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.

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( from the way billy winces, nose scrunching up after, the answer's obvious enough--he's running on enough of a deficit that taking out that last scorpion's left him tired and he should be more careful about energy expelled. but he's still pulling david up to his feet, then leaving his hand extended towards him. )

You sure? I can patch you up.

( it'd tap out an already tapped out billy, but if he'd just been faster to take down the scorpion before it'd even gotten close enough to try and hurt him, this wouldn't be an issue to begin with. )

Billy, don't.

[And he sounds tired, but he's pulling his glove on and is working on rubbing down his arms. He's got to get patched up later.]

Come on, we should get you somewhere safe to recuperate.

Okay! Okay, doing nothing, see.

( hands out, and there's no spark of magic, no nothing. he is doing absolutely nothing. everything is fine here. )

I'm fine. ( arms dropping down, and billy wraps them tight around himself. ) Tired but not like, that tired.

[Well, there's only so much that Billy can do, and he's done it. And David's tired. He needs to eat. They both need to get through things, and he knows that won't be easy.]

Now that this is a bit more under control, they're going to sweep in and take you to Arcadia. The guilds are going to do their best to pitch woo at you, especially given your powers and the fact that this isn't the first time Billy Kaplan has been here. If you choose to work with them, ask them for me as a liaison if you can. I don't normally do that sort of work, but Young Avengers got to stick together. Besides, Tommy and Lorna would both be disappointed if I let you go through adjusting to all of this on your own.

[With that he shakes his head. He'd take off his helmet if he could, but David was so protective of his identity this time.]

I would ask that you avoid any hero-wikis and not update my page with my actual background. It rust you not to, but don't laugh yourself sick when you see the prevalent rumor that Prodigy is a dullahan.

[Was that his quiet way of telling Billy just who he was? That he might be far enough along in things to be some comfort about information for the future? Yes. Because he's not sure that, in this moment, in this particular age of Billy, he'd want much to do with David. Not even a much older David.]

( tommy and lorna are--well, clue enough he starts to get it, but david gives himself away there at the end. recognition sparks behind his eyes, and billy gives a small nod. takes back his i'm tired but not that tired comment by dropping down onto the ground where he'd been standing with a quiet sigh. there's nothing else coming at them, this feels like as good of a spot as any to sit down for a break. )

I'll keep my eyes off hero wikis for now. If I look and it's inaccurate, I'll end up starting fights with whoever decided to put up wrong information.

( he takes his hero wikis very seriously. but billy will hold back for the moment. at least until he gets a better idea of where they've crashed landed. )

I mean, the information could be right for who I am now.

[Prodigy flops down next to Billy, rubbing his gloved hands over his legs as if to work out some pain.]

I've changed a lot for me in the last eight years. Not to mention my power set doesn't fully line up here with what it is at home. You might have noticed the kinda Kid Omega-ish energy projection. So, like, there's a lot there that has changed.

[There is so much they should talk about, and so little time before the guilds sweep in.]

Oh, you should know. When you hear about Loki being around, it's not our Loki. He's a good guy though. Runs a playhouse, mayor of a local town here, absolutely silly levels of in love with my sword instructor, Sephiroth. And there's a chance, a slim one, people might mention other Lokis. Our Loki. Both kid and a bit older. It's complicated. I can brief you on what's happened here at least, if you want. But timeline stuff is... I don't know how to approach that for you.

Eight years.

( he's doing the math. that makes david - what, almost thirty? if this is even the david from his side of the multiverse. maybe he's not. he acknowledges his powerset is different, which - billy had already pretty much figured out, since as far as he remembers, david was still running on information he'd gained but was unable to. . . what, absorb new information? through his psychometry anyway.

eight years is a long time, especially for them. a lot can change, a lot has changed. )

So, a version of me has been here before. There's a Loki, and had been two other Lokis who were our Loki, and the Loki here is in love with someone who's teaching you how to fight with swords.

( he's leaving the mayor bit out at this point. billy will get there later. he's pulling his legs up instead, to wrap his arms around his knees. )

How do you know I'm your Billy?

( he's betting david knowing where he's at timeline-wise is in part due to rook. the guy didn't make it a secret that he knew who billy was, and who he was generally associated with. )

[Wow, Billy, he's only, like, 26. But okay, that's almost thirty to someone who is so young and looking at the worst the world can do to him. Again.]

You're right on a previous, older version of you. And yes, you're following me.

[As for how he knows it's his Billy? David laughs.]

I may not be America, or Tommy, but I can recognize you for who you are. Go through enough alternate dimensions fighting evil versions of yourselves and you know a guy. Plus you confirmed the Mother thing. Pretty sure she was a singular entity, like America. Something that spans dimensions, not echoes across them. Plus a little bird might have mentioned a specific noodle shop.

Trust me when I say I remember that night. Though I guess I remember everything. Psychomimetry is like that. But I'm also not your David in some ways. At least not fully the David of your timeline. Because I've been in this place, and places like it, for a long while. I'm sure that who I am right now and who I'll be at twenty-eight back home aren't the same person.

( twenty-six is basically thirty. his math is legit. and while billy hadn't said anything about mother, david had and he hadn't denied it. and he'd talked about her with rook. so a little birdy plus the noodle shop, plus mother--yeah, considering america and loki had both called billy's specific case a singularity, that lines up. plenty of billys, but only one magical messiah. not that he'd really been determined to hide it or anything.

still makes him wince, because while the noodles weren't terrible their exit was pretty rough. )

Rook mentioned he knew you. But yeah, I guess that makes sense. Would that make you Earth 616-A David? Since you're running on an altered timeline.

( he's going to think about the multiverse until it hurts his head and then he's going to regret everything. )

[They are NOT the same thing, Billy. At all. Give him some credit.]

You know, when you put it like that, yeah, I guess I would. I don't even need to come up with weird metaphors for anything. Though let's try not to think on it too deep. It's several forms of headache.

[At last he pushes to his feet and looks down at Billy, tilting his helmet to the side in an exaggerated sort of body language he was used to using as this world's Prodigy.]

So, any very small spoilers for your future that you actually want to hear? Just, like, balm for the soul?

( he shutters down quick. imagines the worst things imaginable that david could tell him: maybe they never take down mother (but david wouldn't say it was balm for the soul if that was true), maybe they never find tommy. maybe teddy never comes back, because he was right all along and billy knows that and he was just--stupid, being an idiot, hiding away in his room for forever because he was afraid and tried to cheat his way into making things better only to mess up everything - and that's not even taking into account how billy could have been manipulating teddy into liking him to begin with. )

No. ( but he's pulling himself up to his feet after david does. ) But I'm guessing you don't have a way out of here either.

[Brave choice. Because David would happily tell Billy that Tommy was recovered (though not how), that him and Teddy will make it work (but not about the whole 'didn't invite you to my first wedding' thing), and that Mother was definitely and completely handled.

Still, he reaches out to lay a gloved hand on Billy's shoulder.]

Alright, I won't tell you anything. But I will promise you this. The future is a whole hell of a lot brighter than I think you're imagining.

As for going back...

[His hand falls to his side. How does he explain that the man he is now doesn't want to go back?]

No I don't have a route home, and honestly, my boyfriend might be very upset if I bounced on him.

Oh, no, then I definitely don't want you to tell me.

( a breath in, audible enough that it's obvious billy's going to go off on a tangent-- )

What if you tell me we find a way to take out Mother, we get Tommy back, and things with Teddy and I turn out... better, and then I go back home and I'm just the wrong shade of too confident about the outcome and I mess everything up and ruin it for everyone? What if me knowing how things go just makes everything go even worse? Or even worse - what if it's a lot brighter, but it's not brighter in the way that I think it would be? What if Teddy and I just don't work out but he goes off and gets engaged to someone else and I'm fine but I'm fine on my own which is--it's fine, I'd be happy for him but I'm totally not ready for that, I don't want to hear it. What if we handle Mother but we lose people in the process? What if I know that, and I go into it trying to save them, and then ruin everything? What if you tell me and it changes nothing except now I'm just sitting here imagining a happy future that I might never get to live because while you're now Earth 616-A David, I'm Earth 616-B Billy, and while this place can temporarily snap us to and from realities it's never permanent and I end up stuck here for forever while Earth 616-Prime Billy is off having a happy life and all I can do is sit here and know that somewhere, it exists?

( another breath in, because he'd gone through all of that without taking one. )

Your boyfriend?

( see, david! you have a boyfriend here, it's been eight years, clearly that last scenario has plenty of weight behind it. )

Edited 2024-02-14 22:20 (UTC)

[Seriously? And David's the person that is supposed to overthink things. Which he does. A lot. He laughs loudly, without the filter. And his next words fall from his lips in Krakoan because let him have this.]

And Jean-Paul says I think too hard.

[Then he reaches out to touch the guy's shoulder.]

Billy? Breathe. It's complicated. People come and go from here, but so far as I can tell from the last time this happened to me, the memories didn't go back home. So I can understand some of that concern. So my advice is live for today. We'll figure it out as we go. And I've got your back.

Once you're settled, him and I will have you over to dinner. He'll be amused to see you again.

( he's one guy in an entire multiverse of messes. he's met some of his counterparts from other sides of the multiverse. there are so many things that could go wrong in so many different ways and billy knows he's not thinking of all of them, there are countless ways he could fumble, countless mistakes, and very few ways of not messing up. if he wasn't so drained by mother he could be doing so much more but at what point is more too much? probably somewhere between hero antics and trying to pull his boyfriend's dead mother out of one timeline into another because clearly that went very, very wrong.

everything is a mess and now he's here, he doesn't even have kate around to - what, mope around with? david's fine, he likes david, they're friends, but david hasn't known him since he was sixteen and still figuring out what he was. david wasn't texting him through breakdown after breakdown. which is probably for the best, because if he had someone to mope on and the space to mope, which - it doesn't look like they've got the opportunity to chase down tommy and avoid mother here anyway, so there's plenty of space - he'd go find a nice blanket, curl himself up in it, and just not move. for a while.

breathe.

right. breathing's good. no need to panic. everything's fine.

and david's got a hand on his shoulder, which is - steadying. it's physical contact he knows is there, and billy is leaning into it a little.

he raises a hand. pinches his nose between his index and middle fingers. )

Sorry. I'm good. Just--you know, long day.

You're not good. Trust me, I can see it. And I have more than a few degrees in psychology at this point.

[But he wants Billy to not feel like he needs to hide from him.]

We're teammates, even if I've taken another path. I promise, every time you've called, I've been there. That isn't going to change.

[And maybe he always would be? David doesn't need to share the theory he has of his own ties to the Patrinot, how he might be Billy's Harbinger or Herald or whatever.]

If I could take you somewhere safe right now to calm down, I would.

Please don't psychoanalyze me, I get that enough from my mom.

( he's tired. between the amount of magic it took to take down the scorpion, the one he'd already taken down before this one, the outburst--the weariness is beginning to weigh on him a little heavier. it's enough it's leaking into his voice, the tired tone it takes on as he leans into david's hand a little, his own hand dragging over his face. )

Once a Young Avenger, always a Young Avenger. Right? ( billy tried to leave once. took down the whole team with him, and look where that got them. ) I'm calm. Calmer. I'll be better as soon as we clear out the rest of these mechs.

( work first, naps later. )

I can't help what I am. But I will keep it to myself.

[He laughs at the once and always line.]

Given I still get called for tech support back home while being on an X-Team, yeah. Always.

Stay out of the way, take a rest. I know better than to try and interface with these things now so I have ideas to take down more.

[And, of course, now he has an awkward offer to make.]

Listen, if you want, since the guild will try and corner you in Excelsior adjacent areas in your adjustment period anyway, you could come stay with me and my guy for a bit. It's got an almost Dr. Strange vibe with his magical hobbies and antique tastes, and the dinners are home made and gourmet every day. Bed's pretty comfy too. Though I warn you, Excelsior is not always friendly to magic inclined Metas.

Edited 2024-02-15 00:53 (UTC)

It's not like I'm not used to it.

( being wanda's kid came with its own prejudices when he'd first shown up. they'd lessened as time passed and people got to know him better, but there was still that period when the avengers had technically locked him away for a bit to try and figure out what to do with him. and even discounting his entire powerset--well. school hadn't been the easiest either.

( he'll stay out of the way with the scorpions. mostly. unless david or someone else looks like they need a hand, and then he'll jump in and interfere. )

billy leans back enough that he's no longer pressing his weight in against david's hand. runs fingers through his hair. )

I don't want to intrude, but if you're sure--it's not like I have somewhere else to stay anyway.

( he hasn't been accosted by the guilds just yet. )

Being used to something and having to deal with it are not the same thing.

[Being a mutant was as good of a way of being taught that as being black or bi.]

You wouldn't be intruding. Helping a friend get on their feet is a good reason for a guest room. And he was the one to suggest it.

[In a round about manner. Nothing like texting with your boyfriend about career changes, house guests, and teenaged angst while talking to an old friend.]

Small question. Your knowledge of the amounts of magic used by spell size isn't exactly something my ability ever pinged on, so just a quick check. Would it be a small spell to pinpoint where the narrowest point in the armor on these things is? I know I can pierce it with a blade if I know where, but my powers are a bit taxed from the technopathic backlash.

Probably hasn't pinged because it's a very specific question and--I don't have an answer.

( a loose lift of his shoulders. billy's particular brand of magic is unpredictable, even when it comes to him using it. he's burned himself out casting spells he was fairly certain wouldn't cost much at all, and managed a lot more than he thought he could. par the course for being a chaos witch maybe. it's not as if he has much to go off of. and weak points is so--vague. maybe a break in the scorpion's armor is something simple, surface-level, easy to pinpoint. maybe it's magically protected and therefore would burn him out easier. not that they felt particularly magical when he took down the one with rook and this one with david. but. )

Next one we find, I'll take a closer look at. I won't get in the middle of it unless you need a hand.

( decent middle ground, right. )

[That's fair. Sometimes questions can't be answered easily. Like the one he posed to Billy, the offer of shelter. That will likely need time to turn over in the young witch's head.]

Thank you. I'd rather you not burn yourself out energy wise. Though...

[He considers for a moment then pulls something from one of the sealed interior pockets of his coat. It's an old style flip phone, and really, do they need more than that for a burner.]

In case we get separated. I'll be able to find that and you. Type a message into the notes program and save it, and I'll get it.

( you know billy can find you a lot easier than that, right, david. it's not hard. but he's betting this ties into the whole i'd rather you not burn yourself out energy wise thing which is--fair. a little hard to find anyone if he ends up passing out in the middle of nowhere which has happened before, just usually with, you know, with teddy around to catch him before he hit the ground.

so he reaches out for the phone. tucks it into the pocket along his the thigh of his pants that absolutely wasn't there before he'd crash-landed here. )

How many phones are you carrying on you?

[It's about David finding Billy, in the end. His own peace of mind. But yes, the burning out figures in as well.]

On me? Only three. Why?

[Don't tell him that's too many. He's a technopath. They're too useful to him. Miniature computers he can abandon at a moment's notice? Useful.]

Just wondering.

( considering he handed billy one. but he's quirking his lips up into a small smile. )

Thanks. If we get separated I'll re-remember how to work the dialpad.

( or just find david, either way. you know. )

I might take you up on that housing offer. Since I'm betting Noh-Varr's ship isn't around.

(no subject)

helpdesk_hero - 2024-02-15 22:04 (UTC) - Expand

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