Are there any skateboarder bots? What is skateboarding as a sport like on a planet where you can just Be the board
Dear Kickflip Kid,
Many people don't know this, but Optimus Prime himself was an avid skateboarder before the outbreak of war—tearing up the pavements with his friend Shreddicus Maximus. I know this might seem shocking; these days, Optimus is a serious bot, but he has been known to have some fun from time to time.
As an alt-mode, skateboards are favored by Mini-Bots and Mini-Cons like Grindor, Skilz, and Ollie. As a mode of transport, they're favored by those who lack the ability to transform: Action Masters like Jazz and Lo-Fi, Pretenders wearing their shells, and suchlike. Hoverboards are also popular, albeit much more dangerous: Tailgate, Triggerhappy, and Daniel Witwicky have all suffered hoverboarding mishaps. I believe they are banned in most public spaces. Of course, some models are more reliable than others; the hoverboards I produced during my time as a factory on Nebulos all underwent rigorous quality assurance checks—you wouldn't download a hoverboard from any old Transfer Interlink. These four-wheel devices, no-wheel devices… the conveyance of newer bots, I must confess I have never used one myself. I would likely fall flat on my aft and slip a gear.