test drive meme #13

[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 September 24th, and apps are open October 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, either through handwaving or through a shared mental experience while coming through the Door!

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: DON'T LOOK AT ME
[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 lurking in the shadows, waiting for the perfect chance to hop right on you and chow down. This time, the Door has brought in several Boos, from the Mario video game series.

These monsters can be menacing, but are also incredibly shy. When looking directly at them, they will cover their faces and fade into the background- however, when turning away from them, they advance on you until they're in the perfect spot to take a nice big bite. The only way to defeat them is to escape this part of the level- that is, run madly away and try to keep up eye contact while you do so. They may look cartoonish, but those ghost teeth can be sharp!]

SCENARIO TWO: YOU'VE GOT RED ON YOU
[Hadriel is home to many things- temples, irate gods, angry citizens and... well, zombies, apparently. Beware as they start to walk/stagger/generally kind of shuffle around the streets of the city, since where there's one or two, there's usually a hundred more just waiting for the right moment to strike.

Zombies attack Hadriel by the dozen for this prompt, and nowhere in the city is technically safe from them! While they're not necessarily fast or intelligent, they have an advantage on you in that they have a lot more friends and they can't feel pain. So saddle up, bunker down, and try to survive the infestation!

This is a mini version of our Dead Men Walking event this month!]

R A G E

SCENARIO THREE: CAPTURE THE FLAG
[Hey, what's Hadriel without a few mind-numbingly stupid games to forget the fact that you're in a murdercave that routinely tries to scare the crap out of you while also maybe killing you every once in awhile? You're not quite sure who came up with this particular mind-numbingly stupid game, but you seem to be playing, so get your running shoes on and grab that inhaler!

This is a game of Capture the Flag, and thanks to Rage, you're really starting to feel that competitive spirit. You're going to win- you have to. So what if you incur a few fouls along the way?

There's a red team and a blue team for this prompt, with both teams trying to protect their corresponding flags. Try to strategize to take the other team's precious flag, chase someone from the opposing team down, or just go all out and full body tackle that poor guy who got a little too close to your territory- it's all on you!]

Comments

Andros | Power Rangers | scenario 1

[awol_redranger]

Andros was flying around on his galaxy glider, near one of the many moons in Gratha system. There was so much that needed to be done. And no, that wasn't just paranoia or him trying to get out of some customary social event. Things had to be checked. There were bound to be leftovers from the United Alliance of Evil. It wasn't like they all had time to pack before they were destroyed by the Z-wave. So, he had to check. Like double check Earth's moon to make sure Rita and Zedd didn't leave anything behind. The last thing he wanted was an era of peace disrupted by some stupid human picking up some space junk. Again. And the oceans. Who knew what Divatox left floating around. In fact, he was just going to search the entire universe. Double check it. Triple check it. (Not like he had anything else to do now).

And then, Andros was not in space. At all. He was in some weird planet, except instead of a sky, there was a ceiling. No, not a ceiling. A cave? He was underground. Quickly stopping so he didn't plow over people and looked back behind him. Whatever had brought him here was already closed. Great. He'd have to find another way. Andros paused, considering parking the galaxy glider on one of these streets and exporing. So far, so good. The ranger stood still for a minute, listening for tell tale cackling, mocking or the old favorite 'KILL HIM!'.

BEGIN BITCH FIGHT

[majormalfunction]

The questions this raised were almost more terrifying than the implications. Aside from the target obvious fact that this wasn't where she's been only moments ago, there weren't any caves in the city--and there certainly weren't any this large underneath Japan. The sheet weight of the buildings would have collapsed the ceiling by now and the sinkhole would have been rather obvious.

Waking up in an arena hadn't helped her feel any safer, either. Not that she would have expected to be right at home after being ripped out of hers without so much as a warning. And no Net, either. At least, not one that had access to anything she needed. Like current news. Or her external memory. She was well and truly cut off. Cybercomms down, no way to call out, no external Net... it's like living in the stone age.

She hadn't been stopped when she left the colosseum, though, so she wandered, learning the layout. She wanted desperately to get higher--climb a building and get a top-down view, but she couldn't be certain which--if any--would support the weight of her cyberbody. Some of them looked downright condemned.

She noticed the surfboard first, followed by the outlandish outfit. Really, the lengths some people would go to just to get noticed...

"Going to a costume party?"

[awol_redranger]

Andros knew his first reaction should have been a polite 'excuse me' or something like that. He'd been with his team long enough to learn the correct social cues, and he'd even learned how you had to peel the banana first before you ate it. And that handshakes weren't sign of an imminent attack. But, old habits died hard, and new ones were much harder to enforce when people weren't around to remind him to be nice.

Andros raised an eyebrow behind his helmet. Okay, where ever he was, it was far enough away that they didn't have ranger contact. That was really, really fabulous. There went his plan to get off a quick call to Aquitar and book a ride home.

" Never seen a Power Ranger before? Guess that says a lot about your planet...." And it did. It meant that it was either too far away to be of any value or didn't have any good resources. Rolling his eyes and sighing, Andros grabbed his helmet and partially demorphed, the helmet tucked under his arm. At least this time maybe they could skip the 'wow, you're from outer space!' routine. So he did it for her.

"Before you ask, yes, I'm from outer space. No, I'm not green. No I'm not a giant lizard. Yes the hair is natural. No you can't touch me. And the suit is not a costume, it's a uniform."

[majormalfunction]

Her entire reaction to that was to raise one rather incredulous eyebrow. "Power Ranger" sounded like some kids cartoon, and he clearly looked like he'd seen too many of those. The boy was arrogant, though, and a little too proud of himself. Typical teenage behavior. He was nothing of note, except for the the cosplay.

"No. But I suppose it does say that we have more important things to be worrying about than wasting time on 'my planet.'" Seriously?

He did, however, earn another raised eyebrow at the litany of explanations she hasn't asked for or expected. He'd done that a few times. Some of them could get pretty defensive if you insulted their obsessions.

"Are you finished? Was that supposed to faze me? I adore you I've seen worse prosthetics than green lizard men with an odd hair color."

[awol_redranger]

"Actually I'd say it means your planet is probably too far away to be of any use, or has such little natural resources or anything to offer that it's not worth taking over. Consider yourself lucky."

Andros was beginning to wish he hadn't taken the helmet off. At least then he could make snarky expressions without her seeing his face.

"No, I just didn't want to have to answer your questions. Now, if you don't mind, I have to get out of here." And he pressed something on his glove, holding it chin level. All he got was static.

"Ugh, the range on these things are terrible." And Andros added that to his list of things to do. Figure out how to boost the range on the communicators. Which would be more difficult now that his sister's team had stolen the Astro Megaship.

[majormalfunction]

"I'll be sure to tell that to the rest of Earth. Most of Japan will probably want to leave, then." As for lucky, she didn't believe in it anymore. Not after working in Public Security for so long. Nothing was lucky, it was all planning.

"What questions? I could not care any less whatever your delusions are, and, wrote frankly, you look normal enough so why bother?" She hated assumptions. Particularly when people made assumptions about her. She wasn't some ignorant backwoods American, after all, and yet somehow he'd convinced himself that she cared and that those were the questions she had.

She almost laughed in his face when he tried the comm--the static gave it away.

"Communication is down and there isn't a Net to support it. The only one functioning appears to be entirely limited to primitive function, similar to early versions of mobile phone technology. Linked entirely to these." She brandished the communicator she'd found--definitely not as advanced as a cybercomm.

"There's no way to boost a signal through rock. Unless you think you can dig your way out through the ceiling."

[awol_redranger]

Andros gave her what could only be classified as a look of confusion and surprise. "You're on Earth? You must be from a different dimension than I am, Earth's been under attack for years. I thought Earth's had Planetary Rangers since the early 90's, if not before. That explains why you don't recognize me at least." The crowd in Angel Grove had gotten a real good look at Andros, carrying Karone's dead body off the Dark Fortress. And these days? All it took was one damn guy with a cell phone or a reporter. He just rolled his eyes at her when she tried to act superior with her limited technology.

"Where I'm from, communication networks aren't a problem. The rock might be an issue, but with the right tools I could probably make adjustments. But since I don't have any tools here, it looks like we're stuck." He just glared at her. Really? He wasn't digging through the ceiling and collapsing the entire place. Killing people wasn't on his agenda for the day. Finding hazardous waste, however, was. At the moment, he was classifying her as hazardous waste too and trying to figure out the best way to get her to go away or get her back where she came from.

Remembering polite people shake hands, Andros held out a gloved hand. "I'm Andros."

[majormalfunction]

"Really, spaceman? Wireless signals degrade the farther they travel--that's not technology, that's physics. Physical barriers like cave walls can also reflect the signals back, which doesn't help anyone, either, so unless you can make a hole or have found some new and exciting way to flout every natural law, you're just as out of luck as the rest of us." It wasn't superiority, it was just realism. They're all stuck unless they can dig their way out. Pointless optimism never helped anything.

At least he had some manners. She reached out and clasped his hand briefly but god did she hate teenagers.

"Kusanagi. I'd say it's a pleasure, but the scenery could use some work."

[awol_redranger]

Andros was at least a little polite and shook her hand. "Trust me, it could be worse. It could always be worse." And while he might be polite, he was still a little ticked.

"Right, because you know all about space." He shook his head, really trying not to sound completely condescending. "Why don't you leave that to people who actually know what they're talking about." Or maybe he was just ticked cause it was usually him who got to make the physics jokes.

[majormalfunction]

"In case you missed it, this isn't space. If I were you, I'd suggest getting far more concerned with terrestrial applications. Atmosphere is very different than vacuum." Did she mention she hated teenagers? Always thought they knew everything. It was taking all her will not to just roll her eyes at him. She might have been better just walking off.

"But let me guess: you're invincible and you know exactly how to fix it. Please do share with the rest of the class. The feedback on my cybercomms is a bitch."

OMG she's going to hate him so much

[awol_redranger]

Andros gave her an incredulous look and shook his head like he was talking to a monkey who was better off in a zoo than discussing astrophysics. "Space isn't a vacuum. I don't know what your talking about. But I suggest you leave this to me. I would hate for a civilian to get hurt."

He shook his head. "And no, no ones invincible. As for fixing the problem, it'd be a lot easier to work on it if I didn't have to babysit you. So let's just concentrate on figuring out how to get that portal back."

That's okay she already does

[majormalfunction]

"You might want to make sure you know what that word actually means. It hasn't applied to me even in the broadest sense for longer than you've been alive." She gag been military for a very very long time.

Now of course age was just hanging around to bother the kid on purpose. He could use a taste of someone not being intimidated by his attempts at being in charge.

"Although I'm sure the chief would find it hilarious that you think I need babysitting."

Re: That's okay she already does

[awol_redranger]

Andros couldn't suppress a glare. "That's nice. Your military. You're still a civilian in matters like this. Unless you have experience dealing with supernatural, extraordinary threats, spatial anomalies, multiple dimensions and the like, then I outrank you."

She was worse than his team when they first met. At least they genuinely wanted to help him. And they had experience as Rangers. Planetary Rangers, sure. But it was a step up from this woman. Dammit, this was why he liked working alone.

[princess_of_evil]

Astronema meant to be on her way to KO-35, to see if being there would prove or disprove the Red Ranger's claims for good. But suddenly she was somewhere else entirely. She spun around, trying to figure out where she was and how she had gotten her. Nothing. At least she had the Wrath Staff in her hand.

Then she heard a familiar sound, one of the Ranger's galaxy gliders. Somehow, she just knew which ranger it was.

She walked towards the sound, staff raised. "You!" she yelled when she finally saw him. "Where have you taken me?"

[awol_redranger]

Andros spun around at the sound of his sister's very angry voice. Getting a very, very bad feeling, he jumped off the glider and powered down. He had just talked to Karone a few days ago, and, well, she was still dealing with everything much better than he was. Now, instead, he had a very angry, very armed Astronema.

"I have a name you know." He paused. "Uh....why do I get the feeling you're not playing dress up?" This was great. His day was going just....well, great. Wow he forgot how scary his sister was when she was angry. And armed. He put his hands out in front of him.

"I haven't taken you anywhere. I was just scouting around and I think I went through a portal or something. Same thing probably happened to you. What's the last thing you remember?" Andros asked, hoping to prove his theory that this hopefully wasn't his present day sister completely freaking out.

[princess_of_evil]

Yes, she knew what his name was but Astronema wasn't about to use it. Not when ever second thing he said to her was so confusing. Playing dress up? That didn't make any sense.

"What are you talking about? I was on ... somewhere else, then suddenly I'm here. With you." She stepped closer, keeping the staff ready. "What kind of fool do you take me for?"

[awol_redranger]

Right. Not Karone. At least, not his Karone. Especially considering she said 'you' like it was a dirty word.No, this was an earlier Karone. Maybe one from before she realized who she was. Before she knew the truth.

"Well, I'm flattered you think I have the ability to teleport you to another dimension. If I did bring you here, don't you think I would have chosen a place less......creepy." Step one. Get her to at least lower the staff.

[princess_of_evil]

Astronema frowned, then glanced around. This certainly wasn't the sort of place she'd expect a Power Ranger to want to go. Or what that just what he wanted her to believe?

She stared at him, trying to decide if she could believe a word he said. He was looking at the same way he had after he found her locket. When he told her she was his sister ... Karone. The name had stirred something inside of her and the memory touched her again now.

She straightened up, moving the staff to it was at her side. "Then how did I get here?"

[awol_redranger]

"I'm not sure. What do you say we find out together?"

He should have known she'd be paranoid. It ran in the family. Finally relaxing a bit now that her staff wasn't pointed at him, he reached inside the collar of his shirt and pulled out his locket.

"Do you remember this? Do you remember who you are?" He asked, trying to figure out exactly what time she was from. "I think the portal, or whatever brought us here took us in from different times. I'm maybe a year ahead of you? Maybe half a year?"

[princess_of_evil]

"Of course I remember, it just ..." Astronema stopped as what the Red Ranger said sunk in. Different times. That would be the strangest thing she's experienced. She didn't like the idea that he knew her future though.

"Fine. If you're from the future, then what happened after you claimed that I'm your sister?"

[awol_redranger]

"Claimed? Right." Andros raised his eyebrows and shook his head. Of course she wouldn't believe him. Not yet. She couldn't really remember.

"I met you on KO-35. At the park where we were playing? Do you remember that? Your last day as Karone? Before Darkonda kidnapped you?"

Andros closed his eyes for a second. He'd thought he could remember that day in such exquisite detail, it haunted his waking thoughts, his dreams. But he'd forgotten that it was Darkonda. After all, he'd been so young. If he couldn't remember everything, how could he expect her too?

[princess_of_evil]

That ... was exactly where she'd been going. Maybe he was telling the truth, at least this time.

"I don't ..." she paused, uncertainty creeping into her voice. "I don't know what memories are real and which ones are dreams. It's all a jumble of images that don't make sense."

Maybe if she'd actually gotten to the park, things would have begun to make sense.

[awol_redranger]

Opening his locket, he pulled out a tiny disc, holding it between his fingers. "This is the recording of the kidnapping. Or a little of it. I don't know if there's anything around here that will play it but it might help. " He shrugged, putting the disc back in the locket for safe keeping.

"You can ask questions." Andros offered. "I can tell you what I remember." This was good. She wasn't outright denying it as a possibility. Or shooting him. That was always a good thing. Astronema had really, really good aim.

[princess_of_evil]

She had so many questions that she didn't know where she would start. But to ask any of them would mean she really did believe him. And she wasn't sure she did, not yet.

"I thought you wanted to figure out how we got here?"

[awol_redranger]

"What, I can't figure out how we got here and help my sister at the same time?" He gave her a smile. "I'm a power ranger, you know. I can multitask."

But he knew an avoidance when he heard it. He'd done it a million times. Maybe it was a family trait. Or maybe they were just both screwed up. "Alright, I'm thinking some kind of one way portal or teleportation beam. We don't know where we are, or even if we're in the same dimension."