2031 Olympics - Foot Race

TACS Racetrack

=========================[ Welcome to the Racetrack ]========================= Your average everyday oval-shaped race track, with the accompanying grandstand. Bookies wander around offering shady deals to the multitudes of myriad aliens flocking to watch the competition.

-( Race Conditions )-- POSITIONS PER LAP: 20                 LAPS PER RACE:      3 ENERGON PER TURN:  8                  MAX BASE VELOCITY:  11 --

Type !racehelp for a list of commands

Type !placements for current standings

=
=================================================================

Contents:

Swindle

Beastbox

Jetfire

Foxfire

Barkida

Redshift

The Femaxian contingent reappears for this, the last event of the Olympics! Thanks to heavy-planet biology their representative actually thinks she has a chance at beating one or more of the machines despite their potential advantages. Barkida raises her hands welcomingly to cheers from her fanbase as she comes out onto the track dressed lightly in tunic and subligaculum alone, eschewing the weight of armor for this purely athletic event. She looks proud to represent organic life, and waves to the alien fans particularly even though virtually none of them are of her own (rather isolationist) species.

Beastbox makes a perpendicular path knuckle-walking onto the track. He was getting twitchy not having any suitable events to compete in for a while since the Decepticon Free-For-All. So he settles for this absurd event he basically qualifies for. There is no fanbase for the newly built Decepticon Tape. Must be a jerk. He pounds his chest a few times and then raises a fist high in the air before getting into position.

Jetfire stands out like a sore thumb at this sort of event, considering that even while he's down on one knee he's taller than everyone else so far present. But that's sort of why he's here in the first place. A lot of people would expect the Air Guardian to have entered the flight race, but what's the point in doing something you already do good? This was more of an experiment, if nothing else! As is he's making some final adjustments to the other leg angled in front of him, making sure all his veniers that double as dash jets are fully operation... It's sort of like a marathon runner lacing up his shoes and stretching, in a way.

Barkida cinches the cloth windings around her feet and literally stretches. Not being a robot and all.

Swindle is hardly an unseen face during the olympics. With races of all sorts coming around for the events, how could he miss such an opportunity? But while he's been having a rather fair amount of business over the past few weeks, even Swindle can get the urge to take part in some of the events. Or he was caught selling counterfeit merchandise again. Either way, even the swindle bot is lining up for the race. But not before oiling his knee joints a few times with some patent pending elbow grease.

Made from only the finest quality elbows!

Combat: Swindle sets his defense level to Aggressive.

Combat: Redshift sets his defense level to Fearless.

The announcer today is another mutant woodland creature, but this one is a light orange-brown fox alien with two tails. He looks rather neotenic and is perhaps a juvenile of whatever strange alien species to which he belongs. He has on gloves and shoes. He waves cheerily to the racers and exclaims, "Golly gosh! Is that a /fox/ robot? Wow! Well, everyone get lined up on the starting line, and we'll get going at the sound of the whistle." He pulls out a whistle from... somewhere and &gt;FWEET!&lt;

Combat: Swindle sets his defense level to Aggressive.

"Nonono, it's a totally LEGAL upgrade adjustment! Look, I have PAPERS! You let me run LAST TIME, morons!" Redshift protests, shoving some paperwork out at some annoying frog-like Olympic officials. "If you were gonna contest it, shoulda done it in the 2029 olympics when I won!" He grumbles, and takes his place at the starting line, whether the officials like it or not. Redshift has painted some swell parrallel white stripes along his frame, and added a pair of little golden wings to his ankles. He also has his standard smirk, which is positively beaming as he scopes out the competition. As the freakish fox monster blows his whistle, Redshift is off like a shot, breaking into a sprint unliek any other, his limbs flying faster than many biological eyes can see, looking over his shoulder as he outpaces the mere mortals in his wake.

Foxfire is eyeing the announcer oddly. He straightens himself pridefully at the mutant creature's comments, a smirk crossing his muzzle. "Foxes for the win!" Loud enough that Tails can har him, of course. He steps up to the starting line, crouches slightly, and then literally springs into action, darting off down the track as fast as his four legs can carry him.

Barkida springs out of her crouch and starts pounding the clay. She's not a sprinter, but she has a comfortably fast stride and her extremely long and powerfully corded legs give her an advantage in that regard over most of the Transformers, whose legs are shaped more like pieces of furniture or huge elephantine pillars.

Beastbox thrusts both fists to the track ground and launches himself forward with a roar. He moves with an inelegant knuckle-trot as his fists and arms are his stronger limbs for locomotion than his legs which are used more just for standing and extra peddling for his forward motion. "Foxes ain't got nothin' on me!"

Jetfire takes a look to the sides of him as everyone gets into position at the starting line. "Small but diverse gathering. This should be an interesting endevour to top off the month," he muses.

Oh wait, there's the whistle! The towering white form pushes himself off the line, and breaks into a rather effective stride as the race begins.

Helps that, save prehaps for Redshift speeding about, one long stride of the air guardian covers as much ground as most normal people jogging thanks to his leg length.

Clutch has arrived.

Race: Clutch joins the race.

Swoop has arrived.

Swoop jumps up as his body folds and converts into his Pteranodon mode.

Race: Swoop joins the race.

Combat: Swoop sets his defense level to Fearless.

Swoop comes in a bit late, swooping down from the skies and transforming to land at the starting line to get ready. If Slag could make a showing in the land race yesterday, then he should make one in this one today since he overslept and missed the air race. Of course he almost missed this one as well... Swoop needs a better alarm clock. When the whistle sounds the blue dinobot takes off runing.

Race: The racers speed around the track, and the scoreboard lights up with the new race standings...

============================[ Racetrack Attack! ]============================= Racer                         Pos Lap Defense-Level -- Beastbox                      4   0   FEARLESS       -- Swoop                        4   0   FEARLESS       -- +Foxfire                      6   0   FEARLESS       -- +Barkida                      6   0   NEUTRAL        -- +Jetfire                      6   0   FEARLESS       -- +Swindle                      6   0   AGGRESSIVE     -- +Clutch                       6   0   FEARLESS       -- +Redshift                     8   0   FEARLESS       --

+ Racer within ramming distance ->; You!

=
==============[ Sorted by Leadership ]===========================

"Jiminy, that red guy sure is fast and spiky! Reminds me of a guy I know... but he's not very friendly." Tails scuffs at the ground with his sneaker. Then he looks up and give Foxfire a friendly, innocent smile back at Foxfire's shout. He announces, "Looks like a pretty even pack so far. Wonder if it'll thin out later?"

Beastbox gallops once he reaches his optimal pace and looks ahead... There's a Dinobot right beside him, but everyone else is ahead. He huffs. "So that's how it is, huh? Good enough for me." His mean streak takes over, quite easily as a matter of fact, and he launches himself at the really tall Autobots leg ahead of him.

Combat: Beastbox sets his defense level to Aggressive.

Fast and spiky, huh? Clutch keeps an eye on Redshift, then glances back at the rest of the field. He has a feeling he can keep up with the others and still do a little to slow down some of the Decepticons. Particularly the one that's already pulling away. Plus that red paintjob makes him the natural enemy of Clutch with his blue.

Combat: Clutch strikes Redshift with his Ram attack!

Foxfire is neck-and-neck with several other racers! Ears slightly lowered, he glances toward Clutch and then Jetfire, and then a small grin crosses his muzzle. "Hey, good luck, you two!" he calls to them as he runs, and then he blinks as Clutch goes after Redshift.

Combat: Beastbox misses Jetfire with his Monkey Ram Da Leg Boxy-san (Ram) attack!

Barkida guards herself through the pack, trying not to get between the Autobots and their Decepticon rivals; she was in the stands for the road race and saw how THAT went.

Combat: Barkida sets her defense level to Guarded.

Redshift wonders if anyone here saw his performance at the 2029 olympic foot race, and he hopes they have not. Sufficie to say, if they did not, they'll soon learn; Redshift is rediculously fast. No hedgehog-fast, but faster than any Transformer has any business running. Custom-designed heat-resistant lubricants flow through his hydraulics, courtesy of Scrapper. Now, however, with the bulk of the runners hot on his heels, is no time to look back; Maybe if he had, he would've been able to stop Clutch from blindsiding him. "Auugh, you fool, you'll ruin everything!" He cries as he goes tumbling head over heels, his super-fast legs flailing as he tumbles towards Jetfire!

Combat: Redshift sets his defense level to Protected.

Combat: Redshift strikes Jetfire with his pinwheeling speedster hazard! (Ram) attack! [Pulled -3]

Combat: Swoop misses Beastbox with his Ape Kick (Ram) attack!

Jetfire frowns a bit at seeing Redshift take an early lead of the pack. Looks like Clutch is close on his heels though. There's Swindle nearby, and that ape-tape a bit behind.. but while in range it was too early in the event to risk trying to knock someone aside. Instead he keeps up his pace, and glances down towards the amazonian alien that is doing a good job of keeping pace with the bigger robots. "Good evening miss. You are making quite effective progress despite being the only non-robotic being present." Pauses. "Wait, I didn't mean it to sound like you shouldn't be--Oops!" The conversation is cut short as he hops to the other side to pull his leg out of Beastbox's lunging range... And right into Redshift crashing into the only other leg he's standing on at the moment. "Oomph!" The larger Autobot tumbles over, having to jerk to the side to keep from falling on Barkida.... yes even if she is a giant alien amazon, he doesn't want to find out if she can take him falling on an organic either way.

Combat: Jetfire sets his defense level to Protected.

Maybe not the fastest, but Swindle can still keep up with some of them, it seems. None the less, he has to keep his energon reserves high, so he somewhat paces himself. He eyes Clutch, aiming to come in on Redshift, and smirks a little bit. He puts on a bit more speed, trying to come up closer to the autobot. One elbow outstretched, he aims to slam it into Clutch while the autobot's otherwise distracted. "Whoops! Can't keep track of those elbows for nothing it seems!"

Combat: Swindle sets his defense level to Neutral.

Barkida glances up suspiciously at Jetfire. He's being awfully polite... but he's got wings on him. It must be some sort of trick! She puts her head down and tries to put one of the other racers between herself and Jetfire lest he give her a shove or something.

Combat: Swindle misses Clutch with his Watch out for elbows! (Ram) attack! [Pulled -3]

Darn those wings! And he was nice enough to not fall on her too!

Sit-Com has arrived.

Race: &lt;Sit-Com&gt; Junk-Cycle joins the race.

Combat: &lt;Sit-Com&gt; Junk-Cycle sets his defense level to Fearless.

The motorcycle splits apart and re-forms into the jovial form of Sit-Com. Let the laugh track begin!

And suddenly on the track, panting and pumping, is Sit-Com, the Junkion. "Did I make it? Did I make it? I'm GONNA MAKE IT!"

Race: The racers speed around the track, and the scoreboard lights up with the new race standings...

============================[ Racetrack Attack! ]============================= Racer                         Pos Lap Defense-Level -- +Jetfire                      6   0   PROTECTED      -- +Swoop                        6   0   FEARLESS       -- +Sit-Com                      6   0   FEARLESS       -- +Beastbox                     7   0   AGGRESSIVE     -- +Redshift                     8   0   PROTECTED      -- +Barkida                      9   0   GUARDED        -- +Swindle                      9   0   NEUTRAL        -- Clutch                       10  0   FEARLESS       -- Foxfire                      11  0   FEARLESS       --

+ Racer within ramming distance ->; You!

=
==============[ Sorted by Leadership ]===========================

&lt;KNUJ&gt; Sit-Com says, "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEF4zH6XHCk"

Tails throws his hands up and exclaims, "Yikes! Everyone is just falling all over each other every which way. But oh, what's this? A late-comer? Gee willikers!" He looks at the standings and is happy to announce, "And hey, the fox is in the lead now!"

Foxfire finds himself in the lead! Who'd have thought. He eyes the ones behind him warily, on the lookout for any attempts to make him crash.

Beastbox growls as Jetfire's striding leg moves out of his attack range. On the plus side, as he recovers his trotting, Beastbox manages to sommersault over the can-can dancing Swoop's leg and then keeps an eye on the avenging red-mohawk angel. "Friends don't let friends run with stampedes."

Combat: Beastbox sets his defense level to Guarded.

Redshift picks himself up after his nasty tumble, a bit scuffed, but none the worse for wear. The only causuality is one of his gold ankle-wings, which has fallen off. he clutches it tightly in one fist, snarling. "CLUTCH! you'll pay for that!" He snaps, and takes off again to try and chase down the Autocar punk who knocked him over.

Combat: Redshift sets his defense level to Aggressive.

Jetfire grumbles as he extracts himself from the ground after the fall. "I wasn't planning on utilizing this so early in the race, but you've left me with no choice if I want to catch up." As he pushes to his feet several of the ducts in his legs open up and release a couple of short energy bursts to give himself a brief boost of speed down the track and back into the running. Maneuvering veniers also make good dash-jets!

Combat: Jetfire sets his defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Swoop sets his defense level to Guarded.

Clutch seems to holding his own at the front of the pack...or near the front, as he watches the four-legged Foxfire pull ahead. For Clutch, racing isn't just a hobby, it's a lifestyle. At foot speeds, most of the competitors haven't even completed the first turn yet, and he's already starting to feel the exertion. So he knows he has to start running smart.

Swoop growls some as the ape jumps over his leg. Maybe he's just too small, and the Dinobot needs to go for a larger target? Thats when the spots Redshift near by and sprints up closer and tries to 'accidently' smack him with one of his wings.

Combat: Swoop misses Redshift with his Wing Slap (Ram) attack!

Combat: Clutch sets his defense level to Neutral.

Barkida finds the rough-and-tumble robots are at least a bit further away now; she stretches out some and puts on a bit of speed, passing a few of the slower ones as she tries to catch up to the stronger mechanical competitors. "That one has rockets on it!" she exclaims under her breath, hard feet pattering away on the clay of the track. "That hardly seems fair. I must try harder."

Combat: Barkida sets her defense level to Aggressive.

&lt;KNUJ&gt; Monstereo says, "Revenge is a dish best served funny and to music. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yly2UDQp6fc"

Trying to elbow his way in past Clutch didn't seem to work very well for Swindle. He misses the autobot entirely it seems, coming up just a touch slow to try and get him. He grunts, but takes it in stride, grinning lazily. Eyeing the leader, Swindle puts on a bit more speed, hurrying further up the track. "I don't suppose I can interest you in some TOE jam, can I?" Offers the decepticon, attempting to bring his foot into Foxfire's side.

Combat: Swindle sets his defense level to Fearless.

Sit-Com manages to catch up to the crashed people, still going full bore for the moment. He sees two Decepticons he could trip up if he so desired, but for now he wants to make up for the late start. The strains of Vangelus' Chariots of Fire playing on his wrist-TV.

Combat: Sit-Com sets his defense level to Aggressive.

Combat: Swindle misses Foxfire with his Jamming you up (Ram) attack!

Race: The racers speed around the track, and the scoreboard lights up with the new race standings...

============================[ Racetrack Attack! ]============================= Racer                         Pos Lap Defense-Level -- +Swoop                        7   0   GUARDED        -- +Beastbox                     9   0   GUARDED        -- Sit-Com                      11  0   AGGRESSIVE     -- Swindle                      12  0   FEARLESS       -- Jetfire                      13  0   FEARLESS       -- Clutch                       15  0   NEUTRAL        -- Barkida                      16  0   AGGRESSIVE     -- Redshift                     16  0   AGGRESSIVE     -- Foxfire                      18  0   FEARLESS       --

+ Racer within ramming distance ->; You!

=
==============[ Sorted by Leadership ]===========================

Tails, who seems quite a peaceful soul, suggests, "I'm sure he couldn't help being born with rockets." A staffer whispers to him, and Tails looks /shocked/. "Wait, you mean, they were all /built/ robots? They weren't roboticized? Even the fox and the monkey and the pterodactyl? But oh, the fox is still in the lead, but that spiky red guy is catching up to him!"

A dinobot's wing(which means it can only be SWOOP) flicks out at Redshift's face, but he's already getting into his stride, and he quickly ducks under the offending appendage. He spares Swoop a scathing remark, to avoid attracting the ire of the beast, as he continues to run, gaining speed as his slim limbs scissor back and forth, his space-age advanced hydraulics staying cool under the strain.

Combat: Redshift sets his defense level to Protected.

Foxfire dodges to the side to avoid Swindle's foot. He stills out his metallic tongue at the Decepticon swindler (no pun intended). "Later, gator!" He continues off down the track, finding that he's still in the lead.

Barkida pumps her arms as she leans into the turn and races after Redshift and that little robot dog-thing that's so far out in front. She has to believe in herself! It can't ALL be robots in the winner's circle at the Space Olympics' most hallowed event, even if they do have jets on them.

Combat: Barkida sets her defense level to Fearless.

Swoop seems to be having trouble actually hitting anything, he's supposed to be a Dinobot for prime's sake. He should be smashing the decepticons around better then this. Maybe he should focus on racing then smashing, unless someone tries to attack him first.

Combat: Swoop sets his defense level to Fearless.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "YEE-HAW!"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jetfire says, "Good job up there guys, but keep your optics on that Decepticon speeder."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "I've got my eyes on the prize, Jets. I took Gold once before; maybe I'll get lucky and take it again."

Clutch runs along, no special tricks or techniques, just the strength and range of motion to move his limbs quickly, and the endurance to keep them moving fast. Seeing others alter their strides, Clutch tries to learn from their strategies. Nothing like an in-race lesson in the dynamics of running on foot.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Clutch says, "There's still plenty of race left to run guys. Especially at the rate we're going."

Bringing his foot against nothing instead of hitting something solid seems to have thrown Swindle slightly for a loop. He staggers, tripping a little against his own two feet. Several racers pace him by when he tries to keep himself from tumbling over. "That's the problem with you fast pacers, never stick around long enough to finish the pitch." He frowns in mock annoyance. Then puts on another burst of speed, trying to catch up with the rest.

Combat: Swindle sets his defense level to Fearless.

The momentary boost does little more for Jetfire than taking a deep breath and sprinting harder for a few moments would do for a track running, getting him back into competing range and little else. As he's still running instead of using them for actual propulsion before they shut off again. ".. Somehow I'm not surprised they're playing dirty," rumbles the air guardian as he narrows his optics a bit at the Decepticon antics. As much as he would like to kick Swindle, he's focused on trying to get a bit closer to the leads and see if he can't sweep a Con or two off their tails.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Clutch sounds a little embarrassed.

Beastbox turns his head to look back as he inches ahead of Swoop. "Look at you back there HAHAHA. I'm faster than you and there's nothing you can do about it!" Not looking where he's going, the 'grape-tape' crashes into one of the side-track Gatorade cup people and gets doused with ... grape Gatorade of all things. And the keg is on his head to boot. It's a barrel of monkeys. He slows bashing at it to get it off!

Combat: Beastbox sets his defense level to Protected.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jetfire says, "Despite being a 'race', strategic pacing and awareness are as important as speed."

Sit-Com chuckles at the purple monkey dishwasher as he runs past. So far so good...though he's finding catching up is hard to do. His TV now plays the theme to "Perfect Strangers."

Combat: Sit-Com sets his defense level to Neutral.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Clutch says, "That's, uh...what I mean."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Clutch says, "I think."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Sit-Com says, "The Decepticons will crack any minute, purple monkey dishwasher."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "Purple monkey dishwasher...?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Sit-Com says, "Ever played "Telephone", Foxfire?"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "No..."

Race: The racers speed around the track, and the scoreboard lights up with the new race standings...

============================[ Racetrack Attack! ]============================= Racer                         Pos Lap Defense-Level -- Beastbox                      11  0   PROTECTED      -- Swoop                        13  0   FEARLESS       -- Sit-Com                      15  0   NEUTRAL        -- Swindle                      18  0   FEARLESS       -- Jetfire                      19  0   FEARLESS       -- Redshift                     1   1   PROTECTED      -- Clutch                       1   1   NEUTRAL        -- Barkida                      3   1   FEARLESS       -- +Foxfire                      5   1   FEARLESS       --

+ Racer within ramming distance ->; You!

=
==============[ Sorted by Leadership ]===========================

&lt;Autobot&gt; Sit-Com says, "where you whisper in some bot's audio, and he whispers in another bot's audio all down the line."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "Oh, I've heard of that game. Humans play it."

Tails scratches his head as the monkey ends in a barrel, and he stage whispers, "I think that's the wrong video game franchise." Then, he shrugs. More happily, he announces, "They've made it to the first round! The red guy, the blue guy, the fox, and the chick! ...hey, that reminds me..."

Barkida manages to pass Redshift and falls back again, only able to keep up that speed for a little while at a time.

Combat: Barkida sets her defense level to Neutral.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Sit-Com says, "Sometimes bots mishear what was whispered and add things that weren't there. Like purple monkey dishwasher, on the Simpsons episode where Bart got the teachers to strike."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Sit-Com says, "and by chance, we have a purple monkey dishwasher in this race."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jetfire says, "Looks more like he failed at a Donkey Kong wannabe at the moment."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Sit-Com says, "Diddy Kong!"

Foxfire keeps on running, keeping a close eye on the other racers.

Beastbox knocks the plastic visual block off and gets to knuckle galloping again. "Dirty rotten stupid useless product placements..." He sees how far ahead everyone is from him and he calls out, "HEY EVERYBODY SLOW DOWN!"

Combat: Beastbox sets his defense level to Fearless.

Jetfire refrains from cheering as Foxfire and Barkida both pass Redshift while he appears to have taken a breather round. Still way too early in the race to celebrate much. Realizing he's going to need to slow his systems a bit sooner or later, he tries to put out as much speed as he can now, widening his stride and cutting a corner tighter to try and get a bit more distance before he needs to recoup.

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Redshift says, "Beastbox, a hundred credits if you stop Foxfire when he passes you! Or that car guy. Just do something!"

Clutch finally clears the first lap, pounding over the starting spots before lowering his head and rushing ahead for the next lap. He manages to pull up next to Redshift, then tries to match his stride with the speedy Decepticon. "Hope you don't mind...if I use you...to pace myself!" he calls out amiably as he runs alongside.

Teasing a Dinobot isn't exactly good for one's health. Seeing the stupid monkey get doused in purple liquid and cuaght up in the barrel, Swoop decides to try and kick beastbox again as he gets near to the tapecon once more.

Combat: Swoop strikes Beastbox with his Ape Kick part duex! (Ram) attack!

Redshift keeps his head down and his mouth shut, despite the fact he isn't dominating the race as he had expected. And there's that fox, taking the lead. Figures, since's he's got twice as many feet! That should be illegal, but Redshift never saw the Olympic guys trying to make /Foxfire/ leave the race. Unfair! At least everyone seems to be RUNNING instead of trying to smash the place; This is a RACE, not a demolition derby! It's about speed, not about who can smash the other guy; and SPEED is what Redshift excels at! Strategic pacing and awareness is for wimps, it's all about velocity! With the REAL compeditors pulling ahead of the pack and passing the lap, this is where things get interesting; "I hope YOU don't mind watching my BACK the rest of the race!" He replies to Clutch. Redshift now pours on the juice, shunting extra resources to his pistons and servos, hoping to finally pull ahead and claim his rightful place at the lead.

Combat: Redshift sets his defense level to Fearless.

Swindle might not be able to keep up this sprint for long, but he's pushing it. He's fallen behind, so there's no real point of pacing himself now. Pushing on his legs hard, he tries to at least keep the pace up a bit further. "Haven't blown yourself up with that cannon yet, have you?" Quips the swindler, as he tries to pace the much larger Jetfire. He's not about to try and ram someone that much larger tham him - He'd be more likely crushed into the ground. "I'm sure I could sell you accidental weapon explosion insurance."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Boomslang says, "Soundwave should probably have a look at that one, it's been acting weird."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Geo says, "I'm JUST FINE."

Sit-Com runs and runs and runs. He runs for the gold, though he probably won't catch up to Redshift or Foxfire anytime soon. He turns to look at a broadcast camera. "Look Mom, I'm running the Boston Marathon!"

&lt;Staff&gt; Redshift says, "he'll have 0 ene next round; i guess if he attacks and pulls to 0 he'll gain some and won't be at none?"

Combat: Sit-Com sets his defense level to Aggressive.

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Slugfest says, "Who acting weird?"

Race: The racers speed around the track, and the scoreboard lights up with the new race standings...

============================[ Racetrack Attack! ]============================= Racer                         Pos Lap Defense-Level -- Beastbox                      11  0   FEARLESS       -- Swoop                        16  0   FEARLESS       -- Sit-Com                      1   1   AGGRESSIVE     -- Swindle                      4   1   FEARLESS       -- +Clutch                       5   1   NEUTRAL        -- +Jetfire                      6   1   FEARLESS       -- +Barkida                      7   1   NEUTRAL        -- +Redshift                     9   1   FEARLESS       -- Foxfire                      10  1   FEARLESS       --

+ Racer within ramming distance ->; You!

=
==============[ Sorted by Leadership ]===========================

Tails narrates, "Almost everyone is on round 1, now, just not the monkey and the pterodactyl. The fox is still in the lad, but the spiky red guy and the lady are hot on his heels. Kinda funny how the pack is arranging itself now, all... strung out, like beads on a string." He peers and blinks.

Foxfire slows his speed somewhat, but continues on. He eyes those close to him warily, knowing that one of them may take an attempt to hit him.

Combat: Foxfire sets his defense level to Neutral.

Beastbox is almost on the go when Swoop stops him dead with a boot. He tumbles and roars furiously, "I'LL KNOCK YOUR BEAK OFF AND STAB IT THROUGH YOUR FACE YOU PUNK!" He pounds on his chest and gets to moving. He looks around for someone to punish since Swoop seems to have disappeared farther ahead. A four legged Auto-Fox approaches near. He side-veers to shoulder check, "Your shoe is untied..."

Jetfire finally needs to close the throttle a bit, if only to keep his servos from overexerting themselves. Granted even at a slow pace his larger stride still gives him some decent coverage, but at the moment its more like a jog than anything else. "And all the pay off would go straight to you, I'm sure," he retorts dryly to the swindler.

Combat: Jetfire sets his defense level to Guarded.

Combat: Beastbox misses Foxfire with his Ape vs Fox next on National Geographic (Ram) attack!

Redshift is glad to be free of Clutch, who could've repeated his earlier actions and knocked Redshift out of the race. One Autobot problem solved, one left; Foxfire. "Beastbox, kill that fox!" He shouts, as the first-place runner approaches the dangerous hurdle; The rear of the slow pack! Redshift, at least, is safe for now, and he takes advantage of it and runs with wild abandon!

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jetfire says, "Look out behind you Foxfi--Nevermind."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Beastbox says, "GRAR! I heard you the first time!"

Swoop slows down a bit as he start to run low on energon, but statisfied he finally hit the stupid tape.

Combat: Swoop sets his defense level to Protected.

"Who, me?" Swindle tries to put on his most innocent face. Which just looks more like a grimace with the effort he's pushing into keeping up his speed. "Well, maybe just a 50.9 repeating percentage. Just a minor upkeep fund of course!" He starts to slow a bit, easing the strain on his joints a bit. But when Clutch comes back into range... "I also sell..." He leans over, trying to slam hard into the autobot, "'Accidental' crashing insurance!"

Barkida slicks sweat off her forehead with her palm and snaps it off her fingertips as she starts really pushing herself to catch up to that little fox thing out there in front of everyone else. It might be hopeless considering its build and speed, but it seems to be running low on gas. Maybe she can overtake it!

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "Worried about me, Jetfire?"

Combat: Swindle sets his defense level to Aggressive.

Combat: Barkida sets her defense level to Fearless.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Sit-Com says, "You had grape-ape on your six, Foxy."

Combat: Swindle misses Clutch with his Giving reasons for insurance! (Ram) attack!

&lt;Autobot&gt; Sandstorm says, "Or at least he wants another Autobot to win! Whoo go Foxy"

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jetfire says, "It would be more apealing for Autobots to win, of course. And despite my capability of occassional advanced accelerations beyond that of your typical bipedal robot, you and Clutch are our most likely canidates for it."

Clutch tries to pick up the pace a little, knowing he won't be able to catch the leaders at this rate. But then he sees a flicker of Decepticon purple out of the corner of his optic. He leaps high into the air at the last second, like a hurdler, only the Autobot somehow gains enough clearance to let Swindle run right by underneath him. Unable to land in stride, Clutch stumbles a few steps, arms windmilling and head lowered so that he can't see quite where he's going.

Combat: Clutch misses Barkida with his Ram attack!

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jetfire, spouting technobabble, even in middle of racing.

Sit-Com tut-tuts as Beastbox tries to trip up the fox. "Such a nasty business," he says, keeping up the pace at a comfortable trot. The TV show on his wrist-TV is now Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Clutch says, "Well it looks like Swindle's taking a personal interest in slowing me down, so I wouldn't count on me. There's only so many times I can dodge him!"

Barkida slaps a hand on Clutch's back as he stumbles towards her and vaults over him in a nimble aerial display, landing on her feet and continuing to bolt down the course!

Race: The racers speed around the track, and the scoreboard lights up with the new race standings...

============================[ Racetrack Attack! ]============================= Racer                         Pos Lap Defense-Level -- Beastbox                      14  0   FEARLESS       -- Swoop                        16  0   PROTECTED      -- Swindle                      4   1   AGGRESSIVE     -- +Jetfire                      6   1   GUARDED        -- +Sit-Com                      7   1   AGGRESSIVE     -- +Clutch                       8   1   NEUTRAL        -- Foxfire                      10  1   NEUTRAL        -- Barkida                      13  1   FEARLESS       -- Redshift                     19  1   FEARLESS       --

+ Racer within ramming distance ->; You!

=
==============[ Sorted by Leadership ]===========================

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jetfire mutters, "Prehaps I should of kicked him when I had the chance after all..."

&lt;KNUJ&gt; Monstereo says, "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASZNexmInyw"

Tails claps as Barkida vaults over Clutch. "Wowee! She sure is graceful! And it pays off - she's way ahead of the blue guy now, but the red guy's way ahead of her!"

Barkida has to take a wider line to try to avoid that little purple ape thing; it's been rowdy so far and she would prefer not to get tangled up with it!

Combat: Barkida sets her defense level to Aggressive.

Foxfire somehow...doesn't advance. How very odd! But he keeps running nonetheless.

Again Swindle is proven the slower. Instead of slamming into Clutch, he overshoots, ending up just missing him instead. But the effort to do so and to keep up the pace is too much for the swindler. He slows his pace further down, gasping a bit to try and get his coolant system to charge back up and recharge his systems. That's one way to shut him up. For a little while.

Combat: Swindle sets his defense level to Protected.

Jetfire seems to realize that even with his running speed he's not going to catch up to the head of the pack that easily, and thus slows down a bit farther.. Or maybe the air guardian has decided he's had enough of the antics of the other Decepticons trying to make things difficult. Either way he slows down, and throws one of his large hands towards the Combaticon to try and shove him before he can harass anyone else. "Maybe you should worry more about insuring yourself there, Swindle."

Combat: Jetfire sets his defense level to Protected.

Beastbox punches the track extra hard in his knuckle-run, putting his fist print into it. He is now immortalised... until next year when a fresh layer of track is put over this old used one. Beastbox still wants to lash out, and it's a choice between Miss-Legs and Dino-Punk. His curiousity about what it sounds like when flesh and bones succumb to the blunt force trauma of his wrath overrides his little grudge with Kick-happy Swoop. He bounds and lunges at the Femaxian.

Combat: Jetfire strikes Swindle with his Just a little shove.. from a really big guy mind you. (Ram) attack! [Pulled -3]

Combat: Beastbox sets his defense level to Aggressive.

Combat: Beastbox misses Barkida with his Jungle Love Oh-ee-oh-ee-oh (Ram) attack!

Barkida leaps over Beastbox as if he was an chrome-trimmed lavender hurdle, just brushing him with the trailing edges of her linens as she clears him easily and lands on his far side. She recovers her balance, cords standing out on her neck as she sprints after Redshift, the clear leader right now among the machines.

Pulling ahead, Redshift is now within a few strides of the lap line, nearly completeing the second lap of the race ahead of anyone else; A potential omen of things to come! He's even managed to stay safe from the pack of slowpokes, for now. If his luck holds, this could be a BREEZE to slide through to the gold medal!

Combat: Redshift sets his defense level to Aggressive.

Sit-Com is squarely in the middle. Not a slowpoke, but not exactly Carl Lewis, either. He just hopes he doesn't run so hard that parts of him start falling off and littering the track. That would make an interesting obstacle course, though.

Being a Junkion, don't they do that anyways?

Clutch slows down his pace a bit as well, remembering how much it took out of him to try and keep up with some of the race leaders. Hopefully they can't maintain that pace for long, and once they slow down, Clutch'll have something left in the tank to overtake them.

Combat: Clutch sets his defense level to Guarded.

Swoop continues at a steady pace, as he continues down the track, hoping to catch up with the others.

Combat: Swoop sets his defense level to Protected.

Race: The racers speed around the track, and the scoreboard lights up with the new race standings...

============================[ Racetrack Attack! ]============================= Racer                         Pos Lap Defense-Level -- Beastbox                      17  0   AGGRESSIVE     -- Swoop                        2   1   PROTECTED      -- Swindle                      4   1   PROTECTED      -- +Jetfire                      8   1   PROTECTED      -- Sit-Com                      12  1   AGGRESSIVE     -- Clutch                       13  1   GUARDED        -- Foxfire                      18  1   NEUTRAL        -- Barkida                      18  1   AGGRESSIVE     -- +Redshift                     7   2   AGGRESSIVE     --

+ Racer within ramming distance ->; You!

=
==============[ Sorted by Leadership ]===========================

Now things could start going south, and quick! With so many runners in his way, Redshift slows down a bit, eyeing them intently to see who might try and take him out of the race. Running a little slower, he gives himself more time to jump out of the way of any linebackers! Like Jetfire.

Combat: Redshift sets his defense level to Protected.

Barkida keeps an eye on that pink monkey thing. She knows that as a Decepticon, it has a powerful hatred for the little red fox robot tearing up the track from behind, but who knows what the ape may decide to go after. She gives it some space just in case.

Tails grimaces as a brief TIME BUBBLE grabs some of the racers and plays havoc with the field. He sulks, "And I wasn't even in Sonic CD," which had the temporal shenanigans, of course.

Combat: Barkida sets her defense level to Guarded.

Barkida keeps an eye on that pink monkey thing. She knows that as a Decepticon, it has a powerful hatred for the little silver dog robot tearing up the track from behind, but who knows what the ape may decide to go after. She gives it some space just in case.

Foxfire is caught in a weird time bubble and advances that way. Huh. Well, he keeps running. Yeah.

Now that is a big hand. In his winded state, Swindle can't get out of the way very well. Despite being just a push, it's one heck of a push. It throws him off balance, tumbling to the side. He ends up, face first, into a rather ironic sign for some actual insurance company. "It's a good thing..." He says, pulling his head out, "That I have sign coverage." Still winded, Swindle continues onwards, trying to gather up his strength again.

Beastbox feels nothing but disgust at his lack of devastation to the competition thus far, piled up on his yet to complete his first lap... he makes the choice to finish at least one lap and cross that line. He was built for short burts of movement, not this aerobic nonsense.

Swoop sees the convining conartist Swindle, as he starts to catch up. Swoop wonders if the Combaticon has any Dinobot insurance? He's likely to need it as Swoop seems to be focusing on him as he gets in close, and tries to smash into the jeepformer.

Combat: Swoop misses Swindle with his Are you covered? (Ram) attack!

Truth be told, that he actually swatted Swindle was just a bonus. The real plan was that it gave Jetfire all the more reason to slow down a bit and not advance much .... so he's still rounding that turn when Redshift is coming up behind him. With a smirk he opens his 'dash-jets' again, but this time its not in forward motion, but rather to sharply accellerate to the side in an attempt to cut the smaller speeder off with his size like this was some sort of roller derby. "I hope you didn't think winning would be that easy Redshift!"

Combat: Jetfire sets his defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Beastbox sets his defense level to Fearless.

Sit-Com reaches into his pocket, pulls out his trusty can of 3-in-1 oil. *POCK POCK POCK POCK* comes the sound of the top of the half-sphere of the can being pressed to allow drips of oil to come out and lube Sit-Com's knees. He zooms ahead.

Combat: Sit-Com sets his defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Jetfire strikes Redshift with his Making a high speed obstical of himself (Ram) attack! [Pulled -3]

Clutch turns to look at Sit-Com as the Junkion almost pulls even. "Hey," he nods, then grimaces as the Junkion pours on the speed. "Great - I'd never live it down if I got outrun by you. Um, no offense."

Combat: Clutch sets his defense level to Fearless.

Race: The racers speed around the track, and the scoreboard lights up with the new race standings...

============================[ Racetrack Attack! ]============================= Racer                         Pos Lap Defense-Level -- Swoop                         2   1   PROTECTED      -- Beastbox                     3   1   FEARLESS       -- Swindle                      4   1   PROTECTED      -- Jetfire                      12  1   FEARLESS       -- Sit-Com                      17  1   FEARLESS       -- Clutch                       0   2   FEARLESS       -- Foxfire                      3   2   NEUTRAL        -- Barkida                      3   2   GUARDED        -- +Redshift                     7   2   PROTECTED      --

+ Racer within ramming distance ->; You!

=
==============[ Sorted by Leadership ]===========================

Tails facepalms at the moping fox and the racist-against-Junkions blue guy. Why couldn't he oversee a nice, clean race? And even the great white hope is running into people, and between that and the TIME BUBBLE... this is all just a mess. Tails bemoans, "I need a chili dog."

Foxfire idly wonders if he should get an upgrade for speed. That would be awesome, he imagines. He giggles a bit to himself as he runs.

"Damn you, Jetfire!!" Redshift snarls, as the huge white air guardian sends Redshift sprawling, all his momemtum lost to the winds. He presss himself up to his feet, croching in a sprint-start, and trying to clear his head. "Halfway through the last lap. Still in the lead, even though Jetfire whalloped me. I can do this!" He says, and like the crack of a whip, he laucnhes himself forward, breaking into his fastest dash yet to try and stay ahead of the crowd quickly approaching fom behind... And hoping to aavoid those still ahead.

Combat: Redshift sets his defense level to Fearless.

Dinobot insurance is actually the most sold insurance that Swindle sells! They wreck a lot of things, after all. Even though he's still huffing, he seems to have recovered a bit. Enough to side step out of the way of the enroaching dinobot. "Well hello, Swoop! Interest you in some elbow grease?" He grins sarcastically, putting a little bit more effort into his run but still pacing himself.

Combat: Swindle sets his defense level to Guarded.

Barkida finds herself side by side with the critters, although she does her best to keep from getting between the Autobot and Decepticon animal-robots since they seem to have some kind of grudge. That red guy is far out ahead even though the big white one cut him off! Sucking air through her teeth determinedly, Barkida's feet go wap-wap-wap-wap on the track. Without special gear, competitive equipment of any kind (or even real clothes or shoes) she can only do her best she can with her own battle-hardened body; that will have to do! "It's my weapon of choice, after all," she whispers to herself between breaths as she chases Redshift around the course.

Beastbox sometimes wonders if he should get a build upgrade to give him two more arms to double his punching prowess. But not right now. In fact, theres nothing going on in his processors except: Forward. Forward. Forward. Hurt someone. Forward. He edges away from Swoop and then violently side-lunges at the giants legs.

Combat: Beastbox sets his defense level to Guarded.

Combat: Barkida sets her defense level to Fearless.

Swoop grumbles as he misses Swindle, its just doesnt seem to be his day for smacking 'cons around, having only hit the stupid tape. "Me, Swoop, show you elbow grease!" He says and lunges at Swindle!

Combat: Beastbox misses Swoop with his Bowling for dino legs (Ram) attack!

Well it slowed him down a bit, though it may of not been enough in the end. He gave it a shot at least. Jetfire is satisfied in that he's been picking his moments strategicly instead of just swinging at whoever gets in range, at least... though despite not going fully forward in motion due to the maneuvers, he's still a bit in front of Redshift. He might get another shot. He looks over his shoulder a moment and shouts back, "I'll add you to the list of everyone else cursing my name," in a mock jovial tone. Combat: Swoop strikes Swindle with his Dino-tackle (Ram) attack!

Sit-Com is almost on to lap 2! He huffs and puffs and pulls back a bit, so he's not burning so much fuel. "GATORADE IS THIRST AID!" he shouts, in his runner's high.

Combat: Sit-Com sets his defense level to Guarded.

Clutch turns the corner on the second lap, and is clear for a moment! Too bad he's still so far away from the lead. And just as he feared, his faster pace is already wearing on him. "Autobots were meant to use their WHEELS!" he complains.

Combat: Clutch sets his defense level to Protected.

Race: The racers speed around the track, and the scoreboard lights up with the new race standings...

============================[ Racetrack Attack! ]============================= Racer                         Pos Lap Defense-Level -- Swoop                         2   1   PROTECTED      -- Beastbox                     3   1   GUARDED        -- +Swindle                      9   1   GUARDED        -- Jetfire                      19  1   FEARLESS       -- Sit-Com                      19  1   GUARDED        -- Clutch                       2   2   PROTECTED      -- +Foxfire                      7   2   NEUTRAL        -- +Barkida                      9   2   FEARLESS       -- Redshift                     16  2   FEARLESS       --

+ Racer within ramming distance ->; You!

=
==============[ Sorted by Leadership ]===========================

Fortress Maximus has arrived.

Tails gets up to his feet, as the runners get closer to the finish. His hands are curled lightly and he holds them in front of himself, tails twitching, and he chants, "Go go go!" He seems really excited by all this! "Wow, that red guy is a real runner - his legs are just a blur. The pterodactyl, though... uh..." He scratches his head again.

Foxfire falls behind Barkida. Even though he's no longer in first place, he's still determined to take one of the medals.

Barkida slows a bit as well; she can see that she's not going to catch up to Redshift. Not by any means. He's waaaay out there. But she can still medal!

Clutch pours on the speed now after his all-too-brief breather. It's no fun going slow, and what's he got left to save his energy for anyway?

Combat: Clutch sets his defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Barkida sets her defense level to Neutral.

"and Decepticons were meant to FLY, stop crying about it!" Redshift retorts, adding a lilting laugh. The red space warrior is definately in a good mood, all things considered. The finish line is in sight, and that blasted whale of a spacer is too far away to stop him! Redshift's sprint loses some of it's heat, but nevertheless, he should have enough speed and momemtum to carry him through to the end!

Jetfire realizes maybe he did his tactics a little -too- well, as now Redshift is at too great of a distance behind him to swat at him a second time before he can reach the finish. After weighing options for a few moments the air guardian decides to keep his pace up, in hopes that he can still make himself a hinderence to the other Decepticons before they can hinder the other leaders.

Thank goodness for dinobot insurance. Swindle was lucky the first time, but the second time, not so much. He's still trying to catch his breath, it seems, and is less able to avoid Swoop's slam. It sends Swindle sprawling off to one side, and ending up in Barkida's path. Does she have Decepticon insurance?

Combat: Swindle sets his defense level to Neutral.

Combat: Jetfire sets his defense level to Aggressive.

Combat: Swindle misses Barkida with his SPEED BUMP! (Ram) attack! [Pulled -3]

Combat: Redshift sets his defense level to Aggressive.

Barkida swerves around Swindle as he stumbles towards her, loping along the interior edge of the track.

Swoop happpy that he knocked Swindle for a loop, speed up and decides to focus on the race... At least untill the next Decepticon gets his attention.

Combat: Swoop sets his defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Beastbox sets his defense level to Protected.

Sit-Com speeds up a little, but not much. He's still trying to pace himself and keep his energon consumption at a minimum

Combat: Sit-Com sets his defense level to Aggressive.

Race: The racers speed around the track, and the scoreboard lights up with the new race standings...

Race: Redshift crosses the finish line!

============================[ Racetrack Attack! ]============================= Racer                         Pos Lap Defense-Level -- +Swoop                        7   1   FEARLESS       -- +Beastbox                     9   1   PROTECTED      -- Swindle                      10  1   NEUTRAL        -- Jetfire                      4   2   AGGRESSIVE     -- +Sit-Com                      5   2   AGGRESSIVE     -- +Clutch                       9   2   FEARLESS       -- Foxfire                      10  2   NEUTRAL        -- Barkida                      14  2   NEUTRAL        -- Redshift                     4   3   AGGRESSIVE     --

+ Racer within ramming distance ->; You!

=
==============[ Sorted by Leadership ]===========================

Tails cheers and claps quite politely as the first medalist crosses the finish line. He announces, "And let's have a hip hip hooray for..." a staffer whispers the name to him, "Redshift the Decepticon! But second and third are still up in the air, so give it your all, runners!" He wags a stern gloved finger.

Barkida puts on a rush of speed as she gets out and away from everyone else. Gold was gone in a red blur, but silver could still come back with her to the Golden Realm! Straining every muscle she runs as fast as she possibly can for the finish line which seems so near now!

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jetfire says, "Com'n Fox, Clutch, you guys can still do it."

Combat: Barkida sets her defense level to Fearless.

Clutch keeps going at a full sprint. By now it's clear to him that he's miscalculated somewhere and waited too long to make his move...but sometimes just running the race is enough. No, no actually it's not. He's going to be kicking himself over this for a long time. He can only hope it won't be too long before he gets a chance to kick Redshift. In the head.

Combat: Clutch sets his defense level to Fearless.

Foxfire figures it will take him forever to cross the finish line at this point, but he keeps on trying.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Saboteur Foxfire says, "Yeah!"

Swoop contineus down the raceway, pumping his legs as fast as he can, trying to focus on the finish line. He knew he wasn't going to win, he's already got one medal so he's happy, but like Slag yesterday, he's intent on finishing.

Redshift blasts through the finish line, thanking his lucky stars Jetfire didn't try and knock his block off again. He keeps on running for several more astrometers, until he realizes he's safely made it past the last lap! He settles into a stiff jog, waving to the crowd of adoring fans... Many of whom no doubt placed hefty bets on this red racer. He looks over his shoulder to Jetfire, smirking. "Nice try wideload, but no luck. Why don't you go home and play with your chemistry set?"

Combat: Clutch sets his defense level to Fearless.

Beastbox growls as the race is nearly over with only two medals left up for grabs... He is petty... and he lays all his blame on Swoop. "I coulda got the gold if it wasn't for you!" Uh... yeah... right. He turns on Swoop and charges, determined to put the hurt on the primative titan that could swat Beastbox back to the stone age.

Combat: Beastbox sets his defense level to Fearless.

Jetfire is just chugging along at this point, rounding into the second lap, and keeping an optic on the Decepticons still remaining in the race. While neither of them may be a threat to winning, they could still make things difficult for the leaders.

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Boomslang says, "Yeah! That's the way it's done, Redshift!"

A little bit of time on the track floor helps to get Swindle's 'wind' back, as it were. He pushes himself up, grunting. "This was not worth the loss of profits," He mutters to himself. He glances back briefly, eyeing the upcoming autobots. The swift fox, and Clutch again. The fox is too fast and too small. Maybe third time is the charm? As he pushes himself up, he pushes himself hard to the side, attempting to get in Clutch's way.

Combat: Swindle sets his defense level to Aggressive.

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Redshift says, "Of course it is! Most of these louts wouldn't know how to run if thier afts were on fire."

&lt;Decepticon&gt; Boomslang says, "Guess who's got two thumbs and just won about a dozen bets under multiple aliases! Phosphorous bombs are on me!"

Combat: Beastbox misses Swoop with his Pinkback Gorrila Rage (Ram) attack!

Combat: Swindle misses Clutch with his Ram attack! [Pulled -3]

And nobody's tackling Sit-Com! Well, he's not much of a threat to medal security, at least. Just making a showing for the Junkions.

Combat: Sit-Com sets his defense level to Neutral.

Race: The racers speed around the track, and the scoreboard lights up with the new race standings...

Race: Barkida crosses the finish line!

Race: Redshift crosses the finish line!

============================[ Racetrack Attack! ]============================= Racer                         Pos Lap Defense-Level -- Beastbox                      11  1   FEARLESS       -- Swoop                        11  1   FEARLESS       -- Swindle                      12  1   AGGRESSIVE     -- Sit-Com                      10  2   NEUTRAL        -- Jetfire                      11  2   AGGRESSIVE     -- Foxfire                      15  2   NEUTRAL        -- Clutch                       16  2   FEARLESS       -- Barkida                      2   3   FEARLESS       -- Redshift                     11  3   AGGRESSIVE     --

+ Racer within ramming distance ->; You!

=
==============[ Sorted by Leadership ]===========================

Tails stands at the edge of the announcer's platform, quivering with anticpation to see who takes silver. When he sees who it is, a staffer informs him, Barkida, he claps politely but honestly and announces loudly, "Barkida of Femax takes Silver! Well done! But who will take Bronze? Stay tuned, race fans!"

Barkida fairly flies across the finish line, sweaty but triumphant as she holds up both fists to the cheers of many of the non-mechanical spectators, cooldown-jogging past the stands.

Combat: Barkida sets her defense level to Neutral.

Clutch rounds the last corner and finds himself headed down the home stretch, but once again has to pull back and slow himself down a little. "I really...need to practice...running more often!" he says, having to take long pauses in speaking to keep more power routed to his legs.

Combat: Clutch sets his defense level to Protected.

Swoop seems completely oblivious to Beastbox's attempted attack as the tape goes sailing behind the Dinobot's back. "Did me, Swoop, hear something?" He asks mostly to himself, slowing down a bit "Must been wind." as he continues onwards.

Combat: Swoop sets his defense level to Protected.

Foxfire keeps on running, finding himself just behind Clutch. So much for him taking a medal!

Jetfire starts to come up at the end of the pack again on his second lap.. and seeing who's in front of him, decides if he's not going to place, he can at least go for a complete set of Decepticons... and slows a bit to attempt and just outright stomp on top of the monkey-tape with one of his large feet for all the harassing he's done of the other racers. "Bad monkey, no banana!"

Beastbox sommersaults and double slaps the ground with his palms. "Argh!" He half fuel pumpedly trots.

Combat: Jetfire sets his defense level to Neutral.

Combat: Beastbox sets his defense level to Protected.

Combat: Jetfire strikes Beastbox with his STOMP (Ram) attack! [Pulled -3]

Tonight just seems to not be Swindle's night. He misses striking Clutch for the third time, but manages to prevent himself from overshooting - This time. He gives a bit of a laugh, shaking his head. "Ah well, I'm sure my profits will rise just being seen in this thing." Turning his head slightly, he eyes Swoop behind him. "Race isn't over yet!" He says, and swerves to the side to try and crash into the dinobot.

Combat: Swindle strikes Swoop with his Ram attack! [Pulled -3]

Sit-Com tries to conserve energy, so dials back the speed a bit more. Maybe he'll get an opening if a few more people crash.

Combat: Sit-Com sets his defense level to Protected.

Beastbox becomes one with the track. Only 3 positions behind where he intentionally put his fist print, now his full body print is added. To be revealed when he pries himself up out the ground.

Race: The racers speed around the track, and the scoreboard lights up with the new race standings...

Race: Barkida crosses the finish line!

============================[ Racetrack Attack! ]============================= Racer                         Pos Lap Defense-Level -- Beastbox                      11  1   PROTECTED      -- Swoop                        11  1   PROTECTED      -- Swindle                      15  1   AGGRESSIVE     -- Sit-Com                      13  2   PROTECTED      -- Jetfire                      14  2   NEUTRAL        -- Clutch                       16  2   PROTECTED      -- Foxfire                      18  2   NEUTRAL        -- +Barkida                      8   3   NEUTRAL        -- Redshift                     11  3   AGGRESSIVE     --

+ Racer within ramming distance ->; You!

=
==============[ Sorted by Leadership ]===========================

Tails is left hanging, because no one has taken bronze yet. He shouts, "Come on, guys! You can do it, I know you can! Race with your hearts and you can win! ...not that you have hearts, you're all robots, but you're okay."

Barkida completes her slow victory lap and settles down with her alien lizardman coach to take some gatorade and cool down.

Race: Barkida leaves the race.

Foxfire is now ahead of Clutch! Maybe he will place! Woohoo! So, he keeps on.

Race: Redshift leaves the race.

Swoop falls back as Swindle dart infront of him and they collide. "Me thought me already show you not mess with Dinobot." He grumbles as he gets to his feet. Screw winning for the moment, he's decided to scrap Swindle and sell him for parts!

Combat: Swoop strikes Swindle with his Dino-Pumble! (Ram) attack!

Jetfire leaves a monkey stomped in the pavement without a second thought to it, and continues on his way. He's satisfied with having interfered with all three Decepticons, and though he didn't stop Redshift from winning he did keep the other two from catching up to harass Foxfire and Clutch farther. Good enough. With the lone organic crossing the line, it's only the contest for third place left. He's really just jogging along to see how it turns out at this point.

Beastbox pries himself up and out of the impression, a perfect stamp replica of the gorrila. And seeing Swoop sidetracked with nailing some Combaticon, Beastbox goes for perhaps his last shot at revenge... SPORTSMANSHIP! HA!

Combat: Beastbox sets his defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Beastbox misses Swoop with his Hamstring the Blue Bastich! (Ram) attack!

Clutch is slowly overtaken by Foxfire, but can't do much. He's already running as fast as he can. Mostly.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jetfire says, ".. Since when did Soundwave have a gorilla based tape, anyways?"

Sit-Com runs along, singing/humming along to George Michael's "Monkey" song. Guaranteed to enrage little purple apes. So far, nothing happens.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Swoop says, "Soundwave need stop monkeying around."

Redshift has disconnected.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fortress Maximus says, "Beastbox? It has to have been recent.  I've seen that one a short while ago too."

Combat: Sit-Com sets his defense level to Guarded.

Where the slag did that dinobot come from? Swindle didn't see Swoop coming, which doesn't help the situation much. He's thrown off of his feet, and goes rolling across the track. At least that shut him up, no?

Combat: Swindle sets his defense level to Neutral.

Beastbox can always look forward to running for the Tripredacus Council or some other political job...

&lt;Autobot&gt; Sandstorm says, "Violent little bugger.. doesn't seem to be all that smart though."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Sandstorm says, "Violent little bugger.. doesn't seem to be all that smart though."

&lt;Autobot&gt; Sandstorm says, "The ikiyaks didn't like him very much... granted, they didn't like -anyone-"

Race: The racers speed around the track, and the scoreboard lights up with the new race standings...

Race: Foxfire crosses the finish line!

============================[ Racetrack Attack! ]============================= Racer                         Pos Lap Defense-Level -- Beastbox                      11  1   FEARLESS       -- Swoop                        11  1   PROTECTED      -- Swindle                      15  1   NEUTRAL        -- Sit-Com                      15  2   GUARDED        -- Jetfire                      19  2   NEUTRAL        -- Clutch                       0   3   PROTECTED      -- Foxfire                      1   3   NEUTRAL        --

+ Racer within ramming distance ->; You!

=
==============[ Sorted by Leadership ]===========================

&lt;Autobot&gt; Fortress Maximus says, "We haven't collected sufficient information on this one though. No known function, no known strengths and physical weaknesses.  We'll need to rectify that."

Tails punches the air and cheers, "And Bronze goes to Foxfire the Autobot! But don't worry blue guy, you did a good job, too. In fact, everyone was cool... way past cool." He claps some more and gives all the runners a cheesy thumbs up, grinning.

Foxfire crosses the finish line at last! He slows to a stop (and he'd be out of breath were he organic), and heads over to the sidelines, somewhat pleased with himself.

Not Slag, Swoop! Swindle needs to get his Dinobots straight. After pumbling and knocking the Combaticon off the track, and yet again completely oblivious to Beastbox's attack, he blinks and looks around. Oh yeah, there was a race wasn't there? He thinks and starts down the track, hoping his moment of rage didn't cuase him to lose much ground.

Combat: Swoop sets his defense level to Protected.

Race: Foxfire leaves the race.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jetfire deadpans, "He stomps as easily as the others."

&lt;KNUJ&gt; Sit-Com says, "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHb2XYeXcJI"

Maybe if he'd been trying he could of actually caught up to them, but Jetfire seems content in the other Autobots passing the finish just before him. Actually, it's rather nice to see three different groups take medals, even if one -was- a Decepticon. It's more sportsmanlike than one side sweeping the thing. He slows to a trot, taking his time to finish the end of the lap now that it's pretty much done. "Good job guys!"

"Note to self, renew my dinobot insurance," Mutters Swindle. He pushes himself up quickly, but with a bit of effort, up to his knees, then up to his feet to start running again. The race is pretty much done, but that doesn't prevent the combaticon from continuing onwards at a steady pace. Though now he keeps glancing back behind him, just in case that dinobot decides to rush in to smack him again.

Combat: Sit-Com sets his defense level to Neutral.

Beastbox would throw a fit all over this place but he's too tuckered out. He trundles like a drunk off the track and out of sight to go get the foot print out of his back and some energon back in his fuel lines and forget this ever happened. "Buncha savages. This is what lasers are for, gunnin' down the runners..."

Race: Beastbox leaves the race.

Combat: Swoop sets his defense level to Neutral.

Race: The racers speed around the track, and the scoreboard lights up with the new race standings...

Race: Jetfire crosses the finish line!

Race: Clutch crosses the finish line!

============================[ Racetrack Attack! ]============================= Racer                         Pos Lap Defense-Level -- Swoop                         11  1   NEUTRAL        -- Swindle                      19  1   NEUTRAL        -- Sit-Com                      0   3   NEUTRAL        -- Jetfire                      3   3   NEUTRAL        -- Clutch                       4   3   PROTECTED      --

+ Racer within ramming distance ->; You!

=
==============[ Sorted by Leadership ]===========================

Race: The racers speed around the track, and the scoreboard lights up with the new race standings...

Race: Jetfire crosses the finish line!

Race: Clutch crosses the finish line!

Race: Sit-Com crosses the finish line!

============================[ Racetrack Attack! ]============================= Racer                         Pos Lap Defense-Level -- Swoop                         11  1   NEUTRAL        -- Swindle                      3   2   NEUTRAL        -- Sit-Com                      4   3   NEUTRAL        -- +Clutch                       7   3   PROTECTED      -- +Jetfire                      8   3   NEUTRAL        --

+ Racer within ramming distance ->; You!

=
==============[ Sorted by Leadership ]===========================

Race: Sit-Com leaves the race.

Race: The racers speed around the track, and the scoreboard lights up with the new race standings...

Race: Jetfire crosses the finish line!

Race: Clutch crosses the finish line!

============================[ Racetrack Attack! ]============================= Racer                         Pos Lap Defense-Level -- Swoop                         11  1   NEUTRAL        -- +Swindle                      8   2   NEUTRAL        -- Clutch                       10  3   PROTECTED      -- Jetfire                      13  3   NEUTRAL        --

+ Racer within ramming distance ->; You!

=
==============[ Sorted by Leadership ]===========================

Race: The racers speed around the track, and the scoreboard lights up with the new race standings...

Race: Jetfire crosses the finish line!

Race: Clutch crosses the finish line!

============================[ Racetrack Attack! ]============================= Racer                         Pos Lap Defense-Level -- Swoop                         11  1   NEUTRAL        -- Swindle                      12  2   NEUTRAL        -- Clutch                       14  3   PROTECTED      -- Jetfire                      19  3   NEUTRAL        --

+ Racer within ramming distance ->; You!

=
==============[ Sorted by Leadership ]===========================

Race: The racers speed around the track, and the scoreboard lights up with the new race standings...

Race: Jetfire crosses the finish line!

Race: Clutch crosses the finish line!

============================[ Racetrack Attack! ]============================= Racer                         Pos Lap Defense-Level -- Swoop                         11  1   NEUTRAL        -- Swindle                      16  2   NEUTRAL        -- Clutch                       18  3   PROTECTED      -- +Jetfire                      5   4   NEUTRAL        --

+ Racer within ramming distance ->; You!

=
==============[ Sorted by Leadership ]===========================

Race: The racers speed around the track, and the scoreboard lights up with the new race standings...

Race: Jetfire crosses the finish line!

Race: Clutch crosses the finish line!

============================[ Racetrack Attack! ]============================= Racer                         Pos Lap Defense-Level -- Swoop                         11  1   NEUTRAL        -- Swindle                      19  2   NEUTRAL        -- Clutch                       0   4   PROTECTED      -- Jetfire                      10  4   NEUTRAL        --

+ Racer within ramming distance ->; You!

=
==============[ Sorted by Leadership ]===========================

Race: The racers speed around the track, and the scoreboard lights up with the new race standings...

Race: Jetfire crosses the finish line!

Race: Swindle crosses the finish line!

Race: Clutch crosses the finish line!

============================[ Racetrack Attack! ]============================= Racer                         Pos Lap Defense-Level -- Swoop                         11  1   NEUTRAL        -- Swindle                      2   3   NEUTRAL        -- Clutch                       4   4   PROTECTED      -- Jetfire                      14  4   NEUTRAL        --

+ Racer within ramming distance ->; You!

=
==============[ Sorted by Leadership ]===========================

Race: Jetfire leaves the race.

Race: Swindle leaves the race.

Race: Clutch leaves the race.

&lt;Autobot&gt; Jetfire says, "Well, that was rather invigorating, to do something other than flying for a change."

Sit-Com crosses the finish line finally! He runs off to the stands and orders up some Enerade. He gulps it down and ahhhs. "Enerade is thirst aid, for that deep down fuel-pump thirst." Suddenly he realizes he's dropped one of his energon cubes that is shaped like a banana. What could have happened to it?

Barkida looks up from a bench where her household servants (other Femaxians, although smaller ones with a more sallow skin tone) are unwinding her wrappings so that they can apply a cooling balm to her legs and back and anoint her with oils. "I apologize for mistrusting you earlier, Machine-man," she says to Jetfire. "I thought you were a despoiler from your wings, but I see that you're a conserver after all." She tilts her head at the Autobot badge. "Thank you for your kind words."

Swoop eventually crosses the finish line, coming in last like Slag did. But at least he didn't take as long.

Finally, Swindle makes it over the finish line. Hardly near first, but on the plus side, he wasn't last either! But by the time he makes it across at a more easy pace, he's recovered somewhat. He slows to a stop after crossing the finish line, reaching out to take a hold of a sign to prop himself up. "Ah, well. At least the public appearance will help sales," He muses, chuckling in an amused manner. At least unlike most of the other combaticons, he isn't much of a sore loser.

Beastbox has left.

Sit-Com has left.

Jetfire has disconnected.

Barkida has disconnected.

Swoop has left.

Swindle has left.

Results:

Gold: Redshift

Silver: Barkida

Bronze: Foxfire

4. Clutch

5. Jetfire

6. Sit-Com

7. Swindle

8. Swoop

Undetermined: Beastbox

State Farm Insurance: Swindle, like an evil neighbor, he was there during the 2031 Olympic Foot Race