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













wereperrito: (Default)

[personal profile] wereperrito 2025-06-06 05:33 pm (UTC)(link)
"Even if you find another car, this one might still follow you," Jack warns, starting towards the convoy proper, the trailer in the back where his little tailor's shop is. "We've seen that happen, when someone could not drive their own car for a while. It just caught up with the convoy a couple days later."
phantomshow: (i won't go your way)

[personal profile] phantomshow 2025-06-07 12:30 am (UTC)(link)
Ah, it’s nothing special.

[But it works, and that’s the important thing. Kotone’s enthusiasm is much appreciated, and Ren waves her in the direction he came from, back toward the entrance.]

This way.

[He keeps a careful watch on their surroundings as they make their way to the door. He’d cleared out the monsters on his way in, but who’s to say if they’ve regrouped since then?]
phantomshow: (and the message coming from my bones)

[personal profile] phantomshow 2025-06-07 12:52 am (UTC)(link)
It’s true; Ren spent the better part of the past year battling monsters in the Metaverse. He’d felt the most alive, the most free during those fights, and this one was a reminder of that fleeting sense of freedom. There’s a manic gleam in his eyes and a razor-sharpness to his smile as the last creature falls and he takes a moment to catch his breath.

“You too.” He nods, acknowledging the unspoken compliment. Serph’s transformability is as impressive as it is curious, and Ren considers how to ask about it without seeming rude, but answering Serph’s question comes first.

“He is.” It’s interesting, how open he can be about his power here. Several people have already commented on Arsène’s similarity to Akechi’s Hereward, but not many have known what they’re called by name.

“You’re familiar with Personas?”
iron_stomach: (pic#17860752)

[personal profile] iron_stomach 2025-06-07 12:59 am (UTC)(link)
[It is a testament to exactly how much influence Serph actually has over the temperamental redhead that for all the countless responses to Jayce's claim of self defense, none of them are actually spoken. Somehow, it's obvious they're being thought though.

Rookies did indeed have implication. Naive, inexperienced.

Beelzebub had been a rookie that got a little too big for his britches; rookies needed to be kept in hand or they'd run amok, the structure of tribes and their usual intense loyalties important to prevent it. But Jayce isn't marked in orange. Or any other tribe color. The low rumble resumes, distinctly displeased.]


Fine. [Obedience didn't mean he wouldn't grumble about it.] I'll let you go this time.

[Fearless he remains, but he's not stupid; re-engaging surrounded by ice and already injured wasn't high on Heat's priority list though that didn't mean he wouldn't claim otherwise. Regaining his 'human' form in a cascade of pale light, Agni's injuries seem to disappear, no obvious wounds marring the gray and black Junkyard armor, but they ARE still there.

The cold is far more tolerable immediately.]
iron_stomach: (pic#17860757)

[personal profile] iron_stomach 2025-06-07 01:03 am (UTC)(link)
The idea that a car can just ... follow people around earns the vehicle a long, suspicious look. Vehicles don't get autopilot, they shouldn't be following anyone around at all, and yet he doesn't get the sense Jack's claiming something impossible. "It damn well better not."

If he's leaving it behind it better STAY left behind! When it utterly fails to move immediately, slowly he turns to follow Jack instead of keeping an eye on it. "And if it tries we'll see how far it gets without tires."
propatriamori: (Thomas plz)

[personal profile] propatriamori 2025-06-07 12:34 pm (UTC)(link)
"The motorcycle taught you?" Interesting! If everything else is strange and different here, maybe the motorcycles are too?

What even more interesting is that the vehicles just follow the convoy. "Is it almost like a flock of birds? The vehicles all group together and follow each other?"
propatriamori: (solemn)

[personal profile] propatriamori 2025-06-07 12:40 pm (UTC)(link)
This is a distraction. Distractions are good; it keeps Edward from dwelling on what's going on, and how he's been plucked from everything he knows into whatever the hell this is. It also keeps him from ruminating on the war, and what it did to him.

He hears the person talking to him sit down, and turns himself so he's facing in that rough direction. He listen to what it has to say, taking in all the information SecUnit offers him.

"Have you been here since the very beginning, then?" Edward has no intention of wandering off, at least not deliberately, if they're protected by a shield. He has no defence against the local fauna, hostile or not!

"I'm Lieutenant Edward Courtenay." The title comes out automatically, not like it's something he'll expect to be called in the future. Edwards offers a hand in the direction of SecUnit's voice. "It's a pleasure to meet you, particularly given the circumstances. What shall I call you?"
solitarysoul: commisioned art (Default)

[personal profile] solitarysoul 2025-06-07 02:59 pm (UTC)(link)
"Y-yeah...its, I don't know, its weird here. All of the vehicles have stuff to help you drive them I think."

Like a flock of birds? Huh. "I guess it is, when we drive them we're all on the same road obviously. So its like, uh, a convoy but I guess that's like a flock of birds or school of fish.

"I don't have the slightest idea how any of it works. There are a lot of weird things here that are beyond what I knew."
propatriamori: (questioning)

[personal profile] propatriamori 2025-06-07 07:02 pm (UTC)(link)
"Can I ask what things were like, where you come from?" Edward is starting to figure out that people arrive here from different worlds and time periods, and he might as well start learning about other worlds.

"My world was at war." He gestures towards his face with his free hand. "I was a soldier. I got caught in a gas attack, and my mask failed."
solitarysoul: (Scope)

[personal profile] solitarysoul 2025-06-07 07:14 pm (UTC)(link)
"Um. I think my world was behind a lot of people's here. I-in terms of technology, at least.

"...we just came out of a war. Hopefully peace will last this time, but I guess its not like I'll be there to see it." And he didn't really have any people to hope were doing well, since he's not sure anyone survived Termina even if they weren't in his party.

Edward can't see it, but he winches a bit at the gas mention. "...That's horrible. I've seen scarring like that before. Its...g-gas is never a good thing to have to deal with."
xxiis: (9)

[personal profile] xxiis 2025-06-08 02:07 am (UTC)(link)
There's a lot more that I want to talk to you about. What was your life like? Did you go to school?

[ She eagerly follows him to his van. Kotone's always happy to spend time with others. They've only just met, but she already considers Ren to be a good friend of hers. ]

I think we might be around the same age!! I'm seventeen.

[ Their meeting feels special somehow. There's no way it was just a coincidence. ]
bufudine: (what're you thinking? :|)

[personal profile] bufudine 2025-06-08 03:26 am (UTC)(link)
Serph nods.

"There are others with Personas here." Akechi, Akihiko. Although the latter certainly had an... interesting... method of using his Persona. "It's your true self made manifest, correct?"

He makes a gesture towards where Ren had been stabbed with the needle, indicating he wants to look at the injury now that they isn't immediate danger.
wereperrito: (laugh)

[personal profile] wereperrito 2025-06-08 03:39 am (UTC)(link)
That surprises a little laugh out of Jack. "I would be impressed if it managed to follow us without tires, yes," he agrees. "My name is Jack, by the way." They might as well be introduced if he's giving him his orange penguin towels.
cantgetoverit: (pic#17835504)

[personal profile] cantgetoverit 2025-06-08 04:24 am (UTC)(link)
I can climb.

[It's a half truth. Is she physically capable of climbing? Yes. Does she like it? Especially if there's any kind of significant height involved? Absolutely not. Will she willingly admit that to SecUnit? Definitely not.

If it's the best way for them to get out of here, she'll manage it.]


What do you got in mind?
iron_stomach: (pic#17860754)

[personal profile] iron_stomach 2025-06-08 02:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Immediately, Jack Frost and Pyro Jack come to mind, and Heat frowns. Jack didn't look like either one, but that didn't mean there weren't more than one each. "That's your name, not the name of your demon?"

Or it's a coincidence. 'jack' had to come from somewhere.

"I'm Heat. Actual name." Since he just asked if Jack was his name or his demon's, reasonable to clarify the same for himself.
undyingcrow: (distant)

[personal profile] undyingcrow 2025-06-08 09:03 pm (UTC)(link)
I had to hone my skills over time, since I was entirely alone. Though, some of the abilities bestowed upon me were... less constructive in nature.

[He averts his eyes, his voice slightly clipped. Best not to go into too much detail about Call of Chaos for now.]

Truthfully, I wouldn't have had a term for Wild Cards, were it not for my rival. He's the one who embraced "bonds" and wielded a new Persona every week.

[A bit of hyperbole, but surely she understands.]
phantomshow: (paper on the wire)

[personal profile] phantomshow 2025-06-08 09:58 pm (UTC)(link)
[He wants to hear everything she has to say, and tell her everything, too. Ren isn’t typically a big talker, especially about himself; he’s more used to letting others carry their conversations and saying only what’s needed. But with Kotone, he feels like he can tell her anything, and he wants to be known as much as he wants to know her, too.]

That’s right, [he nods,] I’m seventeen too. Just finished my second year at Shujin Academy in Tokyo. I’m not from there originally, though.

[He sobers a bit. Might as well get this part over with.]

My parents sent me there to stay with a guardian for the year. I was on probation.
propatriamori: (intent)

[personal profile] propatriamori 2025-06-09 12:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Edward listens to Levi's explanations, and they make him feel a bit better. He's not the only person here hopelessly outclassed by the technology, thank goodness.

"I wonder if we're from somewhere similar." Edward didn't see the reaction, but he heard the shift in Levi's tone. "Either that, or two worlds decided gas was an appropriate way to fight a war."

There is an undeniable bitterness to his tone.
solitarysoul: (aiming)

[personal profile] solitarysoul 2025-06-09 10:51 pm (UTC)(link)
"...maybe." He's not sure if he'd rather they be from the same world or not. "Mine was the Eastern Union against the Bremen Empire. We, um, that is the Eastern Union lost."
iron_stomach: (pic#17860756)

I. need to spend time making more icons.

[personal profile] iron_stomach 2025-06-10 12:36 am (UTC)(link)
None of his fire spells are working. Range shouldn't be an issue, he had ways to handle that ordinarily, but right now.. nothing. Strange. As SecUnit fails to go where Agni wants it, the demon's pursuit is almost leisurely as he works out what to do about this annoying lack of ranged firepower of his own. There's no doubt all that energy fire must be doing something, just not enough to dissuade him.

Raw speed isn't in his skillset. Not yet. "I can do this all day," the demon rumbles, energy splashing across sharkteeth and eyeless face of one head. "How long can you?"

'All day' is definitely an exaggeration. There's another option he's weighing. SecUnit was very defensive of 'its humans' .. if he can't get at SecUnit, he can probably get at them. He wouldn't even have to hurt them. He'd just have to make a credible threat to lure it into his reach.

The red and gold gorillaish demon turns, not to pursue SecUnit, but for the Convoy proper. It's not super close, not with the gas station full of cars and trucks and a random mechanical horse between them, but his trajectory clearly isn't the ruined vehicles waiting for their potential owners.
serialmurderbot: (processing)

[personal profile] serialmurderbot 2025-06-10 02:38 am (UTC)(link)
"Of this group. Not since whatever the hell started happening to this planet."

It doesn't sound particularly thrilled about all of that, but then who would? This place gives every sign of being trashed, and the accommodations they've managed to scrounge together aren't much more impressive by SecUnit's measure.

The offered hand takes a moment of searching to connect to a particular gesture of courtesy occasionally used in the Corporation Rim for dominance posturing, and some Preservation variants that SecUnit has seen Ratthi combine with a hug. It opts for neither by saying, "I don't shake hands. SecUnit, if you have to use a name." It's - brusque, probably to the point of rudeness, but the explanation itself is a concession, given the way it can tell that Edward doesn't focus on it. It's really not good at this.

Last time it had to talk a human out of shock it brought up family, but that doesn't seem like a good idea when they're stuck here at the moment. "What do you want to know?"
serialmurderbot: (headache)

[personal profile] serialmurderbot 2025-06-10 03:04 am (UTC)(link)
Moving to a different floor.

[Obviously. But that's more of a goal than a plan, so it has to expand on that.]

Those boards there probably cover up another section.

[There are some set into the ceiling, hence the question. Though... who knows. Maybe gravity will be nice to Maggie and reorient in there?

Or maybe not.]


Unless you want to try waiting for those things to get bored and hope they leave.
wereperrito: (Default)

[personal profile] wereperrito 2025-06-10 03:09 am (UTC)(link)
The odds of Heat being from the same places as Serph just went up to like seventy-five percent. Interesting. "Jack is my real name. Jack Russell." He pauses to consider how to answer the demon topic. His werewolf self might be considered like a demon, but he can't use it the way Serph and probably Heat can, so should he just say he doesn't have one?

Will Heat believe that? Hmm.

"My demon doesn't have a name," he decides to go with. Since he might as well let Heat know he has an alter-ego of sorts, if he does wind up being related to Serph, and thus likely involved with the three of them. "And it only comes out, um, rarely. Under specific circumstances. I don't control it."
hexrot: (pic#17858005)

[personal profile] hexrot 2025-06-10 11:37 am (UTC)(link)
[ figures he's a god damn greenhorn, but in all honesty jayce might as well be when it comes to being . . . dead and walking about with new dietary needs. he's learned a thing or two about hunting from serph, at least. jayce's eyes twitch and finally leave his glare on the other demon (now young man) when serph mentions viktor. aff . . .

no comment, but rugged features do look more melancholy, soft even, if just for a moment where he must bring his gaze downward to recompose. especially. after this? he's not going back bloodied and more wild animal than man, that was the reason he ran off in the first place.

with heat sounding off with something . . . actually laughable, jayce fixes a glare back to him with a huff of a laugh under his breath, flash of teeth like a dog's stained red. chewing on the remains stuck to his gums, he pushes past them to retrieve his hammer, his limp even more stiff now that his brace is completely frozen at the mechanical bends at his joints. even then, the cold hasn't lifted yet; jayce still feels too bitter to let it heat up again, but at least— all his wounds are healed, too. what remains are the splotches and fabric rips telling of a skirmish.

his antler rack bears pieces and ribbons of sinew like a trophy. ]


He threatens me again, [ because he fought tooth and nail to survive, because he has a reason to live, even if he's essentially dead, ] there won't be a next time.
serialmurderbot: (armor)

[personal profile] serialmurderbot 2025-06-10 03:03 pm (UTC)(link)
On its side of the fight, SecUnit can tell that the energy weapon fire isn't long-term effective - it will probably drain its own batteries with the extended fire long before it manages to inflict serious damage.

So, change of tactics is necessary. It's already evaluating its options when Heat tries a taunt, then shifts his direction.

The implication is obvious. So is the bait.

It's been jumping around a lot during all of this, taking advantage of the sudden bursts of movement its transformation has rendered it capable of to get in and out of reach. It has plenty of marks on one arm to tell it exactly why this is a stupid fucking move, but SecUnit fighting has always had a bad habit of failing utterly at tactics, of throwing themselves at each other until one or both of them just can't get up again.

But this SecUnit has every intention of getting up again. So it plays dirty, just a bit. It's been jumping high, aiming itself up out of the swipe of those claws, dangerously close to the threat of teeth. This time it aims low, turning the burst of speed into a slide. Still fucking worth it if it knocks Heat over on top of it, if it can tangle him up again. This as about making a fucking point.

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