thenearshore | 011 | Black Parade

Entry tags:

011 | Black Parade

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

In Summary:

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Zombies. There's friggin' zombies everywhere.

...Zombies.

Gojyo pushes his way through the crowd, shoving living humans away from the zombies and shoving zombies into smears on the pavement as he searches for Hakkai, cursing himself for having wandered off. It wasn't this hazy out when he'd gone for a beer, he swears! There's something unnatural about this fog, but he'll worry about that after he finds Hakkai.

His boot skids on a patch of oozing gore, the flesh showing clear claws marks, and Gojyo picks up his pace. At least Hakkai's easy to track. ]

Hakkai!

[ The ghost faces inside the dead human bodies scream and gibber at him, but he ignores them as best he can. He knocks down a tall zombie, crushing its head underfoot, and there. Claws and vines -- couldn't be anyone else.

He's wrestling with a zombie that was once a woman, but he seems to have it under control. Still, Gojyo approaches behind the zombie, ready to offer any aid needed. ]

Fucking zombies, can you believe it?

[Elsa's voice breaks off into an agonized sob. Hakkai takes her throat out with the next blow, then her other arm; the body is still moving, her mouth still working. Pain is etched on the ghostly features half-visible through the cold, motionless face of the corpse.

It's not killing her that's hard. It's what it means. It's the implications that cascade onward like each little flake in an avalanche: her soul is here? Her soul is still here, and trapped, and--

All of the missing--

Gojyo's voice is unexpected enough to make him flinch. His hands startle away from the next blow, and the corpse stumbles forward against him, her head falling sideways against his shoulder without enough flesh left to hold it upright. Her teeth sink into his flesh. He blinks, with a little surprised exhale, looks up at Gojyo's face, and manages to compose his expression from something too blank and empty into mild annoyance.]

The Heavens do invite us to the most interesting parties, don't they?

[He wraps his hand around the remnants of Elsa's neck and wrenches her head from her body.]

[ Something's clearly wrong -- Hakkai shouldn't have had so much trouble with that zombie -- and Gojyo moves in just as her head comes away, grabbing what's left of her body and flinging it aside. It could just be exhaustion, he supposes, although the zombies haven't been rioting long enough for Hakkai -- especially an unlimitered Hakkai -- to get tired. At least, not his Hakkai. This Hakkai? Who knows.

He eyes the bite in Hakkai's shoulder suspiciously, even as he moves to half-turn his back to Hakkai, taking up position to fight as a team, the movement natural as anything. ]

If you start cravin' brains, you tell me, okay? That's a level of interesting that I'm tryin' to cut back on.

[ They've -- he's -- fought bigger crowds of youkai, but under entirely different conditions. He doesn't have shakujyo, for one. Or Sanzo, or Goku, and he hasn't seen any sign that Hakkai's been using his chi to fight. Fighting with his bare hands has never been his preference anyway -- a fist fight is one thing, but if you're going to take a man apart, it's much nicer to do it from a distance, you know? Having to be face to face with the panicked soul trapped in the dead body isn't helping matters. His heart's racing already, and they're only getting started. ]

[Hakkai starts to laugh, and stops himself before it can either sound too false or go on too long. The pain in his shoulder is sharp enough to keep him grounded. It's considerate of Elsa, he thinks, and spares the body a glance where Gojyo tossed her on the ground. She's not moving. The damage must have been enough to free her soul from the corpse after all, to whatever other imprisonment it's been held in since--

He forces himself to abandon that train of thought, and flexes his claws, rolling his shoulder. It hurts, but it's not crippling.]

Only in omelettes.

[Poached and lightly seared.

Gojyo doesn't have claws, though, and, back to back with him, Hakkai adds after a moment:]

You're unarmed?

[ Note to self: never eat omelettes that Hakkai makes ever again. ]

Yeah.

[ A responsible god would have brought his silent shinki along, but Gojyo is not now nor has he ever been responsible. Besides, it's getting harder and harder to remember to call Asshole Asshole -- he's slipped more than once already and nearly said Banri out loud. After what happened to Axel, that's not a risk he can afford. ]

In fact, I... [ Don't make it awkward, Sha. Just say it. ] I was hopin' you'd help me with that.

[Don't complain, Gojyo, organ meats are much cheaper. And nutritious.

Hakkai nods immediately at the suggestion. He's not tired, but the task of tearing apart bodies with souls screaming helplessly inside is...

It's better if it can be done quickly. And a sharp weapon is better for that than claws.]

I was about to suggest it myself. Please, feel free.

[ Yeah, let's not do this by hand anymore. ]

Okay. [ He holds out his left hand, fingers already curling as thought about to summon his weapon (which, technically, he is, isn't he?) ] Lemme take the lead at first, okay? And any time you want to stop, we stop.

[ Deep breath. ]

Hachiki.

[Hakkai's body goes to mist and light -- and it really has been a while, he thinks as he reforms in Gojyo's hands as sharp steel instead of flesh. He's almost missed it: there's still something unsettling about being a passive weapon, but it is what he is, as a shinki. There's something even more unsettling about being an unused weapon.

His voice is calmer as he agrees soundlessly.]

I think you know this weapon better than I do! Please take control for now.

[He considers the corpses around them. An older man and a skinny teenager, two middle-aged women. None of the sobbing ghosts shrouding their slack features look familiar. Good.]

[ Hakkai shimmers and vanishes, and shakujyo appears in his hands. No matter how many times he watches that trick, he's never going to get used to people turning into weapons.

He holds the shaft much more gingerly than he would otherwise. After all, it's not just metal. What if it's Hakkai's throat? He doesn't want to squeeze if it's Hakkai's throat! ]

We'll start off with something easy. [ The older man first -- Gojyo lifts Hakkai up, pointing the sickle blade at the shambling corpse. ] Like a boomerang, out and back. [ And with a flick of his wrist he releases the blade. If his aim is true (and his lax grip doesn't cost him too much control), the blade should slice right through the old man's chest, from hip to shoulder. ]

[The speed is briefly disorienting; Hakkai feels his blade bite flesh as he orients himself, and the chain pull with the tug of Gojyo's wrist that snaps him across roughly at waist level on the corpse. Soft, half-rotting viscera put up very little resistance to his edge; the spine is a little harder. But not too much.

He's impressed. This shape is quite dangerous.

And focusing on the specifics of how it works is just the distraction he needs, he admits to himself as the blade rattles back to seat itself hard against the weapon's handle.]

You don't have to hold me that carefully. I'll try not to cut you, I promise.

[ The blade -- Hakkai -- swings out nearly perfectly, clicking back into the staff with a familiar weight. Good. ]

That's not... [ --he starts to say, then just shakes his head. It's not worth the discussion. ] I trust you. [ So please trust me not to be thinkin' too hard about what part of you I'm holding, he thinks, forgetting for the moment about the telepathic connection between gods and their shinki-weapons. ]

Those two women next? [ This time he'll try for a more complicated pattern: a series of tight loops, spiralling up like the path of a spring. The blade should slice them both into, well. Slices. Three or four big slices should be enough to free the souls trapped inside, yeah? ]

[Hakkai's laughter echoes soundlessly along the connection between them. What part of him, indeed.]

My shaft?

[He's being helpful! Very helpful. Not teasing at all -- well. All right, maybe a little. He doesn't have human, or youkai, body parts at the moment. He has weapon parts, and the only way he's discovered so far to guess which part of him corresponds to which other section is by tracking where damage shows up as injuries.

Which, hopefully, they won't have the opportunity to do tonight. The bodies are just bodies, without anything magically invulnerable about them, and Hakkai's blade bites through the bodies of the two women in easy spirals.]

Hakkai!

[ A bit of red creeps into his cheeks at that, and he very clearly hesitates when it comes time to tighten his grip on Hakkai's sh-- Hakkai's middle part.

Don't say things like that! ...And stop reading my mind! There's private shit in here!

He's impressed with Hakkai's performance, though. The blade flies true, the weight feels just right, and the edge is obviously sharp. He's as beautiful and deadly in weapon form as he is as a person, and fuck please don't let Hakkai have heard that.

Does this come with a mute button? He asks, unconsciously rolling his thumb over the release button without pressing it, a habitual movement as he checks out the next wave of opponents. ]

[Gojyo's reaction is every bit as gratifying as Hakkai could have imagined. He's even blushing, even though, after a moment of hesitation, he does actually solidify his grip. Hakkai, quite shamelessly, laughs at him again.]

You're talking to me. I'm not reading anything.

[Not exactly.

The younger corpse had been hanging back, but the advent of a bigger group of zombies behind her seems to give her new courage. There are at least fifteen of them in this group, and some of them are large. Their reach might have helped against Hakkai as a sword, but in this form, he thinks, it's useless. He'll protect Gojyo as he couldn't protect Elsa--

He breaks off before he can think too hard about that, wondering just what, exactly, Gojyo can hear from him in return. Inside his hollow handle, the chain shifts with a soft sound of metal on metal as Gojyo's thumb brushes the release.]

[ Oh. Well. He can't pretend he didn't know that's how Hakkai felt.

He misses her too. ]

You want to take this group? [ A good fling, aimed a bit high, should give Hakkai plenty of momentum to get through three or four of the zombies... more, if he only hits each of them once. ] Don't double back on yourself or the chain'll tangle, and if you start to slow you can rock your, ah... [ He slides his hand up to the crescent blade, tapping it lightly on the gleaming flat surface. ] ...head? And that should give you one more good pass.

[ Protect him, Hakkai. ]

Blade.

[The correction comes colored by embarrassed gratitude and deeper affection; he'd never have let his real voice show so much, but when a word is a thought it's much harder to control his tone.

Besides, he'd heard that.

And he will. He can. Gojyo's here, alive, not a screaming soul trapped in a rotting body with no way to help her but to tear her limb from limb--

-- he really needs to focus on the screaming souls in rotting bodies that are here now, he reminds himself, and the clink of chain this time is like a clearing of his throat.]

Yes, I'll give it a try. Ready?

[ Screaming souls in rotting bodies. It's not words so much as just a... a picture, and a feeling. Mostly a feeling.

With a twist of his arm (not unlike throwing a baseball) Gojyo sends Hakkai's head-blade flying. Where did all these souls come from? Some of them seem to match the body they're in -- at least, as far as he can tell -- but not all of them. There's children trapped in adult bodies, women trapped in men, huge distorted faces crammed into tiny children's bodies...

He shakes his head, trying to dispel the thoughts. He needs to be focusing on Hakkai right now, in case he needs help. It wasn't easy learning how to use shakujyo initially (and he carefully sidesteps thinking about that too hard, so Hakkai doesn't pick up on any memories he doesn't already possess) -- it can't be easy to be a flying blade on a never-ending length of chain! ]

What's it like?

I have more flexibility than I did as a sword. [Hakkai takes relieved refuge in practicality as he twists back on himself, whipping through two bodies side by side with the momentum of the throw and ensnaring another with his chain. Ah. That's a little less effective, though, it slows his momentum enough that his blade lodges hard in a third body and he has to twist free.]

--But I'll need to work on the mechanics!

[Small movements magnify themselves through what feels like the majority of his body when he's moving through midair, and he can move almost as freely as he can with arms and legs. What he can't do, though, is give himself any extra momentum.

He shakes his chain free of the entangled corpse with a swift ripple, and sails back towards the handle.

That ... was fun.]

[ He picks up on Hakkai's enjoyment, and can't help but smile in response. It does look like it would be fun, doesn't it? Whipping about like a hummingbird, gravity easily defeated with just a flick of the chain. It's not something he ever really considered doing himself, and now that it's an option, he's a little jealous!

But only a little. Because he can do something that Hakkai can't. ]

Here. [ Speaking out loud makes it easier to keep his thoughts in line. This whole setup just seems designed to make him slip up and turn Hakkai into a monster, and like hell is he going to let that happen. ] Lemme give you a demo of the mechanics.

[ It took years of practice, but this is a weapon Gojyo's mastered. He flicks the blade straight up, then down hard with a delicate turn on his wrist. There's zombies at 1 o'clock, 4, 6, and 10 -- with a series of deceptively tiny, round movements, he slices them all into chunks, releasing the blur of relieved souls within.

So he's showing off a little bit. Who can blame him? ]

[Hakkai certainly can't; he's too busy paying fascinated attention to the details of Gojyo's technique. There's no doubt he's an expert with this weapon, and no wonder that he was so thrilled to see Hakkai's new form. The subtlest movements control the momentum and angle of his attacks, and the four zombies fall, severed at knee, neck and hip, souls fleeing before they hit the ground.]

I can see I have a lot to learn.

[Really, he's tempted to try to do something more impressive immediately.

Can he -- well, probably not, not just yet. But he can do better than his first tangled attempt, he's certain of that much.]

May I take the next one? [-- he asks, competitive cheer bubbling up under the polite overture as the next wave of corpses lurches close.]

[ Shaft jokes aside, it's the chain that's really the sensitive part! Unlike regular chain (that responds to the regular rules of physics), the slightest wiggle of the handle gets amplified along the length of the chain, so a one centimeter movement at one end can result in huge sweeping arcs several meters across on the other. It's easy to overcompensate, especially when the heavy disc blade at the end moves like it's got a mind of its own.

Which, today, it does. ]

Be my guest! [ It's a little weird to be holding shakujyo and watching the blade dip and soar, but to not actually be controlling it. Standing still while the blade moves is difficult -- it's instinct to guide it, and it's going to take him a while to get used to letting Hakkai take control. But if they're going to be fighting like this, then he needs to get over that, doesn't he? ] You want to try launching yourself, or d'you want me to give you a running start?

I think I could use the start! I can't move that much.

[Although it's a small button. Hakkai tries to shift it, a feeling oddly like fidgeting, and not quite as effective as he'd like it to be. As a sword, too, he'd just barely been able to shift his edge position and aim; while there's more freedom of movement to this weapon's edge, it's not as though he can leap from Gojyo's grip and go dancing around.

Not even when Gojyo'd been holding him too weakly, and certainly not now!

He's gaining confidence in his movements, though, and when Gojyo presses the release catch, he'll leap free with a swirling slash that falls from above to neatly bisect three clustered zombies.]

Oh, sorry! Here. [Hey, he didn't know! Hakkai can move the blade on his own, so it only made sense that he could launch himself off the shaft.

Stop callin' it a shaft, Sha, stop thinkin' about holdin' his goddamn shaft, this is not the fucking time to get a half-stack, stop it.

He presses the button and sends the blade flying... and then watches with awe and not a little glee as Hakkai twists through the air with breakneck speed. It's like watching one of those hunting birds at the edge of a marsh, isn't it?

Before Hakkai can return to the post, it's a goddamn post, nothing sexy about a post, Gojyo gives the post a little shake to send a wave of vibration down the chain and flick the blade back up. ]

Here, try for another group without resetting!

[Hakkai makes a startled noise as the chain ripples and he's suddenly flying in a different direction, speed picking rapidly back up as he hits the top of the arc and begins to plunge down towards the corpses below again. Six in range; and tangling the chain with their limbs will slow him down, but coming from above, he can turn the plunge into a sidelong sweep, clearing a swathe around Gojyo and whipping back to behead three out of four toppling bodies.

The fourth lurches back up, a woman's ghost screaming from a child's face, and Hakkai has enough momentum left to end her suffering with a neat flicker of his blade. Two-thirds, he thinks, not bad, and turns his attention back to Gojyo-- who'd been thinking something, he'd heard the mutter of it at the edge of his own mind, but it wasn't quite loud enough to be meant for him to hear.]

Would you like the last two?

[He lets the thought feel affectionately teasing; after all, he wouldn't want Gojyo to get bored! And, besides, he's learning as much from Gojyo's skill as he is from trying out this form himself.]

[ Sparing a moment to think wordless gratitude at Hakkai for taking down the smallest of the zombies -- they might not be real children anymore, but it still hurts his heart to have to cut into them -- Gojyo takes over. He slides a foot back to give himself the added range of motion, then whips the pole up and over his head, the motion a blur. It's a helicoptering move, establishing a perimeter and dicing the two unfortunate zombies who happen to be in range.

And, since he's got the momentum, he takes another opportunity to show off a bit and brings that horizontal perimeter up, until the blade and chain describe a dome over their heads. It's not a move he can keep up for very long -- the risk of losing his grip on the post as it spins from hand to hand increases with every pass -- and by the time he recalls the blade, his face is gleaming with a sheen of sweat.

That felt good, though. It's been too long! ]

You doin' okay? [ It hadn't occurred to him before, but now he's thinking about it: ] You don't get motion sick when you're like this, do you?

hey soul sister

joe you just made me cackle out loud with that subject line a+

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