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~

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A real gun would be awesome right about now, but yeah. Don't think we'll find one.

[Lance concedes the point pretty readily. He hadn't seen anything like a legitimate projectile that wasn't like... a dart. So he's pretty sure that's out.]

Hey, do you think there's shovels or... something with sharp metal around?

[He yells this question back to Sanada even as he cracks the pole in his hands over the head of another zombie, sending it sprawling to the ground.]

Cause sharp things would be good too.

Maybe the concession stands…? [ Gods he actually has to focus on beating back the zombies on his side instead of watching Lance move about—he really needs to pick up a few combat skills, stat.

The most he can manage right now is hitting stuff really hard, but he’s not sure how well that’s going to work in the long term. ]

Someone might still have a few knives lying around or something. [ Though they are pretty short-range weapons—and therefore not exactly Sanada’s forte—but he figures Lance might manage it. ]

There might even be some of the frying oil left over to slow these guys down.

[Ah! This guy is good! What good suggestions! Lance immediately changes his course to make his way to the nearest food stands.]

Good call, buddy! Try and keep 'em back long enough for me to grab some stuff.

[He can see a couple of knives, at least, though grabbing the oil seems to present a problem]

Okay, I've got a knife for you if you want it!

[Speaking as he dives for the knives to grab them.]

Sure! [ If he were a less good-natured sort of person he might wonder if Lance had just ditched him while he’s busy trying to keep the damn zombies at bay. But he’s confident that this stranger he just met will duly reward his patience even as the undead start yanking at his clothes and he has to viciously kick them away. ]

Find me a huge one!

Huge one! Got it!

[Sanada's faith is well placed, honestly. Lance has no intention of leaving this poor guy behind, especially since he doesn't seem to have any combat experience. That's part of what being a Paladin of Voltron is all about, after all! Protecting those who can't protect themselves.

He makes quick work of searching through what's available and manages to come up with a few knives. He's not a knife-wielder normally, but he's sure he can make do for right now. It's better than just a stick anyway.

Interceding in the fight, he uses one of his new acquisitions to slash open the face of one of the nearer zombies, providing a gap large enough for him to pass a large chef's knife to Sanada.]

Here ya go! Huge one, on the house.

[He grins and settles the other two knives he grabbed into his palms. They're smaller, but he's pretty sure he's okay with that.]

Let's keep moving!

[ He’s much obliged, Mister Paladin. Lance has arrived in the nick of time, for throwing knickknacks at the undead can only get him so far—and anyway he’s all out of ammo. ]

I owe ya! [ He accepts that knife with a savage grin, although there’s no mirth behind that smile. The blade feels familiar as he grips it in both hands, swinging it across to lop off another zombie’s head, whiffs of tortured soul escaping from its dismembered throat—but he knows that’s not enough to free it.

But he can’t stop right here and finish the job when the other zombies are already jostling each other for a piece of him. He can feel his legs moving in Lance’s direction, following his voice, following his lead, as Sanada bears down on another zombie about to get at Lance with his cleaver, burying the blade of it into its skull with a sickening crack of bone and squelch of soft tissue. ]

Can you see the shrine from here? [ Because he’s a bit occupied with prizing his weapon free, and he has to kick his zombie in the legs and let gravity yank flesh away from steel in one swift move and he’s starting to feel like his bowels might follow suit. ]

[It somehow seems... wrong to be providing this kid with a knife. And as Lance keeps his eyes moving around him, he can hear and see some of the things that Sanada is forced to do. And it's wrong. This kid is too young. But then, isn't he too young himself? Ah, it's all so wrong and weird and...

Right, pay attention Lance!

He shifts his attention back to his surroundings, easily ducking down and swinging a leg out to knock one of the zombies down, stomping hard on its neck and making a face as he hears the bone cracking. Ew ew ew...]

I can! It's not very far, don't worry.

[He speaks as he buries one of his knives to the hilt in the side of one of the zombie's head. He pockets the other knife as he spots a gap in the bodies.]

Take my hand and stay with me!

[It'll be quicker if they just sprint through this open space. Please let this work!]

[ They can have a nice chat about the wrongness of this whole thing after all the zombies have been dealt with, thanks. At least he can be assured that Sanada won’t blame him for whatever it is that’s happened to him today.

Although, if he’d had the time to stop and think about that next suggestion… ]

What, like we just charge right through them? [ He laughs, despite himself, grabbing at Lance’s hand and running after him. This is such a seriously stupid and reckless idea but honestly, he hasn’t got any better ones, and he can admire Lance for even thinking of actually going through with it.

Because Sanada more than okay with playing along.

…They’re both doomed. Where’s an adult when you need one. ]

[Having a teammate who doesn't argue with his good ideas is actually pretty nice. Lance tightens his grip on both Sanada's hand and the knife still in his other hand. This is going to be one hell of a ride, but he figures it's the best way for them to get out of this.

Hearing Sanada's laugh, he lets out one of his own. He follows it up with a little jingle.]

Do-do-do doo da doooooo! CHARGE!!!

[And then take off, Lance sure to keep a hold of Sanada's hand as they plow through the last of the zombies and, somehow, surprisingly, into the open space leading up to the temple itself.]

[ Well it's more like that's their only idea at the moment, but he won't argue nevertheless. If they're both going to die anyway, they might as well go down laughing, right?

At the prompting of CHARGE! Sanada lets out an inarticulate exclamation of his own—a sound uncharacteristic to him even among his old teammates from back in Tokyo. In any case, it means that Sanada is sufficiently fired up enough and despite having to keep pace with Lance, he duly swings out his knife at any approaching zombie, finally leaving his weapon stuck in a rotting assailant's shoulder before Lance's momentum yanks his hand away from it.

Oh well. He isn't keen on keeping that thing with him anyway, because Lance is right—it definitely feels wrong for him to even fight like this, much less with a knife that his inner cook shudders to see used on anything but fresh vegetables on a chopping board.

Speaking of… ]

What's your name, anyway? [ Because clearly running away from zombies is the best time to get to know a guy. ]

[Lance can't help the laughter that comes peeling out of him at the sound of Sanada's wordless yelling. This is the sort of thing that he's used to - charging headlong into the battle, being surrounded on all sides by enemies, his team giving him the courage he needs to keep going.

Hearing the question, he laughs again. This is all so surreal and yet so familiar. Ah well, such is the way of a Paladin of Voltron, he guesses!]

Lance! My name's Lance!

[He calls back to Sanada, turning for a brief moment to give him a grin that spreads from ear to ear before directing his attention forward again.

And it's at that moment that they miraculously land themselves in the temple proper, devoid of zombies and... oddly safe. Lance bends over, panting heavily, one hand still holding tightly onto Sanada's - for safety, duh. After a couple of breaths, he looks up at the boy, grinning again.]

How 'bout you? What's your name?

[What a great meeting this is.]

[ Laughing even in the face of adversity. Lance is really making a fantastic impression here. And meeting interesting people is certainly going to help him to take his mind off of the danger close at their heels—especially not when he feels his own stamina flagging already, though he tries to hide it behind a wide grin.

When they finally manage to reach the temple Sanada allows himself a little wince as he reaches out with his free hand to brace himself against a nearby post. He feels a vague ache down at his foot but decides he'd rather ignore it. ]

It's Shun— [ He bursts in a fit of laughter, a wave of relief washing over him when he fully registers that they're safe. And that all that had just happened.

Yeah. Better that than crying about it, anyway. ]

Shunpei. [ Catching his breath—he doesn't seem to mind that his other hand is still trapped at the moment. ]

My name is Shunpei Sanada.

[ The bards will sing of this meeting for ages to come, surely. ]

[It's at this moment that it strikes Lance that this kid is absolutely NOT used to any sort of battle situation at all. And that, somehow, he had pulled through all of that like a champion, following Lance's directions and holding his own in the process to help get them out of there.

Man, he just won the meet-a-random-stranger lottery, didn't he?

He grins, shifting to change his grip on the other boy's hand into a proper handshake.]

Nice to meet you, Shunpei. And good work out there.

[He knows how much he likes being praised when he tries hard, so he's happy to give some praise in return. This kid definitely deserves it.]

Ha…thanks. [ As excited as he is to meet a cool new friend, he can’t quite help the weak response. The trauma of the entire thing is finally catching up to him and it isn’t easy to keep up his cheer—much less stay on his feet.

Still he musters a tired smile. The sentiment is appreciated, Lance, even if he’s not in a good position to properly reciprocate. ]

Couldn’t have done it without you, Lance. I owe you one.

[If Lance is good at anything, it's being observant of other people. So he can tell that Sanada is about at the breaking point - and who can blame the kid? This was a little much.]

Yeah, yeah.

[He brushes off the compliment like it's nothing, secretly locking it away in his heart for later gloating.]

Have a seat. You look like you need it. I'll keep watch over here and help anyone else out that's trying to escape.

[ He doesn’t need much prodding to comply with that order. What a day. ]

Long as you’re not planning on going back out there anytime soon. [ Sanada’s not keen to see Lance run off and be a hero again when all’s said and done. They are really too underequipped to deal with this mess as it is. ]

[Lance considers Sanada's words for a long moment.

And then grins and winks.]

As a Paladin of Voltron, I make no promises!

[But before Sanada can retort, Lance moves away - he's got to make sure he's in a position to help anyone who's trying to get through to here. It's his duty as a defender of the universe!]

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011 | Black Parade

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