Shibuya Snapshots

Color

Woulda posted this earlier but headache.

But his timer ticks down to zero, and Megumi is erased in a flurry of black and white, all the color around him in the colorless room dissolving away.

-xXx-

One of Megumi's favorite things about the city are the swirling colors. The lights of the traffic light, the various different colors of people's clothing-- never the exact same, unless the same item of clothing, or just a pure black or white. The different shades of blue the sky turn at different times of day, the bright stars that shine down on all of the lights of different buildings in the city.

For having the headquarters for the Reapers be in the middle of the sewers, it has a surprising amount of color to it. The bright blue floors that double as an aquarium, the creme-colored couches, a bar with polished finishing, the green foosball table with the blue and red players in the middle, the dartboard with the different colored segments in order to mark different points, and the jukebox in the corner with the bright shining neon colors attached.

The Composer was colorful, too. Well, His personality at the very least. His appearance, human form or not, was either completely white or dull colors. But he respected Him, and in return, he was respected back. The Composer was snarky yet polite, and loved to tease. Though, as much as he respected the man (man? boy? He wasn't certain of the Composer's true age), even Megumi had to admit that the Composer's misanthrope views did tend to put a bit of a damper on his opinion for asking Him for advice.

But Megumi can't say that he doesn't see where the Composer is coming from. The people of Shibuya cause the blue and red colors of anger and sadness, stemming from the green of jealousy and selfishness, blotting out all traces of happy yellows.

But erasing the city and all of its wonderful color entirely?

He can't allow that to happen. So he accepts the Composer's Game with the existence of himself and Shibuya on the line. If he has to sacrifice himself to save the city, then so be it.

He takes action once the Composer departs to uphold the restrictions He had set for Himself, contacting the Producer and requesting a pin to his design.

Once he gets them en masse, he sends the Players out to help distribute them, which they do swimmingly, even with only one pair left when he has Higashizawa send out the mission. And by the third week, when the burning red timer ticks down to three days, the pins have enough influence for him to take control.

Everyone in the city becomes shrouded in red. Their eyes, their thoughts, their drives all come together as one, and, for once, the city is unified and in complete harmony with one another.

They don't do anything, because not harming another is as easy as not taking a simple action, if only they'd just understand that. The Reapers get shrouded too, with the exception of Konishi, who seems only somewhat troubled by the actions of the city. He knows that Konishi is far too sharp not to notice that the cause is him, given her alarm over his demand for an Emergency Call, but she doesn't make any further complaint, so Megumi doesn't concern himself over any plans of hers.

Somehow, Megumi figures that Minamimoto must have returned despite being erased at the end of the previous week, based on the fact that Taboo Noise have resurfaced around the city and he saw one of his trademark "works of art" with his own eyes.

There are only two Players left. Though that isn't saying much considering that the only two to start off the week were the Composer's pick and the Reaper he had ordered to take Neku out in the first place.

Curiously, when they make it to the Reaper headquarters on the final day and Megumi has less than 24 hours until he fails, there are three Players facing him, not two. He then realizes that the third was Neku's entrance fee. So they must have defeated Konishi, then, and reclaimed their fees.

It matters not. These three are trying to stop him, not knowing that he's trying to save the city. But there's no time to explain and he doubts that any of them would believe him.

So he has only one option. Kill these three and save the city, or die trying.

The girl that had joined them has a Red Skull pin in her pocket from when they were tasked with distributing them, and her lack of a Player Pin left her vulnerable to its effects, unlike the other two who still had their own.

So he activates her pin and forces her to fight alongside him. Except the two still manage to defeat him, so he pretends to be erased and retreats to the Room of Reckoning.

Neku arrives alone, demanding for the Composer who he apparently thinks is someone named "Mr. H". Megumi has no idea who that is. He takes pity on the boy who really just wants the Game to be over and go home. Megumi does not blame him. But the Composer picked him, so Neku does not have a say in when it ends.

Even Megumi knew right from the very start, that this Game was only going to end when the Composer let it. Better put the poor boy out of his misery before the Composer selects him as His target next.

But then the two from earlier barge into the room, scolding Neku for going on ahead without them, and challenge him. Megumi glances at his hand. He has less than an hour left. This has to be quick.

He lets the Noise take over, and the overflowing red of his skin as the Anguis Cantus portrays his anger. He's not angry at these three.

For once, he's angry with the Composer. How dare He want to erase the city that He runs and the Megumi loves. How dare He not understand humanity and why they display the emotions that they do. How dare He thrust innocents into His Game. How dare He put these children into such an experience. (Granted, he more than likely only forced Neku to be put in, but still. They should have had a normal experience. Misaki should've been revived at the end of the first week, but the lack of the Composer's presence had left that option temporarily unavailable and he had been forced to use the entry loophole in order to not explain things they aren't supposed to know. Megumi shouldn't have had to put pressure on Higashizawa to make sure every Player was erased to find His pick which only resulted in tragedy between the Bito siblings.)

The three team up and defeat him, his timer ticks down to 40 minutes, and as if things couldn't get any worse, the Composer appears before all of them. Neku somehow knows the Composer, and if the name "Joshua" tells him anything, it's that the Composer either knew him before Neku perished or he met him in the Game.

Megumi realizes with a start that the Composer cheated. He had said that he wouldn't have gotten involved directly, but Neku is calling him "Joshua" the same person he had called out for at the end of the second week. He had called out for Joshua, his partner. His partner, who is the Composer. The Composer, who had said promised that He would make their Game fair and not directly involve himself with the actions of the Game, but did anyway.

The Composer had rigged the Game from the start, hadn't He?

But it's not too late if he can still erase them. So he fuses his power with the Composer, who merely smirks and doesn't struggle, and traps Misaki and Daisukenojo so they cannot join the fight, and Neku is left to fight alone.

And Megumi understands exactly why Neku was chosen. The boy is alone against a fused Conductor and Composer, and he's still standing strong, even being able to sync up with his partners as golds, reds, purples, and the unmistakable blue that comes with syncing swirls around them.

Megumi is defeated one final time, and one peek at his hand tells him that he has 2 minutes until everything is over. Until he dies and the city follows.

The Composer just tells him that He wins, and doesn't bother gloating. In his final moments, He compliments and comforts him, which Megumi will always be grateful for. Even now, the Composer was showing his benevolence despite his opinions towards humanity.

Maybe it's because they work together. Or maybe, possibly, the Composer has changed his mind.

But his timer ticks down to zero, and Megumi is erased in a flurry of black and white, all the color around him in the colorless room dissolving away.

-xXx-

Teaser: this can be considered a prequel for prompt 31, if you so wish. I'm just hinting that prompt 31 (Alternate Universe) stars Megumi again. I like his character :)