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: ([D] Taken from this world)

[personal profile] robintohood 2022-04-16 02:23 pm (UTC)(link)
[Jason takes another big bite before answering bitterly]

Back from the dead? About five years. And been back in Gotham for nearly a year.

[Part of Jason feels strange for volunteering this much information to Bruce. But if there really are timeline issues around, then it was better to make clear where everyone's from]
mostdangerousbird: (003 heard the echoes of mistakes)

[personal profile] mostdangerousbird 2022-04-16 03:02 pm (UTC)(link)
You shouldn't be using your teke at all for a bullet.

[ Because he's supposed to be invulnerable, and Tim doesn't want to adjust his plans because of things like "The universe downgraded Conner's powers." That doesn't even make sense; they've been to other universes - plural - and Conner was fine. It's annoying. (It's terrifying.) ]

CSI stuff if I ever get the right equipment. Short term, I don't want to leave your DNA if it can be avoided.
mostdangerousbird: (007 where’s your life gone?)

[personal profile] mostdangerousbird 2022-04-16 03:15 pm (UTC)(link)
[ So, it's Tim's call is what he's hearing. ]

If I did that, I'll have to give them an alias. I can't keep coming and going as Robin and sneaking into normal clothes in alleys.

[ This feels like a test that Tim's going to fail no matter what he decides. It almost feels like he's being prompted to go undercover, but then the 'I wouldn't blame you' phrasing implies that it would be a different choice than what Bruce has made. ]

You didn't take the offer and go undercover.
mostdangerousbird: (006 leave a bad taste in your mouth)

[personal profile] mostdangerousbird 2022-04-16 03:38 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Tim is still sifting through possible responses of what's big and not overly connected or revealing, even for someone who knows what was behind the grandfather clock before the Manor was gone.

But then the new question, and Tim starts at the immediate implication that there is going to be a time when the Joker is dead. Intellectually, he knows that everyone's going to die someday, but Tim's immediate concern is that Bruce or Jason or... any of them really finally snapped.
]

He's alive to the best of my knowledge, but it's been a couple of weeks since anyone had eyes on him. The one in your world isn't?

[ He ain't gonna be too torn up about that. ]
neverrobin: (Thinking)

[personal profile] neverrobin 2022-04-16 04:00 pm (UTC)(link)
[Terry visibly relaxes. It's not a good thing there's a Joker that's still running around in another universe but it means he's not going to be screwing up the timeline.]

He died decades ago. From what I know my universe's version of you was younger than you when it happened.

Which means I'm not going to be hurting anything if I show you this.

[Terry pushes the bag he'd been carrying with him under the table towards Tim.]

Look in the bag but don't pull anything out.

[If Tim does he'll see a bright red bat-symbol printed on a material way more advanced than anybody who didn't have access to a billionaire's resources should have.]

[It's a bit of a risk, but a calculated one. If Tim isn't what he seems and tries to take the suit Ace will be on him before he even manages to make it a block.]
Edited 2022-04-16 16:36 (UTC)
mostdangerousbird: (009)

[personal profile] mostdangerousbird 2022-04-16 04:05 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Guilty as charged already. Tim mimes adjusting a tie. ]

I'll have you know I look great in a suit.

[ Being a businessman isn't being a square. Well, not if you're using it as your day job to let you live your best vigilante life. ]

I should go. I haven't hit today's little old lady quota.
mostdangerousbird: (Default)

[personal profile] mostdangerousbird 2022-04-16 05:10 pm (UTC)(link)
This time, when Bart references nightmarish events to place himself on the timeline, Tim doesn't hesitate to put his hand on Bart's shoulder. He can't say it was okay, because it wasn't, but there are other ways to show that it's all right. "You weren't... gone right after that. Maybe there's some time travel involved, or maybe you're just from a world that's close enough."

Tim pokes his other hand at one of the netting panels of the chick enclosure. "I can't tell which, and close enough is good enough for me. As long as you don't plan on bringing in an entire army of evil multiverse Barts, I can deal with whatever you throw at me."

A pause. "Except for the whole farm thing. That's new."
mostdangerousbird: (010 meet me more than halfway up)

[personal profile] mostdangerousbird 2022-04-16 05:36 pm (UTC)(link)
[ She will have to share the puns if they're going to hang. He's got at least three with fletch, and the entire realm of bo/bow overlap.

Speaking of bos, he extends his and uses it to just gently roll the dino-birdman onto his back, a little further away from them.
]

Oh yeah, big improvement.

[ Tim considers this situation. He's not getting stuck on babysitting duty. ]

Do you think flex cuffs would hold him?
ikols: like i do (they don't give a fk about you)

[personal profile] ikols 2022-04-16 05:38 pm (UTC)(link)
He will put you in time-out if you call it anything but a cloak, you know.

[ Who is this nerd in full horn-come-scalemaille regalia with a bag of merch slung over a shoulder??? Who could he be? A mystery!!

... Loki is 100% dressed up to be given free shit by the vendors who recognise his get-up. ]


Hello, Kate. Buy me, I come with a sword accessory!
kid_flash_found: (Default)

[personal profile] kid_flash_found 2022-04-16 05:45 pm (UTC)(link)
If Tim weren't looking at the birds apprehensively, he might have partly unzipped the cover so the chicks could try to get up to the edge of the pen like they'd been starting to do. They were mostly up to barely fluttering hops, but they at least hadn't hit the half-feathered mop stage as the adult feathers started to come in.

"Spending too much time in Central City is depressing. Sunset Falls is all magical disasters, and, well, I guess I could have gone to Excelsior, but this feels...nice. I can just take things at the speed they come for a change," he tries to explain.

"I know I wasn't gone. It was one of the first things you realize. I mean, when I got there, Barbara took me under her wing in some ways. The last world. And Kon was there with me, only we didn't match up timewise. It doesn't really matter, because we're still...just us."
ikols: like i do (they don't give a fk about you)

[personal profile] ikols 2022-04-16 05:55 pm (UTC)(link)
It's one of the models I posed for so they could get my helm right.

[ The horned, green-and-golden clad figure that pipes up is almost identical to the doll the young man is holding, right down to a pair of bright green eyes. Long black-nailed fingers (also matching the toy!) pick out a sword to fit it in a plastic hand, and Loki smiles sidelong at the newbie meta, accent like American-Norwegian in a blender. ]

Don't forget my ancestral sword. I can't battle bad guys without Laevateinn.
fledges: (050)

[personal profile] fledges 2022-04-16 05:57 pm (UTC)(link)
[The aforementioned action figures have indeed ruined the surprise—she knew there was a Loki here, or maybe multiple? Who knows. The question is, which Loki is this? Is it Loki straight from back home? The Loki she spent a year with in New Amsterdam? She suspects if he were the latter, he'd immediately try to signal that to her somehow. Another Loki entirely, maybe?

Hmm. Mysterious. Why is multiverse stuff so confusing?

Kate holds up the Loki action figure and wiggles it in his direction.]


Has anyone accused you of being a lame cosplayer yet?
ikols: a venom dripping in your mouth (this could be perfection)

[personal profile] ikols 2022-04-16 06:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, yes! It happens often when you become well-known in this realm, no one ever thinks you are yourself unless poised in the middle of a fight on the news.

[ He glances up and down, taking in the sight of her. ]

Does "Earth-616" mean anything to you? I have a witch-boy who will be heartbroken if not.
the_caped_crusader: (pic#15390926)

[personal profile] the_caped_crusader 2022-04-16 06:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Not long, then.

[ they sit there in silence for another minute. bruce kobe's his tin foil ball into a nearby trashcan and sets his soda down. ]

You can still go home, you know. I'm sure he's said the same thing to you.
the_caped_crusader: (pic#15390905)

[personal profile] the_caped_crusader 2022-04-16 06:06 pm (UTC)(link)
No, but...

[ he slips his hands into his coat pockets and breathes, a tuft of barely visible breath following his exhale. why is it still so cold in april??? ]

Even if you're my Robin, you're man enough now to make your own decisions. I trust you.
fledges: (100)

[personal profile] fledges 2022-04-16 06:06 pm (UTC)(link)
[And just like that, Kate's eyes light up, all questions of "which Loki is this" gone for now.]

Billy's here?

[Wait.]

I mean, yes, it means something. Is he okay?
robintohood: ([D] Line crossed)

[personal profile] robintohood 2022-04-16 06:07 pm (UTC)(link)
[Jason crushes his own foil into a ball after finishing his food]

I can't.

[It's painful to admit it but there was no getting around that fact as far as Jason was concerned]

Not unless I agree to fall in line again. It's fucking obvious now we don't agree on things anymore. You still got those rules in place too, otherwise you wouldn't have stopped me tonight.
ikols: keeper of thought & memory (come odin)

[personal profile] ikols 2022-04-16 06:09 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Whatever he was holding back eases in his smile. ]

He's just fine. [ Misses Teddy but whatever, they've been not-quite-making-out and Loki isn't in the mood to be told off when he's so happy to see Kate. ] Give me your phone, I'll put his number in. He will be thrilled to know you've made skyfall in this realm, between you and me I think he is growing a little tired of brunch with just me.

[ And everyone who isn't his husband. A fresh face may help. ]
the_caped_crusader: (pic#15390894)

[personal profile] the_caped_crusader 2022-04-16 06:17 pm (UTC)(link)
You just think you can't.

[ he takes a long look at him, at the anger that he still has to work through. maybe he couldn't rush it. maybe all the advice in the world from what he and his jason went through had to still happen for them to get where they were now, and even that was far from perfect. ]

We're able to work together, you know. My Jason and I. It isn't always like that, but we've been managing.
fledges: (018)

UNDERBELLY wink wink

[personal profile] fledges 2022-04-16 06:21 pm (UTC)(link)
[Kate figured this whole thing would require... You know, a whole lot more sneaking. There's a whole lot of guards doing absolutely nothing, even when her boot slips while she's climbing through a window and she nearly kicks over a potted plant. Eventually, she just waltzes on in, bow at the ready. Clearly no one cares that she's here, all decked out in her very obvious superhero costume, and clearly there is something very wrong.]

Wow, am I that unintimidating?

[Good thing she quickly discovers what is "very wrong" here.]

Whoa whoa whoa—

[Kate steps into his path, trying to block his exit.]

Look, Anakin, I don't know what you're doing here, but you're gonna tell me.
fledges: (089)

[personal profile] fledges 2022-04-16 06:31 pm (UTC)(link)
Don't do anything weird with it.

[She says, instinctively, before she hands it over. And if she tries to let their fingers brush a little as she does it, oh well. Totally innocent!]
robintohood: ([D] Bittersweet)

[personal profile] robintohood 2022-04-16 06:40 pm (UTC)(link)
[The urge to stay angry and violently lash out is still in Jason. What Bruce is saying sounds preposterous. It sounds too good to be true. But he's too curious to just end the conversation. Deep down, he still misses having a family. He still misses the days when things were simpler]

How? You... He made it clear he's never going to change his mind and neither will I. Not while that monster's still alive.
mostdangerousbird: (Default)

[personal profile] mostdangerousbird 2022-04-16 06:46 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It's a new universe. Who's to say it subscribes to standard seasons? But Tim's not overly bothered by the weather. Robins don't always get sleeves (but at least he got pants). ]

But you aren't going to tell me how or why you made your decision?

[ Tim suspects the answer is no. ]
ikols: a dangerous cipher in the quiet (i'm a shadow creeper)

[personal profile] ikols 2022-04-16 06:57 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm going to text the Man of Bats that you're single.

[ Waggling his brows HAHA, no, he won't. He tilts the phone so she can see him input Billy's number (BILLIAM) then hands it back. ]

This ought to be the realm of dating, everyone is doing it. Are you single? You won't be long.
the_caped_crusader: (pic#15390892)

[personal profile] the_caped_crusader 2022-04-16 07:04 pm (UTC)(link)
That's right. I won't say some of our arguments aren't... bad, but...

[ he takes a moment to think about how to phrase this. ]

We can both at least agree that Gotham is better fighting him than fighting each other.