MAGO - Stardust Crusaders X OC

Chapter Thirty: Tuesday, January 3

Her time had almost run out. Yes, Sana was all too aware of that fact, and she was trying to figure something out to wriggle out of the seemingly-inevitable fate placed in front of her. The best thing she could do, she figured, was use The Sun to push herself up off the ground. Her Stand was undoubtedly stronger than her, and she could demanifest it quickly enough that maybe, just maybe, the enemy Stand wouldn't notice her movements, and would still be lost with regards to her location. It was a stupid hope, but it was the best option she had, so Sana went for it.

And her hopes were dashed immediately. Although she was now a better height, the Stand had immediately reappeared. So it really was that sensitive. Nonetheless, she had to deal with the consequences, and this time, it didn't disappear. Last time, the enemy Stand had vanished into the sand below, but now, it was relentlessly pursuing her. But how? That didn't make any sense at all. How did it know her location? There was nothing to give it away.

Sana looked around for the offending thing, and then found it, all too quickly. It was obvious. The Fool was disintegrating, and sand was cascading onto the ground. So that was how the enemy Stand had been tracking them, by the grains of sand The Fool left behind. Was that happening the whole time? Sana had no idea. Maybe the Stand had been lying in wait for them, stalking them the entire time. She didn't like that thought. The moment she was lowered again, the Stand would attack. The second she was in range, she'd have to prepare for an attack. No, she'd seen its speed. The best option was to attack first.

Unfortunately, it seemed like the enemy Stand had the exact same idea, and just as Sana fired the shot, it also attacked, but dodged her attack. Sana clenched her jaw as the Stand sliced her shoulder, some of her hair, and The Fool's wing. The pain was sharp, but it soon dulled to an ebbing sensation. She could check the damage later. For now, she had to focus on-

Iggy was descending way too fast. There was no way he was going back up, not with the hole in The Fool's wing. Things had taken a turn for the worse fast, and Sana didn't know if she could keep up. She had to hope that the Stand user was close. If she could attack the user, she could end the fight before it even properly began, which was good, because she wasn't sure if she could win.

So Sana scoured the horizon, and-

Yes. There, on a ridge, was a man, sitting down, with a cane in his hands, and a quietly focused frown on his face. That had to be him. He was the enemy Stand user. Reinvigorated, Sana grinned, and then promptly fell to the ground as The Fool unmanifested. The Stand appeared in front of Sana, and her time was up.

She had to do something. Anything. The user was so close, but she didn't have time to charge an attack. It seemed that her philosophy had failed. Impulsively attacking was never a good idea. Maybe throwing a book had worked, but that wasn't the same fight as this. This was on a completely different scale, and though Sana was stronger now, she still couldn't match up to this enemy. There was nothing she could throw to save her. Nothing but sand, and the enemy Stand, and-

Sana did what any hopefully-sane person would do, and tossed Iggy, and hoped that her dance training all those years ago had given her enough strength and coordination to accurately toss him to hit the enemy square in the face.

"You'd better watch out," Sana called. "There's a dog flying at your face."

She said it matter-of-factly, and the Stand user panicked. He didn't know where Iggy was, and so the Stand followed Iggy, vaguely, and he wasn't paying attention to Sana at all. Iggy manifested The Fool at the last second to shield him, smacked into the enemy's face and made the enemy drop his cane. Sana grinned to herself. That had been a good throw.

The enemy Stand user was terrified. Not because Sana had approached. Not because Iggy had just slammed into him. But because he'd dropped his cane. He was scrambling around for it, muttering to himself the entire time, about how he got too lost in dealing with Iggy to even consider her-