TEST DRIVE MEME: SEPTEMBER

[ryslighelpers]

TDM: SEPTEMBER

Welcome to the Ryslig Test Drive Meme! Below are a few prompts to get you started, but you may make up any prompt you desire! Please take a look at the navigation page for rules, setting information, and links to reserves and apps. Have fun!

SCENARIO ONE

You wake up on the beach thoroughly drenched, with your mouth full of sand. The salt water is making all the cuts and scrapes on your skin sting and the sand isn't helping. The air is slightly humid, ruining any feeling of refreshment you might have gotten from your dip in the ocean.

There are lights in the distance, but the unfriendly scent of gunpowder fills the air. If you're lucky, you're alone. If not - you might find yourself staring up into a pair of monstrous eyes or down the barrel of a local's shotgun.

SCENARIO TWO

So you've just arrived, and already some of the natives are trying to get on your good side with offers of food, shelter and other luxuries in return for hoping you don't eat them. They even have some helpful pamphlets to share with you. "How To Deal With Changes", "Alternatives to Human Flesh", "What to Expect When You're Expecting (to turn into a monster)" are all on the more informative end of the scale. There's even some detailing certain monsters, and the changes they go through. Some of these seem to have been passed down from one monster to the next.

Among these however, are some... not so helpful ones. "Bunnyipyips And You", "Axe Thief Axehounds," and "So you're becoming a Fur Bearing Trout" among others. Sometimes they have marks on them from previous readers saying they're lies, or pointing out good "jokes."

Then there are the people who aren't happy to see you at all. Glares and silent, judging stares if you're lucky, torches and pitchforks attempting to drive you out of the town if you're not. You may need a friend to help you.

SCENARIO THREE

"Seek us out," the voice whispers in your head, and before you have time to question it you've found yourself in someplace entirely alien.

Maybe it's the Fog God's ghostly town of Dyster, where exultant followers dance around bonfires and sing their praises to the skies above. Maybe it's the Fourth God's arcade, with small robots wheeling about amidst the lights and colors of old pinball machines.

Only one thing is certain: you are not alone, in this sacred place.

SCENARIO FOUR

The time has come and you've found yourself becoming a monster. Is the change instant, or gradual? Are you familiar enough with monsters to know what's happening, or is it a complete shock? Feel free to pick any monster type for this prompt, but note that you may not get the same one in game.

Comments

Piers | Pokemon Sword and Shield

[noencore]

[I. Beach Arrival]

[There’s no need to really comment on how much waking up on the beach sucked. It was dirty, hot, muggy, and unfamiliar and those were the complaints not taking into account that Piers really just didn’t care for the beach to begin with.]

[On top of waking up hot and alone, he was covered in alien scrapes and cuts that stung like a bitch, he was missing most of his belongings, his pokemon team was gone, and his hair was an absolute matted disaster.]

[That’s right, anyone walking along the beach to see what had washed up will be treated with the sight of a ...pale, thin, gaunt looking man with impossibly thick, matted black and white hair well past his waist, dressed in a damaged white leather jacket and hot pink biker shorts. He looks like he probably hasn’t slept in a decade.]

Oi, what’re you lookin’ at? Take a picture and it’ll bloody last longer.

[You could honestly mistake him for some starved looking monster and you wouldn’t have to feel bad about it.]


[II. Everyone’s a Critic]

[Piers had to come to terms with a lot of things very quickly. He was alone, he was lost, he didn’t have his team, and he didn’t have a pokedollar to his name. The people here were weird, the monsters weirder, and no matter how much of that set him on edge, he had to sort his shit out quick or he was going to be in trouble.]

[The only thing Piers had in his arsenal was his voice, so that is what he sought out for work. He eventually lands a few gigs here and there singing in seedy dive bars. The music here wasn’t up to speed with what Piers usually sang, but he was adaptable in the right circumstances and he had the range to sing what could pay the bills until he had his feet under him. He could work on introducing punk proper to these folks once he had a place to sleep.]

[Of course, the massive wrench in his plans came in the form of an angry mob breaking down the doors to the bar. Someone helpfully screams that its a monster raid and chaos erupts. There are monsters in the audience, sure, but some of them hone right in on Piers on stage and beeline for him.]

[Piers is ...nimble in the right circumstances, and dodging someone’s aimed shotgun just happens to be that circumstance. He throws himself off the stage in time to not get his head blown off and makes for the chaos of the crowd.]

I’m not gettin’ paid enough for this trubbish!


[III. Monster Mash, Harpy Edition.]

Bollocks.

[That is ...a relatively underwhelmed reaction one might have to the first sight of a monster transformation, but honestly the past month has been a wild fucking ride from start to finish for him. He at least expected this to happen, so he regards the sight of his nails turning black, hardening, with morbid curiosity until the pain starts.]

[It was fine, he would just go find somewhere private to go deal with this, like a litten hiding an injury. Pay no mind to that dark alley way making choked pained noises followed by the occasional sound of bones cracking.]

[He’s easy to find, at least, leaving a trail of molted white and black feathers in his wake.]

II, see i COULD tag this with marnie but what's the fun in going for that immediately?

[earrdrums]

[At this point, far be it from Jiro not to hang out wherever the newbies are trying to get a foot into the music scene. The music on the peninsula definitely leaves... a lot to be desired... but she's always interested in hearing how people work with it and make it their own.
So really, she considers herself lucky when something like this breaks out - already on the scene, an active Hero, to help keep people safe!

... And maybe then, it's not really surprising that Piers is who she goes for first. The other monsters in the crowd have already gone through their changes, they can survive a bullet or two - but the man on stage is clearly a newbie who hasn't even gotten a spattering of scales or feathers.
Once she sees him manage to weave into the crowd, she's quick to make her way behind him - spreading her long, rubber arms wide and muscling locals around and out of the way just so she can act as a shield whether he catches onto what she's doing or not.

It's not until he gets near the door that she actually makes herself and what she's up to known... purely because she slams the door behind them and leans her full weight against it to keep everyone trapped inside. ... It's pretty effective, considering her metal frame - a solid, 800-pound robot leaning against a door is gonna make it pretty hard to get through.]

Uh... great night for a hunter raid, huh?

[Ignore the gunfire in the building. It's fine. They're fine. Probably.]

[noencore]

[Nah, he’s pretty focused on staying one step ahead of anything going on behind him. His microphone stand, which he has decidedly stolen from this bar just now, stays gripped tightly in his hands.]

[When the door slams shut behind him, he pivots hard on his heel, swinging his momentum around with his mic stand raised and holds it out to whoever is actually there behind him.]

Want a proper Spikemuth welcome, do ya?! Wh-

[Oh, wait. That’s another monster, not one of the hunters. And ...she’s holding the door shut. With her whole body. Her whole ...metal robot body. Okay, sure, that’s enough to take the wind out of Piers’s sails. He doesn’t drop the mic stand, which is held out in front of him, just in case, but his shoulders drop as all that exertion catches up to him. He looks winded.]

...Not. Not used t’the critics bein’ fully armed.

[earrdrums]

[There's a loud thud as someone rams against the door from inside... but even that's not enough to make her budge. In fact, all it does is prompt her to stretch her cables out of her earpieces, spreading them across the door like that'll somehow help keep it shut even further.]

You gotta be picky and choosey about where you play, around here. I don't usually duck into a place like this myself...

[And now there's a crash from somewhere inside.]

Uh... maybe we should take this conversation somewhere safer, actually. How good are you at running?

[She COULD fly them somewhere, she has jets - but as it is, she can barely keep herself from crashing into trees and buildings on her own... she doesn't really wanna risk Piers's life like that.]

[noencore]

I can’t afford to be too picky just yet, lass. I’m dead broke and without a lick of reputation. Gotta start somewhere, yeah?

[Piers’s gaze snaps to the door as that one particularly loud thud rings out. Yeah, he is starting to like the idea of getting the hell out of dodge.]

Wouldn’t say its in my greatest hits, but neither is gettin’ bloody shot.

[earrdrums]

Well...

[Jiro looks at the building behind her, some beeps and tones of calculation ringing from her chassis - and then she looks up at the sky above them, before turning that look next to the road in front of them.]

I could fly us out of here pretty damn fast, but you gotta be able to hold on tight.
That sound good to you?

[It's fine. If they get close to crashing, she can maneuver enough to take the brunt of it for him. Probably.]

III

[slieght]

[It's the feathers that get his attention. As a nephilim, molting feathers are very familiar to him after all. And it's his duty to try and help people where he can. He's probably better with fellow nephilim who are changing and adjusting to the same things he's experienced before. Or a werewolf, he guesses, but obviously that's not what this is.

...unless it was one who'd caught himself a feathered friend to eat. But probably not.

Kokichi peers down the alley he's lead to, halo illuminating it with a soft pink glow, as he tries to catch a glimpse of whatever struggling monster was hiding down there.]

Y'know, changing alone reeeaaally sucks. You'd be way better off finding someone who has bandages or can heal you.

III (cw Blood and fingernail stuff)

[noencore]

[Shit, someone’s already found him. That’s just what he needed. Through clenched teeth, Piers hisses out a response from deep within the alley.]

Can’t a bloke get some bloody privacy?!

[He’s hard to miss, smashed up against some old, damaged crates with a curious trail of blood and feathers leading to his curled up, shaking form. His hands had already begun their change. Long spindly fingers ending in bloody sharp needles protruding from what used to be his fingernails.]

[His feet are in worse shape. One of his boots can be found not far from him in the alley, but one of them was not so lucky, and was still haphazardly clinging to his leg after it ripped apart under the stress of his shifting talons. What he’s becoming shouldn’t be too hard to guess.]

[slieght]

[Ah, a harpy...not quite a neph, but still dealing with wings and feathers and stuff. So totally close enough. Practically the same thing! Kokichi shakes his head though, entering further into the alley after glancing around to make sure no one was following. Sure, he's not going to leave this guy alone but that didn't mean he needed to drag more people with him.]

Sorry, changes are better gone through with some help. And I'm a Hero, so it's kiiiinda my job to do that helping part.

[He's keeping his voice low, in case Piers is doing any changing that might give him a headache (he has personal experience with that), and doesn't draw too close. Close enough to get a better look at those talons and what must surely be painful claws or something at the end of his fingers. There's a messenger bag over his shoulder that he has a hand on, the other hovering nearby, ready to access his first aid supplies.]

The bandaging and healing I mentioned? I can do both.

[noencore]

[Well, he’s in too much pain to really keep fighting this kid. Kid? He hasn’t really had it in him to look up just yet, but he sounded like a kid. It’s not like he could do anything to make him leave, anyway. He’s barely holding himself together as it is.]

Twist my arm, would ya? Fuck’s sake.

[His voice is little more than a harsh, pained, gasp. It’s clear he’s still in a lot of pain, whatever else might be happening. Somewhere in his legs, another bone gives a sickening crack and Piers bites down the noise he almost makes.]

[That about as close to Piers agreeing as Kokichi is going to get, obviously he is not in a position to refuse.]

[slieght]

[Basically a kid. 18 doesn't matter much if you still act 12 half the time. But now is not one of those times! Because he's got some decrepit old man to help here, and the sound of bones cracking and a lack of violence threatened is what gets Kokichi to pull out his supplies and properly approach him.]

Careful. Say that too loud and Fog-chan might actually do that for you!

[Twist your arm, that is. What he pulls out of his bag first as he kneels down is a bottle of water and some small tub that looks like it could have burn cream or something inside. Splinting or wrapping his wounds won't help much if his legs plan on breaking further or his claws plan on growing more. So they'll tackle the pain first. Or some of it anyway.]

Let me see your hands. I bet this numbing stuff is gonna feel great on your fingers.

I, yeah okay i can't not at this point

[yellecaster]

[Honestly, with the Fog rolling in and doing what it does to monsters around the peninsula, Marnie's never too keen to leave Bavan. ... Really, she's often not too keen to leave her jailhouse beneath the city when it happens, purely because it makes her too big to fit through the manholes comfortably.
It's a long story.

But hearing that the new arrivals have washed up in Vandare, and that it sounds like there's a lot... well, with Cynthia here too, who's to say might show up this time around?
Which, yes, means despite being in her overly large Fog form, Marnie's skulking the beach for familiar faces. ... Though she at least has the sense to keep a wide berth when she spots her brother, of all people.
She's quick to crouch down, keeping herself small so she doesn't tower over him, as she makes her way over.

And for a moment, she really just looks like a mutant Grimmsnarl. A big one, but that's about it. Until --]

... Piers? That really you?

[She's doing her level best to keep her voice gentle, of course. He's gonna get a heart attack either way, may as well lessen it at least a little.]

Come to meeee

[noencore]

[Piers was content to sit there on the beach for a few minutes angrily trying to untangle his hair. If he didn’t try to elicit some kind of control of it now, it would be such a disaster later. Also, to hell with whatever dragged him here, he will take his goddamn time sorting out his hair and whatever horrible eldritch pokemon god that dropped him here will just have to wait.]

[The sound of a familiar voice spooks the absolute heck out of him, and he jolts, whipping his head around. He heard Marnie, but what meets him is ...definitely not Marnie. In fact, when he was thinking about eldritch pokemon gods he wasn’t really aiming to be correct.]

[To no great surprise, Piers shouts in alarm and backs away from Marnie, staring up at her, frankly, terrifying visage. Arceus, he doesn’t have anything to defend himself with.]

[That won’t stop him from threatening the monster in front of him. It’s not like the monster knows he’s unarmed.]

I don’t know what the hell you’re s’pposed to be, but usin’ my sister’s voice is a quick way to get me tampin’, get it?

[It definitely sounds like Piers, if Marnie had any doubts.]

IM HEEEEERE and now im x10 more glad i bought morpeko asap

[yellecaster]

[That reaction is enough to get her to sink further down against the sand, that face of hers twisting up with something that can really only be taken as sadness - she knew she was scary like this... but enough to scare Piers?
That's not something she can even imagine, having been raised by the man for the best parts of her life.
But she can tell that at this point, it'd be hard to convince him that what he's seeing is really her. The Fog's made her something huge, something to be feared... just like the Fog god wants.
So what else can she do?

... It takes her a second to undo the way she has it tied around her wings - just about the only way she can manage to keep it on, at this point - but she pulls something off her back and puts it in the sand in front of her.
Specifically, it's her little red backpack, complete with its metal bows... and Morpeko inside, the little Pokémon already opening the flap to peek out at Piers where he sits in the sand with a little "urara?"
It's the best she's got to convince him, right now.]

I, uh...
I am your sister.

[Said as she turns her head a bit to regard him better; with the way her face is built right now, her eyes aren't exactly as forward-facing as she'd like... it's almost like you'd expect something like a dragon to do, turning its head to look at whatever's in front of it.]

[noencore]

[Piers is running on pure adrenaline now that he’s being face with some huge monster. He hasn’t tried to run, rather like when dealing with any Pokemon bigger than you, running is the last thing you want to do, and even through the fear and anxiety coursing through him, he remembers that much. He maintains eye contact, even if it chills him to the bone, and his movements are careful as he climbs to his feet.]

[And then ...and then it drops Marnie’s little backpack down, and out pops Morpeko.]

What...?

[It’s. Not possible, is it? There’s no way.]

[But even as he thinks that, he starts to see. He starts to spot the resemblance. He sees the Marnie underneath whatever that ghastly form is and his expression shifts from fear and hostility to ...horror and sorrow.]

...Marnie?

[His hesitation is gone. He walks right up to her without an ounce of fear- rather, the worry and upset in his eyes is entirely for her sake. He reaches both of his hands out to cup her face.]

Oh no, love, what’s happened? What’s happened to you?

[yellecaster]

[Now that his hesitation is gone, her own only doubles - she'd love to hug her brother (for once), but the idea of possibly hurting him thanks to just how large she's become is...
Disheartening, to say the least.
Instead she just leans her face into one of his hands, trying not to look him in the eyes.]

It's... it's hard to explain. I haven't really grasped it all that well, m'self.
This place just changes people after a while... we're not in Galar anymore, y'know.

[All the while, Morpeko starts to toddle over to him itself - looks like it must have been napping, with the sleep it's shaking off.]

If someone's here long enough, they just start to change. Sometimes it's not too bad.
But, you know... sometimes it's...

[Big.]

i.

[tothemoon]

[It's true that Appare had been staring-- not for very long, but long enough to warrant a snide remark for sure. He was just a little curious about this person who seemed to be in the same situation, looking... well. Honestly, just about as outlandish as he looked himself. But the comment made to him quickly took priority in his mind, and anything he was going to say to Piers first left it as fast as it came.]

I wouldn't even if I had a camera.

Re: i.

[noencore]

Good answer. I’ve never allowed unsolicited photos before an’ I don’t plan to start now.

[And that seems to be all he cares to say on the matter. He regards the other with some wariness before he sighs and tries to get to his feet.]

If you’re the one that’s brought me here then I’ve gotta bone t’pick with you the size of Hammerlocke.

[tothemoon]

[Appare watches with a flat expression, as Piers starts to get some footing in the sand. The wary accusation makes sense, and if Piers wasn't on the ground himself Appare may have had the same thoughts about him, honestly. Wondering if maybe he had something to do with the sudden kidnapping(?).]

I'm not.

[He answers that simply, before he turns his face to look out towards the vast sea that they had washed up from. No boats in sight..]

I've got the same bone to pick.

[noencore]

Ah.

[Well, that doesn’t do him a fat lot of good, now does it? He frowns looking around at things, trying to wrap his head around what exactly was going on.]

Bit of a sticky situation we’re in, innit?

[What else can he really say. He turns to look in the other direction, towards whatever land the beach sits along, and frowns.]

What do you suppose is beyond the beach?

[tothemoon]

[At the question presented to him, Appare turns his attention to the other direction as well, and he's pretty quick to give Piers an answer.]

Civilization.

[He reaches up with his gloved hand, and points to a small line of what looks like clouds in the distance of the skyline.]

There, look. Though it might look like clouds or fog, the colour is that of polluted air. It's kind of yellow.

There's most likely a town that uses coal fires as their primary source of power. There might be a train station as well, to contribute to that thick of a cloud.

[He's.. from the 1800's so the concept of modern day smog isn't really something he's aware of. But, it is relatively clear out on this side of the peninsula so perhaps he has some idea what he's talking about.

Or it's just rainy over there.]

( ii )

[renametoken]

[ It's been a while since Stan has had to do the whole 'slumming it in scuzzy bars to get by' thing, but he's doing alright. A few cards up his sleeves, some loaded dice, and an escape route and he's good to go.

For once, the riot that starts isn't his fault, but that doesn't stop him from taking advantage of the chaos. He swipes the cash off the table and disappears into the crowd before anyone has a chance to stop him. Just his luck, then, that he ends up alongside the apparent source of the riot - and that Piers and his weird skunk hair are going to be really easy to spot in the crowd. Even so, rather than trying to part ways... ]

What the heck?! I didn't think your singing was that bad!

[noencore]

[Fucking excuse him, if its the one thing in this misbegotten world Piers has legitimate confidence in, it’s his voice. As such, he does not appreciate someone having the audacity to say otherwise.]

[The mic stand that he’s made off with, he holds somewhat between them, not unlike one might hold a tire iron in a street fight.]

Would be a shame if that rotten singin’ alerted the mob. How fast can you run, mate? ‘Cuz, all I gotta do is out run you.

[You think this guy is above throwing the elderly at an angry mob? Do you want to test him, Stan?]

[renametoken]

[ A reasonable person would probably decide that he and Piers have something good going on right now, and that aggravating him further would just needlessly complicate things.

But a person capable of that sort of forethought wouldn't have started a fistfight with his brother when the fate of the world was on the line, either, and guess what Stan has definitely done before? ]

Hey! If you think they're gonna be more interested in chasing after me than the guy with skunk hair, be my guest!

[noencore]

[You know, he gets points for infuriating moxy. He did not think the old man would snap back at him like that. He also hates to admit it, but the old codger has a point. Piers sticks out like a sore thumb in this mess. He growls a little before sighing.]

Then it looks like it’s in both our interests t’keep our gobs shut and get the hell out of dodge, innit?

[Insult his hair all you like Stan, he is the proud owner of a Skuntank.]