CONFLUENCE 016

[metamods]

Who: Everyone!
What: A Confluence! A mystery! A haunting! A storm!
When: Early March
Where: Everywhere!
Content Warnings: Comic book violence, drug mentions, death

ARRIVAL

A Confluence, capitalized, is the converging of one or more supernatural forces.

Wherever you were, whatever you were getting up to back home—it doesn't matter anymore. One moment you're standing, laying down, sitting, getting shot at—the next, you're falling. It's not from a short distance, either. The sky opens up, and out of it comes you. Maybe you've got the ability to catch yourself before your face meets asphalt, but if you don't, don't worry about it. The citizens of CENTRAL CITY are here to lend a hand. Some may be heroes with the ability to create force fields, or fliers who reach up into the sky to pluck you right out of it—or maybe you're one of the unlucky ones who gets caught by a very sassy drone that flings you around a bit before it drops you onto the floor with enough distance between your feet and the ground that you really feel it in your knees.

Whatever way you've arrived, you're here now. Your saviors that prevented you from crashing to the ground don't stay around long. Enough to make sure no one needs to be carted off to the closest emergency room or nearby healer, before they're going back to their daily chores.

Welcome to Central City. At the very least: you've been dropped off close to the DIADEM HOTEL and won't have to walk very far to get to your temporary housing.

CENTRAL CITY

Compared to just about anywhere else that a meta can land, Central City isn't exactly the nicest place in the world. Seemingly always cast in shadows, sunny days are few and far inbetween as a dark cloud always seems to settle over the beautifully constructed architectural marvels throughout the city. These marvels do little to hide the very real income disparities throughout the city, worsened because of the thriving criminal enterprises that serve as its backbone.

Central City is everything a modern city never wants to become: half the city is boarded up and forgotten, with the properties slowly being carved away to make way for the overpriced urban sprawl. A lack of safety feels artificially created by the atmosphere; couldn't someone have prevented it from getting this bad? But just across the city, over these abandoned houses, are large monuments to technological ingenuity. The rest will be helped and taken care of–it just takes time. Besides, the sparkling new shopping district over there is where anyone would want to spend their time anyway.

Wander too far from the shopping district and you'll find yourself thick into territory controlled by the local non-meta crime syndicate... but maybe that's where you want to be. Maybe you're here to see just what this world is dealing with. If you're going to be stuck here you might as well make yourself useful, right?

Currently, Central City is preparing for the ALLIANCE EXPO. This includes getting spaces ready for vendors, and asking local heroes for a bit of assistance-including villain proofing stalls, insuring doors are well-protected, and assisting with some of the heavy lifting. It's a temporary job, but it's very well paid, and heroes who step up to assist will receive a few vouchers towards purchasing merchandise when the Expo goes live.

During the preparations, several less than savory individuals try to prevent the expo from happening: everything from setting fire to the buildings to kicking over the stand belonging to ten year old little Suzie trying to sell her fan-made phone charms of her favorite heroes. This is really why the locals requested assistance: it's hard to prepare when Professor Slime keeps sludging up all the goods.

DIADEM HOTEL

Whether you've survived the chaos, or arrived after the trouble's over, you're not going home anytime soon. After exiting from Excelsior, you're given the proverbial keys to a pretty lavish location. Hopefully, the LUXURY HOTEL they've put you up in will ease that sting.

The DIADEM HOTEL is usually reserved for the obscenely wealthy. Its rooms are enormous, the beds quite literally enchanted to offer the perfect night's sleep, and the food would usually cost your life savings just to sample. But given the circumstances, the Guilds feel its the least they can do to aid your transition into this world.EVERYTHING is complimentary, and everyone gets an ALLIANCE CREDIT CARD to spend on entertainment, clothing, and whatever other necessities they might need. The cards have an obscenely high limit and there doesn't seem to be an expectation for you to pay it back... though if they catch you abusing it, their accountant will be coming for your head.

There's a shopping center immediately across the street. It has an impressive array of outlets that cater to your every need. Food, clothing... and swords? If you can think of it, it's for sale. Although anything clearly supernatural or metahuman seems to be at a minimum and offered under the table. You can grab clothing made to withstand any superpower and a surprisingly mediocre Taco Bell order while you're at it. There's a Super Cinema in the shopping complex across the street that's showing the Director's Cut of SAMUEL HAMES: IMMORTAL DETECTIVE, in which Hames struggles with his lifelong immortality, monstrous need to drink blood, and long-held attraction to his very, very mortal partner, Jason Waites. Having long been on the trail of the Illuminati, Hames has to make a choice: stop this disastrous organization from taking over the world, or profess his love to Waites and chance turning him into a monster like himself.

LITTLE LOVE

Little Love is a simple place–a quiet place above all else. This is a small town that doesn't want any trouble, and appears to do all the right things to avoid it. Seen scary glowing eyes in the woods? It's probably just someone's cat that got out. Or maybe the cat's meant to be there. Don't you worry your head about that. Anything creepy or truly unsettling about this rural location is based on its simplicity: Little Love has rejected all potential urbanization projects, and its most ambitious citizens have partnered up with large corporations to provide them with the corn they need. They're not doing half bad.

At its core, Little Love prides itself on its history. Rather than expanding, changing, or adding new buildings, the local historical society does everything in its power to help promote what they already have. Anyone hoping for a quieter life can start their own farm with many acres of land, and even renovate anything that hasn't already been renovated already. Just keep in mind that anything that clashes with Little Love won't be welcomed, but it'll be a quiet sort of judgment that might grow into acceptance. Well, as long as the clash itself is ultimately quiet at its core.

There's a new villain in town! However, the identity of that villain has yet to be discovered. Civilians have found items missing from their person-their favorite watch, a child's balloon, an important heirloom that they keep at all times. And yet no one has discovered how these items have disappeared. One moment they're there, the next they're gone. There has been a reward posted for the capture of this mystery villain, promising any hero who is able to discover their identity and capture them a decent sum.

However, the villain leaves barely a trail behind. A little magic may be sensed where items have been stolen, but only for the first few moments. After, the trail runs entirely cold.

Maybe the way to catch this villain is to check into the civilians instead, and see if anyone has that same magic signature...

SUNSET FALLS

Further east is Sunset Falls, a quirky little town that doesn't stand out in any particular way. At first. Many of the people here dress a bit strangely and go on about their crystals and tarot cards, but they aren't out to hurt anyone. There's just one simple … suggestion around these parts: try to keep indoors once the sun sets. After that occurs, everything turns even stranger than the rainbow-colored plaid pants the fudge store owner was wearing.

After dark, Sunset Falls is hit by any number of strange things, making it so that a newly strange thing would barely begin to stand out. Want to see yourself as a ghost? Or slip through time to another era? Sunset Falls is the place to make that happen. The problem is, you might not make it back to where you started if you're not careful.

March 6th, an announcement goes live: Loki Odinson is the new mayor! Congratulations from other officials and local celebrities spread across social media. CHRISTIAN WEST posts on Instagram thanking Loki for campaigning, and in the same post includes an image of a beautiful serene beach. He is clearly enjoying his newfound freedom.

The cold weather in Sunset Falls leaves many of it's teens bored without the ability to stretch their legs outside. And boredom leads to bad decision. A series of exclusive raves have started popping up, taking advantage of closed warehouses, and with those raves — a series of drug-related deaths and injuries. A brand new, ecstasy-like drug gives users the highest highs and no lows, so those partaking start feeling invincible. They're not.

Following the raves is a string of inexplicable changes to the warehouses they were previously held in. When the sun rises over the horizon on the next morning, they look almost brand new, facilities cleaned and new equipment filling them. Looking for a new dental office? Well this warehouse may be just for you! Looking for a new garage to start a mechanic business? Here's one fitted with all the tools needed! However, entering those warehouses doesn't turn out well for anyone. A few kids who decided to check out a toy store exited the warehouse only seconds later but years older, having lost the ability to speak and trembling in fear.

But the deaths and strange occurrences after leaving behind buildings doesn't discourage the teens any. After all, how could this be their fault? It feels like it's just another day in Sunset Falls.

EXCELSIOR

Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should--unless you've found yourself in Excelsior, that is. This is the city full of possibilities. Have a wild idea that you could never get funding for back home? Excelsior is the place to go. Just be ready with your Shark Tank-like presentation and it'll be underway. Haven't considered the negative ramifications on society? Don't sweat it–Excelsior loves any and all kinds of chaos brought on by technology. Despite its welcoming nature toward any and all types of technology, its citizens often give the cold shoulder toward any metas. So, maybe try not to brag about that part of your identity, all right?

Everything in Excelsior reeks of technological excess. Large skyscrapers touch the clouds, each one built to be better and more advanced than the one that came before. Excess is the name of the game here, so long as it's along the same lines of harder, better, faster, stronger. Just keep in mind that these principles go along the lines of technology, not morality.

With March's arrival also comes an unexpected and terrible storm. Sporadically between March 4th-9th, large chunks of hail rain down upon Excelsior. They leave large dents in nice, unprotected cars. Some may find smaller holes in the roof of their homes. But most importantly: they're hurting people who decide to venture outside in it. Some of the chunks are just large enough to leave bruises, others may be large enough to break bones or crack open skulls. Heroes are encouraged to assist civilians in their daily ventures out, to prevent any unnecessary tragedies.

Meanwhile, those villains with ice related abilities? They're loving the fun weather and the inconveniences it causes. Heroes may find a significant increase in crimes committed by low and mid range villains with control over ice--including robbery, destruction of property, and other heinous acts.

After the storms pass, a call goes out to assist in fixing the damage that had been caused by the hail. Locals may drag new arrivals into their shops mistaking them for volunteers and pointing out damaged areas on their ceilings to ask for assistance.

CLIFF NOTES.

➢ New arrivals will be appearing in Central City. Their arrival will be expected and handled by a number of local heroes, helpful magic, and a few drones. The locals give mixed reactions: from easy smiles to scowls to ignoring their existence entirely and continuing about their day, as if people falling from the sky is an entirely normal event. Because for them? It is.

➢ Central City is preparing for the ALLIANCE EXPO and many vendors are asking for assistance.

➢ Little Love has a disappearing items problem, and has posted a reward for those that find the culprit.

➢ Sunset Falls not only has a significant amount of pop up raves and drug-related deaths, but also: strange building hauntings.

➢ Excelsior is experiencing a storm which will cause significant damage to the city.

WILDCARD.

Metaheroes takes inspiration from all walks of comics. Take a look at the CITIES to get an idea as to what day to day life is like in the other cities. Perhaps you've encountered a supervillain (or hero) who needs to be thwarted, or a metahuman with unusual powers creating bizarre effects. You can also take a look at the MISSION BOARD to get your start as a professional hero, villain, or vigilante.

Comments

QUESTIONS & ENGAGEMENT

[metamods]

Re: QUESTIONS & ENGAGEMENT

[faceguy]

When it says the raves in Sunset Falls are "exclusive" what exactly does that mean? Do you have to know someone to get in? Would they let in anyone who is visibly non-human or nah? And if it is hard to just be let in can one sneak in, say, using ninja skills?

[eatsnutsandkicksbutts]

Would unaligned folks be able to work at the Alliance expo? If not, would completely normal and not-at-all-secret-vigilante civilians be able to work there?

[sixthdeadliest]

Does the Little Love villain leave any physical traces behind, not just magical? Or maybe there's a common thread between either targets or the locations things are stolen from?

Six doesn't have any magical abilities so just wondering if there's something he might be able to figure out without them.

willa | open —

[infirmiere]

catch a falling star — hello, central city

[ one doesn't expect to turn the corner down a new york city block and suddenly be literally falling from a great height. because willa is pretty fucking normal, all things considered, willa screams. she gets grabbed, somehow, by something, and eventually gets dropped from a much shorter distance, falling in a heap in a park hedge.

she groans, slowly extracting herself from the shrubbery, plucking brambles from her hair and swiping the back of her hand across the scratches on her cheeks. she straightens up, smoothing her hair down with some impatience until it falls in a mostly smooth sheet again.

then she sees her cup of boba splattered on the walking path. ] What the fuck!

and put it in your pocket — hotel diadem

[ eventually, willa finds herself escorted to the hotel, checked in, given a card, and another spiel of the situation she's found herself in. it seems like the hotel is being populated but a whole bunch of people that inexplicably fell from the sky.

willa is headed for the elevator when she spots someone bleeding and veers off course without thinking, pulling her water bottle from her bag as she goes. ]

You're bleeding, can I help?

[ she will heal someone without their consent but it's handy to have it. ]

save it for a rainy day — shopping montage

[ her pants are torn from the hedge and she doesn't have any toiletries, so she heads out to go shopping with her fancy credit card, intending to see if there is a limit on it.

clothes, hair care, a manicure, make up, she can be found in any of these places, usually sipping a new tea or smoothie, living her best pretty woman without the prostitution life. ]

I wonder if Richard Gere is here, [ she muses, mostly to herself. she glances at whomever is nearby. ] What are the odds?

wildcard

( go where your heart takes you or hmu on the ooc intro xoxo )

( rainy day )

[exasperation]

[ he's treating himself a little. nursing the loss of someone he loved. but ripley has to keep a stiff upper lip. or try. he's not very good at either. ]

Probably super low. I'm holding out for George Clooney, personally.

( hotel diadem )

[blackvoid]

[It's funny because she's not talking to him, but she might as well be. She's walking toward someone standing by the elevators with a bloody cheek, and Emmet is tucked back in a nook just out of sight while also waiting for the elevator. And also bleeding, just a bit. He's got scratched up forearms, his flannel shirt rolled to the elbows, and he jolts to look up when he hears a voice. Hears Willa's voice. He feels two shocks in the same moment, but doesn't move - he just watches, intently, even after the doors open with a chime and he should've been heading upstairs.

Instead he just stares as she's interacting with the bloody stranger, like some little stray dog standing outside the 7-11 waiting for pets. It's a nice feeling, he's got to admit, that sense of connection any time one of the group finds another out in the wild. Like coming home to a family, he's a little more at ease. So he'll clear his throat after a beat, if she hasn't already noticed him, and mentions:]

You're still amazing, you know that.

[Selfless, as always.]

falling star.

[resurveil]

( this wasn't how he'd intended to spend his afternoon. and it certainly isn't normal. sylvain doesn't scream, but he does quickly try and roll himself back around so he's falling front-first to get a view of where he's falling to. eyes widen, and hands reach for something, anything, except the only thing he sees are--buildings and bushes and nothing accessible.

he twists around midair again, puts his hand out towards the closest rooftop and manages to make enough of an ice slide that he doesn't hit the corner of the rooftop, his back hits ice and slides down onto the sidewalk--

--right next to boba, splattered all over. sylvain takes a breath in through his nose, but doesn't panic out loud. that would be too obvious. )

We'll have to get you another.

wildcard bby

[harries]

( he hadn't expected his evening to take a sudden downward spiral into early morning as he went from laying down in a hostel bed somewhere in the UK to tumbling through the sky in fucks know where. survival took over though, squashing his bewilderment and instinctively kicking his powers into gear.

as long as gravity exists, he was in control.

fast forward to later that day, he had skipped the welcome committee, disappearing into the city to do his own research. he made quick work of figuring out what was happening. people like to talk, especially when living beings are pelting down like heavy rainfall.

this isn't his world, after all; which means that his friends back home might actually have a chance at winning, if they can find the book.

it's making his head ache.

exiting a local bar, larkin steps out into the streets of central city, his irritation eating away at him, threatening to bubble over and spill forth into uncontainable anger. but then out of the corner of his eyes, a petite face comes into view a few feet away, not unlike that of a cute little bunny, and he knew that everything was going to be alright. he doesn't call out to her, instead closing the distance between them first before he finally catches her attention with a wave of his hand. )

Am I glad to see you here, Lala. I thought I was all alone. Would have hated that.

lila bard | open —

[aspyrata]

skyfall — arrival

[ lila falls with a thud and stands up immediately, wincing and swaying. she is splattered in blood, only some of it her own, including a line of blood dripping down from beneath her cracked glass eye as if she is crying blood, but she is not about to be caught sitting on her arse. a hand sweeps her short hair back from her remaining eye before she starts checking to make sure she has all her weapons. knives.... all of them, check. the pocket watch, check. astrid dane, check.

kell —

she looks up but the sky isn't like the sky in white london, colourful and bright, yes, but not white london. not grey london or red london either and as she looks around it isn't anywhere she recognises and it doesn't taste like any magic she knows.

a drone dips through the air and lila lets out an undignified and wholly involuntary yelp, feeling the unmistakable push of magic as a fireball slams into the drone and drops it to the ground instantly, smouldering metal on the sidewalk. ]

Fuck.

diadem hotel

[ holding a piece of light metal, not metal, but lila doesn't know what plastic is, between her fingers, lila stares in bemusement. the hotel clerk at the desk directs her with a smile to her room and lila nods dumbly.

this isn't a key. how is she supposed to get in to her room?

and then the elevator doors open up and lila walks right back out of the hotel. she keeps the keycard, stowing it in one of her pockets, but she will have to figure something else so she turns in one direction and starts walking like she owns the place. ]

out & about

[ lila bard isn't afraid of anything. she's walked through three worlds, none of which she was ever meant to survive, she took her freedom, she found magic, she became a pirate, she entered the essen tasch, she is unstoppable.

she is currently nursing a headache and pale as a sheet from trying to make a door back to white london, blood dripping down her palm and into the grass as she grips the cracked piece of white marble. ]

As Travars.

[ nothing happens, but the magic licks at her energy regardless, seeking a way to make the door she is asking for. it can't, it won't, but lila grits her teeth and tries again. ]

As Travars.

[ someone stop this girl before she passes out. ]

wildcard

( this is the vibe, with more blood so go where your heart takes you or hmu on the ooc intro xoxo )

out & about

[eggplanting]

[So many strange things happen in this world that Steph would like to think she's mostly been desensitized to it all.

And then she comes across a young woman with a piece of stone in her hand, blood dripping from her hand, looking as if she's about to keel over. It's clear there's — something going on here, but she has no idea what, only that it doesn't seem good.]

Hey, hey. [Her voice is gentle as she jogs over, though she has the sense not to get too close, just in case. In civvies, she knows she comes across as fairly non-threatening, but it never hurts to give people a little space.] What's going on? Are you okay?

Skyfall

[helpdesk_hero]

Poor drone. That's going to cost someone something serious out of pocket. But they should know better than harassing people during a Confluence.

[The words came from a man that slowly approached in dark jeans, a yellow and black leather coat, and an equally yellow and black biker helmet. Everything that might be an easy identifying mark was hidden, but some Metas liked having a personal life and the one who went by the name Prodigy was among them. Hell, even his voice was distorted as it spilled from the speakers embedded in his helmet.

He moved past the woman and toed at the drone with a sigh and a shake of his head before turning to regard her.]

Going out on a limb and guessing you're not from a high technology world. Sorry that this is all going to be a bit of a shock then. The name's Prodigy, and welcome to Earth."

out & about

[reneger]

( the blood catches his attention first.

because it should, right? you see blood, then you follow the blood to where it came from. and in this case, it's--some kid who looks like she's about to pass out, bleeding from her hand as she--what? he can't feel magic, but he can hear her repeating the same shit over again that sounds vaguely like it could be her trying to get elsewhere. he's got a universal translator installed in his skull and it's not picking up whatever she's giving.

witchcraft is the easiest solution. not that it looks like it's doing her any good here.

he could leave her alone. walk away, pretend he didn't see anything. but jason's always had a weakspot for brats, and she looks like she's struggling. )

Hey. ( voice soft. a warning he's close by and getting closer, even if he's not reaching for her. his hands stay very intentionally in view, even, emptied of any weapons. ) Whatever you're going for, it doesn't look like 's helping any.

( it's not very helpful. but sometimes being blunt can be. )

Sephiroth | OTA

[unkindled_madness]

I. Sunset Falls Public Library
[Normally, Loki keeps him grounded. But what does he do when all his thoughts of Loki are tangled up and confused? That other life was so different from his actual experiences, full of things he used to wish for, and some things he never did.

He makes some effort to hold onto routine. He chose his job at the library; it isn't much but it's his, a reflection of his agency. Or is he just pretending, still? Forgetting what he is.

If you decide to patronize the library, he may not be the friendliest face to ask for help, but he is... there?

At some point, a patron comes to him with a complaint about someone taking up two parking spaces. Normally, he would take this with a patient nod and do absolutely nothing about it, but he isn't feeling particularly patient today. He walks outside and launches a fireball at the offending vehicle.

Is that better? It feels better to him. A lot of things are better on fire.]


II. After Nightfall
[Sephiroth returned to his own apartment after the bubble burst, but frankly he doesn't like being there right now either. It's still too reminiscent of that idyllic domestic life that he never really wanted, one that wasn't real.

They say you shouldn't be outside after dark in Sunset Falls, but Sephiroth's fears are few, and the dark isn't among them. If you're new enough here, you might even think he's part of the warning: a tall figure in black with glowing eyes stalking the streets at night sure sounds like something to be afraid of.

But he's mostly just walking, in lieu of sleeping. Raves aren't really his thing, but the faint sound of music might draw him past one of these impromptu venues. He'll stand outside listening for a while. Is this one of those things that normal people enjoy? Does he still envy that?]

((Will match format! Interested in plotting something? Hit me up on yinza.))

( i )

[dothelokimotion]

[ loki would consider this nostalgic, if the sight of it didn't make the pit of his stomach drop. with everything else going on, he had hoped that maybe, it wasn't the awful thing. maybe sephiroth had found some joy in it. something.

or perhaps it had been loki, playing the fool. love is for children.

he clears his throat. ]

What is this for?

I

[codicies]

[ Dylan had been to the library once or twice, but hadn't paid the librarian much mind. He certainly had a distinct look, and that made him memorable, but they didn't engage beyond that.

Still, when Dylan stepped onto the parking lot and spotted someone lighting a car ablaze, Dylan recognized the librarian.

...You know what? Sure. It's been a crazy month. This might as well happen.

Dylan takes a detour, circling back to a corner store a couple blocks away and dipping inside. He emerges with marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate. The car's already on fire, anyway; Might as well make the most of it.

He grabs a couple sticks from the ground as he heads for the car, stopping next to the librarian as he skewers a marshmallow on the end of a stick and holds it over the flames. ]

Nice day for a cookout, huh?

I

[atypical_echo]

[Be there to support the people who come out after. That's what the Loki Mark had spoken with had said. And Mark was trying his best to do that. Sure he didn't have too many friends who had been in there and who would let him hang around if they were upset, but damn if he wasn't going to try.

And if there was one he was concerned about above just about all others, it was Sephiroth. The guy had... Well, Mark didn't know a lot about Sephiroth, other than what he'd gleaned from one brief flash of memory, and the experiences of one teen. And what he knew was that the guy was probably a bit more floundering than others. Because if the illusion gave you a happy lie and you'd never had a happy life before... That had to be hard.

So Mark had come to check in on his friend. Libraries were public spaces after all, and he had the day off, so...

Well, he wasn't expecting this. The burning car.]

That's what I call a hot automotive deal.

[Ouch, bad joke.]

David Alleyne | OTA (Experienced Meta)

[helpdesk_hero]

I. Confluence Help | Central City
If there was one thing that David Alleyne was good at doing, it was avoiding dealing with emotional issues he should be facing. Which really meant that Confluence time of the month was perfect for him. And so it was that he was out on the streets of Central, clad in his full Prodigy uniform. IT was meant to make him as anonymous as possible, with the black gloves and his yellow and black leather coat over high necked shirt hiding what parts of his skin that the full black and yellow biker helmet didn't. And then there was the voice modulator to hide his voice as well. Perhaps it's not the friendliest image to be presenting to strangers just crashing out of the sky, but there wasn't much he could do for that.

Well, not much beyond his going around with a bag marked 'medical supplies' thrown over his shoulder. One that he shifted the weight of whenever he approached a newly arrived Confluencer.

"Welcome to Earth. Sorry about the entrance. Are you okay? Any physical injuries, or new sensations you can't explain?"

Some people caught new arrivals out of the sky. Some people, like Prodigy, did their best to help people adjust to the new powers they might well receive. Helped that he had seen what he felt was just about every possible power back on his Earth. Mutants were like that.

II. Expo Assistance | Central City
All he wanted to do was go home and sleep. Or crash at Balthier's and sleep. Or go hang out with any of the present Young Avengers and sleep. Sleeping? Pretty high on his list of things to do right now. And instead here David was, doing his 'guildly duty' because he couldn't get out of it this year. Was it any wonder that Prodigy, complete in full hero gear and helmet, might have sounded a bit testy as he moved through the expo center for set up though.

How could he not be, when he'd not been chosen for heavy lifting or protective measures but for... Well, for glaring down at fucking card reader systems and point of sale terminals for eventual refreshment and merchandise sales.

"I can't believe I'm fucking tech support," he hissed at a computer that just refused to listen to reason, either from commands input by buttons, OR from his technopathy. "Who the fuck gave you enough awareness to argue with me anyway?"

Someone, please save him.

III. Storm Escort | Excelsior
Upside of horrible hail coming down and causing damage and pain? No one is expecting David to go to his day job. Downside of the horrible hail coming down and causing damage and pain? Apparently there was a need to help the civilians too stupid not to stay indoors. Not that he had too much of an issue with it, his powers did let him protect other people so that was always an upside, and it was nice to build good PR with people too. But still, it meant that Prodigy was going to have to be out and about today, and all with a handy dandy little 'call the guild for assistance app'.

Which was why he was here now, arriving at the agreed upon location as if he was an on foot version of super hero uber, a shield of golden light formed over his helmeted head that the hail was plinking off of. Luckily it wasn't as large now as it had been this morning.

"Good day. I'm your escort through the weather. May I ask where we're going?"

expo assistance!

[eatsnutsandkicksbutts]

"Are you getting sassed in C++? Is that what's going on, here?"

Doreen grins crookedly at 'Prodigy' from behind a ridiculously huge stack of metal chairs that she's carrying. When you have super strength and need some cash, you get recruited for a lot of heavy lifting jobs!

Accelerator | OTA

[levelshift]

Arrival (Sort of)

[Accelerator walks out of the Diadem hotel. It's been a couple days since he first showed up and oh boy, has it ever been a doozy. Upon passing through one of those Confluence portals his connection to the Sisters' neural network was cut off, leaving him basically unable to move or string a coherent thought together. Even though it seems to be standard practice here, he's still counting himself lucky that someone from the Alliance is picking him up quickly and taking him to the nearest hospital. From there it's a matter of hours before they realize what his choker is for and being charitable enough to get him set up with a substitute - a supercomputer that's a piece of shit compared to the processing power of his own brain pre-gunshot wound. Sadly, it's the best they're willing to offer to a non-member on short notice, and it at least gives him a baseline amount of mobility and esper power. He takes it, gets a rundown on what exactly is going on, and is given a credit card, cell phone, and directions to the Diadem hotel.

He, of course, tries the whole 'going home' thing, but that fails spectacularly. The Alliance's tech somehow can't connect to his home universe, not even temporarily, so he's left with no options but to settle in at the hotel.

So that's where he's at. Trapped in some unknown universe with a scrambled brain that only half-works, no way to make sure Last Order, Yomikawa, Yoshikawa or the Sisters are completely out of danger, and no way to get home. Cool. Great.

He stops in front of the hotel's entrance, leaning heavily against his cane.]

So this is an American city.

[This is, technically, his first time he's ever been in one. He had spent most of his life in Academy City, and as a student there (sort of) he always needed special permission to leave. That was never something he bothered with. He's never been out of the country before. For most people, this would be an exciting adventure.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, he draws in a deep, exasperated breath.]

Looks like shit.

Coffee Time

[He makes a beeline for the nearest coffee shop. It was tempting to turn right around and head back to his room to sleep, but he needs to sort out his thoughts and find a way forward. And there's no way he can do that without a cup of coffee. It doesn't even matter to him if the place is any good or overpriced, as soon as he sees somewhere that sells the stuff he's heading in, getting a cup (black, he's feeling the obsessive need to drink black and only black right now), and proceeds to camp out at one of the little tables, leaning his cane up against the window next to him.

With him is the pen and pad of paper complimentary to the hotel, the kind that's left on every desk next to the remote. There isn't much paper, so he figures it was part of some bygone pre-cellphone era when people still took notes on paper, but it's better than nothing. He sips at his drink and scribbles out what begins as eleventh dimensional mathematical calculations for teleportation, theoretically expanded to go beyond just dimensions. He might not be a teleporter himself but thanks to previous experiments and his own vector ability he understands the concepts well enough. Once he fills up one page he tears it off the notepad and sets it aside on the table.

It isn't long before the table is filled with that chicken scratch, though gradually Accelerator's thoughts start to wander, and as that happens the formulas shift, until on one page he's done nothing but two black scribble lines. Ones reminiscent of those wings.

He realizes he's thinking back to that night with Last Order and Kihara, that nun and that gold light that gave off a warm feelings. He clicks his tongue in irritation, ripping that page off the notepad before crumpling it up and tossing it onto the floor.]

Skate Park [Closed to Leo]

[It's later in the evening when Accelerator decides to wander out. Despite Academy City's early curfew for most of the population (given most of the residents were underage students), it was a habit he had picked up. Who cares about being out at night when your "classes" have odd hours and any scumbag delinquents who approached you were the ones in danger? Besides, if he's going to be stuck here he should at least have a basic awareness of his surroundings.

More importantly, he needs to know what convenience stores are open late or 24 hours, for nights he needs to binge on canned coffee.

He finds a convenience store soon enough and it's when he steps back out, a can of cold brew (some brand with a skull and crossbones called Death Wish that tastes inoffensive) in hand, that he notices some kind of park across the street. There's some scattered trees and dirt, but most of it looks like it's cement. Skateparks aren't all that common in Academy City, so he's wandering over to see what that's about.

Crossing the street, he walks into the park, pausing and leaning heavily on his cane as he looks around, sipping his coffee.]

sorry for the wait!

[faceguy]

[Since he's been going to school (and who would have ever expected that!), a lot of Leo's afternoons and evenings have been taken up with school work and then training to try and get his portal powers back. He's been so busy he hasn't has a lot of time to engage in his usual hobbies. But tonight he didn't have as much to do, so he decided to take a break from his normal training and have a little fun instead.

Since it's night he's foregone his usual human disguise, instead wearing a hoodie that doesn't do much to hide the shape of his shell. He's still obviously very green. If a passerby looked close they'd be able to tell that that is definitely some kind of reptile meta currently gliding around the bowl. But he's not too worried about anyone coming close to him in Central at this time of night.

He gets some speed going and launches himself up the side of the bowl and into the air, doing two complete twists before he lands on his feet on the edge. Not the ever elusive 1440, but still not bad.]

Aaaand he nails it! Whoo! Leo, Leo!

[He's chanting his own name at no one, how embarrassing.]

fabian levasseur | original

[stale]

001. arrival.

[ Fabian lands flat on his face on cool asphalt. For a long time he doesn't move at all, as if he's playing dead in the wake of some lumbering beast on his tail. Really, it just feels like the prudent thing to do – to keep lying here while the world goes on around him. It's certainly not the first time he's landed face-first on the ground and chosen the moment to really take stock.

He's down for a good few minutes. It feels like longer. But eventually he decides he doesn't actually want to lie here all day, and with a groan of exertion he rolls onto his back and sits up, and then stands with some effort. Sheepishly, he shuffles out of the thoroughfare, nose wrinkled, eyebags prominent, looking and feeling like a zombie. ]

002. blank check.

[ The moment Fabian is given a credit card with no limit in sight and apparently no requirement to pay the money back, he beelines to a bar. Really, they should have seen this coming when they took one look at him at check-in, so it's their fault if they're upset about the way he's choosing to spend his money.

He posts up at the bar, elbows on the sticky bartop, and orders a top-shelf whiskey. Look, if he's going to be stuck here for the foreseeable future, he might as well enjoy himself in the process. He's there for the rest of the day at the very least, slowly and methodically trying every top-shelf beverage available to him. Some he has again, others he wrinkles his nose at. He can afford to be picky now, which is new. ]

003. wildcard.

[ hmu with another scenario or if you want something bespoke at crowders ! ]

1

[atypical_echo]

[He definitely shuffles out right in front of a Meta who was definitely not in his heroic gear right now, because the last thing Mark wanted to be doing was dealing with lots of new arrivals who might not know their own powers. The downside of being someone born with the power to mimic other powers was that if you lost control and the other person couldn't give you advice on control, things got weird.

So he tended to view Confluences as something to avoid. Hard. That didn't mean he hadn't gotten caught in it, and wasn't trying to slink home. Only to have this guy shuffle on out in front of him.]

Oh man, are you okay? You look like hell man.

Huvrye | OTA

[effiomsfavorite]

1. YEET

[If you're walking by the convention center, you can probably hear the roar coming from just inside the front doors-]

SHE'S TEN, YOU JACKASS!

[-before the doors burst open and a fully grown man, clad in a hockey mask and leather jacket, comes sailing out as if thrown with great force. He hits the ground, bounces several times, and finally rolls to a stop. Huvrye follows after him, alchemy glowing across his face and arms, and stops, framed in the double doorway. He breaks a hockey stick over his knee and tosses the pieces out after the villain.]

If I have to throw you out again, it's gonna be from thirty feet up.

[He's been assigned security for the artist alley - specifically Young Artist section, because the expo wants to make sure nothing happens there and the Alliance has noticed his tendency to protect kids - and some masked idiot had strolled in and started upending tables. He's pissed off for good reason.]

2. Obligatory Coffee Shop AU (Without the AU)

[Leaving the Diadem has meant he's further away from what has become his favorite coffee shop, but working the expo means he's a little closer by during the day. Maybe you noticed the tall winged man walk in the shop, and the barista looks up and greets him by name. Maybe you notice that his order is done almost before he's done paying. Or maybe you notice that he heads towards the table you're sitting at and pauses. He has a preferred table, and you're in it, but he's not about to say anything or linger.]

3. Wildcard

[Have another idea? Want to plan? Write your own prompt or hit me up for a chat!]

YEET

[robintohood]

[Dressed in a blue hoodie and jeans, Jason's just being inconspicuous civilian today and was planning to take a peek at the expo for anything interesting. Hearing someone yell and then watching a man getting flung out of a building sure are attention getters. Jason then sees who was the thrower and smirks]

I'd have broken the stick over his head.

Link (Hero of Twilight) | OTA | Will match style

[daybroken]

1. Central City Alliance Expo

[ Link has crossed into other worlds before, and seen glimpses of civilizations far more advanced than anything he could have ever imagined. Even then, nothing could have prepared him for the kind of world that the Confluence had drawn him into.

It's overwhelming. Link's head is spinning just trying to make sense of it all. Luckily, he's not the first one to be in this situation, and thus the welcoming committee was prepared to answer his questions and explain what he couldn't understand.

In return, Link's happy to assist with setting up and protecting the stalls at the Alliance Expo.

Link's green tunic had gotten it's share of odd glances back home, but here he stood out like a sore thumb. With some help from the Alliance, Link's gotten a more modern-looking pair of jeans, tee shirt, and flannel.

He's assembling a stall with speed and precision. Power tools were something new and mind-blowing, but now that he's had a couple minutes to get used to them, he's an absolute beast at construction.

He finishes up the stall and gathers up the tools someone had loaned him. He wipes the sweat from his brow from the back of his hand. He's got the rough, rugged appearance of a muscular country boy who's had at work — someone who's into that particular flavor of masculinity might find him quite alluring like this.

Someone calls for his attention, and Link turns, greeting them with a smile. ]

Yeah? What can I do for you?

-

2. Wildcard! Hit me up at thepreciousthing or just PM this journal to plan something.

Leo | OTA | all Sunset Falls

[faceguy]

A: Boots&Cats&Boots&Cats&Boots&Cats (during the rave)

[Leo's done a lot of things in his life (being essentially a latchkey kid with a sometimes distant father will do that), but he's never gone to a rave like this before. He found out about it through his slowly growing circle of Twitter and Tiktok moots and decided to go check it out. He'd told Huvrye where he was going (with a promise to check in and let him know he was safe) and then taken off for Sunset Falls.

Of course, he didn't have an invite, but that didn't matter - he wasn't a ninja for nothing!

Now having successfully snuck in, he's ready to party! He's got his human disguise on, so he looks a lot like his dad at his age, though clean-shaven and a bit rounder in the face. He's wearing blue pants, a long pastel tie-dye hoodie, and no shirt because if he can't physically have abs in his real body he's taking advantage of his disguise's fake ones.

And he is absolutely going to get out there.

It doesn't matter if he recognizes someone or not, if they end up in his orbit, they get called out to.]

Heyyy! Great party, huh? Now I know what everyone's been raving about.

[He cannot be stopped.]

B: What're ya drinkin? (underage drinking)

[Leo's never really tried alcohol before, unless you count stealing a taste of his dad's wine coolers a couple times. There's a lot of drugs and alcohol happening in this place, and while he's not so sure about getting high, well...

He doesn't mind trying a beer. (Who knows if he'll ever make it to drinking age anyway?)

Someone he'd been chatting with offered him one and he took it. Now he's trying to look like he's not a total newbie, and takes a casual drink.

It... does not taste like he expected, but at least he doesn't choke on it.]

I guess I know why he likes the wine coolers better. [Still, he'll keep drinking it!]

C: Why Do I Feel Like Somebody's Watchin Me (early morning)

[Leo hadn't actually meant to stay all night, but when he'd floated the idea of leaving one of the local kids had told him that no one wandered out during the dark. Everyone was going to wait until the sun was back up.

Which... was creepy, but Leo has his head on straight and he doesn't believe in ghosts or anything like that (minus the spirits he knows are real but they don't count!), so he nearly blows it off.

But in he end he stays like everyone else does, eventually spending some time in his own little spot on the wall scrolling on his phone and waiting for things to die down a bit.

And that's when he starts to notice it: a weird, prickly feeling, like he's being watched.

He looks up from his phone and scans the area, especially the wall behind him.]

...Whoa, geez. Can't believe I let them get in my head like that...

[It's... probably fine, right?]

[[OOC: Hit me up at dandywonderous if you want something else!]]

B

[codicies]

[ Truthfully, Dylan has no idea what you're supposed to wear to a rave. Sure, he did an internet search for it, but — half that stuff couldn't be real, right? And as much of a daring, rebellious teenager Dylan wanted to be right now... he wasn't comfortable showing that much skin just yet.

So, he did the punk thing and raided Eddie's closet, pushing away all nostalgia and painful emotions as he did so, and eventually found a flannel shirt with this monstrosity of a pattern. He tore the sleeves, wrinkled it up a bit, and wore it over a dark graphic tee and some ripped jeans. Perfect.

At the rave, he sticks close to Nico as they weave through the crowd, sometimes just straight-up grabbing his sleeve or his hand to make sure they don't get separated.

Eventually, they come across an area on the edge of the dance floor with a little breathing room — and some nice folks offering alcohol. Dylan has had one (1) beer at his birthday before, so he's basically a seasoned drinker, and accepts the offer happily.

He turns to the other kid who accepted one — man, something about him is familiar, but Dylan can't put his finger on it — and grins. ]

It's an acquired taste.

[ He takes a swig — and winces. There's a pause before he finally gulps it down.

Oh, yeah. Nailed it. ]

Mark Bryant | Open | All Central City

[atypical_echo]

1A. It's Raining Mentas! | Confluence
Well, wasn't this all a thing he hadn't been prepared for. Sure, Confluences happened, people fell from the sky, you did your best to deal with it. That didn't mean Mark was really that prepared for it, or that excited. Confluences meant new Starfallen Meta, some of them with powers they didn't know how to use, and as someone who echoed the powers of others, that sometimes meant getting powers he wasn't prepared for, and that neither he nor the people around him knew how to control.

It was a pain, to the point where things got complicated sometimes, and Mark spent most Confluences he could hiding inside. Today he hadn't managed to stay outside. In fact, here was someone before him right now, newly arrived, and Mark knew he couldn't just not act. Maybe they would be a magic type Meta, he was resistant to those. Or maybe it would be someone his powers didn't catch on. That would be nice.

"Are you okay?"

1B. And Sometimes You Look New | Confluence
Of course there was more than one person to run into, and this time Mark found himself quite unlucky. He felt it rippling over him, a new power he'd never touched before, something... Ice. He could feel it under his skin, and the cold was rippling out from his body, coating everything around him with a layer of frost.

"Oh come on," he chattered against the cold racking his body. "Who gets ice powers and still feels cold? That's bullshit."

And now he was just too cold to even move, to even get away from wherever the power was coming from.

2. Your Friendly Local Photographer | Expo
The good news about working the Expo was that technically he was on guild business, so he could borrow one of those fancy power suppression charms from a lesser guild mage, all on the argument that 'you don't want me going weird and looking bad at a guild function, right?'

There was fun doing this too, going around and seeing the joy some people had over Metas existing. Sure, it was also weird to see it all, to see the way people were excited, to see the set up, but there was work to be done here for someone like him. For a photographer.

"At least no one's asking me to take promo shots for Fantastic," he said to himself as he took pictures of the Artist Alley going up. "Gotta feel bad for anyone ending up with that gig."

Which was probably not a great thing to say where he could be overheard.


[OOC: As a small note, Mark is a power mimic. I only make use of this on non-NPCs if people have opted-in. If you want to opt in, it's a simple form, and we can play with the weirdness it presents now or in the future.]

2

[daybroken]

Link understood... some of those words.

He was just passing by, on his way to try and find something to eat. He's not in his usual getup — Boy, that tunic really has become his usual getup, hasn't it? — instead wearing something a little more modern that someone at the Alliance had picked out for him, all with names he'd never heard before: Green flannel, a tee shirt, and jeans.

He hadn't been listening to Mark, but the words "shot" and "Fantastic" stuck out. Like stopped and turned to look at him with bewilderment.

"Promo shots?" That second word conjures up one image to him, but it doesn't make sense in this context. The man's not even holding a bow. Besides, who would talk about assassinating a public figure so... openly? Sure, Link didn't like Fantastic in the slightest, but this would be a strange way to try and stage a coup.

No, Link's sure that phrase must be referring to... something else, like all the strange nonsense phrases he keeps encountering. "What does that mean?"