monstertruckers: (Default)
monstertruckers ([personal profile] monstertruckers) wrote in [community profile] memestertrucks2025-05-15 04:31 pm
Entry tags:

MAY TDM




Things are a little stranger than usual at the gas station and garage. Namely that gravity just isn't working as it should. Objects float, pieces of the floor float... Even unlucky new arrivals can also find themselves floating! It's going to be a challenge to get around without any scrapes or scratches... Though at least there's what looks like a hospital nearby? Granted, it's an upside down hospital, but it's better than nothing.

















01: SUMMONING CIRCLE


Drifters come to with an odd floating sensation hooked into their stomachs, and instead of laying on the concrete find themselves drifting a foot or two above the floor. An unfortunate few may be stuck on the ceiling. Whether they crash down hard into the floor (and the various vials, daggers, and broken glass scattered about) or remain floating in the air is a coin toss.

Still, it might be best to lend a hand with pulling them back to the ground, and hoping gravity will work as normal in another breath or two.

Once they make their way out, they can see a gas station and garage located in the midst of strange, floating rocks… And an upside down hospital close by, for those who had a rougher landing.

02: START UP
New arrivals will have a similar experience to before; a Convoy waiting for them, and a collection of vehicles, one of which feels like it belongs to them. The key to the vehicle may already be in the ignition, on the dashboard… It may have even been on their person, ever since they woke up in that garage. Either way, Drifters have the keys to the vehicle now.

…But there’s a few rough edges on these vehicles. Flat tires, cracked windows and mirrors, maybe some stuck doors and locks; all of them the sort of thing that requires two pairs of hands and supplies. The garage can take care of the (sometimes floating) supplies… Now it’s just a matter of finding some extra hands.

And hopefully no one's vehicle has decided to float. But one can never be sure in a place like this.

03: HUSKS AND HAUNTS
The inverted hospital seems to have trouble deciding the exact formation of its hallways, whether the new arrivals should be walking on the ceiling, floors, or walls. But one thing that is certain: this place isn’t entirely deserted. Warnings of “Beware the Husks” have been spray painted on the walls. Metallic bodies line those same halls, some of them broken open. A wet trail leads from the broken Husks to the rafters… Where several odd monsters wait to drop down. Some look like they’ve merged with the hospital equipment, while others look like they’ve been cobbled together from different body parts. And all of them look ready to turn the newcomers into a corpse, or part of a specimen collection.

Strange, malformed chimeric creatures that are Unknown stalk the hallways. Unknowns come in three different colors, red aligned with fire, green with poison, and purple with lightning.

Adding to that are the various screens flickering on, and diagnose new arrivals as infected. The screens declare the infection seems to be contained, but requires further study… And if the monsters aren't enough to worry about, there’s also the restraint systems trying to activate and tie the new arrivals down.
04: TESTING (CW: Needles)
The deeper someone plunges into the hospital, the more the building reacts to them. More defenses are deployed, treating them as thieves or intruders. Traps and monsters alike wait for them, with syringes melded into the forms of attackers, or lining places where someone might step or reach for. The syringes make a quick bite on skin… But it’s only a few minutes later where the effects become clear. Something in those syringes is now in the blood and forcing monster transformations. There might be an antidote amongst the supplies… Or the newcomers might need to rely on each other, in order to stay anchored.

The needles can also force temporary Swarm traits, along with:
+Group Mind: compelled to link thoughts with other Drifters, to share emotions, memories, and achieve cohesion.
+An increasing reliance on telepathy/empathy/etc in place of speech.
+Increasing collectivist mindset. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few; this becomes more evident during high stress situations.
+Compelled to hunt and share their prey with others.
+Gravity Affinity: If possessing wings or the ability to wall climb, may freely hunt/traverse corrupted gravity areas.
05: LONG WAY DOWN
A portion of the gas station breaks away with groan and a rumble. And it is slowly pulled up and up, taking a portion of new comers with it! They (and anyone watching) will need to act fast, as gravity starts to go weird the further they rise. They’ll need to find a way back down, taking any supplies from the now-floating garage that they can grab.

What’s more, they are drifting closer to the broken moon, and that seems to be having a strange effect on those stranded on the new floating ruin. They may start to feel their control fray, and their forms shift, the higher they rise.

In terms of getting back down, there’s a handful of tow lines in the ruin that might work as ropes. There’s also a few pieces of rock that are floating up more slowly, and could work as stairs back down… Or there’s just jumping and falling fifty feet and hoping for the best.
06: PSYCHIC ECHOES
There's one last quirk to this area; a few scattered bits of odd plantlife, and the odd dead brain monster. While these things aren't a threat on their own (beyond being unnerving) they still pack a psychic punch; mainly in the form of temporary psychic abilities.

It's possible that after coming in contact with either plants or corpses, newcomers will find themselves gifted with either empathy (projecting or receiving emotions) telepathy, OR the ability to share their dreams with others, and having their dreams influenced by others in turn. This effect fades in just a day or so, but is still capable of causing mishaps.

MICRO ENCOUNTERS:

PLEASE NOTE! These are small bits of set dressing for players to include in threads if they wish, rather than full fledged prompts or events. You may handwave your exploration of these areas, or thread them out.

Broadcast: The garage contains a few burnt out monitors. But a handful of them are playing a message over and over again on loop, filled with static. It’s a recording of important looking people in lab coats advising people to remain indoors and avoiding all objects falling from the sky. Especially “moon shards.” They insist that they are working to contain and cure the infection, but the safest action is to remain inside.

Warped Air: As seen in Long Way Down, the air overhead has strange warped pockets in it. There seem to be slightly different shards hanging suspended in the air, looking more silvery than the surrounding rocks. Almost like it could have fallen from the broken moon overhead.

Medical supplies: Most of the medical supplies found in the hospital seem to consist of healing salves and potions, a handful of healing herbs, and a few antidotes for poison or sickness. As for reverting transformations… It’s advised that new comers be careful of taking any experimental medicine. It may revert a change. It may also leave them hallucinating nightmares and fears, and they’ll be wanting someone close by to help administer the drug.

NAVIGATION || RESERVES || APPLICATIONS













undyingcrow: (steepled fingers)

[personal profile] undyingcrow 2025-05-24 03:47 pm (UTC)(link)
[Akechi accepts the bottle with a small sigh. She's new, so he can't blame her for being caught off guard, even with his own appearance in mind.]

We're all changing. All of this...

[He gestures at himself with his free hand.]

Is a result of my extended stay here. Before that, I was entirely human.
undyingcrow: (steepled fingers)

[personal profile] undyingcrow 2025-05-24 03:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Regrettably, you may accrue further changes.

[His wings partially unfold for emphasis.

Really, he's quite the sight, between the horns, the talons, the feathers, the ears... to say nothing of the scorpion tail he recently obtained.]


Almost everyone here has grown more... monstrous, for lack of a better word. Even nonhuman inhabitants are subject to the moon's so-called blessings.
serialmurderbot: (huh what)

summoning circle

[personal profile] serialmurderbot 2025-05-24 03:52 pm (UTC)(link)
[The crash of body and equipment all falling to the ground is what convinces SecUnit (reluctantly) to step into the garage. It's tended to avoid this place since waking up in here, aside from quick forays in to document the runes and the differences from place to place, but it's all too familiar with the sound a human body makes when it slams in to something.

And - yep, that's a human. And not one in good shape. It spots the knife at the same time as it spots the bloody arm, and stops in place.]


Do you need assistance?

[It has no visible weapons on it, just a boring old hoodie with a slightly patched sleeve, and a cloth facemask on covering the lower half of its face. But there are hints of something - off. Its voice doesn't quite sound human any more with all the buzzing, and a close examination of its visible hands reveals seams in the flesh, like paneling.]
serialmurderbot: (headache)

[personal profile] serialmurderbot 2025-05-24 03:58 pm (UTC)(link)
[So SecUnit's first thought is monster.

In its defense, okay: while there have been plenty of people in the Convoy who've experienced changes, most of them are still vaguely person-shaped. Or, in its case, it's been entombed in a metal husk and therefore not exposed to some of the most horrifying and extensive changes. There are plenty of monsters, but everyone in the Convoy has remained relatively humanoid, in at least 50% of their body composition.

Which means that it's powering up energy weapons and aiming them, until Patience speaks and it immediately shuts that shit down. Fuck.]


Yeah, it's bullshit. [No, it doesn't know what it's agreeing is bullshit, but given how much literally everything here is, agreement is a safe option.]
acrocanthosaurus: (07)

[personal profile] acrocanthosaurus 2025-05-24 04:16 pm (UTC)(link)
[that's a weird sight but Patience is too distracted by human-scale people seeming like toddlers, see above, to feel threatened. But it agrees and so she's moved to elaborate. She claps her jaws shut on nothing as if she could bite the problem.]

I play basketball. 'Basketball player turns into little-armed dinosaur' is already an amazingly stupid obvious joke. Hilarious. I don't need... [she swings her heavy head back and forth as if having bitten the problem she's worrying it.]

This is going to waste a lot of time before I can get back and do what I gotta do to actually go home, isn't it? [Physically she is distinctly growling, even if her psychic overlay voice isn't:] I hate time travel.
acrocanthosaurus: (10)

[personal profile] acrocanthosaurus 2025-05-24 04:25 pm (UTC)(link)
[Patience sighs deeply. Her breath smells like carrion]

So you've not always been a... what are you? [now she inhales audibly through her oblong snout] Sphinx... bug... man?

[she's not totally ignorant of mythology but not up on all the monsters either.]

This is such bullshit. I'm a basketball player. I used to do track.
serialmurderbot: (this is stupid)

[personal profile] serialmurderbot 2025-05-24 04:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Ugh. Okay, so this was a fucking mistake. SecUnit shifts under Heat's evaluating stare, its posture stiffening. One arm by its side drops down into a ready position, only it has no gun to reach for. Not that it really expects an attack, but something about its posture carries the dislike of the staring, particularly when Heat's attention is closer to its face.

"Current location unknown," it says. "According to broadcasts on the Convoy's local network, the ultimate destination is Nirvana." It's not speaking flatly or robotically, though the choice of words might seem that way - until it adds on, "unless you think turning into a weird monster and going on a killing rampage is the goal."

There's an edge to that statement, like the answer to that question will matter.
serialmurderbot: (ugh)

[personal profile] serialmurderbot 2025-05-24 04:28 pm (UTC)(link)
[What the fuck is basketball, it nearly asks, but it doesn't actually care that much, and the ball part makes it obvious through context that it's one of those human games that it's had to break up now and again.

Less important mostly because:]


This place does that. [Beat.] The fuck do you mean, time travel?
iron_stomach: (pic#17860761)

[personal profile] iron_stomach 2025-05-24 04:40 pm (UTC)(link)
It's almost like listening to Gale, though the cadence is different the words sound about right. .. Well the first part is anyway, the second not so much.

They weren't supposed to wind up in some random place still GOING to Nirvana, they won. And though lacking information in extremes, Heat continues to jump to conclusions that back up his own beliefs and ideas. SecUnit doesn't say they DIDN'T come from the Junkyard, or wasn't part of the conquered tribes, therefore it was. It's only the last part that gets a snort. "That's nothing new. We've been turning into demons for a while." He's been turning into a weird monster and going on a killing rampage for a while now! And he doesn't sound at all bothered by this fact, he'd always rather liked Agni and the power that came with the demon.

Maybe SecUnit's one of the very rare few that got their atma late, so this is new to it. And it didn't have any obvious mark, orange or otherwise.. "Pick your tribe carefully if you haven't already. It'd be a shame to eat the first guy I run into out here."
undyingcrow: (smug)

[personal profile] undyingcrow 2025-05-24 04:51 pm (UTC)(link)
[He snorts at the description. That's certainly a new one.]

Probably closer to a chimera, even if not in the traditional sense. My transformation isn't even complete yet, either, so I'm sure to get even more beastly with time.

[Still, he can understand the frustration. Basketball would be difficult with such short arms...]

But who knows? Perhaps your transformation will even things out and allow you to indulge in sports once more.
facethefacts: ass out in the wasteland (thinking about tear-off pants)

[personal profile] facethefacts 2025-05-24 05:13 pm (UTC)(link)
"Oooh. Now you're speaking my language."

Deacon arches off of the seat to pat at his pockets, stopping when he finds something he's looking for and fishing it out before flopping back down: a semi-crushed pack of cigarettes.

"Trade you one indulgence for another. You smoke?"

He's already pulling one from the pack and fitting it between his own lips, but then holds it out to Danse in offering. It is not beneath him to christen this absurd vehicle with the stink of nicotine, but he'll definitely open the windows... there seems to even be a skylight amongst the blue sky ceiling. Once Danse accepts his trade, Deacon hops up to do just that before lighting anything.

"So what do you think of her now?" he asks, grunting as he pushes open the skylight window. "Pretty sweet, if you ask me. I'm thinking I can fit a rack for weapons on that wall over there... maybe throw out some of these empty seats for a mattress and then, WHAM! Mobile safehouse."
serialmurderbot: (named murder)

[personal profile] serialmurderbot 2025-05-24 05:46 pm (UTC)(link)
That's enough to bump the certainty up to 98% - this man has some sort of tie to Serph's digital junkyard, which probably means another AI implanted into a human form. Potentially another rogue, given everything. But SecUnit remembers what Serph said about breaking from the Law in order to not have to devour the weak, and this asshole doesn't seem bothered by that.

So SecUnit turns its stare on Heat. The strange buzzing sound that echoes its voice gets thicker, more hair-raising. It shoves up one of its jacket sleeves, deliberately deploying the energy weapons in its forearms. The skin around it is strange, the edges of it going grey and platelike, seamed like it's some kind of automaton.

"That," it says, "would be a bad idea."
taediosum: (pic#15693868)

[personal profile] taediosum 2025-05-24 05:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Sadly, no.

[ Not that he suspects it'd help much, in this case. But it couldn't hurt.

At least the garage doesn't look like it's going to float entirely away. Like so much of the wreckage, around here, it seems like floating just so inconveniently out of reach is where it might settle. For now. ]


Was there something in there you needed? [ Or worse— ] Or someone else?
taediosum: (pic#17385304)

[personal profile] taediosum 2025-05-24 05:49 pm (UTC)(link)
"Researcher, technically. But since I'm a little far removed from said research, these days, I guess it is back to doctoring."

Which he always manages to sound spectacularly reluctant about, even though he's the one who's put himself back in the position of taking on as much of the Convoy's first aid as anyone will let him.

"If you actually need medical care, I can handle it once we're out of here."
bufudine: (Default)

[personal profile] bufudine 2025-05-24 06:19 pm (UTC)(link)
The demon in the back of Serph's mind bristles at the claim, its unending hunger a constant companion, the concept of sharing a kill completely foreign to his demon without Serph reining Varuna in. A snarl escapes Serph's mouth all the same, but Serph turns his attention onto the other monsters; it seems clear to him that the other combatant is competent.

Serph, by contrast, isn't nearly so acrobatic; his demon is taller than most humans and has limbs partially covered in carapace as tough as armour. While he shows a distinct preference of using the blades within his arms to cleave off limbs and stab important organs, Serph isn't afraid to use physical strength to meet their attacks.

It's only when the monsters lie dead that Serph reverts, the demonic form slipping away in favour of a form that would look human... if it weren't for the six wings and glowing hair and eyes. He is dressed in a blue checkered halter top and slacks, wearing sandals that seem out of place for someone who had just been fighting strange, disfigured monsters.

When Serph speaks, his voice is calm and even, wings folding back so they're tidily out of his way. "Are you unharmed?"
iron_stomach: (pic#17860759)

[personal profile] iron_stomach 2025-05-24 06:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Heat's as close to being a rogue as an AI can get without actually being one. He still acknowledges orders .. at least from one very specific source. One that happens to be in the vicinity, somewhere, in theory.

How much of his abrasiveness is nature and how much is some effort to provoke others so he can freely tear them apart is a very, very good question. As SecUnit deploys what looks awfully like little guns from its forearms, the latter might be working; the buzzing reminding him of the second encounter with Beelzebub. Does this guy turn into a fly too? ..Then again, they'd never seen Beelzebub's human form. .... Naaah.

But the smirk that crosses his face isn't even remotely friendly, leaving the view of the blue sky and its wisps of white clouds for later in favor of something more edible. "Sounds like you made your choice already. Hope you've got more to bring than those little pea-shooters, if you're gonna be stupid enough to start something." The smirk widens. "Last chance to do the smart thing and pick the right side while you can."
solitarysoul: (hmph2)

[personal profile] solitarysoul 2025-05-24 06:32 pm (UTC)(link)
I dunno, the standing and staring seems to be working pretty well so far. You don't look like you're in danger or anything and there's a chance gravity will flip back on sooner or later. Or reverse. Or something else.
bufudine: (seriously. quit it :|)

[personal profile] bufudine 2025-05-24 07:15 pm (UTC)(link)
Of course his comrades would follow their leader. But he did not want them to follow him after death. It isn't often that the others would go against his will, only really happening after they gained their Atma.

He doesn't mind it, even though it meant keeping control of the rapidly growing tribe became more and more difficult.

"When we enter this world, we are marked with sigils that turn us into monsters." Serph's wings bend in an unnatural way at times, and he demonstrates that with a twist of the upper pair so the long pinions frame his face. And, in a rare moment of complaint, Serph adds flatly, "...It's slow."

The situation is familiar. They are branded and turned into monsters. Their objective is to reach Nirvana. The only real difference is that there are no other tribes to fight, only a small group of allies and a world of unthinking enemies.
iron_stomach: (Default)

..gonna taste the rainbow. if he can catch it

[personal profile] iron_stomach 2025-05-24 07:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Let's go!

[Heat's capable - or had been - of using some small measure of magic, it was never his best role in a hunt, and thus COULD if he had to, usually strike at range. But he doesn't like to, and chooses not to, as the hammer splits open with a tattletale sound of building energy in a way that can't be mistaken as anything other than a long ranged weapon. Instead he lunges straight into the blast, intent on closing the gap between them as quickly as he can.

It's a testament to exactly how tough that crimson and gold monstrosity is that he doesn't pay for it with his immediate death. Energy and that strange webbing of color and light sluice off his hide as Heat staggers in a lurch to one side, still visibly more or less perfectly fine.

He isn't. Appearances are deceptive, when the damage is internal. He manages to right himself with unnerving swiftness and lunges, reaching for both Jayce and his weapon, to slap the hammer aside and strike with sharply curved claws. It's no accident that the side struck is not the one he's employing to actually try to hit the rotting deer-man with, but it could look coincidental.]
iron_stomach: (pic#17860758)

[personal profile] iron_stomach 2025-05-24 07:31 pm (UTC)(link)
Crossing his arms over his chest, he frowns at the offending wings as if they're the source of all the problems going on, watching them move in ways that normal bone and wings shouldn't allow for.

It is very familiar. It's not the first time they've been branded, been changed.. but Heat liked Agni.

And it hadn't been slow. It had been one sudden, heady rush of power and hunger. "So what's this one called then?" Anyone else probably wouldn't violate Serph's personal space, but Heat doesn't hesitate to reach to grab a wing, careful for all the suddenness of it. Wings tended to be delicate, and he wasn't interested in doing harm. Finding out what it felt like though.. "Guess its teeth and claws haven't come in yet. You look defenseless."
Edited 2025-05-24 19:31 (UTC)
phantomshow: (we are the youth)

[personal profile] phantomshow 2025-05-24 09:01 pm (UTC)(link)
“Thought you liked still being able to surprise me?”

Ren grins widely, and for a moment, everything feels like maybe it will all be fine. He steps back to return to a casual lean against the van, hands resting in his pockets, as he watches Akechi fly off into the night.

The moment of feeling fine fades shortly after Ren loses sight of Akechi, and doubt begins to settle into the tiny pressure cracks of his heart. He’d said so much tonight, both in and out of the shared dream. Inside the dream had been harder to control, but the words exchanged after waking - that’s where Ren’s unsure he made the right decision to speak what was on his mind and in his heart. Dreams are irrational; he could’ve more easily waved off his confessions to the nature of the unconscious mind.

Maybe his decision tonight to say more when he typically says less will end up ruining the renewed bond between Akechi and himself. That’s the cold constriction of fear that overtakes him now. His friends know him to be composed and confident, because he doesn’t let on when he feels otherwise and they don’t question him about it. If any of them were here now, there’s no doubt they’d be shown otherwise - unwittingly, due to the strange effects projecting his emotions in invisible waves.

It’s a good thing they’re not here, Ren decides, for more reasons than his ability to keep that mask in place. He catches the smooth leather of the glove in his pocket between thumb and forefinger, and it grounds him a small amount. Akechi is right - he needs to prepare for their upcoming duel.

He needs to prepare for everything else yet to come, too.
androidvictoriam: (wary and shadowed)

[personal profile] androidvictoriam 2025-05-24 10:19 pm (UTC)(link)
You just look a little...drained.

[ And he can't say he hasn't seen this place make people terribly ill, if that's what can be said to have happened to Jayce. It would be an understatement, in that case, but he doesn't know quite how else to describe the transformations that none of them have so far escaped. ]

From what I'm told, we're likely being coerced into cleaning up someone else's ritual mess, but that isn't the worst of it.

This place, Nora--it changes people. Something here is mutating us, like FEV. I haven't seen anyone get away unscathed yet.
phantomshow: (where our innocence is so short)

[personal profile] phantomshow 2025-05-24 11:56 pm (UTC)(link)
Ren defaults to taking care of others, so if Ruby says she needs a break, he's more than happy to oblige. Up ahead, there's an intersection, and the path down the side hallway is slightly better lit than forging straight ahead. Since the creatures they've encountered here tend to favor the shadows, he guesses it might be safer to take the better lit path to find a resting place.

"This way?" he suggests, pointing toward the hallway to the side. As he turns toward her, whatever's lighting the area flickers, and it triggers a sharp burst of pain in the left side of his head. Ren is caught off guard, and he clutches the side of his head, wincing as a memory surges to the front of his mind - a dimly lit interrogation room and a trio of hulking men in dress suits, the ringleader manhandling him while the other two stand guard and watch, impassive.

Come on, cooperate, the man standing over him says, smugly, or what, you want another shot?

There's a rising swell of pain - the man's heel grinding his head into the floor, his aching shoulder, the handcuffs holding his hands behind his back and slicing into his wrists - mixing with terror, icy and sharp, cutting through the haze of the drugs. Ren keeps so much caged within himself, and he doesn't realize the cage has now been broken open, freely projecting his feelings out into the space around him.
phantomshow: (and politicians are so sure)

[personal profile] phantomshow 2025-05-25 12:21 am (UTC)(link)
[Working together is more than agreeable, and Ren nods silently to signal it. It's nice to have someone at his side to help watch his back again. He's used to working with a team, and he's surprised to find himself missing them so much here, though he'd never wish for any of them to be caught up in this world's dangers after they'd just finished facing their own back home.

Any more of them, at least. Akechi was already here. He misses Akechi too, but that's not really what he wants to be thinking about at the moment.]


Where I'm from, some healers still make medicines with herbs. [He thinks of Dr. Takemi and her custom blends, the questionable clinical trials he participated in to help her refine her formula to cure a very sick girl.] But some use machines. It depends on what's needed for the patient.

[If the machinery here is unfamiliar to her and she's previously worked in a castle, it sounds like her home is much less technologically advanced than 21st century Japan.]

Tell me more about your village?
phantomshow: (apologize for another day)

[personal profile] phantomshow 2025-05-25 12:29 am (UTC)(link)
She's lost him again at "ren faire." He rubs a hand over the back of his neck, frowning lightly as he tries to puzzle out what she means.

"I ... guess people would say I'm fair?" he murmurs, not understanding how this ties in to what supplies are available for the taking in this distorted hospital building. Not important, or at least it's not as important as his concern for her safety.

"It's pretty dangerous in here," he says, not commenting on the recklessness because he has no leg to stand on in that regard. He'd lost count of how many times Makoto had wearily described him as such, usually paired with a long-suffering sigh. "Do you have a weapon?"

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