It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Brian Law Korn was a simple man with a simple life living in Australia in the year 2000. Brian, a man in his early twenties wanted nothing, but a peaceful, average life. He did not stand out much from the crowd, except that he had something special in him, something that even he did not fully understand.
Brian was actually heading to the house of Brender, his friend he has known for a while now. He said it was urgent and they needed to meet as soon as humanly possible. I mean, he even had to skip his job at the local fast food chain just to meet his friend it was so urgent. He could have earned some nice money from that job! So Brender better have something important to say. Though in reality Brian knew Brender was not the brightest person ever. He would even sometimes call Brian over just to help him fix his TV, which in reality was just not plugged in. So Brian was hoping that this time, something of high importance was on the menu.
As he was approaching his house, Brian could already see Brender nervously stomping around his own doorstep holding some strange box.
“I’m here, what’s the issue?” – asked Brian from Brender, who was already sweating from his stomping. You see, Brender was not very athletic either. He was a guy of average height also in his early twenties, much like Brian, with a slender build, messy shoulder-length dirty-blonde hair and a questionable taste in clothing. Even now he was wearing a weird poncho-esque brown rag with a cowboy hat of similar colour and round black sunglasses. Some call it fashion, Brian preferred calling it insanity.
“You’re a Stand user aren’t you?” – replied Brender to Brian’s question.
“YES! I AM!” – Is what Brian would have replied but he was so shocked from Brender’s sudden accusation that all he could mutter was “Y-ye.”
“I need your help!” – Continued Brender. – “You see, this box came in the mail today. It says it must be delivered to someone named L.J. living in Perth, the other side of Australia. They told me Stand users are required for this delivery as many other people, including other Stand users, are aiming for what’s inside this box. L.J. put all his trust in those who have found this box, which happens to be me… But, I don’t think I’m cut for this task. You on the other hand, you possess a Stand ability don’t you? Maybe you could help me out?”
Brian, now finally gaining his consciousness back after Brender’s monologue, was in awe. How did Brender know he was a Stand user? What kind of package is this? Why in God’s name is HE the one who is supposed to deliver it to Perth? He had hundreds of different questions but unfortunately, Brender had already put the box in Brian’s hands without him even noticing it.
“Here, take it! Oh, I also have a companion for you for this trip, I’ve been taking care of him for a while now, poor guy’s kind of reliant on me considering he can’t do anything on his own, you know.” – Brender continued once again and at this point Brian’s been questioning his own sanity. Brender pulled a toaster out of his house which had been resting on top of a cupboard next to his door all this time.
“You… Are giving me a toaster to help me deliver a package I am unaware of the contents of to a person who’s a complete stranger to me using my… OKAY WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON ANYMORE?”
“You know I can hear you, right bitch?” – a voice suddenly sounded from next to Brian.
“Who is it talking? Who are you?” – asked the startled Brian.
“I’m right here don’t you see? I’m right here in Brender’s arms, how blind are you?” – said the voice again. This is when Brian’s brain melted. The toaster was talking to him.
It took a while for Brian to gain his mind back. What he was witnessing was beyond bizarre. His friend telling him to use his Stand to deliver a package to an unknown person with a talking toaster. It was too much for Brian’s brain to actually process, so he turned to the toaster for explanation.
“Well, you see… My name is Toesef Toestar” – the toaster started his monologue. “My friends just call me ToTo, so you can as well. About 3 months ago I was cursed by someone called The Finisher, he force-fed me a pretzel which turned me into a toaster but also gave me this special power people like to call a Stand. Since then Brender’s been the one taking care of me. People said I could be lifted from my curse by delivering this package to L.J. as he is all-mighty, it was promised that if we deliver this package to him then he could turn me back into a human. Please Brian, you gotta help us!”
“Why would I? This is none of my business. I got an average life, I don’t need to use my Stand at all. I have better things to do than help some weird talking toaster deliver a box all the way to Perth from Sydney.”
“AFRICA!” – screamed ToTo and suddenly, a red figure with yellow eyes and some fur-like scarf around its neck appeared behind him, picking him up and throwing him towards Brian’s face. The skies turned dark, and it started to rain as ToTo crashed straight into Brian’s nose.
“YOU’RE GOING TO HELP! Listen, you are now involved with us, you are affiliated with us meaning The Finisher will come after you as well. He hunts down every single Stand user and tries making them into his pawns or he kills them! His stand is extremely powerful, nobody has seen its true power yet, because those who have are all already dead! Listen you’re in this already, you can’t back down from it!” – said ToTo with a cry. Brian started thinking. He has already been pressured into joining this whole journey, considering if he does not then The Finisher might come after him. But who is this Finisher anyways? The most powerful Stand user? Oh come on, impossible. What could he even do to him? But still… ToTo seems to be desperate for help. Guess he can’t do much on his own. His Stand ability seems to make it rain. That doesn’t seem very strong to be fair, just making it rain is quite useful in Australia though. Considering it is dry half of the time.
“Fine… I’ll help you guys. But, how do we get there?” – asked Brian
“I mean, you could take a bus?” – said Brender, who was up until now listening to the story silently.
“I mean a bus seems like the right option yeah.” – agreed Brian.
ToTo Stand Card [https://i.imgur.com/CPQr7gi.png]
And so their journey began. Before getting to the bus station though, Brian had to get a couple things from home. Just the essentials: Spare clothes, toothbrush, towel, money, his fast food coupons he’s been saving up for the last 2 years, etc. As they were approaching Brian’s house, some person with a chicken bucket on his head was standing there menacingly.
“I’ve been waiting for you two.” – said the person with the chicken bucket.
“Who are you?” – asked Brian from the person. “What do you want from us?”
“Allow me to introduce myself. The name’s Balin A. Thor and I am a tourist here in the… Beautiful city of Sydney. You see I was born in Hungary, so I travelled a long way here. But here I met him… Ah yes, it was great, SO GREAT TO FINALLY WITNESS TRUE POWER!”
“Dude this guy is insane.” – muttered ToTo to Brian. “Oi, what are you on about with this power stuff? Who did you meet?”
“Who did I meet, you ask? He just calls himself The Finisher, he was so powerful it scared me. He told me to get this package from you two if I want to keep my life. And to be frank with you, I would much rather prefer my own life over yours.”
“So you’re a Stand use-“ – ToTo couldn’t even finish his sentence it happened so fast…
“BUCKETHEAD” – screamed Balin A. Thor and everything went black. Brian did not know where he was, everything was completely dark around him. Suddenly, a huge bat-like thing hit him in the head and he flew a good 4 metres before crashing into a tree and losing consciousness… Was this the end already? Has this guy already defeated them? There is no way.
As Brian was slowly gaining back his consciousness he realised something… He could see again! And there was a metal bucket next to him on the ground. As he looked in front of himself he could see ToTo and Balin facing each other, with ToTo having his Stand out already.
“You couldn’t spawn a bucket on me because I technically have no head, you dumbass!” – screamed ToTo at Balin. ToTo launched himself forward and Africa’s cane was aiming at Balin’s head already. Balin wasn’t dumb though, he quickly dodged and from out of nowhere a huge, bulky, dark red object hit Africa straight in the stomach.
“Is that… An electric guitar?” – muttered Brian in himself.
ToTo was falling back towards the ground and if it wasn’t for his Stand catching him, he would’ve surely shattered.
Balin stood straight up again, this time, it was visible. A huge, muscular red-pink-ish figure wearing no shirt, perched on his head was a chicken bucket similar to that on Balin’s head. He was also holding, as Brian guessed correctly, an electric guitar.
Balin A. Thor stand card [https://i.imgur.com/NsMj5cp.png]
“My Stand, Buckethead, has the ability to spawn a bucket on anyone’s head. ORIGINAL, ISN’T IT? Anyways… It seems like I can’t put buckets on non-human things, such as talking toasters.”
“I’M A HUMAN BEING STUCK IN A TOASTER, DON’T INSULT ME LIKE THAT!” – screamed Toaster in anger as he launched towards Balin the second time. This time, Balin simply used his Stand’s guitar as a baseball bat to attempt smashing ToTo away, however he was faster. Africa grabbed his cane and hit Balin straight in the kneecaps. Balin crouched down from the pain he received but quickly reacted to Africa’s next strike and Buckethead parried with its guitar. After having exchanged a couple attacks the two locked their weapons. Africa’s cane and Buckethead’s guitar could not move at all.
“Don’t you dare call me a toaster!” – shouted Toaster at Balin.
“TOTO, STOP!” – Brian ran to stop the two’s fighting. “That’s enough! I have an idea…”
In just a split second, everything went black for Balin. What happened?
Balin A. Thor woke up in a bed, next to him was Brian sitting on a chair and ToTo’s Stand pointing its cane towards his head in a threatening way.
“Now then… Speak” – said Brian calmly.
“What happened? Where am I?” – said Balin surprised.
“Be happy Brian stopped me I would’ve killed you… He knocked you out after we locked weapons.” – answered ToTo
“Anyways…” – continued Brian. “Could you explain to us this whole obsession with The Finisher? What is so great about him?”
“What’s great about him? His power… He told me I must get this box from you two in order for me to survive or something. He said he needed the contents of the box in order to get home.”
“What is in the box anyway, let’s open it!” – said Brian who was clearly annoyed at this point. He just wanted this thing to end already, despite it having barely started.
“No! You mustn’t, what are you doing? Only the one with immense power can open the box and see the insides without dying!” – shouted ToTo at Brian
“Well then, I guess we have to deliver it now that we’ve started this thing. Come ToTo, let’s get packed so we finish as soon as possible and I can return to peace finally.” – told Brian to ToTo, whose Stand was picking him up and carrying him out of the room.
“WAIT! You two...” – yelled Balin at the two. “Let me join you two. I was brainwashed, I realise it now. The Finisher is evil and only wants to reach his own goal. But you two are a team and I admire this so much. You aren’t doing this for personal gain, you two are doing what you think is right.”
“Dude what are you on about I just wanna be human again lol” – laughed ToTo.
“Still. You agreed to go on this journey with Brian, even though you have… Clear disabilities…” – answered Balin again.
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“I mean, we could use some backup, but don’t you dare betray us.” – said Brian to Balin with a threatening tone. “If you betray us, ToTo will beat the living shit out of you again.”
“Sure, I’ll take it. Just please, I want to join you two. I’ll give you my money, I’ll give you my Stand, I’ll give you anything you want. I am alone in this country having been brainwashed by The Finisher, you guys have to have mercy on me!”
Our heroes were now three. Brian, ToTo and Balin all with their unique Stands and abilities, just casually boarding a bus to Perth, none of them aware of the risks this journey held. Brian Law Korn, Balin A. Thor (now stylishly nicknamed Bali by the group) and Toesef Toestar, three brave men in their early twenties ready to get their hands dirty to deliver the box’s contents to this unknown person they just call L.J.
The bus was actually quite comfortable, with only about 14-15 passengers at maximum. Brian had his hopes up that this ride will be simpler than he thought. Despite him having been alerted that all sorts of Stand users are going to be up against them, there’s nobody on this bus that seems to be threatening. There’s a family of 4, a couple elderly and middle-aged people and some younger ones, some of them reading, one of them playing on his Gameboy. Even the bus driver is a friendly man in his early 50’s with a fitting grey moustache. Brian liked moustaches, he found them stylish on older people. He sometimes imagined how women would look like in moustaches and just the thought excited him. It would be funny but also interesting at the same time. What if babies had moustaches from birth? What if planets had moustaches? Oh the thoughts that crossed Brian’s mind. He was a simple man with a simple life but a quite vivid imagination. Actually Brian was single, he simply could not imagine his life with an actual woman, he has already decided that a woman would only make his life more troublesome, something he did not want.
Half an hour has passed without Brian or the crew even noticing it. Some people were fast asleep, some were still reading or chatting with one-another.
“FUCKING SHIT WHY DO YOU RUN OUT OF BATTERY NOW?” – a voice screamed from the front of the bus and all of the sudden the vehicle seems to have started rolling. Brian was holding onto dear life as he was grasping the box in his lap. Bali was hugging the seat in front of him and ToTo was using his Stand to hold himself down.
The bus probably rolled over about 4-5 times before eventually cracking in half and sliding around 40 metres on its side until it stopped. Brian slowly crawled out of the side of the bus only to see all passengers, including the driver, had already evacuated and they were completely safe. However, the same couldn’t have been said about ToTo and Bali, as they were quite literally stuck under the bus.
“What happened?” – asked ToTo with fright in his voice.
“I don’t know, something flipped the bus the moment the guy flipped, no pun intended” – answered Brian.
The entire crowd was safely jumbled up in one group, but one person, a tall, slim guy with curly hair wearing a black suit coat and dark sunglasses, was standing a couple metres away from them, staring at Brian and the group with eyes that would even scare The Rock shitless.
“It was you that flipped the bus, weren’t you?” – asked Brian from the stranger.
“So what if I was? This piece of shit ran out of battery!” – answered the stranger with an upset tone, waving his Gameboy around.
“How did you even do that? You can’t just simply flip a bus, let alone from the inside!”
“Yes I can!”
“Not if you’re an average human!” – Cut ToTo into the conversation. – “Your next line will be ‘I’m a Stand user, now witness my Stand and its intense power!’”
“Nah not really.” – Answered the stranger.
“Ah crap, worth a try though…” – Said ToTo in disappointment.
“However, one part about your prediction is true. I am indeed a Stand user. I suppose the three of you are as well, considering you got a talking toaster, an average Joe and a guy with a bucket on his head in your little group” – Said the stranger promptly (and more calmly).
Brian slowly started approaching the stranger with anger in his eyes. Nobody can just call him an average Joe, he is who he is, he might be a common person, but he is still unique in his own way. Just like everyone else in the world, Brian had his own defining characteristics as well.
“My name is Brian Law Korn. I am 24 years old. My house is in the southern section of Sydney, where all the suburbs are, and I am single. I work as an employee for Maccas, and I get home every day by 6 PM at the latest. I don’t smoke and I don’t drink, mainly because I can’t afford it. I’m in bed by whatever time I possibly can, and make sure I get at least some sleep at night. After having a glass of pickle juice, as milk is too expensive, and doing about 30 minutes of masturbation, I usually have no problem sleeping until 4 AM. Just like your average Maccas employee I wake up dead inside in the morning. My doctor said I should do something with my life finally at my last check-up, however I don’t care about it. I’m trying to explain that I’m a person who wishes to live a very simple life. I take care not to trouble myself with enemies or Stand users, that would cause me to not arrive at work in time thus not earning enough money for me to buy food. This is how I deal with society, something we live in. Although it doesn’t bring me happiness, it makes me feel at ease that I can live a simple, carefree life. But if I were to fight I wouldn’t lose to anyone… hopefully…”
“Cool story bro.” – answered the stranger. – “Well then, allow me to introduce myself. My name is D. E. Staz and I am a 5th generation Croatian immigrant from the Staz bloodline. My ancestors were expats, they were banished from my home country and we’re not allowed to return, even though what they did happened hundreds of years ago. It was actually just stealing 3 loafs of bread from some baker. Thinking about it, laws were pretty harsh back then. Either way, I’m here to ask you people to hand over that box. I heard of its heavenly contents from this gingerbread looking fellow. He was looking to recruit me in some The Finisher’s army of Stand users. Although I kindly refused I am still interested in the contents of that box.”
“The Finisher… Again?” – ToTo gasped with his non-existent mouth. – “So you know The Finisher?”
“You know… People like him really piss me off. The selfishness in him. Who does he honestly fucking think he is? Some sort of saint? No he isn’t! Why are people so over-confident in themselves, thinking they are all-mighty? I’m not taking none of it!” – Staz started getting angry again. – “Now hand over that box!”
“You say how much you hate selfishness, yet you’re the one asking for the box all for yourself! You are being a hypocrite!” – answered Brian
“TO HELL WITH YOU! WITNESS MY STAND, HELLRAISER!” – screamed Staz from the top of his lungs.
“Haha late prediction but still counts.” – giggled ToTo to himself.
A body slightly taller than Staz appeared behind him. The body itself was grey with pink rectangles and armour-like shoulder plates. The face of the Stand had a frozen mad look with a moon-shaped second face on its forehead.
D. E. Staz stand card [https://i.imgur.com/qEmbCvH.png]
“So this is your Stand, this is what flipped the bus over, eh?” – Brian smirked. He knew he could beat this guy. – “Well then, come at me! You two!” – Pointed Brian at ToTo and Bali attempting to escape the bus’ pressure. – “You two stay out of this, I shall deal with him.”
“Your overconfidence is what will cause your downfall, you fool!” – Staz screamed as he rushed towards Brian who was just standing straight, looking at Staz running towards him at an insane speed.
As Staz got closer to Brian his anger grew. Every bit of anger and furious screaming made him more and more fast. When Staz was about to throw a punch, Brian simply stepped aside to evade the punch.
“Hah! You fell for it fool! To Hell with you!” – Staz stopped his charge and redirected himself towards Brian by sliding his right foot towards him, this way both stopping himself and facing Brian again. – “My plan all along was to get you trapped between the debris and me!”
“Oh really? Well I have something special for you as well!” – Brian punched forwards but didn’t quite reach Staz.
“Ahahaha! Can you even aim? You should get your depth perception checked out by a doctor! Damn, your overconfidence really is going to bring your downfall!” – Staz started laughing and the previously hot-pink rectangles on his Stand started to slowly fade and turn into a more blue-ish colour.
“I got you figured out now…” – Screamed Brian. – “Korn!”
All of a sudden a cob of corn launched out of Brian’s hand. Staz quickly grabbed the cob using Hellraiser, spun around and redirected it towards Brian. However, a second cob of corn that Brian launched hit him straight in the mouth. Both Brian and Staz were knocked back from the impact, behind Brian a black bird-headed figure appeared wearing a white trench-coat and a white fedora, his hands resembling that of two cobs of corn.
Brian Law Korn stand card [https://i.imgur.com/ynuCWGg.png]
“This is my Stand, Korn.” – Started Brian his monologue, still on the ground, recovering from the impact. – “I know, I know, ‘Brian why is your Stand named after you?’ Well at least it isn’t the completely same! I’ve seen a Stand user before who used the same name as his stand, you know how much confusion that caused in me? Anyways, I don’t like using my Stand because it is utterly useless for me to use in my carefree life. However, as I mentioned before in my monologue, in dire needs I shall use it. This was a dire need, but seeing how I knocked you on the ground as well, let’s call it a draw, shall we?” – Brian walked towards Staz and helped him up on his feet.
“Let us. But may I ask why you punched the air instead of aiming straight for me?” – Staz firmly shook Brian’s hand.
“It’s simple, I tested your Stand and what it can do. I figured out your Stand ability just by faking a punch. It seems like the angrier you are, the stronger and faster your Stand gets. As you started calming down from the fake punch, your Stand also changed, its colours did. However, overconfidence got the better of you and that’s when I launched my two cobs of corn at you.” – Explained Brian calmly.
“You are quite smart, aren’t you… Well, it’s true, my Stand’s ability is as you described but with a bonus effect. The calmer I am, the more precise I get. This is why I was able to catch the cob mid-air and throw it back at you, however the second one caught me off-guard. This unfortunately works vice-versa meaning I get less and less precise the angrier I am. You are quite the honourable Stand user, not using cheap tricks on your opponents. You are a man of true beliefs, I can feel that in you. I just wanted to return home but after seeing you I don’t need that box anymore. You are more worthy of holding onto it than I am.” – Staz completely calmed down. The passengers were looking in awe at the situation unfolding.
“Join us!” – Ordered Brian. – “Instinctively you’re a good person. Otherwise you wouldn’t have saved all these people even before we could crawl out of the bus. We could use you in our team, D. E. Staz.”
“B-but we just fought. Aren’t you supposed to not trust me or something?” – Asked Staz surprised.
“I see a good man in you, same way as I see a good person in Bali right there!” – Bali awkwardly waved at the two as Brian looked at him. – “You are not evil, you don’t have bad intentions, you just let your anger control you. Something, that in my opinion we can fix.”
“You have got to be kidding me, another enemy joining us?” – Shouted ToTo at Brian. – “You can’t be serious that you just befriend yet another person that a couple minutes ago just tried to kill you!”
“ToTo! There will be a time when they are needed. Just the two of us going on this journey is basically a deathwish. We already had 2 Stand users attack us. What if the next one is fatal? That’s why we need backup.” – Brian tried explaining to ToTo. – “Besides, I’m sure they aren’t going to cause any trouble after you and I have beaten them.”
“So I’m with you guys now?” – Asked Staz. – “I promise I won’t cause trouble.”
“I don’t like this a bit.” – Said ToTo. – “But I guess I will just have to live with it, not like I can do anything about it. Welcome to the team, Staz.”
Our heroes now were four. Are there going to be even more? Nobody knows really. However, the journey has just begun, they have barely left Sydney. They have a long road ahead of themselves. Brian Law Korn, Toesef Toestar, Balin A. Thor, D. E. Staz. Four people, four Stand users, four adventurers delivering the package to the unknown.