To say that Orion was extremely confused would have been the understatement of the millennium. He was beyond confused if anything. Instead of the academy that was supposed to be in front of him, there lay a giant castle that reminded him of Onyx Prime's fortress that he had read about.
"What the frag?" Dion said as he looked at the castle in surprise. "This is Datsun academy right?"
"I don't know," Orion replied, "You tell me. I was only following you."
"Frag," Dion commented as he looked at his datapad. "I can't connect to the Data Net." He shrugged and said, "Guess we'll have to go in and ask…" The two bots went inside and saw that the inside of the "school" was in reality, shiny and fancy in terms of appearance. "This is the school right?" Dion asked again.
"As I said before, I was only following you.." Orion replied, putting his hands up in an effort to say that he didn't have a clue of what was going on.
It was then that a loud clanging noise was heard. "The frag was that?" Dion asked as he looked to where the sound had come from.
They heard another noise, this one closer to them. Orion yelped as he saw a Vehicon drone behind them as Dion looked at it.
"Hey!" he exclaimed, "Steve, is that you?" He looked at the Vehicon in confusion, who just stood there as if he didn't hear what Dion had just said. At first, the Vehicon did nothing when it suddenly tackled Dion and pinned the bot to the ground. "The frag!" he exclaimed as he tried to escape the Vehicon's grasp.
"Run!" Dion screamed at Orion, "These guys aren't messing around!" Before Orion could react, he was suddenly knocked out as another Vehicon approached him from behind and hit him in the neural cluster, causing not only involuntary mode spasm but causing him to shut down.
Sometime later….
"Dude?" Orion heard a familiar voice say. "Dude?" he heard the voice say it louder this time. It wasn't until he opened his optics that he realized that it was Dion who was speaking to him. "Ah thank Primus, you're awake!" Dion said, "I thought they accidentally slagged you."
"Where are we?" Orion moaned as he sat up slowly on the berth.
"After they knocked you out they put us inside this cell." Dion said, "I've been trying to see if I could get us out but it looks like all of my efforts were gone to waste." he looked at his fellow bot and asked, "They didn't hit you hard in the processor, did they?" Orion shook his head in response.
"How are you feeling, Dion?" Orion inquired, hoping that his newfound friend was well too.
"They kinda roughed up my wheels and almost shot out my t-cog," Dion replied. He looked around their current surroundings and said, "This doesn't feel or sound like a dream." He then ran to the bars and started to hit them, saying, "Hey, I know someone's out there! Let us out already!"
"Are you crazy?!" Orion whispered, "We don't know where we are or even who we're up against!"
Dion didn't listen but instead continued screaming until he heard some screaming from the dungeon. "The hell?" he whispered, "There's got to be some kinda way out of the slagging dungeon!" He looked at Orion and said, "You got some kind of weapons on you?"
"Just my afterburners on my forearms." Orion replied, "But I use those for mostly welding things together." Dion grabbed Orion's left arm and found the firing gimmick only to see puffs of smoke come out of them. "Ever since my probation, they cut off my ties with the substance I use for it."
Before Dion could reply, they heard two Vehicons approach their cell door. "Hey!" Dion said, pounding on the cell door. "Let us out please!"
"Quiet, prisoner!" one drone exclaimed. "You have been charged with unlawful breaking and entering. A crime where the most suitable punishment is death!"
"H-hold on!" Dion exclaimed. "What the frag do you mean by that?!" Clearly, the death penalty was enough to unnerve both Dion and Orion. "That's not even funny on Comedy Tron!"
"No bot's allowed to do whatever they wish in my castle." A voice that both bots recognized said from behind the Vehicon guards. The drones moved out of the way to reveal a bot that looked like a Prime (IDW Getaway).
"What the- Getaway?!" Dion exclaimed. "What is this, some kind of joke?"
"That's Getaway Prime to you peasant bot." Getaway replied calmly. "I had heard that some rats were caught. I didn't expect one of them to be you of all bots, Dion." Getaway then chuckled. "It's rather fitting for a bot like you," He laughed, "you really do belong here!"
"This isn't funny dammit!" Dion exclaimed, "If you don't let us out right now, I swear I'll show the whole academy what's going on!" Getaway then made a motion which made the guards open the cell door. "See," Dion continued, "I knew you would-"
POW! A fist went into Dion's face, knocking him into the wall.
"What are you doing?!" Orion screamed, grabbing Getaway's arm, "You're a teacher, there's no need to be violent. Why don't we talk this out and-" POW! Orion was punched into a wall as well.
"I am no mere teacher!" Getaway screamed, "I am a Prime! I rule this school as to how I see fit!" he then turned towards Dion and said. "How about you grovel before me? I may consider making your death as painless as possible."
Dion looked up and spat on Getaway, saying, " I'll die before I bow to you…." Getaway said nothing as he began to beat Dion up.
Getaway spat on Dion, "Hm," he went as a guard grabbed Dion by the head as he tried to get up. "Where'd all your energy from earlier go?" Dion groaned as he was thrown. "A peasant bot like you isn't worth beating." He smiled, "I'll have you offlined right now."
"Have you lost your mind?!" Orion exclaimed, hoping to buy his newfound friend sometime to recover.
"What?" Getaway inquired as he turned around to look at Orion, "Don't you dare tell me you don't who I am." He walked toward Orion and looked at him. "That look in your optics irritates me!" He snarled before kicking Orion to the cell wall. He turned toward his guards, "Hold him there," he ordered, "After the peasant bot, it's his turn to be offline." The former archivist tried to tackle Getaway only to be pinned to the wall by two of the guards. Orion struggled as he tried to break free to save Dion. Getaway laughed as he approached Dion.
"This is truly an unjust game…." a feminine voice spoke inside Orion's head. He looked up and saw a robotic butterfly fly in front of him. "Your chances of winning are almost none…" Orion felt a calm come over him as he looked at the butterfly. "But if my voice is reaching to you, there may be yet a possibility opened to you."
"What's wrong?" a voice in Orion's head whispered, "Are you simply going to watch? Nothing awaits him but death if you do nothing... Was your previous choice a mistake then?"
His processor flashed back to that night. That femme needed help getting away from that bot. That situation was the reason why he was in Halogen in the first place. Did he make a mistake that night? No. That femme needed help. If he could do it over, he wouldn't have changed a thing.
"It wasn't," Orion whispered.
"Very well," The voice replied, "I have heeded your resolve... Now, VOW TO ME!"
Orion groaned as his processor flared with uncontrollable pain.
Getaway took notice of this and screamed, "Hold him down!"
A burst of flame appeared on his face revealed that a mask had appeared on his face. Orion grabbed the mask and pulled at it until a painful unnatural scream was heard as he pulled the mask off. The mask burst into blue and red flame as it hit the floor.
"I am thou..." The voice inside began as the energon surrounding Orion's optics disappeared. "Thou art I..." Orion smiled the darkest smile he had ever given as the flames swirled around him, chains could be heard rattling around Getaway's dungeons. "Thou, who are willing to accept blasphemy to thy name in thy quest for true justice! Call upon my name and unleash thy righteous fury! Spread thy wings of rebellion as you unsheathe thy sword of justice and raise thy shield of truth as you shed the light of Primus on the wicked servants of Chaos!" The flames surrounded Orion, reformatting him into something more powerful. "Though thou be chained down by Primus himself!"
"Come!" Orion screamed as a robot formed behind him, "Star Saber!"
"Wha….what the-?" Dion whispered as he looked at what his classmate had become. Gone was the meek and pathetic looking Cybertronian. In his place was a robot that looked like a cross between a Gundam and if Orion himself were a Prime (Furai Optimus 1.0.).
"From the depths within your spark, I come forth!" The robot behind Orion spoke, "I am the Pillar of Truth and Justice, your power to save others in this Primus forsaken realm!I am Star Saber!"
"What the hell…?" Dion wondered.
The newly named Star Saber continued speaking to Orion. "I am the inferno of justice that flares within your spark. If you so desire, I shall grant you the power to break through this crisis."
"Give me your power, Star Saber!" Orion said.
"Hmph," Star Saber went, "Very well, use this power to bring these criminals' actions to light!"
"Who the frag are you?" Getaway screamed. "Guards!" he barked, "start by killing that one!" With that, the two remaining guards transformed into Plasma Jacks, ready to kill Orion Pax. "You'll learn the true strength of my bots!"
"Detest these criminals before you," Star Saber roared, "Change that hate into power…. and unleash it!"
Orion looked at the two guards and smiled beneath his faceplate. Too easy.He thought. "Persona!" He screamed, summoning Star Saber. Orion looked at attacks that Star Saber could use before settling on a move called "Wing Saber" costing Orion 2 SP. "Ravage them!" he screamed as Star Saber slashed at both of them. This caused the 2 Plasma Jacks to take 5 damage. The Plasma Jacks then proceeded to hit Orion only for him to dodge their attacks.
"Good,"Star Saber remarked, "Now swing thy blade at these heathens! Run wild to thy spark's content!"Orion looked at his right hand to find it holding an energon ax. The young robot then slashed at both of his opponents, making them fade away into oblivion.
"My guards…" Getaway sputtered as he backed away from Orion. Before he could do anything, Dion tackled him and locked him in the cell.
"Take that, you damn asshole!" Dion exclaimed as he threw the keys that the former gym teacher was holding somewhere in the dungeon.
"You damn brats!" Getaway screamed as he grabbed at the bars, "I'll make sure that you'll pay for this!" Orion and Dion looked at Getaway briefly before running off.
"Man, this shit's so damn nuts," Dion muttered as he looked at Orion only to see a burst of blue and red as his classmate reverted into his original frame. "What the hell?!" Dion exclaimed, "What was all that?!"
"I don't know," Orion replied as he looked at his frame, "I just wanted to stop those….things from offlining you."
"You glitches won't ever escape!" The two heard Getaway scream from his cell.
"Primus, doesn't that asshole know when to shut his vocal processor?" Dion turned toward Orion. "Let's just get the fuck outta here. You can lead the way out."
"Yeah," Orion replied, "We better stay close this time so we don't get separated." Orion then scanned the dungeon where they were in. From what he could see, several other cells lined the path as a small river of protodermis flowed through the center of the room that led to a platform exactly like what they were on.
That was when Orion noticed an open door on the other side of the dungeon. "Dion!" He exclaimed, "This way!" he motioned for the other bot to follow him as they jumped across the platforms.
"You okay, guy?" Dion asked as he saw Orion fall on one servo in exhaustion.
"I'm just a little tired, that's all." the Iaconian robot replied as Dion helped him up. "Don't worry about me though, we can still keep going. We'll get out of here."
"That was fagging amazing!" Dion exclaimed in excitement, "You saved us back in that cell!" Dion's optics revealed his admiration for Orion's tenacity and guts. "I wish you were on the track team when it was still around."
"Thanks, Dion," Orion replied. He then turned back to the task at hand as he commented, "This way!" they then ran forward with Orion keeping an eye on Dion to make sure that he didn't fall behind. They entered another room only to find out that the room was similar to the one they were in before.
"For real?!" Dion growled, "What do we do now?" Orion quickly scanned the room to see a hole in the last cell wall that was just big enough for a bot their size to crawl through.
"This way Dion!" Orion said as he crawled through the hole. When they came out on the other side they realized that they were in a room that was a little different than the previous one they were in. Instead of the normal layout that they had encountered this one had a drawbridge with a bust of Getaway.
"This glitch is just full of himself, isn't he?" Dion growled as he observed the bust.
"Hey!" a voice exclaimed.
"Did you say something?" Dion inquired as he looked at Orion. Orion just simply shook his head before noticing something behind Dion.
"What is that?" Orion inquired as he took a closer look at the final cell in the room. Dion noticed this too and walked toward the last cell. In the cell, they saw a mini-Dinobot with a mask around its face.
"Can you help me out here?" the Dinobot asked as he grabbed the bars.