002 | Tokyo In Trouble

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: Surprise! There's a disaster on the Near Shore.
When: Late at night (February 24, 2016) into mid-afternoon (February 25, 2016)
Where: The Meeting Hall of the Heavens AND various places around Tokyo
Summary: A nice little greeting for the new guests and an unpleasant surprise for the older ones~



A sudden, loud blast of noise persists throughout the entirety of the Heavens. It sounds much like a war horn of ancient times being played at a decibel that is meant to shake the very core of every being within its range. No matter how much you might try to block out the noise, it remains ringing in your ears deafeningly, and somehow you find yourself compelled towards the Meeting Hall - the place where you were first introduced to the Heavens and what you have gotten wrapped up in.

Anyone checking their phones will notice a large, bright red alert flashing at them - 'EMERGENCY! REPORT IMMEDIATELY!' It seems that the Heavens have taken to using modern technology for their messages as well.

Once you have reached the Meeting Hall, you will find that every wall has turned into a sort of television screen, displaying various streets and buildings in Tokyo, everyone one literally crawling with ayakashi both big and small. A voice that you recognize as Amaterasu's - though you would never be able to describe it properly - rings throughout the halls.

"We need your help, brave gods, loyal shinki. A rift the likes of which we have never dealt with has opened on the Near Shore. We must end the ayakashi who are harming our dear followers. Please come to our aid in this time of need."



Meeting Hall

The once garishly decorated Meeting Hall looks very much like the base of operations for an army at war. There are gods gearing up with shinki and man-made gear as well and plenty of gods and shinki saying prayers before they head out to battle. Everything you might need to make yourself feel safe during a fight has been provided, including every type of weaponry. But, of course, only shinki wielded by a god can actually destroy an ayakashi.

Counselling

In the main hallway, there is an innocuous door with a small, nicely written sign that reads "Gentle Counselling". Inside the door is a small room with a few sweetly smiling shinki inside who are willing to listen to your problems and answer any questions you might have. They are also here to help out any gods that are having a hard time dealing with knowing about how their shinki died and any shinki that is having trouble coming to terms with the fact that they are dead.

February 24

The rift that has opened is so vast that there is literally nowhere in Tokyo that you can go without encountering a rampaging group of ayakashi. Everything is utter chaos and there are creatures everywhere for you to fight. Let's just hope that you can get out of this dangerous battlefront mostly unscathed.

February 25

Towards the middle of the day, it will seem that the ayakashi are becoming fewer and further between. Things seem to be calming down a lot, though they are nowhere near normal yet, especially since the rift is taking longer to close than the Heavens would like. Fortunately, no new ayakashi have escaped into the Near Shore from the rift since this morning, due to a barrier that has been placed around it. Still, the ayakashi seem to be really hell-bent on getting away from you all now rather than fighting...



In Summary:

• There are a ton of ayakashi on the Near Shore that need to be destroyed.
• The newbies are getting one hell of a welcome as a result.
• Seek counselling if you need it!
• Go kick some evil ass.
• Comment to the first thread to get a randomly generated number of ayakashi to face.
• Mods will gladly play out any ayakashi interactions where requested.
• Try not to get killed~

Comments

[outwardinsight]

[ It's hard not to respond to that bright smile, and Hisoka's cheeks redden before he can manage some semblance of indignance instead. It was impressive how deftly Tsuzuki had pulled that off, though. If only to himself, he had to admit that much. ]

What was that stunt? [ He could find something to gripe about, at least. It's a legitimate criticism, too, in his mind. ] You couldn't know how long I could hold that thing off.

[sweetdeath]

I trust you.

[Which is really not a good response to Hisoka's point, so Tsuzuki qualifies it:] Besides, you only needed to slow it down for a second!

[He looks back at the wards as they shudder under the impact of the ayakashi's body. So he can keep holding them, but that's not the only one in the park, and... huh.]

Hey, Hisoka? Can that borderline you cast destroy them?

[...because Tsuzuki's ofuda spells haven't been doing anything permanent, and if Hisoka can't either, the park full of ayakashi is going to be a real problem for them really soon.

Maybe they can practice on the one inside the wards.

Really fast.]

[outwardinsight]

[ A number of impractical questions and suggestions bubble up at the assertion that Tsuzuki trusted him, but it doesn't seem like the time. Instead, he puts real thought to the question. ]

I could probably cut something in half with it, but...

[ He shakes his head, recalling how his barrier collapsed. Even if he did somehow cut one in half, he can't be sure enough that it'd do the right kind of damage. There are so many of them, too, each ayakashi within range of his empathy is like a dark blotch on his senses.

It's galling to be so useless, a bitter emotion that's all his own. ]

No, not mine, at least. How anyone expects you to- [ He makes a frustrated sound. ] You should have a weapon.

[ Not a trinket. ]

[sweetdeath]

[Tsuzuki falters, and a crack appears in the ward as the ayakashi hurls itself against the barrier again. He hastily presses his hands back together. It's not like Hisoka meant that he should have a different partner.]

You and I work pretty well together, though.

[That said...Hisoka's got a point.

They're going to have to come up with somebody to deal the coup de grace. Tsuzuki frowns, looking around the park. There are other, smaller ayakashi starting to creep closer.]

... there have to be some other gods around here, right?

[outwardinsight]

Mm. [ Maybe he doesn't need another partner, but Tsuzuki clearly needed another shinki to support him in combat. Now isn't the time for that, and he files that thought away for a less fraught time. Later, he'd need to broach the topic, but that'll be when they're not in grave danger of being overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of ayakashi out there.

As some of the smaller ones begin to edge too close for Hisoka's comfort, he casts his borderline again and draws it out boldly. He's more confident this time for all that he's warding off many.

He frowns briefly as a grouping of frenetic eyeballs careen off, the sentiments they so clearly broadcast made his skin crawl. If nothing else, none of these are going to sneak up on him. ]

We'll have to find someone. [ He glances over at Tsuzuki. Protecting the living comes first, and that cuts down their choices. There are only so many options, and few good ones.

So he had to be coming to the same conclusion. He said he trusted him, right? ] I could take over here.

[sweetdeath]

[Tsuzuki looks at him, hesitating for a moment, but -- Hisoka's got his borderlines, and the ward should hold for another quarter-hour before the big ayakashi manages to knock it down.

It's a lot easier to trust Hisoka's skills when it's Tsuzuki in danger. It's harder leaving him to take care of himself against... how many of the ayakashi are there, anyway?

More than he and Hisoka can defeat together, anyway. He takes a deep breath and nods.]

Yeah.

[He pulls out another ofuda, muttering, and hands it to Hisoka.]

-- This should help hold that ward! If it breaks through, run, okay? I'll be back soon.

[A swift smile, and he turns and pelts away.]

[outwardinsight]

[ Survival and holding ground is all that he has to do here.

That it isn't a matter of winning only helps so much, but Hisoka makes the best of what he's got. And, for a while, he actually manages to hold out. It's a matter of magic and borderlines, but the increase in their numbers means he can't do anything to help shore up Tsuzuki's spellwork.

In the end, he finds himself backed up close to the ward that held the largest ayakashi, using it as a wall so nothing can get at him from behind. That's a terrifying proposition in its own right when he knows how weak its getting, but he has to hope that Tsuzuki will come for him. He's has to soon, he thinks, and he'll just be stuck between a rock and a hard place until then.

He would come back, right?

He isn't entirely clear on what happens in the few frantic moments after Tsuzuki's ward finally shatters. He can put together some of it when he's flung away and hits the ground hard enough to bounce before rolling on the grass. He's stunned, his own protections fallen at the break in his concentration, and all he can think as he scrambles to get up is that he needs another.

He misses the rock and the hard place already. ]

[dominatriarch]

Saiki!

[ And that's the first cry Hisoka would possibly hear over the din of battle. Bishamon had chosen to leave Tsuzuki on Kuraha, leaping off the shinki's back and armed with a giant broadsword that appears in her hands. Her trajectory is aimed straight at the ayakashi, swinging the broadsword in a wide arc as she lands. It's enough to get the ayakashi to cry out and turn its attention to her and away from Hisoka.

Kuraha meanwhile would land a short distance away, allowing Tsuzuki to climb off and join his shinki if need be.

While Bishamon continues to swing said broadsword, her strikes cleaving as much of the ayakashi as she can, she turns her attention briefly to Hisoka. ]

Are there more?

[sweetdeath]

Hisoka! [As Tsuzuki feels the ward go down, he's leaping off Kuraha's back only a second after Bishamon. It's still a long way to the ground, but he's had a lot of practice not being entirely subject to gravity, and he hits the ground running. Hisoka's down, maybe hurt - Tsuzuki can actually feel his panic as if it's his own heart beating triple time and not his partner's. It's a strange feeling, disorienting.

He pelts toward Hisoka, punching away the nearest of the smaller ayakashi as it takes a swipe at his partner. His hand stings on contact and goes numb to the wrist, but the creature stumbles back and Tsuzuki turns to offer Hisoka a hand up. ]

Are you okay?

[outwardinsight]

[ Hisoka's not anywhere near okay at first, not with that alarming feedback loop of emotion, but the realization that Tsuzuki had come back for him pushes the fear back. It recedes under a wash of relief because he'd come back, just like he'd said he would, just like Hisoka had hoped. He holds his other arm awkwardly, and close to himself. It's an injury earned during his hard landing, one he's willing to push past, and he forces himself to take Tsuzuki's hand to get back up. ]

Yeah. [ He doesn't have time for not being okay. The woman Tsuzuki had brought along to help is truly amazing, and he has to force himself not to be distracted. That's what a god should be with their shinki. A quick, firm "line" allows him to draw a boundary to limit the approach of ayakashi, but it's not his best work after all that effort. Then, louder, ] Most are here, but a few broke for the trees when it all came down.

[ He hadn't seen them do it, but he could sense them. He doesn't know if that makes up for the fact that he'd botched the one thing he'd offered to do. ]

SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG!

[dominatriarch]

Gaiki! Suuki!

[ With that, said broadsword is replaced by a revolver and a pistol. She returns to where Kuraha had landed, staying near Tsuzuki and Hisoka before opening fire to take out the smaller ayakashi that had attempted to make a run for it. Better to lessen their number now to prevent the bigger ones from absorbing them and getting bigger.

As she does, she glances over her shoulder to make sure the two are alright. ]

You did very well containing these ayakashi. This makes it easier than chasing them around town.

[sweetdeath]

[Tsuzuki tosses a handful of ofuda that warp into leaping, foggy beasts, backing up Hisoka's borderline and nipping at the smaller ayakashi to keep them away from cover while Bishamon wipes the last of them out. Then, with the colder expression melting off his face like frost over a blaze of worry, he turns back to Hisoka and reaches for his arm -- with his blighted hand, first, before he sees the weird blemish on it and stops mid-reach.

He feels an instinctive revulsion at the mark, as if he'd dipped his hand in sewage. He's not about to get near Hisoka's injury with it until he's cleaned it off, somehow.]

Sorry I took so long. -- Your arm...

[He hasn't tried it yet, but they'd told him something about a new divine power when he got here. Healing, right? He hesitates, for now. If Hisoka's just bruised he's not going to want Tsuzuki to make too much of a fuss about it, but the way he's holding his arm close and trying not to move it makes Tsuzuki worry.]