"Normal speech"

"Thought"

A/N:

Disclaimer

I do not own Gantz…

This story contains language unsuitable for children as well as acts of violence. Enjoy...

The Domino Effect

It was early morning on the last day of the school year at Benjamin Franklin High School. Electricity filled the air as anxious teachers and students filed in for hopefully the last stressful day of the year. It could be felt all around, especially on the court in the back.

The sounds of a ball bouncing against the hard pavement echoed across the empty blacktop. The only ones around to hear it, a small group participating in a thrilling game of 2-on-2 basketball…

A young black male stood in the back dribbling the ball between his legs. He surveyed the court as he tried to figure a way to score. Seeing that his teammate was well covered, and wasn't doing much to get open, the young male decided to just do it himself. He crouched as he bounced the ball in front of himself and his opponent. The young black male guarding him reached for the ball and he turned his shoulder to him to keep from losing it. Another reach and the young black male bounced the ball between his legs, bounced it behind his back, and ran past his defender. He ran straight for the basket as another defender tried to pick him up…

"I'm open, Deej," another black male, his teammate, yelled as he was now wide open. "Pass me the ball DJ…!"

DJ continued on for the goal. Having no choice, the second defender stepped up to keep it from being an easy basket. At this point, DJ tossed the ball away with a beautiful no-look pass. The ball came hurtling a lot harder and faster than expected and thumped against his teammate's chest, knocking a little wind out of him.

"Hurry…!" DJ shouted. "Rich… pick up the ball and shoot!" he encouraged.

Richard scrambled to pick up the ball before he had a hand in his face. His eyes focused on the charging defender, Richard grabbed the ball and lobbed it up in a panic. Everyone watched as the ball arched into the air and began to fall. It was going to be short, DJ could tell, but he wasn't in the best position to properly get to it. The ball came down hitting nothing but air and right into the hands of the opponent posted against DJ. He reached over his back and managed to knock it free. He was about to scramble for it but saw it was hopeless as the other black male grabbed it. Immediately, he went for the shot. Like lightning, DJ got up and contested the shot. Ruining his concentration, the shot was off and bounced off of the rim. It bounced right back to the shooter and, hearing DJ on his way back, passed the ball to his teammate. With great hustle and determination, DJ managed to get between his opponents and get a hand on the ball. At the same time, he slipped on the gravel and began tumbling to the ground. He ditched the ball in hopes of protecting himself as he hit the ground. All DJ could see was black as he fell to the hard, pavement.

"Are you alright?" a young girl asked as she loomed over DJ's body.

He opened his eyes and into his field of vision stepped a light-skinned girl with straight, long black hair. Her hazel eyes locked with his brown eyes. She had a worried look on her face that quickly disappeared as DJ let out a small groan.

"Maybe you should take it easy," the girl suggested as he sat up.

"I'm alright Nicole. It was just a tiny spill," he replied.

"Tiny…!" the light-skinned, Hispanic young male blurted. "You slipped over here on the court and rolled all the way over there into the grass," he pointed out.

"That was a nice little hustle there," the black guy complimented. "… but you still lost."

DJ just shrugged it off as he stood to his feet. Still concerned, Nicole asked him if he was sure he was alright. He told her that he was perfectly fine and she dropped it. Realizing that fun-time was over, the boys and Nicole gathered their things and headed into the school for the final time this school-year.

With his last, and toughest, Final Exam taken and done with, DJ was out of class by 10:45 a.m. As soon as he was free to go, DJ darted out the door along with many of his classmates. Before leaving the place for the last time, he decided to stop by the restroom to relieve himself. As soon as he got to the door, a small group of shady characters opened it and bumped into him.

"'ey watch where you goin' man," the first guy groaned. "If you messed up my shoes, I'd hafta beat yo' ass. You lucky we got other thangs to do."

DJ showed no signs of aggravation as he stepped back, apologized, and let the little posse through. He really couldn't stand how he hadn't stood up to the little thug and his friends, but he had a bad feeling about them. He watched as they left and noticed what appeared to be the handle of a gun sticking out the back of one of the guys' pants. It was only brief since one of the others let him know that it was showing, but DJ was sure of what he had seen. His bad feeling was now overloading his systems. Luckily, one of the policemen that patrolled the school walked down the hall. DJ immediately ran up to him and informed him of what he saw. The officer said that he would take care of it and that DJ should leave the area as quickly as possible, just to be safe. He then began tailing the troublesome-looking bunch. DJ was anxious and having to go wasn't helping much. Before he left, he ducked into the restroom then went the opposite way of the group and the officer.

DJ exited the building out the front, and there he met up with Richard and his other friends from the morning game. "So, we aren't getting a ride from Nicole," DJ inquired.

"Nah, she said that she had to get the car back to her mom as soon as she was done here," Richard answered.

Seeing as they wouldn't be receiving a free ride from a friend today, the boys began walking. It wasn't that far to reach home and he didn't mind a good workout every now and then, but there was something that made DJ uneasy about this whole thing. It was pretty warm out, but DJ could swear that he could feel a chill down his spine. He figured that it must just be the excitement of summer finally setting in on him and dismissed the thought. The four crossed the streets through mildly flowing traffic. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but DJ still had this bad feeling. He didn't know it at the moment, but it was one of dread. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Richard peering across the street. Curious, he asked him what he was trying to get a look at…

"A little while ago a few police cars drove to the back of the school. I was wondering what that was about, so maybe we'll get to see on the way past."

That's when it hit him. "Could it be…? The police officer that I talked to called in backup…? It would be the best idea if you were going to confront a group of armed thugs," DJ thought.

As more police cars rushed onto the scene, DJ sped up in hopes of getting the heck out of there as soon as possible. Thinking the same, the others picked up the pace as well. DJ was passed by the other two while Richard dawdled trying to get a peek at the situation. It was a foolish thing to do and DJ wanted to leave his stupid best friend behind, but he felt that he wouldn't be able to live with himself if something were to happen to him. He turned back and grabbed him by the collar to get him to come along.

A shot rang out followed by a multitude more. Instinctually, the four ducked and tried to cover themselves. DJ looked around for something to hide behind and that's when he noticed cars crashing into one another and one of them erratically swerving off of the road. He tried to warn the other two to get out of the way, but didn't make it in time.

"Michael--!!"

The young black male saw the small SUV heading for them and dove for safety. His legs were clipped by it and shattered upon impact. His Hispanic friend on the other hand, wasn't as fortunate. He was run over by the vehicle. Not even slowed by this unfortunate event the small SUV continued towards DJ and Richard. Sacrificing himself, DJ shoved Richard as hard as he could out of the vehicles path. He didn't even have enough time to take another breath as the automobile collided with him. Richard was just now hitting the ground as he heard the sickening thud of the durable machine winning against the frail human body. He looked up and was horrified at what he saw. The SUV had a bloody and broken DJ limply pinned between it and a telephone pole. Richard's eyes began to water at the sight. He couldn't believe that this had happened. A groan caught his attention as he lifted his tearful face from the ground. DJ was still moving. There was still hope. Richard reached in his pocket and fumbled around with his cell phone. Through his tearful eyes, he dialed 9-1-1 in hopes that his best friend could be saved. As it rang, Richard looked at DJ who was looking back with a smile on his face…

"I… I'm sorry Deej… if I hadn't been so nosy maybe this wouldn't have happened," he said between sobs.

DJ felt weak. He wanted to reassure his friend that it wasn't his fault that things ended up this way, but he couldn't muster the strength. He just turned his head and looked into the window of the SUV that had him pinned. Inside, he noticed the driver slumped over the wheel with blood trickling onto it from the side of his head. The pain was so intense that he could feel his senses slowly slipping away. A while ago he could hear Richard crying but now nothing. Also, other than pain, DJ couldn't feel a thing, not even the heated hood of the car at his fingertips or the blood that was dripping from his body. His sight was still lingering as he continued to peer into the vehicle. He looked on at the scene of two of the three women inside becoming frantic. The one in the front seat looked to be concussed and unaware of the plight of the two behind her. He couldn't see the other as she tried all she could to help another. The one he could see had tears in her eyes. She would look at her leg pinned beneath the bent frame of her door and look back up at DJ. The look on her face seemed to say to him that she wanted him to help or that she was scared out of her wits… DJ just couldn't tell as his vision blurred more and more as the seconds passed. The thought of the look on that girl's face haunted him and wouldn't let him pass peacefully. He looked at her once more and couldn't help it. He wanted to help her. He summoned all of his remaining strength and tried to push the vehicle back at least enough for him to slide out. Since his hearing was already gone, DJ didn't hear the cracking of the telephone pole as he tried to free himself. The crack grew and grew until the pole fell.

Unlike the nearly gone DJ, Richard could hear the cracking of the pole. He had also heard a distant explosion that startled him. As the ringing finally stopped and his call got through, he looked up at a struggling DJ. He urged him to stop or he could die, but it fell on deaf ears. He watched as the pole gave out and was sickened by the sight of DJ's torso falling to the ground. While he just couldn't seem to turn away from this sight, he didn't realize that at the same time the telephone pole was falling as well. Without warning… he was crushed.