“And you are?” Josiah asked the intruder.
“You don’t recognize me?” he replied, “I worked as a servant here a couple months back. Does the name Karter Alice ring a bell?”
“Not a bit, but I presume you took a job from me so that you could prepare your ability”
“Well aren’t you a smart one?” Karter replied, his grin widening. He pointed towards Jasmine with his free hand.
“Me, you, the lobby”
Before anyone in the room could respond to those four words, Karter vanished before their very eyes. Despite this strange occurrence, no one in the room seemed shocked by it.
“Teleportation, huh?” muttered Jasmine.
“Mind if I observe your fight?” asked Josiah, “I’m interested in what the secret behind that stand is. I’m also interested in your stand”
“Sure, just stay out the way”
•• •
“As expected of a woman, you always gotta keep a man waiting, huh?” said Karter as Jasmine and Josiah entered his field of view. He stood in the middle of the lobby while the other two were atop the staircase.
“I hope you aren’t planning on paying me back by making me wait for you to bring out your stand” replied Jasmine. Just as she said that, a woman with a hourglass figure made of gold began to take form next to her. Blue gemstones ran up and down her body and even made up her eyes and hair. The woman lacked a mouth and had a small, rounded nose. Her hair appeared like dreadlocks made of gems.
“That thing got a name?” asked Karter.
“「Dangerous Woman」. No need to remember it”
“So you chose a name for it that describes yourself? Funny, because I named my stand for the same reason”
Karter quickly swung both of his arms in front of him in a pose.
“「Smooth Criminal」!”
A red man dressed in a red suit manifested beside Karter. His eyes and hair were a bright golden color. A symmetrical pattern of yellow stripes ran all across his body. The stand’s face had a look of silent fury to it, as if it were going to attack at any moment, which it just might have done.
“Feel free to come at me whenever you like,” said Karter.
“You don’t have to tell me that,” said Jasmine as 「Dangerous Woman」held out her palms. Within them were two large, gems in the shape of a plumbob. She dropped the gems on the stairs a step below where Jasmine stood. Jasmine then leapt forward as the crystals suddenly exploded in a burst of energy, propelling her towards Karter. Jasmine’s opponent stepped out of her way as 「Smooth Criminal」and 「Dangerous Woman」began to exchange blows. As they did, it became apparent to both Karter and Jasmine that their stands were equally matched in direct combat.
After about five seconds of rapid punching, Karter and his stand suddenly vanished from Jasmine’s field of view. Before she could react, 「Smooth Criminal」was already readying the finishing blow. But right before the punch landed, a burst of energy came from a group of gems stuck to Jasmine’s back. A jolt of pain ran through Karter’s arm causing him to take a step back. He could feel that he fractured a few bones due to the gems. However, Jasmine was completely unaffected despite the explosion coming from her back.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
As soon as the explosion went off, Jasmine turned around and had「Dangerous Woman」send a flurry of punches at 「Smooth Criminal」. They all connected undefended. The attacking stand ended its barrage with an uppercut to the jaw, sending「Smooth Criminal」 and its user back a couple feet.
“Since you made it so obvious that your power involved teleportation earlier, it was obvious where you were going to attack,” said Jasmine as her stand formed two more crystals in its hands.
“All I had to do was make precautions so that I wouldn’t be killed the moment you got to my backside”.「Dangerous Woman」placed the two crystals on Jasmine’s backto replace the ones detonated by Karter. All across her back were several groups of gems of the same size.
“As expected of someone who hunts stand users for a living,” responded Karter as he got up, wiping blood from his mouth.
“I’m gonna have to get some work done after this. You messed my face up pretty bad”
Once Karter got up, the two combatants posed as they sized each other up. As they did,「Dangerous Woman」prepared gems in between each of its fingers.
“Take this!” Exclaimed Jasmine as「Dangerous Woman」threw the gems towards Karter. But before they could connect, he teleported out of the way. As soon as Jasmine saw where he ended up,「Dangerous Woman」threw more gems at him. This went on for a while, with Karter doing nothing but dodging. Eventually, however,「Dangerous Woman」began to only use one of her hands to throw gems.
“Reaching your limit, huh?” said Karter right before he teleported right in front of Jasmine.
“Nope,” replied Jasmine, having「Dangerous Woman」reveal a gem in its other hand, “I just had to prepare this for you”. Just as she said this, all the other gems that she had thrown about began to rush towards Jasmine and Karter. As they got closer, they got faster and faster.
“Check,” said Jasmine smugly.
Jasmine has no way of knowing this, but because of the way Karter’s ability worked, this situation was much worse for him than it would appear. His teleportation had limits to it, and this giant minefield was a near-perfect counter to it. But only near-perfect.
Karter teleported to the outside area around the crystal mine field. As soon as he did, five nearby crystals detonated around him. Pain shot throughout his body as he fell to the ground. Meanwhile, all the other crystals attached to each other with the crystal 「Dangerous Woman」was carrying acting as the center.
“Never mind, guess it was checkmate after all,” quipped Jasmine. She walked over to the downed Karter, who had recalled 「Smooth Criminal」. As she did, she prepared another crystal with 「Dangerous Woman」.
“Now time to make sure you hold up your end of the ba-“
Just as Jasmine said that, she was interrupted by Karter disappearing from her line of sight. Once again, 「Smooth Criminal」attacked before she could react. Only this time, it attacked from the side, where she was usually defended, but not at the moment. The stand hit her right in the jaw and sent her flying. She was dazed for a second, but was able to gather herself quickly. But when she did, she felt that something was on the back of her hand. When she looked down at it, she saw a “30” made out of ink. It had been put on their by Karter’s golden ink stamp.
“And that’s my victory,” exclaimed Karter as he made a victory pose.
“And why is it your victory all the sudden?” A voice chimed in. Karter looked up on top of the staircase, where the voice came from. His eyes fell upon Josiah, who now had a menacing air about him as he himself posed.
“What exactly does that stamp stand do?” Questioned Josiah.
“I’ll gladly tell you,” responded Karter, “especially since it’s in my job description to tell anyone I stamp what the stand does”. He began to hold up the stamp as he began his explanation.
“This stamp is a part of my employer’s stand,「Imagine」,” he began, “it is a stand with the ability to enter other stand users into a contract, with the ink on their skin acting as proof. The contract?” Karter sneered.
“They must fight to the death with someone else under the contract, and they will continue to do so until only one of them is left standing”
“So it forces you to fight other stand users?” Asked Josiah.
“Exactly”
“And it’s your job to have people undergo this contract?”
“Indeed”
“So in other words, since I’m a stand user, it’s your job to induct me into the contract as well?”
“You pick up quick, Joestar”
“And if that’s the case,” started Josiah as he began to walk down the steps, “then I’d have to defeat you here to keep that from happening, right?”
“If you want to fight, then I should warn you,” said Karter as he posed, ready for combat, “I held back against that ‘dangerous’ woman”
“Oh, I could tell,” replied Josiah, “but you don’t need to warn me, because I won’t defeat you”
“Admitting defeat already, huh? Not really fitting for your last name”
“No, I’m not admitting defeat,” said Josiah, “I’m saying that I won’t beat you because I won’t fight you”
“Are you stupid?” retorted Karter, “If you don’t fight, I will stamp you”
“Exactly”
“Wait, are you saying...?”
“Yes I am,” replied Josiah, “I’m saying that I will go under that contract—“
Just then, Josiah posed, the air feeling like it was triumphantly rumbling.
“Willingly!”
Stand Information
「Dangerous Woman」
Power: B
Speed: B
Range: D
Durability: A
Precision: B
Potential: B
Ability
Turns energy into crystals, which can be turned back into any form of energy in a sudden burst. The crystals are set to either detonate on command or to detonate when near someone other than Jasmine. The energy released from crystals do not effect Jasmine.
Stand Information
「Smooth Criminal」
Power: B
Speed: B
Range: C
Durability: B
Precision: A
Potential: B
Ability
Allows 「Smooth Criminal」and its user to teleport. The exact rules and limitations of this ability are currently unknown.