Test Drive Meme 019

[voidtreckermods]

Welcome to the Test Drive Meme! Here is the place to see how your character might fit the setting, grab samples and have fun!

1. Post with your character, including their name and series in the subject. We’ve written out some prompts but feel free to make up your own, you have a whole train to play with!

2. Assume they've been around long enough for threads to jump right into the action.

3. Have lots of fun.

Happy testing!

Winter Wonderland

Experienced Voidtreckers will be the first to recognise when the announcement of a stop comes over the speakers: “Arriving at world 9126110 in ten, nine, eight…”

The doors don’t open, the train doesn’t stop. Instead, it slows, and the garden carriage opens its curved, clear roof as though it were a convertible, both sides folding back until the carriage is open to the air. The world is a picture of snow-covered mountains and sparse conifers, and within minutes the garden’s fountain and streams have iced over, soft snow coating the cobbles and benches.

The stop lasts all day, the vending machines dispense free hot chocolate, and the dressing carriage is filled with thick coats, wooly hats, and warm gloves.

Void Santa Is Coming To Town

It’s a day like any other, except that the morning announcement has a rider.

“There are packages in the luggage car for all passengers. Enjoy. ”

And indeed, it seems that something has visited during the night - the carriage at the back of the train is unusually neat, the piles of empty luggage stacked carefully near the back to make room for a huge array of wrapped objects. Void Santa, maybe? The difference between Void Santa and, say, one of the many Earth Santas or the Gyueran Spirit of Generosity, is that Void Santa doesn’t give you what you asked for.

It gives you something you wouldn’t have dared to ask for. That nerdy figurine that you eyed in the window of the store, the dress you weren’t brave enough to try on, the device you decided was too expensive. The poster of your favourite holostar, the latest risque novel from the local printworks… the list goes on.

You’ve got a present in here, better find it before someone else does!

Animal at Heart

Seibairen, world #671155003, is a world of dualities. Technologically advanced but also deeply mystical, its population is currently suffering under the rule of a nameless arcanist, a genius of artificial intelligence and magecraft who seeks to elevate her own mechanical brethren above their biological creators. Unfortunately, she is far too powerful to face directly.

Team One

The arcanist holding the world of Seibairen in thrall is particularly skilled with polymorph spells, and her first move as the Voidtreckers enter the conflict is to cast one over a wide area, transforming almost half of the force into various animals. The spell seems to be mildly incompatible with void-travellers, as those affected have turned into creatures from their homeworlds, if possible, rather than the local wildlife. The fight is still on, no time to panic!

… Or maybe some time to panic, it’s looking permanent for now. Still, the civilians need the Voidtreckers’ protection, animal or not, and it isn’t like they’ve lost any of their abilities.

Team Two

The monks of the deep peaks, trained in anti-magic combat and able to counter the arcanist and her forces, are the best hope for turning the tides. Unfortunately, their remote stronghold is blockaded the moment the Voidtreckers arrive, trapping them under a shield of pale metal and harsh light. There are several ways they and the unlucky early Voidtreckers might be freed: the power sources of the barrier, held in the centre of the arcanist’s camps, could be destroyed or sabotaged. Alternatively, the barrier could be overloaded or even broken from the inside by an ancient artefact held within the inner temple. The monks are able to guide the Voidtreckers through a telepathic metaconcert, but hurry, time is running out...

Team Three

A thaumatologist somewhere within the capital is rumoured to be able to reverse the arcanist’s strange spells, which would give the Voidtreckers a fighting chance against her directly. Several different people are claiming to be this thaumatologist, and they all have a list of ingredients they’ll need for the protective ritual and/or devices they’re offering.

At least one of them is sure to work, but there’s going to be some experimenting before that happens. Alternatively, force would find the correct researcher fairly quickly, but it would also attract attention.

Comments

Bulma Briefs | DBS : Broly / CRAU

[ballseeker]

i. winter wonderland

[ The last time Bulma had been caught out in the snow hadn’t been all that long ago. Then, of course, she’d been in a full body snow suit (What? She’s used to more tropical weather in West City!) and accompanied by Whis – IE, much more protected from the chil and imminent explosionsl. To say the least she isn’t too thrilled about a train situation, much less with the top open and the temperatures dipping below what she’d like.

Warm options available or not, Bulma is more than a little sour about the change in weather, as evidenced by the annoyed pucker of her lips that seems to fall on her face whenever she’s not chit chatting or otherwise emoting in conversation.

She also has the option to stick close to her overly warm husband, which is what she tends to do unless breaking away to hit up the vending machine for more hot cocoa, grumbling to herself : ]

I swear, this is the last time I go somewhere cold.. who the hell enjoys this weather other than Vegeta?

ii. void…. santa… ?

“There are packages in the luggage car for all passengers. Enjoy. ”

[ Sorry any nearby fellows on the train, there’s a quick view of one Spoiled Bulma Briefs’ nose wrinkling for a moment as she thinks about a gift being picked for her. There’s just something inherent about being the richest woman in her world that makes her skeptical about a train picking out a gift that might actually be useable.

… And maybe she’s just a little salty that it could literally be any lab equipment and she’d be forced to be at least passably happy about it because she has exactly zero lab equipment on board at the moment.

Still, she can be found with a package in hand, rolling it over as if debating opening it up, a little, unsure frown on her face at the news that some of the presents haven’t quite been .. up to snuff. If she catches someone lingering too long, her brows will shoot up for a moment, as if asking ‘what?’

Perhaps she’s picked a few things up from her grumpy Saiyan husband after all. ]

How was your gift? Any good?

iii. animal at heart – team three

[ Bulma may not be a fighter like the rest of her family, but she is a scientist. Naturally this means she drifts toward testing thaumatologists and their recipes… well, and the fact that she very much would prefer Vegeta in his human instead of cat form, thankyouverymuch.

So, with that little force of will in mind, Bulma will, in her usual way, try to take control of the situation, trying to catch the eye of others walking away from supposed ‘thaumatologists’ with lists in hand with a quick ‘come here’ gesture, pointing to her own list to compare ingredients and parts lists. Naturally, parts lists are more her thing, as a woman who’s made a couple time machines and other things in her time, so there are two questions on the docket here for anyone that she catches : ]

So, do you have a parts list or an ingredient list?

[ Or, alternately, asked loudly : ]

Does anyone around here know spells?! It’s not really my thing but I don’t have time to gather all of this and test them. There’s gotta be a system of elimination we can do here, right?

[ Scientific method for magic… sure… plausible? ]

iv. wildcard

[ Of course! Is there a prompt you want to do but I don’t quite have it here for you? Hit me with it! Unsure about it? Shoot me a PM and we can chat! C: ]

Winter Wonderland

[light_of_willpower]

"It's really not that bad, is it?" Trunks was slightly bundled up--more as a just in case measure than anything else, as the cold didn't bother him so much. But he has two hot chocolates in his hand, and offers one to his-but-not-his-mother.

[ballseeker]

"You run hot like your father." Bulma grouses, though good-naturedly, or course happy to see her (but not her) son in any form. Trunks will always have a special place in her heart even though she loves Bulla the same. After all, it had been Bulma and Trunks against the world for a little bit there, hadn't it?

She takes the offered hot chocolate with a little murmured thank you, taking a quiet sip.

"He won't let me just take up the extra space in his jacket. He's being mean to me." Vegeta isn't, not even a little bit, but Bulma is nothing if not dramatic.

[light_of_willpower]

"If he wasn't, he wouldn't be him." Trunks agreed amicably, glad to spend time with this version of his mother as well. Even in their timeline, it seemed like it was Bulma and Trunks facing things together for a while---just with a larger support network.

"I kind of wish we were stopping at more of a world than just the station though."

[ballseeker]

"What kinds of places have you stopped at before?" She imagines Trunks might be able to give her good descriptions at least, smiling at him from over the rim of her steaming cup of hot cocoa. She's heard tale of Vegeta's escapades on different planets, but she wants to know about whole different worlds too, if she can.

"Anything not freezing cold?"

i. Winter Wonderland

[nutkrusher]

Cassie, having planned ahead, drops a few marshmallows into her cup.

"Skiers, probably."

[ballseeker]

"They can keep it." Bulma's not going to stop her grousing lightly it would seem, still sort of glowering at her cocoa even as she takes another sip. At least Vegeta could have all that he wanted so that there wasn't any complaining about that.

"I'll stay in West City happily so I'm not cold."

[nutkrusher]

"I hear that," Cassie says. "I'm a SoCal girl myself. I'll take the beach any day."

She takes another sip.

"Still, Dad took me to Bear Mountain a couple times. It can be fun for, like, a weekend."

[ballseeker]

"SoCal?" She's never heard of that place but... this is also the woman that accompanied her fighter friends to a new planet that was destined to explode from day one, so... She'd go, if she ever got the chance, let's be honest.

"Vegeta can do that with the kids. Though I don't think our daughter would be very into that, if I'm honest." Too much like her mother, she thinks, even as a small baby.

i.

[shutupnail]

[Someone's ears are itchy due to that statement. What? He didn't mind the cold. He wasn't even dressed for it.]

It's not that bad. Not as bad as the world we went to with Blue Team trudging through the snow up a mountain.

[ballseeker]

Be quiet Piccolo. [ Bulma's eyes are rolling even as she says it, jokingly and yet also legitimately irritated by the cold. Piccolo doesn't count because he is also an alien like her husband, clearly.

... Why are most of her friend and family base aliens? Questions she has to ask soon enough. ]

Us Earthlings aren't as into self-punishment, apparently.

[shutupnail]

[Suddenly Piccolo was reminded how much bite such a tiny package could possess. Aaaand also why he didn't understand females all that much.

No worries, thankfully, he was fairly certain she was just being facetious. Grumpily so due to the cold.]

Oh. I thought it was just that humans were too weak to endure the cold temperatures. [If that was a joke, it was a poor one and he knew it. He continued.] If you're really that cold, there should still be some of the heat stones left for use.

[ballseeker]

I can endure it I just don't want to! [ Ah, and here is where Bulma reminds everyone of how the hell she stood up to Vegeta when he first arrived. That prideful nature that's just a bristly as a saiyan, just not backed up by sheer brute force other than force of will and a mind capable of literally anything at this point. ]

If all else fails I can always just embarrass the life out of Vegeta for heat.

[ What a saiyan - married now and still blushes when she kisses him. Astounding. ]

How are you liking this place, though?

ii

[renegadeprince]

[Talking of her grumpy Saiyan husband, he's waiting there, equally curious about what all this mess was, watching as she examined her gifts at different angles. Not that Vegeta really has a clue about gifts. She just tells him what to get, he buys it (with her money), and she acts all happy when she unwraps it. It works for them.]

I haven't opened it yet. [He doesn't really care for gifts but it might be something useful in it. Though by the size of the package it didn't look like anything he would care about, short of there being capsules inside that had even more within them. Plus he's a little curious.]

[ballseeker]

[ Her grumpy saiyan husband, but also her favorite and only saiyan husband. Still, it doesn't change the way she rolls the gift in her hands, unsure whether she wants to even open it. She carefully chooses and curates her gifts, after all, from the kids to Vegeta to herself... so a surprise one isn't exactly what she's wanted all this time or anything.

Though, of course, since he hasn't opened it... ]

Open it. We'll see if yours is a shit show to gauge mine.

[ That's fair, right? ]

[renegadeprince]

[He would certainly hope so, there would be an issue otherwise.

Vegeta gives a mental shake of his head at her prodding and poking and hesitation at her gift, not surprised at all by it. This is why he just gets what she tells him she wants. That and he hates shopping. It's a waste of time. His expression shifts ever so slightly as she says that, the smallest arch adding to his brow in a look to her that she would understand, almost a 'really?'. But he already knows the answer, of course she's serious about that.

And of course she knows he will do so. He lets out a huff of breath through his nose before a mutter.] You're not getting out of this, you have to opens yours too afterwards.

ii. void…. santa… ?

[sciencegirl]

Are you kidding! This is great! Cobalt Third Edition Spanner Multitool! Complete with electronic gauge and even a level! Oh I wish Emily were here to see this. I'd love to try this out on her.

[Entrapta brandishes a high tech wrench around like it's the world, still with the wrapping paper half on because the excitement hit her so early. She's not got her lab materials either, but you know what! She's started with less! And this is exciting.]

[With her lengthy, thick pigtails curled and propping her feet up from the ground, she dangles behind Bulma, trying to get a good look at what she's got.]

Come on come on! Let me see! The suspense is killing me.

[Entrapta's own grumpy better half has done nothing to temper her personality. There's only delight and potent curiosity beaming out of her.]

[ballseeker]

Knowing my luck with these places it's not anything useful. [ In a way she's debating just asking Vegeta to open it for her so she can laugh if it's that pitiful. There's a reason that she doesn't mind buying her own birthday, anniversary, holiday gifts, etcetera...

Vegeta is a lucky saiyan, okay? ]

[sciencegirl]

Who knows! Scorpia made some figures out of nuts and bolts once, and I used them as positioning models for testing. [They had little pieces of paper attached to indicate which was her, Scorpia, and Catra. One had to admire her creative spirit! Even if the results of it were a little simple.]

Void Santa

[fashionably_strong]

Hi mom! I got this cute dress!

[Bulla holds up a micro mini dress she'd once admired in a mall.]

I could have sworn it was a little longer when I saw it at the mall, but maybe it's a knock off of the original.

[Or maybe she's just a little self-conscious of how short this dress really is now that she's talking about it to her mother.]

[ballseeker]

[ Bulma's not entirely shocked by how short the dress is. She herself was known to wear quite short skirts and shorts, even after having two children and the lot. She can't help it - she looks good, and she knows it, so why not show it off a little, right?

So she has no place to tell Bulla not to wear it, really, other than - ]

Let's not wear that one without tights in front of your father, uh? He's having a hard enough time with you being walking and talking without adding on mini dresses.

[fashionably_strong]

I probably shouldn't if I don't want a bunch of the boys my age to get threatened.

[Count on her mother to understand, but yes. She has to agree with the assessment.]

I was thinking it could look cute with some black opaque tights, a jacket and some nice little ankle boots. I've got the first two, at least. I was lucky enough to have a Capsule Corp mini-wardrobe arrive with me.

[And thank goodness, because while those hoodies and pants given out to everyone weren't the worst thing ever, they weren't exactly stylish either.]

ii

[salamandrill]

The draconic young woman is holding a small, outdated and simplistic handheld game of some sort.

Her eyes are sparkling as she turns it over in her hands. "It's actually... wonderful..." Bulma might find it underwhelming, though.

[ballseeker]

Bulma... may be judging a little. But then again, this is the woman that's made intergalatic dragon ball sensors, a time machine, and watches that let her see video of anyone who calls. That is to say that Bulma is definitely a tech snob, but she thinks she deserves to be.

"Well. If you're happy I guess."

[salamandrill]

Bulma's standards should be held to anyone else alive. Sala has managed to put together giant robots, and yet a handheld video game is an unparalleled novelty to her. "I've managed to get a few of the large 'arcade' games working where I come from, but these smaller games all seem to have degraded too much to repair. The miniaturization is phenomenal."