They had been on their flight for a few hours, as all seemed to be asleep. Ivy had the blanket covering most of her body, as she slept peacefully. The cabin was filled with darkness, as a dim light from the floor barely illuminated the space. Not a sound resonated in the interior of the cabin, as it was filled with an eerie silence.
Mr. Joestar and Jotaro were wide awake, as they knew that something was wrong. Moments ago they both had a feeling that someone was watching them, as the malevolent feeling confirm their suspicions.
"Buzzz….buzzz…." Ivy stirred a bit, as the light buzzing woke her up.
"Buzz….buzzz…." Opening her eyes, she looked around for a second. An icy chill ran down her spine.
"There it is again," she whispered, as she could see the same eerie grey aura from earlier whipped around the cabin, disappearing and reappearing as she quietly stood up. Seconds later she could see the other looking around, as well as the sound continued buzzing. "I take it you guys noticed it as well." Ivy said as they all nodded their heads.
The buzzing didn't cease as it seemed like it surrounded them. Squinting her eyes Ivy tried to spot the aura again as she, could see the fading string of gray energy shoot from one side of the cabin and fade away. "What good are these eyes, if I can't even see what I need?" she thought to herself.
Jotaro stood up, "is that...a rhinoceros beetle?" he questioned. As Ivy looked in the direction as he was, as she saw it. The grey aura was concentrated in a small ball, as wisps of energy danced around it. "No...a stag beetle!"
Mr. Joestar look over at Avdol, "do you think that's a Stand?" he asked. "Are we already encountering another Stand user?"
"It's very possible, it could be a bug-shaped Stand." Avdol answered.
"It has to be…." Ivy said as eyes were drawn towards her. "I can see it's aura….it's been here since we got on the plane." she whispered. Tension was thick in the air, as her eyes watched it move around the cabin.
"You saw it?" she heard Kakyoin ask.
Nodding her head, "at first I thought I was seeing things...but there's no doubt that the eerie feeling I've had….it has to be coming from that thing." Ivy looked away for a split second. "Maybe I can find the user…." she thought to herself. There weren't many people on the flight in general but still, she couldn't see the grey aura anywhere.
"It hid in the shadow of the seat…." Mr. Joestar spoke, as everyone was on high alert.
All eyes looking for the stag beetle. No one spoke a single word as all they could see were sleeping faces in the sea of seats. Jotaro took a few steps up the aisle, as Ivy moved out of her seat as well. Standing with their backs towards each other, Ivy continued to search as she heard the buzzing again but it sounded very close. Looking up she saw it. It's body was huge, much bigger than the size of a normal stag beetle but even in the darkness the stag beetles body was darker. A strange illuminating blue color shone off it's back, with piercing orange eyes.
"Jojo! It's on the side of your head!" Kakyoin said, as Ivy froze. The aura outlined it, as she couldn't take her eyes off of the bug. It was so close to them and yet they failed to realize it. "I-It's huge! It has to be a Stand." Jumping back, Ivy gave herself a bit of distance as she continued to try to locate the user.
A dark golden liquid was beginning to secret from the bugs mouth, "I can't believe that the bug is a Stand…." Ivy spoke, as she could see fang like teeth in the bugs mouth. It looked hungry, like it was about to go on a feeding frenzy as something was starting to emerge.
"It's disgusting…" Jotaro said, as his eyes locked onto the Stand. "But leave this to me."
"Be careful, I've heard there is a user of a bug Stand that like to rip out the tongues of its victims." Avdol warned him.
"Star Platinum!" Summoning his Stand to his side it reached out to grab the bug as it quickly evaded. All of them were shocked by the speed of the Stand's reaction.
"It dodged!" Avdol shouted. "It's faster than Star Platinum whose speed and precision are such that it can catch a bullet!"
They all knew this wasn't good, for a Stand to be faster than Star Platinum. Even if it may seem possible, the sense of worry flooded over them as this was their first enemy. "It has to a Stand. That bug is a Stand!" Kakyoin said.
"No shit, a bug that big and ugly isn't exactly normal." Ivy responded. The stag beetle went into hiding once again as they all carefully observed their surroundings. Catching a glimpse of the Stand, it was heading straight for her, "Lady Chaos," summoning her Stand to her aid. Converting the flames around its body into a scythe, Ivy moved her hand in a circular motion as Lady Chas spun the scythe as fast as it could, as the enemy Stand shot right past Lady Chaos. "How?" Ivy whispered to herself.
They all watched as Lady Chaos stopped moving, the enemy Stand vanished into the darkness as Ivy felt a burning pain on her left arm. Looking at her Stand she could see a part of Lady Chaos's exposed arm that appeared to be cut, her eyes carefully looked at her upper arm as she saw blood seeping from her uniform. "It managed to hurt Ivy!" Avdol stated, as she grabbed her arm.
"Fuck! When did that thing get me, I barely saw it!" Ivy thought to herself, as she kept applying pressure to the wound. She knew it wasn't to deep, "I think that bug is just trying to show off." Ivy told them, as she continued to search.
"If that's the case we need to find the user now, the question is how are we going to do that?" Mr. Joestar questioned, with so many people on the flight it was impossible to tell who was the user and who wasn't. One false judgement could mean disaster.
"I'm trying to locate them Mr. Joestar, but my eyes…. I can't seem to find them...all I can really see is that bug's Stands aura." Ivy told him, as she looked all over the cabin numerous times and still couldn't see the energy of the one controlling the Stand. Before she was able to see auras around the men, but it wasn't making sense why she couldn't see the enemy.
"It's attacking!" Kakyoin alerted them as it appeared before Star Platinum. A spear shot out from its mouth as Star Platinum put up its hand in order to try and catch the attack. They all watched as it went through Star Platinum's hand like it was nothing as it was heading directly for Jotaro.
"Oh no! Jojo!"
"Jotaro!"
The spear of the bug Stand shot towards Star Platinum's mouth as Ivy could see blood dripping from Jotaro's lip. It's teeth held the spear of the Stand, preventing it from going any further. "Looks like it stopped the Stand's attack with its teeth, but…."
"Since it tried to bite off Jotaro's Stand's tongue… it must be him!" Avdol spoke up. "The one who possess the tarot card of the Tower, the one that depicts a Stand that suggests destruction, calamity and the end of a journey: Tower of Gray!" Ivy could see the look of concern in Avdol's face. "Tower of Gray commits mass murders, making them look like accidents. The airplane crash that happened last year in England causing three hundred deaths, is thought to have been its work. I had heard rumors,but it seems he's working with Dio!" Avdol explained.
"So this guy likes to cause accidents…." Ivy could feel her curiosity spike.
"ORA!" with a single shout Star Platinum began to bombard the bug Stand with a relentless attack of punches as Ivy gave them more distance, as Lady Chaos stayed behind her. "ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!" Each punch seemed to make contact with the spear like tongue, as they watched fly a distance away.
"It was able to dodge each of the attacks!" Avdol said, as the cabin started to feel colder. "It's so fast."
"Hehehe…." a menacing laugh filled the quietness of the dark cabin, as they didn't recognize the male sounding laugh. "Even if you had ten guns to shoot bullets from one centimeter away, they would not be able to touch my Stand!" the voice spoke. "Not that you could kill a Stand with a gun, anyways. You're all going to die with the rest of these weaklings."
Ivy gasped, she could see the malevolent aura surrounding it. A pungent gray energy that completely surrounded it, just the sight of it made her sick to her stomach. She looked over at Mr. Joestar as seemed completely focused, as his eyes skimmed all the passengers on the plane.
All eyes locked onto the bug Stand, as it quickly vanished along with the gray aura surrounding it. The buzzing sound resonated once again in the cabin, Kakyoin gasped as they all locked in the direction he was, "heads up. It's over there now"
The Stand laughed once again, as it disappeared behind the seat of a sleeping male passenger. "What's it planning to do?" Jotaro questioned, as they could feel the tension and anxiety between each other.
"No. It can't be." Avdol whispered.
The sounds of four individuals gasped, as the sound of the fabric ripping and bones breaking followed. Ivy watched as their bodies lay lifelessly, as the Stand held their tongues with it's own. Blood and saliva dripped from each one as it continued to laugh. The sight of it made her feel weak, but also infuriated.
"Bingo! Got their tongues! Now for the best part!" Tower of Gray mused, flying to the back wall of the plane, it slapped the blood dripping tongues against it. The sound the organ being dragged against the wall, was only slightly muffled from the Stand's laughter, as it began spelling out a word in the thick crimson liquid.
Massacre! Its definition, to kill everyone
"No!" Ivy could hear the shakiness in Kakyoin's voice. "It actually did it."
Ivy took a deep breath, her eyes locked onto the Stand. "So...you enjoy killing people...making families suffer and agonize over losing their loved ones." Ivy spoke. Something snapped in her, as the chains around Lady Chaos's body started to rattle. "Where they wish to have their family back, you get off on their sorrows. Finding joy, while others find pain and misery." The solemn tone in Ivy's voice shocked them as she carefully approached the enemy Stand, only keeping a distance of a few feet. They stood there in silence, as the humming of Tower of Gray's wings ringed in her ear.
"Ivy get back that thing is dangerous!" Mr. Joestar yelled, but Ivy failed to retreat back.
"Well… I take your silence as a yes, so let me ask you something,"
"Hmmm?" Tower of Gray sounded amused.
Ivy took a moment to collect herself, before letting the words slip from her lips. She didn't know what she was expecting to get as an answer, as her heart slowed down. "Around this time three years ago...were you the one who caused the crash of a Souls Winds flight to America?" she asked it angrily.
The men behind her seemed shocked that she would even ask, as they all what seemed like eons for an answer. "Hehehe, I wish I did," Tower of Gray answered her as Ivy's eyes widened. "Since you'll die anyway, I'll tell you what I know!"
"What you know?!" Numerous emotions flooded within Ivy.
"That crash was meant to kill certain people, and the person who caused it, is still alive!" the bug laughed, as Ivy felt her blood boil.
"You damn monster, you better tell me every single thing you know!" Lady Chaos launched towards Tower of Gray, swinging the scythe that it possessed faster than Ivy knew she was capable of, as her eyes watched the aura around Tower of Gray dodge each of her attacks. The Stand flew behind her, "get back here!"
"I'll burn that damn bug alive!" Avdol shouted, "go Magician's Red!" sending forth his Stand the flames around it's body burned vividly.
"Avdol, Ivy just hold on a second." Kakyoin stopped them, as both of their Stands retreated away.
The sounds of a man groaning caught their attention. "It's so damn noisy on this flight," the man groaned, "what's with all the ruckus?" he questioned. Tower of Gray flew towards the man, as they all held their breath.
"Be careful!" Kakyoin advised.
The man got out of his chair, Tower of Gray flew in close proximity to the old man. "Might as well go to the bathroom." he said as he began walking towards the back of the plane as he grabbed the wall to the side of him for support as they watched his hand touch the blood smeared word. "Why's this wet?" The old man felt the liquid, "what's with all this slimy stuff?" as he brought it to his face and smelt it, as he went into shock at the realization of what it was. Blood! This is blood!"
Kakyoin held his right hand close to his chest, as he whacked the old man "atemi." as he fell to the ground. "We have to defeat it before the other passengers start to panic. Easier said than done, though. Mr. Avdol, using an active Stand like your Magician's Red inside an airborne plane could make it explode, killing all of us. Jojo, if your power were to rip a hole in the fuselage, it'd be a catastrophe," he then turned his gaze towards Ivy, "Ivy, I'm sorry you had to learn news of what happened to your parents but Lady Chaos could slash sections of the plane open and that wouldn't be a positive outcome for any of us."
The buzzing sound returned once again, "So what do you think we should do?" Ivy asked him, as she tried to contain herself in light of their current circumstances. She wanted to squash that bug and its user until it spilled every last detail of what it knew. Of who took her family away and why. She wanted to know who ripped her life apart on that day.
"To take care of our enemy, we'll need a quiet and discreet Stand." He turned towards Tower of Gray who appeared behind him, "my Hierophant Green is most suited to defeating it, let me take care of the pest control." he told them.
Tower of Gray laughed, "Noriaki Kakyoin, eh?" the Stand almost seemed to eager to take Kakyoin on. "I've heard all about you from Lord Dio. Don't bother. You think you have silence on your side, but your Stand cannot keep up with my speed!" it bolstered.
"You sure about that?" he questioned Tower of Gray, as Hierophant Green manifested as it began charging it's attack. "Emerald Splash!" Launching his attack, Tower of Gray laughed as it almosted danced around the emerald fragments that shot towards it, as it began to close the distance. "Hmm? Emerald Splash again!" the continuation of the attack seemed to have the same outcome as Tower of Gray continued to fly around the attack.
"You seem to think you can hit me if you fire enough shots, but you haven't hit me at all!" Tower of Gray laughed, as it began to fly towards Kakyoin.
"Not good," Avdol spoke, "it's dodging everything he throws at it."
Shooting out it's spear tongue, it broke part of the mask on Hierophant's face as Kakyoin visible took the damage as blood dripped from his lips. "Kakyoin." Jotaro shouted, as Kakyoin feel to his knees before falling completely to the ground.
"I'm just too fast for you." Tower of Gray bragged, as it flied around the cabin. "You're way too slow to get a bingo." as the Stand flew closer to Kakyoin he propped himself up with his arms, "and, Kakyoin... with my next attack, I'll stab your Stand's tongue with this tower needle and rip it out. Won't that be fun?" it laughed.
Within a split second, "Emerald Splash!" Hierophant Green launched another attack.
"Don't you get it?"
"Damn! How can he win if hit attacks don't find their mark?" Avdol questioned.
"You'll go mad from the pain once this rips its tongue out!" Tower of Gray laughed. "How exquisite!"
"Is that right?" Kakyoin questioned, "if its tongue's ripped out, i'll go mad from the pain?" Tower of Gray shot out its Tower Needle, as Kakyoin stood up. "My Hierophant Green will go mad, all right." Numerous green and silver spikes appeared from numerous places as they pierced Tower of Gray's body.
"He did it!" Ivy cheered, "he caught the damn bastard!" It was the perfect opportunity.
Tower of Gray began to scream in pain. "What's going on!?"
"If it rips you apart, it'll go mad...from pure joy." He said, as Tower of Gray continued to scream. "His appendages had already slipped beneath the seats, I just needed enough time to set up my little trap. You didn't realize I was using my Emerald Splash to keep you in one spot?"
They watched as Hierophant Green ripped the Stand apart, as they soon heard the sound of a man agonizing in pain. Looking over they saw him the same old man that Kakyoin had knocked out, he was the Stand User. The gray aura outlined his body from what Ivy's eyes could see, as they watched his tongue split in half.
"What the…" Mr. Joestar spoke as the man's body spasmed, before a large head wound appeared leaking blood all over him.
"So that geezer was the user all along, huh?" Kakyoin said, "heh, guess I should have expected as much, a repulsive Stand usually has a repulsive user." Wiping the blood from his lip, Kakyoin felt a large amount of force hit his side as he staggered for a second.
Still clenching her fist, Kakyoin could see the seething anger in Ivy's eyes. "You fucking idiot! You killed him before I had a chance to find out what he knew!" she was beyond angry, her chance to find out what happened that day was just destroyed.
"Ivy…" he didn't know how exactly to respond, "I'm sorry, in my mind survival was my main priority." he told her, as she didn't back down. Turning her back towards him, she approached the others who were propping the old man up in a chair as she grabbed a blanket.
"I'm sorry…." she apologized, "but next time let me interrogate them if I can…. I wanna find the bastard who stole my family."
The group investigated the body, as the old man had a beetle like mark on his tongue. "Well that's strange, it doesn't look like he had Dio's flesh bud in his forehead." Kakyoin said as he fiddled the a lock of his red hair.
Ivy handed the blanket to Avdol, as he stood in the chair behind the old man. "Tower of Gray was always evil. He killed tourists by the hundreds and got paid for it. He made it look like an accident and got away with it every time." he draped the blanket over the body. "Im sure Dio was able to use him because he was easily bought and blinded by greed."
Feeling a shift, the plane made a creaking like sound. As empty cuts fell from tray tables as the plan felt off balance. "Something wrong, it could be my imagination but I get the feeling this plane isn't flying straight anymore."
Trying to keep her balance Ivy couldn't agree more, nor could anyone else. "It's crooked, no doubt about it. Huh? It can't be!" he rushed off. Following Mr. Joestar the group rushed towards the front of the plane.
A female flight attendant stood closeby the pilots entrance, as she raised her hand. "Sorry, sir. You can't be up here. The cockpit is up ahead, so passengers may not enter." she told him, as Jotaro and Ivy stood behind him.
"I know that," they watched shove the woman aside, as another flight attendant appeared.
"S-sir, wait!" both attendants looked concerned, as Jotaro walked towards them they turned their attention to him as they both were instantly infatuated by him. "Oh, he's so handsome."
Ivy stayed close by him, as Jotaro pushed them aside "move it, bitch."
"What a shock," Ivy heard them gasp as Kakyoin caught both women.
"Whoa there," they both looked up at Kakyoin. "Sorry, ladies. His disrespectful behavior towards you two is incorrigible, but we have an emergency on our hands. Please forgive him, for me." he spoke to them both as they nodded their heads.
"Okay." they both said, as Avdol stood behind Kakyoin, mystified.
Mr. Joestar slammed the door to the cockpit wide open. "Damn it! This is horrible! We've been had!" the men in the cockpit lay dead on the floor, as blood dripped down their faces.
"Their tongues have been ripped out." Jotaro said. "That Rhino bastard, he killed the pilots before we knew he was here." being mindful of the bodies they carefully moved them as Mr. Joestar and Jotaro sat in the pilots chairs as Ivy stood behind Jojo. Looking out the window she could see the nose starting to go down.
"Hmm... we're losing altitude fast, and the autopilot been destroyed as well. Damn it we're going to crash!"
A familiar laugh sounded behind them, as the old man appeared. "What the hell I thought he was dead!" Ivy shouted.
He pointed towards them, and blood spewed from his body "my Stand is the Tower card, which signifies horrible accidents and the end of journey. I'll keep you from Lord Dio if it's the last thing I do. Even if you manage to survive the crash, you're still 10,000 kilometers from Egypt. Those who swore loyalty to Lord Dio will pursue you relentlessly, you don't stand a chance in hell. There are Stands in this world with powers that defy the very limits of imagination. Lord Dio's power is one that rules over all of them. He is the master of Stands, reigning over the world like a god among mortals. There's no way you'll reach him alive. You bastards won't even see Egypt, your deaths will be swift and painful!" with his last words the old man's body finally gave out as he fell to the ground the flight attendants from before look as if death had stared them in the face.
"You're definitely professionals. Good thing you didn't scream that annoys me all to freaking hell. Now, I've got a request this heap's gonna hit water, and this old man's gonna land her there." Jotaro told them, as Mr. Joestar seemed a bit shocked by his grandson's words, "go put life jackets on the other passengers, and make sure they're buckled up."
"Uh, yes sir!" one of them said as they both hurried with the request Jotaro made.
"You got this?" Jotaro asked his grandfather.
"I have some experience with prop planes, but this…."
"Prop planes!?" Kakyoin questioned, as no was starting to like the sound of this.
"But, Jotaro, this'll make three plane crashes for me. Have you ever heard of someone being in a plane crash three times, let alone surviving each one?" he told them.
"That settles it, I'm never riding in a plane with you again." he told his grandfather.
The plane landed 35 kilometers off the coast of Hong Kong. Jotaro and the others had no choice but to head to the city. Hong Kong, Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, the New Territories. With more than 235 individual islands in the area, its breathtaking nightscape is known the world over is the million dollar view.
The group stood across the street from Mr. Joestar who was using a payphone, as Ivy tried to think about what she had just learned. She paid no attention to anyone else. To think all this time her parents were possibly murdered for no reason, or maybe they were the targets. She didn't know what to think, she needed to learn more before she could assume anything.
"Old man, who were you just callin'? Jotaro asked him.
"Hmm, oh that I'll explain when we get to the restaurant, be patient." he told his grandson. "We need to work out a plan that'll get us to egypt as safely and quickly as possible more users are about to come after us and that could cost lives."
Nodding his head, "right. A plan." Kakyoin agreed.
"I agree with you." Avdol spoke. "We can't allow anymore innocent civilians to be hurt because of our failure. The quickest way would be by plane, but that's out."
Ivy stayed quiet, but she agreed as well. As the group left and began making their way through the bustling city. As they quickly arrived at a large chinese style building with a golden dragon on the outside. As they entered through the large doors, a woman took them to a large table to accommodate them as Ivy sat between Jotaro and Kakyoin. "So what's the plan old man?" Ivy asked him, as she couldn't help but feel like something was off.
"We'll have to get to Egypt by either land or sea." he answered her.
"I hear you, but if we fail to find Dio within 50 days…." Avdol hesitated as they all knew what the cost was going to be.
"If we could have stayed on that plane, we'd probably be in Cairo, and this would be over."
"But that's not the case, now we have to worry about Dio's followers coming after us and making sure we get there in time." Ivy said.
They sat there in silence for a moment. "I'm well aware of that. However, it's too soon to worry about it." he told them, "one hundred years ago, Jules Verne wrote 'Around the World in 80 days,' a story about a man who travels 40,000 kilometers in 11 weeks using nothing but trains and steamboats, we may not have a plane, but we still have 50 days. We'll be able to travel the 10,000 kilometers to Egypt. And as for the route we'll take…" pulling a map from his coat pocket as he laid it out on the table. Placing his finger on the sea below Hong Kong, "I say we go by sea, we'll charter a suitable sized boat, go around the Malay Peninsula and across the Indian Ocean, a 'silk road of the sea' as it were." he explained as he traced the path on the map.
Avdol nodded his head, "I believe that is best as well. Crossing by land could be difficult, and we'd have to cross the Himalayas or the desert if we ran into trouble, we'd lose a lot of time. There are too many dangers."
"I haven't been to any of those places using either route before, so I really don't know. I'll leave it up to the two of you." Kakyoin said.
"Same with me," Jotaro spoke.
"Then it's decided. Now the greatest danger we will face will be the Stand users that Dio sends against us. We'll have to do our best to get to Egypt without being spotted." he said as he folded the map back up.
Ivy took a deep breath as Kakyoin placed a cup of tea before her, she looked over at him. "Thanks." she took a sip of the herbal tea.
"Don't worry Ivy, we'll find out what happened." Avdol told her, as they all knew that she was still hurting from the news. "It's possible that the person who did this is still working with Dio, if we do run into any of Dio's followers we'll try and get as much information as possible."
Ivy smiled, it felt nice to have support. "I appreciate it very much." The kindness of her companions still didn't help take the eerie feeling away. Taking another sip of tea, Ivy and Jotaro could hear Kakyoin move the lid of the ceramic teapot.
"Don't be so jumpy," Kakyoin chuckled. "This is just to let them know we want more tea. If you do this in Hong Kong, they'll usually grin you more within a few seconds." a female waitress appeared as she poured more tea into both Kakyoin and Ivy's cups, "also anytime the server pours some tea into your cup," he tapped the table twice. "Tap the table, it's a way of saying thank you." Ivy mimicked Kakyoin, as the waitress smiled before walking away.
Footsteps approached the table, as a man who seemed a bit older than Jotaro appeared before them holding a menu in his hands. "Excuse me, sorry to be a bother. I'm a tourist from France, could you help me out? My chinese is a bit rusty, and I'm having a hard time with the characters on the menu. Could you help me decipher it?"
He had silver hair that was styles upwards to flat top finish, his ears were adorned with half hearts that were broken down the center. Ivy could see that he was very well built and muscular as his black top almost looked like it could be made of a fabric that was as durable as spandex but gave off a luster like silk at it had a single strap that was drawn over his left shoulder. A chill ran down her spine as she could see a faint outline around him, it looked almost white. Ivy tried to looked more closely at him but couldn't tell if she was actually seeing the aura of a Stand or not. "Crap this guy might be a Stand user! This is bad...there's a lot of people here, I don't want him to hurt the people here." Ivy thought to herself as she didn't want the same incident that happened on the plane to happen in the restaurant.
"What should I do!?"
