Boulder, Emerald, Cody, and Graham were planting Leafy in the park.
"Welcome to your new home, Leafy," Boulder said. "Now you'll have room to spread your roots and grow big and tall."
"And here's some fresh fertilizer," Emerald said. "Fresh from the farm."
"Do you think he'll be lonely?"
"We can come back to visit any time, Boulder," Graham said.
"Plus, after today, Leafy will have tons of friends," Cody said as he gestured to other trees to be planted and the mayor getting ready to give a speech.
"Griffin Rock's 'Plant a Tree Day' promises to be better than ever," Lusky said.
"Because this year he won't give a three-hour speech?" Dani jokingly asked Kade.
"Heh, yeah," Kade said.
"Thanks to my wisdom and, uh, your tax dollars, I present this town's newest tech—" Lusky gestured to a red and yellow wrench-shaped machine "—the Power Planter! With this machine doing the dirty work, we can keep our hand clean for more important things."
"What's not important about spending time with nature?" Boulder asked.
Lusky turned the machine on.
The Power Planter scanned the area, found the to-be planted trees, dug underground, and planted the trees.
"Wow. It would've taken us hours to plant them!" Graham said.
"Uh, we agriculturalists actually prefer to get our hands dirty," Emerald said. "Although, Jackie's Stall Cleaner is pretty good."
"It takes a living thing to care for other living things," Boulder said.
"Today on 'I Dare Me', I'm with the town's new Power Planter," Huxley said to his camera. "My notes say it's programmed to avoid ALL heat sources. Let's find out."
Jackie got out an auto-popcorn, pressed the button, opened the bag and shared with Abby.
Huxley got in the line of to-be-planted trees. The Planter popped up, scanned him, and avoided him.
"There you have it, folks. 100% safe," Huxley said. "And a very short episode."
The sky rumbled.
"Mr. Mayor, can we wrap this up?" Chief Burns asked. "Looks like a storms on the way."
"Oh, relax, Chief. Trees love rain," Lusky said.
The Power Planter popped back up and got struck by lightning. It started to glitch out.
"Run for cover!" Chief said and everyone dispersed.
The Planter started ripping up plants and managed to throw a tree at the podium where Chief and the mayor were.
Jackie went dragon and caught the tree before getting Abby to safety.
Heatwave tried to grab the Planter, but it went underground.
"Off! Ugh! Turn off!" Lusky looked at the remote. "Does this thing need new batteries already?"
The Planter dug under the stage to some parked cars and threw and engine block.
First Aid caught it with his EMPs when lightning struck him, too. "AAUGH!" he collapsed on the ground.
"Unh! Better get to safety, Mayor," Chief said as he dodged a small tree.
"Well, if you're sure you don't need me, Chief," Lusky hightailed it out of there.
"Dani, Kade, clear the area. Graham, see if you can manually turn of that Planter."
Graham gasped as the Planter began to chase him. "I need back up."
"Hey, crab-hands! Plant this!" Heatwave picked up the Planter and threw it.
The Planter just tunneled back underground.
The bots tried to get it, but it threw more plant matter.
"Leafy!" Boulder dove and caught his plant. "Maybe you're not ready for the outdoors, yet. It's dangerous out here."
Xxx
Heatwave walked back into the sick bay. "Blades, any update on First Aid?"
"He's in normal stasis recharge," Blades said. "He should wake up in a little bit."
"Keep an optic on him. And keep your guard up. Remember how he gets when he's scared around hovers."
"Do I ever."
Xxx
"I think I see what happened with the Power Planter," Graham told the human half of the team. "If the lightning had struck anywhere else, it would have simply shut off the machine. But the blast struck here—" he gestured around the diagram's CPU "—compromising its CPU."
"And that is?" Kade asked.
"The system's Achilles heel."
"Which actually means less to me."
"It made it go crazy," Ally said. "The CPU's basically its brain."
"Wait, didn't lightning strike First Aid in the head?" T.J. asked.
"I did see scorch marks on his head," Raychel said.
"Great, now we're gonna have TWO crazy machines!" Kade threw up his hands.
"Maybe the Planter will stay underground," Cody said.
"It's a high probability," Graham said.
"Now we just wait for First Aid to become a serial killer," Kade said.
T.J. took off his shoe and shoved it in Kade's face.
"Ugh! Gross, man!" Kade tried to get the shoe away.
"We'll keep an eye on the park for a few days," Chief said. "With any luck, we've seen the last of that thing."
Xxx
The bots gathered around the First Aid's stasis pod.
"Okay, First Aid, time for you to wake up!" Blades cheered as he turned off stasis.
First Aid groaned as he stumbled out of stasis into Heatwave's arms.
"You okay?" the fire-bot asked.
First Aid glared at him before punching him in the face.
"First Aid!" Chroma exclaimed.
"Heatwave, you all right?" Boulder helped their leader up.
First Aid stormed out of sick bay and into his room.
"What was THAT about?!" Blades asked.
"Perhaps he has CPU damage," Chase suggested.
"You mean from the lightning strike? We better contact Razor," Chroma said.
Heatwave rubbed his jaw. "Do it."
Xxx
Cody came into the bunker to get the basketball and saw Heatwave with a cool pack to his jaw.
"What happened?" Cody asked.
"Remember when First Aid got electrocuted? Scrambled his CPU and he socked me one," Heatwave said.
"Are you sure he wasn't grumpy?"
"No, he usually takes it out on Blades. Did you see if the lightning struck his head? We couldn't find a mark."
"Raychel said she thought she saw some scorch marks."
"Young mech, get back here!" Ratchet followed First Aid to Heatwave's punching dummy. "You need a head-to-toe body scan!"
"No, I need to defend myself for the next Rotors incident!" First Aid started punching the dummy. "No fragging way Heatwave will be able to."
"Hey!" Heatwave stood up.
"You're pathetic," First Aid kicked the dummy. "And your plan could've—"
"Cody, go upstairs!"
"Okay," Cody went to the elevator.
"Plan? What plan?" Ratchet asked.
"When Blades got 'napped, Heatwave said I should go with Rotors to save Blades and to stall while Brains hacked the ship so Razor and Air Raid could come get and arrest Rotors," First Aid crossed his arms. "And look what that got him."
"What?!" Ratchet shouted. "What the frag were you thinking?! Rotors could have VIOLATED him! Are-are you a glitch head?!"
"First Aid isn't the only victim here!" Heatwave choked out. "A-and I don't like talking about it."
"Hey! Everybody, at ease!" Razor said as she entered the bunker. "Heatwave, go upstairs. Ratchet, help me with First Aid's scan."
"I don't need one. I feel better than ever," First Aid said.
"We just want to make sure you are. Have you been taking your medicine?"
"I am."
"Well, you've been cranky and I think that something may have happened to you what the lighting struck you. It's just a little checkup."
First Aid groaned. "Fine. I'll get the scan."
Xxx
"Yo, Heatwave, are you okay?" Kade asked.
"Yeah, you seem a little… distant," Dani said.
"First Aid and I had some words," Heatwave said. "And they opened some old wounds."
"Slow down, Mayor. Your backyard has been overrun by what kind of animals?" Chief asked into his phone.
"Uh, maybe those kind of animals," Cody pointed at some normally underground animals running past.
"If that's a migration pattern, it's a strange one," Dani said.
"Especially since those animals don't normally migrate," Graham said.
Chief had several more calls about rouge critters. "Better get your bots, team. Apparently, Noah's Ark just docked in Griffin Rock."
"If it's something to do," Heatwave said.
Xxx
Chase and Chief were trying to catch a groundhog.
"Does his startled response mean six more weeks of winter, sir?" Chase asked when the groundhog got scared of him and hid underground.
"I believe groundhogs have to be afraid of their own shadow, Chase," Chief said. "Let's round 'em up."
They tried to catch them, but it was more like Whack-a-Mole.
Chief laughed a bit. "This is just like that game at the arcade."
"I assure you, sir. I am driving no amusement from this," Chase said. A groundhog then climbed from his shoulder to his forearm. "Perhaps a little." He chuckled a bit.
Xxx
"Where'd you say the porcupine was, Cody?" Graham asked into his comm.
A bounce house the deflated.
"Never mind," Graham said. He backed up as it walked to him. "Uh. I'll let you handle this one, bud." He said to Boulder.
"Not a problem," Boulder picked up the porcupine, which flexed it's spines. "Aw. It likes me."
"Sure. That's what that is."
Xxx
"So, what are we looking for again?" Heatwave asked Cody. "Badgers?"
"We don't need no stinkin' badgers," Kade joked.
They then saw two badgers eating fruits, which the badgers threw at them.
"Ugh! So you wanna play dirty, huh?" Kade lunged at the badgers, but fell into more fruit.
Kade chase them down the sidewalk, around the corner, tripped, and slipped into a pipe.
"Gah! Heatwave, I'm stuck!"
"I'll get you out," Heatwave walked to the other end of the pipe. "You might want to hold your nose."
"Why?"
Heatwave put his hand on the other end.
"No, no, no! WAIT!" Kade screamed as the water shot him out.
"Hey, at least you're clean, right?" Heatwave walked over to Kade. "Wait, are you okay?" he poked Kade.
Kade coughed up water and groaned. "What were you thinking?! I could've died!"
Xxx
"Ratchet, don't hold it at that end!" T.J. shouted.
"Why?" Ratchet asked as he picked up another skunk.
"You're gonna—"
The skunk sprayed Ratchet in the face.
"AAAHH!" he dropped the skunks and started clawing at his face.
"Get sprayed…" the twins trailed.
Xxx
Chroma and Ally had relative ease taking care of some star nosed moles.
Xxx
"I still don't understand," Blades said as he and Dani left the mayor's. "Isn't submerging yourself in hot water sort of like making soup of yourself?"
"It's called a hot tub, Blades, and if you don't get that, then please don't ask me to explain saunas," Dani said.
"Actually, Cybertron had something like that. It was a popular way that fire-bots relaxed," Blades then whispered, "They're kinda weird like that."
"I heard you!" Heatwave said.
Xxx
"Okay, Cody," Dani said. "The mayor's yard is clear of critters. What's next?"
"Let's see," Cody then noticed a cockroach crawling across the screen.
"Shoo! Shoo! Shoo! Shoo!" K-9 attacked the invading roaches with a broom and closed the open window.
Blades used his downdraft to clear the outside of the firehouse of bugs.
"All clear, Cody," Dani said. "Those bugs will be a lot happier on the ground."
"But, why did they leave in the first place?" Cody asked.
Xxx
"Thanks, Virginia," Chief put down his phone. "The zookeepers and animal control are releasing the animals back to the wild. Hopefully, this time they'll stay there."
Cody listed off the animals. "They have to have something in common."
"Yeah, they all ruined my day," Kade said.
"Well, each of the species can live in underground burros and nests," Graham said.
"Underground! That's where the Power Planter went!" Cody said.
"You think it scared them out of their homes?" Dani asked.
"How? By planting trees in them?" Kade asked.
"With the machine's programming fried, it's acting unpredictable," Graham said.
"We need to find that planter before it does something dangerous," Chief said.
Xxx
Razor walked over to the other bots. "I have good news. First Aid's going to be just fine."
"Wh-what's wrong with him?" Heatwave asked.
"That lightning strike messed up his personality cortex, but don't worry, it's not forever."
"When will he start acting like himself again?" Ratchet asked.
"He'll be fine in a few days."
"C-can we talk to him?" Heatwave asked.
"And, to be honest, he scares me more now! Will he kill me?" Blades asked.
"He may be a bit aggressive, but you should be able to talk with him, but be wary of what you say to him," Razor said.
First Aid walked out of the Sigma with a few video games. "Anyone wanna play?"
The bots all looked at each other nervously.
"Blades and I'll play," Chroma said.
"S-sure," Blades said.
"Team, we found the Power Planter. We need all hands-on deck!" Chief said.
"You guys go. I'll watch First Aid," Razor said.
Xxx
The team showed up after Blades. Chroma helped him up off the ground and let Dani out.
"Don't worry, Mayor, we'll deal with that Power Planter," Kade said. "Uh… where is it?"
"Ugh. Underground again," Dani said.
"Then can somebody get me down?" Lusky asked.
Ratchet grabbed him and put him down.
"Hey! Careful!" the mayor adjusted his toupe.
"Sorry, our regular bot's getting a virus check," T.J. said.
"It looks like the inside of the mayor's water heater's gone," Chief said after Lusky went back inside.
"A violation of code 651A, in an elected official's own backyard," Chase said. "Just when you think you have seen everything."
"From looks of the pincer marks on the metal, I'd say the Power Planter's out there." Graham said.
"Strange that it would be drawn to a heat source," Boulder said.
"Or not at all," Cody said.
"What makes you say that, Cody?" Chief asked.
"There's a pattern. So far, we've seen the Power Planter tear up trees, instead of planting them. Now, it's going after heat sources instead of away from them. It's doing the opposite of what it's supposed to."
"Kinda like First Aid," Chroma said.
"Except it won't wear off," Ratchet said.
"Now we can find it if we observe the island's heat sources," Boulder said.
"The island's full of heat sources," Heatwave said.
"Yeah, how do we know it's not under us right now?" Kade asked.
Blades whimpered in fear.
"Wouldn't Boulder be able to detect it with his sonar?" Dani asked.
"It doesn't work well on moving objects. But we could track its movements with a seismograph," Boulder said.
"That's a—"
"I know what a seismograph is… sorta," Kade said.
"Cody, pull up a map of the warmest locations," Chief said into his comm. "The Power Plater's bound to show up at one. We'll split up and watch."
"I'll help with Jackie," K-9 said.
Xxx
Blades and Dani were at one of the island's local farms.
"I can feel the heat from here, and if I can feel it the Planter can feel it, and if the Planter can feel it—"
"Blades, just watch your seismograph," Dani said.
The seismograph started to beep.
"I think I got something!" Blades said. "I got something!"
"What is it?" Boulder asked.
"It's huge! Oh, no, it's multiplied! Wait, those might be cows."
The cows across the street lowed.
"Yep. It's cows," Blades said. (A/N: I laughed so hard!)
Xxx
Ratchet and the twins were watching Jackie and Lindsy's farm.
"Hmm. Odd," Ratchet looked at Jackie's Stall Cleaner and started to poke it.
"Hey, T.J., I'm forwarding a call from Team Prime to you," First Aid said.
"Hey, Doc Bot! What's up?" Miko asked.
"We're looking for crazy tech at Jackie's house," Raychel said.
"Yeah, there's some tech attacking heat sources, so we're watching her farm," T.J. said.
They heard an explosion and Ratchet screaming.
"Not again! This is the second time something gross exploded in my face today!" Ratchet started to gag and retch.
"What was that?" Arcee asked.
"Jackie's Stall Cleaner just blew up in Ratchet's face," T.J. said.
Miko and Bulkhead started to laugh.
"Um, is there someone who knows how to clean up transformer vomit?" Raychel asked.
"I'll send some guys over," Agent Fowler said.
Xxx
Heatwave and Kade were at the hot springs.
"Yep, this is totally where the Planter's gonna show up," Kade said.
"How can you be so sure?" Heatwave asked.
"Well, that thing's looking for heat, right? Well, the hottest thing on the island is right here!" Kade pointed at himself with a smug look on his face.
"Ew," Heatwave looked away. He looked at the hot springs. "That looks kinda relaxing, to be honest."
"Did you NOT hear about that guy who turned into soup after hot potting?"
"What's that?"
"When people use hot springs as hot tubs. It can be very dangerous and can lead some people to being boiled to death."
Heatwave put his hand in the water. "What are you talking about? It isn't that hot."
"Well, you're a Cybertronian!"
Xxx
Chief Burns and Chase were at the campgrounds when the Power Planter arrived.
"Stay alert, everyone. We're getting a reading over here," Chief said.
The Planter pulled down a fire and everyone ran away when it popped up out of the hole it made.
"Chase! Grab the Planter!" Chief ordered.
Chase got in front of the Planter. "Cease and desist all gardening activities!"
The Planter launched itself at him and chase caught it. It attempted to drill him.
"Ack! You are assaulting an officer of the law!" Chase groaned in pain as sparks flew.
"Don't worry, love! I got you!" Chroma arrived with Ally, Jackie, and Abby. She shot at the Planter… but the Planter dodged and Chase was shot in the chest.
"I am alright!" Chase said before passing out.
The Planter started throwing trees again and Chroma and Jackie shot and caught them. It tunneled back underground and stole a flashlight that was dropped by one of the campers.
Xxx
"Aw, scrap!" K-9 said when he turned on the news.
"Dad, a new heat source just popped up," Cody said. "There's a barbecue going on at the school."
"Call the school and warn them," Chief said. "Ally and Chroma are trailing the Planter now."
"Got it, Dad," Cody tried to call the school. "Come on, somebody pick up."
"Well, calling Huxley's a bad idea," K-9 said.
"There has to be a way to warn them."
First Aid tapped the glass. "Can I help?"
Xxx
Razor was sitting in the bots' command center.
"Cody, we lost the Planter," Ally said. "Can you find it on any of the cameras?"
"Cody isn't here, but I can help," Razor said. She checked the cameras. "Wait… First Aid!" she quickly searched the bunker. "Oh, no!"
Xxx
K-9, Cody, and First Aid drove to the school.
First Aid saw the Power Planter pop its head out of the ground and start tunneling.
"Guys, hold on!" he swerved hard, but the Planter popped up and burst his right rear tire.
He transformed, ejecting his passengers.
K-9 shook himself off and helped Cody up.
"First Aid, what the—"
"Frag?!" Cody finished K-9's thought.
"Well, excuse me—ow!" First Aid yelped as the Planter grabbed his right ankle. "Why you—" he tried to use his EMPs to rip it off but they didn't activate.
The Planter started to pull him down.
"Help! Help! Get help!" he dug his fingers into the road as he was being pulled down.
"Dad! The Planter's got First Aid! He's being dragged underground!" Cody said.
"Razor's on her way to you now! We'll be there soon," Chief said.
First Aid yelped as he disappeared underground.
Cody and K-9 just looked in shock for 30 seconds.
"Um, Chief? What's the plan for underground bot retrieval?" K-9 asked.
Xxx
First Aid kept clawing at the sides of the tunnel as the Planter dragged him.
He screamed as the Planter continued to pull him as he got stuck.
The Planter left.
"This is just great!" First Aid buried his face in the ground.
Xxx
"Boulder, stop here," Graham said. "According to the seismograph, First Aid should be passing through right here." He pointed at a spot on the ground.
Boulder used his sonar to check. "I wouldn't be so sure about that." He started to walk away from the town.
"But—"
"HELLO?!" came First Aid's muffled voice. "CAN ANYBODY HEAR ME?!"
"It takes a living thing to care for other living things," Boulder said as he started to dig the medic out.
Razor, Chase, K-9, Chief, and Cody arrived.
"Everyone okay?" Chief asked.
Boulder ripped First Aid out of the ground.
"I think I need to go back into healing stasis," First Aid said.
Chief saw what the Planter did to First Aid's ankle.
"I'm done taking risks. Time to bring the heat to the Planter," Chief declared.
Xxx
The original bots were near one of Griffin Rock's canyons.
Boulder handed them Boil-Coils.
"Doc Greene made these Boil-Coils to super-heat water," Graham said.
"When we turn them on, we'll be perfect bait," Boulder said.
"Why do I have Boil-Coil? I'm air-support," Blades said.
"Because not all of us have cabins," Chroma said as she and Razor arrived.
"Remember to keep your firearm on 'stun'," Razor said.
"All the heat sources in town have been shut off," Chief told the team. "Time to activate the Boil-Coils."
The bots had the coils in their cabins when Chief activated them remotely.
"Ooh. I'm all warm and fuzzy on the inside. Well, more warm than fuzzy," Blades said.
"This must be what Chief means when he complains of—ugh!—heartburn," Chase said.
"Uh! I prefer EXTERNAL heat!" Heatwave said. "That Planter better show up fast!"
"Dad, I'm getting a reading," Graham said as he looked at the seismograph.
"Alright, we're a go," Chief said.
Razor helped the humans into a tree for their safety.
Chroma saw the Planter tunneling. "Either that's a big gopher or…"
"Initiate Phase One!" Chief said.
"Let's uproot this Planter!" Heatwave said.
The bots spread themselves out a bit.
The Planter popped up, selected Blades, and went after him.
Blades panicked, transformed, and flew.
"V-formation! Vehicle mode!" Heatwave ordered.
The bots did so and followed their leader.
"Ready for Phase Two, Dad," Cody said as Razor and Chroma got into position.
"Chase, Boulder. Fall back! We're turning off your coils… now!" Chief said.
Chase and Boulder pulled off to the sides.
"Get him, Heatwave!" Boulder said.
"Bring that scoundrel to justice!" Chase said.
"With pleasure," Heatwave growled.
He drove off the cliff, transformed, and grabbed Blades' winch.
The femmes shot at the Planter as it shot out of the cliff.
The Planter broke into pieces when it hit the canyon floor.
"Ha! Looks like it takes a living thing to take care of malfunctioning tech, too," Heatwave said.
"Can someone turn off these coils, now?!" Blades exclaimed.
Xxx
Boulder planted Leafy in a protective ring in the park made of the Power Planter.
"I guess it had a use after all," Graham said.
"Remember, Leafy… this isn't goodbye, it's 'see you later'," Boulder told his plant.
Mayor Lusky walk up to Chief and Cody.
"Something you need, Mr. Mayor?" Chief asked.
"I uh, yes. I-I was wondering if it's all right to use my hot tub," Lusky said.
"Well, I'd prefer my team of experts check it out first, just to be sure it's safe."
"Of course. Of course."
Xxx
Most of the big bots walked to the hot springs. Why are we here, Heatwave?" Blades asked.
"To take a dip," Heatwave put down his towel and stepped into the hot springs. "Come on in, the water's fine."
The bots looked at each other, put down their towels, and entered the hot springs.
"Why are we here, Heatwave?" Blades asked.
"To take a dip," Heatwave put down his towel and stepped into the hot springs. "Come on in, the water's fine."
The bots looked at each other, put down their towels, and entered the hot springs.
"Oh, this is illegal," Chase said as he held Chroma's hand.
"This does feel nice, to be honest," Boulder said as he sunk himself in more.
"Yipe!" Blades flinched. "I-it's going under my armor!"
"You can leave anytime, Blades," Chroma said.
The medic jumped out of the water and dried off with his towel.
"This does feel pretty good," Chroma said as she cuddled next to Chase.
"Guys, look what I found!" Emerald walked over with a semi-boiled deer.
Everyone ran out screaming.
"What? It's a piebald deer!" Emerald said.