Chapter Five: Shibuya VS Paris
Day Four: Escape
Shiki didn't know if Joshua was angry or calm, like usual. The boy just raised his eyebrows at Rhyme when she told him about what had happened.
"Rest then, dear. And is your brother okay?"
"He'll be fine." Rhyme looked puzzled, staring into his purple gaze with her own, clear blue. The Composer gave a somewhat irritated sigh.
"Don't worry overmuch. I'm not pleased we lost…" Joshua stared slightly to his left, as if focusing on something. "But I expected it. We're still high in the rankings, and Spira lost points for almost killing Beat. Just make sure we don't lose again."
Shiki said, "Neku and I are playing twice then?"
"That is correct. Let's give Beat all the time he needs to recuperate, hmm?"
Eri looked worriedly up the stairs toward Beat's room. "Yeah…"
Shiki looked at Neku, who had his arms crossed, dark cobalt eyes seemingly looking at nothing.
"Neku?"
He blinked. "What?"
"Let's get some rest; we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."
He nodded, heading for the stairs. The others followed her, but Joshua surprised Shiki by calling her back.
She approached warily. "Yes?"
The Composer drummed his fingers together. "I've got something for you."
"Really?" She didn't bother to hide the suspicion in her voice.
Joshua giggled, reaching into his pocket and removing a bright pink sticker that looked like it could fit on her cell phone.
"A sticker?"
Rolling his eyes at her incredulous tone, Joshua smirked. "Yes, dear, a sticker. Not just any sticker…" He showed it to her now, and the little square depicted Mr. Mew and several other stuffed animals frozen in midair. "Your sticker. You tried moving other objects before, correct?"
Shiki pushed her glasses up, keeping them still as she looked down at Mr. Mew. The cat was bouncing from foot to foot on his own accord, tail waving behind him. "Yes. Didn't work."
"Are you even aware of how your cat moves?" Joshua questioned.
Shiki grimaced, not sure. "Isn't it because of my psyche? Groove Pawn?"
"But do you know how that works, exactly?" He pressed.
She bit her lip and he smiled.
"Thought so. Dear, your cat moves due to your Imagination and Soul. You have very…unique components to you. Your Soul was weak but stable when you envied Eri, but now that you're on equal terms…" Joshua looked thoughtful. "Your Soul greatly increased in strength. Eri also has similar Imagination to you, but she doesn't have an outlet for hers, which may be the key to her problem."
Shiki didn't reply, just watched her little skipping cat.
"Shiki," he said, earning her attention now. "This sticker, if you place it on your phone or anywhere on your person I suppose, will allow you to redirect your flow of Imagination and Soul into other objects." He put a hand up to stop Shiki's questions. "Do not remove your Soul and Imagination; let's say your Energy shall we, from Mr. Mew. It'd be safer to keep him as your original medium. However, be careful how much of your Energy you redirect into other objects. You could end up dangerously destabilizing yourself, particularly your Soul. I wouldn't do more than two or three at a time, counting Mr. Mew in those numbers."
Shiki accepted the sticker, looking at it uneasily. The surface had a glassy glimmer to it. She pulled her phone out and looked up at the Composer again. "Is this what you do during your absences?"
"Mostly, yes. I have something for Neku too, though that is not done yet. Beat and Rhyme will have to wait."
Shiki grimaced, and then slapped the sticker onto her phone. The incoming rush of cold energy crept across her body before vanishing.
Joshua suddenly giggled and smirked, tossing something at her. Shiki scrambled to catch it, and when she held it up she saw it was a doll of Neku.
"That's just a little disturbing." She said dryly, earning another laugh from the Composer.
"Try," Joshua said, sobering up suddenly. His face was serious. "Try bringing life into that doll just like the cat."
Shiki looked down at the doll, feeling a little strange, and closed her eyes. Lukewarm energy slid across her body like silk, settling on her like a second skin. The feeling was so uncomfortable she almost lost her concentration.
The feeling gradually faded, but she felt a drop inside her. It was hard to explain, as if she was now missing something. However, that piece that seemed to be missing just moved somewhere else. She felt like a line was connected to her, a line of energy just like with Mr. Mew. Except now there were two of those.
Of its own accord the Neku doll jumped to the ground and mimicked Neku's battle stance. The sight was so disorienting she gave a little shriek, stepping backwards, and immediately the energy ceased. It all flowed back into the girl, and the doll fell lifeless to the earth.
Mr. Mew looked at her strangely, head cocked to the side. She opened her arms and the doll leaped into her embrace. Hugging the cat tight, she looked at the doll, then at the amused Composer.
"Ah, well, it works. I believe you can probably bring anything to life, if that's what you wish, Shiki." Joshua paused for a moment, as if arranging his words right. "Try not to do it for just any reason though."
She nodded, murmuring thanks and still stroking Mr. Mew as she headed up the stairs.
"Oh, Shiki dear?"
She froze, looking behind her.
"Ah, ah, ah," he waved his finger from side to side, smirking. "I'm not done yet. If push comes to shove, you might be able to impose your Energy on living things."
Shiki paled as he laughed again.
"Isn't that interesting?" Joshua's eyes glittered.
"No." She replied resolutely, heading up the stairs again. She didn't even want to think about what he was implying.
~***~
Shiki woke up from something that could have been a nightmare…Or a dream come true.
She hugged Mr. Mew to her chest. It felt…well, she felt happy and all, but there had been a heavy foreboding air around the entire dream landscape. She thought she was talking to Neku, but then she heard something like a cat screeching nearby, its cry had echoed around the white forest. She even thought she had seen Rhyme, following a pink squirrel. Was she running? From what? Before she had had a chance to ask the girl, the cat had sounded again and she had broke into a desperate jog to escape it.
She felt a little shaky now, and the scent of the castle was giving her a headache. She left her room, fully dressed and prepared, and decided to take a walk to calm her nerves.
Her footsteps echoed in the corridors, and everywhere she looked she imagined she saw towering Noise forms in the shadows. Everything from snarling lynxes to milder deer. The patterns in the walls even took on a sinister shape, and as Shiki passed by a room something glinted.
She stopped, glancing over her shoulder, then walked slowly back toward the room. She paused, looking into the chamber.
Everything was white, as usual, but there was a single mirror in the room. The surface swam with strange images, and everywhere she looked on its exterior Shiki saw nothing but colors.
Shiki stepped closer to the mirror, and she gasped as the colors suddenly pulled in on themselves and rearranged into…
There was a wolf, facing a great dragon that flowed from side to side. The wolf sprang away just as the dragon unleashed a wave of ivory fire.
Shiki inched forward, eyes wide, as she realized something. That dragon seemed awfully familiar…
"You shouldn't be here." A voice said behind her.
Shiki turned around to see a girl with black hair and tawny eyes looking at her. Shiki glanced back at the mirror, but the images had faded again.
"Sorry, I didn't know." She dipped her head slightly before preparing to leave the room.
"You're not going to make it," teased the girl.
Shiki froze. "Sorry?" She turned around but no one was there.
Perturbed, the glasses wearing teen hugged Mr. Mew tighter and wandered off.
~***~
"Where were you?" Neku asked her as she finally found the others in the meeting room. The Angel had already come and gone, and Shiki yanked out her Player Pin as she approached.
"Sorry, I woke up early and decided to explore."
Joshua looked like he was going to say something, but deigned not to.
"Good luck, yo!" Beat told Shiki. She thought he looked a little tired, and there were bandages across his shoulders and back.
Nasty fall, she thought.
"Yeah, good luck. Fate rewards the hardworking." Rhyme smiled.
"You can do it, Shiki. I know you can!" Eri urged.
Neku gave a teasing smile. "What about me?"
"You too," Eri agreed hurriedly, smiling.
"Don't forget your new power, dear." Joshua smirked.
"I'm not stupid," Neku snapped.
Before Shiki could ask what they meant, the light enveloped them.
As the beams released them, the first thing Shiki did was look around to check the signs on the buildings. She saw a hanging design, a sort of flag that draped down near a building that read, "Le Lion Jaune".
Le Lion Jaune…She blinked. "This is Paris!" She squealed.
It rose all around them, the magnificent buildings of Paris. Everything from soft, creamy yellow to dark brown, the buildings proudly displayed a variety of signs to attract the many customers walking along the paved roads. Cars zoomed around them as the lights changed, and not far away from them at all Shiki spotted the Eifel Tower and what she thought was the Notre Dame.
A myriad of scents hung in the air, and light filtered through gaps in the clouds as if to emphasize certain areas of interest. It, just like every other city, took Shiki's breath away.
Neku said nothing as their phones rang, and he pulled out the device, flipping it open.
"'Let me first say bonjour, and welcome to Paris.'" Neku rolled his eyes. "'Head for the Eifel Tower, surely you know what it is. Time limit is fifteen minutes. Fail, and lose points for the Tournament. Sincerely yours, the Reapers.'"
Shiki hissed in pain as the timer scorched across her palm. Shaking her hand, she said, "Let's go, Neku!"
"Right behind you," he replied.
Off they went, running across the city streets. Every person they ran straight through made them feel like someone had doused ice cold water across their bodies. Shivering, Shiki threw it off and made her way toward the base of the great tower.
They had four minutes left when they finally made it, leaning against a café near the structure. Cooling mist drifted across their palms and wiped the timer clean. The Eifel Tower rose like a monument of French greatness, a gray spire of magnificent beauty that spiked the cloudy sky.
"It's going to leave a permanent mark one of these days," Shiki mumbled, glancing at her hand.
Neku looked around them, watching as rain began to patter to the ground. City lights flicked on, and Shiki's eyes glittered as she watched the glowing beacons illuminate the gloom around them. In the semidarkness she spotted a Barrier Reaper watching them.
That's right; we haven't had much to do with them. Maybe in this Game.
Their phones went off, and Neku pulled it out. "'Reach Notre Dame. You have forty minutes. Fail, and, well we don't know really. The Reapers.'"
Shiki grimaced again but wasted no time. "Surely you saw that one movie, The Hunchback of Notre Dame?"
Neku nodded, and they went off again, racing through the throngs. Shiki noticed Noise signs in the air, and that puzzled her.
"Neku?"
He looked at her.
"Can you see those Noise symbols?"
He blinked, his eyes once again concerned. "…Noise symbols? Not without the Player Pin."
Swallowing nervously, Shiki reached out and touched one of them. She felt a sort of cold metallic surface beneath her fingers, but it didn't react.
She remembered what Beat had said earlier to her about it. While in Cairo, he had seen Noise symbols actually chasing him, and not Taboo ones either.
This can't be right. What if…Shiki's heart thundered. What if this has something to do with my dream? Rhyme was there too…What if those aren't dreams at all?!
Neku had come to a halt now, and Shiki wasn't paying attention to that fact. She ran straight into a wall, falling backwards as energy crackled through her entire body. The breath knocked from her, she laid there for a moment before getting up.
"I said 'wall', you know." Neku told her, still looking at her worriedly.
A Reaper snorted with laughter. "Watch where you're going, Mademoiselle." He crossed his arms, his red jacket hanging slackly on his thin frame. "To get past this barrier, you'll have to eliminate some Noise. Just one set. Not too bad. And Monsieur?"
"What?" Neku growled.
For some reason, the way he said that single world made Shiki's skin crawl.
"Keep a good eye on the little lady." A strange sadness entered the Reaper's eyes and Shiki wondered if he pitied her.
Probably for being dumb enough to run into a wall!
Neku shook his head, as if getting rid of something, and flipped his Player Pin. He drew a Noise symbol toward them, and Shiki glanced warily at the Reaper before the light slipped her away to the Noise dimensions.
In roaring bursts of static the Noise appeared. One was a gigantic elephant that reared up on its hind legs before crashing down. Ripples of energy exploded out from it, and Shiki retreated desperately.
She wasn't stupid; Shiki knew she was one of the weakest fighters. Even Rhyme might be better than her. However, if Shiki knew how to do anything it was block. She brought her arms up to shield herself as a snarling hedgehog Noise turned and shook a barrage of spikes at her.
Retreating, she almost fell over Mr. Mew as the cat followed her. She leaped, flicking her wrist and catching the hedgehog as it retracted its quills.
The red and green creature gave a hiss of fury, shaking its spines before inching forward and swinging its tail. Shiki dodged it, but forgot the elephant during her concentration on the Noise hedgehog. She gave a scream of pain, gasping as it lifted her clean in the air and flung her.
She hit the wall hard, stars swimming across her vision. Stumbling to her feet, Shiki blocked another explosion of quills before leaping forward and striking at the hedgehog.
It vanished, but at that moment, springing through the disappearing static, a great orange tiger that was built differently than Konishi's caught her chest.
Shiki fell onto her back, but she twisted her hand around, and without thinking, placed it on the tiger's head. She redirected her Energy into the tiger, and she gasped as it suddenly went rigid.
Its red eyes flicked to her, something like fear in their fiery depths. Noise were hunters, prideful of their murderous skills, but to the tiger Noise this girl had just frozen the energy that composed it. It was like water suddenly turning into ice.
Shiki had no idea why this had happened, it was an instinctive thing to stop it from mauling her face, but now she felt a sort of…cold energy flow into her. It was so startling she released her concentration immediately.
She shoved the Noise off, and the tiger began to get some feeling back. Not for long, though. Shiki guided Mr. Mew into its side, and the tiger rolled over before vanishing.
The elephant Noise was nowhere to be seen. Shiki guessed Neku had taken care of it first. She was warped back to his side now, and the Reaper clapped slowly.
"Bravo. Now, if you'd be so kind, head for the Notre Dame. Wall clear!" He waved his hand and the entire crystalline wall collapsed on itself like broken glass. The curtain of rain ignored it and continued to fall unbothered.
Neku looked at his counter. "Thirteen minutes left. Let's go."
The friends raced away again, threading through the streets as the rain came down harder. Everywhere she looked Shiki thought she saw not just Noise symbols now, but the Noise themselves. They were only glimpses and glances in the shadows—bright eyes and dark skin and vibrant tattoos.
I'm going to regret touching my Energy to a Noise, she thought grimly. Somehow, of this fact, she was certain.
It was an odd feeling, mused the girl, as she sprinted after Neku. To see the rain but not feel it. She knew she'd probably be soaked to the bone like the people in the RG if it wasn't for the fact the UG was outside of normal laws.
Shiki snapped back to the present situation now in time to dodge a sign. Even though there are many things in the UG that aren't solid, there are also some things that naturally are. She wondered why that was.
She thought she saw other Players, possibly just people from Paris that had entered the Game, entering a shop opposite of them. It was difficult to tell.
She was exhausted by the time they reached the Notre Dame. They had been running at full speed ever since they first left the Eifel Tower behind them. In the rain it looked like a column of golden light. The shower intensified as the timers vanished.
"Shiki," Neku was forcing himself to breathe evenly despite the fact he was obviously tired. "What's up with you? I'm used to you talking much more than this."
Shiki smiled apologetically. "Sorry, Neku. I'm just awed by the beauty of the areas we go to. Do you think they appreciate Shibuya?"
"They better. It's just as good as the things here." He gestured somewhat disinterestedly to the areas around them.
Their phones rang, and this time the mission was to reach Le Lion Jaune.
"I know where that is," Shiki said. "Let's go."
~***~
To Felice and Dominique, Shibuya was a wild and mysterious city that echoed with the voices of many people. The whole city, thought Felice, seemed to be comprised of technology.
Or at least where they were.
They were at the Scramble Crossing, or so Felice thought. Wherever they were, a gigantic TV screen played ads constantly as they waited for the mission mail. Their first mission had been to find the Crossing from their original position at the Station Underpass.
"I can imagine Shiki and her friend here," Felice told Dominique as they marveled at the sights. The French girl suddenly felt very small indeed in this massive city.
"As can I. I still hope we can talk to her again before this is over."
Felice looked sadly at her brother. "You have no sense, brother. She has a boyfriend, that Neku kid."
"I can sweep her off her feet," he complained.
"Smitten, are you?" Felice giggled as their phones rang and she read the message. Her eyes suddenly widened. "What? Look what it says, Dominique!"
Her brother looked at his own phone, confusion written clear across his own features. "'Reach the fifty-two times two. Fail, and be obliterated, you 000s. The Reapers.'"
"Who's this crackpot? This isn't the same person that wrote the other message." Felice said.
"Yeah, less curse words. What's going on?"
Felice looked thoughtful, saying nothing.
"Oh crap, we don't have time for this." Dominique grumbled.
Who is this nutcase? Felice wondered with a sigh.
~***~
The friends decided that since the mission had told them to find Le Lion Jaune they should enter it.
Neku felt the faint shift of energy as they slid into the RG, and he cut his eyes from side to side as he surveyed the scene.
It looked like a cross between a bar and a family restaurant, with the bar up front and the tables of families everywhere else. A sign declared in many languages, "No Smoking", and two separate TVs, one on sports, the other on cartoons, played in the corners of the room.
"Must be a decal here," Shiki said to him. He looked at her, and once again his heart twisted in fear. She seemed to have yet to notice, but he was certain there was a tiny red dot in each of her pupils, and her eyes had dilated a little so that the brown seemed to have widened.
But…she sounded normal.
Wait, Neku thought. I don't have to wonder; I can check her Music.
They sat down and ordered something to drink. They drank some soda, and Shiki mused aloud where the mission was.
Neku didn't reply. He summoned up his memories on the Music, and once again the thin ice crept back across his skin. There was a barely perceptible shift, but he felt it, and the boy suddenly heard Music all around him.
Paris's Music was much different than Shibuya's, not as upbeat but still very beautiful and unique, violins accompanying where guitars had played back home.
Home…I promised everyone…Beat, Rhyme, Shiki, and Eri that we'd get back there in one piece.
Neku relaxed, and the cacophony faded. He focused on Shiki's thoughts.
Her Player Pin blocked exactly what she was thinking, but just as he had feared the girl was very tense and anxious underneath her façade of calmness. Her Music was mostly the same, but he heard a harsher, disharmonic note thumping secretly amid the warm symphony of her heartbeat.
He reached out and touched her, doing something by simple instinct. He saw a spark of energy leap from his fingertips and touch her skin. Immediately the harsher note faded, but it was still present. She relaxed, giving him a grateful glance.
She probably thought it was just him alone that had soothed her, but Neku knew it was the strange energy Joshua had given him.
Suddenly, Neku's blood ran cold. Not because their phones had rang, but because he realized something.
They were in the RG.
And he had just used UG powers!
Neku gritted out a single word from between his teeth as he realized what that meant.
"Joshua."
~***~
Shiki blinked as Neku suddenly tensed beside her and growled Joshua's name. Once again that sound made her shiver.
"Neku?" She asked, concerned. She was thankful for the silent support Neku had given her; she didn't feel quite so uneasy.
"Nothing. Let's see here…The mission is, 'Find and destroy the Deceiver. You have five and a half hours. Fail, and…you know what happens. The Reapers.'"
The timers flared into existence painfully, leeching into their skin and burning their palms. Shiki caught her breath quickly, shaking her head.
I'll never get used to this feeling, she thought sadly.
"The Deceiver? The hell?" Neku snarled under his breath. His eyes flashed, but Shiki knew his anger seemed directed elsewhere.
"I don't know either Neku. This could be a problem."
"I'm certain it is. Who could be a Deceiver…One of the other Players? Reapers? Me?" Suspicion touched his eyes. "You?"
Shiki shook her head. "Not me, Neku. I promise."
He simply shrugged. "What now…" His brow furrowed in thought. "Let me search the Music, maybe we'll find some clues."
Shiki looked confused. "Music?"
"As Josh's Proxy, I can 'listen to the Music' or some crap."
Shiki shrugged. "Go ahead," she murmured. She secretly thought that with every interaction he had with Joshua or the UG, he got two steps farther away from her.
~***~
"What the hell?" Dominique sounded more surprised than angry.
Felice raised her eyebrows. "Language, brother." She chided softly.
"Sorry sis, but what the heck is this garbage heap supposed to be?"
Felice didn't know. They had gotten to 104 to find a giant garbage heap that the RG civilians passed through.
Before his sister could reply, a voice sounded from above them.
"Attention all you 000s! This sculpture marks the marvelous return of Sho Minamimoto! A feat as glorious as this deserves to be celebrated to an infinite magnitude! Foreign Players be warned, you cowardly French reciprocals!"
"What the-"
Interrupting Dominique, Felice called out, "Cowardly French Players? Show yourself!"
The sound of something falling down the heap in front of them reached their ears, and then someone jumped down beside the siblings.
He looked rather wild, or so Felice thought. He had eyes that glinted with something like a sort of intelligent insanity, with dark hair that fell around his neck and was cut just above his shoulders. He wore dark gray pants with rips in them, black boots, a black jacket with four dull gold buttons, a black hat to match and a red bandanna. His skin had just the faintest hint of brown to it, and honest to God Felice didn't know if that was some sort of glove or a shadowy tattoo that made his left hand look like it was black, with the designs drifting off once it left his hand and vanishing before going too far down his arm. The strange man also had a nasty, fanged smirk on his face as he toyed with a loose yellow belt buckle that hung limply on his jacket. His other hand carried a blue megaphone.
"Sho Minamimoto? Freakin' complicated name." Dominique mused. He stroked his black hair thoughtfully.
Felice shot her brother a glare, and he just gave her a grin, green eyes flashing. Her own blue eyes glinted with distrust now as she faced Sho. "Are you the Game Master?"
"Yes, I am." Unexpectedly he shouted, "Pop quiz! How long will you survive in this Game?"
Felice rolled her eyes. "The whole day."
Sho suddenly grabbed his microphone and shouted into her face, "Wrong! You'll survive one trillionth of a second! Polynomial growth is guaranteed for me!" He threw his hands back, as if to claw the air, and laughed.
"It's been much more than one trillionth of a second," said Dominique.
Sho paused, eyes suddenly narrowing in fury. "Well, if you want to play that way." He shouted into the megaphone again. "If you want to be literal about it! See farther than you currently do, you 000! Use a different set, like how math uses Upsilon!"
"What? My brain hurts," moaned Dominique.
"Excuse me, we don't have a mission. Isn't that odd?" Felice wondered if poor Shiki and Neku had to deal with this guy.
Sho lowered his megaphone and grinned wider. "Possibly. So willing to dive into the matrix! I want to have a little more fun before…" He paused. "I have to make one of you into a remainder."
Laughing at his odd threat, Felice exchanged a look with her brother. "This guy is…"
Sho abruptly lifted his megaphone again. "Want to laugh do you, you radicand?! It's only the timer that's stopping me from decimating you! New mission!" He narrowed his eyes. "I order you to find the polar coordinates of this very spot! Time limit is one hundred twenty minutes!"
The timers burned their hands, and Felice realized at least here, that it wasn't necessary for text messages.
"Find the what?" Dominique cried in horror.
Felice sighed. "I know what he means…"
"No complaints!" Sho declared loudly. "I hate complaints! CRUNCH! I'll add them to the heap!"
~***~
"Any luck?" Shiki asked Neku after an hour had passed. He opened his eyes, taking a sip from his drink. She saw the glint of victory in his gaze.
"I found who we're looking for," he said. "He's here."
"How do you know?"
"I was listening to the Music…and…" Neku winked at her. "This guy, he isn't protected here. He forgot."
"Forgot what?"
"Reapers don't have Player Pins, they're just…protected."
"Okay…?"
"He's in the RG and forgot that. I searched through a lot of the city, but I eventually found him. The thoughts were crossing his mind. If he isn't the Deceiver, he's still someone that knows an awful lot about the UG."
As far as Shiki could gather, at least here, the Reapers were protected in the UG from scanning. In the RG that special guard vanished.
Neku stood and Shiki followed him. The pair approached a tall, dark skinned teen in a white outfit. He looked rather imposing; despite the fact he couldn't be much older than Neku, and he had ferocious gray eyes.
"Are you the Deceiver?" Shiki asked him.
The teen blinked. "Oh?"
"Cut the crap, I know it's you." Neku said.
The teen frowned. "How did you find me so fast? That mission should have been impossible without--"His eyes narrowed. "Dang, you're a Proxy ain't ya? Good." He unexpectedly chuckled. "I wanted to weed out Shibuya's Proxy."
When Neku just glared, the teen gave an irritated sigh, ruffling his own smoothed back red hair.
"Very well, you finished before hand which means…We have an hour to kill, do we not? I order you to clear the Noise from this area, you have one hour."
When the timers flashed into life, taking joy in their solitary quest to record every minute, Shiki realized this teen was the Game Master, and must not be able to attack them just yet. This mission was to fill in the time until the three hour mark.
"You're Lucifer." Shiki said.
Lucifer smiled, but it didn't touch his gray eyes. "Yes, how did you know?"
"Felice talked about you," Shiki said as Neku summoned the Noise of Le Lion Jaune to them.
The light flashed them away, Shiki turned to confront the horde of Noise that prowled toward her, slavering at the mouth and snapping deadly fangs. In the Noise realms, it seemed as if everything had vanished in the pub except for the furniture.
"No problem, right, Neku?"
Her encouragement seemed to work, because Noise began falling left and right of her as she sent Mr. Mew cannon balling after all of the enemies in sight.
Bounce off of a head there, crash into a side here, dodge that and block this…
She fell into the mindless groove of battling, her movements sure and swift, and Shiki suddenly heard a voice from within.
I draw near.
That same voice that had spoken to her on the bridge in Italy surprisingly changed from a low purr to a growl in her mind.
And…she hated it. She, without warning, suddenly knew that this voice wasn't a good thing. It was very bad.
And there would be no escape from it anytime soon.
~***~
Felice found it impossible to even attempt the problem, because the strange Reaper on the hill was loudly proclaiming math terms above her head.
"Sine! Cosine! Tangent!"
"This is hopeless," Dominique said.
"Cosecant! Secant! Cotangent!"
"It wouldn't be nearly so bad if he wasn't yelling right next to us." Felice answered. Privately, she thought to herself that all Japanese people were weird.
"You! Both of you 000s!" Sho growled, leering down at the kids whom had been sitting as they attempted to work out the unfeasible mission. "Don't like the mission, do you?"
"To be honest, hell no." Dominique replied.
"Fine! My return has put me in a good mood today, which is fortunate for you, because clearly you're…" He raised his megaphone and the kids covered their ears. "Out of your vector! Now," He continued in a calmer voice. "Take on these Noise! You have one hundred and forty minutes. 777, Tenho, BJ!"
The Def March Harriers appeared, with their leader looking somewhat disturbed by the scene in front of him. "Yeah?" 777 asked.
"Summon Noise. Right now! All three of you! These two have asked for a differential equation!"
"We can't add too much at once, the rules say--"
Interrupting BJ, Sho shouted again, "Rules! Worthless, just like everything else here! CRUNCH! I'll add them to the heap!"
The Harriers exchanged looks, and then 777 flicked his wrist with a shrug and summoned Noise decals, along with the rest of them.
Felice paled, standing up as a swarm of symbols surrounded them. Dominique said quietly, "Is it too late to switch back?"
Sho laughed madly, having had heard him. "Yes it is, you sinusoid!"
~***~
"Pierre and Lucille aren't pleased with me," said Lucifer as Neku and Shiki returned.
Neku was exhausted, but he was also slightly uneasy. While fighting he had sworn his Pins now carried a white aurora.
Joshua has some explaining to do.
"Who are they?" Shiki asked as she caught her breath. The timers vanished from view.
"The Harriers. Both blonde. They're Felice's and Dominique's parents you know. I promised Felice her parents wouldn't be harmed."
Shiki nodded, but Neku crossed his arms.
"Well? What now?" He demanded.
Lucifer stood up, walking past them and heading for the exit. "It wouldn't be fantastic to find inside, no? Oui, oui, let us fight outside to cause le carnage. Defeat the Game Master of Paris outside of Le Lion Jaune, you have three hours. Fail, and lose points."
Neku and Shiki followed him. They found the storm had increased and it was growing difficult to see. Lightning flashed and illuminated the scene briefly as the Game Master spoke.
"I wanted to do a different approach, you know. Unfortunately I had no way of knowing the Proxy was playing today, or this scheme would have worked. Sacre bleu, thank the heavens, that the rain has increased to the roar of a screaming tiger!"
Shiki, at the word "tiger", suddenly looked uneasy. Neku directed his attention back to the Game Master.
"I'm afraid we'll have to fight now. You better pray your Game Master hasn't harmed Felice too badly or…"
Neku noticed Lucifer's voice had shifted into a low growl.
"You will pay."
The lightning flashed again to reveal the half transformed Game Master. Brown and white bands had covered his body, with streaks of black, and in the gloomy weather Neku thought the sight was rather sinister. Red eyes flared into existence and the wings enclosed, shrinking on themselves before exploding outwards.
Neku realized he was in the Noise dimension now, and the lightning flashed once more, actually striking the Eifel Tower in the distance in a flash of yellow sparks.
A voice snarled near his ear, "This is Cantus Gulo."
Neku dodged just in time as the wolverine's massive paw swung by his head. He activated his Pins, sending out a stream of fire that brightened the entire scene.
During his break from the Games, he had switched some of his Pins out and he had a formidable deck. He activated the "Creepy Weepy Barrier", which surrounded him in a dark shield while healing him at the same time, and redirected the fire.
It caught Lucifer in the face, and the wolverine snarled, pawing at his muzzle in a vain attempt to stop the fire from spreading.
Neku dashed forward, slicing at the wolverine at the same time. A band snapped on the beast, and he roared.
Pain touched Neku suddenly, and he waited for it to fade as he fled through the rain. The lightning flashed again, and he noticed Lucifer running parallel to him in an attempt to catch him.
Neku leaped again, catching the Noise in the chest. Claws scraped his side but Neku paid them no mind, since the barrier had taken the sting from it.
The barrier, combined with the fire, was too much for the wolverine and he retreated. He reared up, gripping the shield and biting down again and again.
Neku knew eventually it would break, so he raised his hands and sent out another long stream of flames right as the shield fractured.
The wolverine snarled in fury, turning his head away from the blast. Neku felt power unexpectedly on his fingertips, not the burning anger of the blaze but something else…Something colder.
A white beam struck from above, and Neku himself briefly glowed as it crashed down on Lucifer's head.
~***~
Shiki retreated, straining to see in the dark as the Noise advanced on silent paws toward her. He murmured things in the darkness that the wind caught and carried away, but whatever he was saying made her shiver. The rain continued to cascade downward in a dull silver curtain.
She launched Mr. Mew at the shape, and the stuffed cat bounced off of its muzzle. With a furious shout the wolverine charged. Shiki sidestepped him and hit him again on his back and shoulder.
Another of the tattoo bands snapped, and Lucifer gave another bellow.
Shiki tensed, waiting for more, flattening herself to the wall outside of Le Lion Jaune.
Red eyes flashed in the darkness, and Shiki was reminded of her fight with the chef Reaper, whose name always slipped her mind.
She shivered, and the wolverine prowled to her side before jumping.
Shiki had been ready, and she slammed him to the ground. Sliding across the floor, Lucifer struggled to his paws again. Suddenly, she saw him give a great roar of pain though she hadn't touched him.
The rain was lightening, and she found it easier to see the great wolverine as he called Noise symbols to his side.
Shiki swallowed nervously as a tiger bounded toward her, but she shook it off. More Noise was running with it, eyes narrowed and flickering like cold fire.
Neku's counting on me!
Shiki knocked the tiger aside before jumping Mr. Mew from its head to the bear's. She then jumped up and swiped her cat across both of them.
Lucifer taunted, "Lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my!"
"Lions?" Shiki said.
She sensed a presence behind her, and quickly turned around to face her foe while at the same time retreating backwards.
A great golden lion had jumped off of the sign that had hung over Le Lion Jaune. It shook its loose mane and roared.
Shiki felt Neku activate a Fusion, and was grateful for his timing. Mr. Mew started firing lasers from his eyes, and that's when Shiki noticed, while standing on her giant cat, that the beams were white.
"Neku, nice timing!" She called, having no time to dwell over the odd sight.
He nodded and they returned to their dimensions. The only one strong enough to survive that onslaught had been the lion Noise, and after asking Neku, Shiki focused her attention the lion so he could fight Lucifer unbothered.
She felt Neku take a bad hit to the leg, and healing energy swept across her skin a moment later. Mr. Mew succeeded in destroying the lion, but at that moment the wolverine caught her.
Lucifer threw her across the air and she landed heavily. Stars danced in front of her vision, and she struggled to her feet. Mr. Mew's movements were more sluggish now as his mistress tried to collect her thoughts.
In the light shower she saw Lucifer running toward her again, and she looked behind her and saw a gargoyle statue.
She placed her hand on it, and shifted some of her Energy into the stone structure. With a screech of rock against stone the gargoyle stood up and met the wolverine head on.
Let's just say a gargoyle hurts more than a stuffed cat, powered up or not. She hadn't actually expected it to obey her.
The gargoyle shattered, and Shiki withdrew her Soul and Imagination right as it did. Dazed and groaning under his breath, Lucifer stumbled toward her again.
Shiki struck him once more, and the Noise wolverine fell onto his back with a thunderous crash.
~***~
Neku didn't know what had happened, but Lucifer had been attacking him a minute ago.
Now, he was frozen for just the briefest second due to something on Shiki's end. That was enough. Neku sent out a stream of concentrated fire and ice that engulfed the wolverine completely, and the next moment static drifted toward the sky.
Shiki returned to his side, and the two watched as Lucifer straightened up and faced them with a look of utter despair.
"I-I lost." His black, violet edged wings drooped and vanished.
And the next second their cell phones rang, signifying the Composer of Paris wished to give them their prize.
~***~
Felice leaned tiredly against the wall, clicking the Golden Cross healing Pin. As the soothing energy healed all of the wounds that had scraped the skin from her body, she looked to Dominique.
"Now we've got to fight that crackpot." Her brother said.
Felice nodded in agreement as Sho approached them, cracking his fists and grinning hugely.
"You think you're high in magnitude, do you, you filthy radians?!"
"Nope." Dominique said immediately.
Sho blinked, and then laughed. "Then you're one hundred percent correct, reciprocal! Quiz time! How long will you last in a fight against me?!"
Felice smiled serenely. "Please tell."
"Not even enough time to find the foci of an ellipse!" Sho shouted.
Sho stepped toward them, then suddenly not one, but several long wing pairs sprouted from his back. He began to breathe heavily, eyes wide, and black and gold tattoos curled around his body like snakes and his teeth lengthened as he cackled wildly. Red eclipsed his eyes and he warped them to the Noise dimensions.
Felice grabbed her Pins, searching wildly around 104's plaza. But she didn't see the--
"So zetta slow!"
The French girl fell onto her face as Sho kicked her over. Noise symbols dropped their deadly hunters down on the earth, and Felice struggled to her feet.
Lightning rained down from the sky, chasing the Noise back. Sho dodged it, bounding toward her. She kept her cool as the gigantic gold and white lion neared her, and then tore the very earth up with a Pin. Lifting the piece with the lion on it, she flipped it over and dropped it down.
In a flash of static Sho teleported and Felice turned to face the Noise.
~***~
Dominique loved sports, and he kicked balls of energy like he was only playing a game of soccer. The balls bounced across the field, hitting the enemies and rebounding for a bit before vanishing.
Sho appeared behind him, lashing out with his claws. Having faster reflexes than his sister, Dominique ducked and backed away, trying to keep an eye on the penguin Noise while at the same time warily watching the insane Game Master.
Sho growled, "You're outta your vector!" before leaping clear across the distance. He avoided a ball and then struck Dominique across the face.
Bending his energy so they didn't form a ball but a bat, Dominique struck with all of his strength at the lion.
Sho gave a snarl of fury, but besides that he didn't flinch. He continued to cut off Dominique's attempts to get around him, backing the boy into a corner.
"Felice, Fusion maybe?"
"Is now a good time?"
"Yes!"
She and Dominique flashed to the same realm, raining down rainbow energy spheres from everywhere. They bounced and struck Sho multiple times, and bound by the rules, he couldn't summon more Noise to distract them.
He took the hits, looking uneasy now, and warped to deal with easier prey.
Unused to Sho, who teleported instead of existing in two realms at once like Lucifer, the siblings struggled to deal with the lion that started warping more and more often.
He occasionally gave wild, math filled shouts as he harried the Players, sometimes only appearing to lash out once before vanishing again.
He was weakening though, Dominique saw, his warps becoming less frequent along with his attacks as static leaked from wounds in his side.
He left Dominique again, to attack Felice he thought, but then Sho suddenly appeared not one second after he had left. Having had broken his previous pattern, the boy hadn't unexpected the Game Master to return so soon.
Sho growled, thrusting him against the wall before bringing his claws back and swiping the boy's chest. With his legs free, Dominique struggled to get enough space to kick his energy spheres, but to no avail.
Sho bit down savagely, blood leaking from his jaws, and tossed Dominique aside like a rag doll.
He prepared to spring after the battered and bloody boy, but then a flash of white Angel feathers blocked him. He pulled back before the sacred feathers could harm his body, shaking his head viciously. Too caught up in the battle, he teleported to Felice and--
She had been charging her power, being a Composer's Proxy herself, and now unleashed the white blast down onto the golden lion. The light was all too familiar to the Game Master, and his eyes widened in shock.
Sho fell onto his stomach, still in Noise form; as he listened to Hanekoma speak.
"Noel, get Dominique out of here."
Another Angel with platinum hair in a ponytail bent down and took the boy away. Felice rushed toward Hanekoma.
"Is my brother going to--"
"We don't know. Be brave though, kid. From what I've seen he'll pull through this." Sanae assured her.
Felice approached Sho, who was too weak to move.
"Did we lose or win? I can still fight…" The girl said quietly.
Sho was impressed she was even on her feet after the beating her brother took. She had some energy gathered still around her palms.
"Don't know. A tie, perhaps. We wouldn't be the first to have a Game where neither the Game Master nor the Players can continue." Sanae said.
"Who is this guy?" Felice asked, eyeing Sho warily. "Is he your--"
"Not regular Game Master, he was on a trial run by our Composer. His unpredictability is something he was counting on." Judging by his tone, it was clear it wasn't a choice he favored.
"He almost killed my brother." Felice's voice sounded choked.
"I know. We're sorry. I don't know what J is thinking sometimes…" Hanekoma trailed off, then he said, "Don't get too near--"
Felice's eyes had tears in them. "You almost killed my brother!" She shouted, racing toward the prone form of Sho.
Sho's eyes, which had been almost closed, snapped open and he leaped to his paws. The world shifted wildly, as if it was reluctant to stand still, but he kept his footing. He sprang to meet Felice, but once again a barrier of ivory feathers stopped him.
He landed lightly, spitting in fury, and returned to his true form. He smirked at the girl on the opposite side of the holy guard, and he saw her eyes narrowed in hatred.
"Heh, you did better than I would have thought, you inverse cosecant."
Felice said something furiously in French that strangely didn't translate. Hanekoma sent her away in a flash of light, and then approached Sho in his prison of divine white feathers.
"Too far, Sho. We warned you." Sanae's eyes narrowed.
Sho looked genuinely surprised. "I've got to ask, you 000. What else were you thinking I'd do?"
~***~
Neku marveled at the sight of the blue and black Eifel Tower Pin that represented Paris, France, given to him by Jean Luc and Leonille, the Composer and Conductor. Jean Luc had been an older gentleman with intelligent, wise eyes whereas Leonille was a stern looking young woman with a baleful glare.
He was back in the meeting room now, and Eri found him and Shiki immediately.
"You won't believe who's fighting the French kids." She showed them her phone, and Neku's eyes widened.
"Pi-Face? What's he doing here?"
Joshua's voice glided to them on the perfumed air. "I brought him back to serve as Game Master."
"Can you do that?" Neku asked.
"Yes, I can. We can switch Reapers who play as Game Master."
"Can you really?" Shiki sounded surprised and skeptical at the same time.
"Yes, we can have two different Game Masters. You might have been fighting against one of the alternatives without ever knowing."Joshua looked down. "I picked Sho for his…ah…"
"Utter randomness?" Neku supplied.
"Yes. We got a tie, which is better than losing. I thought perhaps Sho would at least earn a draw if he fought against any Proxies."
"What about Uzuki?"
"She'll go next. I thought she might appreciate a rest." Joshua smirked now at Neku. "Congratulations on winning, Neku. You too, Shiki. We still have so much to do."
With that the Composer turned and walked back up the stairs, and for reasons Neku didn't know, Rhyme followed.
~***~
A very merry holiday to you all—whatever you celebrate.
Anyway, for those wondering why I wrote Sho's lion as gold and not black, my Beta, James, has suggested that Joshua wouldn't let him remain powered up with Taboo energy. I agree in retrospect, therefore I also changed his lion from black to gold under his suggestion.
Anyway, drop a review, will you? Thanks.
Next Chapter: Shibuya VS Moscow