Lamp Entertainment presents…

Do you ever look up at the stars and wonder if there is something else out there?

I do sometimes. I turn my eyes to the sky and think about the endless possibilities. Of other life that might be out there. That we might discover and meet them one day. The thought fills me with excitement… and fear.

Arthur C. Clarke put it best; "Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying."

Chapter 14: Close Encounters, Act 1

Vi fryser ihjäl, det är så kallt
Stackars barn, men snart blir det varmt

Inside My Own Moon…

"Josuke!" Ted threw himself in front of Josuke, just in the nick of time. The protective nature of My Own Moon forced the flames to curve around Ted, and by extension, Josuke.

"Wha-what the…?" Josuke stood paralyzed, frozen in place by the shock. The restaurant had just… exploded.

"Josuke? Are you alright?" Ted asked. "Were you hurt?"

"N-no…" Josuke was fine, just a bit dazed. He shook his head, trying to get his senses to catch up with reality. A thought hit him. A thought that filled him with panic.

Okuyasu, Koichi and Jotaro! The pink-haired woman and the police officers! They were in danger!

"Ted!" Josuke yelled. If anyone had gotten caught in the explosion… "We have to get back out! Open the door!"

"I… The door was destroyed," Ted said, his eye darting around the pocket dimension. "I need an unbroken one…" His gaze landed on the door to the store next door. He commanded his stand to open it.

The bellhop-clad figure appeared and tugged at the handle, but to no avail.

"It's locked," Ted said meekly. "I need one that's unlocked…"

Josuke cursed violently. They didn't have time for this! He desperately searched around him. Most buildings on the street belonged to small business, and almost all of them were closed for the night. He grabbed Ted's arm and started running down the street.

"There's an open nightclub over here," he said and dragged the poor restaurateur along. "Hurry!" he hissed at Ted, the man a lot slower than him. The many years spent in the kitchen had taken its toll on the middle-aged man. Being possessed by an evil vampire hadn't really done much to improve his stamina either.

"I'll send My Own Moon to open that door," Ted panted. "You go ahead. I'll catch up."

Josuke nodded and left the older man behind. He ran down the street, as fast as he could. His heart was pounding and not just because he was running. His chest was filled with fear. Fear that someone had gotten hurt in the explosion. That he would be too late… that he wouldn't be able to save them…

That fear in his chest turned into fire, and the fire forced him to run even faster, faster than he ever thought he could.

My Own Moon was waiting for him with the open door once he reached it. He dashed through it and out back into the real world.

The first thing that hit him was the sound. Everything had been dumbed down and muted inside the pocket dimension. It had been quiet and peaceful. Reality was anything but. Trashy electronic dance music blaring way too loud filled his ears and drilled its way into his brain.

The second thing that hit him was the people. Literally, he collided with someone dancing. The nightclub was jam-packed with people dancing and screaming.

The whiplash would have stunned most people, but Josuke didn't even have time to get disoriented. His mind was focused solely on getting back to the restaurant. He didn't waste a second in bolting towards the exit and out on the street.

He ran back towards the restaurant which was now in flames. A crowd of people had gathered around it. Some were filming the fire with their phones, but most seemed to be standing in a circle around something… or someone. Josuke saw a familiar white hat through the gathering.

He elbowed his way past the circle of onlookers, prompting some protests that he promptly ignored.

Jotaro and Okuyasu stood at the center, pushing back against the crowd. Several people were lying on the ground. Jotaro shot Josuke a single look and made a small gesture towards the people on the ground as if to say 'them first, questions later.'

The group of people on the ground were lying in a rather messy pile of limbs and blood. There was the man that had been in the restaurant with Ava, as well as another man that Josuke didn't recognize. Both were bruised rather badly. There was the policeman, with a gaping wound in his shoulder and the pink-haired woman with a nasty injury in her leg. Koichi was there too, unconscious and with blood all over his shirt and jacket.

Josuke fell to his knees, Crazy Diamond appearing by his side, almost instinctively. A golden aura surrounded them while Josuke checked their life signs.

To his relief, everyone was alive. He hadn't been too late.

After that wave of reassurance had washed over him and his mind could catch up with him, he started wondering… just what the hell was going on?

ngxxXXxx

A few minutes earlier…

"Yare yare daze," Jotaro sighed and wiped some blood off his hands. The vampire's fluids stank like expired minced meat left out in the sun. He supposed it only made sense. She was undead and rotten to the core.

Ava Fusili. A professional assassin, stand user and all-around annoying bitch. Now, she wasn't all that dangerous. Jotaro wasn't bluffing when he said he could have killed her at any time he wanted to; he really could. Not so much because of his own strength, mind you, but because Ava was an idiot. Her stand was unsuited for direct confrontation, and yet she still insisted on fighting him in person. If she had just stayed hidden, she could have easily killed most of them. But instead, she let her new vampiric power get to her head. And that got her killed again.

Of course, just because she was a dumbass didn't mean she was completely braindead. The fight had been made more difficult by the presence of a certain woman who had refused to leave when told to.

"Y-you killed her!" the pink-haired woman said. She was standing behind a metal food counter she'd been hiding behind. She sounded shocked. Mortified. Which was understandable.

"No. She was already dead," Jotaro said. "I just gave her the directions to hell." He walked over to their table and picked up his phone lying next to Joukes's phone and the open Beach City brochure. He grabbed his suitcase and took a small device from it. It looked like an ordinary flashlight. Of course, if anyone tried to use it as such, they'd surely be disappointed when all it produced was a faint purple light. No, this was a UV lamp made to burn vampires.

The police were on their way and Jotaro had a hunch that they wouldn't react very well to finding a decapitated body lying on the floor. So he had to get rid of it. Fast.

He threw a glance at the woman. "Didn't I tell you to leave?" he said, feeling irritation growing within him. She was still standing behind that counter, looking as terrified of him as of the vampire. Not entirely irrational, but still annoying.

"W-what were those…?"

"My god woman, are you deaf or are you just stupid!?" Jotaro yelled, the irritation inside him reaching its boiling point and becoming rage. "How many times do I have to tell you? GET OUT!"

"Ah… is this a bad time?"

Fantastic.

Jotaro turned around and was met by two women who had just entered the room. One had blue skin and was of average height, while the other was a red-skinned midget with a large square hairdo.

"Yes," Jotaro said. "This is a bad time. Fuck off."

The blue woman looked behind him and saw the lifeless body lying on the floor. To her credit, she remained composed, though her smile faded. Her body language was hard to read since most of it was covered under her cape, but Jotaro could tell that she tensed up.

"I can see that," she said. "But I was informed that Josuke Higashikata was here and I would like to talk to him."

"Then you were misinformed," Jotaro said. He didn't have the time, not the energy to deal with more bullshit that night. "He's not here."

「Bring, ring, ring, ring, ring…」

As if on cue, Josuke's phone started ringing again.

"Is that so," the blue woman asked. "Because I do believe that's his communication device right there…" She walked towards the table, looking at it curiously.

That was enough.

"Ora!" Star Platinum punched her square in the jaw. Her eyes winded and she staggered backward.

"Ow," she said, rubbing her chin. She sounded more indignant than hurt. "That was unnecessary. I promise, I mean you no harm. I just want to talk to Josuke Higashikata."

"He's busy," Jotaro said. "Now, leave, before I make you." He took a step towards her and she instinctively took a few backward in response. Most people do that when someone who's almost two meters tall approaches them.

"H-hey, I'm sorry! I think we got off to the wrong start. Let's start over, okay?" She held her hands up in the air, to show that they were empty. A useless gesture as she immediately hid them inside her cape again where she could be hiding any number of weapons. "My name is Moonstone, and that's Ruby over there," she said and motioned towards the short one.

"Moonstone? Isn't that a type of gemstone?" Jotaro said. While most of his attention was focused on the blue one, he kept his eye on Ruby as well. She seemed… out of place. Her clothes looked like some kind of uniform but she didn't come off like a soldier. He couldn't feel any maliciousness or ulterior motive coming from her. If anything, she looked afraid and uncomfortable. Her gaze was flickering nervously between him, Moonstone and the dead body on the floor.

"Correct," moonstone said. "Me and my companion are…"

"Both named after rocks?" Jotaro interrupted her.

"Actually, we're…"

"That makes sense," Jotaro interrupted her. "Because you sure are dumb as a bag of rocks."

Moonstone's eyes twitched and she made a bad attempt at hiding an angry grimace.

"Listen here, " she said. "I've tried my best to be friendly and not cause any problems, but you're making it very hard for me. This aggression on your part is completely unprompted and unnecessary. All I need is a small favor from Josuke Higashikata and you'll never hear from me again."

"That last part sounds good," Jotaro said. "Let's skip right to that." He took another step forward, Star Platinum appearing next to him, fists at the ready. "You have ten seconds to leave before I make you. Ten."

"This is ridiculous!" Moonstone said. She didn't move. "If you think I'll be intimidated by…"

"Nine. Eight." With every word, Jotaro took another step toward her.

"I'm warning you!" Moonstone said. She snapped her fingers once. "You have no idea who you're dealing with!"

"Seven. Six"

Ruby tugged at Moonstone's cape. You could almost feel fear radiating from her like waves of heat.

"M-Moonstone, I think this guy's dangerous," she said. Clearly, she was the smarter of the two. "M-maybe we should go get Titanium…"

Jotaro towered over Moonstone. Star Platinum's fists were raised, ready to strike her down as it had with so many others before her.

Although… he noticed that neither Moonstone nor Ruby were actually looking at his stand, only on him. Perhaps they weren't stand users?

No matter. They were annoying, and Jotaro had no qualms about removing them by force.

"Four. Fiv…"

"Freeze!"

Had there been anyone present who could read minds, they'd be able to hear an impressive cavalcade of curses from all around the world, courtesy of Jotaro. He had been so focused on the latest irritant that he had completely forgotten about the police.

"Empire City Police! Everyone keep their hand where I can see them!" A police officer burst in through the door, gun at the ready.

Jotaor gritted his teeth and resisted the urge to pummel Moonstone right then and there. He put his hands in the air.

This was bad. Very bad. Jotaro had been in trouble with the law before, but he doubted that the Speedwagon Foundation would be able to get him out of this mess. And even if they could, it would be far too late.

The policeman eyed everyone in the room. He was noticeably pale already, but when he saw Ava's cadaver, his face turned an unhealthy shade of green

"Dear god…" he mumbled, his hands shaking. He looked like he was about to throw up.

Jotaro positioned Star Platinum between himself and the policeman. His hands looked rather unsteady and Jotaro would prefer if he didn't get shot on top of everything else going wrong that night.

"Police? Ah, I see, you must be representative of some form of law enforcement?" Moonstone turned to the policeman, beaming an empty smile at him.

"Keep your hands where I can see them," the officer said. He didn't seem very shocked by the two technicolor women standing amongst the destruction and death. The 'death and destruction' part probably took priority in his mind.

"I understand that you have a duty to carry out, and I respect that." Moonstone said, ignoring the man's orders. "I'll see to that me and my companion are removed from the premises while you apprehend these rule-breakers." She started moving towards the exit, but the policeman aimed his gun at her.

"You are not going anywhere," he said. "And keep your hands where I can see them."

Moonstone rolled her eyes and held her hands up in the air.

"Drop that," the policeman commanded and gestured towards something in Moonstone's hand.

Jotaro couldn't quite tell what it was, but it looked like a small spinning ball.

"If you say so," Moonstone said, and opened her hand. As if shot from a canon, the blue ball flew towards the officer. It hit him in the shoulder and drilled right through his flesh with a disgusting sound of muscle tissue being torn apart.

"ARGH!" the man yelled in pain. His fingers reflexively squeezed the trigger on his pistol.

「BANG!」

The policeman's aim had been thrown off, and the bullet flew past Moonstone harmlessly. But Ruby… Ruby wasn't so lucky. The bullet hit her in the chest.

"Ouff," she grunted, a combination of pain and surprise. She staggered a few steps backward.

Jotaro felt a pang of sympathy for her. She looked so small and innocent. It was easy to imagine she was just a child. Even though she was technically the enemy and even though…

She was unharmed.

There were less than ten meters between her and the policeman and the bullet had hit her in the chest, Jotaro was sure of it. Yet there wasn't a scratch on her.

For a moment, everything was still, everything was quiet.

Then, Ruby started whimpering and the crystal on her head glowed brightly. A wave of heat hit Jotaro. It felt like someone had just opened the door from winter to summer.

"R-ruby…" Moonstone said. Her tone was different from what it had been before. Gone was the faux politeness and empty smile. They were replaced by the first genuine emotions Jotaro had heard from her. "Ruby, please calm down," she said nervously. She sounded… scared. "You're not hurt, there's no need to get upset. That human can't hurt you, I promise…"

Her words fell on deaf ears. Ruby's entire body was shaking uncontrollably. She started glowing, pulsating slowly. With every pulse, the heat got stronger. In only a few seconds it was like a bonfire had been lit inside the small restaurant. The floor she was standing on caught fire.

Moonstone legged it and bolted towards the hole in the wall that lead to the kitchen.

Jotaro cursed. He had a feeling he knew what was going on… A bad situation had just gotten so much worse.

Ruby was now glowing steadily. It was like standing in front of an open blast furnace, the heat was unbearable.

"Star Platinum: The World!" Time stood still again, Jotaro scanned the restaurant for someplace to hide. The metal food counter where the pink-haired woman had been hiding. She was still behind there. Hopefully, that would be enough.

One second had passed.

Jotaro grabbed ahold of the unconscious man and held on for dear life. With a mighty cry, Star Platinum threw the two of them through the air.

Two seconds had passed. Time resumed at normal pace.

They both slammed into the wall and fell down behind the counter.

Jotaro grabbed the policeman and the pink-haired woman, shielding them both. Star Platinum pushed against the counter, bracing for impact.

KA-BOOM!

—To be continued…


I don't have any jokes this time (not even a bad one), so instead I'll just tell you all to go and watch Epithet Erased. It's created by the youtuber JelloApocalypse in partnership with VRV. It's only seven episodes, is available on youtube and most important of all, it's really funny. If you like over-the-top characters with wacky powers going on fun adventures, you'll probably like Epithet Erased. And I really want a second season, so I'm doing what little I can to support the show by recommending it to you, my wonderful readers.

If you're wondering when I'm finally going to reveal the winner of the Ronaldo stand competition… you're gonna have to wait. You should be used to that by now. March 25th will mark the two-year anniversary of this story, so I'll either reveal it on that day or in the chapter published closest to it.

Expect Close Encounters, Act 2 to drop Sunday next week, on February 16th.

Until then, take care of the planet Earth and remember that anything can happen in space!