Lamp Entertainment presents…
At last, the calm ends.
The storm is here.
Chapter 19: Stand Together, Act 1
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover
On the way to It's A Wash…
Josuke's feet drummed against the hard ground as he ran. He was panting hard. He'd figured that the two kids would have to keep up with him, but it turned out he was the one who had to keep pace with them. Seriously, they could run like all hell. And the girl, Connie, was carrying a large pink sword that looked like it was almost as tall as her.
There was a fire in those kids' hearts. It was a great fire of will that pushed you to do anything to save the people you loved. Josuke knew that kind of fire well. Unfortunately, he also knew that sometimes, that fire alone wasn't enough to save the day. Which was why he wasn't going to let them go deal with this situation alone.
The carwash where they were headed came within sight soon enough.
"S-so," Josuke said between his quick breaths. "That blonde guy…"
"Ronaldo," Steven informed him.
"Yeah, he," Josuke continued. "He's definitely a stand user. And he was carrying something that looked like a stand arrow in his hand, so… Steven, he probably stabbed your dad with it. He…he might've become a stand user as well."
Or he was dead. Those who didn't have the inner strength to control a stand would die. Such was the trial of the arrow. Josuke swallowed a hard breath and wondered if he should've told Steven about that possibility.
As they got closer to the carwash, Josuke scanned the area for anything weird. He noticed a colorful van standing next to the building. "Mr. Universe" was written on the side. He assumed it belonged to Steven's dad. The garage door leading into the carwash itself was open, but there didn't seem to be anyone inside. Lastly, he took notice of a shoebox lying on the ground with three cats sitting in it. Which was kinda weird, though he didn't have time to even really register how weird it was.
From somewhere behind the van, two brightly colored figures appeared. One of them was tiny and red, with a large, cubical hair similar to Garnet's. The other one looked almost identical to the short green gem Peridot, except she was taller.
"W-wait, gems?" Steven exclaimed, sounding just as confused as Josuke felt at that moment. "What in the wor-AH!" Steven's scream was followed by Connie yelping and then Josuke cursing as he felt his foot sink down into the ground.
"S-shit!" The ground beneath his feet had turned soft, almost liquid. It was like stepping into a deep puddle of mud or quicksand. On pure instinct, Josuke summoned Crazy Diamond. His stand grabbed Steven and Connie and lifted them up into the air before they could get stuck in the mud. With a mighty cry, Crazy Diamond threw them away. They landed a few meters ahead, back on solid ground.
"Don't turn around!" Josuke yelled at them. They looked back anyway. Josuke cursed under his breath and struggled to free his own feet from the softened ground. He had sunk down to his ankles and his feet were very firmly stuck. "Keep going!" he commanded the kids. "I'll catch up!"
They hesitated for a moment, but Connie nodded and pointed at the two gems.
"We'll handle the gems," she said. "You take care, of, uh… those cats, I guess?" She gestured towards the three cats cramped up together in the shoebox. One of them in particular was looking at him with what he could swear was a smug grin.
"Yeah, I got this," Josuke said. "Now go! Help Steven's dad!"
The two kids nodded and continued forward. Josuke saw the two gems move, but he forced himself to focus on his own situation.
He was currently sinking into the ground which had been turned into some quicksand-like mud. He was sinking slowly, but he could still feel himself getting stuck in the thick, viscous mud. Droplets of the stuff were seeping into his shoes and socks. He tried to move, but that only made him sink faster. The cats, all of which were likely stand users were witting in their box, just far enough so that Crazy Diamond couldn't reach them.
Ah… greato-daze.
xxXXxx
Connie and Steven approached the two gems.
"Look…" Connie whispered. "That Ruby looks exactly like the one Mr. Jotaro described." And the Peridot didn't look much like their Peridot either. She still had her limb enhancers and her gem was on her chest rather than her forehead. "Maybe they're with that Moonstone gem that was looking for Josuke?"
Except… why would they be here of all places? Was she and Santana working together somehow?
"Hey," Steven called out. The two gems tilted their heads in perfect sync. "Who are you? What do you want?"
The gems didn't say anything. The Peridot only raised her arm and rubbed her limb enhancers fingers together. Blue electricity sparked around her entire body and started dancing around her fingers. She lifted her hand into the air as if getting ready to throw something…
Steven yelped and jumped in front of Connie, summoning his shield in a bright flash of pink light.
The Peridot flung a small lightning bolt at them. It bounced harmlessly off Steven's shield.
"I see…" Connie mumbled. She had noticed something interesting about the Peridot. Or rather, her limb enhancers. The fingers should be floating, manipulated by some unseen force. But they weren't. They were connected to the arm stump by some glistening material that looked almost like… wet paint. "Steven…" Connie said. "These aren't real gems! They're portraits!"
"What?" Steven said, confused.
"Yeah. Vidalia must've created them with her stand, just like she created the portrait of the Crystal Gems!" Connie glanced towards Greg's van. She thought she could make out a sunburnt hand on the ground behind it.
"But… how?"
"I don't know," Connie said. "But Steven… let me handle them."
"What? No way, are you-"
Connie grabbed Steven and pulled them both out of the way of a large stream of fire the Ruby portrait blew in their direction. Huh. Turns out Rubies can breathe fire like tiny dragons. Cool. Or hot.
"Go help Mr. Universe first," Connie said. "I'll keep them distracted for a few minutes. Once you've helped your dad, you can come and help me finish them off with Stevonnie."
Steven bit his lip and looked back and forth between her and Greg's van. Connie could see on his face the moment he too spotted his dad's hand on the ground.
"I… I'll just make sure he's okay," he said. "Then I'm coming back to help you. Here, take this."He handed her the shield he was holding. "And promise me you won't get hurt."
"I won't," Connie said, mustering all the confidence she could scrounge up. She forced her breathing to slow down to a proper rhythm for hamon. It did make her feel a bit calmer and stronger.
Steven grit his teeth and nodded hesitantly. He started running towards his dad.
The Peridot portrait raised its arm, blue electricity flying around her fingers. The Ruby portrait also turned towards the running Steven as he got closer to them. It opened its mouth to blow another jet of flames…
"HEY!" Connie roared as loud as she could. She threw the shield at the green portrait. The improvised frisbee bounced off the Peridot portrait's head and then the Ruby portrait before flying back towards Connie. She caught it and felt it cling to her arm by some strange magic force. "I'm your opponent, not him!" she said, loud and clear. Internally, she was mostly just impressed with herself. She didn't actually think she'd be able to aim the shield so it'd come bouncing back to her. It made her feel like some kind of superhero or something.
The silent portraits stared at her. The Peridot portrait sparked and the Ruby portrait radiated heat, small flames creeping over her skin and hair.
Connie swallowed. This… might be a bit difficult.
xxXXxx
Steven ran as fast as he could towards his dad's van. His heart was pounding on the inside of his chest like a hammer and his breathing was quick and shallow. The thoughts in his head were running wild.
He had to get to his dad. Make sure he was okay. Heal him, save him. Fast. He had to get back to help Connie. And Josuke too. And everyone else that was in danger too. He had to hurry, run faster…
As he ran around the corner of the van, he was forced to slow down a little, lest he crash into the wall.
「BAM!」
He crashed into something. Not a wall. Something softer. A human.
Steven and the person he ran into both fell over, entangled in a pile of limbs. Steven's face was pressed against the other person and his nose filled with the smell of frying oil and the stench of sweat.
"Oof," the other person groaned, the air pressed out of their lungs.
"S-sorry," Steven mumbled while he tried to get back on his feet. He saw now who it was that he had run into. Ronaldo. Reflexively, he grabbed the older teen's arm to help him back up. Ronaldo looked confused for a few moments, his eyes glassy and empty. Then a large, mad smile crept across his face.
"Steven!" he exclaimed and hurried back to his feet. "Right on time! Come, I have something I need to show you!" He grabbed Steven by the arm and started dragging him away. Still confused after the crash, Steven let himself get dragged along. That was until he saw his dad, that is.
He was lying on the ground, face down. There was a wound on his shoulder, fresh red blood still glistening on his arm.
"No!" Steven cried and pulled his arm free." Dad!"
Before he could run over, Ronaldo tackled him from behind, throwing his entire weight at him.
"Wait Steven!" he said. "I have something to show you! You must see this! It's… I can see everything now! And I have to show it to you! Before it's too late!"
"I… don't… have time for that !" Steven yelled and threw Ronaldo off of him. "Sorry," he said quickly. He licked his hand and reached out towards Ronaldo. "I know it's gross, but trust me, this'll help you…"
His hand with the healing spit never reached Ronaldo. Instead, he hit something invisible in the air, spit smearing at nothing in the air.
"Wha… A Stand!" Steven said. Right… Ronaldo would have a stand alongside the fleshbud messing with his head.
"Indeed!" Ronaldo said excitedly. He hopped back on his feet and clapped his hands, giddy to show Steven his newfound power. "This is my stand, Watch! And it has such sights to show you!"
Steven felt something in his eye, almost a stabbing pain. His vision seemed to hiccup and glitch, like static on a TV. But then his vision returned to normal… except for one addition.
In front of him hovered a dark figure. It vaguely resembled a female angel, wings and all. Its body was black and almost looked like it was made from some kind of dark liquid. Its skin moved and flowed constantly, small ripples traveling across its body. Small protrusions that looked like signal towers popped out of its body. Every now and then, an eye opened at a seemingly random place, creating more ripples on its skin before it closed a few seconds later.
It was a stand. No doubts about it. But how was he seeing it?
Steven noticed something in the corner of his eye. He felt around with his hand and found small black signal towers sticking out around his eyes.
"Behold!" Ronaldo announced dramatically. "Or, uh… Watch! Watch the truth!"
The world hiccuped and static filled his eyes for several seconds before he could see again. He was still in Beach City, that much he could tell. But something was wrong.
The sky, normally soft blue with fluffy white clouds was gone. So were the warm rays of the sun. Instead, there was only white. Cold white light filling and radiating down from the heavens above. Just like in his dream.
"Wha-what the…" Steven mumbled. He rubbed his eyes, the small signal towers scraping against the skin on his hands. His eyes felt strained. They hurt, like if he had just spent an entire day starring into a bright computer monitor, his face only a few centimeters away from the screen.
A line of people was approaching. They walked slowly, in a perfect line and in perfect sync with each other. It was the people from Beach City. Mr. Smiley, Mr. Frowney, the Pizzas and Frymans, his dad… everyone except for himself and the gems. Their movements were slow and deliberate, calculated, like robots marching. No one was talking or even looking at anyone else. Their eyes were fixed on some unseen point far away, that hidden goal they were walking to.
Their eyes were white. White, blank, cold, empty and soulless.
"Tragic, isn't it?" said Ronaldo's voice somewhere next to him. He sounded lucid, not twisted or driven to madness by the fleshbud in his head. Steven turned towards the sound, but Ronaldo wasn't there. But his voice kept coming. "This is what Watch showed me. It showed me the end of the world. Powers and forces hiding in the shadows are setting terrible plans into motion that will plunge the world into hell. It all leads either to this… or this."
Static filled Steven's eyes again. He could almost hear it now, the humming fizz filling his ears. When the static disappeared, he was still in Beach City, still next to the carwash. The light in the sky was gone and everything looked like normal. Too normal. The van was gone and so were Ronaldo and his dad. There was no trace of Josuke fighting the cats or Connie distracting the portraits.
Steven rubbed his eyes again. They hurt even more now. It felt like someone had poured lemon juice into them. Even after he managed to wipe away his tears, everything around him still looked blurry. Just like when he had tried on Connie's glasses. A potent headache was starting to pound on the inside of his skull.
He heard a sound from around the corner of the building. It sounded like an explosion but muffled and silenced. Steven stumbled towards it, the pain in his head making him dizzy.
There was no explosion around the corner, only his dad standing there, talking to Mr. Smiley.
"Hello Mr. Smiley," Greg said. His hair… his beautiful hair that he was so fond of… it was cut short. And his voice sounded monotone and bored. He barely sounded anything like the father Steve knew and loved. "I knew you were about to come by."
"Dad?" Steven asked, his voice turning into a hiss. "What's going on?"
His dad didn't answer, nor did Mr. Smiley. They didn't even seem to notice he was there. Like he was a ghost or something…
"I'm here to pick up my car," Mr. Smiley said. There wasn't even a hint of the usual smile on his lips.
"I know," Greg said. He opened the door into the carwash and held it open for Mr. Smiley.
Mr. Smiley sighed and took a step forward. His foot caught in a water hose lying on the ground and he tripped. He fell and hit his knee on the hard asphalt. His knee got scraped up pretty bad, blood flowing from the wound. He didn't scream or curse in pain. He made a small grimace but that was it. He mostly looked kinda disappointed and empty.
"Ow," he said after a little while.
"I'm sorry," Greg said. "I'll go get some bandages." He walked through the door to go get the first aid kit he had lying around.
"Thank you," Mr. Smiley sighed.
Steven stumbled back around the corner where he came from. Something was wrong with this… whatever this place was. He could feel it in his soul. It was like… like something was pushing at him. Like an old memory of something he couldn't quite recall but had still left some traces in his mind.
At the same time, his vision kept getting blurrier. He had a hard time making anything out or even focusing on anything. Objects in the distance became misty and blended together into blobs of color and nondescript shapes. Even his own hand was blurry.
"I know," he heard Ronaldo's voice again. "It scared me too when I first saw it. It scares me still. That's why I had to show it to you! So you can stop it! You must be able to stop it!"
"I…I…" Steven mumbled. He suddenly bumped into something. Something that wasn't there. Something invisible. It was big and hard and felt like… the front of a car. Or a van. Standing exactly where the van had stood before Ronaldo hit him with his stand ability…
A few cogs turned in Steven's aching head and suddenly snapped into place as he realized what was going on. Of course. It all made sense now.
Steven closed his hurting eyes and tried to relax. Empty his head of all the confused thoughts and ignore the pain. He took a deep breath, sucking in air through his nose. He took another one and a third one. Fresh summer air filled his lungs… alongside the smell of frying oil and sweat. To his left.
He moved carefully. He'd only get one chance at this. If he missed, Ronaldo would figure out what he was doing and use his stand to defend himself.
Steven let the spit build up in his mouth for a few seconds. Then he whipped his head to the left and spat as hard as he could.
"Gah! Gross!" Ronaldo yelled. His vision filled with static one last time. When it finally faded, he was back in the real world. Well, it wasn't like he really left. All Ronaldo's stand had done was cast some kind of illusion on him.
Ronaldo was lying on the ground about a meter or so away from Steven. His body was enveloped in pink light and yellow sparks that jumped on his skin, repairing small bruises. Especially around his forehead where the fleshbud that had been screwing with his head was quickly destroyed by the hamon energy. Ronaldo groaned a few times but didn't get up.
"Sorry I had to spit at you," Steven hastily apologized and wiped the saliva off of Ronaldo's face. He still had a headache, but his eyes didn't hurt anymore and he could see properly again. "But, well… you didn't really give me any other choice…" Ronaldo didn't respond. He was unconscious.
Steven only afforded himself that short respite before the situation caught up to him in his mind. Josuke and Connie were in trouble. He had to heal his dad and then go help them.
He rushed towards his dad. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw that he was still breathing. His arm was still wet with fresh blood, but it didn't look like he had lost too much. He'd be okay. Steven just had to reach him.
He never did reach him. As he got closer to his dad, his steps started feeling very light until his feet no longer touched the ground…
xxXXxx
Connie blocked another lighting bolt flung her way with Steven's shield. The Ruby portrait blew another stream of fire, forcing her to run, lest she get burnt to a crisp. The shield wasn't much good for blocking a big fire attack like that. She ran in a half-circle around the Peridot portrait, putting it between her and Ruby portrait. The Ruby portrait was forced to stop blowing flames at her as to not harm its companion. It bought her maybe two seconds.
Two seconds to come up with a plan.
The enemy had superior range to her. The Ruby portrait's flames were difficult to block with the shield. One-on-one, Connie might've been able to get in close enough to deal a killing blow, but with the two of them…
The Peridot portrait seemed less inclined towards direct combat, preferring to stand back and hurl small lighting bolts at her and providing cover for the Ruby portrait.
The Ruby portrait charged forward and jumped into the air, above the Peridot portrait. It spit a large fireball at Connie. She raised the shield to block it. The fireball exploded against the shield, pushing against it hard and sent small flames licking at Connie's feet. She gritted her teeth and kept running.
She had to keep moving. Moving targets are harder to hit. She had to keep breathing. The hamon energy flowing through her veins made her stronger and faster.
Hamon.
Connie got an idea. She'd've yelled "Heureka!" or something like that, but she had to block another bolt of lighting thrown her way.
She ran the plan through her head one more time. It was quite risky and had the potential of not just going wrong, but catastrophically wrong. It might just be better to keep the portraits distracted and wait for Steven or Josuke to come help her.
She afforded herself one quick glance at Josuke. Less than a second, barely the blink of an eye. He was still stuck in the softened ground. Something was going on, but Connie couldn't make out what. And Steven still hadn't returned… which meant that he was in trouble as well. Probably with Ronaldo.
Connie resolved herself to go through with her plan, risky as it was. She couldn't wait for the others to come save her. She had taken it upon herself to deal with these portraits and that's what she was going to do. She would just have to hope she was strong enough to pull off her insane plan.
The Ruby portrait blew another stream of fire. Rather than using the Peridot portrait as a shield like before, Connie instead ran the other way. She bolted towards the open garage door leading into the carwash itself. If she had looked behind her at that moment, she'd have seen the portraits looking confused for a brief second before they gave chase.
Connie had been inside the carwash a few times, to help Steven and Mr. Universe wash a few cars. She remembered, just to the right of the garage door. There were several exposed water pipes on the wall.
She sliced them open with Rose's sword as she passed them by. High-pressure water spewed forth from the pipes. The floor was covered in water in a few seconds. Connie grimaced as she felt cold water hit her back and neck. She pressed the shield tight against her chest, making sure the inside of it didn't get wet.
On the left side of the room, a few meters in was a door that lead to the control room. Or "The Bridge," as Mr. Universe sometimes called it. Connie sliced it open, apologizing silently in her head to Mr. Universe for all the property damage she had done… and was about to do.
Footsteps approaching behind her. She swirled around to meet the portraits as they entered the carwash. Their expressions were blank. When they stood still, you might mistake them for real people. But whenever they moved, you could see that their movements were… unnatural. Stiff, almost mechanical in a way. And they never seemed to express any emotions, aside from some mild confusion.
Connie placed the shield on the floor like a bowl and stood in it. This elicited two slightly confused head tilts from the portraits. Considering this weird new behavior. Which was about to get even weirder.
Connie took a deep breath and rubbed her hands together. Small yellow hamon sparks danced across her palms.
"Water Blue Capture Overdrive!" she yelled and placed her fingers in the water on the floor. She concentrated and poured as much hamon through her fingertips and into the water as she possibly could. Beautiful ripples spread over the water's surface, which seemed to almost be glowing with a warm yellow shimmer. Connie took deep breath after deep breath to keep it going. She tried to focus the energy toward the portraits, though she wasn't sure if it was actually working. It looked to her like the ripples were moving all over. Still… it worked well enough.
"You know…" Connie said between her deep breaths. "Hamon… doesn't… work on… gems!" But you… you guys… are not gems. You're… made from… paint!"
The portraits moved sluggishly. Small ripples traveled throughout their bodies, making them look more liquid than solid. Small puddles of dissolved paint were forming around their feet.
"Fortunately… water… conducts hamon… just like… with electricity!" Connie continued. She studied the face of the Peridot portrait, trying to spot any realizations. The portrait grimaced slowly, barely able to even move its face thanks to the paralyzing hamon being pumped into it. The Ruby portrait, which was smaller, couldn't move at all. "All I… gotta do… is wait… until the water… dissolves you completely!"
Of course, she couldn't actually do that. The water was melting the portraits, sure, but very slowly. And she couldn't keep this constant flow of hamon up for very long. She was already growing tired. In a few moments, her breathing would start to falter and hiccup.
A few electric sparks danced around the Peridot portrait. Connie could feel a slight tingle in her fingers and quickly pulled them from the water. She couldn't help but let her lips form a small smirk.
The Peridot portrait lit up with blue electricity. An aura of eerie, ghostly blue light hummed around it and forced Connie to shield her eyes. A massive amount of electrical energy poured down into the wet floor, turning it into a giant deathtrap. Snakes of lighting hissed, fizzed, and crackled, bouncing uselessly off the shield Connie was standing on.
She let out a huge sigh of relief. It actually worked. The shield protected her from the electricity.
Connie smirked at the Peridot portrait. The portrait looked confused. The electric light faded away as it stopped trying to electrocute Connie. It was apparently not working.
"Sorry. No dice," Connie said. "This shield is immune to electric attacks, remember?" She tapped the shield with her foot. "Although… it looks like they still work on your friend."
The Peridot portrait blinked while the cogs turned in its head. The hiss of water evaporating filled the carwash. Waves of heat washed throughout the room. The Peridot portrait slowly turned towards its partner.
The Ruby portrait was glowing and burning, its skin bubbling like lava in a volcano about to erupt any second.
Connie grabbed the shield a dove through the door she cut open before. She rolled up into a small ball behind the wall and held up the shield…
「KA-BOOM!」
A massive explosion shook the entire building! Deafening sound, blinding light, and fire that could burn the flesh from your bones.
Then… things were silent.
Connie opened one eye. Was she alive? Evidently so. She felt cold water hitting her from above. Rain?
She opened her other eye. Was she hurt? No. She let out the breath she had been holding. The air around her was warm, but she breathed it in anyway. She could feel the hamon energy fading from her system after her breathing had been disrupted. She tried to get it going again, but it was hard.
She stood back up on trembling legs. She looked around. The wall held up, though it was full of cracks. It looked like it might crumble if you sneezed at it too hard. The window out to the washing room was completely obliterated, the thick glass reduced to glitter on the floor. Papers lying on the desk had caught on fire and were strewn about the room, turning into ash. The automatic sprinkler system had gone off and was raining cold water down on everything.
Connie silently apologized to Mr. Universe again. Things looked pretty bad. She could only hope Josuke might be able to fix at least some of the damages.
She peeked out into the washing room and found it in an even worse state. A large portion of the floor had been turned into a large crater. The brushes and other machines were twisted, on fire, or demolished. Water was leaking from a few busted pipes.
In the middle of it all stood the Ruby portrait, still smoldering after the explosion. The portrait of the Peridot had been reduced to a green smear on one of the cracked walls. The Ruby portrait looked at Connie with eyes glowing like the last few embers in a pile of ash. For a moment, Connie thought she saw actual emotion on the portrait's face… anger?
The portrait inhaled, ready to exhale fire. Connie grabbed Rose's sword with both of her hands.
The portrait blew a massive stream of fire towards Connie. She dodged to the left, the intense inferno coming uncomfortably close to burning her alive. She ran, trying to reach the portrait before the flames could catch her. Hot fire licked her steps, throwing small cinders at her legs, burning her skin. Had there been anything flammable left in the room except her, it would've caught on fire.
As Connie got closer to the portrait, she could practically feel the water on her skin evaporating and turning into steam. She clenched her teeth and squeezed the handle of the sword tight. One last burst of speed and…
「SHING!」
The Ruby portrait was cut down. Rose's sword went cleanly through it, like a hot knife through freshly fallen snow.
The portrait erupted in a cascade of red paint, splashes of it covering Connie from head to toe.
"…ew," she said. She tried to wipe some of the paint off of her, but that only made it worse. She looked like a crazy serial killer from one of the horror movies Sadie wouldn't let her watch.
No matter, she could wash it off later. For now, she has to go help Steven and Josuke.
She ran outside and scanned her surroundings. She saw Josuke come running. But then, without any warning, he stopped. He looked surprised and nearly fell over. And Connie was suddenly feeling very light…
xxXXxx
Josuke was in a bit of a pickle at the moment. His feet were firmly stuck and he was still sinking deeper into the soft ground. He was about halfway down to his knees. When he tried to wade through the thick mud towards solid ground, he only sunk faster.
"Crazy Diamond!" He called his loyal stand forth. It grabbed ahold of him under his arm like you would a baby and tried to pull him out of the mud. But even the strong arms of Crazy Diamond could only budge him. It pulled and pulled until Josuke felt like his feet were going to get ripped off and he was forced to stop. It seemed like simply just pulling himself out wasn't going to work.
This soft ground seemed to work a lot like quicksand. Josuke tried to recall if he had ever read or heard anything that might help him. Actually… he had read about quicksand once… but he couldn't remember what to do! He didn't think he'd ever run across any quicksand!
He cursed and glared at the cats crammed up together in the shoebox, just outside of Crazy Diamond's range. They were watching him and looking smug. Fucking cats. If Okuyasu was here, you'd bet they wouldn't even have attacked. Alas, the cat whisperer Okuyasu wasn't here. Josuke would have to tame these beasts and get out of this sticky situation by himself.
He studied his opponents. There was one black cat, one white cat, and then one orange cat with a few black stripes. Like a small tiger. There was a small fly sitting atop the white cat's head, but the cat didn't seem to mind. It just kept starring at Josuke with those freaky cat eyes.
One of them had a stand that softened the ground. Since the box they were sitting in wasn't sinking, Josuke guessed that the patch of ground beneath it was solid. He also guessed the other two cats were stand users as well, a suspicion that was proven right almost immediately.
Something seemed to sprout from the ground in front of the box. it looked a bit like grass, except it was ghostly white. On a second look, it seemed to resemble some kind of fungi? Whatever it was, it sprouted in a rough rectangle, about the size of a DVD case. The strange grass swayed and started moving. The large patch split into several smaller ones. A few of them were really small, maybe a square centimeter in size, others were a bit bigger. As they started coming closer, Josuke could better make out the individual "straws." They looked eerie, ghastly white, and with two black circles on each straw looking like a pair of eyes with no mouth, nose, or ears.
The stand moved slowly across the surface of the softened ground, forming a large circle around Josuke. They kept outside of Crazy Diamond's range. Whatever they were up to, Josuke was certain it couldn't be good for him. The strange grass or whatever it was supposed to look like moved slowly, sure… but Josuke was stuck and couldn't dodge or hide at all. He had to think of something.
He summoned forth Crazy Diamond.
"Restore!" Josuke commanded and the area around him was covered in golden light. For a second, he could've sworn he felt the ground solidify around his legs… but only for that moment. The mud shivered around him, but stayed liquid, no matter how hard he tried to restore it. "Of course…" Josuke muttered. He should've known it couldn't possibly be that easy. Oh well, it was worth a shot.
Next, Crazy Diamond scooped up a handful of dirt in its hand. The clod of liquified asphalt and earth stayed as mud even as it was lifted into the air.
"DORA!" Crazy Diamond threw the lump of mud towards the cats The three cats hissed and flinched… even as the projectile never reached them.
It splattered and smeared against… nothing. It was like an invisible shield had appeared in front of the shoebox. Or maybe…
Josuke looked at the ground and noticed something odd. There was an indentation in the soft ground where the mud had splattered. It was long and thin, almost like a pane of glass had been stuck in the ground.
"What the-OW!" Josuke yelled in pain. Something hit his hand! While he was distracted, something had cut cut his hand. It was only a small wound on the back of his hand, but… where had it come from? Josuke hadn't seen it coming or even what it was that attacked him.
He looked all around him. The small white… grass things were slowly approaching. Was it one of them? No… something in his gut was telling him it wasn't them. But what was it then?
Josuke looked at the ground and saw something that answered a few of his questions. An indentation in the ground, just like with the strange shield in front of the shoebox. Except this one was smaller and looked more like a knife had fallen into the mud.
He lowered his hand towards it, careful not to touch the edges. His fingers closed around the invisible little knife and pulled it out of the mud.
Amazing. He could feel it between his fingers like a piece of glass. Except it was completely invisible He couldn't see it at all, not even the edges. Yet it was there, present and physical in his hand. Like a hardened piece of air or something.
"Ow!" Something stabbed him in the neck, confirming his suspicion. The attack had come from above. One of the cats must have a stand that created these invisible knives and dropped them down on him.
Josuke turned his gaze upwards. A small fly was buzzing around above him. It stopped for a second to hover in the air, and then… something stabbed Josuke in the face! It hit his chin, way too close to the eye.
"DORA!" he screamed in unison with his stand. Crazy Diamond reached out towards the little fly. But before the mighty stand could grab the fly, something invisible appeared around the fly. A small square of hard, invisible material. Josuke felt the sharp edges digging into Crazy Diamond's hands. Had he tried to grab it, he'd slice open his fingers. Fortunately, his stand was a little tougher than him. It crushed the improvised shield easily, but not before the fly managed to escape out of range.
Crazy Diamond scooped up another lump of mud to throw at the fly. It took aim and…
Something stung Josuke. An electric shock hit his arm. For a moment, his mind became blank and he couldn't move a single muscle. Crazy Diamond also froze, half-way through its throwing motion. The lump of mud limply flew about half a meter up into the air before it fell back down. It hit Josuke right in the face.
Josuke blinked and sputtered and spat mud. He could move again, but his arm was numb, like it had fallen asleep. Thousands of needles poked at his skin The sensation brought back unpleasant memories of a certain other stand he'd fought with electrical powers.
Down on the ground, right next to his hand was a small patch of that strange white stand. It must have moved closer without him noticing while he was distracted by the fly.
Josuke cursed violently. Crazy Diamond scooped the stand up, careful not to touch it and only the mud under it, and threw it away. The rest of the stand surrounding him backed away, still outside Crazy Diamond's range.
Another invisible knife fell from the sky. This one was bigger and heavier than the previous ones. It cut into Josuke's shoulder, stabbing right through his jacket, shirt, and skin. The wound wasn't too deep, but it stung like hell.
"Gah!" Josuke gasped through gritted teeth. He looked up at the sky and saw the fly buzzing about far outside of his range. He moved Crazy Diamond to hover above him like a very large, human-shaped umbrella. A few more knives fell from the sky and bounced uselessly of the stand's tough skin.
He had to figure out a way to reach that damn fl-
Another shock. Pain and static. It spread from his back and through his spine. His nerves hissed and his muscles ached. His mind was emptied and his vision filled with electric white. He couldn't move.
Crazy Diamond flickered in and out of existence. Long enough for the fly to drop another big knife down on him. This one hit his arm, slicing open a large wound. The invisible knife was stained with red hot blood. When it hit the ground, it looked like it had made the ground itself bleed.
It took a few seconds before Josuke could move again. Black spots blinked in and out in his eyes and he had a hard time focusing. He turned his head and saw a patch of that white grass retreating behind him. This one was bigger than before. It had snuck up on him from behind.
"S-shit," Josuke mumbled, stumbling over his words as much as his thoughts. His jaw and tongue still felt a bit numb. "D-damn ca-c-cats."
Crazy Diamond hovered over him, protecting him from the invisible knives still raining down. They were falling irregularly, impossible to predict. Some were small as nails, hardly dangerous. Others were as big as meat cleavers. They bounced off the stand and landed on the ground, only visible thanks to the small marks they left in the soft mud.
While his stand was hanging in the air above him, it could still stop any more attacks from the white grass. But it couldn't stop him from sinking.
Almost all of his legs had disappeared beneath the surface now. He was sinking slower than before, but that didn't really help him much unless he could figure out how to get out of the mud somehow. Pulling himself out hadn't worked before. Neither had trying to restore the ground with Crazy Diamond. So how…?
He grabbed one of the small knives that had fallen from the air. If it was a piece of hardened air like he through, then what would happen if he tried to restore it? He channeled some of Crazy Diamond's restoring light through himself and into the invisible knife in his hand. As it returned to its natural gaseous state, Josuke felt a puff of wind hitting his face.
An idea was forming into a crazy plan in his head. It was kinda insane and he had no idea if it'd actually work…
「KA-BOOM!」
The sound of an explosion filled the air. Josuke's eyes snapped from the scattered knives around him to the source of the sound, the carwash. Flames and plumes of smoke billowed out of the open garage door.
Josuke's heart stopped. The color drained from his face. The red gem. She must've been the Ruby Jotaro told him about. The one that blew up the restaurant. Now she had blown up the carwash.
"Crazy Diamond!" Josuke yelled, his stand launching into motion before he could even finish his words. He still wasn't sure if his plan was going to work, but he had to try dammit! He'd make it work out of sheer will if he had to! As long as he could still move a single muscle, as long as there was a heart beating in his chest, as long as there was still a thought in his brain… he would not let anyone else perish in a fiery explosion. He wouldn't allow it!
His stand grabbed the invisible knives of hardened air lying all around him. It then shoved them deep into the soft ground beneath his legs and feet. He made sure all of them were touching his legs.
The cats seemed to sense something was up. Or they were just spooked by the explosion. Either way, they hissed and growled at him. The white grass surrounding him started closing in, trapping him from all sides in their electric trap. At the same time, the fly above him started dropping more knives down on him.
Good. Josuke could use all of those he could get.
Crazy Diamond blocked the rainstorm of knives falling down, grabbing as many as it could. it then shoved them down into the ground as well. Soon, Josuke's legs were covered in the knives. He felt the sharp edges and tips digging into his pants and pricking his skin.
"Here goes nothing," he mumbled. He repositioned Crazy Diamond, the stand grabbing ahold of its master like a parent ready to lift their child. "Restore!"
He channeled the restoring light through his legs and into the hardened air now stuck in the softened ground.
At first, nothing seemed to happen. Josuke saw the cats starring at him, confounded. Just what was this dumb human doing? Even the white grass and fly stopped their constant advances and attacks. They could sense something was up.
A small bubble reached the surface of the mud and burst with a little "pop" sound
Josuke grinned. He felt the larger knives around his legs turn back into gas, creating small pockets and bubbles in the mud. The ground trembled, moved, and boiled as the bubbles of air tried to escape the thick, viscous liquid ground. They started rising towards the surface.
The sudden addition of a bunch of gas to the mud made it much less dense. Thus, Josuke could now be pulled free from the ground he was trapped in!
"DORA!" With a mighty roar, Crazy Diamond heaved its user out of the ground and sent him flying through the air… right towards the three cats.
Josuke landed right on top of the poor cats. It was pretty much over at that point.
The cats were knocked unconscious from the trauma of an eighty-kilo human with gravity on his side falling on top of them. Their stands faded away and the ground turned solid again. Josuke also took notice that the shoebox faded away as well. Because of course a cat would have a stand that looked like a box.
Crazy Diamond quickly healed the cats and pulled the fleshbuds out of their heads. He then laid the cats down in a fluffy little pile on the ground.
Josuke groaned when he bent down. Some of the wounds in his shoulder made sure to remind him they were still there and still hurting. The cut on his arm was also still bleeding. He spared a second to have Crazy Diamond tear apart the sleeve of his jacket and wrap it tightly around his arm. As far as first aid goes, not optimal, but better than nothing.
He set his eyes towards the carwash, trying to figure out what was going on.
He saw Steven and the blonde guy, Ronaldo. Ronaldo was lying on the ground, seemingly unconscious. It looked like Steven wiped something off of his face before he stood up and ran to his dad.
At the same time, Connie walked out of the carwash where the explosion had come from. She was covered in blood.
Josuke's feet moved on their own. He broke into a mad dash, running as fast as he could towards the little girl. All that blood… it was a miracle she was even alive!
If Josuke had had the presence of mind to pay any attention to what was happening in his peripheral view, he would've noticed that Steven never quite reached his dad. He would've seen the young boy slowly starting to rise up into the air.
As it were, the only thing on Josuke's mind was to reach Connie and heal her. He didn't even register the fact that she was seemingly completely unconcerned with the fact that she had lost roughly three liters of blood.
Josuke would've kept running until he reached Connie, whereupon he'd realize she wasn't covered in blood but paint. But that did not come to pass.
He came to a very abrupt stop. His feet stuck to the ground. He nearly fell over, but his feet were bolted to the ground and wouldn't let him fall.
"W-what the hell!?"
Strange machinery had appeared out of nowhere, trapping his feet and ankles under a small metallic dashboard full of buttons, gauges, and blinking lights.
Slowly, Connie started rising into the air…
—To Be Continued…
xxXXxx
Watch
Short-range utility type stand
User: Ronaldo Fryman
Appearance: Watch resembles a female angel, seemingly made from some black, liquid material. Throughout its body are various signal towers. Occasionally, new eyes will open on random spots of its body.
Powers and Abilities
•Allsight-Watch allows the user to see anything. This includes things normally hidden or invisible to the human eye, distant locations on other planets, and even other dimensions and realities. This ability works by Watch summoning new eyes on its body. However, for each eye Watch opens and the longer the user is looking at something, the worse their vision will become. While the user's vision is restored to normal once they dismiss Watch, the deteriorating eyesight can still cause problems and pain. Watch is also able to pick up sounds, though this is slightly less reliable than its ability to see.
•Signal Tower-Watch can create signal towers and use them to extend its ability to other objects or even people. For example, the user can plant a few signal towers on a TV and view another dimension through that. However, as with the user, the vision or image quality of the person/object affected with this ability will begin to deteriorate, and even more rapidly.
Stats
Destructive Power: E
Speed: A
Range: C ( meters)
Durability: A
Precision: A
Development Potential: A
Notes
•The range of the stand's physical body is a five-meter radius around the user. The range of its ability however is infinite and unquantifiable as it stretches into other realities and dimensions.
•If the user wishes to view a specific person or place, they have to know, at least roughly, where that person or place is. Watch can not find things if the user doesn't know where they are.
Down Under
Short-range utility type stand
User: Black Cat
Appearance: Down Under appears as an ordinary shoebox. In an emergency, the stand can, in fact, be used as a shoebox. It appears around the body of the user and can both be seen by and interacted with by non-stand users.
Powers and Abilities
•Land Down Under-DU turns the ground into a soft, mud-like substance similar to quicksand. Any creatures or objects that step on or are standing on the ground when the ability is activated will start to sink down into it. The pit extends for about three meters in every direction of the box and is about three meters deep as well.
•Take Cover-The box does not sink in its own mud, or in water.
Stats
Destructive Power: N/A
Speed: N/A
Range: C (ca. three-meter radius around the box)
Durability: D
Precision: E
Development Potential: D
Notes
•As with quicksand, the density of the mud Down Under creates means most humans will only sink to their waists or chest, but never fully submerge in it.
Black Magic
Colony-type stand
User: Orange and black striped cat
Appearance: The "body" of Black Magic appears at first to be a mass of strange white grass. On closer examination, one will find that the individual "straws" or "blades" of grass look more like some kind of fungi. Two small circles on each straw resemble a pair of eyes. When all together, the mass takes up roughly 250cm^2 (about the size of a DVD case). The mass consists of about 2 500 individual straws. The mass can be divided into smaller sections or patches, though no smaller than 1cm^2 with ten straws per patch. The straws can travel along any surface, including liquids.
Powers and Abilities
•Shock-BM sends an electric shock into any creature that it touches. The electric shock won't kill, but rather stuns the creature. The bigger the mass of BM the creature touches, the longer the shock lasts.
Stats
Destructive Power: None
Speed: D
Range: C (ca. five-meter radius around the user)
Durability: D
Precision: C
Development Potential: D
Notes
•The user is immune to Black Magic's electric shocks and may even be able to resist other electric shocks as well.
• As with most colony-type stands, Black Magic transfers damage back to the user in proportion to how many of its individual pieces have been damaged.
•The individual patches of Black Magic move slower when multiple or all of them are moving at the same time. A single patch can move faster when it's the only one moving.
Air Is Free
Mid-range utility type stand
User: White cat
Appearance: The stand resembles an ordinary fly. There might be some anatomical differences that reveal it to not be a real fly, but most people wouldn't bother examining a fly very close just to make sure that it actually is a fly.
Powers and Abilities
•Air Is Hard-AIF can harden air into solid objects. AIF has to be "touching" a certain spot of air in order to harden it. The smallest sheet of air AIF can harden is the size of the fly and the biggest is a circle roughly one and a half meters in diameter. The bigger the sheet of hardened air, the longer it takes to make. The sheets of hardened air are about as thick as an ordinary pane of glass, but slightly more durable and are almost completely invisible to the naked eye. The edges are very sharp and can cut through fur, skin, and clothes. As long as AIF is touching the sheet of hardened air, it remains suspended in mid-air. Once AIF is no longer touching it, it will fall to the ground. The hardened air remains solid for about five minutes before it turns back into a gas again.
Stats
Destructive Power: N/A
Speed: B
Range: C (ca. ten-meter radius around the user)
Durability: E
Precision: B
Development Potential: B
Notes
•AIF can theoretically create more complex shapes than simple knives and barriers, however, doing so is more difficult and takes a bit longer.
AUTHOR'S NOTES
A week late, I know. I was busy doing other things.
A few notes; Ronaldo's stand Watch is named after the song by the same name by Billie Eilish. The stand was made by Cross-Z Magma for that contest I held WAY back.
Air Is Free is named after the song by the same name by Johnossi. Down Under was named after the song by the same name by Men At Work. Black Magic is named after Black Magic Woman by Santana. As for other inspirations; Black Magic's design is based on the Hattifatteners from The Moomins.
While coming up with the cats' abilities, I wanted them all to be elemental in some way. I also wanted them to be fairly simple, more like something they could use while hunting or something. Hence why all of them lack any solid attack power.
If everything goes well, the next act should be ready and up in two weeks, on March 26th. See ya then and until next time, take care of the planet Earth and remember that anything can happen in space!