Lamp Entertainment presents…
A massive explosion shook the entire building to its very foundation. Massive flames roared like mighty beasts, consuming and turning everything in their path into ash.
Star Platinum pushed against the counter, barely holding it in place and protecting the three humans behind it.
Close Encounters, Act 2
Can you feel the heat?
The Roaming Eye, minutes before…
Said and done; as soon as Hayato pressed 'call,' Peridot snatched the phone from him and began tracking Josuke. The strange glyphs and diagrams on the computer screen were beyond him, but Hayato knew enough geography to recognize where the signal lead. The map on the screen pointed to America, More specifically, somewhere on the east coast. Close to, or in Empire City, if he wasn't completely mistaken.
He had a few choice words to describe these aliens, but he would have to admit, their technology was pretty impressive. It only took a few minutes for the ship to reach its destination.
"Alright Ruby, you're coming with me," Moonstone said as soon as they landed. "Titanium, Peridot, you stay here and guard Hayato. There's no need to escalate this further than we need to. My invisible friend will let you know if we need any assistance."
"Are you sure you're gonna bring her along?" Titanium Quartz asked, and nodded towards Ruby. Titanium was standing next to one of the computer monitors, leaning against the wall. She hadn't moved from the spot since Hayato got onboard the ship.
"Of course," Moonstone said. "What could go wrong?"
A lot, apparently.
Moonstone and Ruby barely had time to leave the ship before Hayato heard a familiar sound coming from the outside. Police sirens.
Now, a less cynical person might have felt relief or hope when they heard the sound. Finally, a rescue! Not Hayato though. His innocence and optimism had already been crushed and ground to dust by age eleven.
Two officers entered the ship.
"Empire City Police!" one of them said. "Please put your hands where we can see them!"
Titanium sighed. She reached for the gem in her eye and in a flash of light, a sword appeared in her hand. The two police officers drew their guns.
「Swish, Swish」
It was evident the only reason they even got the guns out of the holsters was because Titanium let them. She moved fast, faster than any human could. With two quick slashes, she cut the guns in half like they were nothing.
Titanium let go of her sword and it disappeared in a cloud of sparkles. Before they even had time to process what was going on, she grabbed the two police officers by their necks and threw them out of the ship. The whole course of events took only a few seconds, the police officers left the ship quicker than they had entered. Still, Titanium managed to look utterly bored, like this was some tedious chore.
"Hmph. Was supposed to be some human soldiers?" she asked Hayato. She returned to her previous spot, completely unconcerned with the police officers piled outside.
"No, police," Hayato said. He was looking at the two officers lying outside, unconscious. At first, he worried that they might be dead, but then he saw one of them breathing.
"Pathetic." Titanium shook her head. "No wonder you humans needed someone else to fight for you. If that's the best your law enforcement can offer, then…"
Titanium suddenly stopped talking. She frowned and tilted her head. She looked like she was listening to something.
"Of course…" she muttered. She moved from her spot again. "Peridot!" she barked. "Moonstone is in trouble. Go figure. You guard the human and I'll go deal with whatever she's gotten herself into."
Hayato scanned what little of the outside he could see. The only thing he saw was what looked like a restaurant across the street. He moved a bit closer to the hatch, trying to get a better look.
"Hey!" Titanium said. "You stay right where yo…"
「Bang!」
She was interrupted by a gunshot. Titanium frowned and looked towards the restaurant. Her eye started to glow with a soft blue color and a cold wind brushed against Hayato.
He saw a blue figure, Moonstone running inside the restaurant and then he saw… a light. A pulsating light, weak at first, but growing stronger and stronger, until…
「KA-BOOM!」
The building exploded in bright flames! A wave of heat washed over Hayato and something hit him in the chest hard enough to knock him over. The light from the explosion was strong enough to blind him for a few seconds. When he finally managed to rub it out his eyes he saw what it was that had hit him.
Titanium. She held her closed fist right where Hayato had been standing the moment before. She threw Hayato a look, seeming almost as surprised as he was at whatever had just happened. She opened her hand and looked at something in it.
"You're welcome," she said and threw it on the floor. "Now stay in place." It was a small piece of metal.
Hayato's knees became very weak. If he hadn't already been sitting on the floor, he'd fallen down when he realized what had happened.
The piece of metal was shrapnel from the explosion, flung right towards his chest. If Titanium hadn't caught it…
What could go wrong, eh Moonstone?
xxXXxx
Inside the restaurant…
Things were not going according to plan.
Moonstone peeked out from behind the wall she hid behind. Most of the room had been reduced to a flaming wreck with a large crater in the middle. Ruby was lying in the crater, looking dazed, but otherwise fine. The humans on the other hand?
Moonstone muttered a few gem curses under her breath.
One of the things she hated the most was seeing resources or potential being wasted. Although that human in white wasn't important to her plan, she might have been able to gain valuable information regarding Josuke Higashikata's whereabouts. And now, thanks to Ruby and that police human, they had lost an important lead.
Also, Moonstone just knew that Titanium was going to give her one of those insufferable, smug 'I told you so' looks. She wouldn't even need to say anything and that was going to be the most irritating part; Moonstone was ready for any argument, any words that Titanium could throw out there. But you can't exactly argue with judgmental glances.
Moonstone walked back into the exploded room, skipping around fires, trying not to get burnt. The flames likely wouldn't poof her, but they still hurt.
While she made her way towards Ruby, she thought about her next move. The goal remained the same; find Josuke Higashikata. His communication device was here (well, used to be here), so he should be somewhere close-by. Perhaps… if he had heard the explosion, he was likely to come and investigate. They might be able to catch him then.
Yes, that seemed like the best option for now. First and foremost though, she would have to get herself and Ruby out of this building.
"A fine mess you've made, Ruby," she said coldly. The gem in question looked very guilty.
"S-sorry, Moon-" she started to mumble forth and apology, but Moonstone waved it away.
"Don't bother," she said. "It can't be undone." She grabbed Ruby's arm and pulled her to her feet. "We might still be able to salvage this, but first we need to get out of here before more law enforcement humans show up."
"That's not what you should be worrying about right now."
Despite all the fire around her, Moonstone felt as if a bucket of cold water had just been poured over her. That voice…
She spun around and saw the human in white standing behind her. Unharmed.
"No… the only thing you should worry about right now… is me!"
Moonstone had instinctively put her hand on her gemstone to summon a weapon when she heard that voice. A small ball was already spinning in her hand. One flick of her wrist and…
It took less than a second. Less than the blink of an eye.
In an instant, Moonstone's entire body was pummeled by an invisible force. A thousand unseen blows rained upon her.
The force catapulted her through the air and through the broken window. She landed on the street outside in an undignified pile.
For a few long moments, she laid there on the ground, unable to move, unable to see, unable to even think. All she could feel was the overwhelming pain. Stars danced before her eyes and she felt as if she had just been run over by a stampede of quartzes. It was a miracle she didn't poof.
W-was that… was that the power of a stand?
"I heard you needed help?" a cold voice cut through the fog of pain.
Moonstone managed to clear her eyes enough to see Titanium looking down on her. Both literally and figuratively.
Of course, she had managed to land right at Titanium's feet.
"Very funny," Moonstone hissed at her.
"I know," Titanium said. "That's why I said it." She grabbed Moonstone by the scruff of her cape and hoisted her into the air. "Now, who do you want me to beat up?"
Moonstone looked around her. Humans were gathering around the burning building, many of them with their own communication devices in hand. In the distance, she heard blaring sirens approaching. She saw Ruby come running from the burning building. Behind her, the human in white with green eyes burning hotter and brighter than the fire walked slowly towards them.
"N-no," Moonstone stuttered. "R-retreat…"
"What?" Titanium said, sounding genuinely surprised. "You wanna run away? From some humans?"
"Retreat!" Moonstone shouted and kicked Titanium as with all strength she could muster. Which wasn't much in her broken state. "I'm your leader, and I'm telling you to retreat! Now, do as I say!"
Titanium looked at her skeptically before shrugging.
"If you say so," she said and started dragging Moonstone along the ground towards the Roaming Eye. "Peridot!" she yelled. "We're leaving. Our great leader got cold feet."
She dumped Moonstone on the metal floor like yesterday's trash. Normally, this treatment of a superior would warrant harsh punishment, or at minimum, a stern talking-to. But Moonstone didn't bother. She had other things on her mind.
Things had most certainly not gone according to plan. She had underestimated that human and been utterly humiliated as a result.
That would not happen again.
She had a feeling that she and that human in white would cross paths again. And when they did… she would not be defeated so easily again.
To be continued…
What the devil? The Lampman, actually uploading a chapter on time when he said he would? What new spore of madness is this!?
Don't worry, I'm not abusing dark magic or witchcraft. I haven't sold my soul to Satan. Yet. We're still working on the contract.
No, actually, I had the entire Close Encounters chapter written out a week ago. You see, I had two weeks off from work, and being the anti-social nerd that I am, I spent most of those weeks at home, writing.
I'm trying to build a buffer, so that if (when) I hit another wall, I at least have something to publish. It'll shorten the wait for you guys and take some of the pressure off my shoulders.
For the time being, expect a new act/chapter every week. I'm probably going to have to make that every two weeks or so once we get into March since I'll be working more by then. We'll see how that goes.
I hope y'all are looking forward to Close Encounters, Act 3, cause I sure am. I decided to do a little… experiment with that one. You'll see what I mean next week. In the meantime, take care of the Planet Earth and remember that anything can happen in space!
