36 - Dragon Dance

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: Help the Heavens cover for a missing goddess at her temple festival.
When: March 18
Where: Near the Sensou-ji temple in Asakusa
Summary: After Kannon's disappearance last year, the Heavens are concerned that things might go wrong at her temple's March 18 omikoshi festival. They've asked new gods and shinki to attend the festival and keep an eye out for trouble. Meanwhile, trusted newcomers and older gods and shinki alike are watching over the cultists that have been identified.






The Festival

Shrine-carriers, musicians and dancers congregate early in the morning in their matching outfits to get organized into their parade. Luckily, all of the parade participants this time are alive and well. There aren't even any troublesome ayakashi hanging around... so why is everyone having such bad luck?! Laces are breaking, costumes tearing, small children are getting sick from nerves, and even the drums seem to have gone out of tune. It looks like this parade is going to need a whole lot of help to prevent disaster.

For those who aren't busy with the parade preparations, food and souvenir booths throng the area in front of the temple. There's traveling games, too, and plenty of people showing up early with their families to find a good spot to watch the parade. This is one of Tokyo's most popular temples, so it's quite a crowd!

The Stakeouts

Any gods or shinki who were told about the cult problem by Amaterasu -- or anyone who might have heard from friends and allies about the plans -- can help Amaterasu's shinki keep a tight watch on all of the known cult members. Her shinki are looking for any sign of the young gods who she believes are behind all of this trouble, but are there other clues that might be found by a keen observer? Join in on staking out a cult member, and see what you can see.

Current cult members that the shinki are watching include:

• Mitsui Ryou - lives alone in a medium-sized apartment, appears to work a 9 - 5 schedule with occasional late nights.
• Imai Takeru - lives in a small two-story house by himself, has an unpredictable schedule.
• Shimoda Tsuki - lives alone in a small apartment with a lot of plants, works retail with varying shifts.
• Oota Saburo- lives in a medium-sized apartment with his wife and two young children, works a 9 - 5 schedule with frequent work trips.
• Maeda Shinnosuke - lives alone in a small, messy apartment, works construction (early mornings, long days.)
If your character is taking part in the surveillance of any of these people, please feel free to comment to the Cult Clues thread below with the name of the character they're watching, and the times that they're watching that character, in order to learn what they might see. (Note: surveillance doesn't have to take place only on the 18th. Characters can take part in watching the cult members at any time after Amaterasu's announcement on March 8.)

The Parade

At noon, the parade begins. Misfortune is still dogging the participants and the crowds around them, but it looks as though everything will go all right up until the final turn as the heavy, gilded shrine turns back towards the main temple building, tips, and slowly falls over sideways, straight for the crowd.

What's worse, when the shrine hits the ground, it cracks open -- and a huge, jellyfish-like ayakashi wearing a giant white mask with a single black eye inscribed on it heaves its way out and begins lashing its tentacles in every direction. People stung by the tentacles are driven into a furious frenzy, and fights are breaking out everywhere. Stop the humans from fighting, take care of the injured, and destroy the ayakashi before the situation gets any worse.

The Pursuit

In the middle of the fighting crowd, two white-robed shinki are chasing after a very average-looking salaryman in a tan coat. He doesn't seem to know that the shinki are chasing him, but he is moving fast, and they're in danger of losing track of him. They're calling out to any Far Shore denizen close enough to hear, shinki or god:

"Don't let that guy get away! He knows what happened!"

Anyone who has met or spent time staking out Mitsui Ryou will recognize him as the escaping salaryman. If your character takes part in the pursuit, please comment to the Cult Clues thread with a link to your thread - the character who successfully catches Mitsui will be determined by RNG on January 6, 2019.

In Summary:

• Attend the Sensou-ji festival
• Enjoy food and games
• Help Amaterasu's shinki stake out the cult
• Fight a masked ayakashi
• Have fun~

Comments

[abgrund]

[ There's a pause, and then: ]

In theory, yes. But I do not feel its presence.

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki sniffs. ] A rather inept foe, then. Only half-concealing one's presence merely puts everyone on alert.

[ Judgmental tea sip. ] The fallout isn't worth concern.

[ But the residual effects until it's sprung are....irritating. Disruptive.

Things better not get any worse or she will be displeased! ]

[abgrund]

[ Now that is catching Ain a little off guard. He doesn't quite understand Hibiki's statement at first read. ]

Order has been disturbed. I find it worth some concern.

[priforprince]

The source will be located and dealt with.

[ Probably by Kurosaki Shun or his ilk. She has hereby permitted his existence because he is so useful, in such cases. ]

I've no need to get personally involved.

[abgrund]

[ Shirking your duty aren't you, Hibiki? ]

Then, what will you do instead?

[priforprince]

Seek the most elegant off time I can scrounge from this backwater affair.

[ She exhales, lowering her empty cup to trade it for a full one carried by the next spygoat to pull up next to her. Sip.

...This is good tea. ]

[abgrund]

[ .......................................... ?????? ]

Do you find anything enjoyable about this occasion?

[ Ain is confused, but not severely so. He peers at her in mild interest ]

[priforprince]

Not especially.

[ Hibiki lowers the cup, the better to look out at the crowd with dubious flatness. ]

Honestly, the omniscience required of genius can sometimes be taxing. Such a second-rate affair...

[ SHE BEARS A HEAVY BURDEN, AIN

TOO HEAVY EVEN WITHOUT THE AYAKASHI ]

[abgrund]

[ That burden is definitely out of the realm of his comprehension. ]

Then perhaps you should return to your temple and take a rest.

[priforprince]

I may yet.

[ And yet, the compulsion to remain and heckle is too strong. Too strong!!

Tea sip. Hibiki seems content to leave the subject at that. ]

[abgrund]

[ He's not going to get a straight answer out of her, is he? ]

I hope you find something to enjoy here despite the misfortune.

[ As for Ain himself... he feels like he's definitely missing something. But what? ]

sh-should we have the ayakashi burst out. during. this thread.

[priforprince]

Much obliged. [ There is, indeed, precious little straight about Hibiki.

She drains her teacup, clears her throat, places it on the waiting goat tray. ] This area worsens. I'm moving.

[ It's almost like....like Ain had been onto something.

But that couldn't be. Could it???? ]

WE CAN

[abgrund]

[ Could it, indeed?

Ain is about to reply, but something shifts in the periphery of his vision - a premonition. That happens, and then that. A shower of inelegant noise and disorder.

Without waiting for Hibiki, Ain takes off along the street towards the collapsed shrine. He hasn't shapeshifted yet, but only out of consideration for those around him. ]

[priforprince]

W-what?!

[ HIBIKI WAS NOT EXPECTING THIS!

She knocks into the goat, which knocks the teacup off the platter, which breaks it. ]

THERE TRULY WAS AN AYAKASHI?!

[ Her eyes are following Ain even if her legs haven't yet. Get back here so she can yell her dismay at you some more!

What an inconsiderate audience! ]

[abgrund]

[ The world itself is inconsiderate, your radiance. ]

Seems so.

[ He has to raise his voice due to the distance between them, and he's not stopping. Hibiki will have to go after him.... ]

[priforprince]

Unbelievable. This will not be countenanced!

[ And yet, with this much chaos......Tch. Hibiki sprouts her God of Fortune wings and takes flight. Best take stock of the situation from the air!

Catching up on you quickly, Ain. What might you be up to? ]

[abgrund]

[ Ain hasn't transformed yet. Instead he's trying to get two people fighting nearby the ayakashi to break up by.... forcefully prying them apart with a strength much greater than mortal men. ]

Everything will be fine if you would move away from the scene, please.

[ His voice deadpan and calm, in clear contrast to the men who are currently trying to swat each other with their fists. Ain has put himself between them, and might be cheating by elongating his arms so that they can't hit the other person.... ]

[priforprince]

[ ....What an eerie personage. Has anyone ever told you that about yourself?

No matter. He's being only partially effective. Hibiki is familiar with atmospheric toxins from her extensive sentence ender experience. She swoops down, scoops up a person beneath each arm, flies overhead.

Her upper-body strength comes from cartoon physics, but to each their own. ] Separating them within the ayakashi's sphere of influence is pointless! Figure out that much if you call yourself my fan!

[ Taking her irritation out on Ain? Maybe a little bit.

But an ayakashi of that size doesn't just happen to appear in a crowded place with no warning save cloaked uneasiness in the air. Someone has sabotaged this festival.

AND IT'S ALMOST REVOLUTION DAY, SO HOW DARE. ]

[abgrund]

[ To Ain's credit, he doesn't mind. A lot of things bounce off him, both physically and metaphorically. Since he's more focused on solving the problem than his actual reputation, it doesn't matter.

Which means he won't take off after Hibiki immediately. Instead he'll be carrying a bystander away from his assailant in a fireman's carry, then half-running half-walking after her while said assailant runs after him. It's a comical scene. ]

[priforprince]

[ That's.....

.....She can't look at Ain for different reasons than the usual right now. He's solving the problem via absurdity.

But he is solving the problem, so she shall allow him to use her as his guiding light (all hail), looking for a safe place to guide these rioters from her higher vantage point. Seeing two girls about to rip into each other beneath her, Hibiki dips down and picks them both up, one under each arm, and continues. How far...How far must they go?

And where did this ayakashi tentacle suddenly come from, lashing in their path?! ]

Shoot!!

[ She might not be able to dodge-- ]

[abgrund]

[ That's one hell of a long tentacle. Ain may be able to levitate himself out of the way without losing momentum, but Hibiki can't. That means he must intervene, since he's the one with more than two hands.

A tentacle rises out of his shadow rapidly to slap the suckered arm of the ayakashi away. They are unfortunately similar in consistency save for the absence of octopus traits, so it might catch Hibiki unawares.

Quickly, they must continue absconding! ]

[priforprince]

Wha---

[ Yes, that does get Hibiki looking back. What a bizarrely elongated appendage that ayakashi had had, and what a.......dubiously similar.....ability her companion possesses.

Fortunately, however, Hibiki is an Expert Absconder. Her flight continues, though she clicks her tongue against the back of her teeth when the ayakashi's effects on the crowd show no sign of easing. ]

Tch. Still nothing....?

[ She looks back towards Ain. ] You! Can't your unsettlingly ominous powers eliminate it somehow?

[ You did such a wonderful job cleaning the Far Shore of its physical debris. What are ayakashi but psychic debris? ]

[abgrund]

[ It would certainly be convenient if he could just vanish the entire ayakashi into the depths of the void. That is not possible, however. ]

Not if you want to preserve the mortals' lives.

[ Physical damage aside, there would probably be irreversible harm to their minds. ]

It shouldn't be far now, [ he adds in a bid to try and make things feel better ]

[priforprince]

[ Urgh. Why don't everyone else's powers work the way she desires they do!?

Hibiki glowers, grumps, but accepts this. Though not without some heckling. ]

...Too useless.

[abgrund]

[ If she expects a reaction from him, there is none.

Ain bears the blows of the human he's carrying without complaint, in a single-minded intensity. It is only after they've run the better part of a mile that the mortals grow slack and stop struggling; the pursuers instead trot after the two gods with bemused expressions.

Ain decides to stop. He lets go of the human he was carrying, gently deposits them into a standing position. ]