SNOWBLAST POV

Scrap, she saw me staring at her.

I hadn't meant to, but it wasn't often that I saw a human that towered over everyone else as she did, and without heels, no less! Also, she didn't look like she really wanted to be here. I didn't really blame her... Sometimes I didn't like being here either.

A stiff gust nearly knocked me out of the air, but it also reminded me of why I was up here in the first place. Introductions with her and her family would have to wait until later.

I flapped my wings hard, catching up to Da as he searched the cliffs for anything out of the ordinary. "This feels like overkill, Da. All eight of us bots, plus the Burnses, the Greenes and the Harrises all just to look for clues? I mean, I like a nice, quiet mission as much as the next pterosaur, but-"

"Isn't it nice to get out and stretch your wings, though?"

"Well yeah, when I actually have something to do outside of the Firehouse. But there are almost twenty people up here looking, and whenever we go out flying, it's just over the rooftops down below, I've hardly ever been up here. What if I see something suspicious and then it turns out to be normal?"

Da chuckled, "Trust your instincts, Snowy. That's the first step."

I gave a sigh, pulling further away from him to skim over the cliffs. Trees creaked in the wind, dust was flung up from the stone; it looked normal, but amongst it was scattered inventions and shapes under tarps that I couldn't identify. My instinct said that Doc Greene needed to organize his collection a bit better, but it also felt that there was something odd about the landscape. If only I could determine what it was...

Then, I saw movement. Something, or possibly someone was moving through some of the denser trees. I was about to alert Da of this when I heard Jolt scream through the comms, and I looked back at the storage shed to see two windows shatter outward as something big, brown and mobile oozed out of their frames.

"Scrap...!"

The other bots and humans came rushing out the door on the other side of the storage shed, Heatwave slamming the door shut.

"It's coming out over here!" I hollered, "But I thought Squilsh was supposed to be green!"

"Maybe it ingested some chocolate pudding...?" Da suggested with a nervous chuckle.

"It's got Jolt in there!" Jack shouted, running towards it until Chase caught him. "Leggo! I gotta save her!"

"Touch it and it'll snatch you up too," Chase informed his son, pulling the smaller cybertronian up off of his feet. "Trust me on this one, Jackspring."

I saw little flashes coming from inside of the Squilsh, signs that Jolt was trying to get free.

It's not working, it's not working! She cried, I'm trying to shock it, but I'm not- I can't-

"Why not!?" Downpour accused, "It's worked before!"

"Jolt, you need to calm down," I informed, guessing what the problem was. "You're not gonna get enough power behind your hits if you're panicked."

I-I can't focus! It's trying to crush me in here!

My optics widened; regular Squilsh might ingest objects, but it didn't try to crush them. "That's not good."

"We need to contain this thing before it gets any bigger." Heatwave ordered, "Everyone hop in."

The humans quickly retreated into their bots' cabs and then Boulder began looking for anything electrical to use against the blob.

From up in the air, I could see that it was starting to spill over the roof and towards the Harris girls and Cody. They were running, but one was lagging behind, and then she fell...

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CASSIE POV

It had only been a couple of minutes when we heard a loud bang and shattering glass come from the other side of the lab. There was a lot of shouting that followed, along with a brief sighting of a brownish shape over the roof. "Uh...What is going on?"

Cody tapped his comm, "Dad, what's going on over there?"

Some new subspecies of Squilsh, looks like.

"It has a subspecies!?"

Our eyes all fell on the shape as it seemed to inflate and grow larger, now towering over the rooftop. Brown and with no visible limbs or facial structure, it looked like a giant pile of shiny, sentient poop.
"Great." I muttered, "Advanced technology, big alien robots, I should have known slime monster would be next on the list."

"What's the plan?" Rita asked, sounding worried for the first time today.

Cody took Rita's hand, "Come on. We're going inside."

"But we'll be cornered!"

"It's not interested in being trapped indoors with us. Trust me."

The three of us headed for the doors. I saw the squilsh start to fall over, slime rolling over the roof and headed straight for blocking the doorway, I heard the shouts of everyone else trying to contain it... I felt another jolt coming on.

Cody and Rita were ahead of me, and I knew they'd make it under the awning before the Squilsh hit, but I didn't know if I would. Then a loud blaring like an alarm rang out, pounding into my skull as I tried to continue running. Everything started to warp and twist, and the next thing I knew it, I was on the ground.

I heard Rita calling my name, but I'd lost all strength in my limbs, and just as she and Cody made it, the slime crashed over the doorway, making its way down the slope towards me. I wanted to move, to run away, and the energy pulsing through me and wanting to escape was only intensifying. Just as it shot out, I heard a sound, and the ground shook before static overwhelmed my vision. I couldn't see, and the blaring sound shifted to ringing, but only for a few moments.

As the static faded out from my vision once again and the ringing waned, I found myself still on the ground, but now on my back. It was darker, but also very cold, and it took me a moment to register the white metal plating hovering over me. My eyes widened and I looked up to the face of Snowblast, his wings curled tightly around me.

"...Cassie...Right...?" He panted, keeping his voice very quiet and gentle.

I nodded slowly and then found the strength to sit up. I found the darkness wasn't only because I was in shadow, but also because a dome of thick ice surrounded the two of us. "...What happened?"

"I uh..." Snowblast looked over at the ice as well, and I saw his cheeks begin to glow a teal color. Was he blushing? "...I kinda panicked when I saw you go down... Sorry. Normally I would ask before I jump on top of somebody, but...Sorry."

He stood up a little straighter and then covered me with one wing as he broke the dome open, peeking his head out of the hole. "...It's moved on, we're clear for now."

He broke the dome some more and formed a hole big enough for both of us to crawl out, and I crawled out first, wincing at the sudden brightness of the sunlight.

"Cassie!"

Mom was on me in a second, wrapping me into her arms. "Oh thank God! Are you okay? What happened?"

I tried to come up with the words, but none wanted to leave my mouth. I just stared back at Snowblast, who gave me a nervous smile before becoming serious and looking out over the cliffs.

He then tapped his commlink, "Da, can you hear me?"

Loud and clear. Are you-

"I'm fine. What do you want me to do?"

Stay there with Mrs. Harris and the girls. We've got the Squilsh handled.

"Right... Okay."

"Come on, Cass..."

Mom pulled me to my feet, which were still a little shaky. "Let's get inside..."

I limped across the driveway and into the building, where Cody helped guide me to the floor and handed me a lab coat to wear.

"Some first day on the island huh?" He joked, but his smile quickly vanished as I didn't laugh. "Sorry about this... It's not a normal thing, I promise!"

"I should hope not," I muttered, looking back out the glass on the door at Snowblast as he settled in front of the door like a dragon guarding its cave. My head slumped over onto Mom's shoulder, and she wrapped her arms around me. "You still sure this was a good idea...?"

She smirked, "Smart, perhaps not... But I'm sure the Burnses will deal with the slime monster just fine. They seem like professionals on this kind of thing..."

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BLADES POV

I'd nearly had a spark-attack seeing Snowblast throw himself into the line of fire like that, but it was good to hear both him and Cassie were safe.

Jolt, on the other hand, was still in peril. I'd followed the Squilsh as it made its way downhill and entered the woods, struggling to keep track of it even with its ever-growing size. It was a lot easier to spot when it was a luminescent green and not mud brown. When I did see it, I could see the little femme's electricity flickering from within, trying to upset it enough to be spat out, but so far no luck.

When it finally came out of the trees and started down the road, Chase was ready ahead of it. He and Heatwave both stood poised with electrical poles in hand, ready to javelin throw it into the goopy menace the second it was within range.

"Just hold it a little longer, Jolt." I radioed, "We'll have you out of there soon."

P-Please... Hurry! Jolt's voice whimpered. In the background I could hear her chassis creaking as this new form of Squilsh attempted to squeeze her tighter and tighter.

Jack stood right behind his father, ready to pull his sister out as soon as he could reach her.

Finally, it reached the top of the hill. It slowed but didn't stop.

"Now!" Chase announced as soon as it was within range. The poles were flung and hit the Squilsh hard, and at the same time Jolt sent out as powerful of an electric pulse that she could muster. Electricity pulsed across the Squilsh's exterior and it convulsed and squirmed. It exploded into several sections across the road, freeing all of the random objects it had held prisoner, but the only living creature was Jolt, who was now lying on the ground.

"Jolt!" Jack ran over to his twin, collecting her into his arms as I landed and hurried over to evaluate her condition.

Her armor was bent and crumpled in a few places from the pressure she'd had on her, but I found to my relief that she was more exhausted and out of energy than anything else. "...She'll be okay." I relayed, and Chase nearly collapsed himself from relief.

"Thank Primus...!" Chase breathed, taking his daughter from her brother and cradling her. "We must get her back to the Firehouse."

"Agreed..." Chief Burns looked to Officer Harris, who just rubbed his head in shocked confusion. "...I think everyone could use a break from the nonsense of Griffin Rock."