//------------------------------// // The Man Comes Around // Story: Care Root's Bizarre Adventure // by Ditherer the Fussbudget //------------------------------// Care Another early morning, earlier than normal. You're walking onto campus far ahead of the rest of the student body, while the world's still waking up. You had no problem going to sleep early, especially on request. Not having a car only makes the distance more noticeable. It still beats taking the bus, but you have to resist the urge to make a new ride out of light and save yourself the trip. You checked over your future last night, and more’s missing than you took. It terrified you at first, because of the creeping dread that it might be dissipating whether you use it or not. But after a lot of staring at it, you think it’s more that removing some happy moments stops others from happening; you can’t enjoy a marriage if you never get to the wedding. Already, you have less than you were planning on. But at least you can get out of bed in the pre-morning. The whole city has a gloom cast over it, and you feel odd seeing the parking lot empty even of faculty cars. Derpy said this was important, and it takes a lot of glancing around to find her, even though the grounds are modest. She’s standing in the front of the school, waving at you, and beside her is her sister. Silver, not Golden. It’s been a couple of days since you rescued her, but you haven’t seen her around. When you cut across the grass and walk closer, you notice that she’s smiling, thinly. "What's u-" you start, and then Derpy's close enough to hug you. You’re no major connoisseur (yet) but it’s warm and gentle compared to her general tackles and hand-holds, something that buries a seed of warmth deep in you. In the moment, you realize that her hugging you in general, and not because you’ve escaped certain death, is rare. She’s been in too many life-threatening situations already. For a moment, you see Golden’s face in your mind’s eye, and remember your promise. Before you can ruminate, Derpy turns a half-step and pulls you with her. You’re cheek to cheek now, and facing the horizon with your backs to the school. “What’s going on?” ”Silver wanted to thank you for keeping her Stand from destroying her.” “Oh. Uh.” You turn your head toward Silver. “You’re welcome.” She smiles broadly, expression static, and finally speaks, ”Just watch.” The sky’s already turned a lavish pink, and in the distance, the sun starts rising. Are they showing you the beauty of nature...? No, something’s moving in the air, in the distance. It’s not a clean shape, so the silhouette doesn’t offer you any clues, but it gets substantially bigger the closer it comes. Derpy smiles at its arrival, and you can feel her teeth move inside of her cheek. It takes far too long for you to realize that it’s the wreckage of your car. You stare dumbly as ｢Spinal Tap｣ hauls it across the sky and to your school. Silver waves a hand in your peripheral vision, and the front of the school opens up. Then Derpy and you turn, and watch ｢Spinal Tap｣ dump your totaled ride into the first-floor hallway. Through the hole, it rusts and falls in on itself even more. “｢Tin Cup Chalice｣!” Silver shouts, and it collapses entirely into a pile of rusted simple machines, and explodes. You give a weak flinch, hampered by Derpy's hold on you, but the shockwave doesn’t leave the hallway. She's still smiling, but you don’t know why. And then it hits you. The shockwave reverses, pulling itself inward, and starts to knit itself into a more solid form. Before your eyes, it assumes its original shape. In fact, it looks a little better than when your parents bought it for you. Derpy snaps something while you stare at it, and ｢Spinal Tap｣ carries it back out of the school. You’re dumbstruck. Silver sees your expression and smiles. ”Thank you.” Golden Later in the schoolday, math class continues to be insufferable. That said, the only class you actually like is Language Arts, when you get to do the readings. Unfortunately, that’s your first period, and now it’s close to lunchtime, so the day’s got no chance of recovering. ｢Fineshrine｣’s on a right angle, jutting off of the side of the building. The last bird you caught was a few minutes ago; the area’s been running low. It’s been your one distraction, for as long as none of the teachers have Stands. Why is that, anyway? A little buzzer rings, and everyone re-sorts their backpacks. Lunchtime. Even the teacher goes, you don’t remember his name even though it’s on the door but he looks a lot like Bill Nye, he’s a chaperone. You smile apologetically at him and pretend to have trouble with your backpack, and he leaves ahead of you. Then you take a deep breath and count to ten. ...No one else comes in. Canterlot High has a surprisingly strong sense of security - which is to say, a regular student can’t leave if they don’t want them to. Most Stand users could manage, if they absolutely had to, but most of them aren’t that smart. The smart ones are more likely to help other people, and expect to make some kind of money for their trouble. Screw them all. You’ve already done a daily check-in with your sisters, and they’re just fine. So you open the nearest window and vault out. Your feet touch your Stand almost immediately, and you try to avoid crushing the birds; they’ll be fine. Then you grab one of its branches, and it leans to lower you most of the way. The impact on the ground still jars your heels, but you’ll live. Now at the side of the school, you sojourn back home. Silver Spoon The other kids have finally stopped avoiding your hallway, mostly because they’ve got to. You’ve seen them opening their lockers and looking relieved that nothing exploded. Then at lunch, more of them are willing to walk through than go upstairs and take the long way. Derpy tells you people forget embarrassing things really fast, but you don’t really believe her. Diamond would’ve embarrassed them back. But if she were here, people wouldn’t be avoiding you in the first place. She was like the ocean, she made sure all the fish knew where to swim. You wanted to go visit her, but you’re not allowed. No one seems to want to tell you what'll happen to you if she doesn't wake up, or she only does it ten years from now. But since you’ve got nothing to lose now, you might as well eat lunch with your sister in public. What worse could happen? ”-seen her in the last few days?” ”Not since she helped out. She was carrying something red, and she looked like she’d been sneaking…” ”Oh, hey sis!” Derpy turns away from Care to wave you over. Her smile is contagious, but he looks lost in thought. You take a seat. “What’s the matter?” Filthy Rich You could have hired someone to do this, but you didn’t. Especially now, you could hire anybody. But some things are more important. Your favorite novel is The Count of Monte Cristo, but you aren’t a man for fantasies; this is for your daughter. Which is why the backdoor collapses under your touch, clattering into a small pile of gold coins, and you step inside of the home of your daughter’s friend’s family. You’re wearing streetclothes, which you had to purchase from a thriftstore and will burn as soon as this errand’s over. It’s noon, long before the buses come back from the school, and it should reasonably be empty. Still, you proceed quietly. As you stand in the doorway, you listen for sounds of footsteps or running water. Nothing. None of the lights are on, but even in the daylight the place is immaculately designed. Not that it matters now. There’s a saying that goes “There are some things money can’t buy.” It’s true, but not in the way people usually mean it. People often like to deride currency, saying “The paper’s not worth anything!” or “It’s all arbitrary!” They tell themselves they’re smarter than the corporate fatcats, because they don’t chase after slips of paper with big numbers on them. What they miss is that money is the ultimate equalizer. It’s the middleman that gives everyone a perfect standard. Money will tell you exactly how many candybars a paperback is worth, or how many cups of coffee you’d have to sell to buy a private jet. It’s a symbol of nearly ultimate freedom, to have anything you can imagine. Nearly. Because there are some things money can’t buy, only make promises about: happiness, safety, love, the future. When those things are threatened, there’s no point appealing to money, no matter who you are. You don't know how, but you have to remove the Stands of everyone in this family. Then the only diamond that matters to you will be awake again. Golden You’re making excellent time, especially on foot. Canterlot's a pretty decently-sized city, but it’s not a full-on grungy metropolis. It’s like a compromise between crime-free suburbia and multi-level shopping malls. You’re glad your mom left you with a housekey. And also that she doesn’t really care when you come home, as long as you mumble something about being excused. There won’t be much to do at home, but you can at least get through some reading. When you reach your house, only your dad’s car’s in the driveway. He uses a post office vehicle for work. You wonder why your mom isn’t there. Oh, right, she said she’d be going to the store. Whatever. You unlock the door and let yourself in. Which is when you see a shadow dart out of the end of the hallway. Your breath catches in your throat as the questions pelt you. Are you seeing things? Is there someone in your house? Has something happened to your parents?! Throwing off your backpack, you tear down the hallway. As soon as you turn into the dining room, someone’s there. A man in black. He’s familiar, although his clothes are dark and ratty, and he’s pointing a gun at you. You recognize him from all the sleepovers you had to drive Silver to. That same face was always waiting out on the porch when you turned into his community. “Diamond’s dad?” His eyes are steady and level with yours. ”If you want to live, tell me how I can remove your powers.” You barely register his words. “Where’s my mom? What did you do to her?” His expression doesn’t change. ”She left to go to the store, without seeing me. She doesn’t need to see me, if you’ll tell me how to destroy a Stand.” What? “Who cares? What does-” His voice becomes a bellow. ”I care! My daughter’s life depends on it! Tell me how!” The ferocity radiating from him makes you step back - it’s a protectiveness, something you feel too. “Y-you can’t destroy a Stand! It’s a part of someone! It would be like taking someone’s heart away!” His expression sours a little. ”I was… afraid you’d say that.” Then, he fires. Derpy ”What’s the matter?” Silver takes a seat and puts down her tray. Care answers her. ”We don’t know where Trixie is.” ”Is that a bad thing?” ”She was very interested in pulling me into her little group. Then she seriously helped me out and I haven’t seen her since. As far as we know, no one has.” ”You’re worried about her?” ”A little. I don’t know if she’s just being secretive on purpose or if she’s really in trouble.” You worry that he’s getting paranoid, but you don’t tell him that. People have left vague, threatening notes in his locker, apparently. He’s stopped getting perfect grades, although he doesn’t seem to mind. You’re worried you might be paranoid, too. You knew a lot of people in this school, and did a lot of vigilante stuff on your own, but it’s all dried up lately. Not much random bullying. Maybe everyone’s just happy with their Stands. Silver hmms for a moment. ”I bet the Crusaders would know.” Care leans forward and thinks about it, or maybe just tries to place the name. ”The Crusaders…” ”Freshman girls. They’re connected to everybody, kind of like the Rainbooms.” You nod. “And just as hard to learn about, sometimes. I met Applejack’s little sister a few times while I was reclaiming things, and she’s got a lot of attitude.” Care considers that. ”Do they have any Stands?” Silver shrugs. ”Diam- uh, we used to make fun of them a lot, so we never really asked them anything.” You think on it, yourself. “I haven’t seen them using any. But I haven’t seen the Rainbooms using them either.” He nods and sits back. ”I think I saw one of them use their Stand, actually. When I was with Rainbow Dash and Applejack in the hallway, my Stand’s power stopped working too soon. Maybe one of them shattered it somehow...” Your phone vibrates. Golden’s calling you. Filthy Rich The last two minutes have been very unpleasant. Your shot was perfect, but it didn’t hit. The girl’s Stand appeared in an instant, some kind of macabre tree, and took the shot. It startled you enough that she had time to run back the way she came. Then, just as quick, it disappeared. When you reached the hallway for another shot, she was already dialing a number on her phone. She was too far away, and it might have been an emergency number, so you activated your Stand. “｢Johnny Cash｣!” The hardwood flooring was pretty expensive, but it turned into a couple bills just the same. She fell into the basement below, and you took another shot, this time for the phone. The tree blocked again, and you heard her cry out. Pushing the sound out of your mind, you fired again. But before you unloaded the rest of the clip, a couple of the indistinct shapes on the tree came unattached. They were birds, maybe pigeons, but grotesque and bloated. Their wings were massive to compensate, and one flew its girth right for your face, clawed toes kicking. You emptied another three shots into it before it stopped spiraling and squawking. By which time the other one had already latched onto her shoulders and lifted her up toward the front door. You took aim again, with her back to you it was almost difficult to pull the trigger, but she was wounded already and you had to follow through. Another squeeze of the trigger, and… nothing. Your clip was cheap, and you'd used it up. She threw open the door and paused to look at you while her bird flew your way. You tossed the gun and created another one from a hundred-dollar-bill in your pocket, pulling it into the world like a magic trick. Her eyes widened, and she ran. The bird was short work, but she and her Stand are outside now. Things are getting complicated exactly when they shouldn't be. You turn a wall into coins and jump through, only to see her climbing into the car in the driveway. She’s shouting into her phone. ”-to the hospital! I’ll distract him until-” She sees you and shuts the door. She couldn’t have had time to grab the keys, wherever they are, and the car was already in the driveway before you entered the house. You walk up in time to hear it start up and puff out some exhaust. You swear. The keys must’ve been inside! She peals out, heading into the neighborhood. You rip a small stack of large bills out of your pocket and let ｢Johnny Cash｣ do the rest. A monster truck materializes in the driveway, sheer shiny black. You climb in without wasting any time. You’re not letting them get to her. Care Right now, you're driving yourself, your girlfriend and her little sister toward the hospital. As soon as Derpy got the call, you all headed out. The doors are usually locked during the school day for your protection, and the few that open are one-way, but no one monitors the halls. Silver took you out through her Stand in no time flat. You just hope that you don’t total your car again. Silver’s tapping away at a phone, giving directions from the back. ”Next left!” You hit it. Most people are out to lunch, but the lights are favorable this time of day. You’re not clear what you’re going to do at the hospital. Derpy’s nursing her phone and frowning. ...This probably all ties back to you somehow, doesn’t it? ”Right, then straight!” You were worried about that before, but worry implies doubt. It's pretty obvious that you brought the hand of destiny down on yourself somehow. Probably by eating up too much of your own future too soon... Is it just going to get worse from here? ”You should be able to see it in a few blocks…” You have enough worries in the here and now. What’s Golden planning to do? Golden Phone’s in the passenger seat, on speaker. You’re not talking, and Mr. Rich is bearing down on you. He doesn’t care if people see or not, but your dad’s going to kill you if you crash this thing. You summon ｢Fineshrine｣ on your trunk as you turn off into the back-alleys. You really aren’t good enough at driving for this. What do you have? A couple squirrels, three more birds... You wish your deer-catching project would pay off already. They’re all communing with each other slightly, trading traits; if you left them on there for a few months, they might meld into one organism. That would be messy, though. You need to get to the hospital before he does, and then you can negotiate. Once you can threaten her, you can get him to stand down. Afterward... you’ll think of something. Or Derpy will, she’s coming. Even if you don’t make it, they probably will. You switch into the oncoming lane to get around a line of cars and- fuck, fuck, there’s someone coming! This car's nearly had enough of you, and both of you are moving too quickly to turn away. A thought and ｢Fineshrine｣ disappears. You call it back into existence underneath your car, propelling the whole thing upwards as it blooms from the pavement. It feels like you’re holding up the car and you’re about to crash all at once, and then you let go. They pass straight beneath you, and your car hits the ground shuddering. You wrestle with the wheel and get back into your lane. Everyone’s hung back for you now. They have no idea what you just did, probably, besides making your car levitate. You expect to hear Filthy’s new truck crush the car behind you, but you don’t. Your heart skips, and then you glance in the mirror. He’s gone. The hospital’s straight ahead, and so is he, further along. He took a different path. He’s going to beat you to it. Derpy Mr. Rich has snapped, and he’s coming after your family to save his daughter. You’ve got one way to summon your Stand right now. Normally you’d have at least two, but you used one up helping Care with his car. You’re pulling into the hospital now, and so are a couple others. Golden’s been quiet, but there was a lot of bumping on her end. No crashes, though, so she's probably, hopefully still okay. From the far entrance you see a monster truck entering. That’s definitely him. Care sees it at the same time you do, and he tenses. You put a hand on his shoulder, and he softens again. “He won’t recognize you. Just don’t look suspicious...” The monster truck slows as it entered the parking lot, and then disappears in an instant. Mr. Rich drops out and hit the ground normally. He looks so... different. Part of you wonders if he’s been drinking. Then your dad’s car pulls in, and he’s turning to face it. Something giant, green and boxy appears in his hands. He staggers with its weight for a second, almost kneeling, and then he levels it right at the driver’s side of the car. It’s a rocket launcher! “Care!” you shout, but he's way ahead of you. ｢Timbuk Three｣'s already floating outside the car, and it points a finger at Mr. Rich. A beam of light slices through the underside, and the box part clatters onto the pavement. He’s left holding the trigger, looking confused, then angry. He turns to look at the source, straight at you, and then Golden speeds up. She’s going too fast to stop, and you think to yourself that she's trying to run him down. But she can't really be trying to do that, you know her too well. Except she doesn't swerve, or make any move to take her foot off of the pedal! Mr. Rich throws out a hand and slaps the hood of the car, and it disintegrates on the spot into a cloud of glinting silver. Golden tumbles in the air, her momentum rocketing her past him. Care turns to her and starts to do something with his Stand, but a shot whizzes into the windshield and it breaks his concentration. Your big sister hits the parking lot on her side, rolling. Care You don’t feel as freaked out about being shot at as you would’ve expected. It helps that you can throw up a field around the car. You don’t know what you’re doing now, though. Even if you made it inside, you’d have to get past the front desk, up several flights of stairs, find the right room... Derpy talks. ”Silver, do you know which floor Diamond was on?” ”Uh…” Another shot glances off of your shield. Where is he getting these things? Is it his Stand? ”The same floor I was on! Fifth!” Derpy’s hand’s on your shoulder again, damn it you wish you could enjoy that right now. ”Get to Golden. I’ll take care of the rest.” As your wheels swivel and you head between Rich and Golden, she turns to the back. ”Silver, open the other back door!” You move fast enough to unlock the car doors, and she throws it open. Another shot bounces off, and Derpy snaps a twig.｢Spinal Tap｣ flies out of the door. You have to let down the shield for it, but it scoops up Golden and throws her in. She makes it, but now you're moving too slow, Mr. Rich is rushing for you so he can touch the car. Another shield comes up and he slaps his hand on it, turning it into a wafting mess of paper money. Then he levels the gun at Derpy. Time shrinks, and you know you’ll have to fire another laser at his head to stop him, or blow up the gun, or... The car rises off the ground. ...You’re still surprised how strong her Stand is. Silver You try to ignore your fear of heights as the car lurches and rises up. Golden’s beaten up pretty bad. She’s got road rash up one arm and on one of her cheeks, and she looks like she's been running a marathon. She’s still kicking, though, just loudly catching her breath. The car’s at the fifth floor now, and it’s moving in a circle around the building. They’re looking for her room. You remember it was right next to yours, and there were a lot of tall buildings outside the window... Yeah, that’s right! “It’s around this next corner!” Derpy nods. Below, you hear a faint, choppy rumbling while ｢Spinal Tap｣ zooms you around the corner. “I think it’s the middle one!” Care grimaces and holds out a hand. A giant circle of wall shines brightly for a moment and then disappears. You can make out rows of flowers, a single chair next to the bed, and inside it, something pink. You’re here! Golden sits up straight. ”There’s no way a car’s going to sit on that floor. We have to leave the car.” Derpy nods, and her Stand brings you all up to the hole. Care and Golden climb out, and you get over and join them, head spinning at the feeling of not being lifted up any more. Then you look for Derpy. She’s trying to get past the divider in the front seat, and it’s not working. The ceiling’s too low. And behind her, rising into the air to meet all of you, is a helicopter. Mr. Rich stands at the controls, staring you down. She sees him, and immediately brings the car out of the way. She’s running out of time, and you don’t see her Stand raise her back up again. And it’s only when the car’s gone that you see the gun. This one’s long, powerful, and aimed at all three of you. Golden unleashes everything on her tree, all of it black and covered in scales. Care throws up a shield and holds it. Mr. Rich only flies closer. Then, like the cars, the helicopter stops existing, and he’s just floating in the air toward you. Everything feels like it’s in slow-motion as he falls, his face exactly the same. He hits the force field and it shuts off. Care throws up another, and it breaks. Another. Another. They don’t even block him, they just turn into money. The birds swoop, but when they hit him they vanish. So do the squirrels. As soon as he steps through those, he grabs Care by the shirt and spins, throwing him through the hole in the wall. There's no noise in the room as he does it, only the actions, like getting trounced in a game you've never played before. And then he’s in the room with you, and you’re staring down the long barrel of a weapon. You try not to cry or flinch, to not look directly at it. The only other option at this distance is his face, and it's just as awful. Not because it's dirty or scary, but because you can see he doesn’t want to do this. Maybe even he doesn’t know it, but he doesn’t want to hurt anyone. That’s what Derpy would say… ”Hey, bastard!” Golden shouts. You both move your eyes and nothing else, and Golden is standing over the bed, holding onto Diamond. Her Stand’s sticking out of the wall, one of its branches touching your comatose friend. ”One false move and she’s part of my Stand.” He stares at her, and in a single moment the indecision’s left his eyes for good. She doesn't notice, if she knew it was there to begin with. ”Don’t think I won’t! And I can just switch off her brain, too! If she’s gone, you don’t have a reason to do anything to us!” The staring contest continues, and the gun doesn’t move. You realize, with terror, that your big sister isn’t bluffing. She’s really going to use her Stand on Diamond. This is a situation that nobody wants, but you don’t have any powers to stop it. You try to think of some hidden use for your ｢Tin Cup Chalice｣, but it's pointless. Even if you could wish the bed into your hallway, you still wouldn't stand a chance against someone like Mr. Rich. You're not Golden, or Derpy, or Care, you’re just Silver Spoon, and without Diamond you feel like you're even less than that. Wait. No, that’s it! It’s stupid, but it might be her only chance! With newfound energy, the room shrinks down in your vision, and you leap across it. Mr. Rich isn't ready for the movement, calculating something, and the world doesn't cut to black. Both of them start shouting, and you can’t make out the words, so you don’t listen. He swivels the gun, and Golden pulls Diamond onto the tree. On impulse, he shoots for your sister. More of ｢Fineshrine｣ comes out of the wall, and it splinters as she cries out. You bound onto the bed, in front of Diamond, and he doesn’t shoot you. Golden shouts at you through her pain, biting it back to get her words through. ”Get under the bed, Silver!” It hurts that you can't consult her, but there's no time, so you ignore her and leap the rest of the way. And then the tree grabs you too. Diamond Tiara You're alone with yourself. There’s no real beginning or end, you just find yourself in the entryway from time to time. The mansion is large enough that you could wander the rooms for a day and not repeat one, so long as you took your time. Each circuit you think to yourself that there must be someone besides you in them. Other people must exist somewhere, in some ring of the world just outside of yourself, but no matter how much you expect them when you fling a door open, the other side is always empty. The pink of the wallpaper and the furniture and the floors and ceilings and light fixtures gets muted with each lap you make. Most rooms have windows, which you have to keep shut, and curtains you make sure are drawn. You can't allow yourself many glances outside, for your own health. Now that you're in the entryway again, you can see them, through uncurtained glass. Copies of you, outside there are nothing but bad copies of you, all of them broken or disgusting. They bang on the ground floor of the building over and over, reminding you of themselves. You don’t remember why this happened, how you came to be here, except that it hurt. As far as memory takes you, you've never even been outside. If you had been, they would've taken you. ”But you have to step outside, Diamond!” Wh- You look around your entryway. Who said that? ”It’s the... only way!” The voice comes from all around you, changing in focus halfway through. So does your world, like a draft of air coming into a room. You’ve always wanted to be someone else, and so have the people you’ve hurt. You grew up in luxury and style, you had all of the power you could want, but no one wanted to be Diamond Tiara. ”That’s not true! I’ve always...” It trails off. Always what? ”Always wanted to be you! You’re the strongest person I know!” The door starts cracking, and this time it might actually start to buckle. They’re coming again. “Even when people don’t like you, you still make them do what you want, because you don’t care!” The walls shake a little, too. They don’t do that. “I wish every day that I was more like you, Diamond! You’re unbreakable!” The walls crack, and the hands and faces of other selves get in. The people you don’t wish you could be. Longer teeth, greasier hair, skin conditions, eyepatches, giant sores and burn scars, all of them, reaching. ”You have to let them in, Diamond! And I know you can!” You find yourself partly agreeing with the voice. It’s like some kind of wound has healed over. ...What are you doing here, anyway? ”Dreaming! Now wake up!” You step up to your buckling front door, take a breath that puffs out your cheeks... and throw it open! Bad copies swarm you. Where they touch you, there's no pain, but you can hardly look. They sink into you, bubbling into your skin, diving. An army of them fall into you. Something hums to life, and you wake up falling. Face-first, you hit a hospital bed. What you see on the way down, a frenzy of color, is enough to frighten you. There are real sounds here, technological clicks and buzzing lights, and you know you're back in the land of the living. But when you look up, you see that you were just imagining the gun. And by the time your mind's resurfaced completely, you realize you’re in a hospital gown. ...This is a hospital! Your dad hugs you like he hasn’t seen you in years. You have too many questions. “Wh… what happened?” Next to you, Silver bites her lip and then breaks into a small grin. Derpy By the time you and Care get up the stairs, it’s already resolved. Which is, you have to admit, a nice change. Mr. Rich replaced the car without any trouble, and repaired the damage to the hospital. Some people will probably tell stories of strange things happening on the roads and in front of the building, but it all happened too fast for anyone to make the news believe them. Still, Care’s troubled. It took a lot of work for him to break his fall, ramps and platforms and successive crashes. He’s replaying being thrown in his head right now, probably. You wish you could take that kind of worry away from him. Besides that, there’s only one thing that keeps this from being a truly happy ending: it’s around fifth period now. If Golden's lucky, your mom won't be back yet and chewing her out for taking the car. The rest of you, who don't have the stamina to skip classes right now, pile back in Care's car and get going. ｢To Be Continued｣ Stand: ｢Johnny Cash｣ User: Filthy Rich Ability: Converts items touched by the user into a currency of their choosing, equal to the market price of the item; this effect wears off outside range. When used on items the user owns, the currency is pooled, and the user can convert some or all of it into any object of equal or lower market price.