thenearshore | Semi-Open

[ In the short time he's held the position, Minamimoto has been the sort of god that oscillates wildly between dangerously attentive and relatively benign neglect. Today is no different, but it's a first at his junkyard of a shrine where he's particularly interested in breaking out both of his toys. He's been too busy to take the time.

It takes a certain kind of prayer to get him motivated to drop his current entertainment, and this one strikes him as particularly interesting

Goku is an unknown quantity, a variable he has yet to work out. Now, though, seems right. ]

Hey, Monkey! It's time! [ He's entirely too pleased and it carries through to his tone. He's already snatched up Pico, carrying the pistol on one hand. ] We're shifting to the mortal coordinate system to play a game.

[Life with Susano'o has taken some... adjusting. He's not being mistreated, or at least not what he considers mistreated, anyway. There's food, there's shelter, it's just... the company's a little weird. Granted, Goku's spent a lot of time roaming around exploring, so it hasn't been all that bad!

But he's at the temple now, and he's being called. Even if it's the name he's asked not to be called.]

I said stop callin' me that! [But he's here, and he's ready, and oh, Picowatt is already transformed...? What the hell is going on?] The... what? What kinda game?

Big game. [ It's never occurred to Sho that his shinki might need anything beyond the basics of food and shelter. After all, they're in decent physical condition. They probably won't break in a pinch, and they haven't done anything in particular to piss him off.

So, all in all, the current configuration is optimal. His grin is a dangerous, hard-edged sort of feral. ] We're going on an ayakashi hunt. C'mon. My hashtag's getting zetta lame.

[ He doesn't bother offering context. It's clear enough, after all. How is he going to get more worshippers if the ones on Twitter aren't suitably interesting? ]

[There's something a little off about the grin, of course, and it does make Goku feel a little uncomfortable, but... this guy's supposed to be taking care of him, right? So he wouldn't do anything bad to him, necessarily. Uh.]

Whoa, we get to go fight those things? Like right now?

[Nevermind he has no idea what a hashtag is. It sounds like it might be food. But fighting is now on the menu, and that's what he has his sights set on.]

Hell yeah! I've been itchin' to kick some ass! Let's go!

Now we're speaking the same language.

[ Sho reaches to snatch Goku by the shirt to haul him along. ] Let's derive the factoring hectopascal.

[... which is not at all what Goku was expecting. It's even enough to make him not ask what the hell that's supposed to mean, because currently, he's getting dragged along by his shirt.]

Wh-- hey, lemme go, I can walk!

Too zetta slow. My way's faster.

[ In truth, the dragging is strictly unnecessary when he's just going to teleport. He manages a blinding series of teleportations before he pauses to regroup, bringing them quite abruptly outside a shrine in Tokyo. ]

Q.E.D.

[The teleportation is taking effect before Goku can even open his mouth to argue, and he tenses up, squeezing his eyes closed. It's really disorienting, and even after it's all over, he keeps his eyes closed for a few seconds. Opening his eyes, though...]

What the hell was that? Where'd we go?

Tokyo. One've my shrines.

[ He glances back at it. It's quiet and empty, for the most part, despite the grand appearance. Not how it ought to be, and there's a moment where he almost looks introspective. ] Work in progress. You're gonna be a factor in making my worshipers multiply, Monkey.

Where's Tokyo?

[He's never heard of Tokyo. This temple is really something, though. Is Susano'o really that major of a god? But it's so... empty.]

I said don't call me that. [Making his worshipers multiply, though...] So fightin' ayakashi will make more people follow you?

Here. The origin of my coordinate system. It's the greatest garbage heap in the world.

[ And he's the only one out there that can make it beautiful. No one else has the artistic vision. The Composer could manage one single ward within it, but Sho's ambitions far exceed that in scope. He'd take Shibuya, he'd take all of Tokyo, and he'd make it what it should be.

Then, well, what came next was easy to solve for, but he has to follow the order of operations. ]

The rules of the game are simple. To climb the heap, gods gotta eradicate the threats to the humans and drive their enemies into the ground for them. [ Talking of this might be the most genuinely interested Sho's been in interacting with his shinki so far. His lips curve, showing a hint of fang, but it's not nearly as vicious as usual. ] You get front row seats to making the world beautiful.

Oh.

[Goku has no idea what that means. The best he can decipher is that maybe this is where he's from? Seriously, it's like the guy is speaking an entirely different language....

But he listens to the explanation anyway, even if part of it is making him wonder. What about just helping people? At least he seems really enthusiastic about doing this, but...]

Shouldn't you wanna help people anyway, though? I mean, I guess it's cool if people follow you for helpin' an' stuff, but makin' sure people aren't gettin' killed seems more important.

Huh?

[ The sentiment is so foreign that it actually catches the god off guard. This is Sho at his most lucid, too. Lately, the moments where he isn't burning with a need to fulfill his current monomania have been few and far between. ]

I'm not subtracting from my zetta valuable time if they're not kicking in. An unstable system'll just collapse. [ He shrugs. ] Kyouki.

[Well, Goku was going to argue, until Sho calls him and interrupts anything he was going to say. The staff is in Sho's hand in a matter of seconds, but it's not deterring Goku from speaking at all. He knows he's capable, he could do it the last time he was called.]

Yeah, but no one's gonna wanna follow you anymore if you're just lettin' people die!

Think so?

[ Picowatt gets secured in his waistband for now, so he'll be able to actually make proper use of Goku in a fight. They blink out, and reappear high above the city. Idly, he twirls the staff in his hands, enjoying the weight of it. He's not usually a close-range fighter most of the time, but he thinks he can do something with this. ]

Let's make it a game, Monkey. You down for that?

[ Another flicker, and he sees it. There it is, a truly massize squid-like thing draping over one of the buildings. Eyes speckle the neon-colored limbs as it twists around, digging its influence into the inhabitants of the building. ]

Yeah, duh. Who'd follow someone that's not protectin' 'em?

[Teleporting isn't so weird this time, now that he's experienced it once. And this time, he's not really in a body so much as in a weird floaty place where he can see everything and hear everything, so it's not so bad. Even the movement of twirling him around doesn't bother him.

But the massive ayakashi nearby does. It's big, and it's gross, and it's making people feel bad enough to kill themselves. They've already lost some. He doesn't want to lose any more.]

Hell yeah. As long as it means we get to kick this thing's ass!

Heh, the rules are zetta trivial. We save 'em all.

[Why not? It's a more challenging effort, but it's not beyond him. Aside from the dead, of course.

He drops from the sky, shifting his grip on the staff as the massive beast looks up with a ponderous rumble. It's not the most skillful application of his new shinki, but he swings and strikes a tentacle with enough force to inspire a shriek from the ayakashi. ]

But they'd better be praying to me by the end of this function!

Those're the kinda rules I can deal with! But no guarantees on the prayin' thing!

[Now that they're in action, Goku can feel a distinct thrill that he's not felt before, but knows all too well. Kind of like with food, but more like a ball of energy inside of him making him burst at the seams instead of an innate desire to inhale everything edible. And suddenly, everything is clicking into place.]

Jeez, haven't you ever been in a fight before? Who aims for legs when there's a giant head to hit? Just swing at stuff, an' I'll do the rest!

[ Minamimoto's a cat at heart, and it's in his nature to play with his prey. It's not the most efficient use of his time, especially if he's trying to keep the humans alive as a whole, but it's fun.

Who knew that traits that made a damn good Reaper weren't so useful when protecting lives? ]

Shut it-!

[ He's distracted by movement briefly and he casually dodges a flailing appendage as he intercepts a falling figure. He manages to catch a plummeting suicidal salaryman, skidding in the air before he flings the jackass human through a window.

Well, no one said anything about saving them gently. ]

I've been deriving ayakashi since before you existed!

[ But, hell, why not? He'll go in after it and see how that strategy goes. Maybe it'll force that little monkey to put its money where it's mouth was, or shut up. ]

[The guy falling doesn't escape Goku's notice, and he very nearly calls out-- except Sho is already grabbing him. Tossing him through a window isn't very nice, though, but at least the guy didn't fall to the ground...?]

Hey, watch where you're throwin' people! D'you wanna break his neck or somethin'?

[Jeez! There's protecting people, and then there's protecting people and killing them yourself. He'd rather not be part of that, thanks.

But the next time Sho swings at it, Goku takes over. It's like a weird instinct, and he really thinks he must have been a fighter before he died, if he's liking it this much. As big as the ayakashi is, the knobbed end of the staff still slams right into its face, earning a loud, pained, echoing shriek. Can the people in that building even hear this?]

Now that's what I'm talkin' about!

[ Sho finds himself literally growling at the sass. He kept the human alive, and he didn't come out here to get criticized by his own idiot minion.

But thne he's distracted by the utterly fascinating way his shinki functions. ]

You're not just a unit vector... [ Oh, the possibilities were endless. ] Let's bring 'em down in three iterations! [ He's barely grazed by a flailing limb, teleporting out in a static blip. ]

So zetta slow! [ And he brings his minion-staff around in another strike, counting on the extension effect to connect. ] Two!

[Hey, at least he's not commenting on it. As long as no one else gets their necks broken or anything, he's fine.

And he's not sure what a 'unit vector' is, either, but he's pretty sure it means that he's doing an awesome job. Which only makes him more cocky, leaving a verbalized 'Heh' to follow.]

We can totally do it in three!

[And, sure enough, this strike lands right in relatively the same spot, and the pained screeches are louder and more agonized this time around. One more good crack there ought to do it...!]

[ A flash of lightning and crack of thunder punctuate the announcement, and Sho laughs like his sanity might just have slipped a little further out of the unit circle than usual.

Goku might be about to learn that his god isn't just crazy, he's capable of completely disregarding his own physical safety in order to nail a perfect shot. It's all vectors and the slopes of lines to his eye, and he can see the elegance of the solution.

He flickers in between the squid and the building, grinning viciously. ]

Three-point-one-four-one-five-nine-two-six-five-three-!

[ All its eyes focus in on him, and he brings Goku into position to strike again. Even if he connects, there's a good chance he's getting bounced into the bricks at least once. And it's worth it. ]

Edited 2016-05-09 02:13 (UTC)

[Uh. Yeah. That's a little more than crazy. That's damn near suicidal. Goku is about to comment on it, but the thunder and lightning startle him right out of it. It hadn't looked stormy when they got here, had it?

But no matter. They've gotta finish this, and this is the last hit to make it three! And he's not about to let it go longer when that's the limit they've set. Even the long string of numbers spewing out of his god's mouth aren't enough to distract him. All he hears is the three, and Sho is swinging, and it's his turn to focus in. With it being their final shot, he's intent on putting his all into it.

With anything else, it'd be a sickening crack. But with this ayakashi, as the knobbed end slams down in just the right spot, all there is that follows is a disgusting squelching noise.]

[ When the math works out in such a beautiful way, a little injury isn't too much price to pay. Suicidal means different things for a god that can get crunched and keep going.

And he does get thumped as Goku pierces the ayakashi, but he's grinning as he refuses to let go of Goku. ]

Got 'em, Monkey. Time to decompose this function. [ He hauls on Goku with a sudden, wordless shout, using the staff to lever the massive, now-flailing ayakashi free from the building to try to drive it down to the ground. It's already breaking apart, fragmenting as they fall, and explodes in a burst of light.

It's raining when they land, and, again, Sho is laughing. ]

Semi-Open

March 11

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

oops forgot italics last tag

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)