Here the second part to Shadow Runners where we learn how Doug can control so many, and what John and Franky will have to do to beat him to stop it.

Chapter 26: Shadow Runners Part 2.

The horde of people moved towards the fire escape, falling over themselves in their scramble up the steps.

"John, we need to get out of here," Franky said anxiously, looking over the edge of the roof, trying to keep track of the mob climbing up towards them. When he didn't receive an answer, he turned to look at John sitting by the roof looking down, seemingly ignoring Franky's words.

When he finally spoke, it wasn't what Franky was expecting. "Question; how did he know who to target earlier? The dogs might have tracked us with sound, but everyone in the city was making noise. So how did he pick us out?" John asked.

"I don't know, he was looking at us?" Franky gave a shrug, not sure why John was asking such small questions in a time like this. John stood up from his spot, grinning at their discovery.

"My thoughts exactly. He's down there somewhere," John said, leaning over the edge to scan the area below them. While he was trying to pinpoint the Stand user's location, a creaking noise came from the fire escape, drawing Franky's attention. He looked over, face going pale as he realized that the horde was only two floors down from the roof.

"John, we're out of time!" Franky exclaimed, moving away from the horde and summoning Graceful Door, fully prepared to defend himself. Yet John's hand wrapped around his wrist, pulling his attention from the horde, towards John's still-smiling face.

"No problem, I know what we have to do. Just trust me," John said. Before Franky could ask what he meant by that, John pulled him up onto the edge of the roof with him. Still holding Franky by the hand, he leapt off the roof, flying past the approaching horde.

Franky shrieked with fear as they approached the pavement, closing his eyes in preparation for the impact. "Now! Lonesome Dove!" John shouted out, his Stand appearing behind them to create another giant bubble. They landed safely, leaving them hovering over thirty feet above ground.

"What the hell was that shit?" Franky yelled, clutching his chest as he tried to calm himself with deep breaths. That didn't stop him from sending John a dirty look.

"I needed a better view," John said simply, looking down from the bubble. His eyes soon fell on a figure, standing near the horde with a strange-looking Stand hovering behind him.

"Found you!" John proclaimed, using his Stand to unleash dozens of air bullets towards the man. Doug, who had been watching curiously, began to panic as the projectiles drew near. He quickly ordered Legion of Monsters to move its left hand, forcing many of his puppets to jump from the fire escape. They intercepted Lonesome Dove's attack midair, flying in all directions from the resulting explosion.

"Shit, need to hide," Doug said frantically, slipping into an alleyway with Legion of Monsters following close behind. John turned to look at the horde, noticing that their movements were slowly becoming more sluggish. He kept that in the back of his mind as Lonesome Dove made steps for them to get off the bubble.

"Come on Franky, we need to take that guy out before he gets too far away." John said using the steps moving down with Franky right behind him to the ground, landing on solid ground and Franky looked behind them to the horde of enemies.

"So, he has to be closer to make them talk or do anything more than just moving around like normal?" Franky theorized, looking at the people and taking note of their actions.

"Yeah, but we still need to be careful. He was able to use the dogs to attack us underground, so I think that rule only applies for humans," John noted. He nodded towards the alleyway the man escaped down. They headed right for it, only to be stopped by three growling dogs in the alleyway.

John closed his eyes and sighed, even as the dogs began to approach them. Only when they leapt towards him, fangs bared and barking wildly, did John look back up. With clear frustration, he summoned Lonesome Dove and ordered his Stand to punch the three dogs in quick succession. Each blow landed against the back of their necks, knocking them out of the air.

"Come on, we need to get to the user and take him out. That's the only way to stop this," John said before running past the animals, air bubbles forming under their flesh. Franky followed close behind through the alleyway until they reached another street.

"Damn, where could he have disappeared to?" Franky asked, seeing people walking around like nothing was happening. They both tried to scan their surroundings for any sign of the Stand user. But without getting a good look at him before his escape, it seemed nearly impossible.

"Let's move on slowly, and keep an eye out for anything suspicious," John said. Franky nodded, and the duo continued with their eyes shifting from person to person. Yet in the sea of businesspeople and passerby, everything seemed completely normal.

They walked on, not paying any attention to a man reading a paper, hiding his face until they walked past. He looked up from his paper to eye the two of them, before noticing three chefs walk past on their way to work. Behind the paper, the man smirked.

"See anything?" John asked. The two of them were looking in different directions in an attempt to keep the enemy from sneaking up on them from behind.

"No, I don't see any-" Franky's answer was suddenly cut off by a scream from someone in the crowd. He turned just in time for a chef's knife to stab into his shoulder. Franky yelled in pain, only for the chef to twist it deeper into his skin. John turned towards the noise just as another knife was thrust at his cheek, leaving a long gash across much of his face, rather than stabbing directly into his head.

John reflexively jumped away from the chef who'd attacked him, while Franky kicked the one twisting a blade into his shoulder, knocking the man away. In that moment of peace, he pulled the knife out of his arm with a wince. Stepping closer to John, he muttered, "They must have crossed paths with that asshole when we weren't looking."

"You say I'm an asshole, but how many of my men did you hurt, all for the sake of some woman?" the head of the chef trio asked, looking at them with foggy eyes.

"She's our friend! Of course we'd help her!" Franky yelled out furiously back looking at him with a furious look on his face while the chef looked at him with a confused expression.

"You really believe she's your friend?" the chef asked, tilting his head. "She's just a nosy woman who didn't know when to keep out of our business."

"You think that ruining the country you fought for isn't her business?" John asked quietly, straightening to lock eyes with the puppet. Even as blood streamed down his cheek, he simply looked at him. "You think that just because we haven't been together for very long, that means we can't have a bond? A bond to protect her...that's the reason we've come this far."

"Don't presume that you, a child who's never been to war, has suffered! You know nothing of that hell!" the chef yelled out, swinging his knife straight towards John, who continued to stand calmly in the face of the attack.

"So doing all the things you did to us wasn't putting us through hell?" he asked him, leaning away from the knife. The chef began to swing his knife around wildly, trying to stab John with visible anger. Yet every attack missed or was quickly knocked aside. With every failure, John continued to look at him with infuriating confidence, eyes following the knife's movements. Suddenly, he said, "Franky, he's on the bench."

Doug's eyes widened, quickly lowering the paper to see Graceful Door lunging towards him. Letting out a shocked cry, he quickly forced another person to jump into the way of the punch. The puppet was sent flying, but Doug was able to jump to safety, creating distance between him and Graceful Door.

"How did you figure out it was me controlling him?" Doug asked as he rose to his feet. Legion of Monsters appeared behind him, and with a few motions of its hands, pulled the chefs back until they stood between him and the duo. Their knives were out, ready to defend him.

"Your paper," Franky cut in, holding the newspaper he was using to hide. Doug quickly realized that it was ripped down the middle. His anger had gotten the better of him, and he'd given himself away. He looked to the ground, sweat dripping down his face as he searched for any way to escape. Yet when he noticed how close Franky was to him, his expression suddenly shifted, forming a victorious smirk.

"Franky, move!" John cried out, sending his Stand's air bullets to force Doug back. With its free hand, Lonesome Dove pulled Franky away from their enemy. "He was clearly stepping towards something, but the only thing there was your shadow. I think that's how he takes control of his puppets!"

"My, aren't you smart," Doug said mockingly, standing up as Legion of Monsters appeared behind him. He smirked as his Stand tore off its cloak, revealing a large mass of nothing but strings stretching out in every direction. "Legion of Monsters can control anything if I manage to touch their shadow. Fortunately for you, I'm restricted to simple commands...unless I happen to be close by." Legion of Monsters lifted its hand up, unleashing a large amount of blue strings into the midst of the surrounding crowd. Every thread hit a different person, who all suddenly went still.

"What did you do?" John asked with audible horror, looking at the crowd. As one, they turned towards the duo with their arms outstretched like zombies.

As their attention was on the crowd, Doug slipped into the mass of people. "My blue strings borrow into their brains to give them one simple rule. 'Kill those two or die trying.'" With a final cackle, he left Franky and John to be surrounded by another horde out for their blood.

"This guy doesn't care if he hurts anyone as long as he takes us out. He's insane," Franky said, gritting his teeth with barely contained anger. He backed away from the horde and placed his back to John, who was also having trouble thinking of how to handle the situation. The crowd was quickly closing in on them, ready to attack in huge numbers.

"We have no choice," John finally decided, summoning Lonesome Dove to unleash a barrage of punches at the people in front of him. By knocking down several of the people, they forged a path through the crowd. Lonesome Dove led the way, while Franky walked behind him, keeping their backs safe with punches from Graceful Door. He was careful to attack their legs, making them unable to follow without seriously hurting them. John looked around while looking for any sign of Doug making a move. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks.

"John, why'd you stop?" Franky asked, stepping back just before bumping into him. He got his answer as his eyes moved downward, noticing a foot resting in John's shadow. Doug stepped forward with Legion of Monster close behind him. With a few motions of its hands, the horde stopped in place, leaving. John's eyes turned foggy and he turned to look at Franky with Doug having a smug smile on his face looking at Franky.

"Release him from your control!" Franky yelled out with his Stand out and ready.

"You guys took several of our army, it's only fair I take one of yours," Doug said smugly. Legion of Monsters released the blue strings, leaving the horde to fall limply to the ground. Not one of them was breathing. Their bodies had become nothing more than unused puppets.

"How could you do this? Killing so many people who had nothing to do with this," Franky said numbly. Slowly, his expression morphed into fury, fists clenching as he locked eyes with Doug. "You're heartless!"

"Hardly. The Major has a vision for everyone, so these people didn't die in vain. And neither will you," he said with a smirk. Lonesome Dove suddenly appeared in front of him, delivering a punch straight to Franky's head. He was sent flying backwards, landing amidst the dead bodies with a sickening noise. Unphased, Doug turned and said, "John, take me to Mary now."

John obeyed, leading the way towards the apartment while Franky was left alone with the corpses.

"N-no...J-John!" Franky cried out desperately, only for the pain from his face to flare up. He felt swelling along his cheek, and he winced, hand instinctively clutching at the sore spot. Even as his body ached, his mind worked to find any solution for the situation. He had to stop the enemy from sneaking up on the hotel group.

TBC.