TEST DRIVE MEME: MAY EDITION

[metamods]

TEST DRIVE MEME

A Confluence, capitalized, is the converging of one or more supernatural forces. Typically, a Confluence only occurs in one place at any given time. Typically.

These are not typical times.

Most of the Starfallen will arrive in Excelsior, Washington, slipping from the sky one by one, needing to be helped as they come floating down. To many citizens in Excelsior – individuals who are far from fond of metahumans – their arrival is a sign of bad things to come. It’s always a sign of bad things to come. This time, however, the bad things don’t come in the typical sequence. Instead, they’re dealing with a problem when the Starfallen begin to unwittingly arrive. What’s that problem? Plants with a rather problematic taste for flesh.

While Excelsior is hoping for spring to actually stick on the horizon, they’re warding off plants left and right. At least none of the plants seem to be able to spit fire – uh, yet?

In the midwestern part of the country, a huge barrage of rain has begun to settle over the land. Rain like this isn’t normal. Stormfronts usually keep moving forward, but this isn’t. And while rain isn’t a bad thing, this rain … is a deluge. A flood upon floods. Some Starfallen individuals will be showing up in the middle of this, arriving in both Little Love and Central City. Hope they can keep their heads above water!

Making matters worse is that everything seems a bit – planned? No, that’s not the right word. Like it’s all happened before. Or happening again. People all over are definitely noticing a strange uptick in déjà vu. Most worrying is how it seems to be happening everywhere.

EXCELSIOR

Ah, Excelsior – the city that doesn’t ask “why” something should be explored, but how quickly it can be explored. If only someone there had developed a swift measure to deal with a sudden influx of killer plants! The good news is that these plants haven’t killed anyone – not yet, anyway – but there is all the time in the world for that to change.

As the Starfallen arrive, they’re unlikely to notice the plants, and instead will see technological marvels all around them. Although Excelsior isn’t fond of Starfallen, they like the idea of welcoming them and getting them the hell out as quickly as possible. This philosophy results in all of the Starfallen being guided down to the ground, with further instructions awaiting them once they’re on two feet. (Or four. No one’s judging!) But once they land, they’re likely to notice that things aren’t the way they’re meant to be.

After all, someone in Excelsior failed to ask “why it’s bad to create an incredibly unlikely strain of plants that is genetically inspired by snapdragons, the flowers from those plumber games, and piranhas,” and instead went ahead with “how quickly can I do it?” Their experiment proved to be far too successful, aided by cutting-edge bioengineering technology.

Even though all Starfallen are encouraged to depart for the Midwest after they receive their teleportation devices, it’s apparent that the people of Excelsior need help. Right now, their chilly reception can easily be written off as a symptom of what’s happening. Dealing with newcomers at a time like this? Preposterous! People are injured from wild, flesh-eating plants. Obviously!

So, kind Starfallen – whether you’ve just arrived or came by when you heard word of the Confluence of trouble – will you give these dour folk the hand they so desperately need?

THE MIDWEST

Elsewhere, both Little Love and Central City are experiencing a flood of problems. Most of the problems are the result of the flood. While Little Love is known to be the quieter of the cities in this Confluence-ridden world, it finds itself dealing with a torrential downpour that it’s never seen before. Meteorologists quickly note that this is unnatural. All the way from Kansas to Illinois to Michigan there is rain, rain for as far as the eye can see. Flood warnings have no end in sight, and the people in these cities have asked for help from outside. If this rain doesn’t stop, all summer crops will be at risk!

The source of these problems? A Confluence. More specifically: a five-year-old girl who was born in Little Love just got news that her father died in an accident. Combine that with the incoming Confluence and the girl unwittingly unleashed her sadness upon the land.

Anyone investigating would learn that the rain began in Little Love, right before it began to spread upward and outward from the little town. Soon, Kansas, and then the entire Midwest, would feel the impact of her grief. Even when she sleeps, it doesn’t go away – her pain is a constant, after all. Finding her is key. No one can truly prevent a child’s grief, but perhaps they can help her realize her impact on the world and get her newly-arrived power under control.

DIADEM HOTEL

Whether you’ve gone to investigate the rather moist trouble or you’re just looking for some shut-eye, you’ve got a place that’s waiting for you. Need to clean up some plant-induced wounds? It’s time to hit the LUXURY HOTEL to ease any concerns.

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 for just a small taste. 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 outlet shops 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 a film called BARKS OF THE DEAD, a story about a zombified dog who protects a small family during the zombie apocalypse. Despite its taste for other dogs’ brains, this dog is fiercely loyal and will do anything for its owners.

EVERYWHERE: DÉJÀ VU

Less obvious and more innocuous are the strange stints of déjà vu all over. At first, it might seem like it’s a familiar thing you’ve seen before, but then you’re certain that you’ve ordered those chicken tenders before. Wait, you haven’t even been to this city before, much less this restaurant.

The feeling of déjà vu isn’t just that. Whole days will begin to feel like they’re repeating – surely they’ve solved that rain problem? Or the plant problem? Didn’t you hear that it happened?

Anyone keen to take notes might want to – assuming you haven’t just gotten that you did and they’ve been lost to time.

CLIFF NOTES.

➢ New arrivals will be appearing in Excelsior, Little Love, or Central City – with the bulk of them arriving in Excelsior. Their arrival will be expected and handled by a number of odd pieces of technology that help them as they fall from the sky itself. None of the locals will be happy to see the arrivals, but they’ll be so frazzled that they won’t be able to give them their usual chilly welcome. Vicious plants are on the loose and it’s not a meta’s fault. This might be meaningless to newcomers, but anyone who’s old hat at this will know that Excelsior can cause its own problems just fine, thank you.

➢ Arrivals who land in Little Love or Central City will arrive to a lot of rain. This much rainfall can impact the climate, daily life, crops – you name it. Arrivals will also be very, very soggy. If they’d like, they can ignore the trouble in favor of getting answers or heading to the hotel. No one’s obligated to lend a hand.

➢ 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.

➢ As for the time stuff, feel free to treat it as a wobbly time event! Mess with memories, get a character caught in the same day, or even just make someone feel like they’ve suddenly acquired precognition as a power. The sky’s the limit!

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.

Comments

bruce wayne/batman ( the batman )

[batsymbol]

𝐄𝐗𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐑. (𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐧)

( in the two years now that he's donned the cape and cowl through the streets of gotham, he's dealt with a lot of things — a lot of criminals now locked up behind iron doors. flesh-eating plants? not anything he'd had crossed off his ever-growing list of things encountered but he's sure going to add it. if this were gotham, that is.

like gotham, he sticks to the shadows after an unexpected scuffle, hand pressed to a particular spot at his side. in his attempts to intervene, he's become one of the injured and, as expected, he walks it off. wincing the entire way.

around a building, he presses his shoulder against the brick wall of it, soft gruff of a laugh just barely there on his lips after a hiss as the thought of making the suit plant proof comes to mind. again, he tries for alfred on his suit's comm as he fingers the bite, assessing the depth and severity of it, but like always, there's no response and he's alone here.

or at least, he thought he was.

injured or not, the swiftness in which he spins from the wall, armed with his gauntlets up is not to be taken lightly and unless you make a fast case for yourself, you might just end up with a grappling hook in your shoulder. )

𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐌 𝐇𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐋. (𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐞)

( patched up, he eyes the card he'd been given, slowly turning it between his fingers on his descent in the elevator. he needs things — a few things for that matter, and it's why he's headed towards the shops with this card.

the clothes he'd manage to acquire are baggy — a couple sizes too big for him, but he doesn't seem all that bothered. greasepaint in the shade of black messily giving him a case of raccoon eyes, he can feel the stares on him but, for the most part, ignores them as he goes about his business. maybe there's some micellar water here.

he's in the middle of grabbing a couple things when he sighs, a glance out of the corner of his eye before going back to what he was doing. )

If you take a picture it'll last longer.

( it's mumbled — soft. bruce not even bothering to look over as he says it. )

𝐄𝐓𝐂.

( wildcards and the like. if you're batfam or batfam friendly and want to catch bats here brooding on a rooftop, honestly go for it. bruce comes from about early to mid-film point so he's still very much Like He Is but that's what having him around others will help with eventually. feel free to pm if you want to discuss anything or set up something else. i'm open to a lot of things. also if prose is more your style, feel free to switch it up and i'll match. sorry for the lack of a text prompt but bruce is gonna bruce. 🤷 )

excelsior.

[reneger]

( of course, it's batman. it's always batman, isn't it? at some point or another, some asshole wearing stupid bat ears is going to pop up, brooding on rooftops and communicating fully in grunts and hums.

jason isn't surprised when he spots the suit, nor surprised when it looks different from what he's used to--the multiverse has dragged in weirder shit, after all, and he's seen bruce go through several different iterations of the batsuit. he watches batman stumble against the brick building from up above, brown leather jacket over the black bodysuit lined in with red that he's been fucking around in since dropping from the sky - there's two red hoods, and it sure would be unfortunate if he fucked everything up for himself by wandering the streets in near-identical gear, wouldn't it?

doesn't matter. he waits, until bats presses his shoulder against the wall, until it looks like his guard may have lowered even a fraction, and--jumps off the roof. keeps his guns in their thigh holsters, safety still flicked on. this isn't a fight, this is a greeting.

even if he does still unsheathe a smatchet, which he's holding up against his own shoulder. vaguely threatening, but not nearly as much as he could be. )

Hey, B. ( the domino mask leaves his face mostly exposed, and he doesn't bother with the voice modulator. keeps the smarmy lilt to his tone and matching grin instead, it's good enough. if he knows, he knows. if he doesn't, maybe jason can have some fun before the rest of the crew comes in to ruin it. ) Fancy meeting you here. Been 'round long?

[batsymbol]

( B. he's been called a lot of things. myth, man, bat, the bat, vigilante, freak, batman. but B... that's almost said with a sort of familiarity to it. a familiarity that's very much one-sided for the moment.

the fists are kept up, cape billowing at his feet from the gentle breeze that passes through. he doesn't let his eyes off the other — doesn't take the chance to and ignores the way his injury throbs at his side while maintaining that hard stare to the other across from him. he needs to be careful here. this isn't gotham and he doesn't have access to his usual resources if something goes awry. he sort of hates it. )

Who's asking?

( no voice modulator here. just a gruff voice with an ever-so-slight tilt of his head. )

[reneger]

( who's asking. perfect, that's exactly the response he was hoping for. he likes being an unknown. also: makes it way more fun to fuck with bruce. maybe bruce? he's met another kid in the batsuit before, but this guy's way less sassy. and obviously not dick.

he's going with bruce. if it's not bruce, it's fine. anyone who decides it's a good idea to walk around as batman in the dark clearly deserves being fucked with. jason taps the knife against his shoulder, before he's lowering it to gesture down to himself. tips his head in the opposite direction that bats had with a raised brow. the grin spreads wider.

he's been needing something to take out his frustrations on for forever. this is perfect. )

Who's it look like to you? 'cause it looks to me like we're just two assholes, standing in an alley, geared up to the nines. An' damn would I love to wipe the floor with your face, but it feels like it just wouldn't be fair at this point, would it? 'm just fine, and you're -- ( tipping his head the other way, so he can look bats up and down. ) what'd you break this time? A rib?

[batsymbol]

( jaw tight, stare— glare still hard, knuckles white beneath the gloves, hackles up. there's some part of him that wants to. that relentless part of him unwilling to let criminals walk away from him when they cross his path on a bad night, like the way he'd doled it out on penguin's thugs at the iceberg lounge. but through that anger he can hear alfred as a sliver of conscience and so while he doesn't necessarily relent, he doesn't advance either. )

You Starfallen?

( bruce not answering a question and instead asking one of his own? must be a day that ends in y. )

Wildcard because rooftop brooding is what BatFam do best

[robintohood]

[The suit's different and maybe even a little rougher than what Jason's seen before but there's no mistaking the cape and pointy ears. A Batman is here. Which Batman it is and how familiar he is with the flock have yet to be determined. So for Jason, this is the perfect time to have some fun with it before his brothers ruin it.

It's evening and Jason's dressed in his Red Hood armor and brown biker jacket. He's lurking on a dark rooftop two buildings behind from where Bruce is brooding. With his helmet's night vision on, Jason then jumps and parkours his way to the next rooftop. No grapple gun for now as the noise it makes might give away his position too early. He wants to test out how fast this Batman can detect him]

🦇

[batsymbol]

( this may not be gotham, but the rooftops are similar enough.

he needs a better view of this place — needs to figure out what he's going to do. from the looks of it, he's not the only one to be unexpectedly dropped into wherever without so much as an rsvp handed out beforehand. if it had been, he'd likely would have declined, so.

the fact that he's out of his element here — that he's alone and away from resources he doesn't have here is frustrating and troubles him in ways he's not letting himself entirely feel at the moment. he needs to figure this out — needs to find some sort of way.

two years he's been at this now and in that two years, he's trained a lot — trained with alfred and had his ass handed to him more than once early on. in no way is he The Batman so many will come to know and fear, but he does know a thing or two.

standing there near the edge, cape billowing around him, he doesn't bother to look up. )

Don't.

( it's the only warning he's going to give. )

[robintohood]

[Jason pauses when he hears Bruce. He then softly chuckles. Jason would've been disappointed if he had managed to get the jump on Batman this easily]

Not bad. How long have you been hanging around?

[Jason doesn't bother to hide his accent. If this really is Bruce or at least another Gothamite, the man should recognize it. It's a hint while Jason tries to work out what this Bruce is like]

Amazing how easy it is to sniff out someone just from how they brood.

[Keep talking. Be annoying. It can be just as valuable of a skill as knowing how to punch someone. Something will slip]

[batsymbol]

( even when the jig is up, he still doesn't turn to face him. almost coming off as lost in thought, he stares down to the city below. this unfamiliar city where he doesn't know a single person... yet some seem to know [of] him.

this one, he figures, is one of them, too. )

Nice night for a walk.

( or, rooftop jumping, in their case. )

[Diadem Hotel]

[forceforlight]

[If he'd actually looked, Bruce would realize that the one staring was actually fairly close to the ground: a grey and white pittie with only three legs. They walk over, giving Bruce's shoes a good sniff.]

[It gets the attention of the man holding the leash: on the taller side, handsome, with windswept black hair. He hums slightly, reaching down to scoop the puppy up.]

Haley, come on. You can't just go wandering up to folks. It's not polite. [He gives the man a smile.] Sorry about that. She's just friendly.

[And this new guy is very familiar, somehow. Even with the smeared grease paint.] You...uh. Got a little. Something. On your face.

[batsymbol]

( oh. he hadn't expected to come across an animal, which... he doesn't know why. maybe it just hadn't come to mind with everything he's been swept up in since finding himself here. for a long moment, he stares to the dog in silence before lifting his gaze to look to the young man there, reminding him of someone much younger, a slow turn away. )

Yeah.

( as before, it's soft in how he says it. )

Dogs allowed here?

[forceforlight]

Well, they haven't thrown her out yet. I'm not sure if they could.

[There's something so, so familiar about the guy. Dick crouches, putting Haley down.]

I mean, she came with me. Kind of rude if they...

[Which is when he looks up. And blinks. And makes a choked sound that might be recognition.]

[Could just be a strangled sound of pain because Haley's tail is smacking him in the shins.]

Uh. Sorry. Kinda rude if they were to try to make me leave her behind.

wildcard

[mostdangerousbird]

[ Bruce can avoid texting all he wants; Rook, formerly Robin and temporarily Red Robin, is going to alternate tailing him and trying to hack any phones or comms on his person until he gets attention. ]

B.

B.

B you know I’m not going to stop.

Are you receiving these?

Hi Dad.

🦆

I’ll turn this grappling hook around.

I’ll turn the phone over to KF.

[batsymbol]

( why are [his] kids the way they are? something he's going to wonder a great many times some day.

rather than reply, he ignores the pings that come through the device, moving from rooftop to rooftop until he lands on a particularly tall one, tucked away in the shadows, cape wrapped around him almost. it's not that he's hiding. he's just... taking a second.

that's when he'll pull the device out — when he's stare at the screen in complete and utter confusion because... what? )

[mostdangerousbird]

[ There’s a common denominator that the kids will point out to varying degrees depending on their mood.

(It’s Bruce.)

Tim will stop on the fire escape of the sixth floor walk up just past the building Batman seemed to stop on. He’s come to the conclusion that this isn’t the correct Batman. He wouldn’t have gotten off this many messages if it was. That’s not going to be easy to overcome. ]

The silence isn’t any less deafening from a distance.

[arach_kid]

Whoa, buddy, let's hold off on the heavy artillery.

[Pete, dressed as nearly always in his Spider-Boy suit, is standing on the wall a few feet above Bruce. Straight out, like gravity is pulling him towards it instead of the ground.]

You okay?

[batsymbol]

( well there's something you don't see every day.

gauntlets still raised, he eyes the... kid? with suspicion. still on edge. )

Fine.

( a lie because he's not. but he does go and push the tip of his grapple back inside his gauntlet with his finger. )

[arach_kid]

Fine as in actually fine or fine as in "I got injured but I'm too deep into my whole dark avenger of the night schtick to admit it," fine?

[At 23, Pete had been doing this long enough to know it was the second.]

meet the baby, batman

[overlyprecocious]

[It's pretty clear from the start that this isn't his Batman, because the outfit is a dead giveaway. It doesn't match any of the variants Tim's aware of his Bruce having. The silhouette's a bit off, too, like he's not quite as bulked up as Tim is used to.

It's also pretty clear he's a Batman, though. And that means it's Robin's job to help.

It's pretty clear he's injured, which is worrying. It's also kind of worrying that he reacts defensively to Tim's presence, because even if he's not the Robin this Bruce is expecting, he's still pretty clearly a Robin.]

Batman? How - how long have you been here?

all his kids are going to age him here

[batsymbol]

( the gauntlets are raised but this is... a kid. clearly. while he's not about to completely let his guard down, he also allows himself to relent a little. at least in the way he eyes him behind the cowl.

keeping that gaze fixed on him, when he speaks, it's gruff. )

Who's asking?

he's going to have so many trackers from his kids

[overlyprecocious]

It's Robin.

[He takes a step closer, doing his best to project Not A Threat, which is really weird because. It's Batman. This kind of situation really should only be happening when there's fear gas or some other significant form of psychoactive drugging.]

- You don't have a Robin, do you.

diadem, sorry

[antihistamine]

[ Lottie has only just arrived here, and doesn't quite understand what's going on. Is it a sponsored blogger trip she can't leave? In the midwest? Many things about this do not make sense. But at least there's retail therapy, right?

Anyway, if she's going to be stuck here a while, Lottie wants to find the cool people, so of course she's scoping out the lobby. That's when she sees Bruce, with his terrible clothes and sloppy eye makeup. She doesn't mean to stare, but she can't even figure out what he was going for. Is it like, a Warped Tour throwback? Lottie's too young to remember the Warped Tour, so that can't be it. But then he says something. ]

You want to take a picture? [ So, he kind of mumbled, but that must have been what he said. Does he recognize her? Does she have fans here? Maybe this place isn't as bad as Lottie thought.

She already has a phone, that was the first thing she bought, and she approaches him to take a selfie. Always willing to help out a fan! Except… oh no. That makeup. It's even worse up close! She can't do it.]

Here.

[ She reaches into her bag and pulls out a makeup wipe. Always good to have for emergencies! She attempts to hand it to Bruce. ] It looks like you got, uh, it ran a little?

[batsymbol]

( he hadn't really thought she'd come over like she has — hadn't thought she'd offer any sort of help with the raccoon eyes he's sporting currently; he knows he is but can't be bothered to do much about it until he gets some things. here he figured he'd just be stared at — left alone for the most part.

doesn't seem to be the case with her.

he stares to her. quiet. glancing to the wipe she holds out for him before he slowly looks back to the things he'd been eyeing. )

Yeah.

( that it's a bit of a mess. )

Could be worse.

[antihistamine]

[ Is that true, weird emo guy? Is that really true? ]

But it could also be better. You know?

[ Maybe he needs help. She should think of something inspirational, but all that comes to mind is instagram captions about athleisure. So, still holding the makeup wipe, and with a tone of great compassion, she says: ] Has anyone ever told you about skin care routines?

excelsior. this is just for fun.

[expunge]

( it isn't a cowl he knows, but the body language is eerily similar. he knows, by know. has been reading up, following local news, gathering data on this city, this place, and it doesn't take a genius to learn that this, others who are the same but not quite showing up is - expected behavior.

the same but not quite is close enough as far as he is concerned. they're all the same, every last one of them. every cape he's ever known, and there is no need for spending time researching this specific hobbling bat. hobbling makes it too easy; he's weakened, and taking him out while he's limping would be a coward's move, and he is no coward. showing his hand without a plan also isn't quite ideal, but he's angry. it simmers low in his gut, chokes it's way up through his throat almost like a sob, and that's motivation enough for him to opt to play outside the lines of his own rules, just this one. just for a little while.

just enough to see.

the slits on his helmet over where his eyes are light up bright blue as he steps out from behind the corner batman is approaching, raises one of his desert eagle guns up to point the barrel straight for batman's forehead. if he looks close enough, he may see the hud working.

when he speaks, his voice is hidden behind a heavy voice modulator. leaves him sounding more robot than anything, even if it still manages to keep the air of contempt. )

Batman.