now don't be rude

[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 anyone's thread, either!

And remember to have fun!

01. Your memory is hazy and you might feel increasingly frustrated or anxious, or maybe you're excited as soldiers march past, barely glimpsing you. One second you're somewhere underground, the next you're enveloped in blue light, and suddenly you find yourself directly under Flordia sun's bright and burning glare. A female soldier steps toward you with a wide smile on her face and directs you to a car, ready to debrief you. You realize you are not the only one, surrounded by equally confused or eager faces... and you're all sporting a digital tattoo on your wrist.

02. Welcome to Cape Canaveral, where the smell of the ocean is in the air and locals are more than pleased to see new imPorts roaming their streets. They wave, they cheer, they ask for pictures as politely as they can. The more inhuman you look, or if you're wearing a costume, the more likely locals are to approach. Hey, enjoy the moment! The popular malt shop is offering you a free drink if you need it.

03. The technology in this world is certainly something. The cars are clearly modeled after popular 50s cars, but they hover several feet above the ground as they drive down the street. There are digital jukeboxes in restaurants, motorcycles also hover through traffic, advertisements can be seen on a digital projector on the taller buildings. Even kids on skateboards appear to drift a safe ten feet off the ground while playing!

04. Wherever you are, you can hear the loud revving of an engine, distance at first before you finally see it: a hovercar bursting around the corner, going beyond the maximum speed limit and just barely making its sharp turn. It doesn't appear to be slowing down any time soon, not with two police cars trailing it... and uh oh. Those skateboarding kids don't have much time to get out of the way as the car comes speeding down the road. You've been brought here for a reason Hero — so you better act fast.

Comments

[dragony]

[ He isn't as tall as she remembered.

It's a weird observation to make, and she knows it, but the enormity of it—of him, here, now, after all this time—is too difficult for her to internalize so quickly. It's been a very long time since she saw him in the City, and longer still since Satellite, and Neo Domino before that. How old was she then? How old is he, now? How much different is she from what he would expect?

Somewhere deep, it's a relief that he even recognizes her.

Her hand comes to rest on her right sleeve, over where her mark still stings, and she tries to keep her voice from shaking. ]

... Yusei.

[accel]

[He recognizes her (how much of that is up to the mark he knows she has and how much is up to "they're friends" is up for grabs, but that doesn't matter), but after a few seconds, it becomes difficult to not notice that she looks different. She's taller and she's wearing a patch over her eyes, but that's not what immediately gets his attention. Her build is different. Her posture is different. Her expression is different.

...there could be a lot of reasons for it, he tells himself as he walks towards her. But offhand, if he had to guess? She's older. By a lot, too. And in between whatever stretch of time since he last saw her and seeing her right now that somehow managed to occur seemingly instantly, she's been through some stuff.

He reaches her and, like it's the most normal thing in the world and he just saw her yesterday, puts a hand on her shoulder and gives her a small smile.]

So you're an import too?

[dragony]

[ She flinches.

It's not a large motion, like pulling away or recoiling from contact; it's a small tensing in her shoulder, a slight roll back and down, unused to the weight. He's close enough that she can smell the faint trace of motor oil on him, dust, and she feels both small and not small enough for this moment.

Her gaze drifts to the side. ]

Yeah. [ Almost as long as I've been a Signer, she thinks, but doesn't say, trying instead to relax. ] Me, too.

How long have you been here?

[accel]

Not long. [His hand slips off of her shoulder. He hesitates for a second as he lets go of her - it's only when he's standing right next to her that he notices she's a lot closer to him in height - she might even be the same height as Aki.] Just a few hours.

What about you? [He has to admit, he's getting a theory going.]

[dragony]

[ She hesitates, but there's no real point to lying, is there? If he's here, he has a communicator, and if he ever checks the Network, then it would be simple matter to find out the truth.

But still, she considers it—and still, even without knowing it would be pointless, she couldn't ever bring herself to do it. Not to Yusei, and not about something like this. ]

Longer than anyone. Um... [ She lets go of her arm in order to brush her bangs to better cover her eye patch. ] ... Before you arrived here... what do you remember?

[accel]

[He grimaces.] Trying not to pass out?

[Whoops. Probably wanna clear that up.]

I was dueling Goodwin, with Jack and Crow. We won. The Crimson Dragon showed up to stop The King of the Underworld...I remember speaking to Goodwin and his brother, Rudger.

[He puts a hand to his stomach.] It gets a little blurry after that. I'm petty sure some of my stitches opened during the duel, but when I came to here, I felt fine.

[dragony]

[ Ruka bows her head as he speaks, eye closing as she recalls the events he describes. While she participated in that fight, in that battle, it was not in that duel that she used her strength—her and Aki had formed the boundary line, the defense between Yusei and the others, and the spawn of that hellish god seeking to destroy them. She knows that the battle was won, in the end—that the sun rose for another day. ]

I remember. [ Said with a small nod, looking now between where he holds that old wound (she had forgotten all about it, with everything else that went on then), and how he carries that memory in his face. ] That night... I haven't seen Neo Domino City since then.

[accel]

[Since then being...what? A couple hours ago? No - Yusei quickly surmises there's more to it than that. They may have left Neo Domino on the same night, maybe even at the same moment, but when they arrived here was very different. He doesn't fully understand it, but the evidence right in front of him forces him to accept it anyway.

She had said it, "Longer than anyone." It's almost irrelevant how long that actually is - he knows the meaning behind it might as well be "Long enough".

He grips his arm slightly as he thinks about his next question.]

Is it just us?

[He can only feel Ruka's mark at the moment. That's not stopping him from hoping what he feels isn't accurate.]

[dragony]

[ For a moment, she doesn't say anything. The answer as he asks for it is simple enough--yes, it's just them. But the truth is more complicated than that, because that hasn't always been the case. Even Yusei, another Yusei, has come before. Her head turns to the side, and her body follows, but she can't bring herself to take any steps away.

Ruka wonders if she's dreaming. ]

For now. Some of the others have passed through here, before... but that was a long time ago, for most of them. But, right now, it's nobody else.