//------------------------------// // Chapter 14: There Lived a Certain Man // Story: SuShi's Bizarre Adventure: Nugget Run Horizon // by Jojoleopard //------------------------------// Cadance walked around Berlin, watching the train station from the street as she browsed through a selection of sunglasses and caps. She had earlier arrived on the orders of Gloriosa Daisy a day before and she had accepted the call without a moment of hesitation. Her dear husband, Shining Armor, had been taken from her, beaten to a pulp and left for dead. Her dear husband whom she loved with all her heart, he had gone away from her life and she missed him dearly. Her heart had burned after learning that it had been the same people who had taken his sister, her dog, and her boyfriend, Gloriosa’s brother. She pleaded with Gloriosa to use her, to send her to bring justice to these unwholesome foes, to bring them to their knees as she showed them the power of love. A swirling mist of pink flew around her finger tips as she picked up a pair of red sunglasses. They were cute, but a little too flashy. “Would you like this one, miss?” The shopkeeper placed his hands together and grinned. “It’s a one of a kind. You won’t find this anywhere but in Berlin.” “I think I will…” She wiggled her fingers and the pink miss entered his head. It was as though heart shapes had appeared in his eyes and he smiled manically at her. “You, my beauty, can have it for free.” He waved his fingers at her. “It’s the least I can do.” Cadance winked and blew him a kiss, then walked away as she slipped the sunglasses on. All of a sudden, the man clutched his heart, then he fell to the ground behind his stand where no one could see him. She next found a turquoise scarf she liked and she found that it went well with her blue and pink dress. She peeled it off the stand, then wiggled her fingers again as pink mist swirled into the woman manning it. “You’re so lovely…” The woman clasped her hands together giddily. “The scarf suits you. Please have it. In return, please have my babies!” “That’s not possible, but I shall have the scarf.” Cadance blew her a kiss, then walked away, only for the woman to fall seconds after. It won’t be long now before that Sushi gang arrives in Berlin. Gloriosa had sent another of her people to deal with them on the train, but Cadance hoped she would fail. She wanted the satisfaction of dealing with them herself. They had taken more than everything from her and forget all the morals she had learnt throughout her years. All that mattered now was their deaths by her hand. Cadance swirled more of her Stand around her, sending it across the street as it floated from person to person, infecting their hearts and minds with want for her. She closed her eyes and breathed in their scents, reveling in the love in the air. People began crowding towards her, their eyes reflecting hearts as they wished for her love. But she would not give any. The only one to ever receive her love was Shining Armor, and he had been taken from her all so suddenly. For that, Weather Alternate would have their prize once she dealt with Sushi and her group. One by one, as she blew her kisses to them, the people clutched at their chests and went down, covering the street in a multitude of bodies. “So you are the one causing this…” a thick accent said somewhere behind her. Cadance whipped around and creased her eyebrows at that sudden intrusion. There was a man in a brown and orange coat standing there, holding on to a sword at his side, sheathed in a long black scabbard. “You’re interrupting me.” She said, eyeing the steely gaze in his eyes. This wasn’t some regular nobody. He was something else. “Who are you?” “I should ask you the same.” He placed one foot forward, then angled his body back and lifted a hand up, his palm facing up and his fingers curled like he was asking her for something. “For all that is good in the world and to the promise I made to my late grandfather, Stand users who use their power for wrong will be swiftly dealt with.” “And you’re going to stop me?” Cadance pointed at his sword. “With that?” She lifted a hand and pointed all five fingers at him. Her Stand began spiralling out from them, floating through the air towards the stranger. But suddenly, to her surprise, he lifted a scarf from under his chin and placed it over his mouth and nose. “Impossible! How did you know how Love You to Death works?” Cadance took a step back. “You knew that my Stand can only affect you if it goes through your nose or mouth and you raised the scarf over them to protect yourself!” “I’ve been watching you work from a distance.” The man put a hand between his eyes and put all his fingers together. “Therefore, I also know the range of your Stand is ten meters and that once you blow a kiss, you induce heart failure in your targets.” “What do you want? I didn’t do anything to you!” Cadance backed away further. “But you did do something to all those people who you’ve killed with your Stand,” the katana wielding man said. “And if I don’t speak for them, who will?” He suddenly broke into a run, charging at Cadance with one hand on the hilt of his weapon. But Cadance wasn’t completely helpless either. She reached into her purse and pulled out a compact submachine gun, German made of course. Her husband, having been a military man, had taught her how to shoot, and Cadance squeezed the trigger and sent a barrage of bullets in her foe’s direction. The young man changed his course and dived to the left as the bullets from Cadance’s gun perforated the space he had just been occupying. Cadance fired again and kept him on the move. Moving like that would mean he had to exert himself more and with the scarf over his mouth and nose, it would get harder for him to breathe and he would either slow down or remove it. Either way, she was going to win. Cadence stopped to reload her weapon, backing away towards the train station as she did. There was no way that ridiculous child was going to get her.  A security guard saw the gun in Cadance’s hands and came over to investigate. “Hey, ma’am. What’s with the weapon? Do you have a license for that?” He had a hand on his hip where a pistol was holstered. Cadance simply used her Stand, coiling it into his mouth and nose. The security guard went slack and stopped talking. “There’s someone here out to kill me,” Cadance told the guard. “He has a sword and is wearing a long coat. If you see him, kill him for me.” “Of course, my love,” the guard droned. “Anything for you.” Leaving the guard behind, Cadence pushed further into the train station. In the meantime, the guard saw the young man with the sword come closer. He drew his pistol and pointed it.  “You must be the one she was talking about,” the guard said. “I will kill you, just like she told me to.” He pulled the trigger, but his target dropped down to one knee and held up his left arm. A vaguely circular object the size of a car door manifested there, blocking the bullets from the guard’s gun. The shots ricocheted from the shield and hit other surfaces harmlessly. Civilians heard the gunfire and began to panic, running about in a confused mass. The guard continued to shoot his weapon, but none of the bullets did the slightest amount of harm to their intended target. As the guard paused after his gun clicked empty, the young man stood up, and swung his left hand downwards. The shield spun like a top and whizzed towards the guard, striking him on the arm and then in the chest. The guard’s gun went flying away, and its owner was knocked off his feet and slammed into a pole. He fell to the ground, knocked out. “Sorry about that, friend,” the young man said as he pushed through the crowd and past the unconscious guard.  Cadence was hiding on the other end of the station. A train was coming soon and she planned to sneak aboard, escaping this lunatic and his katana. She kept her submachine gun inside her purse, fully loaded now. There was no need to incite any more panic among the masses. “So there you are!” Cadence stiffened and turned to see who had spoken. It was that same person from before, the one she was trying to avoid. “By the bones of my grandfather, you will not escape me today!” Cadence wasted no time with words and simply took her gun out of her purse and started to empty it in the young man’s direction. In such a narrow space there was nowhere for him to dodge. Once again, the young man dropped onto one knee and summoned his shield. But this time, instead of the bullets bouncing off and hitting around, the pieces of metal stayed stuck to the shield’s surface. Then they began to glow orange, and Cadance barely had time to hit the deck before the bullets she had fired were all sent back at her, puncturing dozens of holes into the wall behind her. But Cadance was not to be deterred. She slipped a new magazine into her gun and shot again. She could see the train coming and as long as she was able to get aboard, there would be more people she could use her Stand on to get the upper hand, especially since the train may have Sushi and her group, or perhaps Gloriosa’s agent. “You won’t kill a…” Cadance tossed her empty weapon aside. “A defenseless person. Would you? If I had to guess, you were born in China. They have honor there, do they not?” “Wrong on both counts.” The man pointed at her. “I am Bushido Spirit, protector of good, hero of justice. And you are a destroyer of the innocent. You have no honor and you are not worthy of my honor.” He approached and Cadance backed all the way up until her back was to the platform wall. All seemed lost when a train suddenly arrived, slowing to a stop, but still at a great speed, blowing her hair into her face. As soon as its doors slid open, people began running out frantically, muttering and mumbling about monsters. They ran in between Cadance and Bushido and the woman smiled as Love You to Death began making its way into various people, granting them love for her, and eventually, a group emerged from the car she was next to, younger than most of the other passengers. One of them had red and white hair and Cadance immediately recognized her as Sushi, the one she was sent to eliminate. “Jackpot,” she said. “Hey, is that a dude with a sword?” Sushi’s rainbow haired companion asked, but then Love You to Death entered their nostrils and their bodies straightened and spun around. “We love you, Cadance!” “Yes, I know.” She clapped her hands together. “I know you are Stand users. You see that man there? He’s trying to kill me with his sword. Won’t you protect me? The one you love the most.” “We will do anything for you, Cadance.” Sushi grinned. “Yes, we love you the most,” Sushi’s male companion said. “Once we’ve dealt with him, please go out with me.” “Oh, I’ll do more than go out with you…” Cadance ruffled his hair. “Now, get him.” -——JO-JO—— Bushido Spirit leapt back out of the train station as a trio of Stands rushed towards him, barreling through hordes of people and swatting them aside. He hadn’t expected there to be Stand users on the train, not to mention so many of them. Now, Cadance had control of them and he didn’t know if they were evil or not, and that meant he couldn’t kill them until he was sure. Like they said in a court of law, one is innocent until proven guilty. “Grandfather, what do I do?” A red Stand with a buffalo skull for a head drove towards him on wheels and would’ve gored him if he hadn’t called forth his Stand in full, Boney M. It manifested out of him, grabbing its shield straps with both hands as it thrust it into the head of the bull Stand. Now that his Stand was using it, the shield extended into its full form, standing taller than Bushido himself. His Stand stood behind it, clad in its blue and indigo armor, glimmering in the sunlight. With its shield, Boney M swung at the next enemy Stand, which was a golden ballerina-lIke figure with bladed fans. The fan-wielding Stand shuffled backwards and retaliated with a slash of its own weapons. Boney M was able to block them in time, but then a humanoid Stand with a horse’s head in blue armor slammed its fists into Boney M’s exposed back, knocking Bushido Spirit over onto the ground. “Arrgh…” Bushido spat. “Looks like it's time for a little back to back action!” Boney M reappeared behind Bushido and held its shield up to guard against anything that might attack from behind, while Bushido drew his katana and held it in a guard position in front of him. “What are you going to do now?” Cadence taunted from behind the other three Stand users. “Can you fight a Stand with your sword? Can you cut a Stand with regular steel?” “It’s you who doesn’t understand,” Bushido growled back. “A Japanese man’s sword is his soul! And a Stand is a manifestation of my fighting spirit! Combined, they create a power that I can use to my advantage! That, is the Japanese samurai’s Bushido Spirit!” Bushido held his sword up and a shimmering blue glow covered the blade of the weapon.  The golden Stand slashed down with its fans, but to everyone’s surprise, Bushido Spirit brought up his sword and blocked the attack. Cadance gasped as Bushido swept his sword in an upwards blow, striking the golden Stand under the chin with the pommel of his katana. The Stand’s master clutched at her chin and fell back, dazed from the blow. The equine Stand attempted to attack again, rearing up on one foot before throwing itself high, coming down from above with a muscled arm in front of its face. Boney M swung its shield up and blocked it, but then as it tried to bring it back down, the shield remained in the air, unable to be moved. “Sushi’s Stand ability changes the state of energy from potential to kinetic or vice versa with anything it punches. Until it deems otherwise…” Cadance pointed a finger at him and ran her other hand through her hair as she laughed. “Your shield is now useless!” “But I still have this.” Bushido lifted his katana to position the blade diagonally in front of his face. “Boney M is not just a defensive Stand. With the spirit manifested in my sword, Boney M can also manifest its power through this and I can end you in one fatal slice.” “We’ll see about that.” Cadance placed the back of a hand under her neck, then the other one curved around the top of her head and she slid both legs closely together, then slightly lifted her left one. “I’ll get these Stands to remove your face scarf. Once that’s out of the way, you’ll love me more than you’ll ever have loved. And then… you’ll die. And so will the rest of Sushi’s group. And all will be well with the world. My husband will be avenged, and so too will my sister-in-law, her boyfriend, and her most precious and innocent dog.” “You are crazy.” Bushido lowered his stance, then slid his sword back into his sheath, still holding on tightly to its grip. “But by the power of my Stand, Boney M, your crazy ends here.” “Crazy? You’re the crazy one, attacking me from nowhere! And these kids are the crazy ones for destroying my family! Enough talk, get him!” The three Stand users grinned lovingly at her, then they sent their Stands forward. Bushido kept his weapon in its sheath, then bent his legs lower as he closed his eyes. It was as though everything turned into slow motion around him as the Stands left the ground, leaping in the air towards him, ready to tear him to pieces. The easterner continued to stand there, waiting for the right time to move. He would only have one chance at this, but by the looks of it, he was most likely to succeed. The red Stand flew towards him from his right, its nostrils puffing smoke as it poised its horns downwards to his chest. The blue equine Stand came from the middle, its muscles bulging as its hands reached for his head, and the golden Stand flew in from the right, spinning in a circle with its fans, ready to dice him to bits. And right before any of them could touch him, Bushido Spirit moved, unsheathing his blade with inhuman speed as Boney M’s hand appeared over his. His blade swung in an arc with a trail of burning blue fire behind it, scorching the air and cutting against all three Stands’ hands. The force that hit them from his sword sent them back as they lost their balance, giving him just enough room to bypass them as he aimed for his true target: Cadance. Her expression gave away her surprise that he had made it out of that, but it was too late for her to move now. The sword, imbued with the energy of his Stand, slashed forward at unbelievable speed. Cadance fell back a step and raised her hands in defense and for a while after that, nobody moved. Then a line of red formed along Cadance’s left shoulder to her right hip and it began to spread over her clothes and the wall behind her also had a long cut that saw right through to the other side. “You… you…” Cadance looked up at Bushido as he swung his sword to the side, flicking blood off its thin blade as the aura faded from it. Then Cadance dropped to her knees and then her face. “Justice be served.” Bushido spun his sword around and slid it back into its sheath. Bushido looked around at the other Stand users standing around him as his Stand retrieved its shield and disappeared. One by one, they started blinking and screwing their eyes shut before bonking the sides of their head as they groaned in annoyance. “I feel like jelly…” the one with red and white hair said. She had on a black jacket over a turquoise shirt that showed off her amazing form. Bushido realized his gaze was set too long on her and he averted his eyes. “What even happened, I only know we left the train and then here we are…” A boy with cyan hair rubbed his head. “We’re still outside the train. So nothing much.” A goth-looking one groaned. Then she suddenly looked over her shoulder and nodded. “Someone has answers to your questions.” She looked straight at Bushido and pointed at him. “Cool, he’s got a sword!” A girl with rainbow hair pushed her way past the others. Bushido kept his hand on his weapon, but he sensed no hostility from these strangers. And Cadance had been talking about getting her revenge against them, so they would be against that terrible woman too. “What were your ties with that woman?” Bushido Spirit pointed to Cadance, whose body was lying there behind him. “I don’t even know who that is.” Rainbow hair looked at her. “You guys know who she is?” “Cadance?” An older woman with pale skin gasped. “She used to be the dean of Crystal Prep Academy, a rival school to Canterlot High. Why did you kill her? Who are you?” Everyone got into fighting stances and the blue Stand reappeared behind the beautiful girl. Bushido got the message and raised his hand from his sword. “I am Bushido Spirit, Protector of Good, Hero of Justice. I scour the world for Stand users that use their power for evil. This woman was using her Stand to bewitch the minds of people here, and I decided to put a stop to it. Not to mention I have deep suspicions that she was in deep with another group of unscrupulous Stand users calling themselves Weather Alternate.” “Weather Alternate? You know of them?” The older woman asked. Bushido confirmed her question with a nod. “As a protector of those unable to protect themselves, I have come across this name in my travels and they use their powers for evil. They intend to conquer the world and to eradicate all whom they deem weak.” “We’re going after Weather Alternate too,” the rainbow haired girl said. “They’re planning to awaken some kind of ancient life forms called the Nugget People.” “The what people?” Bushido asked, certain that he had heard her wrong. “What kind of a name is that?” “It is kind of dumb,” the owner of the buffalo skull Stand agreed. “That’s just our human names for them. But whatever it is, we can’t let Weather Alternate wake them.” “All lives are at stake here.” The beautiful one continued for him. Bushido couldn’t help but lay eyes on her once in a while. “If they awaken, they could potentially spell extinction for all of us.” “You seem to be noble in character.” Bushido gave them a short bow. “Please allow me to help, to aid you on your journey to protect the world. That way, I will serve the good and my grandfather would be proud of my actions.” “More help against the enemy is welcomed.” The older one nodded. “We gratefully accept your help. Come, we can talk on the way.” She whistled and a backpack with crab legs appeared beside her. “It’ll be safer to travel in REO Speedwagon for now.” As they left the station’s compound, none of them saw an elderly man looking at them from around the corner, flipping a coin in his fingers.