etcelsior | ON MY WAY

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test drive

ON MY WAY

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 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.

WOOF WOOF! This Friday is National Take Your Dog to Work Day, and everyone seems to be out with their pooch, enjoying the summer sun! (At least until they start to sweat and have to make a beeline for someplace with air conditioning.) However, the thing about superheroes is that their work can take them anywhere, and with the Top ImPort contest leading the news, EVERY imPort is a hero in the minds of the public!

Got a costume on? Here's a corgi. In line for an iced coffee? Come kiss this old lady's schnauzer. Allergic to dogs? Have a Claritin...and then brace yourself as this Great Dane tries to sit on you. And be sure to smile! Can you imagine how many likes a pic of the coolest new imPort cuddling man's best friend will get?

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! Synthetic wonder! Whatever you might be, 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.

Today, a company that manufactures tech-based educational toys—"Where Science Meets Fun!"—is running a demo of its latest project, Quincy the QuizBot. Filled with information taken from the curricula of many grade levels, Quincy is whirring through the streets to conduct pop quizzes! Answer a question right, win a prize, ranging from a coupon for a free soda at the local fast food joint to a $100 gift card, based on difficulty!

Except...something's gone wrong with Quincy's programming. An hour or two into the demo session, he starts to approach passersby and demand answers. "WHAT IS THE SQUARE ROOT OF 47284? CAN YOU LIST THE PHARAOHS OF EGYPT IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER? ANSWER-ANSWER-ANSWER-ANSWER!"

03. Maurtia Falls, Pennsylvania has carried a reputation for ups and downs ever since imPorts began reappearing again, just those few years prior. Several imPort heroes have put focused efforts into cleaning up the streets of this somewhat infamous city, while a handful of others had 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. Everything from the classic bank heist to brutal bloodbaths can happen around the corner. You have to keep your eyes open and your mind sharp when you live in Maurtia Falls, and hostility against imPorts can spike. The emergence of locals with superpowers is hardly helping...

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.

Welcome, everyone, to the sugar fueled festivity that is National Hot Fudge Sundae Day. The celebration is taking place on two closed down city blocks, with a market in between them selling all the pun filled souvenir shirts and stuffed ice cream cone toys, fudge bottle body pillows, and every kind of craft fair knickknack in between, that you can imagine. The powers that be in Nonah have clearly tried to divide the celebrations up into the ice cream and ‘normal’ food sides, but this is America. They can’t tell you what to do. Go try those meat and potato ‘fudge sundae’ monstrosities or cover your ice cream in wine from an adult beverage cart. Dip your deep-fried cheese in hot fudge. Disgusting food choices are in the constitution (somewhere).

But on the pure ice cream side, there are certainly enough choices to make ‘real’ food not super necessary. In addition to your normal food flavors that range from the tame you’d see in any ice cream parlor, or the slightly more hipster flavors like ‘lavender’ or ‘bacon maple,’ there are existential flavors. Yes, inspired by some previous imPorts, these flavors induce a specific emotion in the person while they eat it, which lasts up to about 10 minutes after the dessert has been consumed. These range all over, from ‘full cell phone battery’ to ‘the bitter-sweet satisfaction of vengeance against your sworn enemy.’ Maybe try a ‘puppy love’ and ‘first day of autumn’ twist covered in fudge for a true moment of contentment. It’s all in your hands. Careful though, things like ‘moment you first realized your parents were only human’ or ‘pain of failure’ are also available, though obviously not as popular. Hopefully, you don’t create an emotionally devastating mix out of curiosity (or a prank on another imPort).

In addition to ice cream, there are all kinds of family fun activities to pick from. Traditional carnival themed games have been set up, with the normal employees yelling at the crowd to attract attention. Throw a ball in a milk can, get a goldfish in a an (empty glass) ice cream cup! Pop balloons with dulled darts, get a sprinkles themed pair of sunglasses. This is Nonah, though, which means hard work deserves a reward. The bigger prizes for big point getters are a little insane: genetically modified fish that can breathe air, stuffed animals the size of a minivan, a free years worth of ice cream (to be taken home all at once now). There are also some bounce houses and slides that kids and adults alike can enjoy, just no ice cream allowed inside the rides

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.

Welcome to the Church of the Ancient Webmistress' annual cookie sale! To raise money for a variety of community organizations, card tables line the street where the church is located, and boy, do these baked goods look delicious! Cookies, brownies, pies and more are all for sale for very reasonable prices--and to help out such a good cause, you're definitely going to buy some. Right, hero? The watching crowds certainly expect you to set a good example (when they're not busy purchasing tasty treats themselves.)

It seems there's been a mistake, though--mixed in with the cookies frosted to look like spiders are, er, a tray of someone's special brownies. Edibles, as it were (though everything here is edible--and delicious!) Just try to keep it together, okay? After all, there are kids here, and you're a role model! Or possibly not, but if you end up feeling the need to stare at your own hand for an hour, maybe find a side street. Or at least purchase some extra munchies to support any number of charities.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ He ... isn't sure what to do with that? He'd been so sure Peter would murder him. ]

Y-you didn't let him? How?

[Jon glances at him, really really not sure how much he should tell Martin. Then his eyes go back to the puppy in his arms. It's easier when he isn't looking Martin in the face.]

He took you down to the Panopticon - it's, uh. A device, in the center of the tunnels. Millbank prison. He wanted you to use it, and... I think you said no. So instead he... Took you into the Lonely's domain.

I. I followed and. [He sort of raises his shoulder in a shrug, like yeah he doesn't wanna SAY it but he did kill Peter.] Stopped him and. Found you. I took us back home.

[ There's so much to unpack there. That description doesn't really tell him anything about the Panopticon, or why Peter would want him for it? Or how the hell Jon both went into the Lonely domain after him and got him back out somehow?

He looks down at his faded shoes. ]

And? What - what was the cost of all that?

... Months alone. Peter... tormenting you, isolating you and trying to turn you into an avatar of the Lonely. Even after I woke up, you would barely come near me, let alone talk to me or anyone else.

[ Martin goes rather still at that. He's already endured it for a few months; the thought of continuing for - what was it, nine more? Makes him shiver involuntarily. ]

And - and it took you nine months to do something about it?

[Jon goes... very quiet.

That puppy is really interesting suddenly.]

You wouldn't let me.

[ That ... that seems possible. He'd promised Peter not to talk to Jon as part of their deal; it had seemed easy while Jon was dead. After ...

Well. He can picture it all too easily. Nine months. Nine months of torture ahead of him. ]

What. What are we now, Jon?

[Oh Jon gulps hard at that.]

Together?

[He leans to bury his face in this puppy's fur, breathes in deep and lets it out shaky.]

After I got you out of the Lonely, we ran. Fled to one of Daisy's safehouses in Scotland for a month or so. Just us.

[ Martin just ... blinks slowly for a moment, trying to picture it? He can't. Him and Jon just - what, living happily ever after? Is that even possible? ]

What. What did we do there?

[Jon shrugs.]

Rested? Took care of each other. It was... nice. It was quiet.

And. And we were - d-dating?

[At that, Jon finally does look back at Martin. Right in the eyes so there's no question of his answer.]

Yes.

[ Martin stares back at him hard, looking for some evidence that this is a joke, or a trick, or - or anything that makes this not true. Because it can't be true, right? Jon barely even cares about him. How could they be dating?

He has to break the stare first, slumping in on himself. ]

I don't - I don't know what to do with that.

[He thought, finding Martin here after all this, that they would figure this out together. Or. Hell, maybe even do something themselves here. A world unbroken, not ruled by the Entities.

This isn't fair to drop on him. Not like this.

Jon clears his throat, scoots a couple inches to readjust that puppy on his lap.]

You don't have to do anything. I can- I can backseat, or, or just... Not.

[ It's not fair, no. Not fair to either of them. And Martin ... looks desperately overwhelmed at the thought of actually getting what he's always wanted. Already his anxiety is kicking into high gear, uncertain of what Jon wants, or how he even approaches this, or - or -

He puts his face in his hands for a few moments and just hyperventilates. A little bit. As a treat. ]

God, Jon. I - I can't make that decision right now. We're in another world. D-do you even know where we're going to sleep tonight?

[ ... But it's a we and not a you or an I. ]

[God. Right. Whole other world, he'd thought it but didn't process it.]

Well. According to the paperwork we received, we have [and he puts on his best Academic Voice] been given assigned government housing.

So. There's that taken care of, I suppose.

[ Paperwork? Oh. He did get some of that. Martin hesitantly reaches for his rucksack and pulls out his own folder. ]

O-oh. There's an address?

[ It's the same as Jon's. Convenient! ]

[He didn't look too closely at his. He was on a one man mission to find Martin.

Funny how he does have a larger, enormous travel bag on his back, huh.]

Then that's where we're staying.

[ He does. That's ... odd. That's really odd. Martin blinks for a moment at it, noticing it for the first time. ]

You're - you're all packed already. I-I only have a few odds and ends.

Well. I mean, you were. I assume you were just at the Institute?

Martin, I was in a safe house on the run. I mean, y-yes we. Stayed there for a month or so, but...

[Please Martin don't question this too much, he doesn't wanna explain what happened next.]

Oh.

[ For a moment it seems he might - the Eye influences all of them, after all - but then he subsides. ]

That - that does make sense. I knew there had to be a catch.

With Elias and all...

[OHGODTHAT'SRIGHT As far as Martin's concerned, Elias is just a murderer who puts compulsions into people's heads. Martin is no idea--]

I think. It'll be safer here.

[ Oh. Oh god Elias. Martin flinches bodily, shivering all over. The compulsion is still raw and inflamed in his head without the intervening months of Peter's horrific (but at least numbing) influence. Even thinking about what Elias put in there is -

He has to fight back a miserable noise, breathing through it instead. ]

R-right. A whole. Whole different world. Away from him.

[ It still isn't enough. His head burns-- ]

[He can see something wrong (and he had listened to that tape, eventually, too many hours and days and weeks alone in the Archives) and can guess. Jon starts to reach to him, then... stops. Hesitates and pulls his hand back to himself.]

I can at least tell you there are... no Entities here. This is... a completely free world.

[ That's probably for the best. Martin's lost in his own misery for a moment, not even realising that Jon's reached out to him. ]

How do you know that?

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