TEST DRIVE MEME: JANUARY EDITION

[metamods]

TEST DRIVE MEME

A Confluence, capitalized, is the converging of one or more supernatural forces.

This Confluence, rather unluckily, coincides with the New Year’s festivities of this world! The Guilds have already predicted your arrival, but their forces are stretched rather thin as they also try to prevent any supervillain attacks on the parties of the rich and famous - or, alternately, as they attempt to launch these attacks.

You find yourself falling from the sky amid the multicolored explosions of fireworks. You’re caught almost immediately, some of you in glowing fields of magical power and some by automated drones whizzing through the air. Care was needed to make sure no Starfallen got hurt amid the chaos…but once you’re dropped off on the ground, you may be on your own for a little while.

I BROKE FREE ON A SATURDAY MORNING. CENTRAL CITY, MICHIGAN.

New Starfallen, once rescued by the automated systems set in place by the guilds, are safely placed on their feet somewhere on the streets below. As it happens, tonight is a bad night for it! Some new arrivals may be flown about for a few minutes before an open space can be found to sit them down, because tonight is New Year’s Eve and Central City is the place to be.

The streets here are absolutely packed with throngs of people, pushing and shoving in an effort to get from place to place, or find a better vantage point to watch the ball drop. In the central square of Central City, a massive stage has been set up for various bands to perform in the lead-up to the main event. Emceeing the event is the Alliance’s own Fantastic! Somehow, all of last year’s meta-related controversy has only launched this social media star to new heights! Some poor Alliance members may have been recruited to help with the special effects for his show, or work behind the scenes to keep Fantastic happy…good luck with that.

Unfortunately, the massive crowds and a Confluence are not the greatest combination. Some of the civilians on the scene have abruptly ceased to be civilians at all, sudden Confluence-generated powers manifesting amid the press and din of an often-intoxicated crowd. It’s something of a powderkeg. One man, upon being shoved one too many times, turns about and begins to shoot wild, uncontrolled flames from his hands. Another woman, desperate to see the shows, has begun to grow to a towering height. And there’s more people, partying hard or miserably stressed, manifesting various different kinds of powers in different ways across the city. These new metas are dangerous, but they are not malicious. What they really need is some help calming down, so that they can get their new abilities in check. Of course, those around them also need some protection from the random destruction being caused.

Then, of course, there’s those elements who are using the general activity of the city to cover up some shadier activities. Many of the fancier uptown parties being held at various rooftop lounges and hotel ballrooms will find themselves under attack by folks out to make a quick buck. Many of these high-profile robberies are being committed by metas, so anyone attempting to intervene will find themselves in for a good old-fashioned hero vs. villain smackdown...although, do you recognize these guys as Society members? Well, only one way to find out.

DIADEM HOTEL

Whether you've survived the chaos, or arrived after the trouble's over, you're not going home anytime soon. Hopefully, the LUXURY HOTEL they've put you up in will ease that sting.

The DIADEM HOTEL is usually reserved for the obscenely wealthy. Its rooms are enormous, the beds quite literally enchanted to offer the perfect night's sleep, and the food would usually cost your life savings just to sample. But given the circumstances, the Guilds feel its the least they can do to aid your transition into this world. EVERYTHING is complimentary, and everyone gets an ALLIANCE CREDIT CARD to spend on entertainment, clothing, and whatever other necessities they might need. The cards have an obscenely high limit and there doesn't seem to be an expectation for you to pay it back... though if they catch you abusing it, their accountant will be coming for your head.

There's a shopping center immediately across the street. It has an impressive array of outlets that cater to your every need. Food, clothing... and swords? If you can think of it, it's for sale. Although anything clearly supernatural or metahuman seems to be at a minimum and offered under the table. You can grab clothing made to withstand any superpower and a surprisingly mediocre Taco Bell order while you're at it. There's a Super Cinema in the shopping complex across the street that's showing the 11th sequel of a popular action racing franchise, BLASTS FROM THE CURIOUS: LAST OF THE NEFARIOUS, in which Hubcaps Nefarious tries to undo the Carmageddon caused by evil tech entrepreneur Jebs Robs. He uses the Large Hadron Collider to launch a Bugati into the past to save the world and the most important thing of all: family.

CENTRAL CITY isn't exactly the nicest place in the world. Wander too far from the shopping district and you'll find yourselves thick into territory controlled by the local non-meta crime syndicate... but maybe that's where you want to be. Maybe you're here to see just what this world is dealing with. If you're going to be stuck here you might as well make yourself useful, right?

Or perhaps you're NOT the heroic type. Maybe this is simply scoping out the competition.

Regardless, it won't take long for TROUBLE to find you. Test out your new powers, do a little thieving, stop a few muggings - this is your time to use as you see fit.

FUUUUUUUUTURE. LITTLE LOVE, KANSAS.

The holiday season is coming to a close, and in a much more sedate fashion in Little Love than in the larger cities throughout the country. The damage from the blizzard a few months back is mostly repaired now; a blanket of lovely white snow still covers the town, but power has been restored and most townspeople are safe and warm at home.

Outside, however, strange things are happening. Odd shimmering rifts in space-time are opening up around the little town. Some of these seem to move, and engulf anything in their path, leaving them unharmed but changed - seemingly, into futuristic versions of whatever they used to be. Simple farmhouses are replaced suddenly by gleaming silver towers, or on occasion by the burnt-out husks of said towers that abruptly begin - or continue - their crumbling. Cows are being replaced by robot cows with lasers for eyes, out to zap anyone who trespasses on their fields. Hope you weren’t too attached to having birds around and not weird spy drones! And, of course, a lot of things have spontaneously become chrome. Wow!

Some people may even find themselves running afoul of these rifts, and getting unusual upgrades to their outfits and powers. Were you always wearing these cool space goggles? Has your magic been replaced with sci-fi alternatives? Hopefully you can figure out how to handle these! Because while most of the future-ified plants and animals aren’t actively aggressive as long as you stay away, some of the rifts are also spitting things out. Robot footsoldiers from some distant war are beginning to wander accidentally into Little Love, and being separated from their operations base has left them without any direction. They’re just sort of shooting lasers at anyone they see, on the assumption that they’re probably enemy combatants.

Fixing any changes can be as simple as locating another rift and diving through it. Doing so will reset any changes that have occurred - though if you get caught by a third one, you’ll find the same thing happening all over again. You can, of course, also just wait it out; these things have a habit of wearing off eventually. The robots will also eventually disappear when the rifts stop, though any damage they cause will remain.

BLAST FROM THE PAST. EXCELSIOR

Meanwhile in Excelsior, similar rifts are popping up throughout the city! However, the results are entirely different. Excelsior seems to be getting thrown back into the past, piece by piece.

Some buildings have vanished entirely, replaced by open swathes of grassy field. Stepping into these areas is like entering a different climate; it's oddly cold there. The air smells different. It's like another world. You may even find that prehistoric creatures are wandering out into the alien world of Excelsior. Anything from dinosaurs to Ice Age megafauna can be seen running around, chasing people and rampaging in fear and confusion.

Metas who respond to the upheaval may find themselves affected by these changes as well. Science-based powers are likely to break down, or be replaced wholesale by old-fashioned alternatives. Magic? Steampunk contraptions? Rough tools from the Stone Age? Anything could happen - the past is a big place, too!

People here will find that the rifts work just like those that are cropping up in Little Love: passing through them again is enough to revert changes, or return any stray beasts to their proper time. However, Excelsior is facing additional issues in the sudden breakdown of much of their infrastructure. Power lines are being replaced with flowering vines, and pieces of the road are shifting suddenly into rocky ground. There'll probably be a lot more repairs needed here.

CLIFF NOTES.

➢ New arrivals will be appearing in Central City. They fall from the skies amid a fireworks display, but are caught and brought safely to the ground by magic users and machines from the Guilds.

➢ Partygoers in the cramped streets of Central City's New Year's Eve celebration are spontaneously gaining powers from the Confluence, leading to uncontrolled displays of magic in the streets!

➢ On the fancy, private party side of things, many upscale events in Central City are experiencing a rash of robberies and flashy meta-villain attacks!

➢ Elements of a far-distant future are bleeding into the rural town of Little Love! Places and people are receiving a futuristic overhaul, with occasionally dangerous results!

➢ Robotic soldiers from an unknown future war are appearing in Little Love as well! Try to destroy these stray machines, or else force them into another rift to send them home!

➢ Excelsior is experiencing a sudden paleo shift! People and places here are going Flintstones mode, and massive prehistoric beasts are claiming the streets as their own!

➢ The network of modern convenience in Excelsior is breaking down as pieces of the city alter! Metas will have to help make sure that everything stays functional!

➢ Current Players are welcome to treat this as a bonus event. These events are canonically happening within the game but can be largely ignored if you'd prefer to use the month for personal plots. You can tag into the TDM, reference these prompts in network posts, or use them in your own logs.

WILDCARD.

Metaheroes takes inspiration from all walks of comics. Take a look at the CITIES to get an idea as to what day to day life is like in the other cities. Perhaps you've encountered a supervillain (or hero) who needs to be thwarted, or a metahuman with unusual powers creating bizarre effects. You can also take a look at the MISSION BOARD to get your start as a professional hero, villain, or vigilante.

Comments

Solanaceae || I Was a Teenage Exocolonist || OTA

[littletomato]

LIGHTS IN THE SKY
Stranger in a strange land

It was the damnedest thing, really. They had thought that last they'd checked, they'd been going to bed after a long- long- god damn night. Almost nothing had felt better than the embrace of fluffy blankets and the firm knowledge of having nothing to do for at least the few weeks until their birthday, for the first time in like. Ever?

They had, unfortunately, awoken to the sound of explosions- who'd printed more explosives oh god no- and... little robots, carrying them gently to the ground.

In the middle of a city.

A massive city.

One that was filled with more people than they'd ever seen in their lives and some of them were staring but most of them were looking at the symphony of light and sound and very definitely explosions currently turning night into day.

This was- this had to be Earth, right? But that wasn't possible. Why the robots? What happened.

They knew, of course, that they should be more afraid, more bothered by this- but this smelled like a mystery. It was new, and wholly unexpected, and that made it unique.

They stood, a touch shakily, dusting themself off. "Ooookay. Taaake stock of inventory. We haaave. Dad's necklace. Clothes. Always a plus. Databand... nnnnothing else. Frig."

Well, nothing for it. Flag down a stranger, winning smile, raise hand in greeting. "Hi! 'Scuse me, but I am super amazingly looAA-" with the gesture, the paved street had cracked right open, a sapling thrusting upwards through the asphalt and leafing at impossible speed. They backpedaled, stumbling as the road turned to moss and clover at their feet- and found that another sapling had broken their fall.

Sol thought of themself as a normally-calm person. Fairly unflappable in the face of even the most stressful situations, in fact. This? This was so far beyond the realm of 'expected parameters of bullshit in my life' that there were no longer charts for the readings to go off of.

They responded with all of the dignity and grace one could come to expect of a respected and beloved member of the Vertumna Group.

"What the FUCK."

LITTLE FISH IN A BIG POND
Help

They had been given, in short order, a hotel room (which they did not understand), a series of educational pamphlets that were very informative and not at all helpful (which were made of paper. Paper!), a 'phone' (which was... charmingly low-tech), and a plastic rectangle which, they were assured, could get them anything they needed. Also, apparently, they had superpowers now. Which were much, much less concerning than the timey-wimey wormhole... stuff they'd been used to. Florakinesis, the very businesslike lady who'd examined them had called it- which might as well have been fucking magic because they'd made the potted spider plant in their hotel room grow to cover the entire damn room without meaning to- and also pluck a small armload of luminescent fungi out of their hair and clothing, because apparently a few spores had stayed on their clothes.

Most of which made sense enough to them, they supposed, but the problem was- the Stratos colony had had, on landing, a hair shy of three hundred individuals, all included. The Heliopause, when it had crashed, had brought another hundred and fifty or so to the table, after casualties that had numbered in the upper sixties. They had never, at any point in their life, been exposed to more than four hundred-ish individuals humans at once.

Central City had a population had a population (they'd asked) clocking in at over half a million. And then the Alliance had pointed them in the direction of a shopping center, which was nothing at all like a supply depot, where you requisitioned what you needed, traded in some kudos if it was a luxury item, got it nanoprinted, and then went home. No. This place was neon and bright lights and music and so much stuff crammed into every storefront that it was impossible to keep track of it all at once.

Marz would have loved it- Sol was mostly just lost, head turning so often they were sure to strain their neck as they tried- and failed- to take everything in.

WILD CARD
Order off the secret menu

Hello, friends! If you've any desire to play something out you don't see here, by all means reach out to me at loxagn or via private message here!

lights in the sky

[wordiness]

That'll do it.

[ billy eyes the new sapling with slightly amused appreciation, then sweeps his eyes over the little patch of forest springing up around the stranger. who hasn't had an accident with new powers, really? billy's first flare-up had nearly killed his bully, shit happens.

still, it's noisy out here tonight, and confusing even with a little distance from the crowd, so with a flick of his wrist, blue energy flares briefly around them--and the mini not-quite-a-forest--in a gently glowing shield that muffles the sound into near-silence. the added bonus is that he gave it a little misdirection twist, too, so no one should really notice them while he's, uh, getting the explanations out of the way. ]

Hi. [ billy's slight and dressed in black, but his smile is warm as he reaches out to offer a hand up. ] New, huh?

[littletomato]

A lot had happened in the span of a few seconds. Like most of the outside sound ceasing entirely, for one. Or the glowing blue bubble.

Or the stranger with the nice hair showing up out of the blue with a smile and a hand up. Who was definitely a stranger and not someone they'd ever met before, but also dressed, for lack of any better terminology, like a comic book superhero. This had great implications for their immediate future, honestly.

Sol blinked, looking up at the man in front of them for a moment before taking the offered hand. "Haha... hi! How can you tell, is this-" The red maple in front of them was now gamely pushing against the top of the bubble, branching outwards. "Y'know, you seem awfully unflapped about all this. This seems like it might be a regular occurrence for you am I doing that? Because it started when I started freaking out about it and if this kind of portal-fantasy thing is my superhero origin story I mean I am down with that but also how do I stop?"

little fish

[faceguy]

Shopping, at least openly like this, is a new experience to Leo, too. He’s used to huge numbers of people, of course (compared to New York, half a million is quaint), but he’s usually avoiding them.

He’s avoiding them here, too, because while he knows he won’t get whisked off to a lab somewhere as a science experiment, the anti-Meta sentiment around means that a humanoid turtle would definitely attract the wrong kind of attention.

But he needs a sword. And he’s having a hard time getting one online that will actually get shipped via mail to the hotel, so he’s here in the actual shopping mall, hood up, sunglasses on (inside), moving around without trying to catch anyone’s attention.

So of course he bumps into someone.

“Whoops,” is all he says when he collides with Sol.

And of course the hood goes down. He yanks it back up as fast as possible.

!

[littletomato]

There was a slightly-startled yelp as the largely-unaware human was sent stumbling backward- and on the plus side, this time did not result in a tree bursting up through the foundation, that probably would've been poorly received.

Almost as quickly as they toppled over, though, they were back on their feet, beaming up at the shockingly green stranger. "All fine! Sorry, just clumsy." There was a bit of nervous laughter, but... something seemed off. Something about the definitely-not-human's body language that seemed anxious, the outfit that covered way more than anybody else they'd seen...

Sol tilted their head, looking at the stranger with an expression of... polite curiosity. "I think you did way more to me than me to you, but are you alright?"

Spamton G. Spamton | Deltarune

[hyperlinkblocked]

Excelsior

[ The time rifts are targeting all the gleaming, futuristic wonders of technology.

This dumpster so far has been unaffected.

As you pass by, the lid lifts, revealing a very large, angular head. ]

H  EY THERE, YOUNG {select all that apply }

YOU LOOK DDISTRESSED.

---

OurPowers post

hHEY! It's me , [ object not found ] !!!!

ARE YOU READDY username TO TAKE ADVANT4GE OF A GrEAT DEAL .?

POWE  R!! FAME!! Lonely singles waiting for you!

ALL THIS _{[ like a rock ]} AND MORE CCOULD BE YOURS FOR A LOW LOW PRICE OF ◰

Mom what's spam

[littletomato]

Morbid curiosity, it turned out, was a powerful motivator.

Oh man, lonely singles? For just a low low price of ◰? Are they cute?

sym / i was a teenage exocolonist

[obviousplant]

DIADEM HOTEL (or Why You Shouldn't Give the Alien a Credit Card)

[ Give an alien a bottomless hole of a credit card and let him loose in a human shopping complex? Because that is, of course, where Sym drifts off to now that the fireworks and the panicked party are over and done with. He had given the hotel a cursory look-around — the bed had been hilarious and very bouncy to walk around on! — before inevitably vanishing into the mall. There was so much to look at! To see! And no one even looked at him funny in the crowds that shuffled about from store to store. In a huge city like this one, he was a drop in an ocean, unlike back home, on the planet that humanity had decided to call Vertumna, where he was a stranger to the colonists and unable to interact with two wonderful little exceptions...

Ah, but they weren't here, at least not directly here by his side, and so Sym would make do on his own and so far, so good! Sym's first stop had been the cinema. It had not been the same experience as a little holo-vid at all, although a video projected on a massive screen had its own charm. He has since paid to see nearly every film twice and was currently outside the cinema again picking at a half-empty bowl of popcorn and staring up at the listed movie names aside from BLASTS FROM THE CURIOUS 11, clearly and most surely a classic on this world, through a pair of flimsy 3D glasses.

Yes, this is what he's been spending his first day on the human homeworld. He hasn't even considered looking into new clothing to replace the ragged black clothing that currently drapes over his tall, elegant frame or seeing if this Alliance that greeted them all might be able to send him back through the wormhole. No, just this. Just movies. ]

Hm, I'm not sure I feel up to seeing any of these a third time. There wouldn't be anything further useful to learn from them.

[ He crunched down a little piece of popcorn in thought. Plain, no butter or salt. Yeah. ]

Well, perhaps the animated one...

BLAST FROM THE PAST

There, there, it'll be fine. No need for further panic.

[ Ancient lands full of giant prehistoric animals and plants? Naturally, that would be a disaster that Sym would find himself in the midst of. He's already covered in muck from forays through the rifts and entirely unbothered by it. His appearance has never been important — apart from looking "human-like" enough — and didn't even hold a match to trying to coax some of the less violent but utterly confused denizens of Earth's past back to where they belong.

He is crouched several meters away from one such rift, making gentle noises and gestures toward something that must be hiding behind an overturned car. Nearby, a fire hydrant is blasting water into the sky and slowly filling the street and a few shops appear to have been careened through by something roughly bull-sized, like that unfortunate dishware one, oops. ]

Why don't you come out here and I'll take you home, little one?

Blast from the Past

[littletomato]

They were getting the hang of this! No costume just yet, they hadn't got as far as that- but the superpowers thing? Sol had this on lock. And there were dinosaurs! Honestly, week one on Earth? Amazing so far. Snatch a cone from a nearby fir tree, slide under a swinging tail, hold it over the ruptured water line and breathe-

And the seed responded to his will, growing in seconds what should have taken years, roots swelling to fill the hole as the geyser of water reduced to a spray- and then a much-more-manageable trickle. Mark one problem solved.

Sol turned to survey the street, plan their next move- and from the look of it, someone was trying to entice a small and angry something out from behind an overturned car. They smiled, started to approach... and stilled. His face was hidden, from this angle, but he knew that voice, knew that tone of pale, almost-lilac-colored skin- knew it too well.

It took an unbelievable amount of restraint not to tackle him then and there. It wasn't the place for it.

They did, however, kneel softly a few feet away, reaching into their bag to pull out something to, hopefully, draw the creature out. Blunted teeth with a long muzzle, scales, thumb spikes... they wanted to say very small iguanodon? Hard to be sure, since illustrations of dinosaurs were suspect at best. But they were very definitely obligate herbivores, and thus, an offering of produce was a solid bet. "On your left," they announced quietly, holding out a pair for Sym to pick up.

Restraint in avoiding sudden movement aside, they absolutely could not hold back the big, ear-to-ear smile at seeing a familiar face. "You know, if we keep meeting like this, people are going to talk."

[obviousplant]

As per usual, there was nary a reaction of shock nor surprise from Sym when they arrived to kneel down near him and offer something the frightened baby dinosaur might be interested in. Perhaps he had been expecting the company, perhaps he merely carried on calmly as he ever had. Whichever it was, he only turned his head briefly Sol's way, the edges of his eyes crinkling ever so slightly as he smiled back at them before taking the offered food.

"Are they?" Sym asked curiously, although humor shined brightly in his eyes as he did. "And what is it they talk about, I wonder?"

Ah, but he would let Sol answer that as he turned back to the animal, slowly moving and holding the produce out for it to sniff at. It had been a good call. Small, scared, and undoubtedly hungry, the baby dino was going to go after the biggest problem first: an empty stomach. Since Sym had yet to offer any threat, it pushed itself to its feet and shoved its head forward, beak-like mouth snapping at the offered food.

Sym would let it take a bite before shifting his weight where he crouched to allow himself to inch backward and away, all while still holding the food out. As expected, the poor thing would finish the mouthful it got and then let out an annoyed huff and grumble before following after.

Lex Luthor | DCAU

[ownsmetropolis]

Diadem Hotel

This is not what he expected after joining with Darkseid with the Anti-Life Equation. Being sent to another world with more meta humans? Great. Just what he needs.

No matter, he’ll just rebuild from the bottom again. He did it once, he’ll do it again. And this time, there’s no Superman here to stop him. He’ll happily show these people what a real man can do.

Of course, lost in his thoughts, he ended up running into someone.

“Would you watch where you’re walking?!” He snapped.

Blast From The Past - Excelsior

“Fear not! Salvation is at hand!”

Descending from the skies of Excelsior is Lex Luthor donning a simplistic powered armor in green and purple. The technology here on this world was all over the place, thus what he made was not like what he had back on his world. That being said, it was enough for for him to make his grand debut.

“I have been able to find and recruit various people to build makeshift homes with power and amenities. While these “heroes” go about trying to solve this “problem”, I’m here to make sure all of you is safe from the danger!”

Oddly, despite being from another world, these people are cheering for him. You can feel something off, like you’re being prompt to agree with Luthor. Mind control?

Wildcard

Luthor’s gotten around to setting up a new expansion to Lexcorp on this world, using Central City as a base and planning to expand.

However, not everything has gone well. Someone somehow stole one of Luthor’s powered armors and went on a rampage, only for you to stop him and return the armor.

“Thank you for your… help. I’m sure I could have stopped him with less force. I’ll have you know that if you went too rough, you will have destroyed a prototype armor I was designing for Excelsior’s police.”

He glared at the hero.

“You did, didn’t you?”

[fearfully_symmetrical]

Casually, she crushed up what was undoubtedly a very expensive component from said power armours, tossing it to him.

"Nah, I used just about enough force. And oh, yeah, it's totally destroyed. I left the rest of the bits on your roof. Buncha trash bags, can't miss it, Lexy."

[ownsmetropolis]

Lex sighed at that. Of course he’d get someone who really didn’t care. Or wanted to get his goat.

“I’ll be sure to let those in Excelsior know who should foot the bill.” Luthor deadpanned.

“Then again, someone like you wouldn’t understand the finer things in doing things without wrecking the place.”

Diadem

[mostdangerousbird]

As it’s the dumping ground for new metahumans, Tim Drake has a strained relationship with the Diadem Hotel. He sometimes drops in to see who’s there, but he also doesn’t want to be found there himself too frequently. He doesn’t want to remind any guild members of his continued existence as an unregistered metahuman. Or at all.

He was trying to get a better look at a blonde he’d never seen before when he walked into something large and well-suited. “My apologies, I was distracted - Mr. Luthor.”

There’s no hiding the recognition, not when it’s as big a shock as bowling into Alex Luthor, but Tim manages to smoothly cloak it as surprise. Just act like a trust fund baby and get out of here. “It won’t happen again.”

[undtingly]

"I'm so sorry," Dr. Wily says, his tone almost dripping with an exaggerated regret. "I'm afraid I simply miscalculated the force required. I didn't expect it to crumple so easily."

Truthfully, Wily was furious at the armor being damaged, as he'd wanted to salvage and repurpose it — but at least there had been enough intact for Wily to scan and copy down some of the schematics. It wasn't a total loss.

Besides, graciously returning the armor to Lexcorp was an excellent excuse to get a good look inside the facility. For... future reference.

By Wily's side, a large robot sentry — modeled after Gutsman, but with a little less personality — is cradling the pieces in its arms. It had been the one to take down the armor's thief, at Wily's command, very publicly. Sure would be a shame if that kind of publicity affected Luthor's contract.

With a wave from Dr. Wily's hand, the armor is unceremoniously dumped on the table.

"Of course, once you're past the proof-of-concept stage, I'm sure you'll start using the sturdier materials."

Wild Card!

[littletomato]

Solanaceae's smile froze, slightly. Somehow, they hadn't expected this. It was just stuff, right? Stuff could be fixed. Sure, they'd decided the most expedient method of neutralization had been hooking vines into the joints and disassembling the armor piece-by-piece- but it was only armor!

Ah, crap, they'd screwed up, hadn't they. "Iiiin my defense. The guy inside it was shooting at people. I had to act fast!" Somewhat gingerly, they plucked a length of creeper from where it had wrapped around a gauntlet. This did not, in fact, make the heap of scrap look any more salvageable, but their smile widened in a manner they really hoped was convincing.

Wildcard

[determinationtofist]

Oh, um...

[ Hibiki glances over at the remains of the power armor, which had been thoroughly wrecked almost beyond being recognizable. ]

...sorry?

[ Congratulations, Lex. Your fancy prototype armor stood literally no chance against the teenage girl wearing mysterious high-tech armor of her own... powered by singing. ]

Accelerator | A Certain Magical Index (Light Novels)

[levelshift]

Central City - Investigations

[What's more fun than having your limp body dragged off into the night to be forcibly recruited into an incredibly sketchy organization? Having all of that happen, and then getting thrown into an entirely new universe.

Accelerator is far from pleased about this turn of events; less so when he learns from the poor sucker who retrieves him after the Confluence event that he's been cut off from whatever external network his brain was connected to back in his home world (they don't know the details about that, thank God). To make up for it (read: not leave him helpless in some shitty hospital) they've thrown together a small supercomputer and attached it to his assistance device that's supposed to act as a substitute. He's found it's half-assed at best compared to the Misaka Network, complete junk compared to his original calculation abilities, but at least it lets him get around on his own and still use his esper power. There was some talk about being provided with something more powerful if he were to join something called the Alliance, but he isn't interested. His priority is turning around and going straight home as soon as possible.

That's why he's out in the streets of Central City this afternoon. He hasn't gotten much information about the Confluence aside from the fact that this strange assemblage of forces exists, but to be fair it isn't as if he's started off by breaking into top secret research facilities and going through their computers. He figures jumping straight into the fire will end poorly for everyone, so he's starting smaller: going to the source. AKA, one of the recent areas where 'Starfallen' had shown up. If there's any Confluence residue, energy, whatever-you-want-to-call-it still around, then he might be able to find its vectors.

It's some little park in the city, mostly cement with a few scraggly trees and a fountain that's been emptied out for the winter, and it seems to be a relatively popular spot for people taking lunch. Despite the chill there are a few office workers parked on benches, intent on getting some fresh air before they rush back inside for the warmth of central heating.

Accelerator sticks out a bit, being a kid and all. There's also the white hair and the cane, with the handle portion having an elaborate tonfa-like design. He's leaning on it pretty heavily when he walks. Every so often he stops, reaching up to tap a button on the black choker around his neck. That thing, though strange, could be mistaken for some weird music player, since it has a wire coming out of it and splitting into two similar to wired earphones. Upon closer inspection, though, they don't end in earphones, but travel behind his ears.

Anyways. When he taps the button he then gives a tap of his toe on the ground. Sometimes he follows it up with a tap from his cane. Then he scowls, occasionally makes an irritated clicking noise with his tongue, then hits the button on the choker and walks over to another spot in the park to repeat the process.]

Central City - Midnight Coffee Run

[Accelerator can also be found trudging down the streets of a sketchier part of Central City late at night, well past midnight. For a kid who looks like a light breeze could snap him in half it probably doesn't look like the safest thing to be doing, but doesn't look the least bit nervous.
In fact, he looks downright grumpy.

He walks by dark alleyways, the kind that practically scream Turn Away Now! or even Do Not Pass Go, not even glancing down any of them to see if anything dangerous is going on in them. He really should be - occasional voices bubble up from them, and the conversations sound rough.
Accelerator, meanwhile, is wishing it wouldn't be a waste of battery life to reflect the noise. Tuning people out the old-fashioned way is so much more inconvenient.

It turns out the convenience stores nearest to the Diadem hotel are all closet, forcing him to hunt down the nearest 24 hour shop for his coffee run. For all of Academy City's problems, at least they had 7/11s that catered to night owls. Could he just wait until morning to get his usual dozen cans of crappy beverage? Sure, but doesn't mean he wants to. It doesn't mean he will.

So that's that. This scrawny, scruffy teen is shuffling his way down the street, leaning heavily on his metal cane as he grumbles to himself, something about a pain in the ass and not even any vending machines, fuckin' hell.]

Kaz | Mighty Med

[kazimieras]

CENTRAL CITY

This may be a terrible day for a Confluence, but it's kind of an amazing day to be flown through the air like Kaz is. It's probably for the best that he is painfully unmedicated easily distracted, because he is somewhat torn from his confusion about where he is and how he got here (did the wormhole transporter glitch? he doesn't even remember using it) by the pretty fireworks and the rockin' New Year's party.

Then he is further distracted from that once someone gets knocked over and near-trampled by that woman with the gigantor powers, and he rushes over to check on them, shooing other people out of their space so they can breathe without getting further trampled. "Hey, you okay? You hurting anywhere?"

DIADEM HOTEL

Kidnapping and forced removal from everything and everyone he knows and loves aside, this place is amazing. For a guy used to sharing pretty much everything with way too many siblings, there is so much space here and the free credit card is borderline irresponsible. He has already amassed a sizeable wardrobe and library of comic books and collectibles (those count as research, right?) (those accountants are definitely going to want to have several words with him), though he hasn't, like, tried to buy a jet or anything with it, so he hasn't gone completely out of his mind.

What he has done, however, is head to the pool with a 100% not-hotel-approved pool toy to just absolutely wreck the masses with. Okay, maybe not wreck the masses considering that a not-insignificant number of guests have superpowers, but even most superpowered individuals do not expect to be facing down the supersoaker barrel of a floating tank.

So good luck with that.

An OurPowers Post

hey just checking does anyone recognize the following names and/or phrases. tecton. mighty med. skylar storm. captain atomic. that davenport guy and his bionic kids. microsoft?? i dunno what ur supposed to say to find people from ur own reality.

diadem; I gotta

[faceguy]

Okay, Leo has to admit: that pool tank? Pretty rad.

Getting splashed by the tank when he's just trying to snooze in an inner tube? Less rad. And it most definitely calls for revenge.

So he bails off his inner tube and into the water. His plan? Get underneath this thing and flip it. He may be humming the Jaws theme to himself as he does.

Better watch out.

Anon

[mostdangerousbird]

Captain Atom?

CENTRAL

[bombshelled]

This is what Lana gets for trying to still be a hero when the whole world is telling her she's not allowed to unless she joins their fucked up guild. This is what she gets for running towards danger, instead of away from it. Knocked onto her ass by a fucking huge ass woman.

Her head is ringing, but she blinks her eyes back into focus, vaguely aware that someone is fussing over her.

"'m fine... I'll be alright."

She tries to push herself up, but winces when something in her arm twinges in a way that's probably not good...

"Fucking hell!"

Link || The Legend of Zelda: Twilght Princess || OTA

[daybroken]

01. Diadem Hotel - Central City

Link's had tangential contact with luxury before, back at that absurdly expensive shop in Hyrule Castle Town before Malo had taken up ownership. The lavish, spotless décor had been impressive, but had come hand in hand with an unspoken code of conduct that left Link feeling scrutinized and judged. Frankly, considering the average quality of the items they'd sold, it felt like they'd wanted to be insular just for the sake of it.

He'd caught glimpses of luxury in other areas, too — There were echoes of what once had been in the dilapidated ruins on Snowpeak, and in the shell of what Hyrule Castle had become after Ganondorf's takeover.

Here, surrounded by the extravagance of the Diadem Hotel, Link very much feels like he did back in that snooty shop. He's certain the — Servants? Valets? Link doesn't actually know the right word, but whatever their title, he's certain he can feel their eyes on him for tracking dirt into their establishment.

Still, he'd been invited, and apparently has a free stay for some time. With that in mind, Link's at the hotel bar, nursing a glass of... ale? Maybe? The array of choices the barkeep had offered had been a little overwhelming, and eventually he'd just set a glass in front of Link and gone about his business.

So here sits Link at the Hotel Diadem bar, all garbed up in green with a sword on his back.

-

02. Sunset Falls - Suburbs (Wolf Link)

When Link realized he could still transform into a wolf without Midna's help, it was a surprise, to say the least.

A surprise, but certainly not an unwelcome one.

Back when Zant and Ganondorf had still been a threat, changing into a wolf had been an inconvenience, and then a tool; Link had never really had time to try doing it as recreation. But with no great evil to stop and no Hyrule to save, and feeling out of place even as his normal Hylian self, might as well try exploring a bit as an animal, as well.

The outskirts of Sunset Falls was made up of alternating patches of settlements and sparsely-wooded areas — suburbs, someone had called them — and as Link darted through them, he felt a rush of freedom he hadn't felt in so long.

It isn't quite the same as being on Epona's back galloping across the vast expanse of Hyrule field, but what he lacks in speed he makes up for in awareness. With every sound, sight, and smell heightened, Link can see the world mapped out before him in a way he never had before. With no mission to drive him forward, no responsibilities, he can just... be, and exist within the world as it is.

Link reaches the edge of this particular woods, ending in a clean line, looking down over a hill that leads to a row of buildings. He gazes out at this unfamiliar world — not the first one he's visited, and certainly not the strangest, but it's foreign to him nonetheless. He pads out of the trees, taking in the sounds and smells, cautiously keeping to the forest's edge. He doesn't want to spook the locals, after all.

03. Wildcard? Contact me on Plurk at thepreciousthing if you wanna do something else!

2

[determinationtofist]

[ Admittedly, these particular suburbs have been a guilty pleasure for Hibiki to run through in her own wolf form. She figured she'd come here for that same secret indulgence today, trekking a little ways into the forest before eventually shifting forms... except it was a little different today.

As she walked through the forest in her normal form, her nose twitches and carefreeness turns to curiosity. There's a new, distinct smell in the forest today.

She thinks for a moment, weighing her options... though of course, what wins out is her curiosity. In a brief instant and flash of fur, the form of Hibiki is replaced with a chestnut-colored wolf. Unlike during full moons, her size is much more akin to a regular-sized wolf... though she could probably grow bigger if she tried.

Running through the forest is second-nature at this point, especially in this particular area, where she's familiar with the surroundings. She moves swiftly, moving through the trees with little hesitation and tracking the new presence inside the forest... something bigger than what commonly roams here, aside from Hibiki herself of course. ]

Sunset Falls

[silencespeaksvolumes]

If there's one word Link would use to describe this strange world, it's loud. Or maybe crowded? It's just too much. He doesn't know what to do with all these people and buildings and machines. Seeking out a quiet place in the woods wasn't even a decision-- it was pure instinct. He climbed high in the trees where he's safe from monsters and strangers alike.

The wolf is unexpected. He doesn't think he's ever seen a wolf on its own before. How strange that it doesn't have a pack.

And then there's this... feeling he got when he first saw it. This weird sensation, almost recognition. It's different from the way it felt to recover his memories. It's closer to the way the grip of the Master Sword sword sits in his hand. There's a... hum. A vibration between them that just seems to match. He's never felt it with anything else before, except maybe Zelda in those few moments he saw her use her powers.

But this wolf seems to ring with that same note.

The first thing he did when he got out out of the city and to the woods was hunt for food. He has a small game bird tied to his belt. He was going to cook it but...

Instead he tosses it to the forest floor some ways away from the tree he's perched in. An offering, of sorts, to the beast that feels more familiar than anything else in this place.