Seventh Stand User: Emperor's Paradise
Takoe
Dad
- Location
- Xehafort
Update 4
Mortifer
Embrace your inner lunatic. Fun times guaranteed.
- Location
- Under a rock.
[X] Try not to panic too much. Distract the vampire, fight it for a bit before going to Hamon.
-[X] Bait him into thinking he's got the limits of your Hamon figured out, then when he's sure of his invincibility, use Deep Purple to fire an Air Bullet from the Hamon-charged breath of your lungs.
Inhale.
Keep calm. Rushing in would be a bad move. More experienced Hamon users had told stories about how vampires can counter their greatest weakness.
Exhale.
What did Chika know about her current opponent?
He was a vampire. That meant getting anywhere near the man was a mistake, and the only real damage that could be done was with Hamon. Perhaps an explosion could buy time while the vampire regenerated, but that was also the opposite of subtle, and the last thing Chika needed was the police arriving while she was here.
What didn't she know?
A lot of things. How capable was this vampire? She had heard that DIO could freeze things with a touch, but Joseph had noted that not every vampire worked out how to do that. What other abilities had Chika heard about? Could the Vampire make use of Space Ripper Stingy Eyes? Would he be able to boil his blood to weaponize it?
There was a lot of possibilities that Vampires had. They were versatile bastards, like that, and Chika couldn't know what to prepare for if she didn't know what it was capable of.
A lot like a Stand battle, in a way. Which raises another issue. Did this vampire possess a Stand?
Chika had encountered three true vampires in her travels. DIO, Vanilla Ice, and the creature that Jotaro had intimidated into opening DIO's coffin. Two had Stands, and the third had been so nonthreatening that Chika hadn't realised what he was until the survivors of that night came together to trade stories.
The fact that this new vampire didn't seem to concerned boded ill for being like the third of those vampires, but did that necessarily mean he possessed a Stand? Hol Horse had mentioned hearing rumours of DIO being able to grant Stands to people who did not naturally possess them, so there was a good chance that this new foe to have one, but if it did, why was it not at the mansion, on that night?
Too many variables, too many unknowns. The only real way to determine the vampires capabilities was to fight it, to test it, but that was a dangerous thing. Fighting an unknown was always like that.
On the other hand, it was a double edged sword. Chika herself had a few tricks up her sleeve. Even if DIO had spies following the Joestars, her Hamon abilities were an unknown. She had learnt it in Bengal, when DIO's minions had thought she was dead, and her encounter with Vins in Aswan was one the Stand User didn't seem aware of.
Considering his change of tactics after she demonstrated the ability in the last battle, it was clear that DIO didn't know. The odds of there being a spy who didn't reach him to tell him in time was possible, but unlikely.
She couldn't conceal Hamon entirely, of course. If she battled the vampire despite seemingly being unable to do anything, he would be able to tell that she had a trick up her sleeve. But she didn't have to let the priestly vampire realise the full extent of her abilities.
For now, though, it was time to see what the vampire could do.
And so Chika breathed.
The vampire turned to her as she did so, turning it's attention to the fake DIO that it was glaring at moments before. Did it hear the change in her breathing? Impressive.
Chika dropped her body into a defensive stance, as she observed the vampire's movements. Letting it get too close would be a mistake, but that didn't mean she shouldn't prepare for the vampire moving faster than her.
The priest seemed to take a moment to observe her breathing, as if determining if she really was Hamon breathing. It seemed to completely overlook Deep Purple in the process, too. Not a Stand User, then?
That was fine by Chika, who began having Deep Purple release more oxygen, scattering the gas. It would be a pain to have to maintain an oxygen bubble during a fight, after all.
The two opponents stared off for a moment, waiting for one of them to break the stalemate. A stalemate that was eventually broken, when Hol Horse shot the vampire in the eyes.
The vampire hissed, but otherwise remained stationary, as the flesh of the eyes began to reform. Taking the chance, Chika reached into her robes, and started a charge.
The vampire's ears had already proven good enough to hear her breathing change, so it should be more than enough to hear her footsteps. So by starting to charge forward, it would seem as if she was going on the attack, to get close.
The fact that the vampire still didn't move told Chika all she needed. It was going to wait until she got close, then execute whatever counter it had to Hamon, be it to freeze her hands, to just punching through her lungs.
The real question was, when Chika pulled out her gun and focused her Hamon through it, would the vampire hear it after Chika threw it? And would the vampire realise what the incoming projectile was?
As it turned out, she was out of luck. The vampire took a leap to the side, away from the gun, towards Oingo and Boingo. Trying to limit her options? Stopping her from just causing some explosions? Or just getting close to potential enemies in case it needed more blood?
Either way, the vampire's eyes were already almost healed. Another few gunshots rang out, and another bullet shot through the vampires eyes. It's face twisted into a snarl, and the vampire exploded into motion.
Chika took a step away, Deep Purple ready to push the vampire away if it came too close. Her movements were slow, unhurried. If the vampire couldn't see her, it had to use it's other senses. If she was too loud, it'd be so easy for it to find her.
But the vampire wasn't coming towards her. Nor Hol Horse or Oingo Boingo, who were both making slow movements of their own towards the exit.
As Chika watched, the vampire kicked a man's body into the air, and caught the body by the neck as it fell. One hand had it's fingers bury into flesh around the neck, draining it of blood, while the other hand reached around to cover the eyes.
Hol Horse took the chance, opening fire, shooting both the vampire and his already doomed victim. Chika followed suit, quickly grabbing what little spare ammo she had beneath her robes, and threw the bullets at the pair. The priest paused for a moment, then threw what was now a corpse at Chika.
Chika paused for a moment, as the vampire's hand left the face of the corpse. Two things were very noticeable. First, the corpse was now missing it's eyes. Though, that was a secondary thing, compared to the very obvious grenade that had taken it's place.
Deep Purple pushed at the air, pushing the corpse to the ground, as Chika ran.
How long was the fuse on the grenade? It wasn't a constant, Chika had noted, at least in terms of the grenades she'd had encounters with, and even if she knew, who knew how long it had been unpinned before the vampire threw the corpse?
Fortunately, she had enough time. When the explosion went off, Chika had enough space to call forth Deep Purple again, pushing back the shrapnel coming in her direction. But, as it turned out, sprinting away from a primed grenade was hardly quiet.
As Deep Purple pushed, a blur moved out of the corner of Chika's eyes. By the time she was able to take her focus off the grenade, the vampire was already within a metre of her.
Chika may be reasonably fit, after the adventure she had gone through, but she was restrained to human limits. Vampires? They were fast. Too fast, for Chika to outpace it. With a vampire this close, running wasn't an option. That left combat.
If only she had made sure to keep up her Hamon breathing while running from the grenade.
Getting back into the pattern would take a moment. Time Chika did not have. Not with the vampire coming at her. More bullets shot out, and once again, two bullets blinded the vampire, but it didn't slow down a bit.
If she were a normal person, Chika would be dead. Fortunately, "Normal" and "Stand User" were words that didn't work well together.
Deep Purple moved into action. It's range wasn't the biggest, but it was more than a metre. The trick Chika needed here wasn't one that she had used often, but it had saved her life before.
A moment of concentration, with the vampire moments from plunging it's fist through her chest, and Chika emptied the atmosphere behind it. Every single trace of air was removed, leaving nothing but a void. A vacuum.
The vampire completed it's attack, punching upwards in a manouver that had almost led to Chika losing most of her torso, moments too late. The vacuum rushed to be filled, things at the edges rushing to fill the emptiness. For the most part, that was air. But with the vampire being at the edge, it suddenly found itself moved three metres back.
Random bodies that the vampire had charged over slammed into him, keeping him distracted for a moment. And in that moment, Chika breathed.
The familiar feeling of Hamon flowed through her body, and Chika smiled, as the vampire came close to her. She just needed an opening.
The vampire seemed confused for a moment, before opening it's palm, with it in Chika's direction. In the centre of the hand was-
...Well, that explained what the vampire did with that man's eyes, while swapping it out for a grenade. Getting backups, so Hol Horse didn't keep shooting them as soon as they healed.
Integrating the body parts of others to make use of them... What a creepy ability. It was bad enough when she heard that DIO was using a stolen body, but now a vampire was stealing eyes and putting it on their hands? Once again, the ease in which a vampire manipulated their own flesh was disturbing her.
...Speaking of which, Chika needed to be careful. The vampire had managed to put a grenade in a man's skull without taking its hand from their face. How did he do that? He hadn't moved away to pull a grenade out, so he must have had them buried in his arm, somewhere.
Which was... Not ideal. A vampire could shrug off an explosion inside their body, but Chika couldn't really. The only solace she had was that it would take time for the vampire to heal from an explosion, and the grenades in their body are one-use. A last resort, in most circumstances.
The Japanese girl cut off that thought as the vampire moved in for another charge, and she moved to the side as she stepped forward. The vampire reacted a second too late, continuing it's momentum for a moment too long. Just as it moved to dodge her, her Hamon infused arm struck the vampire in the upper arm.
The beast cried out in pain, as the eyes on it's face began healing, and in a flash, it chopped down, cutting the damaged arm off from the shoulder before the Hamon could spread.
It's slow reaction to her movement was suspicious, but it's reaction to the pain was instant. Curious. Almost as if it took a moment to process what the hand-eyes saw.
Hm. Didn't she read in a textbook once, that the brain would learn to use certain neurons more when they were used frequently, which made mental connections associated with those neurons quicker? And in the end, that meant that the specific function they performed got faster. And here, the eyes were brand new. Perhaps the brain had yet to adapt to using the two new eyes, and the neurons in the brain were delaying the recognition caused by seeing through them. That would explained the delayed reaction, at least.
Chika stopped thinking about that, when the vampire smirked, and leapt away. The hamon was dissolving the arm it left behind, and looking at it briefly, Chika saw what was being uncovered.
Another grenade was embedded in that arm, and the pin had been pulled.
To use a vacuum of air on something within touching distance of her would just drag her along as well, but Deep Purple could still move something by pushing at it. A sudden gust of air shook the room as Chika pushed the grenade upward and away, in the direction of the vampire. Said vampire simply leapt to the side, and watched, as the grenade exploded. Some shrapnel emerged, which Chika pushed to the side, but what little of it entered the vampire was ignored and healed around.
There was stillness for a moment. Chiks stood at the side of the church, a good six metres from the vampire. Hol Horse, meanwhile, was four away, with Emperor aimed. Oingo and Boingo were attached to the opposite wall as Chika, slowly making their way towards the exit. The vampire ignored them, and turned it's focus on Chika.
"A novice." He noted. "Lord DIO has told us of a true Hamon users abilities. To them, breathing is second nature. But a moment of distraction causes you to lose the pattern."
Was the vampire trying to distract her here, by talking to her? "No problem." She replied. "I just need to not get distracted."
The vampire chuckled. "Amachi Chika, is it? I thought you Japanese had more respect for your elders. But, very well. I will just have to show you that I, Father Dima, am not someone to be underestima-"
And then Hol Horse shot his eyes out again.
The priest let out a snarl of rage as he turned in Hol Horse's direction, and charged once more. Chika observed the situation, and smiled.
Father Dima had thought he was safe. He was faster than Chika, and was closer to Hol Horse. To reach him in time, both Hol Horse and herself would need to run at each other, at a pace that would disrupt Chika's breathing. If she had anything else she could throw, the vampire would hear her throw it. She didn't have any options.
Or, at least, that's what the vampire thought. It thought it had found a limit in Chika's ability, and was moving toe exploit it. And now, for his mistake, Chika had the advantage.
Inhale.
Deep Purple drew close to her, a symbolic move more than anything. Chika stretched out a hand before her, just as the vampire did to Hol Horse, to observe him. At least, up until Hol Horse shot that eye as well.
Exhale.
A bubble of air was isolated from the rest, and Chika began modifying the atmosphere within it. The exact science of it was complicated, and something she didn't fully understand, but it worked. The cyborg in Bengal had walked her through it, so even if she couldn't explain why it worked, she just had to go through with it.
The end result was creating a small segment of air that could conduct Hamon. Not for long- Even with the modifications, the air just wasn't a good enough to hold the energy for more than a few seconds, and with the charge she could produce, she had to keep the size small if she wanted to be able to have the Hamon strong enough to do anything.
But the end result was a truly powerful weapon. Small, only noticeable by a faint glow the air gave once Hamon flowed through them, and just as deadly to vampires as a thrown rose.
The instant Chika's hand moved Hamon into the air bubble, Deep Purple shot it forward, transforming it into a bullet that surpassed the speed of sound. Up until it moved, it was impossible to hear coming, and once the bang resounded, it was too late for the vampire to dodge.
Father Dima screamed, as the bullet struck at his stomach. Before it could spread, he lowered his arm to put it at his chest, and sliced. A splatter of blood emerged shot everywhere, and the sound of a cracking spine echoed out. No longer in control of his movement, Father Dima's upper half fell to the floor in front of Hol Horse.
And yet, Father Dima continued to fight.
The vampire didn't hesitate for a second, lunging forward the instant it hit the ground. Hol Horse, naturally, backpedalled from the vicious bloodsucker crawling at him. Making sure not to take his eyes off it, Hol Horse opened fire again, this time shooting off the vampires fingers.
The vampire didn't react to the pain, but the loss of it's fingers was unfortunate for it. A vampire would use it's fingers to plunge into flesh and drink blood, and without them, it was much more difficult to drain foes without causing wounds. It wouldn't last long before it healed, but with how injured the vampire was, it was questionable if it would be able to heal before it was defeated.
Even if the removed arm had already regrown to a short stump, the vampire's regenerative abilities weren't fast enough. As a result, it was forced to be more creative in it's attacks.
With it's arm still extended, the eye on the vampire's hand seemed to focus, before shooting out a jet of fluid. Hol Horse quickly sidestepped, but the vampire shifted it's hand to the side, and the Space Ripper Stingy Eye attack managed to cut through some muscle before the vampire stopped.
Hol Horse cried out in pain as he fell to one knee, and the vampire quickly began crawling forward. Not towards Hol Horse, but to the nearest unconscious body.
The fingerless hand once again began to charge up a shot of pressurised fluid, before another Emperor bullet struck it. Undeterred, the vampire moved to bash it's arm through the stomach of the cultist.
The conflict may not have taken long, but it was long enough for Chika to line up and fire a second Hamon air bullet. Centre of mass again, but as it was, that was lethal enough.
Father Dima was silent even then. Even if he managed to drink the blood of the cultist, the Hamon would reach his brain and kill him soon, and without his fingers, he could hardly remove his head in time.
He was dead. But, he still had time left to make the victory cost Chika. As she watched, a number of blood vessels burst forward from Father Dima's body, tearing through his body and reaching out to grab the injured Hol Horse.
Chika's eyes widened as she realised his intent, and she dropped her Hamon breathing to run to Hol's aid. Just in time, as it turned out, because just as Deep Purple came within range of the conflict, the explosives stored within Father Dima detonated.
It was a rush-job, and not a very successful one, as Chika began to work. Deep Purple pushed the shrapnel of the blast inwards, while also creating a void behind Hol Horse to pull him away from it. A rush job was never good enough, but the damage was contained, at least.
Her push couldn't contain all the shrapnel, nor was a rush-job of a void of air fill itself in a way that was kind to the one affected. Hol Horse was slammed on his back with a thud, and a half-second later, he cried out, as the shrapnel hit his leg. The void wasn't easy on the pre-existing wound either, as his leg's sudden shake seemed to make the bleeding worse.
He wasn't in a good condition. But he was still alive.
For a moment, Chika considered running to his side, but paused. Her work wasn't done yet. Looking over to where the explosion had occurred, Chika started breathing again.
Father Dima's brain hadn't survived the explosion completely intact, but there was still a large chunk of it there, which had been blasted away from the body before the Hamon could reach it. That wouldn't do at all. A brief usage of Deep Purple increased the moisture in the atmosphere, until water collapsed down upon the top of the vampire's remaining brain segments.
Focusing her Hamon, Chika slammed her hand into the ground, letting it ripple through the water. A moment latter, the brain melted away.
Finally, Father Dima was dead.
"There we go." Chika sighed, relieved. "Vampire's down. How bad is it, Horse?"
"Could be better." The cowboy replied, looking at his legs. "Don't really want to risk walking on these. Don't know how much shrapnel is in their, or how deep it went."
"Oingo!" Chika called. "Get in here and lend me a hand. We need to find somewhere to carry Hol Horse."
The Stand User rushed in, the DIO disguise over him fading away, back to his normal appearance. "Hospital?" He asked.
Chika bit her lip. "People probably heard all the explosions. Wouldn't be surprised if the police are on their way. Don't want to attract attention, but..."
"Don't worry." Hol Horse replied. "DIO had contacts in the hospital. Money-grabbers, not fanatics. Give them a cool and offer them a few thousand, and nobody will ever know we were there."
Chika paused. "Are you sure?"
"I checked them out myself." The cowboy replied. "They wanted to know they still had a rich customer, and didn't seem to know about Stands or vampires."
"...We'll have to trust them." Chika decided. "It's not like we have any other options."
"You might want to hurry." Oingo butted in. "I think I can hear sirens."
There was silence for a moment, as the gathered Stand Users listened carefully.
"...I think I hear it too." Hol Horse replied."
"Hold on." Chika interrupted, quickly grabbing some of Father Dima's robes, tearing off a strip of fabric. "Let's try to bandage up that cut, at least a bit. Boingo, go find a back door to this place, so we don't get seen walking out."
The boy who could see the future nodded, as he ran off. Watching after him, a thought occurred to Chika.
"...Did the second panel in his comic ever come true?" She wondered. "I mean, I was celebrating a bit after knocking out Mina, but I wasn't outright posing and everything."
Oingo looked over at her. "You mean you didn't notice?"
"...Notice what?" Chika asked.
"...Never mind." Oingo trailed off, as Chika finished tightening the cloth around the cut that the Space Ripper Stingy Eyes had given Hol Horse. "Let's just get him out of here."
[X] An old foe returns to Cairo, looking for their master.
[X] A hidden letter in the church hints at a greater conspiracy.
[X] Written reports reveal persons of interest in the city.
(Just so it's clear, there will be more opportunities to follow these plot threads, though each plot thread leads to further plot threads. Choosing the first option just means you encounter the old foe before Chika reads the letter or report, and choosing one of the others means she finds out information that she decides to act on before she reads the other/the old foe strikes. There may be consequences for delaying a plot thread, however.)
-[X] Bait him into thinking he's got the limits of your Hamon figured out, then when he's sure of his invincibility, use Deep Purple to fire an Air Bullet from the Hamon-charged breath of your lungs.
Inhale.
Keep calm. Rushing in would be a bad move. More experienced Hamon users had told stories about how vampires can counter their greatest weakness.
Exhale.
What did Chika know about her current opponent?
He was a vampire. That meant getting anywhere near the man was a mistake, and the only real damage that could be done was with Hamon. Perhaps an explosion could buy time while the vampire regenerated, but that was also the opposite of subtle, and the last thing Chika needed was the police arriving while she was here.
What didn't she know?
A lot of things. How capable was this vampire? She had heard that DIO could freeze things with a touch, but Joseph had noted that not every vampire worked out how to do that. What other abilities had Chika heard about? Could the Vampire make use of Space Ripper Stingy Eyes? Would he be able to boil his blood to weaponize it?
There was a lot of possibilities that Vampires had. They were versatile bastards, like that, and Chika couldn't know what to prepare for if she didn't know what it was capable of.
A lot like a Stand battle, in a way. Which raises another issue. Did this vampire possess a Stand?
Chika had encountered three true vampires in her travels. DIO, Vanilla Ice, and the creature that Jotaro had intimidated into opening DIO's coffin. Two had Stands, and the third had been so nonthreatening that Chika hadn't realised what he was until the survivors of that night came together to trade stories.
The fact that this new vampire didn't seem to concerned boded ill for being like the third of those vampires, but did that necessarily mean he possessed a Stand? Hol Horse had mentioned hearing rumours of DIO being able to grant Stands to people who did not naturally possess them, so there was a good chance that this new foe to have one, but if it did, why was it not at the mansion, on that night?
Too many variables, too many unknowns. The only real way to determine the vampires capabilities was to fight it, to test it, but that was a dangerous thing. Fighting an unknown was always like that.
On the other hand, it was a double edged sword. Chika herself had a few tricks up her sleeve. Even if DIO had spies following the Joestars, her Hamon abilities were an unknown. She had learnt it in Bengal, when DIO's minions had thought she was dead, and her encounter with Vins in Aswan was one the Stand User didn't seem aware of.
Considering his change of tactics after she demonstrated the ability in the last battle, it was clear that DIO didn't know. The odds of there being a spy who didn't reach him to tell him in time was possible, but unlikely.
She couldn't conceal Hamon entirely, of course. If she battled the vampire despite seemingly being unable to do anything, he would be able to tell that she had a trick up her sleeve. But she didn't have to let the priestly vampire realise the full extent of her abilities.
For now, though, it was time to see what the vampire could do.
And so Chika breathed.
The vampire turned to her as she did so, turning it's attention to the fake DIO that it was glaring at moments before. Did it hear the change in her breathing? Impressive.
Chika dropped her body into a defensive stance, as she observed the vampire's movements. Letting it get too close would be a mistake, but that didn't mean she shouldn't prepare for the vampire moving faster than her.
The priest seemed to take a moment to observe her breathing, as if determining if she really was Hamon breathing. It seemed to completely overlook Deep Purple in the process, too. Not a Stand User, then?
That was fine by Chika, who began having Deep Purple release more oxygen, scattering the gas. It would be a pain to have to maintain an oxygen bubble during a fight, after all.
The two opponents stared off for a moment, waiting for one of them to break the stalemate. A stalemate that was eventually broken, when Hol Horse shot the vampire in the eyes.
The vampire hissed, but otherwise remained stationary, as the flesh of the eyes began to reform. Taking the chance, Chika reached into her robes, and started a charge.
The vampire's ears had already proven good enough to hear her breathing change, so it should be more than enough to hear her footsteps. So by starting to charge forward, it would seem as if she was going on the attack, to get close.
The fact that the vampire still didn't move told Chika all she needed. It was going to wait until she got close, then execute whatever counter it had to Hamon, be it to freeze her hands, to just punching through her lungs.
The real question was, when Chika pulled out her gun and focused her Hamon through it, would the vampire hear it after Chika threw it? And would the vampire realise what the incoming projectile was?
As it turned out, she was out of luck. The vampire took a leap to the side, away from the gun, towards Oingo and Boingo. Trying to limit her options? Stopping her from just causing some explosions? Or just getting close to potential enemies in case it needed more blood?
Either way, the vampire's eyes were already almost healed. Another few gunshots rang out, and another bullet shot through the vampires eyes. It's face twisted into a snarl, and the vampire exploded into motion.
Chika took a step away, Deep Purple ready to push the vampire away if it came too close. Her movements were slow, unhurried. If the vampire couldn't see her, it had to use it's other senses. If she was too loud, it'd be so easy for it to find her.
But the vampire wasn't coming towards her. Nor Hol Horse or Oingo Boingo, who were both making slow movements of their own towards the exit.
As Chika watched, the vampire kicked a man's body into the air, and caught the body by the neck as it fell. One hand had it's fingers bury into flesh around the neck, draining it of blood, while the other hand reached around to cover the eyes.
Hol Horse took the chance, opening fire, shooting both the vampire and his already doomed victim. Chika followed suit, quickly grabbing what little spare ammo she had beneath her robes, and threw the bullets at the pair. The priest paused for a moment, then threw what was now a corpse at Chika.
Chika paused for a moment, as the vampire's hand left the face of the corpse. Two things were very noticeable. First, the corpse was now missing it's eyes. Though, that was a secondary thing, compared to the very obvious grenade that had taken it's place.
Deep Purple pushed at the air, pushing the corpse to the ground, as Chika ran.
How long was the fuse on the grenade? It wasn't a constant, Chika had noted, at least in terms of the grenades she'd had encounters with, and even if she knew, who knew how long it had been unpinned before the vampire threw the corpse?
Fortunately, she had enough time. When the explosion went off, Chika had enough space to call forth Deep Purple again, pushing back the shrapnel coming in her direction. But, as it turned out, sprinting away from a primed grenade was hardly quiet.
As Deep Purple pushed, a blur moved out of the corner of Chika's eyes. By the time she was able to take her focus off the grenade, the vampire was already within a metre of her.
Chika may be reasonably fit, after the adventure she had gone through, but she was restrained to human limits. Vampires? They were fast. Too fast, for Chika to outpace it. With a vampire this close, running wasn't an option. That left combat.
If only she had made sure to keep up her Hamon breathing while running from the grenade.
Getting back into the pattern would take a moment. Time Chika did not have. Not with the vampire coming at her. More bullets shot out, and once again, two bullets blinded the vampire, but it didn't slow down a bit.
If she were a normal person, Chika would be dead. Fortunately, "Normal" and "Stand User" were words that didn't work well together.
Deep Purple moved into action. It's range wasn't the biggest, but it was more than a metre. The trick Chika needed here wasn't one that she had used often, but it had saved her life before.
A moment of concentration, with the vampire moments from plunging it's fist through her chest, and Chika emptied the atmosphere behind it. Every single trace of air was removed, leaving nothing but a void. A vacuum.
The vampire completed it's attack, punching upwards in a manouver that had almost led to Chika losing most of her torso, moments too late. The vacuum rushed to be filled, things at the edges rushing to fill the emptiness. For the most part, that was air. But with the vampire being at the edge, it suddenly found itself moved three metres back.
Random bodies that the vampire had charged over slammed into him, keeping him distracted for a moment. And in that moment, Chika breathed.
The familiar feeling of Hamon flowed through her body, and Chika smiled, as the vampire came close to her. She just needed an opening.
The vampire seemed confused for a moment, before opening it's palm, with it in Chika's direction. In the centre of the hand was-
...Well, that explained what the vampire did with that man's eyes, while swapping it out for a grenade. Getting backups, so Hol Horse didn't keep shooting them as soon as they healed.
Integrating the body parts of others to make use of them... What a creepy ability. It was bad enough when she heard that DIO was using a stolen body, but now a vampire was stealing eyes and putting it on their hands? Once again, the ease in which a vampire manipulated their own flesh was disturbing her.
...Speaking of which, Chika needed to be careful. The vampire had managed to put a grenade in a man's skull without taking its hand from their face. How did he do that? He hadn't moved away to pull a grenade out, so he must have had them buried in his arm, somewhere.
Which was... Not ideal. A vampire could shrug off an explosion inside their body, but Chika couldn't really. The only solace she had was that it would take time for the vampire to heal from an explosion, and the grenades in their body are one-use. A last resort, in most circumstances.
The Japanese girl cut off that thought as the vampire moved in for another charge, and she moved to the side as she stepped forward. The vampire reacted a second too late, continuing it's momentum for a moment too long. Just as it moved to dodge her, her Hamon infused arm struck the vampire in the upper arm.
The beast cried out in pain, as the eyes on it's face began healing, and in a flash, it chopped down, cutting the damaged arm off from the shoulder before the Hamon could spread.
It's slow reaction to her movement was suspicious, but it's reaction to the pain was instant. Curious. Almost as if it took a moment to process what the hand-eyes saw.
Hm. Didn't she read in a textbook once, that the brain would learn to use certain neurons more when they were used frequently, which made mental connections associated with those neurons quicker? And in the end, that meant that the specific function they performed got faster. And here, the eyes were brand new. Perhaps the brain had yet to adapt to using the two new eyes, and the neurons in the brain were delaying the recognition caused by seeing through them. That would explained the delayed reaction, at least.
Chika stopped thinking about that, when the vampire smirked, and leapt away. The hamon was dissolving the arm it left behind, and looking at it briefly, Chika saw what was being uncovered.
Another grenade was embedded in that arm, and the pin had been pulled.
To use a vacuum of air on something within touching distance of her would just drag her along as well, but Deep Purple could still move something by pushing at it. A sudden gust of air shook the room as Chika pushed the grenade upward and away, in the direction of the vampire. Said vampire simply leapt to the side, and watched, as the grenade exploded. Some shrapnel emerged, which Chika pushed to the side, but what little of it entered the vampire was ignored and healed around.
There was stillness for a moment. Chiks stood at the side of the church, a good six metres from the vampire. Hol Horse, meanwhile, was four away, with Emperor aimed. Oingo and Boingo were attached to the opposite wall as Chika, slowly making their way towards the exit. The vampire ignored them, and turned it's focus on Chika.
"A novice." He noted. "Lord DIO has told us of a true Hamon users abilities. To them, breathing is second nature. But a moment of distraction causes you to lose the pattern."
Was the vampire trying to distract her here, by talking to her? "No problem." She replied. "I just need to not get distracted."
The vampire chuckled. "Amachi Chika, is it? I thought you Japanese had more respect for your elders. But, very well. I will just have to show you that I, Father Dima, am not someone to be underestima-"
And then Hol Horse shot his eyes out again.
The priest let out a snarl of rage as he turned in Hol Horse's direction, and charged once more. Chika observed the situation, and smiled.
Father Dima had thought he was safe. He was faster than Chika, and was closer to Hol Horse. To reach him in time, both Hol Horse and herself would need to run at each other, at a pace that would disrupt Chika's breathing. If she had anything else she could throw, the vampire would hear her throw it. She didn't have any options.
Or, at least, that's what the vampire thought. It thought it had found a limit in Chika's ability, and was moving toe exploit it. And now, for his mistake, Chika had the advantage.
Inhale.
Deep Purple drew close to her, a symbolic move more than anything. Chika stretched out a hand before her, just as the vampire did to Hol Horse, to observe him. At least, up until Hol Horse shot that eye as well.
Exhale.
A bubble of air was isolated from the rest, and Chika began modifying the atmosphere within it. The exact science of it was complicated, and something she didn't fully understand, but it worked. The cyborg in Bengal had walked her through it, so even if she couldn't explain why it worked, she just had to go through with it.
The end result was creating a small segment of air that could conduct Hamon. Not for long- Even with the modifications, the air just wasn't a good enough to hold the energy for more than a few seconds, and with the charge she could produce, she had to keep the size small if she wanted to be able to have the Hamon strong enough to do anything.
But the end result was a truly powerful weapon. Small, only noticeable by a faint glow the air gave once Hamon flowed through them, and just as deadly to vampires as a thrown rose.
The instant Chika's hand moved Hamon into the air bubble, Deep Purple shot it forward, transforming it into a bullet that surpassed the speed of sound. Up until it moved, it was impossible to hear coming, and once the bang resounded, it was too late for the vampire to dodge.
Father Dima screamed, as the bullet struck at his stomach. Before it could spread, he lowered his arm to put it at his chest, and sliced. A splatter of blood emerged shot everywhere, and the sound of a cracking spine echoed out. No longer in control of his movement, Father Dima's upper half fell to the floor in front of Hol Horse.
And yet, Father Dima continued to fight.
The vampire didn't hesitate for a second, lunging forward the instant it hit the ground. Hol Horse, naturally, backpedalled from the vicious bloodsucker crawling at him. Making sure not to take his eyes off it, Hol Horse opened fire again, this time shooting off the vampires fingers.
The vampire didn't react to the pain, but the loss of it's fingers was unfortunate for it. A vampire would use it's fingers to plunge into flesh and drink blood, and without them, it was much more difficult to drain foes without causing wounds. It wouldn't last long before it healed, but with how injured the vampire was, it was questionable if it would be able to heal before it was defeated.
Even if the removed arm had already regrown to a short stump, the vampire's regenerative abilities weren't fast enough. As a result, it was forced to be more creative in it's attacks.
With it's arm still extended, the eye on the vampire's hand seemed to focus, before shooting out a jet of fluid. Hol Horse quickly sidestepped, but the vampire shifted it's hand to the side, and the Space Ripper Stingy Eye attack managed to cut through some muscle before the vampire stopped.
Hol Horse cried out in pain as he fell to one knee, and the vampire quickly began crawling forward. Not towards Hol Horse, but to the nearest unconscious body.
The fingerless hand once again began to charge up a shot of pressurised fluid, before another Emperor bullet struck it. Undeterred, the vampire moved to bash it's arm through the stomach of the cultist.
The conflict may not have taken long, but it was long enough for Chika to line up and fire a second Hamon air bullet. Centre of mass again, but as it was, that was lethal enough.
Father Dima was silent even then. Even if he managed to drink the blood of the cultist, the Hamon would reach his brain and kill him soon, and without his fingers, he could hardly remove his head in time.
He was dead. But, he still had time left to make the victory cost Chika. As she watched, a number of blood vessels burst forward from Father Dima's body, tearing through his body and reaching out to grab the injured Hol Horse.
Chika's eyes widened as she realised his intent, and she dropped her Hamon breathing to run to Hol's aid. Just in time, as it turned out, because just as Deep Purple came within range of the conflict, the explosives stored within Father Dima detonated.
It was a rush-job, and not a very successful one, as Chika began to work. Deep Purple pushed the shrapnel of the blast inwards, while also creating a void behind Hol Horse to pull him away from it. A rush job was never good enough, but the damage was contained, at least.
Her push couldn't contain all the shrapnel, nor was a rush-job of a void of air fill itself in a way that was kind to the one affected. Hol Horse was slammed on his back with a thud, and a half-second later, he cried out, as the shrapnel hit his leg. The void wasn't easy on the pre-existing wound either, as his leg's sudden shake seemed to make the bleeding worse.
He wasn't in a good condition. But he was still alive.
For a moment, Chika considered running to his side, but paused. Her work wasn't done yet. Looking over to where the explosion had occurred, Chika started breathing again.
Father Dima's brain hadn't survived the explosion completely intact, but there was still a large chunk of it there, which had been blasted away from the body before the Hamon could reach it. That wouldn't do at all. A brief usage of Deep Purple increased the moisture in the atmosphere, until water collapsed down upon the top of the vampire's remaining brain segments.
Focusing her Hamon, Chika slammed her hand into the ground, letting it ripple through the water. A moment latter, the brain melted away.
Finally, Father Dima was dead.
"There we go." Chika sighed, relieved. "Vampire's down. How bad is it, Horse?"
"Could be better." The cowboy replied, looking at his legs. "Don't really want to risk walking on these. Don't know how much shrapnel is in their, or how deep it went."
"Oingo!" Chika called. "Get in here and lend me a hand. We need to find somewhere to carry Hol Horse."
The Stand User rushed in, the DIO disguise over him fading away, back to his normal appearance. "Hospital?" He asked.
Chika bit her lip. "People probably heard all the explosions. Wouldn't be surprised if the police are on their way. Don't want to attract attention, but..."
"Don't worry." Hol Horse replied. "DIO had contacts in the hospital. Money-grabbers, not fanatics. Give them a cool and offer them a few thousand, and nobody will ever know we were there."
Chika paused. "Are you sure?"
"I checked them out myself." The cowboy replied. "They wanted to know they still had a rich customer, and didn't seem to know about Stands or vampires."
"...We'll have to trust them." Chika decided. "It's not like we have any other options."
"You might want to hurry." Oingo butted in. "I think I can hear sirens."
There was silence for a moment, as the gathered Stand Users listened carefully.
"...I think I hear it too." Hol Horse replied."
"Hold on." Chika interrupted, quickly grabbing some of Father Dima's robes, tearing off a strip of fabric. "Let's try to bandage up that cut, at least a bit. Boingo, go find a back door to this place, so we don't get seen walking out."
The boy who could see the future nodded, as he ran off. Watching after him, a thought occurred to Chika.
"...Did the second panel in his comic ever come true?" She wondered. "I mean, I was celebrating a bit after knocking out Mina, but I wasn't outright posing and everything."
Oingo looked over at her. "You mean you didn't notice?"
"...Notice what?" Chika asked.
"...Never mind." Oingo trailed off, as Chika finished tightening the cloth around the cut that the Space Ripper Stingy Eyes had given Hol Horse. "Let's just get him out of here."
~~~~~
Even with an injured ally, there's no time to wait, to secure the city before DIO's lingering influence become a threat. Even as Hol Horse recovers, Amachi Chika finds herself in yet another situation-[X] An old foe returns to Cairo, looking for their master.
[X] A hidden letter in the church hints at a greater conspiracy.
[X] Written reports reveal persons of interest in the city.
(Just so it's clear, there will be more opportunities to follow these plot threads, though each plot thread leads to further plot threads. Choosing the first option just means you encounter the old foe before Chika reads the letter or report, and choosing one of the others means she finds out information that she decides to act on before she reads the other/the old foe strikes. There may be consequences for delaying a plot thread, however.)
The Fourth Monado
S U B A R A S H I I
- Location
- Away
[X] A hidden letter in the church hints at a greater conspiracy.
- Location
- Your Native Universe
[X] Written reports reveal persons of interest in the city.
- Location
- Elsewhere
[X] A hidden letter in the church hints at a greater conspiracy.
I'm taking my ride with destiny
Willing to play my part
Living with painful memories
Loving with all my heart
「 Made in Heaven...Made in Heaven」
I'm taking my ride with destiny
Willing to play my part
Living with painful memories
Loving with all my heart
「 Made in Heaven...Made in Heaven」
Finagle007
[Verified Great Old One]
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
[X] Written reports reveal persons of interest in the city.
Who could the "old foe" be? All of Dio's minions we encountered during the Crusade are dead, incapacitated, or working for us.
Who could the "old foe" be? All of Dio's minions we encountered during the Crusade are dead, incapacitated, or working for us.
The Out Of World
Lichte's Brain
- Location
- -
[X] A hidden letter in the church hints at a greater conspiracy.
The other options will definitely lead us into combat sooner; the first is most likely one of Part III's enemy Stand Users coming back, maybe one of the Egyptian God Users. Hol Horse is an integral member of the team, so he'll need time to let those shrapnel and space ripper wounds before we start stirring shit up.
The other options will definitely lead us into combat sooner; the first is most likely one of Part III's enemy Stand Users coming back, maybe one of the Egyptian God Users. Hol Horse is an integral member of the team, so he'll need time to let those shrapnel and space ripper wounds before we start stirring shit up.
The Out Of World
Lichte's Brain
- Location
- -
Some basic mooks and essential contacts are working for the gang, sure, but there are plenty of Stand Users who were personally devoted to DIO. Mariah. Midler. D'Arby was one of DIO's closest confidants and his second pick for the Heaven Plan after Pucci. Steely Dan was trusted enough by DIO to handle his flesh bud killswitches. Those are the most apparent choices, but the list of possible candidates goes on.
Finagle007
[Verified Great Old One]
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Mariah is almost certainly incapacitated for quite some time, after Joseph and Avdol used her own Stand to crush her. Midler had all her teeth punched out by Jotaro. D'arby the Elder is a gambler, not a fighter, and his brother got ORA-ORA'd not too long ago. And as for Dan... well...
After THAT, I'd be very surprised if he's out of the hospital. If he's even alive.
The Out Of World
Lichte's Brain
- Location
- -
In which case we'd have even less of an idea of what we're going up against, being unable to consult Hol Horse while we're fighting and he's stuck in the hospital.
Dragonjackel
GOLDEN Judgement
- Location
- Gregory House
[X] A hidden letter in the church hints at a greater conspiracy.
For the record, even though I'm voting for what I assume to lead towards Gay Priest, the Old Foe could very well be Midler, broken teeth don't take too long to heal from, it could also be Anubis, or something else dangerous, Death 13, perhaps?
For the record, even though I'm voting for what I assume to lead towards Gay Priest, the Old Foe could very well be Midler, broken teeth don't take too long to heal from, it could also be Anubis, or something else dangerous, Death 13, perhaps?
ChildishChimera
A umbran summon
- Location
- New York
[X] A hidden letter in the church hints at a greater conspiracy.
- Location
- Here
[X] A hidden letter in the church hints at a greater conspiracy.
This quest looks promising and with even with my limited knowledge of JoJo. I'm quite interested to see how this will go.
This quest looks promising and with even with my limited knowledge of JoJo. I'm quite interested to see how this will go.
LostDeviljho
Flame Dragon Princess
- Location
- The glorious Pacific Northwest
- Pronouns
- Any
[X] A hidden letter in the church hints at a greater conspiracy.
BlizzardWizard
Phantom Detective!
- Location
- Denmark
[X] A hidden letter in the church hints at a greater conspiracy.
BlizzardWizard
Phantom Detective!
- Location
- Denmark
[X] A hidden letter in the church hints at a greater conspiracy.
No. of Votes: 9
[X] Written reports reveal persons of interest in the city.
No. of Votes: 4
[X] An old foe returns to Cairo, looking for their master.
No. of Votes: 1
Total No. of Voters: 14
No. of Votes: 9
[X] Written reports reveal persons of interest in the city.
No. of Votes: 4
[X] An old foe returns to Cairo, looking for their master.
No. of Votes: 1
Total No. of Voters: 14
I would recommend downloading NetTally. Makes keeping track of votes trivial.
Takoe
Dad
- Location
- Xehafort
Mort doesn't tally on principle. It's an investment check on the players.
BlizzardWizard
Phantom Detective!
- Location
- Denmark
Well, that actually sounds fairly reasonable. A nice little way of checking on things.