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

[pummelgranite]

Wait. You charge?

[batstard]

[ Welp. Alright.

Tossing the cigarette butt on the ground and snuffing it out with his foot. ]

So what do you need blood for, exactly?

[pummelgranite]

[ This is stupid. This is very stupid. She should have peaced out once she realized he'd seen her hauling the body. Damn her thirst! ]


World's worst slip-n-slide party.

[batstard]

[ NO SHIT, IDIOT. ]

Uh-huh. What's your name?

[pummelgranite]

[ listen all her friends are gay and her hymen is about to grow back shit is serious ok.


but instead of telling him, she just gestures with her cigarette out of the alley and across the street, where there are still a few of these up. ]

[batstard]

Persephone, huh?

Okay. Listen, Persephone. You should probably just fucking tell me what you want the blood for, okay?

[pummelgranite]

[ Wow. ]


Excuse me?

[batstard]

[ Well, okay. So here is what he knows about her: she has some kind of bullshit powers, involving vines. The extent of these powers is not actually known to him. She doesn't seem to be a trained fighter, though, or if she is she's really good at hiding it, at least as far as body-language goes. He isn't really fully armored or anything, but he does have some gear on him, and his guns. And since he's been here, he's been a lot harder to kill.

He takes a couple of seconds to weigh all of this, not answering back. And then he just kind of shrugs.

And then with no warning he just throws a punch. Hard and fast to the face. Should be enough to knock a normal human out cold, but she could be stronger than a normal human. Guess we'll see. ]

[pummelgranite]

[ wow


Well, it's probably not much fun. Feels like punching someone who's bones are made of granite. But there was enough force there anyway, and quick pained noise she drops- also like rocks. ]

[batstard]

[ Wow. That was indeed definitely unpleasant. The bones start healing pretty fast, which is even more unpleasant, to be honest. He can feel them shifting under his skin. He counts backwards from 1000 until he feels less like puking. It takes him until 700 something at least, so there's that.

Anyway. Persephone can wake up in what looks like some kind of abandoned shithole building in a vague and undisclosed location that exists for the purposes of this thread. She is tied to a chair with her arms behind her back. She's also blindfolded, so I guess she doesn't know that she's in an abandoned shithole building after all. Huh. ]

[pummelgranite]

[ It's dark. Her head hurts. She knows this nightmare.


Soon, Baphomet will notice she's awake. She'll be able to see him just fine, even in the pitch black. He'll struggle for a while to find the right words, to find a way to tell her what has happened without making a joke of it, but his stupid fucking face will tell her everything. Tell her that everyone is gone. That she is in hell. She will die while still alive. Her lungs will fill with ash. The worms will eat her heart.



She counts her breaths.



She bites her lip until it bleeds.



... she notices the fucking ropes. That's new. And somewhat alarming. But like, kind of par for the alarming course of her life lately. What would Lucifer do in this situation...? ]


Fucking hell fucks. Have you ever heard of "safe, sane, consensual?"

[batstard]

Don't make this weird, Persephone. This is a perfectly innocent interrogation, nothing creepy about it, other than the part where the questions are all about your thirst for blood, I guess.

CW SUICIDAL IDEATION, OTHER BAD SHIT

[pummelgranite]

[ Keep breathing, keep breathing. This is perfectly fine. What's the worst he can do? Kill her? Hey, they say it takes a while to come back, maybe she could escape this shit hole for a few days. She should be so lucky! I mean, or she could kill him. Of course she could. If she didn't want to die, anyway. Yes, she definitely does not care and is not worried and inhales for a count of eight and holds it for a count of four and exhales for a count of eight due to how deeply unworried she is and fine with this situation. ]


It is already weird! You made it weird!

[batstard]

[ Not to make it weirder, but here is the very conspicuous clicking sound of a gun's safety being taken off. Just like in the movies. ]

No, it was definitely you. But look, you're in luck. I'm not actually going to kill you unless you really deserve it. Okay? I mean, if you do deserve it, I am for sure going to blow your head off, don't get me wrong. But otherwise all you gotta do is answer some questions and you can go on your merry way, alright?

[pummelgranite]

[ In for eight. Blah blah blah. Her head turns towards the sound of the gun. ]


Actually, I was sort of thinking you could go fuck yourself.

[batstard]

[ It's from behind you. And now the barrel is being pressed up against your shoulder. His voice is coming from there too. Businesslike, like he's done this a million times. ]

Uh-huh. So here's how this is going to work. I am gonna ask you some questions. And if you lie to me, or give me a bullshit answer, I will put a bullet in you. It will be in a nonlethal but extremely unpleasant location. Okay?

[pummelgranite]

[ They were really playing ball, huh? The moment he makes contact, she could snap her fingers and his fingers could come down with a sudden case of gangrene up to the second knuckle, both hands, if they were both touching the gun.

Something very, very dark is leaking out from under the blindfold. ]


Nuh-uh.

[batstard]

[ He's holding the gun with one hand. As soon as he feels it he's recoiling, cursing loudly because wow, remember like ten minutes ago, when having broken fingers was a thing that seemed painful. What a great time that was, before his fingers were simultaneously rotting and healing, awesome, that's great.

He has to switch hands and he fucking feels the flesh on his fingers tear as he does it, and there is some small hysterical part of him that is sure he has felt this before, when he was being resurrected, the brief seconds where his body was changing from dead to alive, but that part is small and not actually important right now. The rest of him is all business. He moves the gun from right to left and fires, puts a bullet in her shoulder. ]

[pummelgranite]

[ She screams in a this-is-probably-my-first-time-being-shot sort of way, but the scream gets louder and louder- far beyond human capacity to make or bear.

"1" Darkness drips out from under the blindfold, the shadows around them writhe like a living, growing thing.

"2" The wordless shout gets furious as it becomes counting; the cement floor cracks upen beneath their feet

"3" a wall of vines shoots up around her, protectively.

"4" Has he moved his ass yet? Because if not, there's a whole lot of wriggling greenery tangling around his ankles.

]

[batstard]

[ He has totally moved his ass like the flippy little shitbird he is. To be honest, this is not really ideal, though. I mean, he's good at dodging, he can dodge vines all fucking day with any number of embarrassing acrobatic Robin moves, but like, in general this is not really where he was looking for this conversation to go.

That's fine, though. Mostly he feels okay about this. If nothing else, focusing on jumping away from suspicious vines is way better than thinking about his feelings. It's honestly probably even better than standing around and threatening some girl, even if she may possibly be a serial killer. He guesses he will just wait for her to bleed enough to stop being so fucking difficult. That seems like the right choice here. ]

[pummelgranite]

[ Her vines lift her up bodily, chair and all. One creeps under the blindfold to rip it off her head, revealing inky black eyes. Her breath is coming ragged through clenched teeth.

Once she can see him, the vines swirl together and dark after him, moving in tandem like a single massive creature. ]


What- the fucking hell- is wrong with you!? You shot me!

[batstard]

[ That makes things more difficult. By which I mean despite his truly spectacular flips 'n' shit, some of those vines are indeed managing to to grab at his ankles. He doesn't miss a beat slashing at them with his knife. Still, this is not ideal. Through gritted teeth: ]

Sure did. You can calm the fuck down and I can patch you up, or we can wait for you to bleed yourself unconscious. I don't actually give a shit either way, to be honest.

[pummelgranite]

[ The vines around her rip the chair to splinters as well. She's still bound, hand and foot, but the greenery arranges itself into a place for her to kneel-- almost alter-like and continue her attack. ]


Bullshit!


[ And here's the thing, when your weapon grows out of any surface you like in an enclosed space, is that he's going to be quickly running out of places to do shitty bird flips to. ]

[batstard]

[ Well. Okay, that is true. And it is not ideal. There are only so many flips a shitty bird can do in such a situation, before he ends up struggling against vine bondage just like in my animes. ]

Yeah, yeah, that's right, I'm just fucking with you. You go ahead and keep acting like an asshole and I'm sure you'll be just fucking fine, alright? Knock yourself out, literally.

[pummelgranite]

[ The vines writhe around them both, smashing and crushing the crates around them indiscriminately. They'll coil around him, pulling tight until he is immobilized, Crucifixion-style, though notably not ripping him apart like tissue paper, which is kind of seriously a possibility here. ]


Fuck you . . . fuck you! All you've done is fuck with me! You should have just blown my head off when you had the chance!


[ She finally slips her wrists under her feet to get them in front of her, as a friendly vine starts poking around his jacket, until a knife is slowly withdrawn. ]