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

[kokuyoyo]

Chikusa stares dully at Zetta, not really answering while he casually finds some footing that won't have him tumble down into the crowd. Being on top of a small wooden stall is doing it, for now. "One of them is dabbing," he finally answers, pure monotone, when he's certain of his position.

"...Another one is t-posing."

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"All right. I am going to count to three. Then I am going to turn around. And I am going to discover that we are both wrong and they are behaving like respectable minions of the Overlord. One... two..."

Zetta whirled around in midair, glaring backwards at his minions -- who were now in a rough group, snapping their fingers while one cheerfully spraypainted "JETS RULE" on a nearby building.

"...Okay, I was not expecting a West Side Story reference, but what the hell. I'll take it. Now let's do some damage to that ayakashi."

[kokuyoyo]

Are they sure Zetta is the most powerful anything? Chikusa has some questions on the validity of that statement. Either way, releasing Mukurou in a flurry of shimmering blue flames, Chikusa makes the faintest noise of acknowledgement. After a second, he remembers that words are a thing.

"I can weaken and slow it down with Mukurou. But this thing is going to need a Rend to kill it off." Do you even have a shinki, Zetta... Chikusa suddenly realizes he's not sure.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Okay, one of you guys call Ross!" Zetta snapped at his minion. As one peeled off to whip out the Overlord's cell phone, the rest pulled out weapons, so that the army now bristled with swords, spears, fishing poles, and a giant cartoon bomb. "We can do some weakening on our part as well!"

[kokuyoyo]

"If you say so." Mukurou goes soaring forward, that eerie blue fire of its already coating that snow white body. Chikusa keeps a good distance away. That will serve him better, and he can aim from here.

Also, he can shittalk from here. "Will your minions be able to keep from dabbing until the fight is over...?"

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Oh yeah, they can at least fight," Zetta said, as his army charged into the fray with a warcry of sheer delight. In an instant, swords swung and axes chopped and bombs exploded and one minion valiantly struggled with the tentacle it had hooked on its fishing line.

[kokuyoyo]

Well. At least most of them seem to be doing alright. As the minions charge, Mukuro charges in his own way, with the blue fire twisting and billowing outwards until it forms what looks like a literal wave chasing after its tail feathers. The water- because it sure as hell doesn't look like fire now- crashes into the jellyfish, and it seems to take a moment to recover. Certainly, it seems more sluggish, now, almost sleepy...

While Mukurou takes care of that, Chikusa surveys the chaotic scene. "...Why does one have a fishing pole?"

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Because that's what he fights with...?" What kind of a question was that? Actually, the minion with the fishing pole appeared to be doing pretty well, alternating between whacking the tentacle with the rod, then yanking on it to dig the hook painfully into it.

[kokuyoyo]

Yeah, no, the questions only seem to keep coming, even as Chikusa continues to watch. A fishing pole doesn't seem like the best kind of weapon to go for... says the kid who uses yoyos to fight but listen. "Why...? Could he no find another weapon or what..."

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Okay! Hold up for a second!" Zetta bellowed.

The minions ducked and scrambled out of the fray, leaving just the fishing pole one to face off against the monster. And said minion... promptly turned its back on the beast, whipping his wrist and then snapping his arm forward in a perfect cast that went the exact opposite way it should.

A moment later, a hook shot in from behind the pair, snagging into the ayakashi as it started to advance. As soon as the line had tension, the minion yanked back hard on the pole and started to reel -- and the ayakashi shot off into the distance, being painfully and speedily dragged away.

Just a second after it disappeared into the distance, it reappeared, still skidding forward to finally come to a halt in front of the minion as he tugged his hook free.

[kokuyoyo]

...

"What... the hell did I just watch." Even Mukurou has come to a pause, perched up on a power line while the bird stares at the mess with intense suspicion.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Hyaaaha ha ha ha ha! Witness the true power of the fishing pole!"

Zetta had no difficulty saying the most ridiculous things so long as he could feel smug and superior about it.

[kokuyoyo]

Faintly, Chikusa wonders what it would take to drug a book. Would his regular poisons be enough....? Storing that thought experiment away from next time, he lets his head tilt to the side.

"Why are you boasting? It's not like you're the person using the fishing pole."

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"For one, because I totally owned you and your skepticism," Zetta said without any shame. "For another, since that minion's an extension of my mana power, I basically am!"

[kokuyoyo]

"By that logic... I can bite through steel because my boyfriend can." Turing his attention back to his shitty bird, Chikusa tries to shoo it off its perch. Go on, get back to work, you brat.

"And does it really count as owning..."

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Uh, if you created your boyfriend as an extension of your own mana power, you really have issues. Like, super-kinky issues that would be super hot if you were a chick, but since I don't swing your way let's just calmly bury them all under all your much more socially palatable issues and leave them untouched for all time."

[kokuyoyo]

"If Ken and I were connected like that, it would be ideal," Chikusa says, aggressively ignoring any and every objection to his previous statements. Sorry, what was that? You want him to stop having weird co-dependence issues in public? Good luck stopping him. "I'm sure he'd prefer it too. He's already collared."

Admittedly, it's to hide the kanji of his two names, but Chikusa is well aware of how that would look to other people.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Dude. No. That isn't 'connected'. That's you creating him. Which incidentally means he probably wouldn't have any qualities you like, since he'd have YOURS instead."

Look, Zetta's not here to kinkshame. You do you, guy who probably shouldn't have a significant other at all thanks to the many, many personality flaws.

[kokuyoyo]

On one hand, that's definitely a problem when it comes to him being bound with Ken forever. On the other hand... Chikusa watches the shitshow that is Zetta's many minions.

"...Does that mean you're an idiot, then, like them?"

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"NO!" What -- why would he say such a thing?! "They're not fully intelligent beings! They're created, and even an Overlord can't just whip up full beings out of nothing! That's the province of weird science and blasphemous magic!"

[kokuyoyo]

"They're intelligent enough to meme." Which says something. Chikusa is vaguely certain that says something. Unless they're like parrots, mimicking everything they see. Over to the side, Mukuro seems fairly content dousing the jellyfish with more Rain flames.

"I can't really see them sharing any qualities with you at all."

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"They're demons and they can kick ass, I'm not sure what more you need!"

Zetta could have a... simplistic worldview. But deciding he didn't quite know what he was talking about was a pretty valid conclusion, all things considered.

[kokuyoyo]

"...Not memeing?"

Although he has to admit it would be kind of funny to some people... but then that thought immediately sours in the back of his head, and Chikusa turns his attention back to the ayakashi.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"...The hell's your problem with memes?"

Even as Zetta asked that, a tentacle slapped a Prinny so hard that it went skidding across the ground in front of them.

[kokuyoyo]

"Your minions suck at them."

That's his excuse, and he's sticking to it. At least, while he leans over to watch the Prinny going flying. Dully, he gives a couple of claps.