Holy Diver

by Zatroopa

Fifteen students, trapped in a school where they are forced to play a Mutual Killing Game. Makoto Naegi may be your average student with peculiar luck, but with hope in his heart, he fights to uncover the truth of the Mastermind and end this nightmare. With the Ultimate Detective, Kirigiri Kyouko, and the Ultimate Male Model, Dio Brando, surely he cannot fail. Can he?

10. Why Can't We Be Friends?

Arc 3: Crazy Noisy Killer Town Girls

Chapter Eight: Why Can't We Be Friends?

---

It was good to be hated.

Jataro once spent so much time trying to get people to like him, and failing, that it used to drive him mad. He'd create cute things, cool things, and even useful things, and give them to people as gifts. He had once hoped that the people he loved would see them and then they'd see him too.

But they didn't like the things he made. They smashed them, threw them away, and even hit him with them, while screaming about how wretches can't make cute, cool, or useful things. All they did was leech off people and take away their dreams from them.

Even just looking at his face was enough to make them disgusted. It was a miracle that they didn't kill themselves out of horror at its hideousness.

It used to make Jataro cry, which would make them hurt him more, or just throw him away and ignore him, for a long time. Why couldn't he not be hated? Why did he have to have a face so ugly that he needed a sticky and stuffy leather mask? He could have made a nicer one, one with colours and patterns, but they wouldn't let him.

That was when he found peace of mind.

Some people were destined to be hated and those people were him. If they didn't hate him, then there'd be no reason for him to exist, and everyone would ignore him. People saying they liked him only did it so he'd go away. It was the angry people that hit Jataro-even when he was crying-that truly acknowledged him.

For a while, he lived by that code. He did everything he could to stay how he was so that the people he loved would hate him. If they hated him, then it meant that they remembered him. Expecting love from them was impossible and would only make him sadder. Once he learnt his lesson, their hatred was as nice as the drumming sound when a washing machine was on.

It wasn't all nice. Jataro sometimes felt happy when the Hope's Peak Elementary teachers praised him for his Arts and Crafts and forgot that he was supposed to enjoy hate, not love. So he had to sabotage himself, and others, to get those teachers to hate him again. It was better than waiting for them to turn against him. To accidentally see his true face and claw out their own eyes.

It was even better when his parents heard about it and hated him more. Jataro knew that his parents wouldn't have been happy if they heard of the good things he did. They'd have felt love and hate mix together and that was no good. It was like putting salt on a slug. Better to keep them separate.

It may have hurt, but it was better than nothing.

Jataro only now realised what a shame it was that he never realised that his parents could have shared their hate with each other. Before, they hated him individually. His father was out more so couldn't hate him as much as his mother did. She was so caring to make him wear the mask. Now he never took it off!

That was why he was so thankful for Dio for giving him Judas Priest. Jataro didn't cry when the Arrow stabbed him, he thought Daimon and Kotoko did when it was their turn but they told him to stop lying, so Dio said he was a good boy. He said that he'd be able to help Dio give everyone peace of mind.

Everyone thought they were different; their ideas of peace of mind, but they weren't. Jataro simply accepted his fate that he would be hated by all but the kindest and greatest of people. Normally, he hated it when people lied and pretended to like him, but Dio was different.

He had torn off Jataro's mask and looked him in the eye. It had been amazing! Dio was somehow able to gaze into the disgusting tapestry that was Jataro face and didn't even blink. He even smiled! Jataro had cried and asked Dio how he was able to withstand such an ugly thing. Dio simply told him that this was the power of the man who would bring Heaven.

Jataro still wore his mask. Dio wasn't like the demons or children. He was someone who stood above the world itself, immune to the rules that governed humans, but that meant only Dio could be trusted with seeing his face. Not even the other Warriors of Hope could see it, lest he kill his friends.

It was only because they-and Dio's friend-were here that he didn't take off his mask. His parents always hated it when he took off the mask, saying that it was hard to breath or that it hurt, yet he couldn't bask in it now. Jataro couldn't be selfish in front of Dio.

"You did it, Jataro. You've shown that I, Dio, was right to grant you this power." Dio stood next to Jataro as the two watched over the bodies. "Judas Priest's power is amazing. It was good that you aimed true. Such hatred needed to be expressed."

"It was because you helped, Dio." Jataro said. He never knew how to take compliments. Even if it was from Dio, it felt weird. His stomach got all flighty and everything. "Now they know what it's like to hate each other. I just wish they were here to say thank you."

"It'd be hard to say thanks without tongues, Jataro." Shingetsu muttered.

"Probably sound like this." Daimon started making weird mouth noises and began chasing Kotoko around. Monaca giggled, Shingetsu sighed, and Dio's friend didn't say anything.

"Do you feel peace of mind, Jataro? The Demons who spat upon their own creation are now dead? You have seen the depths of their hatred expressed fully and have triumphed. Just as I knew you would." Dio put a hand on Jataro's head and smiled.

"I always knew they hated me. It was like the lukewarm milk I always got. Went down my throat all thick." Jataro said, ignoring the choked sob behind him. His expression lightened. "But now I got to see and hear it in full! I always knew they were holding back their hate to punish me. Not any more."

Dio hummed in approval and stood up. His friend was starting to cry again. Jataro was fine with that-both Dio leaving him and the crying-since it kept the world in order. Dio had favourites who weren't Jataro and it showed that his friend hated him.

The only problem with this picture was that his parents weren't alive to hate him anymore.

It had truly been a fight between demons. Jataro's parents didn't need long with the glue before they went from using their fists to their nails, screaming of how the other ruined their life by making the other have a child, and even tearing out chunks of flesh with their teeth. His mother managed to win the fight after sacrificing her left thumb to get the right one nice and keep into his father's eye-socket.

She always liked her nails sharp and long. They must have reached brain since his father didn't last long after she jammed it in. Unfortunately, her neck had taken a pretty big bite before she went for the eye-gouging, even if Judas Priest left her little choice.

Both of them died cursing the other. Both of them died cursing Jataro's very existence. Both of them died filled with acidic hatred.

Just how Jataro needed it.

---

Once upon a time, there was a boy who just wanted a normal life.

It was an easy wish to grant. The only thing abnormal about him, to the public eye, was that his parents were a bit older than most were when having a child. It might have been a source of bullying, if the boy wasn't friendly enough to avoid conflict, or willing to stand up for himself enough for people to know where the line was.

Teachers, taught since they were children to respect their elders, knew better than to scold for defending an elder's honour, especially that of parents who did nothing to incur society's disapproval. At a time of declining demographics, child-bearing should be encouraged!

The boy was also talented enough to be applauded but not enough so to be applauded out more than politeness. Participation, fourth and fifth place medals, and even a third place trophy or two. Grades that were just good enough to get him into a well-regarded, but not top-ranking, university where he graduated along the top-middle of his class.

It was a year where the average had dipped, you see.

With such a record, it should have been easy for the boy to enjoy a normal life, but for three things.

The first was that he had an unappealing habit, if he was denied something he wanted and could do nothing, and that was nail-biting. Not biting the tips of them, as most nail-biters did, but into the middle of them. It was mostly something that happened at home, in private, but the results did draw attention at times. Uncommon, even alienating, but not too damaging.

The second was that he had an imaginary friend that was real. Feline in appearance and a bizarre name; this imaginary friend had been with the boy for as long as he could remember. Why? It was a question no one knew the answer to. All that the boy knew was that it had the power to make things and people he wanted to go away, go away forever.

The third was more a mixture of two things. Alone, a fetish for women's hands-discovered upon looking at the Mona Lisa-might have been weird but nothing to detract from an ordinary life, given a trusting sexual partner. Who didn't have an embarrassing secret? So long as it wasn't anything against the morals of society or its laws. But there it was. The second thing that ruined any chance of a normal life.

This boy was not only sexually excited by attractive hands, but he also acted on this fetish by way of murder. The use of his invisible companion would make the woman go away and only leave her hand for the boy to use as he wished. The boy grew into a man having killed, planned to kill, and would kill for years to come.

Yoshikage Kira aspired for a normal life, but also one where he would be free to live as he wished.

Normality required the sacrifice of desires. A price that Kira never thought he could, would, or should pay. In all other areas, from work to daily schedules to diets, he was normal. Why should one single thing detract from his average lifestyle?

Across his 20s, Kira lived like this, killing dozens of young women and never being caught. Who could catch a killer who left no body? Not even an Ultimate Detective could solve a crime that they were not aware of.

But they would be made aware of it.

Takaaki Ishimaru thought he was ordering a sandwich on the day that he discovered a bloody nail inside the bag he ordered. His superiors thought it was just an inconsiderate fellow customer, or shop-worker, mixed with the delusions of a man who was spoilt by a disgraced Prime Minister of a father. The shop insisted it was a customer's fault.

It had only been by cruel luck that, at the same time as Ishimaru was mocked by his partners, a grieving mother recognised the unique pattern of the nail painting. It had been what attracted Kira to the young woman in the first place, taking care to re-apply the paint when it chipped, and it was what gave Ishimaru credibility.

A mere police officer with a disgraced legacy was nothing. A woman whose uncle's friend was a member of the Diet was more than nothing. She was worth an investigation.

It took six months for the dominoes to begin falling. People began to whisper of how the missing person rates in one particular town were far higher than the other. How the missing persons were all young women. How all the young women had features that made their hands stand out.

It took one tabloid for people to begin asking about 'The Hime-Hand Killer'. Was this a copy-cat of Genocider Syo? Was this Genocider Syo going for the nation's women? Or another killer entirely? A nation began to talk and theorise. The Ultimate Detective was called in.

Yoshikage Kira began to panic. Not simply because his crimes were being noted, even if none of the leading investigators knew who he was, but because of something else. Instinct honed by years of planning the murders just properly enough that there were no unexpected witnesses told him that he was being followed.

Takaaki Ishimaru only had a hunch that the nail came from the man who had been three places ahead of him in line that day. It was all he had to go on after being kicked off the case. He shared his theory with his partner and got laughed out the room. If he wanted to catch this killer, he'd need some proof to give to the Detective. Surely at least his son's classmate might give him the benefit of the doubt?

Only a killer of such evil and madness would make Ishimaru defy his morals and aim for nepotism. But if it saved lives, he'd give up his honour any day. He was getting close as well. Kira knew nothing about his identity. He was getting close as well!

That was when he was kidnapped by the servants of Ultimate Despair; a cult dedicated to destroying the world in the name of Dio Brando. Captured to force his son to contemplate murdering his classmates, Ishimaru had to accept that Yoshikage Kira slipped through his fingers.

Kira fled to Towa City. The chaos of the The Tragedy, or The World's End as some called it, gave him an excuse to flee to what was already known as an oasis of calm. An official excuse came as a transfer to the home offices of the Towa Group to who he owed ten years of loyal service as the standard desk-worker.

The months went by and Kira began to calm himself again. As the world outside burned and fought, the police were more concerned with keeping Ultimate Despair away from their beloved city, and the Hime-Hand Killer was nothing compared to fear of poison gas. The hand he took as a calming measure was gone for about a month before he killed again.

Everything was back on track. Yoshikage Kira lived a normal life as a middle-man within the home offices of the Towa Group. It was one of his jobs to introduce new workers to their stations and that was the only special thing that people knew about him. Yes, he now knew of Stands, as did the whole world after Dio Brando's death, but who would suspect him of having one?

How long had the police been watching him? How long had they had someone keep an eye out for him? How long did that goddamn beat-cop spend observing Kira with his 'girlfriend' until they were sure he was the Hime-Hand Killer?

They were smart. It was a normal office-day, Kira was introducing a new worker (why the hell would he have a scruffy beard on his first day of work?) to his station when the worker pulled out a gun, a badge, and demanded he get down on the ground. All this in front of everyone.

They had used his need for normality against him. People were already taking out their mobile-phones, police were bursting into the office, and everyone heard the words 'You are under arrest for suspicion of 53 counts of homicide' across the room. What use would there be of Killer Queen beyond a fight to the death? It was over! Kira had forever been denied a normal life!

"You killed Takaaki, didn't you?" The arresting police officer barked. "I laughed at him. Called him dumb, crazy, all those names. Made him go out alone when he needed back-up. Should have realised those assholes up top had been laughing and spitting on him from the start. Booking you is my way of apologising to him. Making him rest in-"

That was when the Murralsee came into the picture.

Kira spent minutes laying on the ground, handcuffs tightly locked behind him, when he realised that the police were going to die. That it might be safe to use Killer Queen.

None of the machines were able to stand up to Killer Queen. Getting out of the room was easy enough when nearly everyone was busy being slaughtered by androids but that left other questions.

Where would he go now?

Once again, luck was on his side as salvation came in the form of a crazed man running towards and then slamming into his left.

Haiji Towa had likely broken his arm in the chaos of all this, and having it crash against the ground hadn't helped, as he screamed in pain. The young heir to the Towa Group didn't like that one bit. Fear and fury became one as he screamed at Kira, telling him to watch where he was going, before he recoiled his hand from Kira's shirt out of fright.

A shaking finger pointed to Killer Queen besides Kira, making him realise that Haiji could see his Stand, and that meant only one thing. He barely had time to react when a pure black humanoid with white voids where its eyes should be emerged. Its palms held one massive suction-cup, pulsating in a way that made Kira recoil. Haiji screamed while Killer Queen tried to touch the Stand and charge it.

All that accomplished was a hand going through the Stand itself and leaving Kira open for the thing to shove its right palm into his face. There was no pain felt, but only a sucking force that was much like when you put your hand in a vacuum cleaner. Only it felt like everything on and around Kira was being sucked away. As if it was taking his soul itself.

There was then a powerful blowing force and Kira felt something attach itself to not only his head but his whole body as well. A firm pressing force on his face. Where he felt naked for a few brief moments, there was warmth again. Only this warmth felt baggy. As if his clothes had been stretched out.

The Stand withdrew and Kira saw himself lying on the ground. No. He saw a man with his face, hair, and apparently too-small clothes lying on the ground but that was definitely not him. Kira had no time to think or react. He could see that Haiji Towa was only looking more afraid and furious.

"Damnit! This fucking Stand. How could she do this to us?" Haiji said, taking Kira aback with the sound of his own voice. The heir leapt up and grabbed the edges of Kira's shirt with his uninjured arm. His greater height and weight made up for the single limb. "If you hadn't gotten in the way, we wouldn't be in this-"

Three shots and Haiji's eyes widened. Blood trickled from the side of his mouth and whatever light was there vanished in an instant. The grip loosened and Haiji collapsed onto the ground. Kira turned to see that the scruffy-bearded cop, bleeding heavily from the head, was lying by a shut wooden door that held the Murralsee back. Had he just gotten out of that room?

Was Kira truly blessed by fate itself that the cop hadn't seen the exchange in faces and clothes?

"If...I hadn't gotten there...he'd have killed you. He's got a Stand...Mister Towa..." The cop grunted out, letting his arm drop after seeing that Haiji-who he assumed was Kira-wouldn't get up.

"I know." Kira replied, reaching a hand out to the police officer in need. "If I'm going to escape, I'll need a hand."

"Sure thing." The officer said, taking the hand offered. Killer Queen activated the bomb that had been planted at that moment.

That final look of horror was all Kira needed to know that fate was on his side. The cop who had spent weeks, if not months, tracking him down, was undone by two events that had astronomically low odds of happening. Kira had truly been blessed! He was free!

A Murralsee jumped from behind him, not knowing that Killer Queen had already detected it, and his Stand punched the helmet of the Murralsee. The machine exploded without an issue.

But these clothes are a problem. Kira had thought to himself. When his Stand swapped our clothes, it didn't swap our physiques as well. This is going to be a problem.

"You!" A voice cried out from behind him Kira turned to see another Murralsee, only this one was different, in having a bluish-white armour coating and a heads of another Murralsee in each hand. "You may not be Haiji Towa, but I will save you regardless. But I must know that you will not betray me!"

"Do you know who I am?"

"Who you were before all this does not matter. In a land where the innocent are murdered, all that matters is that we unite and fight against it." The blue Murralsee declared. "I had hoped to save the heir to the Towa Group, but I suppose even a killer is better than a corpse. Swear that you shall not kill another innocent and I shall protect you."

"Keep this secret and I'll do whatever is needed." Kira replied.

Thus an alliance emerged. Yoshikage Kira threw away his old identity and took on the role of Haiji Towa, leader of the Resistance in Towa City and one of the guardians of the adults living in fear of the children. The blue Murralsee, calling itself 'Murray', became known as the angel of the Resistance for its stirring words and refusal to give up on saving the adults.

The two formed a deadly pair. A base hidden in the sewers was prepared for the survivors found and people were willing to put their faith in the heir to the company that had done so much for their city and world. It worked even better when stories of defying the odds and saving whole groups became known.

In a single day, Haiji Towa and Murray would encounter a woman named Hiroko Hagakure. She told them of the Warriors of Hope and the Demon Hunting Game. Of her Stand and those others being hunted that held Stands but needed help. She herself could escape the bracelet, and did, but others couldn't and were scared.

The rescue team that Haiji Towa and Murray led had gained a new recruit. Two Stand users together were a deadly threat and they gathered others willing and able to fight. Their objectives were to find survivors, supplies, and other Stand users, all in the hopes of surviving another day.

It was an abnormal role for the man who dreamed of a normal life, but he had no choice. Yoshikage Kira could never lead a life again and Haiji Towa would never be normal.

What he could be was a certain type of abnormal. The abnormality of a leader. The type who led from the front, who put others before himself, and carried the burdens of the group on his back. Closed off from others because of all he saw. Weighed down by guilt of those he couldn't save.

Even accepting the illogical from a guilt-ridden woman who wanted to save her son. Even accepting those feared and scorned by the others. Kira became everything that was normally expected of a leader in this time.

Because the moment would come. The moment where he would find a way to escape this city and cast off his identity. His voice was no longer his, but Haiji Towa was only really known by those within the company and even those were only by appearance.

Add a few facial burn-scars, shave off the hair and beard, and Haiji Towa looked like a great many people in a post-Tragedy world. All he had to do was go with the flow of events. Simply keep calm in this nightmare, no matter how much he yearned to scream and howl, and his moment would come. His luck would see him through.

He would have his normal life back again. No matter who had to die for it.

---

"I'm telling the truth." Rohan was speaking through clenched teeth now. How hard was it for them to understand? "This isn't my world."

"Wow, is that what you'd tell your parents when you wouldn't leave the room? Were the kids in school mean to you? Tie you up on the jungle gym because someone lost their lunch-money?" Fukawa teased, leering at him.

"Shoving your own past into other people's stories, the sign of an author trying to compensate for a lack of real-world experience." Rohan barely even looked at her as they marched down the subway station. "Your books are nothing more than fan-fiction."

"Why you-"

"Can't you two stop fighting? It's really uncomfortable." Komaru begged. They had just gone through a whole room of Murralsee and it seemed she was still jumpy.

"Life's uncomfortable. Now more than ever." Rohan replied.

At least she almost believed his story. Or just pretended to until she heard Fukawa taunting her. Rohan accepted that it was a strange story; hearing of a world before this one and that someone survived its end.

Rohan himself only found out when he finished that last chapter, handed it in, only to find that the editor had changed. The entire building had even changed. The staff's big names were the same talentless hacks as ever, but there were smaller names as well. The city itself had changed too. He even changed, going from his early thirties to mid-twenties.

He wasn't supposed to have made it to this world. Everyone knew it. Somehow he made it to this place instead of his own. But he was in the office, he had the manga, and it was still out there. Who else had been occupying that office, if not him?

So he was at least able to keep his job. In this world, where he was meant to live was now a block of flats that he had no intention of staying in. All of Morioh Town as he knew it was gone. Not the sights. Not the name. Not even the people.

That had been harder to swallow.

No one responded to my call. How long had he spent wracking his memories for old stories and what he knew of the residents? All of that had seemed to be for nothing. Koichi, Jotaro, even that idiot Josuke. Everyone's gone.

It had been years since then. Rohan had moved on from his attempts to reach out and try to find any survivors of the old world since then. Morioh Town had been what finally got him moved to Seinen Jump; the sales hadn't done well with the younger audiences and monthly schedules gave more time for research.

He had a new goal for the short-term. Finding the editor who had decided that he didn't need to know about the end of the world. The fact that Towa City was probably the only place where people read his manga. Questions were going to be answered.

Rohan might have dwelt on it more, as he, Komaru, and Fukawa stalked down the subway searching for an escape route, when the sounds of clashing metal echoed across the building. It was coming from ahead and to the right of where they were. Just by the exit of the subway itself!

The three of them moved towards the sound and readied themselves. Heaven's Door might have been ineffective against the Murralsee themselves, but he could still use it on the kids. They had some kind of control over the machines and might even give the trio some breathing space.

What they saw blew their minds.

The Murralsee were fighting each other. That wasn't entirely accurate; it was more one Murralsee, this one painted a bright light-blue, fighting against a whole pack of Murralsee by itself. It looked more damage and battle-weary than the other normal Murralsee, but it was taking some with it. Scraps of destroyed Murralsee littered its surroundings when the blue Murralsee finally noticed them.

"Get away!" A metallic male voice commanded. The blue Murralsee ducked a right hook from a regular Murralsee to its left and used a leg-sweep to send it to the ground. "I'll hold them off for as long as I can, but you must run! Search for the others. Survivors like you. They're here right now!" He judo-flipped another Murralsee trying to attack from behind.

"That Murralsee..." Rohan muttered to himself. "Why it's fighting the others?" Traps were too complex for these enemies; both the kids and the Murralsee.

"Probably a trap to lure us in. That's how these machines work. You know they were meant to be for home defence. It's just now they're using their minds to kill everyone." Fukawa was ever the cynic.

"But it's outnumbered. And losing." Komaru said. That was true. The blue Murralsee had been struck to the side and now all seven of the remaining Murralsee were getting their licks in. It irritated even Rohan to see this.

"Let's just go, Komaru." Fukawa said, her voice slightly harder to make the command clear. It did its job on Komaru, who was about to turn back with nothing more than an apologetic look.

Wasted potential. Rohan thought to himself as he began to sketch out Heaven's Door in the air, while Fukawa was still looking in his direction. The command to throw a scissor right at one of the Murralsee was written before the 'Ultimate Writer' could even protest.

It was a poor throw, Heaven's Door could only defy physics so much, but it at least managed to make a mark. Alone, the scissor might have made a slight scratch on the skin of the Murralsee furthest to the right. But Smells Like Teenage Spirit was fuelled by the passion of love and hate.

And Fukawa had a lot of hate for the Murralsee.

The entire right arm of the Murralsee cracked open and sent it stumbling from the sudden shock. The blue Murralsee took its chance and smashed through the weak point to escape. The other Murralsee, along with those starting to march out from other hallways, however, noticed who had interrupted their play.

"It can't be," The blue Murralsee said, before pointing at the three of them. "To have shattered an entire arm with but a scratch. I misjudged your three! I thought your Stands wouldn't be suited for combat. My apologies, but please lend aid. So long as there are innocents plagued by this fight, I must fight!"

"Nothing for it." Rohan smirked as the Murralsee began to advance. Komaru readied her Hacking Gun, the resolute look on her face welcome after so long crying over the horrors in the subway tunnels.

"You bastard." Fukawa growled, but she readied the taser nonetheless.

It was short work for the two. Komaru's aim with the Hacking Gun as she managed to score more direct hits to the eyes of the Murralsee. Any danger to her was blocked by We Built This City summoning a shield for her. Fukawa, once she became Genocider Syo, moved through the metallic masses like it was a dance floor.

What Syo lacked in hate or love for the Murralsee, she made up for in pure precision as she sliced through the eye circuits.

The blue Murralsee itself fought as well. The stragglers in the back lines were torn apart by the spirit of the rogue machine; roaring with every blow it made. There was something different about this Murralsee. Something unique that made it a deadly warrior.

Not even a minute passed before the children fled. It was only natural when their toys were nothing more than circuits and wires.

"Such power! Such finesse! A modified megaphone and pair of scissors became like a shotgun and lightsaber in your hands. I must thank you for your aid. I do not know how long I could have kept on fighting until you fought them off." The blue Murralsee was speaking as it walked towards them. It only stopped to shake in place out of what seemed like self-shame, white eyes staring at the indentures on its body. "As a machine, I am bound by the limitations of my body, however much my heart yearns to fight on."

The reward for his words was Fukawa pointing a scissor-blade right at his face. Smells Like Teenage Spirit gathered by the edge of the blade. "Enough of that flowery stuff! How are you talking? What do you want? You're with the kids, aren't you?"

"Such questions at a fast pace! It's as if I'm being interrogated by a police inspector. Still, it is only natural. My apologies for my rudeness, my lady," The blue Murralsee gave a slight bow as he introduced himself. "My name is Murray. I am a Murralsee; designed for defence and recovery. My AI was designed to be unique to other Murralsee as an experiment for performance improvement."

"My lady? Don't go thinking you can win me over with that kind of sweet-talk." Fukawa grumbled, even as she blushed to herself.

"He does look more like a hero than a monster. And he seems nice." Komaru smiled at 'Murray' who gave the closest thing to a smile back when his expression was built-in.

"Don't be fooled, Omaru. He's like a cheater in a gentleman's suit." Fukawa shivered with each word. She was looking at 'Murray' as if he was about to shoot lasers out of his eyes.

Rohan could only scoff at that. If he was trying to trick them, he'd have feigned vulnerability to lure them over and then attack Komaru before We Built This City activated. Fukawa was letting paranoia get to her, as she turned her attention to him.

Komaru was ready to interject when 'Murray' beat her to it.

"Please, do not fight on my accord." He said, before motioning to the tattered remains around him. "I was like these things once; all of us were sleeping until it was time to be activated. I only woke up an hour before the riots began a few days ago, newborn and confused. When I saw the butchery above, just a few days ago, a foul corruption within told me to go forth and kill. To hurt the innocent." He gripped his fists tightly as they shook. "But there was another voice inside me-the voice of my heart- that rejected it! It told me to go forth and protect! The purpose for which I was truly created."

He sounded so determined, so sure of himself. It almost made Rohan interested in him.

"You mean what your programming said." Fukawa replied, causing the Murralsee to lose some of its energy.

"Fukawa! That's too cruel." Komaru scolded.

Murray sighed. "No. It is a fair complaint, my lady. I imagine the three of you have seen great horrors. Normal rules of politeness shouldn't be rigidly observed without question." It looked up and towards Fukawa, a more confident tone entering its voice. "Besides, such rules are normally suspended for those with beauty."

"Don't think good taste will make us less suspicious." Fukawa's bark was let down by her blushing and almost flirting expression.

"It's because he doesn't have a sense of smell." Rohan was regretting not making Fukawa use the toilet water. It would have made her cleaner than she was right now.

An argument was about to break out again when steps echoed throughout the hallway. About three persons were running, two from ahead facing Murray and one to the opposite of where the three of them had emerged to help Murray. They were too light to have been Murralsees, but too heavy for children.

The first to arrive were the pair. One was wearing a mask and wearing a make-shift camouflage suit, holding an assault rifle, yet Rohan could see that this person had no idea on how to use it, and the other was without a mask. It made sense, as it'd otherwise keep her from smoking her cigarette.

Waist-length light pink hair, brown eyes, blue jacket over a white shirt, and black ripped jeans, the last a fashion choice rather than from the recent chaos. The cuts were too neat otherwise. What interested Rohan though was the way that the smoke from her cigarette was wafting back towards her. It twisted and turned softly inside her jacket.

The third arrived just after the two and was unmasked as well. Just like the pink-haired one, his black hair went down to his waist, black jacket with beige-furring to cover up a red-rose pattern shirt, and ripped jeans that had the unintended tears sewn up. His whole look was someone who had slept in their clothes but woke up realising they were late for a meeting and didn't change.

Stuck between looking casual but then trying to make it seem formal. It didn't help that his whole expression was practically blank. A complete contrast to the pink-haired woman's friendlier expression.

Still, Haiji Towa-who Rohan only knew as the son of the man who he 'convinced' to let use the Towa Group's nature experiments-probably had a rough time.

"Haiji, you're back!" The masked woman cried out. She ran over to his side and looked up to him. "Did you find the man we were looking for? Where are the others?" She asked, Rohan barely able to hear over Fukawa's mutterings.

"I found Ishimaru." Haiji replied, silencing Fukawa, before shaking his head. It was obvious what happened to the man, seeing as he wasn't with them.

"Damn it. Did they at least leave something?" The unmasked woman asked. Haiji didn't say anything, which told her enough. The unmasked woman bit into the cigarette in her mouth in frustration. "Shouldn't have let him out of my sight."

Murray was more emotive, smacking his right fist into his left palm. The clanging sound echoed throughout the area. "Curses! Those damn puppets...couldn't even leave a body."

Rohan felt uneasy. A sensation on his back, as if it was about to explode, had erupted whenever he looked at Haiji or the masked woman. But why? They were adults so they were probably fighting against the children as well.

It was when the masked woman took off the gas-mask, freeing her light brown hair tied in a ponytail, and shining brown eyes looked up to Haiji Towa as if he was the hero of the hour, that Rohan went cold. It couldn't be. This had to be a dream. A cruel, manipulative dream caused by a stress-filled mind.

But even if it was a dream, Rohan still couldn't control himself.

"Shinobu Kawajiri!" He shouted, causing all attention to fall to him.

Komaru broke the silence. "Rohan-sensei, do you know this person?" She asked.

She's the mother of the kid who helped me stop a serial killer twenty years ago. It was only twenty years for him. Shinobu looked the same age as when she had been tricked by Yoshikage Kira. He only knew who she was because of what Hayato said about her, and she wouldn't recognise a manga artist.

It was those words that kept him from being too disappointed at the lack of recognition in her eyes.

"How do you know my name?" Shinobu asked, almost wary of him. It was barely a second when suspicion was replaced by frantic hope behind those eyes. "Have you seen a boy? About eleven years old, brown hair that goes down to his chin, looks a bit scrawny? He's called-"

"Hayato." Rohan shouldn't have said that. He realised this when Komaru and Fukawa looked at him as if he was crazy.

"I thought you hadn't left your room in-"

Fukawa's mouth was rapidly covered up by Rohan's hand. His grip was tight enough that all she could do was try and gross him out by licking his hand and trying to bite down on his flesh. She only stopped when she accidentally bit her own tongue and howled in pain. Komaru's frown, accompanied by the looks from the others, were what convinced Rohan to finally let go.

Not that Fukawa seemed to appreciate it.

"We should talk about this in the base." Haiji said. That kept Fukawa from speaking. Of course the purveyor of smut would crush hard for a wealthy heir. The Towa heir looked around and seemed to concentrate, as if trying to hear for any loud foot-steps. "Too many Murralsee are about."

"A secret base?" Komaru sounded as if she was offered a lifetime's supply of candy. She turned to Fukawa and was practically bouncing in her steps. "Can we go with them? Can we, Fukawa?" Rohan rolled his eyes. She could make her own decisions, couldn't she?

"A base? Probably some kidnapper's cove waiting to hold us hostage." Fukawa whispered to Komaru. One look at Haiji and her tone changed again. "Though maybe we should trust them."

"It's not like we've got much choice. Besides," Rohan turned to Haiji, who seemed to ignore both Fukawa and Shinobu giving him warm glances. There was something different about him. "We've got a lot to talk about."

"Great. I suppose we should introduce ourselves," The pink-haired woman said. She smiled at all three of them and pointed to herself. "I'm Hiroko Hagakure, you know Murray, Shinobu and Haiji, so now it's your turn."

"Oh, um, I'm Komaru Naegi, this is Touko Fukawa," Komaru said, completely ignoring Fukawa's quick gasp and hushed reprimands. Shinobu gasped and held her hands to her mouth when she heard that second name. Oh great, a reader of Fukawa's glorified fanfictions. "And this is Rohan Kishi-"

A chorus of clanks cut her off. They were coming from the entrance just behind Murray, everyone backing up to build space between them and the advancing Murralsee, as they marched down the steps. It wasn't just regular ones. There were the one with sirens, the ones who had bombs strapped around their torso, and even shielded ones like back at the subway.

Rohan even spotted some of the Murralsee that were just heads attached to limbs and no torso. Junk Murralsee.

There were dozens of them, but they weren't fighting normal civilians. Rohan suspicions about Hiroko were confirmed when she breathed out and the smoke around her, on the cigarette, and even the thin air became to form a thick cloud around her that pooled across everyone's legs. Komaru and Fukawa panicked before realising that they were fine.

The front line of Murralsee, however, found that their legs weren't working properly. The smoke was somehow getting inside and, before anyone knew it, sparks and small explosions burst from their knees.

Fukawa's taser had enough power for one small rampage for Genocider Syo-who cackled as she took the field-and Komaru provided support with her Hacking Gun. Entire lines of Murralsee began to collapse as they charged ahead, either cut down by Syo's madness, Komaru's aim, or Hiroko's trap. It was almost comedic how the Murralsee were tripping over their own fallen comrades.

Murray was doing his best to help. Shinobu had tried to give support, but even she seemed to realise that she'd probably just cause friendly fire, before backing down. They were making decent enough progress, the Murralsee had even stopped marching through the subway entrance. Syo even turned back to Fukawa.

That was when one Murralsee, a Junk one at that, burst from the forming mound of robotic corpses. It was entirely focused on Shinobu, who tried to back up only to stumble to the floor.

"Killer Queen!" Rohan froze as a pebble flew into his sights and only just tapped against the Murralsee's side when it exploded. The explosion took out most of the Junk Murralsee's head before imploding on itself. Haiji rushed over to Shinobu's side and tried to help her up. "Are you alright? I'd have used it on the crowd, but I didn't want to hurt our allies. You understand, right?"

"Y-Yes." Shinobu replied. The hesitation was less from shock and more 'Haiji' being so close. It seemed too convenient how she slipped just before he was upright, slipping into his grip again.

"She's totally faking it. She's already got a kid and she's still trying to get it on." Fukawa hissed. If she thought no one would hear her, she thought wrong.

"What did you just say?" Shinobu's furious look was met by Fukawa's attempt at matching it.

"T-Those looks. It feels as if two lionesses are about to fight to the death!" Murray took a step back as Komaru gasped in shock.

'Haiji' just seemed annoyed at all the attention before Hiroko brought peace by pointing out that they had to leave now. The two groups decided to join up and head for this secret base that these newcomers were talking about. Fukawa was split between deriding them and trying to take Shinobu's place by 'Haiji's' side, while Komary was ecstatic at being able to go to a safe sanctuary.

Rohan? Rohan was saying nothing. He kept every last bit of his attention on 'Haiji Towa'. Shinobu, Hayato, both of those had to be a sign that some people made it to the new world. Rohan knew that there were others out there, even if he lost hope after Morioh Town's flop.

But he didn't expect this.

No. Not you. Koichi, Josuke, Tonio, Jotaro, Reimi, everyone else didn't make it. But you? It was a different name. Rohan didn't know if there was a Yoshikage Kira in this world, but that Stand. That Stand couldn't have been a coincidence. Not if Dio Brando made it here as well. Reimi said that Kira and Killer Queen were seized by the hands in the alley. Sent into the afterlife. Did whatever end my world send them here?

Whatever it was, even if the man before him really was Haiji Towa, Rohan was keeping a close eye on him. He'd stay quiet, play nice, no reason to risk Heaven's Door when the other newcomers seemed dedicated to him, but he would watch. Watch for a sign, any sign, that this was Yoshikage Kira. If it was, then that would be when Rohan would make his move.

Even if this was another world, Rohan wouldn't let Yoshikage Kira pollute it as he once did the old one.

---

"How did they beat us here?" Shinobu stuttered. It made sense than an old hag would have memory problems. The black-widow leaned against Haiji, trying to seduce him. "We can't trust them, Haiji. It's a trap."

"The old lady is right. We just should turn back." Fukawa said. As much as she didn't like to admit it, they couldn't risk playing with this stupid game. The kids beat them to wherever Murray-who she still didn't trust-was leading them and probably planted Murralsee to attack them.

Not that Shinobu appreciated it, she turned a glare to the Ultimate Writer. "Old lady? You disrespectful-"

"We can't turn back." Haiji's calm and collected voice silenced the shrew. "If they found this route, then we don't know if they've found the others. If we turn back, we're exiting their game and they'll be free to break their own rules. We don't know how many Murralsee are in the other pipes. This is also the shortest and-until now-the most reliable way back. If we make it through here, we can come back to clear them out. But right now, our priority is getting back as soon as possible and correcting this mistake."

"You're right." Shinobu admitted, biting her bottom lip.

Fukawa couldn't believe that such an idiot thought she'd be worth anything to someone like Haiji Towa. Someone of his stature and legacy needed a woman of refined taste and filled with youth, rather than some dead-beat's sloppy seconds. Shinobu Kawajiri was just misinterpreting basic kindness, far more than she deserved, as a sign of interest.

She needed to know her place.

"Ah, Haiji. My head...it feels so heavy and faint from all the fighting...could you please help me stay upright?" Fukawa added dramatic pauses to enhance the effect of her fake-wooziness.

"Miss Fukawa, I can gladly be of assistance," Murray's unwelcome voice chimed in. Fukawa ignored Shinobu's smug look of triumph. "I was fitted with cooling measures."

"I'll help too." Komaru added. Gah! Didn't that girl understand subtlety?

"Not from you." Fukawa hissed, keeping her voice low. It did the job of scaring the two.

"Like a piranha on a finger!" Murray howled. He must have thought he was so smart with this whole act, but Fukawa wasn't fooled!

The Occult Idiot's far more useful mother ignored them and was muttering to herself. "How many shots does a skilled child hunter need to get rid of ten birds?" She asked, repeating the riddle given. Seconds passed before she sighed. "The answer's zero."

"What? The answer is clearly ten. He's skilled so it's one shot per bird." Shinobu being an idiot wasn't a surprise to Fukawa. Of course she'd go for the obvious bait answer.

"It's too obvious. He can just throw the gun and the birds'll get spooked." Hagakure was wrong as well. She was being too smart.

The answer's obviously a hundred bullets. These kids just rigged the game so that the dumb answer that no one would answer is the right one. Fukawa thought to herself. Still, maybe it is zero. Or Mrs Unfaithful Wife might have a point.

Haiji seemed undecided, but was clearly divided between whether to say it was ten or zero bullets needed, which left it to Hagakure and Shinobu to argue over. Murray even joined in by arguing that it might have been a single bullet, only for Haiji to shut it down magnificently. The gun-man was skilled but it'd be difficult for a hunting rifle to shoot through ten birds in a row.

That then opened an argument over what kind of gun and bullet were being used. Soon enough, they were all drowning in a sea of arguments over details and exact circumstances. What kind of birds were these? What was their exact position? Was this all a trap? How many Murralsee were in each pipe? The game laid forgotten as everyone kept on arguing.

Fukawa herself soon found herself verbally jousting with everyone over a wide span of topics. Whether they had the right answer, or if it was worth risking a wrong one, and if they could simply just fight their way through, it didn't matter. They were just going around and around in circles while the kid taunting them was having the time for their lif-

"Everyone!" A firm and powerful voice silenced everyone. Five pairs of eyes turned to Komaru who had an intensity about her form. Rohan stood behind her, back to back, with a fire of his own. Komaru even had the audacity of smirk and laugh at them, tapping the side of her head with her finger. "You're thinking like adults. Questions of skill, loopholes, types of guns and distance travelled. In a game created by children, you're selling water to a drowning man!"

"So you figured it out as well." Rohan said, a smirk on his face that made Fukawa want to slap it off so much. "Finally, the face of a main character."

Murray took a step back. "This energy coming from both of them," He said, barely able to get the words out. It seemed like the robot was totally intimidated by their cockiness. "It's as if they have unlocked their potential! 100% synch-rate!"

To be honest, Fukawa was surprised as well. She had spent so long having to drag out any sense of courage from Komaru that it was shocking to see the dummy bring it out on her own. Not only that, but she got Rohan pumped up about it as well. The smirk on both their faces, taking joy in sharing a joke that no one else knew, was unnatural. As was that sheer sense of confidence from Komaru.

All this over a kid's riddle? It was then that Fukawa felt the shock leave her body and everything made sense. It's only natural that two total babies would be excited over a big kid riddle. Probably got something stupid lined up.

"Children don't think of psychological warfare, but they play games designed to trick you into the obvious answer." Komaru took a step forward and pointed a finger at Haiji. It happened with such speed and intensity that Fukawa was reminded of a certain older brother of Komaru's. "Haiji, if you wanted to keep hoodlums off your property, how would you do it?" She asked.

"I would order them to leave." Haiji replied, keeping his answer short and simple as leaders often had to.

Which was why Komaru had no place smirking like that! "If they refused? Whether you said you would call the police, or took up a weapon yourself, what would children do? Even from the point of hearing the threat itself?"

A mere moment passed before Haiji's eyes widened in shock. It was if he discovered an answer so obvious that the minutes of arguing it took to not even reach that point weren't just worthless, they were infuriating! Hagakure's own expression changed shortly after, even laughing at herself. The only one of the adults who hadn't gone through the same shock was Shinobu.

Makes sense that she'd not figure it out. Probably wouldn't even recognise her husband without a name-tag. Fukawa didn't need to figure out the answer. It was probably something stupid that only an idiot like Komaru would know, being on a similar wavelength. When did she figure it out though? Was she thinking about it while we were just arguing? Was she...waiting for the dramatic moment?

"Of course!" Murray shouted, clicking his fingers at the same time. "Miss Komaru, you are a genius! This child was making us think of the hunter, but not of the birds! A single shot couldn't kill all the birds, but-"

"It'd frighten them off. Maybe some would be scared of the noise, but a child wouldn't think that far! That's where you went wrong, Hagakure. It's the certainty that they would flee at the death of one of their own. A single shot to get rid of all ten birds." Komaru leaned towards the child and put a hand on her waist and extended the other as a closed fist. "You're ten years too young to match I, the Riddle Queen, Komaru Naegi!"

We Built This City emerged behind her in the exact same dumb pose that she probably thought looked cool. Komaru would become a useless dependent when asked to do something, if given the choice, but when it came to kid's games she was all hyped up! What made it worse was that lousy mangaka.

The two were leaning against each other's backs and giving that same intense look to the child. As Komaru began to lean back, Rohan was on the attack. With a few flicks of the wrist, he summoned Heaven's Door and the Stand went flying towards the child's arm, making the limb open up into pages. Fukawa took one look at what he wrote down and restrained the urge to vomit in disgust.

'I lost in this game of wits.'

The kid started crying immediately. It might have been sad if it wasn't for the Murralsee helmet, and the fact that it had three traps planned for them. Murray didn't pay it any mind. In a single leap, he rushed towards the pipe-line labelled C-the label for 'one shot' compared to A, B, and D-and was swallowed by darkness. From where the group stood, they could hear the sounds of Murray's landing.

Komaru and Rohan's smiles grew just that bit larger, as did Fukawa's annoyance with the two.

"Can't deny their energy." Hagakure said, putting a nice spin on their little show.

"All this time, I thought Hayato could be a brat," Shinobu said to herself, almost embarrassed for those two. As if she was any help to Haiji during this whole trip! "He's such an adult compared to them."

"I think everyone is an adult compared to this group." Haiji then turned his gaze to Fukawa, along with Hagakure and Shinobu. What was this? Did they think she was the same?

"Why are you looking at me?!" Fukawa snapped. How could Haiji betray her like this? She was nothing like them. "I'm a sophisticated-"

"Smut-writer." Rohan's words were followed by Shinobu looking to the ground with a red face. Of course someone like her, hitting on a man ten years younger just days after her husband died, would buy into the fantasies Fukawa offered.

She must have spent a long time in the bath with those books. The thought electrified Fukawa's spine as the image came to mind even as she restrained the urge to gag. Rohan had to be put in his place.

"At least I don't write character designs for hentai-artists." Fukawa smiled as that made Rohan get angry. Good. He was being too smug for his own good. "Go bond with Komaru over sloppy writing."

"It's not sloppy writing! Stories like The Bomb Inside Her-" Komaru seemed to sense Rohan's change in aura and shot around with a speed that Fukawa didn't know she had. All to defend her pile of trash. "No! I'll let you insult the popular shonen because you probably know better, but The Bomb Inside Her is art. Manga history."

Rohan leaned back and looked down on Komaru. "I wasn't going to say it's bad. Honestly, I'm relieved your long-term tastes are that tier. But it's got problems."

Komaru seemed to keep her glare strong because Rohan seemed to take that as a challenge. Haiji signalled to the others to begin moving towards the tunnel, enough time having been wasted, and Fukawa had never been so glad to hear that order. Anything to get away from the philistines and their arguing over which garbage was less garbage.

Besides, this was Komaru. How long could she really last in an argument with Rohan Kishibe?

---

Yoshikage Kira did not have the past he wished for.

He was a man forced to kill because of something that he could not change. He was a man forced to flee his home after one shitbag cop got too fussy about his sandwich. He was a man forced into handcuffs because of some deadbeat with something to prove to a now-dead man. He was a man who literally had his face and clothes ripped from him and attached to another.

He saw his own face turn deathly white and die in front of him. Kira could feel his nails growing as the urge to act on his desires grew, but also unable to do so. Trapped in an identity that only attracted attention to a man who wanted to live a normal life. All while, up above, some brats turned the surface into a killing spree from which there seemed no escape.

It took his entire willpower to restrain himself. To see the hands of those like Shinobu Kawajiri and Hiroko Hagakure and keep himself from using Killer Queen. To play along with Murray's little fantasy and keep himself from interrogating the overgrown calculator. Did he know who he truly was? He had to, but did Murray know what that meant? All things that were controlled by his will.

A will that Komaru Naegi and Rohan Kishibe were testing.

"-it was a perfectly decent one-shot that had a weak sequel. The first half just romanticised a dark ending." Rohan said, talking about this 'Bomb Inside Her'. Kira's entire method involved the use of Killer Queen and even he was tired of hearing about women exploding.

"He was only bullying her to express emotion without killing her. Any other way and she'd die." Komaru insisted. She spoke with a passion he had only seen with those riddles before. Was this truly the sister of the Ultimate Hope?

"Yes. A tragedy. Not a romance." Rohan narrowed his eyes. "You know how the second volume was meant to end right?"

"No! That'd have been super-sad!" Komaru insisted. Kira disagreed; if it meant ending the damn thing.

"Just because something's sad doesn't mean it's bad. Better your heart is broken and you keep that feeling than simply getting drip by drip. She's a mangaka that could be the best of all time but keeps preferring to play it safe, to the editor's delight. Each volume just kept adding new characters to pad out the plot while the author tried to create a long-term narrative. It's why she went on that ridiculous-" Rohan paused. It seemed like his mind finally thought about something other than manga. "I suppose all those hiatuses were justified."

"So the end of the world brought about the end of that manga. Guess something good came out of it." Fukawa mumbled to herself. Rohan and Komaru stopped arguing to turn towards Fukawa, apparently giving a look off-putting enough that she resembled a ghoul. "Ah!"

That threw Hiroko off. The Stand user had otherwise been happily half-listening to their conversation, unlike Kira, Shinobu, and Fukawa who were stuck with it for half-an-hour, but now she had been taken off-guard. A rare moment. Murray, who seemed almost enraptured, recoiled and rushed to Fukawa's side.

"Miss Fukawa! You look as if a powerful force just struck you! Meteors striking through satellites themselves!" He cried out.

"You're damn right. The power of two nerds who don't know how to read like grown-ups." Fukawa was speaking for the group, as they then marched on.

Kira kept himself calm and collected, as the ideal leader was meant to be, even as Komaru and Rohan started their ridiculous argument again. It fell to those like Fukawa to loudly groan and Shinobu to mutter about immaturity in teenagers and adults nowadays.

"Is Hayato into manga?" Kira asked. If he was too stoic, it'd look like he was being distant. Small talk humanised leaders.

"Not particularly. He reads Shonen Jump, but he's not...like them" Shinobu replied, sounding almost happy about her own answer.

Good. He's worth all the shit all the people back at the base are giving me about these missions. The chatter was beginning to get to Kira. For all of Komaru's talk about being normal in every way, a fact he refused to be jealous of, she was being very abnormal in her rigid defence of some manga. They were approaching this with enough passion to irritate him. Idiots! The world around you is dead. At least the girl was a captive; but you Rohan Kishibe? What kind of idiot misses the apocalypse?

"Well, we're here." Hiroko said, pointing to the giant iron door up ahead.

Getting the entrance open was no issue even without Stands with Murray's strength. The machine had said that he built this base in a matter of hours, which Kira did believe from how ramshackle some of it looked, but it had been good enough for their needs. It housed the few hundred survivors that remained and was well-protected enough that they could hide until the right moment.

The right moment to either wait for the Future Foundation to solve this problem or evacuate this god-forsaken city.

As the group entered the city, dozens of downcast figures looked on them and their despair lightened. Only slightly. The loss of their loves ones, their injuries, and being stuck underground for so long had sapped their spirits. The closest thing to a celebration was their eyes lightening up slightly and some people noting their appearance.

It was pathetic.

"Everyone, they're back." Someone murmured, pointing to both Kira and Murray. "Murray and Haiji. They're back."

About a dozen people moved towards them and began to crowd Kira. It was the same set of questions they asked after every rescue mission. Did you save anyone else? Who died? Do you have to make these runs? When can we go back up? Why risk yourself on these missions?

How the hell are we meant to feed you useless grunts otherwise? How do we escape? Replies like those would satisfy him but destroy morale. So Kira played the role of Haiji Towa, the heir who had to shape up for the role he was in, offering slightly uneasy but firm explanations.

The fact that he brought three Stand users with him helped matters. It'd be fine for boosting confidence among these people, so long as they didn't actually talk to any of the three-

"Rohan? Rohan, you're alive." A slightly overweight, glasses-wearing, man with barely enough hair to cover the top of his head moved towards the three. Just Kira's luck that this manga editor would emerge. "It's so good to see-ohnoyou'reupset."

Kira turned and saw that Rohan was indeed looking upset. Well, more upset than usual. If he truly didn't know about The Tragedy from the start, even if he stayed in his room, then it meant that no one had told him for all those months. The editor knew what Rohan was like and said nothing.

Komaru moved between Rohan and the editor and gave Kira a look of apology.

"S-Sorry, Haiji, but we'll introduce ourselves later." She said, turning to Rohan and taking his left arm while We Built This City took his right. "Rohan-sensei! Don't kill your editor."

"Do it. Then we can lock him up and he'll be out of our lives." Fukawa looked at Kira and waved with a feline-like smile on her face. "We'll see each other again." She promised, as Kira was already walking ahead with Murray and Shinobu on each side.

"That girl has a rotten soul." Shinobu said. Kira wondered if she was upset about Fukawa's intentions, her words, or the fact that she had Fukawa's books in her room.

"But she's not wrong about him." Kira looked back at Rohan, thinking that he wouldn't see him, and gave a glance to the woman behind him. "Hiroko, keep an eye on them. Especially..." He had to think about this. Komaru was safe, but a pushover, while Rohan and Fukawa were more the wild-cards. Rohan had Heaven's Door and Fukawa the Genocider.

He couldn't decide who needed the most watching.

"Yeah, they're gonna a tough crew. But keep an open mind on them." Hiroko's eyes softened as she looked at the group; Komaru and We Built This City doing their best to hold a screaming Rohan back. "We've all been through a lot. They've probably haven't been able to let off steam for a while. Someone needs to tell her about the bracelets."

As the sounds of screaming echoed throughout the camp, Murray restraining the urge to go back to them, Kira and Shinobu moved forward along with the machine. They couldn't distract themselves with disputes between every single survivor. Micro-managers were resented and sources of suspicion.

"You said I was rank five! I thought I was finally moving up again! You didn't say how many were left!" Rohan's screams were becoming more distant. Something that Kira was thankful for.

"We had to! You might have left and then we'd have no former established artists left. We were going to tell you after Bloody Games was finished." The editor's tone changed from pleading to what could only be described as haggling. "If anything, it sold well considering the subject manner and your...creative choices. Look, readers don't like dark stories anymore. Maybe if you brought back Joten, like those letters ask-ohmypleaseno!"

"Rohan-sensei, no!" Komaru screamed as Rohan seemed to be on the attack again.

Kira sighed and took a moment to breathe in and out. Anything to get his mind off the fact that his nails were beginning to grow again. He'd need to keep a level head when going to the council, more a collection of adults willing to discuss strategy before being told what would happen, and this wasn't helping.

Up ahead was one of the council members now. Kira would say he'd been a sceptic of his and Murray's plan, but that'd describe all the council members, to be honest.

"The others are waiting for you to discuss this plan of yours," The man's face turned to one of disgust; Kira could already predict his next words. "We brought them with us."

They had been found just yesterday. Technically, 'found' wasn't the right term. The brothers had wanted to meet with the rescue team and had arranged themselves so that meeting them was inevitable. They had managed to predict Murray's route and greeted the machine with a plea for help.

The fact that they were Stand users, especially when he learnt their abilities, was why Kira let them in. For the others, however, they had compensated their own weakness by focusing their hatred less on solutions and more on children. They were so deluded that they thought the children did this of their own free will.

It didn't help that the giant monitor kept showing them images of their friends and family being tortured. Kira had tried to have it destroyed, but he wondered if that'd even stop anything. Murray claimed it was there when he arrived, but Kira doubted it. Regardless, the survivors would have fought to keep the monitor, for just the slightest hope that their loved ones were safe.

They never were.

So when Kira introduced Zenyatta and Mondatta, also known as 'Oingo' and 'Boingo' to one another, it hadn't been a popular decision.

It didn't help that Shinobu and Hiroko were the only parents among them. The rest of them had been childless adults who had seen their families be torn apart to the sound of laughing children and Murralsee growls. What little logic they had left was gone when it came to children.

Murray, just what is it that you want from us? Kira asked himself, but keeping a calm front to the man. "We agreed that any Stand user was a useful asset. Murray found them being chased by the Murralsee. If you doubt his judgement, say it now."

He wouldn't. Everyone here had been saved by Murray. To doubt him would be to doubt the hand of God itself.

That silenced the council member who simply opened the door for Kira, Shinobu, and Murray, as the four of them walked into the meeting room where everyone was sat around the table. Zenyatta and Mondatta were sat by the corner of the room instead. Both sides seemed happy with that arrangement.

Kira himself didn't know who he was more interested in. The user of Khnum could change his very appearance; a superior version of Haiji's own Stand in that it changed everything and didn't require swapping with another. But Tohth's user could see into the future itself. Not perfectly, but enough predictions that it had made many missions that much easier.

It had been how the Egyptian brothers had survived for so long. Mondatta's Tohth predicted The Tragedy and that Towa City was safe, so they moved there, and then learnt of the Warriors of Hope so he avoided the Murralsee helmet. Just as Hayato supposedly did. Such foresight was necessary in any resistance.

Not to mention that it validated Kira's own plan to end this crisis.

"I don't like this." One of the council members, supposedly a former police officer, said. His arms were folded and he was rocking back and forth in his chair. "We can't just sit here and wait for help to come to us. We've got to get out of here and do something!"

"Those Murralsee outnumber us! They'll kill us all." One of the women argued.

"So we just wait here and die?" He asked, slamming his left fist against the table.

"Or go out there and die?" She asked back, doing the same but with the palms of both hands.

"We are not going to die." Kira said. To the council, this was Haiji Towa making a dramatic appearance. "If we stay here, supplies will run out and people will panic. If we simply just leave, without a plan, we'll be lambs in the slaughterhouse. What we need is time and bodies. Time we can buy with supply raids and rationing. Bodies are another matter. We need someone to either fight this war for us, or get us out of here."

He looked to Zenyatta who stood up from where he sat. His younger brother hid behind his leg and barely reacted to the glares coming his way. "Boingo's Stand can see into the future with manga." Zenyatta held out his hand and Mondatta gave his manga. "Check this out."

Zenyatta held out the open pages of the manga which revealed a grotesque comic depicting a group of people climbing up Towa Tower and speaking into a laptop to someone. But not just anyone. Even in its mocked form, no one could deny that they were looking at the symbol of the Future Foundation.

Not that they seemed to realise the lack of alternatives.

"The Future Foundation? They're meant to help us?" An older, more cynical, but no more intelligent, member of the council asked. "They couldn't even catch the Remnants of Despair after Dio got killed. Y'know what? How do we even know that they're not just working with the Remnants? This could all be one sick game to them."

"Because then there is no Hope." Kira tried to keep the anger from his voice. Leaders had to be blunt but not angry at these times. "A small group of Stand users could survive this hell for as long as they need. But we're not that group. We are the last survivors of Towa City. We are the last fragments of hope for everyone who had died or come here for sanctuary. Towa Tower is not our best chance. It's the only chance."

Once they had the Future Foundation, the battle to survive would be over. The Remnants of Despair were just that. Remnants. The Future Foundation had the infrastructure and logistics to arrange an actual evacuation and could offer escape routes and ships for the adults. They could discuss a plan to migrate from this giant prison cell.

Haiji Towa could even disappear into the crowd and be reported as lost. The chaos of battle between the Future Foundation and the Murralsee could hide anyone who wanted to be hidden.

The worst-case scenario was someone like the Ultimate Detective and she would be busy on the frontlines.

"Haiji is right." Murray said. Just as Kira knew he would. "I wish I could protect you all. I wish I could reach the hearts of these children and make them stop all this madness." The machine gripped its fists until scraping metal screeched across the room. He sighed and let go. "But I can't. I grow weaker every day. I cannot abandon you and yet it will kill me. If the Future Foundation can at least try to help us, then maybe something will happen. Maybe we can finally find the courage to stand up and reclaim our fates."

"Come on, it's too risky." Another council member lamented. This one was almost Haiji's age, before Kira had to kill him and take his identity. "If you or Haiji vanished, we wouldn't last a day."

This was what it all boiled down to. Why they didn't like the rescue missions, or him agreeing to help find Hayato. The council, and even every last survivor in this camp, realised that it was safe to let their spirits break and just rely on him. If Haiji went away then there was no one strong enough to guide them.

It was worthy of mockery.

The doors slammed open. Kira turned and expected news of some disaster or of the Murralsee encroaching on the base. What he found was the trio of newcomers all being held down by arms of solid smoke as the cloud wafted in, led by Hiroko who was shrugging her shoulders, over the sounds of their arguing. Zenyatta was already moving to keep his little brother from the smoke.

"Sorry, sorry," Hiroko said, without sounding like she meant it, as the entire council and Shinobu herself glared at her. "Kids got a bit scrappy. Decided it was time-out time."

It was actually fortuitous timing for Kira. Before him were the three people who he could trust for this mission into Towa Tower. All of their Stands were effective for this mission. Rohan's Stand would let him control the children commanding the Murralsee, Fukawa's Stand could tear through their numbers, even without the Genocider, and Komaru's shield was unbreakable.

Not only that, but Komaru had another use to Kira. Both brothers had agreed to keep it quiet about the identity of the one who'd be hearing the cry for help. A small favour for their protector to hide a name and face.

Even when it was the name and face of the Ultimate Hope.

Makoto Naegi. You will send thousands to their deaths if it means saving us. Kira looked at Komaru, who had been let go from Smoke On The Water's grip, as she tried to speak with Fukawa and Rohan. The resemblance to the Future Foundation's mascot was clear. Because you'll know what will happen if you don't. The second you see her face, you'll be nothing more than a slave awaiting commands.

Yoshikage Kira did not have the past he wished for; but he would reclaim his future. Just as he did with that cop and the real Haiji Towa in the offices, and just as he did with Ishimaru in the subway station. Yes, there had been a witness, but he too was silenced by Killer Queen. Kira would be able to live a normal life again, away from attention and suspicion, soon enough.

All he needed was the war that would cloud everything else.

---

"You believe in ghosts too?" Komaru was shocked but happy at the same time. Someone did believe in her ability!

Fukawa had just written her off as an idiot, and Haiji was doing that thing teachers did when they didn't say you were dumb but thought it, but she never expected Rohan to believe her. He wasn't entirely mean! Komaru really did have supernatural abilities, but it was nice to hear that someone thought the same too.

"Of course I would. We live in a world of Stands and people with abnormal Talents. Why shouldn't there be such things as ghosts? Especially when seen with my own eyes." Rohan said, making Komaru's heart strengthen, only to then weaken when he glared at Fukawa. "Only a poorly-written sceptic character would be 100% in doubt."

"Big talk coming from you. What? Is your manga just a story about imaginary friends?" Fukawa hissed back. Why did Komaru's friends have to fight? Now Fukawa was glaring at her. "Stands and Talents come from science, Omaru. Only kids and shut-ins believe in ghosts. Maybe you can marry this guy and you can both have children with terrible taste."

"But he's double my age!" Komaru didn't want to marry Rohan. She wanted to marry someone her age who wasn't just on the rebound!

"Guess it's the pachinko halls for you then." Fukawa's words were searing into Komaru's mind. Was that to be her fate? "Though maybe Mister Manga there's into that kind of age difference. Gotta keep the otakus-"

"I think we're losing sight of the topic at hand here." Haiji interrupted Fukawa in the nick of time. Komaru didn't like how Rohan was glaring at Fukawa at that last line. The last thing they needed was a fight like they had in the base. "We're in a graveyard and we want to be at the Towa Group building. Let's get moving."

The city had changed so much. The grey ruins had been replaced with bright colours, only the graveyard itself now looked even spookier than before. The dark blue and blood-red made it look like there had been a massacre, which the hanging nooses and skulls did nothing to help with, and the way these colours were just splashed about. As if someone had lots of paint buckets and went to town.

Not to mention that this is a graveyard. Komaru had to keep herself from shivering even now. Why was she stuck with this school uniform in this time of day? It was bad enough that she was here with braver people who could see her shiver with fear. Fukawa, Rohan, and Haiji were all better equipped for this. Hagakure's Stand was even better for this kind of thing.

We Built This City was cool to Komaru, but all it did was protect a single person, while everyone else suffered.

Fukawa's words came back to her. The moment she had heard of the Resistance's plan to either hide out or run, she lost any crush she had on Haiji. Or maybe she was always loyal to Togami and only remembered it then. Komaru didn't know. But what she did know was that Fukawa thought that this whole thing was cowardice.

But what was the point in fighting if they'd just die? Haiji was right. Even with their Stands, they couldn't defeat all those Murralsee. Why shouldn't they call for help from people who could actually fight? It was better than Fukawa's plan of just fighting, and better than Rohan's scheme of simply going to where he put his Arrow and then fighting the Warriors of Hope.

Zenyatta and Mondatta-the two brothers who were helping Hagakure with finding the other Hunted-were right. The last thing the adults needed was a reason to get more upset with everything. These small little pushes were better. If only Fukawa could see that.

Komaru needed something to cheer herself up. All this self-introspection about what she couldn't do was getting her down.

What did Rohan say about seeing ghosts?

"When did you see a ghost, Rohan-sensei?" Komaru popped the question as they began to walk away from the entrance. The sounds of metallic steps clanging on the ground echoed throughout the air. She readied her Hacking Gun. "Were you a kid back then?"

"I was twenty. It was the ghost of my old babysitter. Reimi Sugimoto." Rohan looked over at Haiji as he spoke. It was almost like he was scanning the man for a reaction, which Haiji wasn't giving. It made sense to Komaru; Haiji was probably around the same age as Rohan when he saw the ghost. "She died to a serial killer. I wouldn't be here if she hadn't saved me."

Komaru wanted to put a hand on his back in sympathy when Fukawa opened her mouth.

"Probably honoured her by making her a bimbo."

That got Rohan upset. He seemed ready to turn and make Fukawa do something horrible with Heaven's Door, and Fukawa had already shut her eyes and pulled out the taser to summon Syo and defend herself. The metallic marching drew closer and Komaru stepped in between the two. Poor Haiji looked ready to explode until she moved in.

"Fukawa, that's mean. You should be nice to people who share these details. And you don't have to use your Stand on everyone who isn't nice to you, Rohan-sensei." Komaru tried to mimic her mother whenever she and Makoto fought. It seemed to work, judging by how Fukawa and Rohan were crossing their arms and grumbling to themselves, just like she and Makoto would.

"I'm starting to wonder if I should have brought you all along. If we spent as much time bickering as we did on the objective, we'd have liberated the whole city by now." Haiji didn't even look at them. A Murralsee, this one caked in yellow and black stripes and an air-raid siren on its head, marched just ahead of them.

It didn't see them yet, but it still made her feel bad. Haiji picked up a nearby rock, used Killer Queen on it, and threw the stone towards the Murralsee. It just narrowly tapped against the side of its head when Killer Queen pressed its thumb down and the pebble became an explosion. A high-pitched wail died down, as if it never even happened.

Just another example of how everyone but Komaru had something to contribute. Everyone was counting on them and she was helping to attract attention when they should be moving. Where would they even be without Haiji?

What should I expect? I'm just a normal girl with three amazing people, just trying to get to her family again. Komaru felt a flash of inspiration crash against her skull. That was it!

"I'm Dorothy!" She said, loudly whispering to avoid the Murralsee's attention.

Everyone stared at her before Haiji gave a slight wave. "And I'm Haiji Towa. It's nice to meet you."

"No, I mean I'm Dorothy from Wizard of Oz." Komaru pointed to herself and then to the others. "I'm a normal girl in a strange world, being helped to find a way home by three special people looking for something they want, and we're a foursome."

"So are you the dog too?" Rohan asked, making her blush. She didn't mean it entirely to be like the movie.

"Shouldn't I be Dorothy? I mean, you all fit the criteria for the others," Fukawa asked, pointing at Komaru. "Brainless," Not even a whine came out before she pointed to Rohan next. "Heartless," Rohan barely had time to glare before she pointed to Haiji, who just gave her a look of apathetic contempt. "Spineless."

"Fukawa!" Komaru cried out, before realising what she just did.

"Let's get moving." Haiji's voice was firm and brooked no argument. They had a long way to go and they couldn't just spend their time arguing with each other. Especially not with the Murralsee about.

It was about half an hour of moving around and doing what they normally did. Finding left behinds scraps of papers and items that were left behind in the chaos and discussing them in quiet. Haiji wanted them to get a move on but it was near-impossible to stop Fukawa and Rohan from talking when they really wanted to. They saw survivors in complete denial or despair on what was happening and Murralsee-helmeted children playing around.

The Murralsee weren't too hard when fighting a group of Stand users, especially when one had a Hacking Gun, even if they came in droves. Komaru's aim was at least improving in that one in every three to five shots was hitting them in those tiny eye-slits. Whenever Fukawa became Syo, she could turn dozens of Murralsee-even those with the riots shields-into nothing more than a pile of scrap and bolts.

Rohan provided moral support. Whenever Fukawa's taser ran out of energy, he used his Heaven's Door, even if reluctantly, to improve Fukawa's throwing ability enough that the scissor blades at least touched the Muralsee. With all the hate she had for those machines, it was more than enough to immobilise them. Haiji himself was a machine himself.

It's like a fireworks display. The way that the machines were destroyed by the destruction of even a pebble. Not that it was entirely an explosion. There was a burst of fire and light before the explosion would then implode into itself. It meant that less Murralsee were taken out, but it also kept the rest of them safe.

Maybe that was why Rohan was looking at Haiji with such intensity sometimes. Maybe something for his manga?

It was about half an hour of travelling and fighting, Towa Tower just in the distance, when they came across another pile of bodies. No matter how many times she saw these kind of things, Komaru could never get used to them. Her eyes began to water and her voice quivered when Haiji spoke up again.

"So what was your supernatural experience like?" He asked.

Komaru's expression brightened as she remembered the story. Sometimes she felt it was spooky more than anything, but other times she felt grateful that there was a spirit vengeful enough about leaving the class without saying goodbye that she was visited by it. The others would probably find it strange, but it'd help pass the time, as long as they didn't laugh.

Compared to learning that the guy whose poster she practised kissing on destroyed the world; the worst was behind her on embarrassing stories. How bad could it be?

"Well, it was the third grade and we were doing an overnight sleepover at the school. I was sleeping when I was woken up by a strange noise coming from above..."

---

"We can still turn back, y'know?" Fukawa mumbled. She shuffled back from where the blood was pooling towards her shoes. "It's okay to be scared, Omaru."

Rohan couldn't stop himself from being suspicious of her. There were only two people in the building that he wasn't suspicious of and those were Komaru Naegi and Hayato Kawajiri, and the latter was supposedly hiding out in the top floor, leaving him with Touko Fukawa and 'Haiji Towa'. Well, not just them. There was also Taichi Fujisaki.

He and Hayato had apparently been working together. Hayato hid out in Towa Tower after being separated from his parents and roamed the streets, safe owing to his age but fearful of the helmets, while Taichi had experience working in this place. Their best connection were walkie-talkies whose signals were enhanced by Taichi's Hotline Bling.

Rohan should have seen this coming. The helpful new person who also couldn't fight, talking about having hope of escaping, and even mentioned his damn family. How could Rohan have not seen this ambush coming! It was as cliche as it ever could have been that some new Murralsee-this one more canine in appearance and style-would have taken a bite out of his neck.

It managed to get a claw or two on Rohan himself. It was only because of Komaru that his stomach wasn't entirely opened-up. For someone who couldn't really do anything to these machines, Rohan had been too close. There was nothing he could do for people like Taichi and Komaru.

No. That wasn't entirely true. Rohan Kishibe could keep an eye on people like Fukawa who had been insisting that they turn back ever since they first arrived to this building. How long had she been complaining about Komaru being unwilling to fight? Now she was telling Komaru that they should simply turn back and abandon Towa Tower. Abandon their best chance of getting help.

What are you doing? Why don't you want us to leave? Rohan wondered if 'Haiji' knew something about this. Maybe he and Fukawa made some kind of deal. Fukawa's abandoning of her stalker-act was just a red herring and the two serial killers were working together. Genocider Syo and Yoshikage Kira. What the hell are you hiding? You have to be him. There's no other way you could have Killer Queen otherwise.

It had to be the case. He refused to say whether he had been hit by the Arrow. Rohan was detecting a pattern with people like himself and the Oingo Boingo siblings. What if Stand users from his world who made it to this one didn't need a Stand Arrow for their Stands? It'd be proof that Kira somehow made it here and stole Haiji's identity as he did Kosaku Kawajiri's.

But he had to be sure. That was why Rohan settled for just keeping an eye on Kira and another on Komaru.

He had to keep Komaru and Hayato safe at all costs. Komaru was too trusting of Fukawa and that was blinding her to the cliche betrayal that might be coming. With Hayato, Rohan had an actual connection with the old world and Morioh. He couldn't lose that as well.

There had to be something of his old life left.

Until then, he contented himself with seeing Komaru keep her cool and stand tall. Even when the tears pooled under her eyes, she wasn't giving up. "No. Taichi died for this. Everyone in the base is counting on us. Those kids want us to cry about this and run away." Komaru made a long sniff and the tears were rubbed out of her eyes. She titled her head upwards and glared. "We have to contact the Future Foundation. They'll come and save us. They'll put an end to this."

"You're right, Komaru. If we left now, we'd be spitting on Taichi's corpse. Not to mention we'd be leaving Hayato to die up there." Rohan kept back a smile. There was the fire he wanted to see from her. That will to fight and spit in the face of the odds. It reminded him of Koichi. "This is our best chance."

"It's our only chance," 'Haiji' said. His wrists were firmly shut and the nails likely digging into the skin itself. Rohan tried to see if they were bleeding. "We've only got a week's worth of supplies left and that's without an attack. If we get forced above-ground..."

They'd be dead. Everyone was either injured or had mentally broken down from what had happened above-surface. They were husks without the will to fight, with a bare few exceptions, fuelled only by a hatred and fear they could barely express. If they had some hope, maybe they'd find the will to fight again.

So why was Fukawa doubting this mission so much? What did she want to hide from them? Or was she even on the Future Foundation's side?

Rohan kept drawing and writing. Drawing and writing. He had to make the next deadline. Why the hell did he have to be in the office today? Morioh was best for his artistic influences, but the Shonen Jump offices demanded that he come in and work there. Something about meeting a new mangaka or whatever.

He just had to finish this next chapter and then he could move and actually get work done.

But he was ahead of chapters. That was why they wanted him to meet the new mangaka. Because he wasn't busy. Only he had to have been busy and couldn't have been ahead. If he didn't finish this chapter quick, he'd miss the deadline. It had already been a few days since he just started and it felt like a few minutes.

No time to think. No time to answer the phone. No time to pay attention to anything. He had to keep working. Keep drawing his manga. Once people read this chapter, their minds would be completely blown.

That's why he kept on writing. Even when the lights seemed to change every second. Even when he felt like he couldn't breathe anymore. Even when it felt like the entire world and universe around him was getting faster and faster.

Just finish the next chapter.

Rohan ignored the memory; the last thing he had of the old world before it was lost to him. He couldn't focus on that now. He needed to keep his focus on the present; more importantly, on Komaru Naegi. He had missed the end of his world and the near-end of this world. He wouldn't be distracted now.

Komaru needed someone to watch her back. She was naive, dense, self-criticising to an annoying extent, had terrible to mediocre taste in manga, and had no idea how to handle the trials ahead of her alone. Maybe Rohan was being paranoid about Fukawa and 'Haiji', but maybe he wasn't. Maybe Komaru was being set-up for something and Rohan was the only one who noticed.

He was going to be finished soon, he couldn't deny that.

But he wasn't finished yet.

---

"I hate you, Omaru!" Fukawa was spitting out every word. There was a putrid loathing that broke through Komaru's defences. "Just looking at that hideous face, filled with indecision and a refusal to grow, makes me want to vomit. Just a normal girl with nothing special about her? You're no better than those walking corpses below! No. You're even worse."

Komaru was already crying. This wasn't how thing were meant to be! They weren't supposed to all be screaming at each other.

But here they were. Rohan, Fukawa, and Haiji, along with Heaven's Door and Killer Queen, were all stuck in blobs of glue that Jataro's Judas Priest had spat at them. They had first tried to bring the fight to the evil little child, but their numbers and confidence had hurt them. They weren't able to coordinate and just got in each other's way.

We Built This City managed to protect Komaru from the giant white spit of Judas Priest, a collection of tied-together brown leather rags that formed a giant dopey-smiled creature that almost looked human, if that even was its spit. It might have been its blood. Or vomit.

The disgusting Stand couldn't do anything against We Built This City's shielding. The smooth metallic surface even made the glue slide right off. The only thing it couldn't keep out-without closing off Komaru's air supply-was the smell. It stunk so much.

It reminded her of all those art projects when she was a kid and the teachers brought out those pots of glue. The ones that stuck to the ends of your sleeves, dried into an ugly colour on your skin, and smelled terrible. A monster like Jataro probably liked it.

Liked it just as much as he did turning those people into mannequins for his diorama.

He was just standing there now, laughing at them. Killer Queen's entire left arm was submerged in the glue as was Haiji's right leg. It was the same kind of situation with Rohan and Fukawa. Komaru couldn't even help them since We Built This City wasn't strong enough to pull them out of the glue.

She had started to apologise when Fukawa exploded on her. Once again, Komaru's attempt at making amends was met with being spat on the face by an ungrateful friend.

Why was Fukawa being like this? Komaru was always nice to Fukawa and she got bullied in turn. For what? For not being strong and just rolling up her sleeves whenever the going got tough? How was it her fault that she couldn't do anything?

Komaru tried to force the bubbling anger down.

"Look who's talking!" Rohan barked from Komaru's right, trying to wrench his right leg from the glue. He distorted his facial expression and his voice became higher, a cruel but deserved mockery of Fukawa's. "Master, Haiji, oh will someone please make me feel worthwhile. You mock manga but you act like every goddamn female character today. A ball of personality traits designed to appeal to someone expecting to read a dating sim! No sense of self-worth beyond tearing others down. No experience of actual love! You're not even a side-character. You're a joke character that's been around for too long."

"Joke? Joke? I'll tell you who's a joke." Fukawa hissed. She stopped trying to drag her right elbow to get the taser close enough to the side of her head. Look who was giving up now? Instead, she started to lower her voice. "I missed the end of my world because of manga. I missed the end of this world because of manga. Please. You're just a chunnibyou who woke up, realised he's in his thirties, and made up some fantasy world to explain why he's still writing kid's manga. Wait, you don't write kid's manga anymore. You had to switch to edgy teens after even kids got better taste."

That got Rohan upset. Why couldn't Fukawa just learn to keep her mouth shut?

But Rohan went too far, as always. Jataro was too far away for him to use Heaven's Door, but there was nothing stopping him from using it on Fukawa. Apart from a sense of morality, only that'd be too low-brow for the great and powerful Rohan Kishibe. No. He had to have the last word.

Even when those last words were 'I will stab myself in the gut with scissors'.

Fukawa's free hand went straight into the glue and wrenched out a pair of scissors. Komaru couldn't even react before the blades were plunged deep into Fukawa's gut. The blood couldn't even seep out before the scar expanded across her entire chest.

It reminded Komaru of those old sprinklers that sometimes had slow short bursts before the long spray. Fukawa's body skipped the short bursts and went for the long splash. The blood poured over the glue as Komaru barely dodged it in time.

The anger briefly left Komaru when she saw Fukawa getting pale. Why didn't she do anything to stop him?

Yeah. Stop Rohan. He did this. The fury returned to Komaru as she turned to Rohan with a glare. This was typical him! A slight insult had him almost kill someone else! Why did she ever think he was worthy of admiration. He's no better than Jataro. Killing and torturing just because he wants to.

Komaru would have said something if Haiji, from behind the group, didn't interrupt her.

"Idiots! Every last one of you!" He shouted, still trying to wrench his leg from the leg, using enough force that Komaru thought he'd rip it off. "Fight the kid, not each other! I brought you all here to be of fucking use! To actually be worthwhile! Why did I expect any better from trash?" Komaru bit back a response from the ingrate. How dare he. As if he would have gotten anywhere without them. "Learn from my example. See what you want done, and do it."

A gaggle of chuckles that became a child's attempt at a deep laugh sank through the air and into Komaru's ears. She turned her head to see Jataro giggling into his too-long sleeves as if this was all funny to him. A growl came from her, one that found a tune alongside the others. Not even his audience liked him.

Why would they? A Stand so hideous that it was wrapped in the same leathery scabs as Jataro's mask combined with a monster so poisonous that he thought a macabre display of corpses, put in place by strings and bolts through skin and bone, rising to cardboard clouds was fun. All to get a rise out of Komaru, Fukawa, and Rohan when they were in the subway.

He wasn't even a child anymore. He was nothing more than a demon. A little monster that had to be taken down.

Komaru couldn't even stand the scent of him. Or maybe it was the glue, but either way a black putrid essence bubbled within her.

"See? You're all showing your hatred. Doesn't it feel nice to stop trying to be liked?" Jataro asked, sounding so pleased with himself. Komaru cursed the fact that his mother didn't beat him hard enough to kill him. "Monaca's going to be so upset when I win the Game and bring her four heads."

Shut up you little shit. Komaru thought to herself. It was now up to her, once again as the only one with the Hacking Gun, to solve this problem.

As she took a step forward, though, that was when she heard Rohan scoff at her.

"So now you feel like taking the offensive?" He asked, Komaru turning to see the half-submerged mangaka glaring at her. "You know the worst part about you, Komaru? You could have been a great person. You could have been a main character. But no. You simply just lean on others and make them work for you. Work you could do on your own!" He wasn't even trying to look cool; he was just furious. "There's nothing worse than a person who could be a shooting star, only to decide moving's too much effort."

Komaru might have cried before. Someone she admired tearing into her like that might have broken her heart. But not now. She took a breath, even if the air was thick with that glue's scent, and let Rohan know how it felt to be yelled at.

"This is why..." A small part of her was screaming to stop, before she spoke too soon for it to make a difference. "This is why no one reads your manga anymore!" That same part of her mewled when the hate in Rohan's eyes was replaced by hurt. But she wasn't going to stop now. When did he stop when insulting people and what they loved? "The art is beautiful. The plots are interesting and fun. The characters are great. But no one cares, Rohan. Do you know why? It's because we're not stupid, or not stupid enough to know what you think. Yeah, we want characters to survive what they shouldn't. We want to know that everything's going to be alright by Act 2. We want a happy ending that doesn't make us cry!

But we don't want to read stories by people like you. People who have no friends and act like that's a good thing! People who make-up worlds about themselves and then spit on others for not being a part of you. People who change their stories into dark and bitter tales about people they don't like and act like they're being deep when it's just being mean! We see what's inside your stories and it's you. A mean, childish, bitter old man who hates everything and everyone and acts like he's smart because of it.

We don't read Pink Dark Boy because we don't want to read Rohan Kishibe's stories anymore!"

Rohan didn't say anything. Just like all bullies, he couldn't do anything when the tables were turned. He just sat there in the pile of glue and stared at her, as if processing the fact that someone finally stood up to him. Komaru was being brave, wasn't she? Isn't this what they all wanted from her?

She shouldn't have to feel bad! This was all Rohan's fault anyway!

"Look who finally grew a spine." A low and mocking voice said. She didn't have to turn to know who said that.

That was Komaru's last straw. When she turned, it was to slam her shoe against Fukawa's jaw, the bully's arms either stuck in the glue or keeping the scissors lodged in her flesh, and felt a sense of victory when she felt a crack. Good. It was Fukawa's turn to learn a lesson.

"Apologise." Komaru's growl didn't get a response. Fine. She leaned and grabbed the dazed Fukawa's hair by the roots and pulled on it. "Apologise! Say you're sorry for being mean. Say you're sorry for insulting me. Say you're sorry for insulting everyone. Beg! Beg forgiveness for acting high and mighty because you can fight. Hell, beg forgiveness for smelling like what you are. A piece of shit!"

Fukawa spat right in her face like the disgusting pig she was. "Fuck you, Omaru." Fukawa even had the audacity to smirk. "Heh, guess that name really does fit you."

That was it. Komaru was trying to be nice and give Fukawa a chance to apologise, but it was going to have to be the hard way. Maybe this would do the job. We Built This City emerged behind her and readied its fists, power flowing through it, letting out a warm hum that got inside her and filled her with a new energy. It was strange. Komaru had never tried to do this before.

Now she was going to actually use We Built This City to attack. Not only that, but to attack Fukawa, who was busy bleeding from the scar going diagonally across from her left gut up to her right shoulder. It was looking deep as well. If she didn't get medical attention soon-

Wait. Komaru was confused. Didn't she hate Fukawa? No. How could she hate Fukawa; the girl who had helped her so much and hadn't abandoned her? But then she did she kick her and say all those mean things? Why did she treat Rohan like that as well? Why was she doing all this while Jataro was up there and Haiji was still stuck in the glue? What did I do? How could I have said all those mean things?

Komaru wanted to cry and apologise and say she didn't know what came over her. But then she saw Jataro. She saw him standing there and grinning just as he did when showing her that horrifying diorama. The anger inside was boiling again. She was going to teach that little shit a lesson! Not least for filling the air with-

His Stand. That's what's making us fight. He's making us hate each other. Judas Priest didn't just disable you with its glue, it distracted you as well. You'd get stuck and frustrated before turning on one another. It was happening now. Fukawa was ignoring her own bleeding wounds to scream at Rohan, he screamed back, and Haiji was snapping at the both of them.

Komaru had to stop herself from crying. How could they have failed everyone like this? How could she have failed everyone?

We Built This City had somehow 'cured' her of it, but maybe that was part of its defensive powers. Only it could only defend. Komaru couldn't fight Jataro alone, but how could she free them of this curse.

Her mind exploded. There was a way to free them. Someone could reverse the effects of this mind control.

"Rohan-sensei!" His name made him turn and glare. It was harsh enough that Komaru stumbled through her next words. "I-I-I bet you can't use your Stand on yourself. Y-You're so dumb you can't even write that you don't feel hatred for me."

He already had Heaven's Door out and writing the message. "Eat shit! I don't need a nothing like you telling me what I can't-" The pages on his chest didn't even close before his eyes widened. "That son of a bitch."

"The glue! It's the glue's smell!" Komaru screamed. Why wasn't he getting the message? Why was he taking so damn-

We Built This City let out another hum of energy and Komaru let the hatred flow out of her.

Rohan had just enough coherence to use Heaven's Door to remove his sense of smell first; before removing his own hatred of Fukawa and Haiji. It seemed like stopping yourself from hating one person was enough to give you time to break out of Judas Priest's spell. If only until you smelled the glue again.

He wrote down three commands for Fukawa. The first command was to stop hating everyone, the second was to lose her sense of smell, preventing Judas Priest from having a further effect, and then the last was that her body would seal the open scar. It defied biology but Fukawa's skin was already stretching the cover the scar.

Heaven's Door is amazing. Komaru thought to herself. No longer blinded by contempt and hatred, Rohan even wrote another command for himself, 'Shoot up ten metres in the air', already firing into the sky. It made Jataro yelp in shock. He landed safely behind her and began to apply the same command to Fukawa-who screamed in horror as she shot into the air.

"How did you break out of it?" He asked, back to her. Komaru tried to find the right way to describe it, too afraid of what he'd say about what she said to him, only for We Built This City to chirp. It explained enough to him. "I meant what I said."

"About how I'm a nothing?" She knew it, and deserved it, but that didn't stop it from hurting.

"That you could be a main character." Rohan said, even if he still sounded dejected. He turned to look at a still-enraged and struggling Haiji. "Do you trust him? All Killer Queen has to do is touch us, and that other Stand of his..."

"Other Stand?" Komaru didn't know he could have another Stand. Was that possible? Looking closely, there did seem to be something moving by Killer Queen's left hand. Maybe Rohan had better vision than her. But did she trust Haiji? "I trust him to help us contact the Future Foundation and save the adults."

Her reply was enough for Rohan. He wrote down the same sort of commands he wrote down for himself and Fukawa-to stop hating, stop smelling, and go into the air-on Haiji's left hand. The resistance-leader shot into the sky. He managed to stick the landing as well, but still looked mad.

It was only when he seemed to be gathering his thoughts that he realised what Rohan did.

He seemed shocked at his own loss of cool, so much that he couldn't find the words. "I-I-Yo-"

"It's okay." Komaru said, half-looking at Haiji and half looking over Fukawa. The clothes were hiding enough of the scar, even if they were now drenched in blood, but she wanted to make sure that Fukawa was okay. "What's important is that we bring him to justice."

Jataro had finally realised that his game was up and that he needed to get the job done. With the controller in hand, he pulled levers and pressed buttons and summoned his own robot, 'Priest Robot Doctor von Gerolt'. If he summoned it while they were stuck in the glue, rather than letting them bite at each other, he might have killed them.

But he didn't. Now the four of them were together again and knew what to expect. We Built This City would keep Komaru safe from Judas Priest, her Hacking Gun would break through the robots defences, and her friends were here to fend off the attack.

All four of them looked to each other. This wasn't going to be like the first time. They weren't just going to charge and attack before the robot came out. This time, they'd co-ordinate. This time, they'd stop him.

We're going to call the Future Foundation. We're going to be saved from this nightmare and I'm going home to my family. Komaru frowned and readied her Hacking Gun. The grip tightened as she glared towards Jataro. But first, I'm going to make you pay.

---

First the Priest would reveal his face-suited for the Ultimate Pretty Boy-before being dragged away. Emboldened, the heroine would lead the party up to the top of the tower to speak with her brother.

It wouldn't go very well. Everyone who thought they'd be happy would become sad and angry, and everyone who thought they'd be unhappy became more miserable than they thought. Boo hoo!

A defeated group would return to the base to plan a bloody escape, when the Murralsee would attack! Oh no! Luckily, the brothers Zenyetta and Mondatta were safely hidden away during this.

But the adults became mad, especially when the heroine was lost, and their friends were dead. "Kill the kid!" They'd cry. "Don't matter who, just kill 'em!". Poor Hayato.

It was only because the angel was watching them that they didn't do it.

But there was good news! The party would unite again! The adults would feel hope! The heroine would defeat the Warriors of Hope! Hooray?

Only it wouldn't enough. And the Heroine would cry and cry until she began laughing.

Then despair would come.

"Yeah, I had a feeling that'd happen." Zenyatta muttered to himself. He was reading over Monyatta's shoulder and listened to the narration, before putting a hand on his little brother's shoulder. "I won't let them get you, Boingo. They'll have to get through my dead body first."

"I had Tohth search for a hiding place," Monyatta replied. He began to laugh, the same laugh that the people here would throw rocks at if it weren't for Zenyatta, and pointed to the western parts of the base. He could see a small entrance up ahead. "Only Komaru should find us here."

"Then let's go then." Murray and Hiroko were busy with something else. Something about files and stuff that gave the brothers a chance to slip away.

Zenyatta crouched to put his brother up on his shoulder when he felt a tug on his shirt collar. It wasn't like his brother to be quiet when it was just the two of them alone. His shyness only kicked in when around others. Zenyatta stopped himself and turned to his brother again, who was pointing down at the manga.

His face hadn't been this pale since reading of the Murralsee's attack.

"What's that?" As the elder brother began to read through the pages of Monyatta's manga, he began to see what Tohth was predicting. "Oh crap."

What else could he say?

It wasn't every day you learnt that Dio Brando was coming back.

---

Stand Stats

We Built This City
User: Komaru Naegi
Stats
Destructive Power: D
Speed: C
Range: C
Durability: A
Precision: C
Developmental Potential: B

Abilities
Creates shield around user that cannot be penetrated but user cannot escape from. At full-power, the Shield is air-tight and even outlasts user itself. Stand can be deployed towards those within 10m range of user but must be de-activated if already in use.

Stand can render user immune to 'abnormal infections' directly or indirectly from Stands. Does not apply to injuries of such kind applied 'normally', even when from Stands. Requires at least partial concentration.

?

Smoke On The Water
User: Hiroko Hagakure
Stats
Destructive Power: B
Speed: E
Range: B
Durability: A
Precision: D
Developmental Potential: B

Abilities
User can manipulate smoke and its properties to a range of 50m. This includes, but is not limited to, forming 'limbs' that carry enough mass to land physical blows or restrain targets within range.

User can increase the amount of smoke generated by a reaction at a range of 2m.

Judas Priest
User: Jataro Kemuri
Stats
Destructive Power: D
Speed: C
Range: B
Durability: B
Precision: C
Developmental Potential: B

Abilities
Stand is capable of spitting out 'glue' from orifices at a certain angles. Trajectory and speed are reliant on the amount of glue fired and pressure on the body. When the glue makes an impact, it sticks onto the surface and increases in stickiness relative to force used to escape. Only amounts to a certain amount of force. Glue can be burnt, drenched, and will slide off smooth enough surfaces.

Stand can manipulate pressure of skin to increase force of glue shot or manipulate angle fired.

The glue fired will emit a scent that effects those who smell it other than the user. Those affected will gradually escalate a sense of anger and hatred for those around them and the user themselves. This rage will build until they do everything in their power to kill those around them.

Hotline Bling
User: Taichi Fujisaki
Stats
Destructive Power: E
Speed: C
Range: E
Durability: E
Precision: A
Developmental Potential: D

Abilities
User is capable of enhancing the signal of any electronic communication device in hand i.e. faulty walkie-talkies can communicate from a sky-scraper's distance.

Eyes Without A Face
User: Haiji Towa
Stats
Destructive Power: D
Speed: C
Range: D
Durability: A
Precision: B
Developmental Potential: C

Abilities
Stand activates whenever user has strong emotions about another person within a 5m range. Stand will place a hand on the user's face and another on the face of the target and use its suction cups to 'remove' face, voice and clothes from both and swap them around. Height, weight, and personality remain unchanged.

Stand can only be used one at a time. If the user has strong feelings about more than one person, the Stand will activate on the closest person to them.

User cannot stop the Stand once activated and it will only de-activate after the swap is made. User must calm down and feel strong emotions again for the target if they wish to reverse the effects.