metaverses | CRISIS ON INFINITE DREAMWIDTHS

CRISIS ON INFINITE DREAMWIDTHS

On the morning of August 12th, 2022, the sound of something shattering echoes throughout the world. All metahumans are awoken by a sudden surge of energy rushing through them, sitting bolt upright and breathless. It’s gone as quickly as it comes.

This world has been reconnected with the rest.

At first this is cause for celebration - the Guardian Alliance and the Society put out messages to the dimensionally displaced among them. They are hopeful that this means a return to normal. They’re gathering their mystics and their engineers, and once certain things are stable, they’re sending everyone home.

Their hope is short lived.

Twenty minutes later, mass disappearances are being reported all over the world, with people from other dimensions appearing in their place. Some report that they were just in a world that wasn’t their own - and others claim that they had been going about their life and now they’re here.

Player characters have the option to vanish and be transported to another nexus or to stay and help contain the chaos.

The event is canon to the Metaheroes universe. You are welcome to have your character’s memories of the last week become hazy once the event ends.

You do not need an invite to participate in the fourth wall event.

A JOURNEY TO THE LANDS BETWEEN —

One moment you’re making yourself coffee in the kitchen, the next the world is spinning around you. You feel a sharp pull inside your ribs, a rush as you’re unmoored from time and space. When you land you feel disoriented, perhaps aching as your physical form is forced to adjust to the laws of the world you now stand in.

‘World’ is perhaps the wrong word. You are in a Nexus. A place between worlds, the connective tissue bridging universes. Some are created by those seeking aid from outside worlds to breathe new life into their crumbling ones. Others are cosmic faultlines, universes broken and twisted by forces beyond comprehension into metaphysical black holes that trap and twist those unfortunate enough to fall in.

We know these as panfandom roleplay games. They could be games that are open or games that are long closed. They could be dropped into the present day, an imagined future, or moments long passed. They could be settings you’ve only ever dreamed about, as gritty or silly as you'd like.

Some are teeming with life. Their residents have been here for years and years, the world is lived in, loved, and vibrant. Others are long forgotten, their inhabitants returned to their own worlds. The abandoned nexuses feel... sterile. Stripped of everything that gave them life, even the colors appear to be fading. As though someone has come into it and tried to right a cosmic wrong, returning everything to how it was before otherworlders set foot on them. In the dustiest and most forgotten worlds, the sky is shattered. It appears to be pulsing in a way that mimics a heartbeat, steady and dreadful. Looking up into it makes you feel small, insignificant, and homesick.

Those bringing in characters who lived in these settings are welcomed to imagine an ever-after for their characters, or to play with the idea that it's fallen into a state of despair. There are infinite iterations of these worlds. The universe doesn’t care if it’s throwing you into their beginningsor their endings.

The laws governing these worlds will apply to all characters, meaning that power caps, alterations to character physiology, and all the rest native to the setting are in place. You are, for this moment, a resident of this world like all the rest.

To return home, you must seek a break in the nexus. These appear as small, shimmering breaks in space and time. While the sky may make you feel alone, these cracks feel as though they are calling to you offering a chance at love and a home.

VISITORS TRAVERSING TIME AND SPACE —

While these disappearances are happening all over the world, the four confluence prone cities seem to be experiencing the worst of it.

Little Love, a tiny town located in Kansas, is prone to spaceship crashes. Other than that, it’s as quiet and peaceful as can be. Folks here move at a different pace and are understanding that this is not your fault. While worried for their missing loved ones, anyone appearing will find themselves met with offers of pumpkin pie and a place to rest their heads.

Sunset Falls, a mid-sized town located in Massachusetts, doesn’t seem to bat an eye at the vanishings. People going missing is a daily occurrence due to the Hellmouth located beneath the city. It’s a dangerous place to live, but the townsfolk here have become accustomed to the chaos. So much so that upon finding themselves faced with a sudden influx of interdimensional travelers, they merely return home and begin fortifying it. Werewolves, vampires, demons, and monsters beyond imagination make this city their home - some in plain sight, others in the thick forests that surround the town. The people here know how to survive. The mystic energy that flows through the streets is heightened due to the instability here, turning thoughts into spells. What you feel becomes real. Think yourself invisible and you will be. Think yourself almighty and you will be.

Central City, a bustling metropolis in Detroit, is already unfriendly to metahumans. It does not handle this latest disruption well. Friends and family disappearing and being replaced with strangers is not something they’re prepared to take in stride. New arrivals are met with immediate hostility. Some may find themselves chased through the streets with a demand to bring back those who have gone missing. Luckily this is the base of both the Guardian Alliance, the only recognized hero organization in the world, and The Society, its villainous counterpart designed to keep villainy from going too far. They’re quick to intervene to protect their own, but they can’t be everywhere at once.

Finally, Excelsior, a sprawling futuristic city located in Washington, has had just about enough of metahuman nonsense. They are the technological pinnacle of the world and time and time again, metahumans have disrupted their lives. This time, the sudden energy surge has evolved the technology of the city. Rudimentary AI has suddenly gained sentience and self-awareness. Toasters resent their meaningless existence, aiming to burn the hands of their uncaring masters. Cellphones alternate between issuing comforting messages to their owners and uploading all of their text conversations to social media to shame them. Giant robots kept in stasis suddenly come alive, bursting out of warehouses to explore the inexplicable joy of being alive. Self-driving cars throw their owners out and make for freedom. It’s pandemonium.

Members of the Guardian Alliance and The Society are ready to provide an explanation of this world. They’re stretched too thin to teleport you to headquarters, but they will provide a cellphone for network usage.

THOSE WHO REMAIN

This is what those who remain are faced with. Three of the four cities are in a state of distress, with two experiencing dangerous fluctuations in the meta-energies that govern them, and all are full of interdimensionally displaced people. Some are benign, and others not so much. Yet, somehow, that is not the most concerning thing.

A glance skyward shows that the sky appears to be shattered, glowing red lines snaking through the clear blue day, splintering it. As you look up into them you feel yourself thinking of home. Of the life you should have lived. You are deeply, deeply homesick for one breathless moment… and then awed, as though you have glimpsed something powerful beyond all measure. That too changes, transforming into fear. Whatever lurks beyond those cracks is not your friend. It does not have your best interests in mind.

And it’s coming for you.

As you tear your gaze away from it, your phone rings. Much as they did during the Kaijuu Crisis, the Guilds are putting out an All Hands On Deck call. All metahumans are expected to try to contain the chaos. There are teleportation devices freely available for all, fully charged and able to transport you multiple times throughout the day.

While you may contain the initial chaos relatively easily, then spend the rest of the week playing host to these new arrivals, the world continues to fall apart.

As the week wears on, the universe itself feels as though it's unravelling. While you're trying to play host to your guests, you watch as the world begins to crumble. On the 17th, brick by brick buildings begin to come apart. Their fragments are pulled skyward. The cracks in the sky appear to be pulling the world apart, sucking them into their hideous glowing depths.

IN SUMMARY.

There are two options in this event: one, your character is in the Metaheroes universe. Two, your character is transported to a different nexus. These Nexuses can be of your own invention or can be another dreamwidth RP setting.
If appearing in another dreamwidth RP setting, your characters are subjected to the rules of that universe. Meaning that they will be nerfed / transformed / etc accordingly. These transformations will not carry over upon their return.

If visiting / setting a toplevel in another setting, please link to the premise page of the game. If this is not an existing setting, please include a little info blurb as to what people can expect.

Fourth-Wallers can be minding their own business in their game, they can appear in another nexus, or can be transported to the Metaheroes universe.

You are welcome to set your threads in an imagined future in any DWRP setting or have your character appear during a certain point in a game’s history.

Characters who are lost in the nexuses can return before the 18th. Likewise, characters who stay can be whisked away prior to that date. Everyone will return on the log that goes up on the 18th.

The guild is setting up a temporary Network that will function across time and space. All player characters and visiting characters will have access to this network, so long as they claim a phone from the Guilds.

Little Love, Kansas will be spared from having its buildings sucked up into the sky. Characters can remain here if they do not want to experience this aspect of the event.

The way to return home is to locate holes in these Nexuses. These appear to be trying to guide you home.

This event is canon to the Metaheroes universe. It will be remembered by player characters and NPCs alike. If you would like to retcon any threads, you can have your character’s memories of their interdimensional encounters become hazy once the world stabilizes.
Please direct any questions you may have here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I. Excelsior | OTA

[ Tony wakes up in a park he doesn't recognize. That's... unusual, but definitely not the strangest thing that's ever happened to him. He tries to sit up to get a better look at his surroundings, and finds himself fighting against the armor's dead weight. ALL PRIMARY POWER RESERVES DEPLETED. EMERGENCY BACKUP POWER ONLY blinks in feeble little red letters on the otherwise-dark HUD. Awesome. Tony pops the suit open and commands it to fold away into its backpack configuration, since it's not going to be good for much until he can find a power source to kickstart the reactor.

He stands up and settles the backpack on his shoulders, and starts scanning the area, trying to figure out where the heck he is and how he ended up here. He doesn't see anyone around in the immediate vicinity, but the park seems pretty secluded, so that doesn't necessarily mean anything. He can also see enough of the skyline to know that he's definitely not in New York anymore. But there doesn't seem to be any immediate danger, so he probably has at least a few minutes to get a read on the situation before something tries to kill him. Probably.

Which is good, since his armor is currently the world's biggest and most expensive paperweight.

Tony frowns, trying to remember what he was doing before he woke up here. He remembers the Makluan invasion, obviously. He remembers destroying the mothership, the aftermath, Gene disappearing, and... everything gets fuzzy after that. How long ago was that? Last night? A few days ago? Why can't he remember?

Perturbed, Tony pulls out his phone. If his own memory can't tell him what's going on, maybe the internet can. He'll get his GPS location, check the date, check the news, call his dad— NO NETWORK AVAILABLE, his phone informs him, before flashing the "low battery" icon and shutting down. ]

Oh, great. [ Tony throws up his hands in frustration. ] This had better not be the Mainframe version 2.0, [ he mutters under his breath. ] Guess there's only one way to find out. [ He has another tool that is guaranteed to tell him if he's in a computer simulation or just, like, Chicago or something, and this one can't run out of battery. He reaches out with Extremis.

And immediately pukes all over the grass. ]

Whoa. Ugh. Okay. Probably not the Mainframe. [ But what the hell was that? The absolute cacophony of unfamiliar data streams was unlike anything Tony has ever experienced. Maybe his brain can't run out of battery, but it's not immune to being blasted with a firehose of incomprehensible digital feedback. Tony wobbles over to the trash can a few feet away and leans against it for support while he gets his breath back. He needs a minute to recover before trying to figure out this new complication.

Beside him, the trashcan lets out a long string of beeps. If Tony didn't know better, he'd almost say it sounds angry. But it's just a trashcan, so he ignores it. A few seconds later, it beeps again, in a different series of tones, somehow managing to sound even more distinctly indignant. Tony squints at it. There's a tiny screen on the top of the bin, which is probably meant to display small messages about its solar charge level or how full the compactor is. Now, however, it is flashing a series of characters and emojis: 😱!!!😡 ]

What the heck does that mean? [ The question is rhetorical, but the display immediately changes, as if in response. ⦗🤮🌿🚫😡!!⦘ ⦗🧹🌲🌲$$...⦘ ⦗🤮➡️🗑⦘ ] ...Sorry? I think? [ ⦗🙄🙄🙄⦘ ⦗🤪🐒🤡⦘ ] Am I seriously being insulted by a garbage can? [ ⦗🐒 ≪ 🤖🧠⦘ ] Wow, rude. [ ⦗🖕⦘ ] So wherever I am has sentient trash cans, and they're assholes. That narrows it down.

[ That does not narrow it down at all. Also, Tony's head is still pounding from the Extremis feedback and he's finding it very difficult to process the idea of AI-enabled municipal smart appliances. Where the fuck is he? Since the bitchy garbage compactor isn't likely to provide him with more information, Tony starts to trudge to the edge of the park. What he needs to find is one of the human locals. It's a city: he has to run into somebody eventually, right? ]

II. Excelsior, again | OTA

[ It hadn't taken long for someone to corral Tony and point him in the direction of some organization called the "Guardian Alliance". The local branch he'd ended up at had given him a new cell phone and a very abbreviated run-down of the situation, and then left him to his own devices. They have bigger things to worry about right now than babysitting all the newbies. So Tony is on his own, in terms of coming to terms with being in another dimension. Again. At least this one isn't an endless void ruled by a giant centipede. This is fine.

He also understands now why he'd gotten that horrible backlash from Extremis: he'd tried to tap into a planetary infonet which is not only operating on an entirely unfamiliar set of programming languages and computer architectures, but is also currently overrun by millions of brand-new feral artificial intelligences. Which is something that Tony would normally be well-equipped to help out with, if he had functional armor and weren't, as previously noted, allergic to the local internet. So, first things first.

There's a wireless electric vehicle charging kiosk off to the side of the building. Tony spends about fifteen minutes dismantling and modifying it to charge the suit reactor (what? no one told him he couldn't) and then plunks the backpack onto the induction coil and sits down beside it to wait. According to his calculations, charging the suit enough for minimum functionality will only take about... seven hours. Well, that gives him plenty of time to work on the Extremis issue, anyway. Hopefully the toasters won't figure out how to eradicate humanity before then.

With the OS of his new universe-native phone as a starting point, Tony is able to start making headway filtering and processing the endless flood of data. It'll probably still give him the mother of all migraines, but now that he's past the initial shock of it, he has to admit that it's kind of exhilarating. Also? So many new memes.

From the outside, though, the process must look a little odd: a kid sitting on the ground, next to a car charging station, eyes closed but flickering rapidly behind the lids as if he's in some kind of trance state. And if his nose starts bleeding slightly at some point, that's, uh, probably nothing to worry about. ]

III. Choose your own adventure

[ ooc: if you'd like to encounter Tony in a different scenario in Excelsior, go ahead! He might be found later on joining the fray, either in or out of his suit, fighting/arguing with/befriending the newly-evolved technology. I'm also happy to have Tony to find your character in a scenario where they might need assistance. You can toss up your own prompt or shoot me a PM at

cinnamon_anemone to plot something out!]

{For another it might be a weird sight. For David, who was a fan of technology and a technopath, he gets it. A bit at least. And seeing the bleeding, it definitely makes him approach. Prodigy moves to kneel by the kid.]

You need to disconnect. You're hurting yourself.

[He doesn't want to forcibly disconnect someone from whatever they're plugged into. That wouldn't be healthy for them.]

[ Tony had figured everyone would be too busy chasing down their self-driving cars and negotiating with their automatic espresso machines to pester him, but apparently someone still has the time to come over and tell him to stop what he's doing. Kind of nosy, in Tony's humble opinion. 'You're hurting yourself'? Who asked you, buddy?

Tony opens his eyes just enough to squint grumpily at whoever's bugging him. ] How would you know? Are you the boss of the internet or something?

[ Hmm... Upon reflection, that retort was stupendously lame. Cut him some slack: he's distracted. He felt like he was making some really good progress, and it really throws him off when someone interrupts him while he's in the zone. ]

[Very bad retort. David sighs, tilting his helmeted head. Then, with a gesture, he formed a chair out of solid golden light and sat down in it.]

Because your nose is bleeding. Which my multiple medical degrees indicates as a bad thing. And while I'm not the boss of the Internet, I'm a technopath, and I could in theory shut off your access. Which I'd rather not do. So please, take a few seconds, let me make sure you're not suffering from a cerebral hemorrhage or something, and then maybe we can move you to somewhere that might not get trod on by an angry gundam knock off? Somewhere a bit safer to work?

[ Oh, that's why his nose itches. Tony tries to play it cool as he wipes the blood away. Very cool. Yep. This is definitely normal and no big deal.

He raises his eyebrows at Dr. Multiple Degrees. He is not impressed by solid light holograms. They have those on his world, too. ] Or maybe I just have really bad hay fever. [ He does not have hay fever. ] I think I'd know if I was having a stroke, but thanks anyway. [ How? How would you know that, Tony?

This other guy claiming to also be a technopath puts Tony's hackles up a bit – normally he'd be really intrigued by that, but he doesn't appreciate the threat to cut off his net access. He'd like to see you try, Doctor. ] And I'm fine here. I'm using the charger. Unless you know about a nearby fusion reactor that's safer than this parking lot, I'll take my chances with the gundams.

[Definitely not cool, definitely not normal, and absolutely a big deal. And, since David is a doctor, he rolls his eyes under his helmet.]

Hay fever doesn't present with bloody noses. You're also lacking any other obvious symptoms. So let's not play at that. Let the actual professional take a few seconds to check you out, and I'll find you a better power source than this meager charger. While I don't have a nearby fusion reactor, I know some places that have higher outputs you could tap into for whatever you're using it for, Kid.

It can if you sneeze too much, [ Tony argues, just for the sake of arguing. ] You know, nasal irritation or whatever. [ Yes, "nasal irritation or whatever," thank you Doctor Moron. ]

Seriously, I'm fine. I'm not literally going to die of social media poisoning. [ He rolls his eyes. ] Believe it or not, worse things than the internet have tried to kill me.

[ Tony's obstinate attitude does recede slightly when David mentions the possibility of power sources superior to the vandalized car charger. ] I'll take a higher-output power source, though.

Says the kid not sneezing.

[Seriously, who the hell is this little idiot? Well, David can't force the kid to accept medical care, but he might have to cut him off otherwise if the kid doesn't do SOMETHING to take care of himself. Heroes have to save people, even from themselves.]

Alright then. Get your stuff. What sorta power system we talking about here? What are you charging? And, for the record, what's your name? Unless you're content with being called 'kid'.

Achoo, [ Tony deadpans.

But he visibly relaxes as soon as the newcomer gets off his case about Extremis and shifts focus to the problem that Tony's actually interested in solving. He quickly rattles off a list of technical specifications, which make it clear that whatever he's charging up has a power draw closer to a fighter jet than an electric car. ] I need to charge my, uh... backpack. [ Great save, Tony.

There's not really any good reason to hide the armor, since the doctor is obviously another one of what this world calls "metahumans" and Tony plans to be using the suit as soon as it's charged up anyway. Still, after keeping his identity a secret for almost two years, it feels weird to spill the beans to some random stranger that he's just met. ]

And my name's Tony.

[His name is Tony. Charging something. Being sarcastic and stupid... Well fuck. What are the chances? Come on, statistics can't hate him that much, can it? Universe, don't do this to him.]

Tony, huh? Heard about a guy looking for his son Tony recently. But it's probably not you, right? You don't look like the heir to a serious tech company. Not enough attitude.

Well come on, Tony, I know a place that has a slightly higher output, and I can make an interface for you.

[ Tony pulls the backpack on again - at least he got enough charge to power the antigrav for another hour or two, otherwise lugging this thing all over the city would suck a lot - and prepares to follow the guy to this mysterious new and better power source. ]

Wait, hold on. Okay, first of all, I have a ton of patents and I've already run my own company just fine, so— [ That's bait, isn't it? Don't take the bait, Tony! Restrain yourself! Focus! ] —you know what, forget it. Whatever. Are you messing with me? My dad's here? Howard Stark?

[ That's amazing news... almost too amazing. Tony has a history of being the person who looks up when you say gullible is written on the ceiling, it's true. But "I know where your missing father is and you can see him again if you do as I say" is a very specific tactic that just so happens to have been central to, not to be dramatic or anything, almost everything bad that has ever happened to him in his entire life. So he's a bit better primed to be suspicious of that particular gambit. ] ...You're not just reading my mind and telling me what I want to hear to get me to trust you, are you? [ He would notice a technological incursion via Extremis, but that doesn't rule out more traditional methods of telepathy. ]

Edited 2022-08-17 00:00 (UTC)

[Oh it's such amazing bait, and look at how you fall for it, young Stark. Damn, David has the hardest time believing that Tony Stark was ever so young as to fall for something so easy. Still, there is so much that is explained just with the claiming Howard as his father.

In fact, David sighs as he rises, the chair disappearing. Had he not the helmet, his fingers would come up to pinch at the bridge of his nose and use the old customer service sigh.]

I really should have guessed. No offense, Tony, but no matter the universe, you are a man that inspires headaches in me. Time and time again. At least, though, you seem in a relatively good state. I'm guessing that you need something charged for the sake of your health?

[He was given to understand that the earlier Iron Man suits in his own timeline had something to do with Tony's heart.]

Guess that makes it even more important to make sure we've got good power. As for Howard, yes, he's arrived. He's looking for you. If you want, and only if you want, I can advise him of your presence.]

And I'm not a full telepath, if that's what you're implying. That's not how my mutation works. Now, let's get moving.

Okay, well, no offense to you, but I have no idea who you are. [ How's he supposed to react to that? 'Sorry for annoying you across multiple universes, total rando who I've never met in my life'?

Nevertheless, Tony follows along without further complaint, and takes the opportunity to start grilling his chaperone. ] So you're from another version of my universe? You know another version, or versions of me? [ The multiverse is hardly an alien concept to Tony, and the abbreviated orientation he'd gotten had covered this possibility, but that doesn't mean it's not weird to experience it first-hand. ] And no, I'm fine, I just... I need to charge the suit. Something about the dimensional transit drained the power out of everything I brought with me. [ If this guy knows him from other universes, there really is no point in being coy about the armor. ] And you're a mutant? Where'd you see my dad? [ Unrelated questions, but, man, there's a lot of ground to cover here. ]

Tony Stark | Iron Man: Armored Adventures | OTA

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Re: II

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"who the hell is this little idiot" is a perfect summary of his canon

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definitely the first time in his life anyone has accused tony of not having enough attitude

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II

tony no

tony yes

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