Gantz: The beginning

Alone

Nishi's eyes widened at the sight of the alien; it was here the whole time, hiding outside the apartment. Who knew it'd be smart enough to do that? Nishi turned and quickly grabbed two large guns from the small room behind him, and as he whirled around, screams filled the room when the alien chose its first victim, Uchida. Misuki and Himari ran to hide behind the black ball, tears streaming down their faces. As if Gantz is going to save you. "Yoko!" Nishi quickly threw a gun over to Yoko, and she caught it gratefully. Nishi caught Akari scampering away on his hands and knees into the back room, sniffling and mumbling to himself. Coward.

For a moment, everything stopped; the body of Uchida lay in two halves in a pool of blood, mouth open in a scream. The alien had ceased its attack and looked as though it was studying the remaining players. Itsuki stilled all movements as he sat shaking, pale-faced, staring up at the vicious creature. "It's not real... it's not real..."

Nishi raised his gun and pulled the trigger three times without hesitation. The alien screeched and skittered to the side, baring its teeth angrily. "Damn it!" The windows on the right smashed, and the floor nearby Itsuki blew upward.

Itsuki turned to look at Nishi with a glare and shouted, "Are you crazy! It wasn't doing anything! You just pro-" Itsuki was cut short and screamed when the alien's teeth sank into his shoulder, lifting him in the air. "Noooo! Please don't kill me! It was him that shot you, not me!" Suddenly a third explosion caused one of the alien's arms to blow up, gushing green over the floor, and it dropped Itsuki with a shriek. Itsuki shuffled backward from the alien, utter fear on his face.

Yoko tightened her hold on the weapon, and just as she was about to shoot, Nishi grabbed her arm. Yoko looked at him in surprise.

"I told you, this alien is mine," Nishi told her with a frown and fired three more shots at the alien as it skittered across the far wall beside the Gantz ball. Each shot damaged the wall, and the homeless woman covered her head to protect herself from falling chunks of ceiling. Nishi gritted his teeth when the alien suddenly jumped in his and Yoko's direction. The two teens both fired their weapon simultaneously before diving to the side.

The alien turned to Yoko and let out a hiss before swiping its sharp limb across her shoulder. Yoko gave a cry of pain as she hit the floor, covering her wound with her hand with gritted teeth. Yoko had turned just in time to avoid severe injury, but the pain was still excruciatingly painful. Yoko glanced over to Nishi, who stood still, gun raised encase it decided to attack him next. Yoko never expected him to help her but watching his cold reaction to the alien's attack proved she meant nothing to him after all.

Nishi narrowed his eyes, barely looking at Yoko writhing on the floor. The alien suddenly turned to Nishi, causing the boy to step back, keeping his gun raised. "Die you fucker!" Nishi fired the gun multiple times, but when the time lag ended, only two shots were absorbed, and the rest imploded against the wall, causing Yoko to groan in pain as she shuffled back to avoid the backlash. "Fuck!" Nishi's eyes widened, and he began to worry. How does it keep avoiding our aim in such a closed space! Suddenly, the alien disappeared, and just as Nishi tried to activate his device, he realized. "Shit." Nishi took another step back and turned to yell at Akari, who still hid in the back room, "Throw me a device!"

Akari raised his head in fear and stammered, "No, the alien will kill me."

Nishi gritted his teeth. "If you don't throw me a device, I'll fucking kill you, now hurry up!" Akari scrambled to his knees and fumbled through the weapons before grasping a controller. "Now hurry up and-" Nishi suddenly cried out when he was thrown off his feet and hit the balcony rail outside, landing with a thud on the ground.