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

[arealhardnose]

Once, Elsa had mocked her enemies with words and laughter, taking perverse joy in the fight against a bunch of teenagers and their teacher. She'd commanded units of footsoldiers, losing their soulless bodies every time, succeeding more in angering her opponents than in doing any real damage to them. Sometimes, an ally, an equal, would fight by her side, but never to victory. It had enraged her at the time; now she knows it was for the best.

The good thing about being Menrva is that the recovery of those abilities comes without the baggage of the poisonous, evil energy that had given them to her. She is in control here, she is herself, she is more than she used to be, and she can allow herself to enjoy this.

She also needs to focus if she's going to do any good here.

Shepard's friendly competition helps with that. Elsa lands on the sidewalk and immediately springs forward, swinging her halberd out as she spins, slashing it upwards, evening the score. She probably won't win, but as long as the ayakashi are destroyed, then they all win.

"Huh-- you've done this before, haven't you," Elsa remarks as she pauses, shifting her stance to face the handful of ayakashi approaching her. "You're good, I'll give you that!" Racing forward, she takes out two more. "Call this beginner's luck, then."

[roeh]

"Only for my whole life." If there's one thing Shepard isn't, it's modest. She's proud of who she is, the things she's accomplished -- well, most of it -- and she makes no attempt to hide it. It wasn't an easy life, not by a long shot, and it wasn't for everyone but there's definitely a swell of satisfaction when it's recognized. She was the one that would do the dirty work to spare the ones that couldn't handle it.

But Elsa looked to be handling it just fine. Even as she rushes deeper into the fray, her blade making quick work of anything that got in her way, she still keeps one eye on the other woman. It was habit really. They were a team now, however temporary, and that meant she now existent firmly in the sphere of Shepard's concern. So it comes as a surprise when her words don't match the image she presents.

"You're kidding? I'm almost afraid to think what experience will look like." They barely know each other, they don't even have each others names but maybe, just maybe, it's clear by her tone, that Elsa has earned herself some high praise.

[arealhardnose]

"So am I. I'm just a teacher." One whose mind was warped by a power she'd never imagined she'd come across. Not unlike this, really, except she gets to stay herself now.

Slaying another ayakashi, she says to Shepard, "Well, it's complicated. I'll tell you when we're finished here."

It will be interesting to hear Shepard's stories. Elsa has met very few people whose lives were dedicated to fighting, in any capacity. Sure, she'd had four students who were fighting her, but that was different. They weren't born into it. It'd all been an accident.

Really, everything about Elsa's history with fighting was an accident. Even this. She may be holding her own, but she's slower than Shepard. At least she moves with grace, like she's dancing with an extended, deadly limb shaped like a halberd.

Yes. That's definitely what it's like.

[roeh]

"A teacher!?" Yeah maybe this isn't the best time to discuss it but it catches Shepard off guard and drags the exclamation out from here. The shock is more than palpable in both her voice and expression. Though it doesn't distract her from the task at hand thankfully.

This time her pistol is out as she faces down another trio Ayakashi, midsized small fries on their own but potentially a threat when coming at her all together. The bullets find their mark in the two on the right and left and she meets the other in the middle, running the sword from gut to tail. Only after she's cleaned up the rest does she turn back to Elsa to see how she's faring. A teacher. Damn, that sure did open up a lot of questions about exactly what kind of world she came from because right now it sounds like like even more of a catastrophe than her own. "I might even need to sit down for that one. Over a drink if that's an option."

[arealhardnose]

Depending on who you ask, Elsa's world is either very tame or wildly out of control. If you ask Elsa, it's both: everythings ends up under control with relatively little permanent damage to the majority of people and structures, but all too often this involves sending children to fight villains and monsters and save the adults who should be protecting them. (Elsa has a lot of feelings about protecting kids. And to her, most people under the age of 25 are kids.)

She slices left with her halberd, then swings it right, hands and feet shifting with an ease she both doesn't recognize and is intimately familiar with. If she thinks, if she tries to fight, she'll fail, so she trusts she'll do what she needs to do.

"A drink is definitely an option." Elsa didn't get much time to celebrate her freedom back home, too busy trying to put her life back together after that ordeal. "I might need one or two when I tell you what happened." It's... it's something, all right.

[roeh]

Well isn't that just something else they have in common. Something else to discuss over those drinks. Given her own childhood, there would certainly be some sympathy. The kind that comes with a few choice words even.

But for now, their breath was best spent on the fight. On breathing in and out and keeping as calm as possible to face down the adversary that was right in front of them rather than the ones they couldn't do anything about. It was almost cathartic. Who needs therapy when you've got a gun, right? And another enemy going poof before her eyes.

"Uh oh. Do we start the betting now?" For what? For exactly who has the shittier gig of course. If Shepard ever stops, ever thinks to hard about here own, well, that's when she knows exactly how Elsa feels.

[arealhardnose]

Betting? Gosh, maybe they should wait 'til they're a little closer to done with this battle. Or maybe that's just the nerves buzzing at the back of Elsa's head right now, telling her that she's had enough distractions and that she shouldn't press her luck.

She's not sure anymore if it's luck or latent skill keeping her alive right now.

"Let's not." An ayakashi charges right at Elsa. She stabs it with her halberd, enjoying far too much when it dies away. "Let's just drink to it later."

[roeh]

"Nice and relaxing huh? I got no problem with that." At least that gave her something to look forward to once this was all over. Something to fight for even. Because she was running a bit short on that in this world and the long term goal was persuasive but intangible at best.

It's only as she cuts down her next ayakashi, one that was roughly the size and shape of an elephant that she starts to notice a trend. One that she hoped wasn't signaling the imminent arrival of something worse. But wishes weren't horses and she's long since learned not to play the part of the beggar. Instead she deals in the reality of what's facing her down.

"So uh... is it just me or do these guys seem to be getting bigger to you?"

[arealhardnose]

Well, Elsa sure hopes it's relaxing. After fighting this seemingly endless river of monsters, she'll definitely need a break. They all will.

She isn't thinking about the creatures' size, isn't thinking about much at all except her breathing. The rest seems to take care of itself as long as she follows the impulses coming to her lightning fast. In a pause of a few seconds between waves of ayakashi, Shepard's question clicks in Elsa's mind, and she lets herself find the patterns in the fight. Yes, there's a trend here.

"That's usually not a good sign." (As if she has years of experience with this sort of thing.) "You don't suppose there's a chance it just means we'll be done with them soon?"