Welp, turns out this wasn't a oneshot after all! The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to do more with it. Looks like this will be about four chapters instead.
Also, Happy Birthday Fret!
Scale 2: Seductive Snare
Admittedly, as much as Fret loved how others' emotions flowed through him, by the end of the week he was ready to go home. Especially when he got gobbled up by a giant rex a couple of times, and suddenly all his wonderful connections were cut off and replaced by a horrible blaring shrieking at all sides, for the lack of a better word. The malignant racket in his Soul drained him like a vampire and used that stolen power against his friends. They rescued Fret each time, of course, but what if one day they couldn't? Would he be ravaged by that wailing void forever? Was that what it was like to be erased by a Noise?
Well Fret didn't have to worry about it anymore, because they won the Game! Except they didn't, so he actually did have to worry about it, for a whole other week. Man, Rindo had freaking time travel, and they still couldn't win in one go?
Even worse, the reliable Mr. Minami had ditched them! And he hadn't even said why! Probably something to do with math, that jerk. Even worse, Fret still missed him. Especially during the battles, where there was a Minaman-shaped hole in the sync, and the whole web of everyone felt so much weaker and smaller without him. Even worse, everyone's sour and desperate mood made even the connections miserable. There was only so much negativity he could extract from others before he himself started feeling rotten. Knowing the real stakes of this Game didn't help morale either.
So obviously none of the remaining Wicked Twisters were happy. Fret hardly bothered to keep up his usual cheerful persona as they went around dressing up mannequins and fixing a repairman's broken heart so he could fix the goddamn sign they needed and all the other dumb stuff this mission required. Actually, taking a silly photo at the photo booth was kinda wasn't nice was that damn chameleon target at the end of the day.
Day 2 wasn't much better. Fret didn't remember it, because he wasn't the one time traveling, but apparently that Neku guy they were trying to recruit died. A lot. Because they kept searching the wrong parts of the city. No wonder Rindo looked so exhausted and frantic all of a sudden. This Neku guy better be worth all the trouble he was causing Rindo.
Turns out the guy they were trying to save wasn't even Neku, but some dude named Beat. So much for getting the Legendary Player on their side.
But Fret didn't care, because Beat was awesome! He was such a bro, with his big goofy smile and easy laugh. He was strong too, and super fast. That speed, Fret soon had the pleasure of learning, came from his Soundsurf ability, which he could pass onto them! By syncing up to all of them, all of the time, outside of battle! Fret must have spent a good five minutes just surfing in circles, reveling in that weak but persistent connection that never had to end. Who cared if Nagi gave him a disapproving look? He never had to be reduced to just himself ever again!
Unless Beat ran off too far from the group, which he occasionally did. But all they had to do was call him to come back, and he returned in a flash. Guy really was a bro.
But then it got even better.
"Nrrrgh, I suppose combat is inevitable," Nagi muttered, as several Noise symbols drew near.
"Don't ya worry, Pinny! I got this yo!" Beat said with a grin, as they got pulled into the dimension and the wolves materialized around them. "I ain't gonna let no Noise chomp on—"
"Yatatatatata!" Nagi screamed in raw fury, as she plummeted the nearest Noise with an endless barrage of superpowered punches.
"Bwaaah!" Beat yelled, stumbling back a little. "Wha…?"
"Yeah, she…does that," said Rindo, drifting a little closer to Fret. "She'll be fine."
"Well, if that's what Pinny wanna do, then I ain't gonna stop her," said Beat, turning to the nearest wolf with a savage smile as an ethereal board materialized under his feet. Not even a moment later he rocketed forth and sent three wolves flying.
Fret beamed as he blasted the falling wolves with energy bullets until they turned to static. This rush of exhilaration…So Beat loved battles and the connection almost as much as Fret did. That alone would make the battles fun again, Beat's rambunctious energy flooding through Fret and everyone else...Was…Was this even better than Mr. Minami? Fret still missed Mr. Minami despite everything, and he was definitely stronger than Beat, but somehow Fret felt even more energized.
But that wasn't even the best part. Not by a long shot. Because Fret felt their sync somehow shoot past 100%. He could have died blissful right there. Forget barely telling himself apart from his teammates, that barrier was just gone. Fret always assumed that was a wall that would always be there, no matter how connected he felt, but he had never been happier to be wrong. And Fret adored it, absorbing that transcendent feeling like the eager hollow sponge he was.
Y'know, Fret was almost glad he was here for another week. He could handle being here for one more week. He could even love it. Especially when hunting Pig Noise. All of the fun of being synced and destroying Noise with none of the danger. He would almost feel bad for the peaceful creatures if it wasn't for their convenience and their loot. Kinda like real pigs, now that he thought about it.
Now if only Rindo would stop being so flighty about literally everything. He was still nervous about the sync, nervous about Beat, and especially nervous about giving Kanon an answer to her teamwork offer. C'mon, it was Kanon. She was amazing. Well, except for that one time she stole that boss pin from them, but c'mon that'd been Fret's fault for not picking it up first. Why hadn't he picked up the conspicuous shiny thing that fell from the felled Noise? That was just dumb, even for him.
But whatever. Rindo would make up his mind eventually. Probably. Maybe even before the heat death of the universe.
Kanon was certainly better than most of the other Players and Reapers in this Game. Just look at all the awful stuff everyone was up to on that rumor mill day! Imprinting people to cut off all their contacts and seeing it as a favor. Imprinting people like poor Rindude to board a random bus just because they thought it was funny. Shoplifting just because they could easily get away with it. Oh yeah, that was a Variabeauty, he should tell Kanon about that one next time he saw her. What was wrong with people in this Game? Didn't they care about others at all?
But Fret knew Kanon wasn't like that. She was the real deal. Man, what he wouldn't give to sync with her and really get to know her. All the more reason that he wanted Rindo to stop being a coward and just—
Oh, Rindo had decided to accept the deal, finally.
Nevermind, Fret felt perfect! Better than perfect even! He could kiss Rindo for finally going through with it! And for finally not being stuck in that stupid building while they solved even stupider puzzles that Fret was garbage at. He missed Rindo during the whole thing, his link to him not being absent exactly, but thin and weak enough that it somehow made Fret more anxious instead of less. Like Rindo was dying or something, even though he definitely wasn't. Stupid sync brain, making a big deal out of nothing. Stupid heart, aching like he had been gone forever.
What was he, a dog? Maybe that would explain why Fret felt so bad every time he got scolded for screwing up and wasting time on these dumb puzzles, and why his mind went grr grr grr when Beat wouldn't let him use the damn cheat sheet for the last one because oh now it was just a fun puzzle to be enjoyed, it wasn't like they needed to get Rindo outta the room before the end of the day or else he'd be stuck in there until the end of the week.
But whatever. They solved the final puzzle, eventually, and they got Rindo back. That was what counted.
They got into some random chump Noise battle almost immediately, because of course there was one right in front of them when they scanned. As the full feeling of Rindo's returned presence washed through him, Fret was so overwhelmed with sheer joy that it took all his effort not to burst out laughing like a hyena. Oh man, he really could just kiss him right now. Actually, a kiss during a sync would probably be amazing. Maybe he should—
"Uh, Fret?" When had Rindo gotten so close? "W-What are you doing?"
And then Fret really thought about his thoughts, and realized just how close his face was to Rindo's. Said face and heart get so hot that Fret could have turned his ice-element pin straight into a fire one if he really wanted to. And oh god everyone knew what he was feeling because they were synced! Fret slunk off to his own little corner during the rest of the battle, shooting anything that got too close. Not that it helped hide his feelings, but it gave him a slight illusion of privacy. Maybe.
Never did Fret think that he would actually be relieved to lose most of the connection when the battle ended. He babbled something about getting a quick bite to eat before fleeing into the nearest clothes store.
Fret scurried to the back, latching onto the nearest clothes rack to give his brain something else to think about. As he barely registered the colors and styles, he was half-tempted to bury himself into the rack and pretend that he was clothes until everyone forgot he existed, including himself. Who cares if he hadn't done stuff like that since he was like six?
"Why, look who it is."
Fret yelped, jerked up, and hit the back of his head on the metal rack. "Ow!" He rubbed his head while quickly putting on a smile that he sure hoped was convincing. "Hey there, Kanon! You sure look amazing today! I mean you always look amazing, but today you look even more amazing!"
"Trying to butter me up as always, I see." Man, her smile was so pretty but so hard to read.
"Aw, c'mon, you know I mean it, because I always mean it!" Fret added with a wink.
"I wonder about that," said Kanon, tucking some hair behind her ear. "Because it seems to me you're much more interested in a certain friend of yours."
Oh no, she saw that too? Forget clothes racks, Fret should just dive headfirst into the nearest donation bin and never return. "That…um, well, that doesn't mean you're any less pretty though?"
Kanon chuckled, which was maybe a good thing? "You're certainly sweet, if nothing else."
…Score? "Thanks?"
"Which is why you shouldn't be leaning into the sync as much as you are."
"Wha?"
"Fret, this battle system is dangerous," said Kanon, her kind tone now cold. "And not just because of the Noise, or even because of the Game."
"What do you mean?" asked Fret.
"It's a trap everyone falls into after a while," Kanon explained, hands on her hips. "In this miserable mire of a Game, all you have is your teammates, and your sync with them. So you lean more and more into that sync, into those intense emotions. But people just aren't built for that kind of direct connection. After a while, that artificial hyperempathy burns out your real empathy."
"Wait, you serious?"
"When have I ever not been serious about this kind of thing, Fret?"
"...Right," said Fret. Well that was sure good to know. "Though I kinda hafta use the sync to fight the Noise and stuff, so it's not like I can quit cold turkey."
"I know," said Kanon, and for a moment Fret thought she looked sad. No wait, she was angry. "As if this rigged Game isn't bad enough, it forces us to use this addictive system. And everyone does get addicted to it, especially when they're stuck using it week after week. And the more addicted you get, the more you want to lean into it. And the more you lean into it, the faster your empathy will burn out."
"But how does something that makes emotions stronger make your emotions stop working?"
"Not emotions, empathy. It's your connection to others that suffers, not your ability to feel." Kanon corrected. "And from what I understand, it's like overloading a circuit with electricity. Circuits are made to carry electricity obviously, but overload them with too much for too long and they'll blow out and become useless. Now, you can still feel empathy when you're synced to your teammates, because that's an artificial system that's constantly renewed whenever you go in and out of battle, but that won't fix the natural empathy it overcharged and damaged."
"Got it. Don't overdo it." But hopefully they would be out of here by the end of the week anyway. "Is that why so many Players here are selfish jerks?"
"They're selfish jerks because that's key to not getting erased," said Kanon. "But burned-out empathy doesn't help. Well, there are some people without empathy who are decent people, and find other ways of understanding others. But others use it as an excuse not to care, or even be needlessly malicious. Regardless, I would hate to see something like that happen to a kid like you so soon. Do be careful."
"Don't worry, the Fretster's…" His jovial expression withered under her somber stare. "R-Right. I'll be careful."
"Good," said Kanon, as she walked away. "Let's see how much you mean that."
Now painfully alone again, now Fret couldn't concentrate on the clothes for a different reason.
IIIIII
That Motoi guy! Somehow that poser loser was even worse than Fret ever imagined. He didn't even care about his team, or all the people he stole quotes from! What did Rindo ever see in this guy anyway? Why…
…Why did it seem like Rindo was willing to just let Motoi die there for a few seconds, when Shoka struck him down with an attack? Motoi was bad, yeah, and soon after they would soon find out just how bad, since he had only pretended to be hurt. But, even then, why would Rindo…? Oh no, this wasn't that country-fried-empathy Kanon was talking about earlier, was it?
But soon that didn't matter, because the one and only Shoka joined their team! Fret certainly hadn't been expecting an ex-Reaper to join them. But hey, Beat used to be a Reaper too apparently, so maybe it wasn't that shocking. And the more the merrier, literally!
Shoka seemed to enjoy the connection, though she was weirdly uneasy for someone who used to be a Reaper. She should be used to it, right? Did Reapers do the sync thing too? Shoka didn't seem new to it at least. Though what she seemed to enjoy the most was the power? It was kinda similar to Nagi, but not quite the same. Nagi really enjoyed smashing Noise to bits and destroying obstacles. Shoka just liked power-tripping.
Shoka also enjoyed teasing everyone, including Fret. Not that she hadn't been doing that before. "You're really into the whole sync thing, aren't you?"
"How can you tell?" asked Fret, before he wanted to smack himself. Because she was synced to him, duh.
"Oh, just the way you stumble around a little like a drunk after every battle," Shoka replied with a smirk. "Spreading yourself a little thin, don't you think?"
"Uh, whatcha mean?" asked Fret. "Sync is all about working together, right? That's what I'm doing."
"There's a difference between working together with the team, and barely leaving any energy for yourself," said Shoka, folding her arms. "But hey, maybe you're just the type who likes the feeling of being rescued, so who am I to judge?"
Shoka sure sounded judgmental to him, especially with the way she grinned afterward. But what was she even talking about? If anything, he rescued other people by protecting them from attacks. Though admittedly, maybe he did like that feeling of being supported by the others when he had taken one too many hits. It just proved how not alone he was during a sync. Maybe that's what she meant? "I mean, Beat does that too though?"
"Yeah, but even he has some restraint. Usually," said Shoka. "Honestly you're already addicted to this system, aren't you?"
"Uh…" Addicted was such a harsh word. "I like it, yeah. But I still wanna go home. So gotta have fun with it while it lasts, right?"
"Sure, you keep telling yourself that," said Shoka. "And yeah, hopefully we'll actually get this Game over with, before morons like you burn yourselves out."
"Yeah, we got this, Shokie!"
Shoka sighed, and Fret wasn't sure why.
But there was another bonus to having Shoka around: now their sync could go as high as 300%! Shooting into the air with everyone else, their hands afire with pure psychic power, raining down all that raw energy onto their foes below until not even static remained…it was like being the head of a hydra or something. He had trouble remembering who he was sometimes at that kind of percentage. It should have been scary, really, but it wasn't?
He knew Nagi hated it, always shouting about how unbearable it was. Which Fret had trouble understanding honestly: how could she not love this? He always looked forward to that peak of the sync. Even if he felt tired and dizzy and even kinda cold after such intense battles. Sometimes he noticed her watching him as he recovered, though he couldn't see things straight enough to tell if she was angry or concerned for him. Maybe both. Who knows, perhaps one day Nagi would get worried enough that she would actually talk to him. Her saying 'I wasn't speaking to you' only sorta counted.
Maybe they could actually talk once they got back to the RG? With Kanon and 300%, they got this Game in the bag! Surely they could take down The Ruinbringers now and finally end this Game! Surely this was strong enough!
It wasn't.
IIIIII
Rough on chapter 3 is already done, but it'll probably be a little while before the next chapter comes out. Hope you enjoyed!
