-

You spot Jotaro across the way.

He's kneeling, Star Platinum was out holding a pair of binoculars.

"This guy's gotta be long range," you comment to the two besides you.

"How do you figure?"

Polnareff looks at you, only shifting his eyes. He looked to scared to move.

"Jotaro's not catching anything on his binoculars, and I mean, do you see anything?"

"What if they're underground?"

"Good try, but no. That's impossible. They'd have lungs full of sand, if they could even make it that far."

"Hmm..." Noriaki hums in thought. "Polnareff, why don't you slice up the canteen?"

"What?! Are you crazy?" He gave Kakyoin the same look as he did you. "Did you see what happened to that pilot's head?! It got sucked in there! I'm not trying to be next! If I so much as poke a hole in that thing..." He swallows, before shaking his head violently. "Why don't you go, Kakyoin? You're closer! You can just use your Emerald Splash and call it a day!"

You peek over at Noriaki.

"Yes, but I don't want to."

"What do you mean you don't want to?! You can't make me do something just because you don't want to do it!"

"I said no, and that's final."

"Shut up, both of you. I'll do it. I can just shoot it."

"You're a life saver, Akira!"

"Mmhmm."

You stood up, grabbing your gun and loading a single bullet into the barrel.

As soon as you shot, you felt the presence of a stand user.

Before you could even have time to react, you saw Noriaki fall back. The stand had cut him across the eyes.

This was definitely one of those moments you wished you could control other peoples blood.

"Kakyoin!" Polnareff and you shouted in tandem.

The water disappeared back into the sand.

"The water!" Mr. Joestar shouted, "The stand hid himself in the blood, and replaced the water in the canteen with blood!"

"The stand is the water, Mr. Joestar!" You yell across the sand before putting your gun away and crouching down next to Noriaki.

Polnareff was laying beside him, mumbling frantically.

You elevate his head, holding it in your hands.

Polnareff kept yelling, not stopping.

"It got Kakyoin! Kakyoin... his eyes!!"

You ignored him.

"Noriaki, if you can hear me, let me know."

He didn't move, you checked for pulse and fortunately he had one. He was most likely just passed out.

"Polnareff, stop panicking and listen up!" He grabs your arm, you slap him across the face. "Snap out of it!" You yell, before substantially lowering your voice. "Summon Chariot right now. I'm summoning The Universe. We need to keep ourselves protected. Focus, man, got it?"

The stand appeared from the ground next to Polnareff's hand.

"Polnareff, don't move a muscle."

Your stand floated behind Polnareff and prepared to attack.

How? You had no idea.

As soon as the stand had gotten close to Polnareff's face, and just as you were about to attack, the stand disappeared. Rushing across the desert at great speed, it attacked Michael's headless body.

"What the hell is wrong with it?" You whispered.

Then you heard it, a faint beeping. It was the watch on Michael's wrist.

There was some kind of alarm. And for a moment, that was all you could hear.

You very quickly and obviously put two and two together, the stand was attracted to sound.

The stand tore Michael's wrist clean from his body, destroying the watch and stopping the beeping.

You caught eyes with Jotaro, you tapped your ear as a way to signal sound.

He nodded.

It was definitely attracted to sound.

He began whispering to the others, most likely telling them what you both agreed upon.

"Jean, listen close. It's attracted to sound, don't make any sudden sounds or movements-"

The only sound that could be heard was Noriaki's blood, dripping onto the desert sand.

And apparently that was more than enough to attract this stand.

"Shit, we gotta go."

You picked up Noriaki, him resting with his head on your shoulder and legs in your arm.

You ran across the desert, Polnareff falling behind.

"Come on!" You yelled to the men on the other side. "Get in the car!"

They did so, climbing on top of the car.

You reached the car before Polnareff did, jumping in and setting Noriaki down.

The stand was nipping at Polnareff's ankles.

You leaned out, waiting for Polnareff to jump and grab your hand, but he didn't make it.

The stand cut the back of his leg, causing him to trip.

Mr. Joestar called out for Hermit Purple, using the vines to grab Polnareff and pull him into the car.

You watch from the car as the stand speeds underneath it, disappearing into the sand after reaching the other side.

"The stand disappeared into the ground," Muhammad looked around for it but saw nothing.

"I see, it must detect sound waves through the ground. Sand's a good conductor for that kind of stuff," you conclude, checking on Polnareff before turning your attention to Noriaki.

"And it moves through the Earth so we can't see it. That puts us in a major disadvantage. Since we can't see it, the stand has the ability to attack from above or below at any time," Mr. Joestar explains. "To make things worse, the stand user could be very far away."

"How's Kakyoin doing?" Polnareff asks.

"Not great," you inform. "His eyes were open when he was attacked, he could be blinded. He's unconscious at the moment, but he has a steady pulse. He'll live, but regardless we need to get out of here. We have to get him to a doctor."

"But if we move, the stand will attack," Mr. Joestar brings up the obvious. "We can't afford careless mistakes."

Jotaro grunts, clearly frustrated.

You feel a sudden stand presence, Iggy seems to notice it too given he awoke from his nap.

"The stand's nearby, keep on guard."

Iggy jumps up onto the car door, and jumps out after the car starts shaking.

He knew exactly where he was.

The car is being pulled forward, tire being sucked into the ground by the stand.

"What the hell?" Mr. Joestar shouts.

Iggy lands on the sand, the rest of you clinging to the car for dear life.

And that's when you get an idea.

Polnareff begins yelling at Iggy as you all climb to the back of the car, Muhammad holding onto Noriaki.

You continue your thoughts.

What if you can make the Fool fly?

You heard vague mentions made in passing conversations with your co-workers, and they had no reason to lie, did they?

You could give him a running start, The Universe could grab onto the Fool, and you could view the desert aerially.

It would give you the stand user's exact location.

Iggy had to know where the user is.

He was smart when it came to things like that.

"Iggy!" You yell, he looks at you and tilts his head. "What way?"

He looks westbound.

-

And that's how you ended up on the ground, The Universe holding onto the Fool as you ran.

The stand was following behind you, getting the attention off the others.

Before you left, the front tires had been cut from the car, leaving the car to fall from its position.

Everyone had fallen to the ground.

Muhammad had began throwing off his bangles to the ground, using their weight to mimic steps.

You already didn't like the sound of that, giving him a look of disapproval while making an 'X' with your arms.

The steps led directly back to him.

He was going to try to vaporize him, but this enemy seemed to always be two pages ahead.

You knew the position of Muhammad's fifth and final bangle would make this person realize that he was being tricked.

You tried to signal to him to throw another, but he didn't notice you.

Magician's Red was already out and ready to attack.

Magician's Red flew forward, throwing a flaming punch at the water stand, but the water stand veered right and headed back in Muhammad's direction.

The stand sliced his neck, without giving him so much as the time to think.

Muhammad flew backwards, mumbling about the stand's speed as he did.

He was gasping for air, and the stand was right above him.

You had to act then.

You whistled to Iggy, him perking up.

You pulled out your gun and shot into the ground, creating enough vibration to hopefully deafen the user temporarily as you ran and picked Iggy up.

The sound of the gunshot mixed with the vibration of your footsteps was intended to confuse the user.

And you ran westward, probably faster than you had ever run before.

You heard the others yell for you as you ran.

And now here you were, running.

"I've heard you can fly, Is that right?"

He just barked.

"Okay, Iggy, here's the plan. You're going to summon The Fool, I'll summon my stand, and my stand will hold your stand for and it as a large hang glider. Got it?"

He looked at you. You summoned your stand. The amount of sand gathering around you gave you the confirmation he understood.

The stand was trailing at your feet.

Like you were throwing discus, you held Iggy's lower half as you began spinning, simultaneously running forward.

If this didn't work, you both were as good as dead.

The Universe grabbed the Fool.

"Ready, bud?"

He whimpered.

You threw him high into the air, The Universe and yourself flying with them.

The Universe held onto you as the Fool held onto Iggy.

"First fight together in a while. Let's make it a good one!"

You look out onto the horizon and see a man sitting in the sand.

"That's our target, Iggy! You see him?"

Iggy just barks, you take that as a yes.

You use your eyes to calculate the distance to the best of your ability.

He was about six-hundred meters away.

You looked at the rapidly approaching ground beneath you.

Your stand was not nearly strong enough on its own to be able to push you off after you landed. You had to think of something quick.

Your feet got closer and closer to the sand below.

Luckily, the place you were about to land was an uphill dune. One that you could only hope had a steep drop off on the other side.

Luck must've been in your side, because it did. You didn't have to move a muscle, the sand sloped downwards as you approached the target, getting closer and closer.

You were only about three hundred meters away, he still hadn't noticed you.

Unfortunately, the wings of the Fool had began to crumble.

The sand was falling, and that's when you noticed the enemy right on your trail, stand picking up on each vibration the falling sand created.

With the rate the sand was falling, you weren't going to last much longer.

You would live and be fine. You could be impaled or cut any where on your body and harden in an instant. Iggy, on the other hand, couldn't.

"New plan, Iggy. I'm throwing you back. I'll go in alone. I'm not letting you get sliced. When we land, you're flying back."

He barked and whimpered as if in protest, but you weren't listening.

You were almost on the ground when you grabbed Iggy, the Fool falling to the ground. You held Iggy and threw him like a football across the desert, running as you watched sand fly into the air, the Fool rising once more.

This time, you could use your speed recklessly without harming someone else.

Your stand carried you towards the enemy, traveling three times as fast as the stand behind you.

You reached the enemy in no time, kicking him back and standing with one foot on his chest.

You pulled out a gun.

"Gotcha," you taunt.

He opens his eyes, and that's when you realize that he's blind. His eyes are white, pupils dilated and irises gray.

"I have a gun pointed at you, and my stand's out. I'm sure you know precisely who I am and you're aware of my ability, so, cutting me doesn't exactly work."

The water from before had collected underneath him, creating a shield.

"I know who you are, (Y/N), and I know that you're about to kill me."

"It's not something I like doing, you know."

He stays silent.

"And despite my warning, I know that you're going to try and kill me too."

"It's worth a shot, I need to get home somehow."

"And I was gonna let you pick how you die... what a shame."

"Generous, aren't you?"

"You should just be counting your blessings right now, I'm more aggravated than I'm letting off."

"Hmm..."

Thick silence filled the air. On both sides of this fight, there was a hesitation.

"I don't know why I haven't killed you yet, if I'm being honest."

"I feel like you do, so say it. One of us is about to die anyway, and it's not like the other will remember a few years down the road."

"You said it for me. This whole thing seems so ridiculous when you think of us as caged rats, fighting to the amuse of a vampire. It sounds like a great work of fiction."

"You're not wrong."

"I never am. If you don't mind, I'd like to know your name."

"N'Doul is my name. My stand takes the name of Geb."

"I see. Follow up question, any last words?"

He doesn't say anything.

He simply drops his cane to the ground, sending Geb flying towards your head.

The Universe reacts in time, hardening the blood on impact as Geb cuts your cheek.

Simultaneously, your stand cuts your hand and sends a rod of blood through the back of N'Doul's head.

The rod comes out of his mouth before disappearing.

Geb falls and The Universe disappears.

N'Doul falls to the ground, barely clinging to life.

"As you pointed out, I'm generous." You point your gun at N'Doul. "I won't make you suffer. But first-"

Geb gathers from underneath him.

His stand pierces right through him.

You don't act in shock.

"You'd rather die knowing you're right, huh?"

"Yes, you didn't kill me, Akira. And I know you better than you think I do. If I live, you'll interrogate me, then you'll kill me. Your way of being 'generous' isn't generous to me. I'll die with my dignity and knowledge, serving Lord DIO to the end. He has my faith."

Geb dries up from the sand, and N'Doul lay dead at your feet.

You lay his cane down next to his body.

You pull an Egyptian Piastre, tossing it at him as you walk away.

Despite what you had said, you wouldn't forget him.

The conversation you had with him made you realize that he was like you in a lot of ways. And his final words about faith, you suppose even the most evil of men need someone to put their faith in.

Iggy was running towards you, sand kicking up in his wake.

By some miracle, the car was working again.

Iggy had led them back to you.

"Akira! Are you alright?" Mr. Joestar called out.

"You dumbass! I was worried!" Polnareff yelled.

You stood with Iggy in your arms as the car approached.

Yeah, it was a good move bringing him along.

-

To be continued...>