1.1
Something was definitely off here.
The first time he'd repeated The Game, he'd just assumed the time before had been some weird and oddly specific nightmare.
The second time, he'd chalked it up to some interference on the part of the Angels. Maybe the first run was invalid, so he had to do it again.
Or something.
But this was his fourth run-through of that hellish month, and he liked to think he'd memorized the pattern of events. This was tested by the beginning of the first week.
"Hm? You're not Reapers, so...Players, then."
From her place beside Joshua, Rhyme just smiled.
Neku furrowed his brow in confusion. If Joshua was with Rhyme, then...where was Beat?
XxX
In his RG form, the Composer sighed and silently begged His proxy to get a move on.
"C'mon Phones! Start haulin' ass! You don't have time to be makin' friends!" Beat urged. But because this was Shibuya and Shibuya was always crowded, Neku didn't hear him.
Of course.
1.2
"Rhyme's price is her dreams. And yours...is her innocence."
"Yo! What the hell did you do to Rhyme!?"
"Nii-chan..."
"Rhyme!"
Beat growled at Kitaniji and prepared to attack him. The Conductor smirked, amused.
From his place in the white void (apparently they'd all died together) Neku facepalmed.
"Calm down, Beat. She'll get it back if you win the Game." Even though something like that shouldn't even be possible...
"Nii-chan..."
Beat looked down at Rhyme, who'd grabbed his arm.
She continued speaking:
"It doesn't matter. We are being watched by an uncaring god who is neither benevolent nor malicious, and whether we win this or not, we are all, as humans, destined to die and disappear from existence anyway. This is a universal truth, and no divine gamble or overpowered proxy can change that, and furthermore, regardless of His intentions, the Composer is fickle, and could bring the innocently ignorant "Rhyme" back on a whim. But for now, she is sleeping, and will wither away into a permanent state of unbeing if you choose to attack this man, His puppet."
Finally, she stopped talking, leaving Beat to stare blankly at her. Once more, Neku facepalmed.
1.3
Neku Awoke to a noticeable weight on his chest. He looked down.
Huh. That was new.
He shrugged his shoulders. Apart from having been born a girl, and aptly named Neru instead of Neku, his Loop memories were exactly the same as baseline. It'd be interesting to see how this played out.
Shiki would have a field day.
1.4
He Awoke in a white, sparsely furnished room, wearing equally white clothes. Hung on the wall across from him was a clipboard. Curious, he got up from his chair and read it.
Patient Name: Neku Sakuraba
Status: Yellow
Behaviour: Patient is nonviolent and experiences hallucinations. Patient has given these hallucinations names; "Joshua", "Shiki", "Beat", and "Rhyme". Patient refuses to interact with other patients and reluctantly interacts with staff. Patient is relatively agreeable and readily complies with medication.
Recommended Treatment: 30mg olanzapine daily, group therapy and other social activities.
Possible Incentives: drawing, music, time outdoors.
Miscellaneous: Patient responds best to Dr. Hanekoma. Patient is significantly more hostile to Dr. Kitaniji. Minimal supervision.
1.5
Hachibuya
"Hey, Neku-hachi?"
"Yeah, Mitsu-shiki?"
"Why are we all bees?"
The two bees looked down from their honeycomb perches at Buzz (Beat) and Stripe (Rhyme) as they flew low along the bottom of the hive.
"...I have no idea..."
1.6
Neku tilted his head back and stared upwards. And then stared some more. And kept staring.
Giant white eyes stared down at him- or rather, at the sprawling city at the giant plush cat's feet.
"And this is Mr. Mew!" An Unawake Shiki explained, either oblivious to or else ignoring Neku's blatant staring. "Isn't he cute? He's my Psyche!"
Neku decided not to say anything lest he incur the wrath of the 50-meter cat.
1.7
Neku bounced back effortlessly off the power line and through the rooftop of a nearby house. From her place in the living room, Shiki looked up.
"Wow. I didn't think you'd crash in like that."
Neku brushed some debris off his shoulder and gave a wry smile.
"Neither did I. But this is actually kinda fun, breezing through things that should at least maim us."
"Guess so."
1.8
"Josh..."
"Yes Neku?"
"I'm only asking this once; why are we giant floating blimps?"
"I don't know, dear," the pale blue spiked-blimp-thing sighed (with a mouth that apparently worked?), "but it doesn't look like there's anything to do here. Wanna end this Loop?"
"Eh. May as well."
And so they floated, drifting along the cloudy abyss all by themselves. It was empty and lonely and it didn't get any better or less depressing until the two blimps finally managed to impale themselves on each other's spikes.
1.9
"Neku Sakuraba...your price..."
Neku tuned Kitaniji out- he knew how this spiel would go- could quote it verbatim, even- from his thousands of Loops of ohgodwhatdidthatjerkjustsay?
"Umm...can you repeat that...?"
"Your collection of Pokemon cards."
Elsewhere...
Joshua stuck his tongue out at Harajuku as the other Composer played a Shinx.
"You'll have to do better than that, dear," he said, putting down a Liligant.
He'd need to do something good to thank Neku for giving him the keys to the annual Composer Pokemon Tourney.
1.10
Neku Awoke and waited for his Loop memories to set in.
"Huh. Guess I'm replacing Mr. H this time. Should be interesting."
And then the memories sunk in.
Being at a lower power level than the Composer- ok, he could live with that. That Shiki was acting like his baseline self and somehow got paired up with Rhyme- a bit unusual, but workable. Being part of some High Plane conspiracy to overthrow all the Composers ever and strip the Players of their free will, thus controlling the world via "benevolent" brainwashing?
Yeah...screw that.
He ascended to Composer status (courtesy of a few loops where he'd replaced Josh) and from there raised his frequency to that of the Higher Plane. A few Jesus-beams ought to set things straight.