FILE 11 - My Starlight Parade, Part 2

Previously on FILE 10, Aiya's curiosity had brought the awakening of Bloodhound. Despite being warned by Tetsu and Finn, her curiosity got the better of her. But she soon realized that it was a big mistake as she was now facing a dangerous Stand with Finn.

"Aiya, you have doomed us all!" Finn dropped Aiya, as he summoned Husk. "Sh#t, now we gotta find a way to get 'that jacket' off it!"

Husk coalescences using sand into a mummy with bandages all around it except for the two yellow eyes it had.

Bloodhound lunged at Husk, attempting to slash it but the attempt was futile as the sand body easily mitigated the slash.

"You have fought it before though, haven't you?!" Aiya panicked in her tone.

"It was with Tetsu's help!" Finn replied to her. "But she isn't here!"

Without any time to spare, Aiya jumped into the battle to help Finn.

"ORA!" Plastic Love sent out a heavy punch to Bloodhound's stomach.

However, Lobo suffered the damage as well. As he coughed up blood, Aiya looked at him. "Sh#t! I forgot Stand users are connected to their Stand!"

As Husk was battling Bloodhound, Aiya saw Finn showcasing a new ability that he could do with Husk.

Amidst the tense battle, he somehow recreated some sort of claw attack from Bloodhound that was launched previously using Husk's sand. The claws missed Bloodhound entirely.

Aiya looked around, searching for anything that could help them. She set her eyes on a metal fray. With that new ability of Husk, she attempted to come up with a plan.

"Finn!" Aiya yelled out to him as she ran toward a metal fray on a table. "You gotta buy time for me!"

"Ugh!" Finn is struggling to fight against Bloodhound, as the Stand keeps overpowering him. Luckily, due to its sand body, Finn doesn't sustain any injury. However, Finn knew Bloodhound would soon ignore Husk and target him directly. "I can! But you gotta hurry up! I'm gonna be its meal soon!"

Aiya finally grabbed the metal fray, and she now used Plastic Love's left palm to heat the metal and bend it to be in the shape of a circle as her Stand chopped the thing in two.

"Finn!" Aiya shouted, with urgency "I've got a plan now!"

Finn panting heavily as his effort to re-summon his Stand every time it went down to Bloodhound was taxing on his body. "What is it?!" He called back, desperation in his voice.

"Sh#t…" Aiya muttered, her hesitation showing as her plan revolved around hitting the Stand, but that meant it would also hurt Lobo.

Lobo nearby saw her mind racing for what to do and tried to reach her with his strength as he spoke his words. "Ugh… Aiya, just do what you need to do!"

The encouragement from Lobo finally gathered enough will within Aiya as she threw the 2 metal objects toward Bloodhound.

"NOW!" Aiya shouted as she ran as fast as she could "Activate your Stand ability!"

As if in sync with her shout, Finn activated his Stand's ability, mimicking 2 objects identical to the objects she had thrown.

The Stand, sensing something was going its way, looked back and slashed the objects that were mimicked by Husk. They turned to sand.

"Now! Punch it!" Aiya commanded as the 2 objects were still flying toward Bloodhound.

"MUSHA!" Husk yelled out its battle cry as it launched a heavy punch, sending Bloodhound back into a wall.

Lobo coughed up blood even more, as he sensed the damage from Bloodhound.

"MUSHA SHASHASHASHA!" Husk began an onslaught of barrage, attempting to keep the Stand in the wall. The 2 objects then finally grasped Bloodhound's arms in succession, holding it in place.

Suddenly, Aiya looked at Lobo. His damage is so severe. She hesitated.

"AIYA!" Finn screamed out, as Bloodhound escaped the 2 restraint cuffs and headed toward her with its claws ready.

She closed her eyes as it swiped… She heard a loud thud… Her eyes opened to a sight of wonder. Iron Maiden, the Stand of Tetsu Otohime was there.

"You should have listened to us from the start." Tetsu came to Aiya's aid as she picked her up.

"BIRIRIRIRIRI!" Iron Maiden launched a quick burst of kick barrage, slamming it into the wall yet again.

Lobo continued to cough up blood. Aiya couldn't bear to see him being hurt… But she knew she had to stop Bloodhound.

"Hey!" Kuro yelled. "Catch!"

Kuro shoots out black strings from the tip of his fingers. The strings then grabbed the 2 metal objects that Aiya had modified as he shouted to Aiya to catch them.

Without any hesitation, Aiya jumped toward Bloodhound, as Bloodhound looked at her in anger. With precision and determination, she snapped one of the restraint cuffs onto its wrist.

"PLASTIC LOVE!" Aiya shouted as Plastic Love manifested swiftly, before releasing out a sharp yet searing heat from its left palm, welding the cuff to the wall with a blinding flash. Bloodhound snarled, sensing the trap, and lashed out with its free claw.

Aiya twisted her body, narrowly avoiding the deadly swipe, feeling the rush of air as the claw grazed past her. Her heart raced, but she didn't falter.

With a swift and precise motion, she brought the second cuff down, clamping it onto Bloodhound's other wrist. Before jumping backward to get out of its angry thrashing.

Finn and Aiya collapsed in exhaustion. "We did… it…"

Tetsu sighed. "Aiya, I've warned you. Finn has warned you."

"You know what they said." Kuro chuckled a bit. "Curiosity kills the cat."

"Oh shut up." Aiya, panted as she retorted.

8:46 AM, Jamiroquai Cafeteria

Bloodhound is seen howling as it was to tense its muscles to break free.

"Lobo!" Aiya ran to Lobo, holding his beaten body in her arms. "I'm so sorry!"

"It's… fine." Lobo coughed. "But please, don't ever bring that red jacket near me again…"

"You got it!" Aiya replied.

"So then…" Aiya walked up to Tetsu. "I'm so sorry about this. I should have listened to your warning, Tetsu…"

"It's fine, just please don't try to doom us again like this," Tetsu said. "I've covered it up anyway."

"Wait, what?" Aiya is amused. "What do you mean by 'cover it up'?"

"Remember when you beat Finn to hell and back?" Tetsu replied. "Nobody paid attention to you after you exited with Lobo. At all. That was me bribing all the class monitors and the hall monitors not to tell anyone. And some of the teachers… They cost the most to bribe."

"Aw, thanks." Aiya chuckled.

"Oh shut up." Tetsu flushed a bit as she looked away from Aiya.

"So now, what do we do?" Finn tried to catch his breath.

"I suppose we'll find a way to get that jacket off it," Kuro said. "But with the cuffs in the way…"

Suddenly, Bloodhound broke free of the restraints as it lunged toward Aiya.

"AIYA! WATCH OUT!" Both Lobo and Tetsu screamed out, Tetsu's Iron Maiden managed to block the swipe as Tetsu kicked Aiya out of the way.

Iron Maiden's arm, as well as Tetsu's arm, began to bleed profusely from the slash.

"Tetsu!" Aiya shouted. "Use your Stand to heal!"

"I can't!" Tetsu said with a strained voice, her eyes widened in fear. "Bloodhound's wounds cannot be healed. I've tried doing it…"

Bloodhound immediately slashed Iron Maiden and Tetsu out of the way, before running at Aiya.

During the chaos, a soft voice spoke out.

"Starlight… Parade."

A glowing pink heart-shaped projectile is suddenly shot toward Aiya. Tetsu, Kuro, Lobo, and Finn looked in shock. Time seemed to be frozen as the projectile was aimed at Aiya.

The outcome could be grim for Aiya. Her heart was racing, unaware that it was coming toward her, as her eyes looked in terror as Bloodhound was about to hit her.

Stand Info:

『Stand Name』- Husk

『Stand User』- Finn Henley

Ability - Husk is a Stand made from sand, so physical attacks do not harm it and damage does not transfer to Finn Henley. However, constant sand refill to restore Husk's body will drain Finn of his stamina. Husk can also use its sand to imitate an object or past action within the last 10s in its radius.

As Aiya was about to meet her end, a mysterious Stand User entered the fray. Who is this Stand User?! And are they a friend, or a foe?!

TO BE CONTINUED IN

FILE 12 - My Starlight Parade, Part 3