Chronicles of the Doomcat
Part Nine: Plan Omega
By: Miss Special
When Destroyer Angel, still wearing her Vok armor, stepped off the ship, she was greeted by harsh winds, loose, shifting dirt, and a fervent wish to be back on the Little Bomber with Spirit and En.
She had never been on her own before. Never- not in this life, not as Angel, and certainly not as Destroyer. Being on one's own was a very lonely experience.
She, along with a long line of other bots, fought the winds and made her way into a large, expansive building. It was warm inside, but her extra layer of armor protected her from the cold outside. The armor also kept people away. No one wanted to be near someone who could slay you with an errant twitch of a wing.
And that was just fine with her. She didn’t want anyone to get close. But she'd have to take the armor off sooner or later. Just not when she was around so many people.
Dear Primus, she thought. I can't even show my face in public. What sort of meaningless existence is this? The Cosmic Mistake can't even walk around freely.
Yes, Desty. You're a mistake. You've known that; it just took a while to sink in. And you called yourself "Desty" just now. You hate that nickname. The only reason why you hate that name is because you were designed to destroy, murder, and whatever else the Vok want you to do. And despite her name, Angel was no warrior for good- she was a bumbling child- another mistake.
"Excuse me, miss." A mech sidestepped his way around her, giving her a wide berth. Destroyer Angel suppressed an impulse to maim him for interrupting her thoughts.
"I can't help but notice you just standing there," the mech continued, "and so I wondered to myself, 'What's a nice femme like that doing in a place like this?' And so I just had to come over here and-"
"Ever wonder exactly what your insides look like?"
"Uh, no, miss. Can't say that I have. If you'll excuse me, I have a pressing engagement over on the other side of the building." If the mech walked away any faster, he'd be running.
It became apparent to the Doomcat that she'd better leave as soon as possible.
"Oh, I remember you mentioning this guy." En tried to look through the spy hole in the apartment door.
"Just knock already." Spirit had been in a bad mood ever since Angel left. En knocked on the door, and a "I'm coming!" reached their ears. The door opened.
Cheetor saw En first.
"Can I help you?"
"You'd better," Spirit, down on the ground, said. Cheetor looked down and saw her.
"Hey, Cyberkitty! Long time no see!"
"Hiya, Spothead. Cheetor, this is Entropy." Cheetor suppressed a snicker and shook En's hand.
"So, where's Angel?"
"En here confused her with a butterfly."
"What?"
"She's gone."
"Oh, slag."
"Yep. Guess what we're gonna do."
"Get everyone together to find her?"
"See, En, this is what we call 'intelligence'. Something you lack."
"I'm sorry already! Can't you lay off for just a little while?"
"When we find Angel, I'll lay off. Not until then."
Flying during a windstorm was a bad idea. A bad idea, but a challenge. And Doomcats like challenges.
Still, this was one annoying challenge. Buffeted by winds, she flapped her strong Doomcat wings, fighting her way forward. Only the most experienced fliers would even consider braving this storm.
After awhile, she realized she was losing feathers, and decided to look for cover. Luck smiled upon her, and she found a small cave out of the wind's way. She took off her bladed armor, glad to be free of it.
Outside, the wind howled. Dust blew, obscuring the landscape. Angel decided her decision to land was a good one- she could barely see, and, had she continued, she might've flown into something.
The wind's howling took on a higher pitch.
Wait- that wasn't howling, it was screaming. Someone was out there.
Destroyer Angel poked her head out of the cave, squinting against the flying dirt. She saw a motionless lump not too far out- it was probably a rock. Yeah, a rock.
You dummy, Angel told herself. It's not a rock, and you know it.
Digging her foot claws into the dirt, she ventured out to the thing that wasn't a rock. It was a bird. A very large bird- probably a Transformer.
She picked it up- it didn't seem to have any life in it- and carefully made her way back to the cave.
The dirt had stained its feathers a dirty color, but it appeared to be a bluebird. A fire would probably be the best thing for it, but there was no fuel around, so Destroyer Angel transformed to beast mode, curled up, and kept an eye on the bluebird.
After some time, the bird's eyes fluttered open, and it slowly sat up. It took a look around, saw the Doomcat watching it, and backed against a wall.
"D-don't hurt me," it- she- said.
"Why would I want to do that?" Destroyer Angel asked, lifting up her head.
"I don't know. I was flying in the wind, and the next thing I know, I'm here."
"Yeah, you shouldn't fly out in a windstorm."
"You did."
"I'm different."
"Did you save me?"
"Yeah."
"Thank you. Thank you very much."
Angel smiled warmly. "No problem."
"My name's Bella. What's yours?"
"Dest- Angel. My name's Angel."
"I'm glad you came along, Angel."
"What were you doing out there?"
"I didn't want to wait for the transport, so I flew."
"Are your wings damaged at all?"
Bella looked her wings over. "I've lost a lot of feathers."
"Yeah, I lost a few."
"So, why are you here?"
"…I don’t really know. I wanted to get out of the base."
"Looks like we'll be here awhile."
"Looks like," Angel agreed. "The sun's going down, too. We'd better sleep. It'll pass time."
"Sounds like a good idea to me."
Angel put her head down and closed her eyes. She stayed alert for a long while- just in case- before dropping off to sleep.
"Everyone, this is En. En, I'd like to introduce you to Silverbolt, Blackarachnia, Nightscream, Rattrap, and Botanica." Spirit sat down on the table.
"Hi, everyone." En grinned nervously.
"So Angel's run off?" Rattrap asked.
"Yeah." Spirit nodded. "And we don't know where she went."
"We have to find her before they do," Cheetor said. "Any ideas?"
Silence.
More silence.
"Maybe if we sent someone out to check each place she could go?" En suggested.
"Primus, Spirit, you're right!" Cheetor exclaimed.
"Told you so," Spirit replied smugly.
"Could we please lay off making fun of my stupidity for awhile?" En was getting sick of it.
"Fine."
"So, then, what's wrong with my idea?"
"Have you any idea how many possibilities there are? For all we know, she could still be on Cybertron."
"She's still on Cybertron?!"
"I doubt it, but it's a possibility. Then again, so iss everywhere else."
There was a knock at the door.
"Who the slag could that be?"
Cheetor opened the door, seeing a small blue femme accompanied by a larger mech.
"Hello, Cheetor," the femme said sweetly, as a grandmother would greet her grandchild.
"Can I help you?" Cheetor asked, astonished by the fact that the femme knew his name.
"Yes. Actually, I believe I can help you."
"Seer!" Spirit exclaimed.
"May we come in?"
"Of course." Cheetor sidestepped so the Seer and her assistant could enter.
"Hello, everyone," the Seer said.
"Are you the one who told Angel she would die?" Cheetor asked her.
"I did not tell Angel she would die. I told her something was going to happen to her."
"Can you find Destroyer Angel for us?" En asked.
"Unfortunately, no. However, I do know where some dark spots are, and she may be one of them."
"Dark spots?"
"Yes, you see, the Matrix knows everything about you- where you are, where you've been, where you're going. It determines your fate. But it didn't determine Destroyer Angel's fate. It has no idea she exists. So, essentially, she is a dark spot."
"Ooooookaaaaaaay…." En didn't understand.
"Just go with her on it," Spirit told him.
"So, Seer," Cheetor said, getting down to business, "Where exactly are these dark spots?"
The sun wasn't up, but the wind had died down. And a lightning storm started in its place.
The rumbling of thunder woke the Doomcat up. She left the cave, bringing Ace along, to look around. She found herself to be at the base of a mountain that reached right up to the thunder clouds. Spreading her wings, she flew up to the top, transformed, and sat down, setting Ace aside.
Rain pattered down on her, soaking her feathers. Thunder shook the mountain. It was weird, but Destroyer Angel didn’t mind the danger of being hit by lightning. It was nice to see everything from a different perspective, being so high up as to see far off into the distance. And every so often, lightning lit up the sky, changing everything for the barest fraction of a second.
Something was coming. Angel rolled to the side, just in time to avoid a lightning strike. She'd known it was coming. She sat back down on the charred spot, hearing footsteps behind her.
"Isn't dangerous to be up here?" The Doomcat didn't turn around to look at Bella.
"I guess. I’m not scared." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ace move, and heard it being pulled from its sheath.
"Wow, your sword's really sharp."
"Yep," Angel agreed, still facing away from Bella.
This is too easy, Bella thought. She held the great sword so that it pointed directly at the Doomcat's Spark. Taking a deep breath, she plunged the sword in, right up to the hilt.
The horrendous noise the Doomcat made wasn't a scream. It sounded more like something that would come from a cat. She pitched forward, the sword still sticking through her Spark.
Bella turned on her communicator. "Belladonna to Derpolitzt. Plan Omega is a success. The Doomcat has been neutralized and is waiting for pickup."
"Understood. A team is coming, and will collect you and the Doomcat shortly."
End Part 9.