The year was 2028, L.J. and Brender were taking some time off work, visiting the country of Hungary in hopes of having a break from all the work the D.E. Foundation had put on them. The Sun was shining and it was a perfect day to visit the Festetics Palace in the city of Keszthely, near Lake Balaton.
“It’s a good thing we decided to visit this country finally!” – Brender started. – “Staz put so much work onto the underground part of the Foundation if I see another pretzel I’m going to go insane!”
“We should go inside the palace, shouldn’t we? The courtyard is beautiful but I’m sure the insides are even prettier.” – L.J. giggled and signalled Brender to go in with him.
As they were walking around aimlessly within the palace, they couldn’t help but notice the eerie atmosphere and lack of people inside. It was like the whole building was evacuated.
“What is happening? I thought this place was a tourist hotspot…” – Brender started being worried. The fear within the two started growing as a person started slowly walking towards them, holding a sword.
“Be prepared Brender…” – L.J. started while staring down into the person’s empty eyes. – “This feels like something Benjo told me about back in the day in Australia…”
Just as he uttered these words another figure appeared from the top of a set of stairs, carrying a halberd, also walking towards the duo. His eyes were just as empty as the other’s.
“Manipulation of people…” – Brender started wondering out loud… - “It can’t be! The Doors!”
A brown cyclops with a door for its head appeared in front of Brender, sending out punches at the person with the sword.
“We gotta run for it!” – Brender opened a door. – “Get in, L.J.!”
[https://i.imgur.com/hGgUTZR.png]
“No… We’re fighting him!” – L.J ordered Brender and started walking up the set of stairs, where a third ominous figure was standing in the shadows.
“So you have found me!” – A familiar voice was sounding from top of the stairs. – “I thought I could escape finally… It took you 28 years to find me!”
“We weren’t even looking for you, The Finisher!” – L.J. shouted at him.
“Well then… I’m sorry, but I cannot let you two get away from here, now that my position has been compromised I must kill you two…” – The Finisher screamed while a purple figure appeared behind him and started shooting its submachine-gun. The manipulated halberd-wielding person started rushing towards Brender, who quickly beat him down with his Stand.
“Above the Law!” – L.J. screamed as his Stand appeared and all bullets vanished around him. – “I haven’t used my Stand in a while but I can still make myself completely immune for 2 seconds!”
L.J. jumped towards The Finisher who just started laughing. Suddenly, in a blink of an eye L.J.’s body laid all bloody on the floor.
“Run for it... Brender…” – L.J. could barely utter the words as the bullets that hit him punctured his lungs and neck. – “Jones T-Tiki has acquired… Some n-new ability… I couldn’t do anything…” – And just as he breathed out those last words L.J. went silent… His all bloody body laid lifeless on the ground.
[https://i.imgur.com/VyEBMEv.png]
Name: L.J.
Stand: Above the Law
Status: Deceased
“It’s time for you now, Brender!” – He started screaming as his Stand prepared to fire at him.
“Not if I have a word about it! The Doors!” – Brender rushed towards one of the rooms and opened the door to it. The Finisher started walking down the stairs towards the door. As he opened it and stepped inside the room, Brender was nowhere to be found…
“HOW?” – The Finisher screamed with all his might, smashing down on one of the tables next to him. – “HOW HAS HE ESCAPED? THERE’S NO WINDOW HERE! THERE’S NO WAY HE COULD ESCAPE!”
The Finisher walked out of the room and started slowly walking back up the stairs. His breathing becoming more calm, he entered a deep state of thought. What will happen now? Is the Foundation coming after him? There was only one way to make sure nobody reaches him… He slowly entered a massive dining hall, where multiple people sat at a row of tables eating and talking. However, once The Finisher entered a deep silence fell on the place as everyone was focusing on him.
“My location has been compromised by L.J. and Brender! They were at the wrong place at the wrong time. I have murdered L.J., however Brender has escaped. I fear he will be contacting other members of the Foundation and will come after me. But before that, I shall send out all of you to take down the Foundation members…” – He explained to the group of people.
“How do we know who the Foundation members are?” – One of the people asked.
“You will feel it… I feel their energy, their presence… I always know their location for some reason…” – The Finisher started scratching his shoulder. – “It’s like something connects me to them…”
Brender fell out from the door of a barn as if he was running away from something. Slowly standing up again he looked up at the Palace.
“My Stand worked… I could enter a door within the Palace and walk out from another one outside…” – He started talking to himself, wondering what will happen now. – “I need to contact Toesef… He knows more than I do, I need to do something and get out of here as soon as I can!”
As he was running down the hill, away from the palace, he stopped for a second and looked at the building once more… Inside that building lived The Finisher. Inside that building laid his fallen comrade’s lifeless body…
The Toestar residence was silent. Toesef Toestar, age 48, was an average real-estate agent living in the eastern part of the United States of America. He was reading a newspaper while his son, Tony Toestar was eating breakfast.
“Interesting” – Toesef was scanning through the articles. – “Could you have imagined that we’re in 2028 and newspapers are still relevant?”
Tony sighed loudly, showing a sign of distaste towards his father’s joke.
“Anyways…” – Toesef continued. – “These Hubert Polovi murders are getting out of hand…”
“Who is Hubert Polovi?” – Tony asked, looking up from his breakfast.
“You don’t know Hubert Polovi? He’s a big-hit in Hollywood nowadays. Famous actor and now fashion designer… He can be recognized by his big blue hair and weird horns coming out of his head… Nobody knows why he has horns.” – Toesef explained. – “There have been strange deaths happening around him. Whenever he is out in the public someone dies in the crowd following him.”
“Sudden cardiac arrest?” – Tony asked.
“Why would that happen so commonly? The deaths have been dubbed the Polovi murders because the autopsies all indicated the cause of all deaths were from choking… As if someone choked them.”
“Sudden cardiac arrest possesses no vulnerabilities… You could die from a heart attack from the fear of being choked!” – Tony explained, not letting go of his beliefs.
“Like that one guy that died of shock thinking he was going to be hit by a tractor?” – Toesef laughed.
“Exactly!” – Tony stood up, supporting himself with both of his arms on the table, leaning forwards.
The conversation was suddenly interrupted by the telephone ringing. Tony walked to the device and picked it up.
“Toestar residence, Tony speaking!” – He introduced himself.
“TOTO YOU GOTTA HELP US L.J. GOT KILLED AN-… Oh hey Tony could you give the phone to your father?” – It was Brender on the other side of the line, screaming from fear.
“Uhh… Mr. Brender is everything alright?” – Tony asked confused.
“No… In fact, nothing is alright! Please hand the phone over to Toesef…” – Brender was sounding desperate, so Tony handed the phone over to his father.
“What happened Brender?” – Toesef asked calmly.
“So you know we took a vacation to Hungary with L.J., right? Well guess what! The Finisher is at the Festetics Palace! We’re doomed, you gotta help us! L.J. just got killed right off the bat! He’s dead, you hear me? Dead!!!” – Brender was crying and screaming at the same time.
“Calm down Brender… It’s okay… I’m sorry for your loss, we’ll figure something out. If we’re talking about Hungary, I just know the person that could help us out… He is in my city now so I could give him a call and get him to fly there to help you out.” – Toesef explained, keeping his cool.
“Just hurry up, we need every force we have!” – Brender shouted.
“Brender you damn well know I cannot do anything anymore… Since the Australian delivery.” – Toesef explained, with Brender instantly understanding how Toesef no longer has a Stand to help.
After Brender and Toesef finished talking, Tony looked as confused as ever, but his father just told him to sit down and wait for the guest to arrive. Only about twenty minutes passed when the doorbell was ringing. Tony walked to the entrance to greet the guest. It was none other than Balin A. Thor.
“Yo! I came as you called me!” – He greeted the Toestars. – “Man Tony you’ve grown! How old are you now? 18, right? Man time passes fast… Anyways, Toesef!”
“Thanks for coming here on such a short notice.” – Toesef provided Bali with some coffee and the two sat down.
“Don’t worry about it. Last night was the final concert of the American leg of my tour. You were in luck though that this city was the last location!” – Bali laughed and took a sip of his coffee.
“Anyways… I called you here because L.J. has been killed. In Hungary, Jones Tiki is back…” – Toesef looked dead serious in the eyes of Bali. – “Since you’re Hungarian I thought you could help… Brender is stuck in the city of Keszthely, next to some palace.”
“Festetics… Yeah I’m aware of it.” – Bali sighed and leaned back on the couch. – “Me going alone would be too risky. Even if Brender is there the two of us wouldn’t be enough.”
“I can call for some backup. I’m sure Staz or maybe Horace could help.” – Toesef answered promptly.
“Staz is too busy dealing with his Foundation, Horace is out in Europe chasing horses. Benjo is out of the question as well he’s helping Staz with research.” – Bali sighed again.
“I could help!” – Tony stepped up.
“Tony… You?” – Toesef was looking at his son with confusion.
“I… I can help! I can go with Mr. Bali to Hungary. I’m young! I have a lot of energy and power!” – Tony was enthusiastic about the possibility of travel.
“There’s no way you’re travelling to Hungary! It’s too dangerous!” – Toesef shouted at Tony. – “You have no idea what you want to get into! You don’t even know what we’re talking about!”
Tony stepped towards his dad, with his hand in a fist, his teeth grinding, looking down in anger.
“NO DAD! You have no idea what you’re talking about! You protect me like Mr. Bali protects his prized guitar! It’s actually surprising you haven’t put me in a case yet to protect me even more! Ever since mom died you have gotten more and more protective of me! I’m eighteen now, you don’t need to be worried about me!” – He shouted at his father, who was more worried about the blue figure with an old diver helmet appearing behind his son, preparing to punch him in the face. The figure started to swing towards Toesef.
“Bali!” – Toesef screamed.
“Buckethead!” – Bali’s Stand protected Toesef from the incoming attack.
The blue figure now stood behind the tearing Tony…
“Tony… Do you control that thing behind you?” – Toesef looked at his son in awe.
“Yes… I noticed him a couple weeks ago while washing my hands… He was standing behind me and when I finished washing my hands I noticed the water never even touched me. He seems harmless and I control him.” – Tony answered embarrassedly.
“Tony… What you have is a Stand… It’s the physical manifestation of one’s fighting spirit. As you can see Bali has one too. I used to have one as well… Well, for a couple of months at least. Most people from our group that you know of has one. Including Staz, Benjo, Brender and Horace.” – Toesef explained. – “I never thought you’d have one as well. Though it’s logical you’d have one… You’re my son after all. Only Stand Users can see Stands, besides me of course who’s only an ex-Stand User. Only Stands can harm Stands, except when they can’t. All damage done to a Stand is reflected on the User, except when it isn’t.”
Tony, Toesef and Bali were now sitting in a circle, talking about Stands and their potential and how they work.
“So… Can I go on this journey to Hungary? I have a Stand after all, I am strong enough!” – Tony asked his father.
“I would feel like a failure of a father if I were to let you go Tony… But you know what? If you can beat Bali, a well-seasoned, experienced Stand User then you can go!” – Toesef responded.
“Deal!” – Tony exclaimed.
Tony and Bali were facing each other now, waiting for one of them to make the first move. Tony had his Stand behind him, while Bali hasn’t yet revealed his.
“Buckethead!” – his Stand spawned a bucket to place on top of Tony and was preparing to run towards him, but Tony was able to quickly react and jump away from the bucket.
“That speed and reaction time!” – Toesef was surprised by his son’s natural ability.
“Attack!” – Tony shouted as his Stand started barraging Bali, who was barely able to evade and deflect the attacks.
“This power!” – Bali shouted as he jumped back a couple of steps away from Tony.
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“You’re in the perfect position!” – Tony screamed while pointing at Bali. Suddenly, a stream of water shot out of the wall, hitting Bali’s side. – “Got you now!”
The water started freezing on Bali, turning him immobile.
“How the hell did he do that?” – Bali was confused.
“It seems like my Stand allows me to control water and all of its properties. Including pressure and heat. I raised the water pressure inside the pipe in the wall to break it and made it shoot straight at you then froze it!” – Tony explained while smugly smiling. – “Since you’re immobile we can safely say you’ve been beaten!”
“I have been beaten, yes… Now please can you stop the freezing and melt the water around me?” – Bali was struggling to move but the grip slowly disappeared as the ice melted.
Tony, Toesef and Bali were once again sitting in a circle.
“So, I’m allowed to go, right?” – Tony broke the silence.
“You know I’m worried about you… But since you have proven yourself by beating Bali I guess I there’s no stopping you.” – Toesef turned to Bali. – “Take good care of my son, okay? I’ll make sure to call the others to get to Hungary as well, we need to build up our forces again.”
“I promise to protect him… Tony!” – Bali turned towards Toesef’s son. – “Are you ready to head towards Hungary? My private jet is ready to go.”
“I am ready! Let us go Mr. Bali!” – Tony exclaimed in happiness.
“Before you go though…” – Toesef stopped the two. – “Your Stand Tony… What will you name it? Every Stand has a name. Some name themselves, some are named by the Users and some names just come naturally. What is your Stand’s name?”
“Well, since I can control water and it looks like a scuba diver…” – Tony started wondering. – “Aqualung! I shall name my Stand Aqualung!”
[https://i.imgur.com/l28z0F6.png]
The door of the Toestar residence closed… Toesef was standing alone in the hallway, staring at the entrance, then walked to the window to see his son and friend depart…
“Did he pack his toothbrush?” – He asked out loud.
Bali and Tony were now flying over the Atlantic Ocean on Bali’s private jet. The weather was calm and they both could clearly see the waves of the ocean.
“So Tony…” – Bali started talking to his newfound friend. – “Since we called your dad, Toesef Toestar, ToTo during our journey back in 2000… I guess it would be fitting to call you ToTo as well! But we need to differentiate between you and the actual ToTo so… TWOTO! Perfect name! You’re the second ToTo!”
“I love that idea!” – Tony exclaimed with his eyes glistening from excitement. – “I can have the nickname TwoTo then, since dad was called ToTo! I love it!”
“Anyways, TwoTo…” – Bali switched to a more serious tone. – “You seem to not understand some things about Stand combat… Which is understandable seeing how you only recently acquired your Stand. Anyways… You shouldn’t reveal your Stand instantly and keep it behind you at all times. Keep it hidden and only summon it when needed. This is an essential to Stand fighting because when your Stand is constantly exposed your weaknesses show. Also if your Stand is behind you and a frontal attack comes it might not react in time. The better way to protect yourself from the attack is by having your Stand hidden and only summoning the arms when the time comes.”
“I see…” – Answered Tony. – “Are there any weak and strong Stands?”
“There are all sorts of Stands, most of them being completely unique to keep things interesting. But there is no such thing as a weak or strong Stand. Generally speaking, Stands all have different strengths. For example, my Stand might not have the same physical strength as yours but I can utilize it differently. What I’m trying to say is that it depends on the user and the mastery of the Stand instead of the raw strength of the Stand. A simple Stand can be much more deadly than one of the most powerful Stands in existence if the User of said simple Stand is smarter than the complex Stand’s user and has a much better way to utilize his abilities.” – Bali explained simply.
The duo fell asleep after some more small talk about Stands and only woke up once they were at Europe, flying above the English Channel.
“Hey look! That’s the United Kingdom right there! And there’s France!” – Bali exclaimed.
The duo were gazing at the sight of Europe when suddenly something loud sounded from the back of the plane.
“What was that noise?” – TwoTo screamed. – “I heard an explosion!”
“The plane is descending!” – Bali exclaimed in surprise. – “TwoTo, give me your jacket! There are some more clothes in these bags, grab this curtain as well… Buckethead!”
Bali’s Stand appeared behind him and started sewing together the clothes and fabric with his guitar strings.
“TwoTo! Don’t just panic around! Do something!” – Bali shouted at Tony.
“What can I do?” – TwoTo was looking around hopelessly.
Bali grabbed a bottle of water and smashed it onto the door of the plane.
“Freeze it and smash through it!” – He ordered Tony.
“Aqualung!” – The Stand started freezing the water on the door.
“Buckethead!” – Bali’s Stand quickly smashed through the door using its guitar as a battering ram.
Bali took hold of Tony’s hand and jumped out of the plane with him. The clothes and pieces of fabric worked as a makeshift parachute. Tony was holding onto Bali firmly while Bali was holding a set of guitar strings connected to the parachute.
The two stared up in the sky to see their plane slowly descend with a burning engine in the back, the crew jumping out using the parachutes on board.
“TwoTo! We will most likely land in the English Channel. I will need you to freeze the water and create a safe platform for us to land on!” – Bali told Tony, who was still firmly holding onto him.
“I see…” – Tony was holding onto dear life.
As they reached about 5 meters before landing, a platform of ice appeared below them, where they safely landed.
“We made it! We’re now stuck in the English Channel! Nice Hungarian trip now isn’t it?” – Bali laughed out loud at their misfortune.
“Look! A boat!” – Tony waved at the vessel approaching them slowly.
The vessel in question was an old fishing boat, the young captain slowly looked down at our duo sitting on the iceberg. He was a tall man with blonde hair, wearing a typical sailor’s outfit.
“I didn’t know icebergs can be found in the English Channel!” – He laughed. – “You guys need help? Catch the net!”
A net slowly descended that Tony and Bali could hold onto as they were getting lifted onto the boat.
“Greetings, young sailors.” – The captain laughed. – “My name is Tom Stalker, I’m the captain of this here boat.”
“I’m Balin A. Thor, and this is Tony Toestar.” – Bali introduced themselves. – “Do you do fishing around the English Channel?”
“Yes, we were able to sway away the competition and now there’s a huge abundance of fish and sea creatures around the English Channel!” – Tom answered proudly. – “Though it’s weird seeing you two on an iceberg, how did it even happen?”
“It’s a long story…” – Bali answered. – “Anyways, if we could please use the cabin for the time being… It would be greatly appreciated.”
“But of course, it’s right that way” – The captain pointed at the cabin on the middle of the ship. Bali and Tony started walking towards there when they heard something flying towards them.
“Buckethead!” – Bali’s Stand quickly turned around and held a defensive position. The object flying towards them exploded right on Buckethead’s left arm, making him bleed from the impact.
“Mr. Bali!” – Tony screamed as he ran towards him.
“Don’t come close TwoTo… Something’s up with that captain.” – Bali was holding his bleeding arm.
“You there!” – Tony screamed at Tom Stalker. – “You did this didn’t you?”
“Excuse me?” – Tom was offended by Tony’s sudden accusation.
“I know it was you!” – Tony started walking towards Tom. – “You attacked Mr. Bali, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t do anything!” – Tom was taking up a defensive stance. As Tony was approaching him ever so slowly another object was approaching him from behind.
“Tony! Behind you!” – Screamed Bali with all his might.
“Aqualung!” – Tony’s Stand quickly punched the object what appeared to be a torpedo, which in return exploded from the impact, damaging Tony’s hand as well.
A purple robot figure started appearing behind Tom Stalker, punching Tony in the face while he wasn’t looking. Tony fell down next to Bali, grabbing his face from the pain.
“What is that thing? An enemy Stand?” – Tony was looking surprised.
“Be prepared for these… Freeze him!” – Bali lectured Tony.
“I can’t! There is no suitable water source around!” – Tony said in despair.
“The literal SEA???” – Shouted Bali at him.
“It’s too far away! I can’t reach it!” – Tony responded.
“I’m sorry TwoTo…” – Bali’s Stand appeared behind him and threw Tony off the boat, into the water.
As Tony was falling towards the water a set of torpedoes appeared in front of him.
“Aqualung!” – He screamed while streams of water were shooting out from behind him, hitting the torpedoes head on but to no avail. The torpedoes continued travelling through the water.
“Freeze the water Tony!” – Bali screamed.
“I can’t! The propellant of the torpedoes is melting the ice instantly; I can’t freeze it fast enough!” – Shouted Tony back at Bali while still falling.
Bali shot out his guitar string from his unharmed arm, wrapped it around Tony and quickly lifted him back on the ship, the torpedoes hitting the water.
“So the torpedoes can’t follow quick movements, huh?” – Bali started to wonder.
“Rule, Britannia!” – Tom Stalker shouted while torpedoes shot out from all around his Stand.
[https://i.imgur.com/qFN0luI.png]
A barrage of high explosives were heading towards Tony and Bali, with neither of them knowing how to deflect them.
“Quick Tony! Use the water from here!” – Bali lifted up the trapdoor to the fish storage.
“Aqualung!” – Tony lifted up a wall of water from the fish tank and froze it, creating a wall of ice in front of them to protect them from the incoming barrage. However, after only a couple of torpedoes exploding the wall was shattered, with even more torpedoes approaching the duo.
“What are we gonna do now?” – screamed Tony in fear as he was covering his face. – “Why is this man even attacking us?”
“Get used to it…” – Bali responded. – “This is what our daily life is going to be from now on. The Finisher sends Stand Users against us and we defend ourselves and defeat them.”
“The Finisher?” – Tom Stalker asked surprised. – “Never heard of him! I simply attacked you because I hate your music Balin A. Thor! Your music sucks yet it’s stuck in my head!”
“Oh ain’t that just great?” – Bali sighed. – “We’re doomed either way if we can’t think of something!”
Like a blessing, the boat’s crane moved in front of them and protected them from all the torpedoes.
“How did this happen?” – Bali started looking around and noticed a tall, slender guy in green clothes and a beret holding what appears to be a tablet standing on top of the cabin. The person started tapping away on the device and the crane started moving towards Tom Stalker, the hook hitting him straight in the jaw, puncturing his face and lifting him up from the ground. Tom was screaming in agony, with blood spouting out all around the place, Tony still covering his face from the sight. Tom was waving around, trying to free himself from the hook.
“Like a fish being reeled in…” – The man made the remark with a heavy Irish accent. Tom Stalker was struggling for a bit more until he finally stopped moving… He has died from blood loss and shock caused by the pain.
Name: Tom Stalker
Stand: Rule, Britannia!
Status: Deceased
The man slowly climbed down from the cabin to greet the duo.
“Top of the morning to ya’ both, even though it’s the afternoon!” – He said with a gentle smile on his face.
“Who are you? Did you use that tablet to control the crane?” – Tony asked with a quizzical look on his face.
“It’s surprising Mr. Balin A. Thor hasn’t recognized me to be fair. The name’s Konrad McDonald, but you can just call me Komrade. I am part of the D. E. Foundation under the observation branch, much like Bean Joe is. This Stand of mine…” – Konrad grabbed the tablet again. – “is called Disraeli Gears. It allows me to control everything mechanical around me. It also allows me to observe people from a far distance, which appears on the screen right here…” – he showed a man with green hair in front of a computer.
“Wait… Observation branch… Foundation…” – Bali started to wonder… - “It can’t be! Was it you who was watching us during our Australian trip? You look quite young though”
“Well… Technically it WAS the Stand but not me. It was my father, who also manifested Disraeli Gears... EVERYONE FROM THE MCDONALD FAMILY MANIFESTS DISRAELI GEARS NO MATTER WHAT! THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE STAND USER ALIVE IN THE MCDONALD FAMILY AND GUESS WHAT STAND THEY GET! DISRAELI GEARS! I’M SICK OF IT!” – Konrad started stomping on the ground in his anger. – “I WANTED SOMETHING COOL YET I’M STUCK WITH THIS PAIN IN THE ASS TABLET!”
[https://i.imgur.com/5mLxMyJ.png]
“Hey I think it’s cool! You saved us all after all!” – Tony tapped Komrade on the shoulder.
“Really? No-one has ever said that to me!” – Komrade’s eyes lit up. – “Where are you guys headed? It’s getting late, we should actually dock this vessel at England and get some rest!”
“We’re actually headed towards Hungary but I guess since England is closer to the seashore we can stop there for the night. It’s been a long day after all.” – said Bali.
“Well then, I shall use my Stand to guide this ship to England! Set sail!” – Komrade laughed.
“I’ll call Toesef once we’re on land about our accident.” – Bali turned to Tony. – “Do you want to tell your dad something?”
“Not really…” – Tony answered indifferently. – “He would just be too worried anyways. Just tell him we’ve defeated an enemy Stand User… Or well, Komrade did.”
“Speaking of… Komrade, how did you get on this boat?” – Bali turned to Komrade.
“Well it was pure coincidence I was on board I suppose. The Foundation has been observing Tom Stalker for a while now in suspicion of him being a Stand User… I guess our suspicion was correct. He used his Stand to chase away all other fishermen from the English Channel and assert dominance and full control here…” – He responded.
And so our new journey began… With Tony Toestar, Balin A. Thor and Konrad McDonald as the new trio, they set sail to England to get some rest after their first official Stand battle against the fearsome Tom Stalker and his Rule, Britannia! Stand. What awaits them in the future is unknown, but The Finisher has already sent out his new army of Stand Users...