Dion woke up lying on his back on Foneques. He was surrounded by his two friends and sister who were all staring down intently at him.
"Wha'?" Dion mumbled.
"Hey look at that! He's alive!" Chromia exclaimed happily.
"Urgh...I guess so." Dion groaned as he sat up. "Definitely feel it."
"Great, rest for a bit buddy. Your nerves were turned off for a while. Then we'll start our search for the next tool." Orion said.
"Oh yeah? Where are we?" Dion asked.
Chromia smiled. "We're back in Kaon."
"Really?"
"Yeah." Orion replied. "The next tool is here in Kaon."
"Seriously? Oh cool." Dion said. "What's the tool?"
Orion took out the tracker and showed the image of the tool to his friends. Chromia and Dion looked at the image closely before recognizing what it was.
"That's the top of a gladiator trophy." Dion concluded.
"Gladiator?" Ariel said interestedly.
"Yeah, gladiator. As in a gladiator from the Pits of Kaon." Chromia confirmed.
"What are the Pits of Kaon?" Orion wondered.
"They're the gladiatorial arenas. They're the places where mechs go fight to the death." Chromia explained. "For entertainment no less."
"That sounds like a sick place." Orion commented.
"Well, not all the fights are mech against mech. Nor are all of them to the death. Those are the main fights. The fights that are expensive to watch." Dion elaborated.
"Well that doesn't make it any better now does it?" Ariel replied. "I've heard of the Pits but have never been down there. You guys talking about them like that just confirms the rumours I've heard."
"Yeah, it's pretty rough down there. We're gonna have to be real careful, especially if we have to take a trophy from a gladiator." Chromia agreed.
"Taking the prize from winning a fight to the death from the mech who won said fight to the death...seems logical. Let's go guys!" Orion exclaimed sarcastically.
The four younglings walked through the lower towns of Kaon, or rather, the slums of Kaon. The buildings were small and unkept, there were several shady looking mech's, and dozens of younglings who looked even younger than Ariel. It looked like they hadn't tasted any Energon—scrappy or otherwise—in the longest time.
"I never realized that it was like it down here. My parents always brought me to the upper levels of Kaon." Ariel spoke.
"Yeah, this is the harsh reality of Cybertron. The caste system. It leaves those who weren't born into the higher castes in the dirt and no one in said higher castes care." Dion replied. "Er, not that you don't care Ariel. I'm just generalizing."
"It's okay Dion. I understand. My parents are some prime examples of people from the higher castes not caring about those in the lower castes." Ariel said. "I just never realized that it was this bad."
Dion nodded sadly. "It's everyone fends for themselves down here."
Then they continued forward.
They walked until they came to a massive coliseum. From their perspective, it looked as though the coliseum was large enough to fit an entire town inside. And from the amount of noise coming from within, it sounded as though it was filled with a towns worth of people and then some.
"Here we are. The Pits of Kaon." Chromia proclaimed.
Ariel stumbled back a bit and raised her servo to her helm.
"Ariel. Are you okay?" Chromia asked worriedly.
"Yeah I'm fine it's just...I can feel the vibrations and hear the noises coming from the Pits all the way out here. I've never been been around that many people before. It's a bit overwhelming." Ariel explained.
"Hey, are you sure you wanna come then?" Chromia asked.
Ariel waved the femme away.
"I'll manage. Let's go." Ariel replied.
Chromia nodded reluctantly.
"So how are we gonna get into the Pits?" Orion wondered.
"We know a guy who owes us a favour...several favours actually. He can get us in." Dion explained. "C'mon, let's go find him."
The younglings walked around the perimeter of the Pits coliseum until Chromia and Dion spotted a familiar face.
"Hey! Rocket!" Dion called.
Rocket was a fairly tall red mech with stark white streaks along his helm and arms. It looked as like he was trying to sell various items to passers by from a kiosk.
"Come on right up everyone! Passes to see some of the most exciting and exclusive matches at an incredible—but reasonable—price!" He exclaimed.
"Hey Rocket!" Chromia called from the back of his kiosk.
"Oh, hey kids!" Rocket replied.
"Hey Rocket, we need a favour." Dion began.
"Uh, not now you two. I'm right in the middle of rush hour." Rocket interrupted.
"Hmm...how many credits would you make with no merchandise to sell?" Chromia asked innocently.
"Wha'?" Rocket asked.
Chromia took what looked like a miniature fusion cannon and broke it in half over her knee.
"Aah!" Rocket exclaimed. "Chromia! Ergh, fine. Damn brats. No kid has anymore patience these days."
Rocket closed the front and back doors of his kiosk, locked them tight, and then turned towards the four younglings.
"Hey you two, now what do you want?" Rocket asked.
"We need two things from you." Dion replied.
"What?" Rocket wondered.
Dion nudged Orion forward and the mech took out the tracker and showed Rocket the image of the next tool.
Rocket stared at the image for a few moments before standing back up straight.
"That looks like the trophy for the Beast Wars." Rocket decided.
"Really?" Dion asked. "You're sure?"
"Positive kid." Rocket answered.
"Great. Rocket, we need you to get us into the Beast Wars arena." Chromia said.
"The Beast Wars? Hmm...it's the championship today, so the arena is jam packed, but I think I can get you kids some seats in there." Rocket replied.
"That's great!" Dion exclaimed. "Can you take us there now?"
Rocket nodded. "Sure. C'mon let's go."
The younglings and Rocket walked through the crowded space that housed the Pits.
"So, what are the Beast Wars?" Orion asked.
"The Beast Wars is the tournament where the championship gladiators are fighting huge and scary monsters and beasts from all around the galaxy. The mech who beats the the championship monster, gets the trophy and earns the title of Beast Machine." Dion explained.
"Oh. That actually sounds...really awesome." Orion commented.
"Yep." Dion agreed.
"And you expect us to go in and steal the trophy from the Beast Machine?" Orion asked.
Dion turned to look at him and shrugged.
Orion sighed. "Great."
"What're you kids talkin' about? Steal what?" Rocket questioned.
"Nothing." Chromia replied quickly. "Besides, if we were gonna steal something and we told you, that would make you an accomplice now wouldn't it."
Rocket thought about that for a few moments before chuckling.
"Heh. I guess you're right. Alright, I won't ask, but I won't deny that I'm curious." Rocket said.
"I think that would be best." Chromia agreed.
"Well, here we are." Rocket proclaimed as they walked up towards an arena. "The Beast Wars arena."
"Great, so you'll get us in?" Dion said.
"Yup." Rocket replied.
Rocket led the younglings into the arena, which was already packed with people. He brought them to a balcony like area above the rest of the seats. While it was far from the arena floor, the younglings-who could see-were able to see everything.
"Aright, you kids watch yourselves." Rocket said as he turned to leave them.
"Thanks Rocket!" Chromia and Dion said in unison.
"Okay, so now what?" Ariel wondered.
Before either one of the siblings could reply, a loud, enthusiastic voice boomed throughout the the arena.
"HELLO KAON! And welcome to the BEAST WARS CHAMPIONSHIP!"
And we're back in Kaon!
Let me know what you think! Comment and review!