For anyone that wants to, when Josuke takes a deep, nervous breath (second scene at the hotel), put on 'Shine on You Crazy Diamond' and skip forward to 8:40.


Lamp Entertainment presents…

Santana checked the phone he had borrowed from Jenny. Ava should have responded by now. If she hadn't, then that meant she was dead.

Good. Someone who so eagerly threw away their humanity in the pursuit of the stone mask's false power was not fit to fight against humans.

He gave the phone back to Jenny.

"Your turn," he told her.

Chapter 14: Close Encounters, Act 3

Steal the night, kill the lights, feel it under your skin

"The three police officers found dead in an alley on 13th Kingdom Street earlier today have all been identified and the cause of death confirmed. It appears that their blood had been completely drained. Their guns were also missing. Citizens are urged to stay alert.

In other news, the fire in the small restaurant on Silver Street that erupted after a large explosion has finally been extinguished. The cause of the explosion has yet to be determined. Police had been called to the restaurant only a few minutes prior to the explosion after reports of a fight going on…"

Koichi turned off the TV. It had been a very close call. As soon as Josuke finished healing everyone, they had to skedaddle before more police showed up.

Originally, they were going to stay the night in one of the Speedwagon Foundation's safe houses, but Jotaro had decided against it. If Ava had managed to infiltrate the SPWF, then the safe house might have been compromised in some way.

So they went to a hotel instead. Jotaro had made a point of picking the third closest hotel to the restaurant, as well as taking the most roundabout way there as possible. What would have been a twenty-minute walk at a brisk pace instead took forty-five minutes. And ten of those were spent crawling through an underground maintenance tunnel. They had gone through dark alleyways, pushed their ways through bustling nightclubs and walked in circles. All to throw off potential pursuers. At one point, Jotaro even made Josuke smash open a wall for them to walk through before fixing it up again.

You know. Koichi wondered if Jotaro might be just a bit too paranoid.

Although he really couldn't blame him. He understood where it came from. They had been attacked three times so far, and it had barely been a day since they left Morioh. Who knows what else the pillar man might have up his sleeve? And that's not even to mention that weird blue lady who had appeared out of nowhere, blown up the restaurant, and then vanished. It was enough to make anyone feel unsafe.

Koichi knew that feeling well. He had been spent most of his life feeling unsafe or scared. It used to be that he was just scared of older students and bullies. Then he was scared of stand users. Of Yoshikage Kira. Now he was scared of Santana the pillar man. Meeting Jotaro and Josuke had introduced him to a whole new world of fear.

But they had also taught him something very important.

They had taught him that sometimes, the best way to deal with your fear is to walk up to it and beat the crap out of it.

He knew he wasn't as strong as Josuke or Jotaro, or even Okuyasu. But he wasn't going to let that keep him down. His days of fear and shitty self-confidence was over. There was a fire in his chest that melted the ice of fear and turned it into steam to motivate him forward!

That metaphor sounded a lot better in his head.

Koichi yawned loudly. He was tired after a long day of plane flights and stand fights. That's why his metaphors were half-baked. It was time to go to bed.

He was sharing the room with Josuke, who was showering in the bathroom. Okuyasu and Jotaro had the next room over. Jotaro told them he would wake them at seven in the morning, not a minute later. They'd check out by half-past seven and by eight they'd be in a car on their way to Beach City.

Koichi reached for his phone on the nightstand to check the time before he went to bed. Ten past eleven. Greato-daze, as Josuke would say. That was almost eight hours of sleep, the ideal amount to maintain a healthy mind and body. At least that's what his mom had told him.

As he put the phone back on the nightstand he noticed something he hadn't before.

There was a cowbell standing on the nightstand. Which was… odd. Why would there be a cowbell in the hotel room? It wasn't exactly visually pleasing, old, worn and covered in rust.

He was suddenly filled by that instinctive impulse that makes small children touch everything, even though you've told them a dozen times not to. He took the bell and shook it gently.

「Ding-Dong, Ding-Dong」

Koichi shrugged and put it back where he found it. Just an unremarkable and rusty cowbell. Some previous guests must have forgotten it ad then the cleaning staff missed it. Whatever.

He turned the bedside lamp off and laid down. He closed his eyes, falling asleep almost immediately.

The last thing on his mind before he drifted away into unconsciousness was the sound of the cowbell's ringing echoing through his thoughts.

xxXXxx

Onboard the Roaming Eye…

Hayato was a man (well, boy) of conflicting emotions. On one hand, Moonstone hadn't been able to capture Josuke, which was good news. On the other hand, that meant Hayato was still kidnapped, which was bad news. And to be frank, he was getting kinda bored with the whole thing.

Make no mistake, he was still terrified, but at the same time, the first surge of terror had subsided about an hour ago. And in the long run, everything, including fear, becomes boring.

He had expected Moonstone to finally use him as a hostage after she got beat up, but instead, she sat in her chair, sulking and muttering angrily to herself. Titanium had walked back to her old spot, looking even grumpier than before. Ruby and Peridot sat next to each other, occasionally whispering about something while trying their hardest to not look at either Moonstone or Titanium.

After about thirty minutes of really awkward silence, Moonstone spoke up again.

"So…" she said slowly. "That was a bit of a failure."

"Just a little bit," Titanium said. Her voice was so dry that just listening to it made Hayato thirsty. Or maybe he was just dehydrated. Probably the latter.

"And I take full blame for that," Moonstone continued. All three members of her crew looked surprised by this admission. "I got overzealous and reckless. I foolishly approached the situation without a plan or even assessing it beforehand. And as a result, we were forced to retreat."

Titanium didn't look impressed.

"You mean, you got scared of some human and had to run away?" she said, disrespect dripping like cold water from her every word.

Moonstone's eyes twitched and she spoke through clenched teeth.

"Will you. Please. Shut up?" she said in that 'I'm not yelling yet, but I am going to soon' tone of voice Hayato was very familiar with.

"No." Titanium said. Her one eye was starring intensively into Moonstone's and her voice was as hard as her namesake. "I will not. Do you wanna know why?"

Moonstone looked like she was about to take the bait. She stood up and marched over to Titanium, looking quite unintimidating next to the much taller and muscular woman. But then, to the surprise of everyone on that ship, she stopped. Her angry expression faded away.

"No," she said. "I already know why." She turned away and started pacing back forth inside the ship, her cape flowing behind her with every sharp turn she made. "You think I'm wasting time," she continued. "You think I'm wasting time chasing some human fairy tale around. You don't think that any human could possibly that kind of power."

Titanium didn't say anything, she just glared at Moonstone.

"But I know what I saw," Moonstone said. "You saw it too, right Ruby?"

"Y-yes, my Moonstone?" Ruby flinched, unprepared for the sudden questioning.

"That human that attacked me. Did you see her move at all?"

"Uh…no? One second you were standing there, the next you just… went flying," Ruby said. "It was like it happened instenten… instantein… instantan…"

"Instantaneously," Peridot cut in.

Ruby nodded.

"Yeah, that. What she said."

"Yes, instantaneously," Moonstone muttered. "Almost like time was standing still…" She turned to Hayato. Suddenly, her body started glowing and morphing into a new shape. She grew taller, broader and bulkier, her cape turning into a large coat. In just a few seconds, she had changed into a nearly identical copy of…

"Hayato, do you recognize this human?" she asked him.

"That's… Jotaro Kujo." Amazing. Aside from being blue and having a small blue stone instead of a bellybutton, it was a perfect replica. She even managed to copy Jotaro's characteristic frown. Also, these aliens could shapeshift. Good to know.

"I see," Moonstone said. She reverted back to her old form. "Jotaro Kujo. The human whose stand can stop time. Known as the strongest man in the world."

This… this raised several questions. She knew who Jotaro was, but didn't recognize him when standing face with him? And for that matter, where had she even learned about Josuke and Jotaro?

"Strongest?" Titanium scoffed. "He couldn't even poof you."

Moonstone seemed unfazed by Titanium's latest jab. Instead, her eyes were focused on some pint far away. A small smile crept onto her face.

"Regardless of who might be accompanying him, our goal of finding Josuke Higashikata still remains the same," she said.

"You haven't considered, that maybe, maybe, we should actually do the job we were sent here to do?" Titanium asked. "You know, bringing the Crystal Gems back to Homeworld?"

"Oh, we will do that," Moonstone said. "But this takes priority."

"Does it though?" Titanium retorted. "I mean, do you actually think that Josuke Higashikata can…" For the first time since he got there, Hayato saw Titanium hesitate. Her gaze fell to the floor. "Do you really think he can… fix her?" It was like someone had flipped a switch. She sounded like a completely different person. Her voice was softer and lower. She almost sounded… sad. "I mean… it can't be done, can it? Some human can't possibly…"

Moonstone put a reassuring hand on Titanium's shoulder and spoke gently to her, a gesture that went against everything Hayato thought he knew about these two.

"I… I don't know," Moonstone said. "It seems impossible, but… no matter how far-fetched it may be, if I let this opportunity to bring her back escape me, then I don't think I could ever forgive myself. Even though every rational part of my mind is telling me that it is truly and unquestionably impossible, I still can't help but think 'What if?' What if it works? That's the question I think you're afraid of asking yourself. You're afraid of getting your hopes up, only for them to be crushed."

No, but seriously, what the hell? Didn't these two hate each other like… three seconds ago? Even Ruby and Peridot seemed flabbergasted by this sudden turn of events.

There was a silent moment before Titanium shrugged Moonstone's hand off of her shoulder.

"Whatever," she mumbled. "Tell you what; you get one more crack at finding this Josuke Higashikata and try this insane plan of yours. One. Then we go for the Crystal Gems."

Moonstone smiled widely.

"Oh, I think that can be arranged," she said. She walked over to the computer console and opened a world map on the main screen. There were two spots marked; one in Empire City where they had landed previously, and one close to it, lying right by the sea. The latter location was marked by a yellow five-pointed star. Moonstone zoomed in on that spot. Like an alien version of Guugle Maps, it reached street view, showing a small city. "Now, Josuke Higashikata's communication device was completely destroyed in the explosion," Moonstone said. "But I did see something interesting lying next to it…"

A sign on top of a water tower proudly announced that she was looking at 'Beach City.'

Moonstone's smile became wider.

"I think we might be able to crack two gems with one stone…"

xxXXxx

At the hotel…

Josuke exited the bathroom wearing one of the hotel's bathrobes. He saw Koichi was already in bed, so he moved as quietly as he could as to not disturb his friend. He walked over to the balcony door and looked out through the glass door. Their room was on the fourth story, so he had a decent view of the city around him.

In the couple of hours since he first walked off the plane, the city had barely slowed down. There was still plenty of stuff going on in every part of the megalopolis, open businesses and people walking on the streets, each of them on their way to somewhere. A lot different from home in Morioh where pretty much everyone was in bed by ten.

Of course, a few were probably kept awake by the news of the explosion in Ted's restaurant.

Josuke felt a bit guilty that they had just left the man behind like they did without even thanking him for the free food. His entire livelihood had just burned down thanks to them.

Thanks to him.

Josuke automatically reached for his phone. Forgetting in the moment that even if the bathrobe had had any pockets, his phone wouldn't be in it, because it was blown to bits. He didn't really need it though, he remembered the messages. Hayato had sent half a dozen texts talking about a blue woman and asking Josuke to call him. His mom had also left a voice message talking about a blue-skinned woman looking for him.

Then, Moonstone, the blue lady herself, had actually shown up at Ted's restaurant, looking for him there. According to Jotaro, she had likely tracked his phone. If that was the case, then ironically enough, his phone getting destroyed was actually a good thing.

Josuke let a frustrated grown escape his lips.

The pillar man just wasn't enough trouble, was it? No, fate had to go and throw in some weird-ass stalker and her explosive sidekick, just to make things more interesting.

Who was she and what did she want with him? How did she know who he was? Slightly less importantly, but how had she gotten to America so fast if she was in Japan? It had taken them almost twenty-four hours to get from Morioh to Empire City, yet this blue chick got there in less than two, judging by when his mom and Hayato had sent their messages.

The whole situation was just so… bizarre! Even the normally stoic but perceptive and insightful Jotaro was at a loss for words. He wasn't even sure if they were stand users or not. That was the weirdest part. How would they know of Josuke unless they were stand users? And how had the red one exploded and walked away unharmed unless it was some kind of stand ability? Yet, Jotaro insisted that neither Moonstone nor Ruby had been able to see Star Platinum.

But… even though those questions confused him, it wasn't what mattered the most to Josuke.

No, the only thing that mattered was that everyone around him was in danger. Moonstone hadn't exactly shown much concern about human casualties. What's to say she wasn't willing to go to extremes in order to get what she wanted?

A grisly image filled Josuke's head. His mom, or Jotaro, or any of his friends meeting their end in a fiery explosion as he stood by, unable to help… that he wasn't able to save them when they needed him…

Josuke's stomach turned and he was forced to take several deep breaths to calm down. It had almost happened earlier that night when Koichi was shot and Josuke was barely in time to save him.

He tried desperately to think about something else, anything else. Anything but people erupting in flames before his eyes…

It didn't work. The image remained within his head alongside a feeling of terror and dread. It grew bigger and bigger, pressing on the inside of his skull. It pushed on him from the inside, threatening to spill out at any moment.

He had to get it out somehow.

"Koichi?" he whispered towards his friend sleeping peacefully in his bed. When he didn't get any response, he tried whispering a little louder. "Koichi? Are you awake?" Still no response.

Josuke took a deep, nervous breath.

"Remember when you were young?

You shone like the sun"

The first few singing words hesitantly left his lips. Koichi didn't stir, so he continued.

"Shine on, you crazy diamond"

He looked into the eyes of his own reflection in the glass.

"Now there's a look in your eyes

Like black holes in the sky

Shine on, you crazy diamond"

He raised his head and looked up into the sky, the mighty heavens looking down upon the Earth.

"You were caught in the crossfire of childhood and stardom

Blown on the steel breeze

Come on, you target for faraway laugh…"

"GYAH!"

Josuke's mouth slammed shut and he spun around in place.

Koichi had suddenly woken up with a terrified scream! He sat up in bed, panting heavily and with a horrified expression on his face.

"W-what is it?" Josuke asked nervously. Please don't tell him his singing was that bad…

"I-I…" Koichi rubbed his eyes and looked around, the terror on his face melting away like spring thaw to reveal the spring flower of confusion beneath. "I think… I think I had a nightmare. Someone was strangling me…" He rubbed his throat. "It felt so real…" He shook his head and chuckled. "Geez, look at me, getting nightmares like a little kid."

"That's nothing to be ashamed of," Josuke said. "I mean, you did almost die today and you're going to fight a super vampire tomorrow. That's plenty of nightmare fuel."

"Yeah, I know, I know…" Koichi yawned. He laid back down again. "You should probably go to bed too, you know," he said. "I don't think Jotaro was kidding when he said we'd be waking up at seven sharp. What are you even doing up?"

"N-nothing," Josuke said quickly. A little too quickly. "I was just on my way to bed."

"Good," Koichi said. He closed his eyes and buried himself deep under his cover. "Good night."

"Good night," Josuke said. Koichi was right. He really should go to sleep. Something told him tomorrow was going to be even worse.

xxXXxx

Onboard the Roaming Eye…

Hayato wanted to cry. Not much, just a little, to relieve some of the frustration. He was feeling pretty miserable. He was hungry. Thirsty. Tired. His chest was hurting. But that wasn't the worst part. No, the worst part was the utter feeling of helplessness and powerlessness.

He had noticed that none of the aliens really paid any attention to him. Unless they had something to ask, they just ignored him. Was that so smart? Shouldn't they keep an eye on their prisoner, in case he tries something?

No. They didn't need to. Because Hayato was no threat whatsoever. The possibility didn't even cross their minds. Why should it? He was just a small, weak, worthless human. He was only good as a hostage. That's the only reason they kept him around.

This was made even worse by the fact that he knew nothing about these people. Who they were, where they came from or even what it was they really wanted. He didn't need to know. He was just a tool.

Hayato's mind wandered around these depressing mazes of thought for who knows how long. It was the only thing he could do. So he sat there on the floor, only occasionally shifting position when his butt started hurting.

Finally, his legs got tired, so he stood up and walked to the opposite end of the ship to stretch. None of the aliens reacted. But when he slumped down by the next wall, he noticed something on the floor. Something he was sure hadn't been there before. And he was absolutely certain because there was no way any of the aliens had dropped it there. While he obviously couldn't be sure, he was fairly certain these extraterrestrials didn't use sticky notes.

There was a sticky note attached to something lying on the floor. Looking closer, he saw it was attached to the small piece of shrapnel Titanium had caught from the explosion. The one that had nearly killed Hayato.

There was something written on the note.

[Fragment from a stand arrow] it said.

Hayato blinked in surprise. He could barely believe what he read. A stand arrow? But that meant…

He looked down on his chest, where it was hurting. He thought it was because Titanium had accidentally hit him when she caught the shrapnel, but then he saw a small wound the size of a needle prick on his chest.

A sticky note appeared on his hand.

[Hayato Kawajiri

Stand user

Stand: Under Pressure] it said.

Hayato slowly looked up. A ghostly figure hovered above him. It was about a head taller than him and muscularly built. Its skin was made from a patchwork of yellow sticky notes. It was mostly featureless, aside from a pair of eyes made from camera lenses.

Words wrote themselves on its chest.

[Under Pressure]

[User: Hayato Kawajiri]

[Powers and Abilities:

•UP can turn its body into sticky notes that display information about people and objects when attached to them]

[Stats

Destructive Power: B

Speed: C

Range: B (ca. 10 meters)

Durability: D

Precision: A

Development Potential: A]

To be continued…


And that's my little experiment. What did you guys think? Does incorporating singing into the story work? Is it something I should try again, or should I scrap the idea? If any of you listened to the song while reading the text, how did it sync up? For those of you that didn't listen to the song at the same time, how was your experience just reading the text? How was your day?

Also, Hayato has a stand now. It's based on the song Under Pressure, by Queen and David Bowie.

Now, I know some of you have already figured out what it is Moonstone is really after, but for those of you that haven't, don't worry. You'll get the answers next week, on Sunday, March 1st. Until then, take care of the planet Earth and remember that anything can happen in space!