Ryo sighed when his vision came into focus and glanced to his right, smiling when the dog appeared beside him. He looked at the black ball; was this his life now? A moment later, Ryo watched as his team appeared in the room with him. "Hey, old man, how's it going," he greeted Jiro.

Jiro smiled. "Fine, thank you, how about you?"

Ryo gave him a thumbs up. "Can't complain too much, and hey, I didn't lose my job."

Jiro's smile brightened. "That's good." Jiro bowed his head. "I'm pleased to hear that, after all, it's my fault you're here."

Ryo huffed and shoved Jiro lightly. "I told you not to worry about that."

Yoko appeared in the room next and waved at them. "Hi, nice to see you both." They smiled in reply. Yoko bent down and slapped her thighs. "Hi puppy!" The dog bounded over to her, she tickled his head, and he licked her face. "I'm happy to see you too."

"That's disgusting," Yoko looked up and saw Nishi stood beside her; she stood up - still stroking the dog. "You know a mutt washes itself, right?"

Yoko huffed, "It's just affection, it doesn't have a disease."

"That you know of."

The group was silent for a moment.

"So," Ryo began, "you think it's going to be just us?"

"I'm not sure," Jiro replied.

Ryo moved over to the ball with a tilt of his head and then leaned against it. "Well, I've been thinking, black ball sounds kinda boring, maybe we should name it."

Yoko looked at him with a raised eyebrow and said, "You want to name the ball?" She couldn't help but grimace. "Why?"

Ryo shrugged. "Why not, it's sort of a big part of our lives at the moment, right?"

Yoko's facial expression didn't change. I bet he has a list of names in his pocket already; it's not a fricking baby!

Nishi placed his hands in his dark-red hoodie, and with a straight face, said, "I agree."

This certainly surprised Ryo, and he turned to the boy with wide eyes. "You do?"

Nishi looked at him with a slight grin. "I know, surprised me too."

Ryo coughed awkwardly and stepped away from the ball. "Okay, so what should we name it then?"

Nishi inclined his head as if the answer was on the ceiling, then he smirked. "There are rumors that government organizations hide advanced technology from their countries, some that are so sophisticated, they might actually be 'alien.'"

Ryo snorted, "Come on! You seriously think the government is behind this?"

Nishi sighed and leaned against the wall. "I didn't say that, but it would explain a lot."

Ryo frantically shook his head. "You're just riling me up; there's no way our government is behind this; it's too...irrational."

"And what makes you think it's our own government behind it?"

Ryo started to pale. "Stop it, it's just not possible, it's too out there; besides, nobody could see us while we were fighting those aliens and more to the point, no one has seen them either."

Jiro walked in between the two before an argument occurred. "There's a chance you're both right, but we should focus on trying to survive, and to do that, we need to work together."

Yoko nodded, "He's right, to be honest, I don't think we'll ever truly know what's going on or how this all happened."

Ryo scowled. "That doesn't bother you?"

"Yes, it bothers me, but staying alive is more important; if I really can get free when I reach a hundred points, why does it matter? The ball said it'll wipe our memory, so when I'm free, I'll be none the wiser again."

Ryo sighed, "I suppose you're right, but I still think it needs a name." Ryo folded his arms and frowned in thought. "Going by what Nishi said a minute ago, I know it freaked me out but, what about Gantz, that sort of means advanced technology, right? It's a bit urban I know."

Jiro nodded and clapped a hand on Ryo's shoulder. "Gantz, I think, will do fine."

Yoko looked at the topic of conversation. "But, is it the ball that's called Gantz, or the man inside it?"

Although Ryo completely disregarded his theory and then named the ball something relating to that annoyed him, Nishi didn't have a problem with the name. "The person inside is connected to the ball, so it's safe to say they're both Gantz, one in the same."

Suddenly, Gantz began to produce lasers, and Ryo jumped back slightly. "Holy shit, do you think it's giving us someone else?"

Nishi observed the formation. "Makes sense, it's probably replacing whoever died on the previous mission with new ones," he said as the person began to fully form.

It was a male, short, and average size, dressed in what looked to be navy, silk pajamas. "Where the hell am I?" He glanced around the room in confusion, noticing there were people with him. "Who are you?"

Jiro walked up to the man and cleared his throat, "There's not really any time to explain I'm afraid, you were brought here by that blackball-"

"Gantz," Ryo interrupted.

Jiro smiled briefly before his face became solemn. "Yes, you were saved and brought here."

The male blinked. "Saved, how?"

Yoko decided to help because the man looked on the verge of fainting. "Gantz can bring you here just moments before you die," she said.

The man paled considerably. "What are you talking about?"

"You died man," Ryo said bluntly. "Don't you remember?"

The male backed up against the window. "No, that's impossible, I just went to bed!"

Yoko raised an eyebrow. "That's the last thing you remember, going to bed?"

"Yes!"

"Sounds like he died in his sleep," Nishi commented off-handedly.

The man turned in his direction when he heard that particular news. "I can't be dead, I have an important story to publish!"

Nishi rolled his eyes; he genuinely had no problems with media coverage and reporters, but this situation wasn't normal, and he wondered if this man could get them in trouble.

The man pointed his finger in no particular direction and suddenly became hypertensive. "Oh, I know, this is a set up to stop me from leaking my story!"

Nishi then grinned when he realized. "I'd say someone stopped you all right."

"Well, you can't hold me here, I'm leaving right now!" The man walked over toward the balcony doors and reached for the latch. "What is this!" He turned around. "You can't hold me here, I have rights!"

Ryo tilted his head and asked, "Think he was murdered?"

Nishi couldn't help but chuckle. "Someone obviously didn't want him revealing what he had found out, probably had some advantage over someone. Perhaps they're the innocent ones, and he's just in it for the money; before you know it - the source is terminated."

Ryo scoffed, "Got it all figured out?"

Nishi shrugged.

"It wasn't like that! I'm not a bad person, I just wanted my story published!"

Jiro raised his hands to try and calm the man. "Please listen, there's not much time to explain," Jiro started, but the sound of the old exercise song interrupted him. "Oh dear..."

The previous players turned to the ball. "Too late," Nishi said.

The man began to panic. "Too late? Too late for what?"

Yoko stepped closer to Gantz and regarded the man with a slight smile. "Look, put everything you know to one side, soon we'll be told to kill some kind of alien and then the ball will open."

He stared at her blankly. "What?"

"Aliens, plural," Ryo corrected.

"Oh, right, aliens. Anyway, we get weapons and strange suits, but we haven't figured out a lot about them, but the weapons are real, and the suit provides good protection as far as we can tell."

The man stepped back with a shake of his head. "Are you all crazy?"

"I wouldn't bother telling him anything else," Nishi said. "It's obvious he's not going to listen."

Gantz displayed the information they needed to complete their next mission. "See, right there," Yoko pointed. "Gantz is telling us about the alien now."

The man turned to look at the ball and frowned at its strange dialect. "What kind of script is that?"

"Relax loud-mouth, it's really not that hard to understand," Nishi scoffed.

"Just replace the three's with E's," Yoko explained.

Please go and eliminate this alien, you bastards.

The weeper alien.

Traits: Fast.

Likes: Bombs.

"It's going to open now," Yoko said.

Even though the group expected it this time, Gantz opening so suddenly still made them flinch. "And - and you've all done this before?" The male said, noticing the group immediately reached for cases from inside the ball.

"Just the once so far," Yoko said and left the man's side with her suit and walked through the opposite door.

Jiro held up a case to the man. "Yuuma Daikei, that's you I'm assuming, you should put on the suit inside."

The man looked up when Yoko returned from the hallway; he caught a glimpse of the suit just as she placed her blue sweater over her head. "You've got to be kidding, don't you think you're all a little old to cosplay?"

"Might look that way, but this baby saved my life," Ryo said as he tapped the case with one hand before disappearing through the door.

"Sir, it's not a joke, you should really put on the suit," Yoko tried to say even though the man annoyed her.

Nishi sighed; he thought it was pointless to tell everyone about the situation. If the new ones can't figure it out for themselves, they aren't worth it.

Every player was now in their suits, including Daikei and even the dog - courtesy of Ryo. "He looks adorable," Yoko squealed, smiling down at the dog.

Nishi rolled his eyes and retrieved a small handgun and a GPS. "Why did you bother, he'll only run off like last time, we won't see him again until we're back here." The rest of the players grabbed their choice of weapons, not wanting to argue because they knew it was true.

The man stared at them in surprise. "You really intend to shoot someone with those?"

Ryo hoisted one of the larger guns against his shoulder, turned to Daikei, and said, "Hey, I don't like it either, but if you knew what's waiting for us, you'd be picking up a weapon too, it's kill or be killed bro."

Daikei gasped in shock, "I'm a pacifist!"

Nishi laughed, "Then you'll die within seconds."

Jiro shook his head. "Nishi, it's not wrong to refuse to kill for certain beliefs."

Nishi frowned because he knew Jiro was scolding him and started to shout, "It is when you're on the verge of getting torn apart!"

"I absolutely refuse to hurt anyone or anything! You're all insane!"

Nishi turned his attention back to the newcomer. "As opposed to all the people you hurt when you release those stories of yours?"

"I'm not - the public has a right to know what I find! I'm just doing my job."

"How can you claim to be a pacifist in your line of work; reporters never deny their actions, you're just a hypocrite."

"Stop messing with me kid, I'm a good person!"

Nishi grinned. "Whatever helps you sleep at night." He suddenly laughed, "But I suppose that didn't work either; otherwise, you wouldn't be here."

Ryo frowned and said, "You're kind of an asshole, ya know."

Nishi just snorted, "You were thinking it, I just have the guts to say it out loud."

Gantz eventually transferred them, and the team felt more capable than before. "Don't be alarmed," Jiro said to Daikei. "We're only being transferred outside."

The group observed their surroundings carefully, the streets were lit poorly, and the large open area gave them little chance to hide. Yoko gripped the gun tightly in her hand. "Where are we?"

"I don't know, but we're pretty close to the alien this time," Ryo replied as he looked at his transmitter, but as soon as the words left his mouth, the path close to them blew upward; gravel rained down around them, and they raised an arm to shield their eyes.

Nishi frowned at Ryo with a grit of his teeth and shouted, "Can you say warning!"

Ryo met Nishi's scowl. "That wasn't me!"

"Look!" Yoko pointed upwards; they follow her line of sight, and there above them was a small black ball.

Ryo took a bold step forward, watching as it hovered in the air. "It doesn't look like what Gantz showed us."

Jiro nodded. "I think it must have been what caused that explosion."

"It looks like that ball in the room," Daikei stuttered while hiding himself behind Jiro.

Nishi glanced at him in disgust. Leech, just like the other one. Nishi aimed his gun at the ball, two fingers on the trigger.

Daikei stepped from his hiding spot, staring up at the ball, and when the weeper lowered, two eyes suddenly appeared, followed by a white toothy grin. "It has a face!"

"That is one creepy-ass face," Ryo said as his hands twitched around his rifle, he was all for destroying the alien, but it had to attack first; at least that way, he could say it was self-defense. Black short spikes appeared next, expanding gradually from its round frame. "There's the resemblance to the alien Gantz showed us."

"How ironic," Jiro chuckled. "Its name is weeper, so the game minesweeper suddenly fits."

Ryo pulled a face. "How can you joke at a time like this. Wait, aren't they those weird little bomb things from that late eighties game?"

Jiro chuckled again, "Well, I don't think its intention was to take on that persona, it's just that's what it looks like."

"It doesn't matter," Nishi interrupted them, aiming his gun again. "It's a bomb, and if we don't blow it up, it will be us that does."

"No, don't," Daikei protested, and before Nishi could fire the weapon, he grabbed the boy's arm. "You can't, it has a face, it's alive!"

Nishi gritted his teeth and tried to yank his arm free. "Get off!"

"Daikei stop it," Jiro said. "We don't like it either, but it has to be this way; you have no idea what that thing could be capable of."

Nishi clenched a fist when Daikei tried to wrestle the gun from his hand. Is he trying to get us all killed?

"I think it's going to attack," Yoko stammered, her eyes fixed on the alien. "It looks angry now." She pulled the small gun from her jacket and aimed.

Nishi growled at Daikei, "If you didn't interfere, it'd be dead now!" He yanked his hand away and aimed the gun once again at the weeper.

"Lookout!" One of the spikes suddenly shot toward them, narrowly missing Ryo's foot. They encircled it, weapons at the ready, and Daikei waved his arms at them to stop. The end of the guns opened in an x shape and white energy formed as they pulled the trigger; evidently, they succeed, but when black goo splattered those closest, it was unclear who made the kill shot.

Daikei shook in disbelief and looked ready to cry. "You killed it, you actually killed it."

"No thanks to you," Ryo scolded before Nishi got the chance. "Did you not see what it could do to us!"

"There's still two more," Jiro said, looking at his GPS as he ignored the squabble. "And the final alien might not even be one of them." Jiro looked up at his team and said, "We should split up."

Ryo immediately protested, "Are you crazy!"

Jiro simply smiled in response; he liked Ryo but sticking together wasn't always going to work. "It will cover more ground."

Nishi placed the GPS in his pocket. "Agreed, besides, there's a time limit, or did you forget that part?"

Ryo sighed; he knew they were right. "Yeah, okay, I guess that's the best plan."

"Nishi and Shin, you stay with me, after all, I am the oldest and it should be my duty to keep the young safe."

Nishi scoffed at the comment; the old man knew full well he could take care of himself. "I think you need to reevaluate what splitting up actually means."

Jiro laughed, "Oh, force of habit, sorry about that lad, I certainly meant no offense." Nishi reminded Jiro of one of his young, aggressive soldiers back in the day. "But I was a soldier of war, you know, I do have experience." Nishi relented with a pout and turned his head; apparently, they now had a leader.

Ryo was suddenly aware that if Nishi and Yoko stayed with Jiro, that meant - "Are you seriously going to leave me with him?" The three other members looked at him without a shred of pity. I can't believe they're ditching me. What the hell? I thought we were a team! Ryo sighed again, "Whatever, you guys suck."

"Okay, be careful, Ashi, keep your guard up." Jiro held his rifle tightly and smiled with amusement.

Ashi tightened his grip on his own gun. "If I die, one of you will wish me back, right?"

"Fat chance," Nishi said without hesitation.

Yoko gave him an apologetic smile, and Jiro just turned around and walked away. "Oh yeah? Well screw you too!" Ryo turned and walked in the opposite direction. "Assholes."

Daikei watched Ryo walk away before running to catch up. "Erm, where are we going?"

"To find the other aliens," Ryo grunted.

"But, I thought you beat it already."

Ryo looked over his shoulder. "In the last game, there was more than just one."

"So, what can you really tell me about all this?"

Ryo frowned. Was Daikei really trying to interview him now? "Not much, I'm afraid." Why do I have to get stuck with this guy?

"This just can't be happening."

Ryo huffed a laugh, "Believe me, I was totally shitting myself last time, and while this is only my second time, I'm at least more-" Ryo stopped talking and stilled his movements.

Daikei gulped and grabbed Ryo's arm. "What's wrong?"

"There's one ahead." Ryo tightened his hold.

Daikei peered over Ryo's shoulder. "What do we do?"

Ryo watched the red dot move closer to their location; he slid the device under his sleeve into the holder on his wrist and gripped his weapon with both hands. "If you're not prepared to kill this thing, then stay out of the way." Before they knew it, the weeper was right in front of him. Oh shit, why me. The ball shot spikes like before, and then suddenly, something flew out of its mouth.

Nishi fired his weapon four times, but the ball zig-zagged across the air, avoiding his aim. "Fuck!"

"It's too fast," Yoko shrieked; Jiro moved to the side, but a black spike impaled his leg. "Sugihara!" Yoko ran to help her companion, but the weeper drifted up, taking Jiro with it.

Nishi narrowed his eyes and gripped the gun; Jiro let out a scream when the alien whisked him around. Stay still, you fucker. Jiro bit back another scream and fired his weapon aimlessly. Nishi's eyes widened when three simultaneous explosions hit the ground; Nishi and Yoko raised their arms up. Damn, he's going to kill us. On the fourth shot, the ball made a shrill noise and exploded.

Yoko ran to Jiro's side when he dropped to the ground, worry etched on her face. "Are you okay?"

Jiro opened his eyes in surprise. "I'm alive...?"

Yoko smiled, "Yes! Yes you are!" She hugged him as he struggled to sit up.

"I'm glad you're happy about that," Jiro chuckled.

Nishi rolled his eyes and looked at his transmitter but was relieved the old man was still alive, though he'd never admit it. "One more to go," he commented before noticing a red dot missing from Ryo's location. "Shit." So he's obviously got one, and the old man, which means they both gained points, this one has to be mine. Time is running out.

"Can you stand?" Yoko held her hand out to Jiro.

"I - think so."

While Yoko aided Jiro, Nishi swiped across the directional buttons on his GPS, and the screen suddenly changed its display, and in capital letters, it read: STEALTH MODE. His eyes glinted with curiosity, but he hesitated, unsure whether to risk it.

Yoko draped Jiro's arm over her shoulder. "Nishi, are there anymore, Jiro's leg is pretty bad." The lack of response caused her to turn around. "Nishi?" There was a sudden fuzz of electricity, and soon enough, Nishi appeared in front of them again. Yoko's eyes grew wide. "How'd you do that?"

Nishi looked at the transmitter in shock. "This thing, it's more than just a map, it seems."

"How extraordinary," Jiro said. "Where were they back in my day."

Nishi grinned up at them. "I think I just found our advantage."

"What do you mean?"

Nishi didn't answer Yoko's question and said, "Meet me there," before disappearing again.

"You shouldn't go off on your own," Yoko tried to say, but sighed, too late.

"Brave boy," Jiro complimented.

Yoko huffed. "Will you stop encouraging him, geez."

Jiro chuckled.

As the two made their way to the location Nishi had set, they heard a shuffling noise and slowly turned to the sound; Yoko gulped. "What was that?"

From the shadow of the streetlamp, a figure appeared, still shuffling, and as they glanced down, the sound of something dripping on the floor echoed in the near-silent street. "Hey...guys."

It was Ryo.

Yoko started to panic. "Ashi, what happened!"

Ryo fell to his knees, his arm hung by a muscle thread. "Next time, you guys get the newbie," he groaned, not quite believing he had almost lost another limb.

Jiro's anger surfaced as he asked, "Where is Daikei now?"

"Is he dead?" asked Yoko.

Ryo gritted his teeth. "No! The little shit ran off after we got attacked, I saved him from that spike thing, because I felt sorry for him, and he totally ditched me! The prick."

"He's scared, I suppose."

"Scared my ass, he saw his opportunity to escape, and he left me to die, only by fluke I managed to blow the thing up before it could finish me off, but I dropped my big weapon." Ryo then noticed Jiro's condition. "Are you okay, old man?"

"I will be," Jiro replied.

"Where's the kid at, he okay?" While Ryo always argued with Nishi, he wanted the boy safe.

"He's fine, at least we think so," Yoko replied hesitantly and looked to Jiro for help.

"You think? What's that's supposed to mean, where is he?"

Jiro almost smiled in amusement at Ryo's concern but answered his question. "Nishi discovered something on the transmitter, it has some kind of cloaking mechanism."

Ryo grinned at the new information. "It turned him invisible? Sweet!"

Yoko chuckled. "He told us to meet him at the alien's next location, so we should catch up with him soon, if the alien is as big as the last one, he might need our help."

…

"I can't believe - he - ditched - me," Ryo said between shallow breaths; he knew he was lagging behind.

Yoko and Jiro stopped and turned back. Yoko asked, "Are you okay to keep going?"

Ryo smiled. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

Yoko covered her mouth when she saw his condition had worsened. "But your arm, it's-"

"Yeah, I know, it kinda fell off," Ryo chuckled lightly despite his pain. "Come on, let's go find the kid."

Yoko and Jiro carried on ahead while Ryo shuffled along behind them.

"We're almost there, I think we just turn the next corner," Yoko said as she looked at her device.

The two men followed Yoko's lead, and as they turned the next corner, they found themselves staring up at a giant, round, black blob; it wasn't solid like the small weepers, and there were no signs of any spikes. "Gross," Ryo remarked as he leaned against the wall.

Yoko checked around the immediate area. "Where's Nishi?"

"I don't see him," Jiro replied with worry.

"Well, he did discover that cloak thing, he's probably here, but we just can't see him," Ryo said as he stared at the blob in front of them. "Hey, that thing doesn't have a face this time, have you noticed that?"

"We should shoot it, right?" Yoko aimed her gun to the top of its body, and suddenly, its jellified frame slithered extensively, allowing them to see red eyes and a mouth that dripped with saliva.

"Okay, it still has a face!" Ryo grimaced; just looking at the odd grin was enough to give anyone nightmares. "I think you should shoot it now!"

Jiro turned to the only other capable team member and said, "Ready Yoko?"

Yoko nodded, but she couldn't help but worry. "But, where's Nishi?"

"We'll find him, but we need to kill the blob first."

The two aimed their weapons high into the air, but before they pulled the triggers, the alien exploded, and black goo covered the area.

Yoko ducked. "What's happening!"

"You guys are awesome, keep going," Ryo cheered.

"That's not us," Jiro corrected.

Yoko smiled when she realized. "It's Nishi, it has to be!"

More of the alien's black goo blew outward, and they watched with fascination when electricity surrounded the rest of the alien before a rain of black goo covered them. Yoko dropped to her knees, the smell was unbearable, and she covered her mouth.

"It's gone," Ryo sighed in relief.

"Then it has to be over," Jiro said.

Yoko looked up when a familiar figure appeared. "Nishi?"

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