School was out. Daisy was sat on the couch flicking through television channels, when she heard a knock at the door. She stood to get it, only to see her parents standing in the corridor. She was shocked and glad. "Whoa, didn't expect this. What are you doing here?"
Her father smiled. "Well, we thought we'd come to visit. We're here for a few days." Daisy's mother smiled weakly. Daisy walked out and hugged her.
"Mum, are you alright?" she asked.
"Oh, I'm okay. I'm… I'm getting used to it." She looked down. Daisy, after all of the bizarre experiences she had been through lately, had to ask her mother something.
"Mum, do you mind if I ask you what kinds of things you experience?"
Her mother smiled, hugging Daisy tightly. "Not at all, darling. What I see… When I look at people, sometimes they twist into odd shapes. Like when I look at you, I see many insects, but predominantly… this green wasp. Wasps were always your favourite insect, weren't they?"
Daisy's jaw dropped. There was no way… could it really be possible that her mother had… no, wait. If that were the case, she shouldn't be able to see her Stand while it wasn't active. It must simply be a coincidence, or familial bond, or something. "Well… why don't you two come in? I'll get you something to eat."
"Thanks, dahl." Daisy's father chuckled, walking inside. "C'mon, Darlene."
"Watch your step." Darlene pointed to the carpet, which was coming up a bit. Daisy's father had almost tripped on it. Daisy was stunned; she hadn't even seen that before. Did her mother really have a Stand, that allowed her to see something even a normal Stand user couldn't? She put a kettle on to boil and called Anna-Rose, who answered after a few rings.
"Hello?" The physicist sounded exhausted. Daisy chuckled. It wasn't even that hot today.
"You busy? My parents just showed up at the door, and I have a sneaking suspicion my mother doesn't really have schizophrenia."
"You think she's a user?" Anna-Rose was interested now.
"I do. She described my Stand and its power as something she could 'see', and she was able to see a part of my carpet which was a tripping hazard from behind my father, and I'd never even noticed it before."
Anna-Rose nodded. "Gimme 20 minutes and I'll be there. I won't be able to tell for sure unless she notices one of our Stands while it's active, or she activates hers, of course. Still, keep on the lookout for anything weird. She's probably using her ability without realising it."
"Alright. You'd better get here soon." Daisy hung up, pouring three cups of coffee and handing her parents a cup each. Darlene beamed with happiness.
"You're so grown up, Daisy." She looked over to her husband. "Isn't she lovely, Mark?"
"Oh, uh, of course." He took a sip. "It's good. Where'd you get this?"
Daisy chuckled. "It's just instant coffee with a little bit of honey mixed in."
"You should sell it as a new blend! People would buy it." Mark laughed hysterically.
Darlene looked over at the kettle. "Uh, Daisy, you should turn the kettle off, it looks fit to burst."
Daisy followed her gaze. The kettle looked fine. "Don't worry, mum, it should be fine. Besides, I don't want it to go cold if anyone wants another cup of coffee."
"No, darling, I really think it's going to burst." The kettle started to whistle. Daisy turned around, but it didn't look too warped… She began to walk over, coating her body in beetle shell just in case. She reached out to turn the kettle off, but just as she reached for the switch the kettle burst from the pressure, several rivets flying into her arm. Daisy bit down on her lower lip, turning off the kettle.
"Ow!" She picked the rivets from her arm, pulling the packet of bandages from her cabinet and wrapping the wounds. "Mum, how could you tell that it was going to do that?"
Darlene stood and hugged her injured daughter. "I saw a warped kettle, ready to burst because of the steam." Daisy sighed, before summoning Bullet with Butterfly Wings to hover around them both. Her mother immediately shrieked, jumping back. Daisy began to smile weakly.
"So you see it?" Darlene was confused and afraid. "I can explain this to you later. My friend will be here in 10 minutes, and she can do a better job of explaining than I could." Mark looked over to see Darlene panicking.
"Darling, what's going on? You havin' an episode? Sit down and have some more coffee, I'm sure Daisy'll be okay." Daisy turned around and used a silk thread to stitch the holes in her arm shut.
"Yeah, sit down for a bit, mum. This must be a lot to take in."
Another knock at the door about ten minutes later. Mark answered it, and Anna-Rose and Delaware walked in. Delaware rushed to Daisy. "I heard something explode. You okay?"
Daisy sighed. "If you were so worried, you'd have gotten here earlier. That was ten minutes ago."
"Right…" The teenage metalworker chuckled a little, beginning to put the destroyed kettle back together with They Might Be Giants, albeit very discretely. Anna-Rose, on the other hand, walked over slowly. She was in very casual clothing, cooler than anything Daisy had ever seen her in, both literally and fashionably. She was carrying around a backpack with her two steel balls in slings hanging off the back.
"Um, Mrs. Stratter, your daughter called me over because she wanted me to speak with you about something?" She pushed up her glasses a bit. Darlene nodded.
"Delaware, once you've fixed that, help yourself to some chocolates. Get my dad some too. Mum and I have to talk in private for a bit." Daisy was beginning to get nervous. This kind of situation was about to get terrifying, and if her father saw any of it, it'd be worse.
Anna-Rose pulled the other two women outside, shutting the apartment door. She then threw her head back and sighed. "Alright, so Daisy says you have a - an ability. Do you understand what the things you see mean?"
"What does it mean? Well, I'm not sure…" Darlene started to think. "I suppose I've always been the type to caution others. I'm a safe person."
"Well, that's something to work with. You like to keep others safe, so your ability might have something to do with that. Daisy, quick question. Who persuaded you to leave home and attend school in America?"
Daisy smiled. "That's easy. It was mum. She's always very nice and wants me to be the best I can."
"Hmm… achieving full potential, and wanting to keep others safe…" After a moment, she thought of an idea. "Mrs. Stratter, does your bizarre vision show you things that you want to see? Does what you see allow you to do the things you love doing?"
"Oh… well, I suppose it does. When I look at people, I see strange things like the wasp that Daisy could apparently control… in everyone. And also, sometimes it allows me to see things that will happen to them. For example, the reason I told you to turn off the kettle was because I saw you being hit by rivets, Daisy."
Daisy clutched her bandaged arm. That could have been her head, or something much worse. "Mum… I think I understand what your believed illness and your ability truly mean. You can see potential. Those shapes… They are called Stands. It seems that anyone with the drive to succeed at something has the potential to develop one. So, you can see a Stand inside of everyone. And the things that might happen to people… they have the potential to happen. What a great ability to have, mum."
"You think I have one of these Stand things?" She chuckled. "How can you tell?"
"You saw my Bullet with Butterfly Wings, while it was active. There's no possible way that was coincidence. You saw my ability, so I know that you have one yourself." Daisy smiled, hugging her mother. "I'm so glad."
Darlene hugged her back. "And your friend here has one too, I presume. A sleek thing that looks like her, with… balls in its hands?" Anna-Rose nodded.
"Correct. Your desire to make sure people can remain safe to live out their full potential… that drive to succeed at raising your daughter, and the sadness from having her leave your arms, that created a Stand inside of you. Can you try to 'bring it out'?"
"Uh… If I try hard enough to show you, I suppose…" From Darlene's back sprang two strong-looking gloved arms, both incredibly flexible and large. "It worked… I do have something like you."
"I think I know of a good name, mum." Daisy smiled. "Let's call it "I Think I'm Paranoid", because of what you thought it was when you didn't understand it."
"That's a good name, dear." Darlene pecked her daughter on the cheek. "Oh well, let's go inside and tell your father!"
"No, no, no, don't do that!" Daisy stopped her mother from going in. "He'll still think you're crazy if you do that. He can't see our Stands at all, even if you can see one that he might get."
"Oh. So I just… pretend I can't see these things?"
"No, don't pretend you can't. You have control over your ability, now that you understand its limits. Try turning it off." Daisy smiled. "I believe in you."
Darlene nodded, and tried to "turn off" the strange things she could see. After a few moments, the visions of potential blurred and faded away. "Wow… this is incredible. Thank you for opening up my eyes, girls."
"Not a problem, Mrs. Stratter." Anna-Rose smiled.
"Of course I'd help my mum with this kind of thing," Daisy confirmed.
Stand Name: "I Think I'm Paranoid"
Stand User: Darlene Stratter
Power: B
Range: D (Stand), B (Ability)
Speed: B (Stand), A (Ability)
Durability: E
Precision: E
Potential: A