The invincible trio stood before the piano. The figure's presence was menacing.
"Monika…" Josuke muttered, his mouth wide open. "You…"
"You're the Stand user?" Koichi asked.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Okuyasu yelled, summoning The Hand. "Let's get her then! Come on, Josuke! Koichi!"
He charged forward, his Stand's hand beginning to glow. Koichi fumbled for a moment before he followed him with Echoes Act 3 brought out. Josuke just stood there, looking at her. Monika then began to trill the keys on the piano. Just then, an ear piercing scream was heard from the hallway. The two charging suddenly halted and looked towards the door.
Koichi's eyes widened. "YUKAKO!" He immediately bolted for the door and ran back down the hallway.
Okuyasu blinked and shook his head. "Josuke, you go help him out! I'll deal with her."
Josuke just stood there looking at Monika, like he wasn't paying attention to anything happening around him.
"Uh… Josuke?" Okuyasu slowly walked up to his friend, retracting his Stand, and waved his hand in front of his face. He then sighed and faced the doorway. "… Okay, I'LL make sure he's okay. YOU take care of her."
He then ran out of the room after Koichi, leaving Josuke in the music room alone with Monika and Natsuki's body. Josuke was in a daze just staring at Monika, completely shocked at the scene before him. Eventually, his eyes drifted down to see Natsuki's inhumanely positioned body. He blinked as he noticed a large hole in her chest, oozing blood.
… What? Why? Is Natsuki… dead…? No, Natsuki is dying… Wait… What am I doing?! NATSUKI IS DYING!
"Crazy Diamond!" Josuke screamed as he shook his head, snapping him out of his daze.
"DORA!"
His Stand appeared and rushed forward to her limp body and immediately began healing her. It lifted her head upright so that her broken neck would be restored correctly. The smile on her body began to fade, and the hole in her chest began to close. Josuke then went up to Natsuki to check her pulse…
… Nothing.
He slammed his fist into the ground as the piano was being played.
"Dammit! … Why?! Why did this happen?! Not again! First Gramps, then Sayori, and now Natsuki…! I WAS TOO DAMN LATE!"
Josuke stood up and turned around, gritting his teeth and running a hand through his hair. His vision became blurry as his eyes began to water. He was suddenly reminded of the few people he had failed to save.
Gramps with Aqua Necklace… Sayori hanging herself… now Natsuki with- Wait! … Sayori…?
Josuke's eyes widened. He then turned around to see Monika, playing the piano and smiling.
"Sayori…" he muttered. "How could I forget Sayori…?"
His memories of the girl that got him to join the club came flooding back: walking to and from school with her, letting her keep one of his poems, being told about her depression, and… her ultimate self-inflicted demise. He covered his mouth with his hand as he perfectly remembered what she looked like as she hung in her room. Thinking of her eyes devoid of life and bloody fingers almost made him vomit. But then he remembered what he did after he tried to help her, who he ran after in a fit of rage, the one who just so happened to be playing the piano in the same room as him.
Josuke lowered his hand and curled it into a fist, his face darkening as he glared at the Club President. If looks could kill, she would have been completely obliterated.
"You…" he growled, his body flaring with Stand energy. "You told her to do it, didn't you?"
Monika giggled as she stopped playing for a moment. "Aw, don't be like that. It was all necessary, you know?"
Josuke snapped. "NECESSARY?! HOW IS TELLING YOUR FRIEND TO KILL THEMSELVES NECESSARY?!"
"I mean, I should thank her for initially bringing you to the club, but… well, Josuke… it was all to get to you."
"Bullshit!"
"Really! I've always wanted to meet you and Crazy Diamond!"
He blinked, finally registering what she and Okuyasu had both said. "… So, you're a Stand user?"
Monika smiled sweetly. "Yep!"
"YOU'RE the Stand user?! The one that's been messing with me ever since I joined the club?! You've been messing with Yuri and Natsuki too, right?!"
"Well, I wouldn't call it 'messing with you.' That wasn't entirely me. It may have been an effect though…"
"… What?"
"Hey, I think it's fair if I show you mine, since I already know everything there is to know about your Stand."
Josuke's eyes widened at what she said. This is it. I'll finally get to see the Stand behind it all… maybe?
Monika's body began to flare with Stand energy for a moment as a figure emerged from her. The figure was white and similar to her in shape. All along its body were music notes, ordered on lines like sheet music and a large eighth note connecting its eyes. But its arms were patterned like piano keys. It stood behind Monika and looked at Josuke, like it was studying him.
"Lana Del Rey."
"Yukako!" Koichi panicked as he entered the clubroom. "I heard screaming! What ha-?"
He froze for a moment before the horrific scene in front of him. There was his girlfriend sitting on the ground against the far wall, grasping her stomach where her uniform was stained with blood. Yukako was grimacing in pain as her hair began to rise and expand, ready to defend her from the other girl before her. With her back to the door, Yuri had a crazed smile on her face, her eyes wide and bloodshot. She appeared to be wielding two knives, one covered in blood from earlier and the other she must have retrieved from Josuke's bag.
Yuri let out a scream before charging at Yukako again. "He doesn't love me! He loves you, doesn't he?! How can he love you when you're dead?!"
"Echoes! Act 3!" Koichi rushed forward as his Stand appeared.
Once they had gotten within five meters of Yuri, the hand with the knife she was about to strike with immediately fell to the ground and left a crack in the floor.
"3 Freeze! Your hand is now stuck," Echoes Act 3 informed as it moved its hands to use its power. "S-H-I-T!"
Yukako looked up at her boyfriend. "K-Koichi…!" she said, slightly smiling as he had just saved her. She still looked terrified, having one of her only friends attempt to kill themselves and then try to kill her would not be something one forgets in one day. She then cried out in pain as she was slashed in the leg.
Yuri flailed her other hand with a knife in Yukako's direction. Yukako used her hair to try and hold her other hand in place. Yuri was visibly struggling to get her hands to move where she wanted, but her crazed expression remained.
"Act 3, can't you stop her other hand?" Koichi asked his own Stand.
"No. I can only stop one thing at a time. Only stopping her hand was necessary at the time," it replied.
"Well, why wouldn't you just stop her completely?!"
"It was not necessary. If you want me to stop all of her, I must first release her hand."
Koichi weighed his options. By stopping all of Yuri, she wouldn't be able to hurt anyone, but there would be a small window for her to seriously hurt Yukako. By leaving only her hand stopped, she could only attack with one hand, but her small attacks would eventually add up.
"The Hand!"
Yuri's body was suddenly shifted on the ground much closer to the doorway where two figures stood, one gray and blue with a glowing right hand. Okuyasu had used The Hand to scrape away the space between him and Yuri, but Yukako's hair had let go of her.
"The target is now more than five meters away from us," Echoes Act 3 stated.
Koichi's eyes widened as he looked at his friend and yelled, "Okuyasu, watch out! She might cut you!"
Okuyasu raised an eyebrow. "Huh? Didn't you just stop her?"
"The target is now more than five meters away from us," Echoes Act 3 repeated.
Before he could do anything, Yuri sat up and stabbed him in the thigh and shin with each knife. Okuyasu groaned in pain as his body reflexively twitched downward slightly. Then, his Stand pushed the crazy purple haired girl away from its user, taking the knives with her as she fell back to the ground.
Okuyasu backed up slightly and fell to his knees. "Damn… That hurts…"
At this time, Koichi and his Stand were helping Yukako stand up. "We'll get you to Josuke, don't worry. You too, Okuyasu… But first-"
"Why?" Yukako asked. "Why are you hurting them? I don't love Josuke, I love Koichi. So… why are you still trying to hurt us?" She looked at her friend on the ground.
Yuri was breathing heavily. For a moment though, it seemed like her crazed expression began to fade.
"I…" she whispered at first. "I… I don't…" Her wide-eyed smile returned. "CARE!"
She then flung one of her knives in Yukako and Koichi's direction. They both braced themselves since neither of their own Stands were able to move quick enough to block the incoming projectile at that time. Just before it had gotten very far, a loud noise was heard as the knife suddenly disappeared. The Hand was able to scrape it away.
Okuyasu smirked while he clutched his thigh which was hurting the most. "Still… I wonder where that thing went…"
Yuri's smiled disappeared as one of her knives just disappeared. "W-W-What? … How?"
"Yuri! Please stop it!" Yukako pleaded, her eyes tearing up.
The purple haired girl blinked and looked at the scene around her. A large crack in the floor, many upturned desks, someone clutching their wounds she inflicted, and… her own friend. Her own friend was hurt. She had hurt one of her only friends.
Why? Why did I do it?
The knife clattered as it fell to the ground while she covered her mouth with her hands. Yuri's eyes began to water as though she had just realized what she had done.
"I… I'm sorry," she muttered, her voice wavering. "I don't know… I'm sorry… There's something wrong with me…"
The two boys looked at her in confusion.
"I don't know why… I'm sorry."
She picked up the knife again. The others got ready for her to attack.
"I can't take it back… but I might be able to…"
Yukako's eyes widened.
"… Take back me."
Yuri then raised up the knife and stabbed herself in the stomach.
"NO!" Yukako screamed as she broke out of Koichi and Echoes Act 3's hold and ran to her.
Yuri pulled out the knife and plunged it into her stomach again.
Yukako stretched out her hair to try and grab the knife.
Finally, Yuri pulled it out again and drove the cold steel into her chest, entering her heart. A moment after, she collapsed while pulling the knife out of her latest wound.
"YURI! NO!" Yukako finally made it to her friend whose own uniform was almost completely red with blood.
Yuri looked up at her for a second and whispered, "I'm… sorry…"
"Y-Yuri…? Yuri? YURI?! YURIIIIIIII!" Yukako wailed as she hugged the bleeding body of her friend. "S-Someone! Go get Josuke!"
Koichi and Okuyasu were frozen in place for a moment before the former began to run out of the room and down the hallway to the music room.
"JOSUKE!"
"Mental Amplification," Monika said while retracting her Stand.
Josuke blinked. "What? What the hell does that mean?"
She sighed, "My Stand is able to amplify specific parts of someone's mind."
"Wha-? What do you mean by 'specific parts'? Explain, or I'll break it so you can never play piano again. And by 'it' I mean you."
Monika nervously giggled. "Eheh… Josuke, you wouldn't really hurt me, would you? But anyway, I'll gladly tell you."
He looked at her sternly and folded his arms. "Good, and don't try anything smart!"
"Yeah, I know… What I mean is… um… Well, name something strange that's happened to you?"
"I've been seeing things."
"Aha! That was Lana Del Rey amplifying your ability to daydream. They probably seemed really realistic, maybe they talked, right?"
Whoa… That was her. Everything I saw… was because of her? … How though?
"O-Oh…" Josuke looked at the ground, taking it all in. He then looked back up and asked, "W-What about the others?"
"Well, Sayori was pretty simple. She was already depressed so I just amplified her depression. She just happened to kill herself."
His eye twitched. "Bullshit! You told her to kill herself!"
"Yeah… I might have, but she became so depressed that she didn't know what to do. I just showed her the way."
"And Yuri?"
"Ooh… Now THAT was pretty interesting…"
Josuke gritted his teeth.
How can she be talking about this so easily? Weren't they her friends?
Monika continued, "I amplified multiple things about her: her forgetfulness too, her instability, her obsession with knives, and her honesty. I guess amplifying her obsession with knives might have caused her to cut herself, or maybe she already did that before I did anything to her."
"… What about me? I now know about you amplifying my… daydreams or whatever. But what about forgetting an entire week? Did you amplify my 'forgetfulness' or something?"
She smiled brightly and cheered, "Yep! That's right! And just now I amplified your ability to remember. That's another thing I love about you, Josuke. You're so smart!"
"A-Anyway, why?"
She raised an eyebrow and parroted, "Why?"
"Yeah, why make me forget a whole week?"
"… You were pretty mad at me last Monday… You did attack me and-"
He had looked down while she was talking, and he was reminded about Natsuki's current state.
"Did you do this to Natsuki?" he interrupted.
Monika blinked and stopped. She looked a bit nervous before answering, "… W-Well, I did amplify her forgetfulness too and her ability to repeat things I've said, and I-"
"Dammit, Monika! Did you kill Natsuki?!" Josuke snapped.
She was taken aback. His body was flaring with Stand energy, reminding her of Crazy Diamond's power. She swallowed before she answered him.
"… Y-Yes, but it's not related to what I want…"
He looked slightly confused while still appearing angry. "… What do you mean?"
"I wanted to make Natsuki a Stand user so she could protect herself from her dad. I didn't mean to kill her. She just… wasn't worthy…"
Josuke's memory of last Saturday, when Natsuki went over to his house and told him the truth, came flooding back to him. He clutched his head before he blinked and looked at her.
"What do you mean by 'make Natsuki a Stand user'? … How exactly did you plan on doing that?"
She began to sweat nervously.
"Eheh… I supposed this sort of relates to what I love about you the most…" Monika said while opening up the piano. She reached in near the lower strings and pulled out a long familiar object. She held it up. "It's a gift from my dad… just before he was killed…"
Josuke's mouth hung open at what he saw.
… The Arrow… That's why she had that hole in her chest… Hang on. Who was her dad?
"You've probably wondering who my father was, right?" Monika said. "Well, I don't think you knew him very well, but he loved to travel around this town, especially last summer." She began to giggle slightly. "It's funny… He told me to protect this when he went to go help my brother, but my brother actually ended up killing him… I never really liked Dad, or my brother for that matter."
How can she say all this with such a normal expression? She still hasn't even told me who… Her brother… killed her dad? The son killed his father… Arrow… That all must mean…
"Yoshikage Kira," Josuke muttered, eyes wide in shock and fear.
Monika nodded. "Yeah… That's my brother…"
… I had no idea he had any other relatives. The photograph didn't have the arrow when he was hiding in Hayato's jacket…
"I'm sure this is a lot to take in…" she sighed. "I'm really sorry for what he did to all of you. I never really liked him anyway…"
Josuke looked up at her. "How old ARE you? Yoshikage Kira was thirty-three, and you're in… high school?"
"Ah… Well… I have to blame my dad for that… Yoshikage and I were half-siblings. We had… different moms… I suppose that means I'm kind of like you, Josuke."
"H-Hey! Wha-How do you…!"
"Dad told me everything before he went back to my brother. He told me about his new ability, your father, Joseph Joestar, and even your nephew, Jotaro Kujo."
"… New ability? … You mean…"
"Yeah. Killer Queen's Third Bomb: Bites the Dust… I never knew that a Stand ability could do more when they use the Arrow again. Although…" She holds the Arrow close to her face and studied it. "It makes you wonder, what would happen if I tried to use it again?"
"Don't get any bright ideas! Why the hell are you just telling me everything? Don't you want to defeat me or something for stopping your dad and… half-brother?"
"D-Defeat you?" Monika gasped and set the Arrow down. "Oh God, no! Why would I want to do that? I should be thanking you!"
Josuke blinked. "… Thanking me?"
"Well, yes! You finally stopped my brother! I thought that he might never stopped and that he would just keep… you know… I never really knew him, but when I did meet him…" She shuddered. "He was really creepy. He never even looked me in the eye when we spoke. He just spent the whole time just… looking at my hands…" Monika closed her eyes. "I didn't realize what it meant by then… but now…"
Josuke grimaced, imagining the scene in his head.
She then shook her head and smiled sweetly. "A-Anyway, long story short… I love you, Josuke."
He looked up at her and blinked. "… Wha?"
Suddenly, screams were heard from down the hall. Josuke turned around to face the doorway.
"Yuri…" he muttered before facing Monika again and yelling. "What have you amplified this time?!"
She gasped, "Ah! U-Um, nothing other than-"
"Change it back. Now!" he interrupted.
"I… Fine."
Monika walked over and sat down by the piano. Josuke followed and stood behind her, Crazy Diamond next to him and ready for action. He noticed something odd about the sheet music.
What the hell is this? This isn't like any music I've ever read before.
"What is that?" he asked.
"Hm? Oh, this?" she began. "It's the club member sheet."
"Why would you have that here?"
"It's… part of how my Stand works."
She then began to play while looking at the sheet, her Stand appearing behind her. Josuke's slightly agitated look began to fade when he heard her play. His mouth slowly curled up into a smile.
"Wow," he said dreamily. "You're amazing, Monika."
She blushed slightly. "Th-Thank you…"
Monika continued to play while Josuke pulled up a chair and sat down, his Stand fazing back into him.
She's… She's beautiful… I've never heard anything sound so much sweeter… I wonder what it would be like… if I… was… with her… Just her… Just… Monika…
Suddenly, Koichi burst into the room, almost out of breath.
"J-Josuke! Yuri's hurt! Badly!" he yelled.
"Yuri…" Josuke whispered emptily. "You should probably call an ambulance or something… Make sure it doesn't hit her, though."
Koichi looked at him confused. "Call an ambulance…? J-Josuke, YOU can help her! C'mon! NOW!"
"QUIET! Monika's playing," he snapped, putting his finger over his mouth.
Koichi's gaze shifted to Monika.
"You… You're the Stand user! You're the enemy! What have you done to Josuke?!"
Josuke stood up and said, "Koichi, if you're not going to be quiet, then I'm going to have to make you leave."
"Ugh… Act 2!"
Echoes Act 2 appeared and began to morph its tail letters into 'BOOM!' It then launched it at the piano, in hopes of it hitting the one playing it. However, the tail letters were sent off course by a single punch from the side. Koichi looked surprised when he saw who it was that punched it.
"C-Crazy Diamond…" he muttered.
The Stand stood in front of its user as Josuke began to make his way over to Koichi.
"Don't you EVER…" he started angrily. "… Try to hurt Monika!"
"Josuke! You've obviously been influenced by her Stand somehow! Snap out of it, will you? You need to come help Yuri, Yukako and Okuyasu!"
"Pfft… I don't NEED to help them. What have they ever done for me, huh?
Koichi took a step back. "Wha-? They're our friends! Act 3, stop him so we can then deal with Monika!"
Echoes Act 2 suddenly darted over to Josuke and shifted into Act 3. It then began to rapidly attack him with quick, light punches. Crazy Diamond blocked the attacks with similar speed but with much more ferocity. At the same time, Koichi tried to make his way around the brawling Stands and disrupt Monika. He had correctly assumed that her Stand functioned in some way with playing the piano, so by damaging it somehow would no longer allow her ability to take effect. However, he was stopped by Josuke, who now stood between him and Monika.
"I love you, Josuke!" she called out smiling.
His face became red with embarrassment, his Stand's power slowly weakening. "O-Oh… Uh… I… I l-love… I love you t-too…"
Act 3 took advantage of this moment and began to strike Crazy Diamond in the chest. Suddenly, Crazy Diamond as well as Josuke fell to the ground from feeling a great amount of weight being put on them. The ground cracked as their bodies hit the floor, shaking slightly since they were on the second floor of the school.
"3 Freeze has taken effect," Echoes Act 3 stated.
Its user smiled. "Good job, Act 3! Now…"
Koichi ran over to Monika, a fierce look in his eyes. His Stand stood relatively far behind him, in order to still be in range for 3 Freeze to take effect.
"What have you done to him?! Did you do something to Yuri too?!" he screamed at the girl before him.
Monika scowled and looked at her 'sheet music.'
"Josuke, can you do something? H-He's making me uncomfortable," she whined with a stoic expression.
Josuke and his Stand's bodies began to rise slowly. They were still under the effects of 3 Freeze, but they were using what remaining strength they had to try and get up.
"Y-You…" Josuke started. "You stay away from her! She's done nothing wrong!"
He struggled to hold himself up, his arms giving way every so often to make him fall back to the floor. Although, his pained expression disappeared as his eyes met those of a pink haired girl, her body limp against the ground as if it were thrown there.
"… Who…? Who is that…?" he muttered.
Koichi noticed of the body as well and was surprised to see her injuries gone. His eyes widened and he took a step back, realizing what her unmoving body meant.
"… Did you make me forget her, Monika?" Josuke asked, looking at the girl playing the piano with a blank and soulless expression.
Monika immediately stopped playing. Her eyes widened while her hands slowly made their way to cover her mouth. Seeing him look at her like that brought tears to her eyes.
She stuttered for a moment, "J-… Josuke… I-"
The piano was suddenly shifted towards the doorway before it was smashed into pieces by a blue and gray figure.
"Heheheh… Just in time, again," Okuyasu said, propping himself up against the door frame as The Hand continued to destroy the piano.
Monika was left sitting in the middle of the room on the piano stool, now with no piano to use for Lana Del Rey's power.
"K-K-Koichi…! P-Please… Hard to… b-breathe…" Josuke squeaked as 3 Freeze's power got stronger.
Echoes Act 3 let off its power as its user went over to his friend to see if he was okay. When Okuyasu had demolished the piano to his heart's content, he limped over to his friends.
"Was that okay? Was her power something with the piano?" he asked nervously.
The other two laughed slightly.
Josuke answered him, "Yeah, you're good."
All of them then turned to face Monika who had now picked up the Arrow.
She looked extremely terrified as she asked, "J-Josuke… Do you love me…?"
"Monika…" he started quietly. "After all you've done, to me, you FRIENDS, probably this school… How could I?"
His words were like daggers to her heart. Her eyes went wide with shock. Josuke stood up and approached her.
"Why…? Everything I've done… It was all for you… I love you, Josuke…" Monika mumbled.
"You're… You're no different from your brother…"
Josuke's friends looked at him with confusion, Koichi's eyes widening when he assumed who they meant.
Monika was speechless as she clutched the Arrow. The boy she loved had just compared her to Yoshikage Kira, her serial killer half-brother.
"So… I guess it's okay to get her now…" Okuyasu said as he rushed forward with his Stand.
Just as Lana Del Rey appeared to defend its user, The Hand emerged and attacked. With a single punch from Okuyasu's terrifying Stand, Monika and her Stand were sent flying across the room and into the wall behind her. Dust flew as her body made an impact with the wall, her Stand fading. Josuke and Koichi looked surprised and startled. Crazy Diamond was unconsciously summoned and it began to approach the girl. Its user slowly followed.
He didn't have to say anything before what he was about to do next. The pink and cyan Stand pulled back its fists and unleashed a barrage of punches.
"DORARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARA!"
With its work complete, it fazed back into its user's body. Josuke turned and began to walk away.
Blood ran down Monika's face and arms while her body fell out of the hole in the wall and onto the ground. She coughed and gagged, tears mixing in with her dripping blood.
"I get it now… It's useless…" she muttered, gripping the Arrow even tighter. "All I want… is a life where I can be with you… But if I can't have that, then I want you to be happy… Josuke." She breathed heavily. "I would do whatever it takes for that to happen… even if that means a life…" Monika raised up the Arrow.
"Monika, NO!" Josuke screamed as he turned and tried to stop her.
"… Without me…"
Monika stabbed herself in the chest with the Arrow. Her body fell back onto the ground, her Stand appearing over her. It slowly began to unravel. Lana Del Rey's sheet music design began to cover everything. The walls, the floors, the ceilings, the broken pieces of the piano… The only things they could tell that were not covered in her Stand were Josuke, Okuyasu, Koichi and Monika.
"Wh-What's going on?!" Koichi panicked looking at the music notes appearing all around them.
"Is this her ability?!" Okuyasu asked.
"I… Uh… Monika…?" Josuke muttered.
She slowly closed her eyes and whispered, "Young and Beautiful…"
-To Be Continued