Enter a Shibuya where magic and Noise are a common occurrence...note
The World Ends with Witches
is an ongoing The World Ends with You fic by AyaAya. As the name implies, the story is a witch-themed Alternate Universe Fic revolving primarily around the main characters of the original game, though the Wicked Twisters from NEO: The World Ends with You are undeniably major players in the overarching narrative.
The story opens with Cat Girl Rhyme being rescued from monstrous Noise by Shiki Misaki, a young witch making her way to Shibuya to open up an atelier. The two quickly strike up a quick friendship, and it isn't long before they start crossing paths with an anti-social butler, a short-tempered pirate, a mischievous vampire, as well as countless other memorable characters in their many crazy adventures throughout the city. But both girls harbor dark secrets from their pasts, and said past doesn't seem all that inclined to stay there.
This fic has examples of:
- Adaptational Badass:
- Shiki, Rhyme, and Minamimoto all possess their own latent abilities, something their mainline counterparts never demonstrated.
- Ryoji is a bounty hunter on top of a handy man, whereas in canon he had just enough of a sixth sense that the Reapers regularly used him as an Unwitting Pawn.
- Eri never entered the UG in the main series and thus never had a chance to demonstrate if she had any aptitude for Psychs. Here, she is a witch and can thus perform magic.
- Adaptational Nice Guy:
- Higashizawa still doesn’t pull punches with his criticisms of Shiki nor of Eri, but the intentions behind both his words and actions are considerably less malicious than in the source material.
- While Minamimoto is still a loose cannon that tends to leave the rest of the Wicked Twisters to their own devices, he’s noticeably more directly involved in their growth and development than he was NEO. And while he did help himself to a good chunk it, the fact that he bought Rindo a birthday cake at all is something you’d expect more from his Another Day counterpart than his mainline self.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul:
- In canon, Joshua was understandably suspicious of Coco. Here, their relationship is still sour, but he also doesn’t hesitate to effortlessly join her in teasing Shiki.
- During NEO, Minamimoto primarily took a hands off approach to assisting with the rest of the Twisters’ growth in canon before eventually leaving the group altogether. Here he is their outright mentor and is directly responsible for whipping them into shape.
- Adaptational Wimp: A majority of the characters who were Players and Reapers in the source material, such as Uzuki & Kariya, have yet to demonstrate even a smidgen of supernatural ability.
- Badass in Distress: Beat finds himself in this situation when the Hachiko crew goes to check up on Joshua, only for the vampire to abduct the pirate and force the rest of the group to play a high stakes game of Hide and Seek.
- Big Brother Instinct: It isn't long after Beat officially joins the atelier that he becomes protective Shiki and Rhyme. Unsurprisingly, Beat IS the family Rhyme is looking for.
- Destructive Saviour: Minamimoto regularly takes care of Noise that invade Shibuya, but is absolutely indifferent to any collateral damage he causes in the process.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: Fuya's execution is a lot more formal this time around, as opposed to Shiba's blasé attitude towards killing him in NEO.
- Everyone Can See It: Rindo and Shoka’s respective crushes on each other are regularly commented on by those around them, despite the pair’s frequent protests to the contrary.
- Internal Reveal: It's obvious to those familiar with the source material that Beat and Rhyme are siblings, but the two don't put it together until the fourth arc's conclusion.
- Like Brother and Sister: After joining the atelier, Beat views his relationship with Shiki and Rhyme as such. Unbeknownst to the pirate, he and Rhyme actually ARE brother and sister.
- Mythology Gag:
- Marbles are enchanted to function much like Pins used in Tin Pin Slammer
- Rhyme can't recall her family.
- Sota is a hairdresser much like his Another Day counterpart.
- Ayano is possessed by Noise.
- Fuya is still unfairly executed, only due to forged evidence instead of a rigged game.
- Named by the Adaptation: Neku’s late best friend is named Souma Yasuda.
- Original Character: Mitsuki Konishi's siblings Kyougu and Chosa.
- Our Vampires Are Different: Vampires in this setting feed on Soul rather than blood. While it's implied that most vampires don't really care whether said Souls are human or Noise in nature, Joshua and Haz have been sticking with the latter in recent years, though each for their own reasons.
- Relationship Upgrade: Happens between Neku & Shiki at the conclusion of the Soul Craving arc.
- Shipper on Deck:
- Shiki is egged on by both Coco and Joshua to try to wake Neku from a coma with “True Love’s kiss”. Poor Shiki comes close, but chickens out at the last second after it's revealed to be a trick.
- Eri finds the mutual crushes Shiki and Neku have for one another adorable. Shortly after she and Neku are properly introduced, the red head is disappointed to learn that they aren't already a couple.
- Smile of Approval: Higashizawa generally frowns whenever he speaks with Shiki but doesn’t hesitate to smile after it’s clear Shiki’s broken her curse.
- Spared by the Adaptation:
- Downplayed by Neku’s late best friend, who was still killed here. However, unlike in canon, Neku was able to do what Mr. H did for Rhyme in the original game and turned what was left of Souma’s soul into a Noise. Specifically, the Progfox Haruki.
- Ayano survives getting infected with Noise.
- Thinks Like a Romance Novel: Eri quickly concludes that Joshua sending Neku (and his pet rabbit Shiraha) out of the mansion for a week is an elaborate plot to make Neku and Shiki hook up.
