Chapter 03 : It’s name isn’t Mortimer Mouse.

Three weeks before the Onion-alien mission, Tokyo.

Xuan-Wu

Small lexical for the way I write.

“Dialogue”

Chapter's title, location and date

Mc’s thoughts

Gantz ball/other screen’s display

It’s been two days since the attack during Reika’s concert and social media was in full buzz with the news. And the fake news. He decided to stay home this Monday, away from the buzz that would happen at school.

Takashi was amazed with the crap people could come up with.

Between the ones who though it was a stun from the production company, those who though he planed it to get close to Reika and the ones just hating his guts because she kissed him on his cheek, he felt it was the perfect moment to close his twitter account for a time.

He didn’t need it after all, Reika already gave him her private number and they were exchanging texts almost every hour. He was glad she was the one to initiate contact. He may be ten years older mentally, it didn’t help him with girls. He never had a girlfriend in his past life. You could take the geek out of his bunker, you would not take him out of the boy.

He even blushed when his father’s company’s courier came with some papers for him and teasingly called him “hero-sama”. You could say whatever you wanted about her battle-maniac brain, Sei could never see him a anything else than a little brother. Having her as a baby-sitter didn’t help, but he had a plan for that latter.

His mother forwarded his father’s inquiries to congratulate him for honoring the family’s name and to ask if he used the opporunity to get close to Reika. Not that he really cared.

He still didn’t forget to launch the fabrication of his equipment for the coming mission. The first thing being the helmet.

He never understood why Gantzers didn’t have access to an helmet. Not counting the protection for shock and physical abuse, it could help them against psychic’s attack. Did Heinz Bernstein and his daughter want to see the gantzers’ faces as they died? Did they think they were in a stupid manga with nothing but their faces for the public to distinguish the gantzers?

Takashi’s helmet would help him protect his head like the gantz’s suit. Well, like his new gantz suit. Add to that some helpful tech like a HUD display, communication device, GPS coordinates, shared view with the user’s teammates, etc. It was as if they never though about playing in teams. The helmet could open itself to reveal the user’s face and close on command or automatically if under attack.

The new gantz suit had the ancient one’s strengthening function, but was better armored, without loosing it’s agility. Takashi liked to think of it as a fusion of Ironman’s armor and gantz suit. No other hero’s suit was used in the design. He was a red-team member through and through. The three best ameliorations for the suit were that it could be worn above the old suit and that it’s camouflage was the 5.0 version of the old one. It may also have some similarity with the Warmachine armor.

A special tablet that could be wore above the old suit forearm.

Also, a special piece of equipment was ready in the garage.

Takashi was wearing his clothes for now, as it would be to risky to start the mission with the suit, even under his clothes. Too many people around him could touch him and notice it as it would be his first mission.

He already ate this evening, said goodbye to Sei when she came to collect his mail for the company and texted Reika he was going to sleep after too many red-eyes-night on his computer. This got him a warning not to use his computer until at least 8 the following day. And to go to school even with the buzz. The fact that the two together forbade him to play online until the next evening made him laugh, as he was sure she planned it.

He took the red pill on his desk, swallowing it directly, before placing himself on the couch. No reason falling on the ground.

As the bald black man once said “Lets go down the rabbit hole”.

Less than a minute later his lifeless body was laying still, waiting. Then, it disappeared.

Tokyo’s Gantz-apartment, Black-ball’s room.

Takashi opened his eyes, playing confusion, more or less. True he only came here when this place wasn’t in use anymore. The nine other occupants were confused for real, except for the last one in the back. Nishi Joichiro. A.K.A. little asshole in Takashi’s mind.

Hello asshole. I so want to make you tape LetsJustBugOutAndCallItEven for you.

I have to get rid of you tonight, before the necessary players arrive. You may be a veteran gantzer, but your attitude is impossible to work along. Plus, you would backstab everyone as soon as you see fit.

Not letting his thoughts appear on his face, he started to make small talk with the other residents. A normal reaction as they all did it before him. It appeared that he was the latest participant for tonight mission as the black ball displayed tonight target and it’s bulshit information.

The mouse-face-alien.

Don’t like cheese.

Takashi knew this pets could grow their extremely sharp nails to a meter long.

Nishi was quick to tell his bullshit about a television show, resulting with the participants being happy to be able to win a monetary prize. Just like in Takashi's past live according to gantz' old members. That guy would throw you under the bus, to the wolves, sharks or whatever while wearing a smile on his face. Takashi was playing the shy-geek now, letting the others decide, as he took a gun and a riffle. They happily waited to be teleported to go outside, searching for the aliens, not noticing Nishi vanishing with his gantz suit tech, ready to stalk them and reap the profit as he planned to let them all die. They didn't even question how a mere tv-show could use teleportation. Or that none of them knew teleportation existed before... Can't people grow a brain ?

Nobody saw Takashi place his tablet on his arm, as they almost ran toward the target’s place. Nishi’s tip about a prize if they could break the record time was a good incentive for speed.

God, I so want to punch his face.

Taping discreetly on his tablet, he was waiting for the right moment to disappear, as the group arrived at the playground. They were ready to shoot and win the prize with no thoughts for planning or organization.