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

for Lancer

[futhark]

The long day is almost over, or so he thought. It's clear that it was ayakashi behind today's mayhem in the Near Shore, and he did pocket few of those keychains for further investigation. Figuring it would probably be best to have his shinki with him, in case more ayakashi appeared. That's the biggest downside of being a God. They are kind of useless without their shinki, truly.

The moment he teleports to the grove around his temple is the moment something goes very, very wrong. Suddenly two large, cat-like ayakashi emerge from the keychains

Pros - no investigation needed, ayakashi are indeed the cause of the craze behind those items. Cons - rampaging ayakashi right in the middle of Heavens, no right in the middle of his temple grounds.

One flees, the other focuses its attacks on him immediately

"...!!" he rolls quickly to avoid the strike, his staff materializing from thin air, and an Ansuz rune written equally quickly to set the ayakashi ablaze. Which isn't going to do much, unless he has his shinki so--

Disengage level C is an official skill. Know when to pick your battles, and so on. He retreats towards his temple. With the corner of his eye, he notices Archer shooting forward to follow the stray ayakashi instead, and that almost pisses him off- You dumb show-off you're needed here-!

But yeah, he can guess it means that Lancer is around, so they can take care of the first beast.

"Lancer!" he calls his shinki when he's right outside the building. "Got a moment?!"

[irishfriskey]

Lancer was not nearby at the time. Indeed, he was in the middle of doing some chores when the ayakashi came up and began attacking. With very little in the way of full on proper weapons at his immediate disposal, he only began to clean up, and was ready to grab it to fight.

That was when he heard his name from his god, and quickly sprinted out to meet him. With a nod, "I do!"

It's gonna be a rough battle. But he's ready to fight with his lord for the first time!

[futhark]

Caster's face splits into a wide grin at that confirmation calls his vessel name- spear appearing in his hands, right on time to, turn around and strike the incoming ayakashi.

"Lancer, does this count as a hunt?" He asks with a flippant attitude, despite being attacked by a giant ayakashi "Or a duel? I can't tell."

Why not chat it up a bit during the exercise? Next attack he dodges instead, there was one more reason he wanted to gain a bit of distance. To draw a speed rune on the soles of his shoes. When your stats are shit - boost them up with what you got!

[irishfriskey]

"Depends on how strong they are." He laughs a bit in his form, feeling that Lancer is moving back and forth, preparing himself. Lancer just knows he's being held. And is ready to strike.

"Let's find out ourselves!"

[futhark]

The ayakashi has a size to its advantage- but that only makes it a bigger tagger. Well, not "only" it also gives it a bigger reach when it swings its clawed hands in an attack. But that's what spears are for.

Instead of blocking, Caster slashes at the incoming arm with full force and speed

"Well, it looks like a big cat so-" probably more of a hunt, he thinks when he lands on the other side. The landing doesn't give him a chance to rest because the wounded monster is enraged and attacking with much more ferocity. "-oops!"

Caster manages to dodge most of the hit, or so he planned, but another swing sends him up in the air, with a blighted burn where the strike connected.

[irishfriskey]

"Mister Caster!" He cries out, trying to help him dodge however possible. But being a spear and not a human, he can only do so much. He can't even really defend his master from getting hit and blighted. It makes him pained to watch this all go down.

But he can't leave his spear unless permitted. Which means, all he can do is watch.

"I'll watch the claws! Are you okay, Mister Caster?!" Get up, get up, get up. "There's another one!"

[futhark]

Caster barks a laughter as he manages to get enough control of his sudden flight to land on tree- not go straight through it, breaking the branches. Albeit the landing is a bit uneven as the particular branch seems to not be strong enough to support weight of a human adult.

"That's nothing, I've got it under control." At least he looks like he's having fun here- by rushing into danger and not taking it seriously. Blight is easily cleansed, right? What else is new.

"Another one huh? So we have to finish that one quickly. I'm counting on ya!" To watch the claws, as promised.

Caster jumps from the tree spinning the spear - his shinki - before pointing the blade straight downwards and aiming to pierce the ayakashi.

[irishfriskey]

It is making Lancer a bit worried, but now they're talking about Caster being in control again, he feels a bit more at ease. They can worry about the blight later, can't they?

Hopefully they can.

"Claw!" He calls out, as a claw comes up to try and strike against Caster. "Move to the right!"

Maybe this will be more helpful.

[futhark]

Thanks for a heads-up. It's a thought because he doesn't waste his breath right now, and instead gracefully dodges out of the way of the incoming claw.

'Right' was a very good idea, 'right' allowed him to slide right under the incoming arm and flank the ayakashi, skewering it right under where the ribcage should be. The rend is instantaneous, since the spear itself is shinki's vessel form.

Caster looks at incoming ayakashi when a crazy idea pops in his mind.

"Hope you're not afraid of flying, Lancer"

You can fight with a spear in melee. But they also make for a very good thrown projectiles

[irishfriskey]

"...Flying?"

Wait. He knows what this is. But instead of feeling nervous or worried... he gets really excited. With an unseen smirk, he agreed.

"Then you better aim correctly! Or you'll have to hunt me down."

And that would just cause more problems for the both of them.

[futhark]

"You bet I will!" That excitement only makes Caster respond with a louder laugh. Good to know that at times like these they're on absolutely the same wavelength.

Throwing a spear at the incoming enemy is even easier than at the one escaping. The timeframe isn't large if he wastes too much time the spear won't hit with enough force so- no waste on mulling over whether the plan is correct or not.

He puts all his strength - B-rank strength be damned - and agility into that one throw that should skewer the enemy.

If it's enough to kill the ayakashi, he'll just call Lancer back- if it's not, it's coming his way anyway, so a chance to retrieve his shinki back.

[irishfriskey]

Lancer prepares himself the best he can. He is in his spear form, after all. He lets Caster fire him, and he does what he can to make sure it's a straight shot.

Caster's aim was spot on, and Lancer's spear form was strong enough that they blast through the ayakashi, burning through it's body and causing the beast to crash down to the ground with a loud bang.

And Lancer was already through, landing away from the beast.

[futhark]

"Return, Diarmuid!"

Caster isn't the one to keep his shinki too long in vessel's form. Unless another ayakashi appears, he'd rather have his partner in human form. He approaches with hand raised for a high-five - what a nice gesture it is!

"How was the flight?"

[irishfriskey]

Lancer moves to raise his own hand, hitting him back for a highfive. Rather hard, but it doesn't come with ill intention.

"It was incredible! I could not believe how far I flew." It felt like he was going on forever. "I was a bit worried we weren't going to hit it, however."

[futhark]

Caster doesn't care much about the praise of his magic skills- ok, runes can be cool and all, but they suck when they're the only thing he can work with. But praise his spearmanship and he's going to beam with pride.

"Don't you worry! My spear never misses its target" Now follow that high-five with brofistbump.

[irishfriskey]

He follows along, because Caster did teach him this too. He grinned. "So, that's what you'll do again if we run into another ayakashi?"

Now he's excited. Maybe another one will come along right now.

[futhark]

"Could be, if it's the best course of action!" Throwing a spear is kind of situational, best done as the final strike. Because if it doesn't kill the enemy, then someone gets without a weapon.

"I think that's all of the guests in the forest, but if any tries something again..." They can handle it together again, right, partner?

[irishfriskey]

"I think it is." Then again, he might just like flying. Is that so bad? It's probably is pretty bad if he keeps wanting to fly and be thrown.

"We'll take care of it!" He knows they will. Because they're both super talented at what they do.