| abstract | - Mojave Desert Once part of an ancient inland sea, the Mojave desert was formed by volcanic action and by materials deposited by the Colorado River. Now, it is a vista of mountains, boulders, washes, joshua trees, and cacti. Clean air, sunny days, star filled nights, outstanding views, abundant wildlife, rockclimbing, hiking, biking, and relaxation make it a favorite day trip for the city-weary residents of Los Angeles. Edwards Air Force Base once attracted visitors to see the space shuttles landing, but the base was shut down years ago during the federal government defense cutbacks. Most of the visitors, though, are simply passing through on their way to and from the City of Sin, Las Vegas. Torque has arrived.Harbinger has arrived.Sludge has arrived.Rodimus Prime has arrived. <NEST> Poise humphs.<NEST> Rush says, "That's annoying. The Rush says stop."<NEST> Poise says, "oh fiddlesticks to you."<NEST> The Rush says, "Yes. Yes, you can. Want The Rush's room number?"<NEST> Spindrift says, "Why does he keep referrin' to himself like he's a thing?" Soundwave has arrived. Hound is here for his second match, after having possibly the friendliest match in the Olpympics so far with the human EDCer James Bailey. He felt bad about fighting a human... he hadn't totally expected it. But all ended well, and both left the match feeling it was all done in the inspiring spirit of the Olympics. And now he enters the arena for a mtach against one of his own kind... and again, there is nothing but a friendly smile on his face. Win or lose, he's here for the spirit of the game. Also, he *loves* this setting... he glances around, admiring the stark beauty. Torque is excited as all get out when entering the 'arena' that is the Mojave Desert, looking pumped and eager to face her next challenger. It's too bad she can't smack around Blitzwing for that little stunt with the twins, but if she beats Hound then maybe she'll have a chance. ..And speak of the devil, there he is now! "Congrats on your win against James, Hound. Heh, you were awesome out there." The femme grins and takes her place before settling into a fighting stance. "Let's see if you can keep up with me though, yeah?" Oh yeah, she's ready for a brawl. Harbinger is off to the side, among a scattering of rocks. As the two Bots arrive the small 'con moves forward and climbs up onto the two rocks and looks back and forth between the two, "Oye.. BOTS. You two know the rules right? Cause I am not repeating them! Should of checked before hand!" She looks from one to the other, and raises her hand with one pistol in it... and fights "Fight! And may the two of you die in the process gruesomely." She then drops her weapon, the magnetics on it slapping it back against her thigh as she puts a bit of distance away from them, floating over to a larger pile of rocks that gives her a better view to watch. ROLL: Hound rolled a 97ROLL: Torque rolled a 40 Hound blinks at Harbinger, his warm smile faltering just a bit, but it returns as Torque walks up. "Thanks! James was a spirited fighter... humans and their technology are really impressive, I've got to say." His smile widens even more. "Absolutely! It'll be a pleasure, win or lose!" He walks up and extends a hand for a handshake, then takes his place. He gets the first move, so he starts coming in towards Torque. "Alright... here goes!" He hops to the side a bit, then takes a swing! Combat: Hound sets his defense level to Guarded.Combat: Error - You can't pull that attack to level 1.Combat: Hound strikes Torque with his First Try (Punch) attack!Combat: Gained 1 energon. And off behind Harbinger, is Soundwave himself. That troublesome tape has been skirting him so far, but finally he caught up to her. Without a word, Soundwave approaches, his optics on the fight itself. It was a mystery why Harbinger had been acting so skittish since her creation, perhaps he needed to wipe her personality clean and start over. He crosses his arms, still a bit battered from his own last fight, then dismisses the notion at least for now. Didn't Rumble attack everything he could, Trypticon included? Did not Buzzsaw kill three drones in his first operational day? Ravage disappeared for two months after his creation. But you're also supposed to keep cats in a small room until they get adjusted to an area, so that was his own fault. Torque perks antennas at Harbinger showing up to judge them, finding it a bit strange that a Con would bother. ..But then again Galvatron judged her last match, so she doesn't think about it further. Instead her mind is on Hound as he moves in and takes a swing, Torque doing her best to block though it does sting a little and forces a soft grunt of her. "Hn, got the first hit in, not bad." She compliments and doesn't waste anymore time, venting sharply as she returns the greeting with a quick jab followed immediately by a more powerful cross punch in a quick combo. Combat: Torque sets her defense level to Aggressive.Combat: Torque strikes Hound with her One-Two Punch attack! [Pulled -2]Combat: Torque (Torque) used "Powerfist": A Level 3 MELEE attack. Harbinger shivers as a chill goes down through her body, and feels a distrubance in the Spark, and resists the urge to look behind her, or simply bolt like her instincts scream. There is a bit of a flicker as her armor starts to kick in it's stealth field, but she fights it down, since as a judge she must remain visible. And anyone with decent hearing could easily hear her muttering to herself, "Must not look.. must not run.. must not look.. must not run." However, she IS taking her role seriously and her optics stay locked on the two combatants. Hound grins at Torque, nodding a thanks. But then... neither does she waste time, and her punches land hits before he can get out of the way. "Ooof!" He staggers back, then steps to the left. "You're pretty good yourself... BUT...." He attempts to keep just out of her fist-range while suddenly ducking down and swinging a leg, trying to land a kick in before she can react. Combat: Hound strikes Torque with his Kick it up a notch (Kick) attack!Combat: Critical Hit!Combat: Drained 2 energon. Torque moves in for another strike, but Hound is quicker and pulls a fast one and ducks low where a leg comes up and hits her squarely. A soft vent of pain escapes when taking a step back and rubbing a hand where he struck, dent plain as day, but it won't stop her in the least. Digging feet in, Torque suddenly launches forward at the mech, aiming to get a good grip on him. If she's successful then Hound is in for a treat as he'll quickly find himself being wrestled to the ground on his front. Meanwhile Torque perches over his back and holds his legs to pull them and bend his back with a harsh wrestling move. Combat: Torque strikes Hound with her Scorpion Deathlock attack! [Pulled -1]Combat: Torque (Torque) used "Powerfist": A Level 4 MELEE attack. Soundwave could have tracked her of course. No tape can escape his gaze for long, except Ravage during that previous stint, but it turned out he was hiding in the air ducts. He keeps his gaze on Torque and Hound as they appear to do some sort of wrestling related chicanery. Soundwave wasn't much of a melee combatant...of course he wasn't much of a firepower kind of mech either. All in all, this whole competition wasn't in his interests. The mech ponders silently for a moment, something akin to a 'hacking competition' or 'embarass the Autobots galactically' event. Maybe even another Epic Rap Battle of History...he was sure he had that last one won, but crowds, much like Autobot ethics, are fickle... Hound 's heard of wrestling, and he's heard of some unusual massage therapies that could SORT of resemble this... but they probably feel a whole heckuva lot better. The Jeep grunts in pain as Torque does things on his back he wasn't actually sure COULD be done... But ow... alright, gotta get her /off/ first. He pushes hard against the ground, trying to shove her off him... and if he succeeds he'll use the momnentum to turn, clasp his arms around her, and try smashing HER to the ground. Combat: Hound strikes Torque with his Is this massage therapy or fight therapy? (Smash) attack! [Pulled -1]Combat: You took 2 damage from that attack.Combat: Drained 2 energon. He may not be a wrestle, but surprisingly Hound manages to break Torque's hold enough to grab her in turn and introduce her face to the dirt. "Mmf!" She puffs muffled breath into the ground and turns head just enough to get a look at him over her shoulder, a grin fixed on her face. Getting so close behind Torque isn't a good idea because, if Hound doesn't watch out, he'll be kissing her tow boom that pivots upwards to smash him hard up under the chin so she can hopefully get free. Combat: Torque misses Hound with her Useful Kibble attack! [Pulled -2]Combat: Torque (Torque) used "Powerfist": A Level 3 MELEE attack. Harbinger bounces in place a bit at the Bots slug it out.. literally. She pauses then remembers what she brought along, and pulls at something in her leg compartments, then poof as pompoms get shaken out in bright yellow and orange colors. She mutters to herself, "Always wanted to try this, after those silly shows.." She pauses, inhales for a moment then yells out, "GO BOTS! FIGHT EACH OTHER! FIGHT EACH OTHER! KNOCK YOURSELVES OUT! RA RA BOOM BOOM RAR!" And the pom-poms go up and wave around in the air. Hound loves the Earth, and he thinks humans are great, so he's watched a bit of WWE and other wrsetling events... though he's never been entirely sure if WWE is a REAL sport or not... But then again, neither are many humans. He may have picked up and thing or two, and apparently he picked up enough to just barely evade Torque's manuever. Perhaps that grin tipped him off. He lets go as her tow boom comes up, getting back to his feet... not exactly with grace, but with enough hustle to at least avoid damage.He takes a step back and wipes at his forehead. "Heh... didn't think I'd get to imitate Stone Cold Steve Austin... but that was certainly... interesting." He stops and blinks at Harbinger for a moment, before focusing back on the task at hand. "Ok, pardon my lapse of manners... I hate to hit a femme. Or any other Autobot, honestly." There's another warm smile before he looks serious again, coming at her without another swing of a fist. Combat: Hound strikes Torque with his WWE...sport-real-does it matter? (Punch) attack!Combat: Gained 1 energon. Inner Soundwave sighs. He had such plans for Harbinger, a stealth expert femme, able to keep pace with Ravage, precise and... Still the mech doesn't react as he trails off. One of the jobs of a creator is seeing his creation come to life, the other part of that was accepting who it becomes. His arms shift from crossed to behind his back, wordlessly as he does his level best to ignore Harbinger's...Harley Quinn inspired cheers. Damn, missed. Ah well, she'll make up for it in a moment. "They've got some pretty interesting moves here on Earth, I'll give 'em that." She muses and flips back up to her feet once he's off, rolling shoulders to limber them back up before bringing fists up to frame her smirking face. "Heh, I appreciate it Hound, but you know me. I love a good brawl." She takes the punch, blocking with both arms, and returns it tenfold. A passion for the sport burns in those amber optics when closing the gap between them in a fluid step and lashing out with a feint, hoping to distract him and follow up with a right hook. But she's not done there. If she hits then she'll persist, puting Hound on the ropes as she lets loose on him with a flurry of fists. Jab, jab, cross, uppercut, another hook, body shot, all precise and relentless. Combat: Torque sets her defense level to Fearless.Combat: Torque strikes Hound with her Rain Of Fists attack!Combat: Torque (Torque) used "Powerfist": A Level 5 MELEE attack. Combat: Torque's attack has damaged your Strength! Harbinger pauses for a second... then shrugs as she keeps up her act, pom-poms going in wild patterns.. seems the Tape actually DID study cheerleading, though she had intended on doing so for her brother tapes. "FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT! COME ON, HOUND! HIT THE GGGGIIIRRRRRLLLLL!" She actually starts to grin, and soon.. the dancing starts! "GO GIRL! PUNCH HIM WHILE HE'S DOWN! PUNCH! PUNCH! AGAIN AND AGAIN!". She then takes a step.. and her foot slides on a patch of moss on the rock, and down the Tape goes behind it with a thump, followed by a quiet ow. Hound grins and nods. "Yeah, I've heard that.... I suppose I'm not usually the "brawling" type, but I've been in a scuffle or two...", he adds modestly. But it's clear he doesn;t have her burning passion for the sport, as she comes at him and lands blow upon blow. "Argh!!" He staggers back, bringing his arms up to protect himself as best he can... but the damage is consdierable. Energon leaks in various places it doesn;t ordinarily, and he shakes his head in a daze."Woah... you weren't kidding... Wow, remind me not to tick you off back home, okay?" He grins good-naturedly at her, then circles around a bit. This time he just ignores Harbinger, focusing on Torque. "There's another sport the humans enjoy, too, Torque... I was talking about it to James, and you may have heard about it, too. It's called... football!" And he runs towards her in a tackle attempt! Combat: Hound strikes Torque with his This is AMERICAN Football by the way (Smash) attack!Combat: You took 3 damage from that attack.Combat: You have foolishly damaged your own Firepower!Combat: Drained 5 energon. Torque will admit, Hound's pretty tough if he can recover so well after that assault. When he speaks though, he garners a slight headtilt in curiosity of what he's talking about, and then it hits her. Well.. Hound hits her actually. "Oof!" He charges, the femme unable to dodge in time and forcibly knocked off her feet. "Ngh.." She grunts, getting the wind knocked out of her there, but forces herself to shape back up and focus on pushing him off.. or rather kicking in this instance. Arm on his chest attempts to push the mech up a bit off her, and if she can get enough room she'll curl leg in and kick him square in the midsection while shoving him away. Combat: Torque strikes Hound with her Get Off attack! [Pulled -2]Combat: Torque (Torque) used "Powerfist": A Level 3 MELEE attack.Combat: Torque's attack has damaged your Strength!Sludge has left.Sludge heads back to OOC-Land. Harbinger stands back up, eyes looking towards the fight but eventually makes her way over towards Soundwave, each step clearly hesitant, "So..uh... why you here, Sir?" She turns and yells as she shakse a fist in there, "Come on! You Bots can hit harder then that, can't you?" Soundwave finally rumbles softly, "BLITZWING ASSAULTED AN OLYMPICS EVENT, DESTROYING BOTH PARTICIPANTS." He lets out a strained sigh as he watches the two scrap, before finally explaining, "THEIR LESS FORTHRIGHT MEMBERS MAY SEEK VENGEANCE IN SIMILAR SITUATIONS." Hound actually is fairly tough. Not Wrecker tough, but he's no slouch. That helps, too, as Torque comes for a kick.. and while he may have pretty good aim, and be fairly tough- he's NOT particularly agile, and again can't avoid that blow. He once more gets pushes back, stirring up dirt and dust from the desert floor as he does so. "Oof..." But quickly, he reaches out and attempts to grab her leg before she regains her balance, and uses the leverage to go for another punch in the side, trying to knock her off balance completely. Combat: Hound strikes Torque with his Not sure if this has a name- whatever works! How about that? (Punch) attack!Combat: Gained 1 energon. Harbinger looks at the fight and sighs in disappointment, "Seen better fights from a pair of gerbils." She considers for a second.. then before she loses her nerve she steps over to Soundwave and floats up, coming to rest on his shoulder. "So... are.. you taking me back to the box, Sir?" Torque snorts a little at Hound's attempt at another punch, which hardly hurts and mostly bounces off her at this point. "Heh, you gettin' tired, Hound? C'mon, I know you've got more fight in you than that." Shaking off his hand, she stands back up and waits for him to as well. She wants a clean fight here, not wanting to kick him while he's down. Unfortunately he won't be greeted very nicely once he's back on his feet, Torque sprinting headlong at the mech and leaping at the last moment, twisting mid-air to slam him with two full powered kicks to the head.Combat: Torque strikes Hound with her Double Flying Roundhouse attack! Combat: Torque (Torque) used "Powerfist": A Level 5 MELEE attack. Combat: Torque's attack has damaged your Firepower! Soundwave remains quiet as Bots beat the living scrap out of each other for a few moments, So that was what this was all about. Was he going to put her 'back in the box'? She was obviously flawed. She needed more work done. "YES." Soundwave finally answers, "EVENTUALLY. YOUR TECH SPECS DON'T MATCH THAT NEEDED FOR A PROPER COVERT OPERATIVE, NOR SNIPER." Gawd, kids.... He takes a belabored breath, "HOWEVER, TOO MUCH WORK DONE AT ONE TIME TENDS TO...STAGNATE GROWTH. YOU WILL BE UPGRADED AT A LATER DATE." Hound wipes a little energon trickling from the side of his head. Fact is, he IS tired... and pretty beat up at this point. He runs a few scans and realizes the internal damage is even greater than he thought, and his structural integrity is weakening. His punches just don't have the strength they had before. Torque gives him a moment to get on his feet, and he nods appreciatively... Then she's got him dead to rights with some forceful kicks!The Jeep goes down again... and this time he doesn't get up very quickly. With a grunt of pain, he attempts to get back up YET AGAIN. Another wipe of leaking energon. "You're good. REALLY good. Heh... I think you may have this one, Torque. But I don't want to disappoint you, either..." He grins, looking a little unsteady now, then makes one last effort to launch himself at Torque with another tackle. It's all.. or nothing now! Combat: Hound strikes Torque with his Last Hurrah (Smash) attack!Combat: You took 3 damage from that attack.Combat: You have foolishly damaged your own Accuracy!Combat: Drained 5 energon. "You haven't diappointed so far, Hound. This has been fun, I gotta say." Torque grins and watches him charge forward, ready for him this time and bracing herself. The two meet, smashing into each other, but Torque doesn't fall to her back, this time having been ready and instead sliding back several feet with him, pushing back in resistance. "Hnn.. Would love the end this now, but I'm gonna need a moment.." She mutters and clenches teeth when tearing from his grip and pushing him away, trying to give herself a little space so she can recover some stamina. The medic is venting a bit at this point, fatigue settling in, but she's far from done yet. Combat: Torque takes extra time to steady herself. [Pass] Harbinger kinda.. locks in place, optics staring in the general direction of the fight for a very very long moment. And jumps down quickly, hopping so she's at least out of reach of Soundwave, and backs up slowly, though she ensures she is still keeping a optic on the fight, "Can.... we talk about that, Pops? I do my job fine when I'm given one.." Hound smiles... though it's a bit pained... and steps back to allow her some room. He doesn't mind a bit of a "breather" himself... though he doesn't really rest long. He's leaking ...all over... his servos creak and protest with every step... he's in really bad shape. In fact, he's fighting to remain conscious at this point. He ponders just giving in... he doesn't mind throwing in the towel against such a skilled fighter... and fellow Autobot. But somehow this just doesn't seem the time. She wants a good fight, he'll try to give her one.When he thinks she's ready again, he takes a step forward. He glances once at Harbinger and Soundwave, then back to Torque. "Yes, this has been fun... and I'm glad. Gotta say, think I'm set to lose... but I think YOU will be the one to see us all the way to a Gold." There's another smile, then he rushes towards her again, swinging a fist once more. Combat: Hound strikes Torque with his Go win that Gold Torque! (Punch) attack!Combat: Gained 1 energon. Soundwave quietly grumbles, It wasn't a yes, nor a no, and wide open to interpretation. After a few more punches thrown, Soundwave turns on his heels and starts to walk away from the scene. After he gets a good distance out, he hits his shoulder button "HOWLBACK, EJECT." The Ravage recolor springs out, lands and turns to face Soundwave, "OPERATION: VIGILANCE." Those Bots in the distance can see Soundwave take to the air, away from the scene... Torque is.. surprised to hear that, actually looking a little shocked. But it eventually melts into a warm, thoughtful smile and she nods. "I'll try as ahrd as I can, I promise." She knows his strength isn't holding up well so she lets him hit, taking the punch like a champ. Let's hope Hound can do the same as Torque squares her feet, steadying herself while bringing arm back. She shifts as much power to it as quickly as she can, and when it's at peak capacity and roars, throwing herself at Hound to deliver a devistating, high powered blow to the side of his face. Combat: Torque strikes Hound with her Powerfist attack!Combat: Torque (Torque) used "Powerfist": A Level 5 MELEE attack. Combat: You are very aware that your life is in danger!Combat: Torque's attack has damaged your Firepower!Combat: Hound falls to the ground, unconscious. Harbinger watches Torque suckerpunch Hound into submission... "Torque wins!" then disappears behind her stealth armor and runs. <Autobot> Torque vents, "Phew.. Hound put up a damn good fight." Hound isn't, unfortunately for him, and Torque's masterful stroke knocks the Jeep-bot back to the ground, where he lands with a thud. Now it's up to Torque to win the Gold... for the Autobots! Oh well... at least Hound's a little closer to the Earth he loves right now..... Harbinger has left.Harbinger heads back to OOC-Land.Torque has left.
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