It Started As A Nightmare

Deception

Heatwave punched his servo out of anger. When he got his servos on that creppy con...

Blades was scanning over a now annoyed Cody. Boulder was also doing some scans, although his were less intense and less frequent.

Chase was, curiously, also angry. Although, unless you were good at reading body languages and fields, you probably wouldn't notice. The normally very calm bot wanted very much so to not act calm, to go out and hunt down the Decepticon hunting the humans he cared so deeply about. But he knew that he had to be the voice of reason, even if he didn't want to be.

A few days earlier~

Chase rolled into the bunker, opening his doors to allow his passengers out. His partner immediately took the children out and brought them upstairs. Chase transformed and headed for the control panel. Heatwave and Boulder were also there. Chase stopped, glancing around.

"Where's Blades?" He asked, noticing the helicopters absence.

Heatwave made a dissmisive gesture. "Off with Dani somewhere." He said, leaning against the wall.

Chase nodded and continued on. On the drive back, he had remembered the small camera located on Cody's jacket, in case the boy got lost somewhere, or, Primus forbid, kidnapped. He typed in the computers password and set to work accessing the most recent camera feed.

Heatwave wandered over, confused.

"Why are you looking into the CodyCam's feed?" He asked, his confusion only barely dripping into his voice.

Chase didn't answer at first, focusing on finding the file. When he did, he answered.

"Frankie reported her and Cody encountering some kind of oversized limbless reptile. Apparently, it tried to eat Cody." He replied, his voice monotone.

He wasn't too worried. The only kind of 'giant snake' he could find that was still alive today was a species called the anaconda. One must have escaped from somewhere, which they would have to look into. But he would check the feed anyways.

Clicking on the file, he saw Frankie pour some birdseed into Cody's hand, the bird come down and eat, and Cody drawing. Then, a deer came bounding out of the forest.
Chase began to feel a sinking feeling in his spark. Boulder and Heatwave were both watching attentively.

When the red eye appeared, Chase froze.

"No, it can't be." He whispered. Surely they couldn't be on Griffen Rock?

But as the feed went on, and the creature and the symbol on its head were fully revealed, Chase knew that one of his worst fears had come true.

Deceptions were on Griffen Rock.

Later, Blades had come back with Dani to a distressing scene. The bots were pacing around, clicking and chirping in a language Dani didn't understand nor did she want to hear, as it hurt her ears. She became truly concerned when a look of utter horror came across Blades's face. He told her that she should go upstairs and check on Cody.

Confused, she went upstairs, only to see Doc Greene, her dad, and Cody and Frankie bundled up in blankets, being comforted by Graham and Kade while her dad talked with Doc Greene. Kade filled her in. Apparently, Cody and Frankie had been attacked by a Cybertronian snake that worked with an evil faction of bots. Dani had to sit down for a bit.

Down in the bunker, the bots were disscusing what to do about the Decepticon. None of them were comfortable with leaving Cody alone anymore, or their partners. Chase wanted to confine them to the base, Blades wanted to leave Griffin Rock altogether, Heatwave wanted to go and attack the snake head on, and Boulder just wanted everyone safe, no matter what method they chose.

After talking it over with their partners, they had settled on a buddy system. No human was to be without a bot, excluding when Cody and Frankie had to go to school. Chase insisted on extra patrols in that area.

And for a few days, everything seemed okay.

Until the snake attacked Chase.

It had been a calm day for the police cruiser, and he was on his way back from picking up Cody. Chief was away with Graham, looking over the new pipeline plans, since the old ones were due to be replaced. Cody was happily drawing in the backseat, listening to some music that Chase had put on.

Chase felt relaxed. The sky was clear and the sun was warm. Cybertronians, they had found out, responded very positively to the Earth's sun. If they stayed out in it long enough, it gave them a boost of happiness and energy. It was also quiet relaxing.

So he was quite frightened when something rammed him off the road.

He could feel himself flip into the air, and he knew he only had a few seconds to transform. As quick as he could, he changed into his bipedal form. His pedes dug into the dirt beside the road as he held Cody against him. Chase barely had time to dodge before the snake came at him again.

Jumping out of the way, he turned and placed the scared human in his servos into a tree. He turned back and flipped down his visor, snarling. Now Chase was not usually a violent bot. That was Heatwave's job. But when it came to Cody, his protective coding always flared up. Cody was like a Bean to them, barely even a Sparkling. So when a dangerous threat like a Decepticon attacked him in broad daylight while he was trying to get Cody home? It definitely set him off.

This time when the snake lunged, Chase was ready. He grabbed it by the jaws and threw it back. It smacked into a wall of rock. But it didn't even seem to feel the impact, as it was right back on Chase, trying to bite him.

The police bot punched it's bad eye, the one Frankie had thrown a rock at. The optic shattered under the force of his punch. The snake howled in pain, a spark stopping noise that had Chase stepping back. It glared at him, and Chase saw something flick up on its neck. Sharp, red spikes were quivering behind the snake's head.

Suddenly, the snake spun around. Spikes scratched and dented Chase's armour. He covered his face and spark chamber. When the spikes stopped, it took him a few extra seconds to get back up from his crouched position.

That was all the snake needed.

It lunged at the tree Cody was in, grabbing him by his hood. Cody, understandably, screamed. That caused Chase to snap. He was already stressed and hurt, that had just been the straw that broke the camel's back. He grabbed the snake by its neck and squeezed. The snake hissed and dropped Cody, who's hood got snagged on a broken branch.

Chase smashed the snake into the ground, putting all his strength into the attack. Metal bits flew everywhere, but still the snake fought. It wrapped it's long tail around Chase, trying to squeeze the bot. After a few moments of struggle, Chase had to get the snake off him. He grabbed it by it's tail and threw it up and into the forest. It crashed into a tree, and slithered away.

Chase scooped up a very shaken and scratched up Cody and zoomed away, slightly breaking the speed limit. He just wanted to get away.

Back to the present~

Cody winced as Graham finished wrapping his bandages. The snake's fangs had sliced right through his jacket and had sliced his skin open, deep enough that it bled but not so bad as to warrant a hospital trip.

Kade was pacing angrily, almost mirroring Heatwave's actions. Dani was on Blades's shoulder, calming him down, and his dad was beside him, letting Cody lean on him while he talked to Doc Greene about some kind of defense.

Cody sighed. What had he done that had angered the universe so much that it sent a giant angry snake after him? He didn't know, and frankly, he was too exhausted to think about it right now. He closed his eyes and driffted off into a restless slumber.