Recommended Music: Ride the Ride and Tear Off Your Own Head by the Bangles
Frenzy sat in front of the console, trying to concentrate on the report he was filing for Megatron and Soundwave. He wasn't having much luck, however. His mind was on getting out of the base for a while and getting away from the jerks who were constantly harassing him and Rumble. It was beginning to bring him down.
At that moment, the doors of the command center slip open, startling him out of his melancholic state, and he nearly tensed. That is, he nearly tensed until he recognized the footsteps as belonging to Megatron. He relaxed then and tried to focus on his work once more. Frenzy had forgotten that Megatron was almost always in the command center, either planning an attack against the Autobots, an energy raid, or looking over reports from patrols and other Decepticon outposts.
I'm slipping, Frenzy thought. Can't even remember that little detail.
Shaking his head at himself, Frenzy turned his attention back to the work at hand. It was a short-lived opportunity, however, for Thundercracker and Skywarp entered the command center not long after Megatron had. Frenzy tensed the instant he heard Skywarp's voice.
"Well, if it isn't a pipsqueak!" Skywarp exclaimed gleefully. "One of them, anyways. What's the matter, Frenzy? Got no one to back you up this time? That's just too bad."
"Uh, Skywarp . . ."
"What, Thundercracker? Soundwave's not around, neither is Rumble. He's got no one here to back him up."
During this exchange, Frenzy had tried his best to ignore them. After all, size wasn't important. Getting the job done was and he, unlike most Decepticons, got his job done.
A small part of him began to doubt that belief, however, and he found himself wondering what it would be like to be tall, like the rest of the Decepticons.
"Runts like him shouldn't even be allowed to be here!"
That was the final straw! Frenzy turned around, glaring at Skywarp. Rage flowed through every part of his body, nearly causing him to shake uncontrollably. How he managed to not show it was beyond him.
Skywarp, seeing that he finally had gotten Frenzy's attention, immediately took up a defensive stance. A cocky grin spread across his face and Frenzy knew that if he tried an all out attack, he'd be countered.
With that in mind, Frenzy did the next best thing: He took to the air and shot between Skywarp and Thundercracker, making sure Skywarp couldn't reach him in the process. He left the command center in such a hurry, he didn't hear Skywarp's laughter being cut short by a very furious command from Megatron.
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Frenzy had no idea of where he was going nor for how long he'd been flying when his rage slowly began to subside. As it slowly drained from him, he began to feel very foolish for leaving the base in such a huff. He felt even more foolish when he realized that Megatron had been sitting in the command center when he left.
I'm gonna be in for it now, he thought miserably. Especially from Skywarp. The big jerk.
Frenzy landed on the outskirts of a small city. What the name of it was, he didn't know and didn't care to know. He was going to find a quiet spot to sit back, think, and wait for the command to come back. Though he had left without permission, he certainly wasn't ready to go back and face the rest of the Decepticons. Frenzy felt the need to cool down first.
It had been a good plan to him, except for the fact that, unbeknownst to him, he had been tailed by an Autobot patrol unit. As he began to walk into the woods surrounding the city, he felt something hit him in the back and he remembered no more.
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Frenzy slowly opened his optics to a pounding headache . . . and the sight of the Autobot detention center ceiling above him. When he saw that, he frowned. He didn't recall getting into a fight with any Autobots and he certainly didn't recall how he got there. Carefully, Frenzy pushed himself up and looked around.
From the looks of it, he was alone, though he thought he heard voices approaching from one end of the hallway. Curious, Frenzy got up and crept to the electric bars to listen.
". . . . don't know what he was doing there, Prime, but it couldn't have been anything good."
"Were there any other Decepticons with him?"
"None that we could detect, Optimus."
There was a long silence and Frenzy wondered what was going on. He knew that they couldn't have been very far away because he could hear them but it wasn't like he could stick his head outside the bars to see them. Finally, Optimus Prime spoke.
"Keep him under close observation. When Ironhide comes back from Cybertron, we'll have him question Frenzy then. But not beforehand. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, Optimus," came the chorused reply.
"Good. Blaster, you have the first watch."
Frenzy groaned to himself and walked back to the other end of the cell. If he thought he had been in for it before, he knew he was going to be in for a lot of trouble now. Ironhide wasn't exactly the friendliest of Autobots to Decepticons and somehow Blaster had managed to make Soundwave his mortal enemy. It didn't help improve his temper any to know that Blaster had quite an appetite for annoying human music.
I have got to get out of here soon, Frenzy thought as he sat down. And the sooner, the better.
It had been three days since Frenzy had been taken captive by the Autobots. They were three long and exhausting days during which Frenzy had sunk into an even deeper melancholic state, by all outward appearances. It all stemmed from his own personal experiences among the Decepticons and from what he observed of the Autobots.
First, he never had the same guard twice. After Blaster, most of the minibots had been his guards and they all seemed to look at him with pity or sympathy. It disgusted him, to say the least. Second, when someone like Brawn or Bumblebee was guarding him, he noticed that the taller Autobots treated them with a great deal of respect. It not only disgusted him but it made him envious. To him, it seemed like they were purposely being that respectful in front of him, as if to say, "Hey, it's great to be an Autobot!"
On this day, it was time for a changing of the guard and Jazz was getting his report from Mirage. Once they were done and Mirage was gone, Jazz looked at him. Frenzy knew that he was because he could see Jazz watching him out of the corner of his optic. Neither of them said anything for a very long time so Frenzy was naturally surprised when Jazz asked him a question.
"Are you all right?"
Frenzy looked at him as if he'd lost his mind.
"What?"
"Are you all right?" Jazz repeated. "You've been in here for three days, you've not said much of anything, and the word is you're in some sort of depressed funk. The Decepticons that bad to you?"
Frenzy snorted.
"Oh, yes, I'm just fine," he replied sarcastically. "The Decepticons are the biggest jerks around, after all, and I'm a prisoner here when I'd rather be somewhere else. Yeah, I'm doing real great, wouldn't ya say?"
"So why stay with the Decepticons if they're that bad?" Jazz inquired. Frenzy couldn't believe that. He had been sarcastic about the whole thing and Jazz was believing him!
What an idiot, Frenzy thought.
"Because I am a Decepticon," Frenzy retorted. "I was created a Decepticon by a Decepticon and a Decepticon I'll always be. I'll not betray my creator."
Jazz said nothing to that and Frenzy turned his attention back to the wall, his mind going over his plans of escape.
It was true that he had been in a depressed and jealous funk over the last three days but he had decided early on that he was going to do something about it. From the get-go, he had been going over every inch of the cell, trying to determine the best way to escape. Over the last three days, his escape plan had gone under revision several times, until he came up with something that he liked. He perfected it over and over again in his mind and was now simply waiting for an opportunity to present itself.
As he sat there, Frenzy was peripherally aware of Jazz quietly playing some music. It wasn't until the beat of the music changed that he even realized it. Curious, he began to listen a little.
Four human female vocals and a rather distinct jangly guitar sound filled the entire detention center and continued to do so with the next song.
Frenzy looked up at Jazz, scowling. . . until he saw that Jazz appeared to be more interested in the music itself than watching what he was doing.
Cautiously, he stood up and crept to the front of the cell. He had long since carefully scrutinized the bars until he had found a spot that, if he did it just right and at the right moment, he could escape through. Once he reached that spot, he looked over it once more and nodded to himself. It was now or never.
With his mind made up, Frenzy crept back to the back wall of the cell then ran towards the bars. When it looked like he was going to crash into them, he transformed into his cassette mode and his momentum propelled him through the bars with minimal damage. His actions had not gone unnoticed, however.
Jazz, when he saw that Frenzy was trying to escape by using his cassette mode, tried to grab for him while he was still in that mode. Frenzy, however, had anticipated this. He quickly transformed, pulled his gun out of subspace and began to fire. When Jazz was far enough away from him, Frenzy ran.
He had no idea of where he was going or where the exit was. All Frenzy knew was that he had to get out of there and avoid getting captured all over again so he continued to run. Down corridors he went, ducking out of sight in the nick of time whenever he heard anyone approaching. He kept running until he found himself in the middle of the volcano, freedom just above him. With the Autobots closing in on him and freedom not that far away, Frenzy took to the sky as quickly as he could.
Once he reached the clear blue skies, he made a beeline for Decepticon headquarters. He wasn't alone, however. Seven jets were on his tail and Frenzy had a sinking feeling that, unless he received some kind of divine intervention, he was going to make it back to the Decepticons.
But I'll be damned if they think they can take me without a fight again, Frenzy swore to himself. He began to prepare himself for a firefight.
As he turned around to fire, Frenzy's commlink crackled to life, something he hadn't expected it to do.
"Frenzy, if that's you, get your aft higher up in the air. I'm coming to get you."
"Thundercracker?"
"You better believe it. You're wanted back at the base ASAP so I came to get you. Now get your aft moving or I'm going to leave you here!"
Not believing that Thundercracker would leave him there but not wanting to take any chances at the same token, Frenzy immediately flew higher, firing at the Aerialbots, the gestalt team having taken the lead point. Soon he heard Thundercracker coming up from behind.
"A little higher, Frenzy, and transform when I tell you to."
Again, Frenzy complied, still firing at the Aerialbots.
"You owe me for this one, Frenzy. Transform . . . NOW!"
He didn't need to be told again. Frenzy transformed and Thundercracker caught him by opening up his cockpit. Once Frenzy was secure, Thundercracker flew straight towards the Aerialbots.
Surprised by Thundercracker's sudden appearance in their airspace, the Aerialbots scrambled quickly, trying to recover. By the time that they had, Thundercracker was flying straight towards them once again, surprising them once more. Frenzy transformed to watch, laughing as they flew by the second time.
"Thanks, Thundercracker."
"You're welcome. Like I said, you owe me on this one." There was a hint of a grin in his tone. Frenzy chuckled.
"Yeah, I owe ya one all right. I owe ya a good kick in the aft! Since when did you fly like that? Skywarp been givin' ya some pointers?"
Thundercracker chuckled at that.
"I guess you could say that I have been. As for the kick in the aft . . . Save it for Skywarp, Frenzy."
"I will, Thundercracker," he promised. "I will."
Having said that, Frenzy smiled for the first time in days, coming to a realization in the process. Though the Autobots seemed to respect each other more than what he thought the Decepticons respected him and Rumble, he still had comrades who cared. To him, the goading from Skywarp made him that much stronger, that more resilient, and that more determined to prove his worth to them and to himself. And that was all that he needed.
Besides, he thought to himself wickedly, Skywarp wouldn't have been able to escape that detention center like I had. Wait 'til I rub that in his face!
With that in mind, Frenzy settled into a comfortable recharge, happier than what he had been for a very long time. It was good to be a runt.