011 | Black Parade

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: Parade of the dead
When: All day May 26
Where: Shinjuku
Summary: The Near Shore needs a little protecting from the dead



The last few days have been filled with festival food, high energy, and lots and lots of parades. Near Shore residents really know how to enjoy their holidays, stopping up traffic for hours on end as floats and palanquins go by and filling the streets and courtyards in the area with food stands and festival treats. Many Far Shore residents may have found themselves drawn to this particular festival, as it is being held in honor of a shrine.

When an unexpected parade starts up, the people gather round to watch the impromptu spectacle. It's a little strange, yes, but nothing too terribly off-putting. That is until the parade reaches the shrine itself, at which point all hell breaks loose as the members of the parade start attacking anything and anyone in their way.

The Heavens will then call upon all the gods and shinki who are available to help, because these attackers are not normal at all - they are, in fact, the undead.



Let the Festivities Continue

The festival is a large, booming one. There are dozens upon dozens of food stalls set up all over the place with so many different kinds of foods that it could make your eyes go buggy, most of them fried in some way. On top of that, there is live entertainment walking around, stalls with souvenirs, and lots of excellent company nearby. Surely you'll be able to enjoy the festival to its fullest.

The Walking Dead

It is not immediately evident that the parade is being manned by corpses, but keen observers would be able to pick out the noticeable rotting elements of the dead. Anyone with a soul-sensing ability might even realize that they're not soulless, just lifeless. When the parade reaches the shrine, every god and shinki will be needed in order to protect the Near Shore from this menace. Corpses must either be exorcised or completely mutilated to the point where they can no longer move in order to release the soul.

Not Rootbeer Floats

On top of the mass of dead bodies being possessed by stray souls, some of the floats on wheels in the parade seem to have been taken over as well. They are moving slowly and with purpose towards anyone that crosses their path. At first, it may seem like the float is just veering a little off course, but it will soon become evident that it's headed towards you. They may be slow, but they're very large as well, meaning there's a lot more than needs to be destroyed to release the soul.

Souls, Souls, and More Souls

As souls are released from the objects they've taken control of, the air will become thick with a hazy fog of souls rushing away, into the air, and out of sight. This may make the continued fighting a little more difficult, but it means that the job is getting done.

Through some innate sixth sense, some of the dead people may seem familiar to certain gods (or shinki with specific memories). They can recognize some of the souls as friends or compatriots from their home world that had died. And these souls will recognize them as well.

Any characters not currently in the game that have actually died in their canon are free to be used for this part of the event and played out as NPCs by you and whatever partner you are playing with. All of these individuals will react in a similar way, though - they will beg to be released because it hurts them so horribly to be here right now and, of course, they can only be released in the same way that all the other souls are being released: exorcism or total destruction.

In Summary:

• Enjoy the festival
• Help save Near Shore residents
• Take down the dead bodies
• Try not to cry
• Cry lots
• Have fun~

Comments

[shockshot]

[They're both lacking when it comes to prior memories. But he has a valid concern, as far as she can discern.]

Hm...

[She taps her finger against her chin briefly.]

It can't hurt. If he hasn't realized, he might want to know, and even if he has, he'll want you nearby I think.

[She glances at him briefly, before glancing back.]

You're his partner after all. You can do more together, as weapon and wielder.

[kokuyoyo]

[Well. There's a problem with that, first of all.]

Axel-sama said that he didn't want to use me on my first day.

[Although if they're not ayakashi, does he even have a use? Hm. Chikusa starts to step back, ready to go find his god, before something occurs to him and he reaches out into his pocket to pull out his phone instead.]

Shouldn't the god of death do something about this...?

[shockshot]

[She makes a face. That's really nice of him but...huh. She blinks, and there's a moment of where she feels a shiver a dread. But she shakes it off, brushing her fingers through her hair.]

You mean Lightning?

[That's the only god of death that she knows of. As for the rest...]

Axel-sama might be trying to respect you but...what do you want to do?

[She's met Axel. Other then hearing the rumors, personally she's found that he's a pleasant guy.]

[kokuyoyo]

….He didn’t give me his name.

[Only told him off for theft. Rude, honestly.]

[In the middle of typing out a text to Axe, her question catches him off guard and draws the first bit of feeling from Chikusa’s face, his eyes widening slightly as he stares at her in puzzled confusion. What does he want to do?]

I… want to be useful to Axel-sama for whatever he needs of me…

[shockshot]

Aaah...

[That could be a couple of gods then, and she bit her lip. Oh dear.]

Not Lightning. She's a woman. But anyway...you want to be useful to Axel-sama?

Does that mean you...want to start fighting right away...? This is a lot for you to do on your first day.

[kokuyoyo]

[The death he'd met had been a man with silver hair, but that's not as important as what they're talking about right now. He glances back to the deceased procession before them, fingers rubbing against the phone.]

...Is it?

[The phone buzzes, and he checks immediately.]

Axel-sama says... If it gets to fighting or something like that, more fighters might be better than merely enhancing one...

[shockshot]

[Ah, if she knew that...she'd be able to guess who that was. Or not. Likely not, because while she knows of him, she's never met the silver haired death god in person.

But she peers over at him, and his phone when it goes off. Huh.]

It might be. But it depends on how you feel.

[She blows out a breath. Axel has a point but...]

Now I'm going to be a little...rude. Do you know how to fight?

[She's worried for him. Sure, maybe he can look at walking corpses just fine, but can he do what's needed?]

[kokuyoyo]

[Frankly, it’s a good question to ask, and Chikusa doesn’t seem offended at all. Instead, there’s a simple nod, and he reaches into his pocket to pull out…]

[...a yoyo. A bright red one, too.]

[shockshot]

[She...stares down at the yoyo. Back at Chikusa. Back to the yoyo, and back to him.]

It's a very nice yoyo, but I don't think you can fight someone with that.

[Just saying.]

[kokuyoyo]

I can.

[Sliding his finger through the slip knot, he stares at her. Do you really want to argue with this stubborn child, miss?]

[shockshot]

[She stares back. Yeah, she might end up arguing with this stubborn child.]

How does it work...?

[She's not trying to argue. Really. She wants to get it!]

[kokuyoyo]

I hit people with it.

[A pause, and he clarifies.]

Hard.

[This is probably not reassuring her even remotely. However, while she takes that in, he carefully turns the yoyo slightly in his palm as he looks down at it. If she takes notice of it as well, she'll see there there are actually dozens of small holes as part of its design past the sides.]

...The other use might not do much against corpses...

[shockshot]

Well...I guess it would work.

[Yeah, she's got nothing. But she glances down and sees...holes? Do they have spikes in them....?

Sounds like they have spikes in them.]

You might want to work with someone....

[Still not believing him. Sorry.]

[kokuyoyo]

[It’s not like he’s making the most effort in his explanations, and merely shrugs.]

I guess…. But that’s assuming they do anything…

[As if on cue, somewhere from far ahead where the parade has presumably met its destination, screams start up, and Chikusa lets out a deep annoyed sigh.]

[He is so bitter about that happening. So bitter.]

[shockshot]

[What is effort, really.]

Ah, spoke too soon.

[It would have been nice if this didn't happen but...well. Stuff happens.]

What do you want to do? Depending on what, we can do something together.

[kokuyoyo]

[In the process of pulling out a second yoyo from his other pocket, he pauses from where he’s stepping forward to glance at her.]

Axel-sama wants me to help. So I’m going to.

[And there’s a snap of his wrist, yoyo spinning through the air to crack into the skull of a nearby corpse. Decomposition has made it not as strong as a normal person would be; there’s already bits of flesh and bone flying through the air as he pulls the unconventional weapon back into his palm.]

What can you do?

[shockshot]

[Not one, but two? Those are two yoyos for smacking. But she tries not to wince. Some things can't be helped; it's his first day. They'll work on it, a little, as to what he wants.

....oh, now he's getting a head of himself. Those are bits. Yup.]

Hm?

[She was staring for a few moments, blinking, before she rolled her shoulders, and brought up her hands.]

What did you want to see first?

[This. Yeah. She can do things.]

[kokuyoyo]

Anything that can make them stop…

[But then he trails off, frowning as he watches the corpse get back up again, and some of the others start to turn their attention to the pair of shinki. Well. This is a problem.]

...This is going to be annoying.

[shockshot]

Oh, that I can do.

[She brightens, and her hands come up. It's still weird to summon the energy like this, and to make it into a bow but...it feels right somehow. ]

Watch my back please? I don't want them to sneak up behind us.

[kokuyoyo]

[Well, that’s an interesting to see, although he only glances to it from the corner of his eye. Instead, he focuses on adjusting himself by her side, ignoring the throngs of regular humans trying to escape the chaos now.]

Alright.

[It’s going to be tricky, but so long as the corpses were just part of the parade… He sends out his yoyos against, one whipping out after the other and knocking back another pair of corpses.]

[shockshot]

[That's all right. She's going to a bit of a strange place in her head; she's not sure when or why she made it, but it helps her focus on the targets that she's supposed to take down.

What she's supposed to take down, and avoid harming those that could be hurt.

He strikes with his yoyos, and she follows suit. Once he hits those corpses with his heavy yoyos, she shots them; when they make impact, they explode. More like bullets or rockets, then arrows made of soft blue light.

Which...is a bit messy. She's not focusing on that though. They're not corpses. They're moving targets.]

[kokuyoyo]

[...That is a very handy bow and arrow technique.]

[Out of all the things Chikusa could be expecting, exploding corpses aren’t one of them, but he only stares in surprise for a split second before adjusting promptly. Soon enough, he falls into a rhythm, doing his best to keep the advancing corpses at bay, but all too quickly he realizes something.]

We should get to higher ground… [Another flick, another crack of a yoyo hitting a skull.] This isn’t the best for either of us…

[shockshot]

[Yup. If only it eliminated ayakashi, it'd be just dandy.

But after a quick look around, she realizes the same thing, and nods.]

Yeah, we need...room. Or...a roof?

[Or both. Both would be good. She gets off another shot, but she's uncertain where they should go, and how they should retreat. Maybe one of the stalls...would it support them though is the question.]

[kokuyoyo]

[A room or a roof would be for the best, and Chikusa actually straightens up instead of slouching so that he can use his height to look over the heads of other people. Another crack, and he makes a quiet noise.]

This way.

[That ‘crack’ was the sound of him getting a corpse out of the way towards a stall he’s spotted, one that looks like it should be sturdy enough… For one person, if nothing else. The only question is who will be better suited to having a high view, but they can figure that out upon getting there.]

[shockshot]

[Either would work really, so long as they had arm room and their backs covered. And she...realizes that she's actually talking to a giant. Whoa. But hey! Height is useful! She moves along in the space behind him, wiggling between the space of people and...ah. Um.

This is tougher then she thought it would be to keep up....]

Um!

This is going to sound weird, but people keep getting between us...can I hold your hand?

[She'll cover your side? Maybe?]