TWEWY: A Fall Into Honour:
This story is about how Joshua became the Composer. The story is from Joshua's point of view, and others if the story needs to. This is a prequel of the game The World Ends With You. TWEWY is made by Square Enix. And I own the OCs. This is a FAN FICTION and not the real prequel. Enjoy! =3
Week 2, day 3:
Chapter 55: The Mates:
"Are you sure you're okay, Joshua?" Mayu asked softly.
Staring absently at the grafiti, Joshua sighed. "Yeah, just… disoriented."
After the incident of having the letter explode on him, Joshua felt as though a part of him died. He knew it was irrational to feel like this, as it wasn't a tragedy as such as when Ayumu did not get his memories back… but it ruined his shirt. Even with all the rubbing at the local water fountain to try and wash out the charred fabric wasn't enough to fix the damage. He cursed his luck that he wasn't observant enough to figure out the true meaning of that Reaper's statement to avoid this.
"Hmph, you've been nothing but adrifted since your rhubarb with me…" grumbled Izo crossly, leering at him with a maroon eye.
Joshua didn't reply to that, scowling at the graffiti instead of his cold companion.
Usually, when Joshua and Ayumu passed through the district each day for their classes, Joshua could already mentally jot down what was different. Instead of the usual cherry blossom trees that arched into a heart, two watercolour deer substituted for them. One was large with dark brown fur with a dark blue flick on the side of its chest with it's tattooed hooves and muscular hindlimbs supporting it as its spiky patterned tail stayed upright. On the other side, dipping its head to touch noses with the stag was a doe that was lighter in colour. Its petite hooves and sleek hindlimbs were a rosy pink descending into a lemon yellow, having a flick similar to the stag on its creamy chest, but had a tapered patterned tail instead.
Clearly, there would be two enemies instead of one to face this time. Joshua placed his hand on his chin, mindfully taking note of that. 'This complicates things... but we'll make due, I suppose…'
"So, it looks like we got these guys to fight," started Joshua, smiling as he turned to his companions. "Unlike before, we'll all fight-" Before Ayumu could speak, Joshua put his hand on Ayumu's shoulder. "-except Ayumu, because yesterday me and Mayu fought in the same place as before."
"With what? Her nugatory fawning liabilities submitting them to Erasure?" Izo scoffed with a snort, and the smoky black haired girl whimpered.
"Actually, I made her a weapon with the resources around me," retorted Joshua coolly, scowling at the older boy. "It's not like she can twiddle thread to do her bidding…"
The frosty poet's face flushed lividly, and he narrowed his eyes to slits. "Then apprise me how someone so abortive would subsist as she had acquitted herself afore. Sans you, the world would subsist sans another craven to smirch its worth."
Anger surged through Joshua, and when he was about to defend his poor Partner, Ayumu spoke up hollowly, "We're fighting the Noise, right?" After a tense moment of silence, Ayumu went on, "Then we should fight them, not ourselves."
Joshua frowned at his brother momentarily, slowly looking back at Izo as the maroon eyed boy grumpily snorted, "As plenteous as I'd preferably convey my sentiments, the Blind Brat appears to discern what we should be effectuating."
"Oh, so you've become friends with my brother, Bluey," dryly said Joshua, frowning deeper. "And here I thought you weren't one for friendship…"
"Shut up- I'd be addlebrained if I'm to be mates with a blind boy!" spat Izo in ire, tapping the inside of his greyscale gradient jacket and growled.
Before Joshua could respond, bright light filled his vision and he found himself in the familiar dimension he had been in yesterday. Feeling angry that Izo didn't give them a warning before they started, Joshua was about to deliver his thoughts on the matter when two cries filled the air.
The same tattooed stag and doe from the mural was before them. Their necks, that were overlapping each other in their embrace, was lost when the stag Noise drew back to stare at them with its dead beady black eyes. Joshua now noticed how the pattern on its broad orange chest was dark blue to dark green chest fluff- it was in the shape of a 'v'. The doe, on the other hand, had a slender creamy chest with a stylized heart-shaped fluff, rising from yellow to pink.
As both parties faced each other, the stag turned fully and stepped forward with its confident but wary stride, and scraped the ground with one of its thick tattooed hooves.
"Izo…" Joshua said quietly, stepping back cautiously while guiding his Partner and brother along as well. "Why did you do that?"
The dark blue haired boy growled, snorting rudely, "All we were effectuating was naught but prattle!"
"You shouldn't have done that!" hissed Joshua. He noticed how the stag Noise was rearing its tattooed dark red and black antlers in their direction, snorting out with anger. "We didn't even make a plan-"
"You were deliberately squandering our stint conferring about piddling articles when we're on a time limit!" snarled Izo, stiffly edging back. "We would have had twain vestigial hours if you didn't exhort on doting on the craven!"
"You wasted our time because you freaked out about how you had your first kiss with the GM!" yelled Joshua back, watching the lanky boy stiffen. "I know I said terrible things because of the Bounce Ferret, but I never meant them! And even though I apologized, you're acting like I killed Rei for crying out loud!" The boy's eyes darkened. "I know that nothing's been going well all day for you, but I can't ignore it! You've been acting ridiculous, Izo, and it's been hurting people!"
"You don't-" Before Izo could finish, an enraged cry filled the air and the dark brown Noise was charging towards them. Joshua right away yanked aside the lanky boy (to his frustration) when its tattooed antlers nearly had stabbed into Izo's chest. But as it sped past, its hindlegs struck out and pushed Joshua into Ayumu.
As Joshua dazedly was aware of how the Noise galloped away, he soon regained focus and widened his eyes. "Ayumu, are you alright!?" he asked in alarm, pushing himself off Ayumu to lean away and pull his brother up with him.
"Yeah, I didn't feel anything." Ayumu blinked as Joshua got them to their feet, yet Joshua could only sigh.
'If only you felt that, then you wouldn't be okay.' Joshua frowned, soon watching as the stag Noise met up with the doe.
"They're in the exemplary venue to smite forthwith…" growled Izo with a snort.
"Then I guess I'll-" Joshua blinked, soon turning his head to his Partner. She was looking timidly at him with her pretty eyes as her hands clasped near her stomach. 'Mayu doesn't have a way to defend herself yet… I can't afford to attack until I know she can.'
Joshua pondered his options, wondering if leaving the Noise alone would allow him enough time to make a weapon for Mayu before the chance to strike the deer Noise was gone. But what if Izo couldn't hold off the Noise long enough and was vulnerable? Even if Izo's behaviour was unsatisfactory today, leaving him in danger would net in more disrespect from the older boy. And if everyone was fighting while worrying about the Noise, Ayumu could be snuck up on and be Erased! But if Joshua attacked with Izo, both Mayu and Ayumu would both be in danger!
All these options had their fair share of risks… how could Joshua go with any of them?
"I… um…" Joshua felt cold sweat roll onto his forehead to his disgust, but that didn't erase the nervousness he felt. "Maybe we should all buddy up for now?"
"Aleck, that wasn't analogous to what's afore us!" yelled Izo in frustration.
"These Noise are mobile, and we don't know what else they can do to us," explained Joshua warily, frowning in discontent at the dark blue haired boy. "We shouldn't leave a single person alone right now, or nobody will be safe." As Izo crossed his arms, Joshua spoke with a groan, "Izo, you should go with Ayumu." Planting his hand over his face, the ashen blond went on, "I think sticking with our Partners would be the best… so let's just go with that for now."
With the mere scowl Izo gave, Joshua felt that he made the right decision. Izo disliked Mayu, and Joshua and Izo weren't really onboard with each other themselves, so it would be best to give space to Izo. Izo hadn't expressed any outright aggravation with Ayumu lately (although, he felt that Izo shouldn't be handling his brother), so it appeared everything was good for the moment. Joshua gave a smile to Mayu, nodding at her when he took note of her relief.
They separated from each other to inch toward the deer Noise, and Joshua noticed the Noise for some reason were emitting a rosy glow that was just ebbing away. As soon as the stag turned its gaze back to them, it reared before galloping towards Izo and Ayumu. Upon spotting the yield sign from yesterday, Joshua perked up only to realize it was close to the doe. He immediately motioned quietly to Mayu for them to creep past the doe, who was skittering uneasily in idle. When he happened to meet the Noise's gaze, it let out a bleat and galloped. Instead of heading to them, it looked like it was running away only to stumble and let out a yelp when it careened into the yield sign.
Joshua cursed when the object fizzled into nothing, glancing around anxiously only to realize the only other option for Mayu was a sign with wheels that had 'WOW' on it. There was no way Mayu would be strong enough or quick enough to push it around like a buggy! He spun around to lock his gaze with his Partner's, shaking his head. "Just stay close to me- I'll try to take it down."
Mayu frowned with dismay, and he swiftly located the Noise, running after it with Mayu close behind him.
"Sh-Shouldn't she b-be attacking us?" Mayu asked in a concerned whisper.
"Yes, but I'm not sure why it isn't." Joshua kept his gaze on the skittish doe, taking a moment to wonder if the doe really was a female. Despite the obvious signs to differentiate genders, Joshua could only bring himself to see Noise as genderless. There was never a moment where Sanae said they had genders, so Joshua could only humour the thought of Dixifrog tadpoles flopping about harmlessly on the area of battle. It seemed too impossible to be real…
The doe appeared to be watching them, only to scamper away with a fearful cry. As Joshua was about to summon the use of his Breezifreeze to stop it, Joshua heard his Partner call out, "Joshua-"
In the next second, he felt himself being hurled into the air, gasping out before his side collided with the ground and rolled. Mayu was crying out for him, and he gritted his teeth as the stag Noise's hooves heralded its return. Joshua had to roll away from it and haul himself to his feet, then summoned energy into his Thrash Splash Pin before it came after him again. But instead, he noticed Mayu was swaying nearby the darting doe Noise before toppling down, talking a direct hit from the other darker-furred Noise.
"Mayu, hold on!" He sped on water to trounce the Noise away, but as soon as he came up on the two Noise who had regrouped, his watery punches struck them yet they didn't appear to be affected in their twined neck embrace. His Psych wore off, and Joshua stumbled back in alarm. 'Why didn't it work!?'
The taller Noise turned to him, preparing to buck again when a force knocked him out of the danger. Joshua could only exclaim in pain when a body shoved him into the ground before being roughly yanked up. Izo didn't offer anything to say, stepping back and threw his threads into the twisted dark red to black antlers on top of the Noise's head. Joshua got the hint to strike when the stag careened into a wall by the subtle twitches of Izo's fingers, and Joshua sent a gust toward the Noise to tangle it up further-
But when did the ground go sideways?
Joshua had only a moment to mull it over when his throat was fastened by something tight, and he summoned Transflaration's fire instantly, hoping to bombard the thing that caused this. Soon he felt something tighten around his wrists before he lost control of his body, panicking and sending the embers out prematurely. Before he knew it, he heard Izo and Mayu crying out and he widened his eyes, feeling his mind regain focus.
He first noticed that his wrists were bound by nearly transparent white tread, feeling a pressure on his neck and slowly raised his hands to follow the string from his wrists to where more had snared around it. And in Izo's grasp… the same strings were loosely looped around his fingers.
"What do you think you're doing!?" Joshua immediately glared at Izo, who swiftly returned it, if not more angry. As Joshua wiggled his wrists back and forth, trying to dislodge the thread, he felt his throat close up painfully and coughed. He halted his movements, gritting his teeth as he wheezed out, "This isn't funny, Izo!"
"Why would I misemploy my own threads!?" hissed Izo out, letting go in order for Joshua to breathe.
"To strangle me, apparently!" retorted Joshua furiously in a scoff, slowly rubbing his bound limbs until he managed to slide a hand out. As he worked to loosen the material from around his neck, he growled in a rasp as he shakily tried to breathe, "This doesn't even feel like thread- it's more like metal that could slice my head off!"
"Feh." Izo rolled his eye. "You're not the only Player who has stratagems with their Pins…" Slowly pulling back a saggy flap of his short jacket, Joshua squinted his vision that had gradually been turning blurry from being deprived of his oxygen. Again, it wasn't the trick of the light in Udagawa, he realized… Izo had two Pins neatly fastened to his white shirt flanking his Player Pin.
One was black with a tawny horizontal control bar (one that would control a marionette, Joshua noted), and it had silver noodle-like strings dangling like a swaying curtain. The other was simply silver and glossy, without anything else on its perfectly sleek metallic surface.
Reeling slightly from the sight, Joshua gasped out in disbelief, "So you do have Pins!?" He gaped dazedly, shaking his head before he placed a hand on his temple. "I-I thought... I thought you couldn't use Pins..."
"Hmph, so you had such inkling that I subsisted by solus luck?" Izo snorted with contempt, wrinkling his nose. "I have been utilizing them before we met on that fucking viaduct."
"And that's how you've been controlling your threads?" Joshua mused, earning a curt yet dismissive nod. "And… does the other one make string into metal?"
"Non!" snarled Izo, pawing away his long fringe, snorting out a harsh exhale. "The Marionette's Curtsy lets me transfigure my twine into the very apparatuses to dominate my adversaries, while the Ferro Tenaci transfigures any item I am touching into the consistency of steel, Aleck."
Joshua snickered for a slight moment. "Hehehe… those Pins sound like they're meant for you."
"Quiet!" Izo lashed his hand. "Cease your speech, as plenteous as I would preferably assert my case, I'd rather engross on our adversaries we ought to face."
As the two deer Noise galloped around, Joshua frowned. "What about them?"
"That doe addled us!" spat Izo bitterly, stiffly jabbing a finger towards it. "It was prancing around when I lost perception of my vicinity and allies… Did you not discern the same?"
Nodding, Joshua pushed aside how easily Izo was holding off on his antisocial demeanour in suit for civility. Joshua knew, despite how he wanted to keep arguing and assert his control over the situation, that maybe it wasn't the best to focus on when they were facing their unique enemies. Even if it didn't last long on Izo's end… Joshua felt that fighting each other would make it easy for the Noise to run them down without lifting a single tattooed hoof.
"The stag keeps striking out, but the doe makes their bolt," explained Izo through a growl, his narrowed eye flicking in the direction of the Noise as he spoke, "They retire when they are hurt, but only the doe heals when the stag cannot work. And united together, they are indomitable... whether we strike, our damage will always be abysmal. Our only chance would be to break them up, in order to disrupt these mates' struggle by separating the weak from the tough!"
"Izo, as nice as it is to hear your poetry… I actually want to defeat the Noise, not decipher your words," said Joshua with a grimace, and the dark blue haired boy grew stiff. "The only thing I got from it was that it sounds like we have two different Noise that work well together…"
"The mates can only be annihilated once we Erase one of them!" spat Izo bitterly. "Surely, you ought to have learned to heed my diction by now…"
"Honestly, it still can go over my head." Joshua shook his head. "I don't worship dictionaries for my pastime, Izo."
Izo growled, grumbling under his breath before walking off, "Just combat one of them."
The ashen blond blinked, frowning before he sighed. He tried to recall what Izo said in his poetic spiel, trying to piece out the meaning as he glanced around to find his Partner. As much as he wanted to make that wheeled sign into something Mayu could work with, it wasn't like they had all the time in the world… Focusing their efforts here might short straw them in the next Noise fight if they spent all their time on these Noise, so he decided unless it was dire, Mayu would still have to work without a weapon.
As he noticed the varied attack patterns the Noise were undertaking, he mumbled (the best he could remember or pronounce) of Izo's speech. The doe was actively avoiding fighting, but when Izo was lucky to get close enough, it started to buck out flimsily and bleating until the stag came to bowl over Izo. Joshua ran over to help Izo, only to notice the same rosy aura fall around the Noise when they nuzzled each other's shoulders. From Joshua's angle, it was like the quadrupedal Noise were doing their own sort of embrace again. He eyed the more muscular figure of the stag, noting it must have been stronger than the doe Noise…
It occurred to him what Izo meant.
Their main threat was the stag Noise; if it was out of the picture then the doe would be defenceless. Everytime the doe was trapped, the stag would rush in and fend off its attackers. As much as Joshua wanted to still hold a grudge against Izo, Izo was right: They had to take out the stag if they were to win!
Spotting Mayu with Ayumu, Joshua called, "Mayu, get Ayumu somewhere safe and try to guide the doe away from the stag!"
"Wh-What!?" She widened her eyes. "B-But how!?"
"Its skittish- just chase it off!" Joshua shouted back, pivoting to Izo who was rubbing his head with a grimace. "Izo, Mayu will separate the doe from the stag! Follow her and snare the doe so it can't go to the stag!"
The maroon eyed boy snorted, "Are you sure the doe won't harrow the craven?"
"Don't even start with that right now, Izo!" Joshua glared. "Just do it!
Rolling his single visible eye, Izo pushed himself against a nearby wall, crossing his arms to watch Mayu leading Ayumu away with a scowl.
"I'll deal with the stag, and then we'll finish off the doe," finished Joshua, smiling as he felt confident this would work. "Just make sure the doe doesn't escape no matter what."
Assuring himself that everyone would be ready, Joshua waited until the stag drew away to charge at Izo before sprinting to the boy's aid. He heard the doe cry out behind him, but instead focused on building icicles in his palm before leviating them into the air. He created a cluster around the stag, holding it as firmly as he could with his mind as the stag bleated in alarm. Izo departed as soon as the threat was gone, and Joshua hoped his Psych wouldn't ebb away before the doe was snagged by Izo.
Cracks began to form when the doe cried in distress, making Joshua curse over the fact the stag already was breaking free. Joshua moved to the side the Noise was widening the hole, cancelling his Psych and used Windy Whirl to blow the stag away. It tumbled across the road, splaying out its limbs in fear, and the moment it struck the 'WOW' sign, it collapsed as the sign vanished. Joshua was already speeding towards it with the use of Thrash Splash when it had hit the sign, hoping it wouldn't recover from its daze before he reached it.
Joshua had no time to stop the Noise from moving with his Psychs. Starbright might miss if the stag Noise fled, and Transflaration would cause it to panic. So, without much thought, he leapt and thrust himself onto the Noise's back as it just lifted itself up. Water cascaded from where Joshua sat atop of the Noise, so he had to cancel his Psych in order to not cause the stag to slip. Joshua wrapped his arms around its neck and netted his hands into its chest fur as tightly as he could. He even threw his legs around its neck to make sure he could keep himself attached to it, only to shout when the Noise called out loudly and reared up in aggravation.
"What asinine machination are you toiling to enact!?" yelled Izo incredulously with irritation as Joshua maintained his hold on the Noise.
"I'm trying to pull a Rei, if you don't mind me taking the rein on the situation!" shouted Joshua back with a grin, remembering the time Rei bullrode a Mink Noise. "Ignore the details for now, just keep the doe in place!"
As the dark blue haired poet grumbled, Joshua could tell the doe was working hard at trying to free itself. It was as if it was twirling on its four hooves in an elegant dance that only caused the thread to snag harder and more around it, eventually causing it to lose balance and gracelessly tumble onto its side with a pitiful keen. Immediately, the stag gave a call that powerfully rippled from its throat as it tried to buck Joshua off harder before wildly shaking its head, galloping forward in a frenzy.
"Whoa there- let's not think about your friend and focus on your Erasure, Noise!" Joshua yelped in alarm, leaning forward to rest against the back of its neck only to veer his body steeply to his left. He could only hope this was enough to change the Noise's course of movement, only to find resistance as it stubbornly pounded towards Izo and Mayu. Now that he was riding the stag, Joshua realized it would be harder to Erase it, but he had to try harder if he were to make the Noise avoid its 'Mate'. In response, the Noise cried out when he tried to steer it away, so Joshua knew he wouldn't be strong enough to change its course of movement this way. He immediately loosened his grip to try to aim his palm toward the ground in front, showering half-baked embers that caused the Noise to twist right into an unsteady rear from fright. "That's it…" he murmured seriously, preparing his Psych again, "run the other way-"
Cutting through the air, a sharp snap caught Joshua's ear.
Stiffening, and feeling the fire in his palm recede immediately, Joshua widened his eyes as he spotted staticky particles dispersing from in front of Izo. When Izo turned around, Joshua felt dread stir inside himself as he noticed how pale-stricken the frosty poet's face was.
Joshua sucked in a breath, about to call the boy out on the Erasure when dark greenish blue light surged into his vision. "What the-"
A loud, ragged snort flared from the Noise's snout. Joshua just knew, then and there, that the last thing that should have occurred was the worst thing Izo had done at that moment… Without warning, Joshua felt his insides churn as a scream and yell sounded from in front of him, and instantly the ashen blond yelled in frustration, "IZO- what have you done!?"
"That insufferable whelp thrashed around too much and terminated itself!" yelled Izo back furiously as Joshua felt his limbs start to become numb from whatever was blinding him.
"How could it Erase itself, Izo!?" Joshua grounded out furiously. "How!?"
"It throttled itself when trying to bolt, dammit!"
"Oh for the love of-" Joshua didn't have time to finish his sentence before the Noise dipped down dangerously to stomp, precariously making Joshua lose his grip and get stabbed by the tattooed antlers. "Wh-Whoa-" Before he knew it, he was being being thrown off when it drew up to stomp with its hind limbs. "Gah-"
Intense pain coursed through Joshua's spine, winding him for a long time as he coughed and sputtered in pain. His vision went blurry and caught the same light as before flooding every part of it before pain sliced through his sides, making him cry out in agony. He could have sworn his name was called, but he could only try to crawl away before he was struck almost endlessly by another blow, making him bite into his lower lip hard as he clenched his eyes closed. 'I-I have to get out of here! But how can I-'
In the bare consciousness Joshua held, he felt pain course through his outstretched wrist before his body was burning from being dragged across the cement. He opened his mouth to yelp in distress, only to feel himself halt and soon make out the glint of something thin snaking around his wrists…
'Izo!' He widened his failing vision, sending whatever energy he had left into his Rosetta Restore in lieu of not wasting time to give his thanks. As the pleasant balmy feeling spread through him, he slowly sat up and willed the healing process to hasten before the stag could return. 'If he hadn't done that… I would have been creamed into the pavement.'
As soon as he felt his strength return, Joshua pulled off the hard thread then hauled himself to his feet. As he glanced at the cobalt haired boy, Joshua soon sighed in relief, "Oh thank goodness… that was close."
"Hmph… you should have sought out the foibles before we enabled your plan, Aleck," growled Izo, ripping the thread off and irritably relacing it around his fingers. "Now we have a rampaging stag on our hands."
"Well, I didn't expect the doe to struggle that much," huffed Joshua in annoyance, soon closing his eyes. "But thank you for saving me…"
"Feh, do not give me your merci until the stag no longer persists," snorted Izo, lifting his long blue fringe as both his eyes appeared to survey their surroundings. When Joshua regarded how the stag appeared to be laying waste to the cement area, bucking grooves and scrapings into the pavement, Joshua heard the older boy go on in a cold sneer, "Did you happen to have a stratagem in case the stag ran corybantic?"
"Of course not, I thought our lovely Noise would simply fall in line with our standards," replied Joshua uneasily, narrowing his eyes. "But I guess now we have to rethink our strategy…"
"Hmph, then how to do you envisage us to demolish it now?"
"Look, we just have to avoid its crazy thrashing and strike it down as fast as we can to Erase it." The ashen blond grimaced, soon widening his eyes with a gasp upon hearing Mayu scream. "Mayu!" He pivoted sharply only to watch his Partner running and screaming when the Noise began to charge, once more bathed in its new fierce brilliance. "Hold on!"
"I-It w-won't st-stop, J-Joshua!" she shrieked in terror, as if she nearly was sobbing in a blubbery hysteric from the incoming Noise. "I-It's go-going to E-Erase m-me!"
"Keep away as much as you can, we'll get you out of there!" Joshua cupped his hands as he shouted, swerving back to his poetic companion as he quickly spoke, "Izo, I need you to yank her out of there like you did with-"
"I covet that I could do that…" drawled Izo bitterly, making Joshua tense as the boy was fishing through the threads in his sleek black case. "But my threads are all dilapidated…"
"But you-" Joshua paused abruptly, narrowing his eyes as he yelled out when he noticed Izo had threads that were perfectly fine around his fingers, "Oh come on… stop joking around and help Mayu, Izo!"
"They are subpar, and the craven is doing an exquisite enterprise diverting our adversary," returned Izo with a roll of his eye, turning to walk away with a shrug. "Leave her to her fleeing and take out the Noise we ought to rout for our Mission."
"Izo, I can't let you do this to Mayu!" roared Joshua furiously. He was about to follow after the boy, only to swing sharply on the spot towards Mayu when his Partner gave another shrill scream. "Mayu, I'm coming!"
Pushing hard on his feet, Joshua dove into his Thrash Splash Psych and sped straight into the Noise, only knocking it slightly to its left to careen into a wall. Joshua was about to bring his fists on it when the Noise suddenly hopped to its hooves and vigorously began to buck at him. Joshua skidded side to side with his Psych, parrying the best he could to punch his hardest at the Noise's face, only to duck and slide backward when the Psych began to fade. He threw himself to the side when the dark brown stag launched forward, and then created ice shards around himself to avoid being pounded into the ground.
Ice pelted his body each strike the stag gave, and Joshua widened his eyes. 'Its breaking up my attack to hurt me- I have to do something before it breaks through the rest!'
Thinking as fast as he could, he bit his lip before a single idea worked into his mind. 'If I could create enough distance and judge my aim right, I might have a chance to strike it down with Starblight if I can gather enough power in time.' Turning, he used what he could best tap into with his psychic powers to levitate the remaining ice shards to gather around the Noise to create a icy encasing before sprinting as fast as he could.
"Everyone- scatter and hide from view!" he shouted on the top of his lungs, ignoring Mayu's dismayed response to speak louder, "I need to be the only thing it will center on- just run!"
As he swiftly and nearly tripped on the uneven cement, pivoting around to face the Noise, he began charging his chosen Psych. 'Keep calm… just let it come for you, Yoshiya…' The icy tomb he created around the Noise was cracking hideously, and he trained his eye on it. 'There's only one way to get a direct hit on it without my attack missing, or for it to run away…' He grimaced, breathing in deeply to calm his nerves as ice specks flicked off of the ice casing. 'And I don't want everyone to get caught in the blast…'
After waiting a little longer, the ice shattered as the stag leapt out, harshly landing and galloping straight for him. Joshua didn't let his lavender eyes stray from the target, and slowly pressed his palm out in front of him. He smirked, and let himself activate the Psych as the Noise was thundering closer. The Noise was nearly in front of him when celestial light surged in a downward slant from above, feeling himself lift weightlessly from the ground as everything dissolved into white, his ears deaf from the intense roar his attack gave when striking the Noise below. Joshua felt his heart thud hard as he felt pressure build up around him, flowing from the ground to the air and numbing him as screaming faintly tugged at the edges of his muted hearing…
Then they were back at Towa Records.
Joshua, at first, stumbled backward from the abrupt change, feeling his stomach drop from being on the ground again. He blinked quickly as he stabilized his footing, and he soon gave a content sigh, "Well then, I suppose that was it."
Before Joshua could do anything else, his shoulders were clamped onto, and he widened his eyes as he was whipped around to face an angry Izo. "YOU ARE INSANE!" snarled Izo in fury, his eye a single maroon slit that leered at Joshua.
"Uh… howdy?" Joshua responded, not sure what to make of the moment. "Good to see you're okay?"
"You sent a sanguinary beam of lumiere onto the field like it's nothing! What the fuck!?" the cold boy snapped before shoving Joshua down to the ground without warning, making Joshua yelp and fan out his hands to protect himself from his harsh fall. "You could have Erased something other than the Noise, dammit!"
Trying to not freak out when he managed to prop himself up on the germ infested pavement with his arms, Joshua rose to stand up carefully and slowly. The moment he was standing, he regarded the livid boy. "Okay… how about we calm down," he said quietly, eying the leer from Izo and horror-stricken face his Partner was wearing with a grimace. "I didn't hurt any of you, so let's not fight about how I took the Noise down."
"Feh!" Izo's frown deepened. "It was the most calamitous exhibition of folly I've ever beheld in my life!"
"Heh, then I suppose it's not far from the ordinary," remarked Joshua with a little laugh. "It's not like the Reapers' Game has seen the most creative way to Erase the Noise today." It was true, Joshua has seen much more from previous Players he used to watch as a kid.
"That doesn't mean it wasn't dangerous or insensitive to us, Josh," Ayumu said simply, and Joshua regarded his half-brother and suddenly felt worried upon the idea he may have struck one of them accidentally. "From what I heard from Izo and Mayu screaming."
Izo pointedly snorted at that, turning his back to Joshua while Mayu timidly avoided Joshua's gaze.
"D-Did I hurt any of you?" Joshua asked in concern, feeling hs lip quiver from how watery Mayu's eyes were. "A-Anyone?"
Izo gave a curt shake of his head. "If you hadn't given your admonition, we may have, Brat."
"I have no clue if you did, Josh," said Ayumu, blinking his pewter gaze. "Do I look hurt?"
"N-No, not really… if we don't account for the GM clawing your nose yesterday," Joshua said uneasily when he placed a hand on Ayumu's head, feeling Ayumu's downy blond hair under his fingers. He tried to not look at the shimmering golden yellow tear on Ayumu's crooked nose, trying to pretend it wasn't spitting out Ayumu's aura. He bit his lip as he carded his hand through Ayumu's locks, wanting to distract himself as much as possible from the incurable wound. Oddly enough, Joshua could say it was one of the most calming things he could do at the moment. Ayumu didn't like to admit it, but Ayumu liked it whenever Joshua petted his hand through his younger half-brother's hair. So, it was almost a win-win situation if either of them were distressed and needed comfort. It only felt strange that Joshua hadn't done this for Ayumu until now... or for himself. "But who knows if I did, Ayumu, you don't feel pain," he added dolefully with a weak smile.
"Then maybe you should tone it down, just in case you hit me one day." The petite blond blinked once more, soon putting in, "Was it your Starblight Pin?"
"Y-Yeah." Joshua frowned sadly, stroking his hand more. "It was."
"From what I sensed last week, be more careful with that Pin then. It's a really powerful, Josh."
"I'll try my best to." Nodding, Joshua soon looked back at Mayu, withdrawing his hand and gazed at her. "D-Did I hit you, Mayu?" Up until now, she hadn't spoken since the battle. That made Joshua wonder if she was pulled into the attack, and at that horrifying thought, Joshua slowly approached her, and placed a shaky hand on her shoulder. "M-Mayu…?"
The shy girl quivered briefly, soon raising her pretty turquoise eyes to meet his. "N-No… but it was r-really sc-scary, Joshua…" she whispered meekly, smiling small when her hand rested on his hand. "I'm just g-glad you were able t-to take the N-Noise out before it could attack us more."
"Oh, that's a relief…" Joshua exhaled gently, closing his eyes. "I knew it wasn't going to make it easy to let us Erase it, so I thought it might have been the only chance to take it out."
She nervously nodded, her eyes losing their teary look and softened. "Y-You did what you th-thought was right… I-I know you w-wouldn't want to h-hurt us."
Losing himself briefly to admire her eyes, he nodded. "I guess I should have been more careful, though… I have to admit, it was reckless-"
Izo snorted, breaking Joshua's attention from his Partner. "You are conscious we have one more Noise to rout, and only so much time to do so... right, Aleck?" asked Izo slowly growling out coldly, clenching his hand that held the timer.
Joshua drew his hand up, noticing they had one hour left, nodding before he stepped back to give Mayu space. "You're right, Izo, we should get going on that then."
Izo gave a grunt, turning to walk in the direction of the underpass. Joshua recalled how Izo deliberately lied to not help Mayu, and scowled as the boy disappeared into the darkness of the passage. He frowned, telling himself as soon as he had a chance to, he would have a chat with Izo about that.
But for now, they should finish the Mission in the meantime.
After they entered the underpass, Joshua walked along as lights flickered and wind whirled from the cars that whipped by above and alongside the sidewalk. He could almost walk back and forth through the underpass with his eyes closed from all the times he went through it each day.
He could tell Mayu wasn't as accustomed to going through underpasses from the way she would jump at every car that passed, acting very much the way most people would in the RG by sticking closer to the walls than the curb. He went over, tapping her gingerly and smiled at her. "Don't worry, the cars will not hit us," he murmured. "We're dead." To make a point to ease her worry, he struck out a hand over the road as a car was driving close, watching as his hand rippled as the car passed through before nodding at Mayu's concerned expression. Her clasped hands tightened, but her frown became a small smile.
Waving his hand slightly, even though it wasn't affected, he soon continued on and they all joined Izo. In front of them, along the wall, was a massive black animal that took up nearly all of it. It had white stripes like a tiger that snaked from its pinkish grey back across its torso and along its neck, as well as dark grey to orange tattooed limbs, and a stubby tail like a badger's. It had pure blue eyes… nothing but the colour as it had its pupils absent...
Joshua suppressed a shudder. 'Which…What type of animal is this?' He traced his eyes over it once more, but couldn't quite decide that it was a tiger Noise or a badger Noise. He mused to himself that mapping out this Noise's name for the Noise Report would be a hard case to crack, and he shook his head. 'Whatever it is… it looks like it'll be a tough Noise to defeat.'
Turning to face his companions, he pointed his finger at the Noise as he casually spoke, "Okay… shall I do the honour, or will you do it again, Bluey?"
"That is not my moniker already, brat!" spat Izo harshly, huffing as he crossed his arms, "I don't care, as long as we vanquish the Noise in record time."
"Alright, alright… allow me to set this up," said Joshua with a giggle, turning back and using his Player Pin. As he entered the royal blue abyss, he didn't have a hard time locating the large Noise Symbol before he tapped on it, stepping back out of the Scan as the blue symbol materialized before him.
As soon as they were in, Joshua could only take a second to balk before he thought in shock, 'Okay, you're definitely bigger than I thought!"
A ginormous copy of the graffiti Noise towered over them, hunching forward as its stubby taboo paws' dark grey claws unsheathed. It gave a distorted yowl that shook the ground. It pretty much was squished inside the tunnel, and Joshua could tell it would have limited movements if it were to advance now… He briefly took a moment to ponder if the Gamemaster from yesterday had an oversight of choosing this Noise, knowing that if it were up to him, he would make sure that the Noise had room to attack them. He briefly smirked, staying wary of the Noise so that he didn't miss when it would attack…
As the minute drew on, he noticed that the one peculiar thing about it was how the Noise's pure bright blue eyes never looked down at them, only flickering around as if searching for them. It began stepping forward, prompting Joshua and his company to step back as the beastly Noise snorted and sniffed. However, to his disbelief, it was merely scratching at the cement while lashing its stripped badger-like tail.
"...It looks like it hasn't noticed us yet," Joshua said with a raise of his eyebrows, noticing the Noise's ear twitch when he spoke mindfully, "Do you suppose… the Noise is so tall that we might be mere specks in its own mind?"
"Silence- whatever the basis is for why it hasn't attacked us yet, don't jinx our prospects, Aleck! hissed Izo, glaring at him coldly. As the boy looked back, he spoke in a hissed whisper, "Although, you are correct… it hasn't noticed us yet." Carefully moving his long bangs out of his face, Joshua caught how the frosty poet's eyes had almost the same confusion as Joshua felt. "We may as well use that to our vantage."
The ashen blond nodded, turning back to study the Noise.
If they weren't careful, they might get stepped on by the Noise… and that may as well be the least of their worries. There wasn't anything he could make into a weapon in the area, so he felt that if Mayu kept an eye on Ayumu and herself, they wouldn't get harmed. Therefore, only Izo and Joshua would be able to take it out on their own, and Joshua smirked to himself at the odds of losing appeared to be slim. 'Too easy… I have to wonder how the GM thought putting a Noise this big in a space like this could work in the first place.' It occurred to himself that Izo might be rubbing off on him, so Joshua grimaced for a second. 'Did she even put any thought into this part of the Mission? Or did she actually have an oversight because she hadn't done her homework?'
It would make sense… if what she had said about her apparent status as a Luddite was true. Joshua knew that the Reapers heavily used technology, so the notion didn't seem too far-fetched if any data they had on the Noise were kept electronically. Joshua then blinked. 'Wait- do Reapers actually do that?' After a few seconds, he groaned internally, 'Argh! I should have asked Sanae about this! Why didn't I do that!?'
"H-How are we going to Erase it?" asked Mayu meekly, trembling when Joshua was broken out of his thoughts. "I-It's… j-just so b-big."
"Feh." Izo crossed his arms with a snort, "How do you opine you're going to Erase it?"
Mayu cringed immediately, and she took a step back. "I-I-" She faltered, soon shaking before she spoke weakly, "I-I just need… a w-weapon."
The maroon eyed boy gave a flimsy wave around the area. "You have naught but air," he growled in a hush, "Don't jest yourself, craven!"
Joshua immediately frowned when Mayu deflated from Izo's verbal lashing, noticing yet again how Izo appeared to be behaving around Mayu. The ashen blond by now could have chalked it up to it being that this may have been how Izo usually treated people other than Rei… but now that he thought about it, Izo's manner was different than what Joshua was used to. If Joshua were to guess… it was as if this wasn't the first time since meeting this week that Izo had spoken with Mayu. He slowly widened his eyes, yet shook his head. 'That couldn't be… I doubt an antisocial person like Izo would be caught dead mingling with a shy girl like Mayu…'
Regardless of that thought, Joshua knew defusing the agitation between the two would be for the best right now. As much as he wanted to stand up for his Partner right now, they had a Noise in front of them. Joshua told himself he'd leave this for later, mentally noting that he already had a stack of things to talk to Izo about how he was acting towards Mayu, so Joshua knew that conversation would be long from the looks of it. But, he also had to get Mayu alone to ask about Izo first before Joshua could confront the boy about his behaviour, just to be safe in case she really was being bullied by Izo...
Mayu was starting to sniffle when Joshua placed a hand on her shoulder, hoping the sentiment was enough to calm her down for now. He met her watery gaze, smiling until eventually her own lips gave a weak upturn then he inhaled deeply. "The Noise can't really move around here, so I doubt there's anything to worry about," said Joshua smoothly, letting go and stepping back. He faced the Noise after that, walking forward a bit before turning back to see Izo leering at him. "I mean, really, Izo… It's just waiting for us to Erase it."
A snort sounded, but Joshua didn't pay any mind to it. "All we need to do is point and shoot, and the Mission is history.." Joshua laughed, and Izo growled at him. "So why don't we just fight it now instead of thinking about how to Erase a Noise that's been sitting around and doing nothing. Its basically a Pig Samba that doesn't have the heart to flee, Izo." Growling echoed distortedly through the underpass, and Joshua frowned. "When you think about it, its probably blind like Ayumu."
"Aleck, cease pushing our luck and be silent!" hissed Izo crabbily, but Joshua simply shrugged at that. "There's no reason to be lax when we don't know what this one does-"
"All its done is growl, sniff, and paw at the ground…" yawned Joshua, testing the waters by carefully stepping close to the Noise. "Just stay back for now if you're so squeamish."
"Aleck…"
The ashen blond sauntered up to the Noise, sensing no aggression when he was as close to its paws as he was currently. He blinked in awe, fascinated as he studied the tattoos of one of the creatures he's been fighting almost a week and a half for. It was intricate and beautiful… Joshua wondered if the limbs of a Noise matched the texture of furs, scales, or feathers like the animals their forms were based upon, or would they be a different texture altogether? The urge to run his hand along it made him almost giddy despite how wrong it was to act like this toward a Noise, but he spared a look to his timer then his companions then smiled.
"I think you should back up a bit for a second or two," said Joshua casually. "I just want to check on something, if you don't mind…"
"Brat, don't you dare imperil our prospect at vantage right now!" spat Izo, although Joshua could barely hear him now.
Joshua noticed Ayumu's lips move and Izo turned his head to the petite blond, then Ayumu spoke, "Josh, I think it might be better if you came back. Izo says you're standing beside the Noise, and I don't think that's the smartest thing to do."
"Relax, Ayumu!" chirped Joshua with a beam, waving at the three of them. "If the Noise won't move now, I'll just take the opportunity I have to answer a question that's been on my mind for years!"
"Whatever you're planning, Josh, don't go through with it." Ayumu merely looked almost in Joshua's direction. "I thought we had talked about this earlier."
"That was about the letter and Wall, this is different."
"Joshua, wh-what are you d-doing?" asked Mayu fearfully, stepping back shakily.
Merely smiling more, Joshua turned and knelt down, slowly reaching down to feel the tattooed limb. He felt the paw stiffen, jumping when the dark grey patterned claws retracted, then widened his eyes. 'It feels like… leather!' he thought in awe, feeling himself become owl-eyed as he brushed his hand along the limb. 'It's… It's nothing like I had thought!' A swell of astonishment erupted through him. 'I don't even know if Sanae knows about this! When I see him again, I should-'
The paw moved, and Joshua blinked. He slightly opened his mouth, then for some reason, the shade was getting darker…
A rancid breeze bellowed over Joshua, followed by sniffing. Joshua froze, widening his eyes as the sniffing continued, and Joshua promptly looked up.
His vision was captured by nothing but a glowing blue…
To be continued… hope you enjoyed the chapter! =D