Chapter 125
Crunching Numbers
As they had arranged the previous night, Sora, Neku, Shiki, and Eri met up with Riku, Naminé, Mickey, Aqua, Donald, Goofy, Beat, and Rhyme in 104 as soon as they woke up. Having done all they could the previous night to prepare to fight Minamimoto, they waited for the day's mission. They were only in the department store for ten minutes before the Players received a text message. They took their phones out and read the message, Neku reading it aloud.
"Mission - Assist in ending Taboo Noise crisis. Meet in West Exit Station Underpass in 30 minutes. *Bring your friends.* Time limit redundant. - The Reapers," he quoted. He snapped his phone shut and pocketed it. "This is it."
"Sure looks like it," Eri agreed, a nervous tone to her voice. Sora understood her worry. She had just gained the confidence and courage to fight Taboo Noise, but their opponent for the day was far more powerful than the corrupt Noise. He was also apprehensive about fighting Minamimoto again so soon after their previous disastrous encounter. However, he knew that they had to stop him soon or he would cause immeasurable death and destruction. He had no idea if the power of Psychs would be able to overpower him, so he hoped that Riku and the others would be able to turn the tide.
"Let's go," Sora said decisively.
"I'm guessing they want us to come too," Riku surmised. "The message did say 'Bring your friends.'"
Neku nodded. "Joshua brought us here because he wanted all hands on deck. As silly as it sounds, we really need the power of all our friends to finish this."
Donald and Goofy looked at each other in confusion. Mickey tilted his head to show his bemusement. "What's so silly about that?" Aqua asked.
After an awkward silence, during which Sora smirked in amusement, Neku shook his head to brush the issue off. "Let's move," he said.
Trains rattled on the tracks above the Players and their friends as they entered the underground tunnel. Warning signs and cones were set up to deter regular people from entering, although a Plane-blender sigil that had been freshly-painted on the wall proved that a gathering was indeed planned beyond the blockade. As they made their way through the underpass, Neku explained that at the end of the tunnel was the Shibuya River, which marked the end of the Shibuya shared between the Realground and the Underground and preceded the Reapers' base of operations.
Once they were far enough from mortal notice, they came upon a crowd of Reapers. Many wore the standard hoodie uniform that denoted their position as Support Reapers. Others were dressed more casually, and they showed off the black tattoo wings that were the primary identifier of being a Reaperーthe Harriers. Among this group, the Players, as well as Beat and Rhyme, recognized Uzuki Yashiro, Koki Kariya, and Yoko Imaga. At the far back, there were men and women in business suits. Sora and Neku guessed that they were the Officers. In the center of that group, facing out toward the rest of the crowd, three figures stood out. One was Osamu Takagi. Another was a massive man in a business suit who Neku guessed was the current Conductor. Behind him stood a human-like figure that appeared to be formed out of clouds and white light. He stood taller than Takagi, but not nearly as tall as the Conductor, and had an ethereal glow about him, although there was something familiar about him.
"Is that supposed to be the Composer?" Goofy asked his friends in a whisper.
"Is that actually Joshua?" Shiki asked in disbelief.
"No way, man," Beat denied. "Joshua's a skinny little prissy kid. That can't be him."
Rhyme gulped and held her brother's arm tightly. She recognized the figure from when she had her soul extracted from the Noise Pin that she had been bound to and inserted into her reconstructed body. "Um, Beat? I think that is him."
"Game Masters turn into Noise when they unleash their true power," Neku recalled. "Maybe that's what the Composer looks like when he's out of his mortal form."
"That's somewhere between really cool and really freaky," Eri commented. Shiki and Naminé nodded in agreement.
Neku noticed Mr. Hanekoma standing off to the left. The barista waved to them, then nodded in the direction of the Reaper Officers, indicating that the party should pay attention as they were about to begin.
Looking around, they noticed that a number of Players had joined the conference as well, although there were not nearly as many as there had been at the statue of Hachiko on the first day; there seemed to be only a dozen in total. The party took a moment to mourn the loss of the others.
At the end of the tunnel, Conductor Atukaze cleared his throat. However, this did not seem to get everyone's attention, as some of the Players and Reapers were still engaged in private conversation. In response, BJ offered his megaphone, which Atukaze took. "Attention!" he shouted into the megaphone. Once everyone turned their focus onto him, he awkwardly handed it back to the musician. Nobody noticed Joshua smirk in amusement, his expression clouded by his otherworldly glow.
Atukaze cleared his throat again. "As I am sure most of you know, both the Underground and the Realground have been plagued by the Taboo Noise, monsters whose very nature existence has been forbidden, as they attack Players and Reapers indiscriminately and unrestrained. Their seed should never have been brought down to Earth." He shot a glare at Hanekoma from across the room. The barista gulped and shifted his gaze nervously. Riku's eyes widened in shock. How powerful could the Conductor be for him to intimidate the man of mystery who had defied the previous Conductor and the Composer?
"The man responsible for this capital crime is a rogue Reaper named Sho Minamimoto," Atukaze continued. "For a year, we believed he had been Erased, but it seems that he has returned and become more dangerous than ever before. Nevertheless, the threat he poses will end today. Game Master Takagi, tell them what is first on the agenda."
"Yes, sir. Yesterday, we were able to locate the Refinery Sigil that Minamimoto has been using to spawn the Taboo Noise, and we discovered that he managed to mix a Plane-Blender sigil into it so that they would exit on both planes," Takagi reported.
"What?!" Uzuki gasped. "How could he do that?"
"We've determined that he had to have had help. As I am sure the Reapers all know, Support Reapers are assigned to apply and maintain Plane-Blender sigils," Takagi continued. "Minamimoto never carried out that task, so he wouldn't have been able to do it on his own. The Officers ran an investigation, and we found a suspect." He paused to allow a meaningful silence as the Reapers looked at each other, suspicious and paranoid. Takagi turned and pointed dramatically at one of the Support Reapers, a girl who wore a Gothic Lolita dress under her uniform red sweatshirt. She appeared to be around the same age as Sora and Neku, perhaps younger. All eyes fell on the Reaper, who glared at Takagi and Atukaze with pure hatred.
Kariya chuckled, taking a lick of his lollipop. "Well, what do you know? I knew you weren't big on taking orders, but I didn't think you'd take having to do chores this bad," he quipped.
"I'm not going to be your errand girl anymore, freak!" the rogue Reaper spat. "And when you're gone, this town will be our playground!"
"Kariya, Yashiro, restrain Miss Gaki," Atukaze ordered.
"With pleasure!" Uzuki hissed. She and Kariya ran to grab Gaki by the arms. However, before they could reach her, Gaki clapped her hands together, causing a large Taboo Noise sigil to become visible, having apparently hovered above her with no one the wiser. Darkness sprouted from the sigil, taking the shape of a black dragon Noise. It landed with a massive shockwave, knocking several Reapers and Players down, and swatted Uzuki and Kariya aside. The Death Metal Drake turned and prepared to charge at the Harriers, but two red beams shot at the center of the dragon, causing it to explode into red light and television static. All eyes turned to the source of the lasers, where an unflinching Atukaze's eyes glowed red before the light faded away. Hushed gossip filled the air, with Players and Reapers alike musing about his Psych, how he destroyed the Taboo Noise in one hit, and how he did it without the Light Puck.
In the meantime, Gaki regained her composure and raised her arms to prepare an attack. Noticing this, Naminé thrust her arm out toward her, shouting "Hold it!" Glowing chains shot out of the ground and bound Gaki by the wrists, then her ankles, and then some more wrapped themselves around her abdomen and elbows. The chains then pulled themselves tight, bringing the young Reaper to her knees. She struggled, but the Bind spell held her fast.
Takagi, Atukaze, and Joshua marched up to Gaki, and Takagi knelt down to her level. "You know, I really wish it didn't have to come to this," he lamented. Gaki simply gave him the stink-eye. He sighed. "Oh, well. Let's make this easy on you. Tell us where Minamimoto is, and we won't make this painful for you." Uzuki let out a sigh of disappointment.
Gaki gritted her teeth. "He's where he always is when he's not building those junk heaps. He's up at the top of Pork City, watching the carnage he's sown," she said.
"Tch. Should have figured," Hanekoma remarked.
"No one knew anyone was up there? Seriously?" Neku asked.
"It is far too chaotic in nature. Reapers detest to enter the building," Atukaze explained.
"Sounds like Pi-Face is right at home there," Rhyme mused.
"Great. We have a target. We have a destination. Now, what do we do about our little traitor?" Kariya asked.
"She's responsible for many lives and souls lost. I say we Erase her," Yoko suggested.
Joshua giggled. "As much as I admire your gusto, Yoko, I have a better idea." He opened his hand and produced a blank pin. "I'm thinking we should turn her into a Pin, and let her spend the next decade as a tool used by whatever Players get ahold of her. What do you think?"
Gaki seethed with rage. "You'll be sorry. When Minamimoto defeats you and strips you of your existence, you will beg for mercy," she hissed.
Joshua smirked. "Well, then I guess you won't be getting any leg room anytime soon," he joked. "But it'll give you plenty of time to think about what you've done. Good night." With that, he shoved the pin into Gaki's chest. The Reaper's body constricted and shrank in on itself. Shiki and Eri yelped in fright at the sight. Naminé gagged. The Bind spell dissipated as Gaki deflated and folded up, shrinking away until only the pin remained, clattering to the floor. It now possessed a design, resembling a black Reaper wing on a purple background.
Hanekoma picked the pin up and slipped it into his pocket. "I'll hold onto this one," he said. "Now, let's get back to business."
Takagi gave him a thumbs-up. "Well, thanks to our Player and living friends一" he gestured to Sora, Neku, and the party "一the Taboo Refinery sigil has been found at Tipsy Tose Hall. In order to eliminate the influx of Taboo Noise, the sigil must be destroyed."
"I will lead that task," Joshua announced.
"I'm with you on that," Hanekoma said. "Naminé, you want to help out?"
Naminé was taken by surprise at the request. "Uh, sure, if I can," she replied nervously.
Hanekoma smiled. "Oh, I'm sure you can," he said cryptically. Atukaze raised an eyebrow, suspicious of what he was referring to.
"I'll come, too," Donald added. "I know a lot about magic circles and symbols. I might be able to help."
"Rhyme and I will back 'em up, yo!" Beat offered.
Hanekoma laughed. "The more, the merrier!"
Takagi nodded. "Alright. That group will keep more Taboo Noise from coming in, but we need people to clear out the Noise that are still around, particularly in the RG."
"We'll handle it," Mickey declared. Riku, Aqua and Goofy nodded in agreement.
"Okay. With that taken care of, we'll need the majority of manpower to climb Pork City and fight Minamimoto. If anyone isn't comfortable with engaging in that fight, you can hit the streets and eliminate the Taboo Noise that are running around in the UG," Takagi advised. "If you'd rather do that, I'd suggest you head on out."
A majority of the Players and Support Reapers went back through the tunnel and out to the city streets. Joshua and Hanekoma led Naminé, Donald, Beat, and Rhyme out as well. Riku, Mickey, Aqua, and Goofy then left to scout out Taboo Noise in the Realground. The only ones left were Sora, Neku, Shiki, Eri, Takagi, Atukaze, Uzuki, Kariya, Yoko, and a few Harrier Reapers that Sora and Neku did not know.
"Great. Now, before we leave, let me tell you about Pork City. It's in the southwest corner of Shibuya. Each floor is dominated by a different brand, to the point where no other pins can be used on those floors. The top floor, which fuels the Gatito brand, but since the Player Pins are Gatito, they ensure you can use any pin," Takagi explained.
Sora, Neku, Shiki, and Eri checked their pins. "It's a good thing we have a variety," Sora noted.
"Eri and I can only use one pin each," Shiki lamented.
"When I was there last year, I only needed to fight on two floors," Neku said. "If we can't get to the floors we can all work with, Sora and I will just fight the Noise by ourselves."
"Well, don't leave us out, twerps," Uzuki said curtly. "We're coming, too. We have beef with Pi-Face just like you."
Sora grinned. "Appreciate the help," he said.
Uzuki blinked in confusion, having expected some more vitriol from the teen, then gave a stubborn "hmph" in response.
"I was able to remotely access the elevator controls, and I was able to program it to only make two stops before taking you to the top floor: floor numbers three and seven," Atukaze explained. "Those will require pins from the 'Jupiter of the Monkey' and 'Pegaso' brands."
Sora and Neku checked their pins, then nodded. "We're good," Sora said.
"J of the M is my strong suit," Neku added.
"Our pins are Pegaso," Shiki chimed in. Eri beamed, eager to help now that she had found the strength to.
"Excellent. Now that we're all set一" Takagi began before he was interrupted.
"Wait a second. Only two Players can fight Noise at a time," Neku recalled. "How do we all fight the Grim Heaper?"
Takagi chuckled at the nickname, while Atukaze simply stared in a stoic fashion. "Don't worry. We planned for that. I'll tell you in the elevator," Takagi replied. "Now, who's ready to end this?"
The Players and Reapers raised their hands enthusiastically.
Atukaze nodded. "I wish you luck in your mission," he said.
Shiki looked at the Conductor in surprise. "You're not helping us?" she asked.
Atukaze shook his head. "Alas, I must ensure that our headquarters are secured. But I have the utmost faith in you." Seeing that everything was taken care of, he turned to leave, but he stopped after a few steps and glanced back over his shoulder. "This is an unprecedented occurrence, Reapers and Players working together. These are strange times, indeed." With that said, he left, vanishing into the shadows as he made his way to the Shibuya River.
The Players and remaining Reapers turned back to face each other. "Alright, let's go!" Sora cheered.
Fortunately, the group did not have to face any Taboo Noise on the way up the Pork City building. Sora, Neku, Uzuki, Kariya, and a pair of Reapers that the Players were not acquainted with cleared the first wave. Noise interference prevented them from using the elevator immediately, so they had to use Mus Rattus pins to empty the hallway. The same batch cleared the way on the third floor. Shiki and Eri joined in for the seventh floor. Eri experimented with the power of her Psych, conjuring a butterfly net to grab bat Noise and a scythe to sweep away Popguin Noise. With the interference cleared, the group entered the elevator and punched in the now-unlocked button for the thirteenth floor.
"So, what's the battle plan?" Shiki asked, directing her query toward Takagi.
Takagi pulled out his phone and set a timer for two minutes. "Players, take out your Player Pins. Reapers, spread your wings. Oh, and Sora, take out the Harmonizer Pin as well," he ordered. They did as commanded. Takagi also spread his Reaper wings. "This is something the Composer and Producer taught me this morning. I'm linking us up so that when two of you start the fight, and the rest of us scan, we can see the battle take place. Also, this timer is so that, after two minutes, another pair will be able to tag in and take over the fight while the last pair gets to restore their energy and healing pin uses. We'll cycle through until we wear him down." He punched a few buttons on his phone and smiled when he heard a *ping*. "And, ready."
"That's a really good plan," Sora said, impressed. "And making him suddenly fight people with different skill levels and fighting styles will throw him off his game."
"Ha! You know you can't be a Game Master if you can't execute a good game plan," Kariya remarked.
"Didn't Pi-Face play hooky for almost the whole week when he was in charge?" Neku asked snidely.
Takagi shrugged. "I was just a Support back then. I don't know what was going on in Kitaniji's head back then," he admitted. "Speaking of which, is there anything about Minamimoto's battle strategy that you'd like to share with the class?"
Neku nodded. "He likes to teleport around and dodge your attacks, so if you try to close the distance, you'll just get tired and annoyed. He also summons Taboo Noise to make things tougher on you. We still need to pass the Light Puck back and forth to actually fight them," he said, summarizing his experience from his previous fights.
"Can we all use the Light Puck?" Sora asked, making note of the Reapers.
Takagi nodded, and he gave Yoko a knowing look. "Yep. I made sure we all made a Pact with one another so we could fight against the Taboo Noise."
"Smart," Eri commended.
"He also shoots powerful energy orbs. Sometimes, he'll fire them in every direction. He'll also turn into a lion-like Noise form on occasion, at which point he'll use more physical attacks," Neku continued. "Stay on your toes, and don't get distracted by his ramblings."
"Maybe a stronger team should tag in when he enters Cantus mode," Kariya suggested.
"If the two minutes aren't up yet and you aren't prepared for the onslaught, run for dear life," Uzuki added, her tone surprisingly sympathetic. Neku and Shiki decided not to draw attention to the fact.
"Anyone else need any pointers?" Takagi asked. Everyone shook their heads, though some had to think for a moment before determining they were as ready as they were going to be. The elevator dinged and the screen showed that they were on the thirteenth floor. "Alright, then. Is everyone ready?" Everyone nodded. "Neku, Sora, you take the first shift."
"Got it," Sora replied. The elevator door began to open.
Neku put on some music, setting the song on a loop, which blasted through his headphones loud enough for everyone else to hear. Grab the key, let's go out and have some fun. Have you ever seen such a perfect day. What's in your mind? Let's do it one by one. Have you ever thought such a day would come?
"That sounds like it would be really bad for your ears," one of the Reapers warned. Shiki and Eri nodded in agreement.
The group stepped out of the elevator and proceeded to the office where Neku had faced Minamimoto previously.
"Impressive work, Gaki," Hanekoma muttered. "Fusing two sigils together to create a portal on two planes. I've never seen anything like it." He, Joshua, Naminé, and Donald were in Tipsy Tose Hall, examining the Taboo Noise Refinery Sigil.
"Can we destroy it?" Donald asked.
Hanekoma nodded. "Yeah. But it's more complicated than usual. Usually, when we need to Erase a sigil, we have to find the frequency of the sheet that its energy flows through, and then burn away the notes that anchor it. But the sheets that play through these sigils are on two different frequencies, and they wrap around each other, making it hard to track from start to finish, and some notes overlap."
"Which means, if we tried to destroy the notes on one sheet, the other sheet would provide interference," Joshua deduced. After the group had set out, he had retaken his human appearance. "However, if two of us could determine the frequencies, and a powerful mage were to make the auras of the activated signals visible, we could break down each note on both simultaneously."
Hanekoma chuckled. "We could do that, but I'd rather not use too much angelic energy," he argued. "As a matter of fact, I think we can do this another way."
"Good idea. We wouldn't want to draw their attention too much," Joshua agreed.
"Wait, what?" Donald asked, picking up on certain curious phrases. However, the Composer and Producer ignored him.
"If I'm right, we can do this easily, as long as we play our cards right." Hanekoma turned to Naminé and beckoned her forward.
"Me?" Naminé asked, pointing to herself. Hanekoma nodded. "What can I do?"
"You still have that card I gave you?" Hanekoma asked, knowing the answer but phrasing as such anyway. Naminé nodded and summoned it from her pocket dimension. "I saw that it already unlocked your latent magic ability, when you chained Gaki up."
"That's what that was?" Naminé muttered in surprise. "So, what can I do with this?"
Hanekoma smirked. "I told you that you should be able to tap into the world's energies with it. Just reach out like you reached out to bend the layout of that castle of yours, and tell this bad boy's energy flow to show itself," he instructed.
Naminé nodded. "Okay. I'll give it a go." She held the card out and allowed it to float in front of her hand. She closed her eyes as she concentrated on the energies surrounding the Refinery Sigil. She heard a rhythm, a blend of two different melodies, different in tone and frequency but in the same time signature and tempo. In her mind's eye, she saw many different symbols floating around. She quickly recognized the symbols as mathematical signs and calculus symbols. She noticed that some of them were formed into equations. They did say that Minamimoto was a math nut. But I think I see a few mistakes. She opened her eyes and saw that the math symbols had become visible, along with a series of musical notes and sheet music staves that floated in front of the sigil. She noticed that two different sheets of music notes wrapped over each other, the source of the two melodies. The notes took the appearance of swirling orbs of energy, anchoring the magic to the sigil and holding it together like links to a chain. The equations floated around and through the sheets, and Naminé realized that they were part of the spell. "I think I found some weak links," she announced. She pointed out the mistakes in the calculations.
The others looked at her, impressed and bewildered. "Aren't you high school-age?" Hanekoma asked.
"Physically, anyway. Technically, if you count being my own entity as my whole lifespan, I'm almost two. But I was taught a lot by Ansem the Wise during the year I helped him put Sora and the others' memories back together," Naminé clarified.
"You learned mathematics up to high-level calculus in a year while putting our memories back together?" Donald asked in utter disbelief.
"I did have some idle months when the transfer process was stalled," she replied, as if that made it easier to believe. "And yet Sora doesn't know how to operate a computer," she joked.
"So, you said those errors were weak links," Joshua said, returning the conversation to the important topic. "Do you think addressing the anomaly can disable the sigil?"
"Hmm… Well, it doesn't seem to be coming apart on its own, so the math might just be there to strengthen the protective charms. But maybe if we break it down by countering it with the correct calculations, we can disable or at least weaken the interference," Naminé surmised.
Hanekoma laughed. "Well, then by all means, blind 'em with science, and fail 'em in calculus," he encouraged.
Naminé nodded. "Okay. Give me some time to sort it out." She studied the calculations, muttering to herself as she determined the correct solution at each step. As she pondered the equation, symbols and numbers materialized in the air, writing themselves out as she recited each calculation and erasing themselves as she stopped to correct her own small errors, such as the correct placement of a decimal. Joshua, Hanekoma, and Donald watched in awe as each step of the problem wrote itself out of thin air, hovering in front of Minamimoto's calculations. When she finished, Naminé read over the formulas to check her work, then pushed the floating symbols into Minamimoto's equations. The rogue Reaper's calculations shattered, and the sigil's notes shuddered, visibly affected by the mathematical protection wards' destruction.
"Okay. Now, each of you take one song, and destroy the notes as they go along," Donald instructed. He swapped his staff out for another one that was the size of a conductor's baton. "Follow my lead, and keep time." He conducted in 3/4 time as Joshua and Hanekoma began to break down the sigil's notes.
As they stepped into the penthouse office, Sora registered an anomaly that covered the whole building. "Hey, shouldn't there be people in here?" he asked. "You know, in the RG?"
"There are," Takagi replied. "That's what Mr. Atukaze meant when he said that this building is too chaotic for us. The field is on the upper edge of the UG, so far up that other energies bleed over into this building, and the Realground is almost completely invisible. It's even higher than Reaper HQ, which doesn't even share a physical space with the RG."
"Well, the Grim Heaper loves to look down on everyone, so he should be right at home on the highest point in the UG," Neku remarked.
"SOHCAHTOA!" The group looked up and saw Minamimoto lying on top of a ceiling-mounted light. He grinned down at them, then rolled off, twisting himself in midair so that he landed on one knee. He stood up and clapped slowly. "Congratulations, hectopascals. I see you found my partial derivative. But I'm afraid your remaining time is equal to zero!"
"It's over, Pi-Face!" Sora shouted. He entered his confrontational stance. Neku, Shiki and Eri took on their own poses. Kariya extended his left hand, with two fingers raised in a "bring it" manner. Uzuki pulled out a gun and pointed it at Minamimoto, drawing looks of shock from Shiki and Eri.
Minamimoto laughed. "You are so zetta slow! You think you can take me on? By killing Players, Reapers, and living people with the Taboo Noise, I've gathered enough soul, imagination, and hearts to fuel my own strength. By now, I should be strong enough to Crunch the Composer! Before me, you're just garbage! CRUNCH! I'll add you to the heap!"
"We'll see about that!" Sora shot back defiantly.
Minamimoto chuckled. "Well, Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally. Well, let's see how insufficient you yoctograms一"
He was not permitted to finish his sentence as Sora and Neku rushed him. Neku jumped and delivered a punch to the side of his head while Sora propelled himself into a sliding dash at his legs. There was a flash of light, and they found themselves in two versions of the office without anyone else present.
Sora conjured chains that stretched across the room, created flames that covered certain spots on the floor, and then fired energy beams at Minamimoto. His plan was to restrict his movements and eliminate locations for him to teleport. The Taboo Reaper took a few hits before he found an opening and teleported himself to a free space. He shot a blast at Sora, but the teen jumped above it, grabbing onto the light fixture above him. He then brought his hand up, causing an icicle to sprout below Minamimoto. He dropped back down and fired more energy blasts. When Minamimoto teleported again, he predicted where he would reappear and called a bolt of lightning to strike him. With this strike, he felt the power of the Light Puck generate and pass over to Neku.
Neku handled the fight differently; he called lightning down on Minamimoto, but he teleported away. He attempted to hit Neku from behind, but Neku teleported behind him and attacked with Shockwave-charged punches. Minamimoto gained his bearings and teleported away. Neku shot a bolt of energy at him, then teleported at the exact moment that Minamimoto teleported. When the Reaper reappeared, he looked around in confusion, as Neku was nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile, Neku stood crouched on the light fixture, biding his time. He then felt the glow of the Light Puck and knew that it would soon be time to deal some damage.
"Come on, hectopascal! Fine. You want it? Here. INFIN一"
Neku pushed himself off and dropped to Minamimoto's level. The Reaper was unable to finish his Area-of-Effect spell as he was suddenly hit with a dropkick to the face from Neku. As Minamimoto tried to regain his bearings, Neku hit him with a bolt of lightning, then rushed him and dealt several powerful Shockwave-charged punches and kicks. Minamimoto teleported away and blasted him with an energy bolt. "Inverse Matrix!" he then shouted, summoning a pair of Taboo wolves. Neku kicked one away when it lunged at him and raised an icicle to impale the other wolf. He conjured flames to burn the wolves while simultaneously dodging Minamimoto's attacks, although a few still grazed him.
The Light Puck passed back to Sora, who threw a chair to deflect an energy blast, using Psychokinesis to propel it at Minamimoto even after it shattered from the blast. He used fire and lightning to harm the wolves, although his divided focus allowed some of his enemies' attacks to hit him. Both wolves charged up dark energy, preparing to rush him at top speed simultaneously. Seeing this, he focused all of his attacks on Minamimoto. At the last second before the wolves would hit him, he teleported away, letting them crash into each other. He reappeared right behind Minamimoto and delivered a roundhouse kick. "So zetta slow!" he taunted before blasting Minamimoto with a Nexus Ray.
"Time," Takagi said as the timer hit zero. In the UG, the rest of the group watched the fight in both zones by scanning the area. Shiki, Uzuki, and Kariya were amazed by Sora and Neku's skill, particularly how much Neku had grown since he was in the Reapers' Game last year. "Who's up?"
Shiki and Eri stepped forward. Shiki contemplated how she would avoid and counter Minimimoto's attacks while Eri imagined what she would create in the fight. "We will," Shiki declared. They reached out in the scan and connected to Minamimoto and his Taboo lackeys. There was a flash of light as the girls took the boys' places, much to Minamimoto's evident confusion.
Uzuki flapped her wings, which flashed with a white glow. Sora and Neku suddenly felt refreshed and at full health, as if they had not taken any damage in the fight.
"Thanks," Sora said.
"Don't get used to it," Uzuki remarked, though she still flashed him a teasing smirk.
In the battle zone, Eri found herself in possession of the Light Puck. She opened her part of the fight by creating a submachine gun out of sparks. She leveled it at Minamimoto and fired several shots at him in quick succession. Not expecting the different attack pattern, and being completely unfamiliar with the Psych on display, he could only feebly brace himself against the hail of pyrotechnic gunfire.
A wolf tackled Eri to the ground, causing the gun to dissolve and granting Minamimoto relief from the attack. Eri suffered a brief panic as she saw the crimson-eyed dark wolf bearing down on her and preparing to bite her face off. However, she quickly composed herself and, forming a knuckle duster out of sparks, punched it in the jaw three times, knocking it away. She pushed herself to her feet and conjured a shield to block the other wolf.
The Light Puck passed to Shiki. Her strategy was to appear to physically attack the wolves herself so that Minamimoto did not realize that her actual means of attacking was Mr. Mew. When the wolves were destroyed, she charged straight at Minamimoto, who teleported out of the way of her kick. Mr. Mew, beneath his notice, made his way toward his new position and scratched at him from behind.
"How did you do that?" Minamimoto asked, too perplexed to even work in a math pun. Shiki jumped at him again, forcing him to teleport away and then fire a few blasts her way. As she did not need to worry about counterattacking, she dodged each blast while letting Mr. Mew close in and attack.
Gritting his teeth, Minamimoto stretched his hand out in Shiki's direction. "Die, Radian!" he shouted. Shiki gasped and, thinking quickly, tipped a table over and ducked behind it, letting the following blasts hit the table. Mr. Mew then slashed at Minamimoto's legs and then jumped up to slash upward at his back. He spun around and blasted the stuffed toy, knocking it into a window. Leaning forward to examine the toy more closely, he chuckled. "So-HCAHTOA, this is your Psych, huh? A little plush pig?"
The Light Puck moved to Eri, somehow carrying sound from Shiki's zone. When she heard the remark in her mind, she seethed with rage. "It's a cat!" she corrected. A pair of shortswords formed in her hands, and she threw herself at her enemy, swinging the swords at him. Following the pattern of anime characters, she slashed and stabbed, wildly and without finesse but effectively, at Minamimoto, connecting some strikes while the Reaper tried to evade them. He shot a few blasts at her, but she cut them out of the air, causing them to dissipate.
He teleported away from her next attack, then started laughing. Eri turned to face him and saw dark smoke and black tattoos bleeding off of him. His eyes glowed red and a mane of black hair grew all around his head. His fingers extended into claws and his skin turned black. His legs dissolved until they appeared to be formed out of floating tattoos. Eri gasped as Minamimoto took the form of a humanoid lion Taboo Noise.
"Leo Cantus," Takagi identified as the rest of the group watched the transformation unfold.
"How much time do they have?" Neku asked, worried for Eri.
Takagi checked his phone. "Twenty-five seconds."
"We'll jump in as soon as we can," Sora said. He looked at the Harmonizer Pin and saw that small marks were running around the surface of the pin. Takagi nodded, understanding.
Eri conjured a dome barrier around herself, adding two extra layers to be safe. Leo Cantus charged at her at breakneck speed, slashing at the shield over and over. She felt immense strain from trying to maintain the barrier. She had to find some way to fight back, but she was sorely tempted to wrap herself up in a shell figuratively as well as literally. Maybe she could hold out until it wore himself out. She wiped her lip only to see blood on her finger, causing her to wonder if she would be able to hold out that long.
"Five… four… three…" As Takagi counted down, Sora and Neku reached out in the scan, planning to jump into the fray the moment that time was up. "Two… one… Go!"
There was a flash of light, and Shiki and Eri dropped to the floor in Sora and Neku's place. Kariya spread his wings and healed them. In the battle zones, Neku resumed his battle strategy against Minamimoto, while Sora dropped on Leo Cantus from above, blasting it with a Nexus Wave. He jumped back as it regained its balance and realized what had happened. It rushed at him and struck out at him, but he rolled, ran, and ducked to avoid each blow, knowing that even a single punch would hit like a truck. He was glad that he had taken that side of the fight, as he was capable of withstanding more force than Neku, and he was faster than him as well. He teleported out of the way of a wide swipe and followed up by blasting Leo Cantus with energy bolts and raising icicles.
He felt a great power emanate from the Harmonizer Pin, and he took a look at it. Unlike the last two times, the symbol that had materialized on the white pin resembled his own crown pendant as well as two stars, one orange and the other purple. Realizing that this was a stronger Fusion, he slapped his hand over the pin to activate it.
A phantom copy of his Keyblade appeared in his hand. The zones blended together, and he could see Neku and Minamimoto's normal form along with Leo Cantus. Sora and Neku were on opposite sides of the room while the split versions of Minamimoto were in the center. Sora's vision sharpened, like that of a hawk. He could see each particle on his enemies: every joint, every visible vein, Leo Cantus' retinas. He could make out all of the most sensitive points on both copies of the Taboo Reaper. He remembered a technique that he had seen Aqua use on occasion, a technique that he had used a few times before, but had not refined beyond a single form. He raised his Keyblade, gripping its handle with both hands, and pointed it toward both of Minamimoto's forms. He saw Neku stretch his arm out in a similar manner, and he understood that he had the same idea.
Sora gathered all of the energy built into the fusion into the tip of his phantom Keyblade, then divided it into powerful particles. His mind's eye locked onto each point on his enemies. He felt himself lift off of the ground. He willed the energy particles to swirl around the tip of the Keyblade. Finally, he sent a burst of energy through the Keyblade, releasing all of the particles forward. The particles took the shape of small fireballs that trailed through the air, swirling around as they spread out at first before homing in on the targets. At the same time, Neku shot fireballs, energy bolts, and sparks of lighting from his hand in rapid succession. When the shots from Sora's Shotlock met their marks, Sora charged another one up and fired, with the same results. Minamimoto and his Noise form were visibly injured from the barrage of energy attacks. Leo Cantus held up better than his more human-like counterpart, but it shuddered by the time Sora's second volley hit it, and had all but collapsed by the time Sora laid his fifth round upon him. After the sixth round, Leo Cantus reverted back to Sho Minamimoto. Sora unleashed a final round, then dropped to the ground. Neku ceased his assault and caught his breath. They had both spent all of their energy from the Fusion.
Sora grinned as he remembered the occasions when he had used the Shotlock, which he had called "Ragnarok". He wondered why he had not used it much at all in the last year. Perhaps he should use it and similar Shotlocks more often.
The zones divided back up, and both Sora and Neku stood facing their own version of Sho Minamimoto. Minamimoto pushed himself to his feet and caught his breath. "Is that all you've got? I'll derive you to zero! Inverse Matrix!" However, nothing happened after that invocation. He stretched his arms out to either side and tried to summon his Taboo Noise again. "Inverse Matrix!" Still nothing happened.
Sora smiled as he realized that Minamimoto did not have any more Taboo Noise to summon. "They did it!" he said triumphantly.
The Taboo Reaper scowled as he figured out that his Refinery Sigil was no more. "Well, I guess I shouldn't count you as yoctograms after all. You fractals hit the pi on the square of the smallest radius."
Sora tilted his head, confused by the analogy that his foe was trying to make.
"Uh, are you trying to say we hit a bullseye?" Neku guessed.
In the UG, Kariya shrugged. "Best I can tell."
Minamimoto chuckled. "By my calculations, to do that, you would have had down there, hmm… 5+3x+8x^2+12x^3+... oh, hahahaha… 2x^5! Some Old Horses Can Always Hear Their Owners Anywhere. The Composer is down there, out in the open, as is the Producer." He let out a maniacal laugh and clapped his hands together in both zones. There was a flash of white light, and he, Sora and Neku were back in the Pork City office with the others.
"What just happened?" Sora asked when he realized that he was not in the battle zone.
"Did he just bounce?" Neku asked in disbelief.
"You can't have a Pi Day Party without the teacher. I'll show the Composer just what true power looks like, and it'll be a blast. I'll Crunch you later!" With that, Minamimoto's form shimmered and he vanished in the blink of an eye.
"Where did he go?" Uzuki asked, shocked and enraged that their quarry had fled.
"He must've shifted into the Realground, out of our sight. And no one here's powerful enough to make the shift and go after him," Takagi surmised. He dialed a number into his phone. "Atukaze, it's me. Minamimoto is going after the Composer." He hung up and put his phone away. "We need to move."
They took the elevator back down, determining that Minamimoto would have jumped down the stairwell. As they waited for the elevator to reach the ground floor, Neku recalled the outcome of his first battle with Minamimoto.
"There's one other trick the Grim Heaper has up his sleeve. He called it the 'Level i Flare'," he explained. "He casts it by reciting pi. I think over a hundred digits, or something. It was supposed to be strong enough to destroy me and Joshua, and probably destroyed Pi-Face's original form, too."
"Tch. I've heard of that. It's an ultimate 'last stand' kind of attack," Takagi said. "You recite the first one-hundred and fifty digits of pi, and the ensuing explosion destroys everything in the blast area, on every plane up to the angels' domain. I think the blast radius is inversely proportional to the time it takes to cast it."
"That's insane! Who could know that much of pi off the top of his head?" Sora blurted. "I could only tell you six!" He blinked as he processed the finer details of what Takagi had said. "Wait, up to the where?"
"Pi-Face does, and he'll probably tell it to you in a minute or less," Kariya remarked, ignoring the last question. "I also heard that you can't interrupt someone mid-cast, unless he falters on his own. Otherwise, you will be destroyed."
"Then we can't let him even start," Neku resolved.
Shiki nodded. "We'll Erase him before he gets the chance."
"Uh-huh. Okay. Thanks." Joshua closed his phone and pocketed it. "We've got incoming. Sho Minamimoto is heading this way."
Hanekoma nodded, acknowledging the warning. He turned and saw Riku, Aqua, Mickey, Goofy, Beat, and Rhyme approaching.
"We couldn't find any more Taboo Noise. How's it coming?" Riku asked.
Donald smiled proudly. "The sigil has been neutralized," he announced.
"Alright, yo!" Beat cheered.
"We couldn't have done it without Naminé," Hanekoma said.
Riku flashed the blonde girl a smile. "Way to go," he commended.
Naminé blushed. "Thank you," she replied.
"Don't relax yet. Minamimoto will be here any second," Joshua warned.
"Well, you can just drop a soda machine on him like last time, right?" Beat suggested.
Joshua shook his head. "I'm afraid that won't work this time. He's grown much stronger, and he seems to believe that he can take me on directly. Be ready for a tough fight."
At that moment, Minamimoto dropped from the sky, creating a small crater in the asphalt. He stood up and glared at Joshua with a psychotic grin. "Hello, Joshua! Come, and get derived!" he shouted. "This time, I'm eradicating you and your polynomial fractals from my spatial coordinates! Drown in the sea of imaginary numbers!"
Riku looked at Naminé in confusion. "You get any of that?" he asked.
Naminé shrugged. "I think so. He's basically saying he's going to destroy us."
"Well, at least he's spicing it up," Mickey remarked.
Joshua snickered. "Well, this should be interesting." He began to hover off of the ground, a white aura glowing from his body. An ethereal form manifested, overlapping his body.
Minamimoto shot several bolts of energy at Joshua, but the Composer launched his own volley of white blasts to counter and consume them. Joshua attacked with the same blasts, but Minamimoto teleported after getting hit with the first two shots, then materialized next to Joshua and punched him in the side, sending him flying several feet. "Zetta slow!" he taunted.
Riku warped behind Minamimoto and struck him with his Keyblade, then blasted him with a volley of Dark Fire spells. Minamimoto spun around and slugged him, launching him across the street. Goofy ran over and caught him before he could crash into a wall. Aqua and Donald launched Fire and Blizzard spells at Minamimoto, who teleported away and retaliated with some more energy bolts. Mickey jumped at him and kicked off of him, deflecting the bolts he fired at him. He landed on a car, only for the car to vanish under his feet and drop him to the ground. Minamimoto shot another bolt, but Mickey leapt over it as the bolt made a pothole-sized crater in the asphalt. Mickey spun on a pitch, striking with his Keyblade. Minamimoto teleported away, and the two blasted each other with spells. The Reaper cackled as Mickey was sent flying, but he was stunned as a car dropped onto his head and crumpled around him, the car being the same one that Mickey had landed on before it was teleported away.
Minamimoto roared with rage as he released an aura blast that caused the car to explode, inadvertently igniting his hat and jacket. Noticing this, he quickly patted his apparel until the flames were out. He turned to see Joshua smirking.
"I'm impressed. You really have grown stronger than before," Joshua commented.
Minamimoto chuckled. "Come, and see just how great my power[^] is."
Joshua fired a Nexus Ray, launching Minamimoto back. The Reaper recovered quickly and threw a string of bolts at the Composer, knocking him back with great force with each blow. Joshua clapped his hands, causing pillars of white energy to shoot up from the street. Minamimoto teleported to avoid the first few, but he was promptly shot about with the rest. Joshua waved his hand, and a vending machine fell from the sky, but Minamimoto shot two bolts upward, causing it to explode without harming him.
"Infinity!" Minamimoto shouted, launching a string of bolts at Joshua, which sent him flying further down the street. Minamimoto ran after him.
At that point, Sora, Neku, Shiki, Eri, Takagi, Uzuki, Kariya, Yoko, and the other Reapers caught up with the scene. "Did he just…?" one of the Reapers began to ask.
"Do you think we can pull him back into our loop?" Eri asked.
"We'd have to pull him out of the Realground, so he might be able to prepare for it," Takagi said. "Best case scenario, he might divide himself so he'll still have a part of him in the RG."
"If he's dividing his power, that means he won't be as strong in either plane," Sora noted. "Can we split him further than that?"
"If we all pull him in at the same time, we might be able to," Takagi replied.
"We'll have to catch up with them first," Neku said, noticing that their friends in the Realground were chasing after Minamimoto and Joshua.
"Tch. That's not good. Reaper activity in a populated RG sector. This will really screw with the order," Takagi lamented.
"Let's just Erase the freak and deal with the politics later," Uzuki snarled, her eyes glowing white with frustration.
"Seconded," Yoko added, balling her fists.
"Then let's go," Sora said. He and the others sprinted after the party. The other Players and Reapers watched him in amazement as he completely left them in the dust.
The crowd in the Scramble Crossing scattered as Joshua and Minamimoto came flying into the street. Civilians called the police as the fight resumed. The Keybearers and Goofy protected the people from stray blasts. Beat shouted for everyone to clear the area, and those who paid attention followed his lead. Those who did not hear him or were too shocked by the incident or engrossed in their phones were made to head on their way by the Players and Reapers Imprinting the thought to flee into their minds.
Aqua used a Shotlock and fired electric beams at Minamimoto. Donald brought out a set of fireworks, and Riku ignited them with Dark Fire. The ensuing explosions blasted Minamimoto (and Joshua in the collateral) with a mix of fireworks magic and dark energy. Joshua slugged Minamimoto off of him, but the Taboo Reaper flew back and blasted him with a set of energy bolts.
The Players and Reapers paired up around Scramble Crossing. "Are we ready?" Takagi asked. Everyone on the plane nodded. "Okay. Then let's一"
"Hold it," Hanekoma interrupted, shifting into the UG plane and approaching Sora. "Give me the Harmonizer Pin," he requested.
Sora unclipped the blank pin and handed it to the Producer. "What are you going to do with it?" he asked.
Hanekoma smirked. He leaned down to whisper his plan into Sora's ear. Sora was surprised, but he then smiled and nodded, agreeing with the idea.
"What's going on?" Neku asked. Sora explained the plan to him. "Okay… So, no Fusions?"
"Not yet, anyway. Let's divide his strength and conquer him!"
Takagi counted to three, then the Players and Reapers all Scanned and pulled Minamimoto into their battle zones.
Minamimoto was taken by complete surprise to find himself split up in such a manner and facing each of them. "What is this? This division?" he asked angrily, each version of him saying the same thing on all planes save for the Realground, where he was simply confused. "Inverse Matrix! How did you do this?"
Kariya smirked. "Sit down and listen to the lecture, student. QED," he teased.
Each of the Taboo Reaper's foes briefly appeared as phantoms beside their individual partners: Sora with Neku, Shiki with Eri, Uzuki with Kariya, Takagi with Yoko, and the other Reapers in their separate pairs. They all gave each other a nod, then faded back into their zones, ready to fight.
Sora and Neku barraged Minamimoto with their diverse range of Psychs. Shiki dodged his attacks while allowing Mr. Mew to attack, taking advantage of the fact that his target of attack is completely different from what is attacking him. Eri used swords, a shield, a whip, and even yo-yos conjured out of sparks to punish Minamimoto, who could not easily counter a foe who could imagine whatever she might need to react to his patterns. Uzuki fired her gun at him, shooting pink flower-shaped bullets. The rounds that hit exploded into fragments, which fused back together to hit him again. Kariya fired energy blasts into the air, then threw shurikens at Minamimoto, forcing the Taboo Reaper to focus on the immediate threat and try to avoid them while working in some counterattacks. When the energy blasts fell back down and hit the ground, they exploded, often catching Minamimoto in the blast. Angered, Minamimot teleported right behind Kariya to attack him directly, but Kariya raised an electric barrier a second before he reappeared, zapping him and causing him to fall backward. Yoko blasted Minamimoto with electric bolts, flying at him with tremendous speed, while yelling in frustration as her foe teleported out of the way of many of her attacks. Takagi phased through the rogue Reaper's energy attacks by shifting in the frequency of the energy, then dashed toward his foe several times and struck, leaving glowing afterimages behind, which then dashed toward Minamimoto and attacked in a similar manner. Despite the fact that Minamimoto was divided between over a dozen enemies, they still worked as though they were only in pairs. Whatever damage that one pair suffered did not affect the others, and the Light Puck was still passed between Players and Reapers across their individual pacts, so that half of them still attacked with the boost of a Light Puck.
In the Realground, Joshua, the Keybearers, Donald, Goofy, and Naminé noticed that Minamimoto's attacks were not as strong as they had been only a few minutes ago. He was still strong, but he was no longer able to back Joshua into a corner, so the Composer was able to relax and lower himself to a level that he was comfortable with on the mortal plane.
Mickey tag-teamed with Riku and Aqua, using his agility and magic to avoid Minamimoto's attacks and strike swiftly. Riku blocked attacks with Dark Shield, attacked with brute force, and blasted his foe with Dark Fire. Aqua fired powerful magic at the Reaper while helping her friends recover when they were thrown back, and closed the distance to strike and cover the others. Donald fired his own spells and healed when necessary. Goofy threw his shield to knock Minamimoto about, and also provided Potions and Ethers when injuries were sustained and magic ran low. Using his cell phone as a channeling device, Joshua conjured cars, bikes, and soda machines to fall onto Minamimoto from above, and also shot energy blasts at him when doing the former actions had too much of a risk of hitting his allies. Hanekoma stood on the street corner, shielding Naminé, Beat, and Rhyme from any stray blasts, while Naminé and Rhyme held Beat back to restrain him from charging into the fight, much to his chagrin.
Minamimoto suffered great damage in all of the zones, but he had absorbed so much energy that the cumulative assault did not bring him down. In a few zones, he transformed into Leo Cantus, and the vast increase in raw strength forced his opponents in those zones onto the defensive. However, some of them were still able to deal damage to him while boosted with the Light Puck, and he changed back eventually, allowing them to retake the offensive.
Police officers arrived on the scene in the Realground, but stayed back due to not having a clue as to how to defuse the situation. One cop reported on the situation into his radio. He seemed to recognize the fiend, yammering something about a "psychotic teenager who was supposed to have died years ago". As there was not much they could do at the moment about the sword fight and magic, they instead turned their efforts to erecting a barrier and making sure that the civilians were out of harm's way.
Eventually, Minamimoto grew frustrated with the situation. "Enough! This is my show! First, Outer, Inner, Last!" he shouted in all of the zones. There was a flash of light in the battle zones, and the Players and Reapers dropped back into the UG. Minamimoto fused back together in the Realground, panting heavily. "INFINITY!" He unleashed energy blasts that fired in every direction, blasting his RG opponents several feet away.
"Uh-oh," Shiki said. Things did not look good.
However, Sora and Neku were not deterred. Sora scanned into the psychic plane and reached out to Joshua.
You okay? Sora asked from his mind.
Ugh. Never thought I'd say this, but I haven't faced someone this strong since I became the Composer, Joshua admitted. I'm not sure if I can beat him.
Not alone, you can't, Sora assured him.
You already tried that, from what I could tell. I don't think he'll let you try again.
That's not what I mean. And that was actually the warm-up.
What's your plan?
Check your jeans.
Joshua looked down and saw that the Harmonizer Pin was clipped to his jeans.
How…
Mr. H. You need to do a Fusion with all of us.
Why didn't you try that?
I couldn't. As strong as I am, I don't have that kind of power in this world. But you're the Composer. If anyone can do it, it's you.
There's just one problem. I'm not you. I don't have the power to sync with others like you do. I'm… I'm not strong enough.
Neku trusts you. Shiki and Beat trust you. Mr. H trusts you. And I know you trust them. If you didn't, you wouldn't have asked for their help. You just have to trust yourself.
How…
Say it with me: "My friends are my power."
"My friends… are my power," Joshua muttered.
Louder. My friends are my power.
"My friends are my power," Joshua repeated. "My friends are my power."
Minamimoto laughed mockingly. "Friends? Your 'friendship' is garbage! CRUNCH! I'll add it to the heap!" He charged up a powerful energy orb.
Joshua glared at the Taboo Reaper. A design formed on the Harmonizer Pin, taking the shape of several stars and crowns of different colors. "My friends… are… my… power!" The Harmonizer Pin began to glow. He slapped the pin, activating its power.
Sora, Neku, Shiki, Eri, Uzuki, Kariya, Takagi, Yoko, and the Reapers appeared in the same plane as Joshua, Minamimoto, Riku, Mickey, Aqua, Donald, and Goofy. The surrounding area faded into swirling multicolored lights. Seven glowing phantom Keyblades materialized, floating around Sora. A large white X appeared in front of Neku and glowed as he stretched his hand out toward it. Mr. Mew grew to gigantic size, with Shiki and Eri sitting on top. Sparks formed into giant guns that appeared in front of Mr. Mew's "paws", aimed at Minamimoto. Uzuki and Kariya appeared on opposite sides of Minamimoto, with purple lightning crackling around their bodies. Glowing phantoms of Takagi and Yoko floated around the area, a field of crackling electricity between them. Flames, ice crystals, and smoke swirled around the other Reapers. Riku hovered above the ground, shrouded in dark energy. Mickey and Aqua prepared powerful Shotlocks. Donald conjured a massive number of fireworks. Goofy spun around incredibly fast, his shield held outstretched. Joshua glowed with an ethereal white aura. A large spherical shape formed out of the same white energy high above Minamimoto.
"Let's finish this!" Joshua shouted, his voice reverberating.
"All-out attack!" Shiki added.
Five of the Keyblades flew into the air and homed in on Minamimoto, while Sora charged in and whaled on him with the other two. Neku fired a massive beam of energy through the X, which did no harm to his allies. The giant Mr. Mew shot several spark-formed bullets and missiles at the villain and fired a few powerful eye beams. Uzuki and Kariya blasted him with purple lightning that flew back and forth between them. Takagi and Yoko's phantoms flew at Minamimoto, stunning him in the electric field which burst with powerful flares when the phantoms collided with him. The other Reapers blasted him with powerful fire, ice and wind Psychs. Riku dashed at Minamimoto several times, leaving waves of darkness in his trail and teleporting to a new spot after each pass to continue the assault before he appeared above and dropped down to strike him and leave a powerful shockwave. Mickey and Aqua fired their Shotlocks of Pearl spells and rainbow-colored energy, respectively, then released several more volleys. Donald ignited and released his fireworks, which exploded on contact. Goofy blew by Minamimoto, strafing him with spinning blows from his shield, then slid back and struck again. When that barrage was done, Joshua pointed to the shape above everyone. The ball of energy solidified to resemble a small moon.
"What was it you wrote on your trash heap before, Sho? 'Any tree can drop an apple; I'll drop the freaking moon'?" Joshua said in a teasing tone. "Well, Grim Heaper, meet the 'freaking moon'." With that, as his allies got clear, he willed the moon to drop onto Minamimoto. The Taboo Reaper blasted it apart when it hit, but Joshua directed the pieces to fly back down and bludgeon him with massive force. Everyone cast Psychs and spells to enchant the moon rocks and add to the assault.
When the explosions died down, the energy faded, and the moon rocks vanished back into nothing, everyone was back in the Realground Scramble Crossing, which had not actually been affected by the Fusion attack. The crowd of civilians stared in awe, mouths agape, while the more experienced Beat, Rhyme, Naminé, and even Hanekoma were similarly amazed. Minamimoto laid prone on the ground.
"Is it over?" Riku asked.
Joshua shook his head. "If he didn't fade away, it isn't," he replied.
Sure enough, Minamimoto pushed himself to one knee, then, with considerable effort, stood all the way back up. "The limit approaches zero," he muttered, "but I still exist. I won't let you win, you factoring hectopascals!"
"I don't think that's mathematically possible," Naminé remarked.
Minamimoto heard her and was taken aback by the comment. He gritted his teeth, unable to think of a proper comeback. Instead, he began to shout "Die, Raー"
He was interrupted as a car flew spinning at him, sending him flying. All eyes turned to the source of the attack. Conductor Atukaze calmly approached the party, his red eyes fixed on the fiend.
"Mr. Atukaze? I thought you said you were making sure HQ was secure," Hanekoma said, surprised to see the imposing man.
"I have determined that there is no threat to our headquarters," Atukaze explained. "I also saw that the situation down here has become increasingly chaotic and demands my attention." He illustrated his point by panning his gaze over the crowd of mortals that had gathered to witness the battle.
A police officer attempted to arrest Minamimoto, but he was blasted aside. Minamimoto picked himself back up and began to run toward his enemies, grinning wickedly. "I've been expecting you, Atukaze! I expected that my power boost would let me finish off the Composer, but your power's on another phase shift."
"What's he talking about?" Uzuki whispered to Kariya.
"Mr. Atukaze was transferred from another ward years ago. He's saying that the power that ties to the rules of this ward isn't congruent with Atukaze's," Kariya explained.
"I didn't think I could take you on directly even with my Taboo power and the souls, hearts and imagination that I absorbed. But there's one thing that will certainly wipe you from existence," Minamimoto continued.
"Your destructive games cease now, Minamimoto," Atukaze said. He fired a pair of red beams from his eyes, but Minamimoto dodged to the side, letting the immensely powerful beams pass him harmlessly (well, not harmless for the uphill section of road that the beams ultimately collided with).
"No, Fibonacci, your days are over. As is your whole curriculum. Meet your ends by the Level i Flare!"
"No!" Neku shouted in panic. However, there was nothing he could do to stop Minamimoto from beginning the invocation, and no one on the Realground could interrupt him in time.
"3.141592653589793238…" Minamimoto began.
"We need to get out of here," Uzuki said, not even trying to conceal her terror.
"What is he doing?" Riku asked. He raised his Keyblade, but Hanekoma grabbed his wrist to stop him.
"If we interrupt him, it'll just blow us all to dust anyway," Hanekoma warned.
"Well, what can we do?" Rhyme asked.
"It ain't like we can just shut his eye or something," Beat said, worried, also not grasping the mathematical concepts.
Naminé blinked as she had an idea. Shut it down… Can I do that? She summoned her card and held it out, focusing on Minamimoto. Mathematical equations appeared around him, and she saw that the invocation required an input of pi with a float of 150 digits, an input of less than that exact number would cause a devastating explosion, that the function of the blast radius was inversely proportional to t, and that the output of i affected everything in range by applying to a new function where it impacted anything with a "level" that was evenly divisible by the new input. She realized with horror that, technically, if a "level" integer was applied, everything was evenly divisible by the i number. She realized that the Flare spell had to be stopped, fast, and so she began to devise a new set of equations in hopes of thwarting the attack.
"...46264338327950288419716939937510582097494459230…" Minamimoto continued.
Naminé worked fervently to create and apply the functions to the spell. Her priority was canceling out the second function so that it would not harm anyone.
"...781640628620899862803482534211…"
Next, she planned to leave a surprise for Minamimoto. The most difficult and time-consuming aspect was in devising a symbol that would represent his entire being.
"...706798214808651328230664709384460955058223172…"
Naminé cast her spell and applied the functions.
"...5359408128!" Minamimoto cackled, but stopped as he quickly realized that nothing was happening. Naminé giggled proudly, drawing his attention. She twirled the card in her hand, and her functions appeared laying over the functions of his own spell. He carefully read the functions, wanting to figure out how his spell had been thwarted. He saw that the function with an output of i, labeled as f(x), was redefined to apply to a new variable, n, rather than y. The new variable was put into a new function, h(n), which raised n to a power of 4, then to a power of 0 (Naminé figured that it would be the same if she just raised it to 0, but she did not want to take any chances), then subtracted by 1, thereby leaving an output of h(n) equal to 0, which was then defined as y and plugged into Minamimoto's second function, g(y), rendering the flare completely ineffective. Naminé's second function, m(x), was a fraction, where the denominator read "x - ?￢ﾀﾝ and the numerator consisted of a crude drawing of Sho Minamimoto. The second function took him a few seconds to process, before he realized that the input was ?, and the equation was essentially dividing him by zero.
He felt a knot form in his gut, and he began to shake violently as the mathematical anomaly in the spell affected his physical being. He let out a scream in anger and agony as every cell in his body became a cosmic error. After several seconds, he simply faded away, not even disintegrating into television static like Noise or other Reapers did; to resolve the paradox that he had been redefined as, the universe simply erased him from existence. There was an implosion as air filled the vacuum that he left behind, then an energy explosion as the souls, hearts, and imagination that he had absorbed were released into the aether.
Everything went silent, the crowd of mortals having no idea what had just happened, and everyone else either exhausted, in awe at the Taboo Reaper's total obliteration, or a mix of the above. The Keybearers, Players, Reapers, and other fighters caught their breaths.
"Is it over?" Yoko asked.
"I think it is," Takagi replied.
"Was that you, Naminé?" Riku asked. Naminé nodded. Riku smiled. "Good going." Beat ruffled her hair, and Rhyme tapped her on the arm to show her congratulations. Sora grinned and beamed at Naminé, proud of her. Mickey, Aqua, Donald, and Goofy also went over to cheer for her.
"Ugh. I don't know about you, but I'm beat," Uzuki said.
Kariya nodded in agreement. "I think this calls for a well-deserved lunch," he suggested. Uzuki nodded, thinking that was the best idea she had heard all day.
"Hang on. Let's wait for the Conductor to give us our leave," Takagi said. "Something tells me we still have things to do." He approached Joshua, Atukaze, and Hanekoma. The latter three registered his presence, and so shifted themselves so that they appeared in both the UG and the RG.
"Well, crisis averted," Hanekoma proclaimed.
Atukaze nodded. "Yes. And I am grateful to all who have been able to assist us." He gave a bow to the Players and the world travelers.
"But now comes my least favorite part: the clean-up," Joshua remarked.
Atukaze nodded. "Indeed." He looked over at the crowd that was still staring at them. "Your abilities will certainly come in handy with erasing this incident and the Taboo attacks from their minds. However, this still left a footprint in the news and social media, and we cannot permit the general public, especially those outside of Shibuya, to know about the world of the Reapers' Game. I will need to instruct the Officers to commence with erasure of sensitive records."
Takagi stretched his arms upward. "Well, I guess I'd better help with that." He turned to Yoko. "After we're done with this, you want to get ramen?" he asked.
Yoko smiled. "I'd like that," she replied. Uzuki and Kariya gave each other surprised and fascinated looks.
Atukaze turned to address the rest of the party on both planes. "All others are dismissed," he announced.
The Reapers went their own way. Sora, Neku, Shiki, and Eri grouped up and watched their friends chat in the RG. Eri suggested going to get lunch, so Sora Imprinted an idea into Donald and Goofy's minds to join them at Ramen Don. Before they left, Neku looked back at the spot where Minamimoto had been destroyed and smirked.
"So zetta slow," he whispered mockingly.
Over lunch, they laughed and talked about the special powers they used in the fight with Minamimoto. At the same time, everyone gave Naminé another congratulatory cheer for dealing the final blow that saved the day.
"So, what now?" Aqua asked.
Sora shrugged. "Well, Joshua said that he'd bring us back to life after we saved Shibuya, so I guess we'll be coming back soon," he answered. As if on cue, he felt a buzz in his pocket and heard music play. He took his phone out and answered the call. "Hello?"
"Hey. This is Takagi. Thanks for the help today," the Game Master greeted.
"No problem," Sora replied. "So, is that it? You can bring me back to life and return Kairi too?"
"Yeah. It's just that, well… hey, can you put me on speaker phone?"
"On what?"
"Hit the button that looks like a megaphone, and take it away from your ear so your friends can listen in," Takagi instructed.
Sora did so. "Okay."
"Right. Well, you see, Atukaze wants us to keep at least some semblance of order, and this is still the Reapers' Game. And the other Players should still be given the chance to accumulate some points. You'll be resurrected, as promised, but he said that we should keep you in until this week's Game is over. So, there's one more day, and one more challenge. One more fun thing before we say good-bye."
"What is it?" Riku asked.
"The final boss," Shiki said.
"The GM's last test," Neku added.
"Yep. You get to face me in combat," Takagi confirmed.