what are we here for again?

[maskormods]

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.

Comments

Re: Jeopardy

[morethanasuperstar]

[ Child? Child. Where did child come from and why does it talk to Laura? She eyes him dubiously, and obviously uncomfortable at having been noticed. He’s gotta just be some random kid, right? No way he actually recognizes her. ]

Uhm.

[ She’s already eyeing her exits. Whoever she is, she ain’t subtle. ]

[iamverybadass]

[ This lack of subtlety is insulting. Maybe. He knows it's more likely that she's just some amateur, but it's so much easier to feel insulted. ]

If your intention was to avoid notice, you are doing a remarkably bad job of it now.

[morethanasuperstar]

[ Her head tips as she eyed him. She glances to his wrist, but it’s covered. No help there. She opens her mouth and ]


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[ Wow! Whatever she said sure was fascinating! It was just so interesting and deep that Damien may feel the need to stand there and think about how how deep and interesting it really was!

Except... a moment later, can he even remember exactly what she said? Can he remember any of what she said?

Either way, she’s already across the show floor, slipping out a side exit. ]

[iamverybadass]

[ It does, in fact, take a minute for him to recover enough from that to notice her absence. Fucking metas!!

This does mean that he's going to try even harder to pick up her trail, of course. Tracking her out the side door is a simple enough task—just follow the vague confused murmurs of the crowd. After that...well.

At least now he can probably let out a proper string of curses over losing her so quickly. ]

[morethanasuperstar]

[ She’s easy to lose, but easy to pick up again, given that she’s just waiting for the municipal bus. One pulls up and she steps on. It looks like one heading towardsThe city’s porter. ]

[iamverybadass]

[ This really is an amateur... But, ugh. Riding public transit?

The things he does for missions (that he made up entirely for himself).

He moves to stand behind her, careful to be as silent as he can be to avoid catching her attention too soon. If this plays out right then he can just follow her onto the bus and avoid another frustrating escape. ]

[morethanasuperstar]

[ Laura noooo begins you oh my god she has AirPods in.

Yeah she gets on the bus none the wiser and sits down in an open seat near the back. ]

[iamverybadass]

[ Perfect. Damian drops himself into the seat beside her with only a mild look of disgust at the state of the bus. ]

You're not very good at this.

[morethanasuperstar]

[ Uuuuugh. God damn it. She pulls out one earbud and stares at him dubiously. ]

What?

[iamverybadass]

I was saying you're an amateur.

[ He even pronounces it like a snob. Ama-tour. Who raised this fucking fancy goblin? ]

Your little trick in the pet show was a good attempt, but not good enough.

[morethanasuperstar]

Oh.

[ Her head tips. ]

Uh huh.

[ Casual and unsarcastic agreement: he’s just not wrong. Then she puts her earbud back in. ]

[iamverybadass]

Are you...ignoring me?

[ This is not how this is meant to go! Clearly attempting this out of uniform was a mistake. ]

[morethanasuperstar]

[ Pulls the earbud back out. ]

What?

[iamverybadass]

[ Scowls at her!! ]

I said don't ignore me! I sought you out for a reason.

[morethanasuperstar]

Mmm. Well I was ignoring you for a reason.

[iamverybadass]

I want to know what your connection to Batman is.

[morethanasuperstar]

[ She sort of huffs and doesn’t look at him. ]

He helped me fix a mistake.

[ There, that covers the first hour or so of their relationship. ]

[iamverybadass]

[ Honestly, when will his father stop collecting weird, cryptic gremlins he finds in the gutter? ]

What kind of mistake?

[morethanasuperstar]

[ Bluntly: ]


The stupid kind that gets people killed.

[iamverybadass]

[ That sounds about right for Bruce's style. Damian is absolutely still judging her in spite of how much worse a start he had. ]

So you got lucky enough to have someone else clean up a mess you made. That explains it.

[morethanasuperstar]

[ It’s fine, she’s judging herself too. ]

Uh huh.

[ That is, in fact, how MOST people meet Batman. ]

[iamverybadass]

... So. Who are you?

[morethanasuperstar]

Nobody.

[iamverybadass]

[ Snorts and rolls his eyes. ]

Nobody would be much better at this than you.

[morethanasuperstar]

[ LACHESIS IS TESTING ME. ]

A nobody. A dumbass kid who got in over her head. The kind Batman normally cleans up after.

That’s it.

[ Pulls the Next Stop signal. ]