Chapter 3: Cube Master & Ricochet Riot
The Brando Institution is surrounded by mystery. It is a place whose sole purpose is to capture Stand Users! Joshua Joestar has vowed to bring them down to prevent anyone else from suffering at their hands.
Now with the help of his two new allies Maximilian Zeppeli and Richard Speedwagon, he heads towards Vale to confront another Stand User. However unknown to any of them, two Stand Users are already coming to confront the Trio!
"Is that them, Cube?" A Figure questioned as he and the man next to him watched a truck driving through a gravel road.
"Yes, that's them Riot, let's have some fun." Cube smiled as the two ran ahead to intercept the vehicle.
Joshua looked up at the sky from the back of a small truck that was making a delivery across Anima. He, Max, and Richard had managed to sneak out of Mistral by getting themselves hired to guard said truck. Two days had passed since then, and the truck was near to its destination.
Thankfully the drivers didn't ask many questions seeing as they were not huntsman, but they gladly took their help. Though in the end, the Trio decided to return the money they had been paid when the job was done.
"We're still clear, no Grimm in sight. It's odd you'd think we would see one by now." Richard reported as he looked through binoculars.
"Let's just not question it. The last thing we need on this trip is more complications." Max replied as Richard sat down, taking off the small container that held the Stand Arrow off his back.
"That's true, but once we reach the destination, the drivers are heading towards what should we do then?" Joshua asked as Richard pulled out a map.
"The village they're heading towards is only a few hours away from a port that can take us to Vale so we can walk there once we arrive," Richard explained.
"Well, it sounds simple, but who knows what could happen during this journey, and more Stand Users may be looking for us." Max pointed out.
"It's not like they can pinpoint our location if we are constantly on the move, so we will most likely not encounter another Stand User until we reach the port," Joshua said.
"Don't underestimate Brando. They are very resourceful. We don't know when we may encounter another Stand User." Max warned.
As if to make his point, the truck suddenly came to a halt with a loud crash. The Trio had to grab onto the sides to stop their momentum. They got up to see what caused the sudden stop only to see the two drivers that were in the front dead with their skulls bashed in and brains scattered.
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"By the gods who or what could have done something so terrible!?" Richard cried as they approached the front, inspecting the damage.
"There wasn't any Grimm around, and they didn't crash into anything. Whatever killed them is no longer here, so that leaves one possible option." Max began.
"A Stand User is here." Joshua finished clenching his fists in anger. Because of their presence, two innocent people died, and he was going to make the Stand User behind this pay.
"If this was caused by a Stand User, then where are they?" Richard asked as a ball came zooming towards his head.
Before it made impact, Joshua pushed Richard down, preventing him from getting hit from the ball. The ball hit the ground behind them then bounced from there onto a tree ricocheting off and back at them.
Joshua summoned his Crimson Destiny and punched the ball to stop the attack with his right fist. To his surprise, when Crimson Destiny's fist made impact, two of his fingers broke instantly. The ball bounced off and away from Joshua before disappearing completely.
"That must be the Stand that killed the drivers!" Joshua hissed as his aura, slowly eased the pain in his hand.
"What happened shouldn't your aura take the hit before any real damage can be done?" Richard questioned.
"Normally, yes, but any damage done to a Stand is reflected on the user regardless of whether or not your aura is intact," Max explained.
"That aside, we now know the User's ability," Joshua stated, wrapping his two fingers in cloth.
"The Stand is a ball that is definitely harder than steel that can bounce off of objects easily," Joshua said.
"There could be more to it, let's be careful as we search for the User," Max advised.
"That's easier said than done since this Stand seems to be long distance." Joshua pointed out.
"No, I don't think that's true. Otherwise, how would it be so strong?" Max wondered.
"You'll find out soon enough." A voice responded, surprising the Trio.
The three then turned to face two men, one in a large orange coat with black hair and eyes. The other was in a black coat and had blue hair and green eyes. In the hands of the man in the orange coat was the ball that had attacked the Trio, not a minute before.
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"Two of you! Great, that just makes things harder." Max complained.
"This is odd though why give up the advantage of staying hidden?" Joshua questioned.
"You'll find out soon enough!" The Blue Haired man responded.
"Prepare to face the ultimate combo of our Stands! I am Cube Master, and this is Ricochet Riot!" Cube Master declared a small cube forming in his hand.
Suddenly Joshua was left alone with Cube Master as a large cube formed around them, separating him from his colleagues. With the others, they were also in a cube separate from Joshua and Cube Master having to face against Ricochet Riot.
"What is this?" Joshua asked.
"This is my Stand Cube Master I can create cubed shaped rooms of any size and trap people within. The walls are unbreakable, and I can freely change the shape of this room." Cube Master explained.
"But why separate me from the others? By the sounds of it, I can defeat you easily?" Joshua questioned as he summoned Crimson Destiny.
"That's simple. Your premonition would be a pain for my partner to use his Stand against. So to make things easier, I'll be keeping you here." Cube Master answered, creating a small barrier around him.
Joshua attempted to break the barrier with Crimson Destiny, but when its fist made impact, nothing happened. He attempted again, smashing the barrier several times to no avail proceeding to back up and think of what to do.
"I told you the walls of my Stand are unbreakable. It is harder than steel!" Cube Master chastised.
"Just because it's harder than steel doesn't make it unbreakable!" Joshua declared. Though he said that he had yet to break anything harder than steel before.
"JoJo, where are you?!" Richard called.
"Dammit, they separated us!" Max cursed.
Max and Richard stood next to one another as they stared down Ricochet Riot. The Stand User now held two balls in his hands as he smiled sinisterly at the two. Wanting to get the fight done, Max attempted to end it by throwing a knife straight towards Riot's head.
However, the second he summoned his Pins and Needles Ricochet Riot threw one of his balls right at him. Max jumped to his right to avoid the attack, but the ball scraped his Stand's left hand.
He prepared himself for the pain, but it never came. In fact, the ball barely even hurt him. Max turned around to see the ball bouncing off the wall, but before it could come back at him. To prevent that, he pinned it to the wall with a knife.
"That's odd the last time one of your balls attacked us. It did damage, but I barely felt that." Max stated.
"Well, that's because before I had a chance to prepare my Stand, I just threw my last attack because I knew you would dodge." Ricochet Riot responded as he created a new ball.
"Now witness the true power of my Stand!" Ricochet Riot shouted, throwing both of his balls into the walls adjacent to him.
When the balls made impact, they bounced off and hit the other wall and continued to do so over and over. Each time they made impact, they became faster and hit harder, indicating the true nature of his Stand.
"So that's why your partner trapped us in here. It's because, with a space as small as this, it maximizes your Stand's power!" Richard deduced, surprising Max.
"Wait, you can see that?" Max questioned.
"Yes, I can is that a bad thing I thought since they are very specific Stands I could see them both?" Richard responded.
"That is very rare few between for someone to see a Stand when they don't have one is impossible. Unless you now have…" Max began, but before he could finish, he was interrupted.
"Sorry to cut the conversation short, but it's time we started this game!" Ricochet Riot interrupted as he sent his two balls at them.
"Let's see what you can do with only a single Stand User and dead weight!" Ricochet Riot smiled.
Both Max and Richard managed to move out of the way, but when the balls hit the wall behind them, they got even faster. With the increased speed, neither Max nor Richard could dodge as the balls made impact with their bodies.
Luckily for them, their aura took the brunt of the damage, but they were nearly completely drained. One more attack and their aura would be gone, and they'd be left with nothing to defend themselves save Max's Stand.
The two tried their best to keep away from the balls, but each time they made impact with any surface, they got faster. Because of that, with every passing second, the balls became faster and faster, making it near impossible to dodge.
Due to the speed of the balls, Max was unable to use his knives to pin any of the balls down. Soon one of the balls freed the one that Max had pinned earlier, and now three balls were ricocheting all over the room.
Max and Richard's auras didn't last too long afterward, leaving them entirely at the mercy of the enemy's Stand. Once their aura was gone, they were open for damage as the balls descended upon them.
With each hit, a bone was broken as the two fighters were battered and bruised. Ricochet Riot laughed at the scene, creating more balls to bombard them. Richard attempted to fight back with his cards, but he was unable to get one close to the enemy.
Suddenly one of the balls came at Richard, who held one of his cards in his hand. Before it could even hit him, his card grew slightly and sliced the ball in two. This event surprised the rest of the room's occupants as the two pieces fell to the ground.
"Impossible, how did you do that?!" Ricochet Riot questioned.
"I don't know," Richard answered as the rest of the cards in his deck began to float and converge behind him.
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"It's true then! You must have gotten one when you pricked yourself with the arrow! Richard, you have a Stand!" Max declared as Richard's cards formed the shape of a person behind him.
"So this is a Stand. I see I never had a Semblance, so it took the form of my cards." Richard commented as quickly inspected his Stand.
"This is my Stand. This is my House of Cards!" Richard declared as the other two balls came rushing at him.
Working fast, his Stand extended the length of some of the cards that made up its body cutting both balls in two. Just like his standard cards, his Stand was razor-sharp, and unlike his cards were able to cut through anything as it took care of the rest of the balls.
"Well, now it looks like it's two Stand Users against one, so let's see how you deal with this!" Max shouted, summoning his Pins and Needles.
"Richard you defend me from any incoming attacks do you think you can manage that?" Max inquired.
"Yes, I think I'll be able to control my Stand well enough to manage that," Richard responded.
"Don't get cocky. The teamwork between Cube Master and I cannot be beaten!" Ricochet Riot declared as he summoned more balls.
"What teamwork all your partner is doing is keeping up this cube?" Max questioned.
"You'll see soon enough." Ricochet Riot replied as he hurled several balls in every direction.
The second the balls left his hands, a barrier formed around him. That proved useful for when the balls made impact with the wall. They ricocheted off not only the wall but each other making them even faster. Because of this, there was little room to dodge even for the User.
Richard worked to the best of his ability to slice each ball apart to keep himself and Max safe from the Stand. But because of the new barrier that covered Ricochet Riot, Max was unable to get a shot that would damage the Stand User.
"Damn, we need to get into the barrier." Max cursed.
"If I get close, I should be able to cut it open." Richard theorized as he cut several balls in two.
"That's easier said than done," Max replied until a thought came to mind.
"Wait, can't your Stand work with individual cards like when you protected yourself earlier?" Max questioned.
"I think so, but I don't know how to separate cards from my Stand's body," Richard responded.
As if a reaction to his need, his Stand took out a strand of cards from its face and body handing it to Richard. Below the surface of his Stand, he noticed that it was completely hollow, nothing laid underneath.
Ignoring that fact, for now, Richard practiced his power with the cards using it like a whip and growing and shrinking the cards it some to cut a ball as the rest of his Stand fought. After a few minutes, and new balls being thrown in by Ricochet Riot being given an opening to throw them, Richard was ready.
"Max, get ready!" Richard notified as he put his arm behind his head.
Richard then swung his arm, extending the cards towards Ricochet Riot. However, as he swung, several, more walls appeared blocking his attack. Though his cards managed to cut through most of them, it stopped in the middle, unable to reach the barrier that Ricochet Riot hid behind.
"Shit what now?" Max questioned.
"I'm not done yet!" Richard shouted as the cards he was holding grew in size.
When they grew, they cut through the rest of the walls and embedded itself into Ricochet Riot's barrier. Once it did, Richard's Stand touched the cards and split itself into several cards and traveled up the strand until it appeared next to the barrier.
"It's time to ante up!" Richard declared as his Stand pulled back its arm.
Richard's House of Cards then attacked the barrier furiously, cutting it apart with the sharp cards that made up its body. Soon Ricochet Riot was once again out in the open, allowing Max to get a clear shot at the Stand user.
"This is where it ends!" Max shouted as he threw several knives at the Stand User.
Each knife hit their mark, cutting through the User's aura. When Max's attack ended, Richard picked up with his own cutting up Ricochet Riot. The Stand User was sent flying away and crashed into the adjacent wall, and once he did, all of the balls he had thrown disappeared.
"Who's dead weight now?" Richard questioned as he and Max looked down on the Stand User.
"It doesn't matter if you defeat me for as long as Cube Master is here. You can never escape!" Ricochet Riot yelled.
Just as he said that the entire area began to shake violently, and the walls around them broke apart, revealing the world beyond. ゴ ゴ ゴ ゴ
"No! HOW?!" Ricochet Riot questioned.
Moments Earlier…
Joshua breathed heavily as he stared at the barrier that Cube Master hid behind. His knuckles were bruised and bleeding due to his several attempts at breaking the barrier. Nothing he did seem to work as it seemed that no matter what, his Stand was not strong enough to break it.
"How many times are you going to try that only to fail once more?" Cube Master questioned.
"Until I break through," Joshua answered as he attacked the barrier again with his Crimson Destiny.
Once again, it did not break, and his fists cracked and broke more than they were before. Joshua's aura struggled to keep up with the damage, but Joshua paid it no mind. He put all his focus into destroying the barrier and defeating Cube Master.
"You really are stubborn." Cube Master pointed out.
"You're boring me. I wish I can watch Riot's fight with your friends. Seeing him kill them would be more entertaining than this." Cube Master added as he manipulated the cube that contained Riot to protect him.
"They won't lose to him. You can bet on that." Joshua argued.
"Even if they do win, none of you can escape from this prison!" Cube Master replied.
"You should have known that you never could have won against the Brando Institution!" Cube Master laughed.
Joshua clenched his broken fists in anger. He wasn't going to let it end like this, not after what the Brando Institution had done to him. Looking down at his arm, his eyes locked with the purple bracelet with the letter's LP engraved on it.
"I especially won't let them get away with what they did to you." Joshua thought as his eyes shone with fiery determination.
"I'm not letting it end here!" Joshua declared as he threw another barrage of punches at the wall.
His fists sprayed blood as he continued his attack with Crimson Destiny, not letting up at all. Once he was one, Crimson Destiny's left fist made impact with the barrier creating a loud ring throughout the room.
"Wow, all that for nothi…." Cube Master began, but he stopped mid-sentence when a large crack formed in his barrier.
"WAIT W-W-W-WHAT!?" Cube Master questioned as his entire barrier broke apart.
Now unprotected from Joshua Cube Master shook in fear. The Stand User never cared for fighting and always feared being harmed. With his Stand, he was able to protect himself. He never had to fear pain, but now his shield had been broken!
"Now, it's time for your punishment!" Joshua shouted as he battered Cube Master, but instead of punches, he attacked with kicks to avoid any more damage to his hands.
"trotrotrotrotortorTroTroTroTROTROTROTROTORTROTZEN!" His Stand cried as it beat Cube Master into unconsciousness. With the Stand User incapacitated, the walls around Joshua disappeared.
"JoJo, did you do this?" Max questioned as he, along with Richard, who dragged Ricochet Riot, approached Joshua.
"Yeah, took me a while, but I took out Cube Master," Joshua answered as he tended to his wounded hands.
"Now, then time for some questions," Joshua said as Richard threw Ricochet Riot against a tree.
"How did you find us?!" Joshua questioned.
"Why should I tell you?!" Ricochet Riot replied. The only response to his question was three Stands attacking just around him, threatening more injury to him.
"Okay, we were told by a higher-up that you three were trying to get to Vale, and we were assigned to stop you. It didn't take us long to find out where you were going, so we intercepted you." Ricochet Riot explained.
"How did they know that we are going to Vale?" Max asked.
"I don't know they just told us that you were." Ricochet Riot responded.
"Doesn't look like he knows much else." Richard pointed out.
"What should we do with them?" Richard asked.
"Tie them up and leave them for the huntsman or the Grimm to deal with them," Joshua answered as they did just that.
At the same time, they checked their brands seeing that Riot was a C Brand, and Cube was a D brand though together, they could obviously take on stronger Stand users. It showed that no matter what Brand you have if you use it right, and in conjunction with another, it can be strong.
Names: Unknown.
Stands: Ricochet Riot and Cube Master.
Brands: C and D.
Abilities:
R.R. to create balls as hard as steel that can bounce off of any surface, and with each bounce, they become faster.
C.M. to create large cube structures that are stronger than steel. The User can manipulate the insides of the cubes to a certain degree.
Status: Captured/Out of Commission.
"Do you guys find it weird that they use their Stand names instead of their real names?" Max questioned.
"Yeah, it's really odd," Richard answered.
"Should we bury the bodies?" Max inquired, turning to look at the corpses in the truck.
"As much as I would like to, I'd rather not leave anything that could link us to this, so we have to leave them here," Joshua responded.
"We should go. It'll take us the rest of the day to reach the village. We'll spend the night there and continue to the port town in the morning." Joshua said.
"Alright, let's go." Max agreed as the Trio left the tied-up Stand Users.
"So Richard, when did you get a Stand?" Joshua asked.
"It only appeared during the fight. I guess one small prick is enough to give a person a Stand." Richard answered.
"I would say that his Stand is easily an A Brand Stand with great potential," Max added.
"I'd also like to apologize to you, Richard. When I first met you, I thought you would hold us back, but you showed me your determination during that fight. I am happy to fight alongside you." Max apologized, offering his hand.
"Thank you, Max, I appreciate it," Richard replied, shaking his hand.
"By the way, JoJo, I wanted to ask you something," Max said, catching Joshua's attention.
"Shoot," Joshua replied.
"I noticed earlier that your stand has a star-shaped mark where your brand would be located on its body did you know that?" Max questioned.
"Yes, I noticed that in the institution, my cellmate also had the same," Joshua answered.
"Not much is known about Star Brands, what was it like? Did you know more of them besides your cellmate?" Max asked.
"No, the only interactions with a Star Brand I had was with my cellmate, so I don't know how many others there are," Joshua explained as he looked at the bracelet he wore.
"I see well that's odd I was able to talk with other Stand Users both A Brand and below," Max replied.
"It is odd how Star Brands were treated so differently." Richard pointed out.
"Yeah, and who knows how many there are. Though I do have a theory on the identity of one," Max said.
"Who would that be?" Joshua asked.
"Well, there were rumors back in the institution that a high-status patient was there. However, I never saw him anywhere." Max Began.
"Who was it?" Richard inquired.
"Walter Schnee the first heir to the SDC until he was put into the institution," Max answered.
"Walter Schnee? I thought the Schnee's only had three kids." Richard pointed out.
"That's because I heard they covered up most of the information about him when he was admitted, so maybe he was a Star Brand Stand User since I never saw him," Max explained.
"It's possible I personally never heard about him in the institution since he wasn't my cellmate, so if you never saw him, then it's possible he was a Star Brand but in a different cell." Joshua agreed.
The Trio proceeded to walk towards the village the truck was delivering to which took the rest of the day. Once there, they reported seeing the truck on the road, and a team of huntsmen was sent to investigate it.
After spending the night, the three Stand Users continued their journey, and at noon they reached the port where they bought tickets to Vale. One boat ride later, and they arrived in the Kingdom of Vale in the city, which shared its name.
"Do you guys find it weird that the city and the kingdom are named the same?" Max asked.
"I tend to not think about it, but yeah," Joshua answered as they exited the ship.
"So this is Vale, huh. I always heard about it while growing up in Mistral but never thought it looked so…clean." Richard commented as he looked around.
"I've only been here a few times, so I don't know much about this place," Joshua stated.
"I doubt our arrival in Vale will go unnoticed by the people in charge we should start asking around for information about the Stand User Richard's contact found before he leaves," Max suggested.
"Good idea, we should also stick together we don't want to be alone just in case another Stand User finds us." Joshua agreed.
The Trio then began their search for the Stand User who held the arrow in Vale. Unbeknownst to them, someone was watching them closely from nearby.
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"So, you want me to kill them, right?" A man asked.
"That's right. We've gotten a good look at their Stands save Richard Speedwagon's Stand." Another Voice answered via scroll call.
"It doesn't matter though with your Stand. They shouldn't make it far." The Voice added.
"Of course, with my Stand Camera Man, they'll be dead before they ever reach the arrow in Vale." The Man agreed as he hung up, holding a camera in his hands.
Meanwhile…
Weiss Schnee sat at her desk in her team's dorm room, getting ready for the day ahead. It would soon be the beginning of the second semester of her first year at Beacon, and she was thinking over the events of the first semester.
First, she thought of the day she was assigned to the team and the disappointment she felt when she was not named leader. Then she thought of when she began to warm up to her new leader and the rest of her team and how it changed her.
Especially over her views on the faunus when it was revealed that her teammate Blake had been one the entire time. Not only that, but she was also a former member of the White Fang looking to stop their recent violent behavior.
At first, she had always thought that all faunus were monsters who didn't care what they did if it got them results. But now Weiss knew better and slowly began to open up to new ideas after thinking over the situation with Blake and the docks incident.
Weiss thought about how Winter would think of her now after her first semester. She always had a close relationship with her sister, especially in comparison with the rest of her family. On the thought of that, she took out a picture she always kept close to her person.
It was a picture of her, Winter, and her older brother Walter who was taken away to a mental institution called Brando. A small tear came down from her eye as she thought about her elder brother. Ever since he was sent to the institution, her father had forbidden anyone from talking about him.
Then there were the more recent events when the Brando institution was exposed and suddenly disappeared. When huntsmen and huntresses were sent to investigate the institution, it was abandoned entirely with most documents destroyed.
From what they recovered, the one that hurt her the most was the confirmation that her brother had died. All due to the horrible way they treated patients there. Whenever the memory came to mind, it made her angry. The monsters that ran that place had taken her brother from her.
Winter did say she was looking into what had happened to the Brando Institution so that they could be brought to justice, but she had yet to find any clues. Somehow though, Weiss felt like something about the institution would come up very soon.
"Hey, Weiss, we're going to the dining hall to get some food want to come?" Yang asked as she and Blake stood at the dorm room's door.
"Sure, I'm right behind you," Weiss responded, putting the picture away and following her teammates out of their dorm. As Weiss walked away, the shadows behind her twitched and moved as if they were alive.
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===To Be Continued===
Next Time…Camera Man
Author's Note:
That's it for this chapter, folks hope you enjoyed! Now I know you have a lot of questions, especially on the new character. I just introduced that being Walter Schnee, a new brother to Weiss.
Everything about him will be answered obviously in later chapters about him and his time in the institution. The same will happen with Joshua but much sooner in say a couple of chapters.
Now I did see a question in the reviews on how I choose the names for the Stands I make and well how I do it is simple. I think of something that has to both have something to do with the Stand's power and sounds cool (to me).
I also take music into consideration like actual Stands from JoJo. Funny story Richard's Stand House of Cards was originally just named that because it is a Stand made up of a bunch of cards like a literal house of cards. But when I was writing this chapter, I searched it up to see if there actually was a song by the same name, and there was.
So I accidentally referenced a song I never heard before and I can't really remember who made it, so it's not really a problem. This isn't the first time this has happened, too. For another Stand, I made that will show up later, I also accidentally referenced another song.
Thought that being said, there are Stands that will show up that are references to songs and bands that are on purpose! Now back on the topic of Richard's Stand, it's full abilities will be developed as the story goes on, but for his rank (Brand), it is as Max said an A Brand.
I know that many fics or just JoJo stories, in general, have stand profiles, but I'm not good at that stuff, so that is one of the main reasons I made the Brand ranking system for this story. Also, about the enemies in this chapter being called by their Stand names, I didn't think of a good name to call them, so I just called them by their Stand.
I'm probably going to do that for a few Stand Users, for it's really hard to make names for people, but the more "Important" Stand Users will have names.
Finally, for Crimson Destiny and Joshua hurting himself to break the wall, I just wanted to address that his Stand can break things stronger than steel with great effort.
I did this because I don't want to make a Stand as physically strong as Star Platinum for the main character. Now that's all I have to say so I'll see you guys in the next chapter!