Chapter 43: Mile-High Mayhem
With the Victor brothers dead and their shadows consumed, their part in this bizarre tale was over. Jonas sat back in the airport lounge, enjoying [Oni]'s shoulder massage, analyzing the new power he'd absorbed.
He could clearly feel that the boost from Victor's shadow was significantly greater than the one from Little Victor. This confirmed his hypothesis: the quality of the shadow mattered. Perhaps, he mused, the sheer terror and agony Victor experienced before his death... enriched it somehow?
He knew Little Victor's body would be found eventually, but no one would ever suspect the quiet, well-dressed passenger relaxing by the gate.
As Jonas waited for his flight, another pair of eyes was watching him from the crowd.
"So that's him..." the hidden observer muttered. "I was planning to let the Victor brothers do the heavy lifting, then ambush them and take the body... but they were too pathetic to even delay him. Utterly useless. It seems I'll have to take matters into my own hands."
As if sensing the gaze, [Oni] snapped its head toward the crowd. But it saw nothing but a sea of ordinary travelers.
A short while later, boarding began.
Jonas entered the cabin, which was already bustling with passengers stowing their luggage. The aisle was a logjam of people. He overheard the couple in the row next to his.
"Oh, Harold, I'm just so worried about Toto," the old woman fretted. "All alone in the cargo hold..."
"He'll be fine, Mildred," the man replied. "Toto's a brave dog. It's just a few hours."
"But I won't be fine! I miss him already!"
Jonas ignored them, scanning the seat numbers. "8A... 9A... 10A..."
He was blocked. A woman up ahead was struggling to lift her overstuffed carry-on into the overhead bin. It slipped, and a cascade of makeup bottles and perfume tubes spilled out, rolling in every direction and bringing the aisle to a complete standstill.
Jonas sighed. He wasn't going anywhere.
"What's the hold-up here?" A petite flight attendant squeezed her way through the crowd. But as she moved to help, she failed to notice a rolling bottle of moisturizer. Her heel came down on it, and with a small shriek, she lost her balance, tumbling directly into Jonas.
He caught her instinctively, his hands steadying her waist. She grabbed his jacket to stabilize herself, her face buried in his chest. A second later, realizing she hadn't fallen, she looked up, a bright red blush spreading across her cheeks as she met Jonas's handsome, unamused gaze. Her mind was instantly playing out a cheesy, romantic B-movie plot.
Jonas's mind was not. His first, and only, thought was: Is she a Stand User?
He didn't hesitate. He summoned [Invisible Black Monster: Maw] onto his shoulder, plucked the small creature off, and discreetly dropped it onto the flight attendant's shadow.
Enya's assassins would have been warned about [Maw], he reasoned. If she's an enemy, she won't be able to hide her reaction.
"A-Are you going to let me go, Monsieur?" the flight attendant asked, her voice breathy.
"Apologies," Jonas said, releasing her.
"Oh! N-no, it was my fault!" she stammered, quickly kneeling to help the other passenger. "I'm so sorry!"
Jonas watched her. [Maw] was now crouched on her shadow, drooling, its fanged mouth open as if preparing for a meal... and the woman didn't so much as flinch. She just... kept picking up lipstick tubes.
Jonas's eyes narrowed. He did notice one small, strange detail: a single, coarse, brown hair stuck to the back of her uniform. Pet hair? He filed the information away but dismissed her as a threat.
The mess was cleared, and Jonas finally took his seat. He pulled out a book and began to read as the plane took off.
He was a few chapters in when he felt an... itch. A persistent, annoying itch on his waist. He absently tried to scratch it through his shirt.
And then... he heard it.
Th-thump. Th-thump.
A heartbeat. He felt his own pulse at his neck—steady, calm. But he could still hear... a second heartbeat. Fainter. Faster. And it was coming from... inside him.
He was biologically certain he wasn't pregnant. That left only one possibility.
A STAND ATTACK!
He ripped his shirt up. There, latched onto the skin of his waist, was a grotesque, green, frog-like creature about the size of his thumb. It had six arms, and its skin was glistening. A thin, almost invisible thread extended from its head, connecting it to the inner wall of the plane.
"NANI?!" he hissed. When?!
He thought back. The only person who had touched him...
The flight attendant! That BITCH! She must have planted it on him when she fell! Her acting... it had been flawless.
He had no time to admire her skill. He had to get this thing off him.
"[Invisible Black Monster: Oni]! Cut it off!"
[Oni] materialized at his side instantly. It formed a dagger and, without hesitation, plunged the blade deep into the parasitic Stand.
The dagger went in... and at the exact same instant... a massive, identical gash tore open on Jonas's own side, as if [Oni] had stabbed him.
Blood exploded from the wound.
"HOLY S##T!!!"
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Stand User: ??????
Stand Name: ??????
Destructive Power: ?
Speed: ?
Range: ?
Stamina: ?
Precision: ?
Developmental Potential: ?