What A WONDERFUL World

[Eva]

What A W O N D E R F U L World : The World E N D S With Y O U
​

Such a wonderful, diverse city. This place is called Shibuya, located somewhere in Japan, exactly where isn't that important. Nonetheless this place is always so busy, with everyone minding their own business and roaming the streets, laughing with others, being oh so...filled with life. But were they truly living? Wittling time away, letting it go by so casually--was that what life was about?

Too bad I can't think on it more, I've still got some work left to do. The Game would start soon.

I am called Vivace. I am the Composer of The Reapers' Game. You could say that I'm head honcho, though I work more behind the scenes, letting others take care of everything for me on the surface of things. As head honcho, I called all the shots--and thus I also made sure all the preparations were complete. Sure, I could always send the Reapers--said others, my underlings, hee hee--to do it for me, but I really had nothing better to do once the Game started, so why not prepare it?

As of this moment, you could see a girl standing in front of Lapin Angelique, peeking through the glass curiously. In case you couldn't tell, that girl was me.

What was I doing? Inspecting the shop. Why? Because if I put a Mark on the shop, the Players could shop in the store. The sales have gone down, and I was wondering if I could help out. Maybe ask Ongaku to help the store out, it used to be one of my favorite brands. My thoughts then shifted to the Game Master I had chosen--Gendou...

"Why not." She stated to no one in particular--not that anyone could hear her anyway. The Mark appeared on the window, and she curtly turned and walked past many people, unpocketing her cellphone and flipping it open.

Letting out a small sigh, the girl shut her phone promptly after getting the answer she needed. A massive text was just sent out; the Game Master's mission sent, plain and simple : GET TO THE 104 BUILDING. Repetitive, dumb, and straightforward. Of course, at the beginning most people are worried about partners and such while the weak were weeded out.

Any moment now the Scramble Crossing would become an unforeseen battleground.

 

[qster]

With his eyes slowly opening to the blue, cloudless sky of Shibuya, Roucher observed the neon, attention-whoring signs, begging for people to empty their wallets for the company the soulless, yet colorful sign was made for. Those who embraced the capitalistic ways of the modern world, such as the peppy schoolgirls flaunting their "swag" from the last Prince concert, the "hipsters" who adorned themselves in black 777 shirts that looked as if they were mass produced in someone's basement, and the businessmen who were too busy talking on their likely outdated phones to admit to their monopolizing ways, all of them were the same as everyone else. Shibuya was supposedly a city that could never be replicated anywhere else in the world and yet it had the same bland skyscrapers, same citizenry, same... everything. If Roucher hated anything, it would be hypocrisy, which is why he hated Shibuya more than anything else.

Roucher rose from the ground with an annoyed groan, dusting off his dark blue hoodie and his blue jeans, wondering as to how he had fallen asleep in the center of the Scramble Crossing. His head ached, like some horrible boy with a horrifyingly high pitched voice was screaming generic lyrics in his head, but that was the least of his problems. He attempted to grab onto the shoulder of some random teenage girl to ask what time it was, until his hand went completely through her, like some comedy being played in front of a group of prestigious art film lovers who had no sense of humor. That's when he remembered what had happened.

"So, this is what it's like to be dead? Well, at least that girl was worthy of being kissed, unlike all of these other drama queens. Oh, look at me! Prince will be mine! I'll be the fiftieth girl to do it with 777. You'll all see after I'm done wasting my life on my worthless blog. At least SHE had a mind of her own, unlike all of these fashion zombies." Roucher spat in hatred of the women who ignored his rant.

Little did he know that it was far from the truth, his little escapade with one of the most down-to-Earth, funny, and the single most coolest girl he had ever met was a lie, a fabricated memory, a false truth. He believed he had kissed her, but not too long ago, he was accused of the act and was innocent. She flirted with him in the hallways, but the man who eventually shoved him into the road was one of few people he considered a friend and she was his. The memory then was forced out of his mind as something that was actually abnormal approached--or rather hopped.

It was a green frog that appeared as if it had been spawned by some mad tattoo artist, with neon green skin and dark purple splotches that covered its' webbed feet. What was once one frog quickly turned into a mob of the same frogs, ominously surrounding him. One of the large frogs bounded towards him and, before he could react, leaped off of him, sending Roucher to the Scramble Crossing's street. Realizing fighting the creatures would be impossible, he went to the first place he could think of: The Statue of Hachiko.

Even as fast as Roucher was, the green abominations followed close behind, until one finally got the... jump on him, sending him towards the ground. He attempted to swat them away, but he was stuck on the ground, unable to fight back. He couldn't fend them off and he knew he required assistance, as much as he hated to admit nearly dying again to a bunch of frogs.

"Somebody! Anybody that can hear me! I need a hand here! Help me!" Roucher shouted, his right hand raised in desperation as he hoped someone would come to his aid.

 

[Key Wielder]

It was the strangest feeling in the world. Her mind, her body--everything felt like it was floating not through air, but some thick substance. She couldn't move her arms or legs, and her eyes refused to obey her command to open. What was happening...? She tried to think back to the last thing she could remember, but she was drawing a huge blank. There was somewhere she had been going...something she had to do...but...what was it? Her mind swam through the same thick oblivion as the rest of her, moving slowly and without purpose in spite of her urging.

"C'mon, Allegra. Focus."

The strange sensation began to fade and a soft groan escaped her lips. There was something hard and uneven beneath her: the ground. Asphalt scratched against her left cheek as she turned her head to the side, wondering how on earth she had ended up lying on the ground. Hadn't she been...in her car? Yes, that was right! She had been in her car heading to an audition when...something had happened. There was a flash of light in her memory and then nothing, just the oblivion she had been trapped in until now. Had she been in an accident? Thrown from the car and just now waking up on the pavement? It made sense, although she supposed she would have remembered seeing another car or something. She had no idea how long she had been unconscious, but shouldn't there be sirens? She had been driving right by the base.

"The base," she murmured, squeezing her eyes shut tighter. The base. The flash. There had been something in the papers about some diagnostics they were going to be running on the reactor at the edge of the base this morning--the edge that she would have to drive by on her way out of her neighborhood. Now that her senses were slowly coming back to her, she remembered the flash, the noise--the explosion. It had hit the car like a brick wall, throwing it sideways off the road. Everything after that was a blank, so she assumed she must have been thrown free of the car and knocked out.

But if that was the case, she couldn't have been the only one hurt. Where were the sirens? The ambulances? The police?

They weren't here. The sounds that registered in Allegra's ears weren't emergency workers; they were normal people. It was as though she was suddenly in the middle of a crowd of them. There were giggling girls, boys talking about Tin Pin Slammer, footsteps everywhere. The only time she could remember being in a place with so much noise was the one time she went to a place called Shibuya with some friends for a day of shopping. Scramble Crossing--that's where it had been. The noise had been deafening, but there was something exciting about being in the middle of everything.

Don't be silly, she thought, shaking her head. How could you have gotten to the Scramble?

There was no denying, though, that these people should have at least noticed her lying on the ground. Why had no one even stopped to ask if she was all right? Even if by some odd chance they hadn't noticed her, there was a veritable crowd of them; someone should have at least tripped over her.

"Uh...somebody? Help?" she said as loudly as she could manage. No response. This is just weird...

Allegra opened her eyes, fully expecting to see the crowd turned in the opposite direction, probably watching a fire raging near the reactor on the base. Only she didn't. She saw nothing; it was like she hadn't opened her eyes in the first place. She blinked a few times, thinking maybe she was just seeing--or not seeing--things, but it was no use. There was nothing but a void before her eyes; she didn't even have the sensation of light shining through her eyelids. She was completely blind.

A few panicked words escaped her lips as she pushed herself to her feet, tripping as she took a step forward and falling right back down again. Still, no one noticed her. But wait... There was something new, something she hadn't felt there before. Closing her eyes and trying to stretch her other senses out around her, Allegra could almost see them coming... Colors... Strange shapes... They were everywhere, and they were coming straight for her. Before she could consider what to do, something hit her in the back of the head. These new arrivals were no friends to her.

Struggling to keep herself calm for the moment, Allegra scrambled up on her feet and started walking, holding her hands out in front of her to avoid running into anyone. Oddly enough, there was no one in her way even though their voices were all around her. Something hit her in the back this time, making her stumble in pain as she sensed the...the things getting closer. She pushed herself into a run, hoping to get away from them. It vaguely registered in the back of her mind that someone nearby was talking about the statue of Hachiko, but she didn't stop to make sense of it. She was starting to lose them. Just a bit further...

"Umph!" Something hit her in the back of the head at the same time as she tripped over one of the same things that were chasing her. Allegra fell, her cheek hitting the ground as she careened forward into a wall.

"Somebody! Anybody that can hear me! I need a hand here! Help me!"

Someone else's voice said the words she had been about to shout, but she couldn't tell where it was coming from. As much as she wanted to help him, she had her own problems here. Feeling out with her senses again, she could see the colors coming closer. Allegra felt the wall behind her back; there was nowhere to run, and she couldn't even see her attackers--or the guy asking for help--to fight back. No, he'd probably be better off without her tripping over him and getting them both into even more trouble.

The things were coming closer. Allegra waved her arms frantically in front of her to fend them off, every now and again actually feeling her fist meet its intended target, but there were soon too many of them and she could feel more than see that they were about to pounce. Certain that her end was near, Allegra threw her arms in front of her face.

"NO!"

 

[Eternal Dream]

~- Twister -~

Cheza's feet pounded the pavement, just a blur of silvery-pink as her heart beat fit to burst, her blood roaring in her ears. Sparing the barest glance over her shoulder, her speed picked up even further as she saw the wolf that was just feet behind her. What was that thing? It's front legs looked so strange, like it had azure tattoos in place of furry limbs.

"Help!" the word was all too familiar as she cried out for what felt like the hundredth time. Why? Why was everyone ignoring her? Couldn't they see the rabid monster in their midst? Shibuya couldn't be this cold to its visitors, could it?

And just where were Illya and Lily?

Cheza bolted around the corner, leaving the Scramble behind her as she approached Haichiko. And the sounds of another scuffle; apparently, she wasn't the only one being set on by these... things.

"Somebody! Anybody that can hear me! I need a hand here! Help me!"

"NO!"

Wait, frogs? Cheza didn't have time to think about it as, carried by her momentum, she slammed into the store front. Dazed, her instincts took over, spinning her out of the way just before the wolf would have slammed into her; instead, it charged right into the same glass she had seconds ago.

Her head clearing slightly, she spun around, and was faced with one doozy of a choice. Two other kids were being attacked by those frogs with the tattoo legs; she had to help them, but she was afraid that the time it would take to help one would be more than the other had. But what choice did she have?

Cheza dove for the girl, swiping one of the amphibians off her head before she turned, using her momentum to kick another frog away. While she wasn't strong overall, she was a dancer, so kicks? She could manage those, and serve you up a good dose of hurt.

Even with the couple fogs she managed to get away, Cheza knew they were in trouble. The wolf was getting its bearings again, a snarling growl speaking of great displeasure. Her breath escaping her in an exasperated huff, she snapped at the monsters, "Back off! Just go away already!"

~---------------~

OOC: Not done; gonna be editing with Rhys and Blaster a little later. Right now though, I gotta bounce. TTYL!

 

[Cassette-Disk]

A loud recognizable beat flowed through the city of Shibuya. Its rippling waves crashed onto buildings and climbed upward to the sky until the soundwaves died down, though even then Sana liked to believe they just went somewhere else instead of disappearing entirely. She open her eyes and saw crowds of people walking above her, the hard concrete below her had begun to cause her back some aches, but she stayed like that for a while more, just laying on the ground and hearing the many different noises the city had to offer. This city was amazing. That's all there was too it. So many different people, cultures, and most music just clashed endlessly here. Even if and when one thing won, that didn't mean they were safe, nor that the war was over.

She slowly brought her right hand to her heart and pressed. Nothing out of the ordinary. That in itself was out of the ordinary. She had been stabbed, or at least she remembered being stabbed. Where was the wound? Fixed. Of course. It'd be silly to be brought in with whatever caused your death. There might be people who were cut in half or something, they would not be able to move unless healed somehow before entering the Game. Sana sat up. Her free hand bumped into something, and when she saw what it was, her face lit up. A black guitar. Her black guitar. She quickly strapped it on and played a cord. It sounded...awful. She tried again. Still terrible. She played one more note. A glass cracked somewhere. She stood up, feeling depressed, slinging the guitar over her shoulder with the help of its strap.

riiibbiit
What the hell was that? Taking a quick gander around, she saw a frog. Frogs were nice, right? But this one looked...fake. Like something out of a cartoon or video game. It was just too big and colorful, it was also jumping at her. Landing on her chest, there was an awkward moment where nothing happened. Then it flew off of her, sending her flying back to the ground. This wasn't good. A split second was all it took for her to get on her feet and away from the area, but the frog was close behind. Ahead of her, more frogs were jumping around, but they didn't notice her. Relieved, she kept running until she heard something. She heard a male.
"Somebody! Anybody that can hear me! I need a hand here! Help me!"
Turning back to the crowd of frogs, Sana saw a someone on the ground being attacked by them.
"Oh crap!" She cried. "I'm coming, dude!" Quickly, she made her way to the downed person, flipping over her guitar and swinging at a frog. The instrument bounced away hilariously, even making a small squeaky noise. She didn't care, she had to help this random stranger...even if it meant getting attacked herself? Maybe she should've thought this through more... Either way, she had finally reached him and held out her hand to him.
"Come on!" She yelled at him, "We've gotta get you on your feet!" She hadn't realized that this would also make a pact, but hey that also worked out for them.

 

[Piercing Light]

"Honestly, this is almost enough to drive me to perpetual boredom..." Adagio wandered about Scramble Crossing, his hands in his pockets and his mind in the clouds. He had been walking around for at least ten minutes now, well actually about eight of those minutes was him nearly panicking and 'running,' but that's besides the point. Now normally in the situation he was in someone would be wondering things such as "Why can't anyone see me!?" Or "Am I really dead!?" However something else had been bothering him. When ever he finds himself in a stressful situation he would take out his drawing pad and draw in it to relax. He didn't have one on him, so he decided to waltz into an art store and take one, as well as some quality pencils. That was one plus to being invisible he figured, he'd pay the store back if he got back to normal.

When he sat down and attempted to draw one of the many buildings however, he just... Couldn't. His hands moved across the paper, however no matter how much he tried he could not put his mind's image onto the paper. He considered sulking, maybe make a tumbler and whine about it all, however he decided to put it off for now, and try to find the cause of this. His cell phone suddenly began to vibrate, which made his eyes almost actually widen in surprise. He could have sworn the thing wasn't working right when he tried to call the police a little while ago. Taking it out of his pocket he looked at the screen with a half invested gaze. "104 building... who sent this?" He tired calling the sender, to no avail. "Well, not as if I have anything else to do..." He knew this was rather crazy, however it was all he had to go on at the moment. He was about to head west towards the building when he heard cries for help from the east. As he turned his head in the direction of the noise a sharp pain went through his hand. Cringing he instinctively looked at it to see the cause of the pain. "A... Timer?" He stood there for a short moment, as his mind went to the text he received. Was that some sort of goal? What happened when this timer reached zero?

"Meh, whatever." He didn't really care at the moment, the calls for help held more of his attention. Running towards the source of the screams he found a rather surreal scene. Strange abstract animals, frogs, a wolf. They were attacking a group of people around his age. Two girls were more well off than the other two, who seemed to be in immediate danger. "I'd be in shock, however quite frankly I was expecting something a bit more crazy than this after all that's been happening." He ran over to the girl that was still on the ground, as the boy had been saved by the other girl thankfully. "You might want to get to your feet... Or not, regardless I don't think sitting there is the safest thing to do right now." He took a hold of her right hand, pulling her up to her feet. "Huh?..." A strange sensation went through his body as he touched her hand, It was hard to put into words. It was as if a fleeting connection had been tied to him and this girl.

He didn't have time to dwell on it however, as a duo of frogs jumped for his face. "Whoa watch the face!" he yelled, swiping the air in front of him a wave of fire erupted, burning the frogs to a crisp. "W-what the?" Something was in his hand, opening it he saw a small collection of pins. He didn't get it, however he did get that whatever he just did killed those two frogs. "I guess watching all that anime is going to come in handy for something after all!" Pointing his finger at the ground violent sparks jumped to life on the ground. He quickly moved his finger, dragging the sparks across the frogs bodies, shocking and killing three in a row. He looked back to the girl he had helped to her feet. "I know this is 'shocking' and all, but maybe you could help out?" He didn't want to put her on the spot, however there were a LOT of enemies surrounding them, and he was hardly familiar with how these powers of his worked.

 

[Story Keeper]

~- Morning Rays -~

Her body throbbed to a steady rhythm, one she recognized easily. It felt like she'd overworked herself or hit the wall pretty hard. Opening her eyes, Siam jerked away as someone nearly stepped on her hand. She threw an angry glare in their direction before she pushed herself into a sitting position and tried to identify where she was. It wasn't Scramble Crossing or 104; it seemed like she was on Cat Street.

Climbing to her feet, Siam did a quick spin to double check her surroundings. Yep, she was on Cat Street.

A question forming, she tried to give it voice only to notice that no sound escaped. Startled, the blonde heard a soft scratching behind her; she wheeled to face the source, and a curse forming on her tongue. It was a pack of wolves, and no one seemed to see them! Whipping around, Siam bolted toward the next area, trying to remember which way would take her toward a crowd of people.

Turns out she'd been listening to some music before she'd blacked out. Shaking her head, she effortlessly turned the volume up to max and continued to flee from the wolves; before she could reach the exit, another pack of wolves appeared in front of her.

Siam spun in a tight circle, looking for escape; realizing she was surround, she pulled her bow out and knocked an arrow. Pulling the string taut, she aimed it at the first wolf and stood ready for combat. "Declaration" by David Cook curled into the air, and she silently hoped that someone was near by to provide assistance.

~- I Drift Off Again -~

Sync rolled over on his right side; opening one green eye, he spotted the reaper leaning against the door. Blaster, his mentor for the week. Lovely. Closing his eyes against the minor headache he had, Sync again heard Blaster's greeting ring through his head.

"Welcome to the party, kid. And a great big, welcome to hell, too."

Sync exhaled softly, pushing himself up as he brushed off the reaper's snarky comment. He didn't feel like playing mind games; he was more interested in finding out what the Composer wanted. How'd he know the Composer wanted them? He'd read the message that came in only to fake sleeping once more. He hadn't been able to get any form of reprieve the night before.

He glanced at the older reaper before he stood up and headed for the door. "What took you so long to wake up?" Blaster snapped, acid lacing every syllable. Sync didn't pay no mind to him though; Blaster wasn't worth increasing the pain in his head.

Stepping into the hallway, Sync headed toward where the other reapers were heading. Sync knew that Blaster was close behind him, so he didn't have to speak loudly for a clipped, "Technically, I wasn't asleep; I was hiding from the world, and before you make your typical response, shut up and walk." to be heard by its intended recipient. Silence hung in between them, thick with hostility. Reaching the required room, Sync shoved the door open and quickly made his way to a shady, deserted corner.

Sync stopped only when he reached the shadows; turning to look at the room at large, he leaned against the wall behind him and waited for the others to appear. While waiting for the rest of them, Sync closed his eyes and let his mind wander to a precious, yet distant memory while still paying close attention for in case someone decided to make small talk.

Or if Blaster wanted to lecture him for the second time in as many days.

 

[qster]

Perhaps it was his own mind screwing with him, but Roucher could have sworn he heard a voice in the distance-- a girl's voice. To his dismay, the woman was having her own troubles and shouted a long, dramatic "NO!" in response to his calling for help. In any ordinary situation, he probably would have given her the finger, seeing as he needed help, but he was too exhausted to do so. That's when he heard another female shout that she was coming to his aid. She smacked away one of the tattoo frogs and held her hand out to him, to which he weakly clasped her palm, pulling him out of the maws of death. That was when he knew that he was not simply a ghost.

His entire world went white, which scared him into thinking that the woman was too late, that he was dead yet again, this time trapped in this white world forever. Swiftly afterwards, he felt the familiar, warm palm of his savior, to which he believed must have been killed alongside him. A dark blue ray of light showered from above like a spotlight and he was the fool forced to perform in front of the screaming crowd waiting to see him screw up. However, the light was warm, much like the lips of the girl he had thought he had kissed when he remained alive.

His eyes opened to the same situation as before, except he felt stronger, like a child who had a case of soda and an entire sugar log, except much more controlled. He looked down at his hand, which was still in the warm, friendly palm of his angel, to which his face changed to a beet red, quickly retracting his hand from hers. He wondered as to why she wielded her guitar as if it were an axe, much to its' nickname, but that was the least of their problems. Right now, they had frogs to smash.

"Hey, look, it's nice that you saved me and everything, but let's save the formalities until after we kill these things. But... there's just one problem I have. I don't have a weapon to fight these things. You know of anything I could use?" Roucher asked, wondering if she knew what was going on-- or at least more than what he knew.

 

[Key Wielder]

Everything happened so fast that Allegra desperately wished she could have seen it all. That, at least, would have helped her keep everything straight in her mind. The creatures that sounded like frogs washed over her; she swatted a few of them away, but someone else was helping her and she felt a weight on the top of her head disappear. Frowning, her eyes wide with fright although she couldn't see its source, she could hear someone moving beside her long before words met her ears.

"Back off! Just go away already!"

It was another girl. More importantly, it was a girl who could actually see her. Before she could tell her that they should run, a deep growling noise killed the words in her throat. It had to be some kind of animal, just like the frogs, only much bigger and much angrier by the sound of it. Allegra had only ever heard the sound in movies or television shows; she assumed people who encountered wolves were the only ones who had heard it firsthand. Stretching out her senses again, she could only "see" a huge and colorful blur in front of the both of them. Not good...

Before she could even begin to panic, someone else joined them and said to her, "You might want to get to your feet... Or not, regardless I don't think sitting there is the safest thing to do right now."

He took her hand and pulled her to her feet, but it wasn't his sudden appearance that surprised Allegra. A surge of something like electricity flowed through the hand he was holding and she suddenly felt the strangest sensation in the pit of her stomach. Even though she had let her vision go back to the black emptiness she was beginning to become accustomed to, she could still feel his presence beside her after he'd let go of her hand. She had no idea what had just happened and pushed it to the back of her mind to ponder later, but she could feel it--a connection with him.

"I know this is 'shocking' and all, but maybe you could help out?"

"Huh? Oh, right," Allegra replied, nodding in his general direction. The last thing she wanted was to let him or the girl who had helped her know that she couldn't see them. This wasn't a time to expect other people to defend her; with or without her sight, she had to hold her own.

Sensing one of the frogs coming at her again, Allegra threw out her hand instinctively and felt the ground shake slightly, the air going cold. There was a sound of ice cracking and then the creature was gone. Shifting the fingers of her hand, she could feel what she thought was a stack of pins in her clenched fist. Where had they come from? There was no time to ponder it as, attuning her senses to her surroundings once again, she felt more enemies getting ready to attack. Almost knowing what would happen before she did it, Allegra waved a hand horizontally in front of her. There was a sound of something heavy shifting and she heard metal making contact with something hard; the enemies disappeared.

"Huh. I think I'm getting the hang of this. You okay?" she asked the boy beside her. They weren't out of the fire yet, but she was insecure without her sight. Although she could still sense him nearby, it worried her to know that she couldn't really tell if she was alone or not...

 

[OmniChaos]

“SodidyouhearthatandthentheguybutIhadplanstoIcan’tbelievethatIohmygodthatisIwishpeoplewouldjustdoyouwanttogototheIhavethoseshoestoothatsaleisabouttoIloveyourdressI’mgoingtobesolateyoulikeafreesamplebrokemoneywisehousemallshirtshoesramenphonefriendsoutgoIlet’spleasedomonfrishoyoknwifrastophaitalmreugksldjglpmcltusyfmslgdb…”

Ten-four was engulfed in conversations, some between people, others via phones, but all still the same. The conversations melded together, forming an incoherent string of semi-conversations that quickly became a string of disconnected words, each meaningless to the one before it. And even still, the words began to meld together further, ultimately becoming a massive strand of unimportant, disconnected letters, each one a small burp of sound. Now this was noise.

Gendou sat, legs crossed, in the center of Ten-four, paying no heed to the nameless specters that haunted the streets of the UG, going about their meaningless existence within the RG. Ghosts. That was all the were, as far as Gendou was concerned. Residual energies of one that had died all so long ago, now walking within the skin of their former, within the empty husks of a ‘person.’ Gendou was alive. He was not like them, those who go about a routine, lifeless state of being. Gendou lived. He truly lived. Those of the RG could never say they truly lived without experiencing what Gendou had; without experiencing true life.

Alone he sat, holding onto a mug of hot coffee, mixed with some sake (his own, special recipe), simply staring out, past the barrier, and into the Scramble Crossing. Any other day, Gendou would have been resting quietly in the Dead God’s Pad, especially if he had no GM duties for the week, away from the hustle and bustle of the opening day. But, for some reason, he felt a little more… compelled to come to the front lines this week and wait for the players to arrive in Ten-Four personally, a sort of greeting party, so to speak.

Gendou took a deep drink from his coffee-sake, slowly lifting and dropping the mug from his lips. The bitter sake stabbed his taste buds and the warm, liquid concoction ran down his throat. He released a soft, satisfied sigh as he turned his attention skyward.

And so he sat, waiting.

 

[Cassette-Disk]

A quick grasp of the hand was all it take to send Sana in what she remembers hearing other people describe as an acid trip. She was surrounded by a light green light, and though it felt warm and reassuring, she couldn't help but feel nervous. Not only because she was going to be in a fight for her life, but because this light suddenly brought back memories of her first time performing onstage for a large crowd. She remembered how she felt like the entire situation would be easy to screw up, and how she felt as if it all depended on her. But she also remembered how great it felt once she got the song going, and how easy it was to do a perfect job.

The light vanished. The young boy she had helped up removed his hand from his and turned a shade of red. Realizing that the last few seconds were probably them just standing there holding each other's hands, Sana didn't blame him. She coughed slightly at the situation hoping that would somehow make it better. It didn't. He suddenly decided to speak up:
"Hey, look, it's nice that you saved me and everything, but let's save the formalities until after we kill these things. But... there's just one problem I have. I don't have a weapon to fight these things. You know of anything I could use?"
She quickly tried to gather her thoughts. They didn't have much time to chat around because of all the frogs surrounding them. The light show seemed to have dazed them, but they were already starting to recover.
"Y-yeah alright." Sana said quickly. "I don't know how much you know, but check your pockets." she reached into hers and pulled out the first one she felt. "These things are our weapons." She held it out for him to see. "Let's us do stuff we normally couldn't..." If only I knew what mine did. Though looking at it, she could see it had guitar strings as a design. So maybe...

Sana flipped her guitar back to her front with a surprising amount of grace. Grabbing it by one hand, she noticed how much lighter it suddenly felt. Or maybe she had gotten seriously buff in the last few seconds. Either way, she used the pin as a pick and played a single long (but rather rough sounding) note that knocked away nearly all of the frogs.
"I guess that hurt them..." She said, awestruck before turning back to her new partner. "What have you got to bring to this fight?"

 

[Ðari]

A-East [Taikero]

The reaper was projected his figure over the building as if he were a dark seraph. A-East was his usual spot, the stage always set off here. Looking down, there was a sinister ring that spread about as a text message hit his phone. The reaper hit the 'fuck you button' on his vibrating pocket and grinned as his eyes locked, hard a female he caught staring at a window down below.

Perhaps through arousal, perhaps through intrigue; the taboo was always the same as it was forbidden. His grin formed, showing off his pearly whites and sharpened fangs were searing. A sinister look had overrun his face as he spread his arms and reached behind his head, and adjusted his bandanna. He'd heard something a while ago, a phenomenon that jumped out of the 104 building screen. Noise, unregistered noise at that. Rolling his eyes, as if his own illegal activity weren't bad enough.

"She's cute. Better get going though."

His voice was low. The reaper then extended the folds of both of his black wings, and took off into the sky. Drifting beyond the barriers put in place for the players, his glide was interrupted by another message. Though, who exactly was the game master this time, it had to be Gendou. Mission number one had been sent and to the scramble, the new players were about to face erasure. Hopefully, he could look forward to that promotion to officer rank, but then they'd have no one else to really scramble the players hah!

Statue of Hachiko

He was already livid and aggravated. The adolescent didn't even begin to fathom what was really going on. Landing in the UG wasn't part of his plan, but recollect the cruel sounds of gunfire only to wake up in a scramble of people. To haul ass this far and escape the violence only temporarily.

"Fuq, you gotta be kidding me?? What am I even 'posed to be doing??"

'Gotta calm down, I'm doin' it again. Shit.'

He spoke far less gracefully whenever he was frustrated. As he folded his arms, he needed to cool off and time to think. There was already some pain in the ass timer on his hand. The more he stared at it, the faster that hour just ticked and ticked away. The delinquent rolled his eyes, and then relocated them on the statue of hachiko itself. He'd heard a rumor about meeting people here, upon coming here to escape the hostility he encountered a bit before, still helpless, that chain he used along with the pins still weren't doing much for him.

"Hmmm..." he said staring at the player pin in his hand.

He tossed it up, and caught it up. Eyes wide, the people in the area were mind-raping him with several thoughts a second.

Did he really say that? I can't believe I have to work this late. Hah! How was the festival? Is that all you have to say? Tell mark he's a jerk for ditching us saturday! I hate mondays.

He was gasping for air.

"I wish this thing came with an instruction manual...like I read those, but c'mon!"

Tapping it again, the noises of other people thinking quickly stopped. He dropped to his knees and his phone fell onto the asphalt. The people just continued to walk past him, as if he wasn't even there. The damnedest things just seemed to happen to him with his luck, and to bite the bitterest of misery, as if it were all some cruel joke. He was determined though, so he attempted to pull himself together and picked up his phone and reviewed his text message again.

"I tried going to 104...but It was blocked off by an invisible wall or somethin', what the fu-" cut off as the red insignias from earlier were beginning to spawn again. "Yo-you're kidding...you really don't waste any time do ya? Nothing is working...guess this is the part of the story where I just lay down and accept death right? FUQ NO!"

He spun around and ran towards the statue, quickly scaling it as others may have been watching. They returned to red sigils and were floating now, this was getting annoying, so he jumped off and just scrambled away. Never has he been so confused as to what was happening, vaguely remembering something about a pact, but there was no one around.

"I guess I'm screwed, nah son I doubt that, if they can't catch me I'll figure somethin' out."

 

[MegaWallflower]

"But come on! I saw the cutest Natural Puppy shirt and you can buy it for me before we go to the stupid meeting!" Minuet tried once again to win Cadence over with a quivering lip and big, teary eyes. She dragged her feet and whined loudly, even after Cadence told her about a supposed meeting at headquarters. What fun was being a Reaper if it was so much like work? "Why do you hate me, Cady? I thought we were friends..." she added, on the verge of tears. Forcing herself to cry was almost a little too easy by now.

The older girl ignored her partner and pressed on. Cadence sighed as they finally arrived. "Raise the money yourself, or maybe, maybe," she whispered to Minuet, who pouted. "If you're good, I'll get you one thing." The puppy dog face or tantrems didn't phase Cadence, though, since she knew this little girl's tricks far too well. When Minnie remembered that, she gave up and just looked at the other Reapers. What was above a Harrier? A Officer or something? Whatever it was, she'd have to reach it soon so she could order them around.

And the way you became a better Reaper was to be out there eliminating pathetic players, not going to meetings. "Can't we be attacking the players?" Minnie asked then, tapping her foot. "They're helpless out there without a partner." She was clearly bored at being trapped in the small room awaiting orders. Whatever this stupid meeting was about, it was almost certainly not as fun as watching Noise she summoned weed out the weaker players. But Cadence had her held tight, so she couldn't exactly leave. Besides, her partner seemed genuinely interested in the crap. That at least was an incentive to be quiet as she waited. And then she'd just take the chance to catch players off guard later, like she should be doing now.

Cadence kept a firm grip on Minnie's wrist while she looked around the room. The game had started, so it probably wouldn't be long- and even if it was, if they weren't allowed to act, they couldn't act anyway. And when they were called for a meeting at headquaters, it was probably a good guess that it was one of those times they weren't allowed to act immediately. Not that Cadence was particularly eager. Using her free hand to raise her book again, which she'd bookmarked with her thumb as she ran, she continued reading where she left off. She would put it away as soon as she had something to listen to that wasn't her incessant partner. She'd regret this by the day's end, that was for sure.

 

[qster]

"Y-yeah alright. I don't know how much you know, but check your pockets. These things are our weapons.Let's us do stuff we normally couldn't..." His partner explained to him, holding out a series of pins she had pulled out of her pockets.

The woman, with a simple yet astonishing flip of her guitar, was able to move her hand from the neck to its' regular position. She then took her strumming hand and holding a pin like it was a guitar pick, not a single fret held on the neck. She strummed the strings and a note sent the frogs back from jumping towards them back to the ground on their backs. His eyes grew wide and he looked back over to her, seeing these things that were once just children's toys now as his most valuable weapon. Whatever alternate dimension he landed in sure was different--more different than the citizens of Shibuya claimed.

With a feeling of surprise after seeing the girl's performance moments ago, Roucher quickly fished through his hoodie pocket, pulling out a pin that looked familiar to him, but he had always hated Tin Pin. One day, a child happened to have seen him with the pin and started saying all of these stats, but all he could remember was that the name was Masamune. He looked down at the pin and then back up at the frogs, who were just getting back up and hopping their way. He looked back down at the pin one more time and gripped the pin, hoping his results would be as good as his partner's.

"So these toys are our only way to fight these things? How the heck do I even use these things? Do I need a guita-- OH MY GOD!" Roucher was asking until a blade of yellow energy was emitted from his hands, like he was Zeus ready to rain thunderbolts on those who opposed him.

With a new-found smile plastered on his face, Roucher glared at a frog that was hopping his way, gripping his Masamune in one hand while the pin was in the other. As the frog neared attacking range, he swung his energy blade at the beast, causing it to turn into static as if it was a radio station instead of some kind of graffiti monster. He smiled back at his partner and began slashing through the remaining frogs that attempted to attack the pair.

"Don't even think of bringing any harm to her. If you want her, you have to go through me first, ya little abominations." He shouted at the resting places of the frogs.

"Well, we finally get the time to at least get to chat now. The name's Roucher Lourd, but everyone has called me Akiba. What about you, lil miss rocker?" Roucher introduced himself, looking back at her with a smirk.

 

[Piercing Light]

The threat around them was quickly diminishing, with the number of these monsters down to only a few. The girl he had helped to her feet displayed similar abilities to his, taking care of multiple hostiles with ice and telekinetic attacks. "I'm fine, I hope the owner of that truck you tossed has some great insurance though, I don't think most companies cover poltergeist attacks." He commented, zapping two frogs at the same time as they attempted to pounce on him. They never changed it up, it was always the same mindless attack over and over. He quickly glanced at the timer on his hand, more time had passed than he figured, they needed to end this.

The other boy manged to get to his feet, and as he expected had powers of his own as well. He quickly took care of the remaining frogs, though seemed to have forgotten the lone wolf, which was now heading straight towards Adagio "Hey down boy! Chill for a second!" He punched the air aimed at the wolf, and instantly it was frozen solid. It shook for a moment, before shattering in a haze of static. Right away Adagio turned to the girl behind him. A bit odd in a way how he didn't seem to care about their lives being in danger just a few seconds ago. "Now that this is taken care of..." He bowed, only slightly lowering his torso. "My name is Adagio." He raised his head, just now noticing something about her. "You have very striking eyes, if you don't mind me saying so." He knew right now might not be the best time to be flirting, however he just couldn't help it. He took out his phone, opening the strange text he received he showed it to her. "Did you get one of these too? I found it a bit odd, I mean I could have sworn I had add blocker installed on this thing..."

 

[Sean]

Silence.

The only thing that managed to come out of the otherwise grim situation Anise was placed in before. Surely she was dead and she accepted that fate without hesitation. Of course taking the coward's way out of living was something to be frowned upon in current society. Still, the feeling of being released from life's trials and tribulations was a weight off of her shoulder to say the least. All those questions about 'what lies beyond death' would soon be answered...or would it.

Anise's body jolted into a sitting position on the warmed pavement. No one seemed to be around but the chatter and voices still hung in the area. A look of confusion crossed her face as her turquoise eyes darted for any sign of familiarization. Just where was she? She was still in Japan, that much was certain. But not Okinawa or anywhere near that place. Looking up, her sight came across a large board that read "WEST EXIT BUS TERMINAL" Alright. This was definitely not was she or anyone in their right mind would expect when traversing the threshold of life and death.

Without even a moment passing, shadows came into formation and people's bodies gave ownership to those shadows. It was as if time was just picking up where it left off. "...!!!" What? A hand reached up to her throat as if something was stuck in there that prevented any sort of speech. She panicked. So much so that she had began to hyperventilate. And then she tried to scream her heart out.

Nothing. Not even the slightest whimper. Tears streamed down Anise's face as she rose to her feet. Wiping away the tears was futile as even more washed her face. A few seconds passed in effort for Anise to compose herself. She was not the strongest willed person but enough to think through the situation. Her eyes glanced around the area once again. Waving her hands in front of people to grab their attention did not seem to have even the slightest effect. Was this some kind of well-planned joke? If so, it was completely terrible to take away a girl's voice and then ignore her. And then it hit her like a train full of bricks. She had to be a ghost...or some kind of lingering spirit. Like those you see on television? What were they called? An apparatus or something?

She thoroughly remembered the final second of her life and from the look of things, she had a single clue about where she was. Finally, Anise mustered up the courage to take a single step in what might lead her to salvation or eternal damnation.


Vrr~ Vrr~


Out of all the things to give in the afterlife, why her iPhone? Pulling the device from her pocket, the on screen message read: "GET TO THE 104 BUILDING". Well shit if that wasn't intrusive. Anise did not have time to react to the message as a stinging pain surged through the palm of her had causing the phone to drop to the asphalt. A timer? What for?

Wait for it.

Anise studied the timer on her hand for a few seconds.

Waaaait forrrr itttt.

Her eyed detached from the timer and on to the phone. Like a light going off in her head, Anise slapped her forehead with the butt of her palm.

There we go.

Running the location through the GPS of her phone, Anise gained intel as to where this 104 building was stationed. Past the statue, and west at the Scramble Crossing. Got it. With that in mind, briskly ran for the 104 building all the while keeping the timer in the back of her thoughts.

The statue had only taken two minutes to arrive at but the scene was just as crowded if not more than the bus terminal. Weaving in and around the bodies of wandering people as graceful as ever, Anise immediately hit an invisible wall. Cocking her head to the side, she tried running through it again. And again. One last time just to be sure. Yeah there was no way through there. Turning her back to the exit, she placed both hands on her hips as to decide what to do next. Looking at her palm, she had more than enough time to think this through.

Like something out of a Spider-man themed comic, a boy, maybe around the same age as Anise herself, scaled the dog statue with ease like no other. The scene was kind of comical seeing as he was running around from those...floating tribal symbols? She sat there and watched as the kid scrambled through the area avoiding the sigils. But what were those floating things in the first place? Did they have something to do aside from chase people? Probably not. Then again, they were only chasing one person...and no one else. And to add, no one else even cared as to who this kid was or what he was doing. They did not even acknowledge his existence! Was he also...?

Anise raised one hand and cupped her mouth with the other completely forgetting that no sound would come out. It would not take long to realize this however, and what else to do aside from...what? Clap and jump up and down like an idiot? Well if looking like you have a problem meant getting down to the bottom of this situation was key then she damn well commit the action.

 

[Cassette-Disk]

Sana smiled as her new partner took out the now weakened Noise. It was good to know that they would both be able to handle themselves in a fight...Probably. At least his sword thing looked cool. She took a second to look him over as he introduced himself. He wasn't the most distinguished person around, what with his messy hair and dirty shirt, but really this town had all types of people in it. Who was she to judge? Besides, she thought it gave him a kind of street rat appearance that you don't really see anymore.

"Little miss rocker's name is Sonata Hare," She said, giving a small mock curtsy. "Though everyone calls me Sana. Good to meet you." She regained her normal stance and took another glance at her new partner before finally speaking up. "How much do you know about what's going on right now?" She asked. "I don't wanna offend you or anything, but we're in a bit of a jam for the next week and if you don't know what's up, I can fill you in on what I know. You might know something I don't too, so we can compare notes..." She pulled out her phone and flipped it open, showing Akiba her latest text message. "Like if maybe you got this message as well...?"
GET TO THE 104 BUILDING

 

[Key Wielder]

"I'm fine, I hope the owner of that truck you tossed has some great insurance though, I don't think most companies cover poltergeist attacks."

Allegra cringed. There was no explanation for how she'd known how to use the pins she still held tightly in her fist, but admittedly she hadn't cared much about what it was she had been throwing around. It couldn't have been just a metal shop sign? None of the voices around them skipped a beat, seeming not to notice that a truck had just flown through the air...

Maybe I should leave my insurance information? That would be fun to explain. "No, it wasn't an accident. I just threw their truck at a bunch of demon frogs. You cover that, right?" Oh yeah. Real convincing.

"Hey down boy! Chill for a second!"

Another sound of shattering ice, then silence. Was it over? The suddenly calm tone in the boy's voice as he spoke again seemed to confirm it.

"Now that this is taken care of... My name is Adagio. You have very striking eyes, if you don't mind me saying so."

Clearing her throat, Allegra could feel herself blush slightly at Adagio's compliment. It didn't seem like the time nor the place for such a casual conversation, especially after they'd nearly been killed by...whatever they were. Yet at the same time, it was difficult to say the compliment wasn't appreciated. Her eyes had always been the one feature she liked most about herself; she was just glad she couldn't see how empty they must look now. Still, she had to keep up appearances. Turning to face him--or his voice, anyway--she smiled.

"Thanks, and thank you for helping me, Adagio. I'm Allegra."

"Did you get one of these too? I found it a bit odd, I mean I could have sworn I had add blocker installed on this thing..."

Crap... Ad blocker...? Oh! Cell phone.

Allegra let her eyes flick downward for a moment, pretending to look at whatever he was obviously trying to show her before busying herself with pulling out her own phone and stowing the pins in her pocket. For how often she had to use it, she was surprised at how difficult it was to find the button that turned the screen on. Keeping her face down so Adagio couldn't see her eyes, Allegra fumbled for the right button and nearly laughed in relief when the clicking noise told her the screen had come on. It only lasted a moment, though, as she silently cursed the traitorous touch screen. Allegra had no idea whether she had gotten whatever he was talking about--a text message, maybe?--but there had also been so much going on that she'd probably missed it if she had.

"Yeah, me too," she replied, quickly turning the screen off again and scratching the palm of her left hand. The skin felt rough for some reason, but there was nothing there. I'm just falling apart here, she sighed to herself.

Looking back up at Adagio, she shrugged her shoulders. "What do you make of all of this?"

 

[Ðari]

The futility by itself just had to be something a damn spectacle. The kid was running around like a victim of a game of freeze tag. He rolled his eyes, as he ran a rape train from front to back of the area. Rolling, sliding, dipping and dodging seemed to be what he was good and accomplished at.

"everyday I'm shuf-, wait, lemme try that pin again."

He stopped, tapping the skull pin again he searched the area. Only one he couldn't read, a female and surely enough she could see him. Unable to ignore someone he couldn't 'scan' and with the red sigils on his heels he had to make an assumption she was just as much apart of this as he was.

"I don't know if you can see or hear me miss, but right now I need you yo!"

He threw his hand up, almost as if he was fist pumping. The sigils soon became wolves, and their claws bore into the asphalt. The steam that resonated from their mouths seemed ideal, and Jam spread his arms to bar the two wolves from the female. In his mind all he could think of was, 'Its now or never!' As they made their lunge, a blue light seemed to flare around the two of them.

"Looks like that was, the pact! Les' go!"

 

[Sean]

"Looks like that was, the pact! Les' go!"

Pact? Just where in the description manual did anything refer to a pact of some sort? Oh wait, there wasn't a description manual. Just a text that was painfully direct. After the light show, Anise looked down at her hands. Nothing changed except for the ticking on her palm.

XX:49...

XX:48...

XX:47...

It was annoying to say the least. What if she did not make it to the destination in the presented time? What would happen then? Would it just...stop? Did this kid in front of her have the same timer as she did? So many questions preoccupied her mind as she began to even draw up scenarios with her index finger into the air. She was a sight to behold alright. But even a skyward wolf would grab her attention.

Dodge roll!

Dodge roll!​

DODGE ROLL, DAMMIT!​

Her balance was impeccable, being able to weave through the bites and swipes that the intimidating wolf posed. In fact, it was as if she was avoiding them with the slightest bit of effort. No signs of fatigue or stress could be seen from her face. Maybe all those years of ballet and kickboxing would finally pay off/ Anise kept a firm distance from the wolf as if it had a combination of AIDS and being rabid. Oh wait a damn minute.

What are you running for?

You're dead, kiddo.​

Anise stopped and turned toward the chaser and gave into the whole cat-and-mouse game. The beast lunged once again, yet this time, Anise positioned her head to the wayside letting the slipstream fluster her mahogany locks in a multitude of directions. The wolf caught itself and prepared for another chance toward Anise's throat. Before its hind legs could even leave the pavement, Anise wailed down on the beasts head with what seemed like the weight of one thousand F150's boarding a cargo train. The wolf's chin came crashing down with a resounding 'slap!' that echoed off into the distance.

What happened next was a puzzle within itself. The body of the wolf simply vanished in a stream of what seemed like...static. Huh, imagine that. Almost as if they were conjured up from the pure essence of sound itself. She tried to make light of the situation but it was futile. Shaking off the punch with a flick of the wrist, Anise nodded over to catch a glimpse of her counterpart.

Surely he was a bit more of the energetic type, and he obviously seemed to know a lot more about what he was being placed first coming in contact with the sound creatures and moreover gaining knowledge of what a pack was. It was not much of a shock to see those that are already dead to tell the truth. In fact, statistics show that 101 people die every minute. Or was it second? Who knows. Well the internet does but that doesn't matter now. It was actually more of a surprise she did not run into anyone sooner.

And let's be honest even if it's just for a minute. Anise Melody Eris, you have no idea what's going on, do you?​