Hunted

The Chronicles of the Doomcat

Part Six: Hunted

Destroyer Angel lazily watched the stars streak by from the control room of the Little Bomber. There wasn't much else to do.

"When do we come out of Transwarp space, again?"

"In an hour. You can wait till then."

"Does it really need to be an hour? It's not like we have a destination in mind."

"Just wait an hour. There's nothing around here anyways."

Angel propped her footpaws up on the console, leaned back in her chair, and let her mind drift.

It was a pity they'd had to leave that planet so suddenly. She kind of liked Entropy. But they couldn't have stayed without giving themselves away. Just the fact that En and the Rana crew knew Angel was a berserker was enough to cause trouble. Besides, now that En knew, he would've been walking on eggshells so he didn't get her angry. That's how people acted around berserkers.

Not only was being a berserker a problem, but Angel and Spirit were on the run from the law. Staying anywhere for too long invites danger.

And then there was the thing Angel and Spirit avoided discussing- the Matrix didn't know Destroyer Angel existed, it didn't know what she was doing or where she was going. Metaphorically, the Matrix and all Transformers were one huge river, and Destroyer Angel was a stream separated from it. Spirit was caught up in Angel's stream, so she had a similar problem, and so would anyone else who stayed around Destroyer Angel too long. But Spirit's Spark would rejoin the Matrix when she died, and Destroyer Angel's would not. It was too corrupted- in the physical sense- by the Vok to be able to rejoin the Matrix.

While Angel couldn't take stock in the afterlife, she could be assured of a long existence. Her Spark was more powerful- hardier, stronger- then normal Transformers. She took comfort in knowing she'd be danged hard to destroy.

A red light started blinking, disturbing her thoughts. She sat up and pushed a button. A screen displayed the radar.

"Hey, Spirit."

"What?"

"Bogey on our six."

"What?" Spirit didn't understand pilot jargon.

"Someone's tailing us."

"Are you sure they're not just going in the same direction?"

"Hold on." Angel pulled the 'Bomber out of Transwarp space. The ship behind them did the same. "Yeah, they're following us. How are the weapons on this thing?"

"Nonexistent. This is a prototype, remember? Prototypes don't require weapons."

"Defenses?"

"Top-of-the-line Sentinel security system."

"Putting Sentinel online." Angel pushed a button. Nothing happened. "Um, Spirit..."

"What?" Spirit groaned.

"Sentinel's not installed."

Right on cue, the other ship opened fire on the Little Bomber. Angel grabbed the controls and tried to shake the tailing ship.

"I'm going to try to find a planet we can land on," Spirit said. "Just in case."

"Good, cuz we're probably going to need it."

A blast rocked the ship, and Angel fought for control. She steered the nose straight down and gunned the throttle. The enemy ship followed.

"According to the computer, it's not the cops," Spirit said.

"Great, that narrows it to space pirates, bounty hunters, itchy trigger fingers, and/or someone who's just plain mean."

"Among other things," Spirit added.

Angel cut the throttle, and hit the brakes. The enemy rocketed past.

"That's the opening we need, Spirit said. "There's a heavily forested planet off the starboard bow."

"I see it. I'm taking her down. We can hide there."

"That's exactly what I was thinking."

"Well, we're down," Angel said, sighing.

"The ship isn't too heavily damaged. I think I can fix it, but first thing's first. We need to hide it from eyes above."

"Branches and leaves?"

"Yep."

"I'll get on it."

It felt nice to be surrounded by normal trees again. The planet was a lot like Earth, if Earth was covered completely by forest. Destroyer Angel lifted Ace over her head and brought it down on a branch. Ace probably wasn't intended for this purpose, but oh well. The sword's sharp blade went through thick branches like they were nothing.

Sheathing Ace, she gathered up an armful of cut branches, flew them to the top of the ship, and arranged them so the ship didn't show through.

She'd repeated the process a couple more times when Spirit popped out of the ship.

"Angel, I just picked up a message from that ship. Some guy's saying he only wants you, and if I hand you over I get to walk free."

"How thoughtful of him."

"If you get away from the ship and lay low for awhile, this ought to blow over."

Angel thought for a moment, then said, "If I could get him out of his ship, I bet I could beat him."

"Yeah, if he's alone. For all we know, he could have fifty bots at his disposal."

"I've taken on twenty. Fifty can't be that much different."

"Correction- you took on twenty when you were berserk. If you're berserk, a thousand bots wouldn't be any trouble for you- anyways, the point is, just lay low and don't pick a fight."

"Yeah, okay."

The Doomcat walked silently along the forest floor. The dead leaves crumpled under her paws. It felt good. She kept her senses alert, her ears honing in on any sound that was out of place.

She sat down for a moment and twitched her whiskers. In retrospect, she should've brought Ace, but the thought hadn't occurred to her until now, and it was too late to go back. Well, with or without Ace, she could defend herself. She was a Doomcat.

The planet's orangey sun set, and the forest changed. She depended more on whiskers, smell, and hearing now. Her steps became more cautious, but no less confident.

A stick snapped. The Doomcat swung her head around, trying to get a fix on where the noise came from. She heard a high-pitched whine come from under her. Before she could figure out what it was, it exploded and sent her flying.

She transformed in midair and managed to land on her feet. It was still too dark to see anything, although the grenade had lit small fires among the leaves.

Sensing it was coming, she dodged an attack from behind. She looped her tail around something and gave it a jerk. Her attacker fell, but got up quickly. It grabbed her by the wrist, so she used it to toss him (well, it probably was a him).

She heard some scurrying, and floodlights lit up the forest. Destroyer Angel whipped out her bow and shot out one of the lights. Her attacker didn't show. She backed up against a tree, hoping to protect her backside so she could concentrate on what was in front of her.

As she neared the tree, someone pushed her from behind, and something shot at her from the side.

There was more than one attacker.

Reaching behind her, she grabbed an enemy by the head and threw him to the ground. As soon as he hit, she planted a foot on his chest, claws splayed.

The submission didn't last long because a shot knocked her off her feet. There must be at least three of them, she decided.

"Hold your fire!" a voice commanded. "Leave her to me." A mech carrying a long rifle stepped out of the shadows. He pointed the rifle right at her Spark. Destroyer Angel made no move. This was rather interesting.

"Is she the one?" the mech asked one of his minions hiding in the trees. A familiar bot stepped into the light. Entropy.

Angel shoved her fury down. Now was not the time to go berserk.

"Yes," En said. "I'll prove it. What's your name?"

"Destroyer Angel." No. She had to control herself.

"Destroyer Angel," the leader said, "You are wanted for-"

"Yeah, I know." She made no attempt to disguise the metallic ring in her voice as she usually did.

"Will you come quietly, or am I going to have to terminate you?"

"If I go, what will the penalty be?"

"You'll be imprisoned, and possibly studied."

Destroyer Angel fell silent, weighing her choices. She knew he couldn't kill her, but still, was it right for her to walk free? But if she submitted, she would be dissected.

"Well?"

"I'm thinking. Have you ever had to choose between you freedom or what's right? It's a hard decision."

Entropy stood beside the leader, asking her, "You understand the magnitude of what you have done?"

"Yes. More so than you do, I'll bet," she answered coldly.

"That's good enough for me!" En shoved the leader, grabbing the rifle. He pointed the rifle at the leader, shouting, "All right, if you want you leader to live, you'll leave this place!"

Angel hadn't the foggiest clue what was going on. She wasn't sure whether to rip Entropy's head off or help him.

She decided to roll with it and help.

"I know you're still there!" she said. "Leave or you will all die." She was bluffing, but it didn't sound like it.

After a moment, En looked to the leader and told him, "You'll leave Destroyer Angel alone if you know what's good for you. She could've turned all of you into slag, but she didn't. You should be thankful." Entropy lowered the rifle. "Now, go." The leader hesitated until he saw Angel glaring at him, and then ran away.

When the leader was long gone, Angel turned to En and said, "Explain yourself before I go berserk on your tail."

"I was only acting!" En pleaded, dropping the rifle. "See, you just up and left, and I didn't even get to say goodbye, and then that guy showed up looking for you. I told him I knew who you were, so he let me come along."

Angel got so close to him their noses were almost touching. En thought he was going to die.

"En, you are the stupidest mech I have ever met." The menacing look on her face disappeared. "Y'know, you're the only person I've ever met who's made me almost lose it TWICE!"

"I have that effect on people." En grinned.

"So you risked you life just to say goodbye??"

"Well, not exactly. See, after finding out you're a berserker, I wanted to know the whole story. Where you got your name and Ace. Did you know you're an awfully nice berserker?"

Angel laughed.

"See? That's what I'm talking about! None of the other berserkers I know laugh."

"You know other berserkers?"

"Um... no. Actually, I don't think there are other berserkers besides you. But that's not the point."

"Sorry, En, but I can't tell you my whole story. Thank you and goodbye." Angel transformed to beast mode and went into the darkness.

"No, wait!" Transforming, En followed Angel. "Why can't you tell me?"

"I can't even figure out which person to tell it in! That's how messed up it is."

"I like messed up stories. Please?"

Angel stopped so En could catch up to her. "If I tell you, you'll probably be in trouble. You shouldn't even be seen with me."

"I'm already in trouble! That guy we just took care of is one of the top bounty hunters in the system! Once he reports in, everyone'll know I'm an accomplice."

"Alright." Angel tried to figure out where to start. "Okay, you know about the Beast Wars and how Optimus Primal's Maximals fought Megatron's Predacons on prehistoric Earth."

"Right."

"Well, Earth was an experiment overseen by a bunch of aliens called the Vok. The Vok didn't like enemy forces battling it out in their planet. With me so far?"

"I think so."

"The Vok took a protoform and manipulated it so it would answer to them. When the protoform emerged on Earth, it was supposed to destroy the Maximals and Predacons."

"Okay."

"When the stasis pod made planetfall, something happened to it. The programming didn't kick in, and so someone else formed from that protoform."

"Who was that?"

"Her name was Angel. The Vok's program was called Destroyer. See where this is going?"

"...No."

"Well, long story short, Angel made it through the Beast Wars and the Battle for Cybertron, but eventually, the Vok decided to reclaim their property."

"What?"

"They took Angel and loaded Destroyer's program into her. Angel didn't want to be deleted, so she combined her program with Destroyer's program and created me."

"And you escaped."

"Yeah."

"I don't see how that makes you a berserker."

"Doomcats are able to manipulate things. Originally, they could manipulate pretty much only weather, but now they can manipulate atoms- adding energy, taking energy, you get the picture."

"There are other Doomcats?"

"There was one other, but he's dead."

"Oh. I'm still not seeing the berserker aspect."

"Normally, I can't manipulate atoms. Whenever I get mad- REALLY mad- I'm able to access my abilities. But I can't control myself, and so I destroy things."

"Why did the Vok want Destroyer back?"

"Doomcats are hard to make, but they're very useful. In a sense, the Vok are the judge and jury, and Doomcats are the executioner. They take orders and carry them out, but they don't make the decisions. Doomcats make it so the Vok don't get their hands dirty- well, they don't have hands, but you get the idea."

"Did Angel find out about Destroyer?"

"Oh yeah."

"Huh?"

"Angel was scared of a lot of things, but nothing so much as the Vok."

"How'd the other Doomcat die?"

"Megatron killed him."

"Oh. You didn't say how you got Ace."

"The Vok didn't like the fact that I was reformatted. They couldn't reverse it, so they made do with what they had. They made armor for me, and Ace. I don't really know why, but I can't complain."

"If Destroyer takes orders from the Vok, and Angel fears them, what does that make you?"

"I don't know. I'm still programmed to take orders from them."

"Are you scared of them?"

"I fear nothing."

"Uh-huh."

"I'd better get back to the 'Bomber. That bounty hunter might get ideas."

"I'll come with you."

"You shouldn't."

"I'm stupid. You said it yourself."

"Look, there's one thing I didn't tell you."

"What's that?"

"The Matrix doesn't know I exist. If you stick with me for too long, the Matrix'll lose track of you."

"So I won't stay for long. Simple."

Angel shrugged. "Your decision, not mine." She and En started walking.

Spirit noticed the lift coming up into the control room.

"Hey, Angel, your timing's great! The ship's all patched up and- isn't that Entropy??"

"En, this is Spirit. Spirit, En." Angel stepped off the lift.

"Hi, Spirit, nice to meet you!" En grinned.

Spirit meowed (in Cat), "Angel, are you crazy? En can't get caught up in this!"

Angel answered, also in Cat, "He seems to know what he's getting into."

"If anything happens to me," En said, in Cat, "it's my own fault."

Angel and Spirit's jaws dropped.

"You speak Cat??"

"Last I knew, you didn't even know how to use your claws!"

En shrugged. "It's not that hard."

"Try telling that to Cheetor."

"Who's Cheetor?"

"The closest thing Angel has to a brother," Spirit explained. "His beast mode's a cheetah, but he couldn't speak Cat to save his life."

"Oh. For a minute there, I thought he was your boyfriend or something."

Angel and Spirit stared at En.

"I am incapable of falling in love," Angel said in an official tone. "It's a programming thing."

Spirit started laughing. "Cheetor being Angel's boyfriend??"

"EEW!!!!!!!!" Angel covered her head with her paws.

"Sorry I said anything!" En laughed, too.

Spirit instantly sobered up when she saw Angel's singed fur.

"What happened?"

"I met up with that bounty hunter, and he and his goonies attacked me, and then En came out, and I almost went berserk, and then he said something funny, so I decided not to kill him, and then I told him about me, and he followed me here." She thought about that last phrase for a moment, and then added, "Can we keep him?"

Both the Doomcat and the dinofelis grinned cheesily. Spirit felt like she was being ganged up on.

"I don't see any problem with it, at least for right now. While you were out, Angel, I installed Sentinel. I'll bring it online, and you can get some rest. Doomcat or not, you did take some damage in that battle, and you should sleep it off."

Angel was feeling sleepy, but she was too proud to admit it. She nodded to Spirit and went to her quarters.

"Please don't take this the wrong way," Spirit said, turning to Entropy, "but I don't trust you." En didn't say anything.

"I really don't like the idea of someone else getting involved in all this," Spirit continued. "Things could get messy, and- keep in mind I'm saying this for your safety- Angel doesn't need any more friends than she's already got."

"Is this part of that berserker thing?"

"It's not just 'that berserker thing'. She may have come close to losing control around you, but you've never seen her over the edge." She shuddered. "Makes my fur stand on end thinking about it."

"It looks to me like she needs all the friends she can get."

"I think the more friends she has, the easier it is to set her off. The first time she went berserk, it was when she saw Cheetor and me held hostage. The more friends she has, the more chances there are that they get into trouble."

"Now it's your turn to not take things the wrong way, but why are you still with her, then?"

"Angel cut her Spark in half to save my life. Did you know we can communicate telepathically? It's harder now that she's Destroyer Angel, but we still can. She's been my best friend since before I was, well, what I am now."

"You lost me."

"I was originally a normal cat. Angel- the original one- took me in as a pet without telling anyone. I caused some trouble, and so I got booted out. Awhile later, I found Angel all alone, right after- I'm not sure what it was, but I know it had something to do with Destroyer."

"Huh?"

"At one point, Megatron found out about Destroyer. He loaded the program into Angel, and something happened. I don't know what. She's never told anyone about what happened, but I found her after she escaped from Megatron. That's when I figured out she needed a friend, not really to protect her, but to watch her back. So, I followed her to Cybertron, where I got into a mess of trouble, because I hadn't the foresight to bring along any food. Angel got the bright idea into her head that I could be reformatted so long as I had a Spark."

"Cats don't have Sparks, do they?"

"No, they don't. Angel's Spark is near immortal. I've seen her take beatings that would end a lesser Transformer's life- well, 'lesser' isn't the word I want, more like 'more normal'. So, she- Optimus, actually- cut it in half with an energon blade, and then reformatted me. I can't transform, but I don't really care about that."

Spirit got herself back on track. "Anyways, Angel- and Destroyer Angel, too- are naïve to a fault. Despite all that programming she's got, she still thinks the best of everyone wearing a Maximal insignia. That's why I'm here. I have to be the suspicious one because she isn't."

"Oh! I understand now."

"Whew." Spirit's ears drooped. "I was hoping you would."

"We can watch Angel's back together."

"No, that's not what I meant!"

"Spirit, my friend, you will quickly find out how stubborn and persistent I can be, if you don't let me come with you."

"Angel's right, Entropy. You really ARE stupid! You're going to get yourself slagged if you stick with us!"

"Do you know what I was doing before I got involved in all this? Before I was reformatted, I was working as a grunt in the decontamination crews. I had one of the worst jobs imaginable. And then I got the virus, so I had to be reformatted. I was laid off shortly after that. Apparently there's a problem with being reformatted."

"Dear Primus, is there any way I can get rid of you?"

"Nope! I'm like a really annoying boomerang. I keep coming back."

"Just you wait, En. I'll figure something out, and then you'll be begging to leave."

"Until then, where's my room? Do I get a room?"

"Down the corridor, to the left. It's tiny, but so's the ship."

"Yes! I am now Entropy, the dinofelis space renegade!"

Spirit snickered. "Yes. Entropy."

"And 'Spirit' is better?"

"It's another word for ghost. Make fun of it and I'll claw your eyes out."

"I got the same impression from Destroyer Angel."

"Yeah, don't go making too much fun of her. It's okay so long as you leave anything Destroyer related out of it."

"And don't insult Optimus Primal."

"Don't even talk about it. That gets even me riled up."

"And that's bad."

"I have to keep my head clear. I'm the brains, and while Angel isn't stupid like you or anything, she's the brawn."

"What does that make me?"

"The comic relief," Spirit sniffed. "I wonder…."

"Me, too. Why do those darned Smilodons get all the attention, and the Dinofelises get ignored?"

"Um, I was thinking about something else. If you keep making Angel go near-berserk, maybe she'll be able to vent some anger… Of course, it may backfire, and you'll get slagged…."

"Is this one of you ideas to get rid of me?"

"Yes. Actually, don't provoke her. She'd probably just bottle it and explode at some little thing. No, wait, maybe you should…."

"It's nice to know someone cares about me."

"Hey, you're the one who got yourself into this. It's your funeral."

"I'm too stupid to scare easily."

"Obviously. But don't do out of your way to keep her happy. You'd just wind up hurting her feelings."

"Would she go berserk on me if I did?"

"No, she'd probably turn herself in. En, the last thing she should do is get caught."

En nodded. "I know. There are monsters out there that the authorities would better spend their time on."

"Problem is, she thinks she's a monster."

"She's a very nice monster. She's the kind of monster everyone should leave alone."

"You really are stupid."

"So I'm told."

Spirit shook her head in exasperation. "Just don't blame me when you come to your gruesome demise. I'm going to sleep."

"Where's my room, again?"

"Don't tell me you've forgotten already!"

"Hey, I'm stupid. I forget things."

End part 6.