23 - Crazy Cat Shuffle

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: Crazy Cat Shuffle
When: September 20
Where: Shibuya & Ikebukuro, as well as the Far Shore
Summary: The new Crazy Cat mascot keychains are sparking real passion in Tokyo's hot spots. Brawls have broken out over the extra-rare versions, and all of this angst is attracting ayakashi. The gods have been asked to step in before things get out of control.







Crossing Crisis

The Shibuya scramble crossing is always busy, but it's especially wild today. Ten new Crazy Cat vending machines have been installed at the mouth of the alley across from Shibuya Station's exit. Rumors are flying that these machines have extra Blue-Star Cats in them: the very rarest kind! A crowd of hundreds of excited fans have gathered, but the people at the front of the lines are buying lots of cats, and the mood is starting to grow sour as the people at the back of the lines begin to wonder if there will be any left by the time it's their turn.

This crowd needs crossing guards... or just someone who can snag some of those ultra-rare Cats and sell them to the back of the line for crazy cash. Everything a god does is righteous, after all.

Sunshine Struggle

Crazy Cat machines dot the Sunshine City complex in Ikebukuro. The machines here are attracting some particularly nasty ayakashi: jealous little purple creatures with too many legs that stoke buyers' envy and need for more and better collectibles. Under their influence, it's not just the Cats going fast. The local stores are selling out of everything cute on the shelves.

Worse, some of the ayakashi victims are turning to theft when they run out of pocket money. Time to exterminate those bugs before they start a new crime wave.

Taking Stock

Accident? Sabotage? No one's telling, but a delivery truck carrying boxes of new keychains to restock the machines blew a tire and overturned on a major street. Under the influence of those greedy little ayakashi, collectors are descending on the wreck to snag their favorites before the police show up.

The dazed driver doesn't know what to do, the crowd is starting to get violent, and those Cats do look amazingly cute. And appealing. And, for that matter, valuable.

Bad Kitty

The cat keychains are super cute! Even gods or shinki might be tempted to buy one and take it home, but taking these keychains back to the Far Shore will give away their hidden secret. It's not just human envy that's attracting ayakashi to the Crazy Cats. There are ayakashi hiding inside this batch of cute kitty dolls, and bringing them through a shrine to the Far Shore will force the hidden creatures out of their plushie prisons.

They're big, they're mad, and they're hungry. And the Heavens are full of souls that smell delicious.

The ayakashi escaping from Crazy Cat dolls on the Far Shore resemble gigantic (taller than a person at the shoulder) versions of the cute plushie cats, with very real and sharp teeth and claws. They run and attack at random once released from the dolls, so even gods and shinki who did not bring the toys back could be faced with a fight. The patrolling shinki will do their best to hold them back with borderlines, but they need help to rend these crazy cats before they do too much damage!

In Summary:

• Placate the crowds
• Squash bitty ayakashi
• Struggle with temptation
• Defeat the cat invasion
• Have fun~

Comments

[in_praetego]

[ ....you tried, Takuma.

There's a click of his tongue at that. The one thing Takuma has going for him is that his wielder is used to his form. While Edge is more effective, he doesn't quite trust his skill with a blade. ]

It's fine. At least the capsules distract the ayakashi enough...

[ He's bonking another in the nose though. trying to drive it back from the main building. ]

We can hold out for a while longer.

[in_praetego]

Busy is a bit of an understatement!

[ He has to call that out, over his shoulder as he's pushing another cat off, making sure it doesn't breach the gate.

But it does warm his heart to know that even if his brother's a little amnesiac, he still has a natural affinity for cooking...

Aaaand cue momentary distraction from incoming cat paw that's slapped his glasses off his face.

Also cue very soft 'shit' after. ]

[priforprince]

Pure and innocent.

[ A few bills are now poking out of that wallet. Subtly, the genius advances the scene. ]

You'll help me protect them, won't you?

[kokuyoyo]

Don't care.

[....So, exactly as one could expect from him. Hands shoving into his pockets, he lets his gaze roam lazily around to the various people that are lined up, young and old.]

If I got one.... Then I guess I'd have it. But it's not something I really care about at all... So I'm not going to try.

I prefer different decoration.

[You know, his twenty thousand hats.]

[kokuyoyo]

[There's really only one reply that can be made to a callout so painful....]

[And that's a glitterbomb right at Davesprite.]

[Chikusa has good aim, and Davesprite is a big target.]

[nopixiedust]

[But where did the trumpets come from]

[Wendy jolts for a moment, startled, before remembering what her god's power is, and she eases up. Oh, right- Belatedly, she claps just to soothe her god's ego.]

Good job! ...but why are we doing this?

[nopixiedust]

Oh, I see.

[Sounds like something that goes over her head, honestly... but now that she's thinking about it- ]

Do you think there's anyone smart enough here that could make the machine?

[artificialrose]

Ah, right...

[Wings those big won't work with too many trees. Garry swears again, a little breathlessly considering he's still running.]

Well, let's just hope our lines hold until we're close enough to Komaeda's temple.

[They totally won't break or anything, right...]

[mithrarin]

I consider myself lucky if I manage to find ayakashi to fight, so... different outlook, there. [Dust glances away, a bit awkwardly.]

[drops_acid]

[Under the circumstances, Cardia isn't expecting any social pleasantries. She's keeping her focus on the chains, not taking her eyes off the struggling creature.]

I'm not sure. Probably only a few minutes. Do you have any shinki nearby?

Re: Sunshine Struggle

[drops_acid]

[For a split second, Cardia assumes the girl is joking. Being sarcastic. But no. There she goes, right up to the ayakashi. Right withing reach.

There's a moment of stunned surprise before Cardia calls out in alarm]

W-wait! Don't get too close.

Re: Crossing Crisis

[drops_acid]

Oh!

[There is a small exclamation of surprise. She hadn't noticed him watching. And without being sure just how much he actually saw, she has to be careful what she says.]

I suppose so. Breaking the machines won't stop any of this, but I hope it might slow it down.

Re: crossing crisis

[drops_acid]

[Caught. She can't keep the brief flash of panic from crossing her face, but Cardia is trying to seem casual. Because if he isn't judging her then she doesn't want to give him a reason to. ]

I thought breaking the machines might give us more time to work out a solution.

[drops_acid]

[A firm nod.]

Right.

[And then she extends a hand and calls her shinki's name.]

Keiki!

[And once he's in her hand, she holds him up.

Which.... okay she actually doesn't know if that has any effect on weather control but it seems logical.]

Okay, let's make it rain.

[The real shame of that is that Cardia has no idea that phrase is a euphemism for anything else. A tragic waste of a potentially clever quip.]

[boneofsword]

Anything that works is fine. [he nods towards the damaged machine. Archer's not judging, merely curious.] Is that an innate skill?

[onehandsomeslickninja]

But those don't last. The ayakashi will just escape eventually, even if you found something that could hold an evil spirit.

[priforprince]

Granting prayers.

[ Hibiki puts, well, Hibiki back beneath the cup. The serious expression has returned now. ]

Reset them.

[futhark]

[ Isn't it great? They still barely register the presence of the gods, but the moment the super cute, kitty-cat keychain appears in hands of one of them, they become VERY NOTICABLE. ]

Looks like this--! Gh- [ He extends his arms to brace against the machine, to keep creating the space between himself and Alex-- and the crowd that squealed - freaking squealed in unison - and pushed hard against him ]

Alex, you've gotta run!

[kokuyoyo]

Do you think they won't break them open?

[That's sure an extreme conclusion to jump to, although with how worked up these crowds are, well, you never know. Chikusa doesn't seem particularly perturbed as he mentions the idea, however.]

[sageprincess]

[... And very suddenly she is thrown back into the present situation of having a companion to fight beside.

Hardly a problem, her ass--]

Caster!

[She cries out as he's thrown, immediately rushing to put herself between him and the beast as he recovers. Damn it, she knew she wasn't going to good enough to keep the thing's attention, but she let herself be talked into this anyway...

The ayakashi charges at the pair of gods, but Zelda forces herself to stand her ground. Frontal assaults like this are the exact opposite of her usual style, but-- there are some points of the body that cannot be trained and strengthened no matter if it is a man or beast, Impa taught her. The eyes are one, as she targeted before. The underside of the jaw is another, and as the creature closes in, mouth opened wide to take a bite of Hyrule's Princess, she ducks, and drives her blade up and through its head. But she doesn't have the physical strength for that alone to stop it in its tracks. To that end, she channels her magic through her sword, bathing it in a golden holy light that burns the ayakashi from the inside out. Still not enough to kill it, of course - though it certainly does not appreciate these proceedings, no sir - which is why she calls out with just a hint of irritation--]

What are you doing? Rend it!

[Someone is not impressed with the unnecessary flourishes...]

[boneofsword]

[Archer tenses the moment ayakashi sends Caster flying. He knows it's not anything serious, but it irks him that he can't do anything in moments like that.]

'Caster, stop showing off!'

[He casts another borderline, shielding both Caster and princess.]

[nopixiedust]

Okay....

[Sounds sketchy to Wendy, but reset them she'll do.]

Is it a teacup prayer or something?

[nopixiedust]

They don't have to last forever. Just long enough for someone to come take care of it!

[blizzardrock]

[A little laugh escapes him. “If you don’t want to calm down,” he says. ...Considering Fubuki’s outburst of violence earlier, maybe he deserves that.]

Thanks.

[He starts ascending the stairs.]

...Be careful out there.

[hellskitchen]

[ Yukio certainly has his hands tied. Rin doesn't want to continue to distract him. So he's about to depart, when he sees one of the cat's managing to slap the glasses off Yukio's face. He watches as the specs skids across the ground, lying there helplessly.

The sheer disrespect is what gets Rin mad. Although, he was about to leave a moment ago, he's practically jumping over the gate. He's running up to Yukio as he yells at the cat ayakashi.]

Well that was a shitty thing to do! Don't you see we're havin' a conversation!

[Although they shouldn't even be conversing especially with these things still roaming about freely. Rin forms a borderline to help create some distance between the cats and Yukio. He looks over at the god, pretty sure there's a disapproving look on his face. Though, Rin holds his ground.]

Guess I'm helpin'! You're just gonna have to deal with it!