Chapter 4: Can't Stop part 2.
The stand Can't Stop is not my original creation, but the creation of the youtuber Purmello. Please support the original creator.
Hayloft wiped some blood off his face and grinned as he threw Shizuka over his shoulders, and started lumbering towards the window. Joseph was using Hermit Purple, with vines thin and withering to observe the fight from his phone. He was sweating and mumbling possible strategies to himself, while Suzie was crying her eyes out.
With large, determined steps Mello stormed out of the room. He stopped at the stairs, looking down on Hayloft who was preparing to throw Shizuka out the window.
"Stop right there, bastard." Hayloft turned to Mello, with a small, amused smile. "An ineffective stand like yours is not going to stand a chance against me. I will give you one piece of advice." Mello was stressed and Hayloft's jabbering made it worse.
"Shut up and drop Shizuka." Hayloft ignored him. "Someone like you, whose stand and determination is leagues below me, does not stand a chance in the real world. You have to fight to kill, or else you don't stand a chance. You can only win if you forget about saving the girl."
Hayloft threw her out the air. A shocked gasp could be heard from the bedroom. Without giving another thought to his action Hayloft turned to attack Mello. Mello flashed a smile.
A rope made out of Bloody Sundays burst out of Shizukas sleeve and twisted around Hayloft's leg. As he felt himself being pulled back he jumped forward and grabbed onto the sofa. "I made them go up Shizukas sleeve during our first fight. If you don't want to suffer the same fate that she will, let her up." Hayloft was trying to push through with force, but the Bloody Sundays had gotten too far up his leg. The blood had started pumping in Shizuka and she managed to grab onto the apartment's floor.
Hayloft was trying to pull the rope apart. With a speed-boosted pull he nearly did it, but purple vines sped down the stairs and toughened the rope. Joseph Joestar appeared, gritting his teeth. "Get Shizuka up, I can't bear this a lot longer!"
Shizuka saw how much her father and friend were trying to help her, and she felt a deep sense of determination to not let them down. Using Achtung Baby she crushed the window to the apartment under, and jumped through it. A confused scream could be heard from beyond the floor.
Mello was putting out every single Bloody Sunday he had at his disposal. They were running and jumping, pirouetting and rolling their way down the stairs and onto Hayloft, until they looked like a great, scarlett clump trying to absorb him. Hayloft was desperately kicking and punching to get them off him. In this horrible wrestling match a spark ignited in his eyes.
He took a slow and deep breath, and leaped through the window. The mass of Bloody Sunday's dropped off him at a breakneck speed. Joseph screamed at the top of his lungs "Oh my shit!" Mello ran towards the window to see the fall. He looked downwards and saw Hayloft wildly flailing his arms around as he fell, and it nearly looked like his death was imminent, when he suddenly stopped falling.
It was hard to see from that far away, but it looked like he had smashed a window and gotten into another apartment. Mello turned to Joseph. "He is on his way to escaping. Please give us a picture of him." Joseph nodded. He summoned Hermit Purple around his arm, and then threw his phone down the stairs. Its screen cracked, but it took a photo of Hayloft's back as he ran through a crowd. "He is getting away, and he is probably trying to regain his energy. Mr. Joestar, please stay here and contact the police." Joseph nodded once again.
Mello ran out of the apartment and down the stairs to check on Shizuka. As he approached the door to the apartment she opened it. There were bloody streams flowing down her face, and she was taking quick, stressed breaths. They exchanged glances, before Mello quickly explained what had happened and they started running.
When they got a few levels down they saw the wood splitter of a crushed door spread out over the floor. Mello looked into the apartment, and saw that the toilet's door was destroyed.
"All bodily functions are sped up." snickered Shizuka behind him.
Hayloft pushed his way through the crowd of people walking through the crosswalk, always keeping an eye out for Shizuka and Mello. He had removed his suit stand now, so they wouldn't recognize him. All he needed to do was escape, regain energy and then make a comeback.
He felt something floating above him. He nearly screamed when he looked up to see Achtung Baby hovering right above his head, but he managed to catch himself. Shizuka was probably just doing recon. An idea popped into his head. He had some energy left. Hellstrom had explained to him that short range stands get weaker the farther away they get. It would be a golden opportunity to beat the crap out of Achtung Baby!
He grabbed it by the ankle and pulled it down into the crowd. Twenty meters away Shizuka fell over and felt something grabbing her throat. "Help...over there...save Acht…" Mello didn't hesitate. "Give me a position." With the little freedom it had, Achtung Baby started flailing its arms around and randomly turning people invisible.
The bystanders had mixed reactions to this. Some clapped at the magic trick, others were horrified because you could see the intestines.
Mello sent out six Bloody Sundays so they could get there in advance while he shoved his way through the crowd. They hopped between shoulders and heads, climbed on clothes and chained together to swing like a rope between people. Using this strange parkour they were there in seconds. Hayloft had grabbed Achtungs arm to stop it from turning people invisible. He was hiding his position, but left a huge gap in his defense.
The Bloody Sundays flung themselves into the air. Using his superhuman eyes he noticed them flying, but if he let go of Achtung for just a second then it might turn his mask invisible. If he revealed his actual identity to his opponents then they would be able to track him down with the Speedwagon Foundation's help.
He produced an insane amount of saliva so fast that it shot out of his mouth, shooting them backwards. The faces of the bystanders turned sickly green. In order to attack again the Bloody Sundays grabbed onto each other's feet in a huge chain and started spinning in the air.
They built up more and more speed until they could throw each other towards Hayloft. This time they went for his back so they could sneak up on his face instead of being shot down.
With a childish eagerness they jumped and skipped towards the opening in his mask under the visir, and attacked. Hayloft had prepared, and started moving his face at incredible speeds. He went through thirty facial expressions in a second, his face turning into a disturbing blur. This made it harder for the Bloody Sundays to get a grip, and with an incredibly fast wipe he got them off his face before Achtung Baby could attack with it's free hand.
But Hayloft had forgotten Mello. He reached him through the crowd, and without a word delivered a kick towards his face. In between dodging the Sundays and keeping Achtung down, Hayloft couldn't react to the kick. A squirt of blood and a tooth landed on the asphalt. Achtung got free and readied a punch to turn his mask invisible.
If he let that punch go through, he would lose.
Hayloft "Flea" Pepper was born in a poor home. Every day when he went to school he would be ruthlessly bullied by richer, more popular kids. At times he would be frozen out of conversation, and at times he would be assaulted and beat up until he nearly lost consciousness. In seventh grade he was forced to eat a piece of dogshit. The teachers never reacted and his parents didn't care.
But this all changed on a hot summer day. Hayloft was the ridiculed benchwarmer of his school's soccer team, but this time, the star player had called in sick and he had been let on to play. When the ball was accidentally passed to him all the years of anger and frustration let out and he kicked it halfway across the field right into the bullseye. They won the match and his smiling teammates carried him out of the field all the way to the celebratory lunch.
After that day he realized that affection and approval is a prize that is given to those that win. Soccer, basketball, football. Every sport he went into he would master, and everytime the audience shouted his name, everytime his teammates patted his back, the more he felt at home.
When Hellstrom appeared before him, giving him the offer for even more ability, he didn't think a second before agreeing.
His body burned with determination. At ten times the possible speed of humans he blocked the punch, threw Achtung over his shoulder, and delivered a beatdown to Mello so severe he was sent through the air and landed a few meters away. He then burst through the crowd, disappearing down the street.
After just two minutes of running at impossible speeds he felt exhausted beyond human comprehension. He was burning with so much hunger he couldn't focus on anything, and his sprint turned to a slow, aching walk. But, a few meters up he could spot a restaurant with outdoor seating. Pushing himself to his limits, he walked over there.
A young, business-looking man and a girl with a Russian accent were having dinner together. "And we have been together for so long, that it only feels right to say this." The girl's cheeks turned deep red. Hayloft crashed his head into the table. The two of them didn't really know how to respond, so they just stood there, dumbfounded. Hayloft started shoveling their pasta down his throat with his bare hands. The man swiftly stood up. "Get away from here, creepy asshole! Fucking christ!"
Hayloft didn't respond, only turned to the table right next to them and started eating their food. "Hey, aren't you listening to me!?" Hayloft got his head off the table, and just looked at the man. They exchanged angry glances. Then Hayloft bit a nail off and flinged it. There was a flash, a sign of pain, and the man looked down to see his little finger on the ground.
His screaming could be heard when Hayloft left the terribly clogged toilet of the fast food place a couple streets up. He was pleased to see his thirty hamburgers had been delivered. He started eating hamburgers and slurping up milkshakes at an incredible rate, to the wonder of the children sitting next to him. They concerned him, as he didn't want them to be witnesses. He looked out of the glass door, and saw an expensive motorcycle parked outside. He then turned to the children. "If you look out for my motorcycle out there, I'll give you fifty dollars!" lied Hayloft. The children immediately ran outside, racing to the motorcycle. Hayloft smiled, satisfied with his own cunning. He scoffed down another seven XL-burgers.
He looked out the glass doors to check that the motorcycle's actual owner hadn't showed up when he saw Shizuka and Mello walking outside. "Shit, how could they have found me!" thought Hayloft, but then he realized that a man eating thirty kilos of stolen pasta and then running at super speed down the street would draw people's attention.
He calmed down, and started getting rid of anything that would incriminate him. The burgers were all eaten up. The trays were handed in to the restaurant. He calmed down, and smugly watched Shizuka and Mello. "Dumbasses, thinking they can find me. Even though I retreated, it is only a stepping stone to my actual plan." he thought to himself and scratched his hair. Another unpleasant realization, they had seen his hair and would be able to find him off of that! He had also lost a tooth in his fight against Mello. He ripped off all his hair at incredible speeds, gulped and ate it. He then grew in the tooth by speeding up his gums.
When Shizuka and Mello finally entered his restaurant he could be completely calm. He subtly followed them with his eyes as they looked through the restaurant. They seemed completely calm, if a little on edge. Hayloft was completely confident that he had changed his appearance enough so they wouldn't notice him.
Shizuka stopped by Hayloft's table. Hayloft froze in his seat. "Excuse me, but have you seen a tall, pretty muscular man, with tanned skin and blood on his lip?" Hayloft smiled at the mention of his muscles.
"I actually think he was here and ate a weird amount. His trays should still be where you leave in the trays, actually." answered Hayloft in a much darker voice. "Aw, thank you!" answered Shizuka and skipped over there, before stopping and turning to Hayloft.
"Also, sorry about your toe. It looks really gnarly." she said in a fake empathic voice. Hayloft started sweating bullets. He looked down to see his little toe turned invisible. He looked up to see Mello and Shizuka, one with a serious expression and the other with a playful smile. "Gotcha!"
Achtung Baby flew up into the air and started delivering it's final beatdown. "Shizu! Shizu! Shizu!" It hit Hayloft so hard he was sent hurtling through the window and landed on the ground outside. Shizuka and Mello immediately followed after.
Shizuka got through the open doors and confronted Hayloft. He had a huge blackeye and a nosebleed. On shaking legs he got up. "End of the line, sucker!" screamed Shizuka and went to attack with Achtung Baby. Hayloft easily dodged Achtungs punch, and pulled out a can of soda.
Shizuka didn't have time to react before he clasped the can, shooting out the ring tab at a bullet's speed. It hit Shizuka right in the eye, and she gasped in pain. Hayloft ran towards her to deliver a lethal punch, but it flew right through her illusion. Achtung Baby answered his attack with a punch in the stomach, sending the air out of his lungs.
"Dammit, I'll retreat before Mello can interfere." thought Hayloft and ran away from the restaurant. Achtung tried to grab his feet, but he was too far away. He did an incredible leap up on a stoplight, and from there he climbed up on a railway. Mello ran up to Shizuka. "Where is he?" asked Mello. "Up there on the railway. He will probably try to catch a train and escape, so we have to get there quickly."
They set after him, but were stopped by the light turning green for the cars. The street turned into loud chaos. Shizuka responded quickly, creating flimsy illusions of herself in front of as many cars as she could, stopping traffic.
Mello and Shizuka didn't have time to plan, so they ran up the stairs to the railway station. They turned invisible to run through the tollgate. Hayloft was probably planning to enter a train in order to avoid their oncoming attack, so they had to get there quickly.
They got up to the platform just as a train came in, and a small crowd started entering. By making the crowd transparent Shizuka noticed a bald man with deep tanned skin entering the train. She informed Mello who chucked some Bloody Sundays he had gained from their previous encounter into the train in preparation.
The two of them turned invisible in order to not be noticed by Hayloft, and got onboard the train. When they entered they quickly observed Hayloft's position, and remained vigilant. The train set off, and the third round started.
At first it seemed like they had control of the situation. Everything was calm, and Shizuka moved slowly to try to surprise him. His voice rang out throughout the train trolley. "Very well, choosing to pursue me further. Let the best man win!" shouted Hayloft, his voice incredibly smug and triumphant. He had noticed them brushing up against other people when they entered the trolley.
The trolley wasn't very stuffed, so he could easily run towards them. Shizuka sent out Achtung Baby to block him, but he jumped up and bounced off the wall, managing to get a kick in on both Mello and Shizuka.
They immediately reacted. Mello let his Bloody Sundays run up his coat sleeves and Shizuka created two illusions around her. But when they looked through the trolley, Hayloft wasn't there. Then they both felt the horrible feeling of being pushed towards the ground, and heard an ominous cracking sound in their noses. Shizuka answered by attacking with a barrage of punches. Hayloft dodged them and got to the back of the trolley.
As quickly as possible Shizuka and Mello stood up. "Trust me, I am going somewhere with this." whispered Shizuka to Mello. "I will, but please, be careful." he answered. Shizuka then turned the trolley, its passengers, and Mello invisible in a flash. "Why did you do that?" asked Hayloft, confused. "Oh, you really couldn't see through my plan?" scoffed Shizuka. Hayloft was incredibly frustrated. "Then tell me why you did it, you trickster fuck!"
"Don't know!" shouted Shizuka in a victory cry. Hayloft was confused, the passengers were horrified, Shizuka felt that her father would be proud. She sprinted at full speed towards Hayloft, using a mix of his confusion and invisibility to surprise him, and hit him in the face with all the power she could muster. "Take that, you loser!"
Her comment infuriated Hayloft. The idea of losing had been out of his worldview for so long, that just the idea of failing was enough to drive him to insanity. He growled like an animal, grappled Shizuka and lifted her up into the air. At a hundred percent of his ability he rushed towards the window at the back of the trolley, and threw both himself and Shizuka out of the train. Hayloft's suit would protect him, but Shizuka would die a quick death.
Just as they were about to hit the train track Shizuka felt something grab her hoodie. Mello was holding onto her with all he had. Shizuka quickly wrestled her hand out of Hayloft's grip and reached out towards Mello. Bloody Sundays wrapped around their hands, keeping them together. Hayloft was violently trying to pull Shizuka onto the train tracks.
He stretched out with his right arm to get rid of the Bloody Sundays, and that's when Mello took the opportunity. The train abruptly stopped, surprising Hayloft and making him lose his grip. He fell off Shizuka and landed face-first on the railway. "I had one of my Bloody Sundays ready to jump on the conductor and stop the train, if necessary."
The train started rolling again, and quickly picked up speed. Hayloft slowly got off the ground, so furious he was shaking. He took a few deep breaths, and Shizuka was sweating in anticipation. In a flash, Hayloft was gone. He was moving so fast that it was hard to see him.
At ten times the top speed possible for any living creature, Hayloft burst down the train tracks towards Shizuka. "I can only maintain this speed for about three seconds at my current level of energy, but that's more than enough to run over there and punch straight through her stomach!" thought Hayloft. Shizuka didn't even have time to react, he was there in the blink of an eye. His punch moved mercilessly towards her.
As the punch was about to land, Hayloft felt some resistance. He stopped, and he fell to the ground. Mello walked up to Shizuka. "What happened?" he asked. Shizuka went through her pocket and picked up a ball of Bloody Sundays. "He had so little energy left that he couldn't get through these, so he went unconscious."