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]

[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?]

[nibelungvalesti]

I did attempt to aid him. But is that enough to make a friendship? [Really, she does not understand these things.]

[yoshinocherry]

I think so, especially if the two of you got along through it.

[Maybe it might have been a different case if the help was unwanted, or they bickered the whole time.]

[nibelungvalesti]

I am not certain... I was rather firm with him.

[As is perhaps easy to imagine from the icy, imperious Valkyrie.]

[yoshinocherry]

Well, there is a difference between being firm and being mean, isn't there? If it was necessary for the time, then he probably realized as much at some point.

[Not that she really knows, it just feels like a good of a guess as anything.]

Still, he didn't sound sour or anything when he was talking about you, so if I had to guess, he probably does think of you at least a little fondly.

[nibelungvalesti]

[The Valkyrie can't help but be most puzzled by this turn of events, though as with all she thinks or feels, only the barest hints show in her expression.]

I am glad he took the advice in the spirit it was offered. Still... how strange. I do not understand mortals.

[yoshinocherry]

[With that, her smile takes on a knowing sort of edge.]

I guess we just have to keep you on your toes, don't we? But, just to let you know upfront, I'm more than happy to be your friend, no questions about it.

[nibelungvalesti]

[Mortals are so strange.]

My position makes you feel no qualms? There are many who term me a death goddess.

[yoshinocherry]

[It's a job someone has to do, right? Yuna's expression takes a turn to something... between melancholy and understanding. It's kind of hard to place, exactly, and Yuna herself probably wouldn't be able to define the feeling exactly.]

Well, death is just something that comes with being alive, right? It's an important thing to be presiding over, so even if it's something that's pretty scary, it's not really something I can hold against you.

[nibelungvalesti]

You have a great deal of wisdom. [Not 'for one her age', but just in general. Many mortals never arrived at the sensible understanding she's expressed.] Besides, in truth I am a goddess of fate.

[yoshinocherry]

Really, it's just something I've had a lot of time to think about in particular.

[Surely that isn't a troubling thought or anything. Still, she's quick to carry on.]

Either way, something like that isn't going to change my mind!

[nibelungvalesti]

[That is a little troubling, yes.]

Then I shall do as best I am able to accept your friendship. Be well-advised that I am not particularly able by nature or purpose. [Just putting that out there....]

[yoshinocherry]

[Don't worry, she's well versed in befriending all types of people, even the Difficult to Befriend ones.]

As long as you do your best, then that'll be plenty, I think.

[nibelungvalesti]

[But what about ones that have had that part Literally Sealed Away? Because that's a problem here.]

You are very philosophical about this. I feel I should thank you.

[yoshinocherry]

[Maybe no one with a case that extreme, but that just means it's a new challenge to tackle...!]

I'm not sure if that's necessary, but either way, you're welcome.