Chapter 11 – USJ Part 2
"Shigaraki, we have a problem."
"Kurogiri… you didn't let any of them get away, did you?"
"No, but the people Whitesnake warned us about… they're here. Somehow they knew we would be here, right now. Between them and the students, they have at least six Stand users. We don't stand a chance in a straight fight, especially since..."
The two of them looked over at the Nomu they'd brought with them, laid flat on the ground. All Might stood before them with his ever present smile. His breathing was heavier than when he'd started the fight, but not by much. He'd barely broken a sweat. Much like their Nomu, Eraserhead was also on the ground, not having been able to keep up with the fight between the two juggernauts.
"Dammit, were we lied to? All Might isn't weaker at all! Looks like it's a game over for us."
"Shigaraki, wait. We still have an advantage. All Might doesn't have a Stand, but we do."
"Kurogiri… you know I can't-"
"I'm aware you need more practice before you can deploy your Stand. But I'm already using mine. Why do you think he's just standing there and letting us talk? Quickly, while I have him frozen, use your Quirk."
The leader of the villains grinned, stretching his scarred and chapped lips. The way his teeth were bared, he looked almost feral.
"That guy with the warp Quirk… he a Stand user?"
"Yeah… it's called Surface. It can take a person's appearance, and then control their movements."
"Like a voodoo doll or some shit. Alright. You seen any of the other villains?"
"No. Just him. There are probably other Stand users. I don't think that guy was the leader."
Mina was confused. The leader of the newcomers and Kira were talking to each other like they knew one another, but she'd personally never seen the lot of them before. She was confident they weren't teachers. She raised a tentative hand into the air.
"Um… excuse me, but who exactly are you? And how'd you know to come here?"
Kira grimaced. "You don't have to talk about that. Just ignore any questions."
"No, we were aware this would come up." The woman Kira had been talking to turned to regard her with a cold expression. "My name is Jolyne Kujo- or Kujo Jolyne, or whatever. If you don't want to call me by name, you can refer to me by my villain name: Stone Free, after the name of my Stand. I'm wanted for murder, multiple counts of illegal Quirk usage, illegal Stand usage, and assault and battery, as well as breaking out of prison."
"And probably other stuff!" Interjected a green haired girl. "We get up to so much, it's hard to keep track." It was only just occurring to Mina that the other people the woman had brought with her were looking largely disinterested in the conversation. Only the green haired girl even seemed to be paying attention. They all looked foreign, and somewhat confused, maybe they just didn't understand what was being said.
"Yeah, thanks Foo. Anyway, I found about this attack before it happened, through one of my contacts. I have a grudge against one of the villains working with this group, so I'm going to kill some of the villains already gathered here and try to get information from the leaders. That answer all of your questions?"
Kujo- Kujo Josuke, that is- had been frowning more and more as Stone Free was talking. "I may not know the law incredibly well, but I'm pretty sure we can't let you do that..."
"Shut up." Kira said. "Legally speaking, we can't fight them. That'd make us vigilantes. Also, they're offering to solve our problem. Just let it happen."
"Well, that's true..." Mina said. She didn't feel comfortable letting these new villains go on a killing spree, but it was better that the other villains died than the students, right? "We can just go get help now, right? I mean, that mist guy isn't bothering us. If they... do what they're gonna do, there isn't much we can do about that. So long as they don't attack us, we can't attack them."
"Glad you're seeing reason." Stone Free turned to Kujo. "Well? You haven't put your Stand away. You gonna force this issue, kid?"
"Kujo… come on, just let it go. Don't cause problems, we have enough already." Mina was practically begging him at this point. "I dunno about you, but I think any help is welcome right now. This is just a really bad situation, right?"
The boy sighed. "Fine. I don't like it, but whatever. Do what you will."
The woman, on the other hand, was staring at the boy. "I'm sorry, did she call you Kujo? Who are you, exactly? Are you related to Kujo Jotaro in some way?"
"In a way. I'm Kujo Josuke, I'm Jotaro's… brother. Sort of. How are you connected with him?"
Kira sighed. "She his daughter. Which makes you her 'sort of' uncle, and me her aunt. I'm sure the police won't have any concerns that we let her go because of that."
Stone Free was glancing between both of them now. "Wait, Kyo, I don't understand. He's says he's my uncle, and now that I think about it, he looks kinda like Yoshikage..."
"It's complicated." Kira and Kujo said in unison.
"This… we'll need to talk about this later. But we will be meeting again. For now… we have some battles to fight." Stone Free turned to the people behind, and barked out something in English. They all brought out wide pieces of paper, that needed to be held in two hands.
"Ugh, why did these idiots spread their Stand users all over the damn place." Annasui was studying the map they'd received from the old guy. Four bright red dots showed the locations of the enemy Stand users.
They'd all split up and gone to confront the Stand users the map showed them. The area Hermes and Annasui specifically were going to was the ruined city zone, according to the map.
"Hey, who are you two?"
"Oh, gimme a break. Hey, Hermes. You've been goin' along with that stupid studying shit Emporio set up right? What the fuck are they saying?"
"They're asking who we are." She turned to the two who'd addressed her, a blond kid with grenade gauntlets on his wrists and another boy with white and red hair. "Uh… We not your enemies."
"Don't get fancy, just tell them we aren't their enemies."
"That's what I literally just said, jackass."
"I didn't know that. Ask about Stand users."
"Jesus christ, Annasui, stop back seat conversing."
"That's not a thing."
"I just made it a thing." She cleared her throat and started walking towards the boys. "Have you seen-?" Wait, she just said that in English. "See Stand users?"
"I dunno what you're saying, but it's sounds like you're saying it wrong."
"Oh shut up, I'm no good at this shit. They get what I'm trying to say. Probably."
"Yeah." The blond kid raised his hand and pointed to a tall building near them. "Over there."
"His Stand is named Atom Heart Father, and it uses a camera, in order to trap you in a photograph." The boy with multi-coloured hair added.
"No understand. Is fine. Have Stand." She turned to Annasui. "One's in that building, Stand's called Atom Heart Father. Let's go."
"Wait. Why are these two standing around here? If they know there's a Stand user in that building, why aren't they attacking, or running away? They may know something about his ability."
"Shit, Annasui, I dunno how to ask that. I'm pretty sure they just told me the ability, and I didn't understand what they said anyway. If it were so important to ask for information, you should've gone through the lessons."
Though Annasui grumbled, he followed her into the ruined building. Hermes checked out the ground floor, but there was no one inside.
The stairs leading further up were destroyed, but Annasui was able to use Diver Down to reshape the rubble into steps. The second floor was empty, and so was the third. They'd thought the same of the fourth, but when they stepped up to the giant hole in the wall, they were able to see the two boys they'd spoken to earlier. Both were waving frantically, pointing to them.
A flash came from behind them, though as far they could tell nothing occurred as a result. They turned around, and brought their Stands out, just in case.
"Is… why is there a camera floating in mid-air? Is this related to the enemy's Stand?" Hermes had to ask.
Annasui immediate response wasn't verbal, but rather a scowl directed at the camera. "Look closer, Hermes. The colours behind the camera are shifting around. Their body is camouflaged, but they couldn't extend it to the camera. That camouflage, that's why we weren't able to see them when we entered. The camera was so small, we overlooked it, until we saw the flash. Whatever his ability is... he's already used it."
A cackling emanated from behind the camera. "Thank you for posing in front of the hole! Now my Atom Heart Father has you in its picture, as well as the brats in that city! Shigaraki will love that I got so many hostages!" Hermes translated what she could for Annasui.
He barked out a laugh. "If we're going to be hostages, shouldn't you have defeated us first? Diver Down!"
The Stand rushed towards the camouflaged villain, but the punch it threw crashed directly into an invisible wall between them and their opponent. The villain dropped his camouflage, to reveal himself as a mutant with a chameleon Quirk. He took the photo out of the camera and smirked at them.
"Hah! That picture I took of you? You're trapped within its confines, until Shigaraki and Kurogiri come by to take you all with them. We'll use you all as leverage! Once you're stuck inside my picture, my Stand is undefeatable!"
Once Hermes finished relaying this (sans the part about leverage, as she wasn't able to understand it,) Annasui grinned. "We're trapped in that photo, huh?"
"Yeah! And if you get troublesome, I'll just rip the picture and kill you!"
A fist flew out of the picture and crashed into the chameleon's face. "Wha- how?!"
"Annasui, that punch Diver Down threw into the picture's confines… are you somehow able to use your ability to put your Stand's attack into the picture itself?"
"Yeah. These barriers trapping us, they function as a part of the photo. Since Diver Down can go into objects, this fight is over." To illustrate the truth of his words, his Stand threw another punch into the barrier, and another fist flew out of the photo, smashing into the chameleon's gut. "He can't get that photo far enough away to avoid my attacks. He's finished."
The villain grimaced. "Your ability… it's a great counter to my own, but worthless if this picture isn't near me." He threw the photograph straight at them, but the second it met the barrier, it disappeared.
"Wait, what happened? Annasui, the barrier still there?"
He pressed a hand to the barrier. "Yeah… but the picture is somewhere else."
"If we're stuck in here… maybe anything that goes into the barrier from the outside can get to the other side? It's not just trapping us inside, it's keeping others from entering. The space outside the picture fills the void left by the area taken out of space." She hummed. "If that's the case, then you can just use your Stand to knock the picture back over to this area. Punch the ground and send the picture flying back."
"I'm not sure. It'll be difficult to find the right angle, since I can't see where the photo wound up. I'll try, but I can't be sure it'll work. Can you think of anything you can do?"
"Yeah, I've got an idea. But we both need to get out of this building, and the stairs are outside the confines of the picture."
Annasui leaned out the hole in the wall, and started pummelling the wall with his Stand. Diver Down's fists began popping back out from the wall, and the two used them as a ladder, hopping from one fist to the next, until they reached the ground.
"Alright, what're you gonna do now?"
"That picture was taken from the halfway point of the room. That means that half of the building is still accessible to us." She rushed back into the room through the door. "Kiss!"
Her Stand put stickers into each of the support columns on the ground floor, copying them. Then Hermes grabbed each sticker and ripped it off. The columns smashed back together, and broke apart where the stickers had been removed. The structure began groaning; a mild sound at first, but it soon had them both covering their ears.
"Out, now!" She didn't know if Annasui heard her, but he got the cue either way, and ran out the exit. She was hot on his trail.
Outside, they could see the building tip. Unfortunately, it was tipping towards them.
"Dammit, Hermes, couldn't you pay attention to where you put the stickers?"
"I did! It should be falling the other way! I don't know why- no, wait, the barrier! It can't fall the other way, it's stuck in the picture."
The building started to fall, but just in time, a veritable iceberg crashed into its side, keeping it off of them. They turned around to see the two boys they'd met earlier. The multi-coloured one had his foot at the base of the iceberg.
"We saw that he took a new photo. We were able to come closer because of that. Is he still alive?"
Hermes skirted the side of the building, and looked at it. Only the fall of half of the building had been halted. The half that was part of the photo. The other half had apparently fallen with the half in the photo, but one it crashed into the barrier it disappeared. According to her theory, it would have finished its fall on the other side of the picture. Waving an arm out to check, she found the barrier still in place. They were all still trapped inside the picture. She ran back to the others.
"Other side." She pointed to the opposite end of the ruined city. "Need go, villain now there."
The blond boy picked up a rock, and fired it at the other end with an explosion from his palm. It soared through the air for hundreds of metres, before crashing mid-air.
The other kid turned to him. "What was that for?"
The blond grabbed Hermes' arms and placed them around his neck, before grinning. "So I don't crash into the barrier of course." He pointed his palms behind him, and the explosions sent him flying into the air at insane speeds, Hermes on his back. Her hair whipped about in the wind, and her eyes were drying out at an absurd rate.
When they landed, she was barely able to walk. Her legs were like jello.
"Never… never again." She whimpered.
Where they'd set down, she could see the remains of the building she'd sent tumbling. The chameleon was on the ground, blood pooled around him. Rubble was stuck all through his body. The picture was nowhere to be seen, presumably buried beneath the rubble.
Annasui soon met up with them, riding a wave of ice, courtesy of the other student.
"I think his Stand is still active despite his death. Take a new picture with the camera."
"I have no idea where the photo is, so I can't see the right angle to punch with."
"Uh, just punch at random? You'll figure out where the photo is, then you can use Diver Down to move it to the camera."
"Oh. Right."
Annasui sent Diver Down into the confines of the photo again, and outside the barrier, an arm blasted up through the rubble.
"There it is."
He punched again and again, using Diver Down's arms to scooch the picture closer to the chameleon's corpse. When the picture was in range of the villain, he shot back up, and grabbed it.
"You… you're all to much trouble. I'll just rip this photo and find new hostages!" He placed his hands on either side of the photo, ready to tear it.
"Diver Down!" The Stand's hands came out of the picture, and grabbed the camera around the chameleon's neck. It angled it down at the ground and snapped a new picture.
The chameleon ripped the photograph of the ruined city, but it was too late. The Stand had changed targets to the new picture.
Hermes began walking towards the enemy villain, no longer impeded by any barriers. The chameleon tried to take a step back, but when he moved, his legs slid straight off of his feet. He fell hard, his ass cracking on the cement.
"That new photo, it must have caught your feet in its confines. Like the building, you were partially inside and partially outside the photo. You still had stability and physical integrity while you were stationary, but once you moved that changed." She took stock of his uncomprehending stare. She had to remember to speak in Japanese here. Well, whatever.
"Kiss!" Her Stand appeared behind her, and began affixing stickers all over the chameleon's head. He had almost twenty new heads before she ripped all of the stickers off. They merged back together, but the breaks where the stickers were removed proved too much, and his head cracked open in several places. Skull fragments and brains spilled out over the floor. It was so quick, his head wounds barely had time to bleed.
There was a retching sound behind her. Turning around, she saw the blond boy bent over, expelling his lunch all over the floor, while the multi-coloured kid stared, aghast.
"He was already defeated and you… you just kill-" The boy's sentence was cut off when the all the lights in the building began to flicker, and slowly die. Somewhere on the horizon, on top of a mountain, Hermes saw a massive golden glow.
"This looks like the mountain zone." Iida said. "Is your phone leading us here?"
"Not my phone. My Stand. The phone is just a conduit. If Paisley Park is leading us here, there must be other students in this zone."
A buzzing sound emanated from ahead, like a swarm of bees, or a bunch of phones set to vibrate. The scent of ozone filled Yasuho's nose.
"They must be up ahead, where that buzzing is coming from! It must be Kaminari… or maybe one of the villains has an electric Quirk."
"Hirose, what are you talking about? I don't hear a thing."
"Huh? But I hear- and smell- something electrical up ahead. You don't hear that buzzing? At all?"
"No, I-" He paused, and turned to look at her, his eyes wide in sudden fear. "Does that mean... one of the enemies has a Stand?"
She froze. Possessing a Stand meant she could see others, so she was at an advantage compared to most other people, but Paisley Park wasn't at all suited for fighting. And the only thing that could harm a Stand was another one. It hadn't been a problem at all while they were making their way out of the storm zone, as she and Iida were able to quickly dispatch all of the villains they came across with only their Quirks, but if there were enemy Stand users here, they wouldn't be able to hold out for very long.
"What I wouldn't give to have Josuke with us right about now."
"It's been a while since we were teleported, so if the villains here have a Stand user, they should have won by now. The only logical explanation is that one of the students sent here is, by chance, also a Stand user."
She grinned a little, despite herself, and straightened up. Maybe Josuke would be here. She started to jog up the hilltop, towards the buzzing sound, but came to a screeching halt once she crested the hill and saw who was on top.
Joshu was covered in sweat, his bowl cut sticking to his face. A short yellow avian-esque Stand took a swipe at him with a hand that crackled with electricity. He barely got out of the way in time. In a way, he didn't- electricity arced into a dribble of sweat and up into Joshu's face. He gasped and whimpered, but kept moving backwards, trying to get a bit of space from the enemy Stand. Unfortunately, his opponent didn't seem willing to give any. The birdlike Stand pressed its advantage, going straight for Joshu and pulling its arm back for another shocking blow. Time for a hail mary.
Yasuho pressed her palms together to make a nozzle, and called on her Quirk, sending a stream of water in between the Stand and Joshu. While the Stand's fist passed straight through the water, the electricity it carried did not. The stream carried past the two combatants, bringing the electric current with it. It may have come back and shocked Yasuho, but she had learned from her fight with Kaminari in the 2v2 battles, and stopped emitting water just before it hit the Stand. None of the water was touching her by the time the electricity entered it, and thus it didn't conduct it back to her. It fizzled out harmlessly against the ground where the water hit.
"Y-Yasuho! Oh thank God, I'm saved! Uh, not that I was having trouble. I was just trying to lull him into a false sens-"
"Oh shut it. Why haven't you taken him out with Nut King Call yet?"
Joshu pouted at her dismissal. "He's too damn fast. I can't land a blow. But hey, now that you're here, you can help!"
She glanced over to where the other students were. Tokoyami and Mineta were inside a circle of Mineta's balls. Tokoyami's Dark Shadow kept sweeping out to knock back any villains that got too close. Maybe it was just her eyes playing tricks on her, but for some reason it seemed like it was bigger and meaner than usual.
Mineta was practically hyperventilating. "This is the worst day ever!"
"Iida, don't worry about the Stand stuff, leave that to us. Go help those two."
"On it." He sprinted over to their classmates, engines firing. Once he got near enough, he roundhouse kicked a villainous straggler in the head.
Turning her attention back to the Stand fight, Yasuho sent out yet another jet of water at the enemy Stand, and yet more of its electricity was absorbed into the water. It had turned brown, and this time, when Nut King Call threw a blow, it wasn't able to dodge in time. Part of its left hand came off, a bolt visible in the palm. The villain Yasuho assumed to be the Stand's user stepped towards her, his own palm outstretched, blood gushing from it. As with the Stand, the pinky and ring finger had been severed.
"You bitch. You think you're so great with that water Quirk, huh? I promise, that's the last strike you're gonna get on me. Red Hot Chilli Pepper!"
The Stand returned to its user's side, and in seconds, it was gold and glowing yet again. It stretched out its hand and touched the villain's wound, cauterising it instantly. She felt a little sick for it, but the scent of cooking meat in her nose made her salivate. The smell only grew when the Stand reached down and picked up the user's severed fingers.
It started speeding towards her. It was fairly obvious what her next move would be, but she fired out a jet of water anyway. He would no doubt expect it, but it wasn't as though she had any other option. With the Stand coming towards her, it had become an easy target. She had opened her palms up, switching from a closed, high pressure nozzle to a wide stream, one that almost totally engulfed the Stand, seeing how close it was. Once the stream passed, Red Hot Chilli Pepper had turned brown yet again, and its movements had turned sluggish and hesitant. But it drew back an arm nonetheless, and pitched the fingers it had grabbed straight at her. The Stand had grown weak, so the fingers didn't quite reach her. Instead, they hit the ground, bounced, and came to a stop a few inches before her feet.
Red Hot Chilli Pepper swooped down by the fingers, while Yasuho backed away in an attempt to put distance between her and whatever the enemy had planned. From the severed parts, lightning crackled, before arcing upwards and filling the nearby Stand with power. It was back to full strength almost immediately, and much too close. Faster than she could see, it closed the distance with her, and slammed a fist into her gut. She fell on her back, gasping and writhing.
"Yasuho! You bastard, I'll kill you!"
"Can't you see how close my Stand is to her? You won't be able to close the distance with me before I kill her."
Joshu grit his teeth, but remained where he was.
"My Quirk and my Stand work in perfect tandem. You discovered Red Hot Chilli Pepper's weakness quickly enough. It requires electricity from another source, and uses that to power itself. Usually, that would be quite the limitation. However, my Quirk allows me to generate and manipulate electricity. I can block communications out of the building, and I can supply my Stand with all the power it needs." He laughed. "When I saw my fingers about to be severed, I pumped electricity into them with the generating aspect of my Quirk, and waited to release it with the manipulating aspect until Red Hot Chilli Pepper was close enough to strike you."
He strolled forward, keeping a peripheral view of Joshu in case he tried anything.
"Losing those fingers was my fault really. From here on, I'll use the wound as a constant reminder not to get complacent. So long as I stay cautious and keep from being surprised, I can defeat anyo-"
A projectile crashed into his shoulder, spinning him ninety degrees and knocking him flat on his backside. The spasms were starting to wind down, but Yasuho still wasn't able to turn her head to see the newcomer. The man started to get back up, and by her side she could his Stand starting to move too. Luckily for her, several more projectiles came streaking by, and the villain had to recall his Stand to his side in order to deflect them.
Joshu rushed over to her side, Nut King Call hovering protectively over her in case Red Hot Chilli Pepper tried something again. After a couple of seconds, she was able to sit up, although she had to take it slow, since her gut still hurt from the strike she took.
She craned her head to get a good look at her rescuer, and saw… a complete stranger. Some green haired woman in overalls. Her finger was transfigured into a gun barrel of sorts, and was pointing straight at the villain they'd been fighting.
"This is a surprise! We already saw two Stand using students at the entrance, so I didn't think there'd be even more. Wait, unless Stands are normal here."
The woman had a slight accent, but she spoke Japanese well in spite of it. Yasuho told her as much.
"Thanks! Jolyne already knew a little, and Emporio is smart, so they figured it out easy. But we were surprised when I did well at it. Hermes says I can 'just absorb anything, so who even cares' but then Jolyne said she was just jealous, and they started saying things like 'look, I'm Hermes and I can't figure out the difference between the subject marker and the topic marker' and 'ooooh, I'm Jolyne and I get horny all the time, has it been twenty minutes since I mentioned how horny I am, 'cause I'll probably die if I don't tell everyone' except it was the other person saying that in both cases, and I wasn't really sure why, so I asked if we were playing some sort of game, and Annasui said yes, and the only the way he could win was if he died without ever having to see me aga-"
"Okay, please stop talking. I get it. Yeesh." Joshu said.
Yasuho was tempted to agree, but she was still feeling pretty grateful, and thus chose to be more diplomatic. "Are you a Stand user too?"
"Yeah! Wait, you too? What're the odds of four Stand users being in the same class?"
"One in one hundred forty-eight million, nine hundred thirty-six thousand, one hundred and seventy. According to the UN, there are forty-seven Stand users in the world right now, and seven billion people." Iida interjected, from within Mineta's ball circle. Everyone turned to look at him. "I wondered the same thing after our first day, so I did the math."
The sound of someone clearing their throat caught everyone's attention.
"This little chat is cute and all, but aren't you forgetting something?" The villain had recovered and was glaring at them all, his Stand impatiently tapping its foot next to him. It looked pretty weird, since the Stand was floating in mid-air.
"Hi! I'm Foo Fighters, also called Foo or FF for short! What's your Stand called?"
"Red Hot Chilli Pepper. And it will be your end."
"Cool!" FF fired more projectiles at the man from her finger gun, but his Stand deflected them easily enough with its fists.
The villain appeared to deem FF the biggest threat, or just the easiest target, because Red Hot Chilli Pepper went flying towards her.
"Don't let it touch you!" Yasuho called out, forming another nozzle with her hands and sending a jet of water towards Red Hot Chilli Pepper. The villain had apparently seen it coming, since the Stand ducked the stream without slowing down. With the pace it moved at, it was in front of FF in seconds. She tried to move backwards, but the Stand was just too quick, and it buried a fist into her side. She writhed and fell down, but Red Hot Chilli Pepper pressed the advantage and followed her to the ground, sinking its other hand, the maimed one, into her gut. Yasuho sent another stream of water into the Stand. It was stationary now, so her attack made contact, but it came too late. Smoke was rising from the woman's body, and she was no longer spasming.
"Ha! You underestimated me. I told you my Stand would end you. And now…" The villain turned back to Yasuho and Joshu. "I'm going to finally finish the two of you off-"
Blood sprayed out of his mouth and he doubled over, hands over a new red hole in his gut. A second one appeared, and then another one in his bicep. All were the same shape and size as the one in his shoulder.
Yasuho looked back over to Foo Fighters, only to see her alive, with her hand gun pointing straight up. Red Hot Chilli Pepper was right above her, and she was firing into him point blank.
The villain staggered and fell to his knees as the dead woman rose back up on her own. Her finger was pointed straight at him. At this range, with all of its electricity dispersed by Yasuho's water stream, Red Hot Chilli Pepper had no chance of reaching him in time to deflect FF's attacks.
"It's over." Yasuho breathed this, more than she said it.
The villain heard her anyway, and let out a low chuckle. "Over? No… I told you already, didn't I? Red Hot Chilli Pepper powers itself by taking electricity. And this place is full of it!"
The round lights surrounding the ceiling started to flicker, and lightning arced out of the walls and into the villain's Stand. In just a few seconds, they were in complete darkness, but for the blinding glow of the Stand.
"Normally, Red Hot Chilli Pepper would have to get close to some sort of electrical line to draw power from the entire facility, but as I mentioned, my Quirk lets me manipulate electricity."
Next to Yasuho, Joshu's Stand was busy punching the ground. She hoped he had a plan, because she didn't think her Quirk would be enough to disarm the enemy any more.
"Just as I prevented the alarms from going off while standing right here on this mountain, I can draw the power through myself from right here. I am the conduit." The enemy continued, ignoring Joshu's behaviour.
Red Hot Chilli Pepper rushed over to Yasuho and Joshu, arm raised. Lightning swirled around the fist, promising to burn them to a crisp in an instant.
"Nut King Call!" A square section of the ground rose up in front of them, taking the attack meant for them. Looking down, Yasuho saw the square had been affixed to the ground with nuts and bolts courtesy of Joshu's Stand. It'd been raised from the earth in much the same method. All around them, more squares rose up, slotting in snugly next to one another. First the sides, then the back, and finally Nut King Call affixed a square to the top in order to make a ceiling. They were in an earthen box, insulated from their opponent's wrath.
"Joshu… I can't believe I'm saying this, but you saved us! We're safe… for the moment."
"For the moment?"
"This can't last. He'll attack the others… we need to use this time to come up with a plan, and quick. Before he kills them."
"Uh, why can't we just hide in here? I mean… can't always save everyone, right? Besides, we're all alone now..."
She glared at him. "Just when I think I've misjudged you. Wait… do you hear that?"
"Uh… no? What does it sound li-" He stopped, as the crackling sound grew louder.
A thought occurred to her. She was glaring at him. But they were in an earthen box with no light source, so how was she looking at him at all? She looked down at her wrist, where the light was coming from. Around her cellphone, electricity was sparking and swirling.
"Oh shit." Joshu said.
"Hahaha! You thought that'd keep me out?" The villain was speaking through his Stand, the head of it peeking out through her phone. "I can move along any electrical sources I like! You weren't able to close that box in time, and I sent a current into the phone while I was hitting the wall. Now you're trapped."
"No. You're the one who's trapped. Didn't you wonder why I had a phone strapped to my wrist? Most of the time, my Stand isn't very strong. But you're in its territory now. Paisley Park!"
The screen flashed pink.
"Battery Low." A robotic voice chimed out. "Powering down."
The screen went black, and Red Hot Chilli Pepper disappeared. They were blind, bathed in darkess.
"You… used your Stand to kill the power?"
"Yeah. Shut up, it worked."
"Well, yeah, but it wasn't… I dunno, it just wasn't super cool. I was expecting more after all that build up, I guess."
"Just open the box so we can beat this guy up, already."
"Now that sounds like a cool way to end this."
When Joshu opened the box, only the faintest amount of light returned. Red Hot Chilli Pepper had been brought back out, by the villain's side. It glow was much more subtle now, it having lost all of the power it absorbed from the USJ when it was vanished. Now it was back to running off of what it got from its user's Quirk.
"This isn't over… I'm going to kill you!" The man rushed forward, his Stand following right behind him.
"N-no! I can't! I can't control it!" Somewhere away from them, one of the boys without a Stand was shouting something incomprehensible. "Dark Shadow, stop!"
Within the darkness, one of many mountains in the mountain zone was twisting and shaking. It rolled over, and Yasuho saw a glowing orange eye half again her size.
"This ends now!" The colossus boomed, before sweeping out over the villain. He was swallowed by the darkness, and even the light from his Stand was extinguished. Yasuho only heard him shrieking for a few seconds. "Not enough…" The monstrous shadow moaned. "Need more… kill more..."
The demented rambling was cut short by the building's lights flickering on. In the new light, Yasuho saw Tokoyami's Quirk grown to massive proportions, one of its unfurled wings reaching out to touch the end of the zone. It looked half mad, shivering and growling, but as a few seconds passed with the lights on, it was starting to calm down.
"Tokoyami, you alright?"
"Not quite, but the light is helping."
"That's good to hear. Just don't eat us, alright?"
"Noted."
Joshu came up to her.
"We make a pretty good team, huh Yasuho? Maybe when we graduate, we can work as partn-"
"Forget it."
Back over by the others, Mineta was reassuring Tokoyami.
"We're all good. It's over, don't worry."
"That's easy for you to say… I just… I just killed that man."
"Remember Tokoyami!" Iida said, chopping his hands up and down. "Most Stand battles are a fight to the death, and few Stand users can be taken prisoner. You've done nothing out of the ordinary, as far as these sorts of things go."
Foo Fighters limped up next to him and patted him on the shoulder. "He would have killed your friends, and you. Hell, he almost killed me. Speaking of..." She made her way over to Yasuho, careful to keep an eye on her footing, so that she didn't trip due to her limp.
Now that she was closer, Yasuho could see how heavily burned she was. How she was even alive, Yasuho had no clue.
"Aw don't give me that look. I've survived an electric chair before, this was a walk in the park! But you know what'd get me back to full health?" The woman grinned. "Water. I saw that Quirk of yours… spare some for your newest friend?" She asked, opening her mouth and pointing in.
Yasuho had hoped she was done with using her Quirk. It dehydrated he to use it for extended periods of time, and her throat was already scratchy as all hell. But if FF could be healed from it, she needed it more. Yasuho aimed her palms at the woman's mouth and started filling her up.
The results were immediately apparent. FF's burns began to disappear, and her skin turned a much healthier shade. The change was notable in other areas too, much to Yasuho consternation. FF's chest began to expand. Next to her, Joshu started sputtering like a poorly maintained lawnmower, his eyes fixated on the woman.
"Okay, I think that's enough."
"No, wait Yasuho, I think she needs more. A lot more."
She stopped the stream anyway. "Nope. I need to check on Tokoyami. Like, right now. So sorry, gotta stop."
She was gonna have to charge her phone back up. Pictures of puppies would chase that memory out of her mind. Pictures of puppies to help her forget FF's puppi- no, stop, bad Yasuho. She had to stop spending any time at all with Joshu.
"I change my mind." Mineta said. "This is the best day ever."
Joshu snickered. "You said it!"
Gross, gross, gross… the last thing she needed was these two becoming friends.
"Tokoyami! How are you doing? Please help me drown out anything these guys are saying."
"I must agree with Hirose!" A scarlet faced Iida said.
"I'm doing better… the lights help."
"Huh… Come to think of it, how do you suppose they came back on?"
"Maybe… a back up generator?"
Momo looked at the metal line she'd made. With a few adjustments, it'd been connected to the power grid Kirishima had dug up in the landslide zone, where they'd found themselves. It wasn't perfect, however. Her Quirk let her make a charger, of sorts, but it still required a power source. Thankfully, they had that too.
"How long do I have to hold this thing?" Kaminari asked.
"Until the teachers come around and give the all clear." Jirou said, laughing to herself. "Just be a good battery and keep the lights on."
She might feel a little bad for him... but she also wasn't about to fight any villains in the dark.