…Jinhai City. Bawang Group.
"Lucius, you've committed a crime intolerable under the Galactic Justice Law. Surrender now; you've reached the end of your rope!"
"Xavier, don't force me to kill this brat! Hurry! Return the Shura Armor to me!"
"You—!"
"Mean!"
"Hateful!"
Satoshi blinked, utterly confused. Lucius? Xavier? What was going on? Just moments ago, he had been in Morioh Town, eager to test the Stand ability he had finally awakened through the insect arrow. And now… he was someone else's hostage?
Looking at the red, yellow, and blue armored figures before him, Satoshi's heart skipped a beat.
"Oh my god…"
'Xavier? Felix? Maximus?'
And the one holding him was… none other than Lucius, leader of the Netherworld Army, the galaxy's most wanted criminal!
Satoshi struggled. Even fully channeling his Stand's power, he couldn't break free from Lucius's iron grip, the big beige-armored elbow locking his neck like a vice.
"Little boy, you're surprisingly strong. I advise you to stay still, or I might crush you by accident."
"Such a gentleman," Satoshi muttered sarcastically.
Lucius's eerie voice reverberated in his ears. The novice Stand user, who had felt "powerless as a kitten," now felt a suffocating pressure—as if wrapped in a python!
To die… to die… to die!
Lucius, of course, had no idea what Satoshi was thinking. Lifting him like a mouse, Lucius shook him.
"Quick! Return the Shura Armor!"
"You claim to be righteous, right? You won't just watch him die?"
Xavier trembled with anger as he pointed at Lucius, but finally, he relented, handing a flip phone forward.
"I hope you keep your promise!"
"Hahaha! Excellent, excellent! That's the Xavier I know—a man of his times!"
Felix hurriedly shouted: "Xavier, don't! Once Lucius gets the Shura Armor, he'll turn on you immediately!"
Maximus joined in: "A life destined to perish isn't worth more than the Earth and the galaxy!"
xavier, peering out from behind his armor, clenched his fists. He understood his teammates' logic—but he couldn't simply give up a life that could be saved.
A real man does what he must, he thought. Some things… must be done.
"Even if I give Lucius the Shura Armor, I can still defeat him!" he declared.
"Captain…"
"Leave it to me."
Lucius's triumphant laughter rang deafeningly:
"Hahaha! You hypocrites are destined for nothing great! One hand gives, the other hand takes! A word is settled!"
As Lucius and Xavier removed their armor and transformed into their Netherworld Demon forms, Xavier handed over the flip phone. Suddenly, Lucius's Badou—his Stand-like entity—pushed him aside.
An invisible, intangible "ghost" entered the minds of Satoshi and his teammates. Their mental power could shatter the rule that only Stand users could perceive Stands—but it was futile.
Out of sight is out of sight. This was… Stand Power.
"Bring it to you!"
"Lexus!"
[Status: Command completed. Crossing permitted.]
[Warning! The Shura Armor detects abnormal space-time fluctuations. Respond immediately!]
[Warning! The Shura Armor is currently ownerless. Binding to nearest humanoid life form.]
Satoshi and Badou exchanged confused looks. In the next instant, both the Shura Armor and Satoshi's future body vanished—no trace remained.
"Where's the armor?" Lucius panicked. "Where's my armor?! Xavier!!!"
"Though I don't know how the armor disappeared, you still face punishment!"
"Xavier Armor, combine!"
"Damn it! How dare you little brats fool me!! Aminos!!!"
…
Night, February 1989.
Moonlight, hazy and clouded, fell over the world. Thunder rumbled like an impending disaster. Satoshi awoke, unable to open his eyes fully. He felt darkness, wetness, and a crushing crowd around him.
'Damn it,' he thought. 'Escaped the wolf's den only to fall into the tiger's den… where am I?'
His body felt smaller. Something clicked. Could it be…?
Fear struck him. Satoshi reached out, exploring, and suddenly, something kicked him. He slapped it away instinctively.
"Ah—it hurts! My stomach hurts!"
"Madam's water broke! The baby's coming!"
The cries of a panicked girl and a laboring woman confirmed it: he had traveled through space-time into a mother's womb, possibly for twins.
'No! I finally get to experience rebirth! I'll make it count!'
He cheered mentally.
Lexus?
[Answer: I am here.]
Relief washed over him. Though using a child's body, his mental strength remained fully intact—and his Stand? Perhaps even stronger.
Around him, midwives and elderly attendants scrambled. Inside, a woman was about to give birth. But to everyone's astonishment, the fetus began to move and emerge on its own!
[Status: Lexus – Substitute connected.]
[Abilities: Connect across world]
[dimension-crossing, true self stacking.]
[Destructive Power: A]
[Speed: A]
[Range: A]
[Sustain: A]
[Precision: A]
[Growth: ∞]
Satoshi realized: even in this fragile new form, he remained a force to be reckoned with.