Huan Strongarm: A Bartfort Folktale

by Vergil Creiger

In which a simple delivery to Holfort goes horribly horribly wrong.

46. The Eastern Watershelf

The eastern area is the most beautiful place in the underground world. Beautiful stone buildings coexist with gorgeous, crystal clear pools surrounded by plant life so green and vibrant it looks like it could have been painted. Two different races inhabit this settlement: the Mus, who are humanoid mice, and the Anaxyrus, who are humanoid toads.

Since time immemorial, their two peoples lived in tentative peace; constant skirmishes kept either side from fully trusting the other, until one massive Anaxyrus known as the Hermit took command of his people. The war crimes he enacted on the Mus were the stuff of nightmares, leading to mass defections from his people and - ironically - an allegiance between the two sides in opposition.

This was the status quo when Leon and his companions arrived; the freedom fighters watched in awe as he devastated the Hermit's loyalists, defeating him in an epic battle. Fun fact: it turns out that their leader had been dead since before the war began, and was possessed by a horrific, sapient fungus. I am so, so glad I didn't have to be there.

The two peoples have enjoyed an iron clad peace ever since, and have even discovered that it is possible to interbreed; the resulting hybrids are known as Anaxymus, and are some of the oddest creatures I have ever laid eyes on. Between them and the beautiful scenery, I can definitely recommend this place if you don't know where to spend your next vacation.

Also their wine is just fabulous.

Huan Strongarm: A Bartfort Folktale, by Lufas Maphaahl

The spider's venom burned as it flooded his veins; soon Leon could feel it in his lungs, in his eyes, in his heart. He thrashed and writhed in an attempt to break free, but the hideous arachnid had him in a deathgrip. His vision swam, and for a split second he could have sworn that he heard Livia calling his name.

His flailing destroyed the mountain around him; while the node was left untouched, the ground around it fell away in a landslide. Moz and Itadori were carried away, still helpless and unconscious.

They both abruptly woke up as they left the Shadow's range. "Magician's Red!" The bird headed Stand reappeared and blasted the gooey monster with flames, causing it to groan and plummet from the sky as it burned to death.

The Meta-Beings that emerged from its death were unbelievably bizarre: they resembled two sickly, pale, obese women grafted together, with disgusting tentacles replacing their hair and legs. They had hideous sideways mouths, chomping viciously at the helpless wolfdog.

The spider sinking its fangs into Leon's back was huge and orange, with pulsating neon skin and terrifying thorns sprouting along the length of its legs. It had countless eyes and huge, dripping fangs, with a second, smaller spider perched on it back. Itadori pulled out the Emperor and opened fire, but his bullets bounced uselessly off the spider's carapace.

"Oh god," croaked Itadori; Leon had collapsed under the effects of the venom, and at this distance it was hard to tell if he was alive or not. "Please no! Please don't die! We can't do this without you!"

One of the bizarre stone Meta-Beings went tumbling past, only to be eaten by Little Silly; his body glowed as he produced a new Stand, this time humanoid with a body made of emerald. Parts of its body were covered by armour plating, which aside from its insectoid eyes were also the closest thing it had to a face.

Itadori came up with a name off the top of his head. "Hierophant Green," he gasped. "Kill that thing!"

The Stand stretched itself like gum, winding around the spider's legs in a convoluted knot. As Hierophant Green tightened its grip, the spider's legs were forcefully dragged away from the prone wolfdog as they were forced upward, gradually becoming tied back by the ingenious binding.

Hierophant Green placed its hand against the spider's head, and for a moment Itadori could have sworn that it spoke.

"Emerald Splash!"

A shotgun blast of glowing green gemstones erupted from its palm at point blank range, obliterating the creature's head and disintegrating it into hideous Meta-Beings. The second, smaller spider seemed to realise that Itadori was responsible, lunging at him with a vengeful hiss.

Leon slapped it out of the air, squishing it with his paw in his last moments of consciousness. "Fuckin… spiders…" he mumbled. He shrank to the size of a regular dog, passing out with a pathetic whimper.

"No!" Itadori screamed, scrambling to his feet and rushing to his side. "Don't fall asleep! Please, open your eyes!"

By this point, Moz had finally dragged himself up the side of the mountain. "Boss! Are you… What the…"

Moz was the only one watching as the infant Elder Dragon devoured the final Meta-Being: for once, no new Stand was created.

Leon's mind was plagued by nightmares. A colossal Wolf hunted him through snowy forests, always on his tail no matter what he tried. His heart pounded in his chest and the cold air burned in his lungs; for the first time since he was human, Leon felt Death breathing down his neck.

He knew that he had nowhere left to run when he arrived at a familiar grassy field: it was the same place where he had once saved Julius and Jilk from Lord Korel, only now it was blanketed in a layer of snow. He turned, and the Wolf was already behind him: huge and terrible and magnificent.

Then the Wolf spoke to him, but not in words, for in the nightmare there were no words. It told him he could save himself, but only if he gave up another life in exchange.

Then his family was there, along with their entire home: Balcus and Nicks were working in the fields, Luce was hanging out the washing, Jenna and Finley were sitting on the porch and Colin was playing with his friends. For an awful, gut wrenching moment, Leon considered it.

He was almost ready to puke with guilt when he turned the offer down; the Wolf smiled, and he knew then why his own smiles were so terrifying. The Wolf's massive jaws closed around him, and Leon's world dissolved into darkness and pain.

Then came the worst part of the nightmare, the part so terrible that Leon would never speak of it to anyone for as long as he lived. Just as Abbot Laurent had predicted, the Wolf became good. He saw it laughing with his family, with Livia and Angie, with Petra and Moz.

It had replaced him. And not a single person cared.

A voice whispered in his ear, and the voice was his own. "It's better this way," it whispered. "At least this way they won't be tied down by a failure."

Leon's eyes snapped open. "Easy there," he heard Moz say. "Take it slow. That was a lot of spider venom you just survived."

The wolfdog rolled to his feet; they appeared to be in one of the abandoned buildings back in the city. "What happened?"

"You were poisoned, so we brought you back to the hub. The kid is off getting some sleep; unlike us he actually needs it."

Leon woofed tiredly, padding out the door for some fresh air. The Comet General joined him, and for a while they just stood there and listened to the chatter of the holographic citizens. "I had a nightmare."

Onemore nodded his head solemnly. "About the Wolf?"

"Yep." Leon gazed miserably into the artificial sky. He missed Livia so hard it hurt. "I don't know if I ever told you this, but killing me is supposed to turn it into one of the greatest forces of good the world has ever seen. I saw it happen. In the nightmare, I mean."

"I see."

"Everyone liked him. My family. Livia. Angie. Petra. Even you. Nobody even seemed to care that I was gone."

Moz gave him a sympathetic look. "So you're afraid that you're going to be replaced?"

"I'm fucking terrified!" Leon rasped. "I don't know why because I never really thought about it before, but something about the idea just… just scares me more than I can imagine! Was I always this fucking insecure?"

"You're not insecure," said Moz quietly. "You just haven't processed it properly. You've been through a lot over the past few days, and you haven't really had a chance to come to terms with it."

"But I sound like a fucking child! Especially compared to…"

"Compared to what?"

"Compared to you," said Leon quietly. "Back in the Gehemene Marshes, you said that Ursahla told you that your last moments on the Holfort continent would be spent in the room with the Cullis Gate. You already know that one way or the other you're not going back, and you're not even scared!"

"Of course I'm scared," admitted Moz. "That's why I know that it's not your fault for feeling this way. So don't worry about it."

For a while they stood there in silence. "Thanks."

"Any time."

They chatted idly until Itadori woke up; he came running out of the building as soon as he realised the wolfdog was awake. "Should you be moving around so soon?" Leon wagged his tail in amusement as the cook began to fuss over him. "Maybe you should stay here?" The wolfdog growled menacingly. "Or… you could come with us?" Leon barked in agreement.

The group travelled east in search of the second node; after a short trek through the wilderness they found themselves in a beautiful place like nothing they had ever seen. Gorgeously crafted stone buildings sat on man made canals with a constant stream of crystal clear water. Incredible trees and flowers grew all around them, filling the air with the fresh, clean scent of nature.

Leon's ears pricked up, his tail wagging happily as they crossed one of the many artisanal bridges. "I could get used to this."

Then they saw the bones.

Two skeletons sat beneath a low wall, their damaged ribs showing clear indications of fatal wounds. They were huddled together even in death, and one of them was wearing a very distinctive pair of shades.

Two more bodies lay nearby; one had a pair of rusted, half-destroyed metal arms while the other had a blindfold and a katana.

"Yikes! Never mind!"

They eventually found themselves in front of a large building with a colossal entrance; inside was a huge arena, in which they were obviously going to be attacked. They rolled their eyes, but walked on in anyway.

A huge machine exploded through the doors on the opposite side of the arena, roaring to a halt in the centre; it reminded Leon of a large tank, with a rusty exterior and huge treads that lifted it up like a four legged animal. The main cannon had a bizarre helmet evocative of the crusades, framed by white wings and a golden halo.

"Huh?" Itadori blinked. "A Lost Item? I thought we were fighting-"

With an awe-inspiring sound the tank opened fire, hitting the wolfdog dead on: Leon and Moz were blown away by the explosion, while Itadori was dragged out of the blast radius at the last minute by Hierophant Green.

He gave his two companions an amused look; by now he was beginning to understand how durable they both were, and knew that they would emerge from the gunsmoke unharmed. "You shouldn't have picked a fight with me while wearing metal. High Priestess!"

The tank let out an animalistic scream as the Stand melded with its metal exterior, helpless as she warped and twisted it with ease; the High Priestess was suddenly forced out as it separated into two parts, each one gaining distance as she spiralled disoriented through the air.

Moz was the first one to figure it out, emerging unharmed from the cloud of debris. "Mask!" He pointed between them with his sword. "They're both wearing masks! They must be Shadows from different Arcana!"

The tank's cannon had detached itself, flying away using its wings. Its tiny, ridiculous body hung beneath the crusader helmet, holding the cannon in its hands like a comically oversized minigun. The tank's main body had reared up on its hind legs, revealing a dopey yellow mask on its underbelly.

Lovers had been Level 6: that meant these two were most likely the Shadows of the Chariot and Justice Arcanas. Levels 7 and 8, side by side.

The tank's cannon began a high speed dogfight with the High Priestess, firing explosive shells at a rate that exceeded most machine guns as she ducked and weaved through the air. Itadori summoned the Emperor, aiming it at the bobbing Shadow. "Open wide you piece of-"

Unfortunately, Itadori had only used the revolver a few times; his lack of practice betrayed him when the bullets hit his Stand by mistake, causing the High Priestess to scream in pain as she fell out of the sky. Blood erupted from his chest as random bullet holes appeared all over his torso; he screamed in pain and surprise as he fell to the ground.

"The Stand!" Leon barked, memories of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure clawing their way to the surface. "If they take damage then he takes damage! We need to-"

He was interrupted as the Chariot Shadow tackled him, sending him crashing through the side of the arena in a cloud of dust and rubble; Moz was caught up in the charge, the machine kicking him like a football and sending him flying through the side of a building. "We don't have time for this!" Leon heard him shout. "We need to help the kid before he bleeds out!"

"On it." The wolfdog began his counterattack, but the tank was dangerously skilled at guerilla tactics; it remained constantly on the move, barraging him with missiles, bombs and constant machine gun fire to keep him from getting close. It wasn't hurting him, but it was keeping him from helping Itadori; if he didn't deal with it soon, the kid would die.

The memory of how he dealt with the last Magician gave Leon an idea; he barked, prematurely detonating a cluster of missiles and creating a smokescreen to obscure him from view; he jumped clear over, planning on crushing the tank beneath his weight.

"Surprise motherfu-"

A second tank exploded onto the scene, using one of the beautiful buildings as a ramp and launching itself into the air; it hit Leon like a battering ram, earning a yelp of pain as he was sent skidding over the landscape. A few odd looking demihumans resembling anthropomorphic mice and toads were in the middle of a pitched battle, but they were forced to flee as Leon's landing caused a large-scale flood.

The new tank was far bigger and heavier, with a plated gold exterior and massive treads filled with bladed wheels. Its sides were covered by smooth circles of blue glass that fired a constant barrage of fireballs as well as lightning-spewing turrets, while on its back was a blue dome that thrummed with magical energy. At the front of the tank was a huge helmet with curved horns, its eyes glowing with demonic purple light.

"Bow before me!" Its voice had an annoying tinny quality, as though it were speaking through an antique walkie-talkie. "I am Nimrod, Master of Chariots, and I shall crush you beneath my treads!"

"Yeah, never heard that one before," snarked Leon. The two tanks began a ceaseless barrage, keeping the wolfdog at bay with the nonstop explosions. The Shadow Chariot moved too fast for him to catch, while Nimrod was too sturdy for him to take down with his partner interfering; usually Leon would have resorted to his sonic barks, but the innocent bystanders made him hesitant to resort to such destructive measures. "This would be so much easier if I didn't have a conscience!"

Then Sir Onemore leapt from a nearby rooftop, grabbing onto Nimrod's side. He began clambering up to his back, assuming as Leon had that the blue dome was his power source. "No worries, boss! I've got this!"

"Is something on me?" Nimrod demanded. "Helmsman! Kill him at once!" A huge, humanoid figure was waiting for Moz when he reached the top: the final Chariot was tall and humanoid, covered from head to toe in plate armour. Its helmet resembled a gas mask, and it had a huge halberd in one hand.

The Helmsman kicked him off of Nimrod's back before lunging after him, swinging his halberd and sending him crashing through a wall. The Comet General struggled to his feet, pissed but unharmed. "Okay," he muttered. "I get trying to separate us and all, but that was uncalled for!"

A second fighter dropped in: the new challenger was a knight much like Moz himself, clad from head to toe in spikey, ice blue armour. His helmet was elaborately crested and he had huge spikes on his back, extending outward like wings. In the Frost Knight's hands was a massive sword, which he brandished as the Helmsman took up position beside him.

"I hate you both."

Itadori could see Moz fighting from where he lay wounded; he tried to call for help, only to see yet another monster arrive to fight him; the giant was taller than the Chariot Shadow on its hind treads, with pale blue skin and four enormous arms. Its pale yellow eyes looked tiny in its massive bald head; it roared, a revoltingly pink tongue lolling from its toothy mouth.

His mind went blank, all else but the instinct to fight shoved into the background. "Fool! Magician's Red!"

The giant roared as its massive body was encased in a rush of sand; the bird-headed Stand squawked as it blasted the monster with flames, melting the sand into glass. The giant roared impotently, only its head left free.

Once again, Itadori summoned the Emperor to his hand. "Fuck you!"

The giant went limp as he shot it between the eyes, its body disintegrating into Meta-Beings: they had fat bodies on a single leg, with four arms each that ended in bronze spheres and bizarre shoulders made out of gasping fish heads. Each of them had a massive single eye on their bellies, and had grinning, harlequinish faces with ridiculous striped top hats.

"Oh come on!" The Fool and Magician's Red struggled to protect him as they attacked, whirling like spinning tops of doom. It only got harder when the Justice Shadow came back, shooting wildly at him from the sky. "You like surprise attacks? Then try this on for size!"

Hierophant Green had stretched up behind the Shadow while it was distracted, blasting it with a point blank Emerald Splash; Little Silly caught up as Meta-Beings rained from the sky, devouring them with ease and finally getting him some breathing room. Itadori gasped with pain, the empty bullet wounds spurting between his fingers.

He could still see Moz being double teamed by the Frost Knight and the Helmsman; while neither of them had so much as scratched his armour, they both outstripped him in strength and speed. Dimly, Itadori remembered seeing him absorb the crystals created by the High Hierophant.

"Again…" he whispered. "Emerald… Splash…"

When the green gemstones slammed into the ground at Sir Onemore's feet, his first instinct was to stare in confusion. Then the lightbulb winked on. "Imbue." The gems dissolved into green light as they were absorbed into his shield, travelling through his pauldrons to supercharge his sword. "Emerald Slash!"

Moz didn't usually name his attacks: it just felt appropriate.

Both Arcana were obliterated by the one attack, a crescent of green energy that flashed from his blade as he swung it through the air. The Frost Knight disintegrated into the same type of Meta-Beings as the Justice Shadow, while the Helmsman became something different.

The new kind of Meta-Being resembled a chrome tank, a humanoid torso riding from the bumper like a steel centaur; patches of red skin were visible between gaps in the torso's armour, the face in particular resembling a shrivelled up Admiral Ackbar. Each of them had cannons slung over their backs, flipping them forward and aiming them at him as the barrels began to glow.

"Hang on, kid!" Moz shouted. "I'm on my way!" The Meta-Beings attempted to block his path, but the infant Elder Dragon just gleefully gobbled them up. Curiously he showed none of the restraint he showed when faced with the Emperors and Empresses, devouring both species without distinction. "Please don't die! I'm begging you, please don't die!"

He ran to his side and tended to him frantically, attempting to but pressure on the wound; Itadori had gone very pale, and he seemed about to lose consciousness.

Then Little Silly ate the last of the strange spinning tops, glowing as he produced another Stand; his white aura took the shape of an ominous, shifting white mist. It coalesced into a pair of clawed hands and a head, a bare skull with an ostentatious crown.

"Justice," whispered Itadori, causing the Stand to erupt into action. The living mist slurped up the blood that had drained onto the ground, straining away any dirt or bacteria before channelling it back into his wounds. His complexion improved, but he wasn't actually healing his wounds.

"Use the Empress!" Moz screamed, but of course Itadori couldn't hear him. He began pointing at his arm where the Stand had attached to the Hierophant, and eventually he got it; tiny tumours with cackling faces began growing over the bullet holes, sinking back into his body to leave smooth, unblemished skin.

He struggled to his feet, woozy but alive. "Awesome," he wheezed. "Nothing… to it…"

The Shadow Chariot crashed out of the sky and scared the hell out of them, exploding flashily into the tankish Meta-Beings. In the distance they could see Leon towering above the treetops: he was using the same trick he had used against the Fatalis to grow far beyond his usual maximum, the final Chariot clutched in his jaws.

"Unhand me, mongrel!" Nimrod howled. "You have no idea-"

He was cut off as Leon chewed him up, and even at this distance they could see the Meta-Beings dribbling down his chin. He leapt through the air, landing gracefully at their sides as he shrank to the size of a normal dog mid-flight. "Yo Silly," he grunted. "I left some Meta-Beings over there if you want 'em."

The infant Elder Dragon - who had already finished with the remains of the Shadow Chariot - trilled happily as he ran off.

"Did you forget that you could do that?" Moz asked curiously. The wolfdog had the decorum to look sheepish.

"Yeah, I did," he admitted shamefully. "I call it Shura Mode. It turns out I'm distantly related to a race called the Shura that lives near here. They're actually really nice: I left Petra with them."

"Petra?" Moz repeated incredulously. "So you finally gave the Versa Pietru a real name?"

"That's… Yeah. Yes I did."

"Well finally!" Sir Onemore surprised him by holding up his hand for a high-five, which Leon awkwardly returned with his forepaw. "Good for her!" Itadori thought they were celebrating their latest victory and wanted in on the action, so they high-fived him too.

"So Nimrod has been defeated." The new voice was deep and threatening, reminding Leon strongly of Micheal Clarke Duncan. A massive toad heaved itself from the water, his warty red skin streaming as he towered over them. His right eyes glowed blue, which possibly had something to do with the moss and fungus covering the right side of his body, and there was a grotesque necklace of dead mousemen around his neck. "I am the High Hermit, Master of the East."

Leon immediately grew in size. "Dibs."

He vanished mid-lunge; the enormous toad had snapped his slimy fingers, causing the wolfdog to disappear in a flash of blue light. "He vaporised him," breathed Itadori. "That fucking toad just fucking vaporised him."

"I teleported him, fool," scoffed the High Hermit. "The Way of the Hermit is the Way of Solitude. Each of you shall face a Hermit of your own; if you survive, you shall face me. Good luck or… whatever."

He snapped his fingers twice more, sending both the cook and the Comet General to parts unknown.

Leon found himself in a dark, dingy, claustrophobic room filled with whirring machinery. The floor was a carpet of black electrical cables, coming together to form a huge creature. Although it was humanoid, its arms and legs fed into the cables and forced it into a permanent hunched posture; it had gold bands around its wrists and ankles and glowing red veins, while six glowing electrical pylons protruded from its back. A cloak of floating white fur hung around its neck and shoulders, while its face was a gold mask whose only feature was a glowing red eye.

It could only have been another Hermit.

"Level 9 it is," muttered Leon.

He lunged with a snarl, only to be dogpiled by a swarm of robots in every shape and size; the Hermit Shadow was controlling them through its cables, creating a mechanical army for itself. Automated machineguns began to emerge from the walls and ceiling, barraging him with bullets that bounced uselessly off his hide.

Ominously, the monster began to crackle with electricity.

"That can't be good!" Leon rapidly expanded himself to force the robots back, but he was just a little too slow: four glowing balls of energy appeared in the air, shooting lightning into the ground to trap the wolfdog in a cage. He screamed as they contracted, pouring impossible amounts of electricity into his body that left his skeleton briefly visible through his skin.

The charge abruptly exploded, causing Leon's flesh and bones to burst out of his body with such force that they tore the robots apart like shrapnel. The attack left the Hermit winded, but the wolfdog's body was reduced to a charred, smoking ruin.

Leon coughed out a few chunks of scorched, ruined flesh as he wobbled to his feet, his body sloughing off the dead matter as it rapidly regenerated itself. "Not bad," he admitted. "Six out of ten."

Exhausted from the attack, the Hermit Shadow was helpless as he tore it apart; the Meta-Beings that fell out of its body resembled bobble-heads, each wearing a rusty mask that covered half their faces. Leon ignored them as they hurled themselves ineffectually at his legs.

"Now," he muttered. "Where do -I"

Leon yelped in surprise as he was abruptly teleported away, appearing in midair above the High Hermit's head; the transfer must have been automatic, as the toad was clearly shocked to see him so soon. "What the-"

Then the enormous wolfdog landed on him, squishing him unceremoniously beneath his weight. A foul smell assailed Leon's nostrils as blood and guts erupted from the toad's every orifice. "Ew."

As the High Hermit teleported him away, Moz found himself plummeting through the air; he was falling through a long metal shaft with uneven sides, providing something for him to grab onto in a panic. The Comet General hung there for a moment as he regained his bearings.

"First the Cullis Gate and now this," he grumbled. "I hate teleporting."

He looked down as he heard something hiss; a massive spider with a thick grey carapace was crawling up the shaft toward him, its head red and fleshy with chittering mandibles and six murky yellow eyes.

Sir Onemore laughed incredulously. "Oh, you picked a fight with the wrong guy in the wrong place little buddy."

Moz let go, landing on the monster feet first: the spider shrieked as it lost its grip, plummeting through the long shaft for a good eight seconds before hitting the ground. The Comet General landed on top of it, squishing it like… well, like a bug.

"Man that was easy!" Onemore laughed, ignoring the bobble-headed Meta-Beings as they bonked uselessly against his ankles. "Don't feel bad, kids; I'm just built different!"

He was still laughing as he was teleported away.

Itadori found himself in a dark cave on a narrow outcrop of rock, a few trickles of water falling into the neverending blackness below. The far wall was composed of a gigantic statue of a demonic face, complete with fangs, horns and glowing purple eyes with a matching purple gem in the centre of its forehead.

"You're about to come alive and try to kill me, aren't you?"

Orbs of purple energy began firing out of the Hermit Statue's forehead, but the Fool blocked them with a barrier of sand. Itadori opened fire with the Emperor while Magician's Red blasted it with flames, but none of it had any effect.

Itadori yelped as a concentrated beam of purple energy lanced from the statue's eyes, penetrating the Fool's barrier and very nearly castrating him. "It's made of rock! High Priestess, why don't you…" The Stand wobbled into existence, but was clearly still weakened from being shot earlier. The Empress had no effect on something without flesh, so that left… "Hierophant Green!"

The Stand blasted the Hermit Statue the minute it was summoned. "Emerald Splash!" A shotgun blast of green gems exploded from its hands, embedding in the massive face and making it even angrier. It began to attack with such ferocity that the Fool could no longer protect him.

"Justice!" Itadori blurted. The Hermit Statue's assault calmed as the sapient mist hid him from view, finally giving him a chance to breathe; Itadori blinked, realising that he could feel the statue's surface through the Stand. "Huh," he muttered. "That's odd. I wonder what would happen if I…"

The living fog poured into the cracks in the Hermit Statue's face, capitalising on its flaws and forcing them wider. With a roar of pain the demonic head shattered, spilling Meta-Beings into the abyss below.

Itadori looked down at himself curiously. "Wait, are my internal organs okay?" The Empress poked her face out of his belly, this time with a tiny arm; she connected her thumb and index finger in a circle, giving the universal okay sign. "Oh good."

He was abruptly teleported away, falling flat on his face in a makeshift arena; presumably this was where they were supposed to fight the High Hermit, who had been accidentally squished by Leon long before Itadori got there. The giant wolfdog shook himself, inadvertently spraying Moz with stinking toad guts. "Boss! Not cool!"

"Sorry," mumbled Leon, but the Comet General could tell from his wagging tail that he thought it was funny. The Meta-Beings left by the three Hermits they had killed had all been transported along with them, and were in the middle of being devoured by Little Silly. "But that's it for the east, right? We just have to activate that node, then-"

"Wait!" Itadori was aiming his gun at the dead Hermit; the Fool, Justice, Magician's Red and Hierophant Green hovered around him protectively. "Why didn't it turn into a bunch of little guys like the others?"

Leon's ears flattened. "Aw hell!"

The corpse began to squirm, black mould erupting from the dead toad's eyes and mouth as it melted into black sludge. The green moss that had covered the High Hermit's side remained in place as the rest of his body dissolved, rising up into a writhing pillar of dark ooze with the face of a howling old woman at its peak.

This was the true ruler of the east: the True Hermit.

"Come, my children!" The howls of the abomination called a horde of bipedal toads from the canals: they stopped and stared at the colossus of living mould, screaming in terror as it grabbed them with its tendrils and absorbed them into its mass. "Join me! Become one with me! Together, we shall be eternal!"

"Don't just stand there!" Moz shouted, dragging Itadori away as the monster grew. "Kill it!"

"I don't wanna put that in my mouth!" Leon barked instead, blowing away huge chunks of the True Hermit's body with a succession of sonic blasts. This exposed the absorbed toads, who were still very much alive and screaming in terror.

"Justice!" The living mist poured into their mouths, taking control of their bodies and forcing them to flee back into the water as Magician's Red burned them free with surgical precision. "Keep going!" Itadori urged. "We're wearing her down!"

"Insolent whelp!" The old woman's face spat curses as she lashed out with a tendril of black sludge, but Sir Onemore had already tucked the young man under his arm and dragged him out of range. "Curs! Mongrels! How dare you resist-"

Leon tuned her out as a thought occurred to him. He looked down at the Blue Dragon Scale still attached to his chest, remembering his failed attempt to use it back in the Shura Village. He focused, trying to tap into its power without closing his eyes.

The True Hermit fell silent, her entire body calcifying into something solid and white as Leon tore the moisture from her body in one go. The water floated overhead for a moment before he dropped it self-consciously into the canal. "Woah," murmured Itadori, allowing the Comet General to gently place him on his feet. "Has he always been able to do that?"

"This is new," admitted Leon, forgetting for a moment that he couldn't understand him. "Hang on, let me just…"

He smashed the mould beast's remains with his paw, causing them to disintegrate into Meta-Beings for Little Silly to devour. "That was intimidating," remarked Moz. "Even for you."

The second node was on a small island, which they found at the end of a bridge which had risen out of the water following the True Hermit's death. Itadori grinned as they activated it. "We should go west next. I don't know why, but I have a really good feeling about this one!"

At this point, the Type: Null had devoured the last of the Meta-Beings, producing a new Stand on the spot. It took the form of an extendable purple vine that grew out of Itadori's forearm, which he predictably named Hermit Purple.

"That's odd," muttered Leon. Moz cocked his head as Itadori began Tarzaning around the ruins, crashing painfully into a stone wall.

"What is?"

"I didn't see him get a Stand from the Chariots." The wolfdog cocked his head cutely. "Or the Lovers, now that I think of it. Why didn't those two Arcana in particular produce a Stand?"

"Does it matter?"

Leon remembered Chariot Requiem, contemplating the ways that such a being could fuck them over. "We'll see."

Boss: Lovers, Chariot, Justice and Hermit

Summary: Lovers represents the number 6, Chariot is 7, Justice is 8 and Hermit is 9.

Lovers: the giant spider is the second boss of House of the Dead 4 while the Shadow is the fourth boss from Persona 3; it takes the party by surprise on the same night they fight the Hierophant, which is why it was introduced so abruptly. The Meta-Beings are called Nicl , while the Lovers Stand hasn't yet made an appearance. We did however finally get to see Hierophant Green, the Stand of Kakyoin Noriaki from Stardust Crusaders.

The Chariot and Justice Shadows are fought jointly as the fifth mandatory boss of Persona 3, hence why the two Arcana team up in this chapter.

Chariot: Nimrod is the thirteenth boss of Dire Vengeance and represents the Chariot in the game's official tarot deck, while the Helmsman is the first boss of the original House of the Dead and by extension the entire series. The Meta-Beings are called Galgal-Tank-Joe, while the Stand (again!) doesn't appear in this chapter.

Justice: while the giant is the first boss of House of the Dead 4, Dire Vengeance doesn't actually have a Justice boss: on their tarot pack, Justice is represented by an ingame statue. Because this statue appears a lot in the stage where you fight the Frost Knight, I had him sub in. The Meta-Beings are called Soconpo, while Justice is the Stand of Enya the Hag.

Hermit: the Hermit Shadow is the sixth mandatory boss of Persona 3, the spider is the third boss from House of the Dead and the stone face is the third boss of Dire Vengeance. The Meta-Beings are called Jerryrom, while Hermit Purple is the Stand of Jonathan Joestar. The High Hermit is from Hyper Light Drifter, while the True Hermit is inspired by the final boss of Resident Evil 7.

Originally, the moss on the High Hermit was just a cool part of its design. The idea builds on the same concept as the High Hierophant; the True Arcana that ruled each region is in partnership with some variety of insane local dictator. This idea can be applied to all regions but the south, which has its own thing going on.

Fun Fact: the giant toad was originally going to take cues from Ultimaeus, a Demon Lord from Cautious Hero, but it didn't happen.

Side Note: the bodies found at the start are more Mortal Kombat characters: Sonya Blade and Johnny Cage debuted in the original Mortal Kombat, Jax debuted in Mortal Kombat 2 and Kenshi debuted in Deadly Alliance.