This chapter ended up a bit longer than expected, though not anything too crazy. Thank you oddvector for being a fantastic beta for this and last chapter!

Now onto Week 3!

Scale 3: Angelic Kick

This wasn't fun anymore.

To be fair, he was already getting sick of the battles by the end of Week 1, much less Week 2. He battled to survive and soak up the sync, not because he actually enjoyed erasing Noise. But now, with the world breaking down all around them, and the Plague Noise siphoning bits of Soul with each strike and making his emotions spike up and down wildly, Fret had come to dread each fight.

But they still needed to fight, and he still needed to feel that flow of emotions, even if they were laced with panic and sorrow. It didn't make him feel good exactly, but he still found comfort in connection. What else did he have to cherish at this point anyway?

Besides, he felt even worse outside of battle. Beat's feeble soundsurf sync wasn't nearly enough to make a difference anymore. Fret felt so vulnerable by himself, so distant, so shaky even.

Maybe Kanon had a point. Maybe sync did start frying your brain when it went on for too long. Maybe he should talk to her, really talk to her, when he finally got the chance. Though admitting his issues in front of the others, especially Rindo, felt a little…Maybe he could sneak off and talk to her? But that would mean cutting the connection to the others. Could he even handle that right now? Even if he could, the Noise were way more powerful now, and would probably tear him to shreds in no time.

Well, Fret couldn't leave right now anyway. What Shoka had just gone through…it made him think about things he had never wanted to think about again. Shoka wasn't crying or screaming during their fight with Ayano, but she might as well have been. He tried to siphon off as much of that vile emotion that he could. The raw sorrow radiating from her made Fret want to curl up into a ball in some safe corner somewhere. Even when their connection faded to soundsurf levels after the battle, her pain still stabbed at him, especially as Ayano's body began to dissolve…

Fret knew the next time they fought together, her grief would burn more than any Stinger poison. But he also knew that he had to be there for her as much as he could, even if it wasn't much. Grieving hurt. Grieving alone hurt even more.

But ironically enough, they had no choice but to split up the next day. Kanon said something about a dangerous new Noise? And that they should avoid each other for some reason?

Except apparently that had been a horrible idea, because Rindo had to time travel to unite everyone against the new Noise. Otherwise Fret himself would get possessed and attack Rindo.

"Attack" was all Rindo said. Fret had a feeling it had been worse than that. Though maybe Rindo had panicked and jumped back in time as soon as he got hit, like he sometimes did when things went south? Fret sure hoped he was just overthinking things. Nothing good came out of thinking, period.

Like how Fret couldn't stop thinking while he waited for everyone at somedrinks. Thinking about how everyone else had gone to save Kanon. Which probably meant that they had to fight her, since she was probably possessed by the new Noise or whatever. Maybe he should go, to make sure she would be alright. Maybe he should go, to make sure everyone else would be alright. Maybe he should go, because his slow sync drip from Beat had been cut, and he felt so cold and alone and awful, and how dare he obsess over his lack of connection even now when Kanon was—

"Greetings."

Fret nearly jumped through the ceiling. He snapped his head toward Hishima, who hovered near his table. When had he gotten here? "Uh, sup?"

"And what leaves you here all by your lonesome, Wicked Twister?" asked the Reaper.

Wicked Twister. As if all that mattered was him being part of a team. Well, Hishima wasn't wrong, maybe. "I'm here because I…I might hurt them otherwise."

"I see. Shiba's…" His expression didn't change, but Fret sensed a certain hesitation. "Your hands."

"Huh?" asked Fret. He glanced at them and saw that they were trembling. He quickly stuffed them into his pockets. "Just cold, is all. Should've brought a jacket, huh?"

"Is it the chill in the room, or the chill in your Soul?"

"Uh…" Of course it was more in Fret's heart, but he wasn't about to admit that to a Reaper he hardly knew. Even if he had helped them out the first day of this week. "Pretty sure it's just the room. I swear somedrinks always has the A/C turned up to max all year round. Maybe they're secretly planning to come out with somedrinks brand jackets that you can buy in-store and—"

"Be careful not to let the sync connection overwhelm your natural connections to people," Hishima interrupted, apparently not listening to Fret's distracting babble. "It can damage those natural connections severely in the long run."

"Oh yeah, Kanon mentioned something about that." Kanon…he hoped she would be alright. "So how does that happen exactly? I mean, even outside the Game certain stuff just gets to be…too much sometimes, y'know? Like you can only care about stuff for so long before you just…can't anymore. But the way you and Kanon talk about it seems…different?"

"Indeed it is," said Hishima, still looming over Fret.

"You, uh, wanna sit down?" asked Fret, craning his neck to look up at the Reaper.

"No."

"Oh."

Their silence was brief but awkward.

"Team sync is an artificial system imposed onto Player Souls to enable easy connection to other Players," Hishima explained without further prompting. "The intended function is to encourage growth and refinement of those Souls by experiencing the emotions of others. Players only have a week to refine themselves and their bonds after all. Nothing shifts one's perspective quite as quickly as channeling the feelings of others directly."

"Yeah, I feel like I know Rindo so much better now, and I'd known him for years before this," said Fret. "The others too. I feel like I've known them since forever, but really it's only been a couple of weeks…" Though he didn't know if he really felt more "refined" as a person. Physically stronger, sure, but enlightened? Well maybe when he was at 300%...

"However, this system was not designed with the intention of the Players being connected to each other for such a long period of time," Hishima continued. "Most districts only have their Games last for about a week precisely for this reason. It has been one of the key flaws of the Shinjuku model of Games, but Kubo fought hard for that system to stay in place, and now Shiba…" He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he went on. "Perhaps the goal is to resemble existence in the higher planes. But Souls who become trapped in the Game for long periods of time often have their empathy damaged, which always seemed counterproductive to me. Reaper Souls can sustain such a link safely because their Souls are evolved and tailored toward UG existence, but Players' Souls are not."

"Well we've only been here a little over two weeks, so we should be fine, right?" His teammates were doing fine without him, right?

"Yet you are not."

Fret couldn't deny that, could he? "Then, why do I suck at this so bad? I mean, I feel stuff just fine. If anything I'm feeling stuff way more all the time. Even…even when I'm away from the others like this…without the sync…" He stared down at his hands, almost hyperfixating on how one massaged the other.

"Do you struggle to bond to others naturally?" asked Hishima. "Often those whose emotions are suppressed yet who crave connection will lean more heavily into the sync."

Suppressed emotions? Him? People usually made fun of Fret for being too emotional. Even Rindo would roll his eyes at Fret's overblown antics every now and then.

"The sync is pure emotional connection, after all," Hishima went on. "It doesn't involve anything as complicated as memories or opinions or even talking."

And Fret was definitely closer to a social butterfly than an awkward bookworm. He knew how to talk to people, how to make them smile and laugh, maybe occasionally cringe. He was certainly better at socializing than…

"It doesn't involve needing to know and understand the other person, outside of basic strategic communication."

…Rindo. Fret missed Rindo. Fret missed Kanon. Fret missed everyone. He felt so cold, small, lost…

"Nor do they need to understand your inner workings either."

…numb…

"And so for some it is a rather convenient—"

It took Fret a moment to realize that Hishima had stopped talking. It took him a moment more to realize that Hishima had stopped talking because Fret had grabbed onto one of the Reaper's hands. Warm, grounding. Maybe Fret could get his breathing to slow down now. The Reaper gazed down on him in that caring-but-judging way that kinda reminded Fret of Shoka.

"Remember, this sync won't be there if you return to the RG," Hishima continued, though he didn't pull his hand away. "So if you wish to return to your previous life, you will have to learn to live without it. And that will be more difficult if you depend on the sync for emotional connection."

Fret knew that. Of course he knew that. Even if his heart quivered at the idea.

"And the higher those sync numbers go, the more dangerous it becomes for your Soul, so keep that in mind as well."

Go. Fret needed to go now. The others weren't back yet. It hasn't been that long since they left, but what if they didn't come back ever? He should go be with them, just in case. He muttered a hasty goodbye to Hishima before he bolted out the door. He had to make sure they were okay. He had to make sure Kanon was okay. Surely if he was there, that would be enough to make sure she would be okay.

It wasn't.

IIIIII

It hurt. It hurt so bad. Just like that other time he lost someone. It hurt so bad that he couldn't pretend that it didn't, and suddenly everything about his "gone" friend poured out of his lips. "Gone"…even years later he still couldn't bring himself to say…

And everyone knew now. Knew how Fret failed his friend and Kanon. Knew how fake his smile really could be.

And it hurt, even though confessing your feelings was supposed to help it not hurt. Well, maybe it would work, once Fret calmed down. Maybe he just needed to spend a little time with everyone, not thinking too hard about anything. Maybe what he needed was a Noise fight to keep his mind off things.

And, for a while, everything was fine, as Fret lost himself in the emotions of others again. He pelted the jellyfish with golden garbage he manifested and fired from his hand. The Saint whatever pin.

One angry yell later, and Shoka chucked a huge bomb into the jellyfish swarm, erasing several. She huffed with rage, but what Fret felt mostly was sorrow and pain.

Think about Shoka, Fret told himself. She was still hurting from grief too. He should draw away as much pain from her as he could.

Shoka glanced in Fret's direction as he started to drain away that negative emotion. He sensed gratitude, but also…worry?

They didn't have time to talk about it, as suddenly a huge rhino barged onto the scene, along with several ravens. Man there were a lot of Noise today. Just as well. Something for Fret to take out all that negativity on. He crushed a raven with a point-blank blast of glowing trash and immediately teleported behind the rhino to deal with it next.

Think about how everyone was hurting from Kanon's erasure, not just him. If Fret couldn't cheer up the team like he usually did…

The rhino spun around suddenly, and with an upward swipe of its horn sent Fret flying into the air. But that was fine, it was great even. He rained down a string of garbage on its flank from above as he fell.

…Then the least he could do was absorb their anguish. Maybe it would even help him feel better in some weird way. Help others to help yourself, right? No, this wasn't about him.

Ow! Okay, not the most graceful landing Fret had ever had. Maybe he should have better prepared for that, instead of just firing at the rhino the whole way down. Whatever, it was stylish. Whatever, he would just distract himself from that outer pain by taking on everyone else's inner pain. Help make up for him having to depend on them to stay on his feet. Galaxy brain—

It hurt, trying to siphon all those bad emotions at once. Of course it hurt; that was the point! So it could hurt him and no one else! He got up with a snarl that could even make a wolf Noise flinch. Probably. Well, soon he could test that theory, because here came a whole pack! And more jellyfish! And more ravens! Why was there so much Noise? It only made the rage in him, everyone's rage, burn like acid.

Think about destroying the Noise, protecting his pack, and do a good job this time, instead of losing another person he cared about like—

It hurt so much, no matter how much he tried to flush out the pain with others' feelings. Nothing but a hot tight ball of anger and sadness and regret and—

And suddenly Fret was yanked out of battle as the others abruptly retreated from the Noise dimension. He stumbled and fell onto his rear from the unexpected plane shift. He looked up, all those intense emotions fading except his own. Once he ssaw everyone's concerned faces looming over him, he immediately set his eyes on the sidewalk instead. "…Sorry."

"Why don't we take a break?" said Rindo. "You wanna get something to eat? Do some quick shopping?"

Fret didn't really feel like doing either. "Sure."

"Which one, yo?" asked Beat.

"Why not both?" suggested Shoka. "Can't fight on an empty stomach or with outdated threads."

"Agreed," said Nagi. "Shall we go, Lord Tosai? Or do you need a moment more of respite?"

Oh man, if Nagi was going out of her way to talk to him, then she and the others must have been really worried. "Well, if we stay out we'll just get attacked by more Noise, so let's go…uh, wherever you guys wanna go!"

IIIIII

"Hey," said Fret, as he skimmed through some Jupes clothes. "I'm sorry for dragging the team down right now. I promise I'll be better and raring to go in no time!" He had to be. There were more fights in the future. Everyone was counting on him to pull his weight.

"Lord Tosai, 'tis true that we do not have much time to spare for recovery, but please do take care of your own needs," said Nagi. "I've observed how you try to siphon the emotional turmoil away from everyone while in combat. Would you like us to do the same for you during this difficult time?"

"Y-You don't need to do anything like that for me," said Fret, his hand rubbing the back of his neck. "They're my issues, so I'll handle them! Besides, messing around with something like that while we hafta fight all these super-tough Noise is kinda dangerous, isn't it?"

"Ah, but there is a certain type of Noise that is never dangerous, is there not?" said Nagi with a slightly smug smile.

"Kweh? Like what?" asked Fret, before snapping his fingers. "Oh right, the pig Noise! But, uh, do we really have time…?"

"To go far astray to seek out a pig? Most likely not," admitted Nagi, her mouth turning to an uncertain squiggle. But only a moment later she regained her composure. "But if perchance we come across one during our travels, then I believe it is worth the effort to both erase the pig Noise and see if we can bring you some relief."

"You don't have to," said Fret.

"But we wish to," said Nagi. "Just as you have helped keep our spirits up during combat, we are more than willing to return the favor. You need only ask."

"I mean, just being connected to you guys is usually enough to make me feel better." Usually. But today he felt terrible, no matter what he did. "But I'll let you know if I need a little more of a pick-me-up."

"Understood," said Nagi. "We remain on standby."

And look at that! While hunting for Kubo, they came across a pig Noise! And Fret decided not to fight it, because they had other things to worry about right now. Like that time limit they had against Kubo, which apparently they had already failed once, according to Rindo. Fret's aching feelings could wait a little longer.

They didn't fight Kubo either, because Mr. Minami of all people drop-kicked him into oblivion. He was finally back! This was great! With Mr. Minami, they'd be even stronger than ever! And Fret finally wouldn't kinda-sorta miss his presence in the sync.

Only Mr. Minami started screaming and turned into a lion boar Noise thing instead. And as soon as they all went to the Noise dimension…oh, there was a connection! But only for a moment, before Mr. Minami shut Fret out completely. So he wasn't on their side after all…

One serious ass-whooping later, and Mr. Minami was about to crunch Beat when this brand-new guy came in outta nowhere and chased off Lion-Boar-Nami. And Beat was so happy and wait, this was Neku? As in the legendary Player everyone kept talking about? And now he was on their team?

Oh, Fret couldn't wait to sync with this guy!

And Fret didn't have to wait long, not in this Game. They dove into battle and…wait where was Neku? He didn't sense any new emotions…but no, there was Neku, raining down lightning on the nearest raven Noise. So why couldn't Fret sense anything from him?

Maybe if Fret really concentrated…Yeah, yeah, he could feel the feelings now! They were just really really quiet, keeping mostly to themselves? Was the Legendary Player….shy? The idea amused and fascinated Fret so much that he stuck close by Neku, trying to draw out and study the emotions of his new teammate.

Quiet, quiet, quiet, Neku was so quiet even as Fret tried to connect with him more. Something about him kinda reminded him of Rindo, only somehow even more serious? Even Rindo loosened up during a sync. In fact he'd gotten more into it lately in general.

Fret followed up Neku's attack immediately with his own, and Fret could feel the group sync soar. "We're gonna wiiiin!"

"Fret! Focus!" Neku snapped.

It was less the words and more the sudden burst of anger and hostility from the otherwise serene Neku they made Fret back off, gravitating more toward Rindo and Nagi.

"Hey man, chill out," said Beat, skating in circles around Neku and drift-tackling any nearby foes stupid enough to get close. "Fret's jus' like that, yo. He don't mean nuthin' bad."

Neku sighed. "I know. It's just…a lot."

"Yeah, I guess wit' this new battle stuff there's a lot goin' on all the time," admitted Beat. "Don't worry Phones, I got yo' back 'til you get used to it!"

Neku smiled just a little. "Thanks."

Neku's emotions remained mostly calm during the following battles too, though there was silent tension underlying their serenity. Fret quickly learned to let Neku do his own thing. He and Beat, being seasoned partners from their own Game, already knew how to work together anyway. Fret had literally everyone else on the team he could buddy up with.

Didn't mean Neku didn't care about Fret and the others though. "Fret, be careful about the sync. I think you're…"

"…Leaning too much into it, yeah, probably," Fret mumbled. "But I think you need to lean a little more into it, man. We're at our strongest in battle when everyone syncs together, and you're still off doing your own thing. I know you're the legendary Player and stuff, but this ain't the kind of Game anyone's winning by themselves."

Neku sighed. "You're right. Still, how do you handle having that many people in a pact at once? Sometimes I had enough trouble handling one partner back in my Game. Even though I certainly became more…sociable by the end of it, I'm still not exactly the life of the party."

"I mean, you don't have to be. Me and Beat-buddy have got that covered!" said Fret, pointing back to himself with a wink. "It's more like…just go with the flow more. Don't think about how there's a bunch of emotions coming from a bunch of different people, just let them course through you and do what you need to do. Those feelings ain't gonna eat ya, even if sometimes it feels like they're gonna."

"I see," said Neku, though he still didn't seem convinced.

"You can always ask Rindude too," Fret added. "You two are kinda similar? He's used to it now, but he used to be super nervous about sync stuff. I bet he can give you some good tips."

Neku smiled slightly. "Gotcha. Thanks Fret. Just make sure to take care of yourself too."

IIIII

Fret could take care of himself. He still hurt, of course, because everything about this Game made everyone hurt, but he managed to keep most of his pain to himself now. It was the least he could do after that breakdown at the start of Day 4. At least he felt more peaceful outside of battle now.

But when those "old flames" started to show, those hollowed-out husks of former erased Players, Fret knew what was coming. Kanon. Only not Kanon. He dreaded every step, but he stomped his fear down and kept going. Kept those nasty emotions in a tight little ball in his chest so they wouldn't stress out anyone else even more than they already were. Even kept it buried as "Kanon" herself finally showed up, though Nagi helped with that. She helped with that a lot, actually, enough that he could actually fight that faker and put things to rest once and for all.

Then, after Nagi declared that she had in fact not Dived into Fret's mind to read his emotional state, and in fact was rather insulted by the idea, she revealed that, according to her astute observations…

"I have concluded you are, in fact, human."

That conclusion was so braindead simple that Fret's brain almost didn't register it at first. "It took you this long?" What, had Nagi thought he was a Noise or something?

"Allow me to elaborate," said Nagi. "Humanity is the difference between making an effort to understand those around oneself, versus viewing them merely as resources to be consumed.

Humanity is the difference between trying to understand opinions and values divergent from one's own,versus scoffing and dismissing them as meritless. Humanity is the difference between being fraught with fear when facing others, versus being blithely unconcerned with others altogether."

Fret was quiet. That…That was pretty accurate, all things considered. That even when he didn't understand others, or others didn't understand him…He still tried to reach out to people. Even when the idea of actually being close and open to someone was still kinda scary, actually…

"And now, having discerned your humanity," Nagi went on. "I can safely infer that in this moment...you are suffering a great deal of pain."

And Fret felt all that suppressed pain start to bleed out of that too-tight ball in his chest, and he felt seen but he also felt awful, and man he had to hold himself together. "...Thanks for the analysis. Who'da thought you had such a good read on me? It's actually kind of amazing, to be honest." And Fret meant it, even if such an analysis made his chest ache more.

"Perhaps," said Nagi. "I am simply aware of the importance of communication. And I take great pains to ensure my interactions with others remain as peaceful as possible. Asking questions. Gauging responses. Reacting aptly. I leverage every element at my disposal—actions, words, emojis, anything at all—to ensure everyone feels welcome. 'Tis a skill that can be practiced and honed like any other. No need to rely on special powers."

No special powers needed, huh? Just as Fret didn't need a special power to put on a smile and keep walking forward, even as the pain–

Why wasn't he walking forward? Walking was easy. The others were waiting for him.

Fret noticed something, and everyone else did too. A distant squeaking cry. A Pig Noise.

"Lord Tosai?" asked Nagi. "Do you wish…?"

A feeble chuckle escaped from Fret. "Y'know what? A pig fight sounds good. Real good."

Well, okay, pig fight wasn't really accurate. They didn't even have the right types of pins to damage them. So everyone ignored the three wide-eyed porkers as they huddled around Fret. Quickly their feelings of care and concern flooded Fret, the sensation of so much attention at once almost overwhelming, and Fret shrunk into himself a little. Despite the defensive posture, that tight ball in Fret's chest slowly began to unravel, though not without pain and guilt. Even now, that instinct of I've gotta keep it together, I shouldn't feel like this, I shouldn't need this, I'm the one who's supposed to make everyone feel better…

Fret gripped his chest as quiet sobs racked his body, even as that emotional anguish started to drain away. "I'm sorry…I'm sorry…I'm sorry…"

"You needn't apologize for anything," said Nagi, though her voice sounded a little strained. "We will gladly help alleviate your emotions, not in recompense for having alleviated ours, but because you are our sworn comrade."

"Yeah man, don't be so hard on yo'self!" said Beat.

Without that pain, without that sadness, parts of Fret's Soul almost felt numb and empty. He was so used to having some pain somewhere in his Soul, even before the Game, that it almost felt uncomfortable not hurting.

"Only a dummy like you would try to take on everyone's pain and your own by yourself," Shoka scolded, though her tone was soft. "The point of being part of a team is that you have other people you can depend on!"

Neku only smiled serenely and nodded, moving closer. Everyone else moved with him.

These concerned emotions from everyone, filling up the dry pockets in Fret's Soul left by old and new pain…so this was what people meant by feeling warm inside. This heated feeling spreading out from his heart to his whole chest…

"Fret, I…" Rindo began. "Just, take better care of yourself, okay? Because losing you is…not what I want, ever." Fret felt him squeeze his wrist. "Nobody wants that, ever."

Fret started really crying then, as he got pulled into a group hug. "Iloveyouguys. Iloveyouguyssomuch."

IIIIII

It felt so strange, and yet so nice, to just…let every emotion flow easily, good or bad. Fret thought he had been honest about his feelings before, even if not the exact source of those feelings, but this…

It hurt. Of course it still hurt. So much bad stuff had happened, past and present. But it didn't hurt quite as much, now that he wasn't trying to stuff it all deep down in his heart. And in place of some of that hurt, a glow, almost a lightness, like a toasty fluffy blanket tucked around his aching Soul. Despite everything going on, and boy were things going on, Fret felt like he could take on everything, and then have a peaceful 14-hour nap once he finally got home. He missed sleep. Randomly falling unconscious at the end of each Game day didn't count. At least it sure didn't feel like it did.

As long as everyone stayed close, which they kinda had to because of the Game, Fret felt great. Any time the group strayed slightly apart however…like when they were at a clothes store, or even if someone walked off to dump their food wrappers into a trash can…he could feel his emotions tremble like a strained spiderweb. It took all his concentration to keep his shaking Soul from shaking the rest of his body too. But hey, if he had to spend all his focus on keeping himself still, then he didn't have to think as much how little empathy he felt for anything besides his teammates. Maybe it was just Fret being overwhelmed by the whole situation, but...

But finally, finally, stuff was coming together! Rindo assigned everyone precise roles in The Big Plan like he was a goddamn general, or maybe a Phantom Thief about to pull a heist. And man, somehow it all worked! Well, probably because of time travel. Rindo did say that they'd failed the first time, but what else was new?

Actually there was something new: Rindo leaning super heavily into the sync. Well, he had been getting steadily more comfortable with the connections as the Game went on. He was only semi-terrified of Nagi now: progress! But on that last day Rindo went from Shoka-to-Beat levels of comfort with the connection, to full-on Fret levels of neediness with absolutely everyone. That first failed attempt must've gone real bad. Though some equally needy part of Fret was delighted to stick so close to Rindo.

But anyway! They worked together to revive the Souls of Shibuya, with Fret's very own Remind as the final touch, and now they were battling a humongous phoenix Noise what? Didn't Rindo say they'd lost to a bunch of black bird Noise or something?

And man, that thing took forever to kill! In fact they had to kill it twice, because apparently they had to smash all the orbs in its tails first before it would stay dead! Guess it wasn't called a phoenix for nothing.

But oh man, they got this now! That sync heat pounding through his heart and Soul reached a new supernova peak, even though technically they didn't have much percentage built up. Holy shit, was this…was this a new sync level?

"One last hit!" Fret shouted, as everyone gravitated together, white psychic power flaring in their hands. "Everybody ready?"

Everyone else yelled their replies, but Fret could barely hear them, though he certainly heard their riled-up emotions. The rapid torrid power rising and searing through his whole body…When he'd said he'd wanted to burn bright as a star, this hadn't been quite what he had in mind, but he'd take it!

They all fired giant nonstop laser beams. Fret cackled in sheer delight as he felt the sync strain against the 300% barrier, though he doubted anyone could hear him over literally everything else happening. Oh man, what was 400% gonna be like?

400% apparently meant that Fret could barely feel his body anymore, just a white-hot mass linked to other white-hot masses where he couldn't even tell where he began or ended. He…wasn't so sure if he was crazy about 400% to be honest, but hey, if it finally cooked the phoenix like a giant chicken then—

Wait, the sync was still skyrocketing? 500%, 600%, 700%...holy shit was it ever going to stop? He couldn't sense his body at all now. All he was aware of was a hurricane of raw emotion spiraling through his Soul. He couldn't tell what emotions they were, or whether they belonged to him or someone else. He couldn't even remember the names of those feelings. He couldn't even remember his own name, or who he was, or what he was, or—

Wait, stop, stop! He couldn't comprehend anything anymore, not even what was in front of him.

And then, he wasn't aware of anything at all.


THE END.

Okay, not really. We've still got the aftermath chapter to do.

Since there wasn't a good place to mention it in the chapter itself, Fret accidentally turned himself into a Noise magnet by taking in and being overwhelmed by so many negative emotions. Which was why so many Noise kept appearing. The WTs retreated partially because they couldn't keep up with all the Noise, and partially in concern for Fret's physical and mental well being.