(To write the countless wrongs of this world-) Neku stood at the entrance to the concert hall at A-East. Even with an hour before the concert, the area was packed with various fans of Def March. Some decked out in enough to almost look like 777. (I don't care how dedicated they are, that's just bordering on creepy.)
"Yo Phones!" Neku turned to see Beat and Rhyme approaching him, both wearing black shirts with Def Marches logo on it, "Look what we got for three thousand yen!"
"Too much for a shirt." Neku said bluntly.
"Yeah, but it was for the event." Rhyme added to back up her brother.
"So, you got the pass?" Neku reached into his pocket and pulled out the backstage pass Eri had given him yesterday, "Awesome!"
"Just don't forget why you're here." Neku turned to the familiar voice of Joshua behind him.
"Yeah, yeah." Neku said not too eager to do Joshua's dirty work. As far as Neku cared, he was only here to protect his friends in case 777 was being manipulated, "What am I supposed ot ask him anyway?"
"Just find out what's been going on in the UG. More specifically, what the Reapers have been doing."
"Besides harassing players?"
"The game is only run one week a month." Joshua smiled, "Except for your case of course." (Not something I'm looking on repeating.) "But the reapers should be keeping their noses clean. Mostly doing paperwork if anything."
"Man, glad I got out before I had to do that." Beat added.
"Yes, you would have been erased rather quickly by that point." Joshua said off-handedly.
"It's VERY good to know you got out when you did." Rhyme said in relief.
"Agreed." Neku added.
"Hey guys!" Everyone turned as Shiki approached them. Wearing a backpack and a Def March shirt like Beat and Rhyme. Although, Neku could notice it had a better quality than the brother sister combo. It seemed Shiki noticed this and cocked her head in confusion, "Beat, where did you get your shirts?"
"From that guy with the box over there." Beat pointed down near the entrance to Dogenzaka where a man in a hoodie was standing next to a cardboard box and holding up one of the Def March shirts Beat had bought.
"Yeah…that's about right." Neku commented.
"Um…that's not a reputable seller." Shiki pointed out.
"I told you." Rhyme said and Beat sighed.
"Man, how was I supposed to know?" As soon as he said that, the other four had geared up their comebacks.
"He was selling them from a cardboard box!" Beat gave a defeated sigh. (seriously man, THINK.)
"I see you guys are having fun!" Eri stepped up and the group turned to see her being followed by Nina and another girl. Eri was decked out in black clothing and accessories, except for her signature brown hat, "But let's save some of that enthusiasm for meeting the band! Right Mina?" Mina had short brown hair and chocolate colored eyes. She wore a vintage Def March shirt with a black skirt and a pair of black sneakers.
"Could you guys look any more like shadows?" Neku asked and Eri giggled before winking at him.
"Nothing says Def March like dark clothing!" Mina just replied by glaring at Neku with enough force to stab through him. (What's her problem?)
"Hey guys." Nina squeaked out and everyone waved.
"You ready for your first concert?" Shiki asked and Nina nodded.
"After everything you told me about it, it sounds enjoyable." Nina replied and Eri gasped.
"Enjoyable? Enjoyable!? They're amazing!" Nina looked almost terrified at Eri's enthusiasm. "I should have brought my notebook. It's got my records of their best moments!" (I'm almost glad you didn't. Nina looks about ready to run.) Neku quickly pulled Nina back from Eri.
"Don't scare her Eri." Neku said and Eri giggled in embarrassment.
"Sorry. I'm just REALLY excited! I've never gotten back-stage passes before. We're going to try to get them to sign Mina's shirt!"
"That's a rather old shirt." Joshua commented. "It must be from their first concert, right?"
"Yep! The perfect piece of clothing to have their autograph on!" Eri gave another giggle as Neku looked at Mina, finding her very familiar. (Right, she was the reaper creeper girl who lied to her friend.) Meeting Neku's eye contact, Mina gave him another glare that sent shivers up Neku's spine. (Although I remember her being the nice one of the two.) "So what happened with Beat?"
"He got conned into buying a knockoff shirt." Neku informed her.
"Hey! I ain't no sucka!" Beat retaliated.
"Unfortunately, you completely are Beat." Neku shot back immediately.
"Don't worry Beat." Eri spoke up. "I know how to fix this problem. Follow me." Eri lead Beat and Rhyme over to the sketchy salesman, leaving Mina with Neku and the others.
"…Hey." Neku said and Mina just looked at him. "Names Neku."
"I know." She replied bluntly.
"So…you're a friend of Eri."
"Yep. And you're another dimwitted boy who's trying to win her over. Let's not beat around the bush here." (Well this conversation just took an interesting turn.)
"Excuse me?"
"Don't try to deny it. Every guy who hangs out with Eri is only after a relationship. You're no different."
"Well, if you aren't pleasant." Neku shot back. "I'd love to continue this talk but I think I'd get better conversation out of a nearby trashcan." Mina growled at this comment as Shiki pulled Neku away from her. "You know, she seemed nicer when we were dead."
"I know…she just cares about Eri." Shiki said. (That doesn't make me anymore willing to talk with her.) "I'm sure she'll come around."
"Trying to snag her best friend? Sicko." Mina said and Neku gave out a low groan.
"…Eventually."
"I like her." Joshua said. (Of course you do.)
Thirty minutes later, people started to pool into the main hall as Neku and the others stood just outside the doors. Beat and Rhyme looked over their new shirts that Eri had managed to snag them.
"Huh, the fabric feels much nicer than those other shirts." Rhyme commented.
"How the hell did you get them those?" Neku asked and Eri gave him a proud smile.
"Well, I knew he must have had a model to make those shirts off of." Her smile turned to a wicked grin, "And any scalper is willing to part with them as long as someone doesn't alert the security to them." (And that's a scary point for Eri.)
"Well, we should hurry." Joshua spoke up, motioning to the entrance to the main hall. "It's not every day you get to see a concert."
"Oooooh! I'm so excited!" Eri said as she bounced in place. "This is going to be awesome!" Neku turned to Nina who seemed hesitant to move into the hall.
"Don't worry." He said to her. "Just stay away from any of the rowdier groups and you'll be fine." She gave a shaky nod as the two of them followed the group into the hall.
The concert hall was packed to the brim with people covered in black clothing with Def March logos on them. Some even wore bright yellow fake mohawks on balding caps and sharp styled sunglasses. (Oh god. It all burns to look at.)
"Are we in a cult?" Nina asked.
"Not as far as I know…just die hard fans."
"Hmm…" Shiki looked at the mohawk in thought. "I think they might have dyed the mohawk." Neku took a closer look at the mohawk sunglasses combo and felt a ting of familiarity. (Guess it's good to know there actually was an occasion for it.) Suddenly, the lights dimmed until the only light that could be seen was the occasional glow in the dark item a fan nearby was wearing. Then, the stage light popped on, illuminating 777 who stood at the center of the stage. He gave a powerful strum of his guitar which reverberated across the entire room, quickly followed by the cheers of thousands of fans. Neku, Nina and Rhyme all covered their ears at the piercing sound of those around them; Eri and Shiki especially. (How does anyone hear music through this!?) Once the cheers died down, the drum start up began illuminating both BJ on bass and Tenho on drums before 777 launched into the death metal screech.
"WHOOOOOO!" Eri shrieked at the top of her lungs. Eri turned to Neku, "Hey, let me up on your shoulders!"
"Why?" Neku asked in surprise.
"So I can see the band!" (Can you not see them from here?) "Come on, I want to be above all of the other fans. Really stand out you know?"
"That sounds like it might break my back."
"Am I too heavy?" Eri asked.
"No, I just don't have any upper body strength."
"Sounds like she might just be too heavy for you." Joshua said.
"Don't make things worse!"
"Oh! How about Shiki?" Neku turned to see Shiki's cheeks pinken at this suggestion.
"W-What!?"
"Come on, you're lighter than me. I'm sure he could lift you up!" (When did I say I would lift ANYONE up?)
"B-But-" Shiki stuttered.
"Come on, we need a representative for the White Maidens!" (So I'm a stepping stool for fan-girls!?)
"…N-Neku?" (She's actually considering it!?)
"Come on Neku." Joshua said. "Be a proper gentleman."
"Ugh, fine." Neku reluctantly said.
"I-If you don't want to that's fine." Shiki said. (Just saying that makes it more likely for me to agree.)
"No, it's okay." Neku replied crouching down. Shiki moved up and hopped on top of Neku's back, moving her legs to sit on Neku's shoulders as she held the back of his head in worry. Neku slowly stood up, finding the extra weight straining his rise. (I may have underestimated Shiki's weight.) Neku took a deep breath and straightened his back out to keep himself from caving to the floor.
"Wow! I can see them so much better up here!" Shiki said in amazement. (Yeah…and I'm sure my shattering spine would agree.)
"Yo Rhyme. Hop on my shoulders!" Beat said crouching for Rhyme.
"You sure Beat?"
"Yeah, no prob." Rhyme hopped on Beat's shoulders and he got up effortlessly. As Rhyme looked on in amazement, Beat seemed undeterred by her extra weight on his shoulders. (Damn muscle head.)
"Say the thing Shiki!" Eri said.
"Oh, right!" Shiki took a deep breath before shouting towards the stage, "WHITE ANGELS LOVE YOU DEF MARCH!" (You sure aren't as light as an angel!) Nina gave a quick tap on Neku's back to get his attention.
"Um…I can see your legs wobbling."
"Oh! Hand me the sign Mina!" Eri said turning to Mina who gave her a large cardboard sign and handed it to Shiki. (Nope, going down.) Shiki gave out a short yelp as she and Neku collapsed to the ground.
Eventually, the concert came to an end as 777 finished his last strum and the place went silent.
"Thank you, Shibuya! Good night!" Everyone gave a cheer as the band left the stage and out of the room. The crowd began to disperse as Neku's group stayed behind.
"You okay Neku?" Shiki asked as Neku stretched out.
"Yeah. A little sore but nothing crippling."
"Well buck up Neku." Joshua said. "After all, you've got to go meet the band."
"That's right!" Eri cut in, holding up her pass. "We get to go see Def March in person!"
"And get their first shirt signed."
"How are you going to get a signature on a black shirt?" Neku asked and Mina held up a white marker. (Ah. They're prepared.)
"Seems like it would be pretty obvious to most people." Mina shot at him. (…You suck.) "Let's hurry. We don't want to lose our chance to see them."
"Right!" Eri, Mina, and Nina went ahead of the group as Neku and Shiki stayed behind to talk with the others.
"Remember, ask them about anything weird they've seen in the UG." Joshua reiterated. "Also ask them about any weird items popping up."
"Why that?" Shiki asked.
"I have a theory."
"Well we'd like to hear it." Neku said.
"Sorry but that's confidential." (Jerk.)
"Come on guys!" Eri shouted to them.
"Be careful." Rhyme said and the pair nodded before following the other three into the backstage area.
Once they came up to the bands room, Shiki and Eri messed with their hair, making sure they looked nice before Neku opened the door. The room was fairly standard, with the same wall paper as the rest of the building. The only difference was the arm chairs and a table with various snacks and drinks on it. 777, Bj, and Tenho were leisurely chatting as they enjoyed cans of soda.
"We killed it out there!" 777 said with a big grin on his face before coughing.
"Don't forget your lozenges dude." BJ said handing him a small case filled with mints.
"Yeah yeah." 777 popped a mint before turning to see Neku and the others standing there. Neku was considerably calm as Eri, Shiki, and even Mina looked at the band members in awe as Nina seemed to stay close to Neku, "Huh, didn't expect to see you backstage kid."
"Yeah, after our last run in I wasn't eager to see you again." Neku replied.
"Wait, you know 777?" Eri asked.
"Yeah, we ran into each other a few times before." Eri sucked in a long breath in amazement and Mina had to shake her to make her stop.
"Yeah, sorry about that man." 777 said. "But it was my job, you know?" Neku sighed.
"Unfortunately, I do. Which is kind of why I'm here."
"So…you guys just sang on stage?" Nina asked.
"Yep. Rocked out on stage!" 777 replied.
"It seems like your guitar wasn't properly tuned for a few minutes at the begging though."
"Damn!" BJ said in frustration. "I knew we should have done a sound check."
"Huh, thought it sounded pretty good to me."
"An amateur move like that could cost us big time down the line!" BJ replied angrily before turning to Nina, "Thanks for pointing that out kid. I need to fix it if that's the case."
"She's actually pretty cleaver. It was probably how she picked that up." Shiki explained.
"I-It's nice to meet you all." Nina held out her hand and 777 chuckled.
"Formal girl. I like it." All three of them gave Nina a respective shake and did the same for everyone there.
"So what do you guys want to know?" Tenho asked. Eri and Mina quickly jumped at the opportunity and began asking Tenho questions, one after another. 777 moved up to Neku and Shiki.
"So what do you two need? I'm guessing you're not here just for fun."
"Oh, the concert was fun!" Shiki quickly clarified, "But…yeah."
"Mind if we talk in private?" Neku asked and 777 led the pair out of the room and closed the door.
"So what's up?"
"You're still doing Reaper work right?" Shiki asked.
"Yeah. It pays the bills when the music is slow."
"Has anything weird been happening in the UG?" Neku asked.
"What do you mean?"
"I ran into a few Reapers trying to recruit players themselves." 777 groaned.
"Jeez. Those have been popping up way more frequently then they should be. It's not normal."
"How so?"
"I know quite a few other reapers who are doing this. Guys who I know wouldn't do something like that even with a gun to their head. It's unnatural."
"Have you talked to any reapers who are doing this?"
"Yeah, but they all shrug me off. It's annoying." (Seems almost like a complete shift…wait.)
"They might be controlled by someone." Neku offered and something in 777's brain seemed to click.
"You mean like that weird pin?"
"Oh yeah, the red skull pins." Shiki said in realization.
"…Not sure its that though. For as driven as they are, they are much more coherent than anyone who wore it." 777 smirked, "But somebody controlling them isn't a bad idea. I'll have to look into that. Thanks kids."
"Just keep us up to date on what you find out." Neku said and 777 cocked his eye brow at this.
"Any reason you kids are so interested in this?"
"Well, besides the fact that they attacked one of our friends, we're working with one of your higher-ups to figure this out."
"Man, you kids keep getting into crazier situations every time I see you…you got it." (Glad that's taken care of…but Reapers being controlled to kill people…who needs a bunch of players?)
"Um…excuse me." The trio turned to see Nina at the doorway, "Could I get your help? BJ and Tenho weren't sure how to answer my question about the proper dynamic system they use for the music you guys produce."
"Uh…I might be able to answer that." 777 replied heading back into the band's room as Neku and Shiki waited outside.
"So Killer Reapers seem to be popping up more frequently." Neku reiterated to Shiki.
"But what's the use of players? It seems so wasteful." Shiki asked. (It might clear up what they're after if we knew what their end goal was.)
"Well, we got information that opened up even more questions. Hope Joshua can make something of it at least."
"I'm honestly surprised you agreed to help him."
"Well…if something went wrong, I didn't want anyone to get hurt." Shiki smiled at this comment as Neku turned slightly pink.
"Thanks for caring."
"…Whatever." Shiki giggled in reply. (I should learn to stop a sentence early.) The pair turned as everyone exited the room. Eri and Mina moved up to Shiki to show off the new signature on their shirt as 777 moved over to Neku.
"Hey, I should tell you and Shiki something before you guys go. Meet us at the concert stage." Before Neku could reply, they took off towards the stage. (Did he forget to tell us something?)
"Oh, and we got this!" Eri held up a guitar string, "It's the string that broke on his guitar."
"Oh my god! We have to preserve this." (It's like watching a nature documentary.)
Neku was able to tear Shiki away from the group and head to the main stage area. The entire room was darkened, the only light coming from the door they entered through. As they stepped inside, their foot step echoes bounced off the walls as the only sound in the room.
"This is creepy." Shiki commented keeping close to Neku. Once they go to the center, they stopped and waited for Def March to show up. (…Something feels wrong here.) Suddenly, the door slammed shut, concealing Neku and Shiki's vision in pure darkness. (Not good!) Neku backed up until he felt Shiki's back against his. "What do we do?"
"First, we need a light." Before Neku could reach into his pocket, the stage light flashed on and 777 stood there looking down at them, "What are you doing?" Neku asked, not dropping his guard.
"I had something to tell you." He answered.
"What do you mean?" Shiki asked hesitant to move away from Neku.
"I didn't get a chance to tell you but-" Neku took a closer look and noticed 777's eyes were a pitch-black void, "-almost every reaper is recruiting players…including us." Neku felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up and grabbed Shiki before pulling her back as a shadow rushed like a bullet through where they were standing.
"It can't be!" Shiki yelled as they stood up. "You wouldn't do something like this to your fans!"
"You're right. He wouldn't." Neku said and Shiki's brain clicked.
"He's being controlled." BJ and Tenho moved into view next to 777.
"I'm guessing they all are." Neku reached into his pocket and pulled out his emergency starter set. (I didn't want this to happen. But I at least prepared to deal with it.) Neku rushed towards 777 before being blasted back by a physical musical note. (When did they get that power?)
"Go Mr. Mew!" Shiki shouted opening her backpack and sending her cat plushie flying at the trio of reapers. Neku quickly stood up and aimed for BJ as Mr. Mew kept Tenho occupied. Neku gave a quick slash before dodging BJ's music note and throwing a projectile that sent him flying back. Mr. Mew kept his slashes up even as Tenho hit him with attack after attack, but couldn't handle the onslaught as he fell backwards. A loud cord went through the building making Neku and Shiki stop and cover their ears before both were hit with another note. (Damn, that went straight through my headphones.)
"Feel the music!" He strummed again, sending a wave of music notes at the pair. Neku and Shiki made quick dodges but were quickly hit by secondary notes.
"His music is too complicated." Shiki said and Neku realized that outside of the initial fight, there was music playing in the back of their fight, creating musical attacks as it did.
"We need to disconnect him."
"I'm on it." Neku nodded as Shiki moved out towards the speaker system. Neku kept dodging the various notes and sending the occasional projectile towards 777 who just used a note to deflect the strike. Neku looked around and found a garbage can sitting near one of the doors. (Let's see you stop this!) Using his telekinetic pin, Neku tossed the trash can towards 777 who effortlessly swatted it away but left himself open to the rising flame that shot up at his feet making him step back before being hit by Neku's shockwave and staggering back. "Neku! There's no cord connecting him!"
"What!? Then how is he getting sound!?" Neku was swiftly struck making him fly back and hit the ground before 777 turned to Shiki and sent a torrent of notes that made Shiki move out of the range of the sound system. As Neku stood up he gave a groan of pain and noticed a rhythmic ripple coming off of 777. (Damn it. Of course the Reaper is the power source.)
"What now?" Shiki asked.
"He didn't like you near the sound system…which means it's still important."
"All it would do is effect the song though." (…Got it!)
"Shiki, I need you to get back up there. Set every dial you can touch as low as it can go." They had to make a quick dodge as 777 seemed opposed to letting them formulate a plan.
"He's not going to let me near there again." (Then I need him to keep thinking he's got both our attention…or maybe even blind him.)
"Keep the sound set in your sight." Neku said before shooting a projectile at the only light and sending the whole room into darkness again. Neku couldn't see anything but he could hear 777 strumming wildly in an attempt to catch either of them with his attack. Neku kept his hearing on 777 to anticipate where he was trying to attack and kept his dodging up, only narrowly dodging any incoming hits and still getting hit by some. (Not a good plan for both of us…but I know Shiki will get up there.) Neku kept his dodging up, finding the attacks to be more concentrated and much more accurate. (He must have pinpointed where I am.) But as Neku slid out of the way of another attack, the music cut out, the attacks stopped, and the sound of a dull string is all that could be heard from 777's electric guitar. Suddenly, another light flashed on, illuminating 777's confused expression, and giving Neku the opportunity to strike 777 with a heavy blow, sending him flying into his fellow unconscious bandmates. Neku turned to look at Shiki who was standing at the sound table. She gave a long breath and smiled at Neku proudly. Neku returned the smile before turning to the unconscious band and thinking. (They weren't like this before. What changed between when we met with him in his room to now?) Neku looked closer and noticed a pin attached to 777's belt, Tenho's red hoodie, and BJ's face scarf. After taking all of them off, he notices the familiar player pin skull motif with white for the background and black for the skull. (So they are being controlled.)
"Oh no." Shiki said looking over his shoulder. Both went on the defense as 777 started shifting.
"Ugh…that didn't feel good." He stood up along with his bandmates, "What happened?"
"You were controlled." Neku answered holding up the three identical pins.
"Damn! That's not cool."
"When and where did you get these?" Neku quickly asked.
"Where did you get those BJ." 777 asked.
"Well, I was coming back from the Phone Booth of L-" BJ stopped mid-sentence, "F-From a nearby phone booth after feeling kind of rotten and met this weird dude who said he had something that could improve confidence. HE handed me those pins and said I should share them with others I thought might need a boost."
"Why would you take something from some rando!?" Tenho yelled.
"Hey, we were all nervous about this concert! I just thought…we might need a little extra confidence boost."
"Well…we did put on a pretty killer show." 777 said with a smirk before turning back to Neku and sighing, "I just wish that hadn't been so literal for you two."
"Me too." Neku replied. "But that doesn't explain why they went off so suddenly." Did you run into anyone else before coming here?"
"You know, most of today feels kind of fuzzy. I remember our conversation and the main concert but anything after I put on the pin is all kind of out of reach." (Whether that's a side-effect of the pin or our beating, seems like he's not going to remember anytime soon.)
"At least we know someone is giving these pins out." Shiki said.
"Yeah, and I'm guessing whoever handed it out wasn't just targeting BJ for no reason." Neku added, "Sorry to beat you up and go but I think this is enough excitement for one day."
"Agreed." 777 said. "I feel like I need a massage after that beating." Hearing a small whimper, Neku looked over to see Shiki fidgeting with a distraught look on her face.
"I'm soooooooooooo sorry about that! Ididn'twanttobutitwastheonlywaytostopyouguysand-"
"Relax." 777 said trying to calm her down, "Isn't your fault anyway. Just do me a favor."
"What is it?"
"Mess up whoever decided to try controlling us."
"Deal." Neku replied with a smirk.
"And here." 777 tossed each of them a pin, "New Def March pins that are in development. A little way of saying sorry." The pin had a single black music note that's tail extended out into a reaper wing.
"I'm guessing these aren't just normal pins."
"For most people they are, but for you…probably not." Neku smirked at this comment and turned to Shiki who just looked at the pin in amazement.
"Exclusive…Def March items…I will cherish it forever and never let it go."
"Don't put it in a glass case." Neku said, almost in tune with her mind.
"How else will it stay safe?" (Does she even care why he gave us this!?)