1891/Rock-And-Roll Heaven

Rock-And-Roll Heaven
Date of Scene:	29 May 2020
Location:	Basement Lab, Parker Residence, Forest Hills, NY
Synopsis:	The Rock-and-Roll Goddess seeks assistance from Peter Parker...and the Internets.
Cast of Characters:	Kaminari, Peter Parker, Alice Sinclaire

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Kaminari has posed:
The thing about giving a deity your address is they're prone to just showing up. It is perhaps a miracle in and of itself that Kaminari remembered to send a text message first heralding her arrival. That was an hour ago. Now the doorbell is ringing and a white haired 'young woman' is standing outside wearing dark sunglasses and a baseball cap that attempts to, but does not quite succeed at, conceal the aforementioned white hair, there's just too much of it.

Kaminari, the Goddess of Rock 'igcognito', stands there on Peter's doorstep glancing left and right generally hoping nobody picks up on her presence. She's managed to elude the paparazzi so far today but that could change at any time.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter is in the lab, but comes up when the doorbell rings. Aunt May is quicker.

The door is opened by the crickety elderly lady who is wearing a coat over his regular clothes. "Oh! For a minute there, I thought you were Mary Jane." She smiles pleasantly.
Peter appears from the lab door near the rear of the house. "Kami? Hi!" He steps forward, a wry look on his face. "It's okay, Aunt May."

The old woman nods. "Well, pleased to meet you, Kami. My name is May Parker, but you can call me Aunt May. You...dear, are you hiding from someone?" She opens the door wide for Kami to enter.

Kaminari has posed:
Kaminari was actually quietly fuming over recent events as waited, but the sight of the elderly lady in the doorway dispels it at least for the moment. "Not Mary Jane." she smiles pleasantly and waves to Peter when he appears, "A friend of Peter's though. Hello, Peter." she gives him a little wave when he comes up the stairs into view.

"A pleasure to meet you, too." she seems a bit relieved to finally step inside. "Hiding? You could say that. There's a lot of people who would very much like to take my picture. It gets a little bit tiresome after awhile."

Peter Parker has posed:
Aunt May smiles gently. "Well, you will always find sanctuary here." She looks over to Peter. "Now, there is dinner in the fridge. We can go over the FAFSA forms tomorrow."

Peter nods, smiling slightly before Aunt May leaves and the smile evaporates. "Hey, Kami. How are you holding up? I had been checking out your band on YouTube. a couple of days ago."

Kaminari has posed:
"Thank you Aunt May, I very much appreciate it." Kaminari gives Aunt May another smile.

Once Aunt May leaves however her own smiles evaporate and the agitation returns, "That's great. The concert series at Radio City Music Hall is still going on if you want to catch the last show. I'm not here to talk about music though. We should probably go downstairs." she glances in the direction Aunt May left in and then back to Peter again.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter nods. He never asked what "Kaminari" means, but right now, Kaminari means business. And he is sure she is not going to ask him to make up a sampler for her.

He leads the way to the rear of the house, then down into the basement lab. It is still well-lit, still tidy. There is a cardboard box with a few items in it near the computer desk, but that is the only difference.

He waits for her to make it to the drafting table before turning around. "How can I help you?"

Kaminari has posed:
Kaminari takes a drink from a small metal flask produced from her purse as she follows Peter down the stairs to the lab, but it is returned from whence it came just as quickly.

She pauses for a moment perhaps collecting her thoughts. "There is a group in New York called the Japan Appreciation Society. Frankly until recently I had no idea they existed and only happened upon them by chance. Some might say it was unmei.. fate. Anyway while I was there, without revealing my true identity, their priest, they maintain a small Shinto shrine, he was kind to me. He gave me a cigarette when I was in rough shape. And then a gunman burst in and shot him while yelling something about 'Henry says his time is up'. That man died despite my efforts. I owe him a debt of kindness and I intend to repay it. I already have someone looking for his killers though."

The flask comes out for another drink, "But it gets worse. I am not sure how much you know about Japanese folklore, but this Henry is apparently trying to help an Oni ressurect itself. This Oni has angered me and I am not about to see it made whole again. It was killed and divided into four jars, but it's heart managed to survive concealed within a human who is trying to make it whole again and the first of those jars is coming into the JFK airport tomorrow."

The flask appears again for another drink, "This presents a whole host of problems, among them even if I wanted to I can't just publically rain lightning down on JFK airport unless I want to ruin my music career, and I have no doubt they are not going to part with the sealed jar willingly." And that is apparently why she is here.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter listens intently. He doesn't understand magic, but he gets procedure. And a Japanese demon is one more thing New York doesn't need.

"...Okay. I'll do what I can. But I do have some questions, and I hope you can help with those. It'll help me understand things a bit more, maybe even have some ideas for helping."

He looks around. "Okay...do you know the identity of the person bringing the jar in, and what does it look like?"

Kaminari has posed:
"I believe the name of the person bringing them in is Yukioni Ai," she rolls her eyes even as she says it, "Snow Oni, could they get any more obvious?" Says the goddess of thunder whose name literally means thunder. "As for what the jars look like, that I do not know. Until recently the veracity of this tale was in doubt, but now it seems to be quite real."

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter nods. "Well, a name is a start. Do you know who this Yukioni Ai person looks like, or is the name all you have?"

Kaminari has posed:
Kaminari shakes her head, "Names are unfortunately all I have, they were obtained from an email exchange found in the dead man's computer. Apparently he had been working for Henry on trying to sort out the historical authenticity of these myths and seemingly stumbled on more than he cared to share and died for it." It is a rather different side to Kami than previous times Peter has met her, this is not the happy party goddess, but an agent of divine retribution.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter nods, then writes the name down, showing it to Kami to make sure he got it spelled right. "I can try to chase down any and all info I can on the name. I know a couple of websites that do background checks. And in this day and age, the breadcrumb trail can be followed if you know what to look for." He looked to his computer. "Want to give it a shot now?"

Kaminari has posed:
Kaminari looks from Peter to the computer, normally she would be all about Peter's computer but her current state of fuming agitation seems to be overriding the joy she normally finds in human technology. "Please, anything you can turn up would be very helpful."

Alice Sinclaire has posed:
Yukioni Ai. Snow Demon indeed. The search results come up with both American results and Japanese results.

The American results: Snow Tech Corporation, owned by Nozawa Corporation in Japan. They do imports and exports and financial services. An article from the company blog from three years ago welcomes Yukioni Ai to the company in Research and Development for their Bioengineering division. The picture you find of the man is of a young Japanese guy with glasses and short cropped hair and a slightly stunned mollusk expression common to these kinds of photos.

The Japanese results however link to Nozawa Corporation founded by the Yukioni Clan in 1902 in Nozawa, Niigata Prefecture. The name pops up at a dojo as well, the Nozawa Temple for Greater Understanding. In Japanese the corporate page talks about the long history of the Yukioni Clan and even mentions the myth of the snow demon. The company has its fingers in many different pots. Yukioni Ai seems to be part of a local chess club in upstate New York as well as competing in a Karate contest five years ago and winning, also upstate New York. He appears to have moved to the USA when he was thirteen with his family.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter takes a deep breath. He punches the name into the same web sites he uses to check criminal records, websites that do background checks, public records sites. He does this for every criminal he runs across, high or low.

He prints out all the info he can pull up - pictures, records, press releases, school records.

He hmms and looks to Kami. "Were you able to get an airline or a flight number?"

Kaminari has posed:
Kaminari nods slowly to Peter as she listens while her eyes scan over the printouts in both languages. "I think there was," She pulls out her phone flipping it open and manipulating the glowing touchscreen for a few moments. "Japan Airlines, JA17 from Niigata Airport to JFK."

Alice Sinclaire has posed:
Yukioni Ai, Yukioni being the family name. His record is spotless, same with his parents. It's harder to find information over in Japan besides this family business. The mountain on the border of Niigata and Nagano is where Nozawa is. Historically it was one region but during the Meiji restoration the borders were set on the edge of the mountains. There is a train station that runs there. The company headquarters is in Joetsu, Niigata. The family has deep roots going back it seems... or at least the propaganda on their website seems to say so. There is a drawing of the beautiful maiden from the myth that you find in your random searching. It is generically Japanese - it could be anyone. Long black hair, kimono covered in blood. There are so few details, it's reasonable to assume this is nothing more than any other Japanese folk tale.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter nods and goes to the airline's website, plugging in the flight number and the incoming flights for the next day. "If we know when he's coming in, and at what gate..."

He frowns as another image comes in from the second monitor, and he prints out the picture. No fact is more important than any other fact.

Kaminari has posed:
Kaminari watches the data appear on the monitors as the printouts keep coming. If her expression is anything to go by she seems rather impressed with Peter's detective work.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter shakes his head slowly. "I...can't get any info on the jar. I can't access Customs to get that info. But we should be able to sort out his luggage if necessary..."

Kaminari has posed:
Kaminari leans against the wall nearby. The small metal flask has appeared again and she takes another small drink, "You have already found an impressive amount Peter. So we seize their luggage and deal with Henry and his allies as they will no doubt show up to try and claim it as well."

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter sits back from the computer. "These days, all luggage have to have ID tags on them. So that can help if someone can get access to the luggage before it gets to baggage claim. Might look funny if airport security saw someone digging through the luggage compartment of the plane at the gate..."

Kaminari has posed:
Kaminari nods again listening to Peter, "That may be a job for Owari if she is available. Being unseen is one of the most basic skillsets for a Ninja. Otherwise we may need to let them get it and then take it from them outside of the airport." she lets out a sigh, "Having to dance around human authorities is so trying." It's pretty clear she'd rather solve the whole thing with lightning if it were an option.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter looks to Kami. "Goddess, being considerate of other people builds character. Besides, isn't it a good reflection on you if no one gets hurt, and no one even realizes the jar is gone until it is?"

Kaminari has posed:
"Public knowledge of my involvement is something that can't be allowed to happen." Kaminari agrees with at least that part, "This Henry will be facing his own reckoning eventually though."

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter says nothing for a moment. He has no illusions about how Owari solves problems. But it is not an arms dealer they are going after.

"I can try to do any more digging. I can send you updates to your phone if anything comes up. I have a data-mining program I've been meaning to try out." Peter turns around in his chair to face Kaminari. "I just wish I could do more."

Kaminari has posed:
Kaminari pushes off the wall where she was leaning, "I would appreciate that." she flips her phone closed and replaces it within the same purse that the flask came from. "You have already done a great deal and it is very much appreciated. I think you underestimate yourself. I don't have the knack for this sort of.. detective work. It is very helpful. In any case, I will be in touch. Thank you for your assistance with this."

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter stands up. "If I can help when this guy shows up, I will. But if I can't...I hope I never hear about what happens. Especially on the news." He smiles slightly at that. "Everyone has their own strengths, Rock Goddess. I think that I would let it go to my head if I had the kind of power you have..."

Peter glances to the cardboard box, then back to Kaminari. "...In fact, I'm pretty sure of it."

Kaminari has posed:
Kaminari laughs for a moment, a small crack in the mood of divine retribution that has been surrounding her, "That's why I decided I like you Peter, you're a good person. Much better than I am. Anyway, there are one or two more people I need to talk to before all of this comes to a head, but I will be in touch." she says as she turns to begin moving towards the stairs.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter takes a deep breath. "Kami...? Good luck. You are more decent than you think you can be. But decency is a choice. My Uncle once said it is how you respond to what happens that makes you who you are."

He looks back to the computer. "...Decency is a choice."

Kaminari has posed:
Peter's words draw a smile and a wave, though Kaminari doesn't reply before vanishing up the stares.