Sorry for the delay, everyone. Been having some technical difficulties on my end and, long story short, I may need a new laptop. Hopefully it won't come to that because it seems to be working now. But fingers crossed. Anyway, Star vs the Forces of Evil is owned by Disney and Stands are the creation of the brilliant and talented Hirohiko Araki. Blah. Blah. Blah. Enjoy.
Flowers and Brimstone: Chapter 16.
(Elsewhere on the island, twenty-two and a half minutes later)
In a large clearing near the southern end of the island, the rogue Stand User and sole surviving Diamond Dog, Danni Charles slept peacefully next to a massive pile of bones.
It had been almost a week since her ordeal began and, to be perfectly honest, aside from being hit over the head with a branch on her first day, she was having a perfectly lovely time.
And no, I'm not being sarcastic.
Danni loved camping ever since she was a little girl. And they were like a zillion miles from anything even remotely close to civilization, so there was zero air pollution. Plus, all the wild boars she could eat; which was a lot, if the previously mentioned bone pile was anything to go by.
You know, there's just something special about wild meat. All that farm raised crap they sell in supermarkets and fast food joints, it just sits in your stomach like lead. But wild meat… now that's the real deal.
But alas, I stray from the point.
What matters here, is that Danni was enjoying her little stay on the island; in spite of Chemical Romance's death threat hanging over her head.
She knew that if they wanted to live, those two girls would have to come after her sooner or later. And when they did, she would obliterate them both with minimal effort.
True, it was the last day and the twerps had yet to show themselves, but the punk rocker had come up with an emergency final solution. If her targets didn't come out of hiding before noon, she'd simply use Georgia Devil's power to atomize everything on the island. And given that said island was only slightly smaller than Key West, that should only take about… three hours: give or take.
Either way, she wasn't worried.
Not even a little.
Just then, Danni's eyes snapped open.
Her sound slumber was abruptly ended by the sudden appearance of a familiar aura.
"About f***ing time." The pink haired lunatic muttered as she worked herself into a seated position. "Thought I was gonna have to hunt you down."
After a couple twists of the neck and a few quick stretches, Danni grabbed her guitar and forced herself back to her feet. Admittedly, this wasn't her ideal scenario. She'd have much preferred getting to finish her nap before going into battle, but it was what it was. And anyway, it's not like it really made a difference. So what if her muscles were a little stiff? She'd already figured out the girl's weakness. As long as she stayed inside her little clearing she'd be fine. Right?
Right!
Easy, Breezy, One-Two-Threezy.
"Alright, girly! Come on out!" Danni called to her unseen opponent as she did a quick survey of her surroundings. "Come on. Don't try to act all cool and mysterious. I know you're out there. I sensed your puny aura while I was sleeping. So, just come out now and I promise I'll make it quick. What do you say?"
The punk rocker received no verbal reply, but her ears were soon struck by the familiar sound of rustling leaves.
Moments later she heard footsteps accompanied by the unmistakable din of someone walking through a bush.
Finally, she'd arrived.
"Well it's about damn time you showed up." Danni said beratingly as she spun around to face her soon to be victim. "Do you have any idea how long I've been… naked."
The punk rocker was completely dumbfounded.
Standing before her, at the edge of her little clearing, was a feral child straight from the mind of Mr. Edgar Rice Burroughs. Hair all matted and disheveled. Toned, athletic body covered in splotches of mud and dead leaves. And naked. Buck naked. Naked as an animal. Naked as the day she was born. Just plain naked.
"Naked." The lone Diamond Dog said confusedly; her brain still struggling to comprehend what she was seeing. "You are naked. You are a naked person. Why are you naked? Why, on God's green Earth are you naked? What possible reason could you have for being naked right now? Wha… why… Naked?"
"Are you finished?" asked the wild child in a calm and Zen like manner.
"Yeah, I'm good. But seriously though, why the hell are you naked? What are you, a pervert or something?"
"I needed to feel the shape of the air and my clothes were getting in the way." The naked girl answered with a surprisingly straight face.
"O… Kay… So, where's that freaky looking girlfriend of yours? You eat her or what?"
"She's not far, but she is well beyond your reach. She is in the court of the King and hidden within the roots of wisdom."
"Huh? What was that? Sorry, I don't speak freak-o. Are you high? Seriously, what year is it? Who's president?"
"Your insults amuse only yourself." The wild girl said calmly as she took several steps forward, effectively sealing her doom. "And anyway, talk is cheap. Only actions can affect the outcome of any given scenario."
'Cripes. What with this kid?' Danni thought to herself bewilderedly as her opponent kept walking toward her. 'A few days in the forest and she's talking like a fortune cookie. And what's her plan? I expected her to try and ambush me while I was sleeping, or something that might actually work. But just walking up in front of me? Putting herself in the same scenario that got her butt kicked a few days ago? She must've cracked. Eh, whatever. Just makes things easier for me.'
"Alright, girly. I don't know what kinda funky juju beans you been snacking on in the woods, but if you really wanna die this bad, then I got no complaints." She said as she gave her neck a quick crack and put her guitar in the appropriate position. "Alright, let's rock!"
Like she'd done a thousand times before, Danni poured her aura into her beloved Gibson, transforming it into the nightmarish instrument known as Georgia Devil.
Ya know, no matter how many times she did this, it always felt just like the first.
The rush of adrenaline.
The tingling in her bones.
That inflated sense of self-worth that can only come from the knowledge that you will soon end the life of another human being.
It was ecstasy.
Pure, unadulterated ecstasy~
"Okay, Jungle Girl. Let's dance!"
Without the slightest bit of hesitation, Danni struck a chord on her demonic guitar; causing it to fire a blast of static charged sound out of its grotesque and malformed mouth.
Naturally, the attack made a bee line for its intended target, but strangely enough, said target made no attempt at escape. She just stood there like a pole; her eyes closed, and her arms outstretched for some reason. How curious. Had she given up and just accepted her fate? Or was she just being crazy again? Oh well, it doesn't really matter. Within moments, she would be…
BOOOOM!
Suddenly, the crackling sound blast exploded before it could reach its target; sending up a massive cloud of dust that burned the pink haired rocker's eyes like a spritz of bear mace.
When the dust settled, and her eyes finally stopped throbbing, Danni was standing before a large hole with her target standing on the other side; looking as disgustingly Zenned out as before.
"What the hell?"
"Not bad." The naked girl said tranquilly, before shooting the punk rocker a determined glare. "But now it's my turn."
Just like last time, the wild girl fired her strange robotic Stand at Danni with the force of a cannonball. And just like last time, the punk rocker just casually stepped aside and let it whoosh right past her.
'What is this, a rerun? Didn't this twerp learn her lesson from last…'
But before she could finish that thought, an alarm went off inside her brain; her instincts were screaming at her to jump out of the way. And it's a good thing she listened, for one second later, the same robot Stand whooshed by her again, but in the opposite direction.
'What the hell?' she thought as she watched her opponent's Stand stop itself on a dime and turn around to face her with the skill of a figure skater. 'This is impossible. There's nothing behind me for it to bounce off. This must be some kind of trick or something.'
"What's the matter?" the jungle girl asked with passive smugness. "You don't seem quite as confident as you did before. Are you getting cold feet?"
Suddenly, Danni's left eye started twitching, and her blood began to boil.
"Oh, that's it!" the mad rocker screamed rabidly. "You dun did it now, girly! Try dodging this!"
Without thinking, Danni struck another chord and fired an even larger blast of sound at her hated foe.
'See you in hell, you smug little bitch.'
But, yet again, the wild child did not look worried.
Instead, she just closed her eyes and stretched out her arms like she did before. Only this time, her robot Stand took a massive leap into the air, did a flip, and landed directly on top of the blast. Then, with one powerful thrust of its legs, it both launched itself even higher into the air and sent the sonic blast straight into the ground; stirring up another cloud of dust.
Fortunately, having learned her lesson from last time, Danni was quick to shield her eyes with her right arm. But alas, that did nothing to ease her confusion. The girl's Stand could bounce off sound? How was that even possible?
While she pondered this, the dust began to settle, and once the air was finally clear the punk rocker unshielded her eyes; only to be met by an even more unbelievable sight.
The enemy Stand… it was… bouncing off nothing.
No, not nothing.
It was bouncing off the air!
All around her, the strange robot Stand was zipping to and fro at high speed. Ricocheting off the ground and the air. Enclosing the mad rocker like a faraday cage.
'What the hell is this?' she thought angrily. 'Bouncing off sound and air? This isn't possible. This isn't right!'
And all the while, the naked wild child just stood there with her eyes closed; sporting that smug grin.
"You little BITCH!" Danni screamed in a rage as she fired off several more atomizing sonic blasts. "Hold still! Hold still so I can kill you, you worm!"
But alas, it was all for not.
The robot Stand just deflected each attack into the sky; both protecting its User and causing the mad guitarist to grind her teeth with anger.
"Damn it! Damn it! DAMN IT! Why won't you just di-AAAAAAAAAAAK!"
Without warning, the robot Stand changed its course.
Propelling it straight into Danni's demonic guitar; shattering it instantly, along with most of her ribs.
And as the pink haired Diamond Dog flew backwards and landed roughly on the cold hard ground, two words managed to escape her lips.
"Cheap… shot…"
End Notes:
Again, sorry this one came out a little later than usual. Hopefully it won't happen again.
Anyway, only three chapters left and then I go on hiatus again.
Until then, thanks for reading and I'll see you in the next one.
Peace.