A/N: I'm attempting a Tsubasa crossover with The World Ends With You by Square Enix. Formally titled 'Apparatus'

I have changed this from being Post Tokyo Arc to Pre Tokyo Arc. Why? Because I decided it was going to get far too complicated and hard to handle if I really did have it after the Tokyo Arc. As well, I wanted to have some cute and funny scenes, as well as wanting that.......fun, care-free kind of feeling for parts that would be absent after the Tokyo Arc.

So, where does this take place now? I'd say, sometime after the Piffle World. Don't worry about spoilers, it probably won't have much about previous worlds, accept for the occasional mention of previous events. Please read, enjoy, and please, please review. I don't care if you hate the plot/story, please comment on my writing ability!

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Prologue:

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Waking up in an unfamiliar place is always a worrying situation.

Off course, when you travel from world to world and unfamiliar places become a common thing, you can scratch the above and say:

Waking up in an unfamiliar place face down on the ground with no one familiar in sight and a loud crowd of people around you that are ignorant to your existence and strange creatures begin to attack you and you suddenly find you have absolutely no way of defending yourself is a very, very worrying situation.

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The brunette blinked his eyes open, pushing himself up off of the cold, hard ground. All around him were people of different ages, all talking excitedly and walking to and fro to their varying destinations. The crossing where he found himself at the center of was louder and busier than any he had ever been in, and he covered his ears in a feeble attempt to shut out some of the racket.

Glancing around, he realized that there was no sign of anyone familiar; he was racked with sudden worry when he realized he couldn't see the princess. Not just her, either. The caped swordsman and blonde magician he had been traveling with for a short time with where no where to be seen either.

He couldn't even locate the strange white creature that took them to all of the different worlds. The teenaged boy frowned, scanning the crowd. Where could his companions be? Where they separated upon entry?

He could easily guess that this wasn't the same world they had just been in due to the fact that he could spot nothing from the previous country. All around him, people of different races and ages talked happily, and he could guess that this world was free of danger, at least as far as he was aware at the moment.

This was not the world he had found himself in only a day ago. Pushing himself up off of the sidewalk, he scanned through the citizens of this world again, looking for something to grasp even a single clue to the fate of his companions. Had they all been split up throughout this world? He prayed that wasn't the case, and really hoped that the princess had not been left unprotected. He could take care of himself before he met up with the others, but he was unsure if she would be fine on her own. After all, as carefree as the inhabitants of this world seemed, there could still be a hidden danger lurking in the shadows.

There was a soft clinking noise, like something had fallen against the sidewalk, and he was amazed he had been able to hear it over the noise of the crowd. Glancing down, his brown eyes caught on a small pin, like the ones that would be pinned to vests or shirtfronts.

It was strange: black, with a white skull that appeared to be smiling at him sinisterly as if it knew something he didn't…..some strange and important secret that he was unaware of but would affect him all the same.

Bending down, his hand clenched around it, as he was going to look at it closer. But the moment the cold metal of the pin touched against his skin, a sudden frenzy of voices bombarded him.

It was like a radio had been switched on to every station at once inside his head. Crying out in surprise and pain at the headache the noise was giving him, he covered his ears.

'I finally beat Square's new game! That final boss-'

'I left my grocery list at home! What was after-'

'Hopefully I'll never get dragged to a movie like that again…'

'I'm hungry...where's that ramen shop?'

'Oh crap! I just dropped my new-'

'That guy has no fashion sense at all.'

The pin slipped from his hand, falling to the ground with a soft clinking noise and the sudden mass of voices in his mind stopped to be replaced with the normal noises of the crowd around him. 'What was that?' he wondered, removing the hands from his ears and glancing down at the pin. The white skull seemed to leer menacingly up at him, and with a slight shudder he looked away.

He jumped in surprise when a beeping sound came from somewhere on his personnel. Glancing down he saw that he was still wearing his familiar black, sleevless top and long, white pants; the fabric was ripped, and torn in various places from different events in each world and around his shoulders was the green cape that his companions were used to seeing him wear. The beeping seemed to come from an inside pocket of the cape.

Raising an eyebrow, he carefully reached inside, praying a repeat of the pin wouldn't occur; instead of a black and white pin, he pulled out a strange looking device with buttons and a screen. Curiously, he flipped it open and words appeared on the inside screen: Reach 104. Your limit is 60 minutes. Failing players will face wipe out.

"Ah!" he cried out when his right hand suddenly stung; looking down at it, he saw red numbers scratched across his palm, the numbers slowly ticking away as if it was some strange timer. "What the-?" Clenching his hand into a fist as the pain subsided, he looked back at the device's screen.

"…Wipe out?" he murmured, staring down at the strange message. To him, it didn't make any sense, and he wasn't even sure how he ended up with the strange green device. He was sure he had seen it before, or at least something like it, but he couldn't quite place what it was.

But that could wait. Right now, he had to find the others. A glance to the left revealed nothing and a glance in the opposite direction also failed to help him. Sighing, his gaze caught on a street leaving the crowded crossing across from him and he started towards it.

Pausing, he glanced back at the pin lying discarded on the street; he wasn't quite sure why but he reached out and picked the pin up, quickly shoving it in his pocket. For some reason, it felt important that he keep it with him.

The crowd ignored him as he pushed through the hoards of people until he arrived at a less crowded clearing. Gazing around, he saw a large statue of a dog at the far end of the street and walked towards it. After only taking a few steps he heard a loud scream, and his head whipped around to see a young woman cringing as a strange froglike creature lunged at her.

Suddenly, the woman disappeared, causing the teenaged bystander to gasp in surprise. No one else in the crowd seemed to notice, for no one reacted to the woman's disappearance. Hearing a noise behind him, he whipped around in a state of panic to see one of the strange creatures jumping at him. Lowering into a fighting stance, he threw his leg out in a roundhouse kick.

His leg hit the frog but failed to affect it at all, for the creature continued to come at him and in fear he turned and ran. He didn't get far before a hand grabbed his arm and he was pulled roughly to the left.

He stumbled, glancing up at the person who had seized him: a teenaged boy who appeared to be around his age. His orange-colored hair stuck out in spikes that resembled porcupine quills and he wore large, purple headphones that matched his wide eyes.

"Make a pact with me!" the boy cried out as he warily watched the frogs fast approaching.

The brunette pulled his arm from the other boy's grasp, and followed his gaze to the frogs. "A….pact?"

"Become my partner." Brown eyes gazed into purple ones curiously. "Or do you want to be erased?"

He wasn't quite sure what the orange-haired boy meant by that, but it certainly didn't sound enjoyable. He had no reason to trust this boy, but then again, he had no reason not to. So, he grabbed the boy's right hand and nodded. "Alright."

A tingling feeling spread through his body and he closed his eyes tight as the other boy pulled away from him. It wasn't unpleasant necessarily, but simply unexpected and a bit uncomfortable. After a moment the tingling passed, and when he opened his eyes he saw that his partner was standing away from him looking around, the frogs that had been attacking them only moments before were no where to be found.

Their eyes met, and the other boy motioned with his hand back towards the crowded crosswalk as he said, "Let's get to 104."

104. Reach 104. That was what the strange message had said. He wasn't at all sure of what was going on, but his partner appeared to know what to do, and so he found himself following the boy through the hoards of people until they reached a large building.

His right hand suddenly felt like it had been dunked in warm water, a short of relaxing, soothing feeling and a look down at it revealed the strange timer had faded away leaving no sign it was ever there.

Glancing over at the other boy, he saw that he was also gazing at his own hand. "Mission cleared," he murmured, almost too quietly for the brown-haired boy to hear him.

"What?" His partner glanced up at him and raised an eyebrow. The brunette struggled to word his confusion in a sufficient question. "The message….the timer….those things!" He narrowed his eyes and took a step towards his partner. "Just what is going on?!"

"You really don't know?" He shook his head in reply, and the orange-haired boy sighed.

"You're in the Reaper's Game."

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