For the outside public around Love Love Deluxe, no one knew what to think. A few of the passersby heard noises coming from within the building, but did nothing about them, seeing as no one could pinpoint what they were. Even if they could, why waste their time to enter what could potentially be a hostile situation?
Besides, at this end of Musutafu where Love Love Deluxe was located, villainous activity was rare due to it being a known place of work for several pro heroes who were high up in the rankings board. And even when it did happen, it was usually spaced out throughout the year, so it wasn't as if something was happening in the same season as the last villain attack in the area.
That, and there was already an attack in Musutafu, specifically its downtown portion that scarred the populous so much to the point that most citizens were terrified to leave their homes unless absolutely necessary.
It wasn't like a villain attack was happening again, right?
Well, even if some of the populous believed that there wasn't going to be another villain attack so close to the one that happened just a few days ago regarding what happened at Nishin-Noodles, many of the people in the area had decided to move indoors, and park their cars in such a fashion where they could, potentially, be free of damage, and kept the heroes on a speed dial.
In a hero society such as the one that everyone lived in, everyone had to be on their toes, just in case of a villain attack. You never knew when it could happen, and thus, one needed to pay extra attention to their surroundings. They needed to keep their eyes and ears peeled and guard up at all times, even if that wasn't exactly a healthy thing to do.
To not be able to fully trust your neighbour was detrimental to a community. But Japan, and the world at large, had to live like this for the last 100 years. They were able to make due up to this point. Why change now?
Little did any of them know it, but the fight that was about to break out transcended heroes, as they would not be able to help with the fight, only the aftermath. This fight would mark the beginning of something horrific to happen in the future—a long line of battles that drew out the existence of something that had been able to hide for so long, only because of the extended efforts of not only the government, but a certain organization made to "protect" everyone from the supernatural.
Yoshikawa Kira stared at the mistake with a fearful look in her eyes. She had to blink several times to prove to herself that she was seeing things correctly. She stared at her Stand, hovering in front of her as she ordered it to as they had a standoff of sorts.
This made no sense. None of this did. First, the mistake was a Stand user—something that, in hindsight shouldn't have been much of a shock. That garbage ex-husband of hers—he wasn't garbage—"not the time, inner voice. Shut the fuck up!" Yoshikawa scowled. What was she thinking again? Oh, yeah, the fact that the mistake was a Stand User. It made sense. Both she and that lousy ex of hers were Stand Users. It was only a matter of time that this happened.
But that didn't explain the literal fucking ghost that was hovering behind the mistake. Who was that!? Why was that hovering right next to the mistake?! Why were they there in the first place!? It must've been an actual ghost because there was no way that the mistake had two Stands, that'd just be absurd—also impossible.
Whatever the case was, the words that the ghost spoke sent a small chill down Yoshikawa's spine. The dead look in both of their eyes compounded that tenfold. Either way, though, it hardly mattered. Neither one of them moved an inch.
The tension in the air was palpable. But all of that tension would die the moment the first person made a move. Honestly, it was refreshing. It had been a long time since she had been in a Stand Battle. 17 years, to be exact. Maybe it was a part of her that yearned to fight, but now, she was finally going to be able to stretch her legs.
If anything, that was the only thing she could ever thank the brat for. The only question on her mind now though, was quite simple. "Why hasn't that brat attacked yet?" Yoshikawa thought, narrowing her eyes, when she came to a conclusion that drew a smirk to her visage. "She's probably waiting for an opening. Ha~! That's rich!" Yoshikawa scoffed, her smirk turning into a wild grin.
"If you honestly think that you staring me down is gonna scare me, brat, I'm going to make you regret that! C'est La Vie!" Yoshikawa spat as C'est La Vie rushed toward the mistake and her Stand, rearing back its right fist and preparing to land a devastating blow.
As soon as it did, the ghostly man smirked, flicking his wrist, causing Yoshihara to move out of the way, and for Killer Queen to block the attack. Yoshikawa did a double-take, watching as the mistake seemingly moved at the ghost man's request. "Huh?" Yoshikawa thought, raising an eyebrow.
The ghost man didn't seem to make a single sound after that, simply narrowing his eyes before Killer Queen knocked C'est La Vie's fist away and then sent its punch aimed directly at C'est La Vie's stomach—a kill shot if she had ever seen one. The brat and that ghost were trying to end this fight right away.
Smart. Really smart, actually. Maybe she wasn't giving them enough credit—shut up.
Yoshikawa had C'est La Vie dodge, priming its claws as it used the opening created by the attack to slash at Killer Queen's arm that it had outstretched to punch her. The attack landed, causing Killer Queen to recoil as C'est La Vie followed it up with a punch of its own, only for both Killer Queen and Yoshihara to move out of the way at another puppeted swipe by the ghost.
"STAND STILL, BRAT!" Yoshikawa cried out, C'est La Vie rapidly punching, trying to catch Killer Queen off-guard, only to be met with the Stand blocking each punch with the palm of its hand. Despite being physically strong, the brat Stand seemed to be stronger, as it was taking those blows with ease, not once even flinching at their strength. Combined with the bored and placid look on its face, it made Yoshikawa take a step back.
"Do you really think that you'll be able to fight against me?" The ghost said, crossing its arms as it scoffed. "I have already vowed to protect this child. For it is my duty as a Guardian Angel."
Yoshikawa completely ignored the words of the ghost, focusing on the fight instead of the jabs meant to knock down her pride. "Just how fast and strong is this brat's Stand?! Is that ghost making it stronger, or is it something else completely?! I refuse to believe this is just how fast it naturally is!" Yoshikawa thought, gnashing her teeth together. "YOU BITCH!" Yoshikawa shouted, trying to slip a punch past the cracks, and that was when Yoshihara and the ghost smirked.
"I do believe, you, my… rather disgusting descendant… fall under that category," the ghost spoke, independent of Yoshihara, causing Yoshikawa to slip up, allowing Killer Queen to grab C'est La Vie by the neck, putting the same pressure on Yoshikawa. "Grk!" she choked, feeling the cold fingers of the Stand around her neck.
"You caused me/her so much pain, woman," Yoshihara and the ghost spat, a sneer on the mistake's face. C'est La Vie slammed its elbow into Killer Queen's chest, making it let go and winding Yoshihara, sending her stumbling back as she coughed. The ghost glared, crossing its arms. "Cheap shots like that won't save you, woman."
Yoshikawa struggled to catch her breath as C'est La Vie went back to its user, hovering beside her. Yoshikawa's chest rose up and down as she sucked in as much breath as possible. The ghost seemed to vanish, but the black smoke didn't go away, nor did the duel voices as Yoshihara spoke once more. "You will regret ever showing your face here!" Yoshihara shouted, rushing Yoshikawa, who had C'est La Vie go on the defensive.
Killer Queen's fists clashed against C'est la vie's arms, causing shockwaves to fill the makeshift arena. Even though it was in a semi-berserker state, Killer Queen did not utter a single word, it simply attacked C'est la vie, who then returned the favour with a leg sweep, attempting to make Killer Queen lose balance.
Killer Queen jumped to dodge the attack, then proceeded to kick C'est La Vie in the head, knocking her away and slamming her into the open elevator, causing the machine to rock from left to right. The impact caused the building to shake ever-so-slightly. A few of the customers inside the building either woke up or stopped what they were doing to check if it was an earthquake.
But to that end, all Yoshikawa could do after that attack was reel from it. "Ugh…." Yoshikawa groaned, collecting herself after being hit that hard. C'est La Vie once again got in front of its user in a protective stance, though that didn't throw off either the ghost who reappeared next to the mistake or the mistake herself, who had begun to stride toward the elevator.
"You die today, woman…" Yoshihara and the ghost spat, almost as if they were one being. "I will not you get in the way of my life ever again. Once was enough when I was a child, but twice? That's gutsy. I refuse to allow you to bring harm to me ever again. I will finally be able to sleep peacefully at night, knowing that my greatest obstacle will be erased. Just like it should have been when I ran away from that shitstain of a town…"
Yoshikawa could swear that the mistake's mere presence had become far more menacing as she approached, making her frantically search her pocket for something. "C'mon, I know it's in here!" Yoshikawa thought, gritting her teeth. The blood from her head wound dripped down her cheek and onto her suit, staining it, causing Yoshikawa to frown.
She didn't consider the fact that the mistake's Stand had hit her as hard as it did. Her head hurt, that much was for sure, but she didn't receive any serious damage from that kick—at least she thought—she refused to believe that the mistake's Stand was any stronger than her own. As Yoshihara drew close, and as the black smog around her became even thicker, Yoshikawa finally pulled out what it was that she was looking for.
A bullet…. A .50 calibre bullet to be exact. And as soon as she grabbed it, a wide, deranged smile stretched across her face. "This brat thinks she can win because her Stand is good for close quarters! Ha! Stands or not, a bullet will kill her!"
Yoshikawa smirked, passing it over to her Stand and placing it in the palm of its hand. The bullet fell into a small 5cm by 5cm hole in its palm, and then, it raised its opposite hand. Yoshihara didn't stop moving, but she became a little hesitant, and the ghost seemed to narrow its eyes with suspicion.
Unfortunatly for her, she didn't take the obvious warning, blinded by anger as she had been. Because, as soon as she got within just a foot of the elevator door, the .50 calibre bullet came flying out at the same speed as a .50 calibre sniper of C'est La Vie's hand.
Yoshihara, the ghost, nor Killer Queen could react in time as the bullet shot through her chest, her eyes widening, and colour and light returning to it as the ghost shouted in panic as it began to dissolve, her hypnotic trance breaking as she woke up to reality.
There was no audible warning, seeing as it wasn't an actual gun that had been fired, meaning that no one from outside of the building would hear the sound of the bullet breaking air from a gun chamber.
The only sound that filled the air was the blood dripping and falling to the floor, the sound of the bullet getting stuck in the wall behind Yoshihara, and the choking sounds of pain that came from her. The bullet had shot through right under her upper torso, but luckily missed anything major. Despite that, however, that didn't stop the pain that she felt.
Yoshihara stumbled, the black haze spiking up and disappearing. Killer Queen flickered before punching the wall with its right hand in a final attempt to keep her standing, before pulling back inside of Yoshihara as she coughed, covering her wound with her hand as she fell to the floor back first. Her blood began to pool around her as it fell from her body, Yoshikawa's smile widening as she loaded another bullet into C'est La Vie.
The bullet shot out seconds after it was loaded. Killer Queen deflected it but wasn't prepared for the second bullet moments after the first. The second bullet shot through her stomach, followed by a third that shot through her shoulder, and a fourth that shot through her right breast, which was the fourth to last bullet that she had in stock.
A part of her wanted to end it right then and there. Aim a bullet straight for the brain. Kill her in one shot and be down with it. But the look of pain and misery on the mistake face… she wanted that to be the last thing she felt. She wanted it to be excruciating. She wanted it to take a while for it to kill her.
So, she decided to let the brat suffer.
"I'm not going to lie to you, brat. You had me on the ropes for a few seconds," Yoshikawa snarked, scoffing as Yoshihara sputtered up blood. To the untrained eye, it looked like white dust was slowly coming off of her. At the same time, the ghost appeared again, looking straight at Yoshikawa, who braved past the fear that she felt at looking it in the eyes.
"You…." Yoshihara groaned, losing the edge in her voice as she coughed up more blood. She reached up to grab Yoshikawa. Killer Queen's arm extended as did its finger, but before she could do anything with it, Killer Queen's arm faded away, flickering in and out of existence before disappearing entirely.
"Unfortunately for you, you didn't expect me to have a long-ranged ability, did you?" Yoshikawa snarked. "I have to admit, even if it wounds my pride, your Stand is—was—physically stronger than mine. In a battle of pure strength, C'est La Vie would have lost. It was why I pulled out my ability. You deserve somewhat of an explanation before you're finally removed from this world like the cancer you are."
She turned her back to Yoshihara, not caring in the slightest to look at her pathetic, meagre form. "For what it's worth, which isn't much, you at least gave me a battle. I haven't had an excuse to fight in a long time, so with that, you gave me something to think about other than ways to kill you. Congratulations, I guess."
"You said you were going to make my death nice and slow, right? Well, look how the tables have turned!" Yoshikawa laughed, turning around, watching as Yoshihara gasped for air. She was trying to stay alive. How pathetic. She readied to end it and was about to load another bullet into C'est La Vie's hand hole, only for a bubble with a skull in it to come rushing toward her.
In that moment, C'est La Vie to absorb the attack, and shoot it into the wall where Killer Queen had already made an indent. Yoshikawa's eyes widened for a split second, her expression turning from a cocky smirk to a shocked and flabbergasted one. "You dirty bitch…." Yoshikawa spat, turning around to face the struggling Yoshihara.
"Heh, actually, I respect that. Too bad your attack failed." Yoshikawa spat, looking at the damage the bubble bomb thing did, the wall crumbling and creating a small hole that cracked. "Heh Die. Die alone without anyone to love you, just like your shitty excuse of a father, and my shitty excuse of an ex-husband," Yoshikawa spat, turning again and walking away.
What she didn't know, however, was that, despite her wounds, Yoshihara had a smirk on her face as she laid her head back in a pool of her blood. "Dumb bitch…" Yoshihara thought, coughing up more blood.
She had already sped-dialed Akira, who in turn would bring the police. They would be here soon. How soon, Yoshihara didn't know. But what she did know was that her trap card had already been played, and it was all thanks to that Ghost.
Little had Yoshikawa known that the bubble bomb had been a distraction.
With that, Yoshihara felt her consciousness fade. It was up to it now.
As Yoshikawa exited the building, she felt a weight draw off of her shoulders. She was finally free from that shitty excuse of a brat. That, and she noticed that the other voice completely shut up now. Good. Good…. No longer would her thoughts be plagued by the idea of that child still being alive.
After all, she had to be dead now. Especially after all the bullet holes that were now in her body. It wouldn't take long for her to bleed out and die. It hardly mattered whether or not that someone would notice or not. That brat was going to die, and she didn't have to worry about a damn thing.
And this time, there was no backstabbing villain that would prevent her death. She made a mistake grabbing that mook off the streets. If she had known, she would've just let the brat die of the poison that she put in her food.
She pulled her phone out of her pocket and entered the same website address she used to call her cab from before. She only rented that hotel room for a few hours, so she now needed to find a hotel somewhere else in Japan. Maybe the Morioh Grand Hotel? That might've been a good spot to be. It was a few hours' drive, but Johnny had given her a decent amount of money so that she didn't have to worry. After all, this was a company-paid vacation.
She got one every year, and she just so happened to spend it in her home country, like she did every year. She normally spent it in her family's summer home which had been passed down throughout the generations. The house that was given to her for having the Kira namesake had been destroyed by that villain and was still being rebuilt to how bad the damage had been, so that wouldn't have been a choice.
As she drew out her phone so that she could call the cab company that took her here to then take her to Morioh, she felt something heavy on her shoulder. "What the—"
"Look Over Here."
The voice that was beside her was raspy, it sounded like someone hadn't drank any water in years, and on top of that, it was almost… robotic in how it was said. Yoshikawa groaned, knowing full well it was probably some homeless person with a voice Quirk. "Sir, if you don't get away from me, I'll—"
"I said, Look Over Here."
As soon as it interrupted her again, she harshly turned to look where the voice came from, that being her left shoulder, and when she did, she was met with something that she didn't think possible.
Another Stand.
It was small, probably the size of a hand or something equivalent to that. It had a blue dome-like shell-like body with an orange orb on top of it. It had a face, that of a human-like skull with pointed horn-like protrusions, and a golden knife emblem on its forehead. Its mouth was open wide, filled to the brim with sharp, pointed teeth, and its eyes glowed a deep purple. It had tank treads, and they had left marks on her slightly clean suit.
"Is there another Stand User in the area?!" Yoshikawa thought as the Stand stared into her eyes, deeply. Yoshikawa had barely a second to react when its mouth clamped shut, and a clicking sound echoed throughout her immediate area. C'est La Vie grabbed the small tank Stand and chucked it 10 meters away as it blew up, causing several car alarms to go off and for a few people to peek out of their windows.
Yoshikawa backed up, glaring at where she had thrown the Stand. "An explosion… what? No, that can't be right. That mistake has an explosive ability… no, she's either dead or unconscious, I made sure that. Mixed with her bloodloss she can't summon her Stand or even a Sub-Stand, so this can't belong to her!" Yoshikawa thought, gnashing her teeth together as the dust settled.
The cars around where the Stand had blown up were flipped over and filled with holes, some even had massive chunks taken out of them. The walls of surrounding buildings were also damaged, some cracking and falling apart, while others were only burned by the fires the explosion caused. Yet the Stand remained undamaged from the blast, or from the throw.
And then, it started moving towards her, albeit slowly. Without hesitation, she grabbed another .50 calibre bullet from her pocket, of which only three more remained, and handed it over to C'est la vie. It quickly took the bullet, aimed its opposite hand, and funnelled the bullet into the receiving hand before firing, the bullet racing toward the tank Stand, who took the bullet head-on.
As a result, the bullet simply bounced off and pinged into a car window, shattering the window as its alarm went off, causing Yoshikawa's eyes to widen. "Huh?!" She thought, backing away further. "But that's a .50 calibre bullet! That can pierce through armoured vehicles! How the hell did it just shrug it off?!" Yoshikawa thought, panic building in her chest.
She started to look for ways to escape. Maybe, if she could get out of the Stand's reach, she could find a way to locate the user of this Stand, kill them, and have it go away. Then she could make her escape to Morioh. Although, she probably didn't have a lot of time until the heroes came—someone had to have alerted them by now—and so she needed to do this quickly.
"Look Over Here!" The Stand stated, continuing to approach Yoshikawa. C'est La Vie closed the distance between itself and the Stand and punched it. The goal was to try and punch it away, but instead, the Stand simply shrugged it off. C'est La Vie didn't stop with one punch, though. It kept hammering punches into the thing, but not once did the Stand even stop to try and go around C'est La Vie. It kept trudging forward as if it was unstoppable.
"Just how durable is this thing?! ,50 calibre bullets can't just be bounced off by things like that, nor should it be able to withstand multiple extremely fast punches from a thing that can shatter walls with ease!" Yoshikawa thought. "DAMN YOU!" she shouted as C'est la vie amped up the speed at which it threw its punches.
Maybe it just wasn't hitting it enough? That had to be it. There was no way the Stand was that durable. In all of her life, she had never encountered something so powerful. Not a Quirk, nor a Stand from her youth.
Yet, here she was, dealing with something exactly like that.
Each fist bounced off the highly durable tank Stand. While the punches did slow it down slightly, they did not stop it. It continued to move forward as C'est La Vie continued to punch it, only for the tank Stand to jump up—somehow—and soar past C'est La Vie, straight in Yoshikawa's face and landed tracks first.
The moment it landed before Yoshikawa or C'est La Vie could do anything, the tank stand began to spin its tracks in her face, breaking skin and causing blood to spew everywhere as Yoshikawa screamed in pain.
To onlookers watching from their windows, all they saw were shockwaves hitting against an invisible object, then, suddenly, blood spewing from an already bloodied lady's face, and for an explosion to happen mere moments before, caused by nothing. One of the people within their apartments, just down the street, though still being able to see what was going on, was Ochako Uraraka, watching with horror on her face.
She quickly looked away and closed her window, not bothering to watch. She couldn't do anything to help that poor woman if it was one of those invisible things that she encountered back at the USJ. "Even still… I… I can at least try…." Ochako thought, about to leave her apartment when she heard a crashing sound. She looked out the window and saw the Pro Hero Death-Arms arrive on the scene. "It seems that a hero was called! Maybe he could help the lady!"
Back on the streets, Death Arms began to approach the lady with caution. "Ma'am, are you alright?" Death Arms called out as Yoshikawa had C'est La Vie rip the tank Stand off of her face and over into the street. She held her face, dazed from all the blood she had just lost as she used a car to hold herself up.
"What the fuck do you think it looks like, hero?!" She spat, groaning as Death Arms sighed.
"My apologies, ma'am, I have to say that stuff for professional reasons. I'll try to find the villain that did this to you, and—"
"Don't bother," Yoshikawa spat, interrupting the pro as she gritted her teeth. "Unless you can see it, you're practically useless. I—" Before she could continue, she saw that where she had thrown the tank Stand, said Stand was now gone. "Maybe the user finally gave up!" Yoshikawa thought, smirking. "But I think I'll be fine, it seems to have left, and—"
Once again, her sentence was interrupted when the very tank Stand drove up on Death Arms' shoulder. "Look Over Here!" The Stand demanded as Death Arms looked side to side. Its eyes glowed with murderous intent—if a machine could even feel emotions—its mouth open and its body perfectly intact, almost as if nothing happened to it.
Yoshikawa looked on with fear building in her throat. "HOW!? HOW COULD IT STILL BE FUNCTIONAL!? JUST WHAT THE HELL IS THIS THING?!" Yoshikawa thought erratically, her eyes shrinking in utter disbelief, and her skin turning as pale as a sheet.
"Very funny lady, nice voice projection Quirk, but you can't prank me," Death Arms commented, a small smirk on his face. Unfortunatly for him, he had already met his fate when a clicking noise echoed throughout the area as the tank Stand blew up, knocking Yoshikawa away and into a street pole a few meters away, denting it as she groaned. Her eyes narrowed as she coughed, slowly looking up at where Death Arms was.
Death Arms was missing a chunk of his shoulder and a part of his rather thick neck. He stood there and stared in silence, blood covering his hero costume, as well as blood dripping from his mouth. It looked like a cannonball punched through the man's neck, which would kill anyone.
Yoshikawa looked on with wide eyes as the giant of a man fell down, most likely deceased, as the small tank Stand rolled out of the wound, spreading a line of blood in its wake. The onlookers started screaming, closing their windows and locking them. Those that had left the building ran back in immediately, and as for Ochako, she watched on in horror as the blond lady began to scramble away as fast as she could.
"That Was Not The Right Target," the tank Stand stated, staring directly at Yoshikawa. "Target Found: Look Over Here!" the tank Stand said as Yoshikawa had C'est La Vie grab as much of the small rubble as possible to fire at the Stand, all the projectiles uselessly bouncing off of the small tank.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Yoshikawa cried out as the Stand continued its approach. Yoshikawa, for her part, jumped up and ran as fast as she could, tripping over her feet and landing face-first into the concrete. She spat up the blood that had gotten in her mouth as C'est La Vie punched at the Stand once more, knocking it into a moving truck's trailer, the impact creating a hole through the metal.
For good measure, she had C'est La Vie shoot the last two bullets she had in the direction of where the Stand had crashed, smirking as she did so. "There is no fucking way that it survived all that damage, and if it did, I'll be shocked. I've seen my fair share of durable Stands, but none of them could've survived that," Yoshikawa thought, narrowing her eyes as she became light-headed.
The blood loss was starting to get to her, her vision blurring every now and then. "Stay conscious, at least until I can get out of this thing's range!" Yoshikawa thought, putting a hand on her forehead. She looked around, not seeing the Stand anywhere. "Maybe… it's… gone…." Yoshikawa growled as she had her Stand start looking around with a careful eye.
Just as she was about to let out a sigh of relief… she heard its voice. "Look Over Here!"
Her heart dropped when she turned around to see the tank Stand staring at her, a few meters away from her. There were a few indents in its shell, the yellow bulb was gone revealing a gear and stick, and one of its tank treads was gone. The skull was cracked around the eyes, and the knife emblem was gone as well.
"So, it does take damage. But the fact it took all of that to just damage it like that, and it still be unimpeded. This thing might as well be invincible!" Yoshikawa thought with panic in her eyes. She looked over to Death Arms' smouldering corpse, then back at the Stand. "You piece of shit… I'm going to destroy you and your user!" Yoshikawa shouted as C'est La Vie rushed towards the tank Stand as it sped over to Yoshikawa.
C'est La Vie intercepted the Stand and began to beat down on it as much as possible, its fists and claws slashing and pounding against the shell, leaving more indents in it. As a result of pounding on it so much, Yoshikawa's knuckles began to bleed, though, at this point, she didn't care. With one final massive punch, the Stand was knocked into another car, punching a hole through the gas tank as it exploded, causing a chain reaction.
Several cars blew up as a result of that one car, knocking Yoshikawa into a wall with the sheer intensity of the explosion. She gasped in pain, blood flying out of her mouth as some of the shrapnel stabbed into her shoulder and waist. "Mother… fucker…." Yoshikawa muttered, slowly picking herself up, and plucking the bits of shrapnel out of her body, blood dripping from her wounds.
By all means, she should be on the floor, crippled, unable to move. But a wave of determination and adrenaline hit her like a freight train. The last thing she was going to do was let a stupid fucking tank thing get the better of her. She spat up a glob of blood as the small tank dug itself out of the wreckage of the car that it had been flown into.
"That Was Not A Human. Relocating Target," its robotic voice said, its purple misty eyes staring at Yoshikawa, who was now hunched over, blood dripping from her entire body as she glared back at it.
"You're an Automatic Stand, aren't you? You're taking orders from someone. Your user must be a pansy then. If your user won't come out and fight me, then I'll just have to go find them!" Yoshikawa spat as the Stand stared.
"User Is Badly Hurt. I Must Protect My User With All I Am Worth Until Help Arrives," the Stand replied, catching Yoshikawa off guard. "Target acquired. You Will Die." As the Stand said that, it charged toward Yoshikawa. C'est La Vie grabbed the bomb, but before it could be thrown, it clicked, exploding in the Stand's face.
Yoshikawa was shot further back into the building that she had landed in, that being a hair salon. The customers inside the building screamed. Ever since the fight broke out, they had been hiding in the corner of the room. Yoshikawa spat up more blood, now having several smaller holes in her body from the impact of the explosion.
It physically hurt for her to breathe, and as she slowly tried to get up, she slipped on her blood. Her hands slipped constantly, choking and coughing up more blood as she moved. The customers as well as the owner of the salon looked on in horror as they watched as she tried to get up, only to fail time and time again.
"O-Oh, my god!" One of the customers screamed, huddling closer into the room. One of them, however, looked at Yoshikawa with a conflicted look. This person had short red hair and yellow eyes and they were wearing a female junior high school uniform. The schoolgirl stood up, slowly, approached the woman, and reached out to her.
"What are you doing!" One of the other customers called out. "You're going to get hurt!" The customer called out as the schoolgirl shouted back.
"No! I need to help her!" The kid said, looking back at Yoshikawa, who spat up more blood, her body shaking as sweat fell from her forehead. She looked over at the kid, her eyes widened. The selfish part of her wanted to tell the brat to hurry up, but she couldn't.
Maybe it was because of her injuries that she had begun to see things in a different light. Whatever the case was, she didn't know what had changed but what she did know was that this was her fight, and she didn't want anyone else to get in the way.
"N-No! Listen to them, brat! S-Stay away!" Yoshikawa shouted, coughing up more blood as the schoolgirl shook her head, a confused and shocked expression on her face.
"A-are you crazy!" The schoolgirl said, looking left to right. "I have a healing Quirk. I…. I can help you!" the girl said, causing Yoshikawa to look behind her, watching as the Stand sat in the hole, watching, seemingly trying to find her.
That's when she realized something. It wasn't locking onto people based on appearance. It was locking onto people based on their heat signature. If someone got overworked, like the girl was doing, then the Tank Stand would rush toward them and kill them. That was how it worked. At least, when functioning on automatic orders.
If the user was watching from somewhere, then that would be different. But clearly, that wasn't the case. Obviously, if the user was making a conscious choice of when to blow up, then the user would be stupid. But it wasn't. That much was clear.
"I… I have to try and warn her!" Yoshikawa thought, coughing up more blood. "N-no! Y-You can't! If you do, it's going to kill you!" Yoshikawa panicked, trying to stand up, but failing. The schoolgirl grit her teeth, staring at the woman before shaking her head.
"But I can't be a hero in the future if I don't prove to myself that I can be one!" The schoolgirl said, activating her Quirk as it slowly began to patch up the wounds on Yoshikawa. As soon as it did, though, the Stand charged, its tires and treads speeding towards the kid. Chances were that using her Quirk made her heat signature spike, which was why it was targeting her.
In an act that even Yoshikawa was surprised by, C'est La Vie tried to punch the Stand as it came inches away from the girl, it going through the door as a few of the holes finished patching. "NO!" Yoshikawa shouted, shoving the girl out of the way, but by the time her hands even came an inch away from the school girl, the tank Stand redirected to track the girl, which proved her theory that it was based on heat signature, but at the cost of the school girls life.
The Stand blasted through the girl's chest, destroying everything in its way as blood cascaded and splashed everywhere. It covered Yoshikawa, the floor, and the walls. Her eyes widened as the schoolgirl fell lifelessly to the ground.
Screams of panic and horror filled the room, but all Yoshikawa could do was stay silent. Fear coated her very being. The Tank Stand was a killing machine. It didn't care for who it killed. It was given a mission, and it was going to complete it. It would keep killing until its goal was met, or until the user took back control over it.
It was clear that killing her was the goal it had. That was why it hadn't stopped after it killed Death Arms and that schoolgirl. If that was the case, then that would've meant that its goal was to kill Death Arms and that schoolgirl. But that wasn't the case.
All Yoshikawa could do was stare. Stare at the corpse and stare at the Tank Stand that rolled closer to the area where it had just attacked. "Incorrect Target Killed. Re-evaluating… Scanning…" The Tank Stand spoke in its eerily robotic voice, before looking at Yoshikawa. Their eyes met, as Yoshikawa felt the unrelenting killing intent emerging from the tank Stand.
"Why…" Yoshikawa muttered. "I don't know your user. Why are you targeting me…?" Yoshikawa sputtered, taking a step back. While some of her wounds were healed, a majority of them were still open. The girl never healed more than just the minor wounds.
"User Is Injured. Probable Cause: You, Yoshikawa Kira. Orders Given: Kill Yoshikawa Kira By Any Means Necessary. Defend User With All That You Are Worth. Orders Received. I Will Enact Those Orders Until They Are Complete, Or Until User Wakes Up, Or is Healed So They May Defend Themselves. That Is The Primary Function Of Sheer Heart Attack."
"Sheer Heart Attack? That's this Stand's name?" Yoshikawa thought, narrowing her eyes. She had to do something, anything to get it off of her tail. But, the problem was that there was nothing that she could do. Not right now.
She had an idea. But if she moved, then Sheer Heart Attack would attack. Thankfully, she didn't have to move. "Do any of you have a lighter?" Yoshikawa asked the room, to which after a long, tension-filled second, someone spoke up.
"H-Huh…? Y-Yeah… Why?" An older man said as Yoshikawa sighed, biting her lip.
"I need you to light it, and promptly throw it across the room. Don't question it. Just do it. Make sure it's the kind of lighter that stays on when you let go of it. There is something invisible in this room that attacks based on heat signature. If you're quick enough, you won't get hurt. That's why this girl died. She used her Quirk, which made her blood pressure spike and caused her heat signature to rise above everyone in the room. Once you throw that lighter, I'll give a signal by waving my hand. Use that chance to run while it is distracted. Do you understand?" Yoshikawa explained as the old man nodded.
There was a hesitant look on the old man's face, but he did as he was asked. He reached for his lighter—which thankfully was the kind that Yoshikawa was looking for. It took a few strikes, but the flame lit. The moment it did, Sheer Heart Attack made a break for the old man. But just as it began to charge toward him, he threw the lighter.
Just as expected, Sheer Heart Attack followed after the lighter. Yoshikawa signalled everyone to run as fast as they could, exiting the destroyed shop as Sheer Heart Attack exploded a moment later the moment it made it to the lighter. Yoshikawa was the last person out, and so she was caught in the explosion, throwing her a ways away from everyone else.
That didn't matter. The others who had no reason to be involved were safe. While she didn't care for their lives, she didn't need them getting in her way. As she stumbled to her feet, and Yoshikawa spat up a little bit more blood, she felt her head get woozy.
This was awful. Why now? Just when she finally got rid of that mistake, now she was being hunted by someone else…. It didn't make any sense. Although, there was something that Sheer Heart Attack had said. Something that she only now was able to think about.
"I injured Sheer Heart Attack's user? Since when? The only person who I attacked, aside from that pesky receptionist who kept asking too many questions was…" That was when it clicked. That was when she realized that she already knew who the user was.
And just as she made that realization, said individual made her way out from Love Love Deluxe, all of her wounds gone. In the time that Yoshikawa had been battling Sheer Heart Attack, someone had healed her somehow, which meant that she must've called for help during the battle.
Uncaring, apathetic, hate-filled, cerulean blue eyes stared into Yoshikawa's frustrated, pissed-off, panic-filled eyes. Sheer Heart Attack rolled past Yoshikawa, and as it did, Killer Queen appeared next to Yoshihara as it raced over to its user, and re-attached into Killer Queen's left hand.
"Y-You…!" Yoshikawa growled, clenching her fist as she stared at Yoshihara. "How! How can someone have two Stands!" She shouted as Yoshihara smirked, chuckling as she did. Yoshikawa was far too shocked that the mistake was alive to notice that the black smoke that had surrounded her before was no longer there, instead, replaced by a dark purple aura. "A-And how the hell are you still alive, anyway?!"
"Sheer Heart Attack isn't a separate Stand, woman. It's another ability belonging to Killer Queen. One that I recently unlocked, but I digress," Yoshihara spat, narrowing her eyes at Yoshikawa. Yoshihara was a young nurse, looking at her with a mix of disdain and slight worry. "Thank you, Medi-lady. I'm glad Akira had the smarts to call you when I SOS called him. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about Death Arms, he's dead," Yoshihara said, looking at Yoshikawa with a burning hatred.
"As I said, I'm going to make your death slow and painful. Anyone else who gets caught in the crosshairs isn't my problem, nor is it my fault they died. They got in between our little fight, and if they died because of it, who cares," Yoshihara growled. "Because I sure as hell don't."
Yoshikawa sneered, "That's rather evil of you to say, brat…"
"And?" Yoshihara replied, scoffing. "If they were stupid to get in the way of Sheer Heart Attack, then that's on them. Besides, I couldn't control it even if I wanted to. Not unless I was conscious. So, if we're being honest with ourselves, that absolves me completely of any wrongdoing. Quirk Accidents involving murder cannot have charges placed on them. Otherwise, thousands of little children with devasting Quirk mistakes would be labelled villains and thrown in jail."
As Yoshihara said that, she looked over at Medi-Lady, who flinched as she spoke. "Medi-lady, do me a favour and go in that salon and see if anyone got injured, but ignore that woman in front of us. She's the one who nearly killed me."
Without a word, Medi-lady did as she was asked, leaving both a fully healed Yoshihara and a heavily battered, bruised, and on death's door Yoshikawa. Beside her was C'est La Vie, and with Yoshihara was Killer Queen and Sheer Heart Attack. The pair stared each other down, just like in the love hotel, but unlike last time, Yoshihara felt no fear.
"Do you have anything you'd like to say before you die?" Yoshihara asked as Yoshikawa spat up a glob of blood.
"Eat shit, brat."
And then, the two charged.
It was time to end this.
-To be Continued-