Chapter 339: Free-fall
"This way of flying is so much fun♪!"
Using the Hopters, Kenji and the group experienced a new way of flying. It was a feeling of breaking free from gravity's shackles, a feeling of total freedom.
"Hehe, look! You can fly if you put it on your feet, too!"
In the real world, there's always someone who has to be different. Hoshi (Stelle) attached the Hopter to the heel of her boot, and then began flying... upside down.
"Abstract" people just don't take the normal path.
Even though it was a completely "anti-human" way of flying, Hoshi was having the time of her life, performing all kinds of high-difficulty maneuvers in the sky.
Kenji and the others' mouths twitched. Flying like that... aren't you afraid you're going to puke?
"Hoshi, are your boots on tight?" Erii asked the critical question.
"Areh?"
WHOOSH!
No sooner said than done. Her foot slipped right out of the boot. Because of all the high-difficulty flips and maneuvers, the boot had loosened. Hoshi immediately began to free-fall.
(Question: Whose 'boot' fell off? Come claim it.)
"Sigh..."
Kenji looked at the short boot, still flying in the sky thanks to the Hopter, and sighed. They really know how to play.
"Since Hoshi loves free-falling so much, let's let her enjoy it."
Tony Stark (Stank) grinned, took out his Suspension Ring, and began to work. A golden ring of fire appeared right below the falling Hoshi, seemingly leading to an unknown place.
"Ah?"
Hoshi's mouth opened, and she plunged head-first right into it.
"Nice work," Kenji gave Tony a thumbs up.
Tony smiled and started a stopwatch.
...
"29 minutes and 55 seconds... time's almost up."
Tony confirmed the time and opened another portal.
"AHHHHHH—!"
THUD!
With a continuous, tragic scream, a humanoid creature landed heavily on the ground.
Hoshi was splayed face-down, her hair a mess, looking completely disheveled.
"I have been free-falling... for almost THIRTY MINUTES!"
Hoshi lifted her head, her face full of annoyance. Free-falling for that long... she felt half-dead.
It was ridiculous! In that space, she couldn't even float. She just kept falling.
"Nice! A classic re-enactment!"
Kenji pumped his fists. Yes! This is what I wanted to see!
"Godfather! Are you really not afraid of losing me?" Hoshi asked, exasperated. If it were anyone else, they'd probably have fainted from fright.
"You sure can scream. You kept it up for 30 minutes straight," Tony remarked.
While she was falling, Hoshi had been yelling the entire time. Her throat wasn't even hoarse.
"Don't say it in such a misleading way!" Hoshi corrected him.
She's still a pure child who doesn't know anything!
"Only someone with a 'yellow-trash' (dirty) mind would misunderstand, right?" Tony retorted. He was just stating a fact, and Hoshi still had to argue.
"I don't know what you're talking about~" Hoshi looked up at the sky. Hoshi-chan has no idea~
...
[Star Forger]: "Fish-Man Kyo, how old are you? The 17-year-old delinquent? Did you 'Ora' a 100-year-old man who likes bread?"
[Galactic Baseballer]: "A 17-year-old beating up a 100-year-old... is this the decay of morality or the twisting of human nature?"
[Gudako]: "So brutal. A 100-year-old man can't even enjoy his golden years in peace."
Fish-Man Kyo: "Wait a minute! (Chotto matte!) Are you guys getting something wrong? Is that guy DIO a 'normal' 100-year-old man?!"
Jotaro felt his fists clenching. What 100-year-old man is that hard to deal with?! Kakyoin was killed! Old Man Joseph had his blood drained! (Good thing we saved him...)
"And... that guy Dio's 'The World' is the same type of Stand as my 'Star Platinum.' Otherwise, I might have been the one to lose."
What do you mean, 'delinquent Ora-ing a 100-year-old'?! That's 'wild history' (fanfic)! Are you on Dio's side?!
[Star Forger]: "Looks like you've already Ora'd Dio. What are you doing now?"
Fish-Man Kyo: "Getting ready to go to prison to see my 'jailbird daughter'."
Speaking of which, Jotaro was exasperated.
He'd been in jail when he was young, and now it was his daughter's turn to get a taste of prison food.
This is one family tradition she didn't need to inherit.
[Sherry]: "Did your daughter... commit a crime?"
Fish-Man Kyo: "No. She was framed. I'm going to get her out."
[Star Forger]: "And then, you will die. You all will."
[Galactic Baseballer]: "Isn't that Acheron's line to the Dream Master? Godfather, you didn't pay the copyright fee!"
[Star Forger]: "What do you care?"
Fish-Man Kyo: "Yare yare... I'm hearing some pretty bad news."
Jotaro's pupils contracted slightly. He didn't care if he died... but why his daughter, too?
Is it because... I'm older now?
If they can still kill us even with Time Stop... the enemy is even tougher than I thought.
[Star Forger]: "Jotaro, you rely too much on your Time Stop ability."
Kizaru pushed up his sunglasses. That line sounds familiar... Teacher Zephyr said that to me.
(But... even though I use the 'Flash-Flash' Fruit, my hand-to-hand combat isn't bad...)
[Star Forger]: "Jotaro, you haven't forgotten your 'Ora' aesthetic, have you? You 'Ora'd' that guy for three and a half pages."
Jotaro was confused. What's 'three and a half pages'? But... no, of course he hadn't forgotten "Ora."
17 years old... A nostalgic age. A time when he could 'Ora' his enemies to his heart's content.
[Odd Jobs Gin-san]: "Doraemon, don't you have the 'Time Kerchief'?"
[Fatty Blue]: "I do! Why, what do you need it for?"
(Gadgets that affect time... I can't just lend those out! It could cause an irreversible paradox!)
[Odd Jobs Gin-san]: "Just... revert Jotaro to the 17-year-old 'Fish-Man Kyo'."
[Star Forger]: "Normally, even 17-year-old Jotaro would lose to Pucci. 'Fate' is on his side."
Fish-Man Kyo: "'Fate'... if that's true, then death is certain."
[Galactic Baseballer]: "Rules are made to be broken! So fate can be broken too!"
[A mere mortal]: "From the moment you joined this chat group, your 'fate' has changed. So don't feel lost or anxious because of it."
[Tsukasa Kadoya]: "Need a 'group' fight? I'm the most caring Kamen Rider."
Fish-Man Kyo: "When I get there... if I need help, I'll let you know."
Jotaro tossed a walnut to Star Platinum. CRACK! The shell was removed perfectly.
Stands are super useful.