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

[kokuyoyo]

She.... won't work with him.

[Marital dispute, you know.]

I just want to make sure she doesn't get hurt.... and make Ken upset. [Totally just about his dog.] Two shinki can at least corner an ayakashi, after all....

[revolutionfalcon]

Can't blame her. [Shun has never liked Hakkai himself, so he's not going to question anyone else's inability to work with him.] I haven't seen her today, so if you're looking for her to help her, I can't lead you.

[She might be in an entirely different part of the Heavens, considering how big the whole place is, and the fact that the cats don't seem to be restricted to any one place.]

[kokuyoyo]

Typical.... Things can never be easy.

[And if only she would answer her phone easier... but maybe she doesn't want Hakkai to contact her, although Chikusa doubts it would happen.]

...You're going to keep hunting these things down?

[revolutionfalcon]

For as long as I can. Kotori won't be able to handle extended combat, so I'd need to get hold of one of my other shinki. [He did see Fubuki earlier, but then, Fubuki was in a terrible mood and extended combat probably wouldn't be a great idea for him either. Which really just leaves Chinatsu, considering Reisi is too overkill for something like this.]

[kokuyoyo]

....If you see her, you have my number...

[There's no point in calling Ken's, after all.]

I'll be around slowing them down.... since it's not as if I can do much else...

[revolutionfalcon]

You could find one of your gods. [Since he and Ken apparently have two. It seems like that should be one of the advantages of being a permanent nora.]

I'll keep an eye out, anyway.

[kokuyoyo]

....That'd be troublesome.

[Because Hakkai is an idiot, and because he still feels strange about Roy. Well, he guesses if it really comes to that...]

There's nothing I can't bypass on my own anyway....

[revolutionfalcon]

Bypassing it isn't going to be much use to anyone else. [Though he wouldn't be surprised if Chikusa was mostly just willing to lay down the effort it took to get himself through this safely.]

But I suppose I can't blame you for not wanting to deal with the one of your gods I know. [Guess who still doesn't like Hakkai.]

[kokuyoyo]

I don't care about that.

[And no one was surprised.]

Hakkai has never used me anyway... [Glancing up, he keeps track of where Mukurou is and if the owl is reacting.] ...and he's useless right now.

[revolutionfalcon]

[Nobody was surprised indeed. Shun just raises a brow at him for that answer, with a rather unimpressed look.]

Define "useless". Fighting is usually the one thing he can actually be relied on for, even if he's still infuriating. [Considering he's apparently still around, Shun would have figured he'd be back into it at first opportunity.]

[kokuyoyo]

To start with.... He doesn't remember much about this place.

[So, you know, he fucking died like an asshole. Chikusa doesn't outright state that, however.]

[revolutionfalcon]

[Shun's heard that one before, and he pauses slightly before his expression just becomes very, very dry. There's only one reason he knows for people here suddenly forgetting most of their time here.]

So the guy who considered me stupidly reckless when we first met went out and got himself killed by what I assume was being stupidly reckless.

[On one hand, sweet karma, on the other, this is going to upset the hell out of Ren if he finds out.]

[kokuyoyo]

Who knows.

[Chikusa makes even less effort for his shrug than he usually does. Hakkai only deserves so much right now.]

He can't remember, and he didn't take any of his shinki.

[He has four, including Asshole. There's really no excuse.]

[revolutionfalcon]

So, stupidly reckless. [Thanks for that confirmation, Chikusa, because Shun already suspected it was going to be something along those lines. At least Shun is usually around long enough for one of his shinki to pester him into coming along on things like that.]

How many does he have by now? I know you and your friend are both nora for him, and that woman makes at least three. Which just makes going without any even less reasonable.

[kokuyoyo]

[There's a pause as Chikusa glances over Shun again, trying to figure out where he heard it from... but then, Ken did advertise their nora status during that fair, at one point. It's not as much of a secret as he would like. Well, whatever. As long as no one knows the names themselves.]

...A soulless as well. Four.

[revolutionfalcon]

So that's even less of an excuse. It's not as if a soulless would've commented on what he was doing, either. [Which is one of the reasons Shun didn't like having a soulless for the time he had one, but that problem's long been resolved for him.]

I shouldn't be surprised, but I'll kick him if I see him.

[kokuyoyo]

He's already been evicted.

...and assault.

...There's a line.

[revolutionfalcon]

Good. He deserves it. He upset plenty of people outside his temple as well. [Shun has one person in mind particularly who he wants to kick Hakkai for upsetting, but he's not surprised there's a line.]

[kokuyoyo]

He probably knows.

[Or at least Ayumu was one hell of a warning. Still, with that settled, Chikusa begins to shuffle off.]

Like I said... tell me if you see her.

[revolutionfalcon]

He can be reminded. [Shun will be happy to remind him as many times as necessary, in fact. "Remind" in this case meaning something pointedly violent.]

I'll keep an eye out.