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

( dick isn't a stranger to flesh-eating plants, and jason isn't a stranger to catching kids doing things that only a trained combatant would be able to do. he's been making his way through excelsior, going from rooftop to rooftop, alleyway to alleyway, burning down massive plants and cutting through them once he'd run out of incendiary devices. only so much c4 and lighter fluid a guy can keep on him when the only thing he's got to store shit is a leather jacket.

he's on a nearby rooftop, one knife over his shoulder ready to throw it at one of those plants down below when someone else manages to knock it off balance. eyes shift to where the projectile had come from, narrowing under the domino mask when they land on someone all too familiar, because, of course this happens.

there can't be two tim drakes and two jason todds wandering around without adding at least an extra dick grayson to the mix.

fingers adjust the knife, so it's no longer pointed at where the plant had been, but instead aimed just to the left of dick before he's throwing it down at him. it'd hit close enough to get his attention, close enough to redirect his eyes up, but not close enough to dig into skin. this is a hello, not a fight. he's not starting shit with a kid. )

[ By the time Dick notices the knife coming at him, it's already arching toward the ground. Dick grimaces, but looks more annoyed than scared. He can't believe he didn't notice it coming.

He traces the trajectory with his eyes and sees a guy in a domino mask. The man isn't familiar but Dick is smart enough to know that he didn't miss. That just annoys him more.

Dick picks up the knife without looking away, ready to dart if this guy tries throwing another one.

Half-shouting: ] I think you dropped this.

( he goes for the knife, because of course he does. and jason stays up on the ledge of the building, weight on one knee as he leans over the edge to keep an eye on him. when dick follows the knife's path up to jason, he raises a hand up. gives a little wave.

doesn't answer back, because he's instead getting off of the ledge and moving over to the left--to where he can safely get himself off of the rooftop and down to the ground. if dick runs, he runs. but dick's never been a runner, and jason's betting he'll at least see who the fuck decided to throw sharp pointy objects at him from afar. )

[ The safe thing to do would be to run away. Dick is not good at doing the safe thing, especially not when he's curious and more than a little annoyed. Who throws knives as a greeting?

He doesn't know the layout of the area very well, but he doesn't want to get himself cornered. Ideally, he'd go up to the roof himself, but not having a grappling hook puts him at a disadvantage up there-- his escape routes are limited. So he's forced to move slowly through the alleys and between buildings. ]

Hey, do you want this back or what?

[ Not that Dick has any intention of giving it back but still. ]

( second test, passed. because of course dick goes after the guy with the knife, instead of just leaves it be. jason lands in a dark alleyway to the side of the building, but he makes sure to put himself on the edge that goes towards a dead end, so the only way dick can approach is from the open end. gives dick the advantage of having the only easy way out that isn't up.

and jason turns over to him when he does walk up. puts a hand on his hip, head tipping to the side as a sly grin spreads across his lips. )

Bring your gear along with you for the ride, Dickie? Or did you come unarmed?

[ Oh he doesn't like this.

His annoyance turns to suspicion. This man knows his name and mentioned 'gear.' And he's wearing a mask. Dick's secret identity is extremely well-kept, so he's not going to jump to conclusions.

But this is definitely not good. He can't retreat now, not without knowing what the guy does and doesn't know.

He shifts his stance ever so slightly, like he hasn't dismissed the idea of an altercation. ]

I'm armed with my sharp wit and this knife. Do you have a name because I'm drawing a blank.

You won't know it, not when you're this small. I met you when you were about-- ( his posture shifts, loosens. jason isn't a threat here, and he doesn't want to come off as one. well, aside from the knowing dick's name, knowing he has gear, and the fun stuff that comes along with knowing exactly what bruce wayne gets up to at night. his hand raises, gestures to where the dick grayson he knows measures up to him height wise: just a couple inches shorter than jason is. ) hereish.

( this is both terrible and great. on one hand: another brat to keep an eye on who will likely walk himself right into trouble. on the other: a tiny grayson he can fuck with. nicely. )

You wanna go somewhere a little more private? I'll give you another knife, if it'll make you feel better.

[ Dick looks at him dubiously. He's insinuating time travel or something. Dick is used to weird. Time travel? A little too weird for him. (For now.)

And then he mentions going somewhere else and Dick throws him a sharp, suspicious look. ]

What if I don't want to?

I'll go back to what I was doing, an' leave you alone.

( he would, too. there are more of them lurking around; plenty of bats and a few others who would know dick by face. and, given dick isn't still in single digits, jason's betting he can take care of himself just fine. his display with the plants just makes that all the more clear. wouldn't stop jason from reaching out to their family group chat, with a look what i found, but it'd stop him from getting in dick's face right now. )

But I'm betting I don't scare you one bit, and not knowing what I know's just gonna eat at you 'til you figure it out.

[ The rational thing to do would be to say 'okay fine, bye.' But this really will eat away at him and (as far as he knows) he has no other ways of getting answers. And on the off-chance he's figured out the whole Robin thing, Dick needs to know how much he knows.

So he relents because of course he does. ]

Fine. But I will use this if I have to. [ He's trying to put up a tough front, but he's also giving a fair warning. Rule 1: don't get backed into a corner. Rule 1,addendum: if you do, do whatever it takes to get out of it. ]

( he's going to have so much fun fucking with little baby grayson. it'll be great. he won't even be mean about it--or won't try to. just shove him around a little. like a good big brother.

a loose lift of his shoulders, and jason carefully choreographs taking off his jacket. slowly, because he knows damn well dick probably knows how much shit he's got hidden inside of it: knives, wire, trackers, bugs, flashbangs, flexicuffs, bo shuriken, lighter fluid, matches, first-aid kit, a few extra clips for the guns on his thighs. but under the jacket is a skin-tight suit, and while it's not as form fitting as grayson's nightwing suit below the waist, it still doesn't leave much room at all for hiding shit. there's another knife sheath on a thigh next to one of his guns, but it's all minimal in comparison to the arsenal he's tossing onto the floor between them, and taking several steps back from with his hands up. )

Left side, inside breast pocket is wired. Outside right side pocket's also wired. Open 'em if you wanna, but you're gonna want to cut that first so you don't set the whole thing on fire. Don't set it on fire, it's my favorite. And don't steal my shit, but you can hold onto it.

[ He watches carefully, not dropping his guard but not getting any more defensive. It's clear the guy is essentially disarming, which is strange. He does genuinely seem to want to talk-- he's practically begging to give Dick answers.

So Dick picks up the jacket but makes no attempt to open any of the pockets. It's not that he thinks any of the other pockets are booby-trapped too, but he doesn't want to dig around blindly anyway. He folds it over his arm, though he's tempted to put it on simply so he has both hands free. But it's far too cumbersome that way. ]

I won't set your jacket on fire. Can we get this show on the road?

( jason very intentionally bulked up to look large and menacing. he knows that means jack shit to a robin, but he wants to make it absolutely clear: he isn't dragging dick off to try and fuck with him. this time. )

There's an empty commercial building a few blocks North. We can chat there without ears listening in.

( direction enough, before he's gesturing behind dick. jason boxed himself in, so they'll need to go that way. he doesn't wait for dick to move, though. just starts towards him to lead him off. )

[ Dick steps out of the way to let Jason lead. Despite having almost all of Jason's arsenal hanging off of his arm, he's reluctant to turn his back to Jason. It's nothing personal-- just training he can't shake around strangers. ]

Whose ears are we avoiding?

[ He has no doubt that someone(s) have bugged a lot of the places here. Dick doesn't trust the guilds as far as he can throw them, and he doesn't have enough info about any other potentially smaller organizations that might want to monitor Starfallen. ]

( his head tips back, looking over to dick. raises a brow under the domino mask. )

Everyone's. You don't want people listening in while you're dressed like that an' I'm like this, do you?

( if jason was out of uniform or dick was in, it'd be easy enough to talk about them without actually talking about it. but a masked vigilante and a kid isn't a good combo, and jason--probably could have geared down, but he hadn't. )

I'd prefer if no one listened in on any of my conversations, but I have a feeling that's not always possible here.

[ He's thinking primarily of the Guilds, but there's no knowing who else is out there. The attitudes toward Starfallen are mixed, and he has no doubt it means he'll have to watch his back, Robin or not.

Of course he doesn't know any of the Bats are here and their love language is planting bugs everywhere so... ]

Jacket you're holding onto has, at my last count, two trackers on it. No bugs. I like to remind R to keep his nose out of my business, but I let him follow me all he wants. Sometimes. Makes him feel better.

( his mask is also equipped with it's own commlink, one he knows tim knows how to hack into when he feels like--but one jason has also gotten equipped with shit to interfere with tim's tech if he does opt to break in while jason's busy and doesn't want robin-ears listening in. )

[ Dick frowns but doesn't try to ditch the jacket or pick through it to find the trackers. He just files that alias-- "R"-- away. Something to talk about at this supposed safehouse. This guy must have a strong network to have this kind of gear and to have someone he willingly allows to monitor him. ]

Better about what?

Joker's here.

( at least he was, and no one has seen proof he isn't around anymore. he'd targeted tim, before. and tim won't acknowledge it but jason knows damn well how much that must have fucked him up. and if he is still around, either he's going to find one of their crew or they're going to find him. it won't be pretty regardless, which tim's well-aware of.

jason turns down into a small alley full of closed food trucks. at the end, is a FOR RENT sign posted on a small shopfront, with a window to the right of the door broken in. )

'sides, tracking people's his love language. And who am I to deny him that?

[ That's like a splash of cold water to the face. Dick takes a sharp breath. Damn it.

This just leads to more questions than answers, but Dick is keeping his mouth shut until they get to the safe house.

He's not surprised at the sight of the run-down shopfront and closed food trucks. There's little pockets like this in cities all over the world. And across realities, apparently. ]

You have some weird friends.

[ As if Dick counts himself as normal. ]

No one in our field's normal. But Robin--this one-- 's my little brother. ( fingers wrap around the door knob, giving it one firm yank up before he's pulling the door open. for a safehouse, it's shit. there's the broken and boarded window for one, how easily the door opened for another, but there's a couple wires on the inside of the door--one down at ankle height, one at jason's shoulder height. one for him to duck under and another to step over. )

An' being the nice big brother I am, I figure if it helps him feel better an' doesn't get in my way, may as well leave it.

So you're a softie deep down?

[ Dick steps over the wire and barely has to duck to get under the other. The safehouse isn't anything impressive, but the broken window and flimsy lock mean he can ditch pretty easily if he needs to.

Pieces are starting to fit together but it's still not quite there. The guy knows his name, knows about his line of work, and knows about his gear. But he doesn't seem to know that he's Robin. Though, perhaps his little brother goes by Robin here. He doesn't think it's a coincidence but nothing is quite lining up. ]

I'm not an idiot. Easier to keep 'em after I find 'em so they're easy to take off if I need to, rather than need to spend time feeling up my shit for new ones.

( except he's pretty sure tim knows he knows where they are and plans accordingly. because it's tim. but they can dig into that later, because jason's making sure the door shuts behind dick before he's reaching up and pulling the domino mask off of his own face. it doesn't do jack shit for him anyway; jason hasn't had much of a secret id since he was fifteen, and he doesn't hang out with the bats often enough out of their gear to make it really matter.

if this dick grayson was under someone else not bats, it wouldn't matter too much if he knew jason's face. discounting second jason. who's similar enough but not identical.

when he gives a flick of his wrist, the domino mask compresses into a thin red bracelet, which jason throws around his wrist. )

I was the second Robin. The one with the hoard of trackers--was the third.

[ While that makes perfect sense, Dick is not dismissing the underlying sentiment of "I love my brother and let him mother-hen me for his own mental well-being." It humanizes him and makes Dick a little less wary until.

Robin. There it is. He's familiar with the concept of legacies-- though it's mostly confined to the Flash for now-- but Robin isn't a legacy. It's him.

Dick frowns. ]

I'm sure you think you're explaining things clearly but I'm not following. Are you guys hardcore larpers or something?

[ He knows that last part isn't true, but bad jokes and jabs are his way of coping with discomfort. ]

Robin was yours. Still is for you. B handed it down to me--without your permission, it became a whole thing. But you got over it eventually. Or my you did.

( sucks to lose your nickname to some streetrat, but shit happens. )

We're up to five Robins by my count.

( he's not justifying the larpers comment with a response, because dick knows damn well he isn't. )

excelsior

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