metamemes | TEST DRIVE MEME: MAY EDITION

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TEST DRIVE MEME: MAY EDITION

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[And Dick follows, because he doesn't know where he's headed. But he does look up and around, keeping an eye out for surveillance. Which the hotel has in abundance, but it's always good to remind yourself where they're at.]

[But that's also one reason why he doesn't say anything more until they're at the room.]

( keeping quiet the few more steps it takes to his room, he, too, eyes the surveillance he's noticed since his arrival here, making it as nonchalant as he can. when he's at the door, he takes a second to unlock it, pushes it open, and steps inside. if dick were looking for it, no. there's no sign of his bat suit.

as he moves into the room, he gently sets the bag down on a table and pulls out a roll of bandages, slowly opening them up. when he speaks, he's not looking up to dick. )

You're still here.

[There was usually no sign of the Nightwing suit, either, but Dick has better ways of hiding that than most.]

[He glances around the room, reaching up quickly to run his fingers over the lintel. No dust, so he's not the only one who has checked. Not a surprise.]

[He lets Haley down, the puppy going immediately to settle under the table by the window. Same place she used to go when he lived in the hotel as well.]

Well, we don't really get a choice about coming or going. [Pause.] Well, you can. Sometimes. But that seems to be something you have to join the Guilds in order to access. And even then, it's only temporary before you get pulled back here.

[All while letting his eyes run over the room. Because Bruce has been out for an hour and Dick doesn't trust the Guilds. Especially not the Alliance.

If you mean 'still here with you', then I'm hoping to skip the whole 'dead cat' thing and skip straight to the resurrection.

( it's the dead cat comment that gets him to actually look up and over to him and, when he does, there's something there in his eyes. something... concern. that's definitely what it is. wrapped in a blanket of curiosity. confusion. )

Dead cat?

( it's obvious there's someone his mind immediately leapt to. )

[Cats with concern usually means Selina. Interesting. Noted. Filed away.]

"Curiosity killed the cat. Satisfaction brought it back." [Dick's voice is just the right side of sing-song for the nursery rhyme.] Though cats have never been in my repertoire. I've always been more for flying.

[He glances to Haley, who has curled up for the moment for a nap.] Also more of a dog person, I guess. Though I'm kinda fond of big cats. And elephants, but that all goes back to the circus stuff again.

( the fact that he'd been so concerned is... something. a something he'll probably think about later when he's finally laying in bed trying to sleep.

whenever that is.

with the explanation given, he eyes dick for a second longer before he picks up the bandages and micellar water. )

I'm not a fan of clowns.

( in regards to the circus, he means. though, of course, that has an entirely different meaning to bruce.

stepping into the bathroom, he leaves the door open, bandages and micellar water set down there the sink. taking a moment, he drags a hand down over his face, sighs. shirt off, dropped to the floor, he's left standing there with the bandages on his side and the one on his chest, eyeing them a bit, needing to change them. first things first though, turning the water on, he goes about washing off his face. the whole point of his trip out. mostly. )

Nobody in Gotham likes clowns. That and the substandard mental health care system are universal constants there.

[Which may not be ENTIRELY true, but it's close enough that Dick doesn't feel bad saying it.]

[Given that the door to the bathroom is left open, Bruce obviously isn't going to need to do anything too private. So Dick does lean a bit to get a slightly better idea of just how young this Bruce is...]

[...and sees the bandages. And while it's not impossible that he could still be treating wounds from before he arrived in this world, it still makes Dick sigh.]

Please tell me you didn't get those in Central?

[Aka: which brother is he going to have to bend the ear of about those injuries? (It's Jason, more than likely. But which Jason is the question.)]

( with most of the greasepaint off, he stares at himself in the mirror, gaze lingering on dick there leaning in some. a glance down to the black circling in the bottom of the sink before it disappears, he reaches over for a hand towel, wiping at his face. )

Excelsior. Ran into a few hungry plants.

( to say the least.

with the water still running there in the sink and bringing up a bit of steam, he looks back into the mirror then. back at dick. )

Jason patched me up.

( a namedrop he's curious about. )

Ah. I'd heard something was happening up there.

[It's just rougher to get from Central to Excelsior these days.]

[The name is a surprise and Dick keeps himself from reacting by...shutting down his expression. It works better when he has a mask on, honestly, but it's still obvious the name means something to him.]

[He lets it drop after a moment and shakes his head.]

I wouldn't have expected that to be his first reaction, honestly.

( well, to be fair.. )

It was after he tried to stab me.

( after he'd saved jason from a creeping flesh-eating plant behind. which only seemed to anger him more, but. given the things he'd told him during their... interaction with one another, it all seems... complicated.

regardless, the name means something to dick — he'd seen it in the mirror and he makes a mental note of that. again, things to think about more in depth later.

deciding to just get on with it, he starts the process of removing the bandages, pressing a wet towel to the wounds — bitemarks — in an attempt to clean them a bit before putting on new dressing. nothing's infected. just sore at this point. )

[That's met with a sigh.]

No, that tracks.

[He watches Bruce for a moment before he straightens.]

Do you want a hand there? Not that I don't think you can tend it yourself, but some things are easier if you have somebody else to help.

[Which would, obviously, be Alfred back home. Who would probably spend most of the time trying not to tell Bruce how he felt about having to stitch up his son.]

Especially when movement is already curtailed thanks to the injuries.

( with only the faintest lift of his gaze to the mirror, he goes back to changing the dressing. )

I'm fine.

( words dick has more than likely heard a number of times from bruce wayne in the time he's known the man. this one right here is just... younger. both in terms of age and being batman.

which, he recalls jason mentioning how if he left him to die, nightwing would be angry with him and he wonders, as he looks to dick there in the mirror, if this is the nightwing jason was talking about. given the trailing along after him, the reaction to jason's name, and the methods in which jason had gone about introducing himself, it's not too farfetched. )

Not wanting to take a shot yourself?

( fight him, try and stab him, toss misguided anger at him. )

[Dick leans against the doorjamb of the bathroom, crossing his arms. But the crossed arms are held loose. More that he needs to have something to do with his hands rather than trying to close himself off.]

Looks like you've had enough shots taken at you.

[Then he gets a half smile on his face.]

B and I have our issues. And I'm not going to say that we've never ended up throwing punches at each other. [Bruce more often, honestly.] But you're not him. You're...

[He frowns, looking up a moment as he tries to figure out the wording he wants.]

You're a kid. Comparatively. I don't know how long you've been doing the crime fighting thing, but I feel pretty confident in saying that you haven't been doing it even as long as B had when we met in my world. And I've been doing this...a while. [Don't mention he started at 9 years old. That's never a good look.] I try not to direct my anger at people who don't deserve it. It doesn't always go well, but as long as there's some muggers about, it makes it easier.

( there's something akin to a scoff on his lips when dick goes and calls him a kid, ever-so-faint shake of his head to follow, eyes fixed on the dressing still. )

Lucky me.

( it's soft, mumbled a little, but still sarcastic all the same.

sigh on his lips now, he turns the water off, sets the remaining bandages aside, and reaches for his shirt there he'd dropped off, taking it with him as he takes his leave from the bathroom, brushing past dick as he does. )

I said comparatively!

[Dick moves out of the way as Bruce walks past, not trying to avoid the brush and inadvertent touch. He keeps his distance, more because it seems more comfortable for Bruce.]

[He watches the other man for a few moments, head very slightly tilted as he thinks.]

You don't get out much, do you? Nothing against that. But you don't seem to most...social guy in the world.

[Which was also B in some ways. Dick sometimes forced it on him in the early days, though that was partly Bruce not knowing how to be around a kid, either.]

( he still doesn't know how to be around a kid.

tugging his shirt down over his head, he takes care in the way he smooths it down. movements a little more stiff than usual. )

I'm busy.

( being batman and nothing but batman, much to alfred's dismay.

going through the rest of the contents in his bag from the shop, he plucks out an energy bar, unwrapping it before shoving some in his mouth. )

I don't have time for trivial things.

All work and no play made Jack Nicholson into a homicidal maniac in The Shining.

[Was the story more complicated than that? Yes. Does it matter in this case? Not really.]

There's an entire world out there, Bruce. How can you fight for it when you keep yourself entirely apart from it?

( shoving more of the bar into his mouth, he sighs, shaking his head as he moves around the room. )

You sound like Alfred.

( it's mumbled some as he bites off a piece of the bar, tossing the clothes he'd purchased on one of the chairs there in the room, grabbing a hooded sweater which he pulls on, one arm at a time. )

You don't think Alfred left because you adopted a bunch of kids, did you?

[Alfred was Dick's other father, after all. Of course he's going to sound like Alfred.]

I can always add in a "Master Bruce", if you're feeling homesick.

[The imitation is uncanny...of his Alfred. Might not be exactly the same.]

( left. alfred's still there. for him anyways.

bar held between his teeth as he fixes the hooded sweater on him some, he plucks it out, gaze a little harsh and confused, before he goes about moving around the room again. )

Do whatever you want.

( it's said almost a little gruff, snatching something off the table there as he begins to head for the door. as he begins to leave. )

And that's my cue to get out.

[Dick straightens up, going over to the table to retrieve Haley. The puppy whines, but settles down in his arms quick enough.]

[He walks over, looking at Bruce for a long moment.]

You never did say how old you are.

( he can't just sit around tending to his injuries. he's got things to figure out here — needs to keep busy. this isn't gotham— this isn't even his world, apparently. there's a lot he needs to do. like find a place to set up shop.

the question has him glance over. jason asked the same thing and he'd given him an answer, if only because he'd been rather giving with telling him things... things bruce didn't even have to ask about. besides his last question.

still. he eyes him a little. )

How old are you?

[Jason says a lot of things when he's angry. And specifically when he's trying to hurt Bruce.]

[Still, Dick doesn't seem to have an issue with the question.]

26. As of mid March.

( when dick gives his age, bruce drops his gaze way from him. just for a moment. just to process that — to file it away for later with everything else he's come to learn in the very short span of time he's been here. it's a lot— it's a lot on top of everything else he's dealing with.

mid-march, though. given the current date, it had passed not too long ago.

licking over his lips, he shakes his head for a moment before he looks back over to dick. )

Couple years older than you.

( which, given the things dick has told him about himself thus far, that maybe makes all of this... strange for him; it's strange for the both of them, really. )

[Dick walks out of the room, so that he can have his own time to process that. A couple years older...less than 30, then. 28? 29? Close enough. Enough to make him blow out a breath and shake his head.]

I'm not taking back the kid comment. Comparatively, at least.

[Because that means he has NOT been Batman very long. And he's going to have to sit with that for a little bit.]

TEST DRIVE MEME: MAY EDITION

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