Una Extraña Aventura: A Zeppeli Tale [ON HIATUS}

Chapter Eighteen: The Dive (Part II)

Instant Crush wrapped its arms around Vitale, tackling him to the ground and away from the shape that had appeared in the ceiling. The exact moment the two got away, The Dive fired a torpedo where they had just stood. The impact created a small explosion, creating a small hole in the floor of the cabin.

"Vitale!" Enrique cried, helping the man get to his feet. "I told you to stay close to me, damnit! Listen, that Stand just blew a hole into the floor. If it makes any more, then the boat will go down. Do you understand? We have to defeat it quickly."

"C-Capito," Vitale dusted off his pants, okay but slightly shaken. "How does this thing work even?"

"From the little I've seen, it looks like it can phase through solid material like water. It uses that ability to set up attacks like the one we just faced. I sensed no Users on board, so it must be controlled from a long-distance. Rosalia told me there were Stands like that."

Vitale's eyes darted all around the cabin, but he sensed nothing of any animate object. 

Shit, if I could just see this damn thing... I could be able to help out in a meaningful way. Instead I'm just a damn liability here.

"There!" Enrique cried as Instant Crush spun around at the slightest indication of movement in its periphery.

Enrique's Stand faced the submarine-like Stand head-on as it unleashed its torpedoes at the two young men. Instant Crush repelled the projectiles right away, but it resulted in a hole being blown into the roof of the yacht, exposing it to the air outside.

"What did you just do?" Vitale asked as his back practically touched Enrique's.

"I repelled the torpedoes it just shot. It made a hole in the wall, but better it than us."

Enrique briefly stepped away Vitale, causing the older man to worry.

"What are you doing, Enrique? Didn't you say you had to stay close to me?"

"I think I'm noticing a pattern with the way this thing attacks," Enrique said, taking a step forward. "I just need to confirm it."

"That sounds pretty dangerous..."

"For me, yeah. But you're a Hamon User. You can at least heal yourself. I'll count on you to heal me once I found out how the hell this thing works."

"Telling me to protect myself, eh? Tsk!" Vitale clicked his tongue. "I'm not sure how effective this'll be, but my Papa said there was a method I could use to create a makeshift barrier."

Vitale grabbed a fistful of Enrique's hair, tearing out a small clump. He flung it into the air. The strands of hair each became stiff and hard like pencils, suspended in the air around him as a result of the Hamon he had imbued into it.

"Que carajo! You asshole, you think you can just grab my hair right out of my scalp and use it as you like?" Enrique grumbled.

"You're making me fend for myself. You'll live, don't worry." Vitale shrugged.

Enrique hadn't realized it, but The Dive had emerged out of a cabinet at about chest-height near him. Instant Crush could only react in time to use one hand to repel the torpedoes away. They all exploded, with some projectiles that he couldn't repel tearing into the Stand's and his arms, sending him flying backwards into a wall.

"Enrique!" Vitale cried, unharmed because of the hair barrier he created around himself.

"Don't worry about me!" Enrique winced, turning to look at Vitale. "I-I figured something out about it. It only attacks when it emerges out of an object... that means we can attack it when it attacks us!"