Chapter 15: Train If We Must
Vale…
"So, who are you again?" A man inquired as he pretended to play with a Yo-Yo as he laid on the edge of a building.
"My name is Faust, and I have an offer for you," Faust answered.
"Alright, I'll hear it." The Man murmured.
"There are some people I would like you to kill. If you succeed, I'll pay you handsomely." Faust offered.
"How handsomely?" The Man inquired.
"Five million lien," Faust answered.
"Five million?" The Man gasped.
"You must do very well for yourself." The Man commented.
"Let's just say I know when luck is on my side," Faust replied as he rolled his coin in his hand.
"Interesting well, then tell me more." The Man smirked as he lifted his hand as if he were pulling up a yo-yo.
When he did, a person was brought up too, almost magically clinging to his open palm. The dragged-up person was badly injured, and they barely clung to consciousness. The Man looked at the injured person and chuckled at the person's pain.
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"Almost forgot I've been tossing him around for so long." The Man smirked.
"I'll get rid of him." The Man stated as he snapped his fingers, and his magic grip on the person ended, and they fell to their death.
(Feat JoJo Opening 3 Stand Proud)
Star Warehouse…
"So we can just go into Beacon whenever we want?" Elton questioned.
"Not necessarily we need to inform Ozpin beforehand," Max answered.
"Speaking of, I'm going to have to get him up to date first, so I'll miss some of the training," Joshua stated as the five Stand Users stood together on the bottom level of the warehouse.
"Can't be helped, sadly," Richard replied.
"Especially since he was nice enough to give us this place for free," Max added.
"And you guys just trust him?" Elton inquired.
"Trust is a strong word. It's more of a necessity. It'll take time before we can trust him absolutely." Joshua responded.
"That being said, it goes both ways as I doubt he trusts us any more than we trust him," Joshua added.
"I see." Elton sighed.
"Well then, shall we get going?" Elton asked.
"Might as well they're expecting us," Richard replied as he turned towards Scotty.
"You going to be alright, Scotty?" Richard asked as the boy nodded.
"Then let's get going," Joshua stated as they left the warehouse and locked up.
Slowly the Stars made their way to the bullhead. As they did, Joshua noted that the people of Vale were on edge. It didn't surprise him as a lot has happened in the last few weeks, from the incident on the highway added with Road Rage to the breach and even his fight with Davion.
The fact that many didn't begin to hide in their homes, but then again, with the Vytal Festival around the corner, they may be distracted. Thinking back on it with what he could remember, he had never been to or seen a Vytal Festival.
He was usually kept home unless he was needed for something. It was always like that. The more he thought about it, his life up until now was almost always within a cage. But at least his old home was bearable, unlike the institution.
Soon they entered the bullhead, and it flew them toward Beacon. As the bullhead flew, Joshua looked out the window at the city and wondered what would happen next. When would the next Stand User appear? When would Davion return? And who was it that stole the arrow?
So many things were left unanswered, and even then, he still didn't know where he would go next as there hadn't been any leads to Kage Myojo. The only person who could give him a lead was Davion, but Joshua doubted he would reveal it willingly.
It wasn't going to be easy going forward, and if or when he does take down Kage, there was still the fact he had no idea where his son was. He had only seen his boy once, and his best bet of identifying him was his star-shaped birthmark.
"I'll find him. I swear." Joshua thought as the bullhead landed.
"Alright, I'm going to speak to Ozpin. You guys meet up with Team RWBY." Joshua insisted as he split from the others.
Joshua made his way to Ozpin's office, passing by many students and classrooms as he did. While he walked past many windows, he caught a glimpse of something in the reflection. It was round and looked like a large eyeball.
When Joshua looked to see if he saw things right, it was gone. It felt like what had happened with Camer Man, but this time he wasn't so sure that he even saw things right. He was still a little on edge, though, even if he had some relaxation the previous few days.
"Hopefully, I'm not losing my mind." Joshua sighed as he entered the elevator, not seeing the large eyeball floating below the ceiling.
Beacon Training Room…
"Wow, being a student here has some perks," Richard commented as Team RWBY led them into the room.
"Yeah, well, this is a school for training Huntsmen and Huntresses, so it needs to have some of the best training facilities," Blake replied.
"Good point." Richard agreed.
"So uh, how should we start this?" Ruby asked, nervous as they hadn't really figured out how they would start this training.
"It would be best to explain how Stands work and the different kinds of Stands," Max stated.
"When we first met, I explained what Stands are in simple terms, but it gets complicated," Max added as he took Team RWBY and began telling them about Stands.
"Wow, I didn't know it was so complicated," Weiss murmured.
"Well, with powers that can range to impossible possibilities, it gets complicated," Max replied.
"Even with our own Stands going against other Stand Users can be very hard, especially if we don't know the capabilities of their Stands," Max added.
"Which is why we must observe each fight very carefully to figure out our enemy's power and whether not we can actually beat them," Max stated.
"Otherwise, a tactical retreat is the best option." Max finished.
"Now then, it would be best to see what it's like to fight against a Stand. So far, the only one you've gone up against was Davion Brando's." Max suggested.
"And that didn't go too well," Max added.
"So you're going to spar with us a little bit," Richard smirked.
"A spar with powers we can't see. What did we get ourselves into?" Blake sighed.
"Now that I think about it, is your Stand even invisible to others, Richard?" Elton inquired, surprising the man.
"What do you mean?" Richard questioned.
"Your Stand is a deck of cards. It could be that others can see it," Elton explained.
"I never thought about that," Richard replied as he took out his Stand as several cards circled around him, much to the surprise of Team RWBY.
"Is that your Stand?" Ruby questioned, surprising the Stars.
"So it can be seen then. I guess it's just a special circumstance." Richard murmured.
"But short answer yes, this is my Stand House of Cards!" Richard declared as his Stand shot out and formed a circle around Team RWBY before returning to him.
"I can expand and build structures with these cards. They are near indestructible and are razor sharp." Richard explained.
"Cool!" Ruby smiled as Max leaned in towards Richard.
"I just realized we dodged a bullet when we snuck in during the dace that people didn't notice you using your Stand," Max whispered.
"You and JoJo did keep the others on the bullhead calm and distracted, which did help." Richard nodded in agreement.
"Oh uh, just one thing we forgot to tell you we did tell some friends about it, but they swore to secrecy!" Ruby revealed.
"Great, well, that shouldn't be a problem so far as they keep their promise." Max sighed.
"They're welcome to join as well, but for now, let's get started," Max stated as he summoned his Stand.
"Would you like to start in pairs or one on one?" Max inquired.
"Can we try all together?" Yang asked as Max tapped his chin before recalling his Stand.
"Sure, but since you can't see Stands, you'll start with Richard," Max smirked as Richard looked at him wide-eyed.
"Why me first?" Richard questioned.
"Because they can see your Stand," Max answered as he got close to his friend.
"Don't attack them too much. Just give them a little trouble with your card constructs." Max instructed as Richard nodded.
"Okay, guess I'll be the one you start out with, so let's have some fun." Richard sighed as he stepped forth towards Team RWBY.
"Just one of you? You do realize you'll be outnumbered, right?" Weiss questioned.
"True, but if you recall, you were no match for Davion, and you outnumbered him too." Max reminded.
"He makes a good point." Blake sighed.
"Then let us begin," Richard stated as he summoned his House of Cards.
"Alright, but don't blame us if you get hurt!" Yang smirked.
"Team RWBY engage!" Ruby ordered as Team RWBY charged at Richard.
But their advance was halted when Richard's cards walled them off before pushing the team backward. As they hit the ground, the cards formed a dome around them, trapping them within its confines.
"A cage?" Blake questioned.
"He'll have to do better than that!" Yang exclaimed as she jumped up and punched at one of the cards.
But her attack rebounded, knocking her backward and into the opposite side of the dome. Blake helped her up as Ruby and Weiss attempted to break the cards to no success. Once they stopped, the team decided to focus on one sole card. In the end, that too did not work.
"What are these cards made out of?" Ruby questioned.
"Don't quite know, but I have yet to see one get damaged," Richard responded.
"But no need to worry, I won't keep you in there," Richard smirked as he snapped his fingers.
The dome broke open, and the cards attacked Team RWBY, who expertly dodged their razor-sharp edges. Ruby grabbed onto Weiss and used her semblance to speed past Richard and get behind the Stand User.
Ruby fired several bullets at Richard, but they were blocked by one of his cards. However, it seemed that was a distraction as Weiss drove her sword into the ground. She activated Ice Dust within freezing the floor up to Richard's feet, trapping him in place.
"Okay, I was not expecting that," Richard stated as Blake spun Yang around before releasing her.
Yang was sent flying towards an immobile Richard, who watched as the Blonde Brawler readied to knock him down. It was all for not, though, as Richard covered himself in a dome of cards blocking Yang's attack.
But Richard wasn't done as his cards converged together, creating a humanoid form that clocked Yang across the face. The punch damaged Yang's aura as she was knocked down before Richard shattered the ice below him.
"Great, now my socks are wet," Richard murmured.
"Alright, let's stop there." Max insisted stopping the match.
"Wha…but we can keep going," Weiss stated.
"Yeah, but this was just to get you a general idea of what fighting a Stand is like. Now we can go and to groups and train together." Max replied.
"This way, we can all train, and you can see what other types of Stands are like," Max added.
"He makes a good point." Ruby agreed.
"Fine. Let's get this going." Yang replied.
Ozpin's Office…
"So that is what happened," Ozpin murmured as Joshua finished telling him what had happened with Davion.
"Which means Salem now has a Stand User on her side." Ozpin realized.
"While that may be true the depending on how her Stand works, then it may not be a problem. Even certain Star Ranks can be defeated if caught off guard." Joshua replied.
"Myself, for instance, while I am a Star Rank, I am considered weak compared to others," Joshua added.
"I see. Well, I hope I can enlist your help in dealing with this woman in the future." Ozpin requested.
"Normally, I would reject, but her gaining a Stand is partially my fault, so I'll lend you a hand when it comes to finding and taking her out." Joshua agreed.
"Thank you, but while you are here, there is something else we must discuss that General Ironwood had some issues about," Ozpin stated.
"Sadly, he is too busy with the Vytal Festival to talk about it himself," Ozpin added.
"What did he wish to speak about?" Joshua inquired with a sigh.
"About the damage, you and your compatriots have caused, it has been very…disconcerting." Ozpin sighed.
"It's caused many to ask questions and others to be afraid that another breach will happen," Ozpin explained.
"I understand. Sadly I am unable to choose when and where a battle will happen, sir but know that we will try to end it as soon as possible without causing too much damage." Joshua replied.
"That's all I can hope for, seeing as you have no control over this." Ozpin sighed.
"Is that all that's happened?" Ozpin inquired.
"Well, there are two more things. A team from your school has found out about Stands and wanted to train with us. Which is why my friends are not here." Joshua responded.
"Is it Team RWBY?" Ozpin asked.
"How did you know?" Joshua questioned.
"They tend to run into trouble, and I can't say I disapprove in trying to improve themselves. Just try to keep them out of it." Ozpin requested.
"You have my word. I don't want to bring them into this whole mess anyway. But I have the feeling they won't take no for an answer." Joshua replied.
"Yes, they're very stubborn." Ozpin agreed.
"What was the other thing you wished to ask?" Ozpin inquired.
"This is regards to who you said was the owner of the Brando Institution. You once said that while Kage Myojo was the head, he didn't own it." Joshua began.
"You said it was his brother and Davion was Kage's nephew. So who is it? Who is Davion's father? Who is the owner of Brando?" Joshua questioned.
"I don't know much about him. I've only ever heard about him from Kage but never met him. His name is Dio." Ozpin answered.
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"Dio?" Joshua murmured as he rubbed his chin.
"Davion also called himself Dio. He must admire his father a lot, meaning his father is stronger than he is. Maybe as strong as Kage may be." Joshua thought.
"I don't know if they are working together on this as Kage seems to be pulling all the strings but seeing that his son is working with Kage, he's probably giving some aid," Ozpin stated.
"Agreed," Joshua replied as he got up.
"I'll take my leave now and join the others. I'll see you again for my next report." Joshua stated as he made his way to the elevator.
"Things are getting too complicated. I pray that disaster doesn't strike." Ozpin murmured as Joshua left, not seeing the floating eye above them.
Unknown Location…
"Always the deceptive one, Davion," Kage muttered as Anthony relayed what he had seen with his Stand Third Eye.
"Shall we send people to confront him?" Anthony questioned.
"No, he's too strong for most, and I need people guarding here," Kage responded as he got up from his seat.
"Honestly, I always felt he had another agenda. He will do what is best for himself, much like his father." Kage stated.
"Send Midnight Magnetic to Vale. I don't trust Davion to kill those Stand Users." Kage ordered.
"As you wish," Anthony replied.
Beacon Training Room…
"Can…can we take a break?" Blake requested as she and the rest of Team RWBY sat on the floor exhausted.
"Sure, fighting something you can't see is pretty hard." Max agreed.
"One thing I've realized, though, you guys don't have much teamwork, do you guys." Yang pointed out.
"Yeah, have you guys never thought of using your Stands together?" Weiss inquired.
"Using our Stands together?" Richard murmured as the thought had never come to him before.
"We haven't thought about that before, no," Max stated.
"Why not?" Ruby asked.
"We're too busy fighting or thinking of our next move," Max explained.
"Sounds like you guys need a lot more training than we do." Yang teased.
"You're not wrong." Max sighed.
"How about you start now while we rest," Ruby suggested.
"Yeah, please give us some time." Weiss agreed, having been equally exhausted like the rest of her team.
"Guess the fun's over," Joshua commented as he entered the room.
"Your meeting is done already?" Max questioned.
"We were both straight to the point," Joshua responded.
"How's it going here?" Joshua asked.
"Good. They're…getting used to how Stands work." Max answered, motioning towards the exhausted Team RWBY.
"Give them time," Joshua replied.
"How's Scotty?" Joshua inquired as he pointed towards the boy who was sitting in the bleachers reading a comic.
"He's fine, but we didn't push him to participate much. Seeing as the nature of his Stand is more of support, training in fighting won't help much." Richard explained.
"Not entirely true. If it wasn't for him, Davion would've beaten me." Joshua replied.
"Which is why I think he should start learning more about Dust," Joshua smirked as he held up an Ice Dust crystal.
"With Dust, he can deal heavy damage when he wants to and needs to," Joshua stated.
"That's true. It could prove of great use later on." Elton agreed.
"Since we're still here and they're tuckered out, let's get started on our own training," Joshua suggested.
"Fair enough, they did suggest we try using out Stands in tandem," Richard replied.
"Then let's get started," Joshua said as he walked to Scotty.
"Scotty, it's time for a little training." Joshua smiled as the boy got up.
"What could I train?" Scotty asked as he joined the group.
"Do you think you'll be able to use your Stand on a full Dust crystal?" Joshua inquired.
"I haven't really tried it before. I didn't even think I could do the dust as I just tried it." Scotty answered.
"Would you mind trying?" Joshua requested as Scotty nodded, taking hold of the Ice Crystal.
Everyone save Joshua kept a safe distance from the boy as he summoned his Stand. Scotty started slowly at first inflating the crystal little by little. Soon he started going faster before completely inflating the crystal allowing it to float.
"Good, it worked. Nice job, Scotty." Joshua congratulated.
"Uh. Thanks, but while it worked, it took me a while." Scotty replied.
"I think if I do it too fast, the Dust will activate." Scotty explained.
"I see. Well, don't do anything that will risk injury to yourself." Joshua insisted.
"Okay." Scotty agreed.
"Now, can you pop it from a distance?" Joshua inquired.
"No, I have no way to make it pop save hitting it with something sharp," Scotty answered.
"I see," Joshua murmured as he looked at Max.
"Well, then Max could help with that," Joshua smirked.
"Right with my Stand, I can activate these floating dust mines." Max agreed.
"Meaning we can have a little combo move in development," Elton smirked.
"You two start practicing it then," Joshua said as he handed several Dust crystals to Scotty.
"In the meantime, the rest of us should figure out our own combos or ways to improve our teamwork," Joshua stated.
Team RWBY sat in the bleachers as they watched curiously as the Stars practiced by themselves. It was odd as they could only see half of the picture since they were unable to see Stands. At least they couldn't see everyone's Stand except Richard's.
Richard Speedwagon's Stand grew large before forming a dome over himself and Elton. The cards opened up their flaps before spinning fast in a circle. Joshua, who stood on the outside of the dome, used his Stand to pick up a weight and toss it into the spinning dome.
The razor-sharp cards cut the weight into several pieces as they sped past Richard. Unknown to Team RWBY, Elton had placed thrusters on the cards to speed them up just as he did when he had Richard fought. This time though, they used it as both an offensive and defensive move.
Unfortunately, thrusters could only be placed on the front and back, meaning they couldn't send the cards flying in to cut up enemies. Though due to the card's indestructible nature, they could use them to crush an opponent between two cards.
Unfortunately for them, most of their Stands weren't compatible. For instance, Elton would be unable to use his thrusters on Max's knives as they were too small. Plus, Joshua's Stand, besides his premonition ability, was an average beat 'em up Stand.
This means his best use to help his team is to use his strength to fight and premonition to keep everyone safe. Eventually, Team JNPR entered the training room as they had heard Team RWBY had been using it.
"Hello, everyone!" Pyrrha greeted as she and the rest of Team JNPR greeted the resting Team RWBY.
"Hi, guys!" Ruby exclaimed as Team RWBY welcomed their friends.
"You guys look tired. Has training for the Vytal Festival been rough?" Nora teased, seeing how exhausted Team RWBY was.
"Actually, we've been training with them," Yang replied, pointing towards the Stars.
"Who're they?" Jaune inquired.
"They're those Stand User guys we told you about," Ruby answered.
"Wow, really? Are they strong?" Nora questioned.
"Yeah, especially since we are unable to see their power the Stand," Blake responded.
"Fighting something you can't see must have been hard," Ren commented.
"You don't know the half of it," Weiss replied.
Joshua noticed the appearance of the new team that was talking to Team RWBY. He was told by his friends that Team RWBY had told some of their friends, but they had sworn them to secrecy. As long as they were the only ones they told, that was fine.
For now, he kept his focus on his own team as their training was much needed. But he couldn't escape the feeling that they were being watched by something or someone. Every now again, he looked from the corner of his eyes to see if he spotted something.
Each time he came up with nothing, but Joshua could feel that something was wrong. Which is my he took out a small pocket mirror he kept on him. Ever since his bout with Camera Man, he had taken up to carrying the small mirror so as to see things out of his vision.
He made sure to keep it concealed just in case as he looked at the mirror every so often. That's when he saw it. Out of the corner of his mirror was a giant eyeball. It was the same one he had seen when he was going to Ozpin's office.
"Has this thing been watching us this entire time?" Joshua questioned.
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"It's good at hiding as it keeps out of sight of everyone, meaning if I go to look at it, then it'll disappear," Joshua noted.
"So I need to attack it without it looking like I am going to." Joshua determined as he looked at Max.
"Hey Max, I want to test Crimson Destiny's reaction time. Do you mind tossing one of your knives here?" Joshua requested.
"Alright," Max replied as he summoned his Pins and Needles. Joshua steeled himself getting ready to make his move.
"Let's do this makeshift combo." Joshua thought as Pins and Needles summoned a knife.
"VATTENE!" Pins and Needles shouted as it threw the knife going towards Joshua's head.
"Wait for it." Joshua thought as the knife inched closer.
"NOW!" Joshua realized as he summoned Crimson Destiny.
"TRO!" Crimson Destiny shouted as it punched the knife, knocking it into the air.
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Just as he wanted, the knife spun in the air and was thrown into an arc towards the eyeball. Before the eyeball could realize what happened to the knife, it was pierced in the pupil, causing chunks to fall out.
"Max, hurry destroy it!" Joshua ordered as he pointed at the eyeball.
"What the hell!" Max gasped as he tossed more knives. Each knife hit its mark on the eye shattering the Stand.
"Was that a giant eyeball?" Elton questioned as the Stars watched the Stand turn into dust before disappear completely.
"It must have been hiding for a while. I just barely noticed it through a mirror." Joshua stated.
"This must be a long-distance Stand used to spy on others. Meaning it was how the institution knew so much." Joshua said.
"Since the Stand is destroyed, that means the user is dead, right?" Joshua asked.
"Yeah, most definitely," Max answered.
"We can only hope that it didn't find out too much vital information." Richard sighed.
Unknown Location…
"Little shit." Kage cursed as he looked at the corpse of Anthony.
"Joshua Joestar. You are most certainly a very interesting fellow." Kage muttered.
Name: Anthony.
Stand: Third Eye.
Type: Long Distance.
Brand: D
Ability: To observe things from a distance, this Stand can appear as a large eye to spy on anyone anywhere whenever the user commands it. However, it does not have any offensive capabilities forcing it to hide out of the target's vision.
Status: Deceased.
Beacon Training Room…
"Uh…what was that?" Weiss questioned as Teams RWBY and JNPR joined the Stars.
"Don't worry about it. We just had to take care of a little Stand that was watching us." Joshua responded.
"I wouldn't call it little," Elton murmured as he gagged at the memory of the giant eyeball.
"There was a Stand here?" Yang gasped.
"It seemed to be a long-distance Stand, so the user isn't here. Plus, now that the Stand is destroyed, they are most certainly dead." Max stated.
"You talk about that so casually." Jaune sweatdropped as he became a little nervous about being around the Stars.
"Are these your friends you told about Stands?" Richard inquired as the Stars looked at Team JNPR.
"Yes, this is Team JNPR!" Ruby exclaimed.
"Um…hello, I'm Pyrrha Nikos." Pyrrha greeted.
"I'm Nora Valkyrie," Nora smirked.
"Lie Ren," Ren stated.
"I uh…I'm Jaune Arc." Jaune introduced himself.
"Pleasure. The name's Joshua Joestar. But you can call me JoJo." Joshua replied.
"I am Maximilian Zeppeli." Max continued.
"Richard Speedwagon." Richard went on.
"Elton Jobe," Elton smirked.
"I'm…Scotty Carlon." Scotty finished.
"So, can you explain what the hell just happened in total?" Weiss requested.
Joshua began to thoroughly explain what had happened from their end before handing it off to Max to give Team JNPR the run down about Stands. Once done, most of the Stars showed off their Stands powers, especially Richard who's Stand could actually be seen.
"Amazing." Pyrrha gasped.
"Who knew something like this existed," Jaune murmured.
"To be fair, since the power is most of the time invisible and similar to semblances," Ren commented.
"I believe that years ago, the power of Stands weren't as abundant as they are today." Max began.
"Due to the Brando Institution, the number of Stand Users worldwide has dramatically increased." Max finished.
"What is it like controlling your Stands?" Nora inquired.
"It's…hard to explain," Joshua murmured.
"For most, it's like having a second body you must command," Joshua stated.
"For me, I just give it commands and visual instructions within my mind. At least that's as simple as I can explain it." Richard added.
"Sounds complicated," Jaune commented.
"You get used to it over time," Joshua replied as he pulled out his scroll and began to message Ozpin about the Stand he had destroyed.
"It's highly likely it watched our conversation. I don't know if it could hear anything, but without a doubt, it's been watching us since our arrival in Vale." Joshua thought.
"There is also the possibility that it's been watching us for much longer." Joshua determined.
"Hopefully, they don't have another Stand similar to that one." Joshua sighed.
"I think that's enough of a break, so let's get back to work." Joshua insisted.
Beacon Courtyard Later…
The Stars walked through the courtyard towards the bullheads as Teams RWBY and JNPR followed close behind. Their day of training had been very beneficial for each party as the Huntsmen and huntresses in training had gotten better at fighting Stands, and the Stars got better with teamwork.
Now that the sun was close to setting over the horizon, it was best for the Stars to leave as they didn't belong in Beacon. It was best for them to leave soon so as to not draw any more Stand Users to the school.
No doubt they will be mobilizing after their ability to spy on them was gone. So before any Stand User had the opportunity to attack, the Stars would leave. Soon they reached the bullhead landing and prepared to leave.
"Can you possibly come by and train again? This was actually helped a lot?" Weiss inquired as the Stars waited for their bullhead.
"I don't mind. Though it would be best if we wait a little while before we return here. I wouldn't doubt we'll encounter other Stand Users soon." Joshua answered.
"Well then, good luck in the Vytal Festival." Max waved as the Stars entered their bullhead.
The two teams watched as the bullhead took off. But unseen by their eyes, there was a small spiral mark on the bottom of the bullhead. Joshua looked out the window of the bullhead as the sun began to set.
That is until suddenly the bullhead jerked down, and they fell towards the ground below. Before the bullhead hit the ground, Scotty used his Stand to inflate the bullhead and soften the crash. Joshua tore open the door as Elton and Max inspected the unconscious pilot.
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"How's the pilot?" Joshua inquired.
"He's fine, but we should get him out of here," Max answered.
"Richard, create a dome around us," Joshua ordered as Richard complied.
"Is this a Stand attack?" Richard asked.
"Most likely," Joshua responded.
Before anything else could be done, the bullhead was pulled once more, hitting Richard's dome before forcing him to take down the barrier. The bullhead rolled around several times before coming to a stop.
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"Everyone, get out of the bullhead!" Joshua insisted as everyone exited carrying the pilot, and Richard formed another dome.
"Okay. What's going on?" Elton wondered.
"This is clear that a Stand User is attacking. But I can't tell what the user is doing. It is at least obvious that they can move the bullhead." Max stated as the bullhead hit the dome.
"Case in point," Max murmured.
"The barrier can hold against that, right?" Joshua asked.
"It won't break my cards, but depending on the force put on it, then it could push it against us," Richard explained.
"Elton, can you push it back with your thrusters?" Joshua inquired.
"I should, but Richard will need to move one of the cards," Elton responded.
"It shouldn't be a problem to move one card," Richard stated.
"Good, then do it." Joshua requested as Elton nodded.
Richard moved one of the cards, allowing Elton to summon his Rocket Man and punch the bullhead. After each punch, a thruster appeared, and soon the bullhead was pushed away, only stopping when it exploded.
"Is it over now?" Scotty inquired.
"I don't think so. Be on guard." Max stated.
It was then that everyone heard the sound of someone running at them. In response, Richard turned his cards one eighty degrees and spun the dome around. Elton put thrusters on the cards, increasing the speed of the cards. Upon seeing this, the man running towards them stopped in his tracks.
"Interesting I've never seen a Stand like this before. But then again, I usually stay away from other Stand Users." The Man stated.
"Who the hell are you?" Joshua questioned.
"No one in particular. I'm just here to do a job." The Man smirked.
"Just call me Yo-Yo," Yo-Yo added.
"That's dumb," Max murmured.
"Well, it won't be your problem for too long." Yo-Yo snickered as he grabbed onto a boulder and hurled it towards the spinning dome.
The boulder was torn apart, with only a small rock was left as it shot past an unimpressed Richard. But much to everyone's surprise, when Yo-Yo pulled his hand back, what remained of the boulder came back and hit Richard in the back of his head.
This caused Richard to fall towards his spinning Stand forcing both himself and Elton to stop their Stands. As Richard fell to the ground, Yo-Yo ran fast, managing to touch Richard with his right hand.
Yo-Yo was knocked back by Joshua, who landed a strong blow to Yo-Yo's nose. The Stand User was sent flying away, and Richard picked himself up. But he and the others were taken aback when Richard was pulled towards Yo-Yo.
"Gotcha!" Yo-Yo laughed as he dropped down, allowing Richard to hit a tree behind him.
"How the hell?" Max questioned.
"He pulled him over like…a yo-yo!" Elton gasped.
"For the love of God," Max sighed.
"So that's your Stand. You and pull things like a yo-yo." Joshua stated as he looked at Richard.
"And I betting you need to touch something in order to use it, you need to touch what you want to use." Joshua determined.
"That's right. My Stand is fairly simple, so it's not surprising that you figured it out." Yo-Yo replied.
"Maybe it would have been a better-kept secret if you didn't call yourself Yo-Yo." Max pointed out.
"Oh please, what would be the point? Do you really think you wouldn't have figured it out soon anyway?" Yo-Yo replied as he pulled his left hand backward.
Suddenly a large stone was pulled from the ground, and it sped towards the Stars. The group split to jump out of the stone's way as Yo-Yo cut his control of the stone, causing it to stop abruptly. He then flung his right hand forward, sending Richard flying towards the stone.
ゴ
ゴ
ゴ
ゴ
Upon seeing this, Richard summoned his Stand cutting the stone in two so that he flew through and hit the ground instead. Yo-Yo took this opportunity to touch Elton with his left hand before pulling the same hand back.
This caused Elton to be pulled towards him as Yo-Yo swung him towards Joshua, who was going to knock Yo-Yo out. Keeping Scotty behind him, Max summoned his Pins and Needles and tossed several knives at Yo-Yo.
In order to defend himself, Yo-Yo pulled his right hand back, bringing Richard over as a human shield. Richard managed to defend himself with his Stand causing the knives to bounce off and fall to the ground.
"Little shit." Max cursed as Richard hit the ground before using his Stand to make a dome around him to keep Yo-Yo from using him.
"Well, no matter," Yo-Yo muttered as he released Richard from this Stand's grip.
"He's giving us more trouble than I thought he would." Joshua spat as he and Elton stood up.
"Yeah, it's annoying." Elton agreed as he created a thruster on his chest, pushing him back to avoid Yo-Yo's control.
"I'll deal with them later and deal with you now," Yo-Yo smirked.
"Your overconfidence has caused your defeat!" Joshua declared, confusing Yo-Yo.
"My defeat? What are you talking about? The only blow you've dealt to me was that punch to my nose!" Yo-Yo replied.
"True. But it seems you have no idea how our Stands work. Meaning you don't work for Brando." Joshua stated.
"That has cost you," Joshua added as Max raised his hand and closed it into a fist.
Suddenly all of the knives he had thrown before shot up, embedding themselves into Yo-Yo's body, causing the man to scream in pain before collapsing to the ground. Joshua slowly walked over to him as Yo-Yo slowly picked himself up.
"Shit I…I wasn't expecting that. I should've listened to Faust's warning!" Yo-Yo cursed as Joshua grabbed onto his hair and pulled him up to eye level.
"Faust? That was the Stand User that was going after you before Davion attacked." Max revealed.
"Right," Joshua replied.
"So, seeing as you really don't work for Brando and are working for Faust. Where is he?" Joshua questioned.
"I…don't know. He would come to me to pay me after I killed you." Yo-Yo answered.
"I see. Well then, I think it's time you learned your lesson." Joshua stated.
"Wha…what lesson?" Yo-Yo questioned as Joshua summoned his Crimson Destiny and grabbed onto Yo-Yo's right arm.
"You think I didn't notice you touch that rock?" Joshua inquired as Yo-Yo looked scared.
"For what you've done today, I'm going to beat you black and blue." Joshua declared as he let go of Yo-Yo.
"TROTROTROTROTROTROTROTROTROTROTROTROTROTROTROTZEN!" Crimson Destiny shouted as it beat Yo-Yo until his aura broke, and he was launched into a tree.
Name: Yo-Yo (Alias).
Stand: Yo-Yo Master.
Type: Close Range Control.
Proposed Brand: B.
Ability: To move anything the user touches around like a yo-yo with imaginary strings. The user can only move two at a time, one for each hand, and can cut the link whenever they decide.
Status: Out of Commission!
"He's done. Let's check on the others." Joshua insisted. Thankfully everyone was okay, and the only one who would need medical attention was the pilot.
"I'm sorry I couldn't help more." Scotty apologized.
"You have nothing to be sorry about. You saved our asses when you cushioned the crash of the bullhead." Richard replied as Joshua helped him up.
"He's right. Our aura would have been in a really bad state if you didn't. Then that guy would have had more of an advantage." Joshua agreed.
"You did good, kid," Joshua assured as he patted Scotty on the head.
"Let's head back and get this guy to a doctor." Joshua insisted as the Stars left for Vale.
Lower Vale…
Emerald and Mercury walked through the streets of Vale, looking for the warehouse Cinder had identified the Stars were in. Cinder had taken the information from Ozpin's computer, giving her the location of the Star warehouse.
"Who would actually live out of a warehouse?" Mercury questioned.
"I mean, I get working out of one but sleeping in one?" Mercury scoffed as the two walked towards the industrial district.
"Who cares? Let's just scope the place for Cinder and get back to Beacon!" Emerald insisted.
"This whole thing is just a whole distraction." Emerald sighed.
"If interruptions from Team RWBY weren't enough, this whole Stand business is just ridiculous," Emerald murmured.
"Let's just be glad that the bigger ones aren't trying to stop us, and these guys are just going about their own business." Mercury began.
"But I guess Cinder wants to look at the big picture," Mercury muttered.
"Sometimes, it's good to look at the big picture," Emerald commented as the two glared at each other before being hit in the back of the head.
Both turned to see an unamused Neo who had split from them to search on her own as she couldn't take their bickering anymore. She gestured them to follow her as she led them to the Star Warehouse, where the Stars just returned.
"Show off," Mercury whispered as Neo had a smug smile.
"Since they're back, we can't set up the cameras yet," Emerald stated.
"Well, save one," Emerald said as she placed a small camera on the building across the warehouse.
"Now, we'll know when they come and go," Emerald added.
"Good, let's go back then." Mercury insisted as Neo hit him with her Hush.
"What was that for?" Mercury questioned.
"We also have to steal a bullhead, remember?" Emerald reminded.
"No, it feels like it's been a while," Mercury replied sarcastically.
"Let's just go." Emerald sighed.
Elsewhere Vale…
"Dumbass didn't listen to my warning," Faust murmured as he rolled his coin in his hand.
"Did the coin lie to me? No, it's always been right." Faust muttered as he inspected his coin.
"He was too arrogant. I suppose I should have really expressed the dangers of taking them all on together to properly make use of his Stand." Faust considered.
"Oh well, he was just the beginning. We'll just have to see what the others can do." Faust sighed.
"Then I will advance in Brando," Faust smirked.
===To Be Continued===
Next Time…Playing at the Park
Author's Note:
Finally got this chapter done! Sorry it took so long, but I was really blocked for this chapter. Hopefully, the next few won't be like that as I have them pretty planned out. I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter and the small part of the training session I put.
Honestly, I thought it was appropriate to only show the spar against Richard here since I think his Stand should be visible. It was originally his deck of cards that turned into his Stand, so yeah, I think it should be visible even in its human form.
Anyway, I was originally going to have Richard get more creative with his Stand, but I decided to leave it for later. I think he still needs more training before he can fully master his power.
As for Yo-Yo, I'm going, to be honest, I couldn't think of a good name for him, so I just had him call himself that as a little joke. Sorry not sorry, but it was a little fun for me. While the battle between him and the newly named Stars (Tell me what you think of it) was short, it wasn't with a little luck.
If it wasn't for Scotty cushioning the bullhead's fall, things would have been very different. The bullhead crashing would have severely injured everyone, so that was a deciding moment in the fight.
I don't have much to say about this chapter, so I hope you guys enjoyed and I'll see you guys next time, which hopefully won't take several months, lol.