Hi! I know it's been way too long since the initial first chapter, and I apologize. My overworked TWEWY mood went kaput soon after the first chapter, and I got involved in other things/stories...I did mention this was a side project, right? XD I am so easily distracted sometimes.
Anyway, the new chapter is finally here! I'm so surprised at how popular this story became even at the first chapter. It has the most reviews and hits for the first chapter in any multi-chapter fic I've ever done. I thank for for it and hope you follow and enjoy the story to the end...not that this is the last chapter. There will be either three or four chapters in total, most likely three with maybe an epilogue.
If you like to listen to music while reading, I recommend for this chapter "Survive" by Lacuna Coil. If you need to re-read the first chapter to refresh your memory and want music for that, I recommend "Sell Your Soul" by Hollywood Undead (it fits so well, though ironically I did not hear the song until after I had posted the first chapter...)
Also, kudos to The Genius Mage Divine Wolf and James Firebrand for beta'ing this for me!
Disclaimer: I do not own TWEWY. My house is noisy enough without any actual Noise in it.
"Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has ever known." - Amy Lowell
Scale 2 - Detonation in SHIBUYA
"Hey, hey, look at me!" shouted the young Beat, performing trick after trick on his brand-new skateboard at Miyashita Park. "Look! Look! Heeeey!"
"That's nice Daisukenojo," one of his parents commented absently. It didn't matter which one spoke, for both were obviously ignoring him as they read on about a child prodigy in their newspapers.
"Hey! You ain't even looking!" Beat whined to the adults.
"I'm looking!" chirped little Rhyme happily, watching his acrobatic acts in fascination.
"I know…But they ain't," said the young boy, stopping to glance around. "Nobody else ain't either." He went on with his tricks again, more vigorously now. "Hey, look! Look at me! Heeeey!"
IIIIII
"…Freaking exploded or something."
"Well, that's not good. What about you? Feeling alright?"
Voices, voices he knew. What were they talking about?
"Alright enough, I guess."
"You guess? I'm being serious here…"
Beat's eyes flickered open to find two familiar Reapers standing over him. One had bright pink hair while the other had orange hair and a lollipop. Uzuki and Kariya. What were they doing here, in the middle of a dirty alley? What was he doing here, for that matter?
"Really, I'm fine. It gave me a jolt, but that's all," Uzuki answered, folding her arms.
"That's all?" Kariya replied, sounding both concerned and cross. "You could have been erased or consumed. Why didn't you cut the connection?"
"…I don't know," Uzuki admitted. "Guess I didn't want…"
"Whatchu guys going on 'bout?" groaned Beat. "Wha happened?"
Both Reapers halted their squabbling to look down at the fallen teenager. Beat sat up and rubbed his head, only to find his hat in the way. His hat? Of course it was his hat. He always wore his hat…except…except…
"Seriously yo, wha happened?" Beat grumbled. "Everythin' feels weird."
"Well…" Uzuki began, before taking a deep breath. "You're dead."
Beat gaped at her.
"I'm wha?"
"Deceased. Departed. History. Kaput," stated Kariya boredly, taking Beat's arm and putting fingers over his wrist. "Nope, no pulse. You're dead as last week's fashion."
"I could have told you that," growled Uzuki, as Beat stared in shock. "I'm the one who felt his heart freakin' burst."
"Heart…burst?" asked Beat, still in bewilderment. "My heart broke, and I died? But ain't it too young to jus' break…?"
Something slim and black moved in the corner of his eye. No, not just his eye. Something moved on his back too. He turned and saw the wings. Reaper wings. And behind the wings, his shadows twisted strangely on a wall drowned in graffiti….graffiti….
"Oh yeah, congrats on regaining Reaperhood," Kariya added. "How you pulled it off without outright being erased, I have no idea. Least you've kept your sanity better than everyone else around here anyway."
Beat was suddenly deluged with memories that washed away the smog in his mind, and he remembered everything.
"…Hell," Beat muttered, holding his head. "Wha's going on yo? Why am I a Reaper again? I ain't supposed to a be Reaper. Why's everybody goin' nuts and turning Noise?"
"Can't tell you," admitted Kariya, twirling his lollipop and frowning. "Was hoping you had some idea about it, to be honest."
"Why the hell would I know?" snapped Beat, wings flaring out. They were bigger than he remembered.
"Well, they are your friends," Kariya answered. "Have they been acting strange lately?"
"They actin' weird? Everybody's been acting weird, yo!" the yellow-haired Reaper yelled back, his shadow slipping before him without his notice. It glared from the ground with red eyes.
"…So I've noticed," said Kariya, watching Beat's shadow rather than Beat himself. "And apparently Neku and Shiki aren't immune to it. If anything, they seem to be sensitive to it. Now why do you think that is?"
"I dunno, man!" Beat shouted back. Something about the very wording ticked him off. "They're tough, yo. Nothin' gets 'em down for long. I mean, they survived the Game. If that don't make someone tough, I don't know what does!"
"And so did you," Kariya reminded calmly. "You're still sane though. Why?"
"I dunno, man! I dunno!" Beat hollered, shaking his head. Why was everyone insisting that he knew something he didn't? Why did every little thing make him so angry?
"Leave him alone Kariya," Uzuki insisted. "He's already had his heart and mind implode once today. If it happens again he'll be just as nuts as the other brats."
"Hey, I'm just trying to figure things out here," stated Kariya, sticking the lollipop back in his mouth. "You're awfully quick to defend him today."
"I've already screwed up looking after him and keeping him alive, and I don't want things getting even more messed up than they are now," Uzuki grumbled. "What about you? You got any ideas about what's going on?"
"Do you?" Kariya asked.
"No," Uzuki stated flatly, before making a cry of frustration and pulling at her hair. "Nothing makes sense! Both the ex-Player brats are apparently still in the RG even though they've started to turn Noise! I mean, how is that even possible?"
"You noticed that too, huh?" said Kariya. "Not sure what to think of that either. But what even stranger is their lack of Reaper wings."
"Lack of…" Uzuki began. "…Yeah, now that you mention it…"
"The wings are usually the first thing to appear," Kariya went on. "Humans become Reapers, and then Reapers become Noise. But it seems to me that Phones and his girlfriend jumped straight from human to Noise. That's not natural. Even Skulls and his sudden Reaperhood makes more sense, because it's at least in the right order."
"Well, I was a Reaper before," Beat reminded. "But it still don't explain anything else."
"It could be related somehow," countered Kariya, tossing aside the remains of his old pop and unwrapping a new one. "A different reaction to the same thing. What we should really be asking is not why they've turned Noise, but why they didn't go Reaper first."
"Good point," said Uzuki, rubbing her forehead. "They didn't go into consumption either. Otherwise Skulls would have been toast with Cat-girl attacked him. And Wolf-boy would have chased both of us to the ground."
"Well apparently Skulls can hold himself against Phones's girl just fine," remarked Kariya. "Though he'd probably wouldn't do so well against Phones himself."
"Whatchu talkin' about man?" asked Beat with a puzzled blue eyes. "She tore me up bad, yo."
"But you did nail her with that one attack."
"Wha? I didn't attack her! I ran from her!" Beat protested. "I didn't have the power to fight her!"
Kariya studied Beat seriously, which was so uncharacteristic of the laid-back Reaper that it unnerved the blonde.
"…What?" he asked finally.
"You don't remember, do you?" questioned Kariya.
"Don't remember what?"
"Hmm…" Kariya hummed, putting the new pop in his mouth and sucking on it.
The dread within Beat stacked up. What had he done? Why couldn't he remember it? Were there other things that he was forgetting?
Something struck Beat on the back of the head, knocking him out of his thoughts. He stumbled forward, spun around, and witnessed a stuffed black cat zipping back down the alley. At the end of the alley was Shiki, tattoos tails flicking irritably behind her, gaze feral, Beside her was Neku, his gaze just as ferocious.
"Ah hell, this so isn't what we need right now," hissed Uzuki, taking a step back. "We can barely handle Wolf-boy, much less both him and Cat-girl."
"Then we'd better start running," said Kariya, the normally-relaxed Reaper looking tense. "Time to move, Skulls."
"But-" Beat began.
"You plan to fight both of them?" the other male Reaper asked.
"Hell no, I can't-"
"Then you better get your butt in gear!" growled Uzuki, snatching his arm and dragging him along. "If they weren't listening earlier, then they certainly ain't gonna be listening now."
The trio of Reapers fled, the two half-Noise soon in pursuit. Once Beat had the sense to get on his skateboard he was the fastest of the three. It may have seemed a waste with perfectly good wings to fly with, but his skateboard was his medium. By concentrating his Soul into it he could glide much faster than with wings alone.
"Damn, they're just toying with us," snarled Kariya, his expression angry. "Look at 'em. They're not even trying."
"I don't have time to look!" replied Uzuki. "Can't you just give 'em a quick zap or something?"
"Nope, don't have time. Why don't you shoot one?" suggested Kariya.
" 'Cause I got Skulls here to babysit, that's why!"
"You sure are protective of him lately."
"Am not!"
"I don't need no protection!" Beat protested.
They were about to exit A-East when a wall of blue-black flame forced the trio of Reapers to stop. Beat nearly flew straight into it, but was yanked back by Uzuki. They spun around to see Neku and Shiki stalking toward them.
People were all around, and yet they ignored the deadly scene. Beat wanted to scream at them until one passed through him. That's right, they were in UG. How would ordinary people know? They couldn't. There was no way.
"Now Neku, that's not fair," a teasing voice intervened, causing both half-Noise to stop in alarm. "You should let them run for as long as they want."
Joshua materialized in between the two groups, hid arms folded. Beat never thought there would be a time when he was actually glad to see the Composer of Shibuya.
The gray-haired boy glanced back at Beat briefly, before shaking his head and muttering something. Then he turned his attention back to Neku and Shiki, smiling and waving a finger at both of them as if they were naughty toddlers. They both glared back.
"Now I must say that I disapprove of this union," he commented. "Such a pairing will only breed chaos."
Neku and Shiki rushed forward, all anger and no words. Joshua repelled them with a rain of light lasers from the sky.
"Now really, can't we all just get along?" the Composer asked with a shrug and an easy smile, before both half-Noise were blindsided by psych-possessed trash cans. A person paused at the racket of metal crashing. The wall of fire behind the Reapers died away.
"Well, now our chance to scram and regroup," said Kariya, as Joshua evaded Shiki's tail lashes. "I'd say we should take it."
"What about the kid?" asked Uzuki.
"Trust me, he'll be fine. Right Skulls?"
Beat didn't answer as he watched Joshua weave through Neku's slashes and dashes without effort. He wasn't worried about the Composer getting hurt. That guy was practically the god of Shibuya. He was more concerned about his friends. Joshua wasn't afraid to kill, though part of that might have to do with the fact that he could revive anyone he wanted as well.
Joshua smiled cheerfully as he struck Neku with a barrage of white beams of luminosity. Afterward he dropped a bicycle on Shiki, who had tried to attack him from behind. He slammed the incoming Mr. Mew between two trash can lids. Neku gave a madly melodious howl that blasted Joshua back a couple feet, but Joshua quickly recovered, still smiling.
…On the other hand, Beat sort of wished that the Composer would take the fight a little more seriously. If he really was as strong as Neku was always saying, he could have defeated both half-Noise in a matter of seconds. Instead, he seemed to be playing with his opponents, much as a cat does with a mouse.
"You coming Skulls?" called Kariya. "Leave this to pretty boy. We'll get some other Reapers and try to figure out what all of this is about."
Beat paused, began to turn around, and nearly bumped into a stranger right in front of him. Not that he could have actually ran into him, since he was in the UG. Nobody could see them. Nobody…was moving. They were all just standing around, staring in different directions, completely still.
"…Yo, what's with all the people?" asked Beat nervously, as Joshua proceeded to whack Neku with his own stolen headphones and Shiki with Mr. Mew. "It's all quiet."
Uzuki and Kariya scanned the area as well.
"Now that you bring it up…" began Uzuki. "It's kinda like…"
Neku let out another distorted, hypnotizing howl. Joshua shielded himself from the shockwave with a summoned fridge. He was still grinning.
All of the people snapped their heads in Joshua's direction, their stares suddenly wide. Then their expressions slowly became enraged, as yellow lights lit up in their pupils and tattoos snaked all over their bodies.
"Shit," both Uzuki and Kariya hissed. Kariya looked downright unwell.
Hell man, thought Beat. Do we hafta fight everybody in Shibuya now? I don't know if even Prissy Boy…shit, Prissy Boy!
"Look out!" shouted Beat to the preoccupied Composer.
Joshua turned and his grin retreated, his violet eyes widening at the sight.
The swarm of half-Noise all launched energy attacks in sync with Neku and Shiki. There was an loud explosion, and then Joshua fell to the ground.
"Oh hell," Uzuki spat, as she and Kariya pressed back-to-back as some of the newly-formed half-Noise circled around them hungrily.
"See, this is why we should have left earlier," Kariya replied through gritted teeth, summoning shurikens as Uzuki summoned her gun.
Beat's wings spread out apprehensively as other half-people stalked toward him, some manically happy but most coldly angry. The yellow light in their pupils burned relentlessly.
Beat's head snapped to where Joshua was still lying on ground. He didn't know if the gray-maned boy was conscious or not since his face was turned away from him, but he showed no signs of moving, much less getting up.
…Shit, is he out? Well, they did attack all at once…
Other half-Noise, including Shiki, approached the still Joshua. Neku growled at them and they backed off timidly. The wolf-boy walked over to the Composer, his expression cool. The others watched him as if observing a ceremony.
"Wha, what's he doin'?" wondered Beat, trying to get closer only to be assaulted by multiple half-Noise, including a half-frog Yammer. Well, the guy was kind of a slimy personality…and more importantly, crazed and in the way. Beat fought back and held his own, but he wasn't getting any closer to Neku and Joshua either.
Neku looked down at the unmoving Joshua, apparently contemplating. Then a feral grin slipped onto his face as he raised a clawed hand, a black-and-blue fireball materializing in his downward palm.
Oh hell, thought Beat, his gut clenching. "Neku, don't do it, yo!"
Neku didn't even pay him a glance.
Nonononono…thought Beat, shutting his eyes tightly. "Stop it! Stoooooop!"
Everything seem to shatter and warp around him. Signs bent. Lights and glass broke. Neku was driven back, holding his ears, as well as the rest of the half-Noise. Uzuki gripped her head as Kariya fell to his knees.
Beat stared dumbly, flabbergasted at the damage his mere scream had done. How was that even possible? Then again, so many impossible things had already happened, were happening. Impossible needed a new definition.
"Let's go, Skulls!" Uzuki yelled, helping Kariya back to his feet and retreating from the stunned half-Noise. Beat soon complied, scooping up the unconscious Joshua before following.
"I-I don't know what that was man," Beat admitted as he caught up, Joshua over his shoulder. "Tha' never happened before, yo. Even during the Game."
"Whatever you did…" Kariya muttered, leaning against Uzuki somewhat. "Hey, it worked…A little warning next time though…"
"You sure you're okay?" asked Uzuki, frowning at her partner's addled condition.
"Well, I'm not erased…Can't be too bad…"
"Where are we goin'?" asked Beat. The insanity would be in the rest of Shibuya as well, if it wasn't already there.
"Don't worry, I know just the place," Uzuki replied with a sly smirk. "Might even be able to get a bite to eat."
IIIIII
"Ever catch your curry?" asked Mr. Doi. He seemed oddly serene about several Reapers walking into his restaurant. New graffiti had covered up and neutralized the mark that suppressed Reaper powers and allowed Players to temporarily materialize in the RG. Then again, the barriers between RG and UG seemed to be breaking down anyway, so maybe the mark was active but useless.
"No. Everythin' went psycho so I forgot all about it," replied Beat. He was at his usual seat, with a sleeping Joshua slumped in the seat next to him. Uzuki and Kariya were at some seats on the end, Uzuki checking over a now-dozing Kariya. "…You got anythin' else left?"
"Nope. Tried going out earlier. Bad idea," Mr. Doi replied, not bothering to elaborate.
"Oh…I'm hungry though…"
"Beat?" a small voice squeaked.
Beat spun around to see Rhyme peeking into the restaurant. There was some tears in her clothes.
"Rhyme!" called Beat, rushing over. "You okay?"
"Yeah," Rhyme answered, not nearly as frazzled as her older brother. Her polite smile faded into dull puzzlement as she noticed the wings. "Why are you a Reaper again?"
"Well…" Beat began, trailing off.
Rhyme touched his arm. "You're cold. Dead cold."
Beat looked away from his sister in guilt. "I still don't get how it happened, yo. I was freakin' out because everythin' was so wrong, then I started feeling wrong, then I next thing I know I'm on the ground and I'm a Reaper again. It don't make any sense."
"Sounds like that lousy seal finally broke."
Everybody turned to Joshua, who was now awake. He had the usual irritating smile, like he hadn't just suffered a defeat from hundreds of Half-Noise.
"Whatchu talkin' about?" demanded Beat, stomping over to him. How could he be so confident after he got knocked out so easily by a ganged-up sucker punch? Rhyme mildly followed her brother.
"Yeah, it confused the crap out of me too," added Uzuki. "People don't just grow Reaper wings for no reason. You work for them!"
"Oh, it's quite simple really," Joshua replied, unfazed by Beat's loudness or Uzuki's agreement. "When's a person's Reaper side is released, it is not so easily put back in the box. In fact, only the Composer, that is, me, can properly reseal it.
Uzuki gawked. "You're the Composer?"
"Ah, that's right, you're the only one here you didn't know," Joshua answered blandly. "Not that it's common knowledge, mind you. Welcome to the club."
Uzuki gave accusing stares to everyone else in the room. No one answered in return.
"Wha? But you weren't there being a Composer when I was a Reaper," noted Beat in confusion. Joshua had been secretly participating in the Game then, being Neku's partner until he faked his own death. During Beat's Game with Neku the Composer was lounging around in another dimension.
"Right, I wasn't there to reseal you when the decision was made," Joshua answered. "Not only that, but Megumi the Conductor, who could have done a decent if not perfect job of it, couldn't be bothered with the task. Instead he assigned the resealing to a mere officer Reaper who, while she was quite powerful, didn't have nearly enough experience or skill to do it properly."
"You mean Ironface did it?" asked Beat. That woman gave him nightmares for the longest time, seeing her destroying Rhyme's Noise form over and over while she grinned savagely.
"Yes, Konishi. A fine Reaper, but not at all loyal. If you hadn't erased her yourself then I would have done so myself," Joshua remarked, sighing and shrugging. "Point is, your sealing was botched. It was such a shabby job that I'm surprised it took this long to break."
"But if you knew about the bad seal, then why didn't you fix it?" asked Rhyme.
"Yeah! I don't wanna be a Reaper again!" Beat chimed in. "Change me back, yo!"
"Now, now," Joshua chided lazily. "I've been busy trying to fix the UG and recruit new officer Reapers. That comes before you, sadly. As for your current request, don't you think we should wait until the current crisis is over, hmm?"
Beat knew he had no way to argue against that.
"This current situation is beyond anything I anticipated," Joshua went on, his expression growing more serious. "Nothing like this came up in my visions, just trivial things like who win the next Tin Pin tournament or what will be the next fashion trend. Clairvoyance can be so unreliable at times. If only Sanae was here."
"Dude, even you don't know what's goin' on, prissy boy?" Beat asked in disbelief. Wasn't this guy supposed to know everything about Shibuya?
"I'm not completely clueless," Joshua answered. "Something is preventing the people of Shibuya from properly producing Noise."
"Huh? Looks like they're producing Noise just fine to me," countered Uzuki.
"I said producing Noise properly," the Composer emphasized. "Normally people release chump Noise when they start to get stressed. You know this from the Game. This is a natural mechanism to make sure a person doesn't go insane from the natural Noise it produces. Otherwise…"
"Otherwise this kind of thing happens," concluded Rhyme. "But what would prevent a person from releasing their Noise?"
"Ah, that is the question," admitted Joshua. "It's one thing for a random person to be unable to release their Noise. It's something else for everyone to be unable to do it, at the same time. Especially Neku and Shiki. Being previous Players, they should be skilled in managing their own Soul and Noise. And even if someone is unable to release their Noise, this kind of escalation usually takes years, not a couple months like this."
The Composer studied Beat and Rhyme.
"Which brings up something else: Why haven't you two been affected?"
"Well, it doesn't seem to be affecting the Reapers, and Beat's kind of been a Reaper all this time, right?" offered Rhyme. "And I'm a special case. Do I produce Noise?"
Beat cringed at how nonchalant Rhyme was about her loss of passion. Then again, it took passion to worry about something, didn't it?
"No you cannot," said Joshua. "Noise is linked to desire and strong emotions, neither of which you've had since the Game you participated in." He turned to Beat. "Now you, you're producing plenty of Noise. Too much Noise, really. And yet despite all the Noise you're releasing, Noise seems to keep building up within you."
Beat was taken aback. "H-How can you tell?"
"I just can," Joshua replied vaguely. "It would take too long to explain the details."
"Yo, if the opposite is going crazy in turning Noise, I ain't complaining," answered Beat, though he still looked nervous. "This is like…no it's worse than the whole thing with the Red Skull pins. Only it ain't nothing like that, it's-"
"The exact opposite," Joshua interrupted, holding his chin before pounding his fist into his palm. "That's it!"
"What's it?" asked Beat in puzzlement.
"The Red Skull pins, that's what's causing this!" announced Joshua. "It's the backlash from it."
"Wha?"
"Yeah, you lost me there too," added Uzuki.
"Let me explain," Joshua continued. "People have mental barriers to protect their thoughts and keep them individuals. Both the Player pins and Red Skull pins are able to bypass those barriers. In the case of the Red Skull pins, which hijacked everyone's minds with the same thought, it was more like violating those barriers."
"No kidding," replied Uzuki dryly, as she and Kariya had been two of many victims. "It's just as well that I can't remember much of anything from that time."
"Anyway, people's minds react to these trepasses and become stronger over time, making them harder to penetrate. We have to upgrade the imprinting power of the Player Pins every now and then because of this," Joshua explained. "But like I said, the Red Skull pins mass imprinting was like a hostile takeover, so the minds subject to it reacted by greatly strengthening their mental barriers."
"I don't blame them," said Beat.
"The problem is that they reacted so strongly that their own thoughts and Noise can't pass through the new barrier," Joshua replied. "It hampers people's ability to sympathize and communicate, since nothing can get in either. On top of that, O-Pins like the Red Skull boost creativity power, which creates new thought but also added Noise and stress. And their new ideas aren't appreciated because the mental barriers are so thick and not accepting anything from the outside, only their own new thought. Meanwhile, the Noise within them builds and grows, denied even Reaper release because of the strength of the barriers. Madness is inevitable."
"But what about Neku and Shiki?" asked Rhyme. "They weren't taken over by the Red Skull pins."
"Shiki was," Beat corrected. "She had a Red Skull pin from a previous mission or somethin'. Me and Neku had to fight her, and she was way stronger than usual. Dude, she had that strange black static that Neku had earlier! But Neku never got took over, so why's he all nuts now?"
"Hmm…" pondered Joshua. "I can't be sure, but I have a couple of theories."
"Like what?" asked Beat.
"First Neku has an incredible amount of power, but he's isn't always able to handle it properly," said Joshua. "Also, though he's much more sociable now, he's something of a loner by nature. For him to get too involved in isolating himself to discover his raw power is certainly plausible. But also…"
"But what?" asked Beat.
"He might have been weakened from the whole ordeal of the Games," Joshua added. "And from preserving your existence."
Beat gave the Composer a blank stare. "Wha?"
"Why do you think you didn't just fade when your time was up?" asked Joshua. "Granted, your own willpower helped, but it was Neku's own power, his own bond with you, that ultimately kept you from being erased. And that took quite a bit of power from Neku, mind you, especially after the Game."
"After…You-you saying I've been draining him all this time?" Beat breathed.
"Precisely," Joshua answered. "You didn't start feeling strange until everyone else started acting strange, right? As Neku's inner barriers strengthened, because of his own nature and his reaction to the world around him, your connection to him weakened and eventually severed. It was lucky that your Reaper seal was so weak, or you probably would have just died instead."
Beat felt his stomach twist. "You sayin'…this is my fault?"
"Not entirely. Mostly it's Megumi's last laugh," Joshua answered, shaking his head. "But at least in the case of Neku, yes."
Beat's horrified gaze slipped to the floor, his hands clenched tightly.
"Beat?" Rhyme asked, touching her brother's shoulder.
He bolted from the restaurant.
"Beat, wait!" Rhyme called out, chasing after him.
"Come back you two! It's not safe out there!" shouted Mr. Doi, only to be either unheeded or unheard. The ramen-worker gave an exasperated sigh.
"Hmm, seems I've hit a sore spot," Joshua mused.
"You going to go after them?" asked Mr. Doi.
"In a minute," Joshua replied lazily. "You don't seem terribly concerned for my safety. Though you seem very much worried about the meathead's."
"He reminds me of my old partner in the Games," Mr. Doi replied. "Before he started going insane, anyway. I don't want to see the kid taking the same route. Said partner also told me who you really are, so I know you can handle yourself just fine out there."
"Ah," Joshua answered with a bland smile. "So how is Minamimoto doing?"
Mr. Doi leered at the gray-maned Composer. "I think you know that just as well as I do."
IIIIII
Beat ran and ran. He didn't even know where he was running to, nor did he care. Just as long as it was away from everything.
"Beat!" Rhyme called behind him. "Beat, stop!"
Beat eventually did stop, but not for the sake of his sister. He stopped because he tripped and fell flat on his face. He was still laying there when Rhyme caught up with him.
"Are you alright?" she asked, leaning over him.
Beat pushed himself up, his Reaper wings draped over him.
"Yo…" he began, still looking at the ground. "I ain't…I ain't turning into a monster, am I?"
"What are you talking about?" Rhyme questioned with a mild smile. "You're still the same ol' Beat as far as I can tell."
"You sure?" asked Beat. "It's just…I haven't felt right lately, you know?"
"Seems no one's feeling right at the moment," remarked Rhyme.
"That's not what I mean, yo," answered Beat. "No one actin' right, so how do I know I'm okay? That I ain't a part of it somehow?"
"You're questioning your sanity?" asked Rhyme calmly.
"…Yeah, guess so."
"Insane people don't do that much," Rhyme replied with a grin. "So you should be okay."
"You sure?"
"Yep," Rhyme chirped. "…But that's not the only thing bothered you, is it?"
Beat averted his gaze. She could always read him so easily.
"The stuff Prissy Boy said," he mumbled. "And…"
They were interrupted by light, quick footsteps. A small pack of half-Noise skittered into the alleyway, rushing toward the siblings. Beat quickly took a defensive pose before Rhyme, ready to fend off incoming attacks. Only the half-Noise dashed past them, not even noticing the two of them.
"Wha?" Beat asked, watching the fleeing half-Noise in confusion. "Where they goin'?"
"Beat," Rhyme said stiffly, looking straight ahead.
Beat spun back around, and saw the reason for the dread.
At the mouth of the alleyway was a mostly-Noise person, the body swathed in lion-like tattoos. Only a deranged grinning face could be seen among the black tattoo lines. And Beat knew that deranged face.
"Pi-Face!" Beat exclaimed. "But I thought he got erased!"
Sho Minamimoto, better known by many other names besides his true one, started to cackle madly. Then he charged, releasing a cry that was more animal than human.
IIIIII
So do you understand things better now that things have been explained somewhat, or did I melt your brains even further? Bwahahaha...in all seriousness, did the explanations make sense and everyone seem IC? Anything that still needs explaining? (things involving Beat and Rhyme will be explained next chapter, and, if needed, a chapter/epilogue afterward)
I will be working on the next chapter shortly, so at the least it should arrive earlier than this one did XP. As a side note/advertisment, there should be some new one-shots for the PLAYGROUND series soon as well.
NEXT CHAPTER: The One Star's Transformation
Cya!
