Author's Notes: Hello everyone! This is my second fic updated today, so yay! This chapter I feel came out better than the last one, though it still isn't perfect. That being said, I feel like I have a better idea of the tone and plot I want to convey for this story. Hopefully everyone is enjoying reading "Stranger of Utopia" thus far, and thank you for reading this chapter as well :)

Warning: Minor character death.

Chapter 2

Devil's Due

Early the next morning the Rescue Team went into the break room to see that Frazzle was already awake and crushing some blue energon crystals into a cube. Blades was used to refining his energon with the help of machines, so he was sure it was unhealthy to try to drink energon that was just tiny crushed up rocks.

"Frazzle, that might damage your fuel tanks," Blades warned her just as she was about to take a drink.

"Good morning to you too, super struts," Frazzle snarked before downing half the cube in one gulp.

Blades giggled awkwardly at the odd nickname as his Cybertronian friends gave him a knowing look. The humans, however, had no idea what was going on.

"What does super struts mean?" Kade was the first to ask.

"I'll tell you when you're older," Heatwave replied dryly.

Kade huffed indignantly and Cody laughed, since usually he was the one that was accused of being too young to know what was going on.

"So, which one of you heavy hitters is gonna show me around this crater?" Frazzle asked as she sat down at the robot's table.

"Oh, um, I can do it!" Blades volunteered eagerly, "I mean, if it's okay with you guys."

"Fine by me," Heatwave replied indifferently.

"Sure, I could use some air," Dani added.

"Oh, um..." Blades stammered, forgetting he would have to take his partner with him so it didn't look strange, "Okay. This will be fun."

The Rescue Bots and their human partners then sat down to catch up on what they were going to do that morning and to refuel. Frazzle didn't contribute to the conversation, but rather sat back and listened in the hopes of learning something important about her enemies. She couldn't believe how well this was going. These morons were so unfamiliar with Decepticons that they couldn't spot one even when it was so obvious. Her sigils decorated her wings and they still didn't know!

To top it all off, she was acutely aware of Blades' attraction toward her. It would be something she could use to her advantage later, she was sure. She just had to play up the part of flirty femme.

Blades and Frazzle flew over Griffin Rock with Dani in Blades' pilot seat as usual. He normally liked having his partner there, but today it felt weird. It was like having his sister with him on a first date. He knew he and Frazzle weren't dating or anything, but they never would if he could never be alone with her long enough to ask, and he was too shy to do it in front of Dani.

Another problem he had was keeping up with Frazzle. Blades was flying lower than her and she kept speeding up and then slowing down so he could catch up. Blades hated flying, and he wasn't ready to fly with someone that had been doing it her entire life. This whole situation made him feel inadequate.

/Hey super struts, you need to ascend!/ Frazzle shouted over the comm.

/I can't!/ Blades whined, and then felt embarrassed for sounding whiny, /I mean, I don't think the wind is favorable./

/There is no wind, dummy,/ Frazzle teased, /Do you need me to come down?/

/That would be wonderful, thank you,/ Blades replied quickly in relief.

He could hear Frazzle audibly sigh over the comm before she dove down abruptly and corrected herself to fly beside him. Most jets would've just descended, but Frazzle had to show off first. Blades was both in awe of her talent and also a little miffed because she was clearly making fun of him.

/Seriously, Iacon boy. Why did you pick a flight mode if you're so bad at it?/ Frazzle asked curiously as they flew over downtown.

/Everyone else picked their vehicle modes before I had a chance, and I got stuck with the only one left,/ Blades explained, /Four Rescue Bots, four vehicles./

/Why didn't you just copy somebody else's mode?/ Frazzle asked, /I mean, scanning a vehicle once doesn't mean it can never be scanned again. So what's the deal?/

/Griffin Rock needed an emergency responder,/ Blades explained, /If I didn't do it nobody would. I guess I just wasn't assertive enough to get a ground-mode before someone else. Truth is if I had gotten there first I probably would've picked the police car./

/You're not assertive yet you wanted a job where you have to assert your authority?/ Frazzle asked half-jokingly, /Blades, flying isn't scary. Falling is scary. Just don't fall./

/You sound just like Dani,/ Blades pouted, /I try to not be scared, but I can't help it. When I'm not on the ground it feels like I have no balance. What do I do?/

/Well, this kind of reminds me of an Autobot I used to see on the battlefield sometimes,/ Frazzle recalled, /His name was Silverbolt. He was the leader of a team of new Autobot fliers, but he was terrified of heights./

/Hey, that sounds like me!/ Blades exclaimed; happy to relate to the character in the story.

/Yeah, and his team encouraged him and tried to help him, but it was just so hard for him to stop thinking about how high up he was,/ Frazzle continued, /It looked like he was never going to get any better./

/And then he did?/ Blades asked hopefully.

/No, then he got shot out of the sky and died,/ Frazzle replied bluntly.

/Oh,/ Blades gulped.

/So the moral of the story is, if you're afraid of dying, you will die,/ Frazzle concluded, /and if you're not afraid of dying, you will still die. So, why be afraid?/

/It's not that easy,/ Blades argued.

/Fear is a self-fulfilling prophecy,/ Frazzle interrupted, /I've seen a lot of good mechs die because they were afraid to take a chance. I mean, you have it so easy. We're still in the middle of a war, and your job is to pluck humans out of trees and sip on energon you didn't have to do anything to get. Just fly a little higher. You'll never have an easier time of it than right now./

/Rescue work isn't that easy!/ Blades countered, /We may be civilians, but we put our lives on the line every day protecting the people in our community. Just because they happen to be humans doesn't make it any easier./

"Hey, you guys are being awfully quiet," Dani interjected; unable to hear their comm conversation, "Is everything okay?"

"Um, yeah. Everything's fine," Blades replied quickly, "You, um, you wanna go higher? I want to show Frazzle the top of the volcano on the neighboring island."

"Sure, if you're sure you'll be okay," Dani replied hesitantly, "I know how you get around that volcano. You sure you won't freak out?"

"Oh sure. I'll be fine," Blades replied less than confidently, "What could happen?"

/That's the spirit, super struts,/ Frazzle congratulated him, /Maybe when we come in for a landing I'll show you how to do a firecracker./

/A what?/ Blades asked.

/A firecracker. It's where you spin in the air while activating every light and laser weapon in your arsenal,/ Frazzle explained, /It costs some energy so I won't show you the light part just yet. When a firecracker lights up the night sky though, it's one of the coolest visuals in the galaxy! My sister Dazzle used to be really good at them./

/You have a sister?/ Blades asked curiously.

/Had,/ Frazzle corrected him, /I had two, actually. We were a trine. I was the leader. My sisters names were Dazzle and Razzle. Razzle was kind of serious and thought she was so smart. Kind of like your Heatwave. Dazzle was fun though, and we were very close. They both died during the same battle./

/Wow, I'm so sorry that happened to you,/ Blades replied sympathetically, /It must be awful to lose a family member like that, let alone two./

/I'm not special,/ Frazzle dismissed his concern, /Every Cybertronian has lost someone. That's what war does. It kills people. That is literally the point. I used to think it did more, but it really doesn't. I got into this thing wanting to change the world, and we did. We changed the world. Now it's gone. A dead empty rock. We did it. Hooray for us./

Blades was taken aback by the bitterness and cynicism in her tone. He hadn't heard Frazzle speak like that since they met, though he knew he had only met her yesterday. Still, it was sobering to hear about the war and Cybertron's demise like that. Optimus Prime had been delicate with the Rescue Bots when they first onlined. He told them earth was their home now instead of Cybertron. Blades was aware that for whatever reason the Cybertronian species had migrated away from Cybertron. To hear about a dystopian war that killed their planet from a survivor however was a lot to swallow for someone who had never seen the fighting firsthand.

"Hey guys, there's the volcano!" Dani pointed just ahead of them and smiled; unaware of the conversation taking place all around her over the comm systems.

"Oh, right. Thanks, Dani," Blades replied absentmindedly, "See that, Frazzle? That's the largest volcano in the area. The jungle down there is gorgeous too. You should see all the animals. There are so many thousands of different kinds of animals on earth. I never thought there could be so many!"

Blades continued to babble on about the volcano while Frazzle looked down at the dormant lava inside. As she stared at the lava however another red swirling liquid filled her processor...

"...Red energon! We finally did it!" Overlord exclaimed as he turned to his audience of loyal seeker troops, "With this beautiful rare substance we will cause chaos for both the Autobots and Megatron's army of mindless drones! We will take back what rightfully belongs to us, and I will rule Cybertron!"

Loud cheers erupted from Overlord's band of rebels. Overlord held up the vial of red energon and soaked up the praise being heaped on him by his followers. This was sure to be a day of reckoning for Cybertron itself.

Overlord was one of Megatron's highest ranking generals, but what the warlord didn't know was that Overlord had his own agenda. Overlord felt that Megatron was taking too long to kill off the Autobots, and he intended to stage a coup against Megatron and take power for himself. He already had a few dozen followers, and among them were Frazzle, Razzle, and Dazzle.

"This is gonna be so awesome!" Dazzle exclaimed from the back row where they were standing.

"I know!" Frazzle replied enthusiastically, "We're gonna finally win this war, get our home back, and have a leader that's actually competent."

"I don't know if this is actually a good idea," Razzle pondered, "Overlord might be as powerful as Megatron, but I'm not sure he's as intelligent."

"Eh, they're both crazy," Dazzle waved away Razzle's concern, "But Overlord is the fun kind of crazy. Megatron is the disturbing kind of crazy. He actually thinks Unicron is real."

"Yeah, well Overlord thinks he is Unicron!" Frazzle laughed, "Don't worry, okay? All we have to do is keep the Autobots busy. Megatron and his inner circle will think we're on his side until the last moment when it will be too late to do anything about it."

"In other words, we're the cannon fodder," Razzle sighed in a deadpan tone, "Again."

Frazzle knew what Razzle said had a ring of truth to it. They might not survive this raid on Autobot HQ in Iacon, but they had to play their part. They were Team A, the group that stirred up the Autobots so that they would come to Kaon and weaken Megatron's forces. Team B would lead key members of Megatron's army away so that Overlord, who would be moving at hyperspeed thanks to the red energon, could sneak up on Megatron and kill him before the warlord even knew what was happening.

"Don't worry, Sis. Everything's gonna work out great," Frazzle assured Razzle.

...

Out in the battlefield, the seekers flew in a tight formation as yellow beams of laser fire shot up all around them. Comrades would fall out of the sky even as Frazzle, Razzle, and Dazzle flew toward their destination. They were to break into the base and gather more red energon for Overlord, but in order to get to it they would have to get through the Wreckers.

/Autobot explosive, 4 'o clock low,/ Razzle reported to the others.

Frazzle transformed into robot mode, aimed her blaster gauntlet, and shot the bomb before it could reach the other seekers. The blast forced the jets further up into the sky, and Frazzle transformed back into jet mode so she wouldn't make such an easy target.

/Nice one, Sis,/ Dazzle congratulated her, /Uh oh, we got a bogey being piloted by a Wrecker. There also appears to be a Wrecker riding the top./

/Well now that's just irresponsible,/ Razzle commented dryly, /Shall we teach that rusted heap some vehicle safety?/

/Nah, let's just shoot him,/ Frazzle replied mischievously.

The three seekers then broke formation, with Frazzle approaching the Autobot ship from the center and her sisters approaching from the sides. The Autobot was small, yellow-orange colored, and appeared to have crusty bits of rock attached to him that glowed different colors. Those were crystal barnacles, which meant this guy was a some kind of boat-former. That was perfect. It meant he couldn't fly.

Frazzle shot at the Autobot, but most of the shots were too weak to penetrate the barnacles, which were acting as a sort of impromptu armor for the Wrecker. The Wrecker's arm then transformed into a cannon, and he aimed for the approaching pink and white jet.

"Say your prayers, Decepticon!" The Wrecker roared; his voice powerful yet garbled.

"Yikes, mech! Did you eat a bucket of nails or something?" Frazzle taunted as she flew circles around him and the ship he was standing on.

"No, but you're about to eat my dust!" The Wrecker replied before he started shooting at her with his large hand cannon.

Frazzle dodged every shot and flew further away from the Wrecker. She had to find a way to knock him off the ship, but she couldn't get close enough to him because he was firing so many shots. For a mech from a starving people he sure managed to find a lot of energy reserves for his cannon.

The Wrecker continued to fire in an arc while Frazzle performed all sorts of complicated maneuvers to avoid him. She saw that a purple and pink jet had been shot near where she was, and when she scanned it to her horror she realized it had been Dazzle! Frazzle dove down to try to catch the falling Dazzle, and she finally managed to get close enough to transform and grab her.

Another shot was fired above her, and she saw a red and black seeker falling to the ground. That was Razzle, but she wasn't close enough to get to her. Razzle fell onto a crag and her body shattered into a million pieces, and Frazzle had to land before she lost her ability to fly.

She still had Dazzle in her arms, so Frazzle set Dazzle down so she could see if her remaining trine sister could still be repaired before it was too late. Frazzle looked around for a medic, but everyone from the seekers to the grounders were busy fighting off the Autobots. There were dead and dying all around Frazzle, and she could see other loved ones clutching onto their injured and dead comrades. There was no way she was going to get any sort of attention this way.

Dazzle's optics flickered, and she groaned a little. Frazzle sighed in relief seeing that she was still alive. Dazzle turned her helm to look at her sister, and moved her mouth to try to speak.

"Just hang on, Dazzle. Don't strain yourself," Frazzle spoke softly as she held her sister close, "We're gonna find a medic and you'll get patched up soon. Just hang in there."

"W...Where am I?" Dazzle asked; oblivious to anything Frazzle had said, "This looks like a bad place. Why are we here, Frazzle?"

Frazzle then noticed Dazzle's injuries. She had noticed already that Dazzle had been shot in the cockpit, but only now did she see the second shot in Dazzle's helm. Her processor was shutting down and her spark was exposed. There was no way Dazzle could stay awake long enough for a medic. Frazzle didn't know what to do, so she did the only thing she could.

"We're outside," Frazzle told Dazzle vaguely, "Can't you see the clouds?"

"I see...seekers," Dazzle replied as she stared beyond Frazzle into a sky filled with green and grey smoke with soldiers flying all around, "I wanna go inside..."

"Sure thing, Sis. In a breem," Frazzle replied; smiling despite wanting to cry so Dazzle wouldn't feel bad.

Dazzle tried to speak again, but the words were mumbled and incoherent. Frazzle asked her to repeat herself, but Dazzle didn't reply. Then Frazzle saw the light go out of Dazzle's optics, and looked down to see the spark dissipate. Dazzle was gone, and Razzle was several mechano-yards away in pieces.

"...when we came here last time. Everything was so beautiful!" Blades continued to babble on; oblivious to Frazzle's haunting flashback, "I mean, it was a rescue mission, but other than that it was one of the coolest experiences. Do you think this planet is beautiful, Frazzle?"

Frazzle had no idea what Blades had been talking about, but she didn't want to seem disinterested since she needed this Autobot to like her, so she said the first thing that came to her mind.

"Yeah, it's beautiful," Frazzle replied, "Especially the clouds."