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

[priforprince]

A genius's pace cannot be rushed.

[ She could go on, about how compared to the disaster she's fending off, a little waiting is nothing, but - that would involve this book being worthy of an explanation from Shikyoin Hibiki. So obviously that isn't going to happen.

Still, she does wish to proceed. Hibiki takes a deep breath and tries to concentrate again, despite the newfound presence of...irritants.

Drat. ]

[badassfreakingoverlord]

A genius would accommodate their pace for how likely it is an Overlord is about to get fed up and enact his OWN plan because he's sick of waiting.

[Zetta clearly isn't about to stop being an irritant either.]

[...Neither are his minions, who have abruptly crowded around the machine in a tight and narrow circle, all eager to see what she pulls. A swift betting ring erupts, with a weird penguin thing quickly scribbling odds on various results on a chalkboard while the minions put up their own charms on different possibilities.
(Current leader: "The Overlord smashes something, we never find out" at even odds.)]

[priforprince]

[ The person doing the pulling looks pretty close to wanting to smash things, herself. The minions are speaking in low enough voices that she can't really make out any verbal tics what they're saying yet, but she's gritting her teeth and her shoulders are getting stiffer by the moment.

Focus. Why won't they be quiet? She has...to focus.... ]

[badassfreakingoverlord]

Turn! Turn! Turn! Turn!

[One or two minions begin the chant. But it rapidly proves infectious.]

Turn! Turn! Turn! Turn!

[Within moments, the whole dozen of them are chanting it, pumping their fists (or flippers) to emphasize each repetition.]

Turn! Turn! Turn! Turn!

[Their feet stomp the floor in synch, and the overwhelming swell of rhythm begins to bleed out of the Far Shore's natural concealment.]

Turn! Turn! Turn! Turn!

[The chant sweeps over the crowd like a wave, which breaks around the baffled book that is Zetta and roars past unhindered. The machine shakes with the concentrated stomps of the human onlookers, all joining in out of enthusiasm or impatience or simple herd mentality.]

TURN! TURN! TURN! TURN!

1/hibiki

[priforprince]

Kkkkhhh.....

[ Hibiki's eyebrows are twitching out of control. She reaches for the dial again, but her fingers are all twitchy, too. They're curved and stiff, but she can't make her hand close. ]

2/hibiki

[priforprince]

[ Her vision begins to swim. Hibiki's entire universe, both outside and within her head, is nothing but looming silhouettes of chanting minions and strangers. ]

Kkkkkhhhhhhkkkkghgkkkhhh.....

[ Her chin tucks in. Beads of sweat form on her forehead. ]

3/hibiki

[priforprince]

ENOUGH, ALREADY!!!!!

[ Hibiki whirls around, throwing an arm out to the side. She's shedding vein-throbbing emotes from her head like someone's making popcorn on the stove and forgot a lid. ]

I CAN'T TAKE THIS!!! ALL OF YOU, GIVE IT A REST!!!!!!!!!!!

hibiki/hibiki

[priforprince]

[ Meanwhile, a gacha container clatters into the slot behind Hibiki.

She'd bumped the dial when she'd turned and gestured. ]

[badassfreakingoverlord]

[The entire crowd goes silent.]

[DEAD silent, like someone had smashed the speakers and left the sound output trapped in digital limbo, straining to get out a wire that no longer had an out to go to.]

[First to recover, the patchwork penguin creature steps away from its chalkboad, pointing a flipper at Hibiki in chastising accusation.]

It's not all about you, dood.

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki's jaw drops. Her eyes white out. ]

"Dood"....

[ The gacha capsule falls out of the machine and breaks open.

Oh, hey. She got another Blue-Star Cat. ]

[badassfreakingoverlord]

[The silence lasts for another second -- and then the crowd explodes. Primarily the demon minions, two of whom leap into the air in panoplies of joy, several of which had collapsed to the ground in despair and agony, and one of who was off in the corner muttering, "I was saying 'Too-urn'." The Prinny nearly vanishes beneath a swirl of bettors trying to claim their winnings, while Zetta, alone in midair, heaves a weary sigh.]

Are we done yet?

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki is still standing in front of the gacha machine, unfortunately, but she also isn't using it (or claiming her cat). Instead, she's faced away from Zetta, curled up in as much of a ball as someone can be while standing, with her hands clapped over her ears and her face shadowed out.

She is audibly shivering. Like. Making little pained chattery noises. ]

[badassfreakingoverlord]

[Zetta blinks.]

[Then blinks again.]

Uh, okay. I'm counting this as a win.

EVERYONE LEVEL UP!

[Hey, he isn't sure how he won this one, but experience is experience, and the minion army lets out a cheer as they pump their fists skyward almost in unison. Except for the Prinny, which just says, "Dood!" and does a graceful little turn on one peg-leg. Does it count as a sentence-ender if it's the only word in the sentence?]

[priforprince]

Hrrgg!

[ That's a yes from the princenut gallery. ]

[badassfreakingoverlord]

[Well. With Hibiki defeated (?), the battle won (?), the bets paid out (no '?' here, that actually objectively happened), Zetta attempts to shrug, wobbles in midair because he doesn't have shoulders or anything, then at last implements his plan.]

Seize the machine!

[The minions immediately shed all semblance of individual personality, as two of them advance forward in lockstep to grab the vending machine, then heft it into the air over their heads.]

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki does absolutely nothing about this. She was just drowned in a bunch of people chanting all around her and then pushed to the bottom of the ocean of despair by a well-placed sentence ender.

The army may have to break ranks to move around her, but she is also currently portable. (And both the cat she pulled and her previous bag of spoils are unattended.) ]

[badassfreakingoverlord]

[The Netherworlds have, if not so much rules, at least a vastly unwritten code of conduct regarding defeated foes. Which leaves Zetta frowning down on her with a look of confusion.]

Uh, are we plundering her? Is she on the loot table?

[The Prinny rubs a flipper over where it ought to, but doesn't, have a chin.]

Are we sure this is a her? This looks like a prince, dood.

[priforprince]

Hrrrnnn!!

[ Her heart rate is increasing. Hibiki's cold sweat worsens. She...she....

Flinching away from the Prinny, she whimpers. ]

[badassfreakingoverlord]

[Hmm. Well, he is, uh, definitely winning this post-battle confrontation somehow.]

Okaaaaay... [The book straightens up, clears its throat (?), then casts a baleful blank-eyed stare down on Hibiki.]

Having defeated you in... uh, having defeated you, I hereby subjugate you as my vassal and servant!

1/2

[priforprince]

D--

[ The book is coming. The book is coming, and at any moment, it might set its servants on her. Its servants, which... ]

2/2

[priforprince]

DON'T COME!!

[ Recovering enough to let her fight or flight instinct kick in, Hibiki springs back upright and extends an arm. A glittering purple thread shoots out of it, attaching to the nearest lightpost.

Hibiki then swings off down the street as fast as she can. The bag of cats, forgotten, lies abandoned. This place isn't safe.

She has to escape!!! ]

[badassfreakingoverlord]

[Zetta stares in silence at the retreating form. In fact, the entire little crowd is in silence for a long moment.]

Uh.

You all saw that, right?

[To which the minion horde, in perfect sync, shrugs.]

[Oh well! Back to the looting and plundering! Including one cat bag that's coming with the Overlord back to the Dread Shrine of Angra Mainyu. Hyaaaha ha ha ha!]

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki, meanwhile, is probably halfway to her temple by now.

She doesn't need those cats, anyway. They have sentence ender cooties on them. She will think of something else!!! ]

[badassfreakingoverlord]

[Zetta makes a mental note that he has a wayward minion he needs to bring into line, which he then promptly forgets. It'll probably come up again someday. Maybe.]