TEST DRIVE MEME #3

[spoofer]

Test Drive Meme #3

I walk around with all my violent decisions.

Prison World Prequel: Spidermarvel

D.E.S.T.I.N.Y. has learned a new trick to stop characters from defying the end of the multiverse. These are prison worlds, alternative universes, where prisoners are brainwashed into native conflicts so that they will kill each other.

NEW CHARACTERS: BRAINWASH

One minute, you're escaping your dying homeworld. Perhaps through a wormhole, perhaps with some incredible leap of technology, sorcery, or on a magic steed— regardless of the how, the why was clear. Everything you once knew tearing apart at the seams, facing utter destruction at the mercy of an apocalypse no one had predicted.

The next instant, you topple into a street covered in rubble. The Battle of New York (spoilers in the link) rages around you.



Armored humanoid aliens, the Chitauri, run amok in the streets, armed with staffs that blast powerful energy bolts. A hundred times larger, fish-like "Leviathans" are gliding through the air, with fangs as tall as people, damaging skyscrapers with their massive flippers, and ejecting yet more of the Chitauri from their sides. Around you, fires burn and humans are running in every direction in panic, barely taking a second to notice anything outlandish about your appearance. In the distance, there's a blue, glowing portal hundreds of feet in the air.

Maybe you stand and fight. Perhaps you find a citizen or a fellow world-hopper bleeding and hurt and you try to help. Maybe it's the faraway portal you're going for, assuming this is just that damn apocalypse again— but that's when something feels ever so slightly wrong.

This is the sensation of your memories starting to warp, your very identity shaping to fit this world. Your powers starting to flicker, gutter, not operating quite right. Glance down, and for a split-second, it's like your hands are-- pixellated? But blink again, and it's over. Hell, there are more important things to take care of right now...

EXISTING CHARACTER: WRAITH MODE

Technology lights up in the Citadel, the defense systems coming online abruptly, dozens of screens and interfaces crawling with unrecognizable code— and special instructions. Using a visor at the Citadel, brief journeys to the prison world are possible. When you appear in the Battle of New York, the visitors appear like ghosts displaced from space and time. You are now in wraith mode, incorporeal, intangible, and invisible to most of the inhabitants of the Prison World. However, you can be seen and heard by the new prisoners, all the while retaining their personalities and identities. Simulation or transportation? It's hard to tell.

The Temple lights up too, revealing a new chamber filled with dozens of strange stone beds, dimly aglow. But the technology or magic there refuses to reveal anything else.

HEATWAVE IN THE CITY

A week after you arrive in Xistentia, you are still trying to get a grip with life in the city, your new apartment, still trying to understand exactly what's needed of you. The inhabited parts of the urban development have wide boulevards and beautiful facades, well-groomed trees on every street. The further you go from the growing colony, the more overgrown and wild the buildings look, small flocks of birds singing at you from the bridges.

Beyond the streets, the natural environment around you-- wherever you choose to explore— is supposed to be perfect; the weather in Xistentia is designed to be temperate in the city, hotter on the beach, cooler in the forest. But in recent days, the temperature has been climbing. It's a steady thing, but it's felt throughout the whole of Xistentia, and it's not long before it becomes unpleasant, humid and heavy heat that sticks your shirt to your skin.

Your daemon trills, requiring your attention. You've noticed that it now looks different now than it did back in the Prison World, no longer a simple cellphone. When you touch the hologram popup, the message reads:

F.A.T.E.S. WARNING SYSTEM
Threat Assessment: Mild
Phenomenon Type: Weather System Compromised
Predicted Duration: 72 hours

Due to massive energy discharge from D.E.S.T.I.N.Y.'s Prison World program, a heat wave has come. Residents are advised to remain cool indoors or hydrated outside. F.A.T.E.S. requests your assistance offsetting repair power costs by temporarily increasing physical contact, including intimacy. Remember, safezone protocol will prevent combat within the city excepting sparring at gyms.

With expected assistance, the weather system will be corrected in 72 hours.

Fate is your hands. Or possibly your arms, if you're more of a hugger. As characters initiate physical intimacy within the city, they may notice the nearest lamps in the streets brightening.

NETWORK

Chances are pretty good that your daemon is not a phone or a computer or a wax-sealed piece of parchment or a Howler, nothing with a convenient camera or a keyboard; it probably isn't even a pocket sized. Likelier, it stares at you with eyes that contain the lenses-- or powers-- of a camera, and some part of its body projects a holographic keyboard into the air. For those of us who are not accustomed to manipulating intangible light prisms, it's not very intuitive to type on.

But here's your network access. Accessible to all your fellow travelers in XISTENTIA.

Misfires, typos, and blurry video footage are likely. Time to feel like a Luddite!

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE

sUPER FUN!

Footnotes

1. Some of these can be nameless, plot-device NPCs to facilitate interactions! But even in this case, please avoid gore in describing their current state of being. Anyone dead or catastrophically injured will have disappeared by the time your characters make it to Xistentia. There are no corpses or dying here.
   
   
2. But like OOCly ask permission ofc.

Comments

Wyatt Johnson | OC | OTA

[bratpack]

A. BATTLE

[ When he feels himself taken, Wyatt tries to shift. He doesn't know what it is he's fighting,
but he's sure as hell going to try. Then the world bends around him, and the fur and claws he'd tried to call forth have vanished entire. ]

What the hell...?

[ And then a blast from a passing Chitauri flyer knocks him off his feet. He scrambles up, eyes wide, already forgetting his confusion in the rush for pure survival. Before he knows it, he's running, following the crowd who are also running, and sheltering in one of the cafes just off the main street.

This is New York. Wyatt knows New York, he used to live there. It's familiar, and yet different, and yet...and yet it's home, and feels more like home with every passing second. It's easy for the new memories to take root, fixing on his old ones of this same city. He stares out of the cafe at what's happening around them, real fear gripping him. He's not a werewolf here. He's just a kid, one who'd made these streets his home. Now these streets are turning to rubble in front of him. ]

Oh God, what are we gonna do? There's...what are those things?

[ He looks about as panicked as he feels. One day, in the not too distant future, this will embarrass the hell out of him. ]

B. HEATWAVE

[ The second they'd gotten to the city, Wyatt's cellphone had turned into an almost perfect copy of his adoptive father's wolf form. It's easily twice the size of a regular wolf, and even a little bigger than Wyatt's own wolf form. With a look like that, he can really only call it Hunterd. He won't tell anyone, but he actually kind of likes it. At least with that he can pretend he's not lost his pack all over again. The real Hunter is out there somewhere, probably pissed that Wyatt is spending time with his namesake, instead.

This will all be fine.

Also, it's really fucking hot, so in the absence of anyone else trying to kill him, Wyatt will be spread out on the beach, barechested so he can soak up as much sun as possible. He's wearing cutoff denim shorts, and currently pushing his toes into the hot sand. His head is pillowed on Hunterd's massive black fluffiness. ]

Damn, this is the life. Why the hell is anyone trying to go home? We should just bring everyone here. Get on that, Hunterd, will ya? This is awesome.

[ His daemon already sounds long-suffering. It lets out a wolfish huff. ] Temperatures are rising. Friendship and intimacy will help to restore weather systems. We should return to-

You're already killing my buzz, man.

[ That's when you happen to walk by. Wyatt looks up, eyes lighting up brightly. ]

Hey! You got me on this, right? This place is killer. What's not to love?

C. NETWORK

Daemon: Hunterd

[ Wyatt had tried typing on Hunterd's weird light-based keyboard for all of about eight seconds, before he got tired of that and told it to turn the camera on instead. What the hell ever, man. He'll find his way around that later; who has time to screw around with tech, anyway? ]

What is up, my people. [ No one should have let him speak to the masses. ] I'm Wyatt. This is Hunterd.

[ Pause. ] I mean, you can't see him, but he looks like a wolf. He's like the second most badass werewolf around here. The first is me. Hi, nice to meet you all. How's Apocalypse City treating you?

Speaking of, what are we calling this place? Cause otherwise I'm calling it that. Does anyone know how we call home on this shit, cause there's a bunch of people I know who need to get their asses here. Hopefully without the, uh, vacation in Shitsville New York. Can we talk about how messed up that was? Seriously.

[ He needs to stop talking. Hunterd is staring him down like he's lost his will to daemon. Wyatt grins into his camera lens eyes. ]

Come on, I know you ain't all that shy. Speak to me! Okay I'm out. How do I end this, like. Ten-four. Over. Testing, one, two, three. I'm just kidding, I love this thing.

D. CREATE YOUR OWN

[ Prompt Wyatt! I'm on Plurk at halfbloodly if you want to plot. ]

predictably, b

[hasitsthorns]

[ The heat has Rose feeling a bit more sour than she normally would; she is a northern wolf, for goodness sake. She was built for frigid conditions, not for heatwaves. She'd set out to the beach because it's the only place socially acceptable to wear little to no clothing - in her case, a pink bikini - during this atrocious weather.

She's about to snap something along the lines of how this heat actually killing her but is... distracted.

That is a very nice smile. That is a very nice bare chest. That is a very nice everything he has there. And, if her nose is right, he's another werewolf. How very interesting. ]

It'd be nice if more people had your attitude, dude. This place is pretty great. [ She gives him another lookover, winning smile of her own directed his way. ] I for one really enjoy the wonderful views.

[ Subtle as a train crash, this one. ]

[bratpack]

[ Wyatt looks up. He'd already been thinking this place was awesome, even before the actual Baywatch babe showed up. This just got so much better. He sits up a little, making Hunterd look around with interest. Wyatt grins at the girl.

Oh. Not just girl. Check that scent - girl is a werewolf, or at least something close to it. That makes him all the more keen. ]

Yeah? You should come closer. There's a great view from right here.

[ His eyes dart to the warm sand beside him. There's plenty of space against Hunterd's huge flank, too. He's like a giant fluffy pillow. ]

I'm Wyatt. Are you as new as me?

[hasitsthorns]

[ Not quite werewolf, but definitely close enough to it. In a way, she's happy. She'd missed her werewolves - she'd never gotten too close to the ones in Eudio - and in another... She's going to have to test these pup's dominance. Not that she's an alpha, not by any means, but she does have seniority. She enjoys challenging her fellow wolves, too, even if she won't outright admit that.

Oh, is that so? [ A charmer. Has she mentioned he's cute? He's really cute. She takes him up on his offer, but the moment she sits down-

Wyatt will feel a cold nose pressed to his bare skin. Three of them, actually. The unnamed Husky triplets, with tails a-wagging furiously. Hello, new wolfman friend. Her pack of dogs had been exploring the beach but centralized once she'd taken a seat. In addition to that trio, a twin pair of Leonbergers trundle close. An Akita, a Growlithe hang back a bit but look on curiously. And finally, a Golden Retriever trots up and says, ]

Hello, [ to Wyatt. Her daemon, just as Huntered is his. She laughs at him flopping down into the sand and resting his head on her legs. He gets some head scritches for that. ] Nice to meet you, Wyatt. I'm Rose and not quite as new, but.. still new enough. [ She laughs at the dogs still harassing him, snuffling excitedly. ] You seem to get my boys' stamp of approval.

[bratpack]

[ Suddenly there's dogs everywhere. As a canine himself, Wyatt has no kind of problem with that, and starts laughing as they snuffle at him. ]

Hey, guys! [ He says, while doing his best to give them equal pettings. They're all big puppies. Delighted, he lets them crawl over his lap and lick his face. He calls to the bigger ones, too, the akita and whatever the fuck that tiger dog is. He's never seen something like that before, but he'll give it some love.

Then there's one that talks. He lifts his eyebrows, confused at first, but then Hunterd raises his massive head. ]

Hello. I am Hunterd. We are pleased to meet you all.

We actually are. [ Wyatt settles back against the fake wolf and focuses back on Rose. Meanwhile, he's still cuddling her friends. ] These guys are awesome, you gotta introduce me. You got your own personal dog pack, I wish I'd thought of that. I been away from my pack for five minutes and I already miss them.

[hasitsthorns]

[ The dogs all start wagging their tails like motors at the cheerful greeting. Wyatt also smells familiar; he's a canine, just like them. At least to a certain degree. That goes a long way with her pack. And Rose herself. She regards Wyatt's friendliness with her dogs quietly, approving.

He also gets her stamp of approval just for this interaction alone. ]

Hello Hunterd, [ Apollod greets, his own tail wagging now. Seems like they'll get on just fine. ]

Gladly! Just give them a minute to stay still and I'll introduce them all, [ she says, no lack of amusement of her tone at the dogs that continue to swarm Wyatt for pets and attention. ]

You were part of a pack?

[bratpack]

[ Wyatt looks at Rosie over a mountain of fluffy dog. ]

Have a pack. [ He corrects, firmly. His bond with them is strained, but not broken. They're out there somewhere. He can get back to them. This isn't like before. He hasn't lost them, they're just misplaced. It's fixable.

At least it better be flexible. ]

They adopted me. I was with them, but the Door that brought me here got fucked somehow. I don't know, magic ain't my thing. I'll get back to them once this is done.

[ If this gets done. If they're not somewhere in trouble, maybe even dying. He'd know if they were dead, though, right? Of course he would. ]

Hey, okay. Come on, guys.

[ He eases the dogs into something like a straight line. When they're behaving somewhat better, he looks at Rosie. ]

Okay. So, names?

[hasitsthorns]

Have, sorry. My mistake, [ she says, even if she might not understand. Well. To a degree she does, actually. She knows how terrible it'd felt when Magnus and Alec had left Eudio and now the elation she felt at being reunited with them here. How relieved she'd been that Vanyel had made the trip too even if their timelines had been flubbed a little bit. ] I hope you get back to them soon.

[ Which she genuinely seems to mean. It'd been a sentiment she shared often in Eudio, wanting people to return to those they loved. Even her boyfriend, she hoped, would get back to the people he was close to back home. ]

Names! [ she chirps, a sharp whistle immediately following. All the dogs come to attention and settle down nicely at that. ]

The Golden is Apollo. Well, Apollod now. The two Leonbergers [ a point to the dogs that really should be classified more as bears ] are Robin and Maurice. The Akita is Marshmallow. The Growlithe - that tiger-striped one - is Blaze. He can breath fire, super cool. And finally, the three Huskies... don't have any names. Their owner, who I got them from, never named any of his dogs and so I kept that tradition to honor him.

[ She wonders if she'll ever stop missing Caleb Holt, but. The wistfulness passes quick enough. ]

heatwave;

[memoryguardian]

[ Toothiana doesn't so much walk as hover, really, but she'd been flitting by the boy all the same. She's entirely in her element in this heat so it hasn't slowed her down in the slightest. Not much does.

The only reason she stops at all is because it'd be rude to ignore him and, well- Soon as Wyatt gives a flash of his pearly whites, a swarm of mini-fairies descends upon his mouth. They're a glittering, chittering bundle that poke and prod at his teeth. ]

Girls! Girls! Please, we're professionals-! [ She waves her hand at the tiny duplicates of herself, huffing slightly as they disperse. ] Oh, goodness, I do apologize for that! I'm the Tooth Fairy, see, and so teeth are kind of our thing. [ A beat. ] Yours are beautiful, by the way.

[ She'd like to inspect them herself, honestly, but she has the self-restraint to hold back on that. For now. ]

[bratpack]

[ Okay, you know what he was expecting? Not a bunch of tiny pixies tugging at his face, that's what. He's already loudly complaining and waving them off by the time their larger, more polite version is calling them back. Wyatt had been casually turning the air blue, so he manages to look somewhat sheepish now. ]

Thank you. Man, that was weird. Did you say Tooth Fairy? Like, for real?

[ He sits up straight, giving her a very dubious once over. Hunters is sniffing at her horde of miniature terrors. ]

Lady, I've seen a lot of faeries in my time, but I ain't ever seen one calling herself the Tooth Fairy. Are you actually legit, do you like sneak into little kids' bedrooms at night and take their teeth? Cause, that's weird, man. I thought you were a myth.

[ Says the werewolf to the Tooth Fairy. Also, he definitely hasn't seen a lot of carries in his time; that's a considerable exaggeration. He's seen maybe three, and two of them weren't even full faeries. Whatever, he's making up for it now. ]

[memoryguardian]

[ No one expects the mini-fairies, honestly. They just kind of happen. While an extension of Toothiana, technically, they tend to act independently on her whims. The tiny feathered fairies seem a bit remorseful; however, the still hang hover close to Wyatt curiously. ]

For real! [ A bright, beautiful smile of her own. It only makes sense that the Tooth Fairy herself has impeccable teeth. ] That's me, the one and only Tooth Fairy, at your service! [ Does she seem to be beaming with pride? That's because she absolutely is. She takes her job extremely seriously, you know. ]

I haven't been in the field as much as I would have liked the last, oh, four hundred years or so. Most of my fairies here do the work these days, but! I'm making an effort to get back out there.

[bratpack]

[ Wyatt is trying very hard not to sideeye the faeries buzzing near his head. It's not easy; they're distracting. They're like the kind of faeries you hear about in children's stories. ]

I never did the, uh, the tooth under the pillow thing? I don't know what ever happened to my baby teeth.

[ The thought that these pixies might have picked them up is very disconcerting. He tries to focus on the big one. ]

That's your deal, right? Human kids leave them out for you. Man, you look nothing like the faeries from my world. I don't think they care about teeth, either. Where do you come from?

[memoryguardian]

[ It's a wonder how such little, glittery fairies can go unnoticed when snatching teeth in the night. ]

What's your name? Maybe they're in my possession! [ The idea of different universes isn't something she has quite wrapped her head around, honestly. That's... so many teeth to collect. Too many.
Wait, no, who is she kidding? There's no such thing as too many teeth. ]

But, yes, that's my 'deal'! Our deal. [ One cue, the mini-fairies gives tiny peeps of agreement. ] What do fairies look like where you're from? Technically, I'm a Sister of Flight but! [ A shrug with one shoulder. ] Details.

[bratpack]

[ God, maybe they're in her possession. That'd be kinda creepy. ]

Wyatt Lawson. Uh, or Johnson. [ He amends, quickly. ] I changed it.

[ And the change is recent, so more than likely any stolen teeth are under Johnson. All of this is so weird. He kind of wants to cover his mouth, but sustains himself by trying to keep it closed instead. ]

Uh, our faeries are tall. They're like, super hot but kinda deadly. The Kingdom I live in used to be at war with them, like for real.

[ Pause. ]

But I wasn't around in those days. Things are good now.

[memoryguardian]

[ Wow. Excuse you, Wyatt, it's not 'creepy.' It's her job! ]

Girls, [ she chirps, the flocks of mini-fairies coming to attention. ] Make a note of the name 'Wyatt Lawson' or 'Wyatt Johnson' and see what we can find out.

[ With that out of the way, her focus is back on Wyatt. ]

Well! I'm glad to hear that. Also, I can't say fairies are like that where I'm from. Maybe closer to... pixies in definition, I suppose. Tiny, winged creatures. Like my girls here!

[bratpack]

Yeah, that sounds right.

[ He guesses. Pixies are another kind of faerie. At least he thinks they are; Wyatt's knowledge of the lore of his world isn't wonderful. If he'd known he'd be faced with comparisons after jumping dimensions, he might have done his research first. ]

So, uh. What do you do when you're not taking children's teeth while they sleep?

[memoryguardian]

It's always night somewhere, so really that's about all I do!

[ Someone should tell her that all work and no play makes her a dull fairy, but. She's actually been out in the field recently for the first time in about four hundred years, which is progress. Still work, but... More fun than just staying in Punjam Hy Loo.

'Fun' in general is still a concept she could use some work on, honestly. ]

Jack was trying to teach me about how to have a bit more fun before. [ Before everything was about to go Pitch Black, from what she remembers. The woman wavers for only a second before she's back to her cheery self. ] Before I arrived here, but! There'll be time for that once my world's restored, I'm sure.

C

[poenitudo]

[ For several long minutes, Jaden tells himself to not reply. It's stupid. It's so stupid.

But he never claimed he was a very intelligent person (not true, he totally claimed that before), and so he does reply, Celestiald managing to sound smugly pleased just because he needs her camera function. ]

Hey, fuck you, the most badass wolf around. You can't claim that title when there's already wolves around. You snooze you lose, you should have landed here earlier.

[ He pauses. ]

Also this place is called Xistentia.

[bratpack]

[ It's definitely stupid. Wyatt is an over-energized, excitable teenager who is trying very hard not to take any of this too seriously, in spite of what's already happened. The best way to feel like himself again is to just go with it, so that's what he's doing.

Also, this guy has his interest already. Another werewolf? He leans forward, eyes bright and eager. ]

Xistentia. Nope, that is not happening. I don't even think I can spell it. [ Pointing at the camera lens. Which means he's pointing right at Hunterd's face, much to his disgruntlement. ] We need like a nickname. Apocalypse Town, population...two werewolves and their robots, apparently. How long have you been here?

Nah, scratch that. What's your name? We gotta meet up, man, work out this badass ranking properly.

[poenitudo]

[ He should not have answered. Seriously, this is going to be a disaster, he's pretty certain of it. He tries not to associate with other wolves back home, what is he doing challenging Rosie, and now getting all up on this guy's business like he wants them to be in touch, or something? Goddamnit, Jaden, way to be self-destructive. ]

In what way is Apocalypse Town easier to pronounce than Xistentia? You're not even trying, man.

[ But funnily enough, he doesn't actually sound all that mad. Kinda amused, which he doesn't want to be. He schools his features into blankness. ]

The fact that we're the same species doesn't mean we gotta be friends. And the badass ranking is already worked out. I definitely win.

[bratpack]

[ Wyatt looks thoughtful. ]

Okay, okay, I can do better than that. Uh... [ He snaps his fingers. ] Extinctown. Armagetown. [ Get it. Like Armageddon? Wyatt is hilarious. ]

Abandale. How am I doing? I got more. And you don't win, man, we ain't even competed yet. I didn't say we'd be friends.

[ He gives Jaden a sly little smile. ] Maybe if you're lucky.

b!!!

[impassion]

( what is this

semi naked man on the beach, while bellamy himself is also semi naked but seemingly much more unhappy about it. his shirt, after having been removed, is now tucked into the rim of his pants, giving himself a Very Cool looking butt cape that hits the back of his thighs -- his pants are rolled up to midcalf, and his shoes have been forgotten somewhere, but he seems like he's on this beach with a Mission on his mind, apart from wyatt's kicking back and relaxing.

he scoffs at wyatt's question, not hiding the roll of his eyes. the sun's too hot, especially on the beach. he's agitated. he has no patience for anyone right now. )

How about the weather that's cooking us? ( for starters!!! he has a list!!! ) It's too quiet, and something's clearly watching us. That sound like paradise to you?

[bratpack]

[ Oh god, Wyatt takes it back. Now this guy is killing his buzz. He groans. ]

Oh come on, it is not that bad. It's supposed to be quiet on the beach, man, and someone's always watching you. You know? It's like, the digital age, or whatever. Everyone has cameras on their phones. Being watched ain't a problem when you got nothing to hide.

[ Honestly, he figures anyone who spends their time watching his life can't have too much going on of their own. Besides, Wyatt has already been kidnapped, brought to a different world and told he's part of a war stretching across universes, so you know. What else are they going to do to him? If the sum total of his experience here is lounging on a warm beach, he won't be complaining. ]

You should relax. You'll like it better if you do.