Lamp Entertainment presents…

Beach City. The stand users from Japan are practically standing on the edge of the small town. So close to their goal, finally, after all their struggles.

None of them have noticed it yet. The shadow lying over the seemingly peaceful town. The shadow cast by the last pillar man. It's a darkness that corrupts and turns good people into thralls to the poisonous ambition of a man who suffered a fate worse than death to feed it. And even though that man is long gone, his ambition lives on and continues to haunt and twist minds still.

Our heroes from outside haven't seen it yet. They don't realize the true terror of this phantom corruption infecting the town.

Chapter 16: Welcome to Beach City, Act 5

Here's a little story that must be told

"Hmph. Brilliant," Josuke muttered, picking himself up from the ground. One moment he had been sitting in the car, talking to Koichi and the others. Then, the very next second, he was dumped on the ground in the middle of the woods. Whatever it was that had brought him here, it was both invisible and instantaneous. He didn't even have time to register that he was being transported anywhere before he fell to the ground.

He looked around, trying to figure out where he was. It was a forest, that much was obvious. There were no visible buildings or roads to be seen. Looking up at the sky, he could see the dark clouds from The Reaper's snowstorm still raging in the distance. Using that and the sun's position as reference points, he could make a rough estimate of which direction Beach City was.

Nice. An idle, quiet, and peaceful stroll through the woods to clear his head and calm his nerves.

Yeah, no. Someone was going to attack him. He could feel it, like thunder approaching. No matter. Whatever obstacle may come his way, he'd push right through it and move on.

He was getting really tired of all this bullshit. How many stands or stand users had he had to deal with in the last three days? Four or seven, depending on how you counted them. And that was about four or seven too many. And let's not even talk about Moonstone and whatever brand of bullshit she's selling, Josuke didn't even know where to begin with her.

So yeah, Josuke was just a tad bit tired of this trip and wanted to get it over with as fast as possible.

He shook his head and threw a small piece of scrap metal into the air and caught it while he started walking. It was a piece of the tailgate Crazy Diamond had ripped off the car. In the excitement of having a flying car, Josuke had forgotten to fix the thing. He'd been fiddling with it absentmindedly right before he disappeared from the car. He supposed the tailgate was still somewhere inside of the snowstorm…

He put the piece of metal in his pocket and cleared his throat.

"I can hear you," he said loudly. "Just come out and we'll get this over with quickly." Just as he took his first few steps forward, he had heard something. A branch snapping in half. He scanned his surroundings, trying to find the source of the sound. It was weird, he could have sworn it came from two places at once. One on the ground and one up in the trees…

"Yo," came a voice from above. Josuke looked up and saw a girl sitting on a branch in one of the trees. She was short and heavyset and wearing some kind of punk getup. Ripped jeans, leather jacket, and a way too heavy red eyeshadow. When he looked a bit closer, Josuke could see a small scar underneath her right eye.

"I'm feeling voodoo in my brain," she said. "I ain't my usual self tonight."

"I can imagine," Josuke said. "Santana sent you, right? You got a fleshbud in your brain, right?"

The girl smiled a wide toothy grin and leaped from the tree, landing on the ground.

"Walk in the beautiful rain," she said. "The world rotates around me."

"Wha-what?" Just what the hell was she on about? Rain? The sky was clear?

"Here's a taste of the remedy," she said, a dark aura surrounding her. The outlines of a stand started forming, like a demon slowly being summoned to Earth through some dark ritual. "It is your despair, you got it?"

"Oh yes, I got it," Josuke muttered, Crazy Diamond appearing by his side as the girl's own stand finally materialized.

It was tall and thin, like a starving ragdoll. Its black skin was covered in stitches as if it had been sewn together from patches of the shadows where monsters hide. Several spikes atop its head formed a jagged crown for the queen of all evil. Its eyes glowed red and red lines, like tears of blood ran down its cheeks. There was a large bloodstain on its chest, right above where the heart on a human would be. The stand snarled at him, revealing a mouth filled with sharpened vampire fangs.

For a second, the two of them stood still. Everything was quiet, the world fading away around them. The only thing that mattered was the enemy.

Josuke's eye twitched. He rushed forward.

"Crazy Diamond!" he yelled.

The girl smiled again, a deranged grin decorating her face.

"Voodoo Kingdom!" The two stands clashed in a storm of flying fists colliding into each other. The force of the clash made the air vibrate and pulsate with pure energy.

"DORARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARA!"

"VOO-DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"Ah! Strong!" Josuke mumbled. Such strength and speed! The wind generated by the clash alone very nearly blew Josuke away with it.

It seemed like his Crazy Diamond and her Voodoo Kingdom were evenly matched in physical ability. Indeed, his every punch was met by one of hers, equal in force. Very impressive!

However, strong as she may be, this girl had only had her stand for a day or two. Josuke had had his for over a decade. That, and three days of built-up stress and aggravation that he was just itching to take out on someone.

Crazy Diamond weaved and dodged Voodoo Kingdom's punches. It kicked the enemy stand's legs, knocking it over and the girls along with it. She fell over with a surprised yelp, probably unused to being thrown around by invisible psychic forces.

Josuke ran towards her, intent on attacking her directly. The fastest way of taking out a stand was to attack the user directly, preferably with a lightning speed barrage of punches to the face.

But then, just as he put one foot forward, Voodoo Kingdom swiped at the ground and the dirt beneath Josuke's feet moved, nearly tripping him over too.

How…? It must have been the stand's ability! But what was it? The ground beneath his feet had moved when her stand attacked a patch several meters away. Was its ability ground-based or related to earth in some way?

In the precious moment Josuke took to contemplate this, the girl was already back on her feet.

"VOO-DOO!" her stand cried, aiming a punch at him.

"DORA!" Crazy Diamond swiftly countered, easily pushing the inexperienced and sloppy punch aside and countering with a punch to the enemy stand's chest. The girl stumbled backward a few steps, her stand retreating with her. She growled in anger and Voodoo Kingdom turned its fist on the earth again, the rapid attacks throwing a cascade of dirt into the air.

Suddenly, the ground in front of Josuke erupted and he was peppered by small rocks and dust that dirtied down his clothes. He jumped backward to avoid falling over due to the ground exploding beneath his feet… Crazy Diamond very narrowly managing to block the rock Voodoo Kingdom threw through the improvised smokescreen.

Josuke scoffed and grabbed a rifle bullet from his pocket. Two could play at this game.

"DORA!" Crazy Diamond flicked the bullet towards the girl, her stand blocking it before it could bury itself in her chest.

There was a pause in the action, the two of them catching their breathes.

"You're pretty strong," Josuke said. "What's your name?"

"Sadie," the girl said, bowing like some superstar in front of a massive audience. "Sadie Killer!"

"Nice to meet you," Josuke said. "I a Jo-"

"Josuke Higashikata," Sadie interrupted him, butchering the pronunciation horribly. "The one with the power to heal any damage or wound… except for your own."

"Sadie Killer," Josuke countered, not one to be outdone by his enemy. "The one with the power to… make dirt explode?"

Sadie smirked.

"Oh, that's not all I can do," she said. To demonstrate, Voodoo Kingdom attacked a nearby tree, tearing into it like the world's most aggressive chainsaw.

At the same time, a tree trunk right behind Josuke exploded, an avalanche of chips and splinters showering over him.

The tree started falling!

"Dora!" Crazy Diamond caught the tree in its strong arms just before it could crush Josuke.

"Hyah!" Sadie howled and ran towards Josuke, her terrifying stand ready to strike him while he was unguarded and his stand busy with the tree.

Shit!

"Restore!" Josuke yelled and grabbed ahold of a branch in the tree. A golden aura surrounded it and the entire tree was lifted into the air and flew backward. Voodoo Kingdom's fist flew past him, although a bit too close for his taste. He could practically feel it brushing against the skin of his skull, nearly caving his face in. Had he been just a millisecond too late…

The tree reconnected with its old roots, the chips and sawdust returning and reforming into a whole, undamaged trunk. As good as new.

Josuke dropped down on the ground again, landing with a small grunt.

The two stand users were now a few meters apart again. About five or six meters if Josuke's estimate was correct. So far, Voodoo Kingdom seemed to be very similar to Crazy Diamond in speed and power, so it should have a similar range as well… which meant that they were both out of range. Except that didn't take into account the range of the enemy stand's ability. Josuke wasn't sure about that one. Greater than the stand itself, that much was obvious. As for the ability itself… transferal of energy through the ground? Or maybe just between objects in general? Dangerous, but in the hands of an inexperienced stand user, it shouldn't be impossible to overcome. Josuke was still confident he could win fairly easily.

"I-I missed?" Sadie said, sounding disappointed that her clever stratagem had been foiled. That was until her smirk returned. "Or… did I?" she said and held up something in her hand. At first, Josuke couldn't make out what it was. Was it… a strand of hair…?

It took him a second to process what it was he was seeing, but once he did, the realization made his spine freeze. A shaking hand reached to feel atop his head.

Hi-his hair…

"You… YOU BITCH!" he roared and rushed forward. Any semblance of logic and reason was gone and replaced by a boiling, seething, burning wrath. Just pure anger flowing through his veins like poison, blinding him to all other thoughts. He saw the girl put the strand of hair in her mouth, but his brain didn't process it. Embracing the moment, destroying her was the only thing on his mind!

"DORA!" Crazy Diamond shouted, its fist colliding with her jaw. "DORARA-"

But before he could continue his merciless assault on the enemy and make her pay for her crimes, Josuke felt a sharp and crushing pain in his own jaw.

Both of them stumbled back in unison.

"O-ow!" Sadie said, rubbing her jaw.

Wha-what!? Josuke had been attacked by something! The moment Crazy Diamond's fist connected with Sadie's face, an identical invisible attack had hit him! But… Voodoo Kingdom hadn't moved. It was just hovering behind its master like an obedient attack dog.

Sadie suddenly started laughing while still rubbing her jaw.

"Ha! Surprised?" she said mockingly. "Really, you should have seen it coming. I mean, it's in the name. Voodoo Kingdom. You know what a voodoo doll is, right?" She was still rubbing her jaw.

Josuke felt her hand on his jaw. An invisible hand massaging his injury… his injury that was identical to hers. And come to think of it… he felt his body ache in places it hadn't before. His leg hurt from a kick he had never received.. but that Sadie had.

It didn't take a genius to figure out.

Sadie had turned herself into a voodoo doll. Just like a stand shares the damage it takes with its master, any damage Sadie took would be shared with him.

That was what she had done with the ground and the tree before. When she attacked a patch of dirt, she ad used that patch as a 'voodoo doll' and caused identical damage to another patch of dirt. Same thing with the trees.

"Hehehehe… you get it now?" Sadie said. "Or… do you need a demonstration?" She pulled a small knife from her pocket. She put the tip of the blade on the side of her own face.

Josuke felt the cold, sharp steel pushing into his own skin.

"N-No!" he cried, but it was too late. Sadie cut into her own skin, making a shallow cut from her temple down to her jaw, the wound appearing on Josuke as well.

Sadie gasped in pain and staggered… but then she started laughing. It started as a small giggle but quickly grew into a deranged cackle.

"AH-HAHAHAHAHAHA! Helpless!" she yelled. She bolted towards Josuke, her voice devolving into a demonic screech. "Helpless! At my mercy!"

Her stand roared and attacked Josuke, who barely managed to dive out of the way. But Voodoo Kingdom was unrelenting, continuing its assault. Josuke summoned Crazy Diamond to block and counter, but Sadie suddenly stabbed the knife into her own arm. The pain distracted Josuke, only for a second, but that second was more than enough.

"VOO-DOOOOOOOOOO!" the terrifying enemy stand cried, unleashing a barrage of attacks on Crazy Diamond, sending the stand and its master flying into a tree.

Josuke landed, his entire body full of pain. His chest, his back, his arm, his face, his pride… Th-this bitch…

"Ah…" Sadie sighed, the high of having another person's life at your mercy fading a little. "Man… you really didn't like it when I messed up your hair before, did you?" she said, lifting her hand into the air. It hovered ominously above her head.

Josuke could have felt the slight strain this put on Sadie's arm mirroring into his own body, but he didn't. All he felt was his heart drop in his chest as he realized what she was going to do.

"How do you like this then!?" Sadie yelled, shoving her hand into her own hair.

Josuke felt an invisible hand clawing through his own precious hair, twisting and pulling at it. What had taken him years to perfect was destroyed in mere seconds.

"Aha!" Sadie exclaimed. "There is that look I saw before! You look like you've been possessed by a demon!"

Ironic coming from her, considering Josuke was now convinced that she herself was possessed by a demon. And not just any hellspawn, but the Devil himself!

"GAAAARGH!" Josuke roared and instinctively lunged forward, Crazy Diamond's fist ready to crush this psycho bitch into dust!

"DORA!" Crazy Diamond delivered a punch to Sadie's face, crushing her nose… as well as Josuke's.

"Gah!" he yelped, stumbling back, blood spraying from his nose. The pain stabbed through his head like a hot knife through butter.

Sadie stumbled back too, a pained screech escaping her.

"Bah! What's wrong with you!?" she yelled. Her voice was now even more distorted, turned nasal by her crushed nose. Josuke felt the warm blood on her finger as she tried to wipe her face clean. "Are you trying to get yourself killed!? Because I can help you with that!" She stabbed herself in the arm again, and then again and again.

"GAH!" Josuke shrieked from the pain in his arm. Wet, warm blood flowed from his wounds. He fell to his knees.

"H-HA!" Sadie screamed, quivering slightly where she stood. "Th-that'll teach you…" She breathed heavily, drops or red blood falling to the ground.

Josuke looked up and into her eyes. Her evil eyes, full of malice and venom.

Except… that wasn't what he saw at all.

This girl… Sadie. She wasn't evil at all. He could see it in her eyes. It was subtle, but there was this… emptiness to them. A corruption, a poisonous influence that pushed her to commit these evil acts. Beyond all of that was just a normal, scared girl. Someone who needed his help.

Of course, Josuke knew what it was. The fleshbud from Santana. He had known that from the beginning. But… at some point, he had lost sight of that.

"I…I see," he mumbled.

"W-what?" Sadie asked. "What did you say?"

"I see now," Josuke said louder and clearer. He stood up, straightening his back. "I can see the road to victory lying before me like an illuminated path in the dark."

For the first time since he met her, the expression of a deranged madwoman saded from Sadie's face. She frowned and looked confused. For a moment or two, Josuke could catch a glimpse of what the real Sadie must look like. A Sadie who wasn't under the control of a monster.

He started walking toward her. Not running or dashing or bolting. A slow stride, without even a hint of aggression or ill will.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Sadie asked. Even though the evil Killer was back in control, she was looking a lot more nervous. "Y-you… you can't hurt me!" she yelled, taking a few steps back. "You can't hurt me without hurting yourself!"

Josuke sighed deeply.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said. He reached into his pocket and dug around for a few seconds. He pulled out a comb and ran it through his hair. It didn't help. "This battle… it was never about hurting you," he said.

Sadie backed into a tree and Josuke kneeled before her, putting his hand on her shoulder. "It was about helping you. I'm sorry I forgot that."

A golden aura surrounded her, a pleasant warm light dancing over her skin. Lost blood returned to her veins, her broken nose repaired itself and the wounds on her arm closed. Even the hair on her head returned to the way it had been before she messed it up.

"Wha-what t-the…" she stuttered, before the sudden realization of what was going on painted her face with shock. "No!"

Because she wasn't the only one touched by the golden aura. Voodoo Kingdom's ability was still connecting the two stand users, transferring some of the healing light to Josuke.

Sadie spat out the strand of Josuke's hair, breaking the connection between them, but it was too late. Even though the aura faded away, all the damage she had inflicted on him through Voodoo Kingdom's ability had been repaired. And that included his hair.

Josuke smiled and laughed triumphantly as his precious hair returned to its usual glory and beauty.

"Hm," Josuke pondered as he stood back up. "So that's what it feels like… tingly."

Sadie scampered backward like a small animal running away from a dangerous dog.

"Y-you… don't think this is over yet!" she yelled, spittle flying out of her mouth. "So what if you found a way to cheat and heal yourself? I'll still beat you!" Voodoo Kingdom hovered by her side, the monstrous stand screeching at him as well.

Josuke looked up and around. He could still see The Reaper's snowstorm far away. He took a few steps to the right, moving in a half-circle around Sadie, so he was facing the snowstorm. Crazy Diamond appeared behind him. Impractical if you were going to fight… but Josuke didn't need Crazy Diamond to fight. Just to hold something. Something he had smuggled out of his pocket alongside the comb before.

"No you won't," he answered Sadie's threats after a few seconds. Crazy Diamond showed her the small piece of scrap metal in its hand, restoring golden light dancing around it.

Sadie opened her mouth to say something but was rudely interrupted before she could utter even a single syllable. The tailgate from the rental car slammed into her from behind, pulled towards its missing piece in Crazy Diamond's hand. Josuke had decided to finally fix the thing.

The tailgate lifted Sadie into the air, rocketing her towards Josuke and Crazy Diamond's waiting fist.

"DORA!"

xxXXxx

Sadie Killer
Stand: Voodoo Kingdom
Status: Unconscious and unable to fight

xxXXxx

"What a strange stand battle," Josuke muttered to himself while removing the fleshbud from Sadie's head. "The only winning move was to heal the enemy…"

He sighed. He'd better hurry up and get back to the others. Something told him they were in trouble too.

Fortunately, he had just the thing to get him where he needed to be fast.

He hopped onto the tailgate, crouching down and holding onto it. Crazy Diamond appeared by his side as if to ask "are you sure?"

Josuke smiled. Koichi wasn't the only one who could make things fly.

A golden aura surrounded the tailgate and it rose into the air. It moved slowly at first, but picked up speed fast. Attracted back towards the rest of the car, it flew through the air, carrying Josuke with it, zooming past trees at breakneck speeds.

"Woohoo!" Josuke yelled as he soared. He'd catch up with the others in no time!

xxXXxx

Voodoo Kingdom
Short-range power type stand

User: Sadie Miller (a.k.a Sadie Killer)

Appearance: Tall and thin humanoid. Its skin is black and stitched together, like a ragdoll. It has red glowing eyes with streaks of red running down the cheeks like tears of blood. There's a red bloodstain on its chest, right where the heart would be on a human. Several spikes on its head form a jagged crown.

Powers and Abilities
•Feelin' tha Voodoo-VK can 'share' damage between similar or identical objects. For example, if VK attacks a tree, it can share the damage with another tree close-by. This ability doesn't have to be triggered by the stand itself attacking an object; if another stand or person damages an object, VK can still share that damage between objects.
•Voodoo Doll-By putting a piece of the victim, be it hair, blood, or nails, in their mouth, the user can turn themselves into a voodoo doll and share all damage they take with the victim. This connection only works one way; the user doesn't take damage if the victim does. There is no limit to how many people this ability can affect at once, though the user can obviously only stuff so much hair in their mouth at once.

Stats
Destructive Power: A
Speed: A
Range: D (ca. two meters)
Durability: C
Precision: B
Development Potential: B

To be continued…


So far, Josuke has won one stand battle by not fighting, another one by running away and now he won a fight by healing his enemy. At this rate, he'll win the big final fight by just letting the enemy hit him!

(this is how escalation works, right?)

I joke, of course. What is not a joke however, is Sadie's stand! Now, if you're a JoJo fan who hasn't heard of this song (Voodoo Kingdom by Soul'd Out), do yourself a big favor and go listen to it right now. It was created as the theme song to that Phantom Blood movie that was so bad Araki had to erase it from existence. It slaps.

The main idea behind the stand is that it represents an 'evil side,' or rather, an evil persona. Cause Sadie is this sweet girl who goes on stage and dons the persona of Sadie Killer! Dangerous delinquent and monster!

Alright, just one more to act before this enormous chapter is done! And… I think a lot of you have been waiting for this one.

It's happening. Jotaro and Okuyasu face off against their toughest foes yet; The Crystal Gems! Don't miss it! Be sure to be here next Friday, May 29th! Until then, take care of Planet Earth and remember that anything can happen in space!