sure, jan

[maskormods]

TEST DRIVE MEME

Considering apping into MASK OR MENACE? Want to dip your toes into the setting and get a feel of whether your character will fit into it? Or maybe you're just cruising and want to play around? Then you've come to the right place!

Pick any of the following scenarios below or feel free to make up your own, but don't be afraid to throw yourself at anyone's thread, either!

And remember to have fun!

01. Your memory is hazy and you might feel increasingly frustrated or anxious, or maybe you're excited as soldiers march past, barely glimpsing you. One second you're somewhere underground, the next you're enveloped in blue light, and suddenly you find yourself directly under Flordia sun's bright and burning glare. A female soldier steps toward you with a wide smile on her face and directs you to a car, ready to debrief you. You realize you are not the only one, surrounded by equally confused or eager faces... and you're all sporting a digital tattoo on your wrist.

02. Welcome to Cape Canaveral, where the smell of the ocean is in the air and locals are more than pleased to see new imPorts roaming their streets. They wave, they cheer, they ask for pictures as politely as they can. The more inhuman you look, or if you're wearing a costume, the more likely locals are to approach. Hey, enjoy the moment! The popular malt shop is offering you a free drink if you need it.

03. The technology in this world is certainly something. The cars are clearly modeled after popular 50s cars, but they hover several feet above the ground as they drive down the street. There are digital jukeboxes in restaurants, motorcycles also hover through traffic, advertisements can be seen on a digital projector on the taller buildings. Even kids on skateboards appear to drift a safe ten feet off the ground while playing!

04. Wherever you are, you can hear the loud revving of an engine, distance at first before you finally see it: a hovercar bursting around the corner, going beyond the maximum speed limit and just barely making its sharp turn. It doesn't appear to be slowing down any time soon, not with two police cars trailing it... and uh oh. Those skateboarding kids don't have much time to get out of the way as the car comes speeding down the road. You've been brought here for a reason Hero — so you better act fast.

Comments

Jonathan Crane | DC Live Action

[sighcology]

04.

[Well. Crane's already taking mental notes. He has field work to do, with this one moment being so carefully constructed; all his work, all his planning, hiding from the Batman, reading the network posts, learning about his new powers. How they could work. How they could make people tick. How they could make people scream.

His ears prick before he moves in. Children running. His eyes slide towards the two police cars coming closer. Closer.

The children's footsteps are terrified. Patter, patter, patter.

A heartbeat. He swallows, then releases the breath stuck in his throat as their shock reaches his ears. Three childish cries. Sirens. All in terror! Each a beautiful sound, to be remembered and treasured. The public expression on his face is still very careful and cautious, but the giddy emotion is suddenly threatening to break through when the escaping car's driver swerves to avoid the little ones... and drives into the nearby store. It appeared the female driver, unconscious over the wheel, had faced her fear like he'd taught her to. That it was a case like one of his university students was deliberate. Because he knew the Batman would study it. Bats would sense something terrible was happening and, later once he'd seen Crane's hand behind it all, would swoop in on him like something deep and dark and terrying from the night.

Crane wouldn't have it any other way.

Even now, the driver's cigarette was burning in the car's compact lighter, emitting a thin plume of grey gas.]

Wildcard: 1

[Crane's an educated psychiatrist, so whether you're in need of expert mental health care, are a fellow in the field, or need a Jungian analysis of your thoughts, pull up a chair. The doctor will see you now.]

Wildcard: 2

[I'm down for threading whatever you want!]

04.2

[chiroptophobic]

[ And come he does. In the night, with barely a footstep at the open window, the light breeze concealing his arrival. A black shadow - terrifying, fearless - he steps inside, his footing discrete, but Crane is clearly one step ahead of him, awake and aware, like he expected it to come to this all along. Like it was a trap set up just for the Batman. Those kids, the woman, the car plowing its way into a store full of people; all of it designed to bring him here.

He tossed the hovercar's push-button lighter onto the desk in front of Crane, almost dismissively. ]

You need to develop a new repertoire.

[sighcology]

[Develop his repertoire? His eyes flicker from the lighter to the shadow - staring at the figure hidden inside it. Not out of surprise, but distress. Being cornered like this scares him. The Batman, he knows this, he knows. His hands are twitching. His entire body is shaking. He feels almost ecstatic, his face giddy. The Batman was fear, he was panic. He knew that he had wanted him here, and he had came.

He smiles. To anyone else, it's soft and disarming. But in this intimacy it's disgustingly sincere.]

I'm aware of that. Unfortunately, my methods are limited to what tools I possess.

[His momentary pause weighs up the answer he wants to get. Add physical violence, and he'd get even more terrified. He adjusts his glasses in preparation.]

Did you like it?

[chiroptophobic]

[ Disarming would be an unlikely description for Bruce to choose. He finds the whole expression deeply unpleasant. There's something simpering about Crane even now, like he's thriving on the attention. Power is secondary to rush, to the satisfaction of becoming a part of his own experiment, and Bruce knows that this is another method, and he is another tool.

He doesn't move, but stillness is frightening too. Movement will mean that it's all over--perhaps for both of them. ]

There was nothing to like. Why involve innocent people in your games when we both know that the only masterpiece you care about exists in this room?

[ Physical violence is always just a hair away, but it needs the right trigger. ]

You should have known better than to bring your work here.

[sighcology]

[Masterpiece had been a good word for Batman to use. Nothing had been a masterpiece to Crane, till this man standing in front of him today. His work had began life as a lot of silly cases; co-eds, bullies and opponents on the intellectual battlefield. They had all served a purpose - learning. The people in the street had been control variables. He had learned the Batman came when they suffered. Batman was the case that pushed his mind to the limit. Crane thought him a puzzle no true scientist would pass upon.

His hands slide into his pockets, defensively. The lack of movement hadn't been missed. The risk of danger looms over him, dangerous and predatory. He keeps behind the desk that offers him a little protection.]

Well. What other work would you recommend? Half of the great scientists throughout history have ended up on the scaffold. [Like himself. He stares.] Funny. I never would have imagined you to be one of the faithful. Perhaps I still don't understand you, much as I thought.

[He adjusts his glasses again. His gaze is kept level. His eyes are as curious as his mind, and he stares at Batman as though watching a slide under a microscope.]