"I'm sorry to say this, but I don't think you have a choice. You have to go back into the UG."
"Dammit. Dammit, dammit, dammit!" Neku said, pounding a fist on the table. "Alright, fine, so how do I use this piece of crap?"
"You simply pin it onto yourself and press it." Hanekoma said.
"Alright, then I might as well check out the UG now. Any weird effects of the pin that I should worry about?" Neku said, pinning the Switch-it Pin on his jacket.
"Nothing too major, but let's just say it's an out-of-body experience." Hanekoma said, giving a slight laugh. "Before you leave, take the pin deck that I made for you." Hanekoma pulled out a small box from under the counter. "We've got six pins. The first one creates a pillar of flame to attack your opponents, the second works like a sword, the third enables you to levitate, the fourth creates a shockwave, and the fifth makes you fire psi-bullets. The sixth one is special. And it's made just for you." Hanekoma said, pointing at each pin as he explained them.
"What do you mean by that?" Neku asked.
"This pin enhances your abilities, so you don't need to have a partner to fight the noise, unless you really want to." Hanekoma said, handing Neku the box of pins.
"Alright, I'll remember to use them." Neku said. He placed the pins on the table and started clipping them on one by one. "Alright, I'm ready." Neku pressed the Switch-it Pin. He started having a heavy case of vertigo and fell back into a booth. Once the vertigo stopped, Neku looked up and saw himself.
"What the hell! Why is there a second me!" Neku said, freaking out. The other Neku turned around and freaked out himself.
"Well, Neku, when you go to the UG, you don't take your physical body with you. So, for now, you're a spirit of sorts. The only reason why this RG Neku can see you is because this place has a reaper tag. The moment you step outside, you'll become invisible to him." Hanekoma said, rushing Neku out of the store.
"Wait, so while the UG Neku does his thing, I have to take his place in the RG?" RG Neku said.
"Exactly. Oh, Neku, one more thing that I forgot to tell you yesterday about the Switch-it Pin. Not only does it let you switch from RG to UG, but it also lets you do something more important, which is the true purpose of the pin. It lets you switch into alter-" Hanekoma was interrupted by a girl's scream outside.
"What the hell was that?" UG Neku said.
"I didn't hear anything." RG Neku said.
"It must be from a player, then. RG Neku, you go ahead and head back home. UG Neku, you check out what made that scream. I'll tell you what you need to know later." Hanekoma ordered. Both Nekus gave a nod.
Neku walked out of the store and immediately saw a player and their partner run by, being chased by a taboo noise. "What? Taboo noise? Didn't we get rid of those after pie-face was killed!" Neku thought. The two players were backed into a corner. "I've gotta help them!"
"This is it, Gan. I can't believe we're going to die on the first day…" the girl player said to the boy player.
"Shut up, Kina! We haven't lost hope yet! The boy said, running for a punch at the noise. The grunge wolf knocked him back with a simple head butt. He was knocked down into the corner again.
"Gan, are you okay?" the girl asked.
"I'm fine, but we can't fight this noise. Someone help!" the boy yelled. The noise made its final pounce, but a pillar of fire appeared under it, and it was knocked back quite a bit. Several psi-bullets were shot at the noise, and it was quickly erased. The two players looked where the bullets came from. The outstretched arm came from Neku. Neku put his arm down and faced the two players.
"You two alright?" asked Neku. He helped both of them up.
"Yeah, we're fine." The girl reassured. She dusted off some dirt.
"So, who are you and how the hell did you kill that noise so quickly?" the boy asked.
"My name is Neku Sakuraba. I've had a lot of experience with fighting these things." Neku replied, showing off his pins, but hiding the Switch-it Pin.
"I'm Gankona Senshi." Gankona already seemed like the "do now, think later" type. He was about Neku's height with spikey brown hair and tan skin. His shirt said "live free, die hard" on the front, and he wore baggy black pants. He gave the "Everyone look out, we've got a badass over here" kind of vibe. "Call me Gan."
"I'm Sutekina Josei." Sutekina was about Shiki's height. She had pink hair that went down to her waist, and her bangs had to be clipped to one side, or else it would be in her face. Upon looking at her, Neku noticed that she was actually very cute. "Call me Kina. Aren't you a player? Where's your partner?"
"I'm not a player, really, but it's complicated. I don't need a partner." Neku replied. "What mission did they give you?"
"It said to go to Cat Street and remove the black noise infestation." Gan said. "We're almost done, but we almost can't take anymore."
"Getting the players to do their chores? They must be getting lazy."
"Alright, I'll get rid of the rest for you. Stay here." Neku said. He walked in the middle of Cat Street and scanned far noise. Immediately, he grabbed all the Taboo symbols that he could, bringing all of them out. Then, he used his shockwave pin. All the noise was stunned. Neku then attacked them all with his sword pin, effectively erasing them all.
"Holy crap!" Gan said in amazement. The mission was completed.
"Congratulations on removing the infestation!" said a voice coming from on top of a near building. It sounded like a woman. "But now you die!" The person jumped down from where they were standing. It was Uzuki Yashiro. "I don't know how you did it, but you killed them all very quickly. Who are you, any- Oh! What the hell are you doing here!" Uzuki said once she noticed it was Neku.
"It's complicated." Neku said, shrugging his shoulders. "Were you about to send more noise on these players?"
"Now that you're here, I'm rethinking it." Uzuki said.
"Speaking of noise, wasn't that a Taboo noise?" Neku asked.
"We've had Taboo infestations recently. I'm in charge of pest control, but I also have to get points from erasing players."
"Excuse me…" a faint voice said.
"And you're making players do the dirty work?" Neku said.
"What about us…" another faint voice said.
"Well, we need missions to give out, so we chose to let the players take care of-"
"HEY. WHAT IS GOING ON? We don't understand!" Gan said, on behalf of him and Kina.
"Oh, sorry. Your mission is done for today. You can sleep now." Uzuki said. Just then, Gan and Kina fainted and disappeared. Neku watched as they disappeared. He never knew what it looked like, falling asleep after a mission. "So, you little brat, why are you here? Don't tell me you died again." Uzuki said.
"Someone wants me back in the UG. There's supposed to be a problem, but all I see is Taboo infestations." Neku replied. "Anything unusual with the UG?"
"I haven't noticed anything besides Taboo Noise, but you might want to talk to Kariya." Uzuki suggested. Neku was puzzled.
"How would that help? He's only a lazy harrier reaper." Neku stated.
"It's been a year. Things have changed." Uzuki said.
Neku and Uzuki were heading down the trails past the Shibuya River. "Why would Kariya be here? Shouldn't he be out going after players?" Neku asked. Uzuki stopped.
"You'll see." Uzuki said. She outstretched her arm and used her Reaper powers to reveal the door to the Dead God's Pad. "Yoohoo, Mr. Conductor, are you here?" Uzuki asked, shouting into the lounge. There was a man in a chair with a lollipop in his mouth asleep. "Kariya, wake up!" Uzuki said, giving Kariya a couple of slaps.
"Yeah, yeah. Why can't you just let me sleep?" Kariya said, sitting up. He turned his head towards Neku. "Well, if it isn't the kid who saved Shibuya. You die again, or something?"
"No, not really. More importantly, why are you here in the pad!" Neku asked.
"It's complicated." Kariya responded, giving a shrug.
"What's so complicated about it? After Neku beat Mr. Kitaniji, we needed a new Conductor, and they forced you to be it." Uzuki explained.
"Thanks for letting me make you explain it for me." Kariya said. Uzuki gave a sigh.
"Look, Kariya, someone wants me back to solve some sort of problem here in the UG, but all I see is a small infestation of Taboo noise. Is there anything else wrong with the UG?" Neku asked. Kariya suddenly got serious.
"The infestation… Is more than 'small'. If it wasn't for all of my officers, the UG would already be swarmed, but I think that this infestation is having a bad effect on… The Composer." Kariya said.
"Oh, no. Joshua." Neku said, filling with worry for his old partner.
Aloha, readers! I've gotten several reviews saying that the chapters should be longer. I have my reasons for shortish chapters. If chapters are a short read, then I can pump them out quicker, and you get to read more often. Please review and tell me what you liked, and what you didn't like. Thanks!