Daniel suddenly sat up, gasping for air. The last thing he remembered, he had been covered by Taste of Honey's slime; a thin layer of that slime still clung to him, though the Taste of Honey itself was nowhere to be seen. As he wiped the slime from his face, Daniel tried to look at his surroundings, but darkness obscured the room around him. A sudden cough to his side distracted him, and he turned to see Ivan waking up with a sputter.

"Hey, goon," Daniel said to Ivan, "Where are we? Is this your base?" "What?" Ivan had stopped coughing, and now was looking around the room frantically. "N-No," Ivan stammered. "I don't know where we are. I've never seen this place before." "What do you mean you don't know?" Daniel asked. "You're a goon. If we're not at your base, then where are we?"

"At my personal hideout."

The lights in the room switched on, and Daniel flinched from the sudden brightness. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw that he was in what seemed to be a plain office room with no furnishings. The walls and most of the floor were covered with green slime, and a short man stood in the center of the room. The man was short, with a round face, and dressed like a history professor in a green sweater-vest and dark brown pants. However, the man's hair seemed to contradict the rest of him; heavily gelled and dyed bright green, it stuck out in small spikes across his scalp, more 'punk' than 'history professor'. The lapel pin of the Cobalt Order gleamed on his chest.

"[Sabaton]!" Daniel yelled. The pink Stand appeared in front of the man, screeching as it slammed a fist into his face. The man did not flinch at the punch, but instead stood motionless as it collapsed his head into green goop. "Do you just try to instantly punch everyone you meet?" Ivan questioned, but Daniel ignored him. "This is…a Taste of Honey," he muttered.

"It would be more appropriate to say that this is the Taste of Honey," the man said, his head reforming around Sabaton's fist. "The prime Taste of Honey, if you will...the one from which all other Taste of Honeys are created. I assume you are the intruder?" Tendrils of slime shot out from the walls, wrapping around Daniel's arms and legs and restraining him. Daniel struggled against the tendrils, pulling one apart with his arm, but just as quickly the tendril reformed and recaptured his arm.

"Allow me to introduce myself," the man said. His head had now fully reformed, but his body had taken on a greenish tinge. "My name is Herb Hoover, and I am the user of the Stand Taste of Honey...though I suppose that much is obvious. As for why you are here...Taste of Honeys are only assigned to teleport a single person each, so when a Taste of Honey teleports with more than one person inside them they come here instead of their assigned locations. That's part of their instructions. Once you were brought here, of course, I was alerted...so I assumed direct control of the prime Taste of Honey to see what had happened. I'll admit, I wasn't sure which one was the intruder, as neither of you wear the Cobalt Order's pin...but given your comments and actions," he moved closer to Daniel, staring him directly in his face, "I'm fairly sure you are not a member of our order."

"Damn right, goon," Daniel said, before spitting into Herb's face. The drip of saliva sank into Herb's nose, causing the greenish tinge to spread further across his face. "You're an arrogant one, aren't you," Herb said. "But you should consider the situation you're in." The large masses of green slime started to slide closer to Daniel. "My slime can absorb you and send you to your death, and your Stand can't hurt me at all."

The tendrils wrapped around Daniel's limbs began to expand, wriggling up his arms and legs. "Maybe," Daniel said, "but there is something I can do." "Oh?" Herb raised an eyebrow, an amused half-smile on his face. "And that is?"

Sabaton appeared by each of the tendrils, quickly chopping each one off the mass of slime before teleporting to the next. In the blink of an eye, the four tendrils had all been severed, and Daniel was falling backward onto the ground. "Run away!" He yelled, tucking his head in as he hit the ground and rolled backward. Behind him, Sabaton threw a door open, and he quickly got to his feet and ran into the dark hallway outside. Ivan and Herb were left standing in the room, listening to Daniel's footsteps fade off in the distance.

Ivan looked toward Herb, pointing at the open door. "He just…" "Don't worry about him," Herb said, the half-smile still present on his face. "He won't get far. This place is crawling top to bottom with Taste of Honey's copies." The masses of slime slid off the walls, gathering together and oozing out of the door. "Anyway, he is not your concern...you are still injured. I'll have one of my Taste of Honeys return you to your base."

"Wait!" Ivan said. "I don't have my button. If I return to my base without one, my boss will think I tried to run away, and he'll…" "I see, I see," Herb said, nodding. "Don't worry. I have several pins here...one of my Taste of Honeys will bring you one before it transports you away." "Oh, thank you!" Ivan cried, tears streaming down his face as he threw himself at Herb's feet. "Thank you so much, I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused, thank you, thank you…"

Herb tilted his head, considering the pitiful man at his feet. "Don't worry," he said. "This is no trouble for me at all. In fact, if I am being honest, I am glad this has happened. It has been so long since I used my Taste of Honey for anything other than transporting defeated members of the Order. I will...enjoy this exciting development."

Daniel continued to run down the dark hallway, eventually slowing to a jog as he realized he wasn't being followed. Okay Daniel, time to focus, he thought to himself. As much as I'd like to go back and punch out those goons, I can't punch a Stand that's immune to punching. Right now the only thing I can do is escape. He shook his head; if Hiram had been here, he probably would have been chewing Daniel out for jumping into the Taste of Honey without the slightest precaution. Actually, he probably is complaining about me right now.

Daniel sighed. I hope I haven't worried him too much.

But returning to Hiram triumphant, proving once again that he didn't have to be so worried all the time, could come later; first, he actually had to escape, and that meant answering a few questions. Number one: where even am I? He could tell that the hall he had escaped into was huge, his footsteps echoing as he ran, but the darkness obscured all other details. Though the hall was pitch-black, and Daniel couldn't see more than a few feet in front of his face, he wasn't too worried about this question. After all, Sabaton was a Stand built for reconnaissance, and he could easily send it teleporting around the hideout in order to get his bearings.

Number two: how do I defeat that Taste of Honey? Even though it didn't seem to be chasing him, Daniel was sure the Cobalt Order wouldn't let him get away so easily. I'm definitely at a disadvantage here; not only can I not hurt him, but this is his home field. And yes, Daniel thought at the hypothetical retort he knew Hiram would say if he were here, I am aware that the same thing would likely be true even if I managed to reach their actual base. Still, Daniel refused to believe that Taste of Honey didn't have any weakness. I can't punch it, but there must be something that affects it. It's a Stand made of slime...Slime... The answer was there, he knew it, but there wasn't anything connecting it to what Daniel could do at that time.

Number three: skwelch. Skwelch? Daniel thought again, suddenly stopping in place. Something cool and slimy was beginning to crawl up his ankle. He looked down to see a mass of green slime pooling at his feet. "Shit!" Daniel yelled, yanking his leg upward. Sabaton appeared at his side, chopping off the tendril of slime that clung to his ankle, and Daniel turned and ran from the forming Taste of Honey. As he ran, though, he noticed that something seemed to be weighing his leg down, and he looked down to see a piece of slime still clinging to his leg.

"Are you surprised?" hissed a voice. Daniel looked up to see another Taste of Honey rushing toward him. "Stale Taste of Honeys may lose their form when you break off their pieces," the Taste of Honey said as it reached out and grabbed Daniel's arm, "but we fresh copies are made of tougher stuff." Daniel yanked his arm back, breaking the tendril off of the Taste of Honey, but the slime still clung to his arm. The Taste of Honey reached out again. "You cannot harm us. You cannot escape us. Accept your defeat and let us absorb you."

"Not a chance!" Daniel shouted, as the concrete wall to his side exploded outward. He ran through the new hole where Sabaton was standing, furiously trying to scrape the slime off his arm. But it was useless: as fast as he pulled the slime off of one arm, it only clung to his other arm, until both of his arms were covered in slime. Still, he continued to run away from the Taste of Honeys. The room he was in now was also huge, though unlike the previous hall there was enough light to see his surroundings. Daniel could see large, cylindrical structures in his periphery, but he ignored them and kept running.

SPLAT!

Out of nowhere, a large Taste of Honey fell on top of Daniel, nearly knocking him off his feet. Daniel tried to keep running, but the Taste of Honey was weighing him down and clinging to the ground, so Daniel could barely move.

As the large Taste of Honey continued to envelop Daniel, the other Taste of Honeys caught up to him and began to attach themselves to him as well, until he was almost entirely covered in the slime. "You cannot escape us. Accept your defeat and let us absorb you," one of the Taste of Honeys said. "Where shall we take you? The bottom of the ocean?" No, no," another said. "Take him to the upper atmosphere and let him drop!" "No, no," the third one said. "A volcano! Let's take him to the crater of an active volcano!"

"How about a hydroelectric dam?" Daniel said. The Taste of Honeys stopped their crawl over Daniel's body. "A hydroelectric dam? Why would you want to go to a hydroelectric dam?" one asked. "You're right," Daniel responded. "I guess it wouldn't make much sense for you to take me to a hydroelectric dam."

"After all, we're in a hydroelectric dam right now, aren't we?"

"What do you mean, we're in a hydroelectric dam?" a Taste of Honey asked. "How do you know that?" "Let me ask you a question: where do you think my Stand is right now?" Daniel replied. "I didn't recall it. I've made it teleport around this place, to try to figure out where I am, but I didn't know it was a hydroelectric dam until I got here." He reached up slowly, with one slime-covered arm, and tapped the wall. "From my position here, Sabaton can clearly the dam we are in - from the outside."

"What does it matter if you know this is a hydroelectric dam? You cannot harm us. You cannot escape us!" a Taste of Honey shouted. "Are you sure about that?" Daniel said. "Sabaton has done more than just look around. Once I knew this place was a dam, it went to work - a kick here, a broken pipe there, and now this place is set to burst. There's only one thing I need to destroy to defeat you now." Sabaton appeared above Daniel and the Taste of Honeys, standing on an exposed pipe on the wall. "And that's this pipe here!"

In a flash, the Taste of Honeys leapt off of Daniel, throwing themselves at Sabaton before it could stomp on the pipe. The masses of slime clung to Sabaton's limbs, pinning them to the wall. "You cannot defeat us!" one yelled. "Your Stand is stuck! You've lost!"

Daniel only smiled. "Just kidding," he said, crawling away from the wall. He could start to hear the sound of rushing water - a lot of it - nearby. "It's already done. I just needed you to get off of me for a second." And he took a deep breath.

The wall of water hit hard - much harder than Daniel had expected. He fought to keep the air in his lungs, barely managing to not pass out as he was whirled around by the current. Still, his plan had worked - the Taste of Honeys had dissolved almost instantly when the water hit them. It makes sense, Daniel thought. They're made of slime, and they can absorb things, so of course they would dissolve in water. I've gotten rid of the Taste of Honeys; now I just need to focus on not drowning myself, and I can get out of here!

"FOOL!" a voice boomed through the water behind him. Daniel looked back to see a massive green hand reaching toward him. "YOU TRIED TO DESTROY MY TASTE OF HONEYS BY FLOODING THE DAM?" the mass of slime yelled. "DID YOU REALLY THINK I WOULD BE SO STUPID AS TO SURROUND MY STAND WITH ITS ONLY WEAKNESS? THERE IS A REASON I CHOSE TO BASE MYSELF IN THIS DAM...ITS COPIES MAY DISSOLVE IN WATER, BUT THE PRIME TASTE OF HONEY...WATER CAUSES IT TO EXPAND!"

No way! Daniel thought as a large tendril of slime extended from the hand and wrapped around his body. Sabaton attempted to sever the tendril from its source, but its fists sank harmlessly into the slime. "I DON'T NEED TO TRANSPORT YOU ANYWHERE NOW...YOU CAN DIE IN THE VERY DESTRUCTION THAT YOU CREATED!" I just need to sever that tendril, and it will dissolve, but it's too big! Daniel thought. It's absorbing water faster than Sabaton can cut into it! "YOU CANNOT HARM ME. YOU CANNOT ESCAPE ME," Herb bellowed. "ACCEPT YOUR DEFEAT AND DIE!"

Die? Daniel thought. No...This may be all my fault, but there's no way in hell that I'm going to die for it! The halls of the dam were solidly built, made to withstand any damage that they may take, including pressurized flooding should any other sections break - at least, they appeared to be from the outside. However from inside the walls, Sabaton could see weakened points created by years of neglect in maintenance. It slammed its foot on one such point once, and then again, and then again until -

"EEEEEEAAAAHH!" Sabaton shrieked as it slammed its foot down once more, sending a section of ceiling collapsing into the flooded hall below. The falling rubble sliced through the slime tendril with ease, causing the slime wrapped around Daniel to dissolve, and the current dragged Daniel away from the now blocked hallway.

"YOU CANNOT ESCAPE ME!" Herb cried again, as several small tendrils poked through the water and shot toward Daniel. "YOU CANNOT...WAIT, WHAT?" The tendrils had stopped moving toward Daniel, and instead hung in place, seemingly pulling against something. Actually, I can escape you, Daniel thought. Destroying that ceiling didn't just sever your tendril; it also changed the flow of the current. Your Stand is a lot of things, but one thing it isn't is strong enough to break down that wall of rubble. And it's certainly not strong enough to resist the current flowing through it!

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Herb yelled, his voice receding as Taste of Honey's tendrils were sucked back through the cracks in the rubble. I did it! Daniel thought. I won! He spun around, watching as the water carried him through the dark halls of the dam. Now, let's just hope I got the route to get out of here right…

The sun had barely begun to rise when Hiram's cell phone began to ring. It had only rung a single time when Hiram answered, not even bothering to check the caller ID. "Hello?" he almost shouted, in a voice both exhausted with worry and excited by sudden hope.

"Hey, Hiram," came Daniel familiar, all-too-cocky voice from the other side of the phone. "How'd everything go on your end?"

"Daniel!" Hiram definitely shouted this time, causing the others to look toward him. "Daniel's okay!" he quickly told them, before turning back to the phone. "What happened, Daniel?" A tinge of anger began to creep into Hiram's voice. "After what you did, I thought for sure you'd be -"

"Don't worry about it," Daniel said, cutting him off as usual. "I didn't even make it their base: the goon who controlled the Taste of Honey sent me to him instead. I trounced him easily, of course, but I'm afraid the other goon got away. It looks like we're back to square one."

"Not necessarily," Hiram replied. "We continued to look through the office while you were gone, and apparently Mr. Istanbul found something really interesting." He brought the phone to the front of his face. "Look, I'm just glad you're...uh, Daniel? Why aren't you calling me with your phone?"

"Oh yeah, sorry about that. My phone got a little waterlogged in the fight, and it took me a while to find the change for this pay phone." "Waterlogged?" Hiram asked, confused. "What do you mean?" "It's a long story," Daniel replied. "So anyway, can you get Stan to pick me up? I don't really have any money to get home with." "What? Daniel, where are you?"

"Uhhhh...Ohio, I think?" "What?!" Hiram shouted into the phone. "What are you doing in Ohio?"

"Like I said, it's a long story."

-To Be Continued- The Most Dangerous Game (Act 1)

Stand User: Herb Hoover

Stand Name: [Taste of Honey]

Power: E

Speed: C

Range: A

Durability: A

Precision: C

Developmental Potential: D

Slime Body: Taste of Honey is made of slime; as such, it can change its shape, absorb water to grow larger, split into smaller copies of itself, and instantly regenerate from physical attacks. It can also condense itself into a tiny blob of slime.

Slime Copies: By exposing bits of its enlarged self to electricity, Taste of Honey can clone itself. These copies share Taste of Honey's abilities, though they will dissolve if exposed to water. In addition, while the user is able to sense the activities of these copies, they cannot be directly controlled except to follow simple commands.

Object Teleportation: By encasing an object within itself, Taste of Honey can cause that object to teleport; however, doing so destroys that iteration of Taste Honey. Taste of Honey can also transport living things and people in this way.