this town belongs to OVERLORD - A Transformers Murder Mystery Wild West AU

DAY 3 - a hole.

The early morning sun beat down on our exposed necks as I looked down into the blackness of the pit. The hole was obviously constructed by hand, not erosion. It was straight into the ground of Cybertron, deep enough to trap someone like Trailcutter. Megatron watched with a walking stick clutched between his fists; he said he wanted to have some way to protect himself now that there was a murderer on the loose.

"Who made this?" I inquired as I leaned over to get a better look at the bottom of the hole.

"Starscream did about a week ago." Overlord meandered up to my side. "Said it was for a prank with Trailcutter."

"How tall are you?"

"Me?"

"Yes."

"About 33 feet and a half, last time I checked."

"I need you to get in the hole."

"Huh?"

"Just do it. Come on, get in."

Overlord shot me a look of confusion before he lowered himself to the ground, his feet dipping into the cold embrace of the void. He jumped in, and the hole consumed his body up to the middle of his face. Overlord stared up at me with startled eyes.

"What are you thinking?" Overlord called.

"I don't know; I just want to know about how deep it is. It's just a weird thing to dig."

"Well, I mean Trailcutter and Starscream are kinda weird to begin with." Megatron extended his arm down to Overlord, and the town's leader grasped onto the blacksmith's muscular forearm. Megatron grunted slightly as he pulled the hefty male out of the hole. "It was probably just to trap someone. Put a tarp over it, cover it with sand, and wait for someone to walk over it. Classic out here in the west."

"But not someone of Overlord's size. Someone much smaller, around twenty feet, would have lots of trouble getting out. This wasn't meant for Magnus."

"Starscream wasn't expecting Magnus," Overlord said, dusting dirt off of his plated abdomen.

"It's just...I don't know." I pushed the brim of my hat up, allowing myself to make eye contact easier with the two much taller Cybertronians. "You are right, Megatron. It just seems to be a trap for their pranks."

I nibbled on my lip, and Overlord kneeled down, getting closer to my height of sixteen feet. "Arcee, what are you thinking?" he muttered, and anxiety flowed through his optics.

"It's...it's like a grave. I mean, I'm probably just mentally primed to think about death right now."

"Yeah. Most bury their death on their backs, not standing up. I don't know any cultures around here that bury standing up."

I shook my head and stared back at the hole before extending my hand out to Overlord. He slips his fingers around it, and we start to head back towards the town. I gaze over my shoulder at Megatron, who was now fixated upon the strange tunnel.

"Thank you, Megatron!" I cried.

He didn't react to my call. He just continued staring.

. . .

I gathered up the scattered pages that I left upon Overlord's desk, and he was passively listening to the recordings as he leaned against his bed. Overlord's bounced his right leg rapidly as the tape recorder spewed out the various voices of the suspects's conversations.

"Why did you say it was me?" Overlord muttered as I finished packing up the journal and pens.

"You unsettled me at the time. I was overwhelmed by your attention towards me, and you were just the first person that popped in my head. I definitely don't think it is you anymore. Anyone who gets that scared when held at gunpoint isn't a killer. Besides, I kinda like you now."

Overlord stopped the recordings and smiled a bit. "That's nice."

"And you think it is Airachnid because," I stifled a chuckle. "'she is mean'?"

"Yeah. I was kinda talking out of my tailpipe at the time, to be honest."

"I think most people were. The killer doesn't want to look like a killer, and everyone else is trying very hard not to sound like one. There's quite a bit of tailpipe talk right now."

I rocked back and forth on the balls of my feet as a brief silence passed between us. Overlord stood, and his horns gently scraped upon the ceiling. This town wasn't built for someone of his size. He cupped my cheek, and I slightly pulled away.

"I think you're going to catch whoever it is," Overlord confidently whispered.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Ready to go?"

"Did you hear what I said?"

The tremolo of a jet's engine vibrated above the house, and some commotion started pouring in from outside. Lots of screaming.

"We got a runner! We got a runner!" Cyclonus's deep voice rocketed up from the street.

Overlord and I dashed up to the filthy window peering out into the road, and he quickly undid the loose lock to pull up the pane. Cyclonus was viciously bear hugging Sunstreaker, who was yelling an exquisite variety of profanity as he swung his limbs about.

"The hell is going on down there?" Overlord squawked.

Cyclonus peered around a bit before he spotted us staring. "Sunstreaker tried to escape by climbing the wall! I caught the bastard and flew him back here!"

"Dear Primus," Overlord muttered.

We dashed out of the bedroom and clomped rapidly down the uneven staircase to the home's main living room. We burst into the outdoors, and more were starting to crowd around the tussle breaking out. Sunstreaker wriggled furiously out of Cyclonus's arms and landed a stinging blow to the side of the purple Cybertronian's horned head. Cyclonus grunted before immediately rushing Sunstreaker, harassing him with a flurry of quick punches.

Sunny tackled Cyclonus, and thick, yellow clouds of sand spilled up from the ground as he repeatedly bashed Cyclonus's head onto the dirt. Cyclonus pried Sunstreaker's hands from his shoulders, gripping them tightly, before he used his knee to slam Sunny in the stomach. He yelped in pain, and Cyclonus returned to his feet as Sunstreaker squirmed.

"He's the killer! Sunstreaker is the killer!" Cyclonus cried.