etcelsior | sure, jan

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sure, jan

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.

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[Newt lists off the survivors and Chuck isn't among them, and then lists the death toll that's happened since then. The ones Thomas told him died in the Scorch. How their numbers had dwindled from forty-something leaving the Maze down to meager teens.

Newt shakes his head at Alby's next question, at the implication there.] I'm not dead, Alby. This place- as crazy as it sounds, it can bring people back that have died. It's not even our world.

[He remembers when he doubted that vehemently, how he was so sure this was just WICKED's doing again. He's come a long way. The fact that Alby is here now is even further proof that it can't be their world, where there's no cure for death. And as frustrating as the Porter is for pulling people in against their will, he's grateful every time Lachesis targets someone from his world.]

They gave you a file, yeah? Or did you not stick around long enough to get it?

[ alby's heart twists at the death toll. he wants to ask, but is it really his place? so many of those gladers died, and he was just another name on the list. but, to hear that minho and newt (and the greenie, he guesses, not that he really cares that much) ended up alright so far is a relief. the part of him that wasn't shucking scared out of his mind wanted newt to be able to get out and find that happy life he deserved--especially because he could never find it in the glade.

alby frowns, looking both angry and confused at the same time, a feat he has more or less mastered. ] You do sound out of your shuck mind. [ but, it's newt, and he also trusts newt with literally everything--he's about the only person in the world he does. ] But you've gotta be right. What I saw...ain't nothin' like this.

[ lots more fire and death and brimstone. maybe he was just foreseeing his own future, who knew. alby probably belonged in hell for what he did.

he says something about a file and alby pauses--he almost looks bashful for a second, frowning confusedly down at himself. ] Dropped it, I think. [ but newt knew him too well. seriously how did he ever actually function without newt in his life. ] I wasn't 'bout to just let them take me off again.

[The fond smile tugging at his lips is completely against Newt's will, and he clamps down on it before it comes to fruition. He's still angry and sad, but finally the relief of Alby standing in front of him breathing again is starting to eclipse it. He doesn't feel like beating his feelings into him anymore to make him understand just how wrecked his death had made him, which is definitely a step in a better direction.

With Alby here, he's starting to feel like hope is a possibility again. Like there's still a chance to bring everyone here, even all of the friends they'd lost. Even if it meant relying on Lachesis' whims for now while they tried to figure out how or why she pulled who she did, it was a hope that was hard to hold onto.]

Come on, then, let's go back and find the bloody thing. It's got a lot of information you're gonna need here and the rest you can get from me. I've been here long enough I can probably answer most of the newbie questions you've got. [This time he doesn't fight the smug smile.] How about it, Greenie?

[ the force of alby's eyeroll could probably rattle mountains--even so, with the affront to his ego (he was one of the first, the shucking leader, thank you very much) alby can't be too mad. whatever force decided to bring alby around to this place and straight out of his grave at least brought him back to newt again. he can get a chance to reconcile his memories of the changing with his good memories of the glade, something he never had time to do, not like the others had. the way he went in the end isn't the way he would've wanted to go, if he'd had the choice--maybe if he'd been right in the head...

it doesn't really matter, anyway. not anymore.

what matters is that newt's smiling at him (even if he's a klunker about it) and they're alive, together. he reaches over and punches newt's shoulder, though it's not hard. ] Shuckhead. You call the greenie and Minho that when they showed up 'round here, too?

[ for once, he's happy to follow newt, instead of leading the way. working as a team has always been their forte, and alby's trust in him is so strong that he'd follow him straight back into hell if he had to. ]

[Newt exaggerates a pained face and how he rubs at his arm, and the smile softens to something much more endeared than smug. Alby's here and they can joke around again, and when he looks at him he doesn't immediately see a Griever ripping him apart and it feels like looking at home. Which is ridiculous because he doesn't have a home except for here, but now Alby's part of that.

He knocks his shoulder against Alby's lightly while they're walking, Newt keeping any eye out for anywhere a folder might have fallen on Alby's mad dash away from the Porter. The likelihood the government picked it back up is pretty likely. They'd have another copy anyway.]

Minho got here before me. Trust me, he took great pleasure in callin' me the Greenie. I'm just passin' along the sentiment, ya feel me?

[He rubs at his neck where the tattoo shows starkly against his skin, glancing furtively over at Alby. Trying not to be too obvious about it, trying not to look at him too much at all. But he'd be lying if he said he wasn't afraid he'd look over and he'd just be gone again.]

Edited (missing words!!) 2015-02-04 20:57 (UTC)

[ if newt's trying not to be too obvious about staring at him, alby's kind of the opposite. aside from being confused about where the shuck he is, still, alby's rattled enough from the changing in his head that something familiar is practically bathed in golden light. not that that's much different than normal--alby probably always looks at newt like a shuckface moron, because he is and always has been the best thing in his terrible, klunk filled life. he pretty much watches him instead of where they're going the entire time, and his gaze flickers over to catch his more than once. and it makes him laugh a little, a soft, breathed out huff as he looks away again. alby's too mature to feel like a giddy baby, but he kind of does, though he buries under layers and layers and layers of anger and maturity and all those other important maturity things.

so, yeah, he returns the favor with the shoulder bump, and just like that, things start clicking back into place. ] Thanks for the treatment, I guess. [ grumpily, gruffly, though he's really not that mad. ] Far as I'm concerned, Thomas is still the shucking greenie, and it stays that way.

[ will he ever call thomas by his name? no. but thomas is the last thing he wants to talk about, especially when he spots something black on newt's neck. alby's eyebrows furrow and he pauses, reaching out to grab his forearm to get him to stop. ] What's this?

[Every time their eyes meet, Newt feels more and more comfortable. Like everything's returning to normal and they can actually have normal here. A normal that Newt doesn't hate to the very core. An actual paradise, even if there's still crisis here. It's not the Maze, and it's not WICKED, and he feels freer than he's ever felt.

Every few minutes he bumps his shoulder again, smiling towards the ground like a damn idiot. It's easy to forget how angry he was when he first saw him. Alby makes it easy to just fall back into old habits, things that always helped his comfort in the Glade that he doesn't really need here, but that he likes even without the necessity of it.]

Nah, Teresa's the Greenie now. She's showed up here la- [Newt pauses, looking over at Alby.]

Hm? What's what? Gonna have to be more specific than that, Alby.

[He's so focused on Alby that the branding seems miles away. At least this gives him a reason to look at Alby without trying to be a coy shit about it.]

[ the warmth in his gaze is lost, a little, as he looks at the tattoo. it's easy enough for alby to reach up and brush some of the blonde hair off of his neck with surprisingly gentle fingers so he can read the name on the tattoo out loud. his thumb touches the last word as he says it out loud. ] "Group A, Subject A5: The Glue."

[ alby's stomach lurches with how disgustingly fitting that is; newt, as the glue that held them all together. of course they would know, right? he has no doubt that it was WICKED who put this here, and not the strange people who'd managed to bring him right out of the grave--this place may be weird as all shuck, but he's not got any tattoos he doesn't know about, at least not yet. for a brief moment, he looks shockingly vulnerable, and that changes to a thunderous, familiar frown as he considers the bastards that did this to them in the first place. none of the gladers were anything like subjects; they were his friends, his brothers, his so much more than that in the case of the person standing before him. it pisses him off to know that WICKED's gotten away with so much, it pisses him off to know that newt's got this marked on his skin, it pisses him off that they know newt so well, it just--

it starts to make his stomach churn, in a way that's a little unfamiliar.

alby shakes his head. ] We got a lot to talk about, huh?

[Newt's entire posture changes. The fondness in his expression falters, hardens into something dark and shut off. Of course Alby wouldn't know about the tattoo. Alby hadn't made it that far, hadn't been there when they all woke up branded as WICKED's property. He'd only missed a few days back there, but so much had happened in those days. He reaches up to jerk his collar back over the tattoo self-consciously, movements rigid and awkward. He doesn't want Alby to see, doesn't want to be reminded himself. Everything had seemed perfect for a minute, but that's how it always is, isn't it? That perfect calm before the storm crashes down.]

There's nothin' to bloody talk about.

[Snapped, harsher than he means it to be, and he cuts his gaze away. Won't look at Alby for it. He didn't want the reminders, there's enough of them there in the absence of his friends, in the tattoos he sees on Thomas and Minho and Teresa when they have their backs to him. That they might go back, did so before- that a hell awaits them they may not even survive.]

WICKED's idea of a sick joke before they sent us off to a trial that'd kill us quicker. All for a cure to a sickness they gave us.

Edited 2015-02-06 02:03 (UTC)

[ sickness--alby's memories from the changing react to that as easy as anything. he sees the people, bruised and bloodied and scratching at themselves, screaming, eating and. he stops, shakes his head to try and clear it away. the cheerful mood's mostly lost--because of WICKED, again, always shucking WICKED, even if they're supposed to be a million miles away from them, now.

pulling his hand away, he's quiet for a while as always, trying to process the feeling of mostly wanting to punch a hole in a wall. whatever kind of trial they were sending them to--of course there were more. the maze couldn't have been the end. more boys would die, more people alby cared about wiped away, for some shuck something they'd never know the damn answer to anyway.

for a second, he glowers, feeling that weird heat bubble in his stomach again. it almost overtakes him for a second, the urge to get mad and just--

alby doesn't make reference to it as he reaches down and threads his fingers into newt's. no one's around to see them, to say anything, and if it's going to make him (newt, he'll tell himself that's what he means, but alby needs it as much as he does, if not more) feel better, then so be it. ]

Load of klunk. [ which is an understatement. ] If ya wanna tell me more, it can wait till we find this shucking file. [ the "if you don't, that's fine, too" isn't stated, but he doesn't have to say it. ]

[Newt stares down at their fingers laced together, and just like that, Alby's assumed the role of his suppoert again, while Newt made himself into everyone else's support. It feels right and wrong all at once. Alby shouldn't be the one consoling him here, Alby's the Greenie. Newt knows this place, has been here for months, he should be the one being strong here. Alby just died, and Newt should be reassuring him, not the other way around.

He'd be a liar if he said it didn't help, so he closes his eyes for a second and lets out a breath before squeezing his hand gently. He gives him a smile, but it doesn't quit reach his eyes like it had before. He has to be stronger, here. He's not the only one who's damaged anymore, something he feels like he always took for granted with Alby before. He's resolved that it won't be that way anymore. Here's a second chance they shouldn't have, and he's not going to shuck it all to hell just because he can't get over his own problems.

He dips his head in agreement and starts walking again, tugging Alby along where their hands are still joined. Small comforts, something he's not willing to let go of just yet.]

Tell you later. [Because he knows Alby gave him the option to not, but he won't accept it. It's not the time to shut him out, just because he didn't make it that far.]

Our best bet is just goin' back to the base- they've probably picked it up for you. I'm sure you're not the first slinthead's that bolted and left it and I'm sure you won't be the last.

[ though he's not sure it'll work--to see newt soften a little and respond to him is relieving to say the least. alby's not sure if what he does ever works. he's not gentle, he's not kind, not in anything even remotely close to good with his emotions (except for maybe anger, he's pretty good at that) but god, he'd turn into the biggest sissy shank in the world if it meant he could keep newt happy and away from that ledge, metaphorical or not. he'd never treated him differently after the jump (save from yelling at him at his bedside and then breaking down beside him in tears and making him promise not to do it again) because he liked to think that that was newt needed, that his pride conflicted with how much he hurt. alby had berated himself for weeks after for not noticing faster, not catching the sadness in a glance here or the listless way he stared at the walls sometimes--how could he not have known? newt was his best friend in the world, the only person he trusted and, hell, loved, and alby had failed him.

he'd never do that again, he'd told himself, and then alby turned right around and did it.

so here's his second chance, a way to make things right. if he can make up for being the shuck coward he was, he will. if he can catch newt's sadness and be intuitive to how he hurts, he will. though he's curious in sort of a morbid way about what could have happened to them in this second trial--though he needs to know, and he knows he does--he just nods his head. "tell you later" is an absolute truth, and he knows it.

if newt's not letting go, there's no way in hell alby will first. he never had the chance to miss him--was with newt right up until he died--but the absence of time between them is something he wonders if he'll ever be able to fill. if alby'll ever be satisfied enough to make up for the time he took away, if newt could ever forgive him for it. his thumb tracks slowly over the back of newt's hand, an absent, unthinking, and gentle gesture as they walk, and alby snorts, giving newt a look. ] Yeah? You were so cool coming in, I'm sure.

[Alby might not think what he does works, but the way Alby handles him has always worked wonders for Newt. It helps that he makes a conscious effort now to push forward, to not give up again like he had, but having Alby support that helps. And the promise he made Alby is probably what's pushed him through six months of not having Alby to rely on, but then- Heropa and this world isn't nearly as awful. They're still trapped, but it feels so much more free and he feels like he can do something worthwhile here and that gets him by. Feeling useful. Being useful.

Newt snickers, shrugging as he walks. He knows the way to the Cape Canaveral base like the back of his hand from coming every month since he arrived to check the new arrivals. Always hoping to see a Glader (deep down always wanting it to be Alby but that's selfish).]

I didn't turn tail and run if that's what you're implyin'. I took their tour nice and proper and they drove me to my housing. [But then he'd been a little too weak from three days of starvation to really properly resist. Avoiding mentioning that, though. He can tell him all about that later.]

Tommy ran into me too when he showed up, though. Think I must be a magnet for you klunkheads or somethin'.

[ yeah, of course newt was, actually, cool about it. alby guesses that makes sense. he's always been kind of a hot head. (kind of would be putting it lightly, alby.) but, he wasn't about to let someone just kidnap him. his tone's extra grumpy, but, considering the fact that his thumb is still just lightly stroking over his hand, alby's obviously not that mad. ] Good to know you're fine with being kidnapped. [ translation: yes, i know, you were definitely the smart one there, i panicked, okay, god

his head cranes around a little, finally, and he starts to look around. the weather's nice and the place is nice, if weird--kind of what he imagined a city was supposed to look like in his foggy memories. it's definitely a nice change from the glade, what with the lack of looming walls. the uneasy, skittish panic in his chest still left over from the changing is soothed a little by it, and by newt at his side, so he's fairly compliant as newt leads him along. ] Sounds like something the shank'd do. [ alby you literally did the same thing. ]

Housing's where they put you up to live? What's it like?

[Newt smiles over at him, amused. Newt had panicked, sure, but he dealt with it a lot better than the other Gladers. Was a bit more logical in it all. He'd had a weapon, could protect himself if he really needed to. But all they'd done was drop him off in front of Kanaya's house without answering any of his questions.

Alby, dude, you straight up knocked Newt off his feet. What you did was worse. Newt's used to being swept up around him, but that's taking it a little far.]

Yeah, they've got housing in three cities for imPorts. It's really for the ones who register, but my roommates didn't kick me out when I decided not to. When I showed up I was the only guy in a house of girls. Talk about a bloody culture shock. But with Tommy and Min and Grey, it's about even now. Bit of a tight fit, though.

[Since they just shoved all the Gladers + 1 mute assassin into Newt's room nbd]

[ this is all greek to alby, who didn't stick around long enough to learn what an imPort was or what registering was or pretty much anything else, so he mostly just gives newt his trademark half-annoyed-half-curious face as they make their way down the sunny street. one thing does catch his attention, though. ]

Who's Grey? [ tweedledee and tweedledumb he at least recognizes. the two of them got real chummy before he had made his unfortunate exit from the glader's lives. ] You're gonna have to explain all this klunk eventually. What the hell is "register"?

And I don't give a shuck if they've got some stupid assignment, I'm staying by you. [ he doesn't even bother asking. newt he'll sleep in your backyard if he has to. ]

Some shank Tommy adopted when he got here, he's a real good guy. [Newt chuckles.] Here we are, the Greenie questions. Knew it was only a matter of time before you got to 'em. If you'd stuck around long enough, you would've learned most of this, ya know.

[He's just giving him shit for the hell of it, and the smile is proof of it.] Government wants all the imPorts comin' in to register with them and be superheroes or some klunk. You get all kinds of benefits if you register - housing, jobs, monthly allowances. It's real nice if you wanna pledge allegiance to a government you know nothin' about.

[He doesn't even mention that none of the Gladers have. It's obvious enough that they wouldn't.]

As for living arrangements- we've been saving up to move out of the government housing cause Minho refuses to live in it on a permanent basis, the stubborn slinthead. But til then I think I've still got some space on my floor for ya.

[ alby rolls his eyes with a force he's more or less perfected, and gives newt a dirty look, but he doesn't really mean it, either. they've been over this: it was terrible and alby was not about to get kidnapped again. he had just gotten his memories back, and for as much as he'd like to get rid of the barely there ones he remembers from the changing, he's not going to lose them again.

alby listens to his speech and it's all still making no sense, but, whatever. alby's not planning on "registering" anyway. the last sentence puts a bad taste in his mouth. still, there's at least something in there that caught his attention. ] Superheroes--that's what all that was about? I'm not gonna run 'round in a shucking cape.

[ though, that information is really interesting, and he pauses to look at newt, a little differently. newt the superhero. he doesn't remember much about superheroes--faint memories of klunkheads wearing their undies outside of their pants, but. ] Do you have those?

Capes? You're seriously askin' me if I dress up like a superhero?

[Newt grins, shaking his head. It's always like this with them. Alby's managed to get him back to a good place in just a few minutes again, and he's grateful for it. It lets him ignore all the things he'd rather not think about, things he can focus on later once he's let Alby settle properly.]

Nah, but I do have powers. You do too - they list 'em in that file you dropped. Not everybody does the whole secret identity thing - think it's bloody pointless if you ask me - but there's a whole lot of heroics goin' on around here most of the time, masked or not.

You didn't look at the file at all before you bolted? I wanna know what yours are. See if the Porter had a buggin' awful sense of humor with yours too.

I'm asking about the superpowers, shuckface. [ alby huffs a little, embarrassed, because of course he didn't think newt would be the type to wear a cape. (minho, though: minho he could see it happening.) but, he thinks newt's probably already got some kind of superpower beyond whatever this shucked up place has given him, considering the honestly supernatural speed at which he can calm alby down when he's all riled up, so whatever he has is kind of moot, but he's still interested.

alby snorts. ] Nah. Figured it was just a bunch of WICKED klunk. [ he dropped it and ran, and he's only a tiny bit ashamed about it. eventually, his curiosity gets the better of him, though, and alby squints at him a bit, sizing newt up. ] You really...go 'round saving people?

[ well, okay, color him a little proud. just a little, and his thumb strokes over the top of his hand again. ] That's pretty cool, shank. None of it's gone to your head, huh?

I don't blame ya, honestly. I didn't bother to even give the buggin' thing a read until Minho found me and told me to. [And he'd had a good laugh at Newt's expense once he had. Adhesive, what a stupid power. But it'd proved incredibly useful, actually, once Newt had gotten a chance to properly use it.

Newt shrugs, looking down towards the ground, a little flustered by the praise. Stupid.]

What else am I gonna do? Sit around and watch people suffer and not do anything about it? Only a shuck coward would so somethin' like that. If you've got the means to help, you have to help, that's all there is to it.

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sure, jan

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