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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[ 02 ]
[Even admidst everything that's going on, it's rather difficult to miss 8'3" hook-handed man, and the crowd surrounding him. All of the cheers and excited waves... in a way it reminds him of when he was still one of the Shichibukai, and all the people who fawned over him in Alabasta. Of course, protecting them all and having them love him served a purpose. But this? It has no purpose. It's just irritating and obnoxious. So he walks through the crowd, bumping past the occasional person, not wanting to waste his time any more than he already has.

The similarities between the role of imPort and Shichibukai aren't completely lost on him, however. The former is far less exclusive, and doesn't come with as many perks, but still. Working with the government, being given a position that puts one high above the common people, special privileges (should one choose to register), hunting down and stopping criminals in the name of "justice"... He chuckles slightly as he stops to light a cigar.

It's enough to be mildly entertaining, at least.]

[ Wildcard! ]
[Do whatever and let's run with it!]

[Crane's eyes flick from the man to the crowd. The crowd surrounds him, suffocates him, causing the poor fellow to frustratingly wander away. He's a wolfish figure in black, with fur around his shoulders that makes Crane see the mane of a lion. And the sheep following him? Don't even seem to notice.

He's standing ahead as the man comes closer. A curious gleam in his eye. His lips curl into a nice and polite smile when their paths nearly meet. His eyes flick to the crowd and back again. Then he speaks openly, a casually friendly remark to shoehorn his way in.]

You're quite the popular one.

[A man with a mane like a lion, yes. But really, he's a different kind of predator altogether. He doesn't pause or glance down as he hears someone speak to him. It's idle chatter. Friendly, but uninteresting.

Crocodile says nothing, closing his eyes as he takes a puff of his cigar. The exhale of thick smoke comes out like a sigh, and he finally looks down at the other man.]

I'm accustomed to it. [And so it loses its charm that that much faster.]

So it seems.

[Crane speaks softly. He's so very careful about giving a stoic face, although his eyes have the sparkle of curiosity.

He cranes his head back slightly to get a better look at the subject. Tall. More than the Batman, and that was saying something.]

Interesting choice of word, accustomed. [An excellent choice. So much resentment. He eyes the cigar.] Smoker? I'd prefer a stiff drink myself. [Lies. Lies.]

[He notices that little spark, carefully kept beneath that stoic little persona he seems to have created for himself-

Ah, so this one likes to pick apart people's words. Start with something relatively harmless, and gauge the reaction as they go on. Hm.

Testing him? Or simply curious? Although, both is a possibility. At any rate, it's more intriguing than a man talking just to fill the silence. It's still a waste of time... but then, while he's here and not in his own world, isn't everything a waste of his time?

So fine. He'll indulge this man's questions. Either until he grows bored or gets something useful out of it - whichever comes first.]

Do you? [He doesn't care.] I can't say I do that as often

[The remark causes Crane's eyes to sharpen. He'd learned his first thing. This man liked everything under his thumb. Alcohol, damaging the frontal lobes of the brain that affected self-regulation and impulse control, ran contrary to his nature. What, though, did he like to control? People? His environment?

That was his next puzzle to solve.]

Neither do I. Certainly not vodka, if it's a strong sort. Regardless, alcohol holds a certain sway over parts of mankind, who blame it for all the ills under the sun.

[He's not completely right with his assumption, but he certainly isn't wrong, either. Control is always something he's always been after. As for what he wants to control... well. Whatever he can get his hand on, really. And he does enjoy drinking, just not nearly as much as he does smoking. Crocodile is a large man (compared to the people here, at least), and it takes quite a bit to actually get him drunk. He's simply careful enough to make sure he never gets to that point. And really, it all comes back to his need to be very much in control. He'd be of no use to himself or anyone else if he were a babbling drunk, after all.

But he doesn't care to talk about something as foolish as people blaming their own incompetence and idiocy on alcohol. Mostly, any mild interest he has is in the little contradiction that came before that he's focused on. Saying he likes something one second and then doesn't care for it the next. It can barely be considered a break in whatever character this man has put together for himself. It could be a simple man's contradictory nature. Or not being a fan of the specific drink he mentioned. Or not enjoying drinking very often. But he'll go for that, rather than the topic the other man was trying to steer him towards.]

Mm? Didn't you just say you liked stiff drinks?

No. I said that I'd prefer one to that cigar.

[There was another smile on Crane's face, as though he'd led this man down a different road entirely. He let him form his opinions, coming to realise his response himself. The best information for his research was often freely given.

The taste for luxeries was different man to man, too. Not that he minded. It was good to eat a bit of gold sometimes, as Jung had said.

He leans forward, brows raised, like he's about to share some joke.]

I just firmly believe it's good to have something to indulge in once in a while.

[Like picking apart this conversation and trying to unravel what made this man tick.]

Ah? My mistake. [Crocodile still doesn't care. But his brow furrows slightly as he leans forward. Don't get too close, now.] There's a time and place for certain indulgences. So. [Crocodile pauses and takes another puff from his cigar. Honestly, this man is starting to remind him of some of the sea birds he's seen during his life. Carefully flying above the water, watching and evaluating. Avoiding any predators lurking below the ocean surface while waiting for a chance to dive in and grasp onto whatever they're after.

He breathes out another thick trail of smoke.] Indulge me. Why don't you stop playing around and ask me what you really want to know?

[The likelihood of him giving a real answer is slim to none, but at least getting asked real questions is more interesting than dancing around the issue under the pretense of false politeness and pointless chatter.]

[What people wanted to know differed between them, too. The smile on Crane's face becomes a little brighter. He wanted to know what a predator like this man was afraid of. Hunters lived with the fear of their resources being stolen day by day, or being defeated by somebody more powerful and replaced.

He was a hunted man too. He twisted and he turned and hid in the shadows. But boy, did he enjoy the moment!]

Tick tock. Well, apologies for my inquisitiveness, but what do you make of these people? [His eyes flick to the crowd and back. How easily lead they were. Irritable.]

[What he's afraid of? Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately, for Crane), there really isn't a lot that he's afraid of. Does he ever feel frustration? Anger? Certainly. But that's different. Genuine fear is something that Crocodile rarely experiences.

His eyes flicker over to the crowd that had been surrounding him earlier, and then back to the other man.]

They're people. [Said as if this explains everything.] People always want to know about their betters. How they look, what they like, what makes them do what they do.

[Answering the question yet not. If he were to really go on about these people and what he thought of them - how pathetic they are for being so desperate to get close to someone above them, just for a glimpse of their glory - he would be talking for quite a while. And yes, Crocodile is very deliberately comparing him to them. Some pests may be more intriguing than others, but they're still pests.]

[A noise sticks in Crane's throat. It's not emotional, it's not a dismissive grunt, but it's not words either. His eyes sharpen very deliberately. And finally the spark behind his eyes begins to glow, as he looks at Crocodile and begins understanding what kind of person he is.]

That they do. [Not we do.] Here is the question; if you're not people, what are you?

[He cracks a smile.

Crocodile is many things. A pirate. A mastermind. A former Shichibukai. An escaped prisoner. He is sand. A one-man wasteland - capable of stealing so much away. Reducing people and places to withered husks of who and what they were before.

And not just with the abilities the fruit gave him, either.]

I'm a man who doesn't waste my time with dreams of capturing or trying to live out someone else's glory.

Well. It appears we have something in common.

[Though his gaze had settled on Crocodile for a while, his curious expression seems to suggest some difference. He's not naive enough to draw that much similarity, enough that it could set them apart.]

Everyone back there looked like they wanted to bathe in yours.

[Those sheep who always followed the strongest. He really didn't share much with them.]

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sure, jan

Crocodile | One Piece

02

eeeeeee jonathan

So glad to see a Crocodile here

haha, aww thanks! It's been a while since I've written him so I'm still a little rusty

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