THE WORLD I ONCE KNEW

Week 1, Day 7

[a day FLAMES away]

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The final day.

That one time of week where Ike would leave everyone alone because he got to do whatever he want. He's apparently the reason for the low success rate in winning the Game.

Unlike others, Shiro simply observed today's events from the roof of 104. There were... about 6 or 7 pacts alive. He figured by the time Ike was done, and all the other Reapers, there would be 2 pacts left. Dunno if they would beat the GM though.

This week's Game Master was one Ryotaro Hijiro, 37 year old male who was once a children's entertainment designer. Explained the weird-ass puzzle, probably. Apparently the bets on him within the lower Reapers secret gambling house were very high on him to lose. Shiro himself hadn't met the guy, so he politely declined the offer to take a stab at it.

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The real job today, however, was to make sure their nasty guest didn't try anything while everyone was busy. Alice and Kakeru were out in Shinjuku for the quarterly Reapers Conference, were they talked about little boring details no-one really cares about but are actually keeping everything running smoothly.

So Shiro sat and watched the clouds roll by, occasionally picking at his bowl of Miso Ramen.

"What a wonderful world."

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And that's when it happened.

The sun suddenly disappeared and the Scramble went dark. Shiro looked down to see what was going on, but the crowds crossing the streets seemed to be unaware of any changes. Which meant...

The sky was ripped open by a terrible screech.

Looking up, Shiro saw a large dragon, hovering itself in front of the sun. It was Noise, but nothing that had ever been seen before.

Before he could think of anything else, the dragon swooped down and landed in the Scramble. It roared and attacked, sending flames across the streets, killing a Player and Reaper. The now pact-less player seemed to panic, and was crushed under the monster's foot.

Reapers appeared on the rooftops surrounding the Scramble Crossing. Watching the chaos unfold, one of them raised his hand and yelled "Execute Action 47".

Action 47, also known as 'NPC Visor'. It slightly heightens the UG's vibe, making the Human's not appear in the area. It opens visibility for emergency situations. An added effect is, apparently, total confusion of an unaware enemy. The Dragon stopped its attacks, looking around itself and wondering where his prey had gone.

The chance to strike had appeared. Flames and lightning streamed down and the Dragon was pinned under the attacks. Shaking it off, he started to move his wings, preparing to take flight. We had the disadvantage if he was in the sky.

And this is when Ike chose to turn up. The force of air from the Dragon's wings knocked his Ramen bowl from his hands into the air, and crashing into the road behind him. Visibly pissed off, he said something Shiro couldn't hear from his place, and - very Ike-ishly - charged towards the Dragon.

His body started to glow with electricity, and was slowly focused into his arm. Dodging the flames shot from the beast's mouth, he took off and jumped towards the monsters face.

"LIGHTNINNNGGGG HOOOOOOOKKKKKKK!"

As his fist connected with the bottom of the Dragon's head, the lightning force exploded through his arm and knocked the dragon into the air, crashing back into the ground a ways away. It struggled up, and began to take off again. This time, Ike jumped on to its back and they both moved into the air. The dragon struggled, trying to get him off, and started flying towards where Shiro was.

"...huh?"

Before he knew it, Shiro was in the air. Looking up, he saw Ike had grabbed him, and pulled him up.

"What the hell are you doing Ike?"

"Well see I got the Soul Chains around the Dragon to capture it, right"

Shiro looked around to notice the glowing purple chains that circled parts of the Dragon's body. "I can see that, yeah."

"Well I got it all done and that, but then I realized I didn't have any Blank Pins. Can I borrow one of yours?"

"I don't have any you idiot, they don't give them to Trainee Harriers!"

"Oh. Well in that case, hold on to something."

The Dragon took a dive and started moving across Shibuya, blasting Drakes and Ravens out of the way. Flying towards the back of Shibuya, Shiro realized what was going on.

"It's heading towards Udagawa!"

"Oh, nice catch Shiro"

"You need to take this a little more seriously!"

"...nah..."

The Dragon zoomed straight towards the Udagawa Mural, and the wall started to light up. A crack, down the middle of the wall, brightly glowed.

And it front of it, determined to stop it, was Alice.

Holding up a pin, the plan was instantly known between the three of them. Shiro jumped off the Dragon onto the nearby building. Ike, pulling on the chains, worked to annoy the dragon and slow it down.

Alice ran towards them, and Ike threw part of the Soul Chain out. Shiro leaped and grabbed it, pulling it down towards the ground. Ike shot Lightning Rook through the Dragon, and it crashed into the roads, but didn't stop moving. Crawling towards the Udagawa Mural, it was stopped on the staircase. Alice stood in front of him. The Dragon, overwhelmed by Alice's sheer presence, slowly moved a little backwards, an Alice took the chance to kick it, sending it far backwards.

Shiro took his shot, and threw the chain.

Alice held the pin up again, and the chain hit it straight on. Glowing, the chain started to be pulled into the pin, and the dragon pulled with it. Resisting until the last, the Dragon pulled back, determined not to let itself lose.

"Soul Shatter."

Alice muttered these two words, and the Dragon exploded, becoming a mess of data and soul. The chains reeled in faster, and the entire being was captured into the pin.

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"My chains, therefore it's my catch."

"Even if you did catch it yourself, there's no way in hell I'd let YOU of all people keep this Noise! And what the hell were you two doing anyway!?"

Shiro immediately answered that "Ike literally dragged me into it", and so Ike not-surprisingly got all the blame.

"But still, where did it come from..."

"It started heading here as soon as it realized it was in trouble. And then, the wall..."

The three looked back towards the Udagawa Mural. Alice examined it, and sure enough, a very thin crack ran down the entire length of the wall, through the middle of the six slots found the other day.

"I guess this is as good confirmation as any..."

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"Then we truly do have a problem."

Zio Lee and Kakeru were at opposite ends of the spectrum. Where Zio seemed rather calm about the whole ideal, Kakeru was in a panic.

"So..." Kakeru started, "The Noise Ground has declared war on us. The person out there is one of these Human-Noise, but we don't know the actual identity of him or her."

"That appears to be the case."

Alice was again deep in thought. "Do we have ANY info on the person?"

"...no. I'm afraid we don't..."

...

"Well, in any case, Day 7 ran successfully. The three of you dealt with our visitor very effectively. Shiro, you're promoted to Harrier. No longer a Trainee. However, I want you to stay with Ike. Your teamwork is very good. To the both of you, I'm officially assigning you to Alice. You three are now Reaper Squad 12."

"Thank you, Conductor sir."

"Rest up, a new week begins in four days and you need to be in top form to keep up with this case."

"Oh, and Shiro." Kakeru stepped forward, and threw a pin towards him. Catching it, he opened his hand to see Black Saturn.

"Thank you, Kakeru."

"Don't let us down, Shiro Shinda."

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-a day FLAMES away-

::Day End::