//------------------------------//
// Planet Cup First Leg 
// Story: Cybertron Girls 
// by SonicSpeedster97 
//------------------------------//

In a secret bunker in the American interior, Cobra Commander was resting on the throne he’d set up for himself when one of his lieutenants walked to his side. “Speak, Black Out.” the Commander said simply.

The former G.I. Joe sniper saluted as he reported. “Major Bludd and his team just reported in, sir; they found something at the coordinates Blitzwing gave us. Destro’s already getting his Iron Grenadiers geared up for excavation, but he wants to make it fast before Megatron catches wind and sends the Constructicons.”
“Give him clearance.” Cobra Commander said in what seemed like annoyance.
“Yes sir.” Black Out saluted and started away… before he suddenly stopped. “Sir, I hate to question your orders, but is this really the best course of action? I mean, going behind the back of a guy like Megatron?”
“The Decepticons are the greatest threat Cobra has faced since its foundation; greater even than G.I. Joe.” Cobra Commander assured. “And to call the doubts I harbor regarding whether Megatron will keep his word and recognize Cobra’s control over Earth ‘substantial’ would be a gross understatement. Therefore, whatever Cybertronian weapons on Earth he wants, I want more. Do I make myself clear?”
“Explicitly, sir.” Black Out nodded and stepped away.



The sides of the highways were crammed with stands for at least five miles, all crammed with Velocitronians roaring with cheers as the race of the galaxy got underway. “Femmes and mechs of Velocitron, welcome to this; the 600th Planet Cup, where the best racers in the world drive to survive and prove who is the fastest!” The crowd cheered even louder at that as engines roared on the track. “This may very well be the largest and fastest Planet Cup challenge in history, and here comes our reigning champion now; the fastest racer in the quadrant who talks as fast as he moves, the Cobalt Streak himself; Blurr!” Blurr roared to the line and transformed waving to the crowd.
“And here’s the most recent runner-up to the title; Blurr’s longest-recorded rival and champion of thousands of stellar cycles ago; Override!” The crowd cheered her as well, but she remained in her vehicle mode, simply eyeing Blurr with a look of disdain from her cockpit.
“Another local favorite’s coming in; the bad boy of the Beryllium Baja, Dirt Boss!” The off-roader roared as he rumbled up alongside Override. “And here come two more colorful characters from Crater City; Crumplezone and his partner-in-grime Ransack!”
“Hey, I got top billin’ here, bolt-brain!” Ransack yelled, but the mediator ignored him.
“And here’s another band from the desert; an old, old, really old veteran of the racecourses of Velocitron; Retrofit. And it looks like he’s brought the whole family; his old farmhand Clocker and his nephew Hot Rod!” The crowd cheered for the three as they rumbled up to the line, Hot Rod especially enjoying the attention as he revved hard enough for jets of flame to blast out of his exhaust.
“And here come some old favorites; gone for millennia and back to tear up the track all over again, it’s the Stunticons; Motormaster, Dead End, Wildrider, Breakdown, and Dragstrip!” The Stunticons roared as they rumbled to the track, more than happy to be driving in such a big race again.
“And it looks like we’ve got some newcomers in the blocks tonight from Cybertron and some dirtball planet I’ve never heard of called ‘Earth’!” the announcer smiled as the Autobots rumbled to the line. “Quite the bunch of names too. Let’s see; Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, Sunset Shimmer, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Bumblebee, Moonracer, Chromia, Elita-1, and… well, how about that? We’ve got a Prime in the blocks tonight, folks; Optimus Prime himself!” The crowd erupted into intense cheers as Optimus rumbled into the blocks.
“Wait, this guy’s a Prime?!” Ransack remarked in shock, quickly transforming and stomping over to Motormaster. “You guys never said anything about us goin’ up against a Prime!”
“Would it make any difference if we had?” asked Motormaster.
“Yeah; we never would’ve messed with him otherwise.” Ransack pointed out. “You know Primes; they’re great at everything!”
“Not Optimus; he doesn’t even know how to hook up Nos.” Dragstrip countered. “Now stop gripin’ and start revvin’.”
“Fine! But we’re gonna be talkin’ about this later!” Ransack growled as he returned to his block and transformed.
“Prime wasn’t supposed to be here.” Breakdown panicked. “Do we call Lord Megatron?”
“And look weak by asking for support to come to our own home colony? No.” Motormaster assured. “Besides, knowing Soundwave, he’s got one of his Mini-Cons watching us right now. Lord Megatron will know about this soon enough anyway.” He wasn’t wrong; Ratbat was very close-by, transmitting everything he saw straight back to the Nemesis.
“And here it is, folks, what this whole shebang is all about; in the hands of our planet’s fine racing command structure – the Supreme Turbo Committee – the greatest racing trophy in the universe; the Planet Cup!” Four small robots walked out onto the high stage above the line holding the massive, gold and red spiky trophy high above their heads on a pedestal.


Applejack couldn’t help but whistle in impressment. “Well, butter me up and call me a biscuit if that ain’t the mother of all trophies,” she remarked.
“Now you see why I was so sure about this?” Rainbow smirked over to Sunset and Twilight. “If that’s not the Galaxy Key, I don’t know what is.”
“Alright, alright; you get a gold star, Rainbow.” Sunset rolled her eyes. “Let’s just hope my add-on to the plan works.”
“Forget that; those are the guys who run the Planet Cup?” asked Twilight, sounding almost unbelieving.
“Yep, that’s them,” Sideswipe said over his commlink from the pits with Sunstreaker and the rest of the team. “Roadhandler, Free Wheeler, Swindler, and Tailspin; four of the best non-professional racers on Velocitron and the guys behind this whole crazy race.”
“And it looks like Committee-Bot Roadhandler has something to say before we get started.” the announcer noted as the small yellow-and-red bot stepped forward.

“I have one last-minute regulation for this decade’s Planet Cup.” he bellowed in a voice more than a bit too loud for a small bot like him. “One of our newcomers has come forward and revealed that she and many of her fellows… are, in fact, organics.” This sent a feeling of shock through the stands and the blocks as Rainbow and the other girls climbed out of their cars, all wearing color-coordinated racing suits. “In accordance with their wishes for fair play and healthy competition, they have requested that all other racers use their holo-matter avatars for the duration of the race.”
“Organics?!” Override asked indignantly as she transformed. “Roadhandler, you cannot be serious! Organics have never survived a race on Velocitron, let alone the Planet Cup!”
“First time for everything, right?” Rainbow smirked.
“Last time I checked, Override, the rules are ours to change.” Free Wheeler countered, stepping forward to show he was an inverse of Roadhandler in terms of coloration. “We received an official request from an underdog and we’ve agreed to it by unanimous decision. You don’t like it; you know where the door is.”

The whole stadium gave an impressed “Ooh” at the challenge Free Wheeler had basically handed to Override, so she just scowled. “Fine,” she remarked and quickly transformed back into her car mode, projecting a holo-matter avatar of a red-haired humanoid woman wearing white and red in her cockpit.
Once he saw this from the pits, Sideswipe quickly transformed to car mode and projected his own avatar, quickly and quietly moving over to Override’s window, which he gently knocked on. Override didn’t seem to react, but he knew she noticed him. “Just like old times, huh?” he smirked. Override didn’t say anything; she just narrowed her avatar’s optics as the other racers all projected their own avatars in their cockpits. “So icebreaker’s not workin’; gotcha.” Sideswipe acknowledged.
“As soon as I win this race, I’m throwing you into the sun.” Override threatened simply.
“Babe, I get that you’re ticked, but… the whole reason I left was for the war,” Sideswipe assured. “I had to defend my home; protect my brother.”
“I could care less about why you left; I’m better off for it.” Override assured… though Sideswipe didn’t buy it for an instant.
“Are you?” he asked seriously; he could see something in her eyes that made him doubt what she said.
“Just get lost before I crush you here and now.” Override warned.
“Alright, alright.” Sideswipe relented and backed away from the car before disappearing. He returned to his vehicle form and quickly transformed, glancing across at Sunstreaker. “What do you say to a little intelligence-gathering side-mission?”
“Don’t you think your ex hates you enough without you prying into her personal life?” Sunstreaker asked seriously.
“It’ll take, like, two nano-cycles,” Sideswipe assured as he moved over to a console. “I just wanna check something.”
“And what would that be?” asked Ratchet.
“Before I left Velocitron for the war, Override had some sort of secret she wanted to share with me,” Sideswipe explained. “I just… wanna know what it was; maybe get some closure before we never see her again.”
“Alright, but when she shoves your own swords up your tailpipe, don’t come cryin’ to me.” Sunstreaker warned.
“Don’t worry; I won’t,” Sideswipe assured as he accessed the database he was looking for. “Same garage as always. Let’s see who she’s got in her corner nowadays.”
“Alright, it looks like all our competitors are set. Let’s head down and see if we can pick up any last-minute trash talk!” the announcer called out.
“You want trash talk? How about this; by the time we’re done, the only work the Stunticons are gonna find is in a demolition derby!” Rainbow yelled.
“You’re gonna be eatin’ those words along with my dust, ya organic scuzzball!” Dragstrip warned as his yellow-suited avatar revved his engine.
“Autobots, we know why we are here.” Optimus reminded. “If we lose here, the galaxy tips ever closer to oblivion. We must win.”
“Yes sir!” the Autobots all saluted from their cockpits.
Optimus gave special attention to Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow Dash, remain in the rear for cover at the beginning; only make your move when you have the opening.”
“Understood.” Rainbow nodded and revved up.
“So are we supposed to win or just mess stuff up?” Crumplezone asked Ransack.
“Eh, whatever comes first.” Ransack shrugged.

(Eurobeat Intensifies)


“And here it comes, folks; the moment we’ve all been waiting for: the First Flare of the Planet Cup!” the announcer yelled as the lights went to red. All the racers revved their engines as the light went to yellow and a small flare fell from the top of a high arch. The flare burst into green flames and immediately the racers peeled off the line in a massive storm of roaring engines. “And they’re off!”
Blurr was out to an early lead as predicted with Override close behind… and Dirt Boss on her bumper. But Rainbow had problems of her own. “Oh man, this isn’t good,” she remarked as she tugged on her shift stick.
“What’s wrong?” asked Bumblebee.
“My stick’s stuck; I can’t get out of second gear,” Rainbow remarked. “I gotta get up to speed.”
Hot Rod revved and pulled in front of Rainbow. “Draft behind me; the slipstream oughtta pull you.”
“Worth a try.” Rainbow shrugged and slid in behind Hot Rod, who quickly revved up and pulled ahead, the slipstream indeed pulling Rainbow close behind him. “Alright nice, just a little faster!” Once she was up to speed, Rainbow swiftly shifted straight to fifth gear and slammed on the gas. “Thanks, Hot Rod! Hot soup comin’ through!” She shot ahead of Hot Rod, but a quick blast of nitrous helped Hot Rod close the gap a bit.
“You think we got this?” Hot Rod asked.
“I know we do. They’ve got a heck of a lead on us, but I’ve got friends counting on me.” Rainbow smirked. “And one thing they all know? I never leave my friends hangin’. Even if I knock myself to pieces, I am not losing this race!”
“Well, don’t go to scrap just yet; this is just the qualifier.” Hot Rod reminded. “Top five or we’re gone.”
“Then let’s pick it up!” Rainbow smirked as she raced onward, honking at Override as she drove by. “Heads up, Override; objects in mirror are 20% cooler than they appear!”
“Hot oil comin’ through!” Hot Rod smiled as he raced right behind her.
“Not bad for an organic.” Override relented and powered up her thrusters. “Let’s see how you handle this!” Her rockets fired and she shot ahead. “If you drove as fast as you talked, you might have a chance here!”
“Oh, I drive a lot faster,” Rainbow assured as she raced onward.
“Is everything all right up there, Rainbow?” Ratchet asked over the coms. 
“Can’t talk right now, doc; tryin’ to drive here.” Rainbow reminded.
“I just want an update. Any more problems?” Ratchet asked.
“Not as long as I keep my foot on the floor.” Rainbow shrugged as she pressed her foot harder into the gas pedal. “How’re things goin’ in my taillights?”
“Bout as well as ya might expect.” Applejack pointed out, though she could very easily make out Dragstrip swearing up a storm in the background of her transmission.
This was because Optimus and Elita were blocking the track ahead of the Stunticons and the others were closely bringing up the rear, boxing them in. “Wide load, Prime; move it!” Motormaster roared, honking loudly at the Autobot commanders.
“Sure you don’t wanna cheat just a little, Dragstrip?” Wildrider asked with a smirk.
“Grr! Fine, blow ‘em out of the way!” Dragstrip ordered.
“Thought you’d never ask!” Ransack smiled and armed his weapons.
“Oh no ya don’t!” Moonracer smiled as she raced up alongside Ransack, her avatar leaping from her bike for just long enough to kick Ransack’s avatar in the back of the head before she landed on her own bike.
“Grr! Okay, now I’m mad!” Ransack scowled.
“I warn you; you touch that bike and you’re scrap metal!” Rarity warned, a jagged field of crystals forming around her car as she drove closer.
“And barely ‘nuff worth salvage at that.” Applejack added as she followed along next to Rarity.
“C’mon, you really think we’re low enough to shoot a Prime in the back?” asked Motormaster.
“You tell me, Decepticon,” Bumblebee warned.
“Nah, we don’t shoot people in the back.” Wildrider smiled… before he suddenly spun around and started driving in reverse, large weapons flipping out of his doors. “It’s more fun to do it to their faces!” He opened fire and forced the rest of the team to swerve and avoid the blasts.
“Whoa, what’s going on back there?!” Rainbow asked in surprise.
“Ignore it; just keep driving!” Moonracer insisted as she quickly caught up with her and Hot Rod.
“Alright, here goes nothin’!” Rainbow shrugged and raced onward to catch up to the leaders. “Hey Dirt Boss, I’m gonna pass you now.”
“You ain’t got the pistons for that, kid.” Dirt Boss snarled.
“Burn!” Rainbow was more than a bit surprised to see Ransack and Crumplezone next to her. “Ha, pistons!”
“I don’t get it.” Crumplezone remarked.
“Wha-? How did you two get past Optimus?!” Rainbow asked.
“Same way the rest of us did!” Motormaster called as he and the other Stunticons roared up behind them. “Prime and his lady just went out for a spin.”
“Kinda like you!” Crumplezone laughed as he bashed into Rainbow’s fender, sending her skidding into Hot Rod and Dirt Boss, knocking all three of them into spins as the Stunticons roared ahead.
“Nice work, boys!” Motormaster smiled. “Alright team, let’s take this race!”
Rainbow and Hot Rod were still spinning until they finally managed to shift up and roar back into the race, leaving Dirt Boss spinning behind them as the other Autobots quickly caught up. “You okay, sugar cube?” Applejack asked.
“Just a little motion sick.” Rainbow groaned, trying her best to choke down her puke. “I’ll be fine.”
“Is she lucky or just that good?” asked Wildrider.
“Not gonna matter in a few more miles.” Dragstrip smirked as he roared ahead. “You’re mine, Override! You hear me?!”

(Next Track)


The Autobots all rallied and raced together as they watched the Stunticons roaring onward up ahead toward Override and Blurr. “It’s only a matter of time, Optimus. Something’s got to give and it’s probably going to be them.” Elita pointed out.
“Agreed. Autobots, maintain a tight formation. And be prepared for anything.” Optimus ordered.
“Yes sir!” the others all acknowledged.
Up ahead, the Stunticons roared over an overpass with Wildrider quickly falling back behind the others. “This oughtta slow ‘em down.” he smirked as his rear bumper opened, letting several small bombs tumble out and litter the road, promptly exploding and blowing the road to rubble as the Autobots drew closer.
“Uh, bridge is out! Ideas?!” Hot Rod asked.
“Indeed; floor it!” Rarity smiled, quickly raising a ramp with her crystals that looked just high enough to clear the gap.
“Nice one, Rarity!” Twilight smiled as the fastest of the team – Rainbow, Pinkie, Hot Rod, Clocker, Bumblebee, Sunset, and Moonracer – team all slammed on their accelerators, jumping the ramp over to the other side of the gorge as the rest of the team skidded into a drift around a side road, with Rarity letting the ramp disappear.
Dirt Boss saw the ramp disappear and appeared especially ticked off. “Time for the road less traveled.” he snarled and swerved off onto the dirt, rumbling down the mountain.
Below, he could clearly Ransack and Crumplezone on the road below with the Stunticons. “Hey cheaters~!” he yelled. “Think you can double-cross me!?”
“It wasn’t us, Dirt Boss! It was Wildrider!” Ransack assured as he pointed ahead to the Stunticon in question.
“What reason have those two ever given anyone to believe them?” Motormaster countered. That was good enough for Dirt Boss as he swiftly bashed Crumplezone and Ransack into the wall before he caught up with the Stunticons, the Autobots close behind.
At the line, the announcer smiled as he watched the racers close in. “Here it comes, folks; we have our lineup!” he called as Blurr and Override raced across the line nearly simultaneously. “Blurr wins the first leg; Override’s a close second, and they have no idea what’s been happening behind them!”
“Does it really matter?” Override smirked as she transformed and tromped off.
“And now the battle for the following positions is coming up!” the announcer roared as he watched Rainbow, Hot Rod, Dirt Boss, and Dragstrip all racing at once.
“Time to turn up the heat!” Rainbow smirked and fired her rocket thrusters, blasting ahead just before the others crossed the line.
“And our organic speed demon – one of the first to ever race for the Planet Cup – Rainbow Dash has taken third place!” the announcer called. “Followed by Dragstrip and Dirt Boss! We have our first round of qualifying racers!”

(Cut it)

The others all roared across the line and rumbled into their pits… with Ransack and Crumplezone rolling through in last, though the Autobots were more concerned with their own as Rainbow jumped out of her car. “HA!” she laughed. “First qualifier done and dusted! Planet Cup, here I come!”
“Cool your circuits there, Rainbow.” Hot Rod warned as he rumbled in next to her. “That’s just the first leg. You want to keep that qualifying position, you gotta earn it over the next few legs.”
“I know; that’s just gonna make it more fun,” Rainbow smirked.
“I admit it, that was a great performance out there.” Sunset smiled. “We really had them for a while there.”
“Yeah, no kidding.” Rainbow smiled, looking over at Rarity. “And Rarity, that ramp? Genius.”
“I certainly try, darling.” Rarity smiled. “I’m only sorry we couldn’t all cross with you. At least then, we wouldn’t have to worry about Decepticons qualifying.”
“Eh, where’s the fun in it if it’s that easy?” Bumblebee shrugged.
“For now, we need to worry about making sure we’re all still prepped for the next leg.” Twilight pointed out.
“Agreed.” Optimus nodded, turning to the medics. “Ratchet, Hoist, ensure we are all optimized for the race as it proceeds.”
“With pleasure, Optimus.” Hoist nodded as the medics quickly examined the team’s vehicle modes.
As the teams worked, Rarity – who had expressed a desire to avoid this sort of grease monkey work before the race began – walked over to find Sideswipe sitting on his hood in avatar mode with a fairly distraught look on his face. “Is something wrong, Sideswipe?”
“You could say that.” he shrugged. “And before you ask, I don’t want to talk about it.”
Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Whenever my friends say that it usually means they really do need to talk about it.” she pointed out. “So… would you care to try again?”
Sideswipe sighed. “Well… Override wanted to tell me something before I left. And I just found out what.” Before Rarity could ask further, the avatar disappeared and Sideswipe’s engine roared to life, prompting Rarity to hop off his hood as he drove out of the garage.
“Whoa. What’s up his tailpipe?” Rainbow asked Fluttershy as she watched him drive out, wiping some oil off her hands and socket wrench with a rag.
“It’s… not for me to say.” Fluttershy shrugged simply, as she ran diagnostics from a small computer terminal next to Sunset’s car. Sunset just got suspicious; the last time Sideswipe was this cagey was when he was keeping his past relationship with Override from the group. Naturally, she suspected something similar this time, so she climbed into her car and tried to focus on using her telepathy, but she couldn’t get anything.
“Hm. Must have a range limit.” she surmised, easily figuring out that Sideswipe was out of that range.
But what wasn’t out of that range was a strange deep voice she didn’t recognize. “Round and round… round and round… round and round…”
“What the heck?” Sunset quickly jumped out of her car and looked around, but she didn’t see anyone else in the garage.
Twilight and Spike looked a bit freaked out when they saw this from Twilight’s car. “Are you okay, Sunset? You look like you just saw a ghost.” Twilight remarked.
“Definitely didn’t see one…” Sunset countered, still looking around in concern. “But I think I might’ve heard one.”