Disclaimer: I do not own the movie "Gyo: Tokyo Fish Attack" or the manga on which it is based, "Gyo." This story is purely a work of fan fiction. No profit is being made from it.
Author's Note: If you're only familiar with the manga then you should know that the movie version takes some liberties. Also, this story contains spoilers for the ending.
My thoughts are addled and confused as I am jolted awake by a series of sudden, jerky motions. The now-familiar, disgusting stink of rotting flesh fills my nostrils and a harsh, metallic squeaking hurts my ears. Someone is talking but I can't make out the voice or the words. My eyes are open but everything's a blurry jumble. I try to move but my body doesn't respond. It feels strange somehow, heavy and sluggish. I am lying on something, some kind of platform, that moves about erratically, further adding to my disorientation.
Where am I? The last thing I recall was helping my uncle with his recording when I suddenly felt sick. I remember collapsing to the floor and then…
Oh no… Not that. Please not that.
My vision clears at the worst possible moment as I pass a glass cabinet and see myself. The sight is nauseating. My body is grossly bloated and covered in bumps while my skin is a sickly green. I'm lying on one of the walking machines, but this one is different. It's more modern-looking, shinier, with leather straps keeping me in place rather than the metal ribs of the other machines. The tubes that fill my mouth are white rather than purple. My horror only grows as I realise what happened.
My uncle. He did this to me. Used me as an experiment. I'll…
Then I see someone else reflected in the glass.
Kaori. My fiancée. The woman I love with all my heart. Kneeling on the floor with a look of shock and dismay on her beautiful face.
No! No! She can't be here, it's too dangerous… Wait, who's that guy? He's putting a hand on her shoulder. Touching her.
Anger fills me and my immobile form manages a hiss of fury. Nobody touches Kaori except me!
The walker responds to my thoughts and I charge. I slam into him hard and launch him away from her. He crashes to the ground and my uncle runs up. He looks shocked, as if he can't believe I'd respond like this.
Again my mind burns with anger. The walker's legs squeak as it leaps into the air and crashes down onto my uncle, the sharp tip of one leg skewering him through the chest. His pained cries and the wet squelching sound as the leg withdraws give me a savage glee that both repulses and thrills me.
"Tadashi!"
That glee instantly disappears as I hear Kaori's lovely voice call my name. In the corner of my eye I see her stand up and run towards me.
No! I have to get away! I'm dangerous! What if I hurt her, or infect her with this horrible disease? I can't risk that!
And also… I don't want her to see me like this. I can't bear the thought of her looking at me and seeing such a grotesque monster. I can't bear to imagine her eyes filled with disgust when she sees me.
I scurry out of the room and through the corridors of the house until I finally exit through the front door. After a moment my walker slows down and continues at a slower pace, allowing me to get a look at my surroundings.
It looks like the city is abandoned. There are no people in sight and empty cars line the streets, many of them with shattered windows and crumpled hoods from collisions. Here and there are some of the smaller walkers, now splattered with the putrid remains of the fish they carried. That awful, sickening stench still fills the air, stronger than ever before. The tubes in my mouth force me to inhale through my nostrils, denying me any measure of relief.
As I calm down I feel my thoughts growing dull again. I don't try to resist. Maybe if I let my mind blank out I'll wake up to find this is all just a nightmare. Yes, that's it. It's just a nightmare and when I wake up I'll be myself again, at home with Kaori, and everything will be all right…
My hopes are cruelly dashed as I am again jarred from merciful oblivion by the squeaking of the walker's legs. It sounds different, as if they're straining against something.
As my eyes start to focus I see four men dressed as circus performers. Each of them is holding a length of rope and pulling hard. I realise then that each rope is wrapped around a leg of the walker. The machine I'm fixed to struggles against them as they pull. I don't care what they do to me but this damned thing seems to have a mind of it's own. Unless I actively try to direct its actions it moves on its own accord, as if something else was guiding it.
They pull me past a set of curtains into what looks like a circus Big Top. Someone is talking but I don't bother paying attention. A part of me is confused as to why a circus would be set up given everything that's been happening but in the main I don't care. It's hard enough to think clearly and I have no reason to anyway. Thinking means I have to acknowledge what I've become and why would I want that? Better to just lie here and let my brain rot.
"Tadashi!"
Kaori! She's here! No! No! I have to get away!
Again my thoughts affect the walker as it stops struggling. Four metal pipes on the front of the machine swivel until they're pointing directly at each of the circus performers and then start firing globs of brown sludge, hitting all four of them right in their faces.
They scream and clutch at their eyes as I frantically scuttle away again. Peripherally I see other performers on a raised platform playing instruments but they're like me, green and bloated. What kind of circus is this? No, never mind that. Just run.
I exit through the back of the tent, desperate to flee, but what I find outside brings me to a halt.
Before me is a massive crowd of mutated people, all in the same state as me. They're lying atop larger versions of the walkers that brought the infected fish ashore and began this horror. They're not making any movements, just standing there. Before I can manoeuvre around them I hear Kaori's voice again.
"Tadashi."
This time I register her pleading tone. I can't turn my back on her when she speaks in that tone. I turn the walker around to face her. The guy I rammed into earlier is there too but I barely notice him.
Kami-sama she's so beautiful. She's the only ray of light in this blighted world, like an angel in Hell. Is a thing like me even fit to look at her?
"Let's go home. Come home… with me." There's no disgust in her voice or her eyes, no revulsion or hate, only gentleness and love.
I'm dumbstruck. Even if these damned tubes weren't there I wouldn't be able to speak. I'm so stupid! How could I have doubted her? This is the woman I fell in love with. The woman I proposed to. She's not someone who'd reject their fiancé just because they had become deformed.
"Tadashi. Let's go home together."
For a long moment I hesitate. With everything that's happened is there even a home for us to go to? And then it comes to me. Of course there is. Home is wherever Kaori is.
I start to approach her but before I can take more than a step the other infected people surround me, cutting me off. They stare at me, their normally blank eyes filled with hate.
Oh no. My walker isn't like theirs. They don't consider me one of their own. Apparently that makes me their enemy.
They rush me and attack, the sharp tips of their mechanical legs slicing into my flesh again and again. The pain is agonising but I can't scream. Even when one of the tubes in my mouth is ripped out, tearing off a chunk of my upper lip with it, I can't make a sound. I can still hear though and worse than the pain is hearing Kaori's scream of horror.
I want to call out to her, tell her how much I love her, but my mouth and tongue won't respond. Somehow I manage to raise my right arm and reach out my hand to her.
She calls my name again and runs forward. Without hesitation she jumps onto the mass of green flesh and reaches out to me. Despite the pain I'm in I can't help but be awed by her courage. I've always known she's brave but it's still impressive.
The guy calls her name but one of the infected knocks him sprawling. Another one jabs him in the arm as it scurries past. Now he too will mutate, just like me. I take no pleasure in that. Kaori briefly glances back and calls out "Shirakawa-san!" before turning back to me. I'm glad I at least got to learn his name. I realise now that I misjudged him.
She pleads with them to stop but they ignore her and continue slicing me apart with terrifying ferocity. They're so far gone I'm not sure they can even recognise words anymore.
I desperately reach out to her and she reaches for me. Our hands are just inches apart. Please, let me hold her hand just one more time…
My heart sinks as the walkers move back, bearing her away from me. She calls my name in desperation but there's too many of them. My only comfort is that they aren't attacking her. I continue reaching out even as they swarm me and I lose sight of her. The walker's legs give out and fold up, lowering me to the ground and their ferocity increases.
Kaori I'm so sorry. I promised you I won't die. That we're together forever. I'm so sorry I couldn't keep my promise. Please forgive me. Kaori I love you. I love you so much. Kaori…