SuShi's Bizarre Adventure: Darkness Manifest

by Jojoleopard

Episode 15: Across the Water

“He has to be close. Close enough to keep an eye on us.” Subterra put her back to Leilani’s as they looked around the cave. The first thing to do was to block off any reflective surfaces they could find. “Thankfully, the rain stayed outside, so all the puddles are out there. But we need to do something before he can attack Ocellus and Shiho again.”

“So if we stay in here and wait, they’re goners. But if we go out there, he’s going to get us. Parfaite…” Leilani bunched up a fist. “And because his Madman Across the Water is not really out here in our world, there’s nothing Jellyfish can do about it.”

“Neither can Crafteon.” Subterra shook her head. “There has to be another way we can beat this…”

“The only way to best him is to find him…” Leilani looked around the outside of the cave. Shiho and Ocellus still lay on the sand, bleeding into the little puddles of water around them. “Their blood gives Madman Across the Water more room to move around. We can’t go there.”

“But a Stand this strong… He has to be nearby.” Subterra ran a finger along her jawline. “He must be hiding somewhere on this island.”

She looked back to her friends out there again and grimaced. Ocellus did tell her they had to stop the enemy first, but if they couldn’t figure it out, they would be dead and Djirt would still be out there.

Leilani sensed her thoughts and nodded. “I know. We have to save them. We’ll deal with the enemy after we get them to safety.”

“If the enemy is using reflective surfaces, then we need to pass by as few of them as possible, Or cover them up with something,” Subterra suggested. “Get them with Jellyfish. I’ll have Crafteon cover the sand around them.”

Subterra ran forward as Jellyfish stretched its tentacles out in all directions, sending two of them to grab Ocellus’ and Shiho’s legs. Crafteon began flipping up sand with its tail, covering the blood falling from the two women as more of Jellyfish’s tentacles zapped at their wounds, cauterizing them to stop their bleeding. Crafteon had just finished covering more of their blood when Subterra felt pain welt across her back. She dropped to the ground, gritting her teeth together as blood sprayed out from a vertical line on her back. She looked up to see that Crafteon was doing the same, having been attacked from blood on one of the rocks outside. She spotted Madman Across the Water waving at her from the splatter of blood before raising its knife again.

“The rocks! The blood on the rocks is vertical, that means… Madman can see us in the cave from this angle…!” Subterra explained. “He was playing with us all this time. We can’t stay in the cave!”

“The boat. We know where to go.” Leilani pointed to the ocean. “I say we just go. We don’t need to stay and fight.”

“Are you sure?” Subterra was skeptical.

“Sometimes you have to turn the other cheek,” Leilani said, getting ready to move. “Besides, if we stay here, we will almost certainly die. We can’t defend against the Stand’s attacks.”

Subterra nodded. As much as she wanted to stand and fight, she didn’t see how they could hit something within a reflection. “Let’s go.”

As they saw the Stand approaching them with its knife raised, Leilani wasted no time and grabbed her two downed companions with Jellyfish, wrapping them close on her back as she made a dash for the cave entrance. Subterra did what she could and kicked up sand against the bloodied rocks as she ran, hoping to at least muddy up the blood’s reflective surface.

She must’ve missed a spot, because as she passed the entrance to the cave, pain shot across her shoulder and a gash made itself known, going down her back.

“Aaagh!” Subterra cried out, but didn’t let it stop her as Crafteon grabbed her around the waist and threw her forward, helping her catch up with Leilani.

Even though she was a lithe, skinny woman, Leilani handled herself well with two people on her back; she never missed a step all the way to the boat, getting to it far before Subterra could.

“Start the boat!” Subterra called out. “I’ll catch up!”

Leilani began fiddling with the boat’s console as Subterra mustered up her strength to sprint on towards her. She caught flashes of Madman Across the Water appearing in each puddle leftover from the storm as she ran through the muddy soil towards the sands. She saw it catch up to her as it swung its knife at her ankles, but Subterra hopped up, pulling her legs high, just avoiding the attack before reaching the beach.

“I’ve got it. Let’s go!” Leilani waved to her as the boat’s engine rumbled to life.

Subterra got to the boat with no other altercation and as soon as her foot touched the inside of the boat, Leilani sped them off, the vessel’s prow slicing through the choppy waters away from Malden Island as quickly as its advanced engine could propel it.

Thunder rolled in the distance, closer than Subterra would have liked, but at least they were far enough for safer waters and safer travels. Right now, getting far away from Madman was their first priority.

“He must have an effective range.” Subterra moved to the seat beside Leilani to explain. “Once we’re out of it, he can no longer attack us.”

They sailed over two big waves before crashing back down on smooth water, trailing away to the south as they moved towards their destination.

Only when Malden Island was but a tiny speck did Subterra lean back and sigh. “We should be good now. There’s no way he can catch up.”

“What a powerful Stand…” Leilani shook her head. “If your TWI is master over him, she must have a stronger Stand.”

Now that was a Stand Subterra had faced before. She knew TWI only used the bare minimum of her power, but even then, she could never best her Strange World.

All of a sudden, the boat shook. At first, Subterra thought they might’ve run into a rock under the surface, but then it happened again from the opposite side and a thin and precise tear formed across the hull, letting water pour into the boat’s interior.

“That’s- he’s still after us!” Leilani exclaimed, looking back at the damage.

“How is that possible? There’s no way he could keep up-” Subterra stopped herself. “Unless… Of course. He had to have a way to get to the island. If we can’t see him, he must be following us underwater somewhere.”

“His range must be even further than Jellyfish.” Leilani sucked air. “I still don’t know where he is. There must be a way to find him.”

Another tear formed across the boat, this time on Subterra’s left, letting a stream of water pour into her lap. In the shimmering surface, she could see it, the enemy Stand. It had its blade held up, giving her a wave with its other hand. And then it stabbed down.

Subterra brought up Crafteon just in the nick of time as her Stand yanked her away with its shadowy tendrils just as a hole appeared in the plush seat she had just been in. She looked around. There was no way they could beat a Stand they couldn’t touch and there wasn’t much room in the boat for them to maneuver.

“Coming out to sea might’ve been a worse idea than staying on the island!” Subterra’s eyes darted around, looking for anything that could help them. “All around us is endless water. Its reflective surface will give Djirt enough room to attack us. Unless…” She looked up. “Of course. Leilani, we need to change course!”

“What? Where are we going?”

Subterra pointed to the roiling dark clouds in the distance. “There!”

The native woman turned the boat, steering it over to the storm as the boat fought against the water pouring into it. Subterra did what she could, scooping water out with a bucket, but between trying to save the boat and avoiding Madman Across the Water’s attacks, she wasn’t getting water out fast enough. She could only hope that Leilani would get them there before they went under. The water got choppier the closer they got as the waves picked up in intensity and size, but with that, the attacks became less frequent.

“It’s working. It’s working!” Subterra cheered.

She had to hold on to the seat in front of her as they went over a wave. Crafteon grabbed Shiho and Ocellus and kept them from flying off as well, but as a wave washed over them, Shiho sputtered to life and wiped her face.

“Good grief, what’s going on?” she attempted to stand, only to sit back down from the pain in her back.

“It was the only way to stop Djirt,” Subterra began. “Madman Across the Water uses reflections to attack us. If the water becomes turbulent like in this storm, it becomes harder for it to maintain a line of sight to us. And with the waters like this, I’m sure Djirt will have to surface somewhere!”

And then she spotted it, behind their boat at least forty-seven meters away, a black shape breached the water’s surface, along with a metallic object with three propellers attached to it. Just then, a wave washed over the boat and the shape, throwing the metal object into the air as Djirt went back under. Shiho called forth Curtain Call, which threw punch after punch at the encroaching wave, smashing it to pieces before it could engulf them.

“I’m turning us around now.” Leilani spun the wheel, now moving them all away from the storm.

Shiho bent over one side and Curtain Call grabbed the hood of Djirt’s diving suit as they went by, dragging him through the water as the boat sped along. The speed they were traveling at washed the mask from Djirt’s face and he began sputtering as he fought for breath.

“St-sta-staup! I need… I can’t b-bre-breathe!” he gasped as water filled his lungs. “I yi-yield! Stop!”

Curtain Call pulled him up till he was face to face with Shiho. His short purple hair was a mess and his eyes were blood red. “Not so tough now, are you?”

Djirt coughed and panted. “Wh-wh-what are you going to do to me? Are you going to do the ‘neigh’ thing?”

A crack formed at the side of Shiho’s mouth. “I’m thinking of something better.”

Curtain Call roared and tossed him ahead of the boat, sending his body sailing far in the distance before he splashed through the water.”

“Arm one.” Shiho was beside Leilani, pointing at the holographic console.

“Got it.” Leilani pushed a square button as their boat rocked from another big wave.

Beneath the waterline, the hull of the boat opened a slot and a pointed cylinder nosed its way forward.

A targeting reticule appeared on the dashboard of the ship as the vessel’s sensors locked onto the shape and heat signature of Djirt’s body out in the ocean ahead.

“Enemy Stand user, meet top of the range naval ordnance.” Shiho’s face was a savage grin as the targeting system blinked green. “Fire!”

The torpedo launched from its silo, flying through water as it homed in on the struggling human as his eyes widened. He opened his mouth in a silent gasp of bubbles as the torpedo slammed into his chest. The explosion that followed erupted from the water, rocking the boat as it sped past, finally exiting the range of the storm.

“Another one bites the dust… Good grief.” Shiho sat back down beside Leilani and ran a hand over her face.

“They never stop coming,” Leilani said as they left the dark clouds behind. They were drenched from the storm, not to mention the water still pouring in from the hull. “But at least God is with us. He will never forsake us.”

“Whatever.” Shiho shook her head and pulled out her lightphone to check its compass. “We’re heading east now. We need to get to Nuku Hiva before TWI sends another goonie to attack us. From there, we’ll figure out how to find this TWIsland.”

“TWIsland. Nice.” Ocellus cracked a smile as she got up, then winced. “We’re gonna need to get patched up… That Stand really did a number on us.”

Shiho took a swig from her flask, then planted a foot on one of the seats and looked beyond the horizon. “We’re close now. We’re close to ending this once and for all. My grandmother better still be alive or I’m going to beat TWI into oblivion, then go there and beat her up again.”

Subterra had no doubt they would make it to the island. Each of them had a resolve of steel and a goal they would do anything to accomplish, but when she thought about herself, she didn’t exactly know what her goal was. She was leading them back to TWI’s island to defeat her, but that wasn’t her own goal. Whatever life she had come from before TWI abducted her, she still couldn’t remember, but perhaps after they finished this, she could find out and get back to it.

- To be Continued...-

Author's Note:

One step closer...

Comments

[ArcticAce01]

Getting closer indeed

[Golden_Reflection]

Can't beat the shit out of TWI without getting closer to her, after all.