Neku was looking around the Scrambled Crossing for Gan and Kina, and Shiki was helping by yelling out their names. "They must not be here." Neku said, thinking where they could be.
"Are they able to help us with Shibuya?" Shiki asked, looking for people with the descriptions that Neku gave her.
"That's what I was hoping. The two of them are pretty decent fighters, despite the fact that they were almost erased on the first day. They learned how to use their powers since then, and those two would be really helpful." Neku said.
"But you helped them the whole time, right? Wouldn't that disqualify them?" Shiki wondered.
"It quickly got to the point where they didn't need my help on clearing missions. They only get disqualified if I help them with missions. I interfered just about as much as Mr. H did when I played the game. Right now, they're the last two players this week." Neku replied.
"We already checked Hachiko. What about 104?" Shiki asked.
"It's possible. Let's check it out." Neku said.
Neku and Shiki were looking in the different stores in 104 until they looked in Mus Rattus. In there, they saw Kina waiting outside the dressing room. Gan walked out of the dressing room wearing all Mus Rattus. He had an M Cap, a polo shirt, a waist pack, and some khakis on. He looked miserable. "See? You look cute in Mus Rattus!" Kina said, smiling at the outfit that she had put together for Gan.
"I wouldn't be caught dead in Mus Rattus!" Gan yelled. He saw Neku in the corner of his eye busting a gut from the scene he just saw. "Crap!" Gan said, dashing back into the dressing room. Kina turned her head to see what Gan was freaked out about.
"Neku! What are you doing here?" Kina said with a smile on her face. She approached Neku and Shiki. "And who is this?"
"This is Shiki. I'm showing her around the UG. I'll tell you why after you two win the game." Neku said. Shiki and Kina shook hands.
"So you're the girl that Neku is always talking about. You're prettier than Neku said you were." Kina said with a teasing smile on her face. Shiki and Neku started blushing.
"N-Neku said I was pretty?" Shiki asked, stuttering.
"N-No, I never said that!" Neku defended.
"So you're saying that she's not pretty either?" Kina teased.
"I never said that either…" Neku said.
"So you actually do think she's pretty? Shiki, I think you two should start dating." Neku and Shiki blushed even more. Gan came in and saved Neku and Shiki from the embarrassment.
"Hey Gan, what was up with that outfit? You looked pretty good." Neku said.
"I'd rather we not talk about that ever." Gan replied, as he hastily walked out of the store.
"Is he okay?" Shiki asked.
"Oh don't worry. He gets out of foul moods fairly easily." Kina replied as they were walking out of the store.
As they got out from the 104 building, it wasn't long until something happened. Joshua, in his human form, ran up to Neku.
"Joshua! What are you doing here!? And why do you have enough energy to be here right now?" Neku asked.
"No time… to explain… taboo noise… in the crossing…" Joshua said, catching his breath.
"Shiki, stay with Joshua. Gan and Kina, stay back. I'll get this one." Neku said. They nodded in reply, and Neku ran to the crossing.
Neku didn't see any taboo noise at the crossing when he scanned. Neither did he see any regular noise. Just when he was about to give up scanning, the ground started to rumble like it was an earthquake. The people of Shibuya were affected too. In the middle of the crossing, it looked like something was trying to break through the road by continuously ramming into it. When it seemed like it stopped, there was one last big rumble and whatever tried to break through finally broke through. It was a giant squid-like taboo noise with black tattoo (Leo Cantus' legs, Vespertilio Canor's wings, etc.) tentacles.
"Oh crap." Neku said, taking a few steps back. Mare Cantor (as the squid noise is called) brought up a tentacle with a heavy motion. He was aiming for Neku as he was bringing it down. Neku quickly dodged out of the way and started running on the tentacle that had just missed him. The tentacle suddenly flicked Neku up into the air, above Mare Cantor's head. Neku saw that two tentacles were coming at him from both sides that were looking to smash and smush him. He quickly used his levitation pin to dash downward in the air, and he used his sword pin and spun around and hit Mare Cantor with each spin. When Neku landed on the ground, he summoned a pillar of fire under Mare Cantor and then he moved back to a safe distance. Without noticing, Mare Cantor had placed a tentacle behind Neku so that he couldn't go back any farther. A tentacle was coming at him from the left and right, as well as above, and they were coming in too quick to avoid. First, the side tentacles smashed him, and then when those pulled away, the one on top came down on Neku quickly. When every tentacle moved away, Neku was on the ground, nearly beaten to a pulp.
"Shit… is this it?" Neku said, looking up at Mare Cantor about to smack him with another tentacle. Suddenly, large rose petals flew into Mare Cantor. They exploded into more, smaller rose petals which then flew back into Mare Cantor and exploded. Mare Cantor was stunned, and Gan jumped in with a flaming fist (literally) and hit Mare Cantor in a sweet spot with so great a force, Mare was pushed back 15 feet and fell over.
"What the hell are you doing, Neku? I thought you said you had this!" Gan said, looking back at Neku.
"We'll take it from here, don't worry!" Kina said, as she sent more rose petals.
Neku didn't even have enough energy to disagree. Joshua and Shiki came up to Neku and helped him up. Neku was being carried by their shoulders.
"Let's get you somewhere safer so you can rest." Joshua said.
"We need to heal you up." Shiki said. Shiki and Joshua carried him to a wall, where they gently set him up against.
"Joshua… What are you doing here? I thought you didn't have much energy…" Neku said faintly.
"As taboo noise is erased, I regain some of my energy, plus the fact that the whole week gives me time to recuperate. Reviving players drains me as of late, so that is why I'm always tired. Now, let's get you healed." Joshua replied. Joshua pulled out a pin with what looked like a can of soda as a design. "Put this on and use it until you feel better." Neku put the pin on and tapped it a couple of times.
"Alright, much better." Neku said, looking back at Gan and Kina fighting Mare. "Might as well keep fighting." As Neku was about to fight Mare Cantor some more, Gan covered his fist in electricity and sent a shock throughout Mare that managed to erase it. "Or not."
"That was too easy. How did you have a problem with that, Neku?" Gan said, looking back. He still looked fairly beat up.
"Hey, I'm still pretty rusty! It's been a year since I played
"You're one to talk." Kina said, approaching Gan. "I need to heal you."
"Aw, come on… right here? In front of everybody?" Gan said. He looked annoyed.
"Yes. You're too beat up this time to let it slide." Kina replied. You would have thought that the two were a bickering couple, if you hadn't known any better. "Now get ready." Kina put her hands on Gan's cheeks and laid a kiss on his lips. All of his wounds disappeared. Neku was somewhere between shocked and on the brink of laughter and Shiki was just shocked. After Kina was done, Gan wouldn't look at anyone.
A strangely familiar yet sinister voice rang out. "Oh, now wasn't that touching. A kiss after defeating the big noise that was meant to destroy Shibuya. Looks like this Shibuya is safe. Damn." The voice came from the way to 104.
"Hanekoma! So that noise was yours!?" Neku said.
Hanekoma was leaning against a wall. "Yes it was. But ya killed it, so I can't do anything to this Shibuya anymore. I guess I'll just have to move on to the next."
Neku started to run towards Hanekoma, but when he was in attacking distance, Hanekoma warped away with a smirk on his face. "Dammit! He got away!"
"You wouldn't be able to face him now, anyway. He's too powerful for you." Joshua said.
"Uh… Who was that?" Gan asked.
"Alright. I was going to wait until after you two were revived, but I'll have to tell you now." Neku proceeded to tell Gan and Kina about Shibuya being in trouble in all of the parallel universes. They were shocked at almost every detail.
"I… see… and who exactly is Joshua, here?" Kina asked.
"Joshua is a… friend." Neku replied.
"I'm the Composer." Joshua said.
Neku was surprised that Joshua said it so nonchalantly. "Joshua!"
"Whoa whoa whoa, you're the Composer!?" Gan asked.
"Yes. I'd like to make a deal with you two." Joshua replied. "I can revive you both right now if you will help Neku on his quest. If you don't want to help, you'll have to survive tomorrow in order to be revived. What do you say?" Gan and Kina looked at each other and nodded.
"We'll do it. Shibuya is important to us. We're not going to let some angel destroy it." Gan said with confidence.
"Neither of us really have much left to fight for..." Kina explained with a somber look on her face. "But fighting for Shibuya is reason enough!" Kina said strongly.
"Then let's get you revived." Joshua said. Neku quickly interrupted.
"Wait, isn't that against the rules?" Neku asked.
"First of all, do you really think Kariya is going care? If it means getting rid of the Taboo Noise, he'll let it slide. Second of all, this is my game, after all. The sooner things get normal around here, the sooner the Game will be normal again." Joshua responded.
"That makes sense. Alright, let's do this." Neku said. Gan and Kina nodded. Joshua was standing there with his eyes closed. As he quickly opened them, is eyes were glowing. His skin was starting to burn away from his body, revealing a glowing layer of skin. As Joshua's body was growing, his clothes burned away too.
When he fully changed into his angelic form, he said, "Are you ready?" Gan and Kina nodded. There was suddenly a bright flash of light that blinded everyone. When the light faded, Gan and Kina were gone.
"Where did you revive them?" Neku asked.
Joshua turned to look at Neku and said, "At the Shibuya River"
(Hey, uh... how's everyone been doing? I'm really really sorry for the 5-month delay. I'm helping a friend of mine write a manga-ish thing, so I've been doing that for a while, but I'm switching between writing that and Yet Unknown. This chapter might not be as detailed as the other ones, but I wanted to get this chapter to you guys as soon as I could. Please leave a review and constructively criticize or compliment my work and tell me what I've done wrong and what I've done right. Without your feedback, I don't have any drive to keep writing. Okey bai!)