"That's...electricity, isn't it?"
Hiram's quiet words felt like an understatement to Joshua. The glowing, crackling balls that had appeared over the heads of the new giants weren't just electricity: they were a lightning strike, or perhaps even an entire power plant, condensed into a sphere the size of a man. Staring at them, Joshua knew for sure that if they hit him, he would be dead before he hit the ground. He felt it deep in his gut - the same feeling that one has when they encounter a tiger in the wild, or when they are trapped in a collapsing building.
The feeling of imminent death.
Instantly, he snapped himself out of his paralysis. The giants hadn't thrown their balls yet, but it wouldn't be long before they did. Joshua needed to find cover and fast. Off the Wall's shield couldn't help - even if it could block the giants' attacks, Joshua wasn't sure that Hiram would be able to take the strain. They couldn't rely on dodging the balls of electricity either, not with how fast the giants seemed to be. He looked around the street, trying to find something that they could use for cover. A tree? Stan's now destroyed truck? One of the other houses on the block? There didn't seem to be anything big enough, or study enough, to protect them.
No, that's not right, Joshua thought as he looked at the ground. It was a stretch, but there was something they could use for cover - but he had to be fast. With a call of "[Imagine Dragons]!" his Stand emerged from beside him and let out a roar of blisteringly hot fire straight toward the ground.
"Joshua? What are you doing?" Stan asked. "Asphalt's an insulator, right? Like rubber?" Joshua quickly explained. "If Imagine Dragons can melt enough road, I might be able to create an insulated bunker that we can take cover in! Hiram, can Off the Wall's shield cover liquids? Or almost liquids?" he suddenly asked.
"I-I've never tried," Hiram stammered. "But I don't see why it couldn't." "Okay," Joshua said. "Everyone, get close to me. Alexa, I'll need your Stand for this as well."
Out of breath, Imagine Dragons stopped its fire breath. The road in front of it was now a blackened, bubbling - but rapidly cooling - puddle of asphalt. "Alright, Hiram, put a shield over that asphalt!" "[Off the Wall]!" Hiram yelled, and the Stand's shield appeared over the puddle. Okay, now for the tricky part, Joshua thought. Imagine Dragons bent over, reached into the puddle, and pulled the liquid asphalt out.
The asphalt was devastatingly hot, even through Off the Wall's shield, but Imagine Dragons' thick scales protected Joshua from most of the heat. The asphalt stretched as it was pulled, elongating like some kind of thick black taffy as it flew over Joshua and the rest of the group. "Alexa-" he began to say, but was interrupted when she said, "I got it. You want YMCA to cool the asphalt down like it did the water in the pipe, right?"
"And I am perfectly capable of that, mistress!" YMCA proudly said, striking the shielded asphalt overhead with its fist. As the ends of the asphalt fell to the ground, it cooled and hardened, until a solid dome of asphalt had formed over the group. "Now, Hiram, lower the shield for a second!" Joshua said. The silver shield faded, and Imagine Dragons punched a single claw through a low part of the dome, creating a small hole. "Now bring it up again!" he said, and the shield reappeared around the dome. I just hope this works, he thought.
No sooner had Joshua had this thought when what sounded like a loud lightning strike came from just outside the dome. A second, similar sound followed soon afterward. Despite the obvious power behind the sounds, however, the dome didn't break apart. It didn't even shudder. I was right, Joshua thought with relief. Hiram's shield blocked the physical force of those balls, while the asphalt prevented the electricity from reaching us. "We're safe," he said, turning to the others with a smile.
Stan wasn't smiling. "We may safe for now, but we're still trapped. Those monsters can keep taxing Hiram's shield until this hiding place breaks down, and meanwhile we have no idea what's happening out there." "Right," Joshua nodded. "Daniel, can you -"
"Already doing it," Daniel interrupted. He pointed up toward the dome's ceiling. "Sabaton is out there watching those goons." "What are they doing?" Hiram asked. "Are they charging another attack?"
Daniel shrugged. "No, it's weird. They've moved to the sidewalk away from the house, and now they're clawing at the ground. It's like they're digging for something." Digging for something? Joshua thought. For what? Suddenly it clicked. What the giants' bodies, which had seemed so familiar to Joshua, looked like came to him. "They're trying to reach the power line underground," he realized. "They're like batteries, so they must be trying to recharge."
'That would make sense, considering where they're digging," Stan said. "But what does that mean for us?" "If they're batteries, then there's two ways we could deal with them," Hiram said. "We could let them run out of power - which is unlikely- or we could try to overcharge them." "And how would we do that?" Daniel asked.
"I have an idea," Hiram said. "It's a little risky, but I think it's our best shot against these things." "Well, tell it to us quickly," Daniel said. "Because the goons have stopped digging."
The lights above Woods' head flickered briefly, before turning off completely. Looking outside, he could see the rest of the neighborhood had lost power as well. "Christ, Gary, did you have to choose such destructive golems?" he asked as he watched the giant batteries tear up the sidewalk. Smoke still wafted out of the demolished garage that a stray jolt of electricity had hit. "What will the neighbors think when they come home to find the entire block destroyed?"
"My golems have always done a bit of splash damage to the area they're in. You knew that when you called me," Gary blithely replied. "Besides, not all of the damage is their fault. The new speed bump, for example…"
Woods didn't have any response to that. The massive dome in the middle of the road had been a surprise, so out of left field that Subdivisions hadn't even sensed any intention to do so before it happened. Still, Woods could tell the blasts of electricity had badly damaged the dome, even through Off the Wall's shield, so they wouldn't be able to hide in there for long.
A sudden movement from the dome caught his eye. "Oh, hang on, they're moving!" he excitedly said to Gary. "They're running away!" "Oh, hell no! They won't get away that easily!" Gary responded. "Which way are they going? I'll send my golems after them!"
Subdivisions handed the piece of paper it had finished writing on to Woods. They're heading to the main road, it read. They have a plan to defeat the golems. "Does that plan have any specifics?" Woods quickly asked.
Subdivisions blinked. "Too far away, then," Woods sighed. "Listen, Gary? I don't think you should pursue them. It seems like they're planning to lure your golems into a trap, and they're not close enough that Subdivisions can know what that trap is." "Oh, I'm not going to give up," Gary said. "Not while they still have the Fragment. Who cares if they want to destroy my golems? Let them try; even if they can take down these five-stars, I've got plenty more golems to overwhelm them with!"
Woods sighed. He should've known this would happen with Gary when he called him. The man was too stubbornly competitive; he might act all frugal with his golems at first, but after a certain point he'd always get too into his 'game' and would waste any number of golems trying to take down the enemy. Well, it's not like we're in any trouble should the golems lose, Woods thought. With the barriers protecting us, the only casualties would be Gary's golems. If he's willing to waste them, then... "They're headed east, toward the main road," he said through the phone. "You know where that is, don't you?"
"It's working!" Daniel called as he ran. "The goons are chasing us!"
They sure are, Joshua thought. For having such big bodies on top of their thin, wiry legs, the giant batteries could move surprisingly quickly. Despite the fact that they seemed to have waited to fully recharge before chasing after them, the giants had now almost caught up with the group. Joshua and the others could barely run fast enough to outpace them, while the giants showed no sign of slowing down. It didn't help that the enemy Stand user's house was deep within the suburbs; even running at top speed, it would be at least five minutes before they would reach a main road. At least they don't seem to be able to charge that electricity ball while they're moving.
Finally, with lungs on fire, Joshua spotted what they were looking for: a road with utility poles running alongside it. "We're almost there, guys!" Daniel, who somehow had barely broken a sweat, excitedly yelled. "Just a little further!" Thankfully, though some cars had occasionally driven across the street when Joshua first spotted them, the road was empty with no cars in sight when he got to them. It's just as well, Joshua thought as he ran across the road. No need to involve innocent people in this. There'd be a panic about these giants, if they're even able to be seen in the first place.
Running underneath the utility pole, Joshua was at last able to stop and catch his breath. Stan heavily panted beside him, and Hiram seemed to be basically dry heaving, while Daniel and Alexa seemed to barely be winded at all. "This plan…better work...or else…" Stan said between large breaths.
"Don't worry," Daniel said, watching the giants run toward them. "It pretty much already has. [Sabaton]!" he yelled, and at the same time Alexa yelled "[YMCA]!" Sabaton appeared behind the head of the closer of the giants, while YMCA rushed forward and tackled one of its legs. The two Stands' attacks, combined with the momentum it already had, sent it tumbling toward the wires between the utility poles. Just before it crashed into the wires, a silver shield - courtesy of a still heaving Hiram's Off the Wall - appeared over them. The wires held together as the giant crashed into them - but the giant did not.
A great, thunderous crack of what almost sounded like lightning filled the air. Streaks of energy ran through the giant's body, starting at the top of its 'head' - the point where it had touched the utility wires. It shuddered once, very briefly, and then burst apart, collapsing into a heap of metal, wires, and sludge. The other giant didn't even pause at its fallen comrade, instead continuing to run directly toward the group.
"Our turn next then, Stan!" Joshua called, as Imagine Dragons dashed behind the second giant. As Imagine Dragons rammed the giant's back, Birdhouse in Your Soul shot its claws into the giant's body and pulled. The second giant was also pulled into the utility wires, and exploded just like the first, overloaded by the sudden burst of electricity.
"And another goon bites the dust!" Daniel called, pumping his fist. He started to run toward the smoking piles of rubble, only to come to a sudden halt as he was grabbed by Stan. "Hold on," Stan said, "we're not out of danger yet. Look at the road." Beneath the smoldering rubble, the pavement seemed to be bubbling and turning into goo. "It's like acid," Alexa said. "Battery acid?"
Joshua almost felt like laughing.
"Just hang tight for a minute," Stan said, staring at the rubble. No one moved, or even spoke; they all stared at the destroyed giants, as if trying to figure out what Stan was so intensely focused on. Joshua noticed that some of Birdhouse in Your Soul's claws were still embedded in a piece of scrap. "Um, Stan, what-"
"Shh!" Stan quickly cut Joshua off, continuing to intensely watch the piles of rubble. "I'm going fishing." "Fishing?" Joshua said, confused.
Just as suddenly as the pieces of the clay giants had, the piles of rubble, acid and all, floated off the ground and flew away. Only a single piece remained: the scrap the Birdhouse in Your Soul's claws had stuck to, held tight in the air between whatever invisible force pulled it away and the taut strings of the purple Stand.
Stan smiled, the same smile that he had given Daniel and Joshua while he was fighting them. "Got a bite," he said. "I thought something had felt off." He turned to the rest of the group. "We're not dealing with one enemy Stand user here. We're dealing with two."
-To Be Continued- The Most Dangerous Game (Act 4)