Competition: Walkathon

[temnix]

In a world where everyone flies, jumps over buildings, outruns trains and teleports getting from one point to another quicker than everyone else is pointless - except by walking. Slow is the new fast in Walkathon, a new social event and competition where the only power the contestants may use is Walk. The type of walking is up to the athletes, whether glamorous, casual, tough or original (which is plenty glamorous), but they win by being the first to walk from the start to the finish lines - on a track in the beginning of which they are all randomly seeded, into cells. The shortest time wins. Every position other than the first row on the track receives a headstart time deduction bonus in seconds to compensate, increasing with back rows.

 

Other characters may also participate by using helpful hasting and buffing powers or harmful slowing and debuffing powers on the athletes from the sidelines, and bets can be placed. Betting rates depend on the chosen character's position on the track, from excellent in the beginning to poor in the final stages, when the outcome is almost certain. A contestant who congests the traffic or obstructs others by staying in place for more than a second is disqualified. Only constant motion, no matter what happens, gets one to the end of the mile or so of the track.

 

Heroes and villains compete in a mix. The first few characters to reach the finish receive winner's T-shirts, other participants more modest T-shirts for participation, and all learn the sporty walk. Heroes compete under the banner of the outgoing Fuji the Snail, villains under that of the inscrutable Phalangita the Trilobite, and prize T-shirts also feature these mascots. The competition takes place in turn on three tracks within Pocket D: the bright track, the dark track and the baseline. The baseline is a belt of tarmac on an empty, gray plain, and powers may not be used to help or hinder the contestants. Here only slotting Walk and smarts will determine the winner. The purpose of this track is to measure relative strength of athletes, but money can still be won.

 

The other two tracks not only allow others to intervene with some powers but feature obstacles and hindrances that strike from the sides in the manner of River Raid. Nobody can die on a walkathon, but walkers can become slowed, pushed back in the crowd or distracted. The bright track is a lush, bucolic meadow with rolling hills and blue skies. At some points and intervals here attractive shepherdesses insist on leading flocks across the track. In other places contestants may be disoriented by a fluttering butterfly or mesmerized by a feather-tucking yodeler. The dark track is a walk through a Boschian underworld, among volcanoes, gibbets, wheels and dismal rivers. Here demons blow gales from the sides, earthquakes threaten to knock down the fastest champion and black ships lob flying medusa that splatter and glue feet to the ground.

 

This is a regular event, maybe biweekly. And, of course, this will produce players who make characters slotted out just to compete, superteams and rivalries of superteams, cries of foul, all the orbiting systems of sports since at least the Blues and the Greens of emperor Justinian. Well, may that be!

 

That's how I envision this anyway.

[Rudra]

4 minutes ago, temnix said:

At some points and intervals here attractive shepherdesses insist on leading flocks across the track.

*sigh*

 

6 minutes ago, temnix said:

This is a regular event, maybe biweekly.

If you want to host walking competitions, no one is stopping you. You can even make SG bases specifically for your competitions.