

(!)

Megatron definitely needed to get braver troops next time he were ever in this situation. Or at least find some soldiers that had no emotions at all, like Soundwave and VIRUS, he thought as he watched his cowardly troops tear out of the cemetery like heck, a large ghostly figure chasing after them. One thing he didn't get though, was the fact that it was carrying a large umbrella, blocking the sun.