Jason silently opened the supply closet door and slid out once the guards had meandered around the corner, unfortunately while hiding he had ended up next to the leaking cleaning supplies so now he reeked of lemony freshness. He winced as he caught of whiff of himself but ignored it and headed for the stairs, 『HERE COMES REVENGE』a second away from being summoned. He shoved the door open and began to make his way down towards the second floor, ignoring the door that he assumed actually went to the shipping bay. He was silently debating meeting up with Joy and helping her cover it, but they had all agreed to this plan and he decided to stick with it. Though in hindsight he had to admit that having them all enter at different areas didn't work out well. Especially since he had climbed in through a window by the shipping bay and couldn't find the damn staircase for like five minutes. Silently he hoped that Joy and Seth were having better luck than him given their time limit. Normally even he wouldn't follow it this closely, but with John and Marshall both more injured than what seemed normal and itching to get into the currently non existing fray it made more sense to stick to it. Hell if they could get out of this scenario without triggering any-he was cut off suddenly by the blaring of an alarm; "God damn it Murphy."

Jason doubled back up the stairs towards the entrance he had come through. A quick pull of the handle told him all the info he needed; the door was now locked. He spun around towards the other door on the landing and quickly walked over to it. As he was reaching for the handle a bullet ripped through the thin door, missing him by a mile but being startling nonetheless. Jason ducked away back down the steps as more gunfire echoed from the room. As he made it back to the second level he glanced through the window into the hallway he was able to see a door open. He paused for half a second as an all too familiar figure exited the room, he had only ever seen him in photo's or artistic representations but they really didn't give him insight to how unsettling the man was.

Jason would have continued staring but the fact that Mortis was rapidly approaching the door made him quickly duck below the door and take off down the steps towards the third and lowest level. He paused on the steps and looked up when he heard a voice sound out over the alarm, seemingly talking on an intercom," Testin' one-two-three, one-two and a three. Priest if you hear this deal with whoever is tryin to sneak around."

The man seemed to heavily sigh before walking towards the door, though there wasn't the tell-tale swoosh of the door opening. Now Jason was faced with a dilemma; Does he try to run around and find Joy or Seth, or does he try to get whatever he can from the third floor. He quickly made the decision to summon『HERE COMES REVENGE』and have it decimate the door so he can get into the third floor easier. He had faith that Joy and Seth would be able to escape in time, and this was the endgame where they couldn't let any possible advantage disappear. He took off down the darker hallway and gradually felt the air grow cooler as he progressed farther down, until he was eventually staring at wall upon wall of server banks. He nearly froze in his steps before doubling down and making his way towards a nearby room. Inside he found a room covered in various pieces of paper with what he guessed were scientific principles, though he was able to identify the medical terminology on the paper. It was used oddly though, as if it wasn't referring to physical qualities but something intangible based on the wording. He closed the door behind him and began trying to make sense of the paper, the operative word being try.

Seth shoved some of the papers in his bag, he knew at least one of them had more information on where the funds were coming from. Based on what he could actually recognize it seemed that Mortis had been doing work for other criminal groups and had been siphoning extra money from those organizations. He looked over the desk again and grabbed a few pens before taking off into the hallway as fast as he could the intercom announcement coming over the radio. As he took off down the hallway heading towards what the signs called a break room. He rounded the corner into the break room when there was a sudden whooshing sound before a pain exploded in his shoulder and his body flew across the room.『BALLROOM BLITZ』came forward on instinct and managed to cushion his landing and not get themselves destroyed somehow. Seth struggled to his feet, as an annoyingly familiar voice called out," I don't know how you lived , but I'll finish you off this time."

Joy tossed another stack of papers into her bag before quickly zipping it shut and throwing it over her shoulder. She had kept track of the time fairly well but the gun shots had quickly gone quiet, and the following alarm was not something she enjoyed hearing. She really didn't like the concept of their being other stand users here, especially ones she didn't know the skills of. She looked over a few more papers before the hairs on her neck suddenly stood up. She spun around and felt her eyes go wide; A white arm was coming through the wall aimed squarely at her head. 『ALICE IN CHAINS』exploded into existence and hauled her backward over the desk allowing the arm to narrowly miss her and leave an utterly decimated desk in its wake. She got her feet under her and quickly created chains out of the concrete floor and stood with her arms raised in a fighting stance. She nearly dropped the stance when she saw the rest of the stand and the user began to phase through the wall, almost as if he was materializing out of nothing. "Alright now who the hell are you."

The man readjusted his tie and smirked before responding," You can call me Free ."

She adjusted her footing," And your stand's name?"

He smirked and started to walk forward," And why would I make you privy to that?"

Joy grit her teeth before causing an explosion of concrete chains to rocket toward the man. He made no effort to dodge the assault, but as the chains made contact with him...they just didn't. The chains seemed to slip right through him before impacting into the wall hard enough to puncture deep in the drywall. He took advantage of her complete surprise and exploded forward moving like a ghost through her chains before getting in close and landing a brutal blow to her stomach as she tried to refocus her power. She slammed back into the wall with a cry of pain as Free returned to his walking pace. She struggled back to a standing position and spit out," What the hell was that ability?"

Free smirked," I don't know who you've fought but I don't make a habit of giving away any info to an opponent."

Seth dove to the side as Priest, whose name he finally remembered after he announced his name Priest and his stand 『TURBO LOVER』, exploded forward and attempted to throw a punch. He had gotten used to pattern that Priest was going for, but he had only been able to minimize the damage he was taking. Honestly he was only lasting this long because of the sharp corners and long hallways, in any sort of morenopen area he would be long dead. "You rat bastard I'm going to end you."

Seth turned back and fired the gun he had managed to pick up making Priest activate his stand to get out of the way. Seth summoned his stand, focused around his hand, and decided to take the fight to Priest. Admittedly this was a poor decision but he wasn't going to win this battle by running away, especially since even without stands he was still definitely slower. Priest turned and summoned the full form of 『TURBO LOVER』and threw a counter punch. In that moment an idea flashed through his mind and he went for it. He didn't bother to redirect his fist this time and instead let it come through undefended, breaking his hand, but allowing his beetles to grab onto the stands arm. He stumbled back in the world of pain hoping his gamble paid off. He was hoping that getting the beetles onto 『TURBO LOVER』would be able to induce the same rage in that getting a beetle onto a person would. Really he was banking on the fact that Priest seemed to need a cool down in between his stands use, sort of like how an Olympic sprinter goes a hundred percent for their race before taking a break. Seth was aiming for what happens when a person pushes their body to hard, internal damage...because he wasn't going to hit Priest without some sort of gamble. Seth looked up from his completely mauled hand to see Priest beginning to clutch his head, "How's that feel you bastard."

Seth wouldn't lie that he was enjoying the small amount of pain he was inflicting, but he almost immediately regretted his smack talk when all the air was forced out of him with a sudden punch to the gut. He slammed back into the table and began to greedily suck air in, never getting enough however. The all familiar whooshing noise filled the air and a fist impacted the ground an inch away from his head. He quickly over and managed to struggle to his feet before he was clipped with something that sent him spinning into the nearest looked over at Priest who was psychotically swaying back and forth with his stand seemingly having a seizure behind it. The beetles were dug in tight on the humanoid stands arm. He caught a glimpse of Priest's eyes, now glowing red like the sun and grit his teeth. A few more beetles spawned, what he really assumed were his remaining count, and he had one of them clamp down on the back of his neck. On anybody else it would drive them mad but on him it was just extreme painkillers or maybe some other drug he never really did any of those. The other beetles 'swarmed' around him as priest lurched forward and growled out," Die, Die, DIEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeee."

Seth launched the beetles forward, trying to make Priest counter all of them. Thankfully he did, his fists turning into blurs as his body accelerated faster, a left straight, a right hook, an uppercut, and suddenly the sound Seth had been banking on finally happened. An incredibly loud and violent tear sounded out and Priest suddenly fell to the ground, the pain taking him out of 『BALLROOM BLITZ』's control and letting the full brunt of his bodies pain hit at once. Though Seth wasn't doing to hot either, but at least he could still walk and walk he did, down the hallway towards the window he had broken in through. Priest screamed at him in but Seth paid it no mind as the pain he was in drowned out the noise. He sloppily rolled out the window and hit the ground, silently thanking the beetle that was still pinched on the back of his neck for keeping him awake. He stumbled down the alley simply trying to get back with the info he had, the hope that Joy and Jason could handle themselves burning in the back of his head. He stumbled forward seven more steps towards the edge of the alley where the car had been parked when he suddenly felt all control leave his legs, 'Ahhh here it is'. The damage he had sustained finally was doing what it should have been making him...Fall…...Unconscious.

As his body lost consciousness and he fell forward out of the alley with the complete nothingness embracing him.

Joy spun back and lashed out with another concrete chain that much to her infatuation the annoying bastard just phased through again. She had managed to clip him once but she wasn't really sure how she had managed to even do that at this point. She backed up into the hallway with dozens of more concrete chains coming up from the floor to serve her. The man suddenly appeared in the hallways charging forward of her, his stand right behind him. She shot the chains forward in a violent arc, and once again felt anger fill her again as he effortlessly dodged and phased through them. She changed her strategy and slammed the chains into the ground cracking the concrete and generating enough of a cloud of dust to block their view of each other. She took the opportunity to retreat to what she figured was some sort of break room before panting out," Alright, what the hell?"

Somehow his stand afforded him the ability to either make materials ethereal as to not affect him, or he was able to turn ethereal and render materials useless. She didn't know which of the options was right, but she did know both basically fucked her over. She heard the tell tale footfalls as he began to make his way towards her, most likely to repeat the same pattern of her getting her ass kicked before retreating...unless she tried something drastic. As the footfalls grew closer she reached out, calling on that same feeling she had had in the truck stop showers. She felt 『ALICE IN CHAINS』reaching out beyond her normal range and take hold of something about the same time the man rounded the corner, his stand ready to go. As soon as she saw him she called for『ALICE IN CHAINS』to go for it. She couldn't help but smirk as there was a sudden sound of a harsh breeze ripping across the room before colliding with her opponent. She was a bit peeved that her new attack was partially blocked considering there was little to no way he should know it was coming. There was a sudden lull between the two combatants when the man examined the new cut along his arm." That's...new, I couldn't even see that one."

Joy tensed when he held up his other arm and seemed to check his watch before giving his attention back to her. "Well, Joy Jordan," She flinched as he casually dropped her name," as a reward my name is Anthony A. Free, and my lovely stand here is 『SMOOTH CRIMINAL』,"

Joy didn't drop her fighting stance but she did respond; "Why exactly are you telling me this?"

Anthony quirked an eyebrow," Well we have reached a standstill, I haven't figured out your new trick and I know I can escape you whenever I want…...That and it's finally nice to put a face to a name."

Joy tensed up, " I don't know what you mean…"

Anthony ran a hand through his hair before responding," Green Dolphin Street, You got off scott free and that left an open cell that needed to be filled."

Joy growled a little before responding," So this is all revenge is it, revenge for something I had no control over."

"No," He responded while leaning against a wall," This is for my shot at complete freedom."

Joy decided she had had enough and lashed out with the same power again while yelling," No way in hell am I letting you get away."

Anthony simply smirked as he replied," I'm afraid you can't stop that."

Joy's chains of air collided with the wall sending a spray of concrete everywhere as Anthony just phased through the wall. Joy let out a harsh breath before turning on her heel and running as fast as she could the other way, since she was damn near positive they were approaching the end of their time limit. She rounded a few corners before realizing that she was thoroughly lost and had no idea where she had broken into this place. She hesitated for a brief second before making her call and ducking into another room she assumed led outside, once in there she summoned 『ALICE IN CHAINS』and had it punch the window in one clear strike. A sudden alarm blaring made her wince but she ignored it and hopped through the window wincing as she landed. 'Son of a bitch really did a number on me," She thought as she saw the severe bruising along her upper leg. She quickly got back to her standing position and ran...shuffled….hobbled towards where she knew the car was parked.

Jason slid the last piece of what he deemed important paper into his bag before opening the door and hurrying out. He was seething with hatred as he finished zipping the bag since he was able to get a vague idea of what Mortis was trying to do. He was able to gather that they were attempting to 'synthesize' a stand by extracting the 'soul' of stand users, and creating something called a 'complete union of soul wavelength'. Basically, from what he was able to tell, they were torturing the stand users and...tying their pain and suffering to some sort of stone, the papers called it an arrow stone or something. It was something quite disturbing, the concept of the only thing of these victims that survived was their suffering and pain and that was taken and used for the purpose of causing other people to suffer. It was really just a po- Jason spun and summoned 『HERE COMES REVENGE』already throwing a punch. He saw a knife and soon felt a knife enter and cut his cheek, but he was also able to see the punch connect with what looked like a human shadow. As they both skidded away from each other he heard a voice chuckle and say," That's how that works then,"

Jason ignored the blood coming down his face and looked at his opponent; a lean man with what seemed to be living shadows, probably his stand, and a matching cut along his cheek. Jason adopted a boxing stance and asked," Now, who the hell are you?"

The man gave him a wicked smile before responding," I'm Rod Priest and my stand is 『THE RIPPER』."

Jason looked on through squinted eyes as the shadows crept up along his opponents face and seemed to fill the wound on his cheek stopping the blood. "I don't remember asking, but thanks for telling me."

The two squared off again with 『HERE COMES REVENGE』ready to counter anything that Rod Priest may try to throw at him. The two opponents circled each other like a pair of awkward dance partners, before Rod Priest flew forward with shadow talons outstretched. 『HERE COMES REVENGE』intercepted him with a brutal uppercut drilling him in the jaw. He heard a satisfying as Rod stumbled to the side with more shadows crawling up his jaw piecing his teeth and jaw back together. He immediately charged back prompting Jason to swing with 『HERE COMES REVENGE』but this time an arm covered in shadow came up to block the punch. However Jason wasn't a one trick pony and he decided to drive his leg up into Rod's crotch eliciting a scream of intense pain. Rod fell to the ground spitting in pain, hopefully due to the boots Jason was wearing. Rod chuckled through the pain before he spoke, "God damn this-this is so much damn fun."

Jason took a step back as Rod pushed himself off the ground," Jesus you're fucked up."

Rod cackled some more," Don't doubt it for a minute, but I have to ask how long you can keep it up."

Jason glanced down at his arm and noticed the series of cuts lining the inside of his arm, conveniently where Priest had blocked 『HERE COMES REVENGE』. It really seemed that Rod was trying to turn this into a war of attrition. Jason wasn't going to make it that easy though and he and his stand exploded forward trying to catch Rod.

Punches and kicks flew as the two went back and forth over the room, computer monitors being destroyed and several being used as long range projectiles. Jason winced slightly as he felt a new cut appear along his leg after he ate a kick from Rod in exchange for him landing an equally solid hit to his face. It really seemed like all that 『THE RIPPER』is doing was holding him together to continue this fight. Jason simply raised his guard again before a small red light caught his eye in one of the destroyed computer terminals. It took only a brief second for him to realize what it was; That being a bomb. Rod began to chuckle when he followed Jason's gaze," I see you finally noticed."

Jason tightened his stance as Rod continued," In only two more minutes this place will go up in one hell of a fireball erasing it all off the map, though I do wonder if your little friends know of that fact."

Jason tried not to let the panic show on his face, but he now had an internal timer running in his head of when he needed to beat this guy. He snapped back to reality just in time to see Rod charging forward looking to gut him, instead Jason just suffered three major cuts along his chest from the shadow claws. He spun around and slammed an elbow into Rod's jaw enhancing it with his stands strength.

1:50 seconds till detonation, ten seconds gone just like that.

『HERE COMES REVENGE』extended forward and kept the combination going with a brutal series of punches culminating with a powerful left straight. The only issue being that the shadows kept crawling over his skin and pulling his body back together. He glanced at the main bomb moving farther and farther away in the fight.

1:42 seconds till detonation, eight more seconds lost.

That moment of distraction cost him dearly as there was a sudden pain driven into his side, a quick glance down revealed an even longer black claw, a middle finger ironically, impaled there. He felt his stand's power activate but he imagined that his damn stand would just hold him together a bit longer. This time Jason didn't even use his stand he just opened his mouth and bit down on Rod's ear before ripping back and taking the ear with him. He heard Rod scream in pain but he followed up the bite with a gouge using his stands hand to go into his leg. Rod punched Jason in the ribs hard sending him away leaving a gouged hole in his side, but Rod down an ear and a hole in his leg that was difficult to patch.

1:30 seconds until detonation, ten seconds blown away.

They both eyed each other, both trying to ignore the endless amount of pain pumping through their systems. Jason glanced towards the bomb before redirecting his view to see Rod spit some blood out of his mouth and shakily adjust his stance to get ready to go again. They both set upon each other again both trying to find some way through their opponent. Punches a kicks flew hitting all spots of the body, the head was pounded, ribs cracked, and knuckles shattered and crushed as they collided again and again.

1:15 seconds until detonation, fifteen seconds spent destroying their bodies for no gain.

Jason kept the timer in his head but he was very quickly realizing that this wasn't just a timer to save the life of his friends, but also one for his self destruction. He was completely aware that his body wasn't going to make it through this unscathed, but now now he may have to make a call. He dodged a sudden kick and the follow up, before letting the the sudden impalement attempt land home.

60 seconds until detonation, fifteen more spent making a decision.

This was the only choice he could make that made any sense, he thought about as he hit the ground. He could easily keep standing but he let his legs go out and he hit the ground feigning unconsciousness, and Rod didn't even gloat he simply coughed and and trudged away towards some sort of exit. A door slammed and Jason attempted to get to his legs only to feel them give out with any attempt to put weight on them. He gave up and started a bloody crawl across the floor towards the bomb, his body feeling nothing but pain as he forced his muscles to keep churning.

40 seconds until detonation, twenty spent on someone else's future

He reached the bomb and looked at it through blurry eyes, trying to decipher the mess of wires or maybe it was one singular wire, he really couldn't tell at this point. He tightened his resolve as he began to sort through what turned out to be three wires , when he thought about all the people that could be saved as long as his friends escaped. He tightened his hand around one of the wires and thought back to Joy, the little sister who he basically inherited, the one who was thrown into this psychotic world. He couldn't let her lose her life with all she had ahead, she was only eighteen after all. He wasn't that old but he knew that with how badly his stand wrecked his body he wasn't going to live long, but he was fine with throwing it all on the line in order to save someone else. He smiled ruefully as he wrapped his hand fully around the wire, He didn't want to die but he didn't regret giving it up to save someone else's, hell he had been a paramedic for a reason. He gathered up his strength and pulled the cord and with a sudden shower of static and silence led him to believe the bomb had been defused. At the same time he pulled the cord Jason's body fully gave out his heart flat lining and his body finally calling it quits.

He had pulled the cord in the nick of time to because a second later Joy and Seth would have been blown away and killed by how many explosives were linked together.

STAND STATS- 『THE RIPPER』

User: Rod Priest

Strength: D

Speed: B

Range: D

Durability: A

Precision: A

Potential: A

『THE RIPPER』is a suit based stand that manifest over the users skin like a tattoo. It allows for manifestation of claw, spike, and armor like appendages. It also acts as a berserker suit of armor that pierces his skin and keeps the body held together.

User History: Rod Priest is the elder brother of Priest with a larger criminal record, spanning seventeen years. He was arrested for murder, attempted murder, and conspiracy to commit murder, but broke himself out of the prison transport and gained the attention of Mortis through his intense violence and incredibly masochistic tendencies that lead to his already off kilter personality.