Sorry for this taking so long. Life had me busy.


Upon getting closer, AZ-5 could tell that Copper-9 was a damaged planet. One of the top corners of the globe had a massive crater that could be seen from space. It was the kind of damage that would make it impossible for biological life to exist.

Fortunately, he wasn't looking for biological life.

"Where are you?"

Setting up the program for the scanner, AZ-5 had the ship analyze the planet for the location with the highest energy output. Any factories, homes, or other residential areas would have gone silent after humans were wiped out. But if other lifeforms rose to take their place…

"Here we go."

The computers located a colony on the eastern side of the planet's main continent. With the ship at cruising speed, he could get there in about an hour. That meant giving him an hour to figure out what he should say to the drones when he got there.

"Hi. I'm a member of a galactic military force. We were hoping to make repairs outside your colony. Oh, and we're being chased by some giant robot alien terrorists. Is that alright?"

Slumping back into his seat, AZ really wished Optimus had picked someone else for this mission.

Ever since he had changed, he spent all his time either fighting the disassemblers or hanging out with the other Autobots. Even though almost all of them were big enough to step on him, he never felt afraid of them. They were like his new family after… that day…

Shaking his head, AZ-5 tried to focus on finding a solution to the problem. The Autobots needed a place to land and repair the Ark, and Copper-9 was the closest place with materials they could use. But they couldn't land and start immediately, that would endanger the native population once the Decepticons followed them there. So they needed permission before they landed, that way they could work with and defend the inhabitants.

But going and simply asking for permission meant there would be a fifty/fifty chance of succeeding. He needed something to convince them to heed his words and let him bring his people. Something to convince them that this wasn't a trick, that the Autobots wanted to help.

Something to prove that he was here to… defend…

With an idea in his mind, AZ entered new parameters into the scanner. Instead of looking for drones, he tasked it to look for drones of a specific build, made with particularific materials.

"Come on, are they any…? There you are."

Even a colony this remote and isolated wasn't safe. The scanner found two active disassembler signatures on the planet. One was a distance away from the colony, too far to be a threat.

But the other one increased AZ's anxiousness.

That disassembler was on its way, flying towards a group of dozens of workers. It got there…

"There'll be nothing left but an oil bath."

AZ sent a quick encoded message to the Ark and kicked the engine into high gear. He'd focus on the other disassembler later. He had to save the workers first. And hopefully, he would have a chance to save (or avenge) the solitary worker later.


Uzi ran faster and harder from Doll's house than she had in her entire life. Even when N had chased her when they first met, she had just run to save her own life.

After what she had seen at the house, she had to save everyone's lives.

Lizzy was going to let V inside prom so Doll could do something. It didn't make any sense, but that was what she heard. And after everything she had seen since she left the Outpost and radicalized N, she couldn't afford to think anything was impossible.

She had to get to Prom before them. She had to warn everyone. She had to-

Uzi's panicked train of thought abruptly derailed when something crashed in front of her. She fell on her back in the snow. She had a "bite me" ready on her tongue for whoever knocked her back until she saw who it was.

"N?"

"Uzi? You're still alive!"

N grabbed the shorter girl in a tight hug. One Uzi was unprepared for and unable to push back (Because she wanted to. Yes she did).

"We need to get to prom, Uzi. V is on her way. She stole a dress. And I think she's going to-"

"Kill everyone. I know N. We need to stop her."

"But how?"

Uzi faltered. She didn't have her railgun. And she didn't know if anyone at the dance would believe her enough to run away. But she couldn't let them die.

"I don't know N. But we need to get there before she does."


AZ was minutes away from reaching the building that the disassembler was approaching. The ship was burning through energon, but he hoped that would not become an issue in the future. If he managed to make it in time and save the drone, they could help him get more.

For himself and his comrades.

But that was when the universe decided to throw him a curveball.

The other disassembler was moving on his screen. And it was heading in a similar direction as he was.

Normally, that wouldn't be a concern. AZ was experienced in fighting disassemblers. If he had to, he could beat them both with his visor deactivated. But that wasn't what worried him.

It was the fact that the second target had stopped. Right next to the signature of a worker drone.

If AZ stopped right now, he would be able to save the one drone from becoming a meal for an abomination. But if he took the time to do that, then the first target would be able to reach the building housing dozens of workers. And no matter how fast he went, he wouldn't be able to stop it from taking innocent lives.

AZ had to make a choice. To save one life while he had a chance, or to abandon it and spare his energy for the first target on his screen.

"Primus, forgive me."

AZ continued to speed his ship toward the building. He could only hope that the lonesome drone could fend for themselves. If not, he would put their soul to rest when he avenged their death.

Only minutes away, AZ-5 activated the ship's shifting feature. Right after he put on a seatbelt.

He had heard humans describe being inside a transforming Cybertronian as getting stuck inside an illegal carnival ride. Everything is moving, the parts that feel like they should stay static keep moving, and you never know if you'll keep your head with all the sharp metal moving around.

It was a similar experience shifting the ship to tank mode. Propellers made way for wheels, the orientation inside the ship changed, and evetyhting got bumpier when gravity began pushing the vehicle down.

Waiting for the shaking to stop, AZ unbuckled himself and took the controls back. He began to barrel his way through the (eerily quiet) colony and toward the building. He had lives to save.


Doll was already uninterested in prom. Being here made her glad she could go home once her job was done.

Putting it nicely, this was a dull affair. The music was decent, but her classmates were uninteresting at best and annoying at worst. The few who tried talking to her were easily dissuaded when she pulled off the "ice queen" silence. She wasn't here to dance with them.

No, the only dance she cared about was the one she would perform on V's grave once the murder drone's corpse was leaking in front of her.

(What song should she dance to? Was Rasputin too obvious of a choice?)

Everything she needed to make sure V got in position had been done. The other candidates for prom queen had been disposed of, so there was no competition for the role aside from Lizzie and Doll herself, neither of whom had run. And there was no longer a position for prom king ever since last year's incident.

(On that day, the drones of Copper 9 learned that they could indeed dream of electric sheep)

"Alright losers. We're doing this a little early. But since the entire prom court mysteriously disappeared, we have a prom queen winner by default."

The glass ceiling would be easy to break, which was why Doll had Lizzie advocating for this ballroom. One she arrived, she would have no problem entering. And getting into the position Doll wanted her in.

She had spent years waiting for this night. Ever since she hid in that closet, watching the winged monstrosity tear her mama and papa apart, she had dreamed of the time when she would finally be able to put their souls to rest.

"It's, well, her."

On cue, the murder drone flew down from above, leaving shattered glass and dread in her wake. Every drone in attendance would have screamed and panicked if not for Lizzie blackmailing them to cheers.

It didn't matter to Doll. It didn't matter that the rest of her stupid classmates were fine with V after a few harsh words. It didn't matter that V seemed open to accepting the queen role. It didn't matter that things were going peacefully.

As she summoned at power of the Absolute Solver, an unholy power she discovered in the wake of her parent's death, only one thing mattered to Doll. She called upon the knife she used to kill many drones and aimed it at V's head.

And then the wall exploded.

Doll, like everyone, was stunned at the tank that stopped where a wall used to be. And the shock intensified when a girthy gun muzzle popped out of the front.

Pointed straight at the stage.

"Dissembler Drone. By the authority granted to me by the Autobot Collective, I place you under arrest for crimes against sentient life. Surrender now or I will use lethal force."

The voice from the tank's speaker knocked one drone out of their stupor. Unfortunately for everyone, that drone was V. Who looked at the tank with disgust.

"Yeah, no."

Shifting her fingers to claws, V grabbed Penny by the back of the head. Using her superior strength, V lifted the pigtailed robot off the ground and started to apply pressure. Her gaze never left the tank.

"You shoot me, you shoot this little thing too. You really gonna risk that?"

In the moments of silence that followed, Doll had time to consider the situation. Her chance to kill V herself had been taken, but she could still feel satisfied in seeing the murderer destroyed. The gun from the tank seemed like it would at least damage V to the point of near death, leaving Doll the chance to avenge her mother and father.

But before Doll could summon the solver and get Penny out of the way, another unexpected thing occurred.

"So you're as cowardly as you are monstrous."

It wasn't a question. It was spoken like a statement. One that gained V's ire as she glared at the tank.

"I'm not afraid of anything. Why don't you come out of that tank so I can show you?"

Another moment of silence. Doll discreetly summoned her power…

"As you wish."

A hissing sound was heard across the entire gym, with every worker taking a quick step back. A block of the tank's outer shell broke off, transforming into a set of stairs. Everyone expected some sort of drone to come out. Either a dumb worker or some new kind of battle drone.

And.. well, it was a kind of drone.

Unable to help herself, Doll scowled as she saw the flying square hover out of the tank. After the talk and back-and-forth between the driver and V, she had expected to see what he looked like. Instead, it seemed like he was sending a gadget to deal with V.

Doll didn't stay mad for long. As long as V died, she didn't care how. As long as she could see her parent's killer beg for mercy she did not deserve.

V, on the other hand, was just amused.

"Whose the coward now? I thought you were gonna come out yourself."

"I did."

A muzzle sprang from the drone's underbelly. And fired two shots at V.

"AHH!"

One hit her in the shoulder, breaking her grip on Penny. The poor girl fell to her knees and was able to crawl away to safety. The second shot hit V in the chest, burning past her dress and body like a baseball through a sheet of paper.

The attack didn't kill V, but it did knock her back and have plenty of oil leaking out of her form.

Something she was not happy about.

"That's it! I'm breaking that stupid toy!" V shrieked as she got back up, unfurled her wings, and took to the air. Her guns came out moments later, firing wildly at the aerial drone.

None of the shots connected, the square machine weaving and dodging every attack. The only thing V managed to do was break a few windows and scare the drones. All except for one that was losing patience.

(What kind of nonsense is this?) Doll muttered to herself as she continued to watch the aerial battle. She was glad to see V frustrated, but that wasn't enough, she wanted the girl dead.

And when she looked above, she saw a chance.

Summoning the power of the solver, Doll focused it on a loose fan above the stage. One that no one had bothered to fix in years. And when the three-pointed symbol surrounded it, she yanked it off the ceiling.

Hearing the sound of tearing metal, V looked up in time to see the fan that was about to crush her. Swearing to the side, she dodged the mass of iron.

But it left her open.

Using the fact that she was distracted, the aerial drone opened a different compartment. One that housed missiles.

V refocused on her enemy just in time to see the projectile a foot from her face.

Doll smiled viciously when the missile exploded in V's face. It blasted her through the stage curtains and through the wall right behind it. She heard the thud on the other side, and her smile widened at the thought of how much pain V would be in.

She had hoped to go after her and finish the job, but the aerial drone descended and stopped right in front of her.

"These drones need to be evacuated to safety. You seem unrattled. Can you move them?"

Dool frowned at the request. She didn't care about anyone in the room aside from Lizzy. All she had come to do was avenge her parents.

(Shouldn't your focus be on V?)

(I will arrest her. But I need to make sure no one else is in danger. Please.)

Doll's visor blinked in surprise. Everyone in the colony was able to understand her language setting. But this was the first time anyone had ever responded back to her in Russian.

But before she could deny the request again, the wall exploded in yellow light. And an enraged V, wearing a torn red dress, marched from the other side.

"I just got this dress," V said with her last remaining bits of calm as she stepped off the stage and toward the drones. "I am going to eat each and every LAST ONE OF YOU!"

The aerial drone turned away from Doll and hovered in between her, the rest of the workers, and V.

"No. You won't."

What it did next shocked everyone, even V.

It transformed.

The parts of the flying square machine shifted place and form. What were once motored wings became limbs. A square frame became a torso. And a head sprang out from a hidden compartment.

The former flying device became a drone unlike any they had ever seen. Taller than any of them, draped in red armor, having a helmet with no hair, and glaring at V with a fully orange visor.

It took one look away from V to address the rest of the drones.

"Run away while you can. I'll hold back the disassembler."

Khan Doorman took the opportunity to finally speak.

"Let's listen to the weird battle drone people. Time to make use of these wonderful doors."

Ignoring the old drone's door fetish, the workers swarmed out of the gym in droves. Only one stayed behind, hiding behind a table to make sure her quarry wouldn't escape the night alive.

"What the hell are you supposed to be?" V said as her meals ran away, focusing on the weirdo that blasted her through a wall. She'd get her food later.

"My name is AZ-5. And like I said before, I'm an Autobot here to arrest you for crimes against life."

There was a moment of silence. It was broken when V failed to hold back her laughter.

"Oh that's rich," she said through a fit of chuckles. "Finally meet a drone who looks interesting, and he's got a hero complex."

"I'm just a soldier," AZ-5 said plainly.

"Oh really?" V shifted her arms to blades. Each one left a mark as she trailed them across the floor. "Why don't you show me what a soldier is worth then?"

Wordlessly, AZ-5 lifted up an arm. His energon blade sprang from the back of his wrist. Its heated orange glow matched his visor and contrasted the red shade of his battle mask.

"If you insist."

AZ-5 calmly stepped toward V. And V used her wings to race toward her new enemy.

And Doll stayed back to watch.


Uzi, hanging on to N, saw the crowd leaving her school before N did. Among them, she saw a familiar green-eyed face.

"Go down N. I see Thad."

The duo descended next to the athlete, who was clutching his knees and catching his breath.

"Uzi! N! Oh, thank Robo-God you two are alright. The dance went crazy. In a bad way."

N looked the most upset. "Who died?"

"That's the crazy part. No one did! Not yet anyway. Well, you're murder friend might."

Both Uzi and N shared a shocked look.

"What happened?"

"A tank burst down the door. And it told V she was under arrest? Something about crimes against life."

Uzi looked at N, who seemed just as lost as her. But they weren't going to get answers here.

"Let's go N."

"Good luck guys!"

Being waved off by Thad, the duo flew to prom.


The worst night of V's life had been years ago, and she only remembered snippets of it. Flashes of mutilated drones, discarded human corpses, and screams of lost souls.

As much as she hated the workers she had to kill, she would never force that sort of night on any of them.

But this right here was shaping up to be the second-worst night of her life. Simply because of how humiliating this 'fight' was for her.

"Stop. Moving."

She swung her blades wide and close, up and down, all with lethal intent. But the few strikes that didn't miss completely were reflected by the blade that hero-bot had on his right arm. Worse, the heat coming off the blade meant that it chipped into her swords and took the edge off each time they made contact.

Worse, the asshole didn't even care about how bad he was making her look.

"I thought all disassemblers were supposed to have combat skills built in. Are you defective?"

V's optics flared in rage.

"Excuse you?! Say that again!"

V swung with her left hand, hoping to take off his head. But he just caught it with his own blade. Worse, he reached out to grip her right. And despite her strength, V couldn't break from his grip. Forcing her to make eye contact.

"Are. You. Defective," the asshole said slowly. "Is that why they relegated you to tormenting miners?"

Heaving, V kicked him to push him away. Unfortunately, she had underestimated just how strong he was.

Because he took her right hand with him.

Refusing to scream at the pain of dismemberment (it never got easier), V shifted her remaining arm into blaster mode and aimed at the red-and-white bot.

She had hoped that firing would get rid of her problem. Instead, her vexation grew as he used her blade to block the beam.

And when she ran out of energy to fire, things got worse when he threw it back at her.

Right into her chest.

"Grah!"

Oil splashed out of V's mouth. The blade had just missed her core, but being so close meant that her systems were starting to overheat from fear. Without fresh out to cool her down, V couldn't calm down enough to focus on the fight.

A fight she was doomed to now lose.

Hearing a sound like a propeller, V saw smoke coming out of her enemy's legs. He had propulsors built in to let him fly.

In this case, he rocketed across the room with his blade arm stretched out. And he used it to cut off both of V's legs.

"Ah!"

Pathetically, V tumbled to the ground. Down two legs and an arm, overheating and sporadic, V could do nothing but dread as she heard the thud of footsteps approaching her. She could do nothing when the foot kicked her over, her back on the ground and her eyes confused by the colorful party lights.

AZ-5 leaned down looking down at V with a stare. His fully-covered visor and face mask covering his mouth made emotion difficult to discern, but his posture and body language made his contempt clear. He had no reason to spare or help V.

Which made the fact that he pulled out a vial of oil from somewhere on his armor all the more shocking.

(What are you doing?!)

V's head tilted just enough to spot a worker drone in a red dress with purple hair. Her red eyes were wide with outrage.

"Trust me, ma'am, if it were up to me, I'd be stabbing this thing through the face," AZ-5 stated without a hint of exaggeration. "But the decision isn't up to me. She'll live just long enough to face what she's done."

Opening the vial, AZ-5 sloped it so V could consume the contents. But he was not gentle or considerate, emptying the black liquid on her face. V, humiliatingly, had to open her mouth to catch as much as possible.

The oil was just enough to keep her from overloading. Not enough to speed up her healing. So couldn't fight back yet.

(She is dead to rights) The same red-eyed drone walked up to confront AZ-5, pointing at V's downed body. (There's no argument to make. She can die now, and she could.)

"I don't disagree," AZ-5 agreed, acting like V wasn't even there. And she may as well not have been, unable to fight and defend herself. "But whether I like it or not, she deserves a fair trial. Or whatever the equivalent here is."

(Trial? Why do monsters deserve such things?)

V heard him sigh.

"I agree. She doesn't deserve anything for things her kind have done. But the choice isn't mine. I came to this planet with a mission, and I need her alive to do it."

(What kind of mission would-)

The red-eyed girl was cut off when the ceiling broke. Another disassembler and a purple-eyed drone both landed on the dance floor. V groaned when she saw them.

"Wow. This is confusing."


AZ-5 was just as confused as everyone else. He understood the red-eyed drone was upset, but her open hostility could be a problem. If he didn't empathize with her desire to see a disassembler dead, he would have strongly suggested she back off.

But now a new drone was here, accompanied by-

AZ sprang to action the moment he registered the build of the other drone.

Before it could even respond, AZ shifted his arm to blaster mode and aimed at its head. He blew it off in one clean shot.

"N!"

Confused, AZ saw the purple worker crouch to check on the disassembler. But before he could question her skewed priorities, he saw that the head was beginning to regenerate.

"Move back!"

Grabbing the female's tail, AZ rocketed to the headless body and tried to gently shove the purple-eyed worker aside.

"Hey!"

Ignoring her outburst, AZ sprang his blade and stabbed the male an inch away from its core. Enough to slow down its healing and keep its head away for the time being.

That left AZ-5 in the position of holding two mangled dissemblers by the tails, looking at two worker drones. The red-eyed one seemed annoyed but curious. The purple-eyed one seemed angry but also scared.

AZ only had one question for both of them.

"I'm here to help this colony. Can either of you tell me who's in charge?"


Want to clear this up, AZ-5 is not misogynistic. He hates all Disassembly Drones equally.

Anyway, feel free to leave reviews.

Till next time! Bye!