Post by Mars Wayfield on Jun 23, 2016 23:22:31 GMT
"Luke, you have not yet realized your importance. You have only begun to discover your power. Join me... and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, you can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the Galaxy."
Such are the words one would hear if they would ever pass a certain abandoned apartment lot in Downtown New York and dwell any further within the construct, the voice of the now-famous science-fiction icon resonating from an old VHS tape running on a new television in the very basement of the building. Inside the basement, a surprise would wait visitors as they would be enthralled by the vision of a room almost completely filled with Star Wars and NASA posters on its walls, and science books on the floor. Accompanying said image was a cozy-looking bed in the very corner of the room with a small R2-D2 plush doll standing on its crow black sheets that oddly seemed to ressemble a galaxy with various colorful lights lighting from the darkness, a clock on a free part of the wall beside a Yoda poster that presently shown that the present her was 11:00 PM, and a single JVC-branded television that presently was playing the second entry within the Star Wars franchise, "The Empire Strikes Back". On top of the television was the VHS machine that was used to actually play the movie accordingly and show it to a young teenager that was actually sitting right in front of it on a black bean chair, his eyes semi-closed but his smile indeed present.
To say that the boy actually looked slightly unnatural would definitely be true. Although he wore your basic set of pajama clothing - a white shirt and blue shorts -, his skin was of a bright white, his pale beige-colored nails seemed claw-like and sharp fangs seemed to come out of his lips from time to time, which ironically looked adorable on him during those moments. Other than that, his facial structure seemed almost perfectly-made, like there has never been any imperfections in its making, and his body structure seemed in perfect shape despite its thinness, like it would be able to run a whole marathon without any trouble.
"I'll never join you."
The boy would say with a slight chuckle, then a smirk as Luke, on the screen, would say the exact same thing, albeit louder. The scene would then go on with Dark Vader revealing that he is the main protagonist's father and Luke throwing himself down into the tunnels of Cloud City's ventilation systems.
It was pretty much at this moment that the boy would pause the VHS and simply lay back down on his little bean chair with his hands behind his head.
"How many times have I witnessed this very scene?"
He asked himself, frowning as he started to concentrate his thoughts and focus them on the task at hand, which was to find this glorious number. It was at this moment that he started recollecting each moments he has seen this movie:
And here we are, today, in 1992. As the boy stood there with those same semi-closed eyes and frown, he then closed his eyes and started thinking about the possible number now that he had found the moments.
"Hm... I must have watched that same scene about a-"
Suddenly, the boy stopped actually trying to find the number, seeming to freeze, then slowly started smiling.
"Heh... Why am I even thinking about such things...?"
He told himself, shaking his head. He was right, of course: after all, what he was trying to to find was almost completely useless. Why would he need such an peculiar statistic for such a grand movie? For such a perfect representation of what a futuristic world could be? There was no point in thinking about the number of times one has watched it... Absolutely none, because there was no reason to. Star Wars is a cinematographic masterpiece: seeing it multiple times is a blessing one should enjoy and not despise.
It was at that moment that he immediately recalled one person in particular.
That person... That person...
"Skynyrd..."
That name... That bloody... That bloody, horrible, obnoxious name... The simply mention of this name in his mind seemed to sprout immediate frustration. Was it anger? No... It was disappointment. Terrible, terrible disappointment. It was as if that man had been born to disappoint him with that name alone...
It was back during the summer of 1988... A mere year before Dio - for that man, that Skynyrd, was his servent - died by the hands of... Was it Joshstar? Bah, that is not important. It was about two years after the release of the third entry within the Star Wars franchise "The Rise of the Jedi" on VHS and, as such, the boy, that faithful day, had been listening to it. Once again, he had gone through a whole marathon of Star Wars binge-watching and, to celebrate that day, he had bought his very first Star Wars plush doll: a R2-D2 model. It was pretty cute despite how... well, terrible it looked due to its low-cost production, and he liked it very much, so... of course, he stole it. After all, having absolutely no money didn't really worked for him when it came to buying stuff. It was also on that day that he had decided to go out in the night and steal one of these things they called "walkmans" and so, he went outside once the sun was down and the moon had comfortably settled itself in the deep black skies.
On that night, the boy had been walking in the busy streets with his hands in his pockets, stretching himself from time to time. As he walked, he was already planning how he would clench his thirst for the night. At first, he had planned to do it as usual, which was, really, to just find somebody in a random alleyway in the city, knock them out and then drink their blood... but, this time, it was different.
As he walked down the streets of New York in hopes of finding a store where he could possibly steal a walkman along with earbuds so that he would actually be able to listen to the songs, his eyes lit up as he finally noticed one and he let out a sigh.
"Ah, finally."
He told himself, then stopped right in front of the door to see if the store was actually still opened. Rather suspiciously, it was: the sign that those small stores always used was still left on "Open" despite how late it was. Normally, stores usually close themselves in such hours... Curious, however, the boy would enter the shop regardless, telling himself that it was probably just a normal thing for some stores to actually close later on.
As he entered the store, however, he almost froze as he realized what he was foreseeing.
The entire store was not only filled with electronics and the like... It was also completely filled with Star Trek props and posters. On the walls, there were posters of those Star Trek series the boy had heard about but was deeply not interested in, while, on the ceiling, a large USS Entreprise replica model was hanging from it. The model was completely detailed from top to bottom with absolutely no errors whatsoever. Hell, it even seemed... real for a moment, which was strange, to say the least.
"Tch..."
He let out, feeling uneasy. The boy deeply, deeply, oh so deeply resented the Star Trek series. Although it was indeed older than Star Wars, the boy felt as though it constantly spat on his favorite series, like it was always there to try to destroy it, despite how false these claims were.
And then, he noticed, at the counter, a single man. The man looked young, maybe in his early twenties, and wore rectangular glasses. His hair was deep black and his eyes, kaki green. The blue-colored outfit he wore seemed to actually resemble those those Star Trek characters used within that damn series and his ears were covered by props that made them looked pointy, seemingly elf-ish. In front of that vision, the boy slightly cringed inside, but headed towards him anyways: after all, he was probably the only one whom actually knew where the bloody hell he sold those damn walkmans.
"Hey."
The boy said, trying to get the man's attention as he approached the counter.
"Could you tell where the walkmans are, please? I have been trying to buy one for a while now."
It was at this moment that the man finally noticed him with a blink. He stared at the boy for a moment, then smiled, lifting his hand in the air so that it would actually look like he was doing that weird Star Trek hand gesture those pointy-ear people used for greetings.
"Ah, greetings, greetings, client! The walkmans are right over there. Feel free to look at them, but do not forget to come back here to pay for them. We have... kind of been subject to thieves lately, so, eh... Please don't steal anything from us."
The young man chuckled jokingly, his eyes closed behind his glasses almost innocently as he pointed towards where the walkmans were actually sold in the store.
Immediately, however, the boy started feeling uneasy, especially once the man talked about how his store had been victim to thievery lately. Thievery... That was strange... Because the boy was sure he had never seen this store before. He knew about the city more than anybody else thanks to his Stand... How was this store able to be victim of thievery so early? This seemed fishy... As such, the boy decided to try something after he replied to the man:
"Thank you."
Then, as he finished his reply, he would activate his Stand, his Satellites immediately taking form as they floated in the air above him, and he would quickly start making them float around the store at extreme speeds to see if they would get any reactions from the young man. The Satellites were extremely fast: it was as if they were mini flying Formula 1 cars. Eventually, they started producing small gusts of wind in the store as the boy would turn himself towards the direction of the walkmans the young man had given to him, staring at him along with that USS Entreprise prop the best he could as he did so.
It was then that he noticed that the young man didn't seemed to react from the speeding Satellites nor did he reacted from the small gusts of wind, but that was something that the boy had expected: after all, gusts of wind can often appear whenever someone has left a window opened or a door, though he was aware that there were none of that here. His non-reaction was also probably due to him not being able to see Stands, which was a possibility. What the boy did not expect, however... was the USS Entreprise prop to have not actually been affected by the gusts of wind. It did not moved at all... and, somehow, this heavily intrigued the boy, leaving him alert.
That prop, for it to not have being affected by such wind... Something wasn't right.
However, now was too early to judge the situation too fast. As such, the boy headed towards the walkmans and simply stared at them to see which one he should actually steal. Immediately, he noticed that all of the walkmans were actually the same, as if they had been multiplied many times: they were all colored blue and their functionalities seemed to be completely identical for every single one of them. At that, he frowned and turned towards the Trekkie behind the counter.
"May I ask if you have any other models?"
He asked, curious to see how the young man was going to respond to that.
In the meanwhile, the Trekkie's smile was still up. However, his mind was in full motion, thinking deeply.
Mars Wayfield... Physical Age: Probably in his early tens. Real Age: Twenty-seven. Race: A Vampire, for sure... just like our Lord Dio.
From the looks of it, he seems to have a Stand... Well, I think so. Those little satellite-looking things that popped up around him seems to be it. Lord Dio never actually told me about those things, but he was indeed right about his Stand... Strange, though: usually, Lord Dio would have actually just planted a flesh bud in his head like with that shit-for-brains Polnareff. I wonder why he has sent me, of all people, to capture this child...
Maybe he has grown tired of convincing him... but I have never seen an impatient Lord Dio. Lord Dio is incredibly patient... Well, at least, for the most part, he is.
Maybe it is just the author of that damn text that doesn't know how to properly remember past events or certain personalities... I have absolutely no clue.
Anyways, I must find a way to either convince or get rid of this child... But that look he had when he stared at me back then and my props... It was as if... as if...
As if he deeply resented me for actually showing my love for Star Trek! So that means he is... he is... a Star Wars fan?! That stupid series with those ridiculous Lightsabers and that pesky black-colored robot lord?!
"HERESYYYYYYYYYY!!!"
The young suddenly shouted out loud with a deeply angered-looking expression. Mars, for that's what seemed to be the boy's name, did not reacted to such a reaction. Instead, he simply waited for his answer.
"Does that mean that there are no other models here?"
The Trekkie instantly froze, his eyes widened. Oh, for the love of Nimoy, what has he done?! Did he just revealed to the boy that he was actually an enemy? No, no... It didn't seemed that way, no. No, oh no, that stupid kid actually didn't reacted to it, ah-hah! Oh well...
"N-No, those are only models, s-sorry."
The Trekkie gulped after he replied, now smiling nervously as he almost clenched his teeth.
God damn it, control yourself, Leo! I have to act more carefully than this...! Just... Just calm down. Everything will be fine.
The young man told himself, keeping his smile about to make sure Mars wouldn't suspect him. After such a response, Mars, him, simply stared at the man for a moment, then sighed.
"I see. Well then..."
The boy then turned and walked towards the door. He needed to verify something first before heading outside and finding another store that isn't filled with what he considered to be Trekkie garbage.
"I will be leaving."
"Y-You can't!"
The Trekkie would instantly call towards Mars, which, this time around, made the latter lift an eyebrow. He turned back towards the young man and asked:
"Oh? Why?"
Immediately, the Trekkie realized that he has done yet something completely stupid yet again and froze, this time around almost yelping. Thankfully, he was able to quiet it out before it left out his throat.
S-Shit! If he leaves, then I will have to find another way to capture him! Ugh... If only I had the courage to do something...!
He shivered, then, suddenly, was asked yet another question by the boy:
"Say... Is that prop for sale?"
Mars then pointed towards the USS Entreprise prop with shadows over his eyes. Back then, that prop wasn't affected by the gusts of wind his Satellites have made... There is clearly something wrong. In the meanwhile, the Trekkie's eyes widened and he quickly defended himself:
"N-N-N-N-N-N-N-No, it's not for sale! Not for sale at all! This is one of the best props I have, why would I even want to sell it, you damn freaking Star Wars fan!"
It was at this moment that, suddenly, Mars held his hand up and, immediately, one of his Satellites aimed towards the Star Trek prop and shot towards it. The Trekkie, able to see the Stand and the laser blast actually heading towards the prop, immediately panicked while the prop instantly moved out of the way right on its own. At this point, Mars immediately understood what was happening and stood there staring right into the Trekkie's eyes, his Satellites quickly joining his position and now starting to spin on place, ready to shoot at any time possible.
"Bravo. I must admit that you indeed have great acting skills for you to completely ignore the presence of my Stand and make it seem as though they were non-existant. However, that spaceship prop of yours... I have never seen anything so detailed in the past. As such, you must have copied in some way or another by actually watching one of those shows or those movies."
He pointed towards the prop with a serious frown.
"This prop is a Stand, isn't it? There is absolutely no way such a prop would had been able to move on its own. Although our technology is now sufficiently advanced to produce computers, Artificial Intelligence is still fiction. A shame, really: that prop would had made a great Terminator if it would had ever been one."
The Trekkie stood there, staring at the floor with shadows hovering his eyes, before he then smirked, adjusting his glasses as he seemed to regain his confidence.
"Impressive analytic skills, Wayfield. Now that you have such information, allow me to reveal its true nature to yours truly."
Suddenly, the prop started to deform and morph into a completely different figure, now looking like some sort of metallic-like living being with an eye for a face. Eyes could also be seen within the palm of its hands and under its feet, and it seemed as though it would slowly start floating in the air over the ground after it was discovered. What made the Stand slightly unimpressive-looking, however, was its rather mere muscle structure and its height: it basically looked like some sort of child. Still, this Stand looked relatively dangerous, so its mere form did not forced Mars out of his guard at all.
As the Stand finished its transformation and now placed itself close to the Trekkie, the latter smiled confidently - albeit still a bit stressful-looking - and used that same greeting gesture from earlier.
"My name is Leonard Skynyrd! I am here on Lord Dio's behalf!"
Immediately, Mars' face went from alert to a complete disappointed deadpan.
"Oh, I see."
At a sight of such an expression, Leonard's eyes widened in anger and he pointed at him rather comically.
"Oi, why the hell are you suddenly starting like this, Lightsaber-lover!"
"Because you are yet another lackey of this Dio person, and also because I already know how this is going to all end. But, oh well, let us go on with all of this, shall we? I was planning to watch through another marathon of Star Wars, so I really, really want go back home."
Such arrogance immediately made Leonard freeze a little, then chuckle before adjusting his glasses yet again.
"Such arrogance for a Lightsaber-lover... Heh... I love it! This is going to make my victory all the more satisfying!"
He then smirked wildly.
"Let us see what you will be able to do against my Stand, Clarity! The Visionless!"
He shouted, then, all so suddenly, Clarity set its stare into Mars' eyes and, all so suddenly, the Vampire could now only see a deep blanket of nothingness. He stood there, having not expected Leonard's Stand to be able to do that, then clenched his teeth. No matter how hard he tried, however, he was unable to take that damn blanket away.
"W-What have you...?!"
Immediately, the Trekkie started laughing.
"Such is what happens to those who face my Stand, Clarity! You now cannot see anything, can you?! Perfect! Now, you can't do anything because you can't see!"
"... I see... So your Stand can not only create Illusions, but it can also provoke blindness..."
Contrary to Leonard's expectations, however, Mars then started smiling as his Satellites started circling around him and turning around him, all the while spinning on themselves.
"Interesting..."
Leonard then slowly lost his smile.
"Wait... What are you doing?"
"I am going to destroy this store. Is it not obvious?"
The Trekkie's eyes started widening yet again.
"B-But you're probably going t-"
"Kill the civilians that pass outside this building? Probably, yes. However... that family name of yours..."
"M-My.... My family name....? Skynyrd...?"
"Yes... Skynyrd... Do you happen to know how this sounds like to my ears, you pathetic mutt?"
Leonard stared at Mars with a confused expression now, not really sure of what that kid was now talking about, then started to realize.
"Skynyrd... Sky... Nerd... Sky Nerd...?"
"Yes... Sky. Nerd. Sky Nerd."
Mars then suddenly shouted out loud with his fangs definitely showing out of pure anger.
"YOUR NAME IS A DIRECT INSULT TO THE GRAND LUKE SKYWALKER! AS SUCH, I DO NOT GIVE A SINGLE MIND ABOUT DESTROYING YOUR STAR TREK PROPS!! BY THE END OF THIS, I SHALL DRINK YOUR BLOOD FOR SUCH AN AFFRONT!! DO YOU HEAR ME?!?!"
"B-B-B-B-BUT IT'S NOT MY FAULT!!! I HAVEN'T CHOSEN THAT NAAAAME!!"
But Mars did not listened. Immediately after the Trekkie tried to explain himself, the boy shouted of pure anger, his eyes now comically angry white circles.
"BEAM SHOOOOOT!!!"
The Satellites then all started shooting their lasers at the same time, seeming to be mini Gatling guns circling around Mars. In an instant, the whole building would almost be completely torn to pieces as, during its destruction, every single thing in the store would actually disappear due to them being all illusions created by Leonard's Stand with the only exception being the counter itself of which Leonard, out of fear, had ran away from alongside his Stand from the backdoor that was placed just behind the counter. Due to him running away, his Stand's power continuously lessened until Mars would finally get his eyesight back. The moment it came back, Mars then sped forward towards the backdoor at incredible, definitely inhuman speed, then slammed right through yet another door that was at the end of a very small hallway that followed.
Now outside, Mars watched as Leonard ran away into the streets of New York into the alleyways as if it was actually going to save him, then declared solemnly:
"THE ABILITY OF FLIGHT, I WANT."
He jumped up, then immediately, his Satellites placed themselves accordingly under his feet and hands to make him flight up in the air towards the Trekkie from the skies as though he was some sort of human jet. Luckily, it had been a while since he had been improving that technique, so he didn't crash this time around and broke his neck like that first try some years ago. Once he reached the poor Leonard, he immediately fell on him from the skies and directly landed on his back, making him slide along the concrete for a good while before then smashing his feet against the back of his head. After the poor Trekkie let out a cry of pain, Mars stood over him, crossing his arms.
"So... now that you finally seem to not want to use your stupidly weak Stand anymore... I have decided to spare you..."
"R-R... Really...? You would spare me...?"
"Yes, I will spare you, just like all the other stupidly weak people that tried to capture or kill me ever since this obnoxious Dio person has noticed me."
He sighed, then pointed at him with a slightly frustrated, almost childish-looking expression.
"However, I want you to give me a God damn walkman for making me lose my time like you just did PLUS earbuds! I was not planning to buy those, but now I want ultimate compensation!"
"Eeeeeeeeeeeh?!"
And thus was how that stupid Leonard Skynyrd lived. Ever since Dio has died, the poor guy has been trying to live by his own in an apartment too far from Mars' own, but, even then, he had already left Dio after he had been beaten by Mars, too ashamed to come back to him. For the Trekkie to still be alive to this day was only short of a true miracle. One would now call them "Friends", but Mars, instead, would call him "Unnecessary Weight": for being a Star Trek fan, this person, to Mars' eyes, does not need his help at all.
"Ugh..."
He shook his head, then looked back towards the television. He stared at it for a moment, then closed his eyes, thinking about something.
"Now that I think about it... Now that that Dio is dead, it sure became boring... Even though that Trekkie had a ridiculous name, his Stand sure would had been unique if I couldn't just smell him on the instant... At least his panic brought me enjoyment..."
He stared at the door out of the basement for a moment in silence, thinking about it. Either he could just watch his Star Wars movies non-stop for the rest of his immortal life... or... he could try to go outside and live moments like these again to spice things up, maybe even... find some people to talk to, "friends". Sure, he was a Vampire, but he wasn't... completely evil. Hell, maybe even Hamon users would trust him. Maybe.
Or they will burn him to death. That is a great possibility too.
"... I might as well try. I cannot stay in this room forever... I must try... to socialize..."
As such, for the very first time in his life, Mars Wayfield finally decided to leave his room and enter the real world. Whether this is a good thing or not... only Time will tell.
Such are the words one would hear if they would ever pass a certain abandoned apartment lot in Downtown New York and dwell any further within the construct, the voice of the now-famous science-fiction icon resonating from an old VHS tape running on a new television in the very basement of the building. Inside the basement, a surprise would wait visitors as they would be enthralled by the vision of a room almost completely filled with Star Wars and NASA posters on its walls, and science books on the floor. Accompanying said image was a cozy-looking bed in the very corner of the room with a small R2-D2 plush doll standing on its crow black sheets that oddly seemed to ressemble a galaxy with various colorful lights lighting from the darkness, a clock on a free part of the wall beside a Yoda poster that presently shown that the present her was 11:00 PM, and a single JVC-branded television that presently was playing the second entry within the Star Wars franchise, "The Empire Strikes Back". On top of the television was the VHS machine that was used to actually play the movie accordingly and show it to a young teenager that was actually sitting right in front of it on a black bean chair, his eyes semi-closed but his smile indeed present.
To say that the boy actually looked slightly unnatural would definitely be true. Although he wore your basic set of pajama clothing - a white shirt and blue shorts -, his skin was of a bright white, his pale beige-colored nails seemed claw-like and sharp fangs seemed to come out of his lips from time to time, which ironically looked adorable on him during those moments. Other than that, his facial structure seemed almost perfectly-made, like there has never been any imperfections in its making, and his body structure seemed in perfect shape despite its thinness, like it would be able to run a whole marathon without any trouble.
"I'll never join you."
The boy would say with a slight chuckle, then a smirk as Luke, on the screen, would say the exact same thing, albeit louder. The scene would then go on with Dark Vader revealing that he is the main protagonist's father and Luke throwing himself down into the tunnels of Cloud City's ventilation systems.
It was pretty much at this moment that the boy would pause the VHS and simply lay back down on his little bean chair with his hands behind his head.
"How many times have I witnessed this very scene?"
He asked himself, frowning as he started to concentrate his thoughts and focus them on the task at hand, which was to find this glorious number. It was at this moment that he started recollecting each moments he has seen this movie:
- First, he has seen this movie in theaters, when it was first shown to the public, on the 21st of May 1980. He had made sure, on that day, to watch it when the sun was down so that he wouldn't actually be burning alive outside. As for paying the actual theaters for the movie... That, he did not do, or, at least, that's what he was able to actually remember from it all. It had been three years since he had became a Vampire, so he had used his newfound and now-trained physical abilities to go inside the building unnoticed. Thankfully, no one noticed him at that moment.
- Second, awed by the movie as much as when he first saw the very first entry in the series, "A New Hope", he decided to watch it again countless times in the theaters. If he remembers correctly, he has probably done so about ten times using the very same method of stealth. The eleventh time he tried to actually go watch the movie, he was finally caught by one of the people who sold the tickets who then had brought him towards the alleyways behind the building to try to beat him senseless without the aid of any police officers. As a fitting punishment for even trying to do that, the man was drained of his blood and his body was completely disintegrated by the boy's Stand. Unfortunately, knowing that the theaters would probably notice that one of their employees had disappeared, the boy decided that it would not be a good idea to return to this place anymore and never came back, in fear of being spotted and eliminated by Hamon fighters. The disintegrated man was named Kyle Briegman and it has now been a long while since the researches for the body have stopped.
- Third, the boy, depressed at the time for not being able to watch his movies anymore, decided to wait until there would be a way for him to actually watch any more of these movies. As a result, once "The Empire Strikes Back" came out on VHS in 1984, he rushed on the occasion and stole a single VHS tape of the movie right as they both came out in stores. As for the VHS machine he was presently using, he had stolen it some years ago too to watch the "A New Hope" VHS tape in 1982. The moment he got both of these movies, he started binge-watching non-stop every night for a great while to the point that he couldn't remember how many times he has watched them.
And here we are, today, in 1992. As the boy stood there with those same semi-closed eyes and frown, he then closed his eyes and started thinking about the possible number now that he had found the moments.
"Hm... I must have watched that same scene about a-"
Suddenly, the boy stopped actually trying to find the number, seeming to freeze, then slowly started smiling.
"Heh... Why am I even thinking about such things...?"
He told himself, shaking his head. He was right, of course: after all, what he was trying to to find was almost completely useless. Why would he need such an peculiar statistic for such a grand movie? For such a perfect representation of what a futuristic world could be? There was no point in thinking about the number of times one has watched it... Absolutely none, because there was no reason to. Star Wars is a cinematographic masterpiece: seeing it multiple times is a blessing one should enjoy and not despise.
It was at that moment that he immediately recalled one person in particular.
That person... That person...
"Skynyrd..."
That name... That bloody... That bloody, horrible, obnoxious name... The simply mention of this name in his mind seemed to sprout immediate frustration. Was it anger? No... It was disappointment. Terrible, terrible disappointment. It was as if that man had been born to disappoint him with that name alone...
It was back during the summer of 1988... A mere year before Dio - for that man, that Skynyrd, was his servent - died by the hands of... Was it Joshstar? Bah, that is not important. It was about two years after the release of the third entry within the Star Wars franchise "The Rise of the Jedi" on VHS and, as such, the boy, that faithful day, had been listening to it. Once again, he had gone through a whole marathon of Star Wars binge-watching and, to celebrate that day, he had bought his very first Star Wars plush doll: a R2-D2 model. It was pretty cute despite how... well, terrible it looked due to its low-cost production, and he liked it very much, so... of course, he stole it. After all, having absolutely no money didn't really worked for him when it came to buying stuff. It was also on that day that he had decided to go out in the night and steal one of these things they called "walkmans" and so, he went outside once the sun was down and the moon had comfortably settled itself in the deep black skies.
On that night, the boy had been walking in the busy streets with his hands in his pockets, stretching himself from time to time. As he walked, he was already planning how he would clench his thirst for the night. At first, he had planned to do it as usual, which was, really, to just find somebody in a random alleyway in the city, knock them out and then drink their blood... but, this time, it was different.
As he walked down the streets of New York in hopes of finding a store where he could possibly steal a walkman along with earbuds so that he would actually be able to listen to the songs, his eyes lit up as he finally noticed one and he let out a sigh.
"Ah, finally."
He told himself, then stopped right in front of the door to see if the store was actually still opened. Rather suspiciously, it was: the sign that those small stores always used was still left on "Open" despite how late it was. Normally, stores usually close themselves in such hours... Curious, however, the boy would enter the shop regardless, telling himself that it was probably just a normal thing for some stores to actually close later on.
As he entered the store, however, he almost froze as he realized what he was foreseeing.
The entire store was not only filled with electronics and the like... It was also completely filled with Star Trek props and posters. On the walls, there were posters of those Star Trek series the boy had heard about but was deeply not interested in, while, on the ceiling, a large USS Entreprise replica model was hanging from it. The model was completely detailed from top to bottom with absolutely no errors whatsoever. Hell, it even seemed... real for a moment, which was strange, to say the least.
"Tch..."
He let out, feeling uneasy. The boy deeply, deeply, oh so deeply resented the Star Trek series. Although it was indeed older than Star Wars, the boy felt as though it constantly spat on his favorite series, like it was always there to try to destroy it, despite how false these claims were.
And then, he noticed, at the counter, a single man. The man looked young, maybe in his early twenties, and wore rectangular glasses. His hair was deep black and his eyes, kaki green. The blue-colored outfit he wore seemed to actually resemble those those Star Trek characters used within that damn series and his ears were covered by props that made them looked pointy, seemingly elf-ish. In front of that vision, the boy slightly cringed inside, but headed towards him anyways: after all, he was probably the only one whom actually knew where the bloody hell he sold those damn walkmans.
"Hey."
The boy said, trying to get the man's attention as he approached the counter.
"Could you tell where the walkmans are, please? I have been trying to buy one for a while now."
It was at this moment that the man finally noticed him with a blink. He stared at the boy for a moment, then smiled, lifting his hand in the air so that it would actually look like he was doing that weird Star Trek hand gesture those pointy-ear people used for greetings.
"Ah, greetings, greetings, client! The walkmans are right over there. Feel free to look at them, but do not forget to come back here to pay for them. We have... kind of been subject to thieves lately, so, eh... Please don't steal anything from us."
The young man chuckled jokingly, his eyes closed behind his glasses almost innocently as he pointed towards where the walkmans were actually sold in the store.
Immediately, however, the boy started feeling uneasy, especially once the man talked about how his store had been victim to thievery lately. Thievery... That was strange... Because the boy was sure he had never seen this store before. He knew about the city more than anybody else thanks to his Stand... How was this store able to be victim of thievery so early? This seemed fishy... As such, the boy decided to try something after he replied to the man:
"Thank you."
Then, as he finished his reply, he would activate his Stand, his Satellites immediately taking form as they floated in the air above him, and he would quickly start making them float around the store at extreme speeds to see if they would get any reactions from the young man. The Satellites were extremely fast: it was as if they were mini flying Formula 1 cars. Eventually, they started producing small gusts of wind in the store as the boy would turn himself towards the direction of the walkmans the young man had given to him, staring at him along with that USS Entreprise prop the best he could as he did so.
It was then that he noticed that the young man didn't seemed to react from the speeding Satellites nor did he reacted from the small gusts of wind, but that was something that the boy had expected: after all, gusts of wind can often appear whenever someone has left a window opened or a door, though he was aware that there were none of that here. His non-reaction was also probably due to him not being able to see Stands, which was a possibility. What the boy did not expect, however... was the USS Entreprise prop to have not actually been affected by the gusts of wind. It did not moved at all... and, somehow, this heavily intrigued the boy, leaving him alert.
That prop, for it to not have being affected by such wind... Something wasn't right.
However, now was too early to judge the situation too fast. As such, the boy headed towards the walkmans and simply stared at them to see which one he should actually steal. Immediately, he noticed that all of the walkmans were actually the same, as if they had been multiplied many times: they were all colored blue and their functionalities seemed to be completely identical for every single one of them. At that, he frowned and turned towards the Trekkie behind the counter.
"May I ask if you have any other models?"
He asked, curious to see how the young man was going to respond to that.
In the meanwhile, the Trekkie's smile was still up. However, his mind was in full motion, thinking deeply.
Mars Wayfield... Physical Age: Probably in his early tens. Real Age: Twenty-seven. Race: A Vampire, for sure... just like our Lord Dio.
From the looks of it, he seems to have a Stand... Well, I think so. Those little satellite-looking things that popped up around him seems to be it. Lord Dio never actually told me about those things, but he was indeed right about his Stand... Strange, though: usually, Lord Dio would have actually just planted a flesh bud in his head like with that shit-for-brains Polnareff. I wonder why he has sent me, of all people, to capture this child...
Maybe he has grown tired of convincing him... but I have never seen an impatient Lord Dio. Lord Dio is incredibly patient... Well, at least, for the most part, he is.
Maybe it is just the author of that damn text that doesn't know how to properly remember past events or certain personalities... I have absolutely no clue.
Anyways, I must find a way to either convince or get rid of this child... But that look he had when he stared at me back then and my props... It was as if... as if...
As if he deeply resented me for actually showing my love for Star Trek! So that means he is... he is... a Star Wars fan?! That stupid series with those ridiculous Lightsabers and that pesky black-colored robot lord?!
"HERESYYYYYYYYYY!!!"
The young suddenly shouted out loud with a deeply angered-looking expression. Mars, for that's what seemed to be the boy's name, did not reacted to such a reaction. Instead, he simply waited for his answer.
"Does that mean that there are no other models here?"
The Trekkie instantly froze, his eyes widened. Oh, for the love of Nimoy, what has he done?! Did he just revealed to the boy that he was actually an enemy? No, no... It didn't seemed that way, no. No, oh no, that stupid kid actually didn't reacted to it, ah-hah! Oh well...
"N-No, those are only models, s-sorry."
The Trekkie gulped after he replied, now smiling nervously as he almost clenched his teeth.
God damn it, control yourself, Leo! I have to act more carefully than this...! Just... Just calm down. Everything will be fine.
The young man told himself, keeping his smile about to make sure Mars wouldn't suspect him. After such a response, Mars, him, simply stared at the man for a moment, then sighed.
"I see. Well then..."
The boy then turned and walked towards the door. He needed to verify something first before heading outside and finding another store that isn't filled with what he considered to be Trekkie garbage.
"I will be leaving."
"Y-You can't!"
The Trekkie would instantly call towards Mars, which, this time around, made the latter lift an eyebrow. He turned back towards the young man and asked:
"Oh? Why?"
Immediately, the Trekkie realized that he has done yet something completely stupid yet again and froze, this time around almost yelping. Thankfully, he was able to quiet it out before it left out his throat.
S-Shit! If he leaves, then I will have to find another way to capture him! Ugh... If only I had the courage to do something...!
He shivered, then, suddenly, was asked yet another question by the boy:
"Say... Is that prop for sale?"
Mars then pointed towards the USS Entreprise prop with shadows over his eyes. Back then, that prop wasn't affected by the gusts of wind his Satellites have made... There is clearly something wrong. In the meanwhile, the Trekkie's eyes widened and he quickly defended himself:
"N-N-N-N-N-N-N-No, it's not for sale! Not for sale at all! This is one of the best props I have, why would I even want to sell it, you damn freaking Star Wars fan!"
It was at this moment that, suddenly, Mars held his hand up and, immediately, one of his Satellites aimed towards the Star Trek prop and shot towards it. The Trekkie, able to see the Stand and the laser blast actually heading towards the prop, immediately panicked while the prop instantly moved out of the way right on its own. At this point, Mars immediately understood what was happening and stood there staring right into the Trekkie's eyes, his Satellites quickly joining his position and now starting to spin on place, ready to shoot at any time possible.
"Bravo. I must admit that you indeed have great acting skills for you to completely ignore the presence of my Stand and make it seem as though they were non-existant. However, that spaceship prop of yours... I have never seen anything so detailed in the past. As such, you must have copied in some way or another by actually watching one of those shows or those movies."
He pointed towards the prop with a serious frown.
"This prop is a Stand, isn't it? There is absolutely no way such a prop would had been able to move on its own. Although our technology is now sufficiently advanced to produce computers, Artificial Intelligence is still fiction. A shame, really: that prop would had made a great Terminator if it would had ever been one."
The Trekkie stood there, staring at the floor with shadows hovering his eyes, before he then smirked, adjusting his glasses as he seemed to regain his confidence.
"Impressive analytic skills, Wayfield. Now that you have such information, allow me to reveal its true nature to yours truly."
Suddenly, the prop started to deform and morph into a completely different figure, now looking like some sort of metallic-like living being with an eye for a face. Eyes could also be seen within the palm of its hands and under its feet, and it seemed as though it would slowly start floating in the air over the ground after it was discovered. What made the Stand slightly unimpressive-looking, however, was its rather mere muscle structure and its height: it basically looked like some sort of child. Still, this Stand looked relatively dangerous, so its mere form did not forced Mars out of his guard at all.
As the Stand finished its transformation and now placed itself close to the Trekkie, the latter smiled confidently - albeit still a bit stressful-looking - and used that same greeting gesture from earlier.
"My name is Leonard Skynyrd! I am here on Lord Dio's behalf!"
Immediately, Mars' face went from alert to a complete disappointed deadpan.
"Oh, I see."
At a sight of such an expression, Leonard's eyes widened in anger and he pointed at him rather comically.
"Oi, why the hell are you suddenly starting like this, Lightsaber-lover!"
"Because you are yet another lackey of this Dio person, and also because I already know how this is going to all end. But, oh well, let us go on with all of this, shall we? I was planning to watch through another marathon of Star Wars, so I really, really want go back home."
Such arrogance immediately made Leonard freeze a little, then chuckle before adjusting his glasses yet again.
"Such arrogance for a Lightsaber-lover... Heh... I love it! This is going to make my victory all the more satisfying!"
He then smirked wildly.
"Let us see what you will be able to do against my Stand, Clarity! The Visionless!"
He shouted, then, all so suddenly, Clarity set its stare into Mars' eyes and, all so suddenly, the Vampire could now only see a deep blanket of nothingness. He stood there, having not expected Leonard's Stand to be able to do that, then clenched his teeth. No matter how hard he tried, however, he was unable to take that damn blanket away.
"W-What have you...?!"
Immediately, the Trekkie started laughing.
"Such is what happens to those who face my Stand, Clarity! You now cannot see anything, can you?! Perfect! Now, you can't do anything because you can't see!"
"... I see... So your Stand can not only create Illusions, but it can also provoke blindness..."
Contrary to Leonard's expectations, however, Mars then started smiling as his Satellites started circling around him and turning around him, all the while spinning on themselves.
"Interesting..."
Leonard then slowly lost his smile.
"Wait... What are you doing?"
"I am going to destroy this store. Is it not obvious?"
The Trekkie's eyes started widening yet again.
"B-But you're probably going t-"
"Kill the civilians that pass outside this building? Probably, yes. However... that family name of yours..."
"M-My.... My family name....? Skynyrd...?"
"Yes... Skynyrd... Do you happen to know how this sounds like to my ears, you pathetic mutt?"
Leonard stared at Mars with a confused expression now, not really sure of what that kid was now talking about, then started to realize.
"Skynyrd... Sky... Nerd... Sky Nerd...?"
"Yes... Sky. Nerd. Sky Nerd."
Mars then suddenly shouted out loud with his fangs definitely showing out of pure anger.
"YOUR NAME IS A DIRECT INSULT TO THE GRAND LUKE SKYWALKER! AS SUCH, I DO NOT GIVE A SINGLE MIND ABOUT DESTROYING YOUR STAR TREK PROPS!! BY THE END OF THIS, I SHALL DRINK YOUR BLOOD FOR SUCH AN AFFRONT!! DO YOU HEAR ME?!?!"
"B-B-B-B-BUT IT'S NOT MY FAULT!!! I HAVEN'T CHOSEN THAT NAAAAME!!"
But Mars did not listened. Immediately after the Trekkie tried to explain himself, the boy shouted of pure anger, his eyes now comically angry white circles.
"BEAM SHOOOOOT!!!"
The Satellites then all started shooting their lasers at the same time, seeming to be mini Gatling guns circling around Mars. In an instant, the whole building would almost be completely torn to pieces as, during its destruction, every single thing in the store would actually disappear due to them being all illusions created by Leonard's Stand with the only exception being the counter itself of which Leonard, out of fear, had ran away from alongside his Stand from the backdoor that was placed just behind the counter. Due to him running away, his Stand's power continuously lessened until Mars would finally get his eyesight back. The moment it came back, Mars then sped forward towards the backdoor at incredible, definitely inhuman speed, then slammed right through yet another door that was at the end of a very small hallway that followed.
Now outside, Mars watched as Leonard ran away into the streets of New York into the alleyways as if it was actually going to save him, then declared solemnly:
"THE ABILITY OF FLIGHT, I WANT."
He jumped up, then immediately, his Satellites placed themselves accordingly under his feet and hands to make him flight up in the air towards the Trekkie from the skies as though he was some sort of human jet. Luckily, it had been a while since he had been improving that technique, so he didn't crash this time around and broke his neck like that first try some years ago. Once he reached the poor Leonard, he immediately fell on him from the skies and directly landed on his back, making him slide along the concrete for a good while before then smashing his feet against the back of his head. After the poor Trekkie let out a cry of pain, Mars stood over him, crossing his arms.
"So... now that you finally seem to not want to use your stupidly weak Stand anymore... I have decided to spare you..."
"R-R... Really...? You would spare me...?"
"Yes, I will spare you, just like all the other stupidly weak people that tried to capture or kill me ever since this obnoxious Dio person has noticed me."
He sighed, then pointed at him with a slightly frustrated, almost childish-looking expression.
"However, I want you to give me a God damn walkman for making me lose my time like you just did PLUS earbuds! I was not planning to buy those, but now I want ultimate compensation!"
"Eeeeeeeeeeeh?!"
And thus was how that stupid Leonard Skynyrd lived. Ever since Dio has died, the poor guy has been trying to live by his own in an apartment too far from Mars' own, but, even then, he had already left Dio after he had been beaten by Mars, too ashamed to come back to him. For the Trekkie to still be alive to this day was only short of a true miracle. One would now call them "Friends", but Mars, instead, would call him "Unnecessary Weight": for being a Star Trek fan, this person, to Mars' eyes, does not need his help at all.
"Ugh..."
He shook his head, then looked back towards the television. He stared at it for a moment, then closed his eyes, thinking about something.
"Now that I think about it... Now that that Dio is dead, it sure became boring... Even though that Trekkie had a ridiculous name, his Stand sure would had been unique if I couldn't just smell him on the instant... At least his panic brought me enjoyment..."
He stared at the door out of the basement for a moment in silence, thinking about it. Either he could just watch his Star Wars movies non-stop for the rest of his immortal life... or... he could try to go outside and live moments like these again to spice things up, maybe even... find some people to talk to, "friends". Sure, he was a Vampire, but he wasn't... completely evil. Hell, maybe even Hamon users would trust him. Maybe.
Or they will burn him to death. That is a great possibility too.
"... I might as well try. I cannot stay in this room forever... I must try... to socialize..."
As such, for the very first time in his life, Mars Wayfield finally decided to leave his room and enter the real world. Whether this is a good thing or not... only Time will tell.
