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

[futhark]

"I wasn't actively looking- I just one day walked past a shop and saw it on the display. The rest was pure instinct." The shirt spoke to him. 'Buy me.'

Right, it wasn't that silly, but making it sound like this sounds like a good idea.

"I also had to get something that won't be easily mistaken by my shinki as theirs" Archer liked dark clothes by default, Lancer- he mostly ran in his "fossilized" get-up too, but he did seem to favor darker shades of green too.

[sing_for_me]

Cú, no. Now she’s not sure she can trust your instincts.

“...Yeah, I..can’t imagine Archer—“ or anyone else “ with that so..”

Maybe it was best to change topics.

“Um.. So what were you doing out here?”

[futhark]

His instincts are truly skewed, or non-existent when related to fashion sense.

"Running some errands, had a meeting with Yona scheduled- that kind of things, but this--" he draws an arch with his hand encompassing the crowded and crazy crossing crisis happening.

"Kind of threw a wrench into my plans"

[sing_for_me]

“Oh— um, do you need help with those errands?” She didn’t want to take up his time if he was so busy, but she can at least help him out.

[futhark]

"I'm not going to say "no" to you, Alex."

Good company makes almost any work bearable.

"Right now we probably should look into what is going on here..." That's a gods job to do, right? "Some of my followers seems to be affected- given that I got like three wishes including robbing, stealing and hacking those cat machines"

[sing_for_me]

Alex brightened at that. She’s glad to have an opportunity to pay him back

“Ah, I’ve gotten a few of those too..I know people can get really into stuff, but this seems extreme for a keychain..” it was rather concerning. “Do you think there’s something else about it?”

[futhark]

And prolonged extremes are suspicious by nature. Caster rubs his chin thoughtfully as he observes the growing pandemonium with probably too much calm curiosity

"They're expending a lot of energy on doing everything to get those things. Hmm the driving force here must be-- yeah, it's easiest to appeal to desire" One of the most basic senses, it's not even a need- it's a drive to fulfill the need itself.

"As a druid, I'd probably have to reach the conclusion they're under some sort of a curse." Air quotes the druid part though. "But then I might be just underestimating the true power of a fad"

He throws his arms in a shrug.

[sing_for_me]

“Is there a source then? Or would we need fo collect all of them..?”

Both have their own challenges, but collecting them all sounded rather tedious.

[futhark]

Caster points at the spot where the crowd is densest-- "Yeah, that's the source, the machines give them out"

Since they're from the Far Shore they shouldn't have much trouble just cutting in the line, right? He tested it already, no one complains!

"Targeting the kid who already got them would be probably faster but--" It's not a life or death situation, and intimidating a kid - or obsessive adult - into giving up the toy sounds...eh. Kind of low. He'd rather avoid it, and his expression makes it obvious. "Let's just get some the normal way, I got some spare change."

[sing_for_me]

Even if they could cut in line, wouldn’t the people still notice if they took too long? “..Alright, let’s try that first. I’ve got some change too.”

Alex hadn’t tried something like this before, so she’s not sure of how lucky she’d be. Guess this was the time to find out.

She starts heading to the thick crowd Caster had gestured to. It was both a blessing and a curse to not be noticed by people. While slipping through was easier, they also got bumped into a lot more.

[futhark]

And they got there right on time too, as some broke desperate collector just left the machine of doom. He had a face of someone determined to return here as soon as he gets the money - or robs someone of them, who knows!

"Good timing." Caster extends his hand to block another person in the queue and leaving space between himself and Alex for her to sneak there. He glances the machine - it lists all the possible keychains available, each cuter than the next one, but it seems you can't choose which you get.

"Huh, so it's a random draw..." Get a capsule, find a cat. "You try this, Alex." His luck is horrible.

[sing_for_me]

Me..?!

[What if she had shitty luck?!

This wasn’t the time to whine about that though. Cu was already holding up the line for them. She slips in a few coins then twists the dial. There’s a click noise as a container drops into the slot. Alex twists and pops open the capsule, revealing a cute but rather plain cat.]

Ah..this isn’t it, is it?

[futhark]

[ Then they can bond over being unlucky together - so that's still a good thing... sort of. ]

No one is trying to crush us yet, so probably not.

[ He takes few coins from his pocket - pants with pockets are the great invention truly - and offers it to her as a tribute ]

I was expecting it won't show up on the first try.

[sing_for_me]

[That wouldn't actually happen, would it?]

Maybe yours might have more luck.

[Not that she really believes that, but who knows. She puts the coins in and turns the dial again. Opening their second capsule, does get a different cat with a top hat this time, but it was of the medium rare variety. ]

...It's kinda cute.

[But not the one they were looking for.]

Maybe you should give it a go? Third time's the charm, right?

[She holds out some coins to him this time.]

[futhark]

[ He clicks his tongue and rolls his eyes. This isn't going to work, there is no way it's going to- but sure, he can't say no when she's asking. ]

I'm breaking your streak, so it's not really third- it's my first try.

[ There goes inserting the coins, capsule dropping and- huh, that's what people consider exciting here? He weights the capsule in his palm before putting it into Alex's hands ]

You open it, maybe it will keep your streak. [ So third is a charm ]

[sing_for_me]

[Did he really just roll his eyes? Though it was funny how much superstition they were putting into a tiny capsule for a keychain.

She'll take it and open it up. Alex stares at it for a moment and holds it up for Cu to see.]

Is this the one?

[There's a gasp behind Cu, and more start to join in.]

[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!

[sing_for_me]

[Alex jerks forward, but not so hard thanks to Cú.]

Eh? What about you..?!

[futhark]

I'll hold them off until you get out of here.

[ If she's holding the charm, they're going to run after her anyway, so the "supernatural Servant strength" could be useful for once ]

They might not see you, but they definitely see the charm!

[sing_for_me]

[She hesitated, but he could only hold out for so long. Nodding, she dashes out form under him, running---well, to anywhere but there. It takes a moment but some notice, while others she pass by get a glimpse of the charm and start going after her. Alex tries to lose them by taking a few turns, but the mob never really goes away. Was there some kind of gps on this thing!?

Hopefully Cú hadn't gotten trampled.]

[futhark]

[ The pressure died down the moment when charm disappeared from the sight of hungry shar-- crowd. Sadly some of the people were perceptive enough of the supernatural to register Alex running away and went into a chase. ]

Oops, gotta catch up...

[ He leaves the gacha machine and follows roughly in the direction where Alex went but- did she turn right here or left or- Then he catches glimpse of her running through the adjacent street. He picks up his pace, so he can try and outrun and jumps into first alley connecting those streets again - set on intercepting her as she pass by- ]

Here-! [ Have a helping hand literally sticking out from the side alley ]