DANCING WITH MY HAPPY FEET

[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. 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?

They are, however, in the middle of some awfully hot weather, so some good samaritans have gained the approval of the government to close off a few of the streets for some good old-fashioned fun. They've equipped everyone who steps in with water guns of varying quality, and there's also access to water balloons, a slip n' slide, and more! Why don't you grab an ice cream cone, watch the festivities, and cool off? But you'd better be careful - there's always a munchkin or two here to spray any unsuspecting onlookers they may find.

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! 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. Their questions are likely to be fairly mundane, however; get ready for an interview about your taste in romantic partners, personal underwear choices, favorite foods, and more!

On this lazy summer day, the biggest buzz comes from a group of teens and tweens who are all taking part in a massive scavenger hunt spread via social media! What are they gathering? You! ImPorts are likely to be targeted and asked to pose for pictures in which they demonstrate their powers, video clips in which they share fun facts and secrets about their home worlds, and much more! If you're not interested, you better hurry home -- they're persistent!

03. Maurtia Falls, Pennsylvania has had its ups and downs since imPorts started disappearing. The city's political core now gutted with its mayor and supreme ambassador exported out, the streets have returned to the hands of the local people -- and incidental, the local criminal element. 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.

As your character walks down the street, they may find themselves thrust within what appears to be an organized protest and a smaller counter-protest. There's shouting, there are chants. You pick up rhythmic beats of THE END IS NEAR, GET THEM OUT OF HERE clashing against the clumsier counter-chants of IMPORTS ARE PART OF US. You probably don't know why, but there are sects of people who believe your kind is bringing about the end of the universe. You'll probably learn why, in due time. But given the scorching tension of the situation you have found yourself in, it's probably a good idea NOT to use your powers.

But even keeping your powers on the down low, you're of keen eye, or at least today you are, as fate would have it. You see a boring looking man, perhaps in his mid-20s, with a cluster of boring looking companions (three or four at most) wearing backpacks as they all uniformly step back and don black masks. The protests are crossing the street ahead of First National Bank. These men beeline towards the bank.

They are going to rob it, and people are going to get hurt, you're sure of that. They're probably armed, given their backpacks. What do you do?

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. You may find yourself in the midst of a few closed-off streets for some occasion or another - whether it be a food cart festival, no-car day, or something else! - and surrounded by the hum of people, the waft of food being served on the street, and plenty of attention

Today there's a big lemonade stand on one busy sidewalk, staffed by a group of industrious kids. Aww, isn't it sweet? Wait...is that a cookie stand a little ways down, also run by elementary-to-middle schoolers? Heck, the entire block is full of kid-run mini-businesses — a gathering of pint-sized entrepreneurs! And they have their eyes on you, hero, because as a celebrity imPort, your pockets are full of $$$, right?

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.

What's that sound? Why, the Church of the Ancient Web Mistress's choir is putting on a performance! A sizable contingent of the congregation's musically-minded members has gathered downtown, attempting to forge a spiritual connection through the power of song. Sure, these hymns sound a little spooky to your ears, but the sincerity is what matters, right? And the churchgoers, who are also handing out lyric sheets to interested participants, are sincerely interested in getting some imPorts to join in as temporary members of the choir. Never hurts to get a little more press and tithes, right?

Comments

[kid_flash_found]

Well, someone has an appreciation for the classics.

[ He indicates the careworn facade of Atari favorites. ]

Would have been nice to have something challenging. I memorized the Pac-Man patterns ages ago. Even beat the game once in public for a charity thing.

[made_up_names]

Whoa, seriously? Are you like a speedrunner? I love watching those things.

[kid_flash_found]

Fastest teen alive. Speed is kinda my thing.

But not really. Doing the same thing over and over just to shave a few milliseconds gets pretty dull. I prefer 100% runs.

[made_up_names]

Okay, legit. Those are more fun to watch anyway.

[ He's gonna find them a booth and ... uh. Well, he should probably count out his money first. Spoiler alert: it's not much. ]

[kid_flash_found]

[ It was a good thing Bart paid attention to the information he got flooded with, because at least one part was that being "registered" had come with a stipend. It wasn't huge, and he definitely was going to have to make some plans for a decent food budget if he wanted to be able to run when he had to, but he wouldn't starve. ]

Not really a fan of watching, unless the player is interesting. Sometimes I wish I could do the relativistic thing in reverse and make time go faster.

[ He spots the trouble and reaches out to grab Peter's wrist. ]

My rescue, my treat? You can pay for the games later. Besides, you still haven't seen how I eat.

[made_up_names]

[ Yeahhh Peter might have missed half of the orientation, and then promptly lost most of his info packet. It's their fault for giving him a physical file instead of just sending it to his phone or something. He ducks his head a bit, embarrassed but relieved. ]

You haven't seen how I eat either. Spider-powers run on a crazy metabolism.

I'm now picturing the teen heroes in shared housing...

[kid_flash_found]

My cousin had every pizza place that delivered on speed-dial for busy nights. They'd line up. I kinda pitied Linda those nights, actually. Even though the Speed Force contributes most of the energy, I can burn through a few million calories in an evening.

[ He shrugs, then considers Peter. ]

So how does the spider-thing work? Beast Boy could do spiders when he wanted to, he favored the Sydney Funnel Web Spider for how quickly it could affect someone, but that's probably totally different.

oh god, that would be great up until something explodes

[made_up_names]

[ That. Um. Wow, okay, Bart wins that one. ]

I haven't counted. But I don't think I go that high.

[ He stares for a moment more before realizing Bart's asked a question. He's impressed, mostly. ]

Uh - well, I don't turn into spiders or something. It's more like I got bit by a radioactive spider, and then I got weird senses and super strong and I stick to everything.

I just have to do a mild check to fix Bart's canon-point and decide for certain...

[kid_flash_found]

See, I'm the boring one as far as how I got my powers. They run in the family.

[ He shrugs, the starts considering the menu. ]

I still don't get how they can call something a Hawaiian pizza when they use canned pineapple and no Spam. It's like claiming to have 'authentic' New York or Chicago pizza outside of those places. Be amazing if you pulled it off, but seriously.

thumbs up

[made_up_names]

Wait, so you've had your powers since you were a kid? For real?

[ Also, he makes a face at the thought of Spam on pizza, sorry Bart. Who puts Spam on pizza? Except Hawaiians, apparently. ]

[kid_flash_found]

[ Outside of Monty Python, there are two places he's found that have truly embraced canned meat. Hawaii and Alaska. For similar reasons. ]

It's nowhere near as cool as it sounds. Riding the lightning is all about control, and, well, kids aren't known for that.

[made_up_names]

... Is this a literal or metaphorical lightning riding? Because with the superpowers you kind of have to specify.

[kid_flash_found]

Well, my grandpa got his powers from a lightning strike. Although it isn't precisely the same as electricity when you get down to the details. It's just...the Speed Force. You can't really explain it without sounding like you left science behind somewhere.

[made_up_names]

Yeah uh. That sounds like straight up magic and you haven't even explained it yet.

[kid_flash_found]

Nah, magic is completely different.

It's an energy that exists outside but adjacent to all parts of the multiverse. The Speed Force is alive, aware to some extent, but it isn't fully sapient. More that the echoes of anyone who was ever a part of it, connected to it leaves something behind.

It's not so simple as a radioactive spider, that's for sure.

[made_up_names]

[ Technically, if 616's explanation applies here, then Peter's powers have a remarkably similar origin. Just a Web of Life and Destiny instead of a Speed Force. But he has no way of knowing that. ]

So what, more like a 5th dimensional being or something?

[kid_flash_found]

[ Bart wrinkles his nose at that. He is not Mr. Mxyzptlk. ]

Grife, dude, I said it's not a person, it's just energy. The ultimate power source when it comes to speed. Although connecting with it has issues. I've seen people driven mad by the inability to cope with the changes in perception required to keep up.

[made_up_names]

Oh man, I think I know what you mean. When I got my spider senses, it was like everything got dialed up to eleven. I hafta wear dark goggles in fights or I can't concentrate at all.

[kid_flash_found]

It's not that bad. I mean, unless I'm against another speedster, there's pretty much all the time in the world to adapt. Relatively speaking, anyway.

[ He shrugs a little. ]

Isn't that why you practice? I mean, you said there were other heroes, so someone must be around to talk to, at the very least.

[made_up_names]

Uh - yeah, there were plenty.

[ Past tense now, given everything that's happened. ]

But I guess I didn't talk to them a whole lot? My mentor was busy all the time, and all the other heroes are adults. They don't have time for a kid wandering around.

[kid_flash_found]

My cousin was like that. Once we were sure I wasn't going to have more power surges, he dug up this old fossil from the 1800s to play mentor instead.

[ And yet, Bart can't help a fond smile at the memory. ]

Not that I can really complain. Max was an amazing guy, even if I never really appreciated most of it until he was gone.

[made_up_names]

Huh? From the 1800s? ... Were they a vampire or something?

[kid_flash_found]

No, he was another speedster. Max had skipped across time using the Speed Force. It's something any of us could do, but most of us are never desperate enough to try. There's no way to control when you end up.

Max said something once or twice that made me wonder if he had some inkling he'd be needed outside of his original time.

[made_up_names]

[ Well. Time travel isn't completely unfamiliar to Peter, but he's still staring. ]

Um - what did he say?

[kid_flash_found]

I'm not sure it would even make sense out of context. Just that he hadn't been running away from things like he'd though, but running towards something greater.

[ Bart shrugs. It didn't matter much, really, Things were always connected in odd ways. ]

He was big on fortune-cookie speak. Total Zen Master of Speed. But he taught me most of what I know about how to manipulate the Speed Force. And how to live alongside normal speed folks.