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TEST DRIVE MEME #0

A TIME VORTEX has opened in downtown LA! Some magic folks have been contacted to close it, but they haven't gotten here fast enough for the vortex not to spill out a HECK TON OF DINOSAURS – all kinds of dinosaurs of all kinds of sizes. There are theoretically gentle herbivores among the fierce predators, but they are all pretty pissed off about their sudden, startling relocation, and a lot of them have spikes.

(The vortex is both temporally and spatially unstable, which is why the dinosaurs emerging onto the streets of LA are constrained neither by specific prehistorical era nor geographical location.)

What you do is up to you. Here are some suggestions, though:

Fight some dinosaurs. You might be trying to herd them back to the vortex, or just trying to stop them by any means possible.

Flee or hide. If you're lucky the dinosaurs won't work out how to open doors and you can spend your entire thread hiding behind the bar in a Starbucks with some other hapless civilians without having to confront any of them.

Try to capture the dinosaurs on camera. If you can get some really good photos you might be able to sell them to the local paper in order to supplement your elderly aunt's meagre income. Or just use them to get a bunch of notes on Tumblr, either way.

Take advantage of the chaos to do crime. The forces of law enforcement are preoccupied with all these prehistoric reptiles.

Or pretty much anything else you think your character might be doing. Any location in LA is game, although there's no real need to meticulously look them up – you can just assume a generic street, rooftop, store, etc. (You don't have to look up the dinosaurs, either.)

If you have a character who you'd like to assume is part of a team, but that team hasn't been named or brainstormed OOC yet or anything, feel free to indicate in your opening post that you're assuming your character is operating alongside others and encourage others to tag in as if they are part of the same team! Or just handwave it and assume they got caught without their usual teammates or separated from them. Whatever way works best for you.

Events from this test drive are not automatically assumed game canon, but individual threads can be if you and the people who you thread with end up mutually wanting to keep them.

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[Dinosaurs. Okay, sure. Why not. This isn't exactly the quiet, uneventful patrol Robin had envisioned, but she can roll with it.

...Well, that's what she thought to herself, anyway. The scene playing out right now, on the other hand, tells a bit of a different story. The attacks she had made on the beasts did little other than infuriate them, so now we have a lone hooded figure being chased down by a veritable mob of angry reptiles, running just fast enough to keep ahead of them but not actually pull away.

There's something odd going on, though. Even as she flees, she continues to sling bolts at stray dinosaurs, despite the fact that all it's doing is adding to the group in pursuit of her. Robin — or Spectrum, if you prefer — is definitely not some headstrong rookie who doesn't know when to quit... so why does she seem so intent on digging her own grave?]

[Lewa had been flying over the streets, either swooping down to lift a civilian out of harms way or to lend a fellow hero some help with his axe or machete blades. For the most part he had been circling the perimeter, but hearing the extra commotion down one of the streets he decided to investigate.

Seeing a fellow hero being changed by a veritable herd of dinosaurs, Lewa quickly summoned a strong gust of air, lifting her onto a nearby fire escape and out of harms way, he flew over, landed on the opposite side of the structure with a grin on his face.]

You seem to be quite popular with the scalebeasts, herosister.

Edited 2014-01-30 00:41 (UTC)

[She lets out a sharp cry of surprise as she is swept off her feet, but doesn't let the unexpected rescue disorient her for long: without missing a beat she swivels around to face the now-directionless horde as soon as she touches down and, with a sweeping gesture, conjures a huge ring of fire around the entire group, preventing them from moving any further.

Only after that does she turn back to her 'savior' with a grin. It's the only part of her expression visible from under the Shadowy Superhero Hood.]

I guess you could say that.

[Lewa watched as she cast the fire spell, and burst out laughing]

Haha, a fine dinotrap, sister. But how long will your fire ring last?

[Okaaay... That gets a cocked eyebrow, but she chuckles along all the same.]

Long enough for me to get back down there and finish what I started.

Well, then, don't let me stop you. I'll give you a quicklift back to ground.

[He reached over, grabbing her arm as his mask started glowing, triggering its levitation powers. Quite a bit less jarring than air blasts, though not quite as quick. He picked her up off the fire escape and lowered them both to the ground, well out of the way of the flames.]

There you are, herosister. Just hollercall if you need any help.

[He took a few steps back but didn't make any other move to leave, waiting to see what her plan was.]

[Gnosis – secretly the scientist Miriel Frost – watches the hooded figure flee from their Mesozoic pursuers. At the same time, they seem to be attacking and attracting more dinosaurs. It is an idiotic thing to do, by all accounts. Gnosis, however, thinks that this may be intentional. Certainly someone with any sense of self-preservation would not be doing this meaninglessly...unless they were truly an imbecile. That is always a possibility.

The wizard spots a nearby motor scooter, carelessly abandoned by its owner and with keys still in the ignition, and, taking advantage of its presence, she rides it up to the running person's side. If she doesn't go too fast, she can stay alongside them. This is much better than running.]

I would like to believe that you possess a strategy which will lead to a favorable outcome in these precarious, self-generated circumstances of yours.

[Spectrum, meanwhile, is continuing as she has been. She doesn't visibly acknowledge the newcomer's presence, but her steady stream of attacks does happen to slow somewhat as soon as Gnosis approaches. As she rounds a corner and the herd follows — man, are dinosaurs supposed to be this persistent? — she manages a verbal response, sounding a little winded, if not nearly as much as an average person would at this point.]

You're in luck, then... Shouldn't be much longer before you can see for yourself!

[Gnosis mentally notes the woman's endurance; she knows she wouldn't be able to run that fast for that long herself. She doesn't chalk it up to anything other than being in shape.]

That is a confirmation of the existence of said strategy, then. I am glad. I will be observing your tactics as soon as you are ready to commence.

[If her hands were not occupied with steering the motor scooter, she might summon a notepad and pen to take notes.]

[A simple grunt is all the answer that gets, and the chase continues on for a little longer, until they pass a certain rather conspicuous landmark. Once she's ensured that the dinosaurs have their backs to it, she immediately ceases her flight, spinning around 180 degrees on a dime and raising her hands.]

Look alive!

[Barely a moment after the warning is issued, a great bolt of lightning crashes right into the center of the group from the otherwise clear sky. The air is filled with anguished cries as the current of electricity passes through the horde, but when the screams fade several long seconds later it's clear that despite having dealt great suffering to the creatures the attack was not a fatal one.

That's fine, though; it wasn't intended to be. Thoroughly spooked by the excruciating pain they just experienced, the vast majority of the reptiles turn tail and run... right into the gaping hole in spacetime that spat them out into LA to begin with. Once the dust clears, Spectrum lets out a deep breath, then turns to face her wizardly companion, honestly looking pretty happy with herself.]

...Well, then. Any questions?

Edited 2014-01-30 04:27 (UTC)

[Shortly after the bolt strikes, she stops the scooter. The lightning doesn't startle her much. Being the sort of wizard that she is, Gnosis has experienced plenty of loud, sudden noises combined with bright lights during her studies. It does intrigue her, though, to see such an attack. Is this person one with control over weather, is she one with control over a general sort of magic, or is she something else entirely? This warrants further study, she concludes, or perhaps direct inquiry.]

A sound measure. [She doesn't sound particularly impressed, but not unimpressed either. She simply has something new to study.] I do wonder, however: did you call upon knowledge of the arcane arts, or are you gifted in a meteorological sense? What is the quantity of bolts you are able to conjure in succession? I would hypothesize that the amount is fairly sizable, given the stamina you demonstrated while running.

[She pauses momentarily; she hadn't actually been expecting questions, and wow this woman uses a lot of unnecessarily big words. She does do her best to answer, though.]

Er, that was magic. I'm told I'm quite good at it... Lightning isn't the only thing I can do, [she performs a small swish of her hand and for a short while flames surround it to illustrate the point,] I just prefer it.

[Another pause as Spectrum taps her chin thoughtfully.]

I can't say I really have a pinpoint on my upper limits, since... well, I try not to push myself to that point.

Edited 2014-01-30 04:55 (UTC)

Fascinating... [Now that the chase is over, she goes ahead with what she would have liked to do earlier: summon a magical notepad and pen. She jots down a couple of notes, then looks at her fellow magic user again.]

What of increasingly intricate incantations? Are you learned in the field of runes? You are unable to identify your magical limitations, yet surely you are aware of your capabilities? [Gnosis seems unaware of the possibility that Spectrum may not want to be her research subject, especially when there are more dinosaurs roaming around. She can't help but keep asking questions; magic is just so interesting.]

[ Chrom is doing what he does best: shepherding. Not the kind with sheep-- unfortunately, perhaps-- but more with people, and getting them away from danger. Currently, that danger is dinosaurs, and he's doing his best to herd his flock of understandably alarmed citizens into the building behind him. It isn't exactly easy to urge the crowd inward, considering how most people react to states of panic, but Chrom's got a lot of experience when it comes to this sort of thing; it's what he does, after all, and once they're in, he can start on a solid plan for defending them, as such a lordly, heroic fellow is prone to doing.

His work is mostly done with the crowd he's collected here by now, save for a few stragglers still making their way in. He waves them in urgently, gaze shifting rapidly between the people he's tending to and the streets behind them. They're still for now, but any second now, danger could round that corner... Until at last, there's only one person remaining outside with him, who he focuses his attention on. ]

Hey, are you alright? We're going to be fine, so don't worry, alright?

[ A+ emotional reassurance and care. ]

[Miriel follows the movement of the crowd not because she is a frightened civilian, but because she is studying the frightened civilians. How do people react when dinosaurs appear? A fascinating query, and not one many scientists have the opportunity to answer. She has gathered substantial data so far, but there is more research to be done.

It is when the civilians have entered the building at the behest of the uniquely-clad man beside her – he has the air of a superhero about him – that he begins to speak to her. His words imply that he thinks her a civilian. It's not an entirely misplaced assumption, given the information he has. She is dressed in civilian clothing, after all.

She turns to him and adjusts her glasses.] Your attempts at emotional consolation are appreciated but ultimately unnecessary; these time-traveling creatures pose no threat to me.

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