Morioh Town — Central Intersection
"Watch out! The brakes are completely shot—get out of the way!"
"Someone grab that kid! Don't just stand there, move!"
"Oh my god!"
Watch out? Grab who?
To say Mirai was confused would be the understatement of the century. Just a second ago, he had been standing in a quiet alleyway of Morioh Town, absolutely buzzing with adrenaline, ready to test the Stand ability he had finally awakened via the mysterious insect arrow and the Shura Armor Summoner he bought online off Taobao. How had his quiet moment of triumph violently shifted into a chaotic public disaster?
He looked up at the towering, rusted grill of a runaway sixteen-wheeler barreling down the avenue. His heart practically stopped.
A heavy delivery truck? Here? Now?!
And the one standing frozen right in its path... that's just a toddler who wandered off the curb!
Mirai lunged, channeling his newly awakened Stand power throughout his entire body. He didn't even think; his legs pumped furiously, propelling him out of the alley and toward the paralyzed child.
"Hey, kid! Move!" Mirai roared.
The truck's horn blared, an eerie, reverberating screech that echoed in Mirai's ears. The novice Stand user, currently untested in any real combat, felt a suffocating pressure crushing him, as if the sheer mass and velocity of the vehicle were already compressing his lungs.
I'm going to die! Die! Die!
The truck driver, of course, had no idea what the casually heroic teenager was thinking. He simply cranked the steering wheel in a futile panic, stomping on dead brakes as the massive vehicle skidded toward them.
"Tick tock! The collision is happening—now! Move away, kid, or you're both dead!" the driver screamed through the open window.
"He's not going to make it!" a bystander cried out.
Mirai reached out a trembling hand, grabbing the toddler by the collar and hurling her to the safety of the sidewalk. But the momentum of his throw killed his own forward progress. Helplessly, he turned back toward the headlights.
"I hope this works..."
"Hahahahaha! Beautiful! Absolutely beautiful!" a strange, euphoric voice echoed in his mind—the newly awakened consciousness of his Stand. "As expected of my host! A man who knows how to make an exit!"
Off to the side, a pedestrian panicked. "Kid, get out of there! The second that bumper hits you, you're going to be crushed!"
"He's right!" another chimed in, their voice thick with urgency. "One life for another, but he didn't have to sacrifice himself!"
Mirai understood the cold, unyielding physics of his situation. But he couldn't stand by and sacrifice a life that was right in front of him. As the metallic beast closed the final few feet, his expression hardened into absolute resolve.
"A real man accepts his burdens," Mirai muttered, his voice unwavering. "Some things... just have to be done. Even if I take this hit, I swear my soul will survive this!"
"Kid, you..."
"Damn it... brace for impact!"
Seeing the inevitable collision, the screech of tires tore through the intersection.
"Hahahahaha! Excellent! This pathetic human fragility is exactly why you need me!" his Stand's voice declared. "A straightforward trade. Let's go."
"It's a deal."
As soon as the thought crossed his mind, time seemed to dilate, slowing to an agonizing crawl. Just as the truck's grill kissed the fabric of his jacket, an invisible, intangible "ghost" flared to life in the center of the street.
The sheer panic of the crowd was immense, but none of them possessed the mental fortitude to pierce the ironclad rule that only a Stand user can see a Stand. What they couldn't see, they couldn't comprehend.
This was—STAND POWER!
Get me out of here! Mirai roared in his mind. "Lexus!"
[Answer: Command acknowledged. Dimensional traversal authorized.] [Warning! Warning! Imminent fatal kinetic trauma detected. Awaiting immediate response!] [Warning! Warning! Host body integrity compromised. Initiating "Soul Preservation Protocol" — Emergency binding to the nearest compatible lifeform across the dimensional axis!]
CRASH— Whoosh—
Truck Driver: ? ? Bystanders: ? ?
The driver and the pedestrians stared at the crumpled front of the truck, mirroring expressions of absolute bewilderment. The vehicle had smashed into a lamppost, but the boy had vanished simultaneously. No blood, no body, completely wiped from existence.
"Where is he?!" the driver shrieked, adrenaline and terror bleeding through his vocal cords. "Where did the kid go?! SOMEONE TELL ME!!!"
"I don't know how that boy disappeared," a woman whispered, her eyes wide with disbelief, "but he saved that little girl..."
"Damn it! Did we just witness a miracle?!"
February 1989 — Midnight
Heavy clouds blotted out the hazy moonlight. Thunder rumbled ominously, the brewing prelude to a natural disaster.
Surrounded by a damp, suffocating darkness, Mirai felt so incredibly weak that he couldn't even pry his eyelids open.
Damn it. Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Where the hell am I now?! My body... it feels tiny? Don't tell me...
A terrifying realization washed over him. Panicking, he blindly flailed a tiny hand outward to gauge his surroundings.
Thump. Something bumped against him. Unwilling to be pushed around, Mirai retaliated, swinging his arm and delivering a blind slap.
Smack!
The unseen entity flinched, agitated and seemingly hurt, shifting restlessly in the cramped space.
"Ahhh—it hurts!!!" "Madam's water broke! The baby is coming!"
The agonizing screams of a mature woman and the panicked shouts of a maid suddenly pierced through to Mirai, nearly scaring him half to death.
Why is it so loud out there?
But the noise confirmed his wildest theory. He hadn't just teleported away from the truck; he had crossed time and space directly into a mother's womb. And judging by the crowding, he was a twin.
No way! I finally get a second chance at life, I'm going to make an entrance they'll never forget!
Focusing his will, he called out internally. Lexus?
[Answer: I am here.]
Perfect. Despite his underdeveloped, fragile physical form, his mental fortitude remained untouched. His Stand wasn't hindered in the slightest; in fact, due to the strange spatial compression, it felt a fraction stronger.
Outside, the delivery room was pure chaos.
Weathered elders, their faces deeply lined with age, paced anxiously in the hallways. Inside, a swarm of midwives surrounded the laboring woman. But instead of bustling to deliver the child, the staff was frozen. They stood in dead silence, their faces pale with shock, staring as if they were witnessing a horror movie unfold in real-time.
An old matriarch, leaning heavily on a cane, shoved her way through the paralyzed staff.
"Out of my way, you useless lot!" she barked. "What are you doing just standing there—"
Her furious, hoarse voice died in her throat. When she finally pushed into the inner circle, what she saw made the ancient woman—who already had one foot in the grave—gasp violently for air.
The fetus... The fetus...
The fetus was literally pulling itself out of the womb!
Entity Database: Public Information
Stand: Lexus
Ability: Connect the world, cross dimensions, and synchronize the true self.
Destructive Power: A
Speed: A
Range: A
Stamina: A
Precision: A
Potential: ∞