WEEK 5, DAY 1: MISSION

[wonderful_mods]

Mission: Get with the Times.
Time Limit: Short
Noise Plane: Solo
Wall Instructions: Key walls around the Times Square. Keywalls must be cleared by presence of a pact, or by fighting noise.
Wall Rewards: Blown Kiss
Reaped Rewards: Frantic
Mission Rewards: Rare Metal

[It looks like things are back to normal, but that seems to only raise as many questions as it solves. What happened to Tatsumi Port? Why did the phones all go dead like that? And why did nobody see the GM the entire last week...?

But it's no matter. It's the start of another week of the Reaper's Game - and the mission seems the same as ever for Day 1. Now just to figure out where the mission is pointing to.]

Comments

[emotionaldeath]

[Sitting out on a bench is a very familiar, yet surprising sight: a pale teenager, checking his cellphone and ducking his head down so part of his face is hidden by his scarf. Ryoji seems to be back, safe and sound and completely human-looking, despite the fact that he was left for dead back at Tatsumi Port Island.

He's a little more subdued than usual, but that's understandable, after all that he's gone through. He should be happy to see that everyone else is safe though, right? Maybe someone should approach him and let him know it all worked out.]

[cruel_kindness]

[Fluttercruel doesn't really care about this mission. In fact, she completely skips over it just to catch up on her coffee. When he's done with all of that, the mission's already over, so she just goes around exploring the city they're in.

She freezes when she catches sight of a familiar person. Neither of The Flutters move, choosing to just stare at Ryoji wide-eyed.]

[invisiblefloatinghead]

[The Professor does a double-take when he sees Ryoji sitting there. He'll go over right away to check on the poor kid, giving him a smile as he does so.]

It seems as though things didn't go quite as badly as you feared.

[tamedhollow]

R... Ryoji!! You're ok!

[and in the UG. Did he die? Well, it doesn't matter. Ichigo is running over to him and... resisting the urge to just pick him up and squeeze him]

[poppetstrings]

!!!

[Ryoji!

Xion will be rushing over as fast as she can.]

[sunnydwithagun]

(Poor guy went through so much the previous week...it must've been so awkward to just sit here in this big city, so unsure of things and possibly in shock of it all. Django tried his best to help him through it, but...

...no. Now isn't the time to think about failure. Even if they're both in the game as Players, they're still here. There's no reason he can't help him further. The Solar Boy puts on a smile as he approaches the other boy.)

...How're you feeling?

[vexed_snake]

[The thing about Times Square is that it's an area just loaded with reflective surfaces. And since someone has his Advent Deck back this week, reflective surfaces aren't a very safe thing to have around.

There's a wall up, but it looks fairly deserted...or was that a flash of purple in that window behind you? A pink blur passing across that parked taxi's side view mirror? This area probably isn't safe.]

[emotionaldeath]

[Ryoji would normally seek Asakura out just to yell at him, but today he really doesn't feel angry at the Reaper. The wall, though... it's pretty obvious that he needs to get past it to complete the mission. The flashes he sees make him think Asakura must be about, but he doesn't feel fear or concern. He just stands near the wall, wondering what the conditions are to pass.]

[suicidoll]

(Well...after enduring the madness that encompassed the previous week, this one felt much more welcome. Aside from surviving doomsday, she made it through her week as a Player. She made it through without her sight and, to her surprise, benefited from it. Being able to see again...able to see the people, the world, the sky...the sunrise...it all felt so surreal to her.

Her reaper wings fluttered on their own accord as her cloak was wrapped around her, adorned with the pins that kept her alive during her previous week. She held her bow with her free hand as she casually and, almost cautiously, flew over the city streets. As vigilant as this may make her look, she was half doing her job and half enjoying the gift of vision.)

[emotionaldeath]

[Ryoji hears the sound of wings from somewhere above him and tilts his head up, watching Kreutzer as she flies past. He doesn't make an effort to stop her, though. It's not that he's too guilty to strike up a conversation, or worried about bothering her when she looked busy... he just doesn't see the point in saying anything.]

[invisiblefloatinghead]

[Kreutzer might be doing her job halfway, but this Player is devoting his full attention to the task at hand...

...and he's spotted a Reaper flying along up there. The Professor's not quite sure what he wants to do here, so he'll try to avoid notice as much as possible while keeping an eye on her. He has the stealth skills of a college professor in his late middle age, so...yeah, he probably sticks out like a sore thumb somehow.]

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

[Zecora is a zebra again! Yaaaaay!]

[...except she's not happy. Truth be told, she's plodding along like a workhorse after a week of plowing the fields, barely able to lift up her head. She has the mission, she knows what she's supposed to be doing, but the zebra's will to go on has been sapped to the point of collapse.]

[emotionaldeath]

[Ryoji looks up from his fiddling with the phone when he spots Zecora. She seems a little upset, but he doesn't seem too bothered about it. He doesn't really call out her name, but he nods as she goes past, not really seeing the point in speaking.]

[shy_kindness]

[Sometime after the mission, Fluttershy shows up. She sees that the Zebra seems... tired. They go to investigate.]

Zecora, is, um, everything okay...?

[juuichi_yosamu]

[For once, Grovyle isn't manning a key-wall. No, he's been rather jaded as of late, himself. And seeing Zecora like this...

Well, seeing Sasuke in the Realground allows Grovyle to draw his own conclusions.]

So that was your fee this week, huh...?

[juuichi_yosamu]

[The last week hurt quite a few people. You'd think that Grovyle, who was absent for most of it, would be one of the reapers better off, but... no. He had his own issues he'd been taking care of.

And at this point, he's sick of it. Playing by the rules wasn't changing things, and there was no sign it was going to. Something had to give, somewhere.]

[suicidoll]

(At first, Kreutzer would say she was one of people hurt by the previous week, but she knows others had it worse off than she did. Some even worse than that. She's crossing herself off the list since she became stronger because of last week.

But now she's restless. Aside from regaining her vision, her concerns focused on the Game. If they could somehow drag around and even stop a doomsday beast from accomplishing its mission, then they could probably do a lot more.

The thought sent a chill down her spine and made her tug her cloak closer as she flew over the streets and spotted Grovyle.)

I would ask if things are getting worse, but I'm not quite sure how one can best the end of the world.

[tamedhollow]

Grovyle.

[Here's Ichigo, looking a little worse for wear. Last week was emotionally exhausting. And Ichigo is hiding it with his winning, fake smile. Though the fatigue is pretty obvious just under the surface]

[reaper_sport]

[Once people get through the keywalls and into Times Square proper, they might see a familiar face indeed - one who's been casually lobbing shrew noise at any player that comes by, but also has his mind on a much more unusual project.

Rei is set up at a disposable card table, a box of pristine, new cell phones on one side of him and another box - much emptier and larger - on the other side. Draped over the table is a sign, very clearly written in Japanese (without an English translation).]

FREE REPLACEMENT CELL PHONES
EXCLUSIVELY FOR VISITORS
FROM TATSUMI PORT ISLAND

[Something smells fishy.]

[vexed_snake]

[Oh, look, a sign written in his native tongue. It catches Asakura's attention quite well. Thing is, "free" never really means "free," now does it? Not that he'd mind getting rid of his phone. It hasn't been the same since Ryoji got a hold of it...and he takes really terrible care of his things anyway, so it's pretty beat up.]

...so what have you got there?

[tamedhollow]

[Ichigo spots Rei, and his little table... the sign is in Japanese, clearly not meant for the majority of the people here. He frowns]

What the hell are you doing, Rei?

[emotionaldeath]

[Ryoji just... blinks at the sign, and then at the boy giving them out.]

Why do we need new ones? Did something happen to the phones?

[shy_kindness]

[Fluttershy's fluttering by sometime after the mission when she spots the sign and reaper. ...It's definitely not in Equestrian, so she can't read it at all.]

Italics are thoughts to be scanned

[shinbunshinobi]

[ Sasuke has been bouncing from one Reaper Decal place to the other, trying to find someone familiar. Finally he takes a break to sit on a bench with a piece of paper ready to play some question and answers a la Reaper Creeper should any Player find him. ]

It looks like I can get away with napping if I wanted... But I still don't know where Zecora is.

[shy_kindness]

[Sasuke's going to be waiting a very long time for players to show up. A long time even for a couple of Reapers to show up. After their conversation with Zecora, they go and start searching for her partner. It takes a while for her to do so, but once The Flutters spot Sasuke, they flutter on over to him.]

Um, hello.

[needsmorezippers]

[Well that was... interesting. And, naturally, they're probably not going to get any answer as to the result of last week. Awesome.

Neku's manning a wall by Times Square, mostly just trying to get a feel for the area. Come bother him, he needs to get out more.]

[emotionaldeath]

[Ryoji is a Player this week, so it's probably a good thing that he's attempting the missions, even if he doesn't exactly look enthusiastic about it. He approaches Neku's wall and gives him a curious look.]

Hello, Neku-kun. Good to see you again. What do I need to do to get past this?

[Well, he's getting right to the point, isn't he?]