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

[beyondtheblade]

[Tsubasa slides back from dodging another swipe of the beast's tentacles, digging her sword into the ground to stop herself. She drops to one knee and pants, shaking her head.]

I have... been better. My options against this are somewhat limited...

[trustheart]

[Chris nods, frowning as she comes up beside Tsubasa. She holds up Luger in his vessel form for her to see.]

Well, don't worry. I'm here, and we can rend. You can at least damage the ayakashi while I focus on the decisive blows, right?

[beyondtheblade]

Damage it...

[She squints and looks up. She has to blink a couple times to focus her vision, but nods.]

With difficulty. Perhaps it would not be so bad were it smaller, but...

[That definitely isn't the case. Tsubasa seems more worn down than usual, at least.

All the same, she stands up and yanks her sword out of the ground.]

It's a better plan than anything I've been able to do, at least, so far.

[trustheart]

[Chris, rather instinctively, moves to try and support Tsubasa, placing one hand against her side and the other on her shoulder as she stands up, while holding onto her shinki at the same time.]

What if you tried to pin it down with a few of your big swords? If this thing is going to go big, go big in return, right?

[... Chris has trouble remembering what her friends' specific attacks are called, most of the time.]

[beyondtheblade]

[Tsubasa's drained and so is her Phonic Gain. Still, she's not about to stop now. She appreciates the support and gives her a nod.]

...I could pin down a tentacle or two, but...

[She glances at her friend's shinki, considers for a moment the state she saw Shun's in, and some of the things he said.]

...do not try and rend the entire thing yourself, Yukine.

[She frowns, glancing back at the monster.] With as many gods as there are here, we need to spread this out.

[trustheart]

Believe me, I'm not expecting it to. We can just damage it enough and then pull back, alright?

[She reached out, trying to be reassuring.] It's like you just said, there are multiple gods here. It's not just us who can fight them this time, senpai.

[beyondtheblade]

[She blinks once and then straightens up, nodding.]

Correct. So long as we protect the people here, how we accomplish it is of little consequence to me, so long as we also make it out the other side moving.

[trustheart]

Alright then. I'll help you set it up by firing off Giga Zeppelin... I've used it once already tonight, but I think I have enough phonic gain to fire it off one more time.

[She transforms her Armed Gear into the appropriate form, and gets into a battle stance. A song begins playing from her armor, and with her singing, Tsubasa would start to feel some of her strength returning. Between the lyrics, she asks Tsubasa:]

You ready? If so, go!

[beyondtheblade]

[Tsubasa nods.]

Do not push yourself too much, though.

[She feels the strength returning to her as Chris begins her song, and she stands more upright. She still hurts like hell, but this will help a great deal.]

Heh. Nostalgic.

[And she takes off like a bolt of blue, her approach attracting a tentacle, which slams down ... where she was a second before, rising to the sky. There's a crackle around her and a rain of blades, all aimed for one tentacle. Slamming into it, some puncturing through the thinner portions of it, slamming it into the ground. She shifts her Armed Gear into a larger form once more, chucking it down at another tentacle that is trying to rear towards her.]

Now, Yukine!

[trustheart]

[The moment Tsubasa moves, Chris fires off an attack from her crossbows, which results in a rain of crystal spikes that fall down alongside Tsubasa's storm of blades, further pinning down the creature's tentacles.

As Tsubasa falls down with her Dragon Scale, Chris switches to Luger's vessel form, and doesn't hesitate. She fires off a rend, straight at the creature's body.]

[beyondtheblade]

[A Tsubasa falls from the sky, she watches as the attack fires off from Chris' shinki. Without the tentacles in that space to block, it nails the ayakashi right in its body.

It reels, the damage apparent, and while it's not a killing blow, it's definitely going to be feeling that as other gods continue to pile onto it.

Tsubasa lands, and almost immediately finds her renewed strength give out on her, dropping again to one knee.]

[trustheart]

[Seeing Tsubasa touch down, Chris moves swiftly. Her body actually moves on auto pilot, and before she knows it, she's scooping Tsubasa up into a bridal carry.

Which looks rather awkward, given the difference in their heights. But Chris is strong enough to do it, in this form.]

We did it, senpai! We seriously wounded it! I'm getting you out of here!

[beyondtheblade]

[Wait, what're you--]

Yu- YUKINE!

[Tsubasa doesn't really have the strength to fight back, but she flails mildly as Chris scoops her up and takes off with her. It's ... quite embarrassing, actually, her face flushing red.]

Yukine, I am fine to walk on my own...!

[She wasn't.]

[trustheart]

Like hell you are! You can barely even stand!

[To her credit, Chris is pretty fast as she carries Tsubasa away. She wouldn't be if she were untransformed, but thankfully, that's not a factor right now.

Eventually, they get far enough away from the battle and the crowds of people. Only then does she set Tsubasa down.]

[beyondtheblade]

[Tsubasa really isn't in position to fight back, and as she's set down, she suddenly finds her Symphogear flashing and reforming into her normal clothes. She groans, holding her head, and looking a little more exhausted than normal. Well, more than a little.]

I think I may have... over exerted myself...

[trustheart]

... It happens to all of us. I made a mistake in a battle alongside Iskander and Wave a while back. Don't beat yourself up over it.

[She sighs, and puts a hand on Tsubasa's shoulder, her own Symphogear vanishing.]

Other people will finish the fight for us. Are you going to be alright?

[beyondtheblade]

[She grunts and finds something to lean against, nodding. She's not quite sure what she's talking about with that first thing, but this isn't the time to press on it.]

You're right. I will be... fine. I just need to catch my breath...

[trustheart]

[Chris nods... and stays at her side. She takes hold of Tsubasa's hand as she stands there with her.]

Alright. I'm done fighting for the night. I'll stay with you, okay?

[beyondtheblade]

[A tired sigh.]

I will... manage. I may have to pass on karaoke tonight, however...

[trustheart]

... Trust me. I don't think either of us are up for it, after all that.

[beyondtheblade]

[She smiles weakly.]

A rain check, then.

I will make up for it later on.

[trustheart]

[Chris gave her an earnest smile.]

We'll go to one of those fancy karaoke places. Where they let you get snacks and soft serve.

[beyondtheblade]

Certainly. I'll make sure you take you up on that.

[She grunts and finally pushes off the wall, watching the remainder of the fight from a distance.]

I am not leaving until this is finished, though.

[trustheart]

[Chris nods, quietly.]

Yeah... we can't leave until we know everyone is safe.