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

[revolutionfalcon]

[With a short nod, Shun kicks another of the corpses away at the base of the spine. It's too dangerous to propose seriously unless things get much worse than they are now, but if they're both aware it's on the table then that's all he really needs.

That's something Shun can relate to a little with his own shinki, and despite himself, he gives a faint snort as he kicks another zombie in the face with the kind of leg split a dancer would envy.]

Joker's the same. He'll have his daggers with him, I don't doubt his ability to handle himself in this situation.

[Speaking of people handling themselves, though, Shun glances back at Hijikata for a moment.]

Were those civilians you sent away earlier the only ones in this area?

[koukai_kirai]

[Hijikata doesn't even look at Shun -- he knows where he is, and he trusts that the direction he's in is more or less covered, for the moment, so it's more important to keep his eyes on his next targets.]

Festival this crowded? Unlikely.

[He punches a corpse in the chest, hard enough to feel the ribs crack, and brings his elbow down on its shoulder with all the force of his weight behind it, snapping the collarbone and rendering an arm useless.]

[revolutionfalcon]

[It's a fair enough point, though with the amount of people who'd fled at the sight of the corpses, Shun has his doubts about how large any remaining numbers might be. However, the main thing right now is that none of them are in their sight, and with a slight, frustrated hiss through his teeth, Shun returns his attention to the undead hordes, grabbing one that's getting a little too close and forcing his power through it, disintegrating it into nothing after a few moments.]

I doubt there's anything more useful we can do for them right now than getting rid of these ones, anyway. I'd like to think this is the only crowd of them this size, but I'm not that optimistic.

[Said even as he roundhouse kicks another body in the face.]

[koukai_kirai]

[This has got to be the least efficient way he's ever had to kill anyone. It's a little annoying for a man as pragmatic as Hijikata.]

Keep an eye out. If you spot anyone who looks trapped, one of us can cover the other one while they get them out.

[revolutionfalcon]

[It's bothering Shun a lot as well - even if he has his powers, he knows from experience that exerting himself too much there is going to do nothing but screw him over in the end, so his fists and his dagger are his only other options. And the dagger he's not even sure is going to do any decent amount of damage to these things.

By way of response to that remark, Shun leaps onto the shoulders of one of the zombies, kicking it in the head hard enough to rip at the fragile, rotted skin and muscle and leave it hanging only by the bone. He uses the few moments of confusion to scan the area around them before dropping backwards, landing on his hands, and kicking the corpse violently into the ones behind it.]

Nothing moving here except these things. If there's anyone left around here, they've at least hidden themselves.

[koukai_kirai]

Small blessings. Keep an eye out anyway.

[Because sudden, disorganized civilian evacuations are seldom tidy. There's always someone or other left behind.]

[But he's not about to sit around discussing the matter at length. He trips a corpse onto the ground, stomping down hard at the shoulders and hips to immobilize it, not even pausing to finish it off completely before turning and driving an elbow backwards into a zombie that was trying to get at him from behind.]

Any idea how many of these damn things there are?

[revolutionfalcon]

Obviously. It'll just be a hell of a lot easier once we get through this cluster.

[His tone says that remark shouldn't even need to be made, because he naturally keeps an eye on things and the implication that he wouldn't seems absurd. But they're in the middle of a fight, which isn't the place to make a point of it, and he instead turns his attention to grabbing a corpse getting a little too close by the neck and letting his decay power do the rest.

With the lookout he got of this group, Shun can at least answer one aspect of that question reliably, and as he lets the rotted remains of his last opponent slip through his fingers, he inclines his head towards the current group.]

There's not much left of this pack, but they scattered further than this. There's got to be at least a few more groups the same sort of size.

[koukai_kirai]

[One of the ones that Hijikata's left wounded on the ground tries to reach for him, grasping at his ankle. He grimaces a little, swinging around a kick that snaps the creature's neck.]

Tch...

Split up when we've finished these ones off, to cover more ground?

[revolutionfalcon]

[Kicking another one in the face to send it sprawling back into its nearby brethren and slow them down with the deadweight, Shun shrugs slightly as if it doesn't make much difference to him.]

Whatever works best. I only came to help deal with this area because it was too much for one person.

[Now excuse him while he delivers another scything kick to the weak knees of one of the zombies before stomping on its spine hard enough to crack the bones.]

[koukai_kirai]

Don't think for a moment that I --

[He pauses to wrench his leg free, then grab a zombie by the throat and throw it bodily to the ground.]

--don't appreciate your help. I just think there are people fighting now who need it more than I do, or need mine more than you do.

[So it's probably best, tactically, if they split up when this area is taken care of. Cover more weak points at once.]

[revolutionfalcon]

[That's one reason to interrupt a conversation, and if the circumstances of this combat were less serious, Shun might've even let himself show some amusement. However, he's distracted before long by backflip-kicking another one in the chin hard enough that the decayed skin of its neck separates from the rest of it, though its spine doesn't quite get there.]

That's why I said whatever works. Not everyone here is even competent in combat, let alone experienced enough to deal with something like this. But I couldn't care less if my help is appreciated once I decide to give it.

[Generally because if he's decided to give it, he either has some respect for the other party or they're going to get themselves killed if he steps out.]