Title: The Prime
Genre: Action/Drama, Friendship/Romance
Rating: T for mild transformer swearing, some violence, and crude language
Short Summary:
When a young mech destined to be the next Prime is exiled by his evil uncle, he must learn what it means to become a great leader.

Chapter Five

Orion didn't have to look for very long to find Ariel. He found her right where he expected her to be. With her mother, who was with her mother, who was with his mother. They were just sitting next to a pool of bathing energon, talking and laughing with other femmes. Some of them were youngling femmes, companions to Ariel.

Of course seeing Orion coming their way, some of the young femmes giggled and twittered at each other. Ariel, a silver and light pink femme just rolled her optics before greeting her best friend. "Hi, Orion!" She greeted to him.

Orion waved back as he rushed up to the femmes, nearly ignoring his mother as he went. It was only when she grabbed his arm and hauled him into her lap did he groan and starting wriggling to get loose. "Mother." He groaned at her.

"Hold still, Orion Pax. You have a smudge on your helm. Let me get it." Beta said with a laugh. And even some of the femmes laughed and giggled at the young prince's misery.

Orion held still for only a moment so his mother could rub it off before he wriggled free again. "Hey, Ariel! Come on! I want to show you something really cool!" He said quickly to the pink and silver femme.

Ariel gave him a reproachful look as she turned towards him. "Orion, I am kind of busy here. Chromia was telling me about something..." she was saying.

Orion pouted, his shoulders slumping. "It can wait! This can't! It's really cool!" He urged.

"So what is this really cool thing you have to show to Ariel, Orion Pax?" Beta asked, slyly as she leaned back on her palms, smiling at her son.

Orion froze for a second. He knew he couldn't tell her about Kaon and wanting to take a quick trip out there to see the gladiators. He would get into trouble and then his uncle would get into trouble for even telling him about them. "Uh...well..." he paused, thinking quickly. Then he had an idea. "I found a sparkworm! A big one!" He quickly said.

Ariel and the other young femmes groaned in disgust. "A sparkworm?! You're kidding, right?! What is so cool about a sparkworm?!" She asked in a hiss.

Orion, still eyeing his mother, leaned over towards her. "I will show you when we get there." He said in between his dental.

Catching on, Ariel's optics lit up before she slowly nodded. "Oh!" She looked over at her other friends, who shrugged and nodded for her to go.

"Just go, Ariel. He won't stop pestering if you don't." The silver and blue one named Chromia said with a sly smile.

Ariel nodded before looking to her mother. "Um, mother, can I go with Orion?" She asked.

Smiling a crooked smile, Firestar shrugged before turning her optics to Beta. "Hmm. What do you think, Lady Beta? Should I let her?" She asked slyly.

Both Orion and Ariel looked pleading up at Beta, trying to make their optics large with hope as possible.

Beta smiled coyly at them before nodding. "Fine. You can go." She waited for the two to cheer and start dashing away before breaking their bubble. "As long as Prowl goes with you!" She called.

Screeching to a halt, Orion and Ariel groaned in a slump. They did not want to hear that at all. They knew if they took him, they would never have the fun they wanted. But they knew if they didn't agree, they couldn't go.

They were stuck.

"Explain to me again. Where are we going?" The young black and white Praxian asked as he walked beside the two miserable looking younglings.

Orion groaned wearily as he lead his best friend and the shrewd towards a hole he and Ariel had found in the gate a while ago. He didn't miss how Prowl tensed to see it but he ignored it. "I told you three times, Prowl. We're sneaking out to go see the sparkworm." He said irritably.

Prowl stiffly walked beside the young prince and the femme. He didn't like this at all. He knew they would get into trouble if they were caught. "Master Orion Pax, we will be in trouble if we are caught. We cannot do this!" He tried to reason with his future Prime.

Rolling his optics, Orion slipped through the hole and waited for Ariel to do the same. "Don't be such a nanomouse, Prowl. We won't get caught." He said in annoyance.

"But this is breaking several rules! I cannot allow you to do this!" Prowl said uneasily stepping back.

Ariel huffed as she placed her hands on her slender waist. "If you're so scared, then don't come, Prowl. But we are going." She said turning to walk away with Orion.

Grimacing, Prowl shook his head. "I will go get your creator, Orion Pax and she will put a stop to this." He said turning away and starting to walk back.

Both Orion and Ariel halted, their energon running cold. They knew that they couldn't let Prowl do that. But as it was, the young Prince had a comeback. "Fine. Be a shrieker, Prowl. I was going to get some rust bars for all of us. But if you don't want any, be that way." He almost grinned when Prowl halted in his footsteps. He knew he hit the jack pot. Who could say no to rust bars? And to add the final screw in the Knut, he said the one thing that would surely make Prowl come with them. "And if you don't come with, you will probably get into trouble for letting Ariel and I wander off into the city by ourselves when you were suppose to be watching us. That will probably cost your apprenticeship with Alchemist."

For a moment, Prowl debated with himself, trying to decide if that was true or not. He didn't want to do this but he surely did not want to lose his future job.

Finally, the young apprentice sighed, slumping over before he turned and hurried to the hole. He gave the two younger ones a dry glare as he slipped through. "I just know I am going to get into a heap for this." He said wearily.

Grinning at each other, Orion and Ariel took the lead with a miserable Praxian right behind them.

It was until they got to the substation did Prowl begin to stare at Orion with accusation. Even as the young prince was climbing aboard the railway cart. Even Ariel looked hesitant as she climbed on with. "Where are we going?" She asked just as uneasy as Prowl looked as he climbed on.

Orion went over to a pile of steel crates and sat down, waving them to join him. They hesitated but then did so. "Okay. Okay. We are going to check out Kaon." He admitted.

"What?!" Both Prowl and Ariel yelped in alarm.

"Shhhh!" Orion urged.

Shaking his head, Prowl quickly stood up, backing away from the Prince as if he had gone postal. "W-we cannot do that! Do you know what is in Kaon?! Your father would be so...!" He was saying.

Orion rolled his optics as he watched Prowl backing away. "My father will never know. It is only an orn away and he is in a meeting about some kind of attack on a different city. That will take all day. We will back long before he misses us. I promise, we will only be there an orn then we will come straight back." He swore.

Prowl shook his head in disbelief but Ariel frowned curiously. "What is in Kaon that you want to check out, Orion?" she asked frowning.

"Gladiators!" Orion said with a perk.

Ariel's optics lit up but Prowl stiffened. He couldn't believe this. "No, no, no, no! We cannot go! Do you know how dangerous Gladiators are?! They are brutes, savages! They kill other mechs, Orion Pax! We need to go...oof!" He yelped when the cart gave a jolt and he fell to the ground. He vented his engines in uneasy before crawling over to a window with a fearful yelp. They were going too fast now.

"Too late. Now you have to come with us." Orion said smugly.

Prowl heaved a sigh before trudging back over to the two, giving Orion a scornful look. "You are going to get us killed, Orion Pax." He murmured.

Orion scowled. "Am not! I am The Prime's son! No one would dare touch us! Not if they want my father slicing them to pieces!" He argued.

"You have no idea what you just got us into." Prowl said darkly.

The words sent a shiver through Orion but he chose to ignore it and enjoy the ride. It would not be long before they arrived in Kaon.

For a long time, it was quiet but then Orion grinned to himself and to Ariel. "I can't wait to be Prime. It is going to be so cool! I am going to rule this place and make it fun for everyone!" He said excitedly. Ariel grinned right back, liking the sound of that.

Prowl huffed in disbelief. "Please, you still have a ways to even go before you are Prime. As it is, you are not even responsible enough." He argued.

"Hey! Watch it, Prowl! I am the Future Prime. If you are not careful, I might just fire you before you are even my advisor." Orion said with offense.

"You cannot do that. Only the Prime can do that." Prowl pointed out.

"Well, he's the future Prime." Ariel defended Orion.

Grinning at her, Orion nodded before lightly slapping at Prowl's chassis, making him back off and rubbed where he had been hit. "Yeah! So you have to do what I tell you!" He boasted.

Prowl glared at his prince. "Not yet, I do not. You maybe the future Prime but you are still naive to think I have to listen to you. If I remember correctly, your mother put me in charge. So it is reversed." He argued fiercely.

"Yeah, my mother isn't here! So I am in charge and as your future Prime, I order you to shut it!" Orion said in annoyance.

Folding his arms, Prowl just gave a mocking laugh. He couldn't believe what a brat the prince was being. "I am older and you are not the Prime yet so I do not have to listen to you." He said stubbornly.

"Oh, yeah?! How about I beat you to listen!" Orion growled before lunging at Prowl.

Ariel yelped as she watched the two younglings begin to grapple each other in the cart before rolling her optics. She shook her head planting her chin plate into her palm to watch in disinterest. "Mechlings." She drawled out.

Somehow, Orion wasn't sure how it happened, but Prowl had somehow pinned him down on his front and had both arms locked behind his back. He grunted, struggling viciously but couldn't break loose.

"Do you yield?" Prowl asked, amused at his prince's struggles.

Orion groaned before he nodded. He waited till Prowl released him before he was scampering to his feet and diving again. He wasn't going to give up so easily and let the stick in the tar Prowl win.

Diving to the side, Prowl grinned as Orion sailed past him and crashed into...he stiffened in alarm and unease as he watched Orion knock right into Ariel. "Oops." He said sheepishly.

"Uh, sorry, Ariel...ack!" Orion yelped as he was thrown backwards into Prowl, knocking both to the ground.

Immediately Ariel was on her feet, optics a blazing as she stamped towards the two cowering mechlings. "That's it! Your both getting it!" She snarled before diving on top of them, throwing back a fist.

Moments later, both Orion and Prowl winced as they found each other crushing one another as Ariel sat right on top of their backs, arms folded and one leg crossed over the other with a scowl on her face.

"Urg...! How did she do this?! I cannot explain it!" Prowl grunted from under the femme.

Orion groaned as he tried pushing upward only to get slammed back down when Ariel bounced on his back to make him collapse again. "You obviously...urg...don't realize...erm...that she is the Captain of the...urg...Guard's dau-daughter!" He grunted. "I can't ever...er...win a fight wi-with her! Not that I'm stupid eno-enough to fight a femme...ow! Ariel, let us up!" He complained.

Giggling, Ariel bounced again, earning protests and complaints from both before she finally stood and let them get to their knees. She sat back down just as the cart came to a screeching halt, making her and the two mechlings stiffen.

Slowly, Orion climbed to his feet and went over to the window to peer out, his vents catching. "Whoa!" He gasped.

Glancing at each other, Ariel and Prowl scurried over to look out and their optics lit up in their own surprise. They couldn't help but gape at the sight before them, half awed, half terrified. But nonetheless, surprised.

There was steam curling around the railway cart, making it tough to see but they saw enough that made all three younglings gape. There were low buildings in Kaon, yet it was quite dark here. The buildings and streets were dark silver, and only a few Cybertronians were out and about. It looked like most were scurrying around, trying to hurry from one valley to the next. But it was clear that the biggest building they could see had to be the Gladiator arena.

Pushing the door open, Orion was the first one out with the two hesitating to follow. They both looked around nervously at the surrounding area. Neither one liked the looks of this place at all.

"Come on, guys." Orion said now hurrying towards the large building that seemed only a few blocks away. "Let's go check out the arena."

Prowl gulped but hurried after when Ariel kept nearly pressed against Orion. He stayed awfully close, trying to keep a brave face on. He was failing, however. He looked around at the darkened streets with nervousness. there was no one out but he could have sworn he saw gleaming red optics watching them as they hurried to a building alley.

It took a little time but finally Orion, Ariel and Prowl found the base of the large building. It was a rickety looking thing, looking as if it had seen better days. Actually, the whole city looked as if it had seen better days. All three had grimaced as they had seen plenty of piles of scrap lying everywhere. This place actually quite a dump.

"I wonder why my father hasn't done anything about all of this scrap. This city looks like it needs a deep repair job and needs to be scrubbed clean. Look at all of that." Orion sad eyeing the sooty roads and stained buildings.

Prowl, twiddling his fingers together and nervously fidgeting, shook his head as he looked around with wide blue optics. "Do you not read, Orion Pax? Kaon isn't a part of The Prime's rule. We are way out of boundaries from our government. This is not a good idea. It's too dangerous here." He said shivering as they approached the building and a wire fence, where there were booms and loud clangs coming from.

Orion just waved at him, not looking worried at all. "Please, Prowl. I am The Prime's son and future Prime. Even if there was going to be trouble, they wouldn't dare touch me, afraid that if they did, they would get the whole Autobot Army dropped right on their heads. So I laugh at the face of danger." He even laughed loudly to prove it.

And a harsh laugh replied from behind him.

All three younglings stiffened, their sparks going cold and still with alarm. The young Prince tried to scamper away from the fence where the voice had came from but he ended up running into someone very big.

"Oof!" Orion yelped as he bounced right off the large being and landed hard on his back.

Both Prowl and Ariel jumped as they were seized from behind by rough ad powerful hands. They cried out in fear as they were lifted up into the air by their captors and carried towards a large rattling gate. Orion was seized next and carried after.

A moment, all three younglings were dumped into a heap inside of the arena, surrounded by snickering large Cybertronians, all looking pretty scary and tough. Orion sat up rubbing his head before wrapping around Ariel when she clutched to him and Prowl. They looked around with wide optics.

There were three of them. Three huge Cybertronians grinning wickedly at them with burning red optics. All three had large frames compared to the younglings and all looking pretty battered due to many scars in their frames.

One was a black and white mech with what looked like horns on his helm. Sharp servos hung at his sides with what looked like dried energon on the tips.

Another was a very large, dark blue mech with burning red visor covering his optics. He was large in form and height. His brawny arms hung at his sides along with long strange looking cables wrapped around them. He towered over the younglings and it scared them. He was the tallest of the three.

The third was the shortest with a single red optic and a straight up gaping mouth full of sharp teeth. He was dark purple in color with exception of black here and there. He looked quite twisted and ugly, in truth but intimidating just like the other two. He also had sharp looking servos and they were covered in dried energon as well.

All three huge mechs stood, surrounding the younglings, looking down at them. The black and white was the only one sneering down at them while the other two was quite silent.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? Three small sparklings in a place they do not belong in." The black and white mech sneered. He then eyed Prowl, narrowing his gaze, even when the youngling shifted uneasily. "Hey, don't I know you? Aren't Praxian?"

Again Prowl shifted uneasily. "No. I do think so." He said though he sounded uncertain.

Orion frowned as he glanced at Prowl. The other youngling looked mighty uneasy with Barricade staring intensively at him. There must have been a connection to them but he figured he would ask later. So, the young prince looked up at Barricade, insulted by his remark. He pushed himself up to his feet, ending up dragging Ariel and Prowl up with him. "We are not sparklings! We are younglings! And I demand that you leave us alone! We just wanted to see gladiators in action." He said trying to keep his trembling voice in control.

The black and white mech burst into laughter, reeling back a little by the force of it. He slapped at the tallest mech's arm, who paid no attention to him. "Did'ja hear that, Soundwave?! He demands us to leave them alone! He acts like he is some kind of royalty!" He laughed hard.

The large mech just narrowed his gaze before pointing at the young prince. "Affirmative." He spoke in a staticky voice.

"Huh?" The black and white mech muttered no longer laughing.

"Confirmation to Barricade's statement. Royal colors of Iacon: red and blue. Best calculations: Prime's offspring." The large mech said again.

Orion nodded as he held up his head higher. "Yeah! I am The Prime's son! So back off!" He ordered.

This time it was the one optic mech who snorted as he shifted his weight. "Do you not know what we do to Primes or any rulers that step foot into our land?" He asked darkly amused.

Ariel gripped Orion's arm tighter, trying to warn him to not say anything again. Even Prowl was motioning to the young prince to keep his vocodor quiet but it seemed that Orion didn't catch on. He just gripped on Ariel tighter, keeping her slightly behind him. "You can't do anything to me! I am The Prime's son! You touch me and you will be in so much trouble! My father will come here and rip you into pieces!" He growled.

"Orion! Stop it!" Prowl hissed, grabbing his arm and trying to pull him back. "They actually can do something to you! It's their land! You cannot make any demands to them!"

Orion frowned at him. "But my uncle said that no one could, no matter what unless they want to be deactivated. No one would dare to..." he was saying.

The black and white sneered as he bent over Orion, who didn't back away when he probably should have. "Do what? This?" He asked and paused before roughly grabbing the young prince and yanking him away from Ariel, who screamed. He did not hesitate to throw Orion hard across the ground, making him cry out in alarm and pain as he scuffed up his arms and chassis against the ground.

"Orion!" The young femme gasped before shrieking as the one optic mech grabbed a hold of her arm, pulling her close. "Let me go!"

Prowl lunged forward to help her only to get shoved back hard to the ground by the tall one, Soundwave. His head hit hard and his optics threatened to offline but he managed to stay conscience. It did not help when the large Cybertronian lift up his foot and pinned the young apprentice down with it. "Get off me! This is undignified!" He yelped.

Orion quickly clambered to his feet, optics wide with fear now. He turned to see the black and white was coming towards him with a wide evil smirk on his face plates. He quickly looked around for anything to defend himself with and spotted a rusted blade just sitting on the ground.

Without thinking about it, the young prince swept down and grabbed it before throwing it as hard as he could at the one called Barricade.

To his greatest disappointment, Barricade merely ducked under the blade, allowing it to sail past him, landing near Prowl. He just sneered as he continued to approach Orion, his arm lifting and shifting into spinning blades. "My turn, you little brat. It seems you need a lesson taught to you..." he was saying.

But a roar of pain from behind him sounded, making Barricade spin around to see Soundwave stumbling backwards.

It took a moment for all to realize what just happened. But Prowl had grabbed the rusted blade and slammed it as hard as he could into Soundwave's foot, hitting sensitive wiring. Thus, causing great pain.

Growling angrily for someone who didn't seem to show many emotions, Soundwave kicked out and hit Prowl hard, sending him crashing across the arena grounds with a pained cry.

Snorting, Barricade shook his head. "Wow, you actually pissed Soundwave off, mechling. Not exactly a smart thing to do. All well, not that..." he was saying turning back to deal with the young prince.

Before yelling out in pain as something collided with his face and he staggered back.

Orion had taken the distraction as an advantage to pick up what looked like an electro spear just sitting on the ground. He swung it hard against Barricade's face, impacting it just like he had hoped. The steel pole, however, vibrated in his hands, making them sting into numbness o he had no choice but to drop it again and wave his hands to get the feeling.

Then he realized that was a mistake. Because he was no unarmed.

Growling viciously, Barricade turned back, showing Orion what he had done. There now was a gash across his face plate with fresh energon spilling down his cheek. "Look what you did to my face!" He growled.

Orion hissed in fear before stepping back and then tripping over his own feet. He fell onto his aft, cowering under the deadly glare that the mech was giving him. "I...I am...so-sorry." He said fearfully.

"Too fragging late, you little sparkworm." Barricade snarled before raising his spinning blades and bringing them down towards the flinching youngling.

"No!" Ariel screamed before closing her optic shutters, not wanting to see the murder of her best friend.

Orion had even closed his, raising an arm to protect himself, even though he knew it was no use. It would not save him from the inevitable death...

Suddenly there was a loud snarl and then a crash of metal sliding against metal before Barricade shrieked in pain. A loud thunk sounded near Orion, forcing his optics open and look up.