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













phantomshow: (see the local loves a fighter)

as well they should tbh

[personal profile] phantomshow 2025-06-01 01:11 am (UTC)(link)
Quickly is a good way to finish off enemies on the field - Ren has no objections. He nods, murmuring a wordless sound of agreement, and calls up his Persona in a blaze of blue fire.

“Arsène! Ravage them!” he all but howls with barely controlled fury. The Persona picks the closest creature to demolish with a spell of spiky orange physical strength, then fades into Ren until he’s needed again.

Ren’s angry - at himself for slipping up, at the rapidly resurfacing memory of being drugged and beaten - and these monsters are a good target for releasing that simmering rage. The next one won’t be so lucky. Ren’s fist curls tighter around the blade, and he launches himself at a second monstrosity with a spinning leap to nimbly slice and stab at it until it falls to the ground.
phantomshow: (i got my cloak and dagger)

[personal profile] phantomshow 2025-06-01 03:49 am (UTC)(link)
[Ren nods, feeling a little safer in opening up. She’s not recoiling, she genuinely seems to want to help. He trusts so few people with the things he keeps locked up inside of himself, but he believes he can trust her.

My friend. Rival? I don’t know what we are. It’s complicated. But I thought he died, back home. I thought I killed him. I couldn’t save him. But he’s here now, and I don’t think he’s going to speak to me again.

He hurt a lot of people. Some of my friends. He tried to kill me. But he’s been hurt a lot too. And he’s different now, he’s better. He’s important to me. But I don’t think it’s enough.

I want him to be happy, but I don’t know if I can be OK with it if what makes him happy is … not me.


Ren feels every inch the insecure, lovesick teenager he is at the moment, and he hates it. He’s Joker, leader of the infamous Phantom Thieves. He’s supposed to have his shit together. A strangled laugh dies quiet in his throat and he rakes fingers through his hair.]


Sorry, [he repeats, and gives her an apologetic ghost of a smile.]

We don’t know much about the ritual. Others might explain better. [He gestures in the direction of the Convoy. Her other question, however, is one he can answer.] Everyone changes into a monster.
xxiis: (4)

[personal profile] xxiis 2025-06-01 10:30 am (UTC)(link)
That's not strange at all! To tell you the truth, I can do something similar. The power I use to call forth many Persona is called the Wild Card. A strange man with a long nose told me it's a unique ability.

[Kotone remembers talking to Igor about her potential and what that could mean for her future. The strange man with a long nose would often appear in her dreams. A part of her is hoping that she doesn't sound completely ridiculous. ]

Persona's are a reflection of one's inner self. Arsène must be a lot like you.
xxiis: (10)

[personal profile] xxiis 2025-06-01 10:58 am (UTC)(link)
That's a bit concerning, but not too surprising. The people here are all unique in their own way. It's like some part of them mutated into something different. Horns instead of ears, fangs instead of teeth. You get the idea.

[She ponders on what that means for her. Kotone's uncertain about her physical state of being. To be honest, she could feel changes within herself too. It feels almost as if her humanity is slipping away and she can't get it back. For now, she'll keep most of these feelings to herself. Her expression becomes a tad more somber as she worries for her friend, Akihiko. ]

An ordinary person won't be aware of the Dark Hour's existence. The Apathy Syndrome cases seem to be directly related to the Dark Hour. I'm worried about Sanada-san so I hope he's alright.
phantomshow: (kill me if you dare)

[personal profile] phantomshow 2025-06-01 05:51 pm (UTC)(link)
[A long nose … recognition sparks in his expression.]

Igor?

[She definitely doesn’t sound ridiculous to Ren, but he understands how explaining the Velvet Room would sound to anyone who hadn’t seen it. There’s a reason he never mentioned it to his friends until they all ended up there together. As for Arsène … he can’t deny what she says is true. After all, when they first met, he told Ren I am the rebel’s soul that resides within you. How much clearer could their connection be? Ren rubs a hand over the back of his head, still grinning bright as fireworks against the night sky.]

I guess so. He looks better in a hat, though.

[She’s a Wild Card too, just like him, and that resonates for Ren, somewhere deep in his soul. He can already feel a connection forming, a chain linked around his heart snapping in two.

He’s never met anyone else with his same powers. Akechi was similar but different, a Wild Card but unfulfilled, intentionally disadvantaged by the God of Control, held back from developing his potential. But if Ren and Akechi are two sides of the same coin, Kotone feels more like Ren looking in a mirror and finding a reflection of himself as he is, rather than who he could have been under different circumstances.

For all the ways he’s felt seen and understood by the Confidants he bonded with over the past year, Ren can’t help feeling like Kotone already can see and understand him better than any of them ever could.]


It’s so nice to meet you. I’m Ren Amamiya. Just Ren is fine, [he adds, and gives her the customary bow of greeting.]
cantgetoverit: (14)

[personal profile] cantgetoverit 2025-06-01 09:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah. Kind of, except for, you know, in reverse, I guess.

[It's not really a terrible comparison really, and she is almost a little surprised coming from someone who doesn't know what gravity is.

Maggie grabs onto the ladder and carefully turns it over, trying to avoid hitting Felicia with it before holding it steady for her to grab onto.]


Okay. You ready?
taediosum: (pic#17385346)

[personal profile] taediosum 2025-06-01 09:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Stick around. You'll get used to it.

[ He sounds both tired and sympathetic, because he wouldn't really wish a long stay here on anyone. ]

I'm guessing you haven't been up long, if that's still a shock?
undyingcrow: (distant)

[personal profile] undyingcrow 2025-06-02 04:28 am (UTC)(link)
It's different for everyone. Sanada-san is less of a clusterfuck of mismatched parts.

[Corvid, big cat, some horned animal, and now scorpion... Really, it's all such an absurd combination.

But it is what it is. His tail flicks idly, but makes no move to strike.]


If you're aware of the Dark Hour, that would make you a Persona user, correct?
xxiis: (7)

[personal profile] xxiis 2025-06-02 06:49 pm (UTC)(link)
This is the first time I've met someone that recognizes Igor.

[It's honestly relieving to hear that Ren's aware of Igor and has the ability to summon multiple Personas. That makes Kotone feel a little less alone. Everybody else either had one Persona or had difficulty controlling their own abilities. It wasn't too unusual to see a Persona go berserk. Kotone's witnessed firsthand how devastating that could be. Ren seems to have a good grip on his abilities. She's not worried about his power potentially going out of control. After all, he is just like her. ]

My name's Kotone Shiomi. You can call me Kotone! It's nice to meet you too, Ren-kun!

[Her smile perks up as she beams brightly, having found a new friend. There's something special about their encounter that she can't quite put into words. ]

Have you been to the Velvet Room? I was told it's a place that exists between dream, reality, mind, and matter.
xxiis: (9)

[personal profile] xxiis 2025-06-03 12:07 am (UTC)(link)
Sanada-san's one of the strongest people I know. He isn't going to give up without a fight.

[Akihiko's a professional boxer. His strength far surpasses that of an average person.]

You're right on the mark! My Persona's name is Orpheus. This might sound kind of strange, but are you a Persona user as well?
iron_stomach: (pic#17860761)

[personal profile] iron_stomach 2025-06-03 02:34 am (UTC)(link)
There is an obvious follow-up question here of 'what's a bird', except he's pretty sure he's seen them before. Little tiny winged things. Not worth catching. They're ... some important symbol he can't quite recall.

He shakes his head, chasing the thought away. It didn't matter, he could get a picture. This isn't cold, so they might not live anywhere nearby, but there's other ways to get an image. "A fat swimming bird that can't fly, huh. And they live in cold places?"

It sounds a little odd to Heat, but he's willing to accept there's really weird creatures out there he hasn't encountered before. "If you have pictures, I want to see."
iron_stomach: (Default)

[personal profile] iron_stomach 2025-06-03 02:37 am (UTC)(link)
Not every demon has a weakness you can exploit that easily.

[Although there's an edge of annoyance creeping into Heat's tone, he doesn't actually .. stop and just walk away. It would be easier, but his assumption of her nature and skills remains firmly in place.

Sera looked helpless, too.]


But most stuff dies if you stab it enough. The hell's a naginata?
wereperrito: (smilebig)

[personal profile] wereperrito 2025-06-03 03:18 am (UTC)(link)
"All right. Would you like to come with me, then?" Jack offers. "The car, and its parts, will still be here when you get back." He doubts anyone will try to steal either one. They're all assigned their own car, and nobody else is going to rip their own seats out.
serialmurderbot: (ugh)

[personal profile] serialmurderbot 2025-06-03 12:58 pm (UTC)(link)
A SecUnit.

[Yeah so that's an evasive answer. It has to know that, but it still withdraws as soon as Maggie takes the knife, its gaze sliding away until Maggie remains only in its peripheral vision at best.

There's a lot of ways it could answer the question honestly, which. The truth is statistically a better option, given the problems its dealt with trying to lie. But there's the kind of truth that's true, and the kind that is 88% likely to lead to it being attacked and Maggie running off into the middle of the actually more dangerous hospital.

So no 'I'm a rogue Murderbot who's probably losing it,' though that feels pretty accurate right now. Instead, it goes for;]


It's my job to help humans survive high-risk situations.

[Is it really quiet in here? It's really quiet in here.]
iron_stomach: (pic#17860753)

[personal profile] iron_stomach 2025-06-03 03:53 pm (UTC)(link)
It's not something he answers right away, instead studying the small sea of ruined vehicles, the convoy, the weird shit all floating around in the sky from messed up gravity, and weighs the possibility Jack might actually be here to lure him into an ambush. Did Nirvana have to worry about those?

That would be awfully silly, and convenient for him. He could use a snack. "Fine. If someone wants to steal it that bad, they can have it. There's gotta be more keys around."
hexrot: (pic#17857977)

[personal profile] hexrot 2025-06-03 04:13 pm (UTC)(link)
[ it's starting to hurt a bit. the plunge of countless knives into the softness of jayce's side spills a kidney, absolutely destroys his liver into two separate, gory pieces as all that gorges between them is the viscosity of jayce's blood and the arcane radiation that came littered with it. bits of tissue and stringy veins, hot mouthfuls of carnage will slob between them, back and forth; jayce pries his nails into the wound he makes from his teeth, grabs and pulls apart like a wedge to widen the injury and pull more vitality from it. his body stitches itself back together, closing wounds just as they're ripped open and replacing organs torn from the inside of his framework to keep his momentum going. it seems the same is happening to his enemy, an endless loop of consumption and healing.

until heat strikes too close to his chest, to his heart— a cavity that is already open and so easy to pull from. the heart isn't jayce's, originally— it was transplanted, given so that he may live again; tearing the pump from its snew would mean death, surely, and jayce was not going to allow the invasion of something actually precious to him. his hands respond to his emotions, frightened on top of frantic and feral, and when he drops his weight all the way back to thrust them into a fall, together

jayce's grip freezes. literally freezes. ice cracks from his palms and surges into the creature's hide like barbs, invades and spreads like frigid wildfire. when jayce parts his stringy, bloodstained maw to bugle, a terrible sound of death, the temperature around them drops, and drops, and keeps on dropping until metal groans in protest, frost collects on hospital beds, doorframes, and creeps closer to the cause.

he'll freeze the place over if it meant survival. ]
iron_stomach: (nom)

cw for ongoing mayhem, general tw: heat

[personal profile] iron_stomach 2025-06-03 04:18 pm (UTC)(link)
It doesn't taste how Heat expects. That's interesting. This won't be the first time his teeth have scraped across metal, he could with some effort shear right through most metals he's encountered but there's no real time to attempt to do so, as his target is now inconveniently out of easy biting range.

And still shooting. It's going to take a lot of those energy blasts to bring the asura down, an excellent tactic in theory but it seems Heat is obnoxiously durable. Enough so that when he rolls to his own feet, still showered in irritating, painful gunfire, and immediately attacks again striaght into the gunfire, working on driving SecUnit backwards and away and into the cluster of vehicles waiting for drivers.

Or slicing it open. Either way.
bufudine: (Default)

[personal profile] bufudine 2025-06-03 04:35 pm (UTC)(link)
When fighting with his Tribe, Serph would loosen his control over Varuna and allow the demon to roar and bellow in victory before tearing into still-warm flesh of their fallen opponents. But Ren is still new here and there are few amongst the Convoy's population who know of his demon's needs, so he keeps Varuna reined in, quietly efficient as he cuts a bloody swathe through the monsters in contrast to Ren's own bellowed summons, no less effective with his knife and (Serph's certain) Persona.

Though Serph mostly employs the blades in his arms, occasionally he makes use of ice magic to control the swarm of monsters, either by slowing those close to him with freezing breath or creating pillars of ice to delay other monsters' approach while Ren finishes their current prey.

It's only when the flow of monsters stops that Serph reverts back to his winged human self, his clothes thankfully shifting with him, his halter top and slacks strangely prisine considering all the fighting.

"You've fought many battles before," Serph observes. In an oblique way, it's a good work that he would never think to actually say. "Is Arsène a Persona?"
undyingcrow: (thinking)

[personal profile] undyingcrow 2025-06-03 11:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Orpheus, of Greek mythology? Quite the tragic figure...

[But then, one might argue the same of at least one of his past Personas. Still, it's a fair question, and he nods.]

I initially had two Personas, Robin Hood and Loki, but they recently fused into Hereward, granting me additional power at the cost of Robin Hood's bless skills.
iron_stomach: (pic#17860752)

[personal profile] iron_stomach 2025-06-04 12:45 am (UTC)(link)
[Every now and then an opponent's a fair amount tougher than the other demons around them, where fighting alone was a terrible idea because of some unwelcome quirk to their powers. Having comrades along meant there'd be breathing room to reorient, recover a bit and strategize against those more annoying foes.

Ones like this one, with unusually high rates of regeneration. Agni's durability is second to none, but without backup and not able to heal quite as quickly, not able to mend the damage of that first hammer-blast at all, it may only be a matter of time if he doesn't find a wound that sticks. He's patient enough when he has to be and there's only so much to tear apart before something doesn't heal, right?

Until the bite of cold, turning stinging pain to jagged agony as soon as it encroaches. He can handle that; it had taken time and a lot of frustration to learn Void Ice but he had, eventually. Except it doesn't respond. What should be a protective barrier against the crippling damage of ice is nothing at all.

Agni is a demon of fire, ice is its antithesis, the damage it causes exponential in comparison to pretty much anything else; Heat's not afraid, he's too used to fighting for that, but he knows as his target shrieks and ice builds across everything, the only way he's going to overcome the spreading frost and bitter cold is retreat - or reverting to human form, where elemental weaknesses ended but human fragility reigned instead.

Where being struck by arcane might didn't hinder him, or antlers tearing into his side, or the bite of blunt herbivore teeth ripping weakened flesh, ice forces a gutteral, snarling retreat, leaving red blood to freeze in his wake.]
phantomshow: (in a bar room brawl)

[personal profile] phantomshow 2025-06-04 01:57 am (UTC)(link)
Me too.

[Well, Morgana knew Igor, but didn’t remember. And the Igor Ren initially met wasn’t the real one anyway. Still, it’s comforting to meet someone who is as well acquainted with the mysteries of the Velvet Room as he is. It definitely helps with feeling less alone.]

Mhm. [He nods.] Many times. The wardens were pretty demanding.

[Hmm, maybe that warrants further explanation. He adds:]

Caroline and Justine. Maybe you know them as Lavenza?
invisiblefloatinghead: (Wait a minute)

[personal profile] invisiblefloatinghead 2025-06-04 02:23 am (UTC)(link)
If only they could focus on more pleasant things, like homework. Homework is easy! Bizarre moon monster shenanigans are hard.

"Oh." Nope, he's sure not liking this. "That...probably begs for more research, if it could be done, er, safely. I suppose it's difficult to find decent shelter with. With moon fragments falling from the sky."
invisiblefloatinghead: (Scientifical Glasses Adjustment)

[personal profile] invisiblefloatinghead 2025-06-04 02:25 am (UTC)(link)
He grimaces at the mention of monsters. "So I've been told." He sighs. "This has been a bit much for an old man." Despite only being middle-aged. "I'd greatly appreciate your assistance getting out, Miss...?"
purplexing: (it's the end of the world)

[personal profile] purplexing 2025-06-04 03:52 am (UTC)(link)
"Agreed. Although I don't know how possible it is to do a whole lot around here safely." Donnie casts a glance around; case in point.

"...speaking of, we should probably get you to more level ground," he suggests, turning to plot out the best course through things. "And you'll probably find keys in your pocket- conveniently for a vehicle so you can join our 'merry' entourage."
serialmurderbot: (leap)

[personal profile] serialmurderbot 2025-06-04 02:48 pm (UTC)(link)
Energy weapons require sustained fire around any kind of armor, and it seems that the same is true of whatever hide covers Heat's demon - frustrating but not unsurprising. It tries to aim for potential weak points - the mouths, the places on his hands where the bladed bonelike weapons emerge, and braces for the charge that it's sure is going to follow.

Its reaction time has been down but in this moment it braces and jumps again, using the momentum to flip over Heat's head and away from the cluster of vehicles.

Sure, technically the vehicles could be better cover, and it has no trouble jumping on the roofs to dodge if needed, but here in the open, Heat will have to keep charging it until he manages a grab, or retreat, and it has no intention of giving him any more angles to get close.

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