Shiho Sunfast waved a hand as they finally spotted a boat in the distance. “There. Backup has finally arrived.”

When Shiho had called the Crusaders Foundation earlier, they had opted to send some backup in the form of more Stand masters. Subterra could already see one of them waving from the boat as it got closer and closer to the island. It was a man with a short black beard and shaggy hair. He had on a blue and red shirt of polyester material and he had a pair of goggles dangling under his chin. The other, a woman with long green hair piloted the vessel, wore a brown leather vest over a grey shirt and she gave them a wink as the boat pulled to a stop on the sands.

“Josher, it’s been a while.” Shiho slapped a hand against his and held it there for a good second before letting go. “Thank you for coming.”

The man gave her a nod before putting a hand on his hip and stretching one foot forward. “Hey, you finally found a lead on your grandmother. It’s up to us to see this through to the end. We’ll get her back, Shiho.”

Subterra and the others received a brief introduction to the two newcomers. Josher Joyride was an old friend of Shiho. Apparently their grandparents fought alongside each other to save the world some time back when they were younger. The woman was Calypso Wind, a member of the Crusaders Foundation who had joined only two years ago when someone in the organization had found out she had Stand power. Shiho said she didn’t really know her, but she would make a good addition to the team.

“My Stand and I, Soldier Poet King, have your back.” She pumped up an arm and flexed it. Her other hand dipped to a blue starry shoal tied around her waist and scrunched up the corner of it. “I had been tired of watching the world collapse in on itself, and so I decided to look for organizations willing to help change the world. That’s when I found the Crusaders Foundation and they helped me understand the bizarre things that happen around me and to harness the power of my Stand.”

“I’ve seen that thing in action and I can tell you...” Josher flicked the end of his own nose. “You’ll be glad it’s on your side.”

Ocellus nodded. “It’s good to receive more help, whatever shape or form it may take. I thought it would only be the four of us against TWI and her army of followers. Who knows how many more she has.”

Shiho recounted their adventure till now, how she had found Subterra and the journey to recover her memory so they could find this island.

“TWIsland…” Josher snickered when he heard the word from his friend. “I get it. I’ll be using that from now on.”

“Then the island awaits.” Leilani pointed to the jungle path ahead. “This no doubt leads us where we need to go. I feel God calling to me this way.”

“I see no other path, so I’m with Leilani on this.”

“Then let’s not waste more time.” Shiho rolled up her sleeves. “It’s time to find TWI and end this.”

The others followed along behind her, walking up the beach path as it led to the start of the jungle. They had only just taken one step past the first line of bushes when Subterra heard it.

“Is that… whistling?” she asked.

It was a single note, floating through the air like some sort of shrill bird call, but at the same time, it was peaceful, and not at all painful to the ears. It was actually quite soothing.

“That’s not bad.” Calypso brushed her green hair aside and cupped a hand around her left ear. “I wonder where it’s coming from.”

“We shouldn’t trust anything on this island.” Shiho whipped around and glared at her companions. “This is the TWIsland. There can’t be anything nice here.”

“You never know. There could be songbirds here,” Josher said and folded his arms. “Perhaps she saved some endangered species and is harboring them here.”

“We should find out what it is before jumping to harsh conclusions, Shiho.” Ocellus nudged her and took the lead up the beach path.

Trees and bushes now clustered their sides, growing denser as they trekked on, but the beach path seemed to go on for some distance, further than they could currently see. Part of the mountain rose up to their right, going all the way up to the end of a large volcano. With no smoke rising from it, it was likely dormant, maybe even extinct.

“I think it’s coming from the other side of the beach.” Leilani pointed, directing their attention to an offshoot of the path through the jungle, leading down a short slope. “It must lead back to the water.”

“Whatever this sound is, it’s really good…” Calypso closed her eyes and smiled. “It makes me feel like I can just throw all my fears away.”

Subterra looked at the others as they agreed, save for Shiho. She didn’t know what was going on, but she did agree with them, to an extent. The other half of her brain trusted Shiho and that woman had lived through enough of life to pick out when something was wrong. This seemed to be one of those times.

That sense of safety seemed almost too unnatural, like it was being forced into the tiniest nooks of her mind, trying to tell her that all was well, and that she could rest.

“Remain on guard, Subterra Shiver.” Crafteon whispered in her ear. “Something is amiss. We have not seen something like this before.”

Like Leilani said, the sloped path did lead back to the beach. This one was protected by rock barriers on both sides and the water here was darker than usual, meaning that the shore dropped off sharply once you moved from sand to water.

“It definitely sounds like it’s coming from this side of the beach.” Ocellus put a hand over her eyes and scanned their surroundings.

And then they saw it. By the right side of the beach, there was what looked like a large tub with a giant machine attached to it. Steam seemed to be pouring out of the tub and the group couldn’t help but get closer to check it out.

“What… is this?” Josher touched the edge of the tub. “Wood. It looks like a bathtub. Only… older.”

He stared into the water in the tub for a long time, unmoving. Ocellus joined him and looked in as well and she too stopped moving.

“What are you two doing?” Shiho sighed and walked off to the shore and took out her flask. “Whatever. I’ll be here till you’re done gawking. Good grief…”

“You feel that? It’s like it’s… really comfortable here.” Josher closed his eyes and leaned against the tub. “I wouldn’t mind a dip.”

“It’s really hot out here anyway. That water’s looking really inviting.” Calypso licked her lips and hopped into the tub with a splash. She leaned back against one side and giggled. “That’s realllyyyyy niceee…”

“This must be some kind of spa for TWI’s minions.” Leilani put a finger into the water to test it, but didn’t get in herself. “I guess even someone who wishes the world leaders dead would take care of her own.”

“We, uh, should really get moving.” Subterra watched her friends enjoy themselves. It really made her want to join in. “It’s really hot out here. We don’t want to get, uh, what was it you said, Leilani?”

“UV radiation.” The native looked up at the sky and squinted. “That’s what a rise in pollution will get you. But at least being darker makes me more resistant to the heat.”

“Pshh, you two just got here,” Shiho scoffed at them and went back to drinking from her flask. “We’ve been going from island to island for a week now. We’ve been out in this sun for so long, I’m sure I’ve gotten a lot darker. I might even have skin cancer before we’re done with this.”

“Don’t be such a sour sop, Shiho.” Josher grinned and joined Calypso in the tub. “Just come on over and relax for a while.”

Shiho almost agreed. Almost. But she had lived through enough Stand battles to know when something was amiss, and something was definitely amiss here. There was also the matter that the TWIsland was probably crawling with enemy Stand users, and even if this sudden burst of relaxation wasn’t Stand-induced, it might be enough of a distraction that an enemy would gain the upper hand.

“We need to keep going,” Shiho declared. “TWI’s goons could be closing in on us while you kick back and relax. We can go to a spa or something after we kick TWI’s sorry sack into next week. That’s what we came here to do, yes?”

“Just… chill out for a moment, won’t you, Shiho?” Josher yawned. “There’ll be plenty of time to get TWI after a bit of rest. Join us, maybe you won’t feel so cranky after a bit of a sit down.”

“Good grief…” Shiho grunted and returned her attention to the sea.

She had turned just in time to miss Ocellus sway on the spot. She put a hand up to her head and raised an eyebrow. “Hmm… weird.”

Then she dropped to the sandy ground and closed her eyes.

“Ocellus!” Subterra and Leilani were by her side, trying to stir her. “What happened? Are we under attack?”

“I don’t feel anything. And I don’t see anything.” Leilani leaned on a knee and looked around the beach, unable to see any kind of enemy. “Even with Jellyfish’s tentacles spread out, I sense nothing.”

“I knew it. I knew we were being attacked.” Shiho stowed her flask and went back to the tub. “Josher, Calypso, time to go. Get out before I drag you out.”

But as she shook them, the two newcomers didn’t move as well. Josher dipped to one side and splashed into the water, completely submerged.

Shiho rolled her eyes and had Curtain Call pull the two of them out, resting them against the tub as she pounded a fist into it. “What in the name of my grandmother is going on? Are they asleep?”

Leilani rested a hand against Ocellus’ face. “More like they fainted. But why?”

Subterra placed a hand each against Josher’s and Calypso’s faces, but she felt nothing out of the ordinary. “I… I don’t know. Maybe it’s something in the water. I don’t know any of TWI’s followers who have a power like this.”

“This is… a bore…” Shiho groaned. “Good grief. I’m just going to…”

She wobbled on the spot and Subterra reached over to grab her. She stumbled down and rested upon the sandy ground for a second, her head following the sway of the ocean waves.

“Shiho didn’t even get in the water. It must be something else.” Leilani waggled a hand in front of Shiho’s face, trying to get her attention, but instead, the woman just collapsed backwards and laid upon the sand. “Subterra, are you holding up?”

“We need to figure out what’s happening to us and why it’s all happening at different times. If it were a coordinated attack, we’d all fall unconscious at the same time,” Subterra said, running a finger along her jawline.

Leilani didn’t know what to do, so she moved over to the machine beside the tub to inspect it further. There were all kinds of gears and pistons along its front, while a glowing bulb of white light was positioned near the top to let you know the machine was working. There were also three rows of shelves in the machine itself, containing an assortment of goods in baskets, including hairbrushes and raw eggs, likely for the tub relaxation experience.

“Are you meant to cook these eggs in the water?” Leilani picked one up and shook it. “That’s a strange thing to do.”

Subterra shrugged. She didn’t know much about human customs outside the TWIsland. This was a question for one of the others, but unfortunately, they weren’t able to respond right now.

Leilani suddenly creased her eyebrows and held the egg to her ear. She gave it a shake and looked even more confused after that.

“Why? What’s wrong?” Subterra asked.

“The egg…” She threw it over to Subterra.

The girl stumbled as she attempted to catch it, but missed just barely. It dropped to the sand with a soft thud. It was when she picked it up did she realize what was wrong with it.

“It’s… cooked,” she said. Subterra took a step forward, but a wave of dizziness suddenly hit her and she dropped to a knee. “It’s… it’s the heat.”

Leilani had reached to grab her, keeping her from planting her face in the sand. “Oui. These eggs should be raw. Something is cooking us slowly. But at the same time, it’s also making us drop our guard. That’s why we don’t notice it. That must be it.”

“But… Jellyfish didn’t pick up anyone…” Subterra struggled to maintain consciousness.

“Then they have to be far away. A long range Stand.” Leilani looked around. “There’s nowhere else to go on the beach, nowhere to hide. Whoever is attacking us has to be further up the island, away from here, but somewhere they can still watch us from…”

That was the moment she saw it. With her perfect vision, she spotted what looked like a hut just slightly above the treeline, painted the same color as the foliage around it. There was a flick of red hair before it ducked out of sight. Leilani looked to the path leading up from the shore and she knew immediately what she had to do.

“Subterra, stay here.” She rested her against the side of the tub before fishing Josher and Calypso out of the water. Already, the water was hot to touch, but with Jellyfish’s help, she got them out with little issue. “I’ll find the Stand master and I’ll get us off this beach.”

• To be Continued...-

Author's Note

I will have more Stand charts on more prominent chapters.
But here we go! The fight through the TWIsland begins now.