Saji's mind went blank. The stray devil's claw descended toward his face, close enough that he could see the dried blood caked under its jagged nails.
Was this it for him?
WHIIIR—
Wind rushed from behind him.
—CRACK!
Saji's eyes widened.
Shards of bone scattered through the air. Where the devil's hand had been was now just a mangled, bleeding stump.
And embedded in the stump—
A… a steel ball?!
"GYAAAAAAH!" The stray recoiled, clutching its mangled hand as blood sprayed from the wound. The steel ball shot back past Saji.
Saji stumbled backward.
What the hell just—
A hand landed softly on his shoulder.
His heart stopped.
He turned his head slowly to see who was standing behind him.
Oh no.
Standing there was Gasper, wearing a brown hat with a wide brim and goggles resting on top. He was in a purple shirt with small green balls embedded on it.
Seeing Saji's terrified expression, he grinned, revealing Golden grills that caught dim light, etched with the words: "GO! GO! GASPER!"
"WELL, HELLO THERE, SAJO~"
'I'm fucked!'
Despite the terror, Saji's eyebrow twitched. "It's... Saji."
"Huh?" Gasper looked genuinely confused. "No, I definitely remember you introducing yourself as Kenshiro Sajo."
Saji sighed and turned fully around—completely forgetting there was a stray devil right behind him.
"No, man! It's GENSHIRO SAJI!"
Gasper stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm... are you sure about that?"
"Yeah, I'm sure—"
THUD. THUD. THUD.
Heavy footsteps were closing in fast!
Saji spun around just in time to see the stray devil right in front of him, its mouth stretched impossibly wide, rows of teeth glinting.
Then he saw something move past his right side.
VREEEEEEN!!
A steel ball shot forward like a bullet.
It entered the stray's open mouth and kept going, spinning with precision. Every tooth it touched shattered on impact.
The ball reached the back of the throat.
The impact sent the stray flying backward. It spun through the air before slamming into the abandoned house behind it.
BOOOM!!!
Causing dust and debris to explode outward.
....
....
....
Saji's mouth was wide open, eyes wide as he stared at the destroyed building.
He looked back at Gasper, only to see him completely calm with a smile that said "you fell over the edge, punk!"
Hands landed on both his shoulders.
Saji stepped backward.
Gasper stepped forward, matching him.
"So, Saji" Gasper said, his voice light but his grip firm, "you know what has to happen now."
Saji's throat went dry.
"After all..." Gasper's grin widened. "You did break your promise to me."
Hearing this, Saji simply closed his eyes, accepting that it was over for him. Maybe he would do better in his next life.
"It was right over here, Mister!"
A small, desperate voice cut through the tension.
Saji opened his eyes when he heard the familiar voice. Looking over Gasper's shoulder, he froze.
It was the same girl he had just saved… standing beside a strange man with luscious brown hair, dressed in a trench coat.
Why did she come back?
The man's eyes locked onto Gasper's back.
Then he moved.
One moment he was deep in the alley. The next, he was between them, his hand already on Saji's chest.
Saji went flying backward, hitting the ground hard.
Steel flashed in the dim light.
The blade came down toward Gasper's exposed neck.
Gasper's eyes widened.
In his crimson pupils, the stranger's reflection growing larger. The sword descended.
'I NEED TO STOP TIME!'
Then something changed in that reflection.
A crack split down the middle.
Two sets of fingers emerged from within the reflection of Gasper's eye, pushing the reflection apart from the inside like opening a door.
Behind the torn reflection was a realm made entirely of pixels. Digital static, like a Glitch given form.
"Chumim~in!"
A silver figure stepped through, it was Lean with compact muscles, wrapped in metallic silver skin. Silver gloves with hearts emblazoned on the backs. Its head crowned with spikes that glitched erratically. A silver ventilation slit for a mouth, horizontal lines cutting across where lips should be. No ears—only silver antennae extending outward like pointed rods. White goggles with blue lenses covered its eyes.
The moment it fully emerged, pixels exploded outward, swarming across Gasper's vision like a digital storm.
Everything disappeared behind the static.
The sword. The man. The alley.
It was Just all pixels!
All gasper could see was pixels and the being.
It brought its hands together and—
CLAP!!
As the sound reverberated through Gasper's skull, his vision snapped back.
And he saw himself.
Standing three feet away. Staring back with the same wide, terrified eyes.
The sword completed its arc.
SHING!
His head went flying, but there was no blood—just pixels floating upward as his other self dissipated into digital fragments.
Gasper's breath caught.
'WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!'
The man's eyes gained a surprised look, and he whispered, "A Sacred Gear?"
The man moved again, blade already mid-swing toward Gasper's throat.
He jumped back, creating distance.
But the man lunged forward, sword aimed at Gasper's chest
Realizing he wasn't going to get away, Gasper readied his hand to strike the sword with a METAL SILVER OVERDRIVE!
But before he could move—
BZZT-VWOOM!!
Blue light exploded between them.
The silver figure materialized, hands reaching out.
It caught the sword mid-thrust!
The man's eyes went wide. His blade had stopped completely, as if hitting an invisible wall.
He stared at the sword floating in mid-air, held by something he couldn't see
Then his eyes began to glow—a faint golden shimmer bleeding into his irises.
His expression shifted. Understanding dawned across his face.
'There is something there,' he thought, squinting at the space around the sword.
A rough outline. Humanoid. Silver. It was hazy, like looking through frosted glass.
Gasper, seeing this figure in full display, thought 'It has no legs?'
What? Don't blame him—it was just weird to see something like this in real life, especially when that something looked like a genie from the year 2077.
Gasper looked at the figure hovering in front of him, then back at the man's glowing eyes.
'Can he... see it too?' Gasper thought, glancing down at his own hand.
The same blue energy flickered around his fingers
'Could it be?...'
His breathing steadied slightly.
'...STANDO POWER?!' he thought calmly.
The man let go of his sword and jumped back. He extended his hand, a magic circle beginning to form, his glowing eyes never leaving the vague outline before him.
The Stand turned its head toward him.
Then it threw the sword.
"MUDA!"
The blade shot forward—
And stopped.
Frozen mid-flight, as if time itself had grabbed it.
The man's eyes widened at the bizarre scene
Gasper himself had a hard time believing this was happening and he was causing it!
The sword blinked out of existence.
Then the sword reappeared right in front of the man's face. making him lose fouces, disapating the circle.
"OH MY GOD!!!" Saji screamed, as he saw the laws of physics get told off.
He jerked his head to the side. The blade sliced his cheek, drawing blood, before embedding itself into the wall behind him.
The Stand then dissipated into energy.
Gasper, seeing this, wasted no time. He moved his hand to his holster and grabbed a steel ball.
The man wasted no time either, preparing another magic circle, ready to attack at any moment.
The steel ball began rotating in Gasper's hand.
Both stood frozen, waiting for the other to move.
"STOP!"
A small, desperate voice shattered the moment.
Both Gasper and the man froze, their eyes snapping toward the source.
The little girl stood at the entrance of the alley, trembling. Tears ran down her face. "It's not him." She pointed to the house. "It's in there."
The man gained a look of confusion as he looked at the house, then back at Gasper. With a rough English accent, he said, "Are you sure?"
The girl nodded.
The man dropped his hand, and the circle dissipated.
Seeing this, Gasper silently let out a sigh of relief but kept his steel ball spinning just in case.
The man cleared his throat and reached into his trench coat pocket, pulling out a cigarette. A tiny magic circle appeared on one of his fingers. A flame flickered to life, and he brought it to the tip, taking a long hit.
"Sorry about that, mate." He exhaled smoke, eyes still sharp despite the casual tone. "This little one said she'd been attacked by a nasty bugger—a stray. Mistook you for it."
He gestured vaguely at Gasper with the cigarette. "You can understand the confusion, yeah? Blond devil standing over a scared kid in a dark alley. Not exactly a good look."
Gasper's eyes widened. "How... did you know I was a devil?"
The man raised a brow and began walking toward the house. "You're not really hiding it, mate. I felt your demonic power before I even entered this alley."
He stepped into the ruined building. His eyes swept over the stray's mangled corpse, and he let out a low whistle.
A steel ball still spinning on the floor caught his attention.
He walked to his sword embedded in the wall and pulled it free, inspecting the blade before sheathing it.
Turning back to Gasper, he said, "Not bad, I'll give you that. Looks like you took it out with one clean blow."
His gaze shifted to Saji. More specifically, to his arm.
"A Sacred Gear?" The man's eyebrows rose. "Well, I'll be damned."
He stepped toward the boy.
Gasper moved in front of him.
The man stopped and raised his hands slightly, cigarette still between his fingers. "Easy, mate. Just wanted a closer look at the Gear. Not every day you see one."
He took another puff.
"Relax. If I wanted to hurt him, I'd have done it already." His eyes flicked to Gasper. "As you already know."
Gasper turned to look at Saji.
Saji gave a small nod.
"Alright."
The man stepped closer and grabbed Saji's hand, examining the gauntlet. "A Vritra Gear, huh?" A grin spread across his face. "Man, Azazel would love to see you, that's for sure."
'Azazel?!' Gasper's mind raced.
"Azazel?" Saji asked, not recognizing the name.
The man chuckled. "An old feathery perv who gets a hard-on when he sees Gears. Nothing more."
He released Saji's hand and turned to leave. "I'd recommend you two leave the cleaning up to the devils. After all, it's kind of their job."
He threw his cigarette on the ground and stomped it out.
"Oh, and blondie—" He looked at Saji. "If you ever want to learn to use the thing on your arm..."
He pulled out a card and tossed it over.
Saji caught it.
"Just give me a call and bring your young buddy." His blue eyes shifted between them. "You both got some serious potential."
Gasper watched him start to walk away, then called out, "Wait, you're really just going to leave? You almost cut my head off, and you're not even going to tell me your name? Talk about moving fast."
The man stopped and gave a hearty chuckle. "Well, I guess I do owe you at least that."
He turned slightly. "The name's Alan Crowley, supernatural hunter extraordinaire, at your service." He tipped an imaginary hat. "Well boys, have a nice rest of your day."
His grin widened. "And, do try not to lose your heads."
He paused, then looked at the little girl who had been quietly standing nearby.
"Oh, right. Can't forget the loose end."
He crouched down to her level. A soft purple glow emanated from his hand as he placed it gently on her forehead.
Her eyes glazed over for a moment before returning to normal, now filled with confusion rather than fear.
"There we go. She'll think she just got lost and some nice bloke helped her find her way home."
He stood back up. "Right then. Be seeing you two around, I hope."
As they watched him disappear into the night, Gasper let out a long sigh.
Saji finally sat down, the exhaustion and pain crashing over him all at once.
Gasper stared at where Alan had vanished for a moment longer, his mind still processing everything that had just happened.
A Stand.
He had a Stand!
And that hunter... he'd seen something.
Could he have been a stand user?... But wait people don't get stands in this universe so how?
Only stand users can see stands... right?
He shook his head and walked over to the house, picking up his steel ball.
For extra safety, he set the stray's corpse on fire.
As he walked out of the slowly burning building, he glanced at Saji. "So, you good enough to get home on your own?"
"Huuuh?" Saji looked up at him, confused. "Can't you just use that energy stuff to heal me up or something?"
Gasper's eye twitched. "Hell no. I told your ass to stay away, and you did the exact opposite. You deserve exactly what you're feeling right now."
Saji slumped. "Well then, I am not good enough!"
Before he could celebrate his cleverness, Gasper grabbed him by the arm and hauled him to his feet, letting him lean against his shoulder.
"Well then, we better get to walking fast, or we might not make it for your bedtime~" Gasper said with a teasing voice
"Why are you so mean to me?" Saji whined.
They started moving.
"Because someone's gotta be."
←–TO BE CONTINUED—
*****
AN: BOOM, DOUBLE TROUBLE! it's a apology for taking so long to get both chapters out.
But hey, Stand is finally here! It'll be an Act Stand. It's a bit bigger than normal, but what can you do?
Also decided 1 chap every 1-2 days, unless said other wise.
Also, I love reading all the comments you guys leave on each chapter, they're hilarious. I've also noticed some of you giving me "stones," i dont know what they're for but I do see others wanting them and giving extra chapters for them.
So I've decided to set a goal if we can hit something like 250 stones, I'll give you all an extra chapter! It'll be tough to reach, but if we do… so be it.
Anyway, I hope y'all enjoyed the chapter!