|
Post by Swerve on Nov 12, 2009 14:11:59 GMT -5
All Swerve can do is laugh. It's a short guffaw drowned out quickly by his engine and the shriek of overheated air leaking from burst welds, but it's a genuine laugh.
"Better mine than yours!" he snaps back. She abruptly slows and veers into his path almost too quickly for him to react. Too fast to steer around her. So he transforms instead, parts grinding, shoulder locking up only halfway out, and pushes hard with his good arm to launch himself off the blacktop – and over Override herself. But just leapfrogging her would be pointless; she's the faster of the two by miles and could just plough right into him the instant his tires touched pavement. He grabs for her aerofoils instead, trying to give himself an anchor and a pivot point so he can smash both heels into her windscreen.
All the while, he's grinning. There's nothing to sour this match; she isn't a Decepticon like Dead End or a whining showroom piece like Mirage. Override's just another racer and Swerve's too swept up in the heat and the moment to bother remembering that she's the champion.
|
|
Override
Minor
The Chancellor, Her Noble Potency, Empress Override. The Glorious Victor over Everyone Else On the Track
Shut up and drive
Posts: 476
|
Post by Override on Nov 13, 2009 0:27:32 GMT -5
Override doesn't just drive fast. She thinks fast, she reacts fast, and she transforms fast. Swerve isn't even done with his transformation when she's calls out, "Override, transform!" That windscreen he's sending his heels for become her chest in an instant as she's forced to turn her forward momentum into an all-out run instead. In robot mode, it's easier to roll her body, tilting just a little to the right so that, even though Swerve's feet impact the windshield, cracking it hard, they then slip on by, leaving her mostly intact.
Then, still running, Override reaches out to grab hold of the other mech, no matter which part of her body he may be holding, and twists at her waist, using the momentum of his own kick to try and slam him into the ground. "Yours. Mine. I can handle it any way it takes!" she brags.
|
|
|
Post by Swerve on Nov 15, 2009 22:44:10 GMT -5
Swerve was expecting some sort of counter. He wasn't exactly expecting to find himself clutching Override by one shoulder while his feet scrape down one side of her chest. Still, he tries to roll with it; he cocks back one arm, ready to smash his fist into her face as many times as he can land a punch.
Just as he swings, the world spins out and he drops, slamming hood first into the road. Already torn metal shears off and paint is scoured, leaving red and silver smears on the pavement and grey swathes across his Autobrand. System status reports and damage readouts scroll by in blurs of pale blue and orange, but the full extent of it – especially that cosmetic loss on his hood – doesn't really click. He's trying to recover, tucking up his legs and twisting as he slides so he can make a sweep for Override's legs.
"Keep it up like this," he jeers, shouting to hear himself over the din he's making, "and maybe we'll get somewhere!"
|
|
Override
Minor
The Chancellor, Her Noble Potency, Empress Override. The Glorious Victor over Everyone Else On the Track
Shut up and drive
Posts: 476
|
Post by Override on Nov 16, 2009 0:04:58 GMT -5
Override's legs are swept out from beneath her and she tumbles to the ground! She falls well, however. She falls like an expert, hitting on her side and taking a moment to kick her legs towards Swerve, to back him away. But her expression isn't angry - she's grinning.
"Hey, I'm always getting somewhere! Even when I'm still, I'm working over my next move! Don't know about you!"
|
|
|
Post by Swerve on Nov 17, 2009 20:21:43 GMT -5
"Gotta couple of ideas!" Swerve takes the hit, forcing his jammed shoulder into place with his good hand as he uses the push from Override's kick to tip himself backward, rolling onto his feet. He crouches into the last few meters of his skid, low curtains of sparks flying off the roadway where his toes dig in, and lifts his newly operational arm, cannon in hand. Times like this, he wonders why he hasn't fixed it so it doesn't reset when he transforms. "Cyber Key Power!" That crawling feeling along his relays as the Cyber Key loads in goes unnoticed for once; Swerve is focused instead on pulling the trigger the instant both barrels lock into firing position.
It is and isn't like being back on the underground circuit. Override isn't actually out to kill him or leave him a smouldering, mangled wreck jammed into the guardrails; it softens the edge a little. He isn't really out to kill her, either. But the high is the same – the same utterly free feeling he's been missing.
"Didn't exactly figure you for the type!" he says just as the clank rings out, vibration travelling from his cannon up his arm. His grin grows wider by a fraction and his stare is bright gold, ventilation pouring out heated air almost as fast as his body makes it, fans squealing from the workload. The shakes will start soon, but he doesn't care.
|
|
Override
Minor
The Chancellor, Her Noble Potency, Empress Override. The Glorious Victor over Everyone Else On the Track
Shut up and drive
Posts: 476
|
Post by Override on Nov 17, 2009 21:59:37 GMT -5
Override rolls as Swerve fires, and though she takes the hit on her left shoulder, it's not enough to keep her from snapping her own cannon out. "Cyber Key Power!" she yells as she finishes the tumble on her left knee and right foot, facing Swerve.
"What?" she laughs. "You think I've never driven the Underground? Idiot! When I took the Cup, female racers were illegal!" She doesn't give time for the full meaning of what she's saying to sink in - in fact, she's expecting her words to cause a processing delay, a delay she tries to take advantage of by firing - not at Swerve's torso but at his weapon. She wasn't joking about being more interested in finishing the race first than preventing Swerve from finishing!
Hit or miss, though, the moment the shot is fired, she springs to her feet, taking off down the road to a run that switches back to a drive as she calls out, "Override, transform!"
|
|
|
Post by Swerve on Nov 18, 2009 21:18:36 GMT -5
Override? In the underground? Swerve's already-baking processors grind to a halt at the thought – and he curses up even more steam when his moment of stupidity gets his weapon disabled, that shot blasting apart one of the barrel locks. Override's moving before he fully recovers and his scowl lingers about as long as she does.
Swerve's cursing gives way to laughter and he shunts his weapon back into storage, then reaches up to rip off the piece of his fender still hanging loose where it tore away.
"Well, slag! Since you've got experience, we oughtta do this again – and no holdin' back!" he roars, throwing aside that chunk of ruined panel and diving into his transform after her, pushing his acceleration as hard as he can. First, second, dead last, it doesn't matter so long as he crosses the line. So long as he can hold off the heat long enough to make it across that last overpass, around that curve, over the hill. He can pass out once he reaches the finish and it won't make a difference if his rear bumper clears the marker.
That won't stop him from trying to catch Override up and make her work for the win.
|
|
Override
Minor
The Chancellor, Her Noble Potency, Empress Override. The Glorious Victor over Everyone Else On the Track
Shut up and drive
Posts: 476
|
Post by Override on Nov 19, 2009 8:25:36 GMT -5
Now that it's back to a question of speed on wheels, Override has the upper hand. After all, while she can't beat sound, she can sure give it a run for its money. But that assumes that she's not damaged.
"Yeah, I got experience," she snorts, "but if I didn't hold back, there wouldn't be much to do." And to demonstrate, she steps on the gas and starts to increase the distance between them. She can't get her best speed now, not with all the dents, the cracks, the injuries, but injured-Override is still faster than many Transformers, even many Velocitronians, best speed.
"Or you talking laying down shots, 'stead of pouring out speed? I'm good for either - but seems to me if we're doing this again, maybe that sign shouldn't go up," she laughs.
|
|
|
Post by Swerve on Nov 20, 2009 11:59:11 GMT -5
"Frag," Swerve growls, scornful and teasing – in his own way – at the same time, "I don't race like you topsiders any more! There's no sport in it!" No freedom, no outlet for the frustration and rage and the circuit-melting temperatures that are turning his equilibrium upside-down even now, making the road ahead weave and bob like sky-high heat shimmer.
He keeps pushing anyway. Override's walking away from him but he keeps pushing. The incline to the overpass is ahead; one more obstacle. He'll take it like he did the last few times. He's run enough laps on this road – he knows it well enough to keep steady. He tries to follow the highway and he'll put himself through the guardrail.
"I slaggin' mean the part about not holdin' back!" he roars after Override, barely hearing himself over his own engine. "None of that shootin' for the weapon scrap! Too soft!"
|
|
Override
Minor
The Chancellor, Her Noble Potency, Empress Override. The Glorious Victor over Everyone Else On the Track
Shut up and drive
Posts: 476
|
Post by Override on Nov 23, 2009 9:28:40 GMT -5
"I told you, I'm more interested in crossing the line than stopping others from doing it," Override answers, chiding. "It's hard enough to find people I can roll with these days without blasting their tires out, or worse."
She pulls into the overpass, going, it seems at first, too fast. Then the turn hits and she swings out, all four tires screaming and throwing out sparks as she slides towards the far wall. Just as it looks to be a done deal that she's going to impact, however, she pulls away, righting herself post-turn. Now there's nothing but road between her and the finish line.
"I can handle whatever you want to throw at me, but that's not going to stop me from racing my way. No reason we both can't still use the same run of track!"
A beat, then, "Unless you're too good for that."
So yes. The leader of Velocitron is accusing an underground oil sport racer of elitism.
|
|
|
Post by Swerve on Nov 26, 2009 12:03:08 GMT -5
Swerve, ignoring the growing gap between himself and Override, keeps on bellowing even as he drifts through the curve. It costs him a little more speed, but it keeps him away from the walls. He will not spin out and crash this close to the line.
"Fine!" he shouts at her swiftly vanishing tail lamps. "S'long as you can keep from glitchin' about my racing, we'll call it level!" A painful twang rings out from his engine bay, but he keeps pushing. "One o' these days, we oughtta have a real race! My way!" There's a smirk behind his words. "Or is the champ too good to have a competition any more?" he wonders. The thought of cutting loose keeps his mind off the fan belt screaming beneath his hood as he gears himself for that last hill.
|
|
Override
Minor
The Chancellor, Her Noble Potency, Empress Override. The Glorious Victor over Everyone Else On the Track
Shut up and drive
Posts: 476
|
Post by Override on Nov 29, 2009 20:34:59 GMT -5
And that... hits a sore point. Because one of Override's big complaints is that so few are willing to challenge her, and those who do simply aren't up to the task.
Thus, angry, she jerks her wheels aside, causing her rear end to swing out once more - and if she's judged it right, directly into Swerve's path!
"Show me one, and I'll have it," she answers, tone now rougher, almost growling.
|
|
|
Post by Swerve on Dec 3, 2009 12:39:15 GMT -5
Swerve is more than willing to challenge Override, but there are only a couple ways they'll ever be on equal footing. He could put himself through another full rebuild – something he could do if he had the privacy and the materials. He doesn't, exactly, have either.
Alternately, he could just pound on her until she can't drive any faster than he can. And if she's going to just pull in front of him like this and invite a good scrap, he's more than happy to oblige her. He veers only slightly to one side – just far enough to make use of his one functioning cannon barrel. The crest of the hill is coming up faster than his taxed, overheated processors can push the commands through, but he snarls and hammers at them all the same.
"Cyber–" Control circuits furiously crackle and pop as they engage. Ten lengths to go. "Key–" One of the power relays in his weapon system shorts out with only five lengths left. He isn't going to make it. "–Fraggit! Transform!" he roars, somersaulting into robot mode and slinging his cannon at Override.
|
|
Override
Minor
The Chancellor, Her Noble Potency, Empress Override. The Glorious Victor over Everyone Else On the Track
Shut up and drive
Posts: 476
|
Post by Override on Dec 5, 2009 21:32:36 GMT -5
When Swerve neither crashes into Override nor fires, Override is a bit surprised. The thrown cannon slams into her side, knocking part of the panel off entirely and eliciting a pained grunt from her. It doesn't stop her from backing up, turning herself to face Swerve.
"That's not the way you're supposed to use that, you know. Here! Let me show you! Cyber Key Power!" And then she rolls for Swerve, guns blazing.
|
|
|
Post by Swerve on Dec 10, 2009 11:28:53 GMT -5
When Override turns back toward him, Swerve keeps charging for her, hydraulics in his legs shuddering with the strain of slowing down from top speed to a mere run and doing it too hot. He wants a fight and looks like he's getting one. He grins at her and leans forward, coming in low to meet her even as she opens fire – then he twists to the right, taking shots on his left shoulder and fender as he drops back into racer mode. Another blast puts a hole clear through his windscreen and the smell of smouldering upholstery in his air filters as the headrest of one seat disappears. He just laughs again.
He may have ditched the weapon that doesn't work, but he still has his pipes and he's aiming squarely for her left headlamp – and the fender behind it, and the finish marker past that – as he slams the throttle wide open.
"The day I need a topsider showin' me how t' use my cannon is the day I hang up my racin' tires and open a bar!"
|
|