Okay, so PoT has been my favourite series for years, but this is my first attempt at actually writing anything for it. This is obviously inspired by the novel "Battle Royale" by Koushun Takami, but it was my sister tenshi-kinryoku's South Park version that actually gave me the motivation to write this! If you aren't aware of what this will lead to, this chapter will explain most of it. Also, you can always look up a summary on Wikipedia or wherever. Any crit is very much appreciated and welcomed - I want to make sure I write this to the best of my ability, and if it can be improved that's never a bad thing! Please excuse my lack of a decent title, I'll try to think of something better as I go along~
Warnings: character death, swearing, blood/gore/violence later on. Others will be added as needed.
The bus ride had been long, about three hours (and longer for those who had come from different areas) but eventually the three buses had come to a stop a short distance away from an old-looking building. Pouring out of said buses were the regulars of various middle school tennis teams, most of them talking about how they'd learned new things that would completely crush whoever they happened to play against. Luggage was hauled off the bus and thrown into a pile, people gathered their things and then stood around in small groups while waiting for further direction.
Sakaki Tarou, who had been put in charge of the trip, headed over to the group, and after a minute or so the regulars were led towards the building. Once they were close enough, and could get a clearer view of the building, it turned out to be an old abandoned-looking school. Sakaki led the teams in, and down the hall to an empty classroom.
"What the hell is this place?" asked Shishido, clearly used to much better than his current surroundings.
"Are we staying in here? What about a dorm? What about a cabin?" asked Mizuki, looking around slightly horrified at the cobweb covered walls and desks coated in dust. "Can't we just stay on the bus?"
"Yuuta, it looks like your princess is having a rough time. Can you shut him up, please?" Fuji sounded slightly irritated.
"Mizuki-san, I'm sure we're not staying in here. It'll be fine," said Yuuta, trying to be reassuring, but Mizuki's unimpressed look didn't change.
"If everyone could take a seat, I can explain things and we can get started," said Sakaki, somewhat impatiently.
"You want me to sit in this? It's covered in dust!" It was Mizuki again.
"Mizuki-san," Yuuta was already starting to look tired, "just clean it off and-"
"Ore-sama will not sit in this. Kabaji! Wipe off ore-sama's desk."
"Usu," said Kabaji, as he took off his jacket to wipe down Atobe's desk and chair.
"Mizuki-san, here, just sit on my jacket, it's fine," said Yuuta, draping his jersey over Mizuki's chair. Mizuki gave a sniff, but sat down.
Everyone managed to take a seat, but the conversations had now shifted from tennis to "What the hell is this place and why are we in it?" Sakaki waited for the near impossible. While 70 tennis regulars questioned each other on the situation, he stood waiting for silence. This went on for some time before he cleared his throat, earning only a glance or two from some of the players before they went back to their conversations. Just as he was about to make another request for silence five men, armed and in black uniforms, burst into the room.
"What the fuck?" was Shishido's surprised reaction, while the sudden entrance earned a small scream from Eiji.
"Oh, this should be fun," said Niou, almost sarcastically.
A shot was fired and the room fell silent.
"Oi, kantoku-" started Atobe, before he was cut off.
"Be quiet," Sakaki barely even glanced at Atobe before continuing, "You, the regulars of various tennis teams, have been brought here to participate in Battle Royale," he stated.
"Battle what?" asked someone from the back.
"B-Battle Royale?" Inui sounded shocked, and when he sent a sideways glance to Yanagi, saw that his expression showed the same surprise. Both were aware of what was coming.
"What's that? Is it some kind of tournament?" asked Mori.
"To put it simply, we have brought you here so you are able to fight each other," said Sakaki calmy, as if it would answer all the questions that had just come to the players.
"Fight? We shouldn't fight!" came the alarmed response from Oishi.
"This isn't just-" started Inui, before he was cut off by Sakaki.
"You will be fighting each other - until only one of you is left."
"Until one of us... do you mean kill each other!" it was Kenya's turn to sound shocked.
"That is exactly what it means."
"Ehhh kantoku, you're joking, right?" exclaimed Gakuto, nearly knocking his chair over as he jumped up.
"Sit down, Mukahi."
Gakuto dropped back into his seat, looking over at Yuushi with a "what in the fuck?" look on his face. The tensai simply stared back and shrugged, not knowing what else to do.
Very quickly, conversations broke out all over the room. Kill each other? They had to be joking, right? They were just here to play some tennis before school started up again. That was it. This was... insane. Another shot, and crying started in the back of the room. If anyone had dared to turn around, they'd have seen it was coming from Dan Taichi.
Yamabuki had gathered at the back, and Taichi was now crying into Akutsu's shoulder. The team's doubles pairs sat there completely shocked, while Tohji stared off into nothing. Sengoku sat off to the side and surveyed the room, only to see that Hyotei's Ohtori may have also been crying, but if so, it was far better contained than Dan-kun's sobs.
Sakaki continued. "Now, the rules."
"There are rules da ne?"
"Yes, and if you decide not to follow them, you die."
"Aren't we all going to die anyways?"
One more shot rang out, and Uchimura was dead. There was a scream from the back of the room, followed by more crying, a "holy fuck" that came from somewhere around where the Rikkai regulars had gathered, and horrified looks on every face in the room.
"As I was saying," continued Sakaki, "if you fail to follow the rules, you will end up much like that. On your way out from here, you will all be given two things. The first is a collar, which you are required to wear for the duration of the game."
"Game? You're calling this a game?" it was Kirihara.
"Saa, this could be fun."
"Fuji!"
"Enough. The second thing is a backpack. In it you'll have a day's supply of food, a water bottle, a map and a weapon. Each of you will have a different weapon, all of which have varying degress of usefulness."
"So you're saying someone could get a gun, and someone else could have like... a pencil sharpener?" asked Saeki.
"Yes."
"You will be called alphabetically, one minute apart. Once called, you will be handed your items and then required to put on the collar. Refusal to do so, as mentioned, will result in death. Inside the collar is a tracking device - it will show us where you are at all times. You must stay within the boundaries on the map. Anyone caught trying to escape will have their collar immediately deactivated, resulting, again, in their death," Sakaki paused, surveying the room to make sure they had all understood.
"We're going to have a killer time," cracked off Davide, which earned him looks from nearly everyone in the room.
"Not the time, Davide. Definitely not the time," said Bane, glaring at him.
"The rest of the "rules" are not so much rules as information you may find useful. This is being broadcast on television - anyone who decides to tune in can and will see what all of you are up to. Parents, relatives - everyone. Finally, if no one dies in any 24-hour period, the game will end and you will all die. This is to keep the game interesting and ensure it continues. Now, are there any questions?"
"This is all a joke, right?" this time, it was Sanada who spoke up.
"I assure you this is not a joke. Is that all? Yes? Then we will proceed with calling names. First, Akazawa Yoshiro."
Akazawa stood up, entirely unsure if he should actually go up to the front, or if he should just stand there and wait to be shot. Fear put movement into his legs, and before he knew it the collar was around his neck and he was out the door.
"Akutagawa Jiroh."
Jiroh was already half out of his seat, which was surprising for the normally-sleeping blonde. He walked up to the front, gathered his things and almost, almost asked Sakaki if this was all real before deciding that no, he didn't want to die just there. After putting on the collar, he took the backpack and headed out after Akazawa.
More names were called until Sakaki had finally reached the end of the list.
"Zaizen Hikaru."
Zaizen had already been halfway up to the front when his name was called. He took his things, put on the collar, and set off like the others.
~70 remain~