Sorry for not updating at my usual time. Work and stuff.


Lamp Entertainment presents…

The pieces on the board are moving ever closer to each other. The knights, the queens, and the pawns will soon be in position for the endgame. All that is missing is the king.

Santana. The last of the pillar men. To our heroes, he seems less a person and more a force of evil. A cloud of corrupting darkness that infects everything it touches and turns it into a twisted mockery of itself. He's been waiting patiently for the right time. And now it has come.

The time has come for the king to make his move.

Chapter 17: Evil Ways, Act 1

Modem talking, modern walking in the streets
New desire
Take me higher, lift me higher with your speed
I need fire

The Beach House…

The situation didn't sit well with Steven.

Okay, that's putting it a broadly perhaps. There were many, many, many reasons why he wasn't feeling so happy at the moment. Several good and valid reasons as to why he would feel such fear and dread bubbling within him like an uneasy sea of anxiety slowly reaching its boiling point.

The biggest and most obvious was the fact that an ancient super vampire was invading his town and enslaving his friends. That one was a pretty major bummer, to put it mildly. But… there was something else.

Something about being left behind like this… it was bothering Steven for some reason he couldn't quite put his finger on. At first, he thought it might be because it reminded him of all those times the gems left on missions without him. It made sense, right? He had worked so hard and learned how to control all of his powers. Yet once again, the gems were leaving him behind because they thought it was too dangerous for him to come with them.

But the more he thought about it, the more he came to realize that wasn't what was bothering him. Sure, he wanted to protect them, but he could also see the logic in him staying behind with the others. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl could take care of themselves. Joseph, Connie, Peridot, and even Lapis were far more vulnerable. If anyone was going to need his shield, it was them. That's why he was left in the beach house with them. To protect them.

Even though the thought of the gems going into battle without his shield filled him with worry, it wasn't the thing the filled him with dread. The dread that was sitting deep within his chest, the dread that felt like it had a firm grip on his heart and mind. It was a promise, his own future vision, except instead of showing him alternate timelines, it let him sense hardships before they occurred.

No, that feeling of dread came from somewhere else.

These were some of the thoughts Steven pondered as he paced back and forth inside the little house. He felt restless, like an army of ants were crawling all over his body. Despite there being five people in the room, six counting Lion, it was almost eerily quiet. The only sounds to be heard were Peridot tinkering with something and occasionally muttering a gem curse.

She was currently sitting on a stool by the kitchen counter and building… something. She had dismantled the microwave (again) and an electric hand mixer, alongside appropriating a few of the many cleaning products Pearl kept round. Steven didn't know what she was doing and frankly, he was a bit scared of asking.

Lapis was sitting on top of the counter, looking at Peridot working and smiling absentmindedly. She looked calm, almost serene. Which was odd, considering the circumstances. Steven still couldn't shake the feeling that something was up with her, despite her insistence that she was fine. Add that to the pile of confusion and list of things that didn't make any sense.

He passed by Lion and patted him on the head. The big pink kitty was lying on the floor, guarding the door. Steven had heard that cats and dogs could sense emotions in some way. Lion must've felt the fear and tension in the air, just like Steven did.

Joseph was sitting on the sofa, deep in thought. Connie was sitting next to him, flipping through a book without actually reading it. After several long minutes of pretending to read, she finally put the book down.

"Mr. Joestar…" she said slowly. About halfway through 'Joestar', she looked as if she regretted opening her mouth, but by that point, it was too late to go back. "Can I ask you a question?"

"I don't know, can you?" Joseph said. He laughed a little at his own joke. "Of course you can. But please, call me Joseph. Mr. Joestar makes me feel old."

"Right, Mr… uh, I mean, Joseph. I was just wondering… you mentioned it yesterday and the gems told us about something called hamon?"

"Ah, I see," Joseph said. "You want to learn how to use it, correct?"

"Well, I… yes," Connie said.

"Hm… I suppose there's no harm in trying…." Joseph mumbled. "Now, you're young but have still received some combat training. This puts you in a good positio-"

"H-hold up, you're just gonna train me like that?" Connie interrupted him. "Don't I have to solve some riddle or prove my worth before you teach me the ancient art of hamon passed down through countless generations of great warriors and healers?" She paused for a second as she realized something else the old man had said. "And wait a minute, how did you know about my combat training?"

"Prove your worth? What for?" Joseph said. "The Crystal Gems trust you. That's more than enough for me." He then smiled, some of that youthful energy Steven had seen in him before returning to his eyes. "As for your second question…"

He nodded towards Rose's sword standing in its scabbard next to the sofa.

"I started suspecting it when I saw you with Rose Quartz's sword yesterday. I doubted the gems would let just any human girl carry around that sword. And even if they did, your mother didn't strike me as the type who would allow her daughter to wield deadly weapons without proper training." He made a short, dramatic pause. Connie's eyes were starting to fill with stars. "That, and I overheard your argument with your mother this morning. I distinctly remember you mentioning your training and that you could defend yourself."

Steven couldn't help but smile to himself when he saw Connie's amazed expression. He remembered what Joseph had told him the previous night, about how there are small clues everywhere as long as you know what to look for. When you heard the logic broken down like that, it seemed so easy.

He walked over and sat down on the sofa next to Connie. This sounded interesting and it wasn't like he had anything better to do.

"Now, as I was saying…" Joseph continued. "…you're in a good position to start training in hamon right now. You're young enough to learn easily, but trained enough to have the discipline to maintain the proper breathing required." He held up his finger. "Let me warn you though. Even for those with a natural talent and aptitude, hamon is a very difficult art to master. And that's assuming you do have the talent. Very few people do. Furthermore, I am far from an optimal teacher. There is a very good chance that this won't work. With that in mind, do you still want to try?"

"Yes," Connie said without any hesitation.

"Alright then," Joseph said. "Though perhaps we should start with what hamon is exactly. What I am about to tell you might not sound like it has much to do with melting vampires, but if you want to master hamon, you need to know what it is and where it comes from." He cleared his throat like a storyteller about to dive into a fairy tale. A very strange fairy tale of the sun and the undead.

"The sun can be said to be the origin of all life on Earth," he said. "The sun's rays travel through space to Earth, where the energy of the light is caught by plants. The plants provide energy to herbivores, which in turn provide energy to the carnivores. The sun's energy exists within all creatures on Earth in some form or another. It is a thread of light or a 'ripple' that binds us all together."

Connie nodded, absorbing every word like a sponge.

"Vampires and pillar men feed on this energy, absorbing it from the blood of the victim. However, they can also overfeed on this energy. Their cells are so efficient at absorbing energy that an excess amount of it will cause them to overfeed and die."

"Oh, so that's how it works," Peridot spoke up from across the room. She was still working on her gadget, but evidently, she had been listening in on Joseph's explanation."Their cells must be attuned to a certain wavelength of energy that can be found within living beings' cells and is close to the 'UV' range of electromagnetic radiation. That's why they're weak to it; their cells are like poorly made batteries that explode when overloaded."

"That's another way to put it," Joseph said. "Please forgive me, but I don't think I caught your name before?"

"Peridot, Facet Two-Five-L, Cut Five-X-G. But you can just call me Peridot."

"Nice to meet you, Peridot," Joseph said. "You seem like a perceptive and quick learner."

"Yes, I am highly intelligent," Peridot said without a hint of humbleness. "Continue talking. I'm finding this topic of 'hamon' very fascinating, I shall have to make further research at a later date."

"As you wish," Joseph chuckled. He turned his attention back to Connie.

"By practicing proper breathing techniques, a human can amplify the natural energy within their blood. That is what we call hamon. Hamon has many uses in combat, but also for healing and other purposes. It can mend wounds, both your own and others'. And if channeled into a pillar man or vampire, it overloads their cells and kills them. Usually, hamon takes many years of physical and mental training to master… but there is a faster way. Please stand up."

Connie eagerly stood up. Steven watched with fascination as Joseph held up his hand and extended his little pinkie, a faint yellow light surrounding it…

Then he punched Connie in the stomach.

"Oof!" Connie stumbled backward, the air knocked straight out of her.

"H-hey! What are you doing!?" Steven rushed over to Connie's side. She was slumped down on the floor, gasping for air.

"I-it's fine," Connie said, taking deep breathes. She stood…no, she jumped back up on her feet. "I feel fine. Better than fine!" She was practically bouncing on her feet like a little kid on a sugar rush. If you looked closely, you could see a very faint yellow aura surrounding her body.

"It worked…" Joseph said, seemingly surprised himself. "Fascinating… I'm terribly sorry, but it was of utmost importance that all your stomach and lung muscles were completely relaxed. When we braze for impact, our breathing tends to become stiff and unnatural. Far from the proper rhythm hamon requires."

"I see," Connie said. She looked down on her own hands and rubbed her thumbs and index fingers. Small sparks jumped around them. "Wow! Is this hamon?"

"Yes," Joseph said. "When I punched you, is used some of my own hamon energy to make your diaphragm move in the proper rhythm. Essentially, I gave you a kickstart… and it seems like it worked… better than I thought it would." He cleared his throat again and held up a warning finger. "That's all I did, however. I just helped you kickstart your hamon. The rest is up to you. Listen to your lungs right now and feel how they're moving differently from before. You have to maintain that rhythm going to keep the hamon energy in your body alive."

"Alright, I understand!" Connie said. "But as long as I breathe right, I have superpowers, right?"

"Ah, well… I don't know if I would call it a superpower, but that's the gist of it," Joseph said. "For now, why don't you sit down and just focus on your breathing for a while?"

"Okay!" Connie said and sat down again. She crossed her legs, shut her eyes, and placed her hands in a mindful pose that Steven recognized.

"Huh. That was easy," Joseph said. He turned and winked to Steven. "I would've never sat down and meditated when I was your age. They'd have to chain me to the floor if they wanted me to stay still."

Looking at him now, it was kinda hard to imagine Joseph Joestar as anything but an old wise man. Funny, wasn't it? How just a little time can change people...

"Come," he said. "Let's give her some peace and quiet to concentrate."

They walked over to the divan next to the door where Joseph sat down again. Steven sat next to him.

"Quite the remarkable young lady, isn't she?" he said.

"Yeah, she really is," Steven said fondly and smiled.

The room became quiet again. Steven's eyes wandered around the room, going from person to person. From Connie meditating, to Lion on the floor, to Peridot tinkering, to Lapis watching Peridot.

There was nothing to distract him from his own thoughts anymore. Joseph's talk about hamon was interesting, but it also reminded Steven of something… and made him realize where his feeling of dread was coming from.

The reason the gems left him here… maybe it wasn't because they were scared of what Santana might do to them… but what they had to do to Santana.

"Can… can I ask you a question too?" he said after a while.

"Of course," Joseph said. "What's on your mind?"

"You said that the gems… they helped you fight the vampires, right?"

"Yes," Joseph said. "They were instrumental in helping us fight back against Kars' army of vampires. We couldn't have done it without them. They had no blood to drain and your mother's tears were just as effective as hamon against the undead. Even one drop was enough to destroy even the toughest vampire…"

"So she did kill them." Not a question. Just a statement of fact. A fact that he had feared since yesterday that had just been confirmed.

Tears welled up in his eyes and started rolling down his cheeks as he sobbed quietly.

"Steven… are you alright?" Joseph asked. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…" He placed his hand on Steven's shoulder to send a wave of relaxing hamon into his body. Steven pushed it away. He didn't want false comfort or to be forced calm.

"I… Steven, please listen to me," Joseph said. He placed two firm hands on Steven's shoulders. There was no hamon this time, only the cold sensation of a metal hand squeezing his shoulder. "Vampires are monsters. They cannot be reasoned with. They cannot be imprisoned. We tried to keep Santana contained and you see how that ended. They cannot be allowed to roam free. Once, a single vampire was able to turn almost an entire town into zombies in a single night. There was no other choice. The vampires had to be destroyed."

"B-but… the vampires used to be human, right? W-what if…?"

"What if there was a way to turn them back into humans?" Joseph said. "I knew you would say that. Do you know how I knew?"

Steven didn't say anything. His crying might disturb Connie and the others and he didn't want to bother them. He only shook his head.

Joseph wiped away the tears from his face and smiled at him. Not a happy smile but a sad smile.

"Because that's what your mother said," he said. Once again, his gaze traveled far away, to another time and place.

"I remember… the first time she met a vampire. Yes, I remember it like it was yesterday. It's been forever engraved into my memory. The look on her face. It wasn't fear or hatred or disgust at this terrible monster. It was shock, horror, and… sorrow. Pity. Empathy for the evil creature of the night, this abomination and affront to nature itself. She embraced it and held it tight in her arms, not to crush it or rip it apart. No, she wanted to help it." Joseph's voice was shaking a bit now and his eyes were watery. "Tears rolled down her cheeks and landed on the vampire still trying to bite her. She desperately wanted to help the creature, heal it from the terrible curse put upon it by the stone mask. But she couldn't. It crumbled to dust in her arms. There was no way to reverse the stone mask's process, no way to lift its curse once it had been cast."

Joseph stopped to rub the tears out of his own eyes. When he opened his eyes again, his gaze had returned to the present.

"Listen, Steven," he said somberly. "Vampires aren't human. They may have been human at some point, but the stone mask removes every trace of humanity from them. It rips out the soul and leaves the person an empty husk, nothing but basic instincts to feed and destroy. The vampires your mother destroyed were walking corpses, thralls to Kars' evil ambitions." He sighed, looking very tired and older than he had ever before. As if the glimpses of youthful energy in his eyes had finally run out.

"There's this… old legend amongst hamon users…" he started saying, but he was interrupted by a knock coming from outside.

Steven quickly dried off his cheeks and pushed whatever conflicted emotions and thoughts he had to the side. He ran up to the door and opened it. Kiki was standing outside.

Kiki Pizza. Local friend and pizza delivery girl. A sweet and gentle soul. At first glance, she looked completely normal, aside from the fact that she was tapping on the wall beside the door instead of knocking on the door itself. Unusual, but not alarming.

"Watch out!" What was alarming though was Joseph suddenly yelling. Something invisible wrapped around Steven's arm and he was yanked away just as Kiki lunged at him. Her hand swiped at the empty air where Steven had been standing less than a second ago. "She's a stand user!"

Kiki smiled and jumped into the air and landed on the invisible vines wrapped around Steven. The second she touched them, they stopped pulling at him. She stood there for a moment like a tightrope walker standing on a thin thread of air. Joseph tugged at his own stand but he seemed… stuck.

Peridot was the second one to react, lifting the metal husk of the microwave into the air with a series of wild gestures.

"Ha! Take this, hostile human whose name I don't know!" she yelled, flinging the microwave towards Kiki. It hit her square in the chest, hard enough to knock her down… except it didn't. As soon as it touched her chest, it just sorta… stopped.

"I-impossible!" Peridot said, extending her arms and trying to pull on the microwave. "I-I can't… move… it!"

Kiki jumped down from atop Joseph's stand. She ran towards Peridot, moving as fast as a greased lightning! She was a blur! Steven could barely keep track of her and Peridot didn't even have the time to raise her arms to defend before Kiki reached her and tapped her lightly on the forehead.

"Gyah! I-I can't move either!" Peridot grunted. She could still wave her arms and she was furiously kicking around, but her head seemed frozen in place.

"Huah!" Lapis summoned a jet of water from the sink. Steven didn't quite see what happened, Kiki was moving so fast it was hard to keep track of her. But she must've hit Lapis with the same power as she did with Peridot and Joseph's stand, because Lapis stopped and stood still too.

Connie roared, running towards Kiki, sword drawn. Kiki casually stepped out of the way and patted Connie on the back.

This all took barely thirty seconds. Not even a minute, and two powerful gems and a skilled fighter were incapacitated, petrified, stuck in place. It was barely enough time for Steven to wriggle his arm free from Hermit Purple.

Kiki stood till for moment admiring her handiwork and Steven could finally get a good look at her. She didn't look much different from how she usually did, except for her eyes. They looked… off. Empty. Almost like she was sleepwalking.

"K-kiki?" Steven whispered.

She looked up at him.

"Hey Steven," she said and smiled a hollow smile without any warmth or love to it. "No offense, but I thought you guys would be stronger."

Steven summoned forth his shield and threw it towards her. She didn't even move or try to defend herself. She just stood there as the shield hit her in the stomach… and promptly came to a complete halt. If she felt any impact at all, it didn't show.

"I mean, I just got this power and I just wanna stretch my legs a little, you know?" she continued talking. She jumped up on the shield now suspended in mid-air and stood atop it. She then leaped across the room, her feet hitting the wall… and then she stayed on the wall, standing on it as if gravity had decided to turn sideways for a while. "I just wanna have a little bit of fun, that can't hurt right?" She rubbed her forehead and adjusted her headband. "Yeah, yeah, capture… stop… I've got my orders. But would it really hurt if we had us a little…"

Steven yelped in surprise as Lion grabbed him by his shirt from behind and hoisted him into the air. In the chaos, he had completely forgotten about his fluffy pink friend. Lion growled and threw Steven up on his back and ran out through the door.

"…chase?" Kiki giggled. "I'll give you a five-second head start!"

"Uaaaaahhhhhh!" Steven yelled as they flew through the air. Lion landed on the beach below with a heavy thud, pausing only for a moment before he started running again. He ran straight out into the ocean. Golden light and beautiful ripples danced on the water around Lion's paws, but Steven didn't have time to appreciate the beauty of his magical pet friend at the moment. He was more worried about Kiki.

She came running out of the house. She ran straight down the wall, running on the wall itself as naturally as if it was ground. Not only that, but she was moving fast. Way, way, way too fast for any human! Not even the ocean slowed her down because she kept running on the water!

J-just what the heck was this stand? Joseph had told him that every stand had its strengths and weaknesses but this one didn't seem to have any weaknesses at all! It stopped any attack or projectile she touched! It was unstoppable! Unbeatable! And it was getting closer and closer! Even when Lion was running as fast as he could, she was still gaining on them at a steady and alarming pace.

Although… Steven saw something. It was brief, only a second. If he had happened to blink when it happened, he would have missed it. But he saw Kiki trip on something. She didn't stop or fall over, she didn't even slow down all that much. She just stumbled a bit over something before accelerating back up to top speed. Yet, Steven saw what happened, what it was she faltered on. A small piece of a wave that froze in place when her foot touched it. Just like when you stub your toe on a threshold. The rest of the wave continued moving towards the beach while the frozen piece of water stayed in place.

That gave Steven an idea. It was only an idea and he didn't know if it would actually work… but it was at least something. Enough for him to hope that he might be able to defeat this invincible stand.

Kiki was only seconds away from catching up with them.

"Lion, take us back to the beach," Steven said, leaning forward to whisper in his feline companion's ear.

Lion nodded and roared, opening a pink portal a few meters in front of them. He jumped into the air to leap through it… and that's when Kiki caught up.

xxXXxx

"Tag!" Kiki yelled when she finally got her hand on the lion's back. The big cat immediately stopped, stuck in place. She laughed to herself. This was way more fun! Chases, thrills, and excitement!

Alas, playtime was over. The little voice in her head was nagging at her, telling her to find Steven and tag him too. It was really annoying, but she had to do what it told her to. No more wasting time.

She walked around the lion, patting it on its head to keep it from biting her. Steven. She had to get Steven. It was apparently very important that she got him too. Freeze him in place and then return to Santana. Just get Steven first.

But… where was he?

Kiki looked around. He was nowhere on top of Lion's back.

Now that she thought about it… She had been so distracted by the thrill of the chase that she had sorta ignored it… but she had seen Steven roll forward, just like how you're thrown forward when a car comes to a sudden stop. Yeah, that made sense… Steven wasn't affected by her ability, only Lion, so of course he'd be flung forward when the feline stopped. Newton's first law of motion and all that. Still, that didn't answer the question… where was he?

The only place he could have gone was the water, but if that was the case, he should be floating somewhere close by, but Kiki couldn't spot him anywhere.

T-this whole thing suddenly didn't seem so fun anymore.

It… it had to be a trick, right? He must be hiding somewhere, he wouldn't just disappear, right? He could swim, he wouldn't just… fall in the water and sink, right?

"Steven?" Kiki called out. "Steven where are you?"

As if on cue, Lion's mane lit up and Steven came shooting out of it, gasping for air. He flew high into the air, headed roughly towards the beach.

Kiki blinked in surprise, taking a moment to process exactly what had happened.

That's right… didn't Steven mention that Lion had a magical mane once? Something about it being bigger on the inside? Yeah, that was it. Magic pocket dimension inside the fluffy mane. Naturally, it all made sense now. When Steven rolled forward, he must've hidden inside the mane and waited for a few seconds before he escaped, probably so she'd be off guard and unable to catch him.

Something on her forehead stung and all her worries were pushed away in an instant. A wave of adrenaline instead filled her body. It would only last a few seconds, she had to end this quickly. But for a short time… the hunt was on again!

xxXXxx

Steven flew high up into the air. He took several deep breaths, filling his starving lungs with refreshing oxygen. This was not part of his plan, but it seemed to work out pretty well anyways. Kiki stood down on the water, looking confused for a few moments. It gave Steven enough time to reformulate his idea.

The beach. He had to get back to the beach. The key to defeating her invincible ability was right there. He just had to get there without her touching him. Should be easy, right?

He reached the crescendo of his arc, about halfway between Lion and the beach, and started falling downwards again. He could have slowed down his fall more, but he needed all the speed he could get.

As he fell towards the surface, Kiki started running towards him, ready to intercept him before he could reach the water. Steven summoned a shield at his feet and kicked it towards her, flat side forward. She stopped it in mid-air, a single tap from her finger enough to petrify it. Just as intended.

Kiki tried to grab him from behind it, but Steven kicked off the shield as hard as he could. At the same time, he re-engaged his floating ability. The result was him sailing through the air like a small missile only a few decimeters above the water surface.

"Aha! Clever trick!" Kiki yelled and laughed madly. She clapped her hands, giving Steven a second to reach the beach before she gave chase again.

Steven crashed on the soft sand, rolling around several times and coming to a stop a few meters ashore. He stood back up, coughing and spitting out sand that had gotten in his mouth.

Kiki came running, stopping for another moment about twenty-five meters or so away from him as if this was some kind of duel in a western Pearl wouldn't let him watch.

"Well done!" she said. "This is a lot more fun! But…" Her smile suddenly shifted and her voice became hollow and sinister. "I think it's time to end this."

"Kiki, please stop!" Steven cried. "I-I don't wanna hurt you…"

She didn't answer. She just crouched down into a starting position, like a professional runner before a lap. Her eyes were firmly locked on target, Steven himself.

Steven summoned his shield. He flipped it around, so instead of a shield, it was more like a bowl pointing towards Kiki. He hoped this plan would work…

Kiki rushed forward in a stunning burst of speed unmatched by any human athlete. She was headed straight towards Steven. If she could touch him even once, she would win.

She never got the chance to touch him. She didn't even reach him.

In one swift motion, Steven dug his shield into the sand and threw a large cloud of sand into the air in front of him as Kiki was only a few meters away. And just like that, it was over.

Kiki's ability was terrifying. Absolutely everything she touched froze and became unable to move. Everything and anything… regardless of whether she intended it to or not. That's why she knocked on the wall next to the door instead of on the door itself. That's why she tripped on the small wave when she accidentally froze it in place without meaning to. And that's why this cloud of sand meant a very sudden and abrupt stop for her unstoppable stand.

She didn't even have time to look surprised before she slammed into the wall of dust created by her own power freezing every grain of sand in place when she touched them.

The impact was enough to knock her unconscious immediately. She fell to the ground, blood dripping from her mouth. The sand particles fell back to the ground, released from the curse she had put on them.

Steven rushed over to her side. He fell to his knees and planted a soft wad of healing saliva on her cheek. Pink light and yellow sparks surrounded her body, repairing every injury almost instantly.

A strange sound came from underneath her bandana as she was healing up. Steven removed it and found a disgusting little creature writhing underneath. It made a horrible sound before the yellow sparks around it turned it into dust. Steven only got a short glimpse at it, but if he had to guess, he'd wager it was a fleshbud. He shivered. Gross.

Out in the ocean, Lion roared and started running back towards land, freed from Kiki's ability. Good, that meant the others should be freed as well.

A sigh of relief escaped Steven's lips. It was a close call, but he had saved Kiki and everyone else. They were safe again.

xxXXxx

Not quite.

Only a few minutes earlier, unbeknownst to anyone in the house, the small cat from the cornfield was still around. She was keeping guard outside, patrolling the stairs leading up to the house.

The faint wind from the sea carried with it a variety of smells and scents. If the monster tried approaching from the beach, she'd be able to smell it coming from a long distance away. And as soon as it got close enough, she'd turn its insides into sharp thorns of ice.

She'd been sitting there for a long time now. The entire night and morning. She had only a few uneasy naps when she could see someone else standing guard outside. She couldn't understand how she knew, but she could feel that the monster would show up here sooner or later.

That feeling turned out to be right. The foul stench of the monster reached her and she stood up, alert and ready to attack. Except… she couldn't see the monster anywhere. Yet, it's smell was so strong, it had to be close.

Actually… it wasn't coming from the beach. No… it was coming from behind!

She spun around and was met by two figures emerging from underneath the house she was guarding. But how… how had they gotten behind her? There was no way to get there without getting past her first and they couldn't have been there since yesterday, she would've smelled them a long time ago!

It didn't matter how they got there. What mattered was the stench she felt coming off one of them. Because while they were both human-looking, only one of them smelled like a human. The other one… there was no mistaking it, it was the monster. She'd never forget that oppressive odor, a stench that filled her with fear and told her to run away and hide.

Had she been an ordinary kitten, she might've listened to the voice deep inside her brain telling her to flee. But she was no ordinary kitten anymore. This monster had given her power, a power that would now be its undoing!

She focused all of her newfound strength on the water inside the monster's body, preparing to have it turn into thorns all at once and tear it apart from the inside.

Something made her stop. It was another scent coming from the monster. Fainter, but still there. And it was alive, not just an old smell still stuck on the monster's skin or fake fur. It was a scent she recognized and one she could never hurt.

The monster tilted its head and sat down next to her. From beneath its many layers of fake furs, it grabbed the source of the scent. One of her sisters.

The monster hissed while pointing at something hidden within her fur. A small parasite buried in her flesh.

She wasn't sure how or why, but she understood perfectly what it was saying. The monster could kill her sisters whenever it wanted with those parasites.

The monster placed her sister next to her and then stood there waiting as the human it brought with it ran up the stairs.

xxXXxx

Inside the house, Joseph was still tangled up by his own stand. He had tried to dismiss it but it seemed that the young lady's ability forced it to exist. Such a frightening ability… It appeared as if it could completely freeze any object or person in place with but a touch, on top of increasing the user's speed to a superhuman degree. Remarkable. Even if the stand itself possessed no destructive power, it still left its victims vulnerable and open to attack… just as they were now.

Given some more time to analyze its ability, Joseph might've been able to figure out a counter or way to beat it. He doubted Steven could do it on his own, even if he did have Lion to help him. The boy had heart and determination, that much was clear to see. He also had most of Rose Quartz's powers, and that lady was no joke in battle. But he was still only a child and not used to stand battles. He couldn't even see what it was he was fighting against. There was a chance that he might be able to figure something out, but it was small.

Joseph cursed himself and his old age. The whole reason he came to this place and stayed here was so that he could assist the Crystal Gems in fighting back against stands. Even if he could only do so from the sidelines, but he wasn't even good enough to do that anymore. The moment an enemy stand user attacked, he was incapacitated. He was nothing but a liability, useless and unhelpful…

His thoughts were interrupted by heavy footsteps on the stairs outside. footsteps that were far too heavy to be Steven or the young lady that had attacked them…

A tall figure entered the house and Joseph felt his heart drop in his chest.

Most of him was hidden underneath thick clothing, yet even through the layers of shirts, gloves, pants, boots, and a large coat, you could still make out a massive muscular frame. His face, hair, and head were covered up by scarves, sunglasses, and a hat. Yet the aura radiating from him was more than enough to eliminate any doubt anyone could ever have regarding this man's identity.

He marched into the house, his gaze at first locked on Peridot, but as soon as he spotted Hermit Purple still suspended in the air he stopped to examine it.

"Hey! Who are you? Identify yourself!" Peridot yelled, but the figure ignored her. He instead walked up to Joseph, looking him in the face.

"…JoJo?" he whispered. His voice was slightly muffled but Joseph still recognized it, even after all these years.

"Santana," Joseph said, a lot calmer than he felt. Almost like he was greeting an old acquaintance. An old acquaintance that had tried to murder him and was now on the verge of giving him a heart attack. "Long time no see."

"You…" Santana said quietly, shaking like he had just seen a ghost. "You!" he cried and lunged forward, grabbing Joseph by his jacket. "What are you doing here, JoJo!?"

Joseph didn't get the time to answer before several things happened almost all at once.

Steven must've figured out a way to disable the young lady's stand ability, because everyone inside the house was suddenly let go from the invisible force that had been petrifying them.

Hermit Purple returned to Joseph's arm, Connie yelped and fell over, Lapis looked confused and Peridot regained control over the metal microwave husk again.

Santana muttered something in an ancient language and swatted the microwave away like it was an irritating bug. Before Peridot could attack again, he grabbed Joseph and pulled him to his feet.

Suddenly, there was a blur of fists around them, a mighty stand pounding the floor and turning it into splinters and sawdust. The last thing he heard was Connie yelling before him and Santana fell down the hole and in under the house.

xxXXxx

"STEVEN!"

Steven looked up when he heard his name being yelled. Peridot came running from the house, Lapis following after her. At first, he thought she was happy he'd managed to free them and was coming to celebrate.

"Steven!" she shouted again and that's when Steven realized she wasn't yelling out of happiness or relief, but out of panic.

"What is it!?" he yelled back, running towards his green friend. "What happened?"

"He-he was here!" Peridot said, almost colliding into him. "He was here Steven, in the house while you were fighting the stand using human!"

A cold, dark chill ran down Steven's spine.

"W-who?" he asked, even though he already knew there was only one person it could have been.

"Santana!"

Steven's knees became weak and he stumbled backward. If Peridot and Lapis were here…

"W-where is…?"

"I…I'm not sure what happened," Peridot said. "It happened so fast… he grabbed Joseph and then the floor exploded and they fell down the hole… and then they just disappeared into thin air…"

"C-Connie?"

"Sh-she grabbed onto his coat just as they fell… and was dragged down with them… She's gone too!"

xxXXxx

Kiki Pizza
Stand: Running in the 90s
Status: Unconscious and unable to fight

Santana
Stand: ?
Status: Unknown

Joseph Joestar
Stand: Hermit Purple
Status: Missing

Connie Maheswaran
Status: Missing

xxXXxx

Running in the 90s
Wearable type stand

User: Kiki Pizza

Appearance: A sleek tracksuit in shades of black and grey with a pair of matching goggles, gloves, and running shoes. There's a golden pin on the chest that reads "ID." The lower half of the torso is decorated with vertical speed lines running along the sides of the user's stomach. "RUN!" is written on the user's back in large blocky silver letters. The lower legs, shoes, and gloves of the suit are decorated with golden stars and satellites.

Powers and Abilities
•Boost Me Higher-The stand drastically increases the user's running speed and reflexes far beyond the scopes of a normal human. The user's top speed while wearing the stand is exactly 90 kilometers per hour or 25 meters per second. How long it takes to reach top speed depends on several factors, including terrain, direction, wind and if the user got a full night's sleep and steady breakfast.
•Free Running-Running in the 90s automatically adjusts gravity for the user so they can run on walls or even upside down.
•Run To Me-The stand also freezes any object or person the user touches in place. This allows the user to run on, amongst other things, water, by freezing the parts of the water they step on in place, essentially solidifying it. The user can not choose which objects become frozen, nor can they choose to release certain objects, they can only control when to cancel the ability altogether, which frees all frozen objects. The frozen objects are also released if the user is knocked unconscious or forced to dismiss her stand.

Stats
Destructive Power: N/A
Speed: B
Range: E
Durability: E
Precision: E
Development Potential: D

To be continued…


Ironically, Kiki's favorite racing song is actually The Race by Yello. Go figure.

Gotta love how one of the most OP stands I've made so far has shit stats, aside from speed. And even then, it's only a B. Stands like Star Platinum and Crazy Diamond would be running circles around her. Then again, who needs speed or destructive power when any and all attacks are rendered useless as soon as they touch you?

Kiki Pizza's stand is (of course) named after the eurobeat classic Running in the 90s by Max Coveri.

I'll try to get the next chapter out by next Friday, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to. Again, I don't wanna rush something out, I wanna make sure the chapter is up to the quality I want it to be. So there might be another two-week gap between chapters. Emphasis on "might." Maybe it'll be finished next week.

Either way, Friday this week or next week.

And hoo boy, lemme tell you, this one, it's, ah… it's going to be something alright. How well do you reckon old Joseph and Connie will do against Santana in a fight?

Until next time, whenever that may be, take care of your fellow human beings and remember that things can change for the better. See you next time.