[network][locked from warped_ken_amada and any character under 10] anti-evil baby task force

[willowandoak]

[ The following initial paragraph is added on December 19th, following Zenkichi's arrival. ]
NOTICE TO ALL NEWCOMERS: SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT AMADA, THE PLANNING, AND THE SITUATION EXCEPT IN THIS POST. IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, ASK THEM HERE AND SOMEONE WILL ANSWER THEM. FOR FUCK'S SAKE *DON'T ASK PUBLICLY WHAT WE'RE ALL TALKING ABOUT IN LOCKED POSTS*


hey everyone (except amada and kiddos)

in case any of you aren't aware of the situation, one of the ken amadas killed falcon a couple days ago, then made a network post threatening the rest of us. so obv we need to neutralize him

i made my own post to collect ideas abt how to do that. this is part 2, and i'm gonna update this one with new info so pls save it and come back to it


THINGS WE KNOW

the most important new info is that if amada is killed, igor won't bring him back. he'll be dead forever. so killing him is back on the table in theory, though how to do that/whether we can do that is a question mark

i sent frog to ask igor & co some questions. they were p forthcoming by their standards. if anyone didn't know, they've said they didn't bring amada in. frog learned some interesting new stuff, too, such as the death thing. also: igor has less control over amada than he does over the rest of us, which we kinda already knew. when frog asked who brought amada to the velvet room if not igor, he said "he brought himself (|||❛︵❛.)" and then he didn't answer any followup questions such as, so how many other people can sense this place from the outside, and can they get in too

igor also confirmed that he would be willing to temporarily lift the restrictions on sagiri's powers to deal with amada

amada caused non-fatal harm to someone who went after him, so murder is not his *only* weapon. he can also do broken bones (* ^ ω ^) he also made it so that bone couldn't be healed, so it's a more serious issue than a lot of us are used to. that said, he's still threatened to kill any and all of us, and after falcon we should be taking that seriously

another amada wrote up this info for combat. READ THIS if you think you're likely to see combat with the psycho amada, and maybe even if you don't think so. DO NOT VOLUNTEER TO FIGHT until you've read it


IDEAS

lotus has said that he may be able to exert control over amada by receiving his name. he can't guarantee that it'll work tho

lotus also has another possible trick up his sleeve, more dangerous to everyone including him. frog and i know abt it tho so we can be thinking abt it, and if all else fails, we can all discuss it then

like i said above, sagiri is willing to use his god-level powers, though he hasn't explained what he would be doing w them

if igor agrees to unleash kira as well, kira might be able to possess amada and lower his defenses, and help get the rest of us out of danger

aragaki has brought up using amada's mother as a weak spot

we may be able to create rumors in sumaru that work to our advantage if we fight him there

shrike may be able to use psychic abilities to affect amadas state of mind. this is unpredictable and risky, probably best used if things are already looking grim


PREV IDEAS THAT NOW LOOK LESS GOOD

phoenix and renée have brought up swords that block regeneration. but they would have to strike a killing blow with the sword. to start with, other amada thought that might be impossible, and we also know now that a killing blow will be fatal no matter what weapon

maruki's actualization probably wouldn't work, and if it did it wouldn't stick, according to phoenix who has been actualized


FIGHTING

we're fucked if we don't at least get ready for a fight. it's gonna be rough (READ OTHER AMADA'S WRITEUP) but we've heard some thoughts

other amada is willing to train with us, starting in a few days

crow believes that bonds will be important in making wild cards stronger for upcoming battles

rose is going to look into items that pierce elemental resistance, including growing new plants w noir. the plants might or might not be ready in time

given the new info, i've cut some people from the fight list. i can vouch for the strength of most people who were in my palace. anyone else, i don't know as well. really think abt whether you're up to standard before volunteering. the current list of people who're up for a fight is as follows

-me
-frog
-glitch
-phoenix
-spades
-crow
-joker
-magpie
-falcon
-vampire ren
-briar
-renée
-hasegawa
-suou
-raven
-wild
-karasu
-amada

as well as the other amada, who is on another level than the rest of us

to stay on the list, train with not-psycho amada and work on defensively-oriented strats. once amada is ready to train, we'll set up a schedule


WHAT WE NEED RN (besides training + collecting items)

input on the ideas. we have a lot of "maybe it'll work"s and no "this will definitely work"s, so we need to decide on which maybes to try first and which to hold off on as a plan B, plan C, etc

to add/correct/remove ideas or volunteer/unvolunteer, reply to this post. if u wanna talk to me in person, i'll be taking care of leblanc for the next several days while frog goes on a research binge. after that, go to leblanc anyway and if i'm not already there, frog will summon me


the situation is shitty, but i don't think anyone here wants to sit around and let someone threaten our lives. if nothing else, amada seems like the kind of guy who would fuck up a little kid if they got in his way, and we have little akira and little goro wandering around. we've come together for less, some of us have killed gods, so we can come together and get rid of this threat now

Comments

[takutomaruki]

Maruki blinked slowly, Drake’s response hanging in the air like an absurd punchline to a joke only one of them found funny. He opened his mouth to reply, then closed it, as if struggling to decide whether to laugh or scream. Then finally he drummed his fingers against the table, his expression a blend of annoyance and begrudging amusement.

"I think you’ve managed to make me question every career choice I’ve ever made- which I am assuming will be the second-best thing anyone's ever said to you," he deadpans as he desperately tries to keep himself stable. He shook his head, his tone flattening and ending with a mix of disbelief and irritation. "Unbelievable. Of all the things I expected to deal with today, being verbally dismembered by someone with the emotional subtlety of a wrecking ball was not on the list."

Clearing his throat sharply, he straightened in his seat and folded his hands together, fixing Drake with a more measured gaze. "Alright. Since it’s become painfully clear that we’re both going to be about as stubborn as humanly possible, I’m going to suggest something radical."

Maruki raised a single finger, his tone shifting into something oddly cordial despite the tension or the bitterness under his usually cheery tone. "Let’s aim for tolerance. Not understanding. Not agreement. Just tolerance. And for that to happen, I need you to do one very simple thing." He leaned forward, his voice lowering ever so slightly.

"Hear me out. No cutting remarks. No theatrics. Just... listen. Because believe it or not, I didn’t come here to argue with you, Drake. And as entertaining as this back-and-forth has been, I’d like to at least pretend we can get something productive out of it."

He paused, tilting his head as he watched Drake carefully. "Fair?"

nsfw again T_T

[willowandoak]

...And there's the rage again. He stares at Maruki for a long moment; then he smiles, wide and false.

"No, actually," he says brightly. "You can take your condescending superiority and shove it right up your ass. But make sure it has a flared base, 'cause you'll need to take it out again to talk." The smile drops. "Have you ever looked at someone and not seen them as beneath you? In your entire life? Or is it just because I don't lick your boots? Fuck, dude."

[takutomaruki]

Maruki sat still, his fingers curling against the edge of the table. His jaw tightened, and his chest rose and fell with deliberate breaths as he stared at the words hanging in the air between them. Drake’s sneering insult gnawed at the last frayed edges of his patience. For a moment, he genuinely considered standing up, walking away, and leaving this conversation to rot under the weight of its own bitterness.

But he didn’t move.

Instead, his gaze dropped to the table, his hands clenching tightly as he tried to steady himself. No. That’s not who I am. That’s not who I want to be. His frustration began to shift, not toward Drake, but inward, coiling deep within his own chest.

"Have I ever seen someone as beneath me?" he finally muttered, the words slow and deliberate, as if testing them in his own mouth. He shook his head, almost in disbelief, his voice gaining strength. "No. That’s...that can't be true." His eyes flicked back up to Drake,anger replaced by something else instead- vulnerability. "I don’t see you—or anyone else here—as beneath me. You are leading a team against such a magnaminous threat- its nothing I could do."

2/2

[takutomaruki]

His voice cracked slightly as he continued, his tone softening, his earlier irritation giving way to a tired honesty. "I’ve always been inspired by people. By their resilience. By their capacity to grow and change and overcome." He let out a bitter chuckle, running a hand through his hair. "And even by those who think all hope is lost."

Maruki paused, exhaling deeply as his fingers loosened their grip on the table. He folded his hands together, staring down at them as his voice grew quieter. "What I said earlier was out of line. I let my anger get the better of me, and for that, I’m sorry. Truly. Not just for my words, but for... everything." His gaze stayed fixed on his hands, his voice heavy with regret. "I know I’ve caused pain. I’ve seen the suffering that’s come from my choices, and I can’t undo that. I want to undo it but not if its against any of your wishes. However if there’s even a small chance I can help—if there’s even the slightest chance that I can make amends—then I want to try."

He stopped again, his head lowering further. His shoulders hunched slightly, and his voice trembled as he admitted, "I’m tired, Drake. Of all of this. The debates, the back-and-forth, the endless cycle of trying to defend myself to people who’ll never believe me." He let out a hollow laugh, shaking his head. "I wish I had a recording of my reality, some...proof to finally know the truth. This gaping memory- Because all of this, all of you... it’s making me question everything. Or did the phantom thieves do something to me-? I can't, I don't know. I will never know."

He cut himself off sharply, his hands tightening together as Azathoth’s voice slithered through his mind like a viper.

"Pathetic. Spineless coward."

Maruki’s breath hitched, and he clenched his teeth, shaking his head against the weight of the accusation. He inhaled deeply, forcing himself to straighten and meet Drake’s gaze once more, even if his eyes betrayed the cracks forming beneath the surface.

"I’m not asking for forgiveness. I don’t expect it. But... I want to help. Not because I think I’m better than you. Not because I think I know more. But because I still believe it’s worth trying, even if you think I don’t deserve that chance."

[willowandoak]

Ren deserves an award for putting up with this shit. He deserves a billion yen.

"Then stop crying into your handkerchief and do it, dude. I haven't said you can't help, I've just told you to lose the condescending attitude. Nothing's stopping you except the fact that the second someone says maybe you were a dick, you collapse into a self-pitying blob."

[takutomaruki]

For a long moment, Maruki just sat there, silent.

His fingers curled against his lap, his breath shallow. Drake’s words rang in his ears, the bluntness of them hammering against the fragile walls he had spent years constructing around himself. Self-pitying blob.

Was that what it looked like?

"...Do I really look that bad?" he asked, his voice smaller than he intended. There was a ghost of humor in it, barely there. He let out a weak chuckle, but it sounded just as fragile as he felt.

A sigh slipped from his lips as he rubbed at his temple. "Yeah. I don’t know why I’m laughing."

He pressed his palms to the table as he prepares to get up, closing his eyes for a moment as Azathoth stirred in the depths of his mind, slithering, whispering. The words were indecipherable, but the feeling was clear. Disappointment. Disgust.

Maruki exhaled sharply and shook his head, forcing his eyes open again. He looked... tired.

"I just need a glass of water," he murmured. "Nothing much."
He stood so quickly it was as if his seat had burst into flames, the force of his movement sending the stool toppling over with a loud clatter.

Maruki winced.

For a split second, he felt Azathoth move—an instinct, a twitch in his mind, as if reaching out to fix the fallen stool before he could even think about it. But he forced it back. No.

Instead, he crouched down himself, fingers trembling as he set the bar stool upright again. The sight of his own unsteady hands only made his stomach churn further.

With an awkward, stiff motion, he straightened, adjusting his glasses before quickly making his way to the other side of the café, away from Drake, away from that goddamn conversation.

"Uh—" He cleared his throat. "Can I use one of your glasses, or...?" His voice was unsteady, hovering somewhere.

[willowandoak]

Ren watches incredulously as all of this transpires. He lets Maruki's request hang in the air for a moment, just to really let the embarrassment sink in—then, silently, he fills a glass with water and places it on the counter.

[takutomaruki]

Maruki stared at Ren in the silence, unsure if the guy was actually waiting for him to collapse into tears or something else. Either way, he was grateful when Ren—without a word—finally filled a glass of water and set it on the counter.

Maruki released a quiet sigh, his fingers wrapping around the glass as if anchoring himself to it. He took a slow sip, focusing on the cool sensation against his throat.

"Pathetic," Azathoth purred in the recesses of his mind. "You're going to need far more help than this if you want to be taken seriously."

Maruki’s grip on the glass tightened slightly, but he didn’t respond. Not yet.

---

By the time he finished the water, he had taken the few minutes he needed to fix himself up—adjusting his disheveled hair, straightening his clothes, smoothing down the creases in his expression. His hands, at least, had stopped trembling.

With a slow inhale, he pulled himself back together. No more spiraling. No more letting his emotions get the better of him.

When he finally spoke again, his voice had settled into something more familiar—his usual smooth, professional tone, the voice of a cognitive psience researcher rather than a man barely keeping it together.

“Right. So.” He cleared his throat, shifting back to the topic at hand. “I wanted to go over how I plan to approach the situation with the more...jaded version of Ken Amada.”

He straightened, his gaze sharper now, more focused. “I've been conducting... experiments,” he admitted, hesitating only briefly before pressing forward. “On myself and other cognitions. Through this, I’ve developed a way to scale my abilities—a more localized application that can help individuals process and manage their trauma without rewriting anything but rather manifesting them from the depths of their mind. I have heard the Midnight Channel works on a similar concept here so I will soon be working on understanding how it truly works.”

He paused for a beat, then quickly added, “Now, don’t be alarmed. I needed to be sure these papers only reach the people I want them to reach.”

Without further warning, a shadow flickered beside him, warping into the shape of a coiling, inky-black tentacle. It moved with unsettling fluidity, its wirey appendages holding a neatly set of organized papers, gripping them with an eerie precision as it held them out to him.

Maruki took the papers from the summoned limb with a small nod, completely unfazed. “I’ve documented my findings here,” he said, flipping through them as Azathoth’s appendage soundlessly receded into nothingness.

He placed the documents on the table in front of Ren. “This,” he continued, his voice steady, “is what I’ve been working on.”