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

[hellskitchen]

Huh?

[ Rin didn't even consider the idea of Yukio summoning him. He's not his god, so that seems a bit improbable. Although he has heard of being Nora,a couple of times, he didn't think he'll be one.

He holds up his borderline as the cat ayakashi behind it tries to break his barrier.]

Not askin' you to. I'm just going to hold 'em off. Or maybe I can distract them until you can get that gun shooting bullets instead of those things.

[in_praetego]

[ That's actually a relief. No matter the situation, he didn't think he'd be ready enough to ever name Rin -- or find out how he died. He's not ready for that yet. ]

I appreciate the backup!

[ Kind of. Here's niisan saving him again even if he didn't want to be saved... but then he's always been saved by his big brother.

He dodges, reaching for another gachapon egg. ]

We'll try to round them up. If we can take them down in one strike, we should be able to get rid of them quick enough.

[hellskitchen]

Of course!

[Rin is happy to help. Maybe Yukio could have gotten out of this on his own, but Rin didn't want to leave that up to chance. He was right there, seeing everything happen before his eyes. He couldn't just abandon Yukio like that.

Rin's not much of a strategist, so he follows the bespectacled teen's instruction. Round them up? The shinki feels he can do that with his borderline. He starts to use the barrier to push the cat ayakashi back from the gates. A tight corner would be ideal to contain, but Rin doesn't know his way around Yukio's temple.]

This is your temple, right? Where's the best place to trap them?

[in_praetego]

Just out front past the gravestones. I want to get them all out in the courtyard so they're in a large open space.

[ Right now, they're too scattered. He wants to contain them just so he can salvage what he can from the temple. ]

We can take care of them as long as they're rounded up.

[hellskitchen]

[ Gravestones? Rin looks around spots the area that Yukio means. He starts ushering the first ayakashi towards that way. More like hitting them repeatedly, by pushing their borderline against them. Is the barrier supposed to be used like a sweeper? Oh well.

Once he gets the first one in place, he allows Yukio to cover him as he drops his borderline and goes after the next kitty.]

Here, kitty, kitty!

[in_praetego]

[ That's... certainly one way of doing it. He has to hand it to his brother though... he's definitely got an aptitude for combat. Maybe if he could harness his flames... No. No, it's better he never figures that bit out. He's already a formidable enough fighter.

But he can figure that out some other time. For now, he's got cats to take care of.

He's pausing to roll to the side, cracking open one of Takuma's gachapon eggs and loading it in. It takes a couple of shots but he's managed to rend one of the cats ]

Keep them distracted! We've got a couple more!

[hellskitchen]

[ As Yukio takes care of the first cat, Rin goes for the second one. The cat doesn't make it easy, attacking him head on! Though the shinki is able to dodge the cat's paws easy enough, using his agility and his ability to leap farther distances. Somehow, he's able to get behind the ayakashi and he erects his borderline. It knocks the creature back as it leaps up to pounce on Rin. Only to ricochet off an invisible wall.]

Coming your way, Yukio!

[He pushes the ayakashi back with his borderline,getting the cat by the gravestones, so that Yukio's in the position to rend this one too. He releases his borderline once he's sure that the god has everything under control. Rin goes off to fetch the last two.

Taking on both creatures at once is a bit of a challenge. Though he's able to goad them with name-calling and whacking their hinds with some fallen debris. Although, this is something to be taken seriously, Rin is having a bit too much fun taunting the cat ayakashi. Finally, he allows them to chase him back towards Yukio, so he can give the final blow!]

[in_praetego]

[ If they keep this up, they might actually be able to save his temple! Well... somewhat. At least Rin distracting the cats is proving to be effective. It gets them herded in one place and makes it easy enough to--

That's when he spots that cat. Instinct overrides reason and he calls out as warning ]

Niis--!

[ Thankfully he catches himself in time - and so does the borderline. There's an obvious droop in his shoulders in relief. But he can't slack off now. Those cats are right in firing distance. All it takes is two direct shots, square between the eyes. And they disappear into a cloud of dust.

Again he lets out another breath. His temple definitely needs some taking care of though but eh, details. He can file a repair request soon enough. ]

That... that should take care of that.

[ At the back of his mind, he can't help but think they make a pretty good team.

...

...Maybe someday. ]

[hellskitchen]

[ Now that Yukio takes out the finally pair of cats, Rin feels he can relax now. Though he couldn't help the grin that spreads across his face and he looks approvingly over at the bespectacled god.]

See? We did it!

[ Even if he couldn't rend the ayakashi for Yukio, he's glad he was able to assist him in herding them. They didn't make a bad team, but Rin knows he's limited in what he can do outside of not being him his shinki. Still it worked out, and his temple doesn't look too worse for wear.]

Guess it's not a good time to mention the butter.

[Rin certainly still has a one track mind.]

[in_praetego]

It was probably a blessing in disguise that you came around looking for butter in the first place.

[ He does manage a smile back. Gosh, his older brother's still pretty cool. He had to hand it to him. Taking care of these cats turned out much easier than he thought it would.

But there's a sigh at the mention of the butter. ]

I'm not sure if my kitchen's survived but tell you what... let's head to the store and get you some butter as my thanks for helping out. How does that sound?

[hellskitchen]

You're lucky I was in the mood for pancakes!

[Rin teases. Though even if he hadn't come along, Rin's sure that Yukio probably could've handled it on his own. All he did was jump around, and gather the cats. It's nothing compared to being able to rend them.]

I'd be an idiot to turn that off down. That works for me! And y'know what else goes with pancakes, right? Syrup!

[Which you should also buy for him, Yukio, since he definitely doesn't have that either. You're a god, so this is probably small change for you!]

Let's go shopping, Satan-sama!

[in_praetego]

[ Hey, someone to jump around and herd the cats is certainly something he needed at the moment. ]

Don't tell me you need that too... but you did manage to save my temple. Kind of.

[ There's a resigned shake of his head as he motions for Rin to follow. Sure, he'll get you some syrup, too. His bank account never seems to dip under 666,666 yen anyway. ]

Come on. I may as well pick up some other things while we're out there.