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

[yoshinocherry]

[Oh, whoa!]

Did you do that?

[Amazing!]

I've been trying to chase it down, yeah! [With that, she lightly punches into the palm of her own hand, as if to sort of show off the pair of white gauntlets she's sporting.] Kaki and I can take care if it from here...!

[nibelungvalesti]

[The Valkyrie considers the question self-answering, and so does not answer it herself.]

I shall not interfere if you do not wish it, but if you desire aid in weakening it... [This is where a person not the Valkyrie would shrug slightly, to indicate the option is there or not. The Valkyrie does no such thing, merely regards the girl.]

[yoshinocherry]

[When it comes to taking down a threat, there's really no point in waiting and showing off. She can't deny that she's a little curious still, however, because that was a pretty cool bit of work there!]

If you can, it'd be quicker to take it down together, right?

[nibelungvalesti]

That is correct.

[Even as the ice begins to tremble, the Valkyrie rises slightly into the air. Energy streams from her back as she spreads her arms, then, as she draws her hands in across her body, pours out in a faintly hexagonal framework as she focuses it.]

To my side, my noble Einherjar.

[She brings her arms down, throws her head back, and her wings burst into glorious being. Pure blue-white and shining, so that they seem to be neither quite radiance nor quite feathers, they spread behind her, then flap once, powerfully, flickering out a shower of sparks their same color.]

[Even as the wings fade, and the Valkyrie descends, the sparks touch the ground, and where they do, human figures coalesce out of divine energy. Her Einherjar, wielding lance and sword and bow. The Valkyrie's own weapon appears out of nothing as well, as two shields fade into view, one floating before her, the other behind.]

[The ayakashi breaks free -- just in time to face down this assemblage of power.]

Strike with us. We shall finish this in short order.

[yoshinocherry]

[As much as she knows this isn't really the time to be admiring the abilities of a fellow combatant, Yuna can't help but feel completely awed at the display of raw power and grace the Valkyrie displays. It's amazingly stunning, and unlike anything she's ever seen out of her fellow heroes. Definitely worthy of quite a bit of admiration, for certain.

She speaks again, and Yuna snaps back to attention, getting herself back into a fighting stance.]

Right!

[As she tightens her own focus, her fists begin to crackle and snap with firey energy, and once the ayakashi manages to free itself from its confines, shaking off the remnants of its icy prison, Yuna launches herself straight at the beast.]

[nibelungvalesti]

[The Valkyrie is strong -- but her Einjerhar are not. The men and women of the Near Shore know little of fighting, and while she has pushed them hard in their service to gain power, they are serviceable warriors rather than masterful ones.]

[Their true strength is in coordination.]

[Even as Yuna delivers a punch, the Valkyrie slides beneath her strikes, then lashes up with a rising arc of her sword that knocks the ayakashi off the ground. Surrounding it, her spearman and swordsman both strike it, while arrows flick over Yuna to impale it.]

[yoshinocherry]

[There's no way an attack of this caliber isn't going to knock the vitality right out of that ayakashi, leaving it more than weakened enough for Yuna to charge up a spell with her shinki, finishing off the great beast with a resounding,]

REND!

[It was fun while it lasted, kitty.]

[nibelungvalesti]

[Energy seems to practically explode off the Valkyrie in waves, as she slides back with her sword at the ready.]

It shall be engraved upo--

[The Rend spell lashes straight past her, impacting the ayakashi with lethal force, and the Valkyrie almost stumbles. Her finishing move gutters out like a snuffed candle, the energy around her fading, as she stares in shock at the dissipating wisps that had once been a dark spirit.]

...Well struck.

[yoshinocherry]

[It was, perhaps, a bit of an overkill move with the two of them using so much force against what is probably not a particularly powerful ayakashi...

But, you know, may as well be safe rather than sorry with matters like this. Yuna exhales as the beast fades out of existence, quickly checking out her gauntlets, assessing to see that they're undamaged and blight-free after that attack.]

Couldn't have done it without all that help! [Fighting with backup like this, it reminds her a lot of how battles against Vertices went in her own world... in a way, it's comforting.] You're super strong! That was all really incredible!

[nibelungvalesti]

[Invoking her strongest attack on this ayakashi absolutely would have been overkill. In fact, summoning her Einherjar to strike at the beast had itself been quite unnecessary. But the Valkyrie cares little for such restraint or equity. The enemies of the heavens are to be destroyed utterly and without quarter.]

[The Einherjar, her shields, and her weapon disappear into nothingness, a feat so unremarkable she does not even acknowledge it.] I am a goddess. Such strength is to be expected. Your own skill is more remarkable.

[yoshinocherry]

[Well, up here, aren't they all gods and goddesses...? Or, maybe she's saying that she's one of the more native members of heaven, rather than a displaced regular person like so many of the newbies here are.

Still, Yuna stands tall at the compliment, hands on her hips and smile in place.]

I'm a hero! It's my job to be strong enough to protect people.

[nibelungvalesti]

I see.

[A curious sentiment, that raises the question of what precisely she seeks in accomplishing the task. But such direct questions rarely end well, save when sharp words are needed...]

Even those who are themselves strong?

[yoshinocherry]

[Candidly,] If they need help, then of course. Even if I'm strong and work as hard as I can, there are times when what I can do by myself isn't enough, after all.

when people team up, they become tougher as a whole. [Here, she brings her hands together and links their fingers into a barrier, as if to illustrate her point.] If someone strong can't protect themselves, then even if I'm not as strong, the two of us are better together, you know? We support each other.

[nibelungvalesti]

That is true, but you are only one person. If your goal is to protect people, are you not better off aiding the weak than assisting the strong, should you need to make that choice?

[yoshinocherry]

In that case, if someone can protect them self, then I'd go to whoever needed my help more. It's just that being strong doesn't discount someone from benefiting from assistance, so I wouldn't hesitate to step in even if someone is capable, if I think I can make things easier for them.

[It's sound logic, right?]

[nibelungvalesti]

[The Valkyrie nods slightly.] You have thought out your standards better than many who simply adopt the creed of helping all they can, which is commendable.

[yoshinocherry]

[Her smile takes on a sheepish edge at the praise.]

It does still boil down to wanting to helping as much as possible, just figuring out where the help is best placed.

[nibelungvalesti]

[She offers a simple nod.] That desire is not a bad one, but its implementation can be if it is done incautiously. That is why I inquired.

[yoshinocherry]

[Yuna doesn't always see herself as a very cautious person, but she at least has a level enough head to try and be smart about her own efforts when they count the most. She can appreciate the concern, to some degree.]

Hm, well! You can always count on my help if you need it. My name's Yuna Yuki, or Shinju, if you prefer god titles.

[nibelungvalesti]

I am the Valkyrie, though here I am known as Osiris.

[Technically, both are god titles. But then, she is a god, and has forever been.]

[yoshinocherry]

The Valkyrie...?

[Oh, hang on, she's got this one!]

Like, with vikings, right? [That would certainly explain why she's so powerful...!] A friend of yours mentioned you to me when I first got here! It's nice to finally meet you.

[nibelungvalesti]

Vikings? [Being from her own world, she is not entirely up to speed on what the mythology called 'Norse' reflects of her own. Vikings were not a part of her Midgard.]

[But that isn't the strangest thing the girl has said.] A friend? [Who considered themselves her friend?]

[yoshinocherry]

Right, it was Garry! He said you're really great, and very reliable!

[Unless, you know, there's some other Valkyrie around that he may have been talking about. Who knows...!]

[nibelungvalesti]

And he considers me a friend?

[Considering she had been -- well, as typically blunt and straightforward with him as she was with most anyone, she cannot imagine why he would look at her with any fondness. She had been trying to help, but...]

[yoshinocherry]

Well, I mean, he seemed to have some nice things to say about you, so I sort of figured that was the case.

[It's a fair assumption to make, right?]