Purification

Fandom: The World Ends With You (TWEWY)

Pairing: Neku/Joshua

Setting: Post-game

Summary: 25 years ago, Joshua was told his city was corrupt by a powerful daiyoukai. Now the daiyoukai has returned to claim what he swore he would take from Joshua.

Stage 1 - The Fear

It was to the loud crack of thunder that Joshua awoke that night, shooting upright in an instant and struggling for breath. Another thunderous crack drew his attention to the window and to the water droplets that splattered against it and then trailed ever so slowly downward.

Panting, still, Joshua ran a hand through his hair, trying to calm himself by murmuring: "Just a dream… it was just a dream…"

But the words spoken in his 'dream' still echoed through his head even now…

Your city is corrupt, Composer!

When he could control his breathing again, he sighed in slight relief. 'It's fine… it's fine… He's dead now, anyway… He has no more power over me…'

As he lay back down, turning away from the window, he allowed another small sigh of relief before he shut his eyes.

"Ichi, ni, san, yon, go, roku, nana, hachi, kyuu… Heheh… Yes… they're all here…" murmured a soft, husky voice. "You had better prepare yourself, Composer… I'm coming for you…"

When Joshua awoke that morning, he had not slept as well as he had hoped. He had snapped upright at least three more times before he had decided to just screw trying to sleep (since it was already 6 o' clock by the last time he awoke). Now he sat at WildKat's counter, sipping some coffee to try and wake up properly.

"Rough night, boss?" Hanekoma asked with a small chuckle.

"Hmm… Something like that, you could say…" Joshua murmured, taking a long swig from his cup. "It's been exactly 25 years now…"

"Aaaah… Already, huh? Where does the time go sometimes, eh?"

Joshua chose not to respond.

25 years ago, Joshua had run into a Kyuubi no Kitsune-a Nintailed Fox-who had come to Shibuya with every intention of destroying it. Of course, Joshua, being the Composer, had not accepted that and had rushed to intercept the beast. How Joshua had not been defeated by the Kyuubi, he wasn't too sure, since it wasn't until their battle was well underway that Joshua remembered that the tails of foxes only split into multiples after they aged a hundred years.

Which would've made that fox at least over 800 years older than he had been at the time.

With a little help from Hanekoma, he had managed to defeat the Kyuubi, but all it had done upon being defeated was laugh. It laughed and laughed and then he had set himself on fire. As he burned up, he swore to Joshua that the Composer would come to see how corrupt Shibuya had become, and how the boy would seek out its aid to destroy the city himself once that time came. But that had not shocked Joshua as much as the last thing he had said…

Remember this, Composer! Five years after you realize your city is corrupt, I'll come for you and I swear I'll devour you!

Today marked 25 years since the fox had been burnt to a crisp, yes, but it also marked 5 years since Joshua had told Megumi he had been going to erase Shibuya… it was 5 years since Joshua realized that Shibuya had, indeed, been corrupted like the Kyuubi had claimed.

And this, for some reason, made a shiver run along Joshua's spinal cord and back down all the way to his toes.

"Chill, boss. He's dead. We saw him die right in front of us," Hanekoma said with a small wave of his hand. "He was probably just bitter over his loss and was trying to get you to start panicking."

"…Yeah. I guess you're right." Getting up after downing the rest of his coffee, Joshua dropped a few coins on the counter and headed for the door. "Well, I better get ready for the next Game tomorrow."

"You're gonna walk?"

"A little exercise never hurt anyone. Ja ne, Sanae."

"Later, Boss," Hanekoma said with a small salute.

Perhaps, if Hanekoma Sanae had known what was about to happen, he would've followed after Josh, but seeing as he didn't know, he saw no reason to worry and didn't notice the ominous shadow that trailed after the Composer.

As Joshua passed the Miyashita park, he paused, feeling another shudder rip along his spine. He was suddenly reminded of something during his week in the Reapers' Game with Neku after getting the tracker from Sanae.

"…hold on."

"Hm? Is something the matter, Neku?"

"…What's with that blue Noise?"

"Blue Noise?"

Joshua knew from experience that Noise came in varying shapes and sizes, and he had been sure that there would never be a Noise that would give him pause.

But this one had.

"…Was that meant to scare me?" Joshua murmured softly to himself. "Well, that was quite the weak attempt if I do say so myself. Next time, try a little harder."

He allowed a small, mirthless chuckle as he started walking again.

I'll keep that in mind… Hehehehe.

Joshua immediately stopped walking, feeling as though a block of ice had just been dumped in his stomach. The chill slowly spread out to the rest of his body and he felt a lump rising to his throat and making it difficult for him to breathe. After he managed to swallow it back down, he cast his gaze to the ground, not missing how his very shadow was shaking… and even more when black, writhing 'snakes' appeared around his shadow.

What's the matter, Composer? Aren't you going to turn around and face me?

'Hell no!' Joshua's mind nearly screamed in horror as the situation began to fully dawn on him. Forcing the panic from his mind, Joshua bit his lip in an attempt to calm his racing heart. 'J-just ignore it… You're just imagining things… Keep walking…'

Tearing his eyes away from the ground, Joshua focused back on the path and started walking again.

I know you can hear me, Composer!

'Don't respond… Keep walking… Just ignore it…'

If you think I'll go away if you don't respond, you're horribly mistaken!

'…Screw it!' Joshua's mind cried out as he spotted the 'snakes' rushing for him and took off on a run, before he switched frequencies and used his wings to fly away as fast as he could.

YOU CAN RUN, COMPOSER! BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM ME!

Joshua ignored the voice in favor of flying back to the Shibuya River. He had to get to the Room of Reckoning… it was the only place where he was sure he'd be safe.

"Hahaha… Run run run, lil Composer… You can't escape me; I always get what I want," said the same, husky voice from before. "I'll get you… one way or another!"

Joshua was so glad that there was no one at Dead God's Pad at that specific time to see him running in all flustered and out of breath. When he arrived, he immediately ran through the doors that lead the way to the Room of Reckoning, slamming the doors shut and into the lock as he went, though he doubted he could somehow stop his pursuer from chasing him if it was persistent enough, before he almost stumbled over his own feet as he ran down the hall.

Finally, he staggered into the room, and he almost collapsed to his knees as he panted for breath. 'I should be okay here… There's no way he…'

"Welcome 'home', Composer," crooned a voice that seemed to reverberate through the room, and Joshua felt his blood freeze.

Slowly, Joshua raised his head to meet the eyes of the creature that he knew was there…

Its body was long and sleek, but each of its limbs held enough power to crush a grown man's bones without any effort, it had to be at least a head taller than Sanae, its elongated ears were raised and aimed at him, while nine long, powerful tails swayed behind it, its dark bluish-black eyes watching Joshua with a cold, icy smirk.

"K-Kyuubi…" Joshua choked out, taking a step back as he could only stare at the creature that had splayed itself out over his throne.

"Did you really expect to shake me off so easily?" the large fox queried as it uncoiled from the throne and slowly stepped down the set of stairs before it. "I told you; you can run, but you can't escape from me."

"H-how did you even-I-I saw you die!" Joshua choked out.

"Oh, that? That was just something I learned from an old friend at one point… 'Phoenix Fire', was what she called it," said the fox with a cheeky grin on its face.

Joshua wasn't aware he could feel any colder than he had when he had first heard the Kyuubi's voice, but what he felt at that point definitely felt like it was that much colder. If this 'Phoenix Fire' move did what he think it did, then the Kyuubi had fooled him and Sanae into thinking they had won, while in truth, the beast had been merely gathering its strength. It had given them a false sense of security only to jump up from behind and to strike without them noticing.

He didn't dare to speak as the nine-tailed fox stopped just at the foot of the steps. The fox's orange-red fur was adorned by pale silver and black symbols that Joshua didn't recognize, and his claws were large and intimidating. The Kyuubi seriously looked like he was about to jump at him and cut him to ribbons any second.

The fox chuckled softly then, as he shifted his stance just slightly. "So… Composer… You know why I'm here, don't you?"

Somehow, Joshua really wasn't sure how, he managed to regain his cool as he considered how to answer the question. But finally, he answered simply with: "Hmm… I can't say I do. Care to enlighten me?"

"Do NOT play me for a fool, Composer!" the fox roared out, and Josh had to commend himself for not jumping in surprise. "I know what you did! I know about the Game you played with your Conductor!"

The fact that Joshua managed to keep a straight face should've definitely been worth several dozen achievement points, since he surely didn't feel as sure of himself as he was trying to make the other believe. He wanted to swallow the lump in his throat to talk normally, but the fox would notice and would probably see right through him with it. Then again, what wouldn't it see through?

"Oh? So I'm not permitted to play a Game of my own choosing every now and again?" Joshua asked simply, and he was glad he could talk normally now. "Now that's harsh."

"Oh? And killing a child to aid you in destroying Shibuya without ever asking him anything is not harsh?"

Now that time Joshua failed to hold in his look of surprise. He didn't know why he was that surprised, though, since the Kyuubi had obviously done its homework on the Game he had played with Megumi five years ago.

"You know why I'm here, Composer…" the Kyuubi said slowly, its mouth moving into a grin. "You know exactly why I came here…"

Of course he knew; Joshua just didn't want to admit that he did. The Kyuubi had sworn that it'd devour Joshua before long, and the thought alone scared him. After all, when a Composer was killed by anything other than a Player, if no new Composer arose within three days, their city would simply disappear. After all the trouble he had gone through five years ago with that Game, he could not allow a mere youkai to take his city away. He ignored the voice in the back of his mind saying that this was no 'mere' youkai, and spoke defiantly.

"So you still claim that Shibuya is corrupt? And you want to take it out on me now? Isn't that just… a little childish?"

"Shibuya is not corrupt."

The fox's words took him by surprise. He had expected a lot of things from the daiyoukai, but this wasn't one of them.

"Not anymore. I'm impressed that you actually managed to save this sorry excuse of a city… though the path you took to reach that goal…" The Kyuubi didn't bother to finish what it was saying as its face split into a truly demonic grin that almost had Joshua visibly shaking in his shoes.

The words that came from the fox's mouth then could only spell out disaster for Joshua and possibly all of Shibuya.

"Shall we play a game?"

A/N: This is a story I occasionally started on as I was traveling back and forth from work. Right now, it's still rather light, but this tale is going to get a very dark tint to it soon enough. This is rated M for a reason.

Originally I was planning to make this into a single chapter story, but it turned out to be much longer than I expected, so I'm chopping it up into parts. I have several other stages ready, though I still have to reread them a few times, so the next stages might be up soon enough.