Time for another chapter. With all 5 of the newcomers introduced to Stands, it will not take long for fate to take its course. And the first one might lead up to a new advernture the friends embark in.
After a while on the studio and a quick eat at an Italian place, the group agrees to meet back together at Oriole the next day. As for now, before the intended time, we see Lindsay and Beth at the shopping mall. They weren't really shopping for anything, so they just went to the cafe and had a chat.
"So, how many of your suggestions will make it to the show?" Beth asked.
"Not a lot. But one girl's audition tape wasn't tagged with a name." Lindsay states. "A lot of the guys were snickering about this, so Chris decided to let her in without knowing her name."
"Really? Who else did you see?" Beth asked.
"There was this girl that reminds me of Eva named Axel. She seems… nicer, in a sense." Lindsay states. "And also there was a tall buff guy named Caleb. And someone who looks like Leonard."
"The LARPer?" Beth asked.
"Yeah, and he seems just as weird." Lindsay says.
Suddenly, some yells were heard. The two look to see the mall janitor being thrown out of the passage to the bathroom next to the cafe.
"Well screw you too!" The janitor says as he dusts himself. "Man, and they said their pay is sufficient."
"Um… what happened?" Lindsay asked.
"You tell me. There was some guy standing by the supply room. When I told him to get out of the way, some force threw me out." The janitor groans.
"How long has he been there?" Beth asked.
"How should I know? This is my first day." The janitor says.
"Want to check it out Beth?" Lindsay asked.
"Sure, why not?" Beth states.
The three go through the hallway and follow the janitor to the storage room.
"I don't remember this part of the mall." Lindsay says.
"Of course. It seems like everyone collectively agreed not to come here." The janitor explained. "Nobody has placed security cameras in here, so I have no clue what this guy was doing here."
"Did you know what sent you out?" Beth asked.
"Not a clue. It was like some invisible barrier pushed me out." The janitor says.
The group looked around a corner and saw a young male figure guarding the supplies. The dude was wearing a blue jacket over a white shirt with jeans. He had a weird haircut, with braids moving to the left of his head and reflective glasses, making part of his face indistiguishable.
"Yikes. Even clothes like that wouldn't save him from his hair." Lindsay yelled.
"Probably a druggie. No one can pick that hairstyle sober." The janitor says.
"How about I talk to him. If it doesn't work, then maybe Lindsay can handle it." Beth states.
Beth left cover and walked towards the man. The man was still expressionless and didn't react.
"Um… hello?" Beth asked.
The man just stood there, not moving a muscle.
"Hello? It's rude to not talk to someone talking to you!" Beth yelled.
Suddenly, a spectral robotic head appeared from the man. The features weren't clearly seen but it was staring at Beth, and she doesn't see anything.
"It-it's one of those Stand things!" Lindsay yelled.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" The janitor asked.
"Beth! Get out of there!" Lindsay yelled as she ran out of cover.
Suddenly, loud sounds were heard from above, seemingly someone in the ventilation shaft.
The Stand's eyes blinked green as the sounds abobe grew louder. Suddenly, an arrow shot from above and hits Beth on the neck.
"K-kah!" Beth's throat splurted out blood.
"No!" Lindsay yelled.
Lindsay suddenly bonks her head on… seemingly nothing. She steps back, stunned.
"Huh?!" Lindsay yelped. "An invisible wall?!"
Lindsay bangs on the invisible wall, desperately trying to get through as Beth bleeds on the floor.
"An invisible barrier…" Lindsay sighs. "Alright. Wings of Salvation!"
Lindsay glows a golden-white aura and summons her bird Stand, now named Wings of Salvation. The Stand shot out its sharp metal feathers, but couldn't get through the barrier.
"No! No!" Lindsay yelled.
Suddenly, the barrier moves and pushes Lindsay, and later the janitor, out of the hallway and back outside next to the cafe.
"Shit! No!" Lindsay yelled as she turned to bash the invisible barrier, but to no avail.
"What was that?!" The janitor yelled.
"Get out of here! This is something else!" Lindsay yelled.
The janitor complied and ran to somewhere else in the mall to call his higher-ups. Meanwhile, Lindsay goes on to summon her Wings of Salvation.
"Alright! Wings of Salvation! Scout out the area and look for another way in!" Lindsay yelled, beginning to get desperate.
Wings of Salvation begins to fly around the mall to look for a way to get to the storage room. But just less than a few seconds, it spots Josuke walking around the mall, eating a cheeseburger.
"It's pompadour!" Lindsay yelled out.
Lindsay runs to Josuke as Wings of Salvation perched onto her shoulder.
"Hey, Lindsay, right?" Josuke says. "Something wrong?"
"Of course! There's a strange man in the bathroom! My friend Beth tried to approach him and… an arrow appeared from above." Lindsay explains.
"Hold on. Arrow?" Josuke says. "Wait. Lindsay, calm down. Did you say your friend was shot by an arrow?"
"Y-yes…" Lindsay says.
"Hmm. Come on. Show me." Josuke says.
Lindsay walks to where the invisible barrier was. Josuke observes the area, trying to see of the ventilation has to do with anything.
"There was an invisible barrier here a second ago. Maybe it disappeared like last time." Lindsay says.
Lindsay swings her arm to where she assumed the barrier was, but she doesn't hit anything, and she spins a bit.
"Hmm, I guess it disappeared again." Lindsay states. "Come on, this way."
Lindsay leads Josuke to the corner, where they turn to see that Beth and the mysterious man had disappeared, leaving only a blood trail caused by the arrow that led to the storage room.
"Cover your eyes. There might be people spying on us, so I'm gonna give them an eyesore." Lindsay says.
Josuke complied, and Lindsay summons Wings of Salvation through the hallway. Lindsay covers her eyes as well as the Stand began to glow incredibly brightly, akin to a flashbang.
"There. Now whoever was looking will be blinded for a while." Lindsay says.
The two flank the storage room as they take positions on either side of the door.
"So, your Stand can create light?" Josuke asked.
"Yeah. And I named it Wings of Salvation." Lindsay says.
"Hmm. If that's the case, light up the room." Josuke orders.
Wings of Salvation flew into the storage room. It shoots out its feathers on the corners of the cieling, which in turn light up themselves to make the storage room bright. It was a standard storage facility, with racks of cleaning supplies and boxes of goods. Beth was seen lying down unconscious, but the arrow was nowhere to be seen.
"Crazy Diamond…" Josuke says.
Josuke summons Crazy Diamond and gives a ball bearing to it. Crazy Diamond splits the bearing in half and shoots a piece into the room, shattering the cleaning supplies.
"Josuke?! You're breaking private property!" Lindsay flipped out at the sight.
"Calm down. I'm checking to see if there is anyone hiding here." Josuke says.
The piece of the ball bearing in Josuke's hands begin to glow gold, and the other half flies out from the rubble, reuniting both halves until the ball bearing is repaired.
"Looks like nobody is here." Josuke says. "Stay out here, I'll go inside."
As Lindsay recalled Wings of Salvation, Josuke walks into the storage facility towards the unconscious Beth.
"Crazy Diamond." Josuke says.
Crazy Diamond places its hand on Beth and it uses its restoration ability to heal the neck wound when…
"Huh?" Josuke notices something.
A small piece of stone was seen protruding from the neck wound. Josuke grabs it and pulls it out before restoring Beth back to full health.
"Gah!" Beth yelped herself awake. "Kah-ah! What happened?"
"Beth! You're alive!" Lindsay yelled out.
"No! Lindsay! Stay there!" Josuke yelled. "This isn't over!"
Josuke uses Crazy Diamond's power on the stone he extracted. Some sounds were heard in the ventilation as an arrow flies out and is catched by Josuke. The design was intricate, colored gold on the inside and silver on the edges.
"Oh! The Stand arrow!" Josuke yelled out. "So it was here!"
"Josuke Higashikata…" A voice was heard from the ventilation shaft.
This perked up his attention as Beth stood up in confusion.
"I didn't expect you to have allies this quickly. But the circumstance is still in my favor…" The voice says.
"Hey! Who are you?!" Josuke yelled out.
"You need not to know me, but worry about what will happen in the next few minutes." The voice says. "Tulio! Activate your Stand ability!"
"Alright, kid. Get out of here quickly." Josuke says.
Beth stood up and began to run to the exit. Suddenly, she bumps into another invisible wall blocking her way out.
"What?!" Lindsay yelled out.
The two begin to pound on the invisble wall, but to no avail.
"Josuke! There's another invisible wall here!" Lindsay yelled out.
"Alright. Stand back." Josuke yelled. "Crazy Diamond!"
"Dorararararararararara!" Crazy Diampnd begins to barrage the wall until it broke, but something was wrong.
"What?!" Josuke exclaimed.
Somehow, Crazy Diamond was outside the invisible barrier. And the wall outside the door was broken.
"It is useless to use your Stand to escape. My partner's own Stand ability will keep you locked up in a brawl." The voice explained.
"My Stand is now far from me. It's maximum range is only one to two meters!" Josuke yelled.
Crazy Diamond turns around and tries to get recalled, when it was blocked outside by the invisible barrier.
"Your Stand can't get through, Josuke!" Lindsay yelled.
"Shit. Who are you and what Stand ability is this?!" Josuke yelled.
"Stand abilities are useless in the ring. It is only befitting for Josuke Higashikata to perish in the way of the gladiators." The voice states. "Welcome to the world of… The Score!"
Another chapter ahead. And this time, Lindsay takes the spotlight as she and Josuke catches wind of another Stand user in Toronto.