DeKurliss growled as he knocked over the piece representing Dragon. "It seems that your faction is losing so far," Enya noted. DeKurliss sighed. "Yes. I had hoped they would prove more effective at their jobs. Both Dragon and Gray Fly came highly recommended, and DIO himself knows how strong Kakyoin and Polnareff are. Now the latter two have sided with the Joestars, and the former two are dead. The rest of my faction has been called in from their other assignments, but it will take some time for them to get here."

He turned to the seemingly young woman, made eternally young through drinking DIO's blood. "Why is it that DIO fears the Joestars so? You gave him the power of the Stand, and he is immortal, so there should be nothing left to oppose him." "Had I not met DIO that night at the harbor in London a century ago, I would have asked the same question," Enya admitted, "But I have seen firsthand the power and will of the Joestar bloodline. DIO had underestimated it before, and it nearly cost him his life."

"I see," DeKurliss said in understanding, "Then why does DIO not go out and eliminate them himself when the sun goes down?" "He'd like nothing more," Enya clarified, "But that would entail allowing the Joestars to get close with plenty of time to spare for his curse to fully be realized. He'd also prefer it if the Joestars were worn out when they arrived, making it easier to end them." "Then perhaps it is time for your faction to have a turn," DeKurliss noted, "Whilst I wait for the rest of my team to return here."

He smiled. "It's fitting that there are seven in that group. The Empress, the Hanged, the Strength, the Fortune, the Temperance, the Emperor, and the Devil." "I already have one of those seven moving to intercept the Joestars in Singapore," Enya said, "But one of those assassins..." She looked at her left hand. The thumb and fingers had scars on the bottom knuckle, where they had been surgically swapped by a skilled Stand user. There was another scar on the bottom of her hand where her thumb had once been. "One of them, my son, is eager to meet with one of the Joestars' group." She smiled widely.

DeKurliss looked at her. He knew that Enya was born with her left hand shaped like a right hand, but had it surgically corrected a hundred years ago to avoid strange looks when she took a job in London as a waitress. Her son, one of DIO's children, had the same birth defect, but preferred not change it, thinking he was fine the way he was. 'She's always said her son is pure-hearted, and I believe her. But being pure-hearted doesn't mean you're a good person...'

Back in the China Sea, trouble had struck for the Kujo group. It turned out Dragon had made sure to plant some explosives on the ship in case of his defeat, and they went off mere moments after Jotaro and Fluttershy surfaced. Luckily everyone was able to get to the life boats before the ship went under, and a distress beacon was set off. The Kujo ground, plus Anne, was on one boat while the crew was on another. "So," Anne said to Fluttershy, "What's going on with you guys? And what's with all the magic tricks straight outta David Copperfield?"

"How should I put this?," Fluttershy wondered, "Simply put, my boyfriend Jotaro is connected by blood to a very successful and influential family. The benevolent kind, by the way. But right now his mother is deathly ill and the only hope for a cure lies in Egypt. Unfortunately, that family's enemies are standing in our way. That fake captain from earlier was one of their agents." "That explains the attack," Anne admitted, "But not the psychic powers." "We just all happen to have that power," Fluttershy replied, "Unfortunately, so do our enemies."

It was a flat response and Anne wasn't sure she fully understood it, but there wasn't any time to process this. A big shadow fell over the group as a large cargo freighter approached, pulling up to the life boats and parking before lowering the stairway. "Excellent, we're saved!," Joseph said excitedly. "Don't be so sure," Jotaro said, "There was no one visible to lower the staircase." "I'm not normally the cynical sort," Fluttershy pointed out, "But Jojo does have a point. So far we've had a Stand with traits similar to the xenomorphs from Alien, one that took cues from the Creature of the Black Lagoon, and now this freighter is reminding me of the titular monster of Death Ship."

Joseph blinked at her, causing her to hide her face behind her bangs. "I'm a big fan of American movies..." Joseph gave Jotaro a hearty slap on the back. "You picked a fine woman there, Jotaro!" Regardless of Fluttershy's warning, Polnareff started walking up the stairs. "Personally I think we should get on regardless. We have seven powerful Stand users on our side, so there should be no danger whatsoever." "Just keep an eye out," Jonathan said, "One of the Stand users hired as an assassin is named Forever, and is said to travel on a freighter identical to this one."

Reluctantly the rest of the group followed him, Fluttershy helping Anne aboard. As they searched the ship, one thing seemed to be clear. The ship was almost completely deserted. "I think Fluttershy's Death Ship analogy was accurate," Joseph noted, "No sign of captain or crew, yet all the systems are functioning normally." "Hey guys," Anne said, "Take a look at this." On the next room, she pointed out a large cage with an animal inside. "There's a monkey in that cage," she said. "That's no monkey," Fluttershy corrected her, "Monkeys have tails. This is an ape. An orangutan to be specific."

"Fluttershy," Joseph said, "Your Stand let's you communicate with animals. Can it let other people do the same?" "Uh huh," Fluttershy replied. Music in the Trees placed a hand to the orangutan's head as it blinked. "Light tickles," it said. "Oh wow!," Anne said, "Did Fluttershy really make the monkey talk?" "Not monkey," the orangutan replied, "Ape." "That's what I said," Fluttershy said. "Listen, Mister Ape," Joseph said, "Someone has to be feeding you while you're in here. Do you know where the crew is?"

The orangutan looked confused. "Crew? No other humans around, know that much. Just you." "It's likely only seen the room the cage is in," Kakyoin noted. "He," the orangutan replied, "Not it." "Sorry," Kakyoin said, bowing, "Anyway, let's search the rest of the ship ourselves." Outside several of the Speedwagon crew was looking at the crane controls. As the Kujo group looked they suddenly realized the crane was swinging down fast. "Look out!," Polnareff called out. But the crane already hooked one of the sailors through the back of his head, dragging him up as he died.

Fluttershy covered Anne's eyes as she looked away. "What just happened!?," one of the other sailors called out, "No one touched the crane, but it moved on its own!" "That's got to be the work of a Stand," Jotaro realized, "But I didn't see it." "Neither did I," Avdol admitted, "But there must be one on the ship somewhere." The others nodded. None of them had seen the Stand that moved the crane. "Let me search the ship," Kakyoin offered, "Hierophant Green!" Hierophant Green appeared and slipped into one of the ship's ducts. "My Stand has enough range to search this entire ship top to bottom," Kakyoin noted, "But it's a big ship, so it may take a while."

Joseph turned to the sailors, who were trying to figure out the problem. "Hey! Stay away from those machines!," he called out, "Anything on this ship that uses moving parts could be used to kill you. Just stay below deck until we sort this out." Meanwhile, Anne and Fluttershy found themselves back in the orangutan's room. The orangutan offered a cut apple to Anne. "Want?" Fluttershy looked at the apple. "That apple was freshly cut. Did someone cut that for you? Where are they?" "Not know," the orangutan replied.

He then surprised the girls by lighting a cigarette and smoking it. "That's one smart... Ape," Anne noted, correcting herself to avoid getting chewed out by either Fluttershy or the orangutan. "Apes are known tool users," Fluttershy said. Then the orangutan did something really strange. It pulled out a playboy magazine and started looking through it, giggling as it stared at the pullout. "Pretty girls..." It then eyed Anne and Fluttershy, making them uncomfortable.

"Be careful," one of the sailors said as they came in, "An orangutan is five times as strong as a human. It could rip your arms off easily." They headed into the radio room while Fluttershy and Anne decided they needed a shower. Back on the deck, Kakyoin rubbed his chin as Hierophant Green returned. "It doesn't make sense. Every nook and cranny empty. No one on the ship besides us and the orangutan." Jotaro got concerned and went to look for the girls.

When he got to the room the orangutan was in, he saw the cage open and empty. Smelling blood, he saw the crew dead in the radio room. He then heard a scream and came running, only to get a surprise as the orangutan was thrown violently across the room. Fluttershy had freaked out when it tried to corner her and Anne in the shower and used her Stand to eject it. "I thought you liked animals," Jotaro pointed out. "Not when they're trying to rape me!," Fluttershy replied.

Jotaro looked at the orangutan. "I know apes are supposed to be smart, but you're way too smart to be a normal orangutan. So, I'm guessing you're the Stand user attacking us?" The orangutan chuckled as it got up. "Yes." A nearby ceiling fan can came loose and spun around to embed itself in Jotaro's shoulder, making him wince. "The hell...? He's clearly the one who did that, but I didn't see his Stand." That's when the fan made a truly unusual move, the rotors on it bending like they were fluid to slap Jotaro and send him flying.

The orangutan moved to follow and attack, but Fluttershy got his attention. "Hey, you damn dirty ape!" The orangutan turned to see Fluttershy had decked herself out in a leafy tube top and skirt, with shorts as well just in case the skirt got flipped. "This is one Jane who does not appreciate you beating up her Tarzan! Music in the Trees!" The nature Stand emerged and turned its arms into solid bark to attack. However, the first punch didn't really connect, as the orangutan seemed to merge into the nearby wall.

"What's going on here?," Anne asked, herself wrapped in a towel, "Was that ape a ghost?" "I don't think so," Jotaro said, "He's clearly a Stand user, but why we can't we see his Stand." He and Fluttershy then got a revelation. "Unless...," Fluttershy said, "We're already seeing it! Like the old saying goes, you can't see the forest for the trees!" "This entire ship is the Stand!," Jotaro realized, "Which means its nature lets it break the normal rule that only Stand users can see it!"

Outside, the rest of the Kujo group was making the same discovery in the worst way, as they were starting to sink into the ship like it was quicksand in a Hollywood movie. "The whole ship is the Stand?," Polnareff asked, "But the sailors and Anne could see it easily!" "It's energy must be immense!," Avdol theorized, "Which means our enemy is truly powerful!" Down below, Jotaro found himself pinned to the wall by some of the pipes as the orangutan emerged, now dressed in a captain's long coat and hat while smoking a pipe.

"I should really thank the young lady for making it so you can understand me," he said, "Explanations are easier when communication is possible. I'm the Stand user Forever, and what you're trapped by is my Stand, known as Strength. As in the tarot card that represents the will to fight and hidden potential. As you've no doubt noticed, my Stand is bound to a small boat and takes the form of a large freighter, of which I have complete control over. Your friends on deck are getting crushed by the hard steel as we speak."

As he spoke, he proceeded to attempt a Rubik's Cube, with various monkey imagery on it. Fluttershy sighed. "I'd like to think I'm friends with all kinds of animals. Thanks to my Stand I can understand them and speak with them. Most turn out to be friendly. But that's because human concepts of good and bad are alien to them. But you?" Forever looked around as Music in the Trees seemed to grow a large tree right through his Stand, the encompassing branches cutting him off from its effect. "You've gained intelligence equal to a human thanks to becoming a Stand user," Fluttershy noted, "So I can no longer consider you an animal!"

And with that, Music in the Trees attacked with its bark fists, pummeling Forever over and over. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Unable to defend himself with his Stand due to the tree blocking it, Forever was forced to take the attack head on. Being just an ape without it, the super strong Stand proved its better, eventually taking him out. "Let it never be said," Fluttershy said, "That I'll go soft on anyone who threatens my friends and loved ones." Jotaro smiled softly as the pipes started to release him. "Gimme a break..."

Yeah, when Fluttershy sees her friends and family in danger, she can really push the limits of her Stand. And it makes sense that anything that can cut through Forever's Stand can cut him off from its power. If he can't keep in contact with the boat, his Stand is useless.