New Years Festival!

[leaderkun]

Who: EVERYONE! Chosen and Partners, Damemon, Deputymon, Starmon too!
What: The New Year's Festival and Masquerade Ball
Where: Shinjuku Gyoen in the Park
When: December 31st



December 31st has at last arrived, and despite certain events depriving the Digital World of the original creator, the people involved with the New Years Festival managed to pull through. With Roze's work already underway and the designs and directions sent out, it wasn't hard to finish what had been started.

At mid-afternoon, a general text was sent out to all the D-Terminals announcing the festival grounds as open. Going to the Shinjuku Gyoen part of the park revealed a tiny wonderland of games and food manned by Chosen, Partners and Damemon alike.

Every Chosen and Partner have Damemon helpers and shifts rotate at each stall, making certain no one is kept from enjoying themselves to the fullest.

To either side of the festival grounds are picnic areas set up with several tables, all surrounded by bright white and yellow string lights. The four rows of game and food stalls are all decorated with large red paper lanterns, paper dragons and bright string lights, allowing the festivities to proceed well after dark.

At the front of the entire festival grounds Roze's Digimon - Julie the Impmon and Musashi the Kotemon - hand out copies of a simple map. On the back of each map the times for the masquerade dance are printed in case people forgot the time from their invitations.

In the Taiwan Pavilion, from the start of the festival to the end, Maya Matlin and Ryan Evans play music on piano and cello, rotating with Neku Sakuraba who maintains a steady flow of pre-arranged music. Several times throughout the day a handful of Digimon put on a simple but entertaining Taiko drum performance. Two long buffet tables filled with food and punch stay full throughout the day and night.

Jin Uzuki teaches calligraphy at one stall, as well as performs tea ceremony and lectures on Japanese traditions for those not educated on the themes presented by the festival.

Squall Leonhart stands sentinel over the Kingyo Sukui (goldfish catching) stall.

Campbell Saunders covers the ball toss, where people can try their luck knocking down milk bottles.

The Medicine Seller mans the Okonomiyaki cart, where people are free to order any combination of ingredients and eat hot food straight from the iron.

Mikasa Ackerman covers a colorful and pleasant-smelling stall where festival-goers can choose from dozens of bananas on sticks, the fruit dipped in different flavored coatings and numerous toppings.

Shannon Vaughn and Eli Delacroix cover the stall on the center walk where those at the festival can pick up sparklers and handmade papier-mâché masks for fun or the masquerade, if they have none of their own.

A ping pong toss with water-filled glass bowls sits with a pair of Damemon attendants cheering on participants.

Next to the Okonomiyaki cart, Saori Nakagawa and Laguna Loire provide fresh Takoyaki (octopus balls) on sticks, steaming and delicious.

The local Prince, Rowan, cheerily provides personal pies or slices of ready-made large ones and chats amiably with anyone who happens to be drawn in by meat or fruit fillings inside flaky crusts.

Cheerful little Miwako Sakurada watches the Yoyo Tsuri (water balloon yoyo) cart, balloons in bright splashes of color floating in a rotating pool of water, casting a rainbow across the cloth roof of the stall.

The ever large and boisterous Rider struts around a Strongman Hammer game, jeering and cajoling the men and complimenting the women, making bets and offering arm-wrestling competitions.

Little Wily-Kit has a raised platform surrounded by cushions where people can sit and listen to her play the flupe and regale them with tales from her homeland.

Dante sits at a stall of his own, playing guitar when he's not giving kisses for donations to the festival fund.

A ring toss game where one can try to put small rings around the necks of glass bottles stands manned by two Damemon arguing restlessly about the arrangement of the bottles.

Waver Velvet and his Wizardmon stand to dazzle onlookers with card tricks and details of magic performed in Waver's homeland.

Next to Wily-Kit's storytelling and Waver's tricks, Harry Potter serves up a variety of hot drinks close to the front of the festival so people have something to warm their hands and bellies while they enjoy the festivities.

Throughout the entire festival ground, Seifer Almasy and his hand-picked group of Digimon patrol the area, ejecting trouble-makers and seeing to damages while Yu Narukami and his team keep supplies full and assist Seifer with damage control.

The festival continues on through the day until the Masquerade Ball begins. All the stalls close and people are free to dress and attend as they like. Food and punch remains present and the music continues until midnight, when masks are to be removed and the New Year begins!

Comments

[oneeyedterror]

Victory, Whirl gives the waving digimon the briefest of glances while Rotorstorm does return the wave. Looks like someone isn't as huge of an asshole as he first seemed.

And it's the digimon, no Whirl.

"Got a date, Killer."

[bigsoftie]

Enough for Roadblaster! He smiles huge in return. Meanwhile Duke puts his fingers to his head, sticking out his tongue at the digimon.

Leatherhead's went from their clenched expression to widening with surprised. Really? Someone actually could stand Whirl?

"You?"

[oneeyedterror]

Hey Duke, ever see a Gotsumon flip you off? Well now he has.

Whirl grunts, seriously was everyone going to react that way to him saying it? It's just a date, it's not like he said he found his Conjunx Endura or anything serious.

"Of course me, you frikking idiot."

[bigsoftie]

...you fucker. Duke repeats the motion en masse, presenting a birdie on both fingers, flying around.

"Hey what does that mean?"

"No idea, shut up.

He sighed, "You must have threatened them."

[oneeyedterror]

"It means you pests better slag off before I scrap the lot of you," Whirl snapped, since he was managing to pay attention to the digimon as well at Leatherhead. For a dude with one eye, he does a good job of paying attention to things around him.

"... Why the hell would I threaten someone."

The only person Whirl can recall threatening recently, other than the digimon just now, was Wheeljack. And that was all in good fun.

[bigsoftie]

Duke threw his hands behind his back, rocking on the balls of his feet, "Your dumb digimon did it first!"

Leatherhead doesn't care, he figured Whirl would only get a date that way, "It is in your nature..."

[oneeyedterror]

Whirl is just going to roll his eye at both responses before crossing his arms over his chest.

"The only people I threaten are ones I'm going to kill," he said that in such a matter of fact tone, as if he was simply discussing the weather. "And well, Wheeljack, but that's different."

He makes a slight sucking sound with his teeth before continuing with the original line of thought.

"And it's not like I frikking asked the little guy out, he did all that himself, Killer."

[bigsoftie]

No you don't threaten Wheeljack, you don't threaten dad, "How is that different."

Leatherhead finds a lot of things Whirl says hard to see beyond that immense veil of bullshit.

"I do not believe you."

[oneeyedterror]

Whirl almost says 'It's a Wrecker thing', almost. "It's a Cybertronian thing, that's how."

Now that is the first thing of bullshit he's said tonight. And he shrugs at Leatherhead not believing him, he's used to that. Usually people believe him when it counts, of course that's when he's actually using what he knows to not be a total asshole.

"You say that like I frikking care if you believe me or not."

[bigsoftie]

Certainly doesn't count in Leatherhead's opinion. Good luck ever convincing Leatherhead of that, buddy.

Leatherhead rolls his shoulders, "You say that like you wish for me to care."

[oneeyedterror]

He simply shrugs and... Starts to use Rotorstorm as an arm rest, leaning on his digimon partner.

"You done now, Killer?" Whirl asks in the most bored tone humanly possible.

[bigsoftie]

"If you are done." he said bluntly. Duke just groans, knowing just where this is going.

"Are you two gonna be tsun-butts for the rest of the night!?

[oneeyedterror]

If Duke is expecting something from Whirl? It's not happening. In fact the only response he gives is a dismissive hand wave to Leatherhead and the Impmon.

So yeah, he's done for now.

[terminalcresting]

[And then a wicked bright green flash. Like, incredibly bright. You guys are going to have to look away.

When you look back! There's a sphere of light in front of Whirl, shimmering like his dress, as if blinking a them.

It's a crest, Whirl's very own crest, the Crest of Purity. It apparently sees something very...real inside the Cybertronian.]

[bigsoftie]

Truly this was a rare event, an event so beautiful, so inspiring that words fail the mind. And those beholden to it have nothing to say but only to stare in awe.

"...what. WHAT?!

[oneeyedterror]

"Holy fucking shit." Some one is even less eloquent than Duke, as Rotorstorm speaks up from being an arm rest.

And hey, Whirl is gonna grab the damned thing and shove it in the clutch-purse he has on him. Because this is just frikking nuts, and Rotorstorm is starting to babble excitedly and isn't making much sense.

[bigsoftie]

What COULD you say something to that? Even Leatherhead is just as dumb-founded. Oh wait, the digimon has a good idea what to say.

"This is like the second time someone got a crest with you around, Heather. What's your deal?"

[oneeyedterror]

"There's no frikking deal," Whirl responded, with a snort. For someone who just had that happen? He's being pretty chill as fuck. Which is pretty much a cover for the fact that he is confused as hell.

"Anyway, you said you're done here. So shoo."

[bigsoftie]

The digimon just rolls his eyes, turning to the so-called real partner and shushing him. What a crock.

Leatherhead on the other hand growls, "Only when I say we are done."

[oneeyedterror]

"Pretty sure you said you were done a bit ago."

Whirl is now going to.

Ignore Leatherhead, seeming to turn his attention to something not in the same direction as the gator-turned-human.