metalogs | CONFLUENCE 24

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CONFLUENCE 24

A CONFLUENCE...?

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

There don't seem to be any people falling from the sky this month. The Seers view it as a sign that the New Year is going to be a peaceful one. So, for the first time in two years, the Guilds can throw a celebration.

In commemoration of the hard work from both sides, they opt to hold a shared celebration on neutral ground. Sunset Falls is, as ever, the perfect place to do so. The Willow Maiden is still dreaming deeply and though most of the town is blanketed in a fine coat of snow, the meadow in her forest is warm and lush. There are wedding tents set up on either side, and the middle of the meadow appears to have been claimed by civilian metas and human allies who aided in the efforts.

The Alliance and The Society have set up both of their usual holiday setups in this space. An anti-gravity dancehall has people dancing in the sky. And as the Starfallen are the only reason anyone is still here right now, those who haven't picked a side are also welcome. Francis Starling has set up a small lounge between the two spaces - something she isn't finding much humor in.

Each side is elaborately decorated. The Alliance has its more humble and relaxed aesthetic, and The Society has its usual ostentatious presentation. Some magicians have conjured an enormous clock, ticking down the moments to the New Year… which is a day later than when the rest of the world celebrates it. Who can say how this tradition started, other than that time travel sucks?

There's alcohol for the adults and juice for the kids. A magically refilling buffet table. Desserts that appear with a thought. It's a miracle that everyone got this through the year, and the Guilds have spared absolutely no expense.

There are party games, some as basic as Pin the Tail on the Donkey. And other far more elaborate - high contact sports where the super strong can go all out. Hide and seek turns into a cerebral game of cat and mouse.

STARS READ

There is a fortune-telling booth set up in the far corner of the meadow, nearer to where the Villains tent is than the heroes. Chaos Gate sits behind it, watching the party unfold with a slightly guilty smile. It is, after all, her fault that things got so wildly out of control... but at the same time, one can't deny that the world is more interesting. Perhaps even better for it. Characters can approach her and for a small fee (mostly a drink ticket, though she'll take whatever you have in your pockets, even if it's lint) they can be assigned a constellation.

This constellation doesn't correlate to any known star you've heard of. When asked, she says it's unique to you. It's not just your star sign, it's the star sign that all the celestial bodies across all worlds created when you were born. Whether she's kidding or not is hard to say, she is collecting drink tickets after all, but she thinks that as the Willow Maiden's head priestess, it's her right to slack off when her boss is sleeping.

You can ask questions about your past, your present, or your future. Each person only gets three, so think carefully about what you want to ask. If you're stuck and in dire need of guidance - she's right here for you. She'll answer with her limited omniscience.

With that said, there is a side-effect of having your fortunes read. As this is chaos magic, being perceived puts everything in a bit of flux - you'll have an unfortunate side-effect for the next week or so. Your horoscope for each day is suddenly far more accurate. These can be quite serious, or quite silly. Such is the danger of asking anything of Katherine West.

STARS FALLING

Just as the exuberant gathering of heroes and villains countdown to 1, and the screams of Happy New Year die down - something begins to streak across the sky. Unlike the distant shooting stars, this is… close. Far more reminiscent of one of the Starfallen abruptly appearing and tumbling toward the Earth.

For a moment, the partygoers can only stare at it. Wondering if perhaps the Seers had missed something. A few flight-capable heroes move to take off to intercept the falling thing, anticipating that this is a Starfallen and that tonight's festivities are about to be disrupted by their disorienting arrival - only for one of the Seers to hold out a hand to stop them.

Unlike the Starfallen, the object is burning up as it falls.

"Well, it's been a while since we've seen that," Mechanima buzzes, mask switching from a giant question mark to a firework. "I suppose we're all a bit paranoid about space debris being people these days. Let's get back to the party, shall we? I don't want to remember this tomorrow."

And though some return to partying, others… don't. Atomight, Mechanima, and Frances all look notably perturbed and when approached with questions, don't have answers. The best they can offer is that wayward spaceships aren't uncommon, but the last time they saw anything like this - the Starfallen were the result.

Chaos Gate herself looks notably… disturbed. If asked, she says this is an all too familiar sight. Two years ago, she was standing on a farm in Little Love feeling the world shift as things that were never meant to be here fell to Earth. And this feeling is the same.

Stars continue to fall through the rest of the night.

Come morning, those within the Guilds will be called to base. The phenomenon happened the world over, and though there's no indication that anything made contact or damaged anything - that's more concerning. While the usual missions are there to request, there are new ones to investigate what happened.

And for once, these are not limited just to the metahuman cities. Whatever happened, happened everywhere.

MISSIONS

The headquarters of the Guardian Alliance are easy to find. It’s located in one of the taller and more ornate skyscrapers of Central City

The first floor is something of a public space. There’s a small museum dedicated to the Alliance’s most famous exploits, standees of famous heroes for tourists to snap selfies with, and even a little gift shop! For metas, though, the real business starts upstairs. You’ll have to check in with a receptionist, who will unlock the elevator to HQ proper. There’s not a lot of visible security beyond that, but you still get the feeling that any kind of trouble here wouldn’t end well for the troublemakers.

The Guardian’s Club is the central hub of the headquarters. It’s an open and sunny lounge area with shining white walls and floors. The furniture is modern, in bright primary colors, and there’s a high ceiling that allows for people of any size, or those who just want to fly around for fun. Off to one side is a large games area - the main attraction is the large pool table, but there’s also some board games, co-op video games, a snack bar, and even a DDR machine. Bonding with your fellow heroes is a great thing!

Outside of this area is where you’ll find the mission board. It’s a modern touchscreen display, on which Alliance members can tap their member ID, input mission preferences, how many they intend to take out with them, and receive a mission.

Where the Guardian Alliance’s headquarters gleams, The Society’s headquarters is much darker. The two buildings are actually quite close to each other. Entering here, you’ll find a similar reception desk where your credentials must be verified before going into the headquarters proper. Security here is far more visible, with clear cameras on the walls and buff guards, often with visible powers such as rocky skin or hands that crackle with lightning, posted nearby. You have to imagine, though, that the real safeguards here are the ones you can’t see.

Inside the Society Lounge, the furnishings are classy in a far more toned-down sense. The furnishings are dark wood, with chairs and long couches upholstered primarily in reds and violets. Here, there’s a full bar! According to the sign posted above it, however, any disorderly conduct within the Lounge will be swiftly dealt with.

The mission board is a sleek electronic display posted on the back wall of the lounge. It’s quite high-tech, updating itself regularly. You can use the touchscreen to request a job. After inputting one's member ID and the amount of people they intend to take along with them, it will assign out tasks based off of what it thinks they will be able to handle. But be careful; who gets assigned what is all public information, and it sure would be a shame to fail.

Please fill out the form and post it below our MISSION REQUESTS header.

CHARACTERS INVOLVED:

GUILD: What guilds are the characters affiliated with?

REQUESTED DIFFICULTY: Easy/Medium/Hard

REWARD REQUEST: Is your character after money, or a specific item?

LIMITATIONS: What do you not want your character to get assigned? Please note we are happy to offer new missions if our initial offer doesn't work!

CLIFF NOTES.

➢ Welcome to the first Confluence of Arc 3! We've outlined what can be expected throughtout the month STATE OF THE GAME for January.

➢ All Starfallen are invited to a lavish New Years party - taking place on the evening of January 1st, as due to some temporaral shenanigans that is actually the start of the new year.

➢ Players can have their fortunes read by Chaos Gate, who is set up. They get three questions and she will answer with what appears to be some limited omniscience. Doing so may result in your luck and overall reality being a little bit wonky throughout the next week.

➢ As the party goes on, a starshower will begin. Though nothing dramatic appears to be happening just yet, players can be sent out on investigative missions to see just what happened. This is happening the world over. It also is happening in space itself - space exploration is now on the table.

➢ Any missions will feed into the January event, as well as any fortunes or questions asked.

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That sounds very unfair. It's not like he hasn't committed crimes before, and the only time he went to jail was for something that was completely accidental!

Donnie is rereading the mission assignment, brows lifting. "Mechanima doesn't usually issue missions does he? I am pretty sure the last one was pretty generalized."

"Seems like it'd be a waste of his time," Accelerator replies, reading through the mission. Not because of Donnie, but giving out missions to anyone outside the highest level of the guild seems like it'd be below him.

He frowns a little at this. It's suspicious. People at the top don't associate with the dregs.

"What are you going to do?"

Accelerator's suspicious, but a grin is starting to stretch across Donnie's face as he goes over the words again.

"Clearly someone's taken notice of my ability and thinks my skills are best suited for such a task," he says as he scrolls through. A directive to go check out and try to locate the places where those mystery falling 'stars' might have landed. Sure, it might be a fruitless exercise, especially if the things burnt up once they hit the atmosphere, but the tension that night hadn't gone amiss.

He shifts the text upwards, hoping Accelerator doesn't catch the extra note at the bottom, Donnie himself barely keeping his excitement contained. What was that about lying low? But here's a chance to really impress someone way up on the figurative food chain!

"I'm accepting, of course. How hard's it going to be?" he says as he taps the corresponding button.

"........................."

Unfortunately, he catches the note, and he narrows his eyes. There's about a dozen red flags attached to this mission, and when he glances over at Donnie again only to see him grinning like he just won the lottery his suspicions skyrocket.

Which brings him to an awful fork in the road. If Donnie is going to accept, should he just leave it alone? It isn't really his business, after all. But if there's something else going on he should keep an eye on things, at the bare minimum it might give him some insight into how Mechanima ticks.

(Also, Donnie is his friend.)

"... I'll go with you," he mutters, clearly irritated.

Acknowledgement, achievement, these are things Donnie's always craved. Having to stay hidden in a world where weird was the normal had been eating at him. If anything, this place should be his chance to really shine! Maybe he's being careless, but turning down a mission like this would probably reflect badly on him. Anyway, it's not specifically a crime, so Accelerator shouldn't be concerned, right?

"Looks like I'd better get started if I'm going to try narrowing dow- I'm sorry, what did you say?" Donnie looks up from where he's started tapping at his holocomputer, blinking over at the esper.

"...I mean, sure? I'd ask Leo but I think he's got his own guild thing to handle. Anyway, how hard can this be?"

Accelerator keeps a straight face, like he didn't just offer to actually do something of his own accord. The desire to just go home and take a nap is strong, but he ignores it, waving a hand dismissively.

Isn't saying 'how hard can this be' supposed to be unlucky or something? Not that he believes in luck, though he is certain this isn't going to be a cakewalk.

"Expect the worst. That way you won't be surprised when it happens," he replies. "Which location do you want to check out?"

The turtle sighs, nodding as he looks back at his computer.

"Yeah, true enough. No one knows what those things were, after all, and there were a lot of them. ...let's go back to my place and see what we can narrow down. But out of the places mentioned, I think I'll save us both the trouble of turning into popsicles and straight-up veto a trip to Alaska, at least straightaway."

Donnie turns to start towards the exit. Time to put his computers to work! Accelerator hasn't been down to the lair for a while now so this'll be a great time to show off his setup. "I'm thinking Nevada, I don't fancy slogging through potential swamplands in Florida, even if I am a turtle."

"That's fine with me." The cold doesn't bother him too much, but if there's the option between freezing winter temperatures and mild winter temperatures, he'll pick mild. And he doesn't have a preference between Nevada or Florida, so.

Really, he's never been to any of these places. He's got a vague idea of what they're like (Florida is tropical, Nevada is in the desert and has Las Vegas, Alaska is snowy and has mountains) but that's about it. He's never given much thought to the United States outside of places he's been required to go by the Society.

"I'm not gonna complain about picking the easy option," he says with a nod.

Research does take some time, narrowing down their field of search from an entire state to something much more feasible for a pair of teenagers. At least Donnie's gotten enough of a setup to do so, and it seems he knows his way well around getting into places he shouldn't when it comes to camera and file access. But there are places kitted with specialized equipment for studies of falling objects from the skies, so why leave such untapped? Between what data he's pulled there and a bit of virtual mapping from social media posts of when the incident happened, Donnie nails down a pretty good area.

...he has never been to Nevada. He's never been anywhere outside of New York (save for that one fluke of a trip to Tahiti, and who ever counts New Jersey?) until he'd gotten dropped into this world. It's strange being out here now when you've only experienced it through pictures. It...is not all that impressive to him, and really weird being in a space that doesn't have a glimpse of a city for a good distance in any direction.

"...why would anyone want to live out here," he observes dryly as he looks around. He pulls his goggles down, his holocomputer running without his having to tap at it, his new tech-bō in hand with...of all things, some kind of metal detecting attachment. At least it's not freezing out here, just a bit chilly, but in all fairness, it's a little warmer than Michigan. Thankfully the space that he'd mapped out is just shy of the nearest mountain range, but it's pretty rocky out here.

"Okay, so if there is anything out here, there's no real guarantee it will be giving off any sort of feedback, but just let me know if you catch anything weird that might be worth checking out."

Honestly, Accelerator would prefer having nothing to do with those star shard things. He doesn't know what they're about but they seem like trouble, and he isn't a hero. Heroes are the ones who get involved with trouble, not villains. It's selfish, but whatever. He's happy to sit back and let Donnie do his nerdy hacker thing to pull up data for them, only assisting when asked.

Once they arrive in Nevada, he's quietly wondering if it was the right choice. They're both from the city, being out here in nature is weird. Looking around with a mild expression of distaste, he absently kicks at a rock.

"Masochism." That's got the be the most reasonable answer to Donnie's question. Someone would have to be a masochist to live out in the middle of nowhere.

"Can do," he replies, reaching up to his his choker switch. It's only for a few seconds before he switches back. That's all he needs for sensing any abnormal vectors, and he'll take a few steps towards the impact site, frowning faintly. "Nothing so far."

"Yeah, that's probably it." Donnie can't figure any real reason anyone would, otherwise. "There's nothing out here but rocks," he huffs.

He squints out at the terrain, starting forward as he sweeps his tech-bō over the ground. "It's always possible nothing made it to the ground, but I guess it doesn't hurt to make extra sure."

He nods a little, better to look and find nothing than just assume. However, his lips tilt just a tiiiny bit upwards as he walks, ever so often hitting the switch on his choker. "Ah, right. All the fucking rocks. This must be incredibly boring for you."

"They're just there..." Donnie says as he shoulders his makeshift metal detector. After a moment, he pauses and swivels a look back over at Accelerator.

"Wait, what's that supposed to mean?"

In response, Accelerator gives a casual shrug. "Your brother mentioned you don't have an appreciation for geology, that's all. Maybe this'll be a learning experience."

Donnie scowls. Of course.

"Looking for potential space rocks in an area that is literally nothing but rocky terrain. Yeah, no, I highly doubt it," he replies dryly, turning his head again.

"Hey wait, I think I'm picking something up," he says, head lifting before he starts to pick up the pace.

Not that geology is the most exciting science out there, but it's a little fun to dunk on an uber-nerd for not being into something science-y.

That's put on pause as Accelerator glances over at the metal detector, raising an eyebrow. He'll keep his hand on his choker, just in case, but refrain from actually switching back to esper mode as he follows. "What kind of readings are you getting?"

Donnie's not even using the metal detector at the moment, but he's got a hand on his goggles as he moves onward. "A small energy spike- no wait, it's getting stronger. Over there," he points.

The ground rises slightly ahead, uneven with boulders jutting out and creating some jagged surfaces, but soon enough they make out something shining there in one one of the crevices. "Huh..." Donnie frowns. "I'm picking up a few more sources now." The same tiny points of glowing light scattered within the area, and they seem to get brighter as the two approach.

Accelerator's attention turns towards the boulders, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. Once they get close enough to see the glowing he's clicking his tongue. "The hell? Why are they glowing? Is this some kind of bizarre fluorescence?"

It's possible for rocks to glow, but normally they require some kind of blacklight. They don't do it under normal sunlight - at least, not to the normal range of human eyesight. And the rocks seem to be reacting to them (or at least, something), so is this something supernatural? Or magical? He isn't sure, but he doesn't like it.

Donnie looks uncertain as he continues to approach the first one they've tracked, slowing as he brings up his tech-bō, switching it back to its normal mode since it seems a metal detector isn't really necessary when whatever you're looking for is announcing itself so clearly. But it is strange.

"I'm not sure, but...it's coming up from my crystal readings so it's clearly not natural..." he says cautiously, frowning. "Wait..." There's something about these readings...

A low rumble sounds around them and Donnie slows to a halt. "What was that?"

His hopes that he'd only imagined it shatter as the very rocks around the glowing object start to shift, as though magnetically drawn to the thing. It's not only happening with the one, but all around them, rocks begin to move pulling together around each glowing source. "Uh....."

For a few moments Accelerator debates switching back to esper mode. If Donnie's readings are this confusing, maybe he can get a clearer picture via their vectors. They're rocks, yeah, but they're clearly radiating something unusual.

He doesn't get the chance, the rumbling making him stop as well. Raising an eyebrow as he watches the rocks around the thing start defying gravity, he hums.

"Hm."

Then he turns to Donnie. "Those look like conglomerate rocks, by the way. We must be standing in an ancient riverbed, or something."

This asshole.

"Oh for the- You know if you didn't reflect everything I'd show you conglomerate rocks," Donnie grumbles, shooting a glare over his shoulder at the esper. His attention snaps back towards the rocky formations as they take on more humanoid forms, stone figures drawing themselves up onto their feet, standing roughly ten feet tall.

"That's...probably concerning." The turtle shoves his goggles up, brow furrowed as he gives his metal staff a spin, purple light tracing around it and forming the outline of a massive hammer head at one end. "The only things these rocks are going to be is dust!"

He leaps as the nearest one lashes out with a big fist, twisting with his mystic-tech mallet to smash it into the golem's stony face.

Over by Accelerator, two more golems begin to lurch into motion, one getting near enough before swiping at the white-haired teenager.

Sometimes it's fun dunking on people who totally aren't your friends. Sometimes.

Accelerator manages a straight face before turning his attention to the... golems? He isn't sure what to classify these things as, they don't actually seem to be alive or sentient. More like big rocky, angry puppets.

Donnie is right, this is probably concerning, but he isn't concerned. As the other creature swipes at him he hits the switch on his choker and lets his reflection take care of the issue. The vectors bounce back, throwing the golem off-balance and into the other one.

"Conglomerate rocks have a lot of unreliable composition, so specific parts of these things may be fucking weak," he explains, retracting the cane portion of his crutch into the arm cuff before stepping casually towards the other two golems. "Do you have a drill in that thing?"

"I swear 'Rator, if you try turning this entire thing into a geology lesson, I will-"

Hold that thought, he's having too much fun smashing things with a stupidly huge hammer. It's been a while since he's been able to let loose, and while the outcome is concerning, Donnie's not really that bothered about the rocky creatures himself. They're certainly nowhere in comparison to hundreds and hundreds of Agatha copies.

"Actually-" he says as Accelerator brings up drills. His second favorite thing to create! ...one might have to wonder with the ease at which he swaps out the hammer head for a gigantic glowing drill-head. Maybe not quite what Accelerator was intending.

Donnie turns and thrusts it towards one of the other golems, the sizes almost a laughable comparison before the golem explodes in a shower of dust and debris.

"Hahaha!"

Too late is what he wants to say, though he wisely keeps his mouth shut. Donnie will come to the conclusion that he's learned something later on, when they've taken care of these rock creatures.

Anyways. He raises an eyebrow at how quick the drill comes out. And at how big it is. Okay, apparently Donnie has a secret love of drills or something. He isn't sure how else to explain this.

While he's watching the other two golems catch themselves and lunge at Accelerator. Predictably, they hit his reflection, though this time he converts their kinetic vectors into vibrations. Spiderweb-like cracks run through both bodies before they collapse into a heap of rubble.

Three down, two to go. The one that Donnie had hammered in the face is still somehow mobile, but it still stumbles forward to continue its attack at the turtle.

Donnie dodges easily enough, jumping to the side as it brings its rocky fist down where he'd been standing. He turns as he readjusts the grip on his staff, driving the glowing drill right into its torso. The last golem stomps towards him while his back's still turned, but its hard to be surprised by something so loud. More purple light traces in the air, forming a missile that rockets right into the thing, knocking it back. The aim's a bit off but Donnie's got his attention split, and at least it takes off one of the rock creature's arms while he finally manages to free his staff of the other golem. Said arm goes flying over by Accelerator.

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