It's OK, Omega is here! Phew, this one took a bit longer than the last two chapters, but it's here nontheless. Shit's getting crazy out there, make sure you stay inside and keep your hands clean!
Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
-OK-
Harry Potter did not go whee. He was a competent and intimidating thief and Stand-User. He did not go whee. If his companions said that he did when they were sliding down the mystery tunnel, they would be liars.
After a time spent sliding down, the trio found themselves at the bottom. Harry found his footing in the middle of a damp cave. Moss coating the bricks and a dripping sound echoing off the walls.
Neville and Hermione came soon after him.
"How far down are we?" Hermione asked, taking in her surroundings as Harry had.
"I bet we're lower than the Philosopher's Stone's room." Harry walked around, focusing on the water droplets leaking through the ceiling. "I want to say we're beneath the lake."
"Better question, where do we go from here?"
"Well, that snake-covered door looks promising, let's go with that."
As they approached the door, Harry looked between his two companions.
"Do either of you want to break this down or should we try the parsel-thing?" Hermione and Neville nodded their heads for the second option. "Fair enough, alright, let's see. . . Open?"
The stone snakes wriggled around the door. Moving around until the lock went click and the door opened.
"Huh," Harry said. "Kinda surprised that worked. Welp, let's go beat somebody to death, shall we?"
Hermione and Neville walked in after him without a word. Their Stands bubbled under the surface of their minds, waiting to be used. None of them had a wand in their hand. Whatever came next would be meeting the power of their Stand and nothing else.
Nerves shook their hands and tunneled their vision. Hermione didn't gasp and examine the giant piece of Basilisk skin. Neville couldn't bring himself to admire the rare moss that grew on the cave walls. Harry didn't bother scoping the room for things to steal. One thing mattered at the moment and that was ending the Heir of Slytherin's reign of terror.
They continued their journey into a dark and damp cavern. Snake statues lined the walls. Ahead of them was the bust of Salazar Slytherin covering the entire back wall.
In front of that statue stood a young girl wearing Gryffindor robes and with bright red hair. She gripped a pitch-black journal in her left hand and a wand grasped in the other.
"Well, hello there, Ginny, did you get lost?" Harry forced a confident grin across his lips.
Ginny smiled, a fake one, full of venom and malice. "I am exactly where I need to be, Potter."
"So, can I assume you're the one behind all this?" Hermione tried to keep her expression calm, despite the rage boiling inside her.
"I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific, Mud Blood," Ginny said; venom dripping into her tone. "Do you mean all the Mudbloods getting petrified? The blood on the wall? Ruining your little Mandrake potion? All this Heir of Slytherin business?"
Hermione growled, her nails bit into the soft flesh of her palms. Disco Panic started to manifest, but Neville pulled on Hermione's arm and shook his head. She back down, but threw Ginny her strongest glare.
"Oh, I wouldn't bother being angry with her. It's not Ginevra's fault, really, just an unfortunate accident."
Harry flashed back to his last encounter with Ginny. Seeing her talking with herself, the name she mentioned, the diary in her hands. He pulled down on his hat and made a guess. "Ginny's not the Heir of Slytherin. You are, aren't you, Tom?"
His companions looked at Harry with confusion. Ginny smiled and started to clap.
"You do live up to your legend, Harry Potter." She spat out his name like it tasted vile. "Yes, this body is not my own, my real name is Tom Marvolo Riddle."
"What's your plan?" Hermione asked, steel in her eyes. "What could you possibly gain from possessing an innocent first-year?"
"She's not so innocent," Tom said. When he dropped the act of playing Ginny Weasley, the difference in their voices was plain to see. Tom spoke with a smoother, more velvet-wrapped tone. "Always complaining about how her family drives her up the wall or how much trouble she has at Hogwarts. It can drive a man mad. But, you're right, I don't have much to gain. My original plan was to absorb her life essence and be reborn in my original body."
Harry's eyes glowed even as he tried to keep his expression casual. "And what changed your mind?"
"I discovered that this body has a power that I didn't know existed before now." Ginny's face contorted into a maniacal grin.
"[Disco Panic]!" Hermione summoned her Stand and attacked. The Panic Sphere shot across the room like a cannon, aiming for the possessed Ginny's torso.
Much to her shock, the attack missed and crashed into the wall. Hermione could do nothing more than stare as it ricocheted back into Disco Panic's palm.
"How? I didn't even see her move!"
"That's because she didn't move," Harry said, eyes wide. "Right before you attacked, you moved five feet to the right in the blink of an eye."
Ginny's body glowed with dark red energy, but her Stand didn't manifest. It seemed she didn't want to show her hand so soon.
"As much as I'd love to toy with the mud blood and the sniveling blood traitor, I have a better idea." Ginny put her fingers to her mouth and whistled. "Come on out, Betty, dinner time!"
Salazar Slytherin's giant face opened up. Harry and his friends barely had time to blink before a giant mass of snake appeared in the chamber. By sheer dumb luck, they managed to close their eyes and avoid its gaze.
"Take care of the girl and the blond, leave the other one," Ginny said in Parseltongue.
Those words sent an icy spike into Harry's chest. He needed to protect his friends, but that Basilisk would kill him with a single look. In a moment of pure desperation, Harry summoned Smooth Criminal and the world was clear to him. He could see.
All Stand-Users can interact with their Stand in certain ways. One of those ways is being able to see what your Stands can see. An ability that Harry had no idea about until that very moment.
Not a moment too soon either as the first thing he saw was a ton of Snake heading straight for his friends. Smooth Criminal struck, smashing its fists into the basilisk's face in a fury of blows.
"Back off, you over-sized boot." Harry stood his ground. "Hermione, Neville, stand back and regroup. I'll take care of this."
"No!" Smooth Criminal turned around. Harry's friends were standing proud, even with their eyes closed. "Neville and I can handle the basilisk, you take care of Ginny!"
Harry wanted to say no, but the words wouldn't leave his mouth. Instead, he sighed and said, "Fine. Look through the eyes of your Stand and you'll be fine. You better not die or else I'll kill you myself."
Hermione and Neville nodded before turning around and running away. They disappeared into one of the pipes lining the walls. Once Harry moved out of the way, the Basilisk followed with an ear-piercing hiss.
"Guess it's just you and me now." Harry glared at Ginny with all the rage and venom he could muster. Smooth Criminal roared. "Let's do this!"
-OK-
"Do you think leaving Harry behind was a good idea?" Neville asked.
Hermione nodded, her eyes didn't stray from the path ahead of her. "Harry can take care of himself and so can we. Besides, this thing got the drop on me and I want payback."
Neville smiled to himself and said, "Good, I wanted to say the same thing."
A single sound is all they heard. The tiniest bump against metal piping that echoed in their ears. Disco Panic and Fall Out Boy came out, acting as their user's eyes. All they saw was a giant green blur shooting past them.
Hermione and Neville cried out in pain as the blur shoved them aside like it was nothing. It disappeared as quickly as it arrived. The only sign that it had been there at all was the pain from being thrown against the wall.
"What was that? There's no way a Basilisk can move that fast!"
Neville winced as he forced himself to stand up straight. "If Ginny managed to get a Stand, maybe the Basilisk did too."
"Then that means we're in for more trouble than we bargained for," Hermione said.
There was another bump echoing through the tunnel. Disco Panic threw their Panic Spheres towards the sound. Fall Out Boy exploded, bringing a giant patch of Devil's Snare to life that covered the entire tunnel.
Hermione and Neville heard the spheres ricocheting; once, twice, thri-
The Basilisk broke through FOB's barrier and left Disco Panic's spheres in the dust. By pressing themselves to the walls of the tunnel, they managed to avoid the attack.
A moment after the Basilisk passed, an ear-shattering boom rocked through the chamber. Blood seeped from Hermione and Neville's ears. The world became buzzing sound and nothing more.
Neville panicked, his heart rate skyrocketed. He didn't know what was going on or why he couldn't hear and it was terrifying. Hermione did know what was going on and realized she and Neville needed a place to hide.
She dragged Neville forward; gritting her teeth through the pain rattling around in her skull. Hermione found an offshoot in the main tunnel and collapsed into it with Neville.
Not a moment too soon as the Basilisk shot past again. Thankfully, there was no boom this time. Hermione didn't know if it could see very well going at that speeds, but she kept her eyes shut tight regardless.
"What was that!?" The ringing in his ears made Neville shout instead of ask.
"It's called a Sonic Boom. It's something that comes when an object moves very very fast." The Basilisk went by again and Hermione cringed. "I don't know how we're supposed to do this. Disco Panic can reach those speeds, in theory, but the force alone would bring the entire chamber down on our heads!"
Neville started taking deep breathes as the ringing in his ears dulled. His heart started slowing down, pulsing in time with his breathes.
"I have a plan, I can handle this," he said.
"Are you sure?" There was worry in Hermione's voice. "If you make a single mistake, you may not leave this chamber and I'd rather not lose you, Neville. God knows that if you left Harry and I alone that we would tear each other's throats out."
A laugh forced its way out of Neville's mouth. The air of fear dissipated, if only by a small amount. Neville took a few more deep breathes with a calm smile gracing his face.
"I'm sure. Hermione. . . Harry wasn't the only one who was angry when he saw you in that bed." Neville's hands curled into tight fists, nails digging into his palm. "This entire time, I've had something building inside of me and it's time to let it out."
Hermione caught sight of Neville's Stand and saw that it was vibrating. Its metallic structure was turning bright orange with heat. Shaking more and more as the temperature grew.
"Neville, something's wrong with-"
"Everything's fine, Hermione, just fine. This is the next step in my power." Neville didn't know why he knew this, but he did as if it were some predetermined fact of life.
Fall Out Boy smoked, its body cherry red as the heat emanating from within reached its apex.
It exploded, fire spewed from Neville's Stand like an inferno.
Neville, not fazed in the slightest, plunged his hand into the flames. They didn't burn, there was no searing pain, only a sense of growth, of power. Armed with this feeling that burrowed deep within his chest, Neville shouted out. "It's time, [Fall Out Boy Act II]!"
When Neville pulled his hand back out, it was covered in a gauntlet resembling a knight's suit of armor. Pure white metal accented with red and yellow. Slots ran along the top of his knuckles. A hatch covered the back of his hand, with familiar text scrawled across it, 'Insert Here'. Between the hatch and the knuckles was a large lever that went from one side of his hand to another.
"I've been saving this for something special, I think this qualifies." Neville reached into his robes and pulled out a twig. "Harry helped me get this from the Whomping Willow. Here's hoping it works!"
Neville walked to the exit of their shelter. He could hear the Basilisk slithering around at supersonic speeds, searching for them. Neville threw his armored hand out, perpendicular to his body and his other hand rested on the lever.
The green blur passed by and Neville reacted. He yanked the lever back and his Stand roared to life. Tree roots shot out from the slots on his knuckles, stabbing into the Basilisk's thick hide.
On a positive note, he had a good grasp on the Basilisk. On a bad note, the Basilisk pulled Neville along with it like a rag doll.
Neville felt like his arm would tear off. The Basilisk's speed was making it hard to stay on, even with his Stand assisting him. More roots and branches formed from his Stand. They wrapped around Neville's arm and secured him to the Basilisk.
Neville opened his eyes. He was confident that the Basilisk wouldn't be able to look at him with its eyes from this position.
He wasn't sure if it was his imagination or not, but it seemed like the Basilisk slowed down. It was still moving at ridiculous speeds, but enough that it was bearable.
Power flowed through his Stand forcing the tree root to grow faster and faster. Whenever Neville used Fall Out Boy before, whatever plant he used would grow wildly. This time, with Act II's power, whatever his Stand produced was under his complete control.
The roots of the whomping willow acted as extra arms. Stabbing into the Basilisk's hide and pulling Neville forward.
When he got close to the Basilisk's head, Neville grit his teeth and roared. "This is for Hermione, you piece of shit!"
Branches and roots surged forward and started shredding the Basilisk's eyes. It screeched in pain and tried to throw Neville off. The Basilisk slammed its side into the pipe; Neville felt his ribs break at the same time.
"It won't be that easy, you-!" Blood seeped from Neville's grit teeth. "It won't be that easy to get rid of me, you fucking asshole! Hermione, now!"
Neville extended Fall Out Boy's branches and pried the Basilisk's jaws open. Hermione stepped out into the open with Disco Panic hovering behind her. All of her rage was boiling at the surface, ready to be let out in on fell swoop.
"[Disco Panic]!" Hermione roared and Disco Panic attacked. Her Panic Spheres shot through the air with extreme precision.
They went straight down the Basilisk's mouth. It started thrashing around, jerking around in pain as it was pummeled from the inside. Neville could feel the impacts growing stronger from on top of the beast. The only thing keeping him on top of it was his Stand's roots.
The Panic Spheres shout out of its tail. Gory bits splattered all over the tunnel. Disco Panic called back her weapons while the Basilisk let out one final hiss.
It collapsed onto the ground, dead. Hermione and Neville breathed a sigh of relief. Fall Out Boy retracted its roots and returned to its original form.
Neville slid off its back and on to the ground again with one hand wrapped around his side. Hermione hurried to help him and slung his arm over her shoulder.
"I think we can count that as a win, right?" Neville wheezed, blood still covered his mouth.
Hermione managed to smile. "Yeah, we can. Come on, Harry could still need our help and you need medical attention."
"We weren't gone too long," Neville said. "How much trouble could he have gotten into."
Neville regretted those words as soon as they came out of his mouth and so did Hermione. The two of them hurriedly limped back to where they came in from, leaving behind the body of a decaying Basilisk.
-OK-
Stand Name: [Too Fast For Love]
Stand User: Betty The Basilisk
Namesake: Too Fast For Love by Mötley Crüe
Destructive Power: E
Speed: A
Range: E
Durability: E
Precision: C
Developmental Potential: E
Hyper-Speed: When Betty isn't being viewed by human eyes, her speed increases ten-fold and continues growing non-stop. Though, her handling and awareness of other things suffer in this state.
Also Known As: Whoa Green Betty, bamalam! Whoa Green Betty bamalam! Green Betty is wild, bamalam! Petrifies a child, bamalam!
Also Known As: Faster than the speed of Snek
-OK-
Stand Name: Fall Out Boy ACT II
Stand User: Neville Longbottom
Namesake: Fall Out Boy (American Alt-Rock Band)
Destructive Power: B
Speed: B
Range: E
Durability: C
Precision: A
Developmental Potential: A
Power Glove: Through Neville's extreme determination and righteous anger, his Stand has evolved. Instead of a rocket, it's now a metal gauntlet. First, he places the plant trimming of his choice in the hatch on the back of his hand. Then, he yanks the lever back and triggers his Stand. From there, whatever plant he's chosen is expelled from the slots on his knuckles. Unlike ACT I, Neville has complete control over the plants he produces in this form.
Also Known As: Fall Out Boy ACT II, everything else is child's play
Also Known As: What? Fall Out Boy is evolving!
-OK-
So, how many of you guessed that Neville's Stand had another act to follow its debut? Heh heh heh, this was a lot of fun to write! I actually had no plan to give the Basilisk a Stand until I started writing this chapter.
One more chapter before I go back on hiatus, so enjoy it while it lasts, my friends!
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, keep your hands clean, and I will see you all next time, OK is out!
