Other Voyages

Chronicles of the Doomcat

Part Twelve: Other Voyages

The Doomcat was in trouble. So far, the only thing that had gone successfully was commandeering a ship bound for Earth. Once she'd announced to the crew and passengers that she was the Doomcat, they'd yielded to her with little resistance. The ship left the spaceport safely, and they entered transwarp space without incident.

Destroyer Angel and Halifax had settled down in a corner, waiting patiently. And that's when the trouble began.

A burly mech had gotten it into his head that he could take on the Doomcat, and so he challenged her.

"You don't want to fight me," she had told him.

"Don't tell me what I want! If you're so powerful, why didn't you just zap yourself there, and save us the trouble?"

"That would be wasting energy."

"Doomcat," Halifax said, "our time would've been better spent if you had used your power to transport yourself there instantly and then replenished your energy. This method of transport is too time-consuming."

"Halifax, now is not a good time to be talking about my power."

"You are the Doomcat. You are the most powerful being in existence. With minimal effort-"

"Doomhound," Destroyer Angel snapped, "that is enough."

"Let him talk, Doomkitty. Everyone's got the right to say what he wants."

"Do not talk to the Doomcat in that manner," Halifax growled. "Destroyer, you should put this Cybertronian in his place."

"Destroyer?" the mech said. "I heard your name was Destroyer Angel."

"Angel was the program that inhabited Destroyer's body for a while." Halifax spoke of Angel as if she was a parasite. "Her proper name is Destroyer."

"Not it's not," Destroyer Angel blurted.

Halifax looked like he'd been smacked. "But you are Destroyer the Doomcat. You cannot-"

"We'll talk about this later Halifax," Angel said. She stood up and looked the mech squarely in the optics. "Look, buddy, if you insist, I'll fight you. But don't say I didn't warn you."

The battle lasted all of half a cycle. Destroyer Angel had toyed with him a little, making the mech believe he'd stood a chance, but the Doomcat laid him low with a single blow.

With him out of the way, she took Halifax to a secluded place and told him the truth.

"You are… not the Doomcat?"

"I am."

"But you are not Destroyer."

"I am Destroyer. And I'm Angel, too."

"So you still have your power." Halifax was trying to figure out if Destroyer Angel would be able to complete her task.

"Sort of."

"Explain."

"I can't use it, but I still have it. There's a programming glitch somewhere. It's made me into a berserker."

"This complicates things. I must go."

"Hey, wait!" Angel exclaimed as Halifax disappeared into dust and then into nothing at all.

So now Destroyer Angel was all alone, left to contemplate what she had gotten herself into.

The Maximals were doing the same thing, sitting in the brig of the infantry ship on the moon.

"Why don't you ask her where she is?" En suggested to Spirit.

"Don't you think I haven't tried?" Spirit replied testily. "And don't say anything about trying not hurting."

"Spirit," Cheetor said, "it's all we've got. Don't make me give you a direct order."

"Okay, fine. I'll try." Spirit closed her eyes and concentrated.

~Angel?~

~I'm lonely.~

~Lonely? Where are you?~

~On my way to Earth. Halifax left.~

~Earth? Who's Halifax?~

~Halifax is the Doomhound. I have to save Earth and Cybertron.~

~From what?~

~Black holes. The Vok made them in a war they had, and now I have to get rid of them~

~How? You can't even use your power, and I don't think even you're powerful enough to get rid of two black holes.~

~There're five.~

~Five what?~

~Black holes. There're five of them~

~Five?! How are you going to get rid of five black holes?!~

~It's a simple concept, really. Black holes are extinguished stars so dense that they fell in on themselves, so if you make them less dense, they'll cease to be black holes- ~

~I understand that, but how do hope to take apart a black hole from Earth?~

~Earth is where the amplifier is. It'll help me take power from the Vok and focus it.~

~So you’re returning to the Vok.~

~…I guess so. I don't really know what's going on right now. I'll tell you when I do.~

~Alright.~

Spirit opened her eyes. Everyone was staring at her.

"Well?"

"She's on her way to-" Spirit stopped midsentence when she heard footsteps coming their way.

An stately bot walked over and stood, looking at the Maximals.

"Greetings," he said. "I am Commander Ramses."

Cheetor stood. "I am Cheetor, leader of these Maximals."

"I know very well who you are. Optimus Primal commanded most of you during the Beast Wars and later in the Battle for Cybertron. You are renowned for your resourcefulness and beating the odds. I also know why you are here."

"What are you going to do to us, then?"

"I'm not going to do anything to you. Derpolitzt was far out of line with what he did. He was instructed to observe and research, not attempt to turn Destroyer Angel into a mindless weapon. I am, however, still deciding what to do with you. Vigilante actions cannot go unpunished, not even for you."

"What are you going to do about the Doomcat?"

"I haven't decided yet. We are trying to find out where she went, but we haven't been able to get much out of Derpolitzt." Ramses looked down the hall. "Ah, there he is now."

The simpering wretch that used to be Derpolitzt was brought in by two soldiers and put in a cell next to the Maximals.

"I know what she's doing and where she's going," Spirit said. Ramses looked genuinely interested, so Spirit went further. "Five black holes are threatening various systems, including Earth and Cybertron. Destroyer Angel's been charged with taking them apart."

"She can do that?"

"There's some business involving an amplifier, but she essentially can, yes."

"Why?"

Spirit blinked. "Why? Why not?"

"She has gotten nothing but grief from the whole of Cybertron, and yet she is still saving it?"

"Destroyer Angel is the Doomcat. It is her duty to follow orders given to her by the Vok, and she's a Maximal. She'd never let Cybertron or Earth be consumed if she could do something about it."

"Sir," a soldier meekly said to Commander Ramses. "While being taken here, Derpolitzt said something about the Doomcat going to Earth, and so I took the initiative and gave the order to alert Earth to her coming."

"Earth?" Ramses asked Spirit.

"That's where the amplifier is."

Ramses nodded and told the soldier, "Tell the Earth government to stand down."

"Yes, sir."

"And next time you take the initiative, check with a superior officer first."

"Yes, sir!"

"As for you," Ramses said, turning back to the imprisoned Maximals, "I will keep you as informed as I can." He left.

She was cold. Cold and lonely. And she couldn't make a friend, not here. She had to keep them afraid of her, or else they'd turn her around and turn her in, which meant failure.

Failure was not acceptable. Not when there were so many lives at stake.

"I have orders for you," said a familiar voice at her side.

"Halifax! You're back?"

He nodded. "I was relaying information. The Vok now know of your…difficulty."

"And?"

"You will proceed to the amplifier. There will be a Head waiting for you there. It will take over your functions and complete the mission."

"Take over my functions? It'll control me?"

"Yes. You are damaged, and we do not know if reparation is possible. The Heads will evaluate you at that time."

"Evaluate me for what?"

"To see if you are still functional."

"What do you think?"

"Excuse me?"

"What's your opinion? What do you think will happen?"

"It is not my function to-"

"I don't care what your function is. I just want your honest opinion."

"…It is likely you will have to be controlled by a Head for the remainder of your service."

"You mean, until I die."

"Yes. Does that change anything?"

"Not really. I'm still going to Earth."

"Then my mission is complete. I will return to-"

"Can't you stay?"

"Stay? I would be of no use to you."

"Do they need you back there?"

"I do not believe so."

"Why don't you stay with me, then?"

"Do you require me for anything?"

"I need a friend."

"Friend?"

"I did something really stupid- I ran away from my friends, and that's what got me into this mess. And now there's no time for me to go back to them. So you're all I've got."

"I will stay."

"There's been a complication," Ramses grimly announced to the jailed Maximals. "We've set in a course for Earth."

"What's going on?"

"Earth won't stand down its defenses. Every place is on high alert, watching out for the Doomcat."

"Why? She's there to help!"

"When the Vok were explained to them, they became hostile. They don't want to have anything to do with the Vok, and so they're going to destroy anything remotely related to them."

"Including Angel."

"Including Angel," Ramses repeated. "We- specifically you- are going to give her backup."

~Spirit? You there?~

~What's up?~

~Halifax is back.~

~And?~

~They've figured it out. A Head is going to control me.~

~A Head?~

~You've seen a couple. The floating head Vok.~

~Control you? Like Tigerhawk?~

~Yes.~

~They're going to let you go after that, aren't they?~

~Doesn't look that way. I think this is it. Sorry.~

"What’s she doing?" Ramses asked Cheetor.

"Talking to Angel. Long story. Don't ask."

Spirit's eyes snapped open.

"What'd she say?" Ramses asked politely.

"A Vok's going to control her. She says they probably won't let her go. She sounded like she was okay with it."

"I'm not okay with it," said En, speaking up for the first time in a while.

"Neither am I," Cheetor added.

"Same 'ere," Rattrap said.

One by one, the Maximals voiced the opinion: none of them wanted to accept the fact that Destroyer Angel might not be herself for much longer.

"Soldier!" Commander Ramses called down the hall. "Let them out. They're no danger to us."

"Yes, sir." The soldier obediently unlocked the cell, and the Maximals walked out.

"We've exited transwarp space," the pilot grumbled, "and are about to enter Earth's atmosphere."

"Right. Thanks," Destroyer Angel replied. "Halifax, where's the nearest amplifier?"

"There's only one left."

"Where is it?"

"On an island called Great Britain."

"Where's that?"

"I do not know."

"No problem. We'll just ask for directions when we land."

"We're not landing," the pilot interjected. "I've just gotten word from the spaceport authority that no ships, especially ones carrying Transformers, are allowed to land anywhere in Earth space. We've been told to turn around."

"Then just enter the atmosphere. Halifax and I'll fly there."

"What do I tell them?" the pilot asked, pointing at the comm, which was receiving loud orders from angry earthlings.

"There's too much static," Angel said as if it were the truth. "We're attempting reentry, and our communications array has been damaged."

"They'll want proof."

"I'll break it on my way out."

"Crazy femme."

"Sometimes crazy works," Destroyer Angel said, remembering what Optimus had said so long ago.

"We're through," the pilot said some moments later.

"Hold on to something and open the door. Ready, Halifax?"

"I am always ready," he replied it as if it were a fact and nothing more. The hatch opened and the Doombeasts jumped out. Destroyer Angel spread her wings wide, flew up, kicked the communications array, and dropped altitude rapidly with Halifax close behind.

~Angel, where are you?~ Spirit ignored the soldiers watching her like she was a sideshow.

~Over Earth.~

~The humans know you're coming, and they're not happy about it.~

~Why?~

~Because you're Vok. Anyways, where's that amplifier you mentioned?~

~Great Britain, wherever that is. Don't suppose you know?~

~Hold on.~

"Where's Great Britain?" Spirit asked one of the soldiers watching her.

"Am I supposed to know?"

"Go find out!"

The soldier did some research and reported back. "It's an island in the Atlantic Ocean, near the European continent."

Spirit relayed the information to Angel.

~That helps a little,~ Angel said. ~I haven't gotten my bearings yet, though.~

~Are there any landmarks that you can see?~

~There's a city coming up. It's huge.~

~That narrows it a ton,~ Spirit answered sarcastically.

~I'll just ask the locals.~

~Sure. You can ask them while they shoot at you.~

~I have to try, at least. Maybe they don't know yet.~

They knew. Boy did they know. Angel and Halifax ducked into an alleyway to avoid a hail of bullets.

"They get an A for effort," Destroyer Angel muttered, annoyed by the setback. Both Doombeasts knew the humans couldn't stop them. "Follow me." She transformed to beast mode and climbed her way up the side of the building. Unable to scale the wall the same way Angel did, Halifax transformed to dust and blew up to the top.

"What happens if there's a breeze?" the Doomcat asked the Doomhound.

"Breezes are not hard to compensate for," he answered. "If they are small."

"And if they're big?"

"Then I don't go to dust."

"Because you'd get blown away."

"Yes."

"Good to know." She hopped to another rooftop. "We need to get across town as fast as possible."

Crossing the city did not take long. Destroyer Angel jumped off a roof and backwinged a landing into an alley. Halifax landed right behind her.

"Alright," the Doomcat said, lowering her voice. "Here's the plan." She explained her simple idea to the Doomhound, and he nodded.

"This sector seems clear," Officer Jimmy said to his partner.

"Are you sure?" Officer Andy looked around. "I coulda swore I heard a dog just a second ago." He listened for a moment. "See? There it is again."

"I don't hear a thing. Look, our shift's over in five minutes. Let's call it a day. Besides, the Doomcat was sighted clear on the other side of the city. There's no way it'd make it over here so fast."

"Yeah, Jimmy, I know. I'm just afraid some poor dog's been hurt."

"Listen, Andy, you can do whatever the heck you want. I'm going to HQ and then going home."

"Alright. See you tomorrow, then."

Officer Jimmy walked away, and Officer Andy listened for the source of the whimpering. It seemed to be coming from an alley, right over there….

"Hey, boy, don't worry," Andy cooed soothingly. He saw the glint of orange eyes, and another whimper coming from their direction. Yes, he could see it now. A dark wolf-like dog, laying on its side, twitching its-

Wings. The dog had wings.

"What the-"

The dog painfully stood up, limping its way over to Andy. Andy held his hand out to it. Something was very fishy….

The next thing Andy knew, his legs had been knocked out from under him, and he was bracing himself for impact with the hard ground.

Something soft cushioned his head as the rest of him hit the asphalt. His head was lowered to the ground, the cushion went away, and a large, heavily clawed paw was placed at his throat.

"Can't have you getting hurt," a voice said. Andy found himself staring into large, yellow cat eyes. The eyes looked at the dog. "Awesome job, Halifax! Couldn't have done it better myself."

Andy groaned. He should've listened to Jimmy.

"Good evening, officer," the Doomcat said as if she were out on a nice twilight excursion. "You haven't been hurt, I hope?"

"I'm not telling you anything, so just finish me off already!"

"Finish you off? If I wanted you dead, I would've let your head hit the ground with the rest of you. I'm not going to kill you."

Andy looked at the paw on his throat, not believing her.

"Oh, for Primus' sake," Destroyer Angel said, rolling her eyes and removing the paw. "I just wanted to keep you from running."

"Then what do you want?" Andy asked, sitting up.

"We do want information, you've got that much right. See, it's been a few million years since I've been to Earth, and I don't know my geography anymore. We want to know which direction Great Britain's in."

"Great Britain? What's there?"

"You'd know it as a circle of stones. It's really old, buncha stones piled in an odd way…."

"Stonehenge?"

"Stonehenge?" Angel echoed, looking at Halifax as if he could verify the information. "Yeah, that sounds about right. So you know where it is."

"It's on the other side of the ocean, east of here." He glared at the Doomcat. "I've heard things about you. They say you're going to consume the entire solar system."

"I'm here to save the solar system, as well as a lot of other places."

"If by saving you mean bring into eternal darkness," Andy shot back.

"I am not here to do anything of the sort," Destroyer Angel growled. "As we speak, Pluto is nearing the event horizon of a black hole. I need to get to Stonehenge before Earth gets sucked in, too. I am prepared to, and probably will, give my life to save Earth. Right now, you and your Earthling buddies are making all this a. lot. harder. So you can keep talking about how I'm going to somehow bring about the end of everything all you want, so long as you stay out of my way." She turned to Halifax. "C'mon, we'd better get going."

~I've found out where I have to go. I'm en route. The humans call it 'Stonehenge'.~

~Where are you right now?~ The soldiers were staring at Spirit again. Her communication ability seemed to be something of a novelty to them.

~Over an ocean. Nice winds.~

"Do you mind?" Spirit hissed at the soldiers. "This is a private conversation, and I'd rather not have you staring at me as if I'm tonight's entertainment." The soldiers backed off, muttering something about such a small cat having such a big attitude.

~Spirit? You still there?~

~Yeah, just getting rid of unwanted company.~

~Oh.~

~Angel, we're coming for you. We're not going to let you go without a fight.~

~You don't have to do that. You might get hurt.~

~And you might get dead.~

~I'm not going to die. I'll just be offline.~

~And you're okay with that?!~

~I have a purpose now. And I'm tired of running and hiding and being chased.~

~You're ready to leave all your friends behind?~

~Spirit, this is bigger than me. At the risk of sounding sappy, countless lives are at stake, so my life is insignificant.~

~I don't care what you think, we're going to come whether you want us to or not. We are your friends, and we're not going to sit by and lose you once again. We're going to give the Vok a run for their money.~

~They think I'm bringing on the apocalypse,~ Destroyer Angel thought-spoke, changing the subject. ~I tried setting them right, but I think I just scared them. By the way, Halifax is a very good actor.~

~I have to go now. We're coming up on Earth. I'll talk to you later.~

~Bye.~

Destroyer Angel looked at the Doomhound flying by her side. He wasn't a bad guy. A little too serious, true, but he was just doing his job.

That's what Halifax was designed for. He served a specific function. So did Destroyer Angel, and she was about to serve her function.

"They're coming for me," she said.

"Who?"

"My friends."

"The ones you abandoned?"

"Yep."

"It will complicate things."

"Definitely."

"Should they be stopped?"

"Yes. No. I'm not sure."

"Explain, please."

"They could get hurt. But they're going to do everything they can to get there. Trying to stop them will only slow them down."

"So trying would be a wasted effort."

"Yep."

"Do you want them to come?"

"I don't want them to get hurt. And I'm ready to go."

"How do you know you are ready?"

The Doomcat stared at the Doomhound. How did she know? He had a point- how does one know when they're ready to die? Was she really ready?

She started laughing. Halifax gave her a quizzical look.

"I have no idea whether or not I'm ready. I got so caught up in all this, I've been saying I'm ready because it's the right thing to say, but I really don't know. I guess it doesn't matter, though."

"There still is a chance you will be released once the task is finished."

"How much of one?"

"…Not much. But there is still hope."

"I never thought a Doomhound would take much stock in hope."

"The circumstances are unusual."

"How so?"

"Technically speaking, you are heavily damaged, and yet you are functioning surprisingly well. Despite the fact that you are not fully Vok, you are an admirable Doomcat."

"Thanks, Halifax."

"It's all broken!!!!" Destroyer Angel exclaimed in a hoarse whisper. Most of the amplifier was either gone or fallen down.

The Doombeasts were hiding in the darkness, not far from Stonehenge. The stones were unguarded- for the moment, anyways.

"It must be repaired for it to be functional," Halifax stated.

"Even with the missing stones?" Destroyer Angel wondered, transforming and going over to a fallen rock.

"We are Vok. We will make do."

" 'Kay. You can keep lookout while I get these back up." The Doomcat managed to get her fingers under the stone, reminded herself who and what she was and how she could do this, and lifted.

She'd completed two rebuilding two parts of the megalith before she had to sit down and rest. She hadn't seen Halifax for a while, but she doubted he'd be in trouble. He was all but impossible to catch- if he was in a tight spot, he could just go to dust and that would be that.

"Destroyer!" Halifax's voice called. "Destroyer Angel!" He flew up to the resting Doomcat, panting. "The humans are on their way, approaching quickly. They are heavily armed."

"And I've only got half of the rocks back up," Angel groaned. "Where are the heads? Shouldn’t they be here?"

"They are waiting for your signal, which you can't give until the structure is repaired."

"Dear Primus, even if I manage to pull this off," the Doomcat said, standing and preparing to lift another stone, "my Spark's going to be so drained I'll probably die."

"That is unlikely," Halifax answered seriously, assisting Angel's lifting as much as he could.

The Transformers had managed to force a landing very near Stonehenge, and the humans couldn't do much to stop them. Using physical force- for both Transformers and humans- would violate peace treaties. The humans had to step aside and let Commander Ramses and Maximals. They could see Stonehenge up on the hill, two forms attempting to fix it, and a few thousand human troops surrounding the megalith.

The humans opened fire as the Doombeasts were about to get the last stone in place. They had argued that Destroyer Angel wasn't a Cybertronian and therefore wasn't protected under any treaty. Poor Halifax didn't even count as a Transformer, so he was protected under nothing.

They were forced to drop the stone and take cover, but that didn't last for long. They were completely surrounded. There was nowhere to hide. They knew what they had to do.

Ignoring the bullets that streaked by every which way, they lifted the last stone and fitted it into position.

"It is done!" Halifax panted. "Go!"

"Hey, Halifax, you're hurt!" The Doomhound looked as if he were lifting sand.

"I am a Doomhound. Do not concern yourself with me."

"I can concern myself with whatever I want! I'm not going to-"

"You and I both know," Halifax interrupted, a very unusual action for a Doomhound, "that both our lives can be sacrificed for the whole. I will be fine so long as you complete your mission!"

Destroyer Angel was momentarily taken aback by Halifax's insubordination, but quickly realized the truth in what he said, and nodded. She turned towards the center of the megalith, looked around- she thought she saw the silhouettes of her friends, but didn't have the time to make sure- waited until the majority of the human soldiers were reloading, and ran.

Everyone saw the Doomcat's rush for the center. The humans thought the end of everything was approaching, the Maximals thought the end of Destroyer Angel, their friend, was approaching, and the Doomcat knew, as she reached the center and bent down one knee, transmitting the signal, that nothing would be the same.

End Part 12.