Starting Block Shield

A rule announced five minutes before Heat Three: every team is contained in a starting block shield that makes its vehicle invulnerable for the first ninety seconds, without affecting the controls. Dr. Metcalf cannot say what kind of shield it is. Carl decides the window is a gift and times his missile arcs so nobody can shoot back, and the shield also turns the first sugar hermit rush into a light show — slime hovering an inch off the windscreen, tentacles unable to get purchase on the One Fine Pig gunner's head.

Book 8 appearances

• Chapter 30 — Announced as a new rule with the starting blocks loading; Dr. Metcalf admits he has no idea what sort of shield it is, and the first wave of hermits bounces off it.
• Chapter 31 — Carl has Dr. Metcalf call the timeout; forty seconds remain once the ghoul cages are rigged, and the shield lapses just as the twin waves close in and Donut has to cast her own.

Related entries

• Heat Three (Notification)
• Denial of Service Missiles (Item)

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