Celeste could only stare at the purple apparition standing before her, Cloakie ACT 2 floating besides her.
Alright, I have to get rid of the enemy quick, Celeste thought, her vision blurring out even more by the second. I doubt that this poison will slow down anytime soon...
"Mimi!", Cloakie called out, getting the gambler's attention.
"What is it?"
"Mimi!", pointed her stand, motioning the gambler to the entrance.
"Huh?"
Lo and behold, there stood Kyoko at the entrance, her eyes wide in shock. Although she covered her mouth with her hand, the small expression of surprise was still apparent.
"...No witnesses", remarked the enemy stand soon after, shooting a spike from its tail. The detective, being brought back to reality, immediately dodged the spike reflexively, entering the cafeteria with a large jump. Landing on her feet, she then looked at Celeste and asked:
"Is that how stands look like?"
Celeste, agonizing in pain, clearly had an annoyed expression, "Yes dear, that's how stands look like. NOW GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE BEFORE YOU DIE!"
"Not a chance", replied the enemy stand, extending its spiked tail. The purple apparition then smacked it into the entrance, causing the falling rubble to block out the cafeteria from the main hallway.
"You guys are now stuck here together", remarked the enemy stand, turning to face the two girls. "The perfect place for you two to die."
"Not if we do something about it", responded Celeste, her left eye starting to shut down and close. She then turned to Kyoko and ordered, "Kyoko, go help out Hifumi. He's stuck to the wall behind me."
Turning to face the otaku, Kyoko responded, "Alright", before running towards Hifumi.
"Since the poison's taking effect, this is the perfect time to finish you off", remarked the enemy stand, preparing to shoot another tail spike.
You've already said that so many goddamn times, Celeste thought in lagged annoyance.
Celeste could only dodge once more as another spike was shot towards her, her face hitting the floor hard. The gambler couldn't even express the pain she felt at that point, the poison proving to be effective at delaying every action she could think of.
"Just a little more, and you will be gone", the purple apparition said, approaching the fainting gambler. "Just like everyone else after you". It then raised its tail directly at Celeste, the spike ready to launch at any moment's notice.
Only to be stopped by a throwing rock to the face.
"...huh?"
The enemy stand turned to direction to where the rock was thrown, only to see Kyoko standing with another rock in her hand. Hifumi was laying down behind her, his expression showing visible distress.
"Just what is that thing, Miss Kirigiri? And why is Miss Ludenberg fainting?"
"Don't worry about it, Hifumi", said Kyoko with a stoic expression. Deep inside, though, she was in a slight panic.
"Interesting", responded the purple stand with awe. "You two also have stands?"
"...They don't."
"Huh?"
The apparition turned to Celeste, now standing alongside Cloakie, acting as support for her to lean on.
"Cloakie told me what its second form does", continued Celeste. She then gave a weak smile, "And it's the perfect ability to have right now."
"...What does it do?"
After a few moments of silence, the gambler responded with a hint of agony in her voice:
"Cloakie ACT 2 allows stands to be seen and touched by everyone, stand users and non-stand users alike."
Outside the cafeteria...
"Just what is happening in there?", asked Makoto in surprise, who was already on his way to his dorm. He decided to leave early during his Hamon training to catch a small break from everything, only to encounter a closed up cafeteria to his surprise.
"M-makoto? Why is the cafeteria blocked off?", asked Chihiro from the hallway, approaching the luckster in a hurry. Even though he already revealed that he was a boy, he was still wearing his light brown skirt and green uniform. Monokuma didn't bother giving the programmer new clothing, mentioning something along the lines of "despair" and whatnot.
"I don't know, to be honest", responded Makoto in a panic. "I just came here a few moments ago only to find this. I don't exactly know who's inside, but I can hear voices from here."
Chihiro, leaning towards the rocks, responded, "I can hear some voices as well!"
"How do we get through this, though?", asked Makoto, Chihiro not being able to respond. The programmer then thought of something and spoke up:
"Wait, wasn't Sakura teaching you something about martial arts?"
"Huh? Oh it's not martial arts, it's Hamon. I don't think that would work here."
"Oh... but are you sure?"
"Well, not exactly."
"Then try it!"
"Fine."
Turning to the rubble of rocks, Makoto began breathing deeply.
Kohhhhhhhhh...
Soon after, yellow sparks of energy surrounded the luckster. Chihiro stood there in awe, slowly keeping some distance from Makoto to make sure he didn't get hurt.
"Not sure if this will work, but I'll try!", Makoto said with a hint of confidence. "Sunlight Yellow Punch!"
The luckster gave the hardest punch he could muster, breaking a few rocks in the process. He soon groaned in pain afterwards.
"Agh, that hurts!", Makoto winced, looking at his now bleeding hand. He then spoke up with a small smile, "But it worked!"
Looking up, Makoto saw that the punch worked, although just barely. Only a few rocks were destroyed from the punch, but it was more than enough for a person to crawl through.
"Thanks Makoto!", said Chihiro. He then turned towards the hallway, "I'll go get Mondo to heal you! You go check inside!"
"Sure!", said Makoto, seeing the programmer leave.
"Alright, now to check what's going on."
The luckster took care to not scrape his injured hand too much, crawling into the small hole he just created. Once inside, he then saw the scene unfolding into him, his eyes wide in sudden surprise.
He could see Kyoko and Hifumi bear the cafeteria wall, Celeste in front of them, struggling to stand up. And facing her was... wait, what is that?
Turning towards the entrance, the purple stand said with a hint of annoyance, "Great, somebody else just joined in". He then shot out another spike towards Makoto, the teen barely being able to dodge towards the side. He then kept running towards Kyoko and Hifumi, only to then ask, "What is that thing?"
"Those are the stand things Celeste and the others have!", Hifumi said with a sweat rolling in his forehead, "And it wants to kill us all!"
"Celeste's stand allows people without stands to see them and even damage them", Kyoko continued. "That's why we can see stands without having one."
"I-i see", said Makoto. He then turned to Celeste, who fell to her knees once more.
"Just die already!", shot out the purple apparition, shooting another spike to the gothic lolita's direction. Celeste closed her eyes, bracing herself for the painful impact that she was about to undergo.
Only for it to never come.
Opening her eyes, the gambler was shocked to see what was happening.
Kohhhhhhhhh...
Makoto grabbed the spike with both hands, sparks of yellow energy flying from his body. Throwing the spike aside, he then carried the gambler in bridal style with relative ease, dropping her near Kyoko and Hifumi.
"I don't know what came over me", remarked Makoto with a small nervous blush. He then turned to the approaching stand, saying, "But I'm glad it did."
He then walked towards the enemy stand, Celeste and the others only being able to watch.
Cloakie could see that Celes was slowly starting to lose consciousness, slowly being drifted into an agonizing sleep.
"Mimi?"
"I'm fine, Cloakie. I'm just a little tired is all..."
"Mimi..."
The purple stand remarked at Makoto with his arms outstretched, "Oh, you decide to approach me? Instead of hiding like the other panicking students, you decide to get closer instead?"
"...I don't know if this is a good idea", said Makoto, slightly nervous at first. All signs of doubts were gone, though, the next instant he continued, yellow sparks surrounding his body, "But if I have a chance to defend my friends, then I'll gladly take it."
"Hah, then come as close as you like..."
Author's Note: Chapter 23 done! Sorry that I'm being a little slow on uploading, it's just that I'm taking a few breaks from writing. The series is far from finished, though, so do expect more chapters in the future! Also, in response to V's idea, I'll definitely consider giving Chihiro a stand, I would say it's a wonderful idea! Thanks everyone for your support, and until the next entry, I'll see everyone later!