Gantz: Into the Storm

[matsu1nino]

Title: Into the Storm
Pairing: Matsumiya and others in later chapters
Genre: AU, Dark, Thriller
Disclaimer: Arashi is not mine.
Summary: The storm had brought their end and their beginning.
Author's Note: There is something undeniably inticing about beginning a story by killing off all the main characters.





Chapter 1

Sho slowly took in his surroundings. It was strange. They had been in the car; he’d watched as Nino and Jun were crushed by the impact of the truck, had seen Aiba bleeding in the backseat. His skin still tingled with the sharp sensation of glass penetrating his flesh, and remembered the look on Ohno’s face right before they hit the tree. He blinked and the blood and pain were gone, as was the car, replaced by the inside of an apartment he’d never seen before. He was on the floor with his four closest friends whom he had watched perish all sitting around him looking as confused as he was. It was like some bizarre dream and Sho couldn’t help but wonder if they had all experienced the same.
“Five at once, that’s a first” an unfamiliar voice snapped Sho out of his thoughts. The young men turned in almost perfect synchronization to face who had spoken.
Only now did they notice there were several other people of varying ages gathered in the room with them. Most were leaning against the walls, avoiding their gaze and generally acting as though the five newcomers were dangerous animals. But there were two people who dared to approach them. Both looked around the same age as the men on the floor, though they were clad head-to-toe in skin-tight leather suits unlike anything Sho had ever seen.
“What’s going on?” Aiba asked softly, crawling forward to clutch Sho’s arm tightly. Sho could see fear in his eyes mingling with the confusion that was already there. He patted the younger man’s shoulder reassuringly despite not having any more confidence towards their strange situation. They all slowly stood up to face the two that had approached.
The guy stood with his arms crossed as he stared appraisingly at them. With an unreadable expression, he shrugged in the direction of the large black sphere that was positioned at the back of the room behind them. Ohno, who was the closest to it, doubtfully reached his hand towards the dark surface. As if in reaction to his touch, the room was filled with the static rumble of peculiar music. The ominous presence of the sphere contrasted severely with the cheerful tune that was being emitted. Ohno drew his hand back with a puzzled expression as the other four came to his side.
‘All of your old lives are gone. I will decide how to use your new lives. That’s the way the cookie crumbles’ were the words that appeared on the surface of the sphere when the song ended.
“What the hell?” Jun muttered, his eyes narrowing as he voiced what they were all thinking. Before any of them could question it further, more text appeared on the sphere.
‘You will all please go now to finish off this guy. Kappa Alien. He’s mischievous and loves water.’ The sketchy image that formed beside the order was that of a reptilian humanoid with almost yellow skin. There was little time to dwell on it as the sphere opened swiftly to reveal an array of weaponry hidden inside.
“Welcome to the world of Gantz” said the guy dressed in the black suit while picking several weapons for himself. “Hurry up and get changed, and don’t get in our way.”
His words were threatening as he kept his piercing yet indecipherable gaze fixed firmly on the five of them. When none of them made any attempt to move, he let out a frustrated hiss. The girl who had been by his side quickly grabbed his bicep to stop him in his tracks.
“Take it easy, Nishida” she murmured, her eyes going to the group. “Give them a chance to adjust.”
Nishida clicked his tongue but didn’t argue. Instead he gave a slight nod in agreement. With a relieved smile, she took her own choice of weapons, her eyes going to Sho as the five of them checked the peculiar sphere along with its contents.
“Guys,” Nino drew their attention to him as he removed a case from the rear rack. “Our names are on them.” He handed our each case to their namesake. Upon opening them, they found the same leather suits inside as the ones the Nishida and the girl were wearing.
Sho jumped when he felt a hand connect with his shoulder, almost dropping the suit he had been inspecting. His mind was a mess. He couldn’t make sense of anything that was happening and the longer things played out, the more confused he became. He turned to see the girl in black smiling down at him. She was slightly taller than him with russet dyed hair that stopped in layers a little before her shoulders, and Sho had to admit he would have found her rather pretty if his head wasn’t complete chaos.
“Sakurai?” she said with a curious tone as she eyed the name on his opened case. Sho gave a short albeit somewhat nervous nod. His friends acted as a constant reminder to the fact that he more than often failed when it came to women and Sho had learnt from past experience it was better not to deny the obvious. The last thing he needed in this already troublesome situation was him making a fool out of himself in front of a girl.
“Sakurai Sho” he answered, earning a smile from her.
“Hana Ruriko” she introduced herself with a slight bow. “Where are you and your brothers from?” The brazen question was a little unnerving but Sho figured as she was most likely to have some sort of explanation for them, he would happily respond to any personal queries she asked if it would get them the answers they needed to know.
“Childhood friends” he corrected her. “We were travelling from Chiba to the Bousui onsen when our car…” his sentence trailed off as flashes of what happened played out in his mind. He shook them away and turned to Ruriko, noting the way she chewed her lip. “What is this place?”
Ruriko forced a smile. “Listen, I know this must be really confusing for all of you and I promise I will explain everything as soon as I can, but for now I need you to put on the suit.”
“But—”
“We don’t have a lot of time” she cut him off before he could properly protest. “Trust me, you’re better off wearing it. Just talk to your friends. Please.”
There was something in the back of Sho’s mind that screamed at him not to trust this person he’d only just met, but looking into her eyes he found nothing but sincerity. Without a word to her, he carried the suit over to where his friends were gathered.
“I think we should put these on” he announced. His proposal was met with four identical disbelieving looks that were making it very difficult to ignore.
“Why?” It was a fair question, one that Sho really didn’t know how he was going to convincingly explain.
“They’re wearing them” he pointed out, cocking his head in the direction of the others occupying the room. “Chances are they know more about what’s going on than we do.”
Jun raised his eyebrow questioningly. “You’re suggesting we blindly trust them?”
“We don’t know anything about them” Nino agreed, despite the fact that Aiba was already starting to strip down.
“Not trust them entirely” Sho tried to argue.
Ohno looked thoughtful. “We follow their lead to find out what this is about” he mused. Sho nodded, thankful for the older man’s assistance in persuading them. His word seemed final as the two youngest shrugged and gave up the argument, pulling off their clothing to replace with the leather outfits they had been provided with. Sho had expected the suits to rub or chafe, so was pleasantly surprised to learn they were actually quite comfortable to wear, if not concerningly close-fitting.
They had barely finished getting dressed into their new garments when they witnessed a sight that made the blood freeze in their veins. Ruriko’s body was split in two from her waist, her innards concealed by an eerie rippling blue glow that seemed almost alive. Both halves of her body were slowly disappearing into nothingness, and she wasn’t the only one. Everyone else in the room was vanishing in similar ways, their bodies cutting from random points. The five of them remained huddled close together as they watched the room empty of people. Aiba gave a shout, pointing a trembling hand out at Nino whose legs had started to disappear. Jun lurched forward to the aid of his panicking friend, horrified to discover his arm had vanished as well. The five men tripped over one another in their hysteria, unable to get their heads around what was happening to them.
The apartment they were standing in was replaced by a riverbank as their surroundings changed for the second time that day. Looking around, they spotted everyone that had been in the room with them. Most were looking as nervous as they were, with the exception of Nishida and Ruriko, who appeared to hold all the confidence of the entire group.
“Isn't this the Kamo River?” whispered a boy from within the line-up along the riverbank. Some of the others were holding weapons provided by the sphere, small guns that looked nothing in comparison to the impressive arsenal both Nishida and Ruriko were carrying. No one moved.
After some hesitation, Sho dared to step away from his friends to scurry over to Ruriko’s side. Her unblinking gaze was fixed on the water even when he stood beside her.
“Um,” Sho began, keeping his voice low. “I don’t suppose you could explain what’s going on now?” Much to Sho’s annoyance silence was the only answer he received. “We put on the suits like you said so tell us what is happening.”
Ruriko raised a hand to silence him, her other clenching around the katana she held. Taking a moment longer to scan the water, she looked to Nishida. He nodded as if in agreement with some unspoken command and the two of them trudged into the water. Some of the others decided to follow them while the five boys watched from where they remained on shore. The movement created ripples in the water all around them. Waist deep, they stopped but the rippling continued. It grew, swelling and surging in a bubbling mass of waves that aggravated the clarity of the water.
One of the men who had been standing on the outskirts of the group was sudden pulled under with a gasp muffled by the water that quickly engulfed his head. The rest saw him vanish beneath the surface, quickly shuffling closer together in the hopes to escape the same fate as their fallen comrade.
A head reappeared facedown from the murky waves. Nishida gave one of his fellow fighters a forceful nudge to go investigate. The young guy did as he ordered with tentative strides, tapping the head and watching in disgust as it rotated around to reveal the gaping holes of missing flesh decorating the decapitated head. With a startled squeal, he pushed himself away from the horrifying remains in an attempt to run back to the group. The stilled surface between him and the head began to bubble once more and from the depths arose the beastly offender. Its webbed hands latched onto the young man’s shoulders, flashing the group a saw-toothed grin before dragging him under.
“Stay together” Ruriko yelled as she and Nishida moved to the outer edge of the group. “Don’t isolate yourselves. It uses its prey to draw others out.”
Her warning was interrupted when the young man the Kappa had just pulled under practically flew out of the water clutching his bleeding arm and leaving a trail of crimson to dirty the water further. Nishida shoved him as he scrambled past. “Out of our way!”
The rounded crown of the Kappa’s head momentarily peaked out from the water as it watched the humans greedily. It dove back under the surface to disappear, swimming circles around the group without them even knowing until it started to pick off more of them. One by one, the fighters vanished beneath the waves. Nishida gave a shout when he felt sharp fangs sink into the flesh below his knee. He pointed his gun at the water and readied it to fire, only to have Ruriko throw her katana down first. A deafening yowl sounded as the blade made contact with the creature. It swam off in haste, not bothering to hide its movements. It resurfaced not a minute later but kept itself at a distance from the few fighters that remained. Instead of attacking them it eyed the five unarmed humans standing along the shore. Licking its lips, it thrust its streamline body towards them.
From the shore, the boys had been watching the attack in absolute horror. None of them could turn their gaze from the horrendous scene playing out before them, let alone run away. The beast the others were fighting was a living replication of the image that had appeared on the sphere before they were sent here, its yellow tinged skin and amphibian resemblance unmistakeable.
It was only when the boys caught sight of the scaly river-dweller racing up the bank towards them that they could finally comprehend the danger they themselves were now in. Even on land the creature was certainly faster, as the boys unfortunately came to learn in their futile attempts to escape its clutches. Tearing at the damp ground with all four clawed hands, the Kappa lashed out at the nearest thing in its reach: Aiba. Its webbed claws tore through his ankle like it was nothing. His four friends looked on in terror as he went down, the monstrosity on him in a matter of seconds.
Aiba screamed for his life as fear consumed him, eyes shut tight that these might be his last moments. The muscular body on top of him suddenly fell limp and heavy. After no further pain was inflicted, Aiba dared to open his eyes and yelped to find the bleeding form of the Kappa lying over him. He writhed about, panicking further when the beast’s eyes narrowed on him. His friends came to his aid immediately to help pull him out from under the near dead creature.
Shivering at the experience, Aiba hopped as far away as he could without even stopping to acknowledge Ruriko and Nishida standing over the fallen Kappa. Nishida took aim with his gun. There was no hesitation as he pulled the trigger, stepping back only far enough to avoid the backsplash when the blast finally came into effect. The other four, however, were not so lucky or aware of the seemingly useless shot. The Kappa gave a pitiful wail before its body exploded in a mass of black blood that drenched the boys.
“Told you we just needed to find a way to get it onto land” Nishida said smugly to Ruriko, ignoring the disgust and shock of the five new fighters.
Ruriko glared at him. “And you were prepared to use them as bait in order to do so? That’s cold.” Nishida didn’t seem in the least bit concerned by her accusation. He came up to her, arm coiling around her waist and leaning in close to her ear.
“As if they aren’t expendable. Do you really see fighters in them? Or is my baby just showing her usual moral ignorance?”
Ruriko seized his wrist and twisted it painfully, just long enough to get her point across before releasing him and storming over to the newcomers. She stood by Sho, amused by the way he was ineffectively trying to rid his suit of the alien residue. He seemed to notice her sudden presence though as he turned to face her with a repulsed look still lingering on his face. She could see the way he wanted to ask questions. His eyes were practically begging for answers but the job was done. It was time for them to return. 
There were so many things that Sho needed to know. Ruriko was standing right in front of him, just waiting for him to ask, yet he couldn’t seem to make his brain cooperate with his tongue. He was in just as much a state of shock as his friends were and the sticky blood saturating them wasn’t doing much to assist with that. With everything that had happened to them in the past couple of hours it was little wonder Sho wasn’t surprised when everyone who was left once more began to disappear with the same blue glow as before.
They reappeared in the room with the ominous sphere. Sho noticed his suit cleaned entirely of blood. Looking up at the others, he saw they were the same. A thud sounded as Aiba collapsed in a trembling mess on the floor. He examined his ankle where they had all witnessed the Kappa shred through it. Now it was completely untouched.
“It’s like someone pressed a reset button” Jun muttered while he crouched beside Aiba.
Their attention was drawn by the ringing of what sounded like a bell coming from the black sphere.
‘Time for the scores’ read the text that appeared soon after.
“Scores?” Nino repeated, eyebrow raised questioningly.
‘Aiba, 0 points. Gives up too easily.’
“Gives up?” Aiba squeaked. “I thought I was going to die!”
‘Matsumoto, 0 points. No use just standing around.’
“What the heck is this?” Nino held Jun as a precaution, worried what might happen if the younger lost his temper. His own annoyance grew at the next text that showed up.
‘Ninomiya, 0 points. Didn’t notice you at all.’
Nino pouted, feeling Jun stiffen a little in his grasp as his tension rose.
‘Ohno, 0 points. Were you even awake?’
Ohno blinked in surprise at the question posed by the inanimate object.
‘Sakurai, 0 points. Stop asking stupid questions.’
Upon reading the evaluation, Sho suddenly felt subconscious of everyone else in the room and more confused than ever. Surely he had every right to ask questions.
‘Hana, 7 points. Total 65 points.’
Ruriko shrugged, seeming indifferent to the score given to her.
‘Nishida, 4 points. Total 59 points.’
“Just four?” Nishida hissed angrily. For the boys it was certainly a surprise to learn Ruriko had more points than her callous partner.
“It’s like a video game” Nino remarked once the points were concluded.
Jun scoffed. “Most realistic game I’ve ever played.”
Ohno scanned the room silently, counting the number of people that had returned to the room. Sho too noticed the considerable drop in numbers.
“Not a bad comparison actually” Nishida spoke up, sauntering over to the sphere once his tantrum seemed to have mostly blown over. “This is Gantz’s game. You earn points to survive…”
“And if you die, you die for real” Sho concluded. Ruriko nodded.
“What about my leg?” Aiba asked. “I felt the bones shatter.”
“It doesn’t matter how injured you are” Ruriko explained. “Even if you’re dying, as long as you’re still alive you will be revived and brought back to your original form. It’s the way Gantz works.”
Sho stepped forward to meet Ruriko. “Give us answers now.” He was surprised by how steady his voice suddenly was. “Teach us how to survive.”
Ruriko exchanged a glance with Nishida, who continued to glare at the five of them with his cold gaze. She sighed while bowing her head.
“Sorry.”
A flash of blinding light was released from Gantz and their surroundings were swallowed by a cloud of white before darkness settled.

Comments

[nekom1ya.livejournal.com]

That author's note though.. such a sadist XD but thats what I love about you ♥
This chapter... I dont even know how to describe how perfectly close it is to the original yet again added with your own twists.. the kappa monster, did you create that or was it taken off the manga?
The thrill, the scare-jumps, everything felt so real, like I was watching the movie all over again and it was just with mere words.. you truly have some magic, I strongly believe that, there's no other explanation..
And Gantz evaluation was hilarious! How did u manage to put some humour into this super intense and thrilling chapter I still have no idea... but Ohno's evaluation and nino and sho XDDD
Are hana and nishida together? I felt like its somehow hinting on Sho x Hana.. idk if im reading it wrong haha..
I SRSLY CANT WAIT FOR NEXT CHAPTERS OMG!!!! THIS IS SO EXCITING!!! how many chapters will it be though? Gantz is just so versatile and so open.. all I can say is.. good luck :3