Thankfully, Imagine Dragons was able to react in time to the gunfire. The green Stand appeared over Joshua, shielding him. Bursts of pain shot through Joshua's back as the bullets bounced off of his Stand's scaly body, but other than the bruises that would inevitably develop, he was okay.

Daniel wasn't so lucky. Whether it was because he was still woozy from his prolonged paralysis, or just simply caught off guard, neither he nor Sabaton were able to react in time. None of the bullets hit Daniel himself, but three struck Sabaton in its back, and so he collapsed.

After a few agonizingly long seconds, the sound of gunfire faded away, and Joshua was able to take stock of what had happened. The stream of bullets had punctured and fragmented the trees around him. Off to his side, Daniel lay motionless. He heard a sharp, reedy voice from behind him say, "Looks like I missed one. Two out of three isn't bad though, right?" Whirling around, he saw a thin man in a garish purple tuxedo emerge from the forest. In his right hand, he carried a submachine gun - no, that wasn't right. His right hand was a submachine gun, its cold metal seemingly melted into his wrist. He pointed the gun at Joshua. "I think I can handle one Stand user by myself. It's not like you can 'indomitable will' your way out of bullets, right?"

"GRAAAA!" Imagine Dragons leapt forward at the man. In return, the man pointed the gun at the green Stand. "[Landslide]!" Imagine Dragons tensed, expecting to be battered with bullets again, but the gun did not fire. Instead, what appeared to be a flesh colored snake leapt out from his wrist toward Imagine Dragons. Just as it made contact, Imagine Dragons suddenly found itself being pulled to the left, colliding with a nearby tree. It tried to launch itself at the man again, but found itself unable to move. What did he do? Joshua thought, and then he saw: Imagine Dragons' torso had been fused to the tree trunk.

"You've already experienced my Stand ability, right? When it touches two things at the same time, it can fuse them to each other." Joshua suddenly remembered right before he had been abducted by the Cobalt Order, when his feet had apparently fused to the pavement. This guy must've been the other Stand user in the alley that night. The man's hand was no longer a submachine gun - though it was still holding a submachine gun. "It sounds powerful, but its actually pretty shit on its own, since it puts itself out of commission as well. I'm good for support, but if I want to actually take anyone down I need an ally with a more powerful Stand," he grinned wickedly, "or, you know, a gun."

Joshua's mind raced. Was this guy Stan's partner? No, that didn't make any sense. If he was, why hadn't he attacked them until just now? And why did he say "two out of three"? That would mean he was including Stan as an enemy. This guy definitely was a member of the Cobalt Order, so did that mean Stan wasn't? But then, why had Stan tried to take them out? None of what was happening made any sense.

It didn't help that these questions should have been the least of his concerns at that moment. The man was pointing his gun at Joshua, about to fire at any second. Imagine Dragons was stuck, solidly fused to the tree. Even if it could break away, Joshua wasn't sure it could reach him in time. He could try to run, but Joshua doubted he could outrun bullets. There was nothing he could do but wait for the man to fire his gun.

Wait. Why hadn't the man shot him yet?

Joshua looked up again. The man was still pointing the gun at him. He hadn't moved a muscle. In fact, it looked as if he was frozen solid…

"You're probably thinking "How can this be? I just watched him get beaten to a bloody pulp!" right now, aren't you?"

Joshua turned around. Sure enough, there was the Stand hunter. Constantine was bloody, limping, and covered with bruises and wounds, but still smiling cheekily. To his side, a badly beaten-up Birdhouse in Your Soul stood, its eyes once again glowing blue. Joshua had never been so happy to see someone who had tried to kill him only minutes before.

"Hey, kid. That was quite a nasty whooping you gave me. Knocked me on my ass for a minute. But I haven't come this far in my line of work without being able to take what I dish out. Now then," and he strode past Joshua to the frozen Stand user, Birdhouse in Your Soul right next to him.

"The Cobalt Order. I should've have known something was funny the moment I took that offer." He sighed. "This is what I get for being blinded with greed. As always, Grandmother was right." Birdhouse in Your Soul clenched its hand into a fist and swung back. "Oh well. At least I still get to keep the advance."

"GUUUUUUUULE!" A deep, bellowing noise came from the depths of Birdhouse in Your Soul as it beat the frozen Stand user. It was frankly disconcerting, watching the man get bashed over and over, into a bloody mess, all while unable to even flinch. Finally, Birdhouse in Your Soul stopped, and the man fell over, completely unconscious. At the same time, the bond attaching Imagine Dragons to the tree trunk dissolved.

Suddenly, Joshua remembered Daniel on the ground. He rushed over, only to find Stan already next to Daniel, checking his vitals. After a few seconds, the Stand hunter stood up.

"He's alive," he said. "Unconscious and wounded, but he's going to be fine." A mixture of relief and confusion flooded Joshua's brain. "But - he was shot. The bullets -"

"Hit his Stand and not him." Stan frowned. "Which they shouldn't be able to do, I think. Either way, they didn't hit anything serious. He just got some flesh wounds, and probably passed out from the shock, or pain, or hit his head as he fell or something. Some bandages and a couple days of rest and he'll be good as new."

"Oh. Okay." Joshua was still confused. "Why are you helping us? Didn't you have a contract to kill us, or something?"

"Well, yes." Stan tilted his head. "Not really something you'd want to ask me, don't you think?"

"I didn't mean-" Stan raised his hand, cutting Joshua off. "Don't worry about it. It seems this entire encounter has been one large set-up. Let me ask you, do you know about the Cobalt Order?"

"Yeah," Stan may have been friendly now, but Joshua still wasn't sure how much he wanted to let this guy know. "We've run into them a couple times."

"Then everything makes sense. You see, a couple weeks ago I was approached by a man who asked me to join the Cobalt Order. At the time, I assumed they were some sleazy bounty hunter union, and so I told him to piss off - sorry for swearing. Anyway, I later learned from a contact of their influence - and what happens to people who don't give them what they want."

"Since then, I've been on my guard, expecting them to send enemy Stand users after me. I didn't think that they would stoop so low as to set me up against their other enemies, then ambush us after we weakened each other." He paused to rub a scratch on his shoulder. "Seriously, that Stand of yours is a force to be reckoned with. I can see why they're so afraid of you that they'd try to send me. Well, I guess at least I now know what to do the next time I see that red Stand."

"Red Stand?" Joshua asked. "Don't worry about it," Stan replied. "Oh dear," said a garbled third voice.

Standing over the unconscious, purple-suited man's body was lime green, jelly-like being. Its body quivered as it shook its spiky head. "I told him to be more patient. I suppose he is as incapable of listening as he is of learning from his mistakes."

Another enemy Stand? Joshua thought. "[Imagine Dragons]!" The green Stand charged at the jelly-like creature, claws outstretched. The creature did not flinch at the oncoming Stand, not even when Imagine Dragons sliced its claws through it with a schlorp. "What?" Joshua exclaimed. The creature, with its slimy body, had seemingly taken no damage whatsoever.

"A bold attempt," the creature said in its garbled tongue, "but ultimately futile. This body cannot be damaged. This body also lacks offensive capabilities, so it would seem that we have come to a stalemate. Therefore, we shall be taking our leave now. Good day."

"Wait!" Joshua exclaimed, but it was too late. The creature seemed to melt over the unconscious man, as if absorbing him. Both of them disappeared, leaving only a slimy greenish puddle behind.

"Where did they-" Joshua's thoughts were interrupted by Stan, who began to walk back to the sidewalk from the forest. "Hey! Where are you going?"

"No reason to stick around here anymore," came Stan's simple reply. The Stand hunter turned back to Joshua. "You seem like a good kid, so let me give you some advice."

"Somehow you've managed to incur the wrath of the Cobalt Order. Whatever you did to do that is now done, and you can't change that, but you can control what you do from now on. Don't seek them out any further. Just keep your head down, survive, and hope that they have more important things to deal with than you two." "I don't think we can do that," Joshua replied. Stan shrugged. "Okay then. In that case, I wish you both the best." And then, he was gone.

Daniel opened his eyes with a groan. "Ughh...My fucking back…" He blinked. "Joshua? What just happened?"

Goddammit, Joshua thought, and I still have to show Mom my test score too.

Hugh Chavez was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was left to recover. Knowing that the boss wouldn't accept a second failure, the instant he woke up he fused himself to the hospital bed and tried to make a getaway.

He didn't get very far.

Hugh Chavez - Retired!

-To Be Continued- Bounce Back (Act 1)

Stand User: Hugh Chavez

Stand Name: [Landslide]

Power: D

Speed: C

Range: C

Durability: B

Precision: B

Developmental Potential: C

Object Fusion: When Landslide touches two separate objects at the same time, the objects become fused together. These objects can be organic, or even living, including its user. This fusion does not damage either object, nor does it affect their functionality. Landslide can also fully separate the two objects at any time.