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

just a small mix up.

I wiped the energon Sunstreaker coughed up, and the other sixteen suspects watched quietly from around the town hall. Overlord immediately called the meeting after Cyclonus damned Sunstreaker to life in the slammer, and everyone silently ambled into the grand building. Cyclonus caused some damage inside of Sunstreaker, but Sunny was resilient, so he would heal soon. Cyclonus was observing me care for my comrade from the front of the room, his fists trembling at his side.

"Sunstreaker, I think we all need an explanation," Overlord said.

"I'm scared! Aren't the rest of you?" Sunny cried. "I don't want to be here! We're supposed to be trading in some distant town right now, not solving some murder!"

"We understand," Overlord answered.

"Understand? Understand?!" Cyclonus's back arched wickedly, and he prowled about in front of the town's merciful leader. "He tried to escape! That's what the killer would try to do. He rushed through interviews. He wants to get out of this. Sunstreaker is guilty!"

"Cyclonus." I rose from my seat after I handed the soiled cloth to Sunstreaker. "We are all going to listen to the interviews now, okay? We all need to be on the same page." I rushed back over to Sunstreaker and whispered aggressively to him, "Sunny, don't pull a stunt like that ever again, you understand? You aren't the killer, right?"

He solemnly nodded.

"Okay. And I know you aren't. But they don't, and you can't act like this if you want them to believe you."

. . .

"And that is the fourth vote for Airachnid." Overlord added another tally down on the black board for the insectoid female, and the recording device crackled as the tape ended.

We all gazed upon the votes.

Airachnid: 4
Overlord: 3
Megatron: 1
Ratchet: 3
Red Alert: 2
Tarn: 3
Cyclonus: 1
Chromia: 1
Sunstreaker: 1
Magnus: 2
Swerve: 1

"Who is Primus' name said me?" Swerve gazed around at the hunched Cybertronians surrounding him.

Tarn slightly raised his clawed hand before setting his limb back down on his lap.

"You actually think Swerve might be a killer? Have you even spent two minutes with the guy?" Megatron snapped, his fingers tightening around his staff. His broad, mighty shoulders hunched up.

"He's strange," Tarn muttered.

"What? Because he likes to talk and be friendly?" Cliffjumper retorted.

Tarn shrugged, and the treads on his shoulders clanked as he moved.

"Ugh, ignore him," Megatron spat. "We all heard that he isn't 'allowed to talk too much'. What bullshit."

"No, no, it's a real thing." Starscream was leaning against the wall, and a rectangle of sunlight was slicing across his lithe face. "I've met another Vibration Monk before. They are more common around Iacon but still rare overall."

"Yuck, they hang with the rich snobs up north?" Elita-One adjusted her sitting position, growing hyper from being on her rump for so long.

"No, troubled people there. We help," Tarn responded.

"Whatcha do? Serenade them?" Ironhide grumbled.

"Yes. Song illuminates the soul."

"He also said they do crystal healing," Chromia added.

Tarn twisted his neck to see who was backing him up, and his bottom eyelids pushed up as a smile spread across his hidden face under his mask. Chromia gave him a small grin in return.

Ratchet veered the focus away from the mysterious religious man. "I want to talk about Tailgate and Cyclonus."

"What about us?" Cyclonus sneered, and he defensively stepped forward towards his new opponent.

Overlord placed a strong hand upon Cyclonus's shoulder and pulled him slightly back. "Let him talk."

"Tailgate said he and Cyclonus were traveling to Iacon, and Cyclonus said he and Tailgate were traveling to Harmonex. That seems odd they both said two different places, especially with Cyclonus being angry at Magnus. Hell, even Tailgate was perturbed with him, but he kept it buried down. That in itself is dangerous," Ratchet said.

Cyclonus turned on his lover, and his voice lifted an octave as his fury spewed between his teeth. "Tailgate?! How many damn times do I have to tell you we were going to Harmonex!"

"But you said back at that other town you rather go to Iacon!"

"But then I changed my mind the next day! Primus, can't you listen?!"

Tears started to slither from Tailgate's wide optics, and his pale fingers quivered. Swerve belted out a uneasy laugh, trying to bring back some insouciance to the unstable atmosphere.

"Guys, it was just a misunderstanding, okay? We all make mistakes." Swerve gently approached Cyclonus's side and patted his stiff forearm. "Ratchet was just trying to conjecture a bit, not blame any of you. He just found a loophole and wanted to bring it up."

Cyclonus gently closed his flaming optics and submissively lowered his grand, horned head. "I'm sorry, Tailgate."

"Okay." Tailgate stared at his swinging feet; the chair he was settled upon was too large.

"It wasn't either of us," Cyclonus announced. "We just both said two different things."