CONFLUENCE 018

[metamods]

Who: Everyone!
What: A Confluence! Protests! Heroics! Worms?!
When: The beginning of May
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 technology of the city of EXCELSIOR is here to lend a hand – as if it’s been prepped for this exact moment. While there are some metas – those with force fields and flight and the like – here to help, they’re far scarcer than they might be somewhere else in this world. That will be more obvious to you the longer you’re here.

Whatever way you've arrived, you're here now. The technology doesn’t stick around to give you a warm welcome, and neither do any meta saviors – Excelsior doesn’t welcome someone for too long, and this Confluence doesn’t help. All of the newly-arrived Starfallen have arrived in the middle of a protest – and one of the most disruptive, unsafe Confluences to date.

EXCELSIOR

Typically, EXCELSIOR is a city full of technological marvels. The people here don’t ask if they should do something, but how to get started. Excelsior celebrates the feats that anyone can pull off – to a point. The citizens of this city have developed a strong dislike of metas, heroes, and all that business. Needless to say, they are not happy that the Confluence is happening here.

To make matters worse, the Confluence opens up above an organized protest near the city’s downtown core. Angry people with signs denouncing metahumans, heroes, the guilds, and all of that business stand in crowds before the supernatural event begins to take hold. Not only do all of the new Starfallen arrive from the sky, but a series of unfortunate events come with it. Various pieces of technology stop working in the sky like an EMP has hit, causing them to crash down right into the middle of the protests.

The people below begin to scream in alarm. While some technology and heroes are there to help the Starfallen, the technology is strained or easily broken.

Bright flashes of lightning strike the ground all over, leaving scorch marks. This lightning is in all different shades of light: red, purple, yellow, green, blue. It’s never the same shade twice, and it’s incredibly dangerous. While it’s unlikely that someone will die if hit by the lightning, it causes total paralysis. If someone has a health condition, it could cause more problems – maybe even fatality if not immediately treated.

Other strange surges happen, such as the air being sucked out of the atmosphere and temporarily replaced with a toxic gas, and invisible claws that reach out and scrape at someone’s back.

Nevertheless, this is bad. Newcomers can ignore what’s happening on the scene with all of the angry protestors and try to leave the scene – or they can dive into what’s before them and try to help.

➢ Strange phenomena will be hitting Excelsior for the next while as a result of this Confluence. Feel free to make up any strange circumstances that come to mind – the weirder the better!

➢ The citizens of Excelsior will be too caught up in fear to dismiss any meta assistance, whether it’s a new Starfallen or someone who’s been in this world for a while (or native help, for that matter).

➢ How well individuals respond to the crisis in Excelsior will have the chance to turn the tide of public sentiment toward metas. While it’s hard to respond quickly toward individuals who don’t like the meta presence in the world, the city itself is getting hit hard by this Confluence.

CENTRAL CITY

All roads lead to Central City – so many of the incoming Starfallen from Excelsior are likely to find themselves here soon enough. While Central City is typically a city known as a mish-mash of crime and trouble, it’s recently been far more reserved. The cause? A certain strange hive-mind pod-people group. Individuals are now healthier here, too – assuming they’ve been impacted. While a silent threat, it is a threat – albeit one that is being taken care of!

Though Central City is in a semi-Stepford state, there is still a lot to take in. Central City is known for its architectural marvels, but it’s also known for leaving a part of the city in disarray. Whole neighborhoods lie barren and forgotten – most of the houses that line the streets are condemned and boarded up, not even torn down out of necessity.

In truth, Central City is about sharp contrasts, and it’s a major hub for newcomers, in large part because of a certain luxury hotel.

DIADEM HOTEL

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 it's 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. The employees here seem to be largely untouched by whatever's affecting the citizens outside–but that's probably because they know better than to touch some strange metas they come across.

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 FAMILY OF SPIES. It tells of a nuclear family of a spy named Dusk who’s been in the business since she was a child. Her most recent mission has required her to acquire a fake husband and child all to help infiltrate the lives of people in a quiet neighborhood. Hijinks ensue! It’s surprisingly family-friendly.

CLIFF NOTES.

➢ New arrivals will be appearing in Excelsior in the middle of a rather violent Confluence that appears above an anti-meta protest. Rising anti-meta sentiment has been occurring in this city for a while.

➢ Don’t forget that Excelsior also has a velociraptor and plant problem, as well – those certainly won’t be helping matters

➢ Central City is still dealing with the pod people! Whatever’s happened there can’t be all bad. . . right?

➢ Little Love is finally settling its cow strike problem of 2023. But now it needs some help building barns. Anyone who comes in to help will have an opportunity to acquire a humble plot of land as payment.

➢ Sunset Falls has a bunch of new laws and changes thanks to the intervention of its new mayor, Loki! Bow-tie business is booming in Sunset Falls – leading to some shortages. But hey, the dogs look cute in them!

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.

Comments

QUESTIONS & ENGAGEMENT

[metamods]

[dothelokimotion]

If Loki shakes down some minions from the underworld, is he likely to get any clues about the pod thing?

[metamods]

By reaching out to the underground, Loki will learn that the pod people are from outside of this world and started disrupting the balance of life and death in February. Not only are they infecting living people, technically killing them, and then reviving them, but they're hidden away in a decrepit part off Central City that is (for all terms and purposes) thematically dead. Trying to get a hard and fast read on whether the worms are killing people is difficult – in large part because they technically are not killing them. They're simply reshaping them.

If Loki is seeking more information, please feel free to leave us more questions and we'll reply over the week with follow-up information due to the ongoing nature of the plot.

sophie devereaux | excelsior | ota

[wereall_addicts]

a. confluence

[Sophie leaves the Saddlebag Saloon with the rest of the crew and the confidence of a job well done and then the next thing she knows, she's falling. The world falls away and she's plummeting and somewhere, someone or something catches her, setting her feet down on the ground, but for all she knows, the world is still upside down.

And then the sky is falling.

She runs, because it's the only thing she can do. She does her best to dodge any of the falling debris. Clutching her bag to her side, she stumbles ahead, doing her best to keep herself alive - she's dreaming, she has to be - but some of it is instinct and when she sees something flying at someone nearby, she can't help but push them to the side.]

Get down!

[She drops to the ground as the debris flies over her head, and once it collides with the ground, she looks around, eyes wide.]

What the hell is all of this?

b. aftermath

[Once things finally stop falling and the world settles, she steps away, trying to get her head on straight. Now that she's finished panicking, she knows she needs to figure out an exit strategy. This place, Excelsior, wherever it is, it isn't Memphis, so she needs to figure out what she's going to do from here. So she finds somewhere to sit and take stock.

She's still Virginia, even if her outfit is currently worse for wear, but at least she blends in.

She has her bag, so she could opt for another identity if she needs to - she has a few other names: Annie (ice queen doesn't work if she doesn't feel like she's in control), Charlotte (what good is a duchess with no duchy), Christy (journalist ... well, she could do, but not right now), Sarah Jane (doesn't work without Nate) - no, Virginia will do for now. She just needs information, so she moves to someone nearby who looks about as worse for wear as she does, and decides to introduce herself:]

Virginia. Virginia Ellington. What do you make of all this?

c. wildcard

[I will roll with whatever! Sophie is probably going to stay in Excelsior for now, but feel free to ping me to plot if you'd like: iluvroadrunner6 or pm this journal.]

b

[acroodawakening]

[Guy's not immediately obvious as someone odd. There are a lot of police and EMTs now that the chaos has died down a little and an EMT handed him a orange shock blanket. So it's covering the fact he's dressed very differently than the normal people.]

[The only odd thing is the little bone in his ponytail. It sure is a choice. (Not his). Even the furry boots could just be that he's made the fatal mistake of thinking Uggs look good.]

[And lots of guys wear guyliner.]

What do I make of all this? [Brightly, in tones of normal conversation.] I think this is a different dimension than the one I was just in. And also that everyone that dropped in fell right into an absolute nightmare. You?

[wereall_addicts]

Absolute nightmare sounds about right.

[But the whole different dimension thing sounds like one of Hardison's science-fiction films. Not something that actually happens to a person in real life.]

What makes you say "different dimension"?

wildcard, post chaos

[phobulus]

( hey sophie doesn't that lump of white furry coat and buzzed hair on a long lanky form look familiar??

it's in a heap on the ground. people are stepping around it, mostly carefully. its shoes look very familiar, as do the gold chains laying close nearby... )

[wereall_addicts]

[There's a brief moment where her heart jumps into her throat, worried that something might have happened to him on the way down, or he might have been struck from above. But she swallows down that panic, for the most part, and instead settles for ensuring that this is who she thinks it is.]

Hardison?

Guy Crood | The Croods (CRAU) | Mostly OTA

[acroodawakening]

Excelsior

[Guy initially screams in a wild flailing Goofy-like yodel when he finds himself randomly falling through the air. Because of course he's just randomly falling to his death all of a sudden. Why not?]

[After he stops screaming (because what is he going to do, scream the whole entire way down?) he draws in a breath and somehow...somehow a weird sort of serenity overtakes him.]

[And he reflects that it is absolutely his luck that he'd go from...all of that to randomly falling to his death all of a sudden. (Maybe it's some kind of...transportation accident? Maybe the Capitol used their magic-like technology to send him to an arena and it went terribly terribly wrong.]

[Or terribly right. It'd be one hell of a gimmick to just launch a bunch of Tributes from the sky to their death, perhaps falling on living Tributes below like a fatal rain.]

[But that...that looks like a city, and not the Capitol. That sounds like screaming echoing from below. Something strange is happening. Something that makes his heart lurch with half a second's worth of hope before he remembers...oh yeah, he's falling to his death. Even if something about his situation has improved, it's a bit of a "one step forward, all the steps back" kind of thing.]

[As his breath is stolen away and he gets dizzy from reaching terminal velocity and the ground looms up, he rubs his fingers against the proposal stone on the bracelet on his right wrist. He focuses on the picture smeared there instead, the one of himself and her.]

[Maybe this time he'll die for good. Maybe if he's lucky there will be something after. Maybe he can return home to her, to watch over her as something immaterial, even if he can't talk to her ever again, all the way to the end of her days. It's a lot of maybes, and the only way he can imagine going home, but the possibility is a comfort.]

[The comfort doesn't last long because whoops, there's the ground. Guy cringes, wrapping his arms around his head with a whimper and then -]

[And then -]

[...And then opens an eye to find himself in a yellow field of some kind, one that's stolen away all his momentum so he didn't even so much as have his brains knock around in his head, leaving him floating no worse for wear about a foot off the ground. A floating device nearby projecting the field suddenly turns it off and he falls on his face.]

...Ow.

[But it's only a foot drop. The worst he's got is a scraped chin and a dinged up knee. The device rapidly flies off to desperately save someone else who's falling.]

[And Guy stands up and is faced with confusing, completely indecipherable, absolute chaos. He has apparently escaped his terrible fate, only to find himself in the middle of some other entirely different insanity.]

[Scandalized, he rebukes the entire universe.]

Oh, come on! Really?!

[He makes for a strange sight in the chaos. Not a random person in civilian clothes, not a superhero in their costume, but someone dressed vaguely like someone's warped and stereotypical idea of a caveman, in a loin cloth with leg wraps, and a little furry cloak, face contoured and guyliner immaculate, complete with a (stupid) little bone in his ponytail that the stylists loved to put there.]

a)

[Guy initially wanders through the chaos without reacting. He can't tell if this is...is somehow the same kind of people as the Capitol. Some other place where they live? If it is, he's not feeling particularly inclined towards helping them. In fact, he looks around himself somewhat dispassionately at their panicked screaming.]

[Maybe he got transported to some other place with Capitolites, a place currently under attack by the Districts. If they were the ones to suffer now, could anyone say they didn't deserve it? That they didn't deserve to be the ones terrified for once?]

[But there's one problem. This might not be a place related to the Capitol. The people don't dress the same and their clothes and makeup are a lot more muted. The buildings look different. This might be a District or...somewhere else entirely. (Another another world? Did something try to send him home, only to send him to the wrong place?)]

[Actually, there are two problems, he realizes, as he sees a young girl of maybe 8 separated from her parents, screaming and crying, her curly red hair a halo around her head. The other problem is that there are still innocents here, regardless of whether or not all of them are.]

[The hardness around his heart softens. It's been a fight every day to keep it from practically calcifying, but he refuses to let himself become so changed he can't feel compassion. Mercy. Especially for a child.]

[The little girl is accidentally knocked over to her knees by someone that doesn't even see her because of her height and overhead he sees some kind of machine falling from above. Guy stops thinking, stops moralizing it either way. Instinct kicks in and he runs, dives, grabs, rolls, and just narrowly gets the girl out of the way before the flying...thing hits where the girl just was and explodes in scrap and smoke.]

[She cries even harder.]

It's okay. It's okay. I'm going to help you find your parents, okay?

[It takes her a few seconds to calm just enough to hiccup out, "Are you...are you one of the Flintstones?" She is clearly deeply confused by his stupid outfit.]

...Sure, I definitely know what you're talking about and I am totally one of...that thing. I'm going to carry you so you don't fall down, is that okay?

[She nods her head frantically, grabbing onto his neck, a lifeline in the sea of chaos, and he hefts her up.]

Do you know your mommy or daddy's first name? ["I was with Mommy. Her name is Maria."] What about your last name?

["Thompson."]

Okay, tell me if you see your mommy and point to her. [Guy moves through the area, calling out.] Maria! Maria Thompson! Maria, your daughter is trying to find you!

[The problem with looking for someone and trying to carry someone and the fact that things are randomly falling from various heights and angles is that it's pretty easy to miss when a flying machine thingy is careening down towards you from a really weird angle at a very fast speed.]

[If someone doesn't intervene, he and the girl he's carrying are done for.]

Central City

[When the new people are picked up and taken to Alliance HQ to get the welcome spiel and the whole communicator and credit card thing, Guy doesn't take either. He doesn't talk, he looks around cagily the entire time, takes in the entire headquarters. It's too similar. The attempt to sell the Alliance, like the outsiders can come in and take on a useful role is too familiar. Mention of training practically raises the hair on the back of his neck. Maybe there's less obvious violent coercion this time, but...]

[No, he doesn't trust this. Doesn't trust these people. And hates that this is his luck.]

[So he decides to make a break for it. When on of the staff at the Alliance tries to hand him his comm and credit card he slaps it away. Then he snarls, baring his teeth, making incoherent ragey noises in his best imitation of his father-sort-of-in-law (or he would be if they had laws.) It perhaps gives the impression that he didn't understand what anyone was saying the entire time, but it's meant to be a very concrete social cue that's very easy to interpret that says "I want to be left alone."]

[Then he books it, as fast as he can, running through the streets outside. This is a test. He doesn't know how closely tied this Alliance is to the government but his guess would be that is wholly is or at least is somewhat. His other guess they have little bugs everywhere watching everyone. His third guess is they probably have some kind of enforces that drag people places against their will.]

[Time to test his theory.]

[As he runs, he takes advantage of his moment of freedom to rip the stupid little bone out of his hair and throw it in a gutter.]

b)

[Guy gets quite a few stares as he wanders through the city streets. He's unable to find any walls or guarded gates to this place, which is...strange. It's like he could actually keep walking and find other places beyond, unhindered.]

[But that'd be pretty far to go and he decides to rest and regroup first. And wait, to see who comes. If someone does. (Wouldn't it be wonderful if they never did?)]

[Random people that find him in the city park he's parked in will likely find him because of the way other people are reacting near a particularly wooded area of the park.]

["Did you see? He wasn't just growling, he was dressed like a caveman, too. Do you think he's just some weirdo or one of the Starfallen?" "I don't know but we should call somebody!" "Who? The cops? The Alliance?"]

[A friend runs and catches up with the couple that's talking, from the same direction. "Dude, he just threw rocks at me!"]

[Anyone that's curious enough to go in the direction the scared bystanders are running from will find an extremely odd sight in that wooded area off the trail. A young man, wrapped in a stolen blanket, kneeling near a pond. Some stolen bottled water rests near an extremely well-made lean-to. He's wetting the edge of the blanket to try to wipe off what's left of the makeup on his face. The contour is coming off but he's struggling with the eyeliner. Whatever fixer they used is practically impenetrable. The most he's managed to do so far is slightly smudge one side.]

[Under his breath, he mutters, annoyed.]

What did they set this with? Glue?

[When he notices he's not alone again, he turns and bares his teeth, expression feral, going into the caveman routine again.]

RAAHH!

[Then the rock-throwing starts. He's got good aim and the upper body strength of someone that can hurl a spear at distance so dodging would probably be a good idea.]

c) Locked to Bart, set after all other threads

[The thing about setting up in a public park and throwing rocks at people is yes it does get attention. Fortunately, the cops aren't the ones to intercede. His outfit and the fact there was just a Confluence recently means someone, somewhere (probably a 911 operator that deserves a raised), calls the Alliance instead to defuse what otherwise might have become a very dangerous situation.]

[After all, this guy might just be really, really confused if he's what he looks like.]

[Bart is tapped to deal with it and try to fix the situation. He's told about Guy's reaction at Alliance HQ so it's clear that this may be someone who lacks the context to know what's going on. Bart's speed makes for good rock-dodging potential.]

[When Bart arrives, Guy has managed to get everything but the eyeliner off. It's smudged on both sides and he's still trying to wipe it away. The racoon-eyed look makes him look as tired as he feels. When yet another stranger approaches - especially one in costume like all the Alliance people - he bares his teeth and growls again, chucking another rock.]

[This might be it, if he's like the other costumed people. What was that, a little over an hour? Did someone call them? Do they have little listening bugs and cam-rahs everywhere?]

C, of course

[kid_flash_found]

[Bart hadn't really planned to do more than support stuff today, but when he gets the call, well, it's not like he really has a choice. The guy clearly is a fish-out-of-water, but how much is really a question to be answered. Hopefully this isn't the kind of situation where there isn't at least some level of communication possible.

Although the growling and rock-throwing is definitely shouting keep away. He takes a microsecond to decide if the rock will hit anyone if he dodges, and then just...steps aside.]

Yeah, I get it, you probably want to be left alone. The only problem is that a public park is not the place to do it. Think maybe we can talk about it?

[Because Bart is prepared to duck rocks and possibly blows all afternoon if that's what it takes to have a civil conversation.]

b

[qualityfriend]

[Dana's not really sure why she's around this city park. Or how she ended up here, either. Her mind is fuzzy in a way that discourages thinking too much about it.

[So seeing people running, and hearing that they're talking about some weird guy throwing rocks, sounds like a good distraction from her own issues.

[She approaches where the disturbance seems to be coming from cautiously, ready to teleport out of the way of rocks. Or away entirely, if the mystery guy is more dangerous.]

Hello? Just get here?

Excelsior A.

[levelshift]

[Accelerator isn't a fan of Excelsior. It's too big, too shiny, reminds him too much of home. But work is work and he can't really say no to Society business for stupid personal reasons, so he's here for a short daytrip.

He wasn't expecting to be here during a Confluence event, but he supposes that's good luck. Maybe, if he can get close enough, he can try to grab hold of whatever vectors those portals have and understand them a little better. It could be dangerous, given what happened when he accidentally touched Donnie's mystic tech with his reflection on, but if it means leaving this whole goddamned stupid universe....

He's standing in the middle of all the chaos, hitting the switch on his choker. The little light on it turns from green to red and he takes everything in, from the weird lightning, to the people screaming and running in every direction, to that one weird superhero dressed like he's from the stone age about to get flattened by some piece of Excelsior tech. That kid with him, too, is probably doomed, which is too bad for her. She looks even younger than -]

....

[Accelerator waves his free hand vaguely in their direction. Following that is a loud BOOM! as the air compresses in a spear shape and is shot at the flying machine thingy. The spear slams into the machine, hurtling it diagonally into a lamp post, and the amount of force is shattering both the machine and part of the post, sending debris from both into a couple of cars below. Windshields are shattered and hoods are crumpled. Hope their owners have good insurance.

Accelerator doesn't make any attempt to leave the scene, instead pulling out his phone to take a few pictures of all the damage, to submit to the Society later. He figures there's too much going on for him to get into trouble over such a petty crime.]

b for boneboy

[harageous]

( ah, humans. always running from something or other. what was it this time?

some guy throwing rocks? that's it? that actually sounded like a pretty good time. who didn't like a good ol' fashioned rock throw? why couldn't humans ever appreciate anything that was actually fun? so much is just wasted on them!

it's hardly any decision at all to make her way to the source to get a good look for herself. after all, what else was she doing? stealing perfume bottles? nah, she probably couldn't carry any more this trip out. she might as well go find out what the excitement is all about.

the first glimpse eda gets of the troublemaker is when he's trying to get his makeup off, but the moment doesn't last long. not when he's already hurling rocks in her direction. )

Whoa!? We throwing rocks?

( eda asks, all but leaping behind a tree to avoid getting pelted by a stone.

by the sound of it, he's not throwing rocks for fun. however that doesn't not stop her from scooping up a few rocks of her own from the dirt. )

You'll have to try harder than that!

( pew pew pew. here's a little playful return fire. )

B~

[faceguy]

[Hearing that some weirdo is throwing rocks at people in the park is enough to pique Leo's interest, not that he really intends to do much about it. He's just curious, is all.

He's currently in his human disguise, looking like a skinny, unassuming Japanese teenager. He heads back the way the gossiping group came from, on the lookout for this "weirdo".

And then he gets yelled at and gets a rock thrown at him - really, what else was he expecting?]

Whoa, hey!

[He dodges the first rock, then pulls out one of his katana for the second - an action that causes a noticeable flicker in his hologram, though doesn't break it entirely.

He opens a shimmering blue portal in the air just in time to catch the next rock; a second portal lobs it back in Guy's direction.]

This sure is a stony reception.

MAYOR loki odinson | mcu | ota

[dothelokimotion]

( i. central city — the opherium )

[ despite the problems around central city, the opherium is still in full swing. loki has managed to get a few more employees and currently, they are having a festival of plays (the importance of being earnest, waiting for godot, no exit etc) and operas (the magic flute, faust, carmen) at discounted prices. make good use of these sales while you have the chance.

and if you want to talk to the owner of the theatre, he's in the lounge, keeping an eye on things, making sure everything goes well. ]

( ii. sunset falls — around )

[ his ratings have fluctuated of late, but loki is nothing if not productive. he goes by house to house, laying it on thick with his silver tongue. he doesn't give them promises, but by the time he's finished, many people are left satisfied. it's only a quick balm, as the money issue is still needing to be dealt with, but it is a small hiccup. loki has dealt with worse.

he can stopped along the way, especially if you have complaints to which he'll just reply dryly. ]

Revenue is up thanks to the dog tax. And that money will go back into Sunset Falls. You're welcome.

( iii. central city — investigating )

[ normally, loki wouldn't bother. why would he? the problems of other people don't concern him.

but sephiroth had been affected. the cuffs hadn't even reacted. it's troubling. so loki slips into the corners and alleys of central city, catching many people off guard so he can grill them. and he's not doing it nicely, as seen by some poor stooge being held against the wall as loki pulls out a knife in his free hand. you're welcome to stop him. or . . . try to.

or help him. two is company in interrogation. ]

I want answers. Now.

( iv. wildcard )

[ got a different prompt you’d like to do? ping me on timmtams / pm this journal ]

ii

[gooddoggoddog]

Awwraroooo.

[That wasn't going to be much comfort to the people who still weren't getting paid.]

[Despite Amaterasu's admonishment she is obeying the law. A bowtie, bright red to match her markings, is currently around her neck.]

iii

[purplexing]

[Rooftops continue to be the best way to travel, at least when it comes to not wanting to be seen by...well, most people, anyway.

It also gives one a pretty good vantage point when accidentally coming across potential crimes being committed. Or at least that's what it looks like from up here, but in a city (usually?) rife with crime, the likelihood of it not going well upon seeing someone holding a knife to someone is pretty high.

So. Enter one teenage turtle.

Donnie drops in neatly from above, his battle shell's rotors folding in as he makes his three-point landing some several feet from Loki and his victim. He pulls his bō from behind him, giving it a spin as he stands.]

Is this a private party?

i.

[wereall_addicts]

[She and Hardison assess rather quickly that given their status, they might not want to stay in Excelsior for very long. So they don't. They're still in the process of getting their bearings in this new world, but whenever Sophie feels off center, she always goes back to old touchstones.

Landing there and discovering that Central City happens to have one of the prettiest theaters that Sophie has ever seen is something else entirely. She grabs tickets for Earnest and Godot, and is in the process of debating Carmen when she catches sight of the lounge, wandering in to have a look while she weighs her options.

She glances over to Loki with a smile, not quite realizing yet who she's talking to.]

Do you come to the theater often?

ii

[welcome_summer]

[At Loki’s platitude, the squad of City Hall workers fielding the impromptu phonebank calls full of public servants demanding compensation, various utility companies around the city, pet-owners whose bowtie-less canines have been impounded (hahaha), and doggy-daycares-prisons facing overcrowding, give him flat stares all around. Their bank accounts are varying states of empty, and it’s the promise of salary plus interest that is keeping these employees from joining the picket line.

Mayuko looks equally unimpressed, on the line herself and holding a bow-tied pup on her lap. She lowers the phone enough to whisper:]

You do realize that people without income will find it difficult to keep their pets "properly attired" when they have to worry about food and rent? Or be able to release the dogs on bail if they're caught, or ultimately pay fines? Why didn't you talk to IT before pushing this through?!

Ken Kaneki | Tokyo Ghoul | OTA

[anthropophagite]

Arrival : EXCELSIOR

[ He is falling from the sky, from great heigth. Kaneki may be a ghoul, but he is sure not even a ghoul can survive something like this, but he does brace himself for impact - three red tentacles sprout out of his back and they wrap around Kaneki, hoping to somehow break a fall that can not be stopped -- and then it stops.

Somehow he doesn't hit the pavement. Thankfully!

But he is now in the middle of a protest. Naturally, he has no idea what it is about, and Kaneki feels so very lost, but he quickly tries to get rid of his red tentacles (it's called Kagune), which sadly don't seem to want to disappear. Most likely due to the fact that kaneki is panicking and there are so many angry people and his body just tells him to somehow protect himself. Honestly, he doesn't have a good grasp of his abilities.

Chaos unfolds and the lightning starts - finally, Kaneki stands up and just... runs. He doesn't know where to, but he has to run, he has to get out of there, wherever he is. By chance, he sees a lost kid in the crowd - no older than 14, by the looks of it - and right before the lightning actually hits them, Kaneki's red kagune reaches for them and pulls them away. ] Careful! [ he manages to shout, but with all the chaos and panic, he doesn't realize the lightning will hit him as well.

he only has the chance to bring his arms up and the red tendrils wrap around him protectively... ]



Aftermath : DIADEM HOTEL (cw: possible mentions of cannibalism)

[ Kaneki hears all the explanations and watches the news, and he can even appreciate his hotel room for a second there. However, there is a big issue right now that he has realized: no one knows what ghouls are. there are no ghouls.

And if there are no ghouls then... how will he eat? Kaneki has always relied on other ghouls to get food for him; being born a human, naturally, he doesn't like the idea that he must hurt others and thus he pretends he doesn't know where the food he eats comes from.

But here it will be a big issue. Even that unlimited credit card won't help him.

He is worried and that much is obvious to anyone passing by the hotel lobby. He is by the reception asking to see someone who can help him - no, not asking. Actually begging. But with all the confusion with the protests and fear and absolute chaos, no one seems to be able to really help him ]

... What am I supposed to do?

arrival.

[vexant]

( julian hates events like this. protests. but he does love to get into the middle of it and tell idiots to shut the hell up. he also hates it when the sky starts falling on them, but it's not like it's new. it's just another thing to bitch about later when he has ears close by to yell into. he's walking through the protests when everyone begins to fall from the sky, and narrows his eyes at the mess of it. drones fall, various hovercrafts begin to descend, the new arrivals, and julian's just--

raising a metal hand up, even if he doesn't need to. uses his telekinesis to catch several of the falling objects and throw them somewhere where they would cause minimal damage. he uses the same telekinesis to shove away all the protestors in his way, because he'd wanted to get a soda, and they're interrupting his walk by being in his way.

someone yells, and his head tips back to look towards the sound. sees that someone lurching to the side, wrapping around a child, long--tentacles(?) coming out of their back. and even when julian hisses between his teeth like it's annoying to get stuck in the middle of this crap, he's taking off at a run to get closer, to raise his hands up and help use his own strength to catch that lightning bold with a telekinetic barrier. it works, just long enough for it to slide against the barrier as he tips it down until it hits against the pavement several feet away from them where it won't hurt anyone. the barrier fizzes out shortly after, and julian wipes prosthetic, metal hands that don't quite connect to his wrists down against his jeans. as if the action itself dirtied them, when they had touched nothing. )

Watch where you jump next time, idiot.

alec hardison | leverage

[phobulus]

a. blame it on the juice | (arrival, get your power boosted)

( hardison can only do his best. fortunately, he reacts well when given no time to think. so once it's clear that things are going sideways for not just him, but for whatever this bizarre situation is, he acts.

falling out of the sky, finding himself in a bizarre world of advanced tech he doesn't recognize and some sort of variety of metaphysical chaos? it should paralyze him. but people around him are freaking out, his earbud is dead, and he's a good boy raised right by nana.

so, he does his regular human best. none of the details matter, but yanking people out of the way of danger does. it just so happens that if he yanks a metahuman, he might augment their powers without any understanding of what he's done. )

Watch out! ( his grasp is tight but not overly strong, and he's willing to use his tall athletic frame and long white furry coat to like a shield if he can, too. ) Head that way, don't get crushed by the crowd.

b. crime, ahoy | (around excelsior, catch some crime or get crimed)

( a good boy raised by nana, who also needs to get moving on setting him and sophie up, once he unequivocally turns down the assets provided to him as a newbie to a new world.

time for him to practice his lifts, get his hands on some burner phones, funds, and supplies to get them going. he might have to start small, but excelsior seems to be full of puffed-up investment bankers funding ridiculous projects producing technological marvels.

so he targets people he suspects are blowhards, but could just be either rude or having a rough day. the chaotic confluence seems to have put everyone on edge, certainly, and he's working off of a desperate need to make sure his people are safe. even if it's just sophie. especially because it's just sophie. if the others are here, he'll need the resources to find them—or, rather, make sure they can be found. )

Oh, I'm so sorry, that's my bad. ( once he bumps into someone enough to knock their phone or bag to the floor, he's so polite about returning it, bending to scoop the item(s) easily back up. ) Here, this one's yours. That's a nice model, you got taste, where'd you get this one? Is that the limited edition? Oh look at the time gotta jet, got a bunch of morons back at the office to wage steal from...

( ha ha ha big gusty laugh aaaaand he's onto the next, at the next coffee shop or street corner, or what have you. )

a;

[ashasari]

( his fingers wrap around the scrawny wrist of a red-headed man wearing an overly long, dark black coat. one who isn't expecting to be grabbed onto so suddenly, especially given the mess of - everything happening around them. kell had come to try and lend a hand, quietly, to keep his head down but prevent as much damage as possible. being noticed and yanked wasn't part of that plan. kell's eyes fall to where fingers are gripping onto him, pulling him over, and he scrunches his face up, the scowl deepening before he's raising the hand that hasn't been taken hostage up, palm open wide towards the mess of electronics falling from the sky and onto everything, everyone. his fingers flex, concentrating where he normally wouldn't bother because there is a lot, and kell hasn't practiced with air as much like this.

he feels it growing stronger, the flow of magic within him, without any prompting. he's not pulling deeply, but the gust of wind that flies up from the palm of his hand and into the sky manages to catch significantly more of the falling tech than he'd been intending on pulling. his fingers curl in, the air barrier turning into more of a small tornado, it's base touching down in close by open area where the items he's caught slowly crumble into smaller bits as the wind carries them down rather than up while it gets smaller, and smaller, until there's nothing more than a pile of - all of it, whatever it had been.

eyes look back down to the hand on his wrist, then back up to the man that's attached to it. narrow, before he's shaking out of his hold. )

I'm not worried about the crowd.

[arach_kid]

1. Arrival

[Hurtling through the air isn't exactly new for Pete. The Web-Slinger back home is designed to do exactly that. Using his web-pistol to fire a strand of synthetic spider-silk and catch his fall is reflex by this point.]

[Junk falling from the sky isn't quite as normal, but he's got an answer for that too. He creates nets of webbing between the buildings to catch the debris.]

[It's not a perfect solution to the problem. Especially not with the lightning strikes adding to the danger. It is, however, enough to give people some breathing room to get somewhere safer.]

Alright folks! I know Chicken Little's kinda tempered everyone's expectations, but right now the sky is falling. Everyone inside and away from the windows! Now!

2. Diadem/Central

[The hotel is super-swanky. These Alliance and Society guys are pulling out all the stops to butter them up. He'd probably enjoy it more if MJ was here to enjoy it with him, but that doesn't mean he's not taking advantage of it.

After a while, though, all he's really craving is a Soder-Cola and some pizza. There's no Soder here, but the local equivalent isn't bad.

He wanders the shopping center, seeing what's on offer.]

1

[anthropophagite]

[ kaneki didn't have a good arrival. While he was able to land safely without breaking any bones, everything that followed next was nothing good. The angry people and the lightning strikes, things and people falling from the sky... it's all so messy.

In response to all of it, Kaneki ends up with three red tentacles that sprouted out of his back, wrapped around himself protectively. He isn't quite able to control his own abilities, and he is struggling to make them disappear, but for now this is what it is.

when he hears Pete, quickly Kaneki does as he is told, although the tentacles will be a bother. Not just to Kaneki but to all other people going inside the building who don't really want to deal with whatever that is. ]