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

[nopixiedust]

[With the dramatic heave, Wendy surges out from the water, her fingers digging tightly into Hibiki's. From her buns, slips of paper are stuck.]

There's too much paper!

[She tries to kick her feet deep within everything, but there's just the sound of paper rustling.]

[priforprince]

Ghh..

[ Hibiki pulls Wendy tight against herself with one hand. The other she extends over herself.

And a sparkling purple rope shoots out of her sleeve and affixes itself to the ceiling.

The rope retracts enough to pull Hibiki and Wendy up out of harm's way. Hibiki looks around, now, for the best place to swing them to safety... ]

[nopixiedust]

[Not only is Wendy now long used to Hibiki's antics, but she's more focused on just clinging as they rise out from the tide of paper.]

I thought I'd be trapped there for hours! [Especially if Hibiki had gotten distracted by a mirror again.]

[priforprince]

It's a truly overwhelming prayer. [ Hibiki looks a bit grim about that. But perhaps that's because she is still being heroic.

She swings them through a branching hallway, away from the paper, and prepares to set Wendy down. ]

[nopixiedust]

Tell me about it. [Times like this, Wendy is more than fine with letting Hibiki play the hero all she wants. She just clings, and only eases up when there's solid ground beneath her feet. That's when she looks up.]

What's the deal with this prayer anyway?

[priforprince]

Its alternative must not come to pass.

[ Of that, Hibiki is grimly certain. ]

[nopixiedust]

...Hibiki, that doesn't tell me anything.

[priforprince]

[ Wendy's interested. And concerned. Both good signs. All right. ] You're helping me train. It's an emergency.

[ Some of the spare prayers have spilled into the hall as Hibiki starts going through connecting doors to get back to where she was. All of them were written by, um.

Nyasterminds. ]

[nopixiedust]

Train?

[Picking up speed, a process which mostly involves bounces and skip, Wendy squints up at her god. Hibiki never trains. Training is for poor people who aren't Hibiki.]

Training for what?

[priforprince]

Focus and sensitivity.

[ This is one of the rooms with sliding doors. Hibiki strides on in.

There is a large coffee table in this room, as well as the obligatory couch. The coffee table is covered in teacups.

Intact, upside-down teacups.

Hibiki hands Wendy a box. ] Cover these, and mix them up.

[ The box is full of one (1) small Hibiki doll and many (many) tiny goat figurines. ]

[nopixiedust]

[...What the hell has she wandered into]

[Wend is so busy blinking in confusion at the presence of so many teacups being used for something other than being broken or drunk out of that she accepts the box without really looking at it. At least, not until she's finished wandering over and finished her inspection. And when she does...]

[...Alright, she has to ask.]

Why goats...?

[priforprince]

Will that be a problem?

[ She sounds concerned. And she is.

If Wendy has some sort of goat aversion, then the help will not get along once her grand dream is realized and this world unites with PriPara. That would be unpleasant. ]

[nopixiedust]

No, I just wasn't expecting it...

[Still, well, if that's what they're using... Careful not to drop any of the teacups lest she upset the resident poltergeist, Wendy begins to set up... whatever the heck this even is.]

[priforprince]

[ It's training. Does it not resemble that?

Hibiki, for her part, sits down in the middle of the couch closest to the table where Wendy's working. She slings an arm across the top, crosses her legs, and averts her gaze. If she follows Wendy's movements, she defeats the purpose. ]

[nopixiedust]

[It takes a little while.... but, finally, Wendy leans back with all of the cups flipped and all of the figures hidden.]

Okay, there!

[priforprince]

Splendid.

[ English.

Hibiki turns her attention to the table, leaning forward. She puts a hand to her chin and stares at the cups. Oh, how she stares at those cups. Would-be telekinetics only have half of the focus Shikyoin Hibiki possesses. ]

[nopixiedust]

[Would-be telekinetics would also probably be done by now, but Wendy isn't going to complain (out loud). Instead, she just leans back and watches herself, wondering what this has to do with the masses of paper that are infesting the halls.]

1/2

[priforprince]

[ Just when it seems Wendy might have permanently acquired a brilliant piece of statuary for the castle, Hibiki moves. Still looking completely serious, she reaches for a teacup and lifts it. ]

2/2

[priforprince]

[ The Hibiki doll beneath the teacup smiles up at both of them.

A trumpet fanfare sounds out of absolutely nowhere.

Hibiki smirks. ]

Hm.

[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?

[priforprince]

Granting prayers.

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

Reset them.

[nopixiedust]

Okay....

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

Is it a teacup prayer or something?

[priforprince]

They desire something from a game of chance.

[ It takes Hibiki less time to pluck a teacup up, this go-around. There's the Hibiki doll!

There's the fanfare... ]

[nopixiedust]

[Will the fanfare ever stop....? Well, round and round they go again....]

Game of chance...? Wait, is this about those weird dolls?

[priforprince]

The Crazy Cat keychains.

[ Hibiki is from a kiddie game tie-in. She is sensitive to brand names.

This doesn't keep her from looking rather worn at the thought. ]

Neglecting to receive one will leave my followers using sentence enders.