Joshua opened his eyes with a groan, picking his head up from the car window. He felt a dull pain in his elbow, and he looked over to see Hiram's head pressing against it, having accidentally headbutted it during the impact. Beyond him, Joshua could see Alexa also dazedly sitting up.

"Is everyone back there alright?" Stan asked worriedly. "I think so," Joshua said, as Hiram removed his head from Joshua's arm. "What happened?" "I don't know," Stan admitted, as Birdhouse in Your Soul's arm pulled the collapsed Rednex upright. "It felt like something crashed into the side of the car. Whatever it was, it better not have been your fault," he said to Rednex.

Rednex shrugged its shoulders, still grinning despite how woozy it looked. "The car | crashes," it said. "Well, whatever," Stan responded. "It might just be nothing, but we can't ignore the possibility that this might be another enemy Stand attack. Get out of the car, and have your Stands at the ready."

"About that…" Alexa said, shaking the handle of the car door. "This door won't open." She peered through the severely cracked window - it hadn't been cracked before, Joshua thought - and said, "It looks like it's too damaged to open."

"What?!" Daniel exclaimed. "Damage?! How bad is it?!" Before Alexa could respond, Daniel threw open the passenger door and leapt out of the car. "Daniel, wait-" Stan started to say, before shaking his head. "Oh, never mind. Everyone follow him out of the car, but don't let your guard down. As for you," he said to Rednex, pulling the Stand closer to him, "don't even try to escape. My Birdhouse in Your Soul will freeze you before you can take even ten steps."

Emerging from the car into the middle of the intersection, Joshua noticed a semi truck had crashed into a pole nearby. Traffic in every direction had stopped, with some cars honking their horns, and a crowd of onlookers had begun to form on the streets. As Joshua looked around, he realized that the car had somehow been pushed to face the opposite direction it had been driving in. As Joshua was considering this, he suddenly heard Daniel yell "Damn it!" and turned to look at the other side of the car.

Daniel's car may not have been very pretty to begin with, but at least it had been all in one piece with no major damage. The same could not be said of the car now: The back right side of the car had been nearly completely crumpled, with the back window partially shattered and the back right tire sticking out at an awkward angle. A few feet away, large fragments of red and white glass littered the road; Joshua realized they were the remains of the car's back right light. Daniel stood in front of the wreckage, an anguished expression on his face, holding out his hands as if not sure what to do with them. "I'm sorry, Daniel," Hiram said, approaching the stricken boy. "If I had seen it coming Off the Wall could've…"

Daniel shook his head with a peaceful half-smile, seemingly snapped out of his stupor. "It's okay, Hiram. It isn't your fault." His expression suddenly turned harsh, and he pointed a finger at the wrecked semi. "It's his!" He started to run toward the truck, shaking his fist and yelling "You stupid goon! What do you think you're doing, running a red light like that! I saved up for nearly a year to buy this car - don't think you won't be paying for these damages!"

"Excuse me, sir," Joshua heard a voice confidently say, and he looked over to see a police officer approaching Stan. Other police officers, Joshua noticed, had also appeared at the scene, with some beginning to redirect traffic and others moving toward the crashed semi. "Is everyone in your group alright?"

"We seem to be," Stan said, scratching his head. "Just little shaken is all. We were just driving when all of a sudden that truck crashed into us. "

"Well, it's certainly good that everyone's okay," the officer said calmly. "Don't worry. We'll make sure you all get taken care of. May I see your driver's license? We need to document this accident, after all." "Of course, of course," Stan said, reaching for the wallet in his back pocket. By his side, Joshua noticed Rednex's smile grow slightly wider.

"Attention all units," a voice that sounded exactly the police officer's said through the officer's radio. "Be advised that a large man named Constantine Istanbul is suspected of having kidnapped four teenagers, and is currently trying to flee the state. The suspect was last spotted driving an old gray Ford with the words CLUNKER - FOR SALE $3000 on its hood." Stan and the officer both froze, staring at the radio as it spoke. Then the officer cleared his throat. "So, yes," he said, this time more forcefully than before. "Your driver's license, please."

Stan a kidnapper? What's going on? Joshua thought. Then he looked at the restrained Rednex and its grin which could now only be described as smug, and he realized what had happened. Rednex, you rat! Joshua thought. You copied the police officer's voice, and made it sound like there's an arrest warrant for Stan! Stan must've realized this as well, as his eyes narrowed briefly while the cords around Rednex pulled even tighter. "Don't blame | the messenger," it said weakly.

Suddenly, Stan relaxed, and the cords around Rednex loosened ever so slightly. "Of course, officer," he said politely, opening his wallet. "My driver's license." Joshua watched as Stan slowly pulled a card out of his wallet, and he noticed that while the card seemed to be a proper driver's license, the name on it was 'Justin Byzan'. Don't worry, the subtle grin that Stan gave Joshua seemed to say. This isn't the first time I've needed to hide my identity. This fake ID will be more than enough to convince this officer that he's got the wrong guy. "Here you are," Stan then said, handing the officer the fake driver's license.

The officer slowly looked at the license. Then he looked back at Stan. Then he stared at the license again, and back to Stan again. "That's strange," Alexa murmured to Joshua. "Huh? What is?" Joshua asked, realizing that he had been so focused on the exchange between the officer and Stan that he hadn't been paying attention to anything else. "The truck," Alexa said. "Look." The police officers by the semi had managed to dislodge it from the pole it had collided with, and Joshua saw the front of the truck for the first time. Large parts of the broken windshield seemed to be covered in some kind of black scrawl. "How did that guy drive with his window like that?" Joshua wondered. "It almost looks like some kind of writing," Alexa said.

Taking a deep breath, the officer suddenly threw down the driver's license and shouted, "Constatine Istanbul, you're under arrest! Put your hands behind your head and get on the ground now!"

Several things seemed to happen at once as the officer spoke. The gaze of every police officer in the area was suddenly directed towards the group. Stan stumbled backwards, muttering "What the-?!" Joshua glanced down, and noticed that the license - that had definitely displayed a fake name when he last saw it - now clearly read 'Constantine Istanbul'. Alexa's eyes widened, and she said "No, that's definitely writing!"

And Rednex, the ever-present smile still gleaming on its face, crouched low to the ground and leapt out of its bindings. The instant it hit the ground, the red Stand took off at full sprint, expertly weaving its way through the mass of officers, onlookers, and parked cars.

"Not so fast!" Stan yelled, whirling to face the fleeing Rednex. "[Birdhouse in Your-" Stan was abruptly cut off as the officer tackled him from behind, yelling "I told you to get on the ground now!" "Argh, we don't have time for this!" Stan shouted, struggling underneath the officer. Joshua moved towards Stan, trying to think of a way to help him, but stopped as Stan shouted, "Don't worry about me! Just don't let that Stand escape!"

"Right!" Joshua nodded. "[Imagine Dragons]!" With the green Stand at his side, Joshua took off in the same direction as the fleeing Rednex. Beside him, he could see Alexa, Hiram, and Daniel all doing the same thing. "Hey!" a nearby officer yelled. "Where do you kids think you're going?" Joshua dodged to the side as the officer tried to grab him, but noticed another officer had managed to hold tight to Hiram's arm. A third officer had somehow managed to restrain Daniel, who was yelling "Let me go, you goon! I haven't even been kidnapped!" as he struggled to escape the officer's clutches.

"Dammit!" Daniel yelled. "[Sabaton]!" The pink Stand appeared directly in front of Rednex, swinging its fist at its face. Without so much as slowing down, Rednex deftly ducked underneath the fist, and continued to sprint out of the intersection. Sabaton vanished, and reappeared in front of Rednex once again, this time kicking out a leg to trip Rednex. Rednex gracefully leapt over Sabaton's leg, completely unfazed. "Dammit, it's fast," Daniel said. "Joshua! Alexa! Don't you dare let that goon get away!"

Joshua didn't respond, too busy dodging past officer after officer to acknowledge Daniel. As he reached the small crowd of onlookers, Joshua held out his arms in a guarded motion, shoving his way through the crowd. A few feet away from him, Joshua saw Alexa and YMCA emerge from the crowd. "It's heading toward town!" YMCA shouted, pointing forward. "Quickly! After it!"

Rednex may have not been a very powerful Stand, but it certainly was fast. Even moving at full sprint, Joshua and Alexa could barely keep pace with it. Not helping things was the fact that Rednex seemed to have picked the most cluttered route possible to flee, with the sidewalk filled with pedestrians, restaurant tables, and store merchandise at every step. Where Rednex handled these obstacles with ease, dodging pedestrians and leaping across tables, Joshua and Alexa could barely navigate through the street without bumping into anyone or anything.

How did the name on Stan's fake license change? Joshua wondered as he ran. I'm sure Rednex had something to do with it, but how? He continued to run across an intersection, focused only on his thoughts and the Stand in front of him, when YMCA suddenly lifted him off the ground, yelling "Watch out, mistress and Joshua!" The golden Stand then slammed its fist down onto the hood of a car that had come barreling out of the intersection, stopping it in its tracks.

"Hey! What do you kids thinks you're doing?!" the surly man in the car angrily exclaimed, poking his head out the window. "Didn't you read the sign?!" He yelled, pointing at the nearby stop sign. "What do you mean, read the sign?" Joshua asked, confusion overtaking any fear or anger he may have been feeling. "You mean the stop sign?"

"What stop sign?!" the surly man responded. "I'm talking about that sign, the one that reads 'go as fast as you can' on it." Joshua looked. Sure enough, while the sign may have the same shape and color as a stop sign, and while it definitely was a stop sign, it did read GO AS FAST AS YOU CAN. "It's not my fault that you brats get in my way when I'm obeying the rules of the road!" the surly man continued.

"Why would you think that a sign telling you to go as fast as you can through an intersection was a real thing?!" Alexa shouted. "My mistress almost got hit because of your utter foolishness!" YMCA added, once again slamming a fist into the car's hood, this time hard enough to crumple it. The surly man started backward in fright as he saw the hood crumple, knocking his head against the roof of his car in the process. "Never mind this guy," Joshua said, leaping down from YMCA's grasp. "We can't let Rednex get away!" Joshua resumed his sprint toward the still thankfully visible, though now much farther away, Rednex, Alexa closely following behind.

"Rednex must've changed the words on that stop sign," Joshua said as he ran. "It probably changed the words on Stan's license in a similar way." "Those words on the truck's windshield must've been Rednex's doing as well," Alexa realized. "How many powers does this thing have? I thought it was just a messenger Stand."

"I am a messenger Stand," Rednex's eloquent voice echoed from all around Joshua and Alexa, even as the Stand itself showed no indication of slowing down. "The ultimate messenger Stand, with ability to deliver messages in every possible way."

Joshua could hear Rednex start loudly barking as it continued to run down the street, and a large group of dogs suddenly burst out of the store it had passed. The group of dogs scattered, breaking off in every direction, but three of the biggest dogs - a doberman, a mastiff, and a hungry-looking greyhound - made a tight beeline directly toward Joshua and Alexa. Crap! It can talk to animals too?! Joshua thought frustratedly, Imagine Dragons preparing to guard him from the dogs' rush. We can't afford to be slowed down by this, but I don't want to hurt those dogs.

"[YMCA]! Take care of those dogs!" Alexa called, and the golden Stand rushed forward with a "Yes, mistress!" As the dogs rushed past YMCA, paying it no attention, it quickly poked the small of each of the dogs' necks, causing the dogs to freeze up and fall over. As Alexa ran ahead, Joshua couldn't help but pause at the dogs' motionless bodies, causing YMCA to yell, "I caused their muscles to lock up! They won't be able to move for a little while, but they're fine! Now let's hurry!"

This isn't working, Joshua thought as he continued to chase after Rednex. They had been running at full sprint for several minutes now, and the exhaustion had begun to creep into his muscles. On the other hand, Rednex seemed no signs of slowing down its pace; if anything seemed to have sped up from before. "This isn't working," he repeated out loud to Alexa. "We're going to have to do something else if we want to catch up to it."

"Well, I can't run any faster," Alexa responded. "And YMCA can only stop things, not make speed things up." Well, there must be something we can do, Joshua thought as he looked around. As his eyes settled on a nearby outdoor cafe, an idea began to form in his mind. It wasn't a very good idea, and there were too many ways for it to go wrong, but it was the only option forward he could see. "Alexa!" He called. "Can YMCA make us both weightless?"

"Sure," Alexa said in response, "But what good will that - oh," she interrupted herself, noticing the same thing that Joshua had. "Are you sure that will work?" "It's worth a shot," Joshua said, now running directly toward the cafe. "Alright, then. YMCA!" Alexa called, the golden Stand immediately appearing at her side. "Eliminate the force of gravity from me and Joshua!"

"At once, mistress!" YMCA said, and pressed its hand on top of Joshua's shoulder. Joshua could feel his body growing lighter, could feel his connection to the ground slip away as he dove toward the nearest cafe table. "Hold on tight!" he yelled, feeling a slight bit of pressure as YMCA and Alexa clung to his back. In one swift motion, he pulled a tablecloth off of the cafe table and spread it out over his head, tightly clutching the corners. Imagine Dragons emerged by his side, and with a fireball tucked neatly in its mouth, blew hot air into the tablecloth.

The sudden created thermal underneath the tablecloth inflated, hurtling Joshua and Alexa up in the air. As they rose above the buildings, Imagine Dragons slightly shifted the direction of its breath, causing Joshua and Alexa to quickly fly forward. Joshua could see the tiny figure of Rednex growing closer below them, still running at full speed. "Alright, Alexa!" he yelled. "Now have YMCA lower us onto Rednex!"

"Um," Alexa said, biting her lip. "YMCA, can you do that?" "I'm afraid not, mistress," YMCA responded. "My powers are all or nothing; I can fully negate gravity, but not partially." "What?" Joshua said incredulously. "Then how are we going to get down safely?" They were directly above Rednex at this point: if they stayed in the air any longer, they would blow past it. Alexa probably had the same thought, as she said, "I'm sure you'll figure something out. Just leave Rednex to us!" and then let go of Joshua's back with YMCA.

The instant YMCA's hand left Joshua's shoulder, his full weight returned and the makeshift paraglider collapsed. "OH SHIT!" Joshua yelled as he started falling. As the ground rushed toward him, Imagine Dragons surrounded him and flapped its wings as hard as it could. It wasn't nearly enough to stop his fall, but it did slow his descent to where he didn't die when he landed, his fall broken by a small wooden bench and Imagine Dragons' tough body. Joshua shakily stood up from the splintered remains of the bench, carefully testing weight on each of his limbs. At least nothing seems to be broken, he thought, at the same time wondering how many more times he'd be able to think that.

A few feet from where he'd landed, he could Rednex standing in place, with Alexa and YMCA nearby. As he got closer to them, he could hear of voice disturbingly similar to his say, "Alright, Alexa, you can let Rednex go, I'm here to catch it now." "That wasn't my voice," he said loudly, making sure he was heard over the fake voice. "Nice try, Rednex."

Despite apparently being captured, Rednex still had its wide grin plastered on its face. "Don't blame | the messenger," it said. "Alexa, have you got a good hold of it?" Joshua said, ignoring the red Stand. "The mistress had me stop the enemy Stand's momentum," YMCA explained, pressing its palm against the ground, "and now I'm removing the force of friction from the nearby ground. If Rednex tries to move it will slip and fall, so it won't be going anywhere."

"Good then," Joshua said, as Imagine Dragons emerged with a fireball in its mouth. "Alright, Rednex, no more playing around. You're going to tell us where the Cobalt Order base is, and you're going to tell us now." "Or I could show you," the fake voice returned, "since we're only a couple blocks away."

Joshua's eyes narrowed. Were they really so close to the Cobalt Order base, or was it just another trick? Rednex was almost certainly lying, but if there was even the smallest chance it was telling the truth, he knew he couldn't pass up the chance to take it. "Alright," he decided, as Imagine Dragons reached forward and grabbed Rednex by the neck, "but this is your last chance. If you're deceiving us again, I will send a fireball directly into your creepy face."

Rednex's grin still remained. "Okay. Don't blame | the messenger," it said.

"Okay, we're here," the disembodied voice that still copied Joshua said.

They had been walking for about twenty minutes, following Rednex's directions, with Imagine Dragons tightly gripping the red Stand's neck. The part of town Rednex had led them to seemed to be completely abandoned, with tall, decaying office buildings in every direction. Alexa leaned back, arms crossed. "So, this is where the Cobalt Order's base is, then?" she asked.

Rednex's grin grew wider than it ever had before, and the disembodied voice began to laugh. "Nope," the voice said. "I don't even know where the Cobalt Order's base is. But this is where you will all die. I've led you into an ambush."

"What?!" Alexa yelled, YMCA exploding from her side. "I thought you had no way to contact the Cobalt Order!" "That's true," the voice said mockingly. "I am just a remote Stand that can only follow instructions, without a direct connection to my user. But my user can track my location, like you would track a package." "I am a messenger Stand," Rednex added. "Once my user realized my route had diverted from its usual path, he intercepted me and contacted me with a plan."

"But when did you-" Alexa's eyes widened, and she had to take a step back. "That truck crashing into us - it wasn't an accident. That was your Stand user. And those words written on the windshield, that wasn't caused by you, they were written for you." "Correct!" the voice said. "I was told by my user to let you chase me while they prepared an ambush, then let you catch me and lead you to here, where I will unleash a massive ambush of Cobalt Order Stand users! You don't stand a chance!"

"So do it then." Joshua had remained completely stoic throughout Rednex's monologue, Imagine Dragons' grip not even tightening around its throat. "Unleash the massive ambush and kill us," he now said, his voice a low monotone. "Unless, of course," he continued, "you can't. Because the ambush hasn't been set up yet." Rednex opened its mouth, its grin barely present, but no sound came out. Finally, it spoke: "What?"

"You said it yourself," Joshua said. "You're a remote Stand that can only follow instructions. You were supposed to let us chase you until the ambush was set up, then let us catch you so you could lead us here. Except you didn't let us catch you - we caught you despite you running at full speed. The time for which you were supposed to evade us got cut off, and you moved on to the next step of leading us here, even though there hadn't been nearly enough time to get the ambush ready yet." "N-No!" The voice yelled. "I've led you into an ambush! You're going to die! Everyone, attack!"

Rednex's last order echoed off the abandoned buildings, and silence filled the street. No one emerged from hiding; no Stand powers filled the air. After a few seconds of waiting, Imagine Dragons threw Rednex to the ground with a roar. Rednex shakily got to its knees and looked up at Joshua, the grin finally having left its face. "I'm sorry!" The disembodied voice cried. "I was only following orders!" "Don't blame | the messenger," Rednex added again. "Give me another chance!" asked the voice. "I was lying when I said that I don't know where the Cobalt Order is! I'll tell you, for real this time! Just please don't hurt me!"

"I told that the next time you tried to deceive us, it would be the end of you," Joshua said. "You can only repeat what you hear, right? So let me help you say this: NOOOOOOOOO!"

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Rednex echoed.

"GRA-DADADADADADADADADA!" Imagine Dragons yelled as its claws repeatedly slashed across Rednex's body, lifting the red Stand into the air. "GRA-DA!" As it finished slashing, Imagine Dragons launched a fireball into Rednex's face. As Rednex flew backwards, it seemed to disintegrate, disappearing before it hit the ground.

As Imagine Dragons returned to him, Joshua shook his head, sighing. "Well, at least that's over with," he said. "It's a shame we didn't get the location of the Cobalt Order's base, though." Should we go back to Stan and the others then? Hopefully they've managed to clear things up with the police by now."

"That's the thing, Joshua," Alexa said, pressing her hand against a seemingly invisible barrier in front of her. "I'm not sure we can."

-To Be Continued- End of the Road (Act 1)

Stand User: Alexander Graham Ford

Stand Name: [Rednex]

Power: D

Speed: B

Range: A

Durability: C

Precision: C

Developmental Potential: D

Imitation: Rednex can remember a person's voice and perfectly imitate it, including accent and imitation. However, it can only say things in a person's voice that it has heard that person say.

Voice Control: As long as it is within one meter of someone, Rednex is able to gain control of that person's voice, allowing it to say whatever it wants in that voice. Rednex can also project this voice onto nearby surfaces, including on the person themself, making it seem as though they are speaking. However, this does not prevent the person from speaking by themself.

Word Alteration: Rednex can alter the words written on any surface, as well as add words to surfaces where there are none or completely erase words from surfaces.