[X] You have a feeling that Jotaro could help you awaken your powers. Just ask him how to get in a position where your Stand can awaken. He's been in the Stand business longer than you. Maybe he knows something.
"Jotaro, I'm not that stupid. I mean, sure I'd love to go kick some ass, but..." You paused. You didn't really know much about Stands at all. And here you were, on a phone with an expert. Why not bug him about it? Surely he would know something! Has to. He has to know. "Riddle me this, then how does one awaken their Stand powers?"
Hopefully Josuke's mother wasn't going to overhear this. It would be quite bad if she heard this sort of conversation that didn't logically make sense in any real-life context. The fact of the matter was that you need answers to some very big questions. It went silent on the line for a moment, you feared that he wouldn't bother answering to such a question... That concerned you.
"There's a few ways."
You nearly jumped when he suddenly responded. Did he always do that, just speak out of nowhere and freak people out? ...Then again, knowing him, it sort of made sense to you. As much as you wanted to believe that you were able to do things on your own, you weren't a professional at this. You didn't want to throw yourself in there without a plan. Especially considering that there was Aqua Necklace who had vowed to get back at Josuke...
Although you immediately snapped back to conversing, "Alright, go on. Don't keep me in suspense."
"The Bow and Arrow is one method. The method that I tried telling you last time, but you, Josuke, and Koichi went to school." Jotaro began, which seemed like it was going to be in it for the long run. "The process is dangerous. Lethally so. Not many can wield a Stand. Some die through this method. Your spiritual energy needs to resonate properly with a Stand. Say for instance somebody gets hit by it. There's a high chance it will kill the victim. I don't recommend it."
"God... Then that means..." You placed your hand over mouth, attempting to prevent yourself from retching.
"Yes. That's why this method I'm talking about comes up first. It's the dangerous out of the bunch." Jotaro said quietly. "Don't try it. Even if you have the potential, you would be at risk."
It took you a moment or two to absorb that information. So. Stand or no Stand, it's best not to get hit by the Bow and Arrow. Which made you wonder how Anjuro of all people survived such a blow. It would be a lot of blood loss, for sure...
"Stand users are either born with their Stands or have the potential to unlock it later on in life. Although the triggering method is different for every Stand user. No one Stand user has the same thing that makes their Stand form. It come forth, at least to some individuals that I knew, during times of stress or conviction. Natural Stand users are few and far in between, though. Sometimes they just appear one day. But from what it sounds like, you are a natural Stand user. You must have not reached to the point of awakening yet though..."
"God, Jotaro. You could have simplified it into like... twenty words or less?"
"...You asked for my advice on awakening, I gave you it. Don't whine about me being long-winded."
You clicked your tongue derisively at this statement. "I apologize... I'm just on edge." You saw that Josuke was signaling you. Goddamn it. Was it really time to go already? "Look. I have to go. I'll talk to you later. Bye."
Hanging up the phone immediately, you bolted out the door along with your things, following Josuke and heading off to school for the day.
-
It was at this moment you began to question what had happened.
You were heading home like normal. You decided to go later on compared to Josuke and Koichi, telling them that you would catch up with them later. This was in regards to getting some mail sent, actually. You never dictate all of your schedules and the like. Besides, you wanted to send letters to your friends. You sort of enjoyed doing this sort of thing. It felt more personal, at least to you.
Also having the bad tendency to just write letters on odd days, just including random doodles. You should take photos of Morioh, although you really didn't want to spend all the film or the space in the camera at once. You had a few different cameras. One being that SD card camera and another being a camera that actually you had to take the film out and make the pictures in a special room with special lighting. Although you didn't have the latter, so the former was just perfectly suitable for the tasks you had in mind.
"Mmm... Maybe I should take a picture of my place? ...That would involve going back though." You grumbled audibly, folding your arms, quite cross indeed. "Although, even if I take a picture, it's gotta look cool. Something that fits my image..."
Looking through your camera, you were just considering what sort of picture to use, when you felt a hand on your shoulder. Your skin prickled at this sudden touch. Turning around, thinking that it was just somebody asking for directions but nobody was there. Wait a minute. That's suspicious. A person couldn't disappear that fast... unless... Your eyes widened as something metallic - or various metallic things - flew in the air at you.
"What the fuck!?"
-
If you hadn't dodged, surely you would have become a pin cushion! Although you couldn't avoid all of the pins. You cursed, as you checked that your shoulder had about... four pins in it. Fuck. These looked like sewing needles, but sewing needles this big? There were no need for such huge needles unless somebody was planning to sew something really goddamn big. Fidgeting, you had tried to remove the pins only to find yourself hissing in pain. They were stuck square in your shoulder. There was no way in fuck you were gonna get these out, not without some sort of difficulty.
"Oh...? Not many can see those needles. Unless you are a Stand user." The voice remarked casually, with a giggle. "Rare that somebody actually did dodge them!"
Your eyes were scanning the scenery until your eyes were locked onto a girl. She had on a rabbit half-hoodie of sorts, a pastel pink one with a matching dress that showed quite a bit of leg underneath with a bright large red bow tie to accent the hoodie, and her eyes were obscured. Although you could feel her menacing aura, that much was certain. Her strawberry blonde hair fluttered slightly in the breeze, holding onto a comically cute white bunny with a black silk top hat with a red band, and it even had a little tuxedo with a bow tie too. Her stockings were striped, black and pink paired with black combat boots. A mixture between punk rock and military. This chick had quite the interesting fashion sense...
"U-Ugh... You...? Who are you?" You snapped, having no patience.
"Oh, I have many names. Too many to count! Besides, giving you my real name would just ruin the fun. I mean, seriously, my real name is too boring anyways. But I guess if you wanna call me anything, I'm Dorothy. Think of that girl from the Wizard of Oz! Although I'm not stupid like her. I mean, seriously, who the heck runs away from home while a tornado is goin', huh? Huh?" Dorothy twirled around gracefully, hugging her bunny. "Oh, and just because I'm like a blonde or whatever doesn't mean I'm stupid, either!"
Blood was soaking your left shoulder. Dear god, this kid was nuts. And wait. Where was her Stand? If she was able to attack you the way she did... then where was it exactly...? You pressed your hand against your shoulder. So much for getting mail turned in. You were already in a battle with a Stand user...?!
Dorothy observed you nursing your shoulder and giggled, as if it was some sort of game. "This is already much more interesting! Normally a Stand user definitely be able to even able to not only dodge but block my remaining needles too. Ooooooh, does that mean this is your first battle?!"
"I... um... I just... Dorothy. I would rather not say." What could you say anyways? You felt like you were exposed and this brat had no filter on her mouth.
"Mmmm...? Now secrets around me are not acceptable! You are in no position to argue either!" You felt your shoulder suddenly tightening and causing you to writhe in pain. "My threads are the best! Not like stupid string. Unless like it is the piano string type. Super nice and super sharp. Just like these threads are!"
Lord knows you wanted to scream. Dorothy was right. The red thread, while unlike piano string, certainly mimicked it by the way it glistened. And you knew your pianos. It was wrapped around your shoulder area and it dug into your flesh.
"No Stand user can use threads like me. And much better than strings because I can make them colorful and pretty! I love pretty things~ Down to business then." Dorothy stopped momentarily and stared at you. "Maki Kunikida. I will kill you. Before your Stand is formed. My superiors have plans. Not only that, your family and friends? Consider them just as dead. We can't let anyone interfere... So, like, have any last words before I drop the axe on ya? Or a more fitting analogy would be before I sever your thread of fate?"
You were in a rock and a hard place. This Dorothy girl was a psychopath. And by the way her threads are digging into you, you knew she meant business. It simply cannot end like this. Your friends. Your family. The people you care about... you couldn't let this bunny bitch harm them!
-
The Rabbit Harbinger has you trapped. What do you do?
You can pick only one option.
[] You can't do this alone. You need to awaken your Stand. Before she goes after Josuke and the others. Before anyone in Morioh gets hurt. You want to protect others with the strength you have. You will never run away again from those you can protect...! (Ranked Voting for Stands will take place.)
[] Wait, there's a rock near you, grab it! If you can just do this unnoticed, you can distract her with it and run! All you need is just a moment... Although you don't know if that will buy you enough time.
[] Run, girl, run! Even if you can distract Dorothy, you just need to run somewhere she can't find you, right? Plus people are gonna fill the street soon! You cannot let innocents get entangled in this brawl... Although there is a chance Dorothy might take advantage of this.
[] Bargain with Dorothy. You are pretty sure she can be persuaded if you say the right things to her, what she likes to hear! Maybe it will get you on her good graces and it might free you from her grasp...
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New mechanics added: Health and Status. Go to the threadmarker Character Profile to check it. Monitor these whenever you can. It is the mechanics that saves you when you need it most.
Current state of Maki's wellbeing:
Health: Blood Loss
Status: Bleeding
Pins are currently in Maki's left shoulder, about four. Blood drips from the wound and Maki's pins have red thread on them... The thread is sharp and digging into flesh.
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EDIT: Adjusted Alternative Voting for Ranked Voting. Please check threadmarker for Ranked Voting rules.
