Author Notes: This is merely a conclusion to the previous chapter while setting up future events.
Chapter 2: Match Set
one hour and twenty-two minutes later
The score was 72 Blue's team and 68 Josephine's team with only three minutes left in the game. Their opponents learned all about their Stand powers and managed to come together by using their Stand's to gang up on Blue, Bailey, and Cleo.
Bailey spent most of the game restraining Amsterdam from using its abilities, but now the tails were injecting themselves in her legs, then came out and injected right in her arms. It prepared to inject again in another part of her body but hesitated.
"Go on, Amsterdam. All energy needs to be used in these last few minutes."
Amsterdam did what it sparingly does and injected its tails in her larynx. And thus-the transformation began.
Her body started to fill with hair, her nostrils enlarged and enflamed, wrinkles appeared all over her body, and to finish she grew a tail.
Her parents were watching this right now with beads of sweat and pursed lips. It was every parent's worse nightmare to see their "pumpkin" turned into a hairy, scary monster but they were supportive of the choices Bailey made to get this way.
And then-the referee bounced the ball off the floor and Bailey and Josephine leaped to get the ball. It was no surprise Bailey managed to catch the ball, her arms were just too long and strong.
Bailey was the first to steal the ball but Josephine only had to manifest her Stand: Fleetwood.
Fleetwood rose the walls encompassing Bailey and limiting her choice of movement, however, her prehensile tail gave her more swagger. She jumped over the wall. She could do a slamdunk while she was so elevated or at least she would've if Marisol's Stand BeeBee didn't suck her up making the gravity drag her down tenfold.
She fell flat and the ball skittered to Kym-she dribbled it with four hands before throwing it. The ball landed in the net raising the team to two points behind.
Although Bailey had sprawled in an attempt to score a point...she returned to center still the visage of a dragon hybrid.
Her form was accruing muscle mass siphoning the strength of everything around her-when it turned off the bespoken things would return and she would collapse. She and Josephine flitted to the center.
The referee looked at both of them scrunching his cheekbones trying not to blink. Once he was ensured none of them were going to try any funny business-auspicious with their Stands-he lifted his basketball and bounced it...Bailey immediately hissing at Josephine causing her to flinch.
Then she leaped and smacked the ball to Blue.
She hotfooted back to their net the moment she landed, scales rattling in a cachous way, and ignored coach's harries to stay with Cleo and Blue preferring to stay near the net.
With one juddering breath she let out a mist with crystalline stones sparkling inside before reverting back to her human body; she was winded, but in eight seconds the game would be over.
They won-all they needed to do was stall for eight seconds...
"Bailey, lookout!" Cleo shouted.
Bailey turned around to see Kym hotfooting towards her with a basketball launched towards her.
She stood her ground, raised her hands and tried catching the ball...she didn't even feel it when it phased right through her. Behind her, Kym caught the ball. She jumped high with the ball in her two hands easily putting it in the basket. The timer went off with the LED red screen showing the numbers 72 and 72.
The game ended in a tie.
Never team cheered, no parents moaned in anguish, and the coach was just looking at the field with her mouth agape and her eyes big and wide. This was not the turnout anyone was expecting.
"That was just embarrassing." Bailey finally said.
"What? We didn't lose, did we? And besides, it's just a high school basketball game-it's not like winning is anything but luck at our level." Cleo said.
"But still...we were so close to winning. It's not fair-"
"You mean that our opponent was sneaky enough to save her Stand's power until the last few seconds of the game or that she managed to sneak past you and score despite your best efforts?"
That was a question that was a little serious but also rhetorical.
Ahem."
The trio perked their heads to the sound of that fake cough. It was coming from none other than Josephine with her teammates aligned behind her. Bailey and Cleo but not Blue who had no insecurities about herself felt stupid forgetting about the good sportsmanship part of the game.
The users and Stand's alike extended their arms to give each other a hand smack that was neither too soft or too rough.
"Good game. Good Game. Good Game. Good Game. Good Game. And Good game to you, you sticky thing."
BeeBee bowed its head to show it appreciated being recognized for its work in the game. Now that the game was over every player got to move straight to the showers...
After showering they returned in their normal clothes, witnesses all the adults getting up and leaving the auditorium in a clamored up line.
"Do you see where my mom is, Hotplay?" Blue asked.
Hotplay manifested above her looking through all the people. Even if her mother was looking in her direction she couldn't wave because she wasn't a Stand User ergo couldn't see Hotplay.
Hotplay could see the kids looking for their next moorings eating hot dogs like some kind of hungry animal, whale parents causing a tremor on the benches trying to stand up, and--
"Courtney! Courtney, it's your mother. I'm over by the ghost plaque as we agreed."--
Hotplay saw an auspicious looking person but all attention on him dissipated once she heard that holler.
Hotplay could see and hear everything her user could even smell and taste the sirloin steak and blue cheese they had for dinner.
She didn't hold it against her user the stuff that blurred around her on a daily basis; she was also quite vexing from time to time for Blue. But Hotplay couldn't get that figure out of her head. It made her wonder if her kind even had brains since they weren't even real organisms, accruing solidity from willpower of users.
After hours of thinking--Blue eating, studying and being a girl who likes music watching greatest quotes of DC villains--Hotplay finally floated over her head and tapped her shoulder.
"There's something you need to know."
Next Chapter: Invaders Attack