(SLAM, ON!) Neku just stared at the Tipsy Toes Hall building, feeling the eyes of his friends on him. It made him a bit anxious and embarrassed. (Should have known what the event was when they mentioned the location.)
"So Neku-" Joshua started, instantly aggravating him. "-seems like your kind of event, wouldn't you say?" (A handful of times…most not by choice…and yet this is the land I will live in forever.)
"AW YEAH MAN!" Beat cheered. "I didn't even know a Tin-Pin Slammer tournament was happening today yo!" Neku turned to their informant, Nina, with a small glare.
"Did you?"
"N-N-N-No! I just heard about an event! I figured it was a book signing, o-or maybe one of the Prince's sponsored events."
"You don't visit Shibuya very often do you?" Eri asked and Nina whimpered slightly.
"Well I'd say this was a very serendipitous turn of events." Joshua said. "What's more fun than a tournament between middle schoolers?"
"But we in high school." Beat brought up. Joshua just turned to Neku. (Don't even start.)
"This looks like so much fun!" Eri said.
"Really?" Neku asked. "This didn't seem like your kind of playground."
"Well not for me. But I remember your fight in the cafeteria, it was that intense, focused look you had while playing that really sparked my interest. I can only imagine how intense it is inside there!" (Suffocating and shameful is more accurate…especially if who I KNOW is in there, is in there.) "Let's go!" Eri grabbed Neku by the arm and pulled him into the event hall.
The inside was filled with people, most of them parents here with their kids; others, over enthusiastic adults. Only a few groups were high schoolers like them, and a few odd balls peppered the area that Neku couldn't quite pin down.
"What a strange cabal of people." Joshua commented looking around. "Not as many children as I would have thought."
"Age doesn't matter. All that matters is a slammer's SOUL!" The group turned to the boisterous yet slightly high-pitch voice to find Shuto Dan standing nearby. (Knew you'd be here.)
"Hey Shooter."
"Hey Blue!"
"Blue?" Rhyme asked.
"Please don't ask. Even I'm not entirely sure how I got that nickname."
"I could explain for you." Joshua offered.
"…As tempting as that is, I think I'll turn down your offer."
"Your lose…in this reality." (…Don't want to know.)
"You must be here because your slammer soul is aflame with the passion of challenge!" Shuto said.
"Something like that." Neku replied.
"Great! A match between fated rivals!"
"…You know some interesting people Neku." Eri commented.
"Don't I know it." Neku replied slightly exasperated.
Neku deviated from the main group to head for the sign-up table. As he jotted his name down, he looked around at all the people who were competing in this small-scale tournament. Most of them looked to be middle schoolers and the like…but he noticed a few high schoolers and even a few adults…including- (What the-) With his registration form filled out and entry card received, Neku walked over to tap on the shoulder of a woman with short pink hair.
"Didn't expect to see you here." Neku commented as the figure turned around to reveal Uzuki Yashiro.
"Ugh, what are you doing here?" She asked with a spit of vile in her throat.
"Playing tin-pin. But I don't think you're here for the same thing."
"I wish." (Huh?) "Spikes in energy keep popping up around here. We got sent to investigate."
"We?"
"Hey phones." Neku looked over to see Kariya leaning against one of the walls, "Been a while."
"So you guys are hunting energy spikes?"
"Whatever the source is." Yashiro replied. "But in this place, it's not an easy job."
"Why's that?"
"Pin energy." Kariya answered. "This place is soaking in it with everyone bringing a set of them to play."
"This is why I hate this game! Too much energy swirls together when it happens! How am I supposed to find abnormal high energy levels when these stupid pins give it off upon contact!"
"Calm down Uzuki. Not much we can do about it."
"Hmph. Fine."
"Does that mean there's a fallen angel here?" Yashiro and Kariya went quiet for a moment before Kariya replied.
"Not sure. Could just be residual energy. Every time two pins clash it sends out a shockwave of psyche energy."
"On that note, you-" Yashiro poked Neku. "-are the WORST offender of this! Every time you play this stupid game, it sets off a false alarm on our radar!"
"Easy Uzuki. Take a deep breath." Yashiro took a deep shaky breath as she clenched her fist.
"Is that true?" Neku asked.
"Hate to say so Phones. Considering what happened, it's safe to say your psyche energy outclasses more than a few of our Reapers and even the Conductor…well, ex-conductor now."
"Unfortunately, none of us are particularly powerful enough to match an angel, so we had to use a baseline lower than that."
"Why not just use me?" Neku offered. Yashiro sneered.
"Don't think we haven't heard about your run in with them already. We need to able to locate their energy, not blanket it." (Jeez, you look ready to tear your own hair out.)
"So Phones, you been playing here recently?" Kariya asked.
"Not recently." (Eri and the others have been eating up most of my free time. Not that I'm complaining.)
"Well, you picked an interesting time to show up." (Don't know if you mean that in a good way or a bad way.) Yashiro added.
"Just stay out of our way." (Now that was in a bad way.)
After a half-hour, the various conversations in the room came to a stop as the announcer started speaking.
"Alright, time to start this slam-on! Seems we've got a nice array of slammers for this match. So many in fact that we're not gonna be able to handle everyone in a one-on-one match. So let's start this tournament off with a four-way matchup! Show us your stuff and take on the heard to make your way up the mountain!"
"Hope that guys is getting paid overtime." Neku commented.
"Maybe he loves the theatric aspect of it." Joshua offered. (He seems too enthusiastic.)
"Alright, every slammer, make your way to the table with the number on your card. Show them your spirit!" (Yeah, he's definitely not getting paid enough.)
Neku was quick to sweep his competitors, knocking his opponents out without losing a pin and even giving Yammers a run for his money.
"Aw man! I tuned my pins and still lost in the first round."
"Do you actually have any skill?" Neku asked after the match.
"Course I do…I just need a little boost." (If this game were any more serious you would be banned.)
"Neku!" Neku looked over to see the others approaching him.
"How'd everyone do?" Neku asked. Eri chuckled nervously.
"I lost my match."
"I creamed 'em!" Beat bragged.
"I made it to the last guy but he ended up beating me." Rhyme said with a sigh.
"I made it through." Shiki added.
"I was surprised by that eight-year-old." Joshua commented. "He has a tremendous spirit for the game."
"You lost to him." Neku said flat-out.
"Not like it matters. He's your rival." (Way to deflect.)
"I-I won." Nina squeaked up. (Over half of us made it. Shiki and Nina did better than I expected.) As they wrapped up, the P.A. system kicked on.
"Alright! Time for the next four-way match. After this, we'll be able to break you guys into single matches. One more all out brawl, knock 'em out of the park slammers!"
"Alright!" Eri yelled. "Give it your all guys!"
"Thanks." Neku replied. As they all moved around, Neku felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. When he turned around all he could see was the various other slammers moving around. The feeling seemed to go as quick as it came but he knew- (Something here is out to get me.)
Neku made another sweep of his opponents, only having a bit of trouble when they all started focusing on him specifically. (Gonna have to try harder than that!)
"Gah!"
"This guy's unreal!"
"How is he creaming us with just starter pins!?"
"Alright, slammers! Seems we've narrowed it down to the top eight." Neku looked up at the monitor to find a list of eight names on it. One he wasn't surprised to find up there were Shooter. A few names he was surprised made it so far; Uzuki Yashiro, Nina, and Shiki. The last three were names he didn't recognize. (Soren, Hayai, and Osoi?)
"Hello!" Neku jumped slightly as a girl's voice popped up right behind him. He turned to see a girl with, wide blue eyes and bleach blonde hair tied into twin tails looking at him. She wore a brightly colored frilly camisole top and a pair of citrus shorts. On her feet were a pair of simple sneakers with a green streak across the top.
"Hi." Neku replied a bit hesitantly. (She snuck up on me. Surprising considering how colorful she is.)
"YoumustbeNeku." (Woah, speed talker!) "MynameisHayai. ButIpreferHay,orAimaybe,IneverquitedecidedbutIwouldn'tmindeitherifI'mbeingcompletelyhonest."
"Um…okay Ai." Neku replied a bit lost.
"Ohyouchosethat. You'rethethirdpersontochosethatone. MostpeoplechooseHay, Ithinkithastodowithmostpeoplechoosingthestartofanameasopposedtotheendofitbutthey'rebothabreviationforthefirstname, weirdright?"
"…R-Right." (This girl is giving me a headache.) Neku felt something bump into him and turned around to see a boy standing there. He wore a large Hey Everybody hoodie that seemed too big form him and covered most of his face. On his legs were a pair of Hannya Jeans with a pair of Gekirin sneaker and a Karma side-bag, "Oh,that'smybrotherOsoi. We'retwinsifyoucanbelieveit." Osoi looked up at Neku. In that moment he could catch a glimpse of the boys' face. He had blonde hair like his sister but it was a dirty blonde; but his eyes were the same blue color. He didn't say a word, just stared at Neku before looking back down and scooting back. (Great, two weird kids…hang on, these two made it to the top eight?)
"So you two like Tin-Pin." Neku said. Osoi nodded.
"Yeahweloveit! It'soursiblingbondingtime!" Hayai gave her brother a big hug, "We'reREALLYgoodatittoo! Ithinkwecouldwin, atleastoneofuscould. Butwe'renotgonnaunderestimateanyone, we'regoingtogiveitourall!" (She's spirited at least.) Neku looked over at Osoi. (You…I can't get a read on.) Suddenly, the P.A. system came on.
"Alright! Time for our preliminary matches! Our matches have Shooter versus Soren, Yashiro versus Neku, Hayai versus Shiki, and Osoi versus Nina! Time to slam with passion and soul!" (So I'm going up against Yashiro. Guess I get to turn one of her pink hairs grey today.)
"Awguessthat'sourcue. ByeNeku, hopeyouwinandwecangoupagainsteachother!" Hayai grabbed her brother Osoi by the arm and dragged him towards her match. (…I might want to watch out for those two.)
Neku stared across the mat at Uzuki Yashiro who rolled her eyes. She looked at her nails before pulling out her pin set and sighing.
"I better get a promotion for this…or at least time and a half."
"You could at least sound a little more interested. You know, sell the illusion."
"Like I want to be known as the woman who's into pre-school competitions? Yeah, no thanks. Any guy who hears that will be running for the hills." The announcer came over the P.A. system.
"Alright Slammers! Ready your first pin…and…SLAM!"
Neku sent out his signature starter, Shockwave. Uzuki came out with Tin Pin Rocker as her starter, launching it at Neku who was quick to spin out of her path. (That pin was made for Tin Pin specifically. I'd better be careful.) Neku activated dive momber, slamming down on Tin Pin Rocker and stunning it before knocking into the pin and launching it off the mat before it was flicked back onto the board.
"I may not like this game but I refuse to lose to you again!" Uzuki yelled as she activated her hammer and hit Neku's shockwave. Tin Pin rocker slammed into Shockwave, knocking it off before it was flicked back on. (Let's see how you handle this!) Neku launched shockwave forward, prompting Yashiro to use bomber. Neku instantly countered with stinger as she came down, stunning her and giving Neku his chance to smack her off again. Before she could flick it back on, he readied his hammer and hit Tin Pin Rocker as it came back on, before being smacked off again, this time for good.
Uzuki gave off an annoyed yell before launching her second pin, Tin Pin Thrift and slamming it against Neku before he could respond, knocking it off. Neku responded by launching his second pin, Pyrokinesis. Uzuki became much more aggressive, launching hammer and bomber at Neku as fast as she could, giving Neku very little time to retaliate and only enough time to dodge. Eventually, she ran out of whammies and started flying around wildly, even knocking herself off the stage and wasting her one hand. Neku gave a sigh before activating stinger and stunning Tin Pin Thrift before knocking it off.
"Game over! Neku wins!" (That's it!?)
"You only brought two pins?" Neku asked and Uzuki growled.
"I'm going up against children. Why would I try hard?"
"Your pin choice would beg to differ on that."
"Shut it!"
"Got creamed by the kid?" Kariya asked, approaching them. "Guess that's a piping hot bowl of ramen for me."
"Ugh, whatever…did we get what we needed?"
"Not yet. We'll need a bit more data before we can take a break."
"…I'm not playing anymore of this game."
"You sure? I'll cover your bowl if you manage to beat me."
"Ugh, let's just get back to work." Uzuki gave Neku one quick glare before following Kariya out of the building. (I can never tell if those two are on the same page or not.)
After beating Uzuki, Neku looked at the updated board. Apparently, he had been the last to win as everyone else was already done with their matches. (That was faster than I expected. And my match had been quick itself.) Now the list was down to Neku, Shooter, Hayai and Osoi. (Huh, Nina and Shiki got knocked out pretty quickly.)
"Hey Neku." Neku turned to see Shiki looking a bit dejected. Nina was next to her, looking disappointed.
"Lost pretty quickly?" He asked and they nodded.
"It was so weird." Shiki said. "He didn't move very much, but his pin was too heavy to actually move around. When I went in to hit, I was stopped; then he tapped me and my pins went flying." (Heavy hitter type.)
"I-I went up against the girl." Nina said. "She was so fast. I-I couldn't even get a hit in." (Well, goes with her speed conversation skills.)
"Blue!" Neku looked over to see Shooter approaching him, "It's good to see you made it to the semi-finals. Just what I'd expect from my partner and rival!"
"How was your match?" Neku asked.
"Easy. He didn't have the slammer soul!" (So he was a normal dude.) The P.A. system came on as they talked.
"Alright slammers! It's time for the semi-finals! Our matchups will pit Neku against Osoi and Hayai against Shooter! One more ring up the steps before the final fight on the mountain top, just make sure you're the one at the top!" (Heavy hitter huh? Means he probably has some bomber heavy pins. Gotta watch out for his counter game.)
"Good luck Neku." Shiki said and Neku smiled.
"Goooooo, Neku!" Neku and Shiki looked over to see Eri holding a pair of pom poms.
"Where did she get those?"
"I've wondered that about a few of her items for a while now." (At least she didn't bring a full cheerleading uniform…or maybe too bad? Don't turn on me right now brain.)
Neku stood across the table, looking at Osoi who just looked down at his feet. He hadn't said a word since he approached and Neku found him incredibly hard to even get a read on. (He's so guarded. It's gonna make it hard to interpret his next move.)
"Alright slammers!" The announcer yelled. "Let's fire up those spirits and SLAM!"
Neku sent out shockwave, whipping up as much momentum in his opening as he could. Osoi seemed to just drop his Drake pin onto the center, letting it sit there as Neku's shockwave launched at it. Neku kept his speed up, rushing at Drake. As Shockwave came within a centimeter of Osoi's pin, he suddenly activated stinger, smacking Shockwave back and stunning it. (His reaction time is insane!) Osoi smacked back lightly, but with enough force to send Shockwave off the board. Neku flicked his pin back on but was immediately met with another stinger, before getting smacked off again. Neku quickly sent out Pyrokinesis, this time going for a bomber start, only to be met by a stinger as he landed, stunning Pyrokinesis. (Damn, he's reading my moves so easily.) Osoi was quick to pull another double tap on Neku's recovery, taking his second pin out. (…Alright, I think I've got a plan he can't counter.) Neku sent Psychokinesis forward, taking a spin around Drake this time and extending his hammer. It connected instantly, stunning Drake and giving Neku the chance to knock it off and out. Osoi dropped his next pin, Love Charge, onto the field. (I've got your number now!) Neku pulled the same move, knocking his pin with a hammer whammie and smacking it off the field. Love Charge bounced back, activating its hammer in retaliation, making Neku switch to bomber and destroy the hammer before getting smacked off again. (If I keep this up I'll take him out no problem.) After taking Love Charge out one more time, Osoi dropped a third pin onto the field. Neku kept up his strategy…but as he did, he felt a weird resonance pass over him every time their pins collided. (Is…is this what Yashiro and Kariya were talking about? The feedback when a strong psyche user slams pins?)
The fight seemed to drag on as Neku slowly whittled down Osoi's defenses, losing two more pins in the process and leaving him with his Cure Drink pin. Every time he collided pins, that resonance seem to smack against Neku's senses, a little louder each time. (It's like my mind is tuning to the UG slightly…but why now?)
"TIME!" Neku jumped slightly at the announcement. The game halted, leaving Osoi and Neku with only one pin left each. "Man, that battle was intense…but with the points tallied, the victory goes to Neku!" His friends each gave a cheer in their own way, with Shiki, Beat, and Eri cheering the loudest while Joshua gave a half-hearted clap. But Neku couldn't focus on that. As soon as the match was over, he looked down at his hands to find them trembling slightly. (That didn't feel like a normal match…what WAS that?) Osoi quietly picked up his remaining pin before looking at Neku. A full minute of silence washed over before he walked away. (…Something's off about all of this.) He looked up at the tournament board and was both surprised and yet not surprised to find his sister had beaten Shooter and was waiting for him in the finals. (Guess I'll get to find out why.)