A battle of two competitive racers. Unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. With one seeking furious vengeance on the other, let's see whose title is more believable.
"Bring it on, Josee." MacArthur narrowed her eyes. "Emperor!"
MacArthur summons her revolver Stand and aims at Josee. A couple shots were fired out of it, prompting the ice dancer to dodge to the side.
"It's no use, Josee! No matter how many you dodge, they're gonna keep coming back!" MacArthur yelled.
"I won't let my guard down. Not until every last drop of my anger is channeled into kicking your ass!" Josee roared. "Killer Queen!"
MacArthur fired more shots, causing Josee to dodge some more. Suddenly, Josee noticed all of the bullets turning her way. Thinking quickly, Josee throws another coin bomb at the incoming bullets.
"Detonate!" Josee yelled out.
The area goes up in smoke as the explosion from the coin bomb disintegrates the incoming bullets. MacArthur shielded herself from the incoming dust and smoke as she aimed the Emperor into the smoke cloud.
"You're outmatched, icecapade! With my Stand, I basically have full space control!" MacArthur yelled out as she fired into the smoke.
"Not if I can help it!" Josee yelled out.
At the same time, Josee pulls out a couple more knives and throws them like daggers at the smoke as well. The two groups of projectiles passed each other in the smoke, and made their way to their targets.
"Whoa!" MacArthur.
MacArthur quickly attempts to dodge, but unfortunately, one of the knives manages to nail her in the left shoulder. The police cadet falls to the ground in pain as she immediately begins to bleed out.
"Hggkah!" MacArthur yelled out.
Meanwhile Josee wasn't having as much luck as well. She used her Killer Queen to block the incoming bullets, and as expected, her Stand sustained heavy damage on her arms. Josee painfully winces as the damage to her Stand gets reflected to her own body.
"Gah! F-Fuck!" Josee exclaimed. "This… this is nothing… only one of us will make it out alive."
Josee manages to grab another knife and throws it into the sand between her and MacArthur, who watches this in confusion.
"Fear the unseen much, copper?" Josee asks as she does a detonator gesture once again.
The knife blows up in the sand, uprooting even more dust and sand in the air. This caused the area to be completely covered in a smoke and dust cloud. MacArthur stood up as her vision began to get blurry, both because of the cloud she was inside of and the fact she was currently bleeding out.
"Great… just fucking great." MacArthur says as she summons the Emperor in her hand. "I'm gonna fuck you up and leave you to die in this fucking desert. You hear me?!"
"Loud and clear." Josee's voice was heard behind the police cadet.
MacArthur quickly turned around, but was met with Killer Queen grabbing her by the neck.
"E-Emperor!" MacArthur instinctively tried to shoot the Stand.
But Killer Queen quickly grabbed MacArthur's right arm. In her panic, the young cadet began to fire even as the Stand had her arm pointed upwards, letting stray bullets fly into the air.
"N-No! Get… get off of me!" MacArthur protested.
"I've had enough with you denying me of my truly deserved gold position." Josee approached the trapped police cadet. "Now, it's time for you to suffer."
Josee holds MacArthur's left arm and pulls it back, opening the shoulder's stab wound even more. The cruel ice dancer smirks as she watches the blood spill from the wound.
"Gaaaaah!" MacArthur shrieked from the pain of this.
In one swift move, Killer Queen painfully pulls the knife from MacArthur's shoulder and plunges the blade into her stomach. The young police cadet stopped screaming as the pain was too much for her to handle.
"And that's matchpoint. Now we're having fun, aren't we?" Josee sadistically asked.
Josee recalls her Killer Queen, and grabs MacArthur by her hair before she can collapse. She looks the cadet straight in the eyes as she sees an expression MacArthur never expressed. True fear and helplessness.
"I guess my resolve was just stronger. If you don't know, resolve is what fuels a man to plow through his fears and take victory above all." Josee monologues in front of her fallen rival.
Josee then takes the extra step and shoves the knife deeper into MacArthur's stomach. At this point, blood was starting to drip from the young cadet's mouth.
"Don't worry. It will all be over soon. You'll head to the Spectator's Suite, after all." Josee then moves in to whisper in MacArthur's ear. "After this, I will plow through the competition and take the gold. Just like how my resolve plowed through yours."
The ice dancer then lets go of the cadet, causing her to drop to the ground. MacArthur slowly tries to move and looks at the ice dancer with a seething rage. Josee just looks sadistically at this and begins to walk away.
"Oh, yeah. Right." Josee chucked as she turned back. "If you somehow didn't notice, Killer Queen has already touched that knife in your stomach."
Hearing this, MacArthur opened her eyes wide in realization. Josee summons Killer Queen as they make a detonator gesture.
"Goodbye, MacArthur." Josee sadistically grins as she does the gesture. "Detonate."
The knife began to erupt into flames, and the explosion completely engulfed the helpless police cadet. Once all was said and done, nothing was left. No viscera, no torn clothing, no nothing. Just the small blue orb containing MacArthur's soul.
MacArthur's soul began to shoot off into the distance, and Josee felt a sense of relief washing over her. Now that her greatest rival is gone from the game, she can finally take this game by storm.
"And the first elimination has been confirmed!" The Golden Voice was heard echoing across the landscape. "MacArthur, the Stand User of Emperor, has fallen to Josee and her Killer Queen!"
Josee began to laugh hysterically. Laughing louder and louder as the seconds tick by. Watching this from afar, someone was seen taking in the sight. It was a Stand, and its User is nowhere in sight. It was a tall humanoid figure dressed sparsely in black executioner's garment. It has a mask that covers its face up to under where its nose is, in a piece of headgear resembling a crown. It also bears pastel white skin with horizontal lines, and the word "GACT" repeatedly written on every other line.
"This is only just the beginning. Sooner or later, everyone will be involved in a long and arduous battle for survival." The Stand spoke in a slight echoing voice. "With my Stand, I'll be able to control all of this in the backseat."
The Stand began to walk out of the shot, leaving white acid with every step. This acid was seen slowly eating the nearby rock and sand as the mysterious Stand disappeared into the darkness.
Stand Name: Killer Queen
Stand User: Josee
A humanoid Stand with an average speed and destructive power, Killer Queen boasts the powerful ability of turning everything it touches with its hand into bombs. With this dangerous ability, it can make traps out of everyday objects, control the space around it with its explosion or completely erase the trace of something it uses the bombs on.
As Josee takes the first blood of the race, the Golden Voice had simultaneously announced the first elimination to everyone in the race. Needless to say, this was an unexpected announcement.
"What the?!" Lynn springed awake as her group was awoken by this announcement.
"Whoa. Someone's already eliminated?" Clyde asked.
"Yeah, the first one." Ronnie Anne stated. "It seemed to be the police cadet that had a rivalry with the ice dancer."
"Really? I thought they were from the same world." Clyde was confused by this.
"It may have been a matter of rivalry or vengeance. I mean, look at how those two interact." Lynn stated. "I'd say it's an understatement to say those two have bad blood."
"Oh right. And that ice dancer was one of the leaders in the race. It seems she really wants to stand above the competition." Clyde stated. "Well, I guess she's very dangerous. We should definitely avoid her if we can."
"I definitely agree with you there, brah." Lynn stated. "I've seen a lot of bloodthirsty opponents that I went up against. There's no telling what will happen if that skater equals those guys in competitiveness, especially in a race like this."
"We definitely have to get a Stand sooner or later. We're all at a disadvantage if none of us gets a Stand ability." Ronnie Anne stated.
Suddenly, a slight puff sound was heard near them. The group turns to see a small wooden chest near them, with a small note on the top.
"Huh? What is this?" Lynn went to pick up the note.
"Use this on yourselves. Then we'll talk." This is what was written on the note.
"Huh? What does that mean?" Ronnie Anne asked.
Lynn opens the small chest and finds something unexpected. A Stand Arrow, a single one given to them.
"What the?!" Lynn almost jumped in surprise. "Heck yeah! Sweet!"
"Whoa! Is that what I think it is?!" Ronnie Anne asked.
"Yep! It is!" Lynn grinned wide. "And this note said to use it, so why not?"
"Whoa. I think you're going a little bit too fast here." Clyde warned. "We don't even know where this came from. For all we know, this might be a trap set up by one of the other racers."
"Yeah. He's right. We can't jump the gun just yet. We need to know if this could be a threat." Ronnie Anne added.
"Well, I think I'm gonna use it." Lynn objected. "Besides, who benefits from giving an enemy such a nift powerup?"
"I don't know, but even with that, are you sure that arrow is legit?" Clyde asked.
"Well, only one way to find out." Lynn says as she positions the arrowhead to her wrist.
Lynn uses the arrow to slit her wrist, and both the wound and arrow glow brightly. The arrow is definitely real. Once the light fades, the arrow disappears, and the wound on the girl's wrist is all healed up.
"Yep, this is definitely it." Lynn eases up after confirming the arrow was real. "And now, I'm a Stand User."
"And that you are. Now we can talk." A voice called out.
Lynn turns around to see a Stand walk up to her. The same Stand that had watched Josee from afar. Lynn felt uneasy as the Stand approached her.
"Lynn Loud. Now a Stand User ready to take the race by the horns." The Stand spoke.
"Well, usually I'll be the one to introduce myself." Lynn stated. "It seems you are a Stand, and your User is nowhere in sight. So the reason you want me to use the arrow is because you want to speak to me through your Stand?"
"That is precisely so. I feel it is dangerous for me if you find out who I am. So we'll communicate through my Stand until the time is right." The Stand stated.
Lynn turns to her teammates as they quickly put the pieces together and find out what was going on.
"For the time being, refer to me by my Stand's name; Whitesnake." The Stand, now named Whitesnake, stated. "And we have work to do.
MacArthur then appears somewhere new after her deadly brush with Josee. The area she appeared in was a very large well furnished suite, well suited to fit a whole party, or in this case, 50 competitors who might be eliminated in the race.
"Whoa." MacArthur was still in a bit of shock after the whole encounter. "That… that bitch…"
"And here you are! The first eliminated racer!" The Golden Voice appeared in front of the police cadet.
"What?! I'm the first one eliminated?!' MacArthur exclaimed. "Ugh… I just know that bitch is just chalk full of joy after finding out I was the first one out."
"Yep. You are right on that aspect." The Golden Voice added.
"And what the fuck was that?!" MacArthur yelled out. "Out of all the abilities you could've given her, you choose bombs. Bombs! Do you realise how fucked up that is?!"
"I thought I've made it clear that a Stand's unique ability is rooted in the User's core personality." The Golden Voice stated. "I understand your stress from this experience, but nothing can be done now. Are you hungry?"
"Well. I guess I am feeling an empty gut at the moment." MacArthur stated. "Yeah. I guess I can go for grub. Got a menu or something?"
"Any food you want, I can offer. Just head to the dining hall on the second floor and you can eat as much as you want." The Golden Voice stated.
"Well, after that nightmare of an elimination, why not? And I've got a long list of things I wanna order." MacArthur stated. "And one more thing."
"And that is?" The Golden Voice asked.
"I know you cannot control the flow of the race, but I hope Josee loses. Do you?" MacArthur asked.
"The feeling is mutual." The Golden Voice stated.
And that's all for the chapter! With the first elimination, a dark enemy rises to eliminate everyone that stands in her way. Who will take the fall next? Find out next time!