Well, if you read the Fight History for Season 4 you will know that there was a little welding issue that ultimately cost us dearly in the arena. We fixed the damage suffered from that season and from Farm Fight and we ground that 1/8" lip off of the perimeter of the shell. Moebius was a new bot looking to kick some proverbial butt.

But, we weren't content with just returning. After our first match loss last season we had plenty of time to think and brain storm. During Season 4.0 we kept Moebius inside a huge crate to act as the safety cover. Everyone thought it was a cool idea. So, we decided to take it one step further. Since Moebius "died" last season let's bring him back to life for this season. What better way to express that than with a new crate, a full sized pine coffin! Then, while sitting in the stands we just went crazy with the idea and decided it would be cool to have fog roll out of the coffin whenever we opened it up. Even better, GREEN fog, courtesy of green neon lights inside the coffin. How, about some strobes for lightning effect? SURE!!!

Well, we had the idea for Moebius but what about us? We didn't want to just have matching t-shirts. We wanted to stand out in the crowd! So, we thought it would be cool to dress up as Druidic Monks as if we were the ones who raised Moebius back from the dead (which we really did) to compete again. So, the whole theme was set. Moebius was already a nuclear zombie green with glowing red eyes, now we had the rest of the ideas to go with it. We built the coffin in my garage and had Shaggy's friend's mom make the robes. She makes Renaissance clothing for a living.

The effect went over better than we ever could have dreamed. Now, the question was, with all this showmanship would Moebius perform?

Match #1 Moebius vs. Persistence

Persistence is a fast wedge using to NPC 64048 (I think) motors. It has 1/8" Lexan on top of 1/8" Aluminum armor.

The match started and Moebius got up to speed (real friggin' quick, too!) and went racing across the arena to engage Persistence. Persistence turned and raced around Moebius to the other side of the arena. Was he trying for a better angle? So, Moebius followed in pursuit with the same results, Persistence running around to avoid Moebius. This continued for most of the match then the crowd started expressing their disapproval so Persistence decided to engage Moebius.

Personally, I don't remember too much about the engagements other than I was surprised that Persistence was able to stay in one peice. Because he had both Lexan and 1/8" Aluminum the whole chassis became somewhat flexible. The match ended some 30 seconds later.

Moebius wins 42-3

Here are a couple of pictures of Persistence when he got back to the pit. Persistence1 Persistence2

photo courtesy of Jim Smentowski
and RobotCombat.com

Match #2 Moebius vs. El Spooky

Our feeling of excitement over our very first 'real' win in Battlebots competition was tempered by the fact that our next opponent was also completely encased in Titanium with a Titanium hammer that could swing a full 200 degrees. El Spooky also had Titanium skirts so getting under it was practically impossible.

The match started and Moebius got up to speed and went across the arena to meet El Spooky on his side. But instead of hitting him head on Moebius turned right and grazed the corner of the front and left side skirts just as El Spooky's hammer came down. Moebius' bottom sweeper blades caught the leading edge of the left skirt and peeled it back like a banana peel. That was all Moebius needed. He slammed in reverse and hit the gaping wound and tore into El Spooky. Moebius kept on the attack and the shower of sparks from Titanium on Titanium was a sight to behold.

The chassis of El Spooky was made of wood but was protected from the underside with metal. Once the skirts got peeled off Moebius turned beaver and started chewing through the wooden chassis. Sawdust and splinters and sparks were everywhere and El Spooky kept getting tossed across the arena floor. The last hit must've knocked something loose because El Spooky stopped moving.

Moebius wins by KO and the Crewbots come out with brooms.

photo courtesy of Jim Smentowski
and RobotCombat.com

Match #3 Moebius vs. Mr. D

Mr. D is a fast ramming bot with a nasty custom made milling head on the front driven by a Magmotor and a steel plow on the back end.

The match started and Moebius got up to speed and ran across the arena. I tried to get around to the side of Mr. D but he kept turning to face Moebius so we hit head on. The milling head nicked the Titanium shell a little bit but I knew after that that Moebius could take it. The initial impact turned Mr. D to the side were his nice crunchy molded lexan wheel guards were waiting. Moebius chewed right through it. Then he turned the steel plow to face Moebius. That didn't help him too much as Moebius lives on a steady diet of aluminum and steel. Another couple of quick hits and Mr. D was disabled and now missing most of his right side.

Moebius win by KO

photo courtesy of Jim Smentowski
and RobotCombat.com

Match #4 Moebius vs. Phoenix

You could call Phoenix M.O.E.'s little brother except for the fact that Phoenix was using M.O.E.'s old weapon and weapon motor. Phoenix swings two big tool steel shaped hammers on a horozontal plane in front of him. Phoenix was driven by Norm Muzzy's youngest son, Pete. Pete was debating heavily on whether or not to forfeit the match so that we would guaranteed to have working parts left over to come back for Season 6. He decided to go ahead and continue competing.

The match got started and I tried to get Moebius across the arena before Phoenix could get those hammers up to speed. Geez, those things got up to speed fast! Moebius and Phoenix hit head on. Phoenix put a nice divot into Moebius' shell but the impact turned him to his weak side that had been damaged in his previous match. Moebius hit the back right corner, peeled the armor back and reached in and ripped the wheel clean off of the hub.

All of this digging and clawing at Phoenix took its toll as the receiver cable came undone and Phoenix shut down.

Moebius wins by KO and advances to the television rounds!

photo courtesy of Jim Smentowski
and RobotCombat.com

Match #5 Moebius vs. Ankle Biter

Well, our goal was to at least make it to the television rounds and we finally did. Our first opponent was to be Ankle Biter, a veteran with a lot of matches under his belt. Ankle Biter still had his signature crash plate (Aluminum with a Titanium plate behind it) but the wedge was gone and was replaced with a mean vertical spinning hammer. The hammer was two tool steel heads on each end of a 1/2" thick, 6 inch wide, 12 inch long bar of solid 6Al-4V alloyed Titanium driven by a Magmotor! YIKES!!!!

Well, we made our entrance into the arena carrying the coffin and the crowd got real quite because most of them are from the public who had never seen Moebius before. Mark Biero introduced Ankle Biter and the crowd applauded then the lights went down and Mark introduced us. Then we opened the coffin and the whole arena lit up green from the neon as the fog spilled out. Flashes of light from the strobes reflected off of the metal structure of the Battlebox. Then it started, I swear I could feel the ground rumble as the crowd went bonkers over this display. We got Moebius out and ready for the match.

The match started and both bots met at center arena and collided with a tremendous crash. Ankle Biter's hammers started slowing to a stop so he turned around to give us the giant cold steel shoulder. Moebius just started chewing away on it and tossing Ankle Biter around. Ankle Biter wound up over in front of our platform and was still showing some movement so I backed up just a little to let Moebius' shell get to full speed so that I could come in and take him out once and for all then it happened. Moebius got too close to one of the kill saws and Pete brought it up on us. He just caught the corner of Moebius but it was enough to shatter one of Moebius' custom sprockets (cast anything sucks!) and cut the drive chain in half. One of the peices of the broken sprocket got tossed around internally and it disconnected the ESC for the other drive motor. Moebius lost all translational movement and was counted out. The crowd went silent.

Ankle Biter wins by TKO

Ater the match we found out why Ankle Biter's hammers stopped. Moebius bent the 1/2" thick titanium bar that the hammers were on, bent the collar, and bent the steel shaft. And to top it all off the shock of the impact caused his Magmotor to self destruct internally. John, being the industrious builder that he is, fixed all that damage and went on to kick much butt. A testament to his bot and his building skills!

photo courtesy of Jim Smentowski
and RobotCombat.com

Usually when Pete takes someone out the crowd chants, "Pete! Pete! Pete!" but they didn't say a word until we carried the coffin out of the arena and they chanted, "Moebius! Moebius! Moebius!". That made all the difference in the world.

So, our season ended like that. Taken out like a chump when we were on top of our game. Well, that's the way the game is played and we knew it when we joined up. But we got some incredible compliments from our fellow builders and we think we put on a good show for everyone so it was all worth every bit of it.

Moebius will be back for Season 6 and he will have major chip on his shoulder with Pete's name written all over it :-)

So, what does Moebius look like after all those matches? Click here to find out.

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