"This is a one-way door to the outside world. I'm going to destroy it so no one will ever be able to leave again."
"...Oh, so you're that kind of parent. Y'know, you could just adopt. I'm sure any kids around here would love to have those pies all the time!"
She flung out her arm, and Joseph's advance past her was forcefully halted by an invisible something fazing into reality and smacking him in the face. "You may joke now, but you don't know how serious this is. If you leave, they...Asgore will kill you. I have seen this time and time again."
As JoJo stretched his legs and drew his hand back to push himself up, he could have sworn he saw a spectral figure, yellow wings outstretched to form a barrier against all passage. Then, it vanished. More magic, no doubt. So he probably did see it.
"And how long ago was that? Decades? Centuries? Look, I'm sorry for your loss, but I'm not staying here. I've got places to be, and I'm not a little kid you can push around!"
At that last line, Joseph drew himself up to his full height and looked Toriel over, already trying to find some weakness or way he could get out of this without having to beat up a little old lady to get back to his family. That wouldn't sit well with him, obviously.
Toriel stopped short of the aforementioned door, and sighed heavily. Slowly, she turned around, barely noticing that Joseph was, in fact, as tall as she was. Even though he may have been older than most of the humans that ended up here, he certainly didn't act like it. And he was an innocent: were she to let him go as she did all the others, nothing in the Underground would be able to save him from dying at Asgore's hand. Just like all the others.
"So, you truly want to leave?"
"Wanting has nothing to do with it. I'm leaving. And you won't stop me!"
"Then prove it."
Toriel's fist clenched. Then, it opened, fire blazing from her clawtips and in her palm. From a handful of flames sprung an enormous nimbus of fireballs, surrounding her in a dazzling and awesome display of light and magic. Behind her, the air began to flicker, as the winged, angelic creature reappeared.
"Prove to me that you are strong enough, clever enough, good enough to survive."
Joseph's eyes slowly blinked open as the dull soreness in all his muscles wrenched him from dreamland and dragged him back to the waking world.
"So, she had the same power that Papyrus has." He stared down at his hand, and his mysterious ally's arm flickered into view next to his own. "Or, I suppose, the same power I have."
He had never believed in magic before this all started. Real magic, that is: growing up, he had always been amazed with street magicians and their sleight of hand. He had always loved practical jokes as a kid, and learning ledgerdemain elevated him to something of a legend in the schoolyard. It also got him into a lot of trouble, but it was worth a few days of detention to show up some smarmy smarter-than-you teacher who delighted in the misery of tormenting his classmates.
But around the time that he met a talking flower that tried to kill him and a walking goat lady who could throw fire that didn't actually burn things, he immediately began to reconsider. He never expected to develop that kind of power himself.
Yet JoJo knew such monologuing would have to come later. Namely, as his mind cleared from the grogginess all people (human or monster) have upon first awakening, he remembered his immediate goal in between his memories and musings: getting home.
He did remember something vaguely after his fight with Papyrus and the pain that had been afterwards: apparently he was safe and sound, which was good to know.
But that, and all other big ideas, vanished the moment he slid to the edge of the couch and looked into the semi-reflective screen of the old CRT-TV on the other side of the living room.
He looked at the lanky, svelte, and distinctively not muscular young man the surface reflected.
Joseph Joestar's eye twitched.
And a floor above him, Sans was rudely awoken from a sound sleep of twelve-plus hours by a wall-shaking yell of "OH MY GOOOOOOD!"
Monster Oddyssey
Chapter 2:
In Which JoJo and Sans go to White Castle, Papyrus Becomes an Astronaut, and the Sound Barrier is broken to itty bitty pieces.
"oh, hey. Thanks for waking me up, jojo."
Joseph was cut short from a frustrated and aggravated rant by the sudden realization that Sans was sitting right next to him. He had not been there the moment prior, but now he was, like a rainstorm in the spring.
"Where the hell did you come from?" he asked, deciding to compartmentalize his laundry list of complaints for later. Muscles grew back, over time. And honestly, it's not like he used them much. He preferred making enemies beat themselves over a straight slugfest. It was more the principle of it, honestly. Oh, and the pain.
"my room. or my house. or the underground. how specific should i be?"
JoJo rolled his eyes. "You know what I meant. You just showed up in the blink of an eye. I didn't see or hear any doors open, and this couch is a great viewpoint for the rest of the house, so I would have. More magic? Like that spirit I figured out how to conjure before?"
"stands ain't magic. they're…" Sans tapped at his bony chin throughtfully, trying to think of how to explain this complex topic in layman's terms. "different. they can't do as much, but they are really good at what they do. Like mustard."
"…what?"
Seemingly ignoring his confusion, Sans looked upwards, towards the house's other bedroom. "tell you what. i'm hungry, and i wanna make sure by brother doesn't blow up from his own stand. I'll check on him, and then I'll answer your questions over lunch at grillbys. my treat."
Well, he wasn't going to get answer so quickly out of someone who was somehow lazier than he was. "Alright, alright. I was going to finish up the comic I had with me anyways-it was one of the only things I had on me when I fell down here." He reached down to his bag, lying at the side of the couch.
"Do you read comics? I know you guys don't get much of that down here…or much of anything, because of the [Barrier] I keep hearing so much about…but I'd like to think that superheroes are one of those things that cross all cultural boundaries. There's something about the lead triumphing over a stronger foe by using their wits and
JoJo trailed off as he immediately realized his mistake in taking his eyes off of Sans, "…you're already gone, aren't you?"
The monster did not respond. Likely because he was no longer there. Out of the corner of his eye, Joseph could see the door to Papyrus's room swing shut with nary a squeak to be heard from the well-oiled hinges.
Bones creaked as he stirred from a fitful sleep into a painful waking world. Not out of any pathos or depression, because he felt much better after his rest. No, his bones were just sore. They creaked in distress, and they felt…swollen? Did the human get snow stuck in his battle body in their fight?
"oh, hey bro. good to see you're up."
Papyrus's eyesockets flared to life as he heard the telltale voice of his lazy brother enter the room. Presumably, the rest of his body followed it in.
"…Sans?" Papyrus croaked out, slowly and painfully rising from his prized bed-car. "What…How long was I out?!" He demanded, suddenly snapping back into his usual energetic state. "Do you have any idea what I could've gotten done in whatever time I've been napping?!"
"not much. I mean, the human wiped the floor with you. and i think whatever he did to you at the end left you outta commission for a while." He was suddenly at the other end of the room, having apparently been too lazy to walk over and sit in Papyrus's desk chair.
"Wait…the human is gone?" Papyrus interrupted.
"uh-"
"No. No I'm not."
Papyrus nearly jumped out of bed when the human walked into his room. He looked-
"Gah! Human, what happened to your bulk?"
"Oh, is that all you noticed?" a much lankier and skinner human muttered, drawing his belt tighter in an effort to keep his pants up. "I thought you'd see more than that! I cut my hair, I shaved, I even remembered to floss…but no, you go straight to the body! How shallow!"
His expression softened a little. "Alright, what I think happened is that I used my invisible friend back there to give you some of my muscle mass to stop you from dying. Like a bone marrow transfusion…except all at once. With no painkillers. You're welcome."
"I…don't really remember what happened. So…we came to a draw? Ha! Impressive you were able to equal the great Papyrus!"
"Hey, what are friends for if they don't challenge each other?" he said, smirking.
"…friend?" Papyrus asked, quietly. "…You're my friend?"
"Better us friends then having to kill each other, so sure. Friends."
"WOWIE!" Papyrus leaned forwards in exuberance, ignoring the bed's dangerously loud creaks of distress. "Who knew all I had to do to make friends was-"
A storm of sudden movement and the sharp snapping of hardwood forcefully cut Papyrus off, as his bed collapsed under his weight. Right alongside the floor.
The three of them didn't move at first. JoJo and Sans looked down at Papyrus. Papyrus looked up at the others from his position atop the pile of rubble that had formerly been his bed and part of the ceiling.
"Saaaaaaaans!" he finally screamed, rising from the rubble. "I TOLD you to use better construction materials when we built the house all those years ago! You skimped on costs again, didn't you?!"
"uh, actually I did use the right wood." Sans scratched the back of his skull, barely holding back a chuckle or four. "looks like you got heavier, bro. guess jojo was right about the 'mass transfusion' thing."
"Argh! Do you know how difficult it was to build this thing?!" Papyrus continued to gripe, as he rose higher to his full height. "To find the right kind of rubber for the tires, which are now punctured? To find the right size of metal scrap to make the axles? To-"
"To realize you're floating?" JoJo interrupted.
Papyrus abruptly stopped, and looked down. He was still rising. As in, rising into the air. "Oh. So I am, huma-er, JoJo. I don't recall learning levitation spells."
"you didn't" Sans replied, looking behind him as Papyrus experimentally tried to flap his arms to fly higher. And only succeeding in making himself look silly as he still gently and gradually ascended higher. "guess we know what your stand does now."
"Alright, you got me," Joseph admitted as he stared at the titan who had manifested itself behind Papyrus. "I'd understand my [Stand] well enough if it were just your usual magic you monsters use. But if that…zombie in armor and a top hat and basketballs…is somehow the same thing as mine, I have to know the answer to that." He laughed. "I think I'll have that lunch now."
"okay." Sans walked forward. He then fell through the new hole in the floor, brushing off the rather large fall with no reaction and heading to the door. "what temperature do you want your burgers? the cook's made of fire, so i hope you like well-done."
"Grillbys again?" Papyrus said, sighing. "I don't care if they've started using magic instead of reused human oil to fry everything, it's still not good for you!"
"Hey, I feel like I havem't eaten anything in days," Joseph countered. Exprimentally, he climbed onto the stairwell's railings and slid down, pleased to know his unintentional makeover hadn't affected his balance. "If it's edible and tastes like food, I'm game."
"…wait a moment. Sans, how do I get my Stand to stop?" Papyrus asked, still floating higher.
"I guarantee, kid. You'll like it, or your money back."
"Sans, how do I get down?!"
"If you're paying, what good is that guarantee?"
"HOW DO I GET DOWN?!"
"touché, jojo." Sans paused as JoJo walked out the door and he prepared to follow. "bro, you're the one who always insists on doing the crosswords and other puzzles in the paper on your own. you can figure this out yourself. if not…we'll be back in a half hour or so."
Papyrus silently fumed as Sans closed their front door.
"…if only I could remember how those humans moved in space in that one movie," he muttered to himself, still flailing helplessly in midair.
The bar erupted into a chorus of "hellos," "hi!," and other forms of greeting as Sans and JoJo entered the pub in the middle of town.
Sans greeted them all in turn, then continued onward.
"Lot of dogs here," JoJo noted as the two strode to the bar and took some stools near the register. "They just like you 'cause they want to chew your bones up?"
"not quite, buddy. i just give them the food scraps i don't eat."
The walking shape of fire and flames emerged from the kitchen, noting Sans was there with a few embers and crackles of greeting. He took the pair's orders and returned to the kitchen.
"I think you promised to explain how those [Stands] are different from the magic I've seen all other monsters use?" JoJo asked.
"yep, i sure did. this'll need props. pass me the mustard and ketchup?"
Though he had no idea where the skeleton was going with this, JoJo retrieved the condiments from an empty table via Synchronicity and handed them to Sans. He tried to ignore how most of the attendants of the poker game the next table over were now barking at his Stand. The Lesser Dog (according to his nameplate) even tried to sniff the apparition, only to whine in disappointment when it faded away.
"think of it like this." Sans moved the twin bottles of ketchup and mustard and placed them in front of him. "ketchup is magic. it makes anything you put it on taste better, and you can put it on anything you want because every place has it. but it can't make much taste great: only really good."
He pointed to the mustard next. "now, stands are mustard. they're rarer than ketchup and not everyone has them. and if it's spicy mustard, not everyone can handle it, and won't be able to keep the food down. but it can make things great, and can do things most pro magicians'd need centuries of practice to pull."
"…You know, that actually makes sense," Joseph remarked as the bartender returned with their food. "But there's more to it, isn't it? When my Stand was tearing through those bones out there, I felt those punches on my hands. That's not like all those magic bullets I was pelted with since I landed here, right?"
"yep. stands aren't just a projection of you: they are you. it's your SOUL given form. so, if something happens to your stand, it happens to you." Sans proceeded to dump the entire container of ketchup on his fries and chowed down on the vegetable mess. "that's the most important thing to remember: if your stand gets hurt, so do you."
"Heh…I figured it was too good a deal to come without some drawbacks." The human said. "Always two sides to a coin. Unless you count the edge: people always seem to forget about that in coin flips."
"also, a stand's range is connected to its power. so, if your stand can only do stuff really close to you, it'll be super strong to compensate. and vice-versa with the other way around." Sans slowly swrilled his class of ketchup (how much could a single person have in one sitting, anyways?). "that's pretty much it. though…there's something else I wanted to ask you."
Shrugging, JoJo dug into his burger, shivering slightly as a customer's exit left the door open for the freezing cold to enter. "Shoot."
"have you ever heard…of a [talking flower?]"
Outside the bar, Doggo whined softly as he closed the door and stumbled outside, the door vanishing behind him as it went still. Bad enough that he was losing the poker game and sending most of his weekly paycheck down the drain, but the cravings had to kick in now, too?
He really had picked the wrong week to give up smoking dog treats.
Grumbling, the canine-esque monster snapped his paw to produce a spark (red magic had never been his best spells-he always ended up setting himself on fire if he did more than a candle's worth of flame. A shame, since it helped to see his way around late at night, when everyone slept still).
As he made his way to the back of the building, he brought up the dog treat to the sparks, setting it ablaze.
He took a deep drag from the foodstuff, and coughed as the pseudo-narcotic kicked in. But as he took a second puff, something moved far behind him.
"WHOZZERE?!"
He barked, turning in circles several times. But the blur of motion had faded, leaving behind only the cold, clear night around him. Slowly, his ears lowered, and he relit his treat.
But the moment he tried to take another drag, another burst of movement blazed through town, this time closer to him.
"MOVED AGAIN!" he yelped. But then, nothing.
"I said I'd quit tomorrow!" Doggo whined, self-conciously hiding the rest of the pack of treats behind his back. "Knock it off!"
For the next few moments, he didn't see anything else. He turned back around again, relighting and partaking in another puff of smoked dog treat.
But no matter how much of the smoke he inhaled, he couldn't help but stop shivering.
Whoever was moving had left…right? But why could he still hear laughter? Surely there was no one there?
He growled in frustration, Must have been an echo or something.
Long echo, though. It just kept getting louder. Was that how it worked? He would have to ask Greater Dog later-he was pretty smart.
Doggo grunted as the treat blew out again, as the wind picked up out of nowhere. A burst of sound-the booming noise of wind picking up out of nowhere, he guessed-had blown it out.
He held the treat and his paw out in front of him, and lit it.
And that, with a burst of orange, was the last thing Doggo ever saw. Forever.
"A [talking flower]?" JoJo shoved the last of the burger into his mouth and started washing it down with the can of soda Grillby had just placed on the countertop. "I met a talking turnip or something in the Ruins—where I was heading from when I saw you at the gate. But something tells me that's not the kinda flower you mean."
Sans noticed that JoJo's empty hand was clenched into a fist, and his brow was furrowed in some deep emotion. Frustration, maybe?
Sans looked around. Left, then right. Then, one of the dots of light in his eyesockets faded to nothingness—the other eye glowing a piercing blue, he looked at the floor. "okay, we're clear. if he'd been here, i would have had to talk about echo flowers instead, so he wouldn't know he's onto us. Seeing how your mood just backflipped, you know who i mean, don't you?"
"The first thing I met when I fell down here was a talking flower. Called himself [Flowey]. You know him too, don't you?"
"so we're cutting right to the chase, huh?" Sans waved Grillbys over and ordered a glass of the hard stuff. He'd need a pick me up if he were going to talk about that thing for long. "yeah, i've seen it, a few times. Lurking around the house, around where I used to work at New Home, and even in waterfall—the next town over—now and again.
"for now, I'll skip over how he's a total jerk with no respect for anyone else and probably murdered someone recently. He's dangerous, buddy. He's got enough magic to blow a hole in a human being with one flick of a petal. And that would be bad enough. But it may have a [stand] as well. A really strong one."
"…Yeah, that's definitely him," Joseph agreed. "So, what're you trying to say? That he's a gigantic prick? That he's going to try and kill me? I knew that already. Believe me. I know. He tried, and he came closer than anyone else yet."
"i'm saying to be careful, kid." Sans got up from his seat and tossed a bag of gold onto the counter. "look, i like ya. you laugh at my jokes, and you saved my brother's life. so i won't beat around the bush: be careful. listen around you—i can feel a storm coming. watch out for the thunder, and be ready for that thing to pull something. keep that stand of yours strong."
"Wait a sec, that reminds me of something else I wanted to know," Joseph said, whirling around in his seat, this time managing to catch Sans before he mysteriously disappeared again. "How do you know so much about Stands, if they're as rare as you said down here? Do you have one of your own?"
"oh." Sans paused mid-step out the door, and turned around. "well, to tell you the truth, i—"
He was interrupted by a yelp of agony outside, and then a cracking sound, as if someone had smashed a window to a thousand pieces.
The entire bar fell silent. The bird sitting in the rafters ceased its song, the dogs playing poker in the corner instantly stopped their yipping and boastful bluffing, and even the drunken rabbit trying to flirt with the inanimate plant sitting in the corner of the room froze.
"Eh…someone break something?" Joseph said, shattering the silence. "It's a bar. Things break all the time in these. Speaking from experience."
Lesser Dog was the first to move from their place, bounding outside to check on what had disturbed this peaceful and normal enough night. And mere moments later, the group heard him howl in anguish.
Joseph was the last one out the door, deciding to follow only after everyone else had left the bar to avoid being trampled by the pack of dogs swarming out of the tavern.
He peeked above the shoulders of the Dogi couple. At first, all he could see was a pile of dust on the ground.
"That's it?" he asked. "It sucks if the vacuum or dustpan broke, but you could just get—"
And then he noticed the pile of empty clothes the dust had enveloped, and the still-smoking dog biscuit that had fallen to the floor.
Immediately the civilian bar patrons broke into a frenzy, screaming in terror and panic. Luckily, the fact that enforcers of the law were already present stopped a drunken and fearful riot from breaking out.
Quickly, around a dozen constructs of magical dogs sprung into reality in a circle around Doggo's remains, creating a makeshift police cordon. The Dogi began barking orders to secure the area and find the culprit-meanwhile, their boss began to bark to the people, advising the growing crowd to either return to their homes or stay in groups to avoid what looked and smelled like something dangerous.
"huh. One shot?"
JoJo glanced sideways, noticing Sans near the back of the crowd.
"hey, question. You seemed to have done your homework on monsters, right?"
"Yeah, there…there was a couple of books about monster biology and stuff in the library, when I stopped for lunch yesterday before Papyrus." Ripping his eyes away from the disturbingly corpse-less crime scene in front of him (which was somehow freakier than if an actual dead body were there), he turned around to look at the skeleton. "But it was like thirty pages long, so I used the Wi-Fi to see a video on it instead. Crappy production values, but it was good enough."
"okay, so you know that monsters use magic to talk and express emotions and all that jazz?" Sans tilted his head, then jerked his thumb at the crime scene. "and you know we use it to fight, too. you know monsters are way more resilient to magic than you. so if a monster tried to kill another monster, it'd take way longer than one hit."
"You're suggesting that a human killed him, then." Joseph blinked in confusion. "But I thought I was the only one down here?" he asked, lowering his voice to make sure none of the employees of the state would realize Public Enemy Number One was right in front of them. "That's why you guys wanted to capture me, right?"
"your SOUL, and the other six human SOULs, are what we need to break down the [barrier]." Sans's eyes faded, then reappeared, in an approximation of a long blink. "and the other SOULs should still be in new home under lock and key."
"Should be." Joseph groaned, then massaged his temples, trying to pre-emptively take care of an oncoming headache. "So, on top of half the monsters trying to kill me, now we've got a serial killer stirring up more panic? That might be an escaped ghost or six?"
"sounds like it. But, hey. We beat them once, right? It's how they ended up locked up in the first place. So someone'll just beat them again. Nothing to worry about."
"I…guess so." Knowing how many near-death experiences he'd had in the last few days alone, JoJo could attest to monsters being able to defend themselves against humans. At least, when they weren't victim to a sneak attack like that poor puppy or something. "Well, much as I hate to go, I do have to get going. Granny Lucy must be worried sick about me. Why don't we head back to your place, I'll grab my stuff, and I'll be on my way?"
"works for me. 'sides, if our culprit shows up again, papyrus can handle him. He could handle you after all."
"Really? I won that fight, you know!" JoJo complained as the two set off. "I just collapsed after saving his life! Sure, he was tough and all, but I won!"
As the two talked and walked away, neither noticed the entity on the rooftops with the pulsing orange aura surrounding its body. Not that they would have: it was gone for but a moment, before it vanished into thin air.
"So…you must be the 'strong and silent' type I've heard so much about!"
Papyrus's Stand said nothing. The zombie-like construct merely floated in place, standing parallel to its master as he turned upside down from his ill-thought out attempts to get down sent him upside-down.
"Don't worry! I, the Great Papyrus, can do enough talking for the both of us!" Papyrus stopped talking for a moment, scratching his chin. "Actually, you are me, aren't you? At least, that's what Sans implied. How like him to be too lazy to come up with a proper explanation on such an important topic!
"You'll need a name…How about 'Spaghetti Knight?'"
The Stand showed no response.
"…You're right, your powers have nothing to do with spaghetti. Sadly." Papyrus shrugged. "Alright, then why don't I call you [Thriller], because I'm thrilled to have this new power so few possess? At least, until I think of a better name than that placeholder."
The newly-christened Thriller nodded slightly, but did nothing else.
"Excellent! Now, onto the next order of business!" Experimentally, Papyrus conjured a bone and tossed it at the ceiling. His grin grew as he noticed that the momentum of the throw finally forced his body into a velocity moving vaguely downwards. "I see! So my…our control of gravity has become even greater now! Now I can will the fundamental force of nature to bend at my comma—"
At the thought of freely controlling this power, Papyrus subconsciously deactivated his Stand's power. Unfortunately, he realized this a split-second after he had already cancelled the force holding him aloft. Which led to another painful drop onto the ruins of his bed.
"Ouch!" Grumbling to himself, Papyrus watched as Thriller faded into thin air, its purpose served for now. "Well, the first step was a doozy, but I'm getting the hang of it now! Wait…I have an excellent idea!
"With this new power I've earned, Undyne will surely let me into the Royal Guard now!" Strolling confidently to the door, Papyrus flung it open. "Everyone, I'm off to chase my dreams!"
Papyrus was answered by his brother flying past the door, and the entire town, at speeds faster than he had ever seen in his life. Followed by a blast of ear-breaking sound blowing him off of his feet and shattering every window and pane of glass on the block.
About a minute earlier, JoJo and Sans were walking back to the brothers' house, the former carefully ducking out of the sight of the guards now patrolling town to avoid yet another confrontation. He may love dogs, but he wasn't fond of being bitten by them all over his body. Even with less of him to bite now.
"have you named it yet?"
"Named what? My Stand?"
"yep. i mean, did you just plan on saying 'hey, stand!' whenever you want it to help out?"
"Guess you have a point." The human thought for a moment. "Are they usually named after something? Gods, heroes, baseball teams, anything?"
"it's your stand. you name it."
JoJo rolled his eyes. "Yeah, real helpful." He willed his Stand's vines to manifest around his arm. Then, he bent down briefly, grabbing a handful of snow in one hand, and bringing the other to his collar to touch the hem of his scarf.
Joseph thought for a moment, and experimentally willed his Stand to make a connection between the two, as he did with Papyrus and himself, or the soda can and wall before that. Maybe he could make the snow warmer?
His plan didn't seem to have the intended effect, as the scarf around his neck immediately grew freezing cold, taking on the same temperature of the cold wasteland of the town around them. Yelping in surprise, he quickly forced his Stand to undo the effect, and accordingly, his garment heated up again.
"It can force things to take on the same qualities as other stuff…" he mused aloud. "Alright…how about [Synchronicity]?"
"well, it's a name," Sans confirmed. "'course, quality is subjective, so that's not up for me to say if it's any good. heard better stand names. also heard worse."
"That reminds me." Joseph turned around to face his companion, only a few feet away from the house he had stayed the night prior. "You never did answer how you knew so much about Stands if they're so rare down here. Wanna clarify?"
Sans's jaw bone clacked open, as he took a deep breath to start what was no doubt a long, long story.
Which was cut short into a single syllable as he was sent flying by a sudden impact, hurtling into the distant forest bordering the town.
"Holy shit!"
Joseph involuntarily rolled backwards as the resulting sonic boom forced him off his feet. Coughing, he brushed the snow off of his body as best he could and instantly started scanning the horizon. "Quit trying to get out of this!"
"Who's getting out?"
Joseph froze. That was not a voice he recognized.
"Not you. That's for sure."
He felt a sudden impact to his back, sending him stumbling a few inches and knocking him into the snow again.
"Alright, enough of the snowball fight!" As he jumped to his feet, Joseph called up Synchronicity's vines and flung out his arm, wrapping his tendrils around the drain pipe near Papyrus's roof. He hurled himself a floor higher, just barely dodging another strike out of nowhere from his vanishing assailant. "Who the hell are you?!"
The mysterious foe merely laughed.
Out of nowhere, a figure appeared on the ground below him. He was a pale human, faintly tinged by an orange aura. He raised his fists into a boxing stance, face curled into a mocking smirk and smarmy glare. The bandanna around his spectral head fluttered briefly in the wind.
"Is my name really important to you? All you need to know, Joseph Joestar, is that I'm gonna be the one who kills you. Here. And. Now."
Author's Note: Because I forgot to do so in the last chapter, here's the requisite Stand stats, plus this chapters' sheet.
Synchronicity
User: Joseph Joestar
Stats:
Power: C (Formerly B)
Speed: B
Precision: B
Durability: C (Formerly A)
Range: C
Learning: A
Abilities:
Synchronizing: By touching an object or entity with its thorns or hitting it with launched thorns, Synchronicity can force it to take on similar qualities and traits of another object it has also touched. This ranges from mass, density, weight, hardness, conductivity, heat, to many other things the user can imagine. However, this ability can't be used to directly harm people due to lack of precision-Joseph cannot cause someone's heart to stop beating by synching it to an inanimate object, for example-the heart would merely take on the consistency of it while still functioning. Synchronicity must also actually make contact with its thorns in order for the ability to function.
Vines: In addition to its main power, Joseph can also use Synchronicity's vines as whips or grappling hooks, allowing him to grab and swing from objects and buildings much like the [Hermit Purple] another version of him possessed.
Thriller
User: Papyrus
Stats:
Power: B
Speed: C
Precision: A
Durability: D
Range: C
Learning: C
Ability: Gravity Cancellation
If an entity or object falls within the Stand's range, Papyrus can use Thriller to cause the target to become unnaffected by gravity. This causes all the effects one would expect, namely weightlessness. If an entity is affected, it can only move itself through space via creating a force outside its body-throwing an object, concussive waves of magic, gunshots, ect. Otherwise, they drift helplessly through the air, flailing all the way for humorous effect.
