Team JOKR
Chapter 1: From One Alley to Another
Morioh, Japan
When you bring up the town Morioh in Japan, you tend to get a lot of different answers. A nice retreat from the hustle and bustle of the big cities is often the answer you get from most outsiders. But for those who are in the know, Morioh is better known for something far more bizarre.
Since last year the town has been home to a large number of [Stand users] These wielders of the seemingly magical Stands come in all shapes and sizes. Of all backgrounds, from poor to rich, to the kind and just, to the cruel and mean spirited. And some are, or were, just downright murderous. But most just want to live normal lives, or as normal as they can be.
Case in point, Josuke Higashikata and his companions. Together with his friends Koichi Hirose, Okuyasu Nijimura, and Rohan Kishibe, they had saved Morioh from the serial killer Yoshikage Kira last year. Since the defeat of Kira and his explosive Stand [Killer Queen] things had mostly gone back to normal.
Josuke, Okuyasu, and Koichi were still going to school. Rohan was still working on his manga, life went on. In fact that's just what the former three were coming back from today.
The three students were walking to the Owson store. Rohan had agreed to meet them there to hang out after they had all gotten out of school. His excuse was that he had recently hit a writer's block in his manga and wanted to see if he could find some fresh inspiration by hanging out with them.
The three students approached the store, Josuke in the middle, Koichi on his right and Okuyasu on his left. The three were still wearing their school uniforms, though all three were customized a bit. Josuke's featured gold chains and pendants of hearts and peace signs, while Okuyasu had a bunch of gold badges in the shape of different currencies. Finally, Koichi had made some minor but recent changes to his uniform. On the neck he now sported two small golden buttons in the shape of musical notes.
"Oi Josuke!" Okuyasu suddenly bellowed, directly in Josuke's ear no less. "Didn't Rohan say he was gonna meet us here or what?"
Before Josuke could get a word in, Koichi responded. "I don't know, Rohan usually is pretty punctual. Maybe he already found his inspiration and went back home to write? But he would have at least told us first."
The trio looked around for the manga artist. The Owson store was pretty quiet today, more than usual. If Rohan really wasn't here they could just take the bus to get back to their houses instead.
"Koichi's right, Rohan would have at least left a message. Unless of course something happened to him," Josuke thought. It has been quite a while since they had last encountered an enemy Stand user after all. Jotaro had said that Stand users often attracted each other. Perhaps this was the same case, a small part of Josuke wanted it to be true.
Since Kira, since he almost died at the hands of that monster, life hadn't never really gotten back to normal. School just couldn't compare to the constant excitement, and the little bits of fear, from before. Josuke thought there was something wrong with him due to what he had experienced. He didn't have nightmares and he hasn't had any panic attacks. It's just that the world now moves slowly sometimes, almost painfully so.
Josuke snapped out of his train of thought when he felt Okuyasu nudging him. He turned to see his friend pointing to the side of the Owson store, to a place that didn't really exist to most people.
The alley.
The alley was a special place, a morbid and creepy and dangerous place. A place only Stand users and ghosts can see. It was the border between the living and the dead, it's where the whole hunt for Kira practically began. It had a strange property where, if you turned around inside it you'd be dragged to, somewhere. None of them really knew for sure.
And standing in the mouth of the alley is Rohan. The manga artist was dressed in his usual green crop-top and very light blue jeans and jacket. But it wasn't his appearance that caused the trio's concern.
Rohan had a strange look on his face. A mixture of thoughtfulness, surprise, concern, and a hint of fear. A strange blend that quickly faded as he looked up and saw the three students heading towards him.
"Hey Rohan," Josuke began. "What's with the look? Why are you standing there like that? It looks like you just came out of the alley!"
Rohan tilted his head back as if to try and see something from the alley out of the corner of his eye before speed walking towards them.
"Koichi, Josuke, Okuyasu, good you're here. Truthfully Josuke I did come out of the alley, and I think there's someone in there."
Josuke and Koichi froze up at this almost instantly. Okuyasu took a second but he soon followed suit. Nobody went into the alley anymore, so unless it was a ghost Rohan saw, it should have remained empty.
"Unless it really is another Stand user!?" Josuke thought as Koichi spoke up. "Wa, was it a ghost? What did they look like?"
Rohan shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't go in far enough to see for sure. I was originally sitting out here, I had bought a drink and was leaning on the wall here when I thought I heard something coming from the alley. I turned and I thought I saw someone's hair, long and deep red. If it was a ghost or a Stand user I thought it would be more advantageous to wait for you three instead of going in alone. On the off chance they're hostile."
Josuke began to think deeply. This more than warranted an investigation. If it was a Stand user it could be someone who was a threat, if it was a ghost then why hadn't they moved on? Could something be holding them here like Reimi?
In any case Josuke was, frankly, a little excited. He turned to his friends. "We gotta check this out! This is the first time something interesting has happened in a while!"
Koichi seemed a little nervous but resolved himself, nodding in the affirmative. Okuyasu meanwhile had a huge grin on his face. Josuke could tell he was wanting for adventure too. Then Rohan cleared his voice.
"Josuke, this could be serious. We have no idea who, or what, is in the alley. If they're a Stand user they might have left. If it's a ghost they might have moved on. Let's not put ourselves in unnecessary danger."
Josuke's smile faltered at this, but Rohan continued. "However, in the possible scenario where this ghost or Stand user is still there, we should still at least make sure."
Josuke internally cheered as Rohan pivoted back to where the alley was and began to make his way there. Josuke followed quickly behind as Koichi and Okuyasu took up the rear.
The four moved down the alley and quickly found themselves in a familiar setting, mailbox and dog crap included. The group looked around for a moment before spotting someone at the end of the path.
It was a girl, about their age or so. Her back was facing them but even then, she had quite the unique appearance. Her hair reached down to her lower back, and just as Rohan said was the deepest red that anyone of them had ever seen. She also wore some kind of strange armor, it looked archaic but also modern. On her back a shield and spear could be seen.
They all looked at her for a moment, then the group began to make their way over to her.
That's where everything went wrong.
Behind him, Josuke could hear Okuyasu making a noise of surprise before something hit the ground. It sounded like he had tripped or something. What happened next was simply an instinctual reaction, a reaction to see if a friend was ok, that a friend wasn't hurt.
Josuke turned around.
In an instant, the world behind the group turned shadowy and dark. Then dozens, if not hundreds, of hands shot out of the darkness towards Josuke! His friends quickly realized his error as the hands began to latch onto Josuke! The teenager realized he needed to do something now otherwise…
"CRAZY DIAMOND!" Josuke roared as a spectral form appeared behind him. It was a huge being, with pink skin and light blue armor. [Crazy Diamond] was Josuke's Stand, a Stand that could easily break almost anything, but also had the ability to put anything back together.
The Stand quickly went to work, trying to grab the arms in order to free Josuke. But for every arm Crazy Diamond tried to rip off, two more seemingly took their place. Josuke was fighting a losing battle, he had to think of something otherwise he'd be dragged into wherever these arms came from!
His friends weren't doing so well either. As the sounds and sight of Josuke being grabbed the arms, his friends also instinctually turned around and soon enough, arms were grabbing at them too! Okuyasu summoned his own Stand [The Hand] and began using its ability to try and remove the arms. The Hand's power of "scrapping" matter away had some effect on the arms, but soon enough they completely overwhelmed him and The Hand.
Koichi and Rohan weren't able to summon their Stands before the hands completely overwhelmed them! The whole group was quickly being dragged into the void! Then Josuke had an idea, he quickly ordered Crazy Diamond to rip the mailbox from the ground. As it did so, the hands began to completely overwhelm him.
"If I can get Crazy Diamond to repair the mailbox, I can use it to drag myself and the others away! Hopefully that can give us the chance to get out of here!" Josuke thought as he grabbed the metal bar at the bottom of the mailbox.
"Koichi, Okuyasu, Rohan grab my hand!" Josuke yelled out as he held out his hand, the trio quickly clamored to grab his hand. Crazy Diamond then aligned its own hand with his, granting him more strength. Soon the group had formed a small chain; all trying desperately to hold onto something, anything, to keep from being taken by the hands.
"CRAZY DIAMOND!" Josuke cried out, causing the Stand's repair ability to activate. At first it seemed to work, the mailbox rapidly approached its point of origin. To rejoin the rest of itself still stuck in the ground.
However, the grip of the hands proved too much. Even with Crazy Diamond's help, Josuke's hold on the mailbox was slipping. His other arm felt like it was going to be ripped off.
The metal of the mailbox warped and bent around his and Crazy Diamond's grip. Eventually what was left of the mailbox he had in his hand was hanging onto the rest of it by a thread. A thread that eventually snapped.
Josuke and the rest cried out as they were suddenly pulled in without any resistance. The last thing Josuke saw before everything went black was that girl at the end of the path. She still hadn't moved, but now that he thought about it, she had a strange posture. She looked sad and alone, as if she was missing someone. Maybe friends or even a lover.
Josuke didn't have much time to think about this before the world fell into darkness.
Unknown Location
The first thing Josuke saw as he opened his eyes was the falling snow. The sky was an overcast gray, snow gently falling around him. He quickly shot up and took a defensive pose.
"The hands!" Josuke thought as he pondered for a moment. "Weren't the hands supposed to drag you to the afterlife, or Hell, or something?! That's what had happened to [Cheap Trick] and Kira after all!"
Whatever this place was, it certainly wasn't Hell. In fact it looked quite normal, just different.
It was another alleyway, but it definitely wasn't THE alleyway. The mailbox was gone, the familiar buildings around the alley were missing as well. Instead the buildings here featured concrete bases and brick walls. They were much taller and definitely weren't Japanese designs either. The structures looked more Western in appearance if anything.
A sudden gasp alerted Josuke to the fact that he wasn't alone in the alley. Around him were the rest of his friends. Okuyasu, Koichi, and Rohan were here too. Thankfully, they didn't seem worse for wear. Okuyasu was looking around him with a sense of wonder as Koichi and Rohan did the same. Though with far less wonder and more concern.
Then Rohan turned to Josuke, fury flashing over his eyes as he marched up to the teen.
"JOSUKE YOU IDIOT!" Rohan bellowed. "Look what you've done! Why did you turn around!?"
Josuke gulped and took a step back. Rohan being truly angry was both rare and scary.
"I, I didn't mean to! I was just checking if Okuyasu was ok after he had tripped! It was subconscious, instinctual!" Before Josuke could say more, Rohan interrupted him.
"Well your instincts have gotten us killed! The hands got us Josuke! This might be some kind purgatory for all we know!"
"I didn't mean for this to happen!" Josuke snapped back. "So get out of my face Rohan!"
Before either could do anything Koichi stepped in-between them. "Josuke! Rohan! Please stop! This isn't helping us, we need to stick together! Honestly, I don't think we're dead."
Rohan turned to face Koichi. "What do you mean we aren't dead?"
"W-well, it's just a theory. But if we were dead, I don't think death would just be another alleyway. What about the girl we saw? Maybe she had some kind of Stand that can teleport people. Maybe she did that to save us?"
The group pondered their situation in silence for a moment, but then, they heard something in the distance. It sounded like an animal, its roar crying out from beyond the alley and down the road. The roar was distinct yet was nothing any of them had heard before. Then the noises changed, what was the roar of an animal became a trio of distinct hummings. It sounded like an engine but it certainly wasn't something you'd find on a car. No, it sounded almost futuristic. Like something out of a movie or a video game, a strange and repeated humming.
The group quickly formed up. If Koichi's theory of a teleportation Stand was true, then any of those could have come from a Stand. Josuke took point, inching down the alley and poking his head out into the street. Koichi and Rohan followed behind, with Okuyasu taking up the rear.
As he looked around Josuke saw the source of the noises. A trio of what looked to be teenagers riding a pair of motorbikes. Only these weren't like any motorbikes he had ever seen! They looked like they came out of that old movie TRON! They were floating off the ground for God's sake!
The others were having similar reactions. Okuyasu and Koichi looked at the bikes with amazement. Rohan was studying them, taking in every little detail. Wherever they were, they certainly weren't in Morioh, never mind Japan.
Josuke then turned his attention to the teenagers. Two of them looked close to his age while the third appeared way younger. But maybe he just was in a similar situation to Koichi. Either way, they didn't just look like normal teens. Their appearances for one were definitely eye-catching.
The closest one was a girl who had long blonde hair and wore what looked like a tan jumpsuit with a bombardier jacket over it. An orange bandana was wrapped around her neck. Then there were the two large golden bracelets around her wrists. They looked too bulky to be simple bracelets however. The biggest surprise was that her right arm was robotic! He knew that Mr. Joestar had a robot arm but he never saw it personally. It was painted gold and black and went up at least to her elbow.
Josuke quickly adjusted his view to the other bike. On it was the smaller boy and another girl? Boy? Josuke couldn't tell from this distance, especially when their back was turned to him, but either way their appearance was still notable. The smaller boy wore what looked like a green trench coat with black pants and red boots. The final person was wearing what looked like a green vest over a white shirt with black sleeves, as well as some white pants. The most interesting part of their outfit was the magenta and black brace looking thing on their right arm. As well as a streak of magenta in their black hair.
The blonde one turned and put a hand to her ear and began talking to someone. Josuke wasn't sure to who, it certainly wasn't the other teens on the bike. After a moment she slouched back and pulled her hand away. Then the others on the second bike began to speak.
That's when he heard the pounding of footsteps, not people's footfalls, animal ones. Josuke whipped his head to the left to see something else quite wondrous. Though to call is wonderous would be wrong. Monstrous, horrifying, demonic. Those words better described what he saw.
What looked to be three sabertooth tigers were racing towards the teens on the bikes. But these simply weren't normal animals, the black skin and protruding bones were just the start. They were also wearing what looked like masks, only for Josuke to realize they were skulls. Skulls of the sabertooths themselves, pushing out beyond their oily skin.
The trio then stopped, grinding along the pavement to a complete stop. The teens on the bikes balked for a moment, as if not expecting the creatures to do that. After a very brief moment the creatures began to turn around and run back.
But not before the leading one's head snapped to it's right, staring Josuke dead in the eyes. It's eyes, bright red, were filled with nothing but hate and malice. The same kind of stare Kira would give whenever he snapped out of his "peaceful life" persona.
Just as quickly as they had arrived they had gone, leaving both the teens on the bikes and Josuke's group confused and disturbed. The teens began to talk amongst themselves and a fourth one appeared off to Josuke's right.
This one had an even stranger appearance compared to the others. He had short blonde hair and wore what looked like medieval knight armor over a hoodie. He even had a sword strapped to his waist.
Josuke thought back to the sabertooths. "Were they Stands? Something else? Maybe this really IS Hell!" He had never seen anything like them, they seemingly defied all the Stand rules too. They looked powerful but definitely had a significant range, then there was their intelligence. Sure, some Stands could talk, but simply talking did not make you intelligent. No, there was something else behind those eyes, something that he never felt from a Stand before. Even Kira's Killer Queen.
Josuke strained his ears to pick up their conversation. He could swear he heard the blonde boy mutter "grim" as he prepared to step back into the alleyway.
But that's when shit hit the fan.
In one moment the smaller boy was on the back of the bike. The next he wasn't, thrown off by something. He tumbled past Josuke to his left and down the road a few meters. Then he saw what had forced him off the bike. It looked similar to the black sabertooth monsters, but more dog-like and MUCH bigger. Josuke saw the same bony growths come out of it's back and elbows as it pounced on the boy like he was a chew toy.
Someone yelled off to Josuke's right "OSCAR" as something began to happen to the creature. It was flexing and snapping about as it began to, change.
"WE GOT TO HELP HIM!" Koichi cried out as what looked to be a green shine came off this Oscar. Oscar had slumped over on the ground as the creature, this hound, stood over him. Koichi was right, best case scenario Oscar was only injured. Josuke could fix injuries. The worst case, they'd have to avenge him and stop this thing from hurting anyone else.
He heard Okuyasu gunt in the affirmative as Josuke turned to Koichi and nodded. He then turned to Rohan.
"See if you can sneak up behind it and write something in it like 'die instantly' or something while we distract it."
Rohan nodded as Josuke sprinted out of the alleyway, Koichi and Okuyasu right behind him. Staring straight ahead at the monster, it was only a few meters away, but still out of Crazy Diamond's range. He had to hit it and hit it hard before it was done doing whatever the hell it was doing.
Then the hound turned it's head to face Josuke. Unlike the sabertooth monsters this one didn't seem to have eyes. Yet it sensed the trio anyways, but by then it was already too late. The hound was within Crazy Diamond's range.
"CRAZY DIAMOND!" Josuke roared as the pink and blue Stand appeared and started wailing on the hound. Seemingly dozens, if not hundreds, of fists began pulverizing the monster's face. Josuke heard several cracks as the bone mask was practically obliterated. While the fragments stuck to the monster's face like glue, they no longer offered any sort of protection for it. Crazy Diamond roared out as it continued to pummel in the monster's face.
"DORA! DORA! DORA! DORA! DORA! DORA! DORA! DORA! DORA! DORA! DORA!"
The creature tried swiping at Crazy Diamond, or at least where it was, only to meet nothing. The creature tried at Crazy Diamond for a few moments before turning it's attention to Josuke! Josuke then ordered Crazy Diamond to move and block the monster from getting to him. But as the monster flailed about, Josuke could hear one of the bikes revving up and heading his way. He turned his head just in time to see the blonde girl riding the bike like a surfboard! Her bracelets having shifted into something else, they looked like they had gun barrels at the end of them! She held them up like a heavyweight boxer as she rapidly closed in on the monster.
Then out of nowhere, the monster's arm shot out and grabbed her by the legs! The bike flew past as the hound used her like a club, aiming straight for Josuke! The pompadour teen didn't have time to get out of the way before being smacked away! Both he and the girl skidded down the road and away from the beast.
Josuke groaned as he tried to sit up. He must have broken a rib or two from the impact with the girl, coupled with being launched down the road, he wasn't in great shape. Still he sat up and then tried to stand up as he observed the fight.
Whatever the monster was doing before Josuke opened up on it seemed to have finished. The hound was now standing on two legs as opposed to the four it had initially appeared on. It tried to pick up Oscar, but before it could do so Koichi had gotten close enough to use his own Stand!
"[ECHOES ACT THREE] THREE FREEZE!" Koichi cried out as his Stand appeared. A boy with white skin and wearing white clothes with the number three on them appeared. The Stand also featured green crystals protruded out of it's body and yellow eyes.
"Ok master! Let's kill this m-u-t-t-!" Echoes yelled as it shot out it's hand towards the hound. The hound's hand, which was about to grab Oscar, suddenly shot down to the ground! The creature roared out as it struggled to bring it's hand from off the ground. It was even succeeding, slowly pulling itself up. But the monster was distracted enough for the other two teens to make their way over and attack the monster.
The one with long black hair shot out what looked to be two green blades connected to two pistols he was wielding by cables. They lodged themselves in the monster's chest as the teen pulled back and launched himself at the hound!
But the hound simply used it's free hand to wrap up the cables and used the teen's momentum to throw him at Koichi! Koichi saw what happened last time and moved to evade but wasn't fast enough! Koichi was clipped by the teen and launched a few feet back and landed on his butt.
Meanwhile, Rohan was hanging back. Looking for a good opportunity to engage the monster. His Stand, [Heaven's Door] could turn anyone or anything into a book and allowed Rohan to modify them however he wished. But he needed to get close enough to do it.
He noticed already that the monster seemed to correlate these invisible attacks against it with Josuke and Koichi being present. It also noticed that these attacks only had a certain range to them. The users had the advantage with their Stands being invisible to the hound but if it simply stayed out of their range there was little they could do to stop it.
As Josuke was attempting to stand up behind him someone put a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see the blonde chick, who unlike him, seemed no worse for wear.
"Hey are you alright! You guys other huntsmen?" She asked him as she looked him up and down.
"Come on! We gotta stop that grimm from killing Oscar!" With that she launched herself down the road with her gauntlets! It was like she was an Apollo rocket taking off!
With Koichi's Echoes out of range the power of Three Freeze was lifted off the creature. With a simple swipe it had scooped up Oscar and was holding him out as a human shield! The black-haired teen tried shooting a few bullets at the monster, but it simply shrugged them off while holding Oscar in front of him.
That's when Okuyasu made his move. Summoning The Hand he ordered his Stand to begin scraping away the space between him and the hound. The creature was suddenly launched sideways, closing in on Okuyasu and The Hand. He hardly noticed the blonde missile sailing past the spot where the hound once was. Eventually the monster was practically on top of Okuyasu. And that is when he realized his mistake. Before The Hand could make another swipe the hound reached out and PUNCHED Okuyasu. The teen cried out as he was launched into the building behind him, colliding with the bricks and concrete. Okuyasu groaned and slid down the wall.
With it being distracted again the black-haired teen launched himself at the monster, firing his guns all the while. He landed on it's shoulder and began slashing but was quickly shoved off. Then both blondes reached the monster and attacked it head on. The boy had pulled his sword and scabbard turned into a shield. He began to try and hack away but swiped at nothing but air as the monster dodged his attacks. The girl was a bit more successful. Closing the gap but being unable to land a hit due to the creature still using Oscar as a shield.
But even as the creature was being attacked by the two blondes, it still noticed Rohan creeping up on it. As the manga artist cried out "HEAVEN'S DOOR!" the hound leaped away from him and into one of the bikes. Using it's free hand it picked up the bike with a frightful bit of strength and threw it at Rohan.
He didn't have a chance. The bike collided with him, throwing him back and crushing him. He cried out in agony as the three teens paused, the blonde boy immediately running over to Rohan. The other two pointed their weapons at the monster.
"GIVE HIM BACK!" the black-haired teen demanded at the hound. But the reaction it gave certainly wasn't one he, or anyone else there, was expecting. It held Oscar close as something began to shift in it's neck.
Then it spoke.
"Nooo…"
The three teens froze up at this, as if it talking was enough to shut them down. The monster began making it's way down the street, unopposed. It stopped for a moment, even putting Oscar down as the monster began to change again. It growled and roared as it's back and limbs shifted. With a final screech it's back split open revealing two wings. The red and black membranes of the wings gave off a bat-like appearance. With it's four limbs back in their original position it opted to pick up Oscar with it's mouth. As it "looked" up it came face to face with two very angry teens.
Before the hound stood Josuke and Koichi. The latter had limped all the way from down the road while the other already had his Stand out. Suddenly the monster cried out as Three Freeze was applied to it's legs. It's grip on Oscar almost faltered as it tried to pull it's legs off the ground.
Josuke began to close the gap between himself and the freak of nature. Intending on finally finishing it off with Crazy Diamond. But before it could reach it he noticed something in the hound's hands. It was a sewer grate.
"It's a sewer grate!" The pompadour teen thought. The hound must have picked it up while Echoes had used Three Freeze. Josuke prepared for the monster to throw it at him or Koichi. But neither of them were the monster's intended target. As it threw it behind itself towards the injured and defenseless Okuyasu! He was still leaning on the wall the monster had punched him into earlier.
Both Koichi and Josuke tried to direct their Stands towards the grate, Koichi with Echoes' Three Freeze and Josuke with Crazy Diamond. However, the sewer grate was already well out of their range. But before it could hit Okuyasu the blonde chick launched herself into it! She smashed into the grate causing it to fly into another nearby building.
The two teens cheered internally before going back to face the hound, only for the monster to already be barreling into them. By releasing Act Three on the monster's legs to try and catch the grate, the creature's plan had worked. It was now throwing both of them to either side as it took off down the road.
The hound soon found itself outside the range of anyone as it began to flap it's new wings. Like an airplane taking off down a runway the monster slowly built up speed and momentum before finally untethering itself from gravity. It was about to fly off into the distance.
But Josuke couldn't let it just get away. Looking around he saw some pointed guard railing on the stairs of a nearby building. Summoning Crazy Diamond the Stand ripped the railing off the stairway. Crazy Diamond then turned, aimed, and threw.
"DORA!"
The railing flew off like a rocket, heading towards the hound at almost the speed of sound. However, despite Crazy Diamond's power and precision, the Stand missed. Josuke was aiming for the creature's center mass, the center of it's back. Instead, the railing punctured the hound's rear left leg. It was lodged in deep, going about halfway through the leg.
The group could hear the monster's roar even as it continued to distance itself. Instead of falling to the earth, the hound simply faltered for a moment before continuing on.
Josuke stared off at it for a moment before shooting up. Pain burst out across his chest, but Josuke ignored that, he had to get to Rohan and Okuyasu! Injured he could fix, dead he couldn't.
He speedwalked over to Rohan first, the teens had already moved the bike and were talking amongst themselves. The blonde boy was holding his hands over Rohan's body, a strange glow emanating off them.
"Yang healing these guys will take too long. You and Ren go on ahead and try to catch up to that thing! I'll stay behind with these guys."
Josuke turned to look at the now named Yang and Ren, the latter he now realized was a boy. Besides a few cuts and scrapes on their clothes, they were no worse for wear. It was as if they hadn't been injured at all!
"But that's impossible! Unless one of them has a Stand of some kind…"
"Move." Josuke ordered the blonde teen as he slowly kneeled over Rohan. The teen however quickly objected. "Move!? This man is seriously injured! I had to unlock his aura otherwise he was going to die! And he still needs medical attention!"
Before the teen could get any further words out Crazy Diamond appeared behind Josuke and quickly went to work healing Rohan. "Odd," Josuke thought. "He already seems better than he has any right to after what happened."
Within a matter of moments Rohan was back to his usual self, albeit unconscious. Josuke then tried standing up, only for the pain in his chest to flare up again. He gasped and stumbled and fell on his butt. The blonde boy quickly made his way over to him, his eyes wide as if seeing a ghost.
"You don't have your aura unlocked either," the boy muttered as he placed a hand on Josuke's shoulder. "But then where have those, ghosts? been coming from?!"
Now it was Josuke's turn to become wide-eyed. He could see Crazy Diamond! He had to be a Stand user for sure. He tried standing up again only for the boy to firmly press down on his shoulder.
"Stop! I don't know how or why you and your friends got these ghost powers. Maybe they're magic too, but if you keep moving around you are only gonna hurt yourself even more! Please, let me help you."
Josuke thought for a moment. It didn't seem like this guy knew what Stands were, calling them ghosts and whatnot. But if he had wanted to hurt him he'd have done it already. All of them except for Koichi were down for the count currently. So, Josuke nodded, accepting his help. The boy smiled for a moment before speaking again.
"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee."
Josuke felt something deep within him awaken. As if his soul was strengthened from within him. Immediately the pain from his injuries started to lessen. He felt invigorated as he saw a light pink aura envelop him.
"Is this what he was talking about, aura?" Josuke thought as he inspected himself. He then noticed that the blonde teen was holding out his hand.
"I'm Jaune." He introduced himself as. "What's your name?"
Josuke took his hand and Jaune pulled him up off the ground. "Josuke."
Josuke then wheeled around and headed towards Okuyasu. His friend was in bad shape, alive, but in bad shape. Within moments however that had changed thanks to Crazy Diamond.
"Oi Josuke thanks!" Okuyasu said as his friend pulled him up off the ground. The two turned to see Jaune speaking with Koichi and a new awake Rohan. Yang and Ren had already left on one of the bikes, no doubt trying to catch up to the hound. Hopefully the guard rail in it's leg was slowing it down.
The two made their way over to the others. Koichi turned to see Josuke and Okuyasu approaching and ran over.
"Josuke, Okuyasu! I'm glad you guys are ok!" Koichi said as Jaune pulled Rohan off the ground. The five of them soon grouped up as they finally got a chance to relax a little, or so they thought.
"So," Jaune began. "Just who are you guys? And what are those ghosts that keep appearing around you? They gotta be magic right? Cause they definitely aren't semblances."
Before any of them could speak, the cloud cover that blotted out the sky opened up for a moment or two; allowing the group to see beyond the overcast sky. Above them sat a MASSIVE floating structure. Like a giant asteroid with futuristic buildings built into it. It wasn't anything any of them had ever seen before. If the bikes and monsters weren't proof enough, then this settled it.
This wasn't Morioh, this wasn't Japan. This wasn't even Earth anymore.
Yeah so this starts off during the events of RWBY Volume 8. I enjoyed Volume 8 when it premiered and thought it would be easier to write under as opposed to starting from the beginning of RWBY.
I'll try to post at least every other month at the latest but I hope you all enjoy this!