Test Drive Meme # 2

[hadrielmods]

Welcome to Hadriel's test drive, and thank you again for your interest in the game! As always, our reserves page is here, and our applications page is here! Reserves open October 25th, and apps are open November 1st.

Two quick points here as well:

1. Any thread made in Hadriel's test drive will be accepted as the sole Action Log sample in the application.
2. All threads made in the test drive can be considered game canon!

Test drives will be broken up into specific god mini-events, during which your characters can see how well they fare under the watchful eye of one of the gods. Choose wisely or just simply pick 'em all, and have fun!

F E A R

SCENARIO ONE: THE LAUGHTER OF A CHILD
[The Door brings in all that is chaotic and evil in the world. This may include you, may include the person next to you... and may include the monster behind you.

Watch out as you explore the streets of Hadriel, because you're not alone, and there's always something on the rooftops watching and waiting for the perfect opportunity to separate you from your group and tear you into pieces. This time, the Door has brought in some little friends for you to play with.

Grey Children are enemies in the video game Silent Hill. They usually move in pairs or groups of three, clinging to your legs and pulling you down so that they can laugh as they stab you to death. They're not particularly sturdy, but since they hunt in packs, they can kill you just the same. Let's hope your group is bigger - or that you can get away before they get ahold of you. But don't be too mean. They're just children, after all.]


SCENARIO TWO: FEAR ITSELF
[You turn a corner, and there it is. The one thing that terrifies you more than anything, that turns you into a frightened child, that makes you want to run or scream or fight wildly. It could be anything. That person you trusted, who betrayed you. A monster that haunts your dreams. Spiders, maybe? Whatever it is, it's exactly what you fear the most.

And then there are footsteps next to you, and someone else is there. Maybe they can help you. Maybe they can save you. But everyone's afraid of something, and the moment your savior gets close, their fear will manifest as well - and if you're really unlucky, combine with yours to make something even worse.

It's not real. It can't hurt you. Not unless you let it. But if you let it, it will destroy you.

This is a simpler version of October's Fear Event.]


H O P E

SCENARIO THREE: THIS IS NOT MY BEAUTIFUL HOUSE
[A moment ago, you were making dinner. Not alone, but with someone you care about nearby - your beautiful spouse, or your amazing child, or your beloved sibling. Then, in an instant, you look at them and you know: this isn't real.

This perfect house, this perfect family, it's not yours. You can remember your real life now, and that person you care for? You might not even know them. A moment ago they were your world, and now you know this isn't actually your life. Your life is something else, somewhere else.

Above the fireplace sits a painting of you and your happy family. You know that if you destroy it, you'll return to your life. But do you really want to, when you've never felt this contentment, this happiness before? You could have it all, if you wanted. And what about your companion? This is a decision you should make together - if you want to.]

Comments

Hope

[americanclassic]

[Things have been decidedly... off, lately. Visions of friends come and gone, his mother, Bucky, Peggy... all come and gone and lost to him by nothing more than time and circumstance. Still, that didn't stop him from doing his 'rounds', as they were. Making sure no one had run into a stray bear or gotten into more trouble than they could handle. He might not be home, but that didn't make him feel any less responsible for those stuck in the same situation he was.

Even with the random visions, he was still surprised to turn the corner and see Wanda, standing there as if lost in a daydream. Not that he had anything against the newest member to his team, but all the visions had seemed more intimate to him. People that had climbed in and won a place in his mind and heart. Wanda was part of his team, but he could hardly say he knew her very well, let alone had any feelings that would cause her to show up in one of those random visions. Which meant this was either a lead up to something else, or...]

Wanda?

[divulsion]

[To Wanda, it seems as though Steve's shown himself into the small kitchen where she's baking. She looks up, surprised to see him. The part of her mind that's caught in the illusion seems to find nothing amiss of course. Steve is a new teammate. They get along and all is well. There's absolutely nothing wrong about his presence. The nagging feeling that something is wrong gets louder a moment, and then fades away as Wanda pushes it away. If something is wrong, if something is off, then she doesn't want to know. Not yet.]

Steve. Dinner isn't for a few hours yet.

[That must be why he's here. It makes perfect sense. It's not as if they have training to do at this time of the day, nor any missions. Everything is peaceful, just the way she and Pietro had hoped for and fought for.]

Pietro is in the other room if you wish to join him?

[americanclassic]

[He's careful as he comes closer, not sure exactly what's going on still, but also not wanting to startle her if she's lost in a memory. God knows what sort of force she could let snap if she put her mind to it.]

Wanda... where are you right now?

[Seemed as good a place to start as any, right?]

[divulsion]

[Her brows draw together at his question and she settles her hands on either side of her bread dough. Where is she right now?]

What kind of question is that?

[Dusting her hands off, she moves around the counter, past him, and to the other side. She pulls out a bunch of carrots, a cutting board, and hands him a knife, handle first.]

If you're not going to join him you may as well be useful. You know how to chop vegetables, yes?

[americanclassic]

[She's moving around, pantomiming doing things in, what he supposes, is a kitchen in her mind. When she moves to hand him something, he takes her hands in his, carefully, gently, and gives them a small squeeze.]

Wanda... stop for a minute. Take a good look around you. Where are you?

[divulsion]

[It's when he takes her hands, when they pass right through the handle of the knife she's offering him that she can't push away that feeling that something is amiss. He asks where she is again and sees the new living quarters she has at the Avengers base. She can hear Pietro talking back at the television--but she also knows that it's wrong.

Confused, and with growing concern, she looks up at him with the first hint of uncertainty.]

New York. At the new headquarters. You gave Pietro and I this place...

[americanclassic]

[God. Her brother. He almost didn't want to pull her out of that illusion, if only because he knew how much the truth would hurt her. But he had no idea what was happening to her mind right now and the last thing he wanted was to help out that smug little dark-haired bastard that fed off their fear.]

Wanda, no. We're not in New York. Look harder.

[No mention of Pietro. That would come to her on its own without him having to bring it up.

Hopefully. He'd still try to be gentle with bringing her out of the illusion.]

[divulsion]

[No. She doesn't want to. Everything is fine here as it is. But he's looking at her like something is terribly wrong and she's been fighting the feeling that he's right, before he ever even showed up...

She looks to the open doorway through to the room where Pietro is sitting. Turning, she lets go of one of his hands, heads to that room where she can hear the television blaring, Pietro inside and she can see a painting of them hanging on the wall. She and Pietro looking happy seated next to each other, his arm around her shoulders, their hands linked together.

It's that painting that pushes the point home. Since when would she and Pietro ever have the money for a luxury like that? Since when would they ever choose to sit for a portrait? Wanda swallows. She knows that if she steps closer, she'll see her brother sitting on the couch. If she closes the distance between them she'll see her brother looking happy and healthy and--

--and alive.]

No. [The word comes out softly as she swallows.] Please...

[americanclassic]

I'm so sorry, Wanda.

[For a lot of things. For her being here, though he had no control in that. For the loss of her brother, though that was hardly his fault -- or hers. For the punch in the gut that she'd probably be feeling at being reminded of that loss all over again.

He was going to smash Fear in the face when he saw him next.]

Concentrate. I don't know how to help you not see... whatever you're seeing.

[divulsion]

[It's too late. It's all coming back to her now whether she wants it to or not. Memories slide back to her and as slowly as they come back, each one still hits her hard. The fight against Ultron's armies. How she'd stayed behind and let Pietro go ahead to help evacuate their people. She hadn't even seen him fall, but she'd felt it like someone had sliced her in half.

She wants to tell him no again. Wants to beg him not to make her concentrate because her brother is alive here, wherever here is. She wants to stay in this place where everything is fine, where her brother was never shot to death. But the words get caught in her throat no matter how she tries to swallow them down again. Pained, she stares at that open doorway and the portrait beyond.]

Just one more time?

[One more time of seeing him and then she'll let him go. Surely she can find the strength to let him go after that. She doesn't let go of Steve's hand, not certain she can handle this alone. They're not close but in that moment he's the only one who can be there for her. Stepping closer to the doorway, she peers around the corner and finds Pietro seated on the couch, wearing that same jacket he'd had when they first encountered the Avengers. Tears prick her eyes as she sees him turn to her and offer her that same smile he'd given her for so many years. The one that reminded her that after everything they'd lost, they still had each other. Face clearly showing her , she looks back to Steve, speaking quietly.]

You can't see him?

[americanclassic]

[He wouldn't have stopped her. If he'd been able to see his mom again, one more time, he would have taken it. There were things that even he could justify selfishness for. With her wounds so fresh, trying to stop her before she had would have just been more cruelty than he was willing to dish out.

He sees the look on her face, the glistening of unshed tears in her eyes, how she doesn't turn away until the very last moment and he gives her a sympathetic and apologetic shake of his head.]

No, I can't.

[Maybe that was for the best. Maybe it was better that this moment, this stolen moment she had of him again was just hers.]

I'm sorry.

[divulsion]

Was this what it was like when I did this to you?

[She hasn't forgotten what she did to her teammates, before when they had been on opposing sides. Perhaps she didn't know what they had experienced but she'd drawn them into constructed scenes all the same, manipulating their thoughts into very realistic seeming situations.

Her attention turns back to Pietro sitting there, still looking at her as if nothing is wrong. He points to the television, to the reporter on the scene of the reconstruction of a building they used to live in. Wanda even recognizes a family in the background. She and Pietro had looked after their children one evening when the parents had wanted to go out to enjoy just a couple hours to themselves.]

[americanclassic]

I... don't know. I don't think I was as lucid during it as you are. I was in the... dream, illusion, whatever it was.

[He remembered that, but what he'd seen hadn't been nearly as terrible as what he thought the others had. The way Bruce had reacted... Natasha... Tony... he didn't want to know what horrors lurked in their minds waiting to haunt them.]

[divulsion]

[It doesn't matter. She had this coming. Perhaps she'd picked the right side in the end, but not without using her powers in awful ways first. A lump forms in her throat as her eyes well up further with tears, more and more until at last they spill down her cheeks. Thankfully, she's not looking at Steve now. He may be able to see, but while she gazes back at her brother she still has the illusion that her grief is her own.

She doesn't want to break the illusion. There's a part of her childishly and selfishly insisting that she'll live in this illusion and die in it. She and Pietro were never meant to have been parted from one another--certainly not the way they had. But whatever it is, it isn't real. As much as she'd like, she could never live like this, knowing he wasn't real and clinging to the wish that he were.]

You can't see him...you can't see the picture either, can you?

[americanclassic]

No. I just see you and me in the middle of a street.

[Probably for the best the city was abandoned, otherwise he'd have to lift her up out of the way in case of passing cars. Not that he'd mind, but he didn't know what that would do to the illusion, what part of it might shatter or not.]

We should leave, Wanda. Things... have a tendency to get dark here. Bad.

[The last thing he wanted was for this moment of hers to get ruined because Fear twisted it into something else.]

[divulsion]

They already are.

[She's not certain how she knows that the destruction of the painting will break the illusion. It came to her as easily as all of her memories. Wanda doesn't question it, not when it's taking all of her focus to call her power to her. She lifts her hand up, aiming at the portrait that only she can see, and sends a bolt at it.

She doesn't look at Pietro as she does, not wanting to see him disappear before her eyes. Instead she watches the portrait explode, and the illusion bleeds away, leaving her crying in the street with only Steve Rogers remaining. Swallowing once more, she attempts to will away her tears. Even reaches up and wipes her cheeks dry, for all the good it does.]

Where do we go?

[americanclassic]

[He stands by her, offering her his presence if not a literal shoulder to cry on. Which he'd offer as well, but they were still getting to know each other, still circling and finding out where each one fit in their lives. But he was there and he reached into a pocket to pull out a handkerchief, holding it out to her. Yes, he carried hankies.]

I have a place I'm staying at in an area that has housing that isn't too bad. You're welcome to stay in one of the extra rooms, or you can find your own place nearby.

[divulsion]

[The only thing that Wanda can be grateful for at the moment is that if anyone had to watch her, had to stand there and witness what happened, that it was Steve and not someone else. She takes the handkerchief with the slightest widening of her eyes, followed immediately by an appreciative nod in thanks.

As she wipes her eyes, she considers the options he lays out for her. Ten minutes ago, twenty, however long she was in the illusion, she might have opted for her own place. Somewhere quiet to have some privacy. But now, after, she could sorely use some company, even if it's just the knowledge that someone else is in the other room. Hearing someone else move around even if she holes up in a bedroom.]

If I would not be imposing for a night or two...

[americanclassic]

You're not imposing, Wanda. The room's yours, if you want it. For as long as you want it. It's not exactly my name on the lease. Besides, maybe it's better if we stick together. Have each other's backs until we can get out of here.

[And even after that. That was the point of being an Avenger, after all. Take care of those who couldn't themselves.]

Head's up. Bruce is here. Everything's been fine so far, but... with what this place keeps trying to do...

[He shrugged. He trusted Banner, but he'd seen first hand how susceptible to mind illusions the doctor was.]

Maybe... be prepared to give him something nice to think about if worse comes to worse.

[divulsion]

[It helps, hearing that. She expects no less, but all the same the confirmation that she's not alone in this, especially when she's been so cruelly reminded that she's more alone now than she ever was before she met the Avengers.

Of course, whatever relief she feels disappears as he mentions Bruce. After their encounter in the Avengers Tower, they hadn't spoken to one another again. They'd spent only a handful of moments together and they had not been the best.

And here he was in this place of illusions that could set him off...]

I don't think Dr. Banner would let me anywhere near him, no matter what I promised to show him.

[americanclassic]

You'd be surprised at what the doc will allow if it keeps him from... having too many regrets afterward.

[Of course, Steve had a few thoughts about things regarding Bruce at the moment that he hadn't bothered to fully check out yet. Time and place and all that.]

He'll take that over the worst case scenario.

[divulsion]

[Her lips press together into a thin line. Worrying about Bruce almost takes her out of her thoughts of Pietro and the illusion she just broke out of. It's just enough to help her dry her eyes for more than just a moment. Let's her collect herself and try to control her emotions.

But in the end she can't focus enough. Shaking her head, Wanda takes a slow, deep breath. Forces herself to look back at Steve.]

I see. Perhaps we could discuss it more elsewhere. Is your home far from here?

[She isn't tired but this isn't a conversation she wants to have on the street. Besides, which, whatever time it takes to get to his place is time she can use to try and find some emotional equilibrium.]

[americanclassic]

Not too far. I was doing rounds -- patrols. Never know what might crop up out here.

[And he was glad he did. What if one of those damn bears had come through while she was lost in la la land?]

It's not much, but it's got running water, heat, light, and we've got some food stored up.

[divulsion]

I don't need much.

[She's spent nights in buildings half-crumbling from shelling. Nights without food or water, and not only no heat or light but no ceiling overhead. Rarely, but it's happened once or twice. She hasn't spent enough time in America to get used to the luxuries, so what Steve has to offer is enough, yes.

Wanda falls quiet then, letting Steve lead them there. The further they travel, the more she takes in their surroundings, and the more unnerved she gets by how alien it all seems. The feeling doesn't leave, especially when she sees what the houses look like. Wanda casts Steve a glance as they approach his front door.]

Is it so strange looking everywhere in this city?

[americanclassic]

Strange looking or broken down. Seems to be one or the other.

[He opens the door and lets her in ahead of him, closing it after and moving around to go find one of the spare rooms to set up for her.]

We've all seem to have done without much in the past.

[Steve had lived through the Depression. He knew about lack.]

But we've got a store of food and water in the basement for emergencies and new food keeps cropping up here and there, which helps even out having to hunt down the bears.