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

[chaoticwhimsy]

"Hmm?" Lumina turned to peer up at Lightning, and for just a moment she looked quite surprised. She hadn't realized anyone else from Nova Crystallis was here, hadn't even given it much thought if she was being honest. To see Lghtning looming the way she always seemed to was enough to punch through her facade. But only for a moment. Then she just laughed softly, and rather than standing, she flopped out on her back, her hands on her stomach.

"He~ey Savior," she song-songed, rather than addressing the issue at hand. "I wasn't expecting to see you here. Shouldn't you be back home saving the world?" She trailed off and sat up again, propping herself up on her elbows to peer over at the grassy field her monsters had faded from.

"And why not? Everyone was enjoying my show!" It was, admittedly, a childish response...and only half true, since a bunch of people had run off. But she was a kid, right? She was allowed her childish moments. "It could've been much worse, you know."

She could've gone with her first idea and tried to make a cyclops dance...

[heralding]

"And knowing you, you'll prove that sometime, won't you?" At least, she might do it to make a point—a point that was needed, perhaps, but a point nonetheless. Lightning's views on Lumina had changed since she encountered her on Nova Crystallis, well aware that many of her actions were in order to motivate and move things in a specific way. After all, Lightning herself lost what would have motivated her otherwise.

"And I already saved the world," she said pointedly. "I know who you are, too." It seemed best to get it out of the way. Lightning didn't see any point in avoiding it. It was better to have a straightforward dialogue about the matter, rather than to lead Lumina to believe that things were different.

Or perhaps Lightning didn't want to play the fool. That likely had some part in her decision.

[chaoticwhimsy]

"Well." Lumina shrugged, her grin sly. "I do enjoy a challenge. And sometimes people just need to have things proved to them." Whatever else Lumina might have said, she trailed off into silence as Lightning kept speaking, and her dark eyes shifted away, thoughtful.

"Mm," suddenly she was enveloped in shimmering crystalline light, only to reappear a few feet from the older Farron, her back to her. "If you've saved the world, that makes this the new one." She made a show of looking around. "I'm underwhelmed, sis."

And then she spun around on one heel, her head tilted to the side, her hands clasped behind her back.

"Oh? So who am I, then?"

[heralding]

"I don't need to say it," she said, going with the easiest answer. There was a level of expression on Lightning's features, a level of agitation that had never quite brewed before. She felt it so strongly now, and with the two memories in comparison, she couldn't help but be caught up in the realization. While she knew what had been taken from her by Bhunivelze, there was a whole different level of recognition at play now.

She remained silent because of it, knowing her own disappointment over this not being that new world. Lightning had thought it could be, but it was just another place that needed saving in the end.

At the end of it all, she had been up for the task, even if it came with a ridiculous branding to notate her willingness. Of course, that was branding that she was willing to shed that brand, to take on other terms to describe herself, if it meant helping everyone. Simply put: Lightning was still figuring things out here.

"But you do have to know that this isn't that world. It isn't a world without gods. They still have a hand in things, and I'm prepared to stop them." Her declaration was different from how she had been before, coaxed into doing only what she had intellectually knew she should be aiming for. Lumina had pointed it out numerous times, but without the drive and passion, it was that voice in her ear, so to speak, that ensured she followed the right path.

[chaoticwhimsy]

Well, Lumina hadn't been expecting any of that, and she took a few quick steps closer to Lightning, her body tilting forward, her eyes narrowed as if she were studying her carefully. "Huh," she tilted back slowly, bringing a hand up to tap two fingers against her chin as her whole body swayed back and forth.

"Maybe you really do know who I am now," with that passion and fire behind Lightning's eyes, what else could it mean? "I hate to think what that means for me!" She added with a slightly self-conscious giggle, before spinning away, looking out at the park.

She hadn't really thought Lightning would ever figure it out. She had been losing faith in the woman, if she were being completely honest. But even if she hadn't been, no one would look forward to dying, would they? And that was certainly what would happen, at least to everything that made her her.

After a few seconds of thought and one long, self-composing breath, she leaned back on her heels, and forced the worry from her face. "Trust you to manage to find a whole new set of gods to fight. Wasn't one of them enough?"

[heralding]

"You and I both know that it was never just one god," Lightning chided in return. "But it seems like they like to cause problems left and right. Sounds like it's the same in numerous worlds."

She doubted that Lumina had been informed about that, but it seemed like as good of a time as any to inform her of the state of things here. Understanding the different situations and walks of life that everyone had come from was one of the first things that Lightning had to comprehend upon her arrival. In time, she came to see that each person had a different perspective on how to handle things.

In a way, it wasn't so dissimilar as walking around Nova Chrysalia and offering help. It wasn't, but Lightning at least understood some of their backgrounds. She had a starting point, whereas she had nothing like that in this world. Still, she had no difficulty in wanting to learn. Learning was important.

"People come from numerous worlds here. The porter that brought you in can do it to just about anyone, it seems." Except for the fact that it seemed biased toward some individuals instead of others. Lightning and Hope had been the only ones for so long. "It seems like these gods want a large variety of people to mess with."

[chaoticwhimsy]

"They do love causing trouble, those Gods of yours, don't they? I wonder why we can't wind up in a nice paradise world where everything's easy and nobody's trying to control us." She hesitated, then grinned. "But you'd be bored out of your mind there, wouldn't you?"

Not to mention Lumina would be causing so much more chaos in a place like that. Here, at least, she wasn't likely to do more than make little waves. It was probably for the best, really.

"I did kind of guess the world thing when nobody else who turned up with me had even heard of Luxerion. Or Pulse. Or anywhere that's anywhere anymore." She shook her head. "I'm still not really sure what I think of it, though. I mean, I was guessing that you'd save the world, and you'd save all the souls, because you'd never settle for anything less than perfect, of course." She rolled her eyes. "I'd get left behind, of course. Not much room for chaos in a shiny new world, huh?" She said this very matter-of-factly, but as she spoke she turned to the side and began walking in a circle around Lightning.

"Instead, I take a nap in the temple...and I wake up here! And I thought we had days and days left, but nope. Brave new world, here we are! And here you are. And there's new gods to torment us and new people to save."

She wrinkled her nose. "So it sounds like you must have botched something up, sis. Or you're just incapable of not having something to save, and I wound up getting dragged along." She giggled. "Thanks for that, by the way."

sorry the sickness thing i mentioned got worse :(

[heralding]

The insinuation that she required something to save got underneath Lightning's skin. The truth was that she had hoped for this world to be peaceful, but it was immediately obvious that it was not to be. Between the brand on her wrist and the circumstances they were brought into, it seemed like it was only a matter of time before things turned into trouble. Time being here revealed that trouble. Announcements by Tony Stark and others revealed that Lightning's suspicions were not unfounded. She had wanted a normal world, a normal life—and she had wanted it alongside her sister, but as it turned out, that was not meant to be.

She pants an agitated sigh, rolling her eyes and turning away. Even now, there was a part of Lightning that wanted to deflect Lumina's statements, even if she saw the truth to some of them. Lightning didn't exactly ignore the responsibilities she decided to take seriously here. She did have a choice, after all. In fact, it was more of a choice than what Bhunivelze had offered her. There was no bait to make sure she behaved.

(Though she wondered if it was only a matter of time until there was some. Would they do that? No, she had thought: When would they do that?)

"You were here for a long time," she said. "I didn't leave you alone. The same way that you didn't leave me, either." She brought a hand to her chest. That choice, that sacrifice, had been the wrong one to make. She realized that now, and reuniting with the rest of herself had been important.

"But as for botching something up, I'm not sure that's the case." Though Lightning felt guilt for a great many things, she had been too far removed from this situation. "There's still time, however. That might come soon enough." That was where her guilt rested now. If she couldn't help this world after everything, then she would be a failure, then she would be able to let her guilt swallow her up yet again.