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etcelsior2019-03-25 02:05 pm
maskormods) wrote in etcelsior2019-03-25 02:05 pm
Entry tags:
what are we here for again?
T E S T D R I V E M E M E
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 ON THE TEST DRIVE MEME!01.The city of Heropa, Florida 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. Heropa isn't right on the beach, but who cares? A local community center and pool complex is hosting a sand sculpture contest with loads of shipped-in sand, water and all the sculpting tools any beach artiste could want. Are you interested in winning a free season pass and a gift certificate for dinner for two at a top nearby restaurant? Then step right up and build your best beach castle!
Of course, with many imPorts nearby as inspiration, entries include sandy versions of many of them, new or old. Do you recognize your face, or that of a friend? Take a selfie with it, and maybe sign an autograph for the star-struck sculptor. Food and drink kiosks are scattered around for those who just want to tour the sculptures, making this a lovely day out for anyone who comes by.
...at least, at first. About halfway through the day, a would-be supervillain named The Shrinker bursts onto the scene out of nowhere, blasting people left and right with his powerful shrink ray. His aim isn't so great, so only about half the attendees are struck, but if you're one of them, those small-but-fancy sand castles now look like mighty fortresses. If you're not, then you better watch out—accidentally stomping on another imPort is a terrible way to make friends.
02. De Chima, Virginia, is a large city with a healthy economy, with large numbers of citizens waiting to be awed by your very presence. Look at you! Organic wonder! Those words have meaning here. 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 remains high here, and you may find yourself cornered by overzealous imPort fans, media wannabes and opportunists alike, shoving cameras in your face. If you let yourself get cornered, beware! Anything from personal questions about romantic chances to bedroom habits to dietary queries might be come up!
On this crisp Spring day, crowds are out in droves as researchers, inventors and musicians are out showing off what's new and great in music technology innovation. Out on the tables displaying their wares, imPorts and natives alike are welcome to test out what's in store for what they swear up and down is the future of America's music industry. From warbling guitars plugged into synths meant to recreate the approximate sound of every other instrument they can think of (who needs an electric piano when you can do it on a guitar?) to rows of theremins to bagpipe-accordion amalgamations to electric dulcimers, it seems as though some of these won't necessarily be catching on anytime soon.
Up on the provided stage, any intrepid musicians are welcome to go up and take these instruments (and perfectly ordinary instruments) for a whirl, though do take care to keep an eye out for any side effects - the people developing this are natural showmen who really want to create the next big thing, whether that's through extravagant light shows, guitars that spit sparks out of their necks, horns that shoot bubbles and flowers and so much more.
Once evening falls and everyone's had their fill of the various musical themed food items for sale (boy, this world really loves their puns, don't they?), the tables and food trucks are cleared and mats are put out for a swing dancing competition! A blessedly professional band begins to play, a far cry from the chaos of unpracticed musicians trying their hand at experimental instruments this afternoon, and dancers trot onto the dance floor to strut their stuff. Why not go out there and show them what you can do?
And hey - enough of this swing dancing stuff, right? Why not see if you can scandalize a soul or two?
03. Maurtia Falls, Pennsylvania has had its ups and downs since imPorts started reappearing. Several imPort heroes have put focused efforts into cleaning up the streets of this somewhat infamous city, while others have swooped in to help the criminal industry thrive. More so here than the streets of any other imPort city, the battle between good and evil looks more like a war of escalation than a heroic tale. That might make the less than warm welcome imPorts are given in the city a little more understandable. The emergence of locals with superpowers is hardly helping. While some of these individuals have turned to crime, many locals seem more inclined to defend their native powered drug dealer than help the non-native hero bring them to justice. Who are you to tell them how to live?
It's not quite spring yet, but already flowers are popping up—in the form of seven-foot sentient musclebound daisies! A local criminal known as Flower Power has set them on the city, and they're going on a rampage, but a number of citizens have taken advantage. Do you go after the bushwhacking blossoms or the local looters?
04. Nonah, North Carolina, is the liveliest of all cities; loud, busy and there's always some kind of energy in the air that gets everyone buzzing with excitement.
Baseball season is now open! And what's more American than America's favorite pastime? For new imPorts and registered imPorts, you can get in to watch the game for free! (If you aren't registered, sorry bucko, no freebies for you.) Take a seat, order some peanuts or a hot dog, and enjoy the game! Or, ask the citizen next to you what the heck is going on, if you have no idea what baseball is.
Midway through the game, the umpire might take note of you new imPorts -- assuming you're standing out in the crowd. He'll welcome you to throw a pitch if you'd like! Of course, the opposing team isn't too keen on the idea.
05. Jeopardy, Nevada by all rights shouldn't exist. A glowing neon city smack in the middle of the desert, the only reason it's still here is that the central nuclear power plant has tapped half a mile down into a subterranean lake for its water supply. So though the desert around it may be barren, the occupants of this small city are happily self sufficient. Those weird figures you see out of the corner of your eyes? Don't worry too much. Probably just weird radiation after effects. Jeopardy has a lot of those.
Today, the annual Jeopardy Pet Show has locals in fine spirits. Whether they own a cat, dog, lizard or ant farm, resident pet owners are encouraged to groom their pet pals to look their best and show how great they are in a blocked-off section of main street. The event kicks off at 11 a.m. with the pet parade, which is followed by a pet fashion show (how did the ant farm owners manage to sew such tiny outfits?) and a talent contest. Attending imPorts are encouraged to evaluate each pet and share their thoughts as guest celebrity judges.
One contestant of note is Paul the African Grey parrot, owned by an engineer at the power plant. Not only is Paul a chatty fellow, he's liable to provide unsolicited advice and criticism to any person who happens to pass by his table at the show. On the plus side? He's right about his fashion advice--Paul has impeccable taste.
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She looks tired. She looks mortal. Her lips quirk into something that only vaguely resembles a smile, but she doesn't have any trouble looking Cass in the eyes, at least.
"Uhm. Hi."
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For once, Cassandra stands still for a moment. The look on Laura's face reminds her of a younger girl, not Persephone- but it's different, too. Tired. Like it's a look from a time Cassandra hasn't gotten to.
And once she takes the second to process that- well.
"Don't fucking tell me you're ahead of me now. I don't- I can't handle this shit right now. Fuck!"
She punctuates that by throwing her hands in the air and then running them through the sides of her hair. "Are you- what the fuck is going on? Did you just get back? Christ. Okay."
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"Uh huh." she almost leaves it at that, but then corrects herself "I mean, yeah by a couple weeks, I think? It's complicated but I'll fill you in, aaand yeah like half an hour ago."
Being seen with another Pantheon member is the opposite of helping her attempts at stealth. They're already attracting attention again.
"Can you get us out of here?"
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But once Cassandra looks around and sees Laura's point- there are at least three people already taking pictures- she activates her powers, enveloping Laura in a black-and-white glow and picking them both up into the air.
"Well- we'll- go to my house. I guess. Unless you...want us in Hades."
They'd be allowed, she's sure. But it's been a long time.
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"Not Hades," it comes out far more emphatic and quickly than she intended. Frankly, she looks almost queasy at the suggestion. "Your place. Your place is fine."
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But she’s regretted the way she’s treated Laura before, and she isn’t going to question it. “Then- alright.”
Within a few minutes they’ve touched down in front of Maurtia Falls #004. It occurs to Cassandra that this...needs an explanation, doesn’t it.
“Look, everyone’s friendly, you don’t have to be weird or anything. Martin...might be awake.” The boy’s nocturnal, but who knows. “I wish I could tell you we had more to eat.”
Inside the building, the rooms are bare and plain- and Cassandra’s right that most of the food in the cupboards is as mundane as oatmeal and granola bars. But there’s a fish in the living room. So...there’s that, at least?
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Spartan as the home may be, it's still quite a bit more homey than the crash pads she's been keeping to. "This place looks nice, Cass. Martin's that kid, right? The one you were looking after."
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She'd gotten the impression that Persephone didn't know that much about how she was living when she ported out, so she's pleasantly surprised.
"I mean- he's not really my kid or anything. Rex and Andy adopted him, I'm just the emergency contact. Which is fucking- I mean, I don't know how that fucking happened. I don't know how any of this fucking happened. Or, you know, what the fuck happened to you."
Because clearly something happened. Laura's so much different than she was. Hell- she's Laura.
"What's going on?"
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Without an invitation, she plops herself down on the nearest seat. Both her hands run across her scalp, in what's clearly an attempt to calm herself. She visibly chews on what to say, but finally settles on, "think you could get some water? It's all kind of a lot."
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Cassandra huffs, but it's clearly not as mean as it could be. She's a bit too tired for that. Instead she goes ahead and gets a glass, making a little noise of agitation when her glove gets wet- but she's not taking it off. She returns in a minute, sitting across from Laura and crossing her arms.
"There you go. Try to make it as simple as possible? If there's any chance of that happening?"
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"Remind me the last thing you remember. Do you know about Sakhmet? Jon? The Morrigan?"
She chews on her words a moment, and then adds, "Uhm, Sakhmet's dead, Jon's alive with a new body, and Morrigan is dead and also Jon's new body."
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One of those she already knew, and one she could guess, but this is all a bit of a wreck already. She puts her hands on the table, practically like she’s ready to jump up.
“I knew about Sakhmet- I got ported when we went into Woden’s secret passage, remember? Then- I was thinking- Woden was using his son’s powers. Blake, I mean. That was true? And when did The Morrigan- why the fuck are we talking about bodies? This is another head thing? He’s the fourth head.”
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“It was bad, Cassandra. The Underground was fucked to shit. There was everywhere and I know Cam wasn’t the only corpse. Gentle Annie brought him back with her ‘e’s just sleepin’ shit and now he’s going to-...” she stops and takes a drink of water to wash down that lump in her throat.
“She traded their lives, I guess? So he took her to this temple they were working on, and she split into three corpses? I dunno. Some kind of Chthonic Shite. You know.”
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Good Lord. Perhaps this doesn't have the impact it would if Cassandra felt any sort of closeness to Morrigan or Baphomet, but at the very least she can acknowledge that people she cares about feel that closeness. She rubs her forehead, then her eyes.
"Well, that's fucking bullshit. Not just the chthonic stuff, the- everything. Fuuuck. Then how did...the bodies became bodies for the heads, you're saying? Her multi-corpse? At least that's- I don't know, I wasn't expecting us to even get to the heads that easily, to be honest. Not that it makes somebody else dying any more pleasant."
And after a pause- "What's he going to do? Baphomet."
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Then again, maybe it's just Laura who wants to share this particular heartbreak.
"Once everyone was together, he ran off. You divinated," she takes a breath and looks at the other woman straight. " . . . Cass, you said he was headed to Dio's bed."
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After a short pause, where her mind is simultaneously racing and a bit blank, Cassandra finds herself saying "he's still-"
She stops herself, but- she didn't even think Dio would make it that long. Someone would pull the plug. He was gone already, wasn't he? She'd made herself mourn.
"Never mind. I mean, maybe he just wanted to see him? Why is that important, I..."
She's thinking it through as she speaks, but she doesn't believe the idea as it comes to her. Sure, she didn't know Morrigan could do what she did, but it wasn't as if the two gods had ever been exactly alike. And- Baphomet? She doesn't hate him like she used to, but...would he?
No. Come on.
"No. He can't do what Morrigan did. Right?"
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"He's not dead, he's only sleeping." Her throat bobs up and down, the action of swallowing awkward from her bone-dry mouth. "We don't know yet. We were just setting out after him when I got here."
While she'd like to hold out hope, a part of her know. There's always a part of her that knows. She thinks about Cameron, always following after Marian. Cameron, who'd reached out to her so many times when no one could see she needed it. Cameron, who'd kept her alive when she was too consumed with grief to even breathe. Cameron, who she'd screwed over and gotten hurt and maybe killed just so she could enjoy a few moments' warmth.
"He might not-" Her mouth clicks shut as a few tears leak out of her eyes. They are scrubbed off immediately. "Shit. Shit! God damn it."
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Cassandra picks up some napkins from the center of the table and gets up, basically shoving them at Laura. She'd attempt to be more comforting if what she hadn't just been told wasn't so goddamn...
Well, she doesn't know how she feels. There's a part of her, a very selfish part, that thinks in a dark moment she would rather see Dionysus alive; she'd never been close to Baphomet, and she'll be the first to admit there's not much attachment.
But in the circumstances...no. It doesn't feel right. To trade a life like that isn't natural, and clearly it hurts Laura. It'd hurt Dio, too.
"You'll...you'll probably catch him. It's fucking Baphomet. You can talk him down- if anyone can, you can. Okay? And- and we all know Dio wouldn't want that anyway. It's the last thing he'd want. Right?"
She's not asking because she's unsure, really. She's certain Dio would hate the consequences of that. But she has to latch onto it, to know.
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"Look," she says, as neutrally as she can, "it's not- it doesn't matter until we're back there and can see for ourselves, yeah? But there's more you should know. More that you might need here."
Please, Cassandra. Please let her change the subject for once.
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Cassandra sits back down anyway, running her hands through her hair. This is more than enough to take, especially if Laura's suspicions about what Baphomet is doing are true. But she can't deny that she still has lingering concerns.
"Fine. Is this going to be about you? Because you still need to fill in the details about..." She waves a hand in Laura's direction. "This, here."
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A hand is held up, unambiguously, "And before you say something you about that, please just save it." Cassandra will have plenty of I-told-you-so time. But after such a quick pivot from Baphomet, Laura's not sure she could take it without starting up the water works in earnest, and that's just not an option.
"I mean I'm not Persephone anymore, or at least I don't believe I'm her anymore." She's looking at her own hands now, but presses on before Cassandra can interrupt. "It's more complicated than that- there's parts that I literally can't explain to you but... well, whatever Ananke gave me is gone. I think I can help you lose it too."
It almost seems like she's going to let the other woman go with the dozen or so questions she almost certainly has already, but instead she elects to pop open one more can of worms.
"And there's one more thing you should know about me. Maybe about us."
Kllk! The first snap gets only a few sparks from her fingers, like a faulty lighter. Snaps two is much the same, but third time's the charm. A little orb of fire, about the size of a baseball hangs in the air between them. It's not particularly bright, especially not during the day, but the warmth can be felt on their faces, this close.
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Is what Cassandra mutters before the ball of fire pops up in front of her, and she jerks back, blinking in surprise. So much of what Persephone's just said needs a response to the point that she needs a moment to formulate any sort of thing to say- a rare moment, for her, but perhaps a reflection of how tired she's started to feel.
After a moment, she eventually comes up with one thing- "Please do not set my fucking house on fire."
And then she can actually come up with something more. "This is- this is like the thing you mentioned you did. Before you became Persephone. You could do it then and now you can do it...after." God. What? "Christ, Laura, you know when I was saying you weren't a god it was because you were acting like you were some entirely new being? I didn't mean you should- just- I didn't think you could do this! I didn't think any of us could! What do you mean you can't explain it? How is it possible?"
Cassandra wants that answered first- before she processes what it could even mean for her. Because that's an entirely different issue.
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And as far as acting like The Destroyer was anyone other than a pathetic, broken girl in a mask, was concerned... well, she doesn't trust her voice to tell Cassandra how right she was. But surely all of that is less important than this.
"I don't know how it's possible. I don't even know who I am, let alone what. Wish I did." she says, contemplating her hand again. "I dunno why I could light Luci's cigarette, or knew when Ananke got you. I dunno why I can still perform with Persephone gone. But I think- I think we might have a chance to end all of this shit."
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Cassandra tosses the idea over in her head for a moment. So Laura's figured out a way to stop being a god. Then she wants Cassandra to stop being one. Then...
"You think we can all stop being gods, and that'll end things? But what happens then? What does ending the Pantheon actually mean beyond just us...not having as many powers? And maybe...not dying?"
She can't deny that part is tempting, at least right now. At the same time, it feels impossible. Everyone knows she's going to die. They're making plans for it. It's as if she can't go back on it now. And-
"Laura, I can't just do that. What the fuck is anyone going to do around here without me divining? We're about to try to talk to Atropos. That won't happen without me."
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"How do you know that it's going to happen with you?"
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