Template:Infobox Character
"My people will have to wait, because this cannot."
-Brian Kadeem
Brian "Zone" Kadeem was a member of Dr. Tezla's racing team alongside with Lani Tam and Gig and formerly the leader of the Dune Ratz. Two years after the events Highway 35, Brian decides to assist Dr. Tezla in the Acceledrome, but after the events of Ignition, he is captured by the Racing Drones and is eventually turned into a drone by Gelorum. He was voiced by Cusse Mankuma.
Personality
Kadeem is kind and compassionate and is quite fond of Vert since they became good friends during the World Race. He also seems to be very introspective. Kadeem cares so deeply for his home that he is willing to put himself at risk fighting the drones to protect them.
Story
Kadeem is introduced when Vert and company arrive at Tezla's old headquarters. Vert greets him and asks about his home. Kadeem says stopping the drones is more important than helping his people at the moment. Kadeem guides the drivers through the stone maze and into the Acceledrome. Here they receive a briefing from Dr. Tezla about the racing realms. The Storm Realm opens shortly after and Kadeem helps the new drivers with equipping their cars with Nitrox 2 boosters. Then he leads them into the portal at 300 mph.
Kadeem in the Storm Realm driving his car, Krazy 8's.
The Storm Realm
The portal to the Storm Realm opens up high above the track and drops the drivers a long distance before touching down. Kadeem wonders what holds the track up since no support struts can be seen. Taro tells him to "ask the Accelerons." Kadeem encounters RD-L1 in the realm when the drone uses a combination of the Fog Accelecharger and the Ram Hyperpod to knock him, Wylde and Taro off of the track. Kadeem later catches up to a group of RD-06's. He overtakes one mid-jump and drafts with the next. The drone behind him tries to shoot him with an energy blast, but Kadeem avoids it and the shot hits another drone. The drone charges up another shot, but Taro rams it and the shot hits one of the lightning rods. Kadeem instructs Taro to help him with the other drones, but Taro just passes Kadeem and leaves him to deal with the drones. RD-L1 drives up behind Kadeem and orders on of the RD-S1's to launch their grappling hook into Kadeem's car. RD-L1 then knocks his fellow drone off the track, pulling Kadeem down with him. Kadeem engages his parachute to slow his descent. Vert sees Kadeem falling and launches his grappling hook to try and catch him. The shot misses and Kadeem continues falling. RD-L1 shoots Kadeem's parachute and he falls a long distance. One of the drones likely goes to where Kadeem fell to take him to the Drones' HQ.
The Speed of Silence
Kadeem is only seen a few times in the second movie. The first time is in a shot of Gelorum while the sweeper enters the Metro Realm. His arm can be seen, bound by a cuff. The second time is when Gelorum comments on the destruction of the sweeper. This time Gelorum actually talks to him and brags about capturing all of his friends. She foreshadows his transformation when she says, "Let's hope they still recognize you."
Breaking Point
In the beginning of the third movie, Gelorum talks about the drones' purpose and why the Accelerons left them behind. She says only human could get the Wheel of Power and that they waited for millennia. She explains all of this to Kadeem. Kadeem asks what what the Accelerons left for humanity, but Gelorum does not tell him. However, he will soon "know everything". A large machine with a human-shape imprint and multiple moving parts approaches Kadeem. He struggles and begs her to stop.
The next time Kadeem is seen, he is no longer Kadeem. Heavy stomps emerge from the darkness and he is revealed as RD-K1. His legs are the same those of RD-L1 and his right arm has be replaced with a robotic limb. His torso appears to have been cut open at the bottom and green wires now fill the cavity. His internal organs were likely pulled out during his reconstruction. Kadeem's eyes now glow green and strands of his hair glow as well. His forehead sports the six "eyes" or Acceleron markings common to a lot of drones, most notably, RD-L1. Kadeem says that the drones can change everything else about the newly captured Wylde while creepily smiling.
The Ultimate Race
Kadeem takes over for Gelorum when she begins her assault on the Acceledrome. He informs her that the humans have entered the Drones' HQ inside of a sweeper. A few minutes later, Kadeem contacts the drivers over the radio and pretends to be imprisoned. He leads them to where Wylde is being held in order to destroy them with a blast from a mounted turret. Karma tells Monkey to stop the sweeper just short of where the blast impacts.
After avoiding a large force of drones, Kurt enters the tall tower to save Wylde. Here, Kadeem reveals himself to be a drone. Kurt is horrified by Kadeem's new body and tries to run back to his car, but Kadeem demonstrates his new speed and leaps between Kurt and the car. Kadeem engages Kurt in combat and gloats about how he won their fight in the desert. As he begins throwing Kurt around the room, Kurt tries to get him to remember his home and people. Kadeem seems to forget about them and threatens to turn Kurt into a drone as well. Wylde escapes from his bindings and attacks Kadeem and the two fight until Kadeem gets the upper hand and launches Wylde high into the sky. There, Wylde challenges Kadeem to "show what he got", Kadeem happily accepts it saying that he is still human after all and winking, then, they continue their fight on a narrow beam where Kadeem overpowers Wylde and holds him over the edge by his throat. Kurt surprises Kadeem with a punch to his face which leaves Kadeem hanging from the beam's ledge. Kurt offers him a chance to come back with him, but Kadeem rejects his gesture and says, "Kadeem is gone." He then releases from the edge and falls into the darkness. It is unknown what becomes of Kadeem and whether he survived the fall.
Team
- Dr. Tezla's Team (Formerly)
- Racing Drones
Cars
Krazy 8's (Destroyed)
Trivia
- Kadeem is the first human driver seen to enter a racing realm.
- Kadeem finds Monkey's desire for money to be funny.
- In Highway 35, Kadeem had a short cut hairstyle and had a darker skin tone. In Acceleracers, he has dreads tied into a ponytail and Arabian-like skin color.
- Kadeem does not wear a helmet in Acceleracers. It is unknown why.
- Kadeem is likely from Northern Africa because he mentions driving through a sandstorm in the Sahara to Banjee Castillo during the World Race.
- Dr. Tezla has a recording of Kadeem's voice.
- According to a German catalog from 2006, the Drone version of Kadeem is called "RD-K1"