BETTER THAN THE REAL THING is one of the strongest Stands, its ability is nothing less than the total conquest of a target’s free will, as long as the correct film is used. But therein lies its critical weakness: its victims are subservient to the film script, not the user. Sang-ok can only influence his victims while they’re imprisoned in the film’s world. And in the nigh impossible circumstances in which a victim may keep their free will, the script can be broken.
Jerome’s character was meant to die by Tanya’s hand. When he avoided this, the machinations of the script became warped, grinding on its gears like a poorly constructed watch. In that uncertain space where the mechanisms of reality were at a loss, Jerome made an even more egregious move by shooting Shannon: a character who should have been dead, murdering a character that was meant to die by accident. With that, the script, already beleaguered by Jerome’s constant meddling, finally broke down and for the first time in BETTER THAN THE REAL THING’s existence, its ability was neutralized completely!
Sang-ok stares ahead, utterly bewildered. He slumps in his director’s chair, the empty bucket of popcorn rolling beneath. “Wha… What…?” he murmurs.
Kilo Staples blinks. T’onga’s chest is in his face, blocking his vision. She has her legs wrapped around his upper back. “G-Get off already!” he shouts, pushing her off. She dislodges from him without much fuss, dropping on her back. She stares at the sky in a daze for a second, then her senses return to her.
“Ae-jeong-!” she gasps, rushing up to check on Shizuka. Kilo starts forward, but the tension falls away from him when he sees Shizuka kneeling on the ground, alive and well, with no wound on her forehead. He is also no longer injured, his blown out knee cap restored. Kyle is fading, like a dream he’s begun to forget.
“We’re… free…? Are we really-?”
“Ha... HA!! AHAHAHAAAA!! Hell yeah, man!!” Jerome cheers, tackling Kilo with a hug. The rapper’s weight pushes the tall man back several paces. Jerome reaches up to throw his arm around Kilo’s shoulder, jostling him as he hollers his victory. “We did it!! We did it!! We made it out, mayn!! Look at me-!!”
He skips away, showing off his undamaged clothes. “Look!! No bullet hole, no blood, no nothin’!! I knew I could do it!! I knew I could change something!!!”
Kilo watches his old friend’s jubilation, then looks over at Sang-ok’s slumped, unmoving figure in the chair. Then he sees T’onga kneeling in front of Shizuka. “Are you OK?” she asks her daughter. “My head hurts,” Shizuka answers, rubbing her temple.
Abruptly, a low, desperate laughter escapes from Kilo’s throat, drawing the surprise of Jerome and Shizuka. “Holy shit…! Jerome…! Wh-What the hell were you thinkin’? You shot Shizuka in the face…! How did you know that would work?!”
“Oh, uh…” Jerome falters, then gestures back at Sang-ok, “I didn’t. But Pretty Boy over there got real upset when I was pointin’ at her. So I just… you know…”
At this, Kilo laughs uproariously, stooping over to touch his knees. Shizuka’s lips creep into a smile, covering her mouth and laughing softly, though her head is still pounding. “What the hell?” T’onga mutters.
“Uuh…” Jerome says, watching his friend continue laughing, growing concerned over his friend’s mental state. Finally, the tall man gets a handle on himself and stands upright.
“Jesus Christ, man…!” Kilo exclaims, grinning, “What you did…? That’s crazy. You’re out of your damn mind…”
Jerome grins back. “You know it…!”
Before either man can speak further, they hear a growling from up the street. They look to see Sang-ok rising out of the director’s chair, clutching the armrests, then tossing it to the side. He steps forward, kicking the empty popcorn bucket away. “Yyyou… You sons of bitches…! We’re not finished…” he hisses. His hair sweeps back off of his face, revealing a pale mass of scar tissue where his right eye should be. “IT’S A DOUBLE FEATURE TONIGHT, YOU CUNTS!! WE’RE NOT CLOSE TO FINISHED!!!! BETTER THAN-!!!!!!”
Two shots ring out. Jerome pulled out his gun from his pocket and hit Sang-ok in the side and the thigh. “Think again, asshole!! We in the real world now!!”
“Ah… Ackh-!!” Sang-ok gags, blood pouring from his wounds. Jerome fires again, but BETTER THAN deflects the bullets. Sang-ok, clutching his bleeding side, shouts, “I’ve learned my lesson… My fault for trying to act like a main character…!!! I’ll make sure not one of you rotten pieces of shit live through this!!!”
“Die, you fuckin’-!!” Jerome yells, aiming to fire more shots, but Kilo steps forward, placing his hand over the gun and gently pushing it down. The hysterics from moments ago are long gone. Kilo’s expression is back to his characteristic determined fury.
Behind him, Shizuka struggles to summon ACHTUNG BABY, but her pounding headache makes it hard for her to focus. T’onga crouches protectively in front of her. “I’m going to put you four in Alien this time,” Sang-ok declares, “And I’ll make sure…! NONE OF YOU GETS TO BE RIPLEY!!!!”
