Chapter 10: Justice
"IMPOSSIBLE! You... you're a Stand user?!"
The sight of Jonas's Stand made Enya's jaw drop. She had assumed he was just another powerless mortal, ripe for the picking. She never imagined he would possess a Stand of his own.
But her shock quickly subsided, replaced by a cold, calculating resolve. An opponent being a Stand user wasn't necessarily bad news. Her mission, after all, was to find or create Stand users for Lord DIO. The fact that Jonas already possessed this power simply made him a more valuable prize.
And besides... her scissors had already drawn blood. The wound on his arm was all the opening she needed to unleash the true terror of her ability.
A dark expression fell over Jonas's face. His worst fears had been realized. This crone, Enya, was just as treacherous as Diavolo. But where Diavolo was after his money, this lunatic was after his very soul. 'Offer up your life to HIM,' she'd said. What a crazy old bat.
But in a way, this was better. Now that she had shown her hand, there was no need for him to hesitate.
Jonas's hand moved towards his waist, where the pistol he'd taken from the officer was tucked away. He considered it for a split second, then decided against it. He still needed to know where Diavolo had gone. Accidentally killing the old woman would be counterproductive. He would have to subdue her.
He spread his hands, preparing to rush her.
But Enya was far faster than she looked. In a single, impossibly swift movement, she leaped backward, creating a significant distance between them.
"[JUSTICE]!" she shrieked.
As she screamed the name, the room was instantly filled with a thick, swirling fog. A horrifying, crowned skull, formed entirely from the dense mist, materialized above her head. This was her Stand.
A sardonic grin spread across Jonas's face. "So that's it," he taunted. "I was wondering where an old woman like you got the nerve to face me. You're a Stand user, too!"
He finally understood. The deep, unsettling feeling he'd had since entering this town... it was all her doing. This was no ordinary crone.
"I had hoped to simply drug your tea and be done with it," Enya cackled. "But you had to be difficult. Very well! A more... forceful approach will have to do. A tiny little wound is all I need, after all."
CRASH!
The door behind Jonas burst open. The shambling residents from outside, who had apparently been lying in wait, poured into the room. Their appearance was now utterly horrific. They stared at Jonas with ravenous, predatory expressions, as if he were a slab of fresh meat. And each of them, without exception, had gaping, egg-sized holes in their bodies. Through the grisly wounds, Jonas could see their shriveled bones and desiccated organs. A steady stream of fog seeped out from the holes.
In the next instant, they charged, brandishing scissors, cleavers, and other crude weapons.
It was obvious now. These weren't living people. They were corpses, puppets animated by Enya's Stand. No wonder Maw had been so uninterested in their shadows. To his Stand, the shadow of a dead man was as worthless as a frog's piss.
Jonas ignored the puppets and charged directly at Enya, intending to take out the master and end this farce.
But suddenly, an immense, unseen force stopped him dead in his tracks.
He looked down in shock. The thin, bloody line on his left arm had widened into a gruesome, crater-like hole. A thick tendril of fog had coiled into the wound, holding him fast like an unbreakable rope, paralyzing his entire body.
"NANI?!" Jonas's pupils constricted, his mind racing to analyze the situation.
"You are no match for me, Jonas," Enya gloated, pointing a bony finger at his tiny companion. "Just look at your Stand! So pathetic and small. What could it possibly hope to accomplish?"
Maw, for its part, was squaring off with the massive, foggy skull of [Justice]. It was clear now: Enya's entire plan, the initial lunge with the scissors, had been a feint to create this single, tiny opening.
This was the ability of her Stand, [Justice]: to control an enemy through their wounds, turning them into a marionette on strings of fog. And now, her army of puppets was closing in.
Jonas's eyes were hidden in shadow. "My [Invisible Black Monster: Maw] may be small," he said, his voice a low growl, "but you would be a fool to underestimate him."
The moment the words left his lips, Maw vanished. It didn't teleport; it simply sank into the shadows of the furniture and the walls, disappearing from sight.
Enya was stunned, her eyes darting around the room, desperately trying to locate the tiny Stand. But Maw was already moving, swimming through the interconnected network of shadows as if they were a single, contiguous pond. In a flash, it used the shadows as a bridge to cross the room and slipped into the one cast by Enya herself.
The next instant, it erupted from the darkness right behind her.
Enya caught the movement in her peripheral vision and started to raise her scissors, but Maw was faster. The creature, no bigger than a frog, opened its impossibly huge, fang-filled mouth and lunged for her shadow.
Enya didn't know what would happen if it connected, but every instinct screamed that she could not let it bite her shadow!
She scrambled backward, trying to pull her shadow with her. But Maw was just as quick. It missed her torso, but its massive jaws clamped down hard on the shadow of her right arm. In an instant, an egg-sized chunk of her shadow was torn away.
"AAAAAGGGGGHHHH!!" Enya screamed in agony.
The sleeve of her right arm suddenly ripped open, and a chunk of flesh from beneath it simply... vanished. Blood erupted from the new, gaping wound. She understood now. This was his ability. He dealt damage by consuming his target's shadow. The pain was unlike anything she had ever felt—a deep, visceral agony that seemed to pierce her very soul.
But there was no time for screaming. Maw had already swallowed the piece of shadow and was lunging again.
Fighting through the pain, Enya frantically searched for a way out. Her eyes darted to the crazed, dog-like Stand rushing her shadow, and then, a spark of inspiration ignited in her mind. A cruel, triumphant smile curled her lips.
She dashed towards the table with the candle and the tea set. Maw was already on her, sinking its teeth into the shadow of her calf. A fresh wave of agony shot up her leg, but she ignored it, swinging her scissors with desperate purpose. With a single, sharp snip, she cut the burning candle in half.
The candle fell to the floor, and its tiny flame was instantly extinguished.
The room was plunged into absolute, impenetrable darkness.
Maw, which had been about to tear another piece from Enya's shadow, froze.
Its delicious meal... had vanished.
...
...
...
Stand User: Enya the Hag
Stand Name: [Justice]
Destructive Power: D
Speed: E
Range: A
Stamina: A
Precision: E
Developmental Potential: E