Transformers Prime: Beast Hunters - Ignition

36. Mainframe

"You won't escape me a second time," she muttered, watching the young women from behind darkened shades. That damned Autobot was still around. Depending on the skill level of the 'Bot, it could prove a small inconvenience, or a massive obstacle. If she didn't calculate things correctly, that femme could give the others enough time to escape. She was certain she was capable of ripping that green femme's spark out of her chest, but she had to be certain before she moved in.

Of course, she also had to ensure her targets wouldn't have time to escape. They'd somehow gone this long unnoticed, and if they got away again, they risked exposing her failure.

No. It was not failure. Something had gone wrong. She did not fail.

~~~

"Have you found anything?" Blade asked over the com link. They'd been in town, and had stopped at their small library. Inside, Angel, Marie, and Lauren were poring over internet and paper records, trying to find something that they didn't already know.

This was not their first day doing this. They'd already covered most documents, including dozens of worthless ones.

Lauren rubbed her temples, her head throbbing. "Unfortunately, it's all the same. Car crash, suspected intoxication but nothing left to do tests on."

"That can't be right," Marie answered, flipping through another page. "Mom and Dad didn't drink unless it was a holiday. There's no way they had a drink, much less enough that would cause them to drive off a cliff."

Angel swept off to a corner of the library, away from the others, slowly opening a Gate. Curiosity was getting the best of her, and fear was beginning to eat away at her nerves. Something about this wasn't adding up. Inside the Plane, she searched for the souls of Jewel's parents, then the souls of Lauren's.

The images were nearly identical. The night was darker than expected as she peered into their memories of those fateful nights.

There, through the darkness, appeared the image of a girl, no older than fifteen. She seemed to come out of thin air, materializing from a previously empty space. The driver swerved, attempting to evade a collision with the girl, and consequently, drove to the edge of the cliff. The first time, they drove right over, dead before they even realized what was happening.

The second time, Lauren's parents, they paused at the edge, stuck for a moment, it seemed, and then they plummeted. By rotating the perspective, Angel saw her. That girl, pushing the car so that it tipped over the cliff and crashed into the rocky ground over a hundred feet below.

It took focus, but she noticed something. That girl.

Platinum hair. Gunmetal grey eyes.

And a strange pleasure as they went over the edge.

Angel felt like she was looking in a mirror.

~~~

"At least she was right about your looks," the red Decepticon muttered. "Didn't mention she'd leave the dirty work to me."

Angel had been knocked unconscious, waking up to this aggravating sight. "What the hell are you talking about?" She shouted, glaring at him. "What the hell do you want? I promise you, I can make your wildest desires come true . . . That, or your wildest nightmares. You can pick."

The medi-bot chuckled, amused at her attitude. "I wouldn't be so confident if I were you," he crooned. "Go ahead and try out your restraints."

Angel's spark stopped as she pulled against the chains. The UP chains. How the slag had he manipulated them? "You piece of slag!" She pulled against the metal, but they didn't budge. Even if her control over the UP was unmatched, it didn't matter in these. Her powers were completely neutralized.