Honestly, I've more than acknowledged all these long times between chapters and I apologize once again. This one has been ready for quite some time actually, I just haven't had the opportunity to drop it. I hope you all still enjoy it, sharing it around where you can, and thank you for supporting me. I'm doing my best and with your support, I can be pushed to push these chapters out faster and harder then we can move on to more stories! Thank you for reading!
Continuing where our ragtag group of rowdy crusaders left off. A deadly out of reach enemy has threatened the sanctuary and safety of our group. After a short assault on Johanne's father, the attention is quickly changed to the danger of letting this Stand go. A Stand able to travel through technology at will, redirect the flow of electricity, and even manipulate data within its system has shocked our troupe and even more so when Edward is attacked upon his arrival.
Edward's body convulsed and twitched on the ground for a moment before taking a second to compose himself and panted heavily, "What the hell was that…? I've got the worst bloody headache…"
"Edward! Watch out! Get away from your phone!" Johanne dashed to the door in a panic, hand reaching out to his companion.
As still in shock as he was, Edward shuffled against the ground for the time and pushed the phone away only to be greeted by some maniacal laughter.
"Thanks for the bridge fool! Oh? Would you look at that!? I'm picking up another wave!" As everyone gathered to the door, the blue electricity started to collect around the phone again and flash away.
Everyone's eyes turned to see a bicyclist with a large pair of headphones on whistling away and the blue static resonating from his pocket.
"Ah, shit! We have to get him before he gets too far! Hey! Stop the bike dude!" Kiba called out to the man to no avail as he couldn't hear a thing and started his tread away. "Damnit! Freakin' deaf man!"
"Don't worry guys! I've got this!" Avelessi proudly announced to the group. He grabbed a large handful of extra sugar-coated gummies and piled his mouth. After a big gulp, his breath resonated and his body crackled with the ring of his hamon.
"His hamon sugar rush armor…! Perfect! Once again a useful technique!" Johanne cheered on the young lad as he got into a crouched position. Zooming down the street in a flash dashing up to the back wheel of the bike. As soon as he got close enough, Avelessi reached out to tug onto the man's shirt but his body fluctuated too much from his pedaling motions.
The blue static from the pocket of the cyclist started to surge and the head of the Stand popped out with a snicker, "You think that'll work!? Guess I'll turn up the jams!" Power Station returned to the device and began to make it clicker brightly, skimming through lines and history within the device and finally stopped on a song.
"Oh, man! This is my hype song right here! Time to double time!" The man did a jerking motion on the bike to readjust himself just as Avelessi was about to grab him causing him to slip, miss, and tumble forward. Next thing he knew, His faux scarf got tangled into spokes of the wheel as he was falling to the ground and the bike picked up speed. Avelessi frantically flailed as he was dragged down the street by the hyper pedaling cyclist.
Johanne and Kiba's faces sagged in disbelief as they listened to Avelessi scream, "OHMYGODSOMEONESTOPHIMTHISTHINGISTOOEXPENSIVE! OUCH OUCH OUCH! AHHHHH! DEARLORDITSDRAGGINGMEAWAYHEEEEELP!"
Everyone watched in shock and disappointment as Avelessi panicked and flailed on the ground behind the man as he seemed to have taken off at high speeds.
"Okay cool so we fuckin' lost the guy and now we lost Avelessi. Great."
Johanne commented thoroughly planting his face in his hand as the corner of his eye peaked at a brown car turning the street away from the very quickly in the same direction. "Son of a bitch… There he goes! He was watching us from up the street!"
"How can you be so sure? It might have been a resident." Kohana chimed in as she kept an eye down the street.
"Nah that car ain't from around here. I've been living here for too long. No one books it like that unless they've got some dirt going on. We need to catch them!"
"Shut the hell up and hop on already!" A loud revving of a motorcycle engine could be heard from Jesse as he commented. Johanne and Kiba took a glance at one another with a shrug. Kiba grabbed Yume, placing a helmet on her head and popping in the sidecar with her while Johanne rode behind Jesse.
The group rode down the street chasing after Avelessi as fast as they could, "The guy made it off but our priority is catching up and recovering Avelessi. Maybe the dude on the bike will get tired at some point."
Jesse's eyes narrowed to the ground after a few blocks, noticing there was a trail of candy being left on the ground. Revving his motorcycle and following the trail up until they reached the main streets of Upper Bodou.
All of a sudden Jesse's radio starts to static very loudly and broadcasted a loud hiss which made everyone scream momentarily but stopped to a very familiar voice.
"Available Officers, we have a suspect in pursuit. A young man, American, riding a motorcycle. The suspect is potentially armed and dangerous. Over."
The broadcast shocked everyone as Jesse was brought to a screeching halt before the trail started to lead into another main street. "Son of a bitch… did he just hack the damn police radios? Fuckin' kidding me. Alright, get off."
Johanne leaned over Jesse's shoulder knowing full well his suggestion, "Get off? You can't be serious, man."
"Look! You guys have a lot better chance at tracking and stopping this guy. There's a plaza up the street, right? He couldn't have gotten far and I can't exactly punch the shit out of this thing. Now let me buy some fuckin' time!"
Yume and Kiba looked at one another curiously and nodded their heads, saying simultaneously, "So angry…"
Johanne hopped off the bike without question despite the inner turmoil and was soon followed by the other bunch. Jesse turned his head to the sound of police sirens and quickly dawned a skull helmet from the side pouch, "Alright fuckers! Come get some!" Turning down the opposite street, Jesse taunted the oncoming officers whilst doing a wheelie as he rode off into the streets.
Our parting group of three cut through a couple of alleys near the main street to finally reach the plaza.
"Knowing all the escape routes and bike trails that lead to this plaza… He should be around. There!?" Everyone stopped to see tattered pieces of Avelessi's scarf trailing off to the side and hanging off a bush.
Rushing over to the scene they all hopped in to see the bicycle rider fried close to a crisp and Avelessi laying over the brush next to the man.
"Heavens, did anyone get the license of that bike? I think he hit my poodle…" As nonsensical as he was, Avelessi made it out with a large series of scuffs, cuts, and bruises from the ride.
Johanne needed down and picked their battered companion off the ground and shook him slightly, "Hey! Do you know where the stand went? He's almost back with the user!"
As weak as he was from the damage he sustained Avelessi pointed to a group of men that were being addressed by an officer. "H-he took the opportunity to blindside us… and hijack the cop… he knows we can't exactly attack him. So he's biding his time… he hasn't moved."
"You did great man. Rest here for now. Let me take care of this." Johanne praised his friend, reaching into his sack attached to his side and pulling out one of the Hamon-infused lollipops, placing it into his mouth so he can recover from his little trip.
After leaving their friend be, the remaining three gathered together and analyzed the situation they'd been in and watched the officer pull the radio up and speak into it. "We need to find a way to get that away from him. Make sure he doesn't get a free pass away. I can still see the colored static around his hand."
Kiba stood back for a moment to think about the surrounding area, all the people around the plaza, and how many guards there were. "Alright. Bare with me for a second. This is gonna be good." Strolling over to the cop and adjusting his jacket some, Kiba took a couple of deep breaths and raised a thumbs up over his shoulder.
"What's Kiba gonna do? Is he gonna get hurt Uncle Johanne?" Yume asked in a sort of concerned tone while clinging to Johanne's arm tightly.
"Ehhh knowing my buddy there. He might not get hurt. But, He's probably going to do something stupid yet very effective. Let's watch shall we little one?" Johanne kneeled down to pat her head and watched closely.
Back to the officer who finally finished lecturing the thugs, "You know damn well not to be fighting in my streets. We're in a state of dismay! We have hooligans running around vandalizing and terrorizing our city. Stay the hell out of trouble, do I make myself clear!?" As all of them give disgruntled responses of understanding.
"AHHHH! MY CHEST! GAAAAHHH! HEART ATTACK!" Kiba screamed from behind the back of the police officer until he rammed into him holding his chest and flailing around.
The police officer much to his surprise was knocked around but caught his balance, immediately moving to hold Kiba, "Young man! Are you alright!? Can you stop moving please!"
Kiba's act was working seamlessly and to Johanne's great disgust, a long sigh escaped his lips. "Fuckin' kidding me if this works…"
"Ah! Kiba doesn't look okay! We should help him!" Yume was also indicating great concern for his acting, which only dug him deeper into the shame well.
"Don't you worry your little head. Kiba is doing just fine. He doesn't need our help. Not yet anyway…" Johanne stood up with his arms folded, trying to remotely fathom the tomfoolery before him.
"Sir, please! I can't breathe! You got to help me! Oh shit, it's going dark! Where am I!? GAAAAH!" Kiba continued flailing around within the grasp of the cop, while his right arm held his chest, the left arm was unhooking the radio from his belt.
Out of the edge of Kiba's eye, he noticed something about the thugs that were getting scolded, 'Ah! Poko and Rama! Perfect, the guys are here. They just have to not be idiots for five seconds.' While Kiba was being frantically questioned by the police officer, He was giving very noticeable nods to the radio with his head.
The two of them stood there slightly baffled at the display as Poko spoke up, "You know Rama. I was going to make fun of the guy. But I think that's the Boss. I don't got my glasses with me today"
Upon further squinting and rubbing his facial hair, Rama nodded slowly, "You know Poko. You damn sure are right. The boss is havin' some kinda stroke or somethin' we should do something! He keeps twitching his head over there!"
Kiba's inner voice was furiously banging and screaming against the confines of his mind as his physical state was grasping the cop, "Fuckin' morons! Grab the-"
"Excuse me, officer, I happened to notice you dropped this." Another man comes along scratching at his neck and twitching. The man rocked shaggy gray hair and was dressed in some rather dingy clothing, some bell-bottom pants, and scuffed green loafers with a black long sleeve shirt filled with holes, arms layered in scars that looked like they came from fingernails.
The man looked very tired but oddly aware, that made Kiba horribly discomforted also a cryptic chill if you will from the man's very presence as he walked away and caught the eye of the boy.
"Ah, I must have dropped this while helping this young man. Now I can call for an ambulance." The officer placed the receiver to his lips and as he was about to speak into it, a large surge of electricity ran through his body and he collapsed.
Kiba rolled away, horrified at how quickly the officer was subdued. Poko walked over and kneeled next to the cop. "Hey, Boss! I knew it had to be you. I got the guys on the line, they're on their way to rush you to the E.R in Benkei's truck!" Poko happily raised the phone up to Kiba's surprise, the electricity surged out of the radio and into Poko's cell phone.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me… That's it. I've had enough of this shit." Kiba shoved the police officer's slumped body away and turned to Yume and Johanne, motioning her over.
Johanne as confused as he was, Yume didn't hesitate for a moment to run to his side without question. This left young Kamijou in a rather awkward stupor. After that, Kiba moved his hands around as if signaling to his long time friend.
Their eyes snapped to an instant connection, knowing what that signal meant. They would always use a small wave of fingers when the other was telling them to watch around for cops or teachers but this time was much more vital. Johanne nodded quickly in response, calling his Stand's sharp eyes out.
Kiba kneeled to Yume and gave her a bright smile to show he was alright, "Had you worried there didn't I? I was just playing a game. Fun day so far isn't it dear? You've been a good girl." Kiba placed his hand over her head and praised her which was quickly responded with a loud giggle.
Watching from a good distance away, he saw something that perked his eyes incredibly, "Kiba you madman… I finally get to see this huh?" Johanne witnessed the praise Kiba was giving her was making her ecstatic, overjoyed and this caused a reaction of a very visible small creature hanging over her back with angel wings fluttering from it. It was almost like a small cartoon character, an angel over your shoulder but mechanical, slightly distorted and tattooed, and wrapped in a veil. "Blind Guardian… Just like He told us about that day."
Kiba reached out from stroking her long beautiful hair, some of the feathers from Blind Guardian's wings got tangled in her strands. Reaching for some of the feathers and planting a soft kiss on her head, Kiba took the feather, calling his Stand out, "Evanescence." After calling its name, he crushed the feather and tossed it over his Stand.
After a brief moment of being engulfed in blinding light, Kiba's stand assumed the same transformation as before. "Calling on me again Master. It must be that desperate." The being emerged once again, standing close behind Kiba and raking its fingers through its extremely long mane.
"We have the same thoughts. I'm running out of options and I know what you're capable of." Kiba took his position beside his Stand, almost back to back as they both reached out an arm and curled their fingers to snap.
"Say the word. On your command." Evanescence was prepared, grinning past the toothpick in its mouth. Kiba was just as confident.
On the screen of Poko's phone, Power Station pushed against it with a very nervous jittery, "W-w-w-w-what the hell is that!? What is that bastard so full of himself!? He can't touch me! I'm data right now! Nothing but data riding the waves. I'll be gone before they know it."
"Every bit of technology within the confines of this plaza but those within 8 meters of us. Gone." His stand snapped immediately in response to the order, it was like a gentle breeze swept the area as a greater storm of confusion arose.
"What the hell was that!? Where did my MP3 Player go!?" One larger man shrieked from the side, baffled.
"I just bought a brand new model of my phone! Are you kidding me!" A very displeased woman soon followed.
"Gaaaah! What happened to that car!? Everything just up and disappeared! ALIENS! I KNEW IT!" Kiba pressed his palm against his forehead with a long sigh. This time it was Avelessi freaking out from the bushes.
"Everything within the bounds of your command has now and shall be 'Fictional'. You've used the reserves of my power up to its limit. This is farewell for now." The layer of light shattered away from Evanescence's being and faded away slowly with its figure. Kiba's body collapsed backward with a long exasperated sigh.
Johanne quickly rejoined the group, kneeling beside Kiba to hold him up with a very giddy fit of cheer, "Holy shit man! You weren't kidding about that. It was like a completely different Stand. It was talking too!"
"Heh yeah, yeah. The sad part is, it takes so much energy out of Yume and I because she can't control it fully. So, I can only use it once at a time before I slump for a while. The rest is up to you bud." Kiba bumped his fist to Johanne's chest and sat upon the ground.
With a swift nod, there was nowhere left for Power Station to escape, as far as Johanne's understanding was, as he came up to the phone that was now on the ground in the ruckus and picking it up, "Well, well. I guess we can see who's got the last laugh now."
Power Station reformed its body out of a file in the phone and growled at the screen while it faced Johanne, "Hah! You think you've won. I'll get back to the boss with no problem. One good shock and someone will come by eventually! Or hey, your buddies are knocked out. I could just call my user over after you're knocked too and end you! The boss will be so happy, we'll be promoted to the Six once you're dead! It'll be glorious! Hahaha!"
Johanne was as unimpressed as ever and started to tap his finger along his jawline in deep thought, "You know, I can't exactly mess you up inside there with normal means. But there just might be…" He muttered sitting next to Kiba on the ground while fidgeting within the confines of the phone.
"What do you think you're doing? Stop messing with this thing! Why are you deleting everything!?" Power Station's options were slowly getting cut off by Johanne's tampering in the device while he hummed very calmly to himself, a wide grin began to sprawl across his lips.
"Hey, hey, hey! Kiba dude. You won't believe what your goon has on his phone man! You'll never believe this." Johanne leaned over opening a few hidden folders after finishing his search.
Kiba almost jumped out of his skin in excitement as he tried to take the phone, "No way! No way you think it'll work? I know what you're thinkin' you crafty bastard!"
"W-wait… You can't be serious right? Look! I was just kidding! You don't have to do this! I have nowhere else to go! I'm sorry!" At this point, Power Station was begging for dear life as an old, rhythmic video game theme started to play in the background.
Both Kiba and Johanne high fived one another, in unison screaming out, "Ultra Street Fighter 2!" After immediately making their way through the menus, their suspicions were confirmed. "It seems as long as you don't have another active file or network to travel through to. You can only exist in what's present. Especially after I've shut the phone into airplane mode it seems. You hadn't even tried to go to mine." Johanne commented with a snide venom in his words as he dangled his phone.
"Shall we begin then? I'm getting pretty restless here man." Kiba cheered on as he pointed to the unpause button. His companion graciously agreed as He'd selected his favorite character Zangief and proceeded to unleash a relentless flurry of Russian madness on the Stand. The game read Power Station as data within the game so it was purely at the mercy of the boys.
After several perfect victories, Johanne passed the phone over to Kiba who giggled heavily under his breath and scrolled over to Violent Ken, unleashing several rounds of endless hell upon Power Station as blood-curdling screams of pain left the phone.
It took around 10 minutes before another scream could be heard coming from behind the boys. As they turned around to where Avelessi sat, a man limped out of the bushes covered in bruises and blood. "P-please! I surrender! I can't hold my voice any longer. Just let me go…"
The boys looked at one another and nodded swiftly. Getting up from the ground with the phone dangling from his fingertips. The man was cowering in fear as he dropped to his knees coughing blood and teeth. "Well, well. So the cowardly Stand user shows himself. I'm sure you know where this could go next."
"P-please man. I was all talk and shit man. Please don't hurt me no more." Upon getting a good look at him. This guy seemed like your typical Caucasian back alley conman, someone you'd slide a few bucks for a cheap job. Bald as ever, dressed in baggy, tattered sweat jacket and pants with a patchy wool cap and roughly repaired glasses. Fingerless gloves and heavy work boots. This man was trying his hardest to beg his way out of the situation.
Kneeling in front of him were both of the boys, wide grins painted across their lips and grabbing him by the shirt and making him stare them down.
Johanne spoke clearly, "I want you to understand something. We could beat you black and blue, and run you out of this town. I can tell you're nothing but a spy. A snake. So you're going to be our snake. That agent you caught, you'll look after him and report that you found nothing. You'll return those files and we'll only leave you as messed up as you are now."
"Y-you mean it…? I saw that vanishing shit. It's almost as scary as the Boss's ability… I can't deal with this man. I'll do whatever ya want. Just leave me how I am…" He was shivering like a striped dog in the winter. It was almost worth pitying. Almost.
"Well, about that." Before he could blink their newly founded informant was barraged with a hyper flurry of fists that shifted his jaw and swelled his eye, sending him into the tree next to Avelessi making him jump, "Now that's how I'll send you back. As a reminder. You attacked my father. I don't appreciate that man."
Johanne tossed the phone at the barely conscious man's feet and went over to collect the rest of his companions. He handed his phone over to Kiba, letting him know to get Jesse sorted out and stopping him from running from the cops and joining the rest back home.
Meanwhile within the crowd of the Plaza…
"Hey, Boss… Hehe… I saw them in action for myself. I can see why we were all called. We're definitely going to need all of the crew… Hehe… I have my heart set on someone special… If you'll please." This was a very familiar voice over the phone. Someone managed to keep a sharp enough earshot distance to escape the attack.
"You don't say… I have everyone in the office. Right now. We're going to be wrapping this problem up soon. I don't appreciate making a fool of myself in front of these commoners. This city is my playground, and I refuse to have these… imperfections and filth on my property. Can we make this happen?" The Boss himself, Akuma Ishita, addressed direction while turning to see both Jon Bovi and his companion Matt Booker and behind them were three more individuals. Silhouettes of a smaller, petite looking woman standing rather close to a very slender man with a ponytail and another man with a rather large afro.
Jon stepped forward with a loud yawn followed with a perked laughter, "Without flaw Sir, you know this. We came here to please. Ain't that right team? I think we have plenty of our disposable pawns"
Everyone in the room, a very large mixture of energies took to unison in speaking, "Yes Boss!" Which pleased Akuma greatly, He hung up the phone and took a long drag of a cigarette between his fingers. Awaiting the plans that came from this group of Elites.