Ch.3 - Holy Diver, Part 2

Somewhere in the Emerald Forest, Pyrhha's POV

"-UUUUUUUUUUUUUGGHHHHHHHHHH!"

Wow. 1 minute. That's a new record.

The boy finally managed to stop screaming and I was about to dress his chest wound in gauze and bandages when I noticed the blood that was meant to coming out...didn't. It was if something else was holding it in for him.

The boy then got up slowly.

"Welp. That's gonna hurt for weeks on end." the boy said.

"Don't you have your aura unlocked?" I asked.

"Aura? What the hell is that?" he replied. I then looked at him with a puzzled expression. Surely a hunter-in-training ought to know one of the most "Hunter 101" things out there…

"Aura is the manifestation of one's soul. It bears our burdens and shields our hearts. Have you ever felt you were being watched without knowing that someone was there?"

"Like the FBI?" I was about to respond when I realized I had no idea what an "FBI" was. I then continued.

"No. Aura can act as a shield of sorts. Everyone has it, even animals."

"..Huh." I then placed my hand on his head.

"Uhhhhh….what are you doing?" He asked.

"I'm gonna unlock your aura. Hopefully, it'll be enough to heal that wound of yours."

"...Ok." He said hesitantly.

"Close your eyes and concentrate."

"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death. I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee."

A few seconds pass. Nothing is happenin-

"WRRRRRRRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYY!"

"Ahh!" I flinched at the sound of the loud noise that suddenly appeared in my head.

"What happened?" said the boy.

"I don't know. There was a voice in my head and I couldn't unlock your aura." I then collapsed on the ground in exhaustion.

"Whoa, there! You okay?"

"I'm ok. Unlocking one's aura requires using your own, and that can take a lot out of someone. I'll be fine in a few seconds." The boy helped me to my feet.

"Come on. The relics should be just nearby."

"Relics? Just what's going her-" I then heard a low hissing noise coming from the bushes.

"Wait!" I interrupted. "Stay close to me!" I whispered. I took out my javelin and shield and prepared myself for a fight.

The boy didn't have any weapons, but he managed to find a short branch from one of the trees. He then took an awkward fighting stance, which only seemed to prove this boy wasn't meant to be here.

"What's happening?" He whispered in quiet alarm.

Suddenly a Deathstalker appeared from the bushes! The boy looked at the scorpion Grimm in equal parts fear and confusion.

"Mother of God, what the hell is that?!"

"A deathstalker! Keep away from its tail!"

The deathstalker then swiped its tail at the boy and dodged out its way just in the nick of time. I then advanced towards the Grimm javelin and shield in hand and proceeded to attack it in an effort to draw it away from the boy, but for some reason, it seemed to mainly focus on him.

The deathstalker then tried to go for the boy again, but thankfully, what the boy severely lacks in combat skill he more than makes up for it in evasion.

The deathstalker once again swiped its tail at the boy but he managed to grab onto its tail.

"I didn't sign up for a goddamn mechanical bull ride!"

He was holding on to the stinger very tightly. I don't know what he was thinking of doing something so reckless.

"Hey!" I shouted. "Uhh, what's your name?"

"It's Danny!"

"Ok, Danny listen to me! Whatever you do, do not let go of its tai-"

The deathstalker then whipped its tail around with the now-named boy Danny in tow and flung him towards the direction of where the relics were meant to be.

"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-" He shouted as he was flying away. As I saw flying away from me, I then ran towards where Danny was going to land, while still dealing with a Deathstalker at my heels. It was then I decided to quickly review what had just transpired in my head to make sure I'm still in the realms of sanity.

'Ok Pyr, let's review: You met some random guy named Danny who has no knowledge of Grimm, has zero combat training of any kind up to this point, and for some bizarre reason, he has no aura to speak of. On top of that, said random guy has what looks to be a gunshot wound to his chest, and for some reason, he's not bleeding. Unless I'm going daft, this officially means all reason has gone out the brothersforasken…'

It was at this moment I remembered Danny's wound and how his blood managed to stay in his body.

'Wait! How has Danny not passed out from blood loss yet? It wouldn't be his semblance because he has no aura! ...Unless...'

High above the Emerald Forest, Danny's POV

"-UUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCKKKKKKKKK!"

I was being flown away from the Spartan girl. BY A GIANT SCORPION. You know it was one thing to be at the brink of death because of some damned priest with a monochromatic ghost man that got all murderous…

BUT IT'S ANOTHER TO ALMOST DIE AGAIN FROM POTENTIAL FALL DAMAGE 'CAUSE SOME SCORPION-LOOKING S.O.B. DECIDED I SHOULDN'T DIE WITH ANY DIGNITY!

….I just want this day to end.

As I was about to hit the ground I noticed there were four figures at what looks to be some kind of temple.

I was about to hit terra firma and braced myself for the impact.

"HEAD'S UP!"

But then, out of nowhere, I bumped into a red and black figure that just so happened to be falling around the same time as I was.

"OOF!" The figure, which turned out to be a girl no older than 15, hit the ground hard, but it looked like she was fine. Huh. Guess that whole "Aura" thing really comes in clutch.

I then managed to land on a tree.

"Ughhhh…. What was that?" the girl said.

"Hi," I replied back. She then looked up and saw me hanging from a tree. I was not amused.

"Did your sister just fall from the sky?" I heard an additional voice say.

I looked around to find who that voice belonged to. As it turned out there were two other girls that were also at my landing site. One had black hair with a comically large bow on her hair. She was also wearing a black vest with coattails and a sliver button.

"I...have…" The other was a blonde girl who was wearing a tan leather jacket that bares her midriff. She had lilac eyes and also wore a black mini-skirt and had knee-high boots.

"YEEEEEEEE-HAAAAWWWWWWW!" Suddenly, out of from one of the bushes there was a...girl with mostly pink clothing riding a black bear rodeo-style…. Dear God almighty, I am losing my touch on reality, am I?

Following the girl on horseback (bearback?) was a violet-haired girl wearing sunglasses and a violet jacket with a star on its back, and a light blue shirt underneath. She was also wearing dark blue leggings and violet combat boots with a star on its ankles. To top it all off, she was also wearing a red scarf of some kind.

"NORA!" the violet-haired girl shouted. "Please...don't ever do that again."

Nora was at the altar picking what looked to be a… golden chess piece?

"I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!"

"NORA!" She then stopped singing and immediately headed towards the violet-haired girl. "Coming, ShiJo!"

...What the hell is going on here?

"Did that girl just ride in an Ursa?" said the black-haired girl

"I…." said the blonde before she was interrupted by yet another disturbance coming from the bushes. The spartan girl I met earlier had just arrived, with that black scorpion from earlier.

"Did that girl ran all the way here with a Deathstalker on her tail?" said the black-haired girl.

"Grrrr…. I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! CAN EVERYONE JUST CHILL OUT FOR TWO SECONDS BEFORE SOMETHING BIZARRE HAPPENS AGAIN?!" the blond girl shouted with her eyes now flashing red.

"Uhhh… Yang?" the red-and-black dressed girl that I collided mid-air with then pointed at the sky, and we all looked up. There was a black bird flying overhead with a girl with white hair wearing a white skirt in tow.

"HOW COULD YOU LEAVE ME?!" shouted the girl.

"I said jump!" the red-and-black girl shouted back.

"She's gonna fall." said the black-haired girl.

"She'll be fine." she replied.

"She's falling." said ShiJo.

I then managed to get free of the tree I was stuck on and landed on the ground when I noticed a shadow that was increasing in size. I looked up and the white-dressed girl was just about one second away from falling on top of me.

Needless to say, I didn't react in time. She fell on top me hard, with her hand falling on my gunshot wound.

"Owwwww…." I said in pain.

"Hmph! My hero." she replied haughtily.

"Great, the gang's all here! Now we can die together!" Yang said.

"Not if I can help it!" the red-dressed girl said.

She then took out a red metal...scythe?

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….What the hell kind of rabbit hole did that priest send me down to?

Anyway, she took her scythe and starting firing her sniper rifle…

HOLD UP! That thing's a sniper rifle too?

...Whatever. Anyway, as they were dealing with those creatures, I decided to hide behind one of the pedestals holding the chess pieces. It was then I heard a low growl coming from behind me and I immediately panicked.

Sure enough, there was a black wolf, ready to chew me up and spit me out.

I took a nearby rock and threw it at the wolf, which only seemed to make it even more angry and ravenous.

Then, out of nowhere, a violet, feminine ghostly figure appeared and started to pummel that black wolf into submission.

"DORARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARA!"

'That ghostly figure! It's just like that black-and-white ghost thing that shot me!'

ShiJo then appeared and helped me to my feet.

"You ok?" she asked.

"I'm fine, but what was that ghostly figure?"

"Oh, that? That was my Stand… wait! You can see my Stand?"

"That's what that's called? Uhh, yeah?"

"Well, well, well! Never thought I'd find another Stand user here!"

"I don't even know what a Stand is!"

The girl looked at me with a shocked and confused expression when I said that. Before she could reply, however, the blonde girl, Yang interrupted.

"Guys, that Nevermore is coming back! Any ideas?" said Yang.

"I do!" said the violet-haired girl.

"What is it?" said Ruby.

"It's a maneuver that's been passed down in my family for generations! This is only meant for last-minute all-or-nothing gambits!"

"Just tell us what to do and we'll follow your lead, ShiJo!" said Nora.

"Ok, everyone! Grab your relics...AND RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" ShiJo shouted.

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'….Kill me. Someone just please strike me down where I stand so I can suffer this bullshit no longer.' I thought in disbelief at the scene that transpired before me.

"She has a point." said Ruby. "The mission was to get the relics and get back to the cliffs."

"Run and live, that's an idea I can get behind!" said Nora.

Everyone then took a relic and immediately bolted from the premises leaving to deal with those black creatures. I, deciding that I had no chance facing these things in my condition, took the white king chess piece, in the hopes that whoever's in charge here can easily send me home once I give this to him or her, and ran.

Beacon Academy Cliffs, 3rd Person POV

Glynda Goodwitch had seen many things in her life. Monstrous Grimm, red reapers playing vigilante, an immortal witch fighting an invisible war.

But nothing she experienced compared to the scene that just transpired in front of the CCTV cameras all around the forest.

"That's my Shizuka!" said Joseph Joestar, still on the line watching the live camera feed.

"Well, well. Like father, like daughter, it seems." Zalem chuckled.

Glynda merely stood there and placed her face in her palm in disbelief.

"In any case, it looks like our guest is in considerable trouble." said Zalem.

"Indeed. Does he not know about his Stand?" questioned Glynda.

"His behavior so far seems to dictate he has no idea what's happening or why is he here."

"That's true, also I have not seen any kind of combat ability from this boy." said Joseph.

"Well, in any case, that boy just took the last relic and is currently running for his life." said Zalem.

"But that gunshot wound is slowing him down considerably from the other students. I don't think he'll make it without any extra help." said Professor Goodwitch.

"Hmm…" pondered Zalem.

The Emerald Forest, 3rd Person POV.

Meanwhile Pyrrha, still running, noticed that Danny was nowhere to be seen.

"Hold on, where's Danny?" she asked.

"Who?" asked Yang.

"You mean that Stand user that Schnee fell on top of?" asked Shizuka.

"He's a Stand user?" asked Weiss.

"I mean, he could see my Stand, but… I don't think he knows he's a Stand user.

"...Of course! That would explain why I couldn't activate his aura!" said Pyrrha.

"What's his deal, anyway? I don't think I've seen him kill a single Grimm." said Yang.

"When we were falling from the sky, I found him unconscious and bleeding from what looks like to be a gunshot wound. He doesn't even know what an aura is!"

"What?" said Weiss. "But that's preposterous! Everyone on Remnant knows what aura is, it's practically basic knowledge!"

"The fact that he doesn't even know what a Stand is either concerns me." said Shizuka.

"In any case, if we don't help Danny, he's liable to get killed! That gunshot wound must be slowing him down." exclaimed Pyrrha.

"Let's make a stand here!" exclaimed Ruby. "Hopefully he's still alive by the time he catches up to us."

The group of huntresses then stopped where they were and took out their weapons, ready to fight off what was coming.

Danny was running in immense pain, clutching his chest to stop the blood flowing out of his chest, while barely keeping ahead of the Deathstalker and Nevermore behind him.

"He looks like he's just about ready to pass out." said Blake.

"We need to help him!" Yang then rushed over to the Nevermore with her shotgun gauntlets equipped and started firing at the Grimm bird.

"I! Hope! You're! Hungry!" Yang exclaimed as she fired her gauntlets at the Nevermore at close-range high in the air.

The Nevermore went down immediately after Ruby fired a high-powered sniper round at the Nevermorre's head.

Danny's POV

As Yang fired her...shotgun gauntlets (I don't even know anymore.) at the black bird creature and went down after, the others were fighting off the scorpion creature.

Unfortunately, fate just loves dealing me a bad hand.

I've lost too much blood. By my estimates, I'm just seconds away from passing out.

I've made it to a cliff and the others had just caught up with me.

They've all somehow managed to just jump through the entire cliff in a single bound.

I stood there in shock and awe as they all managed to pull off a superhuman feat.

It was at the moment the scorpion caught up as well and swiped its tail on my leg.

"AHHH!" I cried.

If a .45 ACP round to the chest hurt, then this was something worse.

Its tail, as I found out the hard way, was very poisonous.

'So..this is the hill I finally die on, huh? Scared, confused, and absolutely useless. Welp. Goodbye, cruel world.' I thought as I closed my eyes preparing for the worst.

"DANNY!" The spartan girl cried.

The scorpion raised its tail at me and prepared to finish me off….

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….huh?

*VRMMMMMMMM TICK-TOCK-TICK-TOCK-TICK*

What the hell…?

Was I finally dead?

Everything was frozen. It was like...like…

It was like time came to a stop.

I waved my hand over the now time-frozen body of the black scorpion to see if it can see me.

Nope. It's definitely frozen.

I had no idea what to do next.

If this is purgatory, God had a funny way of telling me.

I then looked behind me, only to find something even crazier.

A golden ghostly figure appeared in front of me and started pummeling the scorpion.

"MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA!"

When it stopped punching the scorpion there was a voice in my head that said:

'Time has begun to move again.'

*VRRMMMMMMMMM*

Time was flowing like normal. The punches finally caught to the scorpion, in real-time, and it was thrown away from me, down into the ravine.

It was at that moment that my lack of blood finally caught to me, and I fainted on the ground, still bleeding.

3rd Person POV, Speedwagon Foundation Mistral Branch

"Oh, my gods…"

Joseph witnessed the scene that transpired before him live. One moment, the boy was ready to give up and die, the next, the Deathstalker was thrown off the ravine, and a familiar ghostly golden figure appeared in front of the boy.

He hadn't seen that Stand since his 60-day trip with his grandson and four others to Vacuo.

Its menacing look reminded him of its former master, a monster without any mercy.

(Roundabout - Yes)

"Mr. Joestar, are you seeing this?" asked Glynda.

"Yes. There are only two people with Stands on Remnant who can stop time, and one of them is meant to be dead." replied Joseph.

"Zalem, if this boy is none other than Dio reincarnated…."

"We don't know for sure, Joseph. It is like your daughter said, this boy seems to have no idea what a Stand is." replied Zalem.

"Ma'am, we need to send a Bullhead out to the boy now, he seems to be losing a lot of blood." said Glynda.

"Do it."

Glynda walked away from the cliffs and called the Bullhead for a pick-up at Danny's location.

"So what's the plan, Zalem?" asked Joseph.

"We'll take him to the school infirmary. Hopefully, we'll figure out who this young man is, and ascertain if he holds any malicious intent. What will you, Joseph?"

"...I think it's time I took another trip with my grandson."

To be Continued…..