2026-02-04: Network
- Log: Network
- Cast: Gozaburou Gessou, Umie Akabane
- Where: Warehouse, Konan Ward, Sumaru City
- OOC Date: February 04, 2026
- IC Date: September 20, 2012
- Summary: Checking up on a Kuzunoha contact that was worried about a "TV man" coming to get him, Umie instead finds a corpse and a killer that leads her on a rapidly escalating chase through a deadly maze of TV-inspired obstacles, generated by his Mark's powers. She can put up a good chase, but what happens when she realizes she was the prey all along?
<Pose Tracker> Gozaburou Gessou has posed.
At a warehouse in the Konan ward. Thats where Miki said to meet him. The informant seemed very worried about something and pleaded with Umie to get him safe. That the "TV man" was coming for him.
Upon entering the warehouse, it is shockingly quiet save for the usual atmospheric noises (building settling, scurrying rodents, mysterious metal sounds). The main room of the warehouse is stacked with various boxes from some forgotten business venture. Several boxes are broken and looted but if one really looks, they might find whatever these boxes contain...but that might be for later. In the center of the room, a figure sits oddly...unmoving.
If Umie approaches, it is very clear that Miki is dead. The man looks disheveled and like he died of fright despite some scratches and bizarre wounds. Like he was attacked by a large animal that scared him to death.
However, there isn't a lot of time to investigate as a voice cuts through the silence. "Well, well..." A figure says from the shadows, his grin about the only thing one can make out from their dark corner. He is -not- a tall man and is dressed in a Tuxedo.
"Umie Akabane...exactly who I was hoping would show." The man extends an arm, pulling up the sleeve to reveal a certain mark. The man then touches the mark and there is a sudden pulse of awfulness. Just everything just felt wrong. There were distant whispers but whatever they were saying could not be good. Also the color pallete of reality seems....more stylized and vivid.
The figure smiles, opening a door and stepping through. Somehow he hides his face as he steps through and is gone.
The sense of wrongness seems to grow and fester, as if chasing all toward the door the figure just left through...
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
>> Securing our contact. Wish me luck.
Text to Tamaki sent, Umie quietly snaps her phone closed and pockets it, adjusting the hood of her black hoodie over her yellow baseball cap. The oversized hoodie is slightly different from her usual wear, being a thift store special that says 'CHAMPIONS LEAGUE' in big white block letters. Black gloves and leggings complete the 'disguise', the only concession made being the sneakers Shiryuu bought once for her, havving become a sort of 'lucky talisman' in her mind.
This time, there is no mask; Miki wouldn't take her seriously if he saw her wearing one of of her DIY ones, and if a supernatural zone sprung up, it may complicate his ability to trust her if he can't discern who she even is. Besides, it's not like Sudou, if he came, would suddenly not know who she is.
Unfortunately, this being a nonsupernatural area, Badb's sight is next to useless.
Tapping the front of both sneakers to the ground, Umie crouches low, ducking behind a box and, with a quiet 'hup', hauling herself on top.
It feels... wayyyy too quiet, she thinks.
---!!
"--Shit...!" Crafty as Umie thinks herself to be, the sight of a man dead in front of her still manages to throw her off, especially as her eyes can't tell, at a first glance, what killed him.
'Umie Akabane...exactly who I was hoping would show.'
Umie glances towards the darkened figure with bewildered, widened eyes. "... Who the hell are y.... ?!" She backs up a step or two at the reveal of his Mark, grimacing at that sickly, familiar feeling of the Mark's activation.
".... Don't you dare...!"
A cooler head *would* use this moment to text Tamaki for possible backup, or simply just leave the premises altogether.
A man who identifies her by name and knows to show her his Mark clearly didn't want Miki at all-- he wanted her.
Clearly, this was all just to make her scared. Is she really going to let that man get away with it?!
She breaks into a run, a curse flying from her lips as she gives chase.
<Pose Tracker> Gozaburou Gessou has posed.
The front door opens to a western style living room complete with comfortable couch, chairs, entertainment center, etc. On the walls, a family of demons are seen in various family style shots. Turning around reveals that the way back has been replaced with a black wall, almost as if this is part of a set.
The unseen audience cheers and hoots as Umie makes her entrance. There is a beat before a narrator cuts in.
"What happens when professional wacko and conspiracy theorist, Umie Akabane, gets a family straight out of hell?"
Several loud rumbles are heard from various directions. Suddenly, there is loud thunderous footsteps coming down the rear staircase. A very large Oni begins to descend the stairs slowly. On further inspection, the Oni appears to be wearing very 90's clothes: a pink sweater, skirt, and a baret. There is a loud thud behind each step as it drags it's bloody club down the stairs. "MOM! I'M SO PISSED! KYO ASKED IZUMI MATSUMOTO TO THE FESTIVAL! I COULD JUST KILL -YOU-" The Oni turns its head and stares straight at Umie, steaming coming from it's open maw.
Another rumble suddenly leads to a Oni suddenly ripping door to the kitchen off the wall, storming into the room. This Oni is dressed in 90s teen attire with several colored triangles on leggings that are somehow stretched around very muscular legs. "MOM! WOULD YOU STOP WITH YOUR NWO HARASSMENT?! YOU'RE MAKING ME A FREAK AT SCHOOL! GAH! I'M GONNA MURDER YOU!"
A third Oni, the biggest one, rips through a wall, wearing a pigtail wig. "MAMA! I WANT CANDY...." The large ugly Oni looks around. "DID I DO THAT UWU"
The audience laughs again.
"Can this career trouble maker survive single parenthood?" The narrator continues in that cheery way as the Onis all start to try to surround Umie. "Tune n for 'My Conspiracy Theorist Mother Can't Be This Embarassing!'"
Suddenly, a Jack Frost comes in from the front door. "And Fly Dave, the wacky neighbor, Hii ho!" He is quite fly in his popped collar polo shirt and plastic visor.
The tuxedo wearing figure appears to be leaving through the kitchen but getting past the daughters....and Fly Dave is going to be a task.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
".....Wh?!" Umie attempts to come to a sudden stop as the soles of her sneakers land on carpet, her trajectory nearly coming into contact with an ottoman placed just so in front of her.
Too late. She flops over the innocent plush piece of set dressing, landing on her back. "Gh...." Ow....
She partially gets up as an audience claps and cheers, briefly wondering just how hard she had managed to hit her head.
She looks up... and upp... and up. ".... huh." .... mom....? She's a mom?! A second daughterly Oni bursts in, completely *embarrassed* over her mess of a mom (enough to commit murder), and a third... well, naturally, that has to be the biggest one, Umie reflects, wryly.
Well, that's just nice. Badb can't make heads nor tails of this space, and, as Umie makes a face, her other senses are completely useless.
What's more, the way out seems to be blocked, and her target is getting away. THINK, UMIE, THINK. This is a lock. What is the proper way to break this lock?
Play to the realm's whims, and maybe, she can devise a situation where she can slip out, unnoticed. The oni are so tall and muscular... everything Umie is notably not. Humor can be found in the outrageous and the meeting of opposites. Who'd inherit a family straight out of hell, if not someone from hell herself?
Straightening up to her full height of 155 cm, Umie plants her hands on her hips, marching up to Oni #1 and looking *up* as she shakes a wine-red nailed finger at her. "Well, maybe if you weren't so shy, maybe you wouldn't be in this situation. How do you think I met your father? I marched right up to him and confessed my love, then did it two more times! So you better go out right now, young lady, and tell Kyo-kun how you *really* feel!"
"And YOU!" Her hood flies off as Umie turns her attention to Oni #2, exposing the yellow and white baseball cap and her ponytail, threaded out the back. "It's not easy being your mom, either! How am I supposed to impress all my NWO den moms when you keep failing to win at the High School's Strongest Student contest?! You've been falling behind on your weight-lifting lessons, haven't you?"
And the third? ".... You're perfect in every way, my precious little sparrow. Don't worry, your sisters will patch up that wall for you."
And then!!! Fly Dave. _Fly Dave_
"Fly Dave." Umie turns to the poor Jack Frost, pointing a red-nailed finger straight at him. "It's about time you came." She points to her clothed wrist, where a watch would sit if she was actually dressed for the 90s. "You were supposed to be here one hour ago! Now I'm late for my meeting with all my NWO associates. I need you to get my daughters into shape with your wisecracking wisdom and down-to-earth hijinks! Now!"
She takes the ottoman with both hands and hefts it over her head.
Badb's enhancements help a little here; an ottoman isn't *too* heavy for Umie to lift up normally, but aiming for the exit where the tuxedo'ed man left? That requires a bit more strength. "Time for this Oni Mama to cause some DESTRUCTION!"
<Pose Tracker> Gozaburou Gessou has posed.
The quick thinking catches the girls off their game. They usually didn't play a long. The eldest Oni by the stairs looks at the one who was angry about being embarrassed. The second Oni looks equally confused.
"Errr...Mom?" The second Oni says as if trying it on for a change.
However the biggest and youngest Oni isn't having it. Sparrow? SPARROW?! SHE WAS A CROW. The Oni rips through the wall like it was wet paper, prompting some more laughs from the audience at home.
The youngest Oni stares around with nostrils flared and veins popping. "I WANT CANDY!" She roars in Umie's face as she swipes at the woman with a meaty hand.
Fly Dave to his credit comes in and floats there next to Umie. "Fly Dave is gonna see where this goes."
The two other Onis sees their youngest sister attempt to attack Umie and roar. There is more laughter and cheering from the audience.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Out of the corner of her eye, the blonde spots the two onis regard each other with confusion. Good. That's *exactly* what Umie needs.
"Yes, Pumpkin?" Umie says, sweetly.
However, changing it up at the last second with the 'youngest' failed to produce the proper results.
While the ottoman was meant for the door the tuxedo'ed man went through, it's instead used as a shield against the 'little' Oni's tantrum, handily (pun intended) dislodged from Umie's hands to go crashing into a wall.
Umie takes a moment to breathe.
Bad, bad, bad. This is bad--
"Not before dinner!" she yells back, planting her hands on her hips. "Now go to your room, missy!"
Step back, step back, step back. "Now, it you'll excuse me, it's time to get to my meeting! Pumpkin, help your sisters with their homework, will you? Dinner's in the fridge! Don't let your little sister have any cake until after dinner, and that's only if she behaves!"
A turn, and then.
==R U N==
<Pose Tracker> Gozaburou Gessou has posed.
The Oni sisters roar loudly as Umie makes her escape. However, the commotions dies down once Umie is through the door and...outside?
The sakura pedals fall gratuously in front of the Japanese High School, "RabuRabu High School". It is Spring. It is White Day. The sakura pedals are flying and creating the ultimate romantic moment. The main courtyard awaits!
But the way is blocked by a rather imposing demon. On closer inspection, a shiny package dangles from it's outstretched claw. "Yo, Akabane-kun! It's Me, Yosuke, your child hood friend. Wanna be mine? FOREVER?" His chipper youthful voice does not match the hulking figure with mismatched teeth. He is blushing though.
"Not so fast! It is I, the glasses wearing member of the aristocracy and rival to your love for Akabane-chan!" Another hulking demon is blocking the other way. He is wearing glasses and wears a smug expression as he extends an EXPENSIVE looking package. "Be mine, Akabane-chan, and you will travel with me to Paris."
"Like hell she will!"
"She doesn't want garbage like you or your chocolate!"
"Id rather her dead than being with a stuck up punk like you."
"Oh she'll be in pieces by Parie.."
While this arguement is going on, a rather bad ass looking cat demon walks up. "Tch, Sup.. whatever. I'm a badass loner but here's some chocolate or whatever. It's not like I want to kill you or anything."
"BY -my- calculations, she'll ignore a ruffian like you and will go with me, the fun and hilarious nerd character!"
"Or me the very sexual European character!"
"Fly Dave is in the mix, Hi Ho!"
Many demons appear, each with their packages of chocolate and with a trait that is marketed to a specific taste.
The title flashes on the sky. 'Death at Love Love High School: Love Is A Battlefield'
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Half expecting a set of the neighborhood outside, Umie instead finds herself in a very different outdoor setting: a Japanese high school.
And she, colliding with Yosuke, her childhood friend!
Unfortunately, she's much lighter and smaller, which means *she* falls back onto the ground for what is the *second time*. "o-ow...."
Are the 'actors' limited to sets? Umie really shouldn't test that.
There's... so many.
Umie squints.
"... I'm.... already taken."
TECHNICALLY SHE ISN'T, BUT SHE DOUBTS ANYONE SHE'S EVER HAD HER HEART GO DOKI DOKI OVER WILL CARE THAT SHE LIED TO GET OUT OF A DEADLY SITUATION OKAY
(shiryuu would probably die, though)
She still gets to get up, though. Umie points towards the Jack Frost from earlier, as she forces herself onto her feet. "Fly Dave, you've captured my heart."
She takes one step, two steps, three steps. And then--
==RUNS AGAIN==
<Pose Tracker> Gozaburou Gessou has posed.
"She's taken?!"
"WHAT?!"
The demons shout as their romantic gestures are shot down. All except Fly Dave who is doing pretty well. The rest of the student high school scream and stare at the object of their affection with glowing eyes.
Yosuke attempts to pick up Umie by the collar of her shirt, staring with narrowed eyes. "Why you gotta play hard to get?! We used to take baths together" Did they? The demon looks embarrassed by the line but is committed to the scene.
The glasses wearing demon brandishes claws and begins to move toward Umie, taking a strong swipe at the woman's back.
Meanwhile, the mysterious figure stands inside of the school up ahead, watching Umie's plight with that bright grin. Despite some glasses glinting in the limited light, the figure is still a mystery.
The most obvious exit is the school but there seem to be colorful characters all over the place.
"Hey, Akabane. Me and my twin brother will sweep you off your feet into an early grave."
"I'm from the future and our love is legendary as is your demise!"
A demon in a moldy mascot costume of a Duck stares at Umie as if to make his pitch to her heart.
Fly Dave hovers next to Umie. "Fly Dave has the best chocolate." He offers it to Umie. It smells very "fishy".
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
As Umie attempts to leave (and potentially leave Fly Dave to the wolves) her feet fail to find any purchase as she's lifted straight into the air by the collar of her hoodie, baseball cap falling down to the ground as her feet dangle. "Little... too much information... Yosuke-kun!!"
Ah... she would have preferred another attack from Hiroto over this, any day. Hiroto was straightforward!
Claws swipe at the young woman's back, slicing through the layers of her hoodie and undershirt. Umie bites her tongue to keep from making a sound; experience has told her that such admittances draw demons' bloodlust like moths to a flame.
She can see the mysterious figure up ahead, his glasses glinting wildly.
... The bastard wants to watch, does he...?
Directing her gaze towards him, face angled as best as she can manage, her brown eyes widen. Her lips split in an open-mouthed smile, as she works through the burn of those claws, and the odd sensation of blood trickling down her back.
She'll get you soon, whoever you are, but first: she'll need to get out of this predictament.
"Nyahhhh~ don't be so rough, senpai~" she then exclaims in a delayed response, deploying her most cutesy voice. "You're going to go past the age rating for the show~"
NO ONE WILL HAVE TO EVER HEAR ABOUT THIS, SO UMIE CAN JUST DO WHATEVER THE HELL SHE WANTS.
Managing to unhook herself from Yosuke's grasp, Umie takes Fly Dave's chocolates. "Thank you, Fly Dave-san. Please, forgive me for what I'm about to do, okay?"
She then reaches it back and *flings* it towards the mysterious man as best she can, making a break for the school doors to follow after it before she's grabbed again.
.... goddamn it, her back hurts!!
<Pose Tracker> Gozaburou Gessou has posed.
"Yosuke" turns brighter red when the age rating is mentioned. He didn't sign up for something lewd, did he?!
Fly Dave is just happy to be involved. He watches as his chocolates go sailing toward the figure in the distance.
The package strikes the figure, causing them to double over momentarily. The figure stands up quickly, no longer grinning. The mysterious person draws a gun and fires a couple of shots toward Umie as they disappear into the school.
The door again leads to an outdoor area, not the interior of a school. It was kinda disorienting. This one is a mountainous area, clear from the hustle and bustle of the city. The grey dirt blows symbolically as the isolation becomes apparent.
But not for long!
Colorful shapes flip and fly into view as five sentai warriors pose as they come into view.
Pyrotechnics explode.
"Umie Akabane! You're evil against the NWO isn't going to stand." The red warrior punches the air with some gratuitous sound effects.
"Right! You're going down." The blue warrior kicks and poses with more sound effects.
The pink, diamond, and brown warriors each do their moves right as the music picks up.
The narrator cuts in again. "With their powers, the Zodiac warriors do battle with the decrepit Umie Akabane and her forces of evil."
"Fly Dave is a henchman in this one...Hiho" The Jack Frost has come along for the ride. It is wearing an evil eyepatch to fit in however.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"... Shit!" The bullets ricochet across the steps as Umie runs up them, forcing her to draw back in a panic until he disappears further within.
She should really think about getting out, instead of getting the guy.
.... She should have thought that at the get-go, however--
Well, it definitely can't be helped now, as she stands in a grey, mountainous area.
She's already trying to sneak away when pyrotechnics explode behind five color-themed bodysuit-wearing warriors.
Umie lets out a low, guttural groan. "Can't we... just... table this for now?"
Umie, 155cm high, her hair in a ponytail, her hands in the pockets of her now very ripped hoodie, is finally the villain.
At least she's not alone, here.
"I knew I could count on you, Fly Dave." Umie glances back towards the eye-patch wearing henchmen. "Real talk though: I need to get out of this alive. Can you help me? I work with the Kuzunoha Detective Agency. If I can get out of this... I can't make promises, but that may net you some clout if you come to them for assistance."
It's worth a shot, as she's not wanting to stay too long in any one 'set' in case demons from previous sets come to haunt these ones. If Fly Dave is here, who knows what will happen?
<Pose Tracker> Gozaburou Gessou has posed.
"No!" All the spandex wearing warriors yell when Umie wants to table it.
Pretty soon, they seem to be combining weapons to make some sort of cannon? It doesn't look very good.
Fly Dave, ever the rebel, hovers there as he considers. "Fly Dave thinks you should try the cave over there. Fly Dave will do anything for clout!" The Jack Frost grins as as it gestures to a cave off to the side of the sentai warriors. They seem distracted as they continue to combine their melee weapons in a complex pattern that could make a pretty cool toy.
Suddenly, from the east: a loud roar is heard. "MOTHER! YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY THAT EASILY!!"
From the west: "Akabane-chan! You must accept my love or I'll never stop killing you!!"
From infront: "Your evil against the NWO ends today, Umie!"
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"Ah, that can't be good." Umie hisses as she realizes she's bleeding from some holes in her leggings. Poking a finger through the leggings to lightly examine the wounds, Umie makes a face. "... Shrapnel... damn it, I gotta work tomorrow..." She *could* cancel, but she doesn't want to leave Ren in a lurch. What sort of work senpai would she be if--
..... are they combining their weapons into some sort of toyetic-looking cannon? Well, Badb's not going to have much defense against that.
.....
'Fly Dave will do anything for clout!'
Everyone needs a hero (or rebel) they can believe in, and here, Fly Dave is the hero Umie needs, and the hero she deserves.
Umie's lips curl in a sharp crescent of a smile. "That's what I like to hear out of an associate. Okay then. That cave over there?"
From the east, her oni children scream for her blood.
From the west, her lovers scream for her heart.
From in front, her enemies scream for her head.
Ah, to be the villain in so many ways...
"Right." Umie digs into a pocket, drawing out a few small balls. "Glad I saved these for last!"
Badb manifests over Umie's head, body arcing over the blonde young woman to the degree that her head lolls back, that hood still managing to hover straight over her obscured eyes.
One, two, three--
The smoke bombs are scattered to all directions, spreading smoke, as Umie's shroud activates.
To the cave!
If Fly Dave is a filthy liar, Umie'll have to pray that she survive *that*, too.
<Pose Tracker> Gozaburou Gessou has posed.
Once Umie arrives at the cave, reality seems to warp and change with various signs of analog static and distortion. Fly Dave hovers there before he fades into the ether as reality folds into a rundown and abandoned office.
However, there is a large picture of Umie with "Xs" over the eyes and a knife stabbed through into a desk that has seen better days.
For the moment, Umie is alone. No sign of the mysterious figure. No sign of any demons. While there is still some resonance in the air, it seems to be fading as if the source is gone for the moment.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
That temporary flush of courage, like any nebulous high dissipates as the analog static distorts and resolves into reality.
".... Thanks, Fly Dave," Umie says to the Jack Frost, in the moments before he fades away as well. "You're a real one."
With it goes Badb's abilities, leaving behind the aches and pains that will need conventional healing before she goes back home.
"...!" Umie sucks in a shocked breath as she notices the picture of herself, her eyes X'ed out and stabbed through on an old desk.
What did she think would happen? She's Umie Akabane.
It's going to continue to keep happening. The more she's active, the more likely others may think they can do the same. And as long as that continues, she'll need to be reminded how easily she could disappear.
For a second, in that quiet, still space, she shakes, fighting back tears. Breath hisses through a clenched jaw as she fights against her emotions, her palm resting against the edge of that desk.
... Enough of this self pity. She needs to get out of here.
She takes out her phone and flips it open, her thumb quickly typing out a message to Tamaki.
>> miki dead. attacked. New Mark user. Got hurt. going back to office. need to stay overnight.
Kurou'll likely be suspicious if she doesn't show up at her apartment tonight like usual, but that's something she can't help right now.