Ghosts of the Present (Rescue Bots AU)

41. The Hunt is On!

Energon Eater, Space Vampire; both of those two-word names for the creature in question made Heatwave's spark sputter and his chassis shiver.

"You're sure?" He asked.

Slipchain nodded hard, "I-I've seen a transmitted image of one, sent by a ship that went missing shortly after. You'd think an agent like myself wouldn't be afraid of something like that, but-"

"Are you crazy!?" Blades exclaimed, "Those things are terrifying! One of those attacked our ship and is the reason we got stranded in space and wound up here on Earth in the first place!"

Slipchain smiled slightly at Blades' agreement, "They just look so slimy and gross!"

"That is true." Chase informed, "Boulder and I successfully captured and transported the one responsible for our odyssey and it was no easy task."

"I remember when you arrived with it," Bumblebee responded, "I knew Blades wouldn't believe it if you didn't have a photograph."

"Oh, right!"
Boulder pulled Bumblebee up to the femme, "Bumblebee, this is Slipchain. Slipchain, this is Bumblebee."

Slipchain snapped out of her frightened stance to give the sports car a salute. "Sir!"

Bumblebee chuckled, and then held out a hand. "Just Bumblebee or 'Bee is fine, Slipchain."

"Excuse me,"
Blades stepped between the two, "I hate to interrupt the introductions of friends old and new, but I have to remind you that THERE IS AN ENERGON EATER ON THE LOOSE!"

"Right right right."
Boulder nodded, "We need to find it and secure it. Slipchain, where did you see it?"

"J-Just outside of the north side of town...! I-I guess I should have tried to contain it, but-"

"Fear is a great motivator for running." Blades informed, "We need to be careful, though."

"We'll spread out and in pairs." Chase decided, "Boulder and I will be one pair, Heatwave and Slipchain a second, and Blades and Bumblebee a third."

"Why me and Slipchain?" Heatwave asked suspiciously.

Boulder crossed his arms, "Because you were the first to comfort her when she got here. And Bumblebee and Blades for other obvious reasons."

While the firetruck glared, Bumblebee held out a fist bump to Blades, "We'll get the job done, right Blades?" He announced.

Blades gave a nervous smile, "Yay..."
______________________________________________

Now if only someone had told the Burnses about this.

They'd decided to leave the bots to their reunion for a little while; they could catch up with Bumblebee later, and Chief Burns had noticed that the fridge had grown suspiciously empty in recent days, though the amount of trash hadn't changed. A quick look in the bedrooms had revealed the perpetrator, and so now it was up to Kade to pay for groceries.

Dani was in charge of the list and was crossing off items accordingly. "Eggs, apples, beans, soup-"

"Do you have to read it aloud?" Kade complained.

"It helps me keep it straight, thank you very much!"

"Just cross it off when we put it in the cart and move on...!"

"Kids..." Chief Burns warned as he grabbed a bag of potatoes from the display.

Cody smiled, "Blades and Bumblebee sure looked happy to see each other. We all felt the same way when they came back... I just wonder how he found out."