//------------------------------//
// Prologue: Exposition 
// Story: The World Ends With Pony 
// by Whiteeyes 
//------------------------------//


Sanae Hanekoma was busy tending to the WildKat Cafe', the little bistro that helped him keep an eye on Shibuya. Looking like a beatnik in his thirties, few would imagine he was one of the most powerful people on the planet...well maybe people was the wrong word. Regardless, he was well aware of them before they appeared. The lights went out and three shadowy figures came out of the backroom...the room that nobody had been in before. Sanae smiled at their flair for theatrics, saying "Welcome, what do I owe the prescience of three Angels in my little store to? Can I interest you in a free cup of coffee, only two twenty a cup." He smiled even broader. He'd never get tired of that joke.

"You think this is funny? This is no laughing matter. We need the aid of your mortal agents. Now." one of the shadowy figures demanded.

This is interesting. What would they want with those four... "So, what do you need the mortal friends of a 'Fallen Angel' for?" he asked, smiling in a friendly manner.

A hush falls over the room, until one of the shadowy figures clears his throat and reveals what had everyone so nervous. "There are Noise appearing in a Real Ground."

Sanae's face drops all pretense of humor. "Excuse me?"
*********
Neku walked into the cafe', uncertain of what was going on. Mr. Hanekoma rarely called any of them in. As winners of the game, they were supposed to be free to do what they want, but the Fallen Angel apparently had other plans. Being mortal, Neku and the others could get away with stuff that the rules prevented the Angels or Reapers from doing; black ops if you will. Naturally, the fact that Neku was almost as powerful as the Composer meant that nobody could force them into a fight they didn't agree to. Sighing, he took a look around. There was Shiki, checking out the stitches on Mr. Mew, her stuffed animal and weapon. At least when he was being animated by Groove Pawn. As Neku turned away, he almost thought he saw the cat's eyes follow him for just a second. The fact that the thing had a 'mind of it's own' in Shiki's own words was a bit creepy.

Looking around a bit more, Neku noticed that some people were missing. Turning to Mr. Hanekoma, he asked "So, CAT, where's Beat and Rhyme?"

Mr. Hanekoma didn't smile, even though he liked his tag name as one of Shibuya's top artists. "They should be here soon." As if on cue, the brother and sister duo come rushing in, Beat carrying his signature skateboard and Rhyme clutching her pendant. Speak of the Reapers..."Good, you're all here, and I see that you three have your focuses. Neku, you got your case?" He almost smiled as Neku grudgingly took out a box filled with pins. Almost. "Good. Listen up people, I've just learned of a very serious problem, one that if we don't act on could result in untold destruction."
*********
Sanae's face drops all pretense of humor. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me, RG Noise." the figure repeated.

"That's impossible, Joshua would never allow that, and I would have noticed." Sanae noted.

The second figure spoke up then. "It's occurring in an Alternate Ground."

Sanae frowned. "Then, why does that matter? Shouldn't their Higher Plane representatives sort out their own problems?"

"The problem is," the third explained "that their own Producer can't intervene due to the secrecy of the position, their Composer is inept, and they have no mortal agents that can use their powers in the RG."

"Still, as bad as that is, why use mine? You've got to have better sources of mortal agents than a 'Fallen Angel', so talk."

"The reason is simple; the Noise conform to this Ground, and what's more this isn't some freak coincidence. Rather it appears to be a deliberate act from a Reaper that escaped from your Under Ground. Joshua filed a report two days ago I believe?"

"...I see. So Shade left the UG for an AG to release Noise on the RG there? I assume this means he's doing an indiscriminate Erasure."

"That's the thing, he's not. So far only two Noise have been spotted, and neither have Erased anything yet. In addition, both were incredibly weak. We think Shade is having trouble making some Noise. However he himself is still Harrier class, and was a candidate for Game Master. He's tough, and we have extremely few agents that are that powerful."

Sanae nodded. " That's true, our Ground does produce higher end Reapers and Players. Most GMs are C Class, where as on this Ground C is the minimum to be a Support Reaper, let alone a Harrier. So you need my friends to go to the AG because Shade is B Class, and therefore is stronger than anything there except the Producer and the Composer. Is that about right?"

"Indeed, you must send them at once!"

Sanae shook his head. "Sorry, no can do. It's their world, they chose what to do with it."
*********
"And that about sums it up." Mr. Hanekoma finished.

"...so you want us to go to an AG to fight some Noise? I don't know, sounds like a lot of hassle."

Shiki was a bit outraged. "Neku! Innocent people are in serious danger here! Noise are nothing to laugh at. Even weaker ones are invincible if you don't have any psych."

Neku sighed. "Yeah I get that, but doesn't this Ground have any Reapers or the like that can just deal with it?"

"No, they don't." Mr. Hanekoma explained. "They don't have any Reapers, or Players. This Ground has no Games."

Beat nodded in understanding. "I see, so therefor there's nothing to prevent this Shade guy from gaining the ability to make some Noise and go on an Erasing spree. That's just cruel."

"It's worse than that actually." Rhyme noted. "He's doing it to gain power. Reapers feed off of those they or their noise erase. I think he's looking for a major power boost, maybe even enough to unseat Joshua."

This caused an awkward silence to fill the room as everyone digests this info. Finally, Neku spoke up. "They said only two weak noises right? So why did they want all four of us?"

Sanae smiled. "A Dixiefrog and a Garagewolf, strictly E class. The problem is he shouldn't be able to summon Noise at all. As you know, Reapers normally have no powers in the RG, let alone an AG's RG. There's no telling what's up with his powers. That's reason number one they want all four of you. Reason number two is that they only have a vague idea of where Shade is hiding, so splitting up to find him faster is a good idea, as we have no idea how his powers could grow. So, you guys interested? Beat, Rhyme, Shiki, Phones?"

Beat smiles. "You have to ask? You know I love sticking it to the Reapers."

Rhyme nods as well. "I'm with my brother all the way. It's the least I can do."

Shiki nods her own consent before looking over at Neku in concern, though she breaks out into a smile once he gives a shrug of 'fine whatever', which for him is a major comment.

"Alright then, I'm going to be sending you over to the AG then. Oh, and as a heads up, your appearance will change a bit so that you don't stick out while trying to blend in with the locals. Language translation is included free of charge as well."

Neku nodded, it sounded reasonable. Anything that wouldn't make them stick out couldn't be all that bad.
*********
The group trotted up to 'Ponyville' a name Neku was half convinced was made up just to spite them. Trotted. They were ponies. Ponies! When I get back, Neku thought, I'm making it a point to see if I can Erase an Angel.