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

Not sure that actually proves your point.

[ He stops ... in front of a small apartment building? Hmm. ]

[He stops when Martin does, looking up at the building. Hm.]

Do you think it'll be furnished?

I hope so. Not sure how we'll get furniture otherwise.

[ Hesitantly, he heads up the stairs? ]

Good point. [Jon follows behind him, glancing in the other apartments, making sure nothing untoward or evil is here. But so far it's just... People. Regular, unafraid people, living normal, unafraid lives.

Maybe there's hope.

Crap he's still carrying the puppy.]

Are you sure you really don't want her?

I - I mean - of course I want her. I just. I'm sure she belongs to someone?

[ He leans over to pet the puppy gently. ]

[Jon moves her to look her over]

No collar or ID, that's already an issue. She might be tagged, but we'll have to find a vet to get a good look.

A-and until then we. We can't just turn her loose, right? We have to look after her.

[ He brightens at the thought. ]

[His tone is dry and serious. But really. Really.]

Of course, it would be irresponsible of us not to look after a lost pet.

R-right. It's just. Just the right thing to do.

[ He takes out the key that came with his packet and ... opens the door?

It's a nice little flat. Not huge, but furnished, and worlds nicer than anywhere Martin's ever lived. And of course the puppy wriggles out of Jon's arms and bounds in, barking happily. ]

[He peeks curiously in, seeing it bright and furnished and clean. Lord. Somewhere clean. He's realizing now he... stinks. And he is filthy. And he assumes Martin's just been polite about the whole thing since we only just got confirmation yesterday that season 5 is disgusting.

He lets the puppy go sniff and explore and sets his pack down just inside the door.]

I'm starting to believe more and more this is real.

[ Yeah, uh. Martin has been very polite, but you are disgusting, Jon. Especially when you put that pack down and ... oof. He can't help the nose wrinkling. ]

Y-yes, I - me too.

[ A beat. ]

W-why don't you go. Freshen up a bit? And I'll see if I can't find some food.

Uh. Y-yes. I just.

[Excuse him, he's gonna. go through his pack and dig out some clean clothes. And in doing so has to set out quite a few different things. Statements from the cabin, the tape recorder, a couple torches, rope.]

I'll just be a few minutes. [No, he's taking a good half hour long shower.]

[ Um. Martin stares at those for a moment? Letting his own rucksack drop with a soft clunk. ]

T. Take your time, Jon.

[ He ... glances over the items, but does indeed investigate the kitchen. By the time Jon's done, something fragrant will be cooking on the stove.

Though, given the layout of the flat ... Jon may be the first to realise that it only has one bedroom. ]

[Jon definitely notices. Makes a mental note that Martin gets the bedroom; as far as Martin's concerned, they aren't together. There's no sense pushing that, Jon will take the couch. But it is a long shower, some of it washing properly, some of it just standing under the water letting it run. It's loud enough Martin doesn't hear anything he does.

He comes back clean, fresh, hair wet (because clean wet hair. What a world! He'll enjoy it.) and starts taking stock of his pack.]

You'll take the bed. It's your flat, after all, sofa is fine by me.

[ Much, much better. Martin is finishing up the cheese toasties and soup he's made from what he found in the pantry and the fridge. He's not sure whether to trust much of it? But the tinned goods were fine, and he's entirely certain that cheese this processed just never goes bad.

Then he blinks at that comment. ]

W - what? No, Jon, I'm sure there's a second bedroom. You had this address too, right?

[Too Late, Jonah's already moving his things closer to the couch area, moving a few pieces of furniture around to better suit a long term guest.]

Nope. Only one. And I didn't look at mine? So I'm not sure.

[After that shower, he's... Tired. That's a weird feeling.]

[ Sigh, Jon. He sets out the sandwich plates first. ]

W-well - well we can discuss it later then. You don't have to just sleep out here, that's not fair.

[He blinks at the sandwiches. He isn't hungry, but. He won't be rude.]

It's fair enough, it's your flat. Ergo, you get your own bedroom. Besides, it's... already nicer than where I was.

I thought you said that everything was good now.

[ He doesn't hesitate to dig into his own toastie. ]

[Shit. Right.

He'll take a bite and stall while he thinks.]

I mean, as I said. I was on the run? I-in one of Daisy's safehouses in Scotland. It wasn't exactly a five star.

[ Martin looks suspicious for a moment? Then ... relaxes. ]

O-oh. I - suppose not. Can't entirely picture it, but.

It's probably for the best.

[He finishes the one, already reaching for the other.]

Anyway. Your flat, your bed. The sofa is perfectly fine for me.

[ Martin nudges the soup closer too. ]

... We'll take turns.

[He pauses there - partly because of the soup (Martin's fussing. Even when he barely believes Jon, he's still fussing.) and because that offer.]

...Fair enough.

[ He is still Martin. And - he still loves Jon, even if he's deeply suspicious of Jon loving him back. It just seems ... unrealistic, that's all. ]

Good. Glad that's settled, then. A-and you had a shower.

[ He falls silent for a moment. ]

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