Author's notes: I love The World Ends With You(TWEWY). As someone with Asperger's who's had trouble approaching people it helped push me to go out and try to connect with others. Now with an Anime series and sequel on the way, I wanted to do something related to the setting. Rip matches the style of the game really well, and I've also been wanting to do more LU stuff. It also gives me a chance to use a few OC's I have in the works for an AU I'm working on (with permission after the original creator abandoned it). You can expect to see the main characters down the line once I have more confidence in my own writing skills.

Also, for people wondering about my other fic "What a Drag", I currently have a bit of a block involving the fact I'm clueless about female fashion. I have some of chapter 3 written already though, so hopefully it won't take as long to get that one out after chapter 2.

Prologue: Three Minutes Clapping

Rip awoke to the sounds of the 28th century city of Acmetropolis. The ground beneath him was made of brick, and as he got up he could see he had been lying down face first in the middle of the Grand Plaza of the city-planet's Primary district that was now referred to as Loonatics Central by locals on account of the heroes' base of operations being located there.

He suddenly jumped in surprise as a person walked right through him from behind. Several others continued to walk through the area he was standing making him feel weirded out.

"I know I'm dead but come on!" Rip yelled at no one in particular. He quickly moved off to the side of the plaza to avoid the more people. As he did so his cell phone went off, and he pulled it out with some trepidation finding a black skull pin beside it. Ah right he mentioned something about that but first my phone. Looking at his screen there was a single message:

"Reach Loonatics Tower. Time limit: 60min. Failure means erasure.

-The Gamemaster"

"Yeowch!" Rip then felt a sharp sting on his right hand. Switching his phone into his left he could see red numbers counting down:

59:57...56

He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, then exhales slowly. So this is actually happening. I'm dead and if I want to live again, I need to survive this crazy game. He finally opens his eyes and looks around the plaza. "Right, so first step: I need to find a partner." Rip works his way through the crowd, hoping to find someone who looked as lost and desperate as he felt inside.