“It’s Flash. Flash Sentry,” Rarity breathed. “He’s from school too.”
“So another member of the Bully Squad then.” Jostle Joyride placed one hand on his cap’s rim, then the other along his belt. “Here to stop us from finding your leader, huh?”
“Trust me, Trixie’s already ready for you.” Flash pushed at his sunglasses with his middle finger. Jojo couldn’t help but feel flipped off and he grimaced. “She’ll mop the floor with you. Easily. You can’t win, old man.”
“Jeez, old man.” Jojo pulled off his hat and grumbled. “I’m only twenty two! Why does everyone think I’m so much older? I don’t get it.”
“I don’t, Jojo darling.” Rarity grabbed his arm. “I think our ages aren’t that far apart…”
“Glad to hear.” He gave her a thumbs up. “So… you’re our opponent then, Flash Sentry?”
Flash panned one arm, then pointed at himself once his arm reached the other side. “That’s right, today, the master shall have new slaves.”
“Not if I have anything to say about that.” Jojo did a little hop and stuck out his left foot forward as he turned his body to the side. “It’s time we squared off. Do or die, Flash Sentry. White Buffalo!”
Jojo’s motorcycle Stand spun around him and Rarity, then stopped in front of him, revving its english and belching fire from its headlight. It was ready to do battle now and so was Flash.
“To me, Sabaton! Stand and follow command!” Flash threw his sunglasses aside and raised one hand with his palm facing up beside his face. Light began to warp around him, coming to him from nothing but air.
The light began to form and wrap around his body, materializing into an armor of gold, steel and white cloth, then proceeding down to his hands, where a kite shield and sword extended, gleaming under the glow of his light.
When it was done, Flash now had a full set of armor on him, complete with a helmet with a cross visor on it. Beside him, a battleship seemed to warp in from some kind of portal, floating just above the ground beside him. It wasn’t a full scale battleship, standing only to Flash’s knees, but as long as a car.
White Buffalo rode towards him, its skull extending high from its handlebars, poised like a cobra to attack. Sabaton fired its main guns at it, but White Buffalo turned left and right, avoiding its shells as they pelted the road beneath them, breaking it apart in explosions of gravel.
It’s next cannonfire went straight for White Buffalo’s head, but Jojo’s Stand maneuvered itself around the projectile, spiraling around its path before targeting Flash. The boy raised his shield, then smashed it aside at the last moment, parrying White Buffalo’s head away, then swinging his sword at it. White Buffalo’s horns extended out and deflected the sword’s swings, then tried going for his face again, only to be blocked by his shield.
“You like that? Sabaton comes in two parts.” Flash took a step back. “It is the armor, sword and shield that encases my body, making me impervious to your attacks, and it is also the battleship here. Sabaton comes with three guns on its deck, and with the armor, I have the perfect offense and defense to any situation, near or far, Sabaton can handle any situation. You can’t win, old man!”
“I’m not even that old… We’ll see about that, won’t we?” Jojo glared at Flash. “Rarity! Follow my lead.”
Rarity smiled. “Certainly. With the two of us, we can’t lose!”
Flash fired another volley of shells from his battleship at Rarity and Jojo, forcing them to scatter. Civilians nearby heard the explosions and turned to look at where they were coming from, but all they could see were Jojo and Flash staring at each other from a distance, with potholes appearing across the road for absolutely no reason. White Buffalo attempted to spear Flash, but his defensive skills were too good and the horns did not pierce his armor, being deflected once more.
“His armor and shield are too tough, Jojo said as he rolled over to Rarity’s position while White Buffalo attempted to ram Sabaton. Flash jumped onto the rest of Sabaton and did a kickflip with his battleship and grinded the underside of his Stand on White Buffalo’s horns.
Sparks flew as White Buffalo tried to press on against the weight of Sabaton. Jojo could feel it. Even though it was a miniature battleship, Sabaton was still heavier beyond his expectations. When he could take no more, Jojo recalled White Buffalo and the motorcycle Stand skidded out from under Sabaton and made a u-turn around Jojo and Rarity before facing the enemy once again.
Devil Trigger faded into view and released a blue laser beam from its mouth, targeted for Sabaton’s battleship. Flash skillfully blocked it with his shield and cut down a nearby lamppost, flipping Sabaton’s battleship around to launch it back at Rarity. The girl used Devil Trigger to grab the metal pole and toss it aside.
“I’m open to ideas, Jojo darling,” Rarity fired another laser from Devil Trigger at Flash, to little effect. “I would use Devil Trigger’s power, but with the sun still up, I am unable to form shadow copies of him or his Stand.”
“Daylight…” Jojo looked up to the sky. Being in the suburbs now, there were no tall buildings to block their view and he could see the sun was already slowly descending towards the mountains in the distance. Now he had an idea. “I’ll buy you time. If we remain alive till the sun goes down, he’s all yours, Rarity.”
“I’ve no better plan, so let’s do that.” Rarity nodded, then got Devil Trigger to fire another laser.
Flash blocked it again, but as his shield pushed the projectile aside, White Buffalo took this chance to spear both horns past his defense. They hit his armor and once again, didn’t penetrate it, but the force was strong enough to knock Flash off Sabaton, where he cracked the road on landing.
“Get him!” Jojo pointed forward, then placed his other hand on top of his head. “Faster than Fire!”
White Buffalo breathed fire from its headlight, engulfing Flash and Sabaton in a blast of red.
“Metal conducts heat,” Jojo began explaining as White Buffalo’s Faster than Fire continued to cover the area in flames. “Whether your armor melts or not under the intense heat of White Buffalo’s fire, you’re going to be feeling it inside that safe armor of yours.”
Flash fired blindly with his battleship, sending a shower of shells all over the place. While Jojo and Rarity were doing their best to avoid the spray of cannon fire, Flash stumbled over to a fire hydrant and slashed its top off with his sword. Water gushed out in waves, cooling Flash’s armor and putting out the flames.
“Now you’re making me mad!” Flash declared with a wave of his sword. “I’m going to make you pay for that!”
“What do we do now?” Rarity looked to Jojo. “Just attacking him straight on isn’t working. We need a new plan.”
“Hmm, there is one. One I’ve been saving for a moment such as this.” Jojo placed his hands down by his side and breathed in. “It’s my family’s secret technique, passed down from the first Jojo.”
“Well, what is it?” Rarity eyed Flash, who was still standing under the plume of water from the hydrant. “He won’t stay back forever.”
“Okay, Rarity. Here’s the plan. We both get on White Buffalo.”
“Then what?” Rarity and Jojo sat down on the motorcycle’s seat.
Jojo reached up and slid his index finger against the brim of his cap. “Now we get out of here!”
He revved White Buffalo’s engine and gunned it, both Rarity and Jojo speeding away from the scene.
“What?!” Rarity shouted as they shot off down the road.
Flash blinked inside his helmet. “Huh? Running away?” He stepped back onto Sabaton’s battleship. “You can’t escape me, Jojo!”
With a kick, Sabaton lifted up on its stern, then smashed back down on the ground with a crash and sped after the motorcycle. Jojo looked back to make sure he was following them, then put more into the throttle and zoomed away down the street towards the highway.
Flash, not to be outdone, urged his Stand to go faster, gaining on Jojo and Rarity.
Jojo looked back at Flash. “Oh, you’re approaching me?” he shouted over the wind.
“Of course I’m approaching you!” Flash called back as his battleship began to rain fire down towards Jojo and Rarity, with one missing them just by a hair. “I can’t beat the crap out of you without getting closer!” He clashed his sword against his shield.
Jojo looked up towards the horizon. The sun was now almost touching the mountains, and deep shadows began to slowly creep their way across the land.
“Just a few more minutes…” Jojo said to Rarity, who was using Devil Trigger to try and mess with Flash’s aim.
It floated alongside them, firing lasers back at Flash, who had to lift his shield to block her attacks. He grumbled and pointed his sword towards them, where Sabaton’s main guns fired again. Jojo swerved White Buffalo around one car as the payload crashed down on it, throwing it up into the air in flames, before Sabaton sailed through it, launching it aside and off the highway.
“I’ll catch up to you eventually,” Flash growled. White Buffalo’s horns were arranged in front of itself like a snowplough, scooping other vehicles that got too near out of their path. Cars crashed and collided all around them, filling the air with shouts, the sound of horns, and the smell of smoke and gas.
“Sorry!” Jojo called out as they rode past overturned cars and cars that had crashed into the sides. “Trying to stay alive, if that’s okay with you!”
“Watch where you’re going, maniac!” A man with a moustache leaned out his shattered car window and shook a fist at them, only to disappear in a blazing fireball as one of Sabaton’s shells hit his car.
“You’ll be dead soon, don’t you worry!” Flash laughed and tapped one foot against his battleship. “Full steam ahead!”
Somehow, much to Jojo’s belief, Sabaton got faster and was now catching up to them. They had been going at about the same speed all this time and he definitely hadn’t thought something as clunky as a battleship could outrun his chopper.
“Sun’s getting real low now.” He gazed up at the dying light, casting deep shadows across the highway. “Rarity, I think it’s time we give him a little taste of himself.”
“Couldn’t agree more, Jojo darling. There’s something else that helps us too. The fire created from the crashed and destroyed cars, they provide a light source to cast shadows as well. We can use that to our advantage here.” Rarity gave his arms a rub, then looked back and raised her hands. “Devil Trigger.”
Her Stand did a flip on top of White Buffalo, then planted both feet on what was left of the motorcycle seat before placing both arms close to its face in a roar. Copies of Flash clad in Sabaton’s armor began crawling forth from the shadows, reaching out to him as he passed. One grabbed on to the battleship’s anchor, but then it sailed out into the light and the shadow was vanquished. A few stuck their swords into the battleship, tearing gashes across its metal as they struggled to climb aboard, only to fade away when the safety of their shadows passed.
“There. His own weapons can damage him.” Rarity patted Jojo’s shoulders to get his attention.
“Great. You’re quite the amazing girl, Rarity.” Jojo grinned at her, then gave her a thumbs up.
“And you’re quite the manly man, Jojo.” Rarity couldn’t help but run her hands over his muscles again. She had a thing for muscular guys. “If we can keep going towards the shadows of the setting sun, we can do this.”
“And you think I wouldn’t catch on to your plans?” Flash Sentry stopped Sabaton, forcing Jojo to stop and spin the bike around. “I know all about Rarity’s power to create shadow copies of anyone, as long as they are not in direct sunlight. We’ve been driving towards the sunset all this time, but not anymore. If you want me in the shadows now, you’re going to have to catch me instead!”
Sabaton turned around and began sailing down the road in the opposite direction, banking left as it moved for the left turn off the main highway.
“We’ve gotta get him.” Jojo revved his Stand and took off after him.
There was still one trick he had up his sleeve to catch up. He now knew that Sabaton was faster than White Buffalo at regular speed, but there was something else it could do with its flames. Faster than Fire could be released not just from the headlight, but also from the muffler.
And so it did, belching fire from its pipes, propelling them forward at speeds even Flash didn’t think they would achieve. Devil Trigger continued summoning shadow copies of Flash whenever it could, making them jump out of the shadows just for one attack before fading away in the sunlight.
The sun was much lower now and the shadows were creeping up behind him, with Jojo driving just at the tip of the shadows as light began to fade.
Knowing he was now unable to escape them, Flash spun Sabaton’s battleship into reverse, then aimed its guns at them and began firing shell after shell at them. Jojo did what he could to avoid them, while Devil Trigger used its mouth laser to take some out of the air.
The road soon led out to a bridge over the Everfree Forest below, spanning across from one side of a hill to the other, and with the sun lower than ever, Flash was running out of options.
“Battle stations! Keep the targets steady in sight.” Flash narrowed his eyes and Sabaton stopped just over the center of the bridge.
“Why’s he stopping?” Rarity asked as they got closer.
“I don’t know, but be prepared.” Jojo slowed on his acceleration. Flash was up to something, but he had no idea what else Sabaton had in store for them. They would just have to be ready for anything.
“All guns forward, initiate Steel Commander!” Flash raised his shield in front of his face and dropped to a knee.
“What in the-” was all Jojo had time to say as a golden ball of energy began forming in front of each of Sabaton’s three guns.
At first, they grew slowly to the size of basketballs, but right after that, they instantly grew much bigger than even the battleship and beams of light blazed out faster than they could blink. White Buffalo released flames from its headlight to combat the oncoming threat and Rarity took this chance to pull shadow copies from the shadow casted by the magnificent beam of light, sending more armored Flashes to slice at the ship’s hull.
The beams smashed into White Buffalo’s fire and the heat of both attacks began melting even the road beneath them, along with the supports holding the bridge up. Unfortunately, the flames of White Buffalo could hold back the firepower of Sabaton and all Jojo could do was brace himself against the blast as he shoved Rarity behind his muscular body. At such close range, the explosion engulfed both combatants and the force of the attack knocked what remained of the supports out, sending the bridge and its occupants into free fall.