Diamond Is Not Cheap

Do. Not. Panic. Take your time and think.

These were the words his level headed Older Brother would often instill in him during tough times, be it their father going on a rampage, seemingly incalculable horrors of homework or even upon the manifestation of his stand. Too bad he wasn't very good at them. Especially when-

"Oooh neato look what I can do !"

• he had a hyper girl wearing a ton of pink doing things that even by his loose understanding of physics shouldn't be possible. In this case Pinkie Pie --with a surprising amount of grace-- cartwheeled off into the seemingly infinite blackness that they (himself, Pinkie Pie and Witch-Girl) were seemingly trapped in all whilst letting out a squeal of joy...only to reappear behind him one second later. Flabbergasted was an understatement.

"How'd you do that ?"

His only response was a wide eyed smile from the exuberant girl before she began rummaging in her backpack, snacking on the various sweets and treats nestled within.

Trixie shrugged and placed her book back in her shoulder-bag "Trixie has known Pinkie Pie for several years and has yet to understand it. Though a shadowy realm is a new touch. Trixie must stea.....'borrow' this idea for her stage show"

Looking up momentarily from her gorging the fluffy haired girl (face covered in a veritable rainbow of cupcake frosting) shot a perplexed look at Trixie. "Me ?"

"Err yeah you" Okayasu felt distinctly like he was missing something

"Oh I didn't do any of this Trixie, nope I'm pretty good at parties and pranks or even prankies but creepy shadow rooms that defy the known order ? Nope not one of mine"

If it had been another time the younger Nijimura may have relished the look of confusion and discomfort on Witch-Girls face. Now though all he felt was a cold tingle across his spine. They were trapped and if Pinkies little routine had proved anything then this place seemed to go on forever. He'd tried contemplating infinity once when he was younger after his Bro had joined a amateur philosophy after school club and threw some of their ideas at him. He'd had a headache for eight hours straight.

Speaking of headaches he could feel one coming on at the moment...and he felt a tad tired. The girls weren't looking so great either, Witch-girl was going a light shade of green whilst even Pinkie had slowed down a tad, merely bouncing once every five or so seconds instead of two. The girls were currently in conference with each other presumably trying to figure out what was going on while he stood around looking like a big dumb idiot.

"No different then usual then" he thought before shaking off his funk literally, his teeth rattling.

"You ok Josuke ?" squeaked Pinkie looking away from Trixie whom she was currently embracing, the wannabe entertainer not taking their imprisonment and current bout of bad health well.

"Names Okayasu not Josuke" he bristled slamming his thumb into chest.

"Oppsy Doopsy, sorry 'bout that. I heard there was a new foreign student with funny hair and your hair is just zany amazing !" even when apologizing the girl seemed chipper.

"Good thing Josuke didn't hear that" he thought remembering the epic beat-downs the usually peaceful boy gave on anyone, normal or Stan-

Of course !

How could he be so stupid ! This must be an enemy Stands ability !

Focusing the boy glared at the girls. This thing must be pretty short ranged if it was this powerful. That's how it worked right ? The stronger it was the closer the user and defying time/space tended to be pretty high up on the list strength wise. So that left himself (The Hand) and these two girls. Trixie was in a bad way ( now hunched up to her knees on the floor visibly shivering) but could be faking it, he'd seen Stands that hurt the user to work themselves....then again he was after a pink haired girl who was a Stand user. He felt his fists itch for action and was very tempted to go for the 'Otoishi Special' as Josukes Dad had dubbed it, he'd have to drop any mercy though and try to knock both of them out quickly lest they move in for the kill, this could have been a random accident but any user with this malicious a Stand tended to be pretty nasty themselves so he felt a bit more at peace. Not only that but with his energy rapidly diminishing --a nap felt really good right about now-- he'd have to be brutal.

Stepping forward he readied himself ice in his heart, Pinkie was now on her knees comforting the stricken barely conscious Trixie although the formerly fluffy haired girl was looking quite worse for wear herself, her complexion was pale and her hair limp and straight.

"H-h-ey Okayasu...I'm c-cold...and s-s-sad...do you k-know any j-j-jokes ?" the look on her face, full of concern, hope and trust followed by the way that (even in her sad state) she tended to her fallen schoolmate melted the glacier he'd placed on his emotions. He couldn't do it.

"Goddammit !" it was a soft mutter but it felt like a million ton weight to the teen. He slowly removed his modded jacket, revealing his lean vested form beneath. Kneeling he placed the fabric over the two girls. "It's not much but it'll keep you going for a little while longer ok ?"

Even now icy cold and white as the grave the girl managed to let off a million watt smile "T-t-thanks"

Do. Not. Panic. Take your time and think.

He focused and 'felt' the room. It was a little trick Stand users could do, they could 'sense' other users. Not accurately enough to pick one out of a crowd though, merely well enough to know if there was one in the crowd. He got zilch. Nada. Nothing.

This wasn't a Stand.

The thought terrified him, a Stand he could deal with, Ghosts yup, even crazy serial killers were an uncomfortable familiarity. This ? Unexplainable and unique. Coupled with the way his head was swimming as if he'd been drinking for a few hours  and his limbs were cold and stiff he could tell which way the wind was blowing. He was in big trouble.

"Y-Yo Pi-nkie....do you-" the girls were unconscious however, their breaths short and on the wrong end of the fast/slow spectrum for his liking.

"F-fuck" he growled "I'm g-g-onna die in s-s-ome weird c-c-ube 'o darkness 'cause i'm too fucking dumb to figure out how to get out" the teen fell to his knees, the cool floor seeming very inviting at that moment.

"Wh-h-y can't I be s-smart like Koichi or Josuke 'eh, n-no i'm just Okayasu 'Dumbass' Nijjimura" he could feel tears begin to well up in his eyes, not exactly befitting the 'Street punk' image he'd worked so hard in his youth to obtain but at this point and time he didn't really care. Death was upon him and he'd go out however he damn well felt like it.

"Don't be so negative Okayasu"

The teens head snapped up , even in his lethargic and hypothermic state he could instantly identify his Brothers voice. Was this like last time ? On the edge of death only to be saved by his brothers advice from the Afterlife ? Or was it just a hallucination brought on by whatever this weird thing was ? It didn't matter though, it gave Okayasu the drive he needed !

"I'm Okayasu Nijimura you shitty fucking cube, I'll die on my own time !"

Rage pulsated through him as he got to his feet and slowly grabbed the girls by the scruff of their collars, he'd have one shot at this and didn't want to hurt them.

"THE HAND !"

His stand rapidly exited him, it's silvery humanoid form covered in dark pads whilst its eyes glowed a deep yellow held back by blinkers. It's right hand, the source of its power, twitched manically.

"GO !"

The stand circled it's user rapidly, frenziedly slashing at everything in sight with it s right hand, globs of darkness seemingly being erased and returning in seconds. It's pace grew faster and faster quickly becoming akin to a whirlwind around the flagging Okayasu.

"Come on.....come on"

He couldn't even see it anymore so quick was its movements, all he could make out was a silvery blur and the shredding of their dark cage. However as fast as it was disappearing the sheer endlessness of it seemed to fill up whatever was lost, the few beams of sunlight that made it through were quickly drowned out. He had one trick left though.

"Now !"

With a flourish that would make even the greatest of ice-skaters pause and take note the Stand halted, lowering its powerful namesake to the floor and began rotating around the three teens. If the darkness only went forever in a straight line both up and out then surely....

The students at Canterlot High School noticed two things happening simultaneously at Two Forty-Five PM. The first --and most obvious-- incident was a circular chunk of the second floor Science Room hallway mysteriously separating itself from said floor and crashing into the floor below it almost injuring several students although one of the newest arrivals (male) and two regulars (female) both of whom had been standing on said chunk as it fell were reported as suffering from severe fatigue, shock and several scrapes from their encounter, a lucky escape thought many. The second --and much less reported--  incident was an audible popping noise occurring seconds before the accident ensued.

When inquired by Emergency services on how such a thing happened the Male teen was reported as saying "Hey don't ask me, i'm a dumbass"

Eyes flashed bright white in a room hidden within CHS. Someone had destroyed one of their traps ! How was it possible ? A simple time/space distortion on the second floor should have held them until it harvested the magic this whole town was dusted in (and in a case of six particular students were dripping with) of course it also drained life energy but that was a poor substitute at best and intentionally non lethal.

Murders on school grounds led to snooping and snooping led to more murders. It was a vicious cycle and one that they could not be dealing with in their condition.

Growling lightly they balled their fists. It was impossible to tell who had been taken and subsequently destroyed the anomaly, whatever energy was harvested would have been snapped back to its owners upon its destruction. The only draw back to such a complex maneuver. Without said energy not only had they lost  a meal but also any attempt at identification.

Fuming they sat back in the sole item of furniture in the room, a plush chair.

They'd have to be more careful now.