Papa!
All the Earless in the country started going on a rampage
and even my little guy... Even More has disappeared.
What should we...
More?!
Is that you, More? Why...
Roz, we were deceived by the world.
They have no desire to coexist with the Earless.
Papa!
Papa, we have to hurry and get you to a doctor!
Never mind me. You have to run.
This country is no longer...
I-It'll be okay.
Roz...
Because, we made a promise.
In just a little while, Jimi will come back,
and he'll help us.
Then, I'm sure everything will go back to...
No!
You're right, Papa.
We have to build a wall.
These blue skies are the best!
Something smells weird, though.
It's because the ocean's close.
I once heard that the sea breeze has a distinctive smell to it.
It definitely smells like something's rotting.
Hey, what's with you? You seem kind of out of it.
Well, sure, when we've been thudding along all day long...
If only someone would walk a little more gracefully...
What? If you've got a problem, I'm leaving you behind.
Seriously, I wonder what Jimi would say if he saw this attitude of yours.
Hey, what's it like to have a sibling?
Wh-What's this out of the blue?
For example, do you and Miss Swell like and hate the same foods?
Or, like, maybe you have the same quirks?
Let me think... Me and Sis, huh?
Like, are you similar somehow?
It's not really a quirk, but I guess we both have unruly hair.
Also...
Woohoo!
What's that?! What's that?!
Is that blue stuff all water?!
What the heck is going on here?!
Wait... Calm... down...
All right! Full speed ahead!
Punch it!
Let me off!
So, this is the ocean!
I know! Let's fish! That fishing thing you talked about!
We don't have a fishing pole or the time.
We'll end up sleeping outside again.
Uh, I don't want that.
Right?
But, man...
This should be the right place, but...
There's no sign of the island in question.
Not only that, but the path that leads to the island isn't even here.
There's a door.
--Huh? --Look, there.
That's the entrance to the island.
I don't see it...
Huh?! You sure your eyes aren't just bad?
Even assuming that there is a door,
if the island in question isn't there, it makes no sense.
Fine, whatever! Then I'll swim there by myself and...
Wh-Whoa?! Wh-What?
Trying to draw my attention isn't going to...
N-No way... Hey, Echo?
E-Echo? Echo?! Y-You aren't dying or anything, are you?!
Hey, come on!
I-Is it my fault?
Is it because I ran so carelessly?
S-Someone! Someone?!
What?
It's moving, but...
Is this a drawing?
I'll get you help for sure.
Someone...
This is messed up.
It was midday just earlier...
There's no sign of anyone around, but...
There's someone here?
Echo?!
Excuse me! P-Please help us!
My friend collapsed and... We need medicine or a doctor...
Is this little guy your friend?
What? Y-Yes. He was fine just earlier, but then he suddenly collapsed...
It's a classic case of sound sickness.
Players' partners often come down with it.
This looks pretty advanced, but...
You must have put a lot of strain on him in a short period of time.
Yes, probably...
There are medicines that can ease the symptoms, but...
Well, leave him alone, and he'll get better in time.
Leave him alone? B-But he's in so much pain...
Of course, he's in pain.
Because he's about to stop begin human.
What?
This little guy is going to become an Earless.
Sound sickness is the initial symptom of becoming an Earless.
Essentially, it's the human's final stage of rejection.
People who've had close-proximity exposure to the power of Players
experience emotional highs, but at the same time,
they also suffer mental agitation.
Keep it up and the mind becomes detached from the physical body.
As the mind tries to dissociate,
it begins to affect the physical body as well.
It starts with dizziness, headaches, and numbness in the limbs...
This little guy looks to be just one step away from the final stage,
so he'll be at peace soon.
What do you mean... at peace?
Yeah, be there for him when he passes.
There's even a saying,
that the last Earless a Player subdues is their partner,
so I imagine it'll make him happy.
Can't you do something?
--Do what? --You said there's medicine, didn't you?!
Well, it's pretty old,
but I do have medicine that suppresses the transformation.
Th-Then, we could use that...
Why would you need to do that?
Who cares if he becomes an Earless?
If he ceases to be human, does he become your enemy or something?
Wh-What are you saying?
If he doesn't have to become an Earless, then that'd be best, right?!
Oh, I see.
You've got the wrong idea.
This isn't a place where your sort are welcome.
The world hates and shuns the Earless,
and this is the empty country they flock to.
The Wall.
You... What in the world...
I am the protector of this country, Roz.
You Players reject these little guys.
I have no reason to honor your request.
I don't know about out there,
but in here, you're the greatest outside threat.
If you have no intention of seeing him pass, then leave.
This country will take that little guy in.
He'll never be disturbed by the discord outside.
I promise him the greatest peace and tranquility.
He's gone along with my selfish whims and come all this way with me.
He complains and we fight, but there's no way I can leave him behind.
Mm-hm. But you're a Player and I won't do as a Player asks.
In that case, I'll quit being a Player, right here and now.
So...
Please save Echo.
Treadmill...
Huh? Where are...
--Echo! --Whoa! What? What?
Did I do something?
Thank goodness.
No way!
Jimi's not here and on top of that, you quit being a Player?!
She said she wouldn't give you the medicine otherwise.
How stupid are you?!
Like there's any way I'd become an Earless from sound sickness!
But...
What?! Y-You can't?!
I don't know the reason, but you got duped again.
First, the soft futon, and now this.
Why do you believe what people tell you so easily?
What's with her?
What the hell is with her?!
--I'm so pissed off! I'm going to go beat her to a...
--What? --I'm so pissed off! I'm going to go beat her to a--
--Oh, wait, wait, wait. --I'm so pissed off! I'm going to go beat her to a--
I'll go get it back.
Huh?! What do you think you can accomplish all by yourself?!
If the girl who lives up there is that type of person,
I'll be able to deal with her better.
Huh?
You will?
Yeah.
I can be tough, too, when it matters.
Leave it to me.
What's with him? Trying to act all cool and stuff.
Wow, you got better.
How was the River Styx?
Is it prettier than the Milky Way?
First of all, I came to thank you.
Thank you very much for saving my life.
I was careless.
My sound sickness symptoms were light up until then, so...
If I'd kept ignoring it, I may have attacked Mu.
If you're going to thank someone, it shouldn't be me.
That Player... Oops. She quit, didn't she?
Well, you say it to her.
You came all this way, but I'm sorry, I'm not returning this to you.
Breaking promises is the thing I hate second most in this world.
I'm sure you don't need me to tell you what I hate most, right?
I heard about the Fest.
Honestly, I don't believe that what the Players did was right.
But Mu isn't the kind of person you think--
I know.
Even faced with my little guys,
she didn't try to reach for her Equipment.
She's someone who knows when it's the right time to fight.
Besides, this Core Part was reacting.
This isn't something that just anyone can use.
--After all-- --It's Jimi Stonefree's Core Part. Is that it?
We came all this way, following Jimi's trail.
Not for anyone else, but for ourselves.
Won't you please tell me about Jimi?
If that's what it's going to take for you to leave.
Not that there's much to tell.
It's like this now, but this country used to be full of life back then.
Everyone who lived here didn't care if they were human or Earless.
As long as we felt that we wanted to be together,
we would be able to live hand-in-hand.
That's what we truly believed.
We even had a festival for deepening our friendship with the Earless.
At the end of the festival,
everyone in the country would send balloons up into the sky, but...
Sorry! Sorry! I was so lost in admiration, I ended up falling.
What were those pretty things earlier?
Is it over already?
Would you like to send one flying, too?
I thought he was a weird guy.
Everyone probably thought so, too.
Instead of the Earless rising into the sky,
we'd send balloons of all shapes up into the sky,
carrying our prayers that we would be together with the Earless forever.
To be honest, I think the things we used to do were childish.
But Jimi was kind enough to say,
"You people are the most human of all."
We received word about the Fest shortly after that.
Everyone was wary at the beginning, too,
but there were some dodgy countries among the participants
and we couldn't say no.
In the end, they talked us into it by saying
that they wanted our help to protect the Earless outside our country
and we handed over all the research data we had on the Earless.
As we'd feared, their objective was to wipe out the Earless.
Even this Crazy Diamond that Papa made
was used to lure out the Earless.
In the worst possible way.
Because of the light that was dispersed,
even all the Earless in this country went crazy.
They made a mess of the country and flew off far beyond the sky.
In the end, everyone got killed.
Jimi tried to stop everything all on his own.
But he didn't come back.
We knew, you know.
That the Earless were dangerous
and that the people out there lived in fear of them.
By sending balloons up, we could seek forgiveness of the gods,
but at some point, something would have to give.
We knew all that.
But you know...
There's no reason that can justify being bereft of everything.
Yup. Like I said, not much to tell.
Okay, there's nothing much else to discuss,
so you should give up and go back to her--
You people are so persistent! Why do you keep following us?!
A foolish question.
The proof that you are the Dada successor that shines upon your bosom.
That is none other than our sole objecti...
It's not there.
Dear Sister, the thing that should be upon her bosom!
Yes, I see no sign of it anywhere!
That, which must be upon that girl's bosom, is completely nonexistent!
Aren't you being kind of insulting?!
What did you do with the proof of Dada, little girl?!
What? Um... I gave it away.
What?!
Don't be ridiculous!
What?!
An Earless?! Why?!
Papa!
Mu, are you okay?
The Earless saved me... And did she just call it Papa?
Barging into our country and starting a fight out of the blue
really goes beyond the pale.
Leave this place at once.
Or you'll be more than sorry that you didn't.
No! Those three are...
Papa, why...
I was thinking this place had an awful lot of Earless,
but, Dear Sister, now that I think about it, this is The Wall.
Oh! That funny place that used to say the Earless were family.
But that is a bit curious.
Yes, it is curious.
Because every last one of the Earless in this country
was supposed to have been killed on the day of the Fest.
And yet, how could this be?
Come to think of it, that runty girl called that Earless "Papa" earlier...
Oh?
What, oh, what do we have here?
I see.
So, that means that every last one of the Earless here
are the souls of dead countrymen.
And what if they are?
We do this!
Papa, stop!
Now, get her!
Papa, are you crying?
I'm sorry, Papa.
I wasn't able to protect everyone, or the country, or anything.
I'm sorry.
Up we go.
--Why? --Why else? We wanted to help you.
I'm going to be self-serving and say this.
It'd be better if you trusted us.
If you'll count on us...
If you'll put your trust in us...
We'll put all that feeling into clobbering them!
Please, save Papa...
Save this country!
So, the element of Dada appears.
Talk about being a sore loser.
Seriously!
Quietly hand...
What?! H-H-Hold on a second!
What?
Now, then...
Oh? You're not going to emit your favorite ear-splitting noise?
Or, don't tell me, you can't do anything by yourself?
Wait! Let's talk and you'll understand! Let's talk...
Talking is too much trouble!
There's a way that's much easier to understand!
--Oh, Dear Sister. --Welcome!
Let's punch things up even more than usual today.
Is your whatever sickness okay?
No need to worry.
I got a whole ton of these.
Then, I won't hold back.
I'm letting it rip!
Top Boost!
Yeah, I really do prefer the blue sky.
Same.
I thought I told you to save the country.
Uh, well, I mean, you know, the country itself is saved, right?
Or more like, how can you say that after you tricked me?!
Tricked you? What are you talking about?
You can play dumb, but I'm not going to forget!
Sound sickness, was it?
You can't become an Earless because of it!
The cat's long been out of the bag!
I see. That's so like him.
I heard from Echo.
So you're trying to track down Jimi?
After the Fest ended,
Jimi, who was injured, was being transported here by a security escort.
But Jimi never got to this country.
If we assume that he was abducted along the way,
I have an idea of where he went.
Londinium.
The great military power that served a central role in the Fest.
They're the only ones who could have abducted Jimi,
because they made the arrangements for his escort.
If you go there, you should be able to find some clues.
Having said that,
that place is one of the most dangerous countries in the world,
so I'm sure it won't be easy, but...
Even so, you're going, right?
Of course. That's what we've come this far for.
You two really are alike.
Or more like, when the heck did he talk to you about this?
Fruit that you've been gazing at fondly
tend to get pecked at by birds before you know it.
Be real careful no one steals it out from under you.
Th-That's like, so stupid!
Man, I'm starting to get ticked off!
Echo!
We'll be leaving soon. Bye, Roz.
Yeah, take care.
Echo! There you go again, doing things that aren't called for!
Hm?
You're asking if we don't need to patch up that spot?
Hmm, maybe not for a while.
"Goodbye Blue Sky"
It's been a long time.
An old alleyway under a leaden sky.
A stifling city of the dead.
Upon a street paved over with gravestones,
flowers in the dustbin wilt.
The jailers laugh at the fire raining down.
A girl who no longer belongs anywhere
and boys who think they're anarchists.
Let's get our hands on a new rose
and, come on, we'll go paint the town red!
"Day of Rage" "Day of Rage."
"Day of Rage" Raise your fists, together with the Players!