"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" Charoite knocked on B's sleeping pod with both fists until she saw his eyes open. "Today's the day my dream finally comes true!"
B sprang upright, burst out of the pod and into Charoite's arms. "This is great! The day's finally here! We've talked about it since forever! And Optimus is in charge of the Iacon 5000 for the first time! Can't wait to see what he says for his speech! And I can't wait to see you win! I mean, high-performance planes have more stamina than other planes, right? Yeah, I think that's right."
Charoite kissed B and threw an arm around him as they left his room. "I can't wait to win, either! I mean, well, even if I don't win, I'd still be happy I raced, and that my name was on the leaderboard! Maybe being called, 'Chariot,' will finally be a thing of the past, especially if I win!"
B hugged his arm around her. "Well, no matter what, I'll just be happy to see my future sparkmate race!" He kissed her cheek.
The stadium filled up in minutes. It helped that Optimus had announced that there would be no work for anybody that day. B succeeded in his mission to arrive early enough so he would be able to sit in a front row seat.
At the starting lineup, Charoite, with a tight grin, bounced on her feet as she looked around at the other racers. Her eyes settled on B, who was behind her. She gave him a quick wave, and he gave her an equally excited wave.
The announcer spoke as the lights dimmed. "Announcing, Cybertron's new leader, Optimus Prime!"
The stadium erupted into applause, cheers and screams as a spotlit Optimus emerged on a floating platform, which circled around the area. Optimus displayed an air of confidence, with a hint of humility as he smiled and waved to the crowd.
The platform came to a stop in the middle of the stadium. "Hello, Iacon City. Thank you very much for being here today, and for embracing me as your new leader."
The cheers of the crowd resumed.
Optimus continued, "I also want to take the time to congratulate all of our first-time racers, especially those who were once known as mining bots."
"And bots with misdemeanors!" Charoite yelled as she threw her fists in the air.
A smattering of laughs reverberated throughout the crowd. One bot yelled, "Woo!"
Optimus gave a small chuckle. "Yes, that too. Anyhow, I would like for us to have a moment of silence for the rest of the Primes. I thank Primus every day for the time Cybertron graced us with their existence, and for honoring me with the title of Prime."
Holographic images of the rest of the Primes appeared in the air.
Charoite bowed her head and closed her eyes along with the rest of the stadium. She thanked Primus for the same things, along with him giving her a chance to be in the Iacon 5000, and for showing her who her spark really belonged to.
"Thank you everybody," Optimus said. "Now, racers, on your marks!"
Charoite looked again at B, who was at the edge of his seat with his hands folded. She gave him another wave before she transformed.
"Get set!"
Charoite revved her engine.
"Go!" Optimus shot a gun into the air.
Charoite zoomed past the starting line and into her dream.
THE END