"You bluffed."

A snort.

"Please, Neku, I never bluff."

"You can barely STAND! There's no way in hell you can use your Noise Form! Mister H...tell him!"

Sanae shook his head

"Moot point, both of you. This wager Neku made is a contest of will, not strength. J, I'm sorry, but your Proxy's right. You can't risk using your Noise right now even if you were aloud to, your body is much too weak."

Joshua sighed "Very well. I would have enjoyed that brawl."

"That aside" Neku said, rubbing his temples, "I've decided to try something different today. Apollo actually gave me a pretty solid idea of how he thinks, and I think I know how to continue your training with that in mind."

"I'm not going to enjoy this am I, dear Partner..."

"You'll thank me later. Kariya, if you would..."

Joshua screamed as a shock psych was added to the ropes binding him to the couch. His Proxy cringed and bent down to talk in his ear.

"You can do this. Push past the pain...past the fear. You know what you want. Don't let the pain distract you...don't let it even touch you. FIGHT FOR CONTROL, Joshua!"

The pain was excrutiating. He couldn't see past it to his goal. He needed to regain the control that was stripped away and replaced by agony that ripped through him like fire. Don't let it touch you...

He relaxed. He shut everything out. The ropes, the pain...eventually even Neku's voice...it all went away. He was soon listening to his own breathing, concentrating on nothing but gaining control over his limbs as they were smashed into the couch by the sparking ropes. Ever so slowly, he got control over his right arm...

And moved it out of the bindings holding it down.

Neku's bark broke his concentration, and he realized that he'd been released again.

"You did it! You did it, Josh!" His proxy was exstatic, he saw it in his bright blue eyes. Neku wasn't the type to jump up and down when he got excited, so what strong emotions he felt were often confined to the blue orbs, and right now they shone with pride.

"We can do this! We're gonna beat that son of a—GAAAAAAAH!"

Neku suddenly pitched forwards, hands clutching his orange locked head and writhing on the ground.

"Sanae!" Joshua growled "What's wrong with my proxy?!"

Hanekoma went over and gently put his fingers to Neku's forehead. He winced and quickly pulled away.

"It's Apollo. He formed some kind of link to Phones, and is...he's attacking him...with his memories. His memories of torturing you. I got a glimpse just now...he can't get out of it. It's got him and I can't pull him out of it."

"Sounds like a Dream State Inducer." Joshua pondered "But that's impossible without having physical contact first. Neku's been inside. Apollo can't reach him."

"Unless the state was initiated while mentally linked." Kariya commented around his bean paste lollipop. "Or the victim had made physical contact before, doesn't matter how long ago, it still counts."

Sanae and Joshua both looked at each other with wide eyes, instantly thinking the same thing.

"Neku punched Apollo in the face a while ago. Hard enough that he actually knocked him flat out cold on the ground" Sanae explained.

Kariya almost cholked on his lollipop. Sanae chuckled

"And Apollo was in his true form."

"Spikey did THAT?!" The Reaper coughed out his stick, "He's got guts to spare, this kid...no wonder you picked him, Boss."

"I did pick well. Unfortunately his descision has these unforeseen circumstances." Joshua said "Sanae...bring him to me."

"But Josh.."

"Bring him to me." The Composer repeated "I can help him. I've dealt with this before. I inflicted it myself a few times."

Sanae sighed and dragged Neku to the couch, masking the teen lean against the side where Joshua could reach him.

"Alright Neku...show me what you see..."

"Hold him, Gariko!" Apollo smiled wickedly, and cracked his knuckles

"I think I'll break more than his nose this time. Think I'll go for his entire jaw!"

"Oh...this was a particularly annoying day..." Josh muttered disdainly "Apollo decided to get help making it horrible. And all over a sandwich..."

"If he keeps pulling away from you, break his arm, Saruto"

"With pleasure! This pretty boy's been asking for a snap down. The Kiryu heir...so confident and stuck up...makes you wanna just snap his little neck!"

"Eh, we'll get to that. Donner! Kick him down!"

Joshua, age six, doubled over as a booted foot planted itself right in his stomach so hard he threw up his lunch.

They didn't stop, even when he began coughing blood.

"Bastards!" Neku snarled, "He's SIX! Let him go...LET HIM GO!"

"Hold still!" Joshua griped "If you move I can't break contact!"

As the hour ticked by, the Proxy began to relax. Joshua finally pulled his hand away from Neku's forehead with a tired sigh, shaking his head

"There were...bits and pieces of all kinds of memories, but the complete ones...were things I never wanted him to know about, let alone see. My question is...where the hell is his player pin?! I told him to keep it on at all times so something like this wouldn't even be possible."

"How do you know he isn't wearing it?" Kariya drawled.

"I can't access his mind when he's wearing it. It's one I made specificly, so its not like the other ones. It blocks me."

Sanae came down the stairs "Found it" he tossed it to Josh, who gave it to Kariya, who stuck it in Neku's pocket.

The Composer snarled

"He'll pay for this."