Joshua had encountered a lot of strangeness over the past couple of weeks. He had been kidnapped, only to wake up with the ability to summon a dragon-person from his mind. He had escaped from a fear paralysis emitted from a Stand's eyes, and then torn off its harpoon fingernails with his Stand's teeth. He had fought against a man who threw explosions, an intangible giant made out of netting, and a pointlessly complex weight machine. Less than 20 minutes ago, he had been chasing a faceless messenger that could copy his voice and change the words on stop signs. He was familiar with seeing strange things by now, in other words.
So it was no small feat that when Joshua looked at the garbled, amorphous blob of tendrils made of tv static that was the enemy Stand, and at the warping, pulsing room around him, he could say with confidence that it was the strangest thing he had ever seen. It was almost psychedelic, watching the room stretch and shrink, the walls and columns moving alternately closer and further away from him. Even the floor seemed to move beneath his feet, and Joshua struggled not to stumble over the shifting pieces of rubble. And all the while, the head of the Cobalt Order calmly stood, no more than a few feet away from him.
"[Road to Nowhere]'s world?" Joshua repeated, trying to sound casual. "This is your Stand's power, then. Pretty fancy effects, and I'm guessing the way you dodged my attack is part of its ability as well?"
"Hmph," the Cobalt Order's head smirked. "You haven't even begun to understand the capabilities of my Stand. But how about this for starters?" Just as he spoke, a visibly large pulse seemed to run through Road to Nowhere, causing the Stand to vibrate. The pulse ran out of the bottom of Road to Nowhere, and into the tendrils embedded throughout the walls and floor. As the pulse traveled, the lumpy half-formed rods that had begun to form on the walls and floor grew clearer, shaping into more distinct rectangular shapes. Then, right as the pulse was beginning to fade into the back corners of the room, hundreds of the formed rods extended out from the walls, angled directly toward Joshua and Imagine Dragons.
"Crap!" Joshua shouted, leaping backwards to avoid getting impaled by the rods - only for the rods' to suddenly begin extending in another direction, their path towards Joshua unabated. "Joshua-!" Alexa shouted, and YMCA replied, "Already on it, mistress!" as it rushed toward the flying rods. The golden Stand's fists flew across the rods, leaving cracks and indentations in some and even breaking off a couple. However, the rods did not stop underneath YMCA's fists; not even slowing down, they continued to shoot toward Joshua.
As the rods finally reached Joshua, Imagine Dragons appeared in front of him, its claws a violent frenzy of sharpness, destroying and deflecting as many of the ceaseless rods as it could. Even with Imagine Dragons' impressive defense, some rods were still unabated it their path as they flew toward Joshua, forcing him to barely dodge them. It was after he had dodged about five or six of these rods that one of the rods finally smashed into the side of his left arm, tearing past it. Joshua cringed in pain, letting out an involuntary yelp as the rod ripped across his arm, leaving a large bloody gash on one side. Another rod cut across his leg, opening a similar wound. Pain forcefully reverberated through his body as the rod's impact caused him to stumble. Thankfully, at that point all of the rods had either been destroyed by Imagine Dragons and YMCA, or had shot past him into the ground or opposite wall.
"Joshua, are you okay?!" Alexa asked worriedly. "Yeah, I'm fine," Joshua grunted as he slowly rose to his feet. In truth, he had probably never felt more pain in his life, and his wounds seemed to be bleeding pretty badly, but he couldn't focus on those things right now. Not while there were more important things to figure out. "Why didn't YMCA stop those rods from moving?"
"Well, I tried," YMCA said, tilting its head in confusion. "But there wasn't anything to stop. Those spikes - or whatever they were - had no velocity, no force of motion propelling them." "What? That's impossible," Joshua said. "They were very clearly moving. How could they have no motion within them?" There was no explanation for this - no, scratch that. The was one explanation for how the rods could move without motion, one that fit with what Joshua had seen outside, but even considering it was terrifying in its implications.
"It's very simple," the head of the Cobalt Order calmly said. In the midst of all the chaos he hadn't moved an inch, staying perfectly still with his hands in his pockets as he watched. "My Stand, [Road to Nowhere] can warp the spatial dimensions of the things around it. That's how I hid within the walls of the building, and how I turned the buildings outside into flat walls. And that's why those rods don't have any motion behind them: they aren't actually moving. It's just the warping of space within this building that makes them seem in motion." Road to Nowhere pulsed, and suddenly Joshua was inches away from the Cobalt Order's head, and the Cobalt Order's head said, "Like this. See?" and swiftly punched Joshua in the face.
As Joshua fell backward, the side of his face hollering in pain, he could see the space between him and the Cobalt Order's head widen once more, until he was back next to Alexa and YMCA again. "You never actually moved, but instead the spatial dimensions of where you are and where I am grew closer. It's as simple as that," The head of the Cobalt Order continued. "But as simple as it is, it is also completely unbeatable. As long as I have control of this room, you will not be able to touch me, let alone defeat me, and I can kill you any time I choose. That said, two on one still doesn't seem fair, does it? Let's do something about that." And Road to Nowhere pulsed yet again.
In the blink of an eye, the ground around Alexa erupted into tall, thin slabs of concrete. The slabs shifted and widened as they shot up all around Alexa, and in an instant they had formed a rough concrete shell around Alexa's body, leaving only her head exposed. "What the-?! I can't move!" Alexa shouted in surprise. "[YMCA]! Get me out of here!"
"Of course, mistress! Right away!" YMCA said. With a careful thrust, the golden Stand smashed its palm against the concrete shell that surrounded Alexa's arm, smashing bits of it off. But just as quickly as the pieces fell off of Alexa's arm, the remaining parts of the shell warped and grew, until it completely covered Alexa's body again. "I'm sorry, mistress," YMCA said, an uncharacteristic confused frown on its usually enthusiastic face. "Getting you out of this promptly may take a bit more force than I was expecting."
"Well, then, stop waiting around and use that force!" Alexa said frustratedly, her face twisted in pain. "You won't - urgh - hurt me anymore that this thing is." YMCA hesitated for a moment, then gave a brief nod. "Yes, of course, mistress. Right away," it said said grimly, rearing its fist back. Before it could strike, however, large concrete slabs rose from the ground once again, wrapping around YMCA's arm.
"Trying to break through barriers in Road to Nowhere's world is useless," the head of the Cobalt Order said, now casually leaning against a large pillar that had risen out of the ground. "You could break them into dust, and my Stand would just make those dust particles as large and thick as the strongest wall. That said, it would be a nuisance if I had to continually repair those barriers." And with another pulse of Road to Nowhere, YMCA was trapped in a similar shell of thick concrete slabs. "Much better," the Cobalt Order said, turning his attention back to Joshua. "Now I can focus."
Joshua's mind raced as he watched the head of the Cobalt Order languidly relax against the pillar. This Stand ability is terrifying - more terrifying than anything I've seen before, was a thought that rushed through Joshua's head. Actually, isn't this just completely broken? The Cobalt Order's head could've killed them instantly, Joshua realized; the only reason Joshua and Alexa were still alive was because the head of Cobalt Order had been toying with them. Visions of Road to Nowhere's gruesome potential flashed across Joshua's mind: at any moment he could be impaled by spikes, or crushed between walls, or sliced to ribbons by thin slabs. There's no helping it, Joshua decided. I have to take him out right now, before he decides to stop playing around and actually kills us. Even with the looming threat of death from every angle, Joshua's mind was surprisingly clear. Maybe the confidence was brought on by the resolution he had made, or maybe he actually had become desensitized to these life-or-death scenarios, but either way he suddenly wasn't afraid of Road to Nowhere anymore.
With Imagine Dragons at his side, Joshua began to sprint at full force toward the head of the Cobalt Order. I have to be prepared from attacks from any angle, Joshua thought as he ran. If I fall here, I'm dead. I can't let Road to Nowhere catch me off guard or slow me down, not once. As poles once again shot from the walls toward Joshua, he increased his pace, deftly weaving around most of the poles and having Imagine Dragons break off the ones he couldn't. It's just like training with Daniel and Sabaton, Joshua told himself, just don't let down your guard and you'll be fine. Dodging through the poles and slabs that rose around him, Joshua swiftly drew near to the Cobalt Order's head, and Imagine Dragons reached out to grab his arm.
But once again, Imagine Dragons' claws passed through thin air. The room seemed to stretch backward as the space between Imagine Dragons and the head of the Cobalt Order expanded, causing the head of the Cobalt Order to shoot away from Joshua and Imagine Dragons. "Didn't I tell you already? You cannot touch me in Road to Nowhere's world!" the head of the Cobalt Order called from the distance he had reached.
"GRA-DA!" Imagine Dragons shouted in response, shooting a huge fireball toward the head of the Cobalt Order. Once again, as Road to Nowhere pulsated, the head of the Cobalt Order got further and further away from Joshua and Imagine Dragons, until Joshua could barely see him in the distance. What he did clearly see, however, was the fireball eventually fizzle out, unable to keep up with the receding room. "It doesn't matter if you try long-range attacks either," the head of the Cobalt Order said, now standing directly in front of Joshua with the room returned to its original length. "Even if I couldn't outrun it, I could always just create a barrier to take the blow for me." So it's the perfect defensive Stand in addition to its ridiculous offensive capabilities, Joshua thought. That's just...great.
Road to Nowhere pulsed yet again, and a wall of concrete rose from the ground, flying toward Joshua at breakneck speed. With a yell, Imagine Dragons slashed its claw through the wall, pulverizing it, but before Joshua could even blink another wall had risen in its place. Imagine Dragons continued slashing, tearing through the new wall, but with every wall it destroyed new ones rose up to take its place, getting faster each time. Soon, the speed of walls outpaced Imagine Dragons' frenzied swipes, and they slammed into the scaly Stand, continuing their rush toward Joshua unabated. Ignoring the sudden sharp ache in his side, Joshua tried to dodge to the side, but to no avail; more walls rose from the ground to block his path, and the charging slabs crashed into him too.
As Joshua flew backward, he could see out of the corner of his eye spikes forming on the wall behind him. Crap! he thought; if he didn't do something quickly, he would be impaled. "[Imagine Dragons]!" he called, trying to twist himself around in midair. The green Stand reappeared behind him, and the spikes mostly shattered against its thick scales as they crashed into the back wall. It wasn't a perfect solution, however, and pain shot through Joshua's body as a few of the smaller spikes bored into Imagine Dragons' torso. The Stand disappeared, and Joshua collapsed against the ground, fighting the urge to black out against the pain. Not yet! I can't lose yet! Joshua thought as he slowly rose from the floor once more. Nothing seemed to be broken, at least, but Joshua knew he was still in bad shape; his breathing was ragged, every inch of his body ached, and blood oozed out of several nasty scrapes all around his face and body. I can't keep fighting defensively like this, Joshua thought. I have to actually attack this guy or I'm going to die. And yet…
And yet how could he even touch someone whose Stand let him change the boundaries of space itself? How could he even get close to him? The impossibility of the fight in front of Joshua started to flood his mind, filling it with a feeling of utter hopelessness. The world around him began to blur and sway, even more than it already had been, and Joshua found himself unable to move. It was as if he was trapped under Birdhouse in Your Soul's fear gaze again. He couldn't move, he couldn't breathe, there was nothing he could do…
You can't give up now!
Joshua blinked, looking around. Who had said that? Was it Alexa? YMCA? The enemy Stand user? The fear that had clouded his mind was gone, replaced with a startling clarity, and the pain in his body seemed to have dimmed. That's right, Joshua thought, I've come too far to die now. With the sudden clearness, Joshua realized that the head of the Cobalt Order had accidentally revealed some major weaknesses in his Stand with the last attack. For one, things in the space that was affected by Road to Nowhere seemed less durable than usual. Not only that, but Joshua recognized another, more significant weakness in Road to Nowhere as well. As he looked around the room, an exposed pipe on the side of the wall caught Joshua's eye, and he instantly knew what he had to do to reach the enemy. He could win this fight. No, he was going to win!
With a yell, Joshua charged toward the head of the Cobalt Order, and with Imagine Dragons reached out as if to grab him. Just like before, the space between Imagine Dragons and the head of the Cobalt order stretched out, until he was a good distance away from them. "Didn't I tell you it's pointless to try to hit me?" the head of the Cobalt Order asked, confused.
"I wasn't trying to hit you," Joshua returned. "I was trying to make you move." Imagine Dragons turned and, in one swift motion, grabbed the exposed pipe and ripped it away from the wall. Bolts holding the pipe all along the wall burst as Imagine Dragons swung the pipe from across the room toward the head of the Cobalt Order. "Ah, so that's your plan," the head of of the Cobalt Order said calmly, glancing at the oncoming pipe. "Since Road to Nowhere's spatial distortion affects the pipe too, you think that means I can't dodge it. Well, unfortunately, it's still not enough to reach me." Road to Nowhere's pulsations shifted slightly, and the pipe suddenly began to bend into 90 degree angles, with the part closest to him appearing to stop in midair even as the rest of it continued to swing across the room. "How many times do I have to tell you that it's pointless-"
"GRA-DA!" Imagine Dragons interrupted, slashing its claws across the head of the Cobalt Order's head of the Cobalt Order reeled backward, clutching his face with a scream of pain. The pulsing of Road to Nowhere grew rapid and erratic, intensifying the shifting patterns around the room. "Your Stand may let you control the space around us," Joshua said, "but you can only focus on changing one aspect of the space at a time. If I distracted you with the pipe, I knew I could close the distance between us close enough to catch you. It's over now. [Imagine Dragons]!"
Imagine Dragons reached out to slash the head of the Cobalt Order again, but before it could, a massive wall burst out of the ground between them, sending them both flying backward. Crap, he got away from me! Joshua thought. He probably won't fall for the same trick twice either. I'll have to be extra careful with my next attack. Imagine Dragons gripped the metal pipe in its other hand tightly, waiting for the head of the Cobalt Order to make his next move. But no movement was made. Absolute silence came from the other side of the wall. Even the pulsing patterns around the room seemed to slow down. Then, the head of the Cobalt Order spoke, in a voice so soft Joshua could barely hear him: "You hit me."
And then again, the same whisper of surprise: "You hit me." And then again, this time louder, angrier: "You hit me!" And once again, now full of rage. "You. Hit me!" The warping of the walls began to intensify again, long sharp spikes coming out of every corner. "You hit me!" The boundaries of the room itself began to shake, as the building was encapsulated within an earthquake. "You! Hit! Me!" Imagine Dragons raised its arms, guarding itself and Joshua as the wall in front of them shattered, sending fragments of concrete exploding out in every direction.
"YOU HIT ME!" the head of the Cobalt Order howled. The constant composure that he had held onto was gone, replaced with an almost feral look of fury. Blood dripped off of the three deep claw marks that Imagine Dragons had left on his face. By his side, Road to Nowhere seemed to have also lost its composure, its usually immobile tendrils now wildly whipping across the room. The room's changing walls themselves had grown erratic, their size and shape now shifting tremendous amount each second. Joshua took an involuntary step backward, disoriented by the sudden shifting around him.
"You hit me, and now you think you're hot shit just because you managed it?" the head of the Cobalt Order screamed. All around Joshua the walls began to stretch, the room growing thin and long. Joshua took another step backward, Imagine Dragons keeping its guarded position next to him. The head of the Cobalt Order continued to rant, "I tried to be nice to you, and give you a quick and painless death! But you...you had to go and dodge my gun, and knock me out of hiding, and break my pillars, and...and hit me!" The pulsing of Road to Nowhere was becoming faster and more intense than it ever had before. "I'll kill you," the head of the Cobalt Order said, the rage in his voice replaced with a deadly calmness. "I'll make it hurt. I'll show you what my Stand can really do." Joshua took another step backward - and started to slip as his foot, instead of hitting the ground, went through open air.
With a panicked jolt, Imagine Dragons whirled around, dropping the pipe and clasping Joshua's outstretched arm before he fell any further. As Imagine Dragons pulled him back on his feet, Joshua looked back at the ground - and immediately regretted it. The room behind him didn't exist anymore; Road to Nowhere had bent the dimensions of the room much like it had bent the pipe, and now looming behind Joshua was a huge chasm, reaching so far deep that he couldn't see the bottom. As he looked, unable to tear his eyes away from the abyss he had almost fallen into, he saw a large chunk of concrete fall into it. Joshua didn't hear it land.
"Die," the head of the Cobalt Order said coldly, and with a quick pulse of Road to Nowhere, a pillar of concrete slammed into Imagine Dragons' back, knocking it and Joshua into the chasm.
-To Be Continued- End of the Road (Act 3)
Whoops, it's been a while, huh? Don't worry, this fic isn't on hiatus just yet; things just got really busy for me over the last couple of weeks, with exams and all. Thankfully, it's winter break now, so I can really focus on getting back to a consistent writing schedule.