Lamp Entertainment presents…

This is a test.

"Wh-what!?" Steven's heart sunk in his chest like a brick through a cold and dark lake. He heard Peridot's words, but he couldn't understand them. They reached his ears, but his brain refused to process them. It wasn't true, it couldn't be true, Connie wasn't gone, sh-she couldn't be…

"I-I'm not sure what happened," Peridot stammered. "It… it all happened so fast, it looked like they just vanished into thin air!"

What if one moment could change everything?

Steven stumbled back, feeling sick and dizzy as his brain was forced to accept those awful words he had just heard as reality.

Connie and Joseph… they were gone. While Steven was busy with Kiki, Santana had come and taken them away to who knows where to do who knows what. And Steven hadn't been there to protect them.

What if a single second could alter fate?

Lion walked up to him and looked at him as if to ask 'what's wrong?'

"Lion.." Steven whispered and ran his hand through the giant feline's soft mane. "Connie and Joseph are gone. Find them." The big cat nodded in response and started sniffing in the air.

Steven turned to Lapis and Peridot. The despair and fear within his soul were pushed aside and forgotten for the moment, instead replaced with a will and determination of steel. There wasn't a moment to waste, not a second to spare.

"You two, look from the air," he said. "Me and Lion will search from the ground. They have to be somewhere close-by."

What if a single decision was enough to make someone change their evil ways?

"B-but how do you… Uh, I mean... alright," Lapis stuttered. She grabbed ahold of Peridot's arms and spread her water wings. She launched into the air, headed towards the town.

Lion growled softly and pushed Steven in the side. It seemed like he had found a trail already, through even Lion's enhanced senses weren't perfect. It might take him a few minutes to find them. Still, there was no time to hesitate or stand idly by. This was a time for action and even if it was a cold trail Lion had found, it would still be one step closer to finding Connie and Joseph.

Steven jumped up on Lion's back and the giant cat roared, a pink portal opening in front of them. Without fear or hesitation, they leaped through it, ready to face whatever dangers might be awaiting them on the other side.

What if…?

Chapter 17: Evil Ways, Act 2

Oye cómo va

Mi ritmo

Bueno pa' gozar

Somewhere else…

Joseph landed on the ground. Hard. Crushing pain spread throughout his body like molten iron being poured into his bloodstream. It felt like he had just been hit by a truck. The air was knocked out of his lungs and he blacked out for a few moments.

He came to slowly, black spots dancing before his eyes. Sharp, stabbing pain in his shoulder reminded him he was still alive. He tried to push himself off the ground, but his right arm was too weak after the impact. He could barely even move it. It was a miracle it wasn't broken.

"Mr. Joestar? Joseph?" a faint voice reached him through the clouds in his mind. He turned his head to the side, even that small movement straining his muscles and causing him yet more pain.

The young girl's face next to him was familiar but it took him a few seconds to remember her name. Connie…It was Connie. She was kneeling next to him. She… she must've been standing close to Santana when he… when they…

What was it that had happened? The last thing Joseph saw was a blur of green fists and then they fell down… and now they were somewhere else. From what little he could see while lying on the ground, it didn't look like they were underneath the Crystal Gems' house… so where were they? It looked like a forest… but there was no forest anywhere close to the beach… which meant they were quite a bit away from the temple.

"Are-are you alright?" Connie asked.

"Yes," Joseph said. A blatant lie. He couldn't even stand up on his own. Connie had to help him get back up on his feet. Even when he did get back up on his feet, he had to lean against a tree in order to stay upright.

"Where… where is he… Santana?" Joseph asked.

"He's… over there," Connie said and pointed to a small cluster of trees about a dozen meters away. Santana, still clad in heavy clothes, stood underneath the shadows of the trees, watching them. "He's just… standing there. He hasn't moved or tried to attack even once…"

Why? Why were they still alive? It was quite the morbid question to ask, but an important one all the same. There was no doubt in Joseph's mind that if Santana wanted to kill them, he could've done so by now. Easily. So why were they still alive? For that matter, why did he bring them here, to this place in the forest? How did he even do that? Was it his stand ability? Some kind of teleportation or transportation stand?

Santana took a step forward. He started walking towards them, taking slow, deliberate steps.

Connie grabbed her sword and rushed forward, placing herself between Joseph and Santana.

"N-no don't!" Joseph tried to yell, but his voice betrayed him. What was supposed to be a desperate yell turned into a hoarse croak.

"If you wanna get to him, you're gonna have to go throu-" Connie was interrupted by an unseen force pushing her aside as casually as one might swat away a fly. The stand's arm moved so fast that Joseph could barely see it himself, only a flash of green similar to the one that broke the floor just a minute or two earlier.

The last of the pillar men strode up to Joseph Joestar, the two old enemies standing face to face for this first time in decades. Santana raised his hand and reached towards Joseph's face. The old man flinched, expecting pain. But instead, the pillar man just… poked his nose.

"Tag!" Santana yelled and jumped backward. He struck a pose.

"Happy! Peppy! Hello-py!" With each word, he struck a new pose, creating a bizarre little dance. This behavior would seem random to practically every person on the planet, including Connie, who was looking absolutely dumbfounded by the whole spectacle. To Joseph, however… he recognized the dance. It was very familiar to him. After all, he was the one who invented the dance. His first audience? Santana.

"Happy! Peppy! Hello-py!"

Joseph almost couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of it all. Of all things he had expected Santana to do when he finally confronted him… this was not on the list. Though he supposed it made some form of twisted sense. After all, that was how he had greeted Santana during their first meeting. It was only natural that this would be how Santana greeted him for their last meeting

Santana stopped dancing and stood still, looking at Joseph through those dark sunglasses he was wearing. His face was hidden behind so many layers of cloth that his expression was completely unreadable. Even when he spoke, it was hard to tell what his mood truly was. He sounded jovial, but who's to say that he couldn't snap at any second?

For a few seconds, everything was quiet. A few seconds that seemed to stretch out into a minor eternity where no one moved or said anything. Even all the animals of the forest stayed quiet. No birds chirped, no insects buzzed. It was all still and silent as if to show that even the tiniest ant realized the importance of this moment.

"I… always knew we would meet again," Santana finally spoke up. He talked slowly as if he was unsure of what to say. "It was… strange. As if I could glimpse the red string of fate tying us together at some point. But I didn't think we'd meet just yet. I thought I would have to stay patient for a few more days at least."

He took a step forward and extended his arm, putting a single hand on Joseph's shoulder. Joseph knew that hand could tear through flesh and crush bone easily, yet his touch was light as a feather.

"I spent so many years hating you," he said, his voice lowering into a whisper only Joseph could hear. "Hating you for the defeat, the humiliation, and the hell inside that metal box that you put me through. My hate burned like a great fire. And yet, as the years turned into decades slowly passing me by… my hatred for you began to wane. And now… when I see you like this, an old and frail man, every bit as weak and pathetic as I was told all humans were… that hate has been fully extinguished."

A sickly green aura surrounded him and the faint outlines of a stand started to slowly materialize behind him as he continued talking.

"No, my hatred now has a new target. One that is far more deserving of my ill feelings. For while you might've taken my freedom and confidence, you also bestowed upon me the gifts of perspective and motivation." His words started becoming sharper, revealing anger boiling beneath his calm surface. "But Master Kars… he took everything from me. He slaughtered my people, my family, and destroyed my civilization. And then he abandoned me. Why? You were just defending yourself and the rest of humanity from what you perceived to be a monster. Master Kars left me to rot because he thought of me as weak and unworthy of the perfection he sought."

The stand finished forming behind him and it was a ghastly sight to behold. It was about as tall as Santana, but any similarities between stand and master ended there. His stand was thin and looked malnourished, with arms and legs that were too long and out of proportion. Its fingers were pointed like the claws of a wild animal and its skin a pale green color. Most of it was covered under dirty rags, cloth, and bandages. Its head was pale and its face thin, almost skeletal, with an unkempt mane of white hair. Uneven vampire fangs jutted out its mouth, forcing it open in a pained grin. Its eyes were covered behind a blindfold. There was an empty hole on its forehead.

"Master Kars was so obsessed with improving himself, yet he lost to you," Santana said. "You. Some nobody human. He possessed all the power of a god… yet you defeated him and banished him into the vast space for him to drift endlessly through the empty nothing for eternity."

The stand grabbed Joseph's shoulder as Santana removed his own hand.

"So know this, Joseph Joestar," he said. "I do this, not to get revenge on you, but on Master Kars. I will prove myself better than him by succeeding where he failed. And this stand, a power whose existence he was unaware of shall be the key to obtaining that revenge. This is my Evil Ways."

Evil Ways squeezed Joseph's shoulder, but instead of more pain, a warm feeling spread through his arm and out into the rest of his body. Not a burning heat or fire, but a pleasant warmth, like the sun in the springtimes reviving the dead lands of winter.

The warm sensation pushed away the pain from falling to the ground earlier and drowned it out, causing it to fade away. A sense of renewed strength and energy flowed through Joseph's veins. In only a few seconds he felt ten years younger! Or… no, it couldn't be…

He held up his hand. His old, wrinkly hand, full of scars, wear and tear. There was one scar in particular on his thumb that he had gotten only a few years ago when he cut himself on a kitchen knife. Except it wasn't there anymore. He could see it in his mind's eye, but his regular eyes couldn't see it. It was gone. And it wasn't just that scar. Slowly, one by one, the scars faded away and disappeared. His skin became smoother and the muscles in his hand grew bigger and stronger.

It wasn't just in his hand either. All throughout his body, old wounds and scars disappeared. his muscles grew, inflating like balloons. For a moment, he thought he grew taller, but it was actually his spine straightening out. His vision corrected itself, becoming as perfect as it had ever been and causing him to tear his glasses off after a pang of pain in his head. A stray lock of hair in the corner of his eyes turned from silver-grey to a much darker color.

His lungs suddenly took a deep breath, seemingly on their own accord. Joseph felt hamon energy course through his entire body, a faint yellow aura surrounding him.

"M-Mr. Joseph…" Connie gasped. "You're… you're young again!"

Indeed. Sixty-three years or so, if Joseph had to guess himself.

It… it was strange. His body was young again, he could feel the old strength, it was familiar to him… and yet, his mind didn't feel any younger. Whatever it was Evil Ways had done to him, it had not affected his mind. It was disorienting, to say the least. Santana might as well have ripped out Joseph's mind and stuffed it in a younger body.

Evil Ways vanished, leaving Santana to admire his handiwork.

"The quality I admire most within you humans is your ability to grow and evolve through hardships," he said. "Even a small and weak human with a short lifespan can grow many times stronger in a short time. So to take away that growth is 'evil' in my eyes. That is why I call my stand that. These are my evil ways by which I shall obtain my goals."

"B-but why… why would you…?" Joseph stuttered. He leaned against a tree again, wrapping his arm around it to steady himself from the shock.

"There is no glory or challenge in fighting an old man," Santana said. He raised his arms and placed his legs in a battle stance. "I want to defeat you when you're at your strongest, not your weakest. All of this to prove…"

"…to prove that you're better than Master Kars," Joseph said in tandem with Santana. The pillar man flinched, nearly taking a step back out of surprise. "Yeah, I figured that much," Joseph muttered. He took a deep breath. "Hamon!"

Santana realized what was going on a few moments too late. You see, Joseph hadn't actually grabbed the tree to keep steady himself or keep his balance. No, it was to let hermit Purple's vines climb up the tree, hidden from Santana's view behind the thick trunk. The vines wrapped themselves around a few of the branches. When Joseph focused his hamon energy into the leaves, they became stiff and shot out from the branches like a bunch of throwing knives. Santana tried to jump out of the way, but several razor-sharp leaves hit him. Not all of them managed to penetrate his thick clothes, but a few of them did and stabbed into his skin.

While the pillar man was distracted by pulling the leaves out before the hamon in them could spread too far, Joseph did the one sensible thing he could do in this situation.

"Connie!" he yelled, sprinting towards the young girl. "If you want to live, do exactly as I tell you."

"O-of course!" she said, a hint of fear in her voice even as she stood ready with her sword. "I'll do whatever you say."

"Good!" Joseph grabbed her hand and started dragging her along with him, away from Santana. "Run away!"

The two of them bolted like a pair of scared hares pursued by a hungry fox.

"Th-this is what we call the Joestar Family's Secret Technique," Joseph said between pants. "It's a very valuable and legitimate battle tactic!"

Joseph was aware of his own limitations. His body might be young again and he had Hermit Purple, but he doubted it would be enough in this battle. He didn't have much of use on him, just some tissues and his phone. That and his baggy clothes. A perfect fit for an old man, not so much for a younger and more athletic man trying to run for his life. The most useful item he had on him was his mechanical hand, which had remained unaffected by Santana's Evil Ways. The hand had a few tricks built into it, but Joseph doubted any of them would be enough. Santana was a pillar man, nigh immortal, and armed with a powerful stand. And if he was even half as intelligent as Joseph recalled, he was smart enough to not repeat his mistakes. He would not underestimate Joseph again and let himself get tricked.

Of course, while all of these were very good reasons to run away, the thing that tipped the balance was Connie. She was just an innocent young girl with her whole life in front of her and Joseph was not about risk her getting hurt or killed over his mistakes.

Santana stood still for a few moments, quite literally left behind in the dust. If Joseph had been able to peek behind his mask, he would have seen the pillar man blink in surprise a few times before his face twisted with anger.

"J-JOJO!" he roared like a furious lion. He gave chase, running as fast as a cheetah… or even faster! "Don't you dare run away! This is your last chance to kill me and free all of those I've possessed from my influence! You have the opportunity to end it all right now! So fight me! Fight me until your last dying breath, JoJo!"

Joseph didn't even need to turn his head or glance backward to know exactly where Santana was. He could feel exactly how far it was between them and the pillar man and exactly how fast he was gaining on them. He was able to tell almost down to the second how long they had before Santana pounced on them like a puma. It was almost like some sixth sense warning him of this ancient predator hunting them.

Four seconds… only four seconds until Santana caught up. Joseph looked up at the trees they were running between. There was a tall one about ten meters ahead with thick and sturdy branches…

Santana leaped forward, intent on tackling Joseph to the ground. Quickly, Joseph grabbed Connie with one arm and extended Hermit Purple upward to grab the tallest tree within range. With a grunt, he pulled both of them out of the way and up into the tree. Santana sailed past the spot where Joseph was standing less than half a second ago. To an outsider with no stake in this battle, it might've looked very comical, like something out of a cartoon.

"Grab a branch!" Joseph told Connie. The maneuver had barely slowed down the pillar man at all. He somersaulted and jumped into the air, pursuing them even into the treetops without a moment hesitation.

Connie grabbed a branch and clung to it for dear life. With his other arm free, Joseph grabbed a crumpled ball of tissue paper from his pocket, charged it with hamon, and threw it at Santana. The paper hit him in the head, unfolded and clung to the cloth and wrapping around his face and blocking his sunglasses. Temporarily blinded, he was unable to see or block Joseph's kick which sent the pillar man tumbling back down on the ground.

"Gah!" Santana hissed and tore the paper from his face. Evil ways appeared next to him and punched the tree. Joseph grabbed onto a branch with his arm and retracted Hermit Purple. He had to swing him and Connie over to another tree before Santana could cut this one down…

Before he could do that, however, the branch he was holding onto started to rapidly shrink in his hand. In fact. all the branches in the tree shrunk and became smaller. D-damn! Santana was using Evil Ways to de-age the branches until…

Joseph sent Hermit Purple away to grab another tree, but it was too late. The branches he and Connie were golding onto snapped and they fell down to the ground. Joseph grabbed Connie and extended sharp claws from the fingers on his mechanical hand. He dug them into the tree trunk, trying to slow their fall, if only by a little. He did, but the two of them still landed quite roughly on the ground, Joseph doing his best to shield the young girl with his own body.

Santana grabbed Connie and threw her to the side.

"Go away," he growled.

Joseph stood back up, ignoring the pain in his shoulder and back. He took a deep breath, trying to concentrate all the hamon energy he could muster. His right fist glowed with yellow light and sparks jumped around it.

"Sunlight Yellow Overdrive!" he yelled and punched at Santana's face. The pillar man dodged easily, however. His neck bent at an unnatural angle, letting the punch fly past him useless. Which was exactly what Joseph had intended.

Hermit Purple appeared in Joseph's left hand and extended towards Santana, wrapping around his right arm. Joseph could feel him trying to turn his arm rubbery to slip through Hermit Purple's grip, but the vines were tied to it quite tightly. Joseph took another deep breath and concentrated his hamon through his left hand this time. The mechanical hand could conduct hamon, though not as efficiently as flesh. Still, it would have to make do.

"Metal Purple Overdrive!" Joseph yelled, channeling the hamon through his stand on its way to the pillar man's arm!

Before the energy could reach him, however, Santana summoned Evil Ways. The stand was able to easily rip Hermit Purple off its master's arm. The hamon energy sparked uselessly in the air.

"Ah! Much better!" Santana said and lunged forward. He grabbed Joseph and pushed him backward until he collided with the tree he had just fallen out of. The pillar man grabbed Joseph's throat and squeezed it, preventing him from taking even a single breath. Joseph felt the hamon energy rapidly disputing from his veins. He wrapped Hermit Purple around Santana, but there was no energy for the stand to channel into him, nor could it bind him or make him stop choking Joseph. The stand could only pathetically wiggle and flicker in and out of existence as its master's breath was completely stopped.

He summoned all the willpower and strength he could and slammed his mechanical hand against Santana's head. The claws on his finger stared spinning like drills and dug into the pillar man's flesh and bone. The pillar man growled and his skull turned soft like rubber, but the claws were able to penetrate the softened bones and dig into the brain.

Black spots dotted Joseph's vision and he felt his limbs going numb. His mind became slower and slower… but if he was going to die here, he would take Santana with him. He used the last strength his dying body could muster to drive his mechanical hand deep into the pillar man's brain! Even a pillar man couldn't regenerate if their brain was completely destroyed and turned into mush!

"WRYYY!" Santana screamed and finally let go of Joseph. He swatted away the mechanical hand and stumbled backward, covering the holes in his head.

German cybernetics. The best in the world.

Joseph fell to the ground, gasping for air. He struggled to get back up on his feet, but he was still dizzy, dazed, and discombobulated after nearly getting strangled to death. And even though Joseph had drilled five holes into his skulls, Santana would still recover faster.

His hat had fallen off in the struggle and there were glimpses of blonde hair visible under several layers of scarves wrapped around his head. Santana looked at Joseph. His face and eyes were still hidden, but Joseph thought he could make out a smirk behind the cloth covering his mouth. Santana took a step towards Joseph who couldn't even catch his breath to create any hamon or muster any other defense for that matter.

"HEY!" Connie suddenly shouted. Santana turned to her but didn't even bother to move or defend himself against the young girl who came running at him, even as her fist glowed with hamon energy. "Take this! Sunlight Yellow Overdrive!" She thrust her tiny fist into the pillar man's chest with all her might. Yellow sparkles jumped around his coat for a bit, but it had little effect other than that small light show.

Santana looked down upon the small girl.

I admire your effort," he said. "But I'm afraid you-"

「SLASH」

"Gyah!" Santana cried out as his left arm was very nearly separated from his shoulder by a large pink sword appearing seemingly out of nowhere!

It took Joseph a second in his dizzy state to figure out exactly what had happened. Connie must have thrown the sword into the air before she shouted to get Santana's attention. When she charged at him and attacked with her hamon, it was but a distraction to disguise the true attack. Perhaps not the most elaborate of traps, but it was still impressive that a girl her age was able to pull it off. Just throwing the sword with the level of accuracy would be difficult even for trained fighters with years of experience.

Connie caught the blade and hoisted it into the air. With a furious battle cry, she brought it down on the pillar man, completely cutting his right arm off! Santana screamed in pain and for a moment Connie looked horrified with herself over what she had just done. But she shook her head and the horror was replaced by a cold determination to survive. With another cry, she stabbed the pink blade deep into Santana's chest.

Santana staggered back… for a moment. Then he stopped and straightened his back, standing up again, seemingly unaffected by all the damage he had taken. As if losing the use of both his arms was nothing more than mere flesh wounds, minor inconveniences.

Indeed they were nothing but shallow wounds to a pillar man. The parts of his arms and shoulder that were exposed to sunlight turned to stone when the sun's rays touched them. Even as he stood there, a sword buried in his chest, the arm on the ground started moving, pulling itself closer to the rest of its body.

Connie gasped, this time in genuine horror. She tried to pull out the blade for another attack… but something moved in Santana's chest, just under his many layers of clothes. Connie pulled at the blade with all her strength, but it was firmly stuck. She couldn't see it, but Joseph remembered one of the attacks Santana had used during their first battle over sixty years ago. His own ribs, extended outside of his chest and with enough strength to crush a human… what's to say he couldn't move them around inside his chest to keep a sword in place?

Connie took a deep breath, yellow sparks flying around her hands and pink-tinted light running up the blade.

"Metal Pink Overdri-" Connie started to say, but Santana kneed her in the chest hard enough to throw her backward and completely knock the air out of her lungs. She stumbled back, colliding with a tree and falling down, conscious, but unable to get back up. She coughed up a small drop of blood and a tear of pain rolled down her cheeks.

Santana stood still, panting heavily for a few long moments.

"Hehe…" he giggled. "Hehe… Ahahahahaha!" The giggle grew into a maniacal laugh. "Impressive!" he shouted. "Very impressive, little human!" Evil Ways appeared and grabbed his arm from the ground and reattached it to his shoulder, covering it with a bit of cloth to block it from the sunlight. Santana groaned and his dangling left arm moved, beginning to heal as well.

"You picked your apprentice well, JoJo," he said and nodded towards Joseph.

Joseph had finally managed to start breathing again, though he had a hard time to get it in the proper rhythm to muster any hamon energy of his own. He was desperately trying to figure out what to do next. Connie didn't look too injured… as far as he could tell, she was still conscious and breathing, but unable to fight or run. That meant that Joseph had to lead Santana away from her.

His mind felt slow like it was still trying to catch up with his body… he couldn't think of anything he could no, no tricks that could defeat Santana… at least not here and now. His mechanical hand… it did have two tricks left in it. One was a small UV lamp in the wrist, but that wouldn't be much use as long as Santana was covered in clothes. And even if he somehow managed to rip the clothes off him, the sun would do a better job at petrifying him than Joseph could with a single UV lamp. That left one last trick up his sleeve. Literally. It could probably buy him some time, but not much… and he could only use it one time.

Santana pulled the pink blade out of his own torso and examined the sharp edge on it.

"Impressive. And I do mean that, little human," he said. "Using yourself as a distraction while you threw the blade into the air? Brave, creative, and armed with a fine blade. One day you will make for a truly fierce warrior. But today, you are but a child." He pointed at her with her own blade. "I advise you to stay there and don't interfere in this battle anymore, or I will crush you."

He turned his attention fully back to Joseph.

"Now…" he started saying

"Your next line is 'it's time to end this,' followed by 'argh!'"

"It's time to end thi… Wh-what!?"

Joseph's mechanical fist folded backward, revealing the mechanism inside. A small machine gun. Santana didn't have time to dodge or jump put of the way, only throw his arms up in front of his head to defend his brain from the hail of bullets.

「RATATATATATATATATATATATATA」

As a certain crazy cyborg son of a bitch discovered when he tried and failed to fight Kars, normal bullets don't do much against pillar men. So an idea was put forward to develop an explosive bullet that could penetrate their skin and detonate inside their body. A few shots to the brain should then theoretically be able to actually kill the pillar man. Unfortunately, the few attempts made to craft such bullets sixty years ago literally blew up in their faces. But today?

"ARGH!" Santana yelled as a dozen explosive round buried themselves in his chest and detonated, messing up his insides. The clip in Joseph's arm could only carry twelve bullets, but the explosives charges were enough to turn a normal human's organs into soup. Although the pillar men were made of sturdier stuff than mere humans. Santana remained standing and very much alive, though unable to do more than scream in pain for several seconds.

Joseph folded his hand back in place, turned around, and ran away as fast as he could. The bullets would only slow down Santana for so long. Even with most of his internal organs turned into purée, he should still be able to run while regenerating. So, if he was really lucky, Joseph had bought himself thirty seconds at most. Probably less. However, while that last trick up his mechanical sleeve only bought him that much, it was sure to distract Santana from the young girl lying on the ground. No, his focus would be squarely focused on the bastard that just shot him and ran away.

…admittedly, most people would probably see that as a negative. You know, having the full and undivided attention of a pissed-off pillar man with murderous intent. Still, Joseph's biggest priority was to protect Connie. The second biggest was to survive, and the best way to do that would be to kill Santana before he could kill Joseph. So how to do that?

His best shot was probably to use Hermit Purple to send a wave of hamon into him… find some way to get him in contact with the stand so he couldn't see it and counter with Evil Ways… or perhaps he could channel it into Evil Ways to hurt Santana himself? After all, Evil Ways had thrown Hermit Purple to the side bef-

Joseph's train of thought was interrupted by a sharp pain in his shin. Santana had thrown a small rock at his leg. Not hard enough to draw blood or break bones, but more than enough to make him trip and fall over. He rolled around on the ground and saw Santana running towards him, Connie's sword in hand. Joseph scrambled back up on his feet, Santana only a few meters away.

He extended Hermit Purple out towards Santana, but Evil Ways appeared to counter. However, instead of swatting it away like Joseph expected, the stand instead grabbed the vines. Sh-shit! Joseph had intended to pretend to miss and attack from behind!

Before he could channel any hamon into Evil Ways, the enemy stand tugged hard at Hermit Purple and dragged Joseph with it. He stumbled forward… right into a kick from Santana which knocked all of the air out of him.

He fell to the ground again and Hermit Purple flickered out of existence as he gasped for air. Santana placed a heavy boot on his chest, preventing him from breathing properly. He lifted the sword high up into the air and aimed it right for Joseph's heart.

Joseph Joestar would have died right then and there if it hadn't been for something very big and very pink appearing out of a brilliant light and colliding with Santana the moment he brought the sword down.

xxXXxx

Steven only caught a glimpse of what was going on before Lion slammed into the tall figure and he was thrown off the cat's back. He landed on the ground, slightly disoriented but quick to get back up on his feet.

It had only taken Lion a few minutes to find Joseph and Connie, but every single second of those few minutes had been torture. After all, how long does it take to kill someone? A second? Two? How long does it take before it's too late?

From the looks of it, they did arrive just in the nick of time. The tall figure who he assumed was Santana was standing over… someone with Rose's sword aimed right for their chest. If Lion had been only a second late… that person would have been dead.

"RAWR!" Lion roared, the mighty beast rolling around on the ground with the Santana, clawing and biting at him. Something about the pillar man seemed to drive the giant feline crazy. Steven had never seen him this angry of violent before, not even when he was defending Steven or fighting corrupted gems.

Steven ran over to the man lying on the ground. At first, he didn't recognize him and thought he was some young man Santana decided to use as a hostage or something… but when he took a second look at the man, he realized that he recognized some of his features. This man was no stranger, Steven had seen him before, recently too, but not… not like this…

"J-Joseph?" he stuttered in disbelief. He-he was young? When… how…?

"S-Steven?" Joseph said weakly. He was sitting on the ground, holding his chest and breathing heavily like he had just run a marathon or two.

A bloodcurdling scream distracted the two. Santana roared, somehow sounding even scarier than the giant lion. He pushed Lion off him and kicked him on the nose. Lion snarled and backed off… only to let loose a thunderous sonic roar! The roar was powerful enough to send Santana flying into a tree and rip up large chunks of plants and dirt.

Lion charged at Santana, his maw filled with sharp teeth aimed at the pillar man's throat! But he never made it to Santana. Something invisible hit him in the head. Lion whimpered and stumbled away, blood flowing from a wound in his head.

"No!" Steven cried. He tried to run towards Lion, but something stopped him. Joseph grabbed his arm.

"Steven…" he whispered, barely audible even to Steven. "The tears… I'll distract him… use the tears…"

The… tears?

Steven didn't get the time to contemplate what Joseph meant by that, because Santana lunged at him. He tried to form a bubble around both him and Joseph, but something grabbed ahold of him before he could.

Santana's invisible stand hoisted Steven into the air by his throat, choking him. And while he couldn't see the stand itself, Steven could see its master. Through cracks in his sunglasses, Steven could catch glimpses of Santana's blue eyes, filled with rage.

The stand threw him into a tree, hard. There was a nasty cracking sound from the tree and pain shot through Steven's back. He landed on the ground gasping for air.

"Stay," Santana said his voice as cold as ice, yet burning with the intensity of a great bonfire.

And even as he stood there, breathing heavily, swaying from side to side, his clothes torn and ripped… there was an aura around him that filled Steven with a primal fear that told him to do as the pillar man said.

"And you!" he shouted, pointing at Joseph. "Stand up! There is still life in you, so stand up and fight until you no longer can!

Joseph glanced at Steven, looking into his eyes as if trying to tell him something. He grabbed Rose's sword from the ground and stood back up. Slowly, he started walking backward into a patch of land where the grass was higher, going almost up to his knees. Santana followed him, like a predator stalking its prey.

"If I die…" Joseph said. His eyes kept darting between Santana and Steven. "…will you let Steven, Connie, and Lion go?"

"Yes," Santana said, standing at the edge of the patch of tall grass as if the grass might try and attack him if he stepped in it. "As long as they do not interfere with my goals or try to attack me, they shall not come to harm."

"And if you die…" Joseph continued. He came to a stop, surrounded by tall grass. Santana took a first careful step into the high grass as well. "If you die… what happens to the fleshbuds you've implanted into the innocent citizens of Beach City?"

"They die," Santana said. "The pieces of myself I've left behind will die without causing the hosts any harm."

At that last word, Joseph looked into Steven's eyes and mouthed something at him.

"Tears."

"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."

That's when Steven realized what it was Joseph was trying to tell him. Or perhaps he already knew and he had been denying it this whole time and he was only forced to accept it now when Santana revealed the fleshbuds would not hurt anyone if he died.

"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."

Tears. As in Rose's tears, her healing powers that could destroy vampires and pillar men. The same healing powers passed down to Steven.

"It crumbled to dust in her arms."

Joseph wanted him to use those powers on Santana… to kill him.

Steven knew he could do it. Not just because he had seen the effects his powers had on the fleshbud on Kiki. No, there was something deeper… a feeling inside of him, a voice telling him he could do it. That it was possible, that his powers could really kill the pillar man. Kill Santana.

Santana's clothes had several tears, especially on the chest where Steven could spot patches of skin. They were still obscured by shadows from trees or surrounding cloth, but they were there. Exposed. All it would take was a small amount of Steven's saliva touching one of those exposed spots and it would be all over.

With shaking hands, Steven licked his fist, coating it with a layer of healing saliva glowing faintly pink. He nodded towards Joseph, who nodded back before devoting his full attention to Santana.

This was it… Steven had a chance, an opportunity to end this right here, right now. It would be easy. As long as Joseph could distract him, all Steven needed to do was touch Santana and it would all be over. Just like that, this nightmare brought to a close.

So why… why did this feeling of dread fill his soul? Why was there another voice in his head desperately shouting at him that he shouldn't? Why did he feel as if the world would be brought to an end the moment he laid his hand on Santana?

Joseph sighed deeply.

"I suppose this is it," he said somberly, almost sadly. "The end." He took a step forward, prompting Santana to do the same. The stood about four r five meters apart. Joseph held up Rose's sword with one hand like a fencer.

Santana tilted his head and held up his finger.

"I wonder…" he said slowly. "I wonder what your real attack is?" He made a small gesture moving in a semi-circle around him. "I can hear something moving through the grass. It's not a mouse or another small animal. It sounds more like a snake, but it's too long to be any snake native to this region. So that must be your stand. You probably summoned it around your left wrist, hidden by your sleeve. Then you moved it underneath your baggy clothes and down your back, hidden behind your legs. Then you moved it through the grass to form a snare around me. Your plan is to pretend like the sword in your right hand is the real attack while you use your stand to ensnare me and send a lethal dose of hamon into my body."

Joseph didn't respond. He only moved slightly to the left, Santana mirroring his movements. From this angle, Steven would be able to run straight at Santana. As long as the pillar man was distracted or couldn't see him coming, he'd easily be able to get his hand on him.

"Of course, that cannot be your real attack either," Santana continued. "I assume you've seen through my pattern by now? The only times I've used my stand is when you have used your stand, or when someone else has interfered with the battle. And surely you realize that my Evil Ways is superior to your stand in both speed and strength? The moment you try to use your vines against me, Evil Ways will appear to swat them away easily. So what is your real attack? What are you really planning, JoJo? Is the sword your true attack after all? Will you attempt to cut my head off or slice me in half? If you channel all your hamon into the blade, you might be able to burn my hands and break my guard."

Suddenly, a patch on the ground seemingly exploded and two small rocks were lifted into the air. Santana grabbed them, holding one in each hand.

"These stones are dry and will conduct hamon very poorly," Santana continued talking. "So as long as I catch the blade between them, I should be safe from any hamon flowing through the sword. Since you're holding the sword with only one hand, I doubt you'll be able to overpower me."

He paused for a moment and then pointed at Joseph's legs.

"Or perhaps… are you planning to attack me with a kick? Distract my arms with the sword and my stand with yours, and my legs and lower torso are left completely open." Something moved on the sides of Santana's chest and a horrible cracking sound came from his ribcage. "Except my rib blades will be able to block the attack and stab into your leg the moment to try to raise it. Even if you're able to channel some hamon into them, it won't be enough to kill me. So I wonder… what is your real attack, JoJo? What is your desperate final attack?"

"Why don't you come over here and find out?" Joseph said. His words were brave, but the sound his voice made was far less self-assured.

You couldn't see it, but the tone of his voice told you all you needed to know. The way he said his words painted a vivid picture of a battle-crazy manic grin that would drive him to walk into this trap even though he couldn't foresee the true purpose or function behind it.

"Very well then, JoJo!" he yelled, the two old enemies rushing forward in one last clash. "Let this be a worthy end to our final battle!"

It only took a few seconds.

With a mighty cry, Joseph swung Rose's sword at Santana's head and the pillar man blocked, grabbing it between the two rocks in his hand. A few small yellow sparks flew around them, but if they had any effect on Santana, it didn't show. At the exact same time, the tall grass around them moved in a circle, just as Santana had described it. Steven couldn't see it, but he could feel Santana's powerful stand move and swat Joseph's Hermit Purple away.

"Just as I predicted!" Santana shouted. "Now show me your real attack!"

"Hmph," Joseph grunted. He suddenly raised his left hand to grab the sword handle… and when he opened his hand to grab it, several paper tissues flew out of his palm and towards Santana's face! The paper sparked with hamon energy and it latched onto Santana's face, blinding him!

Santana yelled in surprise and pushed Joseph backward, letting go of the rocks to tear away the paper obscuring his vision. However, even that short distraction was enough for Steven. This was the chance to change everything. He ran forward as fast as he could, his body feeling almost like it moved on its own with, as if wheels had been strapped to his legs.

"HYYAAH!" he screamed and his fist collided with Santana's chest. Healing spit smeared against living skin and tissue. The force from the punch sent the pillar man stumbling backward with a surprised shriek.

Steven panted heavily, his entire body shaking. It… it was over. Any second now, his spit would take effect. The magic within it would overload Santana's cells, overfeed them and cause them to self-destruct. He'd be completely destroyed within a few moments. A-any second now…

But… nothing happened. Santana staggered backward and patted his chest, but nothing else happened. He wasn't enveloped in pink light. There were no yellow sparks. The pillar man didn't disintegrate and turn into dust, nor did he scream and writhe in unimaginable pain.

"Wh-what happened?" Joseph asked. "Did… did you miss?"

"N-no," Steven whispered. He suddenly felt very weak and dizzy. His leg gave out under him and he collapsed on his knees.

"It-it didn't work," he said. "I… I couldn't…"

He knew why it hadn't worked. All of his powers were tied to his emotions in some way or another. Just like he had trouble floating when he was sad. Unless he truly wanted to heal someone… his healing powers wouldn't work. Even if he made the conscious decision to use them, some part of his psyche would lock it.

That's why his spit didn't work on Santana. Steven didn't want to kill him. Even though he knew that ridding the world of the pillar man would help so many people… even though he knew Santana had hurt and killed so many innocent humans in the past… Steven could not find the will within himself to kill him.

"I just… I can't!" Steven cried. He hated himself at that moment. Large tears started rolling down his cheeks and he buried his face in his hands. He was given the chance to save the world from the evil monster everyone feared so much and he had failed. If only his stupid powers had worked if only he hadn't been so… "Weak! I was too weak! I-I couldn't kill him!"

There was a silence in the forest as Steven broke down into a crying mess, his sobs and whimpers the only thing to be heard for several kilometers.

An eternity passed by before he felt heavy footsteps approaching him and a large frame squatting down next to him.

"You're wrong," a voice said softly.

Steven opened his eyes and recoiled in horror. It was Santana sitting next to him, not Joseph like he initially thought. He… he didn't recognize Santana's voice right away. It sounded so… different when he wasn't yelling or threatening.

"Compassion is not a weakness," Santana said. Steven could see glimpses of his eyes behind the cracked sunglasses. They too looked… softer than before. "Compassion is not a weakness and hurting others doesn't require any strength. Believe me… All those that I have hurt or killed… It did not take any strength. To kill is easy. To hurt those weaker than you is easy. To justify your own evil actions as the greater good is easy. But to value all life… and to refuse the easy option… that takes strength."

The last pillar man stood back up. Without uttering a single word more, he started walking away through the forest, headed back for the town. Steven watched him leave through blurry eyes, vaguely aware that he should try and stop him, but not being able to muster the strength to move from the spot.

"Steven…" Joseph said, walking over and kneeling next to him. He put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "There was something I was going to tell you before we were interrupted," he said. "About your mother."

He paused, looking for the right words.

"There's this old legend amongst the hamon tribe… It is said that the stone mask steals a person's soul away and leaves them an empty shell, a husk of a human being. But… it is also believed that hamon can return a vampire's soul to their body before they disintegrate. That hamon can give them their humanity back, even if it's only for a short moment before they pass on."

Joseph sighed deeply before continuing.

"I didn't believe it when I first heard it," he said. "It sounded a bit… too good to be true. I thought that once the stone mask put its curse on a human, there was no going back. That person was dead and their body only lingered as a soulless monster. But when I saw your mother attempt to heal that vampire… for a second before it turned into dust, I saw its face, not twisted by anger or hatred… but at peace. I will probably never know the truth, if it really is possible to give a vampire its soul back, even if it's at the cost of their body… but I believe it. I believe that's what your mother did. I believe that every vampire she killed got to have their soul back and die at peace without pain or suffering. Knowing what it was like to be human again."

Words couldn't describe the storm of emotions within Steven. All he could do was embrace the old man and whisper to him.

"Thank you."

"I'm the one who should be thanking you," Joseph said. "You saved my life. And… I shouldn't have asked you to kill him, I should have known better… it was stupid of me. I'm sorry."

A long time, or at least what seemed like a long time passed by before Steven took a deep breath and let go. He wiped away his tears and stood up on shaky legs. He walked over to Lion. The big kitty had a large wound on his head and dark red blood stained his beautiful pink fur. But he was still breathing and looked up when Steven came close.

"Hey there buddy," Steven said and licked his palm. He placed it on Lion's forehead. Pink light and yellow sparks danced around his wound, closing it and even making the bloodstains disappear in a rain of sparkles. "Sorry for putting you through this. I owe you all the Lion Lickers you can eat." Lion's head immediately perked up. He looked into Steven's eyes, giving him a look that said 'I'm going to hold you to that promise,' before nudging Steven in the side with his nose. He motioned him towards a clearing a few dozen meters away, where…

"Connie!" An almost overwhelming wave of happiness filled Steven and he ran towards her. She was safe!

"H-hey," Connie said, leaning against a tree, her arm wrapped around her lower chest.

"Oh Connie, thank goodness you're okay!" Steven exclaimed and hugged her tight, as if to keep her from disappearing again. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"Y-yeah, about that," Connie wheezed and made a very pained grimace. "I-think s-some of my ribs are cracked…"

"Ohmygosh, I'm so sorry!" Steven quickly let her go and licked his thumb. Connie winced a bit when he smeared some of his spit on her cheek. Which was… understandable.

"I… I saw what happened," she said after a few seconds of yellow sparks and disturbing cracking sounds coming from her lower ribcage. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah… I think so," Steven said and glanced over at Joseph. The old… young man walked over to the two kids.

"Hey, mind fixing me up too?" he said, only half-jokingly. He grimaced and rubbed his shoulder. While Steven couldn't see any bleeding, he could still spot a couple of bruises, especially around his neck.

"O-of course!" Steven said and rushed over to Joseph. He planted some healing saliva on his hand as well, familiar sparks and light fixing up all his injuries as well.

Steven suddenly remembered something he had noticed when he first got there but pushed aside.

"So, um… Joseph?" he said. "You're…"

"Young again?" Joseph said. He sighed. "It's… a long story."

xxXXxx

A single second can change fate.

A few words can change someone's mind

And a single moment can change everything.

Did it?

Will it?

xxXXxx

Evil Ways

Short-range power type stand

User: Santana

Appearance: Tall, lanky, and out of proportion, with arms and legs that are a bit too long and thin, almost skeletal. Its fingers are long and sharp, almost like claws. Its skin is a sickly light green color, though a large portion of it is covered by dirty rags and bandages wrapping around its body. Its head is pale and its face almost resembles a skull. It has sharp vampire fangs jutting out of its mouth so it's always forced open. Its eyes are covered by a blindfold and there's a black hole in its forehead. Its hair is unkempt and pale white.

Powers and Abilities

•Exceptional Speed and Strength-Evil Ways' physical abilities are comparable to stands such as Crazy Diamond and Star Platinum.

•You've Got to Change-Evil Ways can reverse a being's physical growth and turn it back to a previous stage. For example, if you once had a wound on your arm which healed, Evil Ways can reopen that wound. However, this ability can also be used to heal by turning a being back to a stage before they were injured. It can even reverse aging. It does not affect memory or a being's state of mind. The ability works on all living organisms or beings with a soul, including gems. It cannot, however, poof a gem by recreating previous damage, it can only revert a gem to a previous physical form. The ability does not work on inanimate objects, nor can the user use it on themselves.

Stats

Destructive Power: A

Speed: A

Range: D

Durability: A

Precision: A

Development Potential: A

To be continued…


AUTHOR'S NOTES

It's… going to be interesting to see what you guys make of this. Feel free to leave your theories in the reviews/comments, but I will neither confirm nor deny any of them.

Evil Ways is named after the song Evil Ways by Santana… obviously. The man sorta explained the ability himself. As for its appearance, I was going for a sorta "half-formed" and monstrous look. It's… missing something.

The next chapter should be out Friday next week. It'll be a bit shorter and less... less. Still, it'll be important to set the final few stages of this story, which is drawing ever closer. Say, I wonder what Moonstone and her merry little gang of Homeworld Crusaders are up to?

I mean, I know, but you don't. But you will get the answers soon enough. Until then, take care of the Planet Earth and remember that anything compassion is not a weakness!