Chronicles of the Doomcat

Part 14: Deus Ex Machina

Procedure Complete.

The red glow faded from Vok Destroyer Angel's optics. Halifax stood, knowing the time had come. The Doomcat looked down at the Doomhound.

Inside the Doomcat's head, Angel readied herself.

"The Maximals have a request," Halifax said. The Doomcat said nothing, so he continued. "They wish for Destroyer Angel to be returned to them."

Oblivious of what was going outside her head, Angel shouted, "I want out! I'm not going to step aside and give up my freedom!"

Spirit, En, and the rest of the Maximals slowly came up behind Halifax.

"Why would they want this back?" the Vok asked. "It is not fully functional."

"It is not?" Halifax asked for the Maximals who were afraid to speak up and appear disrespectful.

"It will still lose control of itself from time to time."

"It is still a berserker?"

"We were not able to repair that aspect."

"We still want her back." The Maximals looked at En, horrified. Vok were unpredictable, and he was speaking out of turn.

The Vok didn’t seem to mind.

"It is a danger to itself and everyone around it."

"You have no control over me!" the voice in the Doomcat's head shouted. "I can fight back."

"You are not fully operational," the Vok told her. "You are still, as your friends put it, a berserker."

"I don't care."

"Most of the power in this body has been consumed. You would need to recharge."

"I've got time. I'm still loyal to the Vok, if that's what you're afraid of. You've still got me programmed; I'll follow your every command. The only difference is that I will be in control of myself when you don’t need me."

Halifax and the Maximals waited patiently while the Vok was silent.

"Request denied," the Vok said finally, turning to leave.

"Wait!"

The Doomcat turned and looked at the Doomhound.

"You dare question a Head's decision?"

"You do not know Destroyer Angel."

"It is a security risk. Its loyalty is in question."

"How can you question her loyalty?!" Spirit asked. "She gave up everything at your whim! She came here, risking everything she had, to fix your problem!"

"It is not wholly Vok. It cannot be trusted."

"She is still Vok." Again, Halifax took a chance and spoke out, questioning the Head's authority.

"It must be important," the Head said calmly, "if a Doomhound speaks up for it."

"She is my friend."

"Vok do not need friends," the Head told him.

"We do not need a number of things," Halifax countered, "and yet we still have them."

"I'm not going to stop," Destroyer Angel told the Head. "I'm not going to be quiet until you either let me free or end my existence. And if you try the latter, I will fight. I have nothing to lose."

The Head ignored Destroyer Angel and Halifax and once again turned to go.

"COWARD!" Destroyer Angel roared. "You don't even answer! Is that because you have no answer? You're afraid to let me go! You're afraid I won't come back!"

"The plan to end the Beast Wars by creating a Doomcat was foolhardy. A mistake. You are a mistake; you shouldn't exist."

"And yet here I am! Face up to your mistakes, coward! Freedom is the right of all sentient beings, and I choose freedom!"

"Be quiet."

"Your commands have no effect on me here. I'M GOING TO BE AS LOUD AS I WANT!"

"Your rebellion only further proves your disloyalty."

"I can't rebel out there! Programming, remember? Have you gone over my memory banks? Have you seen how good a Doomcat I can be despite the fact that I'm only half Vok?"

"Agreed, you are an admirable Doomcat, however the answer is still no."

"You need quiet to concentrate while using my power, don't you? Every time you need to concentrate, I am going to torment you."

"Hm." It didn't take her threat seriously.

Destroyer Angel took a deep breath and bellowed, "VOK VOK BO BOK BANANA FANNA FO-"

"Stop that."

"WHEN THE MOON HITS YOUR EYE LIKE A GIANT PIZZA PIE, THAT'S AMORÉ !!"

"Cease this at once. You are only wasting time."

"I've got all the time in the world to waste! OH SUSANNA, NOW DON'T YOU CRY FOR ME-"

"ENOUGH!"

"Try and stop me! IT'S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL, IT'S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL, IT'S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL, IT'S A SMALL, SMALL WORLD!!!"

"You really want to be out there where you are hunted and feared and despised? Where you are treated like a thing, a weapon? You want to go back to that world?"

"YES!"

"And you will obey us when we need you?"

"Yes! You have my word as a Maximal and programming to fall back upon."

"So be it!" the Head said to Destroyer Angel as well as the Maximals. It was gone from her mind in an instant.

Destroyer Angel's world suddenly became one of fatigue and pain as all went dark.

The Doomcat had been standing with her back to them for a while now. One moment the Doomcat appeared to be leaving, and then she stopped and stood silently. Halifax would've liked to explain his superior's odd behavior, but he himself didn't understand.

And then, just when En was about to ask what was going on, she fell limply onto the ground. The Head, which had just exited the Doomcat, went to Halifax.

"Doomhound, your insubordination has been noted."

"Understood."

"What are you going to do to him?" Spirit asked, fully prepared to defend Halifax.

The Head turned to the little white cat, who held its gaze unflinchingly.

"The Vok know of you, small one-"

"Spirit. My size has little to do with anything."

"Indeed. Your attitude far exceeds your stature."

"I'll take that as a compliment. Anyways, what I was getting at is that Halifax here is a friend of mine."

"So it appears."

"And if you intend to do anything to him, I'm going to have to stop you."

"If what you have done here is any indication of 'stopping' us, we have nothing to fear."

"Let him stay with us. Being stuck with a bunch of inept Maximals is punishment enough. Besides, all he did was talk back. He never raised a paw against you."

"Because we are not interested in prolonging this event any further, the Doomhound Halifax is sentenced to staying with the Doomcat Destroyer Angel until we have further use of him. Is that understood, Doomhound?"

"Affirmative."

"And you, small one?"

"Understood."

With that, the Head vanished in a beam of light just the same as the one it used to come to the Amplifier.

En had already picked up the fallen Doomcat, and Cheetor was helping make sure her wings and tail didn't drag on the ground.

The humans were waiting for instructions from their leaders, who weren't sure of a course of action yet. They were waiting to see what would happen.

The Maximals quietly filed out of Stonehenge, silhouetted by the rising sun. The humans moved into position, blocking their way.

Commander Ramses approached the humans' commanding officer.

"This is our business," Ramses told the human. "The Doomcat will be prosecuted according to Cybertronian laws."

"She violated an order to keep all Transformers away from Earth, attacked a police officer, and defaced one of our most valued pieces of history!"

"She also saved your ungrateful little planet. Let us through or we will have to use force."

The commanding officer very reluctantly stepped aside and the Maximals through.

"You're positive she's not dead."

"For the last time, En, she's not dead," Spirit said, exasperated. "This has happened before."

"She has shut down so she can recharge," Halifax told him, looking at the still, black form resting on the bed.

"She'll wake up in a couple of days," Spirit added.

Cheetor entered the room, sighing, "They're still talking." Ramses had been delegating with the humans and his superiors as to what the Doomcat's punishment would be. He was trying to convince all parties involved that they should wait until she woke up and could speak for herself.

Though one wouldn't know it by looking at him, Halifax was the happiest he had ever been. He had friends that would stick up for him even when he couldn't; he'd even been made an honorary Maximal. What was even better was that he'd been "sentenced" to staying with the most controversial bunch of Maximals there ever was.

Indeed, the Maximals had accepted the Doomhound. He was much like the Doomcat in that he didn't like having his name shortened (he politely asked them to stop calling him "Hal"), and had an immense ego when it came to being Vok. But Halifax was also very honest, objective, and straightforward, sometimes simple. He didn't seem to have a sense of humor, but they didn't mind.

"How's she doing?" Cheetor asked, gesturing towards Angel.

"Hasn't changed," Spirit replied.

En opened his mouth to say something, but Cheetor cut him off.

"She isn't dead, En."

"That's what I've been telling him, but he doesn't believe me." Spirit lay down as if she were preparing for a nap.

"Hey, En, why don't you come with me and see how it's going with everyone else?" Cheetor said.

"Um, okay." En got up from his chair and followed Cheetor out, leaving Spirit, Halifax, and Angel alone.

Spirit chuckled softly as she rested her head on her paws.

"What do you find amusing?" Halifax cocked his head to the side, not understanding.

"Cheetor's going to give En the 'if you so much as look at my sister wrong, I'm going to kill you' talk."

"Cheetor has a sister?"

"Angel's figuratively his sister. Same kind of relationship. They used to bicker all the time; now they just tease each other a lot."

"And that is amusing."

"No, what's funny is that En and Angel don't have the kind of relationship Cheetor thinks they have. You know that Angel can't fall in love, and En… En is En, and I don’t think he's interested in that kind of thing. So Cheetor's going to go through a whole speech about being good to Angel, and En's not going to have the faintest clue what he's talking about."

"How do you know all this?"

"You don't find it at all odd that Cheetor expressly took En to 'see how everyone's doing'?"

"I meant, how do you know what the best for Destroyer Angel is, what people's intentions are and be so sure of yourself? You would not back down even when facing a Vok."

"If you have a goal, you should pursue it no matter what's in the way, even if it's Vok. And as far as knowing people and such, it's nothing more than being perceptive. If I watch someone enough, I figure them out and can predict their actions to a certain extent."

"How did you learn this?"

Spirit stretched out.

"During the Beast Wars, I was practically a non-entity. Sure, I'm more intelligent now than I was then, but I could still think and watch, which is about all I was good for. Just a little fleshy pet that belonged to Angel."

Both were quiet for a moment.

"Don't tell anyone I said all that, especially about Cheetor talking to En. They're going to want to forget that as fast as possible."

"I understand."

Silence again.

"Thank you," Halifax said quietly.

"Hm? For what?"

"You stood up for me. I did not expect anyone to."

"You Vok always think that you're in it alone. You're not alone, you have friends, and they're going to stick up for you."

"You are not angry about what we did to you during the Beast Wars?"

"Some of us, maybe. If anyone is, they're not angry at you. Myself, there wasn't much that you did that had a completely negative effect. Optimus did die destroying the Planetbuster, but there wouldn't have been Transmetals without it. You created the Doomcats, and one of them's my best friend. The other made Angel feel more normal. You weren't directly responsible for any deaths besides Optimus', and he obviously came back. That's the way I see it, anyways, and if anyone wants to take anything out on your hide, they're going to have to deal with me first."

Spirit settled down for a catnap and both let the conversation quietly die.

Date: Unknown.

Initializing startup sequence.

All core systems nominal.

The yellow eye opened. It looked around- its vision was limited- it couldn't see everything. The eye finished its preliminary scan and switched from yellow to red in a blink.

That's better- now it could see everything. Most notably, it saw Maximals and humans in the hall, outside its quarters.

"This is my planet," the human said, "therefore it is under my jurisdiction. Hand the Doomcat over peacefully and you will not be charged."

"The Doomcat is a Transformer," Ramses countered, "and as such she is under my jurisdiction. Get off my ship."

"I have the papers, Commander." The human showed the papers to Ramses for the fifth time since he and his troops had forced their way onto the ship.

"Your papers mean very little to me, General."

"Step aside. We don't want to have an interplanetary conflict, do we?"

"That much we can agree on," Ramses answered. "Get off my ship and one will be avoided."

"My orders are to bring in the Doomcat. I cannot go against them."

The door at the end of the hall opened, and out came Destroyer Angel, in robot mode, stepping slowly as if she were concentrating heavily on things besides walking. Her eyes glowed red.

"Well, that eases a thing or two," the human General remarked. The Maximals looked unsure of how to react.

The Doomcat inclined her head slightly towards Ramses.

"I'm Commander Ramses," he told her. She looked indirectly at the human as if she weren't really using her eyes.

"I'm General Seevers. I'm here to-"

I know.

"You heard?"

I hear everything. Explain the charges against me.

"You are wanted for violating laws on three counts: violating restricted Earth space, harming an officer of the peace, and defacing a historical structure."

Those are trivial compared to what I've done on Cybertron. She "looked" back at Ramses. What is my punishment?

"We've been holding off on that till you woke up. It's rather hard to pass judgment on an unconscious being who is unable to defend herself."

Thank you. Her reply sounded honest.

Spirit, who had been silently watching everything play out, wondered if it really was Angel they were talking to.

"So now that you're-"

One moment.

Something broke through the ventilation shaft right behind the Doomcat. Derpolitzt dropped down snarling like a beast, poised to attack. He froze, suddenly, against his will. Destroyer Angel didn't so much as turn her head as she mentally forced Derpolitzt to the ground and froze him in place. Derpolitzt tried to shout, but no sound came.

I knew he was there all along, Destroyer Angel explained smugly. A couple of guards tentatively stepped around the Doomcat and took Derpolitzt away.

"Why didn't you warn us?"

I really don't like him. Jerk. I suppose I don't need to be like this anymore. She blinked, and her eyes were their normal yellow color. Her tail began twitching, and was more animated overall.

"So, now that I'm awake, do you know what my punishment is?"

"I'm afraid that you'll have to wait until I alert the council," Ramses replied.

"Slag."

"You still have charges to face here," the General told her.

"The only lasting 'harm' I have caused to Earth is the reassembling of Stonehenge," Destroyer Angel answered, serious once again. "Though, if you're so obsessed about it…." Her optics turned red again for a moment or two, then back to yellow. "There."

The General turned to one of his soldiers.

"Report."

"One moment, sir. A detachment's been sent to check… We've got confirmation. It's back to the way it was before the Doomcat changed it."

"Well I'll be." The General scratched his head. "Just like that."

"Just like that," Destroyer Angel echoed.

"The power to do anything with just a thought. The power of a god-"

"But not the will," the Doomcat quickly interjected. "I don't want you getting any ideas- I may have power, but my programming- and morals- prevent me from taking positions of power. And, in case you're thinking this too, I'm not interested in fighting any battles for you. Or Cybertron." She glanced at Ramses. "I may be young and reckless, but I've thought long and hard about what I'm capable of, and I don't want to get involved in conflicts unless I absolutely have to."

"Except for the Vok," the General sniffed.

"Well, yes, that's part of the bargain- the Vok let me do what I want so long as I answer to them. It makes perfect sense."

"I'll see if I can get the charges dropped." General Seevers about-faced. "Men, let's move out!"

The hallway had been incredibly crowded, but now that the humans were gone, it was breathable again. The large Transformers relaxed as they were given more space.

"Destroyer Angel," Commander Ramses said as soon as the last human left, "I've been ordered to contact the council the moment you awoke. I hope you understand?"

"Completely. I'd like to get this over with as soon as possible." In truth, the Angel was surprised to no end that she wasn't being locked up, prodded, ridiculed, or anything of the sort. She was being treated more than decently, even though she was about to be prosecuted.

"If you'd follow me, please?"

The Doomcat nodded curtly and followed the Commander down the corridor, the Maximals right behind the both of them.

"If you wait here," the Commander said to her when they came to an important-looking door. "It'll take a few cycles to prepare the council. You may use that time to catch up with your friends." He stepped inside the room and the door closed behind him.

Destroyer Angel turned to her friends, not knowing what to say. And judging by the awkward silence, they were at a loss for words as well.

"Halifax… You're okay? You're still here?" There's something to talk about, at least.

"I have been assigned to you and your friends as punishment for insubordination."

"Insubordination? You?"

"He talked back to a superior a couple times. He was sticking up for you," Spirit informed coldly.

He'd do that for her? Why?

Destroyer Angel transformed to beast mode, feeling ill at ease. Spirit marched right up to her until their noses were nearly touching.

"Destroyer Angel, have you any idea what you put us through? Did it ever cross you mind that we were worried about you?"

"But- Earth- Cybertron- Vok-"

"Shut up and listen! You got so caught up in being a martyr that you forgot about the people who have been behind you this whole time!" Spirit took a step forward and Angel took a step back. "And if you ever- ever- pull a stunt like that again, I will personally eat that near-immortal spark of yours and it will sit in purgatory at the bottom of my stomach until I die!" By now, Spirit had backed Angel up into a wall.

"Am I interrupting?" Commander Ramses said calmly.

"Not at all," Spirit replied coolly. "I've just finished."

"Alright, Destroyer Angel, you're up. Spirit and Entropy, you are to wait outside. The Council will review your situations as well."

The Doomcat returned to robot mode and followed the Commander into a dark room lit by a large screen on the far side. On the screen, the council sat, waiting patiently for a look at the infamous bringer of destruction.

At Ramses' indication, Destroyer Angel stepped into the one lighted spot in the room, directly in front of the screen.

"Introduce yourself," a council member ordered.

"I am the Doomcat, Destroyer Angel." Every bit of fur and feather on her was perfectly poised as she held the council's gaze.

"Destroyer Angel, you have been accused of mass destruction, twenty-two counts of attempted murder, avoiding arrest, and trespassing. How do you plead?"

"Guilty on all counts." There was a faint murmur among the council members. They hadn't expected her to plead guilty?

"It is rumored that you are a berserker."

"I am."

"It is also rumored that you possess immense power, power enough to dismantle quantum singularities."

"I do, but it is not for you to use."

"And what governs this power, then?"

"The Vok and my Maximal sense of right."

"What would you use it for?"

"Who are you to-"

"We are the ones asking the questions, Destroyer Angel, not you. If you possess all this power, why not use it to escape your confinement?"

The Doomcat looked down at her paw feet.

"I'm tired of running," she said. "I will endure any punishment you deal to me, even if that means being put in chains. I don't want to be a fugitive anymore. I don't like being hated and treated like a monster everywhere I go."

"You are a hero."

She looked up back to the council.

"You have saved Cybertron, Earth, and countless lives, despite all they- we- have done to you." In the shadows, Ramses was smiling at her. "It is obvious that there is still Maximal in you, despite your Vok influence. Only a Maximal would be willing to save those that have shunned her. And for that, the Council thanks you."

"You're welcome," Angel replied, losing her Vok composure.

"However, your crimes cannot be overlooked. The Council will deliberate your sentence. There are still two whose fates are still to be determined- Commander Ramses, please bring in Entropy and Spirit."

Destroyer Angel left the spotlight as Spirit and En were ushered into it. En looked surprisingly confident.

"Maximals Spirit and Entropy," the Council said.

"Yes," both chorused.

"Both of you are charged with aiding and abetting a fugitive. How do you plead?"

"Guilty," each said in turn.

Destroyer Angel's tail twitched nervously. She wasn't terribly worried about her fate, but she didn't want her friends to be punished.

"Spirit. Why did you help the Doomcat?"

"She's my friend."

"Beyond that."

"Destroyer Angel is not the bot she'd have you believe she is. She is Vok, true, and she is powerful and confident and proud, but underneath all that still lies a child Maximal brought up during the Beast Wars who is still learning what kind of a place the world can be. I helped her escape because I didn't want to see her locked up in chains for eternity."

Spirit paused.

"But mostly, I helped her because she is my friend, and she destroyed that part of Cybertropolis because she was trying to protect me. At the risk of sounding sappy, friends protect each other. I was protecting her when I helped her escape."

"Entropy? Why did you help the Doomcat?"

Destroyer Angel was deathly afraid En would say something dumb, like, "I didn't have anything better to do at the time," or "Because I felt like it."

"Well, she's my friend." Entropy said. "She knows I'm not very smart and that I'm really dense, but she doesn't really care. She likes having me around. I'd do anything for her, I think, and I guess that means I'd help her run away from the cops."

"You are excused. The Council will recess, reconvene, deliberate, and inform you of our decisions."

The screen turned off and the lights in the room brightened.

"You did well, all three of you," Ramses said. "I'll let you know when the Council's ready. Until then, you're free to move about the area, just tell someone if you're leaving the ship, and please don't run away. I don't want to have to chase you three across the galaxy all over again."

It was just after sunset. The Doomcat was outside, alone, within sight of the ship. She was in beast mode, feeling the cool earth under her paws.

She was a hero? How'd that happen? She was just following orders. All in a day's work for the Doomcat.

And Spirit. One moment, Spirit was berating her, the next moment she was defending her. Well, that's Spirit for you. Spirit was a cat through and through, and cats tended to be confusing.

Angel just hoped Spirit and En wouldn't suffer some horrible fate because they helped her.

Footsteps, three sets of them. Quadrupeds. En, Spirit, and Halifax not far behind.

"Hi!" En chirped brightly. "Glad to see you're not dead!"

Angel couldn't help but smile.

"Told you so," Spirit said to En.

"And what brings you three out on such a fine evening?" Angel asked.

"You, of course," Spirit sniffed. "How's our resident Doomcat faring?"

"Been better."

"Contemplating your fate?"

"Not mine. Yours. I was thinking that maybe I could convince the Council that I dragged you into this against your will, that I used a Doomcat spell or something, and then you'd get off unharmed."

"En," Spirit turned to the Dinofelis. "Do it."

En raised a paw and looked at Spirit questioningly. "Do I really-"

"Yes!"

En used a massive Dinofelis paw to thwack Destroyer Angel upside the head.

"OW! What was that for?"

"It was Spirit's idea!"

"I told En to thwack you every time you tried to get us out of what's coming to us."

"But I'm the Doomcat! I can take the punishment a lot better-"

"En, if you would."

Thwack!

"Ow!"

"Spirit made me!"

"Alright, I get it! We're in this together! Please stop thwacking me!" Angel rubbed her sore head. "But what if they split us up?"

"You're not going to let that happen, are you?" Spirit said. "You're the Doomcat. No one can do anything to you without you letting them."

"Doesn't that include thwacks to the head?" En asked, worried.

"Yes, En," Spirit explained, "if Angel really wanted you to knock it off, she'd make you."

"Does that mean you like getting thwacked?" En asked Angel.

"No!"

"Oh, now I'm confused."

"Halifax," Angel called over to the Doomhound, "Why are you sitting way over there? Don't you want in on the fun?"

"Abusing your contemporaries is fun?" Halifax replied.

"Yes!" Spirit meowed as En whined "No!" at the same time. Angel laughed at Halifax's confusion.

Halifax reluctantly came over and sat down beside the others, and they all were quiet, happy to be a group once again.

Footsteps behind them caused everyone to look over their shoulders. Ramses approached, looking serious.

"The Council had made their decision."

Destroyer Angel, Entropy, and Spirit stood side by side in the spotlight, waiting for the Council to tell them their fate.

"Though your crimes are different and vary by degrees," a councilmember said, "the Council has ruled that your punishment shall be the same for all of you."

En gulped, voicing the feelings that the other two were hiding.

"Destroyer Angel, we cannot overlook both your heroism and your villainy. Spirit and Entropy, since you seem so intent on staying with the Doomcat, the Council has decided that the three of you shall be banished from Cybertron and Earth effective midnight Earth time."

That was it? Banishment was nothing to laugh at, but it could've been a lot worse.

"Aside from a sentence, we also have a proposition for you," another councilmember said. "You are free to accept or decline as you see fit."

"Yes?" Spirit said, intrigued. "Oh, one moment, our fourth may want to hear this. Commander Ramses, would you please bring in the Doomhound?"

Ramses nodded, left, and came back with Halifax in tow, and the Council explained from there.

Commander Ramses decided that all Transformers under his command had been on Earth long enough, so he agreed to escort the exiles as far as he could. He had obviously taken a liking to the Doomcat and her friends and was only happy to help, which was good, since they otherwise had no transportation.

Ramses had also decided to overlook Cheetor and the other Maximals' involvement, since Derpolitzt was found to be a corrupt individual, and the Maximals' intrusion had brought light to his… research. Destroyer Angel was not the only victim of Derpolitzt's insanity. Belladonna, the Maximal who betrayed the Doomcat, was being 'studied' to 'better understand' the Doomcat's effects on Transformers. And Belladonna was not the least of it. Many of Destroyer Angel's victims from the first time she went berserk were also there, not to mention a few others who had gone missing after reporting they might have seen the Doomcat.

Derpolitzt himself had recovered from his latest encounter with the Doomcat in the sense that he could move, but he was still showing classic signs of utter insanity, and probably wouldn't be brought to justice, but would probably live out the rest of his miserable life in a loony bin.

And so all was right in the universe, more or less.

Destroyer Angel watched Earth grow smaller, just like Angel had at the end of the Beast Wars, except this would be the last time the Doomcat would visit the planet she still considered her home planet.

"Exile, huh," Cheetor said, standing beside her. "I guess that means no tickertape parade for you."

"Guess not. Well, being a Doomcat is a thankless job. It could've been a lot worse. I don't think I'll miss Cybertron."

"Except that the Little Bomber's still there."

"Oh, slag! I knew I was forgetting something! How're we supposed to get around without a ship?"

Cheetor laughed. "Relax, Rattrap can fly it to you when we get back."

They were quiet for a moment.

"So, what're you going to do with yourself now that you don't have to run anymore?" he asked her.

"I've got a job," she replied smugly. "The Council offered it to us."

"What is it?"

"It's perfect! We're notified if there's some way my powers can be of constructive use, and then we go there, and I help out, and Halifax does too, and Spirit and En are my backup crew. They watch over me when I'm resting! And it's all optional, so if I don't want to do it, I don't have to!"

"Sounds like you've got it made."

Another moment of silence.

"If only Big Bot could see you now. You've come a long way, Destroyer Angel, and I don't think even the Seer could've seen it coming even if your future was predictable. Optimus would be proud."

"Oh," Destroyer Angel the Doomcat said more to herself than Cheetor, "I think he is."

End Part 14.