“orange and blue.. Orange and blue.. Must be highway patrol”As the woman pulled over to the side of the road, her mind racing with thoughts of what she might have done wrong, as the motorcycle with the flashing lights passed her. She wondered when the officer would stop and approaches her.. 

"Can you believe this traffic?" the radio announcer blared. "It's bumper to bumper on I-95 this evening. Be sure to tune in to our traffic updates for the latest information."

The woman let out a sigh, grateful that she wasn't stuck in the bumper to bumper traffic. But her relief was short-lived when she saw the motorcycle fall over and the officer's head come off.

"Holy..." she muttered to herself, her voice barely above a whisper. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. "What the... what is happening?"

She walked slowly towards the motorcycle, her footsteps crunching on the gravel on the side of the road. The only sound was the soft hum of the radio in the background.

As she got closer to the officer's body, she noticed a strange smell in the air. It was a mixture of gasoline and something else, something metallic. She couldn't quite place it.

"This must be… Larry Land..."

    Chapter 1 Good morning larryland

As the sun sets on the quiet streets of downtown, a young girl named Yankee Rose walks confidently towards a group of menacing-looking individuals. With a self-assured smirk on her face, 

Her name is Yankee rose.. She has the uncanny ability known as a stand power.. She is currently 19 years old and lives within larryland.. She braids her hair in different ways depending on the day of the week.. Today she is wearing her plain pig tails 2 long tufts of hair hanging from the back of her head.. She is on her way to the coastal district to confront a boy she has deeply fallen in love with about the group he’s chosen to associate with.. The fazers.. Speaking of which…

She is halted by members of the Fasers, a notorious gang known for their ruthless ways. An enforcer named Kid Carbon steps forward and attempts to fight her, eager to prove his worth to his superiors.

But Yankee Rose is not easily intimidated. She stands her ground, her hand clenched tightly around her phone, which she uses to channel her powers. Suddenly, her phone explodes in her pocket, leaving a wound in her leg and distracting her from her focus. As a result, her stand disperses into thin air.

Kid Carbon takes advantage of her vulnerable state and kicks her across the face, sending her tumbling to the ground. But just when he thinks he has won, Yankee Rose surprises him by spraying a bottle full of hobo pee at him, throwing him off balance and giving her time to recover.

She quickly gets up and puts her hand to the ground, re-manifesting her stand. With a fierce determination, she sends metal down through the sidewalk, building enough pressure to spew out under Kid Carbon.

Kid Carbon dodges the metal by doing a backflip, thinking he has avoided Yankee Rose's attack. But she informs him as he completes his jump that the liquid won't fall down; instead, it has already hardened into a spike.

With lightning-fast reflexes, Kid Carbon tries to dodge the spike, but he is too slow. He falls into the spikes, getting pierced through his thigh. 

While the other gang members try to tend to Kid Carbon, Yankee Rose runs away, proud of her victory and eager to continue honing her stando ability.

   Chapter 2 The aeroplane flies high

Yankee Rose looks for her friend and the only person she knows and trusts with a similar ability to her. “He called it something like a grave.. Grave architect” she finds him but he’s talking to a tall woman with long blonde hair wearing some kind of uniform… yankee rose hides behind a corner and listens.. Yankee hears her tell him “I can help you get out of larryland.. All you gotta do is work for me” yankee reaching the peak of her curiosity comes out looking tough “who are you.. What do you mean you can get him out of larryland..”  sterling pipes up “y-yankee.. This girl her name is-” he is cut off. “I asked her, sterling.. You, what is your name, where did you come from..” the lady takes off her hat, “my name is gish.. And I came from outside the barrier.. I found a way to get between it..” yankee rose sneers “forgive me but i’d like some proof..” gish smirks “let me ask.. Do you like mangos.. The tropical fruit.. The sweet kind.. Fresh mangos..” yankee halts for a moment “yeah, I do.. Mangos were super good.. At Least from what I remember.. I haven’t had any since I was 15.. 4 years ago.. A month or 2 since Larryland went up.. And all the mangos were either bought up or went rotten.. Eventually all the mangos within Larryland were gone.. I miss a lot of pre Larryland food.. But what's that got to do with any of this..”

Gish reaches into her pocket and pulls out a fresh looking mango and tosses it to yankee.. “W-what?! Is this really.. But how..” yankee observes it for a moment “i told you.. I come from outside larry-” gish stops.. “Uh.. you- youre supposed to peel those… “ yankee had bitten into the mango peel included and began chewing.. “Y-yeah i just couldn’t wait.. Man… this is totally the real deal.. Just like before larryland…” yankee had a look of overwhelming joy.. “So.. do you believe me now?” gish says slyly.. “Y-yeah.. Totally.. But.. how how did you get through that barrier alive..” gish puts  her hat back on and stares at yankee menacingly.. “I’m here for a reason.. Y’know.. I could actually use your help.. Some employers of mine, they aren’t important right now but what is important is that I need stand users like you to fulfill their orders. I need someone to help me take care of the fasers.. And possibly dismantle larryland..” yankee looks at her.. “Where you.. Gonna kill him.. Where you gonna kill sterling for his involvement with the fasers..” gish looks at sterling.. “No, sterling is more than compliant.. He’s gonna help me take down some high rankers.. He doesn’t know much about the fasers since he’s only just joined them but he knows of one man who might know more.. The head of dock control.. Hydra”Yankee drops her mango.. She runs to gish and grabs her uniform by the color.. “You better not be using him as bait.. Sterling isn’t some sacrifice you can just use y’know..” gish only looks back with a unreadable expression, too neutral to glean anything from.. “Then i suppose if you really want to ensure his safety and escape larryland alive.. You’ll do what I say.. You’ll help me take down the fazers.. He was telling me about your stand.. What do you call it..” yankee rose looks left and right to make sure nobody else is listening in.. “my stand's name is [the aeroplane flies high]” she says letting go of gish..

Chapter 3 grave architecture & synchronicity   

The ocean was roaring today.. The sun began to rise over the horizon with red skies.. A storm at sea no doubt.. Gish looked out from her vantage point.. A small lifeguard shack overlooking the pier.. She was hunkered down along with sterling and yankee rose.. She grabbed binoculars and scoped out what looked like an office on the pier.. A former fishing and bait shack.. Now adapted with blinders.. A dock was a little ways out.. That was where hydra usually worked.. However “today's his day off.. When he’s not operating the eastern imports he usually sleeps in his shack.. If I or anyone else needs him I just go to the bonfire near the pier and light it.. He comes out to meet with me there..” gish looked satisfied.. “Then that's what you’re gonna do.. When he gets out in the open, that's when you spring your stand on him.. Try to get him over here where we’re gonna bury yankee in the sand.. When he steps around there yankee can use her stand to attack him while he’s off guard.. From there I’ll start.. Uhm.. negotiations..” 

Sterling went toward the bonfire and took out a bottle of lighterfluid.. He struck a match and set the drift wood on fire.. Almost immediately a wind chime could be heard from the office of hydra.. He noticed the fire and looked at sterling.. They waved to each other and hydra made his way down to the bonfire.. When he got there hydra looked at sterling with a smile and said “so what’d you need… is there something wrong with the docks..?”  sterlings eyes darted around the landscape as he tried to mumble a few words.. “Well uhm” or was it something about a mission, i hope i made everything clear..” hydra said.. Sterling still mumbled.. “Oh.. I get it.. I see what you’re doing.. You sneaky weasle..” hydra looked at sterling while reaching for something like his back pocket.. Sterlings heart began to race.. The sun was about fully exposed and the heat was more apperant than ever sterling felt sweat coming from his head.. “you dog, I suppose you have earned a raise-” hydra was gut off by a punch to the chest that sent him flying towards where yankee was hiding.. Sterling breathed a massive sigh… a gasp even..”grave architecture.. Thats what I’ve called this ability.. A gift.. There was a point when my emotions would overwhelm me.. My rage, my anxiety, my sadness, even joy would get the better of me.. Drive me to lose focus.. Until… grave architechture gave me the ability to make it someone elses problem..” as sterling says this hydra begins to get up to his feet.. However he is dizzy and gasping for air.. He begins sweating as he stumbles.. Then sits… then opts to lay down.. Even when he’s on the ground he cannot help but writhe around.. Not from the pain or shock of getting hit in the chest but because of a nauseating dizzy spell he can’t shake.. “I- I should of.. Seen.. you never took my wad of cash.. Not in that path.. Guh..” hydra said with a shaky voice.. “I was good to you.. I wanted to see you rise up the ranks.. Like I did..” an aura begins to glow around him and his skin begins glowing with some kind of net.. He suddenly gets up.. His feet steady and planted even in the loose sand.. “No matter how dizzy I am, my path has been set.. I am meant to stand here and nowhere else..” he says this as aeroplane springs from beneath him with a net of hot metal spewing out…

Hydra jumps but instinctively grabs a shoe from his foot.. 

As he falls down he puts the shoe on his hand and grabs onto a firm piece of the metal net.. 

To the shock of sterling and yankee.. “Ah I see.. The rubber’s protecting my hand while melting around the bar so I maintain the grip.. Very nice work ... [synchronicity] 

 Chapter 4 glean & every breath you take 

sterling charges towards hydra “so that's the nature of your ability huh? You can maintain your balance somehow..” he makes his way to where hydra is balancing and sends grave architecture to strike him.. Hydra launches himself out of the way, grave architecture only strikes the metal structure sending it flying a few meters away.. “Why’d you never show me your stands true strength.. Is so much stronger than you described it as..” hydra says slinking behind sterling.. 

He reveals his stand, it manifests itself as 2 heads with long necks sprouting from hydra’s neck.. “You havent begun to understand synchronicity” hydra says grabbing the neck of sterling.. “I am where I am right where i need to be..” yankee rose rises from her hideout in the sand and prepares to attack.. “Listen here.. I’ll stomp you no matter what your stand is..” before she can lift her foot off the ground a spike seems to protrude from the sand.. No not a spike its a liquid a fountain of liquid metal is springing from the sand scorching yankees calf.. When she stumbles forward she hits a more solidifies spout of metal.. “H-how can this be.. Its in its exact formation too.. But I never-” hydra pipes up “everymove you make.. Every motion your stand makes.. It can happen once again.. As long as i’ve seen it, i can repeat it using syncronicityies sub ability [everybreath you take]” as long as I have these i am unstoppable.. He takes out a knife and attempts to bring it up to sterlings neck.. But stops before he can get past his chin.. “How curious.. With synchronicity I can see 3 paths I can take.. Despite knowing in my heart of hearts that I’ve decided to cut your throat open none of my paths are depicting me doing the motions to do so.. Infact all I see is.. A- A bullet!” as he realises this a bullet comes wizzing through the air.. Sterling and hydra fall to the ground.. “That would be mine..” gish says holding a revolver chained to her jacket like a pocket watch.. Yankee screams “G-GISH!!! Did you just kill sterling..!” she walks over to sterling and hydra.. “So what if i did..” she says coldly.. “GI—--ISH! You asshole!” yankee rose screamed dejectedly at gish so hard her voice began to turn into whimpers..

Gish snaps back “will you shut up! He’s fine, I just hit his ear a bit..hydra looks dead” she observes hydra’s face but finds no bullet hole.. Hydra opens his eyes and looks at gish.. Gish gasps and steps back as hydra throws his knife towards her.. “Yes my blade must fly true.. It follows its path perfectly and disappears.! Probably lost in the middle of your heart!” hydra says with a euphoric grin.. Gish stumbles backwards and falls into the sand.. Hydra stands up.. “Guess I'm a better actor than I thought.. You barely grazed my hair and you really thought you blew my top off..all i had to do was lay still for a bit..” he walks over sterling and past gish as yankee ,still trapped in the metal structure, curses into the air.. When passing gish he glances to admire his work.. But notices 2 eyes glaring at him.. Before he can do a double take he sees Gish throwing something at him “[GLE~~~AN]!” she says as a glass block with the hologram of a knife comes towards hydra.. Hydra tilts his head so the block will miss him.. However he cannot seem to see a path walking away from him as he should.. The only path he can take is one where he crumples to the floor.. Another where he lurches forward with a look of agony.. And one where he turns his head behind him.. He instinctively looks behind himself and sees the glass block cracking apart releasing the knife hitting him between his arm and chest.. “Guh” is all he can muster as he starts to cough up blood.. Stumbling backwards he falls to the floor.. “My greatest weakness.. Is the futility of fighting fate.. I can drive myself mad trying to find a path that would take me back to my office.. But all of these paths must have been leading right here.. Me on the floor..” he says regrettably.. 

After gish helps yankee out of her own contraption she goes to see if she can get some answers from hydra.. Yankee Rose was not concerned with hydra rushing over to sterling to gish’s dismay.. 

“Listen you were real lucky to avoid getting hit with that knife somewhere vital.. It barely punctured your chest.. I guess you can still speak..” gish says standing over hydra.. Hydra whimpers out “what the hell do you guys want..” gish looks out to the ocean.. “Many people think my methods are slow.. But i prefer methodical.. Essentially I've found sterlings boss… and while you are powerful I don't think you put up larryland.. Therefore it stands to reason you have a boss.. And if that boss has a boss then I’ll ask about him too.. Whether this pattern is paved in blood is your choice.. So I'm gonna be nice and ask.. Do you have anything you want outside of larryland.. There must be something out there you miss.. Nobody's content here…”

Hydra sits up “do you know the price of betraying a superior is in this organization.. Because I can show you.! I’ll kill that kid the moment you turn your backs.. !” gish glares down at him.. “Go Ahead.. While you were incapacitated I took the time to slip something in your wound..” hydra went pale as gish continued “it's a small wound now.. But how big do you think if something like say.. A revolver sprang out in there..” hydra just realized what this meant.. “You.. you rigged a trap in me!? What the hell is wrong with you! You piece of shit” hydra said in a huff.. “I wouldn't rattle it around too much.. Not until it heals a bit..if it rattles around too much it’ll break on its own.. You might as well just punch your side and let it burst your chest cavity if you insist on throwing a fit..” gish warned.. Hydra slumps in utter defeat.. Fine.. what do you want.. 

Chapter 5 lovely land

Around 4 years ago a strange phenomenon began occurring. Around numerous routes, highways, and neighborhoods entering the southern and central california area began reporting various abnormal deaths. People entering and exiting a certain threshold would crumple to the ground after a certain point and be observed receiving numerous lacerations. Eventually it was established that there was some kind of invisible barrier which would kill and destroy anything that passed through it whether entering or leaving.. Using various fruits it was established that this barrier was a border which extended all the way down to palm springs.. Up to fresno and eastward to the mojave area.. However it couldn’t quite reach nevada… westward a strange pattern appeared, when exiting the west coast you could sail for a great distance, at first it was believed that the ocean defied this barrier but a fishing crew soon discovered the border only created a non linear trail which extended outwards.. While it is suspected that the trail leads to a pacific island or eastern nation the course has been nearly impossible to chart with previous methods.. Only a few boats had been sent out in the last 4 years but the only one to come back had a crew composed of a previously local gang known as deedroah’s fasers, this group also claims to have imposed this border which they have dubbed “larryland..” currently the leader and one of his closest allies are at sea maintaining their own trade.. 

Yankee rose awakes to an answering machine.. It was currently hooked up to an archaic stationary phone, while it was still digital and hooked up to a wireless network it still looked and acted like a landline.. She gets out of bed and spills on the nearest clothes which was whatever she wore last..a long jacket.. But she decided to check her messages before she does her hair.. Today was tuesday.. She had to do a double braid..

Checking the machine heard a familiar voice.. “Rose.. it's me sterling.. Some guys are at the park.."Rose went pale as she checked her apartment's guest room.. She had it reserved for sterling since he had nowhere else to stay.. She listened to the message some more.. “One of them is following me but the other seems to appear ahead of me when I'm not looking.. I can hear some kind of engine around here but I'm not seeing any cars.. One's got a white beanie that covers his eyes and blonde hair.. Another is a girl wearing some kind of parka… it's super strange but I don't think she’s sweating.. Not even in this weather.. I called gish but I think she’s on an errand.. Hydra’s recovering at the docks.. Do you think you can come down here-” the message cuts off there..  Yankee rose is already out the door with her hair ties as she makes her way to the local park.. 

Getting there she looks around the route sterling walked with her a few weeks back.. She doesn’t see much of anyone.. But she does notice strange tire marks on the sidewalk.. “This sidewalk isn’t meant for cars.. And it's not accessible due to the trees and bollards around here.. How could some tire tracks get here? '' yankee thought and examined the tracks “they’re odd too, they’re unmistakable streaks from a tire but the imprints seem to be diamond shaped…

Yankee looks outward and runs to the address Gish gave her.. She hoped it was her home address as she belonged to find help.. 

Chapter 6 Ghost in the machine

“can you make this truck go faster?” a voice shouted over the engine.. Sterling began opening his eyes, noticing he was in some sort of truck bed.. “It's not a truck you hear! I'm sick of you calling it that.. It's obviously an el camino..” a female voice shouted back..

 “El caminos are a type of truck dipshit!” cracked the boy..

“Shut the hell up this thing can only teleport short distances.. And it eats fuel like hell..” she resides.. Sterling can finally make them out.. The boy was shouting through the window from the truck bed.. While the girl was driving in the front.. 

Looking around, sterling searched his surroundings.. A long flat desert.. On a highway.. A few hills in the distance but overall it was a barren wasteland besides the gas station every now and again.. “My stand needs fuel just like yours needs electronics to activate..”

This was when sterling noticed what he was leaning against, it was a ton of electronics.. Various laptops phones RC vehicles.. And cameras.. “Oh… hey you’re awake.. I guess that means i gotta interrogate you now..” the boy said.. sterling stood up preparing for a fight.. “Oh don’t do that.. I’ll forgive you for thinking you can actually fight back since you don’t actually know how vunerable you are..” the boy said pointing to the box of electronics.. Sterling glanced at them, they seemed normal.. The boy explained “my name is kid carbon.. Im one of your superiors, I manage the highway with my ally platinum mink.. You’re a guest in her car as of right now.. My stand is [ghost in the machine] and her’s is [mink car] separately you may hold a candle but together you aren’t just outnumbered, infact if i wanted too right now i could just kill you outright.. sensing danger sterling looked behind him and noticed a humanoid figure with a battery shaped head.. It had many tiny tendrils protruding from the gaps in its figure.. They where attaching themselves to the electronics in the crates..

 Sterling finally understood as kid carbon began to speak again “i mostly use my stand for reconnaissance.. Im hooked up to every physical attribute in technology.. Microphones, cameras, batteries, and screens. There is no traitor that can hide from me unless they live like ted kazinsky.. I might not be watching all the time but i can be watching at anytime.. Still some information escapes me sometimes.. That gish girl.. I can’t seem to tell what she is.. I can’t locate her i can’t find out what she’s doing.. It drives me mad that someone can bypass my ability..” carbon begins to tread closer with a mean look in his eyes.. He holds a phone up to his ear.. And he hears a voice.. Its yankee rose running around breathing heavily.. “Have you seen a girl.. Real tall.. Blonde hair? Does she live here?” another voice can be heard, “im sorry ma’am but this is a  jewlery gallery.. It closes at 7 and it's non residential.. But I have seen that girl you talk about.. For a while now she comes in around closing time.. Somehow she always leaves as I look away.. Although yesterday she never came in..” did she get a new phone? Or is this something else.. Sterling piped in “its, it's probably her toy mouse.. It has a speaker and a microphone, she doesn’t leave home without it for some reason..” kid carbon looks satisfied “yeah, yeah that would work.. Anyway that's not the only reason I’m putting this phone up to your ear.. You can think of it like a gun to your head.. Have you heard of spontaneous combustion? It doesn’t just happen in humans you know” 

Sterling remembered the serge of smartphones that would explode after their battery reached a certain point.. He could start feeling the heat radiating off the phone.. “listen it might not be much but I doubt your stand can defend you from all of these phones going off at once.. No matter how quick it is… and when it's this close.. Can you even deflect it? I wonder” kid carbon looked more menacing than ever.. This must have been the guy yankee was talking about ,sterling thought.. She had shown him her wound from her phone’s combustion.. It was brutal.. A clear crater made in her thigh.. He wondered what that would do to his head.. Now the phone was pressed to his ear.. Could his stand deflect that shrapnel? Even if it could, these crates were powder kegs.. If he was gonna fight back he would have to kill kid carbon.. quickly .. 

“Even Though i’ve never killed anyone.. I would have to do so if I was gonna deactivate his stand ability.. If I was gonna muster the strength to put my hand through his heart fast enough I'd have to gather my strength.. Rage comes to mind.. But I'm more scared than anything.. I'm dizzy again.. It would get him disoriented for sure but it wouldn’t be enough to kill him..” sterling thought to himself.. [Grave architecture] is a stand built on emotions.. Just like [a mink car] needs fuel and just like [aeroplane flies high] needs some scrap metal [grave architechture] needs emotions to use its ability.. Otherwise it's only another generic humanoid stand.. While it could fight it needed emotions from sterling viper to be effective.. However all that he can muster right now is fear and anxiety. A dizzy feeling can result from that but how could he use that now.. 

Chapter 7 Mink car 

Kid carbon began his interrogation “i wanna know who gish is.. Start with her name.. Does she have a full name or does she just have one name like cher.. 

“I dunno, '' Sterling said mockingly.. Kid carbon asked again.. “What do you mean you don’t know.. Didn’t she give you her name when she introduced herself.? Did she give you any kind of identification? In Fact screw the name, why did you betray your gang for this girl, how did she convince you..!” 

Sterling took a moment to look around.. He looked back with a dopey look “there's a girl?”

Kid carbon looked visibly impatient.. He proceeded to grab sterling by the collar.. He looked through the window of the truck “lowrider mode.. “ platinum mink turned a lever on the console and the car began bouncing a bit.. 

Suddenly kid carbon dragged sterling to the edge of the car and dipped sterlings head near the road… “we’re going about 78 mph that's fast enough to dome you if i start dragging you along the pavement! I’ll ask you again: Who was the girl! What did she promise you! Are you ready to die!

“I-I’ll tell you, but.. Would you answer one question? It's really important..” 

Sterling said nervously.. “Do you think you’re in the position to play games kid! You’re shaking like a leaf..” carbon snapped back

Sterling suddenly asked, “do you like pavement?” kid carbon looked at him furiously ready to push him down.. Until he realized he was pushing him upwards and towards the car.. In Fact the only one not in the car was him. He was in the air still holding onto sterling.. “W-what the hell? When did I get in the air!?” kid carbon screamed as she fell towards the ground… “

“It happens right around when you lose your balance.. Your inner ear got confused when I put my nausea into you.. You must have been nervous too.. It worked so much better than I thought.. “

Kid carbon began dragging along the pavement as [grave architecture] appeared stomping him further into the speeding pavement.. Kid carbon could only let out a guttural “Bastard!” 

Sterling could only grin as he held on to his wrist.. “What~~you want me to let go~~~o?” sterling began to release his arm but something odd occurred.. “You didn’t let me finish… i think you got so confident in your victory you forgot where you were sitting..” kid carbons words echoed as sterling realized he was still sitting on a pile of phones.. They began to heat up and then combust…. “I put a little bit of gasoline in there just to make sure it would have an extra kick!”

Sterling is launched forward while kid carbon uses sterlings body as momentum to grab onto a part of [mink car]

Kid carbon pulls himself back into the truck bed and gathers himself.. He looks out to the road, sterling is nowhere to be seen.. “Heh.. hehe.. haaahahaaaAHAHAH!” kid carbon begins laughing.. “I almost died.. But that stupid brat couldn’t hold a candle to [ghost in the machine]..

 Still too bad we couldn't get much out of him.. That girls voice.. I couldn’t make out much of it over his phone.. And i see why.. Its super old, does it even work..? Still i could probably wager a guess to what what what she said.. Probably promised him a good time.. A guy like that is probably starving for some cat right? Huh mink? Mink., oy mink im talking to you..” he peers into the driver seat and sees mink starring at the steering wheel.. She turns to kid carbon.. “I’ve always hated that stupid hat.. Its always looked stupid.. But i guess its better than looking at your ugly face..” she said with venom in her voice.. “But i guess your ugly mug distracts me from your shitty hair.. Or your scrawny neck.. You’re just a big fucking mess, how’d i get paired up with a stupid piece of shit like you.. Couldn’t even interrogate some kid.. And you think you can gloat?” kid carbon is shocked, he’s never heard mink talk like this to him or anyone.. She’s a very reserved girl who usually shows her anger by sulking.. She’s only let her anger boil over once.. When i guy wouldn’t stop bugging her at a bar.. He grabs the top of mink car and looks inward… “hey wheres this coming from.. We got other leads.. We just gotta ride back.. Kid carbon feels a strange heat from mink car crawling up his arm, he’s starting to feel a surge aswell.. “Guh.. I, wait..” kid carbon said trying to compose himself.. “M-my ugly mug? You’re the one who needs that parka to hide you’re pudgy body.. No wonder you need it during spring.. You gotta hide your blubber don’t you..!” he tells her mockingly.. Mink presses her foot against the accelerator.. “I wear it because its cute.. And comfy.. Something you’d never understand.. And at least I don't sweat like you.. You’re sweating like a pig.. You smell like one too. Do you even apply deodorant!?” she said accelerating faster.. Kid carbon observes his outfit.. “Hey yah, it's hot out but i'm already soaking.. And I don't seem to be cooling down at all.. And now that I think about it, this head doesn’t even feel like it's coming from the sun.. it's coming from within me.. What the hell is this heat..” kid carbon hears a faint voice… “this is the heat of rage…” kid carbon turns around to see where the voice is coming from.. An ethereal blue figure ordained in armor with 2 horns protruding from its cobalt helmet… “this is the heat of rage from [grave architecture]” kid cobalt stepped back only to be grabbed by the neck.. The standing fingers digging into carbon’s neck.. He was pulled downward towards the truck bed.. While sterlings stand was pulled through the truck bed, kid carbon was not so lucky dislocating his jaw from the impact..

 Just as platinum mink looked behind her she noticed a nape in her wheel.. It was as if something was attached to it making it a bumpy ride.. She immediately turned off her hydraulics thinking something got damaged but then the figure launched himself onto the truck bed.. 

Sterling says defiantly “I used my stand to protect me while i clinged to your wheel, just like a rolly polly.. I used the momentum to launch myself back up here.. I can’t believe i made it.. “

Kid carbon kneeled on his knees trying to hold his jaw.. “Yu.. .yu… uh.. Aaah..” kid carbon gave up on speaking just holding up sterlings phone.. Sterling understood that with that he had the ability to detonate the toy rat and any other electronic yankee rose could be around..

 Sterling thought about how many phones could be on the street.. But more importantly a story yankee recently told him while they were tending to her wounds.. 

“Did you know they have to blindfold people when they go to the chair.. The electricity makes their eyes burst.. Something like that happened to my dad.. Except his eyes fizzled.. He wasn’t executed by the chair or anything.. He was actually a sheriff.. You’d think he’d die in the line of duty or something… but he died during a storm.. Me and mama were with him on the way home.. He didn’t realize how big the puddle was and when a car whizzed by he lost his balance.. I had to watch him seize up.. The smoke coming off his body.. The smell from my leg reminds me of that..” sterling watched her tear up, he never wanted to see that distress on her face again

Sterling knew what danger they would be in if  kid carbon got his way.. Even with a broken jaw his grin was apparent.. The sun began to beat down on sterling..  Right as kid carbon started getting up [grave architecture] smashed his arm clean off..  

The phone was destroyed in the process but that was the least of carbon’s concerns.. He gripped his empty wrist “guUAAAAHHHHH” [grave architecture] proceeded to rapidly beat kid carbon until he was utterly defeated.. “Don’t worry.. I took the liberty of cauterizing your hand.. 2 fingers and a thumb is all you really need..” he told kid carbon this revealing he had only broken his wrist and sent 3 fingers flying along with the phone.. However kid carbon was already un conscious.. The barrage broke a couple legs and his other arm in the process.. “He walks up to the driver window and stares at the driver.. “Oy.. mink car was it? You wanna stop.. Unless you really wanna end up like your friend kid carbon.- eh?” looking at the girl's face she had tears streaming down her face.. “P-please, don’t hurt me…I’ll stop the car, I’ll even drive you back..” 

Sterling looked confused “hey- i already told you if you’re willing to let me go i won’t hurt you..” he then noticed she was looking past him and she said “w-what about her..” sterling looked behind himself noticing the sadistic glare from gish.. In his shock sterling said “G-GISH! When.. how did you get here..” gish looked at sterling and presse her hand against his thigh.. I was in here.. Your pocket But after you beat up kid carbon it broke my room.. This was when sterling noticed the truck bed was full of furniture and various uniforms.. “That was all my stuff..” gish said annoyed.. Sterling started to apologies when he stopped.. Wait.. why did you put you and you’re room in a hologram.. And why did you put it in my pocket.. And when did you-” gish cut off sterling “you caen drive yourself mad trying to figure it out.. But right now i wanna know why you haven’t killed kid carbon and this girl yet..” gish said without skipping a beat.. Sterling looked shocked while mink started begging for her life again reaffirmed in the present danger.. “W-well, i already got carbon down for the count.. And platnium mink promised to drive us back already.. They are no longer a threat right.. “ sterling felt convincing but gish rebuttled “ we have everything we need to get back.. And even if they don’t attack us right now they can attack us later… if you’re so adiment about leaving threats alive then maybe i should consider you a threat.. “ she said pulling out a knife.. Im glad you didn’t give him any information about me, even though you don’t know much about me i’m grateful you didn’t reveal my stand to him.. However he’s still prooved he’s a genuine threat..” gish says this as she proceeds to stab the top of his head.. Pulling out the blade she gets blood on the mink car and the face of sterling who now has a look of shock.. “Y-you just killed him.. So grusomly too.. How how  could you..” 

Gish stares at him “when he comes to do you think he’d let us get away.. His stand could be activated anywhere.. If prisons were still in place we’d be able to lock him up but most of the authority here is either non-existent or held by the leaders of larryland.. Right?” sterling looks down.. “Y-yeah i guess..you’re right..” gish look towards the driver.. “Now about her..'' mink visibly got nervous.. Sterling spoke up “she- she’s already driving us back.. She’s not a threat right?” gish seemingly ignores sterling and walks to  her.. “Oy.. how far can you stand teleport..” she squeaks.. “10.. 9 or 10 meters a radius.. It doesn’t have the same range as a ghost in the machine.. Infact.. As long as you're in [mink car] i can’t really fight back..” gish looks at her shifty.. But seems satisfied with her.. Whether it's the limitations of her stand or the fear in her eyes.. Sterling is unsure.

Chapter 8 Alicia sicari

yankeerose resides herself to her home without a way to find sterling or gish.. She soon hears a phone call from her house phone.. “H-hello?” she said in a worried voice.. “Y-yankee.. It's me, I'm with gish.. We’re somewhere in the Mojave desert and we’re driving back to Los angeles.. I took care of the enemies.. '' Yankee Rose was already breathing a sigh of relief.. “Thank goodness I thought you disappeared.. Do you know when you’ll be back?” 

Sterling responds “y-yeah apparently when they knocked me out they started driving for about 2 or 3 hours so i guess, uh, 2 to 3 hours..” 

Yankee rose relief melts away when she remembers what she needs to tell sterling.. “L-listen sterling.. I need you to listen closely.. Gish.. she can’t be who she says she is.. I just couldn't shake this feeling that something about her was off.. She’s strange, sure but I think she has alternative motives.. In Fact she never came from beyond larryland.. She- she's been around town for about 4 years.. She’s lived here right around when larryland was put up.. That mango.. She stored it in her stand’s stasis ability.. She must of.. No matter what, don't let your guard down around her..”

Sterling agreed with her and said vague conversational dialogue to make it seem like they were only casually talking.. And then hung up.. 

Sterling looked towards Gish and gave her phone back… Sterling read her face and it seemed aggressively neutral. She stared out into the desert.. And eventually went to sleep.. Sterling looked at her long eyelashes when she slept.. When he did he could feel his heart flutter.. Something about the sky and how it reflected onto her face.. Something about it made his heart skip a beat.. “Who is gish.. And despite her shifty nature.. Why do I feel so drawn to her.. Why was she drawn to me…

Sterling noticed something on a dresser that hadn’t fallen out of the car.. It had a drawer that cracked a jar.. Sterling looked and saw a small school ID.. the ID was definitely from a while ago but the lady in the picture looked as if she could be gish’s little sister.. Only the name on the card was not gish… “alicia sicarii.. That's her name.. She looks so much more happy here.. Her smile is gleaming”.. Sterling looked up to her sleeping face.. “But i think i like her face better when the sky’s light bats over her eyelashes..” sterling looked down  at the ID again but noticed a hand on his wrist..! Looking up again he noticed gish’s eyes were wide awake.. Before he could say anything, Gish had pushed him to the side of the truck bed.. “Listen, didn’t your mother ever teach you not to sift through people's stuff..?”  

Sterling visibly nervous “i-I just got curious.. “ 

Gish glared at sterling.. And released his arm spitefully.. 

Gish looked towards the driver.. “Mink.. how long until we get there..”

Mink spoke with a gleeful voice.. “We’re already in city limits, in fact we’re about to come upon the high school…. “ before gish or sterling could ask her why the [mink car] had already teleported.. It reappeared over the empty campus.. However the car was upside down spilling out gish and sterling.. Into an open field.. 

“Guh.. that bitch..” sterling cursed.. “Ali-  gish are you alright..” sterling looked towards gish.. 

“Shut up sterling..” gish grabbed sterling by the collar.. “Who do you think you are huh? I ask for your help and suddenly you think you can get close to me? You’ve already done what I've needed you to do… I was only monitoring you so my employers would be satisfied.. For some reason they’re interested in you.. I can’t see why.. You’re such a coward.. Now look at us.. And snooping through my things.. Now I gotta do something about that.. What if you did know more about me.. Would you have given it to kid carbon? Would you have betrayed me?! Hey that's right, What was yankee rose telling you, don’t act like you thought you were slick.. What was she really telling you.. “

Sterling begins tearing up and trying to break away from gish’s grasp.. Looking at her face “g-gish, your nose.. It's bleeding..”  gish looked annoyed  looking at sterling.. “Did you get your snotty blood on my face?” sterling looks confused touching his nose.. He’s having a nose bleed too.. “I'm bleeding too.? But you’re clearly bleeding from your nose.. 

Gish falls limp on sterling.. “w-why gish.. Wake up.. Uhg.. I'm getting dizzy too.. I feel so light headed.. But it's starting to get better..” 

As sterling gets less light headed he hears a tap.. Tap.. tapp.. On the stairs nearby.. “A lotta stairs for a school.. I guess that's what happens when you build a school on a hill..” a blonde figure with marks on their face.. A smaller figure clinging to their back.. “My name is nitrostar.. And this is my stand [the bends].. Are you sterling? And is that gish..i got a message that  I needed to take down 2 troublesome stand users..” 

Chapter 9 baby’s got the bends

A new sickness replaces sterlings fatigue.. His ears start acting up.. “Why.. why are my ears decompressing” sterling grabs his nose and tries to fix them… 

“I gotta swallow a bit or else my ears feel like they're clogged.. “ the figure glanced at sterling in a familial way “you get that too? I remember when I had to deal with that.. I was born in a low altitude city.. When my parents moved to Yosemite I found myself plagued with an assortment of vertigo inducing ticks.. My parents never experienced anything like it and thought I was just being dramatic…” sterling watched the figure walk towards him and past.. Confused on what their attack may be, sterling never took his eyes off them.. They proceeded to get onto a strange tree.. It was tilted ever so slightly, you wouldn't notice how it arches until you look beyond the base but it must have jutted out a meter or 2 as nitro star climbed the tree. Sterling noticed his sickness getting worse.. In addition to the nausea his joints began aching.. Sterling crossed his arms.. As he asked.. “What the hell is this.. I know that standing on your back does something.. Tell me what before I beat the crap outta you..” nitro grabbed the stand.. A small faceless entity with ears.. “You wanna know more about [the bends]? It's kind of hard to explain.. Its ability is best shown… if you’d look I’m not actually climbing this tree.. But the oxygen it produces..” nitro was indeed walking along the trunk of the tree.. Walking along it at an angle Almost horizontally… !

As nitro climbed higher the air around sterling began getting thicker.. Suddenly sterling was overcome with a feeling crawling from his esophagus.. He thought it was a burp but was caught off guard when he vomited onto the ground.. At this point the ache in his joints caused him to fall backwards from the force.. Falling towards Gish he only realized his sickness was getting worse.. His tongue began getting dry..

At this point the sun began to begin its descent digging its heels in the mountains of california..

Sterling grabbed his standing arm and began using it to hover alongside it.. 

“Stop me if i'm wrong… your stand has the capabilities to manipulate pressure.. Based on how high or low you are, the pressure will follow.. Right? You made it so my body feels as if it's descending lower and lower to the sea..""stop..” nitro interrupted him.. “ so close but im not making your body feel like anything.. That's simply the phenomenon of decompression sickness.. It is only a result of my stand maintaining my own equilibrium… anyone caught in my range will suffer it..” 

Sterling kept rising as nitro walked higher.. 

“I guess if I’m attacking you then by that logic.. Are you not attacking your friend gish? 

Sterling was so concerned with staying on the level of nitro he forgot gish would also be under the same effect..Looking at gish she began foaming at the mouth bleeding from her ears.. And eyes..or.. Eye.. one of her eyes.. It had a deep gash in it.. A branch had been stuck into it… it fell from the tree that was crumpling under the pressure of a low altitude.. 

Sterling dropped himself from the height instantly feeling the immense pressure.. He grabbed at gish who felt limp weighing on sterling increasingly quaking joints.. Using his stand to jump towards the tree.. He continued to hover back to nitro’s level giving himself vertigo, his ears starting to bleed..  however he began to notice nitro was no longer following the tree.. Nitro had begun walking on the air itself.. They began stepping upwards into the sky itself.. “I wonder… Using my ability do you  think I can make it into space? would or would the pressure below me become too great and finally give way…” nitro said staring into the sky as it filled with stars..

“When I was young I moved to Yosemite, however my body was well suited to the low altitudes of the south east marshlands.. Every moment in the mountains felt like hell.. My lungs could hardly pump air.. And when forest fires would break out it began leaving ash everywhere.. I began to have seizures and panic attacks, all my teachers would scold me for getting nosebleeds.. Like I had a choice.. My parents didn’t care, they'd punish me for my asthma attacks.. They tried to tell me I was fine but I could hardly hear a damn thing..

“ Nitro is visibly shaking… their eyes visibly shaking in their head.. “But they never knew a goddamn thing about it.. I only wanted them to see what I was going through the pain they caused me…” nitro stopped and closed their eyes.. “That's when I manifested my stand.. My parents were coming down a hill.. My father carried my mother.. Apparently she had passed out from altitude sickness.. My father was walking ahead of me down towards our house.. That was when he fell to his knees puking.. He looked up at me begging for help.. And I could only look down.. Yet my face said it all.. It said no….” a grin formed on my nitrous face.. “For once i didnt feel so sick.. I was happy.. And for one moment, however brief it was.. They went through the pain I had gone through.. They just couldn’t handle it..

Chapter 10  viper is to be a sovereign snake

ever since i was young.. I’ve felt alone.. My world came tumbling down when larryland appeared.. My parents.. My parents had me along with 10 other siblings.. Each one had their own room.. They where kept well fed.. They where loved and cared for.. 4 brothers.. 6 sisters.. Each had dark long straight hair.. Each had dark hazel eyes.. Just like mom and dad.. Just like me.. So why had I been cast out.. Why didnt I have a room… why did I have to look for left overs.. I wasn’t youngest or the oldest sibling or boy in the household.. But I was apart of it never theless.. Somehow I was skipped.. .over looked.. They had cared for my brother before me.. The sister after me.. But not me.. As if in the rush they left me behind.. I don’t think i have a single memory of being cared for or loved by them.. I can only think of one time anyone called my name in that family.. My brother.. Ledger Vireo he dragged me out of school to use me as a lookout.. I had to watch him and his friends beg for mercy from a a local crimelord long gone.. He threatened our family.. He threatened me like i was apart of that family.. My brother never did take me home.. He forgot about me and left me there.. They kept saying my name was sterling vireo.. Vireo.. That name over and over gain.. I heard it more that one day talking to that enforcer than I ever had my entire life especially from any of my family members…. And I was already sick of it.. As the bastard mocked me I raised my palm to his chin.. I sent him realing back but he was trully built like a shit brick house.. However in the process of shutting his mouth I ended up making him bite his own tongue off.. A strike that shouldn’t have done more than get him mad was now becoming fatal.. The timing, the percision, the exact force and technique.. I’d never fought anyone before that yet I had already learned something important… its not about how strong you are.. Its not about how fast you are.. Its about how potent you are.. A bit from a viper can be a problem on its own.. But until the venom is brought into the mix you are only left with 2 needle sized holes.. That venom is the difference between a knick on your arm and your entire body turning against you.. A lesson that carries along to my stand.. Instead of letting my emotions eat away at me I push them onto someone else.. I let those emotions take root and fester in them, turning their bodies' natural mechanisms against them… emotions are an evolutionary trait humans have developed.. Sociopaths may claim to feel nothing but even they can briefly feel rage or sadness.. They must, for they are humans.. Grave architecture is fueled by my emotions and I can put those same emotions in someone.. It fills them until their bodies realize they can handle it.. They try to process it, exude it, dispose of it, the excess of emotional energy.. This leads to the effects.. The burning.. The shakes.. The euphoria that makes you laugh so hard you can’t breathe.. That is the nature of grave architecture.. That is the nature of me.. That is the nature of the viper’s venom.. That's me.. I am the sovereign viper free to push my venom onto an enemy to stop them from treading on me.. If these enemies insist on coming after me I have no choice but to push them out of the way.. To kill is saintly suicide.. But I am not above murder in drastic circumstances.. Not like her.. Gish.. gish.. So cruel you are yet.. I can’t seem to stray from you..

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sterling was having trouble clinging to the tree his arms could hardly hold onto gish.. No matter how hard he coiled around her… to make matters worse the atmosphere was weighing on the tree.. Usually the excess oxygen would make it grow big and tall but this tree was far too old to grow.. It was collapsing.. Just like sterling.. “N-NITRO.. WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME!? IT'S NOT LIKE I KNEW YOU MUCH LESS MOCKED YOU FOR YOUR AILMENT!!” sterlings pleads fell on deaf ears.. Nitro was on cloud nine.. Higher than the sky.. It would be impossible to float close enough to him.. Grave architecture was never meant to soar.. He had no choice but to start tearing at branches.. He used grave architecture to start throwing branches like spears imbued with the weight of his panic.. They soared through the air better than any normal stick ever could.. Piercing nitro they felt the sting of a pain they had long since forgotten.. It wasn’t from the stick itself.. But the feeling from it creeping up their thigh.. Nitro’s eyes stopped dating because of mania.. But they were now spinning as if they couldn’t keep their balance.. Like a leaf caught in the air nitro began floating back to earth… the closer they got the harder they began to fall..

Passing by sterling the distinct gleam of teeth was noticed.. Nitro was smiling.. “It is the nature of all things to fall back to earth, don't you know..” the green figure appeared again.. Sterling realized when he saw it.. “That's right..” as he said that he became light headed again.. Something burst in his ears causing them to bleed along with his nose which had started gushing again.. “If he hits the ground my organs are gonna expand.. I was at low altitude for too long!” sterling said panicked again.. “Ding ding ding! I may be falling like a feather but I'm still falling too fast for you to acclimate to the atmosphere catching up..!"Sterling could hear Nitro's words echoing as he fell.. He tried to jump after him but he could hardly catch up with gish still on him.. And even if he did make it to the ground he wouldn’t have a soft landing.. He opted to slide down the tree but the oxygen from it was so dense that it slowed him down ever so slightly.. “I- I don’t know if i’ll make it..” as he was falling down the tree a hand took his and put something in his palm “take it.. It's ergonomic like a bullet.. If you throw it right it might hit him like one..” gish’s eyes were closed and she could hardly speak above a whisper.. Yet she still managed to give sterling a lipstick case.. Without giving it a second thought sterling throws the case in a spiral with grave architecture.. It cuts through the air going through the neck of nitro.. Causing their stand to disperse..

Tumbling off the tree to the ground, sterling tried to stand.. he could only crawl towards nitro’s motionless body.. “Guh.. n-nitro.. hey.. “ he examined the figure on the floor.. They looked directly in sterlings eyes with a look of fear and shock.. Their mouths agape and awe struck.. Their throat had a noticeable protrusion.. A bottle of lipstick in their windpipe.. Sterling immediately grabbed it out letting the boy nitro breathe again.. Albeit through their new tracheotomy“T-thank goodness.. I- I think you’re just a bit sick in the head.. But I don’t think I should kill you.. Not if I don't have to.. Right?” sterling said this to nitro rehtorically but nitro still gave a nod, not like he could audibly affirm sterling.. Gish began to recover and get up from the grove.. Making her way to sterling..  Her eyes were not filled with her usual contempt.. But they were gleaming like the eyes sterling saw in her old school picture.. “D-did you really come back down to save me? If you lost consciousness during that fight you would have surely died right?” sterling looked up at her.. “I couldn’t let you lay there.. To be honest I wasn’t sure if we’d survive or not.. But..” sterling began to blush and mumble.. “I- I couldn’t let you die and wallow alone down there.. I just couldn’t to be honest i wasn’t sure if i’d live or not doing that stunt.. But at least you 'd die next to each other.. At Least i could say I tried.. If you know.. I saw you at the pearly gates or whatever..” gish started to blush and held her chin in her hand.. “Heaven ,huh? I always considered myself agnostic.. Never really thought about heaven.. Or whether I'd make it there or not.. I guess, thanks for letting me ask that question for another day.. And I’m glad we’re still here..” she was looking at the sunset away from sterling but sterling knew she was fluttering her eyelashes with joy for once.. That made him smile..

Chapter 11 The ocean breathes sublime

When sterling came home yankee ran to him, she grabbed him and held him close.. 

She did this so quickly she hardly noticed how many wounds he had.. When she noticed she immediately started questioning him looking over each wound.. “S-sterling, your blood should be inside you.. Are you gonna be okay..?'' Sterling tried to tell her he was fine but before he could gish stepped through the door only worse for ware than sterling.. “Don’t worry, I stopped by a clinic and took some basic medical supplies.. I'm not exactly a doctor but sterling looks like he can recover..” sterling added “y-yeah.. And with grave architecture I can muster up something to help us recover.. Relief.. Joy '' sterling began trailing off while yankee turned his attention to gish.. Yankee wasn’t concerned with her wounds.. She was more concerned with the information she had discovered.. Was she truly lying about coming from outside larryland? Was it her stand that preserved her only proof.. What was she doing here? What were her true motives.. Yankee couldn't even decide whether she should confront her or not… especially in front of sterling who was getting more affectionate with her.. A part of yankee felt jealous.. But something that needed more attention.. Yankee had never seen a gish smile.. She didn’t seem like the gleeful type.. But gish smiling now covered in wounds and missing an eye.. Despite this her smile seemed genuine as if she was euphoric.. 

“After.. After we defeated the enemy and got away, Sterling discovered his stand when fueled by euphoria could act like morphine.. I can’t feel a damn thing..” Gish and sterling were high as kites on euphoria.. To yankee’s dismay.. Now would be a better time than ever.. She pulled gish’s swaying body towards the hallway leaving sterling inside the apartment.. 

Rose was gonna seize the opportunity to take advantage of gish’s more than lenient state.. “Listen gish I don’t know or care where you came from.. But what i do care about is why you’d deceive us.. Whats you’re business here.. What are you doing with us.. Whats you’re relationship with larryland..” gish was interrogated but she could only laugh.. “I- I don’t know what you’re talking about” gish said gleefully yankee pulled out the old mango which was nothing but the pit by now.. “This.. you definitely got this from before larryland.. You brought it in and preserved it with your stand.. You probably preserved a lot of things with glean.. You where betting on this to get you allies within larryland and wost of all it worked.! Until I followed the address you gave me.. Just a jewlerystore.. Why’d you even give it to me anyway.. You knew damn well I’d find your secret there.. Gish’s smile slowly dropped turning into a solmn look.. “Because.. It wasn’t a secret i wanted to keep from you… I had to tell you eventually.. But I also had to see how you’d act.. Would you try to escape larryland prematurely.. Would you try to leave me behind.? Would you confront me like this? I won’t lie I wasn’t expecting you to go to my address this quickly I wanted to observe how much blind faith you’d have in me.. but .. I think i got what i needed.. True.. unadulterated loyalty.. He cares about me.. Willing to put himself in harms way to save me..” gish almost mocked rose as she tightened her grip on her uniforms bloody collar.. Our wounds are similar aren’t they.. He gave himself my wounds just to save me.. Possibly just to die with me in some grand gesture.. You’d do the same for him, wouldn’t you..” gish continued while rose began seething with hatred.. Gish grabbed her face and got close to her ear “since he cares about me.. And you care about him.. You must care about me..you can’t strike me down until you get his blessing.. Am I correct?” rose released her and fell to her knees.. Gish looked down on her.. “I need a place to stay.. This place should do.. We’ll be something like a family, you think..?” gish had been sadistic but nothing like this rose thought.. But Rose heard something in the tail of her speech.. Something endearing.. Something that didn’t feel like her sadistic venom mocking rose.. A genuine question..? 

Whatever it was, the gish had invaded the apartment.. Her closest ally.. She had sunk her roots in like a parasite.. Rose couldn’t unclench her fist.. She chewed her lip until it started bleeding.. 

She was only snapped out of her contempt by a ring from the phone.. Sterling was dizzy from his own euphoria, concentrated and recirculated through his endorphins.. While gish kept acting like she was under his spell.. Yankee humored her for now and picked up the phone.. She heard the voice of hydra “hello? Sterling, yankee? Gish? One of you guys who is it.. “ yankee responded.. “ It's me rose, hydra what do you want..” hydra seemed panicked. “I thought we had more time.. But it's the boss.. He’s coming back tomorrow.. Tomorrow morning.. Urban emperor.. And copperhead.. We need to get ready if we’re really gonna take them down.. Come to the port around 6 am tomorrow.. All hands on deck.. Don’t be late.. '' Rose dropped her phone looking at gish and sterling.. They passed out on the couch.. Yankee sat in a chair with her chin in her hands.. She had to think for a while..

    Chapter 12 Urban emperor’s sublime

Gish woke up in a car.. Looking towards the driver she saw a rose.. “We’re heading to the beach.. Get ready for a battle.. Faser’s boss is arriving at the beach.. Hydra’s waiting for us..

Gish didn’t react.. Not visibly anyway.. Her stone face looked towards a mirror.. She felt the area a scar was now forming… a scar over her eye.. “Do you think it’ll heal..? Is it gone forever now.?” 

Rose kept her brow down.. “Not my problem.. I just hope you’re still able to fight.. This is the guy you’ve been waiting for..”

Gish rummaged in her bag.. “Maybe we should stop at a convenience store.. That one should be good..” 

Rose looked at Gish, slightly annoyed but obliged, pulling over near a pharmacy… After a moment, Gish walked out.. She had a bandage over her eye and a duffel bag that was full of something geometrical.. 

She got in the car and sat down silently.. 

“So where’s sterling.. Is he meeting us there?” gish asked but not while looking at yankee.. She couldn’t bear to look at her profile.. 

“Sterling’s not coming.. He’s in critical condition.. Not in fighting shape..” gish looked shocked turning her head.. “H-hey do you even know who could be on that boat? The enemy is someone dangerous, we’d need as many allies as we can get right?” gish started to shift around in her seat.. “This isn’t some negotiation, this is war.. We can’t jeopardize this operation.. If my employers find out.. Hell who else is gonna disband larryland… we’re the only people that can begin to rival the faser’s leader and who ever put up larryland…” gish’s pleas fell on deaf ears.. She calmed down regaining her composure as she got closer to the beach.. 

They pulled up to the pier and saw hydra waiting looking out to the ocean..

Walking up to him he greeted them with something concerning.. “You see that vessel out there..?”

They looked to the ocean seeing a relatively big yacht looking boat.. 

“Don’t let its luxurious appearance fool you, it's heavily modified to sail the pacific.. Major fuel reserves, food storage, sleeping quarters, the whole 9 yards.. There's an extra storage area to hold what they trade with the chinese.. Pharmaceuticals, electronics, anything not home grown in california.. Or at least this part of it.. Especially ceramics.. 

It's manned by a small crew and headed by the leader of the fasers along with his right hand man.. I don’t know their stands but they took their position by force so I have no doubt they’re powerful..”

Hydra was visibly nervous.. “I cleared most of the public from here.. I kinda got that kind of sway around here.. They trusted me with that kind of authority..”

Gish could sense how indecisive he was.. Looming over him, Gish reminded him “don’t forget what happens if you betray us.. I’d guard that spot under your arm.. Your life depends on it..”

Hydra went pale chewing the  tip of his popsicle stick... “Lets, let's just wait for them to dock..

After a while hydra went to the  end of the pier to start docking the yacht.. With the help of the crew they put everything together.. However hydra escorted a man off the boat.. Gish looked through the blinds of the shack.. She saw a frail man in crutches.. His legs seemed a bit odd.. His beard looked sharp and he was in winter wear.. A thick jacket tucked into his pants.. A man trailing behind was blonde wearing massive headphones.. Despite his confidants dresswear he dressed more sporty wearing shorts and a tank top.. Ordaining it.. “22.. Copper.. head… what do you think it means..” gish inquiring yankee..

 She was disinterested staring at the wall.. This rubbed gish the wrong way.. She stood over rose who was now putting her feet on the desk.. “Get ready.. It's about go time.. Hydras ushering the crew back onto the boat while we deal with them.. Let me remind you what you’re fighting for..” rose looked towards gish.. “If we fail i’m sure we’ll be killed, what do you think sterling will do..” yankee rose got up.. And got ready.. “Nobody's gonna stand in the way of my sovereignty.. I refuse to let them..

“Don’t worry sir, I'll get the men to start unloading the cargo soon enough.. For now wait here..” hydra assured his boss looking towards the office hoping rose and gish would get the signal..

The frail man sat on the dock.. “Copper.. Tell me.. Do you think it's time yet..? Do you think we should expand larryland..” 

Copperhead took off his headphones.. If it's on your order I'm sure we’re ready for anything.. If you would like me to expand our territory we can accumulate vegas.. Sacramento.. Possibly even utah.. I’m still receiving updates from our contacts.. They say the war in the east is still raging and may be reaching the midwest.. They’re getting anxious wondering if we’ll come for them.. They’re scared sir..” 

The man stepped up.. “If we expand our empire we’d need to make sure they remain loyal and are ready to convert their lands handing it over to us.. I wonder if they’ve lost faith in me the same way the mayflower compact was the faith lost in king george..”  copper looked towards his superior.. “ they lost faith in a tyrannical leader.. Our allies.. They owe you their lives.. For freeing them from the shackles of their monotonous lives.. For developing a utopia.. That's why I follow you.. My urban emperor.. I trust you implicitly and i’m sure we have no traitors in our ranks..” a small sound in the distance can be heard… a crack and whizz.. Before copper could inquire urban emperor has already fallen to the ground in a blanket of crimson.. Starting to wheeze.. “C-copper.. H-help me up..” copper grabs him, “emperor.. What's happening..” another wizz is hear and emperor jabs his hand behind copper’s ear.. Pulling away he showed something gleaming.. “A bead of some kind..” a crown began forming over his head.. “Don’t worry.. My stand [sublime].. It shall protect us..”

  Chapter 13 Urban emperor’s sublime part 2

My name.. My old name, I can hardly remember my old name.. Something along the lines of cricket.. No, that was his name mine was.. Louy.. yes that's what they called me..

The court called me Louy, the bus driver called me louy.. The guards called me louy.. Why was i in there again.. A boy desperate to make his name known.. Mother strung out of her mind a father long gone.. A rolling stone.. Louy wanted to make that name known to every thug and pill popper in the state of california.. From bulldogs to crips.. North to south.. My ambition so bloated that when it popped.. I didnt know what to do..

1 count of armed robbery was all it took.. I didn’t even know i could get a lawyer.. Before i knew it i was in san quienton penetenatary.. My locks shaved off.. I hadn’t even joined a gang on the outside.. I thought I could find someone anyone to save me on the inside.. But i was alone, scared.. Eyes leered at me without empathy.. Only with intrigue like wolves eyeing meat.. I had only turned 18 that year but they threw me in with the rest of the adults.. Men who’d been doing psycotic shit since before i was born.. I nearly jumped bumping into someone.. But by some string of fate it wasn’t anyone threatening.. A tall boy, his hair was shaved but i could tell from the follicles he was blonde.. His accent sounded vaguely european.. “M-my apologies friend.. I did not see i did not see..” despite his apologetic demenour i decided to threaten him.. “Make way for me.. Do you know who I am? I’m the king kid.. Show some damn respect..” I walked past him looking for my bunk assigned to me.. By the time i got there the entire prison was over populated.. Dozens upon dozens of bunks stacked in the gymnasium.. I saw a man sitting on my bunk… before i could confront him an arm came around my neck “don’t do what ur about to do kid..” a bald man  who looked like my moms dad about 10 years ago had be in a tight hold.. “That man right there is gonna be the difference between whether or not you get our protection.. He’s the general of our gang.. The boss..” my look of reverence slipped away as i thought about anyone ruling over me.. And someone right now telling me what to do.. The man continued “ right now he’s scoping out our situation.. The latino’s and the asians.. They’ve been growing some beef with the whites… our generals came down all the way here to scope out the scene and see if our turf is safe.. He’s chosen your bed to sleep in for the time being.. That means you get the floor.. Get it?” I understood perfectly well but i was so stupid and proud.. To sleep on a floor.. On my first day here.. I wasn’t about to let this happen.. The moment he looked away i strolled towards the head. I got one word out “hey!” in a defiant tone before a man rushed me busting my jaw.. It put me on the floor.. Where i lay shaking and rattled.. Staring up at him he looked just like the man that warned me to stay back.. Except his forehead was tattooed.. “donny budds” 

He didn’t speak any language.. He just grunted loudly.. Not because he didn’t know a language but because it was simple what he preferred.. An intimidation tactic.. It worked i could here it piercing my ears.. I didn’t move from that spot.. The lights went out and i hunkered in for the night. I tried to sleep on my extra set of cloths.. But the gym wasn’t designed to be insulated.. The night breeze made me quake.. If i let my hand fall from my teeth i’d be smacked for the the chatter of them.. I couldn’t find any respit.. That was until he came along.. Coming by while everyone else was asleep he handed me a blanket.. The foreigner..

The day after I met up with him and asked him why he would help me like that.. “I did so in the err. Waiting area.. The immigration center.. Before i had citizenship.. I went there and a man brought me the same kindness yes..” i couldn’t tell what he was trying to say the message was clear.. He was showing me generosity.. I thought i would be good friends with him.. However as the morning sun arose the prisoners began to wake up.. To their shock a dark skinned boy and a white european walking together throughout the facility.. Guards started acting funny, eventually a tapping could be heard from behind us.. It grew and grew until I looked behind us 20 or 30 men all tailing us with sinister looks.. I couldn’t process what was going on until one began walking up to me and grabbed me.. I looked towards cricket as he was also grabbed from behind a corner.. 

“Didn’t wanna teach you the rule the hard way but if thats what it takes..” a man said dragging me to a room not often used.. 2 men held me while another grabbed a large pipe.. He loosened it from the wall “this has been my special project took me way too long to loosen a pipe like this.. I wanted to use it on a rivals head but i guess you’ll have to do..” saying that he approached me raising the pipe over his head.. I thought he would bring it down on my head but when it made contact it made contact with my leg busting the shin.. The bone buckled bending in an unnatural way.. I almost screamed someone covered my mouth.. They started talking in mt ear.. “You can’t call a C.O over here yet.. We only just started..” he brought that pipe down 6-7 more times.. Or atleast that what i could count inbetween my fading consciousness.. Broke both my legs in gruesome ways by the end of they looked like snakes winding and bending in jagged ways.. For some reason.. That was when i noticed what room i was in.. a library..”

I awoke later in the infirmary.. It should of been nice there.. A warm bed.. A nice enough room.. But my legs.. They where on fire.. I looked towards my morphine.. It wasn’t trickling.. I wasn’t getting anything.. Reaching for the ajuster I stumbled and fell from bed..” 

My legs.. They didn’t work.. I couldn’t control my legs anymore.. I couldn’t move them in any way.. But i felt them.. I felt how badly they ached.. A hand reached towards me.. I looked up to a man with his head wrapped.. “They said.. They.. they.. Said i was in it to loong.. N-n-noose.. The noose.. “ i heard crickets voice but all i could see was the man infront of me.. His eyes miserable.. His neck a mark some kind of friction burn.. But it must of been him.. Because he helped me to my bed..

That was the moment i lossed faith in humanity.. After my recovery I would go to that library.. Nobody used it.. That was the only place i could meet cricket.. He had a notable stutter and a strange gate.. He also developed tinnitus from head trauma.. My legs didnt recover and I had to walk on crutches.. 

They where cheap and dug into my arms.. But i rode those crutches everyday to that library.. Any time it was open.. And i began to read.. Read tales of power.. Weakness. The humble and proud.. I began likening myself to samson.. A judge, brought power by the lord only to lose it to humanity.. However before he could be executed.. He gained gods forgivness and the power to unleash his wrath on the executioners.. He brought the temple down on him.. If i was to be free.. I would need to bring this prison down on me.. I would need to learn humility to regain my power.. Somehow i’d have to muster a fighting spirit.. I would need to become a saint..

I learned about miracles.. Powers that be. And those to be considered a saint.. Until one day…

When i was studying various texts they came back.. “I turned around met with 20 men who looked familiar.. The ones that had broken my legs.. “Get out of here blondie.. Let the skinheads deal with you..” cricket held his ground.. I begged him to go but he wouldn’t.. “I guess that gives us leeway to punish you too..” they began wrapping something to their hand using some cloth.. A gleaming plastic point.. A shank.. Infact they all had shanks of varying materials.. Some with rust.. Some thin.. One giant one that looked like an extra large screw driver.. No way it was made for peircing.. Thats a rib smasher.. They where done with warnings they where here to kill us..

I could feel the knowledge i had.. I reflected on al of it.. And how it would all be lossed when my soul is ripped out of my carcass.. It seemed so hopeless but.. I couldn’t help but find an odd resolve.. When one stepped forward I stood up.. Only I didn’t have my crutches.. I was standing on mutilated legs.. But i was standing.. I even took a defensive stance.. They seemed a bit shocked but the one heading for me stayed stoic as he raised his blade.. However it wasn’t coming for me it was coming for cricket.. It came down visciouslly.. But instead of his chest it ripped through my hand.. It stung but I still used it as leverage over him.. I struck him down and turned the blade on him.. Loosening it out of my hand and back handing it into his neck.. Grabbing my bleeding hand I prepared for the rest to come for me.. But it seemed like the more people I fought the stronger I got.. 2 then 3 at a time.. I began using my bare hands to strike through them.. It was only until i saw my hand on the other side of someones back did i realise I’d put my fist through the prisoners chest.. To my shock.. 

However after the last one expired my legs felt rubbery again.. Until i fell into crickets arms.. My legs could move again and we made are get away.. However our gate.. We walked in sync.. The same limp.. It was as if his legs where my own… I started to notice my head… something on my head.. A crown of twisted reed.. I asked cricket where I got this crown or when it was put on my head.. Cricket stared for a moment “c-crown? I do not understand what do you mean by crown..” 

I was about to inquire about it when a guard shouted down the corridor, his nightstick at the ready.. When he tackled me I didn’t crumple.. I was actually matching his tackle with my own… I was beginning to over come him even.. Until another came i pushed him into a wall breaking his riot helmet and dealing with the other with a grapple.. Immediatly choking him out.. I never knew suchh power.. I didn’t realise how dangerous the human body could be.. But the strangest part was the techniques i was using.. It was like instinct.. But when i finished them off I would feel the strenght leave my body and my body became clumsy and weak once more..

Eventually me and cricket made our way past the jungle of valves and pipes.. Eventually i found we where in the courtyard.. Sprinting to the edge.. “I- i don’t know what we’ll do.. I don’t know how far we’ll make it but we must make it.. We have to get through here.. 

My hands where still gripping something metallic, a doorframe.. “W-when did i grab this”.. I looked from where we where coming from.. Guards spewing out from a broken door… they’d get close then farther.. And close again.. At some point’s i’d have to carry crickets arm just to have him keep up…  

By the time we made it to the wall.. The guards where seemingly about to corner us.. Their firearms raised.. For some reason i didn’t stop.. I didn’t stop when a bullet grazed my side.. I didn’t stop when cricket fell to his knees raising his arm.. I didn’t stop when my body made contact with the concrete.. Infact I kept going as the officers pushed through with me.. 20 or 30 men I could feel the bricks pushing against me but I was like a bullet.. So much power focused into an area.. I made a me shaped hole in the prison wall.. And a sizable exit wound.. I turned around seeing the guards clamering and pushing trying to make their way in.. “animals..” I started walking back to the mass of riotgear and flesh.. And I grabbed one’s head crushing it between my hands.. Then another and another.. Until i had to resort to punching then using their battering sticks against them.. And finally 3 where all that escaped my grasp.. They lived and ran.. “Cricket.. Are you ok?” i said crawling over to him.. I turned him over.. He looked terrified.. “Is-is it over… can we go now?” I looked at him.. “Cricket.. I will bring you with me if you can promise.. Promise me you will stay by my side.. I need you as my loyal subject.. Not as a king.. No i am no king because a kingdom is only a land dominated by a king.. I will be an emperor.. A leader given power from his empire rather than exercising power of his empire.. Do you understand..” he looked at him confused.. “And from now on our names.. We must shed them.. I will no longer be louy call me urban emperor.. If you are willing to lend me loyalty.. You must shed your name.. What is your name…” cricket looked at him with utter reverence.. He grabbed his hands kneeling to him.. “Please.. Please let me become your loyal confidant.. I will be.. I will be copperhead.. Like the snake.. An utterly sovereign beast.. That is what i can be.. If you shed me from my shackles..” I put my fingers on his forehead.. However before I could make my first decree as a true emperor.. My fingers flew off.. They where shot off by a bullet.. 

Lead does more damage than it can withstand.. A lead bullet may have the force to tear through skin but the metal is soft as it is dense.. 

Just like that day.. Yes.. my shoulder is still bleeding.. This pellet is no ordinary bullet fired from any firearm.. Its oblong shape rode along the wind to strike me..

Urban empoerer looked at copperhead.. “Tell me copperhead.. Where did this bullet come from..”

“From there.. That shack.. Hydras office..” 

“This abnormal metal was made by a stand.. One with considerable precision and strength..”

A figure stepped from the shack.. “Thats my stand..” rose said as her stand eclipsed its arms [aeroplane flies high]’s ability starlight..” a bead floats from the wrist of the stand and morphs in the air before flying towards the two.. 

Urban emperor holds his hand out to catch it.. However it flies over him in a strange formation.. 

Urban watches the bead fly past and turns his attention to the girl standing up and approaching with copperhead.. “S-sir what are you doing..” he follows his emperor.. “This girl’s stand.. I need to get in range.. Then I can put her down like a dog..this is the nature of sublime.. Anyone within 2 meters of sublimes area of effect.. They give me their power.. Their strength, speed, even their durability.. Depending on what ever is around me.. While i can’t copy specific abilities i can take their techniques too.. When im next to you i can walk just fine.. So do not leave my side..this stand is superior to all.. It makes me the apex at any given moment.. Anything that must kill me will make its way into my area of effect.. And therefore strengthen me while making itself vulnerable..” he stares at yankee rose “do you hear me.. Do you understand your attempt to fight me is futile”

Rose only took a ready stance projecting her stand.. Creating and launching a bead..

This one whizzed past his head.. “I’m starting to understand.. You’re new to that technique..you are surly shooting those projectiles at random.. I commend you for starting off with a lucky shot.. But I can’t say im impressed with your desperate shots..”

Yankee only turned her back.. 

Emperor stopped in his tracks.. “Wait.. you turn your back to me? Not even running away..? Have you already given up? I should let you know now that just because you surrender doesn’t mean your death will be any quicker.. My pursuit is fatal.. As it always has been for traitors.. Infact after you I’ll be finishing of hydra and sterling..” rose didn’t show her face yet she was still visibly shook.. “Ah.. did that make your facade slip..? Of course he would be punished.. Hydra is already down for the count..” looking behind her she can see hydra holding his throat.. A hand imprint closing his wind pipe.. Gasping for air he looks panicked looking for a path out.. Yet he just can’t find one.. His stand rapidly fwipiing its heads.. 

“You where the one sterling’s been living with.. And the stand user we’ve been trying to recruit for our gang.. Of course even if you aren’t in our gang you are still a citizen of my empire.. So this will be considered betrayal-” urban emperor is cut off by a crack from above.. Looking up he sees a bead coming from above.. “w-what.!? “ the bead goes through the palm and comes out the side when he tries to cover his face.. “I-I see now.. Its written all over my hand.. The first one was meant to penetrate me.. The 2nd meant to hit copper and halt.. Thats why it was jammed in my hand… and this one.. Its not the 3rd its the fourth.. The 3rd one came back around as the 4th went directly upward.. They curved their trajectory to catch me off guard.. When they collided this one was sent towards me.. It curved through my hand and came out.. If i was turned even slightly, it would of came int me or coppers head.. H-how can you predict the trajectory like this…”

Rose cracked a grin and turned over her shoulder.. “The beads.. Its the way they’re shaped.. I don’t know where they’ll go but areoplane does.. It creates these oblong shapes so it can catch air.. Its almost like instinct.. But eventually all the paths they follow come together.. They find their target..”

Urban emperor smiled “i’m impressed.. I’d clapp but it seems I’ve finally received my stigmatta’s, like the grand saint this will be the last mortal wound i sustain before reaching apotheosis.. Now that you’ve told me your secret i will not neglect the lesson.. You will never get the jump on my like that again.. Once the beads come in range I adapt to their speed..”

Rose looked shifty.. She got in position and shot 3 more shots.. “S-sir.. I don’t doubt your abilities.. But how are you gonna withstand the beads any longer.. Your hands..” copper asked emperor.. “I understand.. But up until now i’ve been deflecting them for your sake.. She thought that if i’d dodge them she would be able to hit you.. All of them where targeting you just as they where me.. I couldn’t let that happen.. So i must ask you to drop me.. I need you to get out of her range.. Then i may dodge freely knowing you’re safe… take a leap of faith off the pier.. Let the waves carry you somewhere safe..” copperhead listened to emperor not about to doubt him now.. He dived off the pier and began swimming under… emperor fell to the ground and began crawling.. “I do wish i grabbed my crutches.. But they aren’t necessary.. If you insist on planting your feet.. I suppose i’ll only have to be patient..” 

Rose scowled at him firing a few more pellets.. 2 under the pier and one directly at him.. 

All he did was stare it down before 2 came from below him ripping through the docks wood pallets.. He arched his back to get his head out of the way.. While the one coming towards him dinked off both of the bead going for his right temple..

Sublime lets him rapidly roll out of the way..  He’s started breathing heavily.. Looking towards the coast watching copper run he sees the bead meant for him flying towards copper.. “c-Copper! You gotta dodge it!”

Copper looks behind him seeing a speeding pellet…

He looks at it head on with a glare… he is hit in his head falling into the sand..

“c-COPPER..!” 

“You didn’t think he could run from my range of effect? Does it rattle you? Can you feel your fighting spirit slip away..” 

Rose says this sneering, however urban emperor only looks at her with a glare.. 

He immediately launches himself towards rose.. “Just barley.. Through this newfound determination i should be able to launch myself just close enough to reach her range.. To buisy gloating to realise how close i am.. Like the hare your hubris will be your down fall.” he is about to reach her range when she suddenly uses her stand to launch herself tothe roof of the shack..

“Did you really think i’d stay in your reach forever? Thats absurd.. I lured you out here for a very special reason.. Right now you’re right over the coastline.. Where the water meats the land.. Thats where the waves are pushing the sea.. Somethings washed up on shore..”

Rose says with a grin, pointing to the ship.. Looking at it emperor is shocked… “w-what?! The ships fuel haul.. Its been burst.” urban emperor could hear her laughing.. “Its over, once I finish you off I’ll dismantle larryland.. I’m sure your confidant has something to do with it, considering he hasn’t revealed a usable stand yet.. He must be the controller of electric larryland.. Am i correct?” she looks down on the emperor, “perhaps its already fallen.. I’m pretty sure aeroplane got a direct headshot on that guy.. Copper..” she says pulling out a lighter.. She lit a piece of trash on fire dropping it off the pier.. As the firey papers fell to the sea it ignited the water itself.. “The water, it was pushed up to the coastline, carrying the gasoline with it!” urban emperor stared at the water.. “You’ve set the water itself on fire.. Soon it should crawl up the pier and make it crumble dumping me into the burning sludge.. This must be a miracle for you.. Or atleast is would be.. If i wasn’t your enemy..!” rose looks confused “w-what are you talking about” he lifts himself crawling towards the shack.. “H-hey asshole what are you doing, even if you get over here you won’t be able to get up here.. And if you try I’ll stomp you into the pit!” he looks at the end of the shack.. “I’m not coming after you, I’m going for her, your confidant.. “ he jumps through the window of the shack as rose puts her ear to the roof, listening to a comocion.. A few moments later she hears nothing… then.. A bloody fist rips through the top of the shack.. Another follows it, a precesion for a head, the head of urban emperor.. “To climb a ladder properly you cannot aim for the top wrung.. You must use the wrungs before it and so on until you make it to your goal.. That being, The roof!” 

Rose trys to punch emperor but is easily deflected by emperor himself.. “[sublime] doesnt just give me the ability to be stronger than a given person or in this case entity.. But it allows me to compound that strength..” looking to the crater she sees glean trying to hold emperor in the building.. “He’s using the strength and speed of both of our stands.. He’s not breaking a sweat..” 

The dock falls down leaning one way.. The heat begins reaching the group.. “I am the emperor of larryland, nobody will rule me nobody dares weigh in on my empire.. I refuse to let all that i’ve built crumble.. You are nothing but interlopers, I will deal with you thus..” emperor grabs her arm pulling her towards the edge.. Glean suddenly grabs something handing it to rose.. A small glass hologram, it held a prescription bottle.. Gish yells leaning against a wall bleeding “Hey, rose.. I’ll take these with you, they’re pharmisuticals,  they raise your heart rate and cause spasms even seizures in large doses.. I got them from the pharmacy, if we both overdoes just a bit his body will naturally respond by compounding that!” rose downs the bottle “N-Not that much idiot! Its super potent you’re gonna completly overdose too!” gish takes out another bottle taking a handful.. Gish watches rose and emporer’s stand disperse as they start seizing and foaming out the mouth.. “Crap! We’re all gonna fall” at this point the shack is tipping over bending towards the ground.. Rose opens her eyes “g-gish.. I need you to grab my stands hand.. “W-what is it!” she reflects her stand out very carefully… “its gonna drip a lot of metal.. I got ahold of the interior of the building and i’m absorbing it metal through my other hand.. Its taking all my strength.. I need you to make us a way out of this.. I need to see sterling again, and i know you do too..” gish grabs her wrist creating a sloppy frame.. And covers it with a tarp.. “Dammit I wish I learned more about physics.. But if i did it correctly I might be able to use her light metal to catch the lift of the air.. We gotta glide over the coast..” 

Emperor slumped off and fell into the inferno.. Gish used her stand to pull herself up.. Her side bleeding.. She grabs rose.. “Rose.. my stand can’t float or even jump, I need you to gather your strength and launch us..!” rose slumps over “g-gish, i just can’t.. “ rose’s metal begins cracking at the seams as her projection disappears.. “Grabbing her she jumps off and tries to glide over the inferno.. While the fire burns the tarp wrapping around the  frame they sputter and fall to the sandy shore below.. “Gish notices her pant leg catching fire and digs for some moist sand to snuff it out..”crap.. Rose are you okay?” she rushes to her feeling her neck and listening to her chest.. “Shit no pulse..” she breaks open another hologram with a needle in it.. Raising it over her head she trembles, then focuses grabing her hand to steady it.. She hesitates for a moment.. Looking around for a moment.. She thinkts to herself.. Looking around the coastline she can see a whale in the distance.. She notices it writhing around then she see the current carrying its limp body.. “It’s- its just died” seeing it turn over she notices a laceration.. “Turning her back seeing a boy rising from the sand.. “C-copper head.. He’s still alive..shit larrylands still in effect!” she jabs the needle to her chest.. Rose’s eyes rip open darting around, she trys to gasp but chokes on something.. “Rose! Here turn over before you choke” gish holds her stomach getting her to cough up some foam and capsule fluid.. “Jesus you must be devoid of a lot of moisture..” gish’s gaze turns cold, “you should get something to drink.. But befor ethat I need you to cauderize this wound..” gish holds her hand up to her side.. Rose looks at her with spite oblidging her.. Gish screams as the wound is sealed.. 

“Jesus rose, does this kinda thing really work? It hurts to dam much!” 

Rose just lifts her ripped pant leg revealing a cauderized thigh wound..

“I see.. Heres a drink, hope you got enough strength to crack the hologram.. I gotta tend to the last man standing.. Copperhead.. I thought you said you got him.. He shouldn’t be too much trouble right? I’ll make quick work of him..

Gish strides towards the man on the other seaside of the peir.. Getting closer she notices he’s bleeding from his head… however when he truns around his head shines.. “His head.. He has a plate in it.. He has a metal HEAD!”

Chapter 14 Copperhead’s electric larryland

“A clear dent is on his metal.. The place where the bead bounced from it..”

Gish is walking under whats left of the pier.. He stares at her with some kind of anticipation.. Gish stops.. A sea breeze makes its way under the pier and through her long hair.. It reaches past a pillar.. However it does not make its way back.. Its been sliced into various pieces.. Gish pulls out a glass hologram with a kiwi in it.. She tosses it infront of her watching as it gets sliced to pieces.. It begins rotting immediately.. “No fucking way.. “She notices the pillars have a distinct sign.. “CH22”

 its some kind of tag, graffiti left here.. This is the barrier.. This is larryland.. She uses her stand to smash one of them.. She darts towards copperhead.. “I’ll finish you off quick.. Just sit tight get ready to die!” 

Copper head takes his headphones and writes something on them.. Careful to keep them away from him… throwing them across the sand.. Gish is quick to realise what he’s just done.. Dodging back words she can feel the other end of her hair get pulled and cut.. He made a rovering barrier.. “I found out early on that larryland was a useless stand.. Its range isn’t even techically indefinit.. Do you know how many tags I needed to make just to creates a border of this size? Even at this distance.. This barrier doesn’t connect with the true border of larry land.. The tag itself could be in any ink but it can be washed off with ease.. If the tag’s location is broken it can disconnect and divide the barrier.. We had to find hidden areas, hard to reach areas, vital areas.. Treacherous overhangs.. Long nights and dark pits.. So much ink.. I think thats what made larry lands borders so fine and detailed.. I waded through all that pain not for me.. Not even for the “empire” no matter what it was it was for him.. My leader..  My emperor.. You! You and that bitch killed him! And by extension me! I’ll make sure I drag you to hell personally..!” gish stepped around the barrier.. “With this..” copperhead pulls out a pen and notepad.. “I might not even have to work to hard.. I wouldn’t run either.. You already touched larryland.. Your hair’s rotting as we speak.. “She looked at her hair it was turning grayer, it seemed to slowly crawl up the strands..

“It may not seem like much now but if it reaches your roots it will b-line to your brain and kill you immediatly.. My stand was never made for fighting.. It was made to kill intruders like you.. GISH!” gish charged him “all i gotta do is kill you, then your stand will shut off right! “ she summons her stand launching her fist towards copper head.. He then pulls a not from his pocket.. “Al-already!? How did you put your tag on it so quickly!?” she immediately redirects her hand from where the barrier would be.. “Who do you think the slipstream will favor.. If i let this paper go will it flutter towards me or you? What breeze is flowing between us.. “I’m not immune to my stand.. I am a denozen of this empire just like everybody else.. However now i have nothing to live for.. I don’t care if I DIE!” he releases the paper lettng it fly up and around.. “Hmm.. i suppose the wind favors my wish to see you die..” the paper begins chasing gish, she begins running away from it.. However it continues to follow her.. “Shit! A slipstream, I’m creating a light slipstream with my dash!” copperhead laughs, “ah thats right, looks like you do know your physics, when a mass takes up an area it pushes the previous material out of the way.. Air naturally wants to fill this area pulling itself and anything on it towards the now empty area…” you’re running so fast you’re creating a sizable stream..” copper head said with a sadistic grin.. She stops turning around using her stand to contain the tag.. “Shit i hope this works! Cupping it in her hands her fingers are cleanly choped off… “shit! My fingers dammit!” she looks at the hologram noticing a distinct crack.. “God.. that’s too close”

“I never really thought about it, but i suppose stand abilities count as a organic entity.. That would put your glass sculptures in jeopardy.. Name goes with your friends metal bullets..” gish laughs, did you already forget the nature of your own stand?” copperhead looks confused but intrigued.. Gish throws 2 glass holograms both are sliced by the barrier in many different ways shattering them.. “Since they aren’t utterly erradicated they doo make it through your barrier.. My holograms aren’t just for storage.. They’re used as a delivery methot.. Like a capsule of cyanide” the glass bursts revealing two jugs.. “I took some cleaning materials from the pharmacy, ammonia.. AND BLEACH!” they land on the the ground releasing some kind of vapor.. “It looks like the wind patterns changed too!, this mustard gas is heading straight for you!” copperhead covers his mouth as the air starts stinging his eyes.. “M-my lungs!, they’re burning! Fuck!” copperhead pulls out his notebook and rips out page after page throwing them in the air “when this wind changes i wanna see how many you can catch before you’re torn apart!” 

Copperhead falls to his knees looking up to the smoke in the sky… “i must see this through, i must live and watch this bitch die! If i don’t.. How can i ever know peace.. It makes me sick with rage to think of my emporer burning in a murky sea.. He should be here.. Saving me.. Saving us.. What is an empire without its emperor.. What am I.. without you urban emperor..” copperheads vision became clearer as he looked at the sky.. “Thats not my name anymore..” he became amazed as the sky seemed to morph into a familiar figure.. “E-emporer!” a golden ray of the sun shined on the clouds pushing the smoke out of the way.. “I told you thats not my name.. For a lord to ascend further.. He must let his crown slip.. In my death i have undergone apotheosis.. I have gone beyond emporer into a new plain of freedom and liberation.. It almost saddens me i must leave you behind on this mortal earth..” copper head looked shock standing up “w-what do you mean! Let me go with you, I must follow you” the phantasm smiled.. “What kind of emperor follows someone else..” copperhead looked confused “w-what are you saying” 

The clouds turned away “urban emperor is no longer my name, that name belongs to you, larryland belongs to you.. The only empoerer here is you.. My successor.. You must take over what i have left behind..” copperhead began crying not because of the mustard gas.. But because he was overcome with a bitter sweet joy.. A euphoric feeling the will to live….

“Hey, copperhead! Why are you talking to yourself.. I’m seriously gonna kill you..” 

“You.. you can’t call me that no longer.. And the only one who will die here is you.. You and her..” copper charges towards her with a note in his hand.. Gish attempts to walk to the edge of the sealine.. “Bastard if you get to close i’ll kill you outright!”

However before she could catch the paper in his hand she stumbles to the ground.. “Shit i can’t reach him the barriers gonna close in on me!”

His hand stop.. Still clenching the paper.. It doesn’t let the paper slip an inch.. No matter how much copperhead moves his arm will not follow..his hand finally goes limp releasing the slip only for it to be caught on the edge by a glowing blue hand.. “My ability [grave architecture].. As long as it doesn’t touch the art it should be okay right?” The paper begins to heat up and burn away. A lighter under it charing it until the papers completely dissolved.. 

Sterling stands behind copperhead “i had a feeling you’d be over here.. “W-why didn’t you tell me you’d be here..” gish eyes lit up.. “Sterling you’ve came! I thought you where in recovery” sterling pointed to his arm “all i got left is some rashes” a red mark spread across his forearm, it kinda annoys me but i’ve been using it as a source of frustration..” grave architecture punches copperhead into the sand.. “Gah! You moron! Do you know who i am!” copperhead stands up.. “I know who you are.. The whistle blower.. Her co conspirator.. And hydra’s assistant.. Sterling viper!” copperhead scowled at him.. “Look at this.. Look at what you’ve done to your own empire.. Truly you are brutus.. Judas.. A traitor of imfamous magnitude.. But i wanna offfer you something..” copperhead reaches his hand out.. “I wanna kill you the most.. But i do realise you where doing it for her.. Gish and her rose.. You did it for them.. For why i don’t know..but you can undo your crimes by erasing gish.. If you do i promise you i’ll take you on as my second in command.. And when i pass you will rule larryland.. By then, we shouldn’t even need the barrier.. With your stand.. The power to influence emotions.. You can sway people the way we need them too.. I’ll admit, i don’t know much about your stand.. But it must be able to harness the power of desperation, affection.. And fear.. With those we can overtake any population.. And from there we may spread our influence.. I need you and your stand to keep are land alive..all you have to do is kill gish! Kill rose! And have faith in me!” his hand reached out..

Sterling took his hand in his.. To gish’s horror her eyes starting to tear up.. 

“Wow, you really give my stand too much credit.. That all sounds exhausting… and how do you think we’d get all these emotions, i’d have to experience all of them over and over again yeesh..” sterling scratched his head awkwardly while copperheads face began to drop.. “I mean you may of been detirmined to follow your emperor hanging around all night tagging the borders but just thinking about that makes me sick..” sterling scoffed “b-but you took my hand!? Don’t you want the authority over this world!? It woould be all yours when im gone!” copperhead pleaded still gripping his hand “oh yeah, i almost forgot..” sterling leaned in close “I gotta set your skin on fire for hurting rose and gish.. An unforgivable crime in my eyes” his rage flows into copperhead “g–gAAAAAH” his skin turned read as his veins bubbled and boiled.. “Bastard..! Fuck my plate is searing my skin!” sterling tended to gish helping her up.. “Eh? Jeeze thats a pretty big wound to cauderize.. Doesn’t it hurt..?” gish put her chin on top of his head.. “Not when im touching you.” sterling begins blushing pushing her away giggling “i- i should just focus on the burn’t area for now” gish smiled laying down.. “Did you finish him off..? I don’t hear his screaming..” perhaps.. I’m not sure.. 

Then a pile of sand rose and burst “got you son of a bitch!” sterling was grabbed by copperhead  “i- I used the wet sand to cool myself off.. But look hat you did to me! My face! I’m covered in scars! I’m gonna rip you apart for that!” gish runs  behind them “she’s right you really do feel good to hold.. But i can feel your earlier euphoria turn to fear.. As you should.. The moment i turn this rock with my tag on it on you, you’ll be killed! It’ll rip you apart! Whats this.. Dispair? I’m starting to feel how hallow you feel.. But its not enough to trump my sense of triumph! You where right i put your stand on a pedestal it pales in comparison to larryland” copperhead said shaking and grinning bringing the paper closer he suddenly fell to his knees..”w- what the hell.. One of my legs! Its been ripped off!” gish stood up “i moved your  earlier tag.. I sent it flying behind you to create a point that would shred you and not sterling.. Copperhead notices his other hand slipping to the ground.. Sterling stood up projecting his stand.. “I’ll show you what larry land truly is.. If you won’t shut it off then i guess I will” [grave architecture] grabbed copperhead relentlessly barraging him in the air.. His stand repeatedly jabbed copperhead keeping him elevated.. Feeling his fist against cracking bone and pulled muscle over and over again only drove grave architecture to punch harder and faster.. Eventually copperhead was sent flying with a round house kick “USHA~~AH” Punctuating the beatdown.. Flying directly in his own barrier he began being covered with lacerations tearing him apart like a ragdoll caught in a grinder.. A look of utter despair on his face with no more triumph left to counter it.. As his gibs fell to the sand begining to rot.. Sterling looked down.. “I- i haven’t let my emotions over take me like that since i was standless.. Rage.. fear.. Loasome emotions like that.. I usually drain them immediately into nearby tables or other things i find on the road.. I know  eventually someone will feel it later either taking their rage home with them or having public outburst but i never saw it as my problem.. Copperhead.. He was different.. He was filled with this odd determination making it hard to complete a transfer.. Like his emotions themselves dug their heels into him..” 

Sterling fell off his knees and towards the ground.. But he never reached it.. He was caught by gish.. She looked down at his sleeping face.. She couldn’t bring herself to stand up.. Not because of the pain.. But because she wished this moment could stay like this forever.. She could feel tears starting to form.. “So thats it.. Larryland.. Is disbanded.. After 4..? 5 years..?”

Gish turned around seeing yankee rose “y-yeah, rose, you can finally leave..you and.. Sterling..”  gish looked a bit sad.. “Yeah.. what about the fasers..” gish wiped her face “its okay.. Without their leader i’m sure they’ll fall apart.. If you want my employers may be able to help you get away from anyone with a grudge..” gish looks out to the ocean.. Rose spoke up “and what about hydra.. Are you gonna remove your hologram from him?” gish lowered her hat.. “Actually.. I think one of my supirors has taken special interest in that one.. His stand may be useful to them” 

“I should of known you wouldn’t be finished with that crap.. You’re always up to something..well i guess we should go get him.. See if he’s even alive” she stood up “ oh shi- yeah crap is he even alive?”

Hydra was laying on the dock.. Breathing heavily.. “D-did you guys get him?” they help him to his feet..  “Yeah, larrylands disbanded, the fasers will prrobably be too..” hydra perked up running to the edge of the pier.. “N-no NO DAMMIT!” they all gathered observing his shack wrapped in an inferno.. “Thats! Thats where i keep all of my savings! Sons of bitches what did you do!” gish and rose looked confused.. Sterling looked down.. “I- i’m sorry hydra..” they watched scorched dollars flying out to sea.. “That was hydras savings.. Hydra treats his money like his life.. He says its because its the only way he could retire.. All he wants to do is retire somewhere nice where he doesn’t have to work.. He also talked about someone he wanted to do it with.. A lady far east his sweetheart.. She wanted to get her away from the conflict over there.” hydra put his chin in his hands “oh god what am i gonna do? What am i gonna tell her..” gish walked up to him.. “Listen i’m not sure what deal the fasers where offering you but me and my employers can offer you a great deal, if you play your cards right then you can leave after say a 5 year contract and retire wherever you want.. With whoever you want you hear’? We just gotta head over to nevada once they give me the word.. “

“Hydra wiped his tears.. Really? Yeah.. yeah i’ll do whatever i’ll head over to nevada.. But what kind of signal are you waiting for..?”

Gish pulled out her phone “just a call.. A friend should be in contact with me very soon.. I haven’t spoken to them since i met all of you.. Now we should be able to reintegrate california back into america….” gish begins to walk away.. “I’ll see you guys around right?” they all wave at her as she leaves…

     Chapter 15 goodnight larry land..

“Gish wake up.. This is gray, you did it right? You disbanded larry land right?”

“Yes we took out the user of larryland.. He wasn’t the same guy leading the fasers but they where definitely working together..”

“We..?” 

“Y-yes.. I received some help on the insided”

“What did you tell them..? You didn’t release anything confidential did you?”

“N-no of course not.. They where so desperate to leave larryland they where more than happy to help.. Well except one.. Hydra the one we where talking about the strange stand that can see the future..”

“Yes, him.. Does he still-”

“Yes he still has a revolver in his chest cavity”

“That was a gift from my grandfather! He got it from johnny cash!”

“Again.. I am so sorry..atleast its in stasis.”

“Just.. okay.. Fine.. anyway.. We’ll be sending a car at a too be determined location somewhere on the mojave highway.. You’ll ride that to arizona.. With the rest of your team..”

“Wait all of my team? We agreed i was to take hydra and noone else”

“Orders from headquarters.. He wants to see every stand user you met… the once you can get here.. Don’t dissapoint him..” 

“O-ok, i’ll see what i can do.. One will be easier.. But his friend.. She’s suspicious of me..”

“Just another reason to get them down here.. This whole mission was supposed to be discrete.. Don’t fuck this operation up..” 

“N-no problem.. Right away.. “

A click and a dial tone is all that remains.. 

Gish walks over to a window.. Looking at it.. Her cold expression against the night sky.. 

She looks over to sterling and starts turning sad.. “I'm so sorry”

Alicia wonderland dawn to dusk end..