![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
- !confluence,
- !event,
- a certain magical index: accelerator,
- marvel comics: carol danvers,
- rtmnt: donatello hamato,
- rtmnt: leonardo hamato,
- ✗ archie hopper | once upon a time,
- ✗ augustus "gus" porter | the owl house,
- ✗ aurican | dragonlance,
- ✗ hitori gotoh | bocchi the rock,
- ✗ raine whispers | the owl house,
- ✗ roy harper | dc comics,
- ✗ six | generator rex,
- ✗ vision | mcu
CONFLUENCE 020
What: A Confluence! + Part II of the Downburst plot
When: The beginning of July
Where: Primarily Arcadia & Excelsior, Washington
Content Warnings: Just a little of Fantastic's fascist ideology
A Confluence, capitalized, is the converging of one or more supernatural forces: it encompasses all occurrences that cause sudden, unnatural change in this world.
The Starfallen only arrive during Confluences. For this Confluence, the sky over Excelsior, Washington opens up after a ripple rolls through the clouds, seeming to cause a visual glitch for anyone who’s watching. The glitch itself looks more like an adjustment to reality than anything, and time – if but for a moment and nothing more – stops. Everything stops, and then it starts again.
It’s that stoppage in time that makes the arrival of the Starfallen easy and safe. Rather than forcing the people of Excelsior to contend with their new arrivals, they find them suddenly on the ground, standing as if they were there the entire time. How did that happen? How did they get here? It’s unclear.
The effects of this flicker in time won’t be immediately obvious. As the newly arrived Starfallen take in their surroundings, they’ll notice that the rather advanced city they’re in is experiencing a bit of trouble. Large, carnivorous plants walk the streets and people are chasing after them one by one. Moving in and out of the scene is a rather dashing-looking man – one they’ll soon learn is named Fantastic. He’ll stop by the Starfallen once or twice, flash a smile and offer some help, but he’ll otherwise be occupied.
Well, that aside, time for you – one of the many new Starfallen – to adjust to your new surroundings. Welcome to Excelsior and welcome to an era of political turmoil. Don’t worry about the time dilation that may have occurred. That’s the least of your worries.
A safe “landing” of sorts means that the newly arrived Starfallen will need to look up to get the full scope of where they have arrived: a city with tall buildings, flying cars, and visuals that make it seem as if it’s further in the future than it is. Technological progress and prowess is the name of Excelsior’s game; it’s just too bad that this progress sometimes comes with its share of hiccups. In this case, those hiccups are the dangerous plants roaming the streets and causing problems. These plants had been a problem very recently, and it seems that any weed whacking only temporarily dealt with the issue at hand. That, or whoever made them in the first place wasn’t put off of their experiments.
Or … maybe something else is afoot?
After all, it’s rather surprising that someone as enterprising and industrious as Fantastic is roaming the streets to stop the problem at hand – but then again, these plants are rather troublesome!
Aside from his occasional greetings and offered help to the newly-arrived Starfallen, he’s otherwise occupied. In his stead, several rather official-looking individuals will be approaching the Starfallen once they recover from the time stoppage. They’ll offer the newcomers a mobile device as well as a teleporter, along with a place to stay in a state-of-the-art facility named Arcadia. After all, Arcadia is meant to be there for Starfallen – a safe haven when they might otherwise be caught up in the chaos around them.
No one is obligated to go to Arcadia, but it appears that anyone who’s newly arrived will be given their teleporter with the intention of forcing them there. Once they’re given freedom to move on their own, there is a good chance that they will be teleported right into Arcadia proper against their will. Upon arrival, they’ll find that their teleporter is now glitched. A guard, upon spotting their arrival, will greet them and apologize if they can’t go anywhere else. “Our system has been buggy lately.”
At least they’re trying to keep the Starfallen away from the plants?
➢ Everyone arriving during this Confluence will be given the same story: that Fantastic and the Alliance have been working hard to provide a safe home for all Starfallen because the world itself views them with a great deal of animosity. Just recently, a man hypnotized a number of Starfallen in order to force them to cause harm to others and themselves – and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
➢ Once someone who’s been forcibly teleported to Arcadia either accepts their place there or manually leaves – by exiting through one of the gates on foot – they’ll find that their teleporter is working. Somewhat. From time to time, it’ll just drop them right back into Arcadia even if they intended to use it to go elsewhere. Like Dorothy always said: there’s no place like home.
➢ Despite the rather forcible welcome, Arcadia is … rather nice. Constructed in collaboration with the people of Excelsior, Arcadia is an odd mix of modern-day and historical architecture, leaving it to be a beautiful view for anyone to witness from a distance. All aspects of Arcadia are pristine, and it’s apparent that this structure is meant to be safe and protected. Each Starfallen who chooses to take a room will find that their quarters are designed to their liking: they’re allowed to choose anything and everything they want.
➢ There are a few … quirks when it comes to Arcadia. There are suns emblazoned throughout, as well as guards standing post. These guards are equipped with strong armor and power nullifiers if anyone tries to fight them. Finally, the entirety of Arcadia gives off a sense that it’s resonating with magic – with this being the strongest near its lowest level. That level is, of course, blocked off to anyone who may dare to enter.
➢ If Arcadia seems a little … empty, that’s because it’s been shunned by the current population of Starfallen. Thanks to their antics and ungrateful tendencies, they’ve decided that they’re too proud to take what’s been offered to them. Instead, they’re causing problems all over the country, and Fantastic is working tirelessly to stop their mayhem. Surely this is all there is to it, right? … Right?
Right around this Confluence, Fantastic begins making frequent television appearances in order to try to assuage any worries that the people he’s promised to protect might have in the wake of the chaos following his rise to power. What does this mean? Well, a lot of bloated speeches that no one wants to listen to, as well as countless television programs interrupted so that he can ensure that everyone hears the sound of his voice.
Even with his frequent messages, his message largely remains the same – so here are some notes.
➢ Fantastic always apologizes for the chaos happening everywhere. While he hoped that he would be able to bring order to the Alliance and use his new opportunity to help others, it appears that some bad actors have attempted to frame him in a bad light. These bad actors are not limited to the Starfallen – while he doesn’t name Atomight or Mechanima, it’s apparent that he is likely referring to them.
➢ After all, Fantastic inherited Atomight and Mechanima's messes. The biggest and most recent "mess" is just about everything in Central City. Everything. But he mainly means Jinx's destruction of the city on Father's Day – which is an event that could only take place with Mechanima's intervention. Had the city not been placed under an unwanted quarantine, Fantastic would have been able to intervene and help.
➢ When it comes to Mechanima, he reassures the citizens of Central City that he is doing everything in his power to restore its autonomy so that Alliance processes can proceed as normal. Otherwise, it appears that all Alliance operations have been moved to Excelsior for the time being. He alludes to the “problem” being solved by some heroic Starfallen there, so there is no reason to keep it under quarantine … but some villains just can’t help themselves!
➢ Overall, Fantastic alludes to countless problems. Guards who are just trying to protect reticent Starfallen are being attacked without provocation. Many people are speaking out against Fantastic and even calling what he’s doing a “regime.”
➢ The more Fantastic appears, the more he seems desperate – frazzled. At first, it seems like an act: him appearing desperate to win viewers’ hearts and minds. But soon he’ll seem less calm and collected, like he’s aware that he’s lost control (or never had control in the first place). He won’t admit this outright. He’ll never admit it. No, he’ll always smile. Always seem pleased to help anyone, even the Starfallen who hate him for some reason. Always.
➢ Welcome to the midway point for our Downburst event! This Confluence is meant to double as a means for all of our new players to integrate into the middle of an event. We reused some assets from the most recent TDM in order to help, but if you would like any additional help keeping your TDM threads canon, please hit us up below!
➢ No players will be forced to place their character into Arcadia if they don't like the bizarre and not-at-all-biased intro to this world – their teleporters can merely glitch out if they so choose. After all, it doesn't seem like anything is going as planned.
➢ Even though this batch of Starfallen have just arrived, they will be followed by Guards as if they've been here all along. Isn't it fun to suddenly be under unwanted surveillance upon arrival?
➢ Incoming players can check our prior event log for more information about Arcadia and the Guards in detail.
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.
no subject
(Well, except for the whole “murder” thing. That’s bad.)
The guard Leo has been harassing scrambles to his feet and starts to back away, watching both of the teens warily.
Hey, piggy! Tell all your little friends that this block and all the ones around it belong to the Mad Dogs, mmkay?
[“Dogs?” asks the guard. “Aren’t you a turtle?”]
Ohohoho! [Leo kicks the trashcan lid into his hand.] Nothing gets past you, huh?
[And then he chucks the lid like a frisbee into the guy’s exposed face, breaking his nose.]
Whooops, sorry. You know, my normal villains are less fragile than that.
no subject
... He isn't quite sure what the whole 'Mad Dogs' thing is about, but he can ask about that later on. No big deal. Right now he just grins, a slash across his face, at Leo's sass and the trash can frisbee follow-up. The frisbee makes him cackle - ohhh, that's hilarious.]
A lot of good that armour is doing!
[He doesn't see any need to add to that mayhem at this point, especially when all of the guards are now wisely turning tail and running (the one who took the trash can lid to the face trailing blood).]
no subject
Well, I don’t think they‘ll be back anytime soon. That or they’ll just bring more of ‘em, but let’s be optimistic, huh?
[If they bring more, that’s just more fun for them, right?
Threat taken care of, Leo turns his attention to Accelerator.]
But hey, what was that!? You didn’t tell me you had a sense of humor! [He snickers, getting closer.] You were out there cackling like a regular-
[He throws his arm around Accelerator’s shoulders, completely forgetting the warning about touching Accelerator with his reflection on.
This is a bad idea.]
no subject
Accelerator is still watching the guards as they hightail it around a corner, just in case they've got some secondary plan that involves an ambush or something. He isn't watching Leo, though he's listening, and with an inner groan starts mentally preparing himself to deal with the pain in the ass smarm he's sure he's about to receive for his change in behaviour. That's all he's preparing himself for.
His choker is still in esper mode, and his reflection is still on, but he's warned Leo about that in the past, so there shouldn't be a problem.
Except Accelerator isn't paying attention, not really, so as soon as the kinetic force and direction of Leo's arm is just a few centimeters shy of landing on his shoulders, his reflection kicks in. In less than an instant those vectors get flipped around one hundred and eighty degrees and amplified straight back into the bones of his arm.
There's going to be at least one audible crack when that happens.]
no subject
It takes him a second to realize it came from his arm, and he pulls his whole body away from Accelerator with a jerk, staring down at the limb in shock.]
Oh… hah hah hah hah thaaaat is not supposed to be at that angle.
[Because his forearm is bent - unmistakably broken.
The pain hits him a second later and he hisses in a way that sounds more animal than human, curling in over the injured arm with a grimace.]
no subject
But his brain catches up, and his first thought is that it was a guard. It should've been a guard. He wishes it was a guard, he wouldn't bat an eye at one of those jackasses getting the full brunt of his reflection.
But no.
He looks over as Leo jerks back, and Accelerator is seeing his arm bent at an incorrect angle that's also entirely familiar to him. It's happened hundreds of times before, with assassins, idiot delinquents, punks trying to prove something. With some of the Sisters. With those teachers and adults that had tried to step in when he had done this exact same thing to his classmates after they attacked him five years ago.
His brain stops for a good few seconds, and he isn't in a position to consider why that happens. He just stops and stares as all those memories flood back, people screaming in pain, staring down attack helicopters and Anti-Skills reinforcements. It's like the gears in his head have stalled, and once they start their grinding motion again he isn't really sure what he's doing.]
What - what the hell were you doing?? Don't you fucking remember what I told you, you idiot?!
[He's yelling and absolutely furious, but his shoulders are trembling as he steps backwards and hits the switch on his choker.]
no subject
Why are you yelling at me when you’re the one who just-
[He opens his eyes again, takes in the way Accelerator has stepped back, the shake in his shoulders, and he tries to cool down. After all, Accelerator is right: he did warn him.]
…Yeah. Yeah, sorry, wasn’t thinking.
[He hisses again, bundling the injured arm up against his plastron. This is hardly the worst injury he’s ever had, which is why he isn’t freaking out worse, but that doesn’t stop it from hurting.]
no subject
He's right. This is his fault.
He tries to shut those memories out as he takes a deep breath. Freaking out is only going to make the situation worse, he knows that. He needs to shut himself down and stay calm.]
... Shit.
[Forcing his expression to settle into a more familiar scowl. Instead of asking Leo if he's okay, or what he needs, or any other number of reasonable things, he pulls his phone out.]
I'm calling you an ambulance. Or an Uber. [Or something.]
no subject
[Says the American.
Exorbitant health care costs aside, though, Leo… does not particularly love this idea. He took Donnie to a human clinic, he knows, and ultimately it was fine, but he’s still not super excited about doing it again.
And he doesn’t want to have to answer questions later about what happened, if he can help it. Because, seriously, breaking his arm giving Accelerator a smug shoulder lean? Super embarrassing.
(Never mind what it could do to Accelerator’s reputation.)]
No, let’s… let’s just see if somebody in the Society can fix it.
[Unlike Alliance healers they’ll probably want something in return, but that’s okay.]
no subject
.....
[They should go to a hospital. A hospital is a safer bet than any of those untrustworthy Society fucks.
... But he doesn't have any right to tell Leo what he should be doing, even though he knows what it's like being in debt with the Society over medical issues. A broken arm isn't on the same scale as a brain injury, but still....
He grits his teeth, his grip on his phone tightening.]
The Society's headquarters has a medical wing.
[He opens up the app for Uber, getting one so they don't have to walk the whole way.]
no subject
Okay… okay, cool. Anybody asks, it got broken in a fight with some of those Arcadia goons.
[It’s close enough to the truth, anyway.]
no subject
Lowering his phone, he stares at Leo with a harsh expression.]
You're willing to lie to people about this?
[Accelerator can guess part of the reason for that is because, frankly, getting your arm broken for doing basically nothing is highly embarrassing and Leo's probably taken a hit to his pride. That, though, is a lot less important to him than the fact that he doesn't want to be honest to anyone about how a -- not-really-friend -- injured him. That doesn't seem right.
(Or maybe he can't take the full blame if people don't actually know, like it somehow wasn't completely his fault if Leo lies about it.)]
no subject
[So yeah, it is about his pride… but it’s also about Accelerator, his friend. This was just an accident - it’s simple as that.]
I’m already not looking forward to telling Donnie… Ugh.
[He’s going to be thoroughly unimpressed, but Donnie is the one person he doesn’t want to lie to. He’s already keeping so many things from him that adding to it is worse somehow than the embarrassment.]
no subject
[He goes silent. It's Leo's choice, he doesn't have any right to say one way or another whether he thinks that's a bad idea.
Headlights appear down the street as their Uber turns the corner and arrives, and Accelerator is grateful they can get moving. Hopping into the backseat he immediately gives off such murderous vibes that that, combined with Leo's everything and their destination, has the driver wisely deciding to stay silent.
It'll be a bit of an awkward car ride.]
no subject
You know, this isn’t even the first time I broke my arm. [He settles into the seat and starts off conversationally.] When I was… eight or nine, I was trying to learn how to do a one eighty off the ramp, and I crashed hard. Everyone thought it was real funny till they realized my arm was at the wrong angle. [He lets out a laugh that ends in a hiss.] Then they still thought it was funny but at least they went and got Dad.
[There was also another time he broke his arm, and just about every other bone he has, but they don’t have to talk about that.]
no subject
Accelerator is silent about all this. What the hell is he supposed to say? Is he even supposed to say anything? Maybe he should've just tossed Leo into the car and let him deal with this on his own. It would've been the easier option, because what insane person wants the guy who just broke their friggin' arm sticking around for very long? It's not like he even knows what he's doing, he's never, ever bothered with anyone he's injured like this before.
He's probably just making this worse, hence the all the awkward chatting. That makes the most sense.
He keeps his gaze out the window, counting off the streets as they go through intersections.]
... I can't relate.
[Yeah, that's the best he's got.]
no subject
Can’t relate to what? Wanting to get good at something so bad you hurt yourself? Yeah, sounds about right.
[Or maybe he can’t relate to having his dad take care of him in the aftermath of bad decision making, which also sounds right but is much more depressing.
Leo cradles his arm closer; it aches with a throbbing pain, and chatting helps keep his mind off it, even if his conversation partners are severely lacking.]
Eh, it’s fine, because I’m like the best at skateboarding now. Well, no, Sydney Allen is the best, but if she saw me she’d recognize the skills.
no subject
Though, it's stupid he's thinking about any of that at all. None of it matters and all it's doing is distracting him from the situation that's still right in front of him.
He still isn't looking at Leo.]
... They should have healers there, with magic or some shit, so you probably won't need a cast again.
[Presumably he would've had one as a kid.]
no subject
(The driver is trying very hard to ignore both of them.)]
Aww, and here I was looking forward to you signing it.
[If he wrote anything at all it would probably just be “fuck you,” Leo knows.]
no subject
His tone is very, very dry.]
Ah, right, getting the person who broke your arm to sign the cast. Real fucking funny.
[Because that's what that is, right. A (well-deserved joke, in his opinion) about how shit of a person he is.
The car comes to a stop in front of the building, and Accelerator quickly gets out without another word.]
no subject
That’s not what I-
[Aaaand he’s out of the car. Leo tosses a “thanks” to the driver (who seems very relieved to be free of them), before scrambling after Accelerator.]
It was an accident, right? You told me not to touch you and I did. It’s not a big deal.
[It doesn’t have to be a big deal, seriously.]
no subject
I should've been paying attention.
[Not paying attention was something he could get away with back home, back when all he ever had to deal with were hostile idiots looking to fight him. This stupid place is different, he doesn't have that luxury anymore, and he was lazy.
Thankfully, since he works here he's in here regularly, which means the front desk recognizes him. He waves them off and heads for the elevators.]
no subject
And I shouldn’t have done it at all. So no harm no foul, right?
[Never mind that his arm is literally broken and so harm definitely occurred.]
no subject
At the elevator bay he hits the button to go up, giving Leo a sharp look.]
No.
[Obviously the answer to that question is a 'no', sheesh. He gets on the elevator, still glaring.]
You didn't do anything wrong, so just fucking accept it already.
I’m sorry
And I’m telling you I did! You warned me and I didn’t listen!
[He sags against the wall, huffing out a puff of air with exaggerated fashion.]
It’s not like you can just turn off your powers for me personally.
Poor Leo B)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
feels like a good spot to stop