#tf boulder

What if the Burns family found the Rescue Bots first? (Click for higher quality)

To read bout this AU, please go read the wonderful fic by @burning-stars98 written for the 2025 @tf-bigbang ! It was a real pleasure to draw for this event 😊

You're wrong.

The cast of Prime wouldn't stand a CHANCE against the Rescue Bots, OR their partners.

Give Heatwave and Kade access to explosives, a layout of the Nemesis, maybe some cloaking devices from Griffin Rock, and then sit back and watch as the fuel lines on the Nemesis rupture, the engines explode, and it sinks like an airborne Titanic from space.

Just tell Blades that Knock Out and Airachnid were gonna grotesquely kill humans for pleasure/a personal collection of alien heads, and that Copter-Bot will go BONKERS on them, probably even rip Knock Out's saws off his hands and kill them both that way. And as his berserker rage activates, Dani - armed with one of their shrink rays, a forcefield projector/tractor beam thing from Doc, plus a single grenade - will shrink all the Vehicons left on the ship, corral them into the energon storage area, throw the grenade in, lock the room behind her, and laugh as she takes off from the ensuing explosion.

Boulder and Graham would locate every single energon mine the Decepticons had, trick the Vehicons/Insecticons into leaving for a part of the mines, and then Chase and Chief would either kill them with the volatile dregs of the energon deposits, get them to surrender or - as the case is when dealing with Insecticons - Chase will jump onto their backs and stab them straight through the neck as needed until the 'Cons raise the figurative white flag. Meanwhile, Boulder and Graham ship the energon around the planet to their friends as necessary. Boulder will also figure out how to trap Soundwave and Laserbeak in the Shadowzone, because I do not doubt he COULD do that.

High Tide would get in his exo-suit and just flipping SQUISH Starscream with his bare hands, then headbutt Megatron into the ground. He'll probably even stomp on him for good measure.

Quickshadow will cut the wire connecting Shockwave to his arm cannon, stay out of his reach for a good while, stab something through his eye and out the back of his head, then just fire a rocket at him. If that doesn't kill him, High Tide will come out of his exo-suit just to beat Shockwave to mush personally for added insult.

Cody? He's already got Breakdown separated from the rest of the Decepticons, had a heart-to-heart with him, and not only has Breakdown reconsidered his life choices, he's left the Decepticons and is fully willing to be on probation until he can become an Autobot. Cody doesn't understand why no one tried this earlier, and Bulkhead's brain is frozen in pure shock.

Salvage probably magnetized Dreadwing's weaponry/inventory out of his hands with the polarity gauntlet (Blurr stole it before Heatwave, Kade, Dani, and Blades began wrecking mayhem), then just magnetizes the guy to a large, nearby metal structure and disassembles his bombs with the intent of making fireworks out of them for the kids on Griffin Rock.

And that's before the Rescue Bots turn into dinosaurs!

The only reason this NEVER happened is because if any of the Rescue Bots left Griffin Rock for longer than five minutes, that island would turn into the modern day myth of Atlantis by either sinking to the bottom of the ocean, exploding in spectacular fashion, or just become a teleporting, phantom island.

The Rescue Bots are the literal reason that that island still exists.

(Someone had this idea on tik tok and I had to draw it)

Watxh me as I desperately try and figure out how to draw them . Heatwave, I will make you look right eventually....... [ Chase is heavily based off of his figure design, yes ]

Remember the whole pre-series plotline hinted at in Rescue Bots?

How Optimus says he was "unaware there were any rescue teams left" and that Sigma-17 "may be the only remaining rescue bots in existence"?

And how in season 4 Sideswipe doesn't believe Blurr is an autobot when he shows him his Rescue Bot insignia because "The Rescue Bots are all long gone"?

How there's this rarely mentioned but mentioned nonetheless background information that something *happened* to the other rescue bots and Sigma-17 are the only ones left alive?

Yea so I made this comic about that and all of my friends I've shown this to in the previous WIP stages has absolutely hated me for the heartbreak of it :))

I spent *so long* on those background bots on the "terminated" panels my hands hurt

(Alt Text under Cut)

I'm in tears. Why does he look so joyous about being covered in actual literal cow shit? 😭