Chapter 30: Polnareff VS Hol Horse & J. Geil
With a desperate lurch, Polnareff threw his head back. The bullet grazed his silver flat-top, severing a few strands of hair that fluttered away in the rain.
Hol Horse let out a cocky laugh. "Nice dodge! But it won't work twice! This is my Stand, [The Emperor]! The gun is the Stand, and the bullets are my Stand, too! That means I... can control their trajectory... perfectly!"
"A dangerous ability," Polnareff muttered, his eyes narrowing. "I was lucky to dodge that."
He leveled his rapier at the cowboy. "Hey! My vengeance is with J. Geil, not you! Stay out of my way, and I'll let you live. Interfere... and I'll be forced to cut you down as well!"
Hol Horse coughed, taking a small step back. "Sorry, mon ami, but I can't do that. My paycheck for this entire trip is riding on that creep's mother."
"So, you've chosen to be my enemy..."
"Look, I'm not a fan of two-on-one, but business is business," Hol Horse said, raising [The Emperor] once more. "I'm giving you one last chance. Take your sister and get out of here."
Just as he spoke, Polnareff's eyes caught a glint of movement in a puddle. [The Hanged Man]! It was in a reflection, right behind him, its blade raised for a killing blow.
Polnareff spun around—but there was nothing there. He snapped his head back. The Stand was still in the puddle.
"Nani?! What is this ability?!"
"BIG BROTHER, WATCH OUT!" Sherry screamed, her voice cutting through the rain. "IT'S THE REFLECTION! HE ATTACKS THE REFLECTION TO HURT YOU!"
She had overheard everything during Jonas's battle. She couldn't see the Stands, but she knew her brother possessed a similar power, and she put the pieces together.
"He attacks the reflection?" Polnareff's eyes widened. "I see!"
He immediately grabbed Sherry and dashed away, trying to get clear of the puddles. But it was useless. It was pouring. The entire path was a sea of reflective surfaces.
"BROTHER, WAIT!" Sherry shouted again, remembering the rest. "Mister Jonas said it only works on calm surfaces! The puddles in the open, where the rain is hitting them... he can't use those!"
Polnareff's mind lit up. Of course!
He ignored the hundreds of rippling puddles in the open and his gaze locked onto a single, still puddle, protected from the rain by the leaves of a large tree. And there it was. [The Hanged Man], lurking in the calm water.
At that exact instant, [The Hanged Man] lunged at Polnareff's reflection. Simultaneously, Hol Horse fired.
"So, all I have to do is disturb the surface, right?" Polnareff declared. "[SILVER CHARIOT]!"
His Stand moved with impossible speed. It didn't attack the puddle directly. Instead, its rapier flashed, striking a dozen falling raindrops and flicking them with perfect precision, sending them splashing into the calm puddle.
The surface instantly shattered into a dozen ripples. [The Hanged Man] was violently ejected in a flash of light, its attack ruined.
Before it could find a new hiding spot, [Silver Chariot] stabbed its rapier into the mud, kicking up a thick, opaque water screen, completely blocking Hol Horse's view.
"Hey, cowboy!" Polnareff taunted from behind the screen. "You said you control your bullet's path, right? But can you control what you can't see?!"
[The Emperor]'s bullet, already in flight, passed into the wall of water. The moment it did, Hol Horse's connection to it was severed!
"WHAT?!" Hol Horse cried, his eyes wide.
"I knew it! [SILVER CHARIOT]!"
Behind the curtain of water, Polnareff's Stand swung its blade, slicing the now-uncontrolled bullet clean in two.
"GYAAAAAAHH!" Hol Horse shrieked, clutching his chest as a sharp, sympathetic pain lanced through him. A trickle of blood leaked from the corner of his mouth. Since the bullet was his Stand, its destruction was his pain.
Damn it! Who the hell is this guy?! Hol Horse thought, his confidence evaporating. He'd assumed this would be an easy two-on-one cleanup. He had never, ever expected this new guy to be so tough.
As a firm believer in his "Number Two Philosophy"—never be Number One, never take the full brunt of the danger—Hol Horse's internal alarms were screaming. This situation had just gone way outside his "acceptable risk" parameters.
He glanced at J. Geil. J. Geil was glancing back at him. Their eyes met. J. Geil was a mutilated, screaming mess. He was in no condition to fight.
Hol Horse weighed his options. If he ran, he'd lose the payday. If he stayed... he might end up like J. Geil, or worse, like Jonas. He was trapped.
Damn it all! I've come all this way, I'm not leaving with empty pockets!
He made his decision. He would help J. Geil... but the second it looked bad, he was gone.
They nodded. The two assassins struck as one.
J. Geil, screaming in a haze of agony, forced [The Hanged Man] into another calm puddle to lunge at Polnareff's reflection.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Hol Horse fired three rapid shots, sending the bullets in a curving arc toward Polnareff.
Faced with a simultaneous, two-pronged assault, even Polnareff felt the pressure. He braced himself, his mind racing, trying to find a way to counter both attacks at once...
And then... all three of them froze.
Their eyes were simultaneously drawn to the body of Jonas Jourdan, lying in the mud.
His fingers... his fingers had just twitched.
"WH-WHAT?!" J. Geil shrieked, his voice cracking with pure, undiluted terror. "HIS HAND! IT MOVED!"
"IMPOSSIBLE!" Hol Horse's eyes bulged, his concentration completely shattered. He lost control of his bullets, which veered wildly off course, flying harmlessly past Polnareff.
"JONAS... ISN'T DEAD?!"
...
...
...
Stand User: Hol Horse
Stand Name: [The Emperor]
Destructive Power: B
Speed: B
Range: B
Stamina: C
Precision: E
Developmental Potential: E