PRISON WORLD #1: Spidermarvel (tw violence, harassment, discrimination)

[spoofer]

Characters: Ensemble cast, any/all characters of Xistentia!
Summary: F.A.T.E.S. has alerted the population of Xistentia that the enemy has created something new, a Prison World where others refugees of the Multiverse are being brainwashed into destroying each other.
Date(s): July 29-August 5
Warnings/Notes: None, please mark your subject headers with content.

SPIDERMARVEL PRISON WORLD

She was really nice and bought me a churro.

PRISON WORLD: SPIDERMARVEL

It's New York City in 2017, and Enhanced humans came into public perception after the great Battle against alien invaders 5 years ago. Unlike the Hulk or Thor, rumor has it that most of the Enhanced superpowers in New York developed because of ambient radiation-- hard to say whether that was from the alien weapons, or the nuclear bomb that other humans themselves sent to try to level the city. There's blame to go around. People still find Chitauri tech littered about the city. However, for most of the residents, life hasn't changed much; the trains still run on time (or not), the grocery store still carry your favorite brand of cup noodles (or not), and you still have to bring your boss that coffee (or face their wrath). Mandatory Enhanced Registration has begun to cause friction at work and school, murmurs of dissent. Now and then, an Enhanced loses control-- such as the unknown individual who exploded all the windows in Grand Central Station the other year. Or you see news stories of Enhanced being harassed by people wielding incredible weapons, from forcefield generators to tractor beams. Burglars and pranksters seem to have gotten their hands on this technology as well.

In another life, you might have been once an orcish princess or a steampunk scientist, but these days, you're someone different. The new identity and the new body fit you like a glove. You know your friends and your prospects same as you know your own life.

Pax Sanctum Club

There's one place in New York City where Enhanced and purported allies can be out and about in peace: a speakeasy named Pax Sanctum. It sounds like some hippie shit, but inside, you have green ambient light, sleek white bar, bottles of every liquor type you could want. Rumors vary about peace enforcement here. Some say there's an empath scanning the place constantly, others that there's someone who can manipulate time itself. Older patrons know that the location has moved twice in the past three years, without incident, but no doubt with good reason. Regardless, the bouncers descend quickly whenever a conflict seems to get heated.

And it so rarely does. The ambience is light and sexy. Now and then, you'll find a pyrokinetic showing off lighter fingers to an impressed crowd or an animated debate about current events compared to historical parallels. One level down the stairs, there's even a dancefloor where you will occasionally find dance battles between equally uncoordinated Enhanced and non-Enhanced. It feels like the kind of place where you can let your guard down.

The week's password is Arachnid— there's a Spiderman fan in management somewhere, evidently. Tell the bouncer behind the big metal door.

The Explosion

At 11:42PM on Wednesday, August 2, an explosion rocks the club.

Boom! Glass explodes, people hit the floor. The origin seems to be the dance space at LG 2. An electrical fire erupts immediately, filling the air with a thick, cloying smoke. It's not clear whether the attack was from an Enhanced or a non-Enhanced-- but the fear instantly kindles. People of both kind scramble to form groups of their own, and fight for the two exits. Soon, the sirens of police and fire services begin to echo in the distance, promising interrogations for those who linger. How many people here are un-Registered? And say, didn't you see someone acting a little suspicious right before the blast? Is that them there? And what will you do, when you come across someone bleeding?

Or better yet, when the first punch is thrown, by a couple of angry, drunken survivors right outside there in the nightclub's back alley?

After the explosion, what started as a single incident of violence sends ripples throughout the social fabric of New York City in the weeks after. Police report that the rates of Chitauri-influenced weapons on the street doubles, and even mundane weapons are being bought off the black market at even greater rates than that. Further, every day the news seems to sensationalize stories of stressed Enhanced losing control of their powers... and the Mayor is beginning to make examples out of them, with harsher sentences, rushed proceedings. Whether or not you're Enhanced, the streets are a dangerous place to roam.

NEW CHARACTERS: SAVE ME

Maybe you know that someone's been watching you for days, even weeks. Maybe you noticed— this person you may have known forever, but started acting a little oddly just a few days. Maybe you figured it was sickness or stress, especially after the August 2 explosion. Even people who didn't care about politics at all are starting to take notice now, choosing sides, storing up water... even weapons, the likes of which mankind had never seen before the era of the Chitauri and Enhanced. But this is when it happens: when someone comes to you and offers you the device, the innocent-looking cellular phone, that will change your whole identity.

Or maybe you just stumble upon it yourself. Seemingly a lost phone, a free phone, sitting out innocuous.

Daemon Activate

You pick it up, and immediately, your mind begins to morph inside your skull, disorienting. Your body doesn't change, but you remember who you are. The phone screen lights up, then unexpectedly projects holographic text into the air in front of your face: Activate Portal to Xistentia?^[1]

Unfinished Business

You pick No. Not right now.

Your mind is flooded with memories of your past, your true homeworld. Your true identity crashes into the false memories that this world brainwashed into you, disorienting, heavy; rapidly, your life here begins to feel like a dream. Luckily, you don't forget the helpful details of passing as a native. Nonetheless, the revelation probably comes at a bad time; in the middle of your workday or on the bus, somewhere public, where people are here to see you... as well as the daemon that's now trying to give you a whole infodump about Xistentia and the battle between F.A.T.E.S. and D.E.S.T.I.N.Y. It might be a good time to find somewhere private to go and get that portal out.

Or maybe you're staying because you have unfinished business in this world. Friends or even enemies who might also need to be awakened and helped. Luckily, your cellphone-- or daemon— tells you that there are others in this world on a similar mission from Xistentia. Maybe you can contact them through your daemon.

Escape to Xistentia

You pick Yes.

A portal of glowing light opens in front of you, smelling of ozone, churning with atmosphere. Step through, and you immediately find yourself with the unsettling yet painless sensation of being pulled through space and time. The very molecules of your body supercharge and come apart, shot through the multiverse, and come out on the other side arranged back in your original configuration.

You land facedown on a sandy beach. Your daemon is still with you, but chances are, it no longer looks like a reassuringly ordinary cellphone. It tells you:

"The date is August 12, 2017, F.A.T.E.S. Standard Time. Local Population: 333. Welcome to Xistentia. The city is due East."

OLDER CHARACTERS: RESEARCH & RESCUE

One minute, you were in Xistentia, a refugee from your dying world. Charged with studying D.E.S.T.I.N.Y. the enemy of the entire Multiverse or rescuing others from its clutches. You're lying on a stone table, some kind of magic machine in the Telexistence Temple, surrounded by other people from a variety of worlds, all of them anticipating the same unknowns as you are.

The Moment of Lucidity

The next minute, you're a resident of New York City, totally immersed in your new identity; strangely fixated on keeping your cellphone in hand, but there's nothing strange about that in 2017. For a few days, you were part of this world, completely convinced of a life as rich as your original.

And this is the moment you're back. Suddenly you remember everything, lucidity hitting you like a thunderbolt. You suddenly realize your memories were false, your diet, perhaps even the shape of your body. It's deeply disorienting, and it probably throws you off in the middle of whatever you're doing, whether it's filling a takeaway cup with soda or delivering a speech to a packed auditorium. Suddenly, the false identity you were given sinks into the background; you can still remember enough details to fake it (and maybe take it), but you know who you are.

Hopefully no one here will notice you literally just lost your mind.

Do Your Research

The research part of the mission turns out to be pretty easy! All you need to do is carry your cellphone around wherever you go. You're easily mistaken for someone playing Pokemon! Go or texting avidly wherever you walk. The screen shows you nothing but code gibberish, with the occasional flicker when you're near someone else from Xistentia or an awakened person. It's a good excuse to get out and about.

And maybe also an accidental cause of getting in trouble. After all, whether or not you're a part of it, there is a war brewing between two groups of people, and many of those who haven't taken a side are nonetheless on-guard for danger at any given time. You're as likely to come across verbal harassment as violent revenge, or someone using advanced Chitauri-influenced weapons to knock over a liquor store or throw their weight around.

Rescue Rangers

If you visited this world the week before, in wraith mode^[2], you've recovered those memories too. It might help you recall some of those who now need rescuing.

Or maybe you're going at it blind. In any case, you equipped with a pre-activated daemon in hand, as well as you're own. Your duty now is to find world-hopping refugees that D.E.S.T.I.N.Y. has trapped here, and match the naive device to its new owner with some form of consent-- whether by trick or explanation. How hard can it be? It's 2017. Everyone needs a cellphone.

Small complication: the entire city is fraught with war and paranoia. And maybe the naive daemon in your hand keeps blinking at you signals that ID someone on the wrong side...

Get Home

Your daemon will show you the way home. And dump you on back on a familiar beach amid a screaming chaos. You're welcome!

Footnotes

1. Daemon will take/resume its true form in Xistentia, as soon as the character lands on the beach.
   
   
2. Wraith mode refers to existing characters who had played in the TDM, able to be seen and heard only by the other refugees.
   
   
3. Updated plotting thread for new characters is here.
   
   
4. OOC plot post is here. IC network infodump for existing characters is here.

Comments

a; later

[fiachdubh]

[ For a long time, Ronan sits by the edge of Adam's makeshift forest, and waits. He can hear voices, music, and so he waits. He has no desire to see Adam and someone else. He has no desire for anyone to see them together.

It's... he just can't put his finger on it. It's not shame, definitely not; it's something more complicated and terrifying than shame. It's that Adam knows of Ronan's nightly activities, and Ronan knows of Adam's powers. It's that both of them like to pretend they're other people when the sun is shining. It's that they don't know who each other is outside of this patch of grass and vines.

So he waits. He sits on the ledge of a window a floor down from the roof, unseen and unseeing, until the music stops, until there's the sound of a door opening and closing, until the quiet once more reigns supreme. Then, he climbs up, his exoskeleton making tinny whirring noises as he does so. He knows Adam must know he's here, but Ronan takes his time anyway, grazing dewy vines with bloody fingers and leaning in to smell the roses, the bruises on his face starkly visible in the moonlight. He's taken a bit of a battering tonight, and he's feeling it in every muscle, aching with every step.

It's partly why he's here. As much as he doesn't want it to be, Adam is a safe haven to Ronan. A bubble of peace under the canopy of a man made forest, a New York rooftop Ronan can climb to and feel like he's home. ]

Do you grow any lavender? Or sage?

[aberth]

( He'd known, the minute the other man had arrived. The trees had rustled above his head, whispering at his presence, the edge of his forest shivering in anticipation. Adam hadn't hurried Rosie away though, had talked to her like it was a normal night, like he wasn't waiting. Still, when she leaves he holds his breath, doesn't look to where Ronan approaches from. By now he's stretched out among the grass, the rooftop no longer grey steel and concrete but lush green. His gaze is trained on the stars above and he lets out a sigh when Ronan speaks, closing his eyes. )

Trouble sleeping?

( But the closer he gets, the easier Adam can smell the blood. It pulls at him and he turns his eye, heavy gaze dragging over the bruises, the cuts. Adam rolls over to rise, ignoring the way the vines have already started to creep over Ronan's boots, trying to claim him. )

You know, I thought you'd be better at this.

( Fighting, he means. Adam is slow on his approach, stops just inches from him. His hand lifts, fingertips light when they rest on his jaw. ) Does it hurt?

[fiachdubh]

They're antiseptic.

[ He doesn't have trouble sleeping. Well, that's a lie; he does, when he's alone. When he falls asleep here, in Adam's little kingdom, sometimes with Adam's arms around him, he doesn't have trouble sleeping. He always wakes up before the sun, though, and leaves as quietly as he's come in.

He swallows hard when he feels the vines grow around his feet, when he watches Adam walk closer to him. There's something so absolutely breathtaking about him - the way he moves, like he's entirely part of the forest he's created, like he and the trees are one. It's all so smooth, almost... sensual, and it makes it difficult for Ronan to breathe. ]

Yeah, I thought I'd be, too.

[ In all honesty, he's not that bad. In a fight with someone of the same strength and size as he is, he can more than hold his own. But Enhanced... they can be unpredictable.

He breathes in, sharp, when Adam touches him. ]

I've had worse.

[aberth]

I know.

( There's not much he doesn't know about the earth, nowadays. It's like his power took hold and the leaves became a part of Adam, the roots of the trees that reached for him offered up knowledge, the grass understanding. The first time they'd met, Adam had bloomed a series of flowers that were pretty together, but mostly meant that he thought Ronan was an asshole. He'd cherished that vicious grin afterwards. )

I can grow them for you now, if you're staying.

( Of course Ronan is, he always does. He's just never there in the morning.

Adam takes a step back, the air around them now filled with the scent of lavender. Adam takes a breath, doesn't look away from Ronan. There's something sad about this, he thinks, how careful they have to be together. ) Who was it this time?

[fiachdubh]

[ The moment Adam pulls away, Ronan shivers, feeling cold all over with his touch gone. He himself takes a step closer, his exoskeleton whirring and making him stop. He looks down, then blows out a breath and presses the discreet power off button - the exoskeleton's latches open, and Ronan steps out of his Chitauri-grade armor, leaving it standing there, just at the edges of Adam's domain.

He always stays. He's as addicted to Adam as he is to running around beating bad guys up.
He is a drug, sweet and a little otherworldly, constantly keeping Ronan on his toes, his lips always tasting like strawberries. He comes closer, now silent and two inches shorter, and reaches out, tentatively, to wrap his fingers around Adam's wrist, holding on delicately and looking down where their skin touch. ]

Half-man, half-shark, with one hell of an uppercut. [ He looks up then, his smile sharp. ] Do I look that bad?

[aberth]

You look better now.

( Without the exoskeleton suit, he means.

He knows that's an unfair sentiment. Ronan does what he feels he has to, the same as Adam does. In another world, they might actually work from the same side. But their measures are too different, their believes too wildly opposing. On one hand, law and order, on the other actual justice. Neither of them can really understand, and so they fight about it, digging a trench deep between them, making it impossible to really breach. )

Which half was the shark? ( His mouth twitches, teasing. With Ronan's hand on him, the leaves that were pressing to Adam's skin start to crawl and transfer, green creeping up his knuckles. He watches it, instead of Ronan. ) I've heard about him, I think. The one who attacked the embassy? ( The one Adam wouldn't want to protect, because innocent people were hurt. Actually, he'd much prefer he got paid in kind. But that's not Ronan's style. ) Did you catch him, in the end?

[fiachdubh]

[ Ronan knows that Adam dislikes the suit. It's another thing that keeps them apart from one another, Adam's absolute devotion for nature, and Ronan's dedication to help himself with technology. It's as if they are at different ends of a scale, keeping the whole thing in balance.

If only it was their only problem. Ronan knows - he knows that there are a multitude of reasons why he shouldn't go back to Adam, time and again. That he should be looking at putting him behind bars instead of pulling him into his arms. But he can't.

He simply can't. ]

Top half. [ He grins, still as sharp as ever, teeth showing. He knows he doesn't looks all that different from Sharkman, himself, when he smiles like that. Dangerous. ] Yeah. He's not from here, but he can't go back home because of his mutation, they won't let him. But they also won't let him register, because he's not a US citizen.

[ The injustice of it stings. Still, the man's a terrorist.

Ronan watches as leaves crawl up along his fingers, a flower blooming above the back of his hand. ]

I didn't. [ But neither did any gang, at least.

Carefully, Ronan pulls his hand away from Adam. The flower quickly starts withering. ] Is - is the lavender ready?

[aberth]

( Adam makes a noise, soft and scoffing. The politics surrounding registration frustrate him. The world is there for the people who can afford help, who come from the right backgrounds. Everyone else falls through the cracks. )

I don't think I'd like to be a half-anything. ( Adam's lucky, he can hide his power when he wants to. Whatever pain comes from suppressing it during the day is nothing compared to what he's already lived through. But it could have been so much different.

People already looked at him like he was something other. If only they knew.

Adam watches as Ronan pulls away, as the flower dies from the loss of contact. He watches until it falls, and then turns back to the trees around them. ) Yes. Are you boiling it? ( Does he have to leave? )

[fiachdubh]

No, just need to cut the stem. [ It's far from being an ideal situation, but Ronan doesn't want to leave. If he was to leave, he could just as easily go to some 24 hours pharmacy and get himself some Advil and rubbing alcohol. He's here because he wants to be with Adam. Near Adam.

He bites the inside of his lip, looking down at Adam. Outside of their politics, outside of the fact that they're not, technically, the same species anymore, Ronan can barely contain just how much he feels for Adam. It's more than infatuation, he knows. He knows he loves him, as stupid and ill-advised as it is.

He can't help how he reaches out again, this time his hand cupping Adam's jaw, thumb against his cheek. His chest is burning with how difficult it is to breathe. ]

Adam, I - [ I see your face every time I almost die. I wouldn't want you to be anything different. I love you.. So many words he doesn't say, instead leaning in to kiss him, urgent. ]

[aberth]

( He pulls in a breath without meaning to, when Ronan touches him.

It's nothing compared to the sound he makes when they kiss though, hungry and urgent, a hand lifting to cup the back of the other boy's head. All around them the forest he's created shifts and shivers, leaves rustling with the same feeling that courses through his veins, flowers blooming bright and fragrant with his yearning, the world alive and strange.

Adam used to hate the way his power betrayed him. He'd flinch away from it, try and smother it down. Right now he couldn't care less. His eyes are closed and he's pressing closer, mindless of Ronan's wounds until his palm catches a graze. Then he's leaning back, frown between his brows. )

Sit down.

( The forest obliges, thick roots sprouting to give Ronan a place to rest as Adam pushes him back and then moves to gather the flowers and herbs. He's careful, as he plucks them, careful as he extracts what Ronan needs, careful as he applies it to broken skin. )

You need to be more careful, you know.

[fiachdubh]

[ Something inside Ronan roars when Adam kisses him back, the two of them pressing closer, unable to ever get enough of each other. It's always too short a time, too fast, here this second, gone the next. It makes Ronan shiver, his fingers pressing into Adam's skin. He wants more. He always want more.

Still, he lets himself be sat down, and lets Adam apply the lavender oil to his wounds, grimacing at the sting. He shivers as Adam does his thing, and he tries to resist touching him back, until he can't anymore, and disregarding his aching ribs and bloody knuckles, grabs Adam and pulls him to his lap.

He leans in, breathing in deep as he brushes his nose along the column of Adam's neck, smelling moss and clean sweat and dirt. ]

Being careful's not in the job description, Parrish.

[aberth]

Then get a new job.

( Adam doesn't know why it's so important to him. He barely knows Ronan. In the real world, they've never spoken, their paths have never crossed. They just have this, a few nighttimes of peace and opposing beliefs. But somehow, somewhere between them stumbling across each other and the now, he's found himself caring. His thoughts turn to this boy during the day, worry eating at his gut and an ache in his heart when he's working, or studying, or eating. Even his sleep has been invaded, frantic, anxious dreams of even more blood streaked across Ronan's strong jaw.

It shouldn't be important, but it is. That terrifies him. ) You could, I don't know, be a farmer or something.

( He settles against him, lets the other boy nose at his throat. Adam's pulse jumps, a betrayal that has him flush a little, as pink as the flowers around them. ) You don't have to save the world.

i see what u did there

[fiachdubh]

The world needs saving.

[ Ronan speaks softly, right against Adam's pulse point. he's trying his best to be as distracting as possible, to get Adam's thoughts away from where they dwell, in worry and displeasure and whatever else is in his head. Ronan wants him to find peace and quiet again, the forest inside his head. ]

Also, I'd be terrible as a farmer. Alone with animals? C'mon. I've never even had a goldfish I could keep alive.

[ He flicks his tongue out, right at that vein in Adam's neck. He really, really wants them to not talk anymore. He scrapes his teeth down along the curve of Adam's neck, then over his shoulder, through his shirt. ]

I'm fine. It's fine. Let's just - I'm fine.

[aberth]

( He wants to protest, wants to argue. But Ronan's strangely skilled in destroying all of Adam's defences, has somehow managed to find the exact ways to make thoughts fly from his head and so instead he makes a rough noise in the back of his throat and draws his palm over the curve of his skull. )

Okay.

( Okay, he's fine.

And Adam's done with trying, done with wasting what little time they have to themselves. So he leans back, dips his head down to catch the other boy's mouth in a searing kiss. )

[fiachdubh]

[ Ronan lets out a noise against Adam's lips, triumphant, and smiles, hard-edged and full of secrets. He pulls Adam closer, wishing this could be his every day - waking up in bed with Adam by his side.

Instead, he gets to keep Adam in his head, save for these stolen moments they'll pretend never happen. The two of them, living their lives as strangers and somehow meeting in the middle sometimes, like two comets crashing into each other.

Ronan pushes his tongue into Adam's mouth, one of his hands trailing up to tangle in Adam's hair at the back of his head. This feels like - charging up, taking up Adam's affection and kisses, like Ronan's living on it. Sometimes, it feels like he is, finding it hard to breathe when he hasn't seen Adam in a while. ]

[aberth]

( The forest shudders around them at the same time as a shiver runs down Adam's spine. He used to be terrified of this, terrified of the way his own being was intertwined with something ageless and strange, used to hate the Enhanced blood in his veins because it made him different. Now he's had enough time to adjust to how he feels, now he likes the way his creation follows his lead, the grass softer, the flowers sweeter, because it makes him feel safe.

Safe in the same way Ronan does.

Because when Ronan kisses him it's completely demanding, the grip on his body sure of itself in its wanting. When Ronan kisses him, it's like a fire. But instead of being burnt up, Adam can take the light and the warmth and use it. So he kisses back, ravenous and alive, hands sliding down Ronan's arms to tangle in the shirt he wears beneath his armour. He makes a noise, dazed, scrambling fingers trying to find their way under so he can touch his skin. )

[fiachdubh]

[ When Adam lets out this little noise, Ronan responds in kind, reaching back to untuck his shirt from his jeans, giving Adam space and freedom to touch him. They're always the same - 0 to 60 in no time, hungry and desperate and unwilling to let any time fly past them.

He feels the forest grow around them, silent and a little dark. Under other circumstances, it'd be terrifying, oppressive, but Ronan feels safe in Adam's arms more than anywhere else he's ever been. Here, now, with Adam touching him and the two of them kissing urgently, it feels right. Ronan feels right. He feels in the right place, at the right time; and nothing, and no one, could disrupt it. He surges up into the kiss, a hand holding Adam's face to his own, refusing to move for the foreseeable future.

Because no place, anywhere in the world, feels better than right here, with Adam. ]

[aberth]

( Touch him he does, pushing his hands under Ronan's shirt to spread his broad palms to the notches of his spine, fingers stretched out so that Adam can feel as much of him as possible. His mouth moves, from lips to trail a path along the other boy's jaw, teasing the jut of it with his teeth before licking a path to his pulse.

It's beating just as wildly as Adam's own, the pounding of it pulling a whisper of a curse from his throat. Rocking his hips down, he curls his fingers, dragging nails delicately down the soft stretch of skin towards Ronan's waist. )

Can we --?

( He feels clumsy, and a little wild, the forest warm and heavily scented around them. The flowers are the same shade of pink that stains Adam's cheeks as he pulls back. )

I want you.

[fiachdubh]

[ Ronan's lips part on a slow exhale when Adam pulls back, looks at him. There are blooms all around them, talking of Adam's feelings and desires; if Ronan knew anything of the language of plants, he might understand Adam better. ]

Here?

[ It wouldn't be the first time they fuck on a rooftop, hidden away from the world by Adam's powerful, amazing magic. But he still prefers to ask before he goes too far and can't pull back. Sometimes, he wants Adam so much it scares him. ]

Because I - [ He flushes, biting his lip as his hands squeeze Adam's hips. ] I want to - go down on you. Here.