Summer Shine awoke the next morning, opening her eyes to a lit up boiler room, barely illuminated thanks to the grime on the window above her, but enough for her to see her immediate surroundings. She wiped at her mouth, then she looked to the side where she had been leaning. Bushido Spirit still sat beside her, still as a stone with his katana in his lap.
She quickly panned her head to see the rest of her friends as she leaned further from him. She sighed a silent sigh of relief when she saw that they were all still asleep. She blushed hard as she got to her feet. She had fallen asleep beside him and she had been using his shoulder as a cushion.
Coughing, Summer walked over to her pack and downed half her bottle of water before waking her friends.
“Mmm, morning already?” Prism Dash stretched her arms up, then tilted from side to side. “Well, the floor’s a little hard, but hey, I slept like a log.”
“Well, I hate it here…” Fuchsia groaned from her spot across from them.
“Did you at least find somewhere we can wash up?” Prism rolled her eyes.
“Matter of fact, I did. While you were all wasting time here, I found a public bath across the street, just a block down.” Fuchsia pulled at her arm sleeves and stood up. “Not many people at night, so I had the whole place to myself. I’m all clean now, which is more than I can say for any of you. By miles. You stink. Metaphorically and physically.”
“Yeah, yeah…” Prism blew a raspberry and grabbed her things. “Let’s go. I could use a bath.”
“There’s separate rooms, right?” Jojo rolled up his sleeping bag and put his scarf back on. “Umm, I mean… you know. Guys and girls and stuff.”
“Come on, Jojo. I knew you want to sneak a peek.” Prism walked over and put an arm around him. “I’ve watched enough anime to know how these things work. You’ll want to peek over the partition to look at our amazing bodies. Is it always like that in Japan, Bushido?”
“Not at all.” Bushido Spirit stood up and straightened his coat. “Like with all lands, there are the few who would do something like that. Japan is no different from Germany or America.”
“Well, it happens in anime.”
“Anime is not real life, Prism.”
“Alright, we should head out.” Sweetie Belle walked over and stuffed a cracker in both Prism’s and Bushido’s mouths. “Eat up. We’re going to the bath. Fuchsia, lead the way.”
“Fusch this…” The goth girl shook her head. “This way. If you fall behind, it’s your loss.”
Summer downed another mouthful of water before slinging her pack over one shoulder. They left the decrepit building and crossed the road to a building with a brick front. The bath now had quite the crowd, but there was still enough space for them to have their privacy.
Summer slipped her clothes off, then stood under a shower and washed the grime off her body. The baths here weren’t even close to what Prism had guessed and they each had their own little cell to wash up. Prism was probably going to be pissed Jojo couldn’t look at her. There seemed to be something going on between the two of them, but Summer didn’t know for sure. Whatever it was, she resolved to find out at some point.
As warm water splashed down around her, Summer pictured the mountain ahead of them and the tunnels the multitude would've dug to get the abundance of nuggets forming deep in the earth. She pictured the beings there, locked away for thousands of years, just waiting to come back. Weather Alternate thought they could control them, but what made them so sure the Nugget People would even listen?
To them, Weather Alternate would fit in with the rest of the world: Humans.
More than ever, they had to get there and ensure the Nugget People never saw the light of day, or things were going to take a hard turn for the worse.
Once she was satisfied with her cleanliness, Summer shut off the water, then wiped her towel down her body, then through her hair repeatedly. They hadn’t brought any towels when they left Canterlot, but it was a good thing Sweetie Belle seemed to have everything in her Stand. Well, almost everything. She didn’t have beds.
Summer soon met the others back outside the shower once she was fully dressed. Gipsy Dance had been the first one to finish and she was out there sitting on a bench minus her bandana, chewing on a banana. She ate rather bizarrely, nibbling at it in extremely tiny portions like a rat, then occasionally running her tongue over it, making a weird sound as she did.
“Rudurrudurrudur rudurrudur…”
Prism Dash was the next out, exiting her cubicle with a jump and kick in the air. “Man, it feels good to be clean!”
"Sure is," Summer stretched her arms and windmilled them to work out any kinks. "I could do with a cup of coffee or something, though."
"No time for that," Sweetie Belle said bracingly and handed Prism a donut. "We've got to secure another ride so that we can reach Mount Fegel at all speed."
“That won’t be hard.” Gipsy got up and continued to chew on her banana. “It’s just a matter of finding one in a carpark, like we’ve done before. As long as no Stand masters attack us there like the last time, we shouldn’t have a problem with getting something that’ll take us to Mount Fegel.”
The group's search was rewarded by the sight of a bus that had 'Mount Fegel' on its front. There was a small line of people waiting to get on, many of them holding shovels and picks.
"Looks like we've found our ride to the mountain," Jojo said. “Makes sense for them to have public transport up the mountain. They’ll be earning loads this way.”
“Yeah, the people in charge of this really know how to make their money here.” Prism snickered and led the way to the bus.
Getting tickets was a little different from what Summer knew back home. You had to go online through an app, then select the route and the journey, which in this case, was a trip to Mount Fegel, something everyone here was likely doing, seeing how packed the buses were.
The price for one person was seven hundred euros. Summer didn’t know the exchange rate, but it sounded exorbitant. Even she could tell that they likely jacked up the prices for all the folks desperate to get to the mountain before it ran out of nuggets.
“And we’re in the same boat…” she sighed.
“It's the same bus, Sushi.” Jojo flicked a finger from the right side of his head to the left. “Sushi, your next words are… ‘It’s an expression’.”
“You’re just trying to be funny, Jojo.” Summer gave him a friendly punch.
“Dangit.” He swung an arm down.
“Hey, no sweat. You’ll get it. One day. Maybe.” Prism put an arm around him and sneered. “Just keep studying. Maybe you’ll learn something.”
“Expensive tickets, but it’s a good thing I have huge businesses.” Sweetie Belle grinned as she bought seven tickets on her phone. “But by the looks of it, we might not even make it on this bus. There’s so many people.”
“Fusch this…” Fuchsia folded her arms and groaned. “There are too many people going to the mountain. If only there was a plague around to reduce the numbers.”
“You wouldn’t want a plague, Fuchsia,” Bushido Spirit said.
“Says who?” Fuchsia brushed a hand through the hair on the left side of her head. “I’d welcome it.”
Their group joined the queue of excited gold diggers and prospectors, looking ahead to see all the people chattering happily about how much they were going to bring home and how rich they’d all get.
Summer kept an eye out especially for anyone resembling Stand users. With this many people here, it wouldn’t surprise her if there was a member of Weather Alternate amongst them, getting ready to cut their journey short to prevent them from getting to the mountain.
“I cannot wait to get me hands on some nuggets!” One pudgy man with a shaven head said and rubbed his hands together. “It’s been about time since we struck rich, ‘innit?”
“Too true, brother.” A similarly pudgy woman said beside him. “We haven’t had the luxury to eat whatever we want. Soon, we will be able to once we get enough nuggets!”
“Nuggets for nuggets!” The man licked his lips.
“People have all their different reasons for coming here,” Sweetie Belle said, then turned to her companions.
Prism puffed out her chest and pressed a thumb into it. “But none have a reason as just as ours!”
Bushido held his sword firmly. “No, they do not.”
“Weather Alternate will not see the light of day.” Gipsy balled a fist and then swung her other arm behind her back and bent one leg low. “They’ll pay for the death of my people and my family.”
“And they’ll regret using their powers for evil.” Bushido nodded in agreement. “Justice will always prevail.”
“And they’ll regret messing with the Jojo family.” Cajole pounded both fists together.
“The Sushis are in this too.” Summer grinned.
Summer felt as though all this had happened long ago, but in actuality, it had only been a little more than a week. It had all started that one day when Timber Spruce had decided to attack her mother at their home. Perhaps if Timber hadn’t been bent on having revenge, Weather Alternate would’ve continued on in the shadows and Summer and her friends wouldn’t have left Canterlot to stop them from awakening the Nugget People. Gipsy Dance and Bushido Spirit would’ve still been here to stop them, and Summer realized she would’ve never met Bushido if she hadn’t set off for Germany.
Even in situations like this, there could still be some good.
Summer got on the bus and sat beside Prism, who busily nudged her to go sit beside Bushido, but Summer resisted her attempts and planted herself firmly in the seat. She didn’t want to appear too desperate.
“Hey, your loss.” Prism gave up and shrugged. “As your best friend, it’s my duty to get you hooked!”
“That doesn’t sound right.”
“Sounds right to me. Come on, once up that mountain, trust me when I say, I’ll get you two together. Alone. And that’s when you make your move, Summer. You know what the Japanese are like! They can’t stop themselves around women! Once you activate their inner man, their hands will be all over you! Well, unless Bushido’s a bumbling protagonist who touches all the women, but can’t assert himself.”
“You’ve been watching too much anime.” Summer shook her head and laughed.
“Uh, no. I haven’t watched anything since we left for Germany!” Prism pulled out her phone and browsed through it. “I missed the release of the latest episode for Dearest in the Flanxx! How long is this bus ride? You think I can watch it?”
“I think you better get some rest instead.” Summer pushed her best friend’s shoulder. “We haven’t gotten enough sleep since setting off. We keep getting attacked. The chances of us getting attacked on the way again are incredibly high.”
“Psshh, I’ve got Coldplay now.” Prism stuck her earphone cable into her phone. “If anything comes up, I’ll deal with it.”
Summer shrugged and waited for the bus to start. This was an express ride with no other stops on the way to Mount Fegel, so she assumed that any enemy Stand user would have to get on now or jump them at the end of the journey up.
Leaning on the back of her seat, Summer scanned the bus for any unusual or suspicious people, but as far as she could tell, there were only prospectors and miners here with them, greedy for the gold nuggets in the mountain. For once, it seemed she could relax a little.
“What do you think these Nugget People look like, anyhow?” Prism flipped her phone on its side to begin watching her anime. “I mean, they’re ancient. Like, really ancient, right? What do you think? Greek? Egyptian? Caveman?”
“Well, they can’t exactly be human. They live a long time and early humans worshipped them. And the fact that Weather Alternate wants to awaken them does tell you a little about their physiology. They can apparently hibernate? No human would live this long after being locked away for eons.”
“What happens if…” Prism snickered. “What happens if Weather Alternate finds their way to them and all they find are a couple of skeletons?”
“That would be a real shame to them.” Summer chuckled and gazed out the window at the passing cars beside the bus. It seems people were driving up the mountain as well.. “And great news for us. That just means our work here will be done.”
“Yeah, won’t it?” Prism tucked her legs up to her chest as her eyes locked onto her phone screen.
Summer kept her eyes on the passing scenery as Prism got to watching her show. They were already leaving Leipzig behind, trading taller buildings for smaller ones and forests further beyond the streets.
More cars and trucks drove by, most of then carrying people and equipment; more excited opportunists heading to the mountains. There was a red car with two girls wearing only bikinis in one and they leaned out to wave at the bus Summer was on. Her first thought was how they weren’t cold in this weather, but most of the people on the bus thought differently and plastered their faces against the glass as one girl removed her bikini top and waved it in the air.
“I need to get out there!” One man tried to pull the window open.
But then from behind them came a speeding squarish black car with its engine halfway sticking out of its hood and it rammed into the back of the girls’ car. The squealed and popped back inside their vehicle, but it was too late. They swerved off course and crashed through a fence and a telephone pole beside a farm and they were thrown out of their car.
Summer watched as the woman’s yellow bikini top fluttered in the wind alongside the black car as the other passengers began to gawk in disbelief.
“That’s what happens when you don’t wear your seatbelt. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.” Fuchsia spat and groaned. “Fuchsing morons. Well, freezing to death is a decent way to go…”
“What, what did I miss?” Prism paused her show and looked out the window, though by now, the red car was long gone.
But for some reason, the black car remained alongside their bus, matching their speed. A window winded down and Summer caught sight of a bald dark-skinned man at the wheel, wearing shades that glinted in the light from the sun ahead of them.
“What’s that guy’s deal?” Summer asked Prism. “Why’s he just driving next to us like that? Is he gonna ram us off too?”
“I dunno,” Prism said. “Maybe he’s lost?”
“When there’s only one road?” Summer asked. “I don’t believe that.”
The man in the car turned his head to talk to someone presumably in the passenger seat, then rolled up the window. The car fell behind the bus and tailgated it.
“Hmm,” Summer said. She took her eyes off the car and yawned. “Guess it was nothing.”
“Nothing? They just sent those crazy hot girls off the road!” Jojo stood up and tapped a finger on the window. “That’s not normal! Is it?”
There came the heavy thump on the roof of the bus, which caught the attention of the group. None of the other passengers seemed to notice.
“Man, it’s stuffy in here,” Sweetie Belle said, shaking her head. She tried to open a window, but it seemed as though the windows weren’t designed to open. “It’s making me feel tired.”
As soon as she said that, one of the other passengers fell from her seat on the bus and landed on the floor of the bus. She seemed to have fallen unconscious.
“Hey, whassamatter with you?” The passenger next to her asked groggily. “Wake up.”
More people began to go limp and one man even began clawing at his throat. It was here that Summer began to feel it too. A warmness on her face, making it harder and harder to breathe. Each breath got heavier and heavier and her nose and throat felt like it was burning each time she tried to inhale.
“Is it me? Or…” Prism put her phone away and opened her mouth to take in a huge gulp of air. “I can’t breathe…”
“This is the work of an enemy Stand.” Bushido Spirit stood and pulled at his scarf. “We need to open the windows. Boney M!”
The smaller shield appeared over his left arm and he spun to the side and smashed his window open, spraying glass on his seat and on the road outside. But as soon as Bushido put his hand on the windowsill, a mass of green bubbles began popping across the back of his hand and he fell back on the seat, grasping his hand and screaming in pain. The skin under the bubbles began to turn black and he soon had a cluster of them spreading to his fingers, making the hairs on Summer’s neck and arms stand.
“Don’t touch the windows!” Sweetie Belle warned and stretched her arms out. “Don’t touch anything!”
Then her legs wobbled and she gasped for air before falling on her side.
“This is like bacteria. I’ve seen its work before. It mutilates the body’s cells from within.” Gipsy knelt down beside Bushido and inspected his hand as he gritted his teeth together in pain. “The intense bleeding causes the black spots to appear in the body and it transfers by contact.”
Suddenly there was what sounded like a trumpet from above the bus and Summer grabbed for her throat again. It was even harder to breathe now. It was as though the bus was running out of oxygen. They needed to open more windows, but there seemed to be bacteria spreading across them. This was likely the work of two enemy Stands.
“I know that sound…” Gipsy Dance looked at the ceiling as she followed the sound of what sounded like footsteps. Big footsteps. Then there was another trumpet and the air seemed to thunder around them. “It’s him.”
Summer turned to her as she tried to breathe. Already her vision was warping, making it seem like there were two Gipsy’s standing before her. “W-Who?”
Gipsy Dance summoned her Stand behind her and she pointed a finger to the ceiling, while her other arm cast itself to her right, flaring all five fingers out as one foot crossed behind the other.
“Eximus. Eximus Exo, the man who killed my people.”