Shizuka parked her car in the student lot and began sprinting for the front door of the school. It was the very first day of junior year and she was late? Curse words slipped out from under her breath as she ran up to the door. She wrapped her hand around the handle and pulled, but it wouldn't budge. The doors locked automatically after the first bell.
"Oh fuck me." She hissed, knowing she was done for.
The only way in now was ringing the office bell. She had hoped to slip right in undetected, but that was proving itself to be impossible. Unless… Shizuka pressed the office bell and immediately used her Achtung Baby to vanish from thin air. After a few seconds she could hear a click. The young woman grabbed the door and pulled it open, slipping inside quickly.
Sure, using your power to compensate for being late wasn't exactly Superman-approved, but Superman wasn't real. Real world problems require real world solutions. The teen quickly walked to her first class. She rejoiced when she noticed the door was cracked. Perfect. She'd be able to walk right in.
The teacher was already reading through role call. Luckily, Shizuka's name was fairly late on that alphabetical list. She took her backpack off and held it against her chest, pressing her back against the doorframe and sliding between the cracked door and the wall. Success. After that it was an easy walk to the back of the classroom. She found an empty desk, sat down, and waited for a moment when nobody was looking.
The vanishing act was complete. Shizuka appeared in her chair without a hitch, smiling to herself. About a minute later the teacher called her name. She happily raised her hand.
"Here."
This caused a few students to turn their heads in shock. They could have sworn she wasn't there yet. Despite that, they went back to their normal lives as everyone does. When the human mind is confronted with something beyond logic it usually takes the easiest route of occupying itself with something else. In about an hour or so none of them would even remember how strange the event was.
The rest of the class was fairly uneventful. They all received a syllabus that needed to be signed by their parents. Shizuka expected the rest of the day would be fairly similar. For some reason high schoolers still needed to be babied in such a way. All her parents cared about were her grades at the end of the quarter. They didn't want to hear about the teacher's curriculum plan. She always appreciated reading the rules too. No talking. No horseplay. No food or drink. It was almost as if those rules applied to every single class.
The bell rang, freeing everyone for three entire minutes before the next class. Shizuka slung her back over her shoulder. It was still invisible from earlier. Students were required to put their backpacks in their lockers at the start of the day. She'd have to find the time to do that during lunch. For the time being, she'd keep it with her.
As she walked to her next class, she felt her phone vibrating. Shizuka took it out of her pocket and checked who was texting her at this hour. She raised a brow when it said it was from an unknown number. Despite the strange nature, she decided to open the message anyway.
Unknown: Wake up.
It was honestly a little shocking for a second or so, but she quickly wrote it off as some stupid prank. Remember the human condition, it's much easier to simply focus on something else. She put her phone away and continued on to the next class of the day. AP Biology. Luckily she wasn't late for this one. Everyone poured into the classroom talking among themselves. Shizuka sat down in the second row of desks, stretching her arms. She was pretty damn tired.
There wasn't anybody sitting at the teacher's desk. Nobody really paid it any mind. Teachers were regularly late for class. He was probably just in the bathroom or something. Sure enough, a tall dark haired man walked into the room about a minute later. He was half-Japanese and had quite the pretty face for a teacher. If Shizuka had to guess, she'd say he was in his late thirties. His outfit was standard, just a white dress shirt tucked into khaki pants. He had a blue tie around his neck, and black dress shoes. The staff had a dress code to abide by, but one could easily tell this man cared about his appearance. None of the clothes were basic brands. They looked expensive.
"Good morning." He placed his mug of coffee down, grabbing a dry-erase marker. "My name is Dr. Kujo. Welcome to AP Bio."
Dr. Kujo approached the white board behind his desk, writing his name in bold blue letters. "I think icebreakers are important, so I'll tell you three facts about myself. I'm an Aquarius, my favorite color is translucent, and know every word to the first season of Spongebob Squarepants. Why? Because it used to be my daughter's favorite thing in the world, and she refused to sleep without it playing at full volume." He explained, drawing a little Spongebob by his name.
"Interestingly enough, Spongebob does not resemble the typical sea sponge you'd encounter in the ocean. He's more of a kitchen appliance. Squidward is actually an octopus, if you can believe it. The show was created by Steven Hillenburg, a marine biologist I had the privilege of meeting once at a seminar. Are there any questions so far?" He turned his head to the class.
Nobody had anything to say. Half the class wasn't paying attention, and the other had no idea what their teacher was talking about.
"Great. In that case, everyone come up to this cabinet and get yourself a textbook. There will be homework tonight. I do not do movie days, free days, or outside class. You're allowed to drink water in my room, but you're responsible for whatever you ruin with it. Obviously on lab days we'll be working with chemicals that you'd rather not consume. On those days even water will be banned. Any questions?"
The students just groaned and stood up. Everyone grabbed their own textbook before returning to their desks. Shizuka could already tell she wouldn't like Dr. Kujo's class. Any teacher who felt the need to specify that there wouldn't be movie days typically infuriated her with their uppity, disrespectful attitudes toward their students. The Spongebob tangent was strange as well.
"Can anyone tell me the meaning of life?" He asked abruptly once everyone sat down.
Once again, silence. Everyone was too tired for this shit.
"Come on now. Someone, go ahead and say something."
A blonde girl in the front row raised her hand. "Uhm, to live?"
A few students laughed, causing the teacher to raise a dismissive hand. "No, that's a good answer." He walked over to the wipe board and cleared his previous work. "In fact, I'd argue that's the correct answer. What's your name?"
She girl crossed her arms nervously, sitting up a bit in her chair. Her legs were crossed beneath the desk, one of her sneakers absentmindedly tapping the bottom of the desk as she considered her response. "Marina."
"You sound sound like you're from around here."
"I'm not. My dad brought us here on business. I'll probably only be here for a month or two."
He nodded, tapping his marker against the board. "So you see no point in trying? Don't worry, Marina, I'll be absolutely sure to test you on something before you leave. Your next school will receive that grade. So don't consider this wasted time."
She scoffed a bit, looking down at her desk. Dr. Kujo began to write on the board once more. "The meaning of life is simple. Many people will say it's one thing or another, but this isn't a philosophy class. If you want to sit around and read books written by uneducated dopes flinging darts at a board and seeing what will stick, be my guest. I, on the other hand, don't have to discuss. Real science can study. I've researched life for decades now, and I'm certain of its meaning."
He wrote the next sentence in big letters, underlining it three times. "To continue living. Every aspect of our instincts pushes toward this simple goal. Reproduction is merely to continue the cycle of life for generations. Breathing is simply a way to keep the brain operating. Every talent you have benefits survival in some way. It supplies a particular demand that allows you to live. The body is a complicated set of functions set up for a single purpose. What's that purpose, class?"
"To continue living." A few kids mumbled.
"Even murder in its purest state is for your own survival. Whether it's for resources, land, or even your own safety. But murder is considered morally wrong, so we avoid doing it. Why? Because abiding by the law is yet another means of survival. Not only that, but every law focuses on the betterment and survival of the most people possible. Are you sensing a pattern yet?"
Shizuka nearly groaned. Could someone possibly be anymore annoying? She just wanted to go home already. The teacher droned on and on for what felt like hours. Eventually, he finished. The period was about to end. Had he really talked for nearly forty minutes? She barely remembered a single thing he said.
"Alright class, that's it for now. Your homework is simple. You're to dispute my theory using at least one-hundred words. I'll see you tomorrow morning."
One-hundred words? Dispute his theory? That did it. Shizuka absolutely despised Dr. Kujo.
"What if you agree with the theory?" Marina asked in an annoyed voice.
"If you can't place yourself in the opposing side's shoes and consider why they feel something, you're incapable of the intellectual thought necessary for my class. Consider it this way: If you can't do this assignment, you'll be bumped down to an easier science class. Either way, you win."
The bell rang almost immediately after.
"Class dismissed."
Shizuka stood up and took her bag. Everyone was pouring out of the classroom so quickly that she was shoved aside roughly. Her invisible bag fell off her arm. Luckily, Achtung Baby easily grabbed it, placing it back on her shoulder. She sighed, ready to leave. That's when she noticed the teacher's eyes fixated on her. He didn't seem shocked, scared, or angry. The man simply sipped from his cold coffee mug as he stared at her. Had he seen Achtung Baby? That wasn't possible. He was probably just waiting for her to leave the room so he could smoke or something. She quickly fled the room.
She was so focused on Dr. Kujo that she paid no mind to what was in front of her. Because of that, she bumped into someone right outside the classroom. She stumbled back a bit, looking up to see who it was. Shizuka was fairly short, standing at 5'0 on the dot. She was surprised to see the girl from earlier leaning against a wall in front of her. Marina, right? The blonde stood at 5'9, placing a considerable gap between their sizes. The girl didn't seem to be fazed by the collision, crossing her arms and looking down at the shorter teen.
"I saw that." Is all she said.
Shizuka knew exactly what she was talking about. A pit formed in her stomach. She'd never met another Stand User aside from her own family. How did she run into two people who could see Achtung Baby in a single class?
"My next class is across the building. I need to go." She said dismissively.
Marina grabbed her wrist firmly. "Have you been noticing anything weird lately?"
Shizuka's eyes narrowed, slowly developing a dangerous sharpness as she stared into the girl's eyes. "Besides this conversation? No." She said dryly.
"Really? I've felt off all day. I got a concerning phone call this morning. It was from an unavailable number. When I picked up, it was just static. Then, out of nowhere, an urgent voice told me to wake up." She raised a brow. "You wouldn't know anything about that?"
Of course Shizuka knew something about that. She'd received a similar text message right before class. Despite that, she roughly yanked her hand away from Marina, rubbing her wrist a bit as she stepped back.
"I think you're asking the wrong person." Shizuka looked away, frowning. "I'm leaving."
She vanished a moment later. Marina's eyes barely registered the girl as gone for a few seconds. She'd never seen something like that in her entire life. It had to be connected to the phone call. She was going to get to the bottom of this one way or another.
The rest of the day was rather uneventful. Shizuka struggled to pay much attention at all after the strange encounter before third period. She just floated through her remaining classes, walking out of the building at 2:41 PM like the rest of the students. Something still felt off. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but everything was just a little confusing.
Strangely enough, she noticed someone who wasn't walking toward the student parking lot. In the wave of teens attempting to leave stood a strange-looking ginger facing Shizuka directly. Somehow, even though they were total strangers, Shizuka felt a connection. She couldn't quite place the gender of the individual, but they seemed to be around her age. She just stared curiously, their eye-contact transcending the distance between them and the body of students constantly walking past. Then, as quickly as the person appeared they were gone.
Another strange event to add to the list. Staying true to the human condition, though, Shizuka quickly stopped thinking about the teenager and proceeded to her car. The next day would be better. She just had to write Dr. Kujo's ridiculous argument piece. That was the only thing worth worrying about…
Marina was sitting on the hood of her car about three blocks from the school. The sun had set, and her clock indicated that it was 8:32 PM. She sighed, lying down and resting her head on the windshield. Her eyes stared up at the stars, contemplating their distance. She couldn't go home, something just didn't feel right. There was something wrong with the school. That's when her phone began to ring. She nearly leapt out of her skin, fumbling on the hood and looking for the device. The caller ID read ' Unknown.'
"Yes!? Hello?" She asked in a high, frantic voice.
Silence.
"Is this the person from before? What do I need to wake up from?"
…
"Oi! Do you have service? Answer me! Wake up from what?"
…
She grit her teeth, nearly slamming her fist down in anger. Fortunately, she kept her cool. She was sitting on her own car after all. The blonde just needed to remain calm.
"I'm staying on the line until you speak, so I suppose we should both get comfortable." She crossed her arms, putting the phone on speaker.
…
"Any minute now. You'll see, I'm not one to give up easily. I'm one stubborn bitch."
…
The young woman sighed, shaking her left leg anxiously as the line stayed silent. Would this go on all night? She needed answers. That's all she wanted. There was something seriously wrong with the world around her, and she intended to figure out what it was. She'd wait, even if it took a lifetime.
The next morning, Shizuka pulled into the parking lot with time to spare. She'd learned from her previous mistakes and didn't lie down after her shower. She actually had time to pick up a coffee before class. Waking up early had its perks after all. When she walked inside, everyone was whispering among themselves. She didn't take notice to this, as it was standard form for high school.
As she sat down at her desk for home room, she couldn't help but notice the general atmosphere of the room. She might have jumped the gun in assuming everyone's whispering was standard business. In fact, the entire place seemed pretty grim. One girl was even quietly crying. She raised a brow, leaning back in her seat and tapping her pen against the desk.
The teacher walked into the classroom about three minutes before the bell. He was disheveled, finishing up his tie and tucking in his shirt as he entered. It was hard to see through the cracked door, but it looked like other teachers were jogging through the hall right outside. Was there some kind of faculty meeting? She felt something building in the pit of her stomach. It was obvious that something had happened.
The bell rang, so the teacher shut the door and cleared his throat. "Uhm, class." He said nervously. "It's awful to have to report something like this, but I'm sure many of you have already heard the rumors. There was a suspected murder last night, and the victim was one of our students."
Somehow, Shizuka knew who it was. The teacher didn't even have to say it. Grief already overtook her.
"Marina Archer, an exchange student from London, was found dead on the hood of her car this morning at 6:34. The first officer on sight didn't see any trace of a suspect. However, initial evaluations have ruled out suicide. I wish there was more I could say, but that's all we know. I implore you to keep this calm when discussing it with others. That is all we know. We're not hiding anything. Don't turn this into some rumor or conspiracy, please. It'll only be harder on her family."
Truly spoken like someone who definitely wasn't hiding anything. Shizuka couldn't help but feel responsible for this death. Marina was asking for help, and she didn't provide it. If she had been there, Achtung Baby could have helped. She could have done something.
The rest of the class was a blur. There were no lessons, no lectures. The teacher seemed to be caught up in his own existential dread. Eventually, the bell rang and Shizuka grabbed her things. She was walking to second period when something caught her eye. Dr. Kujo was staring directly at her. He held a coffee mug to his lips as they made eye contact from across the hall. She felt like he was beckoning her somehow.
Against her better judgement, she walked up to him. He finished his coffee, lowering the mug.
"Come with me."
She followed, unsure of what was going to happen next. He lead her to an empty classroom. The blinds were shut, so only a few beams of sunlight managed to pierce through and light the room. Dr. Kujo lowered the curtains on the door's window, shutting it quickly. Once he was positive that they were alone, he spoke.
"I know Marina confided something in you yesterday after class. I couldn't hear you very well. What did she say?"
She was absolutely caught off guard. "W-wha? I don't know what you're talking about."
He got his phone out, showing seven calls from an unknown number. "Are you getting the calls too? The police found that she had a three minute call with an unknown number around her time of death."
"The police said that?" She raised a brow. "And why do you know, Dr. Kujo?"
"I have a man on the inside. That's not important. Are you getting these calls?"
She didn't see a reason to lie. "Mine was a text. I've only gotten one."
He raised his hand up to his chin in thought. "Interesting. I don't have texting. That doesn't explain why a girl Marina's age got calls too."
"Why are we talking about this? It's just scam callers, right? Or out of country? I don't have an international plan. It's nothing serious."
"I know you have a Stand." He said, manifesting Star Platinum.
She immediately stumbled back, intimidated by the Stand's size. It seemed like it'd be much stronger than Achtung Baby. Fortunately, Dr. Kujo seemed to be on her side for the time being. The teacher waited for a response, but it didn't seem like he was going to get one anytime soon. Eventually, he just sighed.
"Something's wrong. I'm sure you can feel it. Why are so many Stand Users at this high school? Why are we getting these phone calls? I'm trying to piece the story together, but I need your help. Have you seen anything strange? No matter how innocuous, just tell me."
Shizuka thought to herself for a moment before realizing something. "This weird ginger kid in the parking lot yesterday kind of creeped me out. They were just staring at me. Then they disappeared."
"Interesting." Dr Kujo mumbled. "I'll keep an eye out for this kid. We should get to class. If you see anything strange, don't hesitate to call my personal number." He handed her a sticky note with his cell number written on it. "You should go first. I'll wait a minute or two."
She nodded, walking out of the empty classroom and heading to class. Things seemed pretty normal for the first few periods of the day. Come lunch time she entered the cafeteria ripe with boredom. After waiting in line for mediocre "healthy" food, she looked for a place to sit. That's when she noticed something incredibly strange. In fact, it was so strange that she couldn't believe it took her so long to notice.
A tall redheaded girl was sitting in the corner of the cafeteria all by herself. Her backpack was hugged between her long legs, and she slouched over it, resting her chin on the top. That wasn't the strange part. The strange part was the massive pink Stand sitting right next to her out in the open.
She seemed to be talking directly to the Stand. Everyone around them completely ignored her. Shizuka wasn't like the rest of them, though. She could see who the girl was really speaking to. The other students must have thought the girl was insane. She couldn't help but approach the taller girl slowly.
Shirlie lifted her head up with skepticism as Shizuka approached. When the short girl stopped and smiled, the redhead scooted back against the wall.
"What?" She mumbled.
Shizuka could tell the girl had a certain uniqueness to her. She was talking to her own Stand. Perhaps that was a way to earn her trust? The shorter girl turned her head to Pa-Pa-Power, offering him a hand.
"My name's Shizuka. How're you?"
Pa-Pa-Power's jaw dropped in disbelief. Then, out of nowhere, Shizuka was hit with a wave of positive emotional energy. She experienced the Stand's total joy of being noticed for the first time in his life. He took her hand into his big boxing glove, shaking it eagerly. Shirlie sat up a bit, looking at her cautiously.
"Y-You can see him then?" She muttered.
"Of course I can. How could I miss such a handsome face?" Shizuka smiled softly.
Power was absolutely sold. He felt like he'd made a new best friend for life. Shirlie, on the other hand, was suspicious.
"You don't wanna be friends with him. Everyone thinks you're insane if you talk to Pa-Pa-Power. They're looking at you weird right now."
"I don't care about that." Shizuka said honestly. "I just wanted to introduce myself to him. Do you have him out all the time, then?"
The redhead hugged her backpack closer, shifting back just a bit. "Have him out? Where would he go?"
Shizuka's eyes widened. "You mean he's out permanently? Doesn't that exhaust you?"
Shirlie shrugged. "I mean, he snores a lot. I can't really complain though."
The shorter girl noticed just how exhausted Shirlie looked. She never put her Stand away? That must be a constant drain on her energy. In fact, it wouldn't be surprising if Shirlie had never gotten a full night's sleep in her entire life. That would probably be a contributing factor to her overall strangeness.
"Wanna meet mine?" She offered.
Shirlie's eyes went wide. The dark bags under them couldn't fully mute the excitement on her face. "S-Sure. If you want."
Shizuka smiled, manifesting Achtung Baby. The Stand was significantly smaller than Pa-Pa-Power. Despite that, he quickly swept it into his arms and hugged it tightly. Achtung Baby was expressionless in the hug, but Pa-Pa-Power just kept going. Shizuka could see a pink aura emanating from the Stand, engulfing Achtung Baby shortly after. A moment later, without Shizuka's influence, the white Stand began hugging back.
The shorter girl's eyes widened as she felt her Stand moving on its own volition. She could even feel it smile a bit. Shizuka had never viewed Achtung Baby as anything except an extension of her own body. It was incredibly perplexing to see it expressing human-like emotions and actions.
"It's never acted like this before." She mumbled.
"Pa-Pa-Power has a way of rubbing off on people. I'm not surprised your shade is warming up to him."
A shade, huh? Perhaps Shirlie didn't have any idea what Stands really were. It was entirely possible. With a Stand like Pa-Pa-Power, who could blame her for thinking they were all self-aware spirits? Still, it really was strange to run into so many Stand Users in such a short period of time. Dr. Kujo might really be onto something.
"Did you hear about Marina?" Shizuka asked softly.
Shirlie just looked for at the floor, frowning. "Pa-Pa-Power's really sad about that."
"Did they know each other?"
"No. He's just a sad guy a lot of the time."
She couldn't argue with that. It seemed like they'd hit conversational bedrock. She needed to find a way to ask about the ginger teen, the phone calls, all of it. Power looked her right in the eyes, letting go of Achtung baby. He nudged Shirlie's shoulder, causing her to look up.
"What? Power says you're trying to say something. Something hard?"
Well, it seemed like she'd been outed by the Stand. Perfect. Shizuka nodded, clearing her throat as she searched for the right words. "Have you been noticing anything weird lately?"
"Weird? Like what?"
"Strange phone calls? People watching you? I'm not exactly sure."
"Oh I don't have a phone. It made Power's head hurt. And we don't really pay that much attention to random strangers, so people could probably be watching us and we wouldn't even know." She said honestly.
Great.
"Marina was really worried yesterday. Now she's dead." Shizuka explained. "I wanna go check out the crime scene."
"The crime scene? Are you a detective or something? We can't just walk into a crime scene." Shirlie laughed.
"Oh.." Shizuka mumbled, having hoped for Shirlie's help.
"I mean, I'll go. It's just a bad idea." The taller girl shrugged, standing up and brushing herself off.
"Oh!' Shizuka smiled, experiencing an emotional rollercoaster. "Alright. Meet me out front after school. We'll walk from here. From what I've heard, they found her on sixth street."
"You got it, chief." Shirlie snapped her fingers, taking her bag and walking away. "C'mon, Power!" She groaned as the Stand slacked behind.
What a weird person.
After school Shirlie and Shizuka walked up to the scene of Marina's death. Her car was still parked on the side of the road, and police tape blocked off a considerable portion of the sidewalk. The shorter girl frowned. It really happened. She was really gone.
"I don't think the police would appreciate us sniffing around their fresh scene." Shirlie muttered.
"Don't even worry about that. Just do your best not to leave DNA on anything." Shizuka closed her eyes, manifesting Achtung Baby.
The two were immediately invisible. Shirlie gasped, trying to look at her own hands. But she couldn't! There were no hands there!
"Try not to trip or anything." Shizuka said softly, taking Shirlie by the hand and leading her underneath the police tape.
They looked around the car for anything suspicious. Both of them used their Stands to touch things, avoiding leaving any sort of fingerprints. After about a minute of looking, they both came up short. Shizuka groaned in frustration.
"They took her phone, her body, her wallet, everything. There's nothing to work with here."
"Yeah," Shirlie shut the car door as Pa-Pa-Power checked underneath the vehicle. "But I can say one thing for certain. Marina didn't die here."
Shizuka shut the door on her side as well, raising a brow. "Wait, what? How do you know that?"
Pa-Pa-Power got up, unable to see Shirlie. This worried him, so he began to shift left and right nervously. Seeing this, Shirlie walked over and wrapped an arm around him.
"Death leaves a sort of emotional stain on an area for a really long time. Power can sense it easily. Tons of people have died here over history, but none of them were recent. In fact, the most recent death within a hundred feet of this spot was around twenty years ago."
Well that was certainly handy. Shizuka knew she brought Shirlie for a reason.
"So Marina wasn't killed here. Why would her body have been discovered on the hood of her car then? Was it moved here?"
"No." Shirlie said with certainty. "I'd definitely be able to smell such a disgusting act. It doesn't stick around forever, but you said this was this morning, right? The intent to kill, moving a dead body, the regret… It should smell like that. But it doesn't."
Shizuka turned off Achtung Baby's ability, looking at Shirlie with confusion. "What're you saying?"
The taller girl rested a hand on her hip, looking around. "I don't buy that Marina's dead. At least not the story they're telling."
Shizuka bit her lip. "What can Power sense? What's the most recent emotion on the hood of this car?"
The redhead hummed softly, snapping her fingers and pointing to the hood. Pa-Pa-Power walked over, running his hands over the spot where Marina's body was allegedly found.
"It's faint, but I can smell confusion." She closed her eyes, nostrils twitching. "Panic and confusion. I can't tell who it's from. Their soul is pink. That's all I know."
The shorter girl raised a brow. "You can smell souls?"
Shirlie nodded. "Yours is weird, not gonna lie."
"Weird?"
"Well, there are two. I didn't wanna bring it up. It seemed rude."
"W-wait. Two?" Shizuka questioned.
There was no opportunity for Shirlie to respond, though. Immediately after Shizuka's question, a voice could be heard from down the block.
"Hey! You kids can't be over there! You'll contaminate the scene!"
Shizuka and Shirlie nearly leapt out of their skin. The shorter girl grabbed her new friend, turning both of them invisible and sprinting down the street. So many thoughts were running through Shizuka's mind, there wasn't time to comprehend them all. They ducked into an alley, holding their breath and waiting for the cop to run past.
That's when the shorter girl noticed something strange. She heard a dragging sound in the distance. About ten seconds later, she saw her cellphone trailing along the concrete heading directly toward her. The girl's eyes widened. She'd dropped her phone? How could she miss something like that? It really showed how panicked she was. The phone lifted up into the air, going right back into her pocket good as new.
That's when footsteps against the concrete filled the alley. A moment later, Shizuka could see a tall man step into the enclosed area. He was a little shorter than Shirlie, but still nearly a foot taller than the little Japanese girl. He looked to be Japanese himself with a thick purple pompadour. He wasn't in uniform, but a detective's badge was clipped to his belt along with a holster. The man wore a purple suit jacket with a lavender dress shirt underneath. The shirt tucked into a $300 pair of black dress pants. The outfit was topped off by a $795 pair of Mezlan Royale black dress shoes. Needless to say, this man was incredibly clean cut. His face with without a single blemish, and his clothing lacked any wrinkles. It seemed as if it was the first time that he ever wore the outfit. Like every imperfection was magically stripped off of it.
Shizuka couldn't help but wonder why such a man was a detective in her hometown. However, she had much bigger problems. Firstly, how the hell did he find them?
"I know you're here. I'm one hell of a detective." The man mumbled, running a careful hand through his hair to fix it. "I saw you appear and disappear. You don't have to hide that ability from me. Just show yourself and we can talk this out, okay?"
The police and school faculty were keeping details of Marina's "death" a secret. Shizuka couldn't trust any of them. She clenched her fists, trying to consider their next move carefully. She got on her tiptoes, dragging Shirlie's head down so she could whisper.
"I don't trust him. Do you have a plan?"
"Yeah. Turn me visible." The taller girl responded.
Deciding to trust her, Shizuka released Achtung baby's ability from Shirlie. A moment later, the tall redhead smiled at the detective.
"Hey." She waved.
Shizuka was in disbelief. Hey!? That was her plan?
The man raised a brow. "There were two of you. Where's the other one?"
"Oh, Shizuka? She's right here. She thinks you're a bad guy." Shirlie wrapped an arm around the invisible girl.
The detective was still skeptical. "Why's your Stand doing that?" He questioned.
"Doing what?"
"T-That." He pointed awkwardly.
Pa-Pa-Power wasn't turned invisible by Achtung Baby. Because of this, he elected to hide behind a trash can. Sadly, Power was eleven feet tall and had a wingspan larger than three men. He couldn't even hide a quarter of his body behind the small container. To rectify this, he covered his eyes with his boxing gloves.
Shirlie made a sound of endearment. "Oh ho, Power. You big oaf. I can still see you!"
Pa-Pa-Power lowered his boxing gloves in disbelief. A moment later he shoved the trash can over in frustration. Another moment later he felt incredibly bad about littering and attempted to put the trash back in the can. However, some of the garbage was difficult to lift with his enormous boxing gloves. The Stand began to silently weep, causing Shirlie to sigh.
"Hold on." She waved a dismissive hand at the detective. "It's okay bud. It was the best hiding place you could have picked."
She comforted her Stand while picking up the smaller bits of garbage. Once the trash can was upright and full once more, Shirlie and Power snapped to attention.
"Okay! Where were we?"
"Uhm. I was asking where the other kid is." The man mumbled, feeling a little awkward after that display.
"Oh, right! Shizuka, you can come out. Pa-Pa-Power read this guy's emotions. He's totally cool. He's trying to figure everything out too."
"What?" The man questioned.
"What?" Shizuka echoed, appearing beside the redhead.
"He's a big softie like Power. We can trust him."
The shorter girl wasn't exactly convinced, but her cover had been blown either way. She sighed, nodding her head in defeat.
"Joestar." She approached the detective, having to tilt her head up nearly all the way to look him in the eye. "Shizuka Joestar." The girl offered a hand.
The detective smiled a bit, taking her hand and shaking it. "I'm Detective Higashikata, but pretty much everyone calls me Higa for short."
Shizuka smirked, pulling away. "Well Detective Higa, I'll play along a bit. We'll tell you what we know in exchange for what you're not telling us. Fair?"
"That depends on what you know." He crossed his arms in consideration.
"I don't think Marina Archer is dead." She said bluntly.
He was trained in masking his reactions, so she had no idea what kind of impact that had on him. He just thought for a moment, tapping his foot a few times.
"What brings you to such an odd conclusion?"
Shirlie spoke up. "My friend here couldn't smell any residual emotions leftover involving death or murder." She patted Pa-Pa-Power's shoulder.
"Basically, she didn't die here, and she wasn't brought here. So what's the deal, Higgy?" Shizuka rested a hand on her hip, pointing right at him with the other.
The detective looked troubled. He sighed, looking away for a moment. "I gotta admit, that's a pretty good ability. You'd be a good cop."
"Thanks, but I empathize with bad guys too much." Shirlie shrugged.
"Marina Archer wasn't exactly dead when we found her. It was more troubling than that." Josuke admitted.
"Troubling how?" Shizuka inquired.
"Well, I'll cut any conspiracy theory short right now. We have a body. A lifeless one at that." He explained. "It's just… Strange. I was the first detective on the scene. The uniformed officer was confused when he brought me to the car. I have to admit, I was confused too."
"What'd you see?"
"Marina was lying on the hood of her car with her eyes wide open. Her body was stiff and cold. The weird part is that she still had a heartbeat."
"So she's in some kind of shock. Why was she declared dead?" Shizuka mumbled.
"Let me finish." Josuke waved a hand dismissively. "The most disturbing part was probably everything but her body. Her cell phone was lying beside her head. The call seemed to have been going for around nine hours at that point. The number was unknown, and no one at the station has been able to track it yet, even though we never hung up. They should be able to make a connection. It's like the number doesn't exist."
"Could just be advanced rerouting. Maybe it's through a proxy?" The small girl suggested.
"The entire hood of her car was dented. It looked like it was in a terrible accident, but Marina's body was fine." Josuke continued. "The words wake up were perfectly dented into the hood three times all around her body. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up."
A shiver ran down Shizuka's spine. "Okay. I'll admit, that's unsettling."
"Wait, we didn't see that on the car." Shirlie chimed in.
"Exactly. By the time we got a camera on the scene, it was gone. The uni is lucky I saw it with my own eyes, otherwise no one would believe him."
"What a bizarre crime scene." Shizuka bit her lip.
"So where's her body now?" The tall redhead questioned.
"She has no brain activity. Not even minor amounts seen in vegetables. The truth is, we have no idea why her heart is still beating. It's not receiving any instructions from the brain. We have her in a private hospital room. Her father hasn't been answering our calls. Unless she wakes up, it's out of our hands. We have to look for evidence elsewhere."
"Something's seriously wrong." The smaller girl said nervously.
"You got that right." Josuke rubbed his chin. "How about I give you kids my number? If anything happens, call me. I'll come anytime."
They agreed, parting ways for the time being. None of them were comfortable with the way things ended. Too many unanswered questions. But hey, at least it didn't end in violence. Who would get into a Stand fight in an alley anyway?
Once again, Shizuka arrived at school on time. And once again, she heard everyone whispering about something. Was the Marina rumor really juicy enough that people still felt the need to whisper about it? Just have a damn conversation. Everyone knew. Everyone knew. Shizuka had barely gotten any sleep. She was irritable, nervous, and jumpy. She just wanted to be home already. The events of the past two days truly drained her.
There was a substitute teacher in her first period class. Nobody seemed to care. Shizuka wasn't listening to the whispers of her peers. The sub turned on a movie and read some romance novel quietly as the teens talked among themselves. Eventually, the bell rang, and the girl drifted to her next class. Only eight to go.
The second period of the day was strange. Instead of Dr. Kujo, the principal was standing in front of the desk. Shizuka was paying attention after that. In fact, her eyes were wide, and her ears perked up. Everyone sat down, and the bell rang.
"Class, I'm sure some of you have heard." The man cleared his throat, adjusting his tie. He seemed incredibly distressed. "Dr. Kujo was found dead this morning in his home office."
That shocked Shizuka to her very core. Dr. Kujo was dead? How? He seemed tough as nails. None of it was adding up. She needed to call Higa and see if the crime scene was similar. As the principal droned on and on, Shizuka felt herself going mad. He wasn't going to tell them anything useful. She needed to get out. A cold sweat overtook her body as she felt it become more and more difficult to breathe. For some reason, she had a sinking feeling that none of it mattered. Everything seemed like a lie.
That's when her phone rang. Her eyes widened. She was sure she'd put it on silent before school. No one seemed to be paying her any mind. It was like they couldn't even hear it. With a trembling hand, she took the phone, tapping the answer key and holding it to her ear.
"Y-Yes?" She asked softly.
"Wake up, Shizuka. Wake up now." She heard in Dr. Kujo's voice.
She dropped her phone. It shattered against the floor instantly. Everyone turned around to see what had caused the noise. They didn't see Shizuka. She'd turned invisible with Achtung Baby. She needed to get out. She needed to wake up. Wake up from what? Was it all a dream? She felt that looming lucidity one experienced right before being pulled from their dream and finding themselves in their bed. The one problem was that it wasn't as fleeting as usual. There was no indication that she was about to wake up. Was she going crazy? She needed to find Higa.
Shizuka sprinted out of the school and ran toward the student parking lot. In her feverish hurry she'd forgotten her backpack. It didn't matter. None of it mattered. She was asleep. That's the only fact she knew in the entire world. Everything else was fake. Confusion swept over her body as she tried to rationalize it. That's when she remembered Shirlie's words. When the girl was recounting Marina's end, she described the feeling as "confusion." Was Marina asleep too? Were they all connected somehow? That must have been why they were all getting messages to wake up. But who was telling them these things?
That's when she saw someone materialize in front of her very eyes. It was the ginger from two days prior. The very teen she saw in the student lot on her first day of school. She froze in place, staring at them. Somehow, she recognized the teen in front of them. She knew who it was.
"Pepsi." She whispered.
It seemed as if they couldn't actually see her. Their eyes just stared forward, unresponsive.
"Wake up, Shizuka." They said in a low drone. "You need to wake up."
She felt an overwhelming sense of calm. "A-Are you here to wake me up, Pepsi?"
The teen just walked closer. Their hand extended toward the shorter girl. Shizuka closed her eyes, ready to experience relief. Just as the mysterious teen was about to touch her, a thought clawed in the back of her mind. It was something she didn't want to think about; the kind of thought that would just be easier to ignore.
What about Shirlie?
Her redheaded friend didn't have a phone. How long would it take for Pepsi to wake the girl up? She couldn't leave that to chance. Shizuka still had no idea of what was waiting for her on the other side, but she was bringing Shirlie. Pepsi's hand was inches from her face. With no other options, Shizuka gritted her teeth.
"Achtung Baby!" She shouted, clenching her fists.
"Horahorahorahorahorahorahora!" The small white Stand emerged, sending a flurry of fists at Pepsi.
The image of Pepsi flickered. After a moment, they backed away in confusion.
"Sorry, but I need five more minutes, so just snooze for a sec!" Shizuka shouted, turning back toward the school.
She stormed through the doors once more. This time she didn't care about what people thought of her. She stayed perfectly visible, sprinting toward the office. She needed to know what class Shirlie was in during second period. All she needed to do was find her friend. She burst through the office door, walking around the secretary's desk and shoving her aside. None of it mattered, everyone was an illusion.
After figuring out the system, she managed to search for Shirlie. Perfect, she had the room number. That's when Pepsi appeared right in front of her.
"Wake up." The teen said firmly.
"Hora!" Achtung Baby punched directly through their face, causing them to flicker away once more.
Shizuka bolted out of the office and down the hall. That's when the lights died. She watched as every bulb shattered working their way up the long hall. Eventually she was submerged in nearly total darkness. The only source of light came from cracks in the classroom doors. Pepsi and Dr. Kujo appeared in front of her, reaching toward the girl slowly.
"Fuck no." She growled, swatting them away with her Stand.
She was almost there. Almost there! As she ran down the hall, something was wrong. She was getting shorter. Her clothes barely fit as she made her way to Shirlie's class. For a moment, she was incredibly confused. That's when it hit her. She wasn't sixteen. That was a part of the dream too. Reality was crashing back whether she wanted it or not.
As she got to the classroom and kicked the door open, a firm hand grabbed her wrist. She looked over her shoulder to see Joseph towering over her. She remembered who he was. That was her father.
"No!" She cried out. "Not yet! I can't wake up yet!"
Hermit Purple's vines wrapped around her body as she scrambled into the classroom. Her ankles were caught, causing her to fall flat on her face.
"SHIRLIE!" She screamed.
The redhead was staring at her in total confusion. How much of this could she even see? Shizuka had no way of knowing. She reached toward her friend desperately.
"Wake up, Shirlie! None of it's real!" Shizuka explained, vines wrapping around her head as she spoke. She was being dragged through the doorway, clinging for dear life. "This is a dream, Shirlie! We're under attack! You have to wake up! Wake up now!"
The teen tried to respond, but Shizuka could no longer hear her. She was dragged through the doorway in an instant, pulled along the floor of the school at unreal speeds. She felt herself approaching the door, knowing what came next. An overwhelming sensation of falling built up in her gut as she slammed through the door. Then…
Shizuka snapped up in shock. Sweat ran down her back, and she gasped for air. The young girl felt incredibly weak and groggy. Her heart was practically beating out of her chest. She held a hand to it, feeling her pulse beating in her ears. She was awake. Finally, she woke up. Her eyes darted around the room in confusion.
She seemed to be lying in a bed. Her clothes were the same as when she last went to sleep. That's when she realized something. When did I go to bed? She couldn't remember how she got there. Her last memory was talking to Giorno on the academy roof. He revealed her Joestar birthmark, and everything was blurry from there. Her hand slowly trailed up to her left shoulder as she remembered the mark. That was something heavy she had to unpack later.
Still, where the hell was she? How long had she been there? The room had about twenty beds, but none of them were occupied. It was strange. The place almost seemed nice. It wasn't like a hospital ward or anything. The bedding was comfortable, the walls had pleasant decorations, and the place smelled lovely. It was almost like a suite. The only thing that confused her was the amount of beds present.
She wobbled out of bed, attempting to get her sea legs as she did so. There was a door at the end of the long room. That had to be her first move. It took her a minute to find the strength, but she eventually made her way to the nice oak door. The handle was gold, and it reminded her of something.
When she opened the door, she was met with a long hallway. All along the walls were identical doors. That's when she recognized the other end of the handle. It was a keycard swipe. These doors were like a hotel. In fact, the hall resembled a hotel too.
The young girl didn't have much time to take everything in. She was quickly interrupted by an inhuman screech bouncing off of the walls. She readied her Stand, cursing her luck that she already had to fight in such a sorry state. The room got hotter. Much hotter. She began to sweat as whatever screeching creature grew closer.
A moment later, a flaming humanoid bounded through the hallway. It couldn't take the sharp corner, instead slamming into the wall and quickly recovering. Once it got its bearings it turned and ran toward Shizuka. She hid herself with Ultra Violet before it saw her, deciding this thing was too dangerous to fight head-on.
The humanoid went down the hall, taking the heat with it. Four loud bangs could be heard from the direction it came from. Shizuka watched as four bullets perfectly swung around the corner leaving blue streaks in the air. They followed the creature down the hall out of sight. After a moment, a horrid cry could be heard in the distance.
"That's right, you son of a bitch! I'm not half a pony! I'm not a quarter of an ass! I'm the Hol Horse!" A man shouted in a southern accent, coming around the corner.
Shizuka was so shocked by these events that Ultra Violet flickered a bit, revealing her to the man. He stood tall, wearing a cowboy hat. That was the first thing she noticed. The rest of his outfit was pretty much as one would expect. Big brown boots, a shirt with a leather vest, heavy pants. The man was rather handsome, looking to be in his mid-thirties if she had to guess.
He noticed her, smirking. "Oh, a new face?"
She was speechless.
The cowboy walked up to her, getting onto one knee to look her in the eyes. "You don't have to worry about me. I swear I'm the nicest guy around." He ran a hand through her hair, getting it messy and disheveled.
She swatted his hand away, fixing her hair. "Who are you?"
He laughed, spitting the toothpick out of his mouth. Then, in a flash, he drew his gun and shot it into oblivion. He twirled the pistol in his hand, letting it fade away a moment later.
"I'm Hol Horse. Welcome to the Hotel California, kid."
To be Continued…