etcelsior | The power is in your hands

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The power is in your hands

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 someone else's thread, either!

And remember to have fun!

01. Your memory might be a haze still and you might even feel frustrated or anxious by the sudden news that you are no longer in your own world and that the Porter scientists and military cannot send you back. You don't get a chance to linger long in the underground Porter lab, but something is clearly amiss; light patches on the floor indicate something else used to sit in that spot in the room. Parts of the wall, floor and the tables look as if they have been refurbished in the past few months -- something happened in here some time ago. Something big.

You're ushered out quickly and then suddenly, you're enveloped in a faint blue blue light before you find yourself under the bright Floridian sun. Another soldier steps toward you with a smile, directing your attention to a car near a large gate. She mentions she'll be debriefing you soon, handing out a brown folder and a pamphlet. You don't see the digital tattoo on your wrist, but it's quickly explained on your way over to the car as you realize there are other confused faces nearby, all holding files of their own.

02. The city of Heropa is what one might expect from a small, bright and cheery place. The locals are friendly enough and local shop owners might offer a free drink to help cool you down in this awfully nauseating heat. Some of the locals might thank you for always lending your service to the nation and others might not say anything. In fact, some people might back away from any imPort who quite obviously looks like they aren't from around the neighborhood. Once in a while there's a look of disdain on someone's face and hushed voices. Something about "the outbreak" and "the government's gotta crack down on their medical files". "Some of them can't be right in the head" says another.

03. De Chima, Virginia, is a large city with a healthy economy, and though it's quieter, there are just as many citizens awed at your presence. Heavy winds have people grasping at their newspapers and constantly brushing hair out of their faces, but that doesn't distract them from crowding you in excitement if you're obviously from a different time or world, or just let it slip that you're a newcomer. Children and young teenagers are especially likely to ask for an autograph and a photo.

Some locals seem less enthused to see you. They never make an approach, but they can be overheard scoffing and muttering something about cameras. "Who do they think they are?" or "I don't like it... it reminds me of the government corruption back in the eighties." What could they be talking about?

04. Maurtia Falls, Pennsylvania, is normally known for being a little more on the apathetic side, but there's been tension in the atmosphere lately. Nobody will outright state what it is that's rustled their jimmies, though you might find a newsstand with articles on recent and aggressive vigilante behavior within the city. "ImPorts: loyal to the cause of their own?" reads one newspaper article.

People are not as friendly in this city and go out of their way to avoid walking down the same sidewalk as the more obvious looking imPorts pass through. Local cops say nothing, but they scowl at those imPorts and utter something about "no badges" and "acting like authority figures".

05. Nonah, North Carolina, is the liveliest of all cities. It's loud, busy and there's some kind of energy in the air that gets everyone buzzing with excitement. Anyone who they come to determine an imPort is bombarded with all sorts of offers; job offers, advertising gigs, spokesperson for advocating children stay in school, etc. Anything and everything! You name it. Shops offer discounts for food and clothing, whatever they need. People flock in droves with questions, but they all say the same thing. Thank you for your service to this country, Hero. You saved a lot of lives. Wow, feels great to be a hero, doesn't it?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Ronan snorts, like she told a mildly funny joke that he has to appreciate. Which is really the worst thing about this, that she's funny and respectably tough, she has a good sense of her anger and she knows not to be afraid of Ronan's bluster.]

[In short, Ronan both likes and respects Kitty Jones, and it's kind of killing him. He doesn't know how to deal with this. Oh, wait, he definitely does. He's going to toss her in a dumpster. That's how he's going to deal with it.]

Good point. [And then, because he's big and she's little, and he's very strong, he hefts her over his shoulder in a fireman's carry.] Stay still, or I'll fall over and you'll get a mouthful of asphalt.

[Which would also be an ideal way of dealing with this situation, honestly. He continues to lumber toward the dumpster.]

[ She's not sure how he scoops her up so quickly. Suddenly she's face-down over his shoulder, and very securely so. She gives a cry of fury (less charitable souls might label it an 'irritable squawk' or, perhaps, a 'peevish squeak') and pounds his shoulder with her fists - ]

You bastard! You rotten bastard, put me down -

[ She tries her knee next, trying to drive it into his chest, but her leverage is all wrong. ]

You shit -

[ And so, last resort, she twists her head and arches her back to get her head in line - and then she chomps down hard on his ear. ]

Jesus Christ! [What the fuck, this girl is completely crazy. It's kind of awesome; a crazy he can respect. Which is, in turn, completely awful, and something to be rectified.]

[Something to be rectified later. For now, Ronan is bit on the ear, jolts to far to the left, and makes good on his promise to fall the fuck over. He's strong, but not that strong.]

[Unlike his threat to pile-drive her head into the gravel, though, Ronan actually twists wildly in an attempt to save the girl a broken nose via asphalt sandwich. He kind of rolls over in the air, so her weight effectively pins him to the ground. Better than giving her an unearned concussion.]

[From underneath her, he growls,] Get the fuck off me.

Edited 2015-08-24 12:13 (UTC)

Absolutely not.

[ That comes out as a pant; she's a little winded from fighting him and the sheer abdominal contortions necessary to deliver that bite. And - okay, maybe a bit of it is adrenaline, as well; maybe some small part is because this is sort of ridiculously fun. True to her promise, she positions her knees and shins at the joint where his thighs meet his pelvis, where he can't get leverage to push her off: she might be skinny, but she was skinny on the schoolyard and knew then how to use her weight effectively. And she leans up to push her sharp elbow against his throat to keep him from sitting up.

Not terribly hard, though. She doesn't really want to cause him pain. The fact that he took a hard tumble and broke her fall - that's not lost on her. ]

You were going to throw me into the bloody trash. You're not getting up until you promise to buy me a coffee in apology.

What? [He understood her, of course, but what? That's so easy, she's not trying to make him squirm at all. That's fucking weird.]

Whatever, sure. A coffee. Let me the fuck up. [He could push it, he knows. He could still use his strength and some dirty moves to beat her, but then it would get real ugly, and that just doesn't seem worth it. She hasn't earned a real, true knock down drag out fight from him.]

Yeah?

[ That seemed...too easy? Maybe? But if he's agreeing, he's agreeing. And if he goes back on his word...Well, then she just won't get coffee, and she'll have the fact that he made a deal with her to hold over his head. And the fact that he broke a promise. That's good enough for her.

So she holds her elbow there another moment, then climbs off him. For good measure, she says: ]

I've got expensive tastes. Be ready for that.

Fuck. [Ronan growls as he gets up, dusting himself of with a sneer.] Okay, you freak. What's your name.

Kitty.

[ She pushes her hands through her hair, trying to shove it back into some semblance of order. ]

What's yours?

Ronan. That's Chainsaw. [He points to the raven, who caws to introduce herself.] Where'd you learn to fight, prison?

[ A slightly impressed smile flits across her face, because - well, she's trying to act haughty right now, sure, but having a raven named Chainsaw that knows its own name? That's sort of really cool. She compensates for that smile by tossing her head with extra contempt. ]

I'll have to start liking you a lot more before I tell you the answer to that question. What about you? Let me guess - I bet you've got siblings. And I bet they're smaller than you.

[His thirst for violence momentarily sated, Ronan almost comes off calm. His movements and thoughts are slow and decisive as he works through then without the easy answer, the inevitable road leading to his next fight.]

[Fair is fair, and technically, she won.] Nah. Never fought my younger brother. I'm just not a fucking pushover. Your loss. [But he's rubbing his wounded ear with a grimace.]

[ She sniffs, and tries very very hard not to sound concerned when she asks: ]

I didn't break skin, did I? When I bit you.

[Luck for her that Ronan doesn't need the sound of honest concern to mock someone for it.] Oh, suddenly you care if you give me rabies?

Ugh. I just don't want to deal with how much weirder your lumpy head will look with only one ear.

[Ronan scoffs in humored disdain.] Bet you say that to all the guys you bite.

You're actually completely correct. I've now said that to every boy I've bitten. [ But that bit of glibness comes perhaps a bit too quickly; she reconsiders, thinks... ] Or - well - to fifty percent of the boys I've bitten. No, hold on, thirty-three point three repeating percent. Anyway -

[ She shakes her head and then turns to point down the block. ]

There's a coffee shop that way. I want a bee sting latte. Come on.

[He follows her slowly, skill and always glowering. Chainsaw flaps her wings and lands on Ronan's suddenly outstretched arm.] Is that your power? Being really fucking annoying? It didn't give you sharp teeth. [Yes, he's insulting her biting prowess, now.]

I'm sorry, are you complaining?

[ She arches her eyebrow. ]

Because I can give it another go if you'd like. Anyway, what my power is isn't your business, actually. Not until you tell me what yours is.

I don't know, I just fucking got here. [Chainsaw hops from his arm to his shoulder.] Why're you so fucking cagey about it? You drink blood or something?

I'm cagy about it because if I tell you what I can do, and you continue to be a bit of a bastard, I'd like to be able to take you by surprise.

[ Still. Curiously, she points at the bird. ]

So - your powers haven't got anything to do with your raven?

[Ronan rolls his eyes, as though her rough pragmatism is a serious irritant.]

[Really, he's irritated because she asked a direct question. That's one of the problems of being Ronan Lynch; as far as he's concerned, he never lies. Sure, he may obscure, omit and mislead, but he doesn't outright lie.]

Yeah, kind of. She's mine. [Never said he had to be clear, though, just honest. Chainsaw croaks in agreement.] Is this twenty questions, now? Do your powers got to do with fighting, or is it something dumb like invisibility?

If you think invisibility is dumb, you've clearly never had occasion to rob a place.

[ She says that dryly enough, like it's a joke. ]

Anyway, my power is, as far as some people are concerned, completely useless, and as far as others are concerned it's the deadliest one here. So how is your raven kind of your power? Can you speak with her?

[One cannot begin to express the extent to which Ronan has never had occasion to rob a place. So he just kind of shrugs, which means Chainsaw flaps her wings and caws ominously.] Oh, I get it, your power is stupid fucking riddles.

[He doesn't even know why he cares, except she started it and he intends to put it to bed.] She doesn't talk any more than normal ravens do. She isn't my power. She just... has to do with it. Like you said.

Yeah, you're one to talk about others speaking in riddles.

[ She turns her head to consider the bird. ]

Is she intelligent? I mean - more intelligent than the average raven. Since they're terribly clever birds to begin with.

[Ronan looks at Chainsaw. Chainsaw looks at Ronan.] I think she's smart for a raven, but that's it.

[They near the coffeeshop.] You order whatever. I don't give a shit.

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