TEST DRIVE MEME #02

[metamods]

TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to 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.

Comments

[wordiness]

[ he can imagine. he and teddy both have people in their lives like harry-- teddy especially, and it hurts him to see how badly it hurts teddy.

the mention of loki being injured catches his attention again, the concern deepening in the downward tilt of his mouth. ]

When were you injured? What happened?

[ikols]

Oh, I was immolated by a native god.

[ Said super casually right before he takes a long pull from his coffee. ]

[wordiness]

Loki. [ what the fuck? ] Yeah, well, I can see why it scared him. [ particularly if you aren't accustomed to people with magic. but immolation is nothing to sneeze at even if you are a god. ]

What happened?

[ikols]

[ Wow! Is it such a big deal? It happened weeks ago! ]

Eros cast a spell where we all became enamoured but I happen to be the God of Lies [ tadaaa! ] so I eventually started to break free of it. Unfortunately not before it forced my attentions onto people including Stephen, which was extremely unnerving for all involved, but he was there as I shrugged off the spell altogether. Lucky for me as Eros didn't like that and set me on fire, the kind a god can't put out alone. A swimming pool was dumped on my head, albeit not before ...

At any rate, I looked less than dashing when Stephen teleported me home.

[ Loki rips some bacon from his pancake to chew on mutinously. ]

Peter was there at the time. Break between patrols. He saw what a god can endure and it scared him, understandably, when I admitted my reason for resisting. I saw it in his eyes.

[wordiness]

[ the honest truth of it is that billy isn't happy it happened, would have been upset and angry at the time, but he wouldn't have been worried. he knows loki, knows what he's capable of, knows that he's already been through awful things, and it wouldn't have killed him. it's the benefit of both of them being from the same reality, in which the extraordinary is fairly commonplace.

at least, compared to this peter's world, apparently. he can only imagine the horror he'd felt, the panic, especially given what apparently happened to his last love interest.

he drops his hand down beneath the table, resting it on loki's knee, thumb tapping against the side of it. ] I imagine it's going to take him a while to get used to the idea of.. a lot about being here and being with you.

[ikols]

I've explained much, it's ... not as if I hide my real self from him. I, perhaps, play a little more human for his benefit, but that is because he treats me so normally. I like how he sees me. I'm not only Loki, I'm ... whoever I was before this.

[ A magpie, a spirit, a roaming soul's imprint. Peter likes whoever that was. Under the table Loki leans his knee into Billy's touch. ]

You will help him, won't you? He hasn't had a team behind him, before. I wish for that for him.

[wordiness]

I thought earlier that someone from another reality would be good for you, [ he admits, musing. ] Someone who doesn't know Loki's story, who doesn't have any preconceived ideas about who and what you are.

[ he squeezes the knee in his palm, fingers curling beneath in the crook of his leg. ]

Of course I will. You're probably going to deeply regret introducing us, actually. [ he smiles, the small, coy note back. ] Pretty sure I have some good stories for him about you.

[ikols]

Don't tell him anything weird.

[ His hand slides under the table to scoop up Billy's, holding on and skating a thumb across his knuckles. ]

Although, he even likes my other forms, [ with a brow waggle, ] so it may be difficult to shock him.

[wordiness]

I make no promises. [ he knows his smile probably looks a little foolish on his face, but they're holding hands under the table like a pair of fifteen year olds and he's so charmed by it. ]

All of them? [ he actually has no idea what shapes loki uses regularly, and that's going to be interesting to discover while they're here. ] Sounds like he's just about perfect.

[ikols]

Not everyone likes fur, he's special.

[ A ripple of magic flutters through Loki's hair and it looks like his skin erupts with red and white hair between one blink and the next, face warping longer. One very anthro-looking Loki with a thick ruff around his neck and bushy tail wagging behind his chair gives Billy a grin.

He's handsome, but. He's a fox. ]

[wordiness]

Oh no, [ he whispers, eyes widening, his other hand lifting to his mouth again. ] .. You're cute..

[ with a shapeshifter for a husband, billy's accustomed to all sorts of changes, but teddy's never been a fox.

he sits up, releasing loki and dropping his legs down to the floor again, and a moment later he's sliding right out of the booth. he doesn't go far, though, instead sliding back into the booth on loki's side. ]

Can I pet your ears?

[ikols]

I mean ... sure?

[ For a moment the astonishment keeps him frozen in place, then Billy is right up next to him and Loki's tail is swishing faster (traitor), ears flicking up in interest as he looks him over. ]

Err, no tugging.

[ Peter knows, but! This isn't a common interaction by any means. ]

[wordiness]

No tugging, [ he agrees, and then reaches up with both hands, digging his fingers into the fur just below his ears. he scritches through it slowly, sliding his fingers up and over the ears in question, curling fingers around them to smooth them back and rub the soft fur there. ]

I can't believe this is the first time I'm finding out about this.

[ikols]

[ The petting has the same reaction on Loki that it would on any other fox, additionally with the way he slips his helm to the table to afford Billy's hands more room. His eyes close into contented squints and he tilts his head into each touch, snout dipping low against his chest. ]

Mmm, trade ... secret.

[ The swish of his tail under the table takes on a thumping tempo, flicking happily. ]

[wordiness]

[ the thumping tail is stupidly adorable, and billy finds he's pleased that loki is so obviously pleased by the petting. he really just looks like a giant fox, especially with the helm removed.

he cups his snout between his hands, thumbs rubbing either side of it, then pushing up between his eyes to stroke over the top of the vulpine head. ]

Honestly, if Peter didn't like this, I don't think he and I could be friends.

[ikols]

[ His nose twitches as Billy effectively strokes his hair, only all over his face and ears. It feels very, very nice, and Loki slumps forward into the touch as patrons start to eyeball the two of them in their booth, finally lifting his head away to give a very canine shake that fluffs out the ruff on his neck and sends all his fur on end again. ]

This grooming is getting a little x-rated for the anthros in the room, I fear.

[ But he does lean in, since this is a real novelty for Billy, and lick his cheek with a smile ... when he lifts his head, he's back to what passes for normal. ]

[wordiness]

[ oh no. loki changes back and billy finds himself with his hands wound in dark hair. it's probably a little scandalous like this, when loki's not a giant furry, so with a flustered glance, he uncurls his fingers and drops them into his lap. ]

Oh, I guess that wasn't really breakfast-appropriate.

[ he hesitates, then leans up to kiss loki briefly on the temple in thanks before sliding back out of the booth and stretching. ] We should probably get going. Walk me back to the hotel?

[ikols]

Sure thing.

[ Looking rather smug with his tousled hair that he makes no effort to fix, Loki slides out of the booth and dares to slip a hand into Billy's as they leave. ]

You can find my apartment on the top floor, it's the one with the green door. I may move it soon, though.

[wordiness]

[ he allows loki to take his hand, carefully curling his fingers with the other man's, and pretending not to notice the smug expression. ]

Of course it is. Where would you be moving it?

[ikols]

Around, someplace close. Out of town if things get heated with another attack, but I want to stay in Central since this is where Peter does his patrolling.

[ His thumb rubs the soft instep of Billy's hand, fingers threading. ]

I'll make sure you have an open invitation and can find it.

[ Unlike the majority. ]

[wordiness]

Is he usually at your apartment? [ he wouldn't want to, er, teleport in on something, for instance. not that he would, but you never know. god knows billy and teddy have come close to being caught in some compromising positions in some places they probably shouldn't have been. and since teddy took the throne, they have even less privacy than they used to. ]

.. Also, does he cook?

[ikols]

Usually, yes, unless he crashes at his place. I leave the windows open for him to swing by if he wants to. [ Since Billy is asking for Reasons, he mildly adds, ] Mostly we hang out.

[ He arches a brow at the line of questioning, cocking his head. ]

Peter, cook? No, I do. Why?

[wordiness]

I mean, I'd text before coming by, but.. [ You Know.

his shoulder lifts in a small shrug, and he has to tug the sweater back up as it slips down his arm. ] I was thinking that I don't know if the two of you eat real food or all takeout.

[ikols]

[ Billy doesn't need to text, he can drop in whenever and Loki will never really be mad. ]

We have steak once a week, if you want to come over for dinner. Perhaps you could meet him then, over sampling my honeyed roast potatoes.

[wordiness]

That could be fun. I'll bring a good bottle of wine. [ he's not planning to stick with the guilds either, so he may as well take full advantage of their monetary generosity while he has it.

not that, these days, he really needs a job, strictly speaking. he could probably make anything he needed.. but on the other hand, he knows for a fact that he's going to need to keep busy here. ] Does he know anything about me?