metamods: (Default)
meta moderators ([personal profile] metamods) wrote in [community profile] metamemes2022-03-04 04:33 pm
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TEST DRIVE MEME #02




TEST DRIVE MEME
Welcome to [community profile] metaheroes! As the game is invite-only, please bear in mind that new players must have an invitation from a current player to apply. Interested players who do not know anyone in the game can reach out to the mod team HERE to request an invite for the March app round. These invitations will be processed the day before reserves open. However, no invitation is necessary to play on the this test drive.

Threads from this post can be made game canon if players agree upon it. To facilitate this, this log has no new arrival prompt. Please see the PREVIOUS CONFLUENCES for general ideas as to how characters may have arrived. New characters will be arriving with the March 27th arrival log.

For players who do not want to thread out an arrival, they may backdate their characters' arrival to a previous Confluence. These characters were not picked up by the transportation spell used by the Alliance. These characters will have been living on their own for the last few months, so please address this in the 'Brainstorming' section of the application.


01. METASTRAVAGANZA — everywhere.
Things haven't been the same since Confluences started again. The last two months have been more exciting than the last twenty years! The skies are full of new heroes, the day is saved and threatened by unfamiliar faces, the media is having a field day trying to report on every single new face while companies try to snag them for brand deals.

But not everything in this world centers around costumed combat. Today is a perfectly normal day and you're tasked with the most dangerous mission of all - leading an every day life. Maybe you go to a perfectly normal job to maintain your secret identity - or maybe you've already abandoned that, living full time as your metahuman self.

The sun is shining, and even in the early hours of the morning, parties in the DOWNTOWN STREETS of those CITIES STRUCK BY THE RECENT CONFLUENCES are disrupting the reconstruction efforts that have gotten well underway. These parties celebrate meta efforts to save the day! The streets are full of booths selling food and hastily made knock-off toys of the newest heroes who haven't yet put a copyright on their costume.

But not everyone looks so thrilled about this celebration. Many people look disgusted at this celebration of metahumans interrupting their commute to work, muttering under their breath about what a pain in the ass metahumans are and how much destruction they've wrought in these few short months.

Meanwhile, school-aged metas board the bus to LOFTY HEIGHTS META SCHOOL, hidden somewhere in the sky. There, in-between learning about grammar and punctuation, they are trained to use their new abilities ... Notably, when powers training arrives, the new arrivals outshine the metas native to this world. Very few seem to have any powers on par with the new comers.

Later in the day, the Student Council holds an assembly dedicated to the responsible use of powers. They award any students who have helped save the day with accolades — as well as detention for skipping class to help out as an unlicensed hero. Whoops!

Maybe you should just skip today.


02. SEEDY UNDERBELLY — central city.
Central City is a hard place to live. The city is in almost constant peril, with constant power vacuums in organized crime and city government being filled by worse and worse people. Despite having the Guardian Alliance stationed at its center and doing their best to uplift the people and their citizens, the city suffers from a corruption so deep that it seems to be baked into the very concrete.

The Alliance does what it can to make the city a better place but it's a bandaid over a bigger wound. Because the nigh constant metahuman-centered destruction is the source of so many of Central City's problems - meta organizations are often the last resort for its people. Still, the Alliance makes sure to keep heroes on hand to punch muggers as well as run soup kitchens. Their healers provide healing free of charge, and many of their psychics are trained therapists who use their powers to soothe the citizens' many traumas.

But the real power in the city is held by people like FRANK KAFKA, a crime lord with a finger in every pie. Both guilds leave Kafka to his own devices because he officially possesses no metahuman abilities and he avoids any dealings with them. Tonight, his goons are running their favorite extortion scheme with a twist. A group of them marches through a run-down street, shaking down vulnerable families and businesses for protection money. If an individual resists, the gang threatens to bring the spectre of newly created metahumans down upon their head. Though Kafka himself is not present, his goons will give up his location under enough pressure.


03. NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM — excelsior.
With how often the city is destroyed, one wouldn't expect the MUSEUM OF EXCELSIOR to get much in the way of priceless artifacts, but the museum's basement vault is one of the most well guarded facilities in all the country. Practically impenetrable, it stores every conceivable relic of value. But today, thanks to some villainous meddling, there's a lapse in their security that aligns perfectly with the planned time for the changeover of an art exhibit, affording some enterprising thieves a chance at millions of dollars in priceless artwork.

Heroes affiliated with the Guardian Alliance are asked to patrol and keep these relics safe, while the members of the Society of Villainous Reformation are called upon to pay favors forward by getting in their way. As the untested new kids on the block, player characters draw the short straw and are sent in pairs to complete their task, regardless of whether it's to steal these artifacts or guard them.

Villains, now's the chance to get rich quick! Heroes, protect these treasures from falling into the wrong hands!


04. DINOTOPIA — excelsior.
Confluences are back.

And that means new unaffiliated supervillains are running rampant in the streets, causing the kind of directionless, clumsy chaos that the Guild typically frowns at. A little mischief is good if it serves as distraction for a heist, but this is...

Well...

This a very large velociraptor with human arms standing in the middle of Excelsior. If anyone asks, he calls himself DINO DAN. But why would you ask when he's busy transforming people into dinosaurs - or partially into dinosaurs - using his aptly named Dino-Ray? The people of Excelsior are used to a lot of chaotic shenanigans, but this is a little much even for them. The newly transformed dinosaur-people are losing themselves to their instincts and charging at bystanders. Of those that retain (or regain) their senses, some appear strangely delighted to have this new experience, while others wail in horror at their lost humanity.

As heroes line up to stop him, he'll tell anyone who listens about his displaced rage and the revenge he seeks on an unfair world that let him turn himself into a dinosaur. Not surprising, out of an Excelsior local. However, confronted by metas who can stop him, Dino Dan hooks the Dino-Ray on his belt and grabs a second ray-gun. Anyone he shoots with this one disappears with a comical POP!

Those unfortunate enough to be hit by this ray will find themselves standing in a land before time, right beside a research station. Those clever enough to pull out their cell phones will notice that they still have reception, and rule out time travel.

In addition to clippings of ancient and extinct plants, characters who venture inside will find a half dozen prehistoric humans have apparently been displaced through time and held captive in Dino Dan's remote island research station. If that wasn't obvious enough, his research notes suggest the use of time travel — though like all other dimensional travel, it stopped working in January.

Characters may trigger a trap in the research station and find themselves also temporarily transformed into reptiles, or they may take it upon themselves to rescue the poor folks this mesozoic maniac has been holding hostage! Whatever the plan: if he's causing havoc in the city, that has to mean there's there's a teleporter in his lab to get back. But there's no shortage of Guard T-Rexes blocking the path.
robintohood: ([RH] You and your toys)

[personal profile] robintohood 2022-04-13 03:38 am (UTC)(link)
[Jason barks out another laugh]

Yeah, that seems to sound about right for them.

[He looks back at Riff]

So what's your deal? Usually I don't get such nice conversations while on the job.
whocares: (an orchestration Of dissonance)

[personal profile] whocares 2022-04-13 03:51 am (UTC)(link)
I'm just a grade A quality conversator is all. Ask any of the boys back home. Or don't, I guess.

[ they'd say nothing of the kind, but what the hell. he rather wants to let on that he isn't from this crazy place. ]
lowercase_el: (002)

Superboy / Kon-El | DC Comics

[personal profile] lowercase_el 2022-04-13 04:03 am (UTC)(link)
002 - Metamorphizing some hurt

[Kon waits until they're out on the street to divebomb them, to avoid wrecking the interior of a shop. Then he yells for everyone to take cover, sending bystanders scattering indoors.]

[Kon hits the thugs with superspeed first because he's not as durable as usual. His natural Kryptonian invulnerability is gone. Fortunately, a few of his other powers are intact, like his superspeed, and of course his ever-versatile, always impressive ~*tactile telekinesis*~.]

[There's always a risk that guns aren't what they look like, and he can't afford to bank on his usual invulnerability. If it turns out they shoot energy blasts or something, he'll be vulnerable. Besides, as cool as it is to do the whole bit where you stand there and let bullets fwaping off your chest, you always have to worry about ricochets. This area is too crowded with civilians, even if they're hiding indoors now.]

[So he disarms them all at superspeed first, breaking their weapons, noting that he's a lot slower than usual, too. One of them manages to get several shots off and the bullets graze an arm and a leg. (Not un-survivable but...bad. Being slower is not good.) He walks it off. After he stops moving, he tosses the last twisted weapon to the side.]

So what were you saying about the new metas showing up? 'Cause all of us being on the side of a bunch of a thugs is news to me.

[He lays on the speed again to knock out a few of them, then holds the last one aloft by the collar. The mook kicks at him futilely.]

[They mentioned something about a boss named Kafka. Kon's not a reader; most of the literature in his head was programmed in by Cadmus nerds (which means fantasy and sci are a little disproportionately represented, because...nerds) but he has a few of the classics rattling around his head. Cadmus wanted a well-rounded little Superman robot.]

What did you say your boss's name was when you were shaking that humble shopkeep down? Kafka? Pretty appropriate name for a roach.

[Nice and thematic.]

You might want to tell me where he is. Unless you want to be the one to get the boot.

[He's mostly cleaned shop here (kinda literally), but if he finds out where this guy is, he'll probably need some backup tracing the scum to its source. Then he'll deal the head gangster a mighty blow...]

[...by surveilling the place a little with his super-hearing and X-ray vision, so he can bring what he sees to someone a lot smarter than him. It's been a long time since he's been dumb enough to just cannonball through a gang leader's roof. They never go away to prison without solid proof. If he tried to just punch his way through it, he'd never hear the end of it from Robin.]

[Still, even if you're not going to Kool-Aid man through a wall, it never hurts to have backup while you're sneaking around, so you don't get jumped. Anyone that wants to help him find the mob boss's base and snoop can jump on board the Justice Express, toot toot.]

003 - Open the door, get on the floor

[There are a lot of dinosaurs. There are so many dinosaurs.]

[At least this isn't as bad as the time he and his friends crashed in their plane on Dinosaur Island. This is fewer dinos, so it's way better than usual, he thinks, as he sneaks behind some cars to try to get an opening to jump the dino guy without getting hit with a ray gun. With only his TTK protecting him, ray guns = bad.]

[Right then he hears the tiniest scritch scratch of a claw against the sidewalk, and turns to see a velociraptor has snuck up on him right in his blind spot. She still has a purse haphazardly caught on one arm and the tattered scraps of some Jimmy Choos on her feet. One of the poor bystanders.]

Clever girl.

[The dino pounces on Kon, biting his arm so hard he can feel the sustained pressure despite the teke. That was one of the downsides of TTK vs. the raw Kryptonian invulnerability that had kicked in not long before he joined the Titans. Sure it gave him a hard candy shell, but there was still a gooey center. King Shark had always been able to bite down hard enough to bruise him, and even break through and reach skin.]

[The dino can't quite manage it but between that and kicks with toe claws, she's leaving Kon in a bit of trouble. He keeps trying to punch her but he's got a bad angle and she's stubbornly holding on. It seems like she won't let go unless he really hurts her, which he's trying to avoid.]

Let! [Punch.] Go! [Punch.] This! [Punch.] Is! [Punch.] My! [Punch.] Only! [Punch.] S-jacket!

[This leather jacket (with an S-shield patch on the back, natch) survived Gemworld and he doesn't intend to allow it to get wrecked now. He'd have to give the thing a Viking funeral after all they've been through together.]

Wild Card

[Feel free to hit me with anything or PM or plurk me (at [plurk.com profile] korel) to hash out an idea. ]
Edited 2022-04-13 08:52 (UTC)
robintohood: ([RH] First mistake)

[personal profile] robintohood 2022-04-13 04:36 am (UTC)(link)
[Jason snorts in amusement]

Yeah, you're a real charmer already. So what're you doing here? Just having a nice nighttime stroll?
whocares: (of something broken)

[personal profile] whocares 2022-04-13 04:40 am (UTC)(link)
These business owners ain't gonna pay their protection money all on their lonesome, are they? People are so stingy in these neighborhoods.

[ he stays where he's seated, but there's a slight change in the set of the shoulders, more defiant than he has been so far. you gonna break my bones too, do-gooder? ]
Edited 2022-04-13 04:40 (UTC)
robintohood: ([RH] Haven't lost the touch)

[personal profile] robintohood 2022-04-13 05:05 am (UTC)(link)
[Hmm... Perhaps this could turn into a fight after all. Jason remains calm and doesn't change his body language. He wants to see what else this guy was going to do. Was he also a meta?]

Yeah, well, people are clingy to their hard-earned money. Can't say I blame them.
whocares: (wrists get tired rewriting futures)

[personal profile] whocares 2022-04-13 05:10 am (UTC)(link)
Can't take it with ya.

[ he breathes out another puff of smoke, slowly like he's savouring it ]

So, the way you fight. That's one of them powers you got here, or is that something you brought from home with you? I'm just curious how long it takes to pick up alla that.

[ it's a stab in the dark, like he isn't waiting to see if he's next on the trip to the clinic down the road. he picked up enough from the welcome wagon that some regular folks here also got powers, but why be coy about asking. he wants to know. ]
robintohood: ([RH] First mistake)

[personal profile] robintohood 2022-04-13 05:18 am (UTC)(link)
[Proudly]

All homegrown talent here. Don't need powers to take out bastards like Kafka.

[Though Jason did receive a new ability thanks to the confluence, he hasn't really used to yet. It was partially because he was still learning and partially because he wanted to keep it as a hidden trump card. The less known about the Red Hood as he worked, the better]
whocares: (an orchestration Of dissonance)

[personal profile] whocares 2022-04-13 05:22 am (UTC)(link)
[ Riff whistles like he's impressed ]

You've been eating your raisin bran every day to get big and strong. Knew there was something I was missing.
mostdangerousbird: (010 meet me more than halfway up)

[personal profile] mostdangerousbird 2022-04-13 05:27 am (UTC)(link)
[ That was… more than Tim wanted to know about a random guy at the market. The word choice says a lot. ]

Close enough.

[ That chip on Riff’s shoulder is looking like an entire boulder. ]

I thought you’d take advantage of a sweet deal, but thanks for enlightening me about ‘types like you’.
whocares: (Default)

[personal profile] whocares 2022-04-13 05:32 am (UTC)(link)
[ it's unconsciously deliberate, really. make sure you come at people swinging, not pulling any punches, so they know you're not someone to be messed with.

he shrugs his shoulders, like he's still shrugging off that offer they'd made ]


Nothing ain't ever free with them straight-laced types.
witchies: (i wouldn't hesitate)

kai parker | tvd (crau)

[personal profile] witchies 2022-04-13 07:16 am (UTC)(link)
SEEDY UNDERBELLY
( kai parker is no hero. hard to believe, he knows; considering there are like 5 billion peter parkers around. one would think that another parker would follow the good guy trend, buuuuut he isn't really about that life, you know? spandex isn't his color.

he was planning to make a nice meal of the server after his burger and fries but then these stupid looking buffoons came lumbering into the pub all "we're scary and bad! give us your money or else!" and then some guy named kafka was brought up and his nice meal turned ghastly white in the face and fainted. sooo, there goes his dessert. he isn't suuuper interested in kicking butt and saving the day, but a) his dinner fell on the floor and that's unsanitary and b) he wants to meet this kafka. seems like a resourceful guy to give him the quick rundown on the criminal underworld here since he has to start from scratch. all over again.

oh, and he does mean the real one. not those wannabe posers calling themselves the society like they're the popular girls at the school cafeteria.

it's an easy ask. compulsion makes people very... what's the word? agreeable. he makes quick work of finding frank kafka, current crimelord of central city, and he pays him a visit. it's going to be a strange sight for any hero (or not-so-hero) who happens to stumble in just in time to see kai cramming a particularly large piece of steak into ol' frankie's mouth. it will be stranger yet that nobody in the room seems to be doing anything about it.
)

Oh! ( he looks surprised as he swivels around cross-legged on top of the dining table. ) Do you need to talk to him now? Because if you do, ( he starts to stand up, clumsily trying not to step on any of the dishes sprawled out on the tabletop. ) then he's allll yours.

( once he reaches the edge, he steps down onto the chair at the opposite end and hops down onto the carpeted floor. )

I'll just be getting out of your hair. ( (: )

DINOTOPIA
Neat-o.

( sitting on the ledge of a tech startup with a giant neon rocket situated on its rooftop, kai watches the chaos unfold below as a goofy velociraptor with human arms stands around shooting people with a ray gun. it's like a scene straight out of a kooky old scifi film.

he's honestly having a blast.

stuffing a handful of popcorn into his mouth (yes, of course he brought popcorn!), he looks between the human-turned-dinosaurs and the superheroes who're all trying to contain the chaos with an amused little grin on his face.

he doesn't care who's joined his side as he points down at some poor girl sprouting wings.
)

Gotta be a pterodactyl.

WILDCARD
[ ooc | kai is meadowlark crau! he 100% was stealing things at the museum so if anyone wants to catch him there then feel free to do so. don't hesitate to play around with the prompts. i'm flexible. if you have any questions or concerns, you can reach me at [plurk.com profile] voicelog or pm. ]
chulk: (pic#10489065)

3

[personal profile] chulk 2022-04-13 10:17 am (UTC)(link)
Why not? Score some adoring fans, get popular, what's the downsides?
whocares: (keep your chin up)

[personal profile] whocares 2022-04-13 10:37 am (UTC)(link)
What's a fan ever gonna do but dump you the moment someone with a bigger dick comes along, huh?
nepotis: (Harry TASM2 158)

003. @h.osborn

[personal profile] nepotis 2022-04-13 02:04 pm (UTC)(link)
finally, someone says what we're all thinking.

it's bullshit. it was bullshit back home with just the one "hero" and it's still bullshit here with a ton of them.
robintohood: ([RH] First mistake)

[personal profile] robintohood 2022-04-13 03:34 pm (UTC)(link)
[Jason snorts]

Yeah, I'm a good boy like that. Maybe you could pull it off too one day.
helpdesk_hero: David Alleyne  / Prodigy - From Young Avengers (Default)

[personal profile] helpdesk_hero 2022-04-13 04:22 pm (UTC)(link)
[David takes the paper and then rips off a section with his own number and name on it. And gives Jason a very serious look when he hands it over.]

In case of emergencies.
morozova: @frathouse (pic#15391665)

dinotopia —

[personal profile] morozova 2022-04-13 06:45 pm (UTC)(link)
( we're going to briefly forget for the sake of narrative convenience that the aleksander doesn't actually spend all that much time in etcelsior—too loud, too busy, too many people—because aleksander is foremost a guild lackey these days.

and frankly the warning about larry the lizard down there was too hysterical to be believed. )


I have no idea what any of those words mean, ( said by way of greeting, brisk and to the point as he leans past kai to survey the scene.

the fingers of a glove already caught between his teeth. )


Some people really have no taste. ( a slight sneer to the words. does he particularly care about dino dan's no doubt tragic backstory? not really. what he cares about is that his entire day's been disrupted because someone got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning.

saints. the clean-up is going to be a nightmare. )
witchies: (to smile while you suffocate and die)

[personal profile] witchies 2022-04-13 07:42 pm (UTC)(link)
( someone doesn't sound too happy to be here, which kiiinda begs the question of why he is here.

angling his body, kai looks over at his new rooftop companion, getting a better view of him. he can sense the energy coming from him — nothing familiar, of course; alternate dimensions and all that, but it always piques his interest, more so than anything that could be going on down there.
)

I take it you're not a big fan of dinosaurs. Personally, ( he places his hand over his heart. ) I love them in nugget form more, but considering they've been extinct for millions of years, calling them poor taste might be a little on the side of mean.

( he tosses a few more popcorns into his mouth, munching away. )

BTW, are you a witch? ( he wiggles his fingers at him. ) Witchy woo.
robintohood: (With a direction)

[personal profile] robintohood 2022-04-13 07:46 pm (UTC)(link)
[Interesting look... Another meta perhaps? Jason responds back with an easy smile as he takes the piece of paper]

Sure. Thanks.
helpdesk_hero: David Alleyne  / Prodigy - From Young Avengers (Default)

[personal profile] helpdesk_hero 2022-04-13 07:51 pm (UTC)(link)
[David nods.]

Be careful.

[And with that he walks off. Because it's time for him to find the next booth.]
morozova: [ used with permission ] (pic#15257214)

[personal profile] morozova 2022-04-13 08:06 pm (UTC)(link)
( in truth, it wouldn't be the first time witchcraft had come up in conversation with him, though it's admittedly been years and never quite so blatantly done. if he weren't a witch then he would be offended, if he were then he'd be offended and inclined to curse the parties responsible and their family for good measure.

easier to simply not ask at all. )
What does a witch look like, precisely? ( in a bland, almost disinterested tone. like they're discussing the weather and not something quite so indecent as magic.

glove tucked under his arm, aleksander sets his palm to the stone of the building — he hasn't decided, yet, what he'll do. reaching for dan's shadow at this distance seems iffy, but working merzost in the open is never a sensible call.

particularly not with an audience. )


And I'm not particularly fond of anything large and carnivorous, scaled or otherwise. Though I suppose I should be glad these don't breathe fire.
Edited 2022-04-13 20:08 (UTC)
witchies: (to the idiot savants)

[personal profile] witchies 2022-04-13 08:40 pm (UTC)(link)
( he can respect the indirectness, enough that it garners a light laugh from him.

people don't usually just out themselves because somebody asks, especially in this less-than-hospitable climate. he has more than one thing he wouldn't tell others about himself, but being a witch is not one of them. he's waaaayyy too happy that he has regained access to magic again that he is nothing short of proud.
)

It isn't what you look like. ( a slight eyeroll. ) It's what you feel like. ( he motions at him with a popcorn pinched between his fingers. ) Unless that isn't magic I'm sensing from you and it's something... else.

( he momentarily redirects his gaze to the trigger happy raptor. did the velociraptor come before the man or did the man come before the velociraptor? those little human arms are seriously raising some questions. wait—... did mr. "what does a witch look like" just mention something about creatures breathing fire?

his eyes widen comically as he turns his attention back on him.
)

Breathe fire like dragons breathe fire? You wouldn't happen to be from like Middle-earth, are you?
morozova: [ used with permission ] (pic#14852819)

[personal profile] morozova 2022-04-13 09:56 pm (UTC)(link)
What I feel like. ( that's a new one.

his tone suggests that he's weighing the merits of whether or not to take offence. this certainly feels like the kind of conversation that should offend him. )


You're very funny. ( is what he settles on; it's clearly not a compliment but it's gentler than the alternatives. )

And I'm an Etherealki, if we're being technical. A Summoner. If I were a witch, I would probably have resolved this by now.
whocares: (an orchestration Of dissonance)

[personal profile] whocares 2022-04-13 10:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Red ain't my color.

[ he stubs his cigarette out next to him and flicks the stub down into the gutter, his grin loose and wide ]

And I ain't a good boy. Speakin of-- I oughta go tell some asshole that he's got a red pyjama actor he's gonna be real pissed at.