Me: After a long time and coming, the next chapter of Crossover Bros Brawl will soon be at hand!
(The camera shows the author's booth, as Wally, Otto, Misty, and MMSB [Mega Mecha Security Bot, whom generally looks like Mecha Knuckles] go about their daily business. Otto appeared to be watching a movie, Misty right along with him. Wally was playing Gantz's PSP, what game? No-one could say, it seemed to be about black winged angels though. Finally MMSB was just sitting by the front door acting like most security bots do… SPLAT!!!!!!! At least until a bucket of what appeared to be gelatin was dumped on his head, causing a quick, but non-lethal short-circuit. He turned with a dangerous growl, to Shin the Winged Imp, and PA [Poly-bot Alpha] whom laughed at the sight before Shin took off running, PA riding in his backpack.)
(Their came crashing sounds and a steady stream of swears as MMSB took chase, swinging his fists in all available direction in a kamikaze fashion, looking madder than a hornet.)
Me: As you can see, we've sorta succumbed to boredom over here at the Author's booth, which was reason enough for me to finally get off my lazy butt and write this thing. (I take a step backward, allowing Shin, PA, and MMSB room to run past me.) I apologize it took so long, but during my time away, I've been getting into a lot of things, stuff that involves deviantart, an Role-Play Forum I've joined a long time ago, and various other projects soon came up. But past that, I've also had things going on in real life, what with graduating High School, and choosing a college to go to. Christmas passed soon after, (Aside: With me scoring my first PSP) before I finally started writing this out. And now here we are so many days later with the result.
Otto: (Switches off the movie.) New chapter time, I'm guessing Gantz?
Me: Got that right. (I turn to Wally.) Wally! Get off the game unless you want to miss the chapter!
Wally: I'll be there in a bit mate! Man this 'Riviera; The Promised Land' game is addictin'.
Me: Now you know how I felt when I got that game for the GBA. (Aside: (To the audience.) Yes, I liked that game enough to get the updated version for it on PSP after already owning the older copy on GBA. Got a problem with that?)(Having said that, Gantz jumped on the couch, and pushed another button on the remote. In the backroom, a machine appeared to grab a movie reel, and carried it over to the projector.) Fully automated, Gotta love it.
Misty: You sure about that machine Gantz? I mean, Crow and Servo happened it take a look at it earlier…
Me: Ah, how bad could they possibly screw something up? I mean, they just looked at it for a little while.
(There came odd short-circuiting sounds in the background.)
Me: Huh? (We all look…)
(CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The same machine that held the movie reel crashed through the wall, and acted as if it had gone absolutely daffy.)
(A moment of silence went by.)
Otto: (Points at it with his thumb.) That answer your question?
[This chapter was created to focus on Gantz and his history, and is made for the purpose of being a filler chapter. The next one will be the same way as well, for reasons you'll see when I post it up some time later.]
Chapter 13
One Weird Night Part 1
A dream is a microscope through which we look at the hidden occurrences in our soul. ~Erich Fromm (Thanks, Sarah)
When Gantz awoke, he felt sore in every possible sense of the word.
Reassessing his body parts and bones, he looked himself over real quick for any type of injury, only to find none. As he did this, he barely recognized that he was wearing pajama's; he just seemed so tired. "Hmmm… Good." Knowing that, he smiled to himself; he was quick to guess Benny had managed to get him, Lucky, Poof, and Ross to Bugs', Daffy's and Nutcase's place, and had slept the rest of his unconsciousness away in the safety of his room. Stretching, he looked around, almost looking half asleep. "Home sweet home…" That was all he said before passing out once more… … … … … … …
Cue spring straightening out surprise sound effect, as Gantz's eyes shot WIDE OPEN, he sat right up and took a better look at his surroundings.
He could scarcely believe his eyes; sitting in one corner of the room was what appeared to be a small robot, that looked highly simplistic, with a rounded out figure, skinny arms, and a rather square looking head. That wasn't all he noticed, looking around the room, he became aware of other things as well; a futuristic looking ceiling fan hovering a few inches parallel to the ceiling, blowing on medium, a complex looking mp3 player sitting on the night stand next to his bed, wireless earphones sitting next to it, there was a TV sitting on a silver entertainment center, with what appeared to be a complex video player on top of it, and what appeared to be some kind of dusty looking machine on the floor, plugged into the TV. It almost looked like a new age N64 with a shiny sheen…
And even looking down at his blankets he noticed something. It wasn't the blanket he had become accustomed to sleeping under while staying at his current land-lord's place, with little animations of Daffy everywhere (That duck was just vain that way)… Instead, on the blanket was a character that looked eerily similar to Robo Cop, the only difference being this character actually seemed capable of pulling off the look better and generally looked much cooler. What was more, Gantz actually felt more… Comfortable under this blanket… Trust me, the unbelievably soft material it was made out of helped, but nostalgia won the prize there.
He gasped a little, "No… It… It couldn't be…"
"AARON!! Time to get out of bed!! You're gonna be late for school!!!"
Gantz practically jumped three feet out of his bed and landed with a rather painful thud, butt first, on the floor. "Ooooow…" Rubbing his sore behind, he got to his feet, wincing a little… He slowly stopped as realization dawned on him. "That… Voice…" He couldn't believe his ears, it just couldn't be possible… There was no friggen WAY it could be possible. There was no way he could be here, in this place, hearing that voice!
There came footsteps as the boy jumped once more, his mind was still very much in doubt. How could this be possible? He left this place a long time ago… But even then, the approaching footsteps left very little for him to consider. Looking around quickly he found what appeared to be a pod like device sitting near a closet. Whether or not he thought he could hide in it or not was unknown, as he quickly ran inside it, closing the pod door behind him. As he stood inside the machine, Gantz began to try and figure out what was going on. Of course, his mind was completely scrambled, so his head had no chance in Hell trying to figure it out. "What the heck?! How… How am I here?!? I was in Toon Town when I passed out!!! …………… Wasn't I?"
The door to the bedroom opened just outside the pod. Growing ever more panicky, Gantz took a step back… And backed right into a button.
The boy was immediately enveloped by a quick blinding flash, before the machine whirred to life. Mechanical hands appeared out of seemingly nowhere before reaching over for him. If Gantz hadn't already recognized what the pod was and what it did, he might have been fearing for his life at this point. Not that that made much difference in any case...
Outside the machine, the bedroom had a peaceful air to it... Well, which was interrupted by the pod as it jumped around causing quite the ruckus. Along with it, panicked grunts and yelps protruded from the machine as if struggling to get out. "Hey! Let me go!! What are you gonna do with that? HEY STOP IT!! Watch the zipper!!! OW!!! FOR CRYIN' OUT-!!!!!"
Gantz couldn't complain much more before the machine spat him out. As he got off the floor, he realized that he was now back in his purple shortsleeved jumpsuit with the Fire Flower insignia on the chest. "Ow... Always hated those stupid dressing pods-"
"Oh there you are! Glad to see you're out of bed on time!"
Gantz's eyes widened to incredible levels... ... ... ... Before, slowly, painfully, he finally raised his head and looked up...
".... M-.... Mom?"
Standing before him appeared to be a woman around her early 30's, she had black hair, pulled into a pony tail, wearing a light silver jumpsuit underneath a white labcoat, a pair of oval glasses sitting on the rim of her nose, over light green eyes, and a gentle smile on her face. "What is it, Aaron?" She tilted her head to the boy, smile still apparent. "Is something the matter?"
Gantz didn't know how to respond, he just sat there as if he was stuck in zero-point energy, staring at the truely unbelievable sight before him. "Mom..? But... But..." As he continued, one could swear tears was appearing his eyes, "I... I..."
Gantz's mother, looking concerned at this, leaned down to reach his eye level. "Aaron... ... What's wrong?"
The poor boy was in hysterics, and it looked like he would break down at any point and time. "No... This... This can't be real... This is a dream, it... It has to be..."
Gantz's mother(?) was really beyond concerned at this point, as she looked the clearly panicking boy over a couple of seconds. "Aaron...? What is it? Did... Did you have a nightmare?" She started to look angry. "I swear if that father of yours let you watch one of those horror movies he's gonna-" Noticing the boy's expression, she turned back to him, "Oh... Please, Aaron... Don't be so afraid..." That was when she pulled him into a firm embrace, "I'm here... It's okay."
Now Gantz? He wasn't sure what to think...
His memory reminded him consistently of why he knew this couldn't be real. And he knew why too...
But still... This felt so real... It was like she was really right there... "Mom..." This was spoken from a choked in sob.
It felt like a few minutes later when the boy found himself downstairs, poking at the scrambled eggs he had been served idly with his fork. At the table also, was his mother, giving the boy a saddened look, looking like she had never once touched her food. Along with them was an adult male whom bore a few resemblances to Gantz himself, wearing a labcoat over a shirt made out of futuristic looking materials, and a pair of baggy black pants. He appeared to not do much aside from eat his food, his nose burried in what appeared to be a virtual screen, blissfully unaware of the obviously tense air.
After the scene he made back in the bedroom, Gantz wasn't sure what to think. After everything that happened in Toon Town; had it been a dream? Had it all been a dream..?
Had running away from this place so many years ago when he was 13, spending the next 2 years on the streets fending for himself, before his world was finally attacked (and probably destroyed) by the heartless all been a dream? Looking down on himself, it looked like he was still around his own physical age, so this couldn't have been a memory of some kind... But if that was the case, what was it then?
"Aaron?"
There was his mom again, probably concerned about his almost lethargic state... But what was he supposed to do? The boy was completely at a loss. None of this made any sense... "Maybe you should eat Aaron... Y-... Your going to school in just a little while." But the boy didn't feel all that hungry, what was he supposed to say?
Still... They seemed so tempting...
After a moment, his fork poked the eggs a bit more thoroughly then before, and the boy brought the food to his mouth. He dared a test taste, and was probably or probably not surprised to find that it tasted pretty good...
Yet another thing that should no longer exist... His mothers famous scrambled eggs. And yet here they were... After a moment, he brought the food to his mouth again, and placed the bite into his mouth. Quite the pleasant taste he had to admit. Looking up to his mother, he noticed a look of hope enter her eyes... It was with that that the boy sighed, finally deciding on a course of action.
"Sorry mom..." He said slowly, trying not to catch too much attention to an unsure tone in his voice. As he said this, he continued to eat the eggs on the plate before him. "I... I just had a really strange dream... It seemed so real."
All was silent a moment......... Before the woman finally sighed. "I... I see." smiling slightly, the light appeared to return to her eyes, thankful that things seemed to be returning to normal. "What was the dream about dear?"
Sighing, the boy put down the fork upon noticing he had finished off the eggs. "Well... I... I don't know... I can only remember a few vague details. All I really remember is that I ranaway from here... I can't remember why I did."
It was unsure what Gantz thought she would react with, but the response he got was that of his mother smiling a little. "I can't think of any reason either. But listen young man, if you ever run away, you won't ever be able to eat my food again." She stuck out her tongue in an attempt to look playful. "Not only that, but you would have to say good-bye to me and your father, and I know you wouldn't like that." She motioned to the motionless man sitting in the chair right next to her. Upon noticing the lack of response, she gave the man a light elbow. "Don't you think honey?"
The man, startled by the nudge, jumped a few feet into the air, before coming back into attention. "Huh?" Upon noticing the scene finally, he nodded; thankfully he had caught bits and pieces of the earlier conversation. "Oh! Well, I can't think of any reason either." After a moment, to reconsider what all he heard, he finally seemed to piece everything together quite well. "And not only would you be without a home, you'd have to live without my Internet Note Pad. I know you like writing in that thing." He held up the notebook that looked vaguely like a tablet laptop that he had been working on for emphasis.
Ah yes, Gantz remembered that old thing. He used to love writing his own original stories and such on it, whenever his father wasn't using it; and since his father was usually a busy man, working at the lab (Despite Gantz's disdain for the place), and serving as it's chief scientist underneath the boy's grand-father, he would often need it like crazy at times, only to find it among his son's things in his room. Gantz chuckled at the statement his father made. "That's a good point dad." With that being said, he leaned back in his seat picking up the glass of milk that was on the table. "Anyways, I'm sorry about worrying you Mom... The dream just left me a little shaken was all."
The woman only shrugged this off, apparently she was already forgetting the events of this morning. "Oh don't worry, I'm just glad your okay Aaron." Getting up from her seat, she pulled out what appeared to be a virtual screen, and took a quick look at it. "Oop! You better go upstairs and get your stuff! If you don't hurry, you could miss your bus!" A nod was the boy's response before he hurried back up the steps.
Gantz was quick to run into his room and gather up his school stuff. As he did, he found his mind racing at a thousand miles an hour. How could this have been possible?! He was sure he hadn't imagined everything that had happened during his time alone and in his time in Toon Town... And yet, here he was, back home again. Was it a miracle? Was it an illusion? Was it some cruel dream? His family acted as if he had never run away, acted as if he had never been gone at all. The boy knew something horribly wrong had to have been going on here...
And yet...
At the same time, he couldn't help but feel like he didn't care... He had always had dreams of returning to his home on his adventure, and none of them had EVER been this detailed. His mind wandered to Nutcase and the others... had they all been a dream?... ... ... Yeah that had to be it. The more Gantz thought about it, the more outlandish the whole thing sounded.
Other worlds... HAH! yeah right... Must've been something he ate the night he had that weird dream...
"Aaron........................."
Slowly, painfully, Gantz turned his head... ... ...
Sitting on the window sill, even though Gantz was greatly certain he had left it on his nightstand, there sat the miniature toy robot he had been working on. Gantz remembered it all too well; it was his first project. Originally he had been aiming to create a servant robot to help keep his room cleaned up when he had no time to do it. It was small sure, but it had been built with a module to make it stronger then it looked. It had quite a lot of potential, but after a while, it was eventually forgotten, left half finished; it was now more a rag doll then a robot... ... ...
Getting back to his feet almost felt painful. "Hey..." He whispered, not wanting to catch his parents attention. "How'd you get over here little guy?" Picking up the half completed robo, he carefully looked it over, looking to the panel on it's back. Surely it couldn't have walked over to the window sill on it's own...
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz...
Gantz's face completely paled when the robot's square head did a full 180, the front of it's head now facing him...
Another factor that scared him completely is the fact that the robot now had a pair of blood red eyes, and a Jack-o-Lanturn grin on it's face that looked completely blood red as well.
"Why did you leave us..?" Came the chilling voice from out of the robot.
With a panicked yell, the boy dropped the robot, before finally realizing something about his surroundings...
Or LACK, thereof. It seemed that in the few minutes he had spent looking at the robot that the surroundings that was his room was suddenly replaced by a completely black void where nothing seemed to exist, but him and a circle of light surrounding him. Even the robot that had scared Gantz out of his wits was now gone. "Wh-?!? Where is-?! MOM!!! DAD!!!!" Before he could take a step however, another figure seemed to appear... A figure that made the boy's heart stop and blood go cold.
Standing there was what appeared to be a figure of his mother... However, she now had a gaping hole in her chest, as if her heart had been ripped right out of her chest. In her hand was the robot Gantz had only earlier dropped... And it STILL had the blood red eyes and blood red jack-o-lanturn grin. What was even scarier? She was walking towards her son in a stiff manner, and the closer she got, the clearer Gantz could make out the pale version of the irises that he had once known, and the lethargic, almost dead look on her face. "Why..?" That haunting voice seemed to echo in the boy's head, making him recoil. "Why did you leave us..?" It was his mother's voice... ... ...
But she almost sounded like she was in pain, in agony... Or maybe, it was in such a way that she couldn't feel anything at all... "M-Mom..!" He was utterly horrified, suddenly realizing what this was... Toon Town wasn't the dream...
THIS was the dream...
"Why..." That was when the visage of his mother disappated revealing a smogy plume with the same blood red eyes, and blood red jack-o-lanturn grin as the robot, which turned into a similar creature itself. "DID YOU LEAVE, YOU NAUGHTY CHILD?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?"
And this dream had just become a nightmare... Like, go figure...
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
That was all Gantz had time to yell before he took off running in the opposite direction. However, he was quick to find out that the smog like creatures were now right behind him, cackling gleefully at their retreating prey. The second time he looked behind him, just to make things worse, he saw that the number of faces in the rapidly approaching nigtmare smog were steadily increasing, the smog steadily growing bigger. Great, it had reinforcements... Swell... "L-LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!" But the nightmare would do no such thing, and continued it's charge, cackling gleefully all the while at the boy's continued attempts to run.
As was expected from various nightmare cliche's, as Gantz continued to run for his everloving life, it felt like he was going absolutely nowhere at all. Sure he was staying one step ahead of the Nightmare, but that was about it. "Help me..!!! Help me please!!!" Gantz's panic was slowly escalating, though he wasn't really sure why... Sure it was typical of a nightmare to scare the daylights out of somebody... But for some reason, something told him there was something oddly real about all of this... He really didn't know why, but he figured if the gut had something to say, it was best to listen to it...
Oh if only he could just WAKE UP!!
FLASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wait... What was..?
Looking up, Gantz beheld what appeared to be a bright etheral light, just up ahead. For some reason, for the first time in this entire chase, it actually felt like he was starting to gain leeway, and was quickly off, trying to rush to the light. The reason? Maybe, he figured this was his brain telling him he was waking up, and it was time to get the hell out of dodge...
Of course, the fact that the Nightmare quickly dissipated the closer they got to the light, helped things too.
As he continued to run, he laughed in a relieved fashion as he quickly jumped headlong into the light, leaving the black void behind him...
Good bye nightmare... Hello, lord KNOWS WHAT...
Well, to say 'any new location was infinately more welcome then this place would be an understatement', would betray how he felt about this place in any case, so yippee for him.
It felt like he was falling into everything, or perhaps he was falling through nothing at all. It was a great feeling, the wind on his face as he continued to fall at a slow comfortable pace, taking in what appeared to be pretty little sparkles and the light that was slowly approaching from beneath him. One would likely be panicking in such a situation in given circumstances, but for some reason, Gantz felt a sense of calm come about him as he continued his descent. Maybe it was the fact that everything seemed at peace, maybe it was the lulling tune he heard as he continued to fall, but whatever the case be, he soon found the bottom of his fall and felt himself right himself in mid-air, as he prepared for landing...
Maybe it was the feeling of the light overwhelming his eyes, but he closed his eyes as he entered the light. The flash was blinding to be sure, but it sure didn't last too long. To wit, neither did his fall after entering the light. He was sure he felt solid ground under his feet, and the light finally appeared to dull out as well... Slowly, hesitantly, Gantz opened his eyes...
"... ... ... Wha..."
Standing before him, was what appeared to be a 8 foot tall cinderblock posts buit on two opposite sides of an closed bronze gate attached to a grand looking bronze fence that covered what appeared to be a few miles of land on either side. Looking down, he soon saw what appeared to be an evenly laid brick road of light grey, with red bricks serving as a boundary on both sides of the brick road. Beyond the road was what appeared to be pure green grass growing short and trim, like the place had been looked after recently. Just past the fence their appeared to be tall, lush, Elm trees that poked out from the other side of the fence. Starting to get curious, the boy turned around... But found that the brick road stopped at what appeared to be a sheer drop, as if this land he was standing on was a sheer cliff side. Just beyond the drop, one could see what appeared to be mountains on the far-off horizon. Looking himself up and down, Gantz found himself now in the attire he was wearing the day before during his run from the heartless. However, the REALLY weird part in all of this?
It feltt like he was wide awake.
"What?" The boy's mind was going at a hundred miles per hour, trying his best to decipher what had just happened. "But... Wasn't I asleep back at Nutcase, Bugs, and Daffy's place? How... How'd I get here?"
'Whissssssssssh...'
Gantz jumped to attention when he heard that. Quickly turning, he looked to the Elm tree he was SURE that sound originated from. All he found was that the branches appeared to be moving around slightly as if the wind had just blown through it, but it appeared to be settling down... Whether the tree was though, settling down was the LAST thing Gantz was doing...
After all, he didn't believe he felt a single gust of wind since he got to this weird landmass.
But what had caused it? Heartless? Yokai? Maybe a bird? After a moment, he appeared to settle on one, trying to calm down his shaking. "Itwasjustasquirellitwasjustasquirellitwasjustasquirell..." Repeating that to himself multiple times, the boy slowly walked up to the gate, deciding on further exploring this world.
Upon getting to the gate he took a moment to figure out how to open it, before pushing it open, after undoing a latch. Meekly... He poked his head through the gate, hesitantly opening one eye...
"W-whoa..."
What awaited Gantz was a sight the likes of which he had never seen before.
For one, it appeared to be a type of park, with a continued brick road path in a big wide circle in the center, and a fountain in the center of that, that appeared to be decorated with statues of creatures that Gantz had not yet seen in his life. Around the circular path was what appeared to be several arches where doors would otherwise fit in, and at the opposite side of the park from the gate, their appeared to be a cement balcony, that was built to look out to the land beyond. Besides the path of stone, the area was taken by natural beauty, with grass just outside the boundary of the stone brick path, and the elms forming a type of forest to either side of the gate on the inside. Not only that, he was sure he saw a lake not too far off to his right.
Basically speaking, this place had to have been the most naturally beautiful places he had ever seen. "This... This place is amazing!" A small smile on his face, he slowly walked inside the park, having a better look around as he did. He had to admit, whoever the caretaker of this place was, he did an amazingly superb job on keeping this place cared for. Upon ending his approach of the fountain, the boy crouched down to his knees and took a better look at the water in the stone fountain. He could practically see his reflection in it. "The water's so clean." Looking around a moment, he shrugged to himself, before putting both hands in. Momentarily chilled by the cold, he scooped up a little, and gulped it down. Grinning, he was surprised about how fresh and pure the water was. It was certainly different then getting water from the tap.
Grinning ear to ear, he looked back down to the water looking to his reflection. "Man if only the others could see this..."
After a moment, the reality of what he just said finally seemed to reach him. "Oh man! The others! I hope they aren't too worried about me." After a moment of thinking, a dismal groan escaped his systems. "Oh who am I kidding? Their probably worried out of their minds looking for me... Well, given Nutcase doesn't really have much of a mind to be worried out of, but still..." Needless to say, thinking about his good friend Nutcase only made Gantz feel worse. Sighing, he rubbed his temples. "Man... What am I gonna do? I don't even know where this place IS. How am I supposed to get back?"
"Get back to what?"
Gantz's eyes went wide to the point it looked like he misplaced his eye-lids... Slowly, painfully, he turned around to see who it was.
The sight that met him was what appeared to be an odd looking creature that took the form of a plump, old looking, owl. With brown and tan feathers, brown eyes underneath both a pair of thick eyebrows, and wire rim glasses, and a classy white shirt topped with a red jacket, he certainly looked like a wise old bird. "I don't know what you're going on about, but I welcome you to the Night Dimension, young visitor. You may know me as 'Owl'." He closed the distance between himself and Gantz to have a better look at him, a glance that was returned by a pale-faced, wide-eyed stare. "I hope you've enjoyed the Night Dimension central hub, I've worked many a night to keep it in pristine condition. But enough about me, who are you?"
................................................... For a moment, all was still. Nothing moved, no-one said a word............ At least until;
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Startling Owl a great deal, Gantz let out that terrified scream, before he jumped 10 feet into the air. "TALKING WOODLAND CREATURE!!!!! S-STAY AWAY FROM ME!!!!" That was all he said, before he ran at mach 4 speeds and hid behind the nearest tree he could find.
Owl meanwhile, continued to float there, looking confused out of his FREAKING SKULL. He appeared to think a moment, before his face brightened in realization. Mayhaps this would take a tad bit more explaining. "Now-now... No need to be like that. Come out from behind that tree, I'm not going to hurt you."
.................................................... When at last the boy poked his head out from behind the tree, he still seemed horrified, but a little bit more calm. "Uh... Y-your not?" Owl shook his head at the question...
Great... Just great... Way to make a dang fool of yourself in front of somebody new Gantz... Seriously way to go.
After taking a moment, he slowly walked out from behind the tree, a pale complexion being replaced by a completely red one. "S-sorry."
A shake of the head was the response. "Oh don't worry about it. I should have figured that you would be unnaccostumed to the Night Dimension... Granted, I didn't think you would be THAT unnaccostumed, but perhaps I should have taken greeting you slower." Gantz just kept his gaze averted, completely red in the face from embarassment. "Anyways, let us start over from the beginning." He took a second to clear his throat. "My name is Owl, and I welcome you to the Night Dimension."
The boy appeared to take that in a moment, letting the data soak in a moment. When at last that was done, his face brightened slightly. "Night Dimension? What's that?"
Owl smiled slightly. "Hooo-ooo! At least you ask the right questions. Such an inquisitive mind!" He appeared to think a moment. "Well to explain it to you properly; have you ever had an experience where you're sleeping and dreaming, and the dream in question suddenly feels a little more real then it usually is?" Gantz lifted an eyebrow; yeah, he had an experience like that not too long ago... "Well, that's because that dream is actually this world. Putting it simply, you are now standing in a world that only exists inside people's dreams."
Gantz considered this a moment; a world... That only existed inside a person's dreams?.. ... He supposed that given the ludicracy he had been a part of as of late, it was made abundantly clear that a lot weirder things were going to happen, so he supposed it shouldn't have surprised him that there was, indeed, a world that existed inside a person's dreams. "I see... ..."
"You are still confused I see." Wow, Owl was pretty good at reading people's expressions. "It's perfectly okay to be as such, many of our visitors are skeptical of this world's existance as well. The Night Dimension may seem to be a fantasy, but it's every bit as real as the 'Day Dimension', where you yourself came from."
Yeah, Gantz could see that. "But where did it all come from?" Gantz looked to Owl, giving him a curious look. "Has this world only recently been created, or has it always been here?"
Owl smiled again, this boy knew how to ask good questions. Even now he could catch hints that this boy was quite intelligent. "To be simple; this world has existed as long as humans have slept and dreamed. To say it's always been here would be the simple explanation. The only reason that this is your first time here is because you don't always visit this dimension when you dream. Many times when people dream, they retreat into their own fantasies, instead of coming here. I believe this is your first time in the Night Dimension correct?" Gantz nodded. "Well, likely you have been to caught up in your own dreams to ever discover it. But your here now, in any case."
Hearing this, Gantz started to think hard about this mysterious subject... At least, until his head started to hurt. "Ow... Head hurts..." At Owl's curious look, the boy chuckled. "Sorry, guess I was thinking about all this a little too hard..."
Owl chortled to himself. "Ah I see... Many visitors tend to do similar, just not to the point where they strain their minds. The fact that you did as such could mean that what you want most is to understand everything that crosses your attention correct?" Gantz had always been something of a nuts and bolts person himself, so that guess was pretty fair. In response, he nodded. "Good. That means your mind is open, fresh and ready to learn new things. And that, above all things, shows promise." He backed away from the boy, before motioning around. "How about I give a little tour of the Night Dimension? Maybe that shall help you along."
Yeah... Yeah a tour sounded pretty good. "Okay!" Gantz said with a little grin. "I think a tour would be welcome." Owl nodded and proceeded to motion for the boy to follow him...
'Whishhhh...'
Both Gantz and Owl stopped dead in their tracks when they heard that...
Quickly, they both turned to a nearby elm tree where the sound originated. They were aware that the branch's leaves seemed to be moving a little, as if a wind blew through...
Oh great... Here we go again...
Ever since meeting him, Gantz had made it a liable theory that it had been Owl who made that sound. But the fact that he was floating next to him, looking every bit as curious as he did immediately blew THAT theory out of the water. "Owl... What was that?"
After a moment, Owl appeared to calm down a little bit, sighing. "Oh I'm sure it was nothing... Now shall we begin the tou-" ZOOOOOOOOM!! "WAAAAACK!!!!!"
Moving too fast to be made out, a blur rushed between Gantz and Owl, startling the fire out of both of them. Gantz tried his best to follow what it was, but all he managed to see was the tail end of what appeared to be a trail of glittery dust, that the blur seemed to leave behind. When at last he moved fast enough to actually find the blur, it had just done a loop in mid-air, and turned right back at them.
That was the last thing he saw before his entire eye-sight was taken up by an odd looking humanoid creature wearing a purple jester hat, with big wide blue eyes, and an almost perpetual smile on it's face.
He floated there a moment, having stopped when he got right in front of Gantz...
"Boo."
................ About the only way to describe the look on Gantz's face, was that he looked like the moment had succeeded in making him wet himself...
And was it physically possible to pass out in a dream? Well, they'd have their proof if they saw the boy's eyes roll into the back of his head and fall over backwards.
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"NiGHTS! What were you thinking?!"
"Oh chill out, you senile old coot. I was just having fun with him. Didn't actually think he'd faint."
"That's your problem NiGHTS, you rarely EVER think your actions through. You'd better hope that this young man is okay..."
A groan was heard, before the blackness finally lights once more...
As Gantz pushed himself into a sitting position, he looked around in a dazed fashion... Was he back home?
"Looks like you don't need to worry anymore old man. Looks like he woke up."
The boy barely regained his wits fast enough, when ole Owl suddenly reappeared rushing up to him. "Oh! The young visitor! I'm elated to see you alright!" Obvious answer to earlier question; Heck NO.
Rubbing his head, the boy struggled to regain his wits even more. "Owl?" The old owl nodded slowly. "Did I pass out?" He didn't need to know the answer to that since he already knew, and given the circumstances, he was pretty embarassed that it happened.
"Indeed you did." Owl answered slowly, probably for Gantz's sake. "I didn't even know it was possible for a visitor to pass out in a dream though."
"You and me both." The boy answered back.
"You should've seen the look on your face when you did!"
The boy jumped three feet into the air before looking right up into the air. Owl did as well, sans the jumping part, since he already knew who it was.
In the spot where Gantz had heard the voice, there was, what appeared to be a somewhat tall and gangly looking creature wearing a mixture of purple and pink apparell. In detail, he appeared to wear purple spandex with a pink stripe around each foot, and a gold stripe on each side of the creatures body. Along with that, the creature wore a purple sleeveless vest with pink sleeves coming out each side, and on it's head was the purple jester hat that Gantz remembered from the creature that had scared the dickens out of him. "It was priceless!"
Sitting in a daze, Gantz continued to stare in disbelief, both in the creature itself, and the fact that it was FLOATING IN MID-AIR. "Wha-... How-..."
Owl meanwhile seemed a bit annoyed. "You have no reason to fear, that is only NiGHTS."
Well... There was a unique name...
"N-NiGHTS?"
"Yep!" Before Gantz could realize what had happened, NiGHTS was right in front of him, hovering in midair bowed down by his waist in a hunched over position, perhaps to get a better look at Gantz, whom's gaze of disbelief, had quickly changed to one of wonder. "Name's NiGHTS. Hope you'll forgive me for earlier." Shrugging a little, he/she smiled a little wider; one thing Gantz had to notice was that NiGHTS looked noticeably male, but his voice almost sounded female, so it was difficult to tell what gender he was, or, even, if he had a gender at all. Another interesting factor was that he had a noticeable red gem embedded into his chest. "But you see, usually visitors don't faint when I play around with them."
Gantz sweatdropped; he called almost giving him a heart attack, playing around?
"That's because this visitor is new to the Night Dimension NiGHTS." Owl, whom had been silent for a bit, seemed to recollect his composure, and flew up to the two. "He is still getting accustomed to everything."
NiGHTS perked up an eyebrow at that. "Ah, new huh?" Turning away, he/she let out a playful shame-faced grin. "Well I guess that explains the fainting part. I didn't even know visitors COULD faint while in the Night Dimension." A factor Gantz was quickly learning. "Anyways, if your new, I suppose I could show you around." He twirled back around, before giving the boy a curious look. "You have Ideya, right? If you do, you'll be able to dualize with me and I can give you the grand tour."
Surprise, surprise... Two OTHER new terms Gantz had never heard of before. "Ideya? Dualize? What... What are you talking about?"
A moment of silence came before Owl flew up, "Well you're asking the right questions at least. Now then..." He took a close look at the boy a moment. "I feel you do have an ideya or two left... Surprising since most visitors usually get all but one stolen when they have an encounter with a gang of Nightmaren."
Memories of what had happened earlier flew through Gantz's head. "Are... Are nightmaren creatures that appear in Nightmares?"
"Heh, boy do you ask a lot of questions." NiGHTS nodded to the question regardless, though one could tell he was getting antsy. "But sitting in one place for too long has never really fit me all that well. What do you say? I give you the grand tour, and I'll explain it on the way?"
Well, that sounded reasonable, Gantz supposed. "Well, okay... But what should I do if I should lose you?"
NiGHTS laughed at this question, while Owl cleared his throat. "That will be next to impossible if you dualize with NiGHTS." At the confused look, Owl shrugged. "Well, I could try to explain it, but that would take a very long time, and I fear you wouldn't fully comprehend it anyway. So it shall be easier for you to understand if you experience it yourself." He motioned to NiGHTS a moment. "Just take NiGHTS' hand. Trust me, you'll see."
................................. It was a very long moment, as Gantz looked to NiGHTS' hand and his own, hesitating for reasons beyond himself. After the moment ended, Gantz hesitantly raised his hand to NiGHTS', and took it...
FLASH!!!!!
[The Orchestra version of NiGHTS theme 'In the Nights' plays in the background.]
There came a blinding flash of light, causing Gantz to close his eyes...
When at last he found himself capable of opening them, he was surprised to find NiGHTS nowhere to be found. "Huh? Uh, NiGHTS? Where'd you go?"
There came a mischievous laugh... Out of his own mouth... And it didn't sound like his own voice. "Why don't you look down kiddo, learn for yourself."
Now officially creeped out, the boy looked downward... "WHOA!!!!!!"
Instead of seeing his own body, he was surprised to find that he was looking down at NIGHTS' body, as if it was his own. Lifting a hand to his face, he was even more surprised to find that NiGHTS' gloved hand responded to his movement. "What's... What's going on?!?"
"Hooo-ooo! Nicely done, young visitor! You're taking to NiGHTS' body very well." At the panicked stare, Owl smiled a little. "I had told you that it would take too long to explain how dualization works. But I suppose the simple explanation is that Dualization allows NiGHTS to 'fuse' with visitors, per sei. Allowing him control of their movement, and the visitors control over his. But even then, that explanation is too simplified and doesn't fully explain it."
So... He was now one with NiGHTS?
"Does... Does this mean that... Well, I saw NiGHTS doing it earlier but... Does that mean I can... Fly?"
NiGHTS chuckled some more. "Oh more then that. Here let me show you!"
Before Gantz could protest, NiGHTS, in complete control of both their bodies, flew through the air, dodging the trees and clearing their topmost branches with the greatest of ease. Once in more open air, NiGHTS flew forward at fast speeds clearing the floating island gate at somewhat fast speeds, before twirling around and started flying back. As they went, Gantz felt...
What was the word he was looking for? Terrified? Horrified? Scared out of his wits? Exasperated? Well maybe one of them worked... But at the same time...
He felt excited, as the wind blew on His/NiGHTS' face. So this is what true freedom tasted like!
"Hey Gantz! I'm giving you control now, I look forward to seeing how you do!"
At this, all of that excitement left him. "B-but how am I supposed to control it?!"
"Don't worry! Nothin' to it! Just believe you can, and you will! From there, the controls are simple!" There was a sudden scary moment, when he suddenly realized that they both stopped in mid-air. "Go ahead! Give it a whirl!"
It took one scary second to recollect his wits. After a moment, he willed himself to go forward... And that's just what happened. With new forward momentum, the boy was quickly back at the island. Smiling widely, he turned himself right, and the flight path followed his command easily keeping up. From up here, he could make out Owl amongst the the park's foliage. "Try a loop-de-loop!" NiGHTS laughed from where he observed inside Gantz's mind. Gantz took a moment to process this request before giving it a try. It turned out shakey, but not bad. With a little practice, he'd get it down pat. "You like it?"
"Are you kidding?! THIS IS AWESOME!!!!! WAHOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" He performed a barrell roll, as he whooped and cheered. What a way to gain more of a personality.
It was easily another half-hour before he finally returned to the Dream Gate, where Owl awaited the two of them. "May I say that was an impressive display young visitor! You took to flying quite well."
Gantz let out a couple of huffs and puffs, trying to catch his breath. Flight may not have taken too much physical exertion, but he had to admit, he couldn't help but show off by pulling off various tricks in mid-air, that he remembered seeing on a flight simulator game he had seen in Futuropolis once. "I have to say, it looks like you enjoyed that." Came NiGHTS' voice teasingly.
"Well can you blame me?"
"Nope! Not one bit!"
Looking at the two (Or rather, one with two souls) it almost surprised Owl a little bit. Their seemed to be very few differences in the two's personalities. Perhaps NiGHTS was just rubbing off on the boy. He took a second to clear his throat. "Yes, yes, very nice. Now if I may have your attention you two..." NiGHTS/Gantz turned to see what the old owl quickly after hearing that. "Take a look at what has occured while you two were out enjoying the sights." Motioning to the door to the northwestern side of the brick walkway of the Dream Gate central was what appeared to be a door that glowed with an otherworldly radiance.
NiGHTS eyes sparkled when he saw it. "Oh! A Nightopia! Awesome!"
Gantz meanwhile, looked at the door curiously. "A Nightopia? What's that?"
"Hooo-ooo!" Owl flew up hearing that. "Well, to put things simply; A Nightopia is a paradise that exists inside the Night Dimension. They are created by the visitors that visit this dimension, by their ideya. Likely when you started flaunting your ideya around, that created the door you see here." Seeing Gantz's curious look, he continued. "In a sense, you created this Nightopia, it's yours to visit."
The boy nodded, looking like he understood quite well. "Oh. Okay! Well, let's go check it out then! I've GOT to see this!"
NiGHTS nodded giddily in agreement. After a moment, the jester and the mechanic approached the door, and took a close look at the round stain glass window that was in the arch just above the door. Even though it was hard to tell in the window, it almost looked like a metal ferris wheel of almost futuristic design. "Looks like something you find at an amusement park. I was told about it by other visitors before..." Smiling widely, the jester appeared to get even more excited. "This place must be fun! Let's get a move on!" Gantz nodded in agreement, before the two of them opened the door and flew right into the light behind it...
From where he was left, Owl could only stare in bewilderment. Wow... That boy really WAS almost like NiGHTS... In a way anyways. Shaking his head, he went through the door himself, closing it behind him. They'd probably need a guide around the place, after he gave it a good clean sweep.
On the other side, Gantz was surprised to find himself seperated from NiGHTS, but knew the mishievous spirit was likely nearby somewhere. But that barely mattered as he looked at his surroundings...
He almost cried tears of joy when he realized where he was.
Many many years ago in Futuropolis, when Gantz was but a 8 year old kid, he and his parents visited a themepark somewhere outside the Futuropolis city limits, which was filled to the brim with rides that the boy wanted to ride on continually until he actually puked. Which he did... On several different occasions.
The area around him was one he recognized instantly. It was a gigantic amusement park filled to the brim with vibrant colors, and rides. In one corner of the area was a Ferris-wheel that touched the sky, A roller coaster that looked about as extreme as Gantz could ever picture one being, and a few other smaller rides just to put the icing on the cake. In another side, there was what appeared to be a great amount of stands, stalls, and games that was essential in areas like this. One of them was recognizably an arcade, the other, a rock-climbing game, another, one of those games where you test your strength by trying to ring a bell, and still, another with an inflatable arena where the object of the game was to knock your opponent off of a small platform out of two that stood on two opposite sides of the center, with batons topped with a rubber bat on one end, and a boxing glove on the other.
It was the place he'd always know... As the 'Fun-land Metropolis'.
"Hey! Gantz!"
The boy jumped into the air before realizing NiGHTS was floating next to him, snacking on what appeared to be a thing of cotton candy. "This place is awesome! And to think it's made from you! I'm impressed!" At the confused look, NiGHTS shrugged. "Usually Nightopia's are created to be an personification of the Visitor's character traits, or one of their memories. So it's like a picture of you in a way."
Oh yeah, that made a lot of sense. With this in mind, Gantz figured that this place was a picture of his fun-loving childhood... A Childhood he could never have again...
But one he was about to live through again anyways.
"I say we check this place out some more! What do you think?"
"Yeah! Let's!"
It took only seconds, before NiGHTS and Gantz were dualized once more, and flying through the air. Getting a birds-eye view of his childhood park was more then perfect. Feeling free and whisical was all he ever wanted. He almost wished that this would never end...
That was when a thought occured to him.
"Hey... NiGHTS?"
The Jester continued allowed Gantz to continue flying through the air, as he perked up an ear. "Something the matter, Gantz?"
At first, he didn't know how to respond. He took a quick moment, to think through what he was about to say. "I learned from Owl that the Night Dimension, and this Nightopia exist in dreams right?" NiGHTS nodded. "But... Doesn't that mean that sooner or later, I'm gonna wake up?"
NiGHTS nodded simply. "Yeah, pretty much."
... ... ... ... It took a moment, before a crestfallen Gantz sighed. "O-Oh... I see."
One wondered what NiGHTS would think about this, but in reality, he understood perfectly. "Don't want to leave eh?" He shook his head, as they continued looking around. "That's happened before."
"Then you understand what I mean." The boy continued to look on to the ground below him, a small smile on his face. "I mean, look at all the things I get to do while I'm here. I can relive my childhood memories as many times as I want, I've got you as a friend, and whenever we dualize I can actually fly through the air." He sighed a little.
It took the Jester a moment to register this, before he sighed. "Life not good on the other side for you I guess?"
Gantz winced. "No... It isn't that. You see... Not to long ago, my homeworld was destroyed and..." He motioned around after a moment of thought. "This was one of the places that was destroyed... And yet, here it is, before my eyes, as fun looking as I remember it being."
Honestly? The jester didn't know what to say at that; in all honesty, this was the first he had heard of other worlds, outside of the topic that the 'Night Dimension' and the 'Day Dimension' were seperate worlds themselves. "So, you can never see this place again? Wow... Brutal..." Looking around, he actually had to admit, he felt truely and completely sorry for the boy. "I wish there was something I could do to help you. No-one should have to suffer from stuff like that... It's little wonder why your bringing up the topic of not wanting to leave." He sighed a little. "But unfortunately, our fun in here is temporary Gantz. Sooner or later, Visitors have to wake up, that's the way of things. We can't change it." ... ... ... A smile played on the jesters face. "So let's make the most of the time you have now, shall we?"
That... Made sense... Sighing, the boy looked to NiGHTS once more, a smile on his face as well. "Th-thanks NiGHTS, that means a lot." He shook his head a second before looking back to the ground below. "Well in that case what should we do fir-"
Oh WHY did he stop?
"Hey..!"
NiGHTS stopped the flight quickly upon hearing that. "What? What is it?" The first theory NiGHTS had was that it was a Nightmaren, but there didn't appear to be one around, as far as he could tell... "What's wrong?"
Gantz pointed downward. "I..."
When NiGHTS looked himself, he noticed what appeared to be a shed that was decorated very VERY sparsely. Instead of being colorful, it was all silver, and just to make it all the stranger, it seemed to be grafitti'd all around with the words, 'Danger; KEEP OUT' the most prominent of all...
"I don't remember that being there a second ago... Or at all..."
Me: I'd go on with this chapter, but for two reason's I've decided to stop here. The first reason is simply because this chapter is getting too long and it was time to nip it in the bud. The Second reason is because the next scene, short and sweet, is abound with secrets of the fics secret history, and ultimately it would've revealed a factor that shouldn't be revealed until a lot later on in the story line.
(CRASH!!!!!! In the background, the gang was seen standing over a trashed automatic projection machine.)
Wally, Shin, MMSB, and PA: OH YEAH!!! WHAT!!!!
Me: (Sweatdrops.) Anyways, my apologies if this chapter seems a bit longwinded. But in retrospect, I had one to many things to explain in one chapter then one can possibly do without keeping the story from stopping a little while. Many of the explanations have been shortened, and even cut off to be shown later. Anyways, just to cap off today's chapter, I apologize that it took so long and I hope you enjoy this overly late chapter in any case. (Gives a peace sign.) You guys go and R&R while I see what I can do about getting this projection machine fixed...
Wally: Sorry Gantz. but it did attack us first.
Misty: I oughta kill those two robots... their always screwing things up SOMEHOW. How'd that machine get screwed up anyways?
Me: Apparently (Pulls out a golden mechanical arm, or at least it looked yellow enough to look gold.) It contracted a virus from this that made it go berserk.
Misty: Of course... (Cracks her knuckles.) Otto, I hope you don't mind, but I'm going next door to Nutcase's.
Otto: Whoever said you're going alone? (Cracks his knuckles as well.) I'll go with you.
Misty: (Grins.) Good, then we're on the same page then.
[Disclaimers;
NiGHTS, Owl, the Night Dimension, and the Dream Gate Sega (Most specifically Sonic Team.)