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

[junkyarddog]

[Ken looks down at the cat in his hand, then up at Hibiki. Then, back at the cat.]

I found it.

[priforprince]

I'll reimburse you. In cash, or credit, or an afterlife's supply of gum.

[ She holds out a hand imperiously. ] Now.

[junkyarddog]

[Ken's hand closes around it, stubbornly.] It's a gift, so that stuff won't work.

[It may be of mild surprise to Hibiki that Ken would get something to give to someone else.]

[priforprince]

I'll provide a superior gift!

[ HAH ]

[junkyarddog]

Like what? You don't even know who I'm gonna give 'em to. [Ken looks skeptical at best.]

What do you need it so bad for?

[priforprince]

I'm a god! A god who always exceeds their followers' desires!!

[ She brandishes her hand in Ken's direction again. SHE'S PULLING RANK ON YOU, SHINKI. ]

If this isn't for a prayer, you should surrender it!

[ someone

prayed to hibiki for a derpy little cat keychain ]

[junkyarddog]

[Ken studies her for another moment, as if sizing up his options. He kind of likes Hibiki, but he also can be very picky about who he takes orders from - and whether or not they're a god doesn't factor into his decision-making on that front.

Besides, she's disrespected gum. Hibiki is hardly a trustworthy voice of authority.]

Find another one, byon.

[He actually throws some deliberate cheek into the word. And smirks.]

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki's entire body twitches. She....can't say that was wholly unexpected. But it was not pleasant. ]

Do you even care for cats?!

[ If it were a dog keychain, such stubbornness would be better-understood by someone who hasn't seen all of Ken's channels. ]

[junkyarddog]

I already said they're gifts for other people! [Ken huffs. And then adds, almost as an afterthought - ] Byon.

[These are definitely weaponized sentence enders.]

[priforprince]

[ The shiver starts at Hibiki's toes and goes up to her head. Her hair fluffs. Her one stray curl sticks out for a moment.

Then she's standing stock-still, shoulders hunched, and glowering.

You.... ]

[junkyarddog]

Go find other ones, they're everywhere. [Except the Blue Star Cats may not be. But honestly, Ken has been paying zero attention to the designs beyond picking up a bunch of different ones; how common or rare those designs are hasn't really been something he's noted.]

[priforprince]

The person you'll give it to prefers shovels.

[ This is a last-ditch attempt. That "byon" has her teetering. Another blow will do her in.

But she only knows one person this mutt associates with, and she once gave him a gift. ]

[junkyarddog]

...huh? [Ken looks baffled.] Who do I know that likes shovels...?

[Chikusa's never shown any particular interest in digging implements around him...nor has anyone else he knows, for that matter. Is Hibiki just being weird again...?

Hibiki's probably just being weird again. He defiantly tucks the cat charm into his pocket and sticks his tongue out at her.]

[priforprince]

The gentleman with the hats.

[ She refuses to say "beanie". Her face scrunches up of its own accord when she gets a tongue stuck out at her, too. ]

[junkyarddog]

Chikusa? [Ken snorts.] He's no gentleman, byon.

[It's hard to tell if this was a strategic sentence ender to get rid of Hibiki, or if it was just natural usage that slipped past him.

Either way, the thought of Chikusa being a gentleman is hysterical.]

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki tips over and falls into a nearby wall.

Ken will, therefore, have some more time to laugh. ]

[junkyarddog]

[Ken does snort with amusement, but he's beginning to become accustomed to Hibiki's dramatic reactions. So he wastes less time on that, and more time on picking up more charms until he's satisfied. Then he trots off.

If Hibiki stays down for long enough, though, he'll eventually return with another Blue-Star Cat that he found elsewhere - on the ground? Stolen, possibly from one of Hibiki's own followers? Who knows, and best not to ask. But this he drops, unceremoniously, on Hibiki's prone form before he lopes off again.

Ken may not be much for compromise, but he's not entirely without a sort of grudging affection for Hibiki, either. So he kept an eye out after he left her. If this means Hibiki wakes up from her sentence ender-induced coma and believes she won the exchange, so be it.]

[priforprince]

[ When the uneasy aura of sentence enders (and corresponding stench) has left for good, Hibiki does blink and pick up the extra Blue-Star Cat. She turns it around in her hand, as if looking for a catch, some ulterior motive he might have had in delivering this to her. Did he really just....?

She smirks. Well. Yes, indeed, Shikyoin Hibiki has once again triumphed.

The cat is in her pocket and the smirk is still on her face as she makes her way out to see how many more of these remain available. The world would never dare deprive her of anything she wanted, after all. ]