Session Report: 21 April 2023
Old Foes and New Friends
General Summary
In this session of Tsuwamono, the following events transpired:
Just Shy the Peak1559年11月17日 18:00 (Evening)
Mount Ōe
Historical Entry: Just Shy the Peak
"Do you know a giant snake is in Ago Harbor? He doesn't seem to be threatening anyone, but..." Such was the message Knight Commander Maxim received from Kitsuno as he prepared for a trip to Mount Ōe. "Don't mind the snake, but let me know if there are any problems. You mentioned the people I was looking for are on Mount Ōe?" "They're probably just waking up around now. Check with one of the Wardens and they should be able to point you in the right direction. I'd come with, but this 'Hebizawa Mei' is in desperate need of a makeover." With little else immediate to occupy his attention, Maxim's mind had drifted back to his experiences in Jigoku and the diminished Ruler of Hell he'd sworn an oath to there. The Oni were connected with Jigoku somehow, and these two called the "Hags" most of all. So, if he wanted to learn more about Enma, that's where he'd need to begin. Shigeaki Fujino was only too happy to teleport Maxim and his sheele to the base of the mountain. From there, it would be a difficult climb to the third tier where the only Warden he knew held residence. Evaine made another remark about the difficult walk and how she'd like a mount, so Maxim made a note to look into one for her once they returned. For now, the climb would be good for them; and, after all, they didn't want to look weak in front of the Oni. About halfway up the slope, Evaine grew tired of clambering up and began to fly. This came as something of a surprise to Maxim, who hadn't known she possessed this ability at all. "It's not good to neglect one's training, Sir Maxim," she said by way of prim explanation. "But I make an exception for mountains." Soon enough, they reached the barrier of low-hanging clouds that flocked around Mount Ōe's third tier. From there, it was only a short climb before Maxim's foot found not craggy mountainside but polished stone floor. Myoroguma-dōji arrived from the depths of the well-appointed cavern to greet them. A platter in his hand held two cups and a bottle of sake. Though his eyes were, as always, covered by a blindfold, he glanced apologetically in the direction of Evaine. "...Oh, excuse me. I only sensed one person approaching, so I didn't prepare a third cup." "That's alright, I don't drink," Evaine reassured him. Maxim, meanwhile, strode across the room to place a brotherly hand upon Myoroguma's shoulder. With a friendly grin, the knight introduced his sheele to the warden. "It's been some time," Maxim continued, "Is everything going well here?" "It's been uneventful," Myoroguma conceded as he poured them each a measure from the bottle. "Would you believe that no one has attempted to climb to the peak since you last visited?" He shook his head at this dismal state of affairs. "Of course, there's that business." It wasn't difficult to see what Myoroguma was referring to. Even through the clouds crowding around his cave entrance, the landscape of Japan could be seen rolling out into the distance. Far away from them, on the horizon, a great tree of light branched up into the heavens. So massive in scale was it that even here, over a hundred miles away, it never failed to draw the eye. "I'm told some of the Hashinara's best are attempting to handle that situation as we speak, so I don't think we have anything to worry about." Maxim's reassurance seemed to hold weight for Myoroguma, as he soon turned his eyes from the tree and a smile graced his face once again. "That's good to hear. The man upstairs is a little concerned about that, if you can believe it." Anyone else might have been referring to a deity, but a gesture from one of Myoroguma's fans at the peak above made it clear just who he meant. "That's a bit unusual from what I understand of him, but either way, I'm sure he'll be relieved to hear the news." The two sat together companionably for a few minutes, looking out over the scenery below. Evaine, true to her training as a squire, remained in the background to let these two friends enjoy their time together uninterrupted. "So," Myoroguma began eventually, "Did you come by looking for a rematch?" With his empty sake cup, he gestured at the go board set up over a rug in the corner. "I have been practicing my skills of late," Maxim admitted, "But...no, today I am looking for two oni and I was hoping you might be able to introduce me, or point me in the right direction." The board did look very tempting, especially since Maxim had been putting in some practice. But the sun was already setting and his mission, for now, lay elsewhere. "I don't get down from here much, but I can probably help. Who are you after?" "I don't know their names aside from a title: The Hags." "Ah." Myoroguma's lips contorted into a distasteful frown under his blindfold. "That'll be Datsueba and Ken'eba. They're relatively new here from Jigoku." Maxim took note of the expression but nodded all the same. "That would be the main reason I want to meet the Hags. I have a job for them." "You'll find them on the second tier," the other explained with only the slightest hint of derision in his voice, "Probably in some den of disrepute while the festival is underway." "Mm." Looking down the slope, Maxim could see the lights of torches moving in lines and patterns through the cloud cover. The Eternal Feast had begun in full, it seemed. "We must have just passed there, then. Tell me, though. Have you been sharpening your go skills?" The oni chuckled. "I'm afraid I lack for opponents to test myself against up here. You can only learn so much from theory before you must actually put that into practice." "I suppose 'the man upstairs' isn't interested in such things. Hm..." Maxim cast one last longing look at the game board. "While I'd love to have a match right now, aI do need to get this meeting done. If I have time after the Hags, I shall come back and we can have a match. If not, we shall have one tomorrow." "I'll hold you to that," Myoroguma said. With Evaine's sharp eyes on his back, Maxim knew the oni wasn't the only one holding him to his oaths. As he stood to leave, a pang of guilt caused Maxim to hesitate. "I could perhaps bring someone else who is versed in the game, if you like. I'd have to make sure they are fine with it, but..." "Don't concern yourself on my behalf," Myoroguma waved the suggestion away. "Just come by once in a while for a game, if you're able." With a fraternal smile, Maxim clasped Myoroguma on the shoulder one last time as he prepared to depart. "It's always a pleasure meeting with you. Next time I come you'd better be ready to lose." "Ha!" the other barked. "We'll see about that." "Now..." Maxim rolled his shoulders. "I get the feeling this next meeting will be a headache, so I'd better get it over with now."The Dozy Giant
1559年11月17日 18:00 (Evening)
Skyhold
Historical Entry: The Dozy Giant
"Now then, knave!" the Princess Masamune commanded. She was looking imperiously down from her balcony at Matsumoto Ooawagaeri. It followed, then, that he was the knave. "What boon would you have me grant to you, the victor of this tournament?" The erstwhile Black Blade did not hesitate. "I wish to continue moving forward with my journey, if that is not too much to ask." This, however, appeared to be the incorrect answer. The Eternal Princess yawned and stared at him with half-lidded eyes. "Bo-ring! You don't want riches? Girls? Stuffed animals?" Unheeded by the Princess and her Knave, something was happening amongst the assembled Hyakki Yagyō. The Cart Driver, having given out furry bundles to each person present, also seemed to have snapped them out of their dreamlike fugue. Hakutaku was notably attempting to disentangle herself from the edgy black cloak she'd donned for this event. "Why am I wearing this clyoak?" "I suppose I like a good sword every now and then," Ooawagaeri mused as per the Princess' question. "A sword, hm?" This response seemed to meet with much greater approval. "Mn! A fine choice for the victor of a tournament!" "Lord Matsumoto!" A small hand gripped Ooawagaeri from behind. The chaos to his rear seemed to be of increasing intensity. "How long have you been here?" It was Okuni with umbrella in one hand and a squirming kitten in the other. What's more, her single eye was now unclouded and shined at him in recognition; a far cry from her behavior when he'd met her at the gates. "I'm not sure exactly. Not long, though," the knave said distractedly. The Princess, after all, was still speaking. "Yes! A sword befitting you would be wicked and black, with spikes. Some onyx jewels in the hilt, and..." Lost in her own imagination, Masamune produced a small notebook from the stuffed animal at her side and began doodling in it as she spoke. "Hey Ooawagaeri!" This time it was Bedivere. "Did you get one?" She showed off a cat cradled in her arms. Ooawagaeri's attention kept dancing between the Princess' scribblings and the pink bow on the kitten's head. "What's this?" he managed to ask. The castle walls shuddered with the ever-growing noise. Finally, Masamune too seemed to realize something was not right. "Wh- what's happening?" she stammered. "Where are all these cats coming from?" "That guy in the hat. He's giving them out." Bedivere pointed at the broad shoulders of the Cart Driver, even now disappearing into the crowd of excited yōkai. "Shame. I didn't receive one." Ooawagaeri had to practically shout this mild comment over the racket of Skyhold's walls bending under some immense weight. As if in response to his complaint, the masonry tipped inward under a veritable flood of cats. Each one was black, wearing a little neckerchief with the emblem of the Matsumoto Family embroidered upon it. Like a tidal wave, they rose into the sky and crashed down... "Aieeeee–!" Princess Masamune shrieked. "What is hyappening?!" Hakutaku screamed. "Hmm. This might be too many," Ooawagaeri ventured as he was lost in the flood. Skyhold fell. .........
......... When his vision cleared of fur and purrs, Ooawagaeri found himself standing amid some scattered ruins on a snowy plateau. There were no cats, no stage, and no Princess. However, a wickedly long sword with spikes on the reverse edge and an onyx-studded hilt was plunged into the snow a few feet away. Ooawagaeri grabbed it by its cat-paw-shaped handle and withdrew its blade. "Well. No use leaving this here," he said with utmost nonchalance. Not far away, the Night Parade gathered in a rabble. Bedivere could be seen among them, as could Hashiba Hideyoshi. It seemed they were all equally confused by the whirlwind of events that just befell them. Like a vengeful specter, one tall, dark-clad figure rose from the mob to place an enormous claw on Ooawagaeri's shoulder. "I think we are owed an explanation, human," Hitotsume-nyūdō hissed. "I know about as much as you." Ooawagaeri shrugged, an impressive feat given the weight of the hand on his shoulder. "Though my guess is it was a trap to prevent us from moving east." "It was that stuff, right?" Bedivere ventured, approaching the two. "Dream stuff." "It is true that we came here to seal the Dreamlands rift," HItotsume-hime added. "And all that stuff that happened there, that was dream logic for sure." Bedivere crossed her arms and nodded with the authority of experience. "I gyuess we hyave Ooawagyaeri-syan to thank for snyapping us out of it." Hakutaku looked at him kindly, in stark opposition to Hitotsume-nyūdō's cold expression. "I'm afraid not. Our mysterious cat peddler seems to have done that..." Ooawagaeri trailed off as a truly bombastic snore tore through the evening air. The souceless snooze nearly rocked all of them back as those assembled looked around for its origin. Only Hitotsume-nyūdō seemed uninterested, her eyes locked furiously on the knave. "A 'cat peddler'? Are you certain?!" "Uh, we're not going to just ignore that huge snore, right?" Bedivere broke the tension of the moment, wandering off so she could poke around the fallen stone walls. "Hello! Who's sleeping here?" Extending his senses outward, the erstwhile Black Blade joined in the hunt. He saw the mingled energies of the Hyakki Yagyō, indeed, but also a hulking blue-green aura slumped in a seated position beyond a far wall. Bedivere cleared the same wall a moment later, letting out a low whistle as she did. "Ooawagaeri, you might want to see this." And so he did, tromping over through the snow until he turned the corner and beheld a giant. The huge man was sprawled out in a rough wooden seat like a carved throne. His long white beard reached the center of his breastplate, armored like an Albionite knight. Again, he snored, like a full forest of logs all being sawed at once. "He looks European but, hm..." Bedivere studied the three-meter man with a pensive expression. Indeed, hadn't it been rumors of a fellow knight displaced which had led her here? "This isn't any Knight of the Siege that I know of." She stared up at his blubbering lips for a moment. "Do you think that was his dream we just muddled through?" "I suppose it could be possible. But why didn't they wake up?" In response, the bearded man muttered something in a thick, consonant-heavy language neither of them understood. "Good question," Bedivere said. Whether it was a response to Ooawagaeri or the giant wasn't quite clear. "Or...are we still in a dream?!" "I don't think we are, based on those ruins." Ooawagaeri motioned to the roughly circular array of crumbling walls around them. It wasn't difficult to tell they would once have formed the stone base of a Japanese castle. Before Bedivere could answer, Hitotsume-nyūdō swung around the wall, her eye narrowed in fury. "I expect an answer, human. What did you say about cats..." She trailed off as she looked up at the man who, even sitting, dwarfed her tall stature. "Who is this?" "No clue. As for your question, a man gave each of you a cat and that was the catalyst for 'waking us.'" Ooawagaeri slipped the pun in there so casually it almost went unnoticed. "Or so I believe. A wave of cats was the last thing I saw before ending up here." "It WAS him!" The nyūdō paced a furrow in the snow in her anger. "That bastard!" "Hrrmpbbllb..." The giant groaned. One eye cracked open, then the other. "God morgen." Ooawagaeri, Bedivere, and Hitotsume-nyūdō all stared at the man. The man stared back, then said something in his strange, foreign tempo. "I don't think I've ever heard that language," Bedivere said slowly, "And I have a classical education." Ooawagaeri shrugged. Whatever language it was didn't hail from his corner of the world, that was certain. With a groan and a cracking of his back, the giant stood. He stooped down to pick up a broken broadsword from the snow around his feet, then patted a few dustings of white from it and himself. Fortuitously, Hakutaku chose that moment to wander by in search of them. "What's gyoing on? You all hyave been here for a while..." As was becoming the standard reaction, the little yōkai trailed off as she stared up at the towering foreigner. The giant exclaimed something, looking back at her. This time, Ooawagaeri clearly caught the word "Woodkin." "I think he means you, Lady Hakutaku," he said laconically. Looking between the odd group, Hakutaku waved her staff and magic threads bound everyone's languages together. "Finally!" the giant exclaimed. "A decent Court Wizard. Good children, tell me, where have I awoken this time?" "You're in Japan right now," Bedivere answered. She seemed intent to just skate past that 'children' bit. "Yeah, I didn't know where it was at first either. You look like a knight, but I don't know your langauge. Tell me, good sir, from wheremst do you hail?" "My name is Ogier, and I hail from the nether lands, but I have spent most of my career in Ys under the banner of Charlemange." Bedivere crossed her arms and nodded sagely at this. "Mmm... mmmm....! Haven't heard of any of it! You must have gotten her ethrough the Dreamlands rift, or maybe you just dreamed yourself here?" "My dreams have been exceptionally vivid of late..." Ogier mused. His watery eyes focused once again. "Who among you is the leader?" Somehow, everyone turned to look at Ooawagaeri. The giant stared in disbelief. "This knave? I can tell from a look how untrustworthy he is." "Rude," Ooawagaeri scoffed. "No, no," Hitotsume-nyūdō cautioned him. "He's got a point." "That's fair. I do wear a mask most of the time." "Then with your leave," proclaimed the Dane, "I will join you until I find my bearings in this new land." "We are traveling east in order to close a rift that seems to be combining our realm with the one beyond," Ooawagaeri explained. "Harrumph!" Ogier harrumphed. "Then we had best not dally."
The Reborn White Fox
1559年11月17日 18:00 (Evening)
Wakigami Castle
Historical Entry: The Reborn White Fox
Standing within his forbidding laboratory deep beneath Wakigami Castle, one fact was eminently obvious to Katsusada Shishauezaemon: there was much to be done. While his "true body" was dallying in the Dreamlands, it was again up to the emerald-cloaked adviser to roll up his sleeves and see to the functioning of their Clan. "Nobuhara, what reports have we received regarding the war between the Uesugi and Takeda? "Ah yes, welcome back, my lord." If Nobuhara was surprised at this latest reappearance by Shishauezaemon, his telepathic message did not betray it. "The Oda forces have managed to shore up the southern borders of Takeda Shingen's territory. However, the northern front appears to be at a stalemate. Without the aid of foreign technology, the Takeda Clan would already have folded against Uesugi Kenshin's advanced tactics; however, they also lack the power for a decisive push against the Heavenly Pagoda. "A stalemate is good for the time being." Indeed, the eastern wars would require his guiding hand soon, but there was much else to do first. "Do we know if the eastern clans have received word of the angels and their vendetta against our world? If not, then I would like to send messengers to gather their opinions." "I suspect such rumors have reached them but may have been discarded. The Hōjō, Uesugi, Takeda, and Date Clans are all deeply embroiled in local matters at the moment." "As always, it seems. Then, once our envoy returns I would like to summon our allied tacticians. I'm afraid these Angels and Bishamonten hold beliefs similar enough that they may join forces in the future." Shishauezaemon's masked gaze lingered upon the Putrid Jikininki slumped in his laboratory's corner. How had the clan managed to draw the ire of Heaven as well as Hell in his absence? "The zealotry of both forces would be too much to handle simultaneously. We– I may need to break our oath and support the Takeda to end this war quickly." "I understand, my lord," came Nobuhara's dutiful reply. "I believe Takenaka Hanbei and Kuroda Kanbei are currently both available. However, I would not recommend bringing both on to the same project, to avoid any potential unpleasantness." Indeed, both tacticians were well-regarded in their own rights, but were famously antagonistic after their experience with Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Perhaps Shishauezaemon had more to say. Perhaps he did not. In the end, it did not matter, as a polite rapping sound came from his chamber door. Those who knew about this laboratory knew not to disturb him so frivolously, so this brazen knocking could not help but draw the shrewd adviser's interest. With a slow stride born of his age, Shishauezaemon stood and answered the door. "Good evening, Katsusada Shishauezaemon-dono! It's been a while, hasn't it?" The grinning, masked young man standing at his threshold was not familiar. He had the feline ears of a bakeneko twitching happily upon his white-haired head but something about the narrowed eyes and sharpness of his expression suggested a vulpine aspect instead. "Hmm. It has been quite a while." Never show surprise. Never admit ignorance. Such was the veteran diplomat's creed. "So, what is the reason for today's visit?" "Well, I was just passing through after slipping out from Izanami's realm, right? And I thought I'd swing by and ask if you know where I could find Oda Nobunaga these days." The youth leaned against the doorframe as he spoke, posture as loose and relaxed as if he were catching up with an old friend. "Oh?" Behind Shishauezaemon's mask, a maelstrom of emotions raged. Izanami's realm? "Slipped out"? Indeed, there was a taste of necromancy on the air, and the credence this lent to the young man's claims very nearly made the aged Hashinara wish to end the world himself. Instead, he spoke: "Slipped out from Izanami's realm?" "You should know." Poking at him playfully, the other smirked. "Your daughter left me stranded there. Or didn't she tell you she had me cooped up in that mask of hers for a bit?" Cooped up in a mask. Stranded in Yomi. Hashinara Yoshitakatomo's mask. It couldn't be, and yet, it would be far from the first insane trick he'd played. Akechi Mitsuhide's lost soul had found a new body. "You'll have to forgive me," Shishauezaemon deflected. "I was quite dead for a while myself." "All water under the bridge! After all, you let me have my pick of a new body. I can't wait until Hideyoshi sees me in this one, honestly. What's he up to now, anyway?" "No one has heard from HIdeyoshi for what seems like many seasons now." That lie came easily, smooth and casual. "I assume he might have found a small piece of land to live out his life peacefully. War tends to calm some people." If only. The two shared a companionable moment of silence. Or, at least, one of them seemed to find it companionable. "And who am I speaking to, exactly?" Shishauezaemon thought he knew, and yet he had to hear it to be certain. "Someone formerly known as the the White Blade, perhaps? Who else would be looking for Oda Nobunaga by asking me directly, hm?" "Sure, that works." The other shrugged his shoulders. "Wouldn't be the first time I've been compared to the Black Blade. You can call me 'Boomfist' too, if it's convenient." No answers given. Two questions solved. "Humans tend to make comparisons all too often. But, to answer your original question, Oda Nobunaga has left this realm. I"m afraid no one knows what her ultimate destination is." For a moment, "Boomfist" Mitsuhide didn't respond. The torchlight glimmered on a single shining tear in the corner of his eye. "I must apologize for giving such a disappointing answer." Raising one gloved hand placatingly, Shishauezaemon continued. "Oda Nobunaga is merely trying to find purpose once more. I'm sure she'll return sooner or later." "Well then, friend." Mitsuhide looped one arm over the aged adviser's shoulders, leaning in with a smirk. "It looks like I'm out of a job! Are you hiring?" "Oho~." Shishauezemon couldn't help but let a musical note of surprise creep into his voice. Of all the outcomes to a repeat meeting with his old foe, this was not one he had predicted. And yet why not? They shared at least one common enemy and a convenient disregard of mortal foibles between them. "I could always use someone who has slipped through Izanami's realm. A temporary job until Lord Nobunaga returns, then?" "Sure, that sounds good to me. So long as you can give me a place to stay and maybe keep it on the down-low that I'm back in town." His smile slipped smoothly into an apologetic simper. "And hey, no hard feelings about all the tricks I pulled on you in the past, eh? Bygones and all that." "Oh, I could easily be convinced to forget all of that with just a story." Of course, it could only be one story which had caught the old necromancer's interest. "How did you 'slip away' from Izanami's influence?" "A few illusions, a bit of cunning, and a lot of luck. It helped that you never closed that portal in the back." Mitsuhide waved the question away with breezy vagueness before shifting the topic. "So what's first on the agenda, new friend?" Indeed, that was not nearly enough to sate Shishauezaemon's curiosity, and it shed no new light on their cold war with the Mistress of the Underworld. Yet he could be patient. "For the time being, we're all waiting for the representatives of this realm to return with results from the land of so-called 'angelic' beings. Either they'll come back bearing news of war with holy zealots or they will have made progress in calming them down. We'll see." A pause here for dramatic effect. "But for you, Boomfist-san, maybe you could grab a few souls from the Takeda-Uesugi war for me? Souls. The most valuable currency most beings weren't even aware they carried. What's more, a normal samurai would not know where to begin in collecting them. Akechi "Boomfist" Mitsuhide, however, was obviously no normal samurai. "First Hell, then Super Hell, and now Heaven? This place is getting crazier by the day." He clicked his new tongue against his new teeth in mock scorn. "But certainly, grabbing some souls sounds like a good use of my talents." "Quality souls are what I need." Indeed, to create a construct immune to supernatural influences, he would need to forge quite a lot of tamahagane. "There's no need to trouble yourself with the war. Merely collect souls discreetly."School Days
1559年11月17日 18:00 (Evening)
Mutsu Province
Historical Entry: School Days
Shunk Whirrrrrr CRASH! The doors buckled inward as a spear from the Angler-Nine hit them full on. Glass sprayed into an empty room beyond as Ryō Bō (the) Kappa stepped through the ruined doorway and observed his surroundings. The visor on his head flickered and hummed, but picked up no life signs. There was no one here. "You've shoved me into another dead end, huh, Saiba?" Sensing no danger, Ryō Bō leaned up against the nearest metal lockers and pulled a thin roll of paper full of seaweed from his belt. Some of the other kappa liked to smoke these things, but he'd never had the knack. He tossed it, wrapper and all, into his beak and chewed. A little something to take the edge off. "That doesn't make sense, Bō." A tinny voice sounded from Ryō Bō's mechanical arm. "The data we collected is undeniable. There's a Masamune somewhere in this building." "Guess I'll have to search more than one room, then, to find 'em. What a headache." With a creaking whirr, Ryō Bō spun the winch on the A9 with his free hand. The heavy fishing line spooled up, dragging a heavy spear with it until it holstered on his arm with a heavy "clunk." Hunkering down within his heavy shell, speargun at the ready, Bō stalked further into the unfamiliar building. Fluorescent lights up above lit polished wooden floors and generic white paint. Bō paused at a glass case affixed to a nearby wall and peered in. A number of papers had been stuck to a corkboard inside. They all looked official, more or less, but the text was just gibberish in squiggled lines. Even the autotranslator module within his visor couldn't make any sense of it. Ryō Bō spat a wad of chewed seaweed on the floor at his feet. "More dream-nonsense," he grumbled, then stalked away up a nearby flight of stairs. Above, he found himself in a landing much like the room downstairs, albeit without the rows of metal lockers. A bland hallway extended out on either side of him, doors inner wall and windows the outer. Each entry had a placard above it, defaced again with those same nonsensical squiggles. "Bō!" Ryō Bō slammed his webbed hand down on his prosthetic arm, silencing it. "Shut up. I hear it," he growled. Down the hall to his left, behind one of the identical doors, came the faint sound of chatter and giggling. "That's our target." Moving stealthily, careful not to bump his shell against the walls or let his claws scrape on the wooden floor, Ryō Bō crept down the hall until he was right in front of the door in question. He took a steadying breath, swallowed the last of his seaweed, made certain the weapons on his arm were loaded, and stepped forward. "Think fast, dipwad!" Ryō Bō shouted as he pulled the sliding door violently to the side. And yet it was he who ended up needing to think fast. A chalkboard eraser, caked with dust and hidden in the eaves of the door, fell right at his head. That thing would wreak havoc with the delicate circutry of his visor if it made contact. At the last moment, Ryō Bō managed to catch the projectile on his arm, hissing as he did so. The black felt left a caking of white dust on his scales, but otherwise fell away harmlessly. But now he was open, vulnerable! He raised his arm and fell into a crouch, ready for... The four occupants of the room were still inside, staring at him like he'd just interrupted their conversation. Three were girls, generically beautiful with similar faces and hair of different shades. The last was no doubt his target. Wearing a black button-down with a pair of stylish glasses set primly on his nose, this boy's dark hair swept up in an unrealistic waning moon-shape upon his forehead. "Date Masamune, I presume?" The boy laughed, an elegant sound. "Yes, and who are you? The new janitor?" "Eat mud." Bō fired the A9 directly at the boy's sternum. He didn't move, instead allowing one of his sycophants to jump in front of the spear. This girl, petite and blonde with her hair in twin tails, screeched as the weapon blew through her torso. There was no blood; there never was in these things. She simply tore into several parts and wisped away, blazer, skirt, and all, as though she'd never been there to begin with. The other two girls turned and bared their fangs. He couldn't afford to reel in the A9 now, so Ryō Bō leapt forward. "At your nine, Bō!" Saiba called. Whipping his head around, the kappa realized the black-haired girl had flanked him with preternatural quickness. She crouched low, eyes narrowed and teeth gnashing, before launching herself at his side. Bō managed to turn and align his prosthetic arm just in time. A vent in his palm opened and, with a sound like "shoop," the Saiba Net was deployed. The tiny net wrapped around the black-haired girl's face as she bounded forward, stopping her in her tracks and sending her crashing amongst the desks. He turned his attention away from that enemy. Anyone could tell you it was a death sentence. But he'd been careless. The final girl, with a blue bob cut, had climbed up on his back and gotten her claws under the lip of his shell. Ryō Bō swung back and forth, trying to dislodge the passenger while she pulled with all her strength at that sensitive area. "Get off, crabmeat!" he shouted. He stumbled until he was between the desk at the head of the room and the blackboard beyond it, then grabbed the former with his prosthetic arm and pushed. The pressure under his shell let up instantly as the girl on his back was pressed between carapace and wall until she was little more than mushed dreamstuff. Masamune! Where was the Masamune? Had he gotten away? Bō activated his visor, scanning the room, but it was too late. The svelte boy, still wearing that calm grin on his face, was already next to him. With one slender hand, he grabbed the steel fishing rod attached to Bō's prosthetic arm and bent it backward. "You're out of weapons, Mister Janitor," he leered. "And I'm the protagonist. Give up. You don't stand a chance against–" Date Masamune's monologue was cut short by Ryō Bō's free fist slamming hard into his jaw. The boy's jaw dislodged and he staggered back, looking up with rage in his eyes...only to be met with Bō's palm, vent already opened. "Buddy, you're pond slime." A second Saiba Net shot out at point-blank range, wrapping around Masamune's face and carrying him to the ground. He managed to get his fingers around a few links of the tiny net, but it was useless. A few moments more, and the boy stopped struggling. "Don't just stand there, Bō! The dream is failing!" Indeed, the walls of this room were already beginning to buckle under encroaching reality. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but Bō was pretty far above the ground on a floor that wasn't going to be there a few minutes later. "Saiba, there's a pool out back, right?" "Er, yes, Bō, but it won't be there much longer. I can't recommend–" Ryō Bō was already running. Turning his shell toward forward, he blasted through one of the room's dissolving windows and flew out amid a shower of twinkling glass. The acrid scent of chlorine and shimmering blue waters rose to meet him.Rewards Granted
Missions/Quests Completed
Created Content
Characters
Conflicts
Items
Quests
Report Date
21 Apr 2023
Primary Location
Secondary Location
Related Plots
Comments