Lies a place that few have seen.

[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 someone else's thread, either!

And remember there's only one rule in Test Drive Meme Club: have fun!

01. The city of Heropa is what one might expect from a small, bright and cheery place, where locals are friendly enough and local shop owners might offer a free drink to welcome you to their fair city. Some of the locals might thank you for always lending your service to the nation, while others might not say anything -- but if you have something nasty to say, better not say anything at all, right? This month has been a rocky one, and locals are beginning to eye imPorts with renewed scrutiny; if people like them can get superpowers, are imPorts really that special, after all? Some people usher their children away from anyone clearly not 'from around here,' while other natives may be brave enough to directly approach obvious imPorts and ask their thoughts on the war with Russia and what the imPort ambassadors are planning to do about it.

ImPorts are a divisive issues, even in pretty Heropa.

02. 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 very presence. Look at you! Organic wonder! Science and technology are the lifeblood of this city, so you're likely to come across a good many locals taking your picture with the newest of devices. The imPort craze is at an all-time high, and you may find yourself cornered by overzealous imPort fans, media wannabes and opportunists alike, shoving cameras in your face.

Their questions are likely to be fairly mundane, however; get ready for an interview about your taste in romantic partners, personal underwear choices, favourite foods, and more!

Also, as the Halloween craze is reaching a fevered pitched, more and more children are running around in costumes of their favorite imPorts! Do you recognize any of these masks? Perhaps one of these costumes mimics YOU!?

...

Isn't that kinda creepy?

03. Maurtia Falls, Pennsylvania is populated by a whole lot of people who are having awfully bad days. With the emergence of locals with superpowers, many seem to have latched onto their new supercharged identities with an incredible amount of gusto. As your character walks down the street, they may find themselves accosted by a large man in his mid-20s, dressed in an ill-fitting spandex suit of orange and yellow. As he thrusts his finger into an imPort's face, the spandex rides up, turning into more of a crop-top, which he duly tugs back down before shouting, "You're not the special ones anymore, imPorts! Feel the wrath of Heartburn!"

Stupid name aside, he does seem to have superpowers as he breathes a large plume of fire. His aim still isn't great, though; it could hit the imPort in question, or be sent in the direction of a nearby local, or even a particularly flammable building.

What will you do, Hero?

04. Nonah, North Carolina, is the liveliest of all cities; loud, busy and there's some kind of energy in the air that gets everyone buzzing with excitement. This fine day, pumpkin spice seems to be in style, to the point at which you happen to be crashing an open pumpkin spice festival. From drinks to sweet treats to some other things that really, really shouldn't be pumpkin spice flavoured (pumpkin spice flavoured vodka, anyone? It tastes like regret!), everyone seems to be in the mood for the upcoming season.

Taste test a few samples and take in the hustle and bustle of the city, everyone! And hey, if just gorging yourself isn't enough, why not try your hand at the pumpkin carving contest going on? The competition is fierce!

Comments

[good_enough]

[ She hesitates for just a moment as she takes the comm back. That ... wasn't what she was expecting him to do. If he's not going to keep her, then it's better not to piss him off by messing with his powers.

Meanwhile, her comm does indeed list her as Claire Saunders ... but there's a note in parentheses that says "Whiskey." She flinches a bit seeing that. ]

I haven't lied. As you can see.

[slightlyoffchilt]

I would have to take control of the car regardless. [Although...] You seem very comfortable, around all this technology. Are you breaking character? Or just highly adaptable?

[Because the man was obviously an imPort, so the question remained: was he from an Old West world, or did he just like to dress up and look pretty?]

I think-- [And the man in black shot at that cop car, and the cop car swerved off the road, slamming aside. Chilton yelped and surged his power, clearing their exit through black smoke that prophesied a fire.]

What! The hell!

[blackhat]

[ He can see, provided these communicators can be trusted.

They’re on the primitive side of functional. ]

Tell you what, ‘Whiskey.’ [ He grimaces behind his mask as he levers himself upright, taking his time. ] You put in the work to figure out how resurrection functions in this ‘world’ and I’ll hold off on using your corpse to find out myself.

[blackhat]

I am that I am, [ is the answer, humble as they come in the beat before he first pulls the trigger, and everything goes to hell in a tunnel of black smoke.

In the Civic, the man in black chuckles, already knocking the hammer back to crack a second shot through the SUV’s back window as they blow past. ]

I think they’re onto us. [ He has to raise his voice to clue Chilton in over the mess he’s made. Helping out in case Frederick is too focused on the road to have noticed. ]

[good_enough]

[ Claire flinches bodily at that one word. And takes a step away from the man in black. ]

Don't. Call me that.

[slightlyoffchilt]

[He shifted his attention from swiftly clearing the road for himself, car by car, to seeking out any other hidden police SUVs and killing their engines. Better to be an accomplice to armed robbery than it was to be that and accessory to murder! Especially when a specific breed of person was killed, Chilton had already experienced what it was like to be on the bad end of a "cop killer" accusation.]

You! Are enjoying this!

[In another world, or at least another state of mind, Chilton would have savored that fact. His captor/partner was clearly psychopathic. This was raw data unfolding beside him as they darted between cars, dashing over asphalt.]

[blackhat]

Call you what?

[ Easy as that, it’s like he never saw the screen, knife sunk down onto his hip with an easy turn and shove. There’s no amount of distance that can take her out of his sight now, short of a heroic leap to her death. ]

Do we have an accord?

[blackhat]

That your professional opinion?

[ The man in black finds the switch again with his middle finger, glass scrolled up to screen the wind and the sound of distant sirens into the softer hiss of air through the vents. He dials the heat up a touch with the tip of his knife, revolver turned over idle across his far knee.

Havoc wrought, he tips his head back to eye Chilton across the center console instead. ]

Doctor?

[slightlyoffchilt]

[His shoulders tensed upwards, forwards, his back muscles expanding to a slight hunch. Chilton was damn sure that he hadn't given himself any proper introduction -- and therefore, that meant that this man dressed in black had done his research. Which made the bank heist seem less random, less chaotic. And that made Chilton far, far more nervous.

He didn't like the wheeze of heat flooding this stolen car. It felt thick to him, it pressured against his skin.]

The natives are only human. [It was almost a plea for compassion, but more realistically a complaint for restraint.] We stand to resurrect. They do not. So try to dial down the sadism, won't you? For you own good health.

[He made a sharp swerve, veering off the interstate. Seeking quieter, more anonymous roads.]

Because I have no qualms slipping a psychopath into a straitjacket. Especially one of the imPort variety.

[fordshadowing]

[ Deposit or withdrawal? Dr. Robert Ford can only wear a slightly amused smile at that, lingering in the doorway of the bank. ]

Neither. I've merely come by for a touch of nostalgia. I heard an old acquaintance is here in this world as well. I had to see it for myself.

[ Without fear or hesitation, Robert enters the bank -- resting a large portion of his weight on a can as the door seals behind him. If he's afraid, he does not let it show. Here he is at the Man in Black's mercy, and yet he imagines the man isn't so out of touch with reality that he would attempt to harm him. ]

Did you feel as though this world, too, was without a proper villain?

[blackhat]

[ Something tightens under the man in black’s skin at that particular word choice -- psychopath -- subtle in a rankle and a flash of white when his half a smile hooks into a grin.

Like a police dog, eager to bite. ]

You ever cut one open to make sure?

[ He’s genuinely curious, in an angling-to-help kinda way. There’s a flask on his belt; he pushes the knife away slow to trade it out so that he can unscrew the cap between them, watching Chilton all the while. Smells like tequila, while they’re busy breaking laws anyway. ]

Hell, you probably haven’t even cut on yourself.

Just take it for granted that you’re something superior. Anointed by the gods of this world to write prescriptions and rob banks.

[slightlyoffchilt]

I tend to let them do the cutting.

[Mildly spoken in his airy tone, as if he knew how his voice sounded from the gleaming window of his ivory tower. The remark cut both ways; Chilton had Abel Gideon cut up that nurse, and Gideon had collected the debt to Chilton's own gut. It wasn't the sort of scar he would want to expose, not physically nor emotionally. The road they had taken that river-spawned off the highway now bled into a backwater street. The asphalt was bumpy, forgotten.

Chilton kept his smile tightly coiled.]

Unless, of course, you are offering? You know I need your consent.

[At that word, with that emphasis, he forced the car off the road, down the gentle grassy slope with the wheels drifting sideways -- psychically performed. Meanwhile his hand was outstretched, reaching for the man's face, glad for the exposure of the mouth thanks to that inviting tequila.

Sedative was waiting in his fingertips.]

ww spoilers in tags from here on down

[blackhat]

[ I’m old and I forgot about the bandanna.

Bandanna tugged down loose under his chin, arrogant, the man in black offers Frederick the first sip. And how is he repaid? Tires skipping over gravel and a hand to the face, that’s how.

For an instant, William’s jowls give cool against Chilton’s fingertips.

Then he’s gone, flash in pan heat tucked into a snarl of smoke that fills the cabin -- stinging, choking, swirling dark against the windows. His pistol rolls forgotten into the far door with a sound like a lead brick -- dead weight. ]

[slightlyoffchilt]

[Well, shit.

Chilton's powers only worked when he was conscious and focused, a state of mind highly enabled by a paucity of any stinging, choking smoke presently polluting his stolen car. He gasps, his nausea clogging his throat, gagging, and his vision blurs.

The engine kicks, then stalls. The car slides down the final little hill at a geometrically flawed angle -- it tips, its nose suddenly armed with too much velocity at the wrong side of gravity. It tips, metal screams. The shell puckers as it rolls, with Chilton locked inside, airbag squished against him.

A whimper, not a bang. Not a crash. Just a lapse -- the good doctor was not dead. Not immediately. Chilton struggling against the airbag, his own senses not yet meeting equilibrium, his head rushing with blood and heart pounding. The car was upside down, but he managed to dislocate his seat belt and had then kicked open the door, stumbling, gasping, coughing and crawling towards freedom.

The ground was dewy beneath his bare palms and slacked knees.]

[blackhat]

[ Recognition strikes true later than it should amidst all the distraction, and existential confusion flashes through the man in black’s eyes clear and sharp as a jerked steel chain. He’s rigid as the teller, with his forefinger tight on the trigger -- a hair’s breadth away from making a hot, sticky mess of the lobby.

At the first step Ford takes inward, William shifts his weight, watching the way the door seals off behind him with distrust.

When has Ford ever truly been alone? ]

Just stretching my wings, [ is the answer he musters, half as secure as it sounds. Blood wells from beneath the edge of his knife, and his hostage shudders against him. At his back, the teller reaches slowly under the till for the silent alarm. ]

[blackhat]

[ Black smoke rolls out after him, like ink through water. The man in black resolves out of the thick of it, embers sizzling in wet grass, steam winding around his boots while he takes time to look down upon Chilton’s retreating be-hind. He leans to snag his flask up out from where it’s splashing tequila into the wreckage before he slips his knife off his belt. Cap’s probably a lost cause.

He can buy a new flask. ]

Hell of a spill, [ he remarks, as he draws up on Chilton’s flank.

One swig from his flask, and he sets a boot heel into the doctor’s ribs and gives it a stout little shove. ]

You sure you should be moving?

[slightlyoffchilt]

Damn it.

[He spoke with a groan. It was sturdy enough of a footed shove to land Chilton on his side -- wincing, aching Frederick Chilton no longer moving freely. Feebly he tried to kick out at William, but his well-heeled shoe had angled too wide. Missed the lean man's gritty form entirely. Sedative seemed to have worn off, he thought. Figures.

Chilton stayed in the grass, cheek down and eyes upwards. Snake in the grass a little too on the nose.]

Go away.

[Such bold words.]

[blackhat]

In a minute.

[ William straddles over him with a wide step, not half as keen on following directions as Chilton might like. He’s still gloating, measuring out his next move when something down low catches his eye.

Halfway to lifting his flask for a second shot, he stoops to hook his knife up in under the loose him of Frederick’s shirt instead. What he sees when he nudges the fabric up another few inches is enough to have him winding slowly back upright in a state of something like appreciation, blade at an easy jut away from his knee.

Tut. ]

I wish I could say I was surprised.

[slightlyoffchilt]

[It wasn't the indignation that gave Chilton that paralytic pause as William looked over the damaged goods, it wasn't a freeze born from any sense of shame. His numbed movement came from the sheer authority that this man in black demonstrated -- the ease of audacity. It was the sort of attitude that bespoke a man of privilege.

Chilton recognized it. He had tried to claw his way into that luxury time and time again.]

You collect scars? Would have pegged you more as someone with brutalized emotional tissue.

[Stilled muscles or no, Chilton's tongue still worked. It would lash against any appraisal, even as the doctor began to pinch up pieces of this puzzling man.]