September was coming to an end, and October was around the corner. Halloween decorations lined the streets of Riverford, and Jordan was content knowing that everyone who knew about his stand was no longer insane and trying to go after him. Lars had joined the tried-to-kill-Jordan club, though he wasn't as active as Donny or Melvin.

"Lars doesn't want to play DnD," Donny told the two on the walk home, causing them to groan in frustration.

"How can we play with only three people?!" Melvin whined.

"Hey, the game isn't for everyone," Donny shrugged, "And it's definitely not for Lars."

Jordan shook his head. They were all disappointed in their lack of players, and were stuck on what to do. Nobody could see them hanging out at school, lest they tell another stand user. So Lars was their last option, but he just isn't interested.

"Maybe my girlfriend?" Melvin asked.

"You have a girlfriend?" Jordan raised an eyebrow.

"I literally told you this before, asshole," Melvin said.

"There's someone out there for everyone, Jordan," Donny said with wisdom, "Melvin just found his before us."

"Damn, is it really that serious?" Jordan asked.

"Hey, don't ask me that!" Melvin exclaimed, "How am I supposed to know if she's the one yet? I'm a sophomore in high school!"

"Fair," Jordan shrugged, "Is she a stand user?"

"Pssh," Melvin scoffed, "If she was a stand user, I would have told you by now. See ya." Melvin turned toward the corner to his house, and the other two kept on walking.

Donny and Jordan struck up a conversation about the topic of school before they got to Jordan's house. Donny's place is past Jordan's, so he always sees Jordan's house. But as they walked past Jordan's house, Donny asked, "Is that usually there?"

Jordan looked over to see an old red van with distinctive scrapes and drawings of war on the side. Jordan knew exactly what this meant. "I didn't know that he was coming," Was all he said before he rushed inside.

When he was inside, he saw his mom, Rose, and another figure. He locked his blue eyes with the opposing orange eyes. The figure was a tall man with broad shoulders with white leather jacket and long black hair. Their eyes were only locked in a moment before the man charged Jordan, and swept him up in a bear hug.

"JOJOOOOOOOOOO!"

Donny watched aimlessly as Jordan and this huge man had some sort of reunion before Jordan was dropped to the ground. He asked, "so...do I need to be here anymore?"

Jordan looked back over to Donny, "Oh, this is my uncle, Jonas."

Jonas rushed over to Donny, "Are you one of Jordan's friends?" He didn't allow Donny to respond, "Jordan's never made many friends. Or at least I've never met them. What's your name?"

"Donny-"

"Donny!" He slugged him in the shoulder, a bit too hard for a friendly gesture, though that's what Jonas was attempting. "Cool name, really."

Strangely, Donny felt that, "Thank...thank you."

Then Jonas got an idea, "Hey! I need to get to know the layout of this town for my assignment. Would you two like to come with me for a drink or something? Not alcoholic, of course."

Donny looked at Jordan, nodded, then looked back to Jonas, "It would be a mistake to not hang out with you, sir!"

"Great!" Jonas cheered, "Get in the van!"

Stand user: Melvin Morranis

Stand: SHINY TOYS

Power: A

Speed: C

Durability: B

Precision: C

Range: B

Potential: D

Ability: Copies the design of any toy Melvin has, and assumes its role and characteristics of what the toy represents.

Melvin hadn't actually seen his girlfriend in a while. Since Jordan beat him up, he'd been having some time coping with his own actions. They hadn't been out on a real date in about a month. So he finally called her and asked to meet outside his house. Not romantic, he knows, but he needed to talk to her.

When she came walking down the street, Melvin almost swooned himself. He was in love with her short black hair, black eyeliner, and black clothes. Her wardrobe isn't that diverse, but that isn't important to him.

When they met, she leaned down and pecked him on the lips before she asked, "Melvy, is something wrong?"

He sighed, "Yes…" He couldn't make eye contact with her for a bit. She pulled back, shocked by his mood. He choked out to her, "Do you think...I'm a good person?"

She gasped, "Melvy!" She pulled his chin to look at her, "Of course I do! Why would I be with you if you weren't?"

"I…" It was hard for him to form words, "I don't know, Goth…" He gently pushed her hand away, and took a few steps back.

Goth's hopeless brown eyes stared into him. Eventually she said, "What happened, Melvin?"

Melvin found himself holding back a lot of information. I can't tell her, he told himself, she shouldn't be involved in these matters. He took a deep breath before saying, "I can't tell you, Goth. I just can't. I'm sorry."

Goth closed her eyes, and used the tip of her thumb to wipe away a forming tear. "I understand," She said.

Melvin closed his eyes, and turned his head, "I don't think you can," He felt himself start to cry, "I just-"

Then his face was cupped. Once again, Goth held his face in her hands as she leaned forward, "Don't worry," She said, "You don't have to tell me anything." And then she hooked him into a deep kiss, one that lasted for several long seconds. A bit too long, actually. Melvin tried to lean out of it, and the hands around his cheeks grew tighter.

"...Careless Whisper."

Melvin opened his eyes, and saw Goth standing right beside him, though there was still pressure on his lips and cheeks. He panicked. His eyes darted around his periphery until he looked right in front of him. And he didn't see anything, really. He was looking right into a silver screen.

Images flashes within his eyes, and it was mirrored within the screen. Images of Jordan, Donny, and Lars were on display in front of him, similar to a slideshow. Their stands, any time they spent with him, and specifically, the black cubes that were infecting each of them. Once the images of those cubes appeared on the screen, he was let go.

In front of him stood Goth's stand. It had her figure, but other than that, it was nothing like her. It was a bright, colorful stand with ornate patterns throughout its body, though there were large patches of black along the stand's torso. Most importantly, its eyes were covered by a screen similar to a sleeping mask.

"You have a stand?" Melvin asked. Then he repeated, angrier, "YOU HAVE A STAND?!"

But something seemed to preoccupy Goth, "Those cubes...do you think I have them, too?"

Melvin walked backwards, getting distance between him and Goth. He replied, "I don't know! It depends on whether or not you're about to attack me…" He gulped, "I don't know what it is, but it brings out the worst in people."

She tilted her head at him, "What do you mean?" She took a step forward, and Melvin took a step back, "It seems like the cubes compel you to do what you need to do."

"Oh, come on!" Melvin cried, "Not you too, please!"

"Hm?" She gasped, "No, you don't think I'm affected by those too, right?" She scoffed at the idea. Upon another step forward, Melvin's aura flared, and tiny race cars circled out of him and drifted to a halt.

"Look, Goth," He said, "I specifically told my friends that you weren't a stand user, so the fact you're cubed is only insult to injury!"

"I'm not-"

"Shut up!" Melvin screamed, "Just stop talking to me!" He growled at her, "The fact that everything you're saying to me is-is those cubes-I can't stand it! I don't want to listen to some mystery man's stand!"

Goth screamed back at him, "Well if you hate it so much, why don't you do something about it?" She pointed at her skull, "Why don't you knock it out of me, huh?"

Melvin stood there, staring at her.

"What?" She laughed at him, "You're scared, aren't you? Scared that this'll be another stand fight where you get beat up, and this time to a girl, no less!"

"Shut up!" Melvin yelled.

"You're so strong," She mocked, "So strong, you lost every single stand fight you've EVER been in!" She cackled, "Do I even need to try against you?"

"SHUT UP! SHINY TOYS!"

The race cars' tires grinded against the ground, and shot forward. All at once, they jumped off the ground, six of them headed at high speeds right for Goth's face. But she didn't even move, or flinch. She did nothing to stop them. Then, like rocks, they fell to the ground, breaking the pavement under them. The wheels were still spinning, but they couldn't do anything.

"Care to try again, Melvy?"

He stared, dumbfounded as Goth stepped over his cars. He regained his focus, and surrounded himself with toy soldiers. All at once, they launched a barrage at Goth, only for those bullets to disappear before hitting her. Airplanes flew at her, but they fell to the ground like the cars. It only took a few steps, but Melvin tried everything in his arsenal before Goth was only a few inches away.

"Uh…" Melvin gulped, "I'm...sorry?"

Goth smiled at him, "That's nice to know."

Stand name: Careless Whisper

Stand User: Goth

Power: D

Speed: B

Durability: D

Precision: B

Range: A

Potential: A

Ability: ?

"I work for the speedwagon foundation," Jonas explained while holding a shirley temple in his hand, "It's a research...well, it's kind of an oil company, too, I guess, but look-my job is in the anomalous research department."

"What does that mean?" Donny asked.

"It means I look at weird stuff," Jonas smiled, "I look at the...weird stuff that the government doesn't tell people about. Aliens and stuff."

Donny asked Jordan, "Is that true?"

Jordan swallowed a nacho, "Well, as far as I know. He doesn't seem like it, but he is good at keeping secrets."

"Is that why you're here?" Donny leaned over at Jonas, "I mean, there's all sorts of weird stuff here."

Jonas nodded slowly with a confident smile before taking a sip of his drink. The two boys looked at each other, sharing a similar idea. Could it be that Jonas was here to investigate the presence of stands?

"Oh, shoot," Jonas looked at his watch, "I actually got to be somewhere. You think sixty dollars will cover this?"

"We ordered drinks and nachos," Jordan said.

"So yeah, sixty'll cover it," He dropped three twenty-dollar bills before leaving abruptly.

"Jeez," Donny sighed, "He...he's pretty wild."

Jordan shrugged, "That's just how he is."

"Do you think he's expecting his forty dollars back?" Donny asked.

Jordan shook his head, "This money is ours now."

The two of them stood up, getting excited for the amount of money they could waste with no regard, when Donny's phone range. He flipped it open. "Melvin," He said. He put it on speakerphone for Jordan to hear.

"Heeyyyyyy guys," Melvin squeaked, "I've been forced to call you by this stand user who is currently holding me hostage."

Donny took him off speakerphone, and Jordan leaned in.

"Are you serious?" Jordan asked.

"Yeah," Melvin said, "It's a trap, by the way. But I guess that's obvious."

"Just tell us where you are," Jordan demanded.

Jonas carelessly hopped into his rusted van with a sweat dripping down his forehead. He looked down at his watch again. He sighed, knowing that he was gonna be late to meet his contact. He was lucky that the SpeedWagon Foundation was tight on agents, or he probably would be out of the job by now. He scrambled through the pockets of his jacket, past old tickets and candy wrappers, and pulled out his keys.

Before he could put them in the ignition, he heard a click and felt something metal poke at the back of his head. He had no fear, as this was familiar to him. In fact, a smile grew on his face.

"Ahh, Mr. Johannes," growled a deep voice from behind, "Do you know what my favorite thing about Amerika is?"

Jonas turned his head, caring nothing for the gun pointed at his skull, "Ivan!" He cheered, "Didn't I tell you to stay the hell out of my country?!"

The gun was pushed up against him, "Quiet!" the mobster shouted, "My favorite thing about America is, it's so easy to get a gun here! Well, not that it was difficult in Russia, but I had to do all this work-"

"Ivan, why are you here?" Jonas asked, more annoyed than angry.

Ivan leaned forward, moving his scarred, square-jawed face into the light, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Jonas groaned, "Can't you just answer the question?" He completely turned around, giving zero acknowledgement to the gun, "Look, you know I can get out of this. And when I stop that bullet, you know that you physically can't stop me from beating you up."

Ivan clicked the hammer of the gun, "Your stand isn't fast enough to catch it."

Jonas rolled his eyes, "Fine, shoot me then."

Ivan gulped, "What?"

"Do it," Jonas said, "If you think you can, just shoot me."

Ivan contained the panic in his soul, wait, can he really just take the bullet shot! He steeled his resolve, no, he can't! I have him where I want him! And so, he shot the gun right at Jonas.

Then he was thrown out of the van.