//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: The Soul Stirs // Story: SuShi's Bizarre Adventure: Twilit Curtain Call // by Jojoleopard //------------------------------// Daring Do straightened her vest as she stood backstage, waiting for her cue to head out. She could already hear all the commotion outside and they were waiting for her to get out there and make her big speech. “Alright, Daring Do. You get out there and you get them excited.” Daring Do planted her fists together. “And don’t forget to look out for Die Die Riches. They’re definitely bound to show up and when they do, you, Sunset and Shiho teach them who’s boss, just like great-grandma did when she baited her archenemy, Ahuizotl, by placing a gold idol in a forest clearing, and when he showed up, she tied him up around his waist before yanking him up into the air.” “And now, with great privilege, I announce our benefactor to this fundraiser…” the emcee said outside, past the wall. “Without further ado, Daring Do!” There was a mechanical click and ding, before the wall hissed and began to slid open, allowing Daring Do to hop out centerstage, raising one hand to the air before she crouched down, sliding one hand down to the end of her vest. “Thank you. Thank you all for coming!” She began waving. The people began cheering, reassuring her that her translator was working. There was a time it had stopped working just a month ago where she stopped a shipment of Mongolian statues from being stolen. “Is everyone doing alright?” Most people began cheering, but to her surprise, there were a few that just sat there in place, giving her blank expressions. Huh. That’s weird. Not what I was expecting. I thought they’d be more pumped. “Welcome! It’s good to see so many of you still care for Japan’s nature and its animal inhabitants!” Daring Do spoke out of a headset around her ears, wirelessly connected to the foyer’s sound system. “As you know, the population of deer here is dwindling from our economical fallings, and their reduction in food has forced them to venture further out into other cities where some have met grisly fates. I implore you, please! The funds we raise here today will save lives. As always, you do not need to give, but doing so will help them plenty!” The parrot she had ordered on the right began to squawk excitedly. Beside it was a circular container with colored balls inside. The parrot was to roll its contents and select a ball to pick out lucky winners for some tickets she had to the Bermuda Triangle. She had actually been the one to finally discover the Triangle after all these years. Perhaps it had been the decay of the atmosphere, or the rising of the sea, but the skies had cleared up enough for her to find a series of jagged rocks and islands about twelve miles north of Puerto Rico where ships of all sizes and ages had wrecked. In the end, there was nothing mystical about it. There were no monsters and there were no spirits. It had just been gravitational anomalies that sent many a sailor to their doom. But with the rise of modern technology, ships could now sail to the Bermuda Triangle and tourism there had increased a hundredfold, though only those who could afford it could go see one of the world’s many wonders. “I mean, it’s not like we’re living off the streets,” one man said to a companion. He reached into his red and green trimmed coat and pulled out his phone. “I’ll be sending twenty million, Daring Do.” “Ten million from me!” Another man shouted from the crowd. Daring Do smiled and expected more cheering from this, but there was a strange silence among the people in attendance and when she looked to the right of the foyer, she even saw Shiho Sunfast slumped against a wall with a hand on her chin, quite expressionless. Something was wrong here. Even the parrot beside her had gone silent. Instead, it was just staring blankly at her now, as if waiting for her to do something. “What’s going on?” Daring Do said to herself. This was not at all what she had expected from a fundraiser. “Sunset. Where’s Sunset?” She found the old woman easily by one of the tables, just sitting down, her shoulders slouched as she looked to the stage. And behind her, was the most telling sight. Above Sunset, resting giant claws on her shoulders, was a ghostly bird-like creature, its beak opened in a toothless grin as it turned its head towards Daring Do. It had gigantic wings that ended in claws and instead of legs, it just had a ghostly swirl of smoke. No one else in attendance seemed to notice this and that only meant one thing. “The enemy Stand.” Daring Do pointed at it as Yesterday appeared in her hand, its strap wrapped around her wrist in case she were to drop it. “So you’re the one making everyone bored and lifeless.” Some people turned and looked at where she was pointing, but when they saw nothing out of the ordinary, they turned back to look at her quizzically. The Stand began laughing, which was a sound that sounded like a mix between a bird’s call and a whoopee cushion. It was wheezy, but with a specific vocal tune. “Foolish Do, you thought you could host a richly event without Die Die Riches turning up, squawk!” The bird flapped its wings. “But we have our eyes on you and your friends who defeated Hu Hur Dur, squawk! You hosted the event. And we came. I have already taken their souls, squawk! Yours is next, squawk! Soul Stirrer will have you!” The Stand suddenly pushed off Sunset’s shoulders, knocking her over as it launched itself at Daring Do, claws outstretched. The adventurer dodged aside, jumping back on her feet as she got to the end of a roll. Seeing as this was just a Stand, her whip would be useless against it. It would be better for her if she could find its master. Soul Stirrer let out a ghoulish caw before its body faded into a wisp of smoke, swirling around in the air as it flew through one of the surprised guests. As it emerged through him, it carried what looked like a ghostly apparition, which was then sucked up into its mouth. The man didn’t even seem to notice this and just kept watching her, until he eventually grew more and more expressionless. “It steals their souls, their spirit to live life!” Daring Do guessed as the Stand returned to its physical form. “A Stand is the manifestation of one’s spirit. If it steals that… that means I won’t be able to use Yesterday! This is bad. I can’t let it steal my soul.” “I will rend your soul from your body and then tear your soul apart! Squawk!” Soul Stirrer took to the sky and spun around and started back towards Daring Do. She threw herself to the side again, but this time, she had done so one second too early. Soul Stirrer saw her trajectory and swerved, morphing into a ball of smoke as it readied itself to pass through her. “No, this is bad! I can’t get out of the way in time!” Just before the Stand could touch her, Daring Do clicked down on her Stand’s rewind button. She had set it to a point when she was about to go on stage, and it was a good thing she did. Everything around her began to work in reverse and eventually, she was running back out onto the stage again as cheers rang out for her. “Welcome! It’s good to see so many of you still care for Japan’s nature and its animal inhabitants!” Her eyes darted around, more alert than before. “As you know, the population of deer here is dwindling from our economical fallings, and their reduction in food has forced them to venture further out into other cities where some have met grisly fates. I implore you, please! The funds we raise here today will save lives. As always, you do not need to give, but doing so will help them plenty!” “I mean, it’s not like we’re living off the streets,” one man said to a companion. He reached into his red and green trimmed coat and pulled out his phone. “I’ll be sending twenty million, Daring Do.” “Ten million from me!” Another man shouted from the crowd. As the cheering began to die down, Daring Do kept her wits about her. She remembered. She had just used Yesterday and that meant she had just met with something she had no choice but to go back in time to avoid. When she went back in time with Yesterday’s ability, she couldn’t retain the memories of what had just transpired and all she knew was that she had used her Stand. And she could only use it three times in twenty four hours. She didn’t know what she was up against, but by keeping her eyes out, she spotted something smokey gliding through people, changing their attitudes towards the fundraiser before it stopped above the man in the gold suit. “Stand. Enemy Stand.” She watched it go as wings appeared out of the smoke, complete with talons at each end. “That must be why I rewound time! It steals the souls of people. The spirit to live life. A Stand is the manifestation of one’s spirit. If it steals that… that means I won’t be able to use Yesterday! It’s Stand master. I need to find the Stand master.” As she desperately looked around, she found both Shiho and Sunset sitting around, doing nothing, looking like nothing was going on in their lives. They must’ve already been hit by the enemy Stand. She couldn’t rely on help for this one. She had to deal with this herself.  Okay, Daring. Think. You used Yesterday, so something must have gone wrong in a Stand fight. So think about what you’d do normally, and then do something different. Surprise the enemy and you can win. She watched the cloud of smoke as it traveled, slowly taking the form of a bird as it passed through two more people. It finally became solid as it hovered over Sunset, revealing a deformed looking avian figure with a white beak and plates along its back. “The Stand. It’s a bird… Could that mean…?” Daring Do looked at the parrot. It still stood in its cage, staring blankly at her. “A Stand is a manifestation of one’s self. If it looks like that.” She shot a finger out at the parrot. “It’s you isn’t it?” The parrot squawked. Daring Do suddenly felt a rush of air and turned around. The Stand was now flying straight for her, talons outstretched, ready to tear her apart. She tried to dodge aside, but the claws were longer than she had anticipated and they slashed across her midsection as she jumped. She screamed in agony as she dropped to the ground close to the parrot’s table, bleeding profusely over the stage. No one in the crowd seemed to care anymore and they continued to just watch her without doing anything else. “Yes, squawk! The suffering!” The Stand stalked forward on its ghostly wisp. “Sweet, sweet suffering, squawk! Soul Stirrer has won here today. You found out about my Stand master, Jimmy, but this is as far as you go, squawk! I will have your soul, squawk!” “N-Not yet…” Daring Do dragged herself towards the base of the table, her arms trembling. She grabbed it, but Soul Stirrer thrust a talon through her left shin and she let out another scream. “You’re… you’re gonna regret… this.” “Soul Stirrer thinks you will be the one to regret, squawk!” The Stand began to laugh. “You hosted this event for the rich, squawk! And we came. Did you not think we would leave this alone?” With her Stand in hand, Daring Do slung its strap around her wrist, then swung her arm out, letting go of her Stand at the same time. Yesterday spun from her hand and hit Soul Stirrer in the beak like a yo-yo, before she yanked on the strap, pulling it back to her hand. The impact knocked the Stand off her leg as it rubbed at its cracked beak. The parrot in the cage squawked and began rubbing at its beak with a wing. “It’s not over yet.” Daring Do held Yesterday close to her waist with both hands. “Just you wait.” “You’ll pay for this, squawk! Such suffering I’m going to show you, squawk!” It snarled at her, then lunged forward with both wings spread wide. Daring Do only had two charges left for her Stand for today. She was going to have to make it count, and she already had. Pressing down on the Stand’s stop button, there was an explosion of light around her Stand as time began to work backwards again. Her injuries healed themselves and she got up and walked backwards, heading back behind the backstage wall as Soul Stirrer returned back to the crowd, going through them backwards as life returned to each of them. She dusted her vest and looked around. She had used Yesterday to wind back time again. Something must’ve caused her to do so. An enemy Stand, most likely, that had been the reason for this fundraiser anyway, to attract Die Die Riches in order to gain information on their operation. Bringing her Stand up, she looked at the face of the stopwatch, then widened her eyes. “Of course. It was right there… This must be it.” She put it away and looked at the wall. It was time to do this. Again, most likely. “Welcome! It’s good to see so many of you still care for Japan’s nature and its animal inhabitants!” Daring Do ran out as the backstage wall slid open. She looked harder than ever at the foyer, trying to find out what she was up against and she saw it, weaving behind the front line of people. A cloud of smoke that went through people, making them less enthusiastic about what they were here for. “It takes their soul. Their spirit to live life. If it touches me, I won’t be able to use Yesterday. I’ll have to make this quick to buy myself enough time.” This time, she grabbed the cage with the parrot as it squawked in surprise. “Just one second. There was an issue with the parrot’s instructions. Uh, I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere! Support the deer of this country!” Once the wall closed behind her, Daring Do dropped her smile and held the cage up, shaking it once violently, knocking the parrot’s head against the top of the cage and off its little pedestal. The parrot squawked and flapped its wings, and a hazy image of a Stand appeared above the cage, half formed like an out-of-focus photo. “I’ll take your soul!” The Stand cawed. “How did you find out? There was no way you could’ve known! Squawk!” Daring reached out one arm to her opposite side, then held the birdcage higher, leveling the handle with the top of her head. “Yesterday has buttons on it that I can use to type out quick words on its screen. When I rewind time, everything goes back to the way it was, including any injury I might receive or any message I might write on my hands to remind me, but anything typed out onto Yesterday remains, and that’s what you failed to see me do.” She turned her Stand’s screen to the parrot. On a bar above the timer, there was a single word typed into it. ‘P3rr0+ /V\4st3r’ “I must’ve found out it was you before I rewound time. That’s where you’ve failed. Now you will tell me who sent you or there will be consequences!” Daring Do snapped her fingers. “I will tear your soul apart!” The bird’s Stand lunged forward. Daring Do growled and shook the cage harder, banging the parrot inside all around until it stopped moving. The enemy Stand disappeared and little wisps of light flew out of the cage. “Is everything all right, Daring Do?” One of the technicians from the event came around the back.  “Oh, thank goodness you’re here,” Daring Do smiled. “This parrot has a severe case of bird flu. Someone needs to take it to the vet immediately.” “It does?” The technician asked. “Looks like it’s passed out. I’ll get someone to bring it to the vet immediately.” “Also, the parrot should be kept sedated,” Daring Do instructed as she handed over the cage. “So it doesn’t hurt itself.” “Got it,” The technician took the cage away, holding it under one arm. That was when Daring Do noticed something on the bottom of the cage. “Wait!” Daring Do ran up to the man. “I just need to have a look on the underside of the carrier. In case it’s important to the parrot’s health.” “Whatever you say, Miss Do.” Daring Do peered at the bottom of the cage. There was a sticker there, with a few lines of text on it. “Anniversary Pets and Birds. Hmm… Why are birds separate from pets?” Whatever this was, this was a clue. If this was where they had obtained the parrot, perhaps they would find more information on Die Die Riches there. With the parrot heading for the vet now, it was too far away for its powers to continue and Daring Do could already hear the life returning to the crowd outside as their voices began to rise in volume. “Well, I’ve got a fundraiser to complete.” She adjusted her vest and her hair. “I’ll let Sunset and Shiho know my findings once that’s done with. They’re gonna want to hear this.”