Any intel that Melvin would have gained on the ghost was lost as he began to sprint away, disbanding his stand as a part of instinct. He just kept running as fast as he could, passing different genres and settings as he went. His mind wasn't on ways to beat the ghost, from what he saw, it was invincible. How could he beat something he couldn't touch?

He stopped in place. By instinct, he was moving himself toward the fire exit. His hand was resting on the bar to push it open. It took a lot of will to stop himself from leaving. Too much. His arm shook as his instincts begged him to leave but his brain told him to stay.

He collapsed to the ground. Why am I like this? He thought, Is this what Jordan would do in this situation? Donny? He remembered the arts center, the fight with Cole, and the homecoming battle. He got back up, knowing he had to fight, but still wasn't confident in his chances. "Ok, Melvin. What hints towards the ghost's power did you see?" He replayed the events in his head, but every single moment he remembered was covered in doubt.

Before he could really think, he began to hear footsteps. He looked to the library, but saw nobody. His eyes scattered all around him, desperate to find what was coming for him. In his panic, he didn't see Iron Maiden begin to manifest right in front of him, and he only noticed her by beginning to feel a deep chill.

"Do not worry for your friend," She said, "He will be kept safe. The only path for you is to leave at once."

An army appeared at Melvin's side with a green glow. "I don't want to fight. I just want answers." His words were shaky and crackly.

"I want to be left alone."

Melvin's army fired, and as the ghost got within 10 feet of Melvin and her body became solid, the missiles and bullets began to freeze in place. Not like what Melvin saw with Jonas, as not only were they encased in ice, but began to float midair right before they would hit his enemy.

"Oh, shit!" Melvin dipped right, getting uncomfortably close to the ghost. As she reached for him running by, a layer of frost glazed his left arm. But it wasn't enough. Melvin was able to get away, devising a plan in his head.

"I gotta think," He said to himself, "No beating it in a fight, so I gotta get smart." A glare appeared in his eyes, "The kind of smart only someone like me could get!"

He ran past the books and into the large reading area in the middle of the library. The librarian was gone, as he expected. He scanned the area, but found nothing. He thought hope was lost until he saw a coffee machine in the distance.

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 stood with his arms crossed in the middle of a bookshelf, standing and listening quietly. He thought he was making his trap too obvious, but it's not like Iron Maiden has any other choice to get rid of Melvin. Sure enough, he began to hear her footsteps behind him.

"There you are!" Melvin shouted. He sprinted forward to the other end of the aisle as she began speeding up towards him.

"You are a fool, child," She pointed to the shelves, clearly seeing the dozens upon dozens of soldiers that Melvin had placed in there, "Your trap is useless. You should already know your attacks can do nothing against me."

"We'll see about that!" He held his hand up and then slammed it down, shouting, "Shiny Toys! Give it all you got!"

The clicks of a hundred tiny rifles could be heard before the sound of a thunderous barrage. Tracer bullets and missiles were fired through the air, completely surrounding the ghost. Each bullet froze in place as she waited, gathering more and more projectiles into stasis around her. When the barrage went silent, she still remained perfectly fine.

"Do you think that was a good plan?"

Melvin smirked, "Yes, I do. Do me a favor and look down, M'lady."

She was confused, but did so. She didn't see what he was referring to at first, but a distinct line of white powder caught her eye. Looking around her feet, she saw that she was now standing inside a cube of shining silvery dust.

"I used the chaos to have some bombers swoop down and surround you in salt," Melvin said proudly as the plans flew past him and de-manifested.

She looked at the salt, and then looked at Melvin, "Do you think this will stop me?"

"I dunno," Melvin shrugged, "You tell me. Walk through it."

Iron Maiden took a moment to think. She sighed, "Fine. You win."

Melvin breathed a sigh of relief, "So. First order of business. Can you release my friend from his icy tomb?"

"It's not a tomb," She said, "What I freeze is mostly frozen in time. They are just encased." She waited for some response that didn't come, "But yes. I can release your friend. Can you get rid of the projectiles I've frozen around myself? I don't want them to destroy the books."

The projectiles were gone, and so was the ice, including the frost on Melvin's arm. He shouted to the air, "Jonas! I trapped the ghost! We're over here!"

"...ok!"

Melvin sighed, "So. Next business is about the town. We need to know about the Stand Arrow."

"I don't have as much knowledge as I think you'd like me to have," She said, "I have confined myself to the libraries for a long time."

"Ok, well," Melvin tried to think of questions it could answer, "Does the arrow act on its own?"

At that, she giggled, "No. The arrow does not act on its own. I'm sure those who have used it would love to claim that, but no. The arrow is nothing more than a tool that the people of this town have used for over one hundred years."

"Uhh…" Melvin stammered, "Then who gave me my stand?"

"I don't know, child. Anyone could have. The Arrow has been used as a weapon to fuel the war in this town for untold generations."

"War? What war is going on in this town?"

Iron Maiden thought back to a time long ago. She said, "It's not something that is...pleasant to talk about. This region, the one you call Riverford used to go by a different name. It was run by a different people.

"The Arrow, to them, was a sacred artifact. This was, of course, not respected by the American soldiers that entered the region. Under an invasion of an overwhelming force, many of the tribes in the region were massacred. Riverford was no different. Rather than allowing the American soldiers access to this Arrow, it was buried.

"Only a few decades after, when there was no trace of the people that once lived here, Riverford was founded by a man named Buford Rimes. His discovery of the Arrow, and the power that it held, attracted Stand Users from across the world to come here. He would kill all of them.

"Rimes eventually began giving the Arrow to his friends, to help defend the town from these outsiders. But giving his close friends such powers backfired. A grand battle between the stand users, and it killed all but one of them. After that, he controlled the Arrow."

Melvin had begun to sit down through the story, and he chimed in, "Wait, wait, wait a minute. Are you saying this town is cursed because of…some Indian curse?"

Iron Maiden glared at him. "No...not at all. It might be comforting to think that what happens in this town is some sort of divine punishment, but no. All that remains of that civilization is me."

At that moment, Jonas stumbled into the aisle. "Hey, Melvin! Sorry, I got lost in the shelves." He looked at Iron Maiden in the salt square, "Oh, I guess you trapped it."

"Yeah we've been talking for a bit," Melvin said, "Er, I guess she's been talking to me."

Iron Maiden continued, "The truth is, what you might consider 'the curse' of this town is not the result of any magical ritual, or malevolent force. That 'curse' is the result of Rimes and his evil. His inability to trust those from outside his group, and his allies' inability to share power. Each generation, stand users fight until there is only one left, and the cycle repeats again."

"It's a likely story, but I have to disagree," Jonas said, "There might not be a curse like most people think there is, but there is a malevolent force here. Some stand called 99 Problems has been mind controlling stand users around the town."

The ghost turned towards Jonas, "I'm sorry, but I haven't heard of that stand. I haven't been visited in quite a while."

Jonas sighed, "Well, I hate to be rude, but is there anything you could give us that might point to who won the last stand user battle royale?"

"Last I heard, the mole people had gained control of the Arrow."

Jonas blinked, "the what?"

"Those are real?" Melvin shrugged, "Well, I guess it's not that crazy."

Jonas was frozen in his own confusion for a good moment before snapping out of it, "There are...mole people?"

"Yeah, apparently," Melvin said, "There was this old urban legend that people who were building the sewer systems found mole people under Riverford."

Jonas shook his head, "Fantastic, I guess we have to meet these mole people then." He nodded to Iron Maiden, "Thanks for your help, miss. Come on, Melvin."

As Melvin began walking away, Iron Maiden called out, "Aren't you going to help me out of here, boy?"

Melvin turned back, "Out of what?"

"The salt square."

"Oh," Melvin chuckled, "Uhh...that isn't actually salt. That's sugar and splenda from the coffee machine. You could have left at any time...thanks for the info, though!" And then Melvin ran.