JJBA: The Chain

08 - Death Cab, Part 2

The feline-faced stand was floating by the entrance of the room, its attention locked onto Quest. He would now get that bizarre feeling of déjà vu again upon focusing on its face.

Something about this thing was so familiar to him, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He only got the ability to view stands a few minutes ago, so why would one be so familiar to him?

Then, it clicked. Those doodles he did in his notebook this morning - they looked like this thing. But, he needed to confirm this. He attempted to inch towards his notebook, which was lying on Joey's desk across the room.

"Eugh, that thing's just gross!" Allison shouted before swinging her fist at it, with Pantera joining her. Both striked the stand in the jaw, and it would vanish without haste.

Quest let out a howl of pain across the room, being thrown onto the floor. Joey would gasp and rush towards him, ready to help. Quest was covering his face, whimpering at the dull yet stabbing pain in his face. "Why... why did..." His hands slid off of his face, revealing a red mark on his jaw.

Joey could only stare. For him to have a wound that should've been on that stand could only mean one thing. That thing only filled him with rage. He gritted his teeth before giving Quest a powerful slap to the forehead.

"The fuck?!" He barked at him. "First you strip me down to my underwear to help me, and now you're–" "IT'S YOURS." Joey yelled in his face. "That is YOUR stand, and it tried to kill ME!" He pointed to the doorway.

Allison forcefully ripped Joey off of him. "Don't make dumb assumptions, it could've very well been a different stand." She said. He was still angry, desiring to beat Quest to a pulp. "That was it! That was the stand that possibly broke my nose in the hallway, and he got hurt when it got hurt! That's HIS stand!"

Quest was carefully sneaking around him to access his notepad. He was in disbelief about it being his stand. '...I need to look at those things I drew this morning.' He carefully picked it up and started flipping through its pages as quietly as he could.

That cat he drew - the one with the wide grin and closed eyes - was now faceless. It looked as if it were never drawn. It didn't even look erased. This visual gave him another pit in his stomach, as well as more fear.

'...No. I can't have one. I don't fucking want to be a stand user!' He couldn't help but slam his fist into the table, which would only draw attention to him.

A fist was then shoved into his lower spine with shocking power, causing his breath to be forced out of his chest. Before he could inhale again, his right arm was grabbed, and he would be thrown onto the floor. The shock from these new injuries combined with the remaining aching on his entire person from his earlier seizure would cause him to scream, and tears were now already flowing from his face.

"JOEY!" Allison called out and reached for him, only to be knocked back by his elbow. "Don't try to stop me, I can't have this asshole doing this!" He snapped.

The stand from earlier was summoned inbetween the two men, and it threw its hands at Joey's throat. Its speed made it too fast to be dodged, and it managed to grab it and pick him up with a single hand. Joey could see that its eyes were now wide open, revealing two thick silver rings in the darkness behind the mask. Its mouth was now closed, though still giving a small smile.

Joey squirmed and scratched at the hand squeezing his throat. He couldn't breathe, and his face was growing red from the pressure. Allison backed away and had Pantera aimed at the stand. "Q-Quest, if that really is yours, don't..." She peered over to him, seeing him shaking and crying.