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

[reformedsinner]

[Hakkai hisses softly at the sight. There's blood on the ground already, bright red, dripping from a bite on the arm of a screaming woman. The scent of rot is so strong in the air here that it's hard for him to believe he hadn't been sure of it earlier.

His lips press into a thin line. There are too many helpless civilians here, and too many undead attacking them. He doesn't dare use the energy attacks he's still trying to master. It'll have to be done by hand.

He reaches for his ear, stripping the metal cuffs away. One, two, three. His ear lengthens under his fingers, stretching out to a delicate point, and vine markings coil across his face and hands as his fingernails harden into inch-long claws. When he glances back at Rin, his right eye is the same glass-green behind its monocle, but his left is a startling slit-pupiled yellow, and his smile flashes the tip of a newly sharp canine.

Scent and sound burst in upon him with new intensity, the way they always do when he takes off his limiters. Fresh blood is thick and metallic, rotting human flesh sickly sweet and rancid in a way that seems to cling to the back of his throat; and then there are the odors of the fair, sweat, frying foods, azaleas blooming across the hillside. The screams set his teeth on edge.]

Can you help the humans get away?

[sharkmaid]

[It's a sight Rin's never seen before, and if he can help it, he'd rather not see it again. Blood, fresh blood, already splattering on the ground and bubbling at the mouths of one of those lifeless creatures... It takes a hell of a lot of will power to keep himself from looking away, but in the end, he manages, and uses that concentration to formulate a plan.

Too many innocent people, too much disarray. It'd be dangerous to create a wide range attack and hope it won't cause any collateral damage.

He's about to make some suggestions, but once he looks over at Hakkai he pauses, silent while he stares at the transformation taking place. Not sure what that's all about... but he clearly has something in mind, and it'd be foolish to question it now. So he nods and after taking a moment to focus his energy he tosses one arm out to the side in a bright flash of warm pink light which wraps about his fingers and forearm.]

I'll do what I can.

[He hasn't practiced with his powers long enough to know what his limits are. Still, he has no other choice, and before one of the corpses draws too close he leaps back and aims that bolt of energy straight for it, causing it to stagger back with a whip-like wound across its face.]

[reformedsinner]

[The energy glittering around Rin's hand lashes out to strike one of the bodies across the face, inflicting a thin wound. It's not serious damage, Hakkai thinks, but it's enough to push the zombies back. At least he's not helpless.

He nods, sharply, and drops his earcuffs into his pocket before leaping forward with speed beyond human. Moving almost too fast for the eye to follow, he ducks under a clumsy lunge from a heavyset corpse and comes up, arm blurring into an arc that intersects the body's throat and lays it open with his claws, so deep that white bone glints in the depth of the wound.

The body doesn't stop moving. Its head falls to one side, slashed tendons and muscles no longer supporting the skull, but the hands still come down to clench hard on Hakkai's shoulders. His eyes widen, and he lashes out, breaking the thing's grip by tearing its left arm entirely away in a burst of youkai strength. He kicks it back, and this time, the body goes down, still twitching and reaching towards his ankles.

They're tough. They're tough, and a festival street full of innocent civilians stands no chance. Hakkai throws himself into the nearest group in a calculated whirl of viciously aimed claw-strokes.]

[sharkmaid]

[By nature, Rin's a fighter. Always has been, always will be. But when it comes to physical combat--that kind of fighting--he's admittedly unprepared. So when Hakkai takes off towards the charging ground of corpses to attack one, he doesn't know what to expect, and finds himself watching as the whole scene takes place out of morbid curiosity. He doesn't know if he'll learn something or what... but this guy's clearly more experienced in this field either way.

It's not a pretty sight, that being said. The scent of blood permeates everything else and leaves him dizzy on the spot. Blood, decay, death. It's times like these he becomes more and more aware of how human he truly is.

But he can't stand around contemplating morality and other such things. While the horde's distracted, he needs to act quickly. So he does, fending off another body before leaping back to put himself between the retreating crowd and a smaller group of corpses. He'll have to buy them all time to escape. Concentrate, focus, think about what you're trying to protect-- The glow between his fingers increases, searing hot to the touch, and after kicking up of the ground he lashes out just as before, only this time it's enough to slice through a few heads and knock them clean off their shoulders. Flesh burns and sizzles as it hits the ground and Rin can't help but grimace slightly at the sight of it.

It's not until a phantom visage emerges from one of the corpses and floats up into the air that Rin pauses and turns back to where he spotted Hakkai last.]

There's something coming out of them!

[he yells as the glowing orb rises further towards the sky.]

[reformedsinner]

It's harmless.

[Hakkai shouts back, loud enough to be heard over the screams and crashing of the living trying to escape the grasp of the dead, and grabs a zombie's arm as it claws for him. He plants a foot firmly against the corpse's chest, tearing the arm free from its socket in a spatter of blood.

He is never going to be able to get the stains out of this yukata. And it was new, too!

With a distasteful curl of the lip, he lunges smoothly forward at the confused zombie, removing its head with two calculated claw-strokes. The corpse crumples to the ground, and a mist gathers about its arms and legs, dissolving up into the sky. There's a suggestion of features on the mist, a hint of a human shape, but it doesn't seem to see them as it dissolves upward.]

Are they ghosts?

[sharkmaid]

[Rin continues to watch the phantom mist rise into the sky until it finally disappears out of sight. He's not sure what that was, but if these people aren't moving anymore without it, then it has to be important, right?

After taking a step back from the corpses, he purses his lips in thought. All of this seems far better suited for some sort of horror movie.]

Could be. Whatever they are, they seem to be keeping these things alive.

[If "alive" is even the right word for it. But, that aside,]

Did you come here with anyone? If you did, you should find them before this gets too far out of hand.

[reformedsinner]

Yes, I did. You should find your partner, too, if they're here.

[Hakkai inclines his head politely to the younger man.]

A pleasure to meet you. I'm sure I'll see you around later!

[There are more corpses lurching in their direction, and the beer stalls are back where Hakkai had first encountered Rin. Gojyo might still be there.

He launches himself into the cluster of corpses, ready to cut his way through, and back to find his god.]