Griffin Rock's Secret: A Cody Burns Fanfiction

Chapter 20

     The fire was raging downtown, covering multiple rooftops. Heatwave and Kade were struggling to keep other buildings from burning as well, but they were falling behind. Flames licked the sky as Boulder, Graham and Cody arrived at the scene. As Cody jumped out, Boulder transformed and started to assess the situation with Graham.

     "If we remove the fire hydrant, we can aim the water at the buildings, effectively putting out the fire on this side." Graham said, giving the thumbs up inside Boulder. The bulldozer bot tore the hydrant out from the ground, high pressure water shooting into the sky. As the flames started to subside with the extra water, Cody noticed Chase and Blades working on evacuating the people still stuck in the buildings.

     "Chase, get some pipes to hold up the roof! There are still some people in here!" Chief Burns order his partner, who set down the people he had just rescued and grabbed a large pipe. The police bot then supported the ceiling with the pipe, digging the metal into the ground while the policeman guided the people out.

     Dani was checking on the people who had gotten stuck in the fire, bandaging some light burns. Cody headed over to her, wanting to help in any way he could.

     "-gentle with that for a few days," Dani was telling a man, who's arm was bandaged from a large burn.

     "Hey Dani," Cody greeted his sister, stopping next to her. "Is there any way I can help-" His sentence was cut short as Dani squeezed him tightly, resulting in him gasping for air.

     "I am so glad you're okay," she said, releasing her little brother who tried to catch breath. "Are Frankie and Doc okay as well?" She turned to help another person who's hand had a red burn.

     "Yeah, everyone was okay except for... Graham's robot. He took some heavy hits." Cody caught himself from using Boulder's name. Dani gave him a quick look before turning all her attention to the people in need.

     "Go see if Dad could use help, okay?" She shooed Cody off towards his father, who was with Graham and Kade. As Cody got closer, he overheard a small snippet of a strange conversation they were finishing.

     "-do, if that really were to happen?" Graham was asking worriedly.

     "Well, we make sure that all the townsfolk are safe," Chief Burns said, his face grim. "Then we let the F.B.I. do their thing."

     "So it's that bad?" Kade asked, his usually grumpy face replaced with concern. "The mainland is sending agents to Griffin Rock for this?" Chief was about to answer when he noticed Cody walking up to them.

     "We'll talk later," He said, turning to Cody. "Did you need something?"

     "Oh, Dani sent me over here in case you guys needed help," Cody replied, not wanting to let on the he had overheard some of the conversation. "Is there anything I can do?"

     "No, we've gotten pretty much everything settled right now," Graham said, placing a hand on Cody's shoulder. "I do want to head back to the firehouse to look at Boulder's metal. It looks really bad."

     "I'll tell Dani that you three are heading back to the firehouse," Chief Burns said, starting to head over to Dani and Blades.

     "Uh, no," Kade interjected. "I'll tell Dani. You and Chase head back with Graham and Cody. Me and Heatwave can stay here," the policeman looked surprised for a moment before nodding and heading over to Chase instead. The rescue bot transformed and Chief got inside.

     "Cody, why don't you go with Dad?" Graham said as Boulder slowly transformed. It looked painful for the bot. "It might take us a little while to get home."

     "Okay," Cody said reluctantly, giving Boulder a careful look before hopping inside Chase. Chase drove off towards the firehouse, Cody looking out the window to see them slowly leaving behind Boulder and Graham.

     "Dad, do you think-" Cody started to ask before his dad shushed him.

     "I don't know. I do hope that we can help him," He answered, his eyes locked onto the road ahead. The awkward silence in the vehicle was stifling as the three entered the firehouse. The humans got out and Chase transformed, momentarily looking out the door for Boulder. Chief headed for the elevator to upstairs, but Cody stayed behind to talk with Chase.

     "What did attack you and the Green's in the forest?" Chase asked as the elevator headed upwards. Cody sighed, his brain heading back to what had happened earlier.

     "It was the Aed Mau," He said, sitting down on a large box. "It looked exactly like the creature in the picture, and I'm sure it was the same one that kinda saved me from Quarry. I don't know why it attacked Boulder, or where it even came from. It was like one moment me and Frankie were playing with Boulder, and the next he was trying to keep the Aed Mau from tearing through him."

     "What was it doing so close to the lab?" Chase pondered aloud. "Before, you had stated that this Aid Meow had been near the lake, which is quite far from the Green's lab."

     "It's Aed Mau, Chase. And I don't know why it was out there. It's really fast though, I saw it running. It's almost like a blink and it's just there, right in your face...." Cody trailed off, his mind racing through ideas the theories about the Aed Mau and Quarry and even himself. Chase noticed the odd silence surrounding the boy and looked down to make sure he was okay.

     Before the police bot could ask anymore questions, Graham and Boulder entered the garage. Graham hopped out, but Boulder didn't transform like he would have. Instead, the bot just stayed in vehicle mode, the large punctures in his metal frame obvious.

     "Boulder, bud, are you gonna be okay?" Graham asked worriedly, placing a hand near one of the punctures.

     "I don't know," Boulder replied, his voice tired and pained. "I've never felt like this before."

     "Perhaps you need to use the stasis chamber? That could help with those..... how did that even happen?" Chase leaned back in surprise as the situation fully dawned on him. The gouge marks in Boulder's metal matched the ones on the rock at the campsite, but these were deeper and looked way worse.

     "The Aed Mau attacked him," Cody explained, trying to help Boulder to get the willpower to transform. "I didn't really notice how big it was until Boulder had to try and keep it from me and Frankie. Standing on its hind legs, it was almost as tall as him."

     "Got some really good hits in too," Graham muttered, outlining a claw mark near Boulder's window. The green bot gave a loud, pained grunt, transforming back to bot mode. He nearly lost his balance, Chase moving forward to catch his partner before he hit the ground.

     "I'll help get you to the stasis pod," Chase said, Heatwave's sirens wailing in the distance, indicating that help would be arriving soon. As the two bots slowly headed down into the bunker with Graham, Cody watched sadly as they left his view. He couldn't understand why everything was happening.

     First, he had been lost in Griffin Rock's forest. Then he had found the giant white mountain lion/ox hybrid creature who could breathe fire; the Aed Mau. Quarry came into the picture after that, attempting to catch the Aed Mau and using Cody as bait. Then, after he had escaped Quarry and the Aed Mau, he somehow got some kind of poison in his system.

     Finally, today's events had left Cody's mind reeling. As the boy sat on his bed, he tried to figure out all the thoughts that kept bouncing around in his head. Feeling discouraged, Cody stood up, grabbed a few pieces of paper and a pencil. Sitting down at his desk, he began to work, his mind working out what was going on in Griffin Rock.