New Planet, New Adventure

Author's note: Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm not that fond of BM either, but this is the way I wanted things to go, and I'm the all-powerful person who decides Angel's fate, so there. And it's only three parts long, so it'll be over fast... although that means Angel's Saga is coming to a close... as Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. aptly says, "So it goes."

The Maximal's triumphant return to Cybertron was a disaster. One thing after another had gone wrong, and now what was left of Optimus' crew was hiding underground, waging a guerilla war with Megatron.

Angel hadn't made it. No one could remember where they saw her last, but she didn't make it to the reformatting, so she was presumed dead, or worse.

Cheetor and the newbie, Nightscream, were out on a recon mission, but it seemed more like a "try to sneak around, get caught instead, run away, get cornered, and pray for you lives" kind of deal. They were surrounded by no less than twenty cycle drones, not to mention Thrust, and Jet Storm further prevented escape with himself and a few of his drones.

The Generals were about to give the order to finish the Maximals off, but were distracted by Thrust's drones... exploding one by one. Then, there was a white light off somewhere, and they detected a new energy signature, and an arrow appeared in the midst of the cycle drones, which made a large explosion, destroying more drones. Whoever it was, they were thinning down the opposition pretty quickly, so Cheetor and Nightscream transformed and decided to do a little thinning of their own.

The drones went after the mysterious newcomer, trying to get it before it got them. They lit up its current hiding place, revealing a dark figure... with white wings. The wings gave her away, she knew, but that was okay, because she was going to give herself away pretty soon anyways. Deciding the others could handle the ground, Angel (you knew it was Angel, didn't you?) took to the sky and used bow and arrow to attack the jet drones.

Finally, the Maximals got the Vehicons down to just two: Thrust and Jet Storm. Knowing they were currently outnumbered and outgunned, they made a hasty retreat. Angel landed beside Cheetor and Nightscream, grinning. She was fuzzy black from head to foot, excepting short, feathery white hair, a white Maximal emblem on her right shoulder, and a few wires here and there. Her eyes were golden yellow. Her legs, which ended in clawed paws, were bent like a cat's, and she had an ever-twitching tail. Her white wings were attached at the back, near the shoulder, and bent several times, which made for lots of wingspan in not a lot of room.

"You mean you're alive?!?" Cheetor looked pretty mad.

"No, I'm a zombie. And I'm hungry. Gimme food..." She put her arms straight out in front of her, wandering around like a zombie would.

"Care to let me in?" Nightscream asked, slightly annoyed.

"I'm Angel!" she chirped.

"How do we know you're Angel?" Nightscream asked.

"Cheetor's a spothead."

"Yeah, it's Angel all right," Cheetor growled. "C'mon, we need to get to beast mode and get home before they bring reinforcements."

Angel went to her beast mode, which she was very happy with. She was the customary black panther, with white wings, and larger than her original beast mode. She followed cheetah and bat underground, towards the Maximal hideout.

Cheetor and Nightscream went into the Maximal's cavern first, and then she entered. Everyone stared at her, so she gave them a cheesy grin.

“But how did you...?”

“Long story. I’ll tell it later, but there’s something more important than that right now.”

“What is it?”

Angel suddenly looked very serious and sad.

“Spirit’s in trouble.”

“Isn’t... Spirit... on Earth?”

“Um... no...”

“You took that cat here, even though you knew it was a bad idea?” Cheetor snarled.

“Hey, it was all Spirit! She stowed away! She didn’t know what she was getting herself into! And now she doesn’t have any food.”

“You had food in the first place?”

“She didn’t like it much, but I fed her fruit from Nightscream’s tree.”

“What do you think we can do?” Optimus asked calmly.

Angel took a deep breath and said, “I have a plan. I’ll explain it on the way to my hiding place.”

Everyone, including a reluctant Cheetor, followed her through the network of tunnels, listening as she told her plan. It sounded very rehearsed.

“Okay, most of us know my Spark can take a beating, right? And the only good solution to Spirit’s problem is to reformat her. So, we just take my Spark and-”

“No,” Optimus said flatly.

Angel stopped walking and looked like she was going to cry.

“Optimus, she’s gonna die if we don’t do something.”

“Angel, I know this is hard for you, but death is something you’re going to have to learn to accept. Pets don’t live forever-”

“Spirit isn’t a pet! She’s my best friend, and if you think for one minute I’m going to sit back and watch her starve to death, you’ve got another thing coming.”

“Here it comes,” Rattrap muttered to Nightscream.

“Huh?”

“Just watch.”

“Optimus,” Angel continued, “if none of you will help me, I’m going to do it on my own, and you know it.”

“And dis is when he crumbles...” Rattrap predicted quietly. Nightscream was still confused.

“Fine, Angel, we’ll help you,” Optimus conceded. Angel looked relieved.

“Angel’s so stubborn,” Rattrap told Nightscream, “she really would try it on her own, and probably get hurt or worse in the process. And Optimus knows that.”

“In what process?” Nightscream hadn’t caught on, and he didn’t really know what anyone was talking about.

“How do we know if this’ll even work?” Cheetor said.

“Can someone PLEASE fill me in?” Nightscream asked, now annoyed.

“Okay, Spirit’s a cat. An organic cat, and she’s run out of food,” Angel explained. “If we cut my Spark in half,” (Nightscream’s jaw dropped. Angel MUST be crazy.) “and reformat her, she’ll be just like us, and we won’t have to worry about feeding her.”

“That’s assuming we can take a purely organic life form and get mechanical components added. And assuming Angel’s Spark can take being cut,” Cheetor added.

“Are you insane? No one’s Spark can be cut in half without extinguishing it!” Nightscream said.

“No, actually,” Blackarachnia spoke up, “Megarton did it to Rampage, and he survived. But we don’t know if Angel’s Spark is as strong as Rampage’s.”

“What makes you different from everyone else?” Nightscream prodded. Angel tried to say something several times, but stopped herself each time, trying to figure out how she was going to tell him.

“Some other time, Nightscream,” Optimus mercifully said. “Where were you all this time, Angel?” he asked, changing the subject.

Angel started walking again, and said, “I’m taking you there.”

“What have you been doing?”

“Spying on you, mostly. Spirit thought you didn’t really need me, so we decided I’d be a trump card. In case something happened, and I was the only one who could bail you out.”

“Nightscream and I can handle ourselves,” Cheetor growled.

“I was running out of time anyways.”

Blackarachnia’s strategic mind had been working.

“Are you still able to manipulate weather?” she asked.

“No.” Angel shook her head. “I’ve tried everything, and nothing’s happened. Kind of a bummer. Oh, look! We’re here!” They entered a smallish cave. “Don’t say anything about how she looks,” Angel whispered, hoping the little off-white lump in the back of the cave didn’t hear her. If Spirit did, she didn’t say anything about it. She opened her eyes slightly, and pretended to be disinterested. In reality, she didn't want to admit the fact that she was so weak she couldn't keep her eyes open for long.

"So," Angel said. "How do we go about splitting a Spark?"

"Megatron used an energon blade," Blackarachnia said.

"Where do we get one of those?"

"Megs probably has one somewhere," Rattrap said. "I can interface with a computer, and find one for ya."

"I don't think the Generals are going to let you waltz in and steal an energon blade from Megatron," Cheetor said.

"You're right, Spothead. You're going to distract them."

"I'm not doing anything. Leave me out of this." Angel snarled at Cheetor threateningly.

"Would you two stop fighting? You've barely seen each other, and you're already at each other's throat," Optimus said. "This is the way it goes: Nightscream, Blackarachnia, and Cheetor will distract the Generals, Rattrap will get the blade, and Angel and I will transport Spirit to the Oracle. Understood?" His tone made it clear he didn't want to be questioned. The Maximals nodded or mumbled consent, so Optimus said, "Then move out."

Angel yawned and twitched her whiskers when it was just her, Optimus, and Spirit left. Optimus gingerly picked Spirit up and said to the little cat, "There now, everything's going to be all right." Spirit meowed something, and Angel giggled, "Hey, that's no way to talk to your commanding officer!"

"What'd she say?"

"Something along the lines of 'Don't patronize me,' and I'm going to leave the last part off."

Optimus gave the cat a weird look, and then said, "I'll take her to the Oracle. You catch up with Rattrap and watch his back."

"Are you sure? Rattrap can take care of himself."

"Are you questioning my orders?" He sounded like he was joking.

"No! Okay, I'll go!" She was glad to get assigned something, and bounded down the tunnels to catch up with Rattrap.

"What're ya doin'? I thought ya were gonna help Optimus!" Rattrap said as soon as Angel caught up to him.

"He told me to help you!" She grinned amiably.

"I don't need help."

"I figured you didn't, but aren't I nice to have along anyways?" She knew Rattrap would feel bad if he said 'no'.

"Just stay out of da way."

"Okay!"

Tagging along with Rattrap was uneventful. Since everyone else was distracting the Vehicons, Rattrap was free to locate and get the needed energon blade. Angel didn't feel the least bit nervous about the upcoming procedure, even though it might cost her her life. Rattrap thought this was odd, but he didn't say anything. It was probably better this way.

"C'mon! Let's go! Time's a-wastin'!" Angel chirped. "We need to get to the Oracle now!" She took off at a full run, much faster than Rattrap could go.

"Hey, Angel! Wait! I've got da blade! Ya need ta wait fer me!" Angel skidded to a stop and turned around.

"Gimme the blade. We can get it done faster if I take it." Truth was, she was incredibly nervous, and under the impression the sooner she got done with it the better. But she didn't tell that to anyone, not even Spirit. If anyone knew she was scared, they might make her back out, and then Spirit would die...

She took the energon blade from Rattrap, carrying it in her mouth, and ran as fast as her legs could carry her. She realized she was panting just before she got there. She took a moment to make it look like she wasn't out of breath before she trotted up to Optimus and Spirit, blade in mouth, smiling.

"Here i' ish!" she said, with the blade still in her mouth. Optimus pulled it out, and Spirit made a successful effort to sit up.

"Are you ready?" he asked them. Both cats nodded. "Alright, Angel, we need to transform." Optimus and Angel did so, and Angel knew "the moment of truth" was upon her. She somehow knew how to make her Spark come out, and felt faint as she did so. Maybe this wasn't such a hot idea... not turning back now. No turning back...

Angel woke up quickly, after having the dream again. She felt like she'd been hit by a train. Wait. Where was she?

She jumped to her feet, ready to fend off any attackers. No attackers, just Optimus, Cheetor, Blackarachnia, Rattrap, Nightscream... and Spirit, looking very alert and much better, and slightly bigger than she'd been as an organic cat.

"Go to beast mode!" Cheetor hissed. Everyone looked ready to move. Angel quickly complied, and the Maximals took off, knowing the Vehicons were hot on their trail.

"So everything worked?" Angel asked, feeling out of the loop.

"Yes," Optimus confirmed. Angel breathed a mental sigh of relief.

"What kind of freak are you?" Nightscream asked. Angel looked as if she'd been hit. Spirit went up to the bat and meowed at him sharply. Nightscream didn't understand cat, but he got the message.

Spirit was very happy. She felt stronger and faster, if not a little weird. She tried to transform, but couldn't. Oh well. She didn't really want to transform. She had everything she needed in beast mode: claws, teeth, and agility.

"So, Cyberkitty," Angel said, trying out a new nickname for her best friend, "You ready to take on Megatron?"

"Meow."

"I'm not over ambitious. Am I?"

"Meow."

"How much would a tad be?"

"Meow."

"That's pretty big..."

The End.