metalogs | CONFLUENCE 25

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CONFLUENCE 25

CONFLUENCE.

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

Whoever you are, whatever you had been getting up to - it doesn't matter, because suddenly you're falling. The sky opens up, and out comes you. You tumble towards the ground above the city of Little Love.

Something ancient and alien hums underneath the Earth. The spells in place Summoner vines that snap up to catch you catch you just before impact, carefully binding your limbs before easing you carefully down to the ground in front of a sign that proudly proclaims this to be Little Love,Kansas. Welcome to the world of Metaheroes.

ALIEN ACTIVITY

Little Love is the kind of sleepy little town where nothing is really meant to happen. It’s the kind of town where people go if they want to start over. With space faring possible again, the population is notably… nervous.

Old technology appears to be coming to life. The moment the new arrivals touch down, they will hear the hitch-pitched hum of something dangerous coming alive beneath the Earth. Something golden glows dimly in the middle distance, and suddenly a fist is punching up and through the Earth.

A massive terraforming machine in the shape of an enormous scorpion has come back online. And it is intent on making this alien world more habitable for its long gone owner. The machine sets eyes upon the new arrivals and any who have come to greet them, throwing its arms out wide. The magic that set them down onto the Earth oh so gently turns in on itself, vines becoming thorny and lashing out at all present. The machine itself attempts to scan and douse any creatures that get too close with a mysterious chemical compound.

The machine might be attempting to destroy the crops and all life-forms, but that fluid has a shelf-life that is well past… mostly. Getting splashed with it has an immediate strengthening effect rather than a weakening one.

Fight to bring the machine down, and then get whisked off to the wonder of Arcadia.

The strengthening effect from that chemical soon fades… however, it isn’t without side-effects.

While the effects aren’t immediate for those doused, there are some… after effects. Throughout the next two weeks, you will find yourself surprisingly sensitive to different minerals. Some augment your strength and some weaken it. ARCADIA, WASHINGTON

Upon arrival, all newcomers will eventually be directed to Arcadia, which is located near Excelsior. This community has an unusual history for some of the Starfallen, but for the wider world, it's simply an AI-generated, AI-run community put together to offer metahumans a place to call home. Unconditionally (for the most part). There are two ways to get to Arcadia: through a building designated as a transport/teleporting point in Excelsior, or through the front door off the outskirts of the city proper. Either way is acceptable.

All newcomers will be greeted by an AI named Virgil. Friendly and welcoming, Virgil will do everything they can to help someone adjust and feel comfortable. Their goal is to help metahumans and Starfallen alike have a place to stay, and their housing complex acts as that for many. Always adjusting and always changing, Arcadia is an important resource, and it's helped along by funding from Winters Industries.

Virgil will provide everyone the rundown they might need, as well as their new living quarters. These quarters are fully adaptable to the needs of its occupants — aesthetically and otherwise. If someone needs special conditions to live, Virgil will work alongside the AIs that directly run Arcadia to help someone find what they need.

Arcadia offers additional resources to its' Starfallen occupants. If anyone's eager to brush up on their knowledge of this world, they can sit through a bunch of (only a little boring) informational videos. For anyone unused to powers, Virgil has designated training centers. However, all training centers are unavailable to metas who aren't affiliated with a Guild. All newcomers are recommended to join a Guild as soon as possible to receive additional support beyond what Virgil themselves is able to offer.

After settling in, all Arcadia occupants receive a credit card to manage their expenses (this card is typically intended to help someone buy food, clothing, and other necessities). It's very apparent that these stipends are provided by Winters Industries and not Virgil.

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.

➢ New arrivals land in Little Love, where a terraforming machine comes to life and begins to terrorize the town. It douses anyone it can in a terraforming fluid which enhances their strength for a total of two hours, before leaving them with some strange sensitivities to earth's minerals. Line the colors of your favorite precious stones up with Kyrptonite for some fun effects.

➢ All Starfallen will be granted a place at Arcadia, though no one is required to take that spot. Everyone who decides to live there will be provided with a stipend, as well as fully customizable living quarters.

➢ Guild members are expected to participate in missions at least once monthly. However, this does not have to be the missions offered on this post and can be handwaved. PCs are also welcome to switch missions between themselves for one that better suits, if their monthly assigned one won't work for 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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

we--are we in kansas?

( he falls, and it's significantly more of a surprise than it has any right to be. because billy is used to falling at this point, but he's not quite used to falling alone, nor is he used to random sentient plants trying to sweep him up before he can impact with the ground. the vines raise, and billy's already tangled up in his cape but thrashing arms out, sparks flying, as he tries to unentangle himself. it gets himself into more trouble than the effort's worth, because while it does gett the vines off, getting the vines off before being ready to fly himself out means he is colliding with the ground a little harder than intended. )

Ow. ( up on his hands and knees for a moment before he's rolling over to sit on the ground, and billy's moving a hand up to rub at the back of his neck. the ow is more offended than painful; aside from a few bruises, he's still in one piece. )

i tried to high-five a scorpion once

( attacked by a massive scorpion is not how he saw his day going, thanks. he'd been hoping for an uncomfortably quiet day inside a spaceship, where he could curl up by himself and sulk, not - running away from something that keeps throwing what he's hoping isn't poisonous goo at them. goo? liquid? mystery chemical compound that turns people into mecha scorpions? he doesn't know, and he's hoping he never has to find out. he's running, which is a really bad move especially because billy can fly and that's significantly faster but is he doing that? no. he's running, on his legs that are not made for running because he's spent most his superheroing time either flying or teleporting when he had to get somewhere fast.

the scorpio spews out more of it's liquid billy is intent on not finding out what it does out, except this time it's not going for him it's going for someone else and he's shooting out a hand in their direction, fingers sparking with blue energy moments before a shield blocks the path between the liquid and it's victim. and billy, focused on trying to keep them from getting splattered with it, misses that the scorpion's raising its stinger and swiping it at him at a speed there's no way he's going to be able to dodge in time.

half a point still counts as a win, right. )

wildcard

( hit me up at crowbars or throw something at me and i'll run with it! )

[ Robotic chlorokinetic scorpion?

No, robotic chlorokinetic substance-spewing scorpion.

That important factoid was not in the briefing when the call went out, or Rook wouldn’t have been caught standing in front of the head with a pair of near-simultaneous jump scares of energy wall thisclose to him and the following splash of glowing (ugh) vomit.

(It's probably acidic "venom". Scorpion, and all that wonderful physiology to lean into when designing the robot.)

Scan forgotten, Rook's hightailing it out of the line of fire with one eye on the machine. The tail tenses in on itself, curling into a squished C like it's winding up for a strike. At Rook? No, further in the direction he's running - at the guy in the bright red cape with fading cerulean sparks around him. Like the shield.

Rook unhooks his grapple gun from the back of his belt. Red Cape is 150, 160 pounds. Manageable. He fires high at the tail - too close to the stinger for it to damage the line, but far enough down that the tail should hold weight. ]

Go limp.

[ He just has enough time to grab Red Cape around the waist before the grapple starts retracting. The machine must weigh tons, and the predictable yank on Rook's arm pulls both of them off the ground.

The stinger thrashes in a way that doesn't quite read as living - more like the hook damaged a joint, and Rook times the hook's release so they both drop onto the back of the scorpion. ]

( at the very least, he hears go limp and immediately goes limp. there's no hesitation, not a moment wasted to see who was throwing orders his way, because he figures at this point it's get smacked around by the scorpion or hopefully get yanked out of the way. arms wrap around him and - see, clearly listening was the best way of going about this, because he is no longer getting his ass kicked and is no longer at risk of getting whacked by the tail. instead, they're getting propelled around by this guy's line attached to the tail, which really doesn't seem all that much better at the moment. getting hit around is one thing, getting pulled around mid-air in multiple directions by a tail's thrashing sounds worse. he's not prone to motion sickness unless he's going at speedster speeds, but for all he knows this could be a close second, and puking all over the guy who's trying to save him would be a very, very bad first impression. very bad.

except the line releases, and they're dropping onto the scorpion, and--he's not sure if this is better or worse. his coordination isn't usually the worst but keeping hold of this very, very intent on killing all of them machine sounds about as fun as holding onto a mechanical bull and while he's never tried it before he knows without trying that he'd be terrible at it.

it's fine. he's got this. they're not going to die today. billy is not going to fall on his face. )

Thanks. ( breathy, because he'd finally released the breath he'd been holding from the moment he heard go limp. hands press down against the mechbest below him, fingers digging into joints, and he--half turns his head back enough to look over to the guy who saved him. offers a small smile. ) Can you uh, hold on for a sec? Promise I'm probably not going to get us killed. Hopefully?

( he should sound more sure of himself. he's done this before. but today is not a great day, and billy's not giving him much space to respond because he's instead curling fingers in, leaning in to murmur close to metal: )

Iwanttobreakit,Iwanttobreakit,Iwantto--

( it'd be better to be more specific, wouldn't it. but billy uses his words to focus his intent, and his intent is clear enough to him: gears start crushing together, breaking within the scorpion while it starts thrashing, as if all that flailing will keep it's limbs in one piece while billy's willing it to pieces.

granted, will only works so far when he's also trying to focus on not falling off. )

[ Cape doesn't automatically mean willing to listen to Rook, so it's a relief when they're on the back of the scorpion without anyone suffering whiplash or worse.

Tim's feet catch a bump on the thing's back (thank you, commitment to the theme in imitating the carapace) that's a solid foothold. It lets him spare a second to put the gun back on his belt and still keep a grip on the other guy.

Costume or not, he's not going to assume anyone has his sense of balance.

At the question, he smirks and dramatically stretches to find a matching handhold with his now free right hand. Before he can add in the happy? that this situation calls for, there's a follow up is rather alarming, and Tim is about to ask about that hopefully when Red Cape starts chanting.

(Like pick-your-Zatara chanting. The kind of tone that makes the hair on the back of his neck stand up.) ]

What are you -

[ And now the robot's going ballistic, post hoc, ergo propter hoc. He lets go of the guy for just long enough to take hold of him by the arm, hard. He'll apologize for the bruise later, but right now? The best and worse place to be is on the scorpion's back and pray it drops straight down. ]

Can you break it gently?

( this would be a lot more awkward if they weren't trying to take out a giant mechanical scorpion, but as it is, billy is very, very grateful to have someone else holding onto him to keep him from falling because his balance isn't the worst but it's not the best either, and he doesn't feel like dying today. not right now.

the smirk hits as confident, which. good. at least one of them knows what they're doing, because billy doesn't think he does. he's trying. and doesn't stop repeating himself even when the grip on his waist goes away, even if there's an audible hitch to his voice when he feels like he's slipping as the scorpion continues to struggle. it's fine, because the guy's gripping onto him again and sure that'll leave a mark later, but he'd rather have a bruised arm than be stepped on by something that weighs at least six times as much as he does. he's good. they're good.

can you break it gently gets a roll of his eyes, because - well, if he could break it with any less struggling, he would. this thing is huge, he doesn't know why it's taking so long to fall. but he's turning his head, making eye contact with better-balance-than-him-guy moments before he's giving a much more firm, much more clear command of: )

I want to break it gently.

( the scorpion collapses beneath them, legs bent out in ways they shouldn't be, visible gears twisted out of shape, very clearly out of order. at least it worked. )

[ The eye contact is the accidental side effect of his observation of the new guy’s metapowers.

(Which he’s evidently familiar with how to use. The cape’s no coincidence.)

But something calms the guy down, rushed chanting becomes a clear order, and the machine listens. Tidily drops straight down like an amusement park ride.

The final collapse to the ground jostles him and breaks the eye contact, but nothing broken here, except the mech.

Which they should get off, even if the hum of machinery is shuddering to a halt. It could still be dangerous. With a kick and a roll, he’s on his feet and offering both hands to the teenager. ]

Let’s get back to the perimeter until they give the all clear, or the Confluence coughs up more robots or Starfallen.

[ Is this better, or worse, than digging himself out of a farmyard and fighting potato monsters? Better, Tim thinks, because he’s better company than an angry Jason Todd and will answer questions as honestly as he can until the natives take the new arrivals for processing. ]

I’m Rook. That’s a neat trick you got there. Technopath?

( he's still got his hands down flat against the scorpion's back. doesn't need the contact but figures if it starts moving again--the quicker he can zap it back down the better. he is not going for round two here. round one was bad enough. his savior from ultimate doom gets down, which is probably a good sign it's about time for him to get down, too, but he's keeping hands on it for another few seconds. listens as gears grind to a halt, and don't start back up again. good. )

I got it. ( when billy climbs down, it's less of a slide and more of a slow hover until he's got his feet on the ground. ) But thanks for the hand.

( both in preventing him from getting owned and offering him assistance getting down. because clearly he's proven at this point that unless someone's holding onto him he'll find a way to fall over. he'll have to work on fixing that. not the falling, his balance isn't that bad. but the image of him being a faller.

he offers a hand out, galaxies printed into fabric moving along with his arm in a way that--well. normal fabric definitely doesn't do that. )

Wiccan. Not a technopath, more of a witch. ( with a glance back to their fallen robot friend. ) But I see where you might've gotten that impression from. Is that safe to leave around, or - ?

[ The fabric - or its pattern - catch Tim’s eye. He’s seen something very akin to the dusty swirl of galaxies before.

(Two years ago? Three? With at least 20 months of it shaved off Tim’s age, but, no. It happened. He remembers the fabric as a starry shawl, not a suit, and a young man who also immediately proclaimed himself a witch and knew Monty Python.)

(David and Loki’s friend.)

(If found, please return to Prodigy.)

He doesn’t wear a mask, so Tim can be annoyed he didn’t pick up the resemblance before blaming it on Wiccan being younger and having better hair. But the annoyance doesn’t show, just a smile that the tide didn’t wash up someone world-ending.

He prods a gauntleted finger at Wiccan’s palm under the glove before shaking it as he jokes. ]

A witch? I don’t buy it. You’re not made of wood.

And, no, probably not safe to leave it long term, but I’m not leaving long term. We’re just going fifty yards from the epicenter so that we avoid any more boys from other universes raining from the sky, spontaneously manifesting robots, and growing vines. This way.

[ He gives Wiccan’s hand a tug and drops it as he starts walking. Come on. Get clear first, conversations later. Here, he’ll lead with bread crumbs, taking a side step that leans him closer to the witch to whisper. ]

The guild will take you for processing once the Confluence anomalies end. I’ll tell Prodigy you’re here.

The Weather Girls would get a kick out of this.

( though it's more mumbled under his breath than anything else, as he follows along with tim. throws a look over his shoulder towards the scorpion and considers just - offering to clean it up right now, he probably could. wish it toy-sized, or to dust, or - well, whatever works. but that's less important currently since it's not moving any. getting clear of the fall-zone's in both of their best interests, so billy's not going to argue.

especially not when rook knows david, who's here. somewhere. )

Prodigy? When did he show up? ( was billy delayed in transit? and are there others lurking around? he won't ask after them, because he figures--if david is around, he'll be able to fill in what billy's missing. ) And the wood thing? A terrible stereotype. My cape alone would weigh me down and I'd drown. Do you know how hard it is to swim with this thing? ( grabbing onto the side of it with a hand. is it made out of magic? absolutely. but it's still an almost floor-length, cloaky cape. )

Edited 2024-02-09 17:52 (UTC)

[ He snerks and continues alternating between leading Wiccan past a barricade and falling behind to keep a lookout for everything. People. Plants. Robots. Busy night. ]

Don’t you lose your head. Pretty good advice, if you ask me.

[ He picks up a corner of his cape between two fingers like it’s a specimen and holds it up for inspection for five. Ten seconds. Until the silence makes the point for him.

Then, he gets two fingers under his collar and demonstrates the breakaway clasp, leaving him holding his cape a flourish. ]

Wouldn’t know anything about it. Prodigy has been here longer than I have. You’ll have to ask him for the details.

[ He likes David, but Tim recognizes some of his own traits there. He’s not going to open the door to blabbing each other’s secrets. ]

( his cape might not be as detachable as rook's, but it doesn't take more than a thought for it to shorten into something more similar to what his asgardian cape had been: artfully ripped towards the bottom, still wrapped snugly around his neck with enough fabric to make a nice hood out of it if he feels like hiding. not great for protecting one's head in case of any drowning incidents. great for being dramatic, which is the whole point of it.

billy pulls in a breath, shakes his head. ) Sorry. Not on you. ( a wave of his hand. ) Wood witch and potential drowning in capes whining I mean. I've had a day and getting inter-dimensionally kidnapped got in the way of my plans to lay down and never move again.

( david'll get it. unless he's a different david, which he might be. how many davids has billy met? and how many of them were evil? too many to count. he's walking at a steady pace though, and letting rook move as he wants around him. falling behind, walking ahead, wherever. )

Edited 2024-02-10 00:44 (UTC)

[ Another flash of magic, and no chanting this time. Hm. He's rather adept at that, but Tim bites it back. Wiccan's understandably pissed at the situation. No one can blame him for that, and they can blame him less if he was planning on laying down and never moving again.

He's - yeah, he's felt like that wearing the Robin costume. He didn't feel like that on a good day. ]

It might mess up those plans for a few more hours, but I promise the guild'll set you up in a hotel for awhile. You can lay down and never move farther than the room services cart for at least a week before you get cabin fever.

[ A whip-thin vine sprouts up and catches Tim around the ankle right as he rips it in half with a throwing star. Budget batarangs, but they work. He can make the way smoother for the guy, and leave out obvious questions from the guild script for How to Meet Newbs. Keep the conversation here and not there. ]

You're handling the interdimensional kidnapping well for someone who got zapped out of bed and dropped in Kansas.

( a small, grim smile. )

I was dropped here from the sidewalk outside of a Happy Noodle, which wasn't in my usual side of the multiverse. So not quite out of bed, and aside from missing my friend who's usually the one to punch holes through the multiverse--the being somewhere else thing isn't all that abnormal.

( he'd just found out about his whole.. future as the demiurge thing. just had teddy leave him, was hoping to go back to noh-varr's ship and not move for a while. it wouldn't have worked out for him long anyway; he still needs to find tommy and save him, and find a way to get mother to go back to wherever it was she came from and leave their parents alone. )

If you stay close to me, I can try to keep the vines off.

billy kaplan | marvel comics | open

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High Fives Are Acceptable

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