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?"

[faceguy]

Oh whoa, they went down hard - Leo is about to extend a hand, but then they're back on their feet and looking completely unfazed about the entire experience.

The conversation is turned back on Leo faster than he can blink.

"I'm not the one that just got knocked over," he points out. "But yeah, I'm totally fine. Just trying to find the... sword store."

Which is a thing he didn't even know existed, but apparently here in Central City it does. Even anti-Meta sentiment can't stop capitalism, he supposes.

[littletomato]

"Sword- they have a store that only sells swords?" This, to their ears, sounded like it was much more interesting than a dozen neon-outlined signs and storefronts selling endless clothes in nowhere near enough colors for their tastes. "Honestly, I was looking for some basic supplies, but whatever you're doing sounds way more interesting. Are you like a knight or a pirate or something, or do you suddenly find yourself with sword-related superpowers? Because apparently that's a thing that happens around here, which is insane."

[faceguy]

That was a lot of subjects at once, but Leo has three very excitable brothers so he manages to keep up.

"Okay, first of all, I'm a ninja, not a knight or a pirate." Not that he looks super ninja-esque at the moment, but still. Respect the skills! "And no, no new superpowers. I just lost a sword and need a new one."

There's more to it than that, but does Leo feel like explaining his tragic backstory to some rando? No.

"But I'm guessing from this barrage of questions that you have found yourself with some new superpowers." Wait, maybe they shouldn't be talking about this just... in the open.

[littletomato]

"Which is crazy, right? If you'd told me a week ago I was gonna get full-on isekai'd I'd have... probably not dismissed you out of hand, actually, my life's been weird- but ninjas! See, this is what I'm talking about. I can't even be upset- this? Far too cool. It's like every dumb old cartoon I watched a thousand times as a kid, only real- and," they beamed, with only a hint of pride, added, "I can make plants grow at frankly ridiculous speeds. However I want! Mostly. Working the kinks out on that one, but still! Badass."

[faceguy]

People are starting to look at them now.

"Yeah, you're right, that's all totally awesome, but also... let's..."

Don't mind if he just reaches out to put a hand on their back and scoot them into a more secluded part of the shopping center. Or, if they dodge that, he'll just frantically indicate that they should move.

[littletomato]

Fortunately, they were... apparently perfectly happy to be guided out of the way. The people staring, though- they weren't oblivious. And, for a moment, as they glanced to the side, meeting one or two of those stares themself, the smile... faltered, just slightly. "Ah, crap. I'm doing the thing again, aren't I? Sorry, I get excited around new people and there's like a whole city full of about half a million of them- am I being a pest?"

[faceguy]

Once they're out of the way, Leo leans against a wall, his shell making a muffled thump when he connects with the plaster. The sound is mostly muted by his hoodie, though. If anyone's still looking their way, he hopes a quick glare gets them to move along.

"A pest? Nah. People just get jealous when you mention having powers in front of them."

It's not really jealousy so much as it is mindless Meta animosity, but he's not here to scare this person.

"Plant powers, though? Hey, that's pretty cool."

[littletomato]

Pause. "What, they don't give powers to everyone? That's kind of lame. But I guess I can understand why people would be upset over that. But yeah, the lady at the Alliance called it 'florakinesis', though I've noticed it also affects fungi so I think that might also cover mycokinesis- but I'm rambling. Hi! I'm Sol, you?"

[faceguy]

He doubts they have any way of controlling who gets powers and who doesn't - after all, shouldn't Leo have gotten some super cool new powers after he got dropped out of the sky, instead of having his powers stop working properly? He thinks so.

But whatever.

"Leonardo. But you can call me Leo." Or they can pick some other nickname - Leo is cool with whatever (mostly).

"You said you were looking for supplies?"

[littletomato]

"Leonardo. Or Leo. Got it. I mean my name is Solanaceae, but nobody calls me that except my mom when she's mad- so just Sol." They smiled, glancing around at the myriad stores. "But yeah, honestly I was just looking for like. Clothes and necessities and stuff, something to start with because this is basically all I have at the moment- though now I think about it, I might have to apply my brain to the creation of a costumed identity. Buuuut that can come when I haven't been stuck in the same outfit for three days in a row."

[faceguy]

Yeah, he gets that; his dad usually only calls him "Leonardo" when he's mad, too.

"Three days in a row?" Not that Leo can really judge, since when he's not actively dressing for something he also wears the same stuff all the time (to be fair, he's a turtle, so he doesn't wear much), but he knows for humans that's a long time. "Sounds like you need a classic clothes-trying-on montage."

There are plenty of stores here that are perfect for that.

[littletomato]

"Counting the day before I got here, yesterday which was an entire thing, and today... Yeah..." They grimaced. There hadn't really been time to buy clothes. "I am, however, one hundred percent down for a montage- and also I don't know anybody here and Iiiii've never been around this many people before and would not say no to a friend who knows how any of this works..."

[faceguy]

"Oh, well, if you're looking for someone who knows how all this works, I may not be the best person." A good-natured shrug. "But if you're looking for someone who can help you find clothes and hype you up, I am great at that."

Which is to say, yes, he can help!

"There's a department store this way and that's probably a good place to start. Vamos!"