The Monster of Kaon (Volume 2): Chapter 4

Iacon City. Cybertron.

D-16 stared with awe from behind the signal post for Iacon 5000, a place that his best friend, Orion Pax, had secretly found for just the two of them to enjoy the race.

“This is unbelievable! I feel like I am in the race!”

D-16 felt overwhelmed as he beheld the various famous racers below him, feeling grateful for the actions of his best friend.

Turning towards Orion, he asked softly.

“You did this for me?”

Orion grinned.

“No. I did this for us.”

Orion’s extended fist met D-16’s in a silent acknowledgement of their friendship.

The two miners were brought out of their moment as the announcer started to speak again.

“And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for.”

“The icon of Iacon.”

“The saviour of Cybertron.”

“The Quintessons fear him, but we love him!”

As the announcer continued speaking, the spotlights focused on the central spire’s top. There, under the awe-filled gazes of the masses, the blue and gold bot jumped from the building, engaging his thrusters to smoothly fly downwards in a display of grace and theatrics.

“Our leader, the one and only.”

“Sentinel Prime!”

With a roar, the crowds burst with celebration as Sentinel Prime flew by, smacking palms with the many bots in the stands, before finally landing on the podium with a dramatic crouch.

His winning smile and his charisma captivated the crowd as he grinned.

“Yes! It feels so good to be here with you all today.”

“My friends. My Cybertronian family.”

“It has been precisely 50 cycles since the Quintessons attacked our home. 50 Cycles, since we lost the Matrix of Leadership and our Energon supply dried up.”

Everyone fell silent as the happy atmosphere turned to a solemn one. Even Orion and D-16 could not help but feel down as the heartfelt words of Sentinel Prime resonated with them.

“50 Cycles, since the battle that killed the other Primes. My brothers and sisters in arms.”

“Today, we honor the Primes who gave their lives for ours. And show them that the strength of Cybertron will never be diminished.”

Holographic images of the various Primes appeared in the air as the citizens of Iacon gazed upon their forms with awe and respect.

D-16, in particular, focused on the majestic and noble image of Megatronus Prime as he envisioned what Cybertron would have looked like if they were still alive.

Then, with a deep breath, Sentinel raised his arms and smiled down at the crowd.

“Racers! On your marks!”

With those words, the crowd cheered once more as the various bots on the track transformed into their Alt-modes.

D-16 grinned happily as he watched everything from his position.

“I can’t believe we get to watch from the starting line. The best seats in the house!”

However, his happiness soon turned to confusion as He felt a Jetpack being attached to his back.

Turning around with confusion, D-16 could not help but ask the question now dominating his mind.

“Why’d you bring jetpacks?”

“Get Set!”

The two miners ignored Sentinel’s words as D-16 watched the smile on Orion’s face, a bad feeling suddenly creeping from within his spark.

“It’s time to show them we are more than meets the eye.”

“...Oh no.”

D-16 did not even have the time to lament the realization that he arrived at as the floor below them gave way the moment Sentinel fired in the air, signaling the start of the race.

At that very moment, watching the various racers heading straight for them on a collision course, D-16 regretted ever becoming friends with Orion Pax.

Yet, once again, he was not given the chance to do anything as Orion latched onto him and shot off along the track.

“ARE YOU CRAZY!?”

“Sure feels like it!”

D-16 was not amused by Orion’s words. But he could do nothing as his best friend dragged him into the race unwillingly.

As the path continued expanding and changing shape, creating obstacles, unexpected turns, and loops, many of the ground-based bots would get eliminated one way or another.

As for the duo of miners, they had attracted the attention of every bot in Iacon, for better or for worse.

Barely dodging the various crashes and debris thrown their way, Orion and D-16 continued flying forward.

However, their luck would not last long.

At one section of the track, right after dodging stasis turrets and holo-walls, they jumped from the track, heading straight down onto the rest of the track, when Darkwing swooped in in his Alt-mode, deliberately trying to push them off the course.

Thankfully, the two miners handled their jetpacks with ease and got back into the race by either latching onto one of the flyers or hopping over various bots like a bastardized game of floor is lava.

Unfortunately, it was during this stretch that both miners lost their jetpacks.

Orion lost it as the flyer he grabbed onto twisted into a roll, shaking off the miner and making his smack into the track with great force, causing the jetpack to explode, while D-16 collided with another racer, nearly being thrown off the track.

For a split second, it looked like this would be the end of both bots as the racers nearly ran them over and killed them.

Thankfully, they were both saved from their fate when a bot grabbed onto their arms and took them into the air.

D-16 turned up to look at the bot, only for his words to be caught in his voice box as he beheld the behemoth.

Standing tall, taller than even Sentinel Prime, the grey and purple bot looked like wrath incarnate. His body was sporting jagged shoulders, menacing curves and angles, and a gaze that would stop any bot dead in their tracks.

Just by looking at him, it was clear that he was a bot born for war and destruction.

Nearby, two other flyers slowed down to join the massive bot that slowed down to help the miners.

“You two alright?”

His words made D-16 snap out of it before nodding hesitatingly.

“Y-Yeah. Thanks for the save.”

The bot simply nodded and motioned towards one of the new bots, who also transformed into a big bot.

“Maximus will help you two get to safety-“

“No! We will continue in the race!”

D-16, along with the three bots, turned as one towards Orion, who stubbornly looked at the tracks.

Unlike what D-16 imagined. The bot that had helped them did not dismiss the idea. Instead, he looked towards the bigger bot, who simply nodded.

“Very well. Then, Maximus will take you with him, Orion Pax. And Windblade here will take D-16 with her.”

Without waiting for any other words, D-16 was promptly handed over to the Femme that was nearly the same size as him, while Orion was handed over to the bot called Maximus. As for the bot who helped them, he shot off into the race, his al-form being even more menacing and intimidating than his bipedal form.

And yet, as the two bots took the miners with them through the race, one thought dominated D-16’s mind.

‘Who was that bot? And why did he feel so familiar?’

D-16 was so lost in his thoughts that he missed the way Maximus and Windblade looked at each other before shrugging.

A gesture that Orion did not miss but did not care about at the moment.