Chapter 19, Tanaka-Alien’s Mission, Go-Go-Go.
Tokyo, Itabashi.
The bikers’ pride wouldn’t allow them to be humbled like that. And, as thug number 1 started to raise his gun to shoot Takashi, his head exploded. Splashing gore, blood and other things on his two teammates, who flinched at the sight.
Broken bones, bruises, broken teeth, broken nose, they could manage, but straight murder on this scale. Not their style. It was how they got killed the first time earlier tonight. Thug number two had gotten a call on his phone, from a hot girl. But, when they went to pick her up to have some fun, what they found was themselves, outnumbered by a rival biker gang who started to hunt them down. Their bullying habits, weak people targeting and arrogance were their most noticeable traits. Even if they made themselves appear strong, a real opponent like Kaze or Sei, would have wiped the floor with their faces.
They didn’t even have time to prove their strength. Kurono, seeing Takashi’s throw, took it as an open season on thug number 4, punching his face on the wall again, as Kato used his katana on the remaining thug. Number 2 didn’t know what hit him as he couldn’t breathe anymore, drowning in his blood, not even a red line visible on his throat.
Kurono had always been kick to react when it was matters about Kishimoto. As for Kato, he was usually a kind and comprehensive young man. The past few experiences he had started to change him. He wouldn’t normally kill people, but he knew Takashi could resurrect them at the end of the mission. So, for him, what he did was more like killing your character in a game. Takashi resurrecting you or not was not his responsibility.
Fortunately for the group, the old lady and her grandchild didn’t witness the altercation. Takashi had previously tasked gantz to transfer his group in three teams. Kaze and Sei on their bike near the bridge, Kishimoto and Reika on top of a building as a sniper/bodyguard team, while Kato, Kurono and Anzu would act as the vanguard to attack the Takashi-alien base. The players gantz called “Homo” and “Sadako”, the male model and the timid girl were sent along the vanguard team. Takashi wanted to divide the new blood among his team. Had the bikers not been insufferable, Takashi would have taken them with him, far away from the rest of his team.
Takashi’s “absence” for the mission’s rooster was so they could work as a team without him. To learn and grow. It would have been impossible and dangerous under the gantz’ previous rules of engagement. Takashi’s command control allowing them to resurrect gave them the possibility to literally play like death-soldiers or kamikaze.
The old lady was told to hold her grandchild and to stay next to them, while Kishimoto targeted the apartment the gantz scanner purveyed them as the mission objective. Her taking out Thug number 1 proved she was growing out of her shy and meek character.
“Don’t forget team, I will only act for the boss so be careful how you go at it.”
Kurono, having been able to vent his issues, was jumping from roof to roof, like a horny squirrel, fully pushing the gantz suit added muscles to full use. Taking full advantage of Takashi’s gravity belt, Kurono was now standing, on the wall, just as if it was the ground. A very useful technology to have when you couldn’t train with ninjas to learn how to walk on trees.
Seeing the new guys reactions, Kato opened the walk, Anzu following him with a Y-gun.
“Stay on our six and don’t make noises” Told Kato.
“Six?” Answered Hojo. He was still annoyed with the pun gantz pulled on his name.
“He mean follow us”. Explained Anzu, smirking. She had been glued to the long haired man since the moment he took care of the bully. As she never hid her feelings, the rest of the group was divided in two groups:
The “You go girl”, side.
And...
The “Get a room you two”, on the other side.
Knowing the two, her reaction as Kato went first inside was to smack his ass, making him blush.
“Try to focus Anzu. God, I always took you for the serious one, don’t pull a Kurono on me now.”
“Eh, I didn’t do anything wrong during this mission.” Argued the incriminated person.
“ “ “ “ “ “YET” ” ” ” ” ” answered a grouped choir.
“I hate you all...”
“Movements in the apartment.” Said, Kishimoto, trying to divert the group’s attention on the mission instead of her sex-life. Reika giggling next to her. The old lady’s gaze going from one to the other. Kishimoto blushed heavily under her helmet, glad to have this fortunate piece of equipment to hide her face. She couldn’t imagine what her face would have looked like if the old lady had been able to see it. Luckily, the young boy wasn’t giving one, his innocence was preserved for now. For extra insurance, his grandmother had her hands over his ears.
“On my mark for the apartment’s assault. Three, Two, One, GO-GO-GO!” Ordered Takashi, looking from afar.
Following the military training manual, Kurono threw two of the grenades Takashi designed by the windows. Being careful, he placed himself way out of the windows in case they didn’t go out as planned.
This was a new equipment, that Takashi based on a grenade from the movie “The Eraser”. The projectile righted itself upward after landing, it then opened itself, letting multiple lenses appear. After a three seconds timer, they all fired together, based on the X-gun principle.
Kurono, after having waited for ten seconds per Takashi’s regulations, took a look inside, not caring about the alien’s blood on the ground. His only concern, as mission required was surviving targets, which he efficiently took of.
Meanwhile, Kaze put a small disk on the lock from outside, the device unlocking the door silently. The stealth assault was underway and Takashi couldn’t be more proud of the way they pulled it of.
The rest of the assault team was checking their way in the apartment, meeting Kurono as he exited his entry point. At this moment, a deviation from the mission plan occurred.
Sadayo, who gantz played a pun on the name with Sadako, the girl from the movie The Ring, was following the group closely, not wanting to be separated and willing to act to protect Hojo if she could. She didn’t scream, no, not after witnessing what happened earlier in the street. I was more like an involontarily yelp. More of surprise than fear. But it was alas enough.
The apartment’s three untouched doors ever so slowly opened themselves, revealing more of the alien-like-robots Kaze and Sei fought against near the bridge.
It just so happened that the door Kurono met the group through was right in front of another one. The Tanaka-alien who opened it started to scream in anger when he realized the carnage he was witnessing in the hatchery.
