| abstract | - Autobot Shuttle strolls out into the middle of the designated combat area, waving a little white flag on a stick. Grinning slightly, still a little proud of his silver in the air race, he raises the flag high above his head for a moment. Then he points a finger in turn at each Grimlock and Ultra Magnus, and asks aloud. "Are the contestants ready!?" Panels shift at such an incredible speed that they seem to blur and....contract? until the Autobot Ranger stands before you. It no doubt says something about human resilience that even the recent Long Night disaster hasn't silenced Las Vegas! That, or perhaps the naturally human desire to wager large sums of money. And while the city's not entirely rebuilt...well, it's still going, with new wiring laid in every day, with Hoover Dam providing the requisite power to keep the city lit up. And so, on a dusty desert evening, an impromptu arena has been set up on the edge of town, with plenty of room for observers...and gamblers. Odds are barked out and exchanged, and a large jumbo-tron reads: 'ULTRA MAGNUS vs. GRIMLOCK, ONE NIGHT ONLY!' Grimlock, meanwhile, lurks at the edge of the arena, taptaptapping one foot on the ground. "Hnn. Where him Magnus? Me Grimlock bored!" "Right behind you Grimlock." Ultra Magnus, despite his large frame and bulk, appears right behind the Dinobot and stalks into the roughshod arena. "Apologies, I was tasked with escorting Mayor Sanchez to the fight." he nods to the Mayor, who has taken a seat in his special booth for now to watch the match. "It wouldn't be prudent to use his facilities and not dispense some hospitality, no?" he grins. Stalking off towards 'his' corner, the City Commander pivots on his heel and refaces Grimlock. "I am." is his only response to Ranger. Perceptor has been asked to referee this match by Ultra Magnus, much to his distaste. Magnus had apparently decided that the scientist's lack of participation in representing the Autobots at the Olympics irked him enough that he had to twist his arm into doing this. He is standing off to the side with his arms folded, doubting Grimlock's ability to follow any kind of rule and not looking forward having to shout at him to get him back into line the multiple times Olympic protocol breaching is bound to happen on the part of the Dinobot leader. "Melee attacks only, Grimlock, remember." he mutters at the simpleton. Yes, simpleton in his mind, anyway. Torque is thankfully feeling much better now that her repairs are fully finished, the femme looking like her old self again. With a few Cybertronian snacks set beside her, and a frosty bottle of brew in a holder, the femme is currently sitting near the sidelines, or rather standing as she leans forward against the railing to keep the audience back. "Yeah! Go Magnus! Go Grimlock! Show us who's the best!" The medic beams and cheers to the two contenders, a hand cheerily waving to them both. Grimlock grunts at Ultra Magnus as he passes by, and then nods- he eagerly flexes his hands in anticipation- oh, the chance to punch Ultra Magnus in the face and get APPLAUDED for it? Perfection! "Me Grimlock ready!" Perceptor's warning gets a dismissive wave "Yeah yeah, me know. No fire breath, no missiles, no lasers. This am be PERSONAL fight." and, while Grimlock doesn't have a proper mouth in this mode, he's probably smiling anyway. Ranger nods at Ultra Magnus, and nods /towards/ Grimlock, while making incredibly un-subtle gestures to those near the Dinobot to get his attention. Then he pauses and drifts casually over to Perceptor, who is the one everyone seems to be looking at. And they still seem to be listening. Ranger'll just be over /there,/ then. Perceptor sighs and nods. "Good. Now act upon that knowledge." He steps forward, standing in the center of the arena momentarily beside Ranger, who is holding the flag. "Contestants, prepare yourselves for battle..." he says, sounding a bit dreary, though in his mind he can't help predicting that Magnus will be the winner of this fight based on existing data and his aptitude for better judgement in comparison to Grimlock. GAME: Perceptor rolls a (100)-sided die: ROLL: Ultra Magnus rolled a 87 ROLL: Grimlock rolled a 21 Bringing his 'dukes' up, the City Commander nods to both Ranger and Perceptor separately and approaches Grimlock wearily. "Let us hope this event draws as much interest and income as it was intended to, for the Galactic games." he smiles, always the diplomat. As he draws near, big blue tries to get a read on the Dinobot. Just to size him up, Ultra Magnus leads with a couple of quick jabs towards Grimlock's chin. Combat: Ultra Magnus misses Grimlock with his Quick Jabs (Punch) attack! "Yeah. For Galactic games." Grimlock deadpans, and he lumbers into the brawl himself! His approach is far less elegant or calculating than Ultra Magnus- Grimlock doesn't circle around, or feint- instead, he opts for a simpler, more brutal economy of motion. Grimlock whips his left hand up at the jabs, blocking or shoving the blows harmlessly aside- and then, Grimlock twists his wrist, attempting to clamp down on Ultra Magnus' wrist- all the better for Grimlock to *yank* him off balance! Grim follows up with a brutal right hook, aimed right at the side of the City Commander's head! Collapsing his extended fist into a knife hand, Ultra Magnus brings it in fluid motion down and around Grimlock's YANK.. then slaps the Dinobot's left hand aside with his, to cause the right hook to just BARELY miss his head. "Wow, Grimlock. Have you been practicing with Jazz? Your footwork seems to have improved!" the City Commander manages to compliment, reaching out to seize Grimlock's wrist and -forcefully- turn him around; just in time for a well aimed kick to the hindquarters. Combat: Ultra Magnus misses Grimlock with his Kickin' Tail (Kick) attack! Grimlock is twirled around! But, Grimlock's armor takes the kick with a harmless *klang!* At which point Grimlock grunts- more out of embarassment than anything! He growls, and then takes a step back, pushing one elbow right towards Ultra Magnus' midsection! "Me Grimlock ALWAYS improving, 'cuz me Grimlock am best at fighting!" Combat: Grimlock sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Grimlock strikes Ultra Magnus with his Throw some elbows! (Punch) attack! "Well, you'll plateau early if you don't.. OOOOF!" Ultra Magnus tries to offer some friendly advice, then the elbow knocks into his mid-section and sends him off balance slightly. It was bound to happen, with the constant whiffs.. he lured himself into a false sense of security. And never, never embarass a Dinobot. A step back to secure footing, Ultra Magnus pushes forward with his shoulder to send Grimlock reeling this time. Combat: Ultra Magnus sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: Ultra Magnus strikes Grimlock with his Shoulder Check (Punch) attack! Never embarass a dinobot? That's good advice. Of course, 'Never get within arm's reach of a dinobot' is even BETTER advice, too! Grimlock grunts- and he finds himself in the somewhat unfamiliar sensation of getting pushed backward, hard enough to rattle his gears- But Grimlock hasn't even gotten started yet! And so, Grimlock twists around- and then, as soon as he's got a hand free, there's a telltale *Schiiing!* of his sword being drawn from subspace- and Grimlock wastes little time in swinging the weapon around in a short, brutal arc. *VWOOOM!* Combat: Grimlock strikes Ultra Magnus with his Energo Sword attack! The sword easily lands itself into Ultra Magnus' shoulder plate, digging deep to sever one or two necessary functions. Thankfully, those are merely lead lines to trigger the shoulder rocket-pod launch. He won't be needing those in this fight.. yet. Attempting to grab ahold of the energo blade, Magnus attempts to force the hilt back (drawing it out of the wound at the same time) into Grimlock's face.. then whirling it around to slice into the Dinobot's side. Combat: Ultra Magnus sets his defense level to Neutral. "Ooof!" Magnus' blow lands, and Grimlock takes a step back- "Hnn. Me Grimlock felt that!" he says, and then, Grimlock yanks his blade back- only to transform! Where was once a mighty warrior is now an even mightier dinosaur! ANd, true to form, Grimlock's smiling. It's hard not to, when you have that many teeth. "Now me Grimlock REALLY get started!" and Grimlock snaps out with his teeth, attempting to bite down on some important part of Ultra Magnus. Rar! With a grunt and a growl, Grimlock changes into a robot T-rex! Watch out. Combat: Robot T-Rex! strikes Ultra Magnus with his BITE (Kick) attack! Reflexively reaching out with his forearm, Ultra Magnus manages to let Grimlock be satisfied with chewing up the large blue kibble that guards most of his elbow before yanking it out of the gaping maw. "You hadn't started before? Come now Grimlock, no need to JEST when it's among friends!" Smirking, the City Commander attempts to seal the mouth with his left hand, while reaching back for a right hook with the other. Combat: Ultra Magnus sets his defense level to Protected. Robot T-Rex! mmphs! He narrows his optics as his mouth's held shut- but then Magnus is slamming a fist into the side of his head, and that tends to get one's attention! Grim shakes his head, clearing his optics- and then, he just storms forwards, raising those enormous dino feet as he bears down on Magnus, aiming to trample him underfoot! And Grimlock has very, very big feet. In fact, he's got big everything, really. Combat: Robot T-Rex! misses Ultra Magnus with his Dino Crush attack! [Pulled -3] The punch lands, but what follows isn't exactly 'prime'. With an enraged Dinobot incoming, Ultra Magnus attempts to lower himself as low to the ground as possible, right hand reaching straight forward while the left stays back. In a feint to utilize Grimlock's momentum and a bit of strength, the right hand attempts to snatch at the tail.. while the left supports, hopefully, the neck of the Mecha T-Rex. From there, it's a simple matter of shifting his weight.. upending the Dinobot onto his back, followed quickly by a stomp to the revealed underbelly. Combat: Ultra Magnus sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Ultra Magnus misses Robot T-Rex! with his Dino Curb Stomp attack! [Pulled -2] Robot T-Rex! grunts! Magnus succeeds in throwing him to the ground- but Grimlock just rolls with it, and then transforms back into his robot mode in an instant! The dinocommander scrabbles forward to his feet, and then throws his form at Ultra Magnus headlong! "RARGH!" Grimlock says, attempting to wrestle Magnus down to the ground- at which point, Grimlock will try to wind up on top this time, all the better to rain down the occasional punch at Magnus' head! There's a flurry of moving parts, and Grimlock changes to his robot mode! Combat: Grimlock sets his defense level to Neutral. Combat: Grimlock strikes Ultra Magnus with his Gravity! (Smash) attack! Thrown back to the ground by the oncoming Grimlock, Ultra Magnus struggles in the grasp.. but cannot evade the imcoming blows to the head. Impacting off the tile, large chunks are beaten into the flooring while throwing some of Magnus' inner systematics out of whack. Fighting off his back, the City Commander manages to get some wiggle room.. but freedom is still eluding him. Instead of keeping his composure, however, Ultra Magnus allows himself a tiny respite of aggression. It appears Grimlock wasn't the -only- one looking forward to this match.. well on the surface anyways. Drawing back, first Ultra Magnus unleashes a punch with his right arm. Every time Grimlock publicly bemoaned him in front of the troops. Before the right has a chance to hit or miss, the left flies forward. Every time the Dinobot created six times as much needless paperwork than any other 'standard' infantry unit.. or entire division! And before you know it, Ultra Magnus is unleashing with a hellacious fury of blows.. attempting to fight his way back up to his feet. They fly forward in rhythmic fashion, the last only lingering long enough for the other fist to lash out at the Dinobot. If nothing, at least this fight seems therapeutic!! Combat: Ultra Magnus sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Ultra Magnus strikes Grimlock with his Pent-up Paperwork Frustration! attack! Squawkbox ducks, as he enters what seems to be a fabricated building, only this one is literally coated in fabric. It's one of those temporary stadiums, which means a metal framework covered by a tarp on the outsides, and rows of seats on the inside. As he passes through the tunnel, he gets a good look at the framework inside. Probably reinforced or made from some special metal to accommodate Cybertronian spectators, after he takes a short stairway, he finds it even has Cybertronian sized seats. He makes his way towards the one he purchased, which just happens to be next to a certain Autobot scientist. "Whoa!" Grimlock tosses his arms up into a boxer's defensive stance, and he backpedals under Ultra Magnus' rain of blows! Seems he really hit a nerve, there! Dents are punched into Grimlock's armor. "Hnnn. You strong!" Grimlock says- right after taking a heavy punch to the face! But then, Grimlock's transforming again- and there's that savage, angry grin. "But me Grimlock STRONGER!" He bulls- or perhaps 'Dinosaurs' his way forward- taking a few punches on the way in, but hopefully his thick armor can hold! Grimlock attempts to clamp down with claws and jaws on Ultra Magnus...and then, like a dog with a new rag toy, Grimlock starts to violently *SHAKESHAKESHAKE!* the big truckbot back and forth! "GRRR!" With a grunt and a growl, Grimlock changes into a robot T-rex! Watch out. Combat: Robot T-Rex! sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Robot T-Rex! strikes Ultra Magnus with his Dino Crush attack! Somewhat relieved, Ultra Magnus breathes a gentle sigh of ease.. but then it's back to the races! Grimlock is already transforming into a terrifying T-Rex. As the teeth sink into his exterior plating, the City Commander can only try to vainly dig his giant fingers under the jawline and pry them upwards. But then Grimlock goes all *shake shake shake* on him too. Not quite upended and tossed asunder, big blue is none-the-less pratically helpless in the giant chomping jaws of the resident Autobot metal muncher. In an attempt to gain some distance from the lummox, Ultra Magnus lashes out with some downward hammerfist blows while drawing backward. Combat: Ultra Magnus sets his defense level to Protected. Perceptor is sitting there propping his head up with a hand servo and with a blank look on his face. He doesn't acknowledge Squawkbox's presence as the other sat down next to him. It's difficult to tell if that's because he's so engaged in watching the match that he didn't notice, or if he's just lost in his own thoughts. Combat: Ultra Magnus strikes Robot T-Rex! with his Un-Bite Me You Scallywag! (Kick) attack! Robot T-Rex! drops Ultra Magnus! Well, most of him, at least, as there's still bits of blue and red armor stuck in his teeth. He'll have to get that out later. Maybe even with floss. Grimlock takes the hammer blows- but again, thick as his armor is, and as good of a time he's having, it's a small price to pay! Grim matches Ultra Magnus' retreat step for step- and then, suddenly, Grimlock twists around, sending his massive tail arcing towards Magnus, again aiming to bat him into the hard ground! Combat: Robot T-Rex! strikes Ultra Magnus with his Tail attack! (Kick) attack! Leaping forward once the Dinobot has been drawn in, Ultra Magnus doesn't account for the lashing tail to knock him mid-air and send him flying off balance. Impacting to the ground with a loud THUNK, big blue slowly rises to a sitting position. Grimlock has dished out just as much, if not more, as much physical punishment as Ultra Magnus can handle. Alarm klaxons resound inside his head, red lights flash and warn of impending shutdown on the HUD display, his body even showing the signs of wear and tear.. entire chunks missing of the power armor, revealing the albino chassis beneath. In others, the outer layer has been dug into and open wires spark loudly. Throwing in the towel -should- be advisable at this point, but he cannot. Namely for his sheer determination, but also because that goes against the very spirit of these Galactic games. Propping himself to unsteady feet, Ultra Magnus charges forward. Shoulder lowered, he attempts to bowl over his opponent and simply crush him as best he can underfoot. It's not exactly "Prime's Five-Fold Manuever".. hell, it's not even an advisable strategy out of the Wrecker's entire playbook; and those guys are pretty crazy!! Frankly put, Ultra Magnus can hardly keep the systems from self shutdown.. let alone line up a legitimate strategy to best employ the Dinobot's weaknesses against him. But it'll have to do for now: A little bit of energon, and a LOT of luck. Combat: Ultra Magnus sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Ultra Magnus strikes Robot T-Rex! with his Last Charge of the Light Brigade!! attack! "OOF!" And, sure enough, Magnus plows right into Grimlock, giving it his all! The dinobot takes the blows, and again staggers back- but it just isn't enough! "Hnnn. You Magnus am better fighter than me Grimlock thought." he says, "BUT STILL NO GOOD ENOUGH!" And with that said, Grimlock attempts to grab Ultra Magnus with his spindly little dino-arms...and then he *SLAMS!* his head forwards, aiming to headbutt the city commander into submission! Combat: Robot T-Rex! strikes Ultra Magnus with his Headbutt'd! (Smash) attack! Combat: Ultra Magnus falls to the ground, unconscious. Robot T-Rex! adds on: "Seriously. Me Grimlock am best fighter ever." Squawkbox sits there, observing for a moment. When a staff member comes by offering energon, he shouts, "I'll take two." He passes down his 'currency', whatever it is they use for it, and is passed back two cubes of energon. Transforming in his seat, Beastbox now sits next to Perceptor, while Squawktalk sits on his shoulder, both drinkin their energon. The headbutt, ringing true, puts Ultra Magnus down for the count. Impacting HARD off the ground, one of the tiny silver spindles on his helmet actually shatter and roll on the tile. Stress fractures run up the blue helm, overall he's in pretty tough shape. "That.. that.. is enough." he grates out, heaving on the ground. "I am humbled." Perceptor is still sitting there in the same position, staring into space. It doesn't seem to have registered with him that the match had ended. At least, not yet. Greenhorn prods Perceptor, "I uhh.. think you're needed." Ranger raises up and, glancing aside at Perceptor for a moment, shakes his head and raises a flag, striding back out onto the pitch, flag held high in hand. He waves it nervously, then uses he free hand to indicate Grimlock. "Grimlock wins!" Robot T-Rex! of course, gloats. "Woo! Me Grimlock so great! Wooo!" and he shakes his claws up in the air, even as gamblers across the city curse and lament their luck! He stomps up and down a few times (thankfully, not on Ultra Magnus) and then crosses the arena- he smacks Perceptor on the shoulder playfully, "See how me Grimlock win? Me Grimlock so great!" this done, Grim reaches over and attempts to grab at Torque's enerbrew, which is summarily tossed into his jaws, glass and all. "Fighting make me Grimlock thirsty!" Beastbox and Squawktalk enjoy their energon. Squawktalk drinks his a little too fast, so that he can nudge Perceptor on the other side, "Needed? What are you needed for? Will it take long? It was pretty funny when Grimlock knocked Ultra Magnus into next Tuesday. I bet he'll be recovering for a whole week? Say, isn't he going to have to fight Wreck-Gar now? I bet that fight will take a whole week!" The scientist jumps in his seat as he is prodded by Greenhorn, and then much more roughly smacked in the shoulder by Grimlock. "Oh...er...right. Grimlock is the victor." He says in a half-sparked fashion. "Yes, yes..." he says dismissively when the Dinobot gives him the I-told-you-so. "Congratulations, Grimlock..." Ranger waves the flag a few times before letting it droop. Glancing around, he realises that, well, no one's actually looking at him. Trudging dejectedly off the field, he gets a call for help. Cheering up, he transforms and takes off. Panels shift at such an incredible speed that they seem to blur and....expand? until a large transport rests before you. Ranger moves out of Las Vegas to the rest of Nevada.
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