| abstract | - Generally speaking Midtown Manhattan’s northern boundary has always been well defined- 59th Street, the start of Central Park- but its southern boundary has always been much more amorphous. Depending on who you were asking, the southern boundary of Midtown could extend all the way from 34th Street to 14th Street. Numerous neighborhoods comprised Midtown, among them: Hell’s Kitchen, The Theater District, The Garment District, The Meatpacking District, The Flatiron District, Chelsea, Union Square, and Gramercy. Back during Pre-War times, Midtown was the largest business district in the entire United States. Not only was Midtown America’s largest commercial, entertainment, and media center, but the area was second only to Lower Manhattan in terms of importance in the finance industry. Numerous multinational corporations made Midtown their corporate headquarters, and several countries placed their embassies in the area- Argentina, The Bahamas, the People’s Republic of China, Costa Rica, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan, the UK, and the Ukraine. The region was also home to many landmarks known worldwide, including the Empire State Building, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Penn Station, Grand Central Station, the Chrysler Building, the New York Public Library, the United Nations Building, Madison Square Garden, the Waldorf-Astoria, and Times Square. Midtown was home to most of Manhattan’s skyscrapers- according to local legends, the reason for this is because the bedrock in the area is stronger than that of the bedrock in Lower Manhattan or points north. Six of the ten tallest buildings in Manhattan were clustered in Midtown. When the Great War ended and nuclear havoc fell from the skies, Midtown was devastated. Manhattan was identified as the financial and cultural center of America- despite not being the capital of the nation- and as a result, the borough received the heaviest amount of bombing. Certain protection measures, such as anti-missile defense systems meant to intercept and stop incoming missiles and bombs worked as intended but the total tonnage of payload that the Chinese dropped on Manhattan simply overwhelmed such systems. When the smoke cleared, most of Midtown Manhattan was almost totally rubble. In the years since the Great War, humanity has adapted. Slowly but surely, life has returned to the area. Now known as the Concrete Jungle- a play on the common nickname of large cities and the fact that the ruins of Midtown resemble something of a jungle, with concrete and iron instead of vegetation. The densely packed rubble makes traveling north-south nearly impossible overland, making it necessary to use of underground passages such as subway tunnels or interconnected basement pathways. Those that elect to travel through the ruins of Midtown are presented with numerous dangers, such as falling debris, radioactive pockets, attacks from members of the Skyscraper Tribes living in the hollow shells of still-standing buildings.
- Twilight Zone A strange fog whirls around, and it's hard for the average mech to see even two feet in front of them. Then again, it doesn't seem there's much to be seen. Stay here long enough, however, and the scene will change drastically. At regular intervals, the fog disappears, revealing a thriving Terran "gold rush" mining town. Or perhaps you're in a Monacus casino. Another time, an entire house full of mirrors and trap doors. Anything can happen, and most likely will: this is the Twilight Zone. Obvious exits: Fly [Up] leads to Sky Above The Dark Side. North [N] leads to Death Star. South [S] leads to The Prairie. East [E] leads to Bedrock. West [W] leads to Shores of Black Lagoon. Steeljaw has arrived. Sandstorm enters into the mist around you somewhere, but you can't be sure where. Sandstorm has arrived. Sandstorm strides into the room, looking for excitement. Blurr is pacing. Were things normal, this would make him very difficult to see, and not just because of the fog. But things are not normal, and so he paces slowly. Well. Slower. His nervous fidgeting no longer makes him look like his has more arms and legs than he has any business having. He is painfully, wretchedly... normal. And yet, he's here, still trying despite his troubles. He's an Autobot, after all. Of all people, even Steeljaw has a difficulty sensing through this fog. It befuddles his visual sensors, making it difficult for him to see too far ahead of him. Granted, unlike many, he probably can see further ahead. And it can't ruin his nasal senses, that's for certain. The gold of his hide stands out a little against the otherwise dull and dreary fog, glinting off of whatever light there is as he creeps through the area dubbed the 'Twilight Zone'. After a few more paces, he stops and lifts his head, tilting it to one side. "I could hear your pacing at least a few clicks ago, Blurr," He comments idly, padding within visual range. "You are about to enter another dimension..." An ominous voice ripples from the fogs. "A dimension of sound.. a dimension of sight... a dimension of mind...You are moving into a land of both shadow and substance... of both things and ideas... you've just crossed over into--" Finally Sandstorm wheels around and grabs the echoing Mr. Microphone from the Junkion that was following him. "For the last time, I don't need a voice over! I know dang well were we are." Hmph. As the Junkion sulks off Sandstorm mumbles and finally steps into view of the waiting Autobots. Looks at Blurr. Looks at Steeljaw. Then glances around shiftily, before using the echoing toy himself. "Take this instance of a lone speedster, struggling to find his way after losing what he felt made him important. On the other side, a small golden lion determined to prove his size isn't a determent to his ability... the answers to their delimias lying... their fight fated to be... in the Twilight Zone." Then tosses the mike over his shoulder. "Okay, I've had my fun. The two of you, keep it clean, yada yada yada, screw the formalities, just get to the fightin'!" Blurr turns towards Steeljaw and rubs the back of his neck, laughing nervously. "Eheh. Sorry." Then he looks around at the voiceover before looking towards the judge. He frowns as Sandstorm mentions his loss, then sighs and turns back towards Steeljaw. "I... guess we should get started?" And with that he runs forward and attempts to... punch the lion! Because there's not much else he can do, lacking melee weapons. He doesn't move recklessly, but he does focus far more on the attack, as he'd been taught recently in his training. Combat: Blurr sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Blurr strikes Steeljaw with his Punch attack! Steeljaw glowers slightly at the figures in the fog, appearing to be not amused by the antics of the duo. But his flicking tail suggests otherwise. "I'm not sure which of you is worse," He notes, dryly, his head shaking a little bit from side to side. Head tilting a little, he flashes something that seems like a bit of a grin at Blurr. "Better get started before they think of something else to spoof." Luckily for Blurr, Steeljaw isn't the fastest of felines. In fact, he's not fast at all despite the strength behind his lunge as he hurries forward. The fist collides solidly with his mane, sending him reeling to the side. He tumbles, but is quick to right himself. And when he does, he launches himself forward again with those mighty back legs. His jaws open wide, attempting to latch down on one of Blurr's ankles. Combat: Steeljaw strikes Blurr with his ANKLE BITER! attack! [Pulled -2] Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Blurr's Agility. (Crippled) Sandstorm finds himself a rock to sit on. Or is it a pile of junk? Hard to tell when you're on a place like this. Oh well. "So, punching and kicking vs claws and fangs. This could be interesting." A Junkion pops up over his shoulder (different from the last one though its hard to tell just by looks) "OH SCRAP ITS A LION GET IN THE CAR!" Sandstorm swats him away. "Get in? He IS a car!" Blurr's ankles are bitten! He yowls, trying to shake the tape off, then realizes what he really needs to do is KICK the cat. Still, with his recent training, he notes that Steeljaw is... kind of slow. Once upon a time, *everyone* seemed slow, so judging between degrees of slowness is something new. But perhaps he can risk fighting more defensively, using that dodge training Kup's given him as he tries to knock Steeljaw off his foot? Combat: Blurr sets his defense level to Neutral. Combat: Blurr strikes Steeljaw with his Kick attack! Slow-ish and small. Usually that means that someone would be easy to throw off, but when Steeljaw's fangs come down, they don't get off easily! But he must not have been holding on very hard, because the thrust of the kick is enough to send him flying through the air. Just not without a few hunks of metal in his jaws, too. He hits the ground at a roll, easily righting himself back up to his paws. "Blegh. Fast food," Steeljaw quips after spitting out the bits of armor, seeming to grin a bit. He then pushes off again, launching himself back at Blurr. He stops almost there, and launches himself up, almost straight up to try and come down on his back. Claws try to dig into the armor on his back as he attempts to latch on. Combat: Steeljaw sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Steeljaw strikes Blurr with his Impromptu cat tree! (Punch) attack! Sandstorm idly pulls out his combat knife and uses it to dig some grit out of one of his knuckle joints. "Someone tell me when something more interesting happens.." Pauses when Steeljaw tries to jump on Blurr like that. Nevermind! "... Heard of monkey on your back, but lion?" "Not funny!" Blurr protests as Steeljaw lands on his back, a spot that makes him rather difficult to reach. For a moment his first instincts almost lead him to flailing, but he comes to his senses before this happens and instead just throws himself down onto his back with as much force as he can before rolling off, deciding to divert even more focus on keeping out of Steeljaw's reach. Combat: Blurr sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Blurr strikes Steeljaw with his Back Slam (Kick) attack! That trick usually works. Not this time! Steeljaw's armor crunches nastily as even though he tries hard to let go in time, he's caught between Blurr's shoulder armor and the ground. That certainly gets him to come off, in either case! He rolls out from underneath Blurr's much larger and heavier frame, and shakes quickly to right himself. But now he has Blurr more on his level! Pistons work hard as Steeljaw throws himself into the air, practically pouncing at Blurr. And practically throwing himself at his face. Exactly at his face, really. He tries to hit it hard, and latch onto his face as best as he can with his claws. Combat: Steeljaw sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Steeljaw misses Blurr with his FACE HUGGER LION! (Kick) attack! Blurr rolls off of Steeljaw and into a crouch, but then he throws himself down as Steeljaw pounces, managing to duck beneath the tape. What do you know? Kup's advice worked! He snatches up an old pipe from the junk surrounding him and swings it through the mist, back at Steeljaw. Combat: Blurr strikes Steeljaw with his pipe (Punch) attack! Abruptly finding his target gone sends Steeljaw's trajectory a bit off. Instead of hitting Blurr's head, he hits the ground much sooner than he had anticipated. He staggers forward a few steps, and it's that brief period of time where he's distracted that opens him up to getting smacked with that pipe. It slams hard into his gold body, and into his - currently disabled for the fight - guns. They spark and crackle, probably becoming even MORE disabled. But Steel rolls with the hit, as it were. He tumbles over in a controlled roll, landing him solidly on his paws. "... Good thing I can't use those anyway," He mutters, eyeing the sparking cannons on his back. He grunts, and throws himself forward again. He attempts to lunge up on top of Blurr's wrist, his jaws opening wide and coming down towards that wrist with all of his might in an attempt to fasten himself on. Combat: Steeljaw sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Steeljaw strikes Blurr with his Steel Jaws attack! Sandstorm whistles a bit. "Good job there Blurr... other than you damaged something he can't use anyways. Funny how that works. Unlucky break..." Holds his knife up to inspect the blade.. though those who know him know he's paying a lot more attention to the fight than it might seem. "That's one critter who's bite is worse than his bark, that's for sure." Blurr has a cat on his wrist! Arch! He already lost a pretty good chunk of armor from his ankle, and now he's gonna lose his hand! "Owowowowow!" Blurr prostests, 'ow'ing at the best speed he can manage considered his slow state. With his free hand, he tries to hit Steeljaw in the head, but he's having trouble figuring out how to get the cat to actually let go. Combat: Blurr strikes Steeljaw with his Kitty On My Hand And I Don't Wanna Touch It (Punch) attack! One thing is for sure, Steeljaw has latched on tightly. He isn't letting go! At least, not easily. Even smacking him upside the head doesn't seem to do a very good job at getting him to release those jaws of life strength jaws. But it does make his eyes go all swirly. The smacking also seems to break the armor at the point where Steeljaw latched his fangs down on. Blurr finally gets Steel to let go, effectively... But at the same time, the cat takes his hand with him. Steel lands on the hand heavily, his jaws finally disengaging. He takes a few steps back, wobbling slightly from side to side as a result of the smacking to his head. "Oof. ... Sorry, Blurr. Didn't mean to do that." He eyes the hand carefully, then reaches down and picks it back up in his jaws. Cat's strong, for being so small. He spins around several times very quickly, as if he chasing his own tail, then stops abruptly, letting go of the hand. The momtentum sends the hand right back at its owner's face. "You can have it back!" Combat: Steeljaw strikes Blurr with his Stop hitting yourself! (Punch) attack! Sandstorm says, ".. Oh now this is getting crazy." "ROCKETTO PAAAAUNMMPH!" Sandstorm doesn't even look away from the fight, the shout is enough to tell him where to smack that pesky Junkion that keeps popping up to shut him up. "I'm starting to regret this planet already..." Blurr opens his optics wide and stares at his lack of hand before he's hit firmly in the forehead with his own hand. He catches it and frowns. "Now what am I supposed to do with this? I'm no Junkion!" He glances around, spying a Junkion looking at his hand thoughtfully, and immediately stuffs it into subspace. "No it's mine!" he protests before turning back towards Steeljaw. He crouches, looking around in the fog, then runs... not towards Steeljaw, but towards a... dumpster? That's suddenly visible out of the fog. Using that for cover, he reaches in (ew) and grabs out the first thing he can, which he then tries to pelt Steeljaw with. But what unpleasant trash is this? Combat: Blurr strikes Steeljaw with his Ew! Trash! (Punch) attack! Sandstorm ahahahahas. "And Blurr goes dumpster diving! Guess they're really scraping the bottom of the barrel for this fight now." The Junkion glares at him. "Hey, I'm the judge, I'm the one getting paid for making bad jokes!" Pause. "Well, if we were getting paid..." That takes the wind out of his sails for a moment as he sulks, muttering something about the Wreckers' tendancy to get into drinking and trouble when not on duty and having 'community service' to pay off. A giant can of tuna? Really? A can of tuna much larger than himself slams into Steeljaw, clipping and now actually taking off one of his already damaged guns. It sends him toppling to the side... And teeters on its edge for a moment before tipping over, bottom side up on top of Steeljaw, covering him completely. The massive tuna can is jostled once, then twice. Then stops. Is Steeljaw distracted by the left over tuna? Who knows. But a small hole abruptly appears in one corner of the can, and the small tape's eyes can just barely be seen peering out, analytical systems activating on Blurr. Combat: Steeljaw analyzes Blurr for weaknesses. Blurr peers out at Steeljaw from behind the dumpster, confused. He pokes his head up. "Hey, why aren't you attacking?" Then he looks at Sandstorm, baffled. "Is the fight over? If the fight's over, how'd I miss it?" Combat: Blurr takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass] Sandstorm would -really- love to tell Blurr otherwise, but there's the whole unbiased judge thing. So he can't just yell 'No you idiot he's just sizing you up!'. Alas. Instead he has to opt for a more neutral, "Not everything that happens in a fight is an attack," to answer Blurr's question. Suddenly, the giant empty can of tuna on Steeljaw starts to move. It skuttles quickly across the ground, as if it were a strange sort of roomba. Until it slams into something and the can flips forward and off of Steeljaw. He shakes his head quickly to clear it and regain his berrings, then keeps running, bolting right for Blurr's legs. It seems like he was about to pass right by Blurr. But he tries to grab ahold of one of the bigger bot's legs in his jaws as he passes. And using the momentum of his run, tries to throw Blurr off balance, trying to pull one of his legs out from under him. Thankfully, not off from under him. Combat: Steeljaw sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Steeljaw strikes Blurr with his The bigger they are the harder they fall! attack! Sandstorm deadpans, "As I was saying." When Steeljaw pounces. Blurr's leg is yanked out from beneath him, and he's pulled a distance as he falls backwards. The whole affair twists his ankle, the noise squealing and causing a cry of pain from Blurr. He won't be running too quickly on that foot anytime soon! But then, he won't be running as quickly as he's used to soon, anyway. He grits his teeth and tries to land a kick on Steeljaw with his good foot before the lion can get too far from him. Combat: Blurr misses Steeljaw with his Kick attack! Steeljaw lets go shortly after the bigger bot comes down to the ground. Just in time it seems, as that kick ends up where the small lion was just a short few seconds ago. He ducks under it, and it just barely grazes the other gun still on his back, taking off a bit of paint shavings. Doing a quick U-turn, he lunges himself back towards Blurr. He attempts to use one of those legs to push himself off, lunging himself forward at the big bot's chest, claws aiming to dig into his chest a few times. Combat: Steeljaw strikes Blurr with his Cat Scratch Fever (Punch) attack! Steeljaw's claws dig into his chest, damaging the feedlines to his weapon systems. The.. erm, weapons systems that he's not using. Oh well! He squeaks, but falls back as the cat lands on his chest, then tries to grab the lion and twist him into the ground, managing to keep his head this time around. Oh. That was Blurr. Combat: Blurr misses Steeljaw with his Grab-And-Slam (Punch) attack! In a quick flurry of movement, Steeljaw isn't there anymore. He's instead a small gold tape which electromagnetizes itself, keeping himself from being thrust into the ground by remaining firmly latched onto Blurr's hand and making it hard to actually slam him into the ground. The tape dislodges from the hand shortly, and in another quick flurry of movements returns to his leonine form. Back legs hit the hand hard as he does, sending him flying back at Blurr's face. Or more precicely, his chin, as the cat attempts to literally uppercut him with his entire body. Combat: Steeljaw misses Blurr with his Smash attack! ARGH! How dare someone out-flurry Blurr! Blurr *hates* being slow, and it would be all too easy for him to give himself into depression over it once more, but he doesn't let himself. He instead rocks further back, still on the ground, and falls beneath Steeljaw's clawed uppercut, even as he tries to swing his arms up and towards the lion's underside. Combat: Blurr sets his defense level to Neutral. Combat: Blurr strikes Steeljaw with his Right In The Belly! (Punch) attack! Those arms hit the lion hard, smashing him right up under the belly. A few bits of armor crunch and compact along his chest, which may impact the sort of strength that Steeljaw can put into any claw strikes. But that strike under the belly throws him higher up into the air, roaring in pain at the impact. Despite that, his feet push off slightly against the arm before it pulls away. Just a little, to redirect his trajectory. Which, as gravity reasserts itself, would bring him right back down atop Blurr's face. And since cats always land on their feet, result in many sharp points coming towards his face as well. Combat: Steeljaw sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Steeljaw misses Blurr with his DEATH FROM ABOVE! (Kick) attack! Come to think of it, that was just one fist and one forearm, right? Because Blurr is missing a hand. The not-as-speedy-as-he-used-to-be speedster is still fast enough to roll out of the way of Steeljaw's fall. "Sorry, sorry, sorry!" he exclaims at the feline's roar of pain. He cringes, realizing he's supposed to hit Steeljaw some *more*, and delivers a half-hearted kick towards the side. "Uhm. Nothing personal, right Steeljaw? Really sorry." Combat: Blurr strikes Steeljaw with his Kick to the Side (Kick) attack! That time, the kick lands solid. It strikes him hard in the side, sending him tumbling. It also sends the other one of those guns flying off of the lion's frame, to join the junk somewhere in the area. He doesn't quite hit the ground quite so gracefully as before. In fact, he hits it a bit hard, sparks flying from a few joints. "Oh, that's no problem. I took your hand off, after all," Retorts the brave little lion, grinning a little despite himself. A few more sparks fly off of his joints as he steadies himself. And several more after he launches himeself foward. He attempts to grab ahold of one of those legs with his front paws with his claws, while his back paws attempt to gain purchase on it, before throwing himself off of the leg, and attempting to impact again with Blurr's chest. Combat: Steeljaw strikes Blurr with his Looking like a scratching post now? (Kick) attack! "Heh, that's true," Blurr answers as Steeljaw points out that his hand was taken off. And then his leg is 'climbed' and his chest is leaped upon, knocking him back against the dumpster again (ew) and knocking his targeting systems out of alignment. "Yowch!" he shouts, then he tries to 'hug' Steeljaw and leap forward onto the ground, cat between chest and dirt. Combat: Blurr strikes Steeljaw with his HUGS! (Punch) attack! Sandstorm is still here, still watching. "Hey! Get a private room if you're gonna be all cuddly, this is a combat event!" CRUNCH. Steeljaw's back meets the ground so hard that if he had his guns still on his back, they probably would have come right off. Good thing he lost them already. He is literally between a rock and a hard place, his armor buckling as a result of the pressure placed on him. Really, some cats don't like hugs. And for Steeljaw, if you're not a nice smelling lady, he's not big on hugs at all. Claws still extended on all four of his paws, he begins to try to scrape them hard against Blurr's chest, as if trying to dig right through it. Combat: Steeljaw strikes Blurr with his KITTEH NO LIEK HUGS! (Kick) attack! "Ouch ouch ouch!" Blurr responds, despiding he probably doesn't like lying on top of the thing with the prickly claws. He rolls back over and attempts to throw Steeljaw off of him and into the dumpster, though the effort is hindered by the fact that he only has one hand to throw with! Combat: Blurr strikes Steeljaw with his Taking Out The Trash! (Kick) attack! At least getting Steeljaw off wasn't hard. The little lion, for as much as he puts up one heck of a fight, doesn't have much strength to try and hold on anymore. Not even to try and latch onto Blurr's hand. He goes flying, and *SLAM* hits the lid of the dumpster. Then falls directly into the heaps of trash, the lid slamming closed after him. It doesn't even shudder to suggest that he's trying to get out. "Okay, -now- the fight is over," Sandstorm comments as Steeljaw is tossed in the dumpster. Huh. Whenever he tries something fitting like that to end a fight, it usually backfires. Shrugging a bit, he walks up and gives Blurr a hearty slap on the shoulder. "Not bad, not bad at all." Hey the fight is over, he can stop being unbiased. "We may make a fighter out of you yet, super speed or not!" ... then he remembers Blurr only has one hand at the moment, so he walks over to fetch Steeljaw out of the dumpster himself. Blurr looks down. "Heh," he answers. Truth be told, Blurr doesn't /want/ to be a fighter. He doesn't like fighting. That's why he stays fast - it gives him excuses to stay out of combat. But if he's too slow to be a courier, may as well make sure he's useful /somehow/. He straightens up and rubs his shoulder with his good hand. "So I can beat up a tape," he sighs. Then he winces. "Blaster's gonna kill me." At least it isn't hard to find the little gold lion among the rest of the trash. He kind of stands out, aside from the fact that his armor is a bit dingy now after being thrown around planet Junk. But he's a bit on the offline side, so he just lies there as he's taken out. Otherwise he'd likely try to bite Blurr's face again for suggesting that a tape can't be tough. Blurr would totally deserve it, too.
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