Hey everyone! I'm back with chapter 3 of TFOne: Connected! Sorry it took me so long; I was working on my other story. I hope you like this new chapter.
P.S. Sorry for any grammatical errors.
Transformers One: Connected
Chapter 3: The Oil House
Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers
(The Oil House)
One train ride later, the three miners soon found themselves at the Oil House. Neon looked up at the building as the large neon sign glowed brightly above the door. She had to admit the outside looked decent. But once the three made it in, their optics nearly popped out of their heads.
The place was huge! There were three levels with booths along the side on each floor. The higher levels hosted the fliers as they flew overhead everyone else. And down at the far end of the room was a DJ playing music. There was a huge space in the center for bots to mingle and dance on. Everything looked clean with neon lights and spotlights lighting up the room. There was even a large chandelier high up on the ceiling, glistening from the lights underneath. The place had a happy and lively feel to it as bots laughed and drank together.
And it was crowded much to Neon's displeasure.
D-16 whistled out loud. "This place looks amazing!"
The three made their way towards the bar as they looked around. They could see other miners having a great time with one another.
"This looks more like a club than it does an Oil House," Neon said.
"They change it up every night," Orion said, "I think yesterday was poetry night."
It wasn't long before two more bots entered the building. One an old mech with silver armor, the other a minty green femme flier.
Aurora excitedly squealed as she looked around. "This place looks so cool! Cogman, can you believe that we're actually here?!"
Cogman looked at a large group of rowdy bots and frowned. "I'm trying not to."
Aurora grunted as a couple bots shoved past her, making her stumble forward.
"Move it!" one said as they hurried towards the scene.
Cogman immediately got to Aurora's side and frowned at the bots. "Barbarians! No manners at all. Are you alright?"
"Are you kidding?" Aurora asked with a happy smile, "The device is working! I'm blending right in! EEEH, MY PEOPLE!" She exclaimed as she walked forward with her arms stretched out.
Cogman groaned as he followed close behind her. "Will you please not draw attention to yourself for once?"
"Don't worry, Cogman," she told him, "Nothing's going to happen."
"I may not be superstitious, but I'm pretty sure saying something like that is a bad omen."
Aurora took him by the arm. "Come on, let's have some fun already!"
The two made their way onto the floor just as the three miners walked off with their drinks. Thankfully they were able to find a booth and sat down to enjoy their drinks. Orion had a blue chrome flavored drink, D-16 a red engex, and Neon decided to try a pink energon goody drink. She found it sweet, but not too sweet which she liked. The three miners talked amongst themselves as they enjoyed their drinks.
"Hey, so I've been thinking..." Orion started.
"Oh no," both Neon and D-16 groaned.
"No, no, come on, this is a great idea!" the red and blue mech said.
"Like we haven't heard that one before," Neon commented.
"What, you're not going to wait until we're overcharged?" D-16 joked.
"Just listen," Orion said as he excitedly smiled, "Okay, listen, what if, what if... what if, tomorrow, we ran in the Iacon 5000?!"
Both D-16 and Neon spat out their drinks and coughed like crazy. They stared at the red and blue mech in disbelief.
"I'm sorry... what?" Neon asked, still in shock.
"Tell me you're joking," D-16 pleaded.
"Hear me out," Orion continued, "we don't even have to win!"
"Oh, that's good, because we wouldn't," D-16 said.
"But, but, if we beat just one transformer, it proves we're just as good as they are. Not only would we go down in history, but the mining bots that did the impossible. We would show everyone we're capable of so much more!"
"Or we get publicly humiliated and then busted back to tier 1," D-16 argued.
"Yeah, but at least we would have done something, you know!"
"By something you mean possibly getting ourselves killed?" Neon asked while giving him a look, "I've seen what those races do to bots. We step foot on that track, it could be the last thing we ever do."
"Not if we do it together," Orion said, "the three of us, a team! I know we can do it!"
"Pax-" D-16 groaned.
"Come on, D-"
"Pax." The silver mech placed his servo on his friend's shoulder. "We're mining bots who can't transform. We can't fly, we can't roll... we can't race."
Orion's smile disappeared. He looked at Neon, hoping the femme would be on board. "Nee?"
Neon vented. "Sorry, Orion, but Ds right."
The red and blue mech sadly looked down.
Neon looked at the mess she and D-16 made. She went to grab some napkins, only to see their dispenser was empty. "I'm going to grab us some napkins." Getting up, she walked off back towards the bar.
Meanwhile, Aurora and Cogman had grabbed their drinks and made their way onto the floor. Aurora got the energon goody drink while Cogman settled for regular energon.
Aurora took a sip of her drink and immediately fell in love with it. "Mmmm," she moaned in delight, "this is the best drink I've ever had."
"Should I give you and the beverage some alone time?" Cogman joked.
She gave him a look. "Haha. I can't believe all you got was regular energon. Where's your adventurous side?"
"Ran off with my youth. However, this looks rather amusing." He pulled out a crazy straw he grabbed from the bar and plopped it into his drink. "Cheers." He said before taking a sip through the loopy straw.
Aurora shook her head at him. "Wow, aren't you going crazy tonight."
Heading towards them, Neon tried squeezing her way through the crowd. "Excuse me... sorry." She then passed Aurora and accidentally brushed her arm against hers. No sooner did she make contact with the flier, both felt a shock travel up their arms to their sparks. For a split second, both of their optics even glowed brighter, as if something inside them had awakened.
Time slowed down around them as they both glanced over their shoulder and looked at one another, both mixed with shock and confusion. And for some strange reason, the feeling felt oddly familiar.
Brushing it off, Neon apologized. "Sorry," she told Aurora before hurrying off.
Aurora watched as the small femme disappeared through the crowd as she tried wrapping her processor around on what just happened.
"Something wrong?" Cogman asked her.
"I could have sworn..." Aurora went to say as she stared in the direction the blue and green femme went. Wanting to get to the bottom of it, she handed her drink to Cogman. "Hold this, I'll be right back." She then went after the miner, leaving Cogman alone with both drinks in his servos. Cogman looked at the drinks before he heard a wolf whistle beside him. He looked to see a tall, broad, overcharged mech starring at Aurora with a slag eating face.
"Whoa, she's hot," the mech slurred as he tried to go after her.
Cogman frowned as he blocked his path. "Not even in your dreams."
The mech huffed at him. "Yeah?" he scoffed as he jabbed his digit into Cogman's chest, "and wha you gonna do about it, old timer?"
Even though his servos were full, Cogman locked optics with the mech as he glared at him. To the mech's shock and horror, he watched as Cogman's optics went from blue to a fiery red... warning him not to try anything.
The mech immediately backed off and hurried away in fear. Cogman huffed as his optics returned to their blue color. "Punk."
Having made her way back to the bar, Neon tore out a bunch of napkins from the dispenser. She had already brushed off the strange feeling she felt, thinking it was probably just a random shock. Just then she felt someone tap her on the shoulder as a voice spoke from behind.
"Excuse me?"
Neon turned around to see it was the same flier she bumped into. Thinking she was upset at her, she got nervous.
"Listen, I'm sorry I brushed into you, I should have been more careful-" Neon started, expecting the worst.
"No, no, it's alright," Aurora assured her, "it's just... have I seen you somewhere before?"
Neon was not expecting that question. "Huh?"
"I mean, you just look very familiar, and I feel like I know you from somewhere."
Neon blinked a couple times as she looked at the flier. Even though something about the flier seemed familiar, she had never seen her before. She shook her head. "Sorry, I-I don't think so." Neon then grunted as a red femme shoved her away from behind.
"Move it, miner!" the red femme said rudely.
Neon rubbed her arm as she just quietly stepped aside.
Aurora however frowned at the red femme. "Excuse me?! How dare you treat her that way!"
Neon looked at the minty green flier with wide optics. "Please don't, it's alright," she whispered.
"No, no, no, she had no right to do that!" Aurora argued.
The red femme gave Aurora a look. "And who are you, Greeny, the miner police?"
Aurora stood tall as she stepped closer to the femme. "This miner, along with many others, spends every day risking her life to mine energon for us, so how about instead of treating her like scrap you show her some respect?"
Neon's optics were even more wide as she glanced between the two femmes, afraid that a fight was going to occur.
The red femme only huffed at Aurora. "Whatever." She then walked off to the other side of the bar.
Neon couldn't believe that the green flier stood up for her like that. She looked at Aurora. "Y-you didn't have to do that for me," she softly said.
Aurora looked down at her. "Of course I had to! No one should be treated like that! Especially not a miner!"
"But we are," Neon said, "it's just how it is."
Aurora was shocked by this. "What?! Since when?!"
Neon gave her a weird look as she wondered if the flier had been living under a rock. "Umm, since always?"
Aurora was very surprised. Sentinel had always spoke highly about the miners. She didn't expect them to be treated so poorly. She frowned. "Well, even so, you shouldn't let others talk down to you like that."
Neon collected the napkins she needed. "It doesn't bother me," she said before heading back to the booth.
"Doesn't bother you?!" Aurora exclaimed incredulously as she followed after her, "how does that not bother you?!"
"I choose not to let it bother me," Neon said, "besides, I try to avoid confrontation. It usually ends in fighting, and I wouldn't last a second."
"So that's it?" Aurora asked with a frown, "You just let others walk all over you?"
"No!" Neon argued, "I just... sometimes I... " She vented, "just forget it."
"Well, I don't think it's fair for you, or any miner for that matter," Aurora continued.
"Yeah well, we can't transform like all of you," Neon said, "that's just how it is. And we can't change anyone's mind on it just because we don't like it."
"So it does bother you!"
Neon turned around and frowned at her. "Please, can we drop it!" she snapped.
Aurora was wide eyed as she held up her servos. "Alright... my bad."
Realizing what she did, Neon vented as she held her head. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you." She looked back up at the flier. Even though she didn't ask for it, the flier still stood up for her. "Thanks for sticking up for me though. I appreciate it."
Aurora happily smiled at her. "No problem."
Meanwhile over at the booth, Orion was still trying to talk D-16 into racing, only for the silver mech to shut it down each time. D-16 then glanced over to see Neon standing there talking to a flier. A look of shock spread across his face. "Hey, look!" he told Orion as he pointed behind him.
The red and blue mech turned around to see the two femmes talking. His optics widened in surprise. "Is Neon... actually talking to someone... that's not us?"
"That's a flier?!" D-16 added.
Orion couldn't help but chuckle. "Well look at that. We've only been here for ten minutes, and she's already made a friend."
"That's a flier!" the silver mech repeated.
Neon soon walked over with Aurora still behind her. "Sorry," she apologized to the mechs, "I was... sidetracked."
"We can see that," Orion said, "who's your friend?"
"Oh, this is..." Neon then paused before looking at the flier. "Sorry, I didn't get your name."
For a split second, Aurora panicked. She didn't think of a fake name to give herself. "Oh! Uh, my name is... uuh," Trying to come up with something on the spot, she looked at her green armor. "Green..." she then glanced over to see a couple mechs taking shots of high grade together. "Shot."
Neon looked at her in confusion. "Greenshot?"
Deciding to go with it, Aurora smiled. "Yes! Greenshot! It's nice to meet you all." She looked at Neon. "You know, I didn't get your name either."
"It's Neon," the miner said before introducing her friends. "And this is Orion Pax, and D-16."
"Nice to meet you, Greenshot," Orion said as he shook Aurora's servo.
"Likewise," she said, "And I just want to say, I think what you miners do is amazing. If not for any of you, we wouldn't have energon to keep us going."
Both Orion and D-16 were flattered by this as they smiled.
"Thank you," Orion said, "that means a lot."
"We're just doing our part for Sentinel Prime," D-16 humbly added.
Aurora soon saw the decal on the silver mech's shoulder. Her optics immediately widened in awe. "No way! Is that a Megatronus Prime decal first edition?!"
"Oh uh, yeah," D-16 said as he looked at it. "I'm a fan of his."
"Me too!" the femme said.
D-16's yellow optics happily lit up. "Really?!" Immediately he tried playing it cool, "I mean, heh, I guess a lot of bots like him. He is of course the-"
"Strongest Prime to ever live," both her and him said in unison. Both looked at one another and chuckled.
Orion looked between the two of them, seeing his best friend staring at the femme in awe. He smirked to himself before speaking to her. "Why don't you join us?"
"Oh, I couldn't intrude on you three," she said.
"No, no, we insist," Orion said, "you can sit next to D."
D-16's face darkened as he blushed.
Aurora smiled. "Well, if you insist. Oh, is it alright if my friend joins us? I kind of accidentally ditched him."
"Sure!" Orion said, "the more the merrier."
Aurora turned around and waved down the butler. "Cogman, over here!"
The old mech maneuvered around the bots and approached her. "There you are," he said, "I was beginning to think you've forgotten about me. There was this overcharged femme that wouldn't stop winking at me."
"Aww that's cute," Aurora said with a smile.
"Her mechfriend didn't seem to think so."
"Aaah," Aurora said in realization before changing the topic. "Cogman, this is Neon, Orion Pax, and D-16."
Cogman looked at the group. It wasn't long before he noticed their lack of cogs. Out of all the bots in this Oil House, Aurora befriended a group of miners. Ooh, if Sentinel knew about this, He grimly thought to himself.
"Cogman and I work together," Aurora told the group.
The butler politely nodded at all of them. "Charmed."
Neon looked at Cogman questionably. "Sorry for staring, but aren't you Aurora's right-hand bot?"
Both D-16 and Orion looked at him. Sure enough, it was the same butler that was always seen at the daughter of Prime's side.
"Yeah, Neon's right," Orion said, "it is you."
Aurora quickly tried to cover that up. "Y-Yes, w-we both work at Sentinel's tower. I'm a guard there."
Cogman gave her a look before she shot him a quick glare, telling him to go along with it. Venting, he looked back at the three. "Yes, she is. In fact, she works there so much she practically lives there."
Aurora released a fake laugh as she elbowed him.
Hearing that the two work directly under Sentinel Prime amazed the miners. "No way, that's so cool!" D-16 said, "I bet Sentinel Prime is great to work for."
"Oh, totally!" Aurora said, "totally great."
Orion looked at Cogman. "So, what's it like working for Aurora?"
"Yeah, what's she like?" D-16 asked.
The femme smugly smiled. "Oh, she's pretty awesome."
Cogman gave her a look before a mischievous smirk appeared on his face. "Indeed. She recently got over the thumb sucking and no longer needs to recharge with the lights on."
Embarrassment struck Aurora at the false accusations. She let out another fake laugh as she elbowed Cogman again. "Ha ha ha, he's such a kidder."
"And then there's the berth wetting-"
"Cogman why don't you grab us some more napkins?" she asked him as she tried to hide her glare with a smile.
"Of course," he said as he turned around while smirking to himself.
The three miners just looked at her questionably.
Aurora nervously chuckled. "Don't mind him. He and Aurora like messing with each other. Me and her, we're like, that," she said as she crossed her digits.
Orion chuckled. "I see."
"So, what's she really like, for real?" D-16 asked.
"She's... just trying to do her best," she said honestly, "you know, living day by day learning how to be a great leader like the Primes."
"That's got to be a lot of pressure for her, trying to live up to her parents," Orion said.
Aurora vented. You have no idea; she thought to herself.
(Time skip)
Aurora, Orion, and D-16 laughed as they shared stories with one another while enjoying their drinks. Neon however was not as chatty and ended up ripping open a couple metal shaving packets to make art out of. She would constantly glance up at the three talking with one another. Just like that, she felt she got demoted from third wheel to wallflower. She glanced at the butler, seeing he was content just sitting there drinking his energon. Neon vented as she made a design from the shavings.
"So let me get this straight, you jumped out a window from one of the high-level buildings, and somehow managed to escape two guards across town without a cog?" Aurora asked Orion in disbelief.
"Yeah, it was really fun," Orion laughed, "scary, but fun."
"Yep, he's the idiot who gets himself in trouble, and then I'm the one who has to save his sorry butt," D-16 added as he whacked Orion's arm.
Aurora chuckled. "Must never be a dull moment for you both."
"And get this, he wants the three of us to race in the Iacon 5000," the silver mech added.
Both Aurora and Cogman spat out their drinks and started coughing.
"Yep, that was our reaction too," D-16 said.
Cogman was completely baffled as he stared at Orion. "I'm sorry... but are you mad?"
"I believe if we take part in the race and beat at least one or two racers, we can prove to everyone that we don't have to be just miners, that we can be so much more." Orion explained.
"By more do you mean roadkill? Because that outcome seems very likely," Cogman commented.
"Thank you!" D-16 thanked the butler.
"I still believe we can do it, even without cogs," Orion said.
Aurora was lost in thought as she tapped her chin. "Do you really think someone can prove themselves just by racing in the Iacon 5000?"
"I mean, Sentinel did say whoever wins could be more than meets the eye," Orion said.
An idea came to Aurora's head as she grinned to herself. It wasnt long before she turned her attention to Neon. She noticed the miner femme hadn't spoken for some time since she joined the group. "Hey, Neon, why so quiet?" she asked, "You haven't said a word in a while." She then looked down at the beautiful shaving design Neon made. She was surprised at how well it was done. "Wow! That looks really good. Are you an artist?"
Neon shyly glanced at her. "A-A little."
"Neon is actually a painter," Orion said, "and she's great at it."
"I'm not that great," she told him.
"She can paint anything," the red and blue mech continued, "she actually painted this cool picture of Solus Prime."
"But then a cart drove off with it," D-16 said with a chuckle.
Neon gave him a look.
"Wait, what?" Aurora curiously asked.
The femme miner vented. "I was walking down the street with it when I set it down on a cart to help a bot, only for someone to drive off with it."
Aurora looked at Cogman who looked back at her, both thinking the same thing. Aurora looked at Neon with her optical ridge raised at her. "This Solus Prime painting, any chance did it have a neon drip paint design and have Solus Prime holding her hammer in a heroic pose?"
This time it was Neon's turn to raise her optical ridge at her. "Um... yes?"
The three miners were surprised as 'Greenshot' started squealing in excitement.
"No way!" She happily said, "It's you! You're the painter! Oh my gosh you're the one who painted that Solus Prime portrait!"
Neon was having trouble speaking as she stared at the overly excited flier.
"Wait, Greenshot, you have her painting?" Orion asked.
Aurora paused for a moment. Remembering she was supposed to stay in disguise, she toned it down a smidge. "Actually, Aurora does. She found it at the grand opening ceremony and absolutely loves it!"
"She has it hanging up on her wall as we speak," Cogman added.
Neon was shocked by this. Aurora had her painting... And she liked it?
"No way!" Orion said excitedly. He nudged Neon's arm. "Nee, you hear that?! Aurora loves your painting!"
The flier then had a worried look on her face. "Oh my gosh, you probably want it back. I am so sor- I mean, I'm sure Aurora will understand and return it to you. We just didn't know who it belonged to."
Neon was still shocked as she stuttered. "N-no th-th-at's okay. Sh-she can k-keep it."
Aurora happily smiled. "You have to give me your contact information! Aurora will be so excited that I found the painter! She really wants more paintings like it! Oh my gosh, maybe you could also do a mural of the Primes over in the Iacon gardens! That would be so cool!"
"If Sentinel approves it, of course," Cogman reminded her.
"Yes, of course, but Aurora will convince him no problem," 'Greenshot said confidently.
Orion happily laughed. "That would be awesome!" he said as he looked at the blue and green femme, "Nee, isn't that cool?!"
Neon didn't know what to say. She had too many thoughts and emotions trying to overthrow one another. "I uh... I-"
Just then another song started playing, making Aurora's optics widen as she smiled. "Oh my gosh, I love this song!" Wanting to dance, she got up and looked at D-16. "You wanna dance with me?"
D-16's optics nervously widened as he blushed. "I uh, I-"
Being his wingman, Orion spoke up. "He would love to," He bumped D-16's arm with his fist, "isn't that right, D?"
D-16 glanced at Orion before looking back at 'Greenshot'. "Y-yeah," he said with a small smile.
Aurora smiled as she took him by the arm. "Let's go!"
Orion smirked as he watched a blushing D-16 being dragged off onto the dancefloor.
Cogman watched as the two disappeared into the crowd. "This should be interesting," he said as he got up to keep an eye on her.
Once it was just the two of them, Orion looked at Neon and happily laughed. "This is so amazing! You could be Aurora's personal painter. This could be just the beginning for you! No more mining, no more having to-"
"I'm not doing it."
Orion was shocked by her response. "What?! Why?!"
"I'm sorry, but I'm having a hard time believing the Aurora loves one of my paintings."
The red and blue bot gave her a look. "Why is that so hard to believe? This could be a game changer for you. You could leave the mines, became a professional painter. Don't you want that?"
"She likes one painting. What if she hates the others? Also, the Iacon Gardens? You know how many bots would see a mural that I painted?"
"Yes, many! Isn't that what you want?"
"But what if they hate it? What if I end up making a fool of myself?"
Orion sadly looked at her. "Is that what this is about? You're afraid of failing?"
"No! I mean... I don't know," she vented as she stirred what was left of her drink with her straw, "I don't want anything to change. You, D-16, me? I like things the way they are right now."
"But are you really happy just being a miner?"
"I'm a cog-less bot. Maybe it's just where I'm supposed to be."
"Do you really believe that?"
Not wanting to answer his question, Neon stood up. "I'm going to get another drink." She then left for the bar, leaving Orion alone at the booth.
Meanwhile on the dance floor, D-16 was trying his best not to make a fool of himself with his dancing. He looked at 'Greenshot' dancing in front of him. She was definitely taller than he was, but she didn't seem to mind. To be frank, neither did he. He watched as she did a twirl around him and just cut loose. He chuckled as he watched her get lost in the music.
"You're pretty good," he complimented.
She chuckled. "Thanks! You're not so bad yourself."
"Tell that to my two left pedes."
She laughed as she danced around him. "You're funny."
He blushed at that as he lightly chuckled. "Nah, that was more of a sad fact."
She smiled at him. "You know, I think it's actually sweet how you stick with Orion through his crazy heists. He's really lucky to have a friend like you."
D-16's face darkened even more as he bashfully smiled back at her.
Once Neon reached the bar, she took off her visor and rubbed her optics. She couldn't help but think about the conversation she had with Orion. Truth be told, she didn't like being a miner. But Orion was right; she was afraid of trying anything else. But even if she was meant for something greater, everyone would still see her as a cog-less bot. She looked at her reflection in the mirror, her iridescent optics looking right back at her. She sadly vented before looking at 'Greenshot' dancing with D-16. She couldn't help but feel jealous towards the flier. Besides having a cog, 'Greenshot' was beautiful and shining with confidence. Something Neon was not. Would she be as confident if she had a cog?
Or would she still feel like she was nothing?
She staggered back as a bot brushed past her, causing her to bump into someone sitting at the bar and make him spill his drink. She turned around and looked at the mech she stumbled into. He was an old flier with faded army green armor and sunken yellow optics that looked lifeless. He was chugging down his sixth drink of high grade before Neon bumped into him. He coughed as his drink spilled all over the counter, making a mess.
Neon's optics widened at what she did. "Oh my gosh, I am so sorry! Are you okay?"
The old mech faced her to tell her off... only for a look of horror to spread across his face.
Neon looked at him worryingly. "Sir?"
He stared at her iridescent optics as if he had seen a ghost. Finally, he whispered, "What are you doing here?"
Neon didn't understand what he was saying. "I-I'm sorry?" She gasped as he grabbed her by the arms and shook her.
"You have to leave!" he loudly whispered, "You're not safe here! You have to stay far away, you hear me?!"
Fear was taking hold of Neon as she looked at the stranger. "I-I-I don't understand wh-what you're-"
He grabbed her visor and held it up to her. "Never take this off! Do you understand?!"
Neon grew more fearful as she tried pulling herself free from his grasp. "Let go!"
"Do you understand?!" he sternly repeated.
Orion saw Neon in trouble and rushed over to help her. "Hey!" He barked as he shoved the mech away, "Don't touch her!"
The old mech was so drunk that he staggered back and fell to the floor. He groaned as he slowly sat up before two staff members approached him.
"Okay, old timer, you've had enough," one said as they hoisted him up by the arms.
The flier looked at Neon. "Go," he told her as he tossed her visor at her pedes, "GO!"
Neon stepped back before grabbing her visor and running away from him. She didn't know what all that was about. And she didn't want to find out.
"Nee!" Orion shouted as he went after her.
Standing off to the side, Cogman heard the commotion, drawing his attention. He saw Neon running off with Orion right behind her before glancing over at the bar. He saw the old mech being dragged off by a couple of the staff members... but was shocked once he saw the mech's face.
"Grindor?"
He watched as the staff kicked the old flier out the door, telling him to go home. He wanted to go after him, but Aurora was his first priority. But he couldn't help but wonder what the old bot was doing in a place like this.
D-16 was still on the dance floor with 'Greenshot' when he noticed Neon running past everyone. "Neon?"
Aurora was confused before looking in the direction he was. She could see the small blue and green miner looking distressed as she disappeared through the crowd. Both her and D-16 worryingly glanced at one another before they chased after her.
"Neon, wait!" Orion called out as he tried to catch up to his friend. He accidently bumped into a large bot in the process, knocking his drink out of his servo. The mech was angered by this as he watched the miner run off.
Neon soon made it to a clearing where she could calm down. She shook as she heavily vented, her spark racing a mile per minute as she put her visor back on with shaky servos.
"Nee!" Orion shouted as he ran over and got beside her. He placed his servo on her back to help her calm down. "Are you okay?"
D-16 and Aurora soon appeared and got beside the two.
"What happened?" D-16 asked.
"Some old mech was harassing her," the red and blue mech responded.
Aurora looked at Neon. "Are you alright?"
After a few seconds, Neon released a big vent. "I'm... I'm fine," she finally spoke, "I just got spooked is all. I'm sorry."
"Hey, it's okay," Orion assured her, "they kicked him out. He won't bother you again."
Just then an angry voice spoke behind them. "Hey, miner!"
The four turned around to see two large mechs approaching them, not looking very happy.
"This can't be good," D-16 grimly said.
"You spilled my drink!" The orange one snapped at Orion.
The red and blue mech tried to apologize. "I'm sorry, it was an accident. I will buy you a new one but right now my friend needs-"
"I don't need a new one," he said as he pushed Orion back with his digit, "I'm going to make sure you never do it again." He then punched his fist into his servo, ready to start a fight.
Orion nervously stepped back as he raised his servos up. "Okay, whoa, whoa, I don't want any trouble."
"Should have thought of that sooner, No Cog!"
Aurora stepped in front of the orange mech and frowned at him. "Hey, it was an accident, lay off!"
"Greenshot, don't," D-16 said worryingly.
"Stay out of this, femme!" The mech said as he shoved her aside. She grunted as she staggered and fell to the floor with a thud.
"Greenshot!" D-16 exclaimed. He glared at the mech before being shoved to the floor himself. He grunted as he landed on his front, leaving Orion and Neon the only two left standing.
Orion backed away as the mech approached him. Even Neon was scared as he towered over them both. She wanted to run but didn't want to abandon Orion. Plus, there was a wall behind them, giving them nowhere to run. They were trapped. Immediately she blamed herself as she clung to Orion.
"Say goodnight, Miner," The orange mech said. He brought his fist back and went to punch Orion.
POW!
The three miners were shocked as 'Greenshot' leaped up and punched the mech across the face with so much force. The mech staggered back as the flier femme landed on her pedes and cracked her knuckles.
If D-16 didn't have a crush on her before, he certainly did now. "Whoa."
The orange mech ended up falling as he bumped into a red flier, causing him to spill his drink all over a femme. Her mechfriend was angered by this as he punched the flier in return. The flier's friend grabbed a glass and threw it at his friend's attacker, only for the mech to duck in time, causing the glass to hit a burly looking bot. Soon, chaos erupted as a bar fight began.
"Scrap!" Neon yelped as she ducked down from a glass flying over her head.
"Well, not how I imagined tonight to go," Orion commented.
The orange mech growled as he got back up and glared at Aurora. "You're dead!"
Aurora got into a fighting stance and smirked. "Bring it."
The mech yelled as he charged at her, but she used her thrusters to flip over him in time and kick him from behind.
Cogman tried to find Aurora but found himself stuck among the confusion and chaos. "Miss Aurora!" he shouted as he tried maneuvering around everyone. One bot tried to throw a punch at him, only for the butler to dodge and grab his arm. With one quick movement, he flipped the mech onto his back before stepping over him. "Miss Aurora!"
Back with the fight, the orange mech turned around and swung at Aurora. Immediately she ducked and swiped her leg under his, making the drunk mech fall down onto his back.
"Ha! You messed with the wrong- Oomph!" Aurora grunted as the mech's friend sucker punched her, sending her flying to the wall. The impact nearly knocked her out as she fell to the floor, dizzy from the attack.
"Greenshot!" D-16 yelled as he ran over to help.
The purple mech laughed as he went to grab her, only for D-16 to launch himself onto his back and attempt to steer him away.
"Leave her alone!" the miner growled.
The large bot growled as he reached over and grabbed D-16 before tossing the small miner away like a rag doll. D-16 grunted as he landed on a table, breaking it in half.
"Ow," the silver mech groaned.
Sitting up, Aurora groaned as she held her head. "Frag, that hurt!" She looked up and fearfully gasped. Both mechs towered over her, ready to tear her apart as they cracked their knuckles.
Clank!
The orange mech stopped as something whacked him from behind. The two turned around to see Neon standing there holding a tray in her servos. Both only glared at her.
Realizing the stupid mistake she made; Neon immediately dropped the tray. "Sorry!" she squeaked.
The orange mech grabbed her by the shoulder and hoisted her up, making her fearfully kick the air as she tried to break free.
"Shouldn't have done that, small fry," the mech said. He then grunted as Aurora leaped up and wrapped her arms around his neck, making him let go of the miner. The purple mech went to pull her off, only to get tackled away by D-16 and Orion Pax.
The orange mech grabbed Aurora and pulled her off before throwing her away. Using her thrusters, she flew towards her opponent and threw a bunch of punches at him. But it didn't last long as the bot grabbed her and roughly slammed her onto the floor. The room spun around as she felt pain shoot throughout her body from the impact. She groaned as her vision slowly returned to normal, just in time to see the mech about to strike her. But before the mech could finish her off, she frantically grabbed a stool lying beside her and swung it up at his head.
BONK!
The stool collided into the side of the mech's head, knocking him out as he landed beside her. Seeing her opponent was down for the count, Aurora let out a vent of relief as she dropped the stool.
Neon rushed over to the flier. "Are you okay?"
Aurora let out a small chuckle. "Now that was intense," she said halfheartedly.
Neon gave her a look. "You're crazy, you know that?" she commented as she offered her servo and helped the flier back onto her pedes.
"Hey!"
The femmes looked to see the purple mech on his pedes with D-16 and Orion Pax down for the count behind him. He let out a yell as he charged at them with his fists ready.
Aurora and Neon fearfully held servos as they braced themselves. Just then they felt a surge travel from their grasp and straight to their sparks. Their optics glowed brightly as they felt a burst of energy release from inside of them.
All Orion, D-16, and Cogman could see was a quick flash of light. The next thing they saw was the purple mech go flying back as if someone twice his size had decked him. He ended up colliding into a bunch of tables, making a big mess as he slid across the floor. Everyone in his way either leaped to safety or got knocked over by him. Finally, he slid into the bar and bumped into it, causing a bunch of drinks to spill all over him as he passed out.
Both Aurora and Neon ended up falling backwards, weakened from whatever it was that just happened. Their optics returned to normal as everything spun around them. Neon didn't know what was happening as images flashed in her mind.
Two large blurry figures appeared into view, their glowing optics looking down at her as she heard faint voices. It then flashed to a horrifying face with sharp teeth coming at her, ready to tear her apart.
Aurora groaned as she slowly turned her head to look at Neon, the miner looking back at her with the same confused look. Both were too shocked to speak.
"Neon! Greenshot!" D-16 shouted as he and Orion ran towards the femmes. The two mechs knelt down to make sure they were okay.
"What happened?!" Orion asked.
Both femmes were still speechless as the mechs helped them onto their pedes.
"We should go," D-16 said.
Orion helped Neon while D-16 helped 'Greenshot.' The group tried making their way through the chaos as bots fought all around them. Just as they were almost home free, someone bumped into D-16 and 'Greenshot,' making them fall forward with a thud. The flier grunted as she felt her arm hit something... along with the cloaking device. Her disguise fizzled out, revealing her magenta and yellow armor.
Orion and Neon stopped once they realized the two had fallen. They turned around to help... but were shocked to see who was lying beside D-16.
D-16 looked over at the femme. "Greenshot, are you-" His optics widened in shock. What once was the femme he danced with was now the daughter of Primes herself.
Aurora held her head before looking back at him. She was confused by his expression before noticing the other two were gawking at her as well. She looked down at herself and gasped, seeing her disguise was gone. Immediately she turned the device back on, bringing her Greenshot disguise back up before anyone else could notice.
D-16 couldn't believe what he saw. "Y-y-you're... you're..." he stuttered.
Cogman was finally able to reach Aurora as he rushed over to her. "Are you alright?!" Immediately he helped her back up and took her by the arm. "We are leaving right now!"
Aurora looked at D-16 and the others, wanting to explain to them everything. But she didn't get the chance as Cogman dragged her away. Both her and Neon shared one last glance before the two fliers disappeared through the crowd and out the door.
D-16 stood back up as he watched the femme leave. He was completely baffled. But at the same time, a small smile spread across his face. "That was Aurora." But the moment didn't last as a random bot punched him in the face, knocking him to the floor.
(Time skip)
After managing to survive the fight, and having to pay for some of the damages, the three miners finally managed to make it back home. They stepped off the train as D-16 ecstatically went off about the night they had.
"I can't believe it was her all along!" he said ecstatically, "Aurora! The Aurora! I can't believe we hung out with the daughter of Megatronus Prime! And I danced with her! This is the best night of my life!"
Orion chuckled. "I think she really likes you."
D-16 looked at his friend in disbelief. "Me? No way! She's the daughter of Primes! I'm nowhere near her league." He then smiled at the thought. "Really, you think she likes me?"
Orion laughed as he patted him on the back.
Neon was silent as she tried processing what happened earlier. She had no idea what happened during the fight. All she remembered was feeling some sort of buildup and then seeing the mech go flying back. But how? Not to mention the vision she had afterwards. She could still see the images in her head but had no idea what they were. Did she just imagine it all?
"Neon?" Orion asked, "you okay?"
The femme snapped out of her thoughts as she looked at the two. She wanted to tell them, but was scared they would think she was going crazy. Maybe she was. There had to be some sort of rational explanation. But until she knew, she thought it was best to keep it to herself.
"Yeah," she lied, "I just really want to call it a night and forget about that whole fiasco."
"You're sure you're alight?" D-16 asked her.
"I'll be fine," she assured him, "really."
Once they made it inside, they saw half of the miners already in their chambers recharging for the next day. They made their way to their own berth chambers as Orion leaned towards D-16.
"You know, I bet Aurora would be very impressed if she saw you racing tomorrow," he said with a smirk.
"Uh huh, nice try," D-16 said, "we still can't transform, and there's nothing we can do about it. Now come on, let's get some recharge."
Orion's smirk disappeared as he sadly vented. "Yeah, maybe you're right." He watched as his friends turned in for the night. He really wanted the best for them. For all of them. Though D-16 did bring up a good point. They couldn't beat the racers simply on foot... not without a little help. He thought of an idea as his smirk returned. "Maybe."
(Sentinel's Tower)
Having made it back home, Aurora was laying down in her berth as she looked at the fake stars on her ceiling. She had a few ice packs on her from the fight, hoping they would help numb the pain. Cogman helped her get rid of her dents and scratches, anything that was evidence of her sneaking out. The last thing she wanted was for Sentinel to find out and be disappointed.
As she laid there, she couldn't stop thinking about what had happened. She thought the first contact with Neon was weird enough. But then the second time... That wasn't normal. Was it?
Having too many questions in her head, she finally got up and left her room. There was only one bot she could talk to about what was bothering her. Making her way down the corridor, she approached a door and knocked on it four times.
"Cogman," she whispered loudly. When that didn't work, she knocked again. And again. "Cogman!"
Finally, the old mech opened the door, looking very tired. The femme didn't even let him speak as she walked past him and entered his room. "I really need to talk to you about something and you might think I'm crazy." She said as she sat down on a chair.
"Please, come on in and have a seat," he said despite her having already done so. Shutting the door, he walked over and sat down on the chair across from her. "Now what troubles you?"
"It's about Neon. When she first bumped into me, I felt this weird shock of some kind, almost like I knew her or something. And then during the fight, it happened again, only it was a surge and it... I honestly don't know what happened, but it was insane! It was like I exploded or something."
The butler quietly looked at her. "I'm sorry but you've lost me."
"It was like a burst of power. Whatever it was, it sent that bot flying. I know it sounds crazy, but I think it had something to do with Neon."
"Miss Aurora, you just had an overly exciting evening. I'm sure what you experienced was just sheer adrenaline."
She gave him a look. "Cogman, I've had my fair share of adrenaline rushes, and not once has it sent a bot bigger than me flying across a room. I'm telling you; it was something really weird."
Cogman vented. "Why don't we talk about this tomorrow? Right now, you need rest."
Aurora wanted to argue but vented. It was clear that Cogman didn't believe her. But then again, she wasn't sure if she believed it herself. "Fine, sure." She stood up and was about to walk out the door. She stopped as she looked at him. "You know for a second it almost felt like... I experienced it before."
Cogman raised his optical ridge at her. "How so?"
"I... I don't know." She vented. "Maybe you're right. Maybe I'm just imagining things... good night, Cogman."
"Good night, Miss Aurora," Cogman said. Soon as she left, he thought to himself about what she explained. It sounded uncanny, but also familiar. But that only happened when...
No, it wasn't possible.
Aurora walked down the hall back to her room as she sadly vented. Maybe she was going crazy. Either way, she had to get some recharge for the race. Another thought crossed her mind as Orion's words played in her head.
"Sentinel did say the winner could be more than meets the eye."
She smirked to herself, thinking of how she can prove to Sentinel she was ready.
(Mining Barracks)
"Carrier?... Sire?"
"Where are you?"
"It's nothing personal."
Neon awoke with a start. She looked around the room, seeing she was still in the miners' quarters. She rubbed her optics as the dream played out in her mind. It was similar to the vision she had earlier. Nothing but blurs. Only this time she managed to hear what some of the voices were saying. But none of it still made any sense.
She tried going back to recharge but with no prevail. After a while, she stepped out of her chamber and put her visor back on before making her way to her locker to get her art supplies. If she wasn't going to recharge, she might as well get some painting done.
She then made her way up to the roof and laid out a bunch of metal sheets she kept stashed in the corner. Setting up her stuff, she started painting, hoping she could purge out whatever was haunting her out of her mind. But each image she painted were still just blurs with eyes looking back at her. She ended up just aggressively moving her paintbrush all over the images, like she was no longer in control.
And that was chapter 3! I hope you liked Aurora's interaction with the others. Next chapter will be the big race where the characters collide yet again and meet Sentinel.
Thank you all for reading and if you're liking this story so far, please hit follow and leave a review and hopefully I will post again soon. Until next time! God bless!