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

[mithrarin]

[Oh. Right. Borderlines are a thing. Somehow in the first moments of a crisis, he always forgets that and turns to his own abilities...]

[The charms drop to the floor as Dust lands, his force enough to make the truck rock slightly on its damaged suspension.]

Can you hold that till whatever support gets here to handle that? I can help if you need it.

[artificialrose]

Oh, I believe I can. In the end, it's just regular people and not something worse like ayakashi... right?

[Smiling a little, he leans against the inner wall of the truck and slides down to the ground. If they're going to be here a while, there's no point in wasting energy by standing up, after all.]

Do you think they'll eventually go away, or will it take police?

[mithrarin]

I don't know. Crowds like this, all yelling and fighting over just... stuff... is beyond me.

[People who have the freedom to spend all their energy on such trivial things, because they have no greater worries... Maybe that's a good thing. But it seems like a waste of energy that could be put to better use.]

[artificialrose]

Even if it's just stuff, it can have a lot of meaning regardless.... Although I wouldn't have thought these would be the ones to kick those kind of feelings off.

[They're just keychains... Was there even any build up to his? Yeesh.]

Either way, I just hope no one gets hurt over this kind of thing.

[mithrarin]

The way people are behaving, I think it's too late for that. If they could see us... [They'd probably have attacked by now, honestly.]

[artificialrose]

I'm scared just thinking about it....

[It's a good thing they're invisible, so.... Oh! He suddenly perks up, and points to Dust.]

Do you think we could smuggle all these out from the truck since they can't see us? Then, when they realize the truck is empty, they'll leave!

[mithrarin]

Hmm. It's definitely an idea. But I don't think they'll leave, so much as tear the truck apart looking for the charms...

[That mob looks out for blood, honestly. Blood and cat charms.]

[artificialrose]

Ah.... Good point.

[Sighing, he lowers his hand and his shoulders sink.]

so waiting out is the best we can really do, huh?

[mithrarin]

It's all I can think of. That definitely doesn't mean it's the best. [Dust shakes his head, amused.] If it was an ayakashi, no problem.

[artificialrose]

Ha... If it was an ayakashi, then we'd at least need one of our gods around to help us. That could be a problem all its own.

[mithrarin]

To Rend it, yeah. But a lot of them will run away if you just hurt them badly enough.

[As grim as it is to basically torture an ayakashi till it decides to flee, that choice is better than allowing it to hurt others.]

[artificialrose]

Is that something you've managed to do a lot, then? I've been lucky enough to not get stuck in too many fights, but...

[Always good to get more knowledge while he can.]

[mithrarin]

I consider myself lucky if I manage to find ayakashi to fight, so... different outlook, there. [Dust glances away, a bit awkwardly.]

[artificialrose]

[That has him chuckle.]

Then the next time I run into ayakashi trouble, should I just call you?

[mithrarin]

I'll never hesitate to help out, if I'm needed. Ayakashi especially.

[That's a more diplomatic answer than, "Yes, please, I'm actually a little worried by how much I enjoy fighting ayakashi..."]

[artificialrose]

Then I'll be sure to call you. Oh, but I should probably give you my number, too...

[As he digs his phone out from his pocket, he perks up at the sound of sirens getting closer.]

Seems like the police are here, huh?

[mithrarin]

That's fast. I guess a big accident gets a lot of attention. [Dust frowns even as he pulls his own phone out. Is this going to solve everything...?]

[artificialrose]

Well, it is an overturned truck....

[Although something occurs to him as he gives his number, and Garry winces a little.]

Do you think they'll have brought enough people?

[mithrarin]

It's their job to know, right? I mean... they have to know what they're doing...

[Great, now Dust is worried too.]

[artificialrose]

When you'd been told about this, did you think there would be this many people?

[mithrarin]

No. But... I'm not used to this society or any of this. It isn't the sort of thing I would know. I'd hope the people actually in charge of this sort of thing know more than I do...

[artificialrose]

....Ah. Fair enough. But there's only one way to find out, I suppose.

[Would it be ironic if he were to start praying or...]

[mithrarin]

[There's only one shinki here to answer those prayers.]

That means we'd better be ready for anything.

[artificialrose]

[There has to be a god... somewhere...]

Do you think one of us should head out to get a better look at things..? So long as it doesn't have to do with these keychains, I think they'll keep ignoring us.

[mithrarin]

Hmm. If you want to do that, the easiest way is if I create a line behind you. Then you can drop yours and look out, then put it back up once you duck back in.