HERE I COME

[maskormods]

NOTE: This is the final test drive of 2019 as apps will be closed in December.

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?

The recent dimensional anomalies have disrupted people's daily business more than a little, but the latest danger is a herd of zombies shambling towards the annual Mister and Miss Corncob beauty pageant. Right in the middle of the swimsuit competition, too! Of course, who gets the crown is partially based on audience appreciation — are you going to take out some of the undead or cheer your favorite participant on to victory? Either way, you're (probably) a hero!


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!

It's nearly Halloween, and the annual city parade and costume contest are underway! You've got one, right? The locals just love it! If you don't, well, that's okay — just for imPorts, there's a special costume rummage bin at the start of the parade route. Try cobbling something together from costume shop donations and items left behind by ported-out heroes! Then strut your stuff and prepare to be cheered for!

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.

Despite the lack of gratitude that's in it for you, you may want to step in once you see a very, very sad supervillain wandering Maurtia Falls' streets. Dressed in a cape that appears to be a large swath of fabric purchased from a nearby sewing store, galaxy-themed leggings and no shirt is a man who runs right into your vicinity before striking a pose and yelling, "Everyone, stop before me and my wrath! I am Mister Mars, and provided you give me what I ask for, nobody needs to get hurt!"

At which point Mister Mars snatches an old woman's purse, loudly laughs in her face, and begins to float upwards. By the time he reaches the height of the tallest building in the area, he's beginning to look slightly panicked as he fails to really be able to move anywhere but up. Meanwhile, the old woman has begun shaking her cane at him and screaming quite an assortment of alarming expletives.

Maybe you should help one or the other out? If not, just lean back and enjoy the show.


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. To be American is to be part of a melting pot, and that there’s more money to be made by the thriving local industries hardly hurts.Natives may gather around new arrivals and ask both personal and broad questions about life as an imPort, what they are looking forward to, what their favorite article of underwear is. A few night clubs offer free entrance - just this once!

In the middle of the city's biggest park is an autumn tradition — a corn maze! Of course, it's not real corn, since there hasn't been time to grow it. But craft supplies store Mikey's is sponsoring a maze built with genuine imitation corn, and hundreds of locals have already enjoyed getting lost inside! Curiously, few of them have come out the exit, and those who venture inside will discover the maze is twistier and deeper than they ever could have anticipated. Somehow, it's bigger on the inside, thanks (no doubt) to some dastardly villain's powers. Will you try to navigate a way to the exit, forge your way through the stalks, or have a nap?


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.

Things are quiet in Jeopardy. Weirdly quiet. In fact, way, way too quiet. But if you ask any of the citizens of the city why they won't talk to you, they just raise a finger and make a shhhhing sound and then point down the street towards the church. If you try to shake them, they grit their teeth. WHY WILL NO ONE SPEAK TO YOU?



(The one who is silent the longest wins a new fridge.)

Comments

[atypically]

Caleb startles a little when she grabs his shoulders and he turns to face her. "Shit, sorry," he breathes. "I don't think it's just sick..."

He shakes his head and moves with her without question. The sooner they can get away from these things, the better. They're not exactly people, are they? Not looking and moving and sounding like that. Never mind the fact that as scared and confused as he feels, colors all jumbling together and fogging up Caleb's focus, he also feels weirdly hungry which makes absolutely no sense. If ever there was a time to lose his appetite, now's it.

"You're right, let's get out of here," he agrees, moving away from her but also reflexively grabbing her wrist to make sure that they don't get separated. He'd never be able to shake off the guilt if they got separated and she got hurt. Or worse. Just because he doesn't know her doesn't mean anything. She feels a little scared, too. Maybe scared is the wrong word, but it's in the same family, sort of. It's hard to explain, but the colors run in the same range.

[earthlike]

Nadass has not had to do much running during the past three years she's spent on Earth. She'd taken up jogging as a form of exercise, when she could, but her busy schedule precluded much of that happening. Still, as the young man takes her by the wrist and starts moving, she follows along as quickly as she is able.

"Do you think we should call the authorities? That man might need help!"

She looks over her shoulder, comforted to see that the shambling man has not given chase after them. But then, he hardly looks capable of running, in his condition.

[atypically]

Caleb looks over his shoulder when she pointed out that someone might need help. He realizes belatedly that she means the zombie-looking dude. "Fuck that," Caleb pants, shaking his head. "I mean, we can call the cops, sure, but I think he looks a little beyond help. He looks like something out of a fucking horror movie," he argues.

Truthfully, that's the closest Caleb can think of a way to describe it without straight-up using the word zombie which he just kind of can't make himself say out loud. Somehow, it feels like saying it out loud will make it real and making it real means that's a pretty big thing he'll have to wrap his head around on top of just being here in the first place. It's too much and he can't right now.

Seeing the open doors to a sporting goods shop, Caleb drags her along as he quickly changes course and bolts inside. Once he's sure they're both in, he pulls the doors shut behind himself. "Find something for me to jam in the door to keep it shut," he gasps. "Then we'll call the cops when we know he can't get in." Where there's one zombie, there will be more sooner than later. At least, that's how it always goes in the movies.

[earthlike]

Nadass has never been in a sporting goods store. She's been to sporting events... She's even done the coin toss at the Superbowl. But largely, she's out of her element here. Her eyes scan the store for something that will bar the door, and grabs a long rod with a net at the end-- a lacrosse stick.

"Here, use this." She hands it to the young man and steps back to watch out the window, horrified, as their pursuer slowly shambles his way towards them.

"Do you know what's wrong with him?"

[atypically]

A lacrosse stick probably wouldn't have been Caleb's first choice, but it'll do in a pinch. He'd personally have gone for the aluminum baseball bats but it's all the same end result. "Thanks," he says, taking the lacrosse stick and pushing it through the two door handles, effectively securing the door.

Then, Caleb steps back, too, watching warily beside her as the guy ambles closer. It's like he's trying to catch up but can't find the energy to move faster. There's something so creepy about it that Caleb can't really put his finger on, beyond the part where the guy looks like a walking corpse.

Shaking his head, Caleb looks over at the woman. "No...he looked...wrong." He looked dead.

[earthlike]

Nadass looks back at the young man, nodding. She had a gut feeling that something was very wrong indeed with that poor man. She wondered if his attempt to grab the young man she had run with was some sort of attempt to get help. The guilt that wells up inside her from the thought that they may have misinterpreted his need with something more sinister doesn't bear thinking about.

The man shambles closer to the sporting goods store, coming right up to the barred door and slamming against it repeatedly, making Nadass flinch.

Okay, maybe he isn't so innocent after all...

"What do we do? Should we call for an ambulance? The police?"

[atypically]

Caleb watches from the door as the man who'd grabbed him makes his way clumsily and slowly closer to the store. When he reaches the door, rather than trying to open it, he just slams into it. The first time startles Caleb physically and he jumps a little. The subsequent slams have him backing quickly away from the door and, even knowing nothing about her, extends an arm out to his side and keeps himself between the door and the woman.

"Both?" he asks. "Just call 911, let them decide who should come, I guess," he thinks aloud with a shrug.

Something terrifying catches his attention then, though, and Caleb looks up sharply at the man slamming himself repeatedly into the door. Something is cracking and he can't tell if it's the glass or the plastic of the lacrosse stick, because he can only hear it; he can't see it, yet.

"...fuck," he mutters. "Fuck it, we gotta get out of here. There's gotta be a back door or something, I think it's breaking," he says, not specifying because he's not sure which is the thing that might break.