Just to let you know right now, this will NOT feature any tie-ins to Equestria. Hell, at most two or three MLP characters will be in the same room at once. This is just injecting the characters into the story. Hopefully I do them justice.

The year was 1880, and a young girl was being dropped off in front of a rather large mansion by carriage. She was rather tall for her age, though not yet developed as a woman. She wore a typical girl's uniform, a small bag slung over her shoulder. Her violet eyes peaked out from behind similar colored bangs, a light indigo streak just off the left side of her hair. It was this remarkable hair color that gave her the nickname "Twilight Sparkle", in part because her full name was Lydia Twilight.

In her right hand she read a message from her dying father. "My dear Lydia. As your nickname would suggest, you have always been the sparkle in my eye. Yet my light is soon to fade. With your mother also having been taken by illness, I have made arrangements for you to be adopted by my best friend and fellow adventurer, George Joestar. He is a worldly individual and the two of us have collected a number of artifacts that would surely peak your intellectual curiosity.

Moreover, George has a son that is right around your age. Now don't misunderstand, I'm not trying to decide your future husband for you. Young Jonathan already has a betrothed, your old schoolmate Erina Pendleton. But George has often told me that Jonathan strives to become the picture of a gentleman, so I believe he would be willing to defend your honor should the need arise. I shall watch you grow into a lady from Heaven, but urge you to choose the path you believe in. And remember not to leak anything about the arrow unless you think it necessary. Your father, Nathaniel 'Night Light' Twilight."

Twilight shed a single tear before kissing the letter in remembrance of her late father, then walked up to the mansion. She was allowed in by a butler, who brought her up to George's study. The middle-aged man seemed world-weary, but he gave a soft smile when he saw Twilight. "Twilight, I'm pleased to see you. I was heartbroken to hear about Night Light's death. Between that and losing my wife years ago to a carriage accident, I feel like I'm losing too many people close to me."

Twilight looked shocked. "Father never told me you lost your wife. I'm sorry to hear about this." George nodded. "Thankfully her death was not in vain. She was able to keep Jonathan alive, even at her own expense." Twilight walked over to a nearby window and saw a young man her own age dressed in the usual gentleman's attire, sized to fit a young boy of course. He had clear indigo eyes and light blue hair.

"That must be Jonathan," she noted, "He looks like he's been in a scrap." George sighed. "He seeks to grow stronger so he can protect those that are weak, wanting to model himself as the perfect gentleman. As proud as I am of his dedication, I also wish he'd pick his fights more carefully." Just then another carriage pulled up near Jonathan. Twilight looked confused. "Ah," George realized, "I nearly forgot you're not the only child I'm adopting into the family. You see, during that carriage accident, my life and that of my son was saved by a man named Dario Brando. I owe him a life debt, but it seems he passed away recently due to old age. So, his son Dio offered to pick up the debt in his place."

The door of the carriage burst open, and a large briefcase was tossed out. A young boy Jonathan's age leapt out of the carriage wearing a blue suit. The boy's piercing red eyes and blonde hair made Twilight narrow her own eyes. 'There's something off about this boy.' "If you don't mind," Twilight said, "I should like to introduce myself to the young men." George nodded, and motioned for the butler to escort her to the yard.

She heard the excited barking of a Great Dane as it ran over to where Jonathan and Dio were standing. Twilight smiled at seeing the friendly dog, but then noticed Dio's knee going for it. Quickly, Twilight whispered, "Love is in Bloom." As Dio's knee connected with Danny's jaw, he screamed out in pain. It had been like hitting his knee against a coffee table. Danny, while dazed by the attack, seemed otherwise unharmed.

Regardless, Jonathan realized what Dio had been trying. "How dare you!," he called out, infuriated. Dio, despite his confusion at what happened, still carefully observed Jonathan's actions. 'I'll look into the mystery of Danny's iron jaw later. First I must focus on Jonathan. It seems he wears his heart on his sleeve. Breaking him down and becoming the sole heir to the Joestar fortune should be easy.'

Twilight cleared her throat. "Excuse me, gentlemen. And in someone's case I'm using the term loosely." She cast a venomous gaze at Dio that told him she had seen the entire thing. "My name is Lydia Twilight," Twilight explained, "But all my friends call me Twilight Sparkle. As of right now I have officially been adopted into this household." Dio looked at Twilight like she was a dangerous viper. In an instant, a new obstacle to his plans had presented itself. And knowing how pathetically kindhearted George was, Twilight was no doubt in the running for heir to the estate.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Jonathan said with a bow, "I am Jonathan Joestar, but all my friends call me Jojo." Dio picked himself up and dusted himself off. "Dio Brando." He narrowed his eyes. 'Something about her makes it plain she won't be as easy to break as Jonathan. In fact, she may just make it that much harder to break Jonathan. Twilight... You are definitely one to watch.'

Back in his study, George was still investigating the stone mask that had been the last ancient relic discovered by him and Night Light. Their research into the mask led them to an ancient sect of the Aztec empire, which had claims that the mask could grant whoever offered the mask a blood sacrifice eternal life and the power of a ruler. However, that sect disappeared around the 16th century. 'What secrets are you hiding?,' he thought to himself.

For the most part I'll be drawing inspiration from the manga, though with some points that are more in line with the anime. This is because the manga is more complete (hell, it's taken this long before we even get a glimpse of Part 5 being animated). Each story arc will comprise one chapter.

As for Twilight... Yes, she has a Stand. But she won't get much use out of it until the supernatural part of the episode. I chose the name "Love is in Bloom" because that's an MLP song Twilight was the lead singer for.

I'll get into a physical description later (remember, only Stand users can see Stands, so right now Jonathan and Dio can't see Love is in Bloom).

George brought the two boys and Twilight into the manor. "I'm sure you must be rather exhausted, Dio," he said, "I know it's a long journey from London. But from now on, you'll be a part of our family, and live as my son Jojo does. And Twilight, well my wife and I had planned on having a daughter once Jojo was grown enough, but sadly she was taken from us before that could come to pass. If anything good came from your father's death, it's that he gave me the chance to raise you as my own daughter."

He motioned to the assembly of men and women that seemed eager to serve. "These will be your servants," George explained, "As they serve Jojo and myself. Unfortunately, due to my work in trade there are times when I must leave the house, so they'll be working with you quite often. That said, Twilight, as your father no doubt informed you he and I acquired a number of artifacts over the years. Even with my work I should have plenty of chances to study some of these relics with your help." Twilight beamed.

As George led Dio to his room, the servants would be showing Twilight hers, he spotted a strange stone mask. There were cracks running all across it, yet it didn't look like it was going to break apart any time soon. The face had something of a sinister feel to it, not helped by the prominent fangs jutting from the upper lip. Twilight also spotted the mask, but decided to ask George about it later.

"So Jojo," she said, "How are you feeling about Danny?" "I'm relieved he was unharmed from Dio's assault," Jonathan admitted, "But it still irks me that he'd attack at all. Still, I will admit that if an unfamiliar dog ran up to me, I would be shocked as well." "Maybe so," Twilight said, "But you must admit Dio's reaction was extreme. Plus, I saw the look in his eyes. He didn't look shocked in the least. I can't really bring myself to trust him."

Jonathan shrugged. "I'd be lying if I said I entirely trusted him, but he is family now. Unless he does something that truly breaks Father's heart he's not going anywhere." Twilight sighed and nodded, then went to get her bag. As she reached for it, she heard Jonathan cry out in pain and whirled around. Dio had Jonathan by the wrist. For some reason this sort of grabbing never allowed her to use Love is in Bloom, a mysterious phantom called a Stand that inhabited her, likely because it was hard for her to gauge which grabs were physical assault or not.

"Don't touch my bags!," Dio barked, "Your hands are covered in dog slobber! I'll have the servants carry it, thank you!" He tried to swivel around to elbow Jonathan in the gut. Twilight smirked. Now her Stand could work. She whispered, "Love is in Bloom." As Dio's elbow connected with Jonathan, he got the sudden sensation of slamming it into a brick wall. He immediately let go of Jonathan's wrist to clutch his arm. 'First that mongrel, now this,' Dio thought, 'Either I'm weaker than I thought, or both of them are tougher than they look.'

"Having a little trouble?," Twilight snarked. Dio scoffed. "Let me make this clear. I won't have either of you looking down on me just because I'm staying at this house. I am the greatest there is, and I won't have anyone look down on me!" Twilight frowned. "Then you can start by not acting so rude to acts of goodwill. Jonathan was just trying to help like a good brother. Or have you forgotten that we're all siblings now?"

"Oh I haven't forgotten," Dio said venomously, "I just intend to be the top dog around here. Speaking of dogs, I hate them. It's not that I'm afraid, mind you, but it makes my skin crawl to see them groveling around humans. So keep that mongrel out of my sight from now on!" And with that, he stormed off, one of the servants following with his bag. "I'm starting to understand what you're getting at," Jonathan noted. Twilight nodded. It was clear Dio felt the debt George owed his father was far larger than originally perceived. She smiled. "In that case, what say we team up to take him down a peg or two?"

Dio had planned for the moment when he'd rise to take the Joestar family fortune ever since his father told him about that fateful day. He studied etiquette, learned chess, trained his body to its physical peak, all so he could stand atop the upper echelon of society. When he first laid eyes on Jonathan, he knew instantly that his plans would be easier than he thought. Jonathan was clearly the sort who wanted to be a gentleman, but was lacking in the maturity department. It seemed Dio would easily get what he wanted.

That hope was dashed the moment Twilight entered the picture. Being the only child in her family, it seemed her birth father had plans for her that didn't involve marrying her off to a rich family. Night Light had been a very forward thinker, and so Twilight was trained from a young age to stand on her own in society. She seemed to have a gift for study, retaining lessons with ease. And she took those lessons and passed them on to Jonathan, slowly yet surely. She was more patient and forgiving than George's more severe methods, which were sadly a product of the times.

With Jonathan being told how he was doing things wrong, rather than being punished the second things went wrong, he found it easier to absorb the lessons. Dio's frustration was barely contained as he saw his adoptive father giving praise to his blood child. Still Dio continued to act in a manner fit for one of his new station, knowing that if he slipped up even a little it would lower his chances of obtaining the family fortune.

A major blow for Dio's plans came on a day when Jonathan was taking part in his school's boxing club. Once a brutal part of gladiator combat, advancements in both society and technology paved the way for boxing to become an exciting spectator sport, with those who partook in the sport developing new techniques that went beyond simply "punch the guy until he's bleeding on the ground".

Dio wanted to take the place of Jonathan's latest opponent, and Jonathan had no qualms. The two put up their bet, which amounted to all of the allowance George had given them. The rules were simple, one punch to the face equaled a loss. Fighters could get hit in the body however many times they liked, but if it caused them to collapse the ref would start counting up to ten, and if he finished the fighter was declared out. Dio smirked when he heard these rules. "That's fine. Just like when we're not using gloves, one punch determines the winner."

The match started, and Jonathan rushed at Dio. Dio started swaying, ready for Jonathan's first punch. However, he got a big surprise when Jonathan did a quick follow-up to his stomach. Twilight smirked as the crowd gasped. 'It's only natural to think a fighter will go right for the head,' Twilight thought, 'After all, the easiest way to win is aim there, since if you connect with that blow then you win. But just because it's the easiest, doesn't mean it's the best. A smart fighter can take advantage of the fact that they can defeat an opponent by getting them to collapse long enough for the ref to count to ten. And if you're lucky, you can still stagger the opponent enough to take that headshot.'

Dio still managed to get in a few good hits in spite of Jonathan's good defense and strong offense, but something was odd. The other day when he tried to elbow Jonathan it had been like striking stone. While Jonathan was clearly tough, his flesh was far softer than Dio remembered. Of course, Twilight wasn't using Love is in Bloom since that would be cheating. Finally, Jonathan dealt a sudden blow to Dio's esophagus, causing him to pass out from lack of air in his lungs. He quickly started breathing again, but was still stunned long enough for the ref to finish the ten count. Dio growled. Not only was he beaten, he might as well have been humiliated.

Dio was still sore about it the next day. His plans had been derailed with that loss. Had he won, he had planned to show the other boys some of his special fireworks and explain that they could be great for fishing, then use that interest to turn them away from Jonathan. However, now they still saw him as an outsider. He still had George on his side, but that was a small comfort given Jonathan was able to compete with him on an equal level. Dio somehow suspected Twilight was to blame, but was stymied as to what he could do about it.

Physically assaulting a girl would most certainly ostracize him at this point, and even George would forget his life debt in favor of punishing Dio severely. He couldn't play the outsider card, since not only was he an outsider, Twilight most certainly wasn't, if her social standing within the school was any indication. And the more Dio thought about it, the more he wondered if Twilight was the reason for the strange reactions he got when he tried to strike Danny and Jonathan. Both times Twilight was present and in full view of the attempted assault. Dio normally would have brushed her off for being just a girl, but it was clear Twilight was no ordinary girl. She was a girl ahead of her time.

As Dio thought, he spotted the stone mask again. Curious, he took the mask down, but was spotted by George. "Curious, are we?," he said, his tone suggesting he wasn't actually mad. "Forgive me," Dio said, "I shouldn't have taken it down without asking." George waved his hand dismissively. "I was actually studying it with Twilight, and I suppose another mind would help solve some of the mysteries we have. Me and Night Light, Twilight's birth father, found that piece at a London gallery. It was with me on that fateful day, when I lost my wife. I had it hung up in her memory." Dio turned the mask around in his hands, then noticed some ancient writing on the back. This caused him to narrow his eyes.

Meanwhile, Jonathan was lazing about beneath a tree on his family property when he spotted a young girl hanging a basket of blueberries and looking at him shyly. She had a light pink dress on, and her clear blue eyes and light blonde hair caused Jonathan to gaze at her. She quickly started to dash away, and Jonathan got up to follow her. He then noticed something in the basket. "It's my handkerchief," he realized, "The one I lost on the day I protected that girl." He looked back at the girl. "Could it really be her?"

"Why don't you talk to her and find out?," Twilight said as she came up, "Hey Erina! Come on over here!" The girl, Erina, stopped when she heard Twilight. "Is that you, Twilight?" She tentatively walked over. "Jonathan Joestar," Twilight said, "This is my friend and schoolmate, Erina Pendleton." As the two started talking, Twilight decided to give them some time alone. It seemed to work out, as before long Jonathan and Erina became first friends, then boyfriend and girlfriend. Dio spotted them at one point when they were bathing in the river, Jonathan having carved their initials into a nearby tree. 'I may have a way to finally break Jojo,' he thought.

Of course, once again Dio found himself stymied by Twilight, this time by her mere presence. Dio had planned to steal away Erina's first kiss, as to break up something that gave Jonathan's life meaning. But he hadn't considered that Erina might know Twilight as well. "Are you just hounding me?," Dio demanded. "What are you talking about?," Twilight asked, "Me and Erina are friends, have been since we first started school together."

Dio growled. "Be that as it may, ever since you arrived Jonathan exceeded my expectations of him. I thought I had him pegged from the beginning, but everything changed when you set foot into our lives." Twilight narrowed her eyes. "That's the price for your arrogance. You may have George Joestar fooled, but I see past your deceptions. You're only interested in the Joestar fortune." Dio was about to argue that the same could be said for Twilight, but stopped himself when he realized that the fact that she was helping Jonathan meant that likely wasn't the case.

"Touched a nerve, haven't I?," Twilight noted, "I don't know what sort of life you had before now, but I think it's sad that even being offered a life of luxury isn't enough for you. You hold far too much contempt for those you deem beneath you to ever stand atop the world." That's when Dio snapped, and he moved to strike Twilight. Luckily, Twilight saw it coming. "Love is in Bloom." Her head still twisted slightly from the blow, causing Erina to panic, but Dio got it much worse. He suddenly felt as if he had slammed his fist into a solid boulder.

As he backed up, he grabbed his wrist in pain. 'All right, once is explainable, twice is unusual, three times... Twilight clearly some sort of psychic power. And that phrase, "Love is in Bloom." She's uttered it everytime this has happened. More importantly, I wound up losing my temper because of her. I'd best back off, lest she have more ammunition to turn George Joestar against me.'

It was a few days later that Twilight walked in on George reprimanding Jonathan and Dio. Seeing Dio get scolded was a welcome sight, but she wondered what had happened that Jonathan was also getting lectured. She also saw that some blood had gotten on the stone mask, and for some reason spiked tendrils were poking out of it, though they quickly subsided. "What happened?," she asked Jonathan as Dio was led away.

Jonathan started sobbing. "It's Danny," he said, "He's dead. One of the valets was gathering the garbage for the incinerator, and noticed a large box that he mistook for something the maids left out. But when he turned the incinerator on, he heard banging from inside and realized someone was trapped in there. He quickly turned the incinerator off and opened the door. Imagine his surprise when Danny burst out, still ablaze, his maw held shut by wires. He escaped being completely immolated, but still died from his burn wounds."

Twilight put her hands up to her mouth in horror. "Who could have done this?" "Dio," Jonathan said simply, "He's been trying to ruin my life ever since he got here. And it seems he finally succeeded at one of his plans. I immediately confronted Dio, and soon enough we started fighting. It wasn't long before Father was drawn from the sounds of it. He was more disappointed that we didn't arrange a time and place instead of fighting right there in the parlor." Twilight nodded. She attended the funeral for Danny, who had been buried before Jonathan could see the body to avoid scarring him mentally. Dio, however, was absent.

Twilight spent the next seven years trying to understand what had happened with the stone mask. Jonathan had only gotten a glimpse of the mask when some of Dio's blood on it, but was too busy concentrating on the fight. Dio said he didn't know what had happened with the mask either, and for once Twilight was inclined to believe him. Jonathan and Erina continued their relationship, but had to put it on hold when her family left for London, meaning they'd be spending less time together. She did leave him with a parting kiss, Twilight smiling when she saw this, and happy that Erina was able to save her first kiss for the man she loved. As time passed, the stone mask waited patiently, as if knowing it would eventually become the catalyst for a terrible evil.

The year was now 1888, the most infamous year in Britain's history. For this was the year that the terrible serial killer Jack the Ripper committed his heinous crimes. Fortunately for Twilight, this man, and the term could only apply loosely, preferred female prostitutes as his victims. Still she made a habit of only going out during the day, and even then with at least one companion. And she wasn't the only one to make this habit. Erina, in the meantime, was gone from England at the time with her father. However, what would follow at the Joestar manor was a terror that would make Jack the Ripper pale in comparison.

Hugh Hudson Academy, the school were Jonathan, Dio, and Twilight attended, was in the middle of a rugby match against a rival academy. And for once Jonathan and Dio were working together. Twilight noted that it was the only time the two seemed willing to bury the hatchet and team up. Perhaps it was because Dio was unwilling to humiliate Jonathan at his own expense. Despite the fact that Dio had ingratiated himself in the family over the last few years, Twilight still couldn't bring herself to fully trust him.

That didn't stop her from cheering for her two brothers when they performed a mighty combo that had won them several rugby games in the past. Jonathan would charge forward like a train, waiting until enough opponents were pinning him down while getting as close to the goal as he could. When it was clear that he couldn't move any further, he passed the ball to Dio. If Jonathan was a freight train, Dio was a racehorse, his superior speed easily letting him dodge the opposing team for the rest of the field, scoring the winning try.

It was the perfect strategy, as the opposing team would be too focused on trying to slow down Jonathan, easily the biggest and strongest member of his team, leaving no one marking Dio when the ball was passed. As the two brothers congratulated each other, they and their sister remarked on their academic pursuits. Dio intended on graduating as a law student, Jonathan planned on a future in archaeology, while Twilight intended on getting her degree in English literature.

As Dio talked with some of his cronies, despite failing to turn the schools against Jonathan he still developed a following over the last couple years, Jonathan and Twilight spoke with each other. "I've noticed Dio started using the term 'father'," he said. Twilight shrugged. "It is so strange? I've also been calling George 'father'." "Perhaps," Jonathan admitted, "But you've been very familiar with Father these last seven years. Dio, however, always referred to him as 'Lord Joestar'."

Dio may have gotten friendlier with Jonathan and Twilight after Danny's death, but something about it felt forced to the two siblings. While neither of them had any proof it was Dio's work, there was also no evidence to suggest it wasn't Dio. There was also the fact that Dio's sudden friendliness was out of nowhere. "Well, let's go inform Father of our victory," Jonathan said, "Hopefully he's feeling better."

George's health had taken a sudden turn in recent days. Even now, when he seemed to be hearty, he had a slight cough to him. "Are you feeling alright?," Jonathan asked. "Yes, for the most part," George replied, "Though this blasted cough won't stop. The doctor wanted to have me hospitalized today." "I wouldn't recommend it," Dio said, "Those hospitals are no good. They just want you for the greater profit."

"That's a bit cynical," Twilight noted. "I declined either way," George said, "I feel far more comfortable at home. My chest has stopped hurting, and the swelling in my hands seems to have lessened." Both Jonathan and Twilight regretted not choosing to pursue medicine, as it might have helped explain why what should have been a simple cold had not yet passed. Still, George seemed to be in high spirits, congratulating the boys on their shared victory.

Later in the library, Jonathan and Twilight were studying the stone mask. Carefully Jonathan pricked his finger to draw some blood, then carefully held the mask away from either of their faces as he applied it. Sure enough, the tendrils appeared again. This was why they had gotten into their pursuits, so they could uncover the mystery of the mask. Jonathan in particular was interested as he thought it might help him get closer to a mother he barely remembered.

"I doubt this will be a discovery on par with Darwin's theory of evolution," he noted to Twilight, "But it would certainly be enough to get our family in the papers." "I'm certainly excited to learn what this mask made for," Twilight admitted, "Like, what's the purpose of these spines? Was this an execution device? A medicinal tool? What sort of technology makes it blood-activated? And what of the ancient writing inside the mask?" Jonathan's sudden cry of distress, following by a crashing noise, cut off Twilight's thoughts.

Twilight's whirled around and laughed when she saw what happened. Jonathan had been trying to get a book from the top shelf, only to have his father's steamer trunk nearly fall on top of him. The sight of him as he landed was rather comical. "Are you alright?," she asked with a chuckle as she helped Jonathan up. "Yes, aside from almost getting crushed," Jonathan replied, "Where was your special powers then?"

Jonathan, like Dio, had eventually come to the conclusion that Twilight possessed some level of physic power. "It doesn't work on accidents involving non-living objects," Twilight explained, "And even if it did, I have to physically see a target, and my focus was on the mask." Jonathan rubbed the back of his head as he turned back to the trunk, then spotted a letter among the books.

Picking it up, he gasped. "This was signed by Dario Brando! That was name of Dio's birth father! He must have written this to our father before he died." Twilight put a hand to her chin. "Dario died seven years ago, a few days before me and Dio arrived. Which means this was written on his death bed. Maybe we should take a look at it." When they did, they were shocked by the contents, and immediately went to find Dio.

It was a good thing they did, as they found him taking George's tea tray from the butler and swapping out the packet with the medicine. "What did you do with that medicine, Dio?," Jonathan demanded. Dio narrowed his eyes. "No more playing dumb," Twilight said, "We found the letter your father, Dario Brando, penned with his own hand. He wrote about dying of an illness... With symptoms identical to Father's. So Dio, care to explain your way out of this one?"

Dio glared at the two of them, then sighed. "Very well, if you really want the truth. My father was a piece of shit. He had worked my mother to death, then sent me out to sell her old things just to earn more coin. He was also a serious drunkard, which caused him to take ill. I once won some money in a chess match to buy medicine for him, but he only insisted on more booze, which any doctor could tell was the source of his illness in the first place."

He clenched his fist in anger. "That man deserved to die! So I went to an apothecary in London to get some special poison. I wore a mask in case some of my father's cronies spotted me. The man gave me all he had, not caring who I used it on." "You killed your own father...," Jonathan said, shocked, "And what of our father?" Dio shrugged. "What of him? Sure he has the same symptoms, but an apothecary could easily make a compound able to mimic a real disease."

He smiled. "You're not really thinking of suspecting me, are you? That would mean renouncing the friendship we've built up over the last seven years." Jonathan scoffed. "What friendship? Yes Twilight and I have grown as close as siblings can ever since we met, but you I have never considered a friend." "Same here," Twilight agreed, "In fact I can remember only one time since our meeting when I felt I could take your words at face value."

She pointed a finger at him. "It's been obvious to me that your goal has always been the family fortune. And now we're finally in a position to get proof of your misdeeds." As she and Jonathan walked away, Jonathan said, "Mark my words, Dio Brando. I will protect my father and this house. You can be sure of that." Dio frowned. By this time it was clear he was no match for Jonathan in a fight, and now it seemed his plans were starting to crumble.

'I had no idea Lord Joestar kept my father's letter,' he thought, 'He foolishly believed Father saved his life, when in reality he was attempting to rob him of his valuables, thinking he was dead.' He looked to the tray, and saw it empty. 'Damn, they've taken the poison. It will be difficult for western doctors to analyze oriental poisons, but not impossible. I give it at least three days before those two get their proof. I need to kill George Joestar before then, or everything I've built up over the last seven years will be for nothing.'

Things will really start to change come next chapter. For starters, I plan on giving Twilight a love interest. Not Jonathan, obviously, since he already has Erina. But it is a male member of the cast. See if you can guess who it is.

Twilight and Jonathan went to see their father, accompanied by a troupe of hand-picked medical professionals. Poor George was looking much worse, his normally dark hair having gone prematurely gray, and his cough was near constant. "Father," Jonathan said, "Twilight and I will be going to London for two or three days. I ask only that you accept help from these doctors, and do not accept treatment from anyone else." The butler and other servants were shocked at this, but George calmed them down.

"If you insist on this," he said to Jonathan, "You two clearly have your reasons, even if I don't know what those are. I ask only that you are careful. Even without the slayings done by this so-called Jack the Ripper, London can be a very dangerous city." The two siblings nodded, and headed out by coach. It was the middle of winter, and a blanket of snow was already covering the countryside. "Father's gotten worse, hasn't he?," Twilight asked. Jonathan nodded. "It won't be enough just to identify the poison. We'll also need an antidote."

Meanwhile, Dio was sneaking through the study. He carefully used a knife to open a drawer at the desk Jonathan and Twilight had been working at. Inside was the stone mask and a journal. "As I thought," he whispered quietly, "They've taken Pop's letter and the poison with them when they left. But luckily I was also searching for this. Twilight had only asked if I knew what was happening with the mask, and that was technically true. But I did see what it had done when a bit of my blood got on it."

He looked through the journal and saw a diagram Twilight had written, which showed the tendrils of the mask piercing the brain, along with some cliff-notes questioning possible reasons for this. Dio carefully held the mask away from him while he pricked his finger, and applied the blood to the mask. In an instant the tendrils appeared. Dio grinned. "This is perfect. With this, I can bypass Twilight's mysterious psychic powers to kill Jonathan. Maybe I can even use it to kill Twilight. The police will conclude it was an accident, and end the investigation early."

Out in London, Twilight and Jonathan were surprised when the coach they were riding suddenly stopped. "What is it?," Jonathan asked the coachman. "Sorry, sir and madam," the coachman said, "But I dare not go any further. This here is Ogre Street, an infamous part of London. It's not welcoming to a gentleman or lady, only the cursed of society. And whenever an epidemic hits the city, you can be sure it started here."

The two siblings stepped out, unheeding. "We know all about this place," Twilight assured him, "And we're quite capable of handling ourselves." "Don't wait up for us," Jonathan said, "We'll fetch another coach when we're done here." The coachman gulped, but raced off back to the Joestar estate. "Think we'll find what we need here?," Twilight asked. "We couldn't identify the poison," Jonathan noted, "But we do have some clues. Dio was originally from London, and he mentioned an oriental apothecary where he got the poison he used to kill Dario."

They started walking through the streets, but it was like a maze. At one point, they found themselves at a dead-end marked with a human face painted on the wall. "Looks like a gang sign," Twilight noted, "Which means..." She heard the sound of distant running. "We've entered their territory." Sure enough, three men came running at them. One was blonde and wearing a ruffled suit with a bowler hat. One had a tattoo on his faced and brandished a knife. And one looked to be Chinese.

"Start with the big guy, Tattoo," the blonde man said, "Give him your knife." The one called Tattoo grinned as he lunged at Jonathan, his knife aimed for the liver. However, Jonathan was able to grab the knife and hold it fast, albeit with some minor blood loss as the blade scrapped across his skin. The blonde man looked taken aback. "He went and grabbed the knife with his bare hands..."

Tattoo was stunned, but then grinned. "An impressive move, but all I have to do is twist the knife and you'll be short a few fingers." "Go ahead and try," Jonathan declared, "I'll just kick you straight in the groin." Tattoo had to bite his cheek to keep from screaming as Jonathan made good on his promise. As the man collapsed, Jonathan said, "I am here to protect my father, and the House of Joestar! The loss of a few fingers pales in comparison to that!"

"Tough talk," the Chinese man said as he leapt into the air, "But let's see that talk when my kung fu kick sends you into the afterlife!" Before he could land his kick, he got a surprise when Twilight grabbed his leg in mid-air and threw him against the wall. "I've spent some time studying Chinese fighting styles," she explained, "Don't think you can catch us off-guard so easily. Come to think of it, you're Chinese aren't you? We're looking for a shop that sells oriental poisons. You wouldn't happen to know of it by any chance?"

The blonde man chuckled. "Well, you two certainly are tougher than most rich folk we've accosted, but there's still me to deal me." "Hold on," Jonathan said, "We don't need to fight. My sister and I are just here to find the man who sells oriental poisons." If the blonde man was listening, he was clearly ignoring Jonathan. He slipped a finger across the brim of his hat, which fell away to reveal three spinning blades. He then made a display of spinning the hat across his shoulders that reminded Twilight of a street performer.

Jonathan sighed and crossed his arms. The blonde man narrowed his eyes. 'This man is a total beginner. He's only protecting his head. The rest of him is wide open.' He made to toss his hat, but got thrown off target when had to dodge Tattoo's knife, which Jonathan had kicked over to him. As a result, the hat wound up digging into Jonathan's arm. The blonde man laughed. "Sounds like the blade's hit bone!" He stopped laughing when he saw Jonathan rushing at him, striking him in the face with a powerful kick.

As Jonathan removed the hat, Twilight walked over to the blonde man. "I hope you understand now," she said, "Our father's life is on the line. We're prepared to take whatever injuries we must if it means saving him." As the blonde man looked at Twilight, her head framed by the full moon, he was dazzled by her beauty. 'It seems I've been soundly beaten,' he thought, 'In more ways than one. Clearly these two are no easy mark.' Just then, he heard the rest of his gang approaching, ready for a fight.

Twilight and Jonathan put their guard up, but the blonde man picked himself up. "That's enough boys! If any of you lay a hand on this gentleman and lady, then I, Speedwagon, won't forgive you!" Twilight looked at him. "Your name is Speedwagon?" Speedwagon managed to stand up. "Robert EO Speedwagon at your service. I observed the way you fought. Tattoo and Yun will be nursing those wounds for a few days, however..." The aforementioned gangsters were getting up, in pain but otherwise fine. "It seems there's no permanent damage."

He looked to Jonathan. "And your kick earlier. With your size and strength you should have been able to smash my face in, yet you held back. Can I ask why?" "We're here for our father," Jonathan repeated, "But you and your men must have family in this city too. It would sadden them if your lives were taken." Speedwagon couldn't help but chuckle. "You certainly have a naive viewpoint, but it's refreshing to meet someone from the upper class that truly deserves their moniker of 'gentleman' or 'lady'."

He picked his hat back up. "As for that apothecary, the one selling oriental poisons. I know the man you're talking about. He's a nasty piece of work. If you need to find to him, then I'll gladly be your guide to make up for my actions this evening." "The poison afflicting our father is slow-acting," Twilight said, "Do you think this man has an antidote for it?" "Probably," Speedwagon replied, "No self-respecting chemist would make a slow-acting poison and not produce the antidote, if for no other reason than the possibility that it could be used against him." The trio started walking as Speedwagon's gang parted before them.

In a bar located at a port town not far from the Joestar property, Dio was angrily downing a bottle of whiskey. He had heard from the coachman about Jonathan and Twilight going to Ogre Street. While this meant he could be rid of them without even needing the stone mask, it wasn't as sure a thing. Twilight had that strange psychic power and both she and Jonathan were expert fighters, meaning there was no guarantee that they would die out there.

"Another bottle?," came the sultry voice of a young woman. Dio looked at her. She was an interesting woman that appeared to come from some Middle Eastern nation, if her lightly dark skin and platinum blonde hair were any indication. She was dressed like a Turkish belly dancer. Dio took the bottle, but then got a look at her left hand. The thumb had a surgical scar. The woman sighed as she sat down. "Strange isn't it? I was born with my left hand being shaped like a right hand. I was lucky enough that I was able to afford surgery to correct this when I came to Britain, but it still meant I needed to work for more money."

"I've seen worse," Dio admitted, "And it's more fascinating then strange to me. What's your name, anyway?" The woman smiled. "Enya Geil. And you?" "Dio Brando," Dio replied. The two got to talking, and anyone watching thought that they might be falling for each other. "A strange power...," Enya said when Dio spoke of Twilight, "I think I know what you might be referring to. I too possess such a power. Different from Twilight's, but stemming from the same source." That got Dio's attention.

Dio started walking with Enya back to the manor. He was planning on passing her off as a new potential wife. Knowing George, he'd likely accept it without question. Of course, once his plans were finished, Dio did plan on marrying Enya for real. He finished off his whiskey bottle, then groaned. "What's wrong?," Enya asked. "It's just so frustrating," Dio explained, "That all the problems in my life have caused me to sink to my bastard father's level."

Just then, he wound up bumping against some man and his partner. "Hey!," the man called out, "I just got stains on my jacket because of you, prick! Your mommy know you're out here with some harlot!" Dio instantly saw red. Unlike Jonathan, he had plenty of time to get to know his mother, and regarded her as an angel who deserved far better than his father. Flipping his bottle so he was holding the neck, he slammed it against the old man's face.

The bottle shattered, the glass shards causing lacerations in the man's cheeks and tongue. The other man pulled out a curved knife. "You bastard! You'll pay for that!" Dio smirked. "I think this is a good chance to test my plan. Enya?" Enya smiled. "Justice!" The dense mist that permeated the air suddenly seemed to enter the man Dio struck. To his bewilderment, he moved to restrain his friend. "What are you doing!?," the second man asked. "I-I don't know!," the injured man insisted, "I swear I'm not moving my own body!"

Dio then got out the stone mask and placed it on the bound man's face. "If there's one thing I can say I like about Twilight," he said, "It's her meticulous study habits. Because of that, I was able to figure out how to manipulate this mask easily." He grabbed the man's knife and dug it into the neck of the man holding him, causing the blood to splatter onto the mask. However, rather than the blood spray he was expecting, the mask seemed to glow with light. "What on Earth!?," Dio asked in shock as he and Enya backed away.

However, the man seemed to slump to the ground as the mask stopped glowing. The two lovers breathed a sigh of relief. "I was afraid something terrible was going to happen for a second there," Dio admitted, "But it looks like Twilight's research didn't lie. The mask appears to just be for torture and execution." As they turned, they heard a sudden groaning. The whirled back around to see the bum get up as if nothing happened. The mask fell from his face, and prominent fangs could be seen in his mouth.

The man lunged at the two, but was blinded by the mist created by Enya's Stand. He thought he saw them at one point, but when he went to attack, he wound up running into a lamppost, bending it as he did. "So your mist can also create illusions," Dio noted, "Good to know." He grabbed the knife and stabbed it into the man's neck. However, this didn't seem to faze him, causing him to simply try to punch Dio. Dio dodged aside, causing the man to hit a solid stone wall.

To the couple's shock, the wall got completely pulverized. "He doesn't feel any pain," Enya realized. The man used his other hand to pick up a large rock. Dio tried to run, but felt his body get paralyzed. He managed to reach up to his collarbone, and felt blood. The man must have managed to scratch him with the last attack, yet it did significant damage. The man was about to throw the stone, but Enya stepped in. "Justice!" The mist entered into the man, causing him to slow down.

However, his dead friend was nearby. Fighting with unnatural strength, the man managed to reach his hand towards the dead man's neck. To Dio and Enya's horror, the man seemed to suck up all the blood from the ground and the corpse, growing younger and healing his wounds as he did. Dio gasped in realization. "I get it now... I know what this mask is supposed to be!" As the newly revived man freed himself from Enya's Stand, he approached her.

Before he could get close, however, the dawn started to break. The man turned to the blinding light, turning to dust from the head down as the sun shone upon him. Once he was completely destroyed, Dio couldn't help but laugh. "So that's what this all about. Vampires. To think they really exist. And this mask has the power to turn a man into a vampire." He picked up the mask. "Using this on Jonathan would just give him more power to use against me. It should go to a more fitting cause."

Dio and Enya returned to the manor. Seeing another coach had already pulled up, Dio frowned. "I see. So Jonathan and Twilight were able to return. Which means they have the evidence they need to prove I was trying to kill Lord Joestar." "Shall I go in with you?," Enya asked, "You'll need someone with a power similar to Twilight's to beat her." "But from what I've seen," Dio said, "Her power has an advantage over yours. Even if she can't use it to block your mist, you still need an open wound to control someone. Her power seems to reflect physical damage. No, I'll need you to help me escape should the worst come to pass."

He walked into the manor, the place rather dark and empty. He looked around, and thought he heard something in the dining hall. Entering, he whirled around as he heard a match being struck. In the dim light, Jonathon could be seen. "Jojo," Dio said, feigning concern, "You're back from London. When I heard you and Twilight went to Ogre Street, I grew worried. Where is she? Is she alright?" "She's fine," Jonathan assured him, "She's tending to Father. We found an antidote to the poison that was killing him. Your plans have failed."

He closed his eyes. "Dio... We were raised as brothers, so it pains me to turn you over to the police. But for the honor of our house, and for the sake of justice, I really have no choice." Dio sighed, his eyes softening. "I understand... That's the sort of man you are. However, if you will allow me a final selfish request, can you give me some time. I found a girl who I fell in love with while you were away. And I want to settle things with her before I turn myself in."

Jonathan nodded. "Could you tell me why you even went this far? Father raised you, you wanted for nothing. Yet you still took steps to claim our family's estate for yourself." "I blame my poor upbringing," Dio explained, tears in his eyes, "It led me to such foolishness, trying to poison the man who helped me." Dio was faking it all, save for falling in love with Enya, but his plan was to draw Jonathan closer, then kill him to activate the mask for himself.

However, another sound of a match striking put a stop to all that. "I wouldn't trust this man, Mister Joestar," came Speedwagon's voice, "There's a clear air of deception about him." Dio whirled around to see the blonde man, Twilight on his arm. "Allow me to introduce myself," Speedwagon said, "Robert EO Speedwagon. Mister Joestar and Miss Twilight met me on Ogre Street and impressed me with their genuine nobility. Because of that I helped them find the information they were looking for."

He and Twilight walked over to where Jonathan was standing. "Like you, I grew up in the slums," Speedwagon explained, "And I've met all kinds of villains. To survive I developed the ability to tell a good person from a bad one just from the smell of them. And you, Mister Dio Brando, smell worse than shit! Claim it's your poor upbringing all you like, but from what I can tell, you were evil since the day you were born!" He walked over to a nearby curtain and put his hand behind it. "Mister Joestar, I recommend we have him arrested right away."

He pulled out an elderly Chinese man from behind the curtain. Dio gasped as he recognized Wang Chen, the oriental apothecary he got the poison from. "From the look on your face you recognize this man," Speedwagon said, "After the three of us got through with him he was more than willing to cooperate with the police." Twilight grabbed the cord for the curtain and pulled, revealing George and a squadron of police officers.

"Dio," George said sadly, "I can't tell you how sorrowful this makes me. Your father saved my life, and I raised you with love and hope as my own. And still... You try to take more from me." He turned toward the stairs. "I must rest in my room. I don't want to see my son led away in chains." Dio thought quickly. He still had the stone mask and the knife from earlier hidden in his sling. Nodding, he sighed. "It seems I have no choice. Jojo, would you be the one to place the cuffs on me... For the sake of the seven years we spent together."

Jonathan nodded, taking the handcuffs from the officers and approaching Dio. Twilight and Speedwagon got ready in case Dio tried anything, but he just stood still until Jonathan was about to place the cuff on. Dio smiled. "It seems there are limits to human capability. And that's why... I reject my humanity!" He immediately pulled out the stone mask. He then broke out of his sling and grabbed the knife. "And I'll use your blood to do so, Jojo!"

Twilight quickly prepared to use her Stand to stop Dio, like she always had, but got a shock when, instead, George stepped in front of the dagger, getting stabbed in the back as a result. "Shoot him!," the police chief demanded. Dio just laughed as the mask dug into his brain, the tendrils activated by George's blood. The blinding light from the mask confused Twilight and Jonathan. 'Just what did Dio do?,' Twilight wondered, 'Why would he willingly put the mask on?'

A lot of people with medical knowledge will cry fowl regarding Enya's explanation for her reverse hand (remember that, like her son, she has two right hands). My hand wave is that the surgeon was a Stand user. I think you can fill in the blanks from there. Either way, tell me what you think about Enya being introduced early.

The police opened fire on Dio as the light from the mask faded. Dio was thrown back from the force of the gunfire, smashing through a nearby window and onto the terrace. He slumped down, seemingly dead. Meanwhile Jonathan and Twilight were comforting their father. "Why did you do that?," Twilight asked, "You knew about my powers. You knew I could keep Jonathan from getting stabbed." George smiled. "I suppose it was just my instinct as a father..."

"I was caught off-guard," Jonathan lamented, "I didn't realize he had the stone mask we'd been researching." George chuckled weakly, looking at his hand. "Your mother's wedding ring... It's so small I had to wear it on my little finger..." At that point, his breathing became more labored. Twilight realized at once what was going on. "No... No! I've already lost one father! I can't lose you as well!" Jonathan soon realized as well. "Father!" The officers rushed to render aid, but Speedwagon knew it was already too late. "Bastard struck Lord Joestar in the lung... No doctor in the world can help him."

Twilight got up and glared at Dio's corpse. "I can't believe he managed to get the last laugh in death. At least his victory was pyrrhic. He can't claim our family's fortune if he's dead. But why would he put on the mask? Me and Jonathan had been studying it and positing theories. At one point Jonathan even suggested it might be to awaken the brain's hidden potential. Ultimately we decided it was meant as an execution tool." She closed her eyes as she wept, Speedwagon offering a comforting arm around her shoulder. "I couldn't say why he was waving that mask around like a daft bastard. Maybe he wanted to end his life on his own terms rather than face the firing squad."

The police sergeant sighed. "I blame myself for all this. I knew Dio's father twenty years ago, had him locked up, but George insisted he be released. If I had ignored that, this would never have happened." "What do you mean?," Speedwagon asked. "I had just begun working as a police officer," the sergeant explained, "I had contacted Lord Joestar upon learning Dario had tried pawn his wedding ring. For some reason Lord Joestar had never reported it stolen."

He shook his head. "It was a major accomplishment for me, to recover a treasured momento from a nobleman. And Dario was looking at the death penalty if Lord Joestar agreed to file charges. But Lord Joestar would hear none of it, as he believed Dario had saved his life. Even knowing Dario had stolen the ring, he was willing to adopt Dio to pay back that debt. I watched as Lord Joestar gave Dario the ring, allowing him to sell it off and insisting he use the money to take care of his family. I thought him too naive, knowing Dario was likely laughing at him in his heart. I should have had Dario punished in spite of Lord Joestar's words..."

George looked at his two children. "Please... Don't weep for me... I apologize for all the times I have been harsh... But I have no regrets with how you both turned out..." He looked to Dio's corpse. "Have Dio buried with his family... It's least we can do for him..." He placed his hand on Jonathan's cheek. "I can honestly say it's not bad... To die in my son's arms..." And with that, George Joestar breathed his last. His words brought the sergeant to tears. "Even now, he has nothing but kindness even for the one who killed him. We have lost much this night. A noble man's soul was taken from us."

"No!," Speedwagon declared, "George Joestar's soul still lives on with his two children! Both Jonathan Joestar, and Lydia Twilight! You can rest assured they will live an upright life, using what their father gave them!" He calmed down and looked to the ceiling. "Rich folk are rubbish, flaunting their wealth and power for whatever they please, regardless of who they trample on. If I could I'd throw them all in the Thames. But the Joestars... They are the exception. If any family deserves to be called nobility it's them, for they are truly giants among men."

Twilight smiled at him, then noticed something out the window. She pointed a quivering finger, causing Speedwagon to whirl around and gasp. "Dio's corpse! It's disappeared! Quick, get away from the windows!" Sure enough, the only thing left behind was the stone mask. Twilight soon spotted a clawed hand aimed at the sergeant's head. Quickly she called out, "Love is in Bloom!" From her position below the terrace, Enya saw Dio cling to the outside wall above the window.

As he moved to strike the sergeant's head off, Enya spotted Love is in Bloom, Twilight's Stand. It was a violet colored female humanoid, though it's feet, crotch, and breasts were featureless. It's face was also featureless other than the eyes, which lacked irises or pupils, just colored a different shade of purple. On its chest was a six-point star, the overall shape of the body evoking an image of a Greek statue but colored. It's hair was similar to Twilight's, flowing like it was alive. A spiral horn jutted from the forehead, and large wings sprouted from its back.

As quickly as Twilight called it out, it reached out a hand and touched the sergeant, seconds before Dio could connect with his claws. Dio grunted in pain as the sergeant flew forward, stunned by the force of the attack even if it didn't damage him. As the sergeant turned around wondering what had happened, he gasped when he saw Dio hanging from the window, looking completely unharmed. "The bastard!," Speedwagon called out, "How did he come back to life!?"

Dio grinned in spite of his damaged hand, digging into the outside with his other hand to disappear. Jonathan laid his father on the nearby table, draped in a blanket, as Dio swung back inside, his cheek getting cut on a shard of glass. "How on Earth is this possible?," the sergeant demanded, "We filled him full of lead, and he still lives." Twilight's eyes widened. "I've read stories of this during my studies. He exhibits all the signs, all the powers. I don't know how it happened, but I believe Dio may have become a vampire."

Speedwagon looked at her. "A vampire? But how? I thought they were only a myth." Jonathan gasped. 'He didn't exhibit these powers until he activated the mask. Could that have something to do with it?' Dio started to approach, but Speedwagon grabbed one of the cops' dropped guns. "Stay back, you monster! Vampire or no, I'm betting a bullet to the right location will hurt all the same!" Dio didn't seem to heed him, forcing Speedwagon to shoot. The bullet shot right through Dio's brain, forcing his back a bit from the impact.

Regardless, Dio did little more than chuckle. "A valiant effort. Even now bullets can certainly do me harm, but they can neither hurt nor kill me." He immediately leapt up to the ceiling. "That mask gave me such wonderful powers. I should be more than able to destroy the lot of you now." Before anyone could blink, he had grabbed one of the officers and started draining his blood. Twilight looked on with a mix of horror and fascination. "Okay, none of the legends I've read had vampires drain their victims through their fingers."

Dio laughed. "I wonder now, Twilight, if my newfound speed can allow me to bypass your own psychic gifts." He threw the corpse at the group, and Twilight spotted on officer about to take the brunt of the impact. 'Dio doesn't realize my Stand can work on weapons, even improvised ones. Throwing a corpse won't stop it from working.' "Love is in Bloom!" The officer found the corpse smash against him like he was a brick wall, Dio grunting in pain as Love is in Bloom's power rebounded the damage to him.

He glared at Twilight, but then grinned. One of the corpses limbs escaped Twilight's notice and nailed Speedwagon in the arm. As the street thief grabbed his arm in pain, Dio chuckled. "As I thought. You can only focus on one attacker and victim at a time, and you must be able to see the attack. I feared your power growing up, Twilight, but now that I have a better understanding of its limitations... Well, it is still something to feared, but I no longer find it insurmountable."

Jonathan glared angrily before walking over to a suit of armor and grabbing its spear. "Jojo!," Speedwagon called out, "What are you doing!?" "Dio may seem invincible," Jonathan explained, "But the civilization that last had the stone mask did die out, meaning the mask must have a weakness. It was my curiosity about the mask that got us in this mess. So now I'll fight to get us out!"

"It's hours until the sun rises!," Twilight noted, "How else can we kill a vampire!?" "That mask unleashed power hidden deep inside Dio's brain," Jonathan surmised, "So if we can destroy it completely, it may just stop him forever." Dio raised an eyebrow. He wasn't sure if Jonathan's theory held any merit, but he wasn't about to give him the chance to find out. He turned his attention to the corpse of the officer he recently drained. A flash emitted from his eyes, and the corpse began to stir.

"By God, what now!?," the sergeant called out as he saw his own dead subordinate stitch itself back together poorly and start to crawl towards Speedwagon. Growling, he muttered, "Will these nightmares not cease...?" The corpse tried to reach out a hand to drain Speedwagon, only to suffer pain when Twilight rammed her extended hand into the creatures neck. Speedwagon and the sergeant looked surprised, as Twilight seemed to glow golden as she struck the corpse, causing it to turn to dust.

"Ah, it worked," she said, relieved, "That man who taught me how to fight also taught me a few tricks for fighting the undead, but I never thought I'd have to use them." While they were distracted, Dio tried to come down from above Jonathan, but he sensed the attack coming and swung the spear in a defensive maneuver. Forced to land without striking Jonathan, Dio wound up in a perfect position for Jonathan to flip the spear and thrust the tip at Dio.

"A clever move," Dio admitted. Then he blocked the spear tip with his hand, suffering damage but otherwise ignoring the injury. "But as I am now it's a futile effort." He then bent the spear, breaking off the tip and pulling it out of his hand before throwing it into Jonathan's shoulder. Luckily for Jonathan it wasn't too deep, and noted that Dio had rushed at him while throwing the spear for maximum power. Taking advantage of Dio briefly monologuing about continuing the game for a bit longer, Jonathan pulled the spear out of his shoulder and helped Speedwagon up, while Twilight grabbed the sergeant.

When Dio turned around, he saw the room was empty, the other police officers having fled in terror. He scoffed. "Curse my hubris. It may be my one remaining weakness. Jojo is huge at 195cm, with enough strength to hide with his friends even with the spear stuck in him. Twilight was able to identify me as a vampire, which means they'll likely try to hide out somewhere until the sun rises." He carefully scanned the room, his sharper senses trying to pick up on the tiniest clue.

His head snapped in the direction of a blood trail leading behind a curtain, likely either Jonathan or Speedwagon. Not that it mattered. Dio chuckled as he approached. "Your mind is certainly a match for mine, Jojo," he admitted, "But as I said, humans have their limitations. I have none. You hide like Polonius, but I am in the role of Hamlet." He quickly pulled away the curtain, and got a big surprise when the curtain burned him to the touch. And not just from the fire that was on the other side.

Twilight was holding onto one edge of the curtain, and Speedwagon held an oil lamp to another. Dio was confused from the pain he felt from the strange golden glow Twilight used. Shaking off the pain, he quickly threw aside the curtain, though the flames still engulfed him. Jonathan growled. "Twilight, take Speedwagon and the sergeant and get out of here." "What!?," Twilight demanded. "If I can't stop him," Jonathan explained, "Then at least you can hold him off until the sun rises." Twilight hesitated, but nodded. "Be sure to come back alive."

Enya spotted the flames as they started to engulf the mansion. She watched as Twilight emerged along with Speedwagon and the sergeant. She thought about confronting Twilight, defeating her so Dio would have one last obstacle. But before she could walk out of the shadows, a thought occurred. 'Hold on... Even if I use my illusions Twilight can still protect herself with her Stand. And even if I managed to control either of the two men, her Stand might reflect to me instead of them since I'm technically using them as weapons. I'm sure Dio knows what he's doing. I'd best stick to his plan.'

Meanwhile, Speedwagon realized what Jonathan was up to. "Does he mean to spread the flames until they overwhelm Dio's regeneration? But that's crazy! At best they'll both die!" "I'm sure Jojo will find a way to survive," Twilight assured him, "He still has people waiting for him. He won't throw his life away." 'Or at least I hope he won't.' From inside the mansion, Jonathan could be heard shouting, "Father! Give me the final power!" Shortly afterward was the sound of Dio screaming.

Enya quickly rushed in under a cover of mist from her Stand, while the other three reacted in relief as Jonathan burst out a first floor window. Twilight and Speedwagon were the first to reach him. "I managed it," Jonathan said weakly, "Dio's been impaled on the goddess statue in the main hall. Even now the flames consume his body." "You pulled off one hell of a miracle, Mister Joestar," Speedwagon said. He then looked at the crumbling manor. "It's too bad it had to come at such a high cost." "It's worth it," Jonathan assured him, "To take a monster out of this world."

Hope you guys like the look I gave Love is in Bloom. If someone wants to try drawing me a pic of it, I'd appreciate it. It might help those reading this get a better visual. I left out the final fight against Dio in the manor since without Twilight it would play out more or less the same way (don't forget Jonathan doesn't know about Hamon yet, and even if he did, Twilight's still an amateur, so Dio gets to stick around for a bit longer).

Wow, I've been noticed this story gets a lot of likes. Makes me wonder though... Do all stories on the site get one dislike by default? So much for love and tolerance. Or maybe it's because of the community tolerating the haters. Oh well, next chapter.

Twilight was busy speaking to the courts alongside the police sergeant she had saved, regarding the inheritance of the Joestar family estate. As was expected, Dio's blatant criminal activities meant he was cut out of George's will by default, leaving the estate split evenly between Twilight and Jonathan. Even with the loss of the manor it was quite a sizable fortune, though small comfort with the loss of their home. 'I suppose we can always use some of the fortune to rebuild,' Twilight thought, 'But it won't be the same with Father gone.'

As the they walked outside, the sergeant gave a sigh. "It's a good thing I hold such a high position in Scotland Yard, or I'd be the laughing stock after the report I gave. Vampires. Even my subordinates are skeptical, save those who were there that night. What of Jonathan and Mister Speedwagon?" "I've already used some of my share of the inheritance to get Robert medical attention," Twilight explained, surprising the sergeant with the use of Speedwagon's first name, "Jonathan has been admitted to the same hospital. I'll be going to see them both momentarily."

She saw the look the sergeant was giving her, then smiled. "You know what Robert said about rich folk. Well, I could say the same about most of the street thugs out there. Robbing, killing, and raping without any care or even need. But Robert and his gang are honorable. Unlike Dio, I can truly say they were victims of circumstance. Had they been born anywhere else, they no doubt would have become decent folk. As it is, they may be on their way there regardless. Me and Robert got to talking as we went to confront Dio, and... Well... We grew close."

"Speaking of Dio," the sergeant said, "We're still looking for his remains. Crazy what happened. He was merely a monster before, but that mask turned him into nothing short of the devil." The two found themselves outside the courthouse. "Will you be needing a coach, Miss Twilight?," the sergeant asked. "No need," Twilight replied, "I've already arranged transport." The sergeant looked amazed as a makeshift steam car approached, driven by some of Speedwagon's crew. "Ready when you are, Miss Twilight," Tattoo said, as Twilight hopped aboard.

When Twilight arrived at the hospital, she was met with an unusual sight. Speedwagon was arguing with a female nurse who could barely be seen from a crack in the door he was in front of. 'She looks familiar,' Twilight noted. "Damn it all," Speedwagon cursed. "Having trouble there, Robert," Twilight said as she approached. "Ah, Twilight," Speedwagon said when he saw her, "I was hoping to get to see Jojo to help cheer him up. You seem to be in high spirits, but Jonathan... Well, you two lost both your home and your father. I know what Jojo said, but I still fear for his will to live."

He looked back at the door. "But that nurse seemed adamant he not have visitors. Maybe you could try. She might make an exception for Jonathan's sister." Twilight rubbed her chin. She knocked on the door. "Hello. I'd like to see Jonathan, please?" "I'm busy tending to him," came a woman's voice, "Please come back at a later time." Twilight was taken aback. "Erina? Erina, is that you?" There was a sudden gasp, and the door swung open. "Twilight! What are you doing here?"

"What of you?," Twilight asked, "What fortune of fate made you Jonathan's nurse?" "Those two know each other then?," Speedwagon asked. "We were childhood friends," Erina explained, "When I heard Jonathan had been admitted for burn injuries, I immediately begged Father to be the one to take care of him." Speedwagon then noticed Erina's hands, her fingers violet. "Have you really been tending to Jonathan for the last three days? That's some devotion."

Erina looked confused, but Speedwagon pointed to her fingers. "You've no injuries of your own, but your fingers are violet from blood, no doubt Jojo's. Tending to burn injuries isn't like setting a broken limb or cracked ribs." "But where have you been all this time?," Twilight asked, "Your last letter said you and your father were leaving London, but we haven't seen you for seven years." "Father and I were traveling to India," Erina explained, "His work was needed for an important expedition, and since he's my only parent I had to go as well. We only recently returned."

Speedwagon chuckled. "It seems I misread you earlier. I thought you were a cold person, but perhaps you were just being hyper-aware of anyone coming to see Jojo." Erina smiled. "I also seemed to have misjudged you. I had no idea you knew Jonathan and Twilight." "Only recently," Speedwagon admitted, "But I've gotten to know them well enough to know they're good people. Seems we can leave Jonathan's care in your hands, Miss. You make a far better Florence Nightingale than I could, at any rate."

Late that night, Jonathan began to stir in his bed, as he opened his eyes, he noticed Erina but couldn't really recognize her at first. "Ah, you're awake Jonathan," Erina said, relieved, "You're past the danger stage now." Jonathan nodded. "Have you been nursing me all this time? You look so familiar... But it couldn't be... Your face reminds me of a girl I loved when I was a youth." Erina giggled. "Would her name happen to be... Erina Pendleton?"

Jonathan smiled in realization. "It's you... Erina! You've certainly grown." Erina blinked. "Me? But you've grown a fair sight more." She had certainly been surprised at the large and muscular frame Jonathan had developed. Still, she smiled, as there was something more important to Jonathan. "But you are still that boy I knew from seven years ago, Jojo." The two smiled at each other. As Erina turned back to the wash bin, her exhaustion finally caught up with her. As she fainted, Jonathan quickly caught her Erina gasped in shock. "Jonathan, you're arms still broken, yet you still caught me!" Jonathan smiled at her. "I'll always be there to catch you... No matter what."

Back at the remains of the Joestar manor, Wang Chen was digging through the rubble. He smiled when he finally found what he was looking for. "I predicated from the facial features of Dio that he would not see the inside of a jail cell," he noted, "But I thought he would see luck from the devil. Turns out his fortune took a darker turn." He brushed some dirt away from the stone mask and smiled. "The disaster took me by surprise, but it worked out well. To think this mask held such secrets. It's certain to fetch a high price."

He reached for the mask, only to scream in pain as Enya stabbed him with a small knife. "I was wondering why you were scuttling about here," she said, "I had been looking for Dio, but it seems you had other designs. But I'm sure my beloved can find a better use for you. Justice!" The small mist that was surrounding the area seeped into Wang's open wound, paralyzing him. Then, an arm burst from the ground and grabbed Wang's still outstretched arm, draining him of his blood. As Dio rose from the dirt, he smiled. "Enya... Thank you."

In 1888, a series of eleven murders occurred in Whitechapel. All of those are speculated to be the work of Jack the Ripper, but only five can conclusively be stated to be his work. The other six are pure speculation. The motive and identity remain a mystery more than a hundred years after the serial killer died. And the reason for it had to do with a certain pair of siblings. In that part of London, Dio was being wheeled around by a now zombified Wang, Enya walking nearby.

Dio sniffed the air. "We're getting close. I can smell blood on the wind." Sure enough, they soon came upon a man who was cutting into a female corpse. The man seemed normal enough, just another average thirty something with auburn hair and black facial hair. But there was a clear sign of glee on his face as he cut into his victim. Dio chuckled, getting the man's attention. "I like you... You're the sort who doesn't hold yourself back by petty morality."

The man, clearly Jack the Ripper, narrowed his eyes. "You've seen me. I can't let you live now." He eyed Enya, but knew that if he did her the same way he did his other victim it could lead to more clues to help the police find him. He'd have to make her seem like a different killer could have done it. But the man in the wheelchair felt the most dangerous, so he had to go first. Jack rushed forward and plunged his knife into Dio, who merely chuckled. "I can definitely make use of you."

He stared at Jack, and began to hypnotize him. "You're not going to drain him?," Wang asked. Dio grinned. "It would be pointless. My burns have not fully healed, and it would take more than a single life to speed up the process. I was fortunate that the pillar holding the goddess statue collapsed while the manor burned around me. If not for that, Jojo's gambit would have succeeded for sure. I may have fewer limitations that a human, but limitations still exist for me. I'll need the blood of a fresh, young woman to do the job."

"What about...?," Wang said, glancing over to Enya. Dio growled. "Don't you dare suggest that! Enya is to be my bride when I finally claim this world!" Wang cowered at Dio's words as Enya grinned at the sniveling coward. "That's why you need Jack the Ripper," she noted, "He can help you find other options." Dio smiled. "Indeed. He is of those rare few men who lack any good in their hearts."

He turned toward the still hypnotized Jack. "Now then, Jack the Ripper, will you accept my offer? In exchange for serving me and bringing me the means to restore myself, I will grant you power the likes of which you've never seen. You will have access to greater pleasure, without the need for worries." Jack stepped forward in a daze as Dio lifted his hand. Enya smiled, knowing that while Dio wouldn't drain Jack the Ripper dry, he still had suck out some of the murderer's blood to infect him.

Back at the remains of the manor, Jonathan and Twilight shifted through the rubble. There was no sign of the mask, Dio, or anyone else that had been poking around. "Perhaps the mask has simply been smashed to pieces," Jonathan suggested. "I'd like to believe that," Twilight admitted, "But somehow I just can't shake the feeling someone might have stolen it." Jonathan sighed. "I'd be lying if I said the thought hadn't crossed my mind. Well, if we're lucky we'll never have to worry about it again."

Erina came up to them, offering Jonathan a cane. As the three of them strolled down the road, Jonathan looked behind him to see a man in a suit and checkerboard pattern top hat watching them. He then seemed to disappear behind a tree. Twilight sighed. "It's no use, Zeppeli, I know you're here!" "Ruin the surprise why don't you," came a man's voice, causing Jonathan to whirl around. There was the man again, sitting on a stone wall and eating a sandwich. "And you, young man, would be Jonathan Joestar, with the other lady being Miss Erina Pendleton."

In an instant, the man seemed to shoot into the air while still in a sitting position. Getting a good look at him, Jonathan noted the man appeared to be Italian. The man grinned. "You were able to survive the mask, and that alone is commendable! However, both the man and mask have survived!" Before any of them could ask what he meant, the man plunged his extended pinkie into Jonathan diaphragm, forcing the air out of his lungs and causing his sling to come undone.

"Jojo!," Erina called out in panic, "Why would you do this!? He's already injured!" "Give it a minute," Twilight said calmly. As Jonathan began to breath, he witnessed a shock as his arm seemed to mend itself. "Jojo, Erina," Twilight said, "Allow me to introduce Baron William Anthonio Zeppeli. He was taught by the same man who was teaching me martial arts a few years ago." "It's a pleasure to meet you both," Zeppeli said, "Jojo, you'll find by now the pain has vanished, thanks to your breathing. And I'll say this much, courage alone cannot destroy the stone mask."

Erina looked on in amazement as Jonathan tested his newly healed arm by lifting a medium-sized stone. "This is amazing!," Jonathan remarked, "How did you do this!?" Zeppeli smirked as he pulled a pepper shaker from the nearby picnic basket and started shaking it over his sandwich, only to have it break, causing him to sneeze and seemingly fall off the wall. "Didn't Master Tonpetty tell you to take easy on the pepper?," Twilight asked.

"I suppose I have had enough for the day," Zeppeli replied, having somehow gotten behind the group, "Now, Jojo. I'm sure you have a number of questions. As to how I know your name, well that's the easy part. Twilight has often spoken of you while we were training. As for the rest, well just follow me and I'll explain everything." Jonathan was a little concerned that he knew little about Zeppeli, but Twilight seemed to trust him and the man did heal his arm, so Jonathan agreed to come.

Zeppeli led the trio back to the manor's ruins. He casually walked into a wide steam nearby. "The first thing I should explain is how I was able to accelerate your body's natural healing," he said, "It holds several names. Sendo, Ripple, Hamon. They all refer to an ancient martial art derived through controlled breathing. Observe." As Zeppeli seemed to focus, Jonathan and Erina looked in shock as the water around Zeppeli's legs seemed to ripple in an unusual manner. Jonathan turned to see Twilight was also in the river doing the same thing.

"One's breath and blood are connected," Zeppeli explained, "For blood carries oxygen from the lungs to all the cells of the human body. In other words, your breath can create ripples in your body. Control that energy, and..." He turned his attention to a stone in front of him with a frog on top. Thrusting his arm towards it, his fist crackled with the same golden energy Twilight showed when she destroyed the zombie during Dio's assault. To Jonathan and Erina's surprise, the frog remained fine while the stone it was on split in two.

"Amazing!," Jonathan said, "I saw Twilight use that same power to destroy one of the undead Dio created!" "Indeed," Zeppeli noted, "So she was able to put her teachings into use, then." He smiled at her. "Good to see you kept up your training." Twilight shrugged. "I never really thought I'd have to use that aspect of it, however." Zeppeli chuckled. "What you've seen so far is just a sample of what Hamon is capable of. Now, as to my purpose here. You see, Hamon and the stone mask are two sides of the same coin. And the mask... Still exists."

Jonathan and Twilight gasped. "Moreover," Zeppeli continued, "Dio still has it." "That monster lives!?," Jonathan replied, angered, "But how!?" "I don't know the full details," Zeppeli admitted, "But I saw him rise from the rubble of this very manor with my own two eyes. I observed a Chinaman, whom you might remember, and a Middle Eastern woman, whom you've probably not yet seen. It was because of their actions that Dio escaped the manor and left with the mask."

He pointed to Jonathan. "I've been searching for the mask for decades just to destroy it, but now the fate of battling the mask falls to you, Jonathan Joestar! You must also learn the ways of Hamon, or else you and all of humanity will die!" Jonathan looked to Erina, who seemed confused. 'I somehow know Zeppeli's words are true,' he thought, 'But I can't get Erina involved. Twilight is one thing. She has more than enough power to protect herself. But Erina cannot. And I doubt I'll have luxury of staying by her side throughout this endeavor.'

As he thought, he grabbed a nearby tree branch, and Zeppeli and Twilight marveled as fresh blossoms sprang up from almost instantly. "I see," Zeppeli said, "The Hamon I sent through him to mend his bones... He's instinctively transferred it to the tree." "I told you he was special," Twilight said with a smirk. Zeppeli chuckled and nodded. "Yes, Jojo certainly has great potential within him. I can see why he survived against the man of the mask. Jojo may just have the power to save the world."

Over the next week, Zeppeli continued to train Jonathan and Twilight, who felt she needed a refresher course now that a clear need for her Hamon training was evident. Twilight absorbed the lessons easily, but Jonathan had a bit of difficulty. Zeppeli, in spite of his appearance, was much older and more experienced, and knew a few special skills using Hamon. During that time, Jonathan learned why Zeppeli wanted to destroy the mask.

It turned out Zeppeli had been born to a scholar family, but his interest was in archaeology much like Jonathan. On a trip to Mexico to excavate an Aztec ruin, he and his group stumbled onto the stone mask. However, on the trip home, Zeppeli's friends were horribly murdered one by one. It turned out someone in the group decided to try using the mask, and became a vampire much like Dio had. Zeppeli witnessed much of the same horror Jonathan and Twilight had when Dio first transformed, and he only survived by diving into the ocean.

Even then it did little more than buy him just enough time to wait for the sunrise, when he learned the face of the one who had put the mask on. As it turned out, it was Zeppeli's own father, who had led the expedition. The mask had still been on the ship, which drifted away, while Zeppeli was soon rescued by a passing fishing boat. "The mask must have eventually found its way back to Britain," Jonathan realized, "Where my parents found it..."

"Your father was clearly made of stronger stuff than mine to resist putting it on for seven long years," Zeppeli noted, "I had feared that the next person to have it in their possession would discover its powers and use it for themselves. But from what you tell me, had Dio not come into your lives my father would probably have been the last person to wear it. Still, at the time I had no way of knowing this, and swore to find the means of destroying the mask."

"And that's when you eventually discovered the power of Hamon," Jonathan realized, "But how can it do so?" "The one thing I was struck by on that day," Zeppeli explained, "Is that it took sunlight to destroy my father when he became a vampire. The question was... Why?" "The answer lies in the fact that vampires feed on blood," Twilight noted, "Like so." She took two stones, and threw one in. After the ripples began to form, she threw the other one in, negating the first set.

"I think I see what you're getting at," Jonathan realized, "Use Hamon to manipulate the blood a vampire has fed on to destroy him, one set of ripples canceling another." "Precisely," Zeppeli said, "Whether the waves of light from the sun, or the ripples created by Hamon, either can overfeed a vampire and destroy him. Even if you have trouble with the practice, it's good to know you understand the basics."

After a week of training, Jonathan and Twilight were in meditation. Jonathan noted there were many similarities between himself and Zeppeli. As he thought this, the two siblings snapped to attention as a dense fog began to roll in. A familiar laughing could be heard as Wang Chen appeared, now looking very zombified and bearing long metal claws on his hands. "Lord Dio has given me permission to kill you, Jonathan, since you alone know the secret of the mask."

Jonathan couldn't help but smirk. Clearly Dio knew nothing of Zeppeli. Wang grinned evilly. "I will drink you, then the woman as well." Enya then stepped out from the fog. "Don't forget what I told you, Wang Chen. Only a Stand user can defeat a Stand user." Twilight raised an eyebrow. "If you know what a Stand is, then you clearly have one as well." Enya smiled. "Indeed. This mist was created by my Stand, Justice." Wang growled. "Don't get so arrogant just because Lord Dio favors you, Enya Geil."

He leapt at Jonathan, but got a surprise as Jonathan used his Hamon to stretch his arm out to strike Wang on the face. Meanwhile, Enya tried to use her illusions to get close to Twilight and stab her to control her and attack Jonathan. But Twilight's own Hamon was already detecting Enya's movement through the ground, allowing her to whirl around and spot Enya when she got close, letting her use her Stand to block the knife and cause great pain to Enya's arm. Twilight was able to see Justice at that point, a mass of mist with skeletal hands and a human skull wearing a crown poking out of it.

Enya backed off, then spotted Wang holding his face in pain. "Hot! It's too hot!" "Heat from just a punch?," Enya asked in surprise, "And Twilight was able to tell where I was coming from in spite of my illusions. Wang, we're leaving! Dio must know of this." She conjured her Stand to thicken the mist, allowing the two to escape. "Well done," Zeppeli said, "Shame they both got away, but now we've given Dio something new to fear. That was excellent form, Jojo, but you still have a long way to go before you've mastered Hamon."

Elsewhere, Dio was recovering in a mansion in the small the town of Windknights Lot. The town was built during the Middle Ages for royal knights to practice, and the castle where they worked could still be seen, nearly as intact as it was back then. Because of its fortified position, to even get in you needed to take a tunnel through the nearby mountain, so a prison had been built there in modern times. Dio finished feeding on the young woman brought to him by Jack the Ripper.

The people in the town were more ignorant than those near the Joestar estate or London, believing these girls had simply run away, which was one reason Dio chose this town to recover. "This is what they call the food chain," he noted, "Pigs eat grass, and humans eat pigs. And now there is me, standing above humans on that chain. What do you think, Jack the Ripper?" Jack remained silent as he held another woman at knife point, forcing her to wait her turn. "If you need a meal of your own," Dio said, "You're welcome to the one you're holding. My powers are starting to return, after all."

Jack grinned as he sank his jaws into the girl's neck. Dio walked to the center of the room. "Still, for all my power I did lose at the Joestar manor. I'll need to gather more allies. First I'll take over this town. Then I'll set my sights on London. And from there... I'll begin to control the whole world!" Just then, Wang burst into the room, Enya following behind. "We have a problem, my love," she said, "We have been given a new reason to fear the Joestar siblings besides Twilight's Stand." She pointed to Wang's melting cheek, causing Dio to raise an eyebrow in concern.

Later, Speedwagon joined Jonathan, Twilight, and Zeppeli on a coach bound for Windknights Lot. "That's right," Speedwagon said, "My friends in the underground confirmed it. They saw the Chinaman and the dark woman heading that way." "Then Dio is there as well," Jonathan noted. "I never thought I'd meet someone who had a power like Twilight's," Zeppeli noted, "She told me of her mysterious power, which she referred to as a Stand, a manifestation of her will."

"Have you seen this manifestation?," Speedwagon asked. "How could he?," Twilight replied, "Only a Stand user can see a Stand. It makes me wonder if Enya knows anything about the arrow." "Arrow?," Jonathan asked. "I wasn't born with my power," Twilight explained, "It appeared after I pricked myself on a large arrowhead that belonged to my birth father's relic collection. That arrow disappeared shortly before I was to leave for the Joestar estate. If I get the chance, I'll have to question Enya about what she knows."

"If I may ask," Speedwagon said, "Why let Enya and Wang go at all?" "Our primary concern is Dio," Zeppeli explained, "If we let them flee, they'll go straight to him. Once he is gone, they can be dealt with at our leisure. Enya still seemed to be human, but if she has a power similar to Twilight's, there's no telling if a jail cell will hold her. At the same time it do won't us any favors to kill her, so we'll need to explore an alternate solution. That said, I was hoping we could at least be rid of the Chinaman. We only need to follow one, after all." Jonathan looked out the window.

"You alright, brother?," Twilight asked. "I only told Erina we'd be leaving for a while," Jonathan said, "She trusts me enough to not need any explanation other than it's important, but I didn't tell her about Dio. She doesn't need to get involved." "Good instinct," Zeppeli agreed, "Mister Speedwagon looks like he can handle himself against the lesser undead we'll likely face, so him coming with us is no trouble. But Miss Erina cannot fight. Speedwagon, keep in mind that undead are still stronger and faster than humans, but not by much. They lack a pain reflex, so they can use more of the human body's natural strength. Also, unlike vampires, they cannot regenerate, so any damage you can do to one counts."

Speedwagon nodded. Just then, the coach suddenly stopped. "What happened?," Speedwagon asked. "I have a bad feeling," Twilight said, "Something red is seeping into the coach. Jojo, let's take a look." Jonathan nodded, and the two got out. They got a terrible shock when they saw all four of their horses headless, one of the heads pinned to the now dead coachman, who had several blades stuck in his body. The two were soon joined by Speedwagon and Zeppeli. "What could have done this?," Speedwagon asked.

"Nothing human," Zeppeli noted, "But I doubt it's Dio. By now he has a few minions under his belt, and he's lost to Jojo once before. He'll send them first." Sure enough, the face of Jack the Ripper could be seen in the neck of one of the horses. Instantly he jumped out, then turned to the group and grinned. "If this is a minion of Dio," Jonathan said, "Then he's clearly not messing around. This man managed to kill not only our coachman, but all four of our horses, while the coach was still moving no less."

"He's seems far stronger than the average undead," Zeppeli noted, "This is the sort of creature I was talking about. They can remain immortal so long as they consume living flesh. Still, he's nothing more than a flesh puppet for Dio." He got out the wine bottle he had brought and used his Hamon to drill a hole in the bottom, pouring it into a glass. Meanwhile Jack brandished his knife. "You are like pigs in a slaughterhouse. I will warm my pale flesh with your fresh blood!"

As he brandished his ornate knife while laughing manically, he suddenly saw his severed pinkie fly past his vision, having been cut off by his slashes. He looked shocked at first, but then kept laughing as he dug his knife into his cheeks and right through his face. "All he cares about is slashing with that knife of his," Zeppeli noted, "He must have been a rather nasty evildoer when he was still alive." "Would you believe me if I said we might be dealing with Jack the Ripper?," Twilight said.

"From the papers?," Speedwagon replied, "The fact that he focuses on that knife certainly lends credence to the theory, but we're a good distance away from Whitechapel." "I did say 'might be'," Twilight countered. Zeppeli considered their situation. "By now the Chinaman and the dark woman have told him about Hamon. So if I were him... I'd likely try to seal off the entrance." Sure enough, Jack grabbed the entire coach and threw it, though it turned out he wanted to collapse the tunnel instead.

The group jumped out of the way of the collapsing rocks. "Any reason you didn't try your Stand?," Zeppeli asked. "Wasn't sure if this guy was aiming for us or the tunnel," Twilight admitted. Jack then started growling as his flesh began to bulge in various places. Speedwagon gasped as various scalpels erupted from Jack's flesh. "Maybe this is Jack the Ripper," he noted, "Such a terrible killer would certainly make a desirable minion for Dio." Jack flexed to shoot out the scalpels.

While Zeppeli calmly sipped the wine, Jonathan, Twilight, and Speedwagon hid behind some of the rubble. The blades, however, began to split the rock. Seeing one get close to Speedwagon's shoulder, Twilight activated her Stand. She grinned in satisfaction as Jack clutched his injured abdomen, likely the spot that the attacking blade had come from. Meanwhile, a few blades approached Zeppeli, who focused his Hamon through the wine still in his mouth. "Hamon Cutter!"

He spit out the wine as several charged globs that easily sliced through the scalpels, surprising Jack. "Looks like my Hamon is sharper than your blades," Zeppeli taunted, "I applied pressure to the wine I had sipped with my breathing, then pushed it out through my teeth." Jack growled as he pulled out his knife from his face. "Jojo, another lesson for you," Zeppeli said, "Earlier when I tried to predict what this undead would do, that's getting into your opponent's mind, a crucial tactic."

He stared down Jack as the zombie approached. "Here's another tactic. You are no doubt familiar with fleas. Fleas are tiny, insignificant creatures, yet they attack larger creatures at any time. Is this true bravery? Of course not. That's merely their instinct to feed." He casually blocked Jack's knife with the empty wine bottle. "Bravery is when you know fear, and make it your own! Losing your breath is fear, and when you control your fear, then you can breathe regularly! The power of Hamon is the result of that bravery!"

Jack backed away from the counter as Zeppeli grinned. "But undead do not know bravery, because they do not know fear. That is why..." He struck charged up his Hamon through his leg and made to kick Jack. "They are just like fleas! Sendo Wave Kick!" The attack smashed into Jack's face, melting part of it. "Now then, Jojo," Zeppeli said, "It's up to you to finish him off, just as I taught you. You won't be able to defeat Dio if you can't defeat this one." "He's just incredible," Speedwagon noted, "Even through all this, his wine hasn't even spilled." Twilight giggled. "He's long past the point of learning to make fear his own."

Now we have more motivation for Twilight. She's seen Enya, and knows she has a Stand. So she might able to learn more about the Stand arrow. This will actually set up something interesting in future arcs. I might just have her join the fight in the next chapter. Let me know if I should.

Well, the votes are in. Twilight's getting a part in taking out Jack the Ripper. I drew inspiration for this from Eyes of Heaven's Dual Heat Attacks. Hope you like how things go this chapter.

Still in pain, Jack leapt up to the ceiling, digging his knife into it. "Damn you!," he growled, "You'll pay for that!" "Pay for what?," Twilight asked, "Fighting to survive? If you can't handle people who fight back against you, then clearly you are a flea." Fighting his urge to drop down and teach Twilight a lesson, Jack instead opened a hidden passage in the wall and flung himself into it. "Even after that tremendous attack," Jonathan said, "He still lives."

"It's not enough to simply damage a zombie or vampire," Zeppeli explained, "You must destroy their brain. For lesser undead, a good solid blow, preferably with a blade behind it, will suffice. But our Ripper friend is clearly made of stronger stuff." "What's with the passage he disappeared into?," Speedwagon asked, "It clearly existed before Dio arrived." Zeppeli nodded. "It existed since the town was first founded in medieval times, when this place was meant as a training ground for royal knights. And it seems he left it open, which means he's inviting us in."

He turned to the siblings. "Perhaps you two should go in alone. Twilight already has experience in Hamon after five years of training, so if this doesn't work out she can finish the creature off. Jonathan..." He tossed the still full wine glass to Jonathan. "For this test, you must defeat Jack without having spilled a drop of this wine. Keep in mind this Norwegian phrase, 'The Northern Wind created the valorous vikings.' If you fail this test, I won't hesitate to abandon you. Twilight, he'll also fail should you offer any hints regarding the lesson."

The two siblings nodded as they entered the passage. "Are you mad, Zeppeli!?," Speedwagon asked, "Our lives are in danger here! This is no time to play games!" "So who's playing?," Zeppeli asked, "Believe it or not, there is a method to my madness. If you need to understand, then let me tell you of a related story regarding a Caribbean fisherman I once met. The ocean where he lived was deadly, the sharks that swam those waters being the largest you'll ever lay eyes on. Some were over ten meters tall, and all had killed several men from his village."

"But clearly not him," Speedwagon surmised. Zeppeli nodded. "The story happened one day while he was doing his usual job. However, the sharks attacked his boat, and he wound up slipping and falling into the sea. To survive, he cut off his own leg, which was caught in the boat's torn wood. He then used the blood to draw one shark in closer, then stabbed it in the head with his harpoon. The other sharks, sensing they would not get an easy meal with the death of one of their own, instead feasted on the dead shark's corpse, allowing the man to escape. When he returned, he became a hero to his village."

Zeppeli smiled. "That man was very old when I met him. Much like the Northern Wind forced the vikings to become strong to survive, so too did this fisherman. And so too must Jonathan." "But how does the wine fit into this?," Speedwagon asked. "Let's wait until he finishes his test," Zeppeli replied, "Either in success or failure, I will explain. But I will say this... If Jonathan cannot pass this test, it will be impossible for him to defeat Dio. That is also why I forbade Twilight to offer him hints regarding what the wine is for. He cannot rely on her help for everything."

Jonathan carefully made his way through the maze of man-made tunnels, doing as Twilight did earlier in her fight with Enya. Twilight insisted that any sort of light would just make it easier for Jack to attack them. Vampires had excellent night vision, but zombies had no such advantage over humans. This proved a good idea, as Jack nearly took the siblings by surprise using a bladed torture device shaped like a giant ribcage. The weapon was powerful enough to slice through a nearby column.

Jonathan had difficulty keeping the wine in the glass while dodging. More than once it threatened to spill out, but he managed to use what he'd learned to keep the wine in the glass, down to the last drop. "He's hiding in the darkness," Jonathan said as he got up, "Even without the ability to see, he can still hear our breath and smell our blood. And he seems quite found of that knife. Even a narrow miss seems enough to tear through flesh. I shudder to think what a direct attack would do."

"This is your lesson, Jojo," Twilight reminded him, "What do you want to do?" Jonathan carefully approached a nearby wall, Jack on the other side of it. 'That's it,' the mad killer thought, 'Just two more meters, and you'll die.' Meanwhile, Jonathan was also thinking. 'Zeppeli's first thought was to put himself in the mind of the enemy. If I do that, then it's clear Jack must be close. Perhaps on the other side of this wall since I can barely make out an entrance not far from my position.'

He began to steady his breathing, remembering the lesson on making fear his own. As he got close to the entrance, he saw the wine start to shudder, though not from anything he did. "Yes... I see now. The ripples in the wine, like the Northern Wind! The wine acts like a conductor for Hamon, transferring through the glass and my body, into the earth. Where it senses the presence of life! That's how you were evading Enya's illusions!" Twilight grinned. "There are no illusions to a trained Hamon user. Can you find where he is past the wall?"

Jonathan held the glass to the wall and found where the wine was rippling most. "There!" Twilight nodded, and the two focused their breathing. As one, they called out, "Trembling Heart! Unrelenting Heat!" The two struck the wall at the same time, sending Hamon through the wall and into the unsuspecting Jack. "Sendo Hamon Overdrive!" The villainous serial killer turned zombie yelled in surprise and pain as he was completely destroyed by the twin attacks.

Zeppeli smiled in satisfaction when the siblings returned, the wine glass still full. Seeing in Twilight's eyes that she fulfilled her end, Zeppeli said, "Well done, Jojo. You have passed the test. It seems the Northern Wind truly did make a powerful viking this day. Now with that obstacle removed, let us move on to the village." When the group found themselves outside in the sun, Twilight noticed something. "The village still seems to be normal. Dio must have been careful with his feedings."

"Mister Zeppeli," Speedwagon said, "Could I also learn how to use Hamon? I'd like to be more than just an information source for our group." Zeppeli considered it. "I'm not sure you could. Theoretically anyone can learn Hamon, since everyone has life energy. But only one in a thousand people have the physical aptitude and mental discipline necessary to pull it off. Just look at Twilight and Jojo. Even now they're still performing the breathing exercise they were taught. That's not easy to do on a regular basis."

He turned to Speedwagon. "Both Twilight and Jojo are special. Jonathan has willpower from his past and future, riddled with hardship, and Twilight is simply a prodigy, which is rare among Hamon users. Even though I have long been a master, it came after ten long years of study, with a master who had five-thousand years worth of history behind him. You, however... Even a life living on the streets would not be pressure enough. If I may ask, why the interest? It must be more than just your relationship with Twilight."

Speedwagon nodded. "It's true Twilight can take care of herself. That's what I love about her more than anything. But everything about Dio makes me sick. I've stolen possessions, sure, but Dio steals life! You don't need to be a copper to know which crime is worse." Zeppeli nodded in understanding. "Well, your regular fighting skills should suffice against Dio's minions, should you truly wish to help. The technique I used to awaken Jonathan's Hamon is tricky, and more than once I've slipped while using it on a young potential, causing them much pain."

Just then, a young boy came flying in on a rope, grabbing the bag they had with them. Quickly he swam across the nearby pond. "What on Earth?," Jonathan asked. "The kid is clever," Zeppeli noted, "He came in using a tension line, a efficient means of pulling off the theft and escaping." "This is now time to be admiring him!," Speedwagon called out, "All our money was in that bag!" His eye twitched when he saw the kid get out the other side of the pond and pull his pants down just enough to slap his bare bottom, grinning at the group as he did. "And now he's making fun us...," Speedwagon grumbled.

"We might as well go after him," Zeppeli admitted, "He can lead us to the village." "But how?," Speedwagon asked, "He's already halfway up the nearby cliff." "Have you ever heard the Bible story of Jesus?," Zeppeli asked. Speedwagon nodded. Zeppeli grinned. "Well, Hamon users may not have the power of God, but we can still pull off one particular trick of his Son's." He placed a hand in the water and focused his Hamon, causing it ripple. Both Speedwagon and the kid were in shock as Zeppeli, Jonathan, and Twilight easily walked across the surface where the ripples formed.

"You'd best go the long way, Robert," Twilight said, "This trick requires one to make their body's energy and the water's repel each other, not an easy feat. Look, even Jojo can only do it up to his knees." The kid got over his shock. "How did you do that? Well, either way, you can't follow me up here! This bag's mine!" "I believe you'll find my name printed on it," Jonathan said, "Not your's." He channeled his Hamon through the rock while striking it. Zeppeli nodded in approval as he listened. "Good form, but you need to work on your aim. Two meters to the left would have been better."

The kid laughed. "So you're not following then? This is why travelers are so easy to steal from!" Jonathan smirked. "Why follow you when you'll be coming down momentarily?" The kid looked confused. "Why would I--" His words got cut off as the Hamon flung him off the cliff, causing him to scream in panic. Luckily, Jonathan caught him before he hit the ground. Jonathan then frowned. "Something's wrong. There's too much energy in this boy." Twilight snapped her head up. "It's not the boy... Look!"

Nearby was a graveyard, and already the sensation of Hamon could be felt from the ground within it, meaning the corpses were moving. "It seems we were the ones getting caught," Zeppeli said, "That boy was meant as bait, meaning he was likely hypnotized." As the rotting hands started bursting from the ground, Jonathan got another sensation and looked up. He glared as he recognized the man standing at the top of the cliff, grinning down at the group. "Dio..."

As the crowd of undead came pouring in, one was killed quickly when Speedwagon's razor hat struck it in the brain, causing it to fall and stop moving from the blood loss. The boy blinked a started looking around. "What's going on? Who are you people?" "So Dio hypnotized this poor child," Speedwagon said, his teeth grinding. "Yes," Zeppeli said, "He knows that zombies and vampires cannot act in the sun. Look, already the night starts to come in. He sent a human child to draw us into a trap. To think someone so cunning has possession of the mask..."

The boy screamed as he looked at the zombies. "What's going on!?" "It'll be alright," Jonathan said, "What's your name, young man?" The boy gulped. "P-Poko." Jonathan nodded. "Alright then, Poko. Grab onto my back and hold on as tight as you can. Use the backpack ropes to get a good grip. Make sure not to fall off, understand?" Poko nodded as he did what he was told. Meanwhile, Speedwagon retrieved his hat and brandished a sledgehammer. "Looks like the knights that were buried here were turned into zombies by Dio."

Zeppeli nodded. "If you ever wanted a chance to help, Speedwagon, this is it. This mindless horde should be easy for a competent fighter, even without special skills." Dio looked on as his three enemies, plus the newcomer, easily dealt with his minions. 'They tear my zombies apart as easily as tissue paper. I'm starting to regret sending Jack in first. Perhaps Wang would have made a better choice. The man has already proven disposable.' "You there," came Zeppeli's voice, "Dio Brando, was it? I don't know who you are, but I know what the mask awakened in your brain."

Dio was taken aback. He thought for sure that only Jonathan and Twilight truly knew the secrets of the mask. "Why not come down to fight?," Zeppeli offered, "Surely it's far better than that unstable cliff." Dio scoffed as he licked his fang. "You would have me down in the dirt with the insects!?" He unleashed a torrent of will, causing Zeppeli to pause. "Such a powerful evil pressure." Dio laughed as he lifted up his shirt, revealing that he still had a burn scar where the goddess statue had speared him. "Just a bit more and I'll have healed all the wounds Jojo dealt me. Perhaps your blood will suffice, magician."

Zeppeli glared at the vampire. "Bastard... How many lives have you drained just to heal those wounds?" Dio shrugged. "Do you remember how many breads you've eaten in your life?" "Bread can't scream as it's being eaten," Twilight quipped, "Now if you've gone with some sort of livestock, then you'd have a better analogy." "Will you quit that!?," Dio barked, "Even now you have to make me look like a fool! Ever since that day we first met, when you used that accursed Stand to keep me from satisfaction against that mangy mutt!" He then realized he'd said too much, as Twilight narrowed her eyes. "Enya told you about them. Has she said anything about an arrow, by chance?"

Dio composed himself, taking a second to calm down. "You'd have to ask her personally." He then snapped to attention and caught a punch from Zeppeli, who had taken advantage of the situation to strike. As he saw the glowing energy from Zeppeli's fist, he grinned. Zeppeli looked shocked as Dio froze his arm. Zeppeli then grunted in pain as his own arm starting tearing apart. "Enya and Wang told me of the strange energy you possess," Dio explained, "And I realized it must flow through your bloodstream. It may have been enough to defeat Jack the Ripper, but I have far more control over my flesh. I vaporized the water in your arm while taking away its heat, causing it to freeze instantly."

Zeppeli quickly pulled his hand away, and Dio took his chance. "Now I'll crush your arm and skull like a vase!" Zeppeli simply stood there and grinned. Dio got a surprise when his attack rebounded, causing his arm to fracture as it connected with Zeppeli. That's when Jonathan and Twilight leapt up onto the cliff as well. "You seem to have forgotten to get out of sight," Jonathan explained, "Twilight's power works so long as she can see you attacking. Dio, now we'll crush your ambitions!"

There's going to be a real major change with this chapter. Let's just say Twilight will find far more to do. Hope you like it.

Dio quickly regenerated his arm as Jonathan and Twilight tried using their Hamon power to attack Dio. However, Dio used both his hands to freeze their blood, forcing them to pull back. "It seems we're at an impasse," Dio admitted, "My power is no match for Twilight's Stand, but that mysterious energy you now wield can be countered by my power." He breathed in and launched another wave of dark energy, sending the three Hamon users sailing off the cliff.

Picking themselves up, Twilight shook her head. "I think he's gotten stronger since he first put on the mask." Jonathan flexed his hand, which was starting to thaw. Zeppeli was not so lucky, as his skin was still blue where Dio had frozen it. "We can't beat him as it is," Speedwagon noted, "Not when he knows how to counter your Hamon powers. Twilight's Stand is our trump card, but that can only go so far with Dio being able to regenerate so quickly."

"I was caught off-guard when you killed Jack the Ripper," Dio admitted, "But compared to my power, he was nothing. Still, it seems I am not yet in a position to destroy you. I'll find a way to work around that power soon. In the meantime, my most powerful servants will entertain you. Tarkus! Bruford!" The cliff began to shake and erupt as two armored warriors appeared from within it. "What on Earth?," Speedwagon said in shock, "Who are these men?"

"In life, they were servants of Mary Stuart," Dio explained, "And planned the assassination of Elizabeth I during the 16th century. Needless to say, they failed in their plans and were executed for their troubles, cursing the world as they did so. Now I have revived them." He turned to the warriors. "Deal with these insects! I have other plans to make." The two warriors approached, Jonathan and Twilight putting their guard. "It's two on two," Zeppeli noted, "But there's no telling how these dark knights will fight together."

Bruford approached Jonathan, who made the first attack. "Zoom Punch!" Bruford barely managed to dodge, but was able to grab Jonathan's arm with his hair. Tarkus then came in to attack, but Twilight blocked the blow, using both her Hamon and Stand to lessen the impact while also damaging Tarkus. She then struck back. "Metal Silver Overdrive!" Twilight slammed her fist into Tarkus' armored stomach, her Hamon channeling through the iron armor and attacking Tarkus from all sides. Surprisingly, while he did seem damaged, he was still standing.

Meanwhile, Speedwagon grabbed Zeppeli's frozen arm and placed it against his own stomach, immediately causing it to start thawing. "These two," Speedwagon said, "Dio said they were servants of Mary Stuart, better known as Mary, Queen of Scots." "Indeed," Dio said, "They were brought up as knights without any relatives, having lost them all to war. Mary Stuart took them in and gave them purpose. But when her husband died, she was accused of killing him. Naturally, the two knights didn't believe it. But it still caused war to break out between Mary and her sister, Elizabeth I."

"Don't talk to me about English history," Speedwagon snarled, "In case you've forgotten, I happen to be English." "Then here's something not found in the history books," Dio said, "When Mary was defeated, her knights were told that she was captured, and if they surrendered themselves to execution, she would be spared. Naturally they accepted, only to learn right before they died that they had been deceived. Interestingly, a tale is told regarding their execution in this village. Tarkus was said to have broken several executioner's axes, since his thick neck was rigid with anger. While Bruford somehow killed the executioner using just his hair. I rather liked that story, so I dug up their graves and turned them into demons of vengeance!"

Bruford, his hair sucking out some of Jonathan's blood, growled, "We will bring ruin to this world!" Tarkus brought out a massive blade to use against Twilight. "And we will slaughter in the name of Dio!" Jonathan breathed calmly. "To think such heroes would be turned into demons. Dio... You have sunk to a new low." The two knight looked on as the siblings channeled their Hamon. Jonathan's hand seemed to burn Bruford's hair as he called out, "Scarlet Overdrive!" Bruford looked shocked as Jonathan punched the arm tangled in his hair, burning the hairs off.

Tarkus got his own surprise when Twilight struck out with what seemed to be four arms, even though he could only see two. "Overdrive Barrage!" Even though Love is in Bloom was not a very strong Stand physically speaking, it could still channel Hamon since it was made of Twilight's inner spirit. Twilight aimed for Tarkus' arms, forcing him to drop his sword as his muscles got torn apart. Tarkus rubbed his arms and smirked. "These siblings aren't too shabby," he admitted, "Looks like we'll get a decent warm up after three-hundred years."

Bruford smiled and nodded. "Indeed. It's been forever since we've had a worthy opponent." Just then, a pair of more feral zombies came up behind Jonathan and Twilight. "We have you now," one of them said, only to get impaled by Tarkus, who had sped behind him without Twilight even seeing him. "That's no way to treat a lady," Tarkus said, "Especially one who knows how to fight like a warrior." Bruford suddenly appeared behind the other zombie, scrapping away his nose with a single finger.

"Dio," he said, "We've pledged our souls to you, but I'd appreciate it if you leave the trash out of this fight." Dio raised an eyebrow, surprised that the two zombies still had their pride as knights, but shrugged. "As you wish." Tarkus smiled. "Good. Looks like we get this fight all to ourselves." He swung at Twilight with his sword, forcing her to dodge. The warrior seemed to focus just as much on speed and precision as savage strength, making him difficult to keep up with.

Bruford, by contrast, nearly caught Jonathan off-guard by using his hair to manipulate his sword, a technique called the Dance Macabre Hair. Jonathan managed to avoid the attack, impressing Bruford. "These two are as tough as the stories say," Twilight noted. "No surprise," Jonathan said, "They are two of only five men to have survived the trial of 77 Rings." Just then, Bruford managed to knock Jonathan into the water, while Tarkus got Twilight in a deadlock with his sword.

"Looks like my knights have things well in hand," Dio said, "I don't need to keep watching. After another day, my zombies will spread from this town to all over England!" He laughed as he floated away. Tarkus smirked. "He thinks it's so easy. But I can tell. You're waiting for your brother to surface before you use that mysterious power from the last time I had you in this position. From what we've been told, that Hamon you've been using requires breathing, meaning that man is at a disadvantage. But Bruford also has a handicap, his heavy armor prevents him from maneuvering properly in the water. And with his honor, he won't use a sword in that situation."

"Clever thinking," Twilight noted, "The stories did say you were as smart as you were strong. But there's one thing you've gotten wrong. Jonathan won't surface. Not yet at least." Tarkus raised an eyebrow. "There's coal at the bottom of the lake," Twilight explained, "Meaning pockets of air are trapped there as well. Jojo knows this, and will attempt to make for them. One breath's all he needs, and he can finish the fight. Not to mention... Hamon travels quite well through water."

Tarkus gasped as Jonathan's voice could be heard calling out, "Turquoise Blue Overdrive!" At the same time, Twilight grabbed Tarkus' sword with her fingertips and called out, "Metal Silver Overdrive!" Tarkus quickly dropped his sword as the Hamon ripped through his arm. Meanwhile Bruford managed to jump out of the lake, though not fast enough to complete avoid Jonathan's attack. "Bruford!," Tarkus called out, "Are you okay?"

"Better than okay," Bruford said, "Tarkus... I know you've realized it. These are true heroes we're fighting!" Tarkus chuckled. "Indeed. The lady seemed to understand just what her brother was planning. She has complete faith and trust in him." He flexed his arm where the Hamon had coursed through it. "In that case, no more weapons. No more handicaps. Let's fight these heroes using pure skill!" In spite of their situation, Jonathan was amazed. "In spite of Dio controlling their bodies, their spirit remains the same. It was the same with Jack the Ripper before. The only reason he seemed like a mindless servant was because he still had his desire to kill."

Having seen the techniques the siblings could do with Hamon, the dark knights used what they knew could counter-attack, Tarkus putting the environment to use while Bruford relied on his control over his hair. The fight seemed to last for hours, but finally Jonathan and Twilight were in a position to finish off their foes at last. Tarkus was finally tiring out from lack of feeding, and Bruford's hair was getting burned down to the scalp. Channeling their Hamon, the siblings delivered a massive barrage to finish the job. "Sunlight Yellow Overdrive!" The knights felt the Hamon pass directly into them as they got sent flying, the fight seemingly over.

Major change to canon coming up. I hope you like what I have set up here. I had originally designed Twilight's Stand for the sole purpose of saving Zeppeli, but now I have a better idea. And a new character that is almost entirely my own creation.

Bruford found himself in pain like he had never felt, but he was still alive. He turned to his old friend, and gasped as he saw Tarkus start to evaporate. "Tarkus!" Tarkus chuckled weakly. "I got careless... Lost myself in the fight... I took so much of her power that it finally broke through my defenses..." He closed his eyes and smiled. "But... I can't say I regret it... It was a wonderful fight. No man could ever compare to the battle that girl gave me. My only lingering regret... Is that I wasn't able to get out one last deathmatch... But it won't hold me back, because this fight was more satisfying than any I've had before..."

Bruford looked on as his friend and ally turned to dust, destroyed by Twilight's Hamon. "Tarkus rests once and for all," Jonathan noted, "But you, Bruford, persist." Bruford frowned. "I am a dark knight, who has sworn vengeance on the world... This pain I feel is nothing compared to my anger!" Jonathan raised an eyebrow as Bruford picked up his sword. "Even now," Speedwagon said, "His instincts as a zombie compel him to attack again." Bruford charged at Jonathan, bringing his sword down to attack, but stopped his blade mere inches from slicing Jonathan, a trickle of blood appearing where the edge scratched him.

"You make no move," Bruford realized, "Nor your sister... But why?" "Just now," Jonathan explained, "You said you feel pain. But an undead should not be able to feel anything." Bruford took a step back as he realized what Jonathan was implying. Flowers seemed to spring beneath his feet even as they crumbled beneath him. "I see," Zeppeli said, "The Hamon these siblings produced... It was enough to make the dark knights remember their lives as humans. Tarkus had finally found satisfaction in combat, and Bruford has gotten back his ability to feel pain. These two knights... Have remembered what it is to be human."

Bruford gave a gentle laugh even as his body ached from being destroyed. "Pain is proof of life. Even though I'm dying, I know that I die as myself. My Queen, my fellow knight Tarkus... I'll join you soon. Friends from three-hundred later, would you tell me your names?" Jonathan nodded. "My name is Jonathan Joestar." "And I am Lydia Twilight," Twilight said, "But my friends and loved ones call me Twilight Sparkle." Bruford smiled. "I'll be sure to give Tarkus the name of the one who finally defeated him, in true combat."

He shifted his grip on his sword, then wrote a letter in blood next to the engraving. "Jonathan, I offer you my sword Luck. See here, that I have altered the engraving to Pluck. Take it, and may your family remain strong through numerous generations." With these last words, Bruford crumbled to dust. Jonathan couldn't help but shed a tear as he picked up the sword. "To think that stone mask could turn such seasoned and disciplined warriors to such evil. I won't forgive Dio, the one who started all this!"

Inside his chambers, Dio received word about the failure of his knights. "I expected at least Tarkus to return," he admitted, "But to think my former siblings would be strong to defeat both of them. I have no choice but to summon another to act within the execution chamber I meant for Tarkus." "Who would that be?," Enya asked. Dio scoffed. "Someone I consider the weakest of the corpses in this village." Wang looked encouraged by this. "Even weaker than you consider me to be?" "You still have merit as a fighter," Dio admitted, "But this corpse is a mere executioner, not suited for combat. I doubt he'll prove a challenge to Jojo and Twilight."

Poco watched as the group buried the armor of the two warriors in their graves. "Now Tarkus and Bruford can sleep eternally," Zeppeli noted, "Their souls finally at peace. But there's one thing I'm curious about. What was Tarkus speaking of with this deathmatch? Something to watch out for in the near future, perhaps?" "So what now?," Speedwagon asked, "We still have to find Dio somewhere in this village. He said that he intends to spread his undead horde after just a day. I highly doubt he was bluffing."

Twilight then looked around. "Hey, where's that kid Poco? I wanted to ask him what the last thing he could remember was before he woke up to us and... Well... All this." Poco had gotten separated from Jonathan when the knights first appeared, but luckily had wound up safe near Zeppeli and Speedwagon. "He can't have gone too far," Speedwagon noted, "Not with those short legs. Let's see if we can find him. We need to reach the village regardless so we can start tracking rumors that might lead to Dio."

As the group hurried off to look for Poco, Enya could be seen on the remains of the cliff, a hooded figure behind her. "Those are the ones Lord Dio spoke of," she said, "Your task is to eliminate them however possible. You've been warned about their powers, so make sure you take caution." The figure laughed. "Lord Dio underestimates me. True I died in the process, but I was still able to kill those two foolish knights, Bruford and Tarkus. Mark my words, madam, these fools will most certainly fall."

Poco ran as fast as his little legs could carry him. One minute he was visiting a new fortune teller that had arrived in town, and the next thing he knew he was with several strangers being attack by zombies. It was a good thing they were able to destroy the living corpses, but the village was still in danger, if what they were talking about was true. 'I need to get back to my family... Find someone... There's a monster in this village!' He was suddenly struck by the idea that all those girls who had supposedly run away were in fact made into food for this undead legion. He silently hoped his sister was alright.

Time to formally introduce the new character I developed for this story. I say developed, not created, since we technically saw him in the manga during the flashback of Tarkus and Bruford's execution. Hope he makes a good first impression.

As the group tried to track down Poco, Twilight reflected more on how she developed her powers in the first place. The arrow that had scratched her had been found in an Egyptian dig site, along with six others. Her father, Night Light, had only taken one and brought it back to Britain for his collection. Twilight was just a young girl of five at the time she scratched herself. Her Stand first made itself known when she was trying to stop a group of bullies from attacking a friend of hers. First it had protected her when the bullies tried to turn their attention on her, then on her friend. It was Twilight's father that gave the Stand the name Love is in Bloom, because back then Twilight believed she could love everyone.

However, she was quickly coming to the conclusion that she could never have any love, of any kind, for Dio. As Twilight thought this, the group suddenly came across Poco being harassed by a couple of thugs. "What's the meaning of this?," Jonathan asked. "Just punishing this brat for lying like always," one thug explained, "He said some bollocks about ghost knights or some such. Kid's always been lying through his teeth." "I swear, I'm not lying!," Poco called out, "Please tell them, sirs and ma'am!"

"The child speaks true this time," Zeppeli said, "So you have no reason to punish him." The thug scoffed. "So he told this story to you then? Outsiders are always so gullible." Zeppeli shook his head. "It's the reverse, chaps. We're the ones who told him this story. In fact, we did more than that. We showed him proof." The other thug walked over to Zeppeli, likely to attempt to give him a piece of his mind, when he made a disgusting face after a step. "Ew, I think I stepped in something elastic."

He looked down and gasped, seeing a bunch of faces crawling up from the ground. "W-What is all this?" The other thug screamed in terror. "The dead! The dead are rising!" His screams were cut off when a large figure sliced his head off with an executioner's axe. His friend screamed at the sight as the figure proceeded to drain the fresh corpse of blood. "Just as Dio said," the man said, "I can gain more power from this." "That zombie," Speedwagon said, "He's dressed as an executioner, and wields a similar weapon."

"I'm known as Red-Hand Morton," the undead explained, "So called because all the heads I've claimed while acting as an executioner have stained my hands red with their blood. I am the very executioner that claimed the heads of Tarkus and Bruford. And now..." He swung his axe down, hard enough to crack the stone. He cackled at the sight. "I've always wanted to cause such destruction! Being an executioner let me murder as I pleased without being punished by the crown! Now I am even more unfettered! Even Tarkus could not stand against me with this strength!"

Then, to everyone's shock, the cracked rocks started to crumble away. Morton was taken aback. "I knew I'd gotten strong, but there's no way I've become that strong." "It's not your strength, you fool!," Speedwagon called out, "There must be something buried under the stone that you uncovered by accident!" The rocks started to reveal an entire fortress beneath them. Morton quickly killed the other thug to drain him and leapt away from the collapsing cliff. Meanwhile, the Joestar group managed to get lucky by landing on a precipice overlooking the fortress.

"I think I know where we are," Speedwagon said, "This must be the old knights' training grounds." "This entire area was supposed to be sealed inside a cavern," Poco noted, "But no one goes in there because it's supposed to be haunted." "What of our new enemy?," Jonathan asked, "He claimed to be the same executioner that killed Tarkus and Bruford, in spite of them doing the same during the execution." "Dio is getting desperate," Zeppeli realized, "He needs bodies to throw at us to slow us down until he can complete his plans. Tarkus was his biggest heavy hitter, but Twilight defeated him."

"Where is Morton now?," Twilight asked. "Right above you!," Morton called out, striking the nearby cliff with his axe. This caused the rocks to start falling like boulders. Twilight reflected a few using her Stand, causing damage to Morton. "Those rocks might as well be improvised weapons," she explained, "But we still need to get to more stable ground before he brings down the whole cliff." "We could climb down," Poco suggested. "Too dangerous," Speedwagon noted, "We've no tools for the job, and Morton could just attack the cliff while we're climbing. Is there some other way?"

Zeppeli looked around, and noticed that the ground they were on was covered in leaves that all looked similar. "Yes, I think there is! Jonathan, do you remember that other technique I taught you?" Jonathan turned and nodded. "Yes, I think this is the perfect time to try it out." The two focused their Hamon, and called out, "Life Magnetism Overdrive!" The placed their hands on the ground, the Hamon channeling through the leaves. To Morton's surprise, the leaves merged together to create one giant leaf.

"How on Earth...?," Poco asked in amazement. "They used the natural magnetism in the human body and amplified it," Speedwagon realized, "Transferring it to the leaves to cause them to become attracted to each other." "This should make for a good make-shift glider," Zeppeli noted, "Everyone hang on, we're making for the ruins!" Twilight and Speedwagon each grabbed an edge, Zeppeli and Jonathan using their Hamon to remain connected to the giant leaf, while Poco grabbed onto Jonathan backpack. He grinned at Morton as he taunted the zombie the same way he taunted the Joestar group earlier, causing Morton to growl in frustration.

Meanwhile back in London, Erina was being looked after by Speedwagon's gang. They had vowed to protect Erina with their lives if necessary, though Jonathan did note that unless they failed to kill Dio there would be no one else deliberately endangering her. 'I only know about Jonathan needing to settle things with an old enemy,' Erina thought, 'That man Zeppeli mentioned Dio still being alive. I hope Jojo will allow me some context for all this once he finally returns. And I know in my heart that he will return, no matter what it takes.'

My story has already been placed in several people's bookshelves. That's awesome, guys. Thanks for your support. That said, let's lead up into a major change I had planned from the beginning.

As the giant leaf carried the Joestar group safely to the ground, Poco continued to stare in wonder. "This is just amazing!," he said, "Are you people angels sent by God?" Zeppeli chuckled. "I remember asking something similar when I first laid eyes on the power of Hamon." "That reminds me," Speedwagon said, "Just where did you learn all these miracles? You, Jojo, and Twilight can pull off feats that quite frankly defy all known logic." Zeppeli rubbed his chin. "You were there the night Dio put on the stone mask, Mister Speedwagon, so you're as involved as any of us. Given that, I might as well explain a little of my past."

He closed his eyes. "It was thirty ago, when I was just getting into adulthood, and two years after my father was changed by the cursed power of the stone mask. I traveled the world, searching for it, but found no clues to its whereabouts. Yet I knew by that time someone else had to have possession of it. It was in India when I first found my answer for destroying the mask when I finally found it. There was a man who looked as young as me, yet called himself a doctor."

"And he wielded the same power?," Jonathan asked. Zeppeli nodded. "He did. I was amazed when I saw him use the golden energy to mend the leg of an old man. Western medicine would have seen the leg amputated just to save the old man's life, due to how rotten the flesh had become, but this doctor simply touched the old man's leg with his golden touch, and instantly flesh and bone began to mend. I was struck by how similar to the light of the sun it seemed, and realized that this power was the polar opposite to that of the stone mask."

He turned to the rest of the group. "When I told the doctor of my history with the mask, and my reasons for wanting it destroyed, he directed me up the river Nuu of Chapett, and told me to seek his master, Tonpetty. And so I did. The old master gazed at me before shaking my hand, then said he could see my future. He told me, that if I sought the power of Hamon, my fate to confront the stone mask would be shifted to another. I told him, that I cared not who destroyed the mask, so long as its evil powers were gone from this world forever."

"This Master Tonpetty is the same one who trained Twilight, yes?," Jonathan asked. "Master Tonpetty had taken a pilgrimage to England," Twilight explained, "When Zeppeli proved to be so skilled a student, he thought he could expand his order of acolytes in Europe. I was one of the first to take on his teachings. He always seemed eager to take on new students, expressing a desire to restore the Hamon clan that had been nearly wiped out centuries earlier. I always asked him why, but he would never tell me."

Just then, a grunt from Morton could be heard, as the undead executioner leapt off the cliff and aimed for the giant leaf, managing to dig his axe into it, just barely missing its passengers. The attack caused the leaf to start to fall apart, however. "No good!," Jonathan called out, "We'll have to jump off! Aim for the balcony below us!" The four heroes, with Poco still clinging to Jonathan's back, leapt off the leaf and safely landed on the balcony. Morton was not so lucky, calling out in fear as his body slammed into the stone wall beneath them.

"He wound up hitting the wall full force," Speedwagon noted, "Look there, he's still alive but can't really move." Zeppeli chuckled. "Unlike Dio, who wore the mask, Morton lacks the ability to heal himself. He'll be stuck there for a while. In the meantime, we have a chance to continue our search for Dio. Let's start by finding a way down to the ground floor, from there we'll make our way back to the village." Jonathan opened the only door, but paused as he got an odd feeling from it. "Careful," Poco said, "It was in these ruins where warriors learned to kill. Rumor has it there are lots of traps."

Enya grumbled as she approached the broken Morton, her Stand manipulating a young woman to follow her. "Pathetic," she said as the undead executioner glared at her, "I bet either Tarkus or Bruford would have easily withstood that impact. Not without damage, mind you, but they would still be moving nonetheless." She pushed the woman towards him. "Dio still needs you to deal with Joestar, however, so he's willing to use you for as long as you hold out. Drink up, then go after them."

Morton quickly pounced on the woman, digging his fangs into her neck as he began to heal his wounds. "Blast it. Even being told about their power, I was caught off-guard. It can do far more than what you described." "Clearly me and Wang only experienced a fraction of its power," Enya surmised, "But you must not concern yourself with that. Your task is to either eliminate Joestar and his group, or at least soften them up for Dio to finish them off."

Morton pushed open the door and headed up the tower, until he found the group. Jonathan had been caught by a neck brace attached to a chain and was dangling in the air. "Interesting," Morton said, "I've never been in this room before, but Tarkus spoke fondly of it. This is the Lair of the Two-Headed Dragon. Three-hundred years ago, Tarkus killed many warriors in special death matches within this room." He chuckled as he grabbed a similar neck brace and slid it on. "I guess I might as well try it for myself. It may just give me the edge I need to defeat you." Jonathan was struck by the realization that this was what Tarkus was earlier referring to right before his death.

The door had sealed after Jonathan got grabbed by the chain and pulled inside the chamber. Zeppeli and Twilight tried striking the door, but only got bloody knuckles for their effort. "The door's too thick," Zeppeli noted, "Hamon can be channeled through non-living objects, but cannot destroy them like it could a living being." "And my Stand is only good for reflecting damage," Twilight admitted, "It's not strong when actually attacking unless I channel my Hamon through it, but that brings us right back to the first problem. And Jonathan will be having a hard time as well, since his Hamon can't be used to break that chain that grabbed him."

Morton chuckled at Jonathan's predicament. "I've heard of Tarkus bragging about how he defeated forty-eight opponents within this chamber. It's my first time here, but I do know all about this place. The door that you got dragged through locked the second you arrived, and it's the same for the one I came through. Only one of us can leave alive. If you're curious how to remove that collar, you'll find the key on my collar, and vice versa. So the only way to win... Is to decapitate your opponent!"

He cackled. "And I have plenty of experience in that regard!" Jonathan looked at the zombie and grinned. "You might have a harder time without your precious executioner's tool." Morton gasped as he realized he no longer had his axe. 'Please tell me I wound up losing it in the ravine when I crashed into the wall. Because if I wound up forgetting to bring it when I recovered, I'll be the laughingstock of Dio's forces.' He saw Jonathan channel his Hamon to strike the chain, and grinned. "Sorry, but it won't be so easy. You've got good instincts if you've figured out our chains are connected, but the mechanism is more complex that you realize."

He rushed over to Jonathan, the chain causing Jonathan to grasp at his throat with one hand while blocking Morton's punch with his other. 'At least he's not as big or strong as Tarkus,' Jonathan thought, 'But I'm still at a disadvantage. This neck brace is cutting off my circulation, making it difficult to channel my Hamon.' He saw his friends outside through a narrow hole in the door, just big enough for Speedwagon to reach his arm into. "I can see a lever here," he said, "Maybe if we can reach it we can get inside to help Jojo."

"It's too far away from the wall," Twilight said, "My Stand has the range to reach it, but might not have the physical strength to pull the lever." "We must do something," Zeppeli said, "Jojo looks like he can hang in there for a while against Morton, but he still lost a lot of stamina fighting against Bruford. And unless he gets the space needed to breathe in spite of the neck brace, he can't channel the Hamon needed to destroy Morton." Speedwagon looked around. "No time to climb down, and the holes up there are only big enough for a cat or a child."

Poco looked up. "I'll go!" "But that's dangerous!," Zeppeli said, "Any ordinary person would get killed inside there!" "I have to do something!," Poco called out, "When I was growing up with my sister, she would always protect me from bullies because I was so cowardly. But then she'd hit me and ask when I'd finally get some courage for myself. My answer would always be, 'Tomorrow.' Well, now my tomorrow is today! Someone has to help Mister Joestar, and if I'm the only one who can reach him in time, then I'll just have to find my courage!"

"Wow," Twilight said as Poco climbed the wall toward the hole, "You're motivated." "If Mister Joestar and the rest of you can't stop those monsters," Poco noted as he climbed in the hole, "Then they'll attack the village. And my sister..." He quickly crawled through the hole and wound up inside the chamber. Unfortunately, he found himself right near where Morton was. "Hey!," the executioner called out, "No interlopers!" He knocked Poco away with a powerful punch, but his eyes widened when he saw he had accidentally knocked the boy near the lever.

Poco smiled as he used his body weight to pull the lever, opening the door for the others. "This isn't good," Morton said, "Only Tarkus knew the secret to winning every battle he ever fought in this chamber. I may be strong, but I'm still just an executioner, and without my axe I'd be overwhelmed in this situation." "Then it's fortunate for us Tarkus took his secrets to the grave," Zeppeli noted, "Because I have no intention of letting you end destiny here."

He breathed deep as he remember the prophecy given to him by Master Tonpetty during his training. 'The mask will awaken in the home of a true gentleman, where a demon sleeps in silence. But two siblings not of blood shall rise to the challenge, and with the strength of their lineage take on the destiny of standing against the stone mask, and all evils like it. The Joestar family can be considered true nobility, and Dio was able to keep his intentions secret from Jonathan's father. Jonathan and Twilight are siblings, yet not bound by blood, as Twilight was adopted into the Joestar family. Thus, they are the ones who will take on the task of destroying the evil of the stone mask.'

He struck at Morton with his leg. "Sendo Wave Kick!" The attack ripped through Morton's torso and sent him flying, giving Jonathan some much-needed air. "Twilight!," Zeppeli called out, "That chain isn't as thick as the door! You and Jonathan must pull at it together!" Twilight nodded, calling her Stand. "Love is in Bloom!" She and Jonathan channeled their Hamon together, Love is in Bloom pulling at the neck brace at the same time as Jonathan, quickly ripping it apart.

Morton got up and freaked out when he saw Jonathan free, breathing deeply to let his Hamon flow and repair his body. "Your actions have caused two noble knights to curse this world with their words alone," he declared, "And you have sided with that monster Dio. I swear... Not even your bones will remain when I'm done!" Morton growled, and opened his mouth wide, firing his fangs at Jonathan. Twilight was ready. "Love is in Bloom!" Morton felt his jaw tear open and the fangs bounced harmlessly off Jonathan's face.

Morton freaked out as he saw the two siblings charge their Hamon to strike him. "This is for the honor of our father, and our house!," they said as one, "Sunlight Yellow Overdrive!" Morton felt himself getting pummeled by numerous punches as his body filled with Hamon, quickly reducing him to dust. Zeppeli smiled as he saw the two siblings triumphant. "Well done. Your power and spirit is more than I could have ever imagined. With this, we've taken one more step against Dio."

He looked to Jonathan. "Jojo, the more I see you grow, the more you remind me of my son. I had married when I was younger, but gave up my family for the sake of destroying the stone mask. When we're done here, I think I'll try to reconnect with them. It's the least I can do." "Then let's see to it Dio is ended once and for all," Jonathan said, "So that you may have that chance." Zeppeli nodded. "By now, we should be getting some reinforcements. Master Tonpetty is aware of the situation, and has promised to send his best acolytes to assist. But let's not sit around waiting for them, or else Dio will get ahead of us easily."

And there it is, Zeppeli survives past canon. It'll be interesting to see how he handles later events, because I have a lot more planned for him.

"We should hurry to the village," Speedwagon said as the Joestar group finally left the fortress, "By now Dio will be making good on his intentions to destroy Windknights Lot. And with zombies making more zombies, it could be done within a week." Poco became worried. "My family lives out there. I hope my sister's all right, at least." They made their way to the road leading to the village, but stopped when Poco recognized someone coming up the road. "Hey, that's Adams!"

Adams saw the group and recognized Poco. "Poco! What are you doing out at this time of night?" "Nevermind that!," Poco said, "Is the village alright!? What about my sister!?" Adams looked confused. "She's fine, but she's really mad that you haven't gone home yet." Poco sighed in relief. "Then it looks like the village is alright." The group moved on, but Jonathan quickly grabbed a long tongue that had tried to attack Poco. "I thought there was something suspicious," Zeppeli noted, "Your reaction to Poco's panic was a little too mundane."

Sure enough, Adams had already been made into a zombie, which Jonathan destroyed in short order. "If he's already a zombie, then that means..." "That the town is already surrounded," came another voice. Jonathan whirled around to see another large man, dressed in oriental clothes. "My name is Dire," the man said, before performing a leaping kick at Jonathan. Jonathan quickly grabbed the man's leg and spread them apart to deflect the attack.

The man smirked, and brought his palms in to attack Jonathan's head. "Thunder Cross Split Attack!" Grunting, Jonathan countered the attack by headbutting Dire, causing the man to stumble back. "This zombie is much more clever than the others," Speedwagon noted. "That's no zombie," Zeppeli said, "Dire, it's been a while." Dire turned his head and recognized Zeppeli. "Zeppeli, Twilight. Good, you still live." "You know this man, then?," Jonathan asked.

"Indeed," Zeppeli asked, "Take a look on your shoulder." Jonathan looked and discovered that Dire had left a letter there. "I sent that letter to Master Tonpetty prior to our departure from London," Zeppeli explained. "Forgive the violent introduction," Dire said, "But I had to test the skills of Zeppeli's new student. From what I've seen, it's clear you've learned much." Dire was soon joined by a younger man in similar garb, as well as an old Tibetan monk smoking a pipe.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Jonathan Joestar," the old man said, "I am Master Tonpetty. You've met my disciple, Dire. The other man is also my disciple, Straizo." Straizo bowed in respect. Tonpetty took a puff of his pipe. "Zeppeli, Twilight, good to see you both still in good health. We've already taken stock of the village. The one who wore the stone mask has created a legion by now. Most of the villagers are either dead or his undead minions. The only human among his forces seems to be a Middle Eastern woman who can somehow control mist."

"That would be Enya Geil," Twilight noted, "I caught her name when we had a brief scuffle with her and Dio's other major minion, Wang Chen. Her power is the same as mine, and may come from the same source. Right now she's my only lead to the arrow my birth father once had." "What about my sister?," Poco asked, "Is she still alive?" Tonpetty regarded the young boy. "There may be a chance she is. A few young women of the village still live, likely to be used as food for the undead horde. If we hope to save them, then we'd best act now."

Inside a nearby church, a woman was begging Dio, who had just crushed a crucifix in defiance of the myth that holy relics could harm a vampire, not to kill her child. "Why not give her what she wants?," Enya asked, "I could always raise the child myself." Dio chuckled. "I could never say no to you, Enya. I had planned to turn the woman into an undead and have her be the one to eat the child in a tragic irony, but if you wish to raise the child I see no reason why not. Besides, this city will be ours before the night is over, so why not indulge in some pleasures."

After Tonpetty showed Jonathan the Tibetan custom for greeting the group traded information. "So the one who put on the stone mask is named Dio Brando," Tonpetty said, "He is a truly terrifying and powerful life force. As an act of dominance over Windknights Lot, he has set himself up in the local church." "But shouldn't the church keep him away?," Poco asked. "Dio's not like the vampires of myth," Jonathan said, shaking his head, "I've seen the reality of Dio's power firsthand. Sunlight, or Hamon. Those are the only weapons we have to destroy him."

"We need to find ourselves a place to stay as well," Straizo noted, "There is a small spot in the village that has yet to be touched by the undead. We should be able to find lodging there." To Poco's relief, that area included his house, which he immediately ran to. "Father, Sister, I'm home." A middle-aged man, likely Poco's father, walked in and saw the group. "Poco! Why are you back so late!? Your sister's already gone out to look for you!" That got the group concerned, given the situation.

Dio was sitting in the attic of his mansion, Enya on his lap. Nearby was a young girl from the village. It was Poco's sister, Megan. Dio had a rose in his hand. "This rose would be a good analogy for your age," he said, "And when it blooms, what's left but to wilt? Of course, if becoming a full-fledge vampire isn't your desire, there are other options. Enya merely ingested my blood rather being injected with it, so she's still human, but will never age." A wicked chuckling could be heard from a nearby creature.

Megan recoiled in disgust at seeing it was a dog with a human's head attached to it. "She's just sixteen," the creature said, "So full of life. Doesn't she look tasty, Lord Dio?" Dio simply scoffed at the creature before stomping on it, killing it instantly. "Those with no manners are less than insects," he noted, "At least insects can be productive, and strong in large numbers. I thought he'd be more likable if I fused a dog with a human, but he's even worse..."

"Perhaps you shouldn't have chosen such a vulgar man for the fusion," Enya noted. Dio smiled at her. "Maybe you're right. But back to the current situation. What do you say, mademoiselle? Unlike the others, you will have a choice. Don't you wish to live forever with your current youth?" He and Enya got up and Dio approached Megan. Megan glared at him, then slapped him hard. "You're an eternally cursed monster." Enya sighed as she wiped off the blood with a handkerchief. "Well, she made her choice, my love."

"So it seems," Dio replied with a reserved sigh, "In that case, I'll let you become acquainted with one of my other servants, Doobie." He and Enya left as the large humanoid monster appeared from above the door they used. The creature cackled as he ripped off Megan's skirt, Megan screaming in horror at what was to happen to her. As if heaven answered, a large anvil suddenly fell through a hole in the roof and struck Doobie in the head, the point of the anvil piercing his brain.

"Who dares!?," Doobie demanded, looking up at where the anvil came from. His eyes widened when he saw the Joestar group staring down at him. "There's no need to share my prideful name with a zombie," Jonathan quipped. "Especially one who's as vulgar as you," Twilight chimed in. Poco's face broke into a smile when he saw Megan. "Sister!" Megan smiled in relief. "Poco! You're safe!" Jonathan and Twilight leapt down, but Doobie laughed as something broke out of the bag over his head.

The attack happened so fast Twilight couldn't perceive it, leaving her Stand useless. As a result, both she and Jonathan got struck by something biting them. Doobie cackled madly. "I bit ya! I bit ya!" The bag then tore away to reveal Doobie's face was covered in poisonous snakes. "Surprised!?" He then caused the snakes to shoot out at the siblings. Jonathan sighed. "We don't have time to indulge Dio's weird hobbies." Both he and Twilight caught Doobie off-guard by catching all the snakes in their fingers, then forcing the venom from the bites out of their blood.

"You've taught him well, Zeppeli," Tonpetty noted. Zeppeli chuckled. "Just passing forward the teachings you gave me." "He learned to control his blood flow so quickly," Straizo noted, "Perhaps he's another prodigy like Twilight." "To think we may have found two in so short a time," Dire said, "This monster's time is clearly over." Doobie looked on in horror as the siblings channeled their Hamon into the snakes, causing them to start eating him. He screamed in horror, and but no one would be coming to help him.

Poco and Megan embraced each other, happy to see they were both alive. Meanwhile, Jonathan and Twilight went through the door that Dio and Enya had earlier gone through. Dio noted their presence. "Ah, my siblings. It seems Morton was not up to the task. I suspected as much." "Lord Dio," one of the surrounding zombies said, "Give us a chance to kill them." Dio shook his head. "If they could beat Tarkus and Bruford, then you don't stand a chance. Enya and I shall deal with them."

"That reminds me," Twilight said, "Enya, just where did you get a Stand?" Enya raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? I was born with this power. You should know that, since you're the same as me." Twilight said nothing, and gave no reaction. She could feel Enya wasn't lying, which meant she knew nothing about the arrow, at least not yet. And the longer that knowledge was kept away from Dio, the better. Dio and Jonathan glared at each other. "I'll be honest, Jojo, at first I didn't want to kill you. We grew up as brothers, after all. That's why I sent those knights first. But if I am to reign as emperor, then I must abandon such feelings."

"Same here," Jonathan agreed, "Deep down, I still saw you as family even after you put on the mask. But it's clear that I was too soft-hearted toward a monster like you." Dio smirked, then turned his attention to his minions. "Kill the others!" The four Hamon users formed a tight circle, Speedwagon keeping to the center near Poco and Megan. "Best not stray too far," he noted to them. Tonpetty took a puff of his pipe before charging it with Hamon, then throwing it at Dio, where it jabbed him in the eye. "Ah! My face! You dare to scar my face!?"

Wang came rushing in, catching Dire's attention. "You shall pay for injuring Lord Dio!" Dire dodged one of Wang's slices before coming in with a flying kick. Wang smirked as he grabbed Dire's legs, pulling them apart. "I saw you use this trick on Jojo," Wang said smugly, "So I know how to counter it!" Dire smirked. "Actually, what I used against Jojo was a variation of this attack that is meant to leave an opening." Wang's smile dropped. "Here's the real finishing blow!," Dire called out, thrusting his hands forward in the form of a cross, "Thunder Cross Split Attack!"

Wang cried out in pain as the attack hit home, pouring more Hamon into him as he crumbled to dust. Straizo smirked. "The form of this technique naturally leaves an opening for a headbutt if one is courageous enough to go that route. Knowing this, Dire made sure to include an attack to the technique that could also cover that opening. When testing Jojo, he simply didn't use that attack." Dio stared at Jonathan, the two putting up their fists. Meanwhile, Twilight and Enya summoned their Stands, Love is in Bloom glaring at Justice. The final battle was about to begin.

Naturally by sparing Zeppeli, I've also spared Dire, since he died trying to kill Dio to avenge Zeppeli. Here, there's no need to rush in to attack Dio. Still, I'm surprised no one told Dire about Dio's ability to freeze people's blood. He might have survived otherwise. Anyway, next chapter is the finale of Phantom Blood.

As the battle began, Jonathan called out, "Speedwagon! The sword!" Speedwagon nodded and tossed Jonathan the sword Bruford offered him. "Thanks to Master Tonpetty," Jonathan explained, "I now have a way to bypass your ability to freeze my blood, Dio. It's something that I've been trying to figure out ever since I first saw it in action. With this, the sword of the hero Bruford, Luck & Pluck." He focused his Hamon and channeled it through the sword.

Dio growled. "Damn you, Jojo. I knew that new power you've found could be a threat to me, but now that I've experienced it firsthand I know... It must be removed from this world!" Speedwagon chuckled. "His calm and collective mask has finally dropped, now that he's experienced humility for the first time." "We'll have time for such discussions later," Straizo said, "The dead are upon us." Dire grinned as he and Zeppeli stood near each other. "Like all our times in training, eh old friend?"

"Indeed," Zeppeli said with a grin of his own, "Time to send these monsters to the depths of Hell." The began ripping into the undead horde with their Hamon. Meanwhile, Straizo found himself surrounded by four menacing undead. One by one they called out their names. "Page!" "Jones!" "Plant!" "Bonham!" As one they called out, "Blood Vessel Needle Attack!" Straizo remained calm as he launched himself into the air with his Hamon. As he saw the zombies get their blood vessels tangled, he said, "Foolish creatures. I, Straizo, shall show you no mercy."

He knocked down a nearby chandelier, trapping the creatures. "Earlier Master Tonpetty used the still living tobacco in his pipe to launch it with Hamon," Straizo noted, "The wood also was able to channel that energy directly into Dio. Metal, however, is not living and cannot die, so for this I must strike you directly." He struck the top of the chandelier with a kick, channeling Hamon right into the four undead, destroying them. Speedwagon took a chance to look the fight between the two siblings and the two lovers they were against.

'Dio's speed is akin to that of a cheetah,' Speedwagon noted to himself, 'While Enya uses her powers to create illusions. Jojo and Twilight can match them easily, plus Enya is still human so she won't be a challenge for Twilight. Dio, however, can rip through flesh and bone easily. One mistake could end this fight.' Enya managed to get in close to Twilight from behind. 'Her Stand only works if she can see an attack. So if I come in from a blind spot, I can injure her and control her with my Stand.'

She got a surprise, however, when Twilight swung her arm to block Enya's knife attack. "A nice try," Twilight said, "But where my Stand has limits, my Hamon makes up for them. I can track your movements through the earth, even when you have your illusions up." She slammed her fist into Enya's stomach, forcing the air from her lungs and causing Justice to temporarily withdraw. Meanwhile, Dio launched himself at Jonathan, screeching out, "WRYYYY!"

Jonathan, however, was ready for the attack, surprising Dio by launching several hidden roses he had grabbed from the nearby planters. Dio managed to deflect them, freezing them as he did, but cried out in pain. He looked to his right side, where the pain had come from, and realized Jonathan had used his sword to slice off Dio's arm. "Damn!," he said, "You took advantage of the blind spot I got from that old geezer! The roses were just a distraction!"

Jonathan then followed up by slicing Dio in half. Or at least, he started to, but Dio managed to grab Jonathan's arms with his other hand and freeze them. "WRYYYY!," Dio cried out as he grabbed Jonathan's neck and started to drain him, "Now you'll become one of my demons!" He smiled, seeing Twilight was already distracted by Enya's attack. He'd tend to her soon enough. Just the sight of the woman he loved getting kicked around, even for his plan, made him sick. But a true ruler had to make such hard decisions and Enya made it clear she was willing to get her hands dirty for the sake of his ambitions.

He then realized Jonathan was smiling. "I suspected you might try this trick. That's why I had a back-up plan. You only froze my arms, but the rest of my body can still channel Hamon." Dio then realized that while he was able to drain some of Jonathan's blood, he wasn't able to replace it with his own essence. He then saw something else. Jonathan's arms were starting to thaw. "But how...?" He then became aware of the heat behind him, and realized Jonathan had not been aiming for him, but the burner on the balcony behind him.

Enya realized what was happening and threw her dagger, hoping to stop Jonathan. It connected, but Twilight saw the attack and was able to stop the damage using her Stand, causing damage to Enya's hand. Twilight then struck her in the neck with a snap kick, sending Enya crashing to the ground. Dio managed to break away from Jonathan by breaking the sword, but that just gave Jonathan the opening he needed. "Sunlight Yellow Overdrive!" The Hamon-charged punch struck Dio's face, sending him reeling.

"That was close...," he admitted, "But I'm not done just yet." Jonathan then realized his arm was frozen after making contact with Dio's face. Quickly, Dio sent out his blood vessels to retrieve his arm and reconnect it, then used both his hands to slip his head back together. Jonathan, in turn, charged his Hamon to expel what little of Dio's essence had entered his body. "I'm reminded of that fight we had when we were children," he noted, "It was Twilight who gave me the idea to try wearing you out instead of simply trying for a head shot. Tell me, Dio, how long has it been since you've last fed?"

Dio closed his eyes. "Too long, it seems. But not long enough for you to overpower me just yet. I was able to regain a little energy when I drained some of your blood." Jonathan smirked, then held his arm out to another of the burners and focused. His Hamon let him wrap the flames around his arm. "Try and freeze this attack, Dio!" Dio growled as Jonathan launched both fists, his other arm becoming coated in flames. Quickly Dio moved to catch it, but his attempt was not enough, and Dio felt Jonathan's fist go right into his throat.

"It's done," Tonpetty said, "I can feel the Hamon passing into Dio." "Jojo's won!," Zeppeli exclaimed, as Dio began to melt. Dio cried in agony. "This cannot be! I was to live for centuries into the future! To reign over all for eternity!" In one last, desperate attack, he launched a strange liquid from his eyes that shot like a pinpoint of light. Jonathan managed to dodge it, though it still struck his hands and destroyed several zombies behind him.

"What was that liquid?," Jonathan asked, "I'm glad it didn't hit my brain, or I'd be dead like these zombies." Dio then fell off the balcony. Enya, who had just woken up, quickly disappeared using her Stand. Twilight and Jonathan rushed to the balcony, where they saw Dio's crumbling remains. "It's over...," Jonathan said, and then passed out. "Jojo!," Twilight and Speedwagon said in shock. "He'll be fine," Zeppeli said, "He merely passed out from exhaustion. And who can blame him, considering he did the most fighting during this adventure. For now, we'll finish off the rest of these zombies."

Down below, Enya was in time to catch Dio's head, which he had severed to remain alive while the rest of his body crumbled to dust. "Dio...," she said, "Are you alright?" "Barely...," Dio said, "As alright as I can be in my condition... I'll need a new body though..." "We'll try and find one that will suit you," Enya said, "I'll have what's left of your servants start looking. By now those in the mansion will be slain." Dio closed his eyes. "Jojo... It's just like when we were children." He smiled. "Let him have his victory... I'll wait out his life."

The papers during the following days reported the disappearances at Windknights Lot, including the eye-witness account of several strangers, Jonathan and his friends, burning Dio's clothes and destroying the stone mask with a sledgehammer. Meanwhile, there was the report that Enya Geil, a popular hostess at the marina, was leaving Britain, leaving many sailors downtrodden. Of a happier note, it was reported that the siblings, Jonathan and his adopted sister Twilight, were marrying their respective lovers.

While none questioned Jonathan marrying Erina, there was some curiosity about Twilight and Speedwagon's marriage. Afterward, the two happy couples planned on honeymooning in America. Zeppeli, as he promised, reconnected with his wife and son, his son having already found a girlfriend of his own. Most of Speedwagon's gang was busy with their new jobs, but Tattoo and Yun were there. Yun had taken over the late Wang Chen's apothecary, while Tattoo had gotten a job at a local tavern.

Poco and Megan were moving to London with their father, since their old home of Windknights Lot was now a ghost town. Tonpetty was returning to Tibet, though he left the task of expanding Hamon through Europe to Dire and Straizo. As the group chatted, Twilight thought she saw Enya, her head covered by a shawl and her body cloaked, leading a group of men in carrying a large casket onto the ship.

On the ship, Erina saw one bird from a flock land on the banister, another bird coming over and nuzzling the first, as if to comfort it. The sight of it was enough to bring tears of joy to Erina's eyes. "You alright, Erina?," Twilight asked. "I couldn't be happier," Erina replied, "Me and Jonathan are together now, after so many years of hardship. And... I'm soon to become a mother." Twilight looked shocked. "So soon? You and Jojo were just recently married. Talk about moving quick."

Jonathan and Speedwagon were talking with each other. "What do you plan to do in America?," Jonathan asked. "Twilight and I were considering staying there," Speedwagon admitted, "Some talk among the other passengers suggests the arrow from Night Light's collection may be in that country, so we plan on looking for it. Enya noted that she was born with her powers, so that lead didn't pan out." At dinner, Twilight once again thought she saw Enya, but the woman quickly left so she couldn't be sure. But her eyes narrowed nevertheless.

Enya walked down to where the casket had been brought, then spotted a dead priest next to it. Enya smiled. "He must have become curious about the casket and tried to open it, triggering the trap inside." She carefully opened the casket, revealing Dio's head preserved in a special container. Taking a bone saw, she removed the priest's head, then placed Dio's on the body. Dio grunted as his regeneration allowed him to fully attach himself.

"This fool priest was quite the drunkard," he noted, "This body won't last more than half a century. Still, beggars cannot be choosers. I would have preferred Jonathan's body, but from what you tell me he is too surrounded by his allies." "And they're investigating the ship as we speak," Enya said, "That man Straizo found the couple you drained earlier and destroyed them. A shame, I was hoping to take in the child they had." Dio chuckled. "Perhaps when we get me a more permanent body, I'll give you a child of your own as celebration. But for now, the alcohol this man drank is making me sleepy." Enya nodded. "I'll see to it they never find this casket."

Later, the two couples found Straizo cradling a baby. "Where did that child come from?," Dire asked. "Her parents were somehow turned into zombies," Straizo explained, "Fortunately I got there shortly after it happened, so I was able to prevent the ship from becoming infested. I looked for the source, but whatever vampire did the act may have simply dove into the ocean when it realized it could be found." He didn't realize that Enya had carefully tossed the casket overboard with the help of some controlled minions, then sequestered herself in her room.

And so it was that on February 7 of 1889, Jonathan Joestar's bizarre adventure officially came to an end. He would partake in other adventures of a similar nature later in life, but those adventures would belong to his descendants. In another universe, this was the day that Jonathan would have died. But in this new universe, with a new friend holding a new power, Jonathan was destined to live long after this day. But it would not be the last time he would come face to face, with the monster known as Dio Brando.

And so Part 1: Phantom Blood ends, on a more bittersweet note given it's more obvious Dio survived, but at least Jonathan gets his happy ending. But as you might think, a happy ending does not equal happily ever after, and I still have more Jojo to get through. Expect Part 2: Battle Tendency, soon. Oh, and if you were curious, I named this chapter after the first opening of the anime. I thought it was fitting.

The year was now 1938. Speedwagon, now in his seventies and looking just as old in spite of his still fit build, found himself a successful businessman in that time, he and Twilight having stumbled upon a natural oil well in Texas. After that, none questioned their marriage. Interestingly, their son and later granddaughter also developed Stands like Twilight. Using their combined wealth, the married coupled created the Speedwagon Foundation, an organization dedicated to philanthropic research into medicine and environmental conservation. In addition, its primary goal was researching supernatural phenomenon, such as the stone mask and the arrow.

Now Speedwagon met with another old friend, Straizo, who was still teaching Hamon after Tonpetty's passing. The task of succeeding Tonpetty went to Dire, but Straizo was not complaining. "Speedwagon," Straizo said, "It's been years." Speedwagon chuckled. "And yet your face is still so familiar, though your hair has grayed. Then again, Hamon is life energy. Twilight and Jonathan have also only shown marginal signs of aging. I must admit I'm envious. Well, shall we get going?" The two of them boarded the plane.

"I understand Jonathan lost his son during the Great War," Straizo said. "It was heartbreaking for him and Erina," Speedwagon replied with a nod, "His young grandson Joseph barely got to know his father. They had even named the young man for the grandfather he'd never know. Well, he'll have time to know him now. However, there's more to George II's death than just the war. It's possible... Dio may have survived." Straizo gasped. "Don't you worry," Speedwagon said, "By the time Dio becomes a threat again we'll have long passed on. But the reason I believe he may have survived in spite of Jonathan's actions... Is because George's body was missing, but his head was found."

He closed his eyes. "However, there may be a more pressing threat than Dio at our doorstep." The plane soon arrived at one of the Mexican pyramids, where a team of excavators hired by the Speedwagon Foundation was investigating. Speedwagon led Straizo inside. "This is what we found," he said, pointing to a mummified corpse, that appeared to be a vampire. And in the engravings on the slab the mummy was on, was a carving of the stone mask.

Meanwhile in New York, a southern woman by the name of Jackie Applaine was walking through the city. She was an interesting girl, just under twenty years of age but already with a very adult body with a slight muscle build beneath her curves. She whistled at the tall buildings. "I came here to see the big city sights while my family was busy talking business, but now I'm feeling a mite overwhelmed." Jackie's family ran an orchard in Georgia, but had made plans to expand further north. With how prosperous New York was due to the immigration rush, it seemed the best place to start.

And Jackie loved apples. She loved apples to the point where she could get drunk off the juice if she ate too many. Because of that, everyone who knew her called her "Applejack", after the alcoholic drink of the same name. Feeling thirsty, she spotted a drink stand, where another, rather tall man was buying some cola. Just then, an black kid rushed in and swiped the man's wallet as he was paying. "Hey!," the vendor said, "That kid just nabbed your wallet! Aren't you gonna go after him!?"

"No hurry," the man said in a distinct British accent, "He won't be going more than a few blocks to count his spoils." "You might want to hurry more than you think," Applejack said, catching the man's attention, "The cops around here don't like folks that aren't of their race." The man titled the brim of his hat up. "Well, we can't have that, can we?" Sure enough, they found the kid in a nearby alley getting harassed by two officers, who were demanding cash in exchange for his freedom.

"Excuse me, officers," the man said. The larger of the cops looked at him. "Oh, don't worry about a thing, buster. We've got this handled. But I'll have to hang onto your wallet for evidence." The man took off his hat and sighed. "You seem to be under a misconception. There was no crime here. That wallet was gift from me. Given that fact, I'd say you'd best let the boy go." The boy looked surprised at the man's offer. The cop didn't seem to buy the man's story. "And why would you give a stranger your wallet?" The man shrugged. "He happens to be a friend of mine, that's all."

The cop laughed. "A friend, huh? You happen to know your friend's name?" "It was Smokey, wasn't it?," Applejack pointed out. She and the man had heard the cops calling the boy that as they came over. The cop hesitated, but then decided to play it off. "Oh please, like you really know. Maybe you two lovebirds wanna go down to the big house as well." He dug through his nose and placed the booger on the man's cheek, causing Applejack to groan in disgust.

"Pardon me," the man said, clearly irritated, "But why would you go and do something like that? I'm a little confused." The cop chortled. "There is no reason! I just feel like doing that! I have the authority to do what I please!" Applejack growled. "You yanks should take your badges more serious like. To The Core!" No one could see it, but Applejack suddenly glowed orange. Behind her, unseen, emerged a humanoid figure with orange-yellow skin and eyes that matched Applejack's. The hair was also similar, and it was dressed more like a cowgirl than Applejack's casual dress.

Applejack felt power course through her body as her cells hardened together, and she punched the fat cop hard while his finger was still up his nose, causing it to go right through his nostril. "That's some strength," the man noted. The other cop quickly pulled a gun on the duo. "You were shot resisting arrest." "Try it if you want," the man said, "But before you pull that trigger, I'll snap your finger like a matchstick!" "Not from over there you won't!," the cop declared as he pulled back the safety.

Just then, the man pointed his cola bottle at the cop, and Applejack and the boy looked in shock as golden energy crackled through it, causing the cap to pop off and shoot straight into the cop's finger like it was a bullet, easily breaking it from the velocity. The man downed the cola as the two cops screamed in pain from the attacks. The man then freaked out. "Oh crap, I lost control of my emotions again! My grandparents won't be happy about this!"

He led Applejack and the kid away from the scene and over to a overhead railway. "That was amazing you two," the kid said. "We never did catch your name," Applejack said to him, "I mean, assuming it wasn't actually Smokey." "Actually it is," Smokey said, "Smokey Brown. And... I appreciate you lying to those pigs for my sake." "I thought I'd take a page from my great-grandfather's book," the man explained, "Unfortunately the cops here are rude and corrupt compared to the boys at Scotland Yard, at least back in the 1880s."

Smokey nodded. "So, what are your names?" "I'm Jackie Applaine," Applejack replied, "But my friends call me Applejack." The man chuckled. "What an odd nickname." "It's because I have a habit of getting drunk from eating too many apples," Applejack explained. The man shrugged. "Well, it's not the first time I've heard such a nickname. My great-aunt Lydia Speedwagon, for example. Her maiden name is Twilight, and because of her natural hair color everyone calls her Twilight Sparkle. Oh, that reminds me. My name is Joseph Joestar."

"And what about those strange powers of yours?," Smokey asked, "Applejack, you punched that cop so hard, and yet your knuckles aren't even bloody." "Reminds me of Aunt Twilight's power," Joseph noted, "She called it a Stand." Applejack looked surprised. "She has one too? I've had my Stand ever since I was born. It's called To The Core, and it increases my body's tensile strength while also removing pain. Flesh, bone, even organs become nearly unbreakable, allowing me to pull off superhuman feats. I can still feel sensations while my Stand is active, it just doesn't hurt. So what about your powers? Smokey could see it too, so I doubt that was a Stand ability."

"That was Hamon power," Joseph explained, "I've been able to use it since I was a child. My grandfather, Jonathan Joestar, taught me how to harness it. Interestingly, my father was never able to use it. Guess it's not something that just runs in the family." He then looked sad. "What's up?," Applejack asked. "Ah... It's a bit painful," Joseph admitted, "But my father died during the Great War. My mother disappeared shortly after avenging him, since the one who killed him was a prominent officer in the RAF. Of course, his fellows didn't know he was a zombie. She went off the radar with the help of Uncle Speedwagon's organization. I never even got the chance to get to know her. I've been raised by my grandparents ever since."

Meanwhile back in Mexico, Speedwagon brought Straizo to the back of the tomb. "We believe somewhere in these ruins is the source of the civilization that first created the stone mask," he explained, "Only those who are part of our circle know its secret. It's something the world at large can never be made aware of." "You're looking terrified, Speedwagon," Straizo noted, "Not even Dio made you shiver like this." Speedwagon nodded. "What we're about to see, may be a monster that would literally eat Dio for breakfast. But hopefully, it will be just as vulnerable to Hamon."

"Then why isn't your wife, or Jonathan here?," Straizo asked. "For the worst case scenario," Speedwagon admitted, "Should something happen to us, my men have instructions to send word to New York, where the Joestars are expecting to meet me." He led the group down a secret corridor, which Straizo noted looked disturbingly like a human ribcage. Along the walls were pictures of horned humans being destroyed by the sun. "What is this place?" He then spotted a large column at the end of corridor and gasped. Embedded in the pillar was a large humanoid with horns. And something else dotted the pillar around him.

"More stone masks!," he realized, "Then the one Dio had wasn't the only one!" "So it would seem," Speedwagon said sadly, "As for the man, he's an enigma. Those horns growing out of his head, we've theorized that those are sensors." Straizo looked at Speedwagon, confused. Speedwagon simply closed his eyes. "That is no carving in the pillar, but a living being embedded in it. Our studies have determined that he has amino acids, cells, body temperature, a pulse. Straizo, that thing is alive! And from what we've determined, he's a threat that could put even Dio to shame should he ever wake up."

He turned to Straizo. "That's were you come in. The pictures along the walls suggest this creature is vulnerable to sunlight in the same way a vampire is. So I'm betting that Hamon will be just as effective." "That reminds me," Straizo said, "How is young Joseph doing? You mentioned he can also use Hamon." "It was a surprise when I first learned it," Speedwagon noted, "Hijackers had kidnapped me hoping to get a ransom from Twilight. Of course, they planned on killing me and making my company go under afterward. Seems I made a few enemies while becoming a tycoon."

"It happens to the best of men," Straizo admitted, "But that was when Joseph showed off his Hamon, correct?" Speedwagon nodded. "One of the hijackers harassed him, trying to get him in a position where they could keep an eye on both of us. Unfortunately, the hijacker made the mistake of hitting Joseph with the butt of his gun, giving Joseph a nosebleed that dripped onto his jacket. That jacket was a gift from Erina, whom Joseph cherishes as a mother figure. That's when he channeled Hamon into the pilot, causing the plane to crash, though obviously the two of us and the pilot survived thanks to some quick thinking on Joseph's part."

He chuckled. "He may have Jonathan's face, but he's far from being a gentleman. Still, when Jonathan found out he took it upon himself to train the young man, much in the same way Zeppeli trained him." "So he's become strong," Straizo noted, "That's good. It'll make my goal easier." Speedwagon looked confused, until he saw his men suddenly die as blood exploded from them. "What? Straizo, what's gotten into you!" "If I may share a secret," Straizo explained, "I fear the thought of growing old. Hamon gave me a chance to hold it at bay, but it can only go so far."

He grabbed one of the stone masks, before kicking Speedwagon in the head, causing it to split open a little. "When I beheld Dio," Straizo said, "I saw the chance I needed, to remain forever young. We all feared him, but I also saw something more. I saw his beauty, his majesty. I understood that it was not in the world's best interest that his plans come to fruition, hence why I helped defeat him. But I also wanted the same power as him. Now I have that power, thanks to the blood I've spilled this day."

Back in New York, Applejack had been introduced to Joseph's grandmother, Erina Joestar. Despite having aged normally, she looked as beautiful as she did fifty years ago. She took a liking to Smokey and Applejack immediately, and showed no prejudice towards Smokey, which he found refreshing. The group was on their way to meet Erina's husband and sister-in-law, Jonathan and Twilight, as well as an old family friend named Dire. Along the way, Joseph nearly got run over by a taxi and started berating the driver for it, but calmed down when Erina caught up.

The group then got in the taxi, Applejack in the front, Smokey, Erina, and Joseph in the back. "So this granddad of yours," Smokey said, "You said he can also do that special power?" "Yeah," Joseph said, "He first learned how to use it to fight against an enemy of the family. Granny only got the full story after the fact." "It was for my own safety," Erina assured Joseph, "Jonathan didn't want me involved. Speedwagon could handle himself, despite not having special powers, so he was another story."

"That reminds me," Joseph said, "We should have met up with Uncle Speedwagon by now. Is he on holiday somewhere?" "You know how busy he and Twilight are with their oil industry," Erina reminded him, "It's fortunate we were able to meet up with Twilight alone." Applejack looked surprised. "Are you two really talking about the famous Robert EO Speedwagon? The Oil Baron from Britain as the papers call him?" "That's the man," Joseph said, "He's connected to our family through Aunt Twilight, who was adopted into the family after the death of her birth father. So Applejack, what brings you to New York?"

"My family came up here from Georgia to expand their orchard business," Applejack explained. Smokey looked surprised. "You're from Georgia too? My family moved up here to get away from all the prejudice toward African Americans. But as it turns out, we didn't get far enough away. That's why I had to resort to stealing off the streets." "I'm so sorry to hear that," Erina said, "Perhaps when we meet with our family, we can work on helping yours. I'm sure Jonathan won't say no to someone in need." Smokey smiled tentatively. "Maybe..."

At a local restaurant, a bit of trouble came as the Joestar's and their friends, both new and old, sat down for dinner. Twilight looked a little older, but only barely as a few wrinkle lines could be seen on her hands and near her eyes. Jonathan was only marginally older as well, his hair having gone gray with a few wrinkles near his eyes. "Hey waiter!," called out an obnoxious customer that was clearly connected to the Mafia, "What's this animal doing eating here? Who let it in?" Applejack looked around confused, and from the looks of her new friends she wasn't the only one. The only exception was Smokey, who looked downtrodden. Applejack quickly growled when she realized what the mobster was talking about.

"That pig's smell is making my food taste bad!," the mobster said, "Get him out of here!" "Hey!," Applejack called out, "I don't see any animals around here but the ones cooked on our plates! And if you are implying Smokey is an animal, I'll have you know we took the time to make sure he got a good shower before coming here!" The mobster growled as his boss chuckled. The waiter cleared his throat. "And may I say that the restaurant's owner operates under the policy that anyone is welcome here as long as they pay."

The mobster snarled, then threw his wine glass at Smokey. He got a big surprise as the worst Smokey got was splashed with wine, while the mobster's hand wound up bruised. Jonathan spotted Twilight smirking and couldn't help but chuckle. Applejack, meanwhile, was in awe at the appearance of Twilight's Stand, Love is in Bloom. Joseph stood up to confront the mobster. "Jojo," Erina said, "I'll not stop you from teaching this ruffian a lesson, but please try not to disturb the other guests."

"Jojo?," Applejack asked. "A nickname Jonathan used to have," Twilight explained, "It's been passed down to his grandson." Applejack shrugged. "Well, if we're defending the honor of our friends, then let me in on that rodeo." The mobster cackled as he got up as well. "So you two wanna tussle, huh?" He reached into his suit pocket. Joseph smirked. "If you're looking for your brass knuckles, you won't find them in your suit pocket. Try your back pocket instead."

The mobster looked shocked when he realized Joseph was right, then quickly dug into his pants' pocket to find what he was looking for, which was indeed the brass knuckles he always carried. Joseph smiled. "Your next line is, 'You bastard, how did you know about my brass knuckles...?'" "You bastard, how did you know about my brass knuckles...?," the mobster parroted, word for word as Joseph predicted. This revelation caused him to gasp. "How did you know he carried brass knuckles?," Applejack asked.

"It's simple," Joseph explained, "There are deep abrasions on the knuckles of his right hand, indicating he does all his fighting with brass knuckles. I also noted that there's blood on his shirt, but he has no injuries, so that blood clearly belongs to someone else, someone he had been in a fight with. But there's no blood on his jacket, so he had to have taken it off when he fought. Then when he was done, he wound up slipping the brass knuckles into his back pocket, since he wasn't wearing the jacket when he finished."

Jonathan laughed. "Joseph is quite skilled at analyzing his opponent, and is adept at cold reading. That plus an auditory trick is how he accurately predicted the mobster's reaction." Joseph smirked as the mobster growled and slipped on the brass knuckles. "Your next line is, 'So what, you little shit!'" "So what, you little shit!," the mobster growled, moving to punch Joseph. Instead, Applejack moved in between them. "To The Core!" Twilight got a good look at Applejack's Stand as it appeared, letting Applejack easily take the blow to the face.

The brass knuckles worked against the mobster, giving him the sensation of punching a steel wall with spikes embedded in it. "All right," the capo said, "That's enough outta you, Mahoney. Jeez, why do I even keep you around?" He walked toward the group. "I apologize for my associate's behavior. I'm an acquaintance of Mister Speedwagon. You would be the Joestar family, correct? I've heard an unfortunate rumor from the underground that someone has just murdered Mister Speedwagon."

He suddenly found himself grabbed by the collar by Twilight, who looked to be on the verge of tears. "You had better be lying! That's my husband you speak of!" "I told you," the man said, "It's only a rumor. I don't know the full details. For all I know it could be a bunch of hogwash. But what I do know is... If it is true, then the man behind it is someone by the name of Straizo." This got the group, especially Jonathan and Dire, gasping in shock. "Straizo...," Dire muttered, "But why...?"

And so our foray into Battle Tendency begins. I had to majorly alter the Author's Note containing the Stand info for both Twilight and Applejack since, with the OC archives, it seemed redundant.

The capo explained in detail what he had learned. "I'm not sure why this monk would want to kill those people over a simple mask," he admitted, "But he apparently disappeared after leaving the bodies in the nearby river." Jonathan slammed his fist into the table. "So, even after fifty years, the terror of the stone mask still haunts us." Smokey looked concerned. "I'm not sure we can trust this guy. He's Mafia after all." The capo got out a cigar and started digging through his pockets.

"You'll find your lighter in the back pocket," Joseph suggested. The man did as Joseph suggested, but got a surprise when Joseph plowed his fist into the capo's stomach. "Let me make this clear, despite what Smokey said I think we can trust your words. But regardless, this isn't something you just spring on my family. Especially Aunt Twilight and Granny Erina. They've become distraught because of your words. Next time, think before you lay such words upon us."

"I think I know something about what Straizo is up to," Twilight said, "Me and Robert recently made a discovery in Mexico. A pillar with a humanoid creature living inside it, sleeping in a cocoon of stone. And all around him, were more stone masks." Dire and Jonathan gasped. "More...?," Jonathan asked in horror, "Than the one my father found wasn't the only one..." "Twilight, if this is true," Dire said, "There could be dozens, if not hundreds of those masks. For all we know, the mask that cursed Zeppeli's father and the one Dio used may not even be one and the same anymore."

"What of this being in the pillar?," Jonathan asked. "Our research suggests its a form of life more highly evolved than humans," Twilight replied, "The writing we found suggests that the one we know of was asleep for two-thousand years." Erina looked shocked. "Two-thousand years..." "More importantly," Dire said, "Why would Straizo suddenly attack his friend out of the blue like that?" "It may not have been out of the blue," Twilight admitted, "You never knew this, Dire, but Straizo once admitted that he had a fear of growing old..." The group got various reactions on their faces, Applejack and Smokey having one of confusion.

The next day, Joseph was hanging out in a cafe with Smokey and Applejack. As Smokey was remarking about an ad for a padded bra, Joseph noted a young man nearby and raised an eyebrow. "You there," he said, "It's cold out, yet your breath isn't white. And unless I'm imagining things, I spy fangs in your mouth. Not to mention, you look a little familiar." The man smiled, and Applejack saw Joseph wasn't imagining things. "Joseph Joestar," the man said, "I'm here to take your life."

Before the vampire could make a move, Joseph pulled a Tommy Gun out of nowhere and blasted the vampire, causing him to fall back through a nearby store window. "Straizo," Joseph said, "I've been waiting for you... So I can avenge Uncle Speedwagon! Of course, I'm not expecting you to die from a few measly bullets. From what Grandpa Jonathan told me, Dio was able to survive getting shot clear through his brain. Of course, if I manage to blast your head into hamburger, that might work just as well as the sun or Hamon."

"Jojo!," Smokey called out, "Have you gone crazy!? You just shot a person in public!" Joseph picked up one of the bullets dropped from the attack. "I'm not so sure that's an accurate assumption. Well, Granddad already had his call to destiny. Guess it's my turn, now." He and Applejack worked to clear out the shop where Straizo had crashed into. Soon enough they spotted him on the ground, but he quickly got up. He quickly pushed all the bullets out of his body, and Joseph noticed something. "I practically turned you into swiss cheese. So how come none of those rounds came out of your head?"

"Dio's biggest weakness was his arrogance," Straizo noted, "He lost himself in the joy of his abilities. He wanted to test their limits. Because of that, it left an opening for Jonathan to defeat him. But I won't let myself fall to that egotism. I'll have all the time I need to test my powers once you're dead. Though I do have some knowledge already, thanks to Dio's efforts. Like the technique he used right at the very end. At the time, the most it did was injure Jonathan's hands, but Jonathan did remark that if it had hit his brain, he would have died. So I can assume that it would also have that effect if it hit anywhere vital."

"What's he talking about?," Applejack asked, "And how does it help him stop bullets from reaching his head?" Joseph wasn't about to give Straizo the chance to explain, but unfortunately he discovered his gun was out of ammo. Straizo chuckled. "Looks like you've run out of ammunition. Meanwhile, my long range attack shoots out high pressure liquid from my eyes. Dio never got the chance to name this attack, so I guess the honor goes to me. Space Ripper Stingy Eyes!"

Applejack watched as Straizo fired the high pressure stream from his eyes, nailing Joseph in the head and neck. Joseph grinned. "Your next line is, 'Now to finish off the other Joestars.'" Straizo turned around. "Now to finish off the other Joestars." His eyes then widened when he realized Joseph was still talking like nothing happened, and whipped his head around. Joseph smiled. "Your next line is, 'Why is this guy still alive with holes in him?'" Straizo was shocked. "Why is this guy still alive with holes in him?" He then facepalmed when he realized he had again done what Joseph predicted.

"Did you not wonder why Aunt Twilight wasn't here with me?," Joseph asked, "She has as much right to hate you as I do, after all. I mean, that was her husband you killed. And given her powers, you'd think I'd stick close to her just in case. But more importantly, you also neglected to study outside of Tibet. I came here fully prepared for all your tricks, Straizo, but you fell for some of mine. Take a look at this clock and you'll understand." He pointed up, and Straizo followed where he was pointing. He gasped when he saw the clock behind Joseph had its numbers backwards, meaning he was looking into a mirror.

"Bram Stoker came out with a best-seller just before the turn of the century," Applejack noted, "In it one of the vampire weaknesses he mentioned was that they don't have reflections in mirrors. I guess he turned out to be right on the money. Otherwise you would have realized that you were standing in front of one." Joseph smirked as he came up behind Straizo. "From there I used ventriloquism to make me sound like I was still in front of you, and even fired the gun from my off hand instead of my dominant hand."

He charged the gun with Hamon energy, and used it to strike Straizo in the head. As the vampire crashed into the nearby wall, Joseph and Applejack approached. However, Straizo caught them off-guard as he fired off another shot from his eyes. Luckily, Applejack was prepared for a sneak attack. "To The Core!" With her body hardened, she was able to tank the high pressure liquid without a scratch. "I see," Straizo said, "A power similar to Twilight's. But do you also have an arrow, or were you born with this power like Enya was?"

Joseph grimaced. "He's not melted. But how did the Hamon not work? Grandpa said he was able to destroy several undead monsters with that same power." "If you're wondering whether he was lying," Straizo said, "Then take heart. His information was not wrong. But I knew I'd need to protect myself from Hamon when I fought you. The answer lies in the scarf I'm wearing. It was woven from the wings of thirty-thousand Satiporoja Beetles, a species native to Southeast Asia. These beetles are far more conductive to Hamon than human flesh, so this scarf can easily absorb Hamon attacks."

"Pretty impressive," Joseph admitted, "But you should have realize the moment I tried using that Tommy Gun to blast your head into paste. I don't rely on just Hamon." He grinned as he pulled on a cord that Straizo noticed was tied to him. He gasped when he realized that Joseph had somehow managed to pin a grenade to his scarf. Quickly he knocked it away. "You're quick," Joseph said as he and Applejack jumped out of the store, "But not too attentive. Like I said, take a trip to the city once in a while like Dire does. Then you might have a better advantage."

To Straizo's shock, the grenade was attached to several more wires that pulled the pins of a few more grenades attached to his back. In an instant, the entire building blew up, seconds after Joseph and Applejack managed to dive out of it. "That should have done it," Joseph said. "That was nuts!," Smokey called out, "Are you just crazy or something?" "Uh, maybe," Applejack said, "Cuz I think we'd have to be to see what I'm seeing right now." Joseph and Smokey looked to see what Applejack was talking about.

Disgusting as it was, Straizo's pieces, which had been blown across the store, were getting up and pulling themselves together. "You gotta be kidding!," Smokey called out, "He got blasted with grenades and he's still not dead!? What kinda monster is he!? Even for a vampire straight outta Bram Stoker this is nuts! Jojo, what are we gonna do!?" "Well," Joseph said, "I did have one last plan in mind." "Are you really thinking that?," Applejack asked, "Granted I am too, but all the same..."

"What?," Smokey asked, "What are you talking about?" "Look at Straizo's legs," Joseph explained, "They were practically torn apart from the multiple explosions. That'll take time to recover." "Which means," Applejack said, "We just gotta use our good legs for this." Smokey looked at them. "But... How?" Joseph and Applejack looked at each other, nodded, then called out, "Run away!" They hightailed it down the street, Smokey running after them calling out, "Are you kidding me!?"

Straizo, meanwhile, had reassembled most of his body, enough to leap to the second floor of the building. As the duo ran, expecting Straizo to chase them, Joseph found himself grabbed by a guy just a size larger than him. "Gotcha, you criminal!," the man said. "Way to go, Bruto!," a nearby woman called out. "Idiot!," Joseph said, nailing the man in the head with his leg, "Stay out of our way if you don't want to get hurt!" He left the man lying on the ground, his girl complaining that Joseph came off as way cooler.

"What was that about?," Applejack asked as they kept running. "No idea," Joseph said, "I mean, yeah we basically bombed a building hoping to kill just one guy, who wasn't even killed regardless. But that's a matter for the police, not some random idiot." Applejack sighed. "We live in a bizarre world." "Sit down with my granddad sometime," Joseph said with a chuckle, "He has some stories to tell you." The trio soon reach the Brooklyn Bridge. "Jeez," Smokey said, "Why did I even run with you guys? I'm not even involved in this."

Then they saw Straizo, having taken a woman hostage. "Joseph," he said, "I'll give one chance. Either climb up here and face me, or this girl will die." Joseph blinked. "Why would I do that just for a stranger? I don't know what you think of me, but I'm not the gentleman my grandfather is." Straizo chuckled. "So then, I can take my time and heal, knowing you won't chase after me to avenge Speedwagon." "See, again you're making false assumptions," Joseph noted, "Speedwagon is someone I care about, so of course I'd chase after you. God, did you lose your common sense when you became a vampire?"

"And what's stopping me from sending my Stand after you to free that woman right here and now?," Applejack asked. "Please," Straizo said, "Enya and Twilight didn't have very strong Stands. Yes, their abilities were powerful, but Twilight could only make her's fight thanks to Hamon, which you lack." He then got a surprise when To The Core wrenched his arm out of the woman's mouth. "Again with the false assumptions," Applejack noted, "Here's a little lesson in Stands. Besides their abilities, their strength can be broken down into six stats, power, speed, range, precision, durability, and potential."

She chuckled at Straizo's confused expression. "My Stand, To The Core, is not just good for powering me up. It's a powerful fighter in its own right. You see those invisible fingers digging into your arm? That's my Stand. Like me when I trigger it's ability, it's strong enough to match any vampire, and we're well within how far I can project it from myself, a range of about twenty meters give or take." Thinking quickly, Straizo let go of the woman and immediately fired his eye attack.

One shot hit Applejack, but her Stand was active so she could tank the attack. The other targeted Joseph, but he was ready with a shot glass charged with Hamon, causing the attack to rebound and strike Straizo. Joseph spit at Straizo. "Your next line is, 'Impossible...'" "Impossible...," Straizo parroted. "I knew you'd go for my forehead," Joseph explained, "From there it was easy to aim a shot glass charged with Hamon, reflecting your attack. A little trick I picked up from Aunt Twilight."

Straizo immediately lunged at Joseph, who countered with a Hamon punch to Straizo's face, sending him off the side of the bridge. However, he then caught Straizo's arm. "Why?," Straizo asked, "You know I may have the power to blast your arm off." "If you do I'll just beat you down one-handed," Joseph countered, "But there's one thing I want to know. Why did you toss Speedwagon's body in the river? If you hadn't, no one would have found out."

Straizo smiled. "You definitely are different from Jonathan, but there are similarities. You're more pragmatic then he is, but you still have that curiosity for adventure. Very well... When I went to put on the stone mask, I saw the man in the column absorb the blood from the bodies, like a plant absorbs nutrients. I realized that if I left the bodies there, the man would awaken. I had to stop that, so I grabbed the bodies and tossed them into the river. Still, I wasn't fast enough to prevent him from getting any blood, and he'll doubtless awaken before long."

He looked at Joseph. "Destiny has found you, Jojo. When the Pillar Man awakens, it'll be up to you to fight him. I wish I could have could seen it for myself, the wonders of his evolution. But I have no regrets. I can now die with my youthful face." To Joseph's shock, Straizo started charging Hamon, causing him to break apart into dust. Smokey walked up to Joseph and Applejack. "What'll happen now?" "I somehow trust what Straizo was saying," Joseph said, "It was my grandfather's destiny to battle against Dio. And now my destiny lies in destroying this 'Pillar Man'."

Meanwhile in Mexico, a certain group had learned of Straizo's discovery. They were the Nazis of Germany, that bizarre group founded by Adolf Hitler. Having conquered Czechoslovakia, they were quickly creating a second world war, which would eventually cause the Great War to be renamed World War I, as this new war was being called World War II. The Nazis thought themselves the pinnacle of human evolution, and used this as justification for war.

In addition, they sought to control the spiritual and scientific worlds. Astrology, magic, alchemy, esp, and the occult were all used as weapons of war. And now, at a Nazi information base in Mexico, a Waffen-SS officer by the name of Rodul von Stroheim was getting a shave while waiting for a certain piece of information. As he relaxed, the woman who was shaving him gasped as she had accidentally cut him with the razor. "I'm sorry, Major Stroheim!," she called out.

"It's fine," Stroheim said as he wiped the blood with his knuckle, "Shaving cuts like this are common. Besides, it only stings a little. The pain will fade before too long. I must say, that little accident aside, this is the closest shave I've ever had. Danke schon." The woman breathed a sigh of relief as a Nazi soldier entered. "Major Stroheim, I have a report. It seems Speedwagon has regained consciousness. Now we can learn the location of the ruins." Stroheim nodded. They had earlier managed to fish Speedwagon out of the river Straizo had tossed him into. Despite the wound to his head, Speedwagon had managed to survive. "Wunderbar," he said as he got up, "Let's proceed with the interrogation."

You can expect some minor changes to Stroheim's character. They beauty of writing a parallel universe. Also, there was some misconceptions that Applejack is Twilight and Speedwagon's granddaughter. I'll say it here that it was never my intention for them to be related. Just thought I should mention that.

Stroheim coughed as he tried to use some bug repellent to deal with an annoying fly while in the medical wing of the fortress. He turned his attention to Speedwagon. "Why did you put him in a straight jacket?," he asked the doctor. "He tried to kill himself with a broken bottle," the doctor explained, "We felt this was necessary to prevent further attempts. Just to be safe, we warned him that any attempt to swallow or bite his tongue would result in an electric shock, hence the collar as well."

Stroheim nodded. "Understandable. In Europe, they say where an old man commits suicide, that town will soon be destroyed. So, Herr Speedwagon, I take it you know something about this man." He hit a nearby button that opened a hatch, revealing a large containment room, where the pillar and the man inside had been extracted from the tomb he was found in. "We already gained a great deal of knowledge from the journal you left," Stroheim said, "But I'm under the impression that you didn't reveal everything."

Speedwagon closed his eyes. "Why? Why did you let me live? It would have been better if I had died at that tomb." Stroheim smirked. "Maybe for you, but the Fuhrer has an interest in the Pillar Man, as you describe him, and we need to find out how to wake him up. Of course, given your history, I doubt torture would be sufficient to get the information we need. But German science is the best in the world, so we have other methods that are far more productive!"

Speedwagon scoffed. "You mean truth serum. You already have the knowledge regarding the Pillar Man. What more could you possibly need?" "In order to understand how to awaken the Pillar Man," Stroheim explained, "We need to understand your history with the stone mask, the Joestar family, and even..." He walked over to a small table and pulled the cover off it. Speedwagon gasped when he saw an Egyptian arrowhead lying on the table. Stroheim grinned. "The secret behind Stands."

Later, Stroheim and some of his soldiers walked over to a prison on the compound. Speedwagon had insisted that awakening the Pillar Man was a horrible idea, especially under truth serum, because it could endanger the world. Stroheim knew the risks, of course, but was confident Hitler knew what he was doing. If they could harness the power of evolution this Pillar Man represented, it could propel Nazi Germany to the top of the world stage.

He soon reached the prison, where several natives where being held for experiments. None of them looked happy to see Stroheim, in fact one tried to attack him. Stroheim was no arm-chair officer, however, and easily countered the attack. "Ladies and gentlemen," he said, "We have need of one of you for a final experiment. So then, choose among yourselves who shall be sacrificed for this glorious moment." To his amazement, the entire group stood up, each requesting that they be the one to be sacrificed that the others could live.

In spite of his upbringing, Stroheim was impressed. "Our Aryan race is the superior above all, but it's clear that other human races are no slouch. I can admire that sort of courage, and the courageous deserve life." He turned to his men. "Sort out the oldest one among them. Use that one for the experiment. Then release the others. We've no more need of them." "Jawohl," the soldiers replied, saluting. They got to work asking about ages as Stroheim returned to check on the scientists' progress. He suspected that it wouldn't be long before their efforts started to bear fruit.

Meanwhile, Joseph and Applejack were riding through the Mexican desert. It would take hours to find the temple where Speedwagon last was, but from there Joseph was confident they could find what was left of him. He was a little surprised Applejack had wanted to come, but she insisted on helping her new friends. So she informed her family and got her motorcycle to travel with Joseph. Stopping in a nearby town, the two spotted a water trough. Joseph immediately went to get a drink, having gotten thirsty on the way. "Uh, Jojo," Applejack said, "You might not want to drink outta the same trough as the horses."

Joseph looked to see a horse come up and start drinking from the trough. "Phew. I almost drank from that. Thanks for the heads-up, Applejack." Just then they heard the laughter of some of the locals. "Hey, look boys. We gotta couple of gringos here." "Gringo?," Joseph asked. "Basically anyone not Latin American," Applejack explained, "I happen to speak a bit of Spanish." Joseph shrugged. "I'm more fluent in Italian." He then noticed the locals talking to each other, one of them having their hand on a post from a nearby building. "Hey, amigo. What say we steal their stuff and leave them in the desert?"

The duo looked at each other. "That doesn't sound very fun," Joseph noted, "Luckily that won't be happening." He smirked as he lifted his finger to his goggles, much to the locals' confusion. With a flick of Hamon energy, he shattered the lens of the goggles and sent the shards flying at the hand of local leaning against the post, missing his fingers but nailing several flies that were nearby. "My turn," Applejack said with a smirk. These locals were well within her Stands range, allowing To The Core to smack the nearest one and send him flying, to the bewilderment of his friends.

She then activated To The Core's ability and walked over the to frightened locals, one of whom tried nailing her with a tequila bottle. The bottle bounced harmlessly off her head, shocking the thugs. They then saw Joseph had the first local in a headlock. "Now then, if you don't mind, we have a ways to go and could use some food, water, and gasoline. Be sure to have it here in the next three minutes." The locals nodded feverishly before rushing off to get the goods.

Back at the Nazi compound, the scientists were checking the state of the containment chamber holding the Pillar Man. "Speedwagon's notes regarding vampires were very specific," the lead scientist noted, "The stone mask increases jumping ability to between five and eight meters. Punching power increases to between two-thousand and four-thousand kilograms per centimeter. And leg strength increases three fold. That gives a vampire enough strength to punch through a steel wall four centimeters thick. To accommodate this, the wall around this chamber is ten centimeters thick, and the floor is fifteen meters below the viewing chamber. Now that all safety checks have been accounted for, let's begin the experiment."

You ever noticed how most Jojo parts have traveling in them, even if it's just other cities in the same country? The only exception seems to be Diamond is Unbreakable, which takes places exclusively within Morioh. Just something I wanted to point out, since this is where Part 2's traveling aspect comes in.

Stroheim finished his morning ritual in the viewing center as machines pumped blood into the pillar. "Major Stroheim," one of the scientists said, "The pillar is starting to show cracks." "Finally, progress," Stroheim said. "Luckily we saved up quite a bit of blood for this," the scientist noted, "The equivalent total is roughly equal to five full-sized adults. Any more and we suspect the Pillar Man would be too strong to contain." Stroheim looked curious. "However did you extract that much blood? On second thought, I don't want to know. I can already imagine."

He noticed Speedwagon quivering. "What's with this fear, Speedwagon? We had this chamber built specifically to contain this man, based on your notes. Not even a hundred vampires could break through it. Does a child fear a bear in a cage at the zoo? I believe this is just a primitive human that has managed to live long time." "Then you are too narrow-minded," Speedwagon countered, "My notes also made it clear that this Pillar Man could be even stronger than a vampire. And that is no human, mark my words. Also, my son was terrified of bears in the zoo when he was a child."

"Major Stroheim!," one of the scientists called out, "The pillar just exploded! All the blood we pumped inside is gushing out! It's impossible to see!" "Activate the showers!," Stroheim ordered, "We must maintain visual on the subject!" As the water hit the pillar, the man inside it started to emerge, the stone of his body turning to flesh before everyone's eyes. As the man landed, Stroheim smiled. "He's alive! Look, his flesh has gained a familiar color. But he must have a name. Constantly calling him 'The Pillar Man' sounds awkward."

He tapped his chin. "I suppose since I am the head of this project, then by rights I am his godfather. In that case, I shall name him after the Mexican winds... Santana!" Santana started to get up, but then slipped on the wet floor, causing Stroheim to burst out into laughter. "He's rather funny isn't he! But looked at him sniff around like a dog. Not what one would expect from an 'ultimate life form'. Seems he truly is as primitive as I thought. Still, Speedwagon's research suggests his tribe created the stone masks. So let's how he fares against one transformed by the mask."

A panel opened in the chamber, getting Santana's attention. Behind the panel was a hungry looking male vampire. "What in God's name have you done?," Speedwagon demanded. "We had a prisoner test the stone mask," Stroheim expected, "A few days ago he was just a weak old man, but now look at him. And this after just one feeding. However, he has not been fed today, so he'll naturally attack the first thing he sees out of ravenous hunger. Let's see how Santana handles him." Santana didn't move as the vampire approached him, grabbing him.

"He doesn't seem to be doing anything a normal human wouldn't," a scientist noted, "Major Stroheim, should we activate the explosive in the prisoner's head?" "Nein, not yet," Stroheim said, "Santana has not cowered like a normal human would. This may be part of some strategy." The vampire tried to sink his jaws into Santana, but got a terrible surprise, as did the soldiers and scientists. Instead of sinking his fangs into Santana, the vampire found his arm and front melting into the Pillar Man.

"His lower jaw," Stroheim noted, "And his arms. Santana absorbed him through contact alone." Santana grabbed the dying vampire and seemed to stuff him into his body. "Mein Gott!," Stroheim called out, "He's eating him! Santana is eating the vampire! The creatures of the stone mask are just food to his kind!" 'This is worse than I could have imagined,' Speedwagon thought, 'Dio was nothing compared to this new monster. If Santana finds his way out of this complex, it could doom the world!'

Meanwhile, Joseph and Applejack were continuing to travel to the temple, when Joseph got a nagging feeling. "Something wrong, Jojo?," Applejack asked. "Nothing," Joseph replied, "Just the odd feeling that we're being followed." They stopped to have a look around, but all they saw was a large red cloak in the middle of the desert. "Well," Joseph said, "That's not suspicious." He quickly grabbed the cloak and lifted it, but there was nothing under it but sand.

"I guess it was nothing after all," Joseph said. Just then, Applejack stepped in front of him and called out, "To The Core!" Her strengthened body easily blocked a knife attack. Behind the cloak had appeared a black-haired German. "Good intuition," the man said, "It seems you too are a Stand user." "So you have one as well?," Applejack asked, "Just who are you?" The man jumped back, grinning. "My name is Donovan, and I am a assassin working for the Waffen-SS." "Oh, just great," Joseph said sarcastically, "And why would the Nazis be following us?"

"I'm afraid you are under the wrong impression," Donovan said, "I was tasked with tracking you down, Joseph Joestar. To learn information on Straizo from you. But to think you'd be allied with another Stand user. I was planning on killing the girl, but I think Major Stroheim will understand if I decide to bring her along instead." He swiftly moved over the sand, light as a feather, before standing on a nearby cactus. Applejack spotted a cloaked skeleton following Donovan as he did.

"This is the power of my Stand," Donovan explained, "I call it Whispers in the Dark. With it I can move so silently even wild bats cannot track my movements, and leave no trace as I do so." "And apparently hide in shadows as well," Applejack noted. "Indeed," Donovan replied, "I was a skilled tracker and killer before, but thanks to the arrow we purchased from London, my skills have become even sharper." Joseph gasped. "Arrow? From London? The same one Aunt Twilight was looking for?"

"Let me handle this, Jojo," Applejack said, "I'm also a Stand user, so dealing with him won't be too difficult. He's putting too much faith in his own physical abilities, meaning his Stand can't be too strong." "Perhaps not," Donovan admitted, "But your Stand seems to only be defensive. And there's no way you could hold its power forever. I'll deal with you once I have the perfect opening, then Joseph will be easy pickings." He quickly dove under the cloak which threw itself at Applejack.

Applejack simply dodged out the way, grabbing and throwing Donovan across the desert as he come out to attack. "Don't take my Stand, To The Core, so lightly," Applejack warned him, "It does more than increase my defense. It strengthens my body to grant me superhuman physiology. So not only my defense, but my speed, agility, and yes even strength, all get enhanced. And as a bonus, I don't feel pain. But don't think that means I got a weakness, because I can feel something when I get attacked, so I know when to put my guard up."

Faster than Donovan could track, Applejack rushed at him and grabbed his head, slamming it into a nearby cactus, causing the assassin to scream in pain. Applejack quickly followed up with a hard punch to the gut, forcing the air out of Donovan's lungs. As he collapsed, Applejack said, "Your first mistake was explaining your Stand's powers. Once I understood them, it was easy to overwhelm you, since you didn't know anything about my powers." Joseph then grabbed Donovan's head. "Now then, Nazi bastard, how about you tell us what you know about Stroheim."

Inside the complex, the Nazis were still shocked at what they had just witnessed. They had come to believe that the vampires created by the stone mask were the same as the Pillar Man, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Santana was clearly on a whole other level. "I can't believe he just ate the vampire," a soldier said, "And he got bigger as well." "Calm down," Stroheim said, "He just gained some weight is all. That chamber is still large enough to hold him." Santana then looked up at Stroheim. "S... Stro... Stroheim..." Stroheim gasped. "He talked... He said my name... But he shouldn't be able to hear anything from in there."

Joseph couldn't believe what Donovan had just said. Applejack smiled as Joseph cried tears of happiness. "He's alive... Speedwagon is alive... Oh, Aunt Twilight will be so relieved. Still, we'll have to get him out of that Nazi complex." "Let me take care of business first," Applejack said, as she cracked her knuckles starting at Donovan, who gulped. As Donovan was left tied to a cactus, the duo rode off for the complex. Soon enough, they reached the large, Mexican building the complex was supposed to be under.

"There is it," Joseph said, "Cactus man said the lab was twenty meters under the ground. I really don't care what sort of experiments they were pulling off, but I hope Speedwagon is still alright in there." "Take a look at the entrance," Applejack said, "Those guards seem rather lecherous. They're ordering body checks for all the younger women trying to pass through." She thought for a moment. "That gives me an idea." She returned to the bikes and got out a bright green dress.

"Why did you bring a dress to the desert?," Joseph asked. "This is a cherished memory for me," Applejack explained, "A couple weeks before I met you, I was attending this new type of social called a Sadie Hawkins dance. It's a flip of the norm where the girls get to ask out whatever boy they want, instead of having to wait to be asked." Joseph rubbed his chin. "That sounds like an amazing idea. I could see that catching on quickly." Applejack finished changing behind a rock, then stepped out, causing Joseph's eyes to bug out of his head with how gorgeous she looked. "Oh yeah, that'll distract the guards no problem."

Sure enough, the guards were also slack-jawed as the gorgeous southern belle approached them, two bottles of tequila in hand. "Howdy there, boys," Applejack said in as sultry a voice as she could managed, "I was hoping to drop some tequila off at a friend's place. Care to let me through?" The guards nodded as they approached. Applejack smiled. Joseph had already charged the bottles with a Hamon spell, causing the air pressure in them to build up.

Now Applejack applied the finishing touch. "To The Core!" She shook the bottles violently, causing the air pressure to launch the corks into the nearby coconut tree. This knocked down two coconuts, which landed on the Nazis' heads. "Surprise!," Joseph said as he came dashing in, knocking out the guards with a swift kick. "Tacos!" "That reminds me," Applejack said, "I'm getting hungry. How about we grab a bite after we get Speedwagon out?" "Sounds good," Joseph said, "But first let's grab these officers' uniforms. That should help up blend in within the compound."

Inside the lab, tension was mounting. Santana had somehow disappeared from the containment chamber. "Major Stroheim," a scientist said nervously, "I just took my eyes off him for a moment. You were right next to me, everyone was. But we didn't see a thing..." He nervously picked up a coffee cup, but Stroheim knocked it out of his hands. "This is no time for drinking dummkopf! We have to focus on finding where Santana went! But you are right about one thing. All of us had our eyes on the chamber, no one looked away for more than a few seconds, and all of us have near perfect vision. So how could he have disappeared?"

He walked to the window. "Just to be safe, do not open the hatch under any circumstances until we confirm his presence. He must be hiding somewhere we cannot see... Stop the flow of oxygen! He'll come out once he starts suffocating." "Major Stroheim," a soldier said as he came in, "The film is ready." "Good," Stroheim replied, "Set it up and rewind it. Then we'll know where Santana hid." The projector was set up and the film started running. Stroheim and Speedwagon gasped when they saw what Santana was doing.

Somehow, he ran to the wall and jumped off it, then seemed to flatten his body to the point he could slip into the vent. "Impossible!," Stroheim said, "That's such a small opening, only four by two centimeters! Yet he folded himself up and slipped right through it!" 'This is more than just dislocating his joints,' Speedwagon realized, 'It's like he completely disassembled his body!' "Major," one of the scientists said, "I just thought of something. Earlier Santana said your name. What if he heard it through those vents?"

Stroheim considered it. "Ja, that makes sense. But still, that means his senses are far beyond anything humans are capable of." His eyes then widened. "Wait! Are you saying those vents are connected to this room!? Quickly, get away from all the vents!" One soldier, against Stroheim's orders, got his gun ready as he peered into one of the vents. That was a big mistake, as Santana leapt out of the vent and into the hapless soldier. "Dummkopf!," Stroheim yelled, "My orders were to get away from the vents, not get closer to them!"

"Major Stroheim!," the soldier called out, a huge hole visible where his eyes should be, "What happened? I can't see anything! Please, don't leave me here alone!" "He dove right into the soldier's body!," Speedwagon said in horror, "This is a level of terror Dio could never match!" The soldier started to grotesquely expand, inflating like a balloon. "I'm not sure what's going on," he said, "But I haven't felt this great in a long time..." "Gott in himmel," Stroheim said, "At this rate, it would endanger the Fatherland to let Santana roam free. May the Fuhrer forgive me, but our country comes first. Men, prepare to open fire! Shoot through the soldier's body!"

The soldiers immediately complied, but other than leaving bullet holes in the soldier's body, nothing seemed to have any effect. "I've seen Dio effortlessly shrug off bullets," Speedwagon noted, "There's no reason to doubt Santana can do the same." Sure enough, the solider, controlled by Santana, pointed a finger at the soldiers. "Is he trying to mimic a gun?," Stroheim wondered aloud, "He's merely copying us. Then earlier when he said my name, it was no different than a parrot. His intelligence is no different than a monkey. We may be able to make use of him after all."

Just then, the soldiers jaw literally dropped to the floor, and a new voice emerged. "Was it you... Who disturbed my sleep?" Stroheim gasped. "His intelligence isn't low, you fool," Speedwagon reprimanded him, "Humans learn from imitation all the time, from the moment we are able to open our eyes as toddlers. No, it's the exact opposite. Santana's intelligence is at a much higher level than humans. In just a short amount of time, he has begun to learn our language to the point of fluency, and he perfectly calculated his escape from the chamber."

The soldier's hand started to fall apart, leaving Santana's behind, which immediately fired off a bullet like it was a real gun. The shot tore through one soldier's brain, killing him instantly. "Hey," a southern sounding female voice whispered near Speedwagon, "We're here to get you out, Mister Speedwagon." "Applejack...," a very familiar British voice complained, "We were supposed to stay in character." "Well, I'm sorry Jojo," the girl known as Applejack said, "But my southern drawl ain't good for mimicking German."

Speedwagon's eyes widened. "Jojo?" "Guess the cat's out of the bag," Joseph said as he lifted up his borrowed helmet just enough for Speedwagon to recognize, "Good to see you're still alive, Uncle Speedwagon. Grandpa and the others were worried when we heard what Straizo did to you." Speedwagon smiled, but then his face turned grim as he turned back to Santana, who had shed the guard's skin. "Straizo's actions are the least of our problems right now," Speedwagon noted.

"Yeah, I saw what he did earlier," Joseph noted, "Me and Applejack here were able to sneak in during Tarzan's little diving routine. Don't worry about her, by the way. She's a Stand user like Aunt Twilight." Speedwagon looked at Applejack in surprise, who lifted her own helmet and smirked. Joseph hurried over to Stroheim and started pulling at his hair. "What are you doing, soldier?," Stroheim demanded. "Sorry there," Joseph said, "Just need to borrow a few follicles."

Taking a chunk of Stroheim's hair, Joseph started channeling his Hamon through them, turning them as straight and sharp as needles. "I call it the Hamon Hair Attack!" Santana fired off a few more shots, while Applejack called out, "To The Core!" To The Core emerged and started grabbing the bullets in midair. The ones it couldn't get either bounced off harmlessly, or got repelled when Joseph threw out the hairs in a Hamon barrier. Speedwagon and Stroheim were safe behind it. The rest of the soldiers and scientists weren't so lucky.

Santana looked on in surprise at the sight of the bullets seemingly floating in midair. "A Stand!," Stroheim realized, "She has a Stand just like Donovan! But we only had the one arrow!" "She must be like Enya was," Speedwagon realized, "She was born with her Stand." "Hey, Mister Nazi Guy," Joseph said, "I'd recommend investing in some moisturizer. This hair feels a bit dry. You wouldn't want to go bald now." Santana picked up the now limp hair and felt it. "Hair..."

Stroheim looked at the duo in shock. "You... You're Joseph Joestar, yes!? I'll worry about how you got in here later. That man, the one from the pillar. His kind created the stone mask, possibly as a food source. If he gets out of this compound, it could spell doom for the entire planet. The writing on the tomb where he was found suggest he is weak to the sunlight. I've heard you can use Hamon. Jojo, you must use it to destroy Santana!" Applejack walked up to him. "What was your name again?" "Major Rodul von Stroheim," Stroheim replied.

"Right," Applejack said, "Call me Applejack. Anyway, what on God's green Earth possessed you to awaken such a creature as this?" Stroheim grunted. "I'm beginning to question that myself. I've heard those outside Germany's borders call Herr Hitler mad. I'm starting to wonder if they might have a point." Joseph simply walked up to Santana. "So, you're a new being, right? You seem to be male, but are there any females of your species. And how do you make kids?"

Santana just remained silent. "Hey, now," Joseph said, "You were talking earlier. Why the sudden silence? I'm just trying to strike up a conversation." "Careful Jojo," Speedwagon said, "He's dangerous." "Well, maybe," Joseph admitted, "But it's like if you met Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster. You'd want to know more about them rather than just assume they're evil." "He killed dozens of my men!," Stroheim pointed out, "One of whom was unprovoked!"

"He's probably just grumpy cuz you woke him up," Applejack pointed out. Santana walked over to one of the fallen soldiers' guns and picked it up, observing it. "This tool... I've never seen it before... What is it?" "So he does speak," Joseph noted, "And quite well, too." "He's almost completely mastered the English language," Speedwagon noted. They four of them watched as he took apart the gun in short order. "Incredible!," Stroheim exclaimed, "He took apart that gun in so short a time! That normally takes hours of hard training!"

Santana then saw the bright lights. "Light... But not the sun... I can exist in this light... What is this light? How is it made?" Stroheim was struck by a realization. "Mein Gott... We weren't the ones observing him... He was observing us!" "Hey!," Joseph said, clocking Santana over the head with a helmet, "If you can understand our language, then answer when someone's talking to you!" Santana scoffed. "Annoying primitive..." He then got a sensation of pain as Applejack struck him in the head using the power of her Stand, sending him sailing into the nearby wall.

"I don't right appreciate you calling us primitive after we've had ten-thousand years to evolve in all manner of ways," Applejack pointed out, "I was planning on just leaving you alone and helping Jojo get Mister Speedwagon out of here, but if you're gonna be so condescending as to treat us like a lesser species, then I can't rightly let that slide." Santana grunted as he got up, confused. "She's just a human, but that punch was as strong as my people... And I was unable to taste her... Like her skin was too tough to digest..."

He growled, then rushed at Applejack and Joseph. To their shock, his ribs seemingly burst from his chest like blades. Applejack still had her Stand active, letting her easily tank the hit, while Joseph used his Hamon to block the other side of the ribcage. Santana looked shocked and backed off. "Him too... Have humans truly evolved so much in two-thousand years?" He quickly walked over to Speedwagon and slid his hand inside his brain, causing Speedwagon to mutter, "Terrifying." "No...," Santana noted, "This one is like before."

"That does it!," Joseph said, "Now you'll get a taste of my Hamon!" Santana's head snapped up. "Hamon? In this era?" Joseph plowed a Hamon charged fist into Santana's chest, but was shocked when it didn't seem to do anything. "That's not good..." "Uh, Jojo...," Applejack said, pointing at the floor. Joseph looked and saw the blood around them was being affected by the Hamon energy. "It's just like with Straizo's scarf," Joseph realized, "His skin is repelling my Hamon like a raincoat."

"Our bodies repel each other," Santana noted. He quickly shifted his flesh to try and break off Joseph's hand. It seemed to work at first, but Joseph revealed his hand was still fine, since he had rolled it out of the way just in time. Joseph demonstrated how the trick worked by using a similar trick that involved pretending to remove his index finger using his thumb, causing Santana to look surprised. "Still," Joseph noted, "It's troubling that my Hamon can't work on him."

"It is working, Jojo!," Speedwagon pointed out, "But it's too focused on preventing him from eating you!" "Joseph and Santana repel each other's bodies," Stroheim noted, "And earlier Santana noted trying to eat Applejack when her Stand is active was like trying to bite into a piece of meat too tough to chew. So at the very least, he won't be eating either of them. But how can they defeat him when they can't properly damage him?" "Maybe from the inside," Joseph reasoned, "Applejack, I need an opening!"

"I'm all over it!," Applejack replied, "To The Core!" To The Core emerged unseen to all but Applejack. With Santana unable to see it, the Stand gave a swift kick to Santana's crotch, causing him to feel enough pain in the area to drop to his knees in agony. "What was that? Some sort of invisible person? Why can't I see them?" He got even more confused when To The Core used its legs to hold down Santana's feet while also grabbing his wrists.

"He cannot see it," Stroheim realized, "Of course! Donovan noted he was the only one who could see his Stand's true form. Only another Stand user would be able to see it. Even Santana, with his superior senses, cannot detect it." "Incredible!," Speedwagon said, "It's actually restraining him! With Santana's flexibility he would normally be able to squeeze out of that grip, but he cannot even see the hand to properly affect that here! That means Applejack's Stand is capable of damaging physical objects! Even Twilight needed Hamon to do that with her Stand!"

Applejack, under the influence of her Stand, rushed over to Santana in a dodging maneuver, getting behind him and wrenching his jaw open. Santana tried to wrench his way free, but Applejack seemed to have a death grip on him. 'It's like training with my masters,' Santana thought, 'Except these humans don't seem keen on letting me live.' He saw Joseph rushing in and tried to intercept with his rib blades, but Joseph dodged around them before thrusting his fist down the Pillar Man's throat. "Hamon!"

With the Hamon energy forced down Santana's throat, he found himself getting ripped apart from the inside. Cut in half, Santana collapsed on the floor. "Such brilliant tactics," Stroheim admitted, "Our drill instructors in Berlin would be impressed. They clearly have good knowledge of each others abilities. But how did you avoid getting absorbed when you threw your fist into Santana's mouth?" "I got the impression as I was pulling off that attack," Joseph noted, "Santana said earlier that he couldn't digest Applejack. His word being 'digest', not 'absorb'. My Hamon was able to protect me while I was making that last attack."

"I get it," Applejack realized, "His whole body is like one big digestive system, each individual cell excreting the digestive fluid needed to break apart individual cells on his prey. But the way my Stand works, those cells grow tighter together, making them harder to break down. I've found myself tanking acid spills before, and this was something similar." Santana's arm then twitched, his still intact torso managing to wake up. "Damn," Joseph cursed, "Guess I still need to improve my Hamon's strength. Santana's still alive."

He quickly kicked up a nearby knife and chain, tying the chain to the knife's handle, then throwing it into Santana's hand. "Stroheim," Joseph asked, "Can this guy be killed by sunlight the way a vampire could?" "Yes," Stroheim said, "The carvings in the tomb suggest the Pillar Man race could be destroyed by the sun's rays." Joseph nodded. "Okay, Applejack, lend me a hand here!" Applejack grabbed the chain and helped Joseph pull Santana to the door. Between the two of them, Santana found himself being quickly dragged to the outside. He quickly realized what they were planning.

"Not yet...," he said, "I won't let myself be defeated by simple humans." Applejack and Joseph suddenly themselves growing heavier. "Something's weighing me down!," Applejack said, "It's getting heavier than even my Stand can let me lift!" "And it's so heavy it's throwing off my breathing!," Joseph noted, "I can't properly focus my Hamon! What's going on!?" They soon realized that other pieces of Santana had attached themselves to the duo, causing them to become heavier.

Stroheim scoffed. "If he's thinks he has us beat, he has a lot to learn about modern humans!" He quickly leapt over the group to the outer door, but Santana grinned, causing pieces of his flesh from his severed torso to grab Stroheim. "I can't absorb them, but I can absorb you." Stroheim growled. "Don't think you'll win this struggle! Applejack, grab the axe next you! Use it to cut off my leg!" "Are you nuts!?," Applejack said, "Giving up a limb could cause you to bleed out!"

"Better then getting completely eaten!," Stroheim reasoned, "And I'm the only one close enough to open the door outside!" "Damn fool Nazi...," Applejack muttered, but she nonetheless directed her Stand to grab the axe and chop off Stroheim's leg. "At least your kind is brave in the face of certain death, so I'll respect you for that much!" With his body free, Stroheim finished the task of opening the door, the bright Mexican day blinding and burning Santana. He started turning to stone once again, perhaps as a reflex, while Joseph and Applejack found themselves free from the flesh pieces.

Santana wasn't ready to give up, however, instantly diving into Stroheim's leg wound to survive outside. "Dammit!," Applejack called out, "I had a feeling he might try something like this!" Outside, Stroheim couldn't help but chuckle. "The truly terrifying thing is... It doesn't even hurt. Feels good actually. Well, I'm not long for this world, but I'll do my damnedest to take Santana with me!" He got out a stick grenade. "Jojo, Applejack! Even if this doesn't kill Santana, it will certainly expose him fully to the sunlight, so you two can finish him off. But before that happens, I must tell you something important."

He closed his eyes. "Awakening Santana was not just out of military curiosity. And right now, the German army has located another group of Pillar Men in Rome. Our people wanted to learn about their dangerous abilities in order to further our cause, but it's clear doing so could lead to the Pillar Men destroying the world, unless another weakness besides sunlight can be found. That's why we also began research into Hamon and Stands, hoping to find the means to destroy them if it came down to it. Please... Head to Rome, find Zeppeli... And destroy the rest of them..."

He pulled the pin and smiled as he held the stick of the grenade in his mouth. "Auf wiedersehen, Crazy British Bastard and Southern Belle Bitch!" And with that, the grenade went off, freeing Santana from Stroheim's body and exposing him to the full force of the sun. He grunted as his body started to harden and crack from the light. Quickly he ran with the force of freight train, grabbing Joseph and diving into the nearby well. Joseph chuckled, knowing it was over. "Your next line is, 'Now that I am the shade, you are dead.'"

"Now that I am in the shade, you are dead," Santana parroted, then gasped, "How did you...?" "But surprise!," Joseph said, tilting his head. Santana gasped in horror as light seemed to come from the water, just as intense as the sun outside. "Right now it's high noon," Joseph explained, "So the sun is shining right into the well and reflecting off the water with equal intensity. Basically you're being fried like an egg!" He chuckled. "You know, a so-called 'primitive human' would have realized the error in your thinking. Then again, you don't look at the sun much, so you don't know much about it other than its rays kill you."

He braced himself against the sides of the well, stopping Santana from reaching the water before he completely turned to stone. "And that's that," Joseph said, carrying Santana's petrified form to the surface. "Applejack, if you could take care of the rest." Applejack nodded. "To The Core!" She and her Stand finished the job of smashing Santana's head, destroying his brain. The rest of him remained intact, likely due to the petrification, but he wasn't going anywhere any longer. "That's one down," Applejack said, "But if Stroheim's words are true, we're not out of the woods yet."

Three days later, Speedwagon was able to return to Washington DC. Twilight was naturally relieved to see her husband had survived, and grateful that her birth father's arrow had been returned after so long. Inside the Speedwagon Foundation compound, Speedwagon and Twilight's son, Thomas Speedwagon, was observing the remains of Santana with the help of his Stand, Eyes Wide Open, which looked like a pair of goggles that enhanced his vision to the point where it was better than any microscope.

Thomas' own daughter, Sarah Speedwagon, was recording the observations using her own Stand, Fireflies, a series of tiny blips of light that could record visual information and transfer them to various mediums, especially film. "Our studies have confirmed it, Father," Thomas said, "Applejack destroying Santana's brain definitely killed him, much as it would a zombie or vampire. We tested it by introducing smaller lifeforms into his vicinity, under ultra violet light to be safe. He didn't react to any of them."

"Joseph's Hamon was able to damage the Pillar Man," Sarah noted, "If Uncle Jonathan or Grandma had been there, it's likely he would have been destroyed altogether. I drafted a food chain chart based on our findings, and the results don't leave much in the way of good news." Speedwagon observed their findings. "It seems strong Stand users can easily overwhelm the Pillar Men, as Applejack had. Twilight could easily have reflected Santana's rib blades with her Stand since she could easily perceive that as an attack, but what about the casual way he absorbed the vampire? Would that be perceived as an attack? Could it even be affected by Love is in Bloom?"

"We have three more chances to find out," Twilight said, "If the picture Joseph got from Stroheim's compound is anything to go by." "I noted something of interest upon closer inspection thanks to Eyes Wide Open," Thomas said, "This is no random configuration of faces. The different heights and different amount of horns suggests some sort of hierarchy. The one at the bottom resembles Santana, so it suggests he may have been the weakest of the Pillar Men."

"That doesn't bode well," Speedwagon said with a sigh, "It took a combination of Joseph's Hamon, Applejack's Stand, and Stroheim's final sacrifice just to destroy one Pillar Man. How much more powerful will the others be?" "The writings on the wall said the others found in Rome would awake in the year 2852," Sarah noted, "But that's going by the Mayan calendar. By our Gregorian calendar that translates to to 1938... This year!" Speedwagon closed his eyes. "Stroheim wanted us to destroy the other three Pillar Men. It's in our best interest to honor his request."

And so it was that the Joestar gang headed for Rome, Italy. Once the center of a thriving empire, it still remains a center of Italian culture even to this day, and many monuments from the Roman Empire's time can still be seen across the cityscape. It was here that Jonathan was walking, when he felt a familiar presence. "I know you're there, Zeppeli," he called out. "That's the one downside to teaching you Hamon," Zeppeli said as he appeared from behind a nearby fountain, "I can no longer sneak up on you like I did when we first met."

The two friends gave a friendly embrace. "You look good after fifty years," Jonathan noted, "Your hair's gone grey, but your face is still largely young." Zeppeli chuckled. "Hamon can only slow down the aging process, not stop it altogether. I heard what happened with Straizo. I must admit, Dire and I never knew this side of him. How is Dire, by the way?" "Just fine," Jonathan replied, "He's really expanded the Hamon teachings. He now has acolytes coming in from America."

"That's good news," Zeppeli said, "Master Tonpetty confided the existence of the Pillar Men to us before his passing. By now we have an entire army ready and waiting to fight them if necessary. But I suspect that destiny must fall on your grandson's shoulders, as the destiny of defeating Dio and the stone mask fell on yours." His face then fell. "Twilight told me how you lost your son during the Great War." Jonathan nodded. "A holdout of Dio's minions sequestered himself in the RAF, where he killed George and made it look like an accident. My daughter-in-law Elizabeth knew otherwise, but had to disappear after getting revenge."

Zeppeli shed a tear. "I too lost my son... Just three years ago to the very Pillar Men we are now trying to destroy. He is survived by my own grandson, who is also quite adept in Hamon. The boy is eager for his chance at revenge, but I was able to cool his blood enough that he will be patient. Speaking of, we're to meet him at the local hotel restaurant. I hope you're ready for a taste of Italian cuisine. Not to brag, but we Italians make some of the most delicious food in the world." "No doubt," Jonathan said with a chuckle, "I'll bet Joseph's stuffing his face as we speak."

Sure enough, Applejack and Joseph had just finished off a caprese salad. Applejack was now digging into her meat-stuffed ravioli. "Dang this is tasty," Applejack noted, "I've only had this stuff canned, but getting it fresh is so much better." Joseph was put off at first by his squid ink pasta, due to the black coloring and the misconception of the type of ink that was put in it, but once he tried it he couldn't stop eating it. Nearby, a blonde local scoffed at the two of them. "This hotel has certainly fallen recently with all the countryfolk here."

"Well excuse me for living!," Applejack yelled at him. She and Joseph noted the young woman the man was sitting with, who seemed to be swooning over him. "Look at him," Joseph said, "Getting all comfy in the restaurant like that." "I'll admit the guy's handsome," Applejack noted, "But I'm not sure I like the attitude that goes with it." The man gave the woman a small box, tied with a ribbon, placing it on the edge of the table. "A present from me, senorita." "Why did you place it over there?," the woman asked. The man smiled. "Because I'd like you to reach for it, so that I can look at your beautiful hands as long as possible."

"Can he really talk like that with a straight face?," Applejack asked, "And how can she fall for that? It's cheesier than the mozzarella in our salad." Inside the box was a jeweled necklace. "Wow!," the woman exclaimed, "This is so pretty." "I have a request, senorita," the man said, "Every night before you go to bed... I'd like you to think of me when you take this off." "No...," Joseph groaned, "Applejack, check my teeth, I think I suddenly have a few cavities from all that sweet-talking." "I'll place a charm on this necklace," the man continued, "So you'll fall under a magic spell of love."

Joseph growled. "I really hate guys like that!" "Join the club!," Applejack agreed. The man smirked at them, and moved to kiss the young woman, who offered no resistance. "And cast some magic on your lips." "So he's just doing all that to get some action," Joseph noted, "Then I think it's time to teach him a little lesson." He dug his fork into his pasta, then channeled Hamon through it, causing the strands to become as straight as they were before they were cooked. "A bit of Hamon spaghetti, set to wrap around his face when it hits him."

He flung the spaghetti at the man, who calmly deflected the noodles using his own fork and a few pieces of macaroni. Joseph and Applejack looked stunned, as the man twirled his fork before launching the spaghetti and macaroni combo into Joseph's wine glass. Seeing the spaghetti go limp, Jonathan sucked the noodles into his mouth. "So, he can use Hamon." "Signor Zeppeli," a waiter said as he approached, "You have a call from a Signor Speedwagon." The man nodded. "I see my grandfather's friends have finally arrived." Joseph and Applejack were slack-jawed. "That's the Zeppeli we're here to meet!?"

And Caesar joins the scene. This is my longest chapter in this story yet, but my desire to showcase just what Applejack and Joseph can do as a team combined with the large number of chapters for this arc left me plenty to work with.

By the by, i was questioned why Applejack would just up and join Joseph. Chalk it up to Applejack just wanting to help, that is in her character in canon after all, but given the absence of any sort of travel time we can assume she has been keeping in contact with her family while traveling. Something to keep in mind going forward.

This chapter will show the benefits of Caesar still having family around to raise him. Also, it might give you quite the chuckle.

Joseph and Applejack were joined by Jonathan, Zeppeli, Twilight, and Speedwagon, who introduced Zeppeli's grandson, Caesar Zeppeli. A nearby woman with a camera was walking near the fountain, when Caesar asked her, "Where would you be from? Would you like me to take a picture of you in front of the fountain?" Zeppeli sighed. "As you can see, one of my grandson's shortcomings is that he's a hopeless womanizer..." Meanwhile, Joseph was surrounded by a flock of pigeons that seems eager to accept his gift of bread. "The birds in this country sure are friendly. The men are annoying though..."

Jonathan sighed. "And one of my grandson's shortcomings is that he's as subtle as a hammer..." "Granddad!," the two young men said as one, before glaring at each other. "Don't get so cocky," Caesar said, "You only know how to control your Hamon thanks to teachings passed down from my grandfather." "That only means I owe him, not you," Joseph countered. "Then earlier you were just testing Joseph's Hamon?," Applejack asked. "Indeed," Caesar replied, "I'll admit his control and speed is impressive, but he still has a way to go. Perhaps you haven't been absorbing your grandfather's lessons so well?"

He shrugged. "Still, it's good enough that I don't mind teaming up. If only because the threat before us is so great that we need all the help we can muster." "Fine," Joseph agreed, "But it took everything Applejack and I had just to beat one Pillar Man, and the other three are supposed to be even stronger." Caesar smirked. "As my own Hamon teacher said, the best way to beat a stronger opponent is to outsmart them. And I've been developing a few tricks with Hamon that should capable of dealing with the Pillar Men."

Jonathan looked to Zeppeli. "I don't remember you saying anything like that during my training." "I'm not the one who taught Caesar," Zeppeli explained, "He was trained by another master in the Hamon arts." He grabbed Applejack's chin before she could react. "Let me demonstrate." He kissed her on the lips, but got surprised when she plowed her fist into his stomach, forcing the air from his lungs and causing him to drop to his knees. Joseph chuckled. "Your next line is, 'Senorita... How did you resist my Hamon?'" "Senorita...," Caesar said, confused, "How did you resist my Hamon?" He blinked when he realized he did exactly as Joseph predicted.

"First off," Applejack said, "Don't go kissing a girl without her express permission. Second, I already didn't like you because of your attitude. Third, you forgot to take my Stand into account. Jojo tested this before we got here, but when my Stand strengthens my body it makes it resistant to Hamon. Boy, you gotta earn it if you ever wanna try kissing me again!" Caesar chuckled weakly as the others laughed hard. "I guess even a ladies' man like myself must strike out sooner or later."

He stood up and turned to Joseph. "I was actually planning on hypnotizing her so she would keep you in place while I used my technique." "What, were you expecting me to try and avoid it?," Joseph asked, "Go ahead and demonstrate, and I promise I won't avoid it. I'm a little curious as what you have in mind." Caesar smiled. "Very well." He placed his hands together as he channeled his Hamon, spreading them out to reveal a soap bubble. "My gloves and costume hold lots of places to hide soap water," he explained, "By channeling Hamon through that water, I can easily create a volley of soap bubbles."

He launched the Hamon-charged bubbles at Joseph, who kept his guard up as the bubbles struck and surrounded them, before making a larger bubble, which Joseph promptly managed to pop. Caesar looked surprised. "Hey, I said I wouldn't avoid the attack," Joseph noted, "I never said I wouldn't guard against it or try to counter-attack. Still that was an impressive attack. If your plan earlier had worked, I wouldn't have been able to counter it, much less break through the larger bubble due to lack of oxygen."

Caesar nodded. "Out of curiosity, have you been sent to the test on Air Supplena Island yet?" "Not yet," Joseph admitted, "Granddad was planning on sending me before we got alerted to the first Pillar Man's discovery." "I was unable to get the chance yet as well," Caesar admitted, "But it would explain your lack of precision with Hamon." Jonathan remembered well the test of pillar found on Air Supplena Island. After he and Erina returned from their honeymoon in America, Zeppeli tasked him with it as a chance to further his Hamon training. It took a few days, but he finally passed. Twilight had passed months before Dio wore the stone mask.

"Now that we have introductions out the way," Speedwagon said, "We had best get to where the Pillar Men were found. My son Thomas calculated the Mayans' figures, and learned that they will be waking up by the end of the day. Meaning we don't have much time to destroy them while they still sleep." "I'll just smash their stone heads in like I did Santana," Applejack noted, "That should solve the problem right quick." "It may not be that simple," Zeppeli noted, "These other three may be able to withstand even your strength while they slumber."

"Then how do we know Hamon will be effective?," Joseph asked, "Santana was able to deflect my own Hamon until I shoved it down his throat. I'm sure you, Granddad, and Aunt Twilight could fair better since you're stronger, but who knows if they'll be as willing to fight one on one as those dark knights from fifty years ago." "It's all we have to work with for now," Twilight noted, "Sure it's dangerous, more so than when we fought Dio. But those Pillar Men will wake up in a few hours, so we have no time to wait for stronger forces." Speedwagon sighed. "God help us all..."

Just a short chapter to introduce the Pillar Men, but it does show some changes, especially in the dialogue.

Rome, Italy has a bit of an oddity to it. Even with a population that exceeds four million, there are only two subway lines, compared to other cities of a similar size that have upwards of six or more. Though there is a reason for this, as Rome is riddled with underground ruins, and odds are if you dig for any amount of time you will quickly discover a new one. This has caused construction of new subway lines to halt due to it not being worth the time and money it would take to build around them.

And so it is that in the Romantic Capital, secrets are buried that are more than two-thousand years old, many of which are still unknown. But right now, the Waffen-SS have stumbled onto a new one beneath the ruins of the Colosseum. UV lights were illuminating the stone wall holding the three Pillar Men, though one of them showed signs of starting to stir, an opening appearing on his forehead. "Look," one of the soldiers said, "He's starting to move."

"Don't panic," a Gestapo officer said, calming his men, "He can't move under the influence of the UV lights." He stepped in to take a look. "Our compound in Mexico was decimated by Santana. Lucky thing someone was present capable of destroying him, but that has caused the Fuhrer to rethink our strategy regarding gaining power from these evolved beings. The decimation of Stroheim's team proved useful for learning more about them. While under the influence of ultra violet light, they will remain as stone. Now we just have to cut them into harmless pieces while keeping them under that light, and transport them to Berlin."

Just then, he heard a whistling sound, like wind moving through the wall. "That's doesn't sound promising," he noted, "Private, check it out, but carefully. We can't afford to take chances, or we risk another incident like the one with Santana." The private nodded and approached the Pillar Man that had the hole. "It sounds like wind is coming through it. But I don't see the other--" He was cut off as a horn shot out from the hole in the Pillar Man's forehead, spearing the private through the brain. The Pillar Man then opened his eyes.

The Gestapo gasped. "He's awakening! The lights are not strong enough! Turn up the power! We must keep him petrified!" In response the Pillar Man started causing his horn, really a concentrated spike of hair, to whirl around and tear through the private, causing his blood to spray everywhere, including over the UV lights. "Nein...," the Gestapo muttered, terrified, "Without those lights, we cannot keep them from waking up... He must be far stronger than Santana. Sunlight was enough to keep him from moving long enough for his brain to be destroyed."

As the Pillar Man turned to flesh and left the wall he noted the officer's words. "So, the child they call Santana was killed. Unfortunate... The humans of this time seem to have developed much. They are able to replicate the power of the sun in a simple light. Fortunate that I and my masters are strong enough to resist it for longer periods of time. Not enough to stay in the sun for longer than an hour, but enough to still move more delicate parts of my body."

He looked at the officers. "It's amusing you thought artificial sunlight could keep I, Wamuu, from awakening, however." The Gestapo blinked. "You... Already have a name? Then did Santana have another name from the last time he was awake?" "He was born some centuries after me," Wamuu noted, "We never got around to naming him before he decided to slumber, so for clarity's sake we'll have to resort to the name you humans offered him. Now, before my masters are to awaken..."

He moved with a fluid grace through the group of Nazis, as if dancing. The soldiers and officers noted with horror that their hands had been fused together. Wamuu then grabbed the Gestapo and drained him, draining the soldiers at the same time due to them all being connected. "Now that the area is free from these arrogant insects," Wamuu said, "Awaken, my masters! Esidisi and Kars!" The other two Pillar Man turned from stone to flesh, dropping down from the wall.

Esidisi rolled his neck around. "Ah... I feel refreshed after sleeping for a couple of millennia. I'm curious as to what the world looks like now. No doubt the humans have made some minor advancements while we slept." Kars smiled. "So it would seem, if their attempts to replicate the sun's rays are any indication." "I overheard from those soldiers earlier," Wamuu said as he knelt before the other two, "In the land over the ocean, which they now call Mexico, the child which the humans have now dubbed Santana was killed. From what I overheard, one of the people responsible was able to use Hamon."

Kars raised an eyebrow. "Hamon? I thought we had wiped out that clan just before our slumber." "As did I," Wamuu admitted, "But clearly some remnant escaped our notice." "It's to be expected," Esidisi noted, "Superior as we are to humans, we are not yet perfect." Kars nodded. "Yes, I wouldn't be surprised if humans learned how to evade even our sharper senses. But we have more important things to be concerned about than a couple of humans. I was able to catch snatches of their conversation as I stirred, and it sounded like these two had to use everything at their disposal to kill Santana, meaning for now they couldn't possibly keep up with us."

Wamuu nodded. "As for the rest of the world, it seems likely from the sigils these soldiers carry that the Roman Empire has not continued. And if that is the case, then we can assume the Red Stone of Aja is lost to the winds." Kars leaned on his arm. "That stone is what we need to complete our ascension to that of a true ultimate life form. Powerful as we are, even we have our limitations. When our kind began evolving alongside humans, we gained many advantages, but at the expense of being able to bask in the sun the humans thrived under. But when we lay our hands on that stone..." He held up a stone mask, with a curious hole in the forehead. "That will all change."

Sometimes even side characters deserve to get spared. And so will be the case for this chapter. Enjoy the appearance of yet another new Stand. Still not enough words to post the OC Stand chapter, that'll have to wait for the next Part.

It was a few hours after lunchtime, and the Joestar group was sitting in a large room at the hotel. Joseph and Caesar amused themselves with a friendly game of poker, while Twilight and Applejack were engaged in a chess match. Speedwagon was amazed that the southern belle was able to match Twilight's exceptional intelligence, as the game had gone on for a few turns longer than most of her matches. Jonathan and Zeppeli were playing a board game called Buccaneer.

"If I may ask," Speedwagon said, "Why have we been idling for the last eight hours? I thought we had to leave quickly before the Pillar Men wake up." "We're still waiting for a friend of mine to escort us," Caesar explained, "Because of our large group we need to take two cars. You, Jonathan, Twilight, and Grandfather can take your own car, but that still leaves me, Jojo, and Applejack. Plus we still need permission to access the area, and my friend can get us that access."

Just then, the group heard a car from outside. "Ah," Caesar said, "Looks like he arrived." The group headed down, but was shocked that the car had the Nazi insignia on it. "Your friend is a Nazi!?," Joseph asked in surprise. The window rolled down to reveal a friendly-looking young man. "Hey there, Caesar. My superiors gave the okay." "Good," Caesar said, "Looks like we're ready to go then." He, Joseph, and Applejack got in the car while the older members got in Zeppeli's car.

"So Caesar," Applejack said, "What's the deal with this kid?" "This is my old friend Mark," Caesar explained, "He's a simple private in the Waffen-SS, but he's due for a promotion thanks to being a successful test subject for the arrow." "How did the Nazis find that arrow anyway?," Joseph asked, "Aunt Twilight and Uncle Speedwagon were looking for it for fifty years." "I'm still hung up on the fact that an arrow can give a person a Stand," Applejack noted, "I always thought you just had to be born with it, like I was."

"Ah, the R&D is into all kinds of research to better Nazi Germany," Mark noted, "We also got interested in Caesar's Hamon power. Of course, all research suggests only so many people can get either power, but that just makes it all the more valuable." "And you just let them have that knowledge?," Joseph asked Caesar. Caesar shrugged. "Italy has been allies with Germany for some time now. I felt obliged. There's no guarantee it will help them in the long run compared to more common weapons, anyhow."

"That's some terrible justification," Applejack noted. "By the way, Mark," Caesar said, "How's your girlfriend back home?" Mark blushed. "Ah, about that. We're planning on getting married once I return home next week. It's looking like war is inevitable so she wanted to get married soon. I... Didn't complain..." Caesar smiled. "I'm happy for you. Truly. Say, Jojo. Are you and Applejack a couple?" "Not really," Joseph admitted, "I'm not actually interested in more than harmless flirting as of yet. Which, for the record, is nowhere near the level of hamminess you seem to exude, Mister Italian Charmer."

"I think he's just jealous cuz he doesn't have his own special move yet," Applejack noted to Mark, who chuckled. Soon enough, the group arrived at the Colosseum, where Mark led them to the Mouth of Truth, a popular attraction. To their shock, Mark pressed a hidden switch inside the mouth itself which caused it to slide open, revealing a hidden passage. "To think the Mouth of Truth hid an actual truth away...," Speedwagon noted. As the group walked into the large chamber, Twilight asked, "Did you already try using Hamon on the Pillar Men while they slept?"

"Both I and Grandpa," Caesar admitted, "Their stone form simply repelled our Hamon." "While they are stone they mimic the non-living," Zeppeli noted, "Until they awaken, Hamon cannot touch them." "That's troublesome," Jonathan said, "Joseph and Applejack needed to put in a considerable amount of effort for just one. How much more difficult while it be with three more? Even with more Hamon users to deal with them." Mark then noticed something. "Something's wrong. There should be a regiment of soldiers guarding the chamber. But it looks completely empty."

Joseph then groaned when he stepped in something squishy. "Ew! What on Earth did I step in!?" The group gasped when they saw it was the empty skin of the soldiers. "The regiment sent to guard the chamber!," Mark realized, "Then that means... Everyone, get close to me!" The group surrounded Mark as he crossed his arms. "Abbey Road!" Twilight and Applejack saw a robotic humanoid wearing a pure white version of the Waffen officer uniform appear from within Mark.

"My Stand, Abbey Road, is perfect for concealment," Mark explained, "While we're within its range, anyone outside can't perceive us. Sight, smell, and hearing are all useless unless you're within Abbey Road's area of effect." Sure enough, the three Pillar Men appeared from the shadows, looking around while confused. "I could have sworn I sensed a group of humans approaching," Kars said. "I don't think it matters if there were or not," Esidisi noted, "It's night now, so we can begin our search for the Red Stone of Aja."

"Yes, you're right," Kars admitted, "That stone holds the power to amplify the light of the sun. With it and the stone mask, we can finally achieve our ultimate evolution." Wamuu, still kneeling, said, "I don't fully understand the abilities of the Red Stone of Aja, or how the stone mask works. But I do remember that at one point the emperor of Rome owned the stone, so the humans must still have stories about it." Kars nodded. "Then let's take some time to catch up on what the humans have been up to these last two-thousand years. We have some time after all."

As Kars and Esidisi walked past Wamuu, Kars happened to step within Wamuu's shadow. Before Wamuu could stop himself, he wound up striking at Kars with his leg, causing a deep gash in Kars' arm. Quickly the two of them flipped away from each other, Wamuu returning to a kneeling position. "Wamuu, what's the meaning of this!?," Esidisi demanded. "Calm down, Esidisi," Kars assured him. Wamuu was angered at himself. "Forgive my actions Lord Kars. I don't know what came over me."

"No, the fault is mine," Kars admitted, "After two-thousand years of slumber I had forgotten your battle instinct, which triggers whenever someone steps within your shadow. If anything, I should be the one apologizing. Raise you head, Wamuu. It is that peerless warrior's instinct that I count on more than anything." Wamuu nodded as he smiled. "Thank you, my lord." Hearing their conversation, Joseph noted, "Well, at least they have camaraderie with each other."

"But if what they're talking about is true," Mark noted, "They could not only endanger Germany, but the entire world. Just look at what they could do as they are right now. I tremble to think how much stronger they'll become with this 'ultimate evolution'. There might not be a force on Earth that could stand up to them if they reach it." "Then there is no choice," Zeppeli said, "We must stop these Pillar Men from leaving the chamber." "Let me get the first shot in, Grandfather," Caesar said, "It'll be my chance to test how my special technique fares."

"Be careful," Twilight said, "Remember what happened when Kars stepped in Wamuu's shadow. Wamuu was strong enough to leave a deep gash in his own master, meaning he could take your arm off if you give him the chance." "Then I simply won't give him that chance," Caesar replied. He rushed out of Abbey Road's effect area then performed his Hamon channeling. "Bubble Launcher!" Wamuu whirled his head around when he heard Caesar, just in time to catch several of the Hamon-charged bubbles, which did visible damage.

"Now you're surrounded," Caesar noted. Wamuu breathed in and exhaled, causing his headdress to start spinning the wires on it beginning to stretch out. As Wamuu whirled his head around, the wires popped all the remaining bubbles, surprising Caesar. "That was fortunate," Wamuu said, "But you, descendant of the Hamon clan, possess two surprises. The first is obviously your existence. We had thought the Hamon clan destroyed. But the second is how you somehow appeared from nowhere without us noticing. Even Hamon users are not that elusive."

'That was more than just knocking away my Hamon with his wires,' Caesar realized, 'He used air pressure created by the whirling motion to knock the bubbles away. So these Pillar Men are familiar with Hamon... This complicates things.' As he thought, he noticed Wamuu seeming to sway back and forth. Then he realized the other two Pillar Men were the same. Before he could start to understand, a deep cut appeared on his lip. Joseph quickly leapt out of Abbey Road's barrier. "Caesar, watch out! That wasn't air pressure! He's whipped up a few miniature tornadoes!"

Hearing this, Caesar quickly closed his eyes, just in time as even more gashes appeared across his face. "That was too close...," Caesar said, "If my eyes had been opened I could have been blinded. As it is, one of my eyelids seems to be too damaged to open." "More humans appearing from nowhere," Kars noted, "Have they evolved so much in two-thousand years? Where does the time go?" "At least their minds have evolved," Esidisi admitted, "The Hamon clan we fought against were always going on about how they could keep fighting in spite of losing a few limbs, or wanting to avenge their friends. This one seems to understand his situation more."

Caesar chuckled. "I learned humility from my grandfather. And I've no friends to avenge as of yet, though I have been waiting to avenge my father. But if you can defeat the technique I've developed this easily, then I still need to get stronger. I've waited three years already, a few more months won't kill me. In the meantime... Jojo, I believe it's your turn!" Wamuu looked at Joseph, confused. "Ah, perhaps I should introduce myself," Joseph said, "Joseph Joestar's the name. I'm the one who helped kill your other comrade, Santana."

"I was under the impression it was they boy here," Wamuu admitted, "But if your claim is true, then you are also of the Hamon clan." "I don't even know what this Hamon clan is," Joseph replied, "I know what Hamon is, of course, but those of us who practice it have never really heard of any such clan." That took the Pillar Men by surprise. "So we did destroy the clan," Esidisi realized, "It was Hamon itself that survived through a few stragglers."

Joseph got out a set of clacker toys with a bright J on the them. "I've been practicing with these ever since my granddad gave them to me as a birthday present," he explained, "His way of teaching me speed and control with Hamon. It proved very effective, so I thought in honor of his teachings I'd use them to create a brand new special technique." He started whirling them around for a bit, before they suddenly disappeared. Wamuu looked shocked, but the group behind Joseph realized he had used sleight-of-hand to tie the clackers behind his back.

Leaping at Wamuu, he called out, "Hamon Clacker Volley!" The attack came out with such speed that Wamuu was barely able to avoid a few of the clackers, though several of them struck him, the charged Hamon causing damage. Kars looked impressed. "Did you see that, Esidisi? He hid those toys so effectively even our sharper senses couldn't detect them until it was too late. Humans have certainly evolved since we last laid eyes on them." Esidisi chuckled as he shook his head. "Yeah, but now we'll be here all night. Just look at Wamuu's face. He's loving this fight. I think he's as impressed by this kid as you are."

"Don't wait up for me, Masters," Wamuu assured them, "With your permission, I'll enjoy myself down here while you go search for the stone." "He's right," Kars admitted, "It doesn't take three people to search a city. The two of us can get it done ourselves. We can always return here if we can't find it before dawn." Esidisi shrugged. "If you insist. Go ahead and enjoy yourself, Wamuu." The other two Pillar Men left as Wamuu took on a bizarre stance.

From inside the barrier, the others watched. "He seems even stronger than Santana was," Speedwagon noted. "But Jojo's not doing too bad against him," Applejack said, "Even their apparent leader seemed impressed." Joseph whirled his clackers around on one finger before launching it. Wamuu quickly dodged. "That was slower than before," he noted, "Too slow... What are you plotting?" Before he could get an answer, he got a sensation of pain through his head as the clackers whirled right back, the Hamon charged through them acting like a discus.

"You shouldn't have taken your eyes off them," Joseph said, "That was my Clacker Boomerang. What do you think about that?" "I think if techniques like this had existed two-thousand years ago, it would have been much harder for us to have destroyed the Hamon clan," Wamuu admitted, "Even that other kid from earlier caught me off-guard with those bubbles of his. I can't believe I let my guard down like that. That's what I get for underestimating an opponent. Rest assured I won't let it happen again."

He tensed up his muscles. "That said, I should offer you my best as a reward for being the first human ever to damage my head." Instantly his arms started spinning at their joints. "Holy Sand Storm!" The whirlwind kicked up by Wamuu's spinning arms created the illusion that they were growing larger, and created a vacuum between them. Joseph wound up getting launched into the nearby column, causing it to break apart in the wind. Before the winds could start tearing into Joseph, Applejack called out, "To The Core!"

Wamuu didn't have time to react as Applejack raced into the front of the attack, standing her ground as the storm was buffered by her strengthened body. "Thank goodness she stepped in," Twilight said, "Love is in Bloom is useless against an elemental attack like that." Wamuu stopped his attack, surprised at the sight of a human able to weather his attack. "You must be the other warrior who ultimately killed Santana," he realized, "I'd heard your strength was on par with our kind, but to see it firsthand is truly inspiring." He smiled. "I'm honored to blessed by the presence of heroes. It makes the long sleep me and my masters had worth the wait."

Outside the Colosseum, Esidisi was getting worried. "Even for Wamuu this is too long to finish a fight. You don't suppose those warriors somehow killed him, do you?" "I doubt that," Kars replied, "While they did seem strong enough to survive a battle with one of our kind, they clearly aren't strong enough to defeat us. More likely their tenacity is making it difficult for Wamuu for win, causing him to take his time and savor the fight." Esidisi considered it. "Just in case, I'll go back and check on him." He leapt down into the hole leading to the chamber.

"Two-thousand years ago there were no such warriors as you," Wamuu noted, "At least none that we encountered. To be able to withstand my greatest attack, even as amateurs. I'd love to see how much more powerful you could become if you trained some more." Caesar raised an eyebrow. 'There's no hint of deception in his voice. He truly is looking for a stronger opponent. But still, to let us go just like that? Is he merciful or just conceited? It's hard to tell from his words alone.'

"I suppose we could take the time to get stronger," Joseph noted, "Earlier I was able to damage you. If I had the chance to complete my training I could likely defeat you given another round." Wamuu nodded. "It's settled then. Shall we agree on a time and place?" "Allow me to select the time for you," came Esidisi's voice. Without warning he came up behind Joseph and shoved his hand into his throat. "What... What did you did you just do?," Joseph asked.

"I was wondering what was taking Wamuu so long," Esidisi admitted, "He's been waiting two-thousand years for a worthy opponent. Me and Kars are more than his masters, we're also his adoptive family. And as family, we like to give him presents he desires when he proves himself. That ring I've placed inside your throat is tied to your carotid artery. Surgery can't remove it, and if you try it will instantly explode filling your body with poison. We'll call it a month for you to get stronger so you can give Wamuu a good fight, since that ring will dissolve and kill you in thirty-three days. Five days before that happens, I'll come find you to check on your progress, by fighting you personally. If you can win against me, you'll not only earn the antidote in this ring on my nose, but prove you can fight and win against Wamuu."

Wamuu sighed. "Well, there you have it. I'm sure we'll know whether or not you've beaten Master Esidisi when the time comes. After that, I'll wait five more days then find you again. Assuming you don't find me first, that is." He and Esidisi returned to Kars. "An amusing game," Kars admitted, "But don't forget our objective is the Red Stone of Aja. And Esidisi, what made you think they wouldn't sort out when the fight would take place?" "Something told me they would," Esidisi admitted, "But I didn't want to waste too much time. If that man Jojo is allowed to get too strong, our search for the stone becomes pointless." Kars shrugged, and the three of them dashed off.

Mark finally dropped his barrier, letting the others get to Caesar and Joseph. "We're neck deep in it now," Joseph admitted, "Literally in my case. I was planning on getting stronger regardless. What I said to Wamuu was no bluff." "If you plan on getting stronger," Caesar said, "Then so will I." "I'm more concerned about this Red Stone of Aja they were talking about," Applejack said, "If they get their hands on it, it may not matter how strong we are."

"I know the stone they speak of," Zeppeli admitted, "It's already located in a safe place, with someone we can trust." Mark started to leave the chamber. "I'll have to report this to my superiors in Berlin. We'll need to make modifications to Stroheim's cybernetics after this." Joseph gasped. "Stroheim!? He's still alive!?" Mark nodded. "He barely survived after he blew himself up trying to kill Santana. Our medical and science divisions are using top secret cybernetic technology to rebuild him, using the data from Santana to allow to him to fight on the same level as the Pillar Men. But given how much stronger those three were, we'll need to account for that increased strength."

"Never thought the Nazis would be helping us against anything," Applejack noted, "But we'll need all the help we can get at this point." "If it's come to this," Twilight said, "Then I suppose the time has come. Joseph, Caesar, we'll be heading for Air Supplena Island. It's time for you to take the final step in mastering Hamon." The two of them nodded. Joseph rubbed his neck, knowing he only had a month to master Hamon so he could defeat Esidisi, and then Wamuu after him. And if was lucky, he might also get strong enough to defeat Kars as well.

Elsewhere in Venice, the mysterious Hamon master Lisa Lisa received a phone call. 'I'm afraid the worst has come to pass,' came Zeppeli's voice, 'The Pillar Men are awake. They know about the stone, and are searching for it to use its power for themselves. We'll be sending Joseph and Caesar to you for additional training.' "Thank you, Master Zeppeli," Lisa Lisa replied, "I'll be sure to push them to the best of their abilities." She then hung up and got out a photo. 'So, we'll be meeting again... Jojo.'

Meanwhile in Berlin, Stroheim got the report from Mark. "The other three Pillar Men exceed Santana's power by a tremendous margin," he noted, "This was not unexpected, but to think the difference in power would be so great. German science is the greatest in the world, as I have always said, but even it has limits. Can it even match this level of primal force?" "We can always push it to the best of our abilities," the lead scientist assured him, "At the very least, we can reinforce the steel plating to ensure you won't get ripped apart again." Stroheim nodded. 'Those Pillar Men cannot be allowed to have their way. Even if this world won't belong to Germany, it won't belong to them either.'

This chapter was largely meant to set up future events, but I hope you enjoy it regardless. We'll be getting into more action later in the story.

"Eyes Wide Open!," Thomas called out as he activated his Stand to get a good look inside Joseph. What he saw did not make him happy. "I'm afraid it's as Esidisi said. That ring is fused to your carotid like some four-dimensional puzzle. No current surgical procedure could possibly remove it, and I doubt there's time to develop one that could. I can also see a hollow spot inside the ring where the poison is located. It doesn't look like any I'm familiar with."

"Guess there's nothing for it," Joseph said, "Defeating Esidisi is the only way I'm gonna be able to remove this thing. I mean, I doubt he's just gonna give me the antidote after going through all that trouble. Damn, what a mess. I learned enough to master the basics of Hamon, but it looks like I'll need more specialized training." "Which is precisely why we're calling upon the services of an expert Hamon teacher," Zeppeli explained, "The same one who taught my grandson, in fact. It's only a short trip from here to Venice, so we won't waste much time."

A few days later, Joseph and Caesar found themselves in Venice, traveling to Air Supplena Island. "My granddad told me all about the island," Joseph noted, "It's supposed to be a place designed to train Hamon users. The main feature is the Hell Climb Pillar." "That will likely be the first challenge," Caesar said, "If we can't pass that, we'll likely die." "I'm dead in thirty-one days anyway," Joseph reminded him, "I've really got nothing to lose." Caesar nodded, then turned his attention to a nearby gondola. "Excuse me. We need a gondola to Air Supplena Island."

The gondolier turned to the duo, revealing a masquerade mask. "Then I hope you're prepared," came a feminine voice from the mask, "Because I won't be going easy on your training." The figure whipped off the mask to reveal a beautiful young woman. Caesar gasped. "Coach Lisa Lisa!? You're going to be teaching us!?" "She's your teacher!?," Joseph asked in shock, "She looks barely older than we are!" "I think Jonathan said the same thing about Grandfather when they first got to know each other," Caesar said with a chuckle, "Take it from me, she's a true master in the art of Hamon. Everything I know, I learned from her. And she knows even more than that."

As if to demonstrate, Lisa Lisa leapt onto the water, standing on the oar like it was a solid plank. She then leapt again, the water rising with the Hamon and turning the oar into a makeshift parallel bar before landing on the pier. "Joseph Joestar," Lisa Lisa said, "I've heard about your training from your grandfather. You've mastered the basics, so the hard part is already over. But don't think that means I'll go easy on you. If you wish to become a warrior capable of destroying the Pillar Men, you'll need to face the most brutal experience a person could ever endure."

Soon enough, the group was reaching Air Supplena Island by yacht. "I've heard the stories from Granddad," Joseph said when he beheld the giant fortress, "But to see it close up." "Everyone from our group will be staying here while we train," Caesar noted. "Which leaves Granny Erina out of the loop," Joseph noted, "Again..." "Actually," Jonathan said, "This time Speedwagon decided to stay behind to assure her of our safety. He said he's gotten too old for this sort of adventure."

As the group disembarked on the island, Lisa Lisa led Joseph and Caesar to the Hell Climb Pillar. "Both our grandfathers and Aunt Twilight challenged this pillar and succeeded," Joseph noted, "But Grandpa said it was no easy experience." "Indeed," Caesar replied, "I've heard of many trainees dying when they tried challenging the pillar. They say the only way to climb it is with Hamon. It rejects all other means, violently. It'll be difficult, and we may not even survive the climb."

"Like I said earlier," Joseph reminded him, "I'm dead either way, so we may as well challenge the pillar to the best of our abilities." Lisa Lisa smiled. "Since you are both determined, we'll begin the challenge." The door opened, and the two Hamon users leapt down into the pit of oil. As they began breathing to prepare for their climb, Lisa Lisa joined Applejack and Twilight at the top of the pillar. "So, Miss Lisa Lisa," Applejack said, "Just what is this pillar, anyway?"

"It was first constructed in AD 39," Lisa Lisa explained, "Back during the Roman Empire, and before Venice was even established. As you can see, the pillar is so smooth it's nearly impossible to find a fingerhold to climb normally. Making things more difficult, a constant stream of oil flows from the top, collecting in the pool below. A special system is put in place so that the oil that collects at the bottom will be taken back up to the top to continue flowing. The only way to climb it is to use Hamon. This is set up as a test of Hamon stamina."

Several times throughout the day various members of the group came and went to check on Joseph and Caesar's progress. "How long did it take you to climb the pillar?," Applejack asked Zeppeli. "Quite some time," Zeppeli admitted, "Most who succeed in climbing the pillar take two or three days to do so. I was done in two days and twelve hours. Jonathan was faster, in just over two days and ten minutes. Even Twilight needed four hours past the two day mark to reach the top. Given the pace those two are making, I wouldn't be surprised if they reach the halfway mark by day's end."

"Of course," Twilight said as she came in, "The real challenge isn't even the oil. Anyone skilled in Hamon can learn the trick to climbing up in spite of that. The real challenge comes in the deceptive layout of the pillar. From up here or down in the pit, the eye is fooled into thinking the pillar is an even width all the way down. Once you climb the pillar, however, you realize that it starts to protrude out more as you reach the top. Not to mention, while there are cracks in the pillar, they hold traps that make it even more difficult to climb, though not impossible."

"The good news," Zeppeli said, "Is that while using Hamon to climb the pillar, most of your body's biological clock slows down even more than usual. Because you're using it for so long, you can go longer without food or needing use the bathroom." Soon enough, the duo were relaxing at the twenty meter mark, fifty-two hours having passed. "We're at the marathon now," Caesar noted, "Four meters to go straight up, but the incline is increasing. At its widest, the Hell Climb Pillar is seven-point-two meters in diameter." "Don't talk about the numbers," Joseph said, "Or I may get dizzy enough to fall off and have to start all over again. And I really don't have the time or patience for that."

Eventually, after a total of sixty-one hours, the two of them managed to reach the top of the Hell Climb Pillar. "Well done," Lisa Lisa said as they finally dusted themselves off at the top. She handed them both a glass of water. "Go ahead and observe your new level of skill. Use the same technique you used to climb the pillar to keep the water in the glass." Breathing, Joseph channeled his Hamon through his fingertips, keeping just them against the glass as he twirled it upside-down. Sure enough, he was able to keep the water stable within the glass. Caesar was doing the same.

"But you still have farther to go," Lisa Lisa noted, "For the next three weeks you'll be under the tutelage of my two servants. Messina. Loggins." Two large men approached. Messina was in green and Loggins in orange. They demonstrated their skills by not only keeping the water's shape within the glass, but doing so without the glass being present. While they were training, Applejack was doing regular exercise, reasoning that if her Stand could increase her current strength to superhuman levels, then she could increase her natural strength to improve how strong her Stand made her. Developing a full body workout to keep her figure while improving her strength, she started to develop at the same time as Joseph and Caesar.

Speaking of which, Caesar caught her while she was heading for a bath after her workout. He couldn't help but gaze at her tanned skin while it shined from the sweat. He had seen plenty of pretty girls before, but Applejack just looked gorgeous, making the rest plain by comparison. "You gonna stare all day or can I get to my bath?," Applejack said to him, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Apologies, Applejack," he said, "I couldn't help but stare. I've seen plenty of beautiful women, but I say with no hyperbole that you are perhaps the most beautiful I have ever seen."

Applejack smirked. "Given you called me by my name, I suppose I can take you at face value. But you'd better not try the same tricks you used on other girls." "And risk a repeat of what happened back in Rome, only further south?," Caesar quipped, "I think my energy would be better spent improving my attitude in your eyes. Speaking of which, I should go check on Jojo and Lisa Lisa. They went out shopping earlier. Our final test is coming up soon. And with only eight days until the ring fully dissolves, it'll be just in time to face Esidisi." As he left, Applejack smiled at him warmly. 'He keeps this up, and I may just consider going out with him.'

Later, after a random pickpocket tried to intimidate Lisa Lisa into giving him a necklace with a red gemstone in it, Joseph, who easily thwarted the would-be mugger, realized it was the Red Stone of Aja the Pillar Men were looking for. As it turned out, Lisa Lisa had taken it upon herself to guard it. As the group gathered following this revelation, Lisa Lisa explained a few things. "These Pillar Men are largely an enigma," she noted, "Their origins are unknown, but they first appeared in human history five-thousand years ago in America, though they may be far older."

"And they were the ones who created the stone mask," Jonathan noted. Lisa Lisa nodded. "The mask provided them with a greater source of nourishment. The human equivalent would be feeding livestock higher quality grains or similar foods to improve their health, thus making them healthier options for eating. In the same way, vampires who had consumed countless humans also processed their blood alone, meaning it could be far more nutritional for a Pillar Man to eat."

"So they just created the mask to make a more sufficient food source?," Joseph asked. "If that were all it was for there would be no problem," Lisa Lisa noted, "What they were really testing the mask for, was to conquer the sun! The mask unlocks the inner potential of the brain in a human to make them a vampire. So what would happen if a Pillar Man were to wear it? Kars, the mask's original creator, hoped it could make him and his kind an ultimate life form. But there was one problem. Pillar Men have immortal bodies, thus the mask lacks the power to improve them any further."

"And this is where the Red Stone of Aja comes in," Twilight realized. Lisa Lisa nodded. "It's made from a special type of mineral that can harness light and amplify it a million-fold, focusing it in a single point. Any stone made from the same mineral can do this, but most of the regular stones Kars had at his disposal lacked the sufficient power needed to amplify the mask. He soon realized that he needed a flawless specimen, a so-called 'Super Aja'. And the Red Stone of Aja is precisely what he's looking for. To that end, he crossed the Atlantic along with Wamuu and Esidisi, and they found the stone in the hands of a Roman Emperor."

She held the pendant up to the sunlight, causing a massive beam of concentrated energy to strike the floor, causing it to burn a whole in the ground. Applejack whistled, impressed. "But hang on. If the Pillar Men found the stone, why weren't they able to complete their experiment then and there?" "Because of a clan of Hamon users," Lisa Lisa explained, "They were able to keep the stone out of the Pillar Men's hands, though many died in the process. Those that survived swore to rebuild the legacy of Hamon from scratch, taking the stone with them. Eventually it fell into my hands."

"And I guess the Pillar Men got so frustrated they decided to take a power nap afterward," Joseph snarked, "But two-thousand years. I get that being immortal means you'd likely sleep for longer and probably be able to stay awake just as long, but that still seems like a long time. Even Kars admitted he'd forgotten some things in that time, like Wamuu's battle instinct. For all they knew, the stone could wind up anywhere when they finally woke up."

"So what now?," Applejack said, "If those Pillar Men find out we have the stone, Esidisi will be paying Jojo a visit sooner then he said he would." "Why don't we just destroy it?," Joseph suggested, "If they can't get their hands on the stone, they'll probably give up. Might become more peaceful, even." "As easy as that solution might be," Lisa Lisa said, "A legend says that it will be impossible to defeat them without the stone. And as much as I'd like to believe they could be peaceful, after all the rest of their kind were said to live in harmony with humans, Kars is as evil as he is intelligent. He's kind enough to his two allies, but he sees humans as nothing but insects. Esidisi is the same, if not crueler. Wamuu... Wamuu is complicated."

"How so?," Caesar asked. "He was born long after Kars and Esidisi, and practically raised by them. If he were among the rest of his people I could see him being a peaceful sort. And even as a warrior he has respect for a worthy opponent. But as long as his adoptive family exists, he will not go against them. That's why, as long as destiny says so, we must keep the stone intact and protected." Joseph shrugged. "Well, following destiny has only lead to good things so far, albeit while leading us down a bumpy road."

With seven days until the ring dissolved, Caesar and Joseph were ready for their final test, a battle against their instructors on a neighboring island. Caesar would be fighting Messina, while Joseph would battle against Loggins. However, he noticed something wrong as he entered the arena where the fight was to take place. Loggins' hat was on the floor, and on a nearby statue were two men, with one holding the other up with his leg. Joseph gasped when he realized the man being held up was a dead Loggins, and the other man, his killer, was Esidisi.

Yeah, I had to leave in Loggins' death since he was killed off-screen. There was really no way around it. Besides, his death contributes to the fight that starts next chapter, so there is that. What? It's not like I can save every good guy in the series, just those whose deaths aren't needed for the plot to advance.

Just a short chapter to set up the next fight, but it also showcases the consequences of all the changes I've made so far. Hope you enjoy.

Esidisi looked surprised to see Joseph. He tore his leg out of Loggins' corpse, leaving it in two pieces. "Jojo... We weren't meant to meet for another two days. What a bizarre coincidence." He looked toward the center of the arena, where a large spike pit could be seen. "Though perhaps not so unusual when I look around. I thought the Red Stone of Aja was somewhere in this part of the region. But it looks like I got the wrong island. This is clearly not an island meant for people to live on. It would make a fine battle arena, however. If I get a chance, I'll let Wamuu know about it."

"So you came here looking for the Red Stone of Aja," Joseph noted, "Why aren't Kars and Wamuu with you?" "We may be friends, but we aren't joined at the hip," Esidisi replied, "Neither of them know the stone is here. They only know I found a lead on it and was looking into it." Joseph looked at Loggins' dead body. "His lungs were gouged out. And with just one kick. I knew you understand a Hamon user's weak point, but to think you pulled it off this easy."

"I was expecting more of a fight, but the man seemed distracted," Esidisi explained, "Let me guess, you and him were meeting here. Though somehow I doubt it had anything to do with the stone." "He was my instructor," Joseph said, glaring, "I was supposed to have my final exam today." "Really?," Esidisi said, his eyes lighting up, "That sounds promising. Then permit me to take his place. This way we can wrap a few loose ends all in one battle. Should I win, I'll know you wouldn't stand a chance against Wamuu and can continue to the other island to find the stone. Should you win, you get the antidote to the poison two days early, know that you could easily stand against Wamuu, and keep me from getting the stone. Simple and efficient, wouldn't you agree?"

"You forgot one more thing I get out of this if I win," Joseph said, "I get to avenge my instructor. Not to mention take out all the aggression I had built up from the three weeks of torture that was my Hamon training." "Ah yes, I've heard it's difficult to master Hamon," Esidisi agreed, "I'd offer my sympathies, but that would just make you angrier than you already are, and defeating a distracted opponent is all too easy. I can't properly gauge your skills if you come at me in a blind rage."

"Then let's get down to business," Joseph said, "You noted earlier that the spike pit over there would make a great battle arena. It's funny you should mention that, because that's exactly what it is. Of course, it's meant for Hamon users as part of their final trial. Since you can't use Hamon, your feet would get pierced by the spikes, though that would only slow you down at best." "It's fine," Esidisi assured him, "Much like Wamuu, I relish a challenge in combat, so a handicap like this sounds perfect. But I should warn you now, I'm far more pragmatic than he is." Joseph smiled. "Then we have something in common."

"I say this because the only reason I'm agreeing to this fight is because you're being polite about the situation," Esidisi clarified, "It's clear that you're angry, as I expect anyone would be when they lost someone close, yet you don't scream out about getting revenge and charge at me like some wild boar. Point of fact I shouldn't need to fight you at this point, but it's obvious you wouldn't let me leave peacefully. But your emotions are far superior to the Hamon users of two-thousand years ago, at least in attitude."

They stepped out onto the field, Joseph easily balancing on the spikes thanks to Hamon. Esidisi did indeed have to deal with pulling his feet off each spike as he walked, but the pain was no worse than bug bites to him. "I may not be the gentleman my grandfather is," Joseph admitted, "But he did drill a few manners into my brain." Esidisi smiled as he closed his eyes. "I think I'm going to enjoy this." He made a quick swipe at Joseph, who dodged easily, then struck Esidisi's palm with his index finger, charged with Hamon. Esidisi looked surprised at the Hamon pierced through his hand, causing Joseph's finger to poke through easily.

"Just a month's time and look how much you've improved," Esidisi admitted, "When you fought Santana, you're Hamon couldn't even pierce his skin, yet you've now been able to pierce my hand when I'm several times stronger than he was." He could already feel the Hamon flowing into him, causing him great pain. In spite of this, he grinned. "But I still have several millennia worth of experience over you." He quickly tried to twist Joseph's arm into knots to cut off the blood flow, negating his Hamon.

Joseph grinned as he flipped over Esidisi, wrapping a string around his arm. Esidisi looked surprised at this. "That string is coated in vegetable oil," Joseph explained, "That makes it easy for Hamon to flow through it. I meant to tie it around your neck, but your attempts to wrench my arm off prevented that, so I had to make due." "But when did you even tie this string?," Esidisi asked, "I should have seen you doing that." He then saw part of the string was attached to Loggins finger.

"Of course," he realized, "You tied it when you were checking his corpse, then simply unwound it during the fight. I should have remembered. You pulled a similar trick when you used that clacker technique on Wamuu." "You said you had several millennia of experience over me," Joseph said, "But you didn't take into account that humans can learn faster with each new generation. That will be your undoing." He channeled his Hamon, using the string to tear off Esidisi's arm, causing him to grunt in agony. Joseph closed his eyes. "That was for my teacher."

I had to make a minor change to the fight, beyond the difference in Joseph's attitude as a result of Twilight's presence and Jonathan's survival. Remember the mask that Joseph wore in canon? You might have noticed he doesn't have it here, but I already though of an alternative. Enjoy.

Esidisi watched as his severed arm hit one of the spikes. He couldn't help but be impressed. "I'm reminded of a human named Sun Tzu, who was a great war master during the last time I was awake. One of the many things he had to say on the art of war was--" "Victory is decided before the battle is fought," Joseph finished for him, "Don't forget what I said earlier. Humans, having shorter lives, pass knowledge from one generation to the next. It's how we evolve overtime. Sun Tzu's 'The Art of War' is a Chinese compendium of battle tactics he developed used by militaries the world over to this day. I've memorized each and every word as part of my studies growing up in Britain."

He smiled. "I have a habit of setting up a lot of my plans ahead of time, though I'm also a fan of making up tactics on the spot." He then proceeded to destroy Esidisi's arm to destroy it. "A good strategy," Esidisi admitted, "But I had a different saying of his in mind. All warfare is based on deception. I've already seen through your strategy. Well, not the fine details, but more the overall approach. You like to get into people's heads. Make them angry and create openings to attack. That's the real reason you had a bit of trouble with Santana. The child was so unemotional. None of us knew what to do with him."

He walked over to Loggins' body and pulled off the appropriate arm to replace his own. "But in my case, your problem is a bit different. We think along similar wavelengths. We dance around each other mentally so many times it's tricky for either of us to truly get the upper hand." He attached Loggins' arm to where his own was severed. "A bit thin, but I should grow into it before long." Just then, Joseph noticed that Loggins' corpse was bursting open what from appeared to be heat as the blood was boiling, even burning Joseph when a small bit smacked him right in the cheek.

"All living things that aren't plants are animals," Esidisi noted, "Even my kind, what you call 'Pillar Men'. And all animals, no matter what species, share a few common traits. For example, when they use energy for exercise or to fight illness, their body temperature will increase to some extent. However, I can go a bit further. I can increase my blood's temperature to six hundred degrees Fahrenheit at will, then release it!" "Then it's just like Wamuu!," Joseph noted, "But why didn't Santana show any of these powers?"

"Santana was too young and immature," Esidisi admitted, "Wamuu is two-thousand years older, so he had more time to develop his own special 'mode'. In his case, his mode is wind, while mine is flame." Joseph brought out his clackers and started twirling them. "I'll admit it's truly terrifying that you can obliterate a human body so easily. But you're not the only one who can resist being angered or intimidated." He leapt into the air, producing even more clackers. "Clacker Volley!"

Esidisi moved to dodge as many of the clackers as he could to get closer. 'They smell of the same vegetable oil Jojo used on the wire, meaning they can more easily channel Hamon. One hit from them in the wrong location, and I'm dead. But if I keep moving closer, I can close the distance and use a special skill of my own.' Once he got close enough, he opened his fingernails and had his veins extract themselves. "Now I'll stab my veins into your face, sending my boiling blood into your body to turn you into a simmering stew! Erratic Blaze King!"

Meanwhile, Caesar was still in the middle of his battle with Messina. The two were on a different battle location, a set of twin high wires overlooking the island. Caesar felt it appropriate since it was where his grandfather had passed his test. Messina made for a quick Hamon strike, but Caesar countered easily with his bubble launcher. "That's enough," Messina said as he righted himself, "If this keeps up any longer, it's clear I'll lose. Congratulations, Caesar, you have passed your final test."

Caesar nodded. "Thank you." He then walked over to one of the pillars and grabbed some binoculars. "I wonder if Jojo completed his test yet." "You seem more interested in his test than your own," Messina noted. Caesar chuckled. "I've been able to push myself because of how strong he was getting. I must admit, seeing how much of his grandfather's noble spirit he inherited... I can see why this destiny was laid out for him instead of me." He then looked toward the other arena and frowned when he saw a bit of boiling blood hit a spike. "Something's not right here... Joseph is fighting Esidisi, and I can't see Loggins anywhere!"

Esidisi thought he had Joseph for sure, but got a big surprise when Joseph used his hat charged with Hamon to block the veins. Still, the force of the attack was enough to knock him off his perch, using Hamon to keep from getting impaled. "That was a close shave," Joseph admitted, "Lucky for me you were arrogant enough to explain what you were going to do to me, giving me just enough time think up a counter-strategy."

"You continue to surprise me!," Esidisi admitted, "I honestly thought I had you, which is why I took the time to explain my attack! I never thought to consider you'd use your hat to block my veins, but in hindsight it was an obvious solution! Still, I'm betting even now you're trying to think up your next clever plan!" Joseph smirked. "I might just be. But the last time I checked... You're no mind reader!" He launched himself up with Hamon to land back on the spikes.

"I suppose that is a point in your favor," Esidisi admitted, "But you're no more a mind reader than I, and I'm just as adept at thinking up complex plans." He flattened his body on the spike pit and let himself get impaled several times over, multiple veins bursting out of his body from the holes. He rolled at Joseph like a boulder. "Erratic Blaze King's Prison!" Joseph easily dodged through the attack, his hat getting smaller as he did. "Impressive," Esidisi said, "That attack has ended the lives of many a Hamon user." He then spotted the thread woven through the spikes.

"Come now," Joseph taunted, "You must have realized it earlier when I used my hat to block your Erratic Blaze King. It's made from one-hundred percent wool fiber, and is great for conducting Hamon. Now you've stepped right into my barrier trap!" Esidisi couldn't help but laugh. "Why would you be laughing at a time like this?," Joseph asked. Esidisi smirked. "Your next line is, 'I'll wipe that smile right off your face!'" Joseph chuckled. "So you do that too then?" That caught Esidisi off-guard.

"I thought I was just being clever when I came up with that little auditory trick," Joseph explained, "But my Aunt Twilight taught me a few tricks to avoid falling prey to it, just in case someone ever tried it back on me. I never took her seriously, but took the lessons to heart regardless. Looks like they paid off." He smiled at Esidisi. "Your next line is, 'No matter, I've still seen through your strategy!'" "No matter," Esidisi called out, "I've still seen through your strategy!"

He growled when he realized Joseph had turned the tables mentally, but still went through with his plan, opening up his toenails and slicing through the thread using the veins that came out of his toes. He cackled. "Earlier you mentioned that victory is decided before the battle even begins! But it looks my strategies were the ones that played out! Now my blood will boil you for sure!" As the veins got closer, Joseph chuckled. "And earlier you mentioned that all warfare is based on deception. You earlier bragged how I couldn't get inside your head so easily, but it looks like I just did."

He grabbed a piece of the thread and pulled. To Esidisi's shock, it turned out to be a whole thread that was now the surrounding him. "This is what I was talking about earlier!," Joseph called out, "Why humans can evolve faster than Pillar Men! While you slept for two-thousand years, we've been growing and developing! In the recent century, a new type of skill called sleight-of-hand was developed for entertainment." He smiled. "I happen to be quite a big fan of it, and you've no doubt noticed how I incorporated it into my personal Hamon style."

Esidisi realized what must have happened as he got wrapped up in the string. 'Damn him! There were two strings all along, threaded together! He kept one hidden behind me, the one I'm wrapped in right now, and distracted me with the obvious one knowing I'd slice it up to avoid his barrier! Humans have become so powerful in two-thousand years! I've no choice but to use my last resort to ensure Kars gets the Red Stone of Aja! I may lose this fight, but we'll still win the battle!'

As Joseph started channeling his Hamon, he said, "Your next line is, 'My veins will move faster than your pathetic Hamon!'" Esidisi started flexing as if to try and break out of the thread. "My veins will move faster than your pathetic Hamon!" He growled when he realized Joseph got him again. "This fight is over!," Joseph called out, "Feel this! Hamon Beat Overdrive!" The powerful Hamon ripped through Esidisi's body, breaking off pieces of him. As a last attack, he focused all the strength he could muster into his head, transforming it to spear Joseph.

Joseph scoffed as he simply broke off the horn, then watched as Esidisi glowed brilliantly as he crumbled away. "That energy," Joseph said, "It's like the life force of all the people he's eaten is escaping. Thousands, maybe tens of thousands. Now that light will fade as those souls rest in peace." Esidisi crumbled away as the nose ring dropped to the ground. As Joseph picked it up, he noticed something. "Santana lived on in a petrified state after I beat him. Well, until Applejack crushed his brain. But Esidisi completely disintegrated."

He shrugged. "I guess my skill in Hamon just improved that much more." He popped open the ring and drank the contents. Afterward, he stuck his tongue out as he groaned. "Maybe it's because this was attached to his nose, but it kinda reminded me of snot." He still felt the antidote work as the ring inside his throat broke off from his carotid, disappearing into harmless dust. "That's that," he said, "I'd better head back." As he left for the main island, he didn't notice Esidisi's brain clinging to his back.

As Joseph returned to the mansion, he stretched out his neck a little bit. "My shoulders feel so stiff from the fight. I've never used my head so much. Esidisi was one tough opponent." He was still unaware that Esidisi, what little was left of him, had attached to his back in such way that he could barely be felt. 'My last resort left me as a nervous system. I doubt I'll ever recover from this. Should they find me I'm finished, since I'd be no match for any of the superhuman warriors that seem to be dotting the island. But there must be at least one human I can use for this last resort.'

Dawn was starting to break on Air Supplena Island. Earlier Lisa Lisa had seen her wine glass break, and became worried. Unlike Caesar, she had no means of knowing what was going on with Joseph's test, and didn't know he had fought Esidisi. As she thought, her maid Suzi Q approached with two sets of clothes. "Master Lisa Lisa, which blouse would you like to wear after your bath?" Lisa Lisa thought for a moment. "I suppose I could go for the snazzier option today. Suzi Q, can you have Joseph and Caesar come up to my chambers when they return?" "Of course, miss," Suzi Q said, laying out the blouse Lisa Lisa picked.

Suzi Q left as Lisa Lisa undressed for her bath. At the lower levels, Suzi Q suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder and screamed. "What in the hay is going on?," Applejack said as she rushed over. She then laughed when she saw Joseph, the one who had placed said hand on Suzi Q's shoulder, digging into his ear. "Jeez, woman, my ears are ringing." "Sorry," Suzi Q said, then looked at him. "I don't think I've really seen you before. But you're... Joseph Joestar, right? Wow, this is my first time seeing your face."

Joseph blinked. "I've been here three weeks and this is the first time you've seen my face? You should have at least recognized it if you've seen my grandfather around the island. Everyone says I look like he did when he was younger." Applejack snickered as Suzi Q observed Joseph's face. "What?," Joseph asked, "Am I too handsome?" Suzi Q smiled. "Weird lips..." Applejack burst out laughing as Suzi Q and Joseph smiled nervously. "Well, maybe so. But if we were to fall in love... You'd be kissing those lips..."

Suzi Q thought for a moment, then grinned widely. "Like I would kiss a mouth like yours! Bleh!" Now Applejack was practically rolling on the floor with laughter, and Joseph wasn't sure he knew how to handle the situation. Applejack stopped laughing when she thought she saw something slip into the shadows from Joseph's back, but shook her head, dismissing it as a trick of the light. "Oh, that reminds me," Suzi Q said, "Master Lisa Lisa asked for you to go to her chambers after you returned."

Joseph nodded. "Gotcha. I was heading that way anyway. Seems they've found out about the Red Stone." Suzi Q looked confused. "It's nothing you gotta worry about," Applejack assured her, "Why don't you go see if Caesar got back yet?" "Uh, sure," Suzi Q said. Before she left, she said, "Jojo..." Joseph looked at her. Suzi Q was smiling and blushing. "You are pretty hot..." Applejack grinned at him. "Picking up an Italian maid... Caesar's gonna be jealous."

"Speaking of which," Joseph said, "I'm surprised Caesar never tried to hit on her." "Seems he doesn't try hitting on the girls on this island out of respect for Lisa Lisa," Applejack explained. "Guess even a notorious womanizer has his limits," Joseph noted, "I'm surprised he's never tried to hit on you, that whole incident back in Rome aside." "Oh he has," Applejack said, "He's just been more subtle about it." Joseph an eyebrow and grinned. "Caesar? Subtle? That's not womanizing. I think he might be in love with you, Applejack."

Applejack elbowed him in the shoulder as they walked up to Lisa Lisa's room. As they did, Joseph rolled his shoulders. "Huh... My shoulders feel looser all of a sudden." They didn't notice Esidisi had slipped off and slunk through the mansion silently. "More importantly," Applejack said, "Did you mean what I think you meant when you said they found the Red Stone?" Joseph nodded. "When I got to the trial ground Loggins had been killed by Esidisi. We fought after and I was able to beat him, so now the poison ring is gone. I can face Wamuu without any additional burdens."

"Then he knew the stone was here," Applejack realized, "What about Wamuu and Kars? Do they know?" "Esidisi said they didn't, and I'm inclined to believe him," Joseph said. Down below, they spotted Suzi Q handing something off to a man who took off for the mainland on a speedboat. "Well, Lisa Lisa will be in the bath for the next half hour," Applejack said, "If the other two Pillar Men don't know where the stone is, we have time to wait and tell her about this so we can come up with a strategy."

Joseph got a manic grin on his face. "In the bath, you say...?" "Jojo...," Applejack said, a dark look in her eyes, "Don't make me use my Stand to restrain you. You know it can let me resist Hamon." "Relax," Joseph assured her, "It's just a quick peek to see if she's alright." Joseph put his eye near the keyhole, and was amazed when he saw Lisa Lisa's gorgeous form. Sure it was from behind, but the fact that she was naked made it evident how fit she was. "Nice!," Joseph noted.

He then blinked. "Wait... How did Suzi Q get in there so fast?" Applejack gasped. "Maybe it's a good thing you decided to peek." She grabbed the handle, but recoiled. "It's sticky..." She then kicked the door open. "Suzi Q, how in the sam hill did you get up here from the docks so fast?" Suzi Q looked at her with dead eyes. Then Applejack and Lisa Lisa noticed the Red Stone was missing. Suddenly, thick veins appeared across Suzi Q's body. "You're too late," Suzi Q said, but her voice sounded like Esidisi's.

"She's been possessed!," Lisa Lisa realized. "But I thought I destroyed you, Esidisi!," Joseph called out. "You practically did," Esidisi admitted, "But my brain survived your Hamon. Through this girl I have sent the Red Stone of Aja to the mainland by boat. All that's left is to keep you here long enough for it to reach Kars. This girl is still alive, but you'll have to kill her to remove me. Even your Hamon or superhuman strength won't change that."

Just then, Caesar's voice was heard, saying, "Jojo, are you around here?" He soon spotted the four of them. "Ah there you are, Jojo. I saw your fight with Esidisi. Looks like you beat him." "Not entirely," Applejack noted, "His brain went and voodooed Suzi Q here." "And he's already sent the stone to Venice," Lisa Lisa said. Caesar tried to look away from Lisa Lisa, since she was only covered by a towel. "Jeez, Jojo. Did you burst in here just to get a look at our teacher naked?" "First off, Applejack's the one who burst in here, not me," Joseph said, "Second, even you must admit our teacher looks good. Third, you might want to move before Esidisi uses Suzi Q to crush you."

Sure enough, Esidisi had tried to use Suzi Q to kick Caesar in the head, but he managed to dodge just in time. "You think you have the guts to kill an innocent woman?," Esidisi asked, "You'll be stuck by inaction until that stone reaches it's intended destination!" He then popped his veins out of Suzi Q to fire off red hot bullets made of blood at the group. Applejack blocked the shots from Lisa Lisa, but still felt the burns from the blood. "What is this? Even without pain I can tell how hot his blood is. This guy's body control is on a whole other level from Santana."

"He and the others have had more time to develop their abilities," Joseph noted, "Santana had only mastered the basics." "Jojo!," Lisa Lisa said, "At this rate, he's destroying Suzi Q's body! You must send Hamon into him!" "But that could stop Suzi Q's heart!," Caesar's argued, "It might kill her!" "There may be another solution," Joseph suggested, "Remember that technique our grandfather's showed us in preparation for the Hell Climb Pillar?" Caesar grinned. "I'd nearly forgotten about that. We never did need to use it, did we? But now's a good time to bust it out."

Esidisi looked confused, until the two Hamon masters approached Suzi Q from two sides. The result was interesting. Joseph flooded Suzi Q's body with a positive Hamon charge to drive out Esidisi, while Caesar focused a negative Hamon charge into Suzi Q's heart. The result created a plus/minus zero Hamon charge at Suzi Q's heart, while Esidisi got the full blast of Joseph and Caesar's Hamon. This forced him out, and his brain could longer take the energy, burning up in the sunlight.

"Crazy as it sounds," Joseph said, "And horrible as his actions were, I gotta respect Esidisi. He lived only for his comrades, wanting to help them achieve their goals. He was willing to throw his pride away for that express purpose. However many thousands of years he lived, he was just trying to survive, regardless of good or evil." The others remained silent for a few minutes. "I suppose this means Kars will be extra mad at us when he finds out," Applejack noted, "Those three seem to be good friends. And more importantly, we need to find out where the Red Stone got sent."

Had to squeeze in that little trick somewhere. After all, it was never my intention to kill off Suzi Q. Do you know how badly that could mess up future events? But yeah, now one Pillar Man is down. Let's see how the others get taken care of.

This chapter has some major deviations from canon. Also, something I wanted to talk about regarding Mark's Stand, since he'll be showing up here. I was originally gonna call his Stand White Album, a tribute to how the Beatles got their start in Germany. Then I remembered there already was a Stand named White Album, but could still keep the Stand's appearance by naming it Abbey Road, a reference to how John Lennon, who is leading the procession on the cover, is dressed in white.

Applejack and Twilight watched as Lisa Lisa used Hamon hypnosis on Suzi Q, now healed after the incident with Esidisi. "You ever try anything like this?," Applejack asked. "Once as a test," Twilight replied, "My husband's old Ogre Street gang still have jobs back in London. One of them, Yun, suspected an employee of his apothecary was selling off poisons, something he refused to do ever since he picked up the business from it's former owner, Wang Chen, a less scrupulous apothecary that had thrown his lot in with Dio. I tried using Hamon hypnosis to sort out the culprit, and eventually found the one responsible. Yun promptly had him turned over to the police. Never tried it for more subconscious thoughts, however."

"It certainly sounds more reliable than Joseph and Caesar trying to retrieve the package from the post office," Applejack admitted, "Those ijits won't get anywhere." Under the effects of the Hamon, which Suzi Q made no efforts to struggle against, she finally spoke. "Saint-Moritz, Switzerland..." She then went into detail about the address the package was sent to, using Lisa Lisa's official seal to insure it got through safely, and the cargo train it was supposed to leave on. "Messina," Lisa Lisa said, "Go and inform Jojo and Caesar. We're leaving for Switzerland as soon as possible." Messina nodded, and hurried out.

Soon enough, Joseph, Caesar, Messina, Applejack, and Lisa Lisa were ready to depart for Switzerland by car. "We must be prepared to play to dirty to catch up with the stone," Lisa Lisa noted, "We may even have to break the law." "You sound like you have experience in the matter," Applejack noted. Lisa Lisa remained silent, but the saddened look on her face spoke volumes. Before they left, Joseph Suzi Q and grinned. "Hey, Suzi Q! We'll be leaving for now, but I'll be sure to return to Venice soon!"

Suzi Q smiled. "Really?" Joseph grinned. "So make sure to heal that beat-up body of yours until then." Suzi giggled. "You really will return?" "Don't make me say it again!," Joseph said as they drove off, "Even if you do wind up an old hag by the time it happens!" Suzi smiled and picked up a rock to chuck it, calling out, "You stupid jerk!" Regardless of her words, the joy in them was evident. Joseph smiled. "I'll definitely be back soon..." Caesar couldn't help but chuckle. 'I doubt my usual techniques could work on Suzi Q, but Joseph's style works like a charm. Perhaps they were made for each other.'

Out in Switzerland, Kars was waiting in the streets. Because of his distinct appearance that could tip of someone who might alert Joseph and the others, he wore a dark jacket and wide-brimmed hat. He felt something nuzzle his leg and saw a hungry dog begging. "Sorry," Kars said apologetically, "I've no food to offer." As if understanding him, the dog lowered its head sadly and started down the street. Just then, Kars saw a drunk driver racing the street about to hit the dog.

Acting quickly, he caused a blade made of bone that shined like steel to emerge from his arm and made a quick slash through the car. The car swerved away from the dog and missed it, Kars having sliced off the driver's hands. Considering he smelled alcohol coming from the air in the vehicle, he figured they wouldn't realize until it was too late. "I've noticed many humans have evolved tremendously over the last two millennia," he said aloud, "But a select few seem to have evolved backwards rather than forwards. Well, every species has its degenerates. Now, it's been hours since Esidisi said he would call. He said he found a clue to the stone's location. I wonder if something happened to him."

The next day, the Joestar group managed to catch up to the train. "We seem to have caught a lucky break," Joseph noted, "It's an hour from here to Saint-Moritz." "Strange," Messina said, "They stopped at the Italy-Switzerland border, but it looks like they already finished the paperwork. So what's the holdup?" "Uh, how about the guys behind us," Applejack said. The group whirled around to see a car with the Nazi insignia on it, Mark and Donovan visible in the front seats.

"Caesar!," Mark called out excitedly, "Good to see you again!" As he waved, a wedding ring was visible on his hand. Donovan, by contrast, looked nervous to see Applejack again. An officer was visible in the back seat, who smiled at seeing Joseph. "Jojo. It's good to see you in such good shape. You've made some progress since the last time we met." Joseph gasped. "Stroheim! Is that you?" The officer titled up his hat to reveal he was indeed Stroheim, now sporting a visible mechanical attachment to the right side of his face.

"Indeed," he said, "I have returned from the depths of Hell, ready to stop the remaining Pillar Men from ending this world for the sake of the Fatherland!" "But even if you barely survived the grenade you blew yourself up with," Applejack noted, "How in the hay are you looking like you got put back together?" Stroheim chuckled. "German science is the greatest in the world. Our secret research into advanced cybernetics has allowed me to live again."

Out from the train came another group of Nazi soldiers. "Major," one of them said, "We've retrieved the stone." Lisa Lisa gasped, recognizing the thug who tried to pickpocket her a few days earlier. "There's no need to get upset," Stroheim assured her, "Keeping the stone for an extended period of time would just put a target on Germany's back. Having heard the stories, Herr Hitler doesn't want the Pillar Men anywhere near Germany, much less Berlin. We simply wish to borrow it to reverse engineer its properties. We're staying at a nearby inn. Please, join us. We must discuss a strategy for dealing with this threat."

At the inn, the group talked under the protective barrier of Mark's Stand, Abbey Road. As an added precaution, Donovan secluded himself nearby using his Stand, Whispers in the Dark. "Herr Hitler has been making some decisions that even nationalists like the three of us question," Stroheim admitted, "We still believe the German people will rise above all others, but not if we keep listening to the Fuhrer's ramblings." "Why would he want the stone in the first place?," Messina asked.

"Even a superior human is only human in the end," Stroheim explained, "Prone to mortality. Hitler knows this, and is worried that our empire will not stand the test of time. He hopes to use the stone mask and the red stone to fix that." "Believe me," Lisa Lisa said, "Trying to gain immortality using that method will not end well for Hitler or his followers." "Ja, I believe you may be right," Stroheim admitted, "Especially after what we learned about the man known as Dio Brando from Speedwagon."

He smiled. "But there's no denying the stone has another use. It's ability to focus light in a concentrated point has numerous applications. Our research department wants to borrow the stone and try to reverse engineer the process. Once we've learned it's secrets, its uses could be limitless. Military, certainly, but also industrial, engineering, or even medical." "Major Stroheim," Donovan said, "I just saw a shadow move outside. I think one of the Pillar Men might have found us."

"But is it Kars or Wamuu?," Applejack wondered. "What about the third one?," Stroheim asked, "I was told there were three." "'Were' being the operative word," Joseph explained, "Me and Caesar already destroyed Esidisi." Stroheim nodded. "Then by now the Pillar Man outside has heard of this." He got up. "Allow me to make the first move against him. It will be the perfect field test for my new cybernetics. After Mark's report, we had to make some modifications, and I wish to see how close we've come to matching the strength of the Pillar Men."

Outside, Kars found the inn and felt the outside wall. Placing his hands on the wall, he felt the temperature in the room to determine what was inside. 'There's a fire lit in the fireplace... Four lamps on the wall. Two... No, wait, three on the tables. Four humans standing against the wall, from right to left their heights are 178, 174, 181, and 178 centimeters. One additional human by the fireplace, height 183 centimeters. Five in total, all men.'

He brought out his bone blade and made a quick slashing motion through the wall, deviating only to account for the heights he had detected. Once he confirmed the ones inside were dead, he retracted his blade. He then hopped in a window and started counting heads. "One... Two... Three... Four... Five..." He then looked at another figure on a nearby sofa. "So then who might you be? And why can't I feel your body temperature?" The man, his face hidden, smiled. "You must be Kars. I must admit, you work fast. It was only hours ago that your companion was defeated, yet you found that out, learned we had the stone, and discovered our location."

Kars narrowed his eyes as the man got up and looked around the room. "And your attack was a sneaky and quick one. My men died without even having time to scream." Without another word, Kars leapt at the man, blade unsheathed, and struck at him. The man simply raised his hand to block. Kars was surprised as the block was successful, his attack only succeeding in slicing the man's officer hat, revealing Stroheim. Kars took another look at the man's hand, the glove having been torn away. The sight was surprising. "You're... A machine?"

"You're sort of right," Stroheim noted, "I do still have some of my original human parts remaining after my reconstruction. It's accurate to say... That I'm a cyborg." Kars narrowed his eyes as he tried to push harder, but only made so much ground. "Not quite enough to match your strength, it seems," Stroheim admitted, "But enough to slow you down. German science is the greatest in the world, and you see the proof of that now." "Certainly fascinating, I'll admit," Kars said, "But I don't have time to indulge. I came for the stone, and I'm not afraid to turn you into scrap to get to it."

He tried to turn his blade to strike, but Stroheim held the blade in a death grip and then twisted his other arm around in an manner unlike any human to grab Kars' hand. "Did you think this new body would move as a human's would?," Stroheim taunted, "Thanks to Santana, we have extensive knowledge of your control over your own bodies. And thanks to my cybernetics, I can mimic those same movement patterns to a degree." He proceeded to rip off the chunk of flesh he held, making Kars grunt in pain.

"Do you think to try tearing me to pieces?," Kars asked sarcastically. Stroheim chuckled. "Yes, in fact." He relished the blank look Kars gave. "Are you surprised? After studying the amount of damage done to Santana, and accounting for your more advanced strength, we began to calculate how much damage it would take to make all your vital functions cease." He threw off his coat to reveal a machinegun in his chest, a long ammo belt coming out it. Kars threw his guard up as Stroheim opened fire.

The damage proved extensive, actually tearing chunks out of Kars' flesh, as well as sending him crashing out the wall. Stroheim laughed at Kars' look of surprise. "Two-thousand years ago, there was no human weapon that could possibly injure you. But after so many centuries of war with itself, humankind has developed all new and powerful weapons. I know from Santana that you understand the concept of guns. This heavy machinegun installed in my torso is capable of firing six hundred armor piercing rounds per minute, and each round can tear through a thirty millimeter steel plate."

Kars managed to stand up. "I'll admit that your technology is astounding. Given time you could probably destroy any one of us. But time is something I do not have, and do not intend to give. I must honor the memory of Esidisi by retrieving the stone he gave his life to send to me! Bright Saber!" Instantly his blade seemed to glow bright white, blinding Stroheim. That's when Applejack came out. "Who's firing guns around here?" She then noticed Kars. "Oh shit! To The Core!"

She put up her hand to block Kars' blade as it came in on her, then backed off quickly as she felt something odd brush against her hand. "You're durable enough to withstand my Bright Saber!," Kars realized, "I heard you were strong enough to destroy Santana, but it seems your strength is far greater than I thought." Applejack shook her hand to deal with the sudden numbness. "Watch it, Stroheim. That blade's like a chainsaw." "That explains the brightness!," Stroheim realized, "His blade has multiple, teeth-like claws running across it! The complex reflection gives off the incredible shine!" Kars lifted up his blade. "That is my mode... The power of light!"

This chapter will be shorter than the requisite arc in the manga, largely because Joseph doesn't get involved until close to the end. Still, I hope you enjoy.

"You are the girl from earlier," Kars noted, "The one who was able to survive against Wamuu with only minor injuries. And you were the one who destroyed Santana. I must admit, if I didn't know any better I'd swear you were one of us. But I'd probably need to kill you either way. The rest of my kind never agreed with my ideals. But tell me... Do you know where the one who killed Esidisi is!?" He seemed to get angrier as he said this. "Depends," Applejack said, "Are you really being so hypocritical as to desire revenge for a fallen comrade?"

Kars looked taken aback. 'Wait... She's right! I shouldn't be getting so worked up over this! Esidisi still did his best to complete our mission even as he died, so why am I falling into the same sentiments as the Hamon clan? Is it anger that a human would destroy one of my kind? But I didn't feel the same when I learned of Santana's death, so that would make me seem even more hypocritical. Perhaps it's because he's such a powerful Hamon user. But this girl before me is also strong enough to kill either Esidisi or Wamuu, and the German's technology can do the same. So why does it matter how strong a Hamon user is?'

He took a deep breath and started to calm down. 'I think it's because I'm forgetting to think in regards of it being two-thousand after I began my slumber. The world has changed since then, so it's only natural that humans would start to catch up to my kind.' He was then caught off-guard when Stroheim fired a beam of ultraviolet light from his mechanical eye, strong enough to pierce through his hand. "Your words seem to have rattled him, Applejack," Stroheim noted, "That UV light is five times as strong as the one we tried using to keep you contained back in Rome. Looks to have been effective."

Kars shook his hand as it sizzled, making it numb. "It seems I can't afford to hold back for this fight." He clenched his legs, revealing more blades inside them. "This guy's like a walking armory!," Applejack noted. Kars swung his legs to attack, but gasped when something stopped him in midair. Not wanting to risk a second strike from the blades, Applejack had sent To The Core to attack directly, blocking Kars' strike. Luckily for Applejack, only a Stand can damage a Stand, so Kars' blades proved ineffective.

Kars blinking, then rubbed his eyes. "What was that? I can't see anyone besides these two, and can't feel their body heat like with the German." Stroheim grinned in triumph. "Of course! Not even a Pillar Man's superior senses can detect a Stand if they don't have one of their own! I had nearly forgotten your Stand can fight as a separate entity!" "And best of all," Applejack said, "Kars can't damage it. Looks like I'm holding the trump card in this fight."

Kars' eye widened. 'A Stand... I think I've heard of something similar. Yes... There was that meteor impact several millennia after I was born. Many who got near it died, but those that survived exhibited powers similar to this girl. This complicates matters. Those of my kind who battled these so-called "Stand users" spoke of the same frustrations I'm experiencing. The inability to see the Stand's form, the Stand being invulnerable to pain or damage. And this girl's powers make up for the one weakness of a Stand, the Stand user itself, adding to the difficulty.'

He narrowed his eyes. 'All I really need is the Red Stone of Aja. There's no need to deal with these obstacles if I can get around them.' He then saw something glinting in Stroheim's pants' pocket, and grinned. "Uh, Stroheim...," Applejack said, "Where is the stone right now?" "I kept it on me for safe...," Stroheim started to say, then realized what Applejack was worried about. "Oh nein..." Kars revved his Bright Saber with the intent of blinding the two, then came in to attack. He managed to slice Stroheim's torso in half, but only through the machine part, leaving him still alive.

The Red Stone of Aja started to fall out of his pocket, but before Kars could grab it, it seemed to float away at a rapid speed. He looked over to Applejack and realized she still had an eye open. "Nice try blinding me to get around my Stand," she admitted, "But I figured you'd try that the second you found the stone. So I covered my eyes before you even started, then sent To The Core to retrieve the stone once I confirmed its location." Kars grunted, then came at Applejack to try striking her. "I know I can't damage you!," he explained, "But I'll bet I can still put you off balance!"

Applejack smiled, then held the stone up. Kars gasped, then stopped his attack. "My Stand may not be as fast as you," she clarified, "But it's close to it, and it had a head start. Doesn't help that you were more focused on attacking me to knock me out and grab the stone, instead of just following the stone and trying to grab for it." 'This woman,' Kars growled internally, 'She knows I can't destroy it, or all my plans are for nothing.' The look on Applejack's face irritated him, partially because he knew it was well deserved.

That's when Joseph, Caesar, Messina, and Lisa Lisa came running out. "We were wondering what was going on here," Joseph said, "Applejack said she wanted to see what all the gunfire was about, and now I see what's been taking so long." Kars sighed. "These are odds even I can't stand against right now. Not when I'm so worn out dealing with the other two, one of which is still standing. I'll retreat for now, but I guarantee I'll have that stone by this time tomorrow." He then leapt off the nearby cliff.

Mark and Donovan came out. "Major Stroheim," Mark said. "I'll be fine," Stroheim said, "German science is the greatest in the world. Because of that, I still live in spite of Kars' attack. But we'll need to affect repairs before I can fight him again." "I must admit your body's resilience is equal to the Pillar Men," Messina noted, "If you're willing to let go of your arrogance and accept help, we can offer some cooperation." Stroheim smiled. "I've already accepted help from Applejack against Kars. If you can help upgrade my cybernetics, I'm willing to work together."

This is a little early, but I can't see the total views from my last chapter on the story details. I'll probably start doing the same everytime it happens. Anyway, this chapter features one of the biggest changes I had planned, plus a pairing I've been setting up for a while. Hope you enjoy.

The Saint-Moritz resort in Switzerland, also known as the valley of the sun. The group of heroes, Stroheim still under repairs, was sequestered in a large hotel not far from the fortress where Kars was supposed to be hiding, if the address given by Suzi Q was anything to go by. It was daylight out, so Wamuu wouldn't be showing up until night fell. "That mansion is perfect for Kars to hide out in," Messina noted, "Large and deserted with plenty of room to hide from the sun, and all the windows boarded up."

"Then we should go on the offensive before Wamuu arrives," Caesar said, "I know Jojo has his promised fight against him, but we'll have time for that when Kars is dead." "Not a good idea," Joseph argued, "Kars wouldn't have lived as long as he has if destroying him was as simple as attacking him while the sun's out. This is no vampire, he'll be very active even during the day. He's just more limited in where he can go while the sun's out." Caesar rubbed his chin. "Very well, I suppose you're right. There's no telling what's inside that mansion. I've waited three years to avenge my father. A few hours more is nothing."

"You mentioned something about that when we first encountered the Pillar Men," Applejack noted, "Just what were you talking about?" Caesar sighed as he walked near the balcony. "My father was Mario Zeppeli. Unlike Grandfather William he could not use Hamon, but that was fine by him. He took the life of a family man seriously, especially after he and his own father reconnected. My mother died when I was young, but I still had Father, Grandfather, and several of my siblings."

He closed his eyes. "Then one day, without explanation, Father just vanished. I was ten years old at the time. Some vile individual from my mother's side tried to swindle me out of the savings father left me, but luckily Grandfather prevented that. He too was curious as what happened to his son, and agreed to help me look for him. During that time, he discovered my talent for Hamon, and began helping me learn it to defend myself. His intention was to introduce me to a proper teacher when we were done finding Father, since he was growing too old to give me a full schooling."

He grimaced. "I had convinced myself Father had found some other woman and was living a happy life, but Grandfather argued that if he had found someone else he would have brought her home to be my stepmother. Finally, when I was sixteen, we found my father in Rome. Curious as to what he was doing, I followed him to the Colosseum... To the chamber where the Pillar Men were still slumbering." Applejack gasped, realizing where the story was heading.

Caesar started to tear up. "I approached the wall, thinking it just another mural. As I reached for a diamond in the mural that caught my eye, Father appeared trying to warn me to get away. But it was too late! Like a human would stir from his sleep if he heard a large enough disturbance, the Pillar Men briefly awoke earlier than predicted... It turned out the diamond was a trap to feed themselves while they slept... And father pushed me out of the way... I'm not sure if my father recognized me or not, but he asked me to find Lisa Lisa and report his death."

Caesar now began to cry. "This was the real reason he had left. He wanted me to stay out of this affair until I was strong enough to face it. He never told anyone, not even his own father who had survived such things before, because he knew Grandfather William was starting to show signs of age." Applejack offered him a handkerchief. "Thank you...," he said, "It was after this that I told Grandfather everything. He was deeply saddened by the loss of his son, but nonetheless took me to see Lisa Lisa, where I began my Hamon training."

Joseph smiled. "Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to try a daytime attack." "Inadvisable," Donovan said as he appeared above, "I've just scouted the area around the mansion, and it seems that Wamuu has arrived." The group looked shocked. "Wamuu came?," Lisa Lisa asked, "In broad daylight?" "I didn't recognize him at first," Donovan said as he dropped down, "He seemed to make himself transparent using the surrounding air. Then I realized he was using steam from the air in his lungs to create a refraction of light to protect himself as he arrived, which had the added benefit of concealing him from casual observation."

"Even a Pillar Man can only breathe out for so long," Joseph noted, "He must have been jumping from shade to shade to get here." "How much longer before Stroheim is repaired?," Messina asked. "The technicians from the Speedwagon Foundation and our own engineering corp give it at least until tomorrow," Donovan replied, "Perhaps earlier, but definitely not before the sun sets."

The group considered their options. "Do we know if anything else is inside the mansion?," Lisa Lisa asked. "I got the impression from the sounds inside as I scouted the first floor," Donovan said, "They seem to have created some vampires while waiting for the stone. I estimate there to be several dozen from the voices alone." Caesar nodded. "Applejack, we're going. At the very least, we can cut down some of their numbers." "Be careful," Joseph said, "If either of you die on us you'll regret it in the afterlife." Caesar grinned. "I don't plan on risking my life, if that's what you're thinking."

The inside of the mansion looked dark, but there was just enough light coming through the cracks for the area to be visible. As the duo approached a nearby stairwell, the air whirled around and revealed a semi-transparent figure. "Wamuu," Caesar noted, "We weren't expecting to encounter you so soon." "I heard your footsteps and came to investigate," Wamuu explained, "You seem to have gotten stronger. Both of you. My intention was to fight Jojo, but I won't pass up the chance for a quick warm-up."

He leapt down, while Applejack called out, "To The Core!" She threw her fist into Wamuu's stomach, but something felt off. "What in the hay? It didn't connect. The air pressure is keeping my fist from reaching him." "It seems even your power has its limits," Wamuu noted. He then whirled his head around as Caesar called out, "Soap Cutter!" A series of disc-shaped bubbles cut through his wind barrier, easily damaging them from the Hamon they were charged with.

"A little variation on the Hamon Cutter my grandfather taught me!," Caesar explained, "By channeling Hamon in such a way that it creates centrifugal force, the bubbles rotate at high-speed, creating the disk shape. Thanks to the Hamon charging them, they don't explode. And your whirlwind barrier becomes the perfect vacuum to draw them in and slice you to ribbons! " Wamuu managed to leap back enough to stop the bubbles from chasing him.

'He's outperformed my expectations,' he thought, 'I could always drop my whirlwind barrier and use a more direct wind attack to blow the bubbles away, but that leaves me open to Applejack's physical power. Under the influence of her mysterious Stand, she's strong enough to send even a member of my race flying across a room. These two made a good move by attacking me simultaneously. I was expecting a mere warm-up, but this is shaping up to be more of a test of how well I can handle the fight with Jojo.'

"Are you sure we should be checking up on them, Master Lisa Lisa?," Messina asked. The two of them, as well a Joseph, were approaching the mansion. "They've been gone too long for merely clearing out a few vampires," Lisa Lisa explained, "I'm starting to get worried." "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't," Joseph admitted, "Applejack's shown herself to be capable of surviving a lot thanks to her Stand, but we don't know it's upper limit. And as much as Caesar has improved, there's always the risk that either Kars or Wamuu detected them within the mansion."

"Looks like my only choice is resort to overkill," Wamuu decided. He directed his barrier to his fist and launched it, barely missing Applejack. She quickly whirled around, realizing he might not have been aiming for her. Sure enough, the attack blasted a nearby wall in such a way that it crumbled on top of her. "That should overpower her durability," Wamuu noted, "And now I'm free to drop my barrier and strike you with my special attack."

Caesar smiled. "I doubt you'll get the chance. Take a look around you!" Wamuu looked around and realized he was surrounded by soap discs. "Thanks to the hole in the wall you made trying to crush Applejack," Caesar explained, "You've allowed sunlight to enter the mansion. And my soap discs are perfectly positioned to become lenses, ready to capture that light and redirect it against you!" The burning light started to incinerate Wamuu. He tried to put up his guard, but Caesar was ready.

"Now I'll attack you with a final, direct Hamon!," Caesar called out. Wamuu noticed the kick Caesar launched created enough of a shadow that he could launch his Holy Sand Storm safely. But as he readied his arms to launch it, he suddenly got the sensation of his arms being pinned down. Realizing he was about to be struck, Wamuu did the only other thing he could. Painful as it was, he flipped back into the range of Caesar lens attack, just long enough to escape the Hamon kick and put up his whirlwind barrier.

"That was clearly Applejack's Stand restraining me!," he realized, "But how could she have survived!?" The rubble from the wall started to shift, and Applejack burst up from it, covered in injuries but otherwise standing strong. "Congratulations, Wamuu," she said, "You finally pushed To The Core to its very limit. Luckily, it was only enough to finally injure me, the first injuries I've received while under my Stand's influence since I first discovered its power. Fortunately, the lack of pain meant I was able to stay conscious, keeping my Stand active."

Wamuu managed to leap away from the duo. "It's clear that if we keep fighting I will lose, and I still have my promise to keep with Jojo. Still, that power is far more impressive than I could have imagined. If it had been Kars you fought here, rather than me, he no doubt would have been killed. Caesar, Applejack, I will consider this a technical loss on my part. Rest and recover, so that you may be strong enough to fight against Kars." And with that, he left.

Caesar breathed a sigh of relief, but then found himself having to catch Applejack. "Are you alright?," he asked. "I'll be fine," Applejack replied, "Just never turned off my Stand while injured. The pain hit me all at once. Not enough to die from shock, thankfully, but enough that the exhaustion caught up with me." She then realized her situation. "Good grief, even when being subtle you wind up sweeping a girl off her feet." Caesar smiled. "Well, this is the first time I've been serious about a girl."

Applejack then surprised him by placing her hands on his cheeks. "Remember when we first met, you tried that Hamon hypnosis trick by kissing me?" "I remember," Caesar admitted, "You said if I ever wanted to do that again, I'd have to earn it." They brought their faces together as Applejack said, "Well guess what? You earned it." And with that, they locked lips in a passionate kiss. They only broke it when they heard Joseph cough to get their attention.

The two looked flustered when they saw Joseph's wry grin. "Caesar, Applejack, I thought you were here to kill vampires, not find a secret make-out spot." "We wound up running into Wamuu," Applejack explained, "And I found the upper limits of my durability." "And apparently emotions ran high in the aftermath," Joseph snarked, "But seriously, I am happy for you two." Lisa Lisa smiled. "We got worried when you were taking so long. I'm glad to see you both safe." The group shared a laugh, even in the middle of a mansion likely surrounded by enemies, and it helped ease the tension on the air.

Lisa Lisa and Messina finished healing Caesar and Applejack. "You were fortunate Wamuu underestimated how much damage it would take to kill Applejack," Messina noted. "No doubt," Caesar agreed, "If not for that, neither of us would be alive right now. So, now we have some idea of what we're up against." "I just noticed something," Joseph chimed in, "This mansion looks equal parts fortress and hotel." "There's a reason for that," Applejack said, "I asked the Speedwagon Foundation for some info regarding this place."

She turned to look at him. "Turns out it was built as a castle back in the 14th century by Gessler, the cruel bailiff defeated by famous Swiss hero William Tell." "The one who pulled off the arrow through the apple trick?," Joseph asked. Applejack nodded. "That's the one. Around the turn of the century it was converted into a hotel, hence the modern decorum, but it's owner died around nine years ago, causing the place to close down. It's been abandoned ever since." "At least until Kars decided to use it as his personal protection residence from the sun," Caesar noted.

Joseph nodded. "Well, at least we know the history of this place. For all the good it does us. We have no idea about the layout, Donovan having only checked the outside and the first floor. So Kars and Wamuu have home field advantage. The easy part will be dealing with the vampires. Donovan said he heard at least several dozen, so I think we can estimate there to around a hundred, give or take." Messina nodded. "A vampire should be easy compared to the Pillar Men. Especially with four Hamon masters and a superhuman warrior."

"I'll have my Stand take point," Applejack offered, "It has a projection range of around twenty meters and can go unseen by everything here that isn't me. That should help us navigate." "We can also follow the blood Wamuu left behind," Caesar noted, pointing to the blood trail, "At least we have a clear direction to follow." "That's quite a bit of blood," Joseph noted, "You two really did a number on him. Hope you saved some for me." Caesar chuckled. "He rather forced the issue by retreating when it was clear he couldn't win."

The group followed the trail, To The Core reporting all clear as they continued until they reached a door. "Careful guys," Applejack said, "My Stand notes something funny about that door. Look, the knob looks like a human hand." "Oh ho," came a voice from nowhere, "I was planning on waiting until one of you grabbed my hand, but I guess that won't be happening." Suddenly, the "door" morphed into a fanged humanoid. "A vampire!," Joseph called out. The vampire struck at Applejack, but looked surprised as Applejack only got her head rolled back without looking hurt.

"Pathetic," Applejack said, "Just who is this asshole?" "More importantly," Messina said, "Why did it look like he had ten fingers during that attack?" The vampire scoffed. "My name is Wired Beck. I used to be a fugitive, convicted of strangling my girlfriend, before Kars used some weird stone mask to change me into a vampire. Now I swear allegiance to him." "So they've started turning the local populace into their personal pantry," Caesar noted, "Well, don't think you'll be stopping us from getting through."

Wired Beck laughed. "Oh please! I know all about the strengths and weaknesses of a vampire! You five pitiful humans could never kill me! Sure, the girl seems durable, but I'll break through it soon enough!" The five of them raised an eyebrow at each other. "Where did you learn about vampires?," Messina asked. "I know all the old legends," Wired Beck explained. "So Kars never explained it to you," Joseph clarified. "He offered," Wired Beck admitted, "But I assured him I knew all I needed."

He then eyed Lisa Lisa and got a lecherous look in his eye. "Well, well. What a beauty we have here. Why not come over so I can hug you tight and drain your blood from beneath that porcelain skin?" "I'll pass," Lisa Lisa said curtly, "Though if you try to force the issue, I assure you it will be the last thing you do." Wired Beck chuckled as his hair receded, only for numerous spikes to appear all over his body. "So that's what it was," Applejack noted, "I thought I felt something pointy trying to scratch my face up."

"He's turned his hair into barbwire," Joseph realized, "Giving the appearance of a spiky body." "I don't like it when a woman is teasing me," Wired Beck said, "I'll have to punish you for that, okay?" "Remember how Caesar was when we first met him?," Joseph said to Applejack, "This is worse." "I'm standing right here," Caesar pointed out. Joseph shrugged. "I'm just saying, at least you weren't a misogynist." Wired Beck rushed at Lisa Lisa, who deftly dodged the assault and wrapped the vampire up in her scarf.

"Ha!," Wired Beck called out, "You think you can just wrap me up and call it a day!?" He tore through the scarf, but Lisa Lisa just calmly walked past him. "What?," Wired Beck said, confused, "Hey, come back here! Don't ignore me!" He saw the others walking past as well. "Hey, you guys agree that a woman like that should be punished, right?" "Why would we?," Caesar said, "I was trained by her." "Don't assume everyone shares your viewpoint," Messina pointed out.

"You're asking the wrong gal," Applejack chimed in, "I'm that sort of woman too." "Besides," Joseph said, "You're already dead thanks to the Hamon she sent inside you." Wired Beck looked confused. "What kind of nonsense are you talking about?," he asked as smoke started coming out of his mouth, "I mean, for some reason I don't feel good anymore but that doesn't--" He got cut off by his own scream as his body quickly dissolved, his hair spikes falling off as he did.

"That's some amazing technique," Joseph noted, "You didn't waste any movement whatsoever. And the movements were like the silk scarf you used to transfer your Hamon to that vampire." "All Hamon users develop their own style as they learn," Lisa Lisa noted, "That was part of my style. There are some things that simply cannot be taught." She noted the blood trail was getting thinner. "Looks like Wamuu has started recovering. Doubtless he'll be at full strength when we find him again." Joseph grinned. "I can't wait."

Yeah, short chapter but let's face it, Wired Beck never stood a chance. Guy was honestly disturbing up until Lisa Lisa attacked him.

I'd like to ask that people hold off their questions concerning my story from now on. They'll all be answered in time. There are some of Araki's old ideas that I intend to act on, but not all of them. With that said, enjoy the penultimate confrontation, and all that I have changed about it.

Inside an inner chamber of the mansion, Wamuu was healing himself through meditation. "They've gotten far stronger than I thought they might," Kars noted, "At this rate, only obtaining the Red Stone of Aja can protect us from annihilation." "I was noting it down below," Wamuu said, "That if you had faced Caesar and Applejack, you most likely would have died." Kars closed his eyes. "Yes... I believe you are right. I thank you for being the one to test their skills. But that still leaves the progress Jojo made. As well as those other two. I recognized them as Hamon masters, likely the ones who trained Caesar and Jojo."

"They obviously trained them well," Wamuu noted, "I never thought Master Esidisi could be defeated." Kars nodded sadly. "He did all he could to send the stone to us, and it still got intercepted by circumstances none of us could have predicted. How unfortunate that we would awaken in a time when humanity is on the verge of war with itself. Though I cannot say we are any better. Esidisi and myself slew countless members of our own kind when they tried to execute me out of fear of my experiments."

Before their conversation could continue, they felt the presence of Hamon elsewhere in the mansion. "Sounds like they found Wired Beck," Wamuu noted, "I hope they don't waste too much energy dispatching him." Kars chuckled. "He's likely been killed before you even got finished with that sentence. Such a foolish creature. I'm not sorry for his passing. He represented the worst in humanity. Not to mention he was naive, not willing to understand the true nature of his powers and relying only on superstitious legends." He headed into the shadows. "They'll be here soon. Finish your recovery."

Wamuu nodded and completed the task of closing up his remaining wounds. Just then, the Joestar group opened the door to the chamber. "Long time no see, Wamuu," Joseph said with a grin. "I've been waiting," Wamuu said, "You've definitely gotten stronger. That's good. Thanks to you defeating Master Esidisi, and my own fight against your two friends, I think I have a good understanding of your level of skill." "Be careful," Lisa Lisa said, "There's two sets of footprints in the room... And about a hundred breaths."

"Then you would be the one who trained Jojo," Wamuu noted, "Such a clear-headed and insightful woman. I can easily see how you turned Jojo and Caesar into true warriors in so short a time. You were even able to pick up on all the discreet breaths within the shadows." He focused an air flow into the nearby fire, revealing a hundred vampires standing like an army on the ceiling, Kars at the other end of the room sitting in a recliner. Kars smirked. "The one known as Jojo is for Wamuu to fight," he said to the army, "Kill the others."

"Hold on," Lisa Lisa said, "If you kill us, then you lose the stone forever." Kars raised an eyebrow and halted his forces. "How do you mean?" "Did you really think we brought it with us?," Lisa Lisa asked, "We still have one ally on the outside, with orders to blow up the stone using an explosive if we're not out within a certain time frame." Kars considered his options. There was no guarantee this ally of their's was nearby, and Lisa Lisa didn't indicate how much time he had to look. It could be a bluff, but he couldn't risk gambling on that. "Very well... Name your terms."

"After Jojo is finished with his fight with Wamuu," Lisa Lisa said, "You and I will have a one-on-one fight. The winner will get the stone." Wamuu chuckled. "Even if she's somehow bluffing, Master, I don't think we have the luxury of turning her down at this point." Kars smiled. "Yes, I suppose you're right. Very well then, your terms are accepted. Wamuu, since you and Jojo will be the first to fight, I leave it to you to select the time and place." Wamuu nodded. "As for the time, there's a full moon tonight, perfect lighting for a battle outdoors."

"No wasting time then," Joseph noted, "I like that idea. And the location?" "Fifteen kilometers from here, at the foot of Piz Bernina," Wamuu replied, "There is an antique stone circle called the Skeleton Hell Stone. In ancient times, it was constructed for the purpose of astrology, but later became an arena where numerous warriors battled for their fates. Winners received a glorious fate, while losers received a gruesome one. Master, if I may offer one final condition."

Kars looked interested. "Neither Jojo nor I have reason to kill each other, only fight," Wamuu explained, "So I request that the winner be given to right to decide whether the loser lives or dies." Kars nodded. "If that is your wish. It makes no difference to me, since it is only my fight with the woman that matters to our goals. However, I will add an additional stipulation. The Red Stone of Aja will be brought to the sight at midnight, without the bomb. And the two older Hamon masters will be our hostages until it arrives." "What do you want to do, Lisa Lisa?," Messina asked. "We don't have the luxury of refusing," Lisa Lisa admitted, "Jojo, Caesar, Applejack. You know where the stone is. Go retrieve it and bring it as instructed. We'll be waiting."

Back at the hotel, the trio went to Lisa Lisa's room to find the stone. "So, Caesar," Joseph said, "How would you feel if I said I felt like sparing Wamuu should I win?" Caesar considered it. "I don't think I'd have any objections. Ultimately Kars is the one responsible for my father's death. And Wamuu is clearly honorable. The only question is... Would we be forced to kill him after his master's death?" "Let's burn that bridge when we cross it," Joseph said, "First we need to get the stone."

He opened Lisa Lisa's suitcase and found the stone on top of all the clothes. "There's the stone... And no bomb. I had a feeling she was bluffing. Kars may not have been fooled either but he still accepted giving us a chance to beat him." He grinned. "Maybe I should take the opportunity to bring her a change of panties. Ow!" Applejack and Caesar had hit him in the back of the head. "I appreciate why you're joking at a time like this," Caesar clarified, "But that was just in poor taste."

"Sorry," Joseph muttered. He then noticed that he had knocked over a picture frame when he was stuck. Curious, he picked it up, and his eyes bugged out of his head. "Why does Lisa Lisa have a picture of my grandparents?" Sure enough, the photo was of Erina and Jonathan as they currently looked. "Nevermind that," Applejack said, "Look at the other picture. Isn't that Straizo holding a baby?" Sure enough, the other picture depicted Straizo as they had recently seen him, along with a much younger Erina, Speedwagon, Jonathan, and Twilight.

"This was dated May 22 of 1889," Caesar noted. "That's when my grandparents got back from their honeymoon," Joseph explained, "Aunt Twilight and Uncle Speedwagon had joined them for one last photo to remember all the good times." "So this is what your family looked like when they were younger," Applejack said, "But who's the baby Straizo is holding?" "I don't know," Joseph admitted, "I mean, at first one might think it was my father, but he hadn't been born until a few months after this picture was taken, and besides that baby is clearly a girl."

Applejack rubbed her chin. "Y'know, I didn't know when this was a good time bring this up... But back at Air Supplena Island, I often saw Lisa Lisa talking with Jonathan and Twilight. They seemed to be friendly, and Jonathan and Twilight clearly acted like they knew Lisa Lisa." "There's something about Lisa Lisa that connects her to my family's history," Joseph noted, "But what could it be...?" He thought about it before a crazy idea came to him. He slapped his hands against his face as he called out, "DOUBLE SHOCK!"

Skeleton Heel Stone was a stone circle that in many ways resembled the more famous Stonehenge. It was here that Wamuu and Kars stood on a nearby cliff, their army of vampires behind them. In the middle of the arena stood Lisa Lisa and Messina, awaiting the arrival of their students. Just before midnight, Joseph, Caesar, and Applejack arrived, Joseph holding the Red Stone. He lit a match before Kars' eyes and held it to the stone, causing a beam of light to emit from the stone.

Kars nodded in satisfaction. "Good, you've kept your word, so we'll keep ours." As they prepared the arena, Joseph handed Lisa Lisa the frame. "I got a good look at it," he said, "You're the baby in this picture, aren't you?" Lisa Lisa sighed. "Yes, I am. My birth parents were on the same ship as your grandparents when they had their honeymoon. But my parents were killed in secret by Dio, and as a result I was raised by Straizo, who also taught me Hamon."

"That's crazy, though," Applejack said, "That would make you fifty years old. I get that Hamon slows down aging, but still..." "I'm more surprised that it was Straizo who raised you," Joseph admitted. Lisa Lisa grimaced. "Yes... I heard about how you were forced to kill him when he went mad from his fear of aging. It... Leaves me conflicted." "You mean the fact that your own son killed your adopted father," Joseph said, making Lisa Lisa gasp. "I pieced it together," Joseph admitted, "Along with the information that you were friendly with Granddad and Aunt Twilight."

Lisa Lisa smiled. "Yes, it's true. You are my son, Jojo. Being raised by Straizo I grew up alongside your father and fell in love with him. I'm not surprised Jonathan and Twilight recognized me, and it made me feel so nostalgic that I just had to talk with them again." Caesar blinked in surprise. "So Jojo is the son of my Hamon teacher? I'm starting to understand where the 'double shock' came from." Just then a rumbling sound could be heard. "It looks like it's time," Wamuu noted.

To the surprise of the five humans, four horses came running into the arena, fangs prevalent in their mouths. "Vampire horses?," Messina asked, "Talk about bizarre." The horses were bigger and more muscular than regular horses, and could be seen carrying two chariots behind them, being driven by two more normal vampires. The horses stopped right in front of Kars and Wamuu as the arena lit up with the fires of several burners and torches.

"This will be our battle, Jojo," Wamuu explained, "A chariot race like the ones you've no doubt read about in the Roman Empire. Normally we'd fight until one of us was dead, knocked from our chariot, or crashed, but given the request I made earlier we'll forgo the first condition." "One thing I want to make sure of first," Joseph said, "How do I know those horses won't be biased towards you?" "The reins are capable of channeling Hamon," Wamuu assured him, "I will be using my brute strength. Both are necessary to control these beasts, as their strength is equal to a hundred and fifty regular horses. That's just under the power of modern automobile engines, but far more wild and difficult to control since they are living beings."

Curious, Joseph grabbed the reigns on one of the horses and channeled his Hamon. Sure enough the beast instantly became tame. "Looks like we have our fight set," he agreed, "All right then." He shed his coat and hat while Wamuu donned his traditional fighting gear. "Looks like they're both ready to take this seriously," Kars noted. He saw the other four select a defensible position to watch the race while also insuring none of the vampires would try to make a quick meal of them.

"There's an overcast for a few minutes," Wamuu said, "So I thought I should offer you some tips as a sign of good sportsmanship. The track is nine-hundred and sixty meters long. These horses are capable of running at speeds of sixty kilometers an hour. For each lap we complete until the fight's end, a weapon will appear that only the first one to complete the lap will have access to. Beyond that, there are no limitations. We are free to use whatever skills we have to either crash each other's chariot, or knock each other off our respective chariots."

"One thing I should mention," Joseph said, "I've though about it, and I've decided that should I win, I'll spare you." "I've also considered whether or not to allow you to live should I win," Wamuu admitted, "I still haven't chosen, so I'll make my choice based on your performance should I win." Joseph smiled. "I'd better give it my all, then." "Present the first weapon!," Kars called out, "The battle will begin when the moon peeks out from the clouds!"

A two-handed warhammer was placed on the pillar at the end of the track behind the two warriors. All around the vampires were chanting Wamuu's name, as if they expected him to win. The moon soon appeared from behind the clouds, signaling the start. But Wamuu got an unexpected surprise when the rubble beneath his wheels gave way. 'Jojo must have rigged the stones before the race while everyone was focused on the sky. Clever move. Now he has the head-start he needs to grab the warhammer before me. I need to catch up quickly if I hope to grab the next weapon.'

Wamuu was able to pull away from the broken rubble and started closing in on Joseph, but not in time to prevent him from grabbing the warhammer. Joseph started coating the hammer in oil to allow it to channel Hamon, then saw Wamuu slowing down. 'I see... He expected me to take an early lead and grab the hammer. His real goal is to use the pillar itself as a weapon.' Quickly he turned around, holding the hammer while charging it. Waiting until Wamuu swung the pillar down, Joseph pulled the reigns to dodge to the side.

The hapless vampire that had been holding onto the pillar was crushed, and the momentum from the swing and the broken pillar caused Wamuu to drop it. "You almost had me there!," Joseph admitted, "But you're right, I did read about chariot races! In this contest, it's not about who's faster, but who's able to use the tools at their disposal better!" He demonstrated by leaping to Wamuu's chariot with the intent on striking him from there. The rules said the first to get knocked from their chariot lost, but it didn't count if a contestant left their chariot willingly.

Realizing this, Wamuu quickly slipped into the body of one of the horses, its undead nature letting it keep running. Joseph made to smash the horse, but Wamuu reached out a hand to grab his leg and crush it. "Real back and forth, this one," Joseph noted as he slipped out of his boot before Wamuu could crush it and jumped back on his own chariot, turning it around to follow Wamuu. "A good maneuver Jojo," Wamuu said as he emerged from the horse's body, "But there's another reason why I chose this tactic."

Joseph grunted. 'Of course. While he had to hold the reins he couldn't use his Holy Sand Storm. But now he's got both hands free.' Wamuu breathed in deep as he thrust his arms out. "Holy Sand Storm!" The attack launched out, seeming to strike Joseph head on. But, to the amazement of the crowd, Joseph managed to pull away from the attack even as he was being hit by it. "What happened!?," Kars asked in shock, "How did he withstand the Holy Sand Storm!?"

Wamuu cried out in pain as his arms started to tear apart, to the point they looked like they might fall off. He looked at his wrists to see they were tied up in his own reins, which were crackling with Hamon. "You said it yourself Wamuu," Joseph explained, "Those reins are capable of channeling Hamon, yours and mine. When I leapt out of my boot I also took the time to grab the reins with my toes, secretly wrapping them around your wrists. I guessed you might use your new position to perform your special move, so I prepared for it just in case."

Wamuu was stunned. He never expected to be struck by Hamon while he was performing his special attack. 'That settles it... If I win, Jojo lives... He's more than proven himself...' "It looks like this race will continue into the next lap," Kars admitted, "I was expecting a quick victory, but Jojo is more clever and tenacious than I thought." He signaled the vampires near the remains of the pillar, who were forced to set up the next weapon, twin crossbows, by having two vampires stand on each others' shoulders.

"Those crossbows each have two shots!," Kars explained, "There's one big and one small! The ammunition is steel balls measuring five-point-eight centimeters in diameter and weighing five-point-five kilograms! They fire out at such velocity even Wamuu would be killed with a direct headshot!" Wamuu was still reeling in shock, but knew he had to get back in the fight. Quickly he regenerated his arms, he then gouged his eyes out. He then allowed his horn to emerge, letting him sense everything around him.

'Wamuu is a true warrior,' Joseph thought, 'He's begun to realize he needs to take this fight seriously, so he's blinded himself to rely only on his ability to feel the wind. I'll need to do the same if I hope to win this.' Joseph had quite the head-start due to Wamuu's shock, letting him get to the weapon first. "So which one will you take?," one of the vampires asked. "Easy answer!," Joseph called out, "I'll go for the one I can actually load!" He turned to the chariot to grab the smaller crossbow, surprising the vampires.

"I thought for sure he'd try for the bigger one," Kars admitted. "Jojo knows how difficult it is to bend a crossbow normally," Caesar pointed out, "And these are modified to fire steel balls instead of iron bolts. With Wamuu's strength it doesn't matter which one he gets. Jojo knows this, so he went for the smaller one to even the odds." Wamuu was right behind Joseph, grabbing the larger crossbow by instinct as he passed the vampires. Joseph loaded his first shot, then waited for Wamuu to make his move.

Easily loading his crossbow, Wamuu felt out the wind before firing. Seeing the incoming ball, Joseph barely managed to steer away from the shot, though the steel ball still struck the side of his chariot, leaving a deep gash. "That was close," Joseph said, "But it felt more like he was trying to gauge the distance between us." He thought quickly, then raced on ahead as fast the horses could go before causing them to leap through the burner in the center. "He's trying to stay symmetrical to Wamuu," Applejack realized, "He must have realized Wamuu can track him through his breathing, like a radar."

"A clever strategy," Kars admitted, "But ultimately naive. Jojo's as good as telegraphed his position." Wamuu suddenly turned around and aimed the crossbow at the stands, shocking the vampires as he fired. The shot instantly rebounded, nailing Joseph in the stomach and causing him to spit up blood. "A direct hit!," Kars said excitedly, "The rebound didn't as much damage as a head-on shot would have, but it still looks like there was internal damage. Still, it's impressive that Jojo is managing to stay on his chariot."

He then realized something, Joseph was now racing right at Wamuu. "My turn!," he called out, firing off his shot, which crackled with Hamon. Wamuu was able to detect the shot and titled his head to dodge, the shot breaking through the nearby wall and causing debris to shoot out. "That was close," Wamuu noted, "I need to pull away before he can load that second shot." But Wamuu never got the chance, as something ripped through his leg and sent him plummeting to the ground faster than he could recover.

As Joseph pulled up alongside him, he quipped, "You're next line is, 'The second ball... But when did he fire it...?'" "The second ball," Wamuu realized, "But when did he fire it...?" He gasped when he learned he had parroted Joseph. "I had actually loaded both balls in a single shot," Joseph explained, "Coated in oil to allow them to channel Hamon. When I fired them off, I knew you'd be able to sense them and dodge. And since they were so close together you could only perceive them as one. Not that it mattered since you'd be dodging anyway."

"Then the debris from the impact," Wamuu realized, "The second ball was hidden in it, ricocheting from the impact." "An attack you might have been able to avoid if you could still see," Joseph noted. Wamuu nodded. "Then it seems... The loss is mine. I can already feel the cold stones beneath my legs." The crowd of vampires fell silent in shock. With that last attack, Wamuu had fallen from his chariot, meaning Joseph was the winner. Kars closed his eyes. Now it was his turn.

Admittedly this next chapter is meant to be filler with exposition. The chapter it was modeled after was meant to be Wamuu's end, but I have other plans for him here.

As Wamuu was led aside by Joseph, he smashed his hand against a nearby rock, offering the blood to Wamuu. "You'll want to heal your eyes," Joseph explained, "This next fight will need to be seen to be believed." Wamuu nodded and absorbed the dripping blood through his own hand, allowing his eyes to regenerate. "Humans have grown into such powerful warriors in the last two-thousand years," he noted, "The Hamon clan we eradicated prior to our slumber was nothing compared to the warriors of today."

Nearby, the crowd of vampires was stunned. They were the worst scum of society, yet Kars and Wamuu had given them tremendous power. In the eyes of those undead creatures, the Pillar Men seemed as gods. Yet Wamuu was defeated, by what should have been a pathetic human being. Immediately several of them swarmed in anger, intent on killing Joseph in retaliation. Wamuu scoffed, destroying them with his Holy Sand Storm. "Their weakness is their fanaticism," he noted, "In their eyes it is inconceivable that we could lose. They cannot accept the reality you have just demonstrated."

He smiled. "But the three of us... Myself, Esidisi, and Kars... We all know that even our kind can be defeated with enough effort. Even a creature at the top of the food chain is not invincible, especially when their prey has the option to fight back." He looked at the Joestar group. "I had sworn loyalty to Kars from the moment I was fully grown. However, it's clear that any additional fighting on my part would result in my death. And... I find myself curious as to how much more this world has changed. Therefore, I shall remain neutral until the conflict is resolved."

More of the vampires were grumbling now, this time silently berating Wamuu for showing off too much instead of simply finishing the fight. Kars sighed in frustration. "Well... We only needed them for intimidation. They have served their purpose." He unleashed his Bright Saber and moved through the horde of vampires, consuming them, much to their shock and dismay. "So you only needed those vampires for sustenance," Caesar realized. "They came from the absolute worst of society," Kars said, "I doubt even you would mourn their passing."

"He's not wrong," Applejack noted. Kars closed his eyes. "Wamuu... Your greatest strength, and greatest weakness, has always been that warrior spirit. I recall a time prior to our slumber, when you refuses to kill a small child even though I insisted he could grow into a powerful Hamon user capable of defeating us." He breathed out. "If you intend to stay out of the fight, I shall accept that. Therefore, it falls to me to complete our intended goal." He removed his cloak, letting his hair run wild as his Bright Saber flashed.

Back in Saint-Moritz, Stroheim's repairs were fully completed. Nearby, Speedwagon oversaw the last of the adjustments to Stroheim's cybernetics. Also there was Zeppeli, Jonathan, Twilight, and Smokey. "Unreal," Smokey muttered, having been told all about what was going on, "I knew Jojo was a badass, but to think all that's been happening." "Believe it," Stroheim noted, "From what I've been told, Jojo has improved by leaps and bounds since we first met in Mexico."

"Major," Mark said as he came in, "Donovan's just returned with his report. The entire mansion has been cleared out. Earlier surveillance shows the two Pillar Men leaving during sundown, accompanied by Lisa Lisa and Messina, as well as a hundred vampires, all heading for Piz Bernina." "The only landmark in that region is the Skeleton Heel Stone," Twilight noted. "I think we can guess what happened from there," Zeppeli said, "Perhaps we should head there ourselves. Before the worst can come to pass."

"We can't head out immediately," Stroheim noted, "The report spoke of a hundred vampires. Even with three additional Hamon masters that only improves the odds marginally. If we take a few minutes longer my men can be outfitted with special ultraviolet lights. The current output will only be irritating to Kars and Wamuu, but should devastate their vampiric minions."

"We do have Dire well-informed of the situation," Twilight noted, "He and his most well-trained acolytes are ready at a moment's notice." "By the way," Jonathan said, "I noticed that Lisa Lisa's photo of me and Erina went missing. Does anyone know what happened to it?" Smokey looked confused. "Lisa Lisa has a photo of you and your wife? Why would she have that?" "Why wouldn't she?," Jonathan replied, "She is my daughter-in-law after all."

Smokey looked surprised. "Wait... Then that would make her Jojo's mother! The one who disappeared after her husband died!" "And by now Joseph is likely well aware," Speedwagon admitted, "After all, he was here not a few hours ago with Caesar and Applejack, looking through Lisa Lisa's room." "Major Stroheim," one of the soldiers said, "We have confirmed that the Red Stone of Aja has been taken." "That must be what Jojo and his friends were doing here," Stroheim realized, "Kars must have somehow coerced them into bringing him the stone, likely as part of some deal."

"If Kars gets his hands on the stone it could create a danger to the world Dio could never hope to match," Zeppeli noted, "But if he had the stone already I'm sure we'd know of it, meaning he wasn't forcing Jojo and the others to give him the stone unconditionally." Twilight's eyes widened. "Jojo's promised fight with Wamuu! Lisa Lisa must have used that as leverage to buy time and keep the stone out of Kars' hands for as long as possible!" "Then we can assume all five of them are still alive," Stroheim noted, "Or were at least an hour ago."

"How long will it take for your men to get appropriately equipped?," Speedwagon asked. "Not more than five minutes max," Stroheim replied, "And then another fifteen to travel by car from here to Piz Bernina, not accounting for all vehicle checks and the largely off-road route we'll need to take. We'll likely arrive in just under half an hour from now." "More than enough time for Joseph to defeat Wamuu," Jonathan noted, "But that still leaves Kars to deal with. Let's not waste any time."

The remaining vampires noted the fact that Kars had removed his cloak. "He's taken a battle stance," one said, "But he shouldn't have to fight alone. Come on lads! Forget the rules! Let's take out these humans that dared humiliate Master Wamuu and grab the stone for Master Kars!" They immediately rushed at the Joestar group. Messina scoffed. "Only a dozen remain. These numbers are far more serviceable." The group readied themselves as the vampires approached, then struck. "Snake Muffler!" "Hamon Lariat!" "Clacker Volley!" "Bubble Cutter!" "To The Core!"

Kars looked on in mild amusement as all but one of his remaining horde was decimated. Lisa Lisa's muffler tore one to pieces. Messina smashed through the upper bodies of a couple using a lariat wrestling move. Joseph's clackers took care of a few more, while Caesar's bubbles sliced through another. Applejack punched one in the face so hard his head burst open like a rotten melon. The last one standing shivered in fear at the onslaught, then got a surprise when Kars' saber went through his chest. "Your behavior is appalling," he said with a sigh, "There's a word for your actions that humans like to use... Moronic. What if your attack caused them to destroy the stone in retaliation?"

He finished the job of killing the last vampire. "I apologize for their uncouth attitude. No matter what discipline we put them through, this always seems to happen. As much as the vampiric process transforms a human's body, it also seems to devolve their brain." "Might have something to do with the fact that the mask you use to create them skewers their gray matter," Joseph noted. Kars smirked. "A fair assessment. Now then, Lisa Lisa I believe your name was. Our fight shall take place at the nearby ruins."

"Are you really sure you want to go through with this, coach?," Joseph asked as they approached, "Even Wamuu admitted anyone of us might be able to beat Kars, so it doesn't have to be you." Lisa Lisa smiled. "You sound like a grown man trying to protect his elderly mother." "Well you are fifty," Joseph pointed out. Applejack chuckled. "Which makes things double awkward that he was peeping on his elderly mother, who has the body of a model, while she was bathing." "Applejack!," Joseph called out indignantly.

"You did what now?," Caesar asked, his eye twitching. "Okay, in my defense, Caesar," Joseph said, "At the time I was neither aware of Lisa Lisa's real age, nor that fact she was my mother. And yes, Applejack, it did get awkward for me when I realized it after the fact." "That reminds me," Applejack said, "Messina, did you know about all this?" "Lisa Lisa kept her old life a secret," Messina replied, "None of us who lived on the island were aware of who she once was, only who she had become. So this is the first time I'm hearing this. I had an inkling to Lisa Lisa's real age, but I had no idea she had even been married, let alone had any children."

"As soothing as I find human gossip," Kars said from above them, "I'm eager to get our match started." "I didn't know you liked listening to gossip," Joseph noted. "To me, it's like listening to crickets chirping," Kars explained, "The only difference is I can understand human speech, so I get many wonderful stories to listen to." "Listen Jojo," Lisa Lisa said, "I'm not the sort of woman who would hide behind her son who's not even in his twenties yet." She grinned as she leapt up to where Kars was waiting.

On the scaffolding around them, she saw a variety of weapons. "I'm sure Wamuu would berate me if I didn't offer you a choice of weapons to match my Bright Saber," Kars explained, "Personally I think it would tarnish Esidisi's memory if I didn't give you every chance you'd need to win." "I'll be fine with just my scarf," Lisa Lisa assured him. "Very well," Kars agreed, "Then let our contest begin." He waved his arms around in such a way that it seemed to create multiple after-images. It was difficult to tell if it was his speed or his manipulation of light let caused the effect.

In a flash, he leapt into the sky and seemed to disappear. 'I can still feel his presence,' Lisa Lisa noted, 'Yet I can feel no aggression from him... It feels like he's about to attack from all sides.' She turned her head as Kars slipped out of a crack in one of the pillars. "Whoa nelly!," Applejack called out, "He did the same trick Santana did back in the compound in Mexico!" "OH MY GOD!," Joseph called out. Kars moved to strike at Lisa Lisa. "Bright Saber!" Lisa Lisa simply jumped out of the way, tying her scarf around Kars' arm. "Snake Muffler!"

The scarf hardened instantly, allowing Lisa Lisa to stand upside down. "That scarf was made from the Satiporoja Beetle," Messina explained. "Yeah, I saw Straizo use a similar scarf," Joseph noted, "That material can transfer one hundred percent Hamon energy. She used it not only as a weapon, but radar as well." The scarf seemed to rip through Kars, but to Lisa Lisa's surprised, a second Kars appeared behind her and stabbed her through the shoulder.

"What the hell Kars!?," Wamuu called out, "Did you really sully this fight by using a body double from one of our vampires!?" "I apologize if I've offended you," Kars replied, "But as I've stated all along, my only goal was to get the stone." He struck Lisa Lisa to the ground and grabbed the stone. He then snapped his fingers, causing hundreds more vampires to emerge from within the ruins. "Damn...," Joseph said, "I'm still worn out from my fight with Wamuu."

"Then let us fight," Caesar said, "We're still strong." They then got a surprise when Wamuu joined them. "Hold on," Applejack said, "I thought you were gonna stay neutral." "In all the years I've served Kars, I've never known him to go against his word," Wamuu explained, "But because of this act of treachery, I can no longer see him as my master." Just as the vampires started to hesitate with Wamuu's defection, several of them got blasted with UV lights, causing the group to whirl around to their source.

Stroheim was standing there, fully repaired, with an army of Nazi's toting large UV lights. "Jojo!," Smokey called out, standing near Speedwagon, "We brought help!" An entire force of Speedwagon Foundation troopers, armed with similar UV equipment, was with them. Also there was Jonathan, Zeppeli, Dire, and Twilight, along with an entire force of Hamon warriors. In spite of the overwhelming force, Kars found himself smiling. 'It pains me that my actions caused me to lose Wamuu's loyalty, but I've come too far to let my experiment go to waste. As for these humans... The fact that Hamon has spread father than the original clan is impressive enough, but to develop and weaponize artificial sunlight? Truly inspiring.'

He then realized something. "Hold on... Where did Jojo go?" "Hey Kars...," came Joseph's voice from behind him. Kars smirked as he turned to see Joseph nearby. "I owe you some serious pain for what you did to my mother," Joseph said angrily, "It's one thing to simply injure her during a fight, but that betrayal crossed the line." Kars shrugged. "My goal is the only thing that matters. How I move the pieces on a chessboard determines how little risk I take. For example..."

He picked up Lisa Lisa by her legs and stabbed through them with his saber, proceeding to tie a rope through them. He smirked as he tossed Lisa Lisa off the banister, forcing Joseph to grab her to stop her from hitting the bottom. "And there you have it," Kars said, "Now I've set things up to finish you off while your friends are distracted." Joseph smirked. "Not all my friends. Did you really think I'd be so stupid as to come up here alone, when I have so many options to bring as backup?" Kars was confused, until he found himself flying away from the ruins while sharp pain ran through his head. He managed to look and spot Applejack, who had been waiting for the right moment to strike.

APPLEJACK ASSIST MATTERFRACKER! If you don't know what that's supposed to mean, you are clearly too young to be reading this fic. But don't think this story is gonna go off the rails just like that. Kars has learned from Jojo it seems, and we have still story to go.

Kars grunted as Applejack's attack sent him right into the sharp crystals below. 'Blast that Jojo, he picked the perfect partner to bring against me. Given how easily Applejack destroyed Santana, I'd estimate her full strength to be enough to send one of my kind sailing across half a football field. Down here among my army the human forces are in a prime position to attack. Luckily I was able to keep hold of the Red Stone of Aja when I was sent flying. All I need now is to find the stone mask I had prepared for this experiment.'

"Kars is down," Stroheim noted, "But there are so many vampires between us and him that we may not get to him before he can escape with the stone." "Yes, but it looks like Jojo managed to get Master Lisa Lisa to safety," Messina said, "Thank goodness." "It's hard to believe she's Joseph's mother," Smokey admitted, "I mean... She looks so young. Is Hamon really so effective at slowing down aging?" "Indeed," Speedwagon replied, "Zeppeli is several decades older than Jonathan, yet when we first met him they looked to be the same age. But as I was told back then, not everyone can truly learn to harness it."

"It's funny," Twilight said, "When Lisa Lisa, I mean Elizabeth, had to go into hiding we considered telling Jojo that she died of illness. But Jonathan's too honest. He couldn't bring himself to lie and simply told Joseph everything." "I got bits of that story," Smokey noted, "But I never truly heard the whole thing." Speedwagon smiled. "Tell me, Smokey, why did you choose to come out here?" "I wanted to help," Smokey admitted, "Joseph helped a simple thief off the streets like me, so I want to pay back the favor however I can."

"You remind me of myself fifty years ago," Speedwagon admitted, "Back when I was just a simple street thug accosting rich folk on Ogre Street. If you really want to know the story, I'll explain. Fifty years ago, Jonathan, Twilight, Zeppeli, and myself set out to defeat Dio and destroy the stone mask that made him a monster. In the end we succeeded, but not as completely as we thought. Yes the stone mask was destroyed and Dio was rendered helpless. But he somehow managed to survive, if barely. Though we wouldn't learn of this until eighteen years ago."

He sighed. "During our twin honeymoon, we stumbled upon Elizabeth's parents, who had been killed by an unknown vampire. Straizo destroyed their undead forms and chose to take in the baby Elizabeth. Since Jonathan still needed to complete his training, Elizabeth had some contact with Jonathan's son, George Joestar II. They would continue to see each other afterward, eventually fell in love, and married. During the Great War, Britain's air force developed quickly, and George enlisted in the RAF. He turned out to be one hell of a pilot, downing plenty of enemy fighters."

He shook his head. "Little did we realize, Dio still had forces at his disposal. While we annihilated all his zombies at Windknights Lot, he had sent others elsewhere to prepare for future conquests. One of them was sequestered in the RAF, and was a very crafty and cunning undead. He carefully disposed of the corpses he made by consuming them as thoroughly as a hyena would consume a gazelle. We later learned he was scouting soldiers to make a replacement body for Dio. But far too late to prevent the tragedy to come."

"What happened?," Smokey asked. "George began to grow suspicious of the major," Speedwagon explained, "He noticed the man always sat in a wheelchair under the pretext of having been injured during the war, even though his service record didn't support this. And there was the fact that he never showed himself during the day. Unfortunately George didn't have the Hamon potential of his father, which ended badly for him when the major caught him snooping around. George was about to contact us about his findings, but when we found him again, only his head remained."

Smokey saw Jonathan's fist clenched. Clearly the death of his son hit him hard. "We later traced the major's movements," Speedwagon continued, "And found that he made contact with Enya Geil, another Stand user aligned with Dio. That's when we put two and two together. Officially George Joestar II died during a night flight, but we knew the truth. When Elizabeth learned the identity of her husband's killer, she confronted him and slew him with her Hamon. However, her actions were spotted by another officer. The army didn't know about zombies or Hamon, so Elizabeth's actions were misunderstood. We've been trying clear her name of her treason charge ever since."

"The sun is going to rise soon," Wamuu noted, "I'll be able to protect myself for about an hour using my whirlwind barrier, but I must use that time to seek shelter." "You've done plenty for us already, Wamuu," Jonathan said, "Thank you." Wamuu nodded. "Mister Joestar, your grandson is a shining example of your bloodline. I've fought against many Hamon users before, but he is truly on a level beyond any I have faced. Hopefully he will be able to live a comfortable life when this is over, but I pray he never loses that warrior spirit."

Just then, a blast of light came from the crystal field as one of the UV weapons swept over it. "That light!," Speedwagon realized, "That could only be coming from a stone mask!" "I didn't realize Kars had one so close at hand," Wamuu noted, "He's combined it with the Red Stone of Aja to ascend into his ultimate form. I hope your technology is powerful, Mister Speedwagon, because if Kars was right about his theory, then no living being will stand a chance against him now." Kars could heard growling as the mask took hold of him.

'At last!,' he thought, 'At long last! I can feel it! The power I've sought for the last ten-thousand years! All the slaughter! All the humiliation! All the loss! Finally it's all been worth it! With this ascension, I can stand atop the pinnacle of evolution! The sun, the sky, the earth, the sea! It all belongs to Kars now!' As the stone mask crumbled away from his face, Kars opened his eyes, ready to at least see the sun and destroy all who opposed him.

We're reaching the climax now. Kars is ready to finish what he started. Hope you guys are enjoying.

"I didn't realize he had the Red Stone of Aja and the stone mask," Stroheim said, "But it didn't seem to do anything. He still appears as before." "Looks can be deceiving," Speedwagon said, "Dio took a while to realize his powers when he tried on the mask, during which time he was fired upon. We thought he was dead for several minutes before he unveiled his powers." Kars looked over to a nearby squirrel, then lifted up his hand. Before everyone's eyes, the hand transformed into an identical squirrel, which nuzzled his cheek before heading over to the first.

"Am I dreaming?," Twilight asked, "That's a power I've never seen before." "It's the basis for Kars' theory of becoming the ultimate life form," Wamuu explained, "The ability to change into or take on properties of any living creature that has ever existed. It seems his theory has just been proven true. But if that squirrel was made from Kars' cells, then that means..." Sure enough, the squirrel that had once been Kars' hand tore into the other squirrel, before spotting Stroheim and leaping at him, smashing through his metal torso.

It then flew right through before tearing through the flesh of the soldier behind him like a hot knife through butter. "That terrible feeding ability," Stroheim said in horror, "If I was still fully human I would be dead right now." The squirrel returned to its place on Kars' hand before changing into first a flower, then a butterfly. "The sun's rising," Wamuu said, "I need to get to shelter. But Stroheim, I suggest you have your men evacuate. If Kars was correct in his research, then he now has the power to exist at all hours of the day." He activated his whirlwind barrier and hurried off to the depths of the ruins.

Unfortunately for the group, when the sun hit Kars, it didn't affect him at all. "Ah... The sun. How long I have waited. I once asked Wamuu what the day looked like when he learned of his method to protect himself from the sun's light. But to see it firsthand... That is truly spectacular." "We're finished," Smokey said, "If not even the sun can kill him, we don't have a chance." "No," Joseph said, "There is one last plan we have." "You thinking of trying that again?," Applejack asked. "It's a little ridiculous," Caesar admitted, "But at this point it's our only chance."

"Wait," Stroheim said, "You're saying you know a way to win? What is it? Whatever you have in mind, I'll follow!" Joseph handed Lisa Lisa over to Speedwagon. "Make sure to get everyone out of here." Speedwagon nodded. "Hey, Jojo," Smokey said, "You're not thinking of doing what I think you are, are you?" "It's really our only chance," Joseph said. Applejack and Caesar nodded. Spotting the stone where it had dropped, Joseph saw his target. "Get ready, Stroheim," he said, "We need to go full speed for this." Stroheim nodded. Joseph, Caesar, and Applejack took a quick glance at each other, then nodded. "Run away!"

Stroheim was flabbergasted at their plan, while Smokey called out, "Ah man! I knew it!" Joseph grabbed the Red Stone of Aja as they ran by it. Kars spotted this. 'I can't let them keep the stone. It may be their only way to destroy me.' He growled before sprouting wings from his arms to take to the sky. "You can't escape, Jojo! I will kill you once and for all!" "Great, now he has wings," Joseph said, "What we saw earlier was little more than a demonstration of his abilities. Looks like Wamuu wasn't exaggerating."

"At this rate we may be out of weaknesses to exploit," Applejack realized, "If the sun can't kill him Hamon is useless, and he may even be able to survive against my Stand." "We still have a few tricks up our sleeves to try," Caesar noted, "Let's not give up hope just yet. Jojo, where are we headed?" "Right there," Joseph said, pointing out a large airplane that Stroheim and his men had arrived in with the Speedwagon Foundation and the Hamon school. The three of them got on and started the plane up. "You know how to fly this thing?," Applejack asked. "I've had some practice," Joseph said, "Enough to not crash unless an outside factor forces the issue."

The plane took off and headed right for Kars. "Let's see if technology can give us an advantage!," Joseph said with a grin, firing the airplane machine guns. Kars grinned. 'That might be able to tear through my normal flesh even now, but as the ultimate life form I have plenty of options to defend myself.' He hardened several of his feathers to act like the shell of an armadillo, allowing him to block the bullets. He then grunted as he threw the feathers right into the plane.

He then found himself having to move as the plane kept flying past him, his feathers having only broken the windows of the cockpit. "So he seeks to use technology where biology fails," he noted, "I'm game. Once I get rid of him, I'll be free to shape this world to my whims." Inside the plane, Joseph checked the gauges. "We're holding steady at two-hundred and forty kilometers an hour. Even an ultimate being needs to rest his muscles every now and again."

"The plane only has enough fuel for two hours though," Caesar noted, "And he has the benefit of being able to thrive in any environment thanks to having the properties of all living beings." "Not every environment," Applejack realized, "There's no creature yet that's adapted to the inside of a volcano." Joseph nodded. "Then that's our best chance. Luckily there's a volcano well within flying distance, the Vulcano Island." He chuckled. "You know, I should probably say this, but men in my family don't tend to have long lives. Granddad managed to escape that curse, but my father and great-grandfather weren't so lucky. That said, it's never killed us quickly enough that we didn't have time to make the next generation, so I'm remaining cautiously optimistic about our chances."

"Uh, Jojo," Applejack said, "That's nice exposition, but those feathers from earlier just turned into piranhas." She quickly projected her Stand to knock the piranhas away from the parachutes, though some of them wound up biting into the three friends. "What next?," Joseph asked. He soon regretted his question, as octopus tentacles suddenly sprouted from the engine that Applejack had knocked one of the piranhas into. Naturally it had come from said piranha. Kars grinned as he saw three parachutes eject from the plane.

"Those parachutes may as well be a spider's web," he said with a chuckle, "Now, which one has Jojo?" He spotted Caesar and Applejack attached to two of the parachutes, and realized the third had to be Joseph. He grinned as he flew towards it, so fast the wind prevented him from hearing Caesar mutter, "I can't believe he fell for it." Kars got a surprise when it turned out it was only a dummy attached to the parachute. "Wait... Then where's...?" He turned around when he realized the plane was being crash-landed on top of him, Joseph still in the cockpit. "Let's see you survive this one, Kars!" Kars screamed as the plane rammed into him, crashing into the magma of the volcanic island.

Like it's that easy... Stay tuned for the next chapter.

Ever since the first signs of life appeared on Earth, they have started to evolve and adapt to a variety of environments. Some can withstand the extreme depths of the sea, some are at home soaring through the sky. They've conquered the densest of jungles and the widest of savannas. Even extreme temperature regions, such as the hottest desert or the frigid antarctic, eventually proved no match for the power of evolution. But to this day, there is one type of environment that has never been adapted to by any living being. The boiling magma of an active volcano.

Acting as conduits for the immense energy that exists within the core of the planet, volcanoes are powerful natural phenomenon capable of wiping out entire civilizations when they erupt. Before that power, even the strongest of living things is as a mere insect. Even humans, whose advancements in technology allowed for further evolution, have never been able to conquer this most powerful of forces, which rivals even the energy of the atomic bomb.

It was with this in mind that Joseph planned to ram Kars right into the very island that gave the volcano its name, Vulcano Island. One of only four active volcanoes in Italy found above sea level, the island was named for Vulcan, the Roman god of the forge, largely because it was thought in myth to house his private workshop. Since it was the closest volcano to Piz Bernina, Joseph chose it when he came up with his plan to finally end Kars once and for all.

However, Kars was not about to give up just yet. He immediately grabbed the iron plates of the plane and started to tear through them. "Don't underestimate my new power, Jojo!," he called out, "Even now I can still move out of the way of this suicide attack!" "Suicide?," Joseph asked, "I'm not sure what you thought my plan was, but killing myself was never part of it." Kars realized what Joseph meant when a metal hand suddenly grabbed him by the back of his neck.

To his shock, Stroheim popped out of a nearby landing float. "I froze my ass off waiting for this chance," he noted, "Luckily I anticipated what Jojo's intentions were. Jojo, get ready to jump!" "I hope you're as durable as I think you are!," Joseph said, leaping out of the plane and into Stroheim's arms. Stroheim then landed feet first on the island, though the impact caused them to tear apart it created enough of a buffer that he and Joseph landed without fatal injury.

Caesar and Applejack soon joined them. "That was too close," Caesar said, "For a moment I thought you'd wind up crashing right into the lava." "Even better," Joseph said, "It looks like Stroheim's arm is keeping Kars busy long enough that he will be crashing." Kars screaming in frustration as the plane slammed right into the middle of volcano, the impact creating a small eruption on the surface. Already the intense heat was starting to boil Kars alive.

"Have to grow a shell!," he said, "Like a seashell!" He began trying to grow a crab shell to protect him, but that only served to boil him further. "Give it up Kars!," Joseph called out, "That lava has a temperature of a thousand degrees! It doesn't matter what animal you turn into, they'll all burn one way or another! It's over!" They watched as Kars disappeared into the lava, screaming all the way. "We got him!," Stroheim said, "In the end, not even an ultimate life form could stand up to the deadliest force of nature known!"

Just then, the ground started to rumble. "Looks like that smaller eruption was just the beginning," Caesar said, "We'll have to finish our celebration once we get to safety." Just then, a large fissure seemed to track Joseph, and in the next instant he found his left arm cleanly sliced off from the elbow down. "What the hell...?" From the fissure, a rocky arm burst out, wielding the familiar form of Kars' Bright Saber. To the group's horror, Kars emerged from the ground, still alive and instantly healed. "Impossible!," Stroheim called out, "How did you managed to survive the magma!?"

Kars smirked. "I'll admit, you almost had me there. No matter what creature I thought of, they all seemed useless. I was nearly finished. But then I had a brainstorm. I immediately finished growing the crab shell I was working on, then let it melt and grew another shield over it. For this one I took a page from Caesar's book, and created bubbles from the crab form to shield myself. This resulted in a pocket of cool air between the lava and my body, protecting me. It would only last a few minutes, yes, but that's all the time I would need to escape from the fiery death trap you placed me in."

He laughed at the horrified faces of the heroes. "How long I have waited to see those stares. Earth created life, but now, against all odds, I have eventually found a way to defeat the Earth itself!" Stroheim was truly sweating now. 'At this rate there's nothing left... The lava was our last hope... Kars has practically become a god! And we have nothing to defeat a god! Our only choice is to surrender at this point...' It was truly looking like the end for the group as Kars began to approach Jojo.

Meanwhile, Wamuu had found himself a deep cavern near the ruins of Piz Bernina to wait out the day. "I wonder how Jojo and the others are faring. Kars was sure that with enough adaptation, he could conquer all environments on Earth. I suppose I'll know the truth before too long." He then spotted something on the cave that looked familiar. "This is... These writing are from our kind. But they looked so new, yet Kars and Esidisi were supposed to have eradicated the rest of our race save for me and Santana. Could more of us have escaped his notice, like with the Hamon clan? If so, I must find a way to contact them..."

The final battle ends next chapter. You don't wanna miss it.

Evolution is determined by mutation. Those mutations can be taken anywhere, creating a variety of life. This has been the case ever since the first single-celled organisms started merging with each other instead of simply dividing. After the event that wiped out the dinosaurs, mammals began to take over as the dominant species. Eventually these primitive mammals evolved into two sentient races. One, of course, was humans, but the other was a race not given a true name.

Unlike humans, this race could only live during the night, so they built their cities underground. As a trade-off, they could live for many centuries by draining energy from various types of plants and animals. Primitive human tribes feared and revered them as gods and demons. Because of their longer lifespan, this race had little need to reproduce, so children were rare. As a result of this low birthrate, they lived in peace with each other, without conflict or wars.

That all changed when a genius was born amongst their people. This man's name was Kars. Kars wanted more power than his race already had, and through his studies discovered the hidden potential locked within the brain. He believed that if it could be unleashed, his people would truly dominate the world. To this end, he created the stone mask, which could unlock that potential. However, any creature that was enhanced by the mask would need more energy to live, which would result in them consuming more creatures. Knowing this, the rest of Kars' race moved to execute him and stop his plans to prevent the world from suffering genocide of countless species.

Kars was outraged. In his mind, he was doing his people a favor by working to allow them the chance to live in the sun, dominate all of creation, and reject all fear. But his people had no need of those things. And so Kars was forced to slaughter his race just to survive. Out of his entire race, there were only three other survivors. His best friend, Esidisi, and two final children, Wamuu and Santana. However, Wamuu would later discover that the continent he had grown up on was not the only place his people lived, meaning there might be more of their kind. But right now, a more pressing matter was at hand.

After ten-thousand years, Kars had succeeded in completing his objective. With the Red Stone of Aja combined with the stone mask, he was able to achieve an ultimate state of being. And he had just proven that not even magma, the most lethal force on the planet, was unable to kill him. Joseph clutched his severed arm, glaring at Kars. With a great war cry, Joseph sprang to action and leapt at him. "Hamon Overdrive!" Kars smirked as he grabbed Joseph's leg.

"Let me try it now," he said, "Hamon Overdrive!" To Joseph's shock, Kars glowed and crackled with Hamon energy, transferred to Joseph's leg. Dropping to the ground, Joseph gasped as he saw his leg blister and being to melt. "Kars can use Hamon now!?," Caesar called out in shock. "The power of the sun is mine to command!," Kars declared, "So now the power of Hamon is as well!" Joseph struggled to breath. 'Damn... Looks like that's it. If he can even use Hamon, then Caesar stands no chance. Stroheim's in shambles, and even Applejack can do little more than retreat...'

"It seems you understand your situation," Kars said, standing over Joseph, "Then allow me to finish you in a manner most appropriate." He breathed the same as a Hamon user and channeled that energy to kill Joseph once and for all. However, that's when a miracle happened. The Red Stone of Aja, the very stone that Kars needed to complete his ascension, and was even now still in Joseph's possession, worked against Kars now. Joseph held the stone in his hand, and moved it in front of Kars' Hamon. The result was that the stone redirected the Hamon away from Joseph and into the volcano.

Kars gasped in shock. "The Red Stone! But when did he grab it!?" "That's right!," Caesar realized, "Joseph grabbed the stone while we were running for the plane! Lisa Lisa said the stone was needed to defeat Kars! It must have redirected the Hamon like it would the rays of the sun!" Joseph couldn't help but chuckle. "Looks like we still have a hand to play after all..." Just then, another rumbling came up from below them. "Uh oh," Applejack said, "I think this time it's for real!"

Sure enough, a massive eruption occurred, sending a chunk of rock with Joseph and Kars on it sailing into the sky. "The Hamon energy redirected into the volcano!," Stroheim realized, "It must have triggered the magma chamber, causing the volcano to pop open like a shaken soda bottle!" "Reminds me of when I first met Jojo!," Applejack noted, "Only taken up to eleven!" Up in the air, Kars looked worried for the first time since his ascension. "This speed and power. At this rate it'll toss this rock right into the upper levels of the atmosphere."

He smirked. "But I still haven't lost. I can still fly away." He grew a set of wings and made to take off, but got cut off when Joseph's severed arm grabbed him by the throat. "Surprised Kars!?," Joseph said tauntingly, "It wasn't just us launched by the eruption! My arm was also propelled at you by the same speed and power! Your next line is, 'You planned this too, Jojo!?'" Kars looked at him ready to remark, but his lapse in concentration caused by the severed arm finally sealed his fate.

White-hot fragments from the volcano that he could have otherwise dodged slammed into his body, launching him even father and faster. "You planned this too, Jojo!?," Kars demanded, not caring that he was parroting Joseph's prediction. "You bet I did!," Joseph said with a smirk, "I planned this whole thing from the very start, and it all went down like clockwork!" He chuckled as he saw Kars get blasted further and further away, screaming in anger all the while. 'I actually just got lucky, but if Kars thinks I outsmarted him it'll drive him nuts.'

"I don't believe it!," Stroheim said, "The eruption is launching Kars past the atmosphere! In the 1860s, Jules Verne wrote his famous novel detailing how man could travel to the moon, including the exact velocity needed to escape the atmosphere! And now the volcano is providing all the power needed to send Kars into space!" "Then it's over!," Applejack said excitedly, "Not even Kars could possible survive out there in the vacuum of space!" Caesar looked up. "But... What about Jojo...?"

The finale next chapter. But I'm sure you know what happened to Joseph by now.

Kars struggled as he was thrown out of the atmosphere and into space. 'No!,' he thought, 'I won't let it end this way! I am still the perfect being! I can survive out here, if only long enough to return to Earth!' He immediately sprouted air jets from his body in an effort to change his trajectory, but this only served to make things worse as it provided more holes for the frigid environment to enter him. With no chance to return, Kars kept shifting through adaptations until he finally got caught halfway between organic and mineral, frozen forever as he drifted through space, unable to die even though he wanted to. Eventually, his conscious thought ceased, leaving his immortal body an empty shell, drifting through the vacuum.

"You have no idea how worried we were, Jojo," Caesar said as he looked at the hero of the hour. Joseph was laid up in bed at a Venice hospital with several bandages all over his body. "I was fortunate," Joseph admitted, "Thanks to the Red Stone of Aja, I was able to project a Hamon shield strong enough to protect me from the re-entry, bolstered by the rock I was on. I didn't hurt that I also landed in the ocean." He held up the stone in his remaining hand. "Looks like Mom was right about this. Though I still think it might have been easier if we had destroyed it and then hunted Kars down. Still, this is an even sweeter victory. Kars got what he wanted, but by now I get the feeling he's regretting it."

"Come now, Jojo," Suzi Q said, "You need to keep your strength up." She offered him a cherry, but teased him a little with it before he was able to grab it from her. Applejack and Caesar laughed at their antics. "Most of my injuries will heal within a few days thanks to my Hamon breathing," Joseph noted, "So all that's left to do is wait for the prosthetic arm Stroheim offered me as thanks for stopping Kars. Speaking of which, whatever happened to Wamuu?" "He said he found evidence that other tribes of his people may still exist in Europe," Applejack explained, "He wants to try and reconnect with them."

"His only experience with his people has been Kars and Esidisi," Caesar noted, "It'll do him some good to get to know the more peaceful side of his species." "By the way," Suzi Q said, "I couldn't help but notice you two are sporting rings now." Applejack blushed as she showed off the wedding ring Caesar gave her. "Yeah, we were so excited to have survived after the horror Kars put us through we chose to marry right away. I've already told my family about it, and they said they couldn't be happier."

"You know Suzi Q," Joseph said, "Since we seem to play off each other so easily, we should consider getting married as well." Suzi Q became excited. "Really? Oh Jojo, nothing would make me happier! Though that'll have to wait until you've recovered enough to get out of bed." "I still can't believe that crazy series of coincidences that let us finally beat Kars," Applejack said, "It's like Mother Earth didn't appreciate Kars breaking the rules of her natural order and wanted him gone." Joseph snickered. "Want to know something funny? As Kars was being launched into space, I bragged that I had planned the whole thing. It was a lie of course, but his scream of anger at thinking I outsmarted him was so satisfying." That got the group laughing out loud. It was a laughter of relief at having survived a foe more powerful than any encountered throughout history.

A little over two weeks later, Joseph and his friends returned to New York, expecting to meet with the rest of their circle. Stroheim, Mark, and Donovan couldn't join them because of the war effort, but perhaps that was for the best. Joseph was a little confused that no one was waiting at the airport, but got word that the group was having a funeral. "I wonder who died recently," Joseph said, "I hope it's no one we know." Caesar and Applejack looked at each other and grinned, while Suzi Q seemed oblivious.

When they got to the cemetery, they saw the group. Joseph gave his two friends and new wife a signal to be quiet, then snuck up on Erina and placed his hands over her eyes. "Guess who?" Erina seemed to be in greater surprise than Joseph expected. Smokey also looked over, hardly believing the voice he was hearing. "Hey guys," Joseph said, "I finally got back to New York. I was curious why no one was waiting for me, so I made some inquires. Imagine my surprise when I heard you were all attending a funeral."

He looked at the group and smiled. "Lisa Lisa, I see you've healed up nicely. And Messina's here as well. I managed to finish healing myself. Though I did need a new arm, but luckily Stroheim was accommodating. I was hoping he could jazz it up with a few gadgets, but now that we're on the brink of war with Germany I guess that's right out." He got confused at the surprised looks his friends and family were given him. Just then, several workers accosted him. "Hey there! This is a funeral, have some respect!"

Joseph argued with them before knocking them aside. "Jeez, can't a guy get in touch with his family and friends!?" "Jojo!," the group said as one. "You're telling me Jojo's alive!?," Smokey asked in shock. Joseph looked confused. "Well, yeah of course I am. And why are you all looking at me like you've seen a ghost?" He then noticed the headstone and freaked out when he saw his own name on it. "What in the hell!? Why is my name on a tombstone when I'm still alive!?"

The group then heard the raucous laughter of Caesar and Applejack from nearby. "We didn't have the heart to tell you," Caesar explained, "But prior to getting the order for your new arm, Stroheim sent a report to the Speedwagon Foundation that you had died after defeating Kars." Joseph's jaw dropped. "And he didn't bother to correct that report afterward!?" "Come now, Jojo," Suzi Q said as she approached, her more sultry appearance shocking the group as they didn't immediately recognize her, "You'll catch a cold standing out in the rain."

She offered Joseph an umbrella, her wedding ring visible. Messina realized what was going on. "Hey, that woman is Suzi Q! And that ring!" Joseph looked surprised again. "So you don't even know that we got married!?" "You got married!?," the group replied in shock. "And they aren't the only ones," Applejack pointed out, revealing her own wedding band. Suzi Q blushed. "It's just crazy. I've become Missus Joseph Joestar. Just the thought of it..." She sighed dreamily.

"Hold on Suzi Q," Joseph said, "There's still something I'm confused about. I can excuse Stroheim not informing the Speedwagon Foundation of my survival due to being busy with his military duties. But I thought I asked you to send a telegram to them letting them know we'd be coming and what happened to me." He quickly went through how he managed to survive, surprising the group. Then he got angry when he realized what must have happened. "You never sent the telegram, did you!?"

Suzi Q thought for a moment. "Uh... I don't really know." "To me that sounds like 'no'!," Joseph growled. Suzi Q chuckled, as Joseph moved his fingers in a way that made a distinct mechanical sound. "Now now," Suzi Q said nervously, "Let's not get all clicky fingers..." She then started running in the opposite direction, calling out, "I never sent it! I'm sorry Jojo!" "Ah, Suzi Q!," Joseph called out in frustration, "You had one job, woman! One job!" "Y'know," Applejack said, "We probably could have sent that telegram ourselves." "Maybe," Caesar agreed, "But I thought it might be fun to play one last joke on Jojo." They joined the rest of their family and friends as Joseph pulled Suzi Q into a loving hug.

Lisa Lisa, also known as Elizabeth Joestar, reconnected with her son Joseph Joestar. Together with her daughter-in-law Suzi Q Joestar, the three of them moved to America. In 1948, Elizabeth found love again, marrying a Hollywood screenwriter that she would spend many happy years with. Caesar Zeppeli joined Applejack, now Jackie Zeppeli, on her family's new orchard just outside of Manhattan, settling into the same peaceful life his father once had. William Zeppeli eventually retired to his family's historical home in Naples. He would eventually die peacefully just after World War II ended, at one-hundred and seven years old. Wamuu soon found another tribe of his people in an underground city in Norway. He found it difficult to adjust to a peaceful life at first, but soon found himself enjoying it.

Erina Joestar carried on a teaching career until 1950, when she too died peacefully. She was surrounded by her friends and loved ones. Her husband, Jonathan Joestar, continued on, determined to live until he knew for certain that had seen the end of Dio. Until then, he continued his own career in archaeology. Robert EO Speedwagon continued to progress the medical and financial world through his oil company and foundation. He eventually died of a heart attack in 1952. His wife, Lydia Speedwagon, also known as Twilight Sparkle, died peacefully three years later.

Dire and Messina continued to expand the school of Hamon, knowing that many of the stone masks Kars had made still remained on Earth. Dire eventually died peacefully in 1963, after which he passed the title of Master to Messina. Smokey Brown worked to pay for his college studies, where he eventually earned a degree in political science. In 1970, he would become the first black mayor in a city of his home state of Georgia. Rudol von Stroheim would never see Joseph again. He fell in battle defending the retreat of his soldiers, including Mark and Donovan, on the Stalingrad front in 1943. He is still remembered as a proud German soldier who died for the sake of his country.

Years began to flow by, and before long Suzi Q bore Joseph two beautiful children, a son whom he named George Joestar III, and a daughter he named Holly Joestar. George soon discovered his own talent for Hamon, but Holly was a far gentler soul. Eventually she grew up and married a Japanese jazz musician, much to Joseph's chagrin since it meant she would be living halfway across the world from him. Luckily, he had his grandfather around to ground him.

"You really should remember how easy it is to fly across the world now," Jonathan reminded his grandson while they were at the airport. Their age was now quite evident, though they still looked to be the same age regardless. "I guess you're right," Joseph admitted, "Maybe I'm growing senile. Or maybe it's just anger that my son-in-law is constantly on tour. I'm surprised Holly hasn't complained." They got ready to board their flight. "By the way," Joseph said, "Did the arrow work?" "Yes," Jonathan replied, "I now have a Stand of my own. Along with the one you've suddenly acquired, we have all we need to finally track him down..."

Oh man, this ending was so perfect. If not for the little teaser at the end, you wouldn't know there would be a third part. But anyway, that's the end of the Battle Tendency arc, and we'll be getting into the new arc next chapter.

The next arc... Is not Stardust Crusaders. Oh, don't worry, we'll get into that soon enough. But first there's something I should mention. All these arcs take place in the same universe, so that means new takes on both Steel Ball Run and Jojolion. And right now we're doing Steel Ball Run, but a new version with a new Jojo. Don't expect to see any of the Steel Ball Run characters here. Well, except for one, whom you'll recognize when we get to him. Enjoy.

His name was Sadao Kujo. Born in 1942, he lost his father at the tender age of three. The man took a business trip to Nagasaki, just in time to become one of the victims of America's new atomic bomb, the Fat Man. Luckily, his family still had enough influence to live comfortable, the Kujos being an old samurai clan. They survived in an age where samurai were useless by pursuing other trades, and in Sadao's case, he found his calling in the world of music.

Discovering his passion for the style of jazz, he soon joined a jazz fusion group called Denki Tamashi, or Electric Soul in English. The band was so named because it emphasized a usage of electric instruments, without detracting from the classic jazz sound. The band got its first major label with its hit single "Life Will Change". Denki Tamashi gained popularity not only in Japan, but elsewhere in the world for their habit of switching out singers, each of them having the skills to be a lead singer, depending on the song pitch they needed, making them truly unique.

Life was already pretty sweet for Sadao, but in 1967 it got even better. While on tour in America, he met a beautiful young woman named Holly Joestar. The two fell in love over the course of several weeks and eventually married, Holly choosing to live in Japan with her new husband. This didn't sit will with her father, Joseph Joestar, but his own grandfather seemed to be able to keep him from growing any sort of prejudice. Sadao had a strong sense of family, and wanted to show Joseph that he was willing to integrate both their cultures as needed. He even got himself a tattoo to match the star-shaped birthmark all members of the Joestar family seemed to have, as a sign that he was part of that family.

Joseph seemed placated by all these attempts, though he was still reluctant to accept the situation. Regardless, he noted that the characters in Sadao's names included the pronunciation Jo. Sure enough, Sadao admitted that his band mates liked to call him Jojo, because of the Jo in his family name. Joseph seemed to soften up after that, if only a little. In 1971 fate showed it wasn't done favoring Sadao, as Holly bore him a son, whom he named Jotaro Kujo.

Because of his band constantly going on tour, he didn't have as much time to spend with his son as he would have liked. However, his band mates were very accommodating since they also had families. Every birthday, every holiday, every sports meet, every important event in Jotaro's life, it was guaranteed that Sadao would be able to return home in time for it, and he would also cancel important tours should any emergencies happen, such as his wife or son getting sick. Regardless, he was upset that Jotaro was starting to fall into delinquency due to his absence. And then in 1987, Sadao Kujo, a Jojo who didn't have Joestar blood, got a bizarre adventure of his own.

Denki Tamashi had just finished a tour in California. They were scheduled to take some vacation time, so Sadao wasn't expected back for a couple months. Luckily, Sadao would return just in time for the Christmas season. In the meantime, he was walking through the streets wondering what he should bring home for his family. As much as Holly had integrated into Japanese culture, she still loved getting things from America. However, as he passed an advertisement for the Speedwagon Foundation, he heard the sounds of a fight.

Still having a samurai spirit, Sadao was never one to ignore someone in need. He saw a group of suited men beating up an old man. From the looks of things, it was an extortion racket. One of the younger members saw him and turned to his bodyguard. "Got a witness. Convince him to leave." The man nodded, cracking his knuckles. Sadao smirked. "You must think I'm such a pushover. I'll say this first and foremost, you'd have to force a samurai like me to move."

"For a Japanese tourist you speak good English," the thug noted, "But if you're so intent on not leaving, then let me speak to you with my fists!" Sadao smiled as he glowed a bright green, unseen to all but the young man, who raised an eyebrow. One thing that hadn't yet been mentioned, Sadao Kujo was a natural born Stand user. The thug got a surprise when Sadao leapt several feet into the air. "Let's play that sweet electric jazz!," he called out, "Gotta Keep It Real!"

A humanoid creature emerged from Sadao. It was bright green with a shiny exoskeleton. Its head had stag beetle horns, but with a human-like face, the eyes blank white without irises. The arms ended in human hands, from which grew mantis claws as sharp as sabers. Its legs looked human up until the knees, where it was shown to have grasshopper legs. Sadao's earlier statement proved to be more literal than expected, as Gotta Keep It Real launched a taser-like electric shock from its horns, which struck the thug with the force that stunned him.

"The hell's going on!," one of the other thugs said, "Boss, how is this guy doing that!?" The young boss remained silent, watching Sadao. "He's beyond your league. Let's go, Pop." The older man, who seemed to be the young boss's father, nodded and left. The other mobsters looked surprised, but weren't about to back down. However, Gotta Keep It Real unveiled another ability. As it turned out, those blades weren't just for show. Smirking, Sadao directed the bug-like Stand to strike, slicing through several of the clothes of the mobsters, leaving them exposed. As it did, the blades phased through their bodies, leaving them unharmed. Now freaked out, several of them called out, "He's some kinda ESP freak! Let's get outta here!"

Sadao sighed. "Some people just don't get what they can't understand." "I couldn't agree more," came a voice behind him. He whirled around to see a younger man with blonde, curly hair wearing a red suit. "I was able to see your Stand quite clearly," the man explained, "You must have tremendous control for it have sliced straight through those men, yet only destroy their clothes." "If I wanted to I could've sliced through their actual bodies," Sadao admitted, "But that would have made me a murderer." The man smiled and nodded. "There's a restaurant close by that specializes in Japanese cuisine. If you'll indulge me, I have a proposition for you."

"My name is Funny Valentine," the man explained, "And no, that is not a pseudonym. Like you I am a Stand user, though our circumstances are slightly different." "How do you mean?," Sadao asked. "Mine came to me from an alternate reality that also has Stands," Valentine explained, "That is the nature of my Stand, called Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, sometimes shortened to D4C." He revealed said Stand, a silver colored humanoid with rabbit-like ears. "It allows me to interact with alternate universes, and is connected to all of my alternate reality selves, even those in universes where Stands are otherwise non-existent."

"When did you first discover your power?," Sadao asked. "When my Stand brought me to an alternate version of 1890," Valentine replied, "Where the version of me that existed in that universe was President of the Unites States. My own profession is CEO of an automotive company, and events that happened in that universe inspired me. There, President Valentine was funding a horse race across America called the Steel Ball Run. I thought to myself, if he could do it with horses, I could do the same with motorcycles."

"Really?," Sadao asked. Valentine nodded. "Valentine Motors is making investments with motorcycle companies the world over in an effort to expand our business. This universe's version of the Steel Ball Run will be used to advertise that. Additionally, the term 'Steel Ball' is taken more literally. Along the projected race course are various stops. At eight of these stops will be a colored steel ball. Anyone who takes a ball past the finish line will earn a twenty-five million dollar cash prize." Sadao whistled. "You're telling me that this race has so many sponsors it can afford to pay that out to eight people at most."

Valentine smiled. "Yes, if necessary. If you're wondering why I came to you about this, it's because several of the racers are Stand users personally sponsored by my company to partake in the race. Me and my board of directors are each sponsoring between one and nine Stand users each, and I've been looking for an eighth to finish my group." Just then, a young Japanese woman with brilliant red and orange streaked hair, who looked to be right around her late teens stepped out of the bathroom. "Hey, Valentine, did you find that last member yet?"

"You're looking at him," Valentine said, indicating Sadao, "Sadao Kujo, meet Asahi Nichibotsu." "My friends call me Sunset Shimmer," she explained, "Since both my given name and family name contain the kanji for sun and my hair seems to shimmer in the right light. Like you I'm a Stand user." She revealed her Stand, which was as bright orange as her hair. It was humanoid, wearing a cobra hood that was so low the cobra's eyes were positioned where a human's eyes would be. A large turtle shell could be seen on its back, and its legs were as scaled as a crocodile's. "This is my Stand, Tighten Up," Sunset said, "It heals any injury I receive, gives me excellent infrared vision, has the ability to block physical damage, and gives my kicking power some literal bite."

"If you're in," Valentine said, "Then you'll be meeting the rest of the group starting tomorrow." "One thing before I agree," Sadao said, "Will this race take any longer than two months? My family is expecting me back home in that time." "No, I don't expect it will," Valentine replied, "The race starts in San Francisco and ends in New York City. Given the speed of the vehicles, and accounting for stops along the way I don't expect it to take more than a week. Two at the most." Sadao considered it. "All right, I'm in."

All Stands in this part that don't belong to the heroes are named after F-Zero machines. The Stand users are shout-outs to NASCAR racers and F-Zero pilots.

Sadao and Sunset arrived at the garage where their team would be taking off from. Waiting for them were six other people, five guys and one girl. "Look alive people," Sunset said, "We've got our last team member. This is Sadao Kujo." Sadao tipped his hat to the group. "Guy looks like a jazz singer," a black man snarked. "Funny you should mention that," Sadao said, "I happen to play in a jazz band." The man's eyes widened. "No kidding? Sorry for the comment, then. Name's James Brown. My Stand's name is Ride On Right Time."

He revealed a humanoid Stand with a subdued yellow color. It had a lion's head, it's torso was covered in tiger stripes and had long claws coming out of its hands, and it's legs had cheetah spots on them. "My Stand let's me use the wind as a slashing weapon, increasing the nearby temperature as it does. It emits bright light to blind enemies, and it's claws can slice through solid steel several centimeters thick. It also let's me run at speeds equal to any modern vehicle." "If we are going through introductions," said a young Egyptian man, "Then let me make mine. I am Radames Avdol, younger son of a merchant family."

He summoned a gray humanoid Stand. It's head looked human, but with a large rhino horn on the face. It's torso was big and bulky with clear gorilla arms, and it's legs looked large and powerful, the skin resembling that of an elephant. "My Stand is called Sun Goes Up. It let's me increase the gravitational pull of the Earth in a localized region, as well as creating small earthquakes capable of toppling anything the size of a human. It's strength can also be channeled through its fists and head."

The young girl, who looked to be French, stood up next. "I am Antoinette Dupont. I came here hoping to get funding for something important to me. As for my Stand..." She summed a blue humanoid female Stand. The head had fins along its top and sides that resembled those of a killer whale. Long whip-like tendrils that resembled electric eels wrapped around its arms, and its legs looked segmented, octopus suckers visible on the underside.

"It's name is Shout Out," Antoinette explained, "It let's me change into water for additional movement. I can also use it to breathe indefinitely underwater, and it also sprays streams of water to attack. The whips, as you've no doubt guessed, are electrified and good for attacking or containing an enemy. The legs can separate into an octopus pattern and allow me to climb walls with ease." One of the other men in the room looked to be Japanese like Sadao and Sunset.

"Hey there," he said, "I'm Ryusei Ito. I'm just a high school student, but Valentine offered me the chance to earn the money I need to get through college. My Stand's name is Time Judged All." A red humanoid with bird-like features appeared. It's head was clearly that of a falcon. Great wings were folded into its back, and it's arms were covered in peacock feathers. It's legs ended in condor talons. "I can use this Stand to fly like birds, but like them I can be subject to weather," Ryusei explained, "I can also use it to enhance my vision to superhuman levels, fire off the feathers like projectiles, or strike opponents with the talons. Or grab and hold them."

There was also an American guy who looked like he came off the streets, his middle-aged appearance evident as he eagerly dug into the food being offered. "Oh, sorry. Didn't realize it was my turn. My friends just call me Rudy. I've long forgotten what my real name is. I do know I have a Stand, which I've often used to help my fellow homeless have easier lives on the streets of New York." He revealed a violet humanoid that had a primal look about it. "I call it Power To Tearer."

The Stand had a hood that resembled a pterosaur head, long wings coming out of its back. It's neck had a triceratops frills, with sharp horns underneath. It's legs resembled a tyrannosaurus, with a tail to match. "An ominous name for something you use to help people," Sadao noted. "Well, that's because it's power is so primal," Rudy explained, "Like Ryusei I can fly for a good distance. The horns and tail are good for attacking. And with it I can freeze things. It's good for preserving what little food we can find... Or fending off hecklers. As you might expect, I intend to use my share of the race pot to help my homeless community. Let us afford a stay at a decent shelter, at least."

The other Japanese man seemed as old as Sadao, and had a distinct pompadour. "Hello there, I'm Sanji Matsumoto, a recent employee of the Speedwagon Foundation's Japanese branch." "I think I've heard that name before," Sadao said, "Yeah... Yeah, my father-in-law mentioned it a few times." Sanji nodded. "Indeed. I heard your name from the Joestar family register, after your marriage to Holly Joestar. My Stand is Reverse Rebirth." A purely cybernetic humanoid appeared from within Sanji. "Kinda looks like a Kamen Rider," Sadao noted. Sanji rubbed the back of his head nervously. "I am a fan of Toei's work. Anyway, my Stand can create several different machines that provide a variety of options."

"Oh really," Sadao said, "What sort of machines?" "Well," Sanji replied, "There's a drill arm, shovel arm, crane arm, caterpillar treads for the legs, a set of wings that can also act like a boomerang, and a large cannon in the chest. I'm part of the mechanical engineering division and I'm pretty passionate about my work, so my Stand's abilities are really no surprise." Sadao nodded. "Well, I'm assuming you guys know what Sunset can do." The group nodded.

"In that case," Sadao said, "Allow me to introduce my Stand, Gotta Keep It Real." Gotta Keep It Real appeared. "He let's me create copies of myself. The copies are just an illusion, but they can still interact with reality. It can also launch electrical shocks with voltage equal to a taser gun. The blades on its arms can slice through anything, but they have the added benefit of not slicing through whatever I don't want them to, like if I wanted to just slice off someone's clothes without injuring them. In addition it gives me the proportionate jumping ability of a grasshopper."

"Looks like we all know what each other can do," Sunset noted, "That's good, because we have some time before the race begins to start discussing how those skills can be used in combination. We have plenty of options with our varied powers, and we know we'll be up against enemy Stand users as we make our way across the 4828 kilometers from here in San Francisco to New York City. That's three-thousand miles, for those of you who don't use the metric system."

"Sounds like a big number either way," James noted, "I've eyeballed the map, and we have fifteen states to cross in total. Not to mention over two hundred racers including us, with an unknown amount of Stand users likely ready and willing to use their powers to their fullest in order to win." "Can we estimate how many we'll likely be facing?," Radames asked. "Valentine said his board of directors consists of twelve people," Rudy said, "And they'd each be sponsoring between one and nine Stand users. I sincerely doubt they'd all put their eggs in one basket with a single Stand user, nor do I think they'd all be so overly cautious as to go with nine. I'd honestly be surprised if we faced more than fifty Stand users by race's end. But there'd likely be no less than thirty." The group continued to strategize until the opening ceremony was announced.

The racers were lined up in several rows. Sadao and his team were grouped together in the back. From his office at Valentine Motors, Valentine addressed the viewing world. "Greetings to all who tuned in to this amazing event. In a few short minutes, the world's first coast-to-coast motorcycle race, the Steel Ball Run, will commence. This broadcast will include live footage from various positions throughout the race, which will give all watching a beautiful view of the USA and all its varied locations."

Scenes of various cities appeared on screen as he continued. "My company has worked together with numerous sponsors to clear a specific stretch of road that has been clearly marked. Racers will have to keep to it at all times and never deviate. Doing so will not immediately disqualify them, but it will certainly cause them to lose valuable time and positions. Disqualification will only come to a certain number of racers near the back of the pack at each checkpoint, until only the top fifty racers are left. This course has been cleared of any and all obstacles, insuring a clean and fair race. That said, don't be surprised if unusual accidents happen." He obviously couldn't bring up the idea of Stand users, since the public at large didn't know about them.

"In between cities will be rest stops where the racers can affect repairs to their vehicles, get new ones if necessary, and refill on gas," he continued, "Also, at eight of these stops will be a colored ball." He held up one such ball to demonstrate. "This is where the Steel Ball Run gets its name. Grabbing one will protect a racer from disqualification. Any racer who takes a ball past the finish line, regardless of their position in the race, will earn the prize of twenty-five million dollars. That means that up to eight racers can win in total. Already the racers are lined up at the starting line. The race begins at San Francisco, and will end in New York City. If our racers are ready, we will begin... The Steel Ball Run!"

That got the green light activated for the race, causing the entire group to get running. The team started at Nob Hill, and right as the finish line was crossed things got weird. The streets, which were supposed to be cleared for the event, suddenly became full of traffic, including a few patrol officers that mistook the event for a street race. "What's going on?," Radames asked through the two-way radios in their helmets, "Valentine made sure this route would be clear for the Steel Ball Run!"

"Gotta be a Stand power!," James replied, "Those cars all just came outta nowhere!" "The course takes us to the Golden Gate Bridge!," Sadao called out, "Head for there and let's start making our strategy going forward!" Once at the bridge, a sudden roadblock was made evident, forcing the group to jump the bridge and land on a lower street, not far from the projected route. "That was close," Sadao said. "The roadblock and other vehicles are suddenly vanishing," Ryusei noted, "That was definitely a Stand power. Let's get to the first stop outside San Francisco and figure out what that was."

Valentine sat with his board of directors as they discussed the early portions of the race. Valentine looked to the Chairman. "The racer you've sponsored certainly threw the gauntlet down," he noted, "I realize we allowed our racers to use their Stands as they wished during the race, but I must admit I have a hard time figuring out his power, even though I too am a Stand user." "Don't expect me to divulge his secret," the Chairman said, "That was part of our rules, after all. Still, I will say that we'll need to explain this matter to the San Francisco police."

"The good news is that the race is already proving to be worth the investment," another board member noted, "Already attention is being drawn to the power and versatility of our new engines. You've made plenty of good decisions with the company, Valentine, but this has to be your best idea so far." Valentine smiled. "The racers are already moving through the first stop outside San Francisco, and will soon be reaching Altamont Pass. From there, we'll see who can make it through California to Nevada first, and who will be first to find the coveted steel balls that mark the winners."

Most of the racers ran right through the stop and kept going, but Sadao and his team stayed behind to check and see if the first of the steel balls they needed to win weren't hidden somewhere at the stop. "Looks like it's not here," Rudy noted, "I wasn't expecting to find one so quickly, but one never can be too careful." "The other racers didn't even bother looking," Sanji noticed, "They must've forgotten that it doesn't matter what you place in at the end of the race, without one of the steel balls you can't win the prize money."

The group hurried through to Altamont Pass, with several racers along the path. Just then, another racer came zooming in, and the group gasped. Holding onto the bike alongside him was a robotic figure with wheels at its shoulder jointed. Seeing the racer pull ahead, James decide to confront him. "Ride On Right Time!" His Stand appeared and used the wind to propel himself forward. The driver noticed this. "Well, well. I was told there would be other Stand users. Wasn't really expecting it though. Name's Clinton Turner, and this is my Stand Red Gazelle. I was expecting to win this easy thanks to my Stand's speed boost, but it looks like I'll need to mix it up to get ahead."

Red Gazelle changed its hand into a mini-turret, but none of the bullets succeeded into hitting James as Ride On Right Time slashed the air, causing them to diverge. "Did you forget how I caught up to you?," James noted, "My Stand, Ride On Right Time, can control the wind through its slashes. Earlier it was slashing behind me to move me forward, and just now it did the same to deflect those shots. Looks like your Stand mimics real world machines too well."

Just then, the two Stand users had to contend with a series of projectiles that caught them off guard. Sadao noticed another racer coming in with another Stand, this one a humanoid female with a white coat and pink belly. "Looks like I snuck in just in time," she said, "Turner, what's keeping you?" "Dammit, Summer!," Turner called out, "You went and hit me too!" "Sorry," Summer said, "I should probably introduce myself. Lee Summer, and my Stand White Cat. It fires off golden projectiles that fire in random locations."

Ride On Right Time showed James on of the projectiles that it had caught in its claws. "These look like Spanish doubloons," he noted. "Don't bother," Turner said, "They aren't worth jack. Otherwise Summer wouldn't be in this race. They disappear after a few minutes of being fired." Summer then fired off another round, but Sunset rode between them. "Tighten Up!" Tighten Up appeared and moved the turtle shell on its back to act as a frontal shield, blocking the barrage. "Ryusei! Her tires!"

"On it!," Ryusei replied, "Time Judged All!" The bird-like emerged and fired off the feathers on its arms, striking them into Summer's tires and causing her bike to start wiping out. Sanji then starting pulling up. "Break off, James! Reverse Rebirth!" James pulled away from Turner as Reverse Rebirth fired off its central cannon. Turner dodged it, but the near impact created enough force that he was forced off the road. Sadao's team quickly left the two in the dust. "I guess only some Stand users can be super powerful," Sunset noted, "Likely a lot of the other Stand users we run into will be the same."

The team finished their search at the next stop, got some grub before leaving, then headed for the Yosemite Approach down the 140 Highway. As they did, they saw another racer weaving through the other racers at a calculated pace, like he could predict their every move. As they got close, they saw another Stand hovering near him, a humanoid fox wearing a yellow jumpsuit. "That's three so far," Radames noted, "Let me try my hand at getting his attention. Sun Goes Up!"

Sun Goes Up appeared and pointed at the Stand users bike, causing it to become heavier instantly. Turning around the man frowned. "I see I've already run into rival Stand users. I'm Doctor Robert Flock, licensed medical doctor. I entered this contest for the chance to earn enough money to open my own private clinic. Listen, there's no need to confront each other. There are eight separate pots up for grabs. Why not join forces?" "And leave one of our teammates out in the lurch," Sadao noted, "I don't think so." He proved his point by striking at Doctor Flock's bike with his Stand.

"This far from the next stop," Sadao said, "There's no way you'll reach the checkpoint in time avoid getting disqualified. By the way, I've gotta ask. What's the deal with your Stand earlier? You seemed to only be able to avoid the other racers." "My Stand's name is Golden Fox," Doctor Flock explained, "And it sharpens my mind to allow for logical thinking. It's been perfect for bypassing other racers without crashing into them, but human instinct can easily overpower it. Still, I had to try." The group looked at each other and shrugged, then moved on.

The team was soon heading into Yosemite National Park, right through El Capitan where they met another group of racers. One racer tried running into another, but the racer just laughed as he and his ride wasn't effected. "We got another one!," Sanji noted, seeing the racer accompanied by a Stand resembling a humanoid tiger wearing a purple jumpsuit and striped jacket. Another racer came up behind them, streaking like a fireball, near him was a Stand wearing samurai armor and bearing stingray-like wings.

"Yo, Roberts!," the guy said, "Look alive, I think these guys can see our Stands!" "Not like it matters!," the racer named Roberts said, "The name's Baba Roberts, and my Stand Iron Tiger coats me in a iron skin that no weapon could penetrate!" "What about the other guy?," Sunset asked. "I'm Glen Goroh," the other racer said, "My Stand is Fire Stingray. It covers me in a blazing fire that resists friction, letting me run faster while also protecting me from outside damage."

"I think this is a job for me, guys!," Sadao noted, "Let's play that sweet electric jazz! Gotta Keep It Real!" Gotta Keep It Real emerged, its blades ready. Roberts just laughed. "What's that gonna do? I told you, my iron skin cannot be--" He was cut off by his own scream as Gotta Keep It Real phased through the iron skin and slashed at Roberts' heel beneath it, also damaging the bike as it did so. "It doesn't matter how thick your defense!," Sadao explained, "My Stand, Gotta Keep It Real, let's me cut through whatever I want, while ignoring whatever I don't want to cut!"

Goroh looked on in shock as Roberts wiped out. He then got another surprise when Antoinette drove along him and slugged him. "I'm not about to go this entire race just being the load!," she noted, "Thanks to my Stand, Shout Out, letting me turn into liquid, this fire is no defense!" Goroh wound up knocked off his bike. "You're pretty strong for someone of your frame," Radames noted. Antoinette nodded. "My best friend's older brother taught me how to fight, and how to use my Stand."

"We're coming up on Tioga Pass," James said, "No sign of those steel balls yet, so by now we're bound to find one here." "And still just over four-thousand kilometers to New York City," Sadao noted, "Plenty of time find them." At the rest stop at the end of Tioga Pass, they found the ball they were looking for. "How come no one's picked this up yet?," Sunset asked. "Because," came a voice behind them, "They're trying to stay ahead of the pack, and grab a ball closer to the finish line."

The man took off his helmet, and revealed a Stand that looked like a humanoid turtle with cybernetic armor. "But this close to the back, getting a ball here would keep a person free from getting disqualified. So I'm here to take it from you!" He sent his Stand to attack, but Sunset activated her own Stand. "Tighten Up!" Tighten Up blocked the attack, surprising the racer. "Well well, I wasn't expecting you to be Stand users. Name's Jack Pico, professional bounty hunter. My Stand, Wild Goose, is perfect for quick, sharp attacks. They could normally down a person in one shot with a non-lethal blow, but your Stand seems to be made of tougher stuff."

"Why is it called Wild Goose when it looks like a turtle?," Rudy asked. "Because of this," Pico explained, Wild Goose suddenly emitting smoke that made both of them disappear. Reacting quickly, Sunset's eyes suddenly resembled snake eyes. "Don't think Tighten Up only defends me," she said, "I can use it track your body heat even in this thick smoke." "Good eyes," Pico admitted, "But my Stand is much faster, and I've discovered a chink in your armor. Your Stand's only good... From the front!"

Sunset felt pain as Wild Goose slashed at her, deep enough to draw blood and fracture her spine. She dropped to the ground in an instant. "Sunset!," her teammates called out at once. "That attack won't kill you," Pico assured her, "But it will severely cripple you. So, who's next?" Sunset chuckled. "You talk like our fight is done, but I have another surprise for you." To Pico's surprise, Sunset proceeded to get up and stand straight. "That's impossible! You should have been crippled for months!"

"My Stand, Tighten Up, resembles reptiles for a reason," Sunset explained, "Like most reptiles, I can heal any non-lethal injury within seconds of receiving it. So unless you're willing to kill me, I don't think you'll be keeping me down long enough to fight one of my teammates, let alone grab the steel ball." Pico backed off in surprise. "From your hesitation," Sunset noted, "I'm guessing Wild Goose has no lethal options. I suppose that's good for a bounty hunter who needs to bring in contracts alive, but against me it just won't cut it."

She made a kicking motion which Tighten Up copied, grabbing Wild Goose in a phantasmal set of crocodile jaws. "Oh," Sadao realized, "That's what she was talking about when she said her kicks got some literal bite." Pico was paralyzed because of his Stand getting caught in Tighten Up's phantom jaws. Sunset smirked as she proceeded to kick over and over. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! SEIYA!" The final kick dropped Wild Goose as Sunset performed a sliding kick to strike it down with a massive phantom chomp, putting both Stand and user out of commission as their blood sprayed out from them.

"You chose to be nonlethal," Sunset noted, "So I gave you the same courtesy. The nearby medical tent should be able to keep you from bleeding out." She then walked over to the steel ball, which coincidentally enough was colored orange. "Almost like we were meant to pick this up," she said. "That's one down, seven to go," Ryusei noted, "And we still haven't even left California yet." "Then from here it's on to Death Valley," Rudy said, "The great desert connecting California to Nevada."

As the team headed through Death Valley National Park, a serious dust storm started to kick up. "That came out of nowhere!," Ryusei noted, "And this dust... It's thicker than it should be!" "Let me get a better look!," Sunset called out. Tighten Up helped her eyes improve. "I see something!," she called out, "Another racer with a Stand! It seems to be emitting the dust!" The man in question, Rex Falcon and his Stand, Blue Falcon, smirked. "There's no way they can get through my Stand's dust storm. The winds it creates to kick it up are too strong."

"James!," Sadao called out, "We need a stronger wind to cut through the storm!" "I'm on it!," James replied, "Ride On Right Time!" The feline Stand appeared and whipped up a strong wind with its claws, cutting through the dust storm as James moved closer. Finally, a good slash cut through Falcon's tires, causing him to wipe out. He must have gotten knocked out as well, since the storm started to dissipate. That's when another racer nearby summoned a Stand, which resembled a humanoid cross between an octopus and a shark, that locked claws with Ride On Right Time.

"Impressive how you took out Falcon," the racer said, "But now I get to tangle with you. I'm Joe Octoman, and this is my Stand Deep Claw. It's rending claws can slice through the thickest steel. I'm impressed your Stand can even stop it's attack." "Probably a good thing," James noted with a smirk, "Because while we're deadlocked, one of my teammates can take out your bike." Octoman was a little confused, until he saw Rudy pull up next to him. Before Octoman could pull Deep Claw away, Rudy had summoned Power To Tearer and launched one of its horns into the wheel of Octoman's bike, making him wipe out like Falcon.

"About time I was allowed to pull my own weight on this team," Rudy said with a chuckle, "Think we have any other surprises before we hit the border?" That's when another racer came up from behind them, with another humanoid Stand that was rather rotund yet muscular and wearing a silver jumpsuit, a five-pointed star on its belt. The man seemed to be glowing in rainbow colors. "Great shades of Super Mario!," Sadao called out. "Oh, you have that in Japan?," James asked. "Where do you think it came from?," Sadao replied, "The game was created by Shigeru Miyamoto."

"I guess the effect is similar to a Starman," the racer said as he pulled up, "I'm EAD Petty, and my Stand is called Great Star! With the power of this Stand, I become completely invincible! Better get outta my way, because the force of the effect can knock away anything I touch!" Antoinette then noticed something. "By the way? Why doesn't your Stand affect your motorcycle?" Petty blinked. "It doesn't?" He looked down to check, then gasped as Shout Out had a whip wrapped around the front suspension. "Uh...," he muttered, "This won't do anything else, right? Because Great Star's power can only work for..."

He suddenly stopped glowing. "Thirty seconds..." Antoinette grinned as Shout Out electrocuted the bike, with Petty on top of it. He wound up peeling out and then wiping out. "I was concerned we'd have nothing to deal with him," Sunset said, "Luckily his Stand came with a weakness. That's nine rival Stand users we've encountered so far." "Ten if you count the mysterious Stand user from San Francisco," Radames noted, "We still haven't identified him, or his Stand's power." "There's still time before the race's end to solve that mystery," Sadao assured him, "Until then, let's hurry on to Nevada."

Valentine smirked as one his board members sighed in defeat. "I thought I'd have the best chance if I choose nine Stand users to sponsor. I can't believe all of them were taken out before we even hit Nevada." "That's the issue you all seem to have," Valentine said, "You just went for the first person confirmed to be a Stand user. I, on the other hand, decided to be more choosy." "Don't think you're the only one with that logic," the chairman said, "I too took the time to find the strongest Stand user I could. We'll see if your team can match his power."

Heading through Calvada Springs, Team Kujo quickly found themselves near another group of racers. One of these racers had a Stand that looked like a humanoid dragon wearing a pilot's uniform, and he seemed to be floating across the concrete. "Outta my way, suckers!," the man, Fred McCloud, said, "My Stand, Little Wyvern, let's me repel a certain amount of gravity, enough that I don't have to worry about friction while racing. There's no one that can catch up to me!"

"Allow me to test that theory!," Radames called out, "Sun Goes Up!" McCloud suddenly found himself heavier, far heavier than his Stand could counteract. Radames then found himself having to dodge as another racer with a Stand, this one a werewolf-looking humanoid, tried to take out his tires. "Ah, I knew this was a bad time to race," the racer said, "I'm Billy Dieringer. My Stand's name is Mad Wolf. It's a fearsome fighter, but it's base strength gets enhanced depending on the current phase of the moon. Unfortunately, today is a New Moon, so Mad Wolf is at its weakest."

"Too bad," Sanji said as he pulled up, "Because our Stands are still running on all cylinders." Reverse Rebirth came in racing on its caterpillar treads, which it used to smack Mad Wolf in the face, the imprint appearing on Dieringer's face as well. The resulting impact caused him to wipe out. "That's our route clear," Sadao noted, "On to Las Vegas. And no casinos guys." "Never crossed my mind," James quipped, "Still, if one of the steel balls is anywhere, it'll be in Las Vegas. Valentine wouldn't pass up the chance to leave it in such a high profile city along the course."

Once within the Las Vegas limits, problems cropped up again. Just like in San Francisco, police seemed to swarm out of nowhere, blaring about stopping a so-called street race and seemingly ignoring that they were interfering with a legally sanctioned event. And civilian traffic was everywhere, making it harder to navigate. Several of the officers, and racers, got big surprises when a school of piranhas, seen only by Team Kujo, took out their tires. The piranhas seemed to be able to swim through the air like it was the water.

The school gathered near another racer and transformed into a pink and cyan nereid, a humanoid female with amphibious features. "Another Stand," Sadao realized, "I should have figured." "So there's more on this track," the racer said, "I'm Kate Yarborough. You've met my Stand, Super Piranha. It can turn into an entire school of piranhas. And you know how deadly piranhas can be. Luckily, they only attack what I want them to." She directed them to attack, but James can in to intercept. "Ride On Right Time!"

Ride On Right Time emerged and started slashing, but the piranhas seemed able to dodge. "You won't be slicing them into sashimi that easily," Yarborough bragged. But then she started feeling hot, and James grinned. "Maybe I can't slice them up, but I can dry them out. As Ride On Right Time attacks, the nearby temperature starts to rise. Individually attacking each piranha won't cause you damage, but burning them all at once will." Yarborough soon fainted from the heat, dispelling Super Piranha and causing her to wipe out.

Shortly afterward, the group found themselves safely at the rest stop, the police seeming to have vanished. "I'm not sure what sort of Stand power is causing this," James said, "But it's really gonna cause confusion among the ordinary racers." Sadao nodded. "No doubt. But hey, here's the next steel ball." "And I'll thank you to hand it over," said another voice. Sadao jumped away as a giant anchor smashed into the ground near him. "Looks like we got another one to deal with before leaving."

The man who appeared showed a purple humanoid stand with a number of tubes going through it. "I aim to win this contest and that prize money," the man said, "Name's Bobby Zoda. And with the help of my Stand, Death Anchor, I intend to stomp out all the competition." He proved his point by conjuring a large pool of water that rose up around him, letting him move easier to attack with Death Anchor's primary weapon, the titular anchor. At first it looked like he nailed Sadao, but his smile was cut short when Sadao said, "Just where are you aiming?"

"But how?," Zoda asked. "My own Stand let's me duplicate myself," Sadao explained, "The copies aren't as durable as a human, but they look so identical even a blood test couldn't tell us apart. I've honestly considered using these clones to stay at home while also going on tour, but they disappear when my Stand gets too far from them." He leapt into the air as Death Anchor made another attack. "And by the way, that's not my only power. Now then... Let's play that sweet electric jazz!"

Gotta Keep It Real launched its electric attack, which really hit Zoda hard thanks to the water he was using the maneuver. Able to get in close, Gotta Keep It Real cut off the anchor from Death Anchor's hand. "Let me give you my trumpet solo!," Sadao called out, "Gotta Keep It Real!" Gotta Keep It Real sliced over and over into Death Anchor. "PARAHPARAHPARAHPARAHPARAHPARAHPARAHPARAH! PAHPARAH!" Sadao finished off with a quick flying kick that sent Death Anchor and Zoda into the nearby wall.

"Gotta Keep It Real only cuts what I want it to cut," Sadao assured him, "Your wounds are only skin deep, but the pain will keep you down for a while." However, Zoda started getting up again. "I... Can fight... Through the pain... My Stand... Increases my production... Of adrenaline and dopamine..." He cried out as Gotta Keep It Real sliced through him. "In that case," Sadao said, "I've no choice but to paralyze you to stop your assault." Gotta Keep It Real had sliced through just enough of Zoda spinal cord to paralyze his legs without cutting through his spine or anything around it, and without crippling him for life. Sadao then picked up the green steel ball. "That's two we've gotten. Let's move on."

With both Sunset and Sadao now clear from disqualification, and only needing to cross the finish line to earn their cut, the race was now on to stay ahead long enough to get the rest of Team Kujo the same privilege. And so they headed through Nevada's Valley of Fire, hoping to reach the next stop that had a steel ball to claim. Traveling across the streets, they soon found themselves catching up to what looked like a giant bird flying parallel to the race track. From the transparent look, it was clearly a Stand power.

Inside the giant bird was a racer by the name of Jack Allison, who was using his Stand, Astro Robin, a humanoid robin in a tight blue jumpsuit, to glide across the race course. The bird itself was a manifestation of this gliding power, but it was only an illusion and couldn't be used to knock away obstacles or rivals in spite of its size. This was unfortunate as Ryusei came pulling up to Allison. "Time Judged All!" Ryusei was lifted into the air by his Stand's flying powers, Time Judged All grabbing the bike to lift it as well.

Allison only had enough time to gasp in shock as Ryusei came down with Time Judged All's talons to knock him off his bike. "Heads up, Ryusei!," Rudy called out, "That guy wasn't the only Stand user out on this course!" Sure enough, another racer was coming up on the group, surrounded by a phantasmal tyrannosaurus head that chomped down periodically as it approached. This was Rex Pearson with his Stand Big Fang, a humanoid tyrannosaurus that was making the larger head.

Instantly Radames and Sunset used their Stands to stop the giant jaws, while Rudy had Power To Tearer freeze Pearson's engine, stopping him outright. "We're almost out of Nevada at just over four-thousand kilometers to New York," Sadao noted, "But it looks like the competition is just starting to heat up." "I never imagined Stand powers could be so varied," Rudy said, "Then again, I've only seen one other Stand during my lifetime. None of my friends on the streets have one, save for one small friend who did."

Valentine watched as his chosen team made their way through Moapa Valley. "They're nearing the end of Nevada," he noted. "We've confirmed they have two of the steel balls needed to win the competition," his secretary confirmed. Valentine nodded. "Good. My predictions were accurate. I knew investing in as many team members as there were spheres was a wise choice. We've confirmed our company can pay all eight of them should they win?" "Yes sir," the secretary replied, "All sponsors for the event have weighed in. We're fully prepared to pay out the full twenty-five million to each of them upon completion." Valentine smiled. This was good news, since he hated to break promises.

The battle cry for Gotta Keep It real is basically the onomatopoeia for a trumpet playing, which I thought was fitting for a jazz musician since trumpets are one of the quintessential jazz instruments.

A short chapter that sets things up for later in the arc, including a surprise return.

Valentine and his board continued to monitor the progress of the Steel Ball Run. "Gentlemen," Valentine said, "The Run is taking our racers through Utah as we speak. So far only my team has collected any of the steel balls needed to win, with two out of eight in total. That said, we've had some issues. Chairman, I don't know what sort of Stand power your one racer has, but it was supposed to be made clear that all traffic was to be cleared from the race course."

"I assure you, Valentine," the chairman replied, "He did nothing against the rules we set forth in the contract. We all agreed that our chosen racers could use their Stands at will, yes? It just so happens my racer has a Stand that can create the situation that occurred in San Francisco and Las Vegas. That said, I've had to make calls to the police headquarters in both cities to clear up any confusion that may have been incurred." He leaned back in his chair. "There's no need to worry. Our budget for this event was made with these sorts of events in mind." "I hope so," Valentine said, "Our racers will be furious if we have to cut the prize money for any reason."

Meanwhile at the Kujo household, Jotaro, Sadao's son, came home from school to see his mother sitting in front of the TV. "What's going on?," he asked. "Oh, Jotaro. You're home," Holly said, "I don't know if you've heard this, but your father has been selected to take part in a cross-country race in America." Jotaro raised an eyebrow. "Why would Dad be selected? He's a jazz musician, not a race car driver." "Actually it's motorcycles they're racing," Holly corrected him, "But I guess that really doesn't answer the question. Honestly I don't know why he was selected, but he was apparently handpicked by the one in charge of the event."

Jotaro sighed. "Gimme a break... As if Dad didn't have enough keeping him away. Oh well, at least we weren't expecting him him for a while longer. How's he doing?" "He seems to be doing well," Holly said as she watched the coverage, "He's near the back of the lineup, but apparently your position in the race doesn't determine whether you win or not." That got Jotaro interested. "So it's less a race and more a competition. I'm starting to see why Dad might have been selected." He sat down next to his mother. "Don't you have homework?," Holly asked. "I'll get it done before bed," Jotaro assured her, "I wanna see how Dad races."

Team Kujo was heading through Zion National Park in Utah. The desert pavement was taking them through a winding road. "Heads up, team," Sadao said, "Another pack of racers right in front of us. Better expect more Stand users." Sure enough, a racer near the back of the lineup was racing next to a skeletal looking Stand wearing racing gear. He snapped his fingers, and the Stand turned into a giant skull that screamed, causing several racers in front of him to hold their ears and wipe out as a result.

"This one could be dangerous," Radames noted, having heard the sonic attack from behind the racer, "We'd best approach with caution." Just then, the skull turned its attention towards them. "Scatter!," Sadao called out, the group separating to avoid the sonic scream. "Not bad," the racer said, "You've got good reflexes to avoid my Stand. Names Sterling Elliot. My Stand, Sonic Phantom, can fire sonic blasts capable of wiping out vehicles like a jet engine. It also increases my hearing."

He fired off another sonic shot, but Sunset blocked it with her Stand. "Never tried to block an attack like that," she noted, "It kinda stung." "Let me take care of him," Sadao said, "Gotta Keep It Real!" Elliot got confused when he suddenly heard a whole mess of engines coming in at once. He looked behind him and got shocked to see multiple copies of Sadao coming at him. He fired off Sonic Phantom's attack to ward them off, but the real Sadao managed to get through and cut through Elliot's engine with Gotta Keep It Real. Elliot quickly wiped out.

As the team continued to progress, Sunset looked back. "Uh, guys? Something's blending into the background right behind us." She quickly focused her Stand's infrared vision. "I see something. Tighten Up!" The reptilian Stand struck at the figure she saw, which suddenly became visible. "You were able to see through my camouflage," the racer noted, "Impressive. I'm Darrel Guster. The power you saw me use was thanks to my Stand, Green Panther." He revealed a humanoid panther wearing a soldier's camouflage uniform.

"This Stand let's me blend into nearby environments like a chameleon," Guster explained, "I didn't think anything could see me in that state." "That's because of my Stand," Sunset explained, "Your camouflage is no defense against my infrared eyes." Before Guster could make another move, Radames had his own Stand weigh down Guster's bike. "And we don't need you making further trouble for us." Unable to move his motorcycle, Guster was forced to watch as Team Kujo left him in the dust.

Jotaro couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at what had just happened. He looked to his mother and saw she was also a little confused. "These sort of strange accidents have been happening the entire race so far," she noted, "We were told to expect them, but it's odd to see them happen. Yet your father and his team don't seem to have had much trouble." "He's always had some odd luck about him," Jotaro admitted, "I guess I have to admire him for that. I just wish that same luck would let him stay home more often." Holly looked at her son sadly.

Up ahead, the same young man who saw Sadao before he was recruited by Valentine finished his business at the rest stop before he made a call on the nearby phone. "How's the standings? I see. I haven't picked up any of the steel balls yet. My plan is to wait until all eight have been claimed by others then wait for them to get close. There was nothing in the contract that said we couldn't grab one from another racer, which is what I intend to do. Don't worry Dad, I'll get that money. With it we can really expand our operations. The power of my Stand will ensure I come out victorious."

I gave this chapter its name because of how many Stand user are encountered by the heroes while in the state's borders, and the fact that they get into two major fights.

'The race is now heading through Colorado,' Valentine thought, 'And by now several opposing Stand users have been eliminated. Still, the idea that a more dangerous Stand user is among the group is troubling.' "What's the matter Valentine?," the chairman asked. Valentine looked at him. "Just contemplating the current situation with the competition. The racers are starting to approach the Million Dollar Highway. Meaning they're nearing another of the steel balls. I wonder, though. Why have none of the racers ahead of them tried grabbing the ones from earlier? Are they perhaps concerned they could be stolen from them? We never said they couldn't be, after all." The chairman shrugged. "Who can say?"

Team Kujo was racing down the Million Dollar Highway, a group of rivals not far from them. One of them came speeding in way faster than normal for a motorcycle. This racer was Dale Beastman. His Stand, Hyper Speeder, resembled a humanoid warrior dressed armor made from lizard hide, and let him or anything he was riding move at near mach speed, with all the durability needed to survive it. He was confident that with this power, which could last for up to a minute with a four minute cooldown, he could easily reach the top of the pack before long.

Rudy saw Beastman approaching, coming in way too fast. "Power To Tearer!" Rudy's Stand appeared and froze the ground in front of Beastman, causing him to skid out and wind up crashing, stopping him right then and there. With another major obstacle gone, the team soon reached the rest stop at the end of the highway, where another steel ball was waiting. "Wait a moment," Radames said, "So far everytime we have reached one of the steel balls we need to win, another powerful Stand user has appeared."

The group looked around, James soon spotting an alluring light not too far from the ball's location, and seemed to mimic its appearance. Suspicious, he called out, "Ride On Right Time!" His Stand slashed near the light's location, revealing a humanoid anglerfish, which spurted blood from the attack. A scream of pain came from nearby. "Damn," the man said, "That was fast... How did you know where I was?" "I'm not sure what that light is supposed to be," James admitted, "But it looked too suspicious. The fact that it was so alluring made me think that was the intention."

"I guess my powers don't work with other Stand users," the man noted, "I'm Leon Junior. My Stand, Space Angler, draws in the unsuspecting with its lure, then bites down on them." Space Angler suddenly clamped down on Ride On Right Time's shoulder, causing James injury. "It does a good job of biting down regardless," Junior said with a smirk. He then felt incredibly hot, as Ride On Right Time slashed at Space Angler, which was able to dodge quickly. However, the heat created started searing the fish-like Stand.

Space Angler moved in to attack James directly, but Junior got a big shock as James suddenly moved fast enough to dodge, Ride On Right Time countering the attack. The feline Stand then glowed bright, causing Junior and Space Angler to cover their eyes to avoid being blinded. Ride On Right Time then slashed at Space Angler over and over, yowling like a tiger as it did. Junior soon fell to the ground in a pool of blood. "I made sure to hold back," James assured him, "But you'll need to get those injuries looked at." He then grabbed the yellow steel ball. "Nice. Now let's head for the next one."

Heading deeper into Colorado, the team soon found themselves nearing the Rockies, out near Grand Mesa National Forest. The highways were getting snowy, necessitating insulated racing gear and snow tires for the trip through. As the team continued to pass through the competition, they were shocked to see a bombardment of meteorites, followed by one big meteor. "Looks like we got a few of them," said a male racer. "Hold on," his female companion said, "Some of them are still standing."

Team Kujo had used their various powers to avoid the meteor shower. "Talk about a big entrance!," James noted, "Just who are you guys!?" "The name's Jimmie Arrow," the male racer said. "And I'm Monique Gordon," the female said. They then pointed at the team and spoke as one. "And our Stands, King Meteor and Queen Meteor, will blast us through the competition and win us the money for our wedding!" "I think I know how their Stands work," Rudy said, "King Meteor was responsible for the larger meteor that impacted, while Queen Meteor created the smaller meteorites to bombard us."

"Hey not bad," Gordon said as her Stand, which resembled a female bodybuilder in a full leotard, appeared. "But knowing won't really help you!," Arrow bragged, revealing his Stand, which looked like a costumed superhero complete with cape and cowl. "Allow me to break these meteors," Radames said as the couple launched another assault. To their shock, Sun Goes Up smashed through the large meteor with its head, before using its gravity powers to bring the smaller meteors down around the couple. They scrambled so much to avoid the sudden redirection they wound up wiping out. Amusingly, they wound up in each others arms as they did. "How romantic," Sunset quipped, "Let's keep moving."

They continued racing through the pack until they saw an odd sight. Two racers mimicking each others movements. One of the racers had a rather tall wooden puppet dressed in blue floating with him, while the other had a smaller puppet that was similarly dressed clinging to him. "This is perfect," the racer said, "Thanks to my Stand, Twin Noritta, I can control another racer and give me better coverage over the road." "The heck's a Noritta?," James asked the team got close.

The racer turned to look at them, the other racer doing the same. "Oh great, that's way too many racers. I'm Tony Shioh. As you can see, my Stand, Twin Noritta, takes control of another person. Then that person mimics my every move like a mime." "In that case," Radames said, "I wonder what would happen if that second puppet was knocked off. Sun Goes Up!" Sun Goes Up knocked the smaller puppet off the other racer, causing him confusion as Shioh reeled from the attack on his head, wiping out as he fell too far off his bike.

"Rather weak," Radames noted, "It would have been more impressive if damaging the second puppet damaged the one it was controlling, rather than its user." Just then, the sound of thunder could be heard. "Since when does thunder come with a snowstorm?," Rudy asked. "During that bit between autumn and winter," Sadao noted, "But it's way too early in the year and the Rockies are snowy year round regardless." Ahead of them was a racer that had a Stand resembling a humanoid with electric coils running through it. There seemed to be lightning coming from the exposed antennas.

"I see I'm being followed," the racer said, "But don't think you'll get close. The name's Herb Neelsen. My Stand, Night Thunder, can generate electric storms no matter what other weather conditions are present. And this lightning can strike twice. Then again, given time, any lightning bolt will hit the same spot a second time." To prove his point, he had Night Thunder launch and electric barrage at the group. Sadao just smiled as Gotta Keep It Real channeled the lightning through its horns and claws.

"My own Stand, Gotta Keep It Real, is capable of launching electric bolts equivalent to that of a taser," Sadao explained, "I'd be very surprised if it couldn't negate electrical discharges like lightning with relative ease." "There's more," Antoinette said, "My own Stand lets me change into water, and its whips are electrified. And I can keep that form even in this frigid weather. Water may be good for conducting electricity, but my body is no longer solid enough to damage as a result. Though you would be."

Antoinette stretched her liquid body out until it wrapped around Neelsen. He tried to pull back his Stand to stop the lightning, but it was too late as a stray bolt hit Antoinette while she was still liquid, hitting Neelsen with a charge of his own electricity. Antoinette reformed herself as Neelsen wound up skidding on the icy road due to being knocked unconscious from the electric discharge. He managed to recall his Stand enough that the lightning was no longer as powerful as real lightning, sparing his life.

The race continued through Snowmass as Team Kujo approached a group of racers that seemed to drive as crew, lead by on racer with a Stand, this one a humanoid boar wearing street clothes. This was Buck Chain. His Stand, Wild Boar, let him charge ahead down straightaways and barrel through anything in his way like a charging boar. It wasn't good for cornering, but unlike real boars Chain could stop charging long enough to turn, then reactivate his Stand when the road was more straight.

This was the problem the group faced when Chain got close to them, Wild Boar's tusks threatening to wreck their bikes. "His Stand may be unstoppable moving forward," Radames noted, "But that is not the only direction to move." He waited until they reached a turn in the road, then activated his own Stand. Chain suddenly found himself so heavy not even his Stand could help him get out of the gravity well. It wasn't until the group got far enough away that Chain was able to escape.

As Team Kujo reached the next steel ball at the end of Independence Pass, Chain finally caught up to them. "My crew may be out but I can still take you on," he said. Radames stepped forward. "Allow me the chance to deal with this one." Chain sent Wild Boar to charge at Radames, but found his head knocked back when Wild Boar had its head slammed by Sun Goes Up. "You may have the strength of a charging boar," Radames said, "But it is no match for the strength of a rhino. The added durability Sun Goes Up offers my head assures that your simple charge is not effective."

He then slammed his foot into the ground, knocking Chain off-balance. "Your Stand is strong," Radames admitted, "But mine has the might of Amun. You should expect no less from one whose name in English translates to 'hero'." Sun Goes Up launched a series of punches at rapid speed at Wild Boar, eventually knocking both it and Chain out. "No one, not even my brother, could match me in a contest of strength," Radames said. He picked up the gray steel ball.

"We now have four steel balls," Sadao noted. "And a piece of the puzzle regarding our mystery Stand user," Ryusei said, "On the way here we wound up passing through some sort of demolition zone meant to trigger avalanches safely. But that work should have been done months ago. So how did we wind up in the middle of it?" "Clearly our mystery Stand user is able to play tricks with time," Radames suggested, "But he is likely ahead of us by now. Let's hurry on to Denver. This cold environment does not suit a desert native like myself."

A final challenge presented itself as the team headed through Denver. Another Stand user in the race, Ned Falcon and his Stand Blood Hawk, were knocking out several of the other racers. Blood Hawk had a terrifying power that let Ned use his blood as a weapon. As part of that power, he could never die from blood loss, as Blood Hawk would always instantly replenish his blood supply. Sunset blocked one attack from Blood Hawk. "Not bad," Ned said, "I can see how you beat my brother Rex. But my power is stronger than his."

"We'll see about that," Rudy said, "Let's see how effective your blood is when it's frozen solid. Power To Tearer!" Rudy made good on his promise as Power To Tearer appeared and froze the blood weapons Ned was making, turning them fragile enough to shatter and leave him open to a quick slugging from Radames and his Stand. "He may not be vulnerable to attacks that make him bleed," Radames noted, "But hitting him is as effective as any man." "The competition looks like it'll wind down inside Nebraska," Sadao said, "Let's make plans to rest there for a night. We still have less than three-thousand kilometers to New York City, so we'll need our strength going forward."

We'll get some downtime in this chapter, a little spoiler for the next arc, and delve into the connections these heroes have with other characters in the story.

Team Kujo saw most of the racers had decided to rest for the night, and decided to do the same. Sadao, Sunset, James, and Radames each took out the steel ball they had collected. "Better not go flashing those in front of everyone," Rudy said, "No one said they couldn't be taken from us." "He's got a point," Sadao said, "Besides, we should be getting some rest. We've finished more than half the Steel Ball Run, and there's still a ways to go." "If I might ask," Radames said, "Why did you agree to partake in this run?"

Sadao shifted as he sat and sighed. "I'm hoping my son, Jotaro, might be watching. And I hope it helps us get a closer connection. I've tried to be there for him as a father, especially since my own father died at the end of World War II, but with me on tour all the time I can barely be there for holidays, birthdays, and other important events." "Your father was a soldier?," Rudy asked. Sadao shook his head. "Salaryman. But he was in Nagasaki when the big bomb hit."

Ryusei, Sanji, and Sunset nodded. None of them lost family in either of the two nuclear incidents, but they were still Japanese and could sympathize with Sadao. "The Kujos are an old samurai lineage," Sadao said, "To survive in modern times we've taken up more domesticated occupations. War is changing to the point that honor in battle is counting for less, so rather than die out due to poverty, we've chosen to adapt. My method of doing so was music. Thanks to that, I met my wife in America, and was able to provide her with a comfortable life."

He sighed. "But despite all I've tried to do for Jotaro, he's recently fallen into delinquency. He'll beat up anyone that tries to harass him. More than once he's forced an unruly teacher to quit using less than reputable means. And whenever he's served bad food at a restaurant, he'll refuse to pay the bill. He's still a good kid deep down, but his attitude has hardened over time. Maybe if he sees me trying performing in this competition, he'll think a little better of me."

Sadao chuckled. "Oddly enough his bad boy attitude and appearance gets him a lot of attention from girls, even if they're older than him. But he only has eyes for this one girl named Himari Utsukushicho." Sunset gasped. "My cousin Fluttershy!? Your son is the guy she's dating!?" The group looked at her, causing her to turn red. "Yeah, my father is Himari's uncle. The two of us grew up like sisters. Recently she's been talking about this awesome guy she started dating. She'd go on for hours about it. Honestly, I was just impressed that someone as naturally shy as her would be able to find her special someone."

"That reminds me," Sanji said, "Forgive me if this seems personal, but..." "Me and Ryusei have been dating for a few years now," Sunset cut him off, stealing his thunder. "At least she was honest," he noted. "We've been going to the same school ever since elementary school," Ryusei said, "We grew close over time." "Most of our prize money is going towards our future together," Sunset said with a smile, "Our parents have already agreed to a wedding, which we're planning for just after college. The rest is going into college."

"Sounds like you have your future all figured out," James said, "I guess I might as well mention my own past. I grew up in Georgia with my father, Smokey. It's not a complicated background, pretty typical actually. My dad's been a long running mayor in our hometown for several terms. In fact, he's the first recorded black mayor in the history of our town, which is all the more impressive considering the southern parts of America weren't very accommodating to black folk back in the 1930s, when my dad was just a kid. But he got inspired to turn his life around from just another street thief when he ran into a British man who would become a lifelong friend of his, Joseph Joestar."

"That's my father-in-law," Sadao realized, "I had no idea there was such a connection." James nodded. "Yeah, I've met Mister Joestar several times growing up. He likes to keep up with his friends. While Dad did always hate that Mister Joestar has a habit of running when pushed into a corner, he still sees him as a man to look up to." Sadao smiled. "It took a while for me to get Joseph to accept me as a son-in-law. He didn't like that Holly wanted to move in with me in Japan. I honestly would've been fine just moving to America, but she wanted a quieter life."

"You two are not the only ones who know Joseph Joestar," Radames said, "He is also friends with my older brother Muhammad Avdol. As I said when we first met, my family are all merchants. As part of that, my brother runs a fortune teller shop in the souk Khan Khalil. Like me he is a natural Stand user, but his Stand has a much different power. Whereas my Sun Goes Up is more physical, his Stand, which is called Magician's Red, goes more for the mystical."

"Any special reason you two are in this race?," Antoinette asked. "I honestly just wanted the freedom of riding cross-country," James admitted, "With how busy my family can be, I might not get such a chance again." "For me it is a chance to get enough money to start my own merchant business," Radames said, "I inherited Father's knack for knowing what sells, so I plan to put that to use with his help and a little capital to get started. It is a simple goal, but one I take very seriously."

They looked at the moon starting to rise. "I guess we should get some shut-eye," Sanji said, "Come tomorrow we'll be entering South Dakota." "There are four more balls up for groups," Sadao noted, "And we still have that mystery Stand user to contend with. He's struck three times so far, first in two major cities where traffic is bound to be heavy, and then in a former demolition site. Whatever his power is, it'll be tricky to get around. So for now let's get some sleep, then hit the road first thing tomorrow."

A little addition to the mystery of the unknown Stand user from the beginning, and setup for the next chapter. Also, I'm more surprised that people are shocked at Fluttershy being the MLP character then people finding out Smokey Brown had a kid who is now one of the heroes. Oh well.

Valentine walked in on two of his board members arguing. "Gentleman, please. This place is meant to discuss business, not have petty squabbles." "Sorry," one of the board members said, "We were just getting into an argument over our choice of racers. You see it turns out one of the racers on my team has a friend that wound up on his team." He indicated the other board member. "They normally act as a team on their own, but now they're getting worried about not being able to win as friends like they wanted."

"That got us into an argument about who snatched up one half of that duo first," the other board member said. Valentine sighed as he placed he rubbed his temple. "You do remember that because of the rules of the Steel Ball Run, their complaint is invalid. It's entirely possible that two different racers from two different teams can claim victory. And both of you have very small teams, making it all the easier." The two board members looked at each other sheepishly. "Besides," Valentine said, "I've noticed the power these two Stand user possess. It's probably for the best they wound up on different teams."

The race was taking the team out through the badlands of South Dakota, the Badlands National Park to be specific. Already signs of a storm could be seen on the horizon, getting the team nervous. "So far everytime we've hit weather phenomenon it's been caused by a Stand user," Sadao noted, "Maybe it's not this time, but we shouldn't take chances. Not when we're halfway across the country." "The racers will be getting better as we the pack starts to dwindle," Sunset said, "And the remaining Stand users will either have stronger powers, or be more clever with their powers."

"Or just more skilled with their natural racing," Ryusei said, "If that guy up ahead is any indication." There was another racer just ahead of them. Near him was a Stand that was clearly a humanoid wasp, a large hive on its back. Smaller wasps were swarming out of it, causing trouble for the other racers. "Best not to take him lightly," Sadao said, "The simpler the Stand power, the more you can do with it. For all we know, he could have full control over that swarm."

Sadao's concern was fully justified. This racer was Terry Tanaka, and his Stand was called Wonder Wasp. Despite resembling a male drone, the Stand acted very much like a hive queen, complete with actual hive on its back that could endlessly spawn more wasps. The wasps themselves weren't any stronger than normal wasps and couldn't penetrate the thick racing gear of his rivals, but they were useful for other reasons. The swarm was good for reconnaissance, distraction, and gathering, sometimes salvaging parts from bikes that got wrecked when other racers got freaked out by the sudden swarm surrounding them. And Tanaka had full control over the swarm, as Sadao figured.

Tanaka saw the team coming up behind and directed his wasps to attack. "Here they come!," Sadao said, "Get ready to counter!" Ryusei was the first to strike. "Time Judged All!" His Stand struck with precision, the numerous feathers it shot out decimating the swarm. Another approached Antoinette. "Shout Out!" Shout Out sprayed a jet of water at the swarm. The effect was as expected, as the swarm was quickly drowned, at least the ones that weren't immediately destroyed by the high pressure liquid.

As the struggle continued, the storm seemed to approach faster and faster. "That is no natural storm!," Sanji noted, "It's moving like it's coming right for us!" Tanaka quickly recalled his swarm, since it was useless in this weather. He raced to catch up to another racer in the midst of the storm, who also had a Stand, which looked like a large, wingless gargoyle. "Having trouble, Tanaka?," the racer asked. This was Draq Byron, along with his Stand Might Typhoon.

"These guys are giving me all I can handle," Tanaka replied, "Their Stands are powerful. We need to pull ahead, see if we can get far enough away that they either don't get to the next ball in time, or they wind up dropping out altogether." "We're nearing the end of the national park," Byron noted, "Which means we're too close to a neutral rest stop. We'll have to try for the Buffalo Gap if we hope to take them out. Let's hurry, enough racers are behind us that we can make it without either team losing members."

Team Kujo proved tenacious, however, eventually taking out Tanaka as they passed through Buffalo Gap and headed into Minnesota. Byron growled as the race to the next steel ball was on. "You won't get close to me thanks to my Might Typhoon!," Byron called out, "This Stand lets me summon a powerful storm at will! The clouds, the rain, the wind, the lightning, every facet under my control! That next steel ball is mine!" He reached the stop with the ball first, but that's when he made his biggest mistake. He turned off his Stand.

With the storm instantly gone, Ryusei quickly came flying in, striking Byron with Time Judged All's talons. "You don't have that ball yet!," Ryusei called out, "And your Stand is limited within this shelter!" "Don't think I'm so weak that I can't bring a storm inside," Byron said. He proved his point by conjuring a small rain cloud around him, launching the rain drops like bullets. Ryusei countered by firing off his feathers to strike through the rain, hitting Mighty Typhoon as they did.

"Your storm kept me away while it was at full power," Ryusei said as he flew up near the ceiling of the rest stop, "But now it's smaller, and I can fly even here. Plus my eyesight is stronger as a result of my Stand. To the point where I can feel out your next attack!" He dodged around the gusts of wind and bolts of lightning Byron threw at him, quickly diving in with Time Judged All, his talons grabbing Byron by the shoulders and driving him into the ground. With Byron out cold and his Stand dissipated, Ryusei was free to claim the red steel ball.

"Now we have five," Ryusei said, "So far so good." Byron started to stir, though it was clear he couldn't get up thanks to Ryusei's attack. "You may have beaten me," he muttered, "But some of the other racers further ahead have powers you'd never believe. Like the one responsible for the incidents in the previous cities. His Stand has a power I can't even comprehend. And there's also my partner. We got placed on different teams, but we swore we'd find a way to win together. His Stand... It's stronger than mine. And you'll be seeing for yourself soon enough." He then passed out, leaving the team concerned at his words.

As I've said, this arc is meant to be setup for future arcs. And nowhere will that be more obvious than in this chapter. Also some alternate character interpretation for Joseph.

Joseph was watching the events of the Steel Ball Run from his own office in New York City. He had tried using his new Stand Hermit Purple, which had manifested almost a year earlier, to find and track Sadao, whom he heard was running the race. However, while he could focus on the race itself, the footage he picked up from the television was limited to what was being shown on cameras, and not all of it focused on Sadao or his team. He tried using the camera that could also channel his Stand's new power, which created spirit photography, but he only got more pictures of his family's old nemesis.

'It's been almost a hundred years since Grandpa Jonathan defeated Dio,' he thought, 'And it still wasn't enough to end him once and for all. And now, if these pictures are to be believed, Dio's attached himself to my father's body.' He crumpled up the picture he held. "This is as good as insulting our family lineage!," he called out, "Hasn't Dio done enough to us!?" The knowledge that Dio's casket had been found a few years earlier on a salvage boat, completely empty, had sent Joseph spiraling into depression, as he was sure that, with Kars gone forever, his family would have nothing more to worry about.

It wasn't until he met a young college woman in Japan and spent some time with her that he recovered. Of course, he had to keep it a secret from his family. They had enough to worry about as it was. That woman may have fallen in love, but Joseph was still very much in love with his own wife Suzi Q, so to him it was just a means of coping. Maybe that was another reason why he was staying out of Japan, in spite of his daughter living there now. 'They can't know what I went through... It would only bring further trouble...'

He then got a call and picked up the phone. "Hello?" 'Joseph, good to hear from you,' came Lisa Lisa's voice. "Mom," Joseph said, cheering up, "Just the voice I needed to hear." After marrying her second husband, Elizabeth Hubert, still called Lisa Lisa by her close friends, stopped slowing down her aging to disguise how old she really was. Her husband was blissfully unaware that Lisa Lisa was older than him, even if she didn't look it, and of course no one outside the Joestar's circle of friends figured it out.

'Have you seen your son-in-law's standing in the Steel Ball Run?,' Lisa Lisa asked as they talked, 'There's some odd things happening around him and his team. Honestly it reminds me of Applejack and Twilight.' "Well I've been able to make sense of it," Joseph said, "I recently got a Stand of my own." 'Oh,' Lisa Lisa replied, surprised, 'Did Twilight let you have the arrow?' "No, and that's the issue," Joseph said, "By rights, while I do have the potential to possess a Stand, I shouldn't be developing one so late in life. I have some idea where it came from, but I'll be saving that for another time."

Back in the middle of the race, Team Kujo was finding out what Byron was talking about as they made their way through La Crosse in Wisconsin. Right in front of them was a abnormally small hurricane, moving at incredible speed as it raced across the highway. "No denying it this time!," Rudy called out, "That's a Stand for sure!" Indeed the Stand user in question, Roger Rexford, was his Stand Mighty Hurricane, a humanoid dressed in Chinese garb, to generate the terrible tropical phenomenon even in the more temperate climate.

"I think some racers are coming up from behind us," said another racer next to him who also was a Stand user. His name was Doctor Benny Clash, and his Stand Crazy Bear looked like a humanoid bear in yellow armor. "Just stick close to me so you keep to the eye of the storm," Rexford said, "The hurricane created by my Stand may not be as powerful as a real hurricane, but those winds can still send you flying across those fields hard enough to knock you out and send you into the hospital. Plus I need you near in case they managed to penetrate the storm wall. I'd prefer my buddy Draq to be hear since his Stand can cover my only weakness, but I'll take what I can get."

Clash grumbled. His Stand could only really send him into a berserker rage, which wasn't really very good in the middle of a race. It was perfect for actual combat, but they weren't likely to get off their bikes so far from the rest stop. Sure he could still try to attack, but there was enough room in the eye for them to evade on their faster motorcycles. Really he was rather limited in the current setting. The duo then heard the sounds of the engines of Team Kujo as they came in.

Radames was using Sun Goes Up to make the team heavy enough to drive even through the intense wind speed of the hurricane, while still staying on their bikes. "Your Stand is strong," Sadao admitted to Rexford, "But we have a few skills to make it through." Clash sighed. "This is not gonna be easy for me. Crazy Bear!" His Stand merged with him as he growled out a war cry. He pulled back to attack Sunset, who was closest, but she was able to block it with Tighten Up and counterattack, sending Clash right into the storm wall. Radames then had Sun Goes Up punch Rexford in the face, dispelling the hurricane and letting the team move on unhindered.

Less than fifteen-hundred kilometers from New York City, and the team was heading into Fort Atkinson. Right ahead of them was another racer who was running at powerful speeds and turning much sharper than any motorcycle should be able to. They soon saw the reason, as the racer had a Stand that resembled a minotaur. "Black Wallace coming through!," the racer called out, "My Stand Black Bull can make any vehicle as precise in its running as a real bull. It's perfect for this race. Before long I'll hit the top of the pack!"

"Guess he's the last obstacle before we hit Illinois," Rudy noted, "We'd better take him down here before he gets too far ahead, or he could snatch up a ball before we can." "Allow me," Sanji said, "From this distance I can snipe him easily. Reverse Rebirth!" The mechanical Stand emerged and armed its chest cannon. Aiming for Wallace's tires, it shot out an energy beam that hit the concrete near where Wallace was riding, causing him to peel out and crash, allowing the team to pass him. "So far so good," Sadao said, "Let's keep moving on. Our next major hurdle is Chicago."

Valentine checked out the standings as the race moved through Park Ridge. "They're down to the last fifty, including all of my team. I knew handpicking my racers was a good idea. At this point there won't be any more eliminations, but they'll need to hurry to capture the final steel balls needed to win." "Sir," his secretary said as she came in, "We have an issue with one of the racers, Mario DeBorne." She showed him a file. Valentine's eyes widened as he read it. "Does the board know of this?" "Not to my knowledge," the secretary replied. Valentine nodded. "Get me in contact with Sadao."

Sadao got the call in as his team entered Chicago. 'Sadao, do you remember that young mobster boss you ran into before we met?' "Sure," Sadao said, "He stuck out in my mind because of what he said as he left, implying he could see my Stand." 'That's because he can,' Valentine explained, 'His name is Mario DeBorne, and he's the sole racer sponsored by my company's chairman of the board. However, he's manipulating the contest behind the chairman's back.'

"How so?," Sadao asked. 'He's been in contact with other crime syndicates across the world,' Valentine explained, 'They're apparently answering to some unknown major power hidden behind the scenes in the middle of Egypt. The exact nature of this deal is unknown, but I do know a lot of money is going on amongst them and being funneled into some very low-profile assassins, most of whom are Stand users. I doubt you'll meet any of these assassins along the race course, but DeBorne has made arrangements to his family to take out your team. And any other racers along the way.'

"Why start now?," Sadao asked, "They had plenty of chances." 'Right now there are only fifty racers left,' Valentine explained, 'Meaning there won't be any more eliminations on our part. So DeBorne is forcing the issue to ensure that he and seven other racers handpicked by him are the ultimate winners. Listen, most of what DeBorne's family will send against you are no match for a Stand user, but he is in contact with a mob racer from a different team named Alan Genie, whose Stand is a vicious amphibian creature called Fat Shark. Keep an eye out for him, you'll likely meet him when you go for the next steel ball.' "Gotcha," Sadao said before hanging up.

Sure enough, the team found the mobster in question waiting for them as they neared the rest stop. "You've become a cause for concern for a friend of mine," Genie said, "But I think it's time to deal with you. Starting with your teammates." "Allow me," Antoinette said, "His said Stand may like water, but I still have a few advantages." Genie looked surprised, especially the fact that Antoinette seemed to be looking right at his Stand. "I see...," he realized, "DeBorne was unaware you all had Stands. This complicates matters, but like real sharks I'm quite capable of adapting."

He called out Fat Shark and had him tackle Antoinette into the nearby pool. Fat Shark soon found itself up against Shout Out, but couldn't see anyone else. The humanoid shark creature attacked with fearsome jaws and strong attacks, but Shout Out was designed to travel through the water with ease. "I can't keep track of it," Genie said, "If only I could find the girl I could take her out and bypass her Stand, but where is she?" "Just where do you intend to look?," came Antoinette's voice, "My Stand doesn't have a big projection range, so obviously I must be close by. Yet you're spending so much time looking through the entire pool."

It took Genie a few minutes to realize what Antoinette was getting at, as she burst from the pool in water form, Shout Out dragging Fat Shark with its whips as she did. "As they say," Antoinette said as Genie was thrown back from the attack, "You can't see the forest for the trees. My Stand, Shout Out, allows me to become like water to increase my mobility, or in this case blend into a watery environment. And like your Stand, mine is quite amphibious." Genie sent Fat Shark to snap at Antoinette with its jaws, but she leapt onto the nearby wall, clinging there with Shout Out's power, the legs having split into their octopus form.

"Your Stand possesses much in the way of physical power," Antoinette admitted, "But your skill is sorely lacking. I'm going to assume you're used to using it against those that cannot defend against it. But now that you're up against me, it's flaws are laid bare. And this shall be the finale!" She leapt off the wall and came down on Fat Shark, Shout Out lashing out with its whips at incredible speed. "NON! NON! NON! NON! FORME FAIBLE!" Genie and Fat Shark were taken out as Shout Out finished off with a electrified double strike. As the mobster lost consciousness from the attack, Antoinette held a locket around her neck and sighed. She then took the blue steel ball and the team moved on.

As the race moved out of Illinois, two more Stand users made themselves known before the border came up. One racer was named Dale Getter, with his Stand Cosmic Dolphin. This humanoid dolphin looked like an alien being, and could project a digital readout around Getter in a language only he could read, because he made it up. This allowed him to bypass all the other competitors. The other was Daisan Lebonte. His Stand, Pink Spider, was a humanoid spider wearing Chinese robes. It's power let it generate spider silk for a variety of uses, largely tying up rivals on the track.

The team soon came up to the duo, which set Getter's screens off as warning lights appeared over all of them. It turned out Rudy was trying a straightforward attack with Power To Tearer, using its horns to strike at Getter's Stand. The attack eventually proved successful, as Getter's attempts to keep his Stand away from Rudy's caused one of Power To Tearer's horns to hit Getter's bike, taking it out as Getter crashed. Meanwhile, Sadao used Gotta Keep It Real to easily cut through Pink Spider's silk, taking it out and causing Lebonte to crash. "We're about to circle the Great Lakes," Sanji said, "Less than a thousand kilometers to go."

So now we have the identity of this arc's Big Bad... But not his Stand. Also, Antoinette's quote as she pulls off her battle cry is French for "poor form". Her way of insulting the guy she's beating down on.

The team was heading into Toledo as Valentine called again. 'At this point I feel I should mention there are sixteen remaining Stand users in the competition, including your team. Since the remaining Stand users are likely to beat out the normal racers, I think you know what this implies.' "We still have two more steel balls to go," Sadao noted, "But they'll be gunning for the ones we have. Am I right in assuming DeBorne has all of them working together, even though they're likely in different teams?" 'Indeed,' Valentine replied, 'You have only five states left to go through. Be careful.'

After Valentine hung up, the team found themselves in another pack of racers, which was being harassed by mob vehicles packing guns. Ahead of them was a Stand user who's Stand resembled a harlequin but with seagull wings. His name was Matt Spade, and his Stand was called Magic Seagull. It worked by disguising certain things from cameras, including itself and its user. In a pinch it could also pull objects from nowhere, in a manner reminiscent of sleight of hand.

"He's keeping the mob cars hidden from the media coverage," Sadao realized, "At this rate, they might start killing those other racers. We need to take out the Stand user, then the mob will back off to avoid drawing attention." Spade looked back as he saw Team Kujo approaching. "Those Stand users who took out Genie," he realized, "They already have all but two of the steel balls. It'll be tricky, but I can fight back. Let me see what I can pull from my sleeves."

Magic Seagull started pulling out several weapons with which it made to attack, but Sunset lead the charge and used Tighten Up to block the attacks, kicking at Magic Seagull between its strikes to hit at Spade. Several of the mob vehicles moved to intercept, but Sadao just used Gotta Keep It Real to slice apart their guns, forcing them to back off. Before long, the mobster magician was taken down, his vehicle dropping as he fell unconscious from the blood loss.

Further ahead, DeBorne got hold of his father. "So Spade was taken out. That'll make things harder, his Stand was the only thing allowing our boys to operate without disqualifying me." He waited as his father talked. "No... No we can't let any of that team win, or it'll make us look weak in his eyes. You know how he hates weakness. We already have his attention due to how powerful my Stand is. Even he admits it could possibly beat his own." He nodded. "Yes, I'm sure we can still set up a few ambushes where people least expect them. I'm in contact with the remaining teams."

He checked his watch. "Do we have any word on the people he wanted us to hire? You know how tough they can be to track down." He listened. "Ah, good. The extra funding will go a long way towards securing our place in his world. I must admit, I'm curious as to what his goal is for overthrowing everything. I suppose we'll see when the time comes. Anyway, I gotta get going. I need to make up some distance if I want to meet Kujo and his team in New York."

Outside Cleveland, Sanji was also making a call, this one to the Speedwagon Foundation. "It's Sanji, code number 314159265359. I need to make a report, possibility regarding the incident Mister Joestar was investigating." He nodded. "Yes, we need our other Stand users to be informed. Anyone with any information regarding movement of known Stand using assassins. All knowledge regarding them should be filed and sent to Mister Joestar at earliest convenience. Win or lose, I get the feeling those assassins will be trouble in the future."

He hung up. "It may take some time for that information to trickle in, but no time like the present to get things set up. Hopefully it'll pay off in the future." Sadao frowned. "Who would be hiring all these killer Stand users, and what sort of powers do they have?" "I'm not sure," Sanji admitted, "Stand users tend to live solitary lives, due to the nature of their powers. Honestly this is the largest gathering of Stand users I've ever seen. I didn't even know there were this many. I mean, it's not like we have a club or anything."

The others nodded in understanding. Non-Stand users couldn't see Stands, and whenever a Stand user used their powers in the presence of those who didn't have a Stand, it came off as psychic power. This was certainly the case with the mobsters Sadao had beaten up with his Stand before meeting Valentine. Because of this, most Stand users tended to keep to themselves, not wanting to be hated or feared just because of something they were born with, as these eight racers were. But if there were people out there using Stands for evil purposes, it was important to stop them.

At the end of the Cleveland route, the group ran into another Stand user, his Stand resembling a robot rat with wheels on its back. "I see you showed up," the racer said, "I'm Dai Busch, and this is my Stand Silver Rat. I'm under orders to take you out." He got up, but Rudy stepped forward. "Is it really necessary to take all of us out? After all, you only have seven members of your group left. Of course, if by take out you mean kill..." He summoned Power To Tearer. "Then I won't hesitate to step in."

Busch laughed. "You really think a homeless old man intimidates me? I've spent years running with the mob. I've seen the worst people can throw at a guy. Silver Rat! Blow this guy to hell!" Energy spheres appeared in Silver Rat's hands and the tip of its tail. "My Silver Rat can launch energy bombs that have the same yield as dynamite!," Busch explained, "Perfect for sending a message via demolition! And since they have no physical components, there's no evidence to track!" Silver Rat launched the attacks, causing the team to scatter as Rudy seemed to get engulfed.

"That's the problem with real bombs," Busch noted, "They're good for destroying, but they make more evidence than they destroy. With Silver Rat I don't have that problem." "Oh, you're about to have a real problem, boy," came Rudy's voice, shocking Busch. He looked to see Rudy had encased himself in a shield of ice created by Power To Tearer. "You think you've seen the worst humanity can deliver! Take on the machine-gun nests coming up the beach at Normandy, then say that to me a second time!"

Busch stepped. "Wait, you're a World War II vet?" "I'm a soldier born and bred!," Rudy said proudly, "My Stand, Power To Tearer, developed as I stormed those beaches alongside my fellow American soldiers, watching as they got cut down one by one! It's because of me that, despite our army taking the greatest number of casualties any army has taken during a land battle, we still won against the Waffen-SS! At it's strongest, Power To Tearer could tear apart your entire organization! It's that ferocious! It's only because of my pride as a solider that it's under control, so don't forget that!"

He demonstrated by having Power To Tearer plow its fist into Silver Rat's gut, causing the same effect to Busch. "The only reason I'm homeless is because of the peace this world has, shaky as it is," Rudy noted, "But I still find reason to fight." Silver Rat quickly rushed away on its wheels, which had shifted to its legs, firing off more bombs as it retreated. "I'm starting to see how you got past your rivals," Rudy noted, "Silver Rat gave you an extra set of wheels for better traction."

Power To Tearer disabled the wheels using its horns before slamming its tail into Silver Rat. It then launched itself into the air and fired a gust of freezing wind, trapping both Silver Rat and Busch with it. "By the way," Rudy said, "You wouldn't happen to know what power DeBorne's Stand has, do you? It's been bugging us." Busch smirked. "Like I'd tell you that." Rudy shrugged. "Then I guess I have no other reason to hold back." Power To Tearer punched Silver Rat over and over, finishing it off with a powerful gut punch that left both it and Busch unconscious on the ground.

"That was awesome Rudy," Sunset said, as Rudy picked up the violet steel ball. "Thanks," Rudy said, "Guess in some ways, my war hasn't ended. But now we know that we can't expect mercy from DeBorne's group." "And there's still only one more steel ball to find," Sanji said, "Let's hope it's still there when we find it, or we'll have to take it back along the course." They got back to their bikes. At this point there was no more time to lose. They had to reach New York City, and stop DeBorne's plans.

Silver Rat's power is meant to be based on Rattrap from Beast Wars, little idea from a friend of mine.

The chapter title is in reference to a line from the song POWER To TEARER, which gave Rudy's Stand its namesake.

Sanji's ID number is actually the first twelve numbers in pi. Just some quick facts in case you were curious.

Back at the Kujo household, Jotaro was still watching the event. 'As the race nears its last two legs, only one of the coveted steel balls that gives the Steel Ball Run its name remains unclaimed, with many questions as to why the racers at the head of the pack have not claimed one. Speculation is that they intend to grab one from another racer, but with seven of the eight balls in the hands of Team Kujo, who so far have maintained a position near the rear of the pack, it seems likely that they will be the ultimate winners in this great contest.'

"Come on Dad," Jotaro found himself saying, "You can make this." "I'm sure your father will be just fine," Holly said, "You know you got a lot of your toughness from him. In fact, I'd say there's a lot you take from him." Jotaro sighed. "Then I really hope I find more time to be there for whatever kid I have." "I'm sure Fluttershy will help you with that," Holly said with a whimsical smirk. Jotaro lowered his hat to hide his blush. "Gimme a break... Why do you have to push my buttons like that? You're such a bitch." "Okay!," Holly said cheerfully, knowing her son was just embarrassed by his relationship.

The race was about to take a brief trip through Beaver Valley, Pennsylvania before heading into West Virginia. "They only have six Stand users left," Sunset said, "Keep an eye out. They'll likely be trying to ambush us." Sure enough, she found herself using her Stand to block a couple of energy shots, one made of electricity and the other made of light, both of which somehow had enough mass behind them to impact against Tighten Up's shield. "Like I said," Sunset noted.

Two female racers were coming up right behind the team. "We need to stop them before they reach the final ball," one of the racers said. Her name was Princia Keselowski. Her Stand, Spark Moon, looked like an Egyptian belly dancer with hearts all over her outfit. The other racer was Lily Harvick and her Stand Bunny Flash. It resembled a casino bunny girl wearing gloves that resembled rabbit feet and wearing a mask. "What's with the Cutie Honey ripoffs!?," Sunset demanded, "There's no way the whole Magical Girl genre can pick up steam after the last few series featuring them."

"So long as our hearts still love this most magical of fantasies...," Princia started. "The genre will never die!," Lily finished. "My Stand is Spark Moon, which creates spheres of electricity that can devastate any opponent!," Princia called out. "And my Stand is Bunny Flash!," Lily said, "Her light blasts and razor cards can strike with precision!" "Together our Stands will punish those who threaten the world!," they said as one. "I'd say DeBorne is more a threat than we are," Sunset noted.

"DeBorne is acting for the future of this world!," Princia argued, "He's in contact with a powerful man who is seeking to bring Heaven to Earth! And we stand by him all the way!" Sunset sighed. "I have no idea what you girls are on about, but you sound completely naive. You're not doing the fairer sex any favors with talk like that. Tighten Up!" Her Stand flew at the duo, who prepared to fight, only to get completely decimated as Tighten Up struck with its kicks over and over, knocking both girls off their bikes. "Bringing Heaven to Earth may not be a good as you think it is," Sunset noted, "God allows us free will for a reason."

"We just got through the National Freeway," DeBorne said into his phone, "The last ball is in Maryland." He listened. "It's a risky move, letting them have all eight balls before taking them. Were you really so humiliated by our goons getting their asses kicked, Dad? I already told you, there was no way they stood a chance." He blinked. "Why didn't I step in? My Stand is powerful, but all Stands share the same weakness. The Stand user. And close up I doubt I could've beaten him."

He sighed. "Yes, well, he's an exception, isn't he? Given what sort of being he is, I think it's only obvious he wouldn't be as vulnerable. And don't worry about Team Kujo. I have three more Stand users standing between them and me. If I'm not mistaken, the next one to face them is PJ. His Stand is perfect for offense. Odd name considering his powers, though. Still, he might just give Kujo and his team a run for their money." He listened. "A member of Speedwagon? Well that's interesting. But I doubt they'll be able to stand against him."

The team finally reached Big Run State Park in Maryland, where the last steel ball was waiting. However, there was another racer standing there, and with him was a Stand that looked like a robot with taxi colors on it. "You guys came far," the man said, "But here's where you meet your end. I'm PJ Busch. You met my brother earlier. Allow to introduce my Stand. Groovy Taxi!" Groovy Taxi's arm seemed to transform as a combat shotgun emerged from it.

"I'm a big sci-fi fan," PJ explained, "And like a regular taxi transports people, my Groovy Taxi takes my imagination to amazing places and brings back weapons straight out of a sci-fi novel or movie. This shotgun is just the first of my powerful weapons." He made to fire, but the shotgun was torn off by Sanji's Stand, using its drill attached to its crane arm. "Thus far all of my teammates have had to fight for the chance to grab one of the steel balls," he noted, "And now it's my turn. You face my Stand, Reverse Rebirth. If your Stand represents destruction, then mine represents construction."

He smiled. "You said you were a fan of sci-fi. As for me, I'm a fan of tokusatsu, or special effects shows. My absolute favorite is Kamen Rider, and I believe my Stand could possibly inspire a new Kamen Rider in the future." PJ blanched at that. "Are you serious? What would that be called, Kamen Rider Build? There's no way anyone would watch a hero with such a boring name." Groovy Taxi's arm shifted around until a heavy assault rifle emerged from its shoulder.

Dodging the automatic fire, Reverse Rebirth hit Groovy Taxi with its caterpillar treads. In response, Groovy Taxi generated a plasma rifle from its other arm, only to have its rifle smashed with Reverse Rebirth's shovel arm. "Groovy Taxi!," PJ called out, "Unleash your powerful gauss cannon!" The giant electromagnetic cannon emerged from Groovy Taxi's chest. As it fired, Sanji called out, "Reverse Rebirth! Chest cannon!" Reverse Rebirth generated its powerful energy cannon, firing it to counter Groovy Taxi.

The resulting explosion as the two forces met knocked both Stand users off their feet. PJ tried to get up, but was too slow as Sanji got up first and slammed Reverse Rebirth's drill into Groovy Taxi, causing both Stand and user great pain. PJ tried to activate the chaingun hidden in Groovy Taxi's head, but before it could fire he lost consciousness, ending the battle. Sanji smiled as he picked up the silver steel ball. "That's all eight. Now we just have to head to New York and cross the finish line." The group cheered as they headed for their bikes, ready for the final chase.

Groovy Taxi's weapons are meant to be based off Doom. Now granted Doom wouldn't be debuting for a few more years in-universe, but considering PJ is meant to have an active imagination, I wouldn't be surprised if he could think up these weapons on his own.

The team was resting for the night, ready to race for New York the next day. "We only have three more Stand users, including DeBorne," Sadao noted. "I hope we can win this at last," Antoinette said, "I still can't believe there are people that use their Stands for such terrible things." "Being a Stand user can be very lonely," Ryusei noted, "In fact in my school, there's only three Stand users. Me and Sunset are two of them. The third is another young man in our class." "You've seen this for yourself?," Sanji asked.

"Sunset hasn't," Ryusei clarified, "But I have, on occasion. The man is question is Noriaki Kakyoin. I've never heard the name of his Stand, but it's a green humanoid covered in white wrappings. The ability I've seen him use most often is to have it stretch out to amazing lengths in order to retrieve art supplies." "What sort of man is he?," Sadao asked. "Not sure of his personality," Sunset admitted, "Kakyoin keeps to himself for the most part. I don't think he knows me and Ryusei are Stand users, and the thought that he might be the only one leads him to not socialize."

"You've never told him you have Stands too?," James asked. "We live in different social circles," Ryusei replied, "Sure, we tried to hang out with him in order to let him know he's not alone, but he excuses himself before we can even really talk with him. I bet if he knew we were also Stand users he might be willing to socialize. I think he acts isolated on purpose to avoid people being afraid of him." "Me and Ryusei discovered each other's Stands on accident," Sunset noted, "It really helped smooth out our relationship."

"What about you, Antoinette?," Radames asked, "I've often seen you holding onto that locket." "It holds a picture of my best friend," she explained, "Back when she was still alive." "What happened to her?, Sunset asked, "I mean... If it's not too painful to tell." "I think I'd prefer to tell," Antoinette assured her, "It might ease the burden. It's no surprise I am French, but I didn't grow up in any of the major cities. Rather I grew up in the countryside. It was a small village with a tight-knit community. As such, I grew up being friends with my next door neighbor, Sherry Polnareff."

She smiled. "The Polnareffs were down to just a brother and sister in those days, their parents having been killed by disease. Sherry's older brother, Jean-Pierre, learned about my Stand and offered to teach me how to control it. He too is a Stand user, you see. However, three years ago something terrible happened. Me and Sherry were walking to school in the rain. I always kept my Stand out in those conditions to keep watch for hidden dangers. Unfortunately, the danger we found was too fast for Shout Out to keep up."

She started tearing up. "We saw a strange man standing with his back to us. The rain seemed to fall away from him in a dome shape. I knew at once he had to be a Stand user, and I somehow sensed he meant us harm. But before I could have Shout Out attack him, I felt something slice through my chest. It was so fast I didn't even see the attack. I was able to stay conscious, but I wish I didn't, as a horrible sight befell me. This man... He raped poor Sherry, then killed her when he was done!"

The group gasped in horror at Antoinette's words. "I was able to escape by turning into water and slipping through the raindrops," Antoinette continued, "I never got a good look at the man, but I did note something peculiar about him. For some reason, his left hand was shaped like a right hand. I told all this to the village. However, while they did start looking for Sherry's killer, they disregarded my account about the attack and the two right hands, believing that I was delirious from the incident. Only Polnareff believed me, and swore to hunt down the man with the two right hands. I have not seen him since. I plan to use my share of the prize money to hire a team of detectives to track down Sherry's killer, and perhaps also find what happened to Polnareff."

"I wonder what sort of Stand that man has," Sanji said, "Not only was it able to keep him dry in the rain, but it was fast enough to damage you before you could even see it." "Most Stand users keep their powers secret," Sadao noted, "We discussed ours to better our team synergy. And several other racers mentioned their powers because they didn't think we could outrace them." "How about you Rudy?," James asked, "We already got your history in World War II, but what about after?"

"You're wondering how a soldier could wind up on the street?," Rudy asked, "I guess it is strange, but I suppose my Stand might be to blame. After the war was done I still looked for the next big fight. I found it in Vietnam, but that proved a disaster. So many of my friends were killed there, it wasn't long before I broke down. I started spending away my pension, and before long I was losing everything. I had to take to the streets, but luckily my Stand insured I could survive."

"You really lost everything?," Sadao asked. Rudy smiled. "Well... Everything except my dog Iggy. We often traveled together out in New York. Iggy's a very rowdy Boston terrier, and he also has a Stand." The group looked shocked. "An animal can have a Stand!?," Ryusei said. "Sure," Rudy said, "It's not very common, but animals are living things with souls just like humans. In fact, they're probably very capable of controlling their Stands. Heck, Iggy was able to use his Stand to become the alpha male of the stray dogs around the city, even getting a couple female dogs all to himself."

"I guess that just leaves me," Sanji said, "You already know about my history with the Speedwagon Foundation. Up until recently my job within the organization was allowing Jonathan Joestar, the current family patriarch, an environment where he could focus his Hamon and maintain his life. But a couple years ago, when Dio's coffin was discovered empty, he stopped his meditation and he and his grandson began efforts to locate him. Participating in this contest is my chance to ask around America and see if any rumors of his appearance are abound. So far I've had no luck." The group then went to sleep, ready for the final leg.

With only three Stand users between Team Kujo and the finish line, they headed into Tumbling Run, where they met the next rival, Kewtri Truex. His Stand resembled a robotic humanoid turtle, and was in fact called Rolling Turtle. It's only power was to create an impenetrable shell around him, but he was able to move just as fast as normal even with it on. This basically made him a weaponless tank, so the team had to get creative to take him out before he tried to ram them.

Luckily, there was just enough space at the bottom of Kewtri's shell for Antoinette to slip under in her water form and strike at him, knocking him off his bike. "We're coming into New Jersey," Sadao said, "Just over two hundred kilometers to go until we reach New York. We've almost made it." "This has been one hell of a bizarre race," Sunset noted, "But I guess that's what happens when Stand users gather together in one location. Let's hurry, we still have a way to go before we reach the end."

The final Stand user they had to deal with before DeBorne came as they entered the New Jersey Turnpike. Michael Phoenix and his Stand Rainbow Phoenix, a costumed warrior in rainbow colors that could conjure a flaming bird construct that safe-guarded Michael as he traveled. "Kinda reminds me of Gorenger," Sadao noted, "Seriously, Jotaro always watches Super Sentai, he never seems to miss a single episode." Antoinette once against provided the means to attack Michael, the water spray from Shout Out leaving an opening that Ryusei exploited with Time Judged All.

With Micheal knocked out and out of the race, that just left the mystery of DeBorne and his Stand. "This entire time we've been plagued by police under the mistaken impression that this is a street race," Sanji noted, "And the police HQ in each city we've passed through has had to do some odd explaining to Valentine Motors. I've checked in with Speedwagon, and each officer involved in these events swears that they either experienced this months ago, or never experienced it. One or the other." Sadao's eyes widened. "Damn... I think I know what sort of power DeBorne has."

DeBorne raced through New York to hit the finish line near Manhattan. As he was hoping he's run into Team Kujo, he suddenly saw them as they came up behind them. "About time," he said, "Now I can eliminate them here and grab the steel balls I need to win. Dark... Schneider!" DeBorne's Stand, a hulking menace of a humanoid wearing dark purple and black armor and having an exposed brain, emerged. In an instant, the streets suddenly became congested with traffic.

"I knew I had your power figured out!," Sadao announced, "You can compress time to a single moment, can't you!?" DeBorne's eyes widened. "You figured it out? I'm a little surprised, I thought my power came off as more complex. But yes, my Dark Schneider can compress all the events within a year of the current day into a single moment. Those caught within the effect are left with lingering thoughts not dissimilar to deja vu, though Stand users can recognize the phenomenon for what it is."

"But there's no way your power can affect everything," Sadao noted, "And it can't last forever, otherwise this entire race would have been congested with civilian traffic." DeBorne chuckled. "That's some impressive insight. Indeed, my power only extends to the borders of whatever city I happen to be in, and the compression ends automatically after just five minutes. But within that time, everything a living being has done happens simultaneously."

Dark Schneider then seemed to manifest something in his hands. "By the way," DeBorne said, "My Stand can use the energy generated from the compressed time to attack. Dark Schneider!" The sudden bursts of energy sent Sadao, Ryusei, and Sanji running off the road and into the nearby subway tunnel. DeBorne then found himself having to defend against the other Stands, but Dark Schneider was a powerful fighter in its own right, capable of holding them off. 'I just need to get one ball,' he thought.

His compressed time effect wore out as they passed a nearby subway. "You're outta time!," Sunset noted. "I'll just activate it again," DeBorne said, "There's still time for me to--" "Hey DeBorne!," came Sadao's voice. He looked up to see Sadao, Ryusei, and Sanji racing in off the subway tracks. Against all odds, they had managed to navigate through the tunnels and reach the race course once more. Sadao smirked. "Let's play the sweet electric jazz! Gotta Keep It Real!"

Gotta Keep It Real rushed out as Sadao came down, slicing through Dark Schneider before it could react. DeBorne coughed up blood as he felt the attack, wiping out as he lost control of his bike. As he got up to try and get back on his bike, someone stepped on his hand. He looked up and gasped. It was Enya, still young looking after a hundred years thanks to Dio's blood. "Looks like you've failed to meet his expectations," Enya noted, "Such a shame. You and your father are about to learn the price for failure." DeBorne's scream was heard by no one.

Meanwhile, Team Kujo finally reached the finish line. Seeing the cheering crowds, they each held up the steel ball they collected, marking each of them as the winners. "Congratulations to Team Kujo!," Valentine announced, as each of them was handed the money as promised, "I knew I could count on you all." He smiled as the group exchanged congratulations and high-fives. 'This event never happened in a similar universe I know of, but it's interesting to see. Though much greater conflicts are certain to occur in the near future.'

"So they were unable to hold up their ends," said a voice. In the shadows was the familiar form of Dio. Enya slid into the bed he was sitting on with him. "We didn't really need the money they could get from the Steel Ball Run, but it would serve as proof of their commitment to our goals." Dio finished writing in his journal. "I have the full formula completed. But there is still a problem. I've felt the sensation of someone watching me. I'm positive it's Joseph Joestar, Jonathan's grandson. This body I now have is that of Jonathan's son George Joestar II, and the connection is still there."

"That is an unforeseen complication," Enya noted, "That Italian man found six other arrows in the tomb where Twilight's father found the one that gave her her Stand. He chose to sell me five of them, but kept one for himself for whatever reason." "You gave one to Pucci, as I asked?," Dio said. Enya nodded. "I don't know what sort of power he'll manifest, but given his loyalty it's certain to be one that will serve your cause well. I also gave one of those arrows to a Japanese man while we were setting up our business there. Speaking of businesses, Nijimura was given another of the arrows."

"So we have the last one in our possession," Dio noted, "Plus the odd one out with the scarab carving. That was collected by one of my new servants." "That new ability you obtained is perfect," Enya said, "With it we don't have to worry about being tracked because of people walking about in spite of death certificates." "Now there's only one thing we need to worry about," Dio said with a grin, "Our future. Soon the Joestars will come searching for me. To continue moving would be foolish, sooner or later they'll track me down. Let's stay here for a while, and wait for them." Enya smiled as she and Dio lay down.

"So," Rudy said, "I think I'll return to my friends around the city. For better or worse, this is my home." "Me and Sunset will be returning to Japan," Ryusei said, "We still have college to plan for." "I shall go back to my home in Egypt," Radames said, "I have much work to do to get my shop set up." "I think I'll head for my hometown in Morioh," Sanji said, "There's a rather nasty Stand user I've been hoping to track down ever since he first showed up seventeen years ago."

"I'll check in with my friends here in Manhattan," James said, "Something's been bothering Mister Joestar lately and I wanna make sure he's all right." "I shall start looking for a detective agency that will assist me," Antoinette said, "At the very least, I should be able to get help finding Polnareff." "What about you, Sadao?," Sunset asked. Sadao smiled. "I think I'll head home early," he said, "After this adventure, I feel like spending some downtime with my son." He headed off for the airport, never suspecting his son was soon to have his own bizarre adventure.

There's been speculation that DeBorne's Stand would have some form of time manipulation, and here it is. And with this, the Steel Ball Run arc is complete. Starting next chapter, we get into a long one with the Stardust Crusaders arc.

Stardust Crusaders has officially begun. Just to let you know, expect references to various abridged series, especially early on. Fluttershy herself has many similarities to Hanabi Moon from Stardust Crusaders: Blooming Adventures (a fanfic I highly recommend) but I took great pains to make her an entirely separate character, down to giving her Stand a power Hanabi's Stand, Queen's Thorn, never had.

It was 1983 when the mysterious event happened. A salvage boat that was found floating in the water, seemingly abandoned. The boat looked like it was just recently evacuated when it was found, as three cups of coffee were sitting on a table half empty. On the deck was what looked like some sort of coffin contained in a giant casket that had been opened with a blowtorch, the name DIO spelled out on the side. It was clear that the casket had been under the water for the last hundred years at least. Soon enough the incident was forgotten, but not by everyone.

But this was no concern to Himari Utsukushicho, Fluttershy to her friends and family, as she sighed in the middle of a police precinct. She listened as two officers recounted the incident to her boyfriend's mother, Holly Kujo. It was now 1988, almost a year after the Steel Ball Run. Fluttershy had run into a bit of a problem on her way home as some gang tried to jump her and possibly rape her. Luckily her boyfriend, Jotaro Kujo, was able to step in and stop them.

However, Fluttershy was shocked when something odd happened during the fight. Though she couldn't be sure, she thought a third arm was manifesting from Jotaro as he fought, taking out several of the thugs for him. He was clearly aware of it and it freaked him out. So now he was sitting in a cell while the situation was being explained to Holly. "So all his friends call him Jojo," one of the officers said, "They took the Jo from his first and last name and combined them. That's really lame."

He caught a serious look from Fluttershy, who had come up with the name, and apologized. Fluttershy was a social introvert most of the time, but she could step up and assert herself when needed. "Give it to me straight," Holly said, "How many people did Jotaro kill?" "Who said anything about killing?," the older officer said, "Sure he got into a fight with several thugs armed with knives and nunchaku, one of whom was an ex-boxer. But all he did was break several of their bones and busted their balls. Uh... Sorry if that's crude."

"Sorry about this, Seiko," Fluttershy said, calling Holly by the Japanese name all her friends used, "He was only trying to protect me." 'Of course I could have protected myself,' she thought, 'But he didn't know that.' The younger officer cleared his throat. "Ultimately we can't say he was in the wrong, but he still put all four punks in the hospital. He needs to be shown the severity of his actions." "Okay!," Holly called out in her usual, carefree tone.

The older officer handed the report to a desk secretary. "The real issue is what happened afterward. I gotta say, that son of yours is a strange one." Holly looked surprised, and noticed Fluttershy was hiding her face behind her long hair, like she usually did when there was something she was embarrassed by. The four of them went down into the cells. "Really we have no reason to keep holding him," the older officer explained, "So we'd appreciate it if you'd take him home with you."

"Of course," Holly said, "I'm glad this can all be resolved quickly." "If I may say," the officer said, "Your Japanese is very good. How long have you been living here?" "Twenty years now," Holly replied. The officer nodded. "Yeah, that would explain it." They finally reached one of the cells and the younger officer banged on the bars. "Hey Kujo! Get up, your mother's here to take you home." Jotaro was lying on the bed in the cell, facing the wall. He rolled over just enough to glare at the officers, making them shrink back.

"Mom, you should just leave," he said, "I can't get out just yet. Not until I find out what happened. You see, just recently I got possessed by an evil spirit, and I don't know what he'll make me do. During that fight, it took all I had just to stop it." Fluttershy sighed. "Jotaro... All it was doing was helping you protect me. Can you really call it evil?" Jotaro shrugged. "All I know is it's something violent, and I can't be sure it won't make me harm my loved ones."

The older officer sighed. "See, this is what I was talking about. Hate to ask Missus Kujo, but is your son alright in the head?" Just then several of Jotaro's cellmates crashed into the bars. They looked to be in a panic. "You gotta get us transferred, officers!," one of them said, "He's not lying about the evil spirit!" Jotaro just casually stabbed a beer can with a pen and shotgunned it, then crushed the can and tossed it aside, freaking out the other inmates even more.

"What the hell!?," the older officer called out, "Who let him have a beer!? Where did he even get it!?" "I told you," Jotaro said, "That spirit sometimes like to bring me things." Fluttershy noticed that Jotaro's cell had a high window that looked out onto the street and realized where the stuff must have come from. She then saw the same arm from before lift up a Shonen Jump magazine for Jotaro to read. 'Could this be what I think it is? But he's never shown this sort of power before, so where did he get one?'

The officers were concerned about Jotaro having contraband in his cell, but he then stood up and took off his hat. "This may not be enough to convince you, so let me show you what this spirit can do." The same arm appeared and grabbed the younger officer's gun, pulling it off the chain that normally kept it from being stolen. Holly and Fluttershy gasped at the sight of it. "Did you see that just now?," Jotaro asked, "Well if not..." He pointed the gun near his head. "Then maybe you'll see this."

He pulled the trigger, freaking everyone out as his head recoiled. But it was only from the shockwave of the gun going off, as the third arm had caught the bullet in mid-air, several inches from Jotaro's temple. 'This is definitely a Stand,' Fluttershy thought, 'It seems to focus on precision, and it's fast enough to catch a bullet in mid-flight.' "I hope you get it now," Jotaro said, "This spirit bound itself to me not long ago. It's better if I stay here until I find out what it wants."

Fluttershy looked over to Holly and realized from her face that she had also seen the mysterious arm. 'But Holly doesn't even have a Stand. How could she have seen it? The rule is that only Stand users can see Stands, that's why I can see that spirit since I have a Stand of my own.' Holly nodded. "I think I know someone who can help Jotaro. But it's going to be a while before he can arrive. Fluttershy, can you look after Jotaro in the meantime?" Fluttershy nodded. "Yes." Jotaro sighed. "Gimme a break..."

The next day, Holly was jumping up and down excitedly at the Narita International Airport. "Over here Papa!" "Holly," Joseph said, grateful to see his daughter once again. They immediately hugged, but Holly wouldn't let go. After giving Joseph a major tickling for mentioning her age, Holly asked, "So is Mom here too?" "She couldn't come," Joseph said, "The only reason I was allowed to leave is because I said it was for business. Your great-grandfather's here, though."

Sure enough, Jonathan was nearby, sitting next to an Egyptian man who had his eyes closed in mediation. The years had started taking a toll on Jonathan, but he still looked as fit as ever. "So Holly," Joseph said, "Is it true what my grandson said about this evil spirit?" Holly looked saddened. "Yes... The police couldn't see the third arm, but I could. And I'm pretty sure Jotaro's girlfriend Fluttershy could as well." Joseph rubbed his chin. "Has she tried talking to Jotaro about this spirit?" "She said she wanted to ease him into it before explaining something important," Holly said.

"Hmm," Joseph said, "That's time we may not have. By the way, has anything been happening with you?" Holly shook her head. "No, everything's the same with me." Joseph seemed relieved. "Well, I'll be sure to get my grandson out of that cell. Grandpa. Avdol. Let's get moving." The two men got up and followed Joseph and Holly out of the airport. 'So it's finally time to settle this,' Jonathan thought, 'Our hundred year curse. And where we go after... Well, that won't be for me to know.'

Back at the precinct, Fluttershy was helping Jotaro with his school work. "I should really be working on my other studies," Jotaro said. "I told you I can answer everything you need to know," Fluttershy reminded him, "I saw that arm too, even if those scaredy cat officers can't." Sure enough, the older officer was freaking out at all the other stuff Jotaro now had in his cell. "Oh man... If my bosses find out about this..." "It's not your problem anymore," came a gruff voice, "My grandson will be coming with me."

Jotaro and Fluttershy looked at each other. "Your grandfather's here?," Fluttershy asked. "Don't look at me," Jotaro said, "I can't even remember seeing my grandfather." Joseph and the officers had a brief argument before Joseph tossed them out of the way. "Jotaro!," Holly said as she came in, "This is your grandfather! He's here to to help, so you can come out now!" Jotaro stood up and went to confront his grandfather. Joseph casually opened the cell door. "Get out. It's time to come home."

"Gimme a break," Jotaro said, "You think you can help me? Sorry you had to waste your time coming all the way from New York, but there's no way you know what I'm going through. You should leave before you lose what's left of your life." He held up a mechanical finger. Joseph realized it was the pinkie from his prosthetic hand. "Oh wow," Fluttershy said, "I didn't know you had a prosthetic." Jotaro scoffed. "Did you see it? Feel it? That's the evil spirit."

Joseph looked at Jotaro. "I saw it all right," he said, causing Jotaro to raise an eyebrow in surprise, "But I think you have some misconceptions about this so-called evil spirit. But to truly understand just what this is, I have a friend here who can show you the true power this spirit possesses. Avdol?" The Egyptian man stepped forward. "This is Muhammad Avdol," Joseph explained, "An Egyptian friend I made a few years ago. Avdol, do whatever it takes to get my grandson out."

"Of course," Avdol said, "But I should warn you I may have to severely injure him to accomplish this." Joseph shrugged. "If that's what needed." Jotaro scoffed. "Oh please. You look strong, but do you really think you can force me out of this cell?" Avdol smirked. "We'll soon find out." He breathed deep, then called forth a large red humanoid with a falcon's head that seemed to breathe fire. Jotaro looked shocked. "This is..." "Yes," Avdol said, "I too have what you erroneously refer to as an 'evil spirit'. This spirit obeys my very will. I call it... Magician's Red!"

Burning whips emerged from Magician's Red as they grabbed Jotaro's limbs, pinning him to the wall. The officers, who couldn't see Magician's Red or its flames, were flabbergasted. "What's going on here?," the younger one said, "How did Kujo pin himself to the wall? And where's all this heat coming from?" Fluttershy stated sweating. "This is too much heat. I need to cool down. Music in the Trees!" Joseph looked shocked as a young female humanoid wearing leaves to cover its private areas appeared, sprouting a tree from nowhere which shaded Fluttershy and cooled her off.

"So you do have one," Joseph noted, "I thought as much." "Yeah," Fluttershy said, "I was going to start telling Jojo about it when you arrived." At the same time, a large purple human-like figure appeared from within Jotaro and shook off Magician's Red's flames. "There it is!," Joseph called out, "He's finally made it fully manifest! And it's so clearly visible!" The figure immediately grabbed Magician's Red by the throat, the effect felt by Avdol as well. "It's so strong," he noted as he tried not to choke, "I can't believe how powerful it is."

"I gotta admit," Jotaro said, "Your own spirit isn't half-bad either. And Fluttershy, since when did you have one? You should have told me earlier." "These things aren't easy to bring up," Fluttershy said as Music in the Trees manifested a large coconut, which she started drinking from, the officers dumbfounded at its seemingly sudden appearance. "Mister Joestar," Avdol said, "I was originally planning on going easy on your grandson, but it looks like I'll need to use greater force that could put him in the hospital."

"That's fine," Joseph said, "So long as he learns. Do what you need to get him out." Avdol nodded. "Yes sir! Red Bind!" The flames started wrapping around Jotaro, grabbing him like vines. "Papa, what are you doing!?," Holly asked frantically. "Not to worry," Joseph assured her, "If anything serious happens I can take care of it. And look." As Jotaro struggled to breathe, the Stand he manifested seemed to subside. "What's going on here?," Jotaro asked, "The spirit seems tied to my breath."

"That's because what you think of as an evil spirit," Joseph said, "Is really a psychic vision created by your life energy. These visions are always seen standing by your side, so we call them Stands because of that." "So then Jotaro," Avdol said, "Just as in the fable of the sun and the north wind, has the heat from my flames convinced you to leave yet?" Jotaro scoffed. "It's not as simple as taking off a jacket. I have bigger problems, like the fact that I keep hurting people without knowing how. As happy as I am that I've found someone else with this power... I can't be held responsible if you keep this fight up!"

He kicked the table in the cell hard enough to send it into the nearby sink, causing the water to come spraying out and douse the flames. Jotaro's Stand returned in full force and bent the cell bars until it had a makeshift spear. Jotaro then walked forward as his Stand made to stab Avdol, but before it hit Avdol turned around. Jotaro stopped as Avdol walked over to sit at the nearby wall. "Hey!," Jotaro said, "Aren't you gonna finish this fight?" "I already have," Avdol replied, "I was only supposed to get you to leave the cell."

Jotaro realized he was no longer standing behind the cell bars. He sighed as his Stand handed him the metal rod. "So, you were planning on letting me win?" "Not at all," Avdol assured him, "I had every intention of sending you to the hospital, but you are far stronger than I realized." "That was a risky move," Fluttershy said, "What if Jotaro hadn't decided to stop his attack?" "My Stand, Magician's Red, controls flames at will," Avdol explained, "It could have easily melted the steel rod into a useless puddle before it even reached my neck." "Well, now that we have that out of the way," Joseph said, "You now know other people have the same power as you, Jotaro. You won't learn anything else from in here, so what's say we head elsewhere? My grandfather's waiting for us at the nearby restaurant."

"So Gramps," Jotaro said as they sat around a table at the restaurant, "How did you even learn about these Stands in the first place?" "It's hardly my first encounter with them," Joseph explained, "But it's only recently that I've been able to see them for myself. My Aunt Twilight had a Stand, you see, as does my friend Applejack. It's from them that I learned all about Stands." "But how are you able to see Stands?," Fluttershy asked, "Only Stand users can see them."

"There's a reason for that," Joseph assured her, "But to explain why, I need to get you up to speed on our family history. It all starts with these pictures." He placed a few photos showing a salvage boat and a large coffin, the word DIO visible. "What is this?," Jotaro asked, "And who is 'DIO'?" "DIO was my adopted brother," Jonathan explained, "We first got to know each other a hundred years ago. I know that sounds ridiculous, but both of us have reasons why we're somehow that old. The point is that in the time I've known DIO... I got to know how evil he truly is."

"The coffin in this picture was last seen on the same boat where Grandpa had his honeymoon," Joseph said, "And it's only emerged from the sea it was hidden in twice. Once just prior to World War II, and once just a few short years ago. As you can see, the coffin is empty, meaning DIO is now somewhere in the world as we speak. Me and Grandpa have been trying to find him with Avdol's help. That is the destiny of our family." Jotaro looked at Joseph with a raised eyebrow, not sure what to make of the situation.

"I gotta say Grandpa," Jotaro said, "This whole thing kinda sounds far-fetched." "Perhaps it is," Avdol said, "But wouldn't you say the same about our Stands?" Fluttershy chuckled as Jotaro got a rare flustered look about him. "Both of you do have a point though," she noted, "And I'm still curious as to how you're even able to see Stands at all, Mister Joestar." "Well, it just so happens I developed a Stand of my own recently," Joseph explained, "Avdol?" Avdol handed Joseph a Polaroid instant camera.

"Me and Grandpa developed Stands of our own," Joseph explained, "Grandpa got his by using a special arrow that gave Aunt Twilight her Stand. As for me... Well, when you see what I'm about to show you, I think you'll understand." He held his right hand over the camera as thorny vines suddenly appeared from it. He then tapped the camera, which caused it to spark and eject a picture. "Papa, those thorns!," Holly said. "Yes, that is my Stand," Joseph said, "It's called Hermit Purple, and it can reveal faraway images and place them on film. I was considering just smashing the camera to get it done, but..."

He looked over to Jonathan. Jonathan had taken the time to convince Joseph that he didn't need to grandstand to get his Stand to work. "Anyway, while we wait for the photo to develop I think I should explain something. Jotaro, you know about the tattoo your father got, right?" "Yeah," Jotaro said, "It was that little purple star that was similar to my birthmark." "It's not just you," Joseph said as he showed the back of his neck, which had the same birthmark. Jonathan revealed he had one too. "According to my mother," Joseph said, "My father also had such a birthmark. My son has it as well."

Holly checked the back of her neck, and sure enough Fluttershy saw the same birthmark. "Everyone of our bloodline has this mark," Jonathan explained, "That's important to keep in mind. Here, look at the photo." The photo had developed, showing DIO within it. Jotaro's eyes widened when he saw the same birthmark. "The hell is this? You said DIO was adopted into the family." Joseph pounded the table. "The reason he has that birthmark... Is because his body from the neck down is that of my father! My father was killed by one of DIO's minions during World War I, and all we found of Dad was his head. DIO used the rest of him to regain his strength by taking over his body like a common parasite!"

"It was likely after this that DIO got his Stand from an arrow similar to the one that gave Jonathan his Stand," Avdol noted, "Those who gain a Stand this way can pass the potential to any offspring they may have. This is likely where you and Mister Joestar got your Stands from, unlike me and Fluttershy who were born with our Stands." "So there's more than one of these arrows?," Fluttershy asked. "It seems that way," Jonathan said, "Twilight's birth father had a journal that detailed how he found seven such arrows in an Egyptian tomb, only taking one for further study."

"It's been a few years since DIO awoke," Avdol said, "Yet we have found scarce clues regarding his current location. Even this new photo holds nothing to point to his location." Holly looked saddened, and Joseph put a comforting arm around her. "Sorry to dump this all on you Holly. But listen, we'll stay here for a while we sort this out, just to make you feel better." Holly seemed to cheer up. "Okay. Thanks for staying, Papa." Jotaro looked at the scene, and rubbed his neck where the birthmark was.

Meanwhile, in his new mansion, DIO stirred from his slumber. "Something wrong?," Enya asked as she sat up next to him. "I felt it again," DIO explained, "Joestar. Joseph Joestar. The body of his father is signaling him. If I am to accomplish my goal, this fate must be purged." "I've already spoken with DeKurliss," Enya assured him, "His own Stand, Beautiful Stranger, has shown us the location of the Joestars. I've sent the Hierophant into position to eliminate the youngest of them, Jotaro Kujo." DIO smiled. "Perfect."

The next day, Jotaro was getting ready for school, Fluttershy stopping over to walk with him as always. "Jotaro!," Holly called out, "Don't leave without your goodbye kiss." She pecked him on the cheek. "Gimme a break... Why do you always have to be such a clingy bitch?" "Okay!," Holly called out, as carefree as always. "I really wish you wouldn't call your mother that," Fluttershy said. "I'm seventeen now," Jotaro said, "That whole routine was sweet when I was still a boy, but it's gotten annoying now that I'm more grown."

The two of them walked over the school, where they were suddenly swarmed by more girls from their school who were calling out Jotaro's nickname. Despite the fact that it was made clear that Jotaro was with Fluttershy, that didn't stop the other girls from at least trying to get him to talk to them. As their squawking and bickering continued, both Jotaro and Fluttershy yelled out, "SHUT UP!" The girls immediately fell silent. "You're all so annoying!," Jotaro yelled. Meanwhile, another young man in a green uniform watched, completing a painting of Jotaro.

'Just as he was described,' the man thought. He moved his brush, dipped in red, to the painting's knee and painted a slash. Almost immediately afterword, as Jotaro and Fluttershy were reaching the top of a series of steps, Jotaro felt his knee give out as a blood spurt showed he had been slashed. As he started to fall to the bottom, Fluttershy called out, "Music in the Trees!" Her Stand appeared and caused the nearby branches to reach for Jotaro, who used his own Stand to grab them.

Back at the Kujo house, Jonathan looked at an old picture, which showed himself, Twilight, and DIO as they were back in college. It was right after their major rugby game, and was probably the moment when they were happiest. 'Even then I couldn't bring myself to be your friend, DIO. Something always told me you could never integrate into the family. But once this is all over, both of us can finally rest forever.' He shed a tear, remembering how he was the only member of his old group of friends who was still alive.

In keeping with the tradition of early Jojo characters being named for musical references, DeKurliss is named after Matthew Busek, otherwise known as De Kurlzz, a former drummer for Hollywood Undead. DeKurliss' Stand is named after the song "Beware of the Beautiful Stranger". I wanted DeKurliss to be a fortune teller to act as a foil to Avdol, so I looked up songs befitting a fortune teller. And given DeKurliss works for Dio I thought this particular song fitting.

I should take this opportunity to say... Expect references to several Jojo Abridged series, especially the ones created by Syphedubs and Antfish. See if you can spot them.

DIO watched as the elderly DeKurliss peered into his Stand, Beautiful Stranger, which resembled an ornate hand mirror with seven masked faces on the back. "I was grateful to get a soldier's body to recover my strength," DIO noted, "And the irony that it would be the son of Jonathan Joestar was too delicious to ignore. But now I am feeling the cost of this new energy." "The Hierophant is preparing to ensnare the young Joestar," DeKurliss said, "Shall we watch, master?" "No need," DIO replied, "Inform me when the confrontation is over. We'll know whether he succeeded... Or if we should turn to others."

Back at the steps, the other girls were panicked at seeing Jotaro fall. Of course, none of them saw either him or Fluttershy use their Stands, and assumed the branches just broke Jotaro's fall. "Are you alright, Jojo?," Fluttershy asked as she hurried down to him. "Yeah," Jotaro replied, "But look at this." He opened the hole in his pants to reveal the cut. "Something cut me at the top of the stairs, but I couldn't see anything." "Neither could I," Fluttershy admitted.

Back at the top, the young man observed the situation. "The girl has a Stand too. That will be of interest to Lord DIO. And Jotaro... His Stand is quite fast and powerful. I can see why Lord DIO needs him dealt with. But I should be able to do so with my own Stand easily." He tossed the painting into a nearby tree, where it promptly got sliced to pieces. He grinned as he started walking down the stairs. Fluttershy was speaking with one of the nearby birds. Her Stand, Music in the Trees, didn't just manifest various plants at will. It was a pure nature Stand, and could allow her and others to communicate with animals.

"None of the local creatures are sure what happened," Fluttershy said, "They only saw you walking down the stairs at the point your leg got slashed." Jotaro adjusted the brim of his hat. "Which means this was likely the work of a Stand. But where's the Stand user?" Just then they heard the sound of someone walking down the steps. It was the guy that had been painting. He handed Jotaro a handkerchief. "Here. Your leg seems to be bleeding. Will you be alright?"

"Yeah," Jotaro said as he took the handkerchief, "It's not too deep." As the man walked away, Jotaro called out, "Hold on!" The man turned to look at him. "Forgot to say thanks," Jotaro said, "I don't think we've seen you around. What's your name?" "Noriaki Kakyoin," the man replied. Fluttershy tapped her chin. "I heard that name from my cousin. Do you go to the same school as a girl named Asahi Nichibotsu?" "The name sounds vaguely familiar," Kakyoin admitted, "But regardless, I recently transferred here. Well, see you around." As he walked away, the other girls were talking about who might be cooler, Jotaro or Kakyoin, while Jotaro and Fluttershy headed for the doctor's office.

The female doctor looked surprised at Jotaro's cut. "Jotaro, did you get hurt in a fight?," she asked, "And take off that hat. It's rude." There were a couple other delinquent students on the beds nearby. One of them said, "Come on Doctor. When's the last time Jotaro got hurt in a fight?" "Elementary school," Fluttershy noted. The delinquent shrugged. "I rest my case." The doctor sighed. "Well then, I'll just have to believe you fell down, Mister Clumsy." She got out a pair of surgical scissors.

"Hold it," Jotaro said, "What are you planning on doing?" "I need to cut your pants to treat you," the doctor explained. "That's a waste," Jotaro said as he got up, "I'll just take them off." Fluttershy knew the real reason was that Jotaro was just attacked, meaning he needed to be careful until the attacker was identified. 'But Stand users live in an invisible world. Ordinary people could never understand this world, since they can't perceive it.' "All right then, stingy," the doctor said. She turned to the other delinquents. "While he's doing that, I'll take your temperature."

Jotaro sighed at the antics of the doctor and the delinquents while Fluttershy giggled. She then got out the handkerchief to help Jotaro stop the bleeding, but then gasped. "Uh... Jojo..." Jotaro looked at the handkerchief and his eyes widened at what Fluttershy was looking at. Written on the handkerchief was, "Jotaro Kujo, I will kill you today with my Stand!" And it was signed by Kakyoin. The two lovers looked at each other. "Kakyoin!?" They then heard the delinquents screaming in terror and whirled around to look at them.

To their shock and horror, the doctor was acting possessed and shaking a pen around in a violent manner. "Doctor!," one of the delinquents said, "What the hell are you doing!?" "Isn't it obvious," the doctor said, "I'm shaking the thermometer to get the mercury down." It was clear she was completely oblivious to the situation, her eyes were totally blank and she was foaming at the mouth. "That's not a thermometer!," the other delinquent said, "That's a pen!"

"A pen!?," the doctor asked, now really acting unnatural, "Does this look a pen to you!?" Before Jotaro and Fluttershy could react, the doctor had jabbed the pen into the delinquent's eye, causing him to scream in pain and terror. Fluttershy then pointed to the doctor's feet. "Jojo, look!" Jotaro looked down and saw a green tendril of some kind going right up the doctor's leg and up through her crotch. "I really hope it's not doing what I think it's doing," Fluttershy muttered.

"You mean besides obviously controlling the doctor's actions?," Jotaro asked. Fluttershy nodded. "Yes. Besides that." "Hey, Jojo!," the doctor said as she turned around, "Are you also gonna tell me this looks like a pen!?" As she tried to stab Jotaro, Fluttershy conjured some vines with her Stand to restrain the doctor. "If your eyes were working, you'd see that's clearly a pen." Jotaro moved to remove the pen from the doctor's grip, but he had some difficulty.

"Something's wrong!," Jotaro said, "Her grip's like a vice! Whatever this is, it's not just controlling her! It's giving her unnatural strength!" "Is this really Kakyoin's work!?," Fluttershy asked as her Stand struggled to keep the doctor from stabbing Jotaro, "Maybe he was the one who slashed you back at the stairs!" "That's right," came Kakyoin's voice from nearby. They turned their heads to see him reclining on the windowsill, a marionette dangling from his fingers. "Hey there, long time no bleed."

"Not a bad line," Jotaro noted, "So, you are the one behind all this." "Indeed," Kakyoin admitted, "My Stand is controlling that woman, so if you attack it, you'll be attacking her." "Okay, just to clarify," Fluttershy said, "How much of who you are were you lying about?" "Only which side I was on," Kakyoin admitted, "And even then it was more an omission of information. Regardless, I am here on behalf of Lord DIO to kill you, Jotaro. And perhaps bring the girl back to serve him as well."

Jotaro saw something in the doctor's mouth as it opened, then grabbed her head and pulled her into what looked like a kiss, surprising both Fluttershy and Kakyoin. As Jotaro pulled away, his Stand also appeared, pulling out a green humanoid torso with its teeth. Fluttershy sighed in relief when she realized what he was doing, though the act did cause the doctor's blouse to come undone, revealing her bra underneath. "Jojo, when I said you need more greens in your diet, this is not what I had in mind."

Jotaro just smirked as his Stand let go of Kakyoin's and grabbed it by the head. "If you think I'm going to let you hurt either my girlfriend or the doctor, you've got another thing coming. Now that I can see your Stand for myself, I know it's nothing but a parasite! Just a weak little Stand that can only possess people!" Music in the Trees joined Jotaro's Stand in pulling out the green Stand from the doctor's mouth. "And another thing," Fluttershy said, "Having your Stand crawl up the doctor's crotch? For someone so seemingly cultured that's just disgusting."

Kakyoin grunted. "You'll both regret pulling that out of her." Even as he spoke, the finger marks of Jotaro's Stand were visible on his head, while rope marks from Music in the Trees' vines could be seen on his neck. No surprise, since Jotaro's Stand was squeezing the head of Kakyoin's Stand, while Music in the Trees was restraining it with its vines. "I noticed something like this earlier," Jotaro noted, "Back when my Stand fought Magician's Red, the effects could be seen on Avdol."

"Most humanoid Stands synchronize with their users," Fluttershy explained, "The pain felt by one affects the other. This one is no exception." They then noticed some sort of green liquid coming from the Stand's hands. "You should have done a better job tying up my Hierophant Green's hands," Kakyoin noted, "Because I can still perform it's signature technique. Emerald Splash!" The liquid turned into a torrent between Hierophant Green's hands, generating large chunks of green gems.

Jotaro pushed Fluttershy out of the way and summoned his Stand to shield Music in the Trees. The attack struck Jotaro's Stand in the chest and sent him flying through the nearby door. "What was that?," Jotaro wondered, "I thought this was just a parasite." "It's far more than that," Kakyoin explained, "My Stand is just as capable of attacking on its own. It doesn't necessarily need to control someone. That Emerald Splash attack is a great example. Your Stand's chest has been pierced, and you along with it."

"Then why did he only cough up a small amount of blood?," Fluttershy asked, "You seem to have a bad concept of medicine. You probably ruptured a few blood vessels with that attack, but from where I was standing that attack didn't do nearly the amount of damage you think it did." Kakyoin scoffed as the doctor suddenly had several blood vessels within her explode, causing major bleeding. "The hell was that?," Jotaro demanded, "We got your Stand out of her."

"My Stand has a much farther range than you realize," Kakyoin explained, "And it hates open spaces. It would much rather hide within a dark and narrow space, which is why it clung to the doctor's throat. It's your fault, you know. I warned you earlier. She didn't have to get hurt. You could have just let me kill you quietly..." He then got a surprise when Music in the Trees stabbed Hierophant Green with multiple thorns, causing him great pain and injury. Fluttershy was looking absolutely livid.

"Are you... KIDDING ME!?," she demanded, "The doctor would never have been in this situation if you hadn't attacked us in the first place, so you have no right fostering responsibility for her injuries on us! And letting you kill us!? What sort of ideology has DIO stuffed into your moronic head!? News flash, humans are required to defend their existence by nature!" Jotaro smirked as he slowly got up, still a little shaky from the attack.

"Y'know, I think only Fluttershy has called me a nice guy," he noted, "Most others wouldn't do that. I beat up people more than I really have to, most of whom are still in the hospital. Whenever a teacher gets on my bad side, let's just say they've never returned to class. And whenever I get served crap food at a restaurant, I leave without paying the bill." He swiped his fingers across the brim of his cap. "But even I can tell real evil when I see it. When a person uses the weak for their own personal gain, then stomps on them when they no longer need them. That is true evil!"

Kakyoin scoffed. "Such a naive viewpoint. What is good or evil is determined by the winners, it doesn't matter--" "America and the Vietnam war," Fluttershy pointed out, cutting him off. "Okay, now you're just nitpicking!," Kakyoin called out, "Emerald Splash!" Fluttershy smirked. "Maybe... But even if you're right, that doesn't mean you'll be winning. Oak Barrier!" Her Stand conjured a thick shield of bark that easily blocked the attack.

"My Stand is a Stand of nature," Fluttershy explained, "It can easily generate and manipulate plants freely, so even a simple leaf can become as thick and durable as solid steel. Of course, it's easier to pull that off with tree bark." Kakyoin grunted. "In that case... I'll just have to finish off Jotaro!" He whirled around. "Emerald Splash!" Jotaro grinned as his Stand emerged and crossed its arms, easily deflecting the attack. Kakyoin was shocked. "But how...?" Jotaro's Stand then grabbed Hierophant Green by the throat, causing Kakyoin to cough up blood.

"Fluttershy mentioned it earlier," Jotaro explained, "But your attack didn't damage me nearly as much as you thought. Sure, you caught it off guard and scratched it up a little. Hurt like hell, too. But ultimately my Stand is far too strong to fall to such a pathetic attack as yours. And since your Stand keeps you from human judgement, then the one to judge you... WILL BE MY STAND!" Jotaro's Stand started pummeling Hierophant Green. "ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!"

"Don't leave me out!," Fluttershy called out, "Go, Music in the Trees!" Music in the Trees joined Jotaro's Stand in a final uppercut that sent Hierophant Green crashing through the ceiling, and through several more floor above them. The attack caused Kakyoin to practically explode in blood. "Such... Power...," he said weakly as he fainted from the pain and blood loss. Music in the Trees gazed at how cool Jotaro's Stand looked, and it smiled warmly at Fluttershy's Stand.

Fluttershy giggled. "Looks like our Stands are as in love as we are." Jotaro smiled. "Anyway, that last attack looked like it did more damage to the school than Kakyoin. We'd better get out of here." He checked on the doctor. "Looks like she's still alive. She'll be fine so long as she gets immediate treatment." Fluttershy buttoned the doctor's blouse. "It sounds like people are going to come running," she noted, "It's best to preserve her modesty." "Well," Jotaro said as he hefted Kakyoin over his shoulder, "I wasn't planning on ditching school today, but it looks like we have the perfect excuse. Let's get this guy to the old man. Maybe we can get some information about DIO."

Back at the Kujo residence, Holly got a sudden premonition and looked at Jotaro's photo on the nearby dresser. She hugged the picture as she said, "I just felt a sudden closeness with my son. He must be thinking about me at school." "Or I could've just come home early," came Jotaro's voice, surprising Holly as she dropped the photo. She looked as she him and Fluttershy, with Kakyoin still out of it as Jotaro propped him up. "Jotaro, what are you and Fluttershy doing out of school!?," Holly asked, "And who is that man!? And why is he covered in blood!?"

"It's a long story Seiko," Fluttershy said, "Right now we need to find Mister Joestar. Do you know where he is?" "He's in the tea room with Avdol and his grandfather," Holly replied. Jotaro nodded and headed off, Fluttershy behind him. Holly sighed. 'Jotaro, you never tell me anything, even when I worry about you so much. Still... I know you're a good boy deep down inside. That's why it was so easy to accept it when you started dating Fluttershy. She brings out the best in you so easily.'

"Hey Mom," Jotaro said, snapping Holly out of her thoughts, "You're looking a little pale. Are you doing okay?" Holly cheered up immediately. "Okay! I'm just fine!" Jotaro shrugged and kept going. Sure enough, Joseph was in the tea room with Avdol and Jonathan. Joseph looked over Kakyoin. "I'm afraid it's worse than you realize," he said, "This poor kid will be dead in a few days." "I didn't think he lost that much blood," Fluttershy said, a little shocked.

"This isn't because of anything you two did," Joseph clarified, "Haven't you been curious? About why this boy decided to side with DIO? To obey his every command, even if it meant killing another human? The answer lies right here." He pushed aside some of Kakyoin's hair to reveal a pulsing bud that looked to be made of flesh, burrowed into Kakyoin's forehead. "What the hell is that?," Jotaro asked. "It kinda reminds me of a spider," Fluttershy noted, "But gross."

"This flesh bud came from DIO's cells," Avdol explained, "It was implanted into the very core of this poor boy's mind to control his every thought." "How do you know this?," Fluttershy asked. "It's not the first time we've seen a vampire exhibit such power," Jonathan explained, "During the Korean War a few vampires used such flesh buds to control the minds of enemy officers to weaken their forces. And if those simpler vampires could do it, then DIO, who is far more cunning and intelligent, could certainly figure it out."

"And he can do it far more effectively," Joseph noted, "If there's any good points DIO has, it's how he uses gentle persuasion to control his minions. Awe, charisma, appeal. The same emotions that drives a soldier to follow a dictator, or a religious man to follow a corrupt cult. DIO used this same force to make this boy swear loyalty to him, rather than force the issue through blackmail or intimidation. Once DIO got this flesh bud into Kakyoin's brain, it was easy to convince him to kill you."

"So just take it out then," Jotaro suggested. "If it was that easy, we'd have done it by now," Joseph said, shaking his head, "Any attempts to remove the bud would cause it to thrash around in rebellion, damaging the delicate brain. He'd be left worse than dead. Trust me, we've tried it before." "There's something I should mention," Avdol said, "Four months ago in my native Cairo... I met DIO." Fluttershy gasped. "Like in person?" Avdol nodded. "I'm a fortune teller by trade, and I own a little shop in the souk Kahn Khalil."

He rubbed his chin. "I was just coming back to my shop from my younger brother's successful new merchant venture. That's when I saw him... DIO. He was standing there at the top of the stairs leading to my shop. His eyes were so cold I could feel them invading my heart. His hair was pure gold, and his alabaster skin seemed almost transparent. But most of all, there was a dubious sensuality about him. The kind you wouldn't expect from a man." "So what happened?," Jotaro asked, "You obviously survived the encounter."

Avdol nodded. "Luckily I had already met and befriended Mister Joestar by that time, so I recognized DIO for who he was. And a good thing too, because DIO clearly knew that I possess a Stand. As he spoke, I understood how terrifying he can be, for his every word calmed my heart. As he began attempting to control me with the same method he used on Kakyoin here, I leapt out a nearby window and ran for my life. I was very fortunate that it was right next to me. From there escaping was easy. The souk where I live is a maze, but I know it like the back of my hand. DIO had no such advantage, and because of that I was able to escape him."

"If not for that," Fluttershy realized, "Your earlier fight with Jotaro would have been for much different reasons." "And like this boy," Joseph said sadly, "You'd have died a few years later as your brain was eaten." Jotaro scoffed. "Died? Let's not write him off just yet. Fluttershy, can you stabilize Kakyoin's head?" Fluttershy nodded, using her Stand to create a makeshift vice from thick bark to hold Kakyoin's head still. Jotaro then knelt over Kakyoin and summoned his Stand.

"Jotaro!," Joseph called out, "What do you think you're doing!?" "My Stand has the precision to catch a bullet in mid-flight," Jotaro explained, "Knowing that, I should be able to use it to pull this bud out without damaging Kakyoin's brain." As Jotaro got started, the flesh bud's tendrils emerged and tried to attack Jotaro. But Fluttershy was quicker, using several leaves to keep the tendrils occupied. "Fluttershy's Stand is keeping the flesh bud from attacking Jotaro," Jonathan noted.

"Then this may work after all," Joseph realized, "Jotaro has a good point regarding his Stand. If anything could pull that flesh bud loose without permanent damage, his Stand could." As Jotaro's Stand pulled out the flesh bud carefully but quickly, Kakyoin's eyes slowly opened. "What are you...?" "I'm gonna to have to ask you not to move," Jotaro said, "I'm doing what is essentially brain surgery." Joseph observed the action. "It's far more impressive than I could have imagined. The best surgeons in the world would be shaking, but Jotaro's completely calm, and his Stand is not making any unnecessary motions."

Finally, Jotaro had the flesh bud completely removed. "Jotaro!," Jonathan called out, "Toss it here!" Jotaro did so, and Jonathan called out, "Ra!" A perfect replica of the Egyptian god in question, only dressed in the same clothes Jonathan wore when he was younger, appeared. Holding its palm to the incoming flesh bud, it emitted a flash of light that burned the bud to ashes. "Was that...?," Fluttershy stared. "My Stand," Jonathan clarified, "Just as the Egyptian god Ra is god of the sun, my Stand Ra can emit light energy identical to the sun's rays."

Kakyoin slowly got up. "Jotaro... You saved me even though I was earlier trying to kill you... Why?" Jotaro just shrugged. "I don't really have a reason. But when I learned that you weren't really following DIO because of choice, I knew I couldn't let you die." Fluttershy smiled. 'That's just like Jotaro. Rough as he is, he hates injustice. I suppose in that way, he's just like the rest of his family... On both sides.' Outside, Holly was smiling, thinking along the same lines.

I was asked if Ra could alter the visible light spectrum through electromagnetic waves. The answer is no, it was never meant for that. With time and training, Jonathan might develop it, keep in mind its entry in the OC Stand database says it has a C in Potential meaning it still might have secrets to share, but there's a good reason we won't be getting into that. Which I'll keep a secret for now. Until then, just know Ra is strictly keeping to fighting prowess and light ray manipulation.

It was the next day and Joseph was grumbling. The culture clash of having to sleep on the floor using a futon meant he had a fitful sleep, not helped by the knowledge that DIO was likely to send more assassins after them. Kakyoin was patched up and was starting to recover, but had little in the way of knowledge regarding DIO, likely a side-effect of the flesh bud. And there was one more thing irking Joseph. "Holly!," he called out, "You accidentally gave me Jotaro's pants! Granted we're the same size, but his style is completely different from mine!"

When Holly didn't answer, he wondered if he should consider using the nickname Fluttershy had used. Holly explained that all her Japanese friends called her Seiko because it translated as "holy child". "Then again," Joseph said, "She didn't mind Grandpa or Avdol calling her by her birth name, so it shouldn't be an issue for me to do so. I am her father after all. Still, you'd think she wouldn't completely ignore me." Joseph wasn't the only one concerned about Holly's apparent absence.

Jotaro and Fluttershy noticed Holly wasn't there to give Jotaro his good-bye kiss, which got them both worried. Avdol passed by the residence's kitchen, and spotted a spoon lying on the ground outside the door. Concerned, he entered the kitchen. His eyes widened in shock when he saw Holly's hand on the ground, poking out from the open refrigerator. He rushed over to see her collapsed on the ground, still alive but unconscious. "Missus Kujo!," he called out as he scooped her up and felt her forehead. "A high fever... But what could have...?"

He stopped when he saw odd thorny vines with flower buds poking out from Holly's back. Realizing the problem, he said, "Please excuse me for this!" He turned Holly over and pulled off her blouse, revealing that her back was covered in the vines. To be specific, they seemed to be emerging from her body. Cautiously, Avdol moved his hand through them and realized something. "They're transparent. That means this is a Stand. It's as we feared... Missus Kujo has manifested a Stand. We thought DIO gaining a Stand through the arrow only affected Mister Joestar and Jotaro. No... We simply wanted to believe Missus Kujo was unaffected. But all the signs were there."

Fluttershy rushed in, alerted to Avdol's screaming. "Seiko... I though there was a reason she could see Stands." Avdol nodded. "It's because of her Joestar blood. With DIO in possession of George Joestar II's body, everyone below that generation is affected due to DIO using the arrow. Our Stands are controlled through our fighting spirit. But Holly is a peaceful women. Even you, Fluttershy, have moments when you are willing to stand up and assert yourself against an enemy. Holly is a more submissive type, so she lacks the strength needed to control her Stand. It's causing it to work against her. If something isn't done... She'll die."

Just then, Fluttershy heard Joseph and Jotaro come up behind her. "Holly...," Joseph said sadly. In a panicked rage, he wound up grabbing Jotaro for support. "I knew this would happen to her! Holly doesn't have the strength to resist DIO!" Jotaro looked at his grandfather as tears came out of the older Joestar's eyes. "What do we do?," Jotaro ask plainly, "How do we stop Mom from dying?" Joseph looked stern. "There's only thing we can do... We need to find DIO, and kill him once and for all! That alone will stop the curse that causing Holly such pain and suffering."

The five Stand users, Kakyoin still being bed-ridden, looked at all the pictures of DIO Joseph had. "The problem with these pictures is the black background DIO stands in front of," Avdol noted, "It's impossible to pick out any details. The best machines we have couldn't pick anything up." Jotaro then thought of something. "Hand that picture over. Maybe my Stand can pick something out. If it's capable of grabbing a bullet in mid-flight or pulling out those flesh buds, then it obviously has greater eyesight than any human being."

Jotaro picked up the photo and summoned the Stand, who scrutinized the photo, it's eyes dilated to adjust to the darkness. When it's eyes narrowed, Jotaro nodded. "I think it has something. Get me a pen and paper." Fluttershy handed Jotaro a notepad and mechanical pencil. With Jotaro holding the notepad, his Stand used the pencil to draw what it was seeing. The others looked on as the picture was completed. "It's... It's just a fly," Joseph said, "How is that going to help us?"

"Not all flies are created identical," Fluttershy noted, "This may be a specific species of fly native to wherever DIO is." "She's right," Avdol said, "I believe I've seen this particular fly before. It's the Nile Tsetse Fly, native to Aswan. This particular species exploded in population when the Aswan Dam was built." "Then that's where DIO is," Jonathan noted, "Somewhere in the Aswan region of Egypt." "I thought as much," Kakyoin said as he came in, "I also encountered DIO in Egypt, on a trip with my family three months ago."

"Avdol, you also found DIO in Egypt," Fluttershy noted, "It seems DIO wants to stay there for whatever reason. There's certainly plenty of dark, cool places to hide from the sun in that country, despite it being largely desert." Kakyoin nodded. "If it's alright with you all, I'd like to join you in facing DIO. I owe Jotaro for freeing me from his control." "Sounds fine," Jotaro said, "We could use another warrior." Avdol then got out a deck of cards. "Jojo, you must have noticed all our Stands have names. It's a good way to focus our control over them. Yet yours does not yet have a name. Therefore, if you will allow me, we shall use the tarot deck to name your Stand."

"That's something I've noticed so far," Jotaro said, "With the exception of Fluttershy and Great-Great-Granddad, all the Stands I've encountered are named after tarot cards. The Hermit, the Magician, the Hierophant..." Avdol nodded. "Go ahead and choose a card, but without looking at it. Let fate guide your chance." Jotaro pulled a card from the middle of the deck, revealing the Star card. "The card that represents hope and positivity for the future. Sounds appropriate," Jotaro noted, "In that case, I'll call my Stand... Star Platinum!"

Thus six warriors with the power of Stands were ready to stand against DIO. Jotaro and Star Platinum, capable of high precision techniques and awesome strength. Avdol and Magician's Red, capable of pyrokinetic mastery. Joseph and Hermit Purple, capable of grappling techniques and spirit photography. Fluttershy and Music in the Trees, capable of plant manipulation and animal communication. Jonathan and Ra, capable of solar energy projection. And Kakyoin and Hierophant Green, capable of long range attacks and physical possession. Together they planned to head to Egypt, to stop DIO and end the curse on the Joestar bloodline.

"How's Missus Kujo doing?," Kakyoin asked Avdol. "Fine for now," Avdol replied, "At the moment her Stand is confined to her back. But it won't be that way forever. Before long those vines will start to cover her entire body, inflicting her with all manner of illnesses. Eventually, she will slip into a coma, and then perish. We have fifty days to kill DIO and prevent this. Joseph has called in some doctors from the Speedwagon Foundation to monitor her around the clock... But sadly all they can do is buy us precious time."

Kakyoin nodded sadly. "Have you seen anything like this?" "Many times," Avdol said, "At least Missus Kujo's family is aware of the source of her condition. I'm told Jotaro's father Sadao is also a Stand user. To those who cannot see Stands, our abilities seem like psychic power. Throughout history those who knew of us considered our power to be that of the gods." "Fifty days from here to Egypt," Kakyoin noted, "Given modern transportation, certainly doable. Where are the others?" "They're taking the time to comfort Missus Kujo before we leave," Avdol explained, "It will be some time before our plane to Cairo leaves, after all."

Holly was sitting in her bed, as cheerful as ever. Fluttershy had used her Stand to generate a number of medicinal plants and fruits to help Holly out. "I really don't know why I just passed out like that," Holly said, "But I'm starting to feel a little better." "You really had us worried there," Joseph said. He then proceeded to brush Holly's teeth for her, as well as wash her face, brush her hair, trim her nails, feed her a slice of apple, and even scrub her legs. "Hey, Papa," Holly said. She held up a pair of her panties. "Can you change my underwear too?"

She proceeded to laugh as Joseph got flustered. Fluttershy couldn't help but giggle herself at the antics of a grown woman being coddled by her elderly father. "Well, I should start making dinner," Holly said, "Anything special you want, Jotaro?" As she got up, Jotaro called out, "Don't move! You need to stay in bed right now!" Holly looked surprised. Jotaro cleared his throat. "You still need to recover. I'll get something for myself." Holly smiled as she settled back into bed. "Everyone is so nice when I get sick. I guess a little cold isn't so bad... Once in a while..."

She then passed out cold again. Joseph felt her forehead. "She still has a high fever. She was trying to put on a brave face but it's clear she knows exactly what's wrong with her." He knelt over his daughter. "Don't you worry, Holly. We'll make everything better. I promise." Jonathan, Avdol, and Kakyoin were outside while this was happening. "Missus Kujo," Kakyoin said, "She's the kind of woman who could make you feel relaxed just by being near her. It's the sort of woman I'd want to fall in love with."

"Around your own age, I hope," Fluttershy said, poking her head out the door. Kakyoin looked embarrassed. "What would make you think otherwise? Even if I was to consider an older woman, Missus Kujo is still married." Fluttershy smiled at that. "Alright," Joseph said, "It's time to get going." The six Stand users stood shoulder to shoulder, waking forward to change a terrible destiny, fully aware that danger was waiting at every turn of their journey.

Meanwhile at DIO's mansion, he and several of his allies watched as DeKurliss held up a simple mirror. "Beautiful Stranger!" The mirror instantly transformed into his Stand, into which he peered. "I see the Joestar family. Jonathan and Joseph both, as well as the new heir to the Joestar line, Jotaro Kujo, and his girlfriend Himari Utsukushicho. With them is Muhammad Avdol, and Noriaki Kakyoin." DIO raised an eyebrow. "They managed to remove my flesh bud? Clearly Jotaro's Stand is more powerful than I thought. Where are they now?"

"They have boarded a plane and have mapped out their flight to Egypt," DeKurliss said, "They seem to have discerned our location somehow." "They moved faster than we expected," Enya noted. "It seems Lord DIO's curse has hit one member of the Joestar family harder than the others," DeKurliss explained, "Joseph's daughter, Holly Kujo. Her spirit has no aggressive nature to it, so she is too weak to control her Stand. Their only chance to save her is to kill you, DIO."

"Let my curse overwhelm her!," DIO called out, "That way we can take advantage of the Joestars' rage and torment to end them!" DeKurliss grinned. "If that is how you wish to play it, my Lord, then you'll be happy to know I already sent the Tower to intercept the Joestars. At best he'll kill them all, at worst he'll slow down their progress considerably." DIO smiled. "Excellent. His power is perfect for this first task. The more we can stall the Joestars before delivering the final blow, the more enjoyable my victory will be. The power of the Stand is the power of the gods, so let us see which gods are mightier in this silent and unseen war!"

The Kujo group's flight was set to take them from Narita to the East China Sea, and from there to Bangkok. Then they'd move to Abu Dhabi and then Kuwait, before finally reaching Cairo. Several long hours, but it would then give plenty of time to find DIO's hideout. Fluttershy and Jotaro were sitting next to each other, Fluttershy going over a dossier of Stand users suspected of joining DIO. No faces, but plenty of names and a good idea regarding their Stands.

Kakyoin and Avdol were behind them, resting. And behind those two were Jonathan and Joseph. Joseph then got a sense of foreboding. "I just felt something," he said, "Like DIO is looking at us. I think he's somehow figured out we're coming after him." "I felt it to," Jotaro said, "Will we be okay on this flight?" "I don't think so," Fluttershy said, "Especially if that overly large stag beetle over there is what I think it is." The beetle quickly dove into the shadows of the seats. Jotaro stood up. "What was that? There's no way an insect could get on a plane so easily."

"It must be some sort of Stand," Avdol realized, "DIO must have anticipated we'd travel by plane and planned accordingly. He's already sent his minions to intercept us." Just then, Fluttershy had to use her vines to strike the beetle away from Jotaro's head. "I saw it! It's much larger than a normal stag beetle, so it must be a Stand!" "I think I know what we're dealing with!," Avdol said, "There's a Stand user I've heard of that likes to use his Stand to rip out people's tongues!"

The beetle Stand approached again and Jotaro sent Star Platinum to swat at it. To everyone's shock, the beetle easily dodged. "It's fast!," Jotaro said, "Even though Star Platinum can snatch bullets out of the air, this Stand can move even faster!" The beetle then launched it proboscis to attack Jotaro's Stand, piercing Star Platinum's hand and aiming for his mouth. Blood came from both Jotaro's hand and mouth as the creature seemed to penetrate his tongue. "Jotaro!," Fluttershy called out.

Of course you probably realize Jotaro is just fine. But it's still a perfect cliffhanger to end on, wouldn't you agree?

And now back to your regularly scheduled bad guy bashing.

Luckily for Jotaro, his Stand was fast enough to clamp down on the beetle's proboscis with its teeth, keeping it from tearing into his tongue. "It's just like I thought!," Avdol said, "This is the Stand called Tower of Gray! This card represents calamity, and the interruption of a journey! To think he would be working with DIO! Gray Fly, the Stand's user, works in secret, committing mass murder by causing what appear to be vehicular accidents on commercial transportation, like the plane crash in England last year that killed three hundred people!"

"That doesn't help us get it off Jotaro!," Fluttershy noted, "Music in the Trees!" Her Stand created a large flower that fired off several barbs. Tower of Gray immediately let go of Jotaro to escape the attack, faster than Fluttershy could blink. "No way!," Fluttershy said, shocked, "Those barbs were firing out at speeds equal to any modern handgun!" Tower of Gray started laughing. "Even if you fired ten guns from only a centimeter in front of me, none of them could touch my Stand! Not that ordinary guns could hurt a Stand..."

"It's talking?," Jotaro asked. "No, it's Gray Fly talking," Avdol clarified, "Most Stand users can talk through their Stands in a manner similar to ventriloquism or telepathy. Gray Fly wants to make sure we can't find him, since doing so would ensure we wouldn't have to worry about his Stand." "I doubt its range is limitless," Jonathan said, "Which means Gray Fly must be one of the passengers on the plane." "But which one is it?," Joseph asked, "We can't afford to just knock heads randomly."

Just then, Tower of Gray dipped back into the shadows. "That's not good!," Fluttershy said, "It disappeared again!" As they looked for where it might have disappeared, they saw it again, hovering behind a row of passengers. "Uh oh...," Jonathan muttered. Sure enough, Tower of Gray flew right through the seats, and the heads of four of the passengers, killing them instantly. It cackled as it hovered overhead, the tongues of the people is just killed hanging from its proboscis.

"Ugh," Jotaro said, "You weren't kidding Avdol. This guy has a major hard-on for tongue gouging." "It's what's truly terrible about him," Avdol noted, "All the accidents he's created were for money. But this... This is his way of having fun while he works." "Got their tongues!," Tower of Gray said gleefully, "And now my goal is..." It flew over to the front of the plane and started using the tongues' blood to write on it. When it was finished, the word it spelled was "massacre".

"Damn it!," Avdol said, "If it's come to this, then I'll just have Magician's Red scorch it completely!" "Wait Avdol," Kakyoin said, "We can't just--" But Kakyoin was interrupted as an elderly gentleman yawned and got up. "What's going on here? Can't a man take a nap in piece? I can't sleep with all this noise." Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. 'I realize he's likely as old as Mister Joestar, but even so, all our shouting should have woken him up much earlier. Either he's an incredibly heavy sleeper or he's the Stand user.'

The old man got up. "I might as well use the bathroom while I'm awake." He casually walked over to where the bloody writing was and placed his hand on it. "Huh...? What's with this wetness." He sniffed his hand, now wet with blood, and freaked out as his dentures nearly popped out. "It's b-b-blood!" But before he could freak out further, Kakyoin had knocked him out with a quick strike to the back of his neck. "There's something off about him," Fluttershy noted, "Avdol, can a Stand still be active if its user is unconscious or sleeping?"

"Sometimes," Avdol noted, "It depends on the nature of the Stand. Are you suggesting the old man might be Gray Fly?" "He complained about the noise even though it had been going on for a few minutes," Fluttershy noted, "And his reaction to Tower of Gray's writing was far too exaggerated." "Well, we can't risk taking him out," Kakyoin said, "If you happen to be wrong, then we've just killed an innocent man. And we can't have a panic either. But we need to be careful what powers we use. Magician's Red is no good for this since it could incinerate the passengers. At the very least it would cause the plane to explode. Our best chance is a long-range silent attack, and that's my specialty."

Tower of Gray cackled. "Noriaki Kakyoin, right? I was told all about you by DIO. Don't bother fighting, your attacks will never hit me no matter how many times you try. I'm far too fast for you to even scratch me." Kakyoin smirked. "We'll see about that. Hierophant Green, Emerald Splash!" Hierophant Green launched its barrage of emeralds, but Tower of Gray seemed to dodge them all. "No good!," Avdol said, "He's too fast!" "Take another look at the fight," Jonathan said, "Look around the area rather than just at the combatants."

Avdol looked and realized what Kakyoin was planning. Meanwhile Tower of Gray had hit Hierophant Green's mouth guard, ripping it off and exposing its mouth underneath. "So you thought to overwhelm me with a massive barrage?," it said, "Well too bad! I'm just too fast! At my speeds not even machinegun fire could hit me!" Kakyoin fired off another Emerald Splash while Tower of Gray moved in closer, dodging the attacks as it did. "Soon your Stand will go mad from the pain as I tear out its tongue!," Tower of Gray announced.

Kakyoin smirked. "Mad? Maybe... But not from the pain!" Tower of Gray suddenly stopped as it was pierced from numerous angles by Hierophant Green's tendrils. "What...?," the insect said weakly. "What my Hierophant Green will go mad from," Kakyoin said, "Is joy, as it rips you to pieces. You were so focused on my Emerald Splash, you never stopped to consider that it might be able to attack more directly. While I had you distracted, Hierophant Green extended itself under and through the seats, ready to strike when you were tunnel focused directly at me and my mouth. Your own obsession has just become your undoing."

And with that, Tower of Gray was ripped apart. The old man suddenly woke up in pain as his tongue came hanging out, a beetle symbol tattooed on it. "So it was the old man after all," Kakyoin noted, "A repulsive user for a repulsive Stand." As he spoke, the old man now identified as Gray Fly screamed as his tongue ripped in two vertically and his head seemed to split apart. "How ironic," Fluttershy said, "He spent his entire career gouging out tongues, and now his own has been torn asunder." The others nodded as Gray Fly collapsed in pain from the destruction of his Stand.

So yeah, now we're moving into a larger chapter. After all, we have Polnareff to introduce, and he deserves a BIG entrance.

As Gray Fly was propped up on his seat, Kakyoin looked him over. "I don't see a flesh bud on him anywhere." "I doubt all the Stand users DIO will send against us have them," Fluttershy noted. "She's right," Avdol said, "Gray Fly was always evil. He created accidents for money, after all. It was easy for DIO to recruit him, he only had to offer a paycheck. There's no shortage of hired assassins in the world." "I suppose its good money," Jotaro said, "Challenging work, out of doors, and you'll never go hungry because at the end of the day if there's only two people left on the planet someone will want someone dead."

Joseph then noticed a small plastic cup rolling on the ground. "Something's wrong. I think the plane is starting to dip in altitude." He hurried to the front of the plane to check things out. A stewardess moved to try and stop him. "Excuse me sir, but passengers aren't allowed in the cockpit." "This is an emergency," Joseph announced, brushing her aside. She and her fellow stewardess looked at each other, then saw Jotaro right behind him and instantly became smitten.

"Move aside," Jotaro said as he brushed the two women behind him. "What a shock...," the uttered as Kakyoin caught them. "Whoa there. Sorry about his rudeness, but there is a situation with the plane we need to determine. Is that alright?" The two stewardesses, equally smitten with Kakyoin, nodded numbly. Avdol just blinked in surprised. "This sort of thing happens often with Joestars," Jonathan noted, "And Kakyoin too, apparently." Joseph and Jotaro burst into the cockpit. Unfortunately, all the pilots were dead with their tongues removed.

"Damn...," Jotaro muttered, "Looks like Gray Fly already got to the pilots. He made sure he'd stop our flight even if he lost." "Even worse," Joseph said, "It looks like he's crippled the autopilot. We're on a crash course!" Gray Fly then started cackling behind the group. He was standing weakly and losing blood at a rapid pace, yet he could still managed to speak. "My Stand represents the Tower card, which signals the interruption of the journey! I've made sure you'll never reach Lord DIO! Even if you live through the crash Egypt is still six thousand miles away!"

He breathed heavily as his life began to fade. "This world is full of Stands with powers beyond your wildest imaginings... And those of us loyal to DIO will follow you at every turn! Soon all Stand users will bow and serve him, for his Stand is the one whose power reigns above all others!" And with that, Gray Fly finally died. The stewardesses gasped as he dropped to the ground in a pool of his own blood. "You're real professionals," Jotaro noted, "That's good. It annoys me when women scream. Listen, my grandfather here will be landing this plane in the ocean. Can you do a quick seatbelt check and pass out the life vests?"

The stewardesses nodded. "Do you even have experience with planes?," Kakyoin asked Joseph. "Sure," Joseph said, "But I've never flown a commercial airliner before. The biggest plane I ever flew was a World War II German bomber. But jeez, this'll make the third time I've been in a plane crash." "Third time!?," Fluttershy called out. "Yeah," Joseph said, "The first was when hijackers tried to hold Uncle Speedwagon for ransom, and the second was the aforementioned bomber, which I crashed into a volcano in an effort to kill an immortal being."

"Gimme a break!," Jotaro said, "I'm never getting on a plane with you again!" In spite of Jotaro's concern, Joseph was able to make a safe landing thirty-five kilometers out in the Hong Kong Sea. Rescue choppers soon arrived to airlift the passengers to safety, including the Kujo group. With their efforts, Gray Fly's last job ultimately proved to be his worst, with only seven deaths total, the four passengers and the three pilots. Ultimately, the group was able to reach Hong Kong safely and continue to make travel plans.

Enya looked on as DIO fed on a young woman, who smiled and accepted his touch. "Fear is an interesting emotion," she noted, "It's an emotion that has allowed our species to survive. That sense of terror at a great and terrible threat heightens the senses and prepares us for a number of different options. Flee, struggle, resist, freeze... But when DIO approached and you feel that fear... You also feel joy. It's a truly paradoxical condition."

Vanilla Ice, another of DIO's servants was nearby. "My Lord, DeKurliss has just informed me that Gray Fly is dead, and the plane he intended to crash in order to kill the Joestars has made a safe water landing just a few miles away from Hong Kong. Only seven people were confirmed killed, none of whom were part of the Joestars' team." "A pathetic showing for Gray Fly," DIO admitted, "He must have gotten cocky in his old age." "Not to worry," Ice said, "We've already had the Chariot sent to Hong Kong just in case. His power is sure to overwhelm our enemies."

The Kujo group was gathered in a Hong Kong restaurant to discuss their travel plans. "Going by plane is no longer an option," Joseph said, "Gray Fly's attack made that clear. If we want to get to Egypt quickly and safely we'll need to seek alternate transportation either over land or sea." "That'll slow us down," Jonathan noted, "And we only have fifty days to defeat DIO." The group turned solemn at the thought of Holly, still lying sick in her bed back in Japan.

"It'll be dicey," Joseph admitted, "But don't forget the popular novel of Jules Verne that told of a trip around the world made in only eighty days. And this was in the era of steam engines and air balloons. Granted we don't have the luxury of the International Date Line, but ultimately we won't be needing it. If it's possible to circumnavigate the world in eighty days, then getting from Hong Kong to Cairo in fifty shouldn't be a problem." Jonathan nodded. "Fair enough. Jules Verne did put a lot of accurate science into his works, after all."

"So with that in mind," Fluttershy said, "What's our next move?" Joseph indicated the map they had with them. "I contacted the Speedwagon Foundation and chartered a small boat to take us around the Malaysian Peninsula and into the Indian Ocean. On paper it's a longer route, but in practice it's ultimately faster since we can bypass a number of borders and mountain ranges." "Not to mention avoid the hassle of having to deal with attacks from native tribesmen," Jotaro noted.

Avdol nodded. "A nuisance at worst considering our powers, but a time consuming nuisance. The real danger is enemy Stand users that DIO will no doubt send against us. Gray Fly was just the first, and we don't even know if other poor souls were infested the way Kakyoin was." "Well, if they have been," Kakyoin said, "We may be able to save them. Jojo was able to pull the bud out of my brain. If he can do it once, he can likely do it a dozen times if necessary." He lifted the lid of their teapot and placed it hanging off the side.

Seeing Jotaro's confused look, he said, "In Hong Kong this is used to signal that you'd like more tea." Sure enough, a waitress came by to refill the teapot. Kakyoin then tapped the table twice. "And this is how you say thank you." "You're very worldly," Jonathan noted. "My family has made a number of trips in the past," Kakyoin explained, "And beyond that I have an interest in anthropology. I've done plenty of studying." Just then a young man around Avdol's age approached the group.

"Excuse me," he said, "I'm a tourist in from France and I'm having trouble reading the characters on the menu. Could you help me decipher them?" "We're busy talking," Jotaro said bluntly. "Now now, Jotaro," Joseph said, "Sure, young man, sit down and we'll give you a hand." Joseph tried to order a few dishes that had shrimp, duck, shark, and mushrooms. However, in spite of his knowledge of Chinese characters, he was a little out of practice. He instead wound up ordering rice porridge, clams, stewed fish, and fried frogs, which the Frenchman eyed eagerly.

"Were you reading with your eyes or your stomach?," Jonathan joked, remembering Joseph was probably the least picky eater on the planet. Joseph chuckled. "Sorry about that. Hey, it's on me regardless. Dig in, it's all delicious." Sure enough, the food proved delectable. As they continued to eat, the Frenchman held up a carrot cut in the shape of a star. "They certainly have a fine eye for detail," he noted, "This carrot... The way it's shaped reminds me of a certain birthmark I've heard of."

The group suddenly looked at him nervously. "If I'm not mistaken," the man said, "This mark was supposed to be on the back of a certain man's neck..." He looked back, a sudden look of intent in his eyes. "Are you another one?," Kakyoin asked. Just then, the rice porridge began to bubble. In an instant, a hand wielding a fencing foil burst out of the bowl and made to stab Joseph, who blocked it with his prosthetic hand. Avdol took immediate action. "Magician's Red!" As the great bird Stand launched a blazing attack, the foil whipped around and wrapped the flames around the blade.

The full form of the Stand was now visible, a humanoid warrior wearing silver armor. It brandished the sword and caused the flames to hit the overturned table and form burning numbers and clock hands. "That's a neat trick," Fluttershy admitted. "This is the power of my Stand," the Frenchman said, "The machine of war... Silver Chariot! So Muhammad Avdol, I've accepted your challenge. As you can see, I've carved a burning clock into that table. Before that clock strikes twelve... You will die!"

"Quite the ego you have," Avdol noted, "To attempt to kill me on a timetable Mister... Actually, I don't believe we caught your name." "Pardonne-moi," the man replied, "I had forgotten to introduce myself. My name is name is Jean-Pierre Polnareff." Avdol smiled. "Merci Beaucoup, Monsieur Polnareff. As I was about to say earlier, I believe you are under a minor misconception." He snapped his fingers, and Polnareff got surprised when the burning table was completely engulfed and destroyed, small fireballs raining over the room.

"My flames don't merely travel upward or with the wind as they would in nature," Avdol explained, "My Stand is called Magician's Red because it can control flame freely." Polnareff dug his Stand's sword into the ground. "It is said that the world was birthed in fire. A fitting power for the Stand of the Magician card, which represents beginnings. But I'll have you know, Monsieur Avdol, that my power is not due to mere ego." He got out a few coins and tossed them into the air. Immediately Silver Chariot stabbed into the air, catching all the coins with a single stroke.

"Amazing!," Joseph said, "He hit the coins in the instant they all lined up!" "It's more than that," Fluttershy said, "Some of Avdol's flames got pierced as well. He literally made a kebab out of those coins using them!" "I see," Avdol said, "So this is what you were referring to." "I'm glad you understand," Polnareff replied, "My power is not mere conceit. It can cut through the air itself to create a vacuum. Your fire is useless against it." He dropped the coins then moved to the door.

"That said," Polnareff said, "It would not be suiting to my Stand, which evokes the image of the card of victory and conquest, if I beat you without giving you a fair advantage. Avdol, your Stand is best suited to a more open area, yes? Then follow me, and I'll show you a battlefield where you can fight at your absolute best. My Stand won't accept anything less." The group looked at each other. Clearly Polnareff was different from than DIO's other minions. "I suddenly feel like I'm fighting Bruford all over again," Jonathan noted.

"This is a rather odd location to have a fight," Fluttershy as Polnareff led the group to Tiger Balm Garden, a park on the edge of Causeway Bay that featured plenty of colorful yet strange-looking animal statues. Avdol and Polnareff were staring each other down. "Avdol, I'm told you're a fortune teller," Polnareff said, "Allow me a predication of my own. By the end of this fight, you will be destroyed by your own Stand's powers." Avdol scoffed. "If that is what you think, then let's see how this battle proceeds, and we'll see if you're right."

Silver Chariot struck with its foil, Magician's Red dodging quite well. "What's the matter?," Polnareff said, "Have my words gotten you so rattled that you're afraid to use your flames? Then allow me to take the offensive!" However, as Silver Chariot made to attack, Magician's Red suddenly shot several fireballs out of its mouth. Quickly Polnareff had his Stand deflect the attack, the combination of fire and sword skills carving a nearby rock into a perfect replica of Magician's Red.

"That's not half bad," Fluttershy said. "Merci, mademoiselle," Polnareff replied, "I've performed these sort of carvings while training my Stand before. The statues I've made have actually been featured in a few amateur art shows in my native France. And I couldn't think of a more fitting place for an effigy of your Stand, Avdol. I think it fits in quite nicely." Avdol took a second to breathe before making a few hand gestures. "Stand back, everyone!," Joseph called out, "Avdol's about to unleash his full power!"

Avdol and his Stand crossed their arms as he called out, "Cross Fire Hurricane!" An giant ankh-shaped flame was conjured, covering the entire area in fire. "You think this will be enough to overwhelm me!?," Polnareff called out, "The vacuum created by my Stand shall easily cut away this flame!" Silver Chariot swept the entire field through the flames. "HORA HORA HORA HORA!" The flames got redirected and seemed to hit Magician's Red hard, causing Avdol to get set on fire.

"Not good!," Jonathan said, "Those fires are so hot Avdol can't handle them!" "As foretold," Polnareff said confidently, "You've been burned by your own flames." He then saw Magician's Red make a final lunge at him. "Hmph. At least die quietly." Silver Chariot sliced up the Stand, but Polnareff gasped at how difficult it was. "That blow felt wrong. The resistance was off. Was that... A physical object?" Just then, Silver Chariot was engulfed in flames. The figure of Magician's Red fell to the ground, and was revealed to be the statue Polnareff had carved earlier.

Avdol stood up, completely fine, his Stand right behind him. "The thing I like most about being able to control fire is how easily it can cloud an opponent's sight. I told you earlier, my Stand can control flames easily. While I was creating my Cross Fire Hurricane, my Stand used the volume of flame to disguise the fact that I was also softening up the stone statue to make it appear more life-like, and used it as a dummy shield knowing you'd use that vacuum ability to negate my attack. It seems you were the one who will be defeated by your own Stand's ability. Next time don't try to out-predict a fortune teller. Cross Fire Hurricane!"

Magician's Red conjured the ankh again, this time engulfing Polnareff completely. "It's done," Joseph said as Polnareff fell to the ground, "There's no way anyone could survive being hit by that attack head-on." "Then why is he not covered in third-degree burns?," Fluttershy asked. The group looked and, sure enough, Polnareff was still uninjured in spite of the attack. "I could understand simply surviving," Kakyoin said, "But why is he completely uninjured!?"

Just then, Silver Chariot seemed to explode, pieces of its armor coming undone, the impact causing Polnareff to be launched into the air. He opened his eyes and gave an applause. "Bravo! That was very well done!" "You somehow avoided being completely burned," Avdol noted, "How were you able to pull that off?" "I suppose it's only fair to offer an explanation," Polnareff admitted. He then manifested Silver Chariot, now sporting a much slimmer look. He then leapt down to the ground.

"This is Silver Chariot without its armor," Polnareff explained, "Earlier when you hit my Stand with your Cross Fire Hurricane, you only struck its armor, which protected it, and me by extension. But now my Stand has shed its armor, greatly improving its speed and flexibility. That's why Silver Chariot was seemingly invisible earlier, because it was moving so fast." Avdol nodded. "I see. That's why my Cross Fire Hurricane was able to hit you, because the armor was weighing you down. Though I'd imagine you're now more vulnerable without the armor, meaning my next attack is sure to finish you."

Polnareff chuckled. "That's assuming you can even hit me to being with. You may be right that another hit would spell my end, but allow me to show the full speed of my Stand before you try." Suddenly, Silver Chariot seemed to multiply. "What the hell!?," Joseph said, "Suddenly he has seven Stands!" "No," Fluttershy said, "It's still just one. But it's moving so fast it makes it seem like more than one." Jotaro grunted. "It's like an after-image straight outta Dragon Ball." "Indeed," Polnareff said, "My Stand can move so fast it can literally be in several places at once. Even the sharpest of senses can't follow their movements." The army of Silver Chariots attacked as Avdol moved to counter. "Cross Fire Hurricane!"

The after-images easily dodged, causing the attack to hit the ground and burn a hole in it. Polnareff waved his finger. "Now now, you'll never hit me with such poor speed. Here, let me show how it's done!" Before Avdol could react, Silver Chariot had struck his face precise enough to carve several ankhs into his face. Grunting from the brief pain, Avdol said, "You've certainly trained your Stand's powers." Polnareff smiled. "Merci. I've honed my skills over ten years."

"Then allow me an explanation of my power," Avdol replied, "As you've seen, my Cross Fire Hurricane takes the shape of an ankh. However, it need not remain whole. I can divide it up as needed. Allow me to demonstrate. Cross Fire Hurricane Special!" Sure enough, the giant flaming ankh split into multiple smaller forms. "Don't be such a fool!," Polnareff said, "No matter how many of those flames you toss at me, I'll handle them all!" His Stand's after-images got in formation surrounding him.

"Not good!," Kakyoin said, "There's no way Avdol can get through that!" "So very naive!," Polnareff said, "I'll reflect your power back at you just as before!" However, as the copies moved to make good on that statement, the hole Avdol made earlier seemed to glow brightly, catching Polnareff's eye. "What!?" As massive flaming ankh burst from the ground, catching all the copies off-guard and sending them flying, disappearing one by one until only the original Silver Chariot was left.

"Amazing," Joseph said, "He set up the first shot to dig a tunnel that he could attack from earlier." Avdol walked over to Polnareff, who was now truly suffering from the burns. "I said earlier that my Cross Fire Hurricane could be split up as needed. But I never said they all had to be the same size. While you were busy with the smaller and more noticeable ones, I hid the larger and more damaging one in the hole I made earlier." He took out a dagger and tossed it to Polnareff. "Burning to death is a painful way to go. Use that to end your life quickly."

Polnareff picked up the knife. At first he made to throw it at Avdol, but then pointed it to his neck instead. Ultimately, however, he dropped the knife and collapsed. "It seems I was conceited after all... I believed my sword skills superior enough to handle any fire, and lost. I deserve this fate." He closed his eyes in submission and lost consciousness, but Avdol snapped his fingers to dispel the flames. "He could have used the dagger to stab me in the back, or taken the coward's way out and committed suicide. But instead his honor held true, even overriding DIO's control."

"That's the Chariot card for you," Jotaro noted, "He doesn't seem like a bad guy in the end." Avdol parted Polnareff's hair and found the reason for his actions. "As I thought. He's been infested with a flesh bud as well. Jojo." Jotaro nodded, and got Star Platinum out to remove the bud. Once it was removed and burned up in the sun, Joseph picked up Polnareff. "Well, now that the flesh bud's gone, we can all be bud-dies!" "Wah wah...," Fluttershy muttered. "Yeah," Jotaro said, "I hate people who make stupid jokes like that."

When Araki crafted Stardust Crusaders, he compared it to a board game. Here, we'll see a nice reference to that.

DeKurliss had out a map board with several pieces on it, each representing Tarot cards. "The Joestars have the Star, the Magician, the Hierophant, the Hermit, and now the Chariot on their side." One piece, marked over the Hong Kong Sea, was tipped over. "And they've taken out the Tower. We have all the other Tarot cards, save for the Fool. That one is still in the wind." "I like the idea of you treating this has a game, DeKurliss," DIO admitted, "It has delicious sense of apathy to it."

"In a way, this is a game," DeKurliss said, "With the stakes being very high. If the Joestars reach you before the fifty days have elapsed, they have a chance to end their curse. If not, they'll be easy prey. We only had two minions controlled through your cells. But that only means the others won't go against you. I've already observed as the Joestars chartered a boat to take them to the Indian Ocean." He placed a new figure just outside the Hong Kong port. "But they will soon learn that enemies are everywhere... Courtesy of the Moon."

Polnareff had recovered from the fight and was meeting the Kujo group at the dock. "Merci for freeing me from DIO's control," he said, "But if I may... Monsieur Joestar, allow me a bizarre question. I noticed that you didn't take off your gloves even during the meal. Would you by chance have a left hand that is shaped like a right hand?" "How would you hide that with gloves?," Fluttershy asked, "Besides, Mister Joestar's left hand is prosthetic."

Joseph took off his glove to show Polnareff. "I lost it in battle fifty years ago." Polnareff nodded, sensing no deceit in his words. "Pardonne. It seems you're not the man I'm looking for." "Looking for?," Jotaro asked, "Who are you looking for?" "The man who killed my sister," Polnareff replied, "It was only a few short years ago. My sister and her friend Antoinette were walking home when they ran into the man with the two right hands. He stood there in the rain, seemingly shielded from it."

He clenched his fist. "Antoinette is a skilled Stand user in her own right thanks to my training, but this man caught her completely off-guard, somehow slicing open her chest. The man then did the unthinkable... He raped poor Sherry, then killed her. Antoinette only escaped because her Stand lets her become as water, which gave her plenty of options during that rainstorm. She sought me out and told me everything. I was the only one who believed her story. While a hunt for my sister's killer is ongoing... The police are not looking in the right directions because they did not believe Antoinette's full account."

His face became a grimace. "But I know who that man must be! He's clearly a Stand user! And so I decided to use my own Stand to hunt that bastard down and exact revenge for my sister's death!" "This man sounds like a Stand user alright," Joseph noted, "But how does DIO fit into all this?" "I ran into DIO just over a year ago," Polnareff explained, "He was working with an American fortune teller named DeKurliss. DeKurliss and DIO showed me visions with some sort of hand mirror. In it I saw the man with the two right hands."

"DeKurliss sounds like he might be a Stand user himself," Jotaro noted, "He might be the reason DIO is able to keep track of our journey and send out assassins to intercept us ahead of time." Polnareff nodded. "Possibly. After speaking with me, DIO offered to ease my pain and assist me in finding the target of my revenge. That was when he planted the flesh bud in me, and sent me out to kill you." "DIO's always been a skilled manipulator," Jonathan noted, "I'm betting this man you're looking for is working for him."

"Then it seems my destiny is set," Polnareff said, "If you will permit me, I would like join you in your journey to Egypt." Before anything further could be said, two young women walked up to Jotaro. "Excuse me," one of them said, "But could you take a photo of us, please?" Fluttershy sighed. She wondered if she shouldn't be more assertive in pointing out that she had already claimed Jotaro. However, the situation was rendered moot when Polnareff offered to take the girls' picture instead.

The sight of his casual flirting bewildered the group. "He reminds me of Caesar before he and Applejack settled down," Jonathan noted. "His personality certainly changes on a dime," Kakyoin said. Joseph scoffed. "More like he has two brains and he started thinking with the lower one." Fluttershy giggled. "Now that was funny." "Gimme a break...," Jotaro muttered. Ultimately it was decided that Polnareff would join the group, adding his Silver Chariot's speed and swordsmanship to their repertoire.

The boat taking the group to Egypt was crewed only by those who had background checks by the Speedwagon Foundation. The trip was supposed to take three days, stopping in Singapore to resupply. In the meantime, the group was able to relax. Fluttershy smiled as her Stand let her talk with the sea creatures that passed by. "Come on now," Joseph said to her, Jotaro, and Kakyoin, "Aren't you all hot in those high school uniforms?"

"Well we are students," Kakyoin pointed out. "That reminds me," Jotaro said, "I hope those doctors looking after Mom remembered my request to tape Liveman. The series is close to ending, and I want to find out if those guys manage to save their friends." "Jotaro never misses Super Sentai," Fluttershy explained to Avdol and Polnareff, "Not even during JAKQ, maybe the worst series to date. But because we're not likely to get Japanese cable while traveling to Egypt, he asked some of the Speedwagon doctors to tape it for him."

"I guess Jotaro admires costumed heroes," Polnareff noted, "Well, we all have our TV shows we watch religiously." Just then, they got distracted by the sounds of someone yelling, "Let go of me you big jerk!" Joseph looked over to spot on of the crew trying to restrain a young boy. "What's going on here?," Joseph demanded, "We agreed there'd be no other passengers!" "Sorry sir," the crewman said, "This stowaway was found hiding in the lower compartments."

"Look," the kid said, "I'm just trying to get to Singapore to see my dad. Let me work for my ticket, okay?" "I don't think so," the crewman said, "We can't have any exceptions for security reasons." The kid responded by biting the crewman's arm, then jumping overboard. "Kid's got guts," Polnareff said, "But it's too far to shore." "I wouldn't worry," Jotaro said, "He wouldn't have jumped if he wasn't a good swimmer." "But can he out-swim a shark?," Fluttershy asked, "Some of the fish here say that sharks use these waters as a hunting ground."

Jotaro sighed as he got up, while the others tried to call the kid back for his own safety. Before one shark could attack the kid, Star Platinum punched it out of the water. "ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!" The kid watched in surprise, not being able to see Star Platinum, as the shark just exploded into blood and fell limp in the water. Jotaro then grabbed the kid's collar. "Gimme a break, kid. Let's get back." As he dragged the kid along, he noticed something off and felt the kid's chest. His eyes widened and he snatched the kid's hat off, revealing "him" to be a girl.

"Jojo!," Fluttershy said incredulously, "You know better than to feel up a girl's chest!" "Sure, when I actually know it's a girl!," Jotaro argued. The girl growled and tried to slap Jotaro, who blocked it easily and dragged the girl back to the boat. Meanwhile the others saw the shark Jotaro stunned get dragged under and come back up in sliced in two vertically. "Jotaro watch out!," Joseph called out, "There's something else in the water! It's not a shark, and it's fast!"

"There's no way he'll make it in time," Polnareff said worriedly. "Not to worry," Kakyoin said, "At this distance we can reel him in. Hierophant Green!" Fluttershy also made to reel Jotaro in. "Music in the Trees!" Hierophant Green grabbed Jotaro and pulled him in, while Music in the Trees did the same for the girl using its vines. "What was that?," the girl asked, "Why were we flying?" "That was definitely a Stand," Jonathan noted, "One of the Speedwagon dossiers mentioned an aquatic Stand owned by a man known only as Dragon. I guess he's found us."

"Could this girl be Dragon?," Kakyoin wondered. "I doubt it," Fluttershy said, "Did you see how surprised she was at suddenly flying? That's not something you can easily fake, especially at her age. Besides, if she was the Stand user, that shark never would never have even been a threat to her." "Hey!," the girl said, pulling out a switch blade, "If you chumps are gonna talk about me, why not say what you want to my face!?" Fluttershy sighed. "What's your name?" The girl looked stunned. "Anne."

"Who else could be Dragon?," Joseph asked, "All ten of the sailors on this boat had their backgrounds checked." "Dragon could've killed and replaced one of them," Jonathan noted, "Or he could be hiding underwater in a submarine. Don't forget DIO is crafty, and the same can be said for his top servants." "What are these guys talking about?," Anne asked. "Nothing that really concerns you," Fluttershy said, giving her a smile, "So, you said you were trying to find your father?"

However, that was when a large man appeared and grabbed Anne by her shoulders. "I heard there was a stowaway on my ship," the man said, "I'm very strict regarding stowaways. Even if you are a girl I need to set an example, or there will just be more kids sneaking aboard." "Ah, Captain Tennille," Joseph said, "Glad you're here. I need to make sure there were no errors in the background checks on the sailors." "Of course not," Tennille said, "I can vouch for all of them. They've been working this vessel for ten years."

"And you'd remember them all by sight?," Jonathan asked. Tennille nodded. "Sure, though I don't know why you're so insistent about it." He narrowed his eyes when he saw Jotaro smoking and snatched the cigarette out of his mouth. "I won't tolerate smoking on this vessel," Tennille said, "What, were you planning on dumping the butt and ashes into the beautiful ocean? You're a guest on this ship, so you follow my rules." He put the cigarette out on Jotaro's hat, and Fluttershy saw his eye twitch. 'I've seen that look before. So many teachers with bad attitudes wound up retiring in tears after Jotaro got that look.'

As Tennille turned away. "Hey asshole," Jotaro said, "If you really wanted me to put the cigarette out, you should have just said so. There's no reason to be a dick about it." "Come on, Jotaro," Joseph said, "You're the one at fault here." "No, it's definitely the captain," Fluttershy argued, "True he had a point about the cigarette, but just because this is his ship doesn't give him the right to be so rude to a guest." "He's not the captain anyway," Jotaro said, "This guy's the Stand user we're looking for."

Tennille blinked. "Stand?" "Jotaro, what's this all about?," Avdol asked, "Tennille was introduced to us by the Speedwagon Foundation. His background checks out, so we can trust him. There's no way he's a Stand user." "Now hold on," Tennille said, "Just what is a 'Stand', anyway?" "Why do you speak about it like it's a foreign word?," Fluttershy asked, "When you think about it, 'stand' is a pretty common word across multiple languages. It'd be more common to ask what we mean by stand, not ask what a stand is."

Tennille looked shocked at this revelation. "Well, now that's something to be suspicious about," Jotaro noted, "Only a Stand user trying to hide would be worried about pretending not to know what a Stand is. But if you're still gonna try arguing your way out, let me cut you off at the pass. I've found a foolproof way to distinguish a Stand user from an ordinary person. I noticed that when Stand users inhale cigarette smoke, the blood vessels on their nose will show through their skin."

Jonathan, Joseph, Fluttershy, Kakyoin, Avdol, Polnareff, and Tennille all reached for their noses, while Anne just looked confused. Fluttershy then realized something. "Wait a minute! I've been around you while you were smoking for months, and I've never had my blood vessels appear through my nose when I inhaled the smoke!" "You're right Fluttershy," Jotaro admitted, "I was lying just now. But that bluff seems to have caught me an idiot. Isn't that right... Dragon!?" Tennille, really Dragon, gasped in shock at how easily he was tricked.

As the group looked on, Dragon took off his hat, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. "Jotaro, how did you know he was Dragon?," Joseph asked. "I actually didn't until Fluttershy's revelation," Jotaro admitted, "I'd intended to use this trick on all the sailors here just in case. This impostor was just my first victim because of his dick move earlier." Dragon shrugged. "Looks like my desire to see God's blue seas stay clean got the better of me. If not for that I might have been able to pick you off one by one."

"So then where's the real Captain Tennille?," Avdol demanded. "I left him sleeping at the bottom of the ocean," Dragon explained, "I knew the best way to infiltrate the crew was to take the captain's place. Otherwise he'd have spotted me quickly and alerted you all, not to mention I could use that authority to avoid suspicion via respect. But I gotta say, I never saw that little trick coming. Silly me for falling for it hook, line, and sinker. That said... I hope you haven't forgotten my Stand is still swimming out there."

Anne, who had been watching the exchange in confusion, suddenly felt herself get grabbed and lifted into the air by an unseen force. Unseen to her, anyway, as the Kujo group saw perfectly well what was grabbing her. It was a blue humanoid amphibian with fins running down its spine. "My Stand is Dark Blue Moon," Dragon explained, "A fitting name, given the Moon card in the tarot represents a fear of the unknown, just like my Stand can easily hide itself unseen in the water."

"You bastard!," Polnareff growled, "Taking a hostage to protect yourself!?" "What would you have me do?," Dragon asked, "In case you've forgotten, you kinda have me outnumbered seven to one. That's why I was hiding in the first place. My Stand is well suited to the ocean, but even this large a group is difficult for it to fight. That's why I need to even the playing field. And now that I have my hostage, I think I'll just jump into the water with her in tow. That should make things easier."

As he got on the railing, he addressed Jotaro. "I heard your Star Platinum is fast! Let's see if it can outrace my Dark Blue Moon! I'll warn you, it can swim faster than any fish in the sea!" He immediately dove overboard, his Stand with him. "In that case," Jotaro said as he summoned Star Platinum, "I'll take you out before you even reach the sea!" Star Platinum started punching Dark Blue Moon as it fell. "ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!" As the aquatic Stand let go of Anne, Star Platinum grabbed her and tried to pull her up.

Dragon started dead floating away from the ship. "So much for that Stand user," Polnareff said, "Guess he was too cocky for his own good." "Let's not celebrate just yet," Jotaro said through his grunts, "I can't seem to pull Anne up." Joseph looked confused. "Huh? What's wrong?" "Blistering barnacles," Jotaro said, "Literally!" The group looked over the railing to see actual barnacles were growing on Star Platinum's hands. They seemed to dig into its flesh, causing Jotaro to bleed as a result.

"Looks like Dragon's not done with us!," Fluttershy realized, "Music in the Trees!" Her Stand appeared and created several trees, whose branches grabbed Jotaro and tried to pull him up. "Hurry Fluttershy!," Jotaro called out, "I can feel these things sucking away my strength!" Fluttershy grabbed Jotaro's arm to try pulling it up. Unfortunately, the weight and loss of strength became too much, and both them fell overboard along with Anne. "Kakyoin, catch!," Fluttershy said as she used Music in the Trees to throw Anne toward the deck. Kakyoin quickly caught her using Hierophant Green. "Can someone tell me why I'm doing mid-air stunt shows without any wires?," Anne asked.

Both Jotaro and Fluttershy hit the water, where Dragon was laughing. "Welcome," he said through his Stand, "To the world of my Dark Blue Moon." Fluttershy and Jotaro placed their hands to their mouths. "Now I know what you might be thinking," Dragon said, "How long can this guy stay underwater, right? Most humans can only last two minutes, but I've trained myself to the point where my lung capacity is three times greater than most humans. My personal record for staying under is six minutes and twelve seconds."

"That's nice," Jotaro said, "But what I was really thinking was, 'How did Fluttershy get these seaweed masks to produce oxygen so easily?'" Dragon looked confused, until he saw the couple remove their hands. On their faces were the masks Jotaro was talking about. "Fun fact about plants," Fluttershy said, "They're responsible for oxygen being introduced into most environments. It doesn't take a botanist to know that a plant's respiratory system is the opposite of an animal's, breathing in carbon dioxide while exhaling oxygen. Given that, I can use Music in the Trees to create special masks made from seaweed that work on an accelerated version of that."

She smiled beneath the mask. "It kinda makes it like a scuba mask, but without the heavy tank. For the record, the longest these masks have worked is an hour tops." "So now that you know that we can stay under for even longer than you," Jotaro said, "What sort of seafood would you like us to make you into?" Dragon shook his head as he chuckled. "Clever, but don't think you've got the advantage. Don't forget my Stand is designed to thrive underwater." He proved his point by having Dark Blue Moon slash through the boat's propeller.

"Dark Blue Moon's hands are sharper than any blade forged," Dragon explained, "It can easily rip through steel without issue. There's also that other little matter." He indicated the barnacles still covering Star Platinum's form. "That special oxygen mask won't do you any good if your lungs don't have the strength to even breathe," Dragon said confidently. "Any other little tricks this overgrown sashimi has?," Fluttershy wondered. "As a matter of fact, little lady," Dragon said, "There is one other trick that should really swing the battle in my favor."

From the deck of the ship, the rest of the group saw a giant whirlpool form where Jotaro and Fluttershy had been pulled in. "I can't see Jotaro from here!," Jonathan said. "Hang on," Kakyoin said, "I'll get him." Unfortunately, as Hierophant Green tried to reach into the whirlpool, something started cutting up its hand, Kakyoin feeling the effects. The emerald Stand lifted its hand to reveal several blue scales digging into it. "Those scales!," Kakyoin realized, "This isn't just a whirlpool, it's a large blender!" "If we dive in there we'll be sliced to ribbons!," Joseph realized.

He then saw Fluttershy and Jotaro surface briefly. "What's this? They've gone limp." He smirked. "I think they've got this." Fluttershy already had Music in the Trees toss a few leaves into the whirlpool to test the razor scales. "Good idea going limp Jojo," she noted, "That'll make it harder for those scales to cut us." Dragon started laughing again. "Let me guess, you're thinking about how easy it would be if you could just get to the center of the whirlpool and counter-attack, right?"

"Man you're terrible at this," Fluttershy noted, "I was actually thinking, 'How long until he notices the coral growing on his legs?'" Dragon looked down as large collections of coral pinned his legs to each other, his Stand feeling the same effects, limiting its mobility. "But coral is more animal than plant!," Dragon argued. "That doesn't matter to Music in the Trees," Fluttershy noted, "It's not just a Stand for controlling plants, it can also work with animals. Larger creatures it merely speaks with, but lesser creatures like coral it can control as easily as any plant, even manifesting it in the same way."

"And now that we have you in one place," Jotaro said with a smirk, "Time to make that sashimi." Star Platinum's right index and middle finger burst out of the barnacles and stretched out to incredible lengths. "Star Finger!" The attack pierced through Dark Blue Moon's webbed hand as it tried to block, then struck it in the eyes. Dragon grabbed his face in pain. "You turned out to be even more cocky then we thought," Jotaro noted, "That's the real reason I was going limp, to save up energy for this attack."

Star Platinum used its finger to tear apart Dark Blue Moon's face, causing blood to burst out of Dragon's face. As the maritime assassin sank into the ocean, the barnacles immediately disappeared. Jotaro and Fluttershy then started swimming back to the surface. "Ha ha!," Joseph said when he saw them, "They did it! Just like I thought! That's my grandson all right!" "And Fluttershy has even more tricks than it first appears!," Polnareff noted. "That's one less assassin for DIO to send against us," Avdol said, smiling.

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.

Well, you guys wanted to see a fight featuring Jonathan in this arc, and here it is.

Forever was smashed through the wall of his own ship and wound up sinking in the ocean. As he died, his Stand quickly started to dissipate. Luckily for the Kujo group, the giant tree created by Fluttershy's Stand allowed them to get to the life boat before the large freighter completely sank. "I can't believe just one Stand user created such a ruckus," Avdol said, "To think he traveled the entire ocean just to find and kill us." "We were completely overwhelmed this time," Joseph admitted, "Luckily Fluttershy turned out to be even stronger." Fluttershy smiled shyly, blushing at the idea that she had saved everyone almost single-handed.

"Four days into their journey and the Joestars are almost to Singapore," DeKurliss noted, "It seems the girl they call Fluttershy is truly powerful when angered. Thanks to her they are a quarter of the way here with only so much time lost. Our efforts to either kill or slow them down are ineffective at best." "Forever seemed the best choice to overpower them," Enya said as DeKurliss removed the Strength figure from the map, "If Jotaro and Fluttershy had not figured out his Stand he would have killed them all. But I have two more agents waiting for them in Singapore, the Devil and the Temperance. Between the two of them they should easily dispose of the Joestars and their allies."

It's been four days since the Kujo group left Japan. Shortly after Forever's defeat, rescue arrived for the team and they made it safely to Singapore. By now it was clear that travel by sea and air would be impeded. As the group made their way to the hotel, a police officer approached them. "You there, wait a second!" He pointed to Polnareff and then a no littering sign. "You just threw that garbage on the ground! That's a five hundred dollar fine, to be paid immediately!"

Polnareff looked confused. "Garbage? What garbage are you speaking of? The only thing I tossed on the ground was my luggage." The officer looked at the cloth bag he thought was a garbage bag. Suddenly embarrassed, the officer apologized and left as the rest of the group started laughing. As they did, they realized Anne was laughing as well, having apparently followed them for some reason. "Anne weren't you supposed to meet your father?," Fluttershy asked.

"He won't be here for five days," Anne explained, "Until then I can go wherever I want." Fluttershy blinked. "So why hang out with us? I doubt we've seen our last assassin." "If that big ape was the worst these enemies of yours could throw at you," Anne reasoned, "I doubt I'll be in any danger. Besides, I got no money of my own, so my only choice is to hang around you guys until you either leave or my dad shows up, whichever comes first. And I get a cool big sister out of the deal." She smiled at Fluttershy, who looked embarrassed at being called both cool and a big sister.

The hotel where they checked into had only four rooms available, which suited the group's dynamic. Joseph and Avdol shared one room, Jotaro and Kakyoin a second, Fluttershy and Anne a third, and Jonathan and Polnareff had the fourth. These last two entered their room and took a look around. "Given our luck thus far," Polnareff said, "I'd wager DIO's men will try attacking us here in the hotel. Can't be too careful." He then noticed the refrigerator had a bunch of bottled drinks on top of it. "As I suspected. Come on out you! We already know you're here!"

Sure enough, the fridge opened and out of it climbed a heavily scarred Native American man. "Just who are you?," Jonathan asked. "I am Devo the Cursed," the man explained, "My Stand represents the Devil card, which symbolizes confusion and misfortune." "Rather sloppy job of hiding for someone who's supposed to symbolize confusion," Polnareff noted, "You left all the drinks you took out of the fridge to hide in it right in plain sight." Devo smirked. "Ebony Devil!" But he could make any further moves, Polnareff already had his Stand stab Devo multiple times in the face, some of the blood hitting a nearby traditional doll.

"I think Anne was right," Polnareff noted, "That ape was a much stronger opponent." However, Devo was just laughing like a maniac. "You've really done it now! This pain... It makes me hate you so much! My Stand only activates when I am injured, and can grow stronger by using the hatred I have for the one who injured me. That's why I made it so easy for you to find me, so my Stand could do its work." "That's enough of that," Jonathan said, "Ra!" The hawk-headed Stand flashed a light from its hands, blinding Devo and sending him hurtling over the balcony.

The two Stand users rushed to see where he landed. "I see a blood mark where he hit," Polnareff noted, "But no trail to indicate where he moved. He must be resilient to survive a fall from nine stories up." Jonathan nodded. "The scars he was covered in certainly suggest as much. If he wasn't lying about his Stand, then he's likely allowed plenty of victims to injure him just to activate it." Just then, Polnareff felt something slice through his ankle, causing him to collapse to his knees. "What the hell was that?"

"Devo of the Devil card?," Avdol said. Polnareff had called him while getting his leg bandaged by Jonathan. "Yes, I've heard of this Stand user. He's a Native American shaman, or at least claims to be. He's a well-known lethal assassin. If he's attacking our group I've no doubt he's working for DIO. I'll contact the rest of our group about this. Meet us in our room in five minutes." "He should be fine," Joseph noted, "After all Grandpa's with him. Still, until we know how Devo's Stand works, we're at a disadvantage."

Polnareff finished calling hotel service to get some medical assistance to better patch up his ankle, then noticed the key to their room was no longer on the nightstand. "That's odd," Jonathan said, "I saw you put it there." Polnareff soon spotted it under the bed. "It must have fallen there during the battle." He tried to reach under the bed, but Jonathan stopped him. "Hold on. The battle was over too quickly and never even touched the nightstand. Something's not right. Let's approach the bed from both sides."

Unfortunately, something still managed to wrap a length of cord around both men's wrists and pull them under the bed, then started tying them under the bed. "What's going on here!?," Polnareff demanded. Before Jonathan could guess, something vaguely human-shaped and doll-sized squirted shampoo in both men's eyes, Jonathan getting an extra thick splash. Blinded, Jonathan heard the sound of a saw. "Polnareff I can't see! What's happening!?" Polnareff had managed to get some of the shampoo out his eyes by shaking his head, giving him a good view of the area around the bed, what little could be seen.

"Something's sawing through the legs of the bed!," he called out. Just then, the entire came crashing down on the men, trapping them. "I'm very upset...," Polnareff muttered. Just then a knock came on the door and it opened, a bellboy coming in with a medical kit. "Mister Polnareff? It's room service with the medical supplies you asked for." "You need to get out of here!," Polnareff called out, "You're life is in danger if you enter this room! There's someone dangerous lurking inside!"

But the bellboy was too concerned about the damage to the room and came to investigate. This turned out to be a fatal mistake, as something suddenly sliced his face off with a large razor, then dragged his corpse into the room and slammed the door, leaving a "Do Not Disturb" sign on it. The two men then heard a wicked cackling as something was heard running across the floor. Finally the mysterious figure made itself known, the doll from the nightstand that was now moving on its own.

"I really have a grudge against both of you," the doll said, "Polnareff, you sliced open my eye. And Jonathan, you nearly broke my legs because of that fall." "Devo!," Polnareff realized, "So this is your doing! I understand now, your Stand is controlling that doll!" "He must be on top of the bed!," Jonathan noted, "Quick, Stands out! Ra!" "Silver Chariot!" The two Stands appeared on top of the bed over the doll possessed by Ebony Devil. "Ha!," the doll said, "Like that'll help you! You, Polnareff, can't see through your Stands eyes! Jonathan certainly can, but I made sure to properly blind him to avoid that little issue!"

"Polnareff, can you really not see through your Stand?," Jonathan asked. "It's meant to evoke the image of a fencer," Polnareff explained, "What fencer needs to worry about an opponent he can't see?" Jonathan sighed. "You, for one." Ebony Devil made to attack Silver Chariot's leg, but suddenly got punted by Ra. "What!? But how!?" "I've had to fight opponents I can't see plenty of times," Jonathan explained, "Since a Stand is an extension of the soul, it's filled with life energy, which I can track with my Hamon! Blinding me was a futile effort!"

"I still need my own method of seeing," Polnareff noted. He then got an idea. As Ebony Devil danced around to avoid the two Stands, Silver Chariot wound up breaking a nearby mirror, while Ra made to scatter the glass while making its own attacks. Meanwhile, Ebony Devil was making its own plans, grabbing some of the liquor bottles and breaking them open, spilling the contents all around the bed, all the while taking potshots at Silver Chariot and Ra and managing to get a few sharp hits in, such as cutting into Ra's leg or biting into Silver Chariot's vulnerable neck.

"Damn it!," Polnareff called out as he felt the bite, "Chariot's armor only protects so many vital areas! We need to cut these cords so we can get the bed off us!" "Have Chariot cover his eyes!," Jonathan said, "I'll shed some light on the situation!" Silver Chariot did as suggested while Ra unleashed a blazing light which blinded Ebony Devil. The two Stands then started cutting apart the cords in an effort to free their users. Ebony Devil recovered quickly, however, and used a broken bottle to slash Ra's arm, while using a spear in its other hand to stab through the bed, barely missing the two men.

Silver Chariot quickly grabbed the sheet and used it to try and restrain Ebony Devil, breaking the spear in the process. But Ebony Devil was able to get free by using the razor to slice through Silver Chariot's hand. Luckily, Ra was able to finish the process of cutting the cords. "Don't move the bed yet," Jonathan warned as he rubbed the shampoo out of his eyes, "Devo spread that alcohol around for a reason." Sure enough, Ebony Devil had made its way to the fridge and swiveled its head around. "Now, I'll be sure to bite your balls off!"

Polnareff growled as he sent Silver Chariot to attack, but Ebony Devil leapt onto the nearby ceiling light. Laughing, it said, "Jonathan wasn't wrong when he thought I made the floor wet for a reason. The bed as well. Now I have this electric dryer with me. Guess what I'll do with it?" His smiled dropped. "Now my revenge is complete..." He dropped the dryer, but Polnareff smirked as Silver Chariot speared the dryer with its sword, followed by the doll's head.

"But how!?," Ebony Devil demanded, "Even if Jonathan had wiped away the shampoo, you were in no position to signal each other without me hearing it!" "Did you think we spread that glass around at random?," Polnareff asked confidently. "We knew we needed a way to allow Polnareff to see you," Jonathan explained, "And then we remembered the mirror, which was in a fixed location that Polnareff couldn't have missed if it was pitch black in the room. A few good blows to scatter the shattered glass liberally..."

"Et voila!," Polnareff called out, "A perfect panoramic view from which I could observe the top of the bed from a number of angles!" Silver Chariot threw the doll aside and it and Ra helped their users toss the bed off them. "At last we meet, Devo!," Polnareff announced. "And for the last time," Jonathan noted, "Because even though you have a remote Stand, I'm guessing its nature means that if we destroy it, it will have a profound effect on you."

Now terrified, Ebony Devil tried to escape, but Silver Chariot cut the doll's legs off. "Non non, mon ami," Polnareff said, "You're not going to escape so easily. But before we finish you off I have a question. I seek a man with two right hands that we suspect to be working for your boss. Tell me, just what is the secret to the Stand of the one I seek?" "Like I'd tell you that!," Ebony Devil replied, "A Stand user should never reveal the secret of their Stand, unless they are about to die or about to kill their target!"

"How cynical," Jonathan noted, "That may be fine and dandy for those of you who use your Stands for assassination. But not every Stand user is so dark in their actions. Take the Steel Ball Run, for instance. There were just under fifty Stand users there, and from what I've heard most of them weren't shy about revealing their Stands' powers." "That's just idiotic," Ebony Devil said, "The fact that they let their powers be known means their weaknesses are easy to spot, just like how we know all your groups weaknesses."

"Do you really?," Polnareff scoffed, "You may know our limitations, but not necessarily our weaknesses. Our Stands have simpler powers that are more varied in their use. Tell me, what if we decided to kill you outright when we first encountered you? Your Stand would be useless if you died from the injuries you received." Ebony Devil growled when he realized the duo had a point.

"Now come on," Polnareff said, "Didn't you say something about wanting to bite our balls off!?" The doll leapt at the two men, but Polnareff was ready. "I'll slice up everything but your balls!" As Silver Chariot sliced the doll into powder, Devo's scream could be heard from the bathroom he was hiding in. When a janitor heard the scream, he was shocked to discover Devo's mangled corpse. There was now one less enemy for the Kujo group to face.

"What happened to you two!?," Fluttershy called out when she opened to the door to Joseph's room, revealing Polnareff and Jonathan, still injured from the fight. "Devo's been dealt with," Jonathan explained, "He ambushed us in our hotel room a second time using his Stand, which can possess an object that gets hit with his blood. That's how he turns his hatred into power." "We destroyed the doll he used," Polnareff continued, "I don't think we need to worry about him anymore." The two men then fainted from exhaustion. "I'm getting too old for this...," Jonathan muttered.

"Now Devo's been eliminated," DIO noted as his subjects made their reports, "We're losing assassins at a rapid pace. At this rate they'll run through the entire tarot deck before they even reach Egypt." "Don't lose heart yet, my love," Enya assured him, "Our assassin of the Temperance card has yet to make his move. His Stand is truly unstoppable. He's already moving to infiltrate the group to eliminate them." DIO smiled, but it dropped quickly. "Ah... It seems Joseph Joestar is trying to use the psychic link between him and his father's body to read my thoughts."

Sure enough, Joseph, Avdol, and Jonathan were in Joseph's room. Joseph had used Hermit Purple to jack the TV and try and get some sort of message regarding information about DIO's next agent. This was another ability of Hermit Purple, it could rapidly switch through the channels and sync up their speech to reveal a message. Soon enough, a message become clear. "Among us there's a traitor, Noriaki Kakyoin. Be careful, he's DIO's agent."

Before anything more could be revealed, DIO's image appeared on the screen. 'Joestar, you're trying to spy on me. But I'm afraid you've had all the information I'm willing to give.' And with that, the TV exploded. "Damn, he intercepted us," Avdol said. "But about what the message said," Joseph said, "That Kakyoin is working for DIO." "But the message got cut off by DIO," Jonathan reminded him, "And Kakyoin was only working for DIO because of the flesh bud. DIO may be a calculating opponent, but a Trojan Horse plot like this wouldn't be necessary to him when he has other agents who can get the job done more efficiently."

"Gray Fly did mention that some Stand users have powers beyond belief," Avdol noted, "If DIO cut off the message, then perhaps the Kakyoin who is a traitor is not the real Kakyoin, but a Stand user capable of posing as him." Joseph rubbed his chin. "That makes sense. Right now Kakyoin is with Jotaro and Fluttershy, getting tickets to India. If an impostor has replaced Kakyoin at any point, then I'm sure they can deal with him."

Jotaro, Fluttershy, and Kakyoin were with Anne as they went to get the tickets. While buying some coconut water, a pickpocket went to swipe Kakyoin's wallet as he got it out. The thief didn't get far, as Kakyoin used Hierophant Green to trip the pickpocket. But then something unusual happened. The look of menace in Kakyoin's eyes looked unnatural. "You thought you could get away with stealing my wallet you useless piece of shit?" He then proceeded to knee the thief in the face.

"You're as filthy as a rat's ass," he declared as he twisted the thief in a backbreaker hold, "Stealing my wallet with the same hands you wipe your dirty ass with!" "That's enough outta you, Mister!," Fluttershy declared, as Music in the Trees snatched the pickpocket away with a few vines, "This sort of language and behavior is unbecoming of you, Kakyoin. What the hell is wrong with you?" "What's the big deal?," Kakyoin said dismissively, "I'm just punishing a wrong-doer. Isn't that right, best buddy?" He looked to Jotaro.

"There's such a thing as taking it too far," Jotaro pointed out, "Even I've never gotten that violent with a simple pickpocket, and I've put people in the hospital before." Kakyoin just stared at the glares the two lovers were giving him. "So I'm suddenly wrong for punishing a criminal? Ah, but maybe it was a little overboard. I'm just worn out from the trip and all's that been happening, so I've been getting a little impatient."

"But the most you've had to worry about was Gray Fly," Fluttershy pointed out, "Granted you got some minor injuries during the battle with Dragon and Forever, but you've had plenty of time to relax since then." "And you were just fine a little while ago as we left the hotel," Jotaro added. Kakyoin had no reply as he sipped his coconut water. "Anyway, we'll be taking the train to India," Jotaro said, "So we need to buy our tickets." As the two of them left, Kakyoin turned his attention to a group of kids admiring some beetles that were feasting on tree sap.

As Anne went after the duo, she said to Kakyoin, "Come on, you're gonna be left behind." She saw Kakyoin ravenously eating something while his back was to her. "I guess you really like coconuts," she said as she hurried off. Kakyoin turned his head to look at the her, a beetle's leg hanging from his mouth. He chuckled. "Coconuts... Yes, I do love them." Anne then noticed the beetles on the tree were gone and ran over to grab Fluttershy's arm. "Is something wrong?," she asked. Anne remained silent, which got Fluttershy worried.

Later as the group reached the cable car, they got some ice cream as they waited. "Hey, Jotaro," Kakyoin said, "Are you gonna eat that cherry? If not, I'll take it." As he grabbed the cherry, he casually knocked Jotaro off the balcony, prompting Fluttershy to act. "Music in the Trees!" Jotaro had grabbed the railing with Star Platinum, and was helped up by Fluttershy's vines. "Just playing around," Kakyoin said smugly as he placed the cherry on his tongue and started licking it. "Rero rero rero rero..." The cherry dropped as he continued, and he bent over to pick it up.

"This is going way beyond a joke," Fluttershy noted, "I'm starting to question if you're even the real Kakyoin." "I was thinking he might be possessed," Jotaro admitted, "But given your track record at picking out enemies so far, I think your theory is more likely." "Come on now Flutters, Jojo," Kakyoin said, "It was just a simple joke. Can't you take a joke?" Fluttershy blinked. "Flutters? Not even Jojo calls me that. Hell, not even my parents call me that!" Kakyoin simply swallowed the cherry, and somehow grew a few inches.

As the cable car pulled up and opened the door. "Hey, Kakyoin," Jotaro said, "Get in the cable car. Right now." He slugged Kakyoin right in the jaw, and suddenly said jaw began to come unhinged. "Okay, you've broken plenty of jaws before," Fluttershy said, "But never that hard. Not even with your Stand." The now obviously fake Kakyoin sat up. "Some friend you turned out to be. Rero rero rero." "Some Kakyoin you turned out to be," Jotaro retorted, "You're obviously a Stand user posing as him. But I was able to hit it without difficulty. That's some unusual power."

The fake Kakyoin chuckled as he stood up, his fake visage exploding into yellow goo as his real face was revealed. "Allow me to properly introduce myself. My name is Rubber Soul. My Stand, Yellow Temperance, can assimilate any organic matter! Because of that it's form can easily be seen by normal humans! Take a look at your hand, and you'll get a good idea." Jotaro looked and saw some of the yellow gunk had gotten on his hand from when he punched Rubber Soul. "Bastard. You intentionally played a obvious fake to get me to hit you."

"My Stand can't work work unless it actually touches something," Rubber Soul admitted, "While I can easily use it to disguise my body and blend in, that doesn't help when I'm tasked with assassinating someone. But now that I've goaded you into hitting my Stand, it will slowly start spreading across your body, consuming it as it does." Jotaro scoffed. "Star Platinum!" Star Platinum moved to attack Rubber Soul, but was blocked by Yellow Temperance grabbing its arm. "Nice try, but my Stand is perfect for defense against an aggressor," Rubber Soul said.

As the cable car started leave, Fluttershy ran to chase after them. "Anne, call Mister Joestar and let him know what's happening. Music in the Trees!" Using her Stands vines, Fluttershy grabbed onto the back of the cable car just as Jotaro was thrown against a nearby window. She had heard everything regarding Rubber Soul's Stand, and wasn't sure her Stand could help in this fight since its attacks were pure organic, but at the very least she could try and get Jotaro out of there.

Joseph got the call from Anne at his hotel room. With him was Avdol, Jonathan, Polnareff, and the real Kakyoin, who had gotten separated from Jotaro and Fluttershy as they left the hotel and decided to get some sun by the pool since he didn't see where Jotaro had gone. "So it's a Stand user disguising himself as me?," Kakyoin asked, "It must have happened just as we were leaving the hotel. I slipped off to use the bathroom, but I guess Jotaro and Fluttershy didn't notice." "Let's hope they can find a way to beat this new enemy," Avdol said, "I've heard that few people Rubber Soul targets escape alive. And for good reason."

Meanwhile, Jotaro and Fluttershy were having a tough time. Although Jotaro was able to get out of the cable car and onto a connecting pillar, Rubber Soul made no move to chase him, stating that he already won since some of his Stand was already on Jotaro. Fluttershy tried a few chemical agents from a few plants she knew to remove the gunk, but they only succeeded in irritating it. Jotaro then tried his lighter, but that just caused the gunk to explode and spread further.

"If we could just take out Rubber Soul it'd stop this thing," Fluttershy noted. She then spotted another cable car, where a kid was enjoying ice pop. "Let's try that." Using their Stands, the duo flew over to the cable car. "Excuse me," Fluttershy said, "My boyfriend here need to freeze this goo off his hands. Can you let us use your ice cream? I'll be sure to buy you a new one." The kid nodded and handed the popsicle to Fluttershy, who handed it to Jotaro. Unfortunately cold proved worse than heat, as the goo solidified and grew thorns.

"Maybe we should try diluting it," Fluttershy suggested. "It's no use," said a rather plump woman sitting across from the kid, "There's no way you can remove it." Yellow Temperance tried going for the kid's dog, but Fluttershy snatched it away and handed it to the kid. "If you so much as harm a hair on that dog, I'll fire poison barbs at you so fast your Stand can't possibly stop them! Hell, I'll probably do that anyway, since if you're dead your Stand goes with you!"

The woman smiled, her visage melting back into Rubber Soul. "Well, if you really want to try it. But you'll just wind up the same as your little boyfriend." Yellow Temperance suddenly spread out and grabbed both Jotaro and Fluttershy. "My Stand has no weaknesses! It's the perfect offense and defense! Do you understand!? I'll digest you both here and now!" Jotaro scoffed. "It may be true that your Stand can't be defeated. It may just be the strongest Stand ever. However, we Kujos... Or rather, we Joestars... Always have one last trick up our sleeve for situations like this."

"Oh," Fluttershy realized, "You mean that. I guess we could give that a shot." Rubber Soul looked confused. "Huh? Just what are you talking about?" "It's simple," Jotaro said as he and Fluttershy smiled. "Run away!" Star Platinum and Music in the Trees smashed through the bottom of the cable car, all three Stand users falling through it while the kid, his father, and their dog were left behind. "Are you nuts?," Rubber Soul with a smirk, "I'm still digesting you! Just what do you hope to accomplish with this!?"

Fluttershy gave a smirk. "Take a closer at where we're running to." Rubber Soul looked down past them and gasped. They were about to hit the water. Once they hit, Rubber Soul was quickly forced to dispel Yellow Temperance so he could surface and breath. "Little reminder," Fluttershy said, as Music in the Trees grabbed him with several strong branches, "Every Stand has at least one weakness... The Stand user!" Jotaro grabbed Rubber Soul's shoulder. "Do you understand!?"

Star Platinum smashed its fist into Rubber Soul's face, nearly crushing it. "Okay, okay! I give!," he called out, "Please... I think my nose is broken, I know I lost some teeth, and my jaw needs to be wired shut now... So, please show some mercy... I only joined DIO because he paid me, honest." "In that case," Fluttershy said, her Stand manifesting a few flowers that could shoot poison barbs, "Tell us what other Stand users might come after us. Or I'll make good on my promise earlier."

Rubber Soul gulped. "Well. I know a few of the other users. There's Death, Empress, Hanged Man, and Emperor. Death's the only Stand user I know of that was working with DeKurliss' group. The rest of us were working with this prophet woman, the one who told DIO about Stands." "Prophet woman?," Fluttershy asked. "Well, she comes off as such," Rubber Soul said, "She's almost as old as DIO yet she still hasn't aged since she was twenty. Rumor is she ingested some of DIO's blood and it stopped her from aging, but oddly enough she's still human since our business arrangement was made outside in broad daylight."

"And what about their abilities?," Jotaro asked. "I don't really know any of that," Rubber Soul pleaded, "We may be allies but we don't share our powers since doing so would expose our weaknesses. Though I do remember something about Hanged Man. He's the prophet woman's son, named J Geil. A weird character with two right hands." Jotaro and Fluttershy gasped as they looked at each other. This had to be the man Polnareff was looking for.

"Was this J Geil ever in France?," Fluttershy asked. "If you're asking if he's the one who killed Polnareff's sister," Rubber Soul replied, "Then yes. I don't know much about his ability except that it involves mirrors. There's no way Polnareff can beat him." "Well if we can beat you...," Jotaro pointed out. Then Rubber Soul grinned as he hoisted himself onto the nearby pier. "Oh, but you haven't won yet. It looks like luck is still on my side." He pointed to a nearby water hole were a couple of lobsters were crawling. Suddenly they got sucked into the waterhole and Yellow Temperance came bursting out, grabbing Jotaro and Fluttershy and pulling in the side of the dock.

"Bastard must've found a manhole," Jotaro realized, "But he hasn't realized it yet." Fluttershy grinned. "Yeah. He hasn't pieced it together that his luck just ran out. You only broke his nose earlier, but now..." Star Platinum and Music in the Trees grinned as they aimed their fists at the water hole. "We'll mess up the rest of your face!" The two Stands punched the waterhole, sending water surging through it. The pressure caused the manhole Rubber Soul was standing on to go flying, taking him with it. It even smacked him hard in the face as it went up.

Rubber Soul went flying, then gulped as Jotaro grabbed his hair. "Say... You couldn't possibly be willing to give me a hand here, would you?" "You know what?," Jotaro said, "You just earned the whole fist, if you'll excuse the phrasing." Rubber Soul gulped. "ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!" "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The Kujo group was now on a train heading for India, Rubber Soul having been sent to a Singapore hospital. Odds were, DIO would cut ties with him after his loss. But his words left the group with some things to discuss as they sat in the dining car. "This prophet woman sounds like Enya Geil," Jonathan said, "Me and Twilight encountered her back in the 1880s, when she and DIO fell in love. I know a bit about her Stand, Justice. Odds are we'll be fighting her at some point. But I had no idea she birthed a son in the last hundred years."

"And her son is the same one who killed my sister," Polnareff noted, "At least now I know what his name is. Asking for that will make my search easier, especially since we now have confirmation that he's working for DIO. By the way, where's Anne?" "She's still in Singapore," Joseph explained, "Or at least she was when we left. She probably went to see her dad." Polnareff shrugged. "Eh, I'll bet she's lying about that. Probably an orphan or a runaway."

"I still can't believe that someone was able to disguise themselves as me," Kakyoin said, "When you did you start to suspect he was a fake?" "I'd say right around when he manhandled that pickpocket," Jotaro replied, "That's when warning bells started going off. From there it was the little things. His attitude, his speech... And there was this one habit he had were he--" "Oh Jotaro," Kakyoin cut him off, "If you're not going to eat those cherries may I have them? They're my favorite."

Jotaro shrugged. "Sure." "Thanks," Kakyoin said, and he popped the cherry into his mouth and started licking it in manner similar to Rubber Soul. "Rero rero rero rero..." Jotaro and Fluttershy stared at him, Fluttershy in complete shock. "Hm? What's wrong?," Kakyoin asked, "Oh, there's some flamingos outside the window." "So Rubber Soul got that right by accident?," Fluttershy asked, "I guess everyone has their oddities..." Jotaro sighed. "Gimme a break..." Little did the group know, Anne was in the car right behind them, sleeping. "Jojo..."

Hope you liked the punchline... Because Rubber Soul sure got it! Ba-dum-tss...

Fun fact, but during the original run of Stardust Crusaders, Araki had every intention of killing off Avdol at this point. But he turned out to be a fan-favorite, so Araki retconned the death scene. The anime made it far more obvious that Avdol could have survived, and I will take it one step further.

"The Joestars have managed to beat Yellow Temperance," DeKurliss said in shock, "Or rather I should say they beat Rubber Soul. He seemed capable of taking them all on. I wouldn't believe they beat him if I hadn't seen it for myself." "Well then," Enya said, "I believe it's my son's turn. He holds the tarot of the Hanged. And with the help of his partner, who holds the tarot of the Emperor, the Joestars will meet their end before they even realize what's happened."

After disembarking the train, the Kujo group found themselves in Calcutta, India. "I'm glad we're finally able to cross India," Joseph said, "But I'm a little worried." "About possible enemies?," Jonathan asked. "Well that too," Joseph admitted, "But also... This is my first time in India. Not to sound prejudiced, but whenever I think of India, the only thing that comes to mind is beggars, thieves, and curry-eating, disease-ridden people." "Those are mere stereotypes," Avdol assured, "Well, except for the curry eating, and even then that's not something exclusive to India."

"He's right Granddad," Jotaro noted, "Hell we have curry back in Japan. Mom makes it every Tuesday." He turned solemn at the reminder of why they were taking this journey, so Avdol decided to change the subject. "The point is, India is a fine country, full of nice people." In spite of Avdol's words, there were some issues as the group moved through the city. "Full" was certainly an appropriate word, as the streets were congested with civilians. There were some beggars, mostly kids, and at one point Polnareff wound up stepping in cow dung.

"The trouble is I can't even complain," he lamented, "I know enough about India to know cows are considered sacred here." "Here's your wallet, Kakyoin," Fluttershy said, having used her Stand to grab the wallet back from a pickpocket. She had also used it to whip some creep that tried to touch her butt. "Hey Avdol," Jonathan said, "Have you perhaps only encountered the upper castes of Indian society?" Avdol looked embarrassed. "I suppose some stereotypes hold true, but it is a nice country when you get used to it." "It's fine," Jonathan said, "I only know about India from the stories my late wife told me, so I welcome the new experience."

As they managed to get a taxi, albeit with difficulty since a cow decided to nap right in front of the first one they went for, Joseph sighed. "My first experience in India and it's not making a good impression." "Calcutta has a homeless population of two million," Jonathan noted, "In fact, back in my younger days in the late nineteenth century, this was called the worst place in the world. But it's not all bad. Erina spoke highly of the chai tea that's common in this country."

The group finally settled down in a nearby restaurant. "I guess culture shocks are to be expected in a trip like this," Jotaro noted, "We only have to be here for a few days at most, so we have some time to get used to it." Polnareff excused himself to use the bathroom, but was confused when one of the waiters handed him a long pole with a small weight at one end to take with him. "Did Polnareff just head for the bathroom himself?," Fluttershy asked as she emerged from her own trip.

"Yeah, what about it?," Joseph asked. "Then he's gonna get a nasty surprised," Fluttershy said, "My Stand picked up animal voices coming from beneath the toilet. Turns out the lack of plumbing in India led to an alternate solution." As she was explaining the situation, Polnareff entered the bathroom himself. "A little unusual looking but at least it's clean," he noted, "A man like myself can't tolerate a dirty toilet." However, seconds later he burst out of the bathroom screaming.

"Sir, is something wrong?," the waiter asked. Polnareff dragged him into the bathroom and pointed at the toilet, where a live pig was sticking it's head out. "What on Earth is that doing there!?" "Ah, sorry about that," the waiter said, "I guess he must be hungry. There's a pig stein below each of the two bathrooms, but the one for the men's room was built too shallow. It's unusual even by India's standards." Polnareff looked shocked. "Wait... Are you seriously saying...?" The man shrugged. "Pigs will literally eat anything. Here, let me show you how to deal with this."

He took the pole he had given Polnareff. He then smacked the pig in the center of its face, right between both its eyes and its snout. The pig immediately pulled back its head. "There," the waiter said, "That should stun it long enough for you to finish your business. We should probably commission to have the stein deepened, but the boss prefers it like this, saying it feels good when the pig licks his ass." He shrugged as he grinned. "He's kind of a weird one, no matter what culture you're from."

Polnareff sighed. 'I think I'll just hold it in until we get to the hotel.' As he started to wash up, he looked in the bathroom mirror and saw something outside the window behind him. It was a human figure wrapped in bandages, and it had two right hands. Polnareff immediately turned around, but the figure had vanished in the split-second it took. "Was that my imagination?," he wondered aloud, but dismissed that thought when he turned to the mirror and the figure was still there.

It opened the window and started to climb in. Polnareff whirled around to confront the man, but not only did he somehow vanish in an instant again, the widow was still closed somehow. And the more he looked at the figure in the mirror, the more he realized that it was merely human-shaped. There was little else about it that could be considered "human". Polnareff started to realize what was going on. "I can only see him in the mirror... Rubber Soul mentioned something like this to Jotaro and Fluttershy. This must be J Geil's Stand, Hanged Man."

Hanged Man produced a sharp blade from its hand, prompting Polnareff to take action. "Silver Chariot!" The sword wielding Stand emerged at struck the mirror, shattering it. Polnareff thought he saw a beam of light immediately leave the mirror as it broke apart. He opened the window and started scanning the crowd, but there were too many people who's left hands he couldn't see, and the ones he could were clearly shaped like left hands. "Damn it... I need to warn the others." As he left the bathroom, the image of Hanged Man remained in one of the glass shards, laughing.

"And you're sure it was J Geil?," Avdol asked. "The Stand only appeared in the mirror, much as Rubber Soul described," Polnareff noted, "And it had two right hands. I can think of no other person it could have been, which means J Geil is somewhere in Calcutta, planning to take us out. We need to find him. Besides removing another threat from DIO's ranks, this is my best chance to finally have my revenge." "How shall we search for him?," Jonathan asked.

"I'd like you, Joseph, and Jojo to stay near Fluttershy," Polnareff requested, "I'll not risk another incident like the one that happened with my sister. I'll take Avdol and Kakyoin and search the streets." "Be careful," Joseph said, "If what you saw is any indication, J Geil has a vicious and unpredictable Stand. We don't know the full scope of what it can do, only a vague idea of its nature." Polnareff nodded. "Let's hurry. The sooner we deal with J Geil, the sooner I can breath a sigh of relief."

Just outside Calcutta, an American man was riding through the plains on an elephant, alongside an Indian woman who was his lover. As the elephant stopped, the man said, "You should get home, Nena. I have a friend to see, and I don't trust him around women." "Please Hol Horse," Nena said, "Won't you marry me? I'll do whatever you ask, so let me stay with you forever." "That's not a decision you should make so lightly," Hol Horse replied, "Besides, aren't you just sixteen?"

"That's still old enough for me to get married," Nena argued. "Yeah, here in India," Hol Horse retorted, "But I'm a drifter, which means I travel through countries where such a marriage would be considered illegal. Besides, a noblewoman like yourself shouldn't be seen marrying a guy like me, destined to die on the streets, no matter how much we love each other." "Oh, Hol Horse," Nena said, as the two embraced. "I'll be sure visit you whenever I can," Hol Horse assured her.

As Nena left, Hol Horse heard a chuckling sound. "That you, J Geil?," Hol Horse asked, "You sure like to eavesdrop. That's considered rude, no matter what country you're in." "Don't get me wrong," J Geil said, "I've had a few lovers myself. But don't you think you're wasting time flirting with a woman like her?" Hol Horse shrugged. "Maybe you think that way, but the way I see it, the more women I'm nice to, the more they'll help me out when the going gets tough. And unlike you, I'm a gentleman around women."

J Geil nodded, understanding what Hol Horse was getting at. Even if a woman was one of their targets, there was no way Hol Horse would let any harm come to her, from himself or J Geil. "I suppose I'll have to let this one go," he admitted, "Besides, it's Polnareff I'm more concerned about. I heard that he's looking for me after what happened with his sister." "Best keep your guard up," Hol Horse said, "Your plan to isolate him didn't quite go as planned. He's traveling with Avdol and Kakyoin. On the other hand, that's still three outta seven, which improves our odds tremendously."

J Geil chuckled. "And between the powers of our Stands, it will be simple to eliminate them, then move on to the Joestars." As he spoke, a cobra approached, making to bite J Geil. Hol Horse spotted it first, then manifested a large, futuristic gun and fired. The recoil made the gun knock back tremendously, yet the bullet still shot straight as an arrow and seemed to curve to hit the snake right in the head. J Geil smiled as Hanged Man then appeared in the reflection of his bottle, which proceeded to slice the snake apart. "No doubt," Hol Horse said as he admired their work, "Between my Emperor and your Hanged Man, we're an unbeatable duo."

As Polnareff, Kakyoin, and Avdol searched through Calcutta, they spotted Hol Horse approaching them. Considering how much he stood out, the others noticed him easily. "Think this is him?," Kakyoin said. "No, his left hand looks normal," Polnareff noted, "This is clearly someone new." Hol Horse took a drag from his cigarette. "Normally a three on one hardly seems fair, but my Stand, the Emperor, can easily out-shoot all three of you. Name's Hol Horse, and I was hired by DIO to take you out."

"If you are working for DIO," Polnareff said, "Then perhaps you know a man named J Geil." Hol Horse chuckled. "He came here with me. I'm sure he's around here somewhere. Thing is, the guy does his best work unseen, so I'm not sure where exactly." "Kakyoin, Avdol, look around for J Geil," Polnareff said, "I'll handle this arrogant asshole." Hol Horse laughed. "Oh please, like your sword can beat my gun!" Polnareff smirked. "What? Did you say I can beat your bum?"

Hol Horse became flabbergasted, while Avdol laughed and even Kakyoin gave a quick chuckle. Hol Horse growled as he lowered the brim of his hat. "Dude... Not funny..." He immediately summoned Emperor and fired off a shot. Quickly Polnareff summoned Silver Chariot and ejected its armor, allowing him to dodge easily. He then saw the bullet curve around the attack again and made to slice it, but it easily dodged around the blade. "Did you really think that was an ordinary bullet?," Hol Horse said confidently, "It's part of my Stand too, so I can control its trajectory at will."

As the bullet came in again, Avdol tackled Polnareff to the ground. "He's a lot more capable than the others," Polnareff noted, "I thought his Stand was just a simple gun with maybe limitless ammo, but it's more involved than that. Even with Chariot's armor removed, dodging that and still having room to attack will be a chore." "And there's still the fact that we haven't seen J Geil or his Stand yet," Avdol added, "This may be our toughest fight yet."

"Watch out!," Kakyoin said, "It's coming back around!" Avdol saw the bullet. "Let me take care of this. Magician's Red!" But before Magician's Red could do anything, Hanged Man appeared in a puddle behind Avdol. Just as the bullet approached, Avdol felt himself get stabbed in the back, causing him to fall over backwards. Hol Horse smirked as the bullet seemed to pierce Avdol's forehead, Polnareff and Kakyoin seeing the same thing. In reality, Avdol had bent over backward enough that the shot simply grazed his skull, but the impact and loss of blood caused him to lose consciousness.

"Phew," Hol Horse said, "Glad we got him first. Avdol's flames were the biggest threat to my Stand. Even if the bullets are part of it, they are still metal like any normal bullet, so a hot enough fire would melt them easily." Polnareff and Kakyoin knelt over their fallen friend. "Damn you, Hol Horse...," Polnareff said, "You've really earned my ire now!" "Polnareff," Kakyoin said, "I know you're upset, but in this situation we're clearly outmatched. We need to retreat and find a way to handle them one at a time."

"Please don't make me adhere to the French stereotype...," Polnareff groaned, "Still, you're right. Clearly Avdol's death was the result of Hol Horse and J Geil working together. If we can somehow separate them it should be easier to take them both out. What's the plan?" Kakyoin spotted a nearby jeep. "Let's use that to get some distance." As they slowly backed up, Polnareff suddenly saw Hanged Man in nearby window pane. "Don't think you can escape so easily," came J Geil's voice, "My Stand can travel in the mirror, and can follow you anywhere."

"Try following us when the mirror is gone, bastard!," Polnareff called out, using Silver Chariot to shatter the window. Hol Horse fired off another shot while Polnareff was distracted, but before it could hit, Kakyoin called out, "Emerald Splash!" Hierophant Green launched its attack right at Polnareff, knocking him out of the way as Hanged Man tried to come at Polnareff from a shard of glass that was near him, and the bullet from Hol Horse closed in.

Kakyoin leapt into the jeep, which luckily had its keys inside, and drove away, grabbing Polnareff and pulling him inside as he did. Before long he was out of Hol Horse's range. "Damn it," Hol Horse said, "Even if my Stand did have the range to hit them from here, it'd be too weak to do any damage." "Let me go after them," J Geil said as he appeared from a nearby alley, "We may be stronger together, but alone I can still finish them." Hol Horse shrugged and walked away from the street.

Once they were both gone, Fluttershy and the three Jojos came out. Fluttershy went over to check on Avdol and breathed a sigh of relief. "He's still alive. We should stabilize his wounds and get him to a hospital." "He got lucky," Joseph noted, "If J Geil hadn't been so gung-ho in stabbing him, Hol Horse's bullet could've done some real damage. Still, this means he'll be out for a few days, a week at the least." "I'll watch after him until then," Jonathan offered, "I could use a break in my old age."

Meanwhile, Polnareff and Kakyoin had made it out into the Indian desert. "I think by now we've shaken off Hol Horse," Polnareff said, "Damn... And after the pep talks Fluttershy's been giving me. She reminded me that Sherry would never want me to die just for revenge. That's why I wanted to work with you and Avdol in catching that bastard. But I didn't expect he'd be partnered with someone." "That's an unfortunate weakness of yours," Kakyoin noted, "You always get blindsided by opponents who play dirty. Even Jonathan, a quintessential British gentleman, can adapt to those sorts of enemies."

"I did learn something about Hanged Man," Polnareff said as he removed the rear view mirror, "Simply breaking mirrors isn't enough to remove him. In the moment before you attacked me, I saw him in one of the shards of the mirror I broke. Neither of our Stands can follow him into the mirror, so how can we fight him?" "It's not like it's some sort of mirror world," Kakyoin noted, "What we see in a mirror is just reflected light, after all." "Well, you never know with Stands," Polnareff reminded him, "By rights, animals shouldn't be able to talk, but tell that to Fluttershy."

Kakyoin considered it. "Well, I suppose that-- Wait..." He suddenly saw Hanged Man in the the steering wheel's reflection, climbing into the trunk of the jeep. "He's in the chrome of the steering wheel!," Kakyoin called out, "Look out!" Through the reflection, Hanged Man broke through the back window of the jeep, causing Polnareff and Kakyoin to flinch at the broken glass. Kakyoin quickly hit the brakes, and the car started to wipe out and begin rolling. The two Stand users crawled out of the wreck. "Are you okay?," Polnareff asked. "Yeah," Kakyoin said, "I bruised my chest in the crash, but I'm otherwise uninjured."

Polnareff then saw a light bounce from inside the wreck, to a piece of metal glinting in the sun, to the bumper of the jeep. Inside the reflection he could see Hanged Man. "Silver Chariot!" Silver Chariot sliced up the bumper and knocked the pieces away. "Kakyoin," Polnareff called out, "Get away from any reflective surfaces!" The two of them ran from the wrecked jeep and down a small cliff. "I just figured it out," Polnareff said, "While we were still in the wreck, I saw a beam of light bounce from reflection to reflection. And when it stopped I saw Hanged Man! That's the secret of J Geil's Stand!"

"He must have followed us by hopping from one reflection to the next," Kakyoin realized, "Which means Hanged Man is a Stand of light." "And it also means he can hide in any reflective surface," Polnareff noted, "Including the buttons on our clothes." "Hey, are you two alright?," a young boy said as he came by, "I saw your car crash, and it looks like you're bleeding." Polnareff gasped when he saw Hanged Man in the boy's eye. J Geil laughed. "What now? This child's curiosity insures he'll always be looking at you. So to get me out, you'd have to stab his eye out."

Polnareff blinked, then chuckled. "J Geil, you simple-minded fool. If not for your Stand, my sister's friend Antoinette would have made quick work of you. Stab out this child's eye? Why would I need to do that, when a much simpler method exists to remove you from that reflection?" The kid looked confused at Polnareff's words as he summoned Silver Chariot. "Sorry about this kid," Polnareff said as he brought his leg back, "I'll be sure to by you some caramel later." And with that, he kicked into the nearby sand, causing it to get thrown into the child's eye.

The result was as expected, the child closed his eyes to avoid the sand. Polnareff had Silver Chariot strike at the flash of light that appeared. Kakyoin gasped at where it was going. "Polnareff, it's in your eye now!" "It's fine," Polnareff assured him, "I just figured out the trick to Hanged Man. It's essentially moving at the speed of light. That's faster than a human could see, but if it can be tricked into moving along a predictable route then hitting it is easy with my Silver Chariot's own speed."

Hanged Man suddenly found itself sliced open. "Hanged Man can only exist in a reflection," Polnareff explained, "Destroy the reflection and it must move to a new reflection. In the case of an eye, simply forcing the eye's lid to close will suffice to destroy the reflection, rather than doing something so barbaric as plucking the eye out." A sudden scream came ringing out as he spoke. "That must have been J Geil," Kakyoin realized, "Looks like we finally have him."

The duo ran to where the scream came from, and saw a man injured in the same way Hanged Man was. Polnareff was about to approach, but Kakyoin held him back. "Hold on, it's been some time since we heard that scream. You there! Show us your left hand!" The man obliged, and sure enough it was shaped normally. "That's not him," Polnareff said, "J Geil must have injured him in an identical manner to throw us off." "And it worked out perfectly!," a voice rang out as Polnareff found himself stabbed in the back.

Another man emerged from nearby, injured in the same manner as the other one, and sporting two right hands. "You...," Polnareff muttered through the pain, "So you're J Geil, the man who killed my sister, and Avdol." J Geil chuckled. "Good to meet you face to face at last. I was told you'd be looking for me by DIO. Understandable, given how close you likely are to your family, but I have no intention of letting anything stop my lifestyle." "Don't act so cocky," Kakyoin said as he summoned Hierophant Green, "Now that we can see you you're vulnerable to attack."

J Geil grinned. "Oh, am I? Hey, everyone! These people say they want to give you money!" Polnareff and Kakyoin suddenly found themselves surrounded by beggars. Polnareff grunted as he saw Hanged Man in one old beggar's eye. "You're little trick may have been possible when there was a limited number of people around," J Geil admitted, "But now with this many eyes to travel between, there's no way you can predict the trajectory my Stand will take!"

"Bastard!," Polnareff called out, "You've known about your Stand's weakness all along!?" "I've had mine since the day I was born," J Geil said, "And I got to know all about its ins and outs. I'll be sure to kill you here, and continue to find more women to love and cherish me. Just like your sister..." Polnareff growled as J Geil cackled. "Her screams were just like music to my ears. It's too bad the other girl escaped, she would have made an excellent lover as well. So, what will you do now, Polnareff?"

Kakyoin smirked. "I get the distinct impression you don't think me important in this confrontation. Which will be your mistake in the end." He dug into his pocket and pulled out a gold coin. J Geil gasped when he saw it glint in the sun, realizing what Kakyoin's plan was. "Everyone!," Kakyoin called out, "This coin will go to the first person who can pick it up! Be sure not to take your eyes off it!" And with that, he flipped the coin into the air, where it easily shined in the sun.

Polnareff grinned as the beggars all turned their heads up to keep track of the coin, thus taking their eyes off each other and the two men. J Geil gulped, realizing his advantage was gone. Sure enough, Polnareff spotted the old man whose eye Hanged Man had hidden in, and kicked some sand in his eye. Like clockwork, the man closed his eye, forcing Hanged Man out and towards the only reflection it could see, which was the coin. However, it never got that far, as Silver Chariot appeared and cleaved it down the center.

J Geil screamed in agony as the same thing happened to him. Polnareff smiled. "Your screams are like music to my ears. And now I'll enjoy your sobbing as I send you straight to Hell. But first there's one thing I must do that I can't trust Hell to accomplish for me..." Silver Chariot readied its blade. "And that's to turn you into a pincushion! Ready yourself, J Geil, for the vengeance I've waited years for!" And with that, Silver Chariot stabbed J Geil over and over. The force of the attack caused J Geil to launch into the nearby gate, in a position reminiscent of the very tarot card he represented. "The rest I'll leave to the Devil himself," Polnareff said.

You guys have been curious about new changes. Well here we're having a major revelation. I hope you like it.

Hol Horse finally spotted Kakyoin and Polnareff as they made their way back to the city. "Finally caught up with you!," he called out as he summoned Emperor. The duo disregarded him and walked off. Hol Horse smirked. "I get it, you just learned that you can't beat us so you're running. But you need to move like your lives depend on it if you want to escape. Ain't that right, partner!?" He fired off a shot to hit a nearby pot, using the water to create reflections. He got nervous when there was no answer from J Geil. He was not yet aware that his partner had been killed.

Polnareff and Kakyoin looked at him, and the lack of fear in their eyes was making Hol Horse nervous. "Hey now, we've already shown that you can't stop us when we work together, so you might as well give up. Ready, J Geil!? We're about to finish this!" He shot a nearby window, scattering glass all over. "It's nice that you're given your partner the reflections he needs to use his Stand," Kakyoin admitted, "But it's a futile effort. J Geil is dead."

Hol Horse wasn't sure if he could believe Kakyoin's words. But the fact that he couldn't see Hanged Man in any of the reflections didn't exactly discount them. He decided to try calling their bluff. "Hey now, this isn't the time for lies, boys. Even I can't beat Hanged Man's ability, so there's no way you could." "Oh?," Polnareff replied, "So you never tried shooting Hanged Man by tricking him down a predictable path of reflections? If you really want proof, J Geil's corpse is about two or three meters in that direction." He pointed to where they had just left J Geil hanging.

Now Hol Horse was mentally freaking out. 'He's talking like he knows Hanged Man's weakness, which means J Geil must be dead. Dammit, I knew it was a mistake to split up. Now I'm starting to regret not settling down in Mama Applejack's farm with the rest of my siblings. She and Dad always said it was a bad idea becoming an assassin.' He immediately ran off in the direction Polnareff pointed. "In that case, I'll go check it out!" 'There's no way I can beat them on my own. Even if I can control the trajectory of my bullets, a gun is still a gun. I need to retreat and wait for a better chance.'

Before he could get too far, however, someone punched him out. It turned out to be Jotaro, and Joseph and Fluttershy were with him. "Mister Joestar! Jotaro! Fluttershy!," Kakyoin called out. "Where's Jonathan?," Polnareff asked. "Avdol's death hit him hard," Joseph said, "It gave him flashbacks to when his beloved dog was killed, the only other friend to be murdered rather than die from natural causes."

Polnareff shed a tear. "So you know then..." Joseph nodded. "We already had a small funeral for Avdol." It was a lie, but with Avdol still recovering and Hol Horse right there it was necessary. "J Geil is already dead," Polnareff announced, "And my sister has been avenged. But ultimately it was Hol Horse who killed Avdol. So now... It's your turn to receive punishment!" Hol Horse freaked out as Silver Chariot appeared. But before it could attack, Nena came out of nowhere and grabbed Polnareff by the legs. "Hol Horse, run!"

"Nena?," Hol Horse asked in confusion. He certainly didn't expect this level of help. "I'm not sure what's going on here!," Nena admitted, "But you're the only reason I live, so you must live as well! Now go!" Hol Horse took the hint and quickly ran to where he had stashed the horse he used to follow Polnareff and Kakyoin. "Thanks you, Nena! I'll be sure to travel here again to give you a more proper thanks!" As he rode off, Polnareff tried to follow, but was hampered by Nena, whose elbow got bruised by the rough sand.

"That's enough Polnareff," Joseph said, "This girl was obviously being used by Hol Horse. And he obviously has no more intention to fight us." "He's right," Fluttershy said, "Don't forget we still have thirty-five days left to get to Egypt and defeat DIO." Polnareff sighed. "Yes, you're right. I still owe DIO for trying to manipulate me." Joseph helped Nena up, some of her blood winding up on his arm. As the group left, Nena smirked behind their backs as the blood started to turn into a small, tumor-like growth.

Back in Egypt, Enya cried out in pain and agony, causing DIO to rush into her chambers. "What happened!?," he called out in a rare moment of concern, and saw multiple stab wounds appear all over Enya's body from nowhere. "I think I may know," DeKurliss said as he entered as well, "My Stand has just shown me that J Geil is dead. Much like the Joestar bloodline, Enya shares a connection to her son." Enya sobbed as DIO comforted her. "I'm sorry... He was my son as well, so I feel the same sadness. But do not make the mistake of taking this personally. Perpetuating the cycle of revenge gets us nowhere."

Enya nodded even as her tears continued to fall. "Besides," DeKurliss said, "You may not need to worry about them for much longer. The Empress, another of your assassins, has just made her move." Enya started to cheer up. "Ah, perfect. Her Stand can go undetected easily, and by the time they notice it, it will already be too late." "Some of my own assassins are starting to return," DeKurliss said, "Though I hope they won't be needed. We've lost many allies already, and only taken out one of the Joestar group so far. If this keeps up, they'll reach Egypt within the next week or so."

The Kujo group was taking a bus to Varanasi, which would take them along the Ganges River. Nena was also following them, explaining that she had family there that she wanted to see. The entire trip, Polnareff was trying to explain why Hol Horse was a bad man for her. Though the others could easily tell that it was just him trying to flirt with an attractive young girl, even if she was a year younger than Fluttershy. Speaking of which, she had spotted what looked like an insect bite on Joseph's arm and was trying to bandage it up. "We'll have to have this looked at in Varanasi," she said.

"Take a look outside," Kakyoin said, "There's some men doing what looks like extreme training." The group looked, and sure enough there some men doing perhaps the most extreme yoga anyone had ever seen. "Ugh...," Joseph muttered, "Feels like that bite's getting worse." Nena looked at him, but couldn't see what was happening under the bandage. "We're almost at the bus stop," Fluttershy assured him, "Then we'll head for the hospital."

The doctor at the hospital looked at the bug bite, which looked to have been swollen, and also seemed to resemble a face. "That looks infected," he said, "I'll have to remove it." "Hey, now!," Joseph protested, "I've already lost one arm in my life!" "It's not like I'm cutting your whole arm off," the doctor clarified, "Just cutting out the flesh where the infection is. I assure you you'll still be able to use your arm when the procedure is done. Now lie down please."

"Is he going to be alright?," Fluttershy asked. "He'll be fine," the doctor assured her as he applied an anesthetic, "I trained in a medical school in England." As the scalpel approached the growth, Fluttershy suddenly saw it grow eyes and a mouth and grab for the scalpel. "Music in the Trees!," she called out, her Stand shooting the scalpel away with a seed shot. "Hey now," the doctor said, "What was that for?" But he suddenly felt very sleepy, as Fluttershy released jasmine essence into the room.

As the doctor fell asleep on the ground, a voice called out, "Rats, I didn't get to get rid of that doctor. Oh well, he's not my target anyway." Joseph and Fluttershy gasped as they realized the voice was coming from the face on Joseph's arm. "This isn't a bug bite!," Fluttershy realized, "It's a Stand!" "That's right," the Stand said, "I am the Empress! And I am here to kill you, Joseph Joestar!" Joseph quickly went for another scalpel to dig Empress off his arm, but it simply grabbed the scalpel in its teeth and held tight.

"Damn, it's so strong!," Joseph noted. Suddenly the scalpel got tossed up and slice off Joseph's prosthetic pinkie. "Not again...," Fluttershy muttered, "Who built this arm for you?" "An acquaintance from Germany," Joseph said, leaving out the fact that said acquaintance was a Nazi officer. "Let me give this a try," Fluttershy suggested, "With Music in the Trees, I have plenty of options." "Don't even bother, little girl!," Empress taunted, "I can chew through your super strong plants as easily as I stopped that scalpel. And forget calling in animals to help, they'll be useless against a Stand."

"There's always my Stand," Joseph pointed out. Empress scoffed. "All you can do is project images. How's that gonna help you get rid of me?" "Either way we can't remove it here," Fluttershy said, "Let's get out into the streets, maybe a quiet alleyway." She pointed to Empress. "And don't bother trying to make us look like criminals to anyone. You saw how my Stand can put a person to sleep using plant essence. I won't hesitate to do the same to any officer you try and draw attention to." Empress growled. It seemed they had that as an advantage, at least.

Once outside and in a nearby alley, Joseph said, "Let's start with the simpler route... Crushing you!" He threw his arm at a nearby wall, but Empress surprised him by growing arms. "That's not good!," Fluttershy said, "It's still growing!" "You should really take care of your arm, old man!," Empress taunted. "And you should have stayed just a face," Joseph retorted, "Let me show you another trick my Hermit Purple can do!" Empress suddenly found itself wrapped up in Hermit Purple's vines. "Wait, since when can you use it to wrap things up?"

"Since I first obtained it," Joseph said simply, "Shouldn't it have been obvious this was the reason my Stand takes the form of these thorny vines? I can't believe you thought spirit photography was my only power. And that's not all they're good for. Overdrive!" He channeled his Hamon, but it just seemed to pass over Empress, who grinned. "Nice try. These vines may be good for damaging me, but I'm part of your body right now. That Hamon of yours can't affect me so long as I am attached to you."

"We should try looking for the others," Fluttershy said, "Maybe Polnareff can slice it off." She then saw Polnareff with Nena, then gasped. Nena had spotted her and seemed to deliberately lead Polnareff away. "So Nena's your user!," she realized, "She must have placed you on Joseph when he was picking her up back in Calcutta." Empress looked shocked. "Just how on Earth are you so good at picking out Stand users!?" "I just guess based on what I see and observe," Fluttershy admitted, "I just turn out to be right most of the time."

Empress sighed in defeat. "Fine, yes, Nena is my user. As you've no doubt realized, I'm a remote Stand that can think for myself, separate from my user. Even as we speak Nena is charming Polnareff and keeping him separated from the rest of the group. She's a loyal servant of Enya's, something not even that naive fool Hol Horse knew. But Hol Horse still has value to Lord DIO, so Nena was sent to look after him. That's why she stopped Polnareff from killing him. And the fact that she got injured in the process gave her the perfect chance to slip me onto Joseph Joestar!"

"Dammit, Polnareff's love-struck," Joseph admitted, "There's no way we'll convince him that Nena's the Stand user." "I still have a few options of my own," Fluttershy pointed out, "Let me see what I can grow." She started generating a few plants to see what might work, Joseph following her. Just then, he heard the sound of munching, and quickly looked down to see Empress had grabbed some of the plants and eaten them. The result was that it started to grow more and gained an entire head and torso. "Thanks for the meal Daddy," it said mockingly, "But you really shouldn't be binding me up like this. Children need more freedom!"

It then bit right into Joseph's arm before starting to laugh. "The more I eat the more I can grow! And soon I'll take over more than just your arm! Even now my arms are long enough to reach your neck!" She started punching at Joseph, who tried blocking with his prosthetic hand, only to have the fingers smashed apart. "OH MY GOD!" The attacks caused him to go reeling back into the market street. Empress took advantage by trying to smash Joseph's head with some incense pots. Joseph then got a brainstorm, secretly striking one of the pots Empress used with Hermit Purple.

"I just got an idea," he said as he returned to Fluttershy, "Follow me!" "Huh?," Empress asked, confused, "You're getting even further from Polnareff or any of the others. At this rate Nena won't even need to distract them." "There's a reason I'm running this way," Joseph said confidently as he came up to a large barrel full of a black liquid, "And that's so I can use this to kill you!" He dipped his arm into the barrel, covering Empress in the liquid.

However, Empress burst out of the liquid to strike at Joseph using a nail. "I picked this up while you were rolling on the ground back at the market! I'll use it to sever your artery!" It then noticed that Music in the Trees was waving multiple giant leaves in its direction. "What are you doing?" "Oh," Fluttershy said, "I'm just using the breeze created by these leaves to accelerate the coal tar solidifying." Empress gasped. "Coal tar!?" The tar slowly started to harden, freezing Empress in place.

Joseph chuckled. "That's right, coal tar. You probably thought I dunked you into that barrel so you would suffocate, but in reality I wanted to bind you with something stronger than Hermit Purple. I may be an old man but I'm not senile yet. I know that a Stand doesn't need to breath to survive." "But how did you even know there was coal tar here?," Empress demanded. "It was the incense dust back at the market," Joseph explained, "I used Hermit Purple on one of the pots you were bashing me about the head with to find me something to stop you from moving. That created a perfect map of the city from the dust, which directed me right to this barrel."

"I was wondering where that map would lead," Fluttershy noted, "I saw you using Hermit Purple and realized you were trying to draw a map. But to think this is where it would lead us." She giggled. "I'd imagine those merchants are baffled at the sight of that map." "And that is the benefit of experience," Joseph said to Empress, "Opponents are always so cocky when they think they're winning. I've beaten plenty of opponents this way." He then wrapped Hermit Purple around a nearby window bar. He grinned. "Your next line is, 'Don't do this!'"

"Don't do this!," Empress called out, then gasped. "Oh wow," Fluttershy said, "She really said it." "Been a while since I've pulled that trick," Joseph noted, "Good to know the old boy's still got it. But seriously, this'll hurt me more than you. But children can't rely on their parents forever. Sooner or later... They have to take care of themselves!" And with that, Joseph tugged hard, his Stand easily ripping Empress to shreds as he did. "Now all that's left is to find Nena," Fluttershy said.

They soon found Polnareff as Nena was feeling the effects of her Stand being destroyed. To Fluttershy's shock, what was thought to be a beautiful young woman was really an ugly middle-aged woman wearing a younger woman's skin. Polnareff was completely horrified at this. "What's going on here!?" "This woman was a Stand user representing the Empress card," Joseph explained, "Seems she used her Stand to assimilate people and disguised herself as a beautiful girl. You were completely taken in." Polnareff was left speechless as Fluttershy sighed.

Enya looked shocked. Not at the defeat of Nena, but at her true form. "I knew all about Nena's Stand," she admitted, "But I didn't know she was hiding her true form." "She must have wanted to look presentable to you," DeKurliss suggested, "She was hired to be your personal servant, after all." Enya shrugged. "In any event, this is most distressing. I only have one final assassin to send after the Joestars. If the Wheel of Fortune can't get the job done..." She conjured her Stand, Justice. "Then I'll just have to take action myself. For the sake of my son's memory, I won't let the Joestars anywhere near Egypt!"

It took some doing, but the group managed to get Polnareff out of his funk after learning Nena's real identity and drive the group through Delhi and toward the Indo-Pakistan border. "It's getting kinda cold," Fluttershy noted. "That's because we're reaching the Himalayas," Polnareff explained, "Soon we'll be out of India and into Pakistan." He turned solemn. "Someday I'll return to India though. To give Avdol a proper send-off." The others closed their eyes. Kakyoin had been let in on the fact that Avdol was still alive, but he suggested they not tell Polnareff since he was too honest to lie on command.

The road started to get narrow, and Polnareff spotted a car ahead of them going too slow. Frowning, he risked an overtake by off-roading against the nearby mountainside. "Good thing our car has four-wheel drive," he said. "That was way too reckless!," Kakyoin pointed out. "You really could've hurt that driver with those pebbles," Fluttershy scolded, "What if they broke through the glass!?" "We've caused enough of a ruckus on our trip fighting enemy Stand users," Joseph reminded him.

Polnareff looked a little embarrassed, but then he gasped when he saw something ahead and hit the brakes. "Now what!?," Jotaro demanded, "I thought we said no more reckless driving!" "Sorry!," Polnareff said, "But look who's right ahead of us!" The group looked to where he was pointing and gasped. A kid in familiar clothing was standing near a road sign thumbing for a hitch. The kid pulled off her hat to reveal it was Anne. "Hey there," she said cheerfully, "Long time no see." "Gimme a break...," Jotaro muttered.

"Anne what are you doing here?," Fluttershy said, "I thought you were still in Singapore. What about your father?" Anne nervously rubbed the head of her back. "Well, to be honest, my family actually lives in Hong Kong... And I kinda sorta ran away from home..." The group did a collective jaw drop. "I fucking called it...," Polnareff muttered. "Anyway," Anne said, "Since we've all met up again, how about we travel together for a while? At least until the next city."

Jotaro sighed. "Well, it's not like we can leave her out here." So Anne was allowed to ride with the group, sitting on Fluttershy's lap. Though Fluttershy noted some reluctance on Anne's part in spite of their friendship, and the young girl's looks toward Jotaro was giving her some bad feelings. 'I get the feeling she's started falling in love with Jojo too... At least she's more subtle about it.'

As they traveled along the road, Anne explained why she was hitchhiking everywhere. "I'm gonna be a grown girl soon, you know. Which means I'll have to do girly things, like wear a bra and look good for boys... I'd look pathetic traveling around the world at that age." Fluttershy gave a subtle cough, reminding Anne that she was that age. "Well...," Anne said, embarrassed, "I guess some girls are okay doing that regardless... By the way, where are Avdol and the older Mister Joestar?" No one seemed willing to answer her.

Before anything more could be said, the car from before showed up, now moving much faster. Polnareff tried speeding up, but the car seemed to match them. "What the hell?," he asked, "Earlier that guy was moving slow, now he wants to speed up. Well, the road's gotten wider so I'll let him pass by." He pulled to the side and stuck his arm out the window to signal the other driver that he could pass. As the car moved by them, Polnareff noted that the windows seemed caked in dust, save for the part getting cleaned by the wipers.

Once the car was ahead of the group, it suddenly slowed down and started pouring on the exhaust, causing the group to cough. "Jeez...," Anne said, "What's this guy?" "He must be mad because of Polnareff's earlier recklessness," Kakyoin suggested. "Then he must pretty vindictive," Fluttershy pointed out, "Most people would simply stop the car altogether to get out and complain, not slow down while flooding the guy behind them with exhaust." "Did anyone see the driver's face?," Jotaro asked. "No," Polnareff said, "The windows were caked in dust."

"You're thinking this might be another Stand user?," Fluttershy asked. "If a boat can be a Stand," Jotaro pointed out, "Why not a car?" Just then, the window of the other car opened, and a large muscular arm came out signaling Polnareff to pass. Polnareff scoffed. "You should have just stayed behind me in the first place." However, as Polnareff made to pass, he realized that he was about to hit a large truck coming that was also trying to pass. "Star Platinum!" Jotaro called out his Stand, which knocked the truck aside as the two vehicles started to collide, preventing a great deal of damage.

"I'm starting to rethink traveling with you guys," Anne admitted, "I'd forgotten how much weird stuff happens around you." "Thank goodness for Jojo's Star Platinum," Polnareff said, "Otherwise we would have been crushed." "I don't see the other car anymore," Joseph said, "Maybe this is another Stand user that's after us." "Let's keep moving to the border for now," Polnareff said, "And keep an eye out for that car. If it is another Stand user, who knows what they can do?"

"What about the truck?," Kakyoin asked. "We'll just have to ignore it," Jotaro said, "As far as the driver is concerned this was just an accident." The group soon reached a rest stop, where they decided to take a break and have something to drink. As they got their drinks, Joseph spotted the other car beneath a tree. They rushed over, but the car was empty. "The driver must be somewhere around this place," Joseph said, "Fluttershy, see if the local animals know anything."

Fluttershy nodded. "Music in the Trees!" Her Stand contacted a few birds in the tree above them, but their response was odd. "They said the car parked here and no one got out of it!" The rest of the group gasped. "Then that tears it!," Polnareff said, "That car must be a Stand!" Suddenly, the car started up, the familiar large arm poking out of the window. The car then drove off down the mountain road.

They followed the car to a road sign, one of the signs pointing to Pakistan. "There's something off about that sign," Fluttershy said, "It's bent and twisted at the bottom, and the arrow pointing to Pakistan doesn't have directions that make sense. Not to mention the sign above it is facing away from the road." "Maybe so," Polnareff said, "But that driver is following the sign. If he is a Stand user, we can't cross the border safely until we're sure he's no longer a threat. We can drive back around and take the other way if it does turn out to be wrong."

What they didn't see as they passed was a third sign that said the road they were driving down was closed. The group was right near the other car. "There you are!," Polnareff said confidently, "We'll get him at the next turn!" But as they rounded the turn, Polnareff had to break, since the road dead-ended at a rope bridge over a ravine. "Where'd he go?," Kakyoin said, "He can't have crossed the bridge, could he? Or did he fall into the ravine?" The answer soon came as the car wound up right behind him and started ramming into them. "He got behind us somehow!," Polnareff realized.

"Look!," Fluttershy said as she pointed to the mountain next to them. The group turned to see tire marks on the vertical cliff face. "That must be how he got behind us!," Joseph realized, "This puts it beyond all doubt, that car has to be a Stand!" "Knowing that doesn't help our situation!," Polnareff pointed out, "This bastard is trying to push us off the cliff! It's like trying to push back against a tank! Jojo, try smashing it with your Star Platinum!" "That'll just send us off the cliff altogether!," Jotaro said, "The force of the impact will just create an opposing force working against us, like how we got bounced away from the truck earlier!"

"Then we'll just have to jump out of the car!," Polnareff said as he moved to remove his seat-belt. "Wait Polnareff!," Kakyoin called out, "The driver can't leave the car before the passengers in this situation, or else there will be no one to hold down the brake pedal!" Polnareff gasped, as he had already let go of said pedal. "Uh... Sorry...," he chuckled out nervously as the car started falling down the cliff. Kakyoin sighed. "Hierophant Green!" Hierophant Green emerged and started moving toward the Stand car.

"Kakyoin, your Stand lacks the strength to pull us up!," Joseph called out, "It'll get ripped to shreds if it tries to support us!" "Don't take me for an idiot, Mister Joestar," Kakyoin assured him, "I'm well aware of my Stand's limitations. Take a closer look, and you'll understand." Joseph soon saw what Kakyoin was talking about, as Hierophant Green had taken their car's winch with it, hooking it to the other car.

"Smart thinking," Jotaro said, "By the way, Kakyoin, are you familiar with sumo? Specifically, the tactics right around edge of the ring." Star Platinum appeared and grabbed the winch's cable, pulling the other car down. "That pulse-pounding action gets me excited every time!," Jotaro called out as Star Platinum punched the other car, causing the two vehicles to trade places, the group landing safely while the other car fell into the ravine and crashed.

"Indeed," Kakyoin said, "I love that feeling too. But Jotaro... In sumo it's against the rules to punch your opponent." Jotaro just smirked as they got out to inspect the crash. "Well," Joseph said, "Even if that was a Stand, there's no way the driver could survive after a crash like that." 'Oh don't be too sure,' a male voice said, coming from the car radio, 'After all, my Wheel of Fortune can easily protect me from a crash like this... Mister Joestar!' "He knows my name!," Joseph said, "That must mean he works for DIO!"

'Correct,' the voice said, 'My name is ZZ! You remember Forever and his Stand Strength from the China Sea? Well my Wheel of Fortune is a bit similar to that, just on a smaller scale. Allow me to demonstrate.' A sudden tremor started to form under their feet. "Quick!," Joseph said, "Back in the jeep!" "No, get back!," Jotaro said, "If he's using the radio he may be underneath the jeep!" Sure enough, Wheel of Fortune burst up from right underneath the jeep, sending it flying. Wheel of Fortune then proceeded to repair itself good as new. It then continued to change, into a more monstrous form.

"I was trying to be more subtle earlier," ZZ said from inside his Stand, "But now that you've figured me out I'll just have to be a bit more direct!" He started racing at Jotaro, who scoffed. "Okay, bastard. Let's see who's stronger." But before there could be any impact, something hit Jotaro in several places on his arms and torso, causing blood to spurt. "What the hell!?," he called out, "What did it shoot!? I couldn't see anything!" Wheel of Fortune hadn't stopped moving, but luckily Polnareff and Kakyoin were able to pull him out of the way. However, they got hit by the same attack.

"What is this?," Polnareff asked, "There's no glass or needles in them. They're not even that deep, just really painful." ZZ cackled. "Next I'll aim for your legs!" "Quick!," Kakyoin called out, "Into the cliffs!" They group hurried through, but Wheel of Fortune just squeezed through rather easily. It launched another unseen attack, and Anne wound up tripping in the struggle. "Anne, run!," Fluttershy called out. Anne seemed frozen in fear at the sight of the monstrous car. "Gimme a break!," Jotaro said he grabbed her, "Didn't you hear Fluttershy!?" Anne just got a blush on her face as the group started climbing the cliff.

"Go ahead and run!," ZZ taunted, "But there's no path for you to take! None for safety, none for Egypt, and none for a bright future! My Wheel of Fortune will splatter you over these rocks!" The tires of Wheel of Fortune suddenly sprouted spikes, letting it scale the cliff. "Let me handle this!," Fluttershy called out, "Music in the trees!" ZZ got a sudden surprise when a large cluster of trees suddenly emerged from the cliff face, knocking him and his Stand off.

"Damn it," he said, "Those trees are blocking the entire cliff. No matter, I'll just dig through the cliff underneath them like before." Back at the top, the group waited. "Did we get him?," Polnareff asked. "Hey," Anne said, "What smells like gasoline?" The group noticed that Anne was right, there was a smell of gasoline around them. "Wait...," Kakyoin said, "That's coming from our wounds! That must have been what was happening earlier, he was shooting gasoline at us!"

"Correct!," ZZ said as Wheel of Fortune burst out from near Jotaro, "Even with their velocity the fluid wasn't strong enough to badly injure you, but that was never the intention in the first place!" Suddenly, electrical wires from Wheel of Fortune caused Jotaro to be set ablaze. "Jotaro!," Joseph called out. "Don't Mister Joestar!," Kakyoin called out, "We'll just get lit on fire too!" Jotaro seemed to collapse as ZZ laughed. "And so Stardust Crusaders ends early. Take that, mtnetsurfer!"

"Come on," came Jotaro's voice, "Haven't you read the original manga?" ZZ was shocked as Jotaro emerged from the ground behind him. "You couldn't kill me then, and you sure as hell can't kill me now. Besides, who's gonna replace me as the main character, you?" ZZ was flabbergasted. "You... You dug underground with Star Platinum!?" "Yep," Jotaro admitted, "You managed to burn up my jacket, but it's no big loss. As for the rest of me, it seems you were wrong about there being no paths left to take. After all, a path is something you forge for yourself. You saw for yourself when you were blocked from the cliff by Fluttershy. But I think you could benefit from a remedial lesson."

ZZ freaked out as Star Platinum started doing a good impression of a car crusher. "ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!" The assault caused ZZ to go flying out the other side of his Stand, making a good imprint in the ground as he skidded away a few feet. "You see?," Jotaro said, "You really can forge your own path if you apply yourself. So our lesson ends here."

So, I was right, my decision to make Hol Horse Applejack and Caesar's son did throw people for a loop. So let's move on, shall we.

Oh, people were wondering why I don't make the MLP characters closer to their canon counterparts. Uh, cuz this ain't the original MLP universe. Expect some similarities, but also keep in mind these are alternate reality counterparts, so differences should be expected.

People loved my fourth wall break, which I like. Anyway, this chapter has a bit of a shout out to Blooming Adventures by nene9131, which you can find on Fanfiction.net. It's another Jojo fanfic which has an OC character named Hanabi Moon who was several similar traits to my version of Fluttershy (but also her fair share of differences so don't think I stole anything).

The group looked on as ZZ was revealed to be a scrawny man with huge arms. "Amazing," Kakyoin said, "His arms are as big as boulders, but the rest of him is so puny. He turned out to be a lot less tough then he pretended to be." ZZ tried to crawl away, only to wind up hugging against Polnareff's leg without realizing it, although he did figure it out after a few seconds, as he looked up weakly. Polnareff scoffed. "Hello there." He slammed his foot into ZZ's back.

"P-Please don't kill me!," ZZ begged, "I was only paid to attack you by DIO!" The group couldn't help but laugh at how pathetic ZZ turned out to be. Air then seemed to be let out of Wheel of Fortune as it began to shrink. Joseph then chuckled as it turned back into a more puny and beat up vehicle. "Well, look at that," he said, "I had no idea it was so small in reality. Kinda reminds of a fluffy sheep that just got shorn." The group had another good laugh. "That's actually a good analogy," Jotaro admitted, "You know what, he's so pathetic, I'm feeling a little merciful. Granted we can't have him following us again, so I think a more interesting punishment is in order."

They proceeded to chain ZZ upside-down to a large boulder, near a sign that read, "I am a monk in training, do not disturb me." One of the chains was over ZZ's mouth as a gag. "We'll be sure to take his passport so he can't leave India," Joseph said, "And also his car so he can't follow us anymore." "It's a bit beat up," Polnareff noted, "But it can still seat all of us. And it looks like it can still last long enough to get us across the border." "We also have to buy Anne a ticket back to Hong Kong," Jotaro said, "It's not safe for her to keep following us." Anne frowned, but sighed in resignation.

DIO noticed that Enya was no longer around the mansion. "Where did Enya go?," he asked DeKurliss. "Off to intercept the Joestars in Pakistan," DeKurliss explained, "The last of her assassins failed, so now she wants to finish the job herself before the rest of my forces can have their turn." DIO became concerned. "The Joestars have her description from Jonathan. Her Stand is useless for combat, so if she can't damage them..." "Not to worry," DeKurliss assured him, "She made sure to prepare a disguise for herself using her Stand. An image of what she might have looked like had she aged normally, though I had to remind her to make her left hand normal so as not to draw attention."

The group reached Pakistan without any further incidents. Jotaro found a tailor that could make him a new jacket to match his old one, and afterward the group saw Anne off on her flight to Hong Kong. She admitted to Fluttershy that she was a little jealous of her, since Fluttershy already seemed to have Jotaro's heart before any other girl could get close. The group then got a new jeep and continued to drive through Pakistan. However, the fog started to get a little thick as they made their way through the mountains.

"Careful," Joseph said, "Granddad said Enya's Stand is a stand of mist and fog, with the power to control people. She may be making her move against us." "The fog alone may be our undoing if we're not careful," Polnareff noted, "There's a cliff right next to us with no guard rails." Joseph checked his watch. "Not even three pm yet and the fog's getting thicker. Let's stop at the nearest town. At the very least we can stay at a hotel for the evening." "I'm just hoping for a decent bathroom," Polnareff said, "I haven't been getting much luck with that in India."

"If you think that's weird," Fluttershy said, "You should check out the toilets we have in Japan." Polnareff shrugged. "At least in Japan you have toilet paper. They don't have such a luxury in India." Along the road, Jotaro saw what looked like a dog's body impaled on a spike. The town looked lively enough, in spite of the fog. "Looks clean enough," Joseph noted, "And with enough people that there's likely to be a hotel around here." "Let's try that restaurant over there," Kakyoin suggested.

Jotaro and Polnareff looked around at the people. "Rather quiet for a town of this size," Jotaro noted. Polnareff nodded. "Yes, not even beggars or merchants running around." Outside the restaurant, Joseph spoke to the owner in Arabic. The man just switched the sign on the door to closed and walked inside, saying he didn't know something. For a second Joseph could swear he saw cockroaches crawling on the man's neck, but they disappeared a second later. Joseph shook his head. "Maybe he couldn't understand you," Polnareff suggested, "Perhaps your pronunciation was off."

"No, it was correct," Fluttershy said, "But here in Pakistan they speak Urdu, not Arabic." "Well shit," Joseph said, "I'm fluent in Arabic but I don't know a lick of Urdu. Let's try seeing if someone here speaks English, that'll be faster." He approached another man sitting against a pillar. "Excuse me." But when he looked at the man, it seemed he was already dead with his face frozen in terror, and a couple lizards somehow crawled out of his mouth, freaking the group out. The man seemed to die with a look of shock on his face, but none of the other pedestrians took notice.

"I think now's a good time to mention," Joseph said, "One of Enya's Stand powers is the ability to cast illusions. And with all this mist about, she can confuse us however she needs." "That explains this," Jotaro said as he pointed out a gun the man was holding, "I didn't notice any wounds or blood on his body. But the barrel is still smoking, meaning it was fired recently." "That doesn't sound right," Fluttershy said, "Those lizards say they've been living inside him for a few hours. That can't have happened if he only died recently." "Then maybe I wasn't imagining the cockroaches on the back of the restaurant owner's neck earlier," Joseph said.

Polnareff then looked up at the fog. "Hey Mister Joestar, did your grandfather ever tell you what Justice looks like?" "No but Aunt Twilight once did," Joseph said, "During my childhood she told me stories of when she and Grandpa first went to defeat DIO. She described Justice as looking like a human skull wearing an ornate crown." "Then I think we can say without a doubt that Enya is here," Polnareff said, pointing out a skull-like shape in the mist, too clear to be dismissed as just a trick of the wind.

Joseph took a closer look at the man, and saw a passport and Indian rupees, as well as bus tickets. "So he was a traveler like us," Joseph noted. Then he saw a perfect hole in his chest. "Ah, now I think I understand how he might have died. This hole was created when Enya stabbed him with some sharp implement, then used her Stand to control him. The strain must have been too much for him and he died of heart failure." "From just one wound?," Polnareff asked.

"I don't think so," Fluttershy said as she removed the man's coat, revealing that his body was covered in such wounds. The sight caused the group much disgust, in spite of the fact that no blood was visible. "He looks like a piece of swiss cheese straight out of Tom and Jerry," Polnareff noted, "Maybe it wasn't just Enya attacking him." Before they could make any further deductions, an tiny old woman approached them through the fog, using a walking stick for balance.

"Ah, I see we have some travelers here," the woman said, "Oh dear... I wonder what happened to that man. I'll be sure to call for the police to investigate. In the meantime, perhaps you'd like to spend the night in my hotel. I'll be sure to give you a group discount." As the cops arrived and carried away the body, Polnareff noting how strange and nonchalant they were, the old woman led the group to a large building. "This is my hotel, Mister Joestar," she said, "It's a bit small, but rather famous. John Lennon of the Beatles once lived here for a time, and it was part of a 007 movie twenty years ago."

"Don't you mean twenty-one years ago?," Fluttershy asked, "And even then, 'The Spy Who Loved Me' had no scenes in Pakistan." The old woman chuckled. "Yes, yes, my idea of a joke. Brings in the customers. Anyway, would you prefer meat or fish for dinner?" "One thing first," Jotaro asked, "Why did you just call him Joestar? Just how did you know my granddad's name?" The old woman seemed to hesitate, then said, "Didn't that young man over there say his name?" She pointed to Polnareff.

"Oh yeah," Polnareff said, "I think I did at some point." Jotaro and Fluttershy looked at each other. It was true Polnareff had called Joseph "Mister Joestar", but that had been when they were investigating the body. And with how slow the old woman walked, she would have been out of earshot when he did. They began to suspect that the old woman was either Enya using her Stand to disguise herself, or someone working for Enya. As it happened, it was indeed the former.

'I'll have to tread carefully,' Enya thought, 'Jotaro is no idiot, and Fluttershy has a remarkable track record for picking out Stand users, so she's clearly insightful. Luckily Polnareff is an idiot. I can't believe he was able to kill my son. Well, one way or another I'll have my vengeance by the end of this. I just have to be patient.' She walked with the group inside the hotel and prepared to get them settled in, ready to make her plans.

Inside the hotel, Enya heard the bell for the front desk and went to see who it was. Imagine her surprise to see Hol Horse there. "So this is what you would have looked like if you were able to age," Hol Horse said, "Gotta say, it's one hell of a contrast. So, the Joestar group settled in on the third floor?" "You're the last person I want to converse with," Enya said, "As I recall... You left my son to die!" "Hey hey, it wasn't like that," Hol Horse argued, "He insisted that he could handle Polnareff and Kakyoin on his own. I honestly thought he had them. How was I to know they'd figure out his Stand's weakness?"

Enya scoffed. "Regardless, I'm glad you're here. I'm sure you'd like another chance to kill the Joestars, but I also know you prefer to work with a partner." She got out her dagger. "As it happens, I have a use for your Stand." Hol Horse got a bad feeling, but before he could react Enya had stabbed him in the wrist. "You've likely never seen my Stand in action before," Enya noted, "Allow me to enlighten you." Hol Horse saw his blood get absorbed into the mist, the wound becoming a perfect hole.

Enya chuckled as Hol Horse looked flabbergasted. "My Stand is a Stand of fog, and can control people through their wounds." Hol Horse struggled to resist the fog, and summoned Emperor. "Don't underestimate me!" He tried to fire, but Enya simply turned the gun back at him, and made him pull the trigger. Seeing him fall to the ground, tripping over a table in the process, she walked over and checked his pulse. "Still alive, as I thought. He dispelled his Stand before the bullet could reach him. It was the shockwave that knocked him down. That's good, because I need his Stand to more easily control the others. I've been beaten by physical fighters before, and there are plenty in the Joestar team."

She quickly used Justice to hide Hol Horse as Polnareff came down to investigate the sound of the table falling over. "Madam? Are you alright down here? I thought I heard a sound." He looked in the lobby, where Enya had positioned herself to look like she had been the one to trip. "Oh sorry, clumsy me. I went and fell over. My bones aren't what they used to be." She looked over to where she had hidden Hol Horse under the sofa. "You really need to have other people helping you out," Polnareff mentioned, "Like family. A son perhaps?"

"Oh, my son left this sleepy little town a long time ago," Enya said, "I've gotten used to living alone." It was a lie to help her control her temper around Polnareff, whom she hated for killing her son J Geil. 'I must remember not to make it personal... If I let my anger get the best of me, even Polnareff will realize who I am.' Just then, Hol Horse groaned as he got out from under the sofa, catching Polnareff's attention. 'Shit!,' Enya thought, 'He's far more resilient that I gave him credit for! Nothing for it... I guess I'll be getting my revenge after all.'

"Hol Horse!?," Polnareff asked, "What are you doing here!? And why do you look like shit!?" "Look...," Hol Horse muttered, "Look out... Behind you..." Polnareff whirled around to find Enya trying to stab him with a pair of scissors. He quickly blocked using Silver Chariot. "I see...," he realized, "You must be Enya Geil. So you used your Stand to disguise yourself as an old woman." Enya laughed as she dispelled the illusion, revealing her true self. "I guess there's no point hiding it from you any longer. I see Joestar told you everything about my Stand. Although, I did pick up one final trick from a century of experience."

Polnareff then noticed the other townsfolk had entered the hotel, as well as the traveler they had found dead. "Over time I learned how to control corpses," Enya explained, "I can't control zombies or vampires since they still have sentience, but anything else that's dead is fair game." "Everyone in this town is dead," Hol Horse explained, "Be careful. Don't let yourself get injured." Polnareff looked around. 'This is far too many for me to fight. And since they're already dead, they won't stop until there's nothing left. I suppose there's nothing for it.'

He quickly ran out of the lobby, Enya right on his heels. She threw her dagger at him, but he was just a little faster and got through the door and blocked it, causing the dagger to sink into the wood. Enya scoffed, and pointed Hol Horse's hand at the door. When nothing happened, she looked back to see Emperor wasn't manifested. Hol Horse chuckled. "Just because you control my body, doesn't mean you control my soul. Emperor won't come out unless I want it to, no matter how many holes you make in my body. And if you kill me, that'll kill Emperor too."

Enya growled at her miscalculation. "Fine... At least he ran down to the basement hallway. That means he's not in a position to reach Joestar and the others. I'll just use my puppets break the door down en masse!" On the other side of the door, Polnareff was having a difficult time finding a way out of the hotel. His goal was to get outside, then sneak back in to warn the rest of the group. 'Dammit. If this were a normal fight I could stand my ground and take them all on, zombies or no zombies. But one small scratch and I'd wind up like Hol Horse.'

He finally found a room to hide in just as the door broke down. 'She didn't use Hol Horse's Emperor. Guess she learned the hard way that controlling a person's body doesn't let her control their Stand. Wait... This is a bathroom! Great, another bad experience in an Asian toilet...' He then noticed that it had gotten quiet outside, and went to peek in the keyhole. He gasped when he saw one of the undead corpses peering back at him, before pulling back at stabbing at Polnareff with his sharp tongue.

Polnareff jumped back, but not fast enough. The corpse managed to spear his tongue. "Shit!," Polnareff called out as the mist penetrated the wound and pulled him toward the door. Enya used her Stand to pull Polnareff out the door and slammed him against the walls and ceiling. "Pathetic. Even against my son you lasted longer than this. Soon I'll kill you, and allow his spirit to rest peacefully." Just then, she heard something slam the door to the lobby open, and quickly resumed her elderly disguise as she went to investigate, glad that she had dragged Hol Horse with her when she came looking for Polnareff.

As she walked into the lobby, quickly closing the door behind her, she saw Jotaro and Fluttershy standing there. "Goodness," Enya said, "Walking in here so suddenly without knocking. You nearly frightened me to death." "Sorry," Fluttershy said, "But we're here looking for Polnareff." "And we did knock," Jotaro noted, "You must have been really busy not to hear it. So, do you happen to know where Polnareff is?" Enya looked at them. 'Playing dumb in this instance would only get them more suspicious. They're not naive like Polnareff. My best chance is to tell them the truth and then stab them both while their backs are turned. Then my Stand can control them.'

"Why yes, Mister Jotaro and Miss Himari," she said, "I know exactly where he is. Actually he was just in here, but left to use the bathroom through the door right behind me. It should be the first door down the hallway." Behind the door, Hol Horse was freaking out. "Damn it, she's luring them into a trap." "Don't be so sure," Polnareff said, "The whole controlling the dead thing aside, we already know everything about Enya's Stand. I'm sure Jotaro has a plan. He's only playing dumb."

Sure enough, as the couple turned to check the door, Enya went to stab Jotaro with her scissors. But before she could, Jotaro said, "By the way, I forgot to ask." Enya found herself getting tripped by a vine created by Music in the Trees. She was too tunnel-visioned to see it. Luckily, she was aware enough to drop the scissors before they could impale her. "Oh my, that was too close," Fluttershy said as she knelt over Enya, "Are you okay? You really should be careful walking while holding scissors. By the way, how did you know my real name is Himari? Everyone else has been calling me Fluttershy."

Enya freaked out at that statement. "And while we're at it," Jotaro said, "Just how did you know my name is Jotaro? No one else called me by that name since we met you. Even Fluttershy addressed me as Jojo." Now Enya was really sweating. "So, spill it," Jotaro demanded, "Maybe it's because I loved watching Columbo as a kid, but these small details tend to bother me to the point I can't sleep." Enya hesitated before coming up with what she thought was a believable solution.

"Why, it's the guest book," she explained, "I remember you all writing your names in the guest book and I checked them afterward. It was Joseph Joestar, Noriaki Kakyoin, Jean-Pierre Polnareff, Jotaro Kujo, and Himari Utsukushicho." "Oh really," Jotaro said as he reached into his pocket, "You mean this guest book?" Enya gasped when she looked at the names. "Qtaro Kujo? Hanabi Kujo?" "Our real names aren't written anywhere in the guest book," Fluttershy noted, "Yet you still somehow knew them."

"We've been suspicious ever since you called my grandpa 'Joestar'," Jotaro explained, "So I told the others not to use my name. Fluttershy wouldn't be a problem, since she usually only goes by her nickname. But you blew it with her too when you used her real name. And the only reason you'd know our real names, is if you researched them ahead of time. Only someone working for DIO would bother to do that for a couple of high school students from Japan."

"Game's up Enya," Fluttershy said, "Might as well drop the disguise." Enya's eyes darkened as she complied. "Very well, but you still haven't realized a little something about my Stand. I've developed a new power over the last century." Just then, the horde of corpses burst out the door behind them, only to get slammed away by Star Platinum. "I think that's all of them," Fluttershy noted as she held up an undead baby with her Stand's vines, "And not a scratch on us."

Jotaro then noticed Polnareff and Hol Horse trapped by Justice in the hallway behind the door. "Hol Horse?," Fluttershy asked in surprise, "Did you really follow us all the way from Calcutta?" "Watch out!," Hol Horse said, "Her Stand is made out of fog!" "And there's nothing you have to fight against it," Enya bragged, "You can't punch it with your fists, slice it with your sword, or shoot it with your gun!" Fluttershy chuckled. "And you think that makes it invincible? Dream on. Fog has plenty of weakness to exploit. And I'll prove it by stopping you before you even take another breath."

Enya laughed. "One more breath? Are you serious? You're a hundred years too young to be pulling that on me! While I'll take another breath right... Now...?" She suddenly realized that she was starting to suffocate. She then noticed Music in the Trees has sprouted a number of pure white flowers along its arms and legs that seemed to suck in Justice. "As I said," Fluttershy said, "Your Stand still has weaknesses even if it is incorporeal. These flowers are commonly known as the desert thorn apple, a seasonal plant that requires a lot of water."

She smirked. "They've been known to drawn in moisture from the air... And your Stand is full of it!" Enya soon passed out from the lack of oxygen, causing her Stand to dispel as light shown in through the nearby window, and allowed Polnareff and Hol Horse to stand up again. "Her Stand almost seemed invincible," Hol Horse noted, "But I guess she didn't realize its weak points." Polnareff nodded. "Even J Geil, her own son, was aware of his Stand's limitations. I suppose when you've managed to live for a hundred years, you start to get a little cocky."

As the fog lifted, the town turned into a mass graveyard. Or rather, it would be more appropriate to say it turned back into a mass graveyard. "I knew Enya had likely gotten stronger over the last century," Joseph said, "But to think she was powerful enough to disguise this graveyard as an entire town." "So," Hol Horse, "Shall we finish her here and now?" "Only if you happen to know what DIO's Stand is," Joseph said. Hol Horse tipped his hat down. "Sorry... Only a few of his loyal followers know that secret, and I was simply a hired gun."

"So you're suddenly deciding to help us?," Polnareff said, "After what you did to Avdol?" "That was just business," Hol Horse reminded him, "But if you ask me if I regret it, the answer is yes. Besides, I only intended on killing him, you, and Kakyoin, and leaving others to deal with the lady and the Joestars." "Fluttershy I can understand," Joseph said, "But why would you risk DIO's anger by not killing me, Jotaro, and Granddad?" Hol Horse chuckled. "Because... You happen to be friends with my old man."

Joseph blinked. "Your old... OH MY GOD! You mean to tell me your parents are Caesar and Applejack!?" "I'm their youngest son," Hol Horse admitted, "Anyway, how do you plan on getting information outta Enya? She's sweet on DIO from what I've heard, there's no way she'll cooperate." "She won't have to," Joseph assured him, "I'll just use my Hermit Purple to project her thoughts. But we'll need a TV for that and that means heading into the next town."

"Enya's been captured," DeKurliss said, "What do you wish to do?" "Isn't it obvious?," DIO said, "Have her retrieved. We can't have her spilling her secrets to the Joestars. But at the same time I promised her a place as my queen when I rule this world, and I make it a point to keep my promises." DeKurliss nodded. "Luckily the last of my agents, who represents the Lovers, has just returned. I'll send him to rescue Enya, and kill the Joestar group while he's at it."

The group's jeep soon arrived in Karachi, Pakistan. While at a nearby merchant stall, Joseph decided to grab some doner kebabs, Hol Horse helping him properly haggle with the merchant so they didn't get stiffed. By the time the group was finished eating, Fluttershy looked back at the jeep and nearly choked on her kebab. "Guys! Enya's escaped somehow!" To their shock, the jeep was empty, not to mention the merchant had also vanished. The merchant soon came back from an alley and Hol Horse narrowed his eyes. Earlier the merchant had been wearing sunglasses, but now he had dropped them.

"Emperor!," Hol Horse out, summoning his Stand, "Guys, watch out, that's another of DIO's assassins!" "Hol Horse," the man said, "I was told by DeKurliss that you had decided to void your paycheck. As for the rest of you, my name is Steely Dan. I was hired by DIO to retrieve Enya and then kill all of you." Jotaro scoffed. "Pretty bold of you just waltzing out here, without your Stand even active." He sent Star Platinum out and punched Dan, but got a surprise when Joseph also got hit by something, even harder.

"Shit," Hol Horse said, "He's already had his Stand out." "But I don't see anything," Fluttershy said. "That's because it's already inside Mister Joestar," Hol Horse explained, "Dan's Stand is called Lovers. Physically it may be the weakest Stand ever, but it's power more than makes up for it. If infests a person's brain, then whatever damage Dan takes, that person gets dealt the same damage several times over."

"And more than that," Dan said, "I also brought one of DIO's spores with me. The same ones he used to control Kakyoin and Polnareff. You thought it was dangerous on the surface, but now you'll see just how deadly they can be. Even as we speak that spore is right in the very center of the old man's brain. This way you can't do anything to me, or Joestar will feel the same pain. Even if you tried killing me quickly it wouldn't help. Oh, and by the way, Lovers is accelerating the growth of the spore. I give it ten minutes before it kills Mister Joestar altogether."

Suddenly, a flurry of petals blinded him, as Fluttershy launched her Stand. "Physical attacks may be useless, but we can still distract him," she said, "Kakyoin, Polnareff, get Mister Joestar away from here." As the trio ran away, Dan laughed. "You think distance will help you. My Stand has a greater range than any in existence. And distract me? Even the smallest irritation will affect Joestar." "But not as much as punching you or shooting you," Fluttershy pointed out, "The smaller the damage, the less it'll effect Mister Joestar. I'm willing to bet that a small irritation to your eyes would only be as terrible as a bug bite in that instance." Dan frowned, realizing Fluttershy had a point.

Soon Kakyoin led Polnareff and Joseph to an electronics store. "This will work nicely," Kakyoin said, "Mister Joestar, see if you can use this TV to track Lovers." Joseph nodded. "Hermit Purple!" The thorny Stand pierced through the TV, soon showing the inside of Joseph's brain, where they spotted the crab-like Stand. "There's the little bugger," Polnareff said, "Now what?" "Let's not forget that Stands are simply our mental energy made manifest," Kakyoin said, "So we should be able to shrink them down to Lovers' size easily." "Nothing's happened to my body since that first punch," Joseph noted, "I guess Fluttershy is making sure Dan doesn't try hurting himself."

Sure enough, Fluttershy had Dan wrapped in a dome of leaves, soft enough that he couldn't hurt himself trying to break out while still being strong enough that he couldn't tear the dome apart. Dan scoffed. "So you think you can keep me from doing anything while you try and lead Joestar away. You forget... I still have have other options." He made to punch himself, but flinched in shock as he heard a gunshot.

He looked down to see bullet hole about a foot away from him. "Now don't go trying to hurt yourself," Hol Horse warned, "I may not be able to shoot you, but I can shoot around you. And the natural human reaction to hearing a gunshot they can't see the source of is to flinch. Fluttershy made it so that we can see inside your little prison, and I'll fire off another round everytime you make to try anything like that. And lest you forget, this gun is my Stand, so I don't run out of ammo." Dan growled at the thought that they covered all their bases. 'Well... It won't matter. Joseph Joestar will be dead soon anyway.'

"I can see the Stand in your brain stem," Kakyoin said, "We'll enter there using a vein in your ear and swim through the blood vessels. Polnareff, you'll need to slice open a hole to get us in." "Hey, wait!," Joseph said, "Isn't that dangerous? Can't you just slip through?" "Not at the size our Stands are at now," Polnareff said, "But don't worry, the hole is microscopic, so there's no danger."

Inside Joseph's brainstem, Silver Chariot and Hierophant Green found the spore, already growing a number of tentacles. Lovers was at the center of the spore's mass, cutting up small pieces of brain matter. "So that's how Lovers accelerates the spore's growth," Kakyoin realized, "We need to stop him." "Leave it to me," Polnareff declared, "Even at that small size Chariot remains as strong as ever." Silver Chariot quickly struck and defeated Lovers after a brief struggle. It then returned to Hierophant Green.

"That should do it," Polnareff said. Kakyoin looked confused. "Something's not right. The video shows your Stand next to mine, but my eyes are looking at your Stand from several feet away." Polnareff looked shocked, as the form of Lovers melted, and the Hierophant Green Silver Chariot was next to turned into the actual Lovers, punching Silver Chariot in the gut. Polnareff grunted as he spit up some blood. "Damn bastard! He's also using the brain matter to create clones and disguise itself!"

"You seem so smug in there," Jotaro noted. Dan smirked. "I can see the fight between my Stand and those of your friends. By now they've come to realize that Lovers can use the brain matter of those it infests to create constructs to deceive anything that might come after it. I'm more than aware of my Stands shortcomings, as well as your weaknesses." Jotaro smirked. "Are you now? I think you're underestimating Kakyoin and Polnareff. Unless you plan on flooding Grandpa's brain with clones, it's only a matter of time before Kakyoin finds the real Stand among all the clones it makes."

Sure enough, Hierophant Green had sent its tendrils throughout Joseph's brain, searching among the increasing number of clones Lovers was making. Kakyoin smirked when he finally found the real one. "There it is, Polnareff! Let me get the first shot in. Emerald Splash!" The solid energy burst struck Lovers, impacting Dan at the same time to signal Jotaro, Fluttershy, and Hol Horse. Lovers immediately burrowed into the brain's blood vessels to escape. "Looks like it's trying to escape," Joseph said, "Which means it'll go right back to Steely Dan!" He quickly flooded his brain with Hamon to destroy the spore.

Dan dropped to his knees when his felt his Stand get attacked. Fluttershy removed the leaf barrier so the three Stand users could approach and attack. Dan freaked out as they approached. "I... I'm sorry... Please spare me, I admit defeat!" Just then, he felt himself start to burn and looked to see his skin was looking like it had been hit with acid. "Look what I caught," Fluttershy said, as her Stand showed a venus flytrap, opened just enough to see Lovers trapped inside it. It was the digestive juices of the carnivorous plant that was causing the acid burns to Dan through his Stand.

"Just as we expected," Hol Horse said, "Once you realized you weren't going to kill Mister Joestar, you decided to try one of us. And Fluttershy seemed the obvious choice since you figured with her in danger Jotaro wouldn't do a thing." "But you underestimate just how fast Music in the Trees can be," Fluttershy noted. She released Lovers over to Star Platinum, who started squishing it between its fingers. "You've got one chance," Jotaro warned, "Give up now and leave, and we'll spare you. Otherwise, I'll be sure to punch you a thousand times."

Hol Horse chuckled. "I'd listen to the man. I've seen what happens to poor suckers who get punched by Star Platinum." Dan nodded, and Jotaro released Lovers. He and the other two turned to walk away. Dan smirked. "Now I've got you! See that girl over there!?" Jotaro looked to see a young girl playing with her friends. "My Stand just went inside that girls ear," Dan explained, "It's heading towards her brain. You take one more step, make just one more move, and she'll die! And while you're frozen, I'll stab you slowly with this knife."

"Gimme a break...," Jotaro said, turning around, "You really did it this time. My grandpa was one thing, but attacking a child is crossing the line." Dan growled "Hey, didn't you hear... Huh...?" Dan suddenly realized he couldn't even move. "Devo the Cursed once said those of us hired by DIO knew all the weakness of the Joestar group," Hol Horse noted, "But it looks like what we needed to understand was their strengths. Hierophant Green seems to have wrapped up your Stand while it tried to escape Mister Joestar."

As he spoke, Hierophant Green had already yanked Lovers out of the girl's ear as she ran off with her friends, none the wiser for what was happening. Dan was now truly terrified. "Please... DIO already paid me in advance... You can have all of it, I swear!" "Pay us whatever you want," Jotaro said, "I have no intention of letting a lowly scum like you get away. What you owe us... Is not even worth a single cent!"

"ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA! ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA! ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA! ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA! ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!"

When Star Platinum was finally done punching Dan, the hapless assassin was sent flying into a nearby building. "When you mess with my family," Jotaro noted, "You pay the ultimate price." He pulled out the guest book from Enya's hotel and wrote his signature on one of the pages, tearing it out. "Here's your receipt. Keep the freaking change." He let the page float into the wind, where it landed near Dan's body.

A bit simpler than canon, but with more party members to deal with Dan there's more options to keep him contained without hurting him, so yeah. Hope I did Jotaro beating down Dan justice.

This chapter is kinda short, but that's how easy it ultimately was to defeat the next Stand user. But it will offer some insight as to what Hol Horse can offer for the group.

"I've never seen DIO so relieved," DeKurliss said as Enya emerged from her chambers. "I felt my life flash before my eyes as Fluttershy practically smothered me," Enya noted, "And given that I'm over a century old, that's a very long time for that to happen. I'm just grateful Lord DIO sent rescue. But I can no longer feel the connection to my Stand. I think it took so much damage from getting absorbed that it can't recover so quickly." "Dan has also been defeated," DeKurliss noted, "But soon the Joestars will be crossing the desert. A perfect time for the Sun tarot to make his move."

The group was now making their way into Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, taking a boat through the Persian Gulf to bypass the politic conflict between Iran and Iraq. The amount of large mansions was staggering. "Hard to believe this was all desert just twenty years ago," Joseph said, "But the region has profited from the shortage of oil in other countries." "Growing up I always thought Abu Dhabi was a fake city only found in Garfield's universe," Hol Horse noted, "Then I started traveling."

Kakyoin was looking behind the van they had bought for travel. "Something wrong, Kakyoin?," Polnareff asked, "You think someone might be following us?" "I don't think so," Kakyoin replied, "This place is so open we'd likely see an enemy coming a mile away, irregardless of their powers. I'm just a little cautious after all that's happened to us. It still feels like someone might be watching us." "It might just be DeKurliss," Hol Horse pointed out, "The longer he uses his Stand on a person, the more aware of him watching they become."

"Head for the village of Yarpline, Polnareff," Joseph said, "The road from here to the other side of Saudi Arabia is long and winding, so it'd take two days to drive there. Instead we'll take a Cessna." Hol Horse had been brought up to speed about DIO's curse and how it was killing Holly. That solidified his decision to stick with the Kujo group. "I thought we were avoiding taking a plane," Fluttershy pointed out. "Commercial flights are one thing," Joseph explained, "But this will be a private plane that only the six of us will be using."

"I'm not sure I like the idea of getting into any sort of plane with you, Granddad," Jotaro said, "Especially since you've already been in three plane crashes." "Three!?," Hol Horse said in shock, "I heard about the one Gray Fly created, and the one Pops told me about, but what about the third one?" "That was when I was just a preteen," Joseph said, "I wasn't even flying the plane then. Although... I did kinda knock out the pilot with my Hamon to stop the hijackers that were trying to control it." Hol Horse blanched. "Are we sure this is the fastest way?"

"It'll be fine," Joseph assured him, "First we'll have to cross the desert. The best way is to take some camels. They'll take us through the desert in only a day." "Planes I'll be able to handle," Polnareff said, "But I've never ridden a camel before." "I have," Hol Horse said, "In fact, I've ridden every beast of burden mankind has ever tamed. Once we get there, I'll show you how to do it. It's a little tricky, those camels stand taller than horses, so you can't just mount them and be done with it."

Soon enough, the group was taking the camels across the Arabian desert to the village. As they did, the blazing sun seemed even stronger than it should have been. "Something's not right," Hol Horse said, "I've traveled these dunes before, and I've never felt the heat get this intense." "Even the camels are finding it unbearable," Fluttershy noted, "They're not used to this much sun and heat."

"I can still sense someone trying to follow us," Kakyoin said. "I don't see anyone," Polnareff said, "And we're covering our tracks with palm leaves. Plus there's so much visibility for miles there's no way anyone could sneak up on us. Let's keep going, we'll set up camp when the sun goes down." He checked his pocket thermometer. "Man, it's getting up to fifty degrees Celsius."

Joseph checked his watch. "What a minute... Everyone, what time do you have?" Most of them responded the same, Eight PM. "This can't be right," Joseph said, "The sun is still high in the sky, yet it's clearly close to evening." "The temperature keeps rising," Jotaro said, "And the sun hasn't even moved an inch." "Come to think about it," Hol Horse said, "I remember one of DeKurliss' agents has a Stand that can act much like a second sun. This must be what we're looking at right now!"

The group hopped off their camels, which had started to pass out from the heat. "Damn it," Polnareff said, "That Sun will fry us like eggs all night." "It won't even take that long," Joseph pointed out, "A human can't even stay in a sauna for more than thirty minutes without risking their health." "We need to find the Stand user," Jotaro said, "That's the only way we'll be able to stop this. That Stand is so strong that the user has to be close by. But he must be hiding himself pretty well."

"Let me try getting close to the Stand," Kakyoin suggested, "I may be able to gauge how far away the user is by determining how far away Sun is from us. Hierophant Green!" The emerald Stand stretched up to reach Sun. At a hundred meters, Sun started pulsing. "Kakyoin, pull your Stand back!," Jotaro said, "Something's happening with the enemy Stand!" But Sun had already fired off a few laser beams, though Hierophant Green had managed to get back enough while firing its Emerald Splash, so it was merely grazed.

"Didn't know he could do that!," Hol Horse said in shock, "Damn it, we're out in the open here!" "Let me dig us a hole into the ground," Jotaro suggested, "Star Platinum!" Star Platinum easily dug a deep hole that acted as a makeshift cave. The shade and cover was much welcomed as the group hurried inside. "You okay, Kakyoin?," Joseph asked. "Yes," Kakyoin said, "My Emerald Splash was able to block much of the attack, but between the heat and the blood loss I may pass out at any time."

"The Stand hit the camels and our canteen with remarkable accuracy," Polnareff noted, "The Stand user must be watching us from somewhere close by." Joseph tried peeking out with a pair of binoculars, but Sun shot them out of his hand. "Son of a bitch!," he called out, "Just how is this bastard watching us!? Is he invisible or something!?" Suddenly, the rest of the group started laughing. "Hey...," Joseph said, "Get it together, people. We need to keep calm and collected if we want to win."

"No need," Hol Horse said, "I think we've already won. We're laughing because we just spotted where the Stand user is watching us from." He pointed to a nearby rock, then traced a line to another rock that looked identical, albeit reversed. "Everything about that second rock is a perfect mirror image of the first, including the shadow." Joseph blinked. "But that's impossible, the shadow should be on the other side of the rock..." He then realized something. "Unless it's an actual mirror image!"

"Exactly," Kakyoin said, "That's why we're laughing. Because it's so stupid. He must have been following us covertly using some sort of mirror since Abu Dhabi, but now he's made a fatal error." Jotaro called out Star Platinum, who picked up a small stone and threw it near the second rock. The stone impacted with something, seemingly creating a hole in mid-air. Instantly Sun disappeared, revealing the mirror. "Looks like you hit a bulls-eye," Fluttershy noted.

The group went to the back of the mirror to see a desert buggy the mirror was attached to, with a portable air conditioner and tarp to protect the rather heavy-set man now sporting a lump on his head, no doubt the Stand user. "I know this guy," Hol Horse said, "His name is Arabia Fats, and he's an agent of DeKurliss." "This little vehicle of his looks pretty comfy," Kakyoin noted, "He obviously was expecting to tail us with his Stand for several weeks." "The guy seemed strong," Jotaro noted, "But once we figured out his trick, he was just another idiot. Let's take his water and keep moving. The desert nights get pretty cold."

And now for an interesting change. Here's where we get a much bigger change, though not too big, just enough to show how worthless this new enemy can be.

Kakyoin was surprised to find himself riding a Ferris wheel in the middle of an amusement park while wearing his pajamas. "What is this?," he wondered aloud, "I don't remember this place. I should be in Saudi Arabia. And where are the others? I don't see any of them." There was also a dog in the car with him, and in the distance he could hear a baby crying. Nearby, a balloon flew up to him, a card tied up to the wire. Kakyoin took the card and gasped.

It was a tarot card depicting Death, but instead of the usual skeletal figure, the card showed a jester wearing a robe and carrying the trademark scythe associated with the card. The picture was also moving, the scythe sticking out of the card to strike. Kakyoin moved to block the attack, but the blade sliced through part of his hand, and also the dog's neck. Kakyoin instantly awoke from what was clearly a nightmare, screaming as he did. He realized that he was back in the village where the group was going to buy the Cessna. "Just a dream," he realized, "But I can't remember it." He then saw that his hand was still bleeding from the cut he received in the nightmare.

"Fats blew it," DeKurliss said, "It seems the Joestars are getting ever closer to Egypt. We've managed to cut their deadline in half with our efforts, but at this rate they may just reach Egypt with a couple weeks to spare to find our mansion. And we are running out of hired assassins." "Who is left to defeat the Joestars?," DIO asked. "There's the Death, the Judgement, and the Priestess," DeKurliss said, "And the Stand user representing the Death card is already in position. I'd like to see the Joestars overcome his power."

There was some issue regarding the sale of the Cessna, since a baby in the village had contracted a high fever and there were no doctors in the village, meaning he had to be flown to the nearby city for treatment. Hol Horse raised his eyebrow when he saw the baby. 'I could swear I've seen this baby somewhere before...' Kakyoin was also concerned, since he vaguely remembered hearing a baby crying somewhere. He couldn't yet piece it together that it was in his nightmare from the previous night.

He then saw Fluttershy coming over, a few tears in her eyes. "What's wrong?," Kakyoin asked. "A young boy's dog wound up dead somehow," she explained, "Its head seemed to split apart from ear to ear. I just got back from helping to bury it." Kakyoin gasped. He had an odd sensation that he witnessed something similar to what Fluttershy described. "What about the other plane there?," Joseph asked. "It's broken I'm afraid," the pilot said, "We have two more planes but they're both out on errands. They should be back in two days."

"Just let them take the baby with them," the woman holding said baby said, her face covered by a shawl, "They're obviously in a hurry, so they can just take him along." Kakyoin and Hol Horse spotted tiny little fangs in the baby's mouth. 'It couldn't be...,' Hol Horse thought. He turned to see the woman, but she was already starting to leave. "I'm not sure taking this baby with us is a good idea," Joseph argued.

"It's really the best chance we have of getting to Egypt quickly," Polnareff said, "Besides, the only Stand that could've ambushed us in the sky was Tower of Gray, and he's been taken care of. At the speeds we'll be going, I doubt anyone could catch us." Jotaro checked the plane. "And this is definitely an actual machine, rather than another vehicle-like Stand. If anything, I'm more concerned with your flying."

The plane soon took off. Unseen by anyone, the woman ducked into a nearby alley, then removed her shawl to reveal Enya. "I may not be able to attack the Joestars anymore, but I can still assist our youngest ally. Still, I'm concerned. Hol Horse has seen the child before and knows all about his Stand. I'd better return to Egypt, before someone starts questioning where the baby's mother is."

Up on the plane, Polnareff was starting to feel sleepy, as was Kakyoin. Hol Horse was also drifting off. The child started opening his eyes and grinned. Suddenly, Polnareff and Kakyoin found themselves inside the same carnival. "How on Earth did we get here?," Polnareff asked. "I remember now," Kakyoin said, "I had a dream about this last night." "It's Mannish Boy," Hol Horse explained, "He's drawn us into a dream world through the power of his Stand, Death 13."

"So this is just a dream," Polnareff said, "What a relief." "Don't act relieved yet," Hol Horse said, "In normal dreams when you die you get kicked back into reality. But when you're under the effects of Death 13, if you die in this dream world you die for real." "So where is this Mannish Boy?," Kakyoin asked. "In the Cessna with our group," Hol Horse said. Polnareff laughed. "Impossible. The only other person besides us in the plane is the... Oh..." Hol Horse nodded. "Yep. Mannish Boy is the baby we picked up."

'Hol Horse,' came a voice from inside the dog's corpse near the trio, 'I thought I recognized you.' A megaphone burst from the dog's head. "Mannish Boy," Hol Horse realized, "He can control this world however he wants thanks to his Stand's powers." At that moment, the jester figure from last night, Death 13 itself, burst out from inside the dog. "Polnareff, Hol Horse, Stands out!," Kakyoin called out, "Hierophant Green!" "Silver Chariot!" "Emperor!"

Death 13 grabbed Polnareff by the throat, his Stand not appearing. However, Death 13 had to pull back when Hol Horse was able to shoot him through his cloak. "But why couldn't I...?," Polnareff started before disappearing. "Seems someone woke him up," Death 13 realized, "Oh well, he won't remember any of this. I'll just kill him next time he falls asleep. But Hol Horse I'm surprised. You shouldn't be able to summon your Stand in this dream world."

Meanwhile in reality, Joseph had woken up Polnareff. "Hey, you need to change the baby's diaper," he said, "Don't worry, Fluttershy will help you." Polnareff shook his head. "I just had some terrible nightmare." Jotaro looked at Kakyoin and Hol Horse, still fast asleep, and noticed something. "Hey, why does Hol Horse have his Stand active?" "He said it's a habit of his," Joseph explained, "He always sleeps with Emperor active in case he gets ambushed while sleeping."

"Your Stand was active before you fell asleep!?," Death 13 said in shock. Hol Horse chuckled. "That's right. I remember how in this dream space Stand users are normally powerless. While we sleep our spirits are off-guard, so we can't call on our powers. That is, unless our Stands are already active when we fall asleep. Having been a mercenary for years I've always made a habit of activating Emperor before falling asleep."

Death 13 growled. "Very clever. Too bad your attacks didn't phase me." He revealed his cloak, which was completely empty. Death 13 was nothing but a head and arms. "My Stand is smaller than it looks!" "Lucky me I've gotten better at aiming," Hol Horse said, "I've been practicing ever since Calcutta." "No matter," Death 13 said, "Kakyoin is still vulnerable. And inside this world you cannot wake up unless someone on the outside does it for you." He swiped at the duo with his scythe, causing them to dodge.

The action caused Kakyoin to kick against the controls, sending the plane into a dive. As the plane started to crash, Fluttershy saw blood coming from Hol Horse and Kakyoin's arms. Rolling up their sleeves, she words etched into them, carved out by Hol Horse using his Bowie knife. 'Baby is Stand user?,' she read silently, 'Fall asleep with Stands?' She looked at the baby cradled in her arms. 'Could it be this baby?' Joseph finally got the plane under control using Hermit Purple as Fluttershy decided to try using her Stand to slap Hol Horse and Kakyoin awake, just as the plane wound up crashing into a palm tree.

Hol Horse walked Kakyoin, Polnareff, Jotaro, and Fluttershy away while Joseph entertained Mannish Boy. "So that's what this is all about," Jotaro said, "How did you know about all this?" "When Mannish Boy was first brought to DeKurliss," Hol Horse explained, "He wanted a sample of Death 13's power. The child is only eleven months old, but he's a certified genius, yet he's also arrogant. He couldn't resist spilling the beans about every last detail of his power. DeKurliss wrote it all down for DIO's benefit."

"While sleeping?," Fluttershy asked. "He's a very light sleeper," Hol Horse explained. "So we can't remember what happens when we wake up, and we need to fall asleep with our Stands active to use them in the dream world," Kakyoin noted, "But our Stands are more conspicuous than yours." "We can have them bury themselves in the ground," Jotaro suggested, "The only odd one out is Gramps. Hol Horse has the benefit of being able to hide his Stand easily, but if that baby is as smart as Hol Horse suggests, he'll be on the lookout now that he knows his Stand has a weakness."

"Okay everyone," Joseph said as he approached, "Let's get some sleep. We can make for the village in the morning." "Give us a minute," Jotaro said, "We have something to do first." As Joseph walked away, Hol Horse mentioned, "About that dog. Death 13 will draw in anything that falls asleep near Mannish Boy. I'm guessing the poor hound was too close that first night." Fluttershy grew angry. "He's just made it personal."

Joseph looked around them confused. "Since when did we fall asleep in an amusement park?" "Now I remember this place," Polnareff noted. "Yeah, it always feels like a continuation of the previous dream," Kakyoin said. "Lali-Ho!," came the voice of Death 13, "Now all of you are asleep, and there's no one to wake you up! Even if Hol Horse did tell you my secrets, I've been watching you all day!"

Jotaro smirked. "All day, you say? For a genius, you certainly still seem like a baby. Star Platinum!" Death 13 got surprised when Star Platinum punched it right in the face. "For most of the day you've been distracted by Granddad taking care of you," Jotaro reminded him, "And during that time we set things up so our Stands could bury themselves." "One thing I should mention," Kakyoin said, "Last time Hol Horse and I discovered Death 13 is just a head and arms. The cloak has nothing else underneath it."

Outside of the dream, Mannish Boy was growing incredibly concerned. He could see into the dream world thanks to his Stand, despite being wide awake. 'Damn that Hol Horse... He was there when DeKurliss was interviewing me so he could be woken up. It's not like I'd be allowed to kill DIO's eyes and ears, after all. If not for that, I could have caught them all by surprise. Luckily my Stand is hardly helpless in the event its forced to fight other Stands.' He then winced as something seemed to strike him in his head.

Music in the Trees had taken to the time strike Death 13 right on the back of its head. "And that was for the dog earlier!," she called out. "Don't act so cocky!," Death 13 warned, "You may have snuck your Stands into my dream world, but my Stand is still in full control of this nightmare realm!" Several clouds moved to grab Death 13's scythe in an effort to strike at Music in the Trees, only for the blade to get stopped by Star Platinum.

Before Death 13 could make another move, it recoiled as something entered its ear. It turned out to be Hierophant Green, who quickly forced Death 13 to aim its scythe at its own neck. "Oh yeah," Jotaro said, "I nearly forgot you can possess living objects. I guess Stands count as well." "This is how I normally do it too," Kakyoin said, "I used to use Hierophant Green to force bullies to apologize to their victims. Where's your Lali-ho now, Death 13? While I have you like this, perhaps you can heal the cuts Hol Horse made to remind us about your power and weakness. Anything can happen in a dream, right?"

Death 13 reluctantly complied. "So what now?," Polnareff said, "When we wake up we're just going to forget all this, meaning Mannish Boy can try again the following night." "Only Joseph will forget all this," Hol Horse explained, "The rest of us had our Stands active in the dream world, and that should preserve our memories. It happened with me during the last nightmare." "But we can't simply kill a baby, no matter how evil he is," Kakyoin noted, "However, I have something else in mind for punishment."

The next morning, the group woke up safe and sound. "Man, I feel like had the most terrible nightmare," Joseph said, "But I can't remember anything about it." The others found they actually remembered the fight with Death 13. Hol Horse checked his arm. 'Just like I thought. After Kakyoin convinced Death 13 to heal our scars, they disappeared in reality. But just what did Kakyoin intend to do to punish Mannish Boy?'

Nearby, Kakyoin was changing Mannish Boy's diaper. "I hope you understand," Kakyoin said, "All of us except Mister Joestar remember because we took our Stands into the dream world. But it wouldn't suit our consciences to kill or maim a baby. Instead we'll leave you in the nearest town. You should return to your mother, she should be nearby. And just to make sure you understand not to come after us again..." Mannish Boy gulped as he saw Kakyoin take some of the baby's droppings and mix it into the baby food.

Seconds later, Joseph was trying to feed Mannish Boy the baby food, but of course he tried to avoid that. "Come on now," Joseph said, "If you're a picky eater early in life, it'll be bad for your social life later." "Hey now Mister Joestar," Polnareff said, "You can't just force him to eat it, or he'll hate it even more. Here, let me show you a trick that always worked with me and my sister." He proceeded to tickle Mannish Boy until he opened his mouth to laugh, letting Joseph slip the spoon in. Kakyoin had to cover his mouth to hold his own laughter. "Ba dum tss..."

Some people have been thinking Jonathan is looking after Avdol while he's recovering. He's... Not. Jonathan has another task, and it's an important one. So even though Avdol is returning this chapter, we won't be seeing Jonathan for a bit longer.

As the group got into the boat they purchased, Joseph said, "This is our final stretch before Egypt, the Red Sea. Hol Horse, do you know anything else about the rest of DIO's assassins?" "We never found the Stand user representing the Fool," Hol Horse noted, "And DIO himself has the Stand representing the World, so that just leaves the Judgement and the Priestess. Unfortunately I don't know anything about their powers, but I do know who their users are. Judgement is a man named Cameo, while Priestess is named Midler." "I know where the Fool is," Joseph said, "We'll be meeting him soon enough. But let's get across the sea first."

"I WAS JOKING!," DeKurliss roared out, seeing that Mannish Boy had failed spectacularly. "Good grief... We only have two remaining assassins to send against the Joestars. Let's see... Where are they...? Hello." He saw the boat was not straight crossing the Red Sea. "So they're reaching a small island in the middle of the sea. Perfect. I'll have the Judgement head there and deal with them." He immediately sent out the call.

"Hey old man," Jotaro said, "Aren't you going the wrong way? We have to head west to reach Egypt." "There's someone I need to meet with first," Joseph explained, "So we're making a brief detour to that island over there. Trust me, this man is very important to our journey." "Is he talking about the Stand user for the Fool card?," Hol Horse asked. "Possibly," Polnareff said, "But we'll find out before long."

On the island, the place looked deserted. "Does someone really live here, Mister Joestar?," Fluttershy asked. "Just one person," Joseph replied, "At least, that's what he told me." "'He' who?," Kakyoin asked. Suddenly, something peered at him through the foliage, prompting Hol Horse to aim his Stand in defense. "Relax," Joseph said, "That's who we're here to see." A man came rushing out of the brush, and the group gasped. "He... He looks just like Avdol!," Fluttershy realized, "But with gray hair!"

As the man started feeding some chickens, Joseph approached. "Excuse me. My name is Joseph Joestar. Me and these other five are heading for Egypt." "Go away!," the man said curtly, "I won't listen! No one ever comes here with good news, so I don't want to hear it!" He turned around, and sure enough his face was identical to Avdol's. He then stormed into the house. Hol Horse took a step back. "That... That can't be..."

"That's Avdol's father," Joseph explained, "He isolated himself from the world and lives alone on this island. I didn't tell you all because if DIO were to know that we were here, his peace would be disturbed." Polnareff closed his eyes. "What are you looking like that for?," Hol Horse said sadly, "In case you forgot, I was the one who caused Avdol's death." "Only because of my carelessness," Polnareff admitted, "That's a burden I'll have to carry for the rest of my life..."

"I know Avdol's brother is a Stand user," Kakyoin noted, "What about his father?" "Yes, he's also a Stand user," Joseph said, "But I don't know what his Stand does." Polnareff then walked off. "I guess he needs time to think about things," Fluttershy said. Once he was certain he was out of earshot, she added, "I'm feeling kinda bad about all this, though. When will we be able to tell him the truth?" "Once we're ready to leave," Joseph assured her. Hol Horse looked confused. "Truth about what?," he asked.

"I suppose we can put your mind at ease, at least," Joseph said, "Come inside and see for yourself." The four of them entered the house. "I must admit," came a familiar voice, "I never expected you'd be joining us, Hol Horse." From the nearby bathroom came Avdol, drying off his hair. Hol Horse looked completely shocked. "But... But how did you surviving getting shot through the brain by my bullet!?"

Avdol chuckled as he pointed to the scar on his forehead. "Simply put, you never shot me through the brain. Your former partner, J Geil, stabbed me so vigorously that my head wound up facing upwards at just the right angle that your bullet merely grazed my skull. The impact still knocked me unconscious, not to mention the blood loss." He rubbed his shoulder. "I'm still feeling that wound." Hol Horse sighed in relief. "That's my conscience cleared. But what about your father?" "Still in Egypt helping my brother's merchant business I'd imagine," Avdol explained.

"This whole thing was based on a lie," Fluttershy explained, "Even Kakyoin was in on it after the fact." "But not Polnareff?," Hol Horse asked. "He can't exactly lie on command," Jotaro noted, "And Avdol needed time to recover. As for Jonathan, he never returned to Britain. He stayed with Avdol until he recovered, then headed off to America to pick up something for Granddad. We'll be meeting him in Egypt after we've crossed the Red Sea." "This'll certainly catch DIO's forces by surprise," Hol Horse said, "I already reported Avdol's death to them."

Evening started to fall and Polnareff had not yet returned. "Hmm," Avdol muttered, "Perhaps I should go and look for him. It'll give him much relief to see me alive again." "Be careful," Hol Horse said, "Regardless of what Mister Joestar said, I'd bet dollars to rupees DeKurliss has used his Stand to track us to this island. It'll be either Cameo or Midler and I don't know anything about their powers." Avdol nodded. "Not to mention I still haven't fully recovered. I'll have to guard my shoulder if I encounter an enemy."

As he looked about the island, he heard a small tremor. Looking in that direction, he saw a robotic humanoid floating in the air. "I am the Stand that represents the Judgement card!," it announced, though it was clear it was not talking to Avdol, which meant Polnareff was likely nearby. "As for my ability," Judgement said, "I can grant the wishes people hold deep in their hearts and give them form from the dirt and earth. You made your own sister, all from your own heart!"

Avdol sighed. 'Even after finally getting his revenge, Polnareff still can't let go of his emotions for his sister.' It was clear that this was Cameo, since Hol Horse mentioned he was the Stand user representing the Judgement card. "You said something about your third wish," Judgement continued. He had been monologuing while Avdol was in thought. There was no need to hear it, since it was Polnareff that needed to learn that lesson. Judgement chuckled. "You wanted to bring Avdol back." Avdol raised an eyebrow, then remembered none of DIO's servants realized he was still alive, and neither did Polnareff.

"Hail 2U!," Judgement called out, and Avdol watched in surprise as an earthen image of himself rose up from the ground. The figure had his clothes, but was deliberately incomplete, its left eye looking rather veiny. The figure scratched at Polnareff, its fingers breaking apart. It was soon joined by a naked female figure, which Avdol recognized as resembling Polnareff's sister Sherry, albeit with her right eye pulsing with veins.

'Polnareff's hesitating,' Avdol realized, 'If he'd just calm down and remember these aren't real, he could summon Silver Chariot and destroy them. Looks like I'll have to step in.' Polnareff did finally think to summon his Stand, but it got restrained by Judgement. "Sorry, you've already had your three wishes. You don't get a fourth one." As the clay figures moved to bite into Polnareff, Avdol came up behind his doppelganger, surprising Polnareff at the sight. Avdol quickly grabbed the clay doll's hand and crushed it easily. "Gotcha!"

"What!?," Judgement called out, as his clay Avdol screamed as if in pain. Polnareff gasped. "I knew it! That was no illusion! There was another Avdol behind the clay one!" Avdol smirked. "Magician's Red!" The familiar sight of Avdol's Stand appeared and crushed his clay doppelganger's head, destroying it. "Impossible!," Judgement said, "You should be dead! You were stabbed by J Geil then had your brains blown out by Hol Horse!"

Polnareff couldn't believe his eyes. "Are you really Muhammad Avdol!?" "Yes I am!," Avdol called out. Polnareff still couldn't seem to grasp it, but Avdol waved his finger. "Tsk, tsk. Still lacking in maturity I see. You've been dwelling on your sister's death all this time without considering the consequences." "This is preposterous!," Judgement called out, "Did Hol Horse lie in his report when he decided to join the Joestars!?" "He didn't lie per se," Avdol clarified, "He really did believe I was dead."

He lifted up his headband to reveal his scar. "His bullet did hit my forehead, but right before then when J Geil stabbed me my head was facing upward, so the bullet only grazed my skin and skull. It never even reached my brain. That said, the impact did make me lose consciousness. Hol Horse never realized I was still alive because of that." He pointed to Judgement. "So you would be Cameo of the Judgement. For your actions here today, you'll receive... Hell 2U!"

Polnareff couldn't help but cheer up. 'My third wish came true for real. Avdol really did come back to life!' Judgement seemed to have calmed down after the revelation. "This may be a blessing in disguise. After I kill both of you here, I can get an additional reward for succeeding where Hol Horse failed!" He then grabbed the Sherry doll and threw it at them. Polnareff growled in anger. "Silver Chariot!" The knightly Stand immediately slashed the doll apart, as Magician's Red destroyed the remnants. "Avdol... You're right," Polnareff said, "It's time to bury the past once and for all. But that doesn't mean I'll forgive this man for abusing even the image of my sister!"

"Just be careful," Avdol said, "His Stand is pretty strong. And fast too." "Avdol," Judgement said, "Tell me your three wishes. I'll be sure to grant them before you die." Avdol smirked. "My wishes? Clearly you don't realize that I've been listening for a while. I do have some wishes in mind, but you won't be able to turn them against me with your power. That said, instead of three..." He held up his hand, only the thumb curled against his palm. "I'll take four wishes!"

Judgement looked taken aback. "Four wishes...? You can't be serious..." Avdol smirked. "So you'd deny my wish when you offered so freely. Here, let my Stand offer my first wish! Magician's Red!" Magician's Red made to kick Judgement, who chuckled as he put his guard. "So weak against my Stand. There's no way you'll be able to--" But his words were cut off by his own scream of pain as Magician's Red easily broke apart the arm it was using to guard.

"What do you know?," Avdol said tauntingly, "My first wish was for you to scream in pain. And sure enough, it came true." "How is this possible...?," Judgement asked in confusion, "Even if you destroyed my clay dolls, they crumble easily. You shouldn't be nearly strong enough to damage me from what I saw." "I had to take care to guard my shoulder," Avdol explained, "It still hasn't completely healed from Hanged Man's attack. I also didn't have time to strengthen it, having only woken up three days ago and taken a comfortable flight here from India."

Polnareff chuckled. "That's Avdol for you. Still the best." Avdol smiled. "Now then, for my second wish..." Magician's Red started strangling Judgement with its Red Bind. "I'll have you scream in fear! And for my third wish..." Magician's Red launched a powerful kick to Judgement's back. "You'll cry in regret!" As Judgement wound up fulfilling both wishes, albeit against its will, it quickly disappeared in a puff of dust.

"He's running away!," Polnareff called out. "The Stand yes," Avdol noted, "But with its speed and power, Cameo himself should be somewhere close by, due to the normal rules of Stands." They searched the tall grass until they found a wide reed sticking out of the ground. Avdol plucked a nearby leaf and place it on top. Sure enough, the leaf floated up as wind came from inside the reed. Avdol then stuck his finger inside, which got stuck when something sucked it in. As he pulled it out, the tell-tale sound of a breath could be heard.

'So he's hiding underground,' Polnareff realized, 'This coward dared to use my sister's memory. I'll show him some real hell!' He then chuckled. "What's say we chuck a few things down this hole?" He threw down some dirt, sand, a spider, some ants, and a lit match. The puff of black smoke indicated it was having an effect, but Cameo still stayed underground. Avdol then got an idea. "Polnareff, I think I'm starting to feel nature calling." He indicated the reed, and Polnareff realized what Avdol was getting at, which honestly disgusted him.

As the two started draining the lizard, Avdol said, "Come now, let's laugh together in this moment of bonding!" He started to laugh raucously as Polnareff looked at him in concern. "Your personality seems to have changed a little. I couldn't imagine you doing this two weeks ago. Are you sure that gunshot wound didn't rattle your brains a little?" "Eh, it might have," Avdol admitted, then got right back to laughing. Polnareff gave a good-natured shrug and started laughing himself.

Before long, Cameo came bursting out of the ground, urine spilling from his mouth as he yelled out in disgust and horror. He then spotted the two Stand users and realized he was outmatched. He immediately assumed a pleading. "Please! I beg you, spare me!" Avdol scoffed. "My fourth wish... Will be that none of your wishes ever come true! Magician's Red does not forgive!" And with that, Cameo was consumed by flames, though only enough to burn away his hair, burn his clothes to shreds, and leave his skin charred black. Polnareff shrugged at the poor man's humiliation. "Ba dum tss..."

Polnareff found the group out at the beach. "Hey everyone!," he called out excitedly, "You won't believe who I just ran into!" "Polnareff, you're covered in blood!," Fluttershy realized, "What happened to you this time!?" "My wounds are nothing compared to this exciting news!," Polnareff declared, "Don't get shocked now, Jotaro! Steel your nerves, Kakyoin! Don't go fainting now, Fluttershy! Put your mind at ease, Hol Horse! Who do you think I ran into, Mister Joestar!?"

He gestured excitedly as Avdol emerged from the bushes. "Ta-da!," Polnareff called out, "That sly devil Avdol was alive the whole time!" "All right, that's everyone," Joseph said nonchalantly, "Let's get going." "Allow me to take your bags," Avdol said as he picked up Fluttershy's luggage. "Thanks Avdol," she replied. "How's your back doing?," Kakyoin asked. "A little stiff, but it's healing nicely," Avdol said, "By the way, Jotaro, are you still wearing your school uniform?"

Jotaro shrugged. "It's a classic look. I'll probably only change it when I graduate. Maybe something in white." "Still forgot to apologize," Hol Horse said, "You got taken out of commission for two whole weeks." "Still can't believe it's been that long," Kakyoin noted. "Hey, you assholes!," Polnareff called out, "What's with this laissez faire attitude!? A man we all thought was dead just came back to life! Are you not even a little surprised about that!?"

"Ah, about that," Joseph said, "I'm sorry Polnareff, but when I said we buried Avdol back in India... I lied." "W-What!?," Polnareff asked in shock, doing an impressive frog jump a few feet off the ground, "But... But Avdol said that Hol Horse..." "I wasn't lying," Avdol said, "But what I didn't mention was that I revealed to Hol Horse that I was still alive a few hours before I found you. After you and Kakyoin ran to distract J Geil, Mister Joestar and Fluttershy tended to my wounds and took me to the hospital."

"Course I didn't react nearly as extremely as you just did," Hol Horse pointed out. Polnareff was starting to get angry. "Then you bastards knew all along!? Even you, Kakyoin!?" "To be fair, I only learned about it the day after," Kakyoin said, "Fluttershy wanted to tell you as well, but I knew that was a bad idea since you can't lie on command. And no offense, but you also have a pretty loud mouth. So I suggested we keep it a secret."

"If the enemy knew Avdol was still alive," Jotaro pointed out, "He'd never have been able to recover in peace." "Oh, that reminds me," Polnareff said, "Avdol, your father is here on this island. We should tell him the good news." As Polnareff ran off, Avdol said, "That was just me in disguise." Polnareff wound up face-planting in the sand when he heard this. He was really upset now. "What...? You mean all of that was just an act...? Did you really have to go that far...?"

Avdol knelt down and put a hand over Polnareff's shoulder. "I'm sorry. But I assure you, I did have a reason for coming to this island in disguise. It wasn't just so the enemy wouldn't learn of me still being alive. Mister Joestar also wanted me to buy something for him. It was a very conspicuous purchase, so I disguised myself as a wealthy Arab." Polnareff now looked curious. "What was it you bought?" "It should be arriving shortly," Joseph said.

At that moment, a large yellow submarine emerged from the surface of the water. "A submarine!?," Polnareff said in shock, "You actually bought this!? Just how rich are you, Mister Joestar!?" "Between the capital generated by the Joestar family fortune," Joseph noted, "And my own real estate business, this barely makes a drop in the bucket. Even if DeKurliss can spot us underwater, there's no way his last agent could reach us if we're traveling in this."

"We'll see about that, Joseph Joestar," DeKurliss said as he peered into his Stand. "You may be able to send Midler to attack the Joestar group," Ice said as he approached, "But I doubt she'll fare any better than the rest. Lord DIO is already giving instructions to the Ten Glory Gods." DeKurliss rubbed his chin in thought. "Yes... Yes, that's probably wise. After everything else we've thrown at the Joestars, Midler's Stand, powerful as it is, won't prove much of a challenge."

"The Red Sea," Fluttershy noted, "A body of water completely free from pollution, where all the sea creatures can live as they please." She smiled. "They seem happy." "I can't believe this ship is so big," Kakyoin asked, as Avdol piloted the sub. "It's the sort of submarine rich folk use to get away from everyday life," Joseph explained, "We can travel the final leg to Egypt in comfort and safety, thanks to our sonar system." "I've always wanted a trip like this with a cute girl," Polnareff admitted, "A shame the only one we have is spoken for."

Avdol put up the periscope. "I can see the coast of Africa. We'll be reaching Egypt within the hour." "At long last," Fluttershy said, "It's been thirty days since we left Japan." "We got slowed down a lot along the way," Joseph admitted, "But ultimately all DIO's agents could do was slow us down. I just got off the phone with Speedwagon. Jotaro, your father got word of Holly's condition and canceled his current tour to be with her." Jotaro nodded. "He would always do things like that, though this is the first time he had to do it because Mom was sick."

"What's our path from here?," Polnareff asked. Avdol got out a map. "We'll be taking an underwater tunnel formed by natural erosion near this coral reef. The exit is around two hundred meters inland. We'll be surfacing there." Kakyoin came out with coffee for each of them. "Kakyoin," Avdol said, "Where did you get a seventh coffee cup?" "Wasn't there one for each of us?," Kakyoin asked. "I only ordered for six people," Avdol clarified, "I wasn't told about Hol Horse joining our group prior to the island."

Just then, the cup Joseph was holding started to shift in form. "Mister Joestar, look out!," Hol Horse called out, "Emperor!" Acting quickly, Hol Horse shot the morphing cup out of Joseph's hand. The cup turned into an ugly female face with wild hair and short yet muscular arms. "This must be Midler's Stand!," Kakyoin realized, "The High Priestess! But when did she get on the submarine!?"

Jotaro sent Star Platinum to attack High Priestess, but the little Stand dodged and seemed to disappear into the dashboard. "That must be how Midler's Stand works," Hol Horse realized, "It's a Stand of minerals, able to change into any stone or metal to disguise itself. It just changed into one of the gauges." "Which one is it?," Joseph asked. "Could be any of them," Jotaro noted, "And it can likely shift between them at will." "I've heard of the High Priestess before," Avdol said, "It's a very long range Stand, meaning Midler is likely somewhere on the surface."

Just then, several large leaks appeared in the submarine. "I think I just realized how High Priestess got in here!," Polnareff said, "It cut a hole in the submarine and slipped in! And now it's breaking the ballast tanks!" "We need to get out of here before this submarine becomes a make-shift coffin!," Joseph said. "We can't let High Priestess sneak out with us, though," Kakyoin said. "It may have already moved," Fluttershy pointed out, "Let me try something. Music in the Trees!"

Her Stand created a few acid spitting plants, weak enough that it wouldn't damage the sub further but would send High Priestess running. Hitting all the removable parts, Fluttershy soon got a hit on a small light behind Kakyoin. As it fled the attack, Star Platinum moved to strike it, but the tiny Stand dodged the punch and merged into the wall. "There's nothing for it," Avdol said, "If we keep trying to attack it it'll only damage the submarine faster."

He moved for the door handle, but High Priestess had already moved there and tried to attack Avdol, only to get grabbed by Star Platinum. "Pass it here, Jojo," Fluttershy said, "If you keep holding it, it'll just turn into a razor blade or something." Star Platinum threw High Priestess at a pitcher plant Music in the Trees created, but in the instant it was free High Priestess slipped into the ceiling.

That prompted the group to head for the exit to the sub then and there. Joseph got to the scuba gear but Fluttershy stopped him. "Our enemy is too slippery. What's stopping High Priestess from changing into one of the regulators to attack?" "Shit, that's right," Joseph realized, "But how else are we gonna get safely to the surface?" Fluttershy smiled as she held up one of her seaweed masks. "Remember the masks me and Jotaro used to outlast Dragon?" She created six more for each of the other Stand users.

"Okay," Joseph said, "The equipment may be different but the procedure for scuba diving is still the same. For every ten meters below the surface you go, the pressure increases by one atmosphere. We're forty meters below the surface, so that's five atmospheres of pressure. We need to take it slow as we ascend, or our lungs and blood vessels will burst. Our bodies need time to adjust to each level of pressure as we go up." "How long will these masks last?," Hol Horse asked.

"They're good for an hour of oxygen," Fluttershy replied, "They can't be torn off so easily. Music in the Trees is capable of making any plant stronger than steel, and they cling to our faces quite effectively. Only the one who put the mask on themselves can remove it. Removal is as simple as removing a Halloween mask. Plus they were created from my Stand, so even if High Priestess tries to copy them, it'll be obvious." "What about spit or snot getting in the mask?," Polnareff asked. "It'll get filtered out like anything else," Fluttershy assured him.

"One last thing," Joseph said, "We can't talk underwater, so we'll need to use hand signs." He went through a few before Avdol said, "Mister Joestar, can't we just use our Stands to talk?" Joseph blinked. "Oh yeah." "What about Hol Horse?," Fluttershy asked. "In my case my Stand would act much like a two-way radio between Stands," Hol Horse explained. "Too bad," Polnareff said, "Because I know a hand signal of my own." As he demonstrated, Kakyoin observed it and said, "I can see your underwear." "Yeah!," Polnareff called out as the two shared a double-five.

"Now's not the time for any secret handshakes!," Joseph reprimanded them, "We're already behind enemy lines!" As the room started to flood, one of the regulators that were ignored started to come to life and transform. It was High Priestess again, and this time it took the form of a speargun. The room had already flooded by the time it finished, however, and the group was able to leave before it could fire, the shot bouncing harmlessly off the door.

"These masks work great," Polnareff said, "They're far more comfortable than a regulator." "That's because they conform to your face," Fluttershy noted, "Is High Priestess still coming after us?" "If it is it'll come from the sea floor," Avdol noted, "High Priestess can only change into mineral-based objects." Seven meters below the surface, the group found a set of two tunnels. "We're almost there," Kakyoin said, "Just a few more meters."

"Uh... Not yet...," Hol Horse noted, "Those aren't tunnels... They're nostrils." The group looked and realized the entire sea floor around them was actually High Priestess. The giant Stand immediately opened its mouth and sucked the group inside. The sound of laughing could then be heard. "You fools are so stupid," came a female voice, likely Midler, "Didn't you realize the entire sea floor is full of minerals? And with my Stand so close to me now, it's strength increases tremendously."

"We're still only inside the mouth," Joseph noted, "We're not beat yet." "Jotaro," Midler said, "I gotta say, you're my type of guy, so doing this will be so hard. It's a shame I have to digest you with my High Priestess." Fluttershy growled. "THAT'S IT!" Her Stand immediately pierced the inside of High Priestess' mouth with sharp thorns in all directions, causing Midler to scream in pain. "I've had all I can take from other girls flirting with my boyfriend!," Fluttershy called out, "With my classmates I could quietly tolerate it so long as they kept their parroting to a minimum. Anne was able to be subtle with her attraction. But now an enemy is doing the flirting? I've had all I can stand!"

"You bitch!," Midler called out, trying to launch High Priestess' tongue at Fluttershy. Fluttershy just glared before spearing the tongue. "OH MY GOD!," Joseph called out, "I've never seen Fluttershy like this! This is a level of anger she's never reached once, not even when our enemies threatened animals!" "Fluttershy's temper is long," Jotaro noted, "But when it goes off, it's like Vesuvius all over again."

"Damn you!," Midler called out, "You'll still never escape my Stand's mouth! It's teeth are as hard diamond!" Jotaro smirked. "Something people seem to forget about diamonds. They may be hard to cut... But shattering them is another matter! Star Platinum!" "ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!" Star Platinum easily smashed through one of the teeth, then kept on going as it smashed through the entire row, shattering High Priestess' entire jaw line and allowing the group to escape as it dissipated.

After a bit, the group finally reached the shore of Egypt. Not far from their location was a woman dressed in a brown cloak. "That's Midler over there," Hol Horse said, "Looks like all the damage done to High Priestess knocked her out." Polnareff started to walk over to her. "I'm going to go she if she's hot. She looks like she has a nice body." When he reached Midler, his face became one of disgust. "Nevermind! It looks like all her teeth are busted up, and her tongue and the inside of her mouth are bleeding badly!"

The group then looked out to the Egyptian desert. "We're finally here," Joseph said, "What should have been a twenty hour plane ride took us thirty days." "We've been to a lot of crazy places in that time," Kakyoin noted, "We traveled inside a brain, and even went into a dream world." Joseph looked confused. "When did we do that?" "Oh yeah," Fluttershy said, "You don't remember that part. We'll explain later."

DeKurliss sighed as he removed the map and all the pieces. "The Joestars have reached Egypt. Only a matter of time before they start seeking out the mansion. Are the Ten Glory Gods prepared?" "Indeed," DIO said, "They are my finest soldiers, with powers the Joestars will struggle to overcome. I've already sent the first to attack the Joestar group before they reach any major city. Even in the harsh desert, his power will prove too much for them."

Hope you guys liked Fluttershy's little temper-tantrum.

This chapter we'll get the full team and start the journey through Egypt. And we'll see some major changes here regarding a certain character.

Egypt, a country that is ninety-seven percent desert. It's the only country with almost no rainfall per year, yet still thrives thanks to the Nile River, which provides plenty of much needed water, and by extension food, for cities to spring up. In this new land, rich with five thousand years worth of history, the Kujo group made ready to search for DIO, knowing full well that new dangers would likely await them as they made their search. As the group drove into the middle of the desert, they spotted a helicopter coming in. "Ah, it's here," Joseph said as he stopped the jeep.

"What is that?," Kakyoin asked. "It's from the Speedwagon Foundation," Joseph explained, "They're looking for a place to land." "Are we taking a ride in it?," Hol Horse asked. "No such luck," Joseph said, "None of the crew are Stand users. If we get attacked they'd be done for." "Does DIO even have anyone else to send after us?," Polnareff asked. "I heard rumors that he had some sort of elite guard made up of Stand users," Hol Horse replied, "But I've never seen them. Still, I doubt DIO limited himself to just Stand users based off the tarot, so better safe than sorry."

"If we're not taking the helicopter, than what's it here for?," Kakyoin asked. "It's Granddad's ride," Joseph explained, "And he's brought a new ally for us." "You're not seriously talking about him," Avdol said, "With his personality, there's no way he could be of any help." "That's why I asked Grandpa to try and coerce him," Joseph replied, "He's good with this sort of thing." "I'm assuming you guys are talking about another Stand user," Fluttershy said.

Joseph nodded. "He's the Stand user that represents the Fool card." Polnareff laughed. "The 'Fool'? More like the idiot." "Don't take him lightly," Fluttershy said, "The Fool card is suggestive of unpredictability, faith, and the start of the journey." "And his Stand is very powerful," Avdol said, "Your power would not be able to beat him." Polnareff growled, but before he could retort the helicopter started to land. Jonathan opened the passenger door. "Good to see you all again," he said, "Avdol, glad to see you've recovered."

He looked at Hol Horse. "And I see we have a legitimate defector from DIO. Hol Horse, was it?" "So where is he?," Joseph asked. "In the seat next to me," Jonathan said, pointing to a small cloth. Two Speedwagon members stepped out of the pilot's cabin, one shaking Joseph's hand. Jonathan removed the cloth. "Try not to make any rash movements," he said, "The ride was a little rough, so he's in a bad mood." He lifted up the sheet to reveal a Boston terrier.

The others looked surprised. "It's...," Polnareff said. "It's...," Kakyoin parroted. "SO CUTE!," Fluttershy called out. Her Stand gently lifted the dog into her arms, where he seemed to calm down from his earlier mood. "I should've remembered," Avdol said, "Fluttershy has a way with animals. This may be a good idea after all." "So this dog's the Stand user?," Polnareff asked. Joseph nodded. "His name is Iggy, and this is honestly the tamest I've seen him. He's usually only like this with his homeless friend Rudy. He's normally temperamental and loves tearing out people's hair in chunks before farting in their face. He's kinda vulgar."

"We're not sure where he was born," Avdol said, "But we do know he gave the dog catchers in New York a hard time. I was finally called in to help capture him." "So what does your Stand do, Iggy?," Fluttershy asked. Iggy grinned as sand started swirling in front of them, eventually forming a large mechanical dog-like figure with a hot rod for hind quarters. "I think a bit more explanation is needed," Fluttershy said, "Music in the Trees!" Her Stand placed its hand on Iggy's head. "Whoa," came a nasally voice from Iggy, "That tingles. What's with the light show?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot," Jotaro said, "Fluttershy's Stand can let other people understand animals." "Oh, is that what that was?," Iggy said, "Anyway, my Stand is made of pure sand. Don't try any physical attacks with it, it'll disperse and negate them easily. And I can draw any sort of sand or dirt I need from the surrounding air." "I can see why Avdol thinks I can't beat you," Polnareff said. Iggy grinned. "You're damn right, Frenchie. I'd have you beat in two moves tops."

"The simpler the Stand, the stronger it is," Jotaro noted, "I doubt there's anyway I'd beat it." One of the pilots handed Fluttershy a pack of gum. "Here, these are his favorite treats." She a piece out and unwrapped it. "Chewing gum?" "Not just any chewing gum!," Iggy said excitedly as he snatched the gum away in his jaws, "Coffee-flavored chewing gum! My absolute favorite!" As he chewed up the gum, he said, "Anyway, I was planning on just living a quiet life and didn't want anything to do with this quest. But Jonathan over there told me how this DIO guy killed his canine friend a hundred years ago. That sort of thing really grinds my gears. So I figure, I may as well help out."

He then sniffed the air. "Hey, I think someone else may be around here." "I can't see anyone from here," Kakyoin noted. "Iggy's sense of smell is strong," Avdol noted, "There may very well be someone around hiding from our sight. We'll have to move forward with caution." On a nearby cliff, a blind Egyptian man listened in on the conversation. "That mutt sensed the presence of I, the great N'Doul. And thanks to the girl now they all know it."

Down below, the pilots made ready to take off. "Before you leave," Joseph said, "How's my daughter's condition?" The pilot sighed. "I'm not gonna lie Mister Joestar, it's not looking good. Her energy is slowly decreasing. At this rate, the doctors say she'll only last two more weeks." Joseph nodded. "As I feared... We need to hurry." "There's something else," the pilot said, "One of our agents in Cairo was scouting a building where DIO is believed to be hiding. Two days ago, ten men and women were all gathered there, and they left as one."

"So the Ten Glory Gods really exist," Hol Horse said, "They're said to be DIO's strongest. I guess we'll find out soon enough." "Have you ever been to DIO's mansion?," Jonathan asked. "No, all business deals with the tarot assassins were conducted in another part of the city," Hol Horse admitted, "The only people living in the mansion that I've seen are Enya, J Geil, and DeKurliss. Out of all of us representing the tarot, only J Geil, Enya, and Midler were permitted entry."

"So we're starting our search from scratch," Joseph said. "Two weeks and we have to beat ten opponents," Jotaro said, "This'll turn into a real time crunch by the end. If DIO is still in Cairo, he's intent on keeping us away." "He's in Cairo alright," Jonathan said, "He's only been awake with his new body for four years. And he's a prideful man, meaning he won't run if he can help it." The helicopter took off shortly afterward, N'Doul listening from the nearby ruin.

He felt around for his cane before picking it up, then grabbed for a fly that he heard buzzing around. "Hmm, missed. It was close though. I suppose I need more practice. That was the Nile Tsetse fly, if I'm not mistaken. If such a fly hadn't approached Lord DIO, the Joestars would never have gotten so close." He knocked his cane against a pebble in such a way that it slammed into the fly, killing it instantly. He grinned as he continued walking.

The group was taking their jeep across the desert. Joseph was driving with Jonathan next to him. Jotaro and Polnareff were in the back seat, with Fluttershy in Jotaro's lap and Iggy in Fluttershy's lap. Avdol, Kakyoin, and Hol Horse were in the back compartment. Jotaro soon noticed something. "Hey, there's smoke coming from beyond that dune." Joseph looked over. "I somehow doubt that's a new steakhouse they've built. We'd better investigate."

It turned out to be the helicopter that had just taken off. "Jeez, look at this damage," Hol Horse said, "But I don't see anything that could have brought it down." Jotaro soon found one of the pilots under the wreckage. It was clear that he had been killed, water pooling in his mouth. There were also claw marks where his hands had tried to dig into the side of the helicopter. "I'm no expert in human medicine," Iggy said, "But I'm guessing it wasn't the crash that killed him."

"It might have something to do with the water in his mouth," Fluttershy said. Jotaro picked up the pilot's torso. The head tilted over, causing a large amount of water to spill out, enough to make a small stream that even had a fish swimming in it. "That came from his lungs," Jotaro said, "This man was drowned... In a desert, and far from any water source." "It's gotta be a Stand user," Fluttershy reasoned. "Hey!," Polnareff said, "We found the other pilot, and he's still alive!"

The man looked parched and terrified. "Are you alright?," Joseph asked, "What did this?" "W... Water...," the man muttered. "He wants water," Joseph said, "Polnareff, hand me the canteen." As he held it up to the man's face, Fluttershy called out, "Get that away from him! It was water that killed the other pilot!" But she was too late, as a stream of water shot out of the canteen and grabbed the pilot's face, tearing his head off and pulling it back inside. That got the group scattering.

"This must be one of those Ten Glory Gods," Iggy said, "His Stand must be made of water." "Can you smell the Stand user from here?," Polnareff asked. Iggy scoffed. "What do you take me for? I may not be a bloodhound, but I can still smell better than you humans. There's one other human some distance away from us." He pointed with his paw. "Somewhere in that direction." "It must be a long range Stand," Jotaro said, "Which means it's relatively small."

"Is anyone gonna attack it?," Fluttershy asked, "If not, I could conjure some roots and try sucking it up. That might contain it." "Let's make sure all of it is in the canteen first," Kakyoin said, "If even a drop of water got out--" He was interrupted by something clawing at his eyes. As it happened, there was a drop right next to him, which had expanded into a clawed hand and attacked him. "Kakyoin!," Joseph called out. Polnareff grabbed Kakyoin and called out, "Silver Chariot!" Silver Chariot stabbed at the water Stand, but it dodged and grabbed his face.

Luckily for Polnareff, at that moment the pilot's digital watch started beeping, prompting the Stand to attack the corpse's hand instead of Polnareff. Polnareff quietly sighed in relief. "I see... The user must be blind in some way. The Stand is using sound to detect our presence." He then remembered he was still carrying Kakyoin, who's blood was dripping to the ground. Gasping in shock, Polnareff started running for the jeep, as the watery Stand chased him. The rest of the group was already there.

As Polnareff got close, the water Stand managed to strike him in the ankles. "Hermit Purple!" "Music in the Trees!" Polnareff and Kakyoin got grabbed by two vines and pulled into the jeep. The Stand quickly dove into the sands. "Not good," Joseph said, "If it can travel underground it can attack us when we least expect it." Fluttershy covered Kakyoin's eyes with a large cloth. "We need to get him to a hospital soon, or he could lose his sight!"

Four kilometers from the group's location, N'Doul smirked. "So they found out I can track them through sound. Not that it will help them." His cane was resting against his ear, the other end buried in the sand. Inside the jeep, Iggy sniffed the air again. "Hey, that human is four kilometers away from us. I think he might be the Stand user. We should also probably leave the jeep real quick." The group nodded. Polnareff grabbed Kakyoin, and the group leapt out just as the jeep got pulled into a giant puddle.

"That was close," Jonathan said. "Everyone stay still," Avdol said, "And find something to throw a distance away from you." He took off one of his many bracelets and threw it into the sand. He kept doing this, making it sound like he was walking by throwing them just a little bit ahead of each other. "Fluttershy, get ready to swallow him with your roots." Fluttershy nodded. As the Stand appeared, Fluttershy dug her roots into the nearby sand. She managed to damage the Stand, but it still managed to strike Avdol in the neck, sharp enough to draw blood but not too deep.

"I was careless," N'Doul realized, "Those weren't steps but rocks or something similar." He felt his arms where blood had started to pool out. "The girl has a Stand that can control plants, including roots. My own Stand is vulnerable to that sort of power." Back at the group, they checked on Avdol. "I think he'll be okay," Fluttershy said, "But we need to get this wound treated." "You sure did a number on the user though," Iggy noted, "I can smell his blood from here."

He thought for a minute. "Hey, you. Jotaro. In this desert my Stand is at its strongest, and it can suck up water easily. I don't really care about you guys, but I'm willing to give ya a shot. So how about we deal with this bozo here and now?" Jotaro smirked. "Alright then." And with that, he got to running in the direction Iggy indicated, drawing the water Stand away from the group. "Okay, it's after us!," Iggy said, "Hang on! The Fool!" The Fool appeared and grew a pair of glider wings using sand, carrying Iggy and Jotaro.

N'Doul became confused by this. "Jotaro and the dog! They leapt into the air but they haven't came down! What's going on!? What am I missing!?" Meanwhile, Iggy winced. "I can only keep this up for so long. This is a glider, not a plane." Jotaro noticed they were starting to lose altitude. "This'll alert the Stand user to what we're doing, but we gotta risk it. Star Platinum!" As they got close to the ground, Star Platinum kicked off the ground, letting them get back in the air again.

The water Stand went underground again, traveling after Jotaro and Iggy. "That Stand has enough power to crash a helicopter," Jotaro noted, "But a glider doesn't make much noise, if any. He'll be hard pressed to spot us." "Speaking of that," Iggy said, "Can you spot him?" Jotaro looked through Star Platinum and spotted N'Doul kneeling the desert. "Yeah, I have him. He's about four hundred meters ahead of us. And Polnareff was right. I think he is blind. He's using a cane propped against his ear."

Just then, sand seemed to scatter around them. "Idiot," Iggy said, "I guess he hasn't realized my Stand is made from sand." He instantly conjured a giant sandstorm, forcing the water Stand back to N'Doul. "Damn dog!," he called out, "I was trying to scatter sand to find them. His own Stand isn't just for gliding, it's actually made from sand!" "You found out," Jotaro said from right behind him, "But it's a little too late." N'Doul gasped. Iggy had used the sandstorm to increase the glider's flight time and get him and Jotaro right behind N'Doul.

"I see," N'Doul said, "I was able to retrieve my Stand during that sandstorm, which is why you haven't attacked me yet. I guess I won't need this anymore." He dropped his cane and made to launch his Stand, Jotaro doing the same. As the two Stands attack, Iggy called out, "The Fool!" The Fool's sand shot between the two user. The water Stand got consumed, but Star Platinum was able to punch through the sand and hit N'Doul right in the gut.

"Thanks Iggy," Jotaro said, "But I could have dodged that easily. As for you..." He looked at N'Doul. "I only punched you hard enough to incapacitate you." N'Doul smiled, as his Stand burst from the sand and shot through his head. Jotaro and Iggy became flabbergasted. "Why did you do that?," Jotaro asked. "You were planning on getting information about my other nine comrades...," N'Doul muttered, "I'm sure Joseph Joestar's Hermit Purple could get that information easy. But I refuse to do anything that would inconvenience him..."

Jotaro frowned. "DIO... But why follow him so blindly? Not just you, but the others. Everyone who's served DIO has been killed at one point or another by those that would oppose him. So why even bother?" N'Doul chuckled. "I don't fear death Jotaro. Not since I gained my Stand. I could beat anyone. I could commit any crime without fear of legal retaliation. I'm sure that dog understands. But DIO... DIO made me feel fear for the first time since my Stand awakened. But at the same time, he is strong, deep, beautiful... In this world, he was the first to acknowledge my value. I had been waiting my whole life for someone like him..."

Jotaro sighed. "I suppose evil needs its own savior. Can you at least tell me your name?" "N'Doul," he replied, "My Stand's name is Geb, named after the Egyptian god of the earth. I realize that sounds strange given it's a Stand of water, but all of us in DIO's Ten Glory Gods have Stands named after the Egyptian gods of prosperity. That is all I can tell you... Consider it a gift... In honor of your victory..." And with that, N'Doul breathed his last. Jotaro had him buried there in the desert, and placed his cane in the spot as a grave marker. "N'Doul... If only we had met earlier. We might have become friends. DIO must truly have charisma if he can manipulate people like religious fanatics."

"I guess... We still have nine more to go," Iggy noted. His nose then twitched. "Oh, the others are coming in. I guess they got the jeep out of the sand." Sure enough, the rest of the group was driving in. "Looks like he made it!," Hol Horse said, "But if this was how strong one of the Ten Glory Gods was, I'm concerned about how strong the other nine will be." "We'll have to face them sooner or later," Joseph pointed out, "We only have two weeks to find and kill DIO."

Is anyone still out there? I haven't heard any reactions to my recent chapters...

Oh well, here's the chapter with the two brothers.

From where the group met and defeated N'Doul, they decided to head for Aswan, just north of the Tropic of Capricorn. While they were taking their jeep there, a curious thing was happening at a nearby bus stop at the foot of one of Egypt's many great tombs. A young boy was staring at his comic book, "Oingo Boingo Brothers Adventures" on the cover. A young Japanese man approached the boy. "Oh wow, I've never seen anything like that. I guess even Egypt has comics."

He offered the boy his box of mini donuts, which the boy eagerly dug into and started eating. "So," the man said, "Can I take a look at that comic? I'm a traveling mangaka looking to get inspiration, and I like rare comics. Heck, I had so many rare comics in my old home my house is titled to one side." He offered the boy his binoculars in exchange, which the boy accepted and started scanning the horizon, while the mangaka looked through the pages.

"Wow, this is well drawn," he noted, "A little surreal but easy to make out. I can't find the author's name though." He started reading the pages. "A long time ago there was a pair of brothers who very close, Oingo the older brother and Boingo the younger brother. Boingo is very shy. When his brother is not around he can't do anything. He's always alone too. One day day when Oingo went off for a while, Boingo met a friendly traveler who offered him candy and toys, making Boingo very happy. Sadly it would be their only meeting, as the traveler died just after Ten-Thirty AM, his throat stuck on the hook of a utility pole."

The mangaka was weirded out by the pictures, especially since part of it sounded like his interactions with the young boy. And the traveler in the comic was wearing his clothes. He continued flipping through the pages, but the rest of them were all blank. "This is an unusual comic book," the mangaka noted, "Hey, can I buy this book off you?" "It's not for sale," came a much deeper voice behind him. The mangaka whirled around to see a larger man standing there. "My brother's book," the man said, "It's not for sale. Now get out of here." The mangaka just nodded and returned the book, checking his watch before heading for the bus.

He didn't know that these two brothers were the same ones he reading about. "Boingo," Oingo said, "How many times have I told you to watch out for strangers? There are a lot of bad people in the world." A bus attendant called out, "The bus to Aswan is ready to depart. The next bus will arrive in four hours." Oingo lifted Boingo onto his shoulder. "That's us. We know the Joestars will be taking their injured friends to a hospital in Aswan. Let's get going."

"Not a good idea," Boingo said, "Take a look at this." He showed Oingo the comic, opened to the page the mangaka was reading earlier. Oingo gasped when he saw what was written. "I see... Well, it can't be helped. It'll give the Joestars a head start and time to tend to their injured, but we'll just have to wait for the next bus." Just a bit later, the Kujo group was driving to Aswan, when Polnareff noticed something. "Oh wow," he said, "Looks like a bus wrecked."

"From the looks of it, it collided with a truck," Joseph said. "It's probably got nothing to with us," Fluttershy said, "These kinds of accidents happen on the road all the time, so I doubt a Stand user was involved." "It does have all the hallmarks of a natural accident," Joseph admitted, "I think it's safe to just move on. Besides, we need to get Kakyoin and Avdol to a hospital." "It looks bad regardless," Hol Horse noted, "Some people were thrown from the bus. I think I even see one poor shmuck that got impaled high up on a utility pole." Said poor shmuck was the mangaka that spoke with Boingo, having died just as the comic said, and at the appropriate time too.

Four hours later, the two brothers were on the next bus, having also passed the wreck. "As you predicted," Oingo said, "Good thing we didn't get on the earlier bus." Boingo nodded as he looked through his comic. "Ah, there are new pages appearing." He began to read. "The brothers were able to avoid the accident by taking a later bus, and soon arrived in Aswan for new adventures. Soon enough, they encountered the terrible enemies. The enemies were talking about their injured friends."

"It looks like the pages depict Jotaro, Joseph, Polnareff, and Hol Horse," Oingo noted. He then looked out the window. "Ah, and there they are. As predicted." Boingo started laughing. "Brother, I know how we're going to win. The pages depict the four of them sitting down and drinking poison tea!" He handed Oingo the comic, and the older brother smiled. "Perfect. So I just have to poison their tea." The two brothers got off at the bus stop. "The two of us are an invincible duo," Oingo declared, "Your Stand, Thoth, predicts the future. While my Stand, Khnum, lets me change my face. Working together, there is no one that can beat us! For we are the Oingo Boingo brothers!"

Later at one of the cafes, the two brothers took out the normal staff, Oingo finishing the job by whacking the server over the head with a frying pan. Boingo finished the job of dragging the man into the kitchen, then looked through Thoth. "This is the right cafe," Boingo said. "And there's where they're going to sit," Oingo replied, looking at one of the tables, the decorations matching the panel in the comic Stand. Boingo started laughing again. "Thoth's predictions always come true! There's no way the Joestars can escape this fate!" As he continued to laugh manically, Oingo got a little worried about his brother's mental health.

Meanwhile the four men were walking through the streets of Aswan. "Luckily Avdol's injuries weren't too serious," Joseph said, "N'Doul's attack missed all his major arteries. The doctors say he should be released by tomorrow." "The real trouble is Kakyoin," Hol Horse noted, "Poor boy nearly got his eyes torn out. As it is, there's the possibility he could lose his sight." "He's lucky to be alive," Polnareff said, "But still, I'm worried. This is the second time we've had a comrade taken out of commission for a long period, and this time we may have to leave him behind altogether."

Jotaro nodded. "Well, since we have to stay in Aswan for the time being, what do you want to do?" Polnareff looked around. "There's a lot of cafes around here. Let's get a drink for right now, then look around the city." Joseph nodded. "That sounds alright. Which one did you have in mind?" Polnareff took out his cigarette and flicked it into the air. It landed pointing at one of the cafes, right next to some paper trash. "And the cigarette has spoken," Polnareff declared.

As the four men sat down, Oingo, dressed as a server, greeted them. "Welcome. What'll it be gentlemen?" "A black tea for me," Polnareff said. "Same here," Jotaro agreed. Hol Horse also nodded. Oingo grinned. "Very well, coming right up." "Hold it," Joseph said, "We can't have tea or coffee. This is enemy territory, which means an enemy could be coming at us from anywhere. From now on, we'll drink from bottles and cans. Waiter, get us four unopened colas. We'll open them ourselves. And make it the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth from the right, just in case."

Oingo freaked out, but didn't show it and went for the drink fridge. 'Damn it, that's way too thorough! My brother's predictions are never wrong, but at this rate that poison tea won't even touch their lips. Okay... Calm down Oingo. Just remember to trust in Boingo. I'm sure fate will find a way to make the prediction come true.' "Hey!," another customer called out, "This cola isn't cold! What kind of establishment are you running here!?" Joseph turned to Oingo. "Wait, the drinks aren't cold?" "Yeah, the fridge is busted," Oingo explained. He had accidentally broken the piping to the fridge while they were clearing out the cafe of its normal staff.

"Come on Mister Joestar," Polnareff said, "Even if this guy wanted to poison our drinks, how would he even know we were coming? We chose this place at random out of a number of nearby cafes." Hol Horse shrugged. "You never know with Stands. While there are rules that govern their statistics, as far as actual powers are concerned there are no rules. Maybe there's a Stand out there that can predict the future." It took everything Oingo had not to chuckle at that, knowing Hol Horse had stumbled onto the truth.

Polnareff considered it. "Very well, let's relocate to the one across the street, just in case." But it turned out the other cafe had been set on fire, due to Polnareff cigarette igniting the trash it was near, which blew into the cafe while still lit. Joseph sighed in resignation. "You know what, we'll take those four teas after all." From the kitchen, Boingo grinned. "Got 'em. Just as fate predicted." However, just as they were drinking the tea, a woman screamed. "Hey! That dog ate my cake!" The four men immediately spit out their tea, removing any chance of ingesting the poison within it.

The dog turned out to be Iggy, whom Joseph immediately grabbed and took out of the cafe, apologizing to the woman as he did. "Iggy, what's the big idea!? Eating someone else's desert! If you wanted some cake, you should have asked and we'd have bought you some!" "That was just to get your attention," Iggy argued, "I smelled blood coming from that cafe, and something bad in the tea you guys were drinking. But how weird would it be if I just waltzed right in and started talking to you with everyone else able to hear me?" Joseph blinked. "Blood? And something bad in the tea?"

Back in the cafe, Oingo pounded the table. "Damn it! The prediction came true alright, but we were so sure of victory we forget that it never said they'd actually swallow the tea they drank. Dumb dog! Boingo, does Thoth say what to do next?" "Not yet," Boingo replied, "Thoth can only predict the near future." Oingo nodded. "Alright. We'll wait for the next prediction, and kill them then. Our trust in each other is the only way we'll win."

They kept walking, as another prediction appeared in Thoth. Boingo started reading. "Unfortunately, the enemies' dog was able to prevent them from getting poisoned. But the brothers were not discouraged, and kept after the bad guys. Along the way, they ran into a man who had nothing to do with them or their enemies, but his looks pissed them off. It was the sort of face they always hated. So, despite the fact that he had done nothing wrong, the brothers beat him up. He then ran away, leaving his wallet full of money behind."

Sure enough, a man who looked and dressed just like the one in comic showed up. Oingo growled. "Yeah, that face does piss me off, and I'm in a bad mood as well." Without another thought, Oingo punched man out. Sure enough, the man ran away screaming, leaving his wallet behind. "Hey," Oingo said as he picked it up, "There's more money in here than we thought." Boingo chuckled. "We're rich, Brother!" He then saw another page coming in. "And look, there's another prediction coming in."

He started reading. "The brothers continued after their enemies, who were taking a car to visit their friends in the hospital. While they stopped, Oingo placed a bomb shaped like an orange in the car. The bomb went off, splitting Jotaro's face in half, and incapacitating him!" "Take a look at how clear this prediction is!," Oingo said excitedly, "There's no way we can fail now!" It seemed foolproof, but their arrogance would soon be their downfall.

Oingo soon spotted the car and covertly broke open the door with a wrench, ditching it beneath the car afterward. He then got out a small bomb concealed in an orange peel. Nearby, Boingo was laughing at the prediction in his Stand. "Thoth can only see the near future, which most would consider a weakness. But the trade-off is that the predictions are one-hundred percent absolute, with no way to change them. Big Brother's bomb will go off three seconds after Jotaro sticks his finger into the peel. This is his ultimate fate!"

Oingo finished gluing the top of the peel to the rest of it, concealing the bomb completely. As he finished placing the bomb among the real oranges, he heard Polnareff call out, "Hey! There's someone in our car!" He looked up and realized Joseph, Polnareff, and Hol Horse were approaching. "That's not Jotaro?," Joseph asked. "He met up with Fluttershy as she finished shopping," Hol Horse pointed out, "Then they headed straight for the hospital." Oingo freaked out for a second, then remembered his own Stand and started molding his face.

He poked his head out, now looking like Jotaro. 'Khnum's power let's me change my appearance, so long as I stick to anything human. It can also let me alter my height, weight, voice, and even my smell to trick that dog. I can't alter my clothes, so I had to change my hair to mimic Jotaro's hat.' "Oh, it's just you Jotaro," Joseph said. "I thought you were going to the hospital," Polnareff said, "And where's Fluttershy?"

Oingo hesitated as he tried to come up with an answer, then responded, "I left my wallet in the car. Fluttershy went ahead without me." "It's not like they're joined at the hip Polnareff," Joseph pointed out, "Remember how Fluttershy helped me out against Empress?" Polnareff nodded. "But what about your school uniform?," Hol Horse asked. "My what?," Oingo asked. "You know," Hol Horse said, "That jacket you're always wearing?" 'That's a school uniform!?,' Oingo said internally. Luckily he already thought of that answer ahead of time.

"Well, I left it at the dry cleaners, but didn't have enough money," he said, "Fluttershy bought these other clothes for me, so I thought it was a good time to try them." "That doesn't look like Fluttershy's normal fashion sense," Polnareff said, "I guess she's starting to slip. Oh well, since you're here you might as well drive with us." Oingo freaked out, and so did Boingo. 'That's not good! Right now Big Brother is wearing Jotaro's face! If he gets in that car with the bomb, he'll be the one to blow up as the prediction dictated!' He watched in horror as his brother's attempts to talk his way out of getting in the car were met with futility, and the group drove off. "No... Brother!"

Inside the car, Oingo was just as terrified. 'This is bad! If I don't drop my disguise I'll be the one who blows up! But I can't do it in here or they'll recognize me as an enemy!' He then looked at the bomb and got a brainstorm. 'Wait, that's it. I'll simply toss the bomb out the window, then plant a new bomb later at the hospital.' He covertly took the bomb and tossed it out the open window. 'Safe...' "Hey look," Polnareff said, "Here comes Iggy. He's got an orange in his mouth."

Oingo freaked out when he saw Iggy clinging to the side of the open window. "Iggy, did you steal that from somewhere?," Joseph asked. "No way!," Iggy said, "I saw it get thrown out of your car for some reason and thought I'd bring it back to ya. Though I gotta say, for some reason it smells like glue and gunpowder." Oingo gasped in shock. 'Fluttershy must have used her Stand on the dog to make it talk! But this may be a blessing in disguise. If they think it's full of gunpowder, they'll surely throw it away.'

"Well, all kinds of things litter the ground in this country," Polnareff said, "Give it here. It's only the rind that got dirty after all." Iggy dropped the bomb into Polnareff's hand. "NO!," Oingo called out. He then realized all four of them were looking at him. "That's an odd reaction," Hol Horse noted, "Are we sure this is Jotaro?" "Smells like him," Iggy said, "But that was an unusual reaction coming from him." Oingo started to sweat, then noticed a cow being led down the road. "I actually said, 'Moo'. Because I saw that cow over there."

The group raised their eyebrows. "Are we positive this is the real Jotaro?," Polnareff asked, "I mean, there may be a disguise Stand that can even fool Iggy's sense of smell." Oingo tried to regain his composure. "Gimme a break... What are the odds such a Stand user would want to disguise themselves as me?" The group considered it, but seemed to drop the issue. Iggy yawned as he fell asleep between Oingo and Hol Horse as they continued to the hospital. "Hey Jotaro," Polnareff said, "How about you show me that trick again?" Oingo looked confused. "Trick? What trick?"

Polnareff demonstrated by flipping his cigarette into his mouth, the smoke coming out of his nose. "That one. I wanna see you do it again." Oingo mentally sighed in relief. 'I thought it'd be something more complicated, but I know how to do that trick. It's a little dangerous but I can pull it off easy.' "Sure, no problem," he said. "Nah, can't stop at just one cigarette," Hol Horse said, "Jotaro's such a badass, so how about we up the ante to five." "Good idea," Polnareff agreed. Oingo started freaking out again, but the sight of Polnareff with the bomb in his hand reminded him of what was at stake.

He gulped 'Damn it, I had no idea Jotaro had so many weird talents. I swear, if they start getting into his sex life with Fluttershy...' He breathed to regain his composure. "Alright, gimme the five." He held the five cigarettes in his mouth and lit them, then carefully started trying to flip them all into his mouth. It was tricky, especially getting the ones at the ends past his teeth, but he managed to pull it off. 'Yes, I did it! People can do anything when their life is on the line!'

"Good job!," Polnareff said, impressed, "Now for the finisher you have to drink this juice without extinguishing the cigarettes." Oingo was now sweating bullets, the cigarette smoke coming out of his mouth and nostrils. Because of his nerves, he bombed big time, but the others were more disappointed than suspicious. 'Damn it, this is nerve-wracking! But Boingo's predictions can't be changed, so my only way out is to somehow get out of the car and change my face back to normal. Then the real Jotaro can get blown up.'

"Hey Jotaro, are you feeling alright?," Polnareff asked, "You've been acting a bit strange." "I'm just not feeling well," Oingo said. 'This is terrible. They're getting more suspicious by the minute. They'll probably kill me if I drop my disguise here, but if I don't then the bomb will blow me up instead!' He clasped his hands in thought. 'Come to think of it, I am starting to feel sick from accidentally ingesting those cigarettes. That might be my way out. I'll just ask to leave the car to throw up!'

"Hey Jotaro," Polnareff said, glaring, "I noticed your hands were clasped in such a way that your left thumb was on top." Oingo looked as saw he was right. 'Oh crap! Does Jotaro always clasp his hands with the right thumb on top! How would anyone even notice that!?' But Polnareff just started laughing. "That means you were a woman in a past life!" "Wait, seriously?," Joseph asked, "But I clasp my hands the same way." "So do I," Hol Horse said, "Are you making a jab at our manhoods, Polnareff?" The three of them just kept talking and laughing.

'Good grief,' Oingo thought, 'At this rate I won't have to worry about their Stands or the bomb. Just their attitude will kill me.' He then saw Polnareff starting to dig into the bomb's skin. "Hey Jotaro, let's see who can eat an orange faster." "Don't you idiot!," Oingo called out, causing the others to look at him and waking Iggy up. "I mean," Oingo said nervously, "That's the one Iggy had in his mouth. It's probably unhygienic." "Hey, Fluttershy insures my mouth and teeth are perfectly healthy," Iggy said indignantly.

Oingo decided this was as good a time as any. "Anyway, you need to stop the car right now! I really need to use the bathroom! My stomach hurts real bad!" Joseph looked at him, but shrugged and stopped the car to let Oingo out. As Oingo made a break for it, Polnareff said, "Hold on a second!" Oingo stopped, wondering if they were on to him. But Polnareff just tossed him a roll of toilet paper. "Don't forget this."

Oingo took the roll and gleefully went running. 'Yes! I made it! Now I just have to use Khnum to undo the disguise and Jotaro is history!' As the group drove off, Polnareff looked at the orange. "Glue and gunpowder, huh? Perhaps this is really a bomb someone planted?" "Maybe," Joseph admitted, "I've heard of bombs small enough to hide in fruit skins. Better throw it out just to be safe." Polnareff nodded and tossed the bomb out the window.

Meanwhile, Oingo was still running to hide behind a rock and undo his disguise. However, he didn't get far before he felt something squish beneath his feet. He looked down and gasped as it turned out he had stepped on the bomb, breaking the peel as he did. "Are you kidding me!?," he called out as the bomb went off. The explosion could be heard from the car. "Oh wow," Polnareff said, "It really was a bomb. I feel sorry for the poor sod that accidentally set it off. We'll have to find them and make it up to them."

Meanwhile Boingo had finally caught up to Oingo. Oingo's face had been split just like the book predicted, and Oingo had been knocked out long enough for his Stand to wear off. "Oh no...," Boingo said, "Brother are you okay?" Oingo opened his eyes. "I'm alive somehow...," he muttered, "But we lost... They beat us without even trying." Boingo clenched his fists. "No! Not yet! They still haven't beaten me and my Thoth! I'll kill them all on my own!"

Oingo saw the look in his brother's eyes, a look of confidence he had never seen. "Boingo, it's too dangerous," he said, "These guy's aren't normal. If they find you..." "I've made up my mind, Oingo!," Boingo said, "With the power of my Stand, I know I can do it!" Oingo smiled and he teared up. "You're starting to mature so much. I'm proud of you, Little Brother." "Now let's see," Boingo said, "What does the next prediction say?" But just then, a nasally voice called out, "There they are!"

The two brothers turned to see the same guy from earlier, a bunch of burlier men with him. "Those two are the ones who beat me up and robbed me," the man said, "Make sure to beat them to a pulp in turn, and I'll pay you handsomely!" The two brothers hugged each other for dear life. "It's that guy from before!," Oingo said in fear. "I'm scared, Brother!," Boingo said. On the ground, Thoth's new prediction read as such. "The guy who dropped his wallet came back with friends, offering to pay them to take revenge on the brothers. It looked like Boingo's revenge would have to wait, as he and his brother Oingo were in for a long stay at the hospital."

The car soon pulled up to the hospital, where Jotaro and Fluttershy were just arriving. "Ah, there you are Jotaro," Polnareff said, "We had a weird encounter with someone how looked like you." "A possible enemy?," Jotaro asked. "Maybe," Joseph replied, "Not that he did much." An ambulance then started driving by, it's siren blaring. "Looks like someone's been injured," Fluttershy said, "How terrible." Jotaro then saw the bag of oranges Polnareff. "Ah perfect, I was just getting thirsty. Mind if I take one?" Polnareff held out the bag as Jotaro grabbed one of the oranges and opened the peel. Naturally it was an actual orange, as the bomb had already gone off.

The doors of the ambulance opened to reveal Oingo and Boingo, now looking seriously beaten up, in addition to the injuries Oingo suffered from the bomb. "Oh wow," Jotaro said, "That guy's face looks split it half." "His clothes looks familiar," Polnareff noted, "I think he's that guy from before." "I've smelled those two before at the cafe," Iggy said, "Think they're two of the Ten Glory Gods?" Hol Horse shrugged. "Maybe. If they are we took them down rather easily. But I doubt they'll all be that easy."

Why do some people think a random mangaka that happened across Boingo was Rohan? Did someone who never read the manga sneak in here? Because that was an actual scene from the original canon. Anyway, enjoy the modified fight with Anubis.

At the hospital, the group was going over the bill for Avdol and Kakyoin treatment. With Avdol being a native of Egypt, he was able to translate the odd characters for the others. "46,350 Egyptian pounds!?," Polnareff asked. "That looks to be the case," Avdol noted, "It's not as expensive as it sounds. It's the equivalent of just under twenty-six hundred American dollars, so it's a typically priced hospital bill." "I'm just glad your eyes are going to recover, Kakyoin," Fluttershy said.

"Yes, I got lucky," Kakyoin said, his eyes still bandaged, "Despite the damage they took, the doctors say my corneas are still intact, so my eyes should heal quickly. It reminds me of when I was in middle school. Some kid got his eyeball squashed by a baseball bat, but he was fine the next day. Turns out his eye only lost some fluid." "You'll certainly have some cool scars to show for it when you heal though," Hol Horse noted.

"I used Hermit Purple on one of the TVs to check into the two brothers that got admitted earlier," Joseph said, "And I'm a little surprised. Despite the fact that the younger brother has a Stand that can predict the near future with perfect accuracy, fate turned out to be on our side. Makes me optimistic for the rest of the trip." "We still have eight hundred kilometers between us and Cairo," Jotaro noted, "And seven more of those Glory Gods waiting to ambush us on the way." "You guys should get going then," Kakyoin said, "I still need to rest here for a few days. I'll catch up with you in Cairo."

The group was soon taking a small boat down the Nile. "I remember studying up on Ancient Egypt with Twilight," Jonathan said, "My own Stand, Ra, is named for the Egyptian sun god. In ancient times, the Nile was said to separate the land of the living from the land of the dead. That's why there are many cities on the east side of the river, and so many tombs on the west side." "Not that directions matters to our enemies," Joseph pointed out, "They'll come from wherever is convenient."

Meanwhile on said west bank, a group of four farmers were walking their cow across the path. "Your cows are strong," one farmer said, "But they're too lazy." The farmer he was talking to turned to look at the young boy trailing behind. "Chaka! Get a move on! Good grief, and you call yourself my son!" The boy Chaka started to pick up his pace, but then stopped when he was spotted an ornate sword held in a scabbard lying on the ground. As he picked it up, it was snatched out of his hands by his father.

"Look at this," the father said excitedly, "Someone must have dropped it. It's not fake either, and it looks really expensive." "It must be some sort of artifact," the second farmer said. "Then it must be worth money," the father realized, "Let's check to make sure it isn't blunt." However, he found for some reason that he couldn't pull the sword free from its scabbard. The other two tried to help it, holding the sword between them like it was a rope in a tug-of-war game, but the sword wouldn't come out.

"Father, maybe I could try," Chaka suggested. "Don't be an idiot!," the father retorted, "If the three of us can't pull it out how do you expect to!?" The first farmer suddenly cried out in pain. "My hands! My hands got sliced open!" Sure enough, there were deep gashes in his hands, blood seeping out of him. "I must have cut myself on the blade!" "But how!?," the second farmer said, "You were only holding onto the grip! We're the ones who were touching the blade end! There's something funny about this sword..."

"Father," Chaka said, "May I try it now?" His father tossed him the sword. "Fine! Try it and leave me alone!" Chaka made to unsheathe the sword, and found himself able to do so with only the slightest effort. His eyes widened as the other farmers looked at him in shock. He then thought he started to hear voices coming from the sword. "What is that...?" The second farmer gazed at the blade. "I don't know anything about swords... But that's the most beautiful blade I've ever seen. It's like those Japanese katanas."

Chaka's father grabbed Chaka from behind. "Finding this sword is a great fortune! Give it here, boy!" But to everyone's shock, Chaka's hands seemed to pull back, causing the blade to embed itself deep in the man's chest. "Chaka...," the father said weakly, "Why... Did... You...?" As his father collapsed from the blood loss, Chaka freaked out. "I don't know what happened! Father grabbed me from behind and..." "Don't just stand there!," the second farmer said, "We have to get him to a hospital!"

But the blade suddenly moved on its own, slicing through the farmer's brain and killing him instantly. "That sword's not normal!," the first farmer said in shock, "It's like it has a will of its own!" Chaka picked the sword back up and heard the voice again. "Do not be afraid Chaka. Calm your heart. Their deaths mean nothing." "Who are you?," Chaka asked, "I can hear you, but not see you."

"I am a Stand. A psychic vision bound to the blade you hold. My name is Anubis, representing the underworld, death, and mummification. You have unsheathed me, and earned the right to be my user. With my help, you will now become the mightiest sword wielder that ever existed. Use me, and kill all who stand in your way." Chaka stood up, glaring at the last farmer. "He and my father deserved to die! And now I'll slice you in half too!" The farmer freaked out and ran behind the cow to use it as cover.

However, as Chaka slashed, the blade seemed to phase through the cow while still slicing the farmer in half. "Unbelievable," Chaka said, "I sliced through the cow without thinking, and without wanting to harm it. Yet the cow is fine and only my target was sliced." "That is the power I offer you. Using my blade, you will only slash what you want to slash. Kill only what you want to kill. This is the true might you wield as the greatest swordsman to ever live."

"But I don't think I've ever heard of psychic power being called a Stand," Chaka noted. "We are more common than you realize. But we are unseen by mere mortals. Right now, a group of seven such Stand users wish to stop a great man from bringing this world under his glorious and benevolent rule. I cannot fight them myself, but you can defeat them using my power. Joseph Joestar, Jonathan Joestar, Hol Horse Zeppeli, Jean-Pierre Polnareff, Muhammad Avdol, Jotaro Kujo, Himari Utsukushicho. Kill them all, that this man's rule may bring this world to utopia!"

The boat stopped at the small port of Kom Ombo, where Polnareff and Iggy wound up separated from the rest of the group. "Just our luck," Iggy said, "We take two steps to look for some grub and we lose the others. Story of my life." "Hey mister," a salesman said, "I got something real special for ya. This fresh papyrus drawing, created by a well-known artist. I'll sell it to you for a real good price."

Polnareff felt the paper under his fingers. The material felt too much like the paper he was used to. "Are you sure this is real?," he asked the merchant. "Absolutely," the merchant insisted. Polnareff scoffed and ripped the paper in half easily. "I may be a tourist but I do know about papyrus. It's far too durable to rip so easily. Not that I would have bought it anyway, but at least now I've saved the next poor schmuck you'd try to con some trouble." Iggy, who was on Polnareff's shoulder, snickered. "You're not as dumb as you look," he admitted as they walked off.

"I'll freely admit I'm no genius," Polnareff admitted, "But one would be hard-pressed to con me, due to my simple way of thinking." Iggy shrugged. "Well, the dumber you are, the harder you are to fool." As the walked to the nearby temple the port town was famous for, Chaka came up walking beside him, the sword wrapped in cloth bandages. "Polnareff," Iggy said. "I see him," Polnareff replied, "I'm not blind. The way he walks, they way he carries that sword. And that look in his eye. I think we've encountered another enemy."

He walked into the center of the temple, where fewer people were mulling about, Chaka following all the way. "You've got some balls to attack me in the middle of a crowd," Polnareff said as he stopped in the middle of the temple, "Guys like you are rare. So far you're the only Stand user who's shown himself and faced me head on. Tell me, what's your name?" A fly landed on the hilt of the blade, dropping dead in seconds. Chaka turned to face Polnareff. "I am Chaka. My Stand is Anubis, god of the underworld. Jean-Pierre Polnareff, prepare to die."

Polnareff gave a hearty laugh. "Straight to the point, I see. I like it. You're a real man among men. But I hope you don't mind if my friend joins me." He pointed to Iggy. "Just in case your Stand has any nasty tricks," Iggy pointed out. Chaka looked surprised to hear Iggy talking, but Anubis explained. "One of the other Stand users can give animals the gift of speech. This dog is likely a Stand user as well, aligned with the others. Do not be concerned. With my power, you can cut them both down easily."

Chaka nodded. "Very well. I accept your terms." He drew the blade in a deft and quick maneuver, several more flies dropping dead around him. "Careful Polnareff," Iggy said, "My instincts are telling me something's not right with that sword!" "Maybe so," Polnareff said as he dodged around Chaka's sword strikes, "But the way he carries himself is like an amateur. Get us some distance." Iggy nodded. "The Fool!" The Fool created a large sand barrier between them and Chaka.

Chaka instantly slashed through it, but too easily, forcing Polnareff to parry with Silver Chariot. "That sword must have something to do with his Stand!," Iggy realized, "My Stand wasn't able to grab it!" "So it can phase through solid matter to strike at a target," Polnareff realized, "Even your Stand would be hard pressed to counter that." Silver Chariot and The Fool worked to counter and redirect Chaka's sword. 'Working together they're formidable. But I can easily overcome this.' He quickly disappeared among the pillars.

"Be careful," Iggy said, "I smelled him heading above us." "To the tops of the pillars then," Polnareff noted, "Up there we should be able to see him coming easily." He used Silver Chariot to leap up to the tallest pillar he could reach. Before he could jump to another one, however, another pillar started coming down on top of him. "My sword doesn't have to pass through objects!," Chaka explained, "I can cut through the pillar itself!" Iggy called out, "The Fool!" A large volume of sand appeared and caught the pillar, slowing its descent.

Chaka leapt down from above, ready to strike. "DIE!" Polnareff made no remark, but launched Silver Chariot's blade in a different direction, separating from the hilt. The blade bounced off the nearby pillar, and into Chaka's neck. Iggy tossed the pillar down as he and Polnareff checked on Chaka. "I didn't know you could do that," Iggy said. "None of the others know either," Polnareff said, "It's a last ditch move I only use when there's no other choice. I only get one chance to use it, because if the opponent dodges I'm wide open. That's why I use it sparingly, only when necessary."

"Well, he's still alive," Iggy said, "But he's not getting up anytime soon." Polnareff then saw the sword. "That's strange. It's back in its sheath." "Don't draw it," Iggy warned, "I don't know what its deal is, but all my instincts are telling me its dangerous." Polnareff nodded. "We should still take it with us. Maybe have Mister Joestar inspect it with his Stand." Just then, the rest of the group showed up. "There you are," Joseph said, "We saw you and Iggy wander off and got concerned."

"We got ambushed," Polnareff explained, "Another of the Ten Glory Gods. But something's odd about his sword here. Iggy thinks there's something bad about it, and honestly I'm inclined to believe him. The Stand user said his Stand was named Anubis, which seemed to be channeled through this sword. He was able to cut through almost anything, or phase the blade through solid objects." "Reminds me of one of my dad's powers," Jotaro noted. "I'll need a TV to inspect it," Joseph said, "So first we'll head for the next town."

The group's next stop was in Edfu, where Polnareff was getting a shave from a man named Khan while Jotaro and Jonathan were nearby. "Why'd you bring the sword with you?," Jotaro asked. "Until Mister Joestar can inspect it, it's safest with me," Polnareff explained, "I know my way around swords." He winced as he got a shaving cut. "You really should sharpen your razor," he said to Khan. "Gimme a break...," Jotaro muttered. Khan went to sharpen his razor as Jotaro started to nod off.

As Khan returned, Jonathan noticed he was holding the sword and making ready to bring it to Polnareff's chin. "Ra!" Kahn found himself blinded as Polnareff's eyes shot open from the man's screams. When he saw Khan had the sword he asked, "What on earth are you doing with that?" Khan then chuckled. "I am Anubis, the Stand you were fighting earlier." Polnareff gasped. "So you're in the sword, and not bound to Chaka?" "Chaka was never my user," Anubis explained, "I merely allowed him to use me to kill you and the others. But you rendered him helpless, so I had to seek a new user."

Polnareff scoffed. "Silver Chariot!" Silver Chariot moved to fight, but somehow the sword seemed to easily fight back against the knightly Stand's blade. "I've learned your moves from the last battle," Anubis explained, "I never lose to the same opponent twice. That is one of my powers." He screamed in pain as a searing beam of light hit Khan's hand. "Then I hope you've not forgotten you have two other opponents in the room," Jonathan pointed out.

Jotaro proved his great-great-grandfather's point by using Star Platinum to easily dodge the sword's attacks and punch Khan in the face. The attack sent Khan flying out the window. "He's strong," Jotaro noted, "He's not like the others who relied on gimmicks. He just relies on pure power. This makes him more dangerous." "I was told your Stand relies on speed, Jotaro," Anubis said, "But now that I've seen it, I can beat it." Jonathan scoffed. "How naive. Even if that was Star Platinum's top speed, the human you're possessing couldn't possibly match his speed."

Anubis chuckled. "We'll see about that. Not his full speed? Don't make me laugh!" Kahn leapt into the air and came down with an overhead slice, only for Star Platinum to catch the blade in mid-air. He then broke off the blade. "A word of advice," Jotaro said, "I'm very good at improvising." He struck Khan in the face once more, harder than last time. Anubis growled as Khan started to fall unconscious. "I'll keep that in mind, for next time..." As Khan dropped to the ground, Fluttershy arrived. "Guys, what's taking so long?"

"Careful Fluttershy," Polnareff said, "Don't touch the blade. The Stand I fought earlier is contained within it, and will likely possess whoever touches it unsheathed." "If someone else touches it," Jotaro said, "It's already learned most of what we can do." Fluttershy thought, then got an idea. "Let's see it possess something that doesn't even have a conscious. Music in the Trees!" Her Stand created a series of branches connected to the ground, picking up both the sword and scabbard.

"She's picking me up with plants!? I can't possess her if she's touching me with something that has no mind to corrupt!" "I suggest breaking the blade down to the hilt," Polnareff said, "Then tossing the other part into the Nile. Let Anubis rust away." Fluttershy nodded, as Music in the Trees covered its hands with bark. Jotaro also joined in. "Star Platinum!" "ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!" "HAAAAAAAAA!" Before long the hilt was empty, leaving Anubis in the larger piece of the blade.

"Damn it, they're really gonna throw me into the Nile! But wait... Someone should have heard the fight earlier!" He looked around, and gasped in shock as Jonathan was talking to a nearby police officer who had responded to the report of a fight and was explaining the whole thing in a manner that made no one seem like the aggressor. Anubis then felt the branch holding him pull back, ready to throw.

"Damn it... I'll find a new user. Perhaps this time one like my original user. It was five hundred years ago when my original user, the master sword smith Caravan Serai, forged the blade I now reside in from the ore of a meteorite. When he died, I somehow survived, bound to the blade he always kept by his side. Since then I've passed from master to master, until I was sealed inside a museum. Then Lord DIO found me, rescued me, and defeated me in battle. His power is stronger than I, so I do his bidding without question."

He then realized that Fluttershy had already thrown him, the blade acting like a boomerang as it flew across the street. "Crap! I was so busy reminiscing I forgot to make a plan! If I fall in the Nile I'll rust away! Somebody stop me, please!" He then saw a nearby wall. "Yes, that's it! If I can control my trajectory enough the wall will stop me!" However, he wound up passing right through the wall. "Oh shit! I was so panicked I wound up phasing through the wall on accident! I'm heading straight for the river!"

He then got relieved when he saw a boat passing along the river. "Thank goodness. I'll embed myself in the mast of that ship. The owner will get curious and pull me out, then I'll get my revenge." But the bad luck just kept coming as the ship was slightly faster than Anubis realized, and he wound up stuck in the hind-quarters of a cow being ferried on the boat. The pain caused the cow start thrashing around, smashing its head against the mast.

"Damn it, not again! I didn't even see the cow! If it doesn't calm down I'll slip into the water for sure! Wait a minute... I'll just take over the cow's mind and make him calm down." But he wasn't fast enough, the cow's thrashing causing the boat to start capsizing, which the group noticed back on shore. "For how cocky he was earlier," Polnareff said, "It seems Anubis is having a bad day all of a sudden." "It won't be long before he's at the bottom of the Nile," Jotaro noted, "I think we can safely write him off as being out of our hair."

Sure enough, the cow wound up splashing into the Nile, where the blade finally came out, dropping onto the riverbed. "Hey! Hey fishes, give me a hand, will you? What about you, Mister Crab? If you take me to the surface I'll be sure to give you lots of food!" But it was useless, as all Anubis succeeded in doing was scaring off all the creatures. It would be days later when it would finally rust away to nothing. Meanwhile, the Kujo group was free to travel Luxor without further issue.

The city of Luxor, home of the Valley of Kings. It's here where many of the great pharaohs were buried in hopes of protecting their riches from grave robbers. Yet in spite of their efforts, only the tomb of Tutankhamen remained untouched until its discovery in the early 1920s. It was here that the group continued their trek to Cairo, drawing ever closer to DIO's hideout. "The people of the nearby village are descended from grave robbers," Avdol noted, "Even today they dig beneath their homes in search of treasure without the government's permission."

"Do you think there's the possibility of undiscovered tombs somewhere in the valley?," Polnareff asked. "It's possible," Avdol said, "Egypt is a civilization five-thousand years old. With that much history who knows how much of it is still buried in the sands." "I remember first setting foot in Tutankhamen's tomb back in 1922," Jonathan said, "Speedwagon was with me on that day. We were among the people backing Howard Carter's expedition." "I remember studying that," Fluttershy said, "The papers talked about a curse killing eight people who entered the tomb within a span of twelve years."

"I doubt there was any sort of curse on those who entered the tomb," Jonathan said, "Or else all fifty-eight of us who entered would have died in that same short timespan, but there were only eight deaths. Even among those of us who died of illness, it took six decades to finally hit Speedwagon who died of heart conditions." "Hey, where's Mister Joestar?," Hol Horse asked. "He went to the bathroom," Avdol said, "He took Iggy with him in case of trouble."

Polnareff grimaced. "The bathroom, huh?" "Did you need to go?," Jotaro asked. "Even if I did I think I'll wait until we get to the city proper," Polnareff said, "Even without my experience with bathrooms lately I can tell the ones out here aren't what I'm used to." "Probably wise," Avdol admitted, "The bathrooms out here can seem a little unusual, even to most Egyptians. Most foreigners wouldn't be used to them, especially since they're so rare."

"OH MY GOD!," Joseph called out. He was looking at a small ditch in the ground, where several droppings could be seen drying up and crumbling in the wind. "Well, that's an odd choice for a human's bathroom," Iggy noted, "What, do they expect people to squat like we dogs do?" "It's so arid out here the shit dries up and blows away like dust," Joseph noted, "And there's no toilet paper." He then saw a nearby bin filled with sand. "OH MY GOD! This is how you're supposed to wipe your ass!?"

"To be fair, desert sand is pretty sterile," Iggy pointed out, "It's no different than a cat's litter box." He and Joseph immediately left the shack where the bathroom was. "This is the sort of nonsense that's supposed to happen to Polnareff," Joseph complained, "I think I'll do what he normally does and wait until we get to the hotel. What's even the point of this shack? You might as well go behind a rock." "I do that all the time," Iggy said, "I mean, most humans get disgusted when a dog does their business right out in the open."

Joseph then spotted something odd, an electric outlet in the middle of a rock. He looked around the rock, but other than the outlet the rock looked completely normal. "What could this be for? There's no electricity out here." "Careful," Iggy said, "This can't be normal by any standard. Plus I'm smelling cigarette smoke nearby." "That's probably one of the others," Joseph said dismissively, "We do have several smokers in our group. You're not smelling anything else?" Iggy twitched his nose, but stuck his tongue out in disgust. "No, the smoke's too strong."

Joseph placed his hand on the outlet, and wound getting a massive electrical shock which threw him backward. "Okay, that was weird," he said, "I didn't even stick my fingers in the sockets, but I still got jolted." "Mister Joestar," Avdol said as he approached, "We should get going." "Yeah, sure," Joseph said, "But something's weird about this outlet." As he walked off, he didn't notice the young woman on the cliff overlooking the shack. Her name was Mariah, and the outlet was actually her Stand Bast.

"Boys are always so touchy-feely," she noted, "But it's a good thing I'm a chain smoker, or that dog would've made me. Then Joestar would never have touched my Stand." She snapped her fingers, causing the outlet to disappear. "Now all I have to do is maintain the proper distance, and from there it's a waiting game. Joseph Joestar is more durable than most of my targets, so it'll take quite some time. I'm only too happy to serve Lord DIO in this instance but... Why did I have to team up with that disgusting Alessi?"

Back in the village, Joseph worked the fingers on his prosthetic hand as the group sat down at an open-air cafe. "Blasted thing's been acting up a lot since I touched that odd outlet." "Well it does keep getting damaged," Fluttershy pointed out, "Maybe the Speedwagon Foundation should update the specs?" Nearby, the radio seemed to be going to static. "Hey, what's the deal there?," Polnareff asked. "No idea," the waiter said, "This was made in Japan and I just bought it."

Joseph then noticed his left hand had a bottle cap stuck to it. "At our current pace we'll reach Cairo in two days," Avdol said, "But must of us sustained injuries and all of us are a little exhausted. Perhaps we should spend the night here in Luxor." "That's not a bad idea," Polnareff said, "Most of the Stand users we've encountered since we came to Egypt are on a whole new level. DIO certainly knows how to pick his elite guard." "I think we could all use a good rest," Joseph admitted, "But don't let your guard down."

"Practice what you preach," Hol Horse said, "You've got several more bottle caps stuck to your backside." Joseph looked behind him to see he was right. "How the hell did those get there?" He got up and went to remove them, and Fluttershy grabbed a bottle opener that somehow made to follow him. "Something's odd here. Ever since Mister Joestar went to that bathroom." "Hey the radio started working again," the water said as Joseph walked away, "Did that man have a magnet on him?"

"Did he say magnet?," Joseph asked, still behind some of the rocks so he could try and remove the bottle caps, "I don't normally carry magnets." The group soon went looking for a hotel, passing a carpenter as they did. "What the...?," the man said as Joseph passed by him, "Why does my hammer feel so heavy?" Joseph whirled his head around and quickly backed away, letting the carpenter breathe a sigh of relief as his hammer seemed to return to its normal weight.

Joseph rubbed his chin. "This only seems to happen around metal objects, or anything else that can be affected by a magnet. And for some reason it all seems to be centered around me." That seemed to be the biggest problem as the group reached the hotel, due to Fluttershy using her Stand to cover Joseph in insulating wood. Mariah scoffed when she saw this. 'One of my Stands weaknesses. As far as its power goes, it acts like magnets would normally. Still, she can't keep that barrier up forever. I'll just have to come up with a plan to isolate Joestar from the rest of the group, or at least the girl.'

The next morning Joseph was woken up by Avdol as the rest of the group was down below wanting breakfast. "It's too bad there's no McDonald's in Luxor," Fluttershy lamented, "Then again, it's too early in the day for a Quarter Pounder." "Oh, you still call it that in Japan?," Polnareff asked, "Even though you use the metric system?" "Yeah," Fluttershy replied, "Why, what do you call it in France?" "A Royal Cheese," Polnareff said with a shrug.

Upstairs, Joseph managed to wake up and checked his watch. "That's strange. My watch stopped working. Whatever was affecting me yesterday hasn't stopped." "You seem to have picked up some more metal objects as well," Avdol noted. As Joseph got himself dressed, a nearby chair suddenly moved to attach to him. "And whatever it is seems to be getting stronger," Avdol remarked. Hol Horse and Jonathan were waiting just outside the room. "Has there been any change?," Jonathan asked.

"In all the worst ways," Joseph replied, "Rather than wearing off, this unusual magnetic force that seems to be surrounding me is getting stronger. I'm starting to think that outlet I touched was some sort of Stand. And if that's the case, the Stand user must be somewhere in the hotel." Carefully the group made their way to where Fluttershy was waiting, since she proved effective at blocking the magnetic force the previous day. However, trouble struck when they got to escalator.

Because it was made from steel, Joseph wound up getting stuck to it, and his prosthetic arm also stuck to the sides. "Mister Joestar!," Avdol called out. Just ahead of Joseph was a young woman, whose decorative chains also got attracted to Joseph's body, causing them to get caught around his neck and the crevices of the escalator. The woman turned her head and chuckled, and Joseph realized what was wrong. "So it's you! You're the Stand user!" "That's right," the woman, Mariah, said, "When you touched my Stand, Bast, that's when you sealed your fate. Have fun, Joseph Joestar."

Avdol quickly ran down the escalator as Mariah walked away into the crowd and hit the emergency stop on the side of the railing. Joseph got up, only to have an ashtray smack into the back of his head. "Now that's just insulting..." "Hey, I think I spotted that woman," Hol Horse said. As the two Joestars went after her, Avdol found himself having to stop a giant metal statue that nearly toppled onto Joseph. They two men chased Mariah, until they reached the ladies' room. "Damn it," Joseph said.

"She's not in there anymore anyway," Jonathan noted, "I can't feel her life energy." "How could you tell?," Joseph pointed out. "Unlike you I've kept up with my Hamon practice," Jonathan reminded him, "Experience has let me differentiate between individual life forces. And those of Stand users are particularly strong." Joseph nodded. "Then maybe she didn't enter here at all, but tried to make us think she did."

He then heard a gunshot from outside. "That must have been Hol Horse! Maybe they found her!" They hurried out to where Hol Horse and Avdol were waiting, and got a surprise when Avdol wound up flying at Joseph. "I may have forgotten to mention," Avdol said, "I accidentally touched that same outlet when I went for the emergency button." Joseph facepalmed. "We need to keep them separated," Jonathan said, "Hol Horse, grab Avdol. I'll charge Joseph with a magnetic Hamon charge."

"How do we know whether its a negative or positive charge?," Hol Horse asked. "We don't," Jonathan said, "But we only have two choices. If one doesn't work, simply try the other." A negative charge seemed enough to separate the two men. "So long as that charge is active you shouldn't stick together," Jonathan noted, "But both charges still attract metal. That Stand user can't be too far away from us, let's look for her."

They looked around, and spotted Mariah at the bottom of a nearby hill. "There she is!," Joseph called out. "Let me and Hol Horse get down there first," Jonathan said, "We're not yet magnetized, and there are metal train tracks at the bottom." "Just keep an eye out," Hol Horse said, "She'll likely set her Stand up somewhere nearby to trap us." "We both have long range attack Stands," Jonathan noted, "We can probably hit her from here. And if we can force her far enough away, it will cancel her Stands effect."

"Don't get too comfortable boys!," Mariah called out, "I can still attack from over here." She bent over as if to show off her breasts, which suddenly began to expand. "OH MY GOD!," Joseph called out, "Don't tell me she got something metal hidden in her bra!" "You're less dirty than I thought if that's the first thing you thought of!," Mariah admitted, as several metal nuts and bolts came bursting out of her brassiere.

Hol Horse aimed his gun, but Mariah laughed. "You think a metal gun can help you? Did you forget your friends are--" But she stopped laughing as the first bullet grazed her cheek. "Did you forget how your own power works?," Hol Horse said with a smirk, "My bullets are made from lead, a metal that can't be affected by magnets. Of course most lead bullets are strengthened by iron, but my bullets don't need that because they're strengthened by my very life energy."

Mariah suddenly grew very angry, which started making her hideous. "You dare put a scratch on my face! You bastard Hol Horse, I'll kill you for that!" "Good grief," Hol Horse said, "Most girls I've met get cuter when they're angry, but you're the first I've seen who stops being cute." Mariah scoffed, then started running. "She's getting away!," Avdol said. "She won't go far," Jonathan said, "If she gets too far away from us her powers will stop working. But now she knows she also needs to maintain cover to avoid our longer ranged Stands."

Joseph looked at the ground around them. "Plenty of sand to work with. Hermit Purple!" His Stand pierced the ground, kicking up sand and creating a map of the village, along with a small pebble moving along the roads, and an X drawn at their location. "The pebble indicates where the woman is," Joseph explained, "And it looks like she's up near a loop in the road. Perfect, we can catch her there. I know just how we're going to beat her."

As Mariah continued down the road, she saw only Avdol and Joseph running after her. 'They'll slow down as soon as too many objects hit them. The real question is, where are the other two? I wasn't able to tag them with my Stand.' Soon enough Avdol split off, and moments later Joseph was starting to get weighed down. Mariah smiled. "Looks like you can't run anymore." Joseph smirked. "It's not like I have to. Look behind you."

She turned and saw Avdol had suddenly gotten ahead of her. Despite this, she just laughed. "You actually thought you were hunting me? I led you right here. Look above you." She took out a knife and threw it at some power cables. But as the cables got severed, they were cut off on the other end by a speeding bullet and grabbed by beams of light. Mariah gasped as Hol Horse appeared, gun drawn. "Nice try little lady. But you forgot there were four of us. And me and the older Mister Joestar never touched your Stand."

Mariah frowned. "You were never that accurate before. How did you get so good?" Hol Horse shrugged. "Call it a boost in confidence. The Emperor tarot suggests taking control of your own life, but I had always lived life being the number two. Once I started thinking and acting for myself, my Stand got more accurate as a result. Guess I just needed to be true to the tarot card I represent. By the way, as you may have guessed, Jonathan's on the roof behind you."

Up above, Jonathan appeared. "You've got one chance. You may not realize it, but we're in a perfect position to finish you here and now. So remove your Stand, or this fight will end badly for you." Mariah and laughed again. "Like you even have a leg to stand on. That sort of bluff won't work on me." She smirked as a large car rammed into Avdol. "You see," she said, "There's no way you can win." Joseph smirked. "If that's the case, then there's no choice. You really should be more attentive. It's hard for me to believe you're supposed to be one of DIO's elite, if you can't even observe the battlefield."

He then opened his hand, revealing he had been holding onto a drainage ditch. Mariah gasped. 'How did I miss that they weren't getting drawn to each other?' "By now the Hamon charge I put on my grandson wore off," Jonathan noted, "You've been caught in an effective pincer attack." Before Mariah could react, Joseph and Avdol slammed into her, crushing her with the weight of all the metal objects they had collected. Before long she lost consciousness, causing her Stand to deactivate.

"Well, that takes care of that," Joseph said as he and Avdol removed themselves from the metal pile. "Look like she's still alive," Hol Horse noted, "But I'd wager the weight of all those metal items and the magnetic force itself crushed quite a number of her bones. She's in no condition to come after us again." "In that case let's go meet up with the others," Joseph said, "I'm starting to look forward to that breakfast." "After all the running around we did, I am feeling hungry," Avdol noted.

Back at the hotel, Polnareff, Jotaro, Fluttershy, and Iggy were still waiting for the others. "Good grief, it's taking them so long," Polnareff said. "It's only Nine AM," Fluttershy pointed out, "Still, they have taken longer than they should. You think maybe they found the one responsible for Mister Joestar's odd condition?" "If so we should go look for them," Jotaro said. As they walked off, they didn't see another man nearby. "Mariah is busy dealing with the other four," he said, "So it's up to me to deal with these three."

BUM BUM BUM! Dramatic reverb...

Get ready for a satisfying beat-down of one of THE most hated one-shot characters in all of Jojo. And some significant changes for the future.

As the trio went to look for their friends, Polnareff kept noticing the strange man behind him, distracting him and letting Jotaro and Fluttershy get further and further away. "You there," Polnareff said, "I don't like that look in your eyes. You've clearly been following us for some time." The man, Alessi, tried look confused. "Oh sorry, it's just coincidence. I was just looking for my change." "In that case," Polnareff said, summoning Silver Chariot, "Perhaps you'd like to prove you're not an enemy."

Alessi sighed, and his shadow suddenly gained a pair of eyes. It was Alessi's Stand, Sethan. Said shadow Stand rushed at Polnareff, who quickly jumped to avoid an attack. "So you are a Stand user!" Alessi smirked and ran off, Polnareff following him, calling out, "Jotaro, Fluttershy! I've found another Stand user!" Jotaro and Fluttershy heard him, but when they turned around they couldn't see him. "Now we've lost Polnareff," Fluttershy noted. "Let's backtrack," Jotaro suggested, "He can't have gone far. Iggy." "I'm on it," Iggy said, "That's strange, his scent is slowly changing."

Meanwhile Polnareff was trying to catch Alessi, but the man seemed to be getting faster. And more than that, Polnareff seemed to be somehow shrinking. And other people were treating him like a kid for some reason. Eventually, he found himself in front of a mirror. As he looked, he realized what was going on. "I... I've turned into a kid!" Sure enough, Polnareff had somehow regressed in age to that of a child. "But how did I...? Wait, that Stand user earlier. His shadow touched mine when I jumped over it. That must be when it affected me."

Just then, Jotaro and Fluttershy appeared. Fluttershy blinked. "Hey, Jotaro. Doesn't this kid kinda look like a younger Polnareff?" Jotaro looked at the young boy that was Polnareff. "Maybe, but look at him. He doesn't look like he knows us. Let's keep moving." Fluttershy reluctantly complied, but couldn't help but look back at the kid. As they rounded the corner, Alessi poked his head out. "That was a close one. DIO noted how insightful that girl Fluttershy is."

He chuckled at the sight of Polnareff's predicament. "Looks like my Stand took effect. Soon he'll lose all his memories of being a grown-up. This is my favorite part. Such a good boy..." Meanwhile, Polnareff was feeling fuzzy. 'This isn't good... I know I've seen that couple before, but I can't remember their names. It feels like all my memories of being an adult are starting to fade.' Just then, Alessi appeared in front of him, chuckling.

"Name's Alessi. This isn't something I can say out loud," Alessi said, "But I just love picking on those weaker than me. Maybe a little too much. I'm probably sick in the head, but as the saying goes, 'If you think you're crazy, then you probably aren't.' So I might be sane." "No," came Fluttershy's voice behind him, freaking out Alessi, "You're still insane. At the very least you're sociopathic." 'Oh crap!,' Alessi thought, 'She may be a girl, but she's probably one of the strongest Stand users in the group.'

He then felt himself get pricked in the back of the neck. He turned to see a tiny version of Silver Chariot trying to stick him. "Whoops," Alessi said, "I guess even at that age he could summon his Stand. Huh...?" Polnareff, not recognizing Fluttershy, had taken the chance to run. "Darn it," Alessi muttered, "Well, I still have her to deal with. Luckily Fluttershy stepped into the effect of my Stand." Sure enough, now Fluttershy was starting to shrink back into a child. Alessi chuckled. "I have you now!" Fluttershy smirked. "Oh do you...? PERVERT! THERE'S A PERVERT HERE!" Alessi freaked out as several locals approached at Fluttershy's scream, forcing him to flee.

As Polnareff ran from the scene, he suddenly tripped. Luckily, the next person he saw was a young woman, Malena. "Oh my," she said, "Are you alright little boy?" Polnareff considered his options. 'I have to defeat that freak or I'll stay a kid for a long time. But then again, if I stick with her there's no way he'll approach. I'll have some breathing room to think up a plan.' He immediately started crying. "I... I lost my family... I can't find them anywhere!"

Malena knelt down, seeing Polnareff was scuffed up from the fall. "Oh dear... Well, I can't leave you alone out here. Let's get you cleaned up, then look for your family." Nearby Alessi watched as Malena lead Polnareff away. "Damn it... I can't let some snot-nosed punks outwit me. The crowd back with Fluttershy is too risky. My Stand can only affect so many at once. But Polnareff only has one person with him. That makes things easier." He carefully followed at a distance.

Inside Malena's house, Polnareff peeped out the window of the bathroom on the second floor. "It doesn't look like he's following me...," he muttered. "Come on child," Malena said, "Let's get you washed up." Polnareff turned around and his eye nearly bugged out of his head. Malena was doing up her hair and had stripped down to just her undergown. Polnareff couldn't help but noticed what a perfect Egyptian beauty she was. 'I guess my mind still has some adult qualities. Because she looks gorgeous!'

Malena started to undress Polnareff, which made him a little embarrassed, especially when it turned out his willy wasn't as mature as his mind. "Come on now," Malena said softly as she brought Polnareff closer to start washing him, giving him a pleasant feel of her breasts. 'Can it be!? Am I finally getting a nice experience in a foreign bathroom!? Mon Dieu!' He was too distracted to notice Alessi's Stand. However, he soon realized it when Alessi made a mistake by chuckling.

'Oh crap!,' Polnareff called out, 'I nearly forgot about him!' Before his eyes Malena immediately started to regress in age. "It could be bad if it gets too far," Polnareff said, and immediately grabbed her away. "What... What's going on?," she asked, "Why did you get bigger?" "No time to explain!," Polnareff said, "There's a bad man coming after us and we need to hide!" Just then, Alessi burst into the room.

"Silly me for getting so into this," he admitted, "But you're right, Polnareff. If you hadn't pulled that woman out when you did, I could have regressed her age all the way down to a fetus! Imagine if you got hit again, I could easily reduce your age even further!" As he laughed, Polnareff sent Silver Chariot and stabbed Alessi in the tongue. He was so distracted by the pain Polnareff was able to grab Malena and run out of the bathroom. Unfortunately, he wound up passing through Sethan again, causing them both to get even younger.

"You little brat!," Alessi called out, "I'll make you pay for that! But it seems you've already hit my Stand a second time. By now they must be around three years old each. At that age there's no way I can lose to Polnareff!" He spotted them running a nearby room and went for the door, but it had already been locked. He looked through the keyhole and saw Polnareff directing Malena somewhere, but he saw the only window was barred. Chuckling, Alessi said, "Locking this door won't help. You've already trapped yourself."

He took out a large axe and starting chopping into the door. Once a wide enough hole was made, he peered into the room. "As Jack Nicholson once said... Here's Johnny!" But then he noticed both kids were gone. "What the heck? They should still be in here. At that age there's no way Silver Chariot could cut through the bars, and they look untouched besides." He saw a small bucket under the window. 'Could he have slipped through with the girl? No... Even at his smaller size that should be impossible. He must be somewhere in here.'

He looked a nearby doll. "Perhaps in there!" He sliced apart the doll, but nothing but stuffing came out. He then tried the nearby clock, and then overtipped the bucket. And then the drawer of the table holding a fish tank on top. "Damn it! Even if he and the girl hid separately I should have gotten one of them!" He then heard Polnareff laughing. "To think the great Alessi could be outsmarted by a little kid!" Alessi thought he heard the laughing come from the fish tank.

"Could it really be coming from here?," he said aloud, "It's certainly big enough to hold both of them but I don't see... Ah!" One of the fish seemed to disappear as if behind a pane of glass. Before he could react, a ball on the top of the fish tank suddenly had eyes in it, and a familiar rapier pierced Alessi through the nose. Polnareff emerged from the tank having used the ball to keep from having to submerge himself while Malena used a length of tube normally used for the filter. A long mirror in the room completed the hiding place.

"Even at three years old!," Polnareff called out, "Silver Chariot is still strong enough to slice your face!" He proceeded to do just that, causing Alessi to cry out in pain. Naturally, Malena was confused as why cuts were suddenly appearing all over Alessi. Alessi ran out of the room in pain and wound up crashing out a nearby window. As he opened his eyes, he saw Jotaro, with Fluttershy a few paces away. Alessi gasped. 'That's right! Polnareff only met Jotaro recently, but Fluttershy grew up with him! So even as a little girl she'd remember who he is!'

"That was quite a fall," Jotaro said, the suspicion in his voice obvious, "And you're covered in blood. Care to explain?" Alessi wasn't sure what to do. If Fluttershy recognized Jotaro, there was no doubt she told him all about Alessi's Stand. Luckily for him, Polnareff chose that moment to appear in the window. "Hold it right there, dickhead!" Jotaro turned at the sound, and Alessi smirked. 'Just the distraction I needed. I couldn't have planned it better myself!'

He immediately sent out his Stand. "Jotaro, look out!," Fluttershy called out. As Jotaro dodged, Polnareff said, "Oh, his name was Jotaro. Now I remember." Alessi chuckled. "You managed to avoid a full shot, but I still touched your shadow!" Jotaro gasped as he started regressing back to a seven-year-old. "I'm told you only developed your Stand recently," Alessi said, "So now you're completely helpless!" He then saw Fluttershy giggling. "What's so funny girl?" "You may know about Jotaro not having his Stand as a kid," she said, "But what you clearly don't know... Is that he got it when he was seventeen!"

Alessi looked shocked. "He's seventeen!? At that size!?" Jotaro then punched Alessi, easily doing tremendous damage and knocking out several teeth. "Whoa!," Polnareff said in shock, "He decked him! With his little kid fist!" "Go Jotaro!," Fluttershy called out. "Gimme a break...," Jotaro muttered, "Don't underestimate me just because I'm a little kid." He then proceeded to punch Alessi at rapid speed, pretty much mimicking Star Platinum as closely as he could.

"You gotta be kidding!," Alessi said as he stumbled, "You mean to say Jotaro could kick ass even as a little kid!" "The last time Jotaro got injured in a fight was in elementary school," Fluttershy said, "But even then it was just him getting a cut on his knuckles from his opponent's teeth." "So tough, even as a kid," Polnareff noted, "Badass!" Alessi wound up tripping on his own axe, and wound up passing out.

Jotaro and Fluttershy found themselves returning to their normal age. "We're back to normal!," Fluttershy called out. Shortly afterward Polnareff joined them, also returned to his normal age. "Finally... I've been having problems ever since Alessi ambushed me." "So that was you earlier," Jotaro said, "Just what happened to you?" "It's a long story," Polnareff said, "There's another woman who was taking care of me during that time and also got affected, but she should be back to normal as well." Fluttershy then noticed one of Polnareff's earrings was missing.

As Alessi came to, he saw the three Stand users standing over him and freaked out. Being flat on his back he was basically trapping his own Stand. "Not good enough," Polnareff decided, "Time to put the final nail in the coffin." Alessi screamed as Silver Chariot, Star Platinum, and Music in the Trees appeared and drew in close to attack. Star Platinum and Music in the Trees were grinning wickedly. Silver Chariot might have been as well, but with its face plate it was hard to tell.

"ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!"
"HORA HORA HORA HORA HORA HORA HORA HORA HORA HORA HORA HORA HORA HORA HORA HORA!" "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The barrage of fists, vines, and slashes sent Alessi skyward, screaming, "VERY GOOD!" "Whelp, there he goes," Fluttershy said, "Doing a great impression of a rocket, if I may say." Back in her home, Malena found herself back to normal. "What was that all about? Some sort of strange delusion?"

She then saw the earring Polnareff dropped. "No... It was real somehow. This earring is proof. But what happened to that brave boy?" She got herself dressed and ran out of her house, where she was ran into Polnareff and the others. She soon caught sight of the Frenchman and realized he had a similar earring. Their eyes met, but something stopped them from approaching each other. Smiling knowingly, Malena walked off, as if to search elsewhere.

"Polnareff that's not like you," Fluttershy noted, "She's never really seen you before, yet it's clear she might be into you." Polnareff smiled. "She may indeed be the perfect woman, beautiful and kind. But there's no time for romance. Not until DIO is defeated, and I know she won't be put in danger because of me. I may never see her again, and I'm alright with that. It's enough... Just to know..." Despite his words, Jotaro and Fluttershy spotted a tear coming from his eye.

The group eventually reconvened and shared their stories. "So that's six of DIO's elite guard defeated," Joseph noted, "N'Doul, Oingo, Boingo, Anubis, Mariah, and Alessi. Only four Glory Gods remaining. And we're only a couple days away from Cairo. It's still something of a time crunch, but at the same time we're doing alright so far." "Let's not rest on our laurels," Hol Horse said, "Those last four are bound to be even stronger. And who knows who else DIO has up his sleeves. We've got a long ways to go."

Now I can't skip a single manga arc during my story, but in between the Alessi arc and D'Arby arc is a little chapter called, "Shooting DIO?" It involves Hol Horse arriving at DIO's mansion and, as the title suggests, trying to kill him.

One problem with that for my story... Hol Horse is currently on the hero's side right now. So I had to improvise. And found a chance to ascend an extra character that only got a passing mention (and is also the reason why we have ten Glory Gods instead of nine). See if you can guess this character's significance.

Through the streets of Cairo a small limo drove. It's driver was a man named Telence T D'Arby. In the back was a young Japanese woman, named Tomomi Shiobana. Both of them were Stand users, and part of the Ten Glory Gods. "I can't believe we're doing all this work," Tomomi complained, "I'm satisfied just being near Lord DIO." "And neglecting the son you fathered for him, apparently," Telence said. "Don't patronize me, D'Arby," Tomomi warned, "I never asked for a child, unlike Enya. Though Mariah and Midler always seemed neutral about that. It's interesting how all four us gave DIO children. Hell, Enya gave him two, although the older one died."

"Speaking of that, Mariah's been admitted to the hospital for numerous broken bones," Telence said, "Oingo and Alessi as well. Boingo was released but will be staying in Aswan until his brother recovers. As for Anubis, he was tossed into the Nile. By now he's too rusted to continue fighting. I imagine he'll be gone forever before too long. And N'Doul... Well, that should go without saying. There are only four of us left to continue the fight, including my older brother."

"If the Joestars can beat his Stand none of us stand a chance," Tomomi noted, "He's a master gambler. It would take an expert poker face to break him." Telence smirked. "Oh please, my Stand easily outmatches his." "I've seen that look before," Tomomi said, "So many other agents of DIO had that look right before the Joestars turned the tables on them. Do not fall victim to arrogance, or you'll wind up either dead or right alongside Oingo and Alessi in the men's ward of the hospital."

Eventually the limo pulled up to DIO's mansion. "Well, regardless," Telence said as he stepped out and opened the door for Tomomi, "Even if they do get past all of us, they'll find DIO impossible to defeat." They stopped in front of the gate as a falcon wearing a helmet flew overhead. It perched near the gate and looked at them as if inspecting them. It then flew inside the walls of the mansion as the large gate opened.

Inside a small snickering was heard and the two Stand users looked up to see a short vampire clinging the ceiling. "Only so many left. Soon it will be my turn." "Like you could even hold a candle to the Joestars, Loser," Telence quipped, "You're a mere vampire. Joseph and Jonathan alone have killed plenty of vampires with just just their Hamon, and now they have the power of Stands to enhance their abilities." The vampire was called Nukesaku, hence the reason everyone in the mansion just called him 'Loser', since nukesaku is also the Japanese word for 'idiot'.

Nukesaku growled as the two headed off. In the library, DIO was found browsing the various volumes. Also in the room were DeKurliss, Ice, and another Stand user who served DIO named Kenny G. Tomomi and Telence soon entered. "Oh, you're back," Kenny said, "What's the news on the outside?" "The Joestar's defeated Mariah and Alessi in Luxor," Telence said, "If they keep going along DeKurliss' predicted path, they'll meet my brother Daniel next."

"They have four days to come and find me," DIO noted, "I must confess... I'm looking forward to it. To seeing how far they'll make it. And if they should reach me before their time runs out... How long will they last before their end? Thus far they've beaten some of the strongest Stand users I've ever seen." In an instant, he appeared on the other side of the library, not a single thing in the room disturbed, the book he had just been holding dropping the floor as he nonchalantly picked up another.

"Must you truly show off before us, Lord DIO?," Telence asked, "We've already pledged our loyalty even without intimidation." DIO chuckled. "Just a little fun. After all, you've all been privileged with the knowledge of my Stand's power, something that must not reach the Joestars until they finally face me." "What are you reading up on?," Tomomi asked. "I've been asleep for nearly a century," DIO explained, "I wish to learn what had happened in that time."

He leafed through the pages of the book. "I'm most interested in this Speedwagon Foundation that deigns to assist the Joestar bloodline. I knew Robert EO Speedwagon as a mere street tough, though one with unusually high moral standards. I'll admit I was a bit envious when I learned of all he accomplished since I was defeated by Jonathan Joestar back in 1888. He'd come to obtain everything I wanted prior to throwing away my humanity. And even today, years after his death, that legacy persists." He closed the book. "The final stage draws near. Make ready for the Joestars' arrival."

Joseph got off the phone and turned to the group. "I just spoke with the Speedwagon doctors. The news isn't good. Holly's slipped into a coma. She's only got four or five days left." Jotaro lowed his hat. "We need to hurry our efforts. I'm not about to lose Mom so easily." "Our best way to get from Luxor to Cairo is by train," Avdol noted, "It's ultimately the fastest way." "Think that will help us make up some time?," Hol Horse asked, "We kinda lost a day trying to recuperate, only to get attacked from two different angles."

"There's still four more enemies before we reach DIO's mansion," Avdol reminded him, "And we may not even fight them all before finding it. Some we may have to fight inside the mansion. Plus whoever else DIO has under his command." The journey was getting down to the wire, and DIO's remaining agents were likely to be even stronger than before. Still, the Kujo group wasn't about to stop just yet. They had a mission to complete, and they'd see it through to end. They hurried to where the train was waiting and bought their tickets, ready for what would likely be the last stage of their journey. Only four days remained before their deadline.

Thirty thousand kilometers. That's how long the Kujo group had to travel to get from Japan to Cairo. But at long last, they reached the capital of Egypt itself, the former home of the great pharaohs and still home to the mighty Pyramids of Giza and the nearby Sphinx. Stopping at a cafe nearby, Joseph walked up to the bartender with Avdol, Jotaro, and Polnareff. "Greetings friends," the bartender said, "How can I help you?" Joseph showed him a photo, created from Hermit Purple's spirit photography. It was the building that DIO was supposed to reside in. "We're looking for this building," Joseph asked, "Do you know where we can find it?"

The bartender looked at Joseph. "This is a cafe, sir. Would you care to order something first?" Joseph sighed. "Fine. Four iced teas." The bartender served the drinks, then said, "Never seen it before." Sighing, the four men downed the teas before returning to where Jonathan, Fluttershy, and Hol Horse were also asking around. "All the contacts I had while still working for DIO dried up," Hol Horse noted. "This picture is different from the building the Speedwagon Foundation was searching," Joseph noted, "Which means DIO moved at some point."

"Cairo has a population of six million," Fluttershy said, "And there's at least two million buildings. We just don't have the time to search the entire city. We need to narrow it down somehow." "I know that building you're looking for," came a calm male voice at the other end of the cafe. The group instantly whirled around. The man was sitting at a table designed for poker, and was also shuffling a poker deck, several drinks around him. It was clear from the way he shuffled that he was a professional.

Joseph approached the man. "You really know where this building is?" "That's right good sir," the man replied as he set up his cards in a series of small wedges with a single flip, "But the information doesn't come for free." "Fine," Joseph said, digging into his wallet, "How much do you need?" The man chuckled. "Money? Good sir, do I look like I need such things? I'm a gambling man, you understand. I live for the cheap, worthless thrills. But I'm also something of an expert at it, and as a result it's earned me quite the small fortune. So what I'm asking for, is the chance to wager. If you win, I'll tell you what you need to know."

"That's a nice offer," Joseph said, "But we don't have time for a poker game." "Poker?," the man said, "We don't necessarily need to gamble at poker. Any sort of game will do. If you want something quick, then how about this?" He pointed to a nearby wall, where a cat was walking. He then took two pieces of jerky from the plate in front of him and tossed them near the cat, landing quite a distance from each other. "Here's the game," the man explained, "We'll gamble on which piece of jerky the cat will go for first, the right or the left, from your perspective. A simple game, but the simpler ones are just as exciting in my opinion."

"Fine!," Polnareff said as he slammed his hand on the table, "I'll bet on the right piece!" The man smiled. "Good! Now the fun begins. My bet will be on the left. Let's watch, shall we?" "What makes you think he'll go for the right piece?," Fluttershy asked. "It's the meatier one," Polnareff explained, "There's no way the cat will pass it up. So, good sir. What happens should I lose?" The man grinned. "In that case... You'll be giving up your soul..." Polnareff looked confused as the cat picked up the scent. "Ah," the man said, "And please keep your dog quiet if you would. It's no fun if neither of us wins."

"You heard him, Iggy," Fluttershy said. "Don't worry, I'm great around cats," Iggy assured her. Just as it looked like the cat would go for the right piece, it veered left and grabbed that one first, then went for the right. "Damn it, Polnareff," Joseph said, "Now it's gonna be even harder to find that building." "Harder then you realize, Mister Joestar," the man said, surprising the group, "You see, I wasn't joking about Polnareff betting his soul. My Stand, Osiris, can steal the souls of those who admit defeat in their hearts. My skill at gambling makes the process easier. Observe."

Behind Polnareff appeared a giant purple humanoid, which dug its hands into Polnareff and pulled out a misty spirit. The Stand clapped its hands around the spirit, creating a poker chip with Polnareff's sleeping face on it. "Why you," Hol Horse said as he aimed Emperor at the man. "Now, now Hol Horse," the man said, "If you kill me before I even admit defeat, you'll never get Polnareff's soul back. You'll have to keep gambling if you want him back."

The cat leapt onto the man's shoulder. "So that's it," Fluttershy said, "That's your cat." "You're not the only one who has a way with animals... Fluttershy, I think they call you?" the man said, "This one is well trained. I'll admit it's basically cheating, but if Polnareff didn't catch onto it, that's his fault. Ah, but I've gone far too long without introducing myself. I am Daniel J D'Arby, with an apostrophe after the 'D'." "I should have recognized you earlier," Hol Horse said, "I've heard all about you, the legendary gambler who's never lost a single game."

D'Arby held up the soul he had collected. "I must say it was very brash of Polnareff to just rush into a gamble without thinking. To me life is no different from gambling. You have your honest folk and you have your cheaters, and if you can't spot a cheater then you fail at life. The one who cries at this is a loser, but the one who accepts that they blew it can later become a winner." "You bastard!," Avdol said, grabbing D'Arby by the collar, "You won't get out of this in one piece!"

D'Arby grinned. "Tell me, Mister Avdol, do you remember what you were doing on September 22 of 1984, around 11:15 PM?" Avdol blinked. "How am I suppose to remember that?" D'Arby smirked, then got out a carrying book with many more poker chips. "I remember quite well. I was gambling against a man name Stephen Moor in California. He said the same exact thing you did. This here is his soul, with his father below him and his wife right next to him. If you'll check Polnareff's body, you'll see he's quite dead, and only the return of his soul can revive him."

Fluttershy looked at the large number of souls D'Arby had. "That's just horrible..." "It could be far worse," D'Arby assured her, "In this form they are completely oblivious to everything around them, unable to think or see. It's not unlike a deep, dreamless sleep that they can't wake up from. I prefer to keep them like this, because it's the game that excites me more than the collection. If you want to talk about horrible, wait 'til you meet my younger brother. That is, if you can even manage to get past me."

He looked at the group. "So what do you say? Care to keep gambling?" Joseph immediately cleared the table and set down a bottle of whiskey and a small glass, then filled the glass close to the brim. "Tell me, D'Arby, are you aware of what surface tension is?" "Certainly," D'Arby replied, "It's the force that keeps wine in the glass from overflowing. Why do you ask?" "You asked if we wanted to keep gambling," Joseph explained, "And I say yes. But this time I'll choose the game. We each take turns putting coins into the glass. The first one to spill loses."

He placed several coins on the table. "I'll wager my soul against Polnareff's!" D'Arby smiled. "Good! If you don't mind though, I'd like to inspect the coins and glass beforehand." "If you insist," Joseph said, "So long as you keep up your end of the deal." D'Arby shook his head. "Mister Joestar, I am insulted that you'd think like that. I am a consummate professional when it comes to gambling. When I make a wager, I uphold it no questions asked. My pride won't allow me to do otherwise."

Once he was satisfied, D'Arby allowed the game to start. "Will you be alright, Mister Joestar?," Avdol asked. "Don't worry about me," Joseph assured him, "I've made sure to plan this out carefully. I've won many games like this." 'The surface tension is strong enough to hold at least eight coins. I just have to stay calm and keep my hands from shaking.' He removed the glove on his right hand. "Before I make my first move," D'Arby asked, "Is it all right if I place more than one coin in?" "As many as you'd like," Joseph replied, "Just be careful not to drop too many in, or you'll lose quickly."

"Then I'll start with five," D'Arby said, picking up the coins and holding them over the glass. As he dropped them in, he held his breath, but the surface tension held. He then let out his breath in relief. 'I wasn't sure if I had miscalculated. Even with what I set up earlier, too many coins on my part and my trick is useless.' "Gutsy move," Joseph admitted, "But it's my turn now. I'll stick with one coin to start." As he held out the coin, Jotaro noticed Joseph had a piece of wet cotton hidden behind the coin, using it to add more liquid to the glass.

Joseph let the coin slip into the glass, using his skill at sleight of hand to do so without revealing the cotton. D'Arby growled. 'It's obvious he cheated to get more liquid into the glass, but from here I can't make out what he did. I'll hand it to the old boy, he's a gambler at heart. But he still hasn't realized that I hold all the cards here.' He moved to the side of the table and picked up another coin. He then grinned as he dropped the coin into the glass. Joseph was flabbergasted. "I'm not sure how you did it," D'Arby said, "But I can tell you tried to push the liquid to its maximum surface tension. However, you were quite mistaken."

"He didn't do anything suspicious!," Jotaro said, "At the very least, I can tell he put the coin in without cheating!" Joseph was freaking out, sure his trick should have worked. As he went to reach for another coin, his hands started shaking. But before he could make another move, Osiris appeared and took Joseph's soul. "Mister Joestar!," Avdol called out. "Mister Joestar realized in his heart that he was beaten," D'Arby declared, "That's why my Stand was able to capture his soul." Osiris sealed Joseph's soul in another poker chip.

Jotaro picked up the glass and emptied it to inspect it. He then saw a spot of brown was left behind on the outside of the glass. He then saw the chocolate bar and the table and connected the dots. "So that's it," he said, "You put a piece of chocolate under the glass while you were inspecting it. We never even noticed the glass was tilted because we were too focused on the surface tension, and of course the chocolate blended in well with the color of the whiskey. Once the chocolate melted it evened out the surface tension, allowing room for one more coin."

"That's why D'Arby moved before his last turn!," Hol Horse realized, "So the sun could melt it!" D'Arby grinned. "And of course with the chocolate bar in plain site," Fluttershy said, "Iggy couldn't have picked out a single solitary piece under the glass." "D'Arby!," Jotaro called out, "Get out your cards. I'll take you on in a game of poker." D'Arby looked surprised. "You're willing to risk it all in my best game? I'll not say no, but I am a little surprised."

"Jotaro, are you sure about this?," Avdol asked, "This man even outwitted Mister Joestar." "Yeah, he's clearly dangerous," Jotaro admitted, "His Stand's useless for combat, yet he's still far more powerful than any opponent we've yet encountered. I'll have to go all out for this." He sat down. "Let me try something before we start. Go ahead and shuffle the deck." D'Arby complied. When he was finished, he asked, "Now what?" "Pick out a card from the deck," Jotaro said, "Doesn't matter which, so long as I don't see it."

D'Arby picked up some of the cards in a pile and saw the Six of Hearts on the bottom of the pile. "The Six of Hearts, right?," Jotaro asked. D'Arby looked at him, shocked. "In that pile, from the top to the card I just named," Jotaro said, "Five of Spades, Queen of Diamonds, Jack of Spades, Ace of Hearts, Seven of Diamonds, Six of Clubs, King of Clubs, and Two of Diamonds." Curious, D'Arby fanned out the cards on the table. Sure enough, Jotaro was correct down to the last card. "Unbelievable," Jonathan said, "And D'Arby was the one who shuffled the deck."

"My Star Platinum's eyesight let's me see all the cards as you shuffle," Jotaro explained, "So I could tell the exact order of each card in that deck from top to bottom." "I see," D'Arby said, "You're only telling me this to limit my cheating options. If you wanted, you could keep that piece of information a secret to win easily. I must say, Mister Kujo, you also seem to have a gambler's spirit." He got out a brand new poker deck, the safety seal untouched, and tossed it to Jotaro to open. As Jotaro checked to make sure all the cards were in order, D'Arby started flipping through the pages of a book without looking at it.

At one point he stopped. 'Page... 556.' He went to look, and smiled as he realized he was right. 'Perfect, I'm great shape. My sense of touch is my greatest asset as a gambler. With it I'll be able to tell where the cards are even after they're shuffled. That will help me counter Jotaro's superior eyesight.' The game was shuffled by both parties and cut. "Now then," D'Arby said, "OPEN THE GAME!" They each flipped over the top card, D'Arby getting the Ten of Hearts while Jotaro got the Seven of Clubs, letting D'Arby shuffle first.

He carefully shuffled where Jotaro's Star Platinum couldn't see, then had Jotaro cut the cards. D'Arby then started to deal. But as he did, Star Platinum suddenly snapped D'Arby's index finger. "Nice try," Jotaro said, "But while you may be able to shuffle outside of Star Platinum's sight, dealing is another matter." He pointed to the deck, which had the second card from the top sticking out. "You were trying to deal me that card," Jotaro pointed out, "And doing so in a way that made it look like you were dealing them in order." Fluttershy grabbed the deck and looked through the cards. "He would have had three tens from the get-go."

"A second deal," Hol Horse realized, "A popular trick used by cheats in poker, especially those who can tell which card they're holding just by touch. Normally the move is too fast to catch, but Star Platinum's eyes spotted it easily." "Well spotted...," D'Arby admitted, "But isn't it a little harsh to break my finger like that?" "It could have been worse," Jotaro said in a mocking tone, "At least you still have your finger." As Avdol went to get a young boy nearby to deal instead of D'Arby, D'Arby got out some cloth and used it wrap his fingers in a makeshift splint

"I'll use this to serve as a reminder... Not to underestimate you," he said, "This will be my biggest game since May 17 of 1985. My opponent that day was a Japanese business owner. I was able to win eight pieces of real estate from him in addition to his soul. But it was the hardest fight I ever had. None have beaten me in gambling before, but out of those who tried he came the closest." He had tossed the poker chips containing Polnareff and Joseph's souls to Osiris. "I'm not here to fight for DIO! I'm here to fight as a born gambler!"

And with that, the two chips were split into stacks of six. "I'm sure you know the rules of poker," D'Arby said, regaining his composure, "But allow me to give a few pointers. You can fold a hand at any time if you think you'll lose. You must open with one chip, and place chips every round after, so you need more than two chips to play." "In that case," Fluttershy said, "I'll throw my soul in as well as Jotaro's. That way he'll have an even number of chips to match yours."

Jotaro nodded. "Fluttershy are you sure?," Hol Horse asked. "I'm no good at poker," Fluttershy admitted, "If went up against D'Arby I'd lose too easily." "There you have it D'Arby," Jotaro said, "Two souls against the two you already have." "Good!," D'Arby said, "Winning six of the chips in each of my stacks earns that soul. Since none of your chips are marked, I can't take either of your souls until I have all twelve." Osiris created two stacks of chips to act as the collateral for Jotaro and Fluttershy.

Avdol came back with the boy, who agreed to deal. D'Arby set down a chip, and the two looked at their hands. D'Arby called for two cards. Jotaro threw down a chip of his own and called for three. "Your face is hard to read," D'Arby admitted, "A good poker face is essential in this game. Then again, I like a challenge." He tossed down another chip, which Jotaro called. Three chips on each side were placed as the two of them showed their hands.

Jotaro had a Two Pair with Eights and Nines, but D'Arby had a Two Pair with Jacks and Queens. "Impressive for a first hand," D'Arby admitted, "But the round goes to me." He gathered up the chips. The next round began as D'Arby looked at his hand. He saw three Kings. "I'll take one card." He then noticed Jotaro never looked at his hand. "What's the matter Jotaro? Not going to look at your cards?" "I don't need to change them," Jotaro declared, shocking all but Fluttershy.

"D'Arby," Jotaro said, "How about we up the stakes a little? I'd like some information regarding the rest of the Glory Gods. But since I'll need something of equal value... Guys?" Hol Horse, Jonathan, and Avdol all nodded, as three more stacks of chips appeared. "That's three souls for the knowledge of the other Glory Gods' Stands," Jotaro said. "What the hell are you trying to pull, boy?," D'Arby called out, starting to lose his composure again.

"It's not like any of us could beat you," Hol Horse said, "I've played my fair share of poker but could never win a single game." "And I'm too honest to cheat," Jonathan admitted. "I get far too emotional," Avdol noted, "I wouldn't stand a chance against you. Our best bet here is to put our faith in Jotaro." D'Arby shrugged. "If that's your intention. Boy, I said I wanted one card." The boy nodded. D'Arby mentally grinned when he saw it was the final King.

'I didn't expect it to be this easy,' he thought, 'To think I can get them all in one fell swoop. The boy may seem clueless, but he was trained by me in the art of shuffling and dealing. In fact, he's even better than myself. Little do they realize all the people in this cafe work for me.' "I'll accept your terms," D'Arby said, "And since you're adding all those chips, I'll throw in all of mine as well. Additionally, I believe I originally offered you the location of DIO's estate, yes? How about I include that as well?"

"But Jotaro has nothing left to raise with that!," Avdol called out, "Unless you actually plan on taking Iggy's soul too!" "I'm too much of an animal lover to take a dog's soul," D'Arby said, "But there is one other person I can think of. Your friend Kakyoin, still recovering in Aswan." "Deal," Jotaro said, without hesitation. D'Arby was shocked. 'I was sure that would make him break down!' "Jotaro, how can you do that without Kakyoin's permission!?," Avdol demanded.

"He knew the risks going into this," Jotaro assured him, "I'm sure he'd understand." D'Arby then realized there was a cigarette in Jotaro's mouth, with no sign that he had even lit up in the first. "Jotaro! Where did that come from!?" Jotaro looked confused. "What, my cigarette? Why, did you want one?" Now D'Arby was starting to sweat. 'For a moment I could swear I saw Star Platinum light that cigarette. Did... Did Jotaro use Star Platinum to do something with the cards!?'

He looked at his hand. 'Okay... I should still win this... I have Four Kings. There's only three hands that can beat that. Four Aces, a Straight Flush, and a Five of a Kind using the Joker. Jotaro was dealt a bad hand that couldn't possibly get any of those no matter how many cards he swapped out, unless he switched all five. There's no way Star Platinum is fast enough to do that without me seeing it.' He then gasped when he saw Jotaro was drinking a glass of orange juice.

"When...!?," D'Arby stuttered, "When did you get that juice!?" He growled. "Fine! Let's show our cards right here! I have a..." "Hold on," Jotaro said, "I can still raise at this point." "R-R-R-R-Raise!?," D'Arby called out, his Rs trilling as he did, "But what could you possibly have left to raise with!?" Jotaro slammed a new stack of chips onto the table. "I wager my mother's soul!" "WHAT!?," D'Arby called out as he stood up. "Jotaro, are you serious!?," Avdol demanded. "Holly's dead if we lose here anyway," Fluttershy pointed out, "We've got nothing left to lose."

"So D'Arby," Jotaro said, "The only thing you have left to raise with this... Is the secret to DIO's Stand!" D'Arby nearly lost his mind at that moment. As it was he wound up reeling back and tripping over the poker tray. "From his reaction I'd say he knows the secret behind DIO's Stand," Hol Horse realized, "But DeKurliss mentioned it... That those who reveal that secret without DIO's express permission will be killed as a traitor." "Then Jotaro must have some great confidence in his cards!," Avdol realized.

As D'Arby started hyperventilating, Jotaro spit out his cigarette. "So what'll it be D'Arby!? Call or fold!?" D'Arby stumbled back to the table, his fist clenched as he crumpled the cards in it. 'I'll say it... I'll say it... I'm the best gambler in the world... Call, call, call, call, call, call, call!' However, for as much as his mind could say it, his mouth just didn't want to listen, only able to wheeze pathetically. 'That's it,' Hol Horse thought, 'Jotaro's good as won. I took a big gamble myself turning on DIO, but I'm a hired mercenary so the stakes aren't as high. D'Arby is one of DIO's elite guards, which changes everything.'

Sure enough, the mental strain proved so bad on D'Arby, that his hair turned white and he wound up passed out while still standing, his eyes rolled into the back of his head. As he toppled over, causing the table to go with him, Polnareff and Joseph's souls got released from the poker chips, returning to their bodies. "In his heart he had to admit defeat," Jonathan noted, "So his Stand released our friends." He then spotted D'Arby's hand. "Look at this. He had Four Kings."

"Four Kings!?," Avdol said, "Then what was Jotaro's hand!?" He looked at the cards and gasped. It was a complete garbage hand, Jack of Clubs, Ace of Hearts, Ten of Hearts, Six of Spades, and Eight of Diamonds. "Ah!," the kid said, "So I did deal him crap after all!" "There was no way I could out-cheat D'Arby," Jotaro admitted, "Not even with Star Platinum. But I knew I had a good chance to out-bluff him. But still, good thing I didn't look at my cards, or I'd have had a heart attack."

"You mean to say we bet our souls on such a worthless hand!?," Avdol called out incredulously. D'Arby must have recovered enough to hear, because he started giggling like a madman. As he did, the rest of the souls he had collected also got released. "His mind is too broken to give any more information," Jotaro said with a sigh, "We got lucky on this one. Despite his Stand not being able to fight, he was strong enough to beat all of us." The others nodded as Polnareff and Joseph started to come to.

I know some people expected Fluttershy to try taking on D'Arby. Yeah, no. You want a OC female protagonist who can easily out-gamble Daniel J D'Arby, see Hanabi Moon over at Blooming Adventures.

Time to showcase Tomomi's Stand. I've heard one of my more frequent reviewers calling out more well-known Egyptian gods as her Stand's name, but I went with the road less traveled.

With the news of D'Arby's defeat, Tomomi decided it was her turn. But she knew her power would be useless on its own against the Joestars. She needed an edge, and knew just where to find it. She boarded a plane to Aswan and returned to Cairo soon after, now carrying a large briefcase. As she hailed a taxi, two local thugs, brushed past her. "Sorry, we got here first," one of the thugs said. The other looked at Tomomi with a perverted interest. "On the other hand, if you're willing to make it worth our while..."

Tomomi grimaced. Air swirled around her arm as she pointed a finger at the thug's ear. A surge of wind shot out with the force of a bullet, tearing the man's ear off. As the other thug got confused as to what happened, Tomomi tossed the briefcase into the taxi. "Mena Hotel, Giza," she told the driver. As the driver got moving, Tomomi lowered the window next to the briefcase. "Hey kid. I'm about to open the briefcase so be sure to close your eyes. And make sure to stick your head out the window next to you if you're feeling sick."

She opened the briefcase to reveal Boingo, bound and gagged. She tore off the tape on his mouth and directed a wind current to slice the ropes binding his hands. Boingo promptly did as Tomomi suggested and stuck his head out of the window, throwing up shortly afterward. "What was that for Tomomi!?," he demanded, "You went and kidnapped me from the hospital in Aswan using your Stand, Nut. Do you realize my brother will be worried sick about me?"

"I had no other way to convince you to come," Tomomi explained, "Besides, as useful as your Stand is, on your own you're just a child. You need someone to make effective use of it. As for me, my Stand gives me control over air currents, able to shoot them like bullets or wield them like blades. I can even make them grab things. It's powerful, but the Joestars have beaten tougher opponents. So I need something that gives me an advantage, and your Stand is the first thing I thought of." Boingo seemed hesitant, making Tomomi sigh. "Listen, DeKurliss showed me how you wanted to man up and get revenge after what happened to Oingo. Are you going to go back on that just because you can't trust anyone but your brother?"

Boingo sighed. "Fine. But you'll have to put your absolute trust in me. Remember, my Stand can only see the near future, but the predictions are one hundred percent accurate. So whatever Thoth shows you, you must comply. Trust me, I've seen what happens when people try to change the fate Thoth shows." Tomomi nodded, and Boingo showed her the comic, which featured her kidnapping Boingo. Tomomi grimaced at the pictures. "Can't say I care for the images, though."

The duo was now just outside Cairo, where Boingo's Stand showed some new panels. "Let's see what we have here. Boingo and his new friend Tomomi were walking through Cairo, when suddenly they saw a beautiful woman. Out of nowhere, Tomomi kicked the woman. But she was so happy, the woman gifted the duo with a valuable piece of jewelry." "That's an odd prediction," Tomomi noted, "Why would me kicking some woman have her give me jewelry?"

"Thoth doesn't show every detail," Boingo admitted, "That's why me and my brother lost back in Aswan, because of events we didn't know about." Tomomi shrugged. "Well, if that's what the book says. So where is this woman?" Sure enough, Tomomi saw the woman, who was walking with a large male soldier, likely her husband. 'Might as well go for it,' Tomomi thought, 'If it comes down to it, I can take out the soldier using my Stand.' She immediately ran to the woman and gave her a swift kick right to the back of the neck.

"Hey!," the soldier called out, "What are you doing!?" He then looked to the woman, who was still conscious. He then saw a scorpion that had been crushed by Tomomi's kick. "This scorpion," the soldier said, "They're very poisonous." "Thank you Miss," the woman said, "If you hadn't kicked at it, I could be dead." She then offered Tomomi the jewelry mentioned in the comic. As the couple left, Tomomi grinned. "I never even saw that scorpion. Good thing I didn't throw my entire strength into that kick." "It's fate," Boingo said, "Thoth was demonstrating its powers to assure you." Tomomi laughed. "Boingo, this partnership is going to work out fine."

In Cairo proper, Polnareff handed the photo to a local roofer. "Sorry," the roofer said, "I've been fixing up the buildings around here for forty years but I don't recall this building. Then again a lot of the buildings around Cairo look similar. I can tell you that this building looks pretty old, at least a century by my reckoning. Further south into Cairo you'll find the older buildings. You should start searching in that direction. Sorry I couldn't be more help."

"No, it's alright," Polnareff said, "Sorry to take up your time." He dropped back down the ladder and rejoined the group. "At least we have a narrower search area," Avdol said. "We're getting close," Joseph said, "I can practically feel DIO's presence." As they walked off, they didn't notice Tomomi and Boingo hiding behind a nearby wall. "They're getting too close to DIO's estate," Tomomi noted. "They are?," Boingo asked, "I thought they were way off the mark."

"Oh that's right, you don't know," Tomomi realized, "DIO moved when he found out the Speedwagon Foundation had located his earlier mansion." Boingo nodded. "I see. Let me check the new prediction." He saw the panels appear in Thoth. "The two friends soon located the Joestar group. But there were too many people for Tomomi to fight. So instead, she shoved her fingers up Polnareff's nose, and proceeded to tickle him. Just then, the Joestar group all passed out from blood loss, giving Tomomi the chance she needed to finish them off."

Tomomi blinked in confusion. "Boingo, not that I don't trust this prediction but... Did your brains get addled when that gang beat you up back in Aswan? I think Thoth may have skipped a few steps." Boingo frowned. "You may not be wrong. I know this prediction will come true, it always does. But honestly this is the vaguest I've ever seen Thoth." He then looked again. "Not to mention the whole group's not depicted here. Fluttershy's not in this panel." "Must be why it doesn't show me actually finishing them off," Tomomi realized, "Because Fluttershy could still stop my efforts."

Boingo nodded. "Yeah, it's like back in Aswan when me and my brother tried poisoning the Joestars' tea. They drank it as predicted, but after the prediction came true they wound up spitting out the poison afterward." Tomomi nodded and peeked out from her hiding place. She gasped as she noticed Polnareff wasn't there anymore. She then gulped as she felt a rapier up against her neck. "Don't think I didn't know you were back here, mademoiselle," Polnareff said, "Iggy smelled you out easily."

"There should be someone else around here," Iggy noted, "Someone familiar..." Boingo quickly held his breath from under the box he had dove under when Polnareff approached. Tomomi then heard Joseph as he approached, "Hey Polnareff! Did you find that person following us?" 'This is going to be so disgusting,' Tomomi thought, 'But Oingo lived his life following those predictions and only lost due to back luck.' She waited until Polnareff was distracted by Iggy sniffing around and immediately stuck her fingers right up Polnareff's nose. "What the fuck are you doing!?," Polnareff asked, his words slightly muffled.

"I wish I could say," Tomomi said, "I will say that my name is Tomomi, one the Ten Glory Gods." "Hey Polnareff!," Hol Horse called out, "Where'd you go?" 'I already fulfilled my part of the prediction,' Tomomi said, 'It can't hurt to bust out my Stand at this point while I wait for fate to take over.' Polnareff tried to get out his Silver Chariot, but Tomomi remembered she was also suppose to tickle Polnareff, and did so to distract him before using Nut to slam an air current into his gut, then wrapping him up in it. "My Stand, Nut, can control air currents to create weapons."

"If you had that sort of power, why the fingers up my nose!?," Polnareff demanded. "Search me," Tomomi admitted. "Don't mind if we do," came Jotaro's voice. "Oh shit...," Tomomi muttered. "And you're about to be deep in it," Hol Horse. "Hey wait a minute, Hol Horse, I thought you don't hurt women," Tomomi pointed out. "Normally I don't," Hol Horse admitted, "But if a woman is trying to kill me, then I have no choice but to break my normal rules."

Polnareff then wound up sneezing, knocking Tomomi's air currents off him and causing her to stumble into the street, where she saw a truck coming in. Recognizing the thugs from earlier driving it, she realized what the prediction was going for. She looked at some water jugs that she had knocked over while stumbling, and the truck swerve to try and crush her, only to slip on the water. That caused the truck to to barrel into the Kujo group instead.

"That was too close," Boingo said as he lifted the box enough to see. He was staring right at the side of the truck, mere inches from his face. "But it worked out," Tomomi said, "Sticking my hand up Polnareff's nose caused him to sneeze. A human sneeze blows out air as fast as hurricane winds, so someone sneezing can dispel my Stand. But it also caused me to be noticed by those punks from the taxi. Let's move away for a bit. We need to make sure they're out cold, and confirm Fluttershy's location."

They moved off to a different building, where Boingo checked his Stand. "The speeding truck easily took out the Joestars, but it was too early to celebrate and finish them off. Jotaro was not hurt as badly, plus Fluttershy had seen the crash and came rushing to tend to them." Sure enough, they heard Fluttershy's voice call out, "Jojo! What happened!?" Jotaro pulled himself from the wreckage. "New Stand user. Tried to attack Polnareff, then this truck came outta nowhere. I managed to dodge aside just in time, but I still got clipped."

Nearby, Boingo looked through Stand. "Tomomi! I think this is it, the final prediction! Tomomi found some plumbers working on the drainage pipes. She paid them to open one of the pipes, then started firing her air bullets into the pipe at exactly noon." Tomomi then remembered the jewelry that was given to her earlier. "Good thing I didn't sell it yet." She then heard the plumbers the comic spoke of behind her. She followed the pipeline with her eyes, and realized that it reached right over to the wall where the crash had happened. "Let me see that," she said to Boingo. Boingo handed her the comic, and laughed when she saw the picture of her air bullets going right through Jotaro's head.

"Oingo got taken out because of a similar prediction," she noted, "But unlike him, my Stand doesn't have any transformation abilities. This for sure shows that Jotaro will be the one to suffer this fate, and no one else!" She checked her watch. "Noon is two minutes away." She dug into her pocket and pulled out the jewel. "Gentleman, I'd like you to open that pipe over there. I'll pay you with this if you do." One of the plumbers looked at the jewel. "It does look valuable. Well, you heard her. Get that pipe open." The other plumber nodded.

Tomomi pointed her Stand at the open pipe, looking at her watch. When she saw it hit twelve noon, she fired off three air bullets and waited. Nearby, Fluttershy was helping Jotaro clean up while the others started to stir. She yelped and grabbed Jotaro, causing him to move away from the pipe just as the air bullets shot past them both. "Something just grabbed me!" "Pardonne, Fluttershy," Polnareff said, "That was just me. I didn't mean to alarm you. While you're here, can you help get these stones off me."

Tomomi and Boingo could only stare in shock as the air bullets struck the top of a nearby building. "That shouldn't happen," Boingo pointed out, "My predictions have never been wrong before." "Did we do something wrong?," Tomomi thought, "Maybe if I bring my air shots back. Hol Horse isn't the only one who can control the trajectory of his shots." Before she had a chance to, however, a passing radio blared out, 'And now we'll bring you the twelve o'clock news.' A nearby clock was also striking noon.

Hol Horse shook his head, then checked his watch. "Huh... My watch is a minute fast..." Tomomi then checked her own watch. "Oh shit! I think my watch may be fast too!" She was still holding Thoth, so she looked to see if anything else would show up. Boingo, however, watched as a strong wind blew the air bullets until they came screaming around. "Uh... Tomomi... How strong does a wind need to be to counter your Stand?" Before Tomomi could answer, the three bullets shot through the comic, right where the blood spots appeared in the picture, and nailed Tomomi in the head.

The sound of her hitting the ground got the group's attention. "I think it's best if we move away from here," Joseph noted, "The police are bound to show up soon." Luckily for Tomomi, she was able to redirect her bullets just enough to avoid a fatal injury, but she still got hit hard through her head, enough to knock her unconscious from the blood loss. Boingo looked at the picture, and sighed. "Luckily my Stand's nature means I'm in no danger if it gets damaged."

He looked at the group. "But still, the Joestars must be powerful if fate just seems to favor them under all conditions. It's no wonder Tomomi and my brother were defeated. Lord DIO is probably the only one who even stands a chance against them. As for me, I think it's foolish to keep pursuing revenge. From now on, I'll try to use my powers to help people find a brighter future. And maybe someday, I'll find a way that more Stand users can act to protect people."

"Good on ya, kid," Iggy said as he approached, "You really seemed to learn from this experience." Boingo gasped. "Hey, you're that dog from Aswan! The one who was with the Joestar group!" "They prefer the Kujo group," Iggy clarified, "Jotaro is practically the team leader here. Speaking of which, I should catch up with the others." He ran off, and Boingo saw another prediction. "Boingo decided to return to Aswan to let his brother know he was alright. His brother was so proud of how strong Boingo had become." Boingo smiled. "And maybe... I'll get strong enough to see even farther into the future."

You guys all suggested I leave Fluttershy out of this upcoming fight. Something along the lines of letting sleeping dogs lie and psychotic birds stay silent. Honestly, while I toyed with the idea of including Fluttershy, I decided if Iggy could handle this guy on his own in canon, he could do it in this alternate reality.

The group had reached the middle of Cairo, where Avdol met up with his brother Radames. "Wow, this shop is big," Fluttershy noted, "Where'd you get the money for this?" "Radames was one of the winners of the Steel Ball Run," Avdol explained, a hint of pride in his voice. "I was told all about you by my friends and teammates," Radames said, "I spoke with a few of our contacts in the city, and one of them thinks he's found the mansion where DIO is."

Polnareff started to sit down on some steps to relax. "I wouldn't," Radames warned, "That spot is reserved for a local beggar." Polnareff looked confused. "Here in Cairo being a beggar is just another business," Avdol explained, "There's even a union that establishes turf for each beggar. They even get paid to sit in that spot and collect alms." "Charity is one of the Five Pillars of Islam," Radames said, "It's said you can get to Heaven by sharing your wealth with the poor, and the government created the beggars' union to facilitate that. So long as each beggar keeps to their rules, the whole system remains in order."

A nearby beggar cleared his throat as he approached. "Muhammad. Radames. Good to see you both again." "Ah, here is the man I spoke of earlier," Radames said, "He's well acquainted with our family." "I haven't seen you in town for some time, Muhammad," the beggar noted, "Your shop in Khan Khalil's been quite empty since you were seen running through the souk in a panic. There were even rumors you fled to Japan because someone was trying to kill you."

"Those rumors are not unfounded," Avdol admitted, "But they are a little exaggerated. First off, the person in question was trying to enslave me. And I didn't so much flee to Japan as travel there at the request of a friend." He handed the beggar the picture of DIO's building. "The man you speak of can be found in this building. We must find it quickly. We are very short on time." The beggar nodded. "I know where this building is." He threw off his cloak revealing a business suit underneath. "Give me three hours. I'll be sure to mark its address for you." He then walked off to a nearby limo.

"Alms for the poor, huh?," Hol Horse said. "To be fair," Avdol said, "Being a beggar in this city can be quite a lucrative business, matched only by the merchant class." "By the way," Fluttershy said, "Where'd Iggy go?" "I saw your canine friend head off," Radames said, "He said he wanted to explore the city while you waited." Joseph nodded. "I guess that's fair. He's been useful to us so far. I just hope he doesn't run into one of the remaining two Glory Gods."

Iggy whistled to himself as he walked through Cairo. "I can see why Mister Joestar wanted me around for this leg. Plenty of sand for my Stand to work with." As he kept walking, a pair of bulldogs approached, looking at him in a rather nasty way. Iggy simply stared them down. The bigger dogs quickly realized Iggy was too tough to take on, and backed off. Iggy smirked. "The dogs in Cairo are a lot smarter than in New York. Over there they all thought I was easy pickings."

The two bulldogs then spotted the shadow of a bird peeking out under a large gate and went over to it, thinking it was an easy meal. Iggy turned his head when he heard their yelps of shock, followed by sounds of something tearing into them. He gasped when he saw their heads fly above the gate, impaled on a single spike of ice. "That's gotta be the work of a Stand user! But this large gate..." He looked at the building and his jaw dropped. "Did I accidentally stumble upon DIO's mansion!?" The rest of the dogs were pulled under the gate, and shortly thereafter a falcon flew up to the top of gate, eyeing Iggy warily.

They both then heard the sound of a car approach, and Iggy recognized the smell of the beggar from before. "Heh," the beggar said, "I thought this was the location. And it only took me two hours. There's nothing in this city I can't find. Huh?" He looked up to see a large icicle positioned right over him. The ice chunk fell onto him and the car, crushing them both. The hawk them grabbed the photo as it flew up and tore it to shreds. "This bird's strong," Iggy said, "His Stand must be able to generate ice. With a power like that, the others may not even be able to approach the mansion, much less kill DIO."

He remembered something Fluttershy did earlier to search for the remaining Glory Gods. The other local birds mentioned this falcon, known as Pet Shop, and it's Stand Horus. "It's said that Horus was the guardian of the pharaohs," Iggy noted, "I guess in the same way, this falcon is trying to guard DIO. This bird's definitely tough, though my own Stand could probably beat him. Hell, if anyone of our group could beat this bird, it's me." Just as he thought this, a nearby car started racing down the street, heading right for Pet Shop. Instead of simply flying away, Pet Shop flew under the car then up into the air. It looked around, but could see no sign of Iggy.

Iggy had taken the chance to get to cover. "Okay, so the bird's a skilled flier. I guess you don't get to be an elite guard in DIO's forces for no reason. His Stand may be easy, but the bird himself is gonna be a pain to hit." He then noticed that Pet Shop didn't seem to be attacking the driver, who had gotten out of the car, but only to inspect it and not Pet Shop. "So he only goes after those who pay too much attention to the mansion. That must be why he didn't attack me immediately, he was trying to see if I was a threat to his master."

Just then, a young boy came walking by. "Tiny! Butch! Where are you guys?" The boy stopped near Iggy. "Hey there, doggy. Did you see my two dogs come by here?" 'Just my luck,' Iggy thought, 'Fluttershy's Stand doesn't turn off my voice unless she wants it to. But I can't just go speaking to a kid out of the blue. He'll freak out for sure.' The boy then saw a collar lying near the gate. "Hey, this is Tiny's collar! Why is it here? And why is it covered in blood!?" Iggy freaked. 'Oh shit! His dogs must have been those two from before! If that kid tries to investigate the mansion trying to find them, that falcon will kill him for sure!'

Unfortunately, before Iggy could stop the kid, he had already climbed under the gate, only to stare in horror as Pet Shop was feeding on his dogs' corpses. When Pet Shop spotted the kid, he moved to attack, ice forming on his talons. "Look out kid!," Iggy said as he came flying in using his Stand, smashing into Pet Shop as he did. The boy looked surprised. "Did you just...?" "Yes, I am a talking dog," Iggy said, "But that's not important. This falcon kills anyone who investigates this mansion, no matter what the reason is. So get out of here! Go! Get as far away as you can!"

The boy was a little shocked, but nodded as he ducked back under the gate. "Call me a bleeding heart," Iggy said, "But I've always had a soft spot for dog lovers. As for you... Just killing a dog alone is enough to get my dander up!" He immediately summoned The Fool. Pet Shop turned his head to get a better view of Iggy. He then turned his beak up into a smile and started chuckling. Large streams of ice then started forming as the temperature started to drop. Iggy quickly realized his feet were stuck.

Pet Shop flapped his wings as he sent several icicles to impale Iggy. However, while the icicles hit, Iggy and his Stand seemed to melt into sand. Surprised, Pet Shop quickly flew upward to get a better view. Nearby, Iggy was hiding in the shadows. "He's tougher than I thought. I practically tore the skin off my paws getting out of that. No wonder DIO chose him as his personal guard." He then spotted Pet Shop coming right at him, creating more icicles as he flew.

However, Pet Shop wound up falling victim to the same trick twice, as Iggy and The Fool seemed to disappear into sand. As it happened, Iggy had managed to hide in the sewers. "Even if he follows me down here, this environment should limit his mobility. That bird is strong, but he's also stupid. I can't believe he fell for the same trick twice. He must have a one-track mind. Which also means he won't give up until one of us is dead." Sure enough, he soon heard the sound of flapping, as Pet Shop had made its way through another open manhole cover.

Once again, it launched several icicles, even faster than before. Iggy seemed to get obliterated, reduced to just a head and chunks of flesh. As Pet Shop chuckled, it stopped when it heard more chuckling above it. "Haven't you heard the old saying? Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me, fool me thrice no dice. Looks like you didn't pay attention to the last one. That was my Stand, The Fool, you sliced up. It's quite capable of shape-shifting."

Before Pet Shop could react, The Fool reconstituted itself and slashed at Pet Shop, drawing blood. As the falcon started to get up, Iggy smirked. "We keep this up and I doubt you'll survive. But as a fellow animal, I'm willing to let you go and recover. We just want your boss after all, to save the life of my friend's mother you see. But if you insist on continuing this fight, I won't hesitate to end you." Pet Shop swiped his wing through the wound he received, then preened the blood into his beak, making something like a growling noise.

Iggy shrugged. "Alright, Bruce Lee with wings. If that's how you want it, then bring it on!" Pet Shop summoned Horus, an icy blue pterosaur skeleton, with a screeching cry. The icy Stand gently scrapped a claw across Pet Shop's wound, sealing the blood off. It then proceeded to send icy tendrils along the walls and ceiling, sealing off the manholes above. Iggy leapt about to avoid getting frozen to the ground again, then ran off to the nearby tunnel, Pet Shop following.

Quickly Pet Shop sealed the tunnel entrance with some more icicles. "If that ice catches me, I'm toast," Iggy said. He then got a brainstorm. "The Fool!" The Fool created sand whirlwinds around Iggy's feet. Pet Shop looked in surprise as Iggy's feet could no longer stick to the ice. "I've always wanted to skate around Rockefeller Center," Iggy quipped. Pet Shop gave an angry screech as it launched more icicles, only for Iggy to use the falcon's own ice tendrils to dodge the attacks.

Pet Shop swooped in to attack Iggy personally, only for Iggy to dive into the water. 'This stinks,' he thought, 'I don't even have the luxury of Fluttershy's seaweed scuba masks. Oh well, I have other options.' He used The Fool to create a sand barrier around himself, solidified due to the water, though it was slow enough that Iggy could drain out the water and give himself a pocket of air. "Now I just ride the current. Now doubt Big Bird saw me dive and is trying to follow me. Little known fact, but birds can swim. They just prefer to fly."

Sure enough, as Iggy settled at the bottom of the Nile, an icicle pierced through his sand barrier, Pet Shop riding the current that poured in as a result. The falcon snickered, several icicles poised right outside. Iggy smirked. "Don't act so smug. I can hear your attack coming." Pet Shop looked shocked, as Iggy directed The Fool to knock the icicles right back to their creator, slashing apart Pet Shop's wings. Screeching angrily, Pet Shop started freezing the water in an effort to bring down Iggy's own sand barrier and crush him. Gasping, Iggy quickly dug into the ground to escape.

He quickly hit an air pocket, and got a shock when he saw Pet Shop inside it, readying an ice missile in his beak. "Shit! My Stand is still behind me! Wait a minute... That's it!" He immediately dispelled his Stand, letting the sand dome collapse and using the water pressure to propel him forward. Pet Shop could only react in horror as Iggy bit down on his beak and held tight. Soon enough the pressure from the cold air broke Pet Shop's beak apart, causing him to bleed out quickly.

As water rushed into the air pocket, Iggy was carried to the surface. "Heh... Take that you dumb bird... But it looks like... I'm too exhausted to swim to shore... I'm sorry, Jotaro, Fluttershy, Avdol, Polnareff... Looks like my journey ends here... I only wanted a quiet life, only agreeing to this to avenge a fellow dog..." Just then, he felt himself get scooped up, and recognized the boy he helped earlier. "I saw you drowning here," the boy explained, "Did that bird do this to you?" "Yeah... But he's gone now...," Iggy said, "Thanks kid... Looks like we're even..." The boy nodded as he swam with Iggy back to shore.

Been looking forward to this one. Especially the quip I give at the end. We've reached the mansion, now the crew is ready to face the last of DIO's minions.

Iggy finally returned to group the following day. "Hey guys," he said, "I managed to stumble on DIO's mansion. Took out the guardian as well." "I was thinking there might be an enemy Stand user guarding the mansion," Avdol said, "The man we sent to look for it never returned." Iggy nodded. "He's dead. The Stand user who killed him was a falcon that could control ice. He was tougher than I thought he'd be, but I got him in the end." "He still suffered several injuries in the process," said a familiar voice, "Luckily the Speedwagon doctors were able to patch him up."

The group turned in the direction of the voice. Sure enough, it was Kakyoin, now sporting a pair of sunglasses. "It's also because of them that my eyes recovered faster, though I still need these shades until they regain their former strength." "Kakyoin!," Jotaro said, "We were starting to miss you!" "I knew it was a good idea to request Speedwagon's help in your treatment," Joseph said. Kakyoin nodded. "Yes, and thank you for that, though the regular doctors did get a little suspicious of me for a moment because of that."

"It's good that you're back," Fluttershy said, "Now our team is back in one piece." "And just in time," Iggy said, "Follow me. I'll take you to DIO's mansion." As they drew closer, the presence of the evil within the mansion seemed almost overwhelming. "OH MY GOD!," Joseph said, "This is it! DIO's clearly inside here!" "It's even stronger than when I last fought him!," Jonathan noted, "I guess that's what happens when an already powerful being gains a Stand!" "This is it then," Jotaro said, "Our final destination. We either defeat DIO here and now, or die trying."

Inside the mansion, DeKurliss frowned. "Pet Shop is dead. The Joestars are right on our doorstop. It won't be long before you face them, my Lord." DIO nodded. "There's no more need for you to be here. Take my diary and find Pucci. He'll know what to do with it." "It'll take him some time to gather the resources needed to accomplish your vision of Heaven," DeKurliss pointed out. DIO noted. "Perhaps, but I want to have all my bases covered. Now go. My other servants will hold the Joestars off long enough for you to escape."

Nukesaku chuckled. "At long last, we get to kill the Joestar bloodline once and for all." Kenny laughed. "Did you really include yourself in this? We told you before, Loser, there's no way you'll stand a chance against a Stand user." "Speaking of that," DIO said, "Perhaps you should activate your own Stand." Kenny nodded. "Of course. The illusions my Stand creates will leave the Joestars wandering the mansion for hours. Tenor Sax!"

"I don't like this," Joseph said, "That gate's wide open, as is the front door. DIO clearly knows we're here." "We can't all go charging in there," Hol Horse said. Polnareff looked inside. "That hallway is way too long. I can't even see the other side. This must be the work of another Stand user." "Be on guard," Jonathan said, "DIO still has one more Glory God remaining." Sure enough, Telence could be seen floating down the hallway, stopping just inside the door. "Welcome, Master Joestar. You've been expected. I am Telence T D'Arby, the butler of the household." "D'Arby?," Avdol said in surprise, "As in the younger brother of Daniel J D'Arby?"

"Indeed," Telence replied, "And you'll find me a much more formidable opponent than my brother. But this is not the location to do battle." Hol Horse tipped his hat. "You're not thinking of trying to avenge your brother, are you?" Telence scoffed. "Certainly not. My brother went up against you and lost, that's his fault. My only goal is protecting Lord DIO. You see, my brother and I are quite different. For starters, I am ten years younger and think quite differently. He tried to cheat to win, an outdated style of thinking. He could only win against old people or beginners. DIO recognized this, which is why he chose me to serve at his side as his butler."

"Does your Stand work differently too?," Jotaro asked. Telence responded by calling out his Stand, a robotic humanoid. "Atum has some similarities to my brother's Stand," Telence admitted, "But it also has differences." "Is that so?," Jotaro said, "Then let's see what kind of differences. Star Platinum!" Star Platinum appeared. "Let's see," Telence said, "I'll bet you'll try striking me with your left arm. Are you willing to bet?" Jotaro raised an eyebrow and made to strike using Star Platinum's right arm instead.

Atum, however, dodged easily. "You made to dodge before I even made a punch," Jotaro noted, "You somehow knew I'd strike with my right arm." Telence shrugged. "Like my brother Daniel I enjoy gambling, but unlike him I can never seem to win. Tell you what, as an apology for wasting your time, I'll take you to a wonderful world." Atum grabbed Star Platinum's arm as a hole appeared below Telence, pulling Jotaro and Stand down with them. Immediately Kakyoin, Joseph, and Fluttershy used their Stands to grab him.

"I see," Telence said, "I suppose there's room for a few more." Immediately the hole began sucking the trio in. "Avdol!," Joseph called out, "It looks like we'll have to deal with him. If you don't hear from us in ten minutes, burn down the mansion. Even if it doesn't kill DIO it'll expose him to the sun." After saying this, the three Stand user got sucked into the hole, leaving Avdol, Hol Horse, Polnareff, Iggy, and Jonathan at the entrance.

The four friends opened their eyes to find themselves on an island in the middle of an ocean. "Gimme a break...," Jotaro said, "What the hell are you trying to pull?" Telence approached a table in the middle of the island, where several TVs and a game console were placed. "Care for a drink before we begin? Unlike the scenery around us, the wine is quite real. And rest assured it isn't poisoned. With what my Stand can do there's no need." "So we're still in the house then?," Joseph said.

"Indeed," Telence said, "Though even I'm not sure where exactly. I will say this is the work of another Stand user within the mansion. But once it activates only Lord DIO and the Stand user himself knows how to navigate it. I'm assuming we're somewhere in the basement, but I can't be sure." "We were told that there were at least two other Stand users in the building," Joseph said, "So, I'm assuming you plan on keeping us here unless we beat you."

"Your brother also mentioned you were even more horrible than he was," Jotaro said, "What did he mean by that?" Telence smiled. "I suppose he would think that. Allow me to show you." He walked over to a cabinet and opened it. Inside was a number of puppets of both genders. "It's not as extensive as Daniel's," Telence admitted, "Still, it's a collection to be proud of." Just then, one of the female dolls started speaking. "D'Arby... Stay with me... Speak with me..."

The rest of the dolls also started muttering and moving, and Fluttershy placed her hands over her mouth in horror. "D'Arby wasn't kidding... This is far worse than what he does..." "I said earlier that my Stand has similarities to Daniel's Osiris," Telence said, "Like Osiris, my Atum can steal the souls of people I defeat. I then infuse these puppets I create with those souls. My brother's collection is extensive, but I find it boring. All those poker chips look the same, no variety. But this collection I can change and talk to as I wish."

He picked up the puppet that first talked. "Like this enchanting beauty. Her name is Sophia. Beautiful, yes? She prefers Chanel, but I chose a Versace for this outfit." He pointed to a doctor puppet. "Doctor Elliot here is a serial killer. He's killed eight people, all of whom were his own patients. His murder stories are so interesting to listen to. I made the accessories myself." He then pointed to a Japanese looking puppet. "This one was my most difficult opponent. He has an IQ of 190. It took quite some time to beat him."

Jotaro scoffed. "At least your brother gave his victims the peace of oblivion. But you... You're a monster that may be even worse than DIO, if that's even possible." The four of them brought out their Stands. "Ah, I wouldn't attack," Telence said, "Jotaro, you experienced it earlier. The theory behind how my brother and I can use our Stands to steal souls relies on the fact that when a person admits defeat, their soul's energy is reduced to zero. Now earlier I was able to grab your soul, but of course you had not yet admitted defeat. However, in the instant your attack was easily dodged there was a weak spot, which Atum took advantage of. Take a look at your arm."

Jotaro rolled up his sleeve to reveal a large hand had embedded itself into his skin. Atum then revealed that hand was missing from its form. The group gasped. "Atum has a firm grip on your soul," Telence explained, "Now at this point I could use it to break your arm. That would certainly please Lord DIO, but it would also release Atum's grip on your soul, freeing Joseph, Kakyoin, and Fluttershy to beat the living daylights out of me. Essentially it's a Mexican standoff."

He indicated the TVs and console. "Instead we'll gamble using these video games. When I admit defeat, your arm will be released." Jotaro shrugged. "If that's how you want to play it. But you'd better hope you don't regret this path." Telence smiled. "Very good. But because you're the one acting a hostage right now, I think we'll have Kakyoin play first." Jotaro raised an eyebrow. "Why him?" "Pragmatism," Telence explained, "If I take your soul, Fluttershy will immediately attack me. If I try for her, there's no doubt you'll try and attack one-handed just to avenge her. And Mister Joestar should require no explanation. Kakyoin is more likely to wait until he's the last one standing before trying to attack me."

"It's no trouble," Kakyoin said, "I'm actually quite good at video games, and these are all older games most people have beaten anyway." He picked up one of the cartridges. "Does 'F-Mega' work for you?" Telence nodded. "If you like." He then brought out a puppet designed to resemble Kakyoin. "As you can see, I already came prepared. Rest assured I wasn't sure how many of you I'd get at once, so I planned ahead by making puppets for each member of your group." He then saw Joseph using Hermit Purple on the console. "Just checking to make sure there's nothing funny about this console."

"If it makes you feel better," Telence accepted, "But unlike my brother, I don't cheat." He and Kakyoin sat down, Kakyoin taking off his glasses. "I've played this game before," Joseph said, "F-Mega is a part-racing, part-fighting game." Both players picked Car A to start. "That's a good starting car," Fluttershy noted, "It can reach speeds of 425 kilometers an hour in only seventeen seconds." Kakyoin went for number 28, as it was that year's winner of the Formula-1 season, while Telence went for 15, since his birthday was January 5.

Finally, Track 1 was selected as the course, a two-thousand meter straightaway followed by six turns, then a speed tunnel, which could take the racers to speeds of 850 kilometers an hour. "I'm sure you know the rules," Telence said, "If either of us leaves the track our racer will explode. The one with the fastest time wins. Feel free to use your Stand however you wish during the race." As the racing lights counted down, Telence started using Atum to mash the accelerator button. This gave him an early boost as the race started.

However, it wasn't a lead he kept for long, as Kakyoin used Hierophant Green to spin his car to attack Telence's, causing them both hit the sides of the track. "That was a risky move," Telence said, "One mistake and you'd have gone off the track. Yet you pulled it off without fear. Have you perhaps played this game before?" Kakyoin grinned. "Perhaps." He immediately moved to get his car back on the track as Telence did the same. "Now they're moving at the same speed," Joseph said.

"Not quite," Jotaro said, "Take a look. Kakyoin's car is on the outside lane. That's a dangerous place to be once they start hitting the turns." Kakyoin didn't hesitate at all, taking the turn at the same time as Telence, allowing them to keep their dead heat. "I'm impressed," Telence said, "Despite your soul being on the line you show no fear. Like you've conquered it altogether. Then again, if you weren't so good you wouldn't be worth keeping in my collection."

'I've had a good lesson in fear from your master,' Kakyoin thought, 'Ever since he planted his little flesh bud in me. When I first met him, I was shaking all over. I nearly threw up from the fear. DIO made an offer to be friends, and I thought that meant I would live, but I was naive. But Jotaro opened my eyes when he removed that flesh bud. That's when I swore to redeem myself. I'm not the same Noriaki Kakyoin I once was.'

The race continued through the turns as the dead heat continued. "The sixth turn is coming up," Joseph said, "After that it's the speed tunnel." "But it's only wide enough for one car," Fluttershy noted, "So the first one to get there is likely to get a big lead." Telence grinned. "You think you're winning Kakyoin? Look at your power bar. It's lower than mine. You lost a great deal of power when you spun me out. Didn't you see that?" Sure enough, Kakyoin's car didn't have the power to push Telence's away to hit the tunnel.

Kakyoin smirked, and Hierophant Green manipulated the directional pad, causing his car to lift up on two wheels. This let it run up on the ceiling of the tunnel. "Now we're still tied going into the tunnel," he said, "You got careless thinking only of the power bars and the basic track." Telence growled and started smashing his car against Kakyoin's, trying to get ahead. 'I just need to get ahead by a fraction of a second. Once the cars leave the tunnel their speed will boost to 850 kilometers an hour.'

At that moment, the screen seemed to black out, though the HUD was still visible. "What happened?," Joseph asked. "At this point we have to race in the dark," Kakyoin explained, "The tunnel has eight turns, a mining zone, and a cannon. After that is the exit. One mistake spells disaster, so we have to time the turns with our other four senses." It got tense as the cars reached the cannon part, the lights coming from the shots revealing Telence had managed to pull ahead. "I managed to get him to slow down. My power wasn't wasted."

The cars exited the tunnel with Telence now a full car's length ahead of Kakyoin. "I've won!" "Not yet!," Kakyoin called out, "You're still low on power!" He spun his car again, knocking Telence off the track. Telence just smiled. "So you lagged behind on purpose. But you're not the only one who planned ahead." Sure enough, Telence's car was flying right at a later point of the track. With the speed it got from the tunnel, the car landed safely, gaining a big lead.

"Normally a car could never make that jump," Telence admitted, "Even at 850 kilometers an hour. But if it was hit at a high enough speed, then it's possible. That was the tactic I prepared." Suddenly, Kakyoin's face looked freaked out, and Atum grabbed his soul out. Telence breathed a sigh of relief. "Though to be honest it was no guarantee. This is the first time I've actually sweated during a match. Kakyoin, you were most definitely my toughest opponent yet."

Kakyoin's soul was placed inside the doll. "This one will have a special place in my collection," Telence said, "Unlike all my others opponents, Kakyoin never made a single mental mistake. I had to rely on a risky move and pure luck to win." Jotaro then realized Atum's hand had disappeared from his arm. "I'll be needing both arms to compete with you, Jotaro," Telence explained, "Since your Stand is known for its precision and accuracy."

Jotaro sat down. "Hey, Jotaro," Joseph said, "It should be my turn next." "Not unless you've played any of these games more than Kakyoin," Fluttershy pointed out. Jotaro picked another cartridge. "This should do nicely. 'Oh! That's a Baseball!'" Telence smirked. "That's my best game." "Yeah, and poker was Daniel's," Jotaro pointed out, "I still beat him." After Joseph checked the game just to be sure, the system was started up. "Luckily Jotaro is quite the baseball player," Fluttershy said.

"Yeah, but that's in real life," Joseph pointed out, "Playing it in a video game makes it a little different." "Standard baseball rules apply in this game," Telence said, "The only difference is that the game will end automatically end if the score difference is larger than eleven." "I'll pick Bluesky Stadium for the ballpark," Jotaro sad, "It has a Centerfield of 120 meters, and a Left and Right Field of 95 meters. As for my team, I'll go with the Jaguars."

"A high offensive power team with two players that have a batting average of 0.400," Telence noted, "Not a bad choice. Then I'll go with the Red Dragons. With an even win to loss record of 21 each, they're considered the Jaguars' nemesis." Jotaro went Number 41 for a strong starting pitcher, while Telence went with Number 15, for the same reasons he picked the number for his car. "I'll bat first," Jotaro said. He then saw Telence drawing something on the screen with a digital pen. "What are you doing?," Jotaro asked.

"You can draw faces for the players in this game," Telence explained, "I thought it thematically appropriate if our teams looked like our Stands." Sure enough, the Red Dragons all morphed to resemble Atum, while the Jaguars morphed to resemble Star Platinum. The first pitch was thrown, but Jotaro swung too early and got a strike. "What the hell was that, Jotaro!?," Joseph demanded. He then saw Jotaro was still hitting the button to swing. "Sorry, I didn't realize the pitch was being thrown. I'm trying to get a feel for the controls."

Telence raised an eyebrow. 'He knows the rules of baseball, he just doesn't know the controls of the game. Still, he's a fast learner. I can't take him lightly.' Another pitch was thrown. This time Jotaro swung after the ball was already in the glove. After a third strike with a seemingly stupid mistake, Joseph grabbed Jotaro. "Are you out of your mind!? You do remember you bet your soul on this game right!?" He then got slapped with a leaf created by Music in the Trees. "Calm down, Mister Joestar, it's early in the game."

Telence scoffed. "I hope you're not trying to play dumb with me." "Not at all," Jotaro said, "Now, I believe it's time for my second batter." However, it wasn't long before this batter struck out as well. A third batter soon had two more strikes. 'This man doesn't know anything about video games,' Telence decided, 'It's almost not worth it. Still, now I know all about his hitter's cold zones.' "Okay, I think I got this now," Jotaro said as Telence prepared his next pitch, "I've basically memorized how to hit." Sure enough, despite Telence having aimed for a low pitch, Jotaro managed to hit the ball and score a home run.

"This game is pretty fun," Jotaro said, "It's almost like real baseball, but more futuristic. I like it." Telence was growling. 'In only eight pitches he started to learn the batting controls. I was a fool to underestimate him. Still, he revealed himself in only the first inning. All the same, Jotaro Kujo, you may just be the opponent I've been waiting for.' Before long, Jotaro managed to score an additional three runs, leading Telence by four. "Well Telence, it looks like my grandson's learned the game," Joseph said smugly, "If you release Kakyoin's soul here and now and take us straight to DIO, we promise to spare you."

Telence scoffed. "You know, my brother is a genius at gambling, but also a genius at cheating. He made big money while traveling the world, gambling for thrills. He thought his whole purpose in life was to gamble. But he never once gambled against me. Most brothers like to play games with each other, but we never did. However, that's not because we didn't have a good familial relationship, quite the contrary."

He leaned back in his chair. "When I was fifteen, Daniel had his eyes on my girlfriend. Despite the fact that he's ten years older, I didn't hesitate to beat him to a pulp, breaking his ribs and kicking him until he threw up. But he only admitted to being at fault." He smirked. "My brother could never beat me, and now Jotaro is feeling that same anxiety. He doesn't yet know my powers, and it's getting to him. I'll substitute pitchers to Number 77." Fluttershy sighed. 'It's always the same. People thinking they can see right through Jotaro's stoic demeanor. He's concerned about Telence's power alright, but it's not making him anxious.'

"Just to make things interested," Telence said, "I'll call my pitch. Forkball down the middle!" Jotaro didn't give any indication that he cared. "Just make your pitch." The pitch turned out to be a fastball, though still down the middle. Regardless, Jotaro managed to hit it, though at such an angle that it became a pop fly. Telence's First Baseman caught it, leading to Jotaro's third out. "Jotaro why did you trust his words?," Joseph asked, "You went for it thinking it was a forkball."

"No," Jotaro clarified, "He knew I'd try swinging at it like it was a forkball. So he changed it to a fastball. There's something that's been bugging me ever since we entered this mansion. Telence was somehow able to tell which fist Star Platinum would try striking him with. If I had tried swinging like I thought he was pitching a fastball, he would have switched it to a forkball." Telence's batter aimed with his bat. "Who does he think he is, Babe Ruth?," Fluttershy asked.

"This ball will be hit right into the left stands," Telence announced. "Grandpa," Jotaro said, "You checked the console, right?" Joseph nodded. "Yeah, and I've been watching his movements carefully." "Then this has got to be his Stand doing this," Jotaro realized, "It has another power besides just stealing souls." He aimed his pitch right for the hitter. Telence smirked as he made his batter back up and swung, hitting a home run. Jotaro nodded. 'Yeah, this is definitely a Stand that can read minds. This makes things difficult. I'll need to pull something new off if I hope to beat it.'

Telence managed to bring his score up to three, calling his shots and asking questions about Jotaro's pitches each time. That got Jotaro thinking. He then took his cap off and placed it on the monitor. "Jotaro, this isn't going to work," Joseph said, "It's not like he's looking into your eyes to read the monitor." "I just needed to cool off," Jotaro said as he wiped some sweat from his brow, "But now I don't need to anymore. Hey, Telence. I'll be calling my pitch now." That got both Joseph and Telence looking shocked, while Fluttershy grinned.

"I'll pitch a high and away fastball," Jotaro declared. "Jotaro, what did you just say!?," Joseph demanded. Fluttershy then put a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay. I think he's figured something out." Joseph looked at her, then Jotaro, then he nodded in understanding. Telence smirked. 'He can't be that stupid. My Stand Atum can read the souls of others using yes or no questions. Unlike reading minds, reading one's soul is one hundred percent accurate.'

"So," Telence said, "High and away fastball?" Through Atum's eyes, he could see Jotaro's soul calling out, "YES! YES! YES!" Telence was honestly surprised. 'Well he wasn't lying. He really intends to pitch high and away. Jotaro, you bluffed my brother into losing, but there's no way that will work on me.' Jotaro made his pitch. "I hope you haven't forgotten!," Telence said, "Once the difference in our score is greater than eleven... You lose!" But his smugness dropped quickly as the fastball suddenly turned into a curveball, shocking him.

He quickly adjusted his swing and managed to hit, but instead of the home run he wanted, it wound up bouncing to Jotaro's Third Baseman, who quickly threw it to the Shortstop, then the First Baseman, resulting in Telence's first out. Telence started to sweat. 'That's impossible! It wouldn't matter if Jotaro was some sort of holy man or expert gambler, it's impossible to control someone's soul!' "My next will also be a high and away fastball," Jotaro said, with his soul calling out, "YES! YES! YES!"

Telence's eye twitched. "Jotaro, do really intend to cheat?" "I DO! I DO! I DO!" Sure enough, the pitched turned out to be a low inside curveball. The batter hit it, but it turned into a pop fly that Jotaro's Pitcher managed to catch, giving Telence two outs. Telence stood up. "Jotaro, you tampered with the console somehow, didn't you!?" "NO! NO! NO!" Telence was surprised. It was clear that Jotaro was cheating. "Damn you! Just how are you cheating!?" But there was no response from Jotaro's soul, causing Telence to freak out. 'Shit! I forgot I can only ask yes or no questions!'

"I see," Jotaro said, "I thought your telepathy involved those questions you keep asking. But it looks like the answer has to come in the form of a yes or no. Like your brother said, it's not cheating if you don't get caught." Telence growled. 'Damn it! I know he's cheating somehow! If I could only find out his method!' Fluttershy giggled. "I think you turned the tables, Jojo." Jotaro smiled. "My next pitch is a high and away fastball." "Don't think you can trick me!," Telence called out, "Not cheating unless you're caught!? Who do you think you're speaking to!? I'll reveal your trick and lay claim to your soul!"

Jotaro remained calm. "You can already tell whether or not I'm lying. There's no need to fly off the handle. I told you, high and away fastball. Now get ready to bat." Telence focused Atum on Jotaro, his soul calling out, "YES! YES! YES!" This kept up as Jotaro made his pitch. As the pitch came in, it still looked like a fastball. 'I'll reveal your trick, Jotaro Kujo! Just watch me!' But the fastball dropped into a forkball, even as Jotaro's soul continued to swear he would pitch a fastball.

The batter still hit, but only as the ball started to pass, causing it to go into the catcher's mitt. An automatic out. Telence was now starting to hyperventilate. "I think he's starting to lose his confidence in his Stand," Fluttershy noted, "You've got him on the ropes now." Telence growled as he knocked away Jotaro's hat. "This all started when you took this off!" He then checked the console as Jotaro went for his hat. Seeing nothing wrong, Telence saw Jotaro put his hat back on. "I get it! Your hat is the trick!?" "NO! NO! NO!"

Telence growled, then checked the monitors again. "You did something to the monitors or console right!?" "NO! NO! NO!" "Then you used your Star Platinum somehow!?" "NO! NO! NO!" "And still you're somehow cheating!?" "YES! YES! YES!" Telence was flabbergasted. 'I can clearly read his soul! So why did the ball change!? I don't get it! How is he cheating goddamn it!?' "He's starting to look a lot older," Joseph noted, "He doesn't look like he's twenty anymore."

"Even his brother took longer to break down completely," Fluttershy noted. "It's your pitch Telence," Jotaro pointed out. Telence sat down, but was still hyperventilating. 'I can do this... The score's four to three... I can make up that run. I'm the greatest gamer ever! My mind and will are strong! I've been through so many battles that I'm invincible! If I win at games, then I win at life!' As he thought, he made his pitch. But he was so out of it the pitch was careless and easy for Jotaro to hit, resulting in a home run.

Telence had a blank look on his face, unable to comprehend the game anymore. In that instant, Kakyoin's soul was immediately released from the puppet, snapping Telence out of it as he freaked out. "Damn it! I wasn't paying attention and accidentally released him!" "Accidentally nothing," Fluttershy retorted, "Your Stand doesn't work like that. Your heart knew you could no longer beat Jotaro, so it admitted defeat. That's all there is to it." As Joseph and Jotaro went to check on Kakyoin, Telence gasped when he saw Jotaro's controller. Hermit Purple was wrapped around it, in a perfect position to manipulate the directional pad and buttons.

"Whoops," Joseph said, "I got so excited I forgot." "It's fine," Jotaro assured him, "The game's already won." Telence was flabbergasted. "To think it was something so stupid... Joseph Joestar was the one playing the game the whole time?" "YES! YES! YES!" "You relied on your Stand too much," Fluttershy noted, "You were tunnel visioned on Jotaro, and never thought to check me or Mister Joestar. I bet your brother would have thought of this quickly."

"I'm glad you understood my plan, Grandpa," Jotaro said, "I didn't need to signal you or anything." Joseph chuckled. "We're family after all. I can always tell what you're thinking. Now then..." The three of them turned to Telence, who was freaking out. "Hey now! I already released Kakyoin! Can you please let me go!?" Jotaro scoffed. "Why not ask our souls if we'll show mercy?" Of course, said souls were calling out, "NO! NO! NO!" "Hey, here's a question," Fluttershy offered, "Will my boyfriend beat you up with his right hand or his left hand?"

Telence gulped. "Maybe very softly with the left...?" "NO! NO! NO!" "Uh... The right...?" "NO! NO! NO!" Telence freaked out. "Both of them!?" "YES! YES! YES!" "Are you gonna do the 'Ora Ora' thing!?" "Yes! Yes! Yes!," Joseph said, "Oh my god..." "ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!" "And it's a high fly, folks!," Fluttershy joked as Telence went flying, "Telence T D'Arby, the last of the Ten Glory Gods, is outta here!"

Just to let you guys know before this chapter starts, I did some studying of Ice's Stand. If sound can penetrate his void form, why not other things, like light or heat? Could he possibly erase something not solid, like water?

And even if Hamon couldn't track his Stand energy, could it still track his life energy? These are questions I threw around when writing this chapter, and I hope you guys don't hate the results I came up with.

Vanilla Ice approached DIO's chambers. "Forgive the disturbance Master, but I have something to report. As you likely know, Joestar and company have entered the mansion. I've just learned that the younger D'Arby has been defeated. Your Ten Glory Gods have failed." The doors opened to allow Ice in. "Telence had his chance to win," came DIO's voice, "But he failed. He is a certified genius, that much is clear. Why then do you think he failed to defeat the Joestars?"

Ice entered and dropped to a knee. "It's because the Joestars are willing to risk everything for the sake of that woman, Holly Kujo." "Indeed," DIO said, "Of course, that's only the Joestar bloodline. But the others all have one reason or another to want me dead, even willing to risk their lives for the chance. It's the reason they've made it this far. They think if they run from me, they will run from their destiny. It's foolish platitudes, but platitudes are what has gotten mankind far in the last ten-thousand years."

He sipped from his wine glass. "Telence T D'Arby swore loyalty to me, but he wasn't prepared to die for me. That's the difference between him and the Joestar group. It's almost pathetic that he'll never realize this." He touched the scar on his neck. "I see you're still having trouble adjusting to the body of George Joestar II," Ice said. "Yes," DIO admitted, "The scar where my head attached to his neck is still present. If I face the Joestars as I am now they'll likely remove my head accidentally during battle. That would end the fight quickly. Perhaps one more person's blood... Ice, would you be willing to offer your blood?"

Ice nodded. "It would be my pleasure." He called forth his Stand, the monstrous Cream, and had it grab a nearby pot. He then had his Stand decapitate him, letting the blood spill into the pot. DIO sighed as he took another sip from his glass. "Truly you're a loyal servant. But you didn't realize that I wasn't being serious. Still, I can't give up such a valuable servant. I'll use someone else to get the blood I need. In the meantime..." He slit his wrist. Having evolved over a hundred years, DIO had learned something new. If someone accepted his blood at the moment of death, it would be as if they had worn the stone mask, becoming a vampire instead of a zombie.

He poured his blood onto Ice, causing his head and body to reattach as his breath came back to him. "You're power is the strongest one I've yet seen," DIO said, "If anyone besides me can defeat the Joestars and their companions, you can." "Lord DIO...," Ice muttered, unsure of what to think of his master's gift of life. "You'll need to get used to your new body quickly," DIO said, "I want you to go out into the mansion and kill the Joestar group." Ice stood up. "As you command!"

His Stand proceeded to swallow him, then itself, becoming a void of destruction as it did, which burst of out the room, cutting perfect curved lines into everything it touched. DIO sighed as he sat down to read. "There was a door to my room... This is why I left my plans for Heaven to Pucci. Still, I wasn't lying about Ice's Stand. Cream can completely vanish from this dimension. And when it does... Whatever it touches gets erased."

Hol Horse checked his watch. "It's been ten minutes, and no sign of them." "Are we really going to burn this place down?," Polnareff asked. "I'm sure the only reason we haven't heard from them is because of the obvious illusion being cast on the interior," Avdol noted, "It should be safe to enter and find them. Just be mindful. There's no telling where enemies may show up. Also, we can't go saving each other. Our priority is DIO, so we must each look after our own safety."

Polnareff nodded. "Tell you what, though, if we do all make it out of here, then dinner's on me." "Don't go raising death flags now," Hol Horse quipped. The group started to enter the long hallway, their Stands at the ready. As Polnareff looked through of the arches, he nearly fainted from motion sickness just by looking at it. "Mon Dieu... MC Escher would love this place." "I'd say at this point burning down the mansion is out of question," Avdol said, "But I can still try something else. Magician's Red!"

His Stand appeared and created a six-point flame construct. "I can use this flame to navigate," Avdol explained, "It can detect breaths, movement, and Stand energies. The flames on the tips indicate directions. Up, down, left, right, forward, and back. It's effective at up to fifteen meters." Jonathan nodded. "Joseph and the others were pulled into the basement, so let's start by heading down." As they did, some of the tips flared up. "It's already spotted something," Avdol noted, "Forward and to the left."

Iggy's nose twitched. "I can smell someone in the general area... Right in that archway over there! The Fool!" Iggy's stand came out and struck where the smell was coming from, slashing through Kenny's chest and killing him instantly. Immediately the illusions began to disappear. "This guy must have been creating the maze with his Stand," Polnareff realized, "Do you recognize him, Hol Horse?" "Never seen him before," Hol Horse admitted, "But if he was sequestered here in the mansion he must've been one of DIO's personal servants."

Jonathan then whirled his head around. "Ra!" His Stand fired a burst of solar energy, causing a nearby sphere to redirect its path away from the group. "That sphere didn't show up in my flames!," Avdol realized. "And I can't smell anything coming from it!," Iggy called out. "I was able to sense a dead life force within it using my Hamon," Jonathan said, "And look at the damage it did as it turned away from my attack." The group gasped as they saw the sphere had cut cleanly through the walls, almost like they were erased. "If that had hit one of us," Hol Horse realized, "Then it woulda been game over!"

"Personally I'm not keen on dying a second time!," Avdol said. "It seems even Hamon can detect my life energy within this sphere," came Ice's voice from within the sphere, "That is why you were spared. My name is Vanilla Ice, and no I am not kidding. I am here to change your minds, about defeating Lord DIO." Cream slowly regurgitated itself until Ice could poke his head out. "My Stand can erase things from this dimension and send them to a dark dimension. I'm not sure where that is exactly. But I'll be sure to send you all there by the time this is over."

Down in the basement, the other half of the group heard the sounds of fighting. "The others must've gone into the mansion," Joseph realized, "It sounds like a wall collapsed." "I hope they're doing all right," Fluttershy said. "You don't think they've gotten to DIO before we could have a shot, do you?," Kakyoin asked. Joseph shook his head. "DIO may be powerful, but he's also calculating. He'd likely prefer to take the fight outside his mansion. Especially with how the last two times he fought in a mansion went for him."

The group was starting to breathe heavily as Ice continued his assault. It seemed like everytime one of them made to attack, Cream just shrunk down to get out of the way. "He's faster than anyone we've fought before," Polnareff noted. "Polnareff, duck!," Hol Horse called out. Polnareff did so just as Cream passed over him, barely scrapping his hair. "That was too close! Another few inches and I'd have lost too much brain to keep fighting!"

"We need to move to another room!," Iggy said, "Try to get some distance!" They headed through a nearby door, and Polnareff and Jonathan started stacking furniture in front of it. "I doubt that will stop it," Avdol pointed out. "You're probably right," Polnareff said, "But we may slow it down from the volume of mass it has to go through." They then headed up the stairs just as Cream came barreling through, hitting the stairs several feet below them. Cream regurgitated Ice, who checked his wounds. Up above, Jonathan raised an eyebrow, as he noticed the wounds were healing.

"They managed to tag me a few times," Ice noted, "Hol Horse has gotten more accurate with his Stand. And Polnareff is much faster than I anticipated. But my Stand is still stronger. I must defeat them for Lord DIO." The group continued to climb higher to the second floor. As they did, Cream stopped right at the door. "I thought they'd leave the mansion. I guess I was wrong." He continued to move up through the floors. On the second floor, Jonathan held the group back just as Cream ran right through the floor.

"It's so fast," Avdol said, "And it doesn't make a sound." "I can still track him," Jonathan assured him, "His Stand can't disguise his life energy." He then whipped his head towards Polnareff. "Polnareff, jump back now!" Polnareff did so just as Cream shot up from between the cracks. "I almost got his foot," Ice said, "Perhaps I should focus on Jonathan Joestar first." The next thing Cream knew, it had to backtrack as the entire room around the group started getting covered in flames.

When he could no longer hear them, Ice poked his head out from inside Cream. "They used the sound of the flames to mask their escape. Earlier Jonathan's Stand somehow burned me even inside my Stand. My Stand can disintegrate any matter, but I've always had trouble with more liquid matter. And light and fire are too transitory to be affected." "Must you make such noise as you fight, Vanilla Ice?," came DIO's voice. Ice moved his Stand over to move in front of DIO.

"Master, those intruders are hiding somewhere in this room," Ice said, "I'll take of this, so please don't concern yourself." He then spotted something and whirled around to attack, breaking what turned out to be a sand construct created by The Fool. "That's some nice instinct," Jonathan said as he came out of hiding, blasting at Ice with his Stand. "There's sunlight shining through the windows," Ice explained, "DIO would never come out at this time of day. And he entrusted me the task of killing you."

Jonathan chuckled. "So naive. Of course he would, he's a very social butterfly. As long as he avoids direct exposure to sunlight he may move about his own mansion as he pleases. You wound up figuring out our trick because of sheer luck. Also, he's the sort that's not afraid to get his hands dirty, even when surrounded by his servants and minions. I should think I know him better than you, Vanilla Ice. He was my adoptive brother, after all." Ice's eyes opened wide. 'I could've easily wound up attacking my master by accident.'

He then found himself shot through the shoulder. The construct of DIO then burst into sand all over the ground. Ice gasped as he realized what was going on. "You never intended to use the construct to attack me! You just needed to track my Stand!" "Yes and no," Avdol clarified, "We were hoping to get you to let your guard down, but if you didn't, we did have this backup plan prepared."

Ice quickly hid back inside Cream, but Polnareff whipped up the sand with his Stand, allowing them to track Cream's path. As they looked around, keeping an eye on the path of circles, Cream finally stopped. "Damn it, I can't hear them if they don't move," Ice said. He then found himself pierced through mouth by Silver Chariot. "Checkmate, monsieur." "Just as we thought," Iggy said, "Ice can hear everything inside that sphere, but he's also completely blind. So he has to peek out every once in a while."

Ice growled, then had his Stand grab Polnareff by the neck. "The hell!," Hol Horse said, "How is that bastard still alive!? Polnareff stabbed him right in the brainstem!" Jonathan narrowed his eyes. "I think I know." "I... Cannot die to meager attacks...," Ice said, "I have a mission to fulfill. I must kill you all! Until then, I will not die!" Avdol quickly grabbed Polnareff with his Red Bind and pulled him away. As Polnareff breathed heavily, he smacked Avdol in the shoulder. "What happened to not saving each other...?"

Avdol shrugged. "I figured this time I could do it with only minimal risk to my life." "Look out!," Hol Horse called out, "He's at it again!" Silver Chariot kicked up more sand. "Attacks are useless once he's completely in that void," Jonathan said, "Avdol, use your Red Bind on him when he pokes his head out again. Then I can finish him off. I know what's going on with him. But from his words... It seems he doesn't." However, Ice seemed to be on a rampage, breaking apart the mansion and causing more sunlight to stream in. More than once the group had to dodge aside.

The movements were soon revealed to be in a spiral pattern, forcing the group into one location. As Cream started to get closer, it finally stopped in the center. Ice finally came out of Cream. "Looks like I finally got them." Jonathan then appeared from the ceiling and punched Ice's arm with a charged Hamon attack. "No... You didn't!" Ice became shocked as his arm completely disintegrated. "But... How...?" He then looked up, and gasped. At the last minute, Iggy's Stand dragged the entire group up to ceiling.

Iggy snickered. "That was complete instinct right there. It's like... Like my soul had no choice but to move. And I wound up taking the rest of these guys with me." The group dropped down. "I've always read about monsters like you growing up in France," Polnareff said, "And I heard the stories from Mister Joestar. But to see a real life vampire before our eyes. That's the real reason you survived when I stabbed you through the brain, not some idealistic reason like determination."

"Which means DIO must have infused you with his blood," Avdol noted, "But such a shame, your little rampage just flooded this entire room with sunlight. And there's still a few more hours in the day." Ice became flabbergasted, as Polnareff used Silver Chariot to break open a door, letting sunlight in through the window and right into the spot of shade Ice had managed to land in, cutting off his other arm. 'No... No, it can't end like this! I can't fail this badly! I never even killed a single one of them!'

"It's over Ice," Jonathan said, "You may have gained immortality when Polnareff killed off your old body... But even immortality can't last forever. Sunlight Yellow Overdrive!" Taking a page from his adopted sister Twilight, Jonathan channeled his Hamon through Ra, smashing Ice with four Hamon charged punches, crumbling him to dust. The group then collapsed as the anxiety washed over them. "This was just one bit of fortune after another," Avdol said, "Ice had the potential to destroy all of us." "But he's gone now," Jonathan said, "And something tells me it's just DIO left. Come on, we don't have much time left."

We have to wait one more chapter to encounter DIO once and for all, since the manga chapter this chapter is modeled after is a quick cut back to Holly, just to remind us what's at stake. With a few new faces showing up, of course.

Sadao grumbled at the sight of his beloved wife. Being a Stand user himself, he could see the vines practically strangling her at this point. His old friend Sanji were there too, observing the Stand's growth. "I encountered a similar incident to this in Morioh," he said. Sadao looked up at him. "You have?" "Remember that rogue Stand user I was telling you about?," Sanji explained, "Well, I found him, creating another snowstorm like the one he made eighteen years prior."

"And this is when you found that other person afflicted the same way as Holly?," Sadao asked. Sanji nodded. "Poor kid was suffering a severe fever. His mom was driving him to the hospital, but it was stuck in the snow. I offered to help her push it out. Inside I could see the kid, his Stand energy going haywire. Ultimately I was able to able to free the car and send it driving again using Reverse Rebirth." He chuckled. "I saw this look of admiration on the kid's face as they left. But I think they may have mistaken me for someone younger."

Sadao chuckled. "Well that pompadour certainly makes you seem younger. Still, I didn't think we'd run into each other again so soon." "When the Speedwagon Foundation heard about Holly's condition," Sanji said, "I was asked to be on the staff due to being a Stand user. That way I could track her progress more easily. But still, I hope your son and father-in-law hurry. If they don't kill DIO in the next twenty-four hours..." Sadao closed his eyes, knowing what was at stake. "Mister Kujo," another doctor said, "I've just been informed that your mother-in-law is coming to visit." "She must have also heard," Sadao realized.

Despite looking more aged since the 1930s, it was clear Suzi Q was aging as gracefully as her grandmother-in-law had. Not to mention she still had her vivacious attitude. "Oh, this shop looks good to have a bite in," she said when she saw a small soba restaurant. "Madam please," said Roses, the family's butler, "This establishment is for common businessmen. A lady like you shouldn't be stopping at such a common eating establishment." "Oh pish tosh," Suzi Q said, "You forget I was a maid before I was a lady. I'll eat where I like, thank you very much."

With them was another agent of the Speedwagon Foundation. "Roses, have you told Missus Joestar about the condition of her daughter?" Roses sighed. "I... Just haven't had the heart to. Missus Joestar thinks Holly is suffering from pneumonia." He trembled. "I've been employed with the Joestar family for thirty years now, and I've known the Young Miss Holly since she was in elementary school. To think that she would be dying all of a sudden..."

"We're doing all we can for her," the agent said, "But she only has a few more days. We're just lucky Matsumoto is a Stand user, or this condition would completely stump even our advanced medical technology. Mister Kujo is also a Stand user, so he's not under any delusions of what's going. The best we can do... Is hope Mister Joestar's journey is successful." "Is it true then?," Roses said with hope, "Will Holly be cured if DIO is defeated?"

The agent nodded. "But that's a big if. It took everything Jonathan had to push DIO to the edge of death a hundred years ago. And from what I've heard, the monster is even stronger now. Holly is susceptible to DIO's evil energy because of her Joestar blood, and her soul is too gentle to control her Stand. That's why it's killing her." "This must be hurting Sadao more than anyone else," Roses said, "Normal people like us can only see a woman sick in bed. But he can see the spread of the infection firsthand."

The agent lowered his eyes. "Suzi Q may not be a Stand user, but she will be able to see Death's shadow over her daughter. She needs to be told soon." "Come on now Roses," Suzi Q called out, "Don't just stand there talking. Grab something for yourself." As Roses started trying to tell Suzi Q what was happening, she kept cutting him off with her curiosity, eventually taping a Yakuza thug. "Hey!," the man said, "Who gave you permission to tape, me you old hag!?"

He grabbed Suzi Q, only be violently kicked in the gut by Roses, forcing him to let go and throwing him backwards. "I'll thank you to take your hands off Madam," Roses said politely, in spite of his recent spat of violence. 'I may not be a Stand user like Mister Kujo or know Hamon like Mister Joestar, but I can handle a simple thug thanks to being a trained fighter.' As the three of them got back in the car, Roses lamented that he still wasn't able to tell Suzi Q about her daughter.

As the car started to get near the Kujo residence, Suzi Q's expression turned grim. "Roses... You've been trying to tell me something this whole time. But I already know... My daughter's life is in danger, isn't it?" Roses was shocked. "You... Already knew? But when?" "When I called just over a month ago," Suzi Q explained, "She said it was a just a cold, but a mother knows these things. And Sadao's concert in New York was suddenly canceled right around that time."

Roses and the agent looked at her. "Sadao only ever cancels his tours when something's wrong with his family," Suzi Q noted, "And Jotaro is traveling with Joseph on what he claims is a business trip, so that must mean it's something to do with Holly. I haven't been told everything, everyone's trying to keep me out of the loop... But I can tell..." The agent sighed. "I'm sorry to say... Your daughter only has a few more days to live. Mister Joestar and his grandson are traveling with some others to confront the source in Egypt. The last we heard from them was in Cairo."

Suzi Q nodded as the car pulled into the Kujo residence. Sadao perked up his head when he saw his mother-in-law, the sound also walking up Holly. "Mama...," she said smiling. "Yes, Holly," Suzi Q said, "I'm here." 'All we can do know is believe,' Sadao thought, 'Holly may be dying from this. But Jotaro... My son... He's only gotten stronger. DIO, whoever you are, you are going to regret not leaving my family alone. My son will see to that!'

I'm excited for a couple reasons. One, I've been eager to post this chapter. And two, at the time of posting the new Anime for Part 5: Golden Wind has just debuted. That's my favorite part and I'm looking forward to when my story reaches that part. Until then, enjoy this chapter.

Nukesaku laughed as he listened to floor. "Vanilla Ice talked a big game, but in the end he died as well! To think he, Kenny G, and the younger D'Arby would fall victim to such cheap tricks! Looks like in the end they were the real losers!" He launched himself into the air horizontally and landed on the ceiling. "They mocked my ability, even threatened to kill me if I got in their way. A mere vampire indeed. Well who's laughing now!? I'll be the one to kill the Joestars and their allies." He smirked when heard several people coming.

It was Jotaro, Joseph, Kakyoin, and Fluttershy. "Jeez what happened here?," Fluttershy asked. "That's a lot of damage," Joseph noted, "And from the looks of it, most of it was created by a Stand, or several. The others probably ran into another enemy." Jotaro nodded. "From the lack of any noise the fighting stopped some time ago. I hope everyone's alright." He whirled his head around. "Hey, I think I hear someone coming."

A young woman stumbled out of an open door at looked at the group in fear. "Ahh! Please don't suck my blood!" "Whoa, whoa, easy there," Joseph said, "We're not vampires, and we don't work for DIO. We're here to save you. We're friends, see?" The woman looked hopeful. "You're really help me? You're really friends?" "Yeah, that's right," Jotaro said. He then punched the woman in the face with Star Platinum. "Friends of justice, that is." Joseph smirked. "And we'll help you... Make your way to Hell."

As the woman landed on her front, it turned out to be Nukesaku, who was using his strange ability in that he had an additional front on his back, complete with another face. "Impossible! How did you see through my perfect disguise!?" Fluttershy laughed into her hand. "Perfect? Check your hands loser, you forgot to switch them around." Nukesaku looked at his hands, and gasped when he saw they were still oriented for his regular face. "Damn it, I always forget that part..."

"That's a pretty crucial detail to consider," Kakyoin noted, "Especially since we've picked up the habit of looking at people's hands thanks to J Geil." "So loser," Jotaro said, "How about you take us to DIO?" Nukesaku growled. "You dare to underestimate me?," he said as he reoriented his body. He then leapt into the air, fangs bared. "I'll kill you here and now! I've been given the blood of Lord DIO! I am immortal-- Urp..." His bite attack had been stopped on Star Platinum's wrist. "Uh oh..."

"Immortal, huh?," Jotaro said, "That means you're a vampire like DIO. This is perfect then. We can use you as a test subject to see how durable he is." "Oh my god...," Joseph said, actually feeling sorry for Nukesaku. Star Platinum and Music in the Trees pummeled Nukesaku over and over, Fluttershy throwing in some poison barbs for good measure. Nukesaku was thrown through several pillars. Though beaten up, he was still conscious and breathing.

"Oh wow, he really is immortal," Fluttershy noted, "The venom in those barbs I used is fatal in under three seconds." Jotaro picked Nukesaku up. "Though it's clear immortality doesn't mean indestructibility. So loser, the sun is going down soon, so why not take us to DIO, or we'll start dismembering you bit by bit." Nukesaku gulped. "O-Okay... But if I can ask a question... How did you know my nickname is Loser?" Jotaro looked flabbergasted at that question. "Gimme a break..."

On the third floor, the other half of the group could see the darkness start to swell. "This presence," Jonathan said, "I've not felt it in a hundred years. DIO is close at hand." "You can almost feel the darkness in the air," Polnareff noted. "Did you see those women downstairs that were drained?," Hol Horse said, "DIO sure likes to display his leftovers. I can't believe they all came to him willingly." "He used to need someone else to find food for him," Jonathan noted, "I guess he's improved since then."

"Jonathan Joestar," said a familiar voice. Jonathan narrowed his eyes. "DIO." Sure enough, DIO was there at the top of the steps. "Still alive after a hundred years," DIO noted, "I must say, for someone who lacks my eternal youth you look quite well. I never would have guessed Hamon could slow your aging down. Is Twilight here as well?" "Twilight died several decades ago," Jonathan said sadly, "Shortly after her husband." DIO nodded. "I see. That's the price we pay for longer lives, I suppose, whether immortal or otherwise."

He looked at the rest of the group. "And I see some other familiar faces. More recent at that. Polnareff, Avdol, and Hol Horse. I must admit, Hol Horse, had I known you'd go with your Zeppeli family instincts and join the Joestars, I would have pegged you with my spores as well." "It wouldn't have helped," Avdol said, "We've found someone capable of removing them." "Yes, I'm aware of Jotaro Kujo's precision," DIO said, "I must say, it'll be a delight to see it firsthand."

"You don't seem surprised that we all made it this far," Polnareff noted. DIO shrugged. "I confess I expected some of your group to reach me in the end. But to think you'd all survive up until this point. That takes a good combination of skill, luck, planning, and maybe a miracle or two. It's an impressive feat to say the least." "I'm sorry I never found you on that boat a hundred years ago," Jonathan said, "I might have been able to end it. But who can say for sure?"

Polnareff started to step forward. "DIO. The last time we met you managed to enslave me. But now I feel no fear when I look at you." "Then you are already far beyond most mortals," DIO said, "Step forward to face me then, if you are not afraid to die." Polnareff started to walk up the stairs, but as he climbed he suddenly blinked as he realized he was right back at the bottom with the others. "The hell was that?," Hol Horse asked, "That was clearly DIO's Stand but I didn't see it or feel it activate."

"One minute I was starting to approach DIO," Polnareff said, "The next I'm back down with you guys." "It's too bad only one of you decided to climb," DIO said, "It would have been easier to mock you if you all climbed as one, only to fall victim to my Stand simultaneously. But because Polnareff climbed alone, you're now aware I used my Stand. Up until now, you've encountered twenty-one of the tarot-based Stands. My Stand is the final tarot Stand, The World." A golden humanoid wearing armor appeared behind DIO.

As he spoke, the wall nearby broke away, revealing sunlight pouring in. DIO flinched as he backed into the shadows. "Looks like I'll have to retreat for now." He disappeared deeper into the darkness. "You guys," Fluttershy said, "You're all okay." "That man that fled into the shadows," Jotaro said, "That was DIO wasn't it?" "That was him alright," Joseph said, "Granddad, did you get a good look at his Stand?" "Yes, it's the oddest power I've seen," Jonathan said, "One second Polnareff started climbing the stairs toward DIO, the next he was back next to us. It happened so fast not even my Hamon could track either of them."

"That's not merely moving fast," Kakyoin noted, "That's practically stopping everything but himself somehow." "At least we know DIO's old weakness to sunlight still stands," Joseph said. Avdol then noticed the bag Kakyoin was carrying, which Iggy sniffed as it wiggled about. "What's in here?," Avdol asked. "Just a loser we picked up along the way," Kakyoin said as he dropped the bag, making it give off a muffled yelp. He then punched at it. "Hey, we've got no time to waste! Make sure to answer our questions!"

He opened the bag to reveal Nukesaku, healed from his pummeling but sporting a strangling vine courtesy of Fluttershy. "What's at the top of this staircase?," Kakyoin asked. Nukesaku gulped. "It's... It's a tower. There's a room at the top where Lord DIO sometimes rests during the day." "Is there any other way up?," Kakyoin asked. Nukesaku shook his head. "No... That staircase is the only way." Kakyoin then punted the tiny vampire. "Then take us up there!"

At the top of the room, the group saw a large coffin surrounded by candelabras. "Are we sure it's not Dracula we're after instead of DIO?," Fluttershy joked, "This just seems way too cliche for a real vampire." Jonathan shrugged. "DIO likes to show off." Jotaro used Star Platinum to smash the nearby window open, letting in some sunlight. Nukesaku shrank back from the light pouring into the room and onto the casket. "Keep your guard up," Joseph said, "DIO may not even be in the casket."

The group surrounded the casket from all sides. Avdol and Hol Horse from the top. Iggy, Polnareff, and Kakyoin from the left. Jotaro and Fluttershy from the right. And Joseph and Jonathan from the bottom. "Okay Loser," Joseph said, "Open the casket." Nukesaku gulped, but moved to comply. "Lord DIO, please understand I'm not betraying you. I'm only doing this so may kill all those fool at once! I believe in your power!" He opened the casket as the group got out their Stands.

As the casket opened, the group was shocked to find Nukesaku had somehow wound up in the casket, completely segmented. "Wha... What...? But I was just... Opening the casket..." "It's DIO!," Joseph realized, "It's the same phenomenon that happened back at the stairs!" "I didn't sense any movement," Jonathan noted. "I didn't smell anything," Iggy pointed out. "It's like he can instantly freeze everything around him," Fluttershy said. Jotaro looked around. "We need to get out of here! Out into the city!"

The entire group leapt out the nearby window, Hol Horse grabbing Iggy's sand glider as the others used their various Stands to cushion the fall. "That power is clearly stronger than anything else I've ever seen," Kakyoin noted, "And we didn't even see it activate." "Dad once fought a Stand user that could compress time," Jotaro said, "But even that seems to pale in comparison." "It's like an oncoming truck," Avdol said, "You can tell it's coming just from the sound of its engines." "He's even more powerful now than a hundred years ago," Jonathan realized, "I knew he gained great power from his Stand, but this is more than I realized."

"Guys," Fluttershy said, "The sun's going down." "We've got no time to wait for the next dawn," Joseph said, "But we can't just rush back in there. We'll wait for him to come out to us. Tonight, DIO must die, there is no alternative." "Let's split up," Jotaro suggested, "Whatever his power is, there's no way he's strong enough to take us all at once if we're spread out across Cairo." They immediately headed off in different directions.

Night began to fall as DIO emerged from his mansion. "I can't feel any of their presences in the city. They must have split up. Even with the power I've gained I can't search the entire city in one go. I'll need to do it the old-fashioned way." He didn't notice Jotaro, Polnareff, Hol Horse, Iggy, and Avdol in the bushes at the foot of his mansion as he left to go into the city. As he did, he smiled at the passing vehicles. 'You fall asleep for a century and look how much technology advances. And those fool teachers at Hugh Hudson Academy thought everything worth discovering had already been discovered. I just wish they were still alive so I could laugh in their faces.'

He went to open a car door, only to sigh in frustration when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see a large man who looked to be dressed as bodyguard. "Don't you dare touch that car!," the man barked, "It belongs to Senator Wilson Philips! Do you even who you're dealing with!?" "Don't care," DIO said as he grabbed the man's arm and broke it like a toothpick. He then opened the door as the man crumpled to the ground bleeding, then sat down next to a jovial looking man that he assumed was Senator Phillips, not that it mattered.

"Why hello there, young man," Phillips said, "You shouldn't be so rude." He gave a good natured laugh before DIO grabbed his front teeth and pulled them out like he was plucking a wishbone. "Get in front and drive," DIO said in a commanding tone. "Who the hell do you think you are!?," Phillips said, his earlier politeness gone. "The most powerful man in this car," DIO said, "Now drive before I break off more teeth." Phillips growled. "Do you have any idea who I am!?" "I don't particularly care," DIO retorted.

"I am Senator Wilson Phillips!," Phillips shouted, "I was first in all my classes since high school! I was captain of my college wrestling team! I became a famous politician! I have a thousand-acre estate in Hawaii, and supermodel wife that's twenty-five years than me to go along with it! I've crushed all of my enemies before now! And one day, I will become president of the United States!" DIO yawned. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wish Speedwagon was alive to hear you yammer on. He'd do even worse than I just did. Also, president? The bar for US president must not be very high if an actor like Ronald Reagan can get elected."

He then grabbed Phillips by the nose. "Now I'll only say this one more time..." He broke Phillips nose and threw him into the driver's seat. "Drive." Now freaked out, Phillips tried to get out of the car, only to get surprised when he somehow looped around and wound up back in the car. DIO couldn't help but smirk. 'I may just get some fun in before the final battle with the Joestars.' He smiled as Phillips kept trying to exit the car, only for DIO to active The World each time and have Phillips right back inside the car.

It wasn't long before the arrogant politician was reduced to a mental wreck. "Now then, if you wouldn't mind," DIO said, "I need to catch up to that truck over there." He pointed to a truck that had Joseph, Kakyoin, Jonathan, and Fluttershy in it. "If you don't catch up," DIO said, "You die. Are we clear?" "Y-Yes sir!," Phillips said as he got in the diver's seat and hit the gas, putting pedal to the metal in an effort to catch up. Up ahead, Joseph checked the rear-view mirror. "I can sense DIO coming up behind us. His bloodlust is strong."

"We split off from Jotaro," Fluttershy said, "DIO can track us using the body he got from your father, but he can't tell the difference between one Joestar and another until he sees them in person, right?" Joseph nodded. "That will give us an edge. Our priority should be figuring out what DIO's Stand can do." Elsewhere, the other group was getting onto some bikes. "You ever ridden a motorcycle, Hol Horse?," Avdol asked. "Sure on occasion," Hol Horse admitted, "Not my preferred method of travel though. They tend to be gas guzzlers. And as a farm-raised man I have a tendency to prefer animal transport."

DIO scoffed as the limo wound up getting stuck in traffic. 'Just my luck... I can already feel them getting father ahead. Well, only one thing for it.' "What are you waiting for?," he warned Phillips, "Keep driving." "But it's impossible," Phillips pleaded, "The traffic is too congested." "Then drive on the sidewalk," DIO suggested. "But it's packed with pedestrians!," Philips argued. DIO shrugged. "Your point?" The screams as people tried to get out of the way of the limo sounded like a symphony to DIO. 'Ah, you can't get music like this using just horses. I mean, you technically could using modern CDs, but that's just semantics at that point.'

He smirked as he saw the senator starting to lose his mind. 'What a weak little man. It makes his earlier bragging seem harder to believe. He probably thinks this is all a dream. Anyway, they're sill too far ahead. My Stand's power may be all-encompassing but its attack range? Not so much.' "Get closer," he demanded. Just then, he heard something hit the engine. He raised an eyebrow when it he saw it was seed pods from Music in the Trees. He looked to the side to see Hierophant Green. "Ah yes, I forget their range is far longer. Hmm, one attack I could deflect with just a finger... But in this case... Oh, Senator. I think you'd better duck."

He dove under the seat as the seed pods burst open and Hierophant Green let loose an Emerald Splash attack. He then had The World manifest and strike Hierophant Green, causing it to fly into a nearby sign post. "What was that...!?," Phillips said in shock, "And what are these pods in the engine!?" "There's no need to explain," DIO said, "Just keep driving." "But the engine!," Phillips complained. "Those pods only pierced the hood from the look of it," DIO noted, "The engine should still be fine. Now drive."

"That was reckless Kakyoin," Fluttershy noted, "You should have left it all up to me. I may not be able to project Music in the Trees very far, but it's plants increase its effective range tremendously." "I know," Kakyoin replied, "But I made a promise not to lose to him again." He looked at the blood on his hands that came from the crash. "That was ten meters out. So it's a close-range power type like Jotaro's"

"Only a ten meter effective range," Joseph said, "By contrast Applejack's Stand can be projected up to twenty meters." "And it also used its fists to attack," Jonathan said, "So its gimmick must be whatever it was doing back in the mansion." Fluttershy suddenly threw up a large leaf shield and something impacted into it, prompting Joseph to stop the truck. They got out to see Phillips had been thrown at the truck. "Heh, this is a dream...," he muttered, "There's no way a senator can die, so it has to a dream..."

"Poor man," Fluttershy said as he used her jasmine essence to place Phillips into a deep sleep. They then leapt to the nearby roof as DIO approached. He looked at the sleeping senator. "Looks like someone lucked out. I don't particularly care whether or not you live, but I am feeling merciful since I have bigger fish to fry." He looked up at the fleeing group. Kakyoin took off his glasses. "I have an idea that might just give us the secret of his Stand. Fluttershy, I'll need your help to minimize the risk." Fluttershy nodded.

The two went over to set themselves up. "You know," Kakyoin said, "Everytime I looked at Hierophant Green, I'm reminded of something. I never had any friends growing up. My family moved a lot, and it didn't help that I couldn't connect with anyone because no one else I knew had a Stand." He chuckled. "It wasn't until I met you guys that I learned your cousin Asahi and her boyfriend Ryusei, who were classmates of mine in high school, are also Stand users. I think they were trying to tell me that, but I always brushed them off under the assumption that they wouldn't understand me."

He stood up. "When you get right down to it me and Jotaro have nothing in common other than being Stand users, but over these last four weeks... That's been enough. Just knowing that I've met people like me is enough to consider them friends. If we make it through this, I think I'll look up Asahi and Ryusei again, and apologize for brushing them off." Fluttershy smirked. "I think you've got a death flag waving in the wind." Kakyoin shrugged. "Maybe, but that's why I need you're help."

He turned serious. "My theory is that DIO can use his Stand to stop a moment in time. This next technique will show whether or not that's true. But if it is, then DIO can slip through and possibly kill me. That's where you come in. I need you to make the thickest Oak Shield you can muster to protect us both." "You think it'll help?," Fluttershy asked. Kakyoin nodded. "If it can block my Emerald Splash, I'm confident it can withstand a vampire's punch."

As they set up, DIO leapt to the rooftops. "I only saw four leave the truck. They must have split up." He suddenly found himself having to deflect an Emerald Splash. "That came out of nowhere! I barely had time to deflect it!" He leapt up, and had to do it again, he then realized what was going on. Hierophant Green was spread out in the surrounding area like a web. "That web will attack you when you touch it," came Kakyoin's voice, though he couldn't see him, "It surrounds you for twenty meters in every direction. It can sense you and your Stand's every move. Now take this! Twenty Meter Radius Emerald Splash!"

DIO looked as he briefly saw Kakyoin near a radio tower and grinned. "The World!" In an instant, time froze around DIO. He leapt over to where Kakyoin was, his eyes closed, breaking the strands as he went. "This is the ultimate tarot power. The power that reigns over... What!?" In the instant before DIO had activated his power, Fluttershy had erected a large Oak Shield. DIO was flabbergasted. "I can only maintain the time stop for so long. Well played, but you won't get out of this unscathed." He and his Stand punched the barrier hard. "And time continues..."

As time started up again, Kakyoin and Fluttershy found themselves flying away, pushed along by the Oak Barrier. Fluttershy had just enough time to dispel it to avoid it crushing them as they impacted on the nearby building. Joseph saw the entire thing. Kakyoin impacted into a nearby water tower, still barely conscious. Fluttershy crashed into the roof, completely stunned and knocked unconscious. Kakyoin started to move, but felt great pain as he did. "It looks like Fluttershy barely cushioned herself...," he noted, seeing a nest of vines beneath Fluttershy, enough to prevent lasting injury but not enough to stop her impact entirely.

He then saw a nearby clock tower. "5:15 in Cairo... That's right around midnight in Japan... I wonder how Mom and Dad are..." He grunted in pain. "It looks like I may just survive, but I'm in no further condition to fight... But it looks like my theory was right..." He looked at the remains of his web, seemingly cut through all at once. "Kakyoin," Joseph said as he leapt over. "Mister Joestar...," Kakyoin said, "Where's your grandfather?" "He's being confronted by DIO," Joseph said.

"He has to be warned," Kakyoin said, "I just confirmed DIO can stop time." Joseph shook his head. "I should probably say this now but... Granddad never intended to come back from this journey..." Kakyoin looked confused. Meanwhile, DIO had reached Jonathan. "I believe it's time we finished what we started a hundred years ago." He pulled off his collar. "I'm sure you remember how my new body is that of your son. But as you'll notice from the scar, I haven't quite become adjusted to it yet. I need the blood of one more person to complete the fusion, and the blood of the oldest living Joestar should do just nicely."

"You're not the only one who carries a scar from that day," Jonathan said, rubbing his own neck, "I sometimes still feel a tingle where you were playing with my carotid." DIO gave a genuine laugh. "You've gotten snarkier since I last saw you. Perhaps age has worn away that gentleman spirit you once held so dear." Jonathan smirked. "By the way, I observed what you did to Kakyoin and Fluttershy. So, your power is stopping time. But you obviously can't hold it for long, otherwise you'd have killed us all back at the mansion. And you'd have made your way around Fluttershy's Oak Shield instead of sending it flying."

He manifested Ra. "And that same power lets you dodge my Hamon, but tell me this. Do you think you can stop time faster than the light rays my Stand can emit can strike you?" DIO chuckled. "Only one way to find out." As their fight got started, Joseph helped Kakyoin and Fluttershy down to the ground where Jotaro met up with him. "Are they...?," Jotaro asked. "They'll be fine," Joseph assured him, "But they're in no shape to fight. But Jotaro, Kakyoin managed to learn the secret behind DIO's Stand. It's a Stand of time, and it can stop time for a few seconds."

Jotaro immediately ran out to where Jonathan was fighting DIO, but as he saw them, DIO instantly activated his Stand. It was so instant, yet DIO had to back up a little since one of Ra's light rays was right in front of his face. "Too close... If that had hit me I'd have died here and now." He moved over to the nearby crowd. "At first I could only stop time for a blink of an eye. But gradually, as my neck healed, it started to get longer. Two, then three seconds." He casually pushed aside people and animals that he came across, including one poor cat that he sliced to ribbons than tossed to patrons that were eating.

"My current limit is five seconds," he mused, "I realize that sounds odd considering time is stopped but that's how long it feels from my perspective." He looked at Jonathan. "Jonathan, a hundred years ago I was no match for your tactical mind and power of Hamon. But even with a Stand that can harness the sun itself you're no match for The World's power. But you're biggest mistake was not protecting your body with Hamon!" "MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA!" The World punched Jonathan over and over again.

DIO turned around. "Activating shitstorm in three... Two... On-now." The results of everything DIO did hit at once, disgusting and confusing the customers as Jonathan went flying. "At long last...," DIO said, "Victory." Jonathan chuckled weakly. "Depends on your definition of 'victory'." DIO dropped his smile. "What do you mean?" "Think about it...," Jonathan said, "I am the generation above my son, who's body you stole. So obviously I'm immune to your curse. Where then do you think my Stand Ra came from...?"

"Well, the arrow that was in Twilight's possession, obviously," DIO noted, "But I don't see what that..." His eyes widened when he realized what Jonathan was getting. "No..." Jonathan chuckled as he coughed up blood. "I never intended on surviving this... I knew that even if we beat you, I'd become the new carrier of my great-granddaughter's illness. Besides, I've grown too old, and I miss all the friends and loved ones I've made a hundred years ago. Twilight, Speedwagon, Dire, Zeppeli... Erina... Now that I know there are those that can stand against you in my place... I can die... Without regrets..." And with that, Jonathan Joestar breathed his last, finally dying in peace.

DIO on the other hand, was tearing up. "Even in defeat... You find a way to win... JOJO!" "You called?," Jotaro said from behind him. DIO whirled around. "I never thought you could get this emotional, DIO," Jotaro quipped, "You remained unflappable even as we tore through your ranks. I guess someone winning even as they lose is the final nail in the coffin for you." "Jotaro Kujo," DIO said, "The next in line of the Joestar bloodline. Just the thing I need to cheer up. You see Jotaro, I've noticed that our Stands are similar in a lot of ways, so I've been curious how my The World stacks up against your Star Platinum."

"Good time to find out then," Jotaro admitted, "After all, I have every reason to want you dead." The two Stands started going toe to toe, getting in some good hits that were reflected on their users. "We both lack range," Jotaro noted, "But we do have speed and power. And my Stand specializes in precision and accuracy. You may be faster even without your time stopping ability, but it doesn't matter if you can't even hit me." "ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!" "MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA!"

DIO smirked. "If that's the case, then allow me to add in my own power. The World!" Instantly time froze, stopping Jotaro's assault. "Once I've dealt with you I'll be sure to deal with your grandfather as well. Then the Joestar bloodline will end, and with it my destiny will be assured." He then gasped when he saw Jotaro's finger twitched and backed off. "It was just a finger... But still that should be impossible. Wait... Our Stands are the same type. Could that mean...? Can he see me even in the frozen time, or was that just instinct?"

Before the question could be answered, time resumed automatically, as Jotaro stopped his earlier attack. "Jotaro," DIO said, "Were you able to see me just now?" "What are you talking about?," Jotaro asked. He and DIO started leaping across the buildings using their Stands. 'Well, it doesn't matter if he can see me. What matters if he can move within the frozen time. I remember the first few times I tried using my power. I had wanted to test my Stand's speed and power, so I ordered one of my servants to shoot at me. Naturally it was an ordinary shotgun, so even if my Stand wasn't very fast I wouldn't die.'

He closed his eyes. 'I still remember that sensation, like time was standing still for a split second. At first I thought I was seeing things. A trained boxer can see their opponent's punch in slow motion, and if a person is in mortal peril, a second can seem like an eternity. At first I thought I was experiencing something along those lines. But it was no illusion... The World could stop an instant in time, enough to catch all the pellets at once.'

He grinned. 'Enya and I were so excited when we learned this. We believed that with enough practice, I could reign over time itself. All I had to do was believe, for belief is the essence of all Stands. They have the power to defy the very laws of science and nature, but one must believe that they can. So I continued to practice, until I saw the very wheels of time intertwined with my Stand, as if The World was piercing through them. My heart never felt so light as on that day.'

He looked back at Jotaro. "Now Jotaro, show me how powerful you are! The World!" Time froze again, and Jotaro's hand started to twitch once more. DIO moved his hand and Jotaro's seemed to move at the same time in the same direction. DIO smirked as he looked at his wristbands, and removed the magnets that had been attached to them. "So he put a magnet on me. It must have been when we were exchanging blows." He breathed a sighed of relief. "I was honestly fooled for a moment there. I must admit Jotaro, you're far superior to your ancestors."

He called out The World and moved out to attack. "But it's still a useless trick compared to my time freeze!" Just as he got close to attack, Jotaro suddenly smirked, and Star Platinum punched right through The World. "The hell...?," DIO said as he felt the impact. "Thanks for the compliment," Jotaro said as time started moving again, "But that magnet wasn't to trick you into thinking I could move in your frozen time... It was to trick you into thinking I couldn't. Avdol, now!"

"Magician's Red!," came Avdol's voice, as DIO found himself surrounded by flames, as Magician's Red kicked DIO into a nearby store. "It was only for a second that I could move in your world," Jotaro noted, "But it was enough time to punch you." DIO picked himself up, but barely. As he had crashed through the window, his leg was amputated by the glass. "A very clever strategy...," DIO admitted, "Acting like you couldn't see in the stopped time, using the magnet, you even had Avdol follow at a distance waiting for the moment I let my guard down."

He leapt over and drained the saleswoman that was nearby while also grabbing his leg, recovering completely. He then rushed out of the store and past the two Stand users. "You must have learned about my ability from the others," he noted, "You only moved for a second this time because you had to wait for me to approach. But I wonder how long you'd be able to move now that you don't need to hide it. Two, maybe three seconds. Or perhaps the full five I can stop time for. Or maybe you really can only move for one. There's no way for me to know without testing it first."

He then brought out a series of knives. "So I'll have to rely on a foolproof method of killing you." Jotaro and Avdol gasped. "He must have gotten those from inside the shop!," Avdol realized. Jotaro quickly leapt into the air as DIO did. DIO just smirked. "The World!" As time froze, DIO started setting up the knives all around Jotaro. "A few near Avdol as well I think," he decided, "It won't be enough to kill, but it will take him out of the fight. It's the Joestars I must kill right now, which is why I left Kakyoin and the girl alive."

He positioned the knives near Avdol, including one aimed near his neck in such a way that it would paralyze him without killing him. As he did, he spotted Star Platinum starting to punch away some of the knives from Jotaro. "Hmm, only a second it seems," DIO noted, "But he got a good head start. Let's see how he does. Time should begin moving again right about... Now." Avdol gurgled out a weak cry as the knives plunged into him. Meanwhile Jotaro continued to use Star Platinum to try and defense himself. "ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!"

It was just enough to avoid the full onslaught of knives, but Jotaro still got a few in his chest. "One more just in case," DIO said as he threw the last knife right at Jotaro's head, seeming to impale it. He then watched Jotaro fall before checking Avdol's pulse. "Still alive, as I thought. I can't waste a potential servant, especially one so powerful." He got back up. "Now, to check and make sure Jotaro is dead. These Joestars always have a nasty habit of surviving otherwise fatal situations."

Sure enough, DIO hadn't realized that Jotaro had stuffed his jacket and hat with magazines. "Gimme a break...," Jotaro muttered, "I managed to avoid a fatal injury, but I still got damaged badly in my arms and leg. I'd better play dead for right now... Wait for a chance to strike. Hol Horse, Polnareff, and Iggy are still nearby, after all." DIO landed nearby. "If he is still alive, I'll need to stay out of his range." He saw a nearby street sign. "This will do nicely." He broke the sign off and made to wield it to decapitate Jotaro.

But before he could swing, a shot rang out that cut off the sign from the rest of the post. Two more shots hit his wrists forcing him to drop the post as sand started to wrap around him, restricting his movements. He then heard Polnareff yelling as he felt Silver Chariot's rapier go through his brain. "First time I ever took the first shot," Hol Horse said as he appeared, "Now, Iggy!" Iggy leapt onto DIO's face, barking ferociously. 'Oh sweet Christ, why is the dog still alive!?,' DIO thought, 'I hate dogs!'

Iggy started tearing into DIO's hair, disgusting him. 'Damn it, he's even worst than most dogs! Does he really have to go for the hair!?' "Attaboy Iggy!," Polnareff said, "Don't forget the coup de grace!" "You bet!," Iggy called out, "This one's for Danny, you canine killer!" DIO's eyes widened in horror as Iggy farted right in his face, causing him to stumble backward. 'Oh good, it gets worse!' "Mon dieu Iggy," Polnareff said as the terrier landed on the ground, "Maybe take it easy on the coffee gum for a little while."

DIO growled. "The World!" As time froze, he used his Stand to extricate himself from the sand and remove the rapier from his brain. "All this just to humiliate me, Polnareff?" he growled, "I was so caught off guard you could have used that time to wiggle the rapier around in my brain and destroy it to kill me. How foolish of you not to go for that." He kneed Polnareff in the stomach, then walked over to Hol Horse before elbowing him in the ribs. "That's for the betrayal, not that I didn't see it coming what with you being a member of the Zeppeli family."

He then narrowed his eyes as he walked over to Iggy and kicked him. "This is why I hate dogs!" He took a deep breath. "And time continues...," he muttered allowing the effects of his actions to occur. Polnareff and Iggy went flying into the nearby walls, Iggy getting hit harder because of his smaller size, and Hol Horse doubled over from the pain. Just then, several police officers arrived and pointed their guns at DIO. 'I guess I should have expected this, what with all the ruckus I've caused. Even if no one realizes what I've done, they can clearly connect the dots and realize I'm responsible.'

He grabbed one of the officers with his Stand and pulled him over, knocking the other one out at the same time. "I need to borrow your gun, officer," he said, pointing the barrel at Jotaro, then forcing him to pull the trigger. The shot seemed to hit Jotaro in such a way that it would hit his heart. Jotaro mentally chuckled as Star Platinum easily stopped the bullet. 'Star Platinum can easily catch a bullet fired from point-blank range. A bullet fired from that distance is nothing. Still, it's clear DIO is intending to focus on me now that the others are incapacitated.'

He quickly held his breath as DIO listened. "Hmm... I don't hear him breathing... What about his heartbeat?" Jotaro quickly had Star Platinum grab his heart to stop it while DIO put his ear to the ground. 'This is a really stupid idea... But it's the only way I'm gonna trick DIO.' DIO picked his head up when he realized he couldn't hear Jotaro's heartbeat. "It seems like he's dead... Should I risk getting in close to make sure..." He thought about it. "Well, I may not have a choice. Hol Horse rendered the sign post useless, and I'm hardly a good enough shot to try that route again."

He got in close, intending to feel Jotaro's pulse. Jotaro chose that moment to have Star Platinum release his heart and grab DIO's hand. "What...!?," DIO called out. He tried to activate his Stand, but didn't have enough time as Jotaro smashed Star Platinum's fist into DIO's skull. The impact sent DIO sailing, as Jotaro went to check on the others. "You guys okay?" "He pretty much knocked the wind outta me," Hol Horse said, "I'll live, but I don't think I stand a chance against him. I'm better off getting Avdol to safety."

"I'm more or less okay too," Polnareff said, "I can still walk at least. Iggy, are you alright? I saw you hit the wall pretty hard." "It coulda been worse...," Iggy muttered, "I managed to use The Fool to cushion the blow... Got hit pretty hard though... I can't afford to use my Stand anymore until I recover... I just need to rest..." Polnareff picked the little terrier up. "I'll look after him. Jojo, you get after DIO. You're the only one who can stand against him at this point. Mister Joestar is too busy looking after Kakyoin and Fluttershy."

Jotaro nodded and walked over to where DIO was. Naturally the century-old vampire was still alive, but only due to his immortality. Jotaro's attack had pushed DIO's vampire physiology past what he could regenerate, at least on his own, and the effect could be seen as he struggled just to sit up on some nearby stairs. He growled at Jotaro. "So you used your Stand to stop your heart... Risky move... If I hadn't chosen to approach you, you could have easily killed yourself on accident..."

He tried to get up, only to slip and cause further injury. "Damn it... My legs can't move..." He then felt Jotaro splash him with something, and gasped. "Gasoline! Do you really think to immolate me at this point!?" "There's no guarantee that would work," Jotaro noted, "After all, you survived burning to death in the old Joestar mansion. In actuality, I'm using this to smell you out. No matter where you run. That said..." He turned on his lighter. "Burning you now would certainly weaken you enough to keep you in one place until the sun rises."

The sound of a taxi could be heard, and DIO chuckled. "That will have to wait. The World!" Time instantly froze, and Jotaro watched as DIO made his way to the taxi. Once he grabbed the bumper, DIO let time start once more. As the taxi sped off, Jotaro scoffed. "So he wanted to keep his ear to the ground to listen for traffic." He pulled a knife out of his shoulder. "But I won't let him get away so easily." Star Platinum took the knife from his shoulder and threw it, popping the taxi's tire and sending DIO tumbling across the pavement.

"You've hurt or killed a lot of people I care about DIO," Jotaro said, "I'm not about to show you mercy." DIO noticed he was near a manhole and tried to open it, but Jotaro had already thought of that and moved through the sewers himself. "Damn you! The Wo--" Jotaro stopped DIO before he could call his Stand with another blow to the vampire's skull. "You're old enough as it is," Jotaro quipped, "I think you've stopped time for long enough."

"ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!" As DIO went flying, he chuckled. "I've finally out-smarted you! Don't you realize where we are? Or do all the streets look the same to a tourist?" Jotaro gasped. 'Damn... Don't tell me...' Sure enough, DIO landed near Jonathan's body, and began drinking the corpse's blood. "A final gift... From my one-time brother! Jonathan, I truly hope you rest in peace, but I will soon send your descendants to join you!"

He cackled as he experienced the new rush of power. "This is incredible! Joestar blood... In a Joestar body... The rush of power is so... Intoxicating! And how perfect that it's akin to a father helping his son grow stronger!" He laughed madly as he started scratching his head hard enough to draw blood. He then plunged his hand deeper into Jonathan's corpse, sucking it dry. Jotaro scoffed. "Do you always enjoy desecrating the dead? Not just creating zombies, but now drinking corpses dry. As if I didn't have enough reason to kill you."

DIO laughed. "Then let the final battle begin! After I defeat you, finishing off the rest of your friends will be all too easy! The World!" Time stopped as Jotaro and DIO leapt at each other. Jotaro was starting to learn how to move longer in the frozen time, enough to strike at DIO multiple times, even breaking his hand through his Stand. But DIO chuckled. "It's now been six seconds... And time is still frozen! The blood of Jonathan Joestar has made me stronger than ever! And Jotaro, it looks like you can't move anymore!"

He laughed harder than ever. "It was a hundred years ago that I achieved immortality! But that rush was nothing compared to the power I feel now!" He began digging into his temple with his finger. "This rush... This energy! I never thought I could get so strong! So powerful!" He closed as his eyes as he continued to smile. "Nine seconds... But it looks like this is my new limit." He summoned The World and aimed it's fists right at Jotaro. "MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA!"

Jotaro found himself sailing across the Cairo sky. "Damn... Even thought I'm so angry at all he's done... It seems I'm not angry enough." DIO smirked. "Angry enough? How interesting! Let me see if I can kill you before your anger can be enough for you to kill me!" The World kicked Jotaro across the Nile and onto a nearby bridge. 'His attacks... They're becoming less creative, but more destructive. And now it looks like he's getting ready to freeze time again.'

DIO smiled. "This will end it Jotaro Kujo! The World!" As time stopped, Jotaro saw DIO disappear. 'That can't be good. I only get two seconds to react. I need to time this right. I think... I think I've learned something more valuable than merely moving in DIO's stopped time. I just need to use it at the right moment.' His eyes then widened as he saw a dark shadow come over him. DIO laughed. "Take this! Road Roller!" Jotaro grunted. "Star Platinum!"

"ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!" Star Platinum punched with all its might on the bottom of the road roller as it came down. "MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA!" The World started doing the same from the top to keep the road roller going. "Eight seconds now!," DIO noted, "And you'll be flat as a pancake before times up!" The road roller crashed to the ground. DIO breathed heavily. "Finally... It's done..."

He started laughing. "The World has defeated Star Platinum! Now no one can stand before me! All humans will soon kneel power my wisdom and power! This world now belongs to D--" He suddenly realized he was frozen in place. 'Why can't I move? Why can't... Why can't I... No... No! NO NO NO NO NO!' "Eleven seconds," Jotaro said from behind DIO, "I guess that's your limit." DIO couldn't believe his ears. 'NO! NO! NO! NO! BULLSHIT! BULLSHIT!'

"That's right DIO," Jotaro said, "I can stop time now too. I did it right at the nine second mark, and used that to get out from under the roller. Now it's my world you're in. How's it feel to have someone sneak up behind you while you can't move? At this rate, it won't even take a second to kill you." DIO was now furious. "J... Jotaro!" "Tell you how it feels from my perspective," Jotaro said, "It's like a guy who can hold his breath underwater for about a minute."

He grabbed DIO's shoulder. "And just as he comes up for air at the very end... Yoink! Someone grabs his leg and drags him underwater. Something like that, right? I'd feel sorry for a guy like that... But not for you. After all, it's because of you that my mother is dying, but you don't even care about that." Star Platinum kicked at DIO's legs, breaking them. "That one was for Fluttershy," Jotaro said, "You're lucky she's still alive, or I'd have ripped them off altogether. And now... Time continues."

DIO went tumbling across the bridge, screaming in pain. "Look at you DIO," Jotaro said, "Completely helpless and pathetic. I have no sympathy for you. But it'd leave a bad taste in my mouth to kill you here while you can't defend yourself. So, how long would it take you to heal your legs? Three, maybe four seconds? As soon as you do, I'll have Star Platinum split your skull. If this was a Wild West gun duel, it'd be the moment were one of the cowboys says, 'Draw.'"

DIO had a lethal grin on his face. 'A bad taste you say? Are you afraid you'll regret it? Your reasoning stinks like a rat turd in a bathroom. That foolish honor will be your demise. I don't think like that. All I have is a simple goal... Just one! To win and dominate at all costs... That is all that can fulfill me! The methods don't matter, only the end!' He waited until his blood started to spurt, then kicked, blinding Jotaro. "It's over!," DIO announced, "Die Jotaro!"

"Star Platinum!," Jotaro called out, his Stand striking The World right in the knee hard, stopping the attack. Star Platinum's hand started to crack as blood spurted from Jotaro's hand. DIO grinned, but not for long, as The World started showing cracks of its own, and they were getting wider and spreading. "Wha...!?," DIO said in disbelief. The cracks continued to spread across The World as it started to crumble.

DIO screamed in rage and pain as the effects were copied on him. "How can this be happening!? It's impossible! I am the great DIO!" Before he could continue ranting, his head exploded. This time he didn't have time to sever it. DIO was officially dead. Jotaro breathed a sigh of relief. "You'll be dust when the sun comes up. The reason you lost was simple, DIO. You made just one mistake..." He swiped a finger across his hat brim. "You pissed me off."

Fluttershy blinked her eyes as light streamed into them. She looked around and realized she was in some sort of ambulance. "Hey, she's awake," came Polnareff voice, "We were starting to get worried, mademoiselle." She then felt a hand squeeze hers and looked over to see Jotaro, smiling. "Good to see you're awake." Fluttershy smiled. "Yeah... Is it over?" "It's over alright," Joseph said, "DIO's dead, well most of him. What's left of him is in that bag over there on the other bed, still alive but there's no chance of it springing to life before the sun rises. This time he didn't escape."

"We lost Jonathan Joestar though," Polnareff said sadly, "Luckily he was our only casualty. Kakyoin, Avdol, and Iggy are gonna be nursing wounds for days, but they'll live." Fluttershy sat up. "I'm glad. I wasn't sure if Kakyoin had made it or not. What about Holly?" "I already got word," Joseph said, relief in his voice, "Holly's fever has broken and she's expected to wake up from her coma in a few hours. Sanji mentioned that Holly's Stand has disappeared. It's likely still there, but now it's dormant. And it won't return unless Holly somehow learns how to summon it."

Fluttershy nodded. "So it's all over then. We came so far, but we finally succeeded. So where are the others?" "We sent them to a hospital in Cairo," Jotaro explained, "They're in the other car, along with Hol Horse. We'll be checking on them later, but first we have to dispose of what's left of DIO. And that means exposing him to the morning sun. Which will be rising soon." Fluttershy smiled and nodded, happy in the knowledge that their trip wasn't for nothing.

And so it was that on January 17 of 1989, DIO was finally destroyed once and for all, his body turned to dust under the Cairo sunrise. "Now Father can rest in peace," Joseph noted, "DIO had stolen much over the last century. Much of it can never be returned. But now his reign of evil has ended." "It's been a long journey," Polnareff noted, "And we came close to losing a number of times. It's a miracle only one of us lost their lives in the end." Jotaro nodded. "Looks like for now, our family can rest easy."

DeKurliss gazed into Beautiful Stranger while on his flight from Cairo to Los Angeles. 'For now, perhaps. But you've not seen the last of DIO's legacy, Joestars.' He turned off his Stand then got out the diary. "Pucci is the only other person who could decipher DIO's formula. I wonder if it will all come together as intended. Well, that's not for this time. It will be some years before we can recover and resurface." He put the journal away and decided to drift off to sleep.

"You sure you want me near that friend of yours, Polnareff?," Hol Horse said. "Why not?," Polnareff said, "Someone has to let Antoinette know I'm alright. Besides, someone has to stay here and keep an eye on Avdol, Iggy, and Kakyoin." Fluttershy giggled. "You're just hoping you'll run into that woman again." Polnareff shrugged. "Well, you never know. I do have a month to find out. That's how long it'll take for them to get out of the hospital." He closed his eyes. "Though afterward, I think I'll return to France, one way or another."

"Are you sure?," Joseph asked, "You said you have no family left there. Why not stay with us in New York?" Polnareff shrugged. "France is still my home, Mister Joestar. And I still have many fond memories there, more than enough to outweigh the bad ones." "I wish we could stay and check up on our friends as well," Jotaro said, "But Mom may get worried." "It's alright," Polnareff said, "Go home and assure her."

"We'll be sure to return when it's time for them to be discharged," Fluttershy said. "It's been hell of a ride," Hol Horse, "But... I'd better hit that trail." He headed off for his flight to Paris. Polnareff, Joseph, and Jotaro then grabbed each in a bro hug. "I'll be you seeing you soon, you cheap old coot!," Polnareff said, "Make sure you live long! And your lousy grandson too!" "Ha!," Joseph said, "At the rate I'm going I feel like I could live a century myself! You should consider your own health, idiot!"

"Gimme a break!," Jotaro said, "It's not like we won't be seeing each other again! I think you both took too many knocks!" Fluttershy laughed. "You guys are nuts, you know that? I can't tell if you're being insulting or not." The four of them laughed. "Well," Joseph said, "Our flight is ready. We'll be going now. See in you a month, Polnareff." Polnareff nodded. "Take care. I'll be sure to let the others know where you are."

Holly slowly opened her eyes, and saw her husband and mother nearby. "Sadao. Mama." She sat up easily. "Sweetie are you alright?," Suzi Q asked. "I'm suddenly feeling a lot better." Sadao smiled. He had already seen the thorny Stand disappear, meaning Holly's life was no longer in danger. "And...," Holly said, "I just felt something! They're coming back, Mom!" Suzi Q was confused. "Who, dear?" Holly smiled as she got up and opened the door. "Papa, Jotaro, and Fluttershy! They're coming home!"

One the plane, Fluttershy was sleeping with her head on Jotaro's shoulder. Joseph smiled as he looked back at them. 'Those two represent the next generation of our family. I'm glad to see them alive and well. In our journey, we've met many Stand users willing to use their power for wicked deeds. But there must also be those who wish to use their powers for good. We need to find them... And gather them to protect those that cannot defend themselves against such powers.'

He placed a tape in his Walkman and started listening to it, a picture the group took when they reached Egypt in his hands. 'Stand power must be studied further. It's secrets, it's origins. The earliest we know of it was the arrow Aunt Twilight had. But the others from the same tomb are missing. Then there's the fact that the Stand Anubis was contained in a sword without a user. That must be studied. But such things are for the future. For now... We enjoy this time of peace.' He smiled, happy in the knowledge that for right now, things had turned out all right.

Hey SellZaWarudo, as much as I enjoyed the send-off for Jonathan, you need to adjust the year. You said it was 1988, but according to the timeline which this story follows the final battle with DIO took place in 1989.

That aside, I'm glad we got through this part. Starting next chapter we get into Diamond is Unbreakable. And a very special pony is getting the Jojo treatment.

Time to unveil our next MLP character who will be helping Josuke in Morioh. For the record, someone got it right, but then flubbed it due to misunderstanding. Take it away...

The year was 1999, and it was the close to the turn of the century. Diane Hanasakura, Pinkie Pie to her friends and family, was walking to school whistling her usual tune. She was a friendly, sociable girl, who for some reason loved to dye her hair pink. As she neared the main center of her hometown of Morioh, she felt something stab through her chest, and looked down to see an arrowhead. "Crap," she said, "The plot just started..." She dropped to the ground, and a man stood over her. "Still alive, I see. Good. Looks like you are one of the chosen. I wonder what sort of Stand you'll receive."

He pulled the arrow out of Pinkie, also dragging out a pink colored humanoid with Pinkie's hair and a heart motif, dressed like a member of Wonderland's royal court. The man then heard traffic start to arrive. "No time to see what your Stand can do. I'll leave you to figure it out on your own." Once he left, Pinkie got up. "Damn you plot... Looks like this new universe decided to include me in on the shenanigans. That damn Overseer writing all my words down better make it worth my while." Uh, okay then.

Meanwhile just outside of town, Jotaro was riding in a taxi with his wife Himari, Fluttershy to her friends and loved ones, and their daughter Jolyne. "Wow, this place is so pretty," Jolyne said as she looked out the window, standing in her mother's lap. "Jolyne," Fluttershy said in a reprimanding tone as she used some vines from her Stand to get her daughter to sit down, "You know that's not safe."

Jotaro smiled at the antics. "Gimme a break... You've been excited for this trip ever since I said you'd be coming along. And that was only because your mother was coming as well." It had been just over ten years since DIO's death at Jotaro's hands, and in that time he had earned a degree in marine biology. Fluttershy, meanwhile, had become a veterinarian with a very successful clinic. Naturally, both of them were shocked when a certain peace of information had them coming out to the small town of Morioh.

"So driver," Jotaro said, "Is there anything interesting about this town? Any landmarks we need to be aware of?" The driver thought for a moment. "Well, the town's famous for its beef tongue cooked in miso." Jolyne looked up her dad. She was hardly a picky eater, and always willing to try new things. Jotaro smiled. "As soon as we get settled in our hotel room, sweetie." "Yay!," Jolyne called out. Fluttershy giggled. 'I still can't believe why we're here, though. Just when I thought I had gotten to know my grandfather-in-law.'

Later in the town center, freshman student Koichi Hirose was walking to his first day in high school. He was a small, shy boy, despite being sixteen, and had recently moved to Morioh. It was there that he was to meet some very bizarre people. The first one he bumped into accidentally, running headlong into a man dressed in a white outfit with hat and jacket. Just as it looked like he would fall over with all his school supplies spilling out, he suddenly found himself standing up as normal, his supplies back in his bag.

"Oh wow," came a cheerful voice, "That was kinda crazy." He looked to see the person he bumped into, and found himself starting right up at Jotaro Kujo. Naturally the man towered over him. Nearby was Pinkie, whom he had gotten to know ever since moving to Morioh. "Wait," Koichi said, "Didn't I bump into this guy?" "You sure did," Pinkie said, "But then these purple arms came rushing out of him like 'Whoosh!' Then they grabbed all your things and pulled you right up."

Jotaro gasped. "You could see it? My Stand?" "Is that what you call it?," Pinkie said, "I think I got something like it earlier this morning." She revealed the pink Stand that was pulled out of her body by the arrow. "It's been following me all morning." Jotaro put a hand to his chin. "Anyway, sorry about bumping into you, kid," he said. Just then Jolyne came running in and hugged his leg. "Daddy, there you are." Jotaro sighed an rubbed Jolyne's head. "Gimme a break... Jolyne, did you separated from your mother?"

"No, I'm right here," Fluttershy said as she came up. Pinkie gasped in delight. "Does this mean a new, new family has come to Morioh! Oh, I've got to get my friends together and give you a welcoming party!" Jotaro and Fluttershy looked at each other. "That won't be necessary," Jotaro said, "We don't plan on staying in town long. We're actually here looking for someone." "Who is it?," Pinkie said, "I know everything about everyone in Morioh, so I should be able to help you."

"Then do you know the name 'Higashikata'?," Fluttershy asked. Pinkie asked. "Uh-huh. They're my next door neighbors. It's just the local police sergeant Ryohei, his daughter Tomoko, and his grandson Josuke living there. Josuke and I were classmates in junior high. Come to think about it, we'll probably be classmates in high school too. It's been that way ever since kindergarten. Actually, I've never seen Tomoko with a single husband ever, yet my mom told me she just came home from Tokyo one day after getting her degree, Josuke in her arms. Uh, Koichi. Bully alert."

Koichi whirled around as group of local bullies. "Hey freshmen," the lead bully said, "Shouldn't you be greeting your senior?" "Now that's no way to ask," Pinkie said, "You need to be friendly and cheerful when you say things like that. Keep smiling!" "Pinkie are you sure it's a good idea to antagonize them!," Koichi called out in concern. "Who's antagonizing?," Pinkie asked, "I'm just giving them advice." The lead bully cleared his throat. "Well, be sure to greet us properly next time. Let's go, boys." They walked off.

Koichi breathed a sigh of relief. "Pinkie, how did you do that? You shook them off just by staying unflappable." "Bullies are like predators," Pinkie explained, "If you act like you won't be a threat or easy prey, they'll leave you alone. They like to pick on weaker people but typically aren't afraid to use force if someone fights back, so you just gotta find a middle ground." "Aw, Daddy coulda taken those guys easy," Jolyne bragged, "Daddy's really strong. He once broke an ex-boxer's balls." Jotaro sighed. "Let me guess, your grandmother told you that one." Jolyne grinned. "Anyway, Daddy, I found a turtle swimming in the fountain over there."

Jotaro smiled. "Well, we have some time to check it out." Fluttershy smiled warmly. "He has a stony exterior, but a very warm heart." Koichi nodded. "He does seem like a nice person under that gruff demeanor." "I like him already," Pinkie said, "I think he'd make a great friend." Just then, they heard the bullies harassing another young man with a pompadour. "Hey!," the lead bully said, "Who do you think you are!?"

Pinkie blinked. 'Hey, that's Josuke.' Josuke, the boy at the fountain, looked at the bullies. "Oh, well this turtle here just woke up from hibernation. I'm kinda scared of turtles, so I thought now was as good a time as any to get over that fear." The lead bully growled. "I'm not asking about that, you moron! Stand up, right now!" Pinkie giggled as Josuke drew up to his full height, surprising the bullies. "You're pretty tall for a freshman," the lead bully said, "Anyway, what's with that look in your eye? Is that how you great your seniors, huh?"

He grabbed the turtle and started pushing it in Josuke's face. "You need to greet us first when you come to this school!" "Who came up with that rule?," Pinkie asked. "Whoa, easy there," Josuke said, a little nervous, "I already said I'm scared of turtles. Well, reptiles in general at any rate." The lead bully slapped Josuke in the face, causing him to sigh as he bowed. "Sorry, sempai. I wasn't aware that's how this school worked." The lead bully scoffed. "Some kids got sent to the hospital right after saying that. Just like... You and this turtle!" He threw the turtle into a nearby pillar, causing Jolyne to gasp as it got a crack in its shell, spurting blood.

"You'd better behave yourself from now on," the lead bully said, "We'll let you go this time, but give us your school uniform and all your cash as well." "Strange," Fluttershy said to Pinkie, "They didn't ask you to do that." "They don't want to get in trouble for sexual harassment," Pinkie explained, "It's harder to get blamed for that if you order a person of the same gender to strip down." Jotaro scoffed as Josuke started complying. "He was asking for it dressing like that," he said, "I'm rather upset at him, as well. The turtle got killed and he didn't do a thing about it."

"Oh, it's not dead," Pinkie said, causing Jotaro to raise an eyebrow. Pinkie grinned. "Those bullies wouldn't be conscious right now if it was dead. Josuke doesn't tolerate those that would so casually take a life, even a small animal. He's just waiting for a chance to heal it. I'm not sure why, but he's had some sort of healing touch ever since he was in middle school." Jotaro whirled to look at her. "Did you just say Josuke? As in Josuke Higashikata?" Pinkie nodded. "Course, all his friends including me like to call him Jojo, because of the kanji in his name."

"Hey!," the lead bully said, "The bus is coming! Hurry up with those clothes or I'll shave that stupid hair of yours!" Pinkie facepalmed. "I can't believe they did it..." "Did what?," Fluttershy asked. "Josuke hates it when people insult his hair," Pinkie explained. Sure enough, Josuke now had an angry look in his eyes. "Hey sempai... What did you just say about my hair...?" A muscular pink arm suddenly appeared from Josuke's regular arm. "Now that's new," Pinkie mentioned.

"He has a Stand," Jotaro realized. The arm instantly punched across the lead bully's face, knocking out teeth and sending him flying right into the other bullies. "I don't give a rat's ass if you are a senior," Josuke said as he slammed his foot onto the bully's head, "If you trash talk my hair, I won't hesitate to kill you." He then walked over to the turtle. As he picked it up, there was something different about it. "Daddy, the turtle's all better," Jolyne said. "Told you it wasn't dead," Pinkie said with a grin.

Fluttershy then watched the lead bully's face somehow repair itself, but incorrectly as the nose wound up too wide and too high up his face. The other two bullies were shocked. "H-His face was just bleeding, but now it's all fixed up. But kinda strange like." "I can't believe I had to touch that turtle," Josuke said, "But it's just a harmless animal in the end so it deserved my full healing attention. And you just got the leftovers, sempai." As the bullies ran away, Pinkie sighed. "Hey, Jojo! This guy here wants to talk to you!"

Josuke turned to look at Jotaro. Koichi gulped as the two of them stared each other down. Just then, something splashed, freaking Josuke out. He whirled around to see it was just the turtle, but the incident seemed to relieve the tension. Jotaro cleared his voice. "Anyway, my name is Jotaro Kujo. You're Josuke Higashikata, yes?" "Yeah, that's right," Josuke said, "What do you want?" Jotaro sighed as his wife placed a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, it's just like ripping off a band-aid."

"Easy for you to say," Jotaro said as he got out his notebook. He cleared his throat. "Josuke Higashikata, born 1983, age sixteen. Mother's name is Tomoko, she was twenty-one at the time, studying at the university in Tokyo. You've lived here your entire life, and on November 28 of 1988 when you were four years old, you contracted a high fever lasting fifty days, during which time no one knew whether you'd live or die. The source of the illness was never discovered."

Pinkie, Josuke, and Koichi blinked. "I swear I never told him that bit about the illness," Pinkie said, "Cross my heart, hope to lie, stick a cupcake in my eye." "Wouldn't that hurt?," Jolyne asked. "That's why I never break a Pinkie Promise," Pinkie noted. "But she's always thought needles were too harsh," Josuke pointed out. Jotaro cleared his throat, getting their attention. "As I was saying. You never knew your father, but I do." He sighed. "His name is... Joseph Joestar!"

Koichi and Pinkie gasped. "That's the American real estate tycoon!," Koichi noted. "Plot twist...," Pinkie said in shock. "So much for knowing everything about everyone in this town, right?," Fluttershy teased. Pinkie just blushed nervously. "Well, I'm only human, and it's not like I have some secret research party cave somewhere. Just an eidetic memory." Jotaro sighed. "Gimme a break... Anyway, Joseph is currently seventy-nine years old. He's still healthy, but is concerned about his remaining lifespan so he's started sorting out his estate to prepare his inheritors. That's how your name came up by accident. He didn't even recognize it, but a search revealed you to be his son."

He grumbled. "That bastard was always going on about how he'd only ever love his wife, and then this happens..." "Now sweetie," Fluttershy said, "You know there were mitigating circumstances. Don't forget what was also happening at that time." Jotaro took a deep breath and nodded. "Anyway, Joseph also happens to be my grandfather, so despite being older than you I'm technically your nephew. Isn't that bizarre?" "Nephew huh?," Josuke said, unsure what to make of all this, "Well... Nice to meet you."

Later the group was walking through the town. "Anyway, once the old man finally kicks it, you'll be entitled to a third of his assets. I came to tell you this on his behalf. He and his family are in serious trouble because of the affair." Josuke looked surprised. "That bad?" "Yeah," Jotaro said, "Grandma Suzi Q was the maddest I've ever seen her. I don't think they've ever fought before in their sixty-one years of marriage, but prior to coming here I caught her trying to castrate him with a melon baller. And while his old friend Applejack was trying to hold her back, her husband Caesar had Joseph in a chokehold berating him about the whole thing. It was actually pretty funny."

"Wait," Josuke said, "He got beat up by his wife and friends? The way you tell it he was always some kind of manly brave warrior." "Oh he was, no mistaking that," Jotaro clarified, "He just knows how to take a loss is all." Josuke suddenly bowed. "I'm so sorry to have caused such trouble! This is all my fault!" "Whoa whoa," Jotaro said, "What's all this about apologizing?" "Well, I'm the one who caused all this trouble after all," Josuke said. "Yeah, by living," Pinkie pointed out, "It's not like you could have known all these circumstance ahead of time."

Josuke shrugged. "Maybe. Anyway, I remember my mom saying how much she was in love with my dad, never considering any other man. She raised me all by herself with only Grandpa to help. And honestly, I'm okay with that situation. So, you really don't have to worry about us. You can tell my dad... Um... Mister Joestar, that we're just fine." Fluttershy giggled at Josuke's reaction to the whole thing. "So much for taking a punch for the old man, huh?" Jotaro nodded. "Yeah, he's more mature than I thought he'd be."

Just then a trio of local high schools approached, calling out, "Josuke!" They started fawning over him and complimenting. Josuke remained polite and smiling even though it was clear he was uncomfortable. "Oh man, it's high school all over again," Fluttershy complained. "Josuke," Jotaro said, "We aren't finished here. Tell these girls to leave." "What?," one girl said, "Who is this guy?" "You can have your stupid hair talk later," Jotaro said.

Josuke's eyes suddenly turned dark. "Uh, Jojo sweetie," Fluttershy said, "Can you pick out the two words in that sentence you shouldn't have strung together?" Jotaro sighed. "Gimme a break..." "Crap, he said it," another of the girls said, "Josuke hates it when people diss his hair." "Josuke, calm down now," Pinkie said nervously, "He only said the talk was stupid, not your hair and he's not even listening anymore." "What did you say about my hair, you bastard!?," Josuke asked angrily.

"Oh man, not again." Koichi muttered. Jotaro watched as Josuke started to call out the pink arm from earlier. Jotaro narrowed his eyes, then had Star Platinum strike Josuke in the face, causing a bit of blood to come out of his mouth. "You saw that just now, right?," Jotaro said as Josuke wiped his blood off, "That was a Stand. Joseph has one too. These are visions created by mental energy." "Oh is that what is it?," Pinkie said as her own Stand emerged and smiled, "And here I thought you were just some wandering spirit."

The Stand nodded. "Keep smiling!" "Oh, you say that too?," Pinkie said cheerfully, "I think I'll call you Smile!" "Smile!," the Stand said. Meanwhile, Josuke had managed to get up. "Y'know, I always get angry whenever someone talks shit about my awesome hair. I don't even know why, it's just instinct. But I can never get calm until I've beaten the guy up for the insult." His Stand then emerged, fully formed. It was a pink muscular humanoid with silver armor accessories that reminded Fluttershy of The World a little. Immediately the Stand went on the offensive against Star Platinum.

"DORARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARA!" Jotaro got surprised when the Stand managed to break Star Platinum's guard. "Ha!," Josuke said, "You're wide open!" The pink Stand made to punch Star Platinum, but it never connected. Jotaro and Star Platinum somehow disappeared, only to show up right behind Josuke. "Whoa!," Pinkie said, "That was so fast, I couldn't even track him!" "Jotaro can stop a brief instant in time using his Stand," Fluttershy explained, "But he hasn't really used it in ten years."

It turned out Josuke didn't completely miss Jotaro, as part of his hat was split and starting to reform, albeit badly, looking a little deformed. He made to punch Josuke, but Pinkie called out, "Smile, do something!" "Keep smiling!," Smile said, and glowed a bright pink that seemed to cause a ripple through the area. Jotaro still punched Josuke, but somehow it caused his neck to stretch like rubber as Josuke's head went flying, only to snap back as he checked himself. "Okay," Jotaro said, "That's new." "I swear I didn't do that!," Josuke said.

Pinkie looked shocked. "I think... I did." "Pinkie," Fluttershy said, "I think this is your Stand's power. It can turn an area around you into one that works on cartoon physics." Meanwhile the other girls were freaking out over what had happened. "SHUT UP!," Jotaro called out, "I hate girls who scream like that!" The girls blushed, causing Fluttershy to growl and usher them off. "Okay, okay, stop gawking at my husband!" Josuke cracked his neck as Jotaro took out some pictures. "Listen Josuke, there's another reason I came to see you."

He handed the pictures to Josuke. There was a vague image a human-like head, that seemed to be enveloped in water. In front of it was what looked like a rather large and bulky human. "What is this?" "Joseph used his Stand to make that image," Jotaro explained, "He was looking for you, but apparently this town has an unusual volume of Stand energy for whatever reason. And this man is one such Stand user. We identified him through the Speedwagon Foundation and know him to be rather dangerous. I doubt he has anything to do with you, but since he is in town I thought I should warn you."

"I'm not sure I get any of this," Koichi said. "Wait, so you couldn't see all that stuff happening?," Pinkie asked. "Well, I saw Josuke's head stretch unnaturally far," Koichi clarified, "And Mister Kujo's hat getting badly repaired. But that's about it." "Only Stand users can see Stands," Fluttershy explained, "So Koichi is probably confused about what's happening." "We'll be in the Morioh Grand Hotel for a few days," Jotaro said, "My wife is also a powerful Stand user, and we plan on hunting this man down. If you see him, don't try confronting him, we don't yet know his powers. And don't bother calling the police, they couldn't handle him."

The family walked off. "Is this man really so bad?," Jolyne asked. "More than you realize," Fluttershy said, "You've yet to fully awaken your own Stand enough to fight, so just leave it to us." "Honestly I got sick looking through his history," Jotaro said, "Anjuro Katagiri, nicknamed Angelo in the media. Born in 1964 and has an IQ of 160, he's the worst criminal in Japan's history. Guy makes DIO look like a saint in comparison. Hell, he makes all the Stand users we fought look like saints in comparison." "Even ones like J Geil or Rubber Soul?," Fluttershy remarked.

Jotaro nodded. "Yeah. That's how bad he is. He was arrested for rape and robbery at the age of twelve, and had been in and out of prison since for a number of crimes. He's thirty-four years old, and has been in prison for twenty of those years. His worst crime..." He shuddered. "Let's just say it's best discussed away from Jolyne. Anyway, after that incident he was sentenced to the death penalty, but something happened during it." "Yeah, I read about that," Fluttershy said, "They hanged him last year, but even after twenty minutes he was still alive. They canceled the execution and rescheduled, but Angelo escaped before the date could be set."

"I'm sure he used his Stand to survived the death penalty," Jotaro said, "And escape prison. He either was one to begin with, or became one from a Stand arrow." "We have the one that belonged to Lydia Twilight," Fluttershy noted, "And we got the one that was found in DIO's mansion. There's at least five more out there in the wind. But from what I've read, there's nothing to suggest Angelo was a Stand user until just before his scheduled execution. And now he's somewhere here in Morioh." The couple looked out onto the town, wondering where Angelo could be.

Elsewhere in town, Josuke's mom Tomoko was walking home. As she did, some douchebag in his car came up, trying to flirt. 'You'd think they'd learn by now.' "Hey lady!," the man said, "Don't go ignoring me! Come on, I'll give you a ride!" Tomoko stopped and glared at the man, causing him to gaze at how attractive Tomoko was. "You'll go anywhere I want then?" "Oh yeah!," the man said, "I'd go anywhere for you, babe!" "Then you can go straight to hell!," Tomoko called out as she grabbed the man's hair and pulled him into his own car door.

As she walked off, her father Ryohei pulled up on his bike, seeing the man holding his nose in pain. "Officer!," the man said, "That crazy bitch just insulted me! Arrest her ass, right now!" Ryohei chuckled. "Sorry, but I can't do that. That's my daughter you see." The man became gobsmacked. "Not to mention," Ryohei said, getting off his bike and helping an elderly woman who was coughing from the exhaust fumes of the man's car, "You were causing problems yourself. I'll let it slide for now, but I'd recommend you mind yourself in this town."

He finished helping the woman, then went after after his daughter. "Tomoko," he called out. "Oh, Dad," Tomoko said, "I didn't know you were right behind me." "I happened to spot you and wanted to say hi when that man started harassing you," Ryohei said, "So, Josuke had his high school entrance ceremony today, right? I'll bet he and Pinkie are in the same class again, just like always." Tomoko chuckled. "I'm surprised neither has asked the other out yet. Still, I don't get Josuke sometimes."

"Oh?," Ryohei said, "How so?" "His personality is all over the place. He can appear calm most of the time, but then he flies off the handle for one reason or another. He's got a surprisingly short fuse. I have no idea where he gets it from." 'Probably from you,' Ryohei thought to himself. Tomoko smiled. "Still, he's a kind and gentle spirit. I'm sure he got that from his father. Wherever he is..." Ryohei sighed. Tomoko always seemed to get dreamy when thinking of Joseph Joestar.

Meanwhile, as the trio was walking home from school, they heard the sound of police sirens. "Some sort of accident?," Josuke wondered. "You don't get these things often in this town," Koichi noted, "Let's check it out." They didn't notice a young woman in the bushes near them, raped and murdered. The police cruisers had stopped in front of a local convenience store. The large crowd made it hard to see what was going on. "What is all this?," Pinkie asked. "There was a robbery in the convenience store," a nearby old woman said, "The man responsible just took a female clerk as a hostage."

"You don't have to look so cheerful about it," Pinkie berated her, "A girl's life is in danger, that's bound to make someone super sad." "Hey, he's coming out," Koichi said. Pinkie gasped when he saw the man holding the clerk at knifepoint. "That's Mitarai! Why's he the one behind this!? Yeah he's a former street thug, but he cleaned up after meeting his girlfriend! Besides, he'd never take a hostage! And poor Ayame! She's just working to help her father's hospital bill!" Koichi looked at Pinkie. "Wow, you really do know the people of this town."

"He looks real pissed," Josuke noted, "If he gets pushed too far he's bound to kill her." "This is a bad situation," Koichi said, "We should just move on." Josuke and Pinkie nodded. They may have discovered how to use Stands, but they weren't about to use it on a normal person, especially since the police were involved in this situation. But just as they turned to leave, Mitarai called out, "Hey, you with the stupid hair! I told everyone to get away from the car! Now do it!"

"The idiot...," Pinkie said, "Insulting Josuke's hair is bad enough. But didn't he realize we were turning to leave?" Koichi gulped. "Oh man... I just know something bad is about to happen." Sure enough, Josuke stalked towards Mitarai, ignoring the police's calls to get away. "I can't believe this is happening again!," Koichi called out. Pinkie shrugged. "He's been like this since he was four, when he first adopted the hairstyle." Josuke stopped in front of Mitarai. "What did you just say? You wanna talk shit about my hair!?" "Hey, get back you!," Mitarai warned, holding the knife up to Ayame's throat.

"This could end badly," Pinkie noted as she rushed in. "Damn it now you got me pissed!," Mitarai called out, "I'll stab her right now!" But as the knife reached Ayame's stomach, Josuke's Stand punched right through both of them, grabbing the knife at the same time. "Whoa!," Koichi exclaimed, "There's a gaping hole in their abdomens!" "Got you pissed?," Josuke said, "That's my line." He retracted his Stand's fist and pulled Ayame clear. She looked shocked as she saw there was no sign of the earlier damage. "Wait... I'm completely fine."

Mitarai, however, was not so fine, since his army knife was now stuck right in his abdomen, outlined in the skin. Naturally he was freaking out. "You should go to a surgeon," Josuke noted. "Nah, I can handle it," Pinkie said as she came up, "You ever see a cartoon character stick their hand in a small hole they normally couldn't fit their fist into?" She had Smile reached into Mitarai's mouth. Soon enough the outline of the knife disappeared. "I think I got something," Pinkie said. She then blinked. "Two somethings..."

Smile pulled out its arm to reveal the knife, and a tiny watery humanoid. "So I'm not the only Stand user in this town," it said, "I was having fun committing crimes with this body, but you had to butt in." "It's your fault," Pinkie pointed out, "Didn't you notice we were leaving before you singled out Josuke by insulting his hair? He doesn't like that, you know." The Stand blinked, before Smile tossed it in the air. "Alley-oop," Pinkie called out, "Go for it, Smile!" Smile grinned and attacked at high speed.

"WARAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAI! KEEP SMILING!" The watery Stand wound up splatting on the pavement, but reformed and ducked into the storm drain. "That was close, good thing my Stand isn't truly solid. That throw hurt though. I'll be sure to keep a close on eye on both of you from now on." He chuckled before ducking out. "That was the guy from the photo," Josuke realized, "Pinkie why'd you let him get away?" "I didn't intend to," Pinkie argued, "I just wanted to teach him a lesson. He just turned out to be too slippery and got away. Damn you plot! By the way, you'll need to talk with your grandpa soon." Josuke looked confused right before the police tackled him.

For those who are wondering, yes Smile is modeled after Candelila from Kyoryuger, but without the hearts sticking out of her shoulders and her head resembling Pinkie's instead of a giant valentine. Hence the "Keep smiling!"

Also, Smile's battle cry of "WARAI!" It's meant to be a play on the Japanese word for laugh or smile, thus the whole cry of "WARAIRAIRAI," is basically Smile going "LOL" while whupping butt.

The next day, Pinkie went to visit Josuke at his house. "So what's the occasion?," Josuke asked, "We keep this up and forget Mom bugging us to go dating, she'll start asking when the wedding is." "I'm just a little worried about that Stand user from yesterday," Pinkie explained, "Push comes to shove our powers can likely handle him, but what about those close to us?" Josuke shrugged. "We'll just have to keep an eye out. So, did you find out what else your Stand can do?"

"Oh yeah," Pinkie said, "It's got all the usual tricks from every cartoon you've ever heard of. What about you? Have you decided to name your Stand yet?" Josuke thought about it. "Well, I juggled some ideas around my head, but I think I came up with an appropriate one... Crazy Diamond. Because of the crazy way it turned up in my life, and how it's armor just shines like a diamond." Pinkie smiled. "I think that's a good name."

Outside, a large man was riding his bicycle, loaded with a milk carrier. "I didn't think this town had Stand users other than myself. Now then, this is where the kid lives, right?" He sneered. "Look at that posh house. I'm gonna enjoy tearing that little shit's life apart, and his girlfriend too." As he approached the house with some milk bottles, he heard Tomoko call out, "Watch your step!" But too late, the man had stepped in some dog dung, though only enough to scrap it. 'Oh, just great,' he thought, 'What idiot neighbor forgot to clean up after their dog? At least it coulda been worse.'

"Ugh, that's unfortunate," Tomoko said as she came out of the garage, holding a trowel she had been looking for, "Did you wind up stepping in it?" "Yeah, but it's not too bad," the man said, "Looks like I barely touched it." Tomoko sighed. "There's some jerk around this area who never cleans up after his dog. I swear I should bag up some of it and put it in his pocket tomorrow." 'I may just do worse if I ever catch him,' the man thought. "Anyway, I put the milk out. Have a nice day."

"Hold on," Tomoko said, "You're not our usual milkman." "Ah, I'm a substitute," the man explained. Tomoko nodded. "By the way..." She held up one of the milk bottle. "This bottle's cap is torn." The man looked, and internally groaned. "Yeah, it looks like it. Sorry about that, I don't know how it happened. Lemme get you a new one." He handed her a new bottle and rode off. "Don't you wanna wash your shoe?," Tomoko asked. "Nah, I'm behind in my schedule as is," the man said, "Have a nice day."

Once the man was out of sight, he growled. It was in fact Angelo, and it was his Stand that Josuke and Pinkie encountered the day before. He hadn't been lying about the substitute, having taken some low-key part-time jobs to get cash while in town. The bottle he had handed Tomoko was actually one of the regular bottles, the one with the broken cap having been prepared ahead of time from the convenience store. "That bitch sure was too observant for her own good."

The liquid humanoid emerged from the bottle and wrapped around Angelo's neck. "If she or that kid had drunk from this bottle, my Aqua Necklace could have possessed them! Still, I never thought that kid Josuke would have such a sexy mama! Maybe I'll enjoy her right alongside that pink-haired babe. I just love killing wealthy, arrogant brats and their families..." Just then, he heard the sound of a dog defecating. He turned to see a rather corpulent middle-aged man leading a dog on a leash.

Angelo grit his teeth when he saw the man's nonchalant attitude about his dog's poop and the way he casually tossed his cigarette onto the lawn he was standing on. 'But before my revenge... Perhaps a little social justice...' He walked over and grabbed the dog off the ground, terrifying the man as he sunk his teeth into the poor pooch's muzzle, tearing it off before grabbing the man by the throat and spitting the blood into the man's mouth, sending Aqua Necklace through it.

"So you're that douche who doesn't clean up after his dog's shit," Angelo remarked, "And you also have the nerve to leave your cigarette butts wherever you please? Just who the hell do you think you are, acting like you own this town?" Aqua Necklace then burst from the man's ears, killing him instantly. It then went into a nearby drain for a public water faucet that had a hose attached and was turned on. Angelo smiled. His Stand was long range, and could easily track the house down through the plumbing.

Pinkie had finished dying her hair and now Josuke was fixing his. He was also on the phone with Jotaro. "And the guy was possessed by a Stand," he said, "Pinkie accidentally pulled it out with her own Stand trying to get the knife, then punched at it. Not sure if it did damage, but it was enough to convince the thing to leave." 'Was Angelo near you at the time?,' Jotaro asked. "Who?," Josuke replied. 'Ah, right. I never said his name. Angelo was the man in the picture I gave you.'

"No, I didn't see the guy," Josuke said, "Just his Stand." 'Okay, listen,' Jotaro said, 'Angelo's Stand is really weak strength-wise. That's why Pinkie's stand was easily able to overpower it. But the trade-off is that it can be projected farther from its user and still be controllable. And if it should get inside someone, it can control them just like that guy from the convenience store.' "Speaking of Mitarai," Josuke said, "His girlfriend was found raped and murdered in the forest nearby. It was likely Angelo. Grandpa said the incident fits all his trademarks."

'I'll stop by your house later,' Jotaro said, 'Until then, don't eat or drink anything. And stay out of the bathroom.' Josuke freaked out. "Are you serious!? I haven't told Mom about you yet! Mom's a strong woman, but she still cries when she remembers Mister Joestar. She's still in love with him, even if he never saw her that way. If she gets a look at you, she'll be able to tell in an instant that you're his grandson." "Hey Josuke," Tomoko said, "Where did you get this picture? He kinda looks like the milkman from earlier. Do you two know each other?"

Josuke looked as his mom drank some coffee and his eyes widened. He spotted Aqua Necklace slip right into her mouth. Thinking quickly, he grabbed a nearby bottle and emptied the contents. "Angelo's already sent his Stand into the house," he told Jotaro, "I just saw him start to possess Mom through her coffee." He put down the phone, then hid the bottle behind his back and approached his mom. "Hey Josuke, did you want some coffee?," Tomoko asked. "Sure," Josuke said, "Make sure to add the cream and sugar." Pinkie raised an eyebrow. She had been too busy with the rest of their breakfast.

Suddenly, Josuke sent Crazy Diamond to grab the bottle and smash it through his mother's abdomen. Pinkie quickly reached behind her back and used Smile to retrieve a mallet from nowhere. On it read, "Instantly forget trauma, just apply to noggin." As Crazy Diamond broke the bottle and pulled its fist out, Pinkie whacked Tomoko on the head with the hammer. Tomoko was repaired as was the bottle, Aqua Necklace now trapped inside, and Tomoko didn't remember anything about what just happened. "Josuke, was that cream and sugar you wanted?" "Yeah," Josuke said, as Pinkie joined him.

"Let me guess," she said, "That Stand user from yesterday?" Josuke nodded as he picked up the phone. "Sorry about that Jotaro. I just caught the Stand in a bottle. What should I do with it?" 'Keep a close eye on it, Angelo may be nearby watching your house,' Jotaro replied, 'Don't underestimate its power. Even stuck in a bottle it has options. It can transform into any type of liquid, like milk or coffee. And if Pinkie's attempts to strike it are any indication, physical attacks are only marginally effective. I'll be there shortly.' He then hung up.

Later, Josuke and Pinkie were playing a video game together, Pinkie taking the time to shake the bottle in between stages. "I know you're still in there," she said with a grin, "Just wait 'til our friend gets here, then we'll see how cocky you are." Aqua Necklace splashed against the sides of the bottle, yelling in frustration. Josuke smirked. "I'll bet just shaking you around like this is enough to affect your user. Water takes the shape of its container after all, so a confined space like this is perfect for dealing damage to him."

Outside, Angelo was indeed feeling the effects of the shaking bottle on his Stand. "Damn that son of a bitch and his bitch girlfriend! I need to retrieve my Stand from that canteen somehow!" He pushed aside the foliage he was hiding behind. "But I can't just sneak into that house. Those two apparently know my face, and Aqua Necklace can't do anything from inside the canteen. So... How am I gonna pull this off?" He then spotted Ryohei approaching the house and entering. "That cop...," Angelo said. He grinned. "That was Higashikata! I thought Josuke's last name was familiar! That sergeant was the one who gave me my first arrest! Perfect, this is my way in."

Ryohei slowly snuck up behind Josuke and placed a gun to his temple. "Freeze!" "Hey, Mister Higashikata," Pinkie said nonchalantly. "Hey Pinkie," Ryohei replied, "Josuke why aren't you in school right now!?" "I'm just waiting for someone!," Josuke pleaded, freaked out that his grandpa had a gun to his head. "You can stop freaking out Josuke," Pinkie said, "He never took the safety off and his finger's off the trigger." Ryohei laughed as Josuke turned to see his childhood friend was right.

"Damn it old man!," Josuke called out. "Ha, I got you good there huh?," Ryohei said, "You shoulda seen the look on your face." Smile then opened its mouth to reveal a picture of Josuke's face at the moment the gun was pressed against it. "Really, Pinkie?," Josuke said. Pinkie as she held up a peace sign, while Ryohei looked confused since he couldn't see Smile or the picture. As Josuke turned off the game console, a news report started up. 'The police just reported a serial killing involving seven people, all of whom were found with fatal injuries to the eyes and ears. The murders have all been reported in the Morioh area. Investigation is currently underway.'

"I think the plot just caught up with us," Pinkie noted. "Gotta be Angelo's work," Josuke muttered, looking to Aqua Necklace still trapped in the bottle. Ryohei suddenly had a serious look about him. "I heard about this recently at the precinct. It's definitely the work of a serial killer. To think this dangerous freak is still lurking somewhere in this town. I can practically sense him..." Just then, a car was heard pulling up. "Oh, that must be the guy we're waiting for," Josuke said. Pinkie bounded up and over to the window while Josuke followed her.

What they didn't notice was while their backs were turned, Aqua Necklace turned itself into cognac and splattered itself against the side of the bottle to disguise it as a popular brand. Angelo had spent most of his life studying Ryohei hoping for a chance at revenge, and knew that Ryohei liked to have a shot of brandy after coming home from his shift. Thanks to Aqua Necklace, he now had a chance to take advantage of that habit.

Meanwhile, Jotaro was pulling up to the house, and saw Josuke and Pinkie leaning out the window. "Where's the bottle?," Jotaro asked. "It's right over...," Pinkie started, before she facepalmed. "Dammit, I was so excited that you showed up I forget to get the bottle." Josuke freaked. "I think we both got absent-minded." He turned around, and saw his grandpa had collapsed behind the table, the bottle lying open. "Damn you plot!," Pinkie called out as she and Josuke over to Ryohei.

They gasped as Ryohei was seen with blood coming out of his eyes and ears. Aqua Necklace cackled as it rose nearby. It started to say something before Pinkie cut him off. "Are you really gonna say something stupid about this being our fault? I mean, all we did was our civic duty. Is that really worth taking your revenge over? It's not like society's gonna let you do as you please. What a cocky killer." Aqua Necklace was flabbergasted. "Me cocky?" "Yeah," Josuke said, "Now if you don't mind... I have some aggression to work out." Crazy Diamond and Smile started attacking.

"DORARARARARARA! DO-RA!" "WARAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAI! KEEP SMILING!" Aqua Necklace was splatted against the nearby door. "Damn it... They're too strong...," the water Stand noted, "Looks like I haven't broken you just yet. Well, I'll get you next time." And with that, it slipped under the door. Smile tried to grab for it by slipping its hand under the door, but no luck. "Slippery little bastard, isn't he Josuke? Uh... Josuke?" Josuke was already trying to use Crazy Diamond to heal his grandfather.

"Okay, Pinkie," Josuke said, "Now you do the rest. Your Stand can bring people back to life, right?" "Josuke," Pinkie said sadly, "When have you ever seen a person come back to life in a cartoon? The few times its happened was because of a higher power, the death was a dream, they were faking, or they turned undead. My Stand can do a lot because of cartoon physics. Hell, I'm more like the Jim Carey version of The Mask than Big Head from the original comics. But even I have limits."

As much as the words hit Josuke, he had to admit they were true. "Damn it... The wounds looked so small from the outside, so I thought I could fix them. I mean, I've been doing it since I was a little kid. Sometimes Mom or Grandpa would get a little scrap, then my Stand would fix them up before they even realized it. But... Is that all I can really do!? Just give my grandfather a clean death!? Damn it all!"

Jotaro but a calming hand on Josuke's shoulder. "Josuke, when it comes to Stands, their power is immense. Even someone as gentle Fluttershy has a Stand that can create destruction. That's just human nature. In that regard, your power may be the gentlest I've ever seen. But no Stand can bring back the dead. Not completely, and certainly not without the right circumstances. But... We don't have those circumstances." He thought it might be possible to use Star Platinum to try massaging Ryohei's organs. But that's all it could do, it wouldn't suddenly make them start working again.

Josuke stood up. "Gramps has been a cop for thirty-five years. Despite never getting promoted, he worked tirelessly to protect the people of this town every day. When he heard about Angelo's killings on the news... His eyes were that of a guardian!" Jotaro sighed. "Ten years ago I fought against a number of Stand users that used their powers for evil. They all had sick habits, but they also served a cause, usually money. But Angelo is different. He's killed countless people already, most of them haven't been discovered yet. But there's no rhyme or reason to his actions, it's just a hobby. In that regard, he may be the worst Stand user I've ever encountered."

"And now he's after us," Pinkie realized. "Not just you," Jotaro said, "He also seems to be setting his sights on Tomoko." Josuke clenched his fists, his Stand energy glowing. "That bastard won't get near her... I swear, from this point on, I'll protect her and this town for my grandfather's legacy!" Pinkie couldn't help but blush, while Jotaro smiled. 'In the end, he's still a Joestar. Looks like destiny has passed onto him now. And he's willing to accept it head-on.'

After the funeral Ryohei's old possessions were still laid out like normal. It would be a long time before Tomoko would consider selling them, because they still reminded her of her father. To all the world, it seems Ryohei died of a sudden stroke. But there were people who knew the truth. Later Tomoko was sent off under Fluttershy's protection. Since Jotaro didn't share the Joestar name and Tomoko hadn't yet met Jotaro, she couldn't connect the dots that Fluttershy was Joseph's granddaughter-in-law.

Back at the Higashikata house, Jotaro, Pinkie, and Josuke were sequestered inside while waiting for Angelo to make his move, relying on bottled liquids and canned food for sustenance. With Aqua Necklace able to enter any liquid, it wasn't safe to consume anything else. "Have you ever encountered a Stand like this?," Pinkie asked. "Similar," Jotaro said, "But the last water Stand I encountered was more combat oriented. It could only take the form of water, but it was incredibly strong and could hide underground or in any container. Aqua Necklace seems more geared toward infiltration and assassination."

Josuke flared up at the mention of Angelo or his Stand, his hair temporarily getting out of place. "Sorry," he said, "I'm just a little ticked off." Pinkie looked around. "That's all very good, but..." She pointed out the trashed furniture. "Shouldn't you fix your furniture?" "Remember the bully from a few days ago?," Josuke said, "If I'm not completely calm when I repair something, the repair job can become incomplete. Better to wait until Angelo's dealt with, or he'll be nothing compared to Mom's wrath."

"That reminds me," Jotaro said, "I notice you still have a scar from when I punched you that day." Pinkie looked. "Oh yeah, I completely missed that. I was more focused on keeping Josuke on his feet. Josuke, why didn't you heal yourself?" "I can't," Josuke replied, "Never could use my power on myself." "Then allow me!," Pinkie said, "Smile!" "Keep smiling!," Smile said as it got out a band-aid with the words "Bye-bye ouchies" printed on it.

As Pinkie applied it, she remarked, "Cartoon characters recover from injuries in a similar manner all the time." She pulled off the band-aid, causing Josuke to wince from the pain, but the scar was gone. Jotaro raised an eyebrow. "Pinkie, you said your Stand can't revive the dead, but could it prevent someone from dying from a fatal injury? I've seen cartoons were the characters get blown up by high explosives, only to be perfectly intact other than some soot on their faces."

Pinkie nodded. "Yeah, it should be able to do that. And even if it couldn't, I've already been able to pull Aqua Necklace out of a person once. I could do it again if need be." "Good," Jotaro said, "Our only chance to stop Angelo is to capture his Stand. Just make sure you don't let it go this time." "Don't worry," Pinkie said, "We already have a few plans in mind. We just need to wait for Angelo to make his move. And I know just when he'll do it too."

Outside, Angelo was watching the group, eating some fast food as he did. "Hmm... The girl was able to pull my Stand out of that guy before. I could have my Stand move around to avoid it, but that'd distract it from causing damage and there's no way she'll remove her hand until she's grabbed Aqua Necklace. I'll need to catch them off-guard. They've got a bunch of bottles lying around." He chuckled. "But I won't fall for the same trick twice. I just need to wait for my chance to strike."

Three days later at the hotel, Fluttershy was speaking with Tomoko. "I just wish Josuke would hurry up and start asking Pinkie out," Tomoko said, "They've been friends ever since kindergarten. He's always indecisive when it comes to girls." Fluttershy had been actively avoiding talking about Joseph, not wanting to throw any hand grenades into a turbulent storm. "Hey Mama," Jolyne said, "It's starting to rain." "Oh dear," Fluttershy said, knowing that things were about to get crazy at the Higashikata house.

At the house, Jotaro noticed footprints matching Angelo's shoe size, indicating he had been scouting around the house. He looked up as the rain started to come down, then his eyes widened. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Aqua Necklace move to try and possess him, but Star Platinum was faster and knocked the water Stand off. It hit the side of the house, but laughed as it reformed. "I was wondering who you were. So you're a Stand user too. But too bad! Now that it's raining, there's no escape from me!"

Jotaro winced as a watery handprint left by Aqua Necklace cut into his cheek. Quickly he ran inside the house. Already several kettles were boiling and all the taps were running. "Angelo must have snuck in while we were getting rations!," Pinkie called out, "He's been waiting for the rain to come!" Aqua Necklace started to appear in the steam, laughing. "Smile!," Pinkie called out. Smile twisted its arms like an electric fan, blowing Aqua Necklace away from Josuke.

"It's using the water vapor!," Josuke realized, "We can't trap it like that!" "And that's not all," Jotaro said, "Look, the roof is leaking." Sure enough, water starting dripping in from the ceiling. "Bastard must have cut holes in our roof to let the rain in," Josuke said. He chucked. "So, he's surrounded us. But now we have a chance to strike at him. This is great! Soon I'll be sure to avenge Grandpa!" "Let's make sure we can get some breathing room first," Jotaro said, "Literally. In this situation with boiling water even coming from the bathroom, one wrong breath and we're done for. Angelo's more cunning than I thought."

"He hasn't beaten us yet," Josuke said, "I know a way out of here." Crazy Diamond appeared and smashed through the nearby wall, letting the trio into the next room. It then repaired the wall while Smile blew the air out of it, trapping Aqua Necklace outside. "There," Pinkie said. She then heard a blowing sound. "Uh... What's that?" "Shit," Josuke said as he turned around, "The humidifier!" Aqua Necklace laughed as it slipped inside Josuke. "I knew you'd try something like this to escape, so I set myself up ahead of time! Whether or its horse races or exams, when something goes as I predict I can't help but laugh!"

As he slipped inside, Josuke scoffed. "That bastard, he did exactly as I predicted. Although, I don't particularly feel like laughing." He opened his mouth wide as Crazy Diamond stuck its hand inside, it's power activating. "I thought you had something planned," Jotaro said, "Otherwise Pinkie would have moved to try extricating Aqua Necklace." Crazy Diamond pulled out a large rubber glove, which it threw to the floor. It was wriggling about, Aqua Necklace trapped inside.

Josuke breathed a sigh of relief. "I tore this up earlier and swallowed it, just in case Angelo managed to get inside me. I figured he'd go for me first, since he thought he knew my power so well." He picked up the glove. "It was a little gross, though." He opened the nearby window. "Let's see... If Angelo is somewhere close by..." He handed the glove to Crazy Diamond, who swung it around at top speed. "DORARARARA!" Sure enough, Angelo came flying out of a nearby tree, screaming as he did. "I had a dog and his name was Bingo!," Pinkie called out. Angelo tried to crawl away, but he freaked when he heard Pinkie say, "Oh no you don't!"

"WARAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAI! KEEP SMILING!" Angelo was blown back to a nearby rock monument in the center of the neighborhood. "So we finally meet in person," Josuke said, "Angelo." Angelo backed up nervously. "Hey, you guys aren't planning to kill me, are you!? I mean, sure I'm an escaped convict who was found guilty of multiple murder by the Japanese courts, but that doesn't give you the right to judge me!"

He smirked as he pointed at Josuke. "Josuke, just because I killed your grandfather doesn't mean you can kill me! That'd make you a murderer too!" Josuke scoffed as Crazy Diamond smashed Angelo's pointing hand into the monument, breaking a piece of it off. "And you call us cocky? Who said we need to kill you to punish you?" Angelo looked in horror as he realized his hand was fused to the piece of stone that was broken off. "We won't kill you," Josuke said, "But you won't be going back to jail either. Not when you can just break out again."

Angelo shrunk back as Josuke approached. "Instead... You'll be condemned to atone for your crimes, sealed inside the very town my grandfather swore to protect!" Pinkie smiled. "Hope you like purgatory." Crazy Diamond wailed on Angelo as it fused him to the stone. "DORARARARARARARARARARARARARARARA!" Angelo screamed in horror when he saw what had happened. "Hey, Jotaro," Josuke said, "I left him able to speak. I'm sure you have some questions." "Indeed," Jotaro said, "I was curious, Angelo. Just how did you become a Stand user to begin with? It's clear you weren't born with it, or you'd never have been arrested in the first place."

Angelo sighed. "Well, it's obvious I'm not going anywhere. Fine... It was this man in a high school uniform." He chuckled. "I'm sure he'll kill you when he finds out what happened to me." Pinkie looked confused. "Why would he bother?" "He's been making other Stand users for some purpose I haven't been told about," Angelo explained, "When he finds you interfering, he's sure to deal with you." "This man," Jotaro said, "Did he happen to have an arrow of some kind?"

He pulled out a picture of the Stand arrow. "Like this?" "Yeah, now that you mention it," Angelo said, "I remember seeing him wield that along with a bow to go with it. I was in my cell at the time. It was six months before my scheduled execution. At the time I had come to accept my fate, that my fun was over. The only thing I had to look forward to was sneaking porn mags from the other prisoners. It was a night like any other, but something turned out to be different. I could feel someone watching me through the cell door."

"A guard?," Pinkie asked. "I thought so too at first," Angelo admitted, "Until I saw him, that man I mentioned. Well, I say 'man' because although he wore a school uniform, he seemed a lot older. But it was hard to tell due to how dark it was. Somehow he had slipped into my cell without anyone noticing. He was right there next to my bed. But before I could question what he was doing there, he pulled out the bow and arrow. It struck me at the time how old it looked, centuries at least. He aimed the arrow right at me and shot me, right in the mouth."

"Ouch," Josuke said, "I'm surprised you didn't die." Angelo smirked. "You aren't the only one. For a second, I thought I was dead. That's when the man spoke for the first time. He congratulated me on surviving, and moved to pull the arrow out. Aqua Necklace appeared as he did." "The same thing happened to me!," Pinkie realized, "Only I got shot in the chest from behind..." Angelo looked at her in surprised. "You too?"

Pinkie nodded. "Anyway," Angelo continued, "The man said I couldn't have survived without the talent needed to produce a Stand. That's what he called it, said he got the name from a man named DIO." Jotaro gasped. "DIO? Are you sure that's what he said?" "No mistaking a name as simple as that," Angelo assured him, "The man said he chose me because criminals have a higher chance of producing the type of Stand he needs. He then said I could use this power to avoid execution and escape, and encouraged me to get back to committing the crimes I loved. I think he wanted to observe what my Stand can do. He then directed me here to Morioh, since it's where I grew up. He said he lives here too."

"Think he's telling the truth?," Josuke asked. "Yes," Jotaro said, "He mentioned DIO. That's a name I know all too well. When Fluttershy finds out..." "Yoink!," Pinkie said as Smile plucked the rubber glove out of the air as it was trying to fly away, a little kid carrying an umbrella right in its path. "Now Angelo, were you trying to hold this kid hostage to try and make Josuke get you out of that rock? You aren't even sure he can." Angelo gulped. "Would you believe me if I said 'no'...?"

Josuke sighed. "Guess I didn't have enough anger to deal with you," he said as he combed his hair, "You really are too cocky for your own good." Angelo growled. "You dare to call me cocky!? You son of bitch, standing there combing your shit hair like you don't... Uh... I mean... Uh-oh..." He then remembered Pinkie's earlier reprimand regarding how insulting Josuke's hair would set him off. Sure enough, Josuke's eye twitched and his mouth was twisted in a scowl. "What... Did you say... About my hair!?" "Now, let's calm down here...!," Angelo pleaded, but it was futile.

"DORARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARA!" "I should have buried you deeper in the first place," Josuke noted. Angelo was now complete embedded in the rock, a vague outline of a face visible as well as tiny little hands. It would soon become a popular landmark for couples to meet at, being dubbed the "Angelo Stone". "Gimme a break...," Jotaro said, "I'd say what's scariest about Josuke... Is that attitude of his." Pinkie giggled while blushing. "I think it's kinda cool..." "Well," Jotaro said, "It looks like my family may be staying in Morioh for longer than I thought. I think we'll be taking that welcome party, Pinkie." Pinkie gasped in delight as the sun started to come out.

Koichi was doing some research in school a few days later. 'This town has a long history. Some of the buildings go as far back as the Jomon Era, when the samurai first appeared. And even today, some samurai families still live here. The population was last calculated to be at 58,713, as totaled in the 1994 census. And in this year, 1999, the number of missing people is eighty-one, seven to eight times higher than the average for towns of similar size. Of them, forty-five have been children. Most think they were just runaways. But given that Josuke, Pinkie, Jotaro, and Fluttershy seem to live in an invisible world... I'm not so sure that's the real truth anymore.'

"Hey, Koichi," Josuke said, Pinkie right behind him, "You still studying?" "Kind of," Koichi said, "Hey, the rumors are going around that you finally started dating." "Yeah," Pinkie said, "After surviving that freak from the other day, our emotions kinda ran high. If they ran any higher, they'd need a separate story with a different rating." Koichi blinked. "If you say so." "Anyway, we were just about to head home," Josuke said, "Care to join us?" "Sure," Koichi said as he gathered his papers and books in his bag.

The trio soon passed by the Angelo Stone. "Yo, Angelo," Josuke said. "Yo, Angelo," Pinkie parroted. "Hey, Josuke," Koichi said as he stopped, "Was this stone always here?" "Yeah," Josuke replied, "But it didn't always look like that." Koichi shrugged. "Yo, Angelo." He quickly caught up with the others. "So, where's Jotaro? I haven't seen him for a while." "He's staying at the Morioh Grand Hotel with his family," Josuke said, "Turns out they aren't done here yet. There's still a bit of investigating. That Angelo guy was just the tip of the iceberg."

"Now they're looking for the same arrow that hit me," Pinkie said, "Before it can be used to create a dangerous new Stand." "Yeah, Stands sound scary enough knowing I can't see them," Koichi noted, "But if there's a power out there that could wipe out everything we know..." He then looked at the abandoned house they were passing and thought he saw someone in the window. "Hey, wasn't this house supposed to be vacant for the last three or four years?"

Josuke nodded. "Yeah, nobody could sell it in its current state. They'd have to demolish and rebuild it." "The family that lived here was named Nijimura," Pinkie said, "But for some reason the family just disappeared one day. No one knows what happened. That family's had bad luck for a while. The family patriarch died, leaving the family in poverty due to Japan's economic crisis. Not to mention the death of the current family head's wife. They seemed to be having some luck at the tail end of the 1980s, but then a few years later they disappeared. Last I heard, there was just the father and two sons."

"Well, I saw someone in the window just now," Koichi said, "Holding a candle." "Impossible," Josuke assured him, "I live right over there, see. And Pinkie lives right next door. We'd know if there was anyone new in the neighborhood, Pinkie especially. Plus, the real estate agent comes by every so often to check for squatters." Koichi looked at the front door and gate. "Well, the gate's open, and there's a padlock on the front door. You don't think I saw a ghost, do you?"

"Don't talk about ghosts," Josuke said, "They're scary. Besides, it's not like ghosts are real. Next you'll say I'm a gay sailor in another dimension." "No," Pinkie said, "Just a hetero sailor with four balls." "Now that I'll believe," Josuke quipped. They had their backs to the house as Koichi peeked through the gate, only for someone to kick it closed right on his neck. His pained cries caused Josuke and Pinkie to whirl around and see what was up. A young man their age with a punk haircut and the Japanese kanji for billion on his jacket had his foot on the gate, pressing it against Koichi's neck.

"You shouldn't go sniffing around other people's houses like that, kid," the punk sneered, "That's rude." "Hey!," Pinkie called out, "You let that Koichi alone!" She conjured her Stand and pulled out a cream pie from nowhere, which she promptly threw into the punk's face. Coughing and wiping away the cream, he muttered, "Did you just hit me with a pie like some Tex Avery character? And more importantly, is that a Stand you just summoned?" "You know about Stands then," Josuke said, "That must mean you have one too. Regardless, you don't go slamming people's heads in your gate just because they're snooping around. That's even more rude than the snooping."

"What are you even doing here?," Pinkie said, "You don't look familiar. And the realtors should have evicted you." "Not really," the punk said, "This house was bought by my dad. They come to check in on us every once in a while, since we can't afford to renovate." During this time, the pie that Pinkie threw caused the punk to release Koichi. As he got up on his fours, something whizzed through the air and hit him square in the neck. Pinkie's eyes widened when she saw it was an arrow sticking out of his neck.

"Bro, what was that about?," the punk said as he looked up to the window where the arrow had come from, "We were having a civilized discussion." "I shot that kid for a reason," a man's voice replied, "That man there is Josuke Higashikata, and the girl is Diane Hanasakura." "Pinkie Pie, if you please," Pinkie said, "And I recognize that voice. You're the one who shot me with that arrow the other day." "And it looks like I'll finally get a chance to see your new Stand in action," the man replied, "Okuyasu, these two are the ones who took out Angelo. Josuke is also a Stand user. We need to deal with them before they become a problem. Be sure to only knock out the girl so I can study her Stand later."

Koichi was lying on the ground, coughing up blood. "Looks like the kid doesn't have the potential," the man said, "A shame. I was hoping he'd be able to develop a Stand as well, hence why I chose him for the target." Josuke approached Koichi, but Okuyasu stepped in his way. "Move aside," Josuke said, "I can still heal him." "You'll need to get close first," Okuyasu said, "And to do that you'll need to get by me, and my Stand, The Hand." A silver humanoid with a high collar and the same symbols on its chest appeared. It displayed its hands palm forward, the right one having some odd hemispheres on it.

As Okuyasu moved to attack, Josuke had Crazy Diamond strike. Crazy Diamond proved faster, easily decking The Hand. Okuyasu spit out a bit of blood from the hit. "Damn it Okuyasu!," the man in the window said, "Do you remember what I said? Using a Stand is like riding a bicycle or driving a car. No matter how fast it is, if an idiot is behind the wheel, they won't be able to push it to its full potential." "Cut me some slack!," Okuyasu argued, "He's faster than I thought!"

The man scoffed. "I'll be honest, Brother. Your Stand is my finest work, but it terrifies me more than any other power I've seen. But if you can't get your act together and use it to its fullest potential, you will lose easily." "Like this?," Pinkie said as she suddenly appeared from literally behind Okuyasu's back, Smile smashing him in the face with an oversized boxing glove that left his head doing a very good impression of a speed bag. The man sighed. "Yeah... Like that... So your Stand can create cartoon physics. I take it back, that scares me even more than my brother's power."

"You're a bit of an idiot," Josuke said, also right behind Okuyasu, causing him to be shocked, "You didn't even keep an eye on us. Crazy Diamond!" Pinkie literally hopped out of way as Crazy Diamond knocked Okuyasu across the street. Josuke then checked on Koichi. "He's still alive, and he hasn't lost much blood. Somehow his major arteries were missed. If I act quickly I can... He's running right after us, isn't he." "Yep," Pinkie said as Smile grabbed The Hand's right arm. "You always seem to start your attacks with your right hand," Pinkie noted, "Makes me think that has something to do with your power. But let's see if you can get out of Smile's literal iron grip."

Sure enough, Smile had changed its hand into a vice, trapping The Hand's hand. "Damn it, let go!," Okuyasu said. Pinkie winced as The Hand started to tug against Smile. "He's stronger than he looks." As The Hand finally wrenched free, Pinkie got out of the way as the glowing right hand hit the gate. "Pinkie!," Josuke said, running over. "I'm fine," Pinkie said, "I slipped out easily when his hand got free. But Josuke... Why did you leave Koichi over there?" Josuke realized he had accidentally left Koichi inside the gate and facepalmed.

"Don't go running now," Okuyasu said, "My right hand hasn't gotten excited yet." "Phrasing!," Pinkie retorted. Josuke then noticed something about the sign on the gate where The Hand has scrapped against it. It had originally said "No Trespassing" in Japanese kanji. But now it merely said "No Passing". "Holy shit," Josuke said, "That sign got changed after Okuyasu touched it. That means his hand can cut through space!" Okuyasu smirked. "Bingo. Whatever my right hand touches disappears. Not even I know where it ends up. What I do know is that when its erased, the edges of the space join back together to bridge the gap."

The Hand's hand started glowing again. "And guess what... It doesn't just work on solid matter!" The Hand swiped at the air between him and the couple. To their shock, they wound up getting drawn toward Okuyasu. He then punched them both away. "I can also scrape away empty space," Okuyasu bragged, "And then something in front of me can be drawn in closer, or I can go to it. Kinda like teleportation." Josuke and Pinkie moved over a little. Okuyasu chuckled. "It's no use, no matter where you move!"

The Hand scrapped the air again, getting the two in close. "And back!," Pinkie said, as she and Josuke bent over backwards with Smile's power, confusing Okuyasu. He then got a surprise when a flowerpot smacked him in the face, another hitting him in the neck as his head reeled back. As the couple got back up, a third shot past them and slammed into Okuyasu's crotch as he went flying. "Flowers in your nuts!," Pinkie quipped. "It's a good thing he's such an idiot," Josuke said, "That power of his is no joke."

Meanwhile, Jotaro and Fluttershy were visiting the Higashikata household. As Jotaro rang the bell, Tomoko called out from inside. "If that's the newspaper guy, we already got ours!" "We're not with the newspaper," Fluttershy said. Tomoko opened the door. "Oh, it's you Fluttershy. Sorry, but my father just died from a brain tumor, so I'm really not eager for... Company..." She just got a look at Jotaro. "It's... It's you..."

To both Jotaro and Fluttershy's shock, Tomoko went and glomped Jotaro. "Joseph!," she called out, causing Fluttershy to stumble in shock. "You finally came back!," Tomoko said, "I've been so lonely since my father died! I never thought you'd come back at a time like this!" As she started repeating "I love you" at rapid speed, Jotaro cut her off, "I'm not Joseph Joestar." "Huh?," Tomoko said in shock. "Will you get off my husband!?," Fluttershy demanded. Tomoko took a second look. "Oh... Yeah, you're too young to be Joseph. Sorry about that."

Fluttershy sighed. 'She's lucky I'm not Suzi Q.' "Gimme a break...," Jotaro muttered, "I'm Joseph's grandson, Jotaro Kujo. I'm sure your son Josuke can tell you more about me. Speaking of which, I came over to check up on him. Is he in?" Tomoko seemed to have a spaced out look on her face. "Stop staring!," Fluttershy called out. "Sorry!," Tomoko said as she snapped out of it, "Anyway, Josuke hasn't come back from school yet." "Alright," Jotaro said, "We'll come back later this evening."

As he and Fluttershy got to their rental, he turned back. "Listen, for what it's worth, I doubt your father would have died if Joseph was here. He'd do whatever it took to protect you and your family. But he's grown too old to fight, so I couldn't let him come. That's why me and Fluttershy are here instead." Tomoko looked confused by that as the couple drove off. "This is the picture of Enya with the bow and arrow," Fluttershy said, "The one the Speedwagon Foundation got for us."

"It was because of Polnareff that we have a lead on the others," Jotaro noted, "Granddad's Aunt Twilight got the one her birth father had back from the Nazis. We also got one from DIO's mansion. However, it turns out Enya bought it and four others from an Italian man who stole them from their Egyptian tomb. Enya must have eventually learned where Twilight got her Stand from. Polnareff tracked the purchase, which was how he ran into DIO in the first place. He apparently caught wind of the strange arrows that could grant Stand power and thought it might be a lead to J Geil's location."

"The real issue is that there were supposed to be six arrows at the tomb, other than the one that was given to Twilight," Fluttershy noted, "Which means the Italian man still has at least one, most likely." "Which leaves the other four that we have to find," Jotaro said, "Enya disappeared after DIO's death, and she may at one point have visited Morioh and given someone here another of the arrows. The question is, who? And how many Stand users have they made since they got it? We need to find out, before another Stand like The World can be made."

"Looks like he's out cold," Pinkie said as she and Josuke knelt over Okuyasu. "He's still dangerous," Josuke pointed, "I'll choke him out enough to keep him down." "Uh... Before you do that," Pinkie said, "That other guy dragged Koichi into the house." "Shit," Josuke said, then turned to Okuyasu. "Don't move. I'm watching you." The couple carefully moved to the front door, where they saw the older brother standing over Koichi. "This arrow," he said, "It's precious, it's unique." "It's one of a set of seven," Pinkie pointed out.

"Well it's the only one I have!," the man said, "The point is, I must take it back." He grabbed the arrow. "Hey, don't pull that out," Josuke warned, "You'll risk further injury." The man scoffed and swiftly pulled the arrow out straight. "My brother was too incompetent. I'll have to take care of you myself. But it would be careless of me to not take care of this body before I moved on to the next. It's like when you finish a CD. You have to put it back, before you put in a new one. Cleaning up after yourself it something everyone does, including me."

Pinkie burst into laughter. "Tell that to every little kid I've ever known! And my mom! I'm the one doing all the chores at home! Besides, didn't you hear Josuke outside? His Stand can heal Koichi! Hello! Open your ears! You don't have to worry about a body if there is no body." "I still have to deal with the two of you," the man pointed out, "That's why I had to drag him inside." "Uh, no you didn't," Pinkie retorted, "You don't think we wouldn't go for the arrow after the information Angelo gave us? You could have pulled the arrow out of Koichi outside, let us heal him, then let the arrow itself lure us into your obvious trap. For a guy who screams 'military nut', you lack some serious flexibility in your thinking."

The man just narrowed his eyes, but before he could argue further Okuyasu showed up behind them. "Hey, Keicho! I haven't lost yet, I'm not finished with them!" "Time to duck!," Pinkie said, spotting some glowing light in the shadows behind Keicho. She and Josuke dodged aside, as Okuyasu suddenly got covered in small holes that were bleeding profusely. "Damn it Okuyasu!," Keicho said, "You just had but in like a dunce! If you had stayed outside, I could have caught them off-guard with my Bad Company! You were even stupid enough to stand right in the line of fire!"

"These wounds...," Josuke noted, "What could have caused these?" "They look like pinpricks," Pinkie noted. Keicho scoffed. "I told you time and again. If you don't train your mind, your life will be worthless." "I dunno," Pinkie said, "Some of the happiest people in the world are idiots. And... Keicho, was it...? If I may, you have a very archaic way of thinking that can only work in the military. And even then..." Keicho narrowed his eyes. "Like I'll take advice on living from a girl with cotton candy hair." "Oh dick move," Pinkie said, "I may not fly off the handle like Josuke, but that does not mean I like getting my hair insulted, you meanie."

She then flattened herself against the wall as a silhouette of bullet holes appeared around her. Keicho looked surprised. "That was a dead-on attack. How did it miss?" "I still had my Stand active," Pinkie explained, "Where do you think the perfect silhouette came from?" "We need to get out of here!," Josuke said, "Crazy Diamond!" Crazy Diamond smashed the wall, and Josuke and Pinkie fled through it while Smile grabbed Okuyasu with a vaudeville hook to pull him out as well. Crazy Diamond then repaired the wall as another barrage of whatever was attacking hit impacted against it.

"Hmm," Keicho thought, "Her Stand is more effective than I thought. I assumed she'd be an idiot like my brother from her hair. But as the saying goes, never judge a book by its cover. Still, why didn't they grab the boy? Oh well, they'll come back in for him soon. I'll kill everyone who gets in my way..." He grabbed Koichi and dragged him through the house. "No matter the cost." Outside, Josuke asked. "Pinkie, why didn't you grab Koichi?" Pinkie sighed. "I wasn't sure I could get at him without getting shot at again. Our options are limited while we don't know Keicho's Stand power... Damn you plot!"

Josuke sighed, then grabbed Okuyasu by the collar. "You must know how your brother's Stand works. Tell us now, and I'll heal all your wounds." Okuyasu coughed and muttered, "Why would I tell... Someone like you that...? Idiot..." Pinkie scoffed. "You mean the guy trying to save his best friend compared to the guy who would kill his own brother just because he got in the way? Who's the idiot? Josuke, just heal this guy already and let's get on with the plot." "Yeah, you're right," Josuke said as he called out Crazy Diamond, "I wasn't expecting him to talk anyway."

Okuyasu was surprised as he felt his wounds disappear and the pain subside. "Now then," Josuke said as he got up, "We gotta get after Koichi. You try and stop us, and I won't hesitate to stick you in the ground." As they snuck over to the door, Okuyasu approached them, but there was no more violent intent in his eyes. "Hey, Josuke was it? Why'd you heal me? I mean, we're still enemies, so I could still attack you at any time." Pinkie raised an eyebrow at him. "You really think you could take the both of us on? After your pathetic display earlier? Don't get me wrong, you've developed some creative uses for The Hand, but we've gotten just as experienced with our own Stands."

"Okay yeah, you could probably kick my ass easily," Okuyasu admitted, "But that still doesn't answer my question! You even went out of your way to help me! I'm not smart so you need to explain it!" Josuke shrugged. "We just don't like seeing people die, even by our hands. That said, if your brother's actions cause Koichi to die, expect to see him merged with the local architecture." "Now if you'll excuse us," Pinkie said, "Smile!" Her Stand emerged, and she and Josuke started slipping through the house, disappearing behind objects way too small to hide behind. They soon peeked out from behind a small jar facing the stairs.

"I can see a blood trail," Josuke said, "Keicho must have dragged Koichi up to the second floor." Pinkie pulled out a large hearing horn and put it to her ear. "I'm hearing two... Wait, three breaths? I guess their father's home. Anyway, looks like Koichi's still alive for now." Okuyasu then popped his head out of the jar. "Hey, I have a question?" "Okuyasu?," Josuke said, "How are you doing that?" "Well, you seem to be able to utilize Pinkie's Stand effect while it's active," Okuyasu pointed out, "I don't really get how it works, but it's a cartoon, right? Even someone as stupid as me can understand that much."

Josuke sighed. "So, what did you wanna ask? And make it quick." Okuyasu stuck his hand out of the jar and pointed at a bruise on Josuke's cheek. "That's where I punched you earlier. But you haven't healed it yet. Why not?" "I can't use my power on myself," Josuke explained. "Luckily, he doesn't have to," Pinkie said, getting out the "Bye bye ouchies" band-aid. "Save 'em for the fight with Keicho," Josuke said, "It's just a bruise." Pinkie nodded. They left Okuyasu behind and carefully went up the stairs following the blood, spotting Koichi in the middle of a large room.

"Uh oh...," Pinkie said, "He's too far away to sneak towards." "And we lost the advantage of your hook when you used it earlier," Josuke noted, "We make even one move in that room and it's Duck Season for us. Still, we gotta get in there. Koichi's life is on the line." Just then, Okuyasu placed his left hand on Josuke's shoulder, while using The Hand to draw Koichi toward them. Koichi flew at the group, Pinkie getting out a large catcher's mitt to grab him. "Consider us even," Okuyasu said, "I may be just an idiot, but I do follow my heart. And my heart is telling me this fight is between you and Keicho. I won't interfere any longer."

Pinkie gave him a playful jab in the ribs. "You're a big softy in the end, aren't you?" Okuyasu blushed. "Thanks Okuyasu," Josuke said, "I mean it." Okuyasu went downstairs as Josuke checked Koichi's pulse. "He's still alive... Good." He applied Crazy Diamond's power and Koichi started to open his eyes. "Huh...?," he muttered, and looked around. He then shot up in surprise. "What's going on!? Where are we!?" "Good, you're awake," Pinkie said, "How many fingers am I holding up?" Koichi blinked. "Uh... Eleven? Somehow..."

Sure enough, Pinkie used Smile to add a sixth finger to her right hand. "Just making sure you're paying attention," she said as she shook her hand to remove the effect, "What's the last thing you remember? Cuz I have the 'Instant Trauma Amnesia' mallet on stand-by just in case." Koichi rubbed his head. "Just getting my head stuck in the gate. My head's too woozy for anything else. Also, 'Instant Trauma Amnesia'?" "Hey, it worked for my mom," Josuke argued, "And apparently it doesn't hurt."

"Of course not," Pinkie said, "It's meant to make you forget pain instantly, like how cartoon characters can forget things when they get hit on the head. I just specialized the effect via ACME marketing." She showed the other side of the mallet to reveal an ACME logo on the back. "Patent pending..." "So where are we?," Koichi said. "Inside the house," Josuke said, "And still behind enemy lines as it were. Okuyasu bowed out but there's still his older brother."

Pinkie then heard something. "What are those voices..?" Sure enough, there was a sound coming from the rafters. "Move! Move! Move!" There was also the sound of tiny footsteps. Smile quickly gave a thought, creating an idea bulb that lit up the area. "Good thinking, Pinkie!," Josuke said, "Literally." With the light around the area, it was easy to see in the rafters, were what looked like tiny soldiers were moving across them beams. "Are those... Keicho's Stand?," Josuke asked.

"If they are," Pinkie said, "Then Keicho is a fan of both GI Joe and Toy Story. Maybe even Small Soldiers." Several miniature Green Berets popped their heads out from the rafters, M16s drawn. "Holy shit, it's the American infantry!," Josuke called out. The toy soldiers fired, as Pinkie called out, "Smile!" The three friends were pinned against the wall as the M16s drew an outline of their bodies against the wall around them. The soldiers leapt down as they deployed parachutes. "Hey Josuke?," Pinkie said, "Didn't Keicho call his Stand Bad Company earlier?"

"Uh-huh," Josuke said, "And now I think I know why." Koichi was just staring in disbelief. The tiny soldiers fired off their guns, managing to hit Josuke in the cheek. "Damn! They're smaller than regulation M16s, but no less damaging! Pinkie, I think I could use that bandage now!" "One sec," Pinkie said, as Smile grabbed the floor the soldiers landed on, then flipped it like it was a carpet, creating a piano sound from the planks as the Berets were tossed everywhere with a sound like a bowling ball hitting the pins. "That should give us some breathing room. Let's move!"

As they ran, the soldiers picked themselves up. "The sergeant said the girl had powers beyond belief, but that just caught us off guard." "Looks like the boy is awake too. We need to change tactics. Send word back to the sergeant, we'll need air support for this." "Copy that. Permission to set up mine fields ahead, sir?" "Granted. Just don't let them get away. Bad Company! Move out!" The tiny army marched ahead to the room the trio had fled to. They immediately shot down the door that had closed, causing it to implode. "It's like if Hogan's Heroes had weapons at all times," Pinkie noted.

"And they're powerful," Josuke said, "All of them firing at once was enough to destroy the door. Imagine if they hit us." He looked around. "Plenty of windows to try leaping out of. You ready, Koichi?" "Uh, hold that thought," Koichi said, "I think I hear something." Pinkie and Josuke listened, and quickly realize it was the sound of helicopters. They gasped when they saw four model Apache attack choppers, fully functional and fully armed. "Great, so it's not just toy soldiers," Josuke muttered, "Keicho has assault helicopters too."

"Josuke, Pinkie, look out!," Koichi called out, "There's some tanks too!" Josuke whirled his head around and dodged as a model Abrams tank fired off a shell, impacting the wall behind him. "Uh, Koichi?," Pinkie said, "Did you... Actually see that?" Josuke gasped and looked at Koichi. Somehow, he was glowing with Stand energy. "Uh... Yeah...," Koichi said, "Somehow... I can see them... The Stands you guys have." "I see," came Keicho's voice as he stepped into view, his Stand moving in formation around him. A total of sixty Green Berets, four Apache helicopters, and seven Abrams tanks.

"I thought the kid didn't have the potential," Keicho noted, "I guess when you healed him, it allowed him to gain that potential. If I'd known that was possible, I would have let you heal him earlier. But now the only question is... What kind of Stand has he gained?" "Keicho," Josuke said, "Kinda daring coming out and facing us." He tossed Crazy Diamond a pair of nails from the wall, which it threw to attack Keicho. Keicho just smirked as the soldiers blasted the nails right out of the sky.

"My Stand acts a perfect defense, destroying whatever tries to attack me," Keicho noted, "There's no way you can beat it. Even Smile can only defend against its power, but it could never manage to attack me, no matter what wacky physics it comes up with. And right now my army is in formation, ready to attack at the my signal. Company! Take aim!" The Stand aimed right at Pinkie and Josuke, but not Koichi. "Your name was Koichi, right?," Keicho said, "Before I make my attack, I need to know what sort of power is it you gained. It might just be the power I'm looking for."

"What are you talking about?," Josuke asked. "There's no need for you to know," Keicho replied. "Why not?," Pinkie said, "We happen to be Stand users too, after all. How do you know we can't help you?" Keicho scoffed. "It's not question of 'can you' but rather 'will you'. And I doubt you would." "Then you have the opposite problem in that case," Pinkie retorted, "What makes you think Koichi would help you when you're trying to kill us?" Keicho gave a reserved shrug. "Well, you have me there. But it's still in your best interest to help him realize what his power is. After all, it might just help you beat me."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Pinkie said, and Smile produced a joy buzzer, "Koichi, this may sting a little. But it's important to find the will necessary to manifest your Stand." Smile shook Koichi's hand, jolting him like it was a taser. That seemed to be the trigger Koichi needed, and his Stand energy flared up. However, it only produced an egg. "That's it?," Keicho said, "That's his Stand?" "Well, give it a minute," Pinkie said, "It probably needs to hatch first. Don't forget Koichi didn't have any Stand potential before Josuke healed him."

Sure enough, cracks were starting to form on the shell. Keicho sighed. "I don't have time to wait for it to hatch. Company! Take aim!" "Koichi, you need to retrieve your Stand!," Josuke called out. "But I don't know how!," Koichi said, "I don't even know how I summoned it to begin with!" "Then let's go to Plan B!," Pinkie called out as Smile kicked the egg, sending it and Koichi flying just as Keicho called out, "Fire!" Pinkie and Josuke got blasted back by the combined firepower, but Smile was still active, so all that happened was they got thrown through the wall and were now covered in ashes.

"Jeez Keicho," Josuke said, "At this rate you're doing more damage to the house than us." "Your Stand is truly strong to be able to withstand that," Keicho admitted, "But while it lets you both run on cartoon logic, neither of you are cartoon characters. Sooner or later you'll wear down, and once Pinkie faints, her power deactivates. That's when I'll finish you off." "You seem to have given this some thought," Josuke said, "But your plan is flawed. If you knew how much energy Pinkie has, you'd know I'm more likely to faint first."

Keicho chuckled. "My plans are on a level beyond your comprehension. Trust me, in the end everything will go according to plan. Company! Fire!" The soldiers made to attack. "DORARARARARA!" "WARAIRAIRAIRAIRAI!" The two Stand user moved forward as their Stands cut through the line of fire. "Impressive!," Keicho said, "But the next step of my plan is already in place!" Suddenly Josuke found himself stepped on a land mine. It turned out the entire floor was littered with them.

Under the effect of Pinkie's Stand, they could only blow up in comical ways, leaving the duo covered in soot, but the shockwave still knocked them off their feet. "Wide open!," Keicho announced as his Apaches launched their missiles, only for Smile to literally bat them away with a baseball bat, causing them to explode a distance away. "Not bad," Keicho admitted, "But that was a mere distraction. Take a look around you." The couple gasped when they realized they were surrounded by Keicho's Stand. Still, they smiled. "Looks like we've set things up," Josuke said. "Yeah," Pinkie said, "He doesn't even realize he's lost."

"What are you talking about?," Keicho said, frowning, "It's plain to see my plan is working. Company! Fire!" As the Stand launched it's full barrage, Josuke said, "Hey, Keicho. Your Stand can't defend you while it's committed to offence, can it?" Keicho gasped and saw the missiles Smile had knocked away reform and launch right at him. With his army too focused on attacking Josuke and Pinkie, there was nothing to stop them. As the missiles exploded in Keicho's face, Bad Company dissipated. "You said earlier that all would go according to plan," Pinkie noted, "Guess you didn't realize we also had a plan in place."

"You were so focused on overpowering Pinkie's Stand," Josuke said, "That you forgot to take mine into account. My Stand doesn't just heal, it repairs objects back to their original form. Be sure to write it down so you don't forget." Koichi approached the duo. "That was amazing." "Yeah, but now there's one thing left to do," Josuke said, "If they still have the arrow, they can make even more Stand users. Or worse, kill more people." "Don't forget their father probably lives here," Pinkie said, "He may be the mastermind of this whole thing."

"Come to think of it," Koichi said, "We never learned their last name." He rummaged through the pockets of the unconscious Keicho and found a student ID. "Keicho... Nijimura... Wait, Nijimura!? That's the family that disappeared from this house!" "Or maybe they just never left," Josuke noted, "But were hidden away for the last few years. If they really came into some serious money during the 80s, then they could have had enough squirreled away to continue to pay off the mortgage."

"This house has three floors," Pinkie noted, "The arrow's probably on the third floor with Nijimura senior." As the trio approached, they heard something scratching inside the a room at the top. The door was open a crack, and Koichi could see the bow and arrow just inside. "Careful, Koichi," Josuke said, "I see a chain that's likely making the scraping noise." "Something inside?," Koichi asked, "What should we do?" "Let's use the element of surprise," Josuke said, "On the count of three, we all kick down the door. Ready?"

On three, they all kicked at the door, but got a surprise when something opened it and Pinkie's leg. "Get off me!," she said as used Smile to twist her leg around and throw the thing off, which went rebounding across the room, making wailing noises as it did. "Ew," Pinkie said, "Part of it's still on me." Koichi looked at it. "It kinda looks like an arm." "Oh wow," Pinkie said, "I only wanted to shake the thing off, not tear off its arm." They hurried into the room to see a strange green humanoid wearing a shirt and shorts, its torn arm regrowing.

The thing hobbled over and grabbed the severed arm off Pinkie, then hurried to a corner and started eating it. "What kind of monster is that?," Koichi said, "Is it another Stand?" "No," came Keicho's voice as he hobbled into the room through another door, "That's... Our father... Or rather, what's left of him." He quickly moved to where the bow and arrow was and grabbed it, holding it tight to his chest. "These are my father's most valued treasures," he noted, "I can't let them be damaged, or give them to anyone."

"What happened to your dad?," Josuke said, "Is he sick or something?" "If that was the problem it would have been solved by now," Keicho said, "I've seen plenty of Stand users capable of dealing with strange illnesses. No, my father is in very good health, and still has his appetite. This is something much worse." A tear dropped from his eyes. "You've already seen it. He can regenerate from anything, but this is the price. This mutated form. What I've been looking for this entire time... Is someone who can end his suffering forever. Over the last few years I've made a number of Stand users using this arrow. None were able to kill him, at least not permanently."

"What... What happened to him?," Koichi asked, "How did he become like this?" "It's DIO's fault," Keicho explained, "Eleven years ago, we were living in Tokyo because of father's business. Unfortunately, during that time Japan hit its economic downturn. Mother had died in illness two years prior, and Dad's company was taking out loans because they were facing bankruptcy. He got so frustrated that he would take it out on me and Okuyasu. In hindsight I know he never meant any of his harsh words as he did, but they stung all the same, even worse than the beatings."

"That's terrible," Pinkie noted. "It was about to get worse," Keicho said, "Though at first it didn't seem like that. Someone started sending Dad money in the mail. The packages would sometimes even include metal jewelry or precious gems. Things seemed to be turning around for us. But... It came at a price that we didn't know about at the time. Father had sold his soul to a man named DIO in exchange for money. Well, I say 'man' but DIO was nothing short of a monster. He implanted his cells into my dad. I only found this out years later."

"That's the vampire Jotaro mentioned," Josuke said, "The same one he and his friends hunted down and killed." "Maybe so," Keicho said, "But they cannot be held responsible for Dad's condition. He wouldn't have become like this in the first place if not for DIO. See, at the time DIO was searching for those with Stand potential, which it turned out Dad has. I don't know what sort of Stand Dad got from the arrow DIO left with him for safe-keeping, but it may be the reason he's still alive right now."

"Alive?," Josuke asked, "What do you mean?" "Most people who still had DIO's cells in them died when he did," Keicho explained, "But not Dad. I still remember that day, ten years ago. It was just around two pm, and I was coming home from school. I saw Okuyasu on the floor crying. At first I thought Dad had hit him again, but it was much worse. Father had collapsed on the floor of the kitchen, covered in boils and looking like he was burned. He kept ranting about DIO being dead. I told him to call an ambulance, but he said it was no disease."

He clenched his fists around the arrow. "A year later, this was all that was left of him. We returned to Morioh in hopes of finding seclusion. It was around that time that Okuyasu and I started developing our own Stands, the potential passed onto us because of our father. I eventually learned about the power of Stands, about DIO's role in our father's condition. So I took the arrow and started searching. I knew healing my father was useless, because DIO's cells were already merged with him. So I decided the only thing I could do was find someone who could finally let him die as a human."

Nijimura started rummaging through a large chest, trying to put some paper scraps together. "Look at him," Keicho said, "The same routine for the last ten years. He takes whatever it is in there and then just cries for days on end. He doesn't recognize me or Okuyasu, he probably doesn't even remember us or himself. As much as I love him, I just get angered everytime I see his pathetic existence!" He grabbed his father. "I told you not to make a mess, damn you! Do you even listen when I talk!?"

He then punched his father's jaw off and started stomping on him. Pinkie sighed. "You're pathetic." Keicho looked at her. "So you agree, then." "I mean you, Keicho," Pinkie clarified, surprising him, "Have you even investigated why your father is doing that? Have you never been curious as to why he's doing that routine? Your mind's not disciplined, it's tunnel-visioned! Your Stand is proof of that! It has perfect offense and defense, but can only commit to one or the other! The real American army doesn't have that problem!"

She then pointed to the injuries Keicho got from his own missiles. "And as further proof, you never thought to take advantage of my Stand! Earlier your brother tried taking advantage of Smile's area of effect and pulled it off great! But you never thought to do it yourself! The field that Smile projects to create cartoon physics affects EVERYONE within it, not just me and my friends! A disciplined mind can still be flexible, you know! And you're supposed to be the smart brother!?"

She took a deep breath. "Josuke, that box and its contents must be important to Nijimura senior. Care to work your magic?" "No problem," Josuke said, "I'm a little curious as to what's in there myself. Crazy Diamond!" Crazy Diamond smashed the box and activated its power to repair it. Keicho gasped as the paper scraps formed together to create a family photo, depicting him, his brother, and his parents. It was a scene he remembered quite well, because it was the last time they were truly happy.

Nijimura grabbed the photo and looked at it, starting to tear up from the sight. "You only thought he couldn't remember because he can't speak," Josuke noted, "But his short term memory must have been addled by DIO's cells going berserk inside him, and you don't exactly look the way you did in the photo. But he still remembers the man he once was, and he still remembers his family." "This is what he's been trying to do for the last ten years," Koichi realized, "He was trying to reassemble the photo. The last image he has of his family."

"There's a lot of Stand users out there," Josuke noted, "With enough searching, maybe we can find one who can reverse your father's condition." "And even if we can't," Pinkie said, "You don't need to go shooting people with that arrow to create more. The way Mister Kujo tells it, a little scratch is more than sufficient to see if a person can get a Stand. If they can, great. If not, then at least you don't become a murderer." She opened her blouse just enough to reveal the scar from where she was shot. "I mean, let's face it. Do we really need anymore cases like this?"

"She's right, Keicho," Okuyasu said as he came in, "We don't need to just keep shooting people. And if there's someone out there who make Dad better, even if it's just restoring his memory, isn't that enough?" Keicho closed his eyes and grunted. "Even if I was to consider it... I've come too far now... I've killed too many people with this arrow, just to find one Stand user that could help me. And this is a tangible object, so there's no way I can get away with it." Josuke then happened to look up. "Uh, guys? Do you happen to have any other relatives living here?"

"No," Okuyasu said, "It's just been the two of us and Dad. Why?" Just then, an outlet behind Okuyasu started sparking, and a humanoid reptile crackling with electricity came popping out. "Oh crap, it's Super Saiyan Frieza!," Pinkie called out. Keicho saw the strange thing pull its fist back and realized it was about to attack Okuyasu. "Okuyasu! Move it you idiot!" He punched Okuyasu out of the way, only to get impaled through the chest by the electric being.

"Brother!," Okuyasu called out as he approached. "Stay back!," Keicho warned, "This is a Stand, and its starting to turn me into electricity! If you touch me you'll wind up the same!" The Stand chuckled. "Keicho Nijimura, I'll be taking this arrow with me." Keicho growled. "You mean to take the arrow for yourself?" "Indeed," the Stand said, "You were the one who helped me gain my Stand, but it was weak at the time. You gave me that advice about how Stands can grow stronger through mental training. Well I took that to heart, and as a result my Stand, Red Hot Chili Pepper, has grown. It's too bad you never stuck around to see me develop."

Keicho growled. "Bad Company!" As his Stand started to manifest, Red Hot Chili Pepper flooded him with electricity. "Useless!" He started to drag Keicho through the outlet, prompting Pinkie to action. "Smile!" Smile managed to grab Keicho, but Red Hot Chili Pepper laughed. "I observed your fight earlier, little lady! Cartoon characters may be able to grab electricity without getting shocked, but they can never keep a good grip!" Keicho closed his eyes. "Okuyasu, you've always been a hindrance to me... But never forget that I always believed in your potential. You'd better live up to that, or I'll haunt you from the next life."

And with that, he slipped out of Smile's grip and disappeared into the outlet, along with the bow and arrow. "BROTHER!," Okuyasu called out. Smile tried to plunge its hand into the outlet to retrieve Keicho, but it was no use. "Ah man, he moved too fast for my Stand to catch up. Damn you plot!" Josuke leapt up to the roof through the window, then looked around. His eyes widened when he saw Keicho, tangled up in the utility wires and looking like overdone meat.

The others joined him in short order. "No... Brother...," Okuyasu muttered. "Okuyasu, did you know that guy?," Josuke said, "The Stand user who was looking in on us?" Okuyasu shook his head. "Bro found a lot of Stand users I hadn't heard about, like Pinkie. This guy, Red Hot Chili Pepper's user, he must have been one of them." He stood up, tears streaming from his face. "Keicho was destined to end up like this... There's no way he could've lived a normal life. But still, in the end... He died just to save me..."

Keicho was buried in the Morioh cemetery. Nijimura wasn't sure what had happened, but he felt in his heart that he had lost one of his sons. It was the very next day as Josuke got ready for school when his doorbell rang. He opened the door to see Okuyasu standing there, Pinkie right next to him looking bewildered that he even arrived. "Hey there, Josuke," Okuyasu said, "I came to get you since I'll be going to school with you from now on."

"Are you kidding?," Josuke said, "This isn't grade school. The only reason me and Pinkie still do that is because we live next door to each other." "Speaking of that," Okuyasu said, "I'm a little surprised to see that you live so close to my house." Tomoko then walked up to them. "Josuke, is this a new friend of yours?" "Yes, ma'am," Okuyasu said, "I'm Okuyasu Nijimura." Tomoko smiled. "Well, I was about to prepare some coffee before Josuke headed off to school. Care for some?"

"Sure," Okuyasu said. He playfully jabbed Josuke in the ribs as Tomoko walked off. "Man, Josuke, your mom is really hot." As he walked inside, Josuke slumped against the door. "This is just great... And heavy..." "Sorry about this," Pinkie said, "He kinda insisted. Luckily the fortune his father was paid still counts for a lot, so the mortgage on his house can be paid off until Okuyasu is old enough to get his own job." "Yeah," Josuke said, "But we still have another issue. That Stand user from earlier took the bow and arrow. Who knows what he's going to use it for."

Expect plenty of cartoon references with Pinkie, and more ACME gadgets. And don't worry, she hasn't thrown her last pie by a long shot.

I hope you guys don't hate the somewhat rushed ending for this chapter, but it mostly focuses on the return of a favorite character. Someone who's been speculated to be an excellent mentor figure for Koichi.

Jotaro answered a ringing phone inside his hotel room, Fluttershy and Jolyne watching a movie nearby. "Hello?" 'Is this Jotaro Kujo?,' came the voice on the other end. Jotaro narrowed his eyes. "I don't recognize your voice. Who are you?" 'That's not important. What is important is that you leave Morioh.' "You think I'm just gonna leave because some jerk told me to? And without giving me a good reason? Put a little more thought into your words."

'Fine, you want a reason? I have the bow and arrow you're looking for.' Jotaro's eyes widened. 'I took it from the one who previously had it, Keicho Nijimura,' the voice explained, 'I could probably kill you too, but I doubt it would be easy. I've heard you can stop time for a couple seconds, and even without that ability your Stand specializes in precision. Plus your wife has a Stand that can control plants. Now I know that a strong bolt of lightning can split an oak tree, but as strong as my Stand is physically it doesn't have the electrical juice to hold that sort of elemental power. So I thought I'd give you fair warning over the phone.'

"So you're a Stand user too," Jotaro said, getting Fluttershy's attention, "Just what do you want?" 'Look, I don't intend to bother with you. Josuke either, as long as he doesn't go snooping around.' "Like that'll happen," Jotaro pointed out, "Dealing with Stand users is my business, and this is Josuke's town. Guaranteed if you make trouble, one or both of us will track you down." 'Hey, cut a guy some slack. I only got my Stand recently, and I just wanna have a good time with them. I've been bored with exams and finding a job. I just wanna live a real life.'

Jotaro raised an eyebrow. "Are you a student by chance?" There was silence, as if the man on the other end realized he had said too much. 'Who the fuck cares!? Just stay out of my way, you and Josuke! Or I'll kill you both!' The phone sparked as the man laughed, causing Jotaro to drop the receiver. Then the man suddenly stopped laughing. 'Why didn't the phone explode?' "Because my wife just stuck a root made by her Stand into it," Jotaro said. Sure enough, Fluttershy had summoned Music in the Trees and created a small root to enter the speaker on the phone.

"Gimme a break...," Jotaro said when it was clear the mysterious Stand user wasn't making any further quips. He sat down on the sofa. "It's a good thing I thought to bring in some backup." "You didn't call Joseph, did you?," Fluttershy said. "Even if that was a good idea," Jotaro said, "The large number of Stand users in this town creates too much interference for Hermit Purple to work properly. I had someone else in mind. An old friend of ours who specializes in long-range reconnaissance."

A few days passed. Koichi was traveling to school on a brand new bike his parents had bought him as a celebration gift for getting into high school. "This bike is so awesome! The sparkling rims, the smooth-turning brakes! I won't need to use the bus for a while!" Just then, he saw a bag right in the middle of the street and tried to brake. But too late, and he wound up running over it and crashing. As he picked himself up, he looked at the bag. "What was that doing in the middle of the street?"

He gasped when he saw what looked like blood coming out of it, and a small meowing sound. 'Oh man! What should I do!? Why was that even there!? I... I ran over it, but it was just lying there!' "Oh wow, what an accident," said a nearby man, "I saw the whole thing. Poor kitten. Don't worry, kid, the real one at fault is whoever left it lying in the street." "W-We should try and get help!," Koichi said. "No good," the man said, "It's already stopped moving."

He walked over to Koichi. "That's a nice bike you got there. Shame the tires got ruined when they ran over the poor thing. All its bones must have snapped like twigs. It's intestines and eyeballs must have popped out. But there's no need to worry. I mean, it's just a cat in the end." Koichi gulped. "We... We should bury it." The man rubbed his chin. "That uniform means you go to high school, right? I graduated myself about two years. Name's Tamami Kobayashi. What's yours?"

"Um," Koichi replied, "Koichi Hirose." "Well Koichi," Tamami said, "Let me make you an offer. If you have some money, I'll be sure to use it to bury that cat." Koichi looked confused. "Come on," Tamami said, "It may not have been your fault, but you still can't get off scot-free. Me and that cat had many good years together." Koichi gulped. "That was your cat?" "Yeah, so how about it?," Tamami said, "Hand over your wallet. You need to pay up for what you did."

The sudden sound of a book closing caught their attention. Koichi looked to see a man around Jotaro's age, with red hair and scars on his eyes. "For someone claiming that it wasn't the boy's fault, you sure seem to be fostering a lot of guilt on him. Especially if that lock on his chest is any indication." Koichi looked down and gasped. "Where did this lock come from?" "Oh, so you can see it," the man said, "I didn't realize you were a Stand user." Tamami gasped. "Wait... You're both Stand users? So you can see The Lock?"

"Is that what you call your Stand?," the man said, "But were you a Stand user to begin with... Or did you get hit with the arrow?" "Huh?," Tamami said, "You know about the arrow too? Some guy named Keicho Nijimura shot me with it a few months ago. That's when I got this ability. It creates a lock on those who I can make feel guilty. I heard Keicho died recently, but that's no skin off my nose." The man smiled. "So that's how your Stand works."

Tamami shrugged. "Yeah, what about it? It's not like you can do anything about it, even if you are a Stand user. That lock will get heavier the more guilt Koichi feels, and it won't come off no matter how far away he gets, or even if he falls asleep." "So what you're saying is," the man said, "If Koichi feels no guilt, then the lock comes off." Tamami raised an eyebrow. "Well, yeah. But how are you gonna make him stop feeling guilt?" The man smiled again. "Hierophant Green!"

An emerald humanoid appeared at the man's command. "My name is Noriaki Kakyoin. I came to this town at the request of an old friend of mine. Now my Stand has quite the range to it and can observe things far from my location. Earlier I saw you place that bag down on the ground and wait on the park bench, so I thought I'd see what you were up to." Hierophant Green picked up the bag. "You were earlier describing what had happened to the thing in this bag."

"Yeah, what about it?," Tamami asked. "Well," Kakyoin said, "Even if what you described had happened, this cloth bag should have turned red from the blood, rather than have a small amount trickle out the bottom. Plus, as quiet as that meowing sound was, it still sounded like it came from a very healthy cat, certainly not the sort that had just been run over." Hierophant Green ripped open the bag to reveal a stuffed toy, with a bag of fake blood inside. Koichi gasped.

"There, you see Koichi," Kakyoin said, "You never had anything to feel guilty about." Sure enough, The Lock disappeared from Koichi's chest. "Now about you, Tamami," Kakyoin said, and Hierophant Green rushed at Tamami. Tamami waited until it reached his face, then reeled back and hit his head against the nearby railing. "Ow!," he said, "You hit me! Now my tooth's been knocked out! How are you gonna make this up to me!?" He looked, but Kakyoin still had the same look on his face, and The Lock hadn't appeared.

"What the hell!?," Tamami said, "Why don't you feel guilty about my situation!?" "Two reasons," Kakyoin said, "First, there's no way I'd feel guilty about punishing a con man trying to swindle a high schooler out of his money. And second... I never actually hit you. I know my powers better than you. Check your ear." Tamami looked over to his side and gasped when he saw a green tendril that seemed to reach his ear. "Hierophant Green can possess physical objects," Kakyoin explained, "I don't normally use it on people but I can if I so choose. When you thought Hierophant was about to hit you, it was really shrinking itself down to enter your ear to possess you."

Tamami freaked out as Kakyoin approached. "Just a little warning," Kakyoin said, "Get out of here before I make you really hurt yourself. Also, your tooth is fine. Hierophant Green kept your face away from the railing." Tamami felt his mouth and realized Kakyoin was right. He freaked out and ran, Hierophant Green extricating itself as he did. "I doubt that will be the last time you see him," Kakyoin said to Koichi, "He knows your name so he can look you up and make another try."

Koichi sighed. "If only my Stand was better. But all I got is this." He summoned the egg. Kakyoin looked at it. "I don't think this is all there is to your Stand. There's some cracks near the bottom." He sent Hierophant Green inside the egg to investigate. "Yeah, there's definitely something dormant inside there. But it looks like your lack of self-confidence is holding it back." He smiled. "You kinda remind me of myself when I was younger. Tell you what, how about I coach you on how to control your Stand." Koichi looked at him.

It was close to evening when Koichi came home, having spent that time learning from Kakyoin. He smiled when he saw his dog Police. "Hey boy, you still alive?" The dog yawned to indicate he was. Koichi opened the front door to see just what he was expecting to see. There was Tamami, and his mother and sister had locks on them. "Kakyoin said you'd be here," Koichi said. Tamami looked a little confused. "Your face seems a little different. And your hair doesn't look as straight anymore."

"I've done a lot of growing in the past few hours," Koichi explained, "Kakyoin shared with me his entire life-story. I used that as motivation... To improve my Stand. So tell me, how did you get those locks on my mother and sister?" Tamami smirked. "It took a while to properly fabricate. Luckily I still had that head wound from when I tried to scam Kakyoin. That made the perfect leverage to get your mom to feel guilty for raising such a violent boy." Koichi glared. "Mom, take Ayana and go into the next room. I need to have a talk with Tamami here."

"But Koichi I--," his mother started, but Koichi cut her off. "Just go. I got this." Reluctantly, Missus Hirose took Ayana and left. Tamami looked confused. "Now how did you pull that off with just words? My Stand should've had them glued to their seats from their guilt." Koichi smirked and revealed a lizard-like creature with wheels for hind legs and a long tail. "When my Stand first developed it was just an egg. But Kakyoin helped me literally break out of my shell. The story of his trip to Egypt and his near-death experience inspired me. I suddenly wanted to have adventures like that, helping people and fighting bad guys. That's when this little guy hatched from the egg. I call it Echoes. This is the true form of my Stand."

Echoes then wrapped itself around Tamami's neck, freaking him out. "I also learned a little from watching Josuke and Pinkie use their Stand," Koichi noted, "It moves at my will. By the way, you were earlier asking how I got my mom to leave. Allow me to show you what Echoes can do." Echoes punched Tamami right in the cheek. "Don't try using that to make me look even more violent," Koichi pointed out, "You'll find physically speaking, Echoes is quite weak. But like all low-power Stands, it makes up for it in ability."

Echoes took another swing, striking Tamami in the arm. "Hold on," Tamami said, "If these punches aren't meant to hurt, then what are they even for?" He got his answer as something reverberated through his body, making a sound like he had been punched. Another hit through his arm, sounding like a smack. "I learned it after Echoes hatched," Koichi explained, "It can plant markings on the ground that spell out sound effects, and then those sounds will reverberate through the ears of whoever's nearby. And if they're tagged onto a person..."

The effects seemed obvious as the sounds reverberated through Tamami's body, causing him to stumble. Sure enough he saw his arm had characters on it that read out "smack". He tried to rub them off, but they wouldn't so much as smear. "It's no use," Koichi said, "That's not ink Echoes applied. And I only can remove them. Take the locks off my mom and sister, right now, and I'll do just that." Tamami growled. "Damn you! You think I'll just let you off after doing this to me!"

"You will if you don't want anymore," Koichi said, and he directed Echoes to create another sound effect on Tamami's back. With three sounds now reverberating through Tamami, the noise was starting to get overwhelming. "What's it gonna be, Tamami?," Koichi asked, "I can go all day, and like Kakyoin before, I feel no guilt about punishing you for what you did to my family, so your Stand won't affect me." 'To think this brat could learn so much in a few hours,' Tamami thought, 'No wonder he was so late coming home. But I won't let him beat me so easily.'

He quickly ran over to the cupboard, and went to grab a knife. "Do you think you can threaten me with that?," Koichi said. Echoes rushed over and smacked the knife away, surprising Tamami. "You were planning on stabbing yourself, weren't you?," Koichi said, "Then try to make it look like I did it. My Stand wasn't the only thing Kakyoin coached me on. He also told me a few tricks con artists like you try to pull." Tamami was now freaking out, rummaging through the drawer. "Go ahead," Koichi said, "Even if you cut yourself trying to go for a new knife, Echoes has another ability."

He pointed to the door his mother and sister went through. "You obviously didn't see it since you were focused on me, but Echoes planted a phrase on my mother's leg, that echoed a suggestion to go into the next room. It reverberated through her so much she actually decided to do so. If I planted another phrase closer to her ears it'd be even stronger." Tamami stumbled back at this revelation. 'If he's telling the truth... Just placing that command at her legs was enough to overpower her guilt! If it had been on her head...'

He began to realize he was completely outmatched as Koichi drew closer, no longer looking like the scared little boy her had earlier tried to scam. "So," Koichi said, "Like I was saying earlier... Take off those locks!" Tamami nodded fiercely. "I... I'm sorry! I was just having a little fun earlier, just a little joke! Look I'll make it up to you, anything you want! I'll even be your loyal servant if you desire!" Koichi smirked. "In that case... Get me 500 thousand yen tomorrow morning." "Huh!?," Tamami said in shock. Koichi patted him on the back. "Just a little joke..."

Tamami gulped. 'That tone did not suggest it was a joke...' Koichi's mother and sister returned to the room, and sure enough the locks were gone. "Sorry about that, Mom," Koichi said, "I accidentally bumped into this guy earlier and he wound up hitting his head." "Strange," Missus Hirose said, "He made it sound so much worse." "I might have blown it out of proportion," Tamami admitted nervously, "So sorry to worry you for nothing." Missus Hirose sighed in relief. "Thank goodness. I just knew my sweet little Koichi could never be so violent." Tamami chuckled nervously. 'Definitely not violent... But certainly devious and cunning...'

Josuke, Pinkie, and Okuyasu stared in shock as Tamami eagerly offered to carry Koichi's school bag the next day. The sight of the former con artist praising Koichi as he had a happy yet embarrassed look on his face had them dumbfounded. "What the hell happened here?," Josuke asked. "Don't ask me," Okuyasu said, "I'm not the smart one." "Did plot happen right behind our backs?," Pinkie wondered, "I feel like we temporarily got pushed to background characters." Koichi just chuckled in embarrassment. Nearby, Kakyoin smiled. 'The kid's come far. But I get the feeling he still has a way to go.'

It was a few days later. Koichi had told his friends about his Stand finally developing, and had also introduced Kakyoin. Kakyoin explained his friendship with Jotaro and how he was called in to try and locate any other Stand users that Keicho might have created. It was just after school when he met Josuke, Koichi, and Pinkie with some news. "Tamami gave me information on a possible Stand user right in your own school," Kakyoin said, "Toshikazu Hazamada."

"Is this information legit?," Josuke asked, "Tamami was a former con man after all." "He pretty much cleaned up after what me and Koichi put him through," Kakyoin said, Koichi rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, "Besides, he's got a legitimate job in finance now thanks to the Speedwagon Foundation." Pinkie gasped. "You mean THE Speedwagon Foundation? How'd you pull that off?" "I became a member after graduating from college," Kakyoin explained, "Part of my job is rehabilitating Stand users that misuse their powers. Tamami's Stand is perfect for catching tax dodgers and other scumbags that try to cheat the system."

"He's got a point," Koichi noted, "So what's the deal with Hazamada?" Kakyoin got out a photo of the student. "I got this from my contacts in the Foundation. Much like Tamami, Hazamada became a Stand user thanks to Keicho's actions. Okuyasu was present for this one and gave me some basic info regarding him, but he and his brother never really got the chance to check his Stand out, so we don't know what it can do yet. But we have some clues thanks to Tamami."

"Did you check him out?," Josuke asked. Kakyoin nodded. "I never got the chance to see his Stand, but he definitely radiated Stand energy, and at one point he clearly showed he could see Hierophant Green. Tamami mentioned something he did with his Stand a few months back. Seems Hazamada had a little squabble with a friend of his. Something about his favorite anime or something, though Tamami doesn't know the details. What's important is what happened afterward."

He opened his journal. "Apparently, when that kid went back home, he actually went and gouged his own eye out with a mechanical pencil. Apparently he wasn't even aware he was doing it, said he was busy listening to the radio and dreaming about his favorite gravure idols. By the time he realized what was going on, he was staring at his left eye with his right eye." "Great...," Josuke muttered, "I'm amazed he wasn't badly hurt." "Take it from someone who's been there," Kakyoin said, indicating the scars on his eyes, "Eyes are harder to damage then you think."

Josuke took the picture. "Well, it's worth looking into. Even if he's not Red Hot Chili Pepper's user, he may have been given the arrow." "And we didn't see this guy leave the school," Koichi noted, "So he's probably still there. Let's go look for him." "Whoa, check out who just joined the plot," Pinkie remarked, impressed, "You really got stronger since your Stand fully developed, didn't you?" "Yeah," Koichi said, "I'll be honest, not knowing what this guy can do scares me. But there's something terrible happening in this town, which means my family could be in danger at any moment. So I feel like, I have to do something." Josuke and Pinkie smiled at each other.

Hazamada was supposed to go to class 3-C, so the trio started there. But there was no sign of him in the classroom. "I don't see him," Koichi noted. Josuke nodded. "You know, if he really took out his friend's eye and could still blend into class so easily..." "Greetings sociopath," Pinkie quipped. "Exactly," Josuke said. They didn't noticed the guy they were tracking was watching them from the other door. They checked his locker at gym next, Pinkie planning to make the excuse that she got lost in the men's room if they got caught.

"His shoes are still in the locker," Josuke noted, "So he must still be in school. He's in the tennis club, likes manga..." "Oh, Pink Dark Boy!," Pinkie said excitedly, "That's my favorite! I've always wanted to meet the author Rohan Kishibe. I guess I can't judge Hazamada too harshly if he likes the same manga I do." Josuke shrugged. "Anyway, I don't see the bow and arrow in here, just a lot of junk." He then noticed a wooden object and grabbed it to inspect it. When it caused an entire mannequin to move he freaked, at first mistaking it for a Stand, but remembered it was a physical object since he was able to grab it.

"Jeez, that freaked me out," he admitted, "What is this anyway?" "I think it's one of those figure reference dolls they sell at art stores," Pinkie noted, "Hazamada must be planning an art major." Josuke nodded, then gasped as the mannequin started to change shape, becoming something more human-like. He and Pinkie were shocked when the mannequin suddenly became an exact duplicate of Josuke, complete with clothes. The only difference was a screw in the middle of the figure's forehead.

"What the heck?," Koichi said when he saw what was happening. "I touched this thing and it started changing," Josuke noted, "I'm guessing this must be part of Hazamada's Stand." The Stand smirked as it exited the locker. "This is a solid object," Koichi noticed, "So that means it has a distinct form." "It's kinda creepy," Josuke said, "Like looking at yourself in a mirror, only you realize it's no reflection." "You've heard of the copy robots from Perman, right?," the Stand said, it's voice identical to Josuke's, "It'd be real convenient to have one of those around."

"Uh...," Josuke said, "Koichi, what is he talking about?" Koichi shrugged. Josuke then looked at Pinkie. "Don't look at me. You know I only watch Toei Company works, or anything American." "Are you kidding?," the Stand said, "You don't know Perman? You really call yourselves Japanese?" "Puh-leeze," Pinkie said, "That's like saying a guy's not British because he doesn't know every Beatles single, or saying a guy isn't German just because he doesn't like sauerkraut, or that a guy isn't American because he prefers Super Sentai over Power Rangers. That's just profiling, buster."

"Boy are you annoying," the Stand said, "I can't stand nitpicky girls like you." He stepped over and pulled his arms into a chokehold even though he wasn't holding anything. Josuke gasped as he somehow wound up doing the exact same thing, only he wound up grabbing Pinkie. "What the hell are you making me do!?" "This is the power I have," the Stand explained, "My user calls me Surface, and I can copy those that touch the object I'm sent into. And when that person looks at me, I can control their every move in a mirror image."

He squeezed hard, causing Josuke to choke out Pinkie, making her faint. "I heard Pinkie's Stand creates cartoon physics," Surface explained, "So taking her out first is essential, otherwise beating you would be impossible. And now..." He lifted his hand up, causing Josuke to mimic the action. Surface grinned as he slammed his arm into the nearby lockers. Before Koichi could react, he saw Josuke wind up slamming his arm right into his throat, sending him flying through the door.

Surface grinned. "I heard at least five bones breaking there. Koichi's supposed to be a Stand user too, right? I don't know what his Stand is, but I'm not the sort to gamble with maybes, so it's better to take him out quickly. I give him at least a month in the hospital." Josuke growled. "You know what I hate even more than people who diss my hair? Punk-ass cowards who won't even throw their own punches, like those guys who manipulate the government behind the scenes. Those are the sort of people... That I just wanna beat the shit out of!"

He summoned Crazy Diamond to attack, but Surface smirked as he moved backwards to dodge the punch. "Close, but no dice," he snarked, "Your Stand can only move so far away from you. And if you can't move closer to me, then you can't even touch me." "In that case," Josuke said, "I'll improvise!" He had Crazy Diamond grab a mechanical pencil and threw it at Surface, but the copy Stand just grabbed it in midair. "That's some impressive speed, but luckily I'm just as fast."

He tossed the pencil at Josuke, causing him to catch it. "You and Jotaro have Stands that are physically stronger than me," Surface admitted, "That bastard has no business sniffing around this town where he's not wanted." "If Pinkie were awake," Josuke said, "She'd reprimand you for that statement. Something along the lines of Stand users causing trouble being his business. I'm sure he'd leave if you guys would just stop causing trouble for people."

"Like we care," Surface retorted as he slowly brought his hand up to his eye, "The point is, Jotaro's ability to stop time makes things difficult for most Stand users in Morioh to fight him. But now that I've copied you, my user can easily trick him. Of course, that becomes harder if you're still running around, so I'll have to deal with you first. This power can only be given to so many people. Kinda makes you wanna live dangerously, am I right?" Josuke scoffed. "That depends on what kind of person you are. As for me, I've never liked hurting people who never bothered anyone else. Probably why my Stand's ability is repairing objects."

"Such a shame," Surface said, "Looks like we can't become friends. Those people with the same kind of values often become friends when they meet. Those who think differently have only two choices, either leave town, or give in to the ones who have more power!" He pushed his hand closer, smirking when he heard a squishing noise and saw Josuke drop to the ground. Hazamada grinned as he came out. "Sounds like you squashed his eyeball. Even if you didn't sever any nerves, he'll be lucky if he sees again."

"That'll take him out for a while," Surface said, "Now we can focus on Jotaro. Uh... Where was he staying again?" "The Morioh Grand Hotel," Hazamada said, "But remember, we need to catch him alone. His friend Kakyoin knows about us, and I'm certain his wife Fluttershy will easily pick up on the fact that you're not Josuke. She has a reputation for being able to pick out Stand users. Get my shoes, would ya?" "Sure Boss," Surface said, "Well, as long as we don't run into either of them this should be easy."

Neither of them noticed a sound effect printed on Surface's head, which had made the squishing sound. Nor did they see Echoes hiding on the top of the lockers. Once they were gone, Josuke got up, his eye perfectly fine. Pinkie also got up, cracking her neck a little. "The ones with more power, he says," she snarked, "Maybe he should recognize just what sort of powers he's up against first. Did he really think a few seconds worth of choking me would put me out like in the movies? It takes sixty seconds at least. That's why you never see wrestlers who get caught in choke holds pass out before tapping out or breaking the hold."

Josuke went to check on Koichi, who was still conscious. "Are you okay... Josuke?," he muttered. "Yeah, thanks to you," Josuke said, "It's good thing you were able to stay awake long enough to fool them before they could take out my eye." Koichi chuckled. "I was only able to do that because you used Crazy Diamond to heal me when he made you punch me. Ah... I still need some more repairs after crashing through the door though." "Right," Josuke said as he got to work, "Hazamada has one dangerous Stand, but luckily he's even dumber than Okuyasu. I can't see him falling for these tricks."

After the patch up, the trio ran out of the school. "He's gone to try and attack Jotaro," Koichi said, "We need to get catch up somehow. Surface was able to copy everything about you. Even your tone of voice, speech mannerisms, and gestures." "The scariest bit wasn't when I saw its face," Josuke noted, "But when I saw its fingers. You see your own fingers more than your own face, after all. One look and I could tell, they had been copied down to the fingerprints."

"There should still be ways of picking him out as a fake," Pinkie noted, "Besides the screw in its head, there's the fact that it can't produce Crazy Diamond. Jotaro mentioned hearing about a Stand user that could shapeshift on his journey to Egypt, so he may try looking for that. He's also not the sort to let his guard down easy. Hazamada thinks he has the upper hand because he copied you, but to truly beat Jotaro he'd have to copy him." "That may actually be what he has in mind," Josuke realized, "On its own Surface is no good for attacking, it has to rely on its ability to mimic and then manipulate someone."

They hurried to a pay phone and called the hotel, but the line to Jotaro's room was busy. By the time it was clear, it was Kakyoin who answered. 'Yes, who is it?' "It's Josuke," Josuke replied. 'Josuke? But you already called Jotaro. Said something about Hazamada running amok with his Stand.' Josuke growled. "It was Hazamada's Stand that called. It can mimic whoever touches it then control them. It already did so with me. I managed to trick him with Pinkie and Koichi's help, but now he intends to try and force Jotaro out of Morioh."

'I see... I already told Jotaro about Hazamada, so he'll be on guard. Fluttershy went out shopping while I was asked to babysit Jolyne, but she should be around the station area where Hazamada lured Jotaro to. Better hurry, they wanted to meet in fifteen minutes.' "Great," Josuke said, "Thanks, Kakyoin." He hung up. "We need to hurry to the station. Hazamada used Surface to try and lure Jotaro into a trap." The trio hurried off.

Luckily for them Hazamada was getting delayed by several events. His decision to have Surface mimic Josuke was starting to backfire since he underestimated how popular in school Josuke was. Several girls were calling after Surface, one even handing him a love letter. Apparently not enough girls knew about Josuke and Pinkie dating, or if they did they thought they could probably lure him away. Worse still was when they ran into Tamami, who recognized Hazamada immediately. He seemed confused about Surface, thinking it was Josuke, so Surface knocked him out with a nearby stone.

"Damn it," Hazamada said, "What's with all these people greeting you and not me?" He whacked Surface in the face, only to scrap his knuckles. "Geez Boss, don't forget I'm not the real Josuke, and I'm made of wood besides." Hazamada sighed. "This is the downside to your powers. It's just like that time I had you copy that girl Junko I liked so I could have my way with her, only to get annoyed by her attitude to the point where I couldn't get anywhere with her. You know what, once we're done with Jotaro I'm going back to Josuke to break him into pieces!"

He wiped his hand on a motorcycle as he passed it, then growled when a couple of local bikers offhandedly referred to him as a dying cricket. Surface cracked one of their heads with its hand then grabbed the other in a nelson. "Hold him still Surface," Hazamada said, "I'll make sure he never talks trash like that again." He smashed his elbow into the biker's nose and mouth, then got out a box cutter and started extending it. As he started moving the cutter into the biker's mouth in an effort to cut out his tongue, he spotted a shard of glass coming in. Surface quickly caught it, and they both looked to see where it came from.

To their shock, it was Josuke, Pinkie, and Koichi, all perfectly fine. "Finally found you," Josuke said, "You certainly left quite the trail. Tamami was the most confused, but we were able to explain everything." Hazamada just stood there in shock, unable to comprehend how they recovered so quickly, not realizing the tricks they pulled and his own ignorance of reality. "Right now, as your mind finally snaps out of its shock," Pinkie said, "You're probably thinking, 'It's no big deal, I can still use Surface to control Josuke.'"

Koichi smirked. "But too bad. We already planned for that. That glass shard? It wasn't meant to attack you." Surface gasped as several more shards approached the one it held, forming the shape of a bottle. "Here's something you should have considered," Josuke said, "My Stand can restore objects to their original form. And I can even choose the center of the repair job. Like the piece of glass you're holding right now." The bottle reformed as he said this, cutting off Surface's right hand and turning it back into wood. The trio then ducked out of sight.

"Oh man, this is just great," Surface said, "How are we supposed to fool Jotaro if part of me is missing?" "Calm down," Hazamada said, "We're still in control of the situation. Just hide your arm in your pocket, and no one should notice. The real issue is that we need to get to the station. As much as I'd like to take care of Josuke and his friends, we have no time for that. I can't lose to him..." The two of them headed off as Josuke poked his head out. "Alright, we have him rattled. Now, what to do next...?"

"What's going on here?," came Fluttershy's voice. The trio looked to see her behind them. "Fluttershy, great timing," Pinkie said. She used Smile to get Fluttershy up to speed at rapid pace. "I see...," Fluttershy said, "Sounds like Hazamada underestimates people easily." "But right now he's just taken the fastest path to the station," Koichi said. "About that," Josuke said, "I already had an idea in mind. Fluttershy, care to help?" Fluttershy nodded. "Sure, what do you have in mind?"

Hazamada and Surface ran as fast as they could to the station. "Any sign of Josuke?," Hazamada asked. "I don't see him," Surface said, "I'll be sure to take control of him when I do." Hazamada chuckled. "Right! There's no way they'll get through us!" He then heard the train signal as they approached the crossing. "Ah shit... That crossing always takes its sweet time to move. We'll be stuck there for a minute waiting. We'll take the bridge instead, it'll slow us down but not as much as waiting around for the train."

As they headed up the stairs to the bridge, they failed to notice the signal lights on the crossing weren't lit. "Ha!," Hazamada said, sure of victory, "Even if those bastards catch up to us now, they'll be stopped by the train! We win!" He then stopped when he saw the trio passing through the crossing like nothing. "What the hell!? How did they do that!? And where's the train!? The stupid signal went off, didn't it!?" "Uh, I don't think so," Surface said, "Look!"

Hazamada gasped when he saw Echoes nearby, having placed a sound effect mimicking the alarm on the ground on the nearby street. Hazamada turned to look at Surface and gasped when he saw the sound effect placed there earlier. "Shit, that's how Josuke and Koichi recovered so fast. Josuke must have used Crazy Diamond at the moment Koichi went flying. But what about Pinkie? Even with Crazy Diamond she should have been out for a while. I mean, she was choked out like you see on TV." Surface blinked. "Wait... You didn't want me to check to see if she was really out... Because you thought it was like what you see on television?"

Hazamada reeled back as he understood. "Damn it... I thought I was in control, but it's all slipping away. But I'm not outsmarted yet. I still have one final trick. Come on, we need to get to the station." "But at this rate we'll never beat them there," Surface pointed out. "We don't need to," Hazamada said, "I have a new plan that's guaranteed to work." Surface looked confused, but followed behind Hazamada nonetheless.

When Hazamada reached the station, he saw Josuke, Pinkie, and Koichi had already arrived and were explaining what happened to Jotaro. "They probably think he's safe since they told him," he snickered, "But I'll have the last laugh." He already had Surface stationed in a nearby window, where it had already laid eyes on Josuke to control him. It had already made Josuke take a pen out of Jotaro's pocket.

'I was going to simply drive Jotaro off,' Hazamada thought, 'But at this point I have no choice. I'll have to kill Jotaro immediately, or else Josuke can just heal him with Crazy Diamond. This is your fault for butting in, Josuke.' At that moment, something cut off Surface's left arm, allowing Josuke to drop the pen since it had nothing to control his right arm. "What now!?," Hazamada called out, before something wrapped around his throat. "I seem to recall you saying something earlier," came Fluttershy's voice. Hazamada turned his head to see Music in the Trees had wrapped a vine around him. She had earlier created a razor-sharp leaf to cut the mannequin's arm.

"Something along the lines of those who don't you share your views should either leave town or submit to superior powers," Fluttershy noted, "Well, here's a reality check. You need to actually have superior powers before you can drive us off. And I don't appreciate those who hurt my family. Gentlemen, you may take it from here." Hazamada gasped when the two bikers from earlier approached and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Not to worry, ma'am," one of them said, "We'll handle it."

He glared at Hazamada. "Y'know that Josuke's an okay guy. I'm not sure how, but he fixed up our injuries no problem. The way I see it, we owe him, ain't that right?" "Definitely," the other biker said, "So let's take a trip behind the restroom, where we'll be sure to repay that debt." Hazamada freaked out. Meanwhile, Josuke felt himself regain control of his arm as he dropped the pen. "Guess Fluttershy was able to find him. Poor bastard didn't even realize what we were planning."

"I almost feel sorry for him," Koichi said, "But then I remember his attitude and it makes me stop sympathizing." "What do we do with this?," Pinkie said as Smile grabbed the mannequin, now changed back to normal without Surface to influence it. "That Stand is pretty scary once it gets hold of you," Josuke noted, "Let's break this thing into pieces. That'll make me feel better." Pinkie nodded, and Crazy Diamond and Smile went to town, whilst Hazamada was led off in an ambulance.

I gave the chapter this title because while Hazamada believes himself to be a perfect puppet master, he's very easily duped. That said he can have his Stand perfectly imitate someone, hence the title. Just to let you know. Enjoy.

Been looking forward to showing how Pinkie deals with Yukako. And now the wait is over.

"So Hazamada doesn't know anything about Red Hot Chili Pepper?," Okuyasu asked. "If he did I'm sure we wouldn't be talking to him," Pinkie noted. "He only talked with the guy over the phone," Josuke explained, "This user seems extremely cautious, never giving out anything regarding his name or identity. The only clue we have is the one time he slipped up when trying to threaten Jotaro. That said, Hazamada did say something interesting. He seems to be under the impression that Stand users somehow got drawn to each other, even if they don't know each other."

"Like an invisible force that binds us all together," Okuyasu said, "I guess even I can understand that. I mean, Jotaro met all those Stand users during his trip to Egypt. Yeah, they were trying to kill him but he and his friends were traveling through some pretty big cities packed with people. The odds that those assassins would actually find him were slim." "And it's why, sooner or later, Red Hot Chili Pepper's user will wind up running into us," Josuke said, "And he knows it. That's why he wants Jotaro out of Morioh. And he convinced Hazamada to pull it off, thinking he was the only one who could."

"That pussy should come out and face us already!," Okuyasu demanded, "Especially if he knows its gonna happen sooner or later anyway!" "Given our powers I doubt he'd just rush in and attack," Pinkie said, "Push comes to shove our combined powers are ultimately stronger than Red Hot Chili Pepper. It may be physically powerful and able to harness electricity, but it's no lightning master and we have Stands that are just as strong and likely faster. No, he'll wait until he's sure he can beat us."

Okuyasu nodded, then turned his head to the cafe they were passing and saw Koichi. "Hey, isn't that Koichi over there?" "Huh, it is," Josuke said. "Why's he all by himself?," Pinkie asked, "He never said he was coming here." "He didn't tell you anything?," Josuke asked. Pinkie shrugged. "I assumed he was heading over to train with Kakyoin again. He said his Stand still has some room to grow. Something about not everyone being as easy to control with words as Tamami."

Okuyasu started to call out to Koichi, only to see a young woman their age sit down next to him, causing him to get shocked. "A date!?," Pinkie called out, "Dang Koichi got some confidence in him!" "Doki Doki!," Smile cried. "I know that girl!," Okuyasu realized, "She's Yukako Yamagishi from my class! She's said to be the most beautiful girl in the school! Uh... No offence Pinkie." Pinkie just shrugged. "Let's try getting closer. Follow me. Smile!" Using Smile's power, the trio rushed over hiding behind impossible objects until they reached a tree close enough to overhear the date.

"I hope I didn't bother you," Yukako said, "Calling you out here like this." "Oh, it's no trouble," Koichi said, "But I gotta admit, I can't really understand why you called me out here. I mean, I'm not exactly a good note-taker, and my handwriting's kinda messy. I don't have much money on me. Or... Did you want to switch cleaning duty?" "The guy can't be this dense, can he?," Okuyasu said indignantly, "Come on man, even I can tell there's only one reason she'd call Koichi out here."

"Koichi," Yukako said, "The truth is... I really like you." "Doki!," Smile declared. Koichi looked flabbergasted. "Knew it!," Okuyasu called out, "Man, why I am the only guy in this group who's not attracting hot chicks!?" "Quiet," Josuke said, clapping his hand over Okuyasu's mouth. "I think about you all the time," Yukako said, "But I wasn't sure if you already had someone. I mean... You're hanging around with Pinkie Pie..." "Oh that," Koichi said, "She's actually Josuke's girlfriend."

Yukako breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. I wasn't sure how to get out my feelings for you. But holding it in made me feel like I was going to explode. So... I thought it best just to let me feelings out, even if you ended up hating me." Koichi was still trying to process this. 'This is a little unprecedented. I mean, even after Josuke and Pinkie started dating other girls didn't seem to take the hint. And even then, I thought for sure Okuyasu would be next on the list.' He couldn't help grinning. 'It's really awesome! A cute girl just came out and said she likes me!'

Behind the tree, Okuyasu was bawling his eyes out. "Why don't girls talk like that to me!?" "Don't get too excited," Pinkie said, "Yukako's a flawless beauty, no mistake. But she embodies the saying 'every rose has its thorns'." The boys looked at her, wondering what she meant. Meanwhile, Yukako was still talking. "You just look mature lately, with such courage and a purpose. I always find men who are already perfect boring, but when I look at you, I see someone who has great potential for the future. There's just something inside you that I can just see shining! And I... I like everything about you!"

Koichi was getting flustered. "Ah, come on... I'm not really that special..." Yukako looked sad. "Do you... Dislike ugly girls like me?" "What do you mean?," Koichi said, "You're not ugly at all." Yukako looked hopeful. "Then... Do you like me?" Koichi was at a loos for words. "Well... I don't... I mean, we just met so..." Then, to the boys shock, Yukako started to get impatient and growled. "Well, which is it! Koichi, hurry and choose! I'm pouring out my heart here!"

Pinkie sighed. "Yep, there's Yukako's temper at work again. She dislikes it when people are indecisive and her patience is lacking. Luckily, she's quick to regain her composure." Sure enough, Yukako calmed down when she saw her rant had caused her coffee to spill. "Sorry... Yes, you're right, this isn't a decision you should be making so quickly." She got up to leave. "You'll come see me again, right?" Koichi still looked a little freaked out by the outburst so he couldn't speak as Yukako left.

"Don't drink the cola," Pinkie said as she came over, "I saw her hair flaring all over the place and I think some of it might've gotten in the drinks." Koichi looked and saw she was right, which got him disgusted. "Pretty extreme reaction," Josuke noted. "Yeah, more extreme than normal," Pinkie said, "I've never seen her hair do that before. And did you see that glowing energy?" "Stand users are drawn to each other...," Okuyasu muttered, "You don't think...?" "I'm not sure," Josuke said, "None of us really saw a Stand. But that energy is unmistakable. We'd better keep an eye on her."

The next day, Koichi was busy cleaning the classroom, when something touched his shoulder, freaking him out. "It's just me Koichi," Yukako said. "Jeez, Yukako," Koichi said, "You nearly gave me a heart attack." He knew he couldn't let his guard down around her since she was likely a Stand user and it wasn't clear whether she'd be trouble to anyone else, but for now she seemed neutral so he'd at least be polite. "I'm sorry about that," Yukako said, "What are you doing here?"

"Just what it looks like," Koichi said, "Cleaning the chem room. We had lab during fourth period." Yukako nodded. "Anyway, I want to apologize for yesterday. I mean, I can't take back my feelings, but I shouldn't have lost my temper like that. Can we start over again as friends to start?" Koichi nodded. "Yeah, sure. That'd be great." Yukako breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. I wasn't sure if you'd actually hate me for what happened." She dug into her purse. "Um... I made something for you, if you'd like. I spent all night on it."

Koichi was surprised when it turned out to be a blue pullover which she tried to size against Koichi. "Ah, it's fits perfectly. I already knew your height and chest size, but I was a little worried about your shoulder span. I also added a little charm, so you can find true love soon." Koichi was now back to getting nervous around Yukako, and not in a good way. She then got out a bento box. "I also made us lunch. You haven't eaten yet, right?" The bento honestly did look appetizing, but Koichi was a little unnerved at the way Yukako described how she prepared it.

Luckily, just as he was getting in a quandary about whether or not to eat it, the class president, who happened to be a girl, entered the lab. "Hey Koichi," she said, "Don't forget to take the trash out before class starts." "On it!," Koichi said immediately, going right for the trash. "Hey, you're spilling it all over," the class rep said, "Let me take half." Koichi got nervous, as he could already feel Yukako's eyes on them both. "Uh... You don't have to do that..." "Nonsense," the class rep said, "This is part of my job, after all." Yukako glared.

Later, Pinkie spotted Yukako and the class rep arguing. It was clear Yukako was under the impression that the class rep was trying to take Koichi away, which the class rep brushed off as just Yukako's delusion. 'So then...,' Pinkie thought, 'Knowing your personality, Yukako, what's your next action?' Yukako seemed to walk off, but Pinkie noted that some of her hair seemed to invisibly tangle itself in the other girl's hair. "Smile." Smile appeared and cast out its cartoon world. Good thing too, because the transparent hairs were attached to a nearby furnace, which had been lit.

On the one hand, this made the fires traveling up the hairs become much stronger and start smoking. On the other hand, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, as it alerted the class rep to the fire much earlier than it would have otherwise. Pinkie made to grab a water bucket since the hairs also seemed to wrap around the girl's eyes and mouth, but Okuyasu already showed up, using The Hand to erase the burning hairs before they reached the class rep. "Looks like we were right," Josuke noted, "Yukako is a Stand user." "And her Stand lets her control her hair," Pinkie said, "Down to the last follicle, at that."

After enough observation using her Stand, Pinkie was able to get some information regarding Yukako and her Stand, which was called Love Deluxe. She wasn't yet sure if Yukako was a natural Stand user or if she got hit by the arrow, and Okuyasu had no clue on the matter. Love Deluxe was already known to be able to manipulate Yukako's hair, though its full strength was not yet know. Pinkie was able to estimate its effective range to be around ten meters, so given the normal Stand rules it was likely pretty strong.

Like just about everyone in Morioh, Pinkie knew a lot about Yukako's personality. Her having an attraction to Koichi was out of left field, but it was in keeping with Yukako's normal character. Pinkie had already discussed Yukako's temper, but there was also her delusional way of thinking, like she spent all her time in her own little fantasy, never accepting reality. And she was prone to false assumptions, as the incident with the class rep proved. This combined with the fact that her Stand seemed to have fine control over every last strand of her hair made her very dangerous.

As Koichi took all this in, he groaned. "Oh man... What am I gonna do? I mean, when Yukako first confessed to me I was psyched. I couldn't believe a cute girl was actually interested in me. But I didn't make myself clear enough..." He sighed. "Maybe I should go and tell her not to hang around me anymore." "Not a good idea," Josuke said, "I mean, this chick just spent a whole night knitting you a sweater. You tell her to back off and it'll just add fuel to the fire."

"So what would you suggest?," Pinkie asked. "Well, the first thing we need to do," Josuke noted, "Is find a way to stop her without incurring her wrath. We may know what her Stand does, but Jotaro once told me that simpler Stands are harder to beat, since they tend to be more versatile. We need to do this in such a way that Yukako doesn't bear a grudge against Koichi. And the best way to do that... Is to make her think that Koichi is undesirable." Pinkie stared at him, then started laughing. "Good one, Josuke! But seriously, what's your plan?"

"Uh... That is my plan," Josuke clarified. "Okay, joke's over babe," Pinkie said, "There's no way Yukako is gonna see Koichi as anything but a paragon, no matter how bad you make him out to be. And even if she does buy it, you heard what she said the other day. Perfect men bore her. If she thinks Koichi is less than desirable, then she'll just try to improve him by any means necessary." Josuke shrugged. "Well, we don't have any better ideas." "Just give me a few hours," Pinkie said, "I'm sure I can come up with something."

"YOU DID WHAT!?," Pinkie called out the next day. "We... Kinda wanted to try my idea...," Josuke said, "And it looks like Yukako kidnapped Koichi..." "Please don't throw pies in our faces," Okuyasu pleaded, "Or if you must, can it be blackberry? Cuz that's kinda my favorite." Pinkie literally flared up using Smile, causing her to make a good impression of a burned out match. She shook off the soot and returned to normal as she called out, "DAMN YOU PLOT!"

"Sorry...," Josuke said, "I mean... You were kinda taking some time with your plan." "I was trying to work on how to make Koichi seem like the perfect guy!," Pinkie clarified, "I told you guys, making him seem undesirable is just gonna make her think he needs a fixer-upper and that she's the only one who can make it happen. But if she thinks there's nothing to work with, she'll lose interest. Don't you guys get it? She's a dominant sort of personality, so if she thinks she can take control, she'll go for it. You have to make her think she can't be in control of a situation. I can understand you not getting it, Okuyasu. But, Josuke...?" Cartoon tears started coming out of her eyes. "You're supposed to be the smart one...!"

Josuke sighed and hugged her. "I'm sorry. I should have trusted you had it under control. Listen, do you know where Yukako lives?" "Well yeah," Pinkie said, calming down instantly, "But there's no way she took Koichi there. It has too many familiar landmarks around it. No, she'll take him someplace secluded, though I'm not sure where. But there's something to note. Yukako doesn't seem to realize that she's a Stand user, or that we're Stand users. Heck, I don't even think she knows what a Stand is." "Meaning she doesn't know Koichi has a Stand," Okuyasu realized, "If he plays his cards right, he can catch her off-guard and escape!"

"Don't get too excited," Josuke said, "Yukako may not know the nature of her powers, but that doesn't mean she doesn't know their limitations or strengths. Let's get in touch with Kakyoin and see if his contacts can find anything." "I hope Koichi can handle himself until then," Pinkie said, "Push comes to shove our powers are ultimately stronger. But Koichi has to rely on his wits, and all this stress has been getting him frazzled to the point where his test scores are dropping."

Koichi was having a rough time of it, thanks to Yukako's obsessiveness over "improving" him, never realizing that it might be her causing his grades to slip or that Josuke and Okuyasu may have been lying. In addition, her Stand seemed to have wormed its way into his hair. She also didn't seem to be bothered by how gross he tried to make himself out to be, saying there was something in his eyes. Of course, she didn't know he was a Stand user. Hell, she didn't know she was a Stand user, even though it turned out she had been hit by the arrow during February, but she passed it off as a dream.

In addition, the place was bought by some Tokyo company president, and would be empty until summer. When she finally left to order olive oil, Koichi got a brainstorm, realizing that there had to be a phone booth nearby, since all the other phone lines were cut. Koichi quickly called Echoes out to search. 'It's range is only fifty meters. Let's hope there's something within that range.' Luckily, it turned out there was something, a phone booth just within Echoes' range.

'Now only one last problem... I don't have any change! I was kidnapped in my pajamas!' Even calling the police wouldn't help, since they couldn't do a thing against a Stand user. "You were wondering if there's phone booth out here, weren't you?," came Yukako's voice, freaking Koichi out. Echoes was able to hide, but Yukako seemed to know exactly what Koichi was planning, and went to break the emergency button on the pay phone. But Koichi grinned after Yukako left. 'Time to play my trump card.'

Yukako went to place the order, but got surprised when she saw something suddenly printed on her arm. "What is this?" The sound of a dial tone started playing over and over off of the sound effects, confusing Yukako. She gasped when Josuke's voice came over the phone, saying, 'Hello, Higashikata residence.' "What on earth is this?," Yukako said, making sure to keep the receiver away from her mouth, "I never even dialed a number." She didn't realize Echoes had used the dial tones to reach through the phone lines.

Josuke was at home while waiting for news from Kakyoin, hence the reason why he was able to answer. 'Koichi, is that you?', Josuke asked, 'I can hear waves in the background. Where are you? Look, wherever you are, stay put for now. We're having the Speedwagon Foundation look for you.' "Speedwagon Foundation?," Yukako asked confused, "I've heard of them, but why would they bother looking for Koichi? People say I'm delusional, but even if I am I'm not delusional enough to think the whole world is trying to get between us."

'Is that Yukako speaking?,' came Pinkie's voice, shocking Yukako, 'Listen, lady, you let that Koichi alone, or here's what coming to ya!' Yukako blinked in confusion as Pinkie's arm somehow came out of the receiver and slapped a pie right in her face. 'We'll be right over!,' Pinkie said as she hung up. Yukako was gobsmacked. "What just happened...?" She wiped some of the pie filling off her face with her finger and tasted it. "And how did Pinkie know my favorite pie flavor is chocolate mousse?" She then heard some snickering and turned to see Echoes, which quickly flew off.

"I see...," Yukako realized, "So Koichi, you and your friends have special powers too!" If Pinkie's words were accurate, they'd likely be there within twenty minutes. She hurried back to the door, but found it barred. "Koichi, open the door." "You can break it down, can't you?," came Koichi's retort. Yukako clenched her fist. It was clear Koichi was trying to create signs of a struggle. Even if Josuke and Pinkie only knew Koichi was near the ocean, if they found a nearby house that looked like something had broken in, they'd clearly investigate. And from what Pinkie showed of her power, Yukako was pretty sure she wouldn't stand a chance against either her or Josuke.

"I'm a little irritated that you didn't show me this power you have," Yukako said, "But at the same time, I'm happy. It means that we share something no one else has. That means we're meant for each other." "That's like saying Josuke and Pinkie are meant for each other just they also have Stands," Koichi argued. Yukako took a step back. 'I don't know what he means by "Stand" but... He clearly knows more about this power than I do... So much for that card...'

She went to grab the door, but immediately pulled her hand back when she felt an electric shock coming from it. She started growling. "Koichi! Open this door!" She then spotted Echoes hold a large series of characters that got slapped on her head. Through her head she heard the words echoing. "I HATE YOU!" Yukako, however, remained calm. "Is this supposed to do something? Because I can't hear anything." Inside, Koichi groaned. 'Just my luck. She's the sort of person Kakyoin warned me about.' He looked to Echoes. "If words alone won't convince her... I need to make her understand, through action!"

Echoes started to curl up and turn brown as Koichi braced himself against the barricades he made inside the front door, holding on for dear life as Love Deluxe tried to pull him off, no doubt trying to make him crash into his own barricade. Yukako finally managed to get Koichi to crash into some of the barricade and peeked inside, only to see the husk of Echoes start to peel open. Quickly she moved her hair to remove the rest of the barricade, then noticed Koichi's face. "Koichi... What's with that look? I don't like that look."

"It doesn't matter if you do," Koichi said, "I'm done adhering to what you want. Echoes!" Echoes emerged from its husk, now looking slightly smaller but more buff, with an actual humanoid form. Immediately it swiped its tail against the door. "What's more noise going to do?," Yukako demanded as she finally got the door open. But then she got a surprise as a sudden gust of wind blew through the house, knocking her away from the doorway and off the steps. In fact, it very nearly blew her off the nearby cliff. She was only able to save herself thanks to a branch poking out of the rocks.

Koichi closed the door and looked at the sound effect, which read "whoosh", as Echoes gathered it up and returned it to its tail. "So... This is my new power. No longer merely creating sounds, now my sound effects can create actions." He grinned. "Unreal! Echoes just evolved! Now it's more like... Echoes Act 2! Eat your heart out, Pokemon!" Yukako got up and turned her head as she saw a taxi pull up, with Josuke, Okuyasu, Pinkie, and Kakyoin getting out of it. 'Damn it, they've shown up. It'll still take them a while to find this place. I won't let anyone take Koichi away from me. I have to calm him down right away.'

She hurried to the door of the mansion, but gasped. Koichi had gotten a pair of scissors and was cutting his hair, removing Love Deluxe from it and created a new flat-top hairdo. "It's over Yukako," Koichi said, "You can't beat my Stand anymore. And it's no longer possible for you to trap me." Yukako felt her left eye twitch. "Koichi... Don't think you can get cocky just because you got a new ability. Now you're forcing me to do something drastic!" She reached for the railing, but pulled her hand back in pain. The railing was marked with a "sizzle" sound effect, turning it blazing hot. "You little shit!"

Koichi scoffed. "Cursing at me? That's your way of getting drastic?" Yukako was now furious. Her anger reaching its peak, she instinctively called out, "Love Deluxe!" Koichi gasped as her hair started reaching around the entire house, starting to implode and crush it. "Your power can't effect what it can't touch," Yukako said, "It's nothing special. Now I'll ask again... You like me, right? I'll kill you if you won't be mine forever." Koichi seemed dismissive. "By now the others will have heard you crushing the house and will come right over. Even if you kill me, guaranteed you can't beat them. You're calling this my fault, but this is all because you can't listen when someone's telling you things you don't want to hear. There's no way I could like someone like that."

Yukako's eye really started twitching. "Koichi! I'll kill you!" Her hair started wrapping around Koichi, but got a shock as his body turned around to reveal a "boom" sound effect on his back. "I told you," Koichi said, "You can't trap me. My sound effects activate when touched. Now what was that about it not being special?" Yukako screamed in frustration as she got blown clear from the house from the sudden explosion, much of her hair getting shredded in the process.

Koichi hurried over to check on her as she landed on the edge of the cliff, and gasped. Her hair had turned pure white. 'Oh wow... That must have happened because I attacked her hair directly. I hope she's still alive after all that.' He sent Echoes to check her pulse, and breathed a sigh of relief when he could hear it. But that's when Yukako's eyes snapped open, the anger clear in them. Her hair grabbed Echoes, causing Koichi to choke. "I wasn't able to finish you...," Yukako muttered, "But if I kill your Stand, then you die as well..."

Echoes made a move with its tail, but Love Deluxe swatted off the tip, sending it off the cliff. "You dare... To ruin my precious hair, Koichi! I loved you, and wanted everything for you! But... I can no longer forgive you!" Just then, she heard a cracking sound. "Yukako...," Koichi said, "You need to let go and grab onto something. Your pulse wasn't the only thing Echoes heard. It also picked up the sound of the ground giving way." "Don't bullshit me!," Yukako demanded, "That was just your Stand creating another sound wasn't it!?"

But she was quickly proved wrong when the cliff did indeed give way, sending her tumbling into the ocean. To her horror, she right in the path of a spiked rock jutting out from the ocean. "Crap... I need to grab something... But there's not enough time..." She gasped as she hit the rock, but instead of getting impaled, the rock somehow became springy like rubber, launching her back up with a "boing" sound. And in fact, she spotted a "boing" sound effect right on the rock she had just hit.

Landing on the remains of the cliff, Yukako wound up releasing Echoes, which went to retrieve its tail tip. "I was trying to warn you," Koichi said, "But you never listen to what I say, do you?" "Wow, that's a bad habit," Pinkie said as she popped out from behind Yukako's back. Yukako didn't register the bizarre action. "Oh wow, she really is out of it," Pinkie said as Koichi walked off to where the others were arriving. "I... Can't believe it," Yukako said, "He knew the cliff would crumble, so he set up that sound. Even as I was trying to kill him... He was trying to save me..."

She smiled gently. "I guess I lost completely... From the very beginning, I never had a chance." Pinkie shrugged as she grinned. "You know, I bet if you learned to curb that attitude of yours, you might get Koichi to like you. I mean, he seemed happy when you first confessed to him. It was when you lost your temper that he started to reject you." Yukako look at Pinkie, her eyes hopeful. "Pinkie... Could you help me? I... I don't know how to change for myself." Pinkie placed a hand on her shoulder. "I can give you some pointers, but you need to develop a more positive attitude. Keep smiling!"

Meanwhile, a fishing boat passing along the coast happened to see Yukako fall. They mistook it for a suicide attempt, and were amazed when she seemed to spring back up to the cliff, thinking it an act of Heaven. That spot would become sacred to sailors from that point on, with local fishermen praying to the rock in question for good luck while out at sea. Because of the odd sound that was heard when Yukako was sprung back onto the cliff, people started calling the place, "Boing-Boing Cape". To this day, when tourists ask fishermen where the cape is, they gladly point it out.

This was my favorite chapter to write. Not only did I do research into the Italian language and cuisine, but I also wanted to express how Pinkie can be a voice of reason (which is a little ironic considering it's Pinkie), as well as delve a little into her backstory.

Yukako was now being made a more permanent member of the group due to Pinkie trying to get her open up her perspective. Step one was learning about Stands and just how many there truly were, as well as how they worked. That was the easy part. The next step was getting Yukako out and about with the rest of the group, though for the time being it was better for Koichi's stress levels if they didn't have much contact. Yukako didn't like it but that was the price she had to pay if she wanted to have another chance.

She was also brought up to speed on Red Hot Chili Pepper and the danger it possessed. Naturally, her concern about Koichi getting killed by this mysterious Stand user convinced her to join the fight against whoever it was. And so it was that she, Pinkie, Josuke, and Okuyasu were walking down the street when a sign for a new restaurant caught Okuyasu's eye. "What's this? Looks like they made a new Italian restaurant around here..." "Really?," Pinkie said, "I don't remember that happening." She gave an excited gasp. "Does that mean Morioh has a new resident!?"

"I don't see it around here though," Josuke said. "It says it right on the sign," Okuyasu said, "One hundred kilometers after this turn." "Are you kidding?," Josuke scoffed, "That's where the cemetery is! How do they expect to get customers if the place is so far from the town?" "That's probably how they drag you in," Pinkie noted, "You tend to notice little things like this in a sleepy little town." "Maybe we should try it," Yukako suggested, "I've never had Italian before, and if I'm gonna try new things I have to start somewhere."

"Yeah, sounds tasty...," Pinkie said in a dreamy voice. "I'm already drooling thinking about it!," Okuyasu declared. Josuke sighed. "I'll be honest, I'm not feeling very hungry. But I'm also clearly outvoted three to one, so we might as well go." "Cool," Okuyasu said, "I was hoping to stop by my brother's grave anyway. This'll give us something to do while we're there." "Any change with your dad?," Pinkie asked. "Barely," Okuyasu said, "He seems to understand that Keicho's gone, but that's about it."

They soon reached the restaurant in question, called Trussardi's. "With a name like that the Italian must be authentic," Josuke admitted. "Whoa, check this out!," Pinkie said, "The price tag is only 3500 yen!? That's practically chump change! Although... What does it mean when it says the menu 'depends on the customer'?" "I thought this building was empty though," Okuyasu said, "Oh well, I guess they remodeled." Inside the place looked empty, and only had two tables.

"Well designed," Yukako noted, "But why only two tables?" "It is a small building," Pinkie reminded her. Just then, a foreign-looking chef appeared from the back room. He seemed friendly enough, but Pinkie noted something of a sadness behind his eyes. "Benvenuto," the man said, "Forgive the rather sparse settings but I also double as the waiter for this establishment, so I can only handle two tables at once." "Ah, ciao come va?," Pinkie said. The chef looked surprised. "You speak Italian?" "My dad was Italian-American," Pinkie explained, "He taught me the language."

"Your dad was American?," Okuyasu asked. Pinkie nodded. "Why do you think my first name is Diane? Anyway, table for four, se tu per favore." "Molto bene," the chef replied. As he seated the group, he said, "My name is Antonio Trussardi, owner and head chef of this establishment. Please, call me Tonio." "So you're actually Italian?," Okuyasu said. "Si signore," Tonio said. Okuyasu grinned. "That means the stuff here is gonna be real authentic." "By the way," Yukako said, "Outside it said the menu was based on the customer. How does that work?" "Ah signorina," Tonio said, "It means I take a look at the customer and decide what their meal is. Per esempio..."

He offered his hand. "With your permission. Not to worry, it's only for palm reading." Yukako nodded and allowed him to take her hand, and he started carefully studying her palm. "It seems you have quite a bit of stress built up that has begun to cause insomnia. Also, you suffer from horrible split ends. Your joints appear to be stiff, and there seems to be some issues with your breathing. You also seem to have an impacted wisdom tooth." Yukako gasped. "Yeah... That's right!" Her worrying about Koichi was causing her to lose sleep, and her Stand was still recovering after her fight with Echoes, which also caused some lingering stiffness from the numerous falls she suffered.

She wasn't sure why she was having trouble breathing, but she guessed it had something to do with the oncoming allergy season. And that wisdom tooth had been bothering her for a while. "Oh wow," Okuyasu, "All that from just her palm?" "I have studied up on palm reading during my travels," Tonio explained, "And other forms of medicine. It all plays a part in my cooking. You see, the next step is preparing dishes guaranteed to cure these ailments. Let me see you now, signore."

Okuyasu offered his palm as well. "It seems you've been suffering from diarrhea yesterday," Tonio observed, "The walls of your intestines are acting up. And it seems you also haven't been getting much sleep, only four hours from the look of it. That explains the swollen eyes. You also seem to have athlete's foot, and two cavities. Plus a stiffness in your left shoulder." "Oh wow!," Okuyasu said, "Yeah, that's all right!" "Now me, now me!," Pinkie said excitedly.

Tonio took a look at her palm. "You also seem to be having trouble sleeping. And your front molar is chipped it seems. Also your shoulders have gotten quite stiff. There's some minor swelling in your appendix, and your tonsils are starting to get infected." "I told Mom I need a doctor's appointment," Pinkie complained. "Da non preoccuparsi," Tonio assured her, "By the end of the meal, I guarantee you won't need to worry about that." He then turned to Josuke. "I guess I'll have what he's having," Josuke said, pointing to Okuyasu, "I'm not really that hungry." "Ho capito," Tonio said. He poured out some water for the group and headed for the kitchen.

"You know guys," Josuke said, "These health food places tend to not be very tasty. We don't have to pay if the food's no good." "Josuke, he's taking about curing things normal health food couldn't possibly cure," Pinkie noted, "I highly doubt this is your typical health food place. Plus, have you ever HAD Italian food? Even at its healthiest its meant to be packed with flavor and very filling." Okuyasu listened while sipping the water. "Whoa! This water... Is it... Mineral water? I don't think I've had water this good!"

The others also took a sip. "Oh wow, that is delicious," Yukako said. Okuyasu got excited as he took another sip. "Oh wow, this is like the sort of water a princess in the alps would drink while playing her harp! Or the first water you drink after three days in the desert!" He, Pinkie, and Yukako all downed their glasses. Okuyasu tingled from the flavor. "So good!" "What brand of water is this, I wonder?," Josuke asked. He then noticed the other three were starting to tear up. "Hey, no need to cry over it."

"I don't think we can help it," Pinkie said, "I don't know how, but something just turned on all the floodgates. I don't cry this much even under Smile's influence." "Ah man," Okuyasu said, "Someone get me a handkerchief or something." "I think your eyes are gonna need more than that!," Josuke said, "Your eyeballs are shriveling up!" "There's no need to worry," Tonio said as he came out, "That's only temporary. I would never serve my customers anything that would harm them."

"Then what the hell do you call this!," Josuke demanded. "Ah, permettimi di spiegare," Tonio said, "That mineral water came from Africa's Kilimanjaro. It's actually melted snow from five hundred years ago. It has the effect of washing away dirt and cleansing the eye, while also relieving insomnia. You obviously had a good night's rest, which is why the same is not happening to you." "Josuke!," Okuyasu called out, "I'm suddenly feeling a lot more refreshed, like I just slept eight whole hours."

The girls nodded, and all their eyes seemed to be back to normal, albeit looking a lot brighter. "If we may continue," Tonio said, "I have your appetizers prepared." "Hey, are you sure they're gonna be fine?," Josuke asked, "Those were a lot of tears." "Josuke," Pinkie snapped, grabbing him by the neck, "What's the big deal here? So what if our eyes temporarily shriveled up. We're just fine now. Trust me, a cook is not someone you wanna insult! Besides, don't forget, you drank the same water and nothing happened."

Josuke considered it. "Yeah, I guess you're right." "Molto bene," Tonio said, "For the young signore, we have a mozzarella and tomato salad. The same for the younger girl, and for the older girl, bruschetta topped with prosciutto and basil leaf." "This looks like garlic bread," Yukako noted. "That's essentially what bruschetta is signorina," Tonio clarified, "With the addition of salt and olive oil. Prosciutto is a type of cured ham, if you're curious about that as well."

"So what's this mozzarella?," Okuyasu asked. "It's a type of cheese," Tonio explained, "Semi-soft with all the fat removed. Everyone in Italy eats it. It's considered a staple for the antipasto, or appetizer. The dressing for the salad is my own recipe. I hope you enjoy." "Tomatoes, huh?," Okuyasu said. "Indeed," Tonio replied, "Italians were the first to use tomatoes in their cooking. No one can cook using this fruit better than Italy. This is no boast, but a matter of professional pride. My goal is not to appease the critics, but the customers. To make dishes that will be passed down from one generation to the next."

"There's a story behind those words, I figure," Pinkie noted. Tonio smiled. "Ah, indeed. But it is a story for another time." "Hey," Pinkie said to Okuyasu, "Don't just eat the mozzarella on its own. You have to get in equal parts mozzarella and tomato." "Yeah, well," Okuyasu said, "You gotta remember there's different tastes for people in different countries." "Just shut up and eat the tomato!," Pinkie said, as she dug Okuyasu's fork into the tomato and mozzarella and shoved it into his mouth.

The flavor hit Okuyasu immediately. "So good! This taste! The cheese compliments the tomato, while the tomato compliments the cheese! It's like... Harmony!" Josuke tried a bit of the salad he was served. "Hey, that is pretty good." Pinkie was also downing her salad while Yukako bit into her bruschetta. "This tastes so wonderful," she said with a dreamy look on her face, "The garlic and the olive oil bringing out the flavor of the basil, complimented by the meat without it being overpowered."

"This is wonderful!," Okuyasu said, "I'm so glad I live in this town!" He then rubbed his throat. "Hey, any of you feel hot in your throat?" "Just me," Pinkie said. "I think my knees and elbows are getting tingly," Yukako said, "My hips and shoulders too." "Ah, that would be the food beginning to do its work," Tonio explained, "Signore, I suggest you remove your jacket before you start scratching at your shoulders." Okuyasu did so and started scratching, Pinkie doing the same on both of her shoulders.

"What the hell?," Josuke said, "Something's coming off on your fingers." Okuyasu took a look and saw something slimy sticking to it. "I think that's just dead skin," Pinkie noted as both her shoulders started flaking off. "Indeed," Tonio said, "Right now your metabolism is rising and the blood flow to your shoulders is getting better. The young lady should also be experiencing the same to her joints, but in her case the effect is a bit more..." He grimaced. "Extreme..."

Sure enough, Yukako's body looked like it was doing a great impression of a marionette, her limbs coming loose without detaching and the muscle and bone visible beneath them as massive popping sounds could be heard from the joint area. "This is a little freaky!," she admitted. Josuke looked on in shock as Okuyasu and Pinkie kept scratching. "Guys, careful! I think you're starting to dig into your muscles!" Just as he said this, Yukako's limbs snapped back to normal. "Ah... That feels much better." She got up and did a small twirl, giggling. "I feel light enough to do ballet."

"My shoulders are feeling lighter too!," Okuyasu said as he stretched his arms behind his back an impressive distance. "Finally got all those kinks out," Pinkie noted as she also did some deep stretches. "Yeah, but you both left behind enough skin flakes to make softballs," Josuke complained, noting the two balls of skin. "I'll dispose of these properly," Tonio assured him, a smile on his face, "I need to return to the kitchen anyway to make sure the pasta's boiling properly."

"There's something funny going on with this guy's cooking," Josuke noted. Pinkie glared at him. "What, you think he's some 'evil Stand user' trying to mutilate us with his cooking? You'd have a leg to stand on if the mutilation didn't correct itself after a few seconds." "Well, name one time we've met a Stand user that started out as a nice guy," Josuke said. He then turned to Okuyasu and Yukako. "No offence." Pinkie just facepalmed. "You. Me. Koichi. Jotaro. Fluttershy. Kakyoin." "I said one!," Josuke pointed out.

Tonio then came out with four plates of pasta. "Now for the pasta dish, we have spaghetti alla puttanesca." "Whosamawhatnow?," Pinkie asked, "I've had plenty of pasta dishes but I've never heard of this one." "Supposedly it was created by a prostitute in Italy who threw some things together that just happened to taste good," Tonio explained, "The name comes from the Italian word for such women, puttana. The sauce for this pasta is said to have originated from my home city of Naples."

Okuyasu looked at the pasta. "I'm not sure I can eat the hot peppers in this," he said, "I can't even eat curry unless its mild." Pinkie closed her eyes, grabbed his fork which was full of pasta, and shoved it into his mouth. "Stop being so picky." Okuyasu's eyes lit up. "So good!" "Are you gonna say that every time?," Josuke wondered, "And Pinkie, how can you keep encouraging this when all this weird stuff is happening?" "It's no worse than when my Stand is active," Pinkie reminded him, "And it's helping us get better." She dug into her own pasta while Yukako did the same.

"Oh man this is so good," Okuyasu said, "I normally can't eat spicy things, but I can somehow eat this pasta without any problem. It's like my stomach is opening wide for more." Yukako suddenly yelped in pain as she felt her wisdom tooth explode, causing her to spit out the tooth fragments. Pinkie's chipped tooth and one of Okuyasu's cavities also shot out of their mouths, hitting the table. "Well, that's sudden," Pinkie noted. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot about the cavity," Okuyasu realized, "I guess this is why my mouth always hurt whenever I drank something cold."

Suddenly, his jaw seemed to unhinge. "Come to think of it," he muttered through the odd workings, "I think I also had a cavity in my lower jaw too!" His mouth opened up to the point the other cavity could shoot out of his mouth into the ceiling. He and Pinkie felt new teeth growing in while Yukako felt the gum where the wisdom tooth had been close up. Pinkie ran her tongue across her new tooth in satisfaction as Okuyasu showed off his pearly whites.

"Okay, now I'm really suspicious," Josuke said, "There's no way a tooth can grow back instantly. Even if Tonio isn't evil, there's still something odd going on with the food here. Crazy Diamond!" His Stand smashed its fist into his own pasta, causing it to revert the ingredients back to their original form. The group looked in shock as several tiny creatures that resembled an onion crossed with a tomato, only with with faces and tiny arms, could be seen among the pasta. The creatures quickly flew into the kitchen.

"Okay, so I'll at least admit Tonio is a Stand user," Pinkie admitted, "But that still doesn't mean he's doing anything bad." Okuyasu started to grab his stomach. "Oh man... My stomach is starting to hurt really bad." "It must be the hot peppers from the pasta," Pinkie realized, "They must be agitating your intestines because they were inflamed. That must be what Tonio's next dish is for." "He's sure taking his time back there," Josuke noted, "I'm gonna take a look."

"Not like that you aren't!," Pinkie called out, "Smile!" Smile grabbed Josuke and pulled out a working kitchen sink. "We go in there without washing our hands and Tonio will flip out," Pinkie noted, "Germs are a chef's worst nightmare in the kitchen, after all." Josuke sighed as he and Pinkie washed their hands before entering the kitchen. "Hello, Tonio?," Pinkie said, "We saw something weird with the pasta. We wanna talk to you about it. Don't worry, I made sure to wash my hands. Josuke's too." "The pasta?," Tonio said as he came out from a side room, "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong is those little bell pepper men," Josuke said, "That's your Stand, right?" Tonio looked confused. "It's true I do possess an unusual power that boosts the nutritional value of my cooking, but I'm not sure exactly what you mean by 'Stand'." "Y'know," Josuke said, "These." He and Pinkie revealed Crazy Diamond and Smile. Tonio looked surprised. "Mamma mia! This is the first time I've seen other people with this sort of power!"

"Okuyasu and Yukako are Stand users too," Pinkie said, "Did you get hit by an arrow as well?" "No, no, signorina," Tonio said, "My power, this Stand as you call it, developed as I strove to improve my cooking skills." Josuke and Pinkie looked at each other as they realized Tonio must be a naturally born Stand user. They then heard the sounds of growling, and saw a puppy in a cage eating a hunk of meat. "What's that?," Josuke asked.

"It's the main dish I had prepared for Okuyasu," Tonio explained, "A nice lamb in applesauce. The ingredients are supposed to be secret, so I'm glad you announced yourselves first, so I could hide away the ingredients I used. But I wasn't sure if it was suitable to cure his inflamed intestines, so I wanted to test it on this little cucciolo first. He's been having trouble with his own tummy, you see. Ah, it looks like it's starting to work. Better step back. My cooking is beneficial, but the side effects can get grisly."

Sure enough, the puppy's intestines seemed to spurt out of its mouth and bleed for a few seconds before getting sucked right back in. The dog looked none the worse for wear, even wagging its tail and barking happily. "Bene!," Tonio said, "Looks like its a great success." "I told you so," Pinkie said to Josuke. A bit later as Tonio came out with the main dishes, the lamb for Okuyasu, a pizza margherita for Pinkie, and a beef carpaccio for Yukako, he explained his history.

"I was pursuing a style of cooking that would please any pallet. As I traveled the world to perfect my recipes, my Stand... Hm, I think I'll call it Pearl Jam since it looks so much a pearl onion. Anyway, my Stand appeared during my studies. It wasn't long before I understood how it works. It doesn't make my cooking a cure-all. One dish equals one ailment, thus higher quality ingredients are needed depending on how bad the ailment is. Really much of Pearl Jam's work relies on my own cooking skill, but at the same time it can insure that people will be able to eat things they normally couldn't handle. After all, my dishes can't cure people if they aren't eaten."

"But why come out to Morioh?," Okuyasu said as he dug into the lamb, "You're an amazing chef, certainly you'd do well back in your home of Naples." "You'd think so, wouldn't you," Tonio said sadly, "But the truth is back in Italy I'm considered too young to open my own restaurant. Here in Japan there are no such limitations. Yes there is competition, but also opportunity. Especially here in Morioh, where there are so many farms to get fresh produce and quality seafood brought in daily at the market, perfect for developing my recipes."

Okuyasu coughed as his intestines exploded out of his stomach, Pinkie's appendix doing the same, while Yukako felt her lungs popping out of her back. "Ah, that's another reason I had to come to a quieter town," Tonio said, "I was sure that people would not appreciate my Stand's little equivalent exchange in how it cures ailments, expelling diseased or damaged body parts before growing in fresh new ones. They always go back to normal quickly, however."

Pinkie sighed in content as her stomach stopped stinging after a few seconds. "Man, this food is great!," Okuyasu said. Josuke sighed. "I guess I had you pegged all wrong, Tonio. But at least this explains the odd menu choice, and the palm reading." "Si," Tonio said, "I can't know what to serve my customers if I don't know what ailments they have. Now I must go and prepare the dessert, so that you may all leave healthy." Dessert turned out to be flan for Okuyasu, gelato for Pinkie, and cannoli for Yukako.

Okuyasu tried to play it cool saying a badass shouldn't be eating pudding, but changed his mind when he took a bite and scarfed it down. "Oh man, this is best! I'm so glad I live a town with a genius chef!" Pinkie took a quick second to clear her throat after the gelato expelled her infected tonsils, while Yukako ran her fingers through her now vibrant and shining hair. "Remind me to return here every so often. Since my Stand uses my hair, I think I'll need to be a regular customer." "Hey! My athlete's foot is gone!," Okuyasu said excitedly. Josuke just shrugged, a smile on his face.

Jotaro met with Sanji Matsumoto at the local beach, a place that lacked electrical wiring. "It seems Red Hot Chili Pepper is getting bolder," Sanji noted, "It's gotten too dangerous for regular Speedwagon Foundation agents to stick around, so for now it's just me and Kakyoin. This user has tried targeting all five kids right in their homes, but he's wound up underestimating them. He's powerful, but luckily they're crafty." He smirked. "Also, I couldn't help but notice Josuke was adopting my hairstyle." He ran a hand over his pompadour. "I guess I made an impression when I helped him and his mother."

Jotaro smiled. "He doesn't even know you yet, and still you're his personal hero. But this is beside the point. Has Red Hot Chili Pepper tried to attack you or Kakyoin?" "Several times," Sanji said, "He seems intent on keeping out unwanted guests. The last time he attacked me, I let him know that I'm a Morioh native. For now I think he's testing the waters, judging our Stands against his. He once tried to dive into Reverse Rebirth, only to get repelled by the electromagnetic force that powers its machines."

"So it has weaknesses," Jotaro noted. Sanji nodded. "The same type of weaknesses you'd expect from an electric-based Stand. Koichi was able to repel it with a splash of water, which made it spark uncontrollably. And though it hasn't yet been tested, I'd imagine rubber would also be effective." "Or wood," Jotaro said, "The Stand user noted Fluttershy could be a real threat to him, since for all his power he can't shoot actual lightning, which would have the raw energy needed to break through her plant barriers."

"All that said, he's doing a good job of staying hidden," Sanji said with a sigh, "Kakyoin and Hierophant Green have searched through the whole city, top to bottom. The most we found was an apartment containing an unusual amount of cash. It's likely where the Stand user is living, but there's nothing there that could ID him, and we can't count on him returning there any time soon. That's why... Joseph Joestar intends to try." Jotaro gasped. "He'll be coming tomorrow at midday," Sanji said, "Even if he can't help us find Red Hot Chili Pepper, he wanted an excuse to see his son, Josuke."

Later Kakyoin delivered a letter to all five teens. "We'll be meeting in the center of the abandoned park on the outskirts of Morioh, kilometers away from the nearest electrical source. I recommend you either walk or bike, but no motorcycles. If you must take a vehicle, use only public transport and only have them take you to the outskirts. Any sort of car battery can carry our enemy, so be sure to leave behind anything that may also carry a battery or circuit. This information is important." Red Hot Chili Pepper happened to see Josuke as he got this letter, then rubbed his chin. "If they follow these instructions I won't know what they're planning. I need to make plans of my own."

The Morioh group was soon gathered at the meeting point, and Pinkie already threw up her Stand's area of effect. "This should help just in case Red Hot Chili Pepper tries anything." "Good thinking," Jotaro said as he approached, "It looks like everyone followed the instructions." "Yeah, but I'm a little bummed I had to leave my sweet motorbike at home," Okuyasu said, "Still, it's a small price to pay for dealing with that bastard." His eyes started to show signs of anger. "Is he going to be okay?," Yukako said.

"Red Hot Chili Pepper killed his brother," Pinkie explained, "He gets irritable just thinking about it." "So how are we gonna find Red Hot Chili Pepper?," Koichi asked, "He's able to duck in and out of houses easily. I think the only reason he hasn't killed anyone else is because of us. He knows if he makes too much trouble we'll be on his tail easily." "The good news is he underestimates us," Pinkie said, "He thought he could easily frizz out Yukako's hair, but her Stand lets her control it to the point where she can contain Chili Pepper without injury."

"And he also didn't realize how fast Crazy Diamond is," Josuke noted, "He seems to fear Star Platinum most of all, but he's forgetting how strong the rest of us are." Jotaro nodded. "Not to worry. I have someone coming in. A Stand user who might be able to locate him. His Stand is called Hermit Purple and it can also travel through electrical wire." He folded his arms. "Trouble is... He's very old, and not able to fight on his own. So we'll need to keep him safe while he does his work." "We're bringing some old geezer in?," Okuyasu said.

"He used to be a lot more buff," Jotaro noted, "But time has made him a shell of his former self. When I compare him to how he looked ten years ago, it's like night and day. Guy's close to his eighties now. His ankles have gotten so weak he has to use a walking stick. He had a gallstone removed two years ago, and he has a cataract." "Maybe we should send him to Tonio's first," Okuyasu suggested, "That might put some spring in his step." Jotaro grinned, having heard of Tonio's Stand. "Maybe, but it won't solve his biggest gripe. See, he recently had to switch to dentures, and he complains that he can no longer eat t-bone steaks. Also... He may have gone a little senile."

Josuke chuckled. "Don't tell me this guy will start talking to inanimate objects while he's here." He then realized something. "Wait... Did you just say steak? Is this guy a foreigner?" Jotaro nodded. "I was hoping to keep him out of Japan, but when I told him about the new arrow we got a lead on, he insisted he arrive. If Chili Pepper's user finds out, he'll see him as the biggest threat since he can find out his identity." Koichi then realized something. "Wait... Is this guy...?"

"Hold that thought, Koichi!," Yukako said, "Someone else is here!" Jotaro looked around. "How can you tell?" "I've had my Stand spread out across the field just in case Red Hot Chili Pepper saw us get those letters and try to approach," Yukako said, "I thought if he was forced to come in person, it'd make things easier. But it seems he got crafty." Love Deluxe whipped out and grabbed a motorbike from a nearby ditch. "Is that my bike!?," Okuyasu demanded.

"Well shoot," Red Hot Chili Pepper said as he came out of the bike's battery, "I was hoping to get more information, but it looks like I got found out. Still, I got enough to track down this old geezer, whoever he is." He started up the bike, but gasped when he suddenly saw a shadow looming over him. He gulped when he looked up and saw Okuyasu, who had used The Hand to draw the bike over. "Where do you think you're going? We're not letting you get away with what you know. Besides, I owe you for my brother's death. The Hand!"

The Hand swiped at Red Hot Chili Pepper how easily dodged. "Nice try, dumbass, but your right hand is too slow since it needs to come in at an arc!" Okuyasu grinned. "I may be an idiot, but I'm no dumbass. I know my Stand's limitations. I wasn't actually aiming for you." He pointed to the bike, and Red Hot Chili Pepper saw the front tire had been separated from it, rendering it useless. "It's a shame I had to wreck my own bike, but at least it was secondhand. The point is..." He cracked his knuckles, The Hand mimicking the movement. "You're now a hundred kilometers away from the nearest electrical line... With no other power sources nearby."

The others joined up beside him as he grinned. "And the numbers don't lie. You're outmatched at six to one. Even I can tell you're dead meat at this point. So... Who's the dumbass now?" "Good grief, and your brother called you dead weight?," Red Hot Chili Pepper said, "Lucky for me you were just a bit too gung ho when you made to attack. Well, you might not have meant to. But I did." Okuyasu looked confused. "Something I learned about Pinkie's Stand," Red Hot Chili Pepper explained, "It can only work for those who are aware its active, and who want to believe it can work for them. Rather necessary since its effect covers the whole city and people would freak out if their little town suddenly started imitating Tom and Jerry."

Pinkie gasped. "Don't tell me..." Red Hot Chili Pepper laughed as it ran into a small ditch created by The Hand. "I took advantage of the effect to make Okuyasu's attack much bigger than it should have been. It's always more hilarious in cartoons when the hero just barely dodges a strike, and I have enough speed to keep plenty of distance away normally. That attack opened up the city's power lines running under the park. But since I don't know when the old man will arrive, I can't stick around to deal with you. Later, losers!" And with that, he disappeared into the exposed power line. "Damn you plot!," Pinkie called out.

With the news that Red Hot Chili Pepper was looking for Joseph, Fluttershy, Jolyne, and Kakyoin hurried out by speedboat to where the ship was coming in, checking the battery to make sure it hadn't been infiltrated. Later at noon, Jotaro used Star Platinum to check the ship's progress. "Here it comes," Jotaro said, "I'm sure Red Hot Chili Pepper's user will assume this is where the ship will be coming in. He knows we're bringing in a foreigner, and that means a water entrance."

Josuke wasn't sure how to feel that it was his father that being brought in. "Is Mister Joestar the only passenger?," Koichi asked. "No," Jotaro assured him, "My own father, Sadao, is there as well. As is Granddad's old friend Avdol. Both of them have powerful Stands of their own. Sanji also headed out to the ship ahead of time to check on them. I honestly wish we could get more, but all our friends have their own lives." He looked up as he thought about what had happened in the last ten years.

Sunset and Ryusei had their wedding and were now traveling the world. They were currently in Russia, too far out to arrive for help. Hol Horse and Antoinette had hooked up, and settled in Manhattan with Hol Horse's parents at the Applaine Orchard. During the month Polnareff was looking after Kakyoin, Iggy, and Avdol, he wound up running into Malena again. They eventually married in France, but lately he'd been busy with an important investigation in Italy. Rudy had gotten too old to fight, and Iggy was too busy being pampered by Suzi Q, not to mention he had a son to look after now.

Radames had also gotten married and was too busy with his merchant venture, and James had gotten into the political scene like his father, so he couldn't come either. Still, they had plenty of muscle just in case. "We know Red Hot Chili Pepper can only travel where there's electricity," Jotaro noted, "But I have a hunch he's prepared something to cross the ocean. But he doesn't know there are other Stand users on the boat, at least as far as I can tell." "This boat's clean," Josuke said, "We're ready to leave."

"About that," Jotaro said, "Koichi, you, Josuke, and Pinkie will be staying here to hold off the Stand user. Me, Okuyasu, and Yukako will be taking the boat. Guaranteed Red Hot Chili Pepper will be hiding nearby, ready to use something like a remote-controlled plane to reach the ship. It's the fastest way with his powers. The ship's twenty minutes out, and a remote plane at its fastest can move a hundred kilometers an hour. Plus with Red Hot Chili Pepper's powers, it can move at will without even needing the remote."

Josuke sighed, then nodded as he got onto the pier. The boat zoomed off, and Josuke said, "So, I have to protect a father I never even knew." "At least your father's still alive," Pinkie said, "Mine died five years ago protecting my mom from some unknown assailant. She was completely shaken by the incident, said some sort of explosive killed him. Her account is the only reason the police know he's dead, because his body was never found." "By the way," Koichi said, "You said your father was Italian-American, but then how come your last name is Japanese?"

"No big mystery there," Josuke said, "Obviously her dad decided to take on her mother's family name, rather than the other way around. It can happen sometimes." Pinkie nodded. Just then, Red Hot Chili Pepper burst up from the grating in the pier. "Looks like Jotaro saw through my plans," came a voice, but it didn't come from the Stand. Out stepped a man who looked like he was just reaching his twenties, and dressed like a rock musician, complete with electric guitar.

He flipped his hair out of his face as Red Hot Chili Pepper landed next him, dropping the model plane nearby. "That Jotaro is one perceptive guy," the man said, "Even without Star Platinum he figured out my plan without effort. And wow... To think he'd bring in so many other Stand users that I don't even know about. But I still have three minutes to sneak onboard and observe them. You see, this new Spitfire can travel at 150 kilometers per hour, meaning it can reach the boat in only five minutes, while Jotaro's motorboat can only reach it in eight to ten minutes."

He then pointed out the trio. "And you're the only ones standing in my way!" "What's the with the guitar?," Pinkie asked. "Ah, forgot the intro. I might as well since I'm standing right here," the man said, "Name's Akira Otoishi, age nineteen. My aim is to be the next Jimi Hendrix! Or maybe Jeff Beck, any of those classic rock guitarists really. I aim to be an ultra super guitarist and live life hard and fast... Hence why I keep this baby with me at all times." He made an impressive guitar solo upon saying this. "I'm gonna use my guitar to blow the whole world away!"

Pinkie, Josuke, and Koichi stared. "Eddie van Halen, eat your heart out," Pinkie muttered, "But why come out here and introduce yourself?" She pulled away part of the scenery like it was a background curtain to reveal a video camera that was live recording. "Especially since my Stand can send that info to the ship without any issue." Akira freaked. "Shit, I forgot the ship's already within Morioh's borders! Ah, whatever. Once I get rid of you three, I can just hide again and send Red Hot Chili Pepper to do the rest. Speaking of which, you notice how most Stand users around Morioh seem to name their Stand after musical references just by accident? Well in my case it was deliberate. While I'm a fan of all guitarists, the Red Hot Chili Peppers are my favorite overall band."

Red Hot Chili Pepper then levitated and held out its pinkie. "Speaking of my Stand," Akira said, "I think I'll just use its pinkie to defeat you. That's how confident I am right now." Josuke chuckled and taunted Akira with a gesture to come at him. "If you think you're that fast and strong, then just try it. I'll set a rule for myself in this fight." Akira scoffed. "Don't act all tough! You don't need to give yourself any rules!" Josuke took advantage of the distraction and physically broke Akira's pinkie, leaving him screaming in pain.

"You left yourself open," Josuke noted, "To the point where you forgot to take advantage of the toon world Smile created. And if I don't need to set rules for myself, then great... I'll just beat the crap outta you! Maybe even literally!" Koichi laughed. "You forgot about Pinkie... And he broke your pinkie!" Pinkie gasped and pointed at Koichi as she got the joke and started laughing herself. "This is no laughing matter!," Akira snapped, "How I can play my sweet riffs if my pinkie finger's broken!?"

"Better yet," Josuke said, "How do you expect to fight me when I broke the very thing you said you'd defeat me with?" Akira growled as he held his wrist, then belted out a scream as he forced the pinkie to right itself through sheer willpower. "Oh wow," Pinkie said, "From the sounds of it, he wasn't using my Stand for that." "I need to keep this anger...," Akira noted, "And let it all out!" He belted out an impressive solo on his guitar that was likely making the gods of rock smile down from the heavens.

He gave a satisfied sigh once it was finished. "I did it... I was able to express my anger and frustration... God I wish I had a bigger audience to experience this..." "That is an impressive musical talent," Josuke admitted, "But while you were doing that..." He had Crazy Diamond slip into its hand into the gutter thanks to Smile's area of effect. "I've been checking the nearby gutters for your Stand. Koichi heard it slip into the asphalt through the power lines."

Akira chuckled. "Nice try, but you still only have two arms." "Maybe," Pinkie said, "But he's not the only one searching." Akira gasped when he saw Smile suddenly had dozens of arms, all slipped into the gutters reaching for whatever they could find. He narrowed his eyes. "Clever, but I learn from my mistakes..." Red Hot Chili Pepper popped out of a gutter, which Josuke had pulled Crazy Diamond's hand out of to attack. Then Crazy Diamond whirled around and tagged the electric Stand with a quick punch.

Akira got surprised when the blow actually hurt and his head reeled back from the blow. "What...? But I was focusing on Pinkie's toon world to protect myself!" "You're not the only one who learns," Pinkie noted, "I've learned how to tune certain people out of my toon world. And guess what Akira... You're no longer living in it. You're in the real world right now. But since the two worlds intersect through my Stand's power, we can still attack you." "Meanwhile the three of us are still in the toon world," Josuke said, "That's why Crazy Diamond was able to tag you. Just like in cartoons when someone tries to sneak up on a cartoon character to attack them, they can suddenly whirl around to counterattack."

Akira growled as he tried to have Red Hot Chili Pepper jump in and out the gutters at rapid speed. 'This is just wasting time! With my Stand's speed I don't need to rely on the toon world to avoid damage, but that doesn't help me get them out of the way! If I don't get moving in the next minute, Jotaro will reach the boat and warn the others about me coming!' Crazy Diamond's attacks were starting to return the asphalt back into coal, meaning tracking Red Hot Chili Pepper was becoming easier.

Akira cried out in pain as the attacks started hitting home. Red Hot Chili Pepper had maxed out stats in everything but precision, but Crazy Diamond and Smile had the physical power to damage it regardless of its high defense. "Damn it... Only nineteen seconds left! I gotta get serious!" Red Hot Chili Pepper seemed to glow white hot with energy. "What the heck is this light!?," Koichi called out. "This is my ultimate trump card!," Akira replied, "Right now Red Hot Chili Pepper is channeling all of Morioh's power at once! It's a last resort move, because once I've used it up there won't be anything to fall back on for hours! But once I take you out, I can still use the plane's battery to reach the boat!"

Red Hot Chili Pepper moved at blinding speeds, knocking Josuke and Pinkie into a nearby forklift. "Someone cue Joel and the Bots...," Pinkie muttered as she picked herself up. The quickly got out of the way as Red Hot Chile Pepper smashed into the forklift before slipping into another gutter. "You guys are way too durable in the toon world," Akira noted, "I may just use the excess energy from this technique to supercharge the plane." "Can you really do that!?," Koichi wondered aloud. "At this point I'm running out of options!," Akira admitted, "But before I try..."

Red Hot Chili Pepper popped out near Josuke. "I'll make one last attack!," Akira announced, "Take the full force of Morioh's power! Go, Red Hot Chili Pepper!" Josuke grinned. "Don't forget I'm from Morioh too. And I don't think the town appreciates you using its power for such trouble. Crazy Diamond!" Red Hot Chili Pepper got a surprise as a shredded tire from the forklift started to surround it. "I destroyed that wheel as we were getting out the way of your last attack," Pinkie explained, "Now Crazy Diamond's repaired it. Your Stand is trapped in that wheel!"

Akira stepped back in shock. "Not good! Rubber is insulated, so there's no electricity flow for Red Hot Chile Pepper to feed off of! I can already feel it getting weaker!" He then grinned. "Luckily I still have enough strength to pop the tire." He strummed his guitar and Red Hot Chili Pepper punched through the tire. "Nice try, but did you really think trapping me a tire would work? That rubber's way too thin to keep my Stand sealed. Looks like you lose!"

Pinkie started laughing. "And you say you learn from your mistakes? Did you hear me say 'trapped in that tire'? Of course a simple tire could never trap Red Hot Chili Pepper... Because there's a big freaking hole in the center to get out of, dummy!" Akira looked confused. "The only reason your Stand was trapped," Josuke clarified, "Was because of the rim in the center of the tire. It's great that you had the power to break through... It would have been better for you if you couldn't."

At that moment, the air pressure from the tire sent the wheel, with Red Hot Chili Pepper still inside, flying into the nearby ocean. "D-Damn it!," Akira said in shock, "I forgot to consider that it was a working tire! Once my Stand hits the ocean... It'll start to disperse!" He screamed as he felt the electric feedback from his Stand getting destroyed. He seemed to pass out right there on his feet. "Is he dead?," Koichi asked. "I doubt it," Pinkie said, "While he can feel injuries from his Stand getting attacked, it's still a remote Stand. But he's not going anywhere. Koichi, by now the boat should be within your Stand's range. Can you let Jotaro and the others know we got him?" Koichi nodded.

Jotaro got word from Echoes as the ship started to approach. "I guess the Stand users in this town are pretty strong," Sadao noted as he walked up to his son. "Josuke and his friends certainly are," Jotaro noted. Sadao shrugged. "Well, he is a Jojo after all." Inside the cabin, Avdol walked over to Joseph and handed him a cup. "Your tea, Mister Joestar." "Thank you, Avdol," Joseph said. Avdol noticed Okuyasu looking at Joseph. "Despite his size," Okuyasu said, "He looks a lot weaker that you'd think."

"It's sad to see him in this state after ten years," Avdol said, getting out a photo of the Crusaders from when they just arrived in Egypt, just hours before the fight with N'Doul. "I never saw Mister Joestar in his prime, but when I first became friends with him it didn't look like he had lost his fighting spirit. But I suppose the loss of his grandfather and lack of Hamon practice forced age to catch up with him." Joseph turned to them. "You there, young man. The one with the school uniform. What was your name?" "Okuyasu Nijimura," Okuyasu said, "I'm a Stand user too."

"Stand user, eh?," Joseph said, "Must be a hard life. Say Avdol, have you seen my walking stick?" "You're still holding it, Mister Joestar," Avdol said, "But it's in your right hand." "Ah, that explains why I lost track of it," Joseph said, "My left hand is a prosthetic, and designed so that I can always feel through it. But my right hand has started to develop some minor palsy. Ah, that reminds me. You said there was a Stand using Italian chef in this town that help cure some of my ailments?"

"Yes sir," Okuyasu said, his eyes lighting up, "And his cooking is way off the charts! The flavor's just to die for!" Joseph smiled and nodded. "I think I'll give it a try. Even with dentures I can still eat Italian, and it's been a while since I've tried some." He carefully stood up. "By the way... Has Josuke mentioned anything about me...? I never even knew he existed since the day of his birth... If not for how well Holly and George turned out I might consider my self a terrible father. But it seems I'm... Neglectful at worst."

"You never actually came up in conversation," Okuyasu assured him, "He never talks about it." A Foundation member walked in. "Excuse me, we're about to arrive. I'll get your luggage." "Hold it," Sanji said, "I don't recognize you." The man hesitated. "I'm a new transfer. Just recently." "I don't think so," Sanji retorted, "I'd have been informed of any new arrivals. Give me your name, buddy." The man started to look shifty eyed. He then noticed pieces of bark had been placed over most of the electrical outlets on the ship.

"Sir!," another Foundation member said as he came in, "We just word from Jotaro! The Stand user for Red Hot Chili Pepper disappeared from the pier!" Suddenly, Red Hot Chili Pepper came out of a small light next to Joseph, looking ragged and in pieces. Okuyasu spotted it and quickly punched the Foundation member who had been going for the luggage. Sure enough, it was Akira, his Stand disappearing as he was knocked over to Joseph. Joseph's cane had slipped out of his hands, and Akira wound up landing on it. "How... How did you know it was me...?" "Sanji was questioning whether or not you were a member," Okuyasu pointed out, "But he said nothing about the guy who just burst in. Even someone as dumb as me can put two and two together from that."

The boat pulled up with no further incidents and Joseph came out. His walking stick had gotten busted when Akira got punched across the cabin. His eyes widened when he saw Josuke. He started to walk over, but tripped a little on the gangplank. "Gotcha," Josuke said as he he caught his father, "You should be more careful. You don't want to fall into the water." Joseph nodded. "It seems my walking stick broke earlier."

Josuke nodded. "Here, let me help." He took Joseph arm and started walking. "But couldn't he have just repaired the walking stick?," Okuyasu asked, confused. "He's got something more important to fix," Pinkie said, "After all, he has a father to catch up with." She looked after Josuke, who was leading his father off the pier and into town. Jotaro smiled. "I don't know what you said to him, Pinkie. But it looks like he's willing to give Joseph a chance."

Hope you like catching up with some of the old crew, or at least most of them. If I brought in too many this chapter could be even longer, but I did at least want to let everyone know what they'd been doing up until now.

After Akira's defeat, he was sent to prison for three years due to grand theft of around five billion yen worth of goods. Though the police had the evidence to put him away, they were baffled as to how he committed these robberies since they didn't know about Stand powers. While Akira's Stand would probably recover before his sentence was up, he was in no hurry to leave before he could be released since he was now scared of everyone involved with his defeat, especially Okuyasu and Jotaro.

In addition, Jotaro found the bow and arrow Akira had stolen, meaning the Speedwagon Foundation now had three of the presumed seven arrows. "It's starting to feel like Morioh is safer than before," Koichi noted. "Yeah, but the plot's not done yet," Pinkie said, "There's whatever other Stand users Keicho found using the arrow, plus any Stand users Akira might have created while he had it. We don't know where they are, how many there are, and if any of them will be a threat to the town."

"I'm still interrogating Akira on that point," Jotaro said, "In the meantime, you all need to stay alert for any further trouble." "That reminds me," Yukako said, "Where'd Mister Joestar and Josuke get off to?" "They went off to Josuke's house," Jotaro explained, "Grandpa wanted to at least see how she's doing, though he has no intention of meeting her again." Pinkie started to get worried. "I'll go check on them. Smile!" She raced off, her legs doing a great impression of Road Runner as she did.

By the time Pinkie found Josuke and Joseph, the latter had accidentally gotten on a long-distance bus bound for Sapporo. Josuke had managed to catch up on his own and get Joseph off. "Crazy old man!," Josuke said, "Do that again and I'll let you take the bus all the way to Hokkaido!" "Having troubles?," Pinkie quipped. "Ah, my eyes are apparently worse than I thought," Joseph admitted, "I wound up getting on the bus thinking it was the one we were taking, not even noticing the destination."

Pinkie then looked at Joseph's pant leg. Something seemed to be tugging at it, but she couldn't see what it is. "Uh... Guys?" Josuke turned to look and saw what she was pointing at. Joseph had already felt the tug on his pants. "What on Earth is...?," Joseph wondered. Then whatever it was grabbed his walking stick and waved it around like it was a play toy. "Now that's just bizarre," Josuke noted. "Welcome to my world," Joseph snarked. The walking stick dropped.

"Is this another Stand user?," Pinkie wondered, "But why can't we see anything?" Just then, some tracks started appearing in the soft dirt. They looked like knee drag marks and handprints. As they looked, they heard the sound of light laughing coming from the end of the tracks. Pinkie gasped. "A BABY!? AN INVISIBLE BABY!?" Joseph freaked. "OH MY GOD!" The tracks seemed to reach the edge of the dirt, where they would disappear. "Uh-uh, little baby," Pinkie said as she had Smile wipe its hand near where the tracks were reaching, "Not without letting us see you first."

Smile used its powers to deactivate the other Stand's effect, revealing a tiny little baby of around six months, just old enough to have a light head of black hair and bright violet eyes. It was also completely naked, prompting Pinkie to pull out a diaper from behind her back. "Ha, it's just like those old cartoons," Joseph noted. "Yeah, that's how my Stand works," Pinkie said. She had Smile lift up the baby while she applied the diaper. "Huh... It's a girl."

"Good thing you didn't pick her up," Josuke quipped to his father, making the old man grimace. "Hey, I never flirt with girls under eighteen. That's my rule when it comes to the opposite sex. Anyway, where do you think this child's parents are?" "And more importantly," Pinkie said, "Where's the Stand user who did this to her?" Joseph looked at the little girl. "Actually... I think this baby is the Stand user. If she's this young then it's likely a natural ability, but something she's too young to control. It likely awoke instinctively when she was separated from her mother."

"Is that really possible?," Josuke asked. Joseph nodded. "It can happen sometimes in adults, you see. They start developing ulcers, gray hairs, or even bald spots due to stress." A nearby dog began barking at the group, causing the baby to start crying and also to turn invisible again. Pinkie growled, then Smile's head turned into that of a cartoon dog that also started barking, scaring the dog away. It then reverted the baby's Stand so it could be visible again. "Her Stand seems to trigger in response to fear," Pinkie noted. "Let me try and calm her down," Joseph said, "I'm a little out of practice, but I have done this before."

He started to gently rock the baby girl until she calmed down. The trio then wrinkled their noses when they smelled something. "I think the barking dog triggered more than her Stand," Josuke said. "Well I can't keep pulling diapers from hammerspace," Pinkie complained, "Even I'm not that deus ex machina." "I think finding the girl's mother will have to wait," Joseph said, "We can't exactly leave her with a dirty diaper."

"Why do I have to go and buy it alone?," Joseph asked when they got to the family club store. "Me and Pinkie can't go in there," Josuke said, "People will talk like its her baby. Then there's gonna be all the gossip about whether it was you or me that got her pregnant." "Ah, I can see where you're going with this," Joseph admitted, "I got in enough hot water when my family learned about you. But I only have traveler's checks, and those are in American dollars."

Josuke sighed and handed him a credit card. "Don't go crazy, there's not a lot left on it." Joseph was glad Pinkie was able to make the baby visible every time she turned invisible. It made it easier to measure her and tell the clerk which size diaper he needed. The hard part was when it came to bottles. It wasn't his kid so he didn't know the baby's preference. 'This was so much easier when Holly was born,' he groaned internally. He finally managed to get a few changes of clothes, a standard milk bottle like the one he once used on his own kids, and the diapers from earlier. 'Just over fifty-thousand yen, not too expensive.'

The baby girl seemed happy about the new clothes, gurgling and laughing. "Now we can start looking for her mother," Joseph said. However, as he picked her up, she started to tear up and turn transparent again. Not only her body, but her new clothes and Joseph's hands. "HOLY SHIT! She can turn anything invisible, not just herself!" "Mister Joestar!," Josuke said, "You have to put her down somewhere!" Joseph quickly placed the baby in the carriage he had bought, but his hands were still invisible. "OH MY GOD!"

"Her powers must get stronger the more stress she's under!," Pinkie realized, "And now she's causing the carriage to turn invisible!" The baby was crying as the carriage started to disappear. "OH MY GOD!" This time the reaction came from Josuke. "Huh... That sounded strangely appropriate right now." "It's cool," Pinkie said, "We can just calm her down, then Smile can make her visible again. Josuke, can you get the pacifier?" "Sure," Josuke said.

He grabbed it and tossed it to Pinkie, but it turned invisible as it went over the baby, rolling along the ground as it did. "Oh great," Josuke said, "Looks like it can affect anything in a thirty centimeter range. It seems to be a protective measure, but then how can anyone take care of her?" "It must be emotional distress," Joseph theorized, "Like anorexia or insomnia. It seems like she doesn't like to be touched by strangers. The only reason we got her here without incident is because Pinkie used her Stand to lull her to sleep."

A man riding his bicycle passed by the trio and spotted the invisible carriage. From his perspective, it looked like random junk scattered on the ground. Shrugging, he tossed his cigarette near the carriage, right where the baby was. Joseph quickly moved to grab it out of the way, confusing the man. "Uh guys?," Pinkie said, "That carriage is rolling away, and if Smile can't track that baby, it can't undo her invisibility." "HOLY SHIT!," Joseph called out, "We gotta get after that carriage!"

As the carriage rolled away, the baby was crying more and more, increasing its Stands effective range. "Great," Josuke muttered, "Now even the ground is starting to turn invisible." They then heard a sound, like the carriage had fallen over, followed by a splash. The trio gasped. "SHE FELL INTO THE RIVER!" "P-Pinkie!," Josuke called out. "I can't reveal her if I can't track her!," Pinkie said. Joseph looked at them, then the river, and nodded.

He then waded into it and got out a switchblade. "Hey, what are you doing!?," Josuke called out. "Pinkie needs to track the baby to reveal her, yes?," Joseph said, "This may kill me, since I'm so old. So if I don't make it... Tell your mother I said hello." He then proceeded to cut his wrists, letting the blood enter the river. Eventually, it reached a spot in the middle of the river where it started turning invisible. "There!," Pinkie said, "Smile!" "Keep smiling!" Smile reached into the river and grabbed the baby, turning it visible again as Pinkie got out the "Instant Trauma Amnesia" mallet, to prevent any lingering subconscious fears.

Josuke got his father out of the river and had Crazy Diamond heal him. "You didn't have to go that far," Josuke said. Joseph smirked. "I was just concerned you didn't think much of an old man like me. And what father wouldn't want to show off for his son." Josuke smiled. "Good grief... Just don't go doing that ever again. I honestly thought that was it for you." "Ah, I've long since beaten the Joestar curse," Joseph said dismissively, "Dying in my old age wouldn't mean much to me." Pinkie smiled as the father and son started to bond, the baby happily gurgling in her arms.

For the record, I have plans for that baby...

If there's one thing I can relate to in regards to Rohan, it's his desire to see his work read by others. With that said, enjoy.

Koichi was walking through town when he suddenly spotted Hazamada along his route. "Oh hey," he called out. Hazamada turned to look at him. "Hey, it's you. Koichi, right?" "You look like you more or less recovered," Koichi said. Hazamada shrugged. "Kinda. I got discharged two days ago, but I still have some soreness in my throat." 'Gee I wonder why?,' Koichi snarked in his head, remembering that Fluttershy had slightly choked Hazamada with her vines.

"So, where are Pinkie and Josuke?," Hazamada asked, "Aren't they usually with you?" Koichi shrugged. "Not today. Besides, they're helping with the invisible baby we found." Hazamada looked surprised. "'Invisible baby? Is that some kind of Stand user?" Koichi nodded. "Yeah, but her power seems to be under control now. Though she only seems to trust Josuke's father, Mister Joestar. If he's not around, she starts crying and making everything around her invisible."

"So does that mean Mister Joestar and the other out-of-towners will be staying for a while?," Hazamada asked. "Looks that way," Koichi said, "I mean, until we find the baby's mother there's no one else who can care for her. Plus there's still some cleanup to do after retrieving the arrow." Hazamada shrugged. "Well, that's got nothing to do with me. Hey, do you like manga?" "That's out of nowhere," Koichi noted, "But yeah." "Well," Hazamada said, "I heard a rumor that the artist for Pink Dark Boy, Rohan Kishibe, lives right here in Morioh."

"What? Are you serious!?," Koichi said excitedly, "That's my favorite manga! Come to think of it, it's also Pinkie's. But where did you hear he was living here?" "I overheard a real estate agent talking about it," Hazamada explained, "He mentioned the address. Let's see if we can get his autograph." Koichi nodded, and the two were off to where Rohan was supposed to be living, little knowing the mess they were about to get into.

The duo soon reached the address, which was pretty isolated from Morioh. "This is it," Hazamada said, "The guy lives alone, no family or significant other. Hard to believe he's twenty now." "Twenty!?," Koichi said in surprise. Hazamada nodded. "Yeah, he got his first big start at the age of sixteen, that's right around our age. But looking at this house, his success even at his age is obvious. Well, we can't go sneaking around. Go and ring the bell." "Me?," Koichi said, "Why can't you do it?"

"Hey now, that's an order from an upper classman," Hazamada said. "An upper classman who's butt I can kick," Koichi pointed out, "Last I checked you have nothing to use your Stand with, while mine evolved recently." Their argument was cut short when the door opened anyway. Standing in the door was a young man who dressed like a typical author and had a headband that made his hair stand out. "That's him!," Hazamada said, "Rohan Kishibe! I saw his picture in the New Year Special Issue!"

"This had better not be some sort of prank," Rohan warned. "No, no of course not!," Hazamada assured him, "We're students at Grape Hill High, and we're big fans of your work!" "Ah, so you know my work," Rohan said, "I guess that means my address got leaked somehow." "Actually, Hazamada here just overheard the address," Koichi pointed out, "We just stopped by to ask for an autograph."

Rohan smiled. "Why not? If that's all your asking for, then come on in. I've finished my work for the day, so please feel free to explore my work area." The two students were surprised at this, as well as how clean the upstairs work area looked. "This is just amazing!," Koichi said, "But if I may ask, when did you come to live out here?" "Just three months ago," Rohan explained, "My hometown is in S City, so I actually grew up in the area. Tokyo is convenient for finding work as a mangaka, but it can get overcrowded at times. I find it easier to work in a relaxing place, and Morioh is just perfect for my purposes."

"But doesn't it take longer to get out your new works from here?," Hazamada asked. "Not at all," Rohan replied, "The latest technologies in copy and fax machines means I can have a system in place to send perfect copies of my manuscript from Morioh to Tokyo in less than four hours. So there's no real reason to live in Tokyo anymore." "But you live alone out here, right?," Hazamada asked, "What about assistants and other staff members?" "I don't have any," Rohan explained, "I do all the work alone."

Koichi and Hazamada were amazed. "All by yourself!?," Koichi remarked, "But that's nineteen pages each week! And that's including screentones and white corrections!" Rohan smirked. "Yeah, I can get it all done in four days. Five if its a color scan. I don't really like dealing with people, so I prefer to work alone. It would actually be more difficult with assistants." He then picked a spider up off Hazamada. "Interesting," he said as he held the arachnid under a magnifying glass.

He got out an encyclopedia. "An areneus ventricosus, or devil spider. An orb-weaving spider found across Japan. I'll let you two in on a secret. The way I make my manga more interesting... Is by making them seem more realistic! Reality is the lifeblood that makes a work pulse with energy! Imagination and fantasy can make a gripping story, but reality is needed to make gripping visuals! To create my works, I write something interesting I've seen, done, or experienced!"

He held up the spider again. "Take this, for instance. Your average city-dweller would simply see it as gross and would crush to death without a second thought. But for a manga artist like me, in order to perfectly capture what makes this spider interesting, I need to examine where its eyes are. How it moves its legs. The difference between male and female. Hence all the reference books." He then took out a pen nib and plunged it into the spider's abdomen, shocking the two boys.

"But there are other things you can't get from a reference book," Rohan noted, "Like what happens when the spider's thread is exposed to air, where the thread is extruded from, or how its internal organs are arranged. That you must see for yourself. Also, how much they squirm before they die. And also..." He pulled out the pen nib and stuck out his tongue. "What their taste is." Hazamada nearly gagged. 'This guy might be really dangerous,' Koichi thought, 'We should get outta here.'

Rohan finished licking the spider, then threw away the corpse as he looked at Hazamada. "Ah... That's the feeling I'm looking for. I needed a reference for a good puking face. Don't bother holding it. I don't work with fakes and I've already memorized the expression." The duo looked on in amazement as Rohan sketched Hazamada's face as he gagged perfectly. "There... Now then, I believe I agreed to some autographs. I'll go grab a marker from the kitchen. And some tea while I'm at it. As long as you're in my home I may as well treat you like guests."

Once he left, Hazamada was in awe. "Wow... No wonder Pink Dark Boy is so gripping. I never knew he went to such lengths." "It kinda freaks me out," Koichi admitted, "Maybe we should leave soon. He seems extremely dangerous." "You don't think he's a Stand user, do you?," Hazamada asked. "I dunno," Koichi replied, "He hasn't shown anything like that. But I just got a creepy vibe as he was cutting into that spider. But if he is a Stand user, it'd confirm your theory." "Huh?" Hazamada said.

"You said it yourself," Koichi reminded him, "Stand users are drawn to each other somehow." "Oh yeah," Hazamada remembered, "Well, if he is, that'd be awesome. It would mean we have something in common. But I guess you got a point. But before we leave..." He pointed to the desk where a manila envelope filled with papers was lying next to the drawing table. "I've been curious about that since we got here." "Ah," Koichi said, "I can barely make out some illustrations. Is that what I think it is?"

Hazamada nodded with a grin. "Rohan did say his work was done for the day. This could be his next manuscript for Pink Dark Boy! And no one else has seen this yet!" He picked up the envelope. "Wait, Hazamada," Koichi said, "Shouldn't we ask Rohan first?" Hazamada scoffed. "There's no way he'd let us peek at it. When stuff like this is ready for print it's considered a trade secret, only meant for the eyes of the mangaka and his editors. I'm just gonna look it over real quick then put it back."

What neither of them knew was that Rohan was just outside the door, as if waiting for the to pull the manuscript out. He grinned when Hazamada pulled out the illustrations. Once Hazamada and Koichi looked at the drawings, they suddenly glowed brightly, surprising the boys. "Incredible!," Hazamada said, "Pink Dark Boy usually has a foreboding thrill to it! But this is on a whole new level! Is this the power of a hand-drawn manuscript!? Just reading it gives me goosebumps!"

"It's amazing!," Koichi said, "Just look at the design! Keep flipping through it, Hazamada!" Rohan smiled as he stepped into the room. "Looks like my manuscript is compatible with you two. I thought as much." Koichi and Hazamada freaked when they heard him. "And now that you've seen it," Rohan said, "I can start getting more experience for my manga." Koichi gasped as his hand, his face, even his fingers started peeling away to reveal written pages, like he was suddenly a living book.

"Those who see my manuscript have their hearts opened," Rohan explained, "That's the power of my special ability... Heaven's Door!" Hazamada gasped as Koichi fell on his back, his body opening to reveal pages with stories and pictures. "This power I have can let me peek into a person's memory," Rohan explained, "Everything they ever experienced, written as their own life story, written on them as if they were a book. With Heaven's Door, I can read that book."

Hazamada reacted in shock as the same thing happened to him too. "W-What are you going to do to us?," Koichi demanded. "There's no need to worry," Rohan assured him, "The effects are not harmful. I only plan on reading through your experiences to obtain the reality I need to perfect my work. I can't count on interviews, because there's always the chance that the information I get may be false, either accidentally or deliberately. Now, let's see here."

He started flipping through the pages on Koichi's face. "Koichi Hirose. Born at the Red Cross Hospital in S City on March 28, 1984 at 6:27 AM. Born prematurely weighing in at only 2325 grams and kept in intensive care for seven days. No wonder you're so short. Lives in a family of four with an older sister named Ayana. Early life seems typical, but nothing I can't work with." His eyes then widened. "Wait... What's this? Shot by an arrow... Healed and gained a Stand... Named Echoes... So there are others with special abilities like me!?"

He turned to Hazamada. "And he has one too!" Hazamada freaked out. Rohan flipped through the pages. "These others... Josuke Higashikata... Diane "Pinkie Pie" Hanasakura... Jotaro Kujo... Himari "Fluttershy" Kujo... Okuyasu Nijimura... Noriaki Kakyoin... Yukako Yamagishi... All these names! So many others! And this power is called a Stand! All of this starting from April of 1999!" He chuckled. "This is perfect! Just the inspiration I needed for my manga!"

He started reading through the information regarding each person's Stand. "Amazing... All these varied powers. It's like real-life psychics. Now I just need to borrow these memories for a little while. They'll become my new inspiration." He then saw Echoes Act 2 out of the corner of his eye. "Ah, so that's your Stand. According to your file, in this state it can create sound effects that cause events based on what the sound is. Hmm... Your personality is interesting. I can definitely use you."

Echoes tried to attack, but the shot missed. "Ah, one other thing I should mention...," Rohan said, "I can actually make my own additions to your character. Only one at a time, but that's enough to put a safety lock on your Stand. As I was looking through your memories about Stands, I put a little something in the margins." He pointed it out. Koichi could just barely see the writing, which read, "I cannot attack the mangaka Rohan Kishibe".

Rohan smirked. "So long as my Stand's power remains active, you won't be able to harm me no matter what you do. But as I said, I can only add one command at a time. If I write too many it turns your character into a fake, so as a safety precaution whenever I need to write a new command, the old one get erased." He quickly sketched Koichi and Echoes. "Now, onto you Hazamada." He looked through the pages on Hazamada's face and grimaced.

"Occasionally enjoys kicking creatures weaker than him?," he asked, "Once tried to rape a senior girl he liked, but was a coward and chickened out? Thinks the thrill from not knowing if anyone's watching while he adjusts his sweaty balls in class in the greatest? There's no way my readers would like a character like you!" Hazamada wept when he heard that. "Why are you even doing this?," Koichi demanded, "You're already a successful and wealthy mangaka."

"It's not about the money," Rohan explained, "It's about the desire to have my work read. That sensation when I get my manuscript completed and sent, ready for numerous manga fans... To me that's worth more than my entire capital. But it's a sensation that never lasts long. I sometimes hit a point where I feel like no one's reading my latest issues, so I lose my motivation for drawing. That feeling has been going on since my debut four years ago. Then, three months ago, I was shot with some kind of arrow. That's when Heaven's Door manifested."

"That must have been Keicho Nijimura," Hazamada realized. "Yes, I thought it was the same arrow," Rohan said, "I saw it in your memories. And now with this new knowledge..." He tore out a page from Koichi's face along a serrated line. "I have inspiration and reality that can keep my manga going for months!" He sent the two students off with their autographs, and missing their memories of the incident. 'I hope neither of them is in the habit of weighing themselves. Or they'll find something off from the loss of these pages.'

Things were getting weird for Koichi the next day. Not only did his weight have him at twenty kilograms lighter than he should be, but his body still felt heavy, and he found himself somehow walking to Rohan's house instead of school. This didn't go unnoticed by Yukako, who immediately told Pinkie, Josuke, and Okuyasu about it. "Now why would he be coming out here?," Josuke wondered. "Maybe it's a girl," Okuyasu said, only to get smacked in the back of the head by Love Deluxe. "Or maybe not!," he quickly corrected himself.

"Come to think about it," Pinkie said, "I caught Hazamada the other day. Somehow he had an autograph from Rohan Kishibe. When I asked where he got it from, he said it came from this house." She called out her Stand and had it hand her a telescope. "'Spy-scope'?," Yukako asked, reading the label on the side. "Patent pending," Pinkie said as she stretched out the scope to look in the windows, coming face to face with Rohan as he looked out a second floor window.

"Look who knows we're here," Pinkie said, "And it seems Rohan's a Stand user." "He is?," Josuke said in shock. "No other reason I can think of for why Koichi is lying on the ground with his face making a good impression of a book," Pinkie said, using a regular mallet she pulled out to stun Yukako and keep her from rushing in there. Inside, Rohan was sighing. "I'd nearly forgotten about Yukako's obsession with you. That must be how they noticed you coming here. I guess it would seem strange, since you don't normally skip school."

He looked at the telescope as it returned to Pinkie. "And now they know I'm also a Stand user. Well, I already know all about their Stands, and they don't know a thing about mine except for its effect." He turned back to his work and got a completed page as Okuyasu showed up in the second floor window. "Okuyasu!," Koichi said, "You guys came! I saw Pinkie's Stand just now!" "Okuyasu Nijimura," Rohan said, "Thanks to Koichi I know quite a bit about you and your Stand."

"For all the good it'll do ya," Okuyasu said as he had The Hand move to punch him. Rohan smirked as he grabbed a page from his manuscript at amazing speed, showing it to Okuyasu. Okuyasu gasped as The Hand started to crumble into paper scraps. "I wasn't planning on using you for my work," Rohan said, "I already learned about you from Koichi, but I suppose a bit of supplementary material won't hurt. But you weren't really planning on attacking, were you? You needed to know how my Stand works. Which means the other three are right outside."

"Actually, the other two," came Pinkie's voice from outside the door, "I left Yukako outside because otherwise she'd likely hurt us in the process of trying to get to you." "Ah, probably for the best," Rohan admitted, "I've read that her Stand Love Deluxe has enough power to crush a house when she gets really mad, and I personally like my home as is. Then again... You probably gave her permission to do that if you don't come out with Koichi within a certain timeframe, I'm guessing."

He then saw Pinkie was poking a mirror through the doorway. "I already saw you do it," Pinkie said, "You were fast about it, but I saw. You wrote that Okuyasu would immolate himself to death if we inconvenienced you. Take it off if you don't want your house destroyed." Rohan scoffed. "Please, I wrote that down to avoid it." "And it'll cause it if you don't remove it," Pinkie clarified, "Think about it. What's the power of my Stand?" Rohan blinked. "It creates a toon world parallel to the real one, doesn't it?"

"Good answer," Pinkie said, "And within that world, anyone I want can act like a cartoon character. So if Okuyasu lights up, not only will he survive, your house will get comically burnt to a frame of ashes." "Impossible!," Rohan retorted, "Your Stand can't override mine! I wrote that he'd commit suicide with this action! You'd need to be able to override other Stands, and as far as Koichi is concerned... You can't!" Pinkie grinned. "Hey, Koichi. We never told you the full story about the invisible baby, did we?" Koichi gasped, as did Rohan.

"Your knowledge is based off Koichi's memories," Josuke reminded him, "So if he doesn't know something about us, then neither do you. The truth is... Pinkie can override other Stand powers using her ability! So remove the command, then we'll fight." Rohan considered it. "You know what, I don't think I'll have to. If we're going to fight, then assuming you win it'll be moot whether or not I remove it, and if I win... Well that speaks for itself." Pinkie and Josuke shrugged at each other, then closed their eyes as they entered.

"Really pains me to do this," Pinkie said, "I'm a fan of your work too. But I have a plan in place should you try to use that fact against me." "You've already used Smile to remove your eyes harmlessly," Rohan surmised, "Still, it's an effective tactic. The question is... Did you do that with Josuke too? Let's find out." He threw a few pen nibs at Josuke, but they just impacted around him in a silhouette as he dashed forward. Rohan sighed. "Right, forgot about the toon world. But, I had a Plan B regardless."

He smirked as he held up the memory page from Koichi. "It says here Josuke flies off the handle whenever someone insults his hair." He grinned. "Hey Josuke, that hairstyle of yours is hilarious! It looks like something someone in the eighties or seventies would have! Way too out of style!" Pinkie facepalmed. 'The idiot... He doesn't even realize what a bad plan this is. Sure it may get him to open his eyes, but that's about it...' Josuke opened his eyes. "What did you say... Asshole!?"

"Oh you want me to say it again?," Rohan said, "Then let me make it clear." He got up and walked over. "That hairstyle just plain sucks. There's nothing cool about it at all, it just makes you look like an asshole. In fact, it looks like a dirty bird crawled up in their and died." Josuke fist clenched, and Crazy Diamond moved to attack. Rohan smirked as he whipped out his manuscript page and put it in front of his eyes. "I've won. Heaven's Door!" He got a big surprised when, instead of crumbling the way The Hand did, Crazy Diamond decked him in the face hard, and just kept punching.

"DORARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARA!" Rohan went flying into his desk and shelf. He wound up buried under his furniture, his face now a mess. "Impossible...," Rohan said, "I put the manuscript in your eyes... You should have seen it... Why didn't you fall to Heaven's Door...?" Josuke was too busy trashing the room, not seeing where Rohan had landed. "Nah, he didn't see it at all," Okuyasu noted, he and Koichi having changed back to normal, "In fact, I'm pretty sure he can't see anything right now."

"Yep," Pinkie said, "Josuke's the sort of guy who goes into a blind rage if you blatantly make fun of his hair, rather than simply giving it disrespect." "Unreal," Koichi said, "I never knew he could get this mad." "It doesn't happen often," Pinkie clarified, "Most people stop after one rude remark when they see Josuke start to get angry. Rohan should have quit while he was ahead with the first few remarks, then he could've won. But he took it too far, and this is result."

The memory page from Koichi had fallen to the floor, and now flew back into his face, restoring him to normal. "Something not even Koichi knew...," Rohan realized, "That's why it wasn't in the file! But why would he fly off the handle so much over a hairstyle!? There must be a deeper reason..." "You really wanna know?," Pinkie said, "I guess I can tell you. This happened about eleven years ago. Josuke was four at the time, and had contracted a mysterious fever that left him between life and death for fifty days."

"Yeah," Koichi said, "The fever was caused by his Stand being forced to manifest when he wasn't ready for it, because of his Joestar blood and the existence of DIO." Pinkie nodded. "Of course we only learned that part after the fact, and it's not relevant to the reason regardless. During this time, Josuke's mom was trying to get him to a hospital, but Morioh was caught in a terrible snowstorm at the time, and her car was stuck. This was eleven years ago, so the town was still underdeveloped, meaning Tomoko couldn't call for an ambulance."

Her eyes closed. "That's when he showed up. In the dark and cold, he looked like a young man, but he was actually closer to middle-age. His name was Sanji Matsumoto, but we only met him for real recently. He was in the middle of a battle with a Stand user, the same one who created the blizzard. Sanji took off his uniform, and I'll never know for the life of me why Tomoko thought it was a school uniform, and told her to keep driving while he pushed the car. Josuke saw all this, and the one thing that stood out was Sanji's hair. It was the same hairstyle he would later adopt."

She folded her arms. "Sanji may not have saved Josuke's life, but he certainly helped him and his mother. From that day forward Josuke used the hairstyle in his honor, idolizing him for his actions and choosing to live by them. To this day, he can never forgive anyone who insults his hair, because its as good as insulting Sanji, the man he came to look up to." "I remember hearing that story," Koichi said, "But I never took it seriously." He then spotted Rohan with a pen in his hand. "Bastard!," Okuyasu said, "You still wanna fight!"

"No...," Rohan clarified, "I just need to write this story down before I pass out..." He laughed. "It's so moving... I'm so glad I came to this town..." "Jeez, no wonder he's a top-notch mangaka," Pinkie said. "At this point you kinda have to admire his attitude," Koichi admitted. At that point, Josuke appeared in front of Rohan, a menacing look on his face. "There you are, asshole!" Rohan freaked out. "You gotta admire Josuke too," Okuyasu noted. After that day, Rohan switched to a monthly schedule.

Jotaro was meeting with Josuke and Pinkie. "It seems Akira did test out the arrow at some point," he said, "Used it on a rat somewhere in Morioh. Apparently, the rat struggled against the arrow and didn't die." Josuke and Pinkie looked at each other. "That means the rat is now a Stand user," Josuke realized. "So animals can become Stand users?," Pinkie asked. "It's not unheard of," Jotaro said, "That dog Iggy you saw in the photo of me and the other crusaders is a Stand user, and we also met an orangutan that was also a Stand user. Stands are a manifestation of one's fighting spirit, and animal instinct certainly can count as that. But unlike Iggy and Forever, who gained human-like intelligence, I doubt this rat has risen above its instinct."

"Right," Pinkie said, "Rats only care about sleeping, eating, and raising their young. So if one has become a Stand user, it could mindlessly kill people without restraint." Jotaro nodded. "That's why we need to hunt it down. It's possible I may be wrong and we can reason with the rat, but if I am right we'll have no choice." He took the duo out to a nearby field. "Now rats are notoriously skittish. This one will likely run when it hears us coming. A long range attack is the only way to pin it down."

"But our Stands can only reach so far," Josuke noted, "Granted Pinkie's toon world extends to Morioh's borders, but its actual projection range is only five meters." "There are ways to increase a Stand's attack range," Jotaro said as he set up a few empty cans on a fence, then took a few steps back and got out a marble from a bag. "Observe." Star Platinum picked up the marble and flicked it at the can, hitting it dead in the center. "Wow! That was amazing!," Josuke said.

"Using this technique I can extend Star Platinum's attack range to twenty meters," Jotaro explained, "It's not as powerful as a handgun or rifle, but its suitable for disabling the Stand user. Josuke, your Stand doesn't have the same level of precision, but it can be adjusted thanks to Pinkie's Stand." Pinkie nodded and had her Stand project its toon world. "Now, just keep calm and imagine hitting the target," Jotaro said, "The toon world should do the rest."

Josuke nodded as he handed a marble to Crazy Diamond, who flicked the marble at the second can. At first it only hit the fence post, but then ricocheted off the post and into the center of the can. "Perfect," Jotaro said, "Just remember, we'll need to keep calm against a living target. That's more important than speed. If we enter the rat's range and somehow miss, it won't let get close to us again. So wait until you know you can get a clear shot." Josuke nodded, but he was still nervous about the situation.

The trio headed for the river, near the area where Akira said he shot the rat. The river was fed by a nearby storm drain, and there was foliage all around. A perfect habitat for the brown rats they were tracking down. Jotaro traced a finger across some tracks. "Looks like we have rats here. Can't tell how many from the tracks." "Those aren't bird tracks?," Josuke asked. Jotaro shook his head. "Too many digits. No these are definitely rats. Four toes on the front paw... Five on the back paw. And note the s-shaped line between them. That's the rat's tail as its being dragged behind it. Judging from the tracks I'd estimate it at about twenty centimeters long."

Pinkie pulled up a nearby leaf and brought out a gigantic magnifying glass, while Smile picked up something on the leaf's underside. "A tick!" "You found it on the underside of the leaf, right?," Josuke asked, "That means rats pass here often." Josuke nearly gagged. "You mean this thing has been sucking rat blood?" "It's a parasite," Pinkie noted, "They aren't picky. Anyway, I don't see any sign of a rat's nest anywhere around here." "Maybe it's inside the drainage system," Josuke suggested, "Rats are good swimmers, so a little water in their bed won't be so much as an annoyance."

"Good thinking," Jotaro said, "Let's set up the traps and camcorder near the opening." "Why the camcorder?," Pinkie asked. "In case the traps get disabled by the rat with the Stand," Jotaro explained, "This way we'll know it's nearby." "What is this bait?," Josuke asked, "It doesn't feel like cheese." "It's fried tempura batter," Jotaro said, "Even if Smile's toon world is surrounding us, the rat isn't inside it, so cheese won't lure it. It's too luxurious for a rat's taste."

"Yeah," Pinkie admitted, "Even though I can draw people into my toon world so it can affect them, they need to be aware of it first. And even if this rat is a Stand user, there's no way it could comprehend that it's inside a cartoon." Josuke then noticed some flies buzzing nearby. "That's a large amount of flies," he noted, "There must be some sort of corpse nearby." He pushed aside the grass, and gasped as he held his hand over his hand. "Jotaro, Pinkie! Come take a look at this! I think I've found a clue to the rat's Stand ability!"

Jotaro and Pinkie came over and gasped. "It's a cube of rat corpses," Pinkie realized, "There must be dozens of them." "And they're partly melted, too," Josuke said, "No doubt this was that rat's doing." "Not partly melted," Jotaro said as he poked the cube with a stick, causing fluid to spill out, "Completely melted. The rats died from their flesh melting inside their skins. But you're right, this is definitely the rat's work. These were likely rivals to its territory."

"What sort of Stand could do this?," Pinkie wondered. "Don't know," Josuke said, "But there's probably more in the drainage pipe." "Gimme a break...," Jotaro muttered, "If this is what its power is, then diplomacy is off the table. We'll have to move forward with the intent to kill." They climbed up the side of the drainage ditch to the nearby farm. "Uh oh...," Pinkie said, "If the rat's reached that far..." Jotaro got out a pair of binoculars. "I don't see anything moving. No chickens in the coop, but the feed trough is empty. House looks empty, but there are two cars in the garage, so the owners aren't out. Front door is cracked open."

"It's been here," Josuke realized, "And might have already found prey." Jotaro nodded. "Let's go. We'll search the house room by room." "How will we do that?," Josuke asked, "Rats are quick, so we need to mask our presence." "Not really," Jotaro said, "It already knows we're here." "WHAT!?," Pinkie called out. "Rats can detect the presence of humans walking hundreds of meters away," Jotaro explained, "Either through vibrations in the ground or just by scent. But this is the essence of hunting... Tracking something that knows you're tracking it."

"Gotcha," Josuke said, "We learn things like this in school. When a lion starts stalking a gazelle, the gazelle doesn't immediately run but keeps grazing because it knows the lion's effective strike range. All the gazelle needs to do is stay outside it, while the lion keeps probing the edges of that range looking for an opening." "And that rat will let us get up to that safe range," Pinkie noted, "It thinks humans are stupid and can't catch it, but doesn't know we have a long range attack."

The house looked empty at the entrance. There were no holes to indicate the rat had been burrowing. But Jotaro did find some rat droppings under a dresser. From their consistency, they came from meat. Jotaro then headed to the bathroom while Josuke and Pinkie checked the kitchen. Inside, the fridge seemed to open by itself. However, Josuke saw a rat was poking its head inside. "Is that it...?," Pinkie whispered. "I think so," Josuke whispered back, "I don't know if it opened the fridge or not but..."

He saw that rat come out with a piece of meat that it was nibbling. It was looking right at them. The door then opened to reveal an old couple that had fused together, their bodies a twisted mass of limbs. From their groans, it seemed they were barely alive. "Great...," Josuke muttered, "Where's Jotaro?" "Still in the other room," Pinkie said. Josuke sighed. "We'll have to take care of this personally." He got out one of the marbles. "We get one shot at this while it's still eating. If we miss, it'll know we can attack from range."

Crazy Diamond took the marble as Smile glowed. The marble shot off like a bullet, hitting a ricochet against the wall. But the rat heard it and started to run forward, too slow to avoid the projectile, but fast enough to avoid a direct headshot. Instead it got hit in the shoulder. It screeched in pain and summoned a mechanical device. "This must be its Stand," Josuke realized, "Kinda mechanical for a rat. What do we call this thing?" "Well," Pinkie said, "We called the baby's Stand Achtung Baby because she likes attention and, well, she's a baby. What say we call this one Ratt."

Josuke raised an eyebrow at her. "With an extra 'T' on the end cuz it's clearly not messing around," Pinkie clarified. The rat and its stand ducked under the nearby table. "Oh no you don't!," Josuke said as Crazy Diamond upended the table. Ratt opened up to reveal a turret gun complete with scope. It fired off a shot as Crazy Diamond launched another marble. Smile got out a frying pan to block Ratt's attack. "Good thing that didn't hit either of us," Josuke said, "I don't know how well its power would translate to the toon world." Meanwhile, the marble managed to hit the rat dead-on, killing it.

That's when Jotaro walked in. "Looks like you got it." "Yeah, we figured out its Stand too," Pinkie said, "It was a turret that could fire darts which melt flesh." "It got the couple that own this farm," Josuke noted, "But I can fix them up with Crazy Diamond, since they're alive, albeit barely." "While you're at it," Jotaro said, "I could use some similar help." He revealed his hand, which was drooping like all the muscle was gone. "Turns out there are two rats," Jotaro explained, "And they both have the same Stand somehow." "A second Ratt!?," Pinkie asked, "And I mean the Stand name we gave it, with an extra 'T'."

Jotaro nodded. "Looks like this is what happens when their darts hit someone under the effects of the toon world. Otherwise my flesh would be melting like that couple." "How did it hit you?," Josuke asked. "I misunderstood what it could do," Josuke said, "Rather than dodge I used Star Platinum to grab the dart. At the time it was no different to me than stopping a bullet in midair. But when my Stand touched it, it activated the poison. Luckily I had my mind focused on Pinkie's toon world, or this would look much worse."

"Someone as stoic as you can act in a toon world?," Josuke wondered. Jotaro smiled. "I'm not so stoic that I can't appreciate silly antics. After all my favorite Super Sentai so far is Carranger, and you've seen how silly that can get. Anyway when I got hit the rat ran off. It likely knows you killed the other one." Josuke healed up Jotaro's hand, which almost made it look like it was inflating. As Jotaro flexed his fingers, Pinkie asked, "Could the rat have reproduced?"

"Unlikely," Jotaro surmised, "Akira only shot the rat ten days ago, and rat pregnancies can last up to three weeks." He got out his wireless phone and called the Speedwagon Foundation. "But if we leave things as they are, it just might start procreating as it takes over downtown Morioh." 'Jotaro,' came Kakyoin's voice over the phone, 'I'm glad you called. I was trying to contact you.' "Sorry, I turned the ringer off to avoid startling the rat. Does this have something to do with Akira?" 'Yes, it turns out he was hiding the fact that he shot two rats.'

"Bastard!," Josuke said, "He must have been hoping that rat would kill us!" "Just to confirm," Jotaro said, "You're sure it was just the two." 'Oh yes,' Kakyoin said, 'We interrogated him with truth serum just to be sure.' Jotaro nodded. "Okay, we already got one of the rats, but the other one escaped through the farms. I need the Speedwagon Foundation to block off the sewers between the residential and rural districts, and position snipers to restrict its movements. Also, you and Sanji will need to scout that border as well, just in case. Me, Josuke, and Pinkie will track the rat down and kill it by sunset." 'Consider it done, old friend.'

"Wait, by sunset?," Josuke said, "How are gonna pull that off? This field is huge, and it's likely burrowed underground. Not to mention it now knows how we plan to attack it. We can't approach this thing nonchalantly anymore." Jotaro knelt down at the edge of the field. "As Naturalist ET Setton once said, 'There is no animal that cannot be tracked.' Humans may be slower than some animals, but we have other advantages to make up for that. We can study the topography, wind direction, animal psychology. All sorts of X-factors that can give us an advantage and let us catch up."

He stood up. "First, rats have poor eyesight. They rely on scent and the vibrations of their whiskers to navigate. If we block all exits to the field, it'll stick with familiar routes." "Like the drainage ditch," Pinkie realized. "Exactly," Jotaro replied, "Also, rats will die of starvation if they don't eat every ten hours, unlike a human who can last up to three weeks, and they need to eat around a third of their body weight. So we just look for bite marks in the produce." He pushed aside some of the crops and found the bite marks they were looking for, in addition to fresh rat droppings.

The path led all the way back to the drainage ditch, where the rat's fresh tracks could be seen. "With the way its trying to expand its territory," Pinkie said, "You'd think it was under the impression it was the only one allowed to live or something." They reached the traps, which remained untouched. Jotaro checked the camcorder. "It deliberately avoided them. It knew to be wary. This footage is from four minutes ago, so its not too far ahead." He then noticed something on its ear. "It's ear kinda looks like a leaf that was chewed by an insect, probably the result of a fight. For now we'll refer to it as 'Bug-Eaten'."

"That turret is obviously a long-range Stand," Josuke said, "I don't think we have the option of marbles anymore." "Yeah, I was expecting that to be the case," Jotaro admitted, "So I also brought these." He got out several rifle bullets. "The marbles only increase our range to twenty meters. Bug-Eaten knows this, so it'll try to stay out of that range. But these rounds are designed to be fired from long range. We'll be able to hit it from at least fifty meters away, possibly up to seventy depending on wind direction."

"We'll still need to be able to see it from that distance," Josuke noted. "No problem," Pinkie said, "Smile?" "Keep smiling!," Smile said as it fit special goggles on Crazy Diamond. Jotaro looked at the logo. "Far-sights?" "Patent pending. These goggles are like binoculars," Pinkie explained, "They mimic Star Platinum's enhanced eyesight. Too bad we can't use guns for these rounds, but they'd be too loud in a cartoon." "They'd be too loud in reality," Jotaro pointed out, "They're not as loud as you hear in the movies or TV shows, but still loud enough to spook Bug-Eaten."

Josuke checked the tracks. "Hey, doesn't it look like Bug-Eaten's turned around a few times?" Jotaro took a look. "It's annoyed. It can't figure out why it hasn't shaken us yet." Spotting the tracks going into the water, Jotaro immediately followed. Pinkie pulled up her pants, making Josuke blush as they practically peeled away like a dress, and followed suit. Josuke just shrugged and pulled up his pants, making an accordion sound that also dragged his socks and shoes up with them.

The trio stopped near a hill when they noticed something strange. "The tracks end," Josuke noted, "That can't be good." "Did it dig underground?," Pinkie wondered. "No," Jotaro said, as he checked a small hole at the end of the tracks, "It backtracked. I didn't think a rat could pull that off." "I know brown bears can do that," Pinkie said, "But a brown rat? This rat is smarter than we thought." "Gives a whole meaning to the phrase 'trapped like rats'," Josuke quipped, "Now who's the hunted?"

Nearby, Bug-Eaten was aiming with Ratt, but got confused when the three humans suddenly dove behind a rock at lightning speed. This confused Bug-Eaten, since humans couldn't be that fast and the rock should be too small to hide them. Of course, while it was smarter than normal thanks to getting a Stand, it still couldn't process that humans could have the same power. But it was patient, and kept aim at the rock waiting for its chance.

Sure enough, Josuke was looking from behind the rock to where Bug-Eaten could be attacking from. As he placed his hand on the group, he winced as his hand got caught in one of the traps they placed, causing him to leap up from the rock and right in Ratt's sights. Bug-Eaten quickly fired a shot. But just as the bolt hit Josuke, Jotaro called out, "Star Platinum: The World!" Time instantly froze, and Star Platinum knocked out the bolt, as well as the chunk of flesh it already infected.

Time resumed, and Josuke reeled from the impact, holding his neck in pain. "Did you have to take out some of my neck, too?" "I lost a second summoning Star Platinum and activating the time stop," Jotaro explained, "It was fast enough to stop the poison from spreading to your brain, but some did still seep inside your flesh." They ducked back the rock. "We need to need to draw it out somehow," Jotaro said, "If it keeps waiting it can escape in the darkness. Until then it won't attack unless it thinks it can hit us."

"Then let's do a trident attack," Josuke suggested, "One of us goes in directly, the other two from the other sides of the hill. Ratt only has one barrel to fire from, so its rate of fire is low. We can use that to our advantage. Once Bug-Eaten fires at one of us, the other two can track it and attack." Jotaro smiled. "Not a bad idea. Even if Bug-Eaten is smarter than your average rat, it's still outnumbered." Jotaro started walking directly ahead while Pinkie and Josuke whipped around to the side.

Sure enough, Bug-Eaten got frustrated. Its power could only shoot so many bolts at a time and it could only aim at one target. It decided to go for the human coming in up the center. Bug-Eaten didn't know how, but that one was fast enough to prevent its bolt from infecting the one with a nest for hair. Of course, if it knew anything about the fights these three had been through, it would have realized what a bad idea that was. Josuke spotted Bug-Eaten as it moved to position itself.

It fired off a burst shot from its Stand, but Jotaro just stopped time again, moving to the side. Bug-Eaten readied another shot, but its ears twitched and it swiveled the turret, having heard something banging. That was Pinkie trying to get its attention so Jotaro could more easily navigate the hill. Smile easily used various implements, including a kitchen sink of all things, to deflect the burst fire, irritating Bug-Eaten. Meanwhile Josuke managed to spot Bug-Eaten's new location. 'It's hiding behind that rock. I don't have a clear line of sight. But I do have more than one round, so maybe...'

"Crazy Diamond!," Josuke called out, and his Stand fired a bullet from its fingers to hit the rock. He grinned as this got Bug-Eaten's attention, now turning its Stand to aim at him. Bug-Eaten freaked when it saw Crazy Diamond, another bullet aimed at him. "Surprise," Josuke quipped, "Looks like for all your brains, you're still a rat in the end." Crazy Diamond fired off the bullet. Before Bug-Eaten had time to react, it felt the bullet pierce through both its Stand and its body, destroying several vital organs. It was dead within seconds. With its terror gone, the three Stand users breathed a sigh of relief.

A simple breather chapter, we're not up to the main action yet. But it's coming, slowly yet surely.

I had fun writing this chapter for a number of reasons. I hope you enjoy, because the real plot is just starting.

As Koichi walked to his supplemental classes, he heard a familiar voice call out, "Hey, Koichi. Over here." He whirled around to see Rohan standing next to a map and freaked out. "You! What do you want!?" "Relax," Rohan said, "I don't have a reason to hurt you anymore. And even if I did, it's clear either Pinkie or Josuke would kick my ass, and I just got released from the hospital. And that's not even getting into what Yukako might do to me if she caught me doing anything."

"And it doesn't help that your manga is still on hiatus," Pinkie said behind him. Rohan whirled around to see Pinkie and Yukako there. "Ah, didn't you hear you come in." "What are you even doing around here?," Yukako asked. "Actually I was hoping to find my old house here in Morioh," Rohan explained, "You see I was born in this town and lived here until I was four. Remembering one's childhood is also important for a mangaka. But I'm having trouble finding the place."

"Why not you use your powers on yourself?," Pinkie asked. Rohan shrugged. "Even if I could, I've found memories get hazier the earlier in a person's life I read. Like I said, I was only four when I moved away, so I have trouble remembering the address. However..." He placed his hand on the map. "There's something odd about this map. Here we have these stores all in a row, but now look at the stores as we see them." The trio looked, and was shocked to see a back-alley between the drug store and convenience store that wasn't on the map.

"Maybe it's one of those odd landmarks in Morioh," Yukako suggested, "Like the Angelo Stone or Boing-Boing Cape." "One problem," Pinkie said, "We made those landmarks during our Stand battles. The Angelo Stone is all that's left of the serial killer Angelo after Josuke used Crazy Diamond to seal him inside a pre-existing stone monument. And Boing-Boing Cape is the cliff you fell from, where Koichi saved you by using Echoes Act 2 to turn one of the sharp rocks springy using a 'boing' sound effect. But this is a genuine mystery, even by the standards of Stand users."

"Pinkie's right," Koichi said, "I've passed this road many times, and this is the first time I've seen this road. But maybe it's just a mistake?" "If it is then the National Map Agency somehow made the same mistake," Rohan argued, "I checked this map against the one made by that agency, and they're identical, down to the last street. Neither of them has this road. And this is the latest edition, printed last April." "Now I'm a little curious," Pinkie said, "Maybe we should check it out. I mean, we're all Stand users so if there's anything dangerous we should be able to handle it."

They headed down the alley, which had a few houses. Koichi groaned in disgust at seeing some dog droppings near a post box that looked like someone stepped in it. "Pinkie, you know everyone who lives in Morioh, right?," Rohan asked, "Do the names 'Yonemori', 'Honma', or 'Onodera' ring any bells?" "Gosh, those are families that haven't been in Morioh since I was a little girl," Pinkie noted, "Each of them moved out because a female family member disappeared and was never found. Why do you ask?"

"Because those names are on all the houses down this street," Rohan said, "But not on the map. This is way too many to be simple mistakes." "All the houses look deserted," Yukako said, "And Love Deluxe can't spot any other signs of life." Smile looked around with the spy-scope. "That's odd...," Pinkie said, "I can't make out the rest of Morioh from here. Not even peering over the walls. Guys, I think we hit plot development." "It does look like this area has nothing to suggest it's been lived in for some time," Rohan agreed, "Even the electricity to the vending machines is down."

They turned a corner and realized they were starting to go in circles, despite having made different turns at various points. Rohan grimaced. "No matter which way we turn, we somehow wind up back here again." "I remember Jotaro mentioning a Stand power that could create a labyrinth," Koichi said, "Maybe we're caught in something similar." He turned around to go the other way, only to somehow wind up behind the group. "Okay, this is starting to freak me out!," he called out.

"We need to get a better aerial view," Pinkie said. Koichi nodded. "Echoes, Act 1!" Echoes launched itself into the air to look around, only to stop when it hit something in mid-air. "Hey Pinkie, you can take down your toon world!," Koichi called out. "That wasn't me!," Pinkie argued, "I wanna get out of here too!" "Then what else could I have hit?," Koichi wondered. "If that wasn't Pinkie's toon world," Yukako said, "Maybe it was the Stand trying to keep us in here."

"Are you four lost?," came woman's voice. The four of them turned and blinked in shock. The girl was almost a dead ringer for Pinkie, with the same hair and eye color. The difference was her face more demure while Pinkie's was vibrant, her hair was short and straight with a dull shade of pink while Pinkie's was long and poofy with a brighter shade, and she wore more feminine clothing while Pinkie had a tomboy style of dress. The girl looked confused as they looked at her. "Is this girl...?," Pinkie whispered.

"Only one way to find out," Rohan said as he got out his pen and started drawing at high speed. "Heaven's Door!" In an instant, a perfect 3D model of Pink Dark Boy himself appeared as Rohan drew, placing its hand on the girl and activating Rohan's power. As the girl fainted from the effect of her body opening into pages, Rohan quickly wrote in the margins that she wouldn't harm them. "Alright, now she's no longer a threat." "Since when does your Stand have its own physical form?," Koichi asked.

"I guess I've started to grow stronger after my earlier experiences," Rohan surmised, "Now I no longer need my manuscript. It can still only work on those who understand my work. Luckily this girl seems compatible." "Who is she anyway?," Yukako asked. "I don't think I've seen her before," Pinkie said, "And no jokes about looking in a mirror." Rohan leafed through the pages. "Well... It turns out she's not a Stand user after all. She's just a normal girl. Nothing like that is written here."

He continued to look. "Her name is Reimi Sugimoto, age sixteen. Address is here in Morioh, Kotodai neighborhood, Block 3 Section 12. That's close by." "Can't be," Pinkie said, "That house has been deserted since I was a year old." "Well, that's what written here," Rohan said, "There's no lying to my Heaven's Door." He then started to read more. "Currently single, measurements are 82-57-84, has a beauty mark on the side of her left nipple, her first period was in September when she was eleven, during her first kiss she let the boy use his tongue..."

He immediately stopped when he felt Pinkie and Yukako's angry eyes boring into him, their Stands flaring with energy, while Koichi was also trembling with anger in spite of a minor nosebleed. "Rohan, you shouldn't use your powers like that on a normal person!," he called out. "Right, right...!," Rohan said nervously, "I'll just write down that she won't remember anything about what I was saying." When Reimi recovered, she said, "Want me to guide you out of here? People often get lost due to the similar alleyways."

"Similar!?," Pinkie said indignantly, "We've run across the exact same piece of dog shit no matter which way we turn!" Reimi blinked. "You got nothing for that, do ya...?," Pinkie noted. Reimi cleared her throat. "Well, anyway, I can guide you out of here. Just be sure to stay close." "You think it's okay?," Koichi asked. "She's not a Stand user, at any rate," Rohan reminded him, "I think we're safe in trusting her." As the walked, Reimi offered the group some Pocky.

Pinkie took some. "Hey, Rohan, did you know it's possible to read a horoscope based on how the Pocky breaks? Here, try it." Rohan shrugged and grabbed on end of the Pocky, which Pinkie broke off. "Oh, you gonna get dumped!," Reimi called out, "You're pretty self-centered, and have personality issues that piss people off." Pinkie was rolling on the floor. "She pegged you, Rohan!" "Oh come on...," Rohan said, his face a little nervous, "Okay, you want a horoscope. Here's one."

He pointed to Reimi's fingernails. "Girls who wear pale pink nail polish are afraid of love." "No wonder you suggested I avoid that color," Yukako said to Pinkie. "And why I never wear nail polish," Pinkie replied. Reimi seemed to shrink back. "How did...?" "This is an exercise in psychology," Rohan explained, "It's more accurate than horoscopes." "Doesn't change the fact that she nailed your personality," Pinkie pointed out. Rohan blanched, but regained his composure and cleared his throat. "That aside, I think there's something else you're afraid of."

Reimi pointed to the house they were next to. "This house over here... They say a murder happened here fifteen years ago." "A murder!?," Koichi said in shock. "Plot twist!," Pinkie called out. "I guess you could call it that," Reimi said, "No one lives there now." She turned to the group. "Would you like to hear the whole story?" She blinked when she saw they suddenly had popcorn. "I'll... Take that as a yes..." She cleared her throat and began the story.

"I heard this tale from the old lady next door. On the night of the murder, a girl who lived here was asleep in her bedroom... But she woke up when she heard a sound. A 'drip, drip' sound coming from her parents' room. Concerned as to what the sound was, she called out for her parents, but there was no response... Still the girl wasn't afraid. After all, she had her beloved pet dog by her side. A great big watchdog that always hid under her bed, and when she put her hand down in front of its face he would sniff at it, and give a big, friendly lick. Uh..."

She noticed Pinkie was now drinking from a large fountain beverage. "Oh, don't mind me, keep going. This story is getting good." Reimi shrugged. "Anyway... The girl thought she was safe, so long as her dog Arnold was there. But the dripping sound kept going, and she was worried because her parents hadn't noticed yet. So she decided to go investigate." Koichi was now munching his popcorn at top speed. "Then what happened!?," he asked between mouthfuls.

Reimi shook her head at the sight of the seemingly bottomless popcorn container. "She went out into the hall to see what was making the dripping noise. And that's... When she felt true terror for the first time..." The four of them leaned in. "Hanging on the coat rack in the corner... Was her beloved dog Arnold, his throat slit open, the blood dripping slowly to the ground." "NOT THE DOGGY!," Pinkie called out, the other three shushing her. Reimi allowed herself a giggle before continuing.

"Just then, she heard a voice from under the bed. 'Miss, your hand is so silky smooth and cute.' The voice laughed and said he had already killed her parents... And then... He killed her too!" Koichi screamed in fright and leapt into Yukako's arms by instinct, making her blush as she dropped her popcorn. "Is... Is that story true!?," Koichi asked. Reimi then started laughing. "Nah, I was just trying to get back at you for the bit about my nail polish." Koichi breathed a sigh of relief as he got down. "I think my heart stopped..." "I know mine did," Pinkie said as she literally pulled a valentine-shaped heart out of her chest that had a stopped clock on it.

Rohan, however, had noticed a dog just like the one described in the story nearby, its back towards him. Suddenly it turned its head around, and Rohan gasped when he saw that dog's throat had been cut open, yet it still looked like it was standing without difficulty. The others saw it too. Pinkie's color literally drained out of her, then she started laughing. "Why are you laughing at a time like this!?," Koichi said. Pinkie shrugged. "My granny taught me how to giggle at ghosties."

"You're not gonna do a song and dance number are you?," Rohan asked. "Of course not," Pinkie said indignantly, "That would be silly, even for me. The point is..." She pointed her thumb at Reimi. "Looks like she's the girl from the story." "Yeah, that's right," Reimi admitted, "Me and Arnold are both ghosts." "Rohan, why didn't you tell us that!?," Koichi demanded. "You guys stopped me before I could read that far," Rohan pointed out, "Still, I didn't even realize Heaven's Door could actually work on ghosts."

"Ah, is that what that drawing was?," Reimi asked. "You can see our Stands?," Pinkie asked, "Even though you never had one?" "It's probably because I'm a spirit," Reimi suggested, "Because of that I can see the world differently. This is the place where I was murdered fifteen years ago. It's the border between the world of the living and the dead. Stand users like yourselves can match that wavelength, which is how you got here." "The border to the afterlife?," Pinkie asked, "Right here in Morioh?"

She had already plugged up Koichi's mouth to keep him from screaming. "We need to get out of here!," Yukako pleaded, her eyes full of terror. "Just relax," Pinkie said, "I mean, Reimi's offering to get us out of here. No tricks with this, right?" Reimi nodded. "There's only one way for the still-living to leave. And thank you, Pinkie, for being the voice of reason here." "I'll admit I got scared when I saw your dog with his throat carved open like a turkey," Pinkie said, "But there's no way the plot will take us out when we're the main characters."

"I'm not entirely sure what you refer to when you say 'plot'," Reimi admitted, "But I'm guessing you have an instinct for knowing when important events are happening. Ah, I forgot to say... I wasn't done with my story." "Lemme get the popcorn," Pinkie said. "You actually want to pay attention," Reimi said, "This concerns all of Morioh. The thing is... That killer stabbed me from behind repeatedly. I never saw his face. It was dark that night, and all I could think about was running. That killer... Was never caught. He's still in Morioh, hiding from everyone's sight."

Pinkie reeled back. "Plot twist..." "How have the police not caught him yet?," Yukako asked. "I don't know," Reimi said, "But as long as he runs free I'm trapped here as a revenant. I've spent the last fifteen years obsessing over the idea of warning someone, but you're the first ones who could even see me, let alone enter this realm." "Could he be a Stand user?," Pinkie wondered, "If so, maybe only Stand users like us can find and stop him. We need to tell the others about this, right away."

"Why should we bother?," Rohan said, "It's not like it's our business unless he really does turn out to be a Stand user, and we don't know if he is." Reimi sighed. "Do you know how many young girls go missing in Morioh?" Rohan shrugged. "Well I do," Reimi said, "I'm able to read the newspapers in the nearby convenience store. I recognize his signature. As it happens, I'm not his only victim. And when they die..." She opened her blouse enough that they could see her back. The group became horrified at the knife wounds found all across it, leaving her back muscles looking like hamburger meat.

"All of his victims have this death scar," Reimi explained, "That's how I know he's still free, and still killing." Her eyes started tearing up. "I've never been able to talk to these other souls, but I can see his signature each time..." She closed up her blouse again. "I've lived in Morioh all my life. My fondest memories are linked with this town, but this man's bloody murders have tarnished those memories. Until he's stopped, this town is his own twisted playground. Even now I can feel his shadow looming over a new victim, but I'm powerless to act."

She turned to the Stand users, tears streaming down her face. "Please! If anyone could stop this monster, I know you could! Even if your powers can't find him easily, they can stop him harming any more innocents! You must end this madness!" Pinkie clenched her fists. "I'll do it..." The others looked at each. "Pinkie, there's no reason to stick your neck out like this," Rohan noted. "You know they never found my father's killer?," Pinkie asked, "He was a US Green Beret before coming to Japan and settling down. He still got killed by someone!"

She looked at Reimi. "Somehow... I know what she's going through..." Rohan considered her words. "I guess a hunt for a serial killer would make the perfect new arc for my manga when I finally get off hiatus. Ah, but we still need to get out of here first, don't we?" Despite his words, Pinkie could tell he'd been moved. Reimi smiled. "We're actually close to the exit now. It's the next left after the mailbox. However, there's one thing I should warn you about. When you turn the corner, you'll see a twenty meter stretch of road. Once on that road, you must not turn to look back, under any circumstances."

Arnold walked up to the group, nuzzling against Reimi without somehow getting blood on her. "This place is where everything is decided," Reimi said, "Who gets to return to the world of the living, and who will join the world of the dead. This is an absolute law. So no matter what happens, you must never look back." "So just to clarify," Pinkie said, "It's okay if we turn around, so long as we can't see what's there? Like say if we turned our heads with our eyes closed."

Reimi thought about it. "Actually... I think that would be possible. The rule says nothing about actually turning around. Just make sure to keep those eyes shut tight. Those who look have their souls dragged to the realm of the dead. And I'm sure it would even negate your Stand powers." Pinkie nodded, and Smile placed blindfolds on all four of them. "Can you walk us down the path?" Reimi smiled. "Yeah, I can do that. I've walked that path many times."

As they walked, Pinkie's hand on Reimi's shoulder, Rohan's on Pinkie's, and so on, the group walked down the alley. Koichi something zip down ahead of them, and faint whispers. "Hey, something's tugging at my blindfold," Koichi said as he whipped his head around, unable to see anything. "It's 'them'," Reimi said, "I'm surprised they haven't torn the blindfolds off." "These blindfolds are the kinds used for sleeping," Pinkie explained, "You ever see someone try to take the blindfold off a cartoon character?"

Whatever the strange phantoms were, their tricks proved useless thanks to Pinkie's blindfolds. Reimi patted Pinkie's hand. "Okay, here we are." Just to be safe, Pinkie patted the floor, and sighed when she felt the familiar sidewalk. She pulled off the blindfold, and sure enough they were back where they had started near the convenience store. "Everyone here?," she asked. "Safe and sound," Koichi said, relieved. "Looks like we made it," Yukako said. "And the alley disappeared," Rohan noted.

Reimi smiled. "I have to stay here near the convenience store. But if you need anything else just stop by. Until then, I'll be waiting for the day when my killer is stopped once and for all, so that Arnold and I can pass on, and I can see my parents again." She started to fade out. "It was nice seeing you again, Little Rohan. You've certainly grown." Rohan blinked as Reimi disappeared. 'Why did she call me that...? Does she know me from somewhere?'

"I've heard rumors of the mysterious 'Ghost Girl Alley'," Josuke admitted, "But I never thought it was true." Koichi had looked into the investigation of Reimi's death. Josuke's grandpa had been part of the task force, but they never caught the killer. According to Josuke, that case haunted Ryohei until his death, and was the reason he never accepted a promotion since he felt he never deserved it. Okuyasu was ogling the picture of Reimi, wishing he had been born fifteen years earlier.

"Well, unless we can confirm this guy is a Stand user," Josuke said, "The most we can do is bring this to the police's attention." "The police haven't caught this guy in fifteen years," Pinkie pointed out, "What more can they do at this point?" "I'm not saying we shouldn't do some investigating of our own," Josuke said, "But we can't approach this like we did with Akira. We can take our time and piece things together. I mean, it's not like we're gonna magically run into this guy out of nowhere."

Koichi sighed and started walking absentmindedly into the street, only to get jerked back by Pinkie as a car came running in. "Sorry about that," she called out. The driver, a man in his thirties with blonde hair, looked at her. He shrugged. "It's fine. Tell the kid he needs to pay attention when he walks into the street." Koichi nodded, and the man drove off. This man's name was Yoshikage Kira, and he looked in the rear-view mirror at Pinkie. "A little pudgy for my taste. Definitely not my type."

He sighed. "Still, I gotta say this neighborhood has style. Morioh was once a vacation home for important samurai families. The Hanzo, the Date, the Kujo, and my own family." He chuckled. "I really envy the Kujo family. Even in this day and age, they retain their family wealth even without their status. Meanwhile the Kira family wound up losing their status and wealth during my grandfather's age. But we were able to keep the family house. Even I'm nothing more than an employee, while my father died of cancer."

He looked to his side. "Meanwhile Sadao Kujo, the current family patriarch is a retired jazz musician of considerable renown, and his son is a marine biologist." He shrugged. "Some families get all the luck." A woman's hand was placed on his. "Ah, what did you do with the Obrey watch I bought you?" The hand moved to the purse nearby. "Ah, you put it in there. I guess it is a bit big for your wrist. I'll have it fixed tomorrow." He soon pulled up to his house.

"Here we are," he said as he got out and moved to the other side of the car, "My humble abode. It's an average tea house, but one I'm quite proud to call home." He opened the passenger door. "Come now, don't be shy. Don't worry, there's nobody here but us." He reached inside and took the woman's hand. In fact, there was nothing but the woman's hand to take. Some blood dripped from the severed hand and Kira frowned. "Now, now. A lady should know how to clean up after herself."

He placed a handkerchief in the hand and used it to clean up the blood, one of the fingers breaking. "Ah, don't worry, I'll put that in a splint later. Hmm, I just realized I don't even remember your name. Oh well, all the blood's gone now." He hooked the hand through the bag and carried it inside. "So, would you mind helping me with dinner. I'd like to try your best dish." He walked inside the house, the outside world not knowing he was the one who killed this woman.

Meanwhile Rohan had found Reimi's grave. "Oh, it's you," said the local monk, "Rohan Kishibe, right? I see you came back to this place. Look at how you've grown up." Rohan looked surprised. "You know me? I mean from before I was famous." "Indeed," the monk said, "I've known you from when you were just a small child of four. What a terrible night that was... I remember it well. Your family was living on the same block as the Sugimoto family." Rohan gasped.

"Oh, you don't remember that?," the monk said, confused, "Well, you were just a child, I suppose. That night your parents had gone out to deal with an urgent matter, and you were left in the Sugimotos' care. The only survivor of that tragedy..." Rohan was stunned, and started reeling back. "Oh... Sorry to cause you distress," the monk said, "As for how you survived... Well, according to the police who took custody of you after the fact, you were crying and repeating, 'Reimi threw me out the window!'"

Rohan's eyes widened. 'That's how Reimi knew me! I'm more connected to this than I realized! She must have thrown me to safety before the killer caught up with her!' His Heaven's Door couldn't work on himself, but even if it could, it couldn't read memories that were blocked from a person's mind, or tell their fate. And now it seemed fate linked Rohan to this town, and gave him a power that might be used to track down this mysterious killer. 'There's no denying it now... Somehow I'm meant to fight to protect this town's good nature.'

Stand users live in an invisible world. Sometimes this world can peek into the world of normal humans, but more often than not regular humans can't see the world of Stands. However, just because a person has a Stand, doesn't mean they can see everything in the world. A serial killer has been hiding in Morioh for the last fifteen years, committing crime after crime without ever leaving a hint of his presence. With no evidence to go on, even the six Stand users living in Morioh who have chosen to work together are unsure how to proceed.

But right now Josuke was having other interests. After his father Joseph paid him back for the purchases for the baby, who's parents still hadn't been found, Pinkie was coaching him on how not to overspend. This let Josuke breath a sigh of relief since he was able to save the money for a new pair of shoes he had his eye on. 'Thank goodness for a girl like Pinkie. Otherwise I'd probably be broke right now.' As he thought this, he heard a rustling noise under the banking machine he was near.

When a cockroach came out, he paid it no mind. But then a tiny bee-like humanoid appeared from beneath the machine, carrying a one-yen coin. "Is that... A Stand?" The Stand blew the lint and dust off the coin, then tossed it into a container in its head and ran off. "Come to think of it," Josuke said, "We never found all the Stand users Keicho created. This must a new one." He ran out to follow the Stand, only to see Okuyasu following a similar Stand. Pinkie was nearby, doing the same. "Pinkie, Okuyasu."

"Oh, Josuke," Okuyasu said, "I saw that little critter in the bushes nearby grabbing loose change. Now I may not be smart, but I know a Stand when I see one." "I found that third one near the vending machines picking up dropped change," Pinkie said, "It's pretty weak, so I'm guessing it's remote-controlled, and since there's more than one it's likely a swarmer." "Well let's follow them," Josuke said, "They'll probably lead us back to the Stand user." As the followed, they found more of the Stand's bodies showing up, each with a coin in its head.

"Just how many are there?," Okuyasu said, "I think they've already outnumbered Bro's Stand." The Stand gathered under a large tree, and the trio hid in a nearby bush. The Stand ejected all the coins and gathered them into a pile. Nearby, they saw a teenage kid who looked just a couple years younger than them, and looked even shorter than Koichi. His head somehow looked like there were spikes on it. Okuyasu and Josuke looked at Pinkie. "Don't look at me, I never met this kid," she said, "I do know who he is though. That's Shigekiyo Yangu. So he's a Stand user too."

Shigekiyo did seem to be speaking with the Stand. "Good job, you guys. The grains of sand make the desert, as they say. That's five thousand yen total." He chuckled happily, as the trio looked surprised. "Can he really get away with gathering up all those coins?," Okuyasu asked. "Sure," Josuke said, "By law, anything dropped that's less than a hundred yen is legal for anyone to pick up without being charged for theft." Okuyasu looked at him. "My grandfather was in the police, remember?," Josuke reminded him.

Shigekiyo smiled as he held one of the Stand in his hands. "With your help, Harvest, I'll never have to worry about running out of money. People drop small change in this town all the time. I'm so glad that arrow hit me, now I have you to help me from now until I'm finally old enough to get my own job." He then heard the trio in the bushes and came over. "Hi there!" "Uh... Hi," Josuke said. "You guys can see it, right?," Shigekiyo asked, "My Harvest, that is. I kinda overheard ya over here."

"Oh yeah," Pinkie said, and the three of them revealed their own Stands. "No way!," Shigekiyo said, "This is the first time someone else has been able to see Harvest. I had no idea other people had these things as well." "You're Shigekiyo, right?," Pinkie said. "Yeah, but my folks call me Shigechi," Shigechi said. "So you call your Stand Harvest, right?," Josuke asked. "Is that what its called?," Shigechi said, "This is my first time seeing others like me. I called it Harvest because of its ability to gather tiny things in one place."

He pointed to the pile of coins. "Like these. A nice police officer told me if I found any item worth less than a hundred yen, I was free to keep it legally. So I started sending Harvest out across Morioh to gather loose change. They find them everywhere, under vending machines, in sewer drains... People lose spare change all the time and never notice." "That's pretty ingenious," Josuke admitted, "And a bit admirable that you're putting that money back in circulation."

"Ah, you really think so?," Shigechi said, "I already knew it was a genius idea, but I never thought of it as admirable." "How many of these little guys are there?," Okuyasu asked. "I think there's around five hundred in total," Shigechi replied, "They tend to bring back an average of five thousand yen total per day. I only send them out once a day, you see, or else it wouldn't be long before the town ran out of spare change to pick up." "You said you got hit by an arrow," Pinkie said, "So did I actually."

Shigechi got surprised. "Them too?" "No, they more or less inherited their Stands through bloodlines," Pinkie noted, "So when did you get hit?" "Last February," Shigechi explained, "Since then I've gathered 120,000 yen in total. And I've learned a lot of other things about Harvest." "All in Morioh!?," Josuke said in shock. Shigechi nodded. "Uh-huh. I never leave here because I don't like getting lost and I'd hate to get kidnapped." "Hey, I just had an idea," Okuyasu said, "We can maybe have Shigechi help us out. If his Stand can spread throughout Morioh to gather change, maybe they also find information about that mystery killer."

Shigechi gasped. "A killer? Here is Morioh...?" "Can you see through your Stand?," Josuke asked. "Sure, if I focus," Shigechi said, "But it's like looking at a bank of security monitors, I can't see through them all at once. If there's a killer here, I'm sure Harvest can find him." "That's perfect!," Pinkie said, "And even if the killer is a Stand user, Harvest may just escape notice since its so small!" Shigechi smiled. "So... You really think I can be off help?"

"Definitely," Josuke said, "And you seem like a nice guy. Honestly, we get nervous every time we hear about a new Stand user, but you haven't been antagonistic at all." Shigechi chuckled. He then thought. "If I could I'd like to help out by gathering more money for our cause, but pocket change can only take us so far." Josuke rubbed his chin, then snapped his fingers. "I think I got an idea." He explained a system of gathering torn store coupons that could be exchanged for cash, using Crazy Diamond to restore them like new. "Most people ignore those types of paper scraps!," Okuyasu noted, "If we use Harvest to take advantage of that, we could gather tens of thousands worth of yen!"

The plan worked out perfectly, with a total of sixty-five thousand yen gathered from the venture. "There were some technicalities that actually got us a lot more money than I expected," Josuke noted, "Turns out some of the coupons were so old they were actually more valuable." Shigechi was amazed at seeing actual paper money, but a look from Pinkie made him behave. "Don't forget it wasn't just Harvest that made this possible," Pinkie reminded him, "Most of those coupons would be useless without Crazy Diamond." "What are you doing?," Josuke asked Okuyasu said as he looked through the paper scraps.

"I saw a lotto ticket in here and I wanna see if someone threw out a winning ticket without thinking," Okuyasu explained. "Even if you find one," Pinkie said, "You'd never be able to cash it in because of the wrong name on the endorsement. Those things are tracked, you know." "Ah man...," Okuyasu said, "This one I just found is worth five million yen at the SG Group." "Yeah, but look on the back," Pinkie said, "That's someone else's name and phone number. We try to turn that in and it'll send off warning bells at the bank." She then got an idea. "Unless we use Crazy Diamond to rearrange the letters and numbers!" "Pinkie that sounds amazing!," Shigechi said.

It was tense, but ultimately the cocky bank clerk wasn't able to prove they hadn't stolen the ticket and was forced to let them leave with the prize. However, that's when Shigechi decided to do something stupid. He grabbed the check for himself, then offered so-called "pity-money" to the trio for what he called their meager efforts. "That's it...," Pinkie said, and she snapped her fingers. Shigechi got surprised by a giant anvil falling flat on his head. "You don't betray your friends on a whim, Shigechi!," Pinkie said, "We agreed to share and share alike on this! We even Pinkie Promised! Nobody breaks a Pinkie Promise!"

Shigechi got up. "Don't think... I'm just a weak nobody..." Okuyasu grimaced as one of Harvest's bodies punched him in the ear, taking a chunk out of it. Then it grabbed the check and ran for it. "I'm the reason you were able to gather this money," Shigechi said, "So I should get more of it!" His eyes turned dark. "Come any closer... And I'll kill you..." Okuyasu growled. "Just try it! One little scratch to my ear and you think you have us!? We've fought way stronger Stands than yours!"

Shigechi smirked, and Okuyasu suddenly found himself tripping to the ground. "The hell!?" He pulled up his pant leg to reveal more of Harvests bodies scratching and biting at his legs, digging into the flesh. "Smile!," Pinkie called out, casting out her toon world. Smile then brought out a large industrial fan that blew away the Stand bodies. Shigechi quickly started running for it. "He'll never get far with that stout little body," Okuyasu noted. "And there's also the banana peel," Pinkie said with a giggle.

Shigechi then fell over. "Ha," Josuke said, "He hit it!" "Uh, no he didn't," Pinkie clarified, "That looked like too normal a fall." Sure enough, Shigechi had actually laid down to let Harvest pick him up and start running with him, a grin on his face as they ran around the banana peel Pinkie set up. The zoomed away and up a nearby wall. "Great, it's like tank treads," Josuke said. Shigechi chuckled as he got to the top. He kept running when he reached the roof, only turning back when he thought he heard a slide whistle sound. It was the trio flying up to the roof using umbrellas.

"Good thinking, Pinkie," Josuke said, "Smile's toon world makes it easier to scale buildings." They followed Shigechi over some industrial pipes between the roofs, but Shigechi already had Harvest remove the nuts holding it together. "Nuts...," Okuyasu commented. Shigechi chuckled as they started falling. "You guys were so focused on all the other stuff I can do with Harvest, you forgot its basic ability." He then gasped as the nuts flew right of Harvest's hands.

Pinkie, Josuke, and Okuyasu flew up with the pipes as Crazy Diamond repaired them. "And you must have forgotten that Crazy Diamond levitates what it repairs," Josuke pointed out. Pinkie then pulled out a special "Harvest Magnet". "Guys, look out!" Suddenly, she started to feel extremely woozy. "Pinkie! What happened!?," Okuyasu asked. "Booze...," Pinkie said, "Tiny needles... Promise-breaker's fault..." "The hell...?," Josuke said.

"I was planning on getting all three of ya," Shigechi admitted, "See, I grabbed some alcohol while running through the shopping district. I then sent Harvest to inject it into ya." Pinkie got up, and pulled one Harvest's bodies off her with some oversized tweezers. "You little culo brain... Don't you know not even booze can keep a cartoon character down..." "What's a culo?," Shigechi asked. "IT MEANS ASS!," Pinkie yelled, her head getting bigger and her voice sounding like it came from a megaphone, "But that's not important... What's important is that my ACME Harvest Magnet can keep your little busy bees away from Josuke and Okuyasu."

Shigechi looked confused. "A... Harvest Magnet?" "Patent pending," Pinkie said, "You probably thought our powers were lame because we weren't using them to fight, but we've fought and beaten opponents with way tougher powers just using our wits alone. You haven't even noticed, that drawing in all your Stand's bodies... Has gotten you just a little closer to us." Shigechi gasped when he realized he had indeed been dragged closer. "That's the power of my toon world, created by Smile," Pinkie said, "Logic and reason doesn't have to apply. If I need a magnet that can draw in your Stand, I can get it."

"And now," Okuyasu said, "You're right in The Hand's range!" The Hand scrapped at the space between them and Shigechi, causing the check to fly into Okuyasu's hand. Shigechi growled. "You think you can just take the check back when I have your surrounded!?" "Kinda," Josuke said, "Especially since I can do this." He immediately ripped the check in half. Shigechi watched in horror as Josuke continued to rip the check to shreds. "What the hell are you doing!? Inconceivable!"

"What, are you gonna kill us now?," Josuke said smugly, "Don't forget if you do, you lose the one person who can repair the check." Shigechi stopped. "Oh... Yeah, that's conceivable." "And this," Josuke said, as he tossed the scraps into the air, "Cements your loss!" Shigechi freaked out. "What have you done!? Harvest! Go gather it quick! Why would you do that!? Inconceivable!" As Harvest ran off to gather the pieces, Shigechi realized Pinkie was right behind him.

"You keep using that word," Pinkie said, for some reason taking on a Spanish accent, "I do not think it means what you think it means." She then switched back to normal Japanese. "You just sent your Stand out. So now you have a pissed off drunkard and her two male friends to worry about, and nothing to protect you." Shigechi gasped. "Ah... That's conceivable..." He gulped, and Pinkie slammed her foot into his crotch. "That's for breaking a Pinkie Promise! Boys, he's all yours!" Josuke and Okuyasu approached. "Let's make this...," Okuyasu started. "Great!," Josuke finished. Shigechi found himself pummeled by Crazy Diamond and The Hand.

Ultimately Pinkie recovered from her intoxication, and the check was successfully retrieved and restored. Rohan didn't need any of the money, and Koichi declined, so the five million yen was ultimately split evenly between Shigechi, Okuyasu, Pinkie, Yukako, and Josuke. "One million in the bank account," Josuke noted, "Most high school kids never see that kinda money." Shigechi apologized for his awful behavior, and started sending Harvest out to see if any clue to the mysterious killer's identity could be found. It turned out he wouldn't have to search long.

Hope you like the shout-out I snuck in there, and enjoyed drunk Pinkie. Things come to a head next chapter.

"Oh boy, I'm so excited!," Pinkie said, "This type of sandwich only comes out rarely." "Hey, you get it too?," Shigechi said. They were both at a local grocery store, getting the fresh made sandwiches there. As they walked out, they nearly bumped into the man that nearly ran Koichi. "Sorry," he said, and walked out. "Who was that?," Shigechi said. "Yoshikage Kira," Pinkie said, "A good worker at a local business, but those that know him call him the most boring person on the planet."

Pinkie and Shigechi caught up with Josuke and Okuyasu later. At one point Shigechi placed his bag down to make his report, so far nothing on the mysterious serial killer. Little did he realize, a nearby dog had snatched his sandwich bag. He went off looking for it, and found it near a tree. Or at least, he thought it was his. Under that same tree, Kira was enjoying a sandwich of his own. He so into his little picnic, he didn't realize Shigechi had taken the bag. He then saw the dog snacking on Shigechi's sandwich and put the pieces together. 'Damn... He must have mistaken my bag for his. That bag still has my girlfriend in it. If he opens it...'

The hand itself had no fingerprints due to his touch-ups, but it did have a ring he bought to adorn it. If that hand got to the police, it could be traced back to him. 'I've never left any evidence behind in fifteen years... Now this kid just accidentally walked away with it.' Killing a young boy would only draw attention, but luckily for Kira he didn't need to go that far. He only needed to get the bag. The real problem was the other three people he was with, whom he recognized from the other day. They decided to split up for lunch, and Shigechi ran for his school. Kira managed to overhear his name.

Sneaking into a middle school was tricky for a business man, Kira knew even his carefully crafted persona would stick out, but he managed it somehow. But then he got a shock. Pinkie was there as well with a similar bag that had been opened. From the cheerful look on her face even as she looked into it, it was a sandwich she had bought and not the bag with his girlfriend, letting him breath a sigh of relief. But it was short-lived, as Josuke and Okuyasu also slipped through the same window to the gym he had taken. It turned out "split up for lunch" meant "everyone gets their own lunches and meets up afterward".

Kira quickly ducked into the gymnastic horse to avoid being seen. 'This is bad... One I could easily erase, but there are four. Okay, calm down Yoshikage. You've weathered storms before, you can weather this one. She's only a few inches away.' Josuke was sitting on top of the horse, meaning Kira couldn't slip his arm out to grab the bag, but he had another idea. By chance, there was a wire coat hanger under the horse with him. He carefully unwound it, leaving the hook intact.

He eyed the situation. 'Looks like Shigechi went out for their drinks. Josuke is on top of me looking in the other direction, and Pinkie and Okuyasu are more concerned with their lunches. Now if only...' He reached the hanger through the bag, and smiled when it easily reached through enough to hook and retrieve it. But to his shock, the adhesive was started to peel away. 'No... I had already opened it, and earlier Shigechi nearly opened it too... If it drops...' Which it did, getting the trio's attention.

"That's odd," Pinkie said, "Shigechi's sandwich bag fell over." Kira blanched. Although the opening was away from them, his girlfriend was visible through the opening. If they caught a glimpse of it, it could ruin him. Luckily for him, Shigechi came in at that moment, distracting them and giving him a chance to retrieve the bag while Josuke got up from the horse. Kira breathed a sigh of relief. 'I was worried for a while there. But I've got her back now.' "Hey!," Shigechi suddenly called out, "Where's my sandwich!?"

"None of us took it," Pinkie assured her, "We were all over here with the tea." Shigechi nodded. "No matter, I can just use Harvest to search." Kira looked confused as to what Shigechi was doing, not seeing Harvest sneak in and find the bag. "It got under the gymnastic horse somehow," Shigechi said. Kira freaked, but caught a lucky break when a teacher caused them to run out without investigating the horse. Kira breathed a sigh of relief, and found a chance to escape after the teacher left from locking the door.

'I've always been a lucky guy,' he said as he walked off, 'With my friendly demeanor and bold drive, there's no way I won't be happy in life...' "Found it!," came a tiny voice from his hand. Kira stopped. "Caught us a sandwich thief," Pinkie said as she and Shigechi were right behind him, "Never thought you'd sink so low for a meal, Kira." Kira knew Pinkie by reputation, so he wasn't upset that she knew his name. She seemed to know everyone's name.

Given his options, he decided to play it off. "I think you must be mistaken. I bought this sandwich from Saint Gentleman and walked here." "To a Middle School?," Shigechi said, "I don't buy that. Especially when I still have the receipt for my purchase and Pinkie also bought a sandwich from that store. Besides, we already have a better reason to suspect you! Take it back, Harvest!" The tiny bee man grabbed at the bag, while Kira tried to grab it away.

Suddenly, the bag ripped, and the severed hand inside fell to the ground. Pinkie and Shigechi gasped. "Ever get the feeling we just learned too much...," Pinkie quipped. Kira closed his eyes. "So, you too have the same abilities." Shigechi gasped. "You can see Harvest?" "Double plot twist...," Pinkie said. Kira looked around. "Hmm, well it's just two people, and only the boy seems to have the same ability. I can work with this." Kira took a calm breath, and summoned a humanoid figured with cat ears. "I can't have nuisances interrupting my tranquility. Killer Queen!"

"So this guy's a Stand user too," Pinkie realized, "Smile!" Smile appeared, surprising Kira. "So you as well... That complicates things." "I see we found another of Keicho's targets," Pinkie noted. "I have no idea who you're talking about," Kira said, "My father gave me this ability using a special arrow." Pinkie's eyes bugged out. "A SECOND ARROW!?" Kira suddenly found himself covered in Harvest's bodies, but remained calm. "Careful Shigechi," Pinkie said, "With a name like 'Killer Queen' it's ability must be deadly."

Sure enough, Killer Queen had taken hold of a small coin, which one of Harvest's bodies swiped. Kira smirked. "You grabbed it. Now Killer Queen can erase you. It turns whatever it touches into a bomb." Killer Queen made a motion like it was setting off a detonator, which set off an explosion. He smirked when Shigechi and Pinkie seemed to vanish and picked up the hand. "Now I can sleep like a baby tonight." He didn't realize Shigechi and Pinkie were just fine, having merely been blown back a distance before scrambling behind a nearby wall, merely covered in ashes from the explosion.

"That... That was too close," Shigechi said. "Good grief," Pinkie said, "If you hadn't taken that coin... If creating bombs is all it can do, it may not be physically capable, so Smile could probably take it in a fight." She opened her eyes. "But that explosion... Mom said a similar explosion killed my dad. Could... Could Kira be my dad's killer?" "Either way, he's definitely Reimi Sugimoto's killer," Shigechi said, "We gotta get to Josuke and Okuyasu." Since Pinkie's toon world was still active, sneaking to the school was easy.

However, they saw something as they reached the classroom the duo was in. Kira was watching from the window. "I guess you're more durable than I thought. But still... To think there are still people investigating the people's I've killed." Pinkie smirked. "You don't know... The power of my toon world..." Kira got a shock as the entire door came flying at him, knocking him away from the window. "Don't touch the doorknob!," Pinkie called out to a shocked Josuke and Okuyasu.

You guys all wondered how Pinkie and her Smile would do against Kira and his Killer Queen. Now you got some idea. Did you really think I'd kill her or any of my OCs off? Shame on you...

Before we begin I'd like to remind my readers that I'm all about drama without the trauma. While I will put my characters through life-threatening scenarios, I will NOT put them through anything emotionally breaking!

That said, we're up to the one-hundredth chapter (not counting the OC Stand files)! And how appropriate that it's at the turning point of Diamond is Unbreakable, where we start the hunt for Kira. Hope you enjoy.

Kira had rushed to his car. He'd have to buy a new one soon, but first he had to alter his appearance. Somehow those two kids survived his Killer Queen and were able to get away with valuable information. Plus, it was clear he wasn't the only one with a Stand. Likely the other two did as well, and he didn't know their powers. 'Killer Queen is meant to help me with my killer instinct,' he thought, 'It can erase any evidence... Or at least I thought it could. That girl mentioned a toon world. I've seen characters in cartoons survive explosions with only marginal damage. I never imagined a power like that could happen in real life.'

He tossed his latest girlfriend to his Stand, which destroyed it with another explosion. He then started shaving down his hair and changing his suit to a different brand. They may know his name, but if he altered his appearance even slightly, it wouldn't matter if they overheard it. "I never thought I'd be in a position where I had to leave witnesses alive. But that girl's Stand is too strong. Luckily I prepared for this sort of situation... Just in case. A number of different styles for if I have to disappear again. And I can still come in for work. If I do it right, my peaceful life will be maintained."

Using Pinkie's Stand to cancel the bomb on the doorknob, Josuke fixed the door using Crazy Diamond. "So we found him." He held up a button that Shigechi had grabbed off of Kira's suit. "All Shigechi's searching and he bumbles into him by complete accident," Okuyasu said, "But what about his sandwich?" "Ah, for all I know a dog ate it," Shigechi said, "But that's not important. The important thing is this guy is dangerous." He pointed to the cuff link button. "And this button could be the clue we need to track him down."

Kira thanked the auto dealer as he drove off with his new car. He'd had Killer Queen destroy the old one. 'That seems to be it. One last detail. Apparently one of the buttons on my last suit came loose in the struggle. I'll have to go to the tailor and get it fixed, since I'll likely be able to use that suit again in time.' He drove through town, part of his mind still curious about how many other Stand users were looking for him.

The Morioh group, plus their friends from outside, were gathered at Reimi's Alley. "You're very lucky to survive," Reimi noted. "Reimi, there's something I've been curious about," Pinkie said. She gave Reimi a picture of her father. "I think Kira may have killed my father." Reimi looked at the photo, and gave a tearful nod. "Yes... I recognize this man. He was killed with the same signature as the others. By now he may have changed his appearance. Even some slight alterations can throw off perception."

"We're not without clues," Shigechi said, "Harvest grabbed this button off him." Jotaro picked the button up. "If this serial killer is a Stand user, we need to get involved." "The Speedwagon Foundation will start looking into it," Kakyoin said, "It'll give us a head start on where to look for Kira. Place of address, that sort of thing." "I still can't believe the killer turned out to be a Stand user," Yukako said. "It was inevitable," Hazamada said, "Stand users are drawn to each other."

"If we can find this guy's place of work," Tamami said, "I can probably make some inquiries. If he's a serial killer then he feels no guilt for his actions, so my Stand's useless against him. His co-workers are another matter." "I'll send warning to all my customers," Tonio said, "Especially the young women. They seem to be his preference." The group started dispersing, not realizing that Kira, sporting a slightly toned down look, was passing by them.

So far, he had avoided Pinkie and Shigechi. 'I keep this up and I may slip their minds entirely. Then it won't be necessary to hunt them down. Erasing them now will likely only draw suspicion.' He didn't know they had already passed a vital clue to their friends. He was more concerned about maintaining his peaceful life. And luck still seemed to be on his side. 'I'll need to be especially wary of Pinkie. I overheard her talking about her father. I remember him. He sticks out in my mind because he caused me to have to give up on a target. He managed to shoot me even as I managed to erase him, so I had to seek medical attention.'

He then overheard a couple women gossiping. "So my birthday was last Friday, and the guy I was with gave me this crappy ring." She showed the ring, and Kira did have to admit it looked tacky. "Of course I pretended to like it," the woman said, "But I'm really only dating him because he's my landlord's son. He's such a geek." "Wow, it does look garish," the other woman said, "How much is it worth?" The first woman shrugged. "Something like 150,000 yen. I'm just gonna pawn it, though. It doesn't even match my nails."

Kira looked the woman over subtly. 'A beautiful face, but an ugly heart. I know just how to purify it.' This was his personal preference for victims. The woman's hands suited his style, but her attitude was that of a gold digger. It was his father's suggestion, so that he'd be more likely to stick to his pattern and avoid slipping up and leaving evidence behind. If there was one thing he was grateful to his father for, it was indulging his hobbies. As he saw the woman walk off, he made sure no one else was watching and carefully walked after her.

And so the real struggle in Morioh began. Angelo was an overt killer, never hiding the fact that he was a scumbag. In fact, he reveled in it. That was likely why he kept being put in prison, and ultimately was defeated quickly when he came up against other Stand users. But Kira was different. He was careful caution, and knew how to keep his killer tendencies under control, and he went the extra mile to avoid standing out or leaving clues. He would be much harder to bring down.

Yukako and Pinkie were enjoying lunch at a cafe when Yukako started sighing. "What's the problem?," Pinkie asked. "I just feel like my progress with Koichi has stalled is all," Yukako admitted. Pinkie nodded. "Oh yeah, with all the problems revolving around that serial killer we kinda stopped that, didn't we?" Josuke and Joseph were looking around the clothing stores and tailors to see if anyone needed a button replaced recently. So far there was no luck.

Pinkie tapped her chin. "Well... Come to think of it, there is a salon nearby. Maybe getting a new look could improve your outlook." Yukako looked skeptical. "Hey, I get your feeling," Pinkie admitted, "But what you need right now is a positive viewpoint. Keep smiling! This place could give you just that." Yukako shrugged. "Well, at this point it couldn't hurt. So where is this place?" "Right over there," Pinkie said, pointing to a shop named Cinderella.

They walked over and read the sign. "Makeup for finding love?," Yukako asked, "There's no way it's that easy." "We could always give it a trial run," Pinkie suggested, "Though the name is a bit odd. Does the person who runs this place see themselves as a fairy godmother or something?" Just then, a middle-aged woman with a surprisingly young face walked out of the salon, tears of joy streaming down her eyes. "I'm so happy! I can't believe such a great guy proposed to me!"

Yukako blinked. "Okay... This place may have promise after all." "Personally," came another female voice, "I think it's better to be a cheerful pig than a depressed beauty. Especially in the prime of your youth." They turned to see a young woman who looked to be in her twenties or thirties. She smiled at the two. "Our makeup really does attract love. Come inside if you're interested." Yukako decided to enter, Pinkie following out of curiosity.

The place looked rather professional, and there were several medical degrees lined across the wall. "So," Pinkie said, "I don't think I've met you yet. And I know just about everyone here in town." "My name is Aya Tsuji," the woman said between sighed breathes, "I'm the manager and chief beautician of this establishment" "Uh...," Pinkie said, noting the sighs. "Don't mind me," Aya said, "I just have low blood pressure." "There's a restaurant we know of that can help with that," Yukako said.

"Oh really?," Aya replied, "You'll have to introduce me later. Anyway, regardless of my condition I take my work very seriously. I've won many contests for my makeover skills. Paris, London, New York, Los Angeles, Milano..." She got a good look at Pinkie. "I see... You've already found happiness. It seems there's nothing I need to work on here." She then turned over to Yukako. "Ah, now here's something I think we can work on. On your own you have very beautiful features. Hmm... But those eyes could use some work. Far too serious, like there's a smoldering anger behind them. I believe you get stressed out easily."

She offered Yukako a seat. "First allow me to show you my price list." Yukako looked at the menu and raised an eyebrow. Pinkie took a look and got gobsmacked. "Prices for capturing love? Marrying into money or celebrities? What kind of establishment is this?" Aya smiled. "My parlor is more than simply improving one's face or waistline. Just because a person is beautiful doesn't mean they can find happiness. I specialize in creating joyful faces."

"Ah heck," Pinkie said, "I can do all that with a few good jokes, a nice party, and the right set of friends." "That's good for making friends," Aya admitted, "But how often does it help people find love?" Pinkie tapped her chin. "Well you got me there." "Hold on though," Yukako said, "How exactly does your process differ from Pinkie's?" "I work on the basis of physiognomy," Aya explained, "The idea that the shape of one's face can determine their fortune. Basically I set you up with a face that can be loved, and thus gives you a fate to find love."

Yukako and Pinkie looked at each other, skeptical. "Well, you still have that money from the lotto ticket we cashed in," Pinkie admitted, "I guess getting the cheapest option for a trial run wouldn't hurt. Besides, I'm curious about this process." Yukako sighed. "I guess I'll give it a shot." Aya smirked. "That's always how it starts with my loyal customers." She took a look at a scan of Yukako's face. "Your eyebrows and eyes have the wrong shape for attracting men. Right now your fate shows that the one you like will keep running away, no matter how much you like them."

"I just thought it was her short temper and a bad first impression," Pinkie quipped. "Pinkie...!," Yukako complained. "Well, it was," Pinkie reminded her, "That's how we got into this in the first place." "I'm not saying you're wrong," Yukako clarified, "But I was trying to keep that a secret from her." Pinkie facepalmed. "Me and my big, fat, mouth." Aya giggled. "Anyway, let's see if we can simulate a better look with the CG monitor." It took a while to get the thing working, creating some hilarious effects.

"Geez, you're lucky having Pinkie for a friend has given me a good sense of humor," Yukako noted. "Right, sorry," Aya said, "I'm still getting used to the technology. Ah, here we go." Pinkie had to admit the simulation did provide a softer look to Yukako. "Yeah, that doesn't look bad at all." "Indeed," Aya noted, "The eyes and eyebrows are perfectly balanced by an eye's width, speaking to the embodiment of a woman's greatest happiness. Also, you'll noticed the corners are intensified so she can get a better read of her partner's feelings."

"So how long is this gonna take," Pinkie said, "Because me and Yukako are students, so she needs to clear the calendar if she wants to go through with this plastic surgery." "Surgery?," Aya said, "You seem to misunderstand. There's no real surgery involved. It's just a simple makeup and massage. And the effect only lasts thirty minutes. Of course, if Miss Yukako can't find love in those thirty minutes, then I'll gladly offer a refund." Yukako considered it. "What do you think, Pinkie?" Pinkie shrugged. "You got nothing to lose."

Yukako nodded. "Very well then, if it's only makeup." Aya smiled. "Very well then. Let's get started." As Yukako closed her eyes with the cloth gown placed over her. Pinkie, gasped as Aya started glowing and a female humanoid with long mechanical arms appeared. In its hands appeared a photocopy of the eyes from the CG image, which it slid into Yukako, literally replacing her old eyes. "Perfect," Aya said. When she turned around, she saw Pinkie staring and pointing at her. "Wait...," Aya said, "Did you see all that?"

"Y-You're a Stand user like us!," Pinkie called out. Yukako's new eyes popped open. "She's what!?" She then got a look at her new face. "Oh wow, that's fast work." Aya sighed. "I didn't realize you two were also Stand users. But yes, this is how I effect my work. It's name is Cinderella. Like the fairy tale. Ah, but I can't waste time explaining right now. Remember the effect can only last for thirty minutes, so if you want to see the effects you'll need to hurry." Yukako nodded and headed off, Pinkie still in utter shock.

Later Pinkie was following Yukako at a distance using her toon world, trying to see if Cinderella's power really had an effect on Yukako's love life. As Yukako went for a taxi, she saw Pinkie holding up a cartoon sign reading, "Koichi incoming! Taxi not necessary!" None of the other people at the taxi saw the sign since while they were in close proximity to Pinkie, she had tuned them out of her world. Koichi as well to avoid tipping him off. Yukako was a little surprised that Koichi was approaching her.

"Ah, Yukako, there you are," Koichi said, "I was looking for you. See, earlier Josuke and Mister Joestar saw you and Pinkie heading for this salon and they were kinda worried because you two were on your own. And... I kinda got worried too..." Yukako felt her chest tighten and her heart skip a beat. "Doki!," Smile called out. "Not now...," Pinkie hissed at it. 'He was worried about me...,' Yukako thought, 'I mean, it could be coincidence, but I have to test it.'

"Um... Thank you...," she said, "Listen I'm feeling a little tired from walking. Maybe we can sit down somewhere and talk some more?" "Well, I am feeling thirsty," Koichi admitted, "And the cafe is close by. Let's go." Yukako smiled. "Great!" Pinkie poked her head from her hiding place. "Okay, so far so good. Looks like Yukako's got her foot in the door." "Doki Doki!," Smile said with a nod. "Indubitably," Pinkie replied. She snuck over to the cafe to watch them, slipping into a special disguise that wouldn't attract attention. 'No need to ruin the happy moment.'

Despite claiming to be thirsty, Koichi offered to pay for two chocolate parfaits. 'Ooh, the boy's hitting all Yukako's fantasies,' Pinkie noted. It looked like things were going well. Yukako was able to keep her temper under control when Koichi wasn't sure how to describe her hair. It seemed he was noticing something different, but couldn't place it, and it was making him feel warm. They were just about to draw in for a kiss, when Pinkie heard her watch go off. "Uh oh," she said, "It's been a half-hour."

Sure enough, Koichi suddenly got a stomachache from eating the parfait too fast and hurried off. Pinkie sighed. "Flibbertigibbet..." She walked over as Yukako's eyes returned to before. "I honestly thought you had it for a second there." Yukako pounded the table. "I was seconds away... Why is it only thirty minutes?" "Well, Aya does call her Stand Cinderella," Pinkie pointed out, "And Cinderella in the fairy tale had until midnight to return from the ball." That got Yukako thinking.

"Uh, what just happened?," Pinkie asked the next day. Yukako had gone back to Aya's, and asked to upgrade to the option for capturing love instead of just attracting it. The effect was profound, as more than just Yukako's eyes were changed. Aya seemed to have redesigned a few pieces of her body as well. "Aya's Stand, Cinderella," Yukako said, "It can move body parts around to improve one's physical form. Oh, can I ask you a favor?" She handed Pinkie a lipstick. "I need you to use your toon world to put a timer on this. Aya said I need to apply it every thirty minutes. And if this works I could wind up losing my sense of time around Koichi."

"Uh... Sure," Pinkie said, "Speaking of Koichi, he's right behind you." Yukako turned around. Sure enough, Koichi was there, and Yukako realized he somehow had her bag instead of his, and was likely trying to return it. Koichi, meanwhile, was standing there in a daze. Unfortunately, before Yukako could make a move, Rohan came in asking Koichi to help him take reference photos, to which Koichi wound up agreeing. Pinkie sighed. "I wonder what went wrong? It seemed to be working fine earlier. Maybe this was too much?"

Yukako bit her lip. "I guess... It's my own fault. I mean, he probably still hasn't gotten over the fact that I basically kidnapped him." Just then, the timer on the lipstick went off, and Yukako applied it. "At least that's working. Aya warned me that if I failed to take the lipstick on time, my fate would unravel." Just then, a whole bunch of people showed up. Koichi's mom and sister, their other Stand using friends, all crowding around Koichi. "We may as well follow," Pinkie suggested. "I mean, if fate is supposed to help you, then it makes sense to at least hang around, right?"

At the store, Rohan took out his camera. He snapped a Polaroid, but the bright flash woke up the baby Joseph was still caring for. "Rohan!," Joseph berated him, "You don't use flash around the baby! The sunglasses I gave her can't protect her eyes from them!" The baby crying triggered her Stand, turning her and Joseph's hands invisible, shocking everyone in the store. In the confusion, Joseph bumped Koichi. Thinking quickly, Pinkie hip-checked Yukako in that direction. "It's the suspense that gets me," she quipped. Sure enough, Yukako and Koichi bumped into each other's arms. They wound up kissing, but neither Pinkie nor Yukako realized that in all the din, Yukako missed the timer on the lipstick.

The next day at school, Koichi was with Josuke, Okuyasu, and Pinkie. "So, don't freak out," Koichi said, "But yesterday... I wound up kissing Yukako." Josuke, who was sitting on the open windowsill, nearly fell out but stopped himself thanks to Crazy Diamond. "What'd she do to you!?," Josuke asked. "Bumped into him back at the store," Pinkie pointed out, "It was nothing bad." "She's right," Koichi said, "I mean lately... I've kind of been finding myself falling in love with her..."

"Doki Doki!," Smile said. "Yeah, like that," Koichi said, "Why does that keep going off?" "Smile's a romantic," Pinkie explained. Koichi shrugged. "Anyway, I started thinking... Maybe her personality isn't so bad. I mean, at first I was put off by it, but only because I wasn't used to it. And lately, I've been getting this warm feeling when I'm around her." Pinkie raised an eyebrow. 'Some of that didn't sound like it was the result of Aya's Stand. Maybe my method was working after all, and Aya simply sped up the process.'

"Wow, you hearing this Okuyasu?," Josuke said, "I think my Stand got blown into orbit from the shock." He then saw Okuyasu was sobbing. "Why am I the only one in this group not finding love!?" Josuke patted Okuyasu on the back in pity. "That reminds me," Pinkie said, "I haven't seen Yukako since the big event." "Yeah, for some reason she's been avoiding me," Koichi said, "I haven't seen her for the last two days." Pinkie suddenly freaked. 'Wait! Did Yukako somehow forget to take the lipstick!? I don't remember hearing the timer, and I know the thirty minutes hit during that time!'

Yukako didn't seem to be home. The only other place Pinkie could think to look was Aya's salon. As she approached, however, Yukako and Koichi already exited, Yukako having gone back to her old look. "Okay, what just happened here?," Pinkie asked, "I mean, whatever it is, it's clearly a happy ending." She noticed Yukako and Koichi were holding hands. Yukako chuckled. "It's a long story Pinkie." Pinkie just shrugged. She told Aya about the killer they were looking for soon after. "I'll keep an eye out," Aya said, "But honestly, I'm not expecting him to drop in. This salon is primarily for women." "If you say so," Pinkie said, "Just be careful. He likes targeting women specifically."

Yeah... If you'll excuse me, I have some death flags to burn down.

It was a few days later. Jotaro and Kakyoin were heading to a nearby tailor shop that took requests. They were soon joined by Pinkie, Koichi, and Yukako. "Here it is," Jotaro said. "A shoe store?," Koichi asked. "It says here they're now accepting orders for simple clothing repairs," Pinkie said as she read a nearby sign. Inside they saw the owner sipping some coffee and asked him about the button. "Yeah, I've seen this button before. The suit is over there, I just got finished patching it up."

"Well that was convenient," Kakyoin noted, "Do you remember the customer's name?" The man thought. "Not off the top of my head, but it's written on the tag order. One second." "If it's the same as the one we're looking for," Jotaro noted, "Then we have a link." Just as the owner picked up the tag, something blew through his hand, taking out a chunk of it. "W-What... The hell...?" The five Stand users gasped. Up on the owner's shoulder was a small tank with a cat skull where the cannon would normally be.

"Over here!," it called out, "Hey, I'm over here, idiot!" The man looked over, and the tank suddenly shot right into the man's mouth. "What kind of Stand is that!?," Kakyoin called out. "Kakyoin, over there," Jotaro said. A hand was grabbing the jacket. "Hierophant Green!," Kakyoin called out, sending his Stand to investigate. On the other side of the door, Kira saw what was going on. "I should have tracked those two down and killed them later. All this over a lost button. Well, they'll soon fall to my second bomb, the Sheer Heart Attack."

Just as Killer Queen could transmute objects into bombs and detonate them with its right hand, its left hand could fire and manipulate a tank bomb called the Sheer Heart Attack, basically a remote controlled explosive. Killer Queen activated this bomb, setting it off. Luckily Kakyoin was able to see that action through Hierophant Green. "Emerald Splash!" Hierophant Green aimed its main attack at the store owner, cushioning itself from the sudden explosion

"Kakyoin!," Jotaro called out. Kakyoin was injured, but alive. "I'll be fine. I took worse blows during the fight with DIO. Still, if not for my Emerald Splash it would have been a lot worse." They heard a back door slam. "That must have been Kira!," Pinkie realized, "That bomb tank must have come from his Stand!" "Don't bother chasing him," Jotaro said, "We're not done with his remote bomb just yet..." The others looked around. "It can't really still be active after that explosion," Koichi thought aloud.

That's when Sheer Heart Attack burst out from a nearby pair of shoes to attack Koichi. "Koichi!," Yukako called out, "Love Deluxe!" Yukako sent her hair to wrap around the tank and tossed it aside. Koichi breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Yukako. But now it's going to explode." Jotaro adjusted his hat. "Star Platinum, The World!" Time stopped, and Sheer Heart Attack was frozen in midair. "Pinkie, can your toon world let you move here?," he asked.

Sure enough, Pinkie was still moving. "Uh huh, looks like it." "Alright," Jotaro said, "Give this bomb all you've got." Pinkie nodded, and their Stands attacked the bomb. "ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!" "WARAIRAIRAIRAIRAI!" Their attacks smashed Sheer Heart Attack into the ground as time started up again. "So you learned how to pull that trick off," Kakyoin said, "I'd heard as much from Fluttershy, but to see it in action... It's great to have that work in our favor for once."

"Don't relax just yet," Pinkie said, "We only stopped it from blowing up. It's more durable than it looks." Sure enough, Sheer Attack Attack burst out of the ground, the skull cracked, one of its treads missing, and its blasting cap removed. It leapt at the group. "Emerald Splash!," Kakyoin called out. Hierophant Green launched another crystal barrage that succeeded in knocking Sheer Heart Attack off course. "It's fast," he admitted, "But it's no Tower of Gray. Dodging doesn't seem to be its strong suit."

The group was thrown aside as the bomb went off again. "Damn...," Jotaro muttered, "Looks like any sort of attempt to attack it just makes it go off." "That blast took out the storefront," Pinkie noted, "And its somehow still intact. Well, mostly..." "The Stand user must be somewhere nearby," Koichi said, "There's no way it could be this powerful otherwise. I can send Echoes to--" "It's no good," Jotaro said, "This isn't even the killer's primary Stand, just an off-shoot. And it's movements are simplistic. The killer's long gone."

Koichi, however, sent Echoes out anyway. It soon spotted Kira with the jacket, looking a little different from what Pinkie described. 'This is impossible though... He's fifty meters out! How can such a powerful Stand act so independently?' Just then, Sheer Heart Attack went right for him. "Koichi, look out!," Kakyoin called out, "Emerald Splash!" The tank was knocked aside again. "Koichi, don't you listen!?," Pinkie said, "Jotaro and Kakyoin have had more experience with Stands than we have!"

"It works by tracking body temperature," Jotaro said, "It's chasing whatever's the hottest. Your agitation caused your body temperature to spike, so it started targeting you. This is an automatic Stand! It doesn't need commands from the user!" "And even something like the sparks from my Emerald Splash can set it off," Kakyoin noted. Koichi clenched. 'I was so stupid... I thought I was being clever, but I just blew it. Almost literally. I could have gotten us killed...'

Echoes returned to him. "We need to get to the back rooms. I'll have Echoes Act 2 distract it." Jotaro smiled. "Now you're thinking smart." They hurried to the back, turning on lights and such as they did, slowing the bomb tank down. As they found themselves in the kitchen, Kira was walking to the nearby cafe. "Strange...," he said, "Sheer Heart Attack is taking way too long to erase them. I wonder what's going on?" He shrugged and kept moving, thinking Sheer Heart Attack had no weakness to exploit. He didn't realize how wrong he was.

Once inside, Koichi breathed a sigh of relief, and his Stand energy started to flare up. "I think we hit character development," Pinkie noted, as Koichi's hair started to spike out. Yukako fanned herself. "I think I like this new look..." Echoes stuck its tail with the sound effect for sizzle on Sheer Heart Attack, causing the bomb tank to start running around in circles. "Okay," Koichi said, "Now we just need to call Josuke." However, as Koichi explained where they were, something caused Sheer Heart Attack to veer away.

"Uh," Pinkie said, "Who turned the stove on?" "I don't think anyone did," Yukako said. Just then, they saw a piece of emerald sticking in the knob. "You're kidding me!," Kakyoin said, "Did a shard from my Emerald Splash really get shot into the stove!?" As Sheer Heart Attack went for the stove, Yukako knocked Echoes tail off it, only to get caught in the blast. "Yukako!," Koichi called out. Yukako was alive but unconscious, the damage she took having turned her hair white again.

Koichi was now smoldering with rage. "I've had... Enough..." Echoes Act 2 seemed to turn brown and drop to the ground, only for its back to split open and steam to come out. From it emerged a humanoid figure in green and white. Pinkie couldn't help but compare it's appearance to Koichi himself. It sat in a kneeling position in midair. "Echoes Act 3 ready Master. What is your command?" Koichi nodded. "Stop that tank." Echoes nodded and dropped to the ground on its feet, performing a quick kata. "Echoes 3 Freeze!" It struck Sheer Heart Attack, causing it to sink into the ground, like it had suddenly gained weight.

Kira sipped coffee at the cafe and checked his watch. "Okay, this is just ridiculous. What is taking so long?" Suddenly, his hand became heavier, smashing into his coffee cup and the table. He looked nervous as he realized it took every ounce of strength to lift his hand. "What's going on...? It's gotta be something effecting Sheer Heart Attack, but...." He suddenly felt himself go through the table, catching people's attention. 'Damn... I underestimated those little shits. I'll have to go back and finish the job myself.'

"Whoa this is unreal," Koichi said, "What kind of power was that?" "From 'three' to 'freeze'," Echoes explained, "I just changed the spelling a bit. No big deal." To clarify, this works better in Japanese, where the change is an additional character. Simple in kanji, more drastic in English. "It's still moving," Pinkie noted as she picked Yukako up. "My effective range is only five meters in this state," Echoes said, "The closer Master is, the more it slows down. Within thirty centimeters, it might stop moving entirely."

"Let's maintain a five meter distance," Koichi suggested, "And wait for Josuke and the others." Echoes nodded. "Okay, Master." "I wonder how this is affecting the Stand user," Kakyoin noted. Just then, the bomb cracked open. "Hey, I think the pressure's getting to it," Pinkie said. "No," Jotaro said, "If it can a take punch from Star Platinum this extra weight is only slowing it down. More likely the Stand user got injured elsewhere. Which means they've decided to take more direct action."

Sure enough, Kira showed up. "Oh wow," Pinkie said, "You don't look so good. You also look slightly different." "Since I couldn't erase you or the other kid," Kira explained, "I had to alter my identity slightly." He started breathing heavy. "My stamina's not what it used to be. I thought about getting a membership at the Grape Hills High public gym, working out... But then I thought about all the sweaty, unwashed guys, probably touching the weights with the same hands they use to masturbate!"

"Never stopped me," Kakyoin said, "After all, they clean the weights regularly because of the large clientele." "Koichi, keep that bomb in place," Jotaro said, "I'll handle this." Kira scoffed. "It took that kid to stop my Sheer Heart Attack. Do you really think you have the strength to take me on?" Killer Queen revealed itself. "Especially since Killer Queen can into it touches into a bomb with its right hand." It moved to attack Jotaro, but got blindsided by Star Platinum's attack.

"It's true your Sheer Heart Attack could withstand Star Platinum's punches," Jotaro noted as Kira reeled from the blow, "But's that just the remote bomb, isn't it? Killer Queen is far less durable. And quite weak if it can't touch someone or something." Kira looked shocked as Jotaro approached. "I've encountered lots of Stand users like you," Jotaro noted, "Ones who think they're invincible just because they got a cool new power. The one mistake I notice with these guys... Is they reveal their power so recklessly without thinking about how to use that power. In that way, a strong power can turn weak."

"ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!" Kira felt each and every blow as Killer Queen was pummeled. He found himself flying into the nearby trash cans. 'Damn... This guy's Stand is so fast... So strong... It almost feels like it can slow down time...' He realized this was the reality. His Killer Queen was only strong when it could catch someone off-guard, like he had with Shigechi. But when confronting someone head-on, Killer Queen's weak combat abilities showed.

Making matters worse, Josuke and Okuyasu showed up. "Jeez, what happened here?," Josuke said as he started applying Crazy Diamond's powers. "That guy over there," Pinkie said, "That's Kira." Kira sighed. "Great... All I wanted was a peaceful life. Looks like I'll be losing sleep tonight. But only tonight." He had Killer Queen chop his left hand off, loosing Sheer Heart Attack. "Bad move," Josuke said as Kira ran for it, "Crazy Diamond!"

Crazy Diamond punched Sheer Heart Attack, and it instantly got sucked back into the severed hand. "Nice!," Pinkie said, "Now the severed hand will seek out its body!" Meanwhile, Kira spotted a businessman his own age and build. "He'll do," Kira said and tried grabbing the man. "Hey," the man said, "The hell are you doing!" "Shut up and let's go," Kira said. The man frowned. "I don't think so. Under Pressure!" Kira gasped as it felt a major weight come over him. 'Damn... Him too...?'

The man, Kosaku Kawajiri, was glowing with Stand energy, his fingers pointing at the ground backward. Next to him was a Stand that looked like a robotic version of a Japanese god. "Hey," another man said as he came by, "Is this man sick?" Kira looked at the man. His hair was spiked out and black, and his build was similar to him. 'My luck has to come back now.' Kosaku had already released his Stand to warn the man, but too late. Kira grabbed him and ran. "Damn it," Kosaku said, and he ran after Kira.

He soon bumped into Josuke and crew outside the Cinderella salon. "Mister Kakyoin?," Kosaku asked. "Kosaku?," Kakyoin replied, "You look frazzled." "I had to test out that new Stand you gave me from that arrow," Kosaku explained. "You did what now?," Jotaro asked. "Pinkie wanted to see if the arrow was legit, thinking Akira might have crafted a fake," Kakyoin explained, "Me, I wanted to test a theory and see if the arrow could pick out those with Stand potential. Sure enough, when I shot the arrow up into the air, it sought out Kosaku here."

"Well, that's not important," Pinkie said, "Kira went inside here for some reason. We need to make sure Aya's alright." The severed hand flew inside as the door opened, and the group gasped. Kira's body seemed to be slumped over the vanity, except it still had its left hand. Aya was unconscious on the ground. "Smile!," Pinkie called out. They needed answers, and they might not get them if Aya blew up. Smile extended its toon world and passed Pinkie a cartoon defibrillator.

She warmed the paddles and called out, "Clear!" As soon as the paddles hit Aya, she spit out a cartoon bomb, likely a cartoon interpretation of Killer Queen's power, which hit the body and destroyed it, leaving nothing behind. "Aya are you okay?," Pinkie asked. Aya rubbed her head. "I think so... I don't feel anything else... That man came in, forced me to use Cinderella to exchange his face with that other guy. I think he wanted to kill me to prevent it from reverting."

She looked at the smoke trail that had once been the body. "Useless now, though. The body's gone, so Cinderella can't revert it." "Do you remember the face?," Yukako asked. "It would take some time to reconstruct without a body to go with it," Aya said, "Cinderella can remember the features, but that means nothing if we can't place them on anything to build a facial profile." "And Kira's hand just left through the back door," Josuke said, "He's in the wind." Pinkie growled. "DAMN YOU PLOT!"

Yep, Pinkie doesn't HAVE to have her Stand active for the heroes to show up Kira. They just have to, y'know, show up. But I hope I still got the point across that Kira IS dangerous under the right circumstances.

Also, bonus! Kosaku is now an ascended extra in this part with his own Stand, gets to live, some other random guy gets replaced by Kira, and Aya continues to live. Hope you like it.

You guys wanted to know how Kosaku will act now that he's not having his life supplanted by Kira. Well now we have a glimpse of that with this chapter, where the group explores Kira's former home.

Kosaku had been brought up to speed regarding Kira's actions. Concerned for the safety of his wife, he agreed to join the hunt. His Stand, Under Pressure, could manipulate atmospheric pressure in a localized area, and he had learned to both increase it and reverse it, causing things to suffocate, get heavier, or even float. Now, while Aya was looking through the faces Cinderella saved, Kosaku joined Jotaro, Josuke, Koichi, and Okuyasu as they went to Kira's old house, now abandoned since Kira had changed his identity so thoroughly.

"Not much here except a blueprint for his old life," Kosaku noted. "Did you recognize the person he kidnapped?," Jotaro asked. "Not really," Kosaku said, "He was kinda generic looking, and I was so focused on my shit job I never paid attention to faces. Heck, I didn't even realize it was Kira who grabbed me until you explained the situation. His haircut looked different than normal." "There's no sign of anyone else living here," Josuke noted, "Not even trophies from his victims."

"He's not the sort that would leave evidence like that lying around," Koichi pointed out. Jotaro found a photo album featuring his family. "These must be his parents," he noted, "His father, Yoshihiro, died of cancer when Kira was twenty-one, mother died peacefully sometime afterward. Nothing to suggest that his family was anything but normal." "This guy's like the opposite of Angelo," Josuke said, "Angelo gave no shit about who he hurt, but Kira is more patient and plotting."

"And he doesn't like to stand out," Jotaro noted, "Koichi practically humiliated him back at the shoe store, and it angered him. And look here. All those trophies are for third place. Even in the photos they're in the background." "I almost envy him," Kosaku said, "He had a boring life by choice. Mine was forced on me. It doesn't look like he even has any hobbies." "I wouldn't say that," Josuke said, opening a drawer with several jars labelled with numbers that looked like years.

"What are these?," Okuyasu asked. "Fingernails I think," Josuke said, "He bottled them up instead of throwing them out." "They're his," Kosaku said, holding up a journal, "He meticulously measured them and recorded information about them in this book. Going all the way back to 1983. Finger and toenails both. And he was tracking the years when they grew over thirty centimeters." He tapped the book. "He was using it for fortune telling. Predicting the best times for murders."

"1983?," Koichi asked, "That's when he killed Reimi." Koichi, Kosaku, and Okuyasu left the room as a nearby camera went off. "What was that?," Josuke said, "Is someone else here? Maybe Kira had an ally." "No, he viewed relationships as a hindrance to his crimes," Jotaro said, "He doesn't trust anyone." The picture had Josuke and Jotaro on it, as well as familiar old man. Josuke looked at the camera. "Hey... Are we sure no one was helping Kira? Even without his knowledge? Cuz his dad is in this picture somehow."

"But he's not in the room," Okuyasu said, "Is it another ghost?" "Possibly," Jotaro said, "He might be a spirit bound to this mansion." Just then, a phone started ringing. "If he's showing up," Josuke said, "That means there must be something here that we can use to track Kira. There's no way he's scaring us off." 'Hey!,' a voice said as the phone receiver jumped up, 'Answer the phone already!' It then whacked Josuke in the face. "Jeez, we shoulda brought Pinkie with us. This is no ghost, it's a poltergeist."

'Neither,' the voice said, 'I'm here to kill you, to protect those who would harm my son!' "Do you even know what your son's been doing!?," Josuke asked. 'A father should always protect his son,' the voice, clearly Yoshihiro, announced, 'I became a ghost so my spirit could always watch over him!' "Man, Pinkie would have a field day with you," Josuke noted, "Did it never occur to you that 'watching over your son' means keeping him from doing anything bad to other people? Just where are you anyway?"

"Right in here," Jotaro said, "Yoshihiro in the picture is holding a phone." The phone shot at Josuke again, but he had Crazy Diamond attack it. However, it still hit him in the side of the head. "What the hell?" "Hold on," Jotaro said, "I think I figured this out. Somehow he can manipulate the photo. The remains of the phone are at his feet between him and your image." He looked. "And now it looks like he's holding a knife." "He won't get the chance," Josuke said, and he grabbed the photo and started ripping it up.

To his shock, him and Jotaro started tearing apart as well. "Shit! Crazy Diamond!" The photo quickly repaired itself. 'Interesting,' came Yoshihiro's voice from the phone's remains, 'So you have this power too.' "Let me give it a shot," Okuyasu said as he approached the room. However, he somehow walked from one side of the room, and skipped the entire room to the other side. "The hell...?" Kosaku waved his hand through. "This isn't just a ghost," he realized, "It's a Stand power."

'Precisely,' Yoshihiro said, 'This is my power, Atom Heart Father. In reality you two are trapped inside the photo's frame, and it's impossible to escape. And once I deal with you two, the others are next.' "We'll see about that," Kosaku said, "Jotaro, drop the photo. Then you and Josuke move away to the wall." Yoshihiro chuckled. 'You think them moving away will keep them from my reach. All I have to do is reach their position in the picture!'

Kosaku grinned. "Just hold that thought. I have a theory to test. Under Pressure!" His Stand appeared and pinned the photo to the ground. Josuke looked as Yoshihiro in the photo seemed to be pinned in place. 'H-How are you doing this...? I'm a spirit in the photo, yet I can't move.' "If you're a spirit in the photo," Kosaku said, "Then logically your body is the photo itself. And I'm only focusing on pinning you, so even if it pins Josuke and Jotaro, that's all it will do to them."

Jotaro smirked. "Nice work. I can take it from here. Star Platinum, The World!" Yoshihiro was confused. But then the next second, he found himself in absolute darkness, looking right at Jotaro. "What... What did you do? I can't see anything in this space!" "I stopped time for a few seconds," Jotaro explained, "Freeing me from the increased atmospheric pressure. In that time I grabbed the photo, put it up to the camera so it was only showing you, then took a picture. You got transferred to the new picture, where there's nothing but you."

"Damn you!," Yoshihiro said as photo flew out of Jotaro's hand, "I'm not done yet! I'll take a picture of the other's and use them to beat you!" But as he reached for the camera, Star Platinum destroyed it. "You'll be a nuisance if you can keep moving." He grabbed the photo and started folding it so that the frames touched each other without leaving a gap. "If you're attacking us, then there's something here that could inconvenience Kira." He opened a nearby drawer and found some tape, which he used to wrap up the photo, trapping Yoshihiro.

With the photo pinned, Jotaro pointed to the nearby door. "There are two more rooms past here. Let's split up and look through them." Kosaku, Jotaro, and Josuke looked through one room. Just then, they heard some banging noises. "That didn't sound good," Jotaro said. He ran out to where Okuyasu had pulled the photo from the wall, several more tacks having been applied. "Yoshihiro got away!," Okuyasu explained, "He somehow used the tacks to escape!" He started pulling the tape off. "Okuyasu, wait!," Jotaro called out.

But it was too late. Thread shot out from the photo, launching into the nearby wall. "Ha! You completely fell for it!," Yoshihiro said. He had unwound some of his sweater to create the thread. Meanwhile, Josuke found another bow and arrow. "I can't believe this. Another one." Just then, Yoshihiro's photo slipped into the room and raced to Josuke, letting Yoshihiro grab the arrow from Josuke. "Ha, I got it! I can't let this fall into your hands! It's the only thing that can let me son be happy!"

"Holy shit that's right!," Josuke said, "Pinkie said Kira got his Stand from his father!" "So you also got an arrow from Enya!," Jotaro realized. The photo slipped through the roof, and they heard a crow cawing. Yoshihiro had wrapped his thread around the crow's neck and was using it to fly off. "Damn it, he's too far out!," Koichi said, "Now he can use the arrow to make even more Stand users to try and attack us!" "And we don't know where they'll be coming from," Josuke said, "He'll do whatever it takes to hamper us."

Meanwhile, Kira was taking the keys to the house of the person who's identity he stole, Takashi Yamashita. He didn't notice someone watching him from across the street, not that he'd care if he did. He didn't look the same as before, so it's not like they could see anything suspicious. The man seemed to have a simple life, with a wife and son. The wife seemed cheerful enough, certainly the pleasant sort Kira wouldn't mind living with. 'I'll have to risk having a relationship,' he thought, 'It's the only way I can stay hidden until they stop searching for me.'

You guys wanted to see how Kosaku's new Stand helped out his home life. Well, here it is. I had fun writing this chapter.

Kosaku came home, spying his son Hayato in the window peering at the neighbors with a telescope. He sighed and headed inside. "I'm home," he called out to his wife Shinobu. She didn't answer. He smirked, then activated Under Pressure. Shinobu was shocked as her dress flipped up. "Eek!" "Plain again?," Kosaku asked as he peeked over her chair, "It's like you're not even trying anymore." Shinobu blushed, but felt the heat in her heart when he saw that. 'Has he really been paying attention to my underwear? He's bolder than I thought.'

She playfully slapped at him, giggling when he actually caught her her hand. "Ah, I have dinner on the cart. I was so busy today I didn't time have for anything big. But I made your favorite anyway." Kosaku chuckled when he saw the instant ramen. "Come on, Shinobu. I've indulged this little joke up until now, but I've had a hell of a day. Some asshole who looked like he came out of a blown-out bomb shelter tried to grab me. I fought him off and he grabbed some other guy and threatened the local beautician to switch their identities."

Shinobu blinked as he said that. "No way... That all happened to you? Get serious." "I am!," Kosaku argued, "And the next thing I hear is this douchebag is some serial killer living in our town. So me and some other guys who were tracking him go to his old house to look for clues, where his kooky old father tries to kill us, only for him to escape later in order to find and help his son." "Okay, who are you and what have you done with my husband?," Shinobu joked, "That sounds like something out of my soap operas. You're not just making that up just to make me happy are you?"

"Sweetie, you know me," Kosaku said, "I'm way too boring to make this shit up." Shinobu looked at him. "There's something different about you lately. I can see it in your eyes, some new spark of confidence." She blushed. "I kinda like it." 'Noriaki Kakyoin, you may have just saved my marriage,' Kosaku thought to himself. It was no secret that their marriage had been a loveless one. Really Shinobu only started dating him so she could feel better than her friends.

Things only seemed to get worse when he got her pregnant, since it meant they had to get married immediately. Naturally Kosaku started job hunting after that, but it wasn't a job he particularly liked since he was more or less bullied at work. Then out of nowhere, as he was walking home from work, an arrow suddenly hit him in the shoulder. That's when a man calling himself Noriaki Kakyoin approached him, wanting to ask him some questions. The man was a member of the Speedwagon Foundation, a well known conglomerate that was on the cutting edge of technology.

Kakyoin showed him a mysterious figure, and Kosaku was struck by the fact that he seemed to be the only one that could see the emerald green humanoid that seemed to stick out. It was then that Kakyoin explained the process of Stands, and it seemed Kosaku had that potential, which the arrow brought out. Over the next few days, Kosaku was transferred to be employed by Speedwagon, and learned the ins and outs of his Stand, which he called Under Pressure. Ironic, since he seemed to lose all the pressures of his life when he got it.

"By the way," Shinobu said, "You were gone for a few days. Did you get some kind of paid vacation and not tell me?" "More like a job transfer," Kosaku said, "I was picked to join the Speedwagon Foundation." Shinobu had been starting to actually cook and dropped the measuring cup when she heard her husband. "Could you pinch me? I think I'm in a dream world." Kosaku chuckled, and lightly pinched his wife's cheek. "Hey, hey, hey!," she said with a smile, "Good god, it's like you're a whole new man. Where was this attitude in middle school?"

The next day the landlord stopped by. "Listen," the man said, "You're behind on your last two payments, 260,000 yen total. You either pay up or you get booted out, end of story!" "You already received the check from my new employers, didn't you?," Kosaku asked. Quite frankly, he was tired of getting pushed around by this guy. "The 'check' was from the Speedwagon Foundation, a clear forgery!," the landlord said.

Kosaku narrowed his eyes. "You can't know that without checking with the bank. But you never went, did you?" "Didn't have to," the landlord said, "There's no way a major business like Speedwagon would hire a bum like you!" Kosaku narrowed his eyes. 'He just doesn't want to believe the check's legit. Since once he accepts it, it gives them free reign to change the lease. Which means I don't have to worry about the cat anymore. Well, if this guy really wants his cash...'

Under Pressure appeared behind the man and tapped at the strap on his bag, breaking it open with a quick twist. Shinobu raised an eyebrow. She couldn't see Under Pressure, but she could tell what her husband was up to. "Sorry, money's been kinda tight lately," Kosaku said, pulling out the bills Under Pressure passed to him, "We only have five-hundred thousand yen on hand." The landlord's eyes lit up, not realizing it was his own cash. "Well... I guess I could take it off your hands and waive the next couple months' rent."

Kosaku smiled. "Thank you." The landlord left after that. Once Kosaku was sure he was gone, he turned around, and got surprised when his wife actually hugged and kissed him. "When you did you turn into such a bad boy?," she asked, "That was a smooth con you pulled off there. He never even realized." Kosaku thought about it. "I guess when I learned how to control pressure," he quipped. Shinobu laughed, not realizing how literal he was.

I'm sure there are plenty of people wondering what's been up with Fluttershy and Jolyne. We haven't seen Jolyne since Kakyoin mentioned babysitting her, and Fluttershy hasn't shown up since the incident with Hazamada. Let's throw them back in for a chapter, shall we?

Yoshihiro picked up the arrow he had. "As I recall, that woman Enya said the arrow would seek out those with strong desires. And if they are chosen, they will not die no matter where they are struck. I can then make those people allies. And they'll gain the power of the Stand. There were five such Stand users looking through our family home. And who knows how many others allied with them. I need to get some more Stand users to stop them. Now arrow, pick a target. We'll see if they have the potential..."

The arrow seemed to point to a nearby utility pole. Yoshihiro was confused at first, until he saw a young preteen boy reaching for some fruit at the top of the pole. "An odd choice," he mused, "Could this kid really gain the power? Hmm... But I have no room to be choosy. There could be other Stand users looking for Yoshikage. Very well! I shall use the arrow to pierce him!" He didn't know Jolyne was watching from nearby, tied up in the tree practicing her own Stand.

Meanwhile at the train station, Rohan was snapping pictures of people there. "Hey Rohan," Fluttershy said as she and Jolyne walked over, "What are you doing here?" "Ah, Missus Kujo," Rohan said, "And your daughter as well. I wasn't expecting to see you around here." "Yeah, Jolyne was trying to get a hang of her own Stand," Fluttershy explained. "I still keep getting tangled up in things," Jolyne said, "My Stand lets me unravel my body into strings, but I can't seem to control them yet. It kinda sucks right now, since it doesn't even have a physical form like Mom and Dad." Fluttershy giggled. "Don't worry, you'll grow into it."

"Yeah, my Stand didn't have a physical form at first," Rohan reminded her, "But I was able to develop one with some practice. Anyway, about your earlier question. I was taking some candid shots of the businessmen around the station. If Kira has replaced someone using Cinderella, he may be trying to live that man's life. Which means he's trying to commute to work." "That's a lot of people to shift through," Fluttershy noted, "And if he's this good at hiding, my usual observation skills may be useless."

Rohan looked confused. "Mom's good at picking out Stand users," Jolyne explained. "Ah," Rohan replied, "Well, out of the five thousand people served here every day, I can narrow it down. Kosaku did get a look at the Kira kidnapped, even if it wasn't a good one. He was clearly male, somewhere between twenty-five and thirty-five, height at least 175 centimeters, and dressed like a company employee. That drops the number down to forty-eight already. From there we can cross-reference the features with those Cinderella saved and get a positive ID."

"A good start," Fluttershy said, "But at the same time he may not even take public transport to work." "Likely," Rohan admitted, "But that's not the only thing we have to go on. Kira won't be able to flawlessly blend into his new life. There will be missing information, unknown habits, things he has to learn that he can't do quickly. That would possibly get his friends and family looking at him funny. I can use Heaven's Door to interview these people."

"Well, we came close to catching him once already," Fluttershy said, "Despite all his efforts, he's starting to slip." Rohan nodded. "I just hope he doesn't slip in the wrong way." Just then, Jolyne recognized the boy from earlier approaching. "Hey mister, wanna play Janken?" "Janken?," Jolyne asked. "Oh that's right, you were mostly raised in America," Fluttershy noted, "Janken is basically Rock, Paper, Scissors." "Oh, I know that game," Jolyne said, "I'll play you."

"I don't wanna play with some kid younger than me," the boy said. He pointed to Rohan. "I wanna play with him!" "What's the matter?," Jolyne taunted, "Afraid a girl can beat ya?" The boy growled. "Alright, fine! Let's go, girly!" "He's gonna regret this," Fluttershy noted, "Jolyne is a master of Janken." Sure enough, Jolyne easily won with rock against scissors, leaving the boy shocked. Jolyne smirked, having used her threads to read the boy's muscles. She at least had enough fine control to do that much.

"Hey, you cheated!," the boy said, "I saw you use those threads to throw me off!" Rohan blinked. 'Those threads came from Jolyne's Stand. How did this boy see them?' "Those were real obvious!," the boy called out, "I'll bet everyone watching could see them!" He then heard murmurings about bullying little girls and being a sore loser. "How dare you bully my sweet little girl," Fluttershy said, scooping up Jolyne, who was putting on the waterworks. The boy realized no one else had seen the threads even though they were obvious. Although he didn't know Rohan and Fluttershy could see them, and the fact that he could made them suspicious.

Later, the kid approached Jolyne at the cafe. "I heard about it, you know. From some old man. You have a Stand too. That's what he called it." Jolyne smirked. "Yeah, but so what? If you can't even tell what I was doing to beat you, you can't win. You're a Stand user, too, right? I saw you getting hit by that old man in the photo using the arrow Mom told me about." "Listen," the kid said, "The old man said I have to challenge Rohan Kishibe. Personally I'd love to. It'd be the perfect chance to prove my willpower over his. But until I finish my game with you, I can't move on to anyone else."

"Don't think I caught your name," Jolyne realized. "Key Oyanagi," the boy said, "But everyone calls me the Janken Kid. And my Stand... I call it Boy II Man!" A cloaked figure appeared behind him. "So, what about you?" "Jolyne Kujo," Jolyne replied, "I haven't really named my Stand yet, I'm still working on getting it strong enough to have a physical form." Ken blinked. "Really? Wow... Anyway, I can't move on to a new opponent until I've beaten you in a five-round Janken match. Every round I win I can steal a third of the enemy's Stand energy."

"What if they're not a Stand user?," Jolyne asked. Ken blinked. "Huh... Never thought of that... I guess my Stand just wouldn't activate." Jolyne shrugged. "I see. So, three out of five, huh? I guess that means I have to win two more rounds." Her Stand energy started flaring. "Maybe if I win this, I can start to get more control over myself. To surpass oneself and reach new heights, Daddy said that is the essence of a Stand. Surpass yourself, and surpassing others is easy."

The two leapt into the air as they readied themselves. 'I can do this!,' Jolyne thought, 'He knows I can launch threads but that's it! I just need to get creative!' Ken was so focused on their arms it was easy to slip some threads over his head to his arm. 'Paper!' "Jan-Ken-Pon!" Ken gasped when Jolyne threw scissors to beat his paper. Up above, Yoshihiro was grumbling. "This brat is getting sidetracked. But until the game is complete he can't go after the others. But if he loses to this child he won't bother thinking he can't win against the others. And here I am powerless to do anything about it. I might as well search elsewhere." He immediately flew off, leaving the kids to their game.

Ken panted. 'I can't get luck to work with me... This girl... She's throwing everything she has into this... And even if she is cheating, my Stand won't punish her for it...' He breathed deep. "Okay, round three! Get ready, Jolyne Kujo!" The two kids screamed at the top of their lungs before leaping into the air. As they did, Ken saw something manifest behind Jolyne. It was a blue humanoid child, its face inquisitive. He was so distracted, he didn't realize he had already thrown rock, getting beat by Jolyne's paper.

As they landed, Ken blinked in awe as Jolyne inspected her Stand's new physical form. "Well, I'm still not sure what to call you," Jolyne said, "What say we leave that for when I'm older." The Stand giggled as Ken looked on. 'This kid is already making an effort to grow on her own... And here I am focusing too much on beating others. Janken is a contest of wills... And it seems my will was too weak all along...' He smiled as he sat down. "I probably wouldn't have been able to beat Rohan anyway. That guy is just too cool."

You guys wanted to know what's up with Hayato? Well we're gonna check him out this chapter.

It was July 1. Morioh was officially opening its tourist season. During July and August, enough tourists arrived in Morioh that they effectively doubled the population, partaking in golfing, camping, fishing, yachting, and wind surfing. Morioh was a small town, but tourists always found something interesting to do or see. Sadly, the same could not be said for Kira, who was having trouble fitting in as Takashi. He nervously bit his nails as he saw the young women passing by, his killer instinct gnawing at him.

But he knew if he slipped and let himself go, it'd leave a trail for Jotaro and the others to follow. For once his Killer Queen, the power which let him cover up his crimes, proved a detriment. Not helping was the fact that Kosaku was his next door neighbor, and Kira couldn't be sure Takashi would be recognized. 'I never imagined the stress could get to me,' he thought, 'I've always been able to balance a quiet life with my killer instinct. But now that quiet life is all I can live to keep peace of mind. But there's no way it can last. Until those Stand users lose track of me for good, I can't get a good night's rest.'

He saw an especially good looking one in the group, and imagined his hands wrapped around her neck to choke the life out of her. But he held himself back with every ounce of his willpower. 'I need something to keep my hands occupied. I'll keep practicing Takashi's handwriting. That should help both my problems.' He started to work, getting close but there were still minor errors. Even the slightest difference could be picked up by a handwriting expert. Not that he expected it to come down to handwriting, but he hadn't lasted this long by taking chances.

Just then, a knock came at the door. It was Ayaka, Takashi's wife. "Sweetie I got you some tea. Are you alright in here?" Kira had hidden the handwriting practice and gotten out a book. "Just fine. A little stressed out from work lately. I thought I'd take to reading." Ayaka did seem like the sort of woman he'd want to marry if he ever considered it. It made pretending to be the dutiful husband easier. She was both beautiful and pleasant without any trace of deceit. Which was perfect, because it meant Kira didn't feel the need to let her know his true nature.

Next door, Hayato was working on his surveillance gear. He heard his dad come up. "Hey Pop," he said, "I guess you and Mom finally started loving each other." "Have you been spying on us?," Kosaku asked. "All the time," Hayato admitted, "But recently I found something interesting. Dad... I saw it. That strange figure you summoned to trick the landlord." Kosaku sighed. "Kakyoin said this would happen. Since you're my son, me getting a Stand from the arrow gives you one as well. Looks like you can handle it without issue. These images aren't from our house."

"I didn't know it was called a Stand," Hayato noted, "But my classmate Riku Yamashita said he felt something off about his dad lately. How the guy keeps leering at girls in a way that's not normal even for a perverted streak, but still acts faithful to his wife. It's a little odd." "How did you get this footage?," Kosaku asked, "Did your friend let you into the house?" Hayato held up a camcorder. "This appeared in my hand shortly after I witnessed the incident with the landlord. I think its one of those Stand things. I can use it to look into someone's window, then my surveillance gear does the rest. I'm calling it Party in the CIA."

He hit the remote, which showed Kira in his room. "Mister Yamashita's been trying to copy his own notes onto scrap paper. If you look closely, you can see tiny discrepancies in the handwriting." Kosaku rubbed his chin. "I become an agent for one of the world's biggest conglomerates and suddenly my son goes super spy." He chuckled. "Well, you'll need some energy to keep you on this job. If you promise to keep me posted, I'll order some barbecue for you." Hayato looked surprised, but genuinely delighted. "Yeah, sure."

He saw Kira continued to write as he muttered. "Jotaro... Kujo... Josuke... Higashikata... Are those important people?" Kosaku nodded. "They're friends I made recently. Stand users like us. Later I'll introduce you to them. I'm sure they'll need this footage. I know that man looks familiar. Hayato, if I'm right we've stumbled upon an important clue regarding a terrible serial killer lurking somewhere in town." Hayato looked worried. "Is... Mom gonna be okay?" Kosaku had a confident smile on his face. "Don't you worry about your mom. Your old man can protect her without issue." 'When did Dad get so cool?,' Hayato thought.

Meanwhile Yoshihiro was racing through the city, being guided by the Stand arrow. "Now where's it taking me?" He saw it aiming for a white-haired young man who was approaching a train crossing. "Ah-ha, him next. This will make the sixth overall that I've made. That should be plenty. Together they will be able to defeat any who get close to my son! Those who try to harm him will be slaughtered!" He threw the arrow at the man, but something odd happened.

To Yoshihiro's surprise, the arrow turned away, only leaving a small scrape at the man's neck. "Ow! What was that? I felt something sharp hit my neck." "What just happened?," Yoshihiro said, "He was chosen by the arrow, and yet he repelled it." He looked at the arrow. "Well, it still seems to have injured him. That alone should work. But still, it's bizarre." He looked at the man. "Hmm... I'll monitor him for a while. See if he has developed a power."

At this point the tables were starting to turn against the Kira family. Before they had been able to easily evade capture while the heroes were spinning their wheels. Now it was the other way around. The heroes were casual in their search, knowing it was only a matter of time before they closed in again, while Kira and his father were feeling the pressure to lose their pursuers. It was only a matter of time before things came to a head.

For those of you who were wondering where Pinkie's been this whole time, well let's just assume she's been pounding the pavement. Using her knowledge of almost everyone in Morioh to find inconsistencies that could lead to Kira. Maybe ask her mom if she remembers anything. Gotta do what you can, right?

Let's get her back in the story.

Josuke, Pinkie, and Okuyasu were walking past a field when they saw something weird, a crop circle near the edge. "Wow, you don't see that in Japan very often," Pinkie pointed out. "Is that a crop circle?," Okuyasu asked. Pinkie nodded. "And it looks like someone's buried under it." Sure enough, there was a young man with his hand sticking out from under some of the fallen crop. They waded into the circle and pushed the wheat aside to find a young man wearing a school uniform. He had white hair and pointed ears.

"Spock's younger brother?," Okuyasu wondered. "Spock had black hair," Pinkie reminded him, "Looks like he was scratched up here on his neck." The man suddenly opened his eyes and literally stood straight up. The two boys looked at Pinkie. "Hey, don't look at me. My Stand isn't active right now, and he'd need to be aware of it besides." The man looked around. "Hmm... I seem to still be on Earth... I was concerned because I don't recognize the region very well."

"Uh...," Josuke said, "Are you okay?" "I seem to be," the man said, "I was taking a walk last night, around thirteen Earth hours ago, when I suddenly fell ill and collapsed." He looked at the field. "Hmm, the illness must have put me in a delirium. I don't remember making this." "Whoa, whoa, I'm the joker around here, buddy," Pinkie said, "Quit talking like you're some kind of outer space alien." The man blinked. "I suppose I could try but it would be difficult. After all, I did come from outer space so I might slip every once in a while."

The three of them looked skeptical. "Well...," Pinkie said, "His ears definitely aren't shaped like ours. Okay, then, if you are from outer space, just what part?" "I believe the scientists of this planet refer to it as the Magellanic Cloud," the man explained, "But my planet was destroyed a few decades ago, so we've been wandering in search of new habitation. I found the environment of Earth similar to my home planet, so I came to investigate. Of course, I had to take the time to learn all the local languages."

"Where did you get that wound?," Josuke said, "I can fix it up if you like." "This?," the man said feeling his neck, "I felt a sharp pain in this location just prior to my illness. It reminded me of an allergic reaction to an otherwise beneficial virus found on my home planet. Makes me wonder if a piece of my planet somehow reached here." "Like Superman?," Josuke asked. "Not necessarily," the man clarified, "My planet, like yours, had volcanoes on it. Our history tells of one erupting so hard it launched debris into the exosphere. This was thousands of years ago. It's possible such a chunk of debris could have hit somewhere on this planet."

Josuke shrugged and Crazy Diamond placed a hand on the man's neck, healing the wound. "That sensation...," the man said, "Perhaps that virus has reached this planet somehow. You exhibit similar powers to my own race." "You mean... Like a Stand?," Pinkie asked. "Is that what you call it on this planet?," the man asked, "An odd choice for a name... Too bad I can't see them. I'm color-blind to souls, you see, and I left my special contacts on my ship. Ah, but I've gone too long with introducing myself. I am Nu Mikitakazo Nshi, currently 216 by your Earth years."

"What about this ship of yours?," Josuke said, "It's not like you could hide it in Morioh." "Indeed," Nu said, "It's actually at the L2 orbit, about 1.5 million kilometers above us. I could call it down here, but it would take thee days to arrive." "No problem," Pinkie said, activating her Stand and pulling out a giant magnet. Nu read the side. "ACME Spaceship Magnet?" "Patent pending," Pinkie quipped. The magnet went to work, and to the trio's surprise, a sleek rocket-like object came hurtling down. "Ah, there it is," Nu said as he went for his watch, "Would you mind turning that magnet off? I can take it from here."

He turned the exterior of the watch, and the ship seemed to respond to his actions, making a landing. "There we are." "Holy shit," Josuke said, "This guy really is an alien." Nu headed inside and came out with some contacts. "There we go. I never thought I'd have to use these, but if there are humans with powers similar to my own species they may come in handy." He blinked once he put them on, and saw Crazy Diamond and Smile. "Ah, so you're developed enough that you can give your powers a physical form. Unfortunately, my power is not so advanced."

He manipulated his watch and the ship rose back in the sky. "So wait," Okuyasu said, "If you're really an alien, does that you mean have some rays guns or something?" "Of course," Nu said, "But they're all on the ship. Since my mission here is one of peace, I left all my plasma weapons and other tools of war on the ship." "Darn," Okuyasu grumbled, "I wanted to see some cool technology." Nu shrugged. "I'm not sure you'd get much of an experience. Functionally speaking our technology doesn't operate much different than what I've seen here on Earth. My race simply has access to better resources."

The group walked back into town. "So Nu, how long have you been on our planet?," Josuke asked. "I first made planet fall early in January of this year by your calendars," Nu said, "I've been exploring since." A fire engine came by, its siren on full blast. Nu suddenly grabbed his ears and started screaming. "Uh oh," Pinkie said, "I think he can't stand loud noises." Nu started breaking into hives. "That noise... Need to get away... Help..." He quickly changed into a pair of sneakers that fit around Josuke's shoes.

To Pinkie and Okuyasu's shock, Josuke somehow ran an incredible speed away from the sirens. "We should follow," Okuyasu said, and the two ran after Josuke via Wheel O' Feet. They finally caught up just outside the school, where Nu had resumed his normal form. "Thank... Thank you..." "Was that your Stand power?," Pinkie asked. "That is my ability, this Stand power as you call it," Nu replied, "I can change my form at will. Though there are limitations. I cannot change into any complex, self-powered machine, or anything that has more power than me."

"Why was I running so fast just now?," Josuke asked. "When I formed that pair of shoes around your feet," Nu said, "It added our strength together, increasing your natural running speed." "Does your Stand have a name?," Pinkie asked. "It is cataloged as Earth Wind and Fire, because of its amorphous nature," Nu said, "Since I am a designated space pilot, I am granted permission to catalog my ability, a rare privilege on my home planet." The other three looked at other. "Ah, I'm assuming every such Stand here on Earth has a name," Nu realized, "Likely because not every human possesses one."

"Can you turn into anything humanoid?," Okuyasu asked. "Are you asking if this is my real form?," Nu replied, "I assure you it is. That said, I can alter my face, but I normally don't since trying to mimic humans is difficult. All humans look identical to me so I forget the details." "That may just be prosopagnosia," Pinkie noted. "That would imply I know people on this planet or have received brain damage," Nu pointed out. Josuke rubbed his chin. "Okay, I think I got an idea forming."

"Is this another 'get rich quick' scheme?," Okuyasu said, "Because I think I had my fill of that with Shigechi." "Nah," Josuke said, "More like a 'prank the pants off someone I don't like' scheme." He showed Nu a picture of a craps table. "See the dice here? Could you change into something like this?" Nu inspected the picture. "I don't think I've seen this item before. I recognize the concept of the gambling table but I'm unfamiliar with this game." Josuke explained how the die worked and Nu changed into one, though at first he accidentally made it too big.

"Alright," Josuke said, "Now, can you roll up any number on this die?" "Certainly," Nu replied, "Just let me know what number you want." "Alright," Josuke said as he shook the die, "Then let's see a six." He then realized Nu was laughing. "What's so funny?" "Sorry...," Nu said, "But when you shake like that it tickles me. This is still my body, remember. Urp... Uh, you might to turn the three side away from your hand." Josuke did so, and the three of them gagged when the dice emitted puke. "Nasty!," Pinkie called out.

"Sorry about that," Nu said, "As you can see there are biological similarities in our species. I had a touch of vertigo there and got motion sickness. Let's try that again. Without the shaking, please." Josuke nodded and simply tossed the die, which landed on a perfect six. However, Nu made sounds like Bruce Lee as he did. "Whoa, be more subtle next time," Josuke said, "The prank can't work if the target figures it out too easily." "Sorry, that slipped out," Nu said, "I've become engrossed in human media lately."

After Josuke and Pinkie got to practicing using Pinkie's stand, they headed for Rohan's place. "Oh, it's you two," the mangaka said, "What are you here for?" "We just wanted to try a game with you," Josuke offered, "Koichi said you like cheap thrills, so I was curious if you wouldn't mind a little gambling." He showed the dice set he brought. Rohan rubbed his chin. "I guess it couldn't hurt. But we'll be using my dice set instead of the one you brought." Josuke and Pinkie looked at each other and grinned. They had already anticipated this.

What Rohan didn't realize was that they had come with an ordinary set of dice, telling Nu Rohan's address and having him set himself up as Rohan's dice set. This was part of the prank. Rohan didn't really like Josuke and only appreciated Pinkie as a fan of his works, so he'd likely suspect cheating. So what better way to prank him then by cheating using what he assumed was his own dice set. "Okay," Rohan said, "Since you only came offering a game there won't be any stakes. That said, each of the chips counts for a thousand points."

He placed a bowl in the center. "And all the dice have to land in this bowl. If even one falls out, it's an automatic loss." 'Good thing I can perceive the area around me while transformed,' Nu thought. "Additionally," Rohan said, "If the dice come up as a 1-2-3, it's an automatic loss and you pay double your bet. Conversely, if you get a 4-5-6, you win automatically and get double. "I think we got all that," Pinkie said. 'As did I,' Nu thought, 'So I just need to avoid those number when Josuke or Pinkie rolls, but go for them when Rohan rolls. Easy enough.'

"Finally," Rohan said, "Only triple ones or triple sixes matter. Roll one of those and you get fives times the payout." Josuke nodded. "Okay, sounds good." Rohan nodded. "Let's have the highest roller throw first." Rohan and Josuke each rolled, with Josuke getting the higher number. "You know," Rohan said ominously, "In cee-lo when the Yakuza in charge caught a cheater... They'd shove two of the dice into the offenders eyes and dump their body in the river." "That's brutal," Josuke said, "But Yakuza don't live out here in Morioh, so..." Nu could barely keep from chuckling. He hadn't even been controlling the dice that time, because it didn't really matter who went first.

Rohan raised an eyebrow. He'd hoped to catch a different reaction, but Josuke was nonchalant. He shrugged and tossed the dice to Josuke. He double-checked the dice, but Nu had been instructed to wait until bets had been placed before starting the trick. It was Pinkie's suggestion. Josuke tossed the dice in the bowl after laying down a small number of chips. Rohan looked surprised when they came up three sixes. "Three sixes already!?" "How's that for luck?," Josuke said, "I'm a little surprised." 'Hmm, perhaps I was too gung-ho,' Nu thought.

Rohan made his turn with a regular role. Josuke mentally breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed Nu realized they had to make the prank convincing by letting the odds get evened out for a while. "Well, it's still my loss," Rohan noted, "Though I'm impressed by your luck getting a special role early." "Yeah I know, right?," Josuke said, "But stranger things have happened. Heck my grandma once got hit by a car twice in one day." "I'm not touching that one," Pinkie quipped.

Josuke and Rohan looked confused. "What's that mean?," Josuke asked. "Your dad's mom?," Pinkie reminded him, "She was once hit twice in the same battle by a man named Kars?" Josuke looked flabbergasted while Rohan actually laughed. "Oh yeah, I forgot my old man's adventures," Josuke realized. 'Is she referring to that stone with a face our fleet passed on the way here?,' Nu thought. Pinkie had earlier been talking about Josuke's family and some of their adventures. He then felt Rohan shaking him hard. He had been too focused on the joke to control the dice during Josuke's roll but knew he had wound up rolling a five. 'Ugh... Not again...'

To his surprise, all that came out was a large burp. "What was that?," Rohan asked. "'Scuse me," Pinkie said. Her toon world was up in case Rohan tried shaking the dice to see if they were somehow rigged. After a few rolls, Rohan sighed. "Okay, I give..." "Give?," Josuke said. "It's not obvious, but I can somehow tell your cheating," Rohan said, "But it's so subtle I can't pick up on it. And these are supposed to be my dice." Josuke grinned. It was time to unveil the trick. "Are you sure about that?" Nu resumed his normal form, revealing himself and freaking out Rohan.

"Rohan Kishibe," Pinkie said, "Meet Nu Mikitakazo Nshi, a Stand using alien from the Magellanic Cloud." "Hello," Nu said. Rohan blinked. "Josuke, I'm starting to hate you a little less. If this man is a real alien... It could be the perfect inspiration for my manga. A real life alien here in Morioh. That will truly capture the readers' imagination. I assume this is no prank, right?" "The real prank was that Nu was the one controlling the dice," Josuke clarified, "We've seen the evidence that Nu really is an alien." He explained the entire scenario they planned out. Rohan had to admit, they got him good.

Let's get more Pinkie Pie shenanigans, plus remind people that Yukako has a slightly bigger role in this story.

Later Nu introduced the human woman he was staying with. From a legal standpoint she was supposed to be his mother, but was actually more like his wife. She knew all about him being an alien but kept up the charade, playing it off for normal people by claiming he was just eccentric and obsessed with aliens and outer space. "Ah, one last thing," Nu said to Josuke, "While on Earth I go by the name Mikitaka Hazekura, just in case you hear someone calling me by that name."

Meanwhile Yoshihiro was stunned. Not only did his attempt to create a new Stand user fail, since Nu seemed to already be a Stand user, but he wound up becoming an ally of Josuke and the others. "Damn it. Enya assured me those I make Stand users will become allies. Then again, he already was one to begin with. But the next Stand user, Highway Star, is sure to end those brats. His power will be impossible to overcome." Far away, as Enya was still mourning DIO's death, she wound up sneezing in confusion.

The next day, Josuke had hoped on the local bus and found Rohan going over the photos he had taken. "Still going over those?," Josuke asked. "There's no guarantee we'll find a clue in them," Rohan said, "But there's always the chance." Josuke nodded. "We got close to catching Kira once. And despite what some people think, lightning can strike twice." Rohan sniffed. "We agree on that much, at least." As the bus went through a tunnel, Rohan got confused when he saw a vision of some guy cutting off a woman's hand.

He shook his head, thinking the hunt for Kira was getting to him. But he had to check it out anyway, in case it was another Stand at work. "Are you serious about this?," Josuke said, "I didn't see anything. Then again I wasn't paying attention." "If it's nothing then fine," Rohan said, "But from what you say Yoshihiro has been making new Stand users. If this is the work of one of them, we need to investigate." They tunnel they went towards was the Twin Forests Tunnel. The tunnel was 540 meters long, and curved so you couldn't see the other end.

They were taking Rohan's motorbike through. "Looks like nothing," Josuke said, "And we're getting close to the exit." Just then, Rohan fell through the wall. Josuke gasped when he realized the door had suddenly appeared. But there was no one inside it. Just then, a nearby cupboard opened. "We need to move!," Rohan said. They got on the bike and started racing. "Uh, I don't think we're going fast enough," Josuke said as he pointed out a set of footprints that seemed to be following them.

"We're at sixty kilometers an hour," Rohan noted, "And they're able to keep up with that." He gunned the ignition, moving a bit faster. "It must be another remote stand, like Kira's Sheer Heart Attack," Josuke realized. They spotted a nearby truck and Rohan had to slow down, but he elbowed Josuke out of the way as he did, causing the footprints to latch onto him. The bike crashed just outside where Pinkie was walking, causing her to investigate. "What's going on?," she asked. "Another Stand user!," Josuke said as he ran out, "It's already got Rohan! I think it's draining his energy!"

Rohan watched as the footprints merged into his and formed up into a blue humanoid with a diamond pattern on its skin. "Heaven's Door!," Rohan called out, having just enough strength to turn the Stand into a book and figure it out. "Josuke!," he called out, "This Stand is called Highway Star! That room earlier was a trap! Anyone who enters gets chased down by their scent and has their energy drained!" He grunted. "I'm... Getting too weak to stop him..."

Highway Star looked at the other two and grinned. "No you don't...," Rohan said, sending Heaven's Door to affect Josuke and Pinkie, the Stand writing that they'd fly backwards at seventy meters per hour, enough to give them a head start and reach the bike. "Crazy Diamond!," Josuke called out, fixing the bike with his own Stand. The two lovers then got on the bike. "Smile!," Pinkie called out as her toon world was projected, while Highway Star finished draining Rohan and ran after them.

"We need to find the Stand user," Josuke said, "Pinkie, call Koichi, I'll keep this bike at a high speed." "What's the plan?," Pinkie asked. "This is a long-range Stand," Josuke surmised, "So for now Rohan's life isn't in danger since it can't cause damage quickly. We also need to determine who the Stand user is. It set a trap in the tunnel, but why? Why not just wait by the side of the road to attack people? It's also focusing on draining life energy instead of killing outright. We also know it can't go faster than sixty kilometers an hour. So we'll maintain eighty kilometers to buy us time."

Pinkie had Smile bring out a large phone which she used to call Koichi. But before she could, she pointed forward. "Baby on board!" Josuke looked to see the light was red and a mother and her baby were in the middle of the street. "Hang on!," Josuke said as he hit the accelerator, then hit the bike with Crazy Diamond, breaking it apart and causing them to go flying over the baby, who stopped crying to see the event. As the bike got repaired as the couple kept driving, Pinkie said, "We'll be seeing that kid with the same hairstyle as you in a decade and a half." "Oh, you really think so?," Josuke said.

Pinkie then called Koichi and explained the situation. 'Okay, got it,' Koichi said, 'You said the Twin Forests Tunnel? Actually there was an accident there two days ago. It was all over the nightly news. There was a biker gang out drunk driving, and blocked off one end of the tunnel with a crash. Lots of blood everywhere. There was one unidentified youth who was placed in intensive care at the Grape Hills Hospital.' "That must be our Stand user," Pinkie surmised, "He's using his Stand to drain energy and recover faster."

"Only follows by scent," Josuke noted, "Unable to think or plan but just attack. Can warp instantly to follow a victim if need be." Pinkie raised an eyebrow. "I've had to do some crazy stunts while you were talking," Josuke explained, "I'll tell you about it later. Anyway this Stand fits perfectly with a seriously injured user. But he'd have to be conscious to use his Stand." 'I was planning a date with Yukako in a bit,' Koichi said, 'I'll explain the situation to her and we'll check the hospital.'

Meanwhile, Yoshihiro was flying around, guided by the arrow. "By now Highway Star's user should have drained at least a couple of those brats after Yoshikage. I thought it strange that the arrow would chose a biker gang brat but it worked out well. His Stand is perfect for this. And even if they escape by vehicle it won't be long before he chases him to the point that they run out of gas." He laughed, thinking that victory was close at hand. But of course plans never go as smoothly when you don't observe them.

Josuke was inexperienced with motorbikes, which can't tell you if you are low on gas or not, unlike cars. Experienced riders rely on the handling and distance traveled. But in the toon world, any vehicle will start puffing smoke when the gas gets low. "Guess it was trying to outlast us," Josuke noted. "What now?," Pinkie asked. Josuke smiled. "No problem. Even if we're being chased." He deliberately crashed into the nearby wall, sending the duo out of the drainage ditch, smashing into a nearby car.

They then got out of the way as Highway Star went for them, only to get caught in the car as Crazy Diamond repaired it. Josuke then repaired the bike as Pinkie used Smile to siphon the gas from the car to refuel. "Now we just need to reach the hospital," Josuke said, "Pinkie, do you know where it is from here?" "Oh yeah," Pinkie said. They raced off, knowing Highway Star would warp to follow them. They passed by Yoshihiro, who blinked at seeing them still alive, albeit getting chased.

At the hospital, Koichi and Yukako were not getting anywhere with the receptionist. "Well, now what?," Yukako asked, "Pinkie and Josuke will be here any minute." Koichi smirked. "I think I got this. Echoes Act 3." Echoes emerged. "Okay, Master! Let's kill da ho! Beeetch!" The receptionist suddenly realized a few medicine bottles were starting to topple. It was Echoes increasing their weight. "Damn it, if these break they'll charge me fifty grand to replace them!"

She turned to see Koichi and Yukako just standing there. "Hey, don't just stand there like a couple of pissants! Give me a hand!" Koichi raised an eyebrow. "We were supposed to be leaving now. And I don't think we can quite reach up there." "Plus they look heavy," Yukako quipped, "I don't think we could carry them." "Okay, okay, fine!," the receptionist said, "You want Yuya Fungami in room 525! Just take the elevator to the fifth floor!" Just then, Pinkie and Josuke came crashing through the door. "We heard everything!," Pinkie said, a hearing horn in her ear, "We'll be done shortly!"

Josuke steered the bike into the elevator, which zoomed up under Pinkie's influence. The nurse, who had just realized the medicine bottles weren't so heavy, blinked. "How did that elevator move so fast?" Meanwhile, Yukako used Love Deluxe to grab all the footprints and force Highway Star into its solid form, which Koichi held down with Echoes. This, combined with Pinkie blocking the air ducts, meant the couple was able to reach 525 without issue. "Finally found you," Josuke said, "Yuya Fungami."

He then blinked. The young man, Yuya, was lying in bed with multiple casts and surrounded by three young girls. "Who are these freaks?," one girl said. "This is Yutie Pie's private room!," another said. They then felt themselves getting slapped. "Hey, don't go slapping my girls, Pinkie!," Yuya called out, "Not even I do that!" Pinkie blinked. "How'd you know my nickname's Pinkie? We've never really met." Yuya looked surprised. "You mean it really is..? Cuz I just thought... With the hair... You know what nevermind."

Highway Star appeared under the bed. "Your friend downstairs stopped pinning my Stand down. Big mistake on his part." Josuke and Pinkie smiled, their Stands striking at Yuya's limbs to stop Highway Star. "Your Stand can only move up to sixty kilometers an hour," Josuke noted, "But at this close range, my Crazy Diamond and Pinkie's Smile are far faster." "Whoa, hey now!," Yuya said, "Isn't it a little unfair to beat the living hell out of a guy already in the hospital!?"

Josuke thought about it. "Well, maybe. But luckily I have a work around." Yuya looked confused. "My name is Josuke Higashikata," Josuke said, "My Stand, Crazy Diamond, can repair objects. And that includes people. Especially you." Yuya then realized he was no longer feeling pain from his injuries. In fact, his injuries seemed to be gone. At first he was elated, but his elation ended when he realized what Josuke was getting at. He gulped when he saw Crazy Diamond and Smile glaring at him. "If you're not even injured," Pinkie said. "Then beating you up is totally fair," Josuke finished.

"DORARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARA!" "WARAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAI!" Yuya went out the window with the last attack. "KEEP SMILING!" "Ah, that was refreshing," Josuke said, "Like putting on fresh underwear on New Year's Day." After that, Yuya was readmitted for new injuries. When Okuyasu heard, he was envious that Yuya had not one, but three cute girls to nurse him. Rohan was retrieved from the tunnel, restored thanks to Crazy Diamond. Koichi and Yukako continued their date. Yoshihiro, meanwhile, was gobsmacked that Yuya lost.

Expect lots of thought text here. After all, it's the Stray Cat chapter.

It was a rainy evening, and Kira frowned as he tried on Takashi's shoes. They could slip on, but were too big to fit him properly. 'Walking won't be a problem, but someone might notice if I keep using them for too long. I'll start replacing them a little at a time.' Just then, he heard Ayaka screaming and went to investigate. The basement looked like it was a mess. "What happened?," he asked, the concern in his voice coming from instinct, making it sound more genuine. "Oh, Takashi," Ayaka said, pointing over to the body of a black cat, a British blue from the look at it.

"I saw that cat sitting on the potatoes," Ayaka explained, "At first I tried getting the cat to come closer, but it wouldn't budge. I started to get mad because it was ignoring me and threw a brush at it, but it somehow swatted it away with its tail. When I tried to chase it with a broom, it just leapt to the ceiling. And that's when I saw it! A big hole in the cat's neck, big enough to stick a coin in!" Kira raised an eyebrow. 'The arrow my father had? Did it get out of the house somehow?'

He looked at the mess. "How did it get killed?" "Well, I was so freaked out I just waved the broom wherever and wound up causing all kinds of damage," Ayaka explained, "When I calmed down I looked for the cat... But it had been impaled by glass from some of the broken jars..." Ayaka trembled, and Kira hugged her. "It's fine, it was just an accident. I don't see a collar so its likely a stray. I'll make to sure bury it later." Ayaka nodded, sniffling.

The next day, something odd happened on the grave the cat was buried in. An unusual flower sprouted, which had eyeballs. 'Where am I?,' it thought. It was, in fact, the stray cat from yesterday. 'I can't remember how I got here... I was just sunning myself in a tree when something hit me right in the neck. An arrow, I think. Somehow I survived and took shelter from the sudden rain... Hmm... Nope I can't remember anything.' The flower gave a meow in the sun. 'This sun feels nice.'

It started to groom itself, only to get confused by its new appearance. It also found itself unable to jump after a fly it spotted. 'What the heck is going on here? I'm stuck somehow! How am I supposed to eat!?' Just then, it spotted Ayaka walking outside, looking rather sad. 'That lady looks familiar.' Ayaka sighed when she looked out over the garden. "I wasn't trying to hurt anything. I can't believe I wound up killing such a beautiful kitty." 'Wow, I feel sorry for whatever kitty got on her bad side. Though that scenario sounds familiar. And why do I feel like I don't like this woman?'

Just then, a paper flew nearby, which the flower cat swatted at, getting Ayaka's attention. "What was that!? I don't see anything..." The flower cat, Tama by name, recognized the broom Ayaka was holding. 'That's right! I remember now! This lady was attacking me with a broom, and I got caught on some glass and...' It growled, and some instinct caused it to lash out with an air bubble, striking off Ayaka's toenail. She cried out as she felt the pain and knelt over to check her toe.

Tama, meanwhile, we surprised. 'Did I do that? I somehow ripped that human's toenail off without even touching her.' It heard some birds flying overhead and realized it was still hungry. 'I wonder...' It focused, and launched an air bubble at one bird that flew close, killing it instantly and causing it land at Tama's roots. 'I seem to have picked up a new power somehow. I've seen other people around town exhibiting strange powers. They seem to call them Stands... I guess I have one too now. It must be why I'm still alive. Hmm... They seem to name these powers... Stray Cat seems like a good name for mine.'

It dragged the bird over and ate it as Kira approached. "So that cat was a Stand user after all. But just what is this thing?" The cat looked at Kira as it started to grow. "I'm not sure what kind of power it has that it could injure Ayaka and kill that sparrow," Kira admitted, "But what's more important is... Somehow there are new Stand users about. Is this one a new ally? Or perhaps... It's here to kill me?" Tama yawned before falling asleep. "Hmm," Kira said, "It seems to be equal parts animal and plant. I could kill this thing at any time. I may as well observe this thing first."

He whistled, getting Tama's attention. "It acts a lot like a cat." Further investigation revealed more cat-like behavior, as if the flower was a cat. "I get it," Kira said, "The cat from yesterday got reincarnated as a Stand unto itself." Ayaka, her foot bandaged, carefully approached. "T-Takashi? Is that the spot where you buried the cat? I... Don't like it. Somehow, just getting near it got my toenail got ripped off even though there was nothing for it to catch on... I think it might be cursed."

The whole time, Kira was trying to block Tama's view. 'This cat must hold a grudge for Ayaka. It'd be dangerous for her to approach.' Just then, Ayaka peeked her head over Kira's shoulder, causing Tama to hiss violently. 'This thing's too dangerous! I'll need to erase it with Killer Queen!' Killer Queen turned a small rock near Tama into a bomb. "Sweetie, is there something in your shadow?," Ayaka asked, "It looks like something's moving."

Killer Queen triggered the bomb, but Kira got a shock when it didn't go off. Tama had recognized what Killer Queen was doing, and quickly sealed off the air around the rock in an effort to suppress the explosion. "Ayaka, get back inside," Kira warned. But just then, a sudden burst of air impacted against Ayaka, knocking her to the ground, a paw print on her chest and blood coming from her mouth. "Ayaka!," Kira called out. Tama knocked the bomb rock away to where it exploded like normal.

Kira turned his attention to Tama. 'I think I just caught a clue to this creature's Stand. It may be counterproductive to my usual routine, but I can't let Ayaka die. For more than one reason...' On the one hand, it could draw unwanted attention if she suddenly dropped dead for unexplained reasons. On the other, Kira was starting to get attached to Ayaka. He quickly picked her up and moved back. 'One of DIO's servants Father heard of could manipulate wind currents. This cat can do more... Controlling every facet of the air. It's the only explanation for why Killer Queen's bomb failed... There was no air to set off the explosion.'

Tama fired off an air bullet from Stray Cat, causing Kira to summon Killer Queen to block it. "Crush it, Killer Queen!" Killer Queen moved to step on the flower cat, only to get stopped by a bubble of air Tama used to protect itself. 'This human is standing between me and the woman. He's an enemy I'll have to kill.' Killer Queen slipped off the air bubble and hit the ground as Tama ejected another air bubble. Kira looked around, then acted when it heard an explosion that hit the nearby cactus, moving his body to shield Ayaka. He checked her, and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her eyes were uninjured.

Tama fired off an air volley, but Kira put Ayaka down and readied Killer Queen. "The same trick won't work against me twice," Kira said. He then noticed the flower cat seemed to be laughing, and felt something gurgle up his arm. He pulled up his sleeve and gasped when he saw an air embolism was traveling up his veins were one of the needles from the cactus had hit him. 'Clever cat. If this thing reaches my heart it's sure to kill me.' "Killer Queen!" Killer Queen stuck the part of Kira's arm where the air bubble was traveling, causing it to pop out in a blood spray.

Kira breathed a sigh of relief, but knew he wasn't done. "It seems I always wind up underestimating my opponent. This cat's Stand is quite potent." He saw Tama move to attack again, but saw a golf ball out of the corner of his eye. 'That's it...' He took the golf ball and tossed it at Tama, who immediately started playing with it. Kira collapsed in relief. "When in doubt, find a way to target the Stand user. And in this case, that involves taking advantage of instinct. Looks like the cat's forgotten its grudge. I'll let this go for now..."

From his attic window, Hayato was able to observe the entire situation. 'That was Killer Queen, the Stand that Dad told me to watch out for. But for now it looks like he was using it to help Missus Yamashita. It should be safe to hold onto the information for now, just in case divulging it makes me a target. But I also can't wait too long.' 'Come in Party Boy, this is Seeking Field, over,' came a voice over his equipment. It was Riku Yamashita, the boy who first brought the household to Hayato's attention.

"Party Boy here, I read you Seeking Field, over," Hayato replied. Recently Riku had become Hayato's first real friend, a fact that pleased his mom very much. While Riku was no Stand user, he was observant, and that made him perfect for helping Hayato search the house. Party in the CIA had one limitation, it could only see what modern surveillance equipment could feasibly see. Luckily it had another feature. Party in the CIA could be seen by ordinary people, even held by them, and they could take it with them to act as Hayato's eyes through his equipment.

'Additional information,' Riku said, 'Dad seems to be using shoes too small for himself. And he was able to eat all of Mom's cooking without complaint, even though it had bell peppers in it. Dad hates bell peppers.' "My dad hates mushrooms," Hayato noted, "But that's neither here nor there. Where are you right now?" 'Inside the front hall,' Riku replied, 'Dad's gone and Mom is occupied. They think I'm at school. He also brought in a pot full of soil... And some cat food.'

Hayato had already seen this much, and figured it had something to do with the strange cat and flower hybrid Kira fought earlier. 'I can't find the pot in the closet,' Riku said, 'Maybe in the attic...' Hayato remembered that all the boys in his school had to wear hats to school. He didn't have to worry because Kosaku had made up a sick excuse so Hayato could keep on his monitor duty. He told Riku to leave his hat behind on purpose to test a theory. 'If Takashi is actually this Kira guy using Takashi's face, then he comes from a different district. I saw him view the coat rack and thought nothing of it. Now let's see if he comes back...'

'Hey Party Boy...,' Riku whispered, 'Can you see this? There's something weird in the pot...' "Don't touch it," Hayato warned, "Primary target is in range, Action One necessary. Keep pot out of sunlight. Will relay information to Big Daddy, copy." 'Copy that, Party Boy,' Riku said, 'Over and out.' Hayato watched as his friend slipped out a nearby window down a ladder they planted, making sure the sun didn't hit Stray Cat to activate his Stand power. The idea was to grab the hat while Kira was investigating the attic. Hayato grinned when it was pulled off perfectly. 'It'll be some time before this guy learns his supposed son was late to class. Until then, it looks like he doesn't suspect a thing.'

Okuyasu and Josuke were following Shigechi out to the fields on the edge of Morioh. "Harvest saw it out here," Shigechi said, "It was weird. Just over there at the transmission tower." As they reached it, Okuyasu saw a pair of binoculars on the ground. "Where did these come from?" "Oh, Josuke, Okuyasu," the binoculars suddenly said. Quickly they shifted form, revealing it to be Nu. "Oh Nu, it's just you," Josuke said, "What are you doing out here?"

"I was sending information regarding the planet to the migration fleet when I got a weird signal," Nu explained, "For some reason, the transmission tower I'd been tapping into to send the reports had signs of life. I came to investigate. I took on the form of the binoculars to enhance my eyesight." "Why were you using this tower for your signals?," Shigechi asked, "I mean, wouldn't it have gotten picked up by the government?" "Not likely," Nu replied, "I chose this tower because it was decommissioned. When Morioh was opened for development, all the power lines were relocated underground."

He pointed to smoke rising from the tower. "When I got here I spotted that smoke trail. As the human saying goes, where there's smoke there's fire, so I grew concerned." He changed back into the binoculars and jumped into Josuke's hands. Josuke looked near the smoke and raised an eyebrow. "Is that... A teakettle? Over a wood stove?" "Twenty meters up the tower?," Okuyasu asked. "That's not all," Nu said, "Look about five meters higher." Sure enough, Josuke spotted what looked like laundry being hung out higher on the tower.

There was also the means to have a bed, a recliner and TV, and a dresser. "From studying Earth's oddities," Nu said, "I believe someone here may be living off the grid. I believe that is the proper term." "Yeah, it is," Josuke said, "But why?" "Josuke," Shigechi said, "I think I see something hitting the water." Josuke looked and realized someone was fishing. The fish that was hooked got reeled up to an interesting contraption, equal parts fishing rod and frying pan.

The man holding it grabbed some nearby cucumbers and eggplants growing on the tower, cut them up, and started grilling them with the fish. They watched as the man easily walked across the beams to the recliner and TV. At one point, he took a jump, and that's when things got weird. Parts of the tower came loose and acted as mid-air stepping stones for the man, popping into place at the other beam as he grinned. "Whoa, did you guys see that?," Josuke said, "This guy must be a Stand user."

The man then looked at the group. "Did you like the show!? It's been months since I've had contact with real people!" The four of them stared as Nu returned to normal. "Well, he's seen us. What now?" "Let's wait for a bit," Josuke said, "If he invites us over, he may be an enemy." "Ah, you might want to take a few steps back," the man said as he pointed to a toilet, "I got some... Unfinished business in the toilet. See, it collects rainwater to fill the tank. And when it's full enough, it flushes automatically."

"I don't believe he is bluffing," Nu noted, and the group retreated a bit as several pipes in the transmission tower started spewing brown fluid. "Sorry about that," the man said, "But it's great for fertilizing my herbs. I don't waste anything here." He pointed to the patches of edible flowers, some of which had snares in them. "The herbs are edible, and draw in rabbits to catch for meat." "Jeez, are you just self sufficient out here?," Josuke asked. "Sure," the man replied, "When the power company decommissioned this tower, I bought it from them for 100,000 yen. Pricey, but worth it. I have all I need out here. The setup's more complex than it looks, but it means I never have to leave. I even have the rights to the land since this is technically my house."

"Just how long have you been living out here?," Okuyasu asked. The man tapped his chin. "I think it's been... Three years now." Just then, a small photo fell on a lower part of the tower. "Hey, I think you dropped something," Josuke said. The man started coming down on a pulley. "Relax, I got it." The man had seen something odd in the photo. "I think you guys should get out of here." Just then, Josuke spotted something coming out of the photo. "Hey, that's Yoshihiro!"

He quickly ran over to grab the photo, and the man grinned. "I guess you fell for it..." Yoshihiro laughed as he flew up. "I'll leave to you from here! Make sure he never leaves!" Yoshihiro flew off and the man looked at Josuke. "My name is Toyohiro Kanedaichi. And you've just been trapped by my Stand, Superfly." Josuke looked around. "Doesn't look like much of a trap! Not when I can just run out!" But as he tried, he found himself started to get covered in metal.

"Superfly keeps whoever enters the tower's interior inside unless they can get someone to replace them," Toyohiro explained, "Trying to escape only fuses you to the tower." Josuke stumbled back as he returned to normal. "Of course, I call Superfly my Stand," Toyohiro said, "But it's actually an independent Stand. I was as much a prisoner as you are now. Not that I minded at first, but it gets boring after a while. So now, you can deal with it!" He grabbed the nearby cable with the calluses on his hands. "So long," he said.

But before he could get far on the line, he suddenly felt it go slack and readied his feet before he slammed into the side of the tower. "The hell...?" He gasped when he saw Harvest had cut the line. "If you think we're letting Josuke stay here the rest of his life," Shigechi said, "You've got another thing coming." "Damn," Toyohiro said, "And this cable isn't technically part of the tower, just connected to it, meaning Superfly can't redirect the damage."

"What's he mumbling about?," Okuyasu asked. "It sounds like anything that attacks the tower will have that energy redirected at them," Nu said. Okuyasu raised an eyebrow, but Nu pointed to his ears. "You ever see Piccolo from Dragonball Z?" "Ah, gotcha," Okuyasu said, "Then maybe it's not a good idea to try using The Hand. I don't wanna know what happens when the whole thing comes crashing down." He rubbed his chin. "But if we're gonna get Josuke out... Then we just need to keep Toyohiro in!"

"I think I can affect that," Nu said, "I just need a distraction." Toyohiro looked around, trying to find another way to bypass the group, when Harvest came up and started attacking. Toyohiro quickly moved to his pulley system. "You think attacking me can help?," he asked, "I just said this Stand is independent! So long as someone's inside when I die, it'll keep working!" "We're aware of that," came Nu's voice, "We were actually planning on using you to replace Josuke in the tower." Toyohiro gasped when Nu appeared in the pulley.

With Toyohiro caught, Josuke was able to leave. "You gotta be kidding me!," Toyohiro said, "That old man in the photo never said anything about a shapeshifter in Josuke's group!" Nu used the ropes of the pulley to tie Toyohiro up. "It looks like there's a lot you weren't told about. You see, I happen to be an alien Stand user." Toyohiro pulled a survival knife out of his calluses. "Take this!" He slashed at the cable. He then felt himself start to fall. "I'm sorry, did you think that was my body?," Nu asked, "I merely wrapped my form around the pulley."

As Toyohiro dropped he grinned. "Don't think I'm an idiot! I've been spending my every waking moment thinking of ways to escape!" Nu grimaced as he felt something strike through him. "My pulley is a part of the tower," Toyohiro explained, "So it doesn't matter if my knife didn't hit your body!" He then grabbed one of the beams. "I see," Nu said, "You tried cutting the cable at the right angle to try hitting me." Toyohiro then used his calluses to pull out more screws. "I've been practicing this for months!"

The screws wound up pinning Nu to the edge of the tower. "Don't think you're getting away!," Josuke said, "We're still here! And even if you get past us, we'll hunt you down!" Toyohiro smirked. "If you guys can't even find Yoshikage Kira, how do you expect to find me?" He revealed that he was wearing a mask by pulling up the bottom part. "I've been disguising my identity, and I gave you a fake name." "Big deal," Josuke said, "Kira tried the same, and we're still tracking him down."

He stepped inside the tower and picked up the dropped pulley cable. "Crazy Diamond!" His Stand instantly repaired the cable, dragging him up to where Toyohiro was. Toyohiro was surprised. "I'm a little surprised," Josuke said, "I would have assumed the old geezer would have told you all about our powers. I guess he was in the dark about that. And he thinks he can protect his son from us?" Toyohiro growled. "I was planning on doing this without hurting anyone, but it looks like I have no choice now!"

He leapt about as Josuke tried to hit him, grinning as he did. "Looks like your Stand only has so much range," he noted, "Meanwhile, I've been making good use of Superfly!" He showed the knife marks he made in the tower, which launched out energy bolts. Josuke scoffed as Crazy Diamond easily deflected the energy. "Don't make me laugh. Knife cuts? You should've tried taking a sledgehammer to the tower, then you might have stood a chance."

Toyohiro grinned. "Don't think you've stopped them. Those energy bolts are still bouncing around the tower like pool balls, and I'm an expert at pool." Josuke found himself having to dodge and deflect as the energy kept coming back. "Okay, you've got some good moves, but don't forget Crazy Diamond can repairs objects that it touches... And that includes the energy from the tower. And guess who's in its path!?" Toyohiro gasped as the energy came right back and struck him right in the head, causing him to pass out.

When Toyohiro woke up later, he was apologetic. "Sorry about this... In the back of my mind, I never really wanted to escape. I mean, none of my escape plans ever really worked out, so I had resigned myself to living here. The outside world is scary compared to this place." "So why try to leave again when we showed up?," Shigechi asked. "It was that old man," Toyohiro explained, "He talked me into it. Said if I trapped one of you other Stand users here, he'd make sure I was set for life."

"Did he say anything else?," Nu asked, "You mentioned his son earlier." "He only mentioned him in passing," Toyohiro said, "Something about one of the other Stand users looking for him having been dealt with. Koichi, I think his name was." "You'd better hope he was mistaken," Josuke said, "Because if his girlfriend catches wind of whoever did it, they'll have their ass on a platter." Toyohiro shrugged. "I'm only saying what I heard. He also said something about finding his son, and working on a counter-attack." The group looked shocked at that.

A simple chapter with simple changes. But hey, I resigned myself to going through every chapter in Parts 1-6 of the manga before finally getting to my original work. Hope you like it anyway.

I know I say this a lot, but I've really been looking forward to this chapter. I consider it a crowning example of what Pinkie Pie can do when push comes to shove, and just how hilarious her powers can be.

Upon learning Koichi was missing, the first thing Pinkie did was keep Yukako locked up so they'd at least have a chance of finding him without all of Morioh getting leveled. That accomplished, they then sought out Yuya, who was still in the hospital after the beating Josuke and Pinkie gave him. Thanks to his Stand Highway Star, Yuya's sense of smell had improved drastically. He was reluctant to help, but agreed after Josuke healed his injuries upfront. After taking a bit to admire his renewed beauty, and his three fangirls, he agreed to help.

Josuke and Pinkie took him out to where Koichi's bag was found. "We're sure its a new Stand user," Josuke said, "Somehow they got Koichi without any witnesses." "Listen, I'm willing to help you track him down," Yuya said, "But Highway Star's no good for fighting." "Yeah, we remember," Pinkie said, "No need to bring it up now." "I bring it up because we don't need to search very far," Yuya clarified, "The guy we're looking for is standing over there, and he's covered in Koichi's scent."

Josuke and Pinkie whirled around to see a young man a few years older than them with wild white hair and a white long coat. "Well, that was fast," Pinkie noted. The man started walking away. Josuke went over to grab him, but got a surprise when his mom popped out of nowhere, completely unconscious. "Mom!?," Josuke called out. Pinkie looked around, but the guy was nowhere to be found. "I didn't see what happened." "Me neither," Yuya admitted, "Somehow that guy swapped placed with Josuke's mother. I can still smell him nearby, though."

"Very interesting," came a voice from nowhere, "I wasn't expecting you to use Yuya's stronger sense of smell. But it works perfectly for my plan. I was intending to get caught eventually. You'll find your mother is unharmed. I never intended to keep her under the influence of my Stand long, just long enough to observe you... Josuke Higashikata." "You bastard!," Josuke said, "Come on out and face me!" "All in due time," the man's voice said, "Once my Stand Enigma has finished observing."

He chuckled. "You see Enigma works on the principle of fear. Everyone is terrified of something. About an hour ago I gained entry into your house, and set things up so Tomoko would show me her fear. Did you know when she gets frightened, she compulsively swallows? That's one's fear instinct, a habit they have when something truly terrifies them. And once I find that tell... Enigma can turn them into simple folded paper. Unfolding the paper releases them again. Earlier I was able to do the same thing to Koichi. He has a habit of blinking twice when frightened."

He smirked from his hiding place. "And you also showed me your habit, Josuke. You bite your lower lip when you're afraid. But Pinkie... What was that whole bit about your color literally draining?" "Oh, that's how people know I'm scared," Pinkie said, "Cuz I've trained myself not to show any signs of fear. Fear doesn't make a lot of people happy, after all." There was a pause. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of. But I'll find your real tell soon enough."

"How did your color just drain?," Yuya asked. "It's only happened after my Stand manifested," Pinkie clarified, "I can feel fear, but I don't like showing it." "Well, let's be cautious," Yuya said, "I'm smelling this guy coming from Josuke's mother's pocket." Josuke quickly started digging through his mom's pockets, thinking there might be something in there, but there was only a piece of paper. "Let me see that," Pinkie said, "Smile!" She opened the paper, her Stand active just in case of a trap. Sure enough, a gun popped out of the paper, but only created cartoon smoke that covered Pinkie in soot. She gave a sooty cough that got Josuke and Yuya giggling.

"Hey, stop that!," the man said, "I can't make them scared if they're laughing!" Pinkie grinned. "Exactly. You deal in fear, I deal in laughter." The man growled as the paper flew past a lamppost, the man reappearing. "Well, this is going to be difficult. Enigma has a pretty simple power. It can file things away on paper, perfectly preserved." He got out another piece of paper. "This for instance is some hot ramen preserved after buying it from the local restaurant. If I unfold it, it will still be hot and I can enjoy it anytime. But if the paper should rip..." He ripped the paper, causing the ramen bowl inside to break and the ramen to spill everywhere.

"I'm sorry, who are you again?," Pinkie said, "I find it odd that I've never seen you before." "I like to live in seclusion," the man said, "Just observing people's fears in secret. My name is Terunosuke Miyamoto." He produced another paper with Koichi's name written on it. "And this boy, I believe you know. He's alive, of course. My Stand is useless for attacking. But if something were to happen to the paper... Well, you just observed." Josuke immediately sent Crazy Diamond to attack, but Terunosuke just ducked behind the lamppost again, the paper flying in the path of an oncoming truck.

As Pinkie rushed for it, Josuke wound up biting his lip. "There it is," Terunosuke said, "Now I have you." Crazy Diamond tried to attack, but Josuke gasped as he saw himself getting sealed up when a blue humanoid covered in question marks appeared. Quickly he had his Stand grab a nearby pole. "It's useless," Terunosuke said, "No Stand power can stop this process." He then gasped when Crazy Diamond repaired the pole. "Y'know," Josuke said, "I'm willing to bet that wasn't Koichi Pinkie went to save. Why would you go killing off your hostage when you don't even know, or at least think you don't know, Pinkie's tell?"

He grinned. "I'm betting she knows it too. But she went for it anyway, because... What if we're wrong? There's no way we wouldn't, right? You may win this round, but there's still Pinkie to deal with. And as long as you can't accept that she's already shown her tell, you won't get her." As Josuke finished getting sealed, Terunosuke scoffed. "That's just her Stand hiding her tell. But I can't risk staying here. Her toon world is strong, stronger than I can handle." He turned to Yuya. "You were smart not to get involved. I already figured out your tell. You touch your chin when you get nervous."

Yuya gasped, as Terunosuke pulled a taxi out of another piece of paper. As he got in, he said, "Morioh Grand Hotel." The driver was confused at first, but drove anyway. "I don't think so," came Yuya's voice. 'Breaker, breaker one-niner,' came Pinkie's voice over the dispatch, 'Your passenger is holding two hostages. Will now proceed to apply pie maneuver.' Terunosuke blinked. "Doesn't she mean pit maneuver?" "I know what I said," came Pinkie's voice as she appeared running alongside the cab, Highway Star on the other side.

"That wasn't a smart move," Terunosuke noted. "Like I care!," Yuya said through Highway Star, "When I heard Josuke's words, I thought to myself, 'What if it was one of my girls that was held hostage?' And I realized I'd do the same exact thing, even if it was a trap!" He grabbed the paper holding Josuke. "And unlike Pinkie and Josuke, I can sniff out where they are, so false writing won't trick me!" He sniffed again. "What is that, blackberry?" Terunosuke whipped his head around to see Pinkie holding a pie. "She wouldn't..."

Pinkie grinned. "He don't know me very well, do he?" Terunosuke groaned as the pie hit his face. "I hate blackberry..." He growled and slammed the door on Highway Star. "Don't worry," Pinkie said over a two-way she pulled out, "You're tuned into my toon world, so Highway Star can move faster than normal." 'Got it,' Yuya said, 'I'm guessing anyone who opens the paper can release what's inside. That's why the gun from earlier popped out, even though it wasn't Terunosuke who opened it.'

Just then, the taxi stopped and Terunosuke disappeared inside it. Pinkie looked inside. "So he's folded up Josuke and Koichi in a bunch of traps." Smile started by grabbing a paper in the door as Yuya came over. Smile kept removing paper after paper, loosing all kinds of things, including fire and electricity somehow. The last thing, however, was a paper shredder, which wound up sucking in the two papers containing Josuke and Koichi. Yuya wound up touching his chin at this point, and Terunosuke appeared. "And there is it."

Enigma showed up and started turning Yuya into paper. "There's just you left," Terunosuke said to Pinkie. Pinkie just grinned. "You still don't get it, do you? I've already shown you my tell, but you refuse to believe it because it's too wacky. If you'd looked at Yuya's face, you'd know he wasn't really scared." Terunosuke gasped as Yuya reached into the shredder by extending Highway Star via its splitting power, now that it was thin enough to reach into the shredder and grab Josuke and Koichi. "No, don't open it!," Terunosuke called out.

But as he grabbed for the paper, Crazy Diamond punched him right in the mouth. "If it means saving those two," Yuya said, "Then I wouldn't mind losing." Meanwhile, Josuke and Koichi were set loose. "Man, Yuya," Josuke said, "Why'd you gotta upstage me like that?" He smiled as Pinkie hugged him. "Now, about you, Terunosuke." Terunosuke quickly grabbed Yuya's paper. "S-Stay back, or I'll..." But before he could even make a threat, Echoes used its Act 3 form to make the paper too heavy to even lift, much less rip.

"I really hate guys like you," Josuke said, "Guys who like to hide behind hostages. That sort of thing just pisses me off." Terunosuke dropped the paper and back up. "H-Hey now, let's not do anything hasty. I just like observing people when they're scared. Trying to master my Stand, you know? I just got a little carried away." "Pinkie?," Josuke said. Pinkie produced another pie and gave it a couple light tosses. "If I dood it, I get a whippin'." She looked at Terunosuke, her eyebrows wiggling. "I dood it!" She slammed the pie into Terunosuke's face.

"I thought I noticed something about you," Josuke said when Terunosuke winced at the incoming pie, "Did you know that when you're afraid you squint in one eye?" Sure enough, every time Terunosuke had been freaked out by Josuke or Pinkie, his eye had been squinting. Crazy Diamond made to punch Terunosuke. "And when you're really scared," Josuke said, "You squint with both eyes." Crazy Diamond slammed Terunosuke into the shredder and started merging him with the paper.

"DORARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARA!" "Now you'll be able to observe all you want," Josuke noted as Koichi released Yuya, "But you won't be able to touch." Terunosuke gasped as he realized he had been turned into a book. Josuke donated the book, titled "Enigma", to the Morioh Library, but never read the contents. It turned out the words were nonsense, but people who read it thought there was some hidden meaning to it. The library would gladly bring it if asked, but because it was one of a kind they wouldn't lend it out. Terunosuke's voice is still sometimes heard groaning from within the book, and people mistake it for the ghost of the library's founder.

Let's check in with Kira and his growing paranoia for a chapter, shall we?

Kira frowned as he looked at his nails while on the train. Lately his fingernails had been growing at a rapid pace. He saw plenty of women that begged for his attention, but he had to hold back. In all likelihood, Jotaro and the others were keeping an eye on the missing persons reports. One tiny slip-up and his enemies would be all over him. He wasn't confident that he could escape a second time. If Jotaro's Star Platinum was any indication of the strength the other Stand user possessed, then Killer Queen was grossly overmatched.

'I need to wait until I've seamlessly blended into Takashi Yamashita's life. Any deviation from that will tip them off. It's dangerous enough that I live next door to one of them.' He always had this nagging feeling that Kosaku could watch his every move. He'd gotten a quick glance at Takashi, and there was always the chance that Kosaku could recognize him. But trying to erase a Stand user had gotten him in trouble once already. 'I'll check up on Takashi's bank accounts. It may be a good idea to consider moving.'

He grimaced as one gossiping woman wound up with her bag on his knee. He shoved it aside, getting her attention, but she only seemed annoyed. As the train pulled into Morioh, Kira made to step off, only for the woman and her new boy-toy to rush over to the door. "Come on, man!," the guy said, "Can't you exit the fucking train properly?" Kira simply picked up his bag and his bowling pin-style nail clippers, which he overheard the couple call lame. He noticed his nails were growing again. 'I think it might be worth just one, to take the edge off.'

The girl and her lover were shocked when Kira wound up following them to their apartment and sneaking in as they opened the door. "Hey, you can't barge in like that!," the guy said. Kira simply touched him with Killer Queen and he blew up in an instant. He then closed the door. "My name is Yoshikage Kira," he said to the woman, "Yours?" The woman was scared stiff. He couldn't help but be reminded of that one woman and her soldier husband. The difference was he wasn't injured and didn't have to leave immediately to seek medical attention.

He showed his nails. "My nails have grown out recently. They're quite long. Do you know the best way to keep them from growing?" He shrugged. "Truth be told there isn't one. From the moment we're born, hair and nails grow continuously. It's a lifelong inconvenience." The woman was sweating hard. "Wh-What did you do to my boyfriend?" Kira placed a finger on her forehead. "Ah, ah. I asked you a question first. I said... What is your name!?" "M-Minako!," the woman blurted out.

"Lovely name," Kira said. He tossed her the clippers. "I'd like to ask a favor. Would you use my 'lame' clippers to cut my nails down? Try not to cut too deep. As Minako got to work, she said, "P-Please don't hurt me..." Kira gave a cruel smile. "You seem to be under a misunderstanding. This is just a hobby of mine, which I singled you out to share with. It's something I've done since I was a young boy." He pushed back Minako's hair once she finished. "I believe I overheard you wanting some earrings from your boyfriend. He left some for you."

The woman gasped when Kira hung her boyfriend's severed ears, with the earrings attached, to her own. Kira inspected his nails. "You do good work. I like you." He held her hand, and Killer Queen did its work, leaving only the woman's hand behind. "But I think I like you better quiet. There are other women who's voices I much prefer." Right behind him, Riku was filming the entire thing using Party in the CIA. He quickly exited without making a sound and contacted Hayato on the two-way. "Tell me you got all that." 'Every second,' Hayato replied, 'Now I'm positive this is who Dad and the others are looking for.'

Kira walked out of the apartment and his eyes widened when he saw Riku running out with a camcorder. He then realized the door wasn't properly locked. He pulled out the hand and had Killer Queen destroy it. "Could he have seen this?" He headed back to the Yamashita residence and looked around, but there was no trace of the camcorder or any other surveillance equipment. Of course, Riku had first returned Hayato's Stand to him. "There's no way he could be keeping tabs on me with just a camcorder. He was crafty enough to hide the fact that he skipped school the day after I brought in Stray Cat. He'd need an entire network throughout the house." He then saw the nearby window into Hayato's room in the attic. "Or someone's else..."

Kosaku answered the door when it rang. There was the man he assumed to be Kira, if Hayato's footage was anything to go by. "Hello there," he said calmly, "You're from next door, right?" "Yes, Takashi Yamashita," Kira said, hoping that alone would keep up the charade, "Tell me, has your son been in contact with mine, by any chance?" Kosaku leaned against the door frame and folded his arms. "Your son is... Riku, right? Bright boy. He and Hayato became fast friends recently. The look on Shinobu's face when she found out..."

'They have been in contact,' Kira realized, 'The question is, did Hayato bug my house?' "It's just I saw my son far away from his school where I was running an errand... Holding a camcorder." "What, you didn't hear?," Kosaku said, "There's a school project up. A video tour around Morioh. Riku may have picked the same location you were in by coincidence." Kira rubbed his chin. It was true that such an assignment existed, but it was still too much of a coincidence for him. But if he pressed any further in that regard he would look suspicious. He decided to try a different route.

"Has your son ever been to my house at any point?," Kira asked. "I think you or your wife would know if he had," Kosaku replied, "If you're thinking he might have bugged your house or something silly, he only does that with my house." "I see," Kira said. It was clear he wouldn't get any information and walked off. "I'm sorry to bother you, but I prefer a quiet life." "That's fine," Kosaku said, "As long as you're not killing anyone." He grinned as Kira froze up and looked at him, Under Pressure appearing. 'He knows!,' Kira realized, 'Somehow those kids found out and told him!'

Okay, first I should clarify something. I gave a comment earlier about alterations in the timeline. When you get down to it, that's the source of an alternate timeline. So no, nothing caused the canon universe to change. It's all about multiverse theory.

That said, I decided to have this showcase how broken Pinkie Pie is personally, rather than when using her Stand. Hope you enjoy the hilarity.

With all the Stand powers that had been going around recently, Rohan decided it was a good idea to renovate his house in order to avoid further damage. In the meantime, he was checking the photos he took. He then noticed one of them had a boy holding a camcorder, and realized it had to be Riku, whom Kosaku's son had mentioned. He decided to contact him later. Just then he heard his doorbell. He looked out the window and saw a man standing there, leaning against the post of his front porch.

'I've never seen him before,' he thought. Rohan put the pictures aside and looked out the peephole of his front door. "Who is it?" The man leaned over but didn't leave his spot. "Hi, we talked on the phone earlier. I'm Masazo Kinoto, the realtor?" Rohan remembered that name. He was the one who was to come over to give an estimate on the remodeling. "Right, I nearly forgot that appointment was today," he said as he opened the door, "If you don't mind, I need to see a business card or ID first."

"Uh, yeah sure," Kinoto said as he dug through his pockets. As he did, Rohan activated Heaven's Door to take a peek at this man. "Sorry about this, but it's become a habit with all the enemies my allies and I have." He read through the pages. "Hmm... Well he is who is says he is. Job's legit, age is about right." He chuckled. "Trying to cheat me out of money, huh? Nice try. Wait, what's this?" One of the pages noted that Kinoto had an aversion to people seeing his back. "Well that explains his odd posture. People have the weirdest phobias these days."

He leafed through until the pages got blank, showing there were no more memories deeper in. "Well, he's not a Stand user. Or at least he doesn't know what a Stand is. Just in case I'll write down that he can't hurt me or any of my allies." He returned Kinoto to normal and headed back for the door. "Alright, c'mon in." Kinoto looked confused. "Um... I thought you needed my ID." "Nah, it's fine," Rohan said. "Oh," Kinoto replied, "Um, would you mind going in first and I'll just follow you?"

Rohan shrugged. "Sure." He entered the house, and noticed Kinoto was following in such a way that his back was kept to the wall. 'Oh my god, he really is afraid of people seeing his back.' Kinoto closed the door. "Okay, after you." Rohan noticed he was standing near the mirror with his back to it. Kinoto must have also realized it, because he quickly sidled over to the other side of the door. "Is there," Rohan said, "Something wrong with your back?" "No, no," Kinoto insisted, "I just prefer having something solid behind me."

'Golgo 13 anyone?,' Rohan thought to himself, 'Well, if he's not an enemy I don't care what weird habits he has. I mean, I'm certainly in no position to question them.' As they ran over the numbers, Rohan wound up dropping his pen near Kinoto, who literally flattened himself face-up on the floor to retrieve it. "So, if there's nothing wrong with you," Rohan said, "Then what's wrong with showing your back?" Kinoto shrugged. "Dunno... I've just never done it before." Now Rohan's curiosity was peaked.

Pinkie soon arrived at the house after Rohan called her. "So what's up?" "Under attack," Rohan said, his back in a corner and his ears covered, "New Stand. It's..." "It's a Stand that attaches to your back and was technically the Stand of the architect you contacted who had no idea and thought its whisperings were some sort of phobia and if anyone sees your back then it'll kill you and latch onto that person and now it's trying to get you to burn all your photos and will likely try to kill you once you've given in." She grinned.

Rohan blinked, his jaw having dropped. "And its name is Cheap Trick. How did you figure the rest out?" "Just a hunch," Pinkie said with a grin, "So where's the last guy's corpse?" "His name was Masazo Kinoto," Rohan said, "What's left of him should be on the third floor." Pinkie walked up and gasped. "Rohan you should see this guy! His back's open like a compartment and he's shrunk down to the size of a fetus! And no I am not even kidding!" "Personally I'm more surprised that she's even able to believe you," Cheap Trick said behind Rohan back. Rohan smirked. "I've long learned not to question Pinkie Pie." Pinkie proved his point by plugging his ears with some ACME Industrial Mufflers.

"So if this Stand wants you to burn the photos, then clearly there's something important in them... It must work for Yoshihiro!" She popped out her eyes with Smile's power. "Okay, I got an idea. I'm technically blind now so you can turn around." Rohan grinned. "I knew I could count on you, Pinkie." "Oh you gotta be kidding me!," Cheap Trick called out, "There's no way her Stand can-- What's that?" Pinkie had produced a special cartoon blanket that was designed to muffle and cover anything. She moved her eye across Rohan's back with no effect. "Is... Is she looking at me?," Cheap Trick asked, "I feel like she's looking at me but I can't see for certain."

He then got the sensation that they were moving. 'Now where are we going?,' Cheap Trick thought, 'They couldn't be taking me to Jotaro, could they? Well they're about to get a hard lesson. Since I'm hanging onto Rohan with my ability, anything they try will just rip Rohan's back right off. Even a Stand as powerful as Pinkie's couldn't do it.' "We're here," Pinkie said as she removed the blanket. Cheap Trick chuckled as he was looking right at her. "Well now you've slipped up. Taking off the blanket before you got Jotaro. Even if the blanket was invisible to everyone, it could still let them see Rohan's back without issue because I couldn't see who was looking. But now you've looked."

"And you need to look where you are," Pinkie said. Cheap Trick looked around. "Wait a minute... This is nowhere near the Grand Hotel." Rohan chuckled. "Exactly. And you just turned around. You see, in this alley, turning around spells doom." Pinkie grinned as a dark hole appeared behind Cheap Trick and Rohan. Ghostly hands phased through her, grabbing Cheap Trick and pulling him away harmlessly from Rohan. "This is the Ghost Alley," Rohan explained, "Those who look behind them when leaving have their soul removed. You may have latched onto me to make me your new user, but those hands can remove you without harming me. And since I still have Heaven's Door, I lose nothing."

"No! Let me go!," Cheap Trick pleaded, "Where are you trying to take me!?" "Hmm...," Pinkie wondered, "Was it Heaven or Hell?" "Personally I couldn't say if either exist," Rohan admitted as Heaven's Door appeared in front of Cheap Trick, "But let's do this just in case." Heaven's Door wrote that Cheap Trick would be sent to Hell. The diabolical Stand wailed in agony as it was pulled inside the dark hole. Once Rohan and Pinkie were safely out of the alley, they breathed a sigh of relief.

"What's going on here?," Reimi said as she approached, "When I heard the ghosts appear I feared the worst, but you two seem alright." "We made use of the alley to remove a troublesome foe," Rohan explained, "Someone that could only be defeated using the unique properties of the Ghost Alley." Reimi looked at the photos Rohan had. "This boy... There's a person in the picture with the same family name who meets the parameters you set. Takashi Yamashita." "Looks like it all fits," Rohan said, "The evidence is mounting. I think it's only a matter of time before Kira is dealt with once and for all."

At this point I want to clarify something important. Pinkie's Smile lets her do everything cartoons can do. So why can she counter almost any other Stand power? Because of one of the biggest powers a cartoon can have, and one her pony version specializes in... Breaking the Fourth Wall. Keep in this mind as we move on to this chapter.

And yes I think the only power that could truly counter Smile would be Gold Experience Requiem.

During the time when Pinkie and Rohan were dealing with Cheap Trick, Yoshihiro finally made contact with his son. To his surprise, he had wound up killing Riku. "You idiot!," Yoshihiro said, "Do you realize you may have sent warning bells to whoever he was in contact with!?" Kira looked tense. "He... He set me off. Bragged about his friend who could look in on me at any time." "It's the worse possible time too," Yoshihiro said, "They're starting to piece together that you replaced Takashi Yamashita. With all this evidence mounting... Even the police will be too much for you to handle with an actual body on your hands."

Kira was biting his nails, his way of holding back tears. "What am I going to do Father? I'd finally achieved the peaceful life I always sought. Hell, I finally found a woman I could actually love! She just told me... That she's become pregnant..." Yoshihiro gasped. "You may be using Takashi's face, but your body is still your own... That means... I'm going to become a grandfather..." Kira grabbed the edged of his father's photo. "What can we do!? What more can we do!? I cannot leave this town!"

He then realized that something was happening with his arm. He gasped when he realized the arrow had punctured his hand and was now going into his arm. "You... You had it..." "I was trying to make more Stand users to defeat Josuke's group," Yoshihiro admitted, "But this is something I never imagined was possible. You're already a Stand user. What more can the arrow give you?" Kira was struck as the arrow moved through his arm and hit him in the head. As he did, he felt something new occur.

"The hell's going on?," Pinkie asked. It was morning, but she couldn't remember falling asleep. More to the point, somehow the date hadn't changed. 'My toon world is still active. I had it active as we exited Reimi's alley. And for some reason... I can't take it down.' She contacted all her friends to let them know. "Okay, I can still tune people in and out. But somehow I've lived through two whole days, and yet only one has passed." She then remember that she and Rohan were going to check on Riku.

Rohan and Pinkie caught up with Riku, looking uncharacteristically nervous. Getting a bad feeling, Rohan used Heaven's Door to read him. As he looked through the pages, he came upon something weird. "It's... A warning not to read any further." "Has this ever happened before?," Pinkie asked. "It's not supposed to," Rohan noted, "Is your toon world still up?" "It hasn't dropped," Pinkie replied, "In fact, I can't seem to drop it." As Rohan read, strange things happened. Somehow, Riku had memories of events that were happening right in front of them.

"Yeah, I remember it raining yesterday," Pinkie said. "Yesterday the skies were clear," Rohan pointed out. "From your perspective," Pinkie argued, "But when my toon world wouldn't go down, it came with all kinds of weird memories of things that shouldn't have already happened." Eventually, they got to page where it mentioned that Riku's dad had been replaced by Kira, but then underneath was an odd page, predicting the death of both of them. Rohan saw a tiny version of Killer Queen. "Killer Queen's third bomb," it said, "Bites the Dust!"

Something clicked, and an explosion of smoke occurred. "This bomb will annihilate anyone who looks for me," Kira said through Bites the Dust, "And will activate on anyone who approaches Riku in an attempt to find me. If Riku reveals my identity to anyone, or writes it down, it will activate then and there." "What was that about annihilating?," Pinkie asked. Killer Queen looked surprised, as Rohan and Pinkie were merely covered in soot. "Your Stand was active?" "It's been active," Pinkie said, "In fact, I haven't been able to deactivate it for a while."

"How fortunate for you," Killer Queen said, "Looks like fate will be kind. But now Bites the Dust's true power will activate." To the duo's shock, they got sucked into some sort of wormhole. Pinkie wound up waking up back in her room. She could feel her Stand active, and called all her friends again just in case. She saved Rohan for last. There was something she wanted to know. 'Yeah, I remember everything,' Rohan said, 'Looks like Kira's gained a new power. He can rewind a portion of time.' "And Smile not only kept us alive," Pinkie realized, "But also let us remember the previous loop."

'We need to find Riku,' Rohan said, 'If he realized this he may try to avoid us.' "All the others know my toon world is spread across Morioh and we're all tuned in," Pinkie said, "Let's hope Bites the Dust doesn't have any more nasty surprises." They headed to the normal meeting spot. "I think it was right around now that the loop started," Rohan said. In that instant, the same explosion occurred, but Pinkie's Stand protected them as they coughed at the soot.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?," came a voice from nearby, "JUST HOW BROKEN IS THAT STAND!?" They turned their heads as the sound of running was heard, and a tearful Riku came out. "You're... You're still alive somehow..." "Yo," Josuke said, "We heard an explosion of some kind. Good thing your Stand's active, Pinkie. Looks like it was a doozy." "I knew I felt funny this morning," Pinkie said. Pinkie explained what was happening to the others. Earlier Riku had been feeling despair. Kira's new ability seemed invincible. But from what Pinkie was saying, her power was nearly infallible, since it ran on cartoon logic and only had a few weaknesses. The thought of it made Riku smile.

He immediately blurted out what he knew without fear. Sure enough, the same thing happened. Jotaro, Koichi, Josuke, and Okuyasu all got caught in a cartoon explosion, covered in soot but unharmed. And that's when things started going backward. When Riku found himself back in his bedroom, he couldn't help but smile. He got his usual call and spoke with Hayato, the same one he had before but never answered. Kira caught his little smile. 'Something's off. It's like he knows something I don't...'

He carefully followed Riku. He saw Rohan and Pinkie get out from a nearby car. Pinkie seemed to be looking around. Kira gasped when she was looking right him. She got out a two-way. "Found him! Mark now!" Kira suddenly felt himself suffocating. "What... What the hell...?" "You thought you power was invincible," Riku said, "But fate means nothing to a cartoon." Kira's eyes widened, as he saw Kosaku come up from behind him. "Pinkie's called several times so far," he explained, "Or at least that's what she says. And all things considered I'm inclined to believe her."

"The game's up Kira," Josuke said, "We have you once again." "Damn it...," Kira said, "It not only keeps her alive, it preserves the memories of those who lose them? How does such an overpowered Stand exist?" "A Stand is the manifestation of one's willpower," Pinkie explained, "My will is to make all those around me happier by taking away what bad things I can. That much will combined with a positive outlook? It's only fitting Smile would be super strong." Smile went to punch Kira, who quickly retrieved Killer Queen, deactivating Bites the Dust.

"Damn you all," Kira said, "I only wanted a tranquil life... Just a vegetative soul." "It's overrated," Kosaku retorted, "Such a life has only brought me misery." Kira stood up. "Regardless, you all are in the way of my tranquility." "And for good reason," Josuke said, "You've killed a lot of people Kira, and caused a lot of misery. Someone like you... Doesn't deserve a tranquil life!" Crazy Diamond punched Killer Queen, knocking Kira into the wall. Just then, something shot out from it, which Okuyasu drew in using The Hand. However, it exploded against him, knocking him back.

"What was that!?," Pinkie asked. "I was getting concerned when Riku smiled like nothing was wrong," Kira explained, "So I brought a little something extra." Killer Queen opened its stomach to reveal Stray Cat. "Luck is still on my side. It looks like he'll survive, though. That toon world is still active. But now I've learned something interesting. Enough damage can still knock someone within the toon world unconscious." "Damn you Kira!," Josuke said, "Don't think your luck will hold indefinitely!"

I'll admit I got the idea for the title of this chapter from the opening theme for Tokyo Ghoul, but given the themes of Diamond is Unbreakable I still think it fits. I also wanted to show this next part from Kira's point of view rather than Josuke's, since other than replacing Hayato with Riku the scene in the house is unchanged.

Kira fired off a few more shots, sending most of the Stand users scrambling. Josuke, however, merely used Crazy Diamond to kick up a wall made from the bricks in the sidewalk. "That distortion... Looks like your new friend can control air. So you're making bombs from the air itself now." "Normally impossible, even for Killer Queen," Kira admitted, "But with Stray Cat's power, which I have raised, it's power adds to mine to make a powerful long range attack."

He fired off another shot, this one passing through the cracks in the slab. Josuke put his guard up and the bomb impacted against him, sending him flying. "A tiny misconception you made," Kira noted, "This is no contact bomb. I can set it off anytime I want. And Stray Cat can control the power at my will." Killer Queen made to attack. "This is your end, Josuke!" Another shot fired, but Josuke grinned as he ran right at it, the bomb passing by harmlessly as he got near Kira, decking him in the face. The bomb went off behind him.

"Not bad," Kira said, "But you only gave me room to fire another shot." The blast impacted right in front of Josuke, knocking him back several feet. "We need to get out of here!," Riku said, "My house should be empty right now!" "You won't go anywhere," Kira said firing another bullet. Josuke grinned as Crazy Diamond took something red from his face. "Huh...?," Riku said, "When did you get injured?" "Take a look over there," Josuke said, pointing. Pinkie was nearby, barely conscious. "Right now her toon world is in flux," Josuke said, "It's still protecting her, but we're phasing in and out. I still don't take lethal damage, but I can get injured."

Crazy Diamond flung the blood to cut through the air bullet slicing it in two. "I see," Kira said, "She does have her limits after all. That's some remarkable durability. That said, you haven't escaped my bomb. It may be made by Stray Cat's air, but Killer Queen stabilizes it. There's no way to dispel it." Josuke grinned. "Now who made the misconception? I was never intending to break the bomb." He suddenly lifted up and out of the bomb's trajectory. "But how...?," Kira asked. He then saw pieces of rubble coming out of Josuke's wounds.

"Crazy Diamond can't heal me," Josuke said, "But it can heal those around me. And it can affect anything on me that's not part of my body." He and Riku ran into the house. Kira narrowed his eyes. "That power... It's so fast. If he could catch someone while they were being erased by Killer Queen... He could likely undo that. I thought Pinkie's Stand was my greatest threat because it could prevent me from erasing people. But now it seems Josuke is even more of a threat, since he can undo the erasure. This will be risky. If she recovers, I'm finished. I need to do this quickly. But first thing's first... I need to buy time."

He made a quick call to Takashi's boss. Said boss was willing to give him sick leave, relieving Kira. "Now... What to do next? My air bombs will be useless in the confines of the house. Riku's friend Hayato can apparently view inside to warn them of my presence, and my experience with Jotaro tells me taking on Josuke in a straight fight is right out anyway. If I knew where he was, I could send an air bullet to strike him through the window from outside..." He then got a call on his phone. "Hello?" His eyes widened. "Father! Where are you?" He grinned. "I see..."

He created another air bomb and sent it into the house. "Right... Now!" He clicked the trigger and heard the explosion. "Did I get him?" 'Yes, but not directly,' Yoshihiro said over the phone, 'And he fired something just before the impact.' Kira saw it coming and deflected the glass shot with Killer Queen. He prepared another shot, then got a surprise when something struck him in the back. "What happened...!?" 'Yoshikage, are you alright!?,' Yoshihiro called out. Kira grabbed the phone he dropped and hid behind the wall to the house.

"Something struck me...," he said, "I think it was a piece of glass..." 'That bastard Josuke played a trick!,' Yoshihiro said, 'He used some of his dried blood!' Kira's eyes widened. Once that blood was dried it was just another object. 'He's still on the ground,' Yoshihiro said, 'And he looks pretty damaged. A well placed shot at this point would end him. Just be sure to follow my every direction.' "Right," Kira said. He prepared another air bullet. "This one will do it for sure."

Unfortunately, fate was about to reveal its hand to Kira. Josuke had spotted Kira dropping the cell phone, and realized how he must have been tracking Josuke's every move. He got out his lighter and held it up to Riku's vest. As the air bomb came in, Yoshihiro popped out of the vest pocket, screaming in pain from the heat. "I nearly forgot about you, old man in the photo." Crazy Diamond grabbed the phone from him. "I think you've protected your serial killer son long enough."

The bomb brushed against Josuke, but didn't go off. Josuke spoke into the phone in a raspy voice. "Josuke's running three meters forward." He grinned as the bomb passed by him harmlessly. "Now... Diagonally up and right three meters." Yoshihiro gasped as he realized the bomb was coming right for him. As he tried to run for it, he cried out, "You bastard! What do you think you're doing!?" The bomb was right on top of him as Josuke gave the signal. "Yoshikage...!," Yoshihiro called out as his photo, and him along with it, was destroyed by his own son.

"Got him this time!," Kira said, "Josuke's been blown to pieces, right?" 'Yeah,' came Josuke's voice, shocking him, 'There's not a scrap of him left. Congratulations Kira, I've tricked you into killing your old man. Then again, he was already dead to begin with, so it's more accurate to say he finally passed on.' Kira began reeling. He'd been tricked. And the realization sunk in, he felt something hit him in the back of the head. When he felt it, his eyes opened wide. 'Pie filling...'

He turned around, and saw Pinkie had gotten back on her feet. "Of course you realize," she said, "This means war!" Kira growled. "Don't think this is over. Somehow, someway, fate will always find a way for me to get out." "Not this time," Josuke said as he emerged, "You're now within the effective range of my Stand." Kira growled. "Killer Queen!" "Crazy Diamond!" Killer Queen got hit first, receiving a punch right to his head. Kira reeled back and tried to counter-attack, only to get Killer Queen's arms broken. Josuke made another attack, but when he went for the stomach, Stray Cat activated and used an air shield to protect Killer Queen.

'This is my chance!,' Kira realized, and activated another bomb, this one a contact. However, just as it reached Josuke, it veered away. "What!? Even now fate turns away!?" "You got that right," came Okuyasu's voice. Kira turned to see him fully recovered. "Pinkie actually recovered a while ago," Okuyasu explained, "But she needed to take the time to resuscitate the rest of us." As the bomb drew near him, he readied The Hand. "I've always wondered where the things The Hand erases goes," he said as The Hand negated the air bomb with a swipe of its hand, "But I'm not too smart, so thinking too hard on it gives me a headache."

He chuckled. "Y'know, I saw my Bro when I was out. It's like I passed him in the darkness. He asked me where I was going. I said... I have friends to help. He just smiled, and said he was proud at how much I'd grown." Kira was raging now. "This cannot be possible! Fate is meant to be with Yoshikage Kira! That's how it's always worked! Stray Cat, another air bomb!" As Killer Queen opened its stomach to reveal Stray Cat, The Hand swiped at the air and pulled the flower feline out, Okuyasu grabbing it. He quickly calmed the feral plant down, Kira shocked at what he was seeing.

Kira was overwhelmed. Not only was fate turning against him, but he was surrounded by Stand users he had no chance against physically. Even worse, people were being drawn to the commotion. "This is some dream... This has to all be a dream... There's no way I'd ever get cornered... It has to be a dream..." He then saw a female nurse approaching. 'This nurse... I can use her... Even if they remember, Bites the Dust can buy me time...' But when he grasped the woman's hand, he got distracted.

"Your hands," he said, "They remind me of the Mona Lisa. I saw a sketch of it in an art book... I found myself aroused by them. I cut out that part and hid it. My name is Yoshikage Kira, and now you know my biggest secret." He saw Jotaro running at him. 'Bites the Dust was made so I wouldn't have to encounter him. But when he gets close, I'll detonate it. Then I can make my escape.' Killer Queen made to press the detonator that would reactivate his hidden power. This was his ultimate luck.

These next three chapters were kinda short, the last three chapters in the Diamond is Unbreakable arc. And for this one I kinda had to wax poetical to make the one-thousand word quota I set myself. So to make up for that, I'll be temporarily breaking my usual posting schedule and posting all three on the same day. Hope you don't mind.

Kira found himself in the middle of an alley. He grinned. "I did it! I managed to activate Bites the Dust!" This was his moment. He had managed to beat all his rivals. He was so happy he started laughing. "To think they nearly had me. But fate once again favors me." He then realized something. "Although... For some reason I remember setting it off. That shouldn't be possible. And I'm nowhere near where I was an hour ago." He rubbed the back of his head, and felt it was sticky.

As he was wondering what was going on, a passing bird flew right through him. "What was that!? It looked like that bird flew close to me. I've never seen birds get so close to a human." He looked around. "And I don't recognize this place. I should be on my way to work, instead I'm in some random alleyway. What time is it?" He saw his watch was missing. "Come to think of it, during the last loop I spilled some coffee and got a burn, so I put the watch in my front pocket. Then it got broken when Josuke hit me with that glass shard. But it should be fixed now."

He pulled out the watch and gasped. The watch was still broken, and at the exact time Kira had been struck. "That's impossible! I know I activated Bites the Dust! So why is my watch still broken!?" "You don't know, do you?," Reimi said as she approached. He turned around. He was confused as to who this woman was. "Looks like Little Rohan and the others found you in your disguise as Takashi Yamashita," Reimi said, "And drove you into a corner."

"Who are you?," Kira asked. Reimi smirked. "I'm not surprised you don't remember. It's been fifteen years, after all, and in that time you've claimed many more victims. I wouldn't expect you to remember everyone you killed. But more importantly, you've experienced something so shocking, it's impossible for you to imagine." She grinned. "You see, Yoshikage Kira... You're already dead." Kira's eyes widened. "What!? That's impossible!"

"See for yourself," Reimi said, as she passed her hand through Kira's body, shocking him to his core. "But how...? I know activated Bites the Dust... It should have protected me..." "It would be inconceivable for you to believe fate could turn against you," Reimi noted, "So in your delusion you believed you had saved yourself. But allow me to show you something. The memories locked deep within your mind... The memories of your death!" Kira gasped as the memories flooded back to him. Those horrifying final moments that he had blocked out under the belief that they had all been a horrible dream.

Kira had been preparing to turn the nurse into his new catalyst for Bites the Dust. Unlike Riku, she'd have no idea to stop telling people who he was, and he didn't have to tell her his secrets. Yes Pinkie's Stand would protect them, but the point was to buy time to escape. There was no choice anymore. Leaving Morioh was his only option left to maintain a quiet life. Jotaro ran toward him. Even if he stopped time from that distance, time would likely start again before he got too far.

"This is it!," Kira said, "You've hit your limit!" But before he could push the detonator, Killer Queen's hand suddenly became heavier. Kira gasped, seeing Echoes Act 3 nearby. "Act 3! 3 Freeze!," it called out, "He's now within five meters! S-H-I-T!" Kira grabbed his wrist. "Damn you, you little shits! I'm not done yet!" He tried to lift his hand enough to lift the detonator. But too late. "Star Platinum, THE WORLD!" Jotaro breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks Koichi," he said, "You're a reliable guy."

He saw Pinkie still moving thanks to her own Stand and smirked. "Gimme a break... Let me guess, you want payback?" "This man killed my father," Pinkie said, "And sent my mother into a panic she still hasn't fully recovered from. So long as he's in Morioh, there can be no smiles. Jotaro, please. Let me be the one to finish him." Jotaro smirked. "Sure, one thing first." Star Platinum broke Killer Queen's hand. "It'd be worthless if he could still somehow press that switch."

Pinkie smiled. She thought about all the friends she made since this adventure began. Josuke, Koichi, Jotaro, Fluttershy, Jolyne, Okuyasu, Yukako, Kakyoin, Joseph, Rohan, Yuya, Nu, Shigechi, Tonio, Aya. 'For the sake of my friends... For the sake of my family... For the sake of all people who will never find peace because none but us know they are dead.' Smile emerged. 'This man... Who takes smiles away just because he wants to... I WILL NEVER FORGIVE HIM!' "SMILE!" "WARAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAIRAI!"

Kira started to remember. It all happened in a flash. 'That girl... The one who could control the toon world. I vaguely saw her there. But... That wouldn't have killed me. There's no way they would kill me, they couldn't justify it. There's something I'm missing... But what...?' The memories were starting to flow, Reimi could see it in his eyes. The trauma that occurred, the disbelief that it could occur. The idea that fate could turn against him was foreign.

Of course, fate and luck are two different things. Kira's luck ran out when one Jojo met another. This created a ripple of fate. While the story started with the hunt for a truly psychopathic killer, no one was expecting to run into another one in Morioh. But even Kira could not remain hidden until his dying day. The second people started getting on his trail more actively, Kira's true fate was sealed. He tried to fight it, not even realizing he was.

There was a certain duality between Kira and Josuke that was undeniable. It's why they were destined to be enemies. But Pinkie was also a duality. Cheerful and extroverted versus apathetic and introverted. Dedicated to cheering people up, dedicated to a solitary life. A power that could control space around her, and a power that could manipulate time. Josuke is the main hero, but one could argue that Pinkie is the real main character in this story. And this story, is nearly over.

Yep, here's the penultimate. Sorry for these being short, but the mini-arcs they are based on are one manga chapter long, which can often be only twenty pages if I'm lucky.

Kira went flying back as time continued. He was lying on the ground, a bloody mess from Smile's pummeling and completely delirious. "He did it!," Riku said, "He made it in time!" "Yeah, but Pinkie did most of the work," Jotaro admitted. Kira tried to pick himself up, getting on his side to try pushing his detonator. "I'm gonna push it... I'll push it... Bites the Dust will go into effect again..." But no matter what he tried, his fingers would no longer listen. Not that he realized that in his delirium.

"You gotta be kidding me," Pinkie said, "Even after all that he's still not giving up?" "Gotta give him credit," Rohan admitted, "But it looks like it's useless. No matter how much he wants to push it, his fingers are busted." "I guess this is it for him," Kosaku said, "But what now? Do we have some way of keeping him contained?" "I'm sure Speedwagon can keep him under an intensive coma," Jotaro said, "At least until we can find some way of nullifying his Stand."

Just then, the other medical personal started shouting. "Hey! Stop! Stop the ambulance! There's someone in the road!" The nurse screamed as Kira's head wound up caught under the tire. The grizzly sight of his head twisting as it was crushed caused the group shock and disgust. "What the hell...?," Josuke managed to spit out. The others were stunned into silence. Stand user or not, Kira had still been human. It wasn't like DIO, an inhuman vampire that was easy to justify killing. Killing Kira had not been an option the group wanted to explore. And yet he wound up dead anyway, by complete accident.

"Someone was crushed under the ambulance!" "I didn't even see him!" "Forward! Move the car forward!" Police and medical personal moved the group past the yellow tape and checking their injuries. "It's too late," one of the paramedics said, "We've lost him." Riku couldn't believe his ears. 'Dad... Are you seeing this? Are you resting in Heaven now?' Kosaku breathed a sigh of relief. "Now I'm the one who can sleep easier. He can't hurt Shinobu now. Or anyone else for that matter."

"So he's... Really dead?," Okuyasu asked. Meanwhile the paramedics were examining the body. "This guy wasn't here when I checked earlier," one said, "It's like he just popped in out of nowhere." "This is all my fault," the nurse said, "I don't mean to make excuses, but I didn't have time to hold him down. He was already badly injured, and seemed disoriented. He kept babbling about the Mona Lisa and its hands." "What sort of injuries did he have?," the paramedic asked. "A wound created by a glass shard in his back near the shoulder," the nurse said, "His head suffered considerable damage, and his arm felt like it had been twisted."

"His face caught got between the tire and the road," the paramedic said, "All the skin got torn off." The group was shocked when they learned this. "All that effort to hide his face," Josuke muttered, "And it wound up getting destroyed anyway." "Does anyone know who this guy is?," the paramedic asked. "He called himself Yoshikage Kira," the nurse said. "I know a house owned by a man of that name," an approaching officer said, "It's over in Kotodai. I'm pretty sure he lived alone so there's probably no next of kin to inform. Verify his ID through dental records. We need to make sure this guy wasn't making anything up."

"So after all that," Koichi said, "What finally does him in... Is a car accident." "It's for the best," Rohan noted, "Karma may finally have had enough of Kira's insane luck, and since the law could never bring him to justice, the universe did so for us." Hayato came out shortly after. "I saw everything Dad..." Kosaku knelt down and hugged his son. "If I didn't get this power... It could easily have been me he replaced. He tried to go after me first." Riku hugged his bag. "I wanted to him to pay... Me and Dad were good friends... And he took that away from us... But now... Now it's over."

Now remembering everything, Kira felt all the wounds he suffered during that fight return to him, blood starting to ooze from various cuts along his face. "It looks like you remember now," Reimi noted. "You bitch!," Kira called out, "Just who are you!?" "You only got a Stand a few years after you started killing," Reimi noted, "So when you killed me, my death was reported in the papers. After all, you had nothing to erase the bodies you left behind." She turned around and revealed her back wounds. "Remember now!? Or did I not leave much an impression because you forgot to take my hands on your first murder!?"

Kira's eyes widened in realization. "Damn... Has it been that long? My mind must have slipped from the stress of hiding from the other Stand users. Ordinarily I never would have forgotten the name Reimi Sugimoto, the one deviation from my pattern. The girl who was brave enough to protect her charge even as she was about to die." He grabbed Reimi's shoulder. "But what exactly have you been doing here for the last fifteen years? You're obviously a ghost, but that's still no reason why you would show me your wounds or reveal your name."

He leaned in. "You know, my father once told me, about a certain alley where you must never turn around. A passageway for the spirits, where sometimes the living can wander into, and those who look back get dragged off by a mysterious force. This wouldn't happened to be that alley, would it? He did mention there was a woman's ghost here, but at the time he said it, I thought it was completely absurd." He grabbed Reimi's chin and tried to turn her around. "You were likely trying to trick me into walking behind you, hoping I'd look around in curiosity."

He started to return to his original appearance. "But if I've died, that means I can live here from now on, continuing my work as normal." Reimi seemed nonchalant. "Don't be absurd. I've been studying your work for fifteen years. You wouldn't have lasted this long if you weren't a calculating man. I had a different plan in mind. Arnold, now!" Kira winced as the dog Arnold ran up and grabbed his arm that was holding Reimi's chin. The effect of tearing it off wound up whirling Kira's body around, forcing him to look back. He screamed in horror as the phantoms of the alley moved to grab at him.

Kira screamed as he was grabbed by the many hands that were the spirits of the afterlife. "Wh-What the hell are these things!? Killer Queen, destroy them!" But it was futile. The spirits grabbed Killer Queen and pulled it apart, the same thing happening to Kira. "No! Where... Where are they taking me!?" "I dunno," Reimi admitted, "But I guarantee wherever it is will be anything but peaceful. This is your final judgement, Yoshikage Kira." She walked to the alley exit and Kira was dragged through the dark hole, screaming all the way.

When Reimi returned to the street, she breathed a sigh of relief, hugging her beloved dog. "It's finally over. We can finally go." She saw the group approaching her. "Do you really have to go?," Pinkie asked, "You've been like the sister I never had." "It'll be like this town is losing its patron deity," Koichi noted. Reimi chuckled. "I'm sorry, but there's really nothing left for me to do here." "Are you sure you can't back and visit sometime?," Pinkie wondered, "I'm sure Rohan would appreciate it."

Rohan began blushing. Reimi tapped her chin. "Well, I may just return as an angel. With Little Rohan so grown up, he does look like my type." Rohan suddenly got flustered, leaving the two girls laughing. "But seriously," Reimi said, "If I can, I will visit from time to time. This town holds a lot of fond memories for me." Rohan chuckled. "Well, I'll be looking forward to it. I mean, if I have to be honest here I am gonna miss you. Just don't make it too often. A spirit should stay in the afterlife, right?" Reimi smiled as she wiped away a few tears.

"You can rest assured this town is in good hands even with you gone," Fluttershy noted, "Josuke and the others can easily protect it." Josuke grinned. "It's kinda weird saying goodbye to a ghost, but I guess this is goodbye." "I doubt anyone here will forget you," Joseph said. Reimi nodded as she and Arnold turned transparent and rose into the air. She was finally ready to move on, and see her parents once again. And tell all of Kira's victims that they could finally rest easy.

That evening, the Kawajiri family was having dinner. "It's crazy what was happening outside just this morning," Shinobu noted, "Some guy name Kira wound up run over by an ambulance while the medics were trying to help because of a gas explosion. Luckily Ayaka was out at the hospital. She told me she might be pregnant again. I haven't heard back from her yet, despite having seen her walk back to her house. I think she's upset because her husband Takashi hasn't come home yet." Kosaku and Hayato looked at each other, knowing the truth.

Kira left a deep scar that would take a long time to heal. Many families would be waiting for sons and daughters that would never come home. The far future cannot be predicted, so its not known how this will affect the town of Morioh. And there may be another monster like him lurking somewhere in that town. But if there was, a strong group of Stand users stood ready to face it, whenever it showed itself. And Kira's death insured the scar he left could never get deeper, or fester any longer.

The next day Jotaro and his friends were heading on the boat out of Morioh. "Are you sure it's okay to leave town like this?," Joseph asked, still holding the baby. Her mother had never been found, and it was assumed she may have been another victim. So Joseph had made arrangements to adopt the child, making sure Suzi Q understood this was not another love child. The baby was given the name Shizuka Joestar, since her real name was not known.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried," Jotaro admitted, "But Josuke, Pinkie, and all their friends are strong enough to handle it." Joseph nodded. "Yeah, you're right. If I can say one thing about them, it's that they have a golden spirit. Just like those of us who headed for Egypt. Josuke and his friends have a strong sense of justice. I'm confident that as long as that spirit remains... Even those who knew nothing about Kira will be affected by it, and come to know peace."

Just them, Josuke and Pinkie showed up at the pier. "Hey, old man!," Josuke said. "Ah, Josuke!," Joseph said, "Come to say a final goodbye!?" "Yeah!," Josuke said, "And also to ask if you still have that picture of Mom I gave you!" "Ah, yes!," Joseph said, "I put it right in my wallet! I'll have to leave without seeing her, but I wish her the best!" Pinkie and Josuke grinned at each other. "He really put it there," Pinkie noted, "As we predicted." Josuke held up a scrap from the picture. "Crazy Diamond!"

Joseph gasped in shock as Crazy Diamond's power sent his wallet flying right to Josuke. "Not again!" Josuke grabbed the wallet, which was full of cash. "A son should get an allowance from his father, right?," Josuke asked. "Look at it this way," Pinkie pointed out, "Your wife would blow a gasket if she ever saw that picture!" Jotaro actually chuckled. "So, what was that about a golden spirit?" Joseph sighed in resignation. "I never said it wasn't tarnished."

And so Pinkie and Josuke walked through the town, noting the friends they had made along the way. Koichi and Yukako were still dating, and Yukako seemed calmer then ever, though she could still get mad if anyone questioned her choice to have Koichi for a boyfriend. Koichi became equally irate, though was more subtle about it, whenever some guy tried hitting on Yukako, thinking they were a better choice. Koichi's mother soon learned, and was shocked yet delighted, never imagining her shy son could ever attract a girl.

Tonio's restaurant started to become the talk of the town, drawing in many people. No one seemed to mind the odd effects from his cooking, since they felt refreshed afterward, especially Yuya and his girls. Tonio eventually brought in his girlfriend from oversees, and with Rohan's help found a way to use his cooking to cure her of a deadly tumor. Afterward she became a waitress at the restaurant, allowing it to expand its service. Okuyasu frequently visited with his dad, whom he hoped could be returned to normal with Tonio's cooking. So far no luck, but Nijimura's memory was starting to get better at least. The two of them had adopted Stray Cat, who had taken a liking to Nijimura.

Aya continued her salon service, making quite a number of women in Morioh happy. Shigechi returned to his normal collection of coins using Harvest. Many of his friends agreed that so long as there's loose change around the town, he's set for life. Tamami became quite successful in his new job, to the point where no one in Morioh tried to cheat on their taxes. Toyohiro settled into his life on the transmission tower, his only visitor being Nu, who had come to the conclusion that his race could start settling peacefully around the planet. For many the summer of 1999 passed like any other, but for one young couple, it was the perfect bizarre adventure.

And we're done with Diamond is Unbreakable. Again, I hope this isn't considering overdoing it, but like I said these last three chapters kinda strung together, they were kinda short, and I really want to get into the Golden Wind arc, which is coming next, as soon as possible.

We're now getting into Golden Wind, originally just called Vento Aurea. This is the second part that has Italy in it, but last time we only spent a few chapters there, so I didn't bother calling the Italian cities by their Italian name. Here I will be, so bear that in mind.

Rarita Zeppeli, often just called Rarity, was the young daughter of the Zeppeli family's second son. Her mother and father wanted to return to the family's native Napoli, and she was eager to experience more of her Italian heritage. She gave her beloved grandmother Applejack a final hug before leaving, and soon reached their family's old home. After a visit to her great-great-grandfather's grave, she visited a local sculptor named Scolippi. That's when something weird happened.

She saw an arrow coming in to strike him and moved him out of the way, the arrow hitting her shoulder. When it was retrieved by some unknown men, ten year old Rarity saw herself looking at a crystalline figure, glowing a brilliant violet and shaped like a human woman with no features other than hair and eyes, a horn growing from its forehead. She thought it resembled herself as a grown woman. It turned out, much like her grandmother, Rarity had the potential to gain a Stand, but had never truly gained one from birth, unlike her uncles Hol Horse and Gyro. But now she had one, which she came to call Art of the Dress, due to her desire for fashion and the fact the her Stand had an artistic look.

It was three years later in school when she met a young man named Giorno Giovanna, an Italian-Japanese man with a bit of English in his blood as well. Together they went over their histories, and laughed at the fact that their families had once been at odds. Giorno showed a picture of his birth father, whom he never knew. Both his parents were Stand users, but his mother Tomomi was neglectful of him, eventually marrying an Italian man after his father's death as a coping mechanism. Soon Giorno and Rarity began a romantic relationship.

The year was now 2001, just three months after the turn of the century. Koichi Hirose and his girlfriend Yukako Yamagishi were traveling to Italy on an important mission. Jotaro had only wanted Koichi to go, but Pinkie insisted Yukako would be a nervous wreck worrying about him if she didn't go as well. After arriving at the airport in Napoli, Koichi checked with the exchange office to see how many lire it would take for a taxi. Yukako still had three quarters of the lottery money from the Harvest incident, and Koichi had several hundred thousand yen of his own.

Between them they had just under fifteen million lire after the exchange, enough for a comfortable vacation after their mission. Their goal was to find a young teenage boy named Haruno Shiobana. According to Jotaro he was the son of one of the Ten Glory Gods he and he friends fought in Egypt, Tomomi Shiobana. Specifically Jotaro wanted a skin sample from Haruno for the Speedwagon Foundation to check. They already had a picture for reference, and had his address at a local boarding school.

"This boy rather reminds me of Jotaro or Josuke," Yukako noted. "I told Jotaro the same thing," Koichi admitted, "He was quiet about it. Haruno's not supposed to be dangerous or anything, but Jotaro asked that we keep out of contact regardless. He felt our powers could approach him more subtly than Star Platinum or Crazy Diamond. And forget Stands like Music in the Trees or Smile." He wasn't really interested in touring Italy, but Yukako did at least want to try the local cafes first before they headed off to Disneyland Paris. With her temper under control around him, Koichi found it hard to tell her "no".

Nearby, the couple saw a local boy with blonde hair showing off a trick for the security personnel. He pushed his ear all the way into his head, impressing them in spite of how disgusting it was. The guards thanked him as he passed them a carton of cigarettes with some money stuffed inside. "A bribe of some sort?," Yukako wondered, "But for what?" Koichi got suspicious. "Keep Love Deluxe wrapped around our luggage. I don't think it's safe around this airport." Yukako nodded, strands of her hair wrapping around their suitcases.

The boy spotted the couple. "Hey, you two looking for a taxi? I drive one part-time, and I'm on my way home, so I'll give you discount. How about a hundred and eighty thousand lire to take you into town." Koichi chuckled. He was already told it would take half that amount for an official taxi. "That's way too expensive, even for a discount." The young man raised an eyebrow. "Your Italian's very good. But you're both Japanese, right?" "Yes, we have a few Italian speakers in our hometown," Yukako explained, "They taught us the language." It was a lie. Even with Pinkie and Tonio being able to teach them, this was a high priority assignment, so they didn't have time to learn properly. Instead, they had Rohan use Heaven's Door to make it so they knew Italian and could speak it fluently.

"Come to think of it," Koichi said, "You look like you're in middle school. Are you even old enough to have a license? And what about what you handed those guards? I saw you slip them some money." "Ah, that was just a parking fee," the boy said, "Tell you what, how we go with ten thousand lire instead, and I'll waive the tip." Koichi and Yukako looked at each other. "I think we'll wait for an official taxi, thanks," Koichi said. "Alright, but the line is rather long there," the boy pointed out.

The couple turned to see he was right. "I guess we might as well," Yukako noted. Koichi nodded. If it was a scam, they could easily deal with it. "Bene," the boy said, "Please leave your luggage in the front." Koichi did so. "Make sure you drive straight to the hotel." The boy grinned. "Sure... But only with your luggage." He drove off, confident the guards would do nothing since he paid them off. But then he felt the back tire start to get heavier. "Stalled? This was supposed to be a new taxi."

He then saw Koichi and Yukako approaching. Koichi had in fact used Echoes Act 3 to stop the tire. The boy made no sign of panic or defeat, but simply got out of the car, a serene look on his face. As he ran off, Koichi overheard the guards. "Looks like Giorno Giovanna messed up for once. I can't believe he had engine trouble." "That's what he gets for trying to trick Japanese tourists when he's half-Japanese himself. You'd never know it the way he dyed his hair." "He didn't dye it, it just suddenly turned from black to blonde. Pretty weird. He says that it's hereditary, and he got it from his father, who died in Egypt."

Koichi quickly got out the picture. "They do look similar." "Koichi, there's a problem," Yukako said, "I can't feel the luggage in Love Deluxe anymore." Koichi looked in the passengers seat, and saw their suitcases were gone. Though when he looked closer, he saw they had merely been shrunk into small spheres, that were changing into frogs right before his eyes. "Stands users are drawn... To other Stand users...," he muttered, remembering the unspoken rule of fate posited by Hazamada, "But I never thought we'd run into him like this..."

Giorno chuckled as he waited for the frogs he created from the Japanese couples suitcases to return to him. "You look happy," Rarity said as she came up, "You get something good?" "I managed to grab some luggage from a Japanese couple on vacation," Giorno explained, "For some reason the taxi I was using stalled, but that's what Stand power is for." "You do realize we can only make use of the cash," Rarity pointed out, "The luggage will be tracked and ID'd, and forget selling off the travel papers."

They heard someone clear their throat behind them. They turned to see an older man approaching carrying a shovel, a single tear leaking from his right eye. "You two are Giorno Giovanna and Rarita Zeppeli, yes?" "My friends and loved ones call me Rarity," Rarity replied. The man shrugged. "I believe this is the first time we've met, yes? I assume you know who I am." "Leaky-Eye Luca," Giorno said, "They say you refused to back down from a fight, even though your opponent had plunged a knife into your face. Even now, after you recovered, your right eye still keeps tearing up."

Luca sat down on a nearby log. "Come sit. It's awkward to talk when I have to look up at someone." As Giorno sat down, Luca said, "Listen, there are three 'don'ts' when you want to establish a good friendship. Don't lie, don't bear grudges, and don't forget to be respectful. Nice, huh?" "Your point?," Giorno asked. Luca angrily aimed the handle of his shovel at Giorno. "I'm the one talking right now!" He then felt something impact on his head. He felt there, but found nothing. "What happened to don't forget to be respectful?," Rarity asked.

Luca was confused. She was the only other person there, yet she was in front of them kneeling down and had not moved. Luca took a deep breath. "Forgive me, but respect does run both ways. I heard the two of you were running a part-time gig at the airport. But I have yet to receive a gift of respect. Show me your wallet." Giorno tossed him the wallet. "I should mention I already paid for protection," Giorno said, "I'm all tapped out for now." Luca scoffed. "You paid off the security guards? That's got nothing to do with me." He looked in the wallet, but only found a photo of a blonde man with a star-shaped birthmark on his neck, the name DIO Brando written on it.

"What is this, a photo holder?," Luca demanded. "No, that's my wallet," Giorno said. "Then where's all the cash!," Luca called out. "I already said, I don't have any," Giorno replied, "I dislike having to repeat myself. If I have to say something more than once, it means the listener is unintelligent." "Or ignorant," Rarity pointed out, "Considering your attitude earlier, Luca, you sure have a habit of breaking your own rules." "Why you...!," Luca said as he swung his shovel, only to get shocked when it impacted on something invisible in mid-air.

As he tried to figure out what he hit, he saw two frogs hop out of a drain. One hopped on Giorno's leg, the other Rarity's. "What is that doing here?," Luca asked, "Swat it off!" Giorno looked confused. "Why would I? It's not harming anything. And it's just acting on instinct by returning to me." "You're gonna keep saying no to Leaky-Eye Luca!," Luca demanded. "It's two to one and you only have a shovel," Rarity noted, "Which we can dodge easily to fight back."

Luca made to the swat the frog on Giorno himself. "I wouldn't do that," Giorno warned, "This frog is a living thing and will defend it's existence. So long as you don't attack its harmless." "Stop your babbling nonsense!," Luca called out as he swung to swat the frog. Once he impacted, he felt his consciousness instantly fade. "I warned you," Giorno said, "This frog has a life it wants to protect. And it's not obedient towards me." Luca had just enough consciousness left to register that the frog was unharmed. He however, had an impact on his head that matched his shovel.

During the attack, Giorno's coat had partially come undone, revealing his own star-shaped birthmark. "I tried to warn you," he said, "Attacking this creature will only result in death." Rarity came over to do up his jacket as the two frogs landed near each other and turned back into suitcases. "For someone who talked about establishing rules of friendship, he wasn't very friendly," she noted. Their legs intertwined as they stood to kiss each other. "Ah, you're the only one I feel I repeat myself around, Rarity," Giorno said, "Because I feel I can't tell you how much I love you enough."

"It's that same charm and charisma that made me fall for you," Rarity admitted, "Shame Luca never got the message." "Yes," Giorno said, "Other people making me repeat myself... Is just useless. A waste of breath." They headed off, not seeing Echoes in its Act 1 form in the background. The two of them were also Stand users. Giorno's Gold Experience could send life energy into inanimate objects to turn them into animals. Art of the Dress could create crystals grown on existing molecules, meaning she could even grown them in midair. She was the one who struck Luca in the back of the head earlier and also created a crystal wall to block the shovel.

A little later Koichi and Yukako had reached Giorno's address near an Italian market. Despite the fact that people were leaving their luggage around, a local merchant assured them it was safe and that no one would think of stealing it in this part of the city. Just then, they heard a gaggle of girls talking excitedly. "Giorno, can I sit next to you!?" "Hey, let's have some tea together!" "I can pay!" "Ladies, please," came a familiar voice, "I already have a signorina at my side. Having more than one is getting greedy."

The girls walked off, a little disappointed but not upset. "Ciao, Giorno." Giorno was sitting with Rarity at the cafe. "Didn't your father have three other mistresses besides your mother?," Rarity pointed out. Giorno smirked. "I only need one woman in my life, and I'm sitting right next to her." "Oh, you flatterer!," Rarity said as she playfully pushed at Giorno. "There you are!," Koichi called out. Giorno recognized him and Yukako and freaked out. "Who's money is that!?," Koichi demanded, having seen Giorno handling some bills, "And where's our luggage.!?"

"Ah, sorry," Giorno said, "But I already sold it so... Ow..." Rarity had elbowed him. "It's not nice to lie when you know we can't sell off the luggage." Giorno raised an eyebrow, and Rarity facepalmed as she realized she'd just outed herself as an accomplice. Just then, Giorno felt his hand get heavier, sinking into the table. "This is... The same thing that happened at the airport... I had thought the car had stalled but... Rarity, your Stand!" Koichi and Yukako gasped as Rarity glowed with energy. "Art of the Dress!" The crystalline figure appeared and pointed.

Yukako used Love Deluxe to pull Koichi to the side as blunt crystal formations appeared in midair and shot at him. "That power," Yukako noted, "She can create crystals from nothing." "Not quite," Rarity said, "I grow crystals rather than create them, but I need something to grow them on. Luckily any molecule will do, so I can grow them on water or even in the air." Meanwhile Giorno had broken through the table and his hand was about to hit the ground. "Gold Experience!" A gold humanoid with ladybug decorations on its hands appeared and hit the pavement with its fist.

"Him too!," Koichi realized, "Echoes!" Echoes went behind the table. "He's not there! S-H-I-T, he's out of the five meter range!" "Out of range?," Koichi said, "That should be impossible. If he moved himself he should have gotten hurt from how heavy he was." Rarity grinned, making the Japanese couple confused. "You still haven't noticed it. The tree that seemed to come out of nowhere." Koichi realized what she was talking about and spotted the tree, Giorno on top of it. "I'll say it just once," Giorno said, "Stop following me."

Koichi scoffed. "Echoes! Knock the tree down!" "Yes Master!" Echoes went to punch the tree, only for it and Koichi to get thrown back into the nearby car. "Koichi!," Yukako called out as she ran over to him. "I'm okay," Koichi said, "Just got stunned, in more ways that one. Somehow, that tree was able to reflect my attack." "I must say," Giorno said, "Despite your grudge for me stealing your possessions, you didn't attack with your full strength. I guess you're a good person." He slid down a crystal ramp made by Rarity and they started running off. "Ciao." The Japanese couple looked dumbfounded at the situation. "I think we need to call Jotaro," Koichi said.

Koichi made a collect call to Jotaro's home. 'What is it, Koichi?' "Man, I don't where to begin. We wound up stumbling upon that guy Haruno, but he had his name changed to Giorno Giovanna. And his hair color apparently changed recently in life. He's also in a relationship. Some girl named Rarity." There was a pause. 'Hol Horse said he has a niece named Rarita, which is the Italian word for rarity. This can't be coincidence.' "That's not even the half of it," Koichi said, "Both of them are Stand users. They act like a pair of gangsters, even though they're still students. Like a modern day Bonnie and Clyde. They stole our luggage and cash."

'Did you get a good look at what their Stands can do?' "Kinda. Rarity said her Stand can grow crystals on any molecule, even in midair. Giorno's is something of a mystery. I think it can grow living things that can reflect damage done to them." 'Almost a combination of Granddad's Aunt Twilight and Fluttershy. The abilities sound similar. I'd considered the possibility that he might be a Stand user, but I wasn't sure. I'll wire you some money so you can check into a hotel.'

"Jotaro, can I ask what sort of relationship you have with this guy?" 'It's kind of complicated,' Jotaro said, 'He's technically my great-uncle. You see, his father was DIO Brando, but he was conceived when DIO had the body of my great-grandfather, George Joestar II.' Suddenly Koichi realized why Jotaro wanted to stay away from this assignment. He had killed Giorno's father. "When did you find out DIO had children?"

'I already found out DIO had a son through Enya, one of our enemies named J Geil. I figured with three other women he was involved with and Enya having eternal youth, he had to have more children. The Speedwagon Foundation found Giorno, and I wanted to know if he really was DIO's son, and if he inherited any of DIO's genetic structure, hence the skin sample. But from what you tell me, there's no more need to approach him. It looks like his latent genes have awoken, likely due to a powerful Stand user in the area.'

"One more powerful than The World or Killer Queen's Bites the Dust?," Koichi asked. 'Possibly, but there's no need to investigate that much. Koichi, from your experience, what sort of person do you think Giorno is?' Koichi thought about it. "Hard to say. He was almost serene in his attitude, and practically devoted to Rarity. He also cut off our fight just because he knew I wasn't throwing my full strength into it. Not because he was bored, but because he thought I was a good person. So despite him stealing our luggage, I can't really pin him down."

Meanwhile Giorno and Rarity were taking a tram to their boarding school. As Rarity slept, Giorno saw a coin drop to the group, where an older man with a suit covered in zippers went to pick it up. "Is this yours?," he asked. Giorno shook his head, and the man smiled as he sat down. "Looks like it's mine then." He pocketed the coin. "This may sound like an out-there question, but let's say there was a bag here with 100,000 lire inside. Would you return it?" Giorno chuckled. "Would you? An unclaimed bag with all that money, I think anyone would take it. Myself included."

The man nodded. "I see. You're honest. But what if I was a policeman in disguise?" Giorno shrugged. "I'd probably offer you half to stay quiet." The man laughed. "I think you would, too! I can just tell by looking at you that you're honest. I can usually tell whether or not someone is lying, with decent accuracy. It's the sweat on one's skin, you see. It glistens when it hits the skin. By analyzing the extent of how much they're sweating, I can tell whether they're nervous because they are lying, or if some other factor like heat is causing it. Humans tend to sweat more when stressed, you see. I can get an even better idea if I taste the sweat."

"That's nasty," Giorno said, "I don't believe I caught your name. Who are you?" The man turned serious. "Leaky-Eye Luca was found collapsed on the ground near the airport, his own shovel rammed into his head. He's in critical condition and likely won't regain consciousness. I was sent to find out who did it... The guards at the airport told me you were in the area at around the time he was attacked. So I thought I might ask you some questions." Giorno raised an eyebrow. "Are you a cop?"

The man chuckled. "No, I'm not, but I think I should clarify something. Luca wasn't just some thug, he was part of a gang. Now I personally don't care why someone would attack Luca, that's between him and whoever it was and Luca was the sort to gather enemies and grudges. But his boss is another story..." He leaned over. "The boss thinks whoever attacked Luca wants to smear shit all over his face. I was asked to find the one responsible and deal with them. So... Did you meet Luca at the airport?"

"Yes, briefly," Giorno said, "He was trying to cut in on my taxi scam business. But I did not actually attack him." The man looked at him. "Hmm... You're not sweating." The door opened on the tram. "I suppose I can believe you. But you might want to open your hand." Giorno's hand had been in a fist. When he opened it, he saw an eyeball inside. "Where did this come from?," he said as he dropped it. "That's Luca's right eye...," the man said as he drew in. Before he could get close, he saw Rarity point a crystal dagger at him. "You'd best back off before you lose yours."

The man did so, realizing Rarity had to have made the dagger somehow. "Something to know about Giorno," Rarity said, "He's not like other people. He's not afraid to lie, no matter how much I've tried to kick his habit. The sweat you're seeing is from his confusion. How did you manage to place that eye in his hand?" "I've had a habit of trying to read people ever since my mother married," Giorno said, "As a result, lying comes easily to me. Not that I was lying this time."

He looked at the man. "I grew up never trusting people, until a chance encounter with a gangster changed my life. And gave me a dream. If you say you're here to deal with the one who attacked Luca, it seems you already have. But your boss obviously won't accept that answer, so it seems we're at odds." The man chuckled. "Well, it seems the signorina also has an ability of her own. My name is Bruno Buccellati. And if you seek to claim Luca somehow attacked himself, then it seems this questioning has become a torture session." Giorno suddenly found himself spitting out some fingers.

"Rather chilling, isn't it?," Buccellati said, "Actually, the boss had Luca finished off. Said he wasn't worth keeping alive. He told me to bring these as scare tactics. My other ability lets me do things like this. There's nothing you can do against it. I could even place a fire hydrant in your mouth." He grinned as Giorno and Rarity started coming apart as zippers started appearing on them and opening. "You as well?," Giorno asked, "What's with this? Ever since that Japanese couple." Buccellati seemed surprised. "You can see them? The zippers I'm using to torture you?"

He then gasped when crystals formed over the openings, allowing the duo to piece themselves together. 'I've never used Gold Experience to attack someone,' Giorno thought, 'But it's the only way to stop this guy. Here goes nothing.' "Gold Experience!" Buccellati gasped as Giorno's Stand struck him as he was about to land a blow. He winced as his arm took damage. "You as well!?" He moved to attack again, but Gold Experience hit him right in the chest. Giorno and Rarity then saw him trying to get back up, but it was so slow, like he wasn't able to move properly.

"What did you do?," Rarity asked. "I think Gold Experience pumped him with so much life energy," Giorno said, "That his senses became overclocked, putting his consciousness out of sync with his body. That's why he's moving so slowly." He had Gold Experience make a few punches in mid-air to see if he reacted, but nothing. "He probably doesn't realize what happened to him. I wonder what would happen if I attacked him." "It would probably lengthen the pain," Rarity theorized, "And it would be even worse since Gold Experience doesn't have much physical power."

Gold Experience plowed its fist into Buccellati's face. The blow wound up breaking some of Buccellati's teeth out of his mouth, and sending him flying. Buccellati's consciousness returned as the zippers on Giorno and Rarity disappeared. "Looks like we each only have a range of a few meters," Giorno said, "But I'd recommend you not try to come closer. Rarity's power can reach father due her crystal growth." He approached. "That said, you appear the be the sort of person prepared for conflict. And if you're prepared to kill, that means you also are prepared for the possibility of being killed."

Buccellati gasped. 'He means it. These two won't hesitate to kill me.' He saw Gold Experience move to attack. "Sticky Fingers!" A humanoid Stand covered in zippers moved to block the attack. "If I need to get some distance before attacking, I don't mind having to do that." He opened a zipper in the side of the tram and slipped out of it, closing the opening behind him. "So he can even use his power to go through walls," Giorno noted. Art of the Dress produced a compass bound to its wrist. "I already tagged him with a crystal shard," Rarity said, "Art of the Dress can track him while he's in the open."

They leapt out of the tram and followed him. Buccellati saw them approaching and smiled, bumping into a crowd of people. As they passed each other, he disappeared. "Damn it," Giorno said, "He's using one of the people as a suit, hiding inside them with his Stand." "But which one?," Rarity asked, "If he's hiding in a subspace pocket my crystal compass is useless. And he's even hidden the zipper." Giorno smirked and pointed to a fly that was buzzing around one young boy.

The boy swatted at it. When he succeeded, the fly struck back with its life energy, knocking Buccellati out of the kid. The fly then turned back into the tooth Giorno had used to make it. "That's one of your teeth," Giorno explained to him, "When I gave it life it made its way back to you. I didn't want to get civilians involved, but you really forced my hand." Buccellati stood up. "It seems hiding in futile." He then saw neither of them was making a move. "Your arm," Rarity said, "Why is it still in the boy?" She showed her crystal compass. "When you made to escape the tram I tagged you with a crystal shard that was embedded in your arm. Art of the Dress can track the crystals it makes. Yet right now that shard isn't on you, but the boy you came out of."

Buccellati was shocked, but solemnly pulled up his sleeve, revealing the arm was attached to him by a zipper. In the arm he now had were needle marks. "This boy... I noticed it as I traded arms with him. He's no older than thirteen, yet he's clearly been using drugs extensively." "You seem to hate that fact," Giorno said, "I can read it on your face. The expression you made, the position of your eyes as you rolled up your sleeves. People are free to do as they please, so if someone is doing drugs that's their business. It's the people in this town who sell those drugs to young children you can't forgive."

Buccellati sighed. "And if that's true? What of it?" Giorno faced him, a confidence in his eyes. "Your boss is the one selling to children, and that's something none of us like. Bruno Buccellati, I have a feeling that we'll become allies. I've seen the corruption of this city and want to stop it. But in order to do that, I need to become a gang member myself." "That is our goal," Rarity said, "To become true Gang-Stars. We started small with simple cons to get attention, and we're ready to work our way up to end the boss of this gang and take his place." Buccellati's eyes widened as he realized they were serious.

I know the fight with Buccellati ended abruptly, but I wanted to display just how accurate Rarity's crystal tracking is and how it manifests with her Stand. Basically it tracks the crystal itself and not whatever its stuck too. Also the compass Art of the Dress has can only be attached to it, so keep that in mind.

As for Giorno randomly punching at the air while Buccellati was under Gold Experience's power, I remember that scene from Buccellati's perspective when he thought he was given superhuman abilities. It was actually his mind thinking he was superhuman, but Giorno obviously couldn't see it. And yet at one point Buccellati's subconscious is dancing around Gold Experience as it attacks. So why was it attacking? Well, how I described the scene from Giorno's perspective is my theory on the matter.

Buccellati listened to Giorno's story, how a gangster gave him a new lease on life, and how he met Rarity. He smiled as he kicked a soccer ball back to some kids. "Very well. I can tell you're being serious. I'll report that I wasn't able to find Luca's attacker, and let them know about the two of you so you can join our gang. Just be aware that if anyone finds out that you attacked Luca, or that you're planning on defeating our boss, I cannot help you. No one will help a traitor."

"You're stilling willing to help us get in though?," Giorno asked. "I can't deny our gang has been corrupt as of late," Buccellati admitted, "Luca was not liked among his peers for selling drugs to children, something the rest of us disliked. I myself have been hoping for a chance to overthrow the boss, who encouraged this behavior. You showed determination in trying to kill me, up until you saw that boy's arm. And your dream is worth its weight in gold. For that reason, I feel I can take my chance with you."

He walked with the couple and explained a few things. "Our organization is called Passione. It consists of 756 members, and has control of the hotels, the shipping ports, construction companies, funeral services, and restaurants." "Lucrative," Rarity noted. "Indeed," Buccellati replied, "Even members on the lowest rung of the ladder get paid a weekly total of fifty-thousand lire. We also reap profits from gambling, and drug trafficking." "So your boss has the family name Passione," Giorno said, "What about his first name?"

"Ah, there seems to be a misconception," Buccellati said, "Our boss did not give his name to the gang, he named it after the word for passion. No one in the gang has seen the boss's face, or know his name. Even I have not seen him. He gives his orders through a series of capos under his direct command. And we are going to meet one of them now. His name is Polpo, and he is the capo I answer to directly. He will be the one deciding if you both get in or not. He's just inside this building."

Giorno and Rarity looked at the building. "Isn't this a prison?," Rarity asked. "It is indeed," Buccellati said, "Polpo plead guilty to a minor crime some time ago, and he's serving a sentence of fifteen years incarceration. He's still able to send orders to the rest of the gang and still holds power in Passione. If he wanted to he could have used our connections to find himself innocent, or leave the prison, but he chooses to stay because he has no reason to leave. You'll understand why when you see him."

"So how will he decide if we're in or not?," Giorno asked. "That's up to him," Buccellati replied, "He'll be giving you an interview, the same as any other job. Should you pass he'll allow you into the gang. Just make sure he doesn't find out about Luca." "By the way," Rarity said, "You have a Stand of your own. Does anyone else in the gang have one?" "Pass the test and you'll find out," Buccellati said. And with that, he walked off. The couple looked at each other and nodded.

Getting into the prison was routine. The security asked for luggage, wristwatches, anything loose that could be removed. A female officer then performed a quick body check. When she was finished, she said, "Prisoner Number N-28, Polpo, is through that gate. Proceed straight down the hallway. You'll be separated by thick bullet-proof glass, but you'll still be able to speak with him. The glass won't break, but please refrain from touching it regardless. Also, you are not to hand over anything or receive anything. The gate will close behind you, but we'll be on hand just outside, so holler if there's trouble. You have fifteen minutes."

"Wait, we're going right to his cell?," Giorno asked. "I take it this is your first time meeting him," the guard said. Inside the cell seems lightly furnished, with a reading table with desk lamp, a few paintings on the wall, a toilet, and a large bed. Just then, the "bed" started to get up, revealing itself to be a rather large man that nearly took up the entire room. It was Polpo. Giorno and Rarity were surprised at this. "Ah, forgive me I was having a light nap when the gate slammed," Polpo said, "You must be Giorno and Rarita. Buccellati mentioned you."

He opened a nearby fridge. "Care for a drink? I have some excellent chianti classico, great with scamorza or caviar." "We were told we can't offer or receive anything," Giorno said. Polpo laughed as he got out a remote and pressed a button. A wall of his cell opened to reveal a small alcove with toys, books, musical instruments, guns, and a TV. "They only say that for protocol purposes. Humans tend to say and do different things. It's the beauty of humanity, and also it's ugly side. I want for nothing in here. My only regret staying in this cell is that I can't see Michelangelo's paintings on the Sistine Chapel. But I have plenty of other notable artworks from a variety of Italian artists."

The couple realized what Buccellati was getting at. It was clear that Polpo staying in prison was no different than him staying anywhere else. And with his body type, he was safer staying in prison. The real mystery was how he got into the cell in the first place. Polpo, meanwhile, was eyeing the duo. 'That girl is the one the boss struck with the arrow. Even after five years I recognize her. If she's still alive, that means she has a Stand. I normally only test people one at a time, but this is a chance I can't pass up. If she has a Stand strong enough to protect the boy...'

He bit into his cracker, his middle and ring finger being bitten off on the first knuckle. This was the trigger for his Stand, Black Sabbath. Now it would enter the object he wanted it to, and the test would begin. "So... Let's begin the examination." His fingers grew back, as they always did, and a nearby cuckoo clock went off. He lit the lighter that now held Black Sabbath. "There are many candidates who come to me looking to join Passione," Polpo said, "To separate them, I need something important. What would you say is the most important quality?"

"What they can do?," Giorno guessed. Polpo grinned. "And just what can you two do?" Giorno and Rarity grinned as they produced money and a wallet secretly swiped from the guard. "Impressive," Polpo said, "But what a person can do is not the only important thing. It also matters if the gang can trust the new recruit. If I find I can't trust someone looking to enter the gang, then how smart they are or how talented they are means as much as the chewed up cracker between my teeth."

A window opened in the cell door. "Take this lighter," Polpo said, "It's flame will be your test. Normally this test is meant for one at a time, but you both clearly trust each other implicitly, so I'll make an exception. You must not let the flame run out." He placed the lighter on the opening, where Giorno took it. "As was said by the seventeenth-century historian Fuller," Polpo explained, "He's my friend that speaks well of me behind my back. You must prove your trustworthiness, even when others aren't looking. You must guard the flame for twenty-four hours. The lighter has enough gas to keep lit for that long. If you return with the lighter still lit tomorrow at 3 PM, it'll be proof that you can be trusted."

Giorno looked at the lighter. "I know what you're thinking," Polpo said, "It couldn't be this easy, right? Don't take the test lightly. If you're careless you're certain to fail. You must have the wit and determination to see the test through to the end." The duo left, and found the test was already beginning when the guards insisted on another body check. But passing the lighter between them while still keeping it lit and hidden was easy. But that was only the easy part. They'd have to be on guard for the rest of the day if they hoped to enter the gang.

What I described from Polpo's test came from internet videos analyzing various points about Jojo. Search around Youtube for a while and I think you'll understand the direction I was going with this.

Time for the old crew to pass the torch. Though spoiler alert, this isn't the last time in this story where we see anyone from Morioh.

Giorno and Rarity finally made it back to their shared dorm room. Most would raise an eyebrow at the single bed, but they had not yet gone that far in their relationship. Focusing on keeping the flame out of the wind, they wound up ignoring their friends, including the kindly old janitor they normally conversed with. Once inside Giorno grabbed a loaf of bread and took a bite out of the center, placing the lighter inside. Rarity set up the desk to keep it safe from the wind.

They then sat down on the bed. "Alright, so far so good," Giorno said, "Now we just need to keep an eye on it for the next twenty-three hours." He went to lock the window, but saw the door starting to open. In the mirror, he saw Koichi. "Uh oh...," he muttered. "Uh oh, what?," Rarity asked. "It's that couple from the cafe," Giorno hissed. "Here at our school...?," Rarity whispered, "How'd they track us down...?" They quickly slipped out a nearby window as Koichi and Yukako stepped in. "I don't see them in here," Yukako said.

"Good, then we can look around," Koichi said, "They may not have the luggage around here, but we may be able to at least retrieve our passports." The Italian couple looked at each other. "We forgot about their passports...," Giorno realized. "Where are they?," Rarity asked. "I put them in the file cabinet to return later," Giorno explained, "But that's not important. If they find the lighter, they might extinguish the flame to avoid a fire hazard. We have to retrieve it somehow."

He then saw the light above where they placed the lighter and saw the switch it led to was within his Stand's reach. "There. Gold Experience!" Gold Experience's energy traveled to where the light was hanging, turning it into a snake which grabbed the bread and lighter in its jaws. However, it wound up dropping it, getting Koichi's attention. Luckily, it landed near the filing cabinet, distracting Koichi since the passports were in it. This gave Rarity a chance to retrieve the lighter using Art of the Dress.

"That was too close," Rarity said as she held the lighter while they walked down the stairs. Just then, she got splashed with water. "Oh, careful there," the janitor said, "I was cleaning the stairs just now." Rarity sighed, the flame having gone out because of the water. "Damn it...," Giorno muttered, "And we were only an hour in." "Is there something wrong with that lighter?," the janitor asked. He took it and shook it near his ear. "Well, it doesn't seem to be broken, and there's plenty of gas. It should still light."

"That would be impossible," Rarity said. She and Giorno thought that if it was that easy to relight, there'd be no point to the test. However, the elderly gentleman proved them wrong as he hit the switch and the lighter instantly flared up, acting more like a welding torch than a lighter. "Ah, see? I was startled by the brightness, but it lights just fine. What are you two even doing with a lighter anyway?" Giorno took the lighter, completely stunned. "There should have been no way..." "Uh, Giorno...," Rarity said, "I think Polpo had another type of test in mind."

He looked where Rarity was pointing and saw a dark cloaked figure dressed like it belong in the Italian Renaissance. It was Polo's Stand, Black Sabbath. The Stand walked through the nearby archway, then somehow moved behind the couple, grabbing the janitor's soul out of him. "You reignited it! You now have two paths, life or death! Which path will be yours!?" Meanwhile the janitor had frozen stiff. "What's happening...? I can't move... Call a doctor please..." Black Sabbath opened its mouth, and Rarity gasped when something popped out. "That's the arrow that hit me five years ago!"

Sure enough, Black Sabbath used the arrowhead to pierce the old man's soul. The janitor slumped over, dead. "This was not one of the chosen," Black Sabbath said as he tossed the man aside. "This is the real test," Rarity realized, "Buccellati said our questions would be answered if we passed the test. This is a test... Of Stand potential." Black Sabbath then turned to Giorno. "You also reignited it. You will be given the same test." Giorno leapt out of the way as Black Sabbath moved to grab him. "It will attack anyone who witnessed the reignition."

Black Sabbath grabbed at Giorno's Shadow, pulling out Gold Experience, then opened its mouth to reveal the arrow. That when Art of the Dress grabbed at it. "You have already been chosen," Black Sabbath said, "Do no interfere." "Open your eyes, bastard!," Rarity argued, "Don't you recognize a Stand when you have one in your arms!?" "He was not hit with the arrow," Black Sabbath noted. "And that means what?," Rarity pointed out, "It's not just the arrow that give Stands."

Gold Experience proved Rarity point by socking Black Sabbath in the jaw. "It's clearly an automatic Stand," Giorno said, "Moving of its own will regardless of Polpo's situation. It's like a robot. Gold Experience! Shake him off!" Gold Experience knocked Black Sabbath off, kicking at its leg before shoving it aside. It then proceeded to attack rapidly. "MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA!" Black Sabbath was knocked back into the shadows, where it disappeared.

"How did it pull that off?," Rarity wondered, "It should be slowed by Gold Experience's effect." "I don't know," Giorno said, "But we have to track it down. It doesn't seem to differentiate those with Stands not gained from the arrow from ordinary people." He suddenly grabbed at his neck, which was feeling pain. Black Sabbath had merged into the shadows and grabbed Gold Experience, trying to force it through its neck. Giorno released his power and stumbled back, dragging Black Sabbath into the light, where it seemed to get injured.

It pulled back and leapt down to where the shadows were. "It's power," Rarity realized, "It can only move through shadows." "That's why it went for the old man first," Giorno realized, "Because we were in the sunlight, while he was caught in the shade of the railings." He looked at the sun. "But the sun is setting. Once it gets behind the building..." "Hey, what's going on here!?," Koichi said as he and Yukako came out, "Who killed that man at the foot of the stairs!?"

"We saw you talking with him earlier," Yukako noted, "And we saw you ignite the lighter." "You did what now?," Rarity said, concerned. Black Sabbath suddenly came up behind Koichi and grabbed Echoes. As it revealed the arrow, Yukako called out, "Love Deluxe!" Black Sabbath found itself grabbed again. "Koichi's been stabbed by an arrow once already, thank you!" "He was not tested," Black Sabbath as it struggled against the strands of hair, "All who reignite the lighter must be tested, save one." Rarity's eyes widened. She had thought Black Sabbath's actions were based around the arrow.

"Polpo knows I'm a Stand user," she realized, "He must have been there when I was shot!" The arrow shot out as Gold Experience blocked it, causing Giorno to wince as his hand got pierced. "This hurt like hell," he said, "But I dragged you into the sunlight." Black Sabbath saw part of the railings had been changed into a hanging vine, exposing it to the sun. It found enough shade to escape before it burned up. "So light can damage it," Rarity noted. "That was a Stand just now, wasn't it?," Yukako realized, "Where's the user?" "About ten or so kilometers in that direction," Giorno said, pointing to where the prison was.

"So it's remote," Koichi realized, "Like with Sheer Heart Attack. Did it kill the old man?" "It attacks anyone who sees the lighter get reignited," Rarity said, "I'm the only exception because this is supposed to be a test. Anyone Polpo doesn't know is a Stand user will be attacked, even if they already have a Stand. But it can only move in shadows, and sunlight can hurt it." "That Stand had an arrow in its mouth," Koichi said, "We've seen something like it before. Twice now."

"And you got stabbed by this arrow?," Giorno said. Koichi nodded. "I would have died if not for a close friend. Normally people without Stand potential can't survive if the arrow hits them fatally. But those that have it, like Yukako, will survive and have their Stand awakened. I can't believe one these arrows is here in Italy." Yukako them saw some birds overhead. "Here's a thought. Can that Stand travel through moving shadows?" Giorno felt his foot get grabbed as a bird flew over his shadow near a tree. Black Sabbath come out to try another attack.

"Echoes!," Koichi called out, "Act 3!" Black Sabbath felt its hands get heavier. "Keep it there," Rarity said, "Art of the Dress!" Art of the Dress used its crystals to cut down a nearby tree. Black Sabbath was exposed, but Rarity wasn't done. "Let me show you a technique I adopted from my grandfather. Crystal Lenses!" Several lenses grew in midair, reflecting the sunlight and burning Black Sabbath as Art of the Dress moved to attack. "CARO CARO CARO CARO CARO CARO CARO CARO CARO! Che caro tesoro!"

Black Sabbath groaned as it burned up under the sun and Rarity's assault. "Well, we're safe now," Giorno said, "But what about our initiation?" "Never mind that!," Koichi said, "If there's another arrow here there's likely to be more victims! I need to call our friends in Japan!" "Not a good idea," Rarity said, "Polpo, the Stand user in prison, is part of a gang we were trying to join. But we should have defeated him, right?" "Just his Stand," Yukako said, "Remote Stands almost never negatively impact their users if damaged, so this Polpo should be unaware of what happened, save for some heaviness in his hands. Just be careful you don't relight that lighter a second time."

Later Giorno and Rarity explained their situation. "Are we sure we can leave them like this?," Yukako asked as they left. "I saw something in Giorno's eyes," Koichi said, "The same virtue of justice I've seen all too many times with Josuke. His birth might be bizarre, but in the end Giorno's still a Joestar by blood. This is his story now. All we can do is pass the torch." Yukako smiled. "If you say so, Koichi. I just hope they can handle whatever Stand user triggered Giorno's awakening."

When the couple returned to the prison, the lighter still lit, they saw something seem to emerge from the wall. It was Polpo, eating a pizza as big as he was. He then opened the fridge to get some fruit. "Ah, you've returned. And I see the lighter is still lit. Well done. Listen well. The most important thing in this gang is trust. Conversely the worst thing you can do in this gang is insult that trust. We don't fight over silly things like money or profit, but we will not suffer an insult to our good name. I think in that situation even God would permit murder." He took the still lit lighter. "That said, I offer my congratulations to the both of you on passing the initiation."

He passed out a couple of badges. "These signify proof that you're now a member of the Passione gang. I've arranged for you to work under Buccellati, since you're already familiar with him." Rarity took her badge, and Giorno saw the fridge in plain sight as he took his. Polpo finished his wine as he saw the couple leave. 'I wonder if they really kept the flame lit for twenty-four hours. Maybe they did, maybe the girl's Stand was strong enough to deal with mine, or maybe the boy now has his own Stand.' He chuckled. "Either way, I can make use of those two."

He then saw he fridge door was slightly open. "I could have sworn I closed this door. Then again, the blood tends to rush to my stomach when I'm eating." He took one of the bananas. "At my age I could use some extra potassium." As he peeled the banana and held it his mouth, he heard a clicking sound. "What was that...?" He looked around, but shrugged when he saw nothing. He began to place the banana in his mouth, but gasped when it suddenly change into a gun. The clicking sound was when he had pulled back the safety while peeling it. And now he was holding the trigger.

The gun went off, blowing Polpo's brains all over the wall, as well as ripping through his Stand and breaking off the arrowhead. Outside, Giorno and Rarity were holding hands. "He shouldn't have insulted the old man's life," Giorno said. "Now there's no going back," Rarity said, "Only forward to our dream." "And we'll face it together," Giorno said, as they drew close and kissed. Meanwhile, Polpo's death was ruled a suicide, and the arrowhead eventually wound up in the hands of the Speedwagon Foundation. They now had five of the seven.

Buccellati walked with the couple as he explained a few things. "The boss is at the upper echelon of the gang. Just below him is his advisor. Below that are the capos. Each capo has several teams under them, usually somewhere between one and three. The boss only liaisons directly with his advisor, meaning there's no real way to find his identity, or his location. Now gangsters here in Italy aren't like in other countries. We like to remain discreet. Being conspicuous lends itself to assassination. Even the capos prefer to dress in civilian clothes."

"And jobs too, I'm assuming," Giorno noted. "Of course," Buccellati agreed, "Anyone on the streets could be a member. Whether it's the local barber, a passing taxi driver, even the owner of the toy store. That's their public life. In private expect the sort of luxury lifestyle you see gangsters enjoying in American Hollywood movies. Age means nothing to Passione, only skill and trust. You'll find there are several members your own age in this gang." "So if no one knows who the boss is," Rarity said, "How does one move up the ranks?"

"Through hard work," Buccellati said, "You gather support, rack up a few million lire for the organization. Get enough of both, and one can rise to the rank of capo. Below the capos are people like us. Underlings that are typically split into teams of six to ten. Each team is designated a territory that they are to protect. The protection money comes in the form of gambling casinos, local shipping, and small stores in the region. All businesses under our protection give us ten percent of their monthly earnings. We still buy from them when purveying their store. They need to afford that protection money, after all."

He kept walking. "Other teams include assassination squads or drug peddlers. The sort of people I personally don't like associating with, even though we're in the same gang. The basic gist is, you want to get close to the boss, you have to meet his approval first. Earn his trust, and gain an audience. That's the only way you'll get close. Trying to hunt down his identity is only going to get you killed." "Meaning first we'll need power in the organization," Giorno realized. "Exactly," Buccellati said, "Now I'll introduce you to the rest of the team."

When they entered the restaurant, there was quite a scene. A young boy was threatening a teenaged man with a switchblade while looking like he had been attacked with a fork. The other two men in the room were just calmly sipping tea. "What the hell are you guys doing!?," Buccellati called out, "Is this how you act in front of our new members!?" The group immediately looked over. Buccellati sighed. "Everyone, this is Giorno Giovanna and Rarita Zeppeli. They'll be part of our group from now on."

He looked to the couple as he pointed to each member in turn. First there was the man getting attacked by the switchblade. He had spiky white hair and dressed in a red suit without an undershirt or slacks. "This is Pannacotta Fugo..." He moved to the young boy, who wore a bandanna with his casual clothes. "Narancia Ghirga..." Next was a teenager wearing a blue suit and cap. "Guido Mista..." Finally an older man with long white hair. "And Leone Abbacchio." As Giorno sat down, he spotted Abbacchio pissed into a teapot and pouring out a cup.

"It's a pleasure," he said, "Here, have some tea." Giorno smirked. "Don't mind if I do." To the group's surprise, he downed the cup in one go. Rarity smirked, and Buccellati realized why. Giorno had turned one of his teeth into a jellyfish using Gold Experience. Abbacchio was particularly stunned, as he had expected to use this prank to convince the young boy he wasn't cut out for this life. "Dude, hardcore!," Mista said, "How did you do that!?" Giorno smirked. "Well, you're all keeping your abilities secret. I think I should do the same." That got the group's attention. The couple had already been told everyone in the group was a Stand user, and they wouldn't reveal their powers so readily.

"Good grief, no one can be this dumb," Rarity said as she sat down as looked at some notes from the table, "Especially if they know basic multiplication." Narancia giggled. "Yeah, I do that a lot to mess with Fugo." "Why you little...!," Fugo said, but Giorno placed a hand on his shoulder. "No need to get worked up over a prank." Rarity then grabbed a piece of the nearby strawberry shortcake, spotting Mista looking at her. "Did you want this?" "No, I'll get the next one," Mista said, "Four is an unlucky number." Rarity smirked and shoved the entire cake into her mouth. Mista looked in amazement when she didn't so much as cough.

"If I may say," she said like nothing was wrong, "I just love the fashion choices you've all made. Fugo, that suit would look lovely with an green undershirt. It would have the perfect strawberry image to it." "I actually do that when I do business," Fugo noted. "So how old are you two?," Narancia asked. "We're both fifteen," Giorno said as Rarity sat in his lap. "That's two years younger than me," Narancia said. "Wait, are you two in a relationship?," Abbacchio asked. "Have been for the last two years," Giorno said.

The group started to ask details about the situation they were in. Buccellati smirked. 'I thought there would be difficulties with them adjusting to new members. But Giorno and Rarity seem to have a talent for getting people to accept them.' In many ways, Giorno had inherited the best of his father. His charm and charisma were on par with Dio's, and Rarity was no slouch in that department. The two could be compared to Dio and Enya, only a more virtuous version.

They had taken the first major step to their dream. Giorno wanted to protect Italy from the corruption that plagued it, and Rarity wanted her family's native Napoli to be the home it was in the time of her ancestor William Zeppeli. They now had a group of friends that could make that dream a reality. Five Stand users, one of which they already knew about, the other four they still haven't learned yet. But soon situations would arise when they would learn.

I hope you like how our passionate couple interacts with the gang. Many people suspected Rarity would be the MLP character included in Golden Wind due to the various fashion choices the characters make. I thought the same which is why I chose this, but don't expect too many comments in that regard.

That said, this won't be the last time Rarity gobsmacks Mista.

Time for the first major conflict of this arc. From what I've seen of Golden Wind, the process of taking down the boss boils down into four major conflicts, the search for Polpo's treasure, the mission of getting Trish to her father, the search into Diavolo's history, and finally the Requiem part.

So yeah, here's the first conflict.

Giorno and Rarity soon settled into their life in the group. It was mostly casual patrols to make sure the people under their protection were getting their money's worth. A bit tedious, but they weren't expecting a big adventure when they got into the gang life. Giorno was never under any delusion that his dream would be that exciting to reach, because the best things in life never did come easy. To be fair, he wasn't entirely wrong, but he also didn't realize that unexpected things can happen when destiny knocks on your door.

Buccellati was enjoying a slice of pizza while on his patrol, getting the usual cheerful greetings from the citizens. He and the others were well known and well respected in town, and he felt it was only a matter of time before Giorno and Rarity were the same. As he mused, an elderly woman came up to him, another woman behind her that was a few years younger. "Buccellati," the older woman said, "My friend has a bit of a problem. Her son has been beating her."

Buccellati sighed. Something had to be wrong with the world when Italians stopped respecting their family. "I'll have a talk with him and see if I can straighten him out." "It's not just that," the friend said, "He's also been taking drugs." Buccellati nearly dropped his pizza. "I see... This is more concerning then I thought. I assure you no one in my group has been selling drugs on the streets. The only one who was has been... Replaced. I'll do anything in my power to find the source of this and put a stop to it." 'And that means I need more authority in the gang... And I can only think of one way to get it quickly.' He headed off to make a few calls.

Meanwhile, two other gang members were driving through the city, Zucchero and Sale. "Have you heard the rumors?," Sale asked, "Some of the capos are saying Polpo committed suicide in prison." "Wait, really?," Zucchero said, "Are you sure about that?" "The autopsy doesn't lie," Sale noted, "And there was no one in his cell when it happened. He apparently took one of his own guns and shot himself. The guards found an arrowhead in his cell, which was eventually picked up by the Speedwagon Foundation."

"So much for the recruitment process," Zucchero noted. "No doubt," Sale said, "I have no idea why Polpo would want to commit suicide out of nowhere. There could be any number of reasons. But that's not important. What's really important... Is the rumor about the treasure he stashed away." Zucchero got interested. "A for real treasure? With gold and gems and the like?" Sale nodded. "Yep, the sort of treasure you sometimes see in pirate movies. Basically it's a bunch of valuables Polpo had stashed away before getting incarcerated, which he had converted into gold and jewels."

"I can't believe he hid all this from the boss," Zucchero said, "I certainly never heard of it until now. Though he obviously didn't put it in the bank. There's no way he'd be able to keep it there." "Well the rumors have been circulating since Polpo was incarcerated," Sale said, "But while he was alive no one was stupid enough to go hunting for it. But now that he's dead it's up for grabs for anyone who can find it. The sum total is said to be close to ten billion lire worth!" Zucchero whistled. "Ten billion lire? I could take a trip to Monaco or Japan and get some fine bitches,"

"You're thinking too small," Sale said, "Think about it. Whoever gets that money could use it to pay off the boss and replace Polpo as capo, and all the benefits that comes with it. That could bring in way more than ten billion." Zucchero nodded in understanding. "So the treasure could become an investment to whoever finds it. We gonna go for it?" "Yeah," Sale said, "But first we need a lead. And if my theory's right, that lead is Buccellati."

"Buccellati?," Zucchero asked, "That punk from Napoli? What makes you think he knows anything?" "There's no way Polpo could hide the treasure on his own," Sale explained, "You remember how he looked. I'm surprised they could even get him in his cell. No, he had to trust someone enough to hide it for him. Someone who could keep their mouth shut and not ask questions. Now I'm not saying there's anyone like that in this gang, but Buccellati was Polpo's immediate subordinate, and he actually liked the punk. So if Polpo was going to trust anyone to hide his treasure, it would be Buccellati."

"If so then he's going to make his move soon," Zucchero said, "It's no secret that Buccellati's had his eye on the capo position for months. If Polpo really had a treasure, then by now Buccellati will be going for it. And we can follow him." "Don't think it's so easy," Sale said, "Remember Buccellati is a Stand user too, as is every member of his group. Push comes to shove your Stand doesn't have the strength to take them on." "So I won't take them head on," Zucchero replied, "My Stand's better for sneak attacks anyway."

The group had rented out a yacht and were relaxing around the deck. Or at least, Mista was trying to relax, but Narancia's overly loud stereo was making it hard to enjoy his magazine, even with the headphones. He got Narancia's attention. "Yo, Narancia, you brought drinks, right? Gimme a Sprite, would ya?" "Hmm?," Narancia replied, "Yeah, sure." He reached into the cooler and handed Mista the soda can. "Cool," Mista said, "Hold my magazine, would you?" Narancia took the magazine with a confused look as Mista popped open the can, then took the magazine back while covertly pouring the Sprite onto the stereo.

He drank the rest as Narancia suddenly realized his stereo wasn't working. "What the hell!? I just bought this thing! That guy at the electronics store is gonna get it for selling me this piece of crap!" Mista then winced as Rarity smacked him on the head. "Pranks like that aren't very nice," she said. Mista grumbled. "Hey, Buccellati, you mind telling us where this boat's going already?" "I suppose we're far enough away from the shore to discuss it," Buccellati agreed, "Polpo recently committed suicide. Therefore, we're going to retrieve his hidden treasure in Capri."

He was sure Giorno and Rarity had something to do with the alleged suicide, but didn't press the issue. "Wait, a hidden treasure!?," Narancia asked, "As in the sort you see in adventure movies!?" Buccellati smiled. "Indeed. Polpo hid away a fortune before he was incarcerated, and now that he's dead it's ours for the taking. As it happens I know exactly where it's hidden, because Polpo entrusted me to hide it in the first place. Therefore, the entire ten billion lire rightly belongs to us!"

"Did you say ten billion lire?," Abbacchio asked, "With that kind of money..." Buccellati nodded. "With that money, I intend to gain status as capo, but we must get to it before anyone else can take it." "Where in Capri did you hide ten billion lire!?," Narancia asked excitedly. "All in good time," Buccellati assured him, "The rest of the organization has gotten wind of the treasure. We aren't safe until we've secured it." He then spotted Narancia get pulled into a nearby opening. "Hey, what happened to Narancia!?" The others looked to where he was, just in time to see his shoes drop onto the deck. But the opening only lead to a small tool compartment with a drainpipe.

"What just happened!?," Fugo said, "Where did Narancia go!?" "I saw him get dragged in here!," Buccellati said, pointing to the compartment, "Rarity, stop the yacht!" Rarity nodded. She had been using Art of the Dress to pilot the yacht remotely, and now recalled it. "Damn it, where is he?," Mista said, "Did he somehow roll off into the sea or something? He'd better not be hiding somewhere cackling at our expense." "I highly doubt he had," Rarity said as Mista hopped to a lower portion of the deck, "We'd have heard a splash of some kind."

She then realized Mista had dropped out of sight. "Wait... What happened to Mista?" Fugo looked to where Mista had dropped down, but only saw the life preserver he had been carrying. "Damn it not Mista too." He started looking around. "Wait, stop moving around," Abbacchio said, "Clearly this is some sort of attack. We can't take chances trying to search the yacht randomly." But it was too late. Fugo went to check the cabin, only to disappear as well.

The remaining four gangsters huddled together. "It's gotta be a Stand," Giorno noted, "But what kind of Stand can make people disappear without a trace?" "Whoever it is," Buccellati said, "They're clearly somewhere on the ship. The ship isn't too big, there's not too many places they can hide." "If they're attacking us out here," Abbacchio said, "They clearly want the money we're after. They must have been trailing us since we were still on land." "We double-checked the entire ship before setting off," Rarity noted, "When could they have snuck aboard? Especially since we double-checked after leaving the pier."

"I'm not sure," Abbacchio admitted, "But it's the only explanation that makes sense. Buccellati, do you know anyone who would be capable of this?" "No, I don't," Buccellati said, "But if they're after the money, they have to be from the organization. I'm the only one here with information about it, so they must be saving me for last. And we're out here on the water, where there's no escape." Rarity smirked. "Don't be too sure. I still haven't played my own hand."

Abbacchio nodded. "If the others are dead, we may need to make a quick escape." "I never suggested they were dead," Buccellati noted, "But whoever this is won't hesitate to kill us." "Don't write them off just yet," Giorno said, "I can already tell they're alive." He pointed to a fly that had appeared out of nowhere. "I created that fly from Narancia's shoe. It's trying to get back to its owner now. From the way it's searching, it's clear Narancia is still alive at least. Which means the others may also be alive, with our attacker planning on using them as hostages."

"That makes sense," Rarity said, "It'd be pretty difficult to get information out of Buccellati if the rest of us were dead. If anything it'd make him clam up even more." Giorno nodded. "The problem is the fly doesn't know where to look. It's been staying here on the upper deck for a while now. It's flying near the front cabin, so he's somewhere over there, but that's all I can do to narrow the search location. We'd need something more to pinpoint his exact location. We find Narancia, we find our enemy."

Buccellati rubbed his chin. "But trying to get close without understanding the enemy's Stand could prove fatal. We need to uncover this mystery... Abbacchio, perhaps your Stand could help us." Abbacchio stayed silent. "Well, Abbacchio?," Rarity asked. "I'm not about to show my power to someone I don't even trust," Abbacchio said, "How do we know this kid even truly knows that they're alive? I can't even understand how his power works."

Rarity sighed. "Stubborn as a mule, aren't you? And cynical to boot, if you're not even willing to consider that our allies may still be alive. But if you simply think that the enemy is just in the cabin, then by all means. I'll be looking forward to laughing at your expense." Giorno then walked forward. "Giorno, what are you doing?," Buccellati asked. "If it's for the sake of my dream," Giorno said, "Then I don't mind showing people where their faults lie. And I won't hesitate to put my life on the line." As he approached the cabin, a pair of arms covered in purple spots and holding a large pin struck at him.

The trio looking surprise as he literally deflated and sank into the box compartment. "Giorno!," Buccellati called out. Rarity turned to Abbacchio. "And to think that could've been you." Abbacchio sighed. "Fine, you've proven your point." He chuckled. "Your boyfriend is pretty crazy, Rarity." Rarity shrugged. "Like he said, we're willing to put our lives on the line, and our trust in whoever it takes, if it means accomplishing our dream." Abbacchio held Buccellati back. "No. Giorno's experiment made it clear that whoever approaches the cabin will get attacked."

He then spotted the fly getting closer. "Looks like Giorno's still alive," Rarity said, "Otherwise that fly would have turned back into a shoe." "If it's coming this way...," Buccellati said, "Sticky Fingers!" Sticky Fingers started opening zippers along the fly's path. But all it did was reveal the empty cabin. "He's not hiding in the usual location," Buccellati realized. Abbacchio sighed. "Looks like I have no choice. I'll have to trust Giorno's words. Well Rarity, looks like you'll get to understand what my Stand can do."

Rarity raised as eyebrow as Abbacchio's Stand energy flared up. "Moody Blues!" A blue and silver humanoid with a timer on its head appeared, making electronic sounds as it did. "I believe the best way to observe what happened is to recreate what Narancia was doing five minutes ago," Abbacchio said. "That sounds about right," Buccellati said, as he used Sticky Fingers to allow them to bypass the trap near the cabin and head for the front of the ship.

"That fly is still near the rear of the ship," Rarity noted, "So, Abbacchio, what does your Stand do?" Abbacchio smirked. "Observe." To Rarity's surprise, Moody Blues' timer showed five minutes and moved to a spot Rarity remembered Narancia sitting in around that time, and taking the same stance. It then morphed into a complete copy of Narancia, save for the timer still being visible. Music could suddenly be heard in the background. "Is that Narancia's stereo?," Rarity asked, "I thought Mista shorted it out with the soda."

"It's a recording as part of the playback," Abbacchio explained, "Moody Blues can recreate events centered around a certain person. To that effect it could technically move as far away from me as needed, so its range is measured in time rather than distance." "It's still a little early," Buccellati said, "Narancia was attacked much later." Abbacchio nodded. "I'll fast forward the recording." Moody Blues started to speed up as it went through all the motions Narancia did.

At the point it hopped up onto the upper deck, it started playing normally. "Where in Capri did you hide ten billion lire!?" 'All in good time,' came a recording of Buccellati's voice. "This is about right," Buccellati said, "I saw Narancia getting attacked right around this period. Move behind him, quickly." As they did, they saw a hole appear in Narancia's shoulder. "That wound!," Rarity realized, "It's the same one Giorno got!" Moody Blues then got sucked into the compartment and started deflating. "I think I'm starting to piece together what happened," Abbacchio said.

Cliffhangers. Sometimes they crop up in a story. We'll finish dealing with this new threat next chapter. Stay tuned.

Let's finish dealing with the A-hole targeting the team, shall we? We'll also remind everyone that while Rarity is prim, she's not prissy and can snark with the best of them.

The trio watched as Moody Blues got sucked into the drainpipe of the compartment. "I think we can understand what sort of power the enemy Stand has," Buccellati said, "Pause the playback, Abbacchio." Moody Blues got stuck mid way, making it rather absurd to look at. "There was more a look of confusion than pain on Narancia's face," Rarity noted. "That fly's coming close," Abbacchio noted, "We need to make this fast." Buccellati grabbed one of the flattened arms. "Nails, organs, even clothes... All flattened out like a used condom. But I can still feel a pulse, so we can be sure Narancia is still alive. Sticky Fingers!"

His Stand zipped open the ship and the drain pipe, showing Moody Blues in the process of getting sucked down the drainpipe. "Stretched out like a clown's balloon animals," Rarity noted, "Now we know what the enemy can do. The question is... What do we do about it? And where is the enemy?" "This is probably an ability that can also affect the user," Buccellati theorized, "He hid in the drainpipe the same way he got the others. This is why the fly Giorno made couldn't truly track them down."

Abbacchio nodded. "I'll resume the playback." "Abbacchio!," Buccellati said, "Your Stand is defenseless while still in playback! If you let it get out of your sight..." "I can still sense Moody Blues' location," Abbacchio assured him, "Once I feel we're getting close, you and Rarity can make your attack. We need to follow him or we'll never beat him." Rarity smirked. "Sounds like something Giorno would say." Abbacchio chuckled. "I guess the boy struck a chord with my past. If he's willing to let himself get attacked just to beat an enemy, then I'll have to be the same to solve this mystery."

He paused for a moment. "Okay, I can sense it moving to the right, near where Mista was attacked." Buccellati spotted the fly getting closer. "I think he's realized what your Stand is doing! And he's taking the others with him!" "My Stand is starting to move slower," Abbacchio noted, "The bastard must have been lurking around where he ambushed Fugo and Giorno." He pointed. "There!" Sticky Fingers opened the pipe, but there was nothing inside.

"That's suspicious," Rarity noted, "I'd expect Moody Blues to be in there at least." "There's something we're missing," Abbacchio realized, "The enemy wouldn't be able to pull this off with just what we know. I feel my Stand in this exact spot." His eyes widened as the fly got closer. He stopped the playback to retrieve Moody Blues, but then he saw something odd. Nothing but darkness, and a wall he couldn't get through. He had his Stand strike, causing the sound to be heard on the deck.

"It sounds like something hit the pipe," Rarity said. "That was Moody Blues," Abbacchio said, showing his bloody knuckles, "It's somewhere beneath the floor. There's another layer to this mystery, I'm sure of it." Rarity and Buccellati raised an eyebrow. The fly got near Abbacchio, and a hole appeared in his neck. "I have it...," he said, "I know this bastard's trick!" As he got dragged under, Buccellati went to grab him. But it was too late, and Abbacchio disappeared.

"He said another layer," Rarity said, "Does that mean...?" The fly was still roaming around. Buccellati had Sticky Fingers punch through much of the ship, opening up a few more zipper spots. "You know what they say about seagulls," came a male voice, "If they're flying overhead, it means a ship is close to land. There's only two of you left, but I don't think the girl will be any trouble at this point." Rarity scoffed. "Are you a coward that you won't show yourself to us?"

"Now now," the voice said, "I'm the one in control here. Now Buccellati, I'll be asking a question and you have to answer it. Got that? If I don't like the answer, one of your friends gets killed." Buccellati smirked. "You're from Passione, right? How long have you been listening to us?" "I'm the one asking the questions here!," the voice demanded, "I only want the ten billion lire you have stashed away! Any unnecessary remarks, and your gang members die! Got that!?"

"Those are blacktails," Buccellati said. "Huh?," the voice asked, confused. "The birds you're hearing," Buccellati said, "They're blacktails. You can tell because of the cat-like calls they make." "They tend to feed on small fish and crustaceans," Rarity noted. "Did I say you could speak, girly!?," the voice called out. "Now, now, this is important for you," Rarity pointed out, "You see, feeding habits like those... Means they can travel far into the sea to find food. You thought we were close to shore because you heard seabirds and you knew we stopped... But we're not close to shore at all."

Just then, the boat seemed to come apart, filling with water as it did. "What... What did you do!?," the voice demanded. "I punched the deck to create a hole in the bottom of the ship," Buccellati explained, "Abbacchio had already discovered how you were hiding, and he let himself get attacked to prove it." He pointed to the blood smear on the deck. "That's why Abbacchio got himself injured. The blood from his knuckles dripped below deck, but when I opened up the cabin there was no sign of it."

He and Rarity grabbed the mast. "If you don't want to drown," Rarity said, "You'd better come out of hiding." The entire yacht seemed to peel away from itself. Or rather, from an identical yacht. "There were two ships all along," Buccellati said, "You used one identical to the one we had to hide yourself, turning it into a thin veil using your Stand. You were traveling through it to ambush us. Very clever, we didn't even realize it at first." As the flattened ship floated off, Zucchero came out of the compartment, soaking wet and panting hard.

His Stand, Soft Machine, came out behind him, holding Abbacchio. "Don't come closer!," he warned, "Or I'll..." He then spotted crystals growing on his Stand's arm, stabbing into it, making his arm bleed. "You'll drop Abbacchio!," Rarity ordered, "And you'll produce our other friends! Or these crystals will start expanding while still in your flesh!" Zucchero freaked out as Rarity and Buccellati approached. "Knowing what your Stand can do," Buccellati said, "It actually seems rather slow. Sticky Fingers!" Sticky Fingers immediately punched Zucchero in the head, causing it to come off with a zipper effect.

Been really looking forward to this one.

Also, just before I posted this I saw the episode of Golden Wind that this chapter includes, and I gotta say I like how they portrayed the synchronized dance.

The others were restored to normal, and Narancia started kicking the headless Zucchero, since he caused him to get a bump on his head. Zucchero was still alive due to Sticky Fingers' power, but that only made things worse for him. As Fugo and Abbacchio joined in, Rarity was busy affixing crystals to Zucchero's eyelids and nostrils to keep them open wide, while his mouth was literally zipped shut. "So that's what Art of the Dress can do, huh?," Mista asked. "Yes," Rarity replied, "I can grow the crystals on any molecule. It's especially effective on a solid surface, but I can even grow them in midair."

Giorno looked the guy's wallet. "Mario Zucchero," he noted, "Hometown is in Roma." Mista got out a pair of glasses and some fishing line. He then saw something on Zucchero's face. "What is this, garbage or seaweed?" Rarity picked it up and felt it. "Seaweed. You can tell because of the texture." "That's a relief," Mista said, "I was concerned the ocean may have become polluted. That would ruin the beauty Italy is known for."

"We're about to reach the island of Capri," Buccellati said, "Polpo considered it the jewel of Italy, and for good reason. During the Greek Empire, when they were expanding across the Mediterranean, they considered this island to be one of the most beautiful views in the world. Even when the Roman Empire began its rise, Augustus Caesar made this island his villa and stayed here for ten long years, refusing to return to Roma during that time. It was because of this beauty that Polpo considered it a fitting place to hide his treasure."

"It doesn't look like we're being followed," Giorno said. "Maybe not," Buccellati replied, "But I doubt we're done just yet. Zucchero had to hear the rumor from someone. I find it difficult to believe he came after us alone, even if his power could deal with us in this enclosed space." "Then why zip his mouth up?," Narancia asked, "He can't tell us anything that way." "Oh this is no interrogation," Mista clarified, "I just want this bastard to pay for messing with us like that. We have Abbacchio to figure out if he was with anyone."

He hooked the fishing line into Zucchero's eyelid and placed the glasses on him. Narancia grinned once he finished reciting something on his fingers. "Hope you like visiting the ninth circle of Hell," he said as he turned on the stereo. Zucchero's head was held up to the sun, intensified by the glasses and crystals, making him tear up quickly. Narancia, Fugo, and Mista started dancing in sync as Rarity held the line, sitting like a queen fishing. "Abbacchio, do we have anything?"

"Yeah," Abbacchio said, "Looks like he was using the ship's radio. At the time he was likely flattened, but with the boat in its original condition we can watch it in 3-D. Seems he overheard us saying we were heading for Capri." He listened in. "His partner already took a motorboat to the island, docked at at the Marina Grande." "By now he's already on the island waiting," Fugo noted, "It would only take a motorboat thirty minutes to reach it from Napoli."

"Maybe we should make this asshole spill the beans about his partner's Stand," Mista suggested. "We'd never get him to talk," Buccellati said, "He's a gangster through and through, and he may not even know about his partner's Stand. But we can't just dock right away, or take too long to get there." "We need to get someone to the island first," Rarity suggested, "Find the enemy and dispose of them. Art of the Dress can make a crystal raft that I can walk across as it moves along the water."

"Even faster," Giorno suggested as he held up the life preserver, "I can turn this into a sea creature and drag you along." "That's a good plan but it has one flaw," Abbacchio pointed out, "We don't know the enemy's name or face. And Capri is full of tourists. How will you find him before he finds you?" "It's better than waiting around to get attacked," Mista pointed out, "If we stay around the harbor for a bit, he's bound to show himself. Our best chance is to go on the offensive."

He loaded his pistol. "Giorno, how many people can that fish pull?" "I'd say it would have the strength to pull two plus the raft easily," Giorno noted. Mista nodded. "Good, then I'm coming too. My Stand, Sex Pistols, excels at assassination." He grinned as the tiny humanoid critters, with cone heads and numbers on their foreheads, appeared loading the bullets. The trio soon were rushing across the water to Capri, reaching the side of the marina where foot traffic was light.

"We should be able to watch the marina from here," Giorno said, "Mista, do you have a plan to spot the enemy in the next twenty minutes?" "Yeah, just a second," Mista said as he cut up some salami. "Why are you having lunch while we're in the middle of a danger zone?," Rarity asked. "I'm not," Mista clarified, "But these little guys picked up on the lunchtime tradition, so now they won't work until they've been fed at lunchtime." The bodies of Sex Pistols grabbed the salami slices, tearing into them. Tre tried grabbing the one Cinque had, prompting Rarity to smack it with a tiny crystal bead.

"Honestly," she said, "Even your Stand has an irrational fear of the number four. I note the numbers are one through seven, but skip four altogether." "Hey, when I was a kid I saw a mother cat have four kittens!," Mista argued, "A neighbor tried to adopt one, only to get his eyes scratched out!" "He probably just wasn't gentle with it," Rarity retorted, "Cats don't like it when people are too rough with them, especially at a young age." Mista sighed. "Anyway, I need to talk these guys out of their nap. Can you get the radio I stashed in the bag?"

Rarity was now stationed at the far side of the marina, using a small crystal lens as a telescope. Mista had wanted Rarity and Giorno away from the marina, but Rarity pointed out that their enemy likely hadn't seen either of their faces since they were new to the organization and this man was likely from Roma as well. Rarity was now across from the yacht club main building, where the owner was paid off to announce a call coming in from the Lagoon, the ship the group was taking.

Giorno was scanning the marina to see if anyone approached, while Rarity kept a secondary eye on the building in case someone came in from the back. Mista was hiding in the shadow of the building waiting for either of them to signal so he could incapacitate the guy. Giorno signaled Rarity when a call came in on the radio, in spite of no one being seen making for the surveillance room. Rarity looked and saw a figure in the building, using the lens to signal Mista.

Mista nodded and ran in front of the window, surprising the guy as he fired. Quickly the man bolted as the shots seemed to miss. But that's when Sex Pistols went into action. "Come on!," Une called out, and the six creatures started knocking the bullets around like soccer balls. "Pass! Pass! Pass!" The man got hit in the leg as he bolted out the back door. Rarity launched herself over using a crystal explosion, landing on top of the building. "Sounds like you got him," she said to Mista, "But now people are staring because of the gunshot."

Mista shrugged. "It's not as loud as the ones in the movies. Do you see him from up there?" "He's just hopped aboard a nearby truck," Rarity replied, "On the passenger's side, so he may have paid off the driver." Mista ran through the building. "All right, if there's two of us, we should be able to approach him." He grabbed the side railing of the truck and pointed his gun in the cabin, then on top, where he fired on a guy hiding up there. The shot hit his head, but for some reason the guy wasn't dead, just really injured.

"Fuck! Not again!," he called out. The man was Sale, Zucchero's partner. He grimaced at Mista. "You're Mista, right? I guess Zucchero got whacked." "Not yet," Rarity said, Art of the Dress punching Sale in the gut. "Damn it, two of you!," Sale called out, "That's gonna be a bitch..." Mista fired off two rounds, only to get them deflected by a silver humanoid. "Nice try," Sale said, "But now that my Stand, Kraft Work, can go all out, your bullets are useless." Kraft Work then grabbed Rarity's Stand as it launched its fist.

"Punching won't work either," Sale said with a grin. "Wasn't trying to punch you, darling," Rarity clarified, "Just needed to get your attention so my crystals could trap your limbs." Art of the Dress broke off its hand and regrew it, as the broken hand started growing into more crystals that covered Kraft Work's arm, cutting into it. "The hell is going on!," Sale said as the effect of his Stand getting damaged was reflected on his arm, "Kraft Work is supposed to halt all kinetic energy!"

Mista then realized his hand was stuck to the railing, and his feet were stopped in midair. "Looks like its still working," Sale said, "The driver is also stuck to the gas pedal. So why are these damned crystals still moving along my arm?" "Not moving," Rarity clarified, "Art of the Dress doesn't create and manipulate crystals, it grows crystal constructs. Even if your Stand stopped the current growth, more growth happens behind it. This certainly explains why you're still alive even though Mista shot you in the head. You used your Stand to stop the bullet at the skin."

Mista dumped a few bullets out of his hat, which Sex Pistols loaded into his gun. "I had enough time while you were talking to check my revolver," he said, "Looks like I ran out of bullets trying to shoot you, but I'm not out of ammo." Rarity and Art of the Dress pointed at him. "And if I were to grow some crystals on your forehead, I'll bet they would push that bullet lodged in your head right into your brain." Mista fired, and Sale got down to use his Stand, only to gasp when it turned out Mista had fired two bullets. The second bullet hit Sale in the throat, knocking him off the truck.

"Damn it," Mista said as he checked his gun, "I spilled the rest of my bullets! Now I only have four left!" "That's it!," Rarity said as she pulled Mista onto the top of the truck and applied two slaps each to his left and right cheek. Mista freaked out. "Did you just slap me four times!?" "I just slapped you four times," Rarity said, "If you can't get over this silly superstition, which I should mention makes more sense in China or Japan than Italy, then there's no way you can beat this asshole!"

Mista sighed. "Fine... I saw you eat one of those four cake slices without any ill-effect, so I guess I can try it just once." He loaded his gun and pointed it at the driver. "Keep going to the marina, I have a friend there." "No, make him hit the brakes," Rarity said, "The guy's right in front of us now. He must have used his Stand to hop along some rubble in midair." Sale started tapping one of the bullets that had followed him. "Just a few taps, and I can store enough kinetic energy in the bullet to send it flying at them."

The bullet went flying, but Rarity threw up a crystal wall that stopped the bullet. 'Shit, it's like this woman can alter luck,' Mista thought, 'Maybe I can trust her with this...' He fired off three shots in rapid succession. To his shock, while one of them was deflected by Kraft work, the other two hit right where the bullets in his throat and head were. Rarity then focused a few crystals on those locations to stun him further before moving to attack. "CARO CARO CARO CARO CARO CARO CARO CARO CARO! Che caro tesoro!" Unable to stop the attack due to losing consciousness, Sale was knocked into the cliff-side, unable to keep fighting.

Small but important set-up chapter. Just saying.

Mista was still laughing about it as the rest of the group came in. "I never thought my luck with the number four would diminish so much." "You're still not going to give up on that, are you?," Rarity noted. Mista shrugged. "Well, in my defense, the first bullet did get deflected, but that left three more in the chamber. Still, I can't believe that man Sale was still alive after all that. That's some immortal Stand he has." "He's not getting up anytime soon though," Giorno noted, "You both saw to that."

"And now we can move on to getting what we came here for," Buccellati said, "Follow me. The treasure is this way." He led the group to the local public toilet, Rarity staying outside since it was the men's room. "You hid the treasure in the toilets?," she asked. "Sort of," Buccellati said. "If I may ask," Fugo said, "This treasure is meant to make you capo. Why involve us in this hunt?" "To me you are all people I can trust," Buccellati explained, "And I wasn't sure if I would be ambushed on the way to collect the treasure. I needed backup, and you're the only ones I could count on."

He smiled at Giorno and Rarity, letting them know that he included them as well. "So, where exactly is it?," Abbacchio asked. "We just need to wait for a bit," Buccellati said as he checked his watch, "Getting the treasure was only part of the trip. I also made arrangements to have it handed off as payment as soon as we arrived. Our contact should be coming soon." At that moment, they saw two janitors outside, one shorter than the other. Narancia walked out. "Hey, we're busy in here, come back later." The taller janitor looked at him. "Are you Mister Toilette?"

Narancia looked confused until the janitor pointed to the sign. "If you're name isn't the one on this house, then you have no business telling us to come back later." "This is a public restroom," Rarity said, "For a janitor, you certainly are ignorant." She pointed as she did, and the janitor grabbed her arm. "Don't touch me." Rarity narrowed her eyes, twisting her arm around so the janitor was in an arm lock. "I really don't like getting antagonized without any real reason..."

"That's enough Rarity!," Buccellati said, "Those must the people we're here to meet." The shorter janitor took off his cap. "Bruno Buccellati, yes? I'm here on behalf of the boss to collect the ten billion lire as promised." "Everyone bow!," Buccellati ordered, "This is Pericolo, a capo in Passione! I contacted him before we arrived!" Rarity let go of the other person as she and the others bowed. "I thank you for coming all this way," Buccellati said. "It's no trouble," Pericolo said, "I offered to come here myself. That's enough, all of you. You may raise your heads."

"What about the other person?," Rarity asked. "All in due time," Pericolo said, "You'll have to excuse my friend's aversion to being touched. And Buccellati, I assumed you'd be alone. I wasn't expecting your entire team to be here." "I assumed other people would be after the payment," Buccellati explained, "I thought it best to take precautions. And if I may ask, why the janitor disguises?" "I'll tell you in a moment," Pericolo assured him. Buccellati nodded and walked back into the bathroom.

Using Sticky Fingers, he opened a zipper in one of the urinals, revealing a fortune in gold, jewelry, cash, gemstones, and other valuables. The sight of it shocked and amazed the group. "You hid it inside the urinal?," Abbacchio asked. "It's the last place anyone would think to look," Buccellati said with a grin, "Even if those two from before had managed to beat us to this location, they never would have found it, since they likely would have killed me once they knew the location."

Mista chuckled. "I feel sorry for the guys that have been pissing here." The treasure was laid out on the sinks, where Pericolo inspected it. "Yes, yes... This is definitely worth the amount you promised. I won't ask where you got it from, but the boss will certainly appreciate having it." He started to pack it up in his bag. "Consider this a symbol of your loyalty, Buccellati. On behalf on the boss, I am authorized to promote you to the rank of capo!" Buccellati smiled as his team congratulated him.

"With Polpo's death his territory defaults to you," Pericolo explained, "That includes the gambling operations, loansharking, smuggling operations, dominion over the restaurants and hotels, and control of the protection rackets for the small businesses. Fifty percent of all profits will go toward the gang as a whole, while the other fifty percent goes to you and your team." Mista smiled at Giorno. All of this happened after he and Rarity joined, so it felt like they were a good luck charm.

"Ah, one last thing," Pericolo said, "In addition to Polpo's territory, you also must fulfill the final job he had left to do." "Job?," Buccellati asked, confused. "It's a direct order from the boss," Pericolo explained, "It was to go to Polpo, but he committed suicide before he could receive it. As his successor, the responsibility of carrying out this job falls to you." The group looked at each other. A direct order from the boss could mean a chance to get close enough to learn his identity without risk to their lives.

"Very well," Buccellati agreed, "What is the job?" "You must guard the boss's daughter," Pericolo said, "With your very lives." The group became shocked. 'The boss had a daughter?,' Giorno thought, 'This just made overthrowing him a lot more complicated.' "Where is she?," Buccellati asked. "Right here," Pericolo said, "I've already handed her off to you." Rarity then looked at the other person, and realized she was looking at a woman. "It's her... She's the boss's daughter." The group looked at the woman in surprise.

The woman, now revealed as the boss's daughter, removed her gloves. "Would you mind if I use the restroom?" The group moved aside as she went into the ladies room, Rarity following her. "So the mission has already begun," Buccellati noted, "May I ask more specifically who she is?" Pericolo nodded. "Her name is Trish Una, age fifteen. She shares her last name with her mother, not her father. She's already aware there are people after her, but she has not seen her father since she was born..."

Giorno could relate to that. His own father, DIO Brando, was dead by the time he could even get the chance to know him. "As you all know," Pericolo said, "No one, not even I, has seen the boss's face, or know his name. But even he had a past. Two months ago, a woman named Donatella died of illness in a Calabria hospital. During her last few days she was trying to find a man named Solido Naso, a man she briefly dated. Her dying wish was to know what he was doing at that time."

He closed his eyes. "All this was for the sake of her daughter, born of that man. She wanted her daughter to know her father before she passed away. But... She never found him, and for good reason. Solido Naso, as you may surmise, never existed. That name was one of many pseudonyms the boss used in his life. His way of keeping his identity secret while still being able to maintain a social life. I'll wager the woman never imagined the man she once dated could be a mob boss."

"What does this have to do with the mission?," Abbacchio asked. "Everything," Pericolo explained, "Countless people search for each other every day, and normally no one pays any mind. But our gang pays close attention to those who search for the various names the boss has taken! The act of looking into the boss's past is considered an act of war against Passione, no matter how mundane or innocent the reason! When members of our gang realized Donatella was looking into Naso, they began to wonder if she knew something about the boss's past. They began to think... That her daughter was the boss's daughter."

"And it wasn't long before the boss heard of this," Buccellati realized. "Any matter concerning people looking into his identity is of concern to him," Pericolo acknowledged, "When he heard of Trish's existence, his decision was swift and decisive... To guard the girl and hide her! He instinctively knew the child was his, despite never having known her his whole life, and in spite of the fact that she appeared out of nowhere! Practically thin air! So we took her into hiding, and none too soon."

"What do you mean?," Giorno asked. "No sooner had I secured Trish," Pericolo explained, "Did we cross paths with some men. And they were looking for her. They wanted to take her hostage. This was two days ago. If the boss had waited half an hour longer to act, they would have had her. And they would likely have killed her, since they would no doubt try to get her to reveal whatever she knew about the boss." "Who is they?," Buccellati asked, "Who's going after her?"

"Traitors to the gang," Pericolo said ominously, "I don't know how many there are, but I do know they seek to overthrow the boss and seize his drug routes. Your first orders are to guard her for one week, after which you will receive further instructions. Though it may turn out to be less. The boss is hunting down and disposing of the traitors as we speak." Buccellati rubbed his chin. "If these orders were to originally go to Polpo, then our enemies are Stand users, aren't they?"

Pericolo nodded. "Yes. The boss only gave orders to Polpo concerning matters of this nature. And I have no Stand of my own, so I can no longer be of use here. I've fulfilled my duty, the rest is up to you. I recommend you get off the island with Trish as soon as possible. For now the boss and I are the only ones who know the girl is with you." And with that, he walked off, returning his cap as he did. Rarity came out of the ladies room shortly after. "I overheard all of that. Looks like our good fortune came at a cost."

Trish came out as well, now dressed in a different outfit. She walked up to Fugo. "You there. We'll be together for some time now, yes?" "Yes," Fugo said, "I am Fugo, this is Narancia, that's Mista." "I'm only taking with you," Trish said, "Could you take off your shirt? I need to wipe my hands." "Is the paper towel dispenser empty?," Fugo asked as he complied. "No, but she refuses to use it," Rarity said incredulously. "I didn't bring a handkerchief so I'll need you to buy me one," Trish said as she wiped her hands.

She started doing up her hair. "Also a pair of stockings and Givenchy's No 2 Rouge. And this month's issue of Vogue Italia. Make sure the stockings are reinforced around the thighs. And some mineral water, French-made. I'd sooner die than drink anything else." "Oh certainly," Rarity said sarcastically, "Anything else, princess? A neon sign saying, 'Trish Una is staying here'?" Trish glared at her. "What are you implying?" "Let's get one thing straight," Rarity told her, "We are here to protect you, not pamper you. Just because you're the boss's daughter that doesn't automatically make you a mafia princess."

Trish tried to make a retort, but Rarity held a finger in front of her face to silence her. "Now the handkerchief and stockings are reasonable. I'm a woman too so anyone seeing us buying them might think they're for me. But lest you forget, there are dangerous men after you, and they have likely been studying your personal tastes in an effort to identify you. Our job can go a lot smoother if you are harder to track down, capisce?" Trish looked indignant, but it was clear she understood.

The others couldn't help but snicker. Despite sounding posh herself, Rarity couldn't tolerate a spoiled child. Her own upbringing was on a farm where she learned the value of hard work. But for now, the group had its first real mission. If they pulled this off, it would give them a lead on the boss. If they failed, it could mean death for all of them. And something else they didn't know, was that the traitors standing against them had caught on to the fact that Polpo died. While this slowed them down, they had no intention of stopping.

I had a lot fun writing Rarity. Just another reason why I loved doing this part so much.

A bit of an interesting change from canon in this fight. I hope you enjoy.

Passione had 756 members total. There was a certain number of them, unknown at the time, looking for a young woman Buccellati and his group had been tasked with looking after. To that end, Buccellati and his group relocated to an abandoned house at the edge of a vineyard. Part of their plan was to have Rarity pose as Trish, since they were the same age. Although the gang traitors had likely discerned Trish's appearance, they could play off the idea that she could have changed it to disappear. And Rarity had her own Stand that could fight off anyone who tried to take her.

They still needed groceries, so Narancia and Giorno were tasked with going on a shopping run. Narancia had his learner's permit so he would do the driving, but was given instructions to make sure no one would be following them. To be doubly sure, they would be switching cars after getting the groceries. To the best of their knowledge no one knew where Trish was, but it was best not to take chances in case someone was tracking her. "Are you sure your Stand can help fight?," Narancia asked as they got in the second car. "My Stand infuses objects with life energy," Giorno explained, "If it hits something already living, like a person, their senses become disconnected from their body."

"I can see why Rarity insisted you help me out," Narancia said, "I just don't like that Fugo keeps treating me like crap when he's a year younger than me. And he's the one who got me in this gang in the first place." "Abbacchio was certain your Stand could deal with any enemy who tries to ambush us," Giorno said, "What did he mean?" Narancia smiled. "If we get ambushed, you'll find out for yourself." He then stopped in front of the car and grimaced. "Something wrong?," Giorno asked.

"It's weird," Narancia said, "You'd think there'd be some indication that we were or weren't being followed. But it's been way too quiet." "Jeez you're taking your sweet time," a male voice said, "So, Narancia, where are you heading?" Giorno and Narancia took a step back from the car. Narancia ducked down and gasped when a person suddenly appeared and got in the car. "Who are you?," Giorno asked when he saw the guy. "Name's Formaggio," the man said, "I'm just another member of the gang, and I wanted to ask Buccellati some questions."

He pointed to Giorno. "You're the new guy, right? Giorno Giovanna, I think it was was? Yesterday Polpo died, and Buccellati and the rest of your group went off the radar. Now why would that be?" "That's our business," Giorno said, "It's got nothing to do with you." Formaggio smirked, and a small humanoid with a robotic look and sharp index fingers appeared, slicing both Giorno and Narancia. "It's disrespectful not to attend a capo's funeral!," he called out, "Do you know how much trouble the undertaker had trying to figure out how to cremate Polpo!?"

He then got punched in the mouth by Gold Experience. "We have our own reasons for not being there," Giorno said, "To ignore those reasons would be an even greater disrespect." Formaggio was stunned, his consciousness trying to attack Giorno in retaliation. "Oh wow, you weren't kidding," Narancia said, "Looks like he's a sitting duck for my Aerosmith!" A toy bomber appeared as Narancia focused. The Stand opened fire, knocking Formaggio out of the car. "Nice going...," Giorno said, "You just knocked him out of my Stand's range. Now he's back to normal, and he has confirmation that we're in charge of guarding the boss's daughter. Plus we don't even know what his Stand can do."

"Yeah, that was my bad," Narancia admitted, "It only tried to slash us, so doing damage wasn't its intention. Looks like we got no choice but to take this guy out. Fugo said we can't let anyone follow us back." Aerosmith flew around the car. "Luckily, my Stand doesn't look like a bomber for aesthetic reasons!" Formaggio shook his head as he saw Aerosmith fly over him, dropping a surface-to-air missile. "Shit!," he called out as he started to shrink down. "Did you get him?," Giorno asked. "I don't think so," Narancia said.

Formaggio breathed a sigh of relief. He had used his Stand, Little Feet, to shrink himself down and hide in Narancia's pocket. "Hey, Giorno," Narancia said, "Buccellati told me about that trick with the fly. Can you do it again?" "Only if he left something of himself behind," Giorno said, "But it looks like Gold Experience knocked a tooth out." Formaggio raised an eyebrow. 'What are they doing?' Giorno used Gold Experience on the tooth and changed it into a fly, Narancia raised an eyebrow as it started buzzing around him. "Did he somehow sneak into my clothes?," he wondered.

Formaggio was confused as to where the fly came from, and spotted the women's supplies. 'Hold on... I know they have a female in their group now, but if she wanted this stuff she'd go out and get it herself. There has to be a reason why the men in the group are buying it.' Meanwhile, Narancia pulled back his Stand when he noticed a crowd was gathering. "Hey, something's wrong," Giorno said, "It may just be me, but... I think this car is getting slightly taller."

"Taller?," Narancia said. He looked and realized Giorno was right. "Oh shit! We're shrinking! That bastard's Stand must have done this!" "This explains why the fly is buzzing around you," Giorno realized, "He used his Stand to shrink himself down. If we get too small, our Stands won't have the power to fight him." "We need to call the others, fast!," Narancia said. "No, not yet," Giorno said, "At our height, just getting to the phone would be a chore, letting alone dialing the phone. We need to take out Formaggio first, then we can let the others know."

Narancia looked at him. "So we can't use the phone?" "Even if we could somehow make it there," Giorno said, "I'm willing to bet he's already disabled all the phones in the area." 'I'm starting to see how Giorno got Buccellati's attention,' Formaggio thought, 'He has good intuition. I did indeed take the time to disable all the public phones. I'm sure before long they'll be repaired, but before that happens these two will already be taken care of.' "Then let's start by tracking Formaggio," Narancia agreed, "I have just the trick. Aerosmith!"

Formaggio heard the sound of the Stand, then Narancia saying, "Got him! The bastard's in my back pocket!" Formaggio gasped as a giant hand reached into the pocket he was hiding in. He then saw the face of Narancia looming over him. "Found you, you little shit!" He held Formaggio up as Aerosmith opened fire. Or at least, that's what it looked like, but Formaggio had managed to swap himself with his pen, which had the same color as his jacket. Narancia winced, since the pen was jammed through his hand.

"He must have shrunk himself again!," Giorno realized, "But if he had the pen on him, then he can reverse his Stand's power at will!" Formaggio was hanging off the side of a nearby street sign. "That was close. Little Feet's effect takes time to work, but reversing it can happen in an instant. The burst from the pen expanding back to normal was how I escaped. But how did they find out about where I was? They said the fly that was buzzing around was made by Giorno, but that only seemed to hover around my general location. They somehow knew the exact pocket I was in. Did I accidentally brush against Narancia?"

He shook his head. "No, he's too ignorant to realize his situation without Giorno around. Well, it doesn't matter anyway. I just have to hang out here and wait for them to finish shrinking. There's just over two minutes left before they reach their minimum height." He then spotted Aerosmith zeroing in on his location. "Impossible! I flew several meters away from him!" He dropped down and ran for it, Aerosmith following as it opened fire, eventually tagging him in the leg.

He ducked under the car, but the flying Stand still kept coming. "Shit! Little Feet!" Little Feet slashed at the tire, the air pressure launching Formaggio away from the car. He breathed a sigh of relief as he reached the storm drain. "That was close. It may be a toy bomber, but that's live ammo it's firing." He then gasped when he saw Aerosmith fly right over the drain he was hanging from. 'Damn... Firing bullets and bombs can't be the only thing that Stand does... It must have some other power that let's it track me down... Not sight or sound, that wouldn't explain how he found me when I was hiding in his pocket or after I slashed the tire.'

He then saw some rats in the nearby drainpipe. Up above, the duo was still shrinking. "We need to find him fast!," Giorno said. "I'm all over it," Narancia said, surprisingly calm, "I've already found him in the storm drain. Aerosmith!" Aerosmith bombed the drain as Formaggio dropped down, barely dodging the metal shrapnel from the drain. He hit the water, and noticed Aerosmith was still following him. "Little Feet!" Little Feet appeared and deflected as much of the onslaught as he could, but Formaggio still got nailed a couple times.

"This sucks ass!," Formaggio said, "Narancia's Stand is more than I can handle on my own! And I can't shrink any smaller or I'll be lunch meat for the rats and spiders that live down here!" He then saw some rats had been killed by the Stand. "Wait... Why would he kill those rats?" He then got a sudden burst of realization and held his breath. Sure enough, Aerosmith passed right over him and made to target a nearby rat instead. 'That's it! Aerosmith targets enemies by their breath! It must track using carbon dioxide, like a mosquito! That's how he was able to track me in his pocket! And why he didn't track me down when there were civilians around... He wanted to avoid hitting them by mistake!'

Sure enough, up above Narancia was looking into a targeting radar. "I think by now he's figured out how you're tracking him," Giorno noted, "There are plenty of rats in that sewer, it may have been them you killed." "Better them than humans," Narancia said, "He'll slip up soon. My eye has been sharp ever since Buccellati took me to get an eye infection treated." "When was this?," Giorno asked. "Before I joined the gang," Narancia said.

He explained how his mother died of an eye infection. How his father hated him and kids bullied him. His first friend turned out to be fake, suggesting he dye his hair then framing him for an assault he committed. During that time the police beat Narancia for not pleading guilty or even speaking, which was when his eye got infected. The fake friend told other kids about Narancia's mother and they thought he got it from her, making him an outcast until Fugo found him on the streets and took him to a restaurant where Buccellati was. When Narancia said he wanted to work for Buccellati, he exploded at him saying he shouldn't take things like that lightly.

"It was a different anger from my father or the police," Narancia said, "It felt more like he wanted me to make sure I was invested in this decision. There was a distinct feeling of concern in his anger. So I eventually tracked down Polpo and passed his test. That's when I got Aerosmith." He smirked. "Well well, looks like one of those blips on my radar is getting bigger. Another rat no doubt, but the larger blip means its breathing harder. That can only mean one thing." Aerosmith opened fire, but the blip just got larger. "Not good!," Giorno said, "We've shrunk too much! You likely damaged him real good, but Aerosmith is too small to kill him!"

Formaggio appeared and stepped on the two of them. "I've been put through the ringer because of you two. Now... Give me information on the boss's daughter!" "She's not involved with this gang!," Giorno pointed out, "You just want her because she might have information on the boss! But she's never even seen her father!" "Maybe not," Formaggio agreed, "But if he's willing to go this far to protect her, that means she has worth as a hostage, right?"

He picked the two of them up. "Your group has seven members, right? Ours does too. It used to have nine, but two of our members, Sorbet and Gelato, they were killed off by the boss. They always worked together, to the point where many of us wondered if they were a couple. In an effort to get more territory, they sought the boss's identity. We're a group that carries out assassinations, you see. But our only compensation is the boss's pay, despite the fact that our talents are worth so much more."

He sighed. "Well, one day we found Gelato's corpse on the sofa of his home. He'd asphyxiated on a piece of cloth. On his body, we found a note that just read, 'castigo', the word for punishment. Turns out Gelato had been found out by the boss. We were angered, but the worst was to come. We were sent a painting frame a few days later. In it was something unidentifiable. Over the next thirty-five days, we got more odd art pieces. Only after we got the last one did we realize... It was all that was left of Sorbet, cross-sectioned to death, and sent to us as warning."

His eyes closed. "It was after that we realized... Gelato had to have been captured at the same time, meaning he saw this. The cloth he choked on... Had been his gag. He had committed suicide in despair... After that we nearly gave up on finding the boss's identity, until we heard news that his daughter had surfaced. And we have no doubt she also has a Stand! That could be the clue we need! So tell me... Where is she!?" The two gangsters didn't speak a word.

Formaggio frowned, and got out a small glass container with a spider in it. He then placed it in a glass bottle. "This is just a regular spider, but it's venom can easily paralyze you at your height." "Aerosmith!," Narancia called out. The little bomber flew out and started firing, but Little Feet caught it. "Ah, ah," Formaggio said, "Even at your height it's possible for your Stand to kill this spider. But it'd be a pain to go into the sewers for another one." He dropped Narancia and Giorno into the bottle and corked it.

Giorno grinned. "Thanks for the tip that our Stands are still effective against this arachnid. Gold Experience!" Gold Experience appeared and struck the spider, stunning it. "Well that's too bad," Formaggio said, "If I can't use the spider to torture you, we're at an impasse." He grinned and held up a map. "Good thing I found this. If I follow the map backwards it should lead me right to your hideout. And you can't leave the bottle since you're too small to remove the cork.

Narancia grinned. "Actually, with the spider stunned we're probably safer in here. See, I wasn't aiming for you with Aerosmith. You realized my Stand can track things via carbon dioxide. But what you forgot is that it doesn't just track it on people's breath. I was actually aiming for the car I shot earlier, specifically the carbon dioxide from the gas fumes." Formaggio gasped as the car exploded, the flames reaching him and the map he held out, burning it up.

The cork also burned up enough to loosen, a good thing as Formaggio's shock caused him to lose focus, restoring Giorno and Narancia to their original height. "Guess we'll need to make an additional shopping run," Narancia said, "All our groceries were in that car." Formaggio was now in a blind rage. "She... She's in the vineyard! I'll kill you! Then I'll kill your friends! Little Feet!" Little Feet slashed Formaggio's wrist, the blood spray dousing the flames as he shrank.

"Damn it, we can't let him get away!," Narancia said, "But there's so much fire it's throwing off Aerosmith's radar!" "Then allow me," Giorno said, holding up the tooth from earlier, "Gold Experience!" The tooth changed into a fly again. "Have Aerosmith follow it, and bombard wherever it stops." Narancia grinned. "Oh yeah! He's not getting away this time!" "In that case," Formaggio said as he approached, "I'll stop running, and just kill you right here!" He had Little Feet go to attack, but Narancia was a step ahead. "VOLA VOLA VOLA VOLA VOLA VOLA VOLA VOLA VOLA! Volare via!"

Formaggio coughed up blood as he got peppered before Little Feet could even get close. "That's a shame... All this because of a shopping trip... But from here on out... It's only going to get worse for you..." "Maybe," Giorno said, "But don't forget you told us a great deal about how many we have to worry about. No doubt you thought we wouldn't live to tell the tale. Looks like you were wrong. Now we only have six more to worry about." Narancia grinned as he held out his arms like a runway for Aerosmith to land on, dispelling as it did. "And telling us that was a huge mistake."

"And he said his group has seven members in total," Narancia said once he and Giorno returned. "Assuming he wasn't lying," Buccellati said, "We have six more to deal with." "I'm normally the skeptic in these situations," Abbacchio said, "But Formaggio had Giorno and Narancia dead to rights. In that situation, I highly doubt he would lie. His mistake is our gain, and we now have a better idea of what our odds are. We may not know their Stands, but we do know their numbers, so its only a matter of keeping track of them."

"And Formaggio never had time to tell the others about the vineyard," Buccellati noted, "We may have some breathing room before we need to relocate." "How's Trish?," Giorno asked. "Sullen for the most part," Rarity said, "It may be because of the berating I gave her earlier, but she doesn't even try speaking with me." "You did kinda put her off," Mista noted, "Seriously, you really tore into her back at Capri." "I may not have the same dark and troubled history as the rest of you," Rarity admitted, "But that doesn't mean it's been the easy street her's has been. I'm more of a middle ground in that regard."

"As expected of a Zeppeli, I suppose," Abbacchio noted, "I know that family's history. They're somewhat of a household name in Napoli because of how old William Zeppeli was when he died." Giorno saw Trish staring out an open window. "So if we do need to relocate, how should we go about it?" "It won't be easy," Buccellati said, "Formaggio said he and his team are trained assassins. And they tracked the rental car in mere moments, so they'll be watching all forms of public transport."

"So no boats, no trains, no planes," Fugo said, "Even the highway carries risk. There's eight of us including Trish, we'd need two cars." "At least Giorno was there to keep Narancia from going berserk," Rarity pointed out, "It'll be tricky, they'll have to pick up where Formaggio left off and they don't have the benefit of the map he had. Plus even if they are drawn by the rental car exploding, how long can it really take them to move this far out?"

"I'm sure the boss will contact us on what to do next," Giorno said, "Now that the enemy knows Buccellati is the one guarding Trish, the boss is bound to find out and send instructions." "That could take weeks though," Abbacchio pointed out. "Or right now," Mista said from the truck, "The boss just sent an email for Buccellati." Abbacchio looked shocked as Rarity grinned at him. "I hope you feel this big," she said as she pressed her index to her thumb.

"A wireless transmission?," Buccellati asked. "Ah, that's right, you only recently became a capo," Mista realized, "This is how the boss always sends messages to his capos. It's a way to insure they can't be traced." Buccellati nodded and picked up the transmission. "The boss wants us to go to Pompeii. He left a key in the Dog Mosaic. Apparently it's to a ride that can safely bring Trish to the boss." Fugo immediately got a map of Pompeii while Mista pulled out a reference book for the city.

"A simple ride?," Abbacchio asked, "What ride could prevent us from getting detected?" "I'm not sure," Buccellati admitted, "But the boss gave assurance that we wouldn't have to worry about the other traitors once we found it. He can't deliver it because we're so far away from the ride, it would be too risky. Once we have the key we'll receive further instructions." He deleted the email as instructed and emptied the recycle bin afterward, insuring the message couldn't be retrieved.

He then turned to his group. "Giorno, Abbacchio, Fugo, get to Pompeii and retrieve the key! The rest of us will stay here and safeguard Trish!" "What sort of ride would we be getting?," Mista asked. "It's gotta be a helicopter," Narancia suggested, "With a helicopter we can get anywhere without getting caught." "None of us knows how to fly a helicopter," Rarity pointed out, "And it would have to be big to carry the eight of us, making it conspicuous, and an easy target for the traitors if they happen to have long-range Stands.

"We'll know what the ride is when we find it," Buccellati said, "It's thirty-five kilometers to Pompeii, so you should be done within the hour. Find it and contact us when it's safe. We'll join you afterward." Giorno, Fugo, and Abbacchio nodded and they headed off. "Do you think they'll get ambushed?," Mista wondered. "I'm sure they'll be fine," Rarity said, "I still don't know what sort of power Fugo has, but it's likely to ward off any threat." "You don't know the half of it," Buccellati said, "Those who know Fugo are afraid of his Stand. In fact, even he fears it." Rarity raised an eyebrow.

"Pompeii," Giorno said when they arrived, "The city is world-famous because of the nearby Mt Vesuvius, which eradicated the original city way back in AD 79 on August 24. But when the city was buried, it was completely preserved as well." "Yes, much of the ruins, the corpses of the people," Abbacchio noted, "Even the tracks of the chariots as they moved through the city streets. Because of that near-perfect preservation for over eighteen hundred years, Pompeii is famous the world over. Vesuvius still erupts from time to time, but it's never caused the same catastrophe as it did that day because people are now aware that it's a dormant volcano instead of a simple mountain."

He grinned. "I used to walk all the way out here as a kid." "As much as I love the history of our country," Fugo said, "We don't have the luxury of sightseeing. We need to find The House of the Tragic Poet, and the Dog Mosaic held within. It should be about a hundred meters in that direction. Then it's just a half hour back." He then spotted something in a nearby mirror. "Hey, stay sharp guys... Looks like they found us again. Just one guy, but he's tailing us from behind the stone pillar. I don't know for how long."

"We'll deal with him if he becomes a threat," Abbacchio said, "Our priority is the key." Giorno looked behind them. "Are you sure he's here? There's only one stone pillar in the area, but I can't see him from here." Fugo was confused at that, since the guy was clearly in the mirror. He turned around, and sure enough there was no one there. He looked back at the mirror and the guy was still there. 'There's no way he can move that fast... This must have something to do with his Stand...'

Our next major fight is soon to begin. Hope you guys are ready for it.

This chapter is the fight with Illuso, which was honestly difficult to make scene breaks for due to all the going back and forth between the mirror and reality. I hope I did a good job.

"What's a mirror even doing here in the first place?," Giorno asked, "It's a rather odd placement for it." Fugo then saw the figure manifest a humanoid being with a purple suit and goggled mask. The Stand made to attack Giorno and Abbacchio, causing Fugo to push them out the way. At once they seemed to disappear, to Fugo's confusion. He looked around, but the street was completely empty. Even the mirror was now empty. He looked around and saw a trashcan that had the writing reversed.

"What on earth is going on here?," he asked. "You're in my world now," a male voice said. Fugo whirled around and saw the Stand from earlier, which punched him right into trashcan. The man got out a clipboard. "I should introduce myself. My allies call me Illuso of the Mirror. My Stand is Man in the Mirror. I'm an information gatherer of sorts, necessary for a group of assassins. I've spent some time studying your members. For example." He unfolded a page from the clipboard and began to read.

"Pannacotta Fugo, age sixteen, born to a wealthy family in Napoli. IQ 152, accepted into university at the young age of thirteen. But due to a violent disposition, you frequently clashed with your peers and never got along with your professors. This culminated in you beating the living daylights out of one them with a four-kilo encyclopedia." Fugo spit out some blood. "The bastard made fun of my emotions over my grandmama's death." Illuso raised an eyebrow and looked through the paper. "Huh... I seem to have missed that detail. In any event, your life went into free-fall from there until you became a lackey of Buccellati."

"You missed another detail," Fugo said as he got up, "Buccellati's the one who helped me get my life together. I'm his partner, not his lackey." "Ah, forgive me," Illuso said, "I nearly forgot your group is known for its camaraderie. Anyway, where was I...? Ah yes, the ones following you are Leone Abbacchio and..." He squinted at the paper. "Come to think of it, I haven't been able to get much information on your two new members, Giorno Giovanna and Rarita Zeppeli. But Giorno is the other one following you."

"Just what did you do to them!?," Fugo called out. "To them?," Illuso said, "You seem to be under a misconception. I have done nothing to them... My only target right now is you." Fugo was pointing as he realized the numbers on his watch were reversed like the trashcan. "This is..." "Ah, you seem to be gaining some understanding," Illuso said, "You see, Man in the Mirror creates a mirror world. I place it in a reflective surface, and the first person who looks into it gets drawn in. You were the first to see the mirror, so it only affected you. Abbacchio and Giorno are still on the outside."

Sure enough, after Abbacchio and Giorno got pushed aside, they noticed Fugo had vanished. "What just happened?," Giorno said, "Where did Fugo vanish too?" "He was here a second ago and disappeared," Abbacchio noted, "He said something about a figure he saw in the mirror. Maybe he was right about us being targeted again. And if that's the case, the enemy's Stand may have something to do with why Fugo disappeared."

"So," Illuso said, "Why would you three be out in Pompeii? I overheard that you were looking for something important. Something about the Dog Mosaic?" Fugo narrowed his eyes. "You'll be getting nothing out of me! Purple Haze!" He moved to summon his Stand, but gasped when nothing happened. "What's going on...? I thought I summoned it." Illuso seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. "I'd nearly forgotten the most important facet of my Stand." Fugo looked confused.

Abbacchio saw it first. "Giorno, back away right now!" Giorno saw the purple patchwork humanoid and hurried back. "What is that? It looks... Feral." "An appropriate word for it," Abbacchio said, "That's Fugo's Stand, Purple Haze. If it's appeared then he's in the area somewhere close by, and alive. Just don't get too close. Its power is to create a deadly virus that can affect everything, even Fugo himself, within a limited radius. It represents his inner anger made manifest, how he can snap against foe and friend alike." "But if it's here," Giorno said, "Where's Fugo?"

"Well, if you won't talk," Illuso said, "I'll just get rid of you and then question one of the others. Oh, if you're curious about why your Stand hasn't appeared, it's because in this world, the only living things that can exist are me and whatever I permit to enter. Even Stand energy can't enter unless I want it to. And a good thing too. Your Stand is infamous amongst Passion, though I don't yet know the reason. But it's obvious it's a dangerous one. Now... Man in the Mirror!" Man in the Mirror pummeled Fugo, sending him flying across the street. Illuso then saw a bird carcass fall at his feet.

"What's it doing?," Giorno asked as Purple Haze started to move. "It's trying to move," Abbacchio realized, "Wherever Fugo is, he doesn't know where Purple Haze is. But he's trying to control him here. Fugo only lets out his Stand sparingly. I honestly didn't think you'd see it so soon after joining us. He must have his back to the wall if he's actually summoning it now." Purple Haze thrashed around, punching at the walls. "Damn! It's attacking something! Quick Giorno, get back!" Giorno did so on instinct as he saw a nearby crow fall down dead. The bird's corpse seemed to liquefy, and more crows were being similarly affected.

"Is that the virus at work!?," Giorno asked, "It's more deadly than I thought!" "It can kill and dissolve a living thing in thirty seconds!," Abbacchio said, "I don't know where the enemy is keeping Fugo, but they lucked out separating him from his Stand..." He pointed to the bulbs on Purple Haze's hands, one of which was broken. "When those bulbs are broken the virus is released. It spreads through the air and if it hits something's lungs or gets into their skin... It's all over. Luckily it only has a range of five meters, and the virus is weak to light, even something as simple as a street lamp. This close to noon with no cloud cover, we're safe at this distance."

"I had no idea Fugo had this much rage inside him," Giorno said. "Neither did any of us save for Buccellati when we joined," Abbacchio admitted, "Until we saw it for the first time. It strikes like a bomb and departs like a storm. Even Stands can be infected, unless they are specifically designed to be inorganic, like Narancia's Aerosmith." Purple Haze started wiping some spit off its leg, only to see it had transferred to its arm. It got enraged as it tried to wipe the spit away. It then punched at the mirror.

"Fugo may still be trying to control his Stand," Giorno said, "He mentioned something about the mirror earlier." "We'll worry about that when we have the key," Abbacchio said, "Once we've secured it we'll come back for him." "You've gotten a lot softer in attitude," Giorno noted. Abbacchio sighed. "It's that damn girlfriend of yours. She chewed me out after the incident on the yacht. In anger I called her out on speaking against a superior, and she reminded me her only superior is Buccellati. I let slip a little about my past as a cop... And she told me this isn't the police force. I can't fall back on chain of command if I want people to listen here. I have to show respect to get respect." Giorno smiled, and they hurried off.

"These birds caught some sort of disease," Illuso noted. He then heard the mirror shatter. "So your Stand is still attacking in the real world. Well objects that get broken there may get affected here, but that means little. And no virus can enter this world either. This is the end for you!" But before Man in the Mirror could attack, Illuso heard the sound of footsteps as they ran in another direction. "Two sets of footsteps... Kicking up pebbles. They're running to the Dog Mosaic!"

'Giorno and Abbacchio,' Fugo realized, 'They must have seen Purple Haze and decided to continue the mission and escape its range. Knowing Abbacchio he'll be coming back once the mission is over, but he doesn't know about Illuso's power yet.' "So your friends abandon you to complete the mission," Illuso said, "But that only confirms my suspicion. You came here to find something, perhaps something to help protect the bosses daughter." He ran off in the direction of the footsteps.

"Here it is," Giorno said as they reached the Dog Mosaic, "Now, where's the key we're looking for?" Abbacchio saw something glinting in the sun. "Right inside the cracks of the mosaic it seems." He reached down and pointed out an ornate key with a ruby in the handle. "Rather ornate for a vehicle key," Abbacchio noted. "Maybe it's not for a vehicle," Giorno suggested, "It could be for a secret safe house." Abbacchio then saw a mirror shard, Illuso inside it.

"A key you say?," Illuso said, "So I'll just take that key then!" He summoned Man in the Mirror. Quickly Giorno knocked the mirror aside and caused it to shatter. "You saw something inside, didn't you?" "Our enemy it seems," Abbacchio said, "Giorno, grab the key. I can handle him." "I wouldn't say that," Illuso said, "Since you shattered my mirror, I can now grab you from any angle." Abbacchio seemed to disappear into the mirror. Illuso grinned when Abbacchio appeared in the mirror world. "I'll only permit you to enter. Just Giorno left." "You won't get that far," Abbacchio said, and grabbed Man in the Mirror's throat.

"But... But how...?," Illuso said as he chocked, "Only a Stand can touch a Stand." "And so one has," Abbacchio said as his form turned into Moody Blues, "Giorno breaking the mirror had nothing to do with stopping you from grabbing me, but narrowing your vision so you didn't realize it was my Stand that you pulled inside your mirror world instead of me. He figured out how your Stand works back where you grabbed Fugo." Man in the Mirror was forced to the ground. "Moody Blues isn't very strong," Abbacchio admitted, "But from the looks of it, it doesn't matter since your Stand's durability is lacking."

Illuso chuckled. "Maybe so... But I still have the upper hand." He grabbed a nearby mirror piece and pulled part of Abbacchio through, causing part of Moody Blues to return. "Now you're immobilized!" Abbacchio chuckled. "Have you forgotten something? While you're here trying to kill me... Where's the key you're trying to obtain?" Illuso quickly ran after Giorno, only to find that he was right around the corner. Illuso laughed. "He's not even trying to run!"

He took a mirror shard, which was floating in the real world, and Giorno looked at it. "Now I have all three of you!," Illuso said as Man in the Mirror grabbed Giorno's arm and pulled him into the mirror world. But he gasped in horror as he saw Giorno's arm was covered in the same blistering sores that the birds earlier had, and there was a capsule on his finger. "Are you surprised?," Giorno said, "I ran after Purple Haze once I had the key. Abbacchio said we could go back for him once we had it... So I did."

"You idiot!," Illuso said, "Now you're infected too!" He freaked out as he also started to become infected. Illuso quickly tried jumping back into the outside world, but saw his arm come apart. Acting quickly, he cut off that part of his arm. "Giorno...," Fugo said, "Why did you...?" "Rarity told me about Abbacchio's past," Giorno said, "How he used to be a cop, and a good, honest one. Then one day he accepted a bribe from a pimp who was in trouble, but that same pimp later committed an armed robbery. During the struggle Abbacchio's partner got killed."

"Yes, I know all this," Fugo said, "That's why Abbacchio only feels complete when he follows orders, even if it means having to give up his own life or risk his friends." "But Rarity told him a gang can't run like that," Giorno explained, "Or it starts to fall apart." He grinned as a nearby brick started to move. Fugo looked confused. "That brick was transformed into a snake by Gold Experience," Giorno said, "But only on the outside world. Snakes can sense human body heat and use that to locate them."

Fugo grinned. "I can see why you call it Gold Experience. I'd all but given up hope... But you just gave us a golden opportunity. Purple Haze!" Outside, Illuso was sure of his victory, until he saw the brick-turned-snake and Gold Experience. His eyes widened when Purple Haze grabbed him by the throat. "No... I'd just gotten away... How did this happen...?" He then saw a mirror shard, and saw he could still get away. "Man in the Mirror!" Man in the Mirror managed to stop the punch, letting Illuso breath a sigh of relief.

It was short lived, as the capsules on Purple Haze shot off, impacting on the wall. Illuso gasped in horror as they started cracking open, releasing a violet mist. 'No... No... After that work... After all I did... I thought I had won... Please... Anything but this death...' Purple Haze screeched as it started pummeling Illuso, popping his dissolving head like a rotten melon as he died dissolving into nothing. Giorno, Fugo, and Abbacchio popped back into the real world shortly after.

"One last detail," Giorno said as he approached the snake, "I'm still infected after all." Fugo noticed the snake was still alive. "Of course! It may emulate a living thing because of the life energy inside it, but it's still a brick!" "And it was created when I broke the capsule earlier," Giorno noted, "And with it's help..." Gold Experience drew some of the snake's blood and infused it into Giorno. The effect created a vaccine, though the experience was painful. All the same, it worked, and the infection receded.

Fugo was gobsmacked at the audacity. 'Giorno Giovanna... I don't what it is about you, but you're willing to go to some extreme lengths for that golden dream Buccellati has so much faith in.' Abbacchio chuckled. "He's a complete idiot, and his plans are stupid. But they work out anyway. I guess if it's stupid and it works, then it's not stupid after all. Anyway, we have the key now, and some time to relax. I'm willing to bet Illuso expected to get the key here and never told his allies about us. Let's hurry back to Buccellati."

The group's van was traveling to the Napoli train station. Apparently, the key had instructions inscribed on the ruby that could be seen when light was shown through it. There they had to find a turtle at the drinking fountain at Platform 6 and use the key there. From there they were to head to Venezia by train. "Will we really be safe taking the train?," Abbacchio wondered, "The message doesn't even tell us what the key is for." "I'm sure we'll find out once we get there," Buccellati said, "The boss said the key would help us move without getting detected."

"Is the boss in Venezia?," Narancia asked. "Maybe, maybe not," Buccellati said, "That's none of our concern. We just need to follow the instructions. The fastest way to Venezia is the express train to Firenze that's leaving in ten minutes." "No one's following us so far," Rarity said, "But I'd more expect them to ambush us at the station. Trying to follow our vehicles already got one of their members killed, I doubt the assassination group will try the same tactic twice."

"She's right Buccellati," Mista said, "I've no doubt they likely paid off the staff or hobos to keep an eye out for us and inform them. Getting on the train unseen won't be easy." Fugo was busy looking at Trish. "I hope you're not undressing her with your eyes," Rarity said. "I'd sooner be in range of my Stand while its virus is active," Fugo said, "I was just trying to get a read on her emotions." The van braked suddenly, and Rarity grabbed Fugo while Mista wound up using Trish's breasts as a makeshift airbag. He immediately backed off. "I'm sorry! That was just a slip! Please don't tell your father!" Trish just blushed lightly.

At the station were two more of La Squadra di Esecuzione, the assassination squad Formaggio and Illuso belonged to. They were Prosciutto and Pesci, and they saw Buccellati at the train station's drinking fountain on his own. "There he is," Prosciutto said, "His team and the daughter must already be on the train." "His whole team?," Pesci said, "Then maybe we should kill him now. Take revenge for Formaggio and Illuso." "We can settle that once we have the girl," Prosciutto reprimanded him, "Our revenge for Sorbet and Gelato comes first. Don't forget, Buccellati's gang is just following orders. It's the boss who killed our allies so mercilessly."

He poked Pesci in the shoulder. "Besides, in our world we don't need to say things like 'I'll kill you'. The moment those words come into our minds, the deed is already done and the target is dead. You understand my words?" Pesci nodded. "Gotcha Fratello. So what's the plan then?" "Buccellati came here for some reason," Prosciutto surmised, "He likely has confidence that he found a way to evade pursuit. I'll stay here at the platform. Head to Car I, that's likely where the others are. We'll catch them in a pincer attack. Preferably we can be done before the train leaves and we don't have to buy tickets."

Meanwhile, Buccellati was rereading the instructions after checking the key on all the nearby locks, which it didn't fit. He then realized something. "The turtle..." He looked at the turtle drinking at the water fountain, and saw an indentation in its shell. Buccellati picked the turtle up, and realized it matched the key perfectly. "Giorno," he said, as Giorno appeared in the car door, "I found something." He placed the key in the turtle's shell, and found his hand get sucked in when he touched the ruby. He grinned. "Get the group together. I know what the boss planned for us."

Pesci was shocked when he walked into Car I and ran right into Prosciutto at the door. "Fratello? What are you doing here? Didn't you see Buccellati at the fountain?" "I did and saw him come in here," Prosciutto explained, "But he disappeared somehow." He looked in the nearby door, which lead to a bathroom, but it was empty. He then looked back on the platform, but there was no sign of the group. "Pesci, you know what the group looks like right?" "Of course Fratello," Pesci assured him, "There's Buccellati, Abbacchio, Mista, Fugo, Narancia, and those two new members Giorno and Rarita. I memorized their faces clearly. And we still have their pictures besides."

Prosciutto nodded. "And you obviously didn't recognize them as you came down the aisle, or you'd have said so by now. I saw Buccellati jump onto the train from the platform with my own eyes, but there's no sign of him here. Rather strange, that. Was there anyone you saw wearing anything that looked like it could have been a disguise?" "I may be slow but I'm no idiot," Pesci complained, "I got a good look at each passenger to see if they could be one of the group in disguise, but nothing. Not even a shadow of the group, or the daughter."

Neither of them noticed the turtle, the key in its back, as it plodded under an indentation in the wall and took a rest. Inside, the group was amazed at the luxury suit contained inside the turtle shell. The turtle was in fact a Stand user, its Stand activating when the key was placed in its shell. "This place is amazing," Rarity said, "It's like a presidential suite. Anyone mind if we call this Stand Mr President? I think that sounds fitting." Mista snickered. "Then what about the turtle? Coco Jumbo?" He then paused. "Actually, that name doesn't sound bad."

"Aw man, this is neat!," Narancia said, "Our own personal living space! Even if we were followed on the platform, there's no way they'll find us in here!" "And best of all it's no illusion," Abbacchio noted, "The furniture and sofa are all real. There's even food and cold beverages in the fridge." "Our own private little dimensional pocket," Giorno said, "Rather ingenious. Look, even the TV gets reception." Mista looked. "Is that a Japanese channel? Those look like Power Ranger suits but I don't recognize the season."

"It's the new Super Sentai," Giorno said, "This year they have Gaoranger, the series' twenty-fifth anniversary." Mista looked at him. "I'm half-Japanese," Giorno explained. Back outside, Prosciutto and Pesci were having no luck finding the group. Of course, they didn't think to look for a turtle. "The train's gonna move soon," Pesci said, "Maybe they're still at the station." "They wouldn't risk that knowing we could track them down at any moment," Prosciutto noted, "Plus I saw Buccellati pick up something I couldn't see back at the water fountain. No, my gut tells me they're on the train."

A realization dawned on Pesci. "You think the boss is lending them support?" "It is his daughter on the line," Prosciutto pointed out, "If we don't investigate this train, we'll lose their trail, probably forever." He placed his hand on a wall. "What's behind this door?" "That leads to the cabin," Pesci said, "But it doesn't open from this side." "Just in case, search the room with your Stand," Prosciutto suggested. Pesci shrugged as he approached the door. "If you insist Fratello. Beach Boy!" A fishing rod complete with line and hook emerged from his hand.

He cast the line through the door, the hook phasing through. "There's only two people in there," he said, "I already got one of them." He tugged the line, pulling the train's engineer through the door as it burst open, the hook caught on his cheek. Prosciutto looked in the cabin. "Are you sure there were two people in here? This placed is cramped and there's no one else in here." "My Beach Boy felt two living things...," Pesci said, "I don't know why we only found one." Neither of them saw Coco Jumbo under the seat.

I will continue to reference Toei in each arc leading up to a certain part further down the line, just to let you know it exists in this world. Anyway, short but important part that leads up to the next major confrontation.

I've really been looking forward to this one. Guess what none of the MLP girls have done to their living enemies up until now...

The train from Napoli to Firenze only had one stop between the two cities, in Roma. And because of that, Buccellati's gang was stuck on the train, as were Prosciutto and Pesci. "All right," Prosciutto said, "We know Buccellati and his group has to be somewhere on the train. Pesci, stay here in the cab. They likely haven't spotted us yet but if they do they won't hesitate to stop the train. Keep it going at full steam until we reach Roma. I'll ransack the train from head to tail, and drag them out here! They have the daughter with them, so jumping out won't be so easy for them."

Pesci, meanwhile, was still searching the cab, knowing his Beach Boy had detected two life signs in the cabin. As he spotted something beneath a seat, he tried to reach for it, only to pull back when he saw some mist appearing. Prosciutto had called out his Stand, The Grateful Dead, a torso with large arms and eyes all over its body, with four tentacles where its legs would be. "Jeez, Fratello! You're busting your Stand out here!? That'll kill all the passengers too!"

"If that's what it takes," Prosciutto replied, "But I'm not expecting to have to. Once Buccellati and his gang realize something's wrong, they'll come out to inspect the situation. My only concern is Rarita. She won't be as affected by The Grateful Dead's power, and we don't know what her Stand can do." "Then you shouldn't use your power on yourself!," Pesci pointed out, "You're normally immune, you should keep it that way!" "If I do, they'll spot me and kill me before I have a chance to strike," Prosciutto pointed out, "Just remember to keep downing ice." Pesci gulped and nodded.

Rarity had been passing drinks to the group as they settled in until the train reached Firenze. "Ah," Narancia exclaimed, "Man these drinks are cold and refreshing." "How long until we reach Firenze?," Giorno asked. "I think it's three and a half hours," Rarity said, "With a brief stop in Roma after an hour and a half." "Whelp, if no one's going for it," Narancia said, "I'm gonna have some of the fruit on the table." He went for a banana, only to wince when he tried to bite into it. "Jeez, it's hard!"

He then blinked when he saw the banana start to dry up and fall apart. "Uh... I don't think that's normal." "What's that mist coming in from the ceiling?," Abbacchio noted. The group looked up, and sure enough something was creating mist that filtered into Mr President. "Stand attack!," Buccellati realized. "Did they find us in the turtle?," Mista asked. Buccellati shook his head. "I doubt it. Otherwise they'd be trying to kill it or drag us out. No, this is an indirect attack. Some sort of aging power. But why was only the fruit affected?"

"I don't know," Giorno said, "But I'll bet the passengers on the train aren't so lucky. This is an indiscriminate attack to try and find Trish." "What do we do, Buccellati?," Fugo asked. "We have two options," Buccellati replied, "We either escape with Trish, or try and fight the enemy without knowing their effective range. And look, we're starting to get affected, if slowly." The group looked in the reflection in the table. Sure enough, the guys were starting to show wrinkles, but Trish and Rarity seemed more or less fine.

"I don't seem to be fully affected yet," Rarity noted, "This Stand must have some sort of determinate factor that lets it target us without killing Trish. But at the same time that factor lets me get away more or less unscathed." Giorno's eyes widened. "Body temperature! That must be the factor! Rarity was handing out cold drinks, which we all drank. But the oddly high temperature in the room is why the fruit got affected first. There is a small difference in the average body temperature of men and women, due to women having more body fat. Likely any women the Stand user can see is heavily affected by now, but they can't see Rarity or Trish, so they aren't showing any aging signs yet."

"In that case," Buccellati said, "Rarity, you take point. Find the enemy and put them down to stop this. Mista, back her up. Take the ice in the freezer to hold back the effect. As you continue to age your Stand will start to weaken, so keeping cool will help hold that off. I'll stay down here and start using the ice machine to try and keep everyone down here cool. Maybe even see if there's an air conditioner." Mista nodded and grabbed the ice tray, which still had a few cubes in. Rarity formed a crystal door over it to maintain the cold, and they headed out.

The cabin they found themselves in was empty, save for the aging body of the engineer. "Looks like the Stand user was here for a while," Mista noted, "Think he's dead?" "If he is, it'll be awkward when the Stand user's power is undone," Rarity noted, "Let's hit the AC." She tossed a crystal at the AC button in case of a trap, which caused the crystal to shatter against something inside the machine. They caught a glimpse of a fishing line and hook being reeled in. "Oh great," Mista said, "There's two of them." Rarity threw another crystal quickly, hitting the button on the AC.

"That should buy everyone some time," she said, "Especially our friends in Coco Jumbo." Over at the bar, Pesci was confused when he felt a crystal hit Beach Boy. "That had to have come from a Stand, which means one of Buccellati's group. But which of them uses crystals as their power? Ah man, I know their faces but not what they can do!" He then saw a pair of bullets hit the glass with his ice, causing it to shatter everywhere. He gasped when he saw Sex Pistols, Cinque and Sette to be specific, start throwing the ice to ground. "There he is!," Sette said, "That guy freaked out when we hit the ice! And he's holding a fishing rod!"

"They found him," Mista said, "Just like we thought, he had to know what his partner's Stand is and how to counter it, so he hid at the bar and placed the line at the AC." "Good thing I thought not to touch it directly," Rarity said, "I doubt we'd be so lucky as to have it phase through us." Rarity burst in, spotting Pesci held down by an old man. "Found you!," she called out, "Art of the Dress!" Art of the Dress moved to grab Pesci, only for the old man to grab it. Mista saw the act. "Rarity! That old man's the other Stand user!"

The old man, who was indeed Prosciutto, chuckled as his aging reversed. "Fratello!," Pesci said excitedly, "That was you all along!" "And now that I have the only girl in the group," Prosciutto said, "I can age her more easily. The Grateful Dead!" Rarity smirked when nothing seemed to happen, confusing the partners. "I'm sorry, were you expecting to age me through my Stand. I notice that your Stand only works on living things, which is why the train's still running at full speed. And Art of the Dress is similar, being made from purely inorganic crystals!"

Art of the Dress grabbed Prosciutto's wrist. "You, on the other hand, are not so immune to my power...," Rarity said darkly. Prosciutto gasped when the crystals started forming on his arm, the spikes already digging into his skin. 'Shit... She thinks along the same lines as me... She's intending to kill me...' Rarity jerked her head up and erected a crystal wall as Pesci tried to cast Beach Boy to hook her. The hook clinked off the crystal. "Damn it!," Pesci said, "Those crystals are coated in Stand energy! Beach Boy can't phase through them! Fratello, are you okay!?"

"You stopped her just in time," Prosciutto said, "Any longer and she probably could have made these spikes digging into me wider. As it is the crystal won't come off unless she's dead, and they can't be aged since they're not a living thing. But there's one more issue. Only Rarita is here, so where's Mista? He only showed up long enough to warn her." Pesci gasped. "He must have gone to the others!" "I'll hold off Rarita here!," Prosciutto said, "Get to the cabin from the outside!"

"But I...," Pesci started. Prosciutto stopped him by holding his face. "Listen Pesci! You need to gain a spine here! Your Stand is strong, strong enough to take on that group. But only if you have the strength of will to pull it off. Hurry back to the cabin, find out where they are. Get going." Pesci gained a determined look in his eyes and nodded. "Be careful Fratello..." He cast out Beach Boy and flew out the window. Prosciutto looked at Rarity. "To be honest, I thought I had your actual arm. But I was so old at the time my sense of sight and touch didn't let me register that I was holding onto a Stand. But if your Stand can be touched by people..."

"Normal people can't see the crystals," Rarity clarified, "Only feel them. And that includes my Stand. Really Art of the Dress has no true physical form, only a body made from grown crystals that it can control at will." "If the body is just more crystals," Prosciutto said, "Then I can just shatter it altogether! The Grateful Dead!" The Grateful Dead struck out, breaking off an arm. Said arm then plowed into Grateful Dead, knocking the wind of Prosciutto.

He collapsed as he saw Art of the Dress grow a new arm. "Yes Art of the Dress can be broken, with enough effort," Rarity said, "But because you're only damaging the crystal body, not my actual Stand, it can regrow any lost pieces, and control the chunks that get broken off. Because of this attacking and damaging the body will do nothing to damage me." She saw Prosciutto breathing heavy and realized something. "You were expecting me to exert myself... The more horsepower a car puts out, the hotter it gets. As a woman, I am more resistant to your aging effect, but you have other tricks to get around that. Luckily my Stand has options for attacking that don't require me to move around much."

'Damn...,' Prosciutto said as he got up, 'I lost the element of surprise. She stayed still and took the blow knowing that it wouldn't affect her, just so she could rub it in my face. And because of that, she caught on to my plan before it could even get off the ground.' He saw Art of the Dress create a few crystal shards and fire them at the windows. "Let's get some more cold air in here!," Rarity called out as the window exploded outward. "I hope Pesci is doing better than I am...," Prosciutto muttered.

Pesci felt a sense of serene calm as he casually stepped on the neck of one person who tried to get him to stop the train because of a "disease". "Okay... I can do this. Now, I know I saw something near the dashboard and seat." He heard the sound of shattering glass. "Was that Fratello? Did he or the girl slam into the windows? I'd like to figure out what's happening, but right now there's no time." He inspected the cabin and found something near the seat.

"Animal droppings?," Pesci asked, "What animal would still be alive while Fratello's Stand is active?" He thought for a moment. "The only animal I can think of that's small enough to hide and can live even through Fratello's aging power... Is a turtle. They can live for at least a century easily. And sometimes even animals can become Stand users. But where would one be hiding?" He cast out Beach Boy and started swinging it around, until he felt a tug, but on the ceiling. "Someone on the roof?," he wondered. He gave a pull and gasped. "Two people inside the roof! From the weight of the one on the line, it must be Buccellati!"

A zipper opened in the ceiling and Buccellati and Giorno dropped down. "I see, the new one as well," Pesci said, "Well try to fight all you like. Even if I can't kill you, Fratello certainly will." "Not if Rarity kills him first," Giorno pointed out, "Buccellati, can you get the line?" "Not a problem," Buccellati said as he started using Sticky Fingers to start dismembering himself through his zippers as the line began moving through him, until he finally unzipped his torso. Pesci grunted. "That's some determination. But I can still hook you both right here." He threw out his line.

Prosciutto had managed to get out onto the roof. 'There should be plenty of open space. Rarita's Stand seems to be able to grow crystals on anything, even thin air. But out here it will be easier to dodge.' He winced, feeling the crystal on his arm start to grow again. "It doesn't matter where you go," Rarity said as she rose up on a crystal platform, "My crystals are on you now, so my Stand can track you no matter where on this train you are." The Grateful Dead lashed out with its tentacles, but Art of the Dress grew a few more limbs to grab at them.

"You're ultimately a very weak Stand user," Rarity noted, "I'm assuming your partner is the real muscle. Understand how your Grateful Dead works, and it can be rendered harmless. But the other man's fishing rod Stand can only be stopped by Stand energy. And the longer I take here... The harder it will be for the others to fight him." Prosciutto chuckled. "I see... You're a real gangster after all. Our group's leader didn't think much of you, a complete unknown. We thought Polpo had gone mad when rumors of two people taking the test together began to surface. But now it's clear... He saw something in you."

Rarity then spotted a phone in his hand. "I may not have found out how you escaped our notice," Prosciutto said, "But I can make it so the next one can track you anywhere!" He lunged forward and slugged Rarity straight up. "Bastardo!," she called out as she kneed him in the groin, "I'm not sure why you just did that, but as far as last actions go it was a poor move! Art of the Dress!" Art of the Dress started punching Prosciutto endlessly. "CARO CARO CARO CARO CARO CARO CARO CARO CARO! Che caro tesoro!" She left Prosciutto falling off the train, a crystal spike lodged in his skull.

Pesci was stunned. Giorno had just used Gold Experience to create a small turtle from the seat cushions which wound up blocking Beach Boy. But now both the turtle and Beach Boy were now deadlocked. "I see," Giorno said, "So whatever attacks your line feels a psychic shock. As it happens, the animals Gold Experience creates by infusing inanimate objects with life force will psychically lash out with that life force if attacked. That energy is going back and forth, leaving both of them at an impasse."

"D-Damn it!," Pesci called out, "And just when I'd gotten my confidence up! I had no idea such a Stand power could exist!" He then gasped when he saw the few age lines on Giorno and Buccellati start to fade. "Looks like Rarity just dealt with the other one," Buccellati said, "That only leaves you." Pesci took a step back. "No... Fratello..." "This train is useless to us now," Buccellati said as he hit the brake, "I've no doubt your partner told the rest of the group where we're heading. We'll be taking an alternate route."

"In the meantime," Giorno said, "We won't be having you following us. Gold Experience!" Gold Experience struck Pesci in the face and sent him flying out of the train. Buccellati already had Sticky Fingers lay a zipper down, its hand still on the handle, and the side of the train zipped open. "Close, zipper!" Buccellati and Giorno were sent racing after Pesci's body as they left into the air. "Are you ready prepared for this?," Buccellati said as he neared Pesci. Giorno appeared right next to him as they called out, "We are." Gold Experience and Sticky Fingers started pummeling Pesci.

"MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA!" "ARI ARI ARI ARI ARI ARI ARI ARI ARI ARI!" As Pesci felt his consciousness leave his body, while said body fell into pieces, the two allies called out, "Arrivederci!" Pesci's pieces fell into the nearby river, though some did fall near the bank. Rarity hopped off the train as Trish came out to see what all the noise was about. "What was all that?," she asked, "And what are those ghosts you have with you?"

The trio looked at each other. "You can see our Stands then?," Rarity asked. "I'm not sure what you can call them, but yes," Trish admitted. "Then it's as Formaggio suggested," Buccellati noted, "She may not be fully awakened, but Trish does possess a Stand of her own. But right now she can't manifest it the way we can." "Her father is likely a Stand user, right?," Giorno asked. Buccellati nodded. "And like most of us he got his Stand from the arrow, but no one has actually seen it. It's likely that the act of gaining a Stand from the arrow gave the boss's daughter an inherited Stand, which she can't yet control."

Giorno looked down. "My father... Got his Stand the same way, and his overwhelming presence caused those who shared his blood to either gain a Stand or become sick. Could the same thing happen here?" "Probably not, Giorno," Rarity assured him, "All things considered the boss is still human in the end." "I'm sure there's a story behind your conversation but we'll have time for it when this is all over," Buccellati said, "Let's get Coco Jumbo to the nearest truck stop and hop on the first truck heading for Venezia."

Well, Rarity's been kicking some butt, hasn't she? Let's remind everyone that she still has a very important weakness.

Melone, the next member of La Squadra, rode up to where the train had stopped. Before long police response would be arriving from Roma, but until then he had some time to analyze the situation. He had already seen where pieces of Pesci had fallen out of the river, and now he rode up to Prosciutto's body. "Current time is 6:34 PM, and I've confirmed both bodies. Train confirmed stopped as of twenty minutes ago." He got a look at Prosciutto's head wound, which was more complex than it looked. "Rarita is certainly not one to mess around. And she's not above killing or even torture. Definitely not worth using for my Stand, the creation would be too rebellious."

He looked over to the few pieces of Pesci found lying on the riverbank. "With the rest of him in the river we'll only need a small packing crate to bury him. Buccellati is ruthless to his enemies." He took a look in the cabin and found what Pesci had. "Given Prosciutto's Stand... It appears the group is traveling using some sort of Stand using turtle. That will be difficult to track down despite its speed. However..." He went back to Prosciutto and looked at the blood on his knuckles. "The blood on this should be Rarita's." A voice came over his cell phone. 'Can you track them down?' "It shouldn't be a problem. More time consuming than anything."

It didn't take long for a truck heading for Venezia to pass by the truck stop on the highway, and the group was off again. It was going to take longer than expected, but they were still on track. Trish was looking gloomy, because none of the gang was telling her anything, including why people were trying to kill her over a father she never even knew. "She's strong-willed," Giorno noted, "Staying quiet instead of screaming or crying." Meanwhile Mista's Sex Pistols were being told to share a burger Rarity had bought with each other, Rarity using another crystal bead to threaten to smack the other five if Cinque didn't get his fair share.

Back on the train, Melone had managed to sneak into a reserved compartment with a young woman, breaking out his Stand Baby Face which he inserted the blood sample into, confusing the woman as he asked her a series of questions. The woman had good health, the right age, and the right blood type. "Everything about her is incompatible with Rarita. This is perfect." The woman was freaking out when Melone called out, "Baby Face!" The woman freaked as the laptop Melone was carrying gained a body and proceeded to impregnate her.

"Molto Bene," Melone said as the laptop portion confirmed a successful and healthy fertilization. He capped it off by culminating Rarity's DNA into the final product so the homunculus that was about to be born could track Rarity down. "Where it finds Rarita, it will likely find the rest of the group. And the daughter with them." He walked outside with the laptop, the woman unconscious from the incident. Despite the appearances, the process was not truly rape. The woman would find no evidence to suggest as such. How Baby Face impregnated a host was a different process altogether.

"Looks like it's already learning from the mother," he noted as he tracked the progress of the fetus on the laptop, "Rarity's Stand is a rare phenomenon type, but it can grow a physical form for close or long-range combat. I've never had Baby Face track down a phenomenon Stand before. It will be an interesting observation for future reference." He took the time to insure the new homunculus understood what it meant to kill and not to attack Trish, showing the picture they had.

He then gasped. The homunculus had used its power, the ability to section off cubes of a living being, to kill and consume the host mother. "She's too good of a mother!," he said in surprise, "He's already gained the killer instinct, but far too quickly! Now I'm concerned for the rest of its assignment." He then heard his motorcycle rev up and take off. No doubt the homunculus. "He's already picked up Rarita's trail," Melone said with a sigh, "What a kid... And he didn't even finish school... If he's not careful Rarita's Stand will pick him apart."

Meanwhile, the group stopped off at a nearby car park. Taking the truck had been going smoothly until the driver spotted Coco Jumbo. Giorno used Gold Experience to send several cars turning into frogs, which hopped off. "They'll go in different direction," Giorno said, "Meanwhile we can take one of the remaining cars." "Excellent thinking," Abbacchio said, "I'll let Buccellati know we've secured a car." Inside the turtle, Trish was weirded out in light of the fact that Buccellati had to make a makeshift bathroom in Mr President using one of his zippers.

Meanwhile, Rarita was at the edge of the park. 'We have three more members to deal with at this point. And who knows what their powers are.' Suddenly, something cubed out her throat, causing her to stop breathing for a bit. She could live for a while, however, and quickly had Art of the Dress toss a crystal shard into the piece as it flew off. She then crafted a tube in her windpipe to allow air to continue flowing into her lungs. 'What was that? Some new Stand, clearly.'

Art of the Dress helped its user up to walk as it looked at the crystal compass to track the piece that was cut out. "Rarity," Giorno said, "What's wrong? I saw you limping and... Mio Dio!" "This is no time to think of your father!," Rarity quipped through Art of the Dress, since her vocal cords were gone, "As you can see... I AM UNDER ATTACK!" Just then a nearby rock cubed up and launched at Rarity and Giorno. Rarity summoned up a crystal wall.

"This thing...," Giorno said, "It can reshape objects. We can't approach carelessly or we'll get diced up." He pulled off one of his ladybug brooches and formed it into a new throat for Rarity. "Ah... Much better," she said, "That impromptu tracheotomy wasn't going to hold me long." "This thing's power is the opposite of mine," Giorno said, "But in observing it... I feel like I gained something new from Gold Experience." The homunculus appeared near the motorcycle it took. "There it is!," Rarity said.

"Not good!," the homunculus said, "This guy can give life to objects! He can bring back dead things!" Gold Experience punched at the homunculus, breaking off pieces of one leg and also hitting the seat of the bike, trapping the other leg in roots. "I, Giorno, have a dream that I believe is just. But know this... It will not come at Rarity's expense!" Baby Face quickly disassembled and hid as a rock. Giorno looked near the bike, where Baby Face appeared as a shadow.

"Got you!," it said as it broke through Gold Experience's punch and touched Giorno's face. "Do you now?," Giorno said, "Take another look." Baby Face looked around. "Wait... Where's the hand I tore off!?" "Tore off?," Giorno said as he revealed his hand was fine, though Gold Experience was still missing its own hand, "I actually cut it off. You should be more concerned with protecting yourself than attacking me right now." "Ha!," Baby Face laughed, "You can't fool Baby Face!"

It moved to attack, but then saw something move through its arm and into its chest. "So who's trying to fool you?," Giorno asked, "I turned Gold Experience's hand into a new organism. It's already invaded your arm and is now eating its way through you." Rarity smiled as she saw the look in Giorno's eyes. That calm serenity that belied his cunning and viciousness. Baby Face screamed as a piranha tore out of its back. 'What's wrong Baby Face!?,' came Melone's voice.

"That must be the Stand user," Rarity realized, "So even though this is a long-range remote Stand, he can still communicate with it." "Just shut up, Melone!," Baby Face called out, "This happened because of your plan!" "So you're an auto-tracker," Giorno noted, "That must mean your user isn't anywhere nearby." 'Listen, Baby Face! Right now we can't fight against both of them! I've already contacted Ghiaccio and Risotto, and they're on their way! Hide somewhere and wait for backup!'

"No!" Baby Face called out, "I'm killing this guy here and now! I owe him for the pain, but I'm still invincible!" The homunculus seemed to grow, but found itself blocked by Rarity. 'Baby Face! Listen, do not attack that Stand!' "My mission is kill her and take the other girl!," Baby Face retorted, "I'll destroy this thing, and then her!" It smashed Art of the Dress to small shards, cackling when it thought the crystal form was destroyed. But it stopped laughing when it realized Rarity was still smiling.

"What going on?," it wondered, "Die already! I just killed your Stand!" "Did you?," Rarity said, "Clearly you haven't heard about my Stand." 'Dammit, Baby Face! I was trying to teach you this before you ran off! Rarita's Stand doesn't have a physical form! The crystal body is just a creation of its power!' Baby Face gasped as Art of the Dress recreated a new body and levitated the shards of its old body, which embedded themselves into Baby Face.

"Giorno, now!," Rarity called out. "Gold Experience!" Giorno retrieved his Stand's hand and punched at the crystal shards, creating more piranhas that tore through Baby Face. "No! No! No, No, No, NO!" Baby Face found itself ripped to pieces, unable to heal and losing too much of itself. Finally there was nothing left but a few scraps on the ground. "Shame this won't kill the user," Rarity noted, "I was caught off-guard, but it looks like my golden prince was there to get me out of trouble." Giorno smiled. "You know I'll always protect you, during the rare moments you actually need it." They kissed each other passionately.

Ghiaccio drove up to the car park where Buccellati's group was supposed to be, only to find a bunch of people missing cars, and the burning wreckage of Melone's bike. "Merda, looks like I may have just missed them. Several cars gone, they may have hot-wired one. Well, I need to find them, come hell or high water." He scoffed. "I never did like that phrase. Well, I always got the high water part, that's obvious. It's the hell part I never understood. I mean, Hell's not just gonna get up and start walking. Always pisses me off..."

He called Melone. "Yo, I'm at the car park you mentioned, but there's no sign of Buccellati's gang." 'Yeah, my latest Baby Face blew it,' Melone said, 'It was just screaming at the end. I overheard something about piranhas. This never would have happened if I had been able to warn it about Rarita's Stand. That thing is damn near invincible so long as Rarita's in good health. I discerned that much from Prosciutto's information.' "Where are you right now?" 'In Roma. The train made its stop. I still have Rarita's blood sample, I'll just make sure the new Baby Face doesn't target her and goes straight for the girl.'

'Okay, let me know when it's ready. I'll meet you in Roma.' "Got it," Melone said, "Once I find a new and better mother, this new homunculus will be able to beat even Giorno's Stand. Now that I know what it can do, Baby Face can be invincible." He paused as he heard a hissing noise. "Was that a snake? But what would one be doing at the train station?" He gasped when he saw a snake near his face, the markings indicating it was venomous. What made him gasp was what looked like small bite marks along its body, and a small violet shard in part of its head.

'They seem to have hot-wired a car,' Ghiaccio said as the snake came closer to Melone's mouth, 'And not just one, but several. Make sure the new homunculus can track them down.' But Melone was no longer listening as the snake bit his tongue while he screamed out, "Giorno's Stand! It made this snake from Junior's remains!" As he succumbed to the venom, he dropped the blood sample from Rarity. 'Hey, Melone? Melone!?' But Melone was already dead. Now La Squadra had lost Buccellati's group again.

Rarity cleared her throat as the healed section created by Giorno finished bonding to the rest of her body. "So, think we've shaken them?" "There's been nobody after us for the last four or five hours," Mista noted, "I think we managed to give them the slip. We should reach Venezia before long." "And then we find out what comes next," Giorno said, "I doubt our errand for the boss ends in Venezia." "Fugo, hold the turtle over here," Rarity said, "I want to check on the others."

Fugo nodded as he held Coco Jumbo to Rarity. He held her hand to the key and dove inside Mr President. "We managed to shake the other group. Looks like we'll reach Venezia within the next hour or two." "Good," Buccellati said, "And not a moment too soon. It seems we have further orders from the boss. Abbacchio, this concerns you so pay attention." Abbacchio looked confused. "What does it say?" "He wants you to rewind Moody Blues ten hours back next to the dining chair," Buccellati said.

"The boss knows about Abbacchio's Stand?," Rarity asked. "He knows about most Stands in Passione," Buccellati explained, "Not all of them, but most. Out of our group, only yours and Giorno's are still unknown to him, as far as I can tell." Abbacchio rubbed his chin. "Orders or no orders, I'm curious what the boss wants us to see." He summoned Moody Blues and sent him over to the dining chair, rewinding the timer back to ten hours. "Ten hours ago puts the event at just around 3:00 PM," Rarity noted, "About an hour before we picked up Coco Jumbo in the station."

"What do you think we'll see?," Narancia asked. "We're about to find out," Abbacchio said, "Moody Blues has finished rewinding." Moody Blues went as if it was about to leave Mr President, but then stopped in midair and transformed into a very familiar figure standing on the dining chair. "Pericolo?," Trish asked. "Wasn't that the capo who gave us this job in the first place?," Narancia asked. "Yes," Buccellati said, "I guess he was the one who brought Coco Jumbo to the Napoli train station."

Moody Blues turned to the group and began to speak in Pericolo's voice. "Buccellati, if you are hearing this, then all has gone as planned so far. I have been instructed by the boss to deliver you your final orders for this mission, using Abbacchio's Stand as a medium. This was decided on the off-chance that someone has been reading our e-mails." "That's clever," Rarity admitted. "What you will be doing in Venezia is of the utmost importance," Moody Blues continued, "No one else must know of this, only you and your group... Because this will tell you how to transfer Trish to the boss."

Trish gasped. "Our job's almost done then," Narancia said. Moody Blues produced a picture of a winged lion sculpture outside a large building. "When you get to Venezia, find this sculpture and obtain the OA-Disc inside. You'll find the location of the transfer on the disk. This picture no longer exists for this reason." He proceeded to burn the picture using a lighter. "But you can always replay this message if you need a reference." "Abbacchio, pause the playback," Buccellati said.

Once this was done, he looked at the picture. "This is Santa Lucia Station. That must be where we'll find the statue. Okay, keep playing the message." Abbacchio nodded and Moody Blues continued. "This is all I have to say. You've been given your instructions. The enemy has already discovered me. Your highest priority is getting Trish to the boss in safety. This is the most crucial! As for me, I've led a fulfilling and fruitful life. But I cannot leave any evidence of this mission."

He got out a gun. "My men know nothing of this, and they must clean up my mess. Buccellati, I pray for your success." And with that, he shot himself in the temple, flying up into the ceiling. Moody Blues then transformed back to normal and stopped phasing out of Mr President. The group was shocked. "Pericolo...," Buccellati said. Trish was also shocked and horrified, having gotten to know Pericolo. "He was able to live a long life," Rarity noted, "That's a rare thing for a gangster." Buccellati nodded as he sniffed. "I'll let the others know what we're doing."

I noticed that, as of writing, the number of OC Stand archive chapters makes it so the number on the hidden chapter counter is the number of regular chapters I've posted.

Sorry, I wanted to liven the mood after that heavy action.

"So," Giorno said as he drove Rarity and Mista to the station, "What about your history? I'm sure you have some stories to tell." Mista shrugged. "I don't see why not. My life was pretty simple to start. Got good sleep, enjoyed the morning sky, even got to enjoy wine or cheese tastings." "Never was a fan of wine," Rarity admitted, "Cider's been more my poison." Mista looked at her. "My family owns an orchard outside of Manhattan," she explained.

Mista shrugged. "Anyway, I've done the occasional flirting when I saw a pretty girl, all of it harmless. Mostly they turned me down, but honestly I never really expected them to take me up on my offers. Whenever I was low on cash, I'd hang around outside the theater and beat up people who badmouthed Clint Eastwood." "You would get along famously with Uncle Hol Horse," Rarity said, "Or Grandmama for that matter. She always calls Clint Eastwood the modern-day John Wayne."

"So what about those people you beat up?," Giorno asked. "Well, if I won I'd take their money," Mista replied, "If I lost... I'd wind up spending the night in a police station holding cell. I was content with my life. Some may have called it idiotic, but I was never one for complex matters, that invites fear into the heart. But then when I was seventeen, everything changed. I was walking home alone one night when I stumbled across a man beating up a woman. From the looks of the half-naked and bleeding woman, this was no mere spat... It was an attempted rape."

"What did you do?," Rarity asked. "Well my body was moving more than my mind, which was screaming not to get involved," Mista said, "I tore the man out of the car, ramming my knee into his stomach hard enough to knock him out. But this guy was a regular street thug. Not a gang member, just a rotten thug off the street. And he had two buddies." "Thugs don't like getting humiliated," Giorno noted. Mista shrugged. "Well, the guy pulls out his revolver and fires off two shots. But here's where things get crazy... Even though he was at such a close range, he completely missed with both shots, zooming right under my armpit and into the darkness behind me."

"Did you have your Stand back then?," Giorno asked. Mista shook his head. "At the time I hadn't even heard of Passione, let alone have a Stand. Anyway, I kept approaching the guy as he kept firing, emptying his revolver without hitting me once. I could hear the sounds of the ricochets behind me as I got closer." "He must have been in a panic," Rarity thought. "Probably," Mista replied, "By this point his two buddies also pulled out their guns and fired at me from two different angles, yet not one bullet so much as grazed me. Even my clothes came out unscathed."

"Stranger things have happened," Giorno noted, "So how did you deal with them?" "Now here's where the story takes an interesting turn," Mista said, "I found myself overcome by a calm collectiveness. I didn't think myself invincible or unkillable, more like I could feel my concentration sharpening. I grabbed the empty gun from the first thug and reloaded the chamber with a few bullets I also managed to grab. That's when I got my first kills under my belt, killing all three of them in four shots."

He sighed. "And that's where things went downhill. I was arrested and the court wouldn't believe my self-defense story, so I'd be getting fifteen to thirty years in prison if found guilty." "Didn't the woman vouch for you?," Rarity wondered. "They never found her," Mista explained, "She ran off after the thugs were killed. The more I thought about it, the more my mind went back to the fact that I had to take four shots to kill three people. That's why I started equating four with bad luck."

"How were you released?," Giorno said. "The incident came to Buccellati's attention," Mista explained, "He saw that I had Stand potential and unlike the courts, he believed I acted in self-defense. So he pulled some strings to get me acquitted. Then he sent me to Polpo to take his test. And you can guess how that worked out." "Right," Giorno said, "You wouldn't be here telling the story if you didn't pass the test." Mista nodded. "So Rarity, what about you?"

"Not much to tell," Rarity said, "I grew up on my family's orchard, learning the value of hard work. When I was around eight my parents wanted to move to the Zeppeli ancestral home in Napoli. When I was ten I wound up getting hit with the same arrow from the test. I guess someone from Passione was seeing if it could be used for recruitment. Two years ago me and Giorno met and he shared his dream. We became friends first and later began a relationship."

"How did your parents feel about you joining the mafia?," Mista wondered. "Oddly enough Father said he was proud of me for taking control of my life," Rarity said, "Mother was a little worried knowing what a dangerous life it is, but that was her only concern. They knew about Giorno and his dream and wished him success when they heard it." Mista then noticed frost on the windows. "Looks like the mist is rolling in," Mista said, "We're approaching Venezia, the city on the sea."

"Grandmama told me all about Venezia," Rarity said, "It's where she and Grandpapa got married." "This is the Ponte Della Liberta," Giorno said, "The only road to and from Venice and the mainland. Santa Lucia is a train station, meaning once we reach it, we won't be able to get further by car." Mista kept rubbing frost off the windows. "This doesn't seem natural, even with the mist around the city." "Roads are getting icy too," Giorno noted, "Rarity, we need some traction." "Coming right up," Rarity said, focusing Art of the Dress to create a crystal road over the ice.

Mista noticed that his finger had gotten torn off. He soon saw it on the window. Giorno opened the window only to have a blast of cold air come in, a picture hitting his face. "Wait a moment!," Rarity said, "That looks like a copy of the picture Pericolo showed us! But he was supposed to have burned it!" "It's not the same picture," Giorno said, "Look, the image is incomplete, but the building and statue are still visible." "I gotta say," came a male voice above them, "It took us a while to find you. That was clever how you used the ten or so cars to throw us off. But some of us were already going after Pericolo, and we knew you were heading for Venezia. And while Pericolo offed himself, we did find his laptop."

"He's on the roof!?," Giorno noticed. "I don't see the turtle in the car," the voice said, "You must have split up... Which means you're here to pick up something important! And it's in the photo! Well, well. We may not need the girl after all. This could be something that leads right to the boss." "We gotta get him off the roof," Mista said, "Clearly this guy has a Stand that can control ice. If it's gets too cold, then game over." This was the last part of the mission. They couldn't fail here.

And so approached the last of La Squadra...

Or at least the last one the group fights, they never do tangle with La Squadra's leader.

Mista managed to load his gun and fire off a few shots using Sex Pistols, while Rarity used Art of the Dress to fire off a few shards to hit the target on the roof, which happened to be Ghiaccio. As the projectiles wound up impacting but not hurting him, Ghiaccio said, "You ever notice how the Italian name for the city is Venezia, but everyone keeps calling it Venice. That sort of thing... Really pisses me off!" "Boss!," Une called out, "He's covered in ice and sticking to the roof! Due's stuck!"

"Not for long!," Rarity called out, "Art of the Dress!" Ghiaccio looked as the crystals he stopped with the ice layer started to grow into the ice, beginning to crack it apart. "One tiny crack is all I need," Rarity noted, "From there it's a slow but sure matter of widening the fissure." She then felt the cold air getting in. "Of course the fact that we're moving so fast in a frigid environment complicates matters!," Mista called out, "Giorno, hit the brakes!"

"I can't!," Giorno called out, "My foot is stuck to the pedal, and the steering wheel's locked up! At this rate the temperature will hit Absolute Zero! Rarity, your's is the only Stand that can still function at these temperatures! You need to stop us somehow!" "I'm still expending too much heat keeping us from wiping out while trying to break through his ice armor...," Rarity noted, "It's getting too cold to move." Giorno thought fast. Gold Experience then handed Mista his bullets. "Use these."

"You're thinking of shooting me again?," Ghiaccio quipped, "You'll just make it colder in there!" "Maybe so," Mista said, "But when these bullets go off, heat is produced, and when that happens..." He fired off a few bullets that impacted the ice layer and started sprouting roots, making more fissures for the crystals to grow into. Ghiaccio cried out in shock as he wound up separating from the car. As he bounced off the highway, the ice in the car immediately started to thaw out, Giorno hitting the heat in order to restore their energy.

Ghiaccio quickly stopped himself by turning his ice layer into a skating suit complete with ice skates. "No way...," Mista said in surprise. "I've heard of many types of Stands in the past," Rarity said, "But this is the first time I've seen a Stand that was worn. This must be how he caught up to our car." Ghiaccio raced ahead with his Stand, White Album. He grinned as the suit tanked the bullets. "Your ammo is useless! White Album works by controlling cryogenic temperatures! I can freeze the temperature in the air to make this suit, strong enough to stop your bullets!"

"Anyone got a rocket launcher?," Rarity quipped. Ghiaccio noticed he was hitting the crystal tracks that Rarity used earlier, which were now growing on him. "Ha! Your crystals won't work! Don't you know!? Colder temperatures can slow crystal growth!" Now it was Rarity's turn to smirk. "Darling, do you really think my Stand works by the process of science. My crystals aren't the kind you can find in nature. Make it as cold as you like, but unless you're chilling me at the same time you'll find those will grow quite nicely."

Ghiaccio nearly found himself tripping as the crystals started holding his legs down. "Those crystals will dissolve on their own after a few minutes," Rarity said. "More than enough time for us to warm up and get to Venezia," Giorno noted. Just then water hit the car, and Ghiaccio rode it as a rope to reach the trunk. "Shit!," Mista called out, but before he could shoot Ghiaccio opened the trunk. "Got you now," Ghiaccio said as he appeared through the back seat, "Now I'll freeze you directly!" But he got a double punch from Gold Experience and Art of the Dress, the latter of whom pinned him to the back seat.

"We need to get to the station!," Giorno called out, "I'm taking us into the canal!" "Oh no you're not!," Rarity admonished him, "Trying to get into the water when you're fighting an ice user is NOT a good idea!" "Well, what else can we do!?," Giorno pointed out. Rarity raised an eyebrow. "How about we try going over the canal? As in... With my Stand?" Giorno never felt more stupid in his life, and facepalmed. "Right... Nearly forgot you can do that..." Ghiaccio gasped as Rarity created a crystal bridge that Giorno promptly drove over.

Meanwhile, Narancia was taking a motorboat into the city, Coco Jumbo on board. "Aerosmith's not picking up any boats or vehicles near the station," he said, "All clear so far, but also no sign of the others." "They should be fine," Buccellati said from inside Mr President, "Even if an enemy caught up to them, I sent Rarity with them to make an alternate entrance into the city. Once they arrive, they should be able to find the disc in the lion statue." Narancia nodded.

Meanwhile the trio leapt from the car as it rammed into the building, crashing and exploding. "Did that work?," Mista asked. As if in answer, Ghiaccio stumbled out of the wreck, his Stand still active. "Close... Not even White Album can freeze flames... But neither can the flames melt my suit... So quickly..." He began coughing, almost like he was suffocating. "Looks like we found his Stand's weakness," Giorno noted, "Even if he surrounds himself with cold, he still has to let regular air in to breath somehow."

"Hold on...," Rarity said, "One of my crystal shards is still embedded in him... Let me grow it and see where it comes up." "Can it find something?," Mista asked. "Once it reaches any holes to breath," Rarity remarked, "We'll know." However, what happened next was surprising. It turned out, the shard was embedded in Ghiaccio's helmet. The first thing it did was cover his his faceplate, and with the violet coloring he couldn't see as well. Finally, it hit something in his back.

"No!," he called out, "You won't be getting me this way! White Album... Gently Weeps!" The air around him started to get colder and colder, but the crystal kept digging into his suit. "What's going on!? This power has never failed me! It's supposed to stop any attack!" "So who's attacking you?," Rarity pointed out, "I'm merely searching... And stripping." Ghiaccio gasped as some of the crystals started digging into his brain from inside the suit. The Gently Weeps effect started to fade off and his suit started showing cracks.

"This is it!," Mista said, "Go, Sex Pistols!" Ghiaccio screamed as the tiny Stand bodies hit Mista's shots through his suit, aiming for cracks made by Art of the Dress. "You might have stood a chance with only two of us," Giorno said, "But there are three. You are far too overmatched. Gold Experience!" With the ice suit starting to shatter, Ghiaccio was vulnerable as Gold Experience aimed for his face. "MUDA MUDA MUDA!" Three straight shots broke the suit, pushed the crystals further into Ghiaccio's brain, and burst through his torso. He was dead on the spot.

"Ultimately," Mista noted, "He didn't have the resolve to win. His focus was more on getting to the boss than anything else. He couldn't focus on taking us out. So, let's get that disk." Sex Pistols inspected the statue. "Up here Mista," Sei said, "There's a crack in the statue. And something is inside." "Can you get it out?," Mista asked. Une nodded. "All together now, bozos!" They each grabbed the disk and began to pull. "Heave-ho!" A few good tugs got the disk out, which Giorno caught. As they did, they saw Narancia coming in by boat. "Looks like we did it," Rarity said, "Now there's just the final step."

Yes Rarity's presence did once again show how easy she can make a fight. But in my defense, this time it was because Mista and Giorno were with her. Remember that Art of the Dress does have a big weakness in Rarity, like most Stands that are otherwise invincible. And I hope I did a good job conveying that here.

"Okay," Buccellati said, "We're just about at the home stretch. Once the computer reads this disk, we'll know where we can hand Trish off." He placed the disk in the computer, and a message appeared. 'I give you my sincere thanks for guarding my daughter, Trish. But first, there is something I must warn you of. The data on this disc was entered when you boarded the train in Napoli. As such, I don't know how many more pursuers still live. Neither do I have any way of knowing how many of your team have fallen in combat, if any.'

"We were lucky not to lose anyone," Fugo noted, "And from what we know, there's only one man left in La Squadra." 'The disc contains information that will allow me to safely meet my daughter. This will be my last order for this assignment. Do not deviate from these orders, or it will be taken as a warning of your hostility, which will make it very hard for me and my daughter to reunite. Now... Head for the San Giorgio Maggiore. There you'll find a lone church, the only building on the island, with only a single belfry. You'll be taking my daughter to the top of that belfry.'

"Sounds easy enough," Rarity noted. 'Order 1... You will ascend to the belfry, not by the stairs, but by the one elevator installed in the building. Only one of you will be escorting Trish, no one else. Order 2... You are not to bring any knives, guns, mobile phones, or other objects other than the clothes on your back, and of course your Stand. Order 3... You must reach the island within fifteen minutes of acquiring the disc. This disc is equipped with a tracking device which will go off once the message is done playing. Order 4... The remaining members are to wait on the boat. They are not to set foot on the island.'

"So he was in Venezia after all," Giorno noted. "We'll take the motorboat to the island," Buccellati said, "From there we'll decide who goes in." "We're almost done with this mission," Abbacchio said, "And with everyone still alive, too. I'd call that a resounding success." "Still, it's been quite a pain," Mista admitted, "How about we stick around Venezia for a few more days? I've heard some good things about the food around here. Never as good as the food from your home, but some things can come close."

"Don't get excited just yet," Giorno pointed out, "We may still get ambushed on the way to the church. That last member could be lurking anywhere." "He's right," Buccellati said, "We can talk about getting lunch once Trish is safe with her father." Rarity then saw Trish sweating. "Buccellati," she said, "With your permission, I'd like to volunteer for the escort. Right now Trish is nervous, and I think a fellow girl her own age is just what she needs to connect with."

Buccellati waited for what Abbacchio would say, and what he did say surprised him. "I can't say I'm against the idea," Abbacchio said, surprising everyone, "While I don't really like the idea of a rookie being the escort, at the same time we don't know if the last member of the assassination group is waiting for us at the church. And push comes to shove Rarity has the strongest Stand in this group. If anyone can protect Trish until she's safe with her father, it's Rarity." Rarity smiled. "Thank you." Buccellati breathed a sigh of relief. "That settles it then. The rest of us will wait down here."

Giorno handed Rarity one of his ladybug brooches. "For luck," he said with a wink. Rarity gave a knowing smile and nodded. Buccellati instantly knew what they were planning, and said nothing. 'They want to find out a clue to the boss's identity. Gold Experience turned the brooch into a real ladybug. If Rarity can pin it on the boss, it can act as a sensor. This is our best chance to find out who the boss is without raising suspicion.'

"Here we are," Rarity said, "Looks like an express elevator. Only stops at the first floor and the top." She saw Trish huddled near the door. "Come on now...," Rarity said, "What's wrong?" "I... I'm scared," Trish admitted, "I've had gangsters like you coming to kill me or take me hostage..." "Trust me," Rarity assured her, placing a hand on Trish's shoulder, "They were nothing like us. We killed them yes, but only to save ourselves and you. But we also have standards and morals. We won't kill someone we have no reason to."

"It's not just that...," Trish said, "I'm also going to meet a father I never met... Or even loved... I'm not sure what my life will be like after that..." "I'm sure he only thinks of your safety," Rarity said, "He'll likely set you up with a new identity, maybe even send you out of the country. I hear Japan is a nice country, for starters. Friendly people there. Just don't try ripping them off." The tone she took actually got Trish giggling, which seemed to calm her down. "Thanks. I feel a little better now."

They got on the elevator and started riding up slowly. "Hey...," Trish said, "How is your relationship with your own father? Does he know you're a gangster?" "Yes, and he's surprisingly supportive," Rarity noted, "I may not have had the easy life you've lived until now... But I also don't have a chip on my shoulder like the boys. The Zeppeli family is tight-knit, and we don't question the choices our family makes. The last time that happened, my great-grandfather was killed... Grandpapa took it as a lesson."

"Do you think... I'll like my father?," Trish asked. Rarity shrugged. "How am I supposed to know? I've never met the man. Ah, but we'll be finding out shortly. Looks like we're about to reach the top floor." She took Trish's hand as the door opened, then gasped when it felt way too light all of a sudden. She turned to see the hand had been severed. 'No... He never wanted to protect his daughter...! He wanted to erase her to protect his own identity!'

Well... I'm sure you guys are anxious to find out how Art of the Dress stacks up against King Crimson. This was how I intended to keep Buccellati from dying, however I won't be passing his fate off to Rarity. You know I'm not like that. In studying King Crimson's powers, I found it does have one fundamental weakness, which you'll see in the coming chapters.

"Rarity's sure been in there for a while," Narancia said. "She's probably getting debriefed," Abbacchio said dismissively, "Which means she could be up there for a few minutes." "There's no way the boss would let her see his face," Fugo pointed out. "Obviously," Abbacchio retorted, "But he would likely set things up so he wouldn't have to. Frosted glass... Voice modulators... Anything to keep himself hidden." "How do you think Trish is?," Mista wondered, "This is the first time she's meeting her father."

"He's probably explaining what will be happening to her now," Buccellati said, "He likely intends to secure her a new identity in another country. Maybe America or England. Say Giorno, we have some time while we wait. I think you deserve to know my history before I joined the Passione gang." "Sure," Giorno said, "I've heard everyone else's story. And you've all heard mine." Buccellati cleared his throat as he began his story.

"It was back when I was seven years old," he reminisced, "My parents had just divorced after ten years of marriage. My father was not a social man, but he was a hard working one, part of the fishing trade. He was a good father for what it was worth, always trying to protect me and Mother from the cruelties of the world. Mother was loving towards me, and we would always talk together. I still remember the bedtime stories she told me. They seemed happy in marriage, so I never knew why they would suddenly split up. Even today I still don't know."

He sat back. "Mother said she would be leaving town, and so they decided to let me choose who I would stay with. I love my mother, but she was leading the conversation and asking me loaded questions while Father said nothing. They both seemed sure I would chose to live with Mother, but instead... I said I would stay with my father. Mother was shocked beyond belief, but she knew my mind was made up, no matter what she said..." "At least your mother was there when you needed her," Giorno noted.

Buccellati nodded. "The reason I made my choice was because I knew Father was the true victim in all this. Mother would eventually move on with her life, but Father was chained down by his past. That's how I knew... I had to be there for him. To remind him that he still had his family, no matter how much it would change. This is how I have always been... And how I would eventually form the gang you see before you." "What happened to you mother?," Giorno asked.

"Last I heard from her," Buccellati said, "She had remarried a man from Milan. We only saw each other on Christmas. As for my father... Fate took a different turn. Father continued his work as a fisherman, hoping to raise the money I would need to get into a good school in the city. But one day, two visiting fishermen asked him for a ride to an islet off the coast of Napoli. Father often did this, riding tourists and other such fishermen to wherever they wanted for extra cash on his off days."

He closed his eyes. "But this was different. One of the men had left their fishing rod on the boat. Father went to deliver it to them, thinking them idiotic for leaving it behind... Only to find they weren't really fishermen. Well, they were still idiotic, but father also should have thought them suspicious. Because it turned out they were drug smugglers, and father had stumbled onto one of their deals."

"Did they kill him?," Giorno asked. "They almost did," Buccellati said, "They shot at him, hitting him seven times. But luck was on his side, as a passing coast guard found the empty boat, and my father with it. Fortunately, they were equipped to stabilize him and get him to a hospital. But for me... It might have been better if Father had died that day... I was waiting for him to recover when one night I heard the window open. It seems the smugglers learned Father had survived and wanted him dead so he could not testify about their identities."

He smirked. "But I was there, and had a knife, which I used to kill the one trying to kill my father. I then did the same with the other one. I protected my father, as I promised him I would... But there's no going back from something like that. My path in life was set that day, since it was clear those men had accomplices that would be seeking revenge. I couldn't trust the police to guarantee his safety. Eventually I learned of Passione, the gang that secretly ruled the city. I soon swore loyalty to them, and eventually became a favorite of Polpo."

He sighed. "In those days, I believed the gang stood for justice, but that was also when they were breaking their own code... Getting into the same drug trade that nearly cost my father his life. You see..." He came over and whispered to Giorno. "I learned the boss was the one who set up the smuggling operation. And my father eventually died from complications in the hospital after five years." Giorno's eyes widened. He suddenly started to get concerned for Rarity.

"Art of the Dress!" Rarity had her Stand smash through the bottom of the elevator, having stuck a crystal shard on Trish in case of ambush. It was now leading her down. She could barely make out a figure carrying her off, no doubt the boss. 'I'm sure Giorno would want me to find the boss's identity,' she thought, 'But I'm not about to leave Trish to her fate. If I can do this while still pinning the brooch on him, all the better.' She immediately started sliding down using a crystal pillar.

She was sure Buccellati would be heartbroken to hear this. They were bringing Trish to her own execution without even realizing it. But a nagging feeling was in the back of her mind. 'If he wanted her dead why not just task us with it? Or even better, appease La Squadra by giving them the job and offering them the better territory they sought as compensation? There's something here we're missing. And I intend to find out somehow.'

Hey, someone had to ask those questions.

But next episode, Rarity and Art of the Dress vs the mysterious boss (who you already know is Diavolo) and King Crimson.

You guys had been wondering what factor could let Rarity survive against King Crimson. Well I'll give you a hint...

You remember when we first started seeing Diavolo's power, how birds who were flying didn't have their flight interrupted, but merely had a section of the flight cut out? King Crimson can only erase ten seconds, and if an action occurs before the erasure starts, not even King Crimson can stop it, only redirect it.

Keep that in mind, as well as the fact that Diavolo isn't keen on attacking more than one person at a time.

'I need to be careful,' Rarity said, 'The boss used some sort of Stand ability. If not for my tracking crystal I never would have know where Trish was being taken, meaning it's obviously a very strong Stand with a very strong and competent user. Just remember Rarity, priority one is Trish, priority two is the brooch. Don't even think about attacking or killing the boss unless you get attacked.' She had one advantage, the boss didn't know Rarity was about to betray him.

She was still clutching Trish's severed hand, thinking Buccellati could reattach it once they were free and clear. "I can't phase through walls the way Buccellati can," she noted, "But I still have some options." She had Art of the Dress smash through a nearby wall in the elevator, catching the debris with a crystal bowl that extended across the shaft. If the boss did look up to see what the disturbance was, he'd be unable to see it since he was too far down and there wasn't even light to refract in the crystals.

Using the blood and tracking crystal, Rarity found a large hole in a nearby cabinet on the ground. "So at the very least it's a power-type," she noted, "So long as it hits my Stand and not me I should be fine, but I'll need to be prepared. I've already been caught off-guard once by an enemy, I have no intention of letting it happen again." She looked through the hole and saw a spiral staircase underneath. "I see... He's heading for the crypt. That's a perfect place to do the deed. He can kill Trish without any intrusions and slip out the back. He may even have prepared a final resting place for her to hide the body. I'll need to hurry."

She created a crystal hand drill which Art of the Dress used to quickly tunnel into the floor, letting her get to the lower floor and hide on a nearby column. There she started growing her crystals in the shadows to catch anyone who came down. And sure enough, someone was coming, carrying Trish. 'That must be him...' "Leave this place Rarita," the boss said, "Or else you will die when you emerge from the pillar." Rarity looked confused, and not just because the boss knew she was there.

"Why would I need to emerge?," she asked, "I wasn't planning on attacking you unless I had to." The boss seemed confused, but became surprised when crystals started forming on his legs. "Impossible! They should be unable to grow!" A large humanoid that almost looked skinless appeared and started shattering the crystal, letting Rarity run out and grab Trish before skating into the darkness, placing the brooch as she did. "I see...," the boss said, "I underestimated you. You began to use your power before I could use mine. It looks like you've accomplished your fate after all. But at least tell me your reasons. Did Buccellati put you up to this? Or are you making your own power grab?"

"I'm just here for your daughter," Rarity pointed out, "Is it really such a bad idea to send her where no one even knows your gang exists, much less you? You're the one who needs to explain himself. Even if you are paranoid about your identity, this is going too far. When Buccellati hears this he won't be happy. You're already on thin ice with him because of the gang's drug trade." The boss scoffed. "And why would he care if I push a few drugs for extra money?"

Rarity chuckled. "If you have to ask that question, then you don't know Buccellati half as well as you think you do. By the way... How am I hearing your questions from several different and very distant locations one after another?" She held up her crystal compass. "You still have some of my crystal on you, embedded in your skin. And I can track them easily. Yet somehow you are able to move long distances in an instant with the only proof being the compass suddenly jerking in a different location. I heard Giorno's father had a Stand that could freeze time. Is this something similar?"

The boss chuckled. "Freezing time? How quaint. Powerful, admittedly, but quaint." Rarity then saw herself a few steps away. "My power holds greater control over time," the boss said, "What you are seeing is your future self, a few seconds away. This is the power... Of King Crimson!" He plowed his fist through Rarity. "I can eradicate time... And force it to skip." The "future" Rarity suddenly started clapping, and the boss realized that it remained even when he released his power.

"What?," the boss said, then he realized he felt no blood coming out of "Rarity's" chest. He gasped as the figure turned into Art of the Dress. "A little gift from Giorno," Rarity explained, "I wasn't expecting you of all people to attack, but I did expect a final ambush. So I had Giorno turn one of Art of the Dress' bodies into a perfect copy of me and sent it up with Trish. It's technically following your orders, since you said you couldn't stop us from bringing our Stands."

King Crimson removed its fist from the crystal body and the boss retreated back into the shadows. "I see... Not even King Crimson can erase events that have started before it began forecasting. But I can at least do one thing to alter your fate, if only slightly." He grabbed the ladybug brooch and pulled it off, along with the crystal which King Crimson found. "I can prevent you from tracking me and finding my identity. Since you were only trying to protect my daughter, I'll consider this action forgiven. But rest assured, the girl won't be going anywhere. Now that I see her, I can sense she is my daughter. And when she wakes up, she'll sense the same. I can't allow anyone to know my identity."

Rarity smirked. "That ladybug wasn't just meant to track you." She suddenly unzipped her chin and revealed a mobile phone, which she promptly hit the speed dial on. "Giorno! Trish is danger! The boss was just trying to kill her! Activate the trap!" The boss gasped as the ladybug turned into a copy of Coco Jumbo, which promptly sucked the boss into it. "So long as I do nothing offensive he can't perfectly predict it," she noted, "Which means so long as I start growing my crystals before he can even see them, the best he can do is slow their growth."

The turtle started hopping about, no doubt the boss trying to escape. But while this turtle had Coco Jumbo's cells, it was a different turtle. "Art of the Dress!" Rarity's Stand popped open the nearby storm drain and guided the bouncing turtle there with its crystal growths. "It's near invincible, but it still has limits. I'd wager it would take me ten seconds to get from where he thought I was to where I actually was. Ten seconds... That sounds like it might be his limit. And from the looks of it I can neither move nor remember what happened in those ten seconds."

She picked Trish up and started moving her. "So," came the boss's voice, "I'm guessing you and the new guy, Giorno, were planning to betray me all along. But all actions are useless before my King Crimson!" Rarity smiled. She turned to see the boss on the nearby staircase. "Come now. I've shown you what I can do and you still think that? Did you really think I was just counting on the turtle? Take a look at your limbs." The boss spotted crystals growing on King Crimson's arms and legs.

'No...,' the boss thought, 'He's caught... I can already feel the spikes growing inside. If I move to attack, she'll cause them to start growing. And they can grow at her will, so even if I erase that time they'll just pick up where they left off. Rarita... Your Art of the Dress is a frightening power. On the one hand, I'm glad it was you that was hit by the arrow I tested rather than that weak-willed sculptor. But on the other hand... If you wanted to, you could kill me here and now. But I can already see... Other things will soon have your attention.'

Sure enough, Giorno had soon showed up on the first floor, which Rarity burst through carrying Trish. "We need to get the others," Rarity said, "The boss has a Stand that can erase ten seconds of time." She handed Giorno the phone, which he had Gold Experience launch into the nearby wall as a flying fish, getting the group's attention when it crashed. "What's going on!?," Buccellati said, "What happened to Trish!?" "Her father happened," Rarity said. She held up the severed hand, which Buccellati started to reattach.

"I never would have expected this," he muttered, "He was having us bring her to her own execution. That's twice now he's broken my heart." She explained the whole situation, and Buccellati started sweating. "If that's his power, then we can't even expose him at this point, much less defeat him. I now understand why the boss has been able to maintain his reign of terror. We'll retreat for now." Meanwhile, the boss decided to retreat. 'There's nothing I can do to prevent them from leaving the island. Killing her in the presence of Buccellati's entire gang would take too long and expose me to at least one of them. But I'll see to it they never leave Venezia.'

"And that's the sum total of it," Buccellati said, "As of right now, me, Giorno, and Rarity are going to turn traitor. If you choose to follow, you'll be seen as the same." "Buccellati, this is insane," Abbacchio said, "You know what happens to traitors... The boss won't let you escape. His elite guard may have already surrounded Venezia." "Maybe the three of us can't do it alone," Buccellati admitted, "But you'll have to make the decision to join us here, or stay with the gang. This is neither a request nor an order. If you join us, it must be your decision."

Mista was the first to do so. "If not for you I'd be rotting in prison by now. I'm in." Abbacchio sighed and came down as well. "I have nowhere else to go regardless. This country and its society have rejected me. I'd only feel comfortable by your side." "Are you guys insane!," Fugo said, "You'll be completely isolated! Where will you go!? Where can you even go!? They'll never let you leave Venezia!" Rarity then stepped in front of him. "See... You know I'm right. It's just not logical to turn against the--" He got surprised when Rarity slapped him.

"Logic this, logic that!," she said, "Do you only ever think with your head? Do you even have any real dreams anymore?" She pointed to Narancia, who had decided to join when he saw Trish's still-bleeding wound. "Look, even he can see a reason to betray Passione. But no... You can't see any logical reason. So here's what we'll do. You and me... Are going to fight here and now!" The group gasped. "Rarity, do we even have time for this?," Buccellati asked, "We could be in danger even as we speak." "It's no trouble," Rarity said, "If the boss has Venezia surrounded, he may not expect us to still be here. So Fugo... What'll it be?"

I came up with the title on a whim to represent the struggle between Fugo and Rarity.

Oh, and here's something interesting. Many people assume Fugo was written out of the story because he's too powerful. This is wrong. Araki was originally going to have Fugo turn traitor and have him be killed off. But as he got to the point where Fugo would be revealed as a mole for Diavolo, Araki realized something. He was going through a rough patch at this time and the crew from Part 5 was literally his Golden Wind. He couldn't do Fugo like that anymore.

So instead he simply wrote Fugo out of the story and gave a supplemental story where Fugo was forced to fight his friends only to leave quietly. It's all a big lead-up to Purple Haze Feedback.

All that in mind, allow me to correct a serious error on a certain character's part.

"Are you insane!?," Fugo asked. "I'm just using the logic you love oh so much," Rarity pointed out, "If we all defect and you're the only holdout... How long until the boss decides to send you against us?" Fugo gasped. This was true. He now understood what Rarity was getting at. He'd either have to betray his friends, or betray the boss. There could be no middle ground. "You seem to grasp my intention," Rarity said, "You know what we're capable of, but the reverse is also true. So, to see if you even can fight us... We're going to fight here and now."

Art of the Dress appeared. "The rules are simple. The first one to land a punch on the other's Stand wins. Since my Stand had no true physical form, your virus will be useless, but it's still unpredictable and very ferocious. I'd say the odds are even." Fugo was sweating. 'I have to rely purely on my Stand for this... But I can't even properly control it! How am I supposed to win this!? If I can't even beat Rarity... What chance do I have against the others...'

But Rarity was giving him no say in the matter. "Purple Haze!" The violent Stand appeared as Rarity erected a crystal wall to protect her and the boat. The group watched through the crystal as the two Stands started fighting, but it was clear that Rarity was far superior. "Why is she doing this?," Abbacchio wondered, "It's obvious Purple Haze stands no chance. And it's not like she can convince him to get on the boat when she wins." "Not when," Giorno said, "If. Fugo can win this fight... He just needs to learn how to control his Stand."

"There's no way he can control his anger well enough to do that," Abbacchio pointed out. Then he saw Giorno's face and something clicked. "Unless controlling his anger is the wrong way to control his Stand..." Art of the Dress had Purple Haze in an arm lock. "Are you ready to give up, or can you still fight?," Rarity said, "I haven't yet landed a punch, so there's still a chance for you to win." Fugo, bent over like his Stand, was starting to boil over. "Damn you, woman! Don't you... TOY WITH ME!"

He instinctively made a punching move, and gasped when Purple Haze mimicked the move, managing to strike Art of the Dress in the face. Fugo could hardly believe it. "This is..." In that instant, he understood everything. 'This isn't just about the girl... This is about all of Italy, the country we love... Giorno wanted to bring justice to this country, and Buccellati thought Passione could give that justice... But now... Now this gang has no justice...'

He had known it in his heart, but his logical head wouldn't let him act on it. Rarity had forced him to give in to his anger, to lash out against what wasn't fair in the world rather than accept it. Just like what had happened with the professor and his dead grandmother. He sank to his knees as Giorno got off the boat to approach him. "Fugo... We need all the help we can get to stop the boss from terrorizing all of Italy, including the innocent." He held out his hand. "Will you... Help us?" Fugo teared up as he took Giorno's hand. "Si lo faro... Giogio..."

"I still think this is stupid," Fugo said later as the group was eating at a local restaurant. "Too late to take it back now," Abbacchio pointed out, "You already got on the boat." "I'm not saying I'm changing my mind, I'm just saying it's stupid," Fugo clarified. "You think vegetarians are allowed eat cheese?," Mista asked. "No," Fugo said, "Any milk or egg products are forbidden since they come from animals. Gelatin too, since it's made from animal bones. They also can't eat cake made with cream."

"Jeez, that sucks," Mista said. "It's not like they can't enjoy dessert," Fugo assured him, "Plenty of desserts don't use animal products." "Anyway, I'm glad you decided to join us Fugo," Buccellati said, "Because Rarity's encounter with King Crimson gave us an important clue to his weaknesses. He can't stop anything that has already started. If it tries to erase Rarity's crystal growth or your virus after they've already begun their work, he'll find it only affecting him faster."

"But that doesn't help the rest of us," Giorno noted, "We need to find out if any other weaknesses exist. While he's erasing time, only he can move, and anyone affected forgets what happened during that time. We need to find some way to counter that." "Our only chance is if we can find the boss's identity," Buccellati decided, "Once we have that, we can secretly assassinate him." "Yeah, but...," Narancia said, "Only Trish would have some clue to that, and we can't involve her anymore..." "It's fine," Trish said sadly, "Truth is... I've known all along what my father intended to do..."

She turned to the group. "The island of Sardegna. Mom once met my father there. She was on vacation at the time. He said he'd be back soon, then vanished without even leaving so much as a name or picture." "This would be before he founded Passione and erased all traces of his past," Abbacchio noted, "Meaning there might some clues on the island. If that's where he grew up, then that's where we'll find out about his past." "Trish...," Rarity said, "Why do this for us? You know what will happen when we learn about your father."

Trish nodded. "I know Rarity. But I want to know my origins, and I refuse to die before that happens!" Abbacchio chuckled. "Looks like you don't have to worry about her, Narancia." "Well, at least we have a lead," Fugo admitted, "But we still need to find a way out of Venezia before we can even think of heading to Sardegna." Suddenly, Narancia saw something swimming in his soup. "Guys, there's an enemy here!," he called out, "There's some sort of shark in my soup!" The group turned to see a shark fin in the soup. And it was moving.

Narancia immediately summoned Aerosmith and launched an attack on the soup bowl, shattering it. "Fugo!," Buccellati called out, "Get Trish inside Coco Jumbo!" Rarity had managed to tag the mysterious shark fin with a crystal. "Whatever it is, it's still here," she mused, "But it's moving sporadically." Narancia suddenly cried out in pain as the shark Stand leapt out of his spoon, which still had soup in it, and tore off his tongue. It then dove into the soup spilled onto the ground before moving to a nearby water bottle, shifting size as it did.

"Damn!," Fugo called out, "Whatever it was just tore out Narancia's tongue!" "It's moving through liquids!," Rarity realized, "Somehow it can move from one body of liquid to another!" "Narancia's not breathing," Giorno said, "I can make a new tongue but it'll take time." "Then let's make some," Rarity said, getting out a pen. She quickly jabbed it into Narancia's windpipe, then removed the inkwell, creating a hole Narancia could breathe through. "Good thinking Rarity," Giorno said, "I'll use the inkwell to fashion Narancia a new tongue." Up top, someone was watching them, the shark Stand contained in a glass of water.

The man's name was Squalo, a member of Passione working for the boss directly, and the shark was his Stand Clash. With him with was his boyfriend Tiziano, also a member. "So those are the new members the boss mentioned," Tiziano said, "The boss said they were resourceful, and dangerous to confront." "Anyone that can take out the boss on first meeting is definitely one to keep an eye on," Squalo noted, "Like the heads of our drug ring, for example. The difference is Rarity apparently has reason to overthrow the boss, supposedly for her boyfriend Giorno's sake."

He looked at Clash. "I thought I could get the job done alone, but as always it seems I'll need your help, Tiziano." Tiziano smiled. "Not to worry. Don't take this the wrong way, but I didn't expect things to be so easy, so I already set up my own Stand, Talking Head, inside Narancia's mouth. We'll take them down one by one, using Narancia as our pawn." They didn't notice the crystal still stuck in Clash's scales.

Narancia had finally recovered, the new tongue properly fused to his body. "A shame we're not in Japan right now," Rarity said, "I've heard rumors of a Stand capable of fully repairing wounds. Or anything in general." "You gonna be alright, Narancia?," Fugo asked. "Yeah," Narancia replied, his voice still a little raspy, "I saw what happened, it was some sort of gigantic Stand that came out of nowhere. I think it rounded the corner." The group blinked.

'Okay, that was not what I meant to say,' Narancia said, 'Not to mention... That was a terrible lie. We all saw the shark in the soup, and Rarity should have tracked it elsewhere.' "Something's not right," Rarity said, "We should have seen something that huge, and Art of the Dress is still tracking the crystal. It didn't go anywhere near the corner Narancia mentioned." Fugo quickly yanked open Narancia's mouth, and lifted his tongue. "There's something slithering in there... I think we may have more than one enemy to deal with."

"If it's making Narancia tell lies," Abbacchio said, "Then let's try doing the opposite of anything he suggests until we can resolve the issue." "If talking's no good," Fugo said, "Try writing what you know." He handed Narancia a pen and paper. Unfortunately, all Narancia could write was nonsense. "This isn't gonna help," Mista said, "Whatever this new Stand is, it's making it so Narancia can't make any sense." "Well, we know the first Stand can move through liquids of all kinds," Buccellati noted, "So until we can track the user, we should avoid large bodies of water."

"Good luck with that in Venezia!," Mista reminded him. "Calm down," Rarity said, "Don't forget my Art of the Dress is still tracking the Stand. Me and Narancia will try tracking him down. If we can get a clean shot on the Stand, we can use that to track the user. Think you can pull this off, Narancia?" "I doubt I'll be able to pull it off (You can count on me!)," Narancia said. "Excellent," Rarity said.

"Something's off," Tiziano said, "Even though Talking Head is working, they're not listening to Narancia. In fact, they're doing the opposite of what he's saying. You'd think six people scratching their heads..." "Seven people," Squalo corrected him. Tiziano looked at him. "Seven?" "Clash is counting seven people," Squalo explained. Tiziano looked at the group, and his eyes widened. "Something's off! What's Fugo doing still with the group!? The boss calculated Fugo's loyalty to the gang is too strong!"

"What's the big deal?," Squalo asked, "So the boss miscalculated. He's still human in the end." "The big deal is Fugo is a rationalist," Tiziano clarified, "And he tends to ground the eccentricities of the others, when he's not blowing up at them for their stupidity." "Hold up," Squalo said, "It looks like Narancia and Rarita split off. Are they looking for Clash? They can't be using Aerosmith for this, Stands don't breath so there's no carbon dioxide to track."

"Come to think of it," Tiziano said, "The boss mentioned Rarita's Stand, Art of the Dress, can track people using the crystals it grows, and that includes Stands." "Yeah, but my Stand's remote," Squalo said dismissively, "Even if they find it, they won't necessarily find me." Just then, injuries started appearing all over his body as bullet holes. He coughed up blood as Tiziano held him. "Squalo!" "Damn it...,"Squalo wheezed, "I think I know what they're doing... They want to make it easier to track us... Make my breath more ragged..."

"Well it won't work so easily," Tiziano assured him, "There's a soccer game going on in the plaza, so there's a lot of ragged breaths. Just in case let's move away from here. Where's your Stand?" "I moved it to a well in the plaza," Squalo said, "But it's sealed off right now, and there's no other water source for several meters." As they moved, they heard Narancia's voice call out, "Found you!" "What!?," Squalo said in shock. "Calm down," Tiziano said, "I can see him from here, but he's still searching through the crowd. Don't forget my Stand is still attached to him, so he can only tell lies."

But then he gasped when he saw something. Narancia's tongue, Talking Head still attached to it, held in Art of the Dress' hand. Narancia instead had a new tongue. Giorno had used one of his brooches to create the tongue for this plan, with Rarity using her crystals to fuse the tongue to Narancia while it attached. Tiziano started freaking out, then realized his breath was also getting ragged. "Looks like we've found you for real now," Narancia said, confronting the duo.

"I'm assuming you're part of the boss's elite guard," Rarity said, "I'd ask your names, but in a moment it won't matter. There's no water for several meters, and this disgusting creature appears to have no combat skills." Art of the Dress held up Taking Head as she spoke. "Aerosmith!," Narancia called out, his little bomber launching an attack at Squalo. Tiziano quickly stepped in the way, getting himself shot up and blood spilling out. Rarity quickly erected a crystal wall to avoid getting blood on them.

Squalo teared up as his lover lay dying. "Tiziano... Why...?" "You need water to defeat them...," Tiziano explained, "It's a little different than how we planned... But if you take these two out... The others will be simple... We still win... In the end..." And with that, Tiziano died, Talking Head disappearing. "A senseless sacrifice," Narancia noted, "You'll be joining him shortly." Squalo teared up in anger. "This is no longer for the boss... You just made it personal!"

He splashed as much blood on the crystal wall as he could, letting Clash grow to a size that could shatter it. But that only distracted him long enough for Aerosmith to attack. Squalo coughed up blood as Narancia shot him over and over. "VOLA VOLA VOLA! Volare via!" As Squalo fell to the ground dying, he said, "This much determination, from mere traitors fated to die at the boss' hands. Though only despair awaits... You act as if you still have hope... Why...?" "This isn't just because we want power," Rarity explained, "It's because we want Italia safe from corruption."

"At this point we should be safe to try leaving Venezia," Buccellati said. "He's not wrong," Fugo admitted, "Our betrayal caught the boss off-guard. I'd be surprised if he had time to rally more than five of his elite members to track us down and kill us. Which means there are areas around Venezia where we can slip through easily." "What's the call?," Mista asked. "We're talking a plane at the airport," Buccellati explained, "Our past experiences show we can't afford to go by land. The enemy can track us by road or by rail."

"And going by sea has proven dangerous too," Abbacchio noted, "We should be able to charter a flight easily and head for Sardegna. There we can work to unearth the boss's past, and possibly find his identity." "And maybe find something to ease Trish's burden," Rarity pointed out, "The sooner we can free her from her past, the sooner we can give her a new future." The group headed out by small boat, heading to the nearest airport.

Like I said, a lot of what makes me facepalm is how many stupid decisions the characters make. With another character giving a new perspective it can be so much easier. For example in canon, if Narancia had said right away what sort of enemy to look for, it would have been easier to avoid it.

And yes, I am not afraid to display same-sex couples in this story.

As the group got to the airport, ignoring the guards trying to wave them off, Narancia did a final check around the area. "So far no enemies. Just a few local critters. I think we were right in believing there are no more attackers in Venezia." One of the guards started to draw his gun on the group, but Buccellati easily dealt with him by having Sticky Fingers zip his hands to his own gun. Fugo also gut-checked the other guard using Purple Haze just to drive the point home that they weren't in the mood for hold-ups.

"Now then," Buccellati said to the first guard, "We're in a bit of a hurry, but this airport is too big and we don't know our way around. We'd like to steal an airplane. Do you happen to know where one is around here?" "Don't worry, we have no intention of taking a passenger plane," Fugo clarified, "A small private jet or at least a cargo plane will be sufficient. We'll be sure to compensate you, of course." The guard was too busy gawking at how his own gun was somehow glued to his hands and keeping him bound to a light post.

"No need to worry, you two," Rarity said, "The other guard proved more cooperative." Mista had taken advantage of the guard being floored by Fugo to chain him to the nearby fence, which loosened his tongue easily. "Hey guys," Narancia said, "I just realized something... Who's going to fly the plane!?" "I will," Rarity explained, "My grandfather taught me a few things growing up near Manhattan. Flying a plane was among them. Though I hope I don't pull a stunt similar to his best friend..."

"We still need a copilot," Abbacchio pointed out, "However, Moody Blues can sense someone who once piloted this plane, so we'll use that." "Just in case let's double-check around the plane," Giorno suggested, "Rarity's grandfather spoke of his best friend's own adventures, including being attacked on a plane at least twice." He checked the plane and found no trace of life energy, which naturally would include Stand energy. As Moody Blues used the memory of the pilot to learn how to fly the plane, Rarity checked on Trish.

"How are you feeling?," Rarity asked. "Apprehensive," Trish admitted, "I still feel like an outsider. I apparently have a latent Stand of my own, so I can see everything you and the others can do with your powers. But right now... I just feel like a load to the group." "I'm sure you'll find out how to awaken your power," Rarity assured her, "Believe it or not, Giorno also had to go through an awakening with his Stand. He's the only member of our group who didn't need that arrow to obtain his power."

Trish looked to the cabin. "It's taking a while, isn't it? Our take-off, I mean." "It's not like in the movies," Rarity reminded her, "There's a bunch of pre-flight checks, we need to program in our destination, and we need to pressurize the cabin. We should be off within the next two hours." Narancia still had Aerosmith out, using its radar to check for suspicious breathing. And suddenly a large blip appeared on the screen.

"Mista!," he called out, "We've got someone incoming! Ahead and to the right!" Mista looked and saw some odd-looking man running right at them. "Is there anyone else around?," Mista asked. "No one in range," Narancia assured him. Mista nodded, and drew his gun on the man. "All right, that's far enough! I'm under strict orders not to let anyone lay a finger on this plane!" The man ignored him and kept running. "Either he's hard of hearing or he doesn't care what you have to say," Rarity noted.

Mista scoffed. "His mistake." He fired a warning shot that hit the man right in the leg, causing him to stumble. "That was to let you know I'm not bluffing! The next shot goes in your head! Turn around and crawl away from here, and I'll let you go! But if you insist on continuing, it'll be the last thing you do!" The man lifted himself onto his legs as best he could, and kept trying to approach the group. "I guess he never skips leg day," Narancia quipped.

A strange figure emerged from the man, likely his Stand. "Mista, watch yourself!," Giorno called out, "I think he may be from Passione!" "Shit," Mista cursed, "Guess there's no alternative." He fired off a few shots. "Sex Pistols!" His Stand started rebounding the bullets, firing right into the man. Instantly he collapsed on the ground as one of the bullets hit his brain. "He's stopped breathing," Narancia said, "I think he's dead." "Let's not rest on our laurels," Rarity said, "We're not safe until we're out of Venezia."

Meanwhile, the boss received word on the deaths of Squalo and Tiziano. "What a waste... Those two were my best team. I have so few members that could stand against Buccellati's team. There's the possibility of Sale and Zucchero, but they already fought them and were defeated. Who else can I send?" He looked through his gang's files. "Carne is the only other agent I have in Venezia. His Stand is a peculiar one. Notorious BIG is a Stand who's true potential only activates when he dies."

He then got out another file and grimaced. "Ugh... Him... Considering him for this job leaves a bad taste in my mouth, but there's no denying he's capable of taking them all out. Though it might be more difficult since even Fugo found the strength to defy me." He leaned back in his chair. "Of course, there's still a loose end to tie up. The fact that the leader of La Squadra never encountered Buccellati's group." He tapped his chin. "If he learns that Buccellati has also defected... The possibility of them teaming up exists, and must be addressed." He grinned. "I think I can leave this up to... Doppio."

And things are set up for the next major fight. Enjoy.

Time for one of the most notorious Stands in all of Jojo. And I am not making a pun based off of its name.

Giorno looked at the corpse of the man that was apparently Carne. "That was too easy," he mused, "It's like he was trying to get himself killed." "He didn't look like a man with a death wish," Mista noted, "So why would he want to get himself killed?" Giorno used his Stand on Carne. "Well, either way he's dead for sure. No trace of his life energy. Of course, you did destroy half his brain with your shots, but you never know with Stand users."

"Better get on the plane you guys!," Rarity called out, "Our pre-flight is complete, we're taking off right now!" "Narancia," Buccellati said, "Just in case I want you to keep Aerosmith outside the plane to scan for possible enemies. We don't know what other powers we might be up against. For example, there could be a Stand that let's a person fly." Rarity spent a bit arguing with the workers in the flight tower before finally saying, "Ingrates... At least I finally convinced them to clear us for takeoff. Narancia?"

"All clear on the runway," Narancia replied, "We're good to go any time." And with that, Rarity and Moody Blues set the plane running, letting it fly away from Venezia. "So far so good," Rarity said, "How's the speed doing for Aerosmith, Narancia?" "I think the only reason it can keep up is because I'm in here," Narancia noted, "But I'm still getting knocked off my feet." "At this point it should be safe to dispel it," Abbacchio said, "We've reached twelve-thousand meters. In a few seconds we'll be at cruising speed."

Trish looked back at Venezia. "Do you think... He knows we're searching for his past?" It was clear she was talking about the boss. "I've no doubt he's figured it out by now," Buccellati admitted, "He likely figures we're not just running around randomly. We can already guess some things based on what we know. It's likely that he wasn't a gangster at the time he met your mother. Also, he must have had some sort of identity, meaning some trace of who he was fifteen years ago should remain. Is there anything your mother said to you that could point us in the right direction?"

"Just one thing comes to mind," Trish replied, "Cala di Volpe. A coast that's as green as emeralds. Mom said she was on vacation at a resort there when she met Dad. He also spoke in the native dialect, meaning he was a native. He disappeared after her vacation. Mom wasn't able to find anything about him, not even his real name. But the Costa Smeralda is as good a starting point as any." Just then, the group heard some odd sounds from a nearby compartment, right in front of Giorno.

He and Mista looked at each other. Giorno went to open the fridge while Mista drew his gun. Giorno breathed a sigh of relief when he saw it was just a fridge, but Mista was still aiming his gun inside. "Something's not right," he said, "What are those bones in the fridge?" Giorno looked closer, and gasped when he realized they were fresh human finger bones, the blood still dripping and some of the flesh still on them. "What the hell!?," Giorno called out, "How could someone have put that there!? We chose this plane ourselves!"

"That's not all," Mista said, "Those are the fingers of that guy I killed before we took off... And somehow they're multiplying..." "What's wrong?," Rarity asked, having heard the commotion. Abbacchio was using Moody Blues to continue to fly the plane. "I don't know how it's possible," Mista said, "But I don't think we're done with that guy from the runway yet." Giorno carefully used Gold Experience to create some roots to check the bones. "They're lifeless," he noted.

"Just in case we should dispose of them somehow," Rarity suggested. "Allow me," Buccellati said, "Sticky Fingers!" A zipper appeared briefly, just long enough to drop the whole refrigerator out of the plane, zipping it back up to avoid decompression of the cabin. "Jeez, you nearly gave me a heart attack!," Narancia complained. "That was reckless," Fugo pointed out, "What if something was inside there and decided to attack us when it looked like it would get ejected?"

He rubbed his chin. "Come to think of it... How did those bones get in there in the first place? We gave this whole plane a once-over prior to that guy showing up, and those bones weren't there." Just then, Giorno noticed the graffiti along the walls of the cabin. His eyes widened when he realized they made references to Sardegna. The writing lead to a fold-out tray, where he found more writing referring to the man that had just been killed, and how his energy was used to fuel a greater hatred.

It also mentioned something called Notorious BIG, and strangest of all, it was somehow was signed by him. To his shock, something like a second hand started coming out of his own, holding a pen. Fortunately, Giorno felt something else cutting into his arm, and recognized Rarity's crystal trying to cut out whatever the thing was. Mista finished the job by shooting off Giorno's arm where the crystals were growing. "Giorno, I'm going to finish growing the construct," Rarity said, "Use it to regrow your arm."

Giorno nodded. "I think I know how those fingers got in the fridge. This Stand belongs to the guy from the runway. I was leaning over him to check to make sure he's dead. This Stand is not like any other Stand we've heard of. It breaks the most fundamental rule of them all... That a Stand cannot live without its user." Mista scoffed. "That's why that man was trying to get me to kill him... So his Stand could activate. Then it could pursue us automatically."

He grunted as blood started to come out of his body, causing the others to gasp. "I got too close... Four of my Sex Pistols got caught by it..." "Mista!," Narancia called out. The Stand, Notorious BIG, suddenly spotted Narancia and started going for him. 'It's not attacking me,' Giorno realized, 'It can't see anything, so it's picking targets based on some unknown factor!' Luckily for Narancia, he didn't need to get too close for Aerosmith to attack. Unfortunately, all of its bullets were caught by Notorious BIG. It then moved to grab Aerosmith.

Thinking quickly, Rarity blocked the Stand using midair crystal wall. "Thanks," Narancia said. Buccellati thought fast. "Trish, get to Coco Jumbo!" Trish ran for the back door and opened, only for Notorious BIG to instantly move to attack her. "MUDA!," Gold Experience called out as it hit the wall of cabin, causing Notorious BIG to move to target it instead. "That's what it's targeting!," Giorno called out, "Movement! It's feeling out the fastest movement and going for it! Art of the Dress' crystal growth was near instantaneous, so the Stand couldn't detect it against Aerosmith, catching it off-guard!"

Rarity then used her Stand to fire off a few crystals into the nearby wall, distracting the Stand from attacking Giorno. One of the windows was shattered, causing Notorious BIG to chase that crystal out of the plane. Rarity then sealed the window with more crystals. Narancia flopped to the ground. "That... Was exhausting..." "Mista is still hurt badly," Giorno said, "I'll take him inside Coco Jumbo to treat him." "I think I'll head inside too," Narancia said, "I could use some sleep from all that."

"I'll check with Abbacchio to make sure the plane is still flying correctly," Buccellati said. That just left Trish, Rarity, and Fugo in the cabin. "You know by rights," Fugo said, "You should also be flying." "For all we know there could be another attack," Rarity pointed out, "And with everyone else occupied the two of us are the strongest Stand users here. You were testing it, right? You found out something new you can do with Purple Haze." Trish looked curious.

Fugo breathed a sigh that felt like a weight was falling off his shoulders. "I can control the virus now. After Rarity made me realize how I should be controlling my Stand, I discovered I can now dictate who gets infected. It will no longer be a danger to me or any of my friends." Trish closed her eyes, tears falling from them. "What's wrong?," Rarity asked. "I'm really just doing this for my own sake," Trish admitted, "So I can have my own future... But you're all fighting for something you believe in... And I can't understand why..."

Just then she saw something, reflected in Narancia's switchblade, which somehow got stuck in one of the seats. On the wing of the plane was what looked like a soccer ball, bounding along the wing with ease in spite of the winds. As she tried to process this, Notorious BIG suddenly slipped into the cabin door. The trio ducked back, Trish knocking the knife out of the seat, causing Notorious BIG to go for it to attack. "Everyone stay still," Fugo said, "Damn it... Giorno said it would go for whatever's fastest. Once it got outside it processed the plane as a whole and clung to it."

Trish was trying to slow her breathing. 'We're all safe... But once one of the others gets in here... It'll go to attack them. Buccellati is still checking with Abbacchio... Narancia is currently sleeping... Giorno is looking after Mista... If any of them get attacked because of me...' Without thinking, she pushed the reclining button on one of the seats, then ducked out of the way as Notorious BIG went to attack it.

"What are you doing?," Fugo asked softly. "If we can get this thing to you," Trish said, "Maybe your virus can destroy it. Maybe not from the outside, but inside..." Fugo nodded. "I guess it's as good a plan as any. And if it doesn't work, worst case scenario Rarity keeps me from dying and Giorno can patch me up." Unfortunately, the plan went FUBAR as some water from a nearby bottle started dripping onto Trish's boot, causing Notorious BIG to go for it.

Trish started screaming as the Stand started to attack it. But as Fugo and Rarity went to grab her and pull her away, they found they actually succeeded. Trish's boot somehow came loose without any problem, her leg completely undamaged in spite of the fact that Notorious BIG seemed to be crushing it earlier. Trish grabbed a nearby seat to get up, and found her hand sinking into it. "What is...?" "Just relax," came a new voice, which Trish could swear almost sounded like herself, "There's no need to rush. We just need to get it near Fugo so he can kill it."

"Who is that?," Trish asked. "Uh, right behind you," Rarity said, pointing. Trish turned around to see a pink humanoid, curled up in one of the seats. "There's no need to fear," the being said, "I have always been here with you, since you were a little girl. And now, your desire to see the others safe has allowed me to awaken." "Is that...?," Fugo asked. "Trish's Stand," Rarity realized, "It finally woke up!" At the sound of Rarity's screaming, Notorious BIG went for it, but Trish instinctively pushed her near one of the seats, touching it at the same time.

Instantly the seat seemed as rubber, absorbing Notorious BIG's attack. Trish hit the seat again, solidifying it and knocking the Stand away. "So this is my power," Trish said, awestruck, "That Stand will take damage if it rams into a stationary object. So I can make things softer, and then return them to normal." She smiled. "I finally found my strength... And now I'll make use of it. Thanks to my new Stand... Spice Girl."

Trish had Spice Girl grab a nearby pipe and jam it into Notorious BIG, thrashing it around until it seemed to dissolve. "Think that did it?," Fugo asked. Just then, Buccellati entered. "We have a problem. We're losing altitude fast." Rarity gasped. "It must have drained the jet engine before attacking us just now." "Almost," Buccellati said, subtly pointing behind the trio. The group turned around, and saw Notorious BIG had grown to ridiculous size.

"Some of it must have fallen into the engines when I was attacking it," Trish realized. "I can try dissolving it with Purple Haze at this point," Fugo suggested, "But it's so big it might take a while. And if anything moves while that's happening..." "The others are still inside Coco Jumbo," Rarity realized. Trish didn't hesitate, and quickly dashed for the cockpit. Realizing what Trish what thinking, Rarity grabbed Fugo and pulled him along as well.

"Trish what are you doing!?," Buccellati demanded. "This!," Trish said as she slammed the door shut, "Spice Girl!" Spice Girl appeared and smacked the door, causing Notorious BIG to slam into it and make it bulge. "Is that what I think it is?," Abbacchio asked. "Trish just awakened to her Stand," Rarity said, "It can alter the hardness of any object." "Well that keeps it out of the cockpit," Abbacchio said, "We'll need to make an emergency landing." "No, that won't work," Trish said, "We need to do the opposite." She had Spice Girl start pummeling the entire plane, causing it to act like play dough.

"WAAAAAANNABEEEEEEEEEEE!" "Fugo!, Trish called out, "We're about to tear off from the plane! Now's your chance to try melting that bastard!" Fugo smirked. "Full power it is then! Do we still have the turtle!?" "I took it with me once the others entered it!," Buccellati clarified. "Then hang onto something!," Trish called out. Immediately after the cockpit tore loose from the plane.

As it did, all six of Purple Haze's virus capsules were launching into Notorious BIG, landing deep inside its gullet. The plane exploded and landed in the Tyrrhenian. "Well," Abbacchio said as Rarity started growing a makeshift glider from the cockpit, "Even if Purple Haze can't dissolve it, it makes no difference now. The only thing it has to chase are fish. Even better, now the boss's men can't tell if we're alive or dead. We just bought ourselves some breathing room."

"Looks like my virus can work on it though," Fugo said, spotting a chunk of the otherwise invincible Stand dropping off of Abbacchio and burning up, "The virus is draining it of all its energy." "Hey, is something going on out there?," came Narancia's voice from inside Coco Jumbo, "We heard an explosion." "Everything's fine, for the most part," Buccellati said, "But we're altering our travel plans slightly. We had to trade in our plane for a glider mid-flight."

"I don't even wanna know...," came Mista's weary voice. Trish smirked. "Well... Now we can finish reaching Sardegna. It's time to find out who my father is... And stop him once and for all. For all our sakes." Rarity smiled. "Now you're one of the group." Buccellati smiled. "It seems our gang has officially grown from seven to eight." "Then what are we waiting for?," Abbacchio said, "Next stop... Sardegna."

Meanwhile, the boss was watching the news as he always did. His eyes narrowed when he saw a report about a group of unidentified individuals who hijacked a private jet from the Marco Polo airport. The plane was later found crashed into the Tyrrhenian Sea fifty kilometers off the eastern coast. There was no sign of the passengers, but the cockpit was missing from the wreckage. "Could they be alive? Until I see a body I can't be sure. But we have nothing to trace them easily. Still, I know where they're going, but Sardegna is a big place." He sighed. "I'll have to leave this to him."

He turned to his desk. All over one wall was information regarding Buccellati's gang. And on his computer was a picture of Trish and her mother Donatella. He sighed. "Even when you try to erase the past, there's always some trace that comes back to haunt you. I'll never regret the time I spent with Donatella, but I should have been smarter about our affair. Blood relations can be so dangerous to have... When one is looking for true peace. But once I remove that connection, the final bit of my past can finally be erased."

It was shortly after Pericolo had captured Trish. La Squadra had ransacked the apartment Trish and Donatella had been living in. In the process of trying to find clues, they overlooked a simple photo, taken by Donatella back in 1986. But the boss had managed to spot it when scanning the room with his computer. As the boss gritted his teeth, King Crimson smashed the computer apart. "Somehow I can tell they're still alive! I could sense it... My daughter's Stand power awakening!"

He picked up Abbacchio's photo. "Moody Blues has the power that group needs to find me. I cannot allow them to reach the location in this photo. Trish may not realize it yet, but she will remember that this photo exists! And when she arrives in Sardegna... She will realize what happened fifteen years ago..." He looked at the picture of Donatella again. "I was the one who took this picture... And if Moody Blues can reach the place where it was taken... Even fifteen years is not far enough away to escape Abbacchio."

He clenched his fist. "No... My men could never defeat them. If even Carne's Stand could not finish the job... Defeating them will not be easy for me. Rarity's already proven my equal, and Fugo's power is deadly. But Abbacchio is the only one I need to kill for now. Then I'll worry about how I can deal with the others." He then heard a cleaning lady enter. "Oh sorry...," she said, "I didn't realize you were still in here." She turned away for a second, but when she looked back the room was empty, including the items the boss was working with. She was confused, but got to work cleaning the place.

Hope you like this. I tried to build up as much tension with the boss's scene as I could. While also trying to do Trish's shining moment in the series justice.

My likes and dislikes have been flip-flopping, but still positive. Please keep sending me support.

"Home again...," the boss said as he arrived at Sardegna, "When I first founded Passione, I never thought I'd have reason to return. It's rather bittersweet. But I've no time to reminisce." He looked at the spot where he had taken the picture. "Staying here and waiting could only get me spotted. But at the same time I can't go wandering the streets. Someone might recognize me." He got out a cell phone. "Doppio. I need your assistance in this matter."

Vinegar Doppio sighed as he dusted himself off. Just a few moments ago he had tried to save a kid who was walking into the street chasing a cricket while a truck was coming in. All he got for his troubles was some yelling and a busted bag. "This just isn't my day." "You seem to be having a string of bad luck," said a male voice nearby. Doppio turned to see a fortune teller. The man had the usual tricks, including a tarot deck and crystal ball. Doppio looked at the tarot cards he held. "I don't think I've seen that design before."

"It's inspired from an old mentor of mine," the man explained, "I am DeKurliss. I make a living telling other people's destinies. Would you like to have your fortune told?" "No thanks," Doppio said, "I can't even read horoscopes without getting nervous." DeKurliss smiled. "You were born here in Sardegna, correct? And it has been some time since you lived here." "Anyone can tell that from the clothes I'm wearing," Doppio argued. "Perhaps the tourist part," DeKurliss argued, "But how could I know where you were born without evidence?"

Doppio blinked. "Just who are you?" "I used to serve a powerful man," DeKurliss explained, "But fate decided it did not want him ruling everything. Now I seek his successor. Tell me, does the name Enya Geil ring a bell?" Doppio tapped his chin. "Yeah, vaguely. I think the boss sold her some ancient arrows a long time ago. He told me about it once." "I sense a duality in you," DeKurliss said, "Light and dark. The light knows not the dark, but with that secret you have claimed many victories."

He looked at Doppio. "And I think, perhaps, you know the name... Giorno Giovanna." Doppio gasped. "Okay, now you have my attention... How do you know that name?" "He is my late master's son," DeKurliss explained, "Your boss, if you choose to call him that, knows not that fate is against him. While Giorno will never walk his father's path, he is still fated for greatness." He observed a mud splatter on Doppio's pants. "And I think I know the reason for this duality. That splotch indicates you are seeking your daughter, who you have not seen in fifteen years."

"But I'm only seventeen," Doppio pointed out. "From your perspective," DeKurliss suggested, "But I wonder if you are using the right perspective." He held up a simple mirror. "Beautiful Stranger!" Before Doppio's eyes, the mirror turned ornate, and in the mirror was an image of Trish. "Hey, that's the boss's daughter! But weren't you talking about my daughter?" "You saw the image?," DeKurliss asked, "How strange... You must be a Stand user. Only Stand users can see the image." He chuckled. "That Loser, Nukesaku, never could."

Doppio chuckled. "Sorry, I don't actually have a Stand. But the boss loans me his from time to time." "Stands don't work like that," DeKurliss assured him, "They are connected to the soul. Your boss's power, it's short range and has the ability to erase a few seconds of time, correct?" Doppio blinked. "You know that too?" "That is not the sort of power that can be loaned out by the user's will," DeKurliss said, "The only way a Stand can pass to a non-Stand user is if it has something to do with its power. Are you suggesting that your boss can take a piece of his own soul and implant it in you?"

He grinned. "Or perhaps... He's done so already, for far longer than you realize. Tell me... What year is it?" "Uh...," Doppio said, "Well... It's 1984... I think." DeKurliss grinned as he held up a newspaper, the date reading 2001. "What the heck?," Doppio asked, "I know I was born in 1967, and I know I'm seventeen. Did I get my birth year wrong?" "Or perhaps," DeKurliss suggested, "You got your age wrong... Diavolo..." Doppio's eyes rolled into the back of his head as his body seemed to progress in age at an accelerated rate.

"You're lucky we're alone here," the man DeKurliss referred to as Diavolo said, "But it was foolish of you to peddle yourself on the side of the road." "Now now," DeKurliss said, "Don't think I'm not in contact with Enya or our other allies. If I go missing, they'll see it as an insult. And lest you forget... Enya also knows about you. And we have one more powerful Stand user that can deal with you. Tell me, Diavolo... Can you erase your identity without your Stand to help you?" The implication was not lost on Diavolo, and he backed down.

"Fine, you've made your point," Diavolo said, "But before I go, I must ask you a favor. There's a loose end I need to tie up before dealing with my daughter." He held up a photo of a pale-skinned man with red and black eyes. "This man's name is Risotto. He's the last surviving member of a group of assassins that once worked for me. I'm certain he's still looking for her, so I need to deal with him." DeKurliss took the photo and observed it, then looked into Beautiful Stranger.

"It seems he is coming to Sardegna. He seeks revenge for the rest of his allies. And it seems... He blames you more than he blames the gang you set against him." Diavolo thought about this. "Well... That makes things easier." "He knows now," DeKurliss warned. Diavolo looked confused. "Your other half," DeKurliss clarified, "I have planted the seed. The death of others gives you strength, but for each person you fail to kill, suffering is returned to you." The next second, Diavolo was gone and DeKurliss' crystal ball was shattered. "How rude..."

Yep, DeKurliss makes a return. But I'm not offing him just yet. As for why he's here, he can more easily rattle Doppio's worldview than the random fortune teller he meets in canon.

And it's necessary for future events that Doppio's worldview gets challenged...

Doppio wasn't sure why he was having such crazy thoughts. 'There's no way that fortune teller could be right about me... Could he...? I mean... Maybe he was just trying to swindle me for money...' Riding in a local taxi, he decided to check his phone only to find it broken. "Must have gotten broken when my bag got run over." In fact, Diavolo had broken the phone in anger when DeKurliss spoke about planting the seed of doubt in Doppio. He got distracted when he saw the building in the picture.

"This is it," Doppio said to the driver, handing him the money, "I'll stop here." He got out to the building and looked at the photo. "This is where the boss said they'd be coming. I should stay here and wait." He looked at the scenery. "The Emerald Coast. It was thirty years ago that a wealthy Indian visitor moved here, entranced by the beauty of the coastline, which he described as a land outside the passage of time. Sounds appropriate, since the place has hardly changed in almost three-thousand years."

Indeed, the land had once been conquered by the Phoenicians, then the Geeks, the Saracens, and the Spaniards. Though none bothered to develop the land, merely extract tributes from it. But the native people, dwelling in homes seemingly carved from the island itself, still hold a spirit of quiet rebellion. "Hey sir," the driver said, "I think there's a problem here." He pointed to the meter, and Doppio raised an eyebrow. Somehow the meter was showing one more zero than what he had seen earlier.

"What is all this?," Doppio asked, "I know for a fact that the journey from here to the village doesn't warrant that amount." "You trying to say I'm ripping you off without any proof?," the driver demanded. Doppio narrowed his eyes. "Buddy, I am not the sort of person you want to mess with." The driver sneered at him and grabbed him by the collar. "Like I'm afraid of some two-bit tourist." He then wheezed as Doppio planted his fist in the driver's gut.

He then held him up by the skull. "I'm not some two-bit tourist," he rebutted, "I'm the number two of Italy's largest gang. And right now you're in the way of my job." He slammed the man into the hood of his own taxi. "So... What was that about the cash I owe you?" "It's fine...," the man said meekly, "There must be some mechanical failure with the meter or something... I'll have it looked at later." "Glad we understand each other," Doppio said.

He sighed as the taxi drove off. 'I'm normally too cowardly to pull something like that off... What got into me?' Just then, out of nowhere, he started making a sound like a phone. Not realizing he was making it, he looked at his phone in confusion. "Uh...," he said as he held up the phone to his ear, "Hello...? Oh, boss. I guess the phone wasn't as broken as I thought. Yeah, I just got here. I'm up on the hill where I can get a good view." 'For now, we shouldn't concern ourselves with Buccellati's group,' came the boss's familiar voice, 'There should be someone else there.'

Carefully, Doppio looked around and spotted a familiar face on a nearby cliff. "Shit... Looks I'm the one being watched right now. That's Risotto." 'He must have discovered the photo when he trashed the apartment. If we don't eliminate him now, it will be a great hindrance to us when the others arrive. Lure him in close, within two meters. Then my King Crimson can kill him.' "Got it," Doppio said. Meanwhile, Risotto Nero, former leader of the now defunct La Squadra, was observing Doppio.

Risotto's life in the underworld was set when his cousin once removed was struck and killed by a drunk driver. Risotto was fourteen at the time. Although the justice system did its job and had the man sentenced to several years in prison for manslaughter and hit and run, Risotto did not feel it was enough. And so, it was four years later that Risotto tracked the man down and assassinated him. A few years later, Risotto passed the test and entered Passione as a Stand user.

He and his group were tasked with taking down politicians, American gangsters, and anyone else that proved troublesome to Passione's work or existence. However, they were only called to task when needed, and no one else in the gang trusted them. That was why they formed such a tight-knit group. They came to grow dissatisfied with their lot, never rising above what they had as they expected. However, the boss must have anticipated this, because when two of their members tried sniffing for clues to his identity, they were executed.

From that point on, La Squadra was kept on a tight leash. But then they learned that the boss had a daughter. It seemed simple at first, but they didn't anticipate that the boss would pit them against such powerful Stand users. Buccellati, Narancia, Fugo, Abbacchio, Mista, and the two new members Giorno and Rarita. One by one they took down all of Risotto's team, the only people he could consider friends. He observed Doppio as he scrambled to gather his belongings, and heard the odd conversation he had with himself.

He scoffed. "I... Will not approach you." Doppio looked around at the sound of Risotto's voice, quickly dodging as a switchblade barely missed him. Doppio looked confused, especially when sever pain shot through his mouth and blood started seeping out of his head. He then saw the familiar figure approach. "R... Risotto... Bad timing for you to be here..." They both heard the sudden sound of an engine, and not that of a car.

They both turned to see Aerosmith in the distance, which meant Buccellati's team had just arrived on the island. "Shit...," Doppio muttered, "The last thing we need is for this to be a three-way brawl." "Then I'll start by taking you out quickly," Risotto declared. Doppio got a surprise as he started vomiting up razor blades. "What the hell...?" "I don't who you are," Risotto admitted, "But if the boss sent you here, you're obviously someone he trusts implicitly. Which means... I may be able to find what I'm after from you."

Next is a major battle. Rarity's not the only one who's a match for Diavolo.

Let's get this fight started, and correct a serious mistake on a certain character's part.

Doppio knelt over coughing up blood. 'It feels like there's more razor blades in my stomach... This has to be Risotto's Stand power, but how did he do it?' Risotto looked out at where Aerosmith was flying. "If Buccellati and his gang are here, that means they have Trish with them. I'll kill them all in due time. They did kill my closest allies, after all. But it was the boss who orchestrated that in the first place, so he has my top priority right now." Doppio did his best to try and stand up. 'I need to get within two meters... And if he won't come to me... I'll just go to him!'

He picked up some of the razor blades and ran at Risotto. "I'm gonna shove these razors right up your ass!" "I see," Risotto said, nonplussed, "So your power is close range. Perhaps within two or three meters. That's all I really need to know to beat you." Doppio stopped as he felt tremendous pain throughout his face. Dozens of sewing needles were suddenly bursting from his skin. As he tried to dig them out, he made a swipe at Risotto, only for him to dodge and seemingly disappear.

"Damn it... How can I get him to where the boss can kill him if I can't even get close enough?" He looked at one of the needles. "And where did these even come from? He's somehow causing them to appear inside my body." He tried to take a few deep breaths. 'Okay... Calm down Doppio. This is obviously part of his talent as an assassin. He's gotta still be close by, so it's not a good idea to stay in one place for too long.' He then started making ringing sounds again, and wound up grabbing a nearby frog.

"What is it?," he asked. 'You can't run away from him. You need to get close, within two meters.' "Easier said than done," Doppio argued, "I don't know what his power is, but he's already made razors and pins somehow appear in my body." 'I've loaned you a part of King Crimson's powers,' the boss replied, 'Put them to use.' Doppio then remembered DeKurliss' words. 'He said Stand power can't be passed to non-Stand users. Still, I do feel that power... So, what, do I somehow have a Stand that lets me use other Stands with permission? Ah, I'll figure that out later. If I don't stop Risotto, I'll be too dead to care about the answer to that question.'

The power the boss spoke of was Epitaph, the part of King Crimson that let it see a few seconds into the future. Without this power, King Crimson's ability to erase time would be practically useless. Focusing on the vision Epitaph was sending him, he saw a few birds flying around his future self as Risotto seemed to just appear from a nearby stone, his body somehow reflecting light. He looked to where the rocks were, but saw nothing. 'I can't see him normally, but I can predict his whereabouts with Epitaph... Part of his power must disguise him from the human eye.'

He then gasped when he saw himself with a pair of scissors in his throat. 'He's approaching me... His Stand must also be short range. But if he needs to come close...' His arms seemed to become those of King Crimson, and he used them to attack. However, he hit nothing but air. "You missed," came Risotto's voice, "But by mere centimeters. As if you could tell where I was going to be." Instantly Risotto felt the scissors forming in his throat. Before they could open as they did in the vision, Doppio used King Crimson's arms to tear open the skin just enough to pull the scissors out.

Risotto was surprised. "You act as if you knew that would happen. Your arms moved as if you knew where to strike. I'm not sure how, but rest assured my next move will kill you." Doppio spit out some blood. "Just try it, asshole." He wasn't sure where this newfound confidence was coming from, but it almost felt empowering. He dropped the scissors and made to attack Risotto, but the assassin had disappeared once again. 'Damn it... I need to figure out his power and any possible weaknesses. Then the boss can finish him off.'

He saw another vision from Epitaph. His own foot flying off his leg, another pair of scissors appearing. 'I need to get him to reveal his position... If I lose the use of my legs I'm as good as dead. His range shouldn't be very strong so if I get some distance...' 'Doppio, what are you doing? You need to get out of there!' "No good," Doppio said, "My stamina is drained. But it's fine. I think I've figured it out." He dropped the frog and threw the nearby scissors, which cut into something in midair. The frog somehow wound up having razor blades inside it.

"Iron," Doppio noted, "That's what's going on. I've spent too much time trying to figure out where the razors, pins, and scissors came from. But it's clear... You're making them, using the iron mineral found within all living things. Using the frog I was able to tell which direction you were coming from." Risotto grunted as the scissors wound up cutting off his foot, instead of Doppio's. Doppio started making ringing sounds again, and felt around, this time grabbing the broken phone he still had.

'Good work Doppio. I couldn't have done it better myself. But I want to make sure he's eliminated. Get within two meters, and I'll finish him off personally.' "Got it," Doppio said. However, as he approached, Risotto's severed foot suddenly sprang into the air. Within the stump, Doppio could see tiny silver beings with blank faces and small arms. He then remembered something else DeKurliss said, something about only Stand users being able to see things like this.

"You must have some kind of precognitive ability," Risotto noted, "Otherwise you wouldn't have been able to counter my attack, or know how my power works. I had thought I could find what I was seeking with you... And it seems I was correct, but not in the way I was imagining." Doppio was stunned. "Risotto's Stand... Is inside his body!" Risotto's foot reattached to his leg, pinning the flesh together with staples. "It's not the same as Giorno's power, at least from what the reports say," Risotto admitted, "But I can make do regardless."

"So it's not just a manipulation of iron," Doppio realized, "Your power is magnetic manipulation! That's how you could control the scissors without touching them, how you reattached your leg, and how you caused all those iron pieces to appear in my body! You also use that power to stick iron particles all over your body to blend into the scenery like a chameleon!" "Right on all counts," Risotto admitted, "But just because you know the power behind my Stand, Metallica... Doesn't mean it will help you!"

He disappeared once again. "Iron is the most common metal found on Earth. It's in the air, the water, and is commonly mined from the ground. Trace amounts can even be found within the dirt you walk on every single day." Doppio got another vision showing numerous scalpels appearing from within the ground to attack him. He readied himself as he saw the blades materialize from the earth, and began using King Crimson's arms to bat them away. However, he couldn't get them all, and a few managed to nail him in some non-vital areas.

Nonetheless, he still wound up keeling over from pain. "And as you noted earlier," came Risotto's voice, "Iron is found in plentiful amounts within the human bloodstream, to the point were it's a common nutrient needed for survival, found in foods like spinach and liver. It's part of why our blood is red, the iron is used to catch the oxygen we breath in, and the iron's coloring lends itself to the color of the blood. Now what would happen if all that iron exited your body... Say in the form of a few dozen razor blades and needles?"

Doppio's eyes widened. Risotto smiled. "I see the realization is dawning on you. My earlier attacks weren't just to wear down your stamina, but legitimate attempts to kill you. Without that iron, your blood will turn a sickly yellow color, and your brain and fingertips will lose the precious oxygen needed to function. Not even breathing heavily will help you, since without that iron you will have nothing to absorb the oxygen into your blood. Your body will become a corpse before you've even died!"

He looked over to where Aerosmith was still flying around nearby. "Hmm... It seems Trish is not with them. Perhaps they hid her inside the turtle. Aerosmith's powers are of particular danger to me, since it's CO2 radar can detect me even when camouflaged." Doppio looked over, and saw Narancia with Buccellati, Fugo, and Abbacchio. He put the phone up to his ear. "Boss, I can see some of Buccellati's gang. He's there with Narancia, Fugo, and Abbacchio."

'Abbacchio's there?,' came the boss's voice, the concern evident, 'They've discovered the building faster than I thought. We're out of time. You need to kill Risotto with your next attack, as he's making his move. Check the forecast with Epitaph, what do you see?' Doppio looked, and saw Risotto do something that would take off most of Doppio's head. "Shit... He's made his decision. Looks like he'll try and end it with this last attack." 'Then I think it's time I arrive. With King Crimson's full power, I can erase his attack from time.'

"Can you even get here in time?," Doppio asked. 'There's no other choice.' "No, I found him once before," Doppio argued, "If he's trying to strip the iron from my body..." He picked up a scalpel and spun it on his fingertip. He waited until he felt a razor start to form in his skull. "There it is. His power works like a magnet, so there must be a pulling force. Find where the pull is, and..." He saw the scalpel point in a certain direction, and got a few more scalpels, throwing them in that direction. However, they hit nothing and kept going.

"I thought you might try that," came Risotto's voice from behind him, "Once you discerned how my power works it was an obvious solution. But too bad for you, what you were detecting was the magnetic pull from my severed foot. I left it on the ground. It was my mistake that allowed it to be severed, so all I can do is learn from that mistake and adapt." Doppio screamed as the razor started to cut into his skull. "And now I'm starting to see you age quickly," Risotto noted, "It seems I'm about to see your true form. It will be a pleasure to see your true face as you die!"

Just then, Aerosmith flew nearby and started shooting, nailing Risotto through the abdomen and stopping his attack. Doppio started to get up, but he looked much different. "I told Doppio that there was nothing more that could be done," came Diavolo's voice, "I didn't want to expose myself to them, but felt there was no alternative. Aerosmith's radar would easily pick us out, and of course Narancia would open fire on a suspicious blip. Though to his credit, Doppio's attack did make it happen much faster than I anticipated."

Down near the building, Buccellati had intercepted the scalpels Doppio had thrown right before they reached Abbacchio's neck. "Looks like you were right," Fugo said, "There's an enemy at the top of that cliff." "The one who threw the scalpels isn't moving," Narancia said, "And I'm only detecting one enemy there." Back up top, Diavolo grinned. "Without the ability to absorb oxygen, I can't expel carbon dioxide. Which means my breath comes off as faint as a frog or insect, while your breath is still strong!"

Some of Risotto's flesh, still coated in the iron particles, wound up on Diavolo's head, causing it to appear like part of it was missing. "So this is what Doppio was seeing," Diavolo realized, "Not you killing Doppio, but you getting killed by Aerosmith." Risotto was cut down by the gunfire. "You... Even though I won... You still found a way... To kill me... Boss..." Diavolo grimaced. "So... In death you found what you sought. Well, I can let it slide, since you're not long for this world."

Rarity had shown up from inside the building and been told what was happening by Buccellati. "Are we sure there's only person up there?," Rarity asked, "Without seeing for ourselves it could be risky to continue." "I agree," Fugo said, "There could be a number of factors we don't know. Is there anyway to tell for sure without going up there and possibly getting ambushed?" "There may be one," Rarity suggested, "Fugo, try launching your virus capsule over to where Aerosmith found that target. See if it flushes anything out."

"I'll need to move to the bottom of the cliff in that case," Fugo pointed out. "I'll join you then," Buccellati offered, "Narancia, Rarity, stay here and cover Abbacchio. Abbacchio, hurry and find that memory we're looking for." "It'll take at least eight minutes," Abbacchio pointed out, "The memory's point of origin is fifteen years ago. Certainly within Moody Blues' range, but still time consuming." "Just in case we should also alert Giorno and Mista," Fugo suggested, "Depending on who showed up, if there is someone with him, as we've seen in the past, we may need more hands to help out."

Back on the cliff, Diavolo checked on the dying Risotto. "I didn't want to have to expose myself," he said, "But you pushed me to that point. As a reward, I'll let you die with dignity. I'm sure your men in the afterlife will be proud of your accomplishments. I'm certain Buccellati's group will be here soon to investigate, but before that happens... I need you to return the iron you stole from my body. If you do that, I'll grant you a quick death. It would be humiliating for your friends to see your life simply flicker away, don't you think?"

Risotto actually chuckled. "I think they'll forgive me... When they find that I took you down with me!" Just them, Aerosmith also showed up, only now it was being controlled by Metallica. Seeing what was happening, Diavolo called out, "King Crimson!" The bullets seemed to pass harmlessly through Diavolo and right into Risotto. "I only had to erase half a second for this," Diavolo noted, "But it looks like I gave you that quick death pro bono. I am still weak from the lack of iron, and you have your dignity intact." He then gasped when he heard a familiar hissing noise.

"As if I need something else to go wrong," he said, "That sounds like the virus from Fugo's Purple Haze. In my weakened state, the virus may kill me faster than normal. The sun is out, so if I can maintain a proper distance I should be able to avoid it. But I also need to replenish the iron in my blood." He quickly hobbled away as fast as he could, as Fugo and Buccellati came running up. "Something looked like it was controlling Aerosmith without Narancia's consent," Fugo noted.

"Perhaps that man over there," Buccellati suggested, pointing to Risotto's corpse. Fugo went to inspect the body. "Narancia blew him to swiss cheese," he noted, "No way to identify the body. But I'd say it's a safe bet that this is the leader of the assassination team." "Yes, I agree," Buccellati said, "But it wasn't just Narancia that caused his death. Someone else must have been here. Yet Aerosmith only saw one breath."

"What makes you think someone else was fighting him?," Fugo asked. "This," Buccellati said as he held up Risotto's severed foot, "This wasn't caused by gunfire. No, clearly this man was fighting someone else. And that someone probably works for the boss." Fugo then snapped his fingers. "I'll bet this guy's Stand has something to do with manipulating iron. Without iron in the blood, you can't absorb oxygen. And if you're not absorbing oxygen..." "Then you're not expelling carbon dioxide," Buccellati finished, "Narancia was tricked into interfering with this fight."

"It's a good thing we left someone to safeguard Abbacchio," Fugo said, "If the boss caught wind of our plans..." "We do have one advantage," Buccellati said, "The other person in the fight may still be alive, but heavily wounded. They won't be able to approach so casually." Diavolo, meanwhile, was forced to grab a nearby frog and tear into it for iron before running away. 'It won't be long before he starts spreading that virus to the rocks. I can't stay here.'

"So, June of fifteen years ago," Mista noted. "Yes," Abbacchio replied, "That's when Trish remembers the photo being taken. This is probably the furthest back I've ever had Moody Blues rewind." "Keep an eye on the radar Narancia," Giorno said, "I just got the word from Buccellati. Looks like there was another person on the cliff, and they were fighting with the one you attacked. They may try to approach after recovering. Fugo thinks they may have lost a lot of iron, so their breath will be like a small animal's." Narancia nodded.

Just then, a sudden blip appeared. "We have something! It's small, but it's approaching fast!" Rarity instantly blanketed the nearby area in crystal, the pricking sensation scaring away a few kids playing soccer nearby, which was the intention. "How many kids do you see?," she asked. "Just seven, I think," Mista replied. "But I'm picking up eight signals," Narancia said, "And one just made a sudden jump away from us as soon as the crystals started appearing." The group's syes widened, realizing it had to be the boss coming to deal with the situation personally.

Nearby, the boss started picking crystals out of his arm. "My earlier encounter with Rarita must have left a big impression. I'm unable to get close without panicking. And I'm too low on iron to try making a sustained attack. Damn... It won't be long before they get my face." He sighed. "Well, I'll be killing them one way or another for betraying Passione. Maybe it's for the best I failed to stop them from seeing my face. I always thought I'd be blessed in my homeland... But it seems the charms of Sardegna have started to fade with how long I've been gone."

Abbacchio somehow found himself back in Napoli, enjoying some pasta for lunch. He couldn't remember how he got from Sardegna to Napoli, but what he did know was that there was a police officer that was picking up broken glass from a bottle near the table. "What are you doing?," he asked. "Ah, sorry to interrupt your meal," the officer said, "But there was a mugging across the street last night. The victim got hit with a bottle, which broke on impact. Not all the pieces are on the sidewalk, and the part he was holding is gone."

"So why are you over on this side?," Abbacchio asked. "Well, I thought the perp might come here to throw something away in this recycling bin. I though I could get some fingerprints. It's a lot of work, but this is my job." Abbacchio shrugged. "Well, what if you don't find anything? And even if you do, what if the perp gets a good enough lawyer to dodge a guilty verdict?" "Well, it's not just the result I desire," the officer replied, "If that's all you're going for, then you start taking shortcuts... And when that happens, you start to lose sight of the truth. Which in turn... Could cost you your motivation."

He smiled at Abbacchio. "I believe that seeking out the truth is what's most important. As long as you do that, then it doesn't matter if the perp gets away once. You may still have a chance next time." Abbacchio smiled. "I envy you... There was once a time when I wanted to be a policeman. It was a dream of mine since I was a kid... To be a righteous policeman. Back then I had a will like yours. But... I guess in the end I always wind up screwing things up halfway."

"I dunno Abbacchio," the officer said, catching Abbacchio off-guard, "I'd say you've done pretty well since we last met. And you still have that same will, you've just directed it differently. Only... Next time, take it easy, okay? You spent all your energy pushing that new power of yours to its limit." Abbacchio blinked, then realized he recognized the officer. "It's you... My old partner from the police force..." He then saw a bus pull up. "Better go take it," the officer said, "Not many people get the chance to take the bus back from this stop. But it's not your time yet. And you still have friends to help, yeah?"

Abbacchio nodded, tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry about what happened... Had I known the man I took that bribe from would do something like this... I..." "It's fine Abbacchio," the officer assured him, "You made one mistake, that's all. It happens to the best of us. And for what it's worth, I think the gang you joined needs people like you. To help set it straight, and get back to its roots." Abbacchio smiled, then headed for the bus as its doors opened.

Seconds later, Abbacchio opened his eyes. "Hey, he lives!," Mista said excitedly, "Jeez man, you nearly gave us all heart attacks!" Abbacchio started to get up, helped out a little by Giorno. "Careful there. You used so much energy replaying the memory you passed out." "I've never rewound so far back before...," Abbacchio said weakly, "I'm more used to going back hours at most. But... It was worth it..." "Yes," Trish said, "The man Moody Blues became... I could sense it... That man is my father."

Abbacchio smiled. His heart hadn't felt this light in years. Not since the day before he got his partner killed by accident. "Now that we have his face," Rarity said, "We need to think of the next step." She then saw a group of tourists coming around with signs of some sort, walking around waving them. She read the signs from a distance. "What's with this 'end times' stuff they're talking about?" "Oh yeah," Mista said, "I remember reading about it, some incident in Antarctica."

"Oh, you mean the Second Impact incident," Rarity realized, "But that wasn't supposed to be very world ending. Just something impacting in the center of the ice cap, then an expedition team going to check it out. It happened last year. Yes, there was a massive explosion, but somehow all it did was wreck the mountain it landed in and create a puddle of water in the crater it made, no major damage. Rather odd how it wasn't worse, though."

"Probably some Stand user or other involved," Mista suggested, "Though most of the expedition team died from the radiation from the blast, save for two young people, a guy and a girl. They were rescued days later." "Why call it Second Impact?," Narancia asked. The group shrugged. "No one really knows," Fugo admitted, "That's just the name that's been circulating. Maybe some conspiracy theorists thought it had something to do with the event that killed the dinosaurs."

"Well, regardless," Abbacchio said, "That's not what we're here for." He walked over to the statue where he had Moody Blues imprint the image of the boss's face before he passed out. "We're here to find leads on the boss's identity. Hopefully his facial recognition and fingerprints will be on record. And even if they aren't..." He smiled. "At least we know what he looks like. I'm sure someone here in Sardegna might recognize him."

Buccellati smiled. "Sounds like someone's found their motivation." "I guess you could say my little near-death experience left me with an epiphany," Abbacchio said. His stomach growled. "And a lack of energy..." "It might be some time before we get attacked again," Giorno said, "Perhaps we should take a moment to rest and get something to eat." The group nodded. Narancia took one last look around to make sure they weren't being followed by anyone.

Meanwhile, Doppio was confused. Somehow he found himself sitting at a restaurant, and from the looks of it had just eaten and paid his bill. 'Jeez... Weird things have been happening as of late.' He got up and went to look himself over in a nearby store window. Somehow all his injuries from the fight with Risotto were patched up, and he had something stuck in his arm. He went to pick it out and found out it was a violet crystal. "I think this came from Rarita's Stand. But I don't remember seeing her at all today." He looked at himself, and started to wonder what his real relationship with the boss was.

You thought I was randomly killing off Abbacchio, didn't you!?

I'm sure you know who this chapter is teasing. Time for world-building!

Though I'm not sure what Araki was thinking with this major reveal...

"It's just as we feared," Rarity said as she ran through the files, "I ran the data we have through state police, Interpol, even my grandfather's connections to Speedwagon. There's no record of the fingerprints or facial profile. We can assume the boss either had enough resources from the gang to move mountains, or he made good use of King Crimson to erase all traces of his record." "What about the local records?," Abbacchio asked, "The boss considered this his home, surely there must be something."

Rarity shook her head. "Even the Sardinian police have nothing on him. Something about the boss makes him paranoid enough to want his face erased from everyone's minds. You'd think it was something world shattering, but if that was the case there's no way he'd be able to erase his identity so easily." Trish was looking at a plaster molding they had made from the imprint Abbacchio created. "Maybe we're thinking too deeply about this," Fugo suggested, "Maybe the boss really is just overly paranoid. Still, even then, you'd think he'd have birth records or something."

"First thing I checked," Rarity said, "If they ever did exist, he got those too." Trish suddenly looked up. They were inside Coco Jumbo, Narancia, Mista, and Giorno outside. "I felt it just now...," Trish said, "My father... He's somewhere on this beach!" "He must have finally recovered from his earlier fight," Buccellati realized, "But we can't attack him right now." He tapped his chin. "Rarity, try looking up records of the deceased. If the boss faked his death, he wouldn't bother to erase those records, at least not right away."

Rarity looked into it, but still nothing. "He's even thought of that, it seems." "Guess we'll just have to pound the pavement," Abbacchio suggested, "Find someone in Sardegna who saw the boss fifteen years ago." "That would be dangerous with the boss so close," Buccellati argued. 'Or maybe,' came a voice over the computer, heavily altered so as to be unrecognizable, 'Your search is already over.' "Who is this?," Rarity asked. 'Someone who's been hoping for people investigating the man you've been looking into.'

"Who do you work for!?," Buccellati demanded. 'You could say I'm a friend of Giorno's family,' the voice replied, 'Or to be more specific, the part of his blood that guides the stars.' Rarity looked at Buccellati. "He's probably referring to the star-shaped birthmark on Giorno's neck. According to Grandpapa, it's a birthmark associated with the Joestar family. And Giorno... Well, it's complicated, but he shares that blood." She turned to the computer. "How do you know the man we're looking for?"

'I know his name is Diavolo,' the voice replied, 'If you have any reservations about trusting me, I can understand. But I know quite a bit about him. I have been chasing him for fifteen years now, and I could use some help. Especially since his Stand, King Crimson, can erase time.' The group looked at each other. "Very well," Buccellati said, "You have our attention." It was clear that this couldn't be a member of Passione, or else he wouldn't know King Crimson's power and still be alive.

"Can you tell us your name?," Trish asked. 'Not here,' the voice replied, 'If I could trace your search, it's possible members of your former gang could, and that could lead Diavolo to me. I've encountered him once before, and only beat him with help from a friend. It is possible to outwit him, but his power is invincible. At best, you can only buy time until you somehow manage to damage him directly. And even then, he will simply decide to retreat, live to fight another day. You must take him out immediately once you start attacking him, which is impossible with his power.'

"I was able to hold him at bay with my own power," Rarity argued. 'Were you? That's a little surprising. Still, he's had years to perfect his power, and he may find a way to take you out now that he knows what you can do. But I know of something that may just solve our problems. Meet me in Rome, in person. There I've hidden something you may be familiar with.' A picture appeared of a very familiar arrow. "That's the arrow!," Rarity realized, "One of the ones that gave most of us our Stand powers!"

"It is similar," Fugo noted, "But look at the beetle design on it. Almost like this arrow is more... Complete." 'Yes, it's different from the other six. And yes, I know how many there are. You'll understand why when we meet. Diavolo has been using this arrow to take advantage of others, but he does not know it's true power! I do, and for good reason! So meet me in Rome, and I'll share this arrow with you! Using it, you may acquire a power greater than King Crimson!'

Meanwhile Doppio had returned to the beach where he fought Risotto. He had a new phone now, which he answered as he made the ringing sounds again. 'This is bad,' came Diavolo's voice, 'I wasn't able to get to Abbacchio, and now they have my face. Worse still, they've just left Sardegna. They must have discovered something even I don't know!' "But they shouldn't have had any time to find anything," Doppio noted, "What could suddenly send them running from Sardegna?"

'If I knew that, I wouldn't be feeling fear even as we speak,' Diavolo pointed out, 'You must chase them down, Doppio! But... Not alone. As much as it disgusts me to, I will also be sending Cioccolata and Secco...' Doppio felt a shiver run down his spine. "Tell me you're not serious, boss... Is this situation so dire you'd actually send them?" 'Much as it pains me to admit... It is. I never would have thought I'd ask filth like them for assistance, but Buccellati's group has left me no alternative.' Doppio sighed. 'I don't like where this is going.'

"A meteorite crash?," Giorno asked, having joined the group in Coco Jumbo after they hopped a speedboat off Sardegna. 'Yes. There's a famous meteorite crater in Cape York, Greenland. It's been said to have crashed there thousands of years ago. In 1978, a group of eleven surveyors were conducting a survey for mineral resources within the crater. But two of them developed severe tumors from some unknown disease and died within forty-eight hours.'

"How could any virus survive in that region?," Fugo asked, "That's out in the tundra, one of the coldest environments on the planet. Normal bacteria and viruses couldn't possibly exist." 'No one is truly sure,' the voice replied, 'But how they contracted it is no mystery. Doctors studying the men learned they had fallen inside the crater, and received minor lacerations to their hands and feet. It's possible that a virus had slept for millennia within that crater, and entered their bloodstream from the cuts. It was agreed that the virus likely came from the meteorite.'

"What does all this have to do with the arrow?," Giorno asked. 'Simple. One of the men was observed to undergo tremendous physical changes, and while he was lying unconscious, he suddenly shot lightning out of his hands, like a stun gun. The bolts burned the fingers off one of the doctors treating him.' "A Stand power?," Fugo wondered. 'Likely,' the voice agreed, 'Because what's left of that rock can be found in the arrows, and other similar artifacts. I know, because some friends of mine tested the composition of the arrow.'

"But why didn't the man survive having a Stand like we do?," Buccellati asked. 'I'm not sure of the specifics, but I do know the virus performs a culling of life. And these arrows aren't the only things observed to have been carved from the meteorite. An Egyptian blacksmith used some of it to fashion a sword, which his own Stand eventually inhabited. Most who encounter the virus die, but those that can survive gain new powers. And this virus can apparently be passed through generations safely.'

"So our power merely came from some virus that we were able to survive?," Abbacchio asked, "That kinda ruins the image we have of them." 'Believe me, as a Stand user myself I share your disappointment. But for better or worse, this is the origin of Stand power. I know of at least seven arrows made from that meteorite. All but one are in the hands of some friends of mine. So... Will you meet with me?' "Any advantage we can have over Diavolo would be welcomed," Fugo noted, "We can't just rely on phenomenon that he can't stop."

Buccellati nodded. "Very well, we'll meet with you. How should we do this?" 'I'll be at the Coliseum,' the voice replied, 'You won't have to wait long to find me, I'll be there at all times of the day until you arrive.' And with that, the line was cut. "So who do you think our mysterious new benefactor is?," Rarity asked. "He must be well connected," Giorno noted, "To know about my connection, limited as it is, to the Joestar family. Also he's clearly foreign. He used 'Rome' as opposed to 'Roma'."

As the group reached the mainland, Mista saw a few drunkards arguing about where to do their business. As one drunkard tried to pry his friend off of the fountain, something horrific happened. Before Mista's eyes, the second man's body seemed to stretch an unnatural length. In reality, something had eaten away at his body until it was in two pieces, as well as tearing his arm off. "Shit!," Mista called out, "We have a new enemy, and he's attacking indiscriminately!" He then noticed some sort of mold appearing on his hand.

Doppio had taken a flight out of Sardegna. With the group in the wind, there was no way to know where they were headed. Even the boss didn't know, and Doppio was starting to get the feeling he understood why. 'Damn it... Ever since that fortune teller. Those things he said. Not even the boss has been able to calm me down.' He rubbed his temples. There was too much that started to not make sense. Like how he was able to talk into a broken phone. Why he had grabbed a frog in the middle of battle. He was starting to think he was sick in the head.

Just then, he started making ringing noises again and went for a toy phone that belonged to a little girl he was sitting next to. "Yeah?" 'You're sounding a little irate.' "Sorry, a lot's been on my mind. Anyway, I just got a report from those two. It seems Buccellati's group is heading for Roma. They were spotted at a fishing village outside the city limits." 'That's a broad spectrum to search. But either way, we'll have to do damage control. Cioccolata... I imagine he'll carve a path of destruction through Roma if given the chance.'

Doppio nodded. "Yeah... Hopefully it won't come to that." 'Listen, Doppio. Allow Cioccolata his chance to eliminate the group, but follow them closely. You'll have to take control in the end, and make sure those two don't discover whatever it is that sent Buccellati's group to Roma in the first place. I suspect it might have something to do with my identity. And you know that must be kept secret.' "All right," Doppio agreed, "What sort of people am I dealing with?"

'Cioccolata is age 34, and a former doctor. Two years ago, he made a mistake which accidentally killed one of his patients. He was fired, lost his license, and joined Passione soon after. But his true nature was revealed when he became a Stand user. As it turns out... It was no accident that he killed his patient. He did it deliberately. His mistake was getting caught. Our research into his history has found at least four cases where he deliberately diagnosed illnesses in healthy people and performed surgery on them.'

"You mean vivisection...," Doppio said, his voice dripping with contempt. 'Yes, I suppose it would be closer to that. But it gets worse. He would weaken the anesthetic so his patients would wake up during the procedure. It all stems from his reasons for becoming a doctor. He had no intention of treating the sick... He wanted to observe the death and suffering of other people. I only found four cases looking into his history. But he could have killed many more people this way without being discovered, so who can say?'

"This is horrendous," Doppio noted. 'I'll not deny that. It's one of the reasons why I was reluctant to rely on him in the first place. Anyway, when he is able to observe a death, his curiosity is satisfied with unparalleled happiness. It is in these moments where he feels superior to all other humans, as if he understands the truth of life.' "Where did this ridiculous notion stem from?," Doppio asked, "There must be a logical reason." 'I don't know if I consider it logical but...'

There was a pause. 'I did look into the history of his youth. He grades were among the top of his class. He began volunteering at the age of fourteen, where he cared for bedridden and elderly patients for two years. Or at least, he was supposed to. In reality, he fed them unknown medicines, put them on diets that would ruin their blood pressure, and told them each day that no one was there to visit them. This would drive them to suicide after suffering in despair for who knows how long.'

Doppio felt a shuddering from the boss. 'Sorry, just thinking about it sickens me. Anyway we found twenty-five videotapes he took of the facial expressions of those patients. It appears that after the ninth suicide he aspired to become a doctor.' "He sounds like the lowest of the low. What about Secco?" 'Now there is a enigma. Secco was a former patient of Cioccolata's. The two seem to get along well, to the point where Secco won't obey orders from anyone but Cioccolata. He even ignores orders from me, so if I need something from Secco specifically, I need to go through Cioccolata.'

"Why let these two live, knowing how dangerous they are?," Doppio asked. 'I did consider having them assassinated,' the boss admitted, 'But they do have their uses. Ultimately, their Stand abilities are more reliable than any other member we have. But you will need to stop them once they have finished the job. Understand... You are the only one I can trust with this.' "Understood, boss," Doppio said. He then handed the toy phone back to the little girl, who tried using it herself out of confusion.

Fugo was grateful that he had learned how to manipulate the virus he controlled through Purple Haze. It came in handy for destroying other destructive microbes, like the odd mold that was growing on Mista's hand. "When did this even get on you?," Fugo asked. "Don't know," Mista said, "But it's all over the locals here. Only a Stand user could spread such a virulent mold this quickly. We need to find and kill that user before he gets this whole village, let alone our group."

Fugo looked around. "It doesn't look like everyone's dying at once. From what I can observe, elevation seems to be the X-factor in this situation. Meaning the higher we get, the less likely we are to get afflicted." "Yeah, that makes sense," Mista said, "I first got afflicted when I went to get my gun from my boot. And that drunkard got attacked when he jumped down the stairs after his buddy got ripped in half." Narancia quickly got out of the boat, Coco Jumbo in hand.

Nearby, Cioccolata and Secco were filming the situation. "Remember Secco," Cioccolata said, "The most important thing you need to pay attention to in this situation is the battery. Even their reactions to what is happening comes second to that. If nothing gets recorded, I will be very upset! So pay attention to the battery life, understand?" Secco nodded. Cioccolata looked at the group that he could see. "They're already trying to get higher. I must admit, I didn't expect them to discover the behavior of Green Day so quickly." He grinned. "But it makes it all the more interesting because of that."

You know you're a slimeball when the Big Bad himself finds you horrible to even think about. And Cioccolata definitely qualifies.

Giorno had gotten out to inspect what was going on. "So, it's a mold of some kind. I remember reading about this in biology class. There's a type of mold that prefers moving to lower altitudes, but they can't expand their range of habitation by themselves. Instead they infect insects, multiplying and killing the host once it reaches a lower altitude. This type of mold is commonly called cordyceps. This Stand works on the same principle, using the corpses of living things to expand its effective range."

"And the only reliable thing we have to kill it is my virus," Fugo noted, "But I only get six capsules per day, so it's hardly reliable as protection. For now let's get to a higher elevation. Maybe if we can get higher than the user, it won't effect us at all." "Shouldn't be too hard," Giorno said, "Even if we don't know where the user is, there's only so many high places he can be." "We don't have time to rescue everyone in this village," Buccellati said sadly, "But if we can get out of here the user will follow us, and those that are still alive can sort out the rest."

"Then let's find ourselves a car at a higher elevation," Mista suggested, "We can head for Roma from there." Nearby, Cioccolata frowned. "They were able to get to shore easily. That man, Fugo... His virus is too strong for my Green Day." His smile returned when he saw the recorded footage Secco showed him. "But... It's good to see their faces twisted in horror as they try to plan on how to stay alive!" He rubbed Secco's head, encased in the odd suit.

"Still, this is going to be more tricky than I thought," Cioccolata admitted, "I'm starting to understand how they survived this long after betraying the boss." He got out some sugar cubes, and Secco removed the lower part of his mask so his mouth was open. "Good boy, Secco," Cioccolata said lovingly, "You've earned a nice treat." He tossed the cubes to Secco, who was able to easily grab all of them in his mouth, though he had to make some nice rebounding skills when one wound up going long.

"Now, let's make our next move," Cioccolata said, "Buccellati is bound to try going for a car next. We know his target is somewhere in Roma. Secco, use your Oasis to track them!" Secco's Stand, Oasis, was in fact the suit he was wearing. Silently, he dove into the ground and starting moving through it, like he was swimming through water. Cioccolata smiled. 'The boss put us on this mission for a reason. Whatever powers they may hold, they'll soon learn the real force behind human evolution.'

Luckily for the group, the village was built into a mountainside, making increasing elevation easy. And the higher they went, the less of the mold they saw, to the point where the number of corpses was starting to drop. However, Buccellati couldn't help but think something was following them. "Rarity, can you send out a crystal carpet? I want to make sure nothing is tracking us." Rarity nodded. "Art of the Dress!" Her Stand's crystals started spreading down the staircase they were on.

It moved over a nearby corpse, and suddenly dipped into the ground. "Something's wrong!," she called out, "The molecules where I'm growing my crystals are dropping into the ground! If we sink lower the mold will start to infect us!" "Then get us higher!," Buccellati called out. Rarity quickly created a crystal ledge that elevated the group, even as the staircase started to sink beneath them. "There must be two enemies!," Mista realized, "The one behind the mold, and whoever's doing this!"

Rarity saw a gloved hand reach out of the ground and claw at her crystal ledge, as if it was trying to make something happen. "Whatever power he has, it can't affect my crystals. Quick, get to the streets." Buccellati noticed something as they got to the higher level. "Look down below. The corpse we passed and the beer cans it was holding are sinking, but not dissolving. This new enemy can only affect things like rock or concrete, not metal or anything organic."

"We need to get to a car," Rarity said, "Which one do we take?" "Look for one near a corpse," Buccellati suggested, "It'll still have the keys with it, saving us the time it would take to fumble around for one." Rarity then noted something. "Strange... Even though my Stand can still detect when the ground is deforming, it still feels solid. Like something is pushing through the molecules." She had her Stand smash through the ground, then start growing crystals deep inside the pavement. "Let's see if we can flush out our new friend."

After a bit, the expanding crystals caused Secco to erupt from the ground. "Found him!," Mista called out and he fired off three shots, "Sex Pistols!" The six Stand bodies started kicking around the bullets. Secco started to deflect them, but then saw there were more than three projectiles to worry about, as Sex Pistols was also tossing around a few crystals shards from Art of the Dress, as well as one of Purple Haze's virus capsules. As this last one neared him, he quickly dove underground and made a beeline away from the effective range of the virus.

This gave the group time to get to the car and start it. "Damn it...," Secco said as he called Cioccolata. 'What's the matter?' "That girl, Rarita. Her Stand has a power that counters mine. It can grow crystals which my Oasis can't swim through." 'That complicates matters,' Cioccolata admitted, 'I can see them driving away right now. I suppose it can't be helped. Get back here immediately. It's time for plan B.' Secco nodded. "Okay, I'll head back to you."

As the group was driving up the hill, Fugo heard something. "What's that?" He looked out and freaked. "Shit! They're above in a helicopter!" A corpse covered in mold started to drop. The group tried to stop it with their Stands, but it fell too fast, crashing into the car's roof and causing it to start sliding down. Rarity quickly stopped the descent with a crystal wall to keep the mold from spreading too much as Fugo used Purple Haze to destroy the corpse before it could spread more mold.

The helicopter came in, and the group saw more people getting infected by the mold. "The subconscious," Giorno mused, "It's the seal on our powers, keeping them from going out of control. But this man, the one behind the mold, he delights in cruelty. That's why he has this power. It doesn't matter to him if his destruction hurts the boss. He'll keep spreading this mold all the way to Roma, just to kill us. And he doesn't care who else gets killed along the way."

"This is nuts!," Fugo said, "Why would the boss even let such a destructive Stand come after us!?" "He may have felt like he had no more choices," Buccellati reasoned, "We defeated Notorious BIG, a Stand that by all rights should have been invincible. And the boss probably knows we're getting close to discovering either his identity or a way to beat him. He feels he has no other options left but to risk destroying all of Italy, if it means killing us once and for all."

Mista tried firing at the helicopter, only for Secco to deflect all the bullets. He then dove right into the ground at a higher level. "Mista, reload quickly!," Giorno said, "Let Rarity handle the man who dove into the ground!" "Do you have a plan?," Fugo asked. "The one piloting the helicopter knows the range of Mista's pistol," Giorno said, "But that's all he likely knows." Mista nodded, as Giorno focused Gold Experience's power through his bullets.

Sure enough, the bullets only hit a building the helicopter was flying over, but then started to sprout like vines, wrapping around the legs of the chopper. Meanwhile, Rarity was carpeting the ground around them in crystal, only leaving a few spaces for Secco to surface from. He leapt out of one part of the ground, then glared at Rarity. "If it's just one-on-one... I don't need to dive into the ground!" He started to make his attack like he always did, but something was off.

His plan was always about turning the ground into mud and using the rebound from his elbows to increase the speed of his punches. But now, not only were his punches slowing down, but his elbows kept hurting. As Art of the Dress caught one of his attacks, Rarity noted something. "Why are you constantly hitting your elbows against my crystal carpet?" Secco looked down. "Shit! I forgot what you were doing earlier! My Oasis can't affect those crystals! It only works on stone!"

Meanwhile Cioccolata was having problems of his own. The plants created from Mista's bullets and the building they hit were keeping his helicopter from flying. Because of that, it was easy for Giorno and Mista to reach him. "So his power is imbuing objects with life energy, then?," Cioccolata noted, "No matter." A striped green humanoid appeared behind him. "It's no match for Green Day's mold!" Unfortunately, the mold didn't seem to be doing it's job.

Giorno started climbing the tree. "Giorno," Mista said, "I should be able to hit him from here." "Let's make sure he hasn't somehow left the heli first," Giorno said, checking the tree and the helicopter with his Stand. He reached the helicopter, and saw some used medical equipment. As he wondered what they were for, Cioccolata suddenly shot out from nowhere, looking like he had mutilated himself. Giorno managed to knock him aside with Gold Experience, only to get attacked by Green Day's severed arm.

Giorno managed to keep himself from falling out of the helicopter, but Cioccolata was chuckling. "Curiosity is the foundation of evolution," he said, "There are two cases in which happiness exist. When despair becomes hope. I had despaired when I was caught in your plants. My Green Day couldn't seem to affect them. I panicked in despair, but I survived. I used my knowledge of medical practices to amputate my limbs without dying, controlling them using the mold in the cuts."

He grinned as Gold Experience made to attack, only for Giorno to get attacked by Cioccolata's legs. "The second thing that brings happiness! It's watching someone fall into despair!" Giorno grinned. "Then you only get half the happiness you were expecting!" He quickly got out a small bullet and used Gold Experience on it, turning it into a branch that he used to grab the front of the helicopter and elevate himself, shocking Cioccolata.

"This was given to me by Mista as I started climbing," he explained. Cioccolata grinned. "Not enough!" He pulled the control lever from the helicopter and hit the branch. "That branch is a living thing! So I only need to infect it and you drop by a few centimeters!" He laughed as Giorno dropped down and started to grow mold, only to stop when the bullet the branch came from shot out and hit him through his head, causing the spread to stop. "When you used your mold to kill the branch it become dead wood," Giorno explained, "And by doing so it turned back into a bullet."

He looked at the dying Cioccolata. "But I feel no happiness from this. What's the point in feeling happy... About a victory that was yours from the beginning?" He saw Cioccolata hanging from the tree. "But I can tell you're just playing dead. You must be thinking that if you can move just a few more centimeters then you can fall off the ledge and escape, only to reactivate the mold and claim victory. It's a plan that could work. Because of the attack you made, there's a hole in my right lung, one of my subclavian veins has been severed, and my right humerus, right hand, and at least four ribs are broken."

He shrugged. "It's questionable if I can make to it you with any sort of speed. But Gold Experience's projection range is two meters, so it's not like I need to actually reach you, just get close enough for my Stand to finish the job. So I tell you what. If you stay right there, I'll only render you incapable of fighting, but I promise no harm will come to you. The choice is yours. I'm coming up now." Cioccolata started laughing. "I'd look behind you first."

Giorno turned to see Cioccolata's severed arm had Mista by the throat. And he was holding Coco Jumbo. "The rest of your group is inside there, right?," Cioccolata asked, "You shouldn't have been babbling away! Otherwise you would have noticed my left arm circling from behind the tree! Now I'll savor victory as I sever--" But he never got the chance to finish, a giant stag beetle suddenly burst from inside his brain. "I was speaking because I wanted time," Giorno pointed out, "Time enough for the bullet I shot through you to mature until it reached adulthood."

Cioccolata then remembered that the bullet had hit from the propeller. "You... You kicked that bullet into the propeller as it turned back from being a branch!" "And as I did I turned it into something else," Giorno admitted, "From a simple larva into the stag beetle now eating your brain. That way, it wouldn't matter if you lived or died, I'd still kill you off." "But...," Cioccolata argued, "You... You promised that if I stayed still you wouldn't harm me..." Giorno scoffed. "Know your place! A deal like that is too good for a man like you!" And with that, Gold Experience attacked at full force.

"MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA! MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA! MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA! MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA! MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA! WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

As Cioccolata fell into a nearby garbage truck, which started closing once he landed, his cell phone dropped on the building and started ringing. It was Secco, who had managed to reach one of the holes in Rarity's carpet and dive underground again. He checked his phone, but no one was answering. He saw a couple messages in his inbox and checked them. The first seemed promising enough, saying that while Cioccolata was trapped he had a plan to take out both Giorno and Mista. Secco swam through the ground for a bit before finally finding a spot outside the crystal carpet, likely the extent of Rarity's range.

However, when he surfaced, he saw no sign of any mold, just a bunch of confused people. They had already reached Roma, and were close to the Coliseum. He quickly checked the second message. 'Secco... I took a bad hit during the fight. Giorno is more crafty than I thought. I managed to overhear something. Mista was talking to that turtle. You know, the one the group was using to transport themselves? They said something about going to the Coliseum to meet someone, possibly someone who could give them something to defeat the boss. If you see my mold start to lose power, you must go to the Coliseum and kill this man! I know you can do it!'

Secco lowered his hand. He then chuckled as he threw the phone into a nearby lamppost. He then proceeded to crush camcorder he'd been using. "So you were weak in the end, weren't you!? It was only because I thought you were strong, smart, and practically invincible that I followed your orders! That, and the sugar cubes and back rubs were nice... I don't have to follow your orders anymore, but just this once, I'll do it one final time! I'll kill that man at the Coliseum, then come back and finish the others!"

Fugo, Rarity, and Buccellati managed to keep up, but Secco had already reached the Coliseum first, just in time to see a glinting light near the entrance. He grinned and went for it, swimming through the ground. He then saw a man standing there, waiting. "I have you now!," Secco said as he leapt out, only to get himself impaled several times over by a group of identical humanoid figures in silver colors, all of whom were carrying rapiers. "I should have guessed someone would try and intercept Buccellati's team," the man said, "Luckily I was able to observe your earlier fight, so I know a lot about your abilities. You're fast, but no one beats me for speed without manipulating time itself."

Secco dropped to the ground, bleeding out, as the trio approached the man. "Well," the man said, "Almost no one. I think Jotaro and I are pretty even in that department." The multitude of figures merged into one and donned a set of silver armor. "Just who are you?," Buccellati asked. "Pardonne-moi," the man said, "I believe now is the time for introductions. My name is Jean-Pierre Polnareff! And this is my Stand, Silver Chariot!"

Polnareff assist, motherf****r!

We'll see in the next few chapters why Polnareff is still hale and hearty in this universe. Though some of you guys may already suspect the answer to that.

I realize the chapter is a bit spoilery, but hey you're likely following the story as it's being written. So who cares?

Doppio watched as the group entered the Coliseum. 'Looks like the boss won't have to worry about Cioccolata and Secco destroying Roma. Buccellati's group took care of that for us. The bad news is they got to the Coliseum successfully as a result. But that man's Stand...' He made ringing noises again and grabbed his phone. 'I recognize that man. He and some friends of his dealt me my first true loss. It may be too dangerous to confront them at this point. Try to get close and see what sort of secret he has for them. We might be able to take advantage of it for ourselves.'

"Glad you all could make it here alive," Polnareff said as he led the group to a makeshift base on the upper stands of the Coliseum, "Guess lots of things changed..." "Changed?," Buccellati asked. "From the prime universe," Polnareff explained, "Or something like that. I don't fully understand it myself, but Mister Valentine mentioned how things were going more smoothly for those of us who fight to protect justice in the world. Something to do with alternate realities, I think. But that's not important. What's important is now that we've met, I can explain a lot more about what's going on."

"I'd like to know who you are exactly first," Abbacchio said. "I suppose I can bring you up to speed," Polnareff replied, "My story starts back about twenty years ago. I was just developing my Stand's power, when I heard the terrible news. Another Stand user had raped and murdered my sister. While the police did a search for the culprit, they didn't know about Stand power and thought the criminal was local. I knew better, and sought to bring him to justice."

He got out the arrow he showed them before. "In doing so, I learned that a man named Diavolo had sold off five Egyptian arrowheads. Supposedly they could grant Stand powers. Thinking this could be a lead to the man I sought, I traced the purchase. And that's when I ran into a man named DIO Brando." Giorno's eyes widened, and he got out his wallet with the picture of DIO. "My father..." Polnareff nodded. "For what it's worth, I'm sure he'd have relished the idea of raising a child. But that's neither here nor there."

He put the arrow down. "DIO used his powers to control me, and sent me after the Joestars. However, I was defeated upon meeting them, and Jotaro Kujo, who is the grandson of the current head of the family, released me from DIO's control. When I told them my story they reasoned that the man I sought must work for DIO, so I decided to join them hoping to find my vengeance. In the end I succeeded, but continued with the group to stop DIO before his actions could cause more innocent deaths."

"I guess," Rarity said, "You succeeded in the end." Polnareff nodded. He looked to Giorno, but his expression didn't change. "I never even knew my real father. The only reason I know what he looks like is because of this picture. Mother stopped speaking about him after his death, and just continued on her wild partying lifestyle, before she married my stepfather. So if the Joestars are worried I might seek revenge, they shouldn't be. I've no need to take revenge for someone I never had an emotional attachment to."

Polnareff breathed a sigh of relief. "Jotaro will be grateful to hear that. Especially since he was the one to kill DIO to save his own mother." He motioned for the group to follow him. "But the details can wait. After all, you came here hoping to find the means to overpower Diavolo." "You said you fought him before," Fugo said, "Did your Stand help with that?" "On its own, no," Polnareff replied, "Silver Chariot is fast, but what does that matter when time is getting erased, allowing someone to avoid getting hit at all?"

'Yes, he was with a group that managed to track me down,' Diavolo said over Doppio's phone, 'Working together they overwhelmed me, coming in from a number of angles. Ultimately I was forced to retreat. It's the one loose end I've never been able to tie up, but I never bothered to because up until now I didn't think it would amount to much. By the time they could start looking for me I was already erasing every trace of my identity, and even if they could find me they had Passione to get through.'

"And now he has Buccellati's group with him," Doppio realized. 'For now do not approach. Just blend in with the tourists, and try to get close enough to find out what they came here for. If it's something we can use, we'll steal it. If not, we'll destroy it. But until we have more information, it's not worth the risk to get inside their collective attack range. They were strong enough to take on Cioccolata and Secco, and we have no one else capable of dealing with them. At this point any further attempts to send agents after them is just going to hurt our organization.'

"Then I'll see what I can learn," Doppio said as he got a ticket for the tour and started looking for where the group had gotten too. He finally spotted them and took a careful seat among a crowd of visitors. Meanwhile Polnareff was still talking. "Mister Joestar once told me of several members of a superior race right below us. Only one of them left, though. But I digress. In order for you to understand what it is that makes this arrow special, I should tell you something I learned from Mister Valentine."

"What's that?," Buccellati asked. "The history of Diavolo," Polnareff said, "Now understand that Diavolo was very thorough in erasing all traces of this story, but even he couldn't account for a Stand that can look into alternate realities. And from what Funny Valentine tells me, the history of Diavolo is identical in both this world and the one he peered into." Doppio, who overheard this, was a little surprised. 'If the boss is hearing this... I'll bet he's surprised as all hell.'

Polnareff told the tale he learned from Valentine. The strange but true tale of a baby boy born in 1967 in an Italian female prison, right in the middle of summer. The boy's mother was in her second year of a ten-year sentence for bank robbery. How the the boy was born was a complete mystery. The woman claimed his father died of illness, and that she had been pregnant for over two years, which was medically impossible. It was like saying a barnacle had somehow grown on someone's knee.

And yet the evidence to the contrary was scarce, since there were absolutely no men in the prison. Even the guards and wardens were women. And so the baby's origin remained a mystery. Of course, a baby can't be raised in prison, no matter what the comics say. Luckily, a kindly priest from the mother's hometown offered to adopt the baby. And so the child grew up in a small village on the island of Sardegna. The boy grew up rather cowardly and clumsy, but open-hearted and kind.

He often spoke of wanting to become a sailor rather than a priest like his adoptive father, and the man agreed. It was in the summer of 1986, as the boy turned nineteen, when the now young man first met a girl from the mainland. They were going out on a date to the Emerald Coast. The priest decided to buy his adoptive son a car to celebrate him becoming a man, and started digging into the ground around their home to start building a garage.

But as the priest was digging up the ground, he saw something horrible. A woman bound and unable to move or speak. She had no idea how long it had been since she was captured. All she knew was that she had come to see her son. It was, in fact, the young man's mother, kept alive after all those years. That night, a great fire engulfed the town. Powerful winds were blowing, causing the whole village to burn to the ground. The cause was unknown. Most of the people went missing, but seven were confirmed dead.

"Among the dead confirmed were the names of the priest and his son, Diavolo," Polnareff finished, "But as I'm sure you've guessed by now, Diavolo had merely faked his death." "I can't believe he'd do that to his own mother," Narancia said. "Why wouldn't he?," Fugo pointed out, "He's been trying to kill his own daughter this whole time. But that's still a rather big change in demeanor. Starting off open-hearted only to become severely paranoid in his late teens?"

"I wish I could give some sort of justification," Polnareff said, "But I'm no clinical psychologist. That's more my wife's department, and she's back in France since she's not a Stand user. What I do know, is that a few months after that incident, Diavolo was in Egypt, at the tomb where the arrows were buried. One had already been taken by Nathaniel Twilight more than a century prior, but the other six were still there. But from what I understand, Diavolo did not actively search for those arrows. He found them by pure chance."

"What was he doing in Egypt?," Giorno asked. "Doing part-time work with an excavation team for extra money," Polnareff replied, "I don't know if that was when he planned to start Passione however. No one there knew who he was. Anyway, the next day he fled with the arrows, and sold them off to a woman named Enya Geil, who was one of DIO's followers. She bought five of them for a high price."

"Why not all six?," Rarity asked. "She knew what the arrows could do thanks to her old nemesis Twilight Sparkle, the daughter of the man who found the first arrow," Polnareff explained, "She likely suggested Diavolo keep the last arrow for himself, explaining its power. He only needed the one, but she likely felt DIO's plans would work with more. We found one of the arrows she had, and started searching for the others. There was me, Jotaro, Fluttershy, Kakyoin, and Avdol."

He smirked. "We eventually tracked down Diavolo to my homeland in France, where crime had steadily begun to rise since 1986. Unfortunately, Jotaro and Fluttershy had to break off pursuit after Fluttershy discovered she was pregnant, but I still had Kakyoin and Avdol's help. And a good thing too. On my own I'm no match for King Crimson, but with Avdol's Magician's Red and its power of fire, as well as Kakyoin's Hierophant Green and its long-range attacks, we were able to overwhelm Diavolo and force him to leave France. Unfortunately, we lost his trail after that."

During that time, Polnareff had tried the direct approach, luring Diavolo out into the open for Avdol or Kakyoin to attack. Although Diavolo was able to get a good shot in on Polnareff while dodging Kakyoin's Twenty-Meter Emerald Splash, once his power ran out he wound up hitting one of the threads, triggering the trap and preventing lasting damage on Polnareff. That's when Avdol made his own move while Diavolo was distracted, launching a massive Cross Fire Hurricane attack.

'They proved too much for even King Crimson. Since then I've been wary of Stand users with such simple yet versatile powers. Like Rarita, with her ability to grow crystals on any molecule. I learned a hard lesson that day. King Crimson is invincible, but I am not.' Doppio suddenly found his hand shaking for some odd reason. "Okay... This is weird... Why does the boss's story sound so much like mine? Then again, the last thing I remember before meeting the boss was meeting a woman who claimed to be my mother..."

He tried to slow his heartbeat down. "Gotta be careful not to breath too hard. If Narancia spots me, I'm dead meat. But still... Things have been getting weird since I ran into that fortune teller. Way too many odd coincidences. Am I really me? Do I even know anymore?" He shook his head. "I can't think about that right now. More importantly, it looks like Polnareff is about to get to the point of his story. Still, now I know why the boss didn't want to approach him so casually."

So now you guys know who was helping Polnareff. Shame on those of you who thought it would be anyone but his closest friends. Heck, even the original manga suggested he was searching for Diavolo with Jotaro's help.

But, the point is that by sparing those that would otherwise have been killed, another domino in the chain of events created by Araki has fallen.

"All this is well and good," Buccellati said, "But what's the deal with the arrow you have? Why does it look different from the others?" "Hold on," Trish said, "I'm feeling him again... My father is nearby." The group started looking around. "Could Diavolo have followed you somehow?," Polnareff asked. "If he was doing that, then why keep sending agents after us?," Abbacchio wondered. "Well, their track record against us hasn't been the greatest," Giorno pointed out.

Just then, Polnareff saw his binoculars, which had been near his laptop, lying broken on the ground. "Merde... He's here all right. I'd recognize that phenomenon anywhere. In many ways, it's even more terrifying than DIO's power to stop time outright." Fugo, who suspected something like this, was looking at his watch for most of that time. "Looks like your theory was right, Rarity. Ten seconds just skipped all at once. That's likely his limit. But where exactly is he?"

That's when Doppio stepped out of hiding from below the staircase. Buccellati and Fugo looked confused. "Hey, isn't that Vinegar Doppio?," Fugo asked, "The boss's advisor?" Doppio seemed to have a glassy look in his eyes as he took off his turtleneck, suddenly growing several years in age and revealing a very familiar face to the group. "I accept this trial...," came Diavolo's voice, "The trial... Of defeating my past." "Diavolo," Polnareff said, "I must admit, this is a twist I never expected."

He was standing at the top of a staircase while Diavolo was at the bottom. "I wonder if this is how DIO felt when he confronted those of us who first spotted him when we found his mansion in Cairo." "I'll admit I never expected to run into you again, Jean-Pierre Polnareff," Diavolo replied, "You were a mistake I was happy to allow, since I didn't think it would come back to haunt me. But that's the issue with the past. Break it into pieces and entomb it stone, it will still find a way crawl out of the surface like a worm."

"Is that something you came up with while playing at archaeology?," Polnareff quipped. Diavolo shrugged. "To be honest... I don't remember. The only thing I still remember from that dig site was grabbing the arrows and selling them off." Polnareff chuckled. "That's the thing about your past. If you try to forget it, you lack a future. Look at me, I spent years chained by my past. Yet even when I finally buried it, I never forgot it or the lessons it taught me. That's how I overcame my mistakes. You however, don't seem to have learned that lesson."

Diavolo scoffed. "That's not what matters here, anyway. What matters is why you were meeting with Buccellati's team. It can't just be to tell them my history and identity. And why do you have one of the arrows I sold to Enya? I only needed the one to forge my gang into what it is today, so why do you have another one? Especially since you are already a Stand user, as are the ones you were meeting with." "Why should I tell you anything?," Polnareff asked, "Why not come up and try finding out for yourself? Or are you concerned that you'll be overwhelmed again like in our last fight?"

"Last time your friends caught me off-guard since I didn't know their powers!," Diavolo pointed out, "But Buccellati and his team once worked for me, so I know their powers very well!" He raced up the stairs as Polnareff bit his index finger, keeping an eye on the blood dripping down. As Diavolo approached, Polnareff made his move. "Silver Chariot!" The silver knight Stand swung its rapier behind Polnareff, successfully slashing at Diavolo's wrist.

Diavolo's winced as the blood started spurting out. "Well played. You used the blood droplets to detect when time was being erased. And that was perfect timing, too." "I've had years to train my Silver Chariot," Polnareff pointed out, "And hone my mind as well. Unlike you, I was born with my Stand." Diavolo smirked. "Still, it doesn't matter. You're already inside my range. Whatever that arrow is, I'll find out its power. King Crimson!" Time seemed to freeze at once and the area around the group started to crumble away.

Diavolo approached Polnareff, carefully stepping around the virus cloud that was kicked up and the crystal bed that was forming. He then spurted some of his blood into Polnareff's eye. "That should prevent you from counting blood drops from now on. You were likely wondering if you could use that tactic more than once. Well, it might have worked had I not figured it out earlier. But now I have a chance to correct my mistakes, and finally undo my past once and for all."

He grinned as King Crimson raised its fist. "When time resumes, it will all end." However, he then noticed something odd. The arrow was jammed right in Silver Chariot's eyes. "What...? Why on earth would Polnareff stab his Stand with the arrow? That would only injure him, much like how the other one did." He then inspected the arrow to see the beetle emblem on the arrowhead. "Wait... This arrow is a little different... Could it have a different power?"

As he thought this, smoke started coming off of Silver Chariot as it seemed to melt around the arrow, almost merging with it. But not in the same way Polpo's Black Sabbath had merged with the other arrow Diavolo had. It was more like the arrow was becoming part of Silver Chariot, instead of Silver Chariot becoming a receptacle for the arrow. "Something's wrong! I need to stop this immediately! King Crimson!" But as King Crimson made to attack, a brilliant blinding light erupted from Silver Chariot.

Polnareff had deliberately struck his own Stand with the arrow before the time erasure. And now the effect of that decision was coming to light. Diavolo covered his eyes as his power faded out naturally, the full force of the time erase only causing a small change, instead of the usual giant effects he was used to. Polnareff had wanted to get the arrow away from Diavolo. And now he was about to see that happen, for better or worse.

Hey, we had to get the Requiem confrontation set up somehow.

Diavolo tried to have King Crimson attack Sliver Chariot, but the Stand melting away seemed to prevent any real damage from occurring. 'Damn it, what did he do!? Just what is this arrow!? This isn't at all like the others! I should have kept it as well!' Time resumed, and Sliver Chariot fell off the wall of the Coliseum, surprising Diavolo. "Hold on... Silver Chariot is close-range power type! It shouldn't be able to extend more than two meters away from Polnareff!"

He turned toward Polnareff, who was wiping the blood from his eyes. "Just what did you do!?," Diavolo demanded, "What was that arrow!?" "It wasn't my intention to show you the arrow's true power," Polnareff admitted, "But you forced my hand. If you got your hands on it, then none of us would be able to beat you." "Just what is that arrow?," Giorno asked. "You're about to see," Polnareff said, "Once Silver Chariot is done with its transformation."

King Crimson made to plow its fist through Polnareff, only to get blocked by Art of the Dress. "Not until we get answers," Rarity said. Meanwhile Silver Chariot was still trying to escape with the arrow. "Fine then," Diavolo decided, "I'll focus on that arrow first. With my Stand I can easily forecast where it will appear." He quickly disappeared, time constantly skipping as he did. "He won't get far," Polnareff said, "Even if he gets the arrow, he won't be able to keep it."

"What makes you say that?," Buccellati asked. "Even I was surprised when it first appeared," Polnareff said, "That arrow, when merged with a Stand, can bring out a greater power. Power enough that, with the right will, one could conquer the whole world. But that's not what I want. All I want right now is to keep that arrow out of Diavolo's hands, and my Silver Chariot is now in a position to oblige. But I only caught a glimpse of what it's capable of. Something tells me this time, we'll understand more of its power."

"Found it," Diavolo said as he punched through a crack in the stone, revealing the arrow. King Crimson grabbed it by the shaft. "This arrow clearly holds some incredible secret! Somehow Polnareff's Stand was able to extend beyond its normal range and meld into the surroundings! There's no sign of it now, but it's likely returned to Polnareff without the arrow to sustain that power."

He looked over to the group. In the process of tracking Silver Chariot, he had wound up getting quite a distance from them. "Hmm... Normally even my King Crimson would be hard pressed to kill nine people. There's only so much I can do within ten seconds. But maybe, if I can figure out how to use this arrow... I can do far more!" Just then, he heard something hit the stone near him and whirled his head in that direction. "What was that!?" He spotted a dark figure appear in the stands above him.

The figure seemed to invoke the image of a conquistador from Spain. It had its back to Diavolo, steam coming off of it. "Who are you!?," Diavolo demanded, "When did you get here!? How did you get here!?" The figure turned its head in response to Diavolo's questions, and he gasped when he saw an indentation on the right side of its head that looked made to fit the arrow he was now holding. "What is that mark!?," he called out as the figure kept walking, "Hold it! Stop right there!"

Suddenly, Diavolo found the arrow slipping from his grasp, the arrowhead bouncing off the stones and towards the figure. "Why... Why did I drop it...? You! I gave you an order to stop! Face me, coward!" The figure ignored him, and he slid down the wall in a sitting position. "Why am I sitting down...? Why do I feel such anxiety? He came from the wall where Chariot melted into... But... It couldn't be... Could it?" Back at the group, they were also feeling sleepy. "What's...," Rarity started, "What's going on...?"

"It's already begun," Polnareff explained, feeling drowsy himself, "At this point... Chariot is no longer under my control... Well, not entirely... It's still obeying my will, to keep the arrow away from Diavolo for as long as possible... But I can no longer direct it." All at once, the group started to fall asleep, as well as Diavolo. In fact, all of Roma was starting to fall asleep all at once. It was gradual, just gradual enough for people to realize what was happening and stop whatever they were doing if it was dangerous, like driving a car or handling something hot.

The figure was, in fact, Silver Chariot, at least in name. But it was no longer the Silver Chariot it had once been. Polnareff looked at what had become of his Stand. 'Sorry about this, mon ami. But Diavolo cannot be allowed to grow stronger. Jotaro told me about the strange incident with Yoshikage Kira. How a second stab with a normal arrow unlocked a new power for him. Diavolo is dangerous enough on his own. Letting him gain even more power could ruin the world.'

Silver Chariot turned in response to Polnareff's thoughts, as if to say, "Don't worry. I understand and I'll keep it safe. At least long enough to get it to someone who can use it for good." This was to be the final confrontation. The group was all assembled, Diavolo was exposed, and now the final battle to decide the fate of Italy, and perhaps the world, was about to begin. But before Diavolo could be dealt with, a new and strange circumstance would have to be overcome.

Throughout this story, many bizarre occurrences have been documented. Long before these characters were born, events were being shaped. And strange powers were fighting behind the scenes. But no matter how many times a person says "I've seen it all", somehow or other, the universe proves them wrong. Especially Giorno, who was about to face an ultimate test that made Polpo's lighter seem like the entrance exams to a kindergarten.

I realize the ending got kinda exposition-based, but these shorter chapter arcs leave little to work with. That said, I hope I did good job with the last paragraph.

Since this chapter is the body swap chapter, I have a system in place to avoid confusion.

Body a person was swapped into/person who got swapped.

So for example, if I write "Giorno/Narancia" that means it's Narancia in Giorno's body.

Speaking of body swaps, I had already written this chapter out days ago, and one of my regulars actually guessed one of the swaps I planned.

The mysterious new form of Silver Chariot picked up the arrow and placed it on the indentation, then continued walking as normal. Giorno soon woke up as a bee flew by his head. Trish, who was right next to him, also woke up. "Giorno?," she asked, "What happened?" Giorno looked around. "The sun's come up." He checked his watch and his eyes widened. "It's been around seven hours! I can't believe we were asleep that entire time!"

He then looked at his hands and saw they were bloody. "What? When did my hands get blood on them?" "Are we under attack?," Trish asked, "Where did they come from?" She immediately ran to get Coco Jumbo, and also grabbed Mista's gun along the way. "Giorno, get behind the walls! I don't know what happened, but you're a sitting duck out here!" "You heard her, Giorno!," Giorno called out, "Get somewhere and hide!" Trish looked at him, confused.

"Come to think of it," Giorno said, "Where is Giorno, anyway? And what made us all fall asleep? This is a little different from King Crimson's power." He looked around the walls. "Trish, do you see where Diavolo is? And where did you see Giorno?" "Uh... Right in front of me," Trish said, "And why are you calling me Trish?" She then looked down and gasped. "How did I get in a chick's body!?" She started feeling herself up in a panic. "Oh man! What's going on!? Why am I in Trish's body!? Giorno, what's happening!?"

"I already said I'm not Giorno," Giorno said. He then looked at his body. "Though I somehow wound up looking like him." They then saw Mista get up and look at Trish, the confusion evident. Narancia was also waking up, grabbing a nearby mirror after looking at his hands. Rarity and Fugo also got up and looked at each other, surprise on their faces. Just then, they heard Trish and Mista scream. "Trish!," Fugo called out, "What happened!?"

"I have no idea!," Mista called out. Fugo blinked. "Wait... I thought I called Trish's name?" "I think I know what's going here," Narancia said. He pointed to Fugo. "Rarity?" Fugo nodded in confusion. "G-Giorno?" "Yeah," Narancia/Giorno replied, "Whatever Polnareff did to his Stand, it caused all our souls to switch. Which means Narancia is probably in my body right now." "Who else got switched?," Rarity/Fugo asked. "Trish and Mista apparently," Fugo/Rarity replied.

"No, no, no, no, no!," Mista/Trish repeated, "What just happened!? Why am I not in my body anymore!?" Polnareff had gotten switched with Abbacchio, and approached the group. "This is more than I expected. I had no idea Silver Chariot's new power could go this far." "You didn't know this would happen?," Polnareff/Abbacchio asked. "The last time Silver Chariot got stabbed with that arrow," Abbacchio/Polnareff explained, "I got it out before it could get to this phase. Anyway, it looks like we switched with whoever was closest to us when we fell asleep."

"Suggesting the sleeping effect was to make the transition painless," Rarity/Fugo noted, watching with amusement as Trish and Mista got into an argument about Mista adjusting to Trish's manner of dress in some rather suggestive ways, while Trish was complaining about Mista's smell. "If you never got to this stage," Narancia/Giorno realized, "Then we don't know how to reverse this. More importantly, who was Diavolo closest to when he fell asleep?"

"And where is Diavolo's body right now?," Abbacchio/Polnareff asked. "I'll try and find out," Giorno/Narancia offered, "If our souls have switched, that means our Stands switched with them, right? Aerosmith!" He was able to summon Aerosmith like he thought, but it wound up going too fast to track. "Okay, that's new. And for some reason I'm feeling refreshed." Trish/Mista fired off a shot. "Whoa!," Une called out, "I'm not sure what's going on, but we're feeling supercharged!"

The shot easily blasted through six nearby iron bars. "Looks like Narancia's theory was accurate," Polnareff/Abbacchio noted, "But our Stands seems to be more powerful now." "That still doesn't help me," Abbacchio/Polnareff pointed out, "After all, it's my Stand causing all this." Giorno/Narancia finally got control of Aerosmith and started scanning around the Coliseum. "I'm not picking up any moving bodies. Just about everyone else is still sleeping."

"Hey," Fugo/Rarity said, "I just realized something. Buccellati hasn't joined us yet. In fact, his body is still lying over there, unconscious." "Yeah, but he's still breathing," Giorno/Narancia assured her. "That's what worries me," Fugo/Rarity pointed out, "If we're all sure who we swapped with, then who could Buccellati have swapped with? Because until I hear a talking turtle, I'm not trusting that still form." "I can't feel Father anymore," Mista/Trish pointed out, "But that may be because I'm in Mista's body."

"I dunno," Trish/Mista said, "I can't feel anything coming from anyone other than me." "I can say this much," came Diavolo's voice as he approached, "I doubt we'll be hearing any talking turtles." "Buccellati?," Narancia/Giorno asked cautiously. Sticky Fingers appeared near Diavolo, confirming that he did swap with Buccellati. "Polnareff," Rarity/Fugo said, "If this soul swapping has increased our power, can you stop Silver Chariot and reverse this?"

"I'm afraid not," Abbacchio/Polnareff said, "Even now Silver Chariot remains an independent Stand. But my spiritual strength has grown to the point where I understand what its power is." "How did you even discover this power?," Narancia/Giorno asked, "You seem to know a lot about it." "I found out by accident," Abbacchio/Polnareff explained, "One day while at home, my wife Malena accidentally knocked the arrow into a deep hole in the floor. There was no other choice but to use Silver Chariot to retrieve it."

He shrugged. "Normally when a Stand gets pierced by an arrow, all that happens is what usually happens when a Stand gets attacked, its user also feels that pain. This time was different. That particular arrow had a different purpose. Before my eyes, everyone in the village where I was living fell asleep. I realized that to whoever could control this power... Would go the right to dominate all souls! I retrieved the arrow from Silver Chariot before it could go berserk. This time I didn't have that chance."

He closed his eyes. "What's happening here is a manifestation of my will to keep that power away from Diavolo. Silver Chariot is doing so by creating confusion, swapping everyone's souls, and preventing any Stand from getting too close. Only by defeating Silver Chariot's shadow can we undo this." "But wouldn't that kill your Stand?," Narancia/Giorno asked. "Not necessarily," Abbacchio/Polnareff replied, "It would likely just go back to normal after a while, though it might need to recover for a bit first."

"What would happen if a Stand got too close to Silver Chariot?," Diavolo/Buccellati asked. Abbacchio/Polnareff closed his eyes. "Chariot... Or should I say Chariot Requiem... Would turn that Stand against the user. There is only one way to defeat it. We must find its shadow. One of us here has Chariot Requiem's shadow attached to it, in the form of a small ball of light. However, that would mean sacrificing that soul... Meaning our only way to stop this is making it so one soul can never return to its body..."

"This might explain why our Stands have powered up," Narancia/Giorno realized, "So Chariot Requiem can more effectively use them against us. And this is only a fragment of that power you spoke of." Just then, they heard the familiar sound of Buccellati. "What's going on? Boss... Boss what's happening? Damn it... Where's my phone?" The group turned and started in shock. Instead of acting like Diavolo, Buccellati's body was acting like someone else altogether.

"This can't be right...," Rarity/Fugo said, "Buccellati was with us when we swapped, and everyone else is accounted for." Just then, Fugo/Rarity felt something and shot out a crystal attack. The attack was aimed right for Mista's body, who dodged in what seemed to be a second. "Something's off!," she called out, "This new burst of energy let's me remember anything my crystals have touched and sense it's location, and I just felt King Crimson right inside Mista's body!"

Abbacchio/Polnareff then realized something. "That's right! When Diavolo showed himself earlier, he at first appeared to be that boy Doppio!" "I did just notice signs of a time skip!," Narancia/Giorno noted, "But if that's Doppio inside Buccellati's body, then that means..." "Split Personality Disorder," Rarity/Fugo realized, "This explains everything. Why no one's ever seen the boss. I've read that in extreme cases the different personalities can look completely different even within the same body, and can even be different ages."

"So this isn't really Diavolo's body!," Diavolo/Buccellati realized, "It's more accurate to call it Doppio's body!" "The incident with Diavolo's mother!," Fugo/Rarity realized, "Split Personality Disorder is typically caused by a severe shock during childhood! Diavolo must have split off at that moment, and eventually became dominate over Doppio!" "Only Doppio is bound by the swapped souls," Abbacchio/Polnareff realized, "But Diavolo might be able to piggyback to any other body he chooses. I don't know for sure, since I didn't anticipate this outcome. But he's definitely sharing a body with someone else."

Diavolo/Buccellati approached Buccellati/Doppio. "I'll handle him," he said, "Rarity, keep an eye on Trish's actions. The rest of you, go for the arrow." They all nodded and headed off. Buccellati/Doppio then spotted Diavolo/Buccellati. "Boss? No... Wait... Something's off... The boss never shows his face to anyone. Not even I have seen it." "Are you sure?," Diavolo/Buccellati said, getting out a small pocket mirror, "Because I think you know perfectly well what his face looks like." Buccellati/Doppio gasped as he looked at the image of himself as Buccellati.

The group soon caught up with Silver Chariot Requiem. "In this state I can prevent the final stage of Chariot Requiem's power," Abbacchio/Polnareff said, "And a good thing to, because that final stage is swapping lifeforms, instead of just souls." "What about the others?," Trish/Mista asked, "If Diavolo really is inside my body with Trish..." "I'm sure Rarity has things well in hand," Polnareff/Abbacchio replied, "We just need to be ready. Either Buccellati or Rarity will soon force Diavolo to remove the source of Chariot Requiem's shadow."

Mista/Trish found herself barely able to move as King Crimson had grabbed Spice Girl. "I can't normally control this body," Diavolo admitted, "The most I can do is direct King Crimson. But now that Trish's Stand has manifested, I can simply force it to move, and her along with it." "Lot of good that will do you," Fugo/Rarity pointed out, "I no longer need to tag you to track you. I can sense your very presence since I already tagged you back in Venezia. Not something I can do normally, mind you, but certainly something that will come in handy here, since you now know more about my powers."

She proved her point as Diavolo tried using his time erase to attack her using Mista's body, only for instant crystal formations to block him at the exact instant time started to be erased. "Too slow!," Fugo/Rarity called out, "Even erasing ten seconds is too slow to intercept me in this state!" Diavolo growled. "Then I'll just attack with King Crimson directly!" Fugo/Rarity smirked. "You'd need to let go of Spice Girl to do that, and that would free Trish up to get away from me. Or have you found some way to extend your normal attack range?"

She then found herself blocking directly with Art of the Dress. Mista's body looked like it was being thrown to the ground as it happened. "It only takes a split second to throw her where I need and let go of her long enough to attack," Diavolo pointed out. Fugo/Rarity grimaced. 'I obviously can't get him to destroy his own soul. At best, he'd damage it just enough to retrieve the arrow, but he'd only do that while near Chariot Requiem. I just need to buy time... Buccellati, I hope you can pull this off...'

"You're clearly hoping for some miracle to save you," Diavolo noted as he kept attacking, "I got the impression from hearing your conversations. All I need to find some way to get to that arrow, and take it for myself. The power to dominate souls... That is a power that I alone am worthy to wield!" "You're starting to sound like my grandfather's old nemesis," Fugo/Rarity noted, "There was an entity that desired the power to stand above all other beings. Yet even when he got it he was defeated."

"And you would stand against that will!?," Diavolo asked, "Against me!? All for one insignificant little girl!?" Just then, King Crimson winced as crystal exploded out of its form. There was a look of darkness in Fugo/Rarity's eyes. "How dare you... How dare you call Trish insignificant! How dare you think that of our friend! Your daughter! That's lower than merely seeing her as the continuation of a legacy, because at least then there's a small degree of caring for her!"

Diavolo growled. "You bitch!" King Crimson made to attack, not even caring about erasing time at this point. Art of the Dress moved to attack back, getting damaged but repairing quickly. "Damn it!," Diavolo called out, "Why am I not damaging you along with your Stand!?" Fugo/Rarity grinned. "Art of the Dress would need a physical form for that. But the crystal body you see is nothing more than another construct created by my Stand, which it can move at will." King Crimson made one final attack, but then disappeared. Diavolo and Fugo/Rarity blinked. "Oh," Fugo/Rarity said, "He did it."

Buccellati/Doppio looked surprised. "This is impossible! You have the boss's body! So why am I in yours!? Isn't this how this goes!?" "You must not have been overhearing us," Diavolo/Buccellati realized, "We were talking about how you and the boss are one and the same. A split personality that came about on the day your mother came to see you." Buccellati/Doppio started to remember everything that he had been thinking since he met with DeKurliss. "I don't remember anything about that day... Just seeing a woman... And after that everything's just a blur."

He clenched his fist. "I... Heard the story from that man Polnareff! And for the most part it makes sense! But at one point it just seemed to diverge from what I know! What is going on with my life! How can I be two people!? It just doesn't make sense!" "Yet it explains why you swapped with me," Diavolo/Buccellati noted, "This is actually your body, but Diavolo was in charge when it happened. Tell me, what happened when you fought that man back in Sardegna?"

"You mean Risotto?," Buccellati/Doppio asked, "He was using his powers to attack me. I was able to hold my own thanks to the boss granting me use of his Stand but..." His eyes then widened as remembered something DeKurliss said to him. "He loaned you his Stand?," Diavolo/Buccellati asked, "That should be impossible under normal circumstances. Each Stand is bound to the soul of a single person. But maybe... If you and Diavolo are in fact the same person with two different souls, it might be possible..."

Now really shaken up, Buccellati/Doppio called out, "No! Just shut up! Shut up! It can't be true! That would mean Trish is my daughter! I could never be brought to hurt my own flesh and blood! There's just no way!" He made to attack, and then came the biggest surprise of his life. King Crimson appeared from nowhere and made to attack Diavolo/Buccellati. It was such a sudden and amateurish attack that it was easy for Sticky Fingers to block, but it was a moment of dawning for Buccellati/Doppio.

"He hadn't given me permission...," Buccellati/Doppio realized, "And yet King Crimson appeared..." He dropped to his knees. "We really are the same person... Now everything makes sense. I've been plagued by bouts of missing time for as long as I can remember. How long...? How long has Diavolo been running around in my body while I was just a prisoner?" "At least fifteen years," Diavolo/Buccellati said. Buccellati/Doppio looked at Diavolo/Buccellati. "You know how to stop this, right?"

"The only way to reverse this effect is to defeat Silver Chariot," Diavolo/Buccellati replied, "And that requires a sacrifice of the soul. Someone must destroy their own soul to reverse this." Buccellati/Doppio stood up. "Diavolo could never sacrifice himself for his daughter..." He looked at King Crimson, who looked back. "But I could!" Diavolo realized what was happening. "Doppio, no!" But it was too late. Under Doppio's command, King Crimson grabbed a sphere of light behind its head and crushed it.

The rest of the group saw Silver Chariot Requiem start to fade out. "They must have finally succeeded," Abbacchio/Polnareff realized, "Chariot! Give the arrow to Narancia!" "Why me?," Giorno/Narancia asked. "Because when we swap back it'll be Giorno holding the arrow," Rarity/Fugo reminded him. Silver Chariot Requiem seemed to search out Narancia's soul and handed him the arrow just as it finished crumbling. At that moment, everyone's souls seemed to return to where they belonged.

"Oh, thank goodness we're back to normal," Rarity said, "Quite a jarring change in scenery though." Trish breathed a sigh of relief, "Wait, why am I still holding Mista's gun?" "More importantly," Giorno said, "Who was sacrificed to stop Chariot Requiem?" Trish then saw Doppio's spirit in the sky. "I'm sorry...," he said, "I wish it could have been me who became your father, because now that I know the truth... It feels more like we're family." Trish smiled as a tear fell from her eyes. "Ciao... Padre..."

*Looks at readers* What...? You guys wanted Buccellati to have a good fight, but does that really need to involve fists...? Whatever, we're almost done with this.

To be honest, Fighting Gold is my favorite Jojo opening... But what's up with that ENDING THEME!? Seriously David Productions, you really dropped the ball.

All around Roma people were returning to normal, muttering in confusion. One prisoner held in a cop car was wailing something about it being a dream after all, while the cop he had swapped bodies with was confused as to why he was cuffed to a lamppost with his own cuffs. Diavolo used King Crimson, which still existed thanks to his continued existence in spite of what happened to Doppio, to escape as Buccellati, Fugo, and Mista returned to normal.

"Who was it who once said 'we are all soldiers chosen by fate'?," he mused, "I know I heard that somewhere... Damn, I can't think of it." He clenched his fist. "But there is one thing I know for certain. When I obtained King Crimson and its power, I gained the power to control fate with my own two hands. Not a soldier... But a king! And now my best knight, Doppio, has caused that to slip from my hands! I thought I had full control of him since we shared the same body, but Polnareff's gambit undid that control! And DeKurliss! I wish it had been any fortune teller but him who Doppio met!"

He gritted his teeth. "They have the arrow right now! They went off chasing Silver Chariot, so they must have been close enough to retrieve it by now. I need to hurry and grab it, before they can use its power against me." Meanwhile, the three friends were looking around. "Shit!," Mista said, "Diavolo just ditched us! And my gun is still with Trish!" "Looks like Doppio sacrificing himself wasn't enough to destroy King Crimson for good," Buccellati realized.

"It's not all bad," Fugo said, "Polnareff had enough control over Chariot Requiem to command it to hand the arrow to Narancia, who was in Giorno's body." Buccellati blinked. "That means Giorno has the arrow right now! His Gold Experience is powerful enough with its ability to grant life! And his dream is far more grand than Polnareff's! What sort of power will the arrow give him!?" "Whatever it is, we don't wanna miss it!," Mista said, "Let's find the others! I need my gun back either way!"

When Diavolo finally found the rest of the group, he was shocked to learn he was too late. Giorno was holding the arrow in his hand. First Trish, then the others turned to see Diavolo. "Looks like we have the King in check," Polnareff noted, "It didn't exactly go as planned, but I was able to get the arrow to Giorno as Jotaro suggested." Diavolo raised an eyebrow. "Jotaro Kujo? You mean the leader of your old team? What does he have to do with this?"

"It all relates back to my father," Giorno said, "DIO Brando. I guess when Jotaro learned of my existence he got concerned, fearing that I might turn out like him. But at some point, from what Polnareff just said, he might have changed his mind." Polnareff chuckled. "It's true you have a lot from your father. That same ambition, charisma, cunning. But I also recognize the Joestar spirit in you. Truly, you are the best of both worlds." He looked to Giorno. "So... Let's see what that arrow can really do!"

Giorno raised the arrow high as Diavolo tried to race at him. "Gold Experience!" Gold Experience grabbed the arrow and stabbed itself, the familiar blinding light appearing as it got pierced, forcing Diavolo to stop in his tracks, and acting as a beacon for the remaining three members to follow. "Let's hope that's what I think it is!," Buccellati said as they hurried over. They arrived to see the scene unfold.

Diavolo had managed to forecast the event and quickly used King Crimson's power to try and stop the event, managing to punch through Gold Experience and send Giorno crashing to the ground. When it seemed like he wasn't moving, Diavolo laughed. "So much for that final hope! I'll admit I was scared when I saw what was happening, but I was able to predict it! In the end, only I can stand above all others! The arrow has rejected him! It can only be used by the strong of will!"

He went over to pick up the arrow, only to get a shock as Gold Experience grabbed it first. "What!?," Diavolo said in shock. "Strong of will?," Giorno said, completely fine, "Then maybe you're not as strong as you think you are. The signs were all there, after all. Your paranoid actions, your insistence on using subordinates until there is no choice left, your refusal to accept the past and attempt to remove it altogether. You're no king, you're just a pretender."

As he stood up, Gold Experience's skin seemed to peel away, revealing a new form beneath it. "Oh my goodness," Rarity said. "It looks like whatever damage Diavolo did never even happened," Trish realized. "The arrow hadn't rejected him," Buccellati realized, "In fact, it gave him greater power than even Silver Chariot while it had the arrow." Diavolo growled. "No... No! I am not weak! I am the Emperor of this country! I rule the underworld as I please! You will not take that from me! Giorno!"

King Crimson attacked again and again, more to remove Diavolo's rage than anything. Regardless, all it seemed to do was reveal more and more of Gold Experience's new form. From regular gold to a more sterling shine. The eyes actually having irises. The design changing as the old form peeled away. Feeling the new energy flowing through him, Giorno inspected himself. "Hmm, even as my Stand changes form, I feel no different. But I can sense it somehow. The new power the arrow gave me."

Finally Gold Experience finished changing as it absorbed the arrow. "Polnareff merely wanted to keep this arrow from you," Giorno said to Diavolo, "But my ambitions are higher. From the beginning I've wanted one thing... To be a gang-star! To control the Passione gang and protect Italy, from people like you! Now I have that power, to remove your influence from Italy forever! With the help of my new power... Gold Experience Requiem!"

Diavolo stood aghast at Gold Experience Requiem, its form seeming to have fully merged with the arrow. It looked familiar, yet not familiar, as Giorno stood confidently next to it. Some rubble floated as the energy from that power surrounded them, and Gold Experience Requiem casually flicked a piece right at King Crimson, shooting it through its hand, damaging Diavolo. He then saw the pebble had turned into a scorpion the second it hit a nearby pillar.

That scorpion then launched itself back at Diavolo with unnatural leaping ability, its tail tearing a chunk out of his cheek meat. "All that will survive," Giorno said, "Is the reality of this world... Righteous actions born from that reality will never be annihilated. My team... My friends... It is because we fought and lived together that I was able to lay claim to this arrow, this power. So Diavolo, are your actions born of reality, or just superficial evil?" "So...," Mista said, "Are our souls gonna get switched again?"

"I doubt it," Polnareff said, "Much in the same way Stand powers are different from person to person, I've every reason to believe Requiem powers are the same. And unlike me, Giorno seems to have complete control over Gold Experience Requiem." "It is a little different," Rarity noted, "Before he could just create living things, now he can actually control the creatures he creates. And like before, that's probably only where it begins."

Diavolo was trying to calm himself down. 'Keep calm... This is just a strength power-up, that's all. I wasn't able to see the attack itself, but I could still forecast it. Still, his power has been increased significantly. I can only barely dodge his attacks. But I can overcome this! I am the emperor, the one chosen for the apex! I have overcome every crisis I've ever faced! I can overcome this!' "Don't lecture me you cocky little brat!," he called out, "I won't even allow you the time to lament your own death! King Crimson!"

Time around him froze and began to unravel. "I can see everything his Stand will do now," Diavolo said as he watched Gold Experience Requiem, "Everything his Stand does, I can predict it all!" He took some blood from his hand and splattered it across Giorno's eyes. "My power stands at the apex of reality!" He grinned as he saw himself killing Giorno. "I did it! I won! I was a moment faster! My forecast shows me punching right through his heart! It's all over!"

As he made to copy the move, however, he saw a few insects flying by and stopped. He noticed they were flying backwards. In fact, everything seemed to be moving backwards. His fists, the blood he splattered on Giorno's face, everything. Even the time that was being unraveled by King Crimson was returning to normal. "What is this!? Impossible! Is this the true power of Requiem!? But no! The forecast still chose me! I can still win this! Die, Giorno Giovanna!"

He then gasped. As he made to attack, he realized he was looking at multiple copies of himself, all acting as still frames of himself moving to make the attack. "What is this...? Only I should be able to move within the erased time..." "This is the power of Requiem," came a new voice, and in a moment Diavolo realized it was Gold Experience Requiem. It was also moving, and talking. "What you see is reality, your ability to foresee the actions we will take. However... It is not the apex you think it is. My master holds the true apex, the ability to undo those actions."

It turned to look at Diavolo. "With my new power, you will never reach the reality that will occur! None who stand before me shall ever do so!" He then pointed to another Diavolo, repeating the same line he had said just before activating his ability. "You're kidding...," Diavolo said in realization, "Have I not even moved an inch from where I started!? Even with the forecast that predicted my inevitable victory... Has it truly been for nothing!?" Gold Experience Requiem only responded with silence, as in the next instant the group saw him and Giorno attacking Diavolo fiercely.

"MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA!" The group smiled as they saw what had happened. "He did it!," Mista said, "He managed to attack before Diavolo could erase time again!" "No...," Buccellati said, "It's more accurate to say Giorno undid Diavolo's attempt to erase time." Giorno smirked. "So this is the power Gold Experience gained. Looks like this is end, Diavolo. Now, disappear forever!" "MUDA!" With a final attack, Diavolo was sent crashing into the nearby river.

The others went to see what happened, but Diavolo seemed to have disappeared from the river. "Should we try and find him?," Narancia asked. "No," Giorno said, "Even if we do see him again, it will only be for a fleeting moment. I'm not entirely sure what Gold Experience Requiem did, but I do know Diavolo is no longer in a position to try and kill us." Abbacchio breathed a sigh of relief. "So... What do you think will happen to him?" Rarity grinned. "If Buccellati was right about Giorno removing the time erase, I think a better question is... What won't happen to him?"

Diavolo finally managed to emerge near a sewer drain in the river. "I thought I drowned for a moment there...," he said with a few coughs. He climbed onto the drain. "Still alive... But what was that...? Even with my forecast showing certain victory, Giorno still attacked and knocked me over the railing..." He tried to lift himself up. "My body feels like lead... But I think I can still move." He managed to drag himself out of the water and slumped against the side of the sewer.

"Hey, you punk!," a nearby man called out, "You... You trying to creep up on my coat and steal it from me!" Diavolo looked confused until he saw a few drug needles nearby, as well as a few other men. Clearly these were drug junkies living in the sewers. Before he could calm the man down, he felt a pain in his chest, and saw the man holding a bloody scalpel. The man had slashed Diavolo before he could do anything. 'What... What just happened...? Why is this happening to me...?' His vision started to fade as he bled out.

He woke up with a start, but was still lying down. He felt cold steel beneath him and looked around. To his confusion, he was lying on a slab in a morgue somewhere, probably still in Roma. A female coroner was reading a file nearby. "Date is the twenty-fifth, 11:20 AM, file number sixty-eight, headed by myself, Doctor Monica Ulterro. Subject is an adult male, age estimated to be thirty to forty, identity unknown." Diavolo tried to reply, but realized his mouth wasn't moving to form words.

"Judging from his skin condition," Doctor Ulterro continued, "Subject died somewhere from 48 to 54 hours ago. Now performing legally-mandated necropsy." 'Necropsy?,' Diavolo thought, 'Does she think I'm a dead body?' He tried to move, but his body wouldn't respond. In fact, he realized all he'd been able to move since he woke up were his eyes. Doctor Ulterro got out her tools. "Report stated that the body was found near the mouth of the river. Body had only inhaled a little water, meaning drowning is not the likely cause of death."

To Diavolo's horror, the woman started cutting into him. "Subject seems to have suffered a severe laceration, extending to the liver, likely cause of death. No failed attempts, so suicide is not a likely possibility. Now opening contents of the stomach." Diavolo was horrified to see his own organs being placed on a tray one by one. He realized what was happening. His body was being autopsied while he was still alive and conscious. He gave out a sudden scream at the horror of it all.

This caused him to wake up again, this time in the darkened streets of somewhere. He didn't recognize the location. He breathed a sigh of relief. "It was all a dream... Just a horrible dream..." He looked around. "But from the looks of it I'm not in Roma anymore. And it's night." He placed a hand on his face and rubbed it. "But I remember falling into the Tiber River... And the pain back at the morgue... What's happening to me?" "Hey, are you all right?," asked a nearby man.

Diavolo looked at the man, and got startled by his yapping dog. He was so startled that he wound up tripping backwards into the street, just in time for a nearby car to slam into him. Time seemed to slow as a realization dawned on him. 'This... This is the true power of Gold Experience Requiem! I'm experiencing all my worst fears, the worst ways I could think of to die! It's all playing at once, dying over and over with no permanent end! Damn it! Giorno saw me as a fool of a king, and now he's made sure I understand it too!' This was the last thing he thought before the car struck him, only for him to vanish from the street, ready for another death.

"Gold Experience Requiem removed it," Giorno said, "Diavolo's ability to arrive at an end. Now he'll never arrive at the reality of death, for eternity." "That's probably the worst fate anyone can receive," Abbacchio said, "Never knowing where the next death will come from, unable to hide his identity from anyone since they'll just keep seeing him. You took his paranoia and increased it several fold." "He's no longer in a position to do anything," Buccellati said, "Not lead Passione, not kill Trish, not keep attacking us." He chuckled. "It's all over."

Mista started sniffing at himself. "What's wrong?," Trish asked. "It's just... After swapping bodies for a bit, I was wondering if I really smelled so bad. Maybe I should start using cologne..." "I dunno," Trish said as she got close, "I think it's pretty comforting... The way you smell." She then grinned. "But your fingers still look a little funny!" Mista couldn't help but laugh, and Trish along with him. Giorno picked up the arrowhead that had dropped to the ground, his Stand back to normal. He looked over to Polnareff and saw Silver Chariot was also restored.

"I doubt I'll have any reason to use this again," Giorno said, "But it's a gift from the past that should not be destroyed." He then spotted Coco Jumbo. "Perhaps it would be best to store it in a safe place," Polnareff suggested. Giorno nodded, and placed the arrow inside Mr President. "So," Narancia said, "What happens now?" The group looked at each other. "Now," Buccellati said, "We rebuild the future." They all looked toward the Coliseum, as if thanking it for all that had happened there.

Mista opened the window as several higher ranked members of the Passione accepted Giorno as leader. After finding Diavolo's apartment, Giorno was brought up to full speed on the inner workings of the gang. Their plan was to make people think Giorno was the boss all along, or least a replacement boss for a few years after the old one died, and he didn't want to reveal himself too early since he was so young. Instead a proxy was asked to act in his stead, and Trish was actually the proxy's daughter, not his own.

As for why Giorno suddenly decided to reveal himself, he would say it was because of the sudden surge of traitors within the group, and since Buccellati and his team were the only members he felt he could trust, they made a show of going rouge to root out these traitors, which wound up including the proxy who was getting too big for his britches. If there was anyone who doubted this story, they didn't say anything and just accepted it, since it was clear he had all the knowledge and intellect needed to run the gang. Giorno looked around, at the new empire that was now his. 'We finally made it. Now... We are Gang-Stars.'

It's a happy ending, but we're not done with Golden Wind just yet. But since the Sleeping Slaves arc is being left out, I had something else in mind instead.

This is a chapter I've really been looking forward to. A nice little epilogue to Golden Wind.

Purple Haze Feedback was written by Kohei Kadono as part of Jojo's 25th anniversary, and is basically a chance to finally give Fugo something of a happy ending, as well as wrapping up his character arc.

Now keep in mind, all of the new Stands you will see in this chapter were created by Kadono. As such, I won't be including them in the OC Stand Archives since I didn't actually create them. You can find more information on them on the Jojo wiki.

It was some months after the defeat of Diavolo. With the loss of La Squadra and the removal of Diavolo's supporters during the events of that time, Passione was in need of restructuring. There were two things of particular importance. The first was the removal of Passione's drug trade. The whole point of taking over the gang was to remove that stain from their future. The second was the transferring of all of Passione's funding from the now defunct lire to the new standardized euro.

This process was going to Fugo, who was an expert at accounting. Numbers-wise Passione's capital would seem to take a drop, but note for note their fortunes would remain the same. The real hit to their income would be the loss of the drug trade, but Giorno and his friends agreed that they didn't need any more drug-addled kids on their conscience. Giorno was now fully realized as the leader of Passione, with Rarity as his top advisor. Fugo, Abbacchio, Narancia, and Mista were all made into capos alongside Buccellati.

As he was doing his work, Fugo was listening to the newest album from Denki Tamashi, "Sounds of New Meridian". It was a Japanese group, but Fugo was always a sucker for jazz of any sort. And it made for good silent listening, or motivation to keep on his work. As he finished the latest set of paperwork, he got a call from Giorno. "You got good timing, I was finishing up for the day." 'Good, because I have an important job that needs your special power,' Giorno said, 'Meet me at the Stadio Guiseppe Meazza.' Fugo raised an eyebrow, but replied, "Alright boss. I'll be right over."

A special box was reserved for members of Passione on the day of the big game, and it was here that Fugo came to meet with Giorno. "What's the big issue?," he asked. "We've whittled down the members of Passione's narcotics team to a handful of members who decided to splinter off," Giorno explained, "I'll give you the full details shortly, but knowing you I felt a quick explanation would be warranted." He smirked. "Just so you don't feel like your patience was tested."

Fugo shrugged. "You've really come to know me. But it's not just me being sent, is it?" A knock came at the door. "Ah, right on schedule," Giorno said, "You may enter." Rarity entered with a young woman right around Fugo's age. He recognized her as Sheila Capezzuto, a recent addition to the Passione gang. Also there were two members of the Speedwagon Foundation. "As you're aware," Giorno said, "Passione has started working in league with Speedwagon. As part of our agreement, we've offered to personally deal with the last four members of the narcotics team."

"And you want me to head up a team to eliminate them?," Fugo asked. Giorno nodded. Fugo nodded in response. "I don't mind the field work, but considering how powerful you are, shouldn't you be leading this team?" "Normally I would," Giorno admitted, "But this mission has a part two to it." "We believe this narcotics team may have knowledge of a stone mask once sought after by Nazi forces stationed in Italy," one of the Speedwagon members explained. "As I said before," Giorno continued, "My father became a vampire because of the stone mask. The Joestar family may accept me as one of them, but there's still concern that I may be tempted to use the mask's power for myself."

Fugo nodded in understanding. "So you decided to have someone else go and destroy the mask as a compromise. Someone both sides can trust." "That's technically Rarity," Giorno pointed out, "Her grandfather is a friend of the patriarch of the Joestar clan, after all. And the Speedwagon Foundation is very loyal to the Joestars in large part because their founder was a loyal friend of Joseph Joestar's grandfather." "But the narcotics team we're going after is dangerous," Rarity admitted, "At least two of their Stands could easily defeat King Crimson. If they wanted they could have taken over Passione, but chose not to because of the easy money."

Giorno got out some files and laid them out on the coffee table in the middle of the box. "Now there are four members of this team. The first is Vittorio Cataldi. A known psychotic masochist obsessed with pain. He believes pain calls the life force inside of him, and that civilized life is lacking that life force. His Stand, and yes all four members are Stand users, is Dolly Dagger. It inhabits a dagger and changes its form, and lets him reflect seventy percent of all damage done to him to whoever or whatever is reflected in the blade."

"Sounds like he's self-destructive and doesn't even know it," Fugo noted. Giorno nodded. "Next we have Angelica Attanasio. A rather spacey young woman, and possibly a severe drug addict. Her Stand, Nightbird Flying, can afflict people with the final stages of drug addiction." "Nasty," Fugo said, shaking his head. "We also have Vladimir Kocaqi," Giorno continued, "Among the team he's the most sociable, no surprise given he's the leader. He has quite a history stemming back to World War II. His Stand is Rainy Day Dream Away, which can lock in any sentiment or thought in a person."

"Apparently it's such a deceptively intricate power," Rarity said, "That Diavolo didn't want to antagonize him." "And finally," Giorno said, "We have Massimo Volpe. The second son of the prestigious Volpe family, he became heir to the family name after his older brother disowned himself, changed his last name, and moved to Japan to become a chef. The Volpe family apparently values titles above all else, so to them it's an insult to have a member of their family, especially the eldest son, take on such a commoner's craft."

"And what about Volpe's Stand?," Fugo asked. "And here's where we get into the source of the narcotics team's resources," Giorno said grimly, "Volpe's Stand is Manic Depression. It's a colony Stand that can increase the biological functions of organisms by piercing them with its thorns. It can also turn salt into a powerful opiate, which can be injected for a drug-like effect. But the drug can only last for two weeks and its effect loses potency if it gets too far from Volpe's range." "I'm starting to see how this group gained power so quickly," Fugo said.

"There's something else we should mention," Rarity said, "You remember Sale and Zucchero? Well they completely bought into the tale we told to allow Giorno to become boss of Passione, and as a matter of atonement for attacking us, they went after the narcotics team personally. It... Didn't end well for them. We found Sale's body floating in the middle of the Strait of Messina. His heart was ripped out. And there's been no sign of Zucchero." Fugo, remembering how much trouble those two were when they were hunting for Polpo's treasure, trembled. "Merda..."

Giorno nodded. "Yes, that's how dangerous these enemies are." He motioned to Sheila. "Sheila here will be assigned with you and Rarity as a third member, and we have a fourth waiting to meet you at a hotel in the city." Sheila nodded. "I'll strive to protect you, whatever it takes." "Let's not go overboard," Fugo said, "We've gone this long without losing any allies. And I'd hate to lose one just because they went on a suicide run." Rarity smirked. Sheila was rather attractive, and she could sense that Fugo might have been getting flustered at her rather minimal manner of dress.

At the hotel, as they waited for their fourth member, Fugo got to thinking about things. "Penny for your thoughts?," Rarity asked. "You've been sociable with me as of late," Fugo noted, "I think the only guy you hang around more than me is Giorno." "Well, we did swap bodies during the Requiem incident," Rarity pointed out, "Kinda makes it easier to connect with you. I believe that's why Mista and Trish eventually wound up dating." Fugo smiled. "She may not be a member of Passione, but she'll always be one of us."

He sighed. "I was just thinking back to my grandmother. Growing up, she was the only one I could really talk with. My grandfather wanted a title when he struck it rich, so he paired his son with the daughter of a bankrupt noble. I was the third son of that marriage, and the only one who showed promise." He scoffed. "My 'illustrious' entry into college at an early age came from bribery rather than the school recognizing my intelligence. I'd have been just as happy going through school normally."

He leaned back. "But my real passion was always in the arts. The musical talents of Bach and Mozart. The artistic works of Michelangelo and Da Vinci. The master architecture of Scamozzi and Bernini. If the best of the best lived hundreds of years ago, then why should I try to do anything more with my own talent? What's even left for me to do?" "Sounds like life as a gangster was your destiny even before the incident," Rarity noted. Fugo smiled. "I won't deny I've been able to accomplish more working with Buccellati than I ever could have at the university."

He then noted something. "Also, why use a American currency for a saying?" "Born in Manhattan, remember?," Rarity pointed out, "I'm technically Italian-American." Fugo facepalmed. "I keep forgetting your family history." He chuckled. "Reminds me of the first time I met Buccellati... When I explained how I knew he was a gangster, he talked for a bit about my situation, being jailed after beating that professor and getting disowned by my family. He flat out admitted he was the son of a fisherman and that he wasn't well-educated, and that he came to me because he needed my quick wit and extensive knowledge."

"That's a good point," Rarity noted, "You might be the only one of us who came from a high class family. Sure the Zeppelis might be well-known, but ultimately we're still working class. But wasn't Buccellati concerned you might want revenge against your parents?" "The thought never entered his mind," Fugo admitted, "As he heard me speak of what happened, he felt no such animosity. Truth be told there was none to be had." He closed his eyes. "And... He knew I had the eyes of a killer."

"When you get right down to it we're all killers," Rarity said, "We've each killed at least one person dealing with La Squadra and Diavolo's agents. Do you ever wonder what would have happened to your life if you hadn't met Buccellati?" "Sure," Fugo replied, "But I fit in so well with the gangster's life that I can't really imagine what it would have been like. Your earlier theory may be right, I was likely always meant to be a gangster." He turned his head away. "Though... I got a glimpse of what it could have been like... Through Narancia."

"Hope he's doing alright with his own duties," Rarity said, "He was real excited to get promoted to capo, but I'm not sure if he really has what it takes to run a territory." Fugo smiled. "I wouldn't worry. His book learning may be lacking, but he's street smart. Guaranteed his team is doing just fine." "Excuse me," Sheila said with a knock on the door, "We have two people authorized to be here at the door. One is the pizza that was ordered from room service. The other is our fourth member."

"Perfect timing," Rarity said as she went to address both. Sheila looked at Fugo. "Is it true that your Stand can infect anyone?" "Anyone I want it to," Fugo said, "It used to be too wild for me to control. Rarity showed that was only because I was afraid to get wild myself." "Could it infect you?," Sheila asked. "Sure," Fugo said, "At one time. Buccellati and I tested it by having Purple Haze infect a small part of me, which Buccellati cut away with his own Stand before the virus could kill me."

Sheila's eyes widened. "It was that power... That killed Illuso..." "Don't tell me, you had a deep connection to him?," Fugo asked, concerned. "He killed my sister," Sheila said, "I wanted to kill him, which is why I joined Passione. By that time Giorno came out as the boss. He told me Illuso was already dead by your hands. That's one reason why I wanted to join this team... To meet you, and thank you. My own Stand, Voodoo Child, is powerful, but I don't know if I could have used it to overcome Illuso's mirror world."

The two stared at each other, until Rarity came in, clearing her throat. "If you two are done flirting," she said, causing Sheila to get flustered, "Allow me to introduce our fourth member, Cannolo Murolo." A gangly old man with a clean-cut face and dressed like a classic movie mobster entered the room. He tipped his hat to the duo. "Pleasure to meet you. I'm a member of the analysis team." "He's also the one who recreated the photo of Santa Lucia Station for La Squadra," Rarity said, "In other words, that's why Ghiaccio was able to track us down in spite of our clever trick."

Murolo shrugged. "At the time I was just playing both sides on orders from the top. The idea was to pit Buccellati's team against La Squadra and wait for the dust to settle. It just turned out you had La Squadra just a little too outmatched. Hell, you could have even taken Risotto out if he hadn't decided to back off and try a smarter approach. Like, say... Looking for a certain building a certain someone might have taken a picture of." Fugo chuckled. "So you also told him about the picture of Trish's mother."

He shook his head. "The funny thing is I can't even bring myself to get angry at you, because ultimately those plans of yours lead to us taking over Passione." Murolo laughed. "Yeah, that Giorno is a far better boss than I could have expected. Just five seconds of talking with him trying to get a read on him, and I suddenly got the feeling he was the one examining me." He expression turned neutral. "Which reminds me. According to Giorno, you used know Volpe, even though he's supposed to be a closely guarded secret."

"That's because he's a former classmate of mine back at Universita di Bologna," Fugo explained, "I was only thirteen at the time, but my family had bribed the university to let me attend thinking my intellect was too good for ordinary school." The group started discussing the background of the narcotics team, and Volpe's role in it. Back when Diavolo started Passione, he fought against the abuses of older organizations. But this was only to get the trust of the people quickly.

Once he had an area under his thumb, he would replace the old drug trade with his own drugs, which Volpe supplied. "Risotto's team had wanted to take control of a drug route that baffled the oldest of professionals," Rarity noted, "But it seemed there was no such route. Volpe can literally conjure them from simple salt as if he were Jesus turning water into wine. They come fresh and spoil quickly, making it impossible to stock up on them or water them down."

She turned to Murolo. "Does your Stand have their location yet?" "One moment," Murolo said, "They're returning as we speak." All at once, a set of walking playing cards arrived at the table, coming in from places unseen. "Meet my Stand," Murolo explained, "I call it All Along the Watchtower. A full deck of fifty-three cards come to life. They can go anywhere, and see everything. This is the reason why the analysis team consists only of me... With my Stand I don't need anyone else."

He clapped as the cards formed into a tower. "They put on a delightful show as they feature their information to me, and since my Stand is split into fifty-three bodies any damage I take from Stand abilities is split fifty-three ways." The show was a bit confusing, but Fugo got the gist of it. The narcotics team was in Taormina, a commune on the island of Sicily. "I really have a bad feeling about this," Fugo said, "Nothing good ever happens in Sicily..."

Meanwhile, the narcotics team was in their usual warehouse, interrogating Zucchero. Or rather, what was left of him. Thanks to Angelica and her Nightbird Flying, Zucchero had lost control of Soft Machine and was now little more than a deflated balloon with a hole in it. "Figures Fugo would be one of the people Zucchero would target first," Vittorio said with a grin, Dolly Dagger waving between two of his fingers, "He and Narancia are supposed to be the strongest members of that group."

"Though if that correspondence from Diavolo a few days before his death is anything to go by," Kocaqi said, "That new girl, Rarita Zeppeli, is even stronger. Her Stand was able to match King Crimson with relative ease." He chuckled. "The power to erase time is not easy to overcome. Only a handful of powers are capable of doing so." "Still," Volpe said, "It's interesting what Zucchero said. The new boss, Giorno Giovanna. Not only is he intending to send Rarita after us, but also Fugo. I remember that name well."

"An old friend?," Angelica asked. "Fugo never really had anyone he could call friends," Volpe pointed out, "At least before he joined the gang. After... Who can say? We've been out of contact ever since he was expelled from Universita di Bologna. Suddenly the rumors of how Buccellati earned Polpo's favor are starting to make sense. They say he had the help of one capable of killing a lot of enemies at once. And to be honest, Fugo always seemed the type to snap and kill someone if pushed in just the right way."

"Rarita's no delicate flower herself," Vittorio noted, "They say she's the one who killed Prosciutto from La Squadra. It's not a easy thing, killing a trained professional assassin. Especially one capable of aging people to death with his powers." Volpe noticed blood coming Angelica's mouth and sighed. He walked over to and wiped the blood away. "Need a new fix?" "Yes please," she said. He nodded. "Manic Depression!" The small, skeletal goblin-like creatures appeared on Angelica's back and injected something into her, causing her eyes to glass over.

The problem with Angelica was that she suffered from a horrible blood disease. Regrettably it was a genetic one, so nothing from either medicine or Stand power could possibly cure her. Volpe had heard rumors that the town his older brother moved to had a Stand user that could repair things, but Angelica was not broken to begin with. The most he could do was use his Manic Depression to remove her pain, which to her felt like tiny needles flowing through her veins.

"The really sad thing is that she's an exception to a rule," Vittorio said, "That pain should allow her to survive easier, but that disease is slowly killing her. She's fated to die young. It's unfortunate. If not for that fact she'd be a great source of evidence to my assertions." He looked to Kocaqi. "Hey, when it finally happens we'll be doing the thing, right? The same way you let your sister die?" Kocaqi nodded. "Yes. I still remember my sister's final words as she passed. When I used my Stand to lock away her one final moment of hope, she said she felt as if she lived through eighty years of pure happiness."

He looked sad for a moment before clearing his throat. "Anyway, back to business. By now Passione has realized what happened to Zucchero and Sale. If both Fugo and Rarita are being sent, we can assume that two more powerful Stand users are being sent with them to balance out the numbers. I think we can safely assume that they've already tracked us down." "Let me take care of them," Vittorio said, "My Stand can reflect whatever they do to me. Even Fugo's little virus." "No," Kocaqi replied, "I'm the best choice against them."

Fugo smirked when he saw the sciopero, basically a strike, being organized in the ports around the Strait of Messina, especially since he recognized Abbacchio among the workers and officers. Abbacchio's new team was all about working with the police to target the worst criminals that weren't associated with Passione. While there were some in the police who didn't approve of Abbacchio joining a gang, they were all glad to be working with him again. Under his command, it got to the point where only Passione could get away with bribing the police anymore.

"So Passione organized this sciopero?," Sheila asked. "The less time the narcotics team has to prepare for our arrival the better," Rarity explained, "I've no doubt they expect us. We still haven't confirmed what happened to Zucchero, so it's likely he's being held and interrogated." They reached a warehouse where bloodstains had been found. Sheila summoned her Stand Voodoo Child, a rat-like humanoid, but Rarity stopped her. "We do have a key to this place. You need to learn subtlety if you hope to make it far in this gang." Murolo smirked as he got out a key and opened the heavy iron door.

The group moved inside the large warehouse until they reached a large stain on the floor. Sheila nodded. "Voodoo Child!" The rat Stand shrieked and started pounding at the stain. "ERI ERI ERI ERI ERI ERI ERI ERI ERI ERI ERI ERI ERI ERI ERI ERI ERI ERI!" Countless cracks started to form in the ground, which soon turned into lips that began speaking all at once. All the thoughts of people that had been in that warehouse at one point or another.

"So that's the power of your Stand," Fugo realized. "Before she joined the gang," Murolo explained, "Sheila had to identify her sister's killer. This is a representation of that, a Stand meant to bring secrets to the surface and find clues." Finally, as Sheila dismissed various unrelated voices, there was one Fugo recognized. "Stop. I'm hearing Volpe's voice now. I recognize it from the university." Sheila seemed confused. "It's just repeating 'obey you' over and over."

"Your Stand did suggest the narcotics team was fighting," Rarity said to Murolo, "Maybe Volpe tried to pull a coup but got beat by Kocaqi." "Well, the details don't matter," Fugo noted, "Our task is to eliminate Volpe, not profile him. The point is we have confirmation of the route his team took to Taormina. Sheila, did any of the voices belong to either Sale or Zucchero? It may offer a clue as to what happened to Zucchero." "Zucchero was saying something about his Stand getting out of control," Sheila said, "And Sale wondering why his heart had popped out of his chest."

"Simply popped out?," Murolo asked, "I think I can guess what happened. Sale's Kraft Work locks in kinetic energy, right? He probably used that to stop the heart of a member of the narcotics team. Unfortunately, the one he used it on was Vittorio." Rarity shook her head. "His Dolly Dagger... He would have been in pain because of the thirty percent damage he stills takes, but the remaining seventy percent damage would have killed Sale." They headed over to a yacht they'd be taking to Sicily.

Fugo smiled. "Takes me back to that little treasure hunt. Who knew a simple search for ten billion lire would lead to us taking over all of Passione?" He got out a small picture they had taken before that fateful quest. Buccellati had insisted that Giorno and Rarity be included, and Rarity's Art of the Dress insured the automatic camera could be used despite lacking a tripod. 'Our fates changed on that day,' he thought, 'And a lot more as well.'

Sicily was an island that had been conquered more times than any other location on Earth, yet to this day, despite being part of Italy, the locals called themselves Sicilians rather than Italians. This in spite of the fact that Sicily had assimilated so much culture that it was impossible to tell what was uniquely Sicilian. It was a place that bred both light and darkness in equal measure. Much is made of the invasion of Normandy in World War II, but what many forget is that it was the Allied invasion of Sicily that truly cemented the defeat of the Axis.

It was also the place where Archimedes made his home, passing on his knowledge before being struck down by invaders. And Guiseppe Fave wrote about the great human spectacle here, before being assassinated by the mafia he campaigned against. That was why Fugo felt nothing good ever happens in Sicily. It was that sort of place. "I remember the reason why we're targeting this group," Fugo said, "The human body naturally produces narcotics in response to suffering. But if it's taken externally, all it does is amplify that suffering."

He looked up. "Me, Giorno, Buccellati, we understood. People are free to do what they want, but what about those around them? The families that get concerned about them. Those who sell drugs are insulting everything that makes us human by taking advantage of weakness." He remained silent. "What's up?," Sheila asked. "I'm just reminded of when I helped Narancia get into Passione," Fugo said, "I showed him my Stand, Purple Haze. He didn't have Aerosmith at that point, but he could see the outline of Purple Haze, showing he at least had Stand potential. So I sent him to take Polpo's test, knowing it wouldn't kill him."

"I wonder if Buccellati didn't do the same with Mista," Rarity noted, "Show him Sticky Fingers to see if Mista could at least make it out. Buccellati already suspected Mista had Stand potential. It seems he only recommends those he knows will survive the test." As they arrived at Sicily, a light rain started pouring in. "Seems Kocaqi himself is preparing a welcoming committee," Rarity noted. The others looked at her. "I suspected Kocaqi's Stand might have something to do with rain from its name," she explained, "So I checked the weather report around Sicily before we left. No rain was expected for today."

They parked the yacht at the base of a sheer cliff to avoid the ports. Fugo, Rarity, and Sheila started using their Stands to climb the cliff wall, Fugo carrying Murolo on his back. "Kinda going slow, aren't you?," Murolo noted. "I need to be careful not to release my virus here," Fugo explained. Murolo looked confused. "I thought you could control the virus now." "I can," Fugo clarified, "But I only have six capsules to work with per day, so I need to conserve them."

They soon reached the top of the cliff. "Hey Rarity," Fugo said, "If the narcotics team still has Zucchero..." "If you're talking about that bit where I could track anything the crystals from my Stand have touched," Rarity said, "That was only because of the increased spiritual strength we experienced when we both swapped bodies. I lost that ability when we swapped back." Sheila suddenly started sniffing the air. "What's up with her?," Murolo asked. "Sheila apparently has a naturally song sense of smell," Fugo said, "What do you have, Sheila?"

"Someone's vomit," she replied, "The stomach acid is heavy, rotting, but not fermenting." The group looked at each other. "Fugo, go with Sheila and find the source of that smell," Rarity said, "Me and Murolo will check the city for signs of the narcotics team." "Got it," Fugo said. He followed the young woman through the narrow city streets until they reached a dark stain on the ground. "The source is here," Sheila said, "A man drank often, but did not habitually do drugs. Clearly not a member of the team."

"Someone under the effect of Manic Depression then," Fugo noted. Sheila nodded. "But the reaction is too powerful. Too... Too raw. Meaning he didn't take this as a drug." Fugo recoiled. "If he was directly under Volpe's influence..." He and Sheila turned in response to a sudden groaning sound, and spotted a rippling in the pavement. Fugo recognized it immediately. "Not this time...," he muttered, and he and Sheila leapt out of the way as Soft Machine appeared trying to stab them.

"Fugo," Sheila said, "That was Soft Machine, wasn't it? Has Zucchero betrayed us?" Fugo spotted Zucchero's deflated form and considered the situation. "No. If he had he wouldn't be in this state. Look, he's moving at the nearest sound. He's trying to get away, trying to escape Manic Depression's range." He leapt down to Zucchero and shot a capsule from Purple Haze into him. The virus was directed more at the narcotic than Zucchero, allowing him to reinflate himself. Starting to recover his sight, he soon recognized Fugo. "Thank... Thanks, Fugo... They... They got Sale... Saw what happened when he tried to attack one of them..."

"We know," Fugo said, "We found his body." Zucchero coughed a little as his body started to readjust after spending so long being flattened. "Couldn't keep Soft Machine under control... Those four are dangerous when working together. But... Right now their leader split off... Said he could take you all out himself..." Sheila gasped. "You were just a decoy to separate us. He must be trying to go after Rarity and Murolo." Zucchero looked confused. "You guys brought in Murolo? Not sure if he can be trusted."

"That's only because he doesn't trust anyone save for Giorno," Fugo pointed out. Zucchero chuckled weakly. "That kid..." Fugo stood up. "Think you'll be alright by yourself?" "I've already served my purpose to those assholes," Zucchero said, "And it'll only take me a few minutes to recover." They ran off, as Zucchero tried to pick himself up. 'Sorry I couldn't you help you, Sale... But maybe if I can get back on my feet I can make up for it.'

Meanwhile, Rarity and Murolo entered the Teatro Greco. The open air theater was completely deserted because of the continuing rain. Murolo sighed. "I was hoping to mingle with the tourists and attract less attention on our way into town." "That was never an option," Rarity noted, "Not when Volpe and his team know we're after them." Murolo carefully scanned the theater until he found an elderly man carrying an umbrella and standing straight. "Ah... I see what you mean."

Indeed, the man matched the photo of Kocaqi. "I'd hoped to catch Fugo as well," Kocaqi said, "But you sent him off with the young lady. I must admit, I never expected such an action." "There's more to our mission than you realize," Rarity said. Kocaqi narrowed his eyes. "Yes... There must be. With how powerful Giorno is, he could easily come here and kill all of us before we even had time to approach him, let alone damage him." He sighed. "I have so much to say about each of you."

"This rain is your Stand, isn't it?," Rarity said, surprising Kocaqi. Rarity smirked. "I checked the local weather before coming here. I was raised as a farm girl, so I got in the habit of checking local weather reports for wherever I'm traveling." Just then, Fugo and Sheila showed up. "That was faster than I thought," Kocaqi admitted, "But I can still work with this. After all, I know quite a bit about all of you." Sheila didn't give him a chance to keep speaking, using Voodoo Child to strike at him, scratching him and creating a pair of lips.

However, all it said was how happy it was. "What was that supposed to be?," Kocaqi asked. "That was supposed to expose your deepest guilt," Sheila said. Kocaqi smiled. "Sadly it doesn't work on me. What I did to my sister was likely the kindest thing I could have done, so I've nothing to feel guilty for." He grinned when the look of surprise on her face. "That's what I need to win this. It seems you'll be the first I defeat." Sheila grunted, then rushed at Kocaqi.

He grinned as she approached, but that grin faded when Voodoo Child plowed its fist into his stomach. "What... What happened...? I locked in that thought of defeat you were having..." "So you can't read minds," Sheila realized, "You rely on cold reading to make your Stand work. What you thought was a look of defeat was actually an idea that I'd have to rely on Voodoo Child's incredible strength." She smirked. "And you just locked that idea in me, so now I'll only be using that strength... And I'm guessing you can't undo that power once it's locked in!" Voodoo Child went to attack, pummeling Kocaqi.

"ERI ERI ERI ERI ERI ERI ERI ERI ERI ERI ERI ERI ERI ERI ERI ERI ERI ERI!" The final attack punched right through Kocaqi's brain, killing him instantly. At that moment the rain stopped, and Sheila felt her adrenaline fade. She stumbled a bit, only to get caught by Fugo. "You alright?," he asked with a grin. "I'm never doing that again...," she muttered. "We should cover our tracks before moving on," Murolo suggested, "The others members will know Kocaqi's dead from the stop in the rain, but we can at least keep them from finding where we encountered him." Fugo nodded as he popped out another virus capsule to dissolve Kocaqi's body.

Meanwhile, back in Napoli, Giorno was speaking with Kakyoin, a representative of Speedwagon, as well as Polnareff, who was a point of commonality between the two groups. "I understand that Speedwagon doesn't completely trust me yet, given my father's history," Giorno said. "That's merely the group as a whole," Kakyoin clarified, "On an individual level, well that depends on the person. While you do have similarities to DIO, I can tell after speaking with you that you are nothing like him."

Just then a young man entered the room. "Pardon the intrusion boss." Giorno nodded. "Gentleman, this is Gianluca Pericolo. His father Nunzio used to be a capo for the group before sacrificing himself for the good of the gang. It was Gianluca who convinced the other capos to remain loyal to me, and he was rewarded with his father's territories as a new capo." Gianluca bowed. "Murolo's just sent us a progress report regarding the removal of the narcotics team. He's confirmed that Vladimir Kocaqi is dead and his body has been disposed of."

Giorno nodded grimly. "A shame to lose such a fine man. Given his history I had hoped we could get along, but he refused to disband his team's narcotics distribution. My hand was forced." "There's more news," Gianluca said, "Mario Zucchero was found alive and well by Fugo and Sheila. We've sent a pickup team to the port in Sicily to retrieve him." Giorno smiled. "Good. He'll be given a place of honor at Sale's funeral. They were friends and partners from what I know of them. I'm sure he'll appreciate it. The report said nothing about the other three narcotics team members, correct?"

"No, sir," Gianluca confirmed, "Murolo and Rarity found Kocaqi by himself. It's clear he planned on taking them out personally by himself." "A bad tactical decision," Polnareff noted, "All four combined would be more than an equal number of assassins could handle. Kocaqi must have fallen victim to a trap that so many Stand users, myself included, fall into... Overconfidence in their powers." Giorno turned to Gianluca. "Make sure to keep me posted. If I cannot be reached, send any information to Buccellati." Gianluca nodded and bowed. "Yes Boss."

Giorno was not the only one who had learned what happened to Kocaqi. Just as Murolo predicted, the sight of the rain suddenly stopping was enough to clue the other three members that he was dead. Angelica was sitting in a corner sobbing. Vittorio was biting his lip hard and smashing his head against the wall, his Stand preventing him from dying as a result, as bite marks and indentations were appearing in another wall. Volpe remained silent, but the sadness in his eyes was evident.

"They're more dangerous than we thought," he finally said, "We should have all been there, like we were with Sale and Zucchero. Now we're weaker." Vittorio finally stopped hitting his head, having gotten all his frustrations out. "Then maybe we should go after it, like he wanted us to." Angelica stopped crying long enough to look at him. "You really think it will work? Kocaqi knew more about it than us, but even he seemed skeptical about it. And he only intended it as a last resort."

Volpe nodded. "He talked about how the Nazis were obsessed with the idea of eternal life. They learned of the stone mask, which could supposedly bring about a human's full potential, and even supposedly found a more evolved form of human beneath the Coliseum. But the mask that was supposed to be here in Sicily was never found. By the time they could find it, the colonel in charge of the search, Rudol von Stroheim, was killed in Stalingrad, and the allied forces retook Sicily shortly thereafter."

"And now we need that mask to avenge Kocaqi!," Vittorio declared. Volpe sighed. "Very well. But we still don't know exactly what it can do. All Kocaqi knows about it is the instructions to activate it. Blood is life. Whatever that means." The three of them left the room, leaving behind a horrid sight. The room was full of guts and gore, the end result of Volpe's Stand at its worst. Outside, Volpe muttered, "Just what is this stone mask?"

Shortly thereafter, the group found the room in question. Rarity gingerly stepped around the blood and viscera, her nose wrinkling from the smell. "Reminds me of the Sicilian mafia back in Manhattan. They would always make a messy show of their kills as a way to send a message." "This was no message," Sheila noted, "They were no partners of the narcotics team." "She's right," Murolo said, "They were Sicilian gangsters, born on the homeland. They had no involvement with Passione. They must have been friends with Kocaqi, but turned on the others when he died."

Fugo surveyed the room. "All things considered, I think we can assume Volpe killed all of them personally. This definitely fits with what we know Manic Depression can do." Murolo nodded. "Agreed. It's hard to be sure, but from the amount we can see, I'd say there were at least twenty men here. That shows just how dangerous Volpe is." He spotted the cards from his Stand arriving from around the room. "Fugo, can you clear a spot on the dresser over there?" "Fine," Fugo said, "But this is three capsules I've used so far."

"Then let me clear it out," Rarity said, "We need all the virus we can muster against Volpe. Art of the Dress!" Her crystalline Stand appeared and created a smooth surface over the messy dresser. Murolo smirked. "That'll work too." The cards did their little song and dance and Murolo frowned. "They're going for the mask! Kocaqi must have told them were it might be before he went to confront us!" "One death of their team and they go for it?," Sheila asked, "I'd heard they were tight-knit but seriously. The other three working together might have a chance against us."

"At least this explains why Giorno was so convinced they'd reveal themselves," Rarity noted, "They won't care who gets in their way as they track down the mask, so all we have to do is follow the carnage. Murolo, where are they heading?" Murolo kept clapping as the cards continued their act. "Ortygia," he said. "They're following the coast down to Syracuse," Fugo realized, "The mask must be in one of the ruins on the island. Likely left by the Pillar Men who originally created them."

"If we know where they're going we just need to be able to get there ahead of them," Murolo said as he got out his phone to call in a helicopter. Soon the group was flying along the route they expected Volpe and the others were taking. Fugo chuckled as he shook his head. "When Narancia hears about this part he'll be so jealous." The helicopter came within a couple minutes. "That reminds me," Sheila said, "What happened to Diavolo's daughter, Trish?" Fugo smiled. "She went back to her career as a singer. Officially she's been taking a trip across Italy to get over her mother's death."

"Giorno trusts all of us to let us in on the secret," Murolo said, "But I gotta say... Why'd it take Rarity practically kicking your teeth in for you to decide to go along with the rest of the group?" Fugo looked out the window of the helicopter. "I was scared... Scared that this would lead to Buccellati's death. In the end it turned out my fears were unfounded." "I heard Mista was the first to side with you guys," Sheila said. "He always the type to do what his heart told him," Fugo noted, "Of course, the fact that there were already four people in the boat meant he had no trouble getting in first, since that would make him the fifth person to get in."

Rarity realized something. "I'm just glad his mind wasn't on the fact that there were four people in the boat period." Fugo blinked, then facepalmed. "Wow..." He then spotted something, a small bird flying near the window. "Pilot how fast are we going?" The Passione pilot checked the gauge. "We're at 250 kph." Murolo grimaced. "Merda! That's no bird, it's Nightbird Flying! Angelica's spotted us!" Unfortunately, the effect took the pilot quickly, causing the helicopter to tailspin as the passengers, except for Murolo, flew out the open door.

Rarity acted quickly, growing crystals on her own back first, using the same trick she used to torture so many other enemies to cause herself pain and snap her out of the drag-addled state Nightbird Flying was starting to put her under. She spotted Fugo and Sheila nearby, but couldn't find Murolo. 'He should be fine on his own. He knows where the stone mask is, and his Stand makes him hard to kill.' "Art of the Dress!" She aimed for Fugo and used the same trick, snapping him out of his stupor. He in turn grabbed Sheila's hands before pinching her cheek, waking her up.

"What's happening!?," she called out. "The tailspin must have knocked us out of the helicopter!," Fugo realized, "Rarity, where's Murolo!?" "I couldn't see him!," Rarity admitted, "But knowing him, he'll be fine! We should focus on not becoming stains on the pavement below!" She took the crystals on her and Fugo's backs and created some makeshift gliders, Fugo grabbing Sheila bridal style to carry her down as they made a landing. The helicopter landed in the water, sealing the fate of the pilot at least. Murolo was more up in the air.

Sheila blushed when she realized she was still being carried by Fugo and cleared her throat. "You can put me down now..." Fugo got flustered, but carefully dropped Sheila's legs. "What now?," Sheila said, "Call for help?" "Won't work," Rarity noted, "They already know we're here. If Murolo survived he'll make a beeline for the mask, and might even get whichever member of the narcotics team was sent to retrieve it, Vittorio if I had to make a guess." "Leaving Angelica and Volpe for us to deal with," Fugo noted. He summoned Purple Haze. "I have four capsules left, after that I'll need to rely on Purple Haze's brute strength for the rest of the day."

"Luckily Art of the Dress never runs out of crystals," Rarity said, "I'll handle Angelica, you two look for Volpe." Elsewhere in the area, Vittorio was celebrating. "Alright! Blackhawk down!" "It wasn't a Blackhawk," Volpe reminded him, "And it's not over." "Don't forgot extreme shock from pain can undo my Stand's effect," Angelica said, "And Rarita's Stand specializes in causing pain." "Okay, so we can assume at least two survived," Vittorio said, "Maybe three. I can finish them off."

"No," Volpe said, "By now they've figured out we're looking for something. Angelica and I will wait here and ambush them. You go for the mask. You work best alone and have the greatest defense." "You're also faster than me at the very least," Angelica reminded him, "And unless some miracle cures me, Volpe needs to stay nearby to administer Manic Depression." Vittorio sighed. "Fine..." He headed off. "Just make sure to keep falling back as you wait so we can meet up quicker!" Volpe nodded.

As Fugo and Sheila were driving through the city, a call in from the two-way Rarity had given them. 'This is Murolo. I managed to escape the crashed helicopter. I'm making my way to the ruin.' "Good to hear you're alive, Murolo," Fugo said, "We're cleaning up with the last remaining members. Keep on guard, we suspect one of them was sent to retrieve the mask, Vittorio most likely." 'Vittorio I can handle,' Murolo assured him, 'In fact, he's probably the only team member I can handle. I'll leave the other two to you. Be careful.'

Unfortunately, driving through the city wasn't easy. Nightbird Flying was affecting just about everyone in the city, causing terrible traffic conditions. The sharp crystals in his back kept Fugo awake, but Sheila didn't have any, so Fugo kept pinching her cheek every once in a while. "By the way," Sheila said, "I know you never intended to torture Illuso when you killed him, but he suffered anyway, likely regretting he was born. So... Thanks." "I didn't really do much," Fugo clarified, "Just finished him off. Giorno and Abbacchio did much of the heavy lifting."

Just then, Fugo had to hit the brakes. Volpe was standing in front of them. "His Stand is only dangerous if he hits us," Sheila realized, "If we run him down..." "That might not work," Fugo said, "It can increase biological functions... But I get the feeling he can control the frequency at which they're increased. If he wants the stone mask... I can only think of one reason why." Sure enough, Volpe grinned. "At least Fugo's smart enough not to try ramming me. Not that it will help. Manic Depression!"

His Stand appeared and stabbed him, accelerating his body to point of near evolution. He gave an inhuman breath as he stepped forward, grabbing a nearby car. Getting a bad feeling, Fugo put their car in reverse as Volpe threw the other car at them like it was a basketball. "That's why he wants the mask!," Sheila realized, "He's exhibiting strength equal to that of a vampire, but he must not be able to sustain it! He needs to mask to make it permanent, and then push beyond it!" "If Manic Depression gets used on a vampire," Fugo said, "It could make them as strong as a Pillar Man!"

Vittorio had reached the Duomo in Syracuse, where the stone mask was supposed to be. Once he found it, he grinned. "Now we've won." Just then, he heard the sound of clapping, causing him to whirl around in confusion. 'Angelica's Stand turned all of Ortygia into zombies. But this clapping is too rhythmic, so who could it be?' He then realized he was no longer holding the mask. He soon spotted it moving along the floor like a cockroach, too fast to be normal.

He followed it out to the hall and gasped. There in the hall, clapping, was the familiar form of Murolo. "Keep it right there for a moment," Murolo said to no one in particular as he pulled out a knife and pricked his finger. He let a drop of blood hit the mask, causing curved spikes to shoot out from the rim. "If someone was wearing this, those spikes would pierce their brain," he noted, "Looks like this is the real deal." Before Vittorio could do anything, Murolo pulled out a gun and fired at the mask, shattering it into a thousand pieces.

Vittorio stepped back in shock. "You didn't... Do you realize the power that mask can give!?" "All too well," Murolo admitted, "And it's why the boss wants it destroyed. We weren't entirely sure where it was, but we figured you did. Of course, things went faster than expected. I'll admit, I was surprised that it only took one death to send you running for the mask." Vittorio growled. "You're dead! Dolly Dagger!" He immediately slit his own throat, making sure Murolo was kept in the blade's reflection.

Because of his Stand's power, Vittorio only got a small scratch, but to his shock, Murolo was not harmed at all. He then saw a playing card fall to the ground. Looking up, Vittorio gasped. The ceiling was covered in playing cards. Murolo then pointed to the nearby joker card, which was dancing like it was in a drunken stupor. 'No,' Vittorio realized as he thought this, 'Like he's in a drugged hallucination!' "It's not that your Stand or Angelica's can't effect me," Murolo clarified, "In fact, they can. But that effect is divided by fifty-three. Rarity probably realized this as she went to save Fugo and Sheila."

He chuckled. "Her Stand makes her well suited to take out Angelica. And since Sheila already killed Kocaqi, I guess that leaves it up to Fugo to finish off Volpe. Sounds rather perfect. After all, here I am ready to deal with you." Vittorio realized what Murolo was implying. Dolly Dagger reflected seventy percent of the damage Vittorio took, meaning he still took thirty percent. But that seventy percent was turned into 1.3% against Murolo. However, there was still a chance. He could only do this fifty-one more times, since one card was holding the effect of Nightbird Flying and his last attack took out a different card.

"Right now you're probably thinking you can just cut through all my cards one by one," Murolo said, "A good idea on paper. But that's the thinking of a man who claims to have no fear. But a man without fear is a man without hope. I know, because I used to be like that, until I met Giorno. Before then I thought I was invincible, which was the reason why I pit Risotto and Diavolo against each other. Giorno turned that around on me. He said, that I hadn't really betrayed anyone, because no one gave me the chance to betray them, since nobody ever really trusted me."

He chuckled. "He saw right through me. That's when I realized that Giorno Giovanna is a man you do not want to disappoint. It was the first time I'd felt shame, felt fear, felt... Well, any emotion in general. Now you may be asking why I'm bothering to talk with you if I'm here to kill you. Well, here's the thing. Giorno already tried negotiating with Kocaqi, but he refused to negotiate, so we never bothered giving him a second chance. Volpe... He's too dangerous. Negotiation was never an option for him. And Angelica's time is limited."

He pointed to Vittorio. "But you... You are different. The boss feels you are worth salvaging. You have a chance here to forge a future for yourself. Now I'm not asking you to trust me, or Giorno. That's something that needs to be earned. But the first step, is up to you." Vittorio seemed to hesitate for a bit, but nonetheless he lifted his dagger and screamed, stabbing himself over and over, trying desperately to cut through every card Murolo had to finally kill him.

He thought he scored a victory when he saw a trickle of blood come from Murolo's lips, but he was so damaged from his attempts that he died from his injuries before he could be sure. In reality, all he had managed to do was cut Murolo's lip. Murolo sighed as he wiped away the blood with his handkerchief. "A shame... We could have used you. Resquieta in Pace." He decided to check in with the others, but no one was answering the two-way. "I hope they're all right."

By now Rarity was starting to feel numb, even the pain from the crystals starting to fade. Not to mention there were zombie-like citizens coming in from all sides. She still had enough clarity to push them all back with a few crystal walls. Her only target here was Angelica, she wasn't about to hurt innocent civilians. At that moment, she felt something drive into her side. She looked to see it was a knife, and she spotted what looked like Angelica running away from her.

'She must have made her way through the crowd as I tried to clear space,' she thought. She carefully removed the knife, covering the wound with her crystals as she did to stop the bleeding, before pointing at Angelica. "Art of the Dress!" Art of the Dress' body exploded, sending crystal flying into Angelica, causing her to scream out in terrible pain. As Art of the Dress formed itself a new body, Rarity made the crystals dig deep into Angelica's body. It soon got to point were she had to dispel the crystals from her back since they were starting to hurt again, meaning Angelica was starting to die, her Stand dispelling.

Angelica managed to reach Volpe as the crystals started to reach her organs. "Angelica!," he called out. "Massimo...," she said weakly, "It hurts... It's worse than... Worse than the disease could ever be..." She reached up weakly, turning up his lips into a smile. "There... You look... Much cuter like that..." At that moment, she fell limp like a puppet with its strings cut, the crystals having reached her heart. Holding her lifeless body in his arms, he began to cry.

"You always thought we were the same," came Fugo's voice. He had seen the whole thing and was right behind Volpe. Volpe turned around, venom in his eyes. "You never cared about anyone, and thought I was a hypocrite for pretending to care. But it looks like the reverse was true. I just never had anyone to truly care about until I encountered Buccellati... Just like you." Now confronted with his own hypocrisy, Volpe roared into the night sky. "Damn you... Fugo!"

He ran at Fugo full speed, his Stand fully active to kill the man he hated from the moment he first laid eyes on him. It would be the last mistake he ever made. Earlier, Fugo had placed one of Purple Haze's virus capsules in his mouth, hiding it in his cheek. Now he waited until Volpe was right within five meters and bit down on it, spitting out the contents as Volpe was right in his face. Volpe gasped when he saw this, but it was too late.

Murolo arrived just in time for the horrific show, Rarity coming up as well. Sheila was already watching in horrid fascination as Volpe was consumed by the virus. His last thoughts were of his brother, Tonio. 'Arrivederci... Tonio... I hope your restaurant was a success...' This was the last thing on his mind before his brain lacked the mass for any more rational thought. Fugo looked to the others one by one. "Mission accomplished. Let's go home."

Back in the restaurant where the group had all met Giorno and Rarity, Fugo was thinking something to himself. 'We all joined Buccellati because we believed in him. Because he had changed our lives. But it wasn't until Giorno had joined that Buccellati had his own turning point. Others called it Buccellati's team... But looking back, it was Giorno who was really in charge. And Rarity? She likely had her own turning point when she met Giorno. Perhaps she was also a turning point for him.'

"Fugo," Sheila said as she approached, "Everything's set up. Our team is starting to get formed." Fugo nodded. He wasn't sure if anything would really develop between him and Sheila, the way it had with Giorno and Rarity, but they seemed to have good chemistry together. Almost like Fugo had been Sheila's turning point. But either way, only one thing hadn't changed. Passione would work to protect the future of Italy, with Giorno leading the way.

And so we begin Stone Ocean, and man is this one a doozy.

In fact, I'm pretty sure back in Morioh, Pinkie is practically bouncing off the walls.

The year was now 2011. Iro Dashell grumbled as she was lead to her new holding cell at a local precinct. She scoffed at the laughs she got at her rainbow-colored hair, which was actually natural and caused people to give her the nickname Rainbow Dash. One of the cells was opened and she was brought inside. "You'll be having a cellmate," the guard explained, "That's her over there." Sitting with her head against the bed was a young woman with black hair that had neon yellow highlights.

"What's with you?," Rainbow asked. "I'm so embarrassed...," came the girl's muffled voice, "I woke up this morning feeling a certain urge... And a male guard spotted me as a I decided to masturbate." Rainbow blinked, then burst out in raucous laughter. "Oh great, not you too," the girl said, "My neighbors in the next cell are the same." "Sorry, sorry," Rainbow said, "It's just something I wasn't expecting to hear after getting sent to jail." The girl shrugged. "So, you're my new cellmate, huh? What's your name?"

"Iro Dashell," Rainbow said, "My friends call me Rainbow Dash. That is... If I still have friends after what happened." The girl smirked. "I'm Jolyne Kujo. So what did you do?" "I beat up some bullies who were abusing a girl who's practically my little sister," Rainbow explained, "She's not actually my sister, but she might as well be. Anyway, they wound up in the hospital, and won't be getting out anytime soon."

Jolyne laughed. "Sounds like my dad back when he was in high school! Anyway, supposedly I murdered someone... But my family's lawyers are arguing that I was framed." "Your family has regular lawyers?," Rainbow asked. "Ever heard of the Joestars?," Jolyne asked. "Have I?," Rainbow asked sarcastically, "Lady, my great-great-great-grandfather is the Robert EO Speedwagon. No joke." Jolyne looked surprised, but could somehow believe Rainbow's words. She smirked. "Well, my great-grandfather is Joseph Joestar."

The guards came in, calling out a few numbers for transfer. "That's our cell," Jolyne said, "Looks like we'll be prison buddies for a while." She got out a small locket, inside was a picture of her father, Jotaro, and her mother, Fluttershy. 'I was able to master my Stand while in Morioh, but I still haven't found an appropriate name for it.' The two of them got on the prison transport, along with two other girls. As they drove along, Jolyne moved the strings from her Stand to listen in on what the driver was saying to the dispatch.

She then noticed Rainbow was raising an eyebrow and grinned. "You can see them, can't you?" "I'm more surprised other people here can't," Rainbow said. "So," Jolyne said, "Do you have a power of your own, or just the potential to gain one?" Rainbow looked confused, but said nothing. Jolyne just smirked. "Apparently this prison is on an island. The driver said that we'll reach it within ten minutes once we cross the bridge." Another woman on the bus looked surprised. "How can you hear what he's saying?"

"We'll be crossing the bridge now," the driver said, "We'll reach it within ten minutes." Jolyne looked smug at the woman's surprise. "Jeez, how many tricks do you know?," the woman asked. Rainbow realized this woman didn't seem to see the strings Jolyne was using. The woman just shrugged. "Anyway, the name's Ermes Costello. I'm in here for robbing a convenience store. This'll be my second time here. So, you two bring any cash? You're gonna need it where we're going. I'd recommend a hundred dollars at least. Two-hundred if you want to be safe."

The place they were going was the Green Dolphin Street Prison in Florida, a large prison-city holding 708 male convicts, 523 female, and 452 juveniles, occupying an area of 120 square kilometers. "Oh, don't worry about me," Jolyne said, "I have some cash in a safe place." In fact, she had cleverly hidden some pocket cash in the braids of her hair. Not that she was expecting to need any. "What about you?," Rainbow asked Ermes. Ermes looked to make sure no one was listening, then carefully pulled aside her sweater to reveal a small hole just under her breast.

"You're kidding...," Jolyne muttered. As the car stopped, Rainbow and Jolyne were lead out. But Jolyne didn't trust the way the guards were looking at Ermes and telling her to wait while in the car. She carefully unraveled some of the string that made up her body, using it to keep an ear on the inside of the car. Rainbow looked at the sight in confusion, and wondered why the guards escorting them didn't see this. As they stopped, Rainbow saw the strings get taut, and seconds later there was a sound of one of the guards yelling in pain. 'What in the hell was that about?'

There was a point during the transfer when the guards weren't paying attention to the two girls. There were still cameras, but they were only there to make sure they didn't try anything funny. "So what was that about?," Rainbow asked, "What did you do to that guard?" "He was harassing Ermes," Jolyne explained, "He must have suspected she was hiding money. Maybe he wanted it for himself, but he was abusing his position to get at it. I heard it all using those strings you saw. When the string pulled taut... Well, I only meant to stop his nightstick, but it seems I sliced off his ear while I did so."

She grinned. Even if anyone was overhearing this, there was no reason to believe her words since she was describing something that happened while she was under guard surveillance being escorted. "It's really a shame, that guard looked cute. Like Tom Cruise cute. Guess I always wind up attracting the wrong sort of guys." "What do you mean?," Rainbow asked. Jolyne looked at her. "That guy I supposedly killed? He just crashed right into my ex-boyfriend's car. We thought it was a mountain goat at first until we saw the glasses in his windshield."

"You should have called an ambulance," Rainbow noted. "That's what I said to Romeo!," Jolyne noted, "But he said the guy was already dead! Maybe he was, I don't know! All I know is after Romeo convinced me to help remove the body for the sake of our future, I thought it was the end of it. But then the next thing I know I'm getting arrested. The thing that stuck with me was that the cops were saying I was the one driving. You can bet the second thing I did, after I demanded my lawyer, was to call that bastard Romeo up and break up with him. I mean, why else would the police think I was the one driving unless he told them when they questioned him? They had to have, since the car was registered to him."

She shook her head. "Mom always said she didn't like him. I never should have dated him to begin with." "What's gonna happen with the trial?," Rainbow asked. "I've resigned myself to being culpable to evidence tampering," Jolyne said, "There's no denying I hid the body. But Romeo, he seems to think I'll only be getting a public defender that he can pay off with his money. Well... He'll learn that dollar for dollar the Joestar family outmatches him. I've already talked about his role in all this with my lawyer."

The trial left more questions for Jolyne than answers. Yes, she was able to get Romeo the justice he deserved thanks to her testimony, but it turns out neither of them was responsible for murder, just evidence tampering. Her father had gotten the Speedwagon Foundation involved with the investigation, revealing a previously unseen bullet wound in the body of the man that fell on Romeo's car. Now it was up in the air who could have killed him.

Jolyne was still saddled with five years, but it was nothing she couldn't handle. She went through the motions of going along with the guards' instructions as Ermes watched. "Girl's got guts," she said, "But I guess she wasn't lying when she said she was framed. Though that makes me wonder who really killed that guy. Apparently it wasn't her ex. Ah well, I'm not here to play detective." Jolyne was soon in a line with all the others prisoners, who were similarly stripped down.

"Is it just me or are all the prisoners here so good looking?," Jolyne said to Rainbow. Rainbow blushed. "Wait... Does that include me? And... Does that make you bi?" "I don't exactly discriminate when it comes to sexes," Jolyne admitted, "Still prefer guys though." Rainbow shrugged. "Oh yeah, think your ex wound up here?" "If he did he's lucky the prisoners get separated by gender," Jolyne said. She slipped Rainbow some tens. "I get the feeling we'll be needing it." Five years seemed like a long time, but it was time she could get used to.

Rainbow realized why Jolyne had left her the cash. The barber who was meant to give the mandatory prison haircut could be bribed to save some inches, and more cash meant more hair. "How do you know so much about surviving prison?," Rainbow asked. "Like I said," Jolyne replied, "My dad did a brief stint in high school. He told me a few tricks. He knew there was nothing I could do to avoid any sort of jail time, so he at least made sure I was prepared." After the usual speaking of the rules, Jolyne and Rainbow were brought to their cell.

They found that someone else was already in there. "No one said there'd be three people in this cell," Rainbow noted. "We're low on cells right now," the guard explained, "Two of you will have to share a bunk." Rainbow sighed, then felt her neck. Her eyes shot open. "Wait... What happened to my necklace!?" "You had a necklace?," Jolyne asked. Rainbow thought back, then face-palmed. "Shit... I remember throwing something in frustration when talking with the lawyer."

Jolyne then realized something. "Come to think of it... I wound up doing the same with my locket during one of the talks with my lawyer." 'Which is bad news...,' she thought, 'That locket had a shard of the Stand arrow Dad got from Italy. If someone with Stand potential grabs it... Who knows what they'll do.' The guard returned. "Prisoner FE40536, Jolyne Kujo? You have a call from your father." "I'll go and take it," Jolyne said, "You might as well get settled in." Rainbow nodded.

She looked over to the other girl. "So, I guess you got the top bunk?" "No, the bottom one," the girl said curtly. "Then you might wanna move all that," Rainbow said, pointing to the stuff on the top bunk. She then gasped. She saw a familiar pair of lockets, one she remembered Jolyne having, as well as her own. "Why do you have those!? Those belong to me and Jolyne! The pictures inside prove it!" "So?," the girl said in a condescending manner.

She then got the sensation of being lifted into the air as Rainbow grabbed her collar. "Give. Them. Back." The girl sighed and did so. "Has anyone told you you're good at the intimidation game?" She sat back down, and Rainbow spotted a parrot from her pocket somehow remove its head, and what looked like arms came out to grab some crackers from the nearby table. Rainbow raised an eyebrow. 'There's something weird going on here.'

The next day, Rainbow made sure to wake up early and get Jolyne to do the same. "There's something I don't trust about our shared roommate, Gwess," Rainbow said, "Remember how she acted when you got back?" Gwess has suddenly turned rather friendly when Jolyne returned after speaking with her father. But Jolyne remembered something similar happening with Tamami back in Morioh. There was also the fact that while the picture of her parents was still in the locket, the arrow piece was missing.

"I don't trust her," Jolyne noted, "When we got up, she was trying to fill the sinks, but emptied them when she saw I was waking up." "And have you seen how she talks to that bird of hers?," Rainbow asked, "Something's off with that parrot. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear it wasn't real." Jolyne tapped her chin. "Maybe it isn't. And I know just how we can find out."

She lead Rainbow to where Gwess was talking with her parrot, lovingly at first until it made a "whoa" sound, when she started to get angry. As she made to hide the parrot, Jolyne activated her Stand to grab the bird, replacing it with a banana from breakfast. "Anyone in there?," she asked the bird. There was no answer, and the bird looked really dead. "Something's odd," Rainbow said. Jolyne removed the head of the bird, and the two girls gasped as tiny human limbs fell out.

"Whatever this is," Jolyne said, "It's a tiny human... And it's already dead." 'This is a Stand... It has to be. Gwess had the arrow piece long enough to use it. Maybe she got pricked by accident, maybe it was out of curiosity, but she clearly had the potential which the arrow brought out.' She and Rainbow spotted Gwess as she came up the stairs, likely looking for the bird. Quickly they flattened themselves against the indentation where the cell door was, keeping the bird out of sight.

It seemed to be safe when she went in the opposite direction, but then Rainbow noticed that there was somehow blood going up the walls, and the indentation was much larger than it should have been. "Uh... Jolyne?" Jolyne looked and saw what had Rainbow worried. "Oh shit..." She quickly realized they were shrinking rapidly. Gwess then appeared. "So it was you who took my darling from me, Jolyne." She picked up Jolyne, then threw her toward the back of the cell. However, Jolyne had already had her strings wrap around Gwess' finger, using it to swing up and smack her right in the eye.

"God damn it!," she called out. "Did you really think I wouldn't recognize what you were doing?," Jolyne said, "I know perfectly well the power you have, and I have a good idea where you got it from. I'm not sure how long you've had it, or where you found my locket, but the stone arrow piece that was in there was gone when Rainbow forced you to return it." Gwess breathed heavily for a bit, but started to calm down. "Listen, girls, I'm sorry. I'm trying to be friends here."

She picked Rainbow up and placed her and Jolyne on the table. "Sorry about the other body. He was a guard that was fired for being too lazy. Everyone else thinks he went home." She flushed the body down the toilet. "I'm not sure what you two are in here for, but I'd like to help you get out. And I know how to do it." "Why should we help?," Jolyne asked, "I'm out in five years." "Same with me," Rainbow pointed out, "I got a reduced sentence thanks to a defense plea. You're the one getting the most out of this deal." Gwess' eye twitched. "I'm not sure our relationship is going well."

Yep, Jolyne having prior knowledge of Stands means she's not as receptive to Gwess' demands. We'll see the consequences of this as we continue.

Lots of setup for this chapter, to set the stage for future events.

Gwess tapped her chin for a bit. "In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made." "Great, and now she's quoting scripture," Rainbow said, "What's the point of that now?" "I was just thinking," Gwess said, "This new power of mine should have a name, shouldn't it? I was thinking of something cute. Say... Goo Goo Dolls!"

"Why do Stand users always wind up with song references to name their Stands?," Jolyne asked, "Even Mom's Stand has the word 'music' in it. I've only heard of a few exceptions, like with some of the Stand users Grandpa dealt with." Gwess looked at Jolyne. "Hold on... How do you know what this power is called?" "Trust me, lady, I've had plenty of experience with Stands," Jolyne explained. She smirked as she shot a string out to the cell bars. "And I know more about them, too!"

She grabbed Rainbow and pulled the two of them out of the cell, much to Gwess' shock. "What now?," Rainbow asked. "Every Stand has a limited range," Jolyne noted, "At this size we can't move very fast, but my Stand can make up for that by letting us move farther. Hopefully her range doesn't extend to the entire prison." "That's all well and good," Rainbow said, "But where can we go? She can follow us to make up for that limited range."

"Not everywhere," Jolyne said, leading Rainbow through a door meant for prison personnel only. The gambit worked. Gwess had been able to follow them up until that point, but got stopped by a watchful guard who spotted her trying to look inside. 'Well, it's not how I planned things, but maybe I can get them to go along with my plans anyway. I'll just have to catch them at some other point later. After all, they can't stay there forever.' She smirked, thinking there was no way for them to escape her.

As Gwess walked away, Jolyne and Rainbow quickly left the guardroom and headed back into the hall, just as they started growing again. "You were right!," Rainbow said. "And I'm betting Gwess doesn't realize," Jolyne said, "Or she'd never have walked off. Her Stand's range must only be a few meters." They then heard something move behind them and looked. "Oh shit...," Jolyne muttered. Right behind them was a mechanical humanoid with a mouthful of teeth.

"Um...," Rainbow said, "What is that?" "Goo Goo Dolls' physical form, I'd say," Jolyne suggested, "It must have been near us while Gwess had us shrunk, but once we got far enough away it decided to attack more directly. I wonder if Gwess knew about this part at least." She turned to Rainbow. "You can clearly see it too despite lacking a Stand. So, if you do have a latent one, I think it'd be nice for the universe to unlock it now!" They quickly ran off, Goo Goo Dolls on their heels.

DeKurliss was looking through the newspapers to see what had become of the next phase of their plans. The idea was to contain the Joestar clan in various ways, which was no easy task given their abilities. He frowned when he saw a small article about Jolyne getting a mere five years for evidence tampering. He shook his head. "Nothing seems to want to go right with our plans... Still five years is enough time for Pucci to accomplish his mission. We can work around this." A young man with dark skin and white hair approached.

"Pucci," DeKurliss said, "Back from Italy so soon? What of Tomomi's child?" "It seems he is too content with life to join us," Pucci replied, "Giorno has become the leader of Italy's largest organized crime syndicate, and has used it to protect the people. There's too much of the Joestar legacy within him, I fear. Still, his concern is for his home, so I doubt he will interrupt us." "Just as well," DeKurliss said with a sigh, "DIO took one look at Giorno and said that he was destined for greatness. I think if DIO had lived long enough to see Giorno grow, he would have been a model father."

He got out his hand mirror and activated Beautiful Stranger. "Well, well. History repeats. Jolyne has met up with a descendant of the Speedwagon family. But how interesting. It seems Stand users are already starting to crop up in Green Dolphin Prison. A few more will not raise eyebrows, I think." Pucci smiled. "I already have a few agents of ours ready for our plans. I made a promise to DIO to carry on should he be defeated. However, there is still one thing we must be wary of."

DeKurliss nodded. "Jotaro Kujo. He proved DIO's equal. Time may have worn him down, but he is no less dangerous. Even without relying on his time stop ability, his Stand is fast and precise." "And he's only one cog in the machine," Pucci said, "There's Avdol, with his power of flame. Polnareff has his quick and deadly swordsmanship. Kakyoin can attack from a distance and control others. Fluttershy can overwhelm with her ability to grow plants of all kinds."

Pucci shook his head. "Getting to them might be tricky. My own Stand can deal with them individually, but our actions have gotten them to band together. They suspect a threat, which makes our plans difficult to pull off." He closed his eyes. "But I believe in the will of Heaven. Providence will find a way to let me succeed." DeKurliss gave a warm smile. "DIO put all his faith in you, Pucci. I know you will find a way to overcome this."

In his office at Valentine Motors, Valentine was considering recent events. 'In another world, this is where things ended. Actions taken during the events surrounding Green Dolphin Prison caused a brand new universe. But... I don't think that will happen here. Because... It had already happened. And that is important to note. No matter what happens, there is one thing wrong with DIO's formula. In this world... The Will of Heaven is the Law of Man.'

"So why is this thing trying to attack us?," Rainbow asked as they looked at Goo Goo Dolls getting closer. "I'm guessing because we're not going along with Gwess' insane scheme," Jolyne suggested, "Remember what happened with the guard? I'm betting this creep is responsible." Goo Goo Dolls leapt at the girls, razor-sharp claws extended, only to get slammed into the nearby wall by a blue humanoid figure. Jolyne grinned. It was her own Stand.

"Whoa...," Rainbow said. "This is my power," Jolyne said, "When the strings I create bunch together like this, my Stand takes on its physical form. Would you believe I first discovered it in a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors?" She looked around. "I wonder if Gwess felt that too. I mean, most times when a Stand gets damaged, so does the Stand user." Her suggestion proved correct as Gwess approached, her step wobbly as blood was coming from her face. "D-Damn you, Jolyne... What did you do?"

"You must not know that much about Stands," Jolyne noted, "You didn't realize that getting too far away from us would start to undo your power. You clearly thought you could just have us scout the room we were getting into and let that be the end of it. But the guards were never going to let you loiter around the door, and if you can't stick around you can't keep us small." Her Stand grabbed Goo Goo Dolls and started squeezing, causing Gwess more pain.

"Now there's something I need to know right away," Jolyne said, "Where did you get my locket from? The one with the arrow piece in it." Gwess, unable to do anything while Jolyne had a death grip on her, relented. "It... It was sold to me... By a woman named Ermes Costello..." Jolyne looked surprised. "Ermes? We met her back in the holding cells." As she thought this, she accidentally let go of Goo Goo Dolls. Gwess took the chance and slugged her, shrinking her so she'd fall through the nearby door which led to the guard room.

"Jolyne!," Rainbow called out. She reached out to grab Jolyne, and suddenly found both of them floating, letting her grab Jolyne easily. "The hell...?," Gwess muttered. A pair of large, majestic wings was coming out of Rainbow's back. Jolyne smirked as Rainbow pulled her back, her body growing. "What's going on!?," Gwess demanded, "You should still be shrinking because of my power!" "I think I know," Jolyne said, "It's because of Rainbow Dash here."

She looked at Rainbow's wings. "Those wings are projecting an area of perfect flight conditions. Can't really fly properly when you're the size of a mouse, can you? That's why hummingbirds use a flight method reminiscent of helicopters." She approached Gwess, who was now freaking out. "You said everything needs a name. In this Stone Ocean, I probably have more freedom than anyone else. Because of my family, because of my power. So now, I think I have the perfect name for my Stand... Stone Free!"

Rainbow Dash landed on the ground, and the wings pulled back to reveal a blue humanoid with rainbow-colored hair and a darker blue jumpsuit. "These Stands need names, right? I think I have the perfect name for my Stand too. It gives me my dream... The ability to just fly free, like the birds in the sky. So my Stand will be called... I'll Fly!" Gwess gulped as the two Stands moved to attack her with full force.

"ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!" Gwess collapsed to the ground, still alive but in no shape to keep trying to attack. Jolyne then pulled her up. "Now then, let's reestablish our little friendship here. Shall we?" Gwess nodded numbly. Rainbow chuckled. "I think we're gonna fit in right around here. I mean, we're probably the strongest girls here." Jolyne smirked. "There's still the matter of asking Ermes about the locket."

That night, Jolyne and Rainbow were sharing the bottom bunk, Gwess tied up in Stone Free's strings on the top. "So it seems Gwess had a desire to stand above the other inmates," Rainbow noted, "Seeing them only as pets to be kept." "Probably how her Stand manifested the way it did," Jolyne suggested. She had been deep in thought. 'Is it my turn now? Dad had his turn at destiny, then Uncle Josuke. Maybe it's my time to carry on the Joestar legacy.'

She touched her hand to her neck, feeling the spot where the familiar star-shaped birthmark was located. "What's that?," Rainbow asked. "Just a family birthmark," Jolyne explained, "Everyone with my family's bloodline has it. Even one odd family member who lives out in Italy." The girls looked at each other. "Hey," Rainbow said, "Thanks. For letting my have my dream. I've been dreaming about flying since I was a little girl." She chuckled. "Even dreamed I was a pastel pegasus flying with a pony version of the Blue Angels."

Jolyne giggled as she tapped Rainbow's nose. "That was all you, Rainbow. I just proved to be the catalyst needed for you to awaken that power." For the time being they'd be a couple, at least while in prison. Neither was adverse to a same-sex relationship, and since they were cellmates it made it convenient. "There's a lot of mysteries we need to solve at some point," Jolyne said, "Why did that man have a bullet wound in his body? Was he really already dead when he hit the car?"

"And what about Ermes?," Rainbow asked, "Did she get pricked by that arrow too? What's the deal with it anyway? How can it create these powers?" "It was carved from a meteor that held a mysterious virus," Jolyne explained, "Most get killed by it, but those that survive gain Stand powers. Both my parents are Stand users, which is why I didn't need the arrow." "Huh," Rainbow said, "My grandma is also a Stand user, but I guess it skipped a generation because neither of my folks had such a thing." Jolyne yawned. "Well, let's figure that out tomorrow." They snuggled together, as Gwess cried herself to sleep, unable to do more than whine pathetically.

And so Rainbow gains her Stand. See the archives for more details.

Jotaro had just gotten a letter from Jolyne about her current situation. She had finally decided to name her Stand, calling it Stone Free. In addition, she had partnered up with her cellmate Iro Dashell, who had a Stand of her own called I'll Fly. When Fluttershy read the full details, she chuckled nervously. "Our little girl always was open-minded about relationships. But I'm glad she's over that sleazeball Romeo." She looked up. "Still, she's still into guys, so I wonder if she'll eventually find a new boyfriend." Jotaro sighed. "Gimme a break..."

"So yeah," Jolyne said, "I've had my Stand since the day I was born, but I had trouble controlling it at first." "Reminds me of One Piece," Rainbow noted, "How Devil Fruit users tend to have trouble controlling their new powers until they practice with them a bit. But I seem to be pretty used to I'll Fly's powers already." "Don't get too excited," Jolyne said, "It's hard to determine I'll Fly's full potential within the confines of the prison. And practicing it out in the yard is too risky."

They were walking near the phones. The whole "one phone call" you often see in media was actually just a gag. In reality prisoners were allowed whatever calls they needed to make, provided they had the change to keep the collect call going. "Hey," another female prisoner called out, "Can either of you spare some change? My call's just about to run out, and it's kinda far to my cell." Jolyne dug into her pants. "Sure. How much do you need?" Meanwhile Rainbow was trying to get a phone of her own, only for a rather large woman to try butting in.

"Sorry, I already reserved this," the woman said. Rainbow narrowed her eyes. I'll Fly appeared and shoved the woman out of the way. "First come first serve, sister. I just need to check in with a friend of mine. Won't take five minutes." "Can you believe that crap?," Jolyne said as the other girl finished her call and let Jolyne have the phone, "Month's waiting time. And for a call that's only supposed to be a few minutes long!" "Hey...," Gwess said meekly as she approached the two girls.

"What do you want?," Rainbow said, a twinge of annoyance in her voice. After getting the crap beaten out of her, Gwess had pretty much become a toady to Jolyne and Rainbow, rather the opposite of what she wanted but it was clear she couldn't match them. They were too strong and too resourceful. "I just wanted to warn you about lending things out here," Gwess explained, "You need to find some way of collecting it back, or else the other girls will walk all over you."

"Did you not see me shove aside a women twice my size?," Rainbow asked. "I think we can keep people from thinking we're soft through muscle alone," Jolyne pointed out. "You know it and I know it," Gwess admitted, "But rumors like that take time to spread through the prison, and you'd have to visibly out-muscle quite a few girls for it to sink in. Look, most of the girls here are like me. Sweet at first glance, but they get real pissy if things don't go their way. You'll need to lay down the law to minimize trouble if you're serious about keeping ahead around here."

Jolyne decided to catch up with that girl at the library. "Hey," she said, "Remember that dollar I lent you? I need to make sure you can pay it back at some point." The girl eyed Jolyne. "Yeah sure, I remember saying that don't worry." She then grabbed Jolyne's collar and gave a threatening face. "But I can't really pay it back just yet, see. I'm kinda tapped out." She then got a sweet smile again. "By the way, I may need ten dollars a little later for lunch." "Sorry," Jolyne said, "But until I can get confirmation that you've already paid what I gave you earlier, I ain't lending out anything else."

Gwess was nearby, watching as Jolyne used her Stand to melt part of a coin, then tossed it to Rainbow who had flown up to a higher level unseen. The copper and iron from the coin dripped from the tip of I'll Fly's wing down into the girl's mouth, causing a touch of stomach problems as Jolyne walked into the nearby bathroom. Gwess couldn't help but smirk as Jolyne held the bathroom until the girl agreed to pay ten times the amount she owed just to get inside.

Gwess opened a nearby book and subtly coughed to get Rainbow's attention. She looked to see Gwess had written a note hidden inside the book. Rainbow read it aloud in a low voice, which Jolyne picked up. "The smaller girl with the pink hair clips has the very problem I was telling you about. Focus on the older woman with the dreadlocks." When Jolyne picked this up, she spotted the two girls mentioned. She walked over to the meeker girl, the one with the hair clips. "Go head inside the bathroom. Another girl is going to appear. It'll be up to you whether or not you get back the money extorted from you."

Gwess watched as the woman she indicated suffered the same problems as the meeker girl went inside the bathroom. 'Some girls in this prison really are as they seem. That poor lady is one of them. She's as nice as Jolyne, but doesn't have the guts to stand up for herself after one shot of getting pushed around. But I learned the hard way... Try to push Jolyne or Rainbow around... And they push back hard.' Rainbow floated down to the first level, and spotted a baseball rolling near the cell door to the library.

A young kid in a baseball uniform went to pick it up. "Who's the mini Babe Ruth?," Rainbow asked. "Dunno," Gwess replied, "But this prison does have a section for juveniles. Maybe he's a prisoner too." Jolyne walked over to see what all the hub-bub was. The boy turned to look at them. "Jolyne," he said, "Tomorrow at noon, someone's going to come to see you. But you can't. You can't go see him... No matter what!" Jolyne looked surprised that this kid, whoever he was, knew her name. 'What's his deal...?'

Short but important chapter. We'll get into real story next time.

People have been waiting to see how Jolyne acts around her father now, and here we finally are.

Also, we get reacquainted with an old friend from a previous part.

The kid in the Cubs' uniform kept looking at Jolyne. "You can't see that man tomorrow... Or something even worse than death will happen." He then seemed to disappear. "What the hell?," Jolyne asked. "Okay, we all saw him," Gwess noted, "So that was no hallucination. So how did he just disappear like that?" "He must have a Stand of his own," Rainbow suggested. "More importantly," Jolyne said, "How did he know I'm meeting someone tomorrow?"

"Wait, so you really are?," Rainbow asked. Jolyne nodded. "That phone call from my father our first day here? He said he was stopping by to check up on me. And he'll be here tomorrow at noon." Gwess freaked. "You didn't... Tell him about our little altercation... Did you?" "I did," Jolyne admitted, "But I also told him you were more or less under our thumb after that, so I doubt he'll do anything to punish you for hurting his little girl." Gwess gulped. She had heard all about Jolyne's father, Jotaro Kujo. If even half the stories Jolyne told about him were true, then her best bet was to beg for mercy.

Rainbow slipped the guard a little extra cash to let her and Gwess infiltrate the meeting. "Why are we going in there?," Gwess asked. "Because I've seen that kid hanging around more and more since yesterday," Rainbow explained, "Clearly, if Jolyne goes in there alone something will happen to either her or Jotaro. Still, this was expensive. Twenty dollars to pretend the room was empty for each of us, another thirty to have the cameras disabled for 'routine maintenance'."

She turned to Gwess. "So remember, if they try to come in close use Goo Goo Dolls to shrink them down, and let either Jolyne or her father do the rest. And if they have any projectiles I'll just merge with I'll Fly. It's field seems to cause things to float to allow for unobstructed flight. I haven't tested it on bullets yet, but most larger projectiles don't seem to be a problem. And since only the guards are allowed to have guns, that minimizes that risk."

Rainbow went in first, then after a few seconds Gwess was let inside. She was caught off-guard when Jolyne made an uncharacteristically girly screaming sound. But it was clear it was just because she was happy to see her father again, judging from the way she was hugging him. 'I never would have pegged her for a Daddy's Girl.' "Listen, I know this is impromptu," Jotaro said, "But someone dangerous is lurking in the prison. I know you intended to serve out your sentence, but right now it's more important to get you out." Gwess quickly used her powers on the guard before he could ask questions.

Meanwhile in the male ward of the prison, there was one lone man in the showers, listening as the guys outside complained about the wind picking up. As the man got dressed, he muttered, "They only found fifty-one cards on the ground, the other one is stuck in one man's boot." Sure enough after some squabbling the prisoners outside found the last card in one of their boots. The man finished his shower and got dressed. "Excuse me," a guard said as he entered, "Just wanted to let you know someone next door has a visitor." The man turned in the direction of the female ward. He turned to walk, but the guard stopped him. "Your, uh... Pants are on backward." The man looked confused.

"So she has a Stand," Jotaro noted as Gwess stuffed the guard in a peanut can Rainbow had been saving for this situation. "Yeah, she got scratched by the arrowhead kept in my locket," Jolyne explained, "Rainbow has one too, but her's is natural and was just latent until recently." "Reminds me of your grandmother," Jotaro noted, "Except she still hasn't learned how to summon it yet, so it's still just latent. Still lets her see other Stands, though." He got out a picture of a man. The girls didn't know it, but it was the same man that was just in the showers in the male ward.

"This man is Johngalli A," Jotaro explained, "Painstaking recreation of the crime scene from the murder of the man you supposedly ran over shows him to be the real murderer. It's suspected that he intended to frame you for murder, and we know he's here in the prison, having plead guilty to an unrelated shooting." "What's with the glassy eyes?," Rainbow asked. "He has severe cataracts," Jotaro explained, "It's caused his eyesight to suffer. Despite this he's a veteran sniper who can somehow hit his targets even through twenty meter wind speeds."

"So who was the guy he killed and threw into Romeo's car?," Jolyne asked, "Some random hitchhiker?" "Possibly," Jotaro said, "The full details aren't known. I was informed by an old friend that a public defender was kept on retainer for you, one who could bend the law to his will for the right price. Unfortunately, that plan was ruined due to our family's personal lawyer, who is far more scrupulous." "His plan still worked to an extent," Jolyne pointed out, "Me and my ex wound up hiding that poor sap's body and got saddled with five years as a result. But why go to all this trouble in the first place?"

"Because Johngalli is a remnant," Jotaro explained, "Of DIO's forces." Jolyne gasped. "You're kidding me... I thought you and your buds killed all of DIO's goons on your way to Egypt!" "We killed most of the assassins he sent after us," Jotaro clarified, "But we all knew there was no way we killed all his followers. Still, they sure took their sweet time emerging from whatever dark cracks they slunk off into after his death. Not to mention there was one man we never encountered that we knew was working for DIO, a slimeball fortune teller named DeKurliss."

Jolyne slumped against the wall. "I never thought I'd miss the happy fun times in Morioh so much... Someone beam me back to that awesome Rock, Paper, Scissors game with that Ken kid!" Gwess suddenly noticed a lit cigarette on the table. "Uh... Does anyone in here smoke?" The others looked at the cigarette and got concerned. Just then, Rainbow saw something float near her. "Is that... A bullet?" Her wings had been out the entire time to project her flight field. Jolyne then started spurting blood as a small hole appeared in her neck. Jotaro grunted. "Star Platinum!"

Time froze in an instance as he went to check on his daughter, but he breathed a sigh of relief as she was in less danger then he thought. She had already sensed the incoming shot and used Stone Free to weave a bulletproof vest around her body with her strings. "You've really mastered your Stand over the last dozen years," he noted as he had Star Platinum flick the bullet away, letting time resume. Jolyne still wound up coughing from the impact of the bullet.

"We need to put out the cigarette," Jotaro said, "He can somehow track our movements." "But how did he infiltrate the female ward?," Gwess asked, "No amount of money is gonna let you do that, or else the guards lose their control of the prisoners. He must have fired from outside somehow, but that means getting the bullet through barred window, and somehow ricocheting the bullet across the hall to hit us in this tiny little visiting room. Not even Deadshot could pull that off!"

"Unless they were using a Stand of some kind," Rainbow pointed out. Jotaro inspected the bullet. "Looks like a standard rifle shell, meaning it wasn't part of a Stand." "But how could he sneak a rifle in here...?," Jolyne asked as she tried to recover from her throat injury, "They don't even let you have ballpoint pens in here." "He probably had the gun disassembled and smuggled in," Jotaro suggested, "The barrel in some ham, the stock in a bottle of shaving cream... It would have taken months but eventually he'd be able to reassemble his primary weapon to attack."

"So the only thing we have to reliably stop that bullet is my flight field," Rainbow noted, "Hey, Mister Kujo, how'd you get that bullet away from Jolyne so fast?" "My Stand, Star Platinum, can stop time for a few seconds," Jotaro explained, "Fluttershy had me practice with it a little bit over time as I got older. At best I can stop time for five seconds, but the trick is knowing when to stop it. That rifle is obviously silenced. It'll make some sort of noise, but we'd never hear it from way over here."

Jolyne then got out a small bone. "Where did you get that?," Gwess asked. "That kid stopped me at the trash can before I came in here," Jolyne explained, "He gave me this when I insisted on meeting Dad." "That looks like the sacrum from an adult female's pelvis," Jotaro noted, "Judging from its appearance, it seems to have been melted with some kind of acid." He narrowed his eyes as he looked outside. "More importantly, I think I found our enemy Stand."

He pointed to a small satellite-looking object hovering just outside the meeting room. It soon flopped down on the ground, but then shot back up again. It seemed to wobble as it got close. "It's wonky right outside this room," Jolyne realized, "Rainbow, didn't we estimate your flight field's range to be around ten meters, give or take?" Rainbow nodded. "I get it. And it looks like it's moving in response to the cigarette smoke. So this Stand can move in response to air currents. But my flight field creates a constant updraft perfect for lift while flying, so it makes it impossible to properly read when contrasted against the air outside the field."

Jolyne nodded. "He only knows about three people in the room, me, Dad, and the guard. His Stand is as blind as him, so he didn't know who he was aiming for, just that someone was in front of his Stand, which is acting like a relay. Rainbow was in the back for the first shot, her Stand's flight field only covering half the room. When we saw the bullet I moved to check it out and was targeted next. But when I heard about our enemy being a sniper I thought I had to protect myself. Guess I got lucky."

Meanwhile, Johngalli was resting in front of a window overlooking the female ward. He waited until a guard passed, then folded his metal walking cane and reassembled it into his sniper rifle. "Muscles can't be trusted," he muttered to himself, "When skin is exposed to the wind, muscles become stressed and begin to subtly expand and contract. The body can't control these movements. Better to use bone to support a rifle, since bones can sense the stability of the ground and unify the gun with it."

He didn't know that Rainbow and Gwess had bribed their way into the meeting room. His Stand, Manhattan Transfer, could only make out three people, due to Rainbow's I'll Fly messing with his readings and the guard being shrunk down with Gwess' Goo Goo Dolls. He took to listening to a fly buzzing nearby. "Meteorologists say the wind is unpredictable. Honestly, I agree with that assessment. But that doesn't make the wind unreadable. This fly senses the scents and flow of the air as it flies."

He dropped a bullet down in such a way that it crushed the fly, right near a dozen other such flies. "So far I've hit one of the three people in the room. Judging from the height of the throat, I can surmise it was Jolyne Kujo. But something cushioned the bullet enough that it wasn't a fatal injury. The real issue is my first bullet. Somehow, it didn't hit anything. I was told that Jotaro's Star Platinum can stop time, but it would still be difficult to pull off the timing. You robbed my heart of its support, and for that I will end your bloodline once and for all!" His eyes then widened when Manhattan Transfer's movements started to become erratic.

The reason for this was because Jolyne had used Stone Free to send a lighter up to the fire sprinklers, causing them to go off and tripped the fire alarm. "That should confuse it," she said with a grin. "Not yet," Rainbow said, "We just kept it from keeping a lock on us. Look, it's even able to dodge each individual droplet of water." Just then, a voice from outside called out, "Listen carefully! Kick the rock! Underneath that pillar!" Jolyne carefully peeked out the door to see the same kid from before.

Jolyne looked to see the pillar he was talking about, then kicked at it, revealing a gap in the floor. "Rainbow, Gwess!," Jolyne called out, "This way!" "What about the kid?," Rainbow asked. "I'm going to help him," Jolyne said, "That satellite Stand vanished, so I'm guessing it's going after him now..." Rainbow grimaced. "I'm going too. I've got little to fear from Johngalli thanks to my Stand." Jotaro sighed as they left the room. "Gimme a break... She got that kindness from her mother."

It was a good thing Jolyne headed after the kid, because Johngalli was indeed tracking him. "That hole Jolyne opened leads to a ventilation shaft. I can't let that child lead Jotaro and Jolyne into it, it might hide them from my bullets." He grimaced as he reloaded. "I won't lose sight of them again! But first I'll take out the small one... It will only take fifteen seconds!" He grunted as he felt something through his Manhattan Transfer. "That damn anomaly in the air again... What's causing it?"

Out in the halls, the guards were running in response to the fire alarm. They didn't notice Rainbow, who had clung to the ceiling, or Jolyne, who had managed to find a hole in the wall hidden by a compartment for a fire extinguisher. Rainbow waited until the guards were past before following her. "What is this?," she asked, her wings folding in around her body. "I'm not sure," Jolyne admitted, "I think it's how the kid got away." The hole lead to a machine room, where the kid was found crawling around the pipes, Manhattan Transfer following him.

The kid must've suspected that something was following him, because he quickly hid inside a sewage pipe. "Clever kid," Jolyne noted, "If his body's in water he can't create air currents, and this room has no windows, only doors. There's no way Johngalli can spot him now!" Unfortunately, what happened next disproved her assertion. Bullets came flying through the air vents, redirecting through Manhattan Transfer and hitting the bolts on the pipe. "Crap!," Rainbow called out, "It's not just meant to read air currents and act as a relay! Johngalli also uses it to trick shoot!"

She immediately leapt down, using her wings to slow her hasten her descent before deftly landing. The gambit worked, as Manhattan Transfer swerved around, trying to see past Rainbow's flight field. From his perch, Johngalli became confused. "That inexplicable burst of air again... Some sort of sphere of concentrated updraft. It confused me back in the meeting room... Wait... Was I mistaken? If Jolyne's power was whatever cushioned her... Either the guard is a Stand user, which is unlikely, or someone else snuck their way inside." He the gasped as the sphere seemed to expand.

But it wasn't Rainbow somehow expanding her flight field. Jolyne had also started descending, breaking the gas pipes as she did. Jolyne smirked. "If just ten meters of an alternate air current can fend you off, I figure a bigger field can entrap you. Stone Free!" A net made from Jolyne's strings appeared and successfully contained Manhattan Transfer, which was too confused from the alternate air currents to get out of the way. Stone Free manifested its physical form before smashing into the satellite, damaging Johngalli.

The kid watched as the Stand fell apart. "So kid," Jolyne said as she joined Rainbow, "Just who are you? And how can you move about the prison so easily?" As she slid down the pipe, she winced as her hand got cut on it, some of the blood getting on the bone in her pocket. As she looked down, she spotted a familiar face in the water that spilled from the pipe. "Rainbow! Johngalli's here in the room!" Rainbow looked around and spotted Johngalli ducking behind some pipes.

"Something's off!," Rainbow noted, "How did he get from the male ward all the way over here!?" Jolyne blinked. "Hey, yeah. There must be dozens of steel bars between the male ward and us, and he's legally blind. How could he have gotten here in half a minute?" She then looked around, and realized they were no longer in the machine room, but back in the meeting room. And things were very different. She was holding onto the bone which got blood on it, and there was strange goop all over the place.

Rainbow, Gwess, and Jotaro were all covered in the stuff. Jolyne then noticed that she was also covered in the goop. They were mostly asleep, but Jolyne was starting to wake up. "What's going on...?," she said groggily. She noticed the can with the shrunken guard in it, and the picture of Johngalli. 'I see... So most of what happened was a dream. Probably created by this goop... And the cigarette! It's been here the entire time, and we never figured out why it was here!'

She then realized the pain she thought came from the pipe was really her grabbing the bone unconsciously and squeezing it, the pain waking her up. Unfortunately, the goop seemed to be dissolving the group slowly. Grunting, Jolyne managed to launch a string that wrapped around her father's head. The gentle tugging got him to wake up. She launched another string around Rainbow. It took a few tries, the string dissolving quickly, but she finally managed it.

Rainbow, when she came too, took in the situation and opened her wings, the field launching the goop in all directions away from her. "That's better... Still need to stick to hovering, my limbs feel a little stiff." She flew near the three others, the goop or acid or whatever it was flying off as she did. "So," Jotaro said, "Your Stand works on anything that can impede flight." Rainbow smirked. "It's called I'll Fly for a reason." She grabbed Jotaro and Jolyne and dragged them out, Jolyne managed to get Gwess and drag her out too while Jotaro grabbed the can with the guard in it.

Gwess finally woke up as they left the room. "Wha... How did I get back in the prison...?" "It seems Johngalli isn't our only enemy," Jotaro noted, "That acid had nothing to do with his sniping ability." Just then, the alarms starting blaring about a situation outside the meeting room. "Okay, we're definitely back in reality," Jolyne noted. "We don't have much time," Jotaro said as he got out a map, "I borrowed a UUV from the Speedwagon Foundation. It can only hold two people, however."

"Like I'll need it," Rainbow noted, "These babies can probably carry me for miles. Just look at this wingspan!" Jotaro smirked and got out a blueprint. "Alright, this is a blueprint of the prison. We're here at the X. This window and the area below it faces the sea, and the security level around here is only for the general public. From the beach, we'll get in the UUV, which is easier to operate than a motorcycle, and escape to the outer sea." "What about Gwess?," Rainbow asked, "She wanted to get out, so..."

Jolyne shrugged. "We'll just leave her to make her own way to the city when we're out." "Oh, thanks!," Gwess said sarcastically. None of them noticed a figure just outside the meeting room, the source of the illusion-inducing acid. "So they actually escaped... This will make things interesting." As the quartet made their way through the hall, Jolyne noted something odd. "Hey Dad, why did you bring that can with us?" "A better question is," Jotaro said, "Why did Gwess here feel the need to use her Stand on him?"

"Huh?," Gwess said, confused, "You guys were talking about getting out, right?" "Yes," Jotaro admitted, "But did you not consider that the guard might be in on it?" Gwess got a blank look on her face. Rainbow sighed. "That guard works for Speedwagon, doesn't he?" "No," Jotaro clarified, "But he is a friend of the family." Just then, they heard a gunshot, and whirled around to see Johngalli dressed as a guard, having shot another guard when he went to inspect the source of the alarm.

Johngalli went to fire, but Rainbow was faster. "I'll Fly!" Jotaro, having spotted Manhattan Transfer, made his own move. "Star Platinum!" Having only seen Rainbow's powers in a hallucination, Jotaro didn't know if they worked the same in reality, and went to deflect the bullets. However, he also saw another figure clinging to the wall, in addition to Manhattan Transfer. 'Shit! There were two attackers!' Deciding to trust that Rainbow's powers did work as he was shown, he went for the second figure, nailing it with Star Platinum.

"ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!" As time continued, the new Stand burst into blood. "Damn... I didn't expect any other interference..." Sure enough, the bullets from Johngalli's gun were slowed by Rainbow's flight field. "But," the Stand said, "I can still get what I want!" It picked itself up and launched itself as Jotaro, but Gwess spotted this and got in the way. "You're not wrecking my ticket outta here!"

Unfortunately for her, when the Stand swiped its hand trying to get at Jotaro, Gwess got hit instead, two strange discs being extracted from her head. "The hell was that!?," Jotaro demanded. The Stand grunted. "Too damaged to make a second attempt, but perhaps this will be enough to dissuade you. This is power of my Stand, Whitesnake. I've used it to extract that girl's Stand from her memory." It then disappeared, taking one of the discs with it. Quickly Jotaro opened the can, letting the guard out as he returned to normal size. "You okay, Ryusei?," Jotaro asked.

Indeed, the guard was Ryusei Ito, having gotten a job as a guard at the prison a year prior. "Yeah... Didn't expect to get shrunk like that." Meanwhile, Jolyne spotted Manhattan Transfer as the bullet from Johngalli's gun got stopped by Rainbow's field. "So that wasn't part of the illusion," she realized. "Damn it...," Johngalli muttered, "Looks like the plan didn't go as predicted. Two new people who weren't suppose to be here have shown up."

He went to reload, but Ryusei had already spotted him. "Time Judged All!" Johngalli's eyes widened as he found himself having to dodge the feather projectiles from Ryusei's Stand. It then turned around and blasted open the nearby window. Johngalli aimed another shot at him, but Jotaro easily caught the bullet with Star Platinum. "You're slipping, Johngalli. I didn't even to need to stop time to catch this bullet. I've been doing this trick since I first got my Stand."

Johngalli grunted. "Damn it... If only that girl didn't get in Pucci's way..." Jolyne raised an eyebrow. "Who's Pucci?" "Hey, Jolyne," Rainbow said, "Something's wrong with Gwess." Gwess had collapsed after Whitesnake's attack. "That Stand earlier," Ryusei explained, "Somehow it stole Gwess' Stand. That's why I returned to normal size even though I should be in her Stand's range." Johngalli managed to get close and fire again, but Jolyne smirked as her strings caused the bullets to veer off from the group.

Jotaro slipped a finger across his hat. "If there's something you inherited from me, Jolyne, it's that tendency to punch anyone who just annoys you." Star Platinum and Stone Free nailed Johngalli before he got completely tied up by the latter. "This is it, right Dad?," Jolyne asked. Jotaro smirked. "Yeah, this is the best..." The said this next part together. "Punching angle!" Johngalli wound up completely pummeled by the father and daughter duo. 'Damn... We should have been targeting Jolyne first...,' Johngalli thought as he lost consciousness.

The group had reached the beach, where Rainbow was dragging Gwess. "So the Speedwagon Foundation," Rainbow said, "Do you think they can help Gwess with whatever happened to her?" Jotaro looked at Gwess' comatose form. "I don't think so. They've come a long way since my mother fell ill due to losing control of her latent Stand, but this is something completely different. Whitesnake may as well have ripped Gwess' soul right out of her. That's damage on the metaphysical level, and technology just hasn't advanced enough to treat that."

Jolyne, meanwhile, was focusing on her locket. It turned out the locket also held a tracker device, which was meant to call in the UUV. Sure enough, the submersible vehicle showed up just near the beach. However, at that moment, the sound of guards and their dogs could be heard rushing over. "Oh great," Rainbow said, "They must have found the guard Johngalli shot. Now what?" Jolyne sighed. "Just because we can get away, doesn't mean the man who did this won't come after us."

Jotaro nodded. "I had hoped destiny would find you after you were released, but it seems we of the Joestar bloodline can't control when destiny chooses us. If you need to go after this Pucci, that's fine. It's clear you're strong enough to survive against him. Ryusei, we remember the plan?" Ryusei nodded. "I'll make sure she and Rainbow don't get in trouble for this." Jotaro nodded and picked up Gwess. "At the very least the Speedwagon Foundation can stabilize her until you retrieve the disc with her Stand."

Jolyne tossed her father the locket. "Just in case they intercepted the signal," she said with a smile, "Let Mom know I love her, okay?" Jotaro smiled back. "Sure thing." The UUV disappeared below the water. "This was probably what that kid was talking about," Rainbow realized, "Right now, Gwess is worse than dead." The guards soon showed up, and recognized Ryusei. "You already caught them? Where's their gun?" "Double check the scene," Ryusei said, "Neither of these girls are the shooter. The gunman was a prisoner from the male ward."

The guards looked confused. "We... We saw no evidence of anyone else in the hallway. And where's the person who was with the prisoner?" "He already left," Ryusei explained, "We had reason to believe the prisoners' lives where in danger from a potential assassin and made efforts to extricate them for their own safety. The warden was told about it by the Speedwagon Foundation. But for now it seems the danger has passed." As Ryusei explained Gwess' condition, and how it needed advanced medical treatment the prison couldn't provide, the kid from before looked on at what was happening.

"She made it out," he said aloud, "Her dad too. It didn't go the way that gloopy thing wanted. He's not all-seeing." He breathed a sigh of relief. "That other girl that got taken away is probably dead, but maybe she isn't. Still, why did Jolyne decide not to get away? And the other girl with the rainbow hair?" He then saw a string attached to barred window he was near. "Because," came Jolyne's voice, "The one who put me here, the one who attacked my family, and my friends... He's inside the prison. And the destiny that comes from my blood is telling me I need to deal with him." The kid looked shocked at her words.

Pucci looked in shame at the disc he got. It wasn't Star Platinum like he wanted, but Goo Goo Dolls. "That girl got in the way," he noted, "No... Jotaro got the confidence to attack me during the stopped time because of the third girl, the one with the wings. And now Jolyne Kujo has reason to come after me. Well, she would have had reason either way, but now she won't be stupid when she comes after me. Taking out the bloodline of DIO's killer won't be as easy as it should have been."

"What about the boy?," Johngalli asked, "The one who helped them escape the room to begin with." "I recognize his blood," Pucci replied, "His mother was another victim of mine. That was supposed to be part of the setup, but it's gone to waste now." He looked at the Stand Disc. "I'll keep this with me at all times. It will prove a useful bargaining point." "What about the diary you got from DeKurliss?," Johngalli asked, "When will that plan be put into action?" "Soon enough," Pucci assured him, "I need to make sure I have all the ingredients."

Whitesnake then got out Johngalli's gun. "However, there is one last thing. You accidentally spoke my real name earlier. Now with my current position within the prison it will be difficult for Jolyne to reach me, but she does have a vital clue to my existence. And to prevent her from needing to see me, her sentence must be as short as possible. To that end, a punishment must be delivered." Johngalli gasped as he was shot in the throat. "There's only one set of prints on this gun," Pucci explained, "Yours. So when the guards finally find you, they'll assume correctly that you were the one who killed the guard, and incorrectly assume you killed yourself afterward."

He smirked as Whitesnake placed the gun in Johngalli's hand. "You were a mess of a man without DIO, anyway. Those of us who are able to move on, and realize DIO's time has passed, we are the ones who will work... To achieve the goal of Heaven." He quickly left as the guards returned to find Johngalli's body. The investigation would conclude that he killed himself after killing the guard. Though there were other injuries besides the gunshot, the guards accepted the plea of self-defense from Jolyne and Rainbow in light of what they thought were the facts.

The two girls were able to keep in touch with the kid, who explained that his mother had given birth to him while in prison, and that she was also killed by Pucci, who's name he only learned recently. He ultimately agreed to help them investigate, on the chance that retrieving Gwess' Stand and returning it to her could save her life. A new confrontation was upon them. Pucci's plans were not yet clear, but Jolyne did know she had to stop him before he could accomplish his goals.

And now you know why I had Ryusei returned to the story. We'll find out later how he came to be in the prison as a guard.

My reason for having Gwess be the one to lose her Stand temporarily has to do with creating a sequence that results in Jotaro not dying. But a consequence of that is Gwess will get more page-time later in the story.

I realize the title for this chapter might be a bit morbid, but given the Villain of the Week we're dealing with here, I'd say it's fitting.

For the time being, Jolyne and Rainbow had to be detained as witnesses to the brutal shooting of a guard within the Green Dolphin prison, also known as the Aquarium to some. It meant a lot of red tape as they waited to be free to investigate Pucci, but until then one more thing was on Jolyne's mind. Gwess had gotten Jolyne's locket from Ermes, and that meant one thing. Ermes might have been pricked by the arrow shard inside it. And that left the question as to whether or not Ermes gained a Stand of her own.

Ermes' eyes shot open when she felt someone trying to cop a feel. "Hands off, asshole!," she said as she sat up on her bed, spotting the janitor leaving with what looked like some bills in his hand. "Shit... He wasn't trying to grope, he was trying to rob me." She went to try and get his attention, only to feel the sharp pain of a needle in her arm. She looked over and saw she was strapped to an IV. "Wait... Am I in the sickroom?" She tried to think back. "Oh yeah, I hurt my palm, then got a fever..."

She looked at her palm, and spotted an odd sticker on it. She peeled it off, and looked confused. "Weird... I could have sworn I cut my palm on something. But I don't even have a scar." She then spotted her examination card and her eyes shot open. "No way! I was checked on six times by the doctors!? How did I sleep through six whole exams!?" She wracked her brain, and remembered something. 'Oh yeah... That pendant I found in the drain of the meeting room. I got my hand cut on it and got pissed, so I sold it off to that other prisoner... Gwess, I think.'

She nodded. "Yeah, I got a fever that night and was carried here. And what a fever, 107 degrees. Like I caught some sort of virus or something. But man... To think I got conked out for six whole days. But now I feel perfectly fine." She then noticed the sticker was back on her palm. "Or I could still be woozy from the fever... That's possible too..." She pulled the sticker off, only to find more stickers underneath. "Okay, okay... Calm down Ermes..." She then spotted another sticker on her shoes nearby, and her eyes widened as she saw there were three, with the right ones being identical.

"The heck...," she said as she went for it, only to find a sticker stuck to her finger. She then looked again and counted her fingers. "Six fingers!? Who am I, Count Rugen from The Princess Bride!? Although his six fingers were on the right hand and this is my left..." She pulled the sticker off, and the finger it was attached to merged with her index, causing a sharp pain in her hand. "Ow ow ow ow ow ow! Man that smarts! Am I hallucinating here? No, the pain is too real."

She then noticed the sticker had landed in the bedpan, creating an identical bedpan with the same amount of piss inside. The liquid caused the sticker to come undone, causing the bedpans to merge together and shatter, spilling the urine all over the counter. "Ugh! Gross!" That got the other patients to wake up and complain. "Look, it's nothing!," Ermes called out, "Just get back to sleep!" She then noticed more stickers on her palm, and picked up the shoe with a sticker on it.

'Well, it's no hallucination. It has actual weight. Somehow, objects are being doubled around me.' "Hm," she said aloud, "I wonder..." She took the sticker off the shoe, causing it merge with the identical shoe and get a tear in it. She then looked at the stickers on her palm, which started to fade. "These stickers... They're coming out of my body." She spotted the mop of the janitor just outside the sickroom, right next to her bed. 'And now that I can accept it... It sounds pretty useful.'

Later, after Ermes decided to name her new power Kiss, the janitor went to get his mop. As he got it, Ermes got an identical mop and pulled off the sticker she placed, causing the two mops to merge and nail the janitor as they did. Ermes smirked as she grabbed the janitor. "Alright, asshole. I want my money back, so just give up where you're hiding it." She then stopped as she saw two discs come out of the janitor's head. Curious, she went to reach for them, managing to grab one as the other slid back into the janitor's head when he came too and walked off like nothing happened.

'Okay that's weird,' Ermes thought, 'Why wasn't he weirded out that he got nailed by his own mop?' She looked at the disc she managed to grab. Later that day she was released from the sickroom, the doctors having determined that some bacteria had gotten into the injury on her palm and caused a minor fever, but it had passed. "Can I ask a question?," she said to the doctor, "There's a janitor here, right? Is he a well-behaved prisoner? Do you know his name?" "Sorry, no," the doctor said.

Ermes sighed, and decided to check things out for herself. She went into the bathroom for some privacy and decided to examine the disc. 'It looks like a CD, but feels more rubbery and elastic.' She then spotted something in the reflection of the disc. The image of the janitor grabbing her money. As she looked, she heard a voice in her head, about how the janitor was bragging about grabbing her cash and hiding it in the banister pole at the courtyard steps.

As he was hiding it, a new figure that reminded Ermes of an executioner stepped out, calling the man McQueen and shoving what looked the disc from before into his face. Ermes then found herself having to pull the disc she was holding out of her own face, dropping the disc into the toilet. "Jeez, what was that? It was like I was hearing his memories." "I heard, you know," came a voice from behind her. She whirled around to see the janitor right her.

"I heard you were looking for me," the man said, "I'm used to being tracked. But I gotta, admit, this is my first time being tracked by a woman." Ermes calmed down and scoffed. "There's been a lot of odd things happening lately," she noted, "But right now, all I wanna know is who you are. And what's up with those weird discs that popper out of your face?" The man looked at her for a bit before he broke down sobbing. "I... I don't remember... I can't remember anything!"

Ermes looked taken aback. "The hell are you on right now? You were walking past the sickroom last night. And I tried something on you to get my money back." The man seemed to remember something. "Money... Yeah, I have a lot of money somewhere, but I can't remember where." Ermes blinked. "Are you OK? You look more confused than me right now." The man smiled. "That's the nicest thing anyone ever said to me... Especially such a lovely young woman. A shame I'll never really get that chance... To live with such a woman."

He got out a belt and hung himself before Ermes' eyes. But what really concerned her was that she also seemed to be choking, as if she was the one hanging. This prisoner was Thunder McQueen, the man named in the disc Ermes had. His Stand was Highway to Hell, a dangerous Stand that could pull someone into his suicide. Well, it wasn't really his Stand to begin with. Whitesnake had stolen it from some other victim and gave it to McQueen because he thought him to be pure evil due to a lack of animosity or malice in his actions.

Pucci wanted McQueen to find his enemies and clean them up, and McQueen obviously thought Ermes was such an enemy since she was looking into him. Ermes gasped for air as she saw propeller-like growths coming out of her neck as her windpipe started to get crushed. Thinking quickly, she got one of the stickers from her palm and threw it onto the noose McQueen made. She then made a reach for it and managed to pull it off. Like she hoped, the noose tore apart, dropping McQueen and letting both of them breath again. Ermes breathed heavily as felt the crushing sensation fade.

"So I'm not the only one," she realized, "Other people have this power too." McQueen picked himself up, looking confused. "Why...? I can't believe you saved me... I only approached you because you were investigating me." "Well, yeah!," Ermes admitted, "Because I wanted the money you stole you from me! And what the hell's up with you!? Why would you go hanging yourself in front of someone!? At least have the decency to do it in private, asshole!"

"I...," McQueen stuttered, "I was just depressed. I never had any good thing happen to me in my life. I never even got any visitors." Ermes calmed down and sighed. "So that's it." "But now I understand what it means to live and die," McQueen said, "I owe you my life. And I'll be sure to return the favor." Ermes couldn't help but get embarrassed at the praise she was getting, but when she looked away for a second, she noticed McQueen had suddenly dove into the nearby sink.

The same sensation happened again, and Ermes found herself feeling like she was drowning as water started coming out of her nose and mouth. As she struggled against Highway to Hell, which had wrapped around her in the form of the water, she spotted McQueen's wrist and saw it was heavily scarred from what looked like razor cuts. 'So that's what this is about! This guy's just suicidal by nature! And he doesn't even realize that his power is killing me too!'

She quickly slapped a sticker on her nose to give herself something to breathe with. 'This is so gonna sting when I finally get out of this...' She was already in the same position as McQueen, and getting moved away from him. But she also found herself next to his mop, so she grabbed it and knocked McQueen out of the sink, dispelling Highway to Hell and letting her breath normally as her sticker got removed, stinging her face. She then remembered the disc she had.

'That disc... The one that came out of his face! I wound up dropping it in the toilet, I should go grab it! It must have something to do with this!' Luckily the disc was too big to get flushed down the drain, and the toilets had recently been cleaned, so retrieving the disc wasn't an issue. "Something to be said for a prison that cleans the bathrooms on the hour every hour," she noted. She ran off as McQueen spotted her. "That disc... I feel like it belongs to me... But I don't think she'll be giving it back." He stood up. "Ah... I feel like dying."

Ermes made her way back to her cell in the female ward, hoping it would get her as far away from McQueen as possible. As she headed down the stairs, she ran into a kid playing with a baseball, Jolyne and Rainbow with him. "Hey, Ermes," Jolyne said, "Long time no see. Our cellmate said you sold her my locket. Tell me, did you get pricked by the stone shard in it?" Ermes raised an eyebrow. "Wait, that was your locket? Sorry about that. If I knew it was yours I'd have returned it instead of selling it off."

She then double-checked Jolyne's words. "Wait... Did you know what was inside it?" Jolyne nodded. "It was part of an arrowhead. The ore it was made of contains a virus that kills most people, but for those it doesn't... It gives strange and incredible powers." She and Rainbow revealed Stone Free and I'll Fly, and Ermes realized that no one else seemed weirded out by them. "They're called Stands," the kid said, "And Stand users tend to be drawn to each other. No one else in this hall can see them, just the four of us."

He turned to Ermes. "That's why you ran into the janitor. Even if he's not natural by any stretch of the imagination, he's still bound to the same fate." He tossed Ermes his ball. "Don't touch it." Ermes went to instinctively grab the ball, only for it to pass right through her. "I was born in this prison," the kid explained, "My mother was one of the inmates. I've been secretly living here ever since."

The ball opened a small crack in the wall. "Come on," Jolyne said, "We can talk in the kid's room." Ermes was confused, even more so when the kid grabbed her arm from within the crack and dragged her along inside. To her confusion, she found herself inside a large and well-furnished room, with two men inside. "Don't mind them," the kid said, "They're just here." "So this is your room?," Ermes asked in confusion. "Kinda," the kid replied, "Well, it's not really a bedroom, so there's no bed to sleep in. I just use the piano. I get all the Mars chocolate and orange juice I want, though."

"It doesn't even ruin his appetite since this room is actually an illusion," Rainbow noted, "Still has flavor, though." Ermes scoffed. "Explains why he sleeps on the piano. So what is this place?" "It's some sort of ghost house," Jolyne explained, "But don't worry, the kid's no ghost. It's just that he can access this room through his Stand." Ermes looked at the kid. "You mean, this kid has it too?" "It's an ability that I was born with," the kid explained, "This prison caught fire in 1984, and had extensive renovations done to it. My Stand, Burning Down the House, creates a ghost projection of the room that was burned down in a sort of pocket dimension."

"So what's all this about, then?," Ermes asked, "Did you track me down just because you thought I might have a Stand?" "Yes, actually," Jolyne admitted, "But when the kid spotted your altercation with the janitor and how it got started, he told us. That disc you have. It's a little different from the one that took Gwess' Stand, but it comes from the same source, a Stand called Whitesnake." She explained the whole situation. "Okay, I think I get it," Ermes said, "But that janitor didn't go comatose when I took this disc."

"That's why it's probably different," Rainbow pointed out, "Gwess' Stand was stolen, so a piece of her soul was robbed. But from what we've learned, this disc actually holds the janitor's memories. You can live without your memories." "Did the janitor have two discs when you got this one?," the kid asked. "Yeah," Ermes said, "They just popped out of his head when I knocked him out back at the sickroom." "The discs always come in pairs," the kid noted, "One for memory, and one for a Stand."

Suddenly, Ermes' wrist started bleeding. "Shit... Is he still coming after me?" The others gasped as Ermes was subjected to electrical shock. "The janitor again!," Jolyne said, "Is his Stand affecting Ermes all the way here in the female ward!?" Fortunately, the effect stopped as quickly as it began. "Someone must have spotted his suicide attempt and stopped him," Ermes said, "If I find out who I'll pull them into the nearest closet for a proper thank you."

"That may not have been it," the kid clarified, "The body is naturally resistant to electricity. Anything under one-hundred volts, while painful, will prove to be far from fatal. Basically, it's likely he failed in his suicide attempt." Rainbow pulled the memory disc out of her head. "This guy, McQueen. Pucci, the one who we think controls Whitesnake, recruited him for his lack of any emotion in his actions. We need to find him quickly. This attempt failed, but his next attempt will have him trying to find saline water, which more easily conducts electricity."

Ermes' eyes widened. "He's going for the medical ward! Saline water is commonly used in IVs and for washing wounds!" Ermes raced out of the ghost room, Jolyne and Rainbow following her. They spotted McQueen, having wrapped himself in exposed wires. His body was all wet as he finished dumping the water over himself. "Damn...," Jolyne said, "He doesn't even know what he's doing to you. He doesn't realize what sort of power he has."

"The fuck is wrong with you!," Ermes called out, "Why all the suicide attempts!? There's no way in hell anyone's life could be that bad!" McQueen looked at her. "I'd like to believe that... But my life has been hell from the day I was born. For example, do you know why I was imprisoned here? It was four years ago... I was cleaning the shotgun in my apartment. But it was loaded for some reason, and it wound up going off. The shot flew out the window, where a woman was falling from the eleventh floor, just one floor above me. The shot hit her, and blew her heart away."

He started sobbing. "She would have fallen to the ground and died, but instead I wound up killing her... Just because I was cleaning my shotgun! I would have been okay with a manslaughter charge. No matter how you look at it, I was responsible for her death. But the judge called me cold-hearted, and I got slapped with a life-sentence." He bawled. "That's the kind of man I am!" Ermes tried to stop him from hitting the switch, but Rainbow held her back. "Allow me. I'll Fly!"

She quick stepped in front of McQueen as he hit the trigger, and to his surprise nothing happened. "What the fuck...?," Ermes said. Jolyne smirked. "Rainbow's Stand merges with her and creates a field designed for perfect flight." Ermes facepalmed as she smirked. "Pokemon type science. Electric-type beats Flying-type." McQueen looked at Rainbow in longing. "Are you... An angel?" "Yeah," Rainbow said sarcastically, "And I'm here to send you to Heaven. Hey Ermes, a little help here!"

Ermes grinned. "Gotcha. His Stand doesn't work if the one killing him isn't himself." She slapped a sticker on McQueen, splitting his head. "Oh wow," Jolyne said, "So that's what it looks like." "I decided to call this Stand Kiss," Ermes said. Her confidence manifested a physical form for her Stand, a humanoid female covered in stickers. She pulled the sticker off McQueen, merging his heads. As he went unconscious from the pain, the other disc popped out of his head.

"That reminds me," she said, "This guy had five-thousand dollars squirreled away. The location should be on his memory disc. Might as well take it as payment for all this trouble." She turned to the others. "Whatever this Pucci guy wants, he's got a lot of nerve dragging me into this this. I can't let him continue with this bullshit. So... I'll help you out. Besides, I get the feeling I owe you for the business back in the prison car." Jolyne smirked. "Kinda. I did notice that faux-Tom Cruise giving you grief, so I made sure he paid for it. Didn't really mean to take his ear off, though." Ermes laughed as the three of them left the sickroom.

The prisoners had been gathered at the sports field for an important announcement. It seemed two prisoners who had reported for work duty at the prison's barn had gone missing. The guards and dogs were busy, so the prisoners would be split into search parties, though they were informed that this wouldn't be paid work nor would it reduce their sentences. Ermes, Jolyne, Rainbow, and two other girls volunteered. A guard took the volunteers aside and strapped several wristbands on them.

"These bands are what we like to call Like A Virgins," the guard explained, "They are basically invisible prison bars. Any attempts to remove them, any shock damage dealt, any effort made to destroy them, and they will instantly explode! I will have the base unit with me, and you must remain within fifty meters of it, or else an electronic signal will detonate the device. The good news is the explosion is not fatal, but will remove your hand at the wrist, which will make life very inconvenient for you. Obey these rules and you'll be safe. Keep in mind only the prison computer can unlock them."

Several mopeds and an ATV were brought out. "The ATV is for my use. The mopeds are to make it easier for you to remain within the base unit's safety distance as we explore the farm area in search of the missing prisoners." The volunteers were taken out to the farm where the missing prisoners were last seen. The guard kept watch as they spread out to look. "Sucks that the guard is keeping a close eye on us," Ermes said, "Could you imagine how easy it would be for Rainbow to search the farm if she could fly overhead and scan the area?"

"Speaking of our own little world," Jolyne said, "Did you finish digging through the discs from McQueen?" "Yeah, and it looks like your theory's solid," Ermes replied, "If we can retrieve Gwess' disc and return it to her, it should revive her. I was able to revive McQueen when I gave him back his memory disc, though I plan on keeping the Stand disc. It's given me enough trouble." Jolyne nodded. "Can I take a look?" Ermes discreetly passed the disc to Jolyne, who placed it inside her head.

"I'm seeing something right as Whitesnake places the disc in McQueen's head," Jolyne noted, "A reflection of a tractor. It shows up for a split second. Pucci must have been gathering discs like these for years." "So he's just been stealing the Stands from other users in preparation for this?," Ermes asked, "But why?" "Hard to say," Jolyne admitted, "But he was working with Johngalli, who once served my family's old nemesis, DIO Brando. Maybe Pucci was another servant. But he didn't go to all this trouble just for revenge. He specifically targeted my father, probably because he's the one who killed DIO."

"And Gwess got in the way," Ermes realized. Jolyne nodded. "The tire of the tractor shows at least a dozen discs hidden inside it." Ermes stopped for a moment. "You suspected he was stockpiling them all along." "Yeah," Jolyne admitted, "Ever since I was told about McQueen and the unnatural way he got a Stand. I realized Pucci couldn't have started this plan recently. He had to be building up to it. That's why I agreed to this assignment."

"Hey officer!," Rainbow called out, "Did anyone check the barn over there!?" The guard looked where Rainbow was pointing. "Don't think so. Feel free to search if you want, but I wouldn't hold my breath. There'd be no point to the search if there was any sign of them there." Ermes then noticed something off as Rainbow and Jolyne went to open the door. "Here it is," Jolyne said, "The tractor from the disc." "Hey Rainbow, Jojo," Ermes said, "Didn't the guard say there would be five of us here?"

Rainbow nodded. "Yeah, why?" "Because I just counted heads as the guard started heading into the swamp," Ermes explained, "And it looks like there are three people following him. But if you count the three of us... That makes six total!" Jolyne took another look. "Yeah, you're right. I remember only two other girls joining us as we volunteered for the search." Rainbow looked around the group. "I think I already spotted the odd one out. I remember the faces of the two girls who joined us... So who's the other girl that showed up just now?"

Just then, all the bands started beeping. "What happened!?," one of the other girls called out. Jolyne spotted the ATV, with the guard missing. "Shit! Something's dragging him into the water! Look, there's blood on the vehicle!" "What'll we do!?," a meeker girl with green hair said, "If whatever got him drags him too far away...!" "Calm down Atroe," Rainbow said, "Look, all of you get around me! Trust me on this!" Jolyne, Ermes, and Atroe were quick to agree.

The other two girls looked at each other, but decided to go for it. Immediately afterward Atroe's band stopped beeping. "Is... Is that a good thing...?" "No," Jolyne said. She knew the only reason the band wasn't exploding was because of the flight field of I'll Fly, which negated all the factors that would allow the explosion. Ermes went to work immediately, using a sticker from Kiss to split the band in two to break it off, throwing it away from Rainbow's field where it exploded instantly upon leaving it.

"How'd you pull that off?," asked one of the other girls, who had darker hair and a ponytail. "Doesn't matter," Jolyne said, "Look around from where the explosion occurred. The guard's body should be fifty meters away from it." They looked around, and the girl with the ponytail spotted the guard flowing down the river. "Why'd you break the girl's band off?," Jolyne asked. Ermes shrugged. "She didn't deserve to die just because of circumstances she couldn't control. I'm sure everyone will think an alligator got the guard while we were searching the marsh."

"The real problem," Rainbow said, "Is who the extra person is." Ermes spotted something moving a bucket and went to look at what it was. At first it seemed empty, but when Jolyne and Rainbow looked to check on her, she had been dragged into the water. She surfaced quickly, having used Kiss to destroy the bucket, and wound up dragging a strange being with her as she surfaced. "Hang on!," Jolyne called out, "Stone Free!" "I'll Fly!" Jolyne created a net to walk over the water to Ermes while Rainbow just flew over.

Jolyne had just enough string to reach the creature, and created Stone Free's physical form to attack. The creature managed to grab Stone Free's fist and made to counterattack. Jolyne smirked. "Nice try, but I didn't just unravel my body to reach you." Ermes gasped when she saw a large hole Jolyne made in her torso, just the right size to grab the strange humanoid's arm and trap it, letting Rainbow fly in and sock the creature in the jaw. She grabbed the thing, likely a Stand, and released I'll Fly from her to attack directly.

"AHHHHHHHH! SEIYA!" Rainbow managed to heavily damage the Stand, while one of the two figures in the distance started to wobble. "Rainbow, land in the water!," Jolyne called out, "That Stand is made from plankton, so we need to grab it in the water!" Rainbow let her Stand dispel and grabbed onto Jolyne, who grabbed Ermes and reeled in her strings, pulling them back. However, the Stand was able to follow them fast. "Jeez, what's with this Stand?," Rainbow asked, "Shouldn't such a strong Stand lose power as it gets farther from its user?"

"Don't worry," Ermes said, "I had enough time when it grabbed me to place a sticker on it." She knocked off said sticker, merging the Stand's arms and knocking it off just as it grabbed Jolyne. The trio got onto dry land, and watched as the Stand regenerated. However, it then started to sink again. "I thought as much," Ermes said, "It can only attack while we're underwater." Atroe was standing there stunned. "Um... What was all that? Rainbow flying like Superman, Jolyne somehow running over the water and all of you just rushing back like you were salmon or something!?"

Meanwhile the others were getting on the guard's radio trying to call for help. "One of them has to be the Stand user," Ermes said, "I saw one of them wobble when Rainbow slugged the Stand." "I... I don't know either of them," Atroe said, "So I can't tell if one them snuck in. And we were all wearing bands that were beeping." Jolyne sighed. "I guess we just knock them out and have the responding guards sort it out. We can claim self-defense when they show up."

"Is it just me," Rainbow said, "Or are we explaining a lot of actions while here?" Jolyne walked up to the black-haired girl and slugged her. "What was that for!?," the shaven-haired girl said. "Someone here killed this guard," Jolyne said, "And me, Ermes, and Rainbow were together for most of the time." "Even when I wasn't," Rainbow said, "I was also with Atroe helping her search. So it was either you, or the girl we just knocked out."

The shaven-haired girl's eyes darkened. "Or... Maybe both..." To their shock, the two bodies started twitching and merging. "You've gotta be kidding me," Ermes said in shock. The bodies merged into a black humanoid figure, two discs merging into its head. "Whitesnake gave me this power, power to protect myself. The girl from earlier touched the tractor inside the barn, so I was forced to assimilate her. You also know the location of the discs. I was tasked with guarding them."

"Oh shit!," Rainbow said, "We weren't just fighting the Stand... The Stand itself was also the user!" "It must have been created from the plankton in the marsh!," Ermes realized. "I've heard of apes getting Stands, dogs getting Stands, Stands tied to radio towers, alien Stand users," Jolyne counted off, "But this is definitely a first, even in our world. So what do we call this thing?" The creature stood up. "You may refer to me as Foo Fighters." It then ran off for the barn. "Shit!," Rainbow said, "It knows we only have so far to search for it! If we get father than fifty meters from the guard.... Kaboom!" "Uh... Girls," Atroe said, "Something's pulling the guard into the water." The other three gasped when they saw another piece of Foo Fighters. "Gimme a break...," Jolyne muttered.

Well... That happened...

Also, there's a reason why I let Atroe live.

Actually, my original plan was for Jolyne to use her strings to pick the bracelet off, but ultimately decided that was unrealistic even for her powers, so instead I had Ermes break it off with her duplicating stickers.

Atroe Fendi was freaking out. All she wanted to do was get away from the people who were bullying her in prison. Rainbow seemed to take to her like a big sister, which is why she hung around her. But now weird things were happening. Rainbow, Jolyne, and Ermes, all prisoners that she knew by reputation, were acting real weird and doing things out of a sci-fi novel. Even more so, they were conversing with some invisible and inaudible creature that killed several other girls right in front of them, their bodies completely dried out.

"Damn it," Jolyne said, "We need to get those discs back. But we can't get too far away from the guard." Atroe looked at them. "Um... You need something from the barn right? Thanks to Jolyne, I don't have my band anymore, so maybe... I could go get it." The others looked at her. "That's too dangerous," Ermes said, "You saw what happened to the others. There's no way you'll outrun what you can't even see. And even if you could, it'll probably just kill you too."

"Alright, here's the plan," Jolyne said, "Ermes, get the guard and throw him to Rainbow. She can carry you and him to keep within the base unit's range. Meanwhile I'll go after the discs." Ermes nodded. "You're crazy, y'know. But fuck it, if this doesn't work we're dead either way." She ran for the guard while Jolyne ran after Foo Fighters. Rainbow turned to see Ermes attack the split Stand with Kiss, not seeing Atroe run after Jolyne. The split creature managed to grab Kiss' arm to pull it off.

It got surprised when it managed to do so easily, then noticed Ermes getting away with the guard's corpse. "Can't believe I resorted to splitting my arm to make this work!," she noted, "But that's desperation for ya!" She winced as she pulled the sticker off and the severed arm merged with the one still attached. "Rainbow, now!" "I'll Fly!" Rainbow grabbed Ermes and the dead guard and raced over to Jolyne just as her band started beeping.

The Stand creature tried to splash water to get at the girls, but Rainbow was too fast, forcing it to run along where the water was landing, digging a small ditch as it did. "Damn!," Ermes called out, "It's not giving up! Rainbow, grab the guard and drop me, I'll take care of that fucker!" Rainbow reached down and grabbed the guard's corpse, while Ermes dropped to where one of the dried corpses was. As the split Stand made to grab her, Ermes placed a sticker on the dried husk and threw it at the creature, removing the sticker when they connected.

"Like a drop of water in the desert," she noted as the ploy worked, drying up the creature and allowing Kiss to knock it away from the ditch to dry up easily. She then ran to catch up to Rainbow, who slowed down to give her time to do so. Meanwhile, Jolyne had reached the barn, just in time to stop Foo Fighters before it could get to the tire. "So you made it," it said, "But this means I have to kill you now." It hit a nearby sink with a hose in it, causing water to spray everywhere.

"This puddle is the only thing keeping you from getting to me and these discs," Foo Fighters noted, "Let me ask you a question... Are you going to run away? Or do you truly wish to die?" "You obviously understand the concept of intelligence," Jolyne noted, "But I wonder if you understand arrogance. Let me ask you something in exchange. Pucci, the one behind Whitesnake. Why is that person collecting these discs?" As she asked, she stepped into the puddle, confusing Foo Fighters as it tossed the tire with the discs into another tractor.

"I can understand the idea of defending oneself," it noted, "And while I've yet to truly understand the idea behind defending others, I can see why it's important. But why would anyone chose to die? As for your question, I've never actually seen this Pucci. I know about Whitesnake, of course, but they've never shared their plans, only asked me to defend these discs." Jolyne dove to the ground. "Stone Free!" Her Stand shot out a string, and Foo Fighters chuckled. "Pointless. I've already made that puddle part of me."

The black gunk from before surrounded Jolyne and grabbed her. "I wonder what your plan was," Foo Fighters said as it started to invade Jolyne's body, "Perhaps break open the flour sack to dehydrate me. Or use the electricity from the lamps to fry me. But it's pointless either way. I have full understanding of my powers, and can create an environment where I have no weaknesses." "Maybe," Jolyne said, "But you lose regardless."

Foo Fighters then noticed the truck was missing, and turned to see it being driven out of the barn and across the farm's field by Atroe. "I was actually intending to use my string to start the engine," Jolyne clarified, "But it looks like Atroe had a similar idea. Girl's smart. She knew what we needed." Foo Fighters immediately released Jolyne and went for the tractor, but to do so it had to leave its perfect environment, slowly breaking apart thanks to the field as Atroe kept going forward, not deviating in case whatever invisible thing was after them was right behind her.

Foo Fighters tried to grab the back of the tractor, but realized it didn't have the strength to hold on as Jolyne regrouped with Ermes and Rainbow, Atroe stopping the tractor when she saw they stopped. Foo Fighters looked at them. "I... Have lost... The discs were all I had to my identity." It popped out the two discs. "Take them... For yourself. I... Don't have the strength to keep going..." And with that, it dissolved, only the discs remaining. Jolyne picked up the disc containing Foo Fighters, then looked at Atroe.

"Here it is," Ermes said, "The Disc containing Goo Goo Dolls. The discs come in a set of two, but for some reason Pucci left Gwess with her memory disc." Meanwhile, Rainbow returned with Atroe. "It took some doing," Atroe said, "But I think I got used to using Foo Fighters. But wow, talk about a difference. Now I can see all the crazy stuff you guys can do." They noticed Atroe had a new band on. "She temporarily assimilated one of the other girls' hands," Rainbow explained, "That way there won't be any need to explain why she's missing her band."

"Seems I can turn my entire body into plankton using this power," Atroe noted, "But it's like a logia power in One Piece, my real body still exists." "Oh yeah," Ermes said, "Never asked what you got in for." Atroe looked sheepish. "I... Kidnapped some kid for ten days, got me seven years. I didn't even want a ransom, it was just part of my childhood dream." The other girls looked at her. "Yeah, I might be messed up." She then got a cup, filled it with water, and downed it. "This power seems to get stronger the more water I drink."

"Hey, Atroe," Ermes said, "You were given the memory disc for Foo Fighters too, right? Was there anything in there about Whitesnake?" "Doesn't seem like it," Atroe said, "Seems this Pucci guy never got near the tractors much. In fact, there aren't even any other memory discs in that group. And these ones are the ones he doesn't need. Apparently, if you don't have Stand potential a disc rejects you. I guess I have that potential, which is why I'm able to use the disc for Foo Fighters."

Just then, the sounds of sirens could be heard. "Glad they took their time," Ermes said, "But what are we gonna do about the discs? They'll do a body check on us before they let us back inside." "Maybe if I make my boobs bigger?," Atroe asked. "You can do that?," Rainbow asked. "Foo Fighters seems to give me some shapeshifting capabilities," Atroe explained. The group decided on a plan, then held their arms up as the guards arrived.

Pucci frowned as he returned to check on the discs, having heard of the search and getting concerned. Officially the guard in charge of the search was killed by an alligator, while the deaths of the other two girls was unconfirmed. 'Jolyne Kujo was only meant to be a lure,' he thought, 'Ultimately it failed to catch, but I thought it was enough to send him running. I should have known better... Jotaro Kujo does not run. He's just left it up to his daughter.'

He looked at the pictures of the prisoners, then discarded the two that were deceased. 'And like her ancestors, she has started to gather allies, friends, those who share her power and her beliefs.' A guard approached. "Father Pucci, we should get moving. The warden already declared the search a failure." Pucci looked at the guard. "Yes, of course. It seems we'll find nothing more here." 'In more ways than one... It seems my real threat is not Jotaro, but Jolyne Kujo...'

So yeah, the title was a nod to the saying that Stand users live in an invisible world. So, having gotten a Stand disc, Atroe is now welcomed into that world. Hope you like how I modified Foo Fighters. It's a realistic change based on it having an actual user instead of becoming a new species unto itself.

As I read through this part of the manga one thing jumped out at me... Why did none of the girls argue about the accusations of cheating? You'll understand what I mean soon enough.

Those who knew Atroe seemed a little off-put by her new demeanor. Not only was she more sociable, especially around Jolyne, Ermes, and Rainbow, but she was never far from a large cup of water. It was mostly to stock up on water for the next time they'd be fighting, and Atroe knew enough about comic books, which their lives seemed to have veered into, to know there would be a "next time". "So," Ermes said, "You made sure that no one else could find the other discs, right?"

"Yep," Atroe said as she put down her cup, "I'm the only one who knows where they are. Right now Pucci doesn't know I have Foo Fighters' disc." "It's better the rest of us don't know," Jolyne noted, "There's a lot of people that like to spy on each other in this prison." "Hey!," Atroe said when she someone drinking from her cup, "What do you think you're doing!?" The woman was dismissive. "Relax, Atroe, I'm just thirsty. So back off before you get pummeled again."

Atroe clenched her fist. She might have done what the woman said before, but now she wasn't so weak. "Put it down... Or you'll get hurt." The woman smirked and gulping down the water. Atroe scoffed, then pointed at the woman and shot her Stand power through the cup with her finger. The result caused the woman's jaw to dislocate, her saliva spilling into the cup. "Ugh... Waste of good water," Atroe said as she retrieved the cup, "But at least next time she'll think twice about taking what isn't hers."

Pucci was inside his office, which was well-furnished. He acted as a priest in the prison for those that chose to turn to God for forgiveness for their various crimes on Earth. He took a bowl of fruit and offered some to the young woman with him. "No thanks," she said. "As you wish," Pucci said, snacking on a pair of cherries, "So, how do you feel now that we have spoken?" The woman nodded. "I've come to realize just how foolish my actions were."

She smiled. "My motivations were all about money and desire, and for that I took to thievery and petty violence. But I know that feeling of wanting is what drives me to the edge, and how foolish that is." Pucci nodded. "In recent studies of animals, it's been proven that, depending on the trainer, dogs and parrots can learn to read, or to use fire, or even appreciate art. Do you know what the difference is between animal and man?" He finished snacking on the cherries, leaving only the stems and seeds.

He smirked at the woman's confusion. "A little trick I developed out of boredom. Using it, I don't even need my fingers to finish it. The trick is to use a certain tooth to bite into the second cherry when you finish the first one, because if you don't do it right you'll wind up biting off the seed of the first cherry." He cleared his throat. "Now then, as I was saying, the difference between animal and man is a very fine one. Man evolved from animals over thousands of years, and still has traces of that heritage. But there is one thing that elevates man above common animals."

He closed his eyes. "The desire to go to Heaven. Humans think about it, but animals can never grasp that concept. The idea of Heaven is a concept that has started from man's earliest concept of religion. Yes, even before Christianity. That is the beauty of humans. You see?" The woman nodded. "I... Guess so." Pucci smiled. "Splendid. We'll talk of this another time. In the meantime, I can speak with the committee to recommend your parole." The woman seemed elated. "Thank you, Father!"

Suddenly, Pucci grabbed the woman's head and pushed her into the table, grabbing his crucifix from her bag. "I must admit... I've taken a liking to those clever hands of yours... It seems your true colors cannot be fixed. But this is a talent I cannot ignore." He got out a pair of discs. "It might be harder to secure your parole. But if you were to work for me on commission, that would make it much easier..." He slid the discs into the woman's head.

The girls had taken to playing catch with each other to pass the time. "So what about those other two guys with Baseball Kid?," Ermes asked, "Are they in or out?" "Dunno," Jolyne said, "For now they seem content to just stay in the ghost room. I haven't even learned their names yet." "There was something familiar about the guy with the white hat," Rainbow said, "So I called my folks and they're using their position in Speedwagon to look him up. Hopefully they can get back to me with a name at least."

Atroe suddenly noticed a girl walking between them just as she threw her next pitch. "Hey, watch out!" Jolyne managed to get ahead of the girl and catch the baseball, but she did bump into her as they did. Atroe sighed. "Managed eighty-seven solid catches so far..." "Really?" the girl said. They didn't know it was the same girl who was meeting with Pucci. "That's impressive. Think you could get to a hundred?" "So long as no one else walks between us," Rainbow snarked.

The girl chuckled. "In that case let's bet on it. One hundred dollars, for one hundred catches." Ermes raised an eyebrow. "I'm... Sorry, who are you again?" The girl smiled. "Right, intro. Name's Miraschon." "And why would we bet on this again?," Atroe asked, "I mean, yeah it's only thirteen more tries, but you could try to interfere with our game somehow. Everyone knows how far a little money goes in this place, even a hundred dollars."

"Besides," Jolyne said, "We left all our cash in our cells. We couldn't make the bet even if we wanted to." Miraschon shrugged. "Well, it doesn't necessarily have to be cash. Anything that's worth a hundred total could do." "It's fine," Ermes said, "I've got the cash on hand." Miraschon smirked. "Good!" Jolyne pulled Ermes aside. "Do you really think this is a good idea? What if she's an enemy?" "Please, she'd have attacked us by now if she was working with Pucci," Ermes pointed out.

"Not all attacks are violent," Jolyne countered, "The way she said 'good' reminded me of a story my dad told me about when he and his friends were in Cairo. There they encountered a gambler named Daniel J D'Arby, whose Stand could steal people's souls when they lost to him or otherwise admitted defeat. It was useless for combat, but D'Arby was skilled at luring in unsuspecting victims with seemingly easy games. Miraschon could be doing something similar."

Ermes considered it. "Okay fair enough, but at the same time we need more money if we're going to get that disc to your dad so he can revive Gwess. Transporting items could be considered smuggling, and gathering the right amount of cash to have guards ignore it isn't easy." Jolyne rubbed her chin. "How about this?," Rainbow said, "Let's take the bet first and see if she tries anything. Once we've determined if she's really a Stand user or not, then we decide what to do next."

Jolyne nodded. "Okay, we're in. But we set the rules. First, you have to stay there and not move. Second, the timing will also be decided by us." Miraschon considered it for a second. "Okay, but that'll have to be set right away." "Ten seconds to throw," Jolyne said, "Sound good?" Miraschon smiled. "Good. Looks like the game is set." As Jolyne and Atroe continued to change it back and forth, Miraschon sat down on the bench next to Atroe's freshly filled water cup.

Atroe didn't seem to notice this, focusing on finishing the challenge. Miraschon raised an eyebrow but said nothing. It didn't take long for the challenge to be completed. "How's that?," Atroe said, "Looks like you gotta pay up now." Miraschon shrugged and handed over the cash. "By the way," she said, "Atroe, earlier you were bothered by another girl getting near your water, yet you said nothing when I sat down. Why is that?"

Atroe raised an eyebrow. "How did you know about that?" "Yeah," Rainbow said, "I don't remember your face in the crowd when that girl squirted water out of her nose." "I thought her jaw got dislocated," Miraschon said. The girls looked at her. Either she really was there when Atroe used her power to deal with the bully or she had some sort of telepathic power. Either way she was looking more suspicious. Atroe just responded with a shrug. "Well, you weren't actually drinking the water, so I saw no reason to get upset."

Miraschon grinned. "So you can focus easily... Perhaps you'd like a different challenge. If you can get another one hundred catches, I'll offer one thousand dollars. So what do you say?" "Fine," Rainbow said, "But it'll be me and Ermes playing this time. And the same rules apply. You stay over there near the bench, and we get ten seconds to throw." Miraschon chuckled. "Good." The two girls took the gloves and started tossing the ball and forth.

Soon enough a rough-looking guard approached. "Hey, exercise time is over." Jolyne got out the money they just earned. "Listen, we're trying to finish up a game here. How about giving us a little more time while we rap it up." The guard looked around, then took the money. "Fine, I guess I look away for two minutes." Ermes smirked as she threw the ball again, only for the guard to grab Rainbow's glove. "But I still have to confiscate your glove! The ball's all you need!"

Rainbow narrowed her eyes as the ball came right at her, summoning her Stand to slow the ball down with her flight field to grab it without injury. Just then, a dirty gold-colored humanoid appeared near Miraschon, with what looked like a calculator display on its forehead. "In her heart Rainbow realizes she cheated," Miraschon said, "Now the Debt Collector can appear." The strange being went to attack Rainbow, but for some reason it's movements slowed as it tried to approach her.

"What's this thing!?," Rainbow demanded. Miraschon growled. "Turn off that field! You cheated, so you lose the game! Marilyn Manson can't do its job if it can't collect what you owe!" Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "Me cheat? What do you mean? Nothing I did was against the rules we set. We only had two rules, but no other restrictions. So explain to me how using my Stand to slow the ball down counts as cheating." "That's true," Atroe said, "By that logic, Rainbow and Ermes haven't lost yet. You basically called them out on a cheat that never happened. I'd say that means you lose by default."

Sure enough, the Stand called Marilyn Manson disappeared. "Looks like when it was spelled out for you," Jolyne said, "You realized Rainbow hadn't been cheating after all. So, now we're the ones who get to collect that thousand dollars." Miraschon gulped. "There's something else," Ermes said, "Where did you get this Stand? You clearly understand what's going on here. I'm guessing you might be working for Pucci." Miraschon was sweating now. "Please... I just wanted to get my parole..." Jolyne scoffed. "That's got nothing to do with us. Stone Free!" The fist of Jolyne's Stand was the last conscious image Miraschon had.

Later in the cafeteria, the girls were going through the two discs they obtained from Miraschon. "So Pucci works in the prison in some capacity," Jolyne said as she went through the memories, "And he convinced her to use the Stand disc for Marilyn Manson to obtain the Goo Goo Dolls disc, promising her parole in exchange." "Why go to all the trouble?," Atroe asked, "From what you've told me of Goo Goo Dolls, it's not a very strong Stand." Rainbow tapped her chin. "Maybe it's more that he doesn't want Gwess to recover for some reason. Or maybe he's trying to maintain a semblance of control over our situation."

"Does the memory include Pucci's face?," Ermes asked. Jolyne shook her head. "No, that seems to have been erased. No memory of his position in the prison either. What about Marilyn Manson? Any further details about it?" "Besides what we know?," Rainbow asked, "Well, apparently it can't be attacked while trying to collect its debt. It can go for anything of value, even organs based on their value on the black market. That might be why my Stand slowed it down, because trying to tear out my organs would have made it more difficult to fly."

"What about the whole cheating thing?," Ermes asked. Rainbow checked the disc. "Apparently it can appear if a person knows in their heart that they cheated. While I was aware that using my Stand to catch the ball without the use of a glove was a little unfair, once Miraschon's Stand was halted I had time to think and realized that it wasn't necessarily cheating, since we only ever included two restrictions, and using Stands wasn't one of them. That put the idea in Miraschon's head that I wasn't actually cheating, removing her Stand."

Jolyne sighed. "Well, regardless, it's clear Pucci is putting pressure on us to get back the disc. We'll need to move our schedule ahead. I'll talk with Ryusei and see about contacting Dad and the Speedwagon Foundation." Atroe glanced behind her, but her thoughts were on the Stand disc for Goo Goo Dolls, which she hid inside her body using Foo Fighters. This was the real reason for her drinking so much water, because using her Stand for an extended period tended to dehydrate her. 'I guess we're really doing this. It's like all those other times I went along with someone's crazy scheme... Except now it's my choice.'

By the time Jolyne and her friends were ready to make their move, they were getting pretty infamous in the Aquarium. It didn't take much for Jolyne to get some phone time to contact the Speedwagon Foundation. 'This is the Dallas, Texas Speedwagon Foundation Headquarters,' came a voice on the other end. Dallas, Texas was where Robert EO Speedwagon and his wife Twilight Sparkle first made their fortune in the oil industry, so it was no surprise their Foundation HQ was located there.

"I got this number from my father, Jotaro," Jolyne said, "My name is Jolyne Kujo." 'One moment,' the other voice said. It struck Jolyne that the voice was somewhat altered mechanically. Sure enough, when the voice came back on, she recognized it as belonging to Noriaki Kakyoin, an old family friend that she'd met a number of times, and who joined her and her family while they were in Morioh. 'Good to hear from you Jolyne. Jotaro told me everything.'

"Then you know about the disc?," Jolyne asked. 'Yes. We had Gwess' body transported to a safe location for preservation. Is there a possibility that this conversation is being wiretapped?' "Probably," Jolyne admitted, "But I already anticipated that." She already had Stone Free check the phone to make sure it wasn't bugged. 'Alright. Getting the disc to us might be tricky. Even if you still have visitation rights, that method is too obvious. If they could intercept it once, they could do so again. Instead I've arranged for a friend of your mother's to come and collect the disc in the courtyard.'

Jolyne smiled. She knew exactly who Kakyoin was talking about. "Savage Garden. Clever. How soon should I meet him?" 'He'll be there in twenty minutes. That will give the enemy less time to react, making it easier for them to make a mistake. Meet him in the courtyard.' "Okay, I'll tell the other girls," Jolyne said before hanging up. As she went to let them know, she heard the Baseball Kid speaking from a nearby trashcan. "Jolyne," he said, "The courtyard is near the factory. You need permission to pass."

Jolyne looked in the trashcan, but he wasn't there. "Over here," the kid said, appearing near a doorway. Jolyne followed him to meet the other girls, as well as the white-hatted guy from Burning Down the House. "Kid finally mentioned his name to us," Ermes said, "Emporio Alnino. Thanks to him we know everything." Emporio stuffed the ghost trashcan into his pocket and pulled out a map. "The courtyard has the lowest security in the prison, because it doesn't lead anywhere."

He pointed to the factory entrance. "Getting in here is easy, a simple bribe will suffice. But the courtyard is open-air, so permission is needed." "One of the guards here knows my father," Jolyne said, "His name is Ryusei Ito. We can probably get permission from him." Emporio nodded. "Okay, that makes this a little easier. This guy here is also going to help us. Guaranteed the man named Pucci is going to find out about our plan." The man turned to Rainbow and leaned into her face. "Did you... Find my name?"

Rainbow nodded. "A search into your birth records gave your name as Wes Bluemarine. Does that stir any memories?" Wes shook his head. "No. But it's less confusing than naming me after my Stand." "Wes lost his memories somehow," Emporio explained, "Since then me and the other guy have been calling him by his Stand's name, Weather Report." "What's with the lack of personal space?," Atroe asked. "He doesn't open his mouth much when he talks," Emporio explained, "So he leans in close to people he talks to so they can hear him."

"He's in here for a six year sentence," Rainbow said, "But I haven't heard what the reason was. He's an odd guy, walking on his toes and reading TV guides without actually watching TV." She shrugged. "But he seems dependable." Jolyne playfully shoved Rainbow's shoulder. "Am I gonna have to play jealous here? Cuz it sounds like you might fancy the guy." She then turned serious. "But if his memories are all wiped like that, do you think Pucci was involved?"

Emporio nodded. "It's a clear possibility. Especially when I saw the same effects with McQueen and Miraschon after they lost their memory discs. He wants to help so he can find out who he really is, and he thinks Pucci may be the key to finding that out." Wes leaned closer to Jolyne. "Just so you know, I didn't get my Stand from another disc. As far as I can tell, I was born with mine." He leaned back, and miniature storm clouds appeared around his head. They formed into a humanoid with a spiked head, that manipulated the nearby air moisture to knock over some pens in a cup, which perfectly hit the keys on the piano is was on. "Weather Report!," he announced loudly, "It controls the weather."

"Like, all the weather?," Ermes asked, a little surprised. She then noticed a face in the reflection of the puddle Weather Report created. "Someone was tracking us," Jolyne realized. The man was wearing a brown suit and hiding in a way that made it clear he was eavesdropping. The group quickly ran out, the man running after them. He was too slow, however, and started spitting at them, but missing completely thanks to Rainbow's flight field, which she projected to increase their speed.

They managed to hide using a combination of Burning Down the House and Jolyne's prison jacket. "That was close," Ermes said. "That man can get permission to reach the courtyard by mentioning he has to get back to the male ward," Emporio noted. "Yeah, but we have an advantage," Jolyne pointed out, "I'm the only here who knows who we're meeting. Let's get to Ryusei for those permission papers, then head for the factory." Emporio nodded. "Getting in there will be easy. A simple fifty dollar bribe and an excuse that you need to get your boots fixed, and the guard by the factory door won't ask questions."

The guard accepted the bribe without question. "You get twenty minutes," he said. Jolyne smirked. "More than I need." As the group moved inside, they heard another voice from a guard. "Okay, head for the male ward." They spotted the man from before, grinning at them. "Gotcha this time." A silver human figure emerged from him, something spinning around its wrists. "Jumpin Jack Flash!" Several small pieces of metal flew at the group. Wes narrowed his eyes. "Weather Report!"

A quick wind picked up, deflecting the metal pieces. "That force around his Stand's wrists," Wes noted, "Centrifugal force. I suspect that his power is to control gravity in some manner, transferring that force through small objects." Ermes winced. "Like his spit!? I remember him spitting at us earlier!" The man, Lang Rangler, scoffed. "Then I'll just affect you directly. Jumpin Jack Flash!" Jumpin Jack Flash made to attack Wes, but as its fist phased through him, Lang found his arm catching on fire as the same happened to his Stand. "What the hell!?"

"Friction from air resistance," Wes explained, "My Stand controls all facets of weather, not just the obvious. Weather is, in and of itself, the state of the atmosphere that surrounds us. Even a calm, sunny day is an aspect of weather." Lang grimaced. "Go, Zero Gravity!" He started floating into the air. "Oh no you don't!," Rainbow said, "I'll Fly!" Lang got a surprise when Rainbow tackled him easily, knocking him right into the factory area. "Shit...," he muttered, "That's why my Stand was ineffective earlier. Her Stand creates an environment of perfect flight. But it can't extend indefinitely. I just need to get some distance, separate her from the rest."

Meanwhile, Pucci visited the guards at the security center. "Hey there Father," one of them said, "It looks like everything's quiet today." Pucci nodded. "Yes, the prisoners are behaving." 'At least as far as mechanical eyes are concerned,' he thought, 'But no human eyes are on the area where Jolyne and her friends are, and that worries me. Lang's actions should have at least created one disturbance in the security network. What am I missing?' He looked at the nearby clock. "Is that clock accurate?" "Yes is it," the guard replied. Pucci nodded. "Then, I'd like to have a listen on the most recent call made by Jolyne Kujo."

Lang continued to fire at Rainbow, who's flight field and the open area of the factory proved a deadly combination. 'Damn it,' Lang thought, 'This is just like when I killed that woman professor in my college... I haven't wanted to kill someone so much since then. But her damn field makes it impossible!' Jumpin Jack Flash had a zero gravity field of twenty meters. I'll Fly's flight field, which could negate the zero gravity, projected outward from Rainbow up to ten meters.

Normally Lang could get away from attackers using his Stand's ability to turn himself weightless, but once Rainbow got close enough gravity returned to normal regardless of his Stand's power. He then got an idea. Waiting until Rainbow flew above him, Lang shot out a spit ball. The idea was to use the flight field's natural barrier and skim the projectile across it to hit one of the others. Imagine his surprise when the projectile spit actually approached Rainbow. He wasn't aiming directly at her, so it passed by her easily.

"What the hell!?," Lang asked, "Why did you dispel your Stand!?" He then got surprised when I'll Fly smashed its fist into her face. "I didn't," Rainbow clarified, "I just disengaged its wings from my body. The flight field is only projected when I'll Fly is merged with me, but it's physical form is not limited to its wings." Lang groaned as he got up, only to gasp as Wes conjured up a tornado. He walked over to Rainbow and leaned in. "We have no more time to waste on him. Shall we finish him off?" Rainbow grinned. "Oh yeah! I'll Fly!"

She flew right into the tornado, getting close enough to Lang to attack. After positioning herself just in front of his flight path, I'll Fly disengaged from Rainbow and pummeled him mercilessly. He flopped down on the ground as Wes removed the tornado, Rainbow landing as she re-merged with her Stand. "That's that," she said, "But this could have been a much worse fight." "Yeah," Jolyne said, "What if we weren't able to get all of us here? It's a good thing Ryusei was able to pull some strings."

Pucci was waiting outside the courtyard. He knew only that Jolyne was meeting someone called Savage Garden, and that this person was a friend of Jolyne's mother, Himari Kujo. He noticed the door to the courtyard opening, but the security reader showed it was Jolyne's pass. 'Not good. This means Lang failed. Still, Jolyne doesn't know my face, only my name and Stand.' He walked away as the door opened. 'I set things up to see how they're going to exchange the disc. But I only have so much information about Jotaro and his wife... From DIO.'

Well, I'm sure those of you who read the manga will find this last revelation as no surprise.

Also, I wanted to show that Rainbow's flight field is no crutch, and under the right conditions can be used against her. She's basically a walking shield, so a smart fighter could possibly use the field to attack her friends with an indirect shot.

Of course, while Rainbow doesn't know her Stand's full limitations yet, she does have some idea by now, and she knows that her Stand isn't limited to just letting her be a flying shield. It can attack too. Rangler didn't know this, hence he got taken down.

Flashback time! There's a lot of that during Stone Ocean, by the way.

Back in 1988, the man known as Enrico Pucci met a mysterious person named DIO Brando. During their talks about their unusual histories, DIO became interested in Pucci's talks about Heaven. Due to his vampirism, DIO thought Heaven was beyond his grasp up until that point, but talking with Pucci got him thinking. DIO and Pucci had come to be good friends at that point, DIO sometimes coming to visit Pucci at his boarding school, and Pucci sometimes traveling to Cairo to meet with DIO and his followers.

Heaven, to DIO, was more a state of the human mind. The full essence of the spirit's evolution, he felt, was the true path to Heaven. DIO was immortal, had four beautiful consorts at his beck and call, legions of followers, and all the money and power a man could ask for, yet he felt he had not attained true happiness, the foundation of Heaven. And so he aspired to find a means to achieve that Heaven. That was the last time Pucci had seen DIO alive. After that, in 1989, Pucci met with DeKurliss, a servant of DIO, who gave Pucci DIO's diary, which detailed his formula to achieve Heaven.

It turned out DIO had been slain by Jotaro Kujo, who at the time was the youngest generation of the Joestar family. Pucci was both saddened and enraged, but he knew it was not the time for revenge. He decided to bide his time, gather his resources, and complete his entry into sermon-hood, before discovering the secrets DIO had left for him. After all, DIO's strongest servants, N'Doul, Vanilla Ice, the D'Arby brothers, they had all been beaten soundly by Jotaro and his allies.

Eventually Pucci decided to track down the four sons birthed by DIO's four consorts, Enya, Midler, Mariah, and Tomomi. Unfortunately, Tomomi's son Giorno was not a viable option. His Stand and his resources were too strong, and he had all of Passione backing him. He would never consider avenging his father, because he felt too strong a connection to the Joestar clan. In addition, the mothers of the remaining three sons were adamant that they be kept out of that life and avoided Pucci, so he never got the chance to meet the other three. Choosing to shelve that option, Pucci moved onto the next step, getting Jotaro's Stand, Star Platinum.

Such a powerful Stand could not be allowed to remain a factor. However, Pucci's plan to get Jolyne locked up in the prison where he worked to draw Jotaro to him didn't quite work as planned. He wasn't able to get Jotaro's Stand disc, instead swiping the disc of a cellmate of Jolyne's, who thought Jotaro was her ticket out of prison. It had the same effect, however, as it kept Jotaro out of action while he oversaw the girl's protection. But that could only last so long as Pucci had her disc.

Pucci gasped when he saw something unbelievable. He recognized Wes from his past. 'It can't be... He lost all his memories. Calm down, Pucci, remember to recite your prime numbers. Solitary numbers that can only be divided by one and itself. 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 41...' He watched the group standing around. He assumed that one of the guards somehow gave them a pass, likely the Stand using guard that helped them against Johngalli.

"So Jolyne," Rainbow asked, "What if Pucci decides to send someone to pose as Savage Garden?" "I have a list of questions," Jolyne said, "Not that it'll matter. I know who Savage Garden is. The questions are just a distraction." Pucci narrowed his eyes. 'That's true. The call suggested Jolyne knows Savage Garden, so sending in someone to pretend to be him or her would be useless.'

He considered the situation, and decided to return to his office. "There's nothing I can do at this point, but the more I think on it... The more I realize that Jotaro won't be my prime obstacle. His daughter has decided to take up the mantle. And Jotaro knows nothing about me or my plans, so I'm just becoming paranoid. I shouldn't focus too much on revenge for DIO... I have other pawns for that." He got out his cellphone. "DeKurliss. We should meet to discuss our plans for achieving DIO's dream."

Meanwhile, Jolyne pointed at the sky. "There he is." A carrier pigeon came down into the courtyard, a small but strong chain attached to its leg. Jolyne clipped the disc to it and it flew off. "Savage Garden is a carrier pigeon?," Atroe asked. "Yep," Jolyne replied, "Mom first took care of him when we got back home from Morioh. Pigeons can live up to fifteen years in captivity, so he's as strong as ever. Thanks SG, tell Mom I love her!" "You got it!," the pigeon replied, shocking the group. Jolyne grinned. "Mom's Stand can make animals talk."

Soon enough, DeKurliss was meeting with Pucci. "So you suspect the Joestar we have to deal with is not Jotaro Kujo, but Jolyne Kujo." "It makes sense when you think about it," Pucci said, "DIO had to deal with his former brother Jonathan Joestar twice, yet Jonathan was only his true enemy the first time. The second time it was Jonathan's great-great-grandson Jotaro." DeKurliss nodded in understanding. "Yes... The Joestars have a habit of trading off the responsibility of destiny from one generation to another once they realize their adventure is over."

He sipped his tea. "Well, I assume then that you are ready to begin the process? The pieces are all in place, we only have to gather the necessary ingredients, and from there wait for the appropriate time." Pucci nodded and summoned Whitesnake. "DIO was never able to properly engrave the words onto The World, but I was able to have them engraved onto Whitesnake. I'm grateful the diary included those words." "The words were a lullaby sung to DIO by his mother," DeKurliss noted, "But they still hold the secrets to achieving Heaven."

Pucci laid out the details of his plan. "Now, there are several steps to take. We have the allies we need. The Stand powers required to set up everything. And we have this." He held up a small jar with the bone from a pinkie toe inside. "The last piece of DIO. The only part that did not crumble to dust when his body was destroyed." "Just to warn you," DeKurliss said, "That bone originally belonged to George Joestar II. When you fuse with it..." Pucci nodded. "I know. But by that time... I'll have the power to break away from fate."

Including this a little earlier due to computer issues. Hopefully I can get them resolved, but luckily I can use the local library to continue my uploading schedule in the meantime.

With that said, here's where shit hits the fan.

Breakfast at the prison was busy as usual as Jolyne, Atroe, and Rainbow sat down. "Gotta admit," Jolyne said, "Prison meals are a lot better than what you see in media." "What do you expect?," Atroe said, "They're feeding us on the taxpayers' dime." Rainbow looked around. "Hey, what happened to Ermes? She's usually here with us." Atroe looked surprised. "You mean you two haven't heard? You came here at the same time she did, right?"

Jolyne shrugged. "I dunno much about her life before we met here. All I know is she got arrested for armed robbery." Atroe nodded. "I see. So she hasn't told either of you." She looked around. "Now, I only read about this in local newspapers. The thing is... Ermes got herself sent here on purpose." Jolyne and Rainbow looked stunned. "Why would anyone want to go to prison?," Rainbow asked in shock. "I think it has something to do with her older sister, Gloria Costello," Atroe explained, "At twenty years old, Gloria inherited a restaurant from her Mexican immigrant father. It was a small place, but she had a steady stream of customers."

"Ermes never mentioned having a sister," Rainbow said, "What happened to her?" "It was when Ermes was seventeen," Atroe said, "Ermes was trying to get into college, which was at odds with Gloria wanting her to help with the restaurant. Ermes had just barged out of the joint to avoid a fight with her sister. And a good thing too, because shortly after that... Gloria spotted what looked like a mob execution. She was actually planning on keeping quiet about this, for the sake of her restaurant. Until she saw Ermes also running by the scene."

Jolyne clenched her jaw. "Her hand was forced. She had to call the police... To protect her sister." Atroe nodded. "As you might imagine, it didn't end well for her. They found her body in a gutter a few weeks later. It wasn't her fault, it was the police. Florida had recently institutionalized capital punishment, and this criminal was infamous enough to have the police on his trail for years. So long as Gloria gave her testimony, the police could insure he would never breathe free again. In exchange, they would protect her and her family. Only..."

"Only the bastard got to her anyway," Rainbow realized. "Well, he had someone else do it," Atroe clarified, "I've heard of the bastard in question, a mobster named Sports Maxx. Because the only eyewitness was killed, Maxx got only five years for tax evasion and inflicting bodily harm on a human. He only got five years, while Ermes lost everything..." Jolyne sat back in her chair. "So that's it... Ermes wants revenge against him, here in the prison where he's completely defenseless." "But Maxx would have gone to the male ward, right?," Rainbow asked. "Yeah," Atroe replied, "But there are places where both male and female prisoners are allowed to enter, especially before breakfast."

Ermes had found one such place, the prison chapel. She grinned when she saw Maxx near the front, taking a rose from the flower pot. She then raised an eyebrow when the priest who showed up after their fight with Lang appeared. She didn't yet know it was Pucci, the person they were opposing. "Good morning, Father," Maxx said, "I hope you don't mind. I've gained a love for flowers recently." Ermes scoffed. 'I can't do anything while there are witnesses. Besides, I need to make him remember what happened to Gloria.' She didn't see the odd maggots appearing on the rose Maxx picked.

Ermes had been observing Maxx's movements for days, ever since she confirmed where he was. He always seemed to come by the prison graveyard, leaving a bouquet on one of the graves. He would also hang around the workshop and work on his taxidermy, or bribe guards to slink off somewhere with some female prisoner or other working as a prostitute within the prison. As she continued to watch Maxx and find a place to get him alone, she didn't know that the other girls were watching her.

"Think we should stop her?," Atroe asked. "Think we could stop her?," Jolyne pointed out, "If she wants revenge that's her business. But at the very least we can make sure she does it in a way that doesn't make her a murderer. That's not something you want on your conscience." They noticed Ermes heading off in a different direction than Maxx and concluded her observations were done for the day. Unfortunately, nothing could have been further from the truth. She had actually spotted them and deliberately headed in a different direction.

Meanwhile Maxx was walking through the workshop hallway when he spotted a picture with a familiar face taped to one of the pipes. Raising an eyebrow, he took the picture. "Looks like you remember," Ermes said as she came out of hiding, "That's good. This would have been pointless if you didn't comprehend why I'm doing this." Suddenly, an identical pipe came and slammed into Maxx, surprising him. Before he could react, he was trapped inside the two pipes.

Ermes nodded as she held up one of her stickers. "The pipes here aren't made so that humans can't fit in them, but it makes a great coffin. Even though I got this power here in prison, I still consider it an act of God. Fitting, isn't it Sports Maxx? Just like how my sister Gloria got thrown in the gutters." Maxx tried to pry his way out with his bare hands, but Ermes was ready for that. She knelt down and grabbed another sticker she had applied to the pipe, sealing the whole thing shut with a third pipe.

"How's that feel!?," Ermes said, "Now you'll know what my sister felt when you had her killed!" Instead of the scream for help she was expecting, all she heard was mumbling. "Limp Bizkit...," Maxx said, "The one who emerges from the dark... Return with me..." Just then, a glass bottle broke on the table behind Ermes, causing her to whirl around. However, she didn't see anything. She was about to dismiss it, until several paint cans shot off the table, leaking paint onto the ground. Ermes' eyes widened as a bird's footprint appeared in the paint.

There was a familiar sound of flapping as Maxx kept chanting to himself. Before Ermes could react, something started spearing her as if with a needle, cutting holes on her face and tearing off one of her fingers. "Kiss!," Ermes called out. Her Stand lashed out and managed to hit something, but whatever got hit only slowed down a little. "This has gotta be a Stand," she realized. Suddenly, she felt something start to pull out her carotid and quickly applied a sticker to her vest, using the copy to grab the invisible creature.

It tried to peck its way out, but Kiss was faster, slamming its fist into the form of whatever bird it was. To Ermes' surprise, a nearby taxidermy bird was damaged at the same time Kiss attacked. Her vest fell limp, meaning whatever attacked her was not getting back up to try again. 'Shit... I can't believe Maxx turned out to be a Stand user,' she thought as she clutched her bleeding abdomen, 'Jolyne said she learned a trick of fate in Morioh... That Stand users tend to be drawn to each other. Question is... Was Maxx a Stand user naturally, or did he get a Stand disc from Pucci?'

She managed to stand up. "Hang on... Why would Pucci need to make another Stand user with the discs at this point? We already won. We got Gwess' disc and had it returned to her in spite of his best efforts. And I have a hard time believing he's a sore loser. There must be some other reason he had Maxx made into another Stand user." She approached the pipe. "Well, if he did get his Stand from a disc, then I can take it and his memory disc and find out when he's dead."

At that moment, something upended one of the tables in the workshop, getting Ermes' attention. "Now what!?" Something was dragging a chain attached to an RC car with a mouse driver over to a taxidermy alligator. Before Ermes' eyes, the invisible thing took a bite out of the car before stepping on a nearby spray can. "Oh fuck me...," Ermes muttered, realizing what was going on. She quickly ran for it, the invisible creature running after her.

Luckily she was more or less faster than the invisible creature, easily getting to a higher pipe as something impacted against the larger pipes. "I guess this really is Maxx's Stand," Ermes noted, "Somehow he's bringing life to his taxidermy. He's gotten quiet in there, but he must still be alive if his Stand is active." "Uh, not necessarily," Jolyne said as she showed up with Rainbow and Atroe, "Dad told me about this obscure relative named Giorno, who once faced off against a Stand that could survive even without its user."

Ermes blinked. "Fuck me sideways!" Atroe winced as something bit off her leg. "Atroe!," Ermes called out. "It's fine!," Atroe said, "My Stand's active right now! But man does this smart!" Sure enough, her dismembered leg was dissolving into plankton, which Jolyne immediately punched at to reveal what was chasing them, since it had the severed leg in its mouth. Sure enough, the black gunk revealed an alligator head. "Welcome to Florida," Jolyne noted as she launched her strings around the gator's mouth.

Rainbow, meanwhile, flew up to help Ermes. "So, I'm guessing this Stand belongs to Maxx? Atroe told us the whole story." Ermes sighed. "Yeah. He's there in the pipe. I'm guessing that's why he attacked. I don't know if he's a natural Stand user or if he has a disc." "Uh, girls?," Jolyne said, "We have a slight problem!" To their shock, the gator had managed to open its mouth to break the string, something normally impossible due to a gator's specialized jaw muscles, more suited to biting down than opening up.

"Fuck me sideways up the ass!," Ermes called out. "It's okay," Atroe said, "Part of the plankton making up my Stand still got in mouth. I can track him using it. Foo Fighters!" The familiar form of Foo Fighters they had first encountered appeared, aiming for where it felt the gator approaching and slamming its fist into the creature's skull hard. The effect worked, as indicated by the taxidermy gator's head exploding. "Same thing happened when Maxx used some sort of bird earlier," Ermes noted, "I think that means we got it."

Atroe shifted back to her normal body, not a sign of the damage she took earlier. "I'll need to get some water to recharge." "Here," Rainbow said, getting soda can out of her pocket, "Bought a cola from the prison's duty-free shop." Atroe took the soda and downed it. "Yeah... That hit the spot." Ermes sighed. "So... Think that's it?" Just then, the pipe Maxx was in burst open, a handprint appearing on it. "I'm gonna go with 'no'," Jolyne quipped.

Maxx had managed to make his way out of the pipe, covered in sewer water. "So thirsty... Need to get water... Need to gargle..." He stumbled through the prison. "What was I doing...? Right... Pucci said he needed me to find that body." He shook his head. "First I need to wind down." He smiled when he saw one of the prison prostitutes standing there. "Perfect." He offered some money to a nearby guard, but he seemed to ignore him. Insulted but encouraged that the guard wouldn't do anything, Maxx went over to the woman.

"So," Maxx said as he rubbed her shoulder, "Care to join me for a drink at the cafe? And maybe a little fun afterward?" To his surprise, she slammed her leg into a nearby male prisoner. "Bastard!," she said to the guy, "You don't get to touch me unless you pay first!" Maxx narrowed his eyes at the man. Sleazeball though he was, he respected the rules of the oldest profession. "You heard her! No touching without paying up first!" He plowed his fist into the stomach of the confused man, which caused the woman to get confused as well.

Back at the workshop, the girls realized that whatever came out of the pipe wasn't attacking them. "That's the pipe I stuffed Sports Maxx into," Ermes realized, "Is he still in there? It's too dark to see inside." "Just what sort of power does Maxx have?," Rainbow asked, "Controlling ghosts?" "No ghost would be so savage or strong," Atroe pointed out, "The gator bit my leg clean off, and probably would have chomped it to pieces if I hadn't detonated it to let us track him."

"Atroe's right," Ermes said, "It was closer to some sort of living corpse, just invisible. I remember Maxx chanting the phrase 'Limp Bizkit' before the first one attacked, so I'm guessing that's his Stand's name." Jolyne blinked. "That Akira guy from Morioh was right. So many Stands wind up with some sort of musical reference." "Oh yeah," Ermes said, "I remember something I was thinking of as I got attacked. I think Pucci has some other purpose for Maxx and his Stand besides just attacking us."

Jolyne nodded. "That makes sense. Our goals were accomplished, so what other reason could Pucci have to keep attacking us? But what could that reason be? I mean, there's so little we know about Pucci beyond the fact that he was helping Johngalli attack Dad in revenge for DIO. We need to find Maxx's memory disc. But how are we going to search the pipe? And more importantly, what happened with the pipe in the first place?" Rainbow's eyes shot open. "What if Sports Maxx's Stand can also affect himself?"

Sure enough, the woman Maxx had seen was looking in confusion as something invisible dragged the man she had just assaulted into the nearby graveyard. Things got more crazy as some cash got pulled out of the man's sleeve, he started getting stripped, and a syringe with some drugs was grabbed from him, filled up, and injected into thin air, not leaving any drips. As Maxx injected himself, he saw the drug cause some sort of liquid to burst out of his body. "The hell is this...? Wait... This smells just like the sewer!"

He suddenly felt himself overcome with a horrible hunger, and grabbed the woman as she tried to flee from the odd scene, ripping the top of her head off and biting into her brains. 'So I died... And Limp Bizkit's power let me come back as a zombie myself. It wasn't thirst I was feeling... But hunger! That bitch... Gloria's sister! She caused me to drown!' He whirled around when he heard running sounds. It was the four girls, having tracked down Maxx and spotting him dragging the dead woman into the graveyard.

"How many more ways can we get fucked at this point!?," Ermes called out. "Me and Rainbow are still exploring," Jolyne quipped as she shot out Stone Free's strings in all directions, slamming the door to the graveyard shut and wrapping the whole room in a web that even covered the highest walls. One of the strings on the ceiling got disturbed, and Atroe reacted. "Foo Fighters!" Her hand shifted into a gun and fired, managing to hit a center of mass and causing blood to spill out of the invisible corpse.

However, Ermes spotted the same injuries on the dead woman. "Shit! That's wasn't Sports Maxx! His Stand created a second zombie!" She looked around. "Rainbow, what about your flight field?" "Useless in this case," Rainbow pointed out, "He's invisible, remember? Even if my field does stop his attempts to attack, we can't see him to counter-attack. I'd need to disengage my field to fight him properly. And just extending it could negate Jolyne's web, preventing us from tracking him."

"Besides," Jolyne said, "We've already been trapped by him. Think about where we are." Ermes then remembered they were standing in the middle of a graveyard. "I am so terrified I can't even make a lame quip." Sure enough, the various graves were opening as all the dead spirits were given physical life by Limp Bizkit. "Now what?," Atroe asked. Ermes sighed, then walked in the middle of the room. "Ermes, what are you doing!?," Jolyne called out, "You can't still be thinking about revenge right now!?"

"Sort of," Ermes said, "But not mine. Sports Maxx is the one looking for revenge right now. So once something attacks me, you'll know it's him personally. He won't let anything else do it. What he did to my sister, horrible as it was, was just business to him, which is why he didn't mind using a proxy. Besides, it was never about the revenge for me. It was just about making sure I could remember Gloria as she was... Before she was killed and thrown in the gutter like so much trash."

Several of the zombie grabbed at Ermes, tearing chunks out of her as the girls could only watch. Suddenly, one tried biting down on her head. But Ermes had already thought of that, and placed a sticker on her head to split it. "There it is! Kiss!" Kiss made to attack but only hit thin air. Maxx smirked. "Nice try, but I suspected you'd do that." He was actually holding his severed head to trick Ermes. "Listen, this is really all your sister's fault. She should have minded her own business."

He replaced his head, then went to grab the sticker and pulled it off. Ermes smirked. "I can't hear your voice, but you're probably saying something along the lines of how all this is Gloria's fault. Wrong... It's mine." Maxx looked confused. "Someone like you could never understand," Ermes explained, "But Gloria was fully intent on keeping quiet... Until she saw me running by the same scene she witnessed and got scared that I'd be targeted instead. So really, you've been blaming the wrong person this whole time. Also... It was a stupid idea to swallow, bastard!"

As the two heads merged together, Maxx gasped in shock as the chunk of flesh he had bitten off tore its way out of his body. With the blood as an indicator, Ermes kicked right above it, successfully nailing Maxx's head. "That was for Gloria!" She then placed a sticker on Maxx's head as Kiss made to rip it off, causing the split head to come off. "This one as well!," Ermes called out, "And the next, and the next... Well, you get the idea." She ripped off the sticker as Kiss pummeled Maxx.

Two discs appeared in midair, revealing that Maxx was gone for good. Ermes let a tear fall from her face. "Descansa en paz, Gloria," she said, "Goodbye." Ermes then collapsed from her injuries. "Ermes!," the other girls called out as one. They ran over to her. "She's still alive," Jolyne said in relief, "But she needs medical attention." "Hey!," Rainbow said as she got the door to the graveyard open, "Guards, we got a wounded inmate over here!" Atroe managed to treat the most serious of Ermes' injuries, but she still needed to be rushed to the prison infirmary. Meanwhile, the other girls decided to check the memory disc of Sports Maxx, hoping it would lead to some clues about Pucci's motives.

Things were a mess after the incident with Sports Maxx. With so many incidents happening around Jolyne, the prison was threatening to send her to maximum security just to maintain control. Ryusei, however, pointed out that they would also have to do the same to Rainbow, Atroe, and Ermes, the last of whom was unconscious in the infirmary, and pointed that all these incidents seemed to be focused on killing Jolyne, with other people, like the prostitute who had the top of her head removed, merely being collateral.

"We're basically punishing her for being a victim," he argued, "What kind of prison would this be if we started doing that?" The warden tried to assert authority in this situation, but Ryusei threatened to tell the Speedwagon Foundation about all this, and they would surely tell the local papers. It would be a fiasco that could get the prison shut down, which ran the risk of letting hundreds of criminals go free for who knows how long. Ultimately it was decided that it wasn't worth risking hundreds for asserting authority over just one girl who's only crime was hiding a body she didn't even kill.

With the situation resolved, Jolyne and Rainbow were in the ghost room checking the memory disc from Maxx. It showed Maxx sitting in the pews of the church, Whitesnake nearby. They were talking, which meant Pucci was using Whitesnake as a medium to avoid exposing his identity. "On the Earth, just as it was proven that the ratio between land and sea is seven to three, it is said there are a definite number of living organisms living on it." "And that means what, exactly?," Maxx asked.

Whitesnake chuckled. "Simply put, as the population of humans increases, proportionally, an equal number of other organisms die out. This retains a set number of life that is allowed to live on Earth. But what if one human was able to possess all those millions of lives?" Maxx shrugged. "Don't ask me. I'm a businessman, not a priest. If there's a job you want me to do, why not ask already?" "Very well," Whitesnake replied, "I need you to use your ability to do something important."

He held up a small bone. "I need you to use Limp Bizkit, the power you obtained, and breathe new life into this bone." Maxx looked at the bone. "Whose is it? Is that a human bone?" "Sort of," Whitesnake said, "Let's just say it's from a dear friend of mine. A piece of him I retrieved from Egypt." Maxx rubbed his chin. "I dunno... Do you have the rest of the body somewhere? I mean, I've never tried Limp Bizkit's power on so little of a corpse." "You should be able to," Whitesnake assured him, "The person I got this power from only needed a small portion. Besides, this is the only part of my friend left on the face of the planet."

Maxx nodded in understanding. "Alright... Here goes nothing." The effect was instant, as Whitesnake's hand suddenly had a chunk taken out of it, Pucci feeling the affect nearby. Angered, Whitesnake grabbed Maxx's throat. "What have you done!? Where is the bone!?" Maxx looked just as confused. "I... I don't know! I can't seem to control it! I feel it moving around, though! It should be close by!" Whitesnake paused. "Yes... Yes, it worked! Well done, Sports Maxx! Now I know the way to Heaven can be unlocked just as he said! I'll leave it to its own devices for now. Where is it heading?" Maxx calmed down. "The punishment ward. That's where I can feel it heading. And I think... Someone picked it up."

The disc then popped out of Emporio's head. "That man," Rainbow said, "The one that was injured at the same time as Whitesnake, and in the same manner. That must have been Pucci." "That was the prison's resident priest," Atroe realized, "He was right under our noses the whole time and we never even realized." "Well we can't let ourselves get sent to the punishment ward," Jolyne noted, "We get sent to enough high security areas because of our antics and we won't have the freedom of movement needed to deal with Pucci."

"More importantly," Wes said, "Who did that bone belong to?" "DIO," Jolyne said, "I only heard him from my father. Bastard was dead before I was even born. He was a vampire who had lived for a hundred years, and spent most of it harassing my family. Not only was he a real dickwad to my ancestor Jonathan Joestar, he had my great-great-grandfather killed and took his body for himself. But from the way Pucci was speaking, it sounds like he was more than just another servant or follower. He may have been someone DIO genuinely cared about."

"Trust a priest to want to find Heaven," Rainbow noted, "But why would a vampire care about that?" "From what Dad said," Jolyne explained, "They're not at all like Stoker's fable. Sunlight can still work, but everything else is useless. You can also just crush their brain into paste. Grandpa Joseph thought DIO might have been up to something back in the 1980s, and this whole idea of achieving Heaven might be exactly that. And now Pucci is likely trying to track down that bone."

Atroe groaned. "And he's an employee of the prison, so moving around is super-simple for him. He's basically unfettered while in here." Rainbow sighed. "Yeah, most of us can't use our powers without raising some sort of suspicion, if not a full scale alarm. Stand users live in an invisible world, but that doesn't mean it won't attract attention in a closed space, such as the Aquarium. What we need is a different sort of power. One that can easily infiltrate the depths of the punishment ward..." Her eyes then landed on the other guy in the room, the one who seemed to be more effeminate. "Come to think about it... We never got to you, have we?" The man just looked at her.

Yep, we're about to get into how Anasui changed in this new timeline. Also, I originally didn't have a scene break after the memory disc finished, but I thought I should include it since it did end before a new paragraph and it would make the flow less confusing.

So here we are... Tackling a real issue...

Yes, I know Anasui was really creepy, but he had some deep-seated psychological issues. As an autistic person, I can relate.

I mean, I'm not gonna go dismembering someone just because they betrayed me. The point is, I'll be really revamping how Anasui is portrayed. Oh, there's a scene in the visitor's center with Anasui and another character. The actual talking goes on for longer than I show, but it should clue you into why Anasui's changes so much.

Thanks to the memory disc from Sports Maxx, the group had just found out that Pucci was looking for a bone from DIO somewhere in the ultra security house unit, a good 520 meters away from the female ward, right on the southern section of the men's exercise ground. It was a place for people who needed to be separated and protected from the other prisoners, either for their own sake or the sake of the prison population at large. Elderly prisoners, prisoners with mental disabilities, child murderers, Neo-Nazis, and especially those prone to violence or who frequently attempt to escape.

The place was so isolated from the rest of the prison, not even Burning Down the House had a secret path to it, so Emporio had never been there. The other girls couldn't get in easily either, at least not without breaking a few rules on purpose. Jolyne's strings and Ermes' stickers could set off alarms, and at any rate Ermes was laid up in the infirmary. Atroe and Foo Fighters could possibly slip in, but there was no way she could get close before getting caught, since the only way to normally reach it was to be escorted.

Rainbow's Stand was right out. Once the guards saw her flying, they might mistake it for a prison break attempt and shoot her out of the sky, or at least try to before resorting to worse tactics. And Wes' ability to control weather could bring down the prison, a route they really wanted to avoid. That just left the final guy in the room, one who had kept quiet all this time. But Emporio was a little reluctant to ask his help. "I don't think we want this guy helping us, Rainbow," he said, "He's not like the rest of us. He's... A murderer..."

"Dunno if you know this," Jolyne said, "But my dad and his friends don't exactly have clean hands if you take my meaning." "This is different," Emporio clarified, "They were defending themselves against assassins. Narciso Anasui, however, is infamous amongst the prison. He has a weird syndrome... He has a desire to take things apart. He would take apart the toys he was given, any machine he could get his hands on, entire vehicles, and even a telegraph pole."

"Yeah, but that's just machines," Rainbow noted, "How does that make him a murderer?" Emporio shivered. "It's because of what he did to his girlfriend when he caught her cheating. He was visiting her at her place, and found them in bed together. He disassembled them right on the spot. He's not psychotic, at least legally speaking, but the only reason he stays calm around here is because of Wes' presence. So... It's better if we not ask him for help."

Anasui smirked. "Who said I wouldn't help? I mean, if Jolyne needs to get in there badly enough... I wouldn't mind helping you find a way." The others just blinked. 'Please tell me this isn't going where I think it is...,' Jolyne thought. "That man Pucci might be getting closer to finding that bone as we speak," Anasui noted, "We should hurry if want to get it before he does." "I hope you're not doing this expecting to marry me or something," Jolyne said cautiously. "Not after Uncle Valentine's warning," Anasui replied, "But I would at least like a date." Jolyne raised an eyebrow in confusion.

It was back when Anasui's sentence first started. His first visitor was his uncle, Funny Valentine, who had come all the way from his business in California just to talk with him. "I honestly never expected this," Anasui admitted, "After what happened I wasn't sure even my parents would come visit." "Do you regret what you did?," Valentine asked. "I definitely regret going that far," Anasui admitted, "There were many things I could have done differently when I saw them."

"I heard you plead guilty to murder on two counts," Valentine said, "As such you only got twelve years incarceration. I guess some things are just inevitable." "What are you talking about?," Anasui asked. His uncle smiled. "In a universe similar to this, the events that placed you in prison happened as well. I have seen this thanks to my Stand." "So is there also something about my time here I should be aware of?," Anasui asked, a little skeptical. It wasn't that he doubted Valentine had a Stand, he was a Stand user himself after all. He just didn't put much stock into alternate realities.

"Not everything set in stone remains," Valentine pointed out, "Stone can be broken, after all. But neither is stone fragile. You should know, having spent most of your life disassembling whatever you could get your hands on. But let me ask you this... Do you honestly think you can get through life only taking things apart?" Anasui sighed. "To be honest, I don't. But putting things together... Whenever I try, I find myself lacking. Like I do it without thinking, and forget how it was assembled in the first place."

"Then perhaps it's time to stop thinking in terms of machines," Valentine suggested, "As I said, some things are inevitable, and in the next few years you may find yourself in the company of a spirited young lady who just might give you the motivation you need to put your life back together. It's not just about it being inevitable, but more Fate's little joke. She's also a Stand user, and Stand users seem to be drawn to each other. Even I don't fully understand why." Anasui looked interested. Their conversation continued a bit before their time was up, giving Anasui much to think about.

Back in the present time, Anasui displayed his Stand, Diver Down, and had it kick a nearby security door. This, naturally, brought several guards running. But there was no sign of anyone. At least not until Diver Down materialized from within the door to attack the guards. This was one of the powers Anasui had at his disposal, the ability to store his Stand's power into certain objects, then unleash them when the time was right. It was a Stand perfectly designed to take advantage of the environment. 'One person alone couldn't get inside the punishment wing. But if all of us work together, the way Uncle Valentine suggested... Then I can help disassemble Pucci's plans.'

And here we are starting the Punishment Ward arc. The first chapter is more or less similar to canon, albeit with a few additions and behavioral differences, but we'll get into more drastic changes shortly afterward.

Naturally Anasui's little stunt got him sent right to the ultimate security wing. All he had to had to do was stand there and take credit. Of course, once he was inside, that's when he made his move. Diver Down produced a small bag that came from Emporio's Stand, allowing the rest of the group to enter along with him. "Lucky for us Burning Down the House is so versatile," Rainbow noted, "That ghost bag let us all travel together." "Now the real trick is making sure we don't get caught while in here," Jolyne noted. "Leave that to me," Wes assured her, "I'll make sure they don't know Anasui smuggled anyone inside."

Before he could even start, however, there was some sort of commotion going on outside. "What the heck?," Jolyne said, carefully looking out the bars of the cell door. The guards that had just escorted Anasui inside were now fighting each other. And for no good reason from what she could see. From their perspective, the guards suddenly had an increase in aggression. More than that, they could literally see inside each other like an x-ray, spotting the strengths and weak points in their opponents musculature.

They were so distracted with their fight they didn't notice Jolyne picking open the cell door with Stone Free. "Okay, I know the guards like a good tussle," Anasui said, "But they usually leave that up to the prisoners. I've never seen them fight each other before, especially not to establish some sort of dominance. This is clearly a Stand at work, but who could the Stand user be?" "Whoever they are," Rainbow said, "They have to be somewhere here in the punishment ward."

Pucci was reading from his Bible while in his office. "Do not give dogs what is holy. And do not throw your pearls before pigs. Lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you. Matthew, 7:6." He closed the Bible. "I've lost track of Sports Maxx. At this point I can only assume he is dead, and if that is the case, then Jolyne and her crew have read his memories." "And have enough knowledge to know where to turn next," DeKurliss noted. Pucci nodded. "I sent four Stand users to the punishment ward. They should be enough to ensure her demise."

"But she wasn't sent to the punishment ward," DeKurliss pointed out. "Does it matter?," Pucci retorted, "Somehow, someway, a Joestar will always discover a means to continue their journey. And unlike DIO, who knew almost everything about Jotaro and his allies, we know very little about what Jolyne's allies can do." He placed a cherry in his mouth and did his usual trick. "Trust me, DeKurliss. Even as we speak, Jolyne has somehow managed to find her way to where the bone is located."

"Speaking of which," DeKurliss said, "We still need to gather the energy needed for the bone to mutate." "I've already thought of that," Pucci assured him, "I remember talking about it with DIO. About the weakest Stand he had ever heard of. As you might imagine, it was not an easy question to answer. After all, depending on your strength of character, a seemingly weak power could be enough to conquer a small city. I remember him giving an analogy of how a king's strengths differed from a chef's."

DeKurliss nodded. "It's true. Though a king may lead, he may not have the skills to cook for himself. In the same vein DIO, for all his power, still had weaknesses that required the use of allies that did not share those weaknesses." Pucci chuckled. "Well, ultimately DIO decided that the weakest Stand has to be Survivor." DeKurliss raised an eyebrow. "Survivor? I would have thought he'd chose Golden Fox, one of the Stands featured during the Steel Ball Run years ago."

"Golden Fox may be useless for combat," Pucci clarified, "But it still has the benefit of allowing its user to avoid combat altogether. I'm sure DIO told you the story behind Survivor." "Yes, he did," DeKurliss said with a nod, "I remember all of us living in his house in Cairo heard the tale. About six hikers who were found dead in 1982, showing signs of combat against one another. Their muscles straining until bones cracked under pressure."

"Did DIO tell you the reason for the massacre?," Pucci asked. DeKurliss shook his head, and Pucci smiled. "Well he told me. It seemed the night before the hikers were staying in a lodge, and one of the women of the group had insulted the lodge owner for having bad odor. As you may guess... That man was the Stand user of Survivor. He didn't even really do anything, it's just that his rage was focused to the point where it became a small, electric signal. That signal traveled down his nervous system and became Survivor."

"And transferred to the hikers when their boots got wet," DeKurliss surmised, "But how does all this make Survivor weak?" "Because it doesn't really do anything," Pucci explained, "It can run on the small amount of electrical energy that runs through the human brain. It doesn't attack, can't incur damage, can't control people or hurt them, can't make them fall asleep. It just makes people angry. Anyone who gets close to him gets affected. And it can't tell friend from foe. This is why DIO never bothered to try getting him to join as a follower."

He grinned. "And so, I asked if I could take it. I thought it might be useful one day. And sure enough, when I received DIO's diary I knew I had the perfect use for it. I found a suitable prisoner to use it on, and when I heard the bone was heading for the punishment ward I had him stage a fight to send him there. The punishment ward has a habit of using firehoses to wash off the prisoners held there, so by now there will be plenty of wet surfaces for Survivor to do its work."

Back in the punishment ward, the guard cackled as he threw the switch to open all the cells at once. "I can sense all your most powerful components!," he bragged, "So come and get me! We'll make this ward into one big fight club!" The group watched as a number of prisoners, some tough-looking, some not so much, emerged from their cells. "Damn it!," Jolyne said, "We need to get to that bone, wherever it is. And kill anyone who gets in our way!" Anasui placed a hand on her shoulder. "Whoa now, I'm the killer in this group. Strong as you are, I'd rather not see you with blood on your hands."

Jolyne shook her head. "I guess whatever is causing this is starting to get to me." The others had stepped into the wet floor. Just then, the guard came rushing at her. Jolyne smirked. 'He may see where my body is strongest. But he can't see Stone Free.' Stone Free made to attack, but the guard somehow managed to anticipate the attack and leapt along the walls, only to get wrapped up in Stone Free's strings.

Rainbow got a look at the guard's nameplate, giving his name as Viviano Westwood. "Yes," Westwood said, "I can see that strength... The string-like things running along your body. It's beautiful." "Something's off," Atroe said, "Even under the Stand's influence there should be no way he can see a Stand without one of his own." Jolyne scoffed. "I got this guy. Search for the bone. Try to avoid unnecessary fights." She attacked Westwood's leg with Stone Free, smashing it. But Westwood didn't go down, instead jabbing at Jolyne's abdomen.

Through the effects of the Stand, Survivor, Jolyne could see that her attack did damage, the leg she broke no longer shining, but Westwood didn't seem to feel any pain. They kept exchanging blows until Westwood felt his neck whiplash as he threw a punch, Jolyne having wrapped her strings around his neck. She quickly counter-attacked with Stone Free, nailing him in the gut, only for her arm to suddenly have a chunk taken out of it. "Where did that come from?," she wondered.

She then gasped. Westwood had been knocked into the wall, and a disc was popping out of his head. "Shit... That's why he could see Stone Free's strings. He's a Stand user too, but he must not realize it." She quickly stitched herself up. "What I wouldn't give for one of Uncle Josuke's 'good-bye ouchies' spells. And by spells I mean Crazy Diamond's healing power." She saw Westwood get up. "Seems you can see my Stand," Jolyne noted, "So tell me, did you ever meet a priest named Pucci?"

Westwood only answered with more violence, which Jolyne met blow for blow, until she saw an orange humanoid with skin similar to muscles appear from behind him. It was the Stand Planet Waves, which Pucci had given to Westwood. Jolyne took a deep breath and extended a string down to the ground, which she then stepped on. When Westwood went to punch her, she moved the string slightly so that the straight punch was redirected. Westwood came in with his other fist, but Jolyne expected that, wrapping the string around Westwood's fist and pulling it in front of the second punch.

"Looks like you fell for it," Jolyne said with a smirk, "Lacking a pain reflex leaves you vulnerable." She threw her jacket over her head in such a way that it covered Westwood's head. "And now you're completely blind! Stone Free!" Westwood found himself pounded against the nearby bars. "ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!" Before Jolyne could move to finish, something impacted through Stone Free's leg, damaging her again. 'You gotta be kidding me! I thought for sure I crippled him enough to render his Stand useless!'

Westwood then got up and grabbed Jolyne in a headlock. "You prisoners are the scum of society! Always treating people like shit! Well you're not so tough now are you!" Jolyne was too busy noticing the ceiling of the punishment ward. 'That's it! I can see it! That's what his Stand does!' The glass ceiling was cracked in two different places. And Jolyne was right in its path. "You're talking a lot of shit yourself considering this 'scum' is only in here for evidence tampering," Jolyne pointed out, "And I'll have you know that this is one girl who was raised not to treat anyone like shit unless they deserved it!"

She immediately shoved her strings right into Westwood's ear, causing him to lose his grip as his eardrums were ruptured. And just in time, as two small meteorites could be seen on a collision course with their location. Earth is surrounding by thousands of such pieces of space debris, but most of the time they burn up as they are caught by Earth's gravitational pull. Planet Waves ensured that these meteorites would enter the atmosphere at just the right angle to penetrate it and come hurtling to the ground almost fully intact.

Jolyne used her strings to pull Westwood right in the meteorites' path, but they burned into nothing as they came close to him. 'I thought that might happen,' Jolyne thought, 'His Stand draws those meteorites to whatever is between him and them. So pulling him in the path of his own projectiles would either get him hit, or cause them to burn away before they could injure him. Either way, it would save my bacon.' Westwood tried to get Jolyne in another hold, but she immediately took advantage of his loosened grip to break his arm.

This let her get some distance away from him. "Seems you got hit with a few of those meteors," he noted as he struggled to his feet, "How many I wonder? From the looks of it, the next one would be fatal." Jolyne chuckled. "You have no idea what sort of fight this is, do you?" Her strings started to stitch her body back together. "You've likely pieced together that you're the one drawing the meteors in, but you don't even realize why. That makes you weaker than me, because you lack knowledge."

That really got Westwood angry. "You bitch!" He rushed at her, and Jolyne ran forward. The reason for this was because she realized that the next meteor was going to come from the wall. Sure enough, the wall behind her exploded. "Got you now!," Westwood declared. Jolyne smirked, revealing that she'd grabbed one of Westwood's boots. "Never underestimate a Joestar, even if they don't share the name." Before Westwood's eyes, she placed the boot with a piece of brick inside to cushion the impact, which also sent the boot hurtling right at Westwood.

Even though the meteor burnt up as it approached, the brick and boot didn't, smashing Westwood in the face and knocking him out cold. 'Damn... This bitch doesn't just give up... What's driving such a scumbag like her...?' Jolyne smirked, a string emerging from her birthmark to form another star. "And that's that." "Jolyne!," Rainbow said from up above, "We found the bone!" "That's great!," Jolyne said, "Let's grab it before..." But just then, some of the other inmates were getting bloated.

One prisoner came up behind her, only to get smacked aside by Anasui before getting bloated as well. "Is this another Stand?," Anasui asked, "How many snuck in here?" "I don't know," Jolyne admitted, "We know of at least two. I think we can expect at least double that. Still, this is a pretty extreme Stand power. And I've heard of plenty of dangerous powers thanks to my time in Morioh and listening to Dad's stories. Just what is going on here?"

There was a lot about this fight that is derisive. But luckily, we'll be having none of that and we'll get to revamp this fight heavily. I have an explanation for certain things popping up next chapter, but until then... Enjoy the awesome return of a power that once defined this series.

Besides the group, only two other people were still standing in the wake of the carnage and expanding corpses. One was a young man wearing an old German helmet, the other was an elderly Asian man. "Think it's one of them that did this?," Atroe asked, "They're the only ones unaffected, so they're obviously working together." "But why weren't we similarly affected?," Wes pointed out, "For all we know, there could be another layer to the aggression-increasing Stand that we're not aware of."

"Come to think about it," Rainbow said, "I can't see where the bone is anymore. We were so distracted that when I looked again, it disappeared." The Asian man pointed to Rainbow. "You there. I was told about your ability. How it can negate certain attacks simply because they could interfere with the ability to fly. Whitesnake said he sent four Stand users, including me to this ward. I thought to myself, why that many? But I suppose it makes sense, if one wants to finish all of you off."

As he spoke, he flexed his body around in ways that would make the greatest of Yoga masters jealous. "I am Kenzo," he said, "Currently 78 years old. The secret to my good health--" "Is rather wasted," Jolyne said, "An ancestor of mine was able to live for over a hundred years, and look young enough to be sixty, using a specialized breathing technique." "If you're intending to fight," Rainbow said, "Then let's get this over with. I've been eager to put something into practice I never had the chance to."

Kenzo grinned. "First I think I should explain something. The reason these prisoners are all bloated. It's because I 'drowned' them." He summoned a floating dragon statue centered in a ring right into his palms. "Face south-east... 126 degrees, 30 minutes, 20 seconds..." Rainbow took a stance that was very familiar to Jolyne. One she'd seen her great-grandfather take to recently. Rainbow shot forward, but her Stand wasn't active. Instead her hands were crackling with energy, which she thrust at Kenzo.

He managed to dodge and launched a direct attack at Rainbow's mouth. To his stunned disbelief, she dodged at the last second. "I know a thing or two about kenpo, and feng shui," she explained, "Earlier you used that dragon thing, your Stand I'm guessing, to predict a certain thing. And the only thing I could think of... Is the exact angle to penetrate my flight field and use the same technique you used against these other guys. So I threw you off-balance using a technique that's been passed from one generation to the next for far longer than feng shui... The power of Hamon!"

Kenzo took a step back in shock. "I thought that ancient technique was a myth!" Meanwhile, Atroe was patching up Jolyne. "So, anyone know who this guy is?" "He's an old geezer who's been here for about forty years," Anasui said, "I hadn't seen him around the male ward in a while, now that I think of it. He has a 280 year sentence for killing 34 young men and woman back in 1969. Back then he was a younger man who started a cult so popular even Hollywood stars started to join."

"And let me guess," Jolyne said, "Those cultists were his victims." "Kinda," Anasui replied, "The actions of the group were causing friction between them and society, so the police and FBI got involved. In a bind, Kenzo decided to lock himself up in his Florida villa with his 34 remaining followers... And attempt a mass suicide. He drugged them all and put fire to the building. He was the only survivor, everyone else burned to death. When the firefighters found him, they discovered that all the rubble from the collapsing walls fell around him, shielding him from the fire and smoke."

He saw the skeptical looks of the others and grinned. "I doubt he planned that. He was near death when he was found, so it's clear he intended to die with his followers. After that, he was given a life sentence." Kenzo finally breathed calmly again and summoned his Stand. "South-western direction, 225 degrees, 0 minutes..." As Kenzo made to attack, Rainbow spotted the larger form of the dragon statue appear. "He'll attack from the front, leg sweep in the air. Jump high."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "Wait... Why are you helping me fight your user?" "I am a neutral party in this," the Stand explained, "I, Dragon's Dream, make to help both sides for the sake of balance. Careful now, here he comes." Rainbow spotted Kenzo getting close. "I'll Fly!" She leapt high into the air, higher than Kenzo was about to kick. "I see," Anasui said, "So that's how she's playing this." "What's going on?," Wes asked. "Rainbow said she knows a little about feng shui," Anasui explained, "Probably not enough to turn Kenzo's Stand against him, but enough that she's trying a neutral approach to zero out her luck."

"I don't think I've heard of feng shui," Atroe said. "It's a form of divination," Jolyne said, "East Asians believe that determining the direction of energy from the flow of water and wind helps determine a path that an individual should follow in their life. Like seeing the best and worst places that lie in a piece of land, a home, or even a room." Wes and Atroe looked at her in surprise. "My family's Japanese," Jolyne explained, "The point is, Kenzo is using the power of his Stand, which can point to these lucky or unlucky spots, to perform Feng Shui Assassination techniques."

"But hold on," Atroe said, "How did Rainbow turn one of those lucky spots into an unlucky spot?" "I'm guessing it's because of the Hamon she used," Jolyne surmised, "It's a special martial art that relies on controlled breathing to manipulate the oxygen in the blood. The effect is so powerful it can actually create miracles." "And alter the energy flow in a given area," Anasui realized, "Dragon's Dream must have alerted Kenzo to the change, forcing him to dodge and pushing him out of the correct spot to negate her flight field."

Jolyne nodded. "It's the same power that let my ancestor, Jonathan Joestar, live for over a hundred years." Kenzo seemed zenned out by Rainbow's actions, but it was clear there was a simmering anger there too. "I used to have 30,000 followers, listening to my preaching, following in my footsteps. But now, in this prison, even the lowest of scum, the pedophiles guilty of kidnapping children, are laughing at me in scorn. But I survived the fire, and my training in feng shui unlocked this power, my Stand... I will restore the glory days I was crowned with forty years ago!"

Anyone who has worked for the Speedwagon Foundation for any length of time knows the history of its founder, Robert EO Speedwagon. Once a simple street urchin growing up on Ogre Street in London, England, by 1888 he had became the leader of a gang at least a hundred men strong. But right as his gang was at their height of power, they immediately changed their ideals. The reason for this was a chance encounter with a pair of siblings, Jonathan Joestar and Lydia Twilight.

Speedwagon had never liked the upper crust of society, feeling they didn't deserve all the fancy titles and monikers of "nobility" due to their snobby attitudes and they way they looked down on those that made less than they did. But Jonathan and Lydia proved to be much different, to the point where Speedwagon soon considered Jonathan a true friend, and actually fell in love with Lydia. Lydia shared that sentiment, and after the first defeat of Dio Brando, they were married.

It wasn't long after that Speedwagon saw his fortune reverse completely. While in Dallas, Texas helping Lydia find the arrow that gave her a Stand, they stumbled across a natural oil well. Now finding himself a wealthy man, Speedwagon swore to put his newfound wealth to good use. To that end he created the Speedwagon Foundation, a corporation dedicated to progressing humanity through advancements in medicine and technology. And as the company grew, so too did Speedwagon's family. The Speedwagon name eventually fell out as Speedwagon's only granddaughter got married, but ownership of the company remained with that bloodline.

Currently that ownership was meant to be split between the two siblings of the current generation, Iro "Rainbow Dash" Dashell and her twin brother, Rusty. However Rainbow was very much like her ancestor's early days, more of a rebel without a real cause. Luckily she also inherited his good qualities, such as a gift for attracting followers. And while she had little reason to want to run the family business, she still worked there regardless so as to show she never forgot her family's legacy.

Among the group of friends she gathered was an eager but clumsy young girl whom everyone called Scootaloo. She was a likable sort, and Rainbow chose to take her under her wing. Unfortunately, bad times would soon strike. Rainbow was shocked one day to find out someone had attacked and brutalized Scootaloo. There might have been other damages but Rainbow was too stunned by the news to pay attention. Luckily the kid would survive, but Rainbow wasn't about to let it go so easily.

So she started studying. She suspected there had to be more than one person involved, and she wanted a way to fight multiple people at once. Eventually she learned of the ancient battle technique called Hamon and heard there was a master of the art living just off the coast of Venice, Italy. She was already able to generate this power naturally, so she sought out that master to control it. When she met the man, Messina by name, he confirmed that she had the capacity to learn to harness Hamon. He warned her that seeking revenge for what happened to Scootaloo would result in serious consequences.

Yet he encouraged her actions regardless, saying fate would put her in a position to help save the world if she accepted those consequences. This was the fate he had read from her using Hamon, an energy said to be able to create miracles. It was during this time that Rainbow's latent Stand started to form, enough to let her see the invisible world of Stands but not enough to awaken her power just yet. By the time she was done with her basic training, she had learned enough to accomplish her goal. Messina said he would be waiting for the day when Rainbow would return to complete her training.

In the meantime Rainbow used her connections in Speedwagon to locate the bastards who attacked her younger sister figure, and used what she learned to deal them a harsh lesson. She wasn't surprised to learn they had powerful connections of their own which they tried using to paint her as a dangerous psychopath, but their efforts were in vain. Regardless, she still agreed to plead guilty to assault, knowing that her efforts would insure they would get worse. And while she didn't know what trick of fate put her in contact with the current heir of the Joestar legacy, she was certain this was what Messina might have been referring to.

Back in the present, Rainbow seemed to have a dark look on her face as Kenzo announced his intentions. "So that's what it's all about to you, isn't it? Just gathering more and more. You caught a lucky break when you survived a dose of karma when your followers were interfering with the whole of society, yet you haven't learned your lesson." Kenzo scoffed. "I don't have to explain myself to some street urchin who knows nothing of responsibility. Just how many people did you put in the hospital for the sake of one insignificant child?"

"None," Rainbow said coldly, "Because there is nothing insignificant about Scootaloo. She's a friend, and always will be. For someone who relies on feng shui, you sure rack up a lot of negative karma." "You know, she's got a point," Dragon's Dream pointed out, "The only reason you've escaped until now is because of my advice." Kenzo groaned. "You may be my Stand, but it's annoying that you help my enemies as much as me."

"And one more thing," Rainbow said as her fist started crackling with energy, "I'm not just some punk off the street. I'm a proud member of Speedwagon family! Our origins may be from the London backstreets, but we've long since stepped out of the shadows! And just like my ancestor, Robert EO Speedwagon, I can't stand people like you who act like more than they really are out of sheer arrogance!" She stomped the ground, generating a Hamon shockwave.

Kenzo and Dragon's Dream gasped as the compass ring went wild. "She's doing it again!," Dragon's Dream realized, "Everytime she strikes with her Hamon the energy of the area changes, causing the feng shui to reset!" Kenzo growled. "To think there would be a force out there strong enough to alter feng shui. We'll need to take this elsewhere. Dragon's Dream!" The statue of Dragon's Dream returned to the compass ring and started spinning. "There we are," Kenzo said, "The perfect place to finish her." He leapt down the nearby staircase, Rainbow following. "I hope she knows what she's doing," Anasui said, "Those stairs lead to the punishment ward's execution chamber..."

I hope you aren't too mad about what I put through Scootaloo through. I promise it was for a good cause...

That said, we'll be finishing off the Kenzo fight next chapter.

I thought the title fitting considering how I'm restructuring certain personality traits of the group to make them flow better together.

Jolyne quickly jumped after Rainbow. "What are you doing?," Anasui asked, "Rainbow seems to have this." "Maybe," Jolyne said, "But we're supposed to be a team. Like Dad and his friends heading for Cairo. Plus, me and Rainbow kinda bonded, if you take my meaning." Anasui shrugged. "Well, I'm not about to just let you get killed because you rushed headlong into a fight you're under-prepared for." He, Atroe, and Wes joined Jolyne as she leapt down into the execution chamber.

Down below, Kenzo was chuckling. Rainbow had just wound up alighting on the electric chair in the execution room. "It seems as though fortune has yet to leave me. Once I gain fame from killing you and Jolyne, I will become a saint rivaled only by Buddha himself!" "And just who told you that malarkey?," Rainbow asked, "No wait, let me guess. It was Pucci, wasn't it?" "He is working on a grand vision," Kenzo admitted, "And promised me my former glory when it is complete in exchange for keeping you from the bone by whatever means necessary."

"Oh, well if it was something sensible," Rainbow said, "Then I guess it wasn't such malarkey. But too bad, I've no intention of dying so soon. Certainly not before my prison sentence is up." Kenzo grinned. "We'll see about that. Now, show me, Dragon's Dream." The ring moved as normal, but Rainbow didn't seem to do anything but stand there and wait. 'She's trying the neutral approach again,' Kenzo thought, 'But my advantage is that I have far more experience in the ways of feng shui. I'll find the means to break through her defense soon enough.'

The ring stopped, pointing to a spot. "Now! Feel the force of my Feng Shui Assassination!" He stepped over to a small spot and phased his hand through Dragon's Dream. "What's that supposed to do?," Rainbow asked. "Simple," Kenzo replied, "I can trick my opponents into touching Dragon's Dream, or focus my next attack through him. Then that attack becomes extended by feng shui. That is the secret of the Feng Shui Assassination!"

His arm seemed to come loose, but no blood was squirting out, and hit the generator for the electric chair. The sparks from the loose wires caused Rainbow to stumble off the chair in shock as some of the wiring hit the trail of sweat leading to Kenzo. He looked dumbfounded just seconds before he got electrocuted. "Ah, I probably should have mentioned this," Dragon's Dream said, "But when you were checking the energy of the room earlier, it wasn't me directing you. Well, it kind of was, but I wasn't attached to the ring."

Kenzo looked back at his ring and saw there was a blob of water in the middle of it, reflecting Dragon's Dream's main body. "Thought this might work," Atroe said as she appeared, "Using the plankton created by Foo Fighters, I can control a certain amount of water. I used it to create a mirror of Dragon's Dream as it pointed in the direction of the luckiest spot in this chamber. As a result, you were tricked into moving into an unlucky spot!"

"And in the meantime," Dragon's Dream noted, "Rainbow seems to have slipped onto the lucky spot I was trying to direct you towards." Sure enough, Rainbow had landed on the rubber matting used by the executioner to ground himself when he hit the switch for the chair, landing that far away thanks to using her wings to prevent a serious fall. "And those A-holes I beat up said they'd make sure I'd get the chair," Rainbow said, "Wish they could be here so I could see the looks on their faces."

Kenzo growled. "Impressive that you were able to turn my Stand's power against me, but don't think you can do so again!" He summoned the ring compass again, only for Jolyne wrap her strings around his hands and legs. "Wha...!?" "You can't move to the next lucky spot if you can't actually move," Jolyne noted, "This is why we Joestars prefer to make our own luck. It's too much of a hassle waiting for fate to favor us." Kenzo looked at the compass ring and grinned. "I can still reach that spot easily."

He jumped backward a bit, slipping on a puddle when he landed which sent him flying into a nearby column. However, he flipped and hit the pillar with his legs, letting him springboard right at Jolyne. "It's over, Jolyne Kujo!" However, he got surprised when Diver Down leapt out of Jolyne and smashed its fist right into his face. "I've already sworn to protect Jolyne," Anasui said, "I won't allow you to kill her." Kenzo wound up slipping on the earlier puddle. "Come to think of it, where did this even come from?"

Wes walked over to Rainbow and helped her up. "Weather Report! I manipulated the moisture in the air. You were set up to fail in spite of your good luck." Kenzo growled. "This is still a lucky spot! I'll just attack from a different direction!" He turned his feet to the column again, but got surprised when his legs started acting like springs. "Let me explain the primary ability of Diver Down," Anasui said, "It's an extension of my pathological desire to disassemble things. It can break down anything it enters at the molecular level, and rearrange them how I want. It's just altered your bone structure to turn you into one giant spring."

Kenzo screamed in agony as he went rebounding across the room until he finally landed neatly inside a blue bucket, completely harmless. "Well how about that?," Dragon's Dream said, "Your safe spot is in the northeast, and your lucky color is cerulean blue. But it looks like it's only enough to keep them from finishing the job. Or at least wanting to finish the job... Because at this point it doesn't look like you can keep fighting." Jolyne smirked. "I guess he's right. We still have those last two Stand users and the bone to worry about."

"Still," Atroe said, "We're making a pretty good team." "Yeah," Jolyne said, "Kinda like Dad's team back in the 80s." Anasui shrugged. "I guess saving the world is something to do in our spare time. I mean, none of us are in here for a serious length of time." Atroe smirked. "So, let's hurry and track down that bone." The group headed off, not sure why the bone was so important to Pucci. They knew it came from DIO, but not how it pertained to Pucci's plans. They hoped they would never find out.

Okay, okay, picking on Kenzo was fun and all, but we have a story to get to, and we also need to dial back the drama. So here's a much more heartwarming chapter. Check your teeth afterward, because I went heavy on the sugar for this bowl of sweetness.

Back in 1992, Jotaro was anxious as he paced in the hospital's waiting room. When he and Fluttershy had learned of her pregnancy, meaning they had to cut off their search for Diavolo, he wasn't sure what to think. Sure, he had every intention of being different from his own father, but he was getting his degree in marine biology, so it was difficult to say how easy it would be. He was soon joined by his friends as they arrived. "Hey," Jotaro said, "How'd the search go?" "We managed to track down Diavolo," Kakyoin said, "But unfortunately he slipped away."

"Bastard has a Stand that can erase a few seconds of time," Polnareff said, "Working together we were able to overwhelm him regardless, but he was still able to give us the slip. It could be years before we track him down again." "How's Fluttershy been?," Avdol asked. "Getting through it," Jotaro said. He sighed. "I'd like to think that our daughter won't have to deal with the same troubles our family has been having for the last few decades, but deep down I know I'm deluding myself. It's only a matter of time."

Just then, a doctor came out of the nearby room. "Mister Jotaro Kujo?" Jotaro nodded in his direction. "Congratulations," the doctor said with a warm smile, "You're officially a father. Your wife has safely delivered the baby and both of them are in good health. You may come in to see them now." Jotaro headed inside to see Fluttershy cradling their new daughter. As the newborn was busy breast-feeding, the familiar star-shaped birthmark was visible.

"I wanted her to see her new father first," Fluttershy said, "But she got real hungry when she finally decided to come out. I guess she used up a lot of energy." Kakyoin was distracted by the strings that seemed to be coming off the baby's body. "Is that what I think it is?" Fluttershy nodded. "Yeah, it looks like she was born with a Stand. Considering me and Jotaro are Stand users, we shouldn't be surprised. In fact, I'm more surprised she developed it this early."

"She must have a strong spirit," Avdol said with a smile, "I was four when I first learned how to control my Stand." Jotaro smiled as he gently rubbed the baby girl's head. "Guess if trouble ever does find you, you'll be ready to face it. Isn't that right... Jolyne?" "Jolyne?," Polnareff asked. "The name we agreed on," Jotaro explained. "Somehow we just knew our child would follow the same path of destiny," Fluttershy noted, "So we thought her name should reflect the status of Jojo."

Jolyne had finished feeding and now turned to look at her father. Her eyes were inquisitive as Jotaro carefully picked her up. "Welcome to the world," Jotaro said, "I'll make sure you get to know it well, because one day, you just might have to protect it." The group smiled at the sight of Jolyne nuzzling against her larger father like he was an oversized teddy bear. The new generation had been born.

It was during the early months of 1999. Jolyne was chasing down her younger brother Josefumi. The rest of their family was surprised when Fluttershy became pregnant again so soon. Polnareff even joked that she had gotten some on the side, but Josefumi's familiar star birthmark confirmed he was Jotaro's son. Jotaro was trying to decide what to use as the subject of his next thesis paper, while Fluttershy was busy talking on the phone with the people in her veterinarian clinic.

As she hung up, the phone started ringing again. "Kujo residence. This is Fluttershy." 'Pardon the sudden call,' came the familiar voice of Roses, 'But would you and Master Jotaro please come over and make sure Master Joseph's friends don't accidentally murder him?' Fluttershy blinked. "Huh...?" When they got to Joseph Joestar's house, Jotaro actually snickered at the sight. It seemed Caesar and Applejack had decided to pay a visit, but for some reason Applejack was using To The Core to restrain Suzi Q, who for some reason was holding a melon baller, while Caesar had Joseph in a headlock ranting about unfaithfulness.

Fluttershy was just stunned, while Jolyne and Josefumi were confused. Eventually everyone calmed down enough and explained the situation. Apparently Joseph had a drunken one-night stand with a Japanese woman during the time he learned DIO had returned. And now that brief affair had resulted in a son. "Um, Daddy," Jolyne said, "What exactly is going on here?" "You basically have a great-uncle young enough to be your older brother," Jotaro explained. He sighed. "Gimme a break..."

Back in the present, Jotaro smiled as he remembered those memories. When Jolyne heard about their planned trip to Morioh, she begged to join. Jotaro finally relented. It was fun remembering her as being so cheerful. Despite her punkish looks later in life, Jolyne didn't seem to have much trouble making friends. In fact, up until the incident with Johngalli framing her for murder, Jotaro and Fluttershy didn't think Jolyne would ever run into serious problems until it was time for her destiny.

'I should have known,' he thought, 'Destiny can really creep up on you.' He was overseeing Gwess' recovery. As theorized, the return of her Stand restored her to life. It rather reminded Jotaro of the battle against D'Arby, who was finally snapping out of his delirium after so many years, though Jotaro was unsure if he would ever go back to gambling. He then felt a sudden weight on his leg, and looked down to see Shizuka there, now twelve years old.

Jotaro smiled. "Well if it isn't my littlest auntie." Shizuka grinned. "Jotaro, I'm your only auntie." There was a familiar laugh as Joseph appeared. In order to have the strength to raise Shizuka, Joseph had picked up his Hamon practice again. His age meant he still needed a walking cane but otherwise the familiar fighting spirit he once had was shining through in his posture once more. "The Speedwagon Foundation told me everything," he explained, "So now it's Jolyne's turn."

Jotaro nodded. "I don't know the situation inside Green Dolphin Prison, but I do know my daughter is fighting for everyone's safety." Joseph nodded. "I honestly thought we were done with DIO when you defeated him back in 1989. But I should have known his followers would still be wanting revenge for him." He sighed and shook his head. "I managed to get a picture of Pucci using Hermit Purple. And take a look at who's with him." Jotaro took the picture and frowned when he recognized the man next to him. "DeKurliss."

And now back to your regularly scheduled plot.

Hey, even in a story like mine too much sugar is bad for you.

"Well," Jolyne said, "At least Kenzo won't be a threat any longer. But there's still that other guy back upstairs. And we still don't know what happened to that bone." She headed up the stairs, surprising Anasui by pinching his butt on the way up. "Thanks for the save," she said in a sultry manner. "Damn, I love that woman...," he muttered. Atroe headed up to join Jolyne. "Hey, Jolyne, I thought you were in a relationship with Rainbow." "That was only ever tentative," Rainbow clarified, "Sure we're attracted to each other, but we're not exclusive to girls. And our sentences are the same length. You know how it is."

Her head then jerked up. "Hey, that little guy right there at the top! I recognize him, he was playing with the bone earlier! And it looks like he still has it!" "Stone Free!" Jolyne summoned her Stand and launched its strings to grab the man, but he seemed to come apart as he twisted out of her grip. Atroe quickly morphed her hand again and fired off a few shots. "Damn! We can't let him away again!" The group hurried up the stairs to find a truly bizarre sight.

They found the man, but he was much taller than they expected. And something was growing through his spine and branching out. "Something's wrong," Wes said, "This doesn't fit with the Stand that made everyone aggressive earlier, and he's not the other guy that was with Kenzo. He said there were only four Stand users sent here, besides. There was Kenzo himself, the guard Westwood, whoever made the people aggressive, and one more person. That man with the helmet was no doubt one of the last two."

Atroe aimed her morphed hand at the man. "Hey, turn around slowly! No sudden moves!" Rainbow looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "I've always wanted to say that," Atroe said with a blush. The man was reaching up to the glass ceiling. "Sun... Light..." He slowed turned his head, causing the group to gasp at the sight of him. There was a small tree growing out of his mouth, teeth visible near the trunk. Small flowers were blooming where his eyes should have been. He seemed to be in excruciating pain.

"Jolyne, you didn't say your mother was visiting," Anasui said, "I would have freshened up." "Mom's Stand can't do this," Jolyne clarified. One of the flowers bloomed and burst open, launching pollen everywhere. Wes acted quickly. "Weather Report!" His Stand created an air pocket that caused the pollen to avoid the group. They then noticed the other prisoners had already started growing trees of their own. "What the hell is this?," Rainbow asked. Anasui spotted a few plants growing on Jolyne. "Diver Down!" His Stand dove inside her and remove the plants.

"Thanks," Jolyne said, "I didn't even realize those were growing there. But how did they start growing in the first place?" Meanwhile the other guy, D an G, had found the bone the guy had dropped. 'Looks touching either the bone or the man who touched it will do this. With the melee that had just been going on, that guy might have been hit a few times while trying to escape. The bone has a feeling like determination, as if it's manipulating the flowers, trying to give birth to something...'

Meanwhile Anasui was coming to a similar conclusion. "Pucci placed great importance on that bone. This must have something to do with it. It didn't target us first, and I think I know why... We never touched it. But Jolyne probably did when she grabbed that first guy." "But why would a bone, even one from DIO, do all this?," Jolyne wondered. "I dunno," Atroe said, "But I think it might still be under Sports Maxx's influence because it's high-tailing it." They turned to where Atroe was pointing to see the bone escaping on a root.

D an G saw the same thing. "I need to follow it without touching the bone, or else it'll infect me to." Meanwhile, Jolyne noticed something. "These plants are still growing on me." "I think it's more accurate to say your cells are being changed into the plants," Anasui clarified, "I got the impression when I pulled off the first few. That first guy was reaching for the sunlight. If we can keep you in the shade until this passes, you should be fine."

"Hey," Wes said, "I can see something in the midst of all the vines." He pointed to a small pod with some sort of fetus visible inside it. Rainbow gasped when she saw it had a familiar star-shaped birthmark. "What the heck...?" "I should probably mention," Jolyne said, "When Dad fought DIO, DIO had actually been reduced to just a head, and was using the body of Grandpa Joseph's father to survive. So far all intents and purposes, DIO was officially of Joestar blood. And the same holds true for anything born of him..."

Meanwhile, Ryusei was carefully observing DeKurliss as he made another meeting with Pucci. 'He's been coming by everyday. Casual observation should allow me to avoid his Stand. He'll be looking for anyone spying on him.' He raised an eyebrow as he noticed something while passing by Pucci's office. 'Is that... A diary? Whatever it is, it seems important from the way Pucci is looking at it.' He had long known about Pucci thanks to working at the prison for so long.

Inside the office, Pucci and DeKurliss were talking. "By now the bone is doing it's task," Pucci said, "Once it collects the souls it needs to grow, I will merge with it and complete the final few steps." "We are on a schedule here," DeKurliss said, "Are you sure you can get this done in time for the event?" Pucci nodded. "Events are proceeding at a good pace. I have confidence that, at the very least, I can accomplish DIO's formula before Jolyne Kujo and her allies can have a chance to stop me." He smiled, confident in his plans. 'The New Moon is rising soon...'

The thing I noticed about Yo-Yo Ma is, if you can keep your guard up, you have a chance to avoid getting killed by him. And if you have a method to avoid getting killed by him, well then...

Let's ruin D an G's day, shall we?

"Is this what Pucci was expecting?," Rainbow asked, "We never did learn if there's more to Limp Bizkit than what we observed from Sports Maxx." Jolyne moved forward to pick the creature up. "Jolyne, what are you doing!?," Anasui asked. "I'm already affected by this thing," Jolyne explained, "So I'm the only one who can retrieve it safely." She rushed to grab the fetus-like fruit, then quickly returned to where the shade was. "Now what?," Atroe asked, "The sunlight is acting like a barrier between us and the exit."

Anasui then spotted someone dash into a nearby cell and went to investigate. Inside he spotted a rather cowardly man, trembling with one of his ankles slit and bleeding. "Please...," the man said, "Please help me... I've been seeing some weird things... Those odd trees, and the people drowning... I'm terrified... Please, take me with you!" Anasui raised an eyebrow. The trees were easy to write off, but there was little to indicate that the prisoners had been drowned. True, he could have overheard Kenzo's explanation, but the explanation was incomplete and needed context.

'Not to mention,' he thought, 'It's odd that someone is still getting terrified when the aggression-increasing Stand is still likely active. Even we were affected.' He ultimately shrugged. "Fine. What's your name?" "G-Guccio...," the man said. Nearby, D an G observed the bizarre scene. 'No one told me about this. My job was simply to kill Jolyne Kujo. But she somehow smuggled in backup, and then there's all this weirdness with that green child. Still, no reason to back out now.'

He waited in hiding, but only saw Guccio walk over. 'Wait... Did Jolyne and the others already escape? No, that's impossible. They'd have to use the roof windows, so there's no way I wouldn't see them.' He placed a hand on Guccio's shoulder. "Hey, what are you doing here?" Nearby, the others were checking out the punishment ward. "If only Mom was here," Jolyne said, "She's have been able to tell if that guy was a real enemy or not." "Personally I couldn't care less either way," Anasui admitted, "I'm not interested in the safety of any prisoner outside our group."

Jolyne crossed her arms. "So if we were in the middle of a crowded city?" "Then I'd definitely be holding back a little, yes," Anasui replied, "But as it is, I'm not concerned about the lives of anyone who found their way here, except the five of us." Nearby, Guccio was acting strange and convulsing as D an G tried to get a straight answer out of him about the others. He got a big surprise when Guccio's ribs suddenly burst out of his back and pierced D an G's arm.

As D an G sobbed about his mutilated arm, Guccio kept walking in spite of his body getting warped so his skeleton was on the outside and his arms were in the wrong position. He had been turned into a living trap by Anasui's Diver Down. As Guccio walked off, the electrical discs that made up Survivor's physical form could be seen. "I was just told to make everyone fight," Guccio said, "But I never expected this. That priest never told us much of anything regarding his plan."

The group had managed to find a safe route out using Diver Down to phase through one of the walls. "From this position I should be able to fly back to the main prison unseen," Rainbow said. "We'll take this swamp skiff," Jolyne said as she got near the vehicle. Anasui looked it over. "If we can find out how to start it." A short green humanoid appeared and grabbed a nearby lever. "Use the throttle lever. It's normally set to the neutral position before turning the ignition."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow as the strange creature continued to instruct Anasui on how to operate the skiff, and ever offered to get them food and drink. 'There's something off about this creature. It's clearly a Stand, and likely the fourth and final one Pucci is sending against us. So why is it helping us? This is a bit more direct than what Dragon's Dream was doing.' The sun was starting to set in the west, which was to their backs. By the time nightfall started to set in, Jolyne's body would likely return to normal.

Wes and Atroe stayed behind, knowing that Pucci was likely to show up. By now prison security would catch on to the fact that a disturbance was happening. The place had no cameras, so as long as no extra prisoners were spotted it would be no issue. The real issue would be that Pucci would likely arrive with the guards, and would attempt to collect the green baby. As for the Stand, Yo-Yo Ma, it had appeared suddenly and swallowed the green baby.

Yo-Yo Ma was quickly surmised to be D an G's Stand, but all efforts to break it open and retrieve the fetus proved futile, as Yo-Yo Ma was just too durable. What was really odd was that, instead of trying to retaliate, it just apologized over and over and offered to be helpful. It even explained what was going on with its user at the time. It had directed them to the swamp skiff and showed Rainbow the best flight path to avoid the guards' line of sight.

However, they were no fools. There had to be a catch to all this. D an G was obviously an enemy, so Atroe and Wes stayed behind to find and kill him before Yo-Yo Ma could do anything. Wes watched as several small insects dropped to the ground, victims of Weather Report. "So that's his game," Wes realized, "They'll be fine while Rainbow is flying over them. Her Stand will make it so that the insects can't land. But if you let your guard down at the wrong time..."

The skiff had stopped when Anasui heard the sounds of other skiffs piloted by guards heading for the punishment ward. Rainbow was sitting on a low branch, her head hidden by the leaves to prevent her rainbow-colored hair from standing out. "Rainbow," Anasui said, "How effective is your flight field at negating automatic fire?" "It doesn't 'negate' it so much as redirect it," Rainbow clarified, "But I've never really tried it against this sort of firepower. You gotta remember I only awakened my Stand at the top of my sentence."

As the guards rode over in response to a ripple in the water, Yo-Yo Ma quickly helped them camouflage themselves, while Jolyne used Stone Free to remove the anchor rope. The guards looked around but didn't see the group, deciding what they saw was a gator or large fish. 'Emergency order to all patrolling the marsh area,' came an alert over the radio, 'All troops head back to the punishment ward! I repeat, all troops return to the punishment ward!'

"Sounds serious," the driver said, "What do you think happened?" "I dunno," the other guard said, "But we'd better do what the order said." They started the engine, Rainbow's flight field preventing the sudden current from blowing their disguise. Once they were out of sight, Anasui noticed that Yo-Yo Ma seemed apprehensive. "What's the problem? Your plan worked, after all. Well, thanks to Rainbow. If not for her Stand, which creates an environment that prevents situations that can interfere with flight, the skiff's propeller would have blown all the vegetation off, compromising us."

Yo-Yo Ma was grumbling. Several times the three of them had lowered their guard, yet none of them seemed affected by his corrosive spit, or the mosquitoes he used to transmit it. But Anasui's remark about Rainbow's Stand made it all clear. Her very presence was making it difficult. Yo-Yo Ma's purpose was to act like a servant to whoever his user wanted to target, then kill them with his corrosive spit when they lowered their guard. If they caught on, his high durability prevented them from destroying him. He then realized something. The other two were back at the punishment ward, and Rainbow had her flight field on since before they left.

Atroe and Wes had managed to sneak into an upper window, where the guards were looking over the odd scene of the large tree that had grown from the prisoners. From the way they were talking, they didn't realize what had happened to them or the two guards. D an G was unconscious nearby, in shock from ripping his arm off. One of the guards looked in their direction and Wes got apprehensive, but Atroe calmed him down when she realized it was just Ryusei.

Wes created a mist cover using Weather Report so they could secretly meet away from the other guards. "So what happened over here?," Ryusei asked. "Where to even begin?," Atroe said, "For starters, I'm pretty sure most of the prisoners are dead. They somehow grew into that tree." Ryusei looked shocked. "A Stand power?" "I don't think so," Wes replied, "This is some other phenomenon altogether. Is Pucci here?" "He's here alright," Ryusei said, "And he has a vested interest in Prisoner ME14067, D an G, the guy you saw with the missing arm."

"What was he in for?," Atroe asked. "He believed in the prophecy of Nostradamus, who claimed the world would end in 2000," Ryusei said, "So he went around shooting a bunch of people at the start of the new millennium." Wes nodded. "The Second Impact incident. Some analysts believe it could have destroyed the world given the right circumstances, but by chance those circumstances never occurred." "I think we need to swap information," Ryusei said as he got out a diary, "I managed to nab this from Pucci when he wasn't looking. It seems important. Especially since it was penned by DIO..."

I know you guys are looking forward to seeing DeKurliss pick apart the crew psychologically (he certainly did a good job with Doppio). But, slight spoiler... This is DeKurliss' last appearance, and you'll understand why soon.

"Where did you even get that?," Atroe asked. "I was near Pucci's office when the alert came from this ward," Ryusei explained, "I was already covertly eavesdropping on his conversations with DeKurliss. Pucci seemed to place great value on the information inside, so I decided to see what the big deal was. I'm not sure what the contents refer to, but the context and history before the final entry clearly indicate that DIO was the one who originally wrote in it, not Pucci."

Back a few hours to when the alert came out, Pucci was grinning. "It seems it's begun. I'll go personally to question our agents in the punishment wing about what transpired." DeKurliss nodded. "The time is slowly approaching. Let's hope we don't run into too many obstacles." As Pucci left, Ryusei entered. "Ah, you're one of the new guards here, correct?," DeKurliss asked, "Father Pucci mentioned one had retired recently. Anyway, I'll just be off for a bit, there's some things I need to check on."

"Yeah, about that," Ryusei said, "What's with that diary?" "Just something a friend left him," DeKurliss said, "None of your business." Ryusei scoffed. "That's where you're wrong. You have no idea who I am, do you?" "Yes, you're Ryusei Ito," DeKurliss said, "One of the winners of the Steel Ball Run alongside your wife Asahi Ito, James Brown, Radames Avdol, Rudy, Sanji Matsumoto, Antoinette Dupont... Actually last I checked it was Antoinette Zeppeli. And there was one last one... Ah yes! It was Sadao Ku--"

He suddenly realized what Ryusei was getting at. "I understand you've been targeting my best friend's granddaughter," Ryusei said as he approached, "And you've been quite the nuisance with your own Stand." Time Judged All appeared. "It'll be easier to stop Pucci's plans if you're not around to warn him of any threats that may approach. You're pretty old, so doing this in a way that makes it seem like natural causes shouldn't be too difficult." DeKurliss freaked out as Ryusei's eyes narrowed. "Time Judged All!"

"And then I used my Stand's feathers to create an acupuncture-induced heart attack," Ryusei finished. Atroe chuckled nervously, and even Wes' normal stoicism seemed to break slightly as his eyes widened. After a few seconds, Atroe cleared her throat. "So, moving on... I take it that's when you took the diary?" Ryusei nodded. "Yeah, it seemed important at the time since Pucci was looking through it in a way that made it clear he was memorizing it."

"So now we need to make sure that the strange baby growing in the plants doesn't get to Pucci," Wes said, "It's clear that it's an important part of his plans. More to the point, it seems Pucci is planning to get information about what happened from D an G. Now we have two reasons to have him killed." "Two?," Ryusei asked. "Yeah, D an G sent his Stand to target Jolyne," Atroe explained, "We're not sure how it works, but it's clear its intention is to get people to lower their guard around it before killing them somehow."

Pucci was trying to calm down using his usual method of counting off prime numbers, getting all the way past four-hundred. But it wasn't stress he was feeling. It was exhilaration. He couldn't comprehend just what was happening in the punishment ward, yet it was clear that it all led back to his goal of achieving Heaven. Once he finished questioning D an G, all he had to do was retrieve DIO's bone, or whatever form it was taking.

He had spotted Guccio, and finished him off by using Whitesnake to insert a music CD into Gucci's head, letting it play music. His favorite church hymn, in fact. "I can barely contain the excitement. I just need to find out what happened with the bone... And D an G is the only one who can tell me right now." The scene was bizarre to say the least. Kenzo had been found inside a bucket in the execution chamber, Westwood was missing, as was a large chunk of the prisoners and the other guard, and Gucci was practically mangled yet still alive.

Well, he was until Pucci finished his listening. "Clearly this is work of Stand users. That invisible world we all reside in. DIO learned that hidden deep within all Stand users is the power to achieve Heaven, and he perfected the right formula for achieving it. I don't know yet what sort of phenomenon created the large plant remains, but I have a feeling that it must be tied to the bone." He got out his cell and called DeKurliss. What he heard on the other end surprised him, however.

'Hello, Green Dolphin Prison morgue.' "Hello, it's Father Enrico Pucci. Why do you have the cell phone of my friend DeKurliss?" 'Oh... Sorry, Father Pucci, but Mister DeKurliss was found dead in your office. We confirmed he suffered a serious heart attack.' Pucci closed his eyes in mourning. "I see. DeKurliss was getting on in years and his health was questionable. I assume my office was examined to make sure nothing was taken while it was unattended."

'Yeah, but it seems Guard Ito did remove one item to investigate. A diary.' Pucci's eyes widened. Unlike DeKurliss, who remembered too late about the connection between Ryusei Ito and the Kujo family, Pucci knew all too well thanks to the incident with Johngalli. And if Ryusei had the diary, it could easily fall into Jolyne's hands. Suddenly DeKurliss' death didn't seem like natural causes anymore. "I see. I'll ask him about it when I return."

He hurried over to where D an G was being carted onto the medical wagon. D an G was once a police officer himself, hence the reason why he was kept in the punishment ward, since most policemen don't last long in prison. However, when Pucci caught up to the van, he spotted Ryusei there, along with two other guards that were sporting familiar shades of hair. And one of them had her finger transformed into a gun. "Foo Fighters? Impossible!" Atroe turned around when she heard her Stand's name. "Well this just got complicated."

Pucci quickly took advantage of Atroe's distraction. "You hesitated, Foo Fighters. And now it will cost you. I will take back the intellect I gave you." Whitesnake immediately struck Atroe and retrieved the memory disc from Foo Fighters, but not the Stand disc. Atroe smiled, confusing Pucci. "Was that supposed to erase me? Sorry, Father, but I'm not who you think I am." She quickly fired at D an G, killing him instantly with a shot to the head. "Impossible!," Pucci exclaimed, Whitesnake dropping the memory disc.

"Turns out what you thought was your familiar cluster of plankton," Atroe said as she retrieved the disc and returned it, "Was just little ol' me, Atroe Fendi. Turns out I have Stand potential, and because of that I can make use of the Foo Fighters disc you were using to safeguard the other discs." Wes quickly kicked D an G's corpse out of the van as Ryusei climbed into the front seat. "Let's get out of here before Pucci decides to try reading one of our memories instead!"

Meanwhile, the trio of Jolyne, Rainbow, and Anasui watched as Yo-Yo Ma started dissolving. "Looks like Atroe and Wes pulled it off," Anasui said, "But we're not done just yet." The shell from the green child remained behind, completely empty. As it slipped into the marsh, Anasui went for it, only to pull his hand back when a searing pain hit him, causing him to notice a small handprint on the back of his hand. "Whatever this thing is... It has a mind of its own."

Jolyne checked herself out. "Looks like its completed birth stopped the effects of the plant growth. My body's back to normal now." "None of this is 'normal'," Rainbow pointed out, "Even by Stand user standards. Where did it go? It can't possibly swim at that size, it'd be lunch for the gators roaming the waters of the marsh." They scanned the area, and Jolyne pointed just ahead of them. "Over there!" Somehow, the green baby had crawled its way onto land again, now completely free of the shell.

"It must have a will of its own," Anasui reasoned, "Like a developing child." "Well if Pucci gets its hands on it," Jolyne noted, "It'll 'develop' into an enemy. And considering it was grown from a remnant of DIO's body, we really don't want that." She ran after it, but was stopped when Anasui called out, "Jolyne, stop! Look at that rock near your foot!" Jolyne stopped and realized something as she looked around. The grass was far too tall, the rock looked more like it was supposed to be a boulder, but was too small. And Rainbow and Anasui were looking way too tall as they approached.

"Okay...," Jolyne said, "I'm not sure what's happening, but I'm reminded of Gwess' Stand." "Except Gwess is still under the Speedwagon Foundation's care," Rainbow noted. She approached the baby for a bit, then called out, "Hey, how big does this baby look from your perspective!" "Pretty normal, honestly," Jolyne noted. "Same here," Rainbow said, "Yet the grass looks as tall as trees." "I was thinking more as tall as wheat," Jolyne replied, "Yet you look like the size of a doll my Mom got me for Christmas once."

Anasui rubbed his chin. "Rainbow, your flight field. Just what gets defined as 'perfect flight' by your Stand's definition?" "About the same level of flight as an eagle or falcon," Rainbow said, "Why do you ask?" "Because I remember you talking about how your field was able to negate the shrinking power of Gwess' Goo Goo Dolls," Anasui explained, "I was wondering if the same could happen here." "It only seems to work when I'm actually flying or hovering," Rainbow noted.

To demonstrate, she flapped her wings to float for a bit, turning back to normal size as she did. She landed, and immediately shrank again. "The same holds true for anything in my flight field, like how it protected Jolyne from Goo Goo Dolls because she was floating." Jolyne rubbed her chin. "We keep shrinking by half as we get close, at least by walking. By that logic we might never get close enough. Solving this puzzle is gonna be trickier than your average mind-bender from Professor Layton." Just then, the sound of guard dogs could be heard. "Damn," Anasui said, "They must be searching the whole marsh for signs of what happened."

Jolyne thought for a moment. "Wait... That's it! If we just run at the green baby we'll never get closer because we keep shrinking, making it take longer! But what if we tried coming in from above!?" She ran until she was small enough to jump onto a blade of grass, then leapt down to try landing on the baby. However, as she did, something grabbed the strings she threw out to grab the creature. It was a humanoid cyborg thing with blue skin. This was the Stand of the Green Child, called Green Green Grass of Home.

It grabbed Jolyne's leg and started to shrink it, causing her boot to come off. Rainbow spotted the boot returning to normal size as Anasui narrowed his eyes, taking a bottle from the boat and rolling it over to the child. He then ran to where the child was, getting smaller as he did. Rainbow, meanwhile, flew back a few feet to observe from a safe distance. 'I think Anasui's figured something out. That green baby is like a literal baby, curious and trying to learn. Anything it finds interesting is unaffected by its Stand. If Pucci is looking for this... He might be able to find a way to attract it to him.'

She then saw the baby's Stand trapped in the bottle Anasui had rolled over. "So, if I can convince the child to come to me, instead of trying to go over to it... Not easy to get its attention without also getting the guards' attention. Not to mention Pucci might be with them. In fact I'd say it's likely. But Jolyne is risking everything to stop Pucci's plans. I'll need to take some risks if I want to help. After all... That's a Speedwagon's real goal in life, to assist a Joestar."

The benefit of writing these chapters after the year they take place as opposed to before the way Araki-sempai did is that I can include more current events from those years, such as the reference to Professor Layton.

Jolyne saw Rainbow observing the Green Baby. "Okay," she said to Anasui, "Now we have it trapped. But this is reinforced plastic, so how do we defeat it?" They had spent the last few minutes climbing dirt piles so huge compared to them they might as well have been mountain climbing, and getting pebbles that looked as huge as boulders being thrown at them. "Won't be a problem," Anasui assured her, "I've already sent Diver Down into the walls of the bottle."

Using his Stand, Anasui redirected the bottleneck over to where they were and away from Green Green Grass of Home, allowing them to escape while it was still trapped inside. Replacing the cap, the two of them breathed a sigh of relief, spotting the Green Baby miming like it was trapped. Which is technically was, since its Stand was caught inside the bottle. "That should do it," Anasui said, "Maybe now we can find a way to kill that thing and get back to normal size."

However, the Stand shrunk down a little and started rolling away from them. "Oh shit!," Jolyne said, and the two of them got running. Luckily, they didn't have long to run before they got to Rainbow, who was still big enough compared to them to scoop them up, though Jolyne lost her jacket in the process. Just then, Jolyne felt a tiny finger on the back of her neck, and all three of them were suddenly back to normal size. Jolyne looked in surprise as the Green Baby crawled up her chest and over her shoulder, observing her birthmark.

"Well, at least it got interested enough in us to stop shrinking us," she said, "But it seems to recognize blood-kin." "That's part of our problem solved, at least," Anasui said, "But we still need to avoid those guard dogs, and likely any guards that are with them." "We should find a way to get back to Atroe and Wes," Rainbow suggested, "Yo-Yo Ma's death means they were successful in taking out the Stand user, but by now the punishment ward is likely to be swarming with guards."

Having Foo Fighters' memory disc temporarily removed from Atroe weakened her a bit. She had been relying on the disc to fully understand how to control Foo Fighters. Luckily, they were able to get to a water fountain, letting her replenish her water supply. Pucci grunted as he watched them race off into a mist. "I need to get my own vehicle somehow. Those two, somehow they got smuggled into the punishment ward. They are my only chance of finding Jolyne. Only the memory of someone of her blood... Joestar blood... Could possibly control it. That which was born from DIO's bone."

He held up the bone he had retrieved from the scene, still in the depths of the mass of plant material. He clenched his fist around it. It was the last gift from his old friend, entrusted to him once he proved his loyalty. "Luckily, I have that right here. I just need to get close enough. Then I will recite the phrases." He spotted one of the ATVs the guards brought with them and found the keys still inside. "It seems fate favors me," he said as he got on and started the engine.

As he rode off, he started counting off prime numbers again. Meanwhile, Wes spotted Pucci as he rode after them. "We can't let him find Jolyne. Weather Report!" His Stand created a mass rain storm with intense fog for good measure. "Good thinking," Ryusei said, "That's the ATV I came in on. And for the life of me I can't understand why I forgot to retrieve the keys. At least we threw him off. Why did he think a Stand could become alive?"

"Technically one did," Atroe explained, "It's all in the memory disc from the creature that was Foo Fighters. Somehow the Stand merged with the plankton it could control to create an entirely new species. Sadly that species died with the creature, but its memory survived thanks to me being able to control the Stand disc." Ryusei grinned. "So you must have Stand potential. Anyway, keep the fog going, Wes. By now the marsh will be crawling with guard dogs, which could be looking for the others."

As the trio observed the fog, the Green Baby bouncing on one of Rainbow's wings, they spotted the truck. "Get down," Anasui said. "No need," Jolyne said, "That guard is a friend. He was working with my father to try and get me out before Johngalli could kill me." Sure enough, the van caught sight of Rainbow's wings and drove over, Ryusei, Wes, and Atroe getting out. "It's about time," Anasui said, relieved, "So this fog was your doing, then."

"Yes," Wes replied, "And we found some important information about Pucci's plans. I don't fully understand it myself, but he seems be trying to achieve 'Heaven'." "Whatever the hell that means," Atroe said, "And I think that creature is part of it." "Then we should dispose of it," Anasui said, "It's not even human, not even supposed to exist. Especially if it can help Pucci with his plans." "Can we even do that?," Wes asked, "After all, it was born from the body of a vampire from what I understand, meaning it might be more resilient than normal."

"As long as we keep it away from Pucci, it shouldn't matter what we do with it," Ryusei suggested. He then spotted another guard arrive and grab the baby from Rainbow's wing. "Oh, sorry about this," he started to say, "Just a routine escort. We thought asking some of the other prisoners to investigate the punishment ward could get extra eyes on the situation." "I doubt your words," the guard said, and the others realized it was Pucci's voice coming out of his mouth, "But it matters not. I'm only here for this." To their shock, the guard morphed into Whitesnake.

"I could have simply attacked you here," Pucci said as he appeared, "But I noticed Rainbow's Stand was active. I suspect some aspect of it negates damage in some manner, and I have no time to investigate. I don't know what you did with my diary, but taking it from me won't matter. I already have all the pieces in place, and I have memorized the steps needed to accomplish my goal. Everything up until now has been my test, and now I am ready to take the final steps. That which is needed to elevate humanity to its highest potential."

Just then, he found himself cuffed, causing him to drop the child, which seemed unharmed from the incident. "If you think we're letting you get that child so easily," Jolyne said, the other side of the cuffs strapped to her arm, "You've got another thing coming." Pucci scoffed, using Whitesnake to break the cuffs, only to get a surprise when they morphed into needles that pierced his palm.

"I've had years to practice my Stand," Jolyne explained, "And in that time I've learned a lot of neat tricks with it. Dad's Stand is simple and straight-forward, so you've been practicing to deal with that. But my Stand is far more pliable." She grinned. "Right now I can guess what you're thinking. These cuffs are part of me, so that means you're able to touch me and use your Stand to try removing my Stand disc. But while you're doing that... Maybe you should stop and think of what I really have to do to prevent your plans." Pucci gasped and whirled his head around. The grass around them was being cut into triangular shapes.

I've been hearing people saying all the extra prep in the world won't stop Pucci from completing his goal. Well, you're right. I mean, the story wouldn't be interesting if it were that easy. But damn if they aren't making Pucci work for it.

It was back in 1988, several months before Jotaro and his friends journeyed to Egypt. DIO and Pucci were reading in bed together. The TV was on as well, with a taping of the Steel Ball Run, which Pucci did not have the chance to see due to his priesthood training. DIO found it amazing how he was able to focus on both his reading and the race at the same time. 'The wonders of vampirism.' He leafed through his art book and saw a picture of the Mona Lisa. "Hey, Pucci." Pucci looked over from his Bible study. "Did you know the Louvre in Paris gets an average of 40,000 visitors per day?," DIO asked.

"Really?," Pucci said, wincing as one of his preferred racers got taken out by the seemingly unstoppable Team Kujo. DIO chuckled. "I saw a recent Michael Jackson concert on TV that had that many people, but it doesn't happen every day." "Well only a small percentage of a pop star's revenue comes from concerts," Pucci reasoned. "True," DIO admitted, "But the Louvre gets that many people each and every day, ever since it first opened back in 1783. All those people flocking to some of the most popular exhibits, such as the Mona Lisa or the Venus de Milo."

Pucci seemed a little confused. "Is there something special about those numbers?" DIO shrugged. "Not particularly. What's truly special is how skilled painters and sculptors are able to shape their souls into something visible for others." "Well, Michelangelo often said that each stone held a statue within," Pucci noted, "And he was merely freeing it from its prison." "And in that way art can be seen as quite similar to Stand power," DIO said, "Think about the differences in our Stands. Mine holds the power to stop time itself. While yours can slowly kill while inducing illusions, or even remove another Stand altogether. It's quite similar to how different the Venus de Milo or Mona Lisa are to each other."

He then surprised Pucci by grabbing his arm, firmly but not roughly, a clear indicator that violence was not his intention. "Though it does leave me with concern," DIO said, "Your Stand, Whitesnake can even remove my Stand, The World. You also know of my weaknesses in regards to being a vampire. If you wanted you could kill me in my sleep, and in the process take my Stand for your own. Would you betray me someday, knowing all this?"

Pucci's face remained unchanged, his eyes never leaving DIO's. "The thought had never even occurred to me. You have helped and encouraged my growth. You are the king of kings. I wish to see where you will end up... To the bitter end. I love you as I love God." For a while Pucci's hand seemed to merge into DIO's head, though more from DIO pushing the arm inside to test Pucci. The Stand disc for The World became visible, but DIO took a chance and released Pucci's arm. Pucci immediately pulled it back, letting the disc return to DIO's head.

DIO sighed. "I apologize. I've insulted you. Up until I met you I had no one who could truly put me at ease just by talking. I was afraid I would lose you. I'm sure you'll become an honorable child of God." Pucci then realized something else was in his hand. "The time of destiny is soon approaching," DIO said, "Next year marks the one-hundredth anniversary of when I transcended my humanity. However... There is no guarantee I will live beyond it. Therefore, I want you to have this as a token of my apology... And absolute trust."

Pucci opened his hand to see it was a small bone. "That came from my body," DIO explained, "I took it out just now. May it give you strength to accomplish my plan, in the event that I am unable to." Pucci realized that DIO was being serious. If his Stand was strong enough to defeat The World, then DIO clearly understood that there might be other Stand powers that could do the same. The ability to overcome the power to stop time was no small feat, after all.

Back in the present, Pucci was in a serious bind. He could see the disc for Stone Free coming out of Jolyne's head. In terms of experience, Pucci definitely had his Stand for longer, but only by a matter of a few years. And his power was simplistic, while Jolyne's power let her get creative. The tiniest slip-up could get him killed before he could even complete his plans. Worse still, he had no bargaining chips to help. Then he had a thought. 'I don't need to attack Jolyne directly. I just have to get out of these cuffs. That should be far simpler.'

He made to attack Jolyne, who attacked at the same time using Stone Free. To Jolyne's surprise, a small crucifix came out of his nail, striking the disc coming out her head, causing it to come out more and impair her vision. "Jolyne!," Anasui called out. "Hold on," Rainbow said, holding him back, "She's got this. She's had far more combat experience than Pucci." Whitesnake made to go for the disc, only for Stone Free to suddenly attack Pucci hard. "ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!"

Jolyne got thrown off a little when Pucci suddenly came loose from her. She then noticed that her disc was sliding back into her head. Pucci looked around, but the Green Baby obviously had fallen asleep somewhere in the grass and was blending in well. 'I need to stay out of Jolyne's range until I find it. I can't let myself get stopped this early.' "He's going for the baby!," Atroe realized, "He just needed to get out of Jolyne's grip!" "He won't get it if I can help it!," Rainbow called out, "I'll Fly!"

"Time Judged All!," Ryusei called out. The two of them flew up into the air to scan the area. Pucci couldn't help but think ominously of a pair of vultures waiting for a corpse to rot. He suddenly spotted the child in an isolated patch. 'There it is. I need to get to it before the others can spot it and get it away from me. DIO entrusted this last chance to me. I cannot let it go to waste. The chance to achieve Heaven is before me! I cannot give it up!'

Cliffhangers, right? Anyway, in case you haven't noticed Stone Ocean is flashback central as far as Jojo is concerned. Heck, and entire arc is dedicated to events prior to the current story.

As the flying duo was scanning the area, Pucci finally spotted the Green Baby, sleeping peacefully. 'There it is! Thank God I took the time to memorize the words, there's no way they'd give me the time to look through DIO's diary. Especially since I'd need to get it away from Ryusei first.' He dashed over and quickly started reciting. "Spiral staircase...! Rhinoceros beetle...! Ruined town...! Fig tart...! Rhinoceros beetle...! Via Delarosso...! Rhinoceros beetle...! Singularity point...! Giotto...! Angel...! Hydrangea...! Rhinoceros beetle...! Singularity point...! Secret emperor...!"

Up above, Rainbow was confused. "The heck is he muttering!" "I don't know!," Ryusei admitted, "But those same phrases were written down in the diary Pucci had! I'm guessing they hold some sort of significance!" Immediately the Green Baby woke up and observed Pucci. He took the bone from DIO he had retrieved from the punishment ward and showed it to the child, catching his interest. Pucci smiled as the child seemed to eat away at his arm before suddenly dragging him off.

"Shit," Ryusei said as he and Rainbow landed, "Now what just happened?" "I dunno," Anasui admitted, "Why is Pucci so interested in that abomination anyway?" "I wish I could say for certain," Ryusei said, "But I do know whatever it is has something to do with what DIO wrote in his diary. Jeez... This isn't what I signed up for." "What do you mean?," Atroe asked. "The truth is," Ryusei said, "I became a guard at this prison specifically at the behest of an old friend, Funny Valentine." Anasui's eyes widened. "My uncle?"

The year was 2010. It had been a long while since the Steel Ball Run, yet Team Kujo continued to see each other on a regular basis. "Been a while, hasn't it?," Ryusei said as he met with Valentine. "Yes, I'm glad you decided to join me here. Events are soon to occur, and I believe that the conditions are right to take this universe in a completely different direction from one similar to it." "So you need my help with something," Ryusei noted, "Why me and not the others?"

Valentine shrugged. "Radames still has his merchant business in Cairo. Rudy is growing too old. Sunset and Antoinette are busy with children. James recently got into the political scene after being elected Governor of Georgia. Sadao is still working as manager of the new generation of Denki Tamashi. And Sanji is working on an important project for the Speedwagon Foundation and won't be available in time for these events. You, however, have been bouncing from one part-time job to another recently."

"Yeah, the owner of my previous steady job was killed," Ryusei explained, "I've had to bounce between jobs while trying to find a new one." "Not to worry," Valentine assured him, "I have two lined up for you. One that coincides with the events I speak of, and the other when you inevitably have to quit the first one." Ryusei raised an eyebrow. "This world runs parallel to a similar reality," Valentine explained, "But in this alternate reality, you never existed. This is just one of many differences, but there plenty of similarities. For example, in about one year from now Sadao's granddaughter will be incarcerated for a particular crime."

"What crime?," Ryusei asked, concerned. "Well, in this alternate reality she was framed for murder," Valentine explained, "But also in that reality, Jotaro was married to some random woman who wasn't a Stand user, rather than Fluttershy. So he had to stay away for their own safety and never had the chance to truly connect with his daughter. So in this universe, I couldn't say for certain what the crime will be. It's likely to be a lesser one, but it will still place her in prison for a few years. And I know the exact prison she'll be going to. So the first job... Is to make you a guard at this same prison."

Ryusei nodded in realization. "I get it. You want me to keep an eye on her, help her avoid serious trouble, and lend her a hand when these events you speak of rear their ugly head." "Exactly," Valentine said with a smile, "I knew you'd understand. And this is of the utmost important. A new evil is approaching, the worst sort of evil... The sort of evil that does not realize it is doing evil. The type of evil that cannot accept inherit goodness. You must keep an eye on a man named Enrico Pucci. And try to find any sort of diary he may have."

"Diary?," Ryusei asked. Valentine nodded. "By the time you find it he'll likely have already memorized it. But it's a better situation than before. DeKurliss also didn't exist in this other reality, so instead of DIO handing the diary off to Pucci using DeKurliss, Jotaro got his hands on it, read it, then burned it. It would ultimately lead to his death. But here, he has a chance to break the Joestar curse. People often say the future isn't set in stone. I say they're wrong. But that doesn't mean the future can't be changed, for stone is hardly indestructible. And here we have a chance to make a different future."

"And it was shortly after that when I applied as a guard at this prison," Ryusei finished, "From there I was contacted by Jotaro at the appropriate time, letting me know about Jolyne and the incident with the hidden body. Once I had the full details we planned your escape. You saw how well that went. But that's when I knew who Pucci was and how to keep an eye on him." Just then, Wes doubled over and grabbed at his neck. "Wes, what's wrong?," Atroe asked.

"Something's searing into my neck," Wes said, "I can't quite see what it is." The group looked at where he was holding his neck and gasped. Right below his neck on the left shoulder, was a familiar star-shaped birthmark. "What the hell...?," Jolyne muttered, her hand reflexively going for her own neck. "Something must have happened with Pucci," Ryusei said, "And for some reason it affected Wes as well. I'll radio the main prison and get you an escort back. But we need to discuss just we're going to do moving forward."

So now you know how Ryusei got situated in Green Dolphin Prison. Well, now the gang needs to get after Pucci, but first they need to get out of jail.

So we've explored a lot of things that Rainbow's Stand can stop simply because they can prevent an eagle from flying. Let's explore one more thing that's sensible before I really get crazy, shall we?

Pucci had returned to the prison and was signing out a few forms. With the incident caused at the punishment ward, a Level 4 Security warning was in effect for the Aquarium. That meant people could only enter or leave via one of the designated trucks, even important members of the prison staff or other authority figures. Once Pucci was finished, he was escorted by one of the guards. "Good morning, Father. Your hair looks longer." The guard took another look. "And since when did you have that birthmark?"

Indeed, Pucci's appearance had changed slightly. He was still recognizable, but his hair had altered and featured a prominent star on his forehead. In addition, absorbing the Green Baby had infused him with Joestar blood, giving him the family's birthmark by sheer accident. 'This is what DeKurliss was warning me about. But now I have all I need. I no longer need to stay in this prison. Rest in peace, DeKurliss. I will fulfill my promise and bring DIO's vision to reality.'

The group was being driven back to the prison as Jolyne read from the diary. "What you need is my Stand, The World. What you can find beyond the powers of my Stand is where you need to go in order to find Heaven. What you need is a trustworthy friend. He must be someone capable of controlling his own desires. He must be someone who is not interested in political power, fame, wealth, sexual desires... And must be someone who chooses the Will of God before the Law of Humans. Will I, DIO, be able to meet someone like this one day?"

"That must have been referring to Pucci," Rainbow realized. Jolyne nodded as she kept reading. "What I also need is the lives of more than 36 humans who have sinned. That's because those who have sinned harbor a strong power within." "Plenty of sinners in a prison," Ryusei noted, "And just over thirty-six casualties were confirmed at the punishment ward." "Why the punishment ward specifically?," Atroe asked, "I mean, is there anyone in this modern era who doesn't have a sin or two on their conscience?"

Jolyne shrugged. "Who knows? Pucci may have thought that the worse the sinner, the greater the power. Now where was I... Ah. There are fourteen phrases that one must keep in mind. Spiral staircase, rhinoceros beetle, ruined town, fig tart, rhinoceros beetle, Via Delarosso, rhinoceros beetle, singularity point, Giotto, angel, hydrangea, rhinoceros beetle, singularity point, secret emperor. I'll engrave these words onto my Stand, so I won't forget them. Wait... Dad never mentioned seeing those words on The World."

"Maybe he never got the chance to engrave them before he died," Anasui suggested, "And what do those phrases even mean?" "Dunno," Rainbow replied, "But me and Ryusei overheard Pucci muttering those same phrases right before the Green Baby dragged him off. It would take hours to research them and their meaning, which we don't have. What comes next, Jolyne?" Jolyne flipped over the next page. "Okay, here's something that explains a few things. What is most necessary is courage. I must have the courage to destroy my Stand, momentarily. My Stand, as it disintegrates, will absorb the souls of the 36 sinners, and will give birth to something utterly new."

"The World should have died with DIO, though," Ryusei pointed out. "It might have come back," Jolyne pointed out, "At least partially, when Sports Maxx used Limp Bizkit on it. Whatever is born will awaken. It will show interest in the 14 words that my trusted friend will utter... My friend will trust me, and I will become his friend." She thought about this. "Could this have something to do with my family's birthmark appearing on Wes?" "But I thought Pucci was the friend DIO referred to," Anasui pointed out.

"There's still research being done on Wes' past," Rainbow admitted, "Either way, we can be sure that something happened to Pucci and the Green Baby. They likely merged somehow." Jolyne kept reading. "Lastly, I need an appropriate location. North latitude 28 degrees, 24 minutes. West longitude 80 degrees, 36 minutes." "That's Cape Canaveral," Anasui realized. "Meaning Pucci is leaving the prison as we speak," Jolyne said, "The last passage says this... Go there, and wait for the New Moon... That's when Heaven will come... This last entry was penned the day before DIO was killed by my dad."

Ryusei sighed. "Guess it's about time to fall back on that other job Valentine lined up for me." "What are you saying?," Wes asked. "If Pucci is leaving the island," Ryusei explained, "Then we can't stay here either. There's no choice... Time for Plan B. As in, Jotaro's backup escape plan." "It won't be easy," Anasui said, "There are plenty of Stand users in the prison. Heck, several of us have powers that should let us escape easily. Yet for some reason none of us have been able to even attempt to escape." Ryusei grinned. "Not to worry. I already know the secret."

Later Jolyne and Rainbow inexplicably found themselves in their original cell. Only this time, there was something written on their hands. Just three things. One, a suggestion to take a pen. Two, a warning to assume they could only learn three new things at a time. And three, a message to defeat a Stand user named Miu Miu and her Stand, Jailhouse Lock. "This must be what Ryusei was talking about," Rainbow realized, "I remember a little from that conversation."

There was a note on her arm, telling them to go meet Emporio. And another near her stomach to check her pants. Inside was a memo from Ryusei. "The prison doctors reported that Jolyne Kujo, Iro Dashell, Wes Bluemarine, Atroe Fendi, and Narciso Anasui were in a state of shock after seeing the events in the punishment ward that resulted in severe amnesia that only allows them to learn three new things at once. This is the power of Miu Miu's Stand, Jailhouse Lock, and is the reason no Stand user has escaped the prison. You can remember everything that happened before her Stand affected you, but everything after is limited to three things. Once you learn a fourth, you'll forget the first piece of information you learned."

"A guard slipped that into your pocket," came Gwess' voice. The girls turned to see her in the cell too. "Oh, you got back," Jolyne nonchalantly. Gwess sighed. "Hey, Gwess... Nice to see you again... We really busted our butts trying to get your soul back into place... Then you space out for two whole days..." Rainbow and Jolyne looked at each other. "Two whole days!" Jolyne thought back. "Now that I think about it, I do remember seeing this girl Miu Miu just before the cut in our memories. Yeah... We were instructed by Ryusei to try using our Stands to break out... His way of luring her into the open."

"Oh, hey, there's something else here," Rainbow said as she looked at the notice. It was a picture of a blonde woman. "I'm guessing this is Miu Miu." She then remembered something. "That's right! Ryusei said she was the head guard here! We have to get down to Emporio's room somehow!" "How?," Jolyne asked, "If we can only remember three things at a time, we could keep getting distracted." Outside, Miu Miu was watching them. 'Pucci said there was someone providing them information. It must this Emporio. Well, as Head Guard it shouldn't be too difficult to ensure that they can reach this person without distractions.'

Somehow the duo managed to reach the crack that held Burning Down the House. Inside the ghost room was an odd sight. Emporio and the others were sitting around, Anasui finishing off a lunch. "What's this all about?," Jolyne asked. "A plan from Ryusei," Wes explained, "We were only told three things. To spill some water in the room, eat whatever food Ryusei brought, and wait for you three. He repeated this several times whenever he visited." "To bypass Jailhouse Lock," Rainbow realized. "Not that it'll help in the end," came a voice as Miu Miu slipped into the room, "I honestly never expected this room to be here. But once you know the secret it becomes glaringly obvious."

She looked at Jolyne as she aimed a gun. "This is really your fault, you know. If you had just been more obedient I wouldn't have to resort to these methods." She fired several bullets, and got a shock when Jolyne deflected all of them with Stone Free. "I see... That's the reason for the water. If I'm looking at it instead of all the bullets, I can register all of them as one new piece of information, meaning I can deflect all of them." Miu Miu backed up. "Fine. I can work with this. After all, I just need to occupy your mind with three more things to make you forget I'm an enemy."

And with that, she slipped out of the ghost room. "Oh no you don't!," Rainbow called out, "I'll Fly!" She leapt out of the room, her wings expanded. Jolyne followed after her, only to be met with a group of guards. Miu Miu chuckled. "These men were informed of a possible break-out attempt. Being the Head Guard here has its advantages." "Hey Jolyne," Rainbow said, "Did you remember to check your own pants?" Jolyne dug into her pockets and pulled out a prison pass.

The guards lowered their weapons when the recognized it, but Miu Miu wasn't about to let up. "What are you waiting for?" "Hey," Rainbow said, "You're an enemy hired by Whitesnake, right?" She knew she couldn't name Pucci without sounding desperate. Miu Miu thought she had her beat. "Why would some rock band want to take you out?" "Oh, I dunno," Rainbow retorted, "Why don't you explain why a prison guard disguises themselves as a normal guard, but can't realize one of their own is helping us... Miu Miu."

Miu Miu gasped. "But how...? My Jailhouse Lock should be shutting down your memory!" "It's because of my own Stand," Rainbow explained, "I'll Fly creates a field of perfect flight around me. Anything that could interrupt that flight gets negated. And you'd need to remember way more than three things to fly without crashing to the ground!" Jolyne got the gist of it. "I see... So you're an enemy then!" "Oh crap...," Miu Miu said, as Stone Free appeared to attack. "ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!" 'Damn...,' Miu Miu thought as she collapsed from the attack, 'I thought the informant was that kid... But what Pucci should have looked for was spies in my own men...'

Sunset was shopping at a nearby store, her youngest son in the shopping cart with her. She saw a particular item she wanted on a high shelf and went to grab for it, but it was kind of high. "Need some help?," came the voice of a young blonde man. She raised an eyebrow when she saw a golden humanoid appear from within him. It was Giorno Giovanna, and his Stand Gold Experience. "No thanks," Sunset said, "I got it." Tighten Up appeared, grabbing the item.

"Ah, so you're a Stand user too," Giorno said, "I was told we tend to be drawn to each other by the invisible hand of fate. My name's Giorno Giovanna." "Yeah I heard about you from a family friend," Sunset replied, "I'm Asahi Ito. My friends and family call me Sunset Shimmer." They then saw another shopping mother use her child as a cover to stuff some panties down her blouse. "Vergognoso," Giorno muttered in Italian, "If we were back in my home of Naples, my gang would see to it this woman would be taught the error of her ways."

"Nothing stopping us from delivering karma to her here," Sunset pointed out. Giorno smirked, and the two followed the woman as she exited. A perfect chance appeared when her infant son reached for a shiny crucifix on a priest's low sitting hat. Gold Experience and Tighten Up each took an arm and gently pulled, causing the woman to spill both her legitimate groceries and the items she was trying to shoplift. As the woman gasped, the priest suddenly moved at unthinkable speeds, helping the woman get all her things.

Giorno narrowed his eyes as the woman left. "Enrico Pucci. You're looking a little ragged. Still pursuing my father's legacy?" "Giorno...," Pucci replied, "What a coincidence running into you. Deride me now, but I am on my way to achieving Heaven." "Like I said back in Naples," Giorno said with a scoff, "Heaven is a place on Earth. It's not just a song by Belinda Carlisle, but a fact of our modern life." "And what was up with that strange power earlier?," Sunset asked, "That's clearly some Stand power you're using, but last I heard it wasn't one of Whitesnake's powers."

Pucci closed his eyes. "I see... So you're connected to the Kujos somehow. Well, you're right that this isn't part of Whitesnake. Whitesnake is no longer my Stand, but something more. Something so powerful I cannot yet control it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must reach a certain place. Hopefully this automatic power will let me do so before it is too late." And with that, he walked off. Giorno sighed. "And here I was only stopping by to meet up with family."

"Alright then," Ryusei said, "Now we have everything in place." They had convinced Miu Miu to use her powers on the other guards, making it easy to get past them. "So, now we leave?," Anasui asked. "Not yet," Ryusei said, "There's one more person to pick up." "Hey!," Gwess said as she looked through the cell door to the female ward, "What's going on? Why are there so many guards here?" Jolyne and Rainbow looked at each other. "Can we make it two?," Jolyne asked. Ryusei thought about it. "Eh, why not?"

He opened up the bars. Gwess looked surprised. "Wait... Are we breaking out? And... I get to come too...?" "Yeah, sure," Jolyne said, "You never really got to enjoy the last taste of freedom so-- Oof!" She got cut of when Gwess glomped her, calling out, "Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!" "Hey!," came a familiar voice from the infirmary, "You letting me in on this shindig?" Jolyne smiled when she recognized the voice. "Ermes!"

Ryusei opened the sickroom door to let Ermes out. "Man, one minute I'm passing out after finally putting my sister's spirit to rest, the next thing I know there's a Level 4 Security alert in the prison and you guys are planning a breakout. What's been going on for the last four days?" "You know how long it's been?," Atroe asked. "I read the medical file," Ermes explained. Jolyne chuckled. "It's a long story, Ermes." "We have some time to catch you up," Wes said, "We have six days until the next New Moon."

Emporio looked apprehensive. "You okay?," Ryusei asked. "It'll be my first time outside the prison," Emporio said, "I've lived here my whole life. I don't even know where to go now." "I've thought of that," Ryusei said, "I arranged to have you live with me and my wife. We already have two kids, one more who's already grown enough to take care of himself won't be an issue. Personally I think you've gone long enough without a parent." Emporio was so overcome that he teared up and actually hugged Ryusei.

"I'm home," Jotaro said as he returned to the large Joestar mansion. The mansion had been rebuilt twice since it was burned to the ground back in 1888, first by Jonathan and Twilight shortly after defeating DIO for the first time, and again when Joseph decided to have it transported brick by brick to America. "Hello sweetie," Fluttershy said, "There's been some odd things happening in the news." Jotaro raised an eyebrow. For a Stand user to call something odd was significant. "What's been happening?"

"Strange instances of egg yolks turning into chicks," Fluttershy replied, "And babies seemingly aging almost instantly. These events disappear as quickly as they are witnessed, but it's a strange phenomenon." Jotaro rubbed his chin. "This goes way beyond Stand power. Or at least, it's a power well beyond what humans could normally control. It's like an acceleration of time that corrects itself after a few seconds." Fluttershy nodded. "Oh, and Ryusei helped our daughter break out of prison."

Jotaro had gotten some water as Fluttershy said this, only to spit-take when he heard it. "Huh?" "It seems they found out what Pucci is after," Fluttershy explained, "He's left the prison for Cape Canaveral." Jotaro sighed. "Gimme a break... So that's why. They must have found something about Pucci's plans." He headed for the communication room. "We'll need all hands for this." Fluttershy sighed. "Do we at least have time to entertain our family visiting from Italy?" Jotaro smirked. "I think he may want in on this."

So yeah, Giorno shows up, Gwess is officially part of the Stone Ocean crew, and we get hints that Pucci's Heaven power might not be as strong as it was in canon. The race to Cape Canaveral has begun. Hope you stay tuned.

It's a bit later than usual, but I had to finish off a later chapter (I write these things out ahead of time so I have some time to proofread). But here we get into something I thought was necessary for future events, basically a removal of the old guard of villains to make way for a new set.

Tomomi got off the plane into Florida, her course set. 'So Enya, Midler, and Mariah have been bragging about their own children. They're nothing special. Coddled by their mothers, one's an addict, one's a panicked mess, and one's an emotional wreck. None of them were able to rise above the problems in their lives. Meanwhile, my son took the lemons his life gave him and made lemonade, becoming the biggest mob boss in all of Italy. And those three bitches still think he's inferior to their own sons. Just what have they accomplished in life? Well... I'll teach them to belittle my son. I may never have wanted Giorno, but there's no denying he's made me proud.'

Meanwhile, Pucci was taking a taxi, but there were some problems. "Damn it...," the driver muttered, "Blasted thing's stalled. I was certain I still had gas in this thing." Pucci was annoyed at the situation, but he couldn't bring himself to hate the driver. 'I am likely the cause of this incident.' He looked around and noticed it was three miles to Orlando. The meter for the taxi was on thirty-three dollars and thirty-three cents, and on the seat in front of him was a copy of The Three Musketeers.

'Whether a sign from God or not I'll take fate's hint,' he decided, and he got out while the driver was inspecting his engine. "Sorry about this pal," the driver said, "I don't know why this happened. I always take care of this thing." "It's fine," Pucci assured him, "I'm in no hurry to reach my destination just yet." It would still be six days until the New Moon, and Pucci realized he couldn't spend that entire time at Cape Canaveral. By now Jolyne and her group knew his plans, so he'd be a sitting duck.

He paid the fare before wiping the sweat from his forehead. "Still not feeling so good. I might as well wait out the storm in this town." He looked up and spotted three glowing stars in the sky. He then heard the blaring of ambulance sirens and looked in that direction. By chance, he was at a state hospital, and paramedics were wheeling out someone. "Hurry! His heart's stopped!" "The burglar got shot in the leg by an officer, then proceeded to jump off from the sixth floor of a building!"

Two more ambulances showed up. One carrying a street punk who was driving against traffic before being slammed into a guard rail, and another who was a confirmed drug addict. 'Three patients?,' Pucci thought, 'Three stars? Signs of the number three all around me? Is this coincidence, or a sign from God?' He then spotted three metal objects bounce from the gurneys. A skull ring, a quarter, and a bullet, all of which rolled over to Pucci's feet.

He knelt down to pick up the items, and got surprised when someone grabbed him from behind and held an open scissors to his throat. "Everyone stay back!," the man called out. It was the druggie from earlier. Pucci remained entirely calm as the officers tried to call for backup, getting the druggie upset. He managed to get a good look at the man's face and grinned. 'He almost reminds me of Midler... Come to think of it, I've had a difficult time finding DIO's other three children.'

"Tell me," Pucci said, "Do you know where you truly come from?" The man was so surprised that the scissors wound up going through Pucci's throat. However, by either luck or miracle, it went through in such a way that his arteries were merely scrapped and his nerves were completely missed. The man freaked out. "It wasn't you who stabbed me," Pucci assured him, "But if you were to move this scissor another millimeter, it would sever a vital nerve."

"Who... Who are you...?," the man asked. "I am someone drawn to you by a gravitational force between humans," Pucci explained, "The concept of certain people being attracted to each other. You shouldn't be wasting your energy on drugs. I can show you how to use your energy more wisely!" The man was a little freaked out and ran, causing the police to open fire. However, while the bullets did hit him, they didn't do fatal damage and only sent him sprawling. Pucci grinned when he was able to observe the Joestar birthmark on the man's shoulder. "You were kept in the dark about your father. But now you will learn all you need to know."

"Brothers!?," Fluttershy called out. Giorno had stopped by the mansion and explained what he had learned from his mother. "Yes. Mother said that Father had three other consorts, each of whom bore him a child. So I have three half-brothers. Unfortunately, their lives were not as blessed as mine, yet by some cruel twist of irony they were cared for by their mothers. Perhaps a little too much." "And who were these other consorts?," Jotaro asked.

"You already know of one of them," Giorno explained, "Enya Geil. That should come as no surprise. The other two are Mariah, a fellow former Glory God to my mother, and Midler." Fluttershy puffed her cheeks out. "Flirting with my husband when she already had DIO... The nerve! I should have given her more than a bleeding mouth and tongue!" Giorno sipped his coffee, not knowing how to comment. "Anyway, I'm sure you know from your own daughter what happens when two Stand users have a child."

"So all three of them are Stand users," Jotaro realized. Giorno nodded. "Yes, but we've never really seen each other before, so I don't know what their powers are. For all I know, they may not be active yet. But I do know that if Pucci was trying to get my help, he'll be trying to get their's too. And they'll be far more receptive to his attempts." Jotaro grimaced. "So he'll be using them to stall until he reaches his destination. That's troublesome." Fluttershy was starting to get worried for her daughter.

Meanwhile Pucci watched as the stick figure from a No Crossing sign jumped off the sign and dragged the junkie to safety. 'His Stand power has awakened. I can probably get the other two on my side as well. Giorno was too satisfied with his lot in life to be receptive to my teachings, but these three will be far easier. And they're nowhere near their mothers, so it will be easy to accomplish without interference. And once I've convinced them... I'll send them after Jolyne and her friends.'

Wouldn't you just love to be in your favorite stories?

Well, not if you're caught in this Stand!

At a local town, Wes helped an old man whose knee injury was acting up in the rain. It had been difficult for the gang to get him adjusted to life outside prison due to his memory loss. "Jeez," Anasui said, "At least Emporio has an excuse. He was born inside the prison and never knew life outside it. But you had to have had some sort of life before being imprisoned. I can only assume it was Whitesnake's doing that caused you to lose your memories so thoroughly, but why would Pucci let you live afterward?"

"I don't know," Wes admitted, "But this mark I suddenly gained may hold a clue to that. Frankly there are a lot of questions about myself that I'd like answered. Such as... Why was I even imprisoned in the first place?" "Hey yeah, that's a good point," Ermes realized, "Most of our crimes are well documented. I held up a convenience store, Jolyne buried a body someone else killed, Rainbow beat up a bunch of guys, Gwess burned down a building just to kill some dude..." "While I on parole no less," Gwess said, feeling a little guilty.

Ermes kept going. "Atroe kidnapped some kid, and Anasui vivisected two people alive. Heck, the only people here who haven't committed a crime are Ryusei and Emporio. But what about you, Wes?" "I only know from my privilege card," Wes replied, "Apparently I tried to kill someone, but there were no other details. That's another mystery. Who was I trying to kill, and why? Only Pucci holds those answers... I can somehow instinctively tell he's a personal enemy."

"Well, we can't stick around here," Jolyne said, "Pucci's already got a major head-start on us. Remember, he needs to get to Cape Canaveral before the next New Moon. And I don't think we wanna know what'll happen when he completes DIO's formula." Luckily, the Speedwagon Foundation was willing to smooth out the jailbreak situation, citing possible corruption of authority, with Viviano Westwood and Miuccia Miuller, also known as Miu Miu, as prime examples. This led to the prison being temporarily closed down and all the prisoners being located elsewhere, with Speedwagon taking custody of the Stand using criminals.

This created enough of a media distraction that not even a beat patrol was looking for the group, leaving them free to make their way to Cape Canaveral. Along the route, Gwess' eyes lit up. "Oh my gosh... We're approaching Walt Disney World!" "Eh, I've already been there," Jolyne said, "Universal Studios too." Anasui was checking out the guidebook for the place. "Hey Ryusei, you should get a new guidebook. None of the usual Disney characters are on here."

Ryusei narrowed his eyes. "That's weird... That guidebook was perfectly normal when I bought it." "And doesn't it look like someone cut out the characters?," Rainbow asked. Just then, something darted along the boxes in the back of Ryusei's truck, which the group was riding. "Diver Down!" Anasui's Stand slipped through the boxes and grabbed the creature, which turned out to be a wooden puppet with an elongated nose. "What kind of Stand is this?"

"Color me crazy," Atroe said, "But I think that's Pinocchio." "Doesn't look like the Pinocchio I grew up with," Rainbow replied. "Maybe because it didn't come from a familiar source," Jolyne replied, holding a story book that was supposed to have Pinocchio on the cover, only there was a blank white outline in the character's place. Anasui held up the puppet. "You're clearly a creation of some sort of Stand. So tell me, are you here with anyone else?"

"No," the puppet said, "I'm alone here..." Anasui titled his head as the puppet's nose quickly grew, then squeezed harder. "Don't try that with me! I've read your story, so I know your nose grows longer when you lie! So you are working with someone!" "No, no that wasn't the lie!," Pinocchio replied, "Actually, the truth is there was one other being here, but he got off the truck. Mickey, I think." The puppet's nose started to shrink, showing he was telling the truth.

"Uh, guys," Atroe said, "I think Pinocchio here may be as confused as we are. Look." On the ground was a half-eaten apple, being carried by three pairs of human-looking legs. Wes picked it up, only to have seven little men appear on his shoulder. "What is this?," he asked, "And before you ask, I do know what an apple is, that's not what I was talking about." "I think I know the nature of this Stand," Ermes said, "It has something to do fairy tales, or maybe just fiction in general. Pinocchio, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, and apparently Mickey Mouse just hopped off the truck while we weren't looking."

"If that's the case," Gwess said, and she opened the box the apple was found near. Sure enough, a sleeping woman popped out of it, bearing a familiar black hair and white pallor. "Yep, there's Snow White all right. Think it was poison, or did she simply choke like the original story?" "Does it really matter?," Rainbow asked, "The point is, where's the Stand user making these things come to life?" "Uh, guys," Jolyne said, pointing to a Universal Studios billboard that had another cutout, "I don't think finding the Stand user is gonna be so easy."

"Yeah, news reports are featuring it worldwide," Ryusei said, "I've heard some Stand users can have infinite range with their Stands, but this is my first time encountering one." "If it effects all fictional media...," Jolyne asked, "That Stand user better be well hidden, or Dad will kill him for interrupting Gokaiger! That's an anniversary season, after all! Thirty-five series of Super Sentai that this guy could potentially be messing with!" Throughout all of this, Wes was calmly munching on the apple and reading the book Snow White and the dwarves had popped out of.

He then looked around. "Hey, why is everyone out cold Rainbow?" Rainbow had summoned her Stand to get a better view above the truck, only to find herself a few inches from where she thought she was. All the others were unconscious, and she could spot Anasui somehow under the truck thanks to a small blood trail. The sight of the fictional beings still there convinced her she hadn't been dreaming. "Something's wrong," she said, "What just happened? Why did I move?"

"You got back in your body?," Pinocchio asked, "Your soul should have been separated from it when you saw your favorite fictional character." Rainbow gasped. "That's it! If I'll Fly can protect my mind from being altered, what's to stop it from preventing my soul from being removed? But the others are still affected." "And that includes Ryusei," Wes said, spotting Ryusei asleep at the wheel. And the truck was heading for a guard divider. "Uh oh," Rainbow said, "My Stand can provide some protection for those inside it's flight field, but..."

Wes nodded. "I'll keep us safe. Weather Report!" Wes' Stand created a literal airbag from air pressure, allowing them to impact as safely as possible. As Rainbow shook her head, she spotted several familiar flying robots. "Jeez, Transformers, Astro Boy, Gundam Wing. I swear if I see the Big O walking around I'm tearing Roger Smith out of its cockpit before it smashes something important." "It's affecting anything fictional," Wes noted, "I may have experienced these popular figures in the past, but I don't remember it so I remain immune."

Just then, Ryusei and Anasui woke up, as Pinocchio exploded. "Well," Anasui said, "Looks like destroying Pinocchio got both of us back. But where did the dwarves go?" "I think I saw them heading for the Burger King over there," Ryusei said, pointing, "They said something about being worried about Snow White, who got thrown clear from the crash. This Stand works by making fictional characters come to life, and people who love those characters get drawn into a fictional world due to a subconscious desire to live in that world. But defeating one of the characters apparently frees anyone who was drawn in."

"To defeat them all and free the others would be a waste of time," Wes noted, "This new Stand user clearly works for Pucci, and was tasked with slowing us down." Emporio was shaking Jolyne's unconscious form. "Me and Emporio seem to be immune due to our lack of knowledge of these characters," Wes noted, "And Rainbow's Stand protects her. We'll try to find clues about Stand user. I can sense them somewhere nearby. Be careful as you look for the dwarves. Any new story could draw you in, and depending on the story it could create a very bad ending."

Meanwhile at the Joestar home, things were in chaos. Jotaro slammed his fist into another Gormin. "Gimme a break... And all I wanted was to catch this week's episode." "Really sorry about this," Gokai Silver replied, "Nothing like this was in the script." "I'm not really complaining," Joseph said, "It gives me a good chance to see Granddad again." "Well, sort of," Jonathan said. He had popped out of his portrait in the main hall of the Joestar mansion. "This is clearly another Stand power," Fluttershy said as Music in the Trees used its vines to restrain Action Commander Osogain, "But where could the user be?" "Good question," Jotaro replied.

Wes and Rainbow were running through a nearby town, several more people seen unconscious. "At the very least we can assume casualties will be at a minimum," Wes noted, "After all, common sense dictates most people would like to be the hero in a story." "Yeah, but what if someone is fan of Death Note?," Rainbow pointed out, "A lot of people died in that series, including major characters. Heck, including the main character, Light Yagami."

"Excuse me," a middle-aged man with a bandage over his ear said, "Do either of you know me?" "Not now Van Gogh," Rainbow said. "Who?," Wes asked. Rainbow sighed. "Vincent van Gogh, a popular but very disturbed painter most well-known for cutting his ear off." Wes looked more confused. "That was a real person though, yes? Why would the Stand bring him back?" "Because after he cut off his ear he painted a self-portrait of himself," Rainbow explained.

They both blinked after she said that. "Not good," Wes said, "The Stand is starting to affect works of art. That means figures are popping out of paintings and statues are coming to life." "We have to find that user," Rainbow said. She then saw Wes walking off in a daze. 'Damn it! Talking about art finally got him affected! Nothing for it... I'm not gonna be able to track any of them if I can't even see them. I should still be able to use my Stand without the flight field if my soul is separated from my body.'

She dropped her field, letting I'll Fly split from her, and watched her body run off after Wes. "Rainbow," Wes said, "Why?" "I should still be able to fly by letting my Stand carry me," Rainbow explained, "Can you track the user?" Wes nodded. "I can, but he's moving too fast. Clearly he's using a vehicle of some sort. Like a bus or..." His eyes widened. "Or a plane! Of course! His Stand affects the whole world at once, so the most logical hiding place is on a plane heading in a random direction!"

Ungalo, one of the sons of DIO whom Pucci had met with, smiled as he sipped champagne. "A free trip to Italy on that priest's dollar. And all I had to do was activate my Stand, Bohemian Rhapsody, and let it run wild. But man, finding out those other two guys admitted to the hospital at the same time as me are my brothers... Like a regular family reunion. And our mothers even knew each other." Ungalo's mother was Midler, the Tarot Assassin of the Priestess.

Despite the presence of a sudden thunderstorm the flight went off as normal. "It's been years since I've been to Italy. Been a mess since I couldn't get my hands on the good stuff. But Pucci's right, I shouldn't be focusing on drugs." He chuckled as he listened to the radio about the news regarding his Stand's hijinx. "Video games, TV shows, movies, comics, even art work. My Stand can bring it all to life, so long as it's fictional! Sure some might see it as a blessing. And why not? They get to live out their greatest fantasies. But once they get sucked into the story, the story has to play out exactly as it was written!"

He cackled. "Seeing the chaos and despair that fills the world now is so satisfying! Even the biggest drug I've taken can't compare to this high I'm feeling right now!" He then got distracted by a little girl reading from a book, and gasped. 'What the hell!? That's a story book for Peter Pan! In fact, I saw him flying by not two seconds ago! But now he's back in the story! But how!? Once my Stand activates it won't stop unless I want it too!'

Wes smiled. He had tricked the portrait of Van Gogh into drawing a character based on what was going on in his mind. "What...," Van Gogh stuttered, "What did you make me do?" "This Stand makes stories come to life," Wes explained, "And I just made up a story about a hero designed to eliminate all other fantasies gone rogue. Since the story must reach its conclusion, then this story ends... With reality being restored to normal!" Sure enough, the hero Wes created, Put Back, emerged from the sidewalk he was drawn on. "Way to go Wes!," Rainbow called out.

Meanwhile, Tomomi found who she was looking for. Midler was surprised to see her. "What are you doing here?" "I'm here to avenge a little grievance," Tomomi explained, "By now, your son Ungalo has just been defeated. His Stand activating slowed me down a little, and yes I could tell he was responsible. He seems the sort that would want to create such chaos." She scoffed. "If he were really as good as my son, he'd have done something more constructive than lash out at the world just because of a drug addiction."

Midler growled before launching her Stand, High Priestess, to attack, only for Tomomi to blast through it using Nut. "It's so easy for my Stand to beat yours. Wind can wear down rock, and rust metal." She plowed her fist into Midler's stomach, before blasting a stream of wind right through her. "You were always DIO's least favorite anyway," Tomomi said smugly, "Right about now Ungalo should arriving in Italy. Giorno knows about him, and left his gang instructions to finish him off. I don't know what state he's in, but it's likely he's lost the will to live." Midler struggled to form words as her life left her, dropping to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

Well, let's take a quick break in between battles with the brothers, yes? This should let us unwind a little.

Several hours earlier, Pucci had managed to reunite Ungalo with his two half-brothers. The three of them were surprised to learn that they were related, and that they apparently had a fourth brother. "I... Want to meet this fourth brother," Ungalo admitted. "I can arrange that," Pucci assured him, "He's in Naples, Italy right now, tending to his business enterprises." He didn't mention that said "business" was a mafia organization, but he doubted it would matter.

"By the way," said Rikiel, the second of the brothers and the son of Mariah, "I notice you have a birthmark like ours. Are you a family member too?" "No," Pucci admitted, "I got this when I fused with the remains of your father, who had Joestar blood at the time." He sized up the three brothers. 'Ungalo, sadly, got the worst of DIO's traits, vengeful and sadistic. I should set him against Jolyne and her crew first. Rikiel definitely brings to mind DIO's determination and drive.'

He looked to the last son, Donatello Versus, the son of Enya, DIO's favored consort. So favored DIO had promised to make her his queen, a promise he sadly would be unable to keep. 'Versus seems to have inherited DIO's personality and mindset... But without the loyalty that reminds me of my old friend. That, along with DIO's charisma and perception seems to have gone to Giorno. I suspect Versus might try to betray me in favor of claiming his father's legacy for himself.'

He smiled. 'Still, for now I can give them purpose. I have four more days until the next New Moon. These three can protect me and guide me until then. Like the three Wise Men who traveled to Bethlehem to meet with Jesus Christ as an infant.' "Father Pucci, before we start," Rikiel said, "Can you do something about my eyelid? It keeps drooping, and I can't seem to keep it open." Pucci rubbed his chin. It seemed likely that Rikiel's problem had something to do with his latent Stand. "Very well."

"Wow!," Emporio said, "This is where you live Jolyne!?" The sight of the Joestar mansion was wondrous to the young boy. "Yep, Joestar central as we call it," Jolyne replied, "By now my folks will have learned what happened." She pressed her thumb against a fingerprint scanner on the front gate. "WELCOME, JOLYNE KUJO," sounded an electronic voice. "Well, I haven't been disowned," Jolyne said, "That's a good sign." Anasui was a little nervous. After all, he wasn't expecting to meet Jotaro so soon.

However, the woman who answered the door was neither of Jolyne's parents. It was a young woman with violet hair. "Is this one of the maids?," Gwess asked. "Do I look like I'm dressed as a maid?," the woman said indignantly. "Take it easy, Rarity," Giorno said as he walked up to the door, "They haven't met us yet, after all." Jolyne blinked. "Hey, aren't you Giorno Giovanna? I remember my dad mentioning you." Giorno nodded. "Yes. And this is my wife Rarita, though most call her Rarity."

After introductions were made, Jotaro nodded. "I see. Cape Canaveral. So, at least we know what DIO was planning while in Egypt, and what Pucci's current plans are." "Are you saying you hunted DIO down without knowing if he was even doing anything evil?," Atroe asked in shock. "We had no time to research it," Jotaro explained, "Mom was getting sick because of a curse created by DIO's very existence." "What sort of curse?," Ermes asked.

"When he awakened The World via the Stand arrow," Fluttershy explained, "That allowed anyone descended from George Joestar II, who's body DIO was using, to also awaken their Stand. Joseph, George III, Josuke, Jotaro, and Holly." "Unfortunately," Jotaro said, "Mom's soul is too peaceful to have a fighting spirit and couldn't handle a Stand. And at the time, Josuke was too young and innocent. Mom never really grew out of it, but Josuke eventually toughened up enough to gain a fighting spirit, which allowed his Stand, Crazy Diamond, to awaken."

"The point is," Fluttershy said, "If DIO wasn't killed, the curse would have overwhelmed and killed Holly and Josuke. Well, we didn't know about Josuke at the time, but Holly alone was enough of a concern." Jotaro nodded. "Anyway, it sounds like we should head for Cape Canaveral. But we'll go in separate groups. Pucci's already sent one of DIO's sons after you. I've every reason to think he might send another." "Whatever happened to the first one?," Jolyne wondered.

"Some of my capos back in Naples found him catatonic on the plane when it landed," Giorno said, "They made sure to put him out of his misery. And apparently, his mother was also found dead." "At least the crazy antics that were happening earlier are explained," Fluttershy said with a sigh, "But it took a little longer for Pinocchio to return than the others." Anasui suddenly felt a little guilty.

Emporio got amazed again when he learned the group would be flying in a helicopter owned by the Joestar company. As the group piled in, Jotaro took Anasui aside. "Listen, I'm aware of your attraction to Jolyne. I also know your history." "Sir," Anasui said, "I assure you I trust Jolyne enough that she wouldn't cheat on anyone." Jotaro smiled. "Of course not. Her mother taught her better than that. And I'm not saying I really have a problem with a convicted killer dating my daughter, especially one who plead guilty."

He pointed at Anasui. "I was just going to warn you not to break her heart or do anything that might upset her. While she won't go as far as you did, she can be very vindictive when her heart gets broken. Her last boyfriend can attest to that." Anasui allowed himself a chuckle. He had heard all about what happened with Romeo. "Just keep in mind that I don't plan to get in the way," Jotaro assured Anasui, "Jolyne's old enough to make her own decisions." Anasui nodded. "Yes, Mister Kujo. And thank you." He joined the others on the helicopter.

Out of the three brothers that aren't named Giorno, I think I like Rikiel the best since he seems the most sympathetic. Let's give him a fond send-off, shall we?

Rikiel breathed deep. His palms were no longer sweating, his eyes no longer drooping. After Pucci explained his ability, and how it worked, Rikiel found he could control his body temperature better, like a normal human. His power stemmed from a type of cryptid called a Rod, or Skyfish. Rikiel had always thought them to be just an optical illusion, a trick of a camera created when insects flew by the lens too fast to properly track. But it turned out this particular creature was very real.

It was eleven years ago in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, at a pit cave called the Sotano de las Golondrinas, or Cave of Swallows. Four-thousand meters below the surface a groups of skydivers were filming their jump. When they watched their footage later, they found a curious object caught on film for a split second, strange white objects floating through the air, only visible for a hundredth of a second, so fast the human eye couldn't detect them. When Pucci read the disc for Rikiel's Stand, he found that these Rods could also be found in Florida.

Using his Stand, Rikiel could see the creatures, and control them. Pucci named Rikiel's Stand Sky High, much the same way he named Ungalo's Bohemian Rhapsody. It had taken some time to research them, but it was clear why Rikiel had suffered severe heat problems until his Stand fully awakened. 'The creatures feed off heat,' he thought to himself, 'They also somehow attacked the priest without even touching him. This is a powerful ability. Most humans, even Stand users, won't be able to see them. With it, I can accomplish what Pucci wants... To prevent Jolyne Kujo from stopping him.'

The group was on the helicopter heading across Florida. They had four days to get to Cape Canaveral and stop Pucci. "That reminds me," Ermes said to Atroe, "Rainbow mentioned the Stand disc you have didn't pop outta your head when you got conked out earlier." "I dunno what happened," Atroe said, "I could still feel Foo Fighters even though my soul was split off. But the formula Pucci has mentions temporarily destroying his Stand. I'm sure if Pucci tried he could still take the disc back, but I think Whitesnake is gone, and any Stand discs given to other people are permanently theirs."

Rainbow was flying outside, now truly able to get the most out of her Stand. Wes was busy watching her. "What are you thinking about?," Gwess asked. "She looks graceful," Wes noted. Jolyne smirked. 'Well, we were never planning on being long-term.' "I'm still amazed you can fly this thing," Anasui said. Jolyne had been flying the helicopter the whole time. "It's not hard," Jolyne said, "The computer does most of the work. Heck, Emporio could probably fly this baby. Even Grandpa Joseph could pilot it without crashing, and he's been in four plane crashes throughout his life."

She then felt something and turned the helicopter toward the west. "Hey Jolyne," Emporio said, "We're going off course here. Cape Canaveral is thirty minutes north." "I just felt something," Jolyne explained, "Like Pucci is in three or four different locations. The closest is near Orlando." Just then, Rainbow flew under the under the helicopter and clung to it. 'Something's wrong!,' she said over the two-way radio she was given, 'My Stand is deflecting some sort of small creature! I can't see what it is, but it's hazardous to lifeforms if my Stand is redirecting it!'

"I was feeling unnaturally hot until Rainbow got close," Ryusei noted. Jolyne took off her headset and put the chopper on autopilot. "We'll catch up to it later! If this is an enemy, we need to deal with it or it'll just hound us until we're dead!" She opened the window. "Oh no, you're not doing this alone!," Ermes called out. The two of them jumped out, free-falling to the ground. As they did, Ermes spotted something. A long, white creature with multiple wing-like fins along its body.

"I see something!," she called out. "There's more than one!," Jolyne called out. Sure enough, several dozen similar creatures could be seen following the duo down. Jolyne shot out her strings to connect with the chopper and grabbed Ermes, letting them safely hit the water below. She then produced a corpse of one of the organisms. "I killed this thing on the way down," she explained, "It's not a Stand, that's for sure, but I'm betting someone's using a Stand to control them."

"Weird," Ermes said, "What is this thing?" "It's called a Skyfish," came Rikiel's voice as he drove up on a motorbike. "Skyfish?," Ermes said, "I thought that was just an optical illusion." Rikiel chuckled. "You know, I thought the same exact thing. Until I learned I was attracting them with my Stand, Sky High. And man were they a pain. Somehow just being near them caused my eyelids to droop and my hands to become enlarged. I couldn't even drive or go to school because of them. But now I can concentrate without that happening, and direct them to attack."

He looked up at the helicopter. "Looks like I got lucky on this. Pucci mentioned one of you had a Stand that might be able to keep them away." Jolyne noticed the Skyfish she had killed was melting. "You may not be as lucky as you think," Jolyne said, "If Rainbow's flight field could keep these creatures away, then something about them is dangerous. The way you describe them, clearly it's not a good idea to get too close to you." Rikiel looked surprised.

"I'm guessing you only unlocked your Strand recently," Ermes noted, "I've only had mine for a few weeks now, but thanks to Jolyne I've learned a lot about how they work. She's had her's since she was a little girl. Your attacks are clearly not very precise if you were trying to attack us within the helicopter. And you revealed yourself to us so readily, meaning you were expecting us to identify you as an enemy and get close to attack." Rikiel grimaced. 'Okay, stay calm Rikiel. Remember they've been at this longer than you. Their range can't be more than one or two meters, so they can't attack unless they get in close.'

He then spotted the girls picking up some rocks and got worried. Even worse, his bike was started to sink into the marsh where he parked it. "Shit! I have to turn the motor on and get it out! Where did I leave my keys...?" He then spotted Ermes using Kiss to throw several rocks at him. He narrowed his eyes. "Sky High!" He grinned as the rocks suddenly flew right past him instead of colliding with him. 'I hope that didn't give them too much information. I've worked hard to understand how these Skyfish work. That information is my ace in the hole.'

He then got a surprise as the rocks came right back, slamming into the back of his head. "I'm not sure how you deflected those rocks," Ermes said with a smirk, "But it's a good thing I expected it." She had used the stickers from Kiss to create duplicates of the rocks, then removed the stickers, letting her Stand power do the rest. Rikiel grabbed his face in pain as he landed against his bike, knocking it further into the marsh. He then saw Ermes and Jolyne throwing more rocks. 'Shit! They're coming at me from both directions! If I can't focus properly, the Skyfish will start attacking me again!'

"Hey Ermes, look," Jolyne said. She pointed into the sky, where the multitude of Skyfish were stuck in midair. "So his defense sucks and he loses control when he panics," Ermes noted, "Looks like we can win this!" But as she went for another sticker, Rikiel found his keys still in the bike's ignition and calmed down instantly. Ermes was shocked when one of her fingers seemed to curl without her doing anything. She looked and saw Rikiel mimicking the action. "What the hell...?," Ermes muttered.

"Y'know," Rikiel said, now completely calm, "I always wondered what the big deal was with Armstrong being the first man on the surface of the moon back in 1969. I mean, all the real work with the rockets is done by scientists and engineers, right? You'd think any monkey could go to the moon. But just now, as I saw the Skyfish for the first time, I understood. Armstrong wasn't just the first man on the moon, he was the first trace of human spirit to stand on the moon! It was on that day that humans truly conquered space, and our spirit evolved!"

Jolyne looked in horror as Ermes' index finger rotted off. "If you're trying to hinder the priest's spiritual evolution," Rikiel said, "Then I'll have to kill you!" Jolyne scoffed. "His spiritual evolution threatens to halt the evolution of all humanity. Sorry, buddy, but as one who carries the Joestar blood, my instincts are telling me it's the right thing to stop Pucci from completing his plans." Rikiel narrowed his eyes. "Then you'll burn with the fury of a thousand flames!"

The Skyfish disappeared again, and Jolyne felt her ankle bend backward. Rikiel smirked as Jolyne and Ermes started getting all kinds of diseases, but frowned as Jolyne started to stand up. "I think I know what you're doing here," she said, "I remember my mom discussing this while she was working with animals. These Skyfish feed on body heat, sensing it from other creatures. And without that heat, the body starts to become susceptible to disease. But I'm guessing you're not trying to kill us with mere diseases. That'd take too long."

Rikiel shrugged. "So you figured it all out. You're right of course, there's no way I'd be able to kill you before you got to me just by inflicting you with disease. I just needed to keep you in one place while I dealt the finishing blow." Jolyne smirked as Rikiel got closer. "Too bad for you... Dad left me a little something for an early Christmas present." She got out a small lighter. Rikiel's eyes widened as Jolyne used her strings to light herself on fire.

"I'll give you credit," he said, "Your spirit is strong. Not just anyone would light themselves on fire just to gain more body heat in the presence of my Stand. But my spirit is stronger still! With it my power can evolve and overtake you!" "How?," Jolyne asked, "After all, with me as I am you don't even know where to direct your little creatures. But I can still attack with everything I have! Stone Free!" The physical form of her Stand appeared and slugged Rikiel right back into his bike, the flames burning away enough of Rikiel's clothes that his birthmark was revealed.

Ermes gasped. "Holy shit! It's just like with Wes!" "Yeah, but I'm guessing this guy is more directly connected to our family," Jolyne said, "Your father was DIO, wasn't he? Giorno, your brother, mentioned you and the two others." Rikiel spat out some blood. "So he's here in Florida, instead of in Naples like Pucci believed. That'll upset Ungalo. If he's still alive, that is." He knocked the gas cap off his bike and let himself get covered in the gasoline, getting lit on fire from the few embers still clinging to his clothes.

"Twenty-two years ago our fathers fought," he said, "And yours won. Now, Jolyne Kujo, let's see who will win in this new generation!" 'Shit...,' Jolyne thought, 'He's not copying me to prove he's tougher... He's copying me hoping to find a spot to drain my body heat from. Okay, think Jolyne... With how I am now, what's the best place for him to...?' She then raised an eyebrow. "So that's it... He stealing it using my breath, to rob my sight. But that's his downfall."

She grinned. "Nice try, but there's something you need to remember. You may be DIO's son, but that mark can't lie. You also have Joestar blood. How else could you have tracked our helicopter in the first place? You sensed me out, using the instinct that comes with our bloodline. Even now, I can still pick up where the chopper is, because another of our group has the same mark. Because of that, I don't need to see you to attack you. I just need to feel you out!"

Rikiel gasped as Stone Free succeeded in striking him. "ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!" Rikiel spat out blood as he got pummeled, but immediately clung to Jolyne once she stopped attacking. "I... Lost this fight... But it's too late... I've already numbed my nerves using my own power... Now I can't feel any shock or pain... I won't fall until I die...!" His hands were grasped around Jolyne's throat as the whirlwind of fists and Skyfish soon subsided. Jolyne fell to the ground, but Rikiel noticed something as he fell with her.

"Damn it...," he said, "That's why you didn't move... My hand... It was interfering with my ability to sap your body heat..." Jolyne managed to get up, breathing hard as her normal temperature returned, the Skyfish fleeing. "Guess it's my family's destiny keeping me from dying until I've finished. I didn't have time to calculate that your hand was blocking your attack." Rikiel chuckled. "My name... It's Rikiel... My mother is Mariah, a former member of Dad's Ten Glory Gods..."

"The one with the magnetic outlet?," Jolyne asked, "I think my great-grandfather mentioned her. So, why side with Pucci in the first place?" "It helped me fill a void within my soul," Rikiel explained, "Before I met him, my life was a mess. I couldn't even drive a car, or do anything normal people my age get to do. Father Pucci... He seeks to finish what my dad, DIO, started... And achieve Heaven. Granted I've felt more in Heaven since learning to control my Stand than anything he could accomplish, but I felt obligated nonetheless, if only to pay him back..."

He coughed as he started to die. "If it is destiny that he be stopped... Maybe you are the one who can do it... But I won't be around to see it completed... Jolyne... The other member you mentioned... Father Pucci knows him, and his Stand, Weather Report..." Jolyne's eyes widened. "You mean Wes? Do you know what connection he has to Pucci? Why Pucci took away his memories?" Rikiel nodded. "Yes... It's because they are brothers... But like how Dad fought against his own adopted brother, Jonathan Joestar... It seems Pucci and his brother are fated to clash..."

And with that, Rikiel finally died. "That doesn't make sense, though," Ermes said, "Pucci is the priest's last name, but Wes' last name is Bluemarine." "There could be a number of reasons why they have different last names," Jolyne noted, "But we can get our answers when we finally confront Pucci in person." The chopper started to come back in as Rainbow and Ryusei flew down to greet the two girls. "What happened?," Ryusei asked. Jolyne sighed. "We have a lot to discuss."

Rikiel's corpse was picked up by the Speedwagon Foundation and brought to be buried in honor among the Joestar family's past members. Though he was DIO's son, he picked up a few of his father's more honorable traits, so Joseph felt he deserved to be buried as a Joestar. Meanwhile, Tomomi had found where Mariah was living. 'Stupid woman thinks she can trap her house so easily,' Tomomi said as she spotted several outlets around the area, 'She forgets I know her powers perfectly.'

Mariah was lazily sitting on the roof of her house, having heard about her son's death. 'Damn Joestars... Kujos... Whatever they're calling themselves these days!' The large amount of cigarettes around her was a testament to how angered and sad she was. As she went to take another drag, she felt a large gust of air shove itself down her throat, hard enough to choke her. "That's really a bad habit of yours Mariah," Tomomi said from behind her, "I heard they buried Rikiel among the graves of the Joestars. More than he deserves in my opinion. But then again it's not my family so what do I know?"

She used her control of air currents to lift Mariah up before aiming her finger at the woman's lungs. "I've never considered it good to smoke. Ruins your lungs..." And with that, she fired right through Mariah's chest, blowing her lungs across the roof, made especially gruesome since the metal skeleton Mariah got to replace her broken bones caused her lungs to to get torn to chunks. She then dropped Mariah's dead corpse, where it slowly slid down to the ground below. "Just one more left," Tomomi noted, "And she'll be the easiest of all for my Stand to defeat. After that... I think I'll call Giorno. Maybe it's time to apologize for years of neglect." She hopped off the roof using another air current as a cushion.

Wes didn't know how to process the revelation he heard. Pucci was his older brother. That was the information Rikiel revealed, and it explained the reason for the star-shaped birthmark appearing on his neck. Pucci likely got a similar mark from merging with the remains of DIO, infusing him with Joestar blood. "This answers some of my questions," he noted, "But leaves others unanswered. Why would my own brother remove my memories? Does it have something to do with who I was trying to kill?"

Ermes looked around the area where Pucci had been staying still. "You're sure this is the place, Jolyne?" "I'm sure," Jolyne replied, "He's here, and the last brother too. He's probably taking the time to rest. It won't take him three days to reach Cape Canaveral, after all." "He's biding his time then," Rainbow noted, "But while that's happening, we may have a chance to strike at him here and now. However, there's still the matter of the remaining brother, and whatever Stand he may have."

"Knowing Jotaro he's probably still heading for Cape Canaveral himself," Ryusei noted, "So even if Pucci somehow slips away he'll have someone waiting for him." Wes looked up at the hospital. "They're both inside, but one of them feels... Weaker. Like he's still suffering from whatever placed him in the hospital in the first place." "Let's not get too excited," Anasui said, "Rikiel recovered after unlocking his own Stand. The same might be true for the third brother."

Inside the hospital room, Pucci was sharing a meal with Versus. "What do you think about this food, Versus?," Pucci asked. Versus was sitting a wheelchair. He had been the burglar that was reported shot when Pucci first approached the hospital. "Can't you taste it for yourself?," Versus asked. "I'm allergic to shellfish," Pucci explained, "It makes me sick to eat it." Versus chuckled. "Better than most cases of food allergies. At least you don't suffer anaphylaxis."

"True," Pucci said, "But it's unpleasant all the same, and the cooked shrimp around the dish makes me a little nervous." Versus took a spoonful. "Hmm... Tastes more like a white meat fish. Halibut, perhaps. The flan is made from mashed crabmeat, with sliced asparagus. I don't taste any shellfish." He sniffed the air. "Hmm... Perhaps I'll have another with some of the sauce. Smells a little like cream sauce with scallop juice." He took a taste. "Yes, that's definitely scallops I'm tasting. I wouldn't recommend using the sauce if you're truly allergic to shellfish."

Pucci nodded. "Thank you for your honesty." "Seems to be something I inherited from my father," Versus noted. "Yet you still know deceit because of your mother," Pucci noted, "Did you know the two of them met a hundred years before you were even born?" "Is she a vampire too?," Versus asked. Pucci shook his head. "No. You'd know if she was, because she wouldn't be able to go out into the sunlight." Versus become sad. "Mother... Never gets out much. Father's death hit her hard."

Pucci sighed. "I'm sorry to bring it up... Anyway, Enya merely gained everlasting youth by drinking DIO's blood." "What's with all these tests, anyway?," Versus asked, "Measuring my body, checking my sense of taste, blood pressure. I get that you have some time to kill before reaching the next New Moon, but I can already feel Jolyne's presence right outside the hospital, and I haven't even seen my own Stand yet."

"Yes I know," Pucci said, "But perhaps it's already unlocked and we just don't know it's power. After all, not every Stand has a physical form. Take, for example, your sister-in-law Rarita Giovanna. Her Stand seems to have a physical form at first glance, but the form that is shown is just a manifestation of its power. I know this, because prior to meeting you and the others I took the time to try and convince Giorno to help. He refused, because his business took too much of his time. I feel he has recently moved to Florida, perhaps drawn by the same force that led me to you, but I suspect he will throw his lot in with the Joestar family."

He finished checking his blood pressure. "I ordered this dish because it said that there was no shellfish in it. You can finish it if you like. And don't worry about Jolyne. I suspect she won't be able to find this room so easily." Versus looked at the dish, and was shocked when an image of a crying child appeared in the flan. "It was fun riding in the ambulance," the image said, "But my daddy doesn't like me... He shot me... Daddy shot me!" Versus instinctively backed away as a shot was heard, a bullet being thrown out of the child's throat, as if he was shot. Versus smiled. "I see..."

Meanwhile the group had split up to look around the hospital. It was likely that Pucci had given a false name to meet with the brothers, and they didn't even know the last brother's name, so finding him wouldn't be easy. Jolyne lead one group while Wes lead another, hoping their connection would help them track down Pucci and the last brother. Jolyne was with Ermes, Anasui, and Atroe, while Wes was with Rainbow and Gwess. Ryusei was staying outside with Emporio just in case Pucci decided to leave.

"This hospital is like a maze," Anasui said, "How are we supposed to find that priest anyway?" Suddenly a shot rang out behind them, followed by someone grunting like their throat was hit. "Darling!," a woman called out. The four of them turned to see a strange sight. The door they had just passed was off its hinges, a bullet hole in the middle of it. Nearby, a man had been shot through the throat and was bleeding, his wife kneeling over him in shock. Anasui recognized them. "I think I saw that couple outside. Their son was being admitted for a gunshot wound." Jolyne looked at the door. "But who shot the father...?"

Yep, we're about to deal with the last brother. This is gonna be interesting. Now, I know some people have been wondering how Rainbow's Stand would stack up against Versus. All I can say is... It won't be a curb-stomp on either side. You'll see soon enough.

Ermes took a peek inside the room the gunshot had seemingly come from. The lights were off, and she could see a wheelchair tipped over and the remains of some sort of flan lying on a nearby table. "This is really weird," she noted, "It looks like that guy was shot with a real gun. It's gotta be that other guy who was with Pucci, but I can't see him in here anywhere, and I can't smell any gunpowder." "Why shoot this guy first?," Atroe said, pointing to the still struggling man who had just been shot.

"This gunshot might have been originated by a Stand of some kind," Jolyne suggested, "Remember how Rikiel's Stand worked? He was able to control something that already existed. And not all Stand abilities are showstopping powers. For example, Dad knows this guy named Hol Horse whose power is just a fancy gun with bullets he can control the trajectory of. This may be a similarly simple Stand power." Anasui got it. "So basically they just awakened their Stand power, and decided to test it out on someone, and that man just happened to be the unlucky duck."

Atroe used Foo Fighters to slip into the room without disturbing the door. "Hey, there's a big hole inside this room!" The others looked at each other and burst inside. "I can feel someone heading into this hole," Jolyne noted, "The priest?" "Can't be," Atroe said, "The food on this table has traces of shellfish in it. Pucci's allergic to shellfish. No, I'm betting it's whoever he was with, the third brother we're also looking for." "Wait," Anasui said, "How do you know Pucci's allergic to shellfish?"

Atroe tapped her temple. "It's in Foo Fighter's memory disc. Pucci mentioned it casually while placing the Stand disc in the water." "Either way, she's got a point," Ermes said, "There's no way Pucci could have made this hole. Whatever new power he got, I'd wager it'd do way more damage than this." Jolyne looked around the room and found the emergency flashlight kept in all hospital rooms. She shined the light into the hole, revealing it to be surprisingly shallow, with a large tunnel going off in one direction, a spoon at its entrance.

"Something's off with this," she noted, "This pit has an ominous feel to it. Hey, who was in this room?" Ermes checked the medical chart. "Guy's name was Donatello Versus, age 25. Admitted for being shot in the leg by police after committing burglary. Jeez, if not for Pucci we might have bumped into him back at the Aquarium in a few days time." Jolyne thought for a moment, then brought out her strings, tying one to Atroe and handing another to Ermes. "We're going to check this out. If it turns out to be a trap, you can reel us back in."

The two girls jumped into the small pit. Jolyne picked up the spoon and suddenly started whirling her head around like she didn't know where she was. As she dropped the spoon, Atroe grabbed it, and instantly understood Jolyne's confusion. Instead of the pit in the hospital, they were somehow inside an airplane. "What is this?," Atroe asked, "Some sort of teleportation Stand?" "No," Jolyne said, "That newspaper over there has a date for July 21... Of 2005. Plus, look outside the window."

Atroe gasped when, instead of the familiar sight of the sky as the plane was flying, there was the other end of the tunnel they were trying to explore. Pucci could been seen just outside, along with a blonde man they assumed to be Versus. With him with was a silvery-blue humanoid with several symbols on it, including a familiar medical symbol on its chest. "Looks like you came in here with your string," Versus noted, "Under World! Cut that string off!"

"Got it boss," the Stand, Under World presumably, replied. As it moved to fulfill the order, Jolyne and Atroe felt themselves getting pulled up. "Ermes and Anasui must have gotten concerned when they couldn't hear us!," Atroe realized. As they phased up through the plane, she spotted Under World about to hit Jolyne's string. "Foo Fighters!" Atroe's Stand manifested and conjured a giant water wave, the plankton inside hitting Under World and pinning it to the plane.

Versus found himself similarly trapped by an invisible force. "Okay... Did not expect that..." "Atroe still has access to Foo Fighters it seems," Pucci realized, "She's used it to hold your Stand in place. And with Whitesnake no longer in existence, the Stand disc she uses to access her powers can no longer be removed. Plus she and Jolyne have far more experience than you when it comes to their powers. I'd recommend allowing them to escape. I doubt they'll come back inside, leaving us free to wait out the remaining three days until the New Moon."

Versus grinned. "I have a better idea. Someone's at the top pulling them in right?" Pucci nodded. "Yes. Ermes and Anasui it seems. I remember reading up on them back at Green Dolphin prison." He then realized what Versus planned. 'He certainly has his father's capacity for strategy. And sadism...' Versus' Stand, Under World, worked on the concept that the ground retained the memory of everything that happened on it, like the child who was shot by his own father.

In the same way, Versus could make Ermes relive the memory of Sports Maxx and the moment she killed him, or when Anasui killed and dismembered his late girlfriend and her paramour. Right at this moment, Jolyne and Atroe were experiencing the memory of a plane that crashed to the ground back in July of 2005. This was the reason for the pit, because Under World was excavating those memories. 'I thought your usefulness to me was done when you helped create the Green Baby, Sports Maxx. But it seems even in death you can serve one last purpose.'

Sure enough, the memories of the people they killed caused Anasui and Ermes to come crashing into the plane along with Jolyne and Atroe. "What the hell was that!?," Atroe said, smacking Ermes in the head. "I'm not sure what happened," Ermes said, "But I somehow saw Sports Maxx climbing up the string. But it wasn't really him. He said he was just a memory of the moment when I killed Sports Maxx." Jolyne sighed. "Anasui?" "My late girlfriend," Anasui replied, "She's not nearly as attractive when she looks like a bloody marionette. One more reason to regret killing her in the first place."

"Excuse me," the stewardess said as she approached the group, "This plane is expected to crash at 9:33 on July 21 of 2005. Please turn off all electronic devices and make sure that your seat belt is securely fastened around your waist." The four of them blinked. "If this is a memory of a plane crash," Anasui said, "Does that mean when it crashes, we die with it?" "Not necessarily," came another voice, "I mean, it's not like everyone on the plane died." They turned to see an man with an odd hairdo and a green spiked suit.

"Who are you?," Atroe asked. "Mario Zucchero," the man said, "Or at least the memory of him flying on this plane. I was flying down to Florida at the request of my gang's boss to discuss a financial plan with some mobsters who made their turf out here. It was part of Passione's efforts to increase their business into more white collar crimes." "Passione?," Jolyne said, "As in the gang Giorno runs?" "Yeah, that's the one," Zucchero said, "I thought your birthmark was familiar. The boss has one just like it, said it was a family trait. And we always look out for family."

"Then you can help us land this thing safely!," Ermes realized. Zucchero shook his head. "Sorry, once the memory starts it has to play out. Anyone caught in it would get killed as well, unless they can find a loophole to escape, such as sharing a spot with the survivors of a disaster. And thanks to me, there were several survivors. See, this plane was going to stop in Florida before moving on to Dallas, but ran into trouble concerning the fuel level. When I realized that there was a dip in altitude, I started getting to work saving anyone I could. Like this... Soft Machine!" The group gasped as Zucchero summoned his Stand.

Pucci narrowed his eyes. "Can't you speed this memory up, Versus? I can feel my brother getting closer to us." "My Stand doesn't work like that," Versus explained, "Once the memory starts, it has to play out exactly as it did in reality, down to the second. There's no fast-forward, no rewind, no pause. I can't even control the memories of the people inside. Which makes it annoying since one of the people who survived the crash apparently works for my brother, Giorno."

Pucci got nervous. "Most of Passione are Stand users. If one of them was on the plane that increases the number of survivors, letting Jolyne and the other three survive the memory easier. And he'll be inclined to help a family member of his boss. Who was the gang member?" "Mario Zucchero," Versus said, "At two minutes before the plane crash he whipped out his Stand, Soft Machine, and started using it on as many people as he could, getting everyone in the three back rows deflated enough to survive the crash and placing them in his suitcases, doing the same to himself just as the plane started to crash. In total, he saved a dozen passengers including himself."

He grimaced. 'I thought with these power it'd be easy for me to get back at the world for all the misfortune I suffered, starting when that burglar unintentionally framed me for stealing a pair of shoes from a charity fund. It was because of my latent Stand power that I kept finding odd things buried in the ground.' He looked over to Pucci. 'On the one hand, I'm glad he finally put a stop to all the bullshit that happened to my life. On the other, that doesn't give me any obligation to help him. DIO is my father! I am the one whose veins are filled with his blood! And I will be the one who inherits his legacy!'

Meanwhile, Rainbow, Wes, and Gwess were drawn by the police moving in a direction where Wes felt Jolyne in. "Jeez, what happened here?," Gwess asked when she saw the gunshot victim and the busted door. Several police officers were already inspecting the room. "Both Pucci and the final brother are inside that room," Wes noted, "We can't let those officers get involved. It could prove fatal." He generated a slight mist to hide them from view as they entered inside.

Gwess then spotted two officers inside. "Goo Goo Dolls!" The officers got surprised by the sight of each other shrinking. Gwess quickly picked them up and placed them on the table as Rainbow investigated the hole. "Down here?" "That's where I'm sensing them," Wes said, "But it's hard to see what's there." "Alright," Rainbow said, "I'll go in first." She merged with her Stand in case of a trap and dropped inside. And it was a good thing she did engage her Stand first, since she suddenly found herself in the backseat of a fighter jet.

"Rainbow!," she heard Jolyne call out, and looked to see a passenger plane right next to her. Versus watched and grinned. "They made it, but we got another one." "Don't get too excited," Pucci said, "Rainbow's Stand creates a field of perfect flight conditions. It's strong enough to negate anything that might damage her. She'll probably still get caught up in the crash, but it's hard to say if she'll actually take damage." Versus thought for a moment. 'He's got a point. It'd be a stalemate between my Stand and her's. Not to mention if Jolyne uses her strings, she can pull the new girl out of that memory and into the earlier one.'

He nervously scratched at a portion of the tunnel, and then spotted a second Pucci, looking like he did before creating the formula. 'This must a memory of something Pucci did before he encountered that group,' Versus realized, 'Maybe I can use this to acquire my father's ability.' He reached into the memory Pucci's jacket and pulled out what looked like a memory disc, Wes' face right on it. 'Wes is still right above the pit.' Just then, the fighter jet crashed into the passenger plane.

"Good thing I remember reading about this jet," Rainbow said, "It's not going to explode until it hits the ground, but it didn't yet." She spotted Under World going for a large metal suitcase. "Rainbow," Jolyne said, "Zucchero used that suitcase and his Stand to save a bunch of people when this plane crashed. It's our only way to escape this memory alive." "Got it," Rainbow said, "I'll Fly!" Her Stand defused from her and punched Under World, knocking it away from the suitcase as the memory of Zucchero started rapidly stuffing deflated passengers into it.

Versus was getting worried. "My backup plan hasn't arrived yet." "What do you mean?," Pucci asked. "I had my Stand go to retrieve three children from the intensive care ward," Versus explained. He then noticed something. "Hey... Doesn't it feel especially cold right now? Especially since the plane finished crashing." Several people got up from the crash, memories of those who had already survived the crash in reality. The five group members trapped inside the memory had taken their places.

"Good job Wes," Rainbow said, speaking into a two-way radio. Versus' eyes widened, as Wes came into the pit. "Gwess spotted the children you were trying to kidnap," Wes explained, "But I wrenched them from your Stand's clutches using Weather Report." Versus grunted. "Under World!" He moved to dig up another memory, but Jolyne was faster. "Stone Free!" "ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!" Versus suddenly found himself pummeled and strung upside down, unable to reach any sort of dirt.

Versus chuckled. "I'm not done just yet. You'd better check your jacket, Father." Pucci obliged, but then panicked when he realized something was missing. "The disc... When did you...?" Versus held up the memory disc for Wes. "Under World let me know what's on this disc. Good news is, someone helped him come back from the brink of despair, so he'll still be an ally to you. Bad news... Is that he'll go all out trying to kill Pucci all over again!" Wes' eyes widened. "What did you say...?"

"Versus, don't!," Pucci called out. But Under World was already moving, and shoved the memory disc right into Wes' head. There was a moment of silence, and suddenly a giant rainbow occurred inside the pit. "Damn...," Pucci muttered, "The Devil's Rainbow... He's already remembered how to unleash Heavy Weather..." "Wes...?," Rainbow asked. Wes was hyperventilating. "Rainbow... Please... Help me stop it... Like you did before..."

Sounds like Wes once knew Rainbow. But how...?

We'll find out next chapter. Stay tuned.

Okay now, this part can get confusing, what with all the breaks into flashbacks. But I hope you'll be able to tell past from present in this chapter. It'll also reveal some shocking secrets about Rainbow.

Anasui picked Wes up. "Careful," Wes said, "Don't touch the rainbow. This is my Stand at it's strongest. There's only been one other time I've used it to this extent..." He shuddered. "At it's strongest... Weather Report can destroy the Ozone Layer..." "Listen to me!," Pucci said, "Right now I can no longer use Whitesnake's powers! But if you can get Versus to use his power, he can copy Whitesnake and remove Wes' memories, letting him control his Stand again!"

"Yeah, one problem with that," Jolyne said, "Looks like Versus decided to make a run for it." Pucci sighed. "Damn... I suspected Versus would try to take DIO's legacy from me. Just having DIO's blood is not enough to inherit his will. We need to get him to stop this. I never thought I'd say this, but why don't we call a truce until we catch him?" "Fine by me," Wes said, "But then you explain what the hell possessed you to do what you did twenty-three years ago."

"What happened then?," Anasui asked. "No time," Wes replied, "If I can't keep control of my Stand... It could wipe out everyone." They got out of the pit and noticed Gwess using her powers to keep the three kids safe in her pocket with the police officers. "What's going on?," she asked, "And why are we suddenly buddies with Pucci?" "Versus gave me back memories," Wes explained, "But they restarted at a point where I was too angry to control my Stand, so it's going haywire. The power to control the weather isn't something one can use while in an emotional state."

"This is everyone but Ryusei," Pucci noted, "Where is he?" "Right outside the hospital," Jolyne explained. She didn't mention Emporio. "Then Versus might be going for him next," Pucci noted, "That will give us needed time." "Then maybe you can explain why you erased your brother's memories in the first place," Ermes said. Pucci made a nervous hissing noise as he rubbed his neck. "I'm not sure I should. I heard the story during a confessional, so..." Wes suddenly grabbed him by collar. "Tell them what happened...," he said in a menacing tone. Pucci sighed. "Very well..." 'God forgive me...'

The year was back in 1972, in America's deep south. One night in a small town clinic, the cries of a newborn child rang out through the night. Unfortunately, they were soon silenced by a premature death. No one knows the cause, but the young mother who bore the child couldn't bring herself to accept that death, because that child was meant to be her hope for a better future. Luckily she was the only one who knew about the child's death, so she snuck into the maternity ward of the clinic, and swapped her deceased child for a healthy one from another mother, one of a pair of draternal twins. The boy had been born with the name Dominico Pucci, but was renamed Wes Bluemarine.

"You were Dominico!?," Rainbow called out, "That Stand user I found accidentally turning people into snails back in 1988!?" The others, save for Pucci and Jolyne, looked confused. "Rainbow," Gwess said, "You weren't alive in 1988..." Rainbow narrowed her eyes. "How old do you think I am?" Atroe shrugged. "Nineteen or twenty?" "Try thirty," Rainbow said, "My aging just got slowed down because of my Hamon practice. I was seven years old in 1988." Pucci cleared his throat. "If I can continue?" "Sorry," Rainbow said.

Years later, Enrico Pucci was studying for his clergy when he got an unexpected visitor. Normally the charnel where he was studying was closed to the public save on Sundays, yet this man was using it to hide from the sun. The man's name was DIO Brando. Pucci didn't immediately throw DIO out, but rather offered to let him stay until the sun set, which got DIO's interest. Pucci in turn became interested in DIO when he somehow healed Pucci's deformed toes.

DIO spoke of their meeting in terms of gravity, not the Newtonian force particularly, but more in terms of a force of fate that allowed people to meet under unusual circumstances. DIO handed Pucci a stone arrowhead. Pucci's family on his father's side was influential in Venice, one of his ancestors even being elected Pope. This was why no one protested when Pucci said he wanted to get into seminary at a young age. The reason was because of a brother he thought had died in childbirth. In fact, his whole family was under that mistaken belief.

Thus Pucci wanted to know why fate chose Dominico to die, and not him. He wanted to know why humans experience happiness and despair. Then during his usual cleaning duties, he heard a woman using the confessional. The priest's side was empty and the door was open. Pucci was about to go get one of the senior priests, but the woman continued her confessional once Pucci started talking. It seemed she was dying from disease, and did not care who heard her confession. So Pucci decided to hear her out, thinking it would be good experience for later.

"Imagine my surprise when she confessed to swapping her own dead child for my twin brother," Pucci said, "The years of living with that guilt, coupled with her terminal illness, prompted her to use the confessional." "And you never told your parents!?," Ermes asked. "I was under professional oath," Pucci reminded her, "But the real issue wasn't our mother and father... It was our sister, whom Wes was unknowingly dating." The others blanched. "Where's the nearest trash can and or bathroom...?," Atroe muttered in shock.

Wes was sixteen at the time he first met Pearla Pucci. Her bag had just gotten snatched by a thief, only for Wes to throw a can of juice into the window to stop him. Wes freaked out, since he was working part time as a delivery boy and he was concerned this would get him fired. Pearla, surprised, offered to tell Wes' boss that she was the one who broke the window. It was not long after that they started dating, which Pucci soon caught wind of. Neither of them knew they were related, only Pucci knew.

He wanted to break them up in a way that would hurt his sister least. Unfortunately, he couldn't have hired worse people for the job. The private detective agency he hired turned out to have been run by members of the KKK. The detective misunderstood the situation, and thought Wes was the son of a black man since his mother had married said man. The man's words as his friends beat Wes to near death, caused him to also misunderstand what was going on.

He only knew Pearla's brother requested the detective's help. Wes was hung, but survived somehow. Unfortunately, Pearla didn't live long enough to realize that, as she flung herself from the cliff near the tree he hung from, dying when she hit the rocks below. It didn't take long for Pucci to find out, and understand his mistake. It was then that DIO's conversation with him came back to his mind, and he remembered the arrowhead.

"In that instant the arrowhead pierced my body," Pucci said, "And Whitesnake was born. Because of that, I was able to read Pearla's memories and learn everything." Wes' eyes darkened. "You're telling me you didn't even bother to investigate the sort of people you were hiring?" "When a person gets a Stand from the arrow," Jolyne said, "Those connected to them by blood can also gain the potential for a Stand. And if you two are brothers, then..." Wes nodded. "Yes... That's when Weather Report first appeared... And when Rainbow and I first met."

The first victim of the Devil's Rainbow was the detective who caused the incident in the first place. Just touching the rainbow somehow made snails come out of the man's body, and he died when his arm moved on its on to shoot him. Wes, unable to find any justice after that, spent some time trying to kill himself, but nothing seemed to work. But luckily, something happened that let him find light again. As he went to find the priest who hired the detective, he met a little girl with rainbow hair, who seemed unaffected by what was going on, even when the rainbow hit her.

"Who are you?," Wes asked. "I'm Rainbow Dash!," the girl said with a cheerful voice, "I'm a girl who's going to become a great hero! Surrender, evil Stand user!" Wes blinked. "Stand?" Rainbow looked confused. "You don't know what a Stand is? Ah, so you're not evil, you just don't know how to control your power. No matter, thanks to my magical Hamon..." She began crackling with a glowing energy. "I can always weather the storm!" That line alone got Wes laughing, and he was reminded of his old self, letting the Devil's Rainbow subside. He introduced himself as Dominico, taking the name from Pearla's stories of her supposedly dead brother.

"It didn't subside for long," Pucci said, "By the time I realized Wes had stopped on his own, I was already seeking him out to stop it myself. He started to get angry again when he saw me. As I spotted the rainbow once more, I used my Stand to retrieve his memories, hoping that alone would be enough." The rainbows were starting to multiply as people who got in contact with them started turning into snails, the creatures procreating quickly. Wes started to cover his face, until he felt someone place their own hands on his cheeks.

He gasped when he saw Rainbow, her wings spread, looking almost like an angel in the sun. "Don't forget that day," she said, "Now I am that great hero. And more than just my Hamon... With my Stand, I can definitely weather the storm!" In that instant, Wes smiled, and the rainbows disappeared. 'Of course,' Pucci realized, 'I was doing it wrong the whole time. It was Wes' anger that was causing Heavy Weather to activate. I should have explained from the beginning.'

He smiled. "Wes, I know it won't excuse my actions. But understand I never expected that detective to hold such prejudice. There are many things I should have done differently that day, many things that could have gone differently. As for Versus... Where exactly did you leave DIO's diary?" The group became shocked. "Shit!," Anasui said, "I think Emporio has it!" As they all ran off, Pucci stayed behind, asking, "Who's Emporio?"

Meanwhile, Versus grimaced when he saw the rainbows disappearing. "That's not good. Did they kill Wes? No, they wouldn't have. He's still a friend to them. More likely they found a way to quell his anger. Damn Pucci getting in my way again... He must have told them everything! From the memories I dug up I know someone named Emporio has Father's diary. With that I can attain perfect happiness, the 'Heaven' that Father researched. It should belong to those of his blood, after all."

Unfortunately, finding Emporio wouldn't come easily. Ryusei had spotted the events happening and grabbed Emporio, flying with him above the influence of the Devil's Rainbow. Now that it was stopped, Ryusei took the time to observe the man. "He didn't look like he was phased by the chaos," Ryusei noted. "Look," Emporio said, "He has the birthmark. He must be the last brother. Did you see what came out with his digging?" Ryusei nodded. "So his power has something to do with memories buried in the ground."

"What was up with that crazy thing earlier?," Emporio asked, "All those people turning into snails." "Something in the light must have been creating a subliminal effect," Ryusei noted, "Causing everyone affected to think they were snails. That either caused their bodies to react accordingly, or it could have been an optical illusion or hallucination. I don't know the details. But I'm guessing Wes was somehow responsible. Whatever the case, it's over now."

Meanwhile, Versus was still digging when he came up with something that caught his attention. A memory of Giorno talking with Pucci. The words Giorno said struck a chord with him. "Heaven is a place on Earth. It's not just a song by Belinda Carlisle, but a fact of our modern life." "I meant those words," came Giorno's real voice. Versus whirled around to see his half-brother standing there. "Looks like Mother finished the last of our father's consorts," Giorno said, "I was just informed of Enya's death not two hours ago."

Versus grimaced. "Damn... This is why I need Father's legacy... To achieve my eternal happiness." Giorno shrugged. "I guess we're at odds then, because I see no reason to carry out Father's legacy. To me it's just bad for my business. That's why I intend to stop Pucci before he completes his goal. But before that..." Gold Experience appeared. "I need to take care of a final loose end." Versus grunted. "Under World!" "Gold Experience!" The two Stand clashed, but ultimately Giorno proved stronger.

"MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA!" Before Versus knew it, he was suddenly out of his body, Gold Experience's power having overclocked his senses, leaving him vulnerable as Gold Experience struck him again and again. When he finally fell to the ground, Giorno checked his pulse. "Dead... As I suspected. Buccellati once said he feared what would happen if I rapid-attacked someone using Gold Experience while they were under its influence. It's not a very strong Stand, so the pain gets more pronounced. Get hit too many times while in that overclocked state... Buccellati speculated one might die from shock in that instance."

Ryusei landed as the rest of the group also showed up. "Looks like everything's been resolved here," Ryusei noted. Rainbow then noticed something. "Hey... Why didn't Pucci come running with us?" They realized Pucci was nowhere to be found. "Oh crap!," Atroe said, "He must have taken advantage of our panic to slip off! He's probably resuming his trip to Cape Canaveral right now!" Jolyne sighed. "If Pinkie Pie were here, this is where she'd say... Damn you plot!"

Pucci had hopped a bus heading for his destination. 'Looks like our temporary truce is over. But just as well... They could never understand my reasons for finishing what DIO started. Still, at least I can say this much... I was able to do it, brother. I let you live all those years because, while I suspected I would have to kill you, I also wanted to save you. Save you from the anger that was in your heart. And now I was able to do so, just by explaining everything. I have no further regrets.' He got out another disc, this one being the memory disc for his sister Pearla. "I hope you're seeing this from Heaven, Pearla."

Well, we're at two-hundred chapters now, and how appropriate that it's right at the end-game for Stone Ocean. I swear I wasn't expecting these, but I might plan for them in the future. Though I think I may have inadvertently caused it by including Steel Ball Run as an interim between Battle Tendency and Stardust Crusaders.

Pucci stood near Cape Canaveral, his arms crossed and tapping his elbow. "I finally made it, and with two days to spare. But Jolyne and her group are at full numbers with only a little strength diminished from recent events. And, it's almost guaranteed that they've informed the rest of the Joestar family about my plans. The situation as it stands is still under my control, but it's like walking a tightrope." He placed a hand over the artificially created birthmark. "And there is this... So long as I have it they can track me anywhere. I can now understand DeKurliss' concern." He closed his eyes. "But I've come too far to end it now. I must see it through..."

"So you saw an image of Zucchero," Giorno said. The group was heading to Cape Canaveral in several cars. With Giorno was Rarity, Jolyne, and Anasui. "You know, I didn't like Zucchero at first," Rarity admitted, "But he's proven loyal to Passione, and he winds up doing things like this. Really, I can't call him a nice guy, but he can be a good guy." "You seem a little irate," Jolyne noted. "She's still thinking back to the incident with Bohemian Rhapsody," Giorno explained.

Rarity nodded. "One of the TVs was on that fourth generation My Little Pony show, and who should pop out than one of the Mane Six that shares my nickname. Next thing I know she's fawning over my Stand and asking how another version of her can be Applejack's granddaughter." She rubbed her temples. "She did start getting more pleasant towards the end, but it was a headache to start with." Giorno chuckled. "Personally, I thought it was hilarious how a tiny purple dragon was getting jealous of me."

"I don't want to know," Anasui muttered, "By the way, why's a mafia boss driving himself? I thought you had people to do that for you." "It's called being low-key," Giorno said, "Besides, I'm used to driving. Heck, me and Rarity got our start scamming tourists back in Naples hoping to draw attention." "It worked," Rarity said, "But in all the wrong ways." Jolyne looked out the window. "Oh wow, an alligator. Y'know, they don't seem so scary when you're not walking through a marsh because you got prison duty again."

Giorno and Rarity smirked. "The irony," Rarity noted, "We're the ones running a criminal empire, and yet the only time we've seen the inside of a prison was during our initiation test." "That reminds me," Jolyne said, "Anasui, you said you saw a memory of your girlfriend because of Under World." Anasui nodded. "Yeah, it brought up some painful memories. It seems that... She couldn't understand my habits... And her parents never really approved of me."

Jolyne smiled and slipped her hand over his. "Well, you don't have to change on my account." Anasui smiled warmly. "Thank you." "Ah, new love," Rarity said with a sigh, "Reminds me our middle school days." "They suddenly don't seem so far away," Giorno said, "Though granted they were ten years ago. Anyway, we're nearing the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral." "The last part of DIO's formula involves the New Moon," Anasui noted, "How appropriate that the coordinates he researched involve a NASA research center."

"And with a real to life alien species having settled on Earth," Jolyne noted, "It'll only be a matter of time before it starts sending more than just manned shuttles and satellites. Heck, we could wind up living out the events of Mass Effect for real!" "I hope not!," Anasui said, "What if the Reapers are real!? Can they even be beaten!? Then again, the third and final part of the trilogy is set to release in a few months, so I guess we'll find out before long." "Anyway," Rarity said, "There's only one way into the visitors section of the center. A single road leading in and out of the parking lot."

"And between Ungalo's shenanigans and Wes' brief hissy fit," Anasui said, "They'll likely be limiting the number of visitors for security reasons, making it that much harder for Pucci to infiltrate." "Getting in for us should be easy," Giorno said, "With all the connections we have I doubt there's anyone at the center who doesn't know about us. The questions is, what's going to happen with Pucci once the New Moon arrives? It's not like he can get on the upcoming shuttle launch and take it to the moon, he'd never get there in time. It takes three days to reach the moon from Earth by shuttle."

"Plus it's a moving target," Rarity noted, "If he got on the shuttle launching here at Cape Canaveral, he'd completely overshoot the moon by several hundred-thousand miles." "A lot of the entries in DIO's diary speak of gravity," Jolyne noted, "Not as a force of nature but a concept of fate. Maybe his formula gave Pucci some sort of gravity manipulation powers, like Radames. Though Radames can only control gravity on a localized level, within several meters of himself."

"Whatever the case," Giorno said, "Whatever's been ailing Pucci lately is likely to be solved once he reaches those coordinates. After all, the best place to build a launch center is near the equator, and Cape Canaveral is only a few miles north of it. In fact, Cape Canaveral makes a great spot for launching rockets because the gravitational pull of the area is relatively weak. Likely why my father chose those coordinates in the first place. Whatever Father's formula is meant to do, it's going to start the moment Pucci reaches those coordinates."

Pucci was listening to an explanation about the planned shuttle launch, the words making him understand why DIO chose this location. He had been let into the visitors center despite it reaching capacity, thanks to a friendly middle-aged man intent on doing a good deed for the day, especially to one who was clearly a priest. Though Pucci did think the idea of God being an alien was asinine. It's not that he didn't believe there were such things as aliens, he just didn't think God was an alien.

As he breathed heavily, he could feel something. A stronger pull of gravity that seemed to originate from himself. He then noticed one tourist's drink was somehow falling horizontally from its cup, as if the tourist was on a wall rather than the floor. The man who helped him earlier also seemed to fall like he was on a slope, until his head hit the nearby banister hard enough to draw blood. 'I'm definitely feeling something,' Pucci thought, 'It seems DIO's legacy is already showing it's true form.'

Most of the group was traveling to Cape Canaveral on a RV owned by Ryusei. Emporio pulled a ghost computer out of Burning Down the House to examine a map of the Kennedy Space Center. "Alright, Pucci's route should be predictable. He'll have to take the shuttle route for visitors, since all other routes are off-limits to non-personnel." "Do we know whether Jotaro is there yet?," Wes asked. "I'd imagine he is," Emporio noted, "He's been able to take a more direct route there, after all."

Atroe looked outside the RV. "Hey, something's going on with the ground. And it feels like the RV's tilting a little." "Ryusei, did you get this thing checked out recently?," Ermes asked. "I made sure to take regular trips to the mechanic," Sunset pointed out, "There shouldn't be any problems with the RV. Not to mention it's relatively new. We only bought it a month before Ryusei got his prison guard job." She looked outside and saw both people and animals slipping around the ground, as if gravity was being altered.

The only exception was Rainbow, who was flying like normal in spite of all the weird events happening around her. Just then, the two-way started squawking. 'Something's going on with the traffic up ahead!,' came Giorno's voice, 'I had Rarity add crystal spikes to our tires just to keep us on the road!' "Shit...," Ryusei muttered, "Looks like Pucci is starting to awaken whatever new power he's supposed to get from the formula. Just being near Cape Canaveral is enough to supercharge him!"

'No, this isn't from the completed formula,' came Jolyne's voice, 'This is just the opening act. But it's likely meant to make sure Pucci can't be disturbed until the New Moon appears. The ground itself is becoming not unlike a cliff. Hold on, Rarity's gonna make us a new road to travel.' A large, violet spiral road made of crystals began appearing. 'Get driving and don't stop!,' came Rarity's voice, 'My Art of the Dress has a long enough range to get us there and can grow according to my will, rather than gravity! But it's not a limitless range, so any crystals out of my range will disintegrate instantly! Hurry!'

Rarity wasn't the only one making a new road. Within the space center, Jotaro, Fluttershy, and Valentine were sitting on a giant tree created by Music in the Trees. "I can't believe Pucci could gain such a power," Fluttershy said. "And it's only the tip of the iceberg," Valentine noted, "Once Pucci finds the New Moon, he'll gain another power. But that will be our chance to stop him. There's a single flaw in DIO's formula, one that couldn't be exploited in the alternate reality. But we can exploit it in this one." Jotaro looked out to the road. "I hope Jolyne is safe..."

Elsewhere in the space center, Pucci was experiencing his new power at its fullest. "Everything begins with gravity! It is the origin of all, including this Earth! It is what keeps the planet moving, both rotating, and circling the sun!" He was still inside the visitor's center entrance, with outside perspective making it look like he was standing on a wall instead of the floor, a large mess of machines and bodies surrounding him. His eyes glowed as he saw the new form as his stand, red-eyed with green skin, but still humanoid.

"Within my body and spirit exists gravity...," he said to himself, "And so too, must it also exist at the end...! DIO... I understand now! I now know the source of the power you researched! The source of Heaven, the power I seek! Its source lies in the nature of gravity! Let my new power protect me until the time is here... With this formula reaching its completion... I hereby rename my Stand... C-Moon!" The ground around him started to rumble as he came to control his power.

The crystal road created by Rarity swerved through the sky, keeping perpendicular to the ground due to the altered gravity. "This is what Pucci was waiting for," Jolyne realized, "But he couldn't use it twenty-two years ago because he didn't feel strong enough. He and Dad are around the same age, and Dad was just hitting his prime right after defeating DIO. Pucci had to wait until he could get followers, he needed to get a plan in motion. It must have taken him years to set everything up." "And it's all coming to a head right now," Giorno noted.

"Yeah, but there's something else," Jolyne said, "Pucci acted like certain things might happen. He might have been expecting less of us. He's been relying on certain people helping him, in the process of trying to hinder him, then getting rid of them when he feels they've served their purpose." "How far do you think this is spreading?," Anasui asked, "Is it just the area around the space center, or is the whole world like this?" "We won't have long to find out," Rarity said, "I've finally gotten us to the space center."

Parking the two vehicles was rather redundant, so instead Anasui fused them into the nearby ground as the group used their individual powers to start climbing, Emporio clinging to Ryusei's back. Rainbow flew up to the group and landed normally, as if gravity had not been altered. "I guess we should have figured," Ermes said, "Her Stand can alter anything else to let her fly. Why not gravity? Jolyne, Wes, can you feel where Pucci is?"

Before either could answer, Rainbow got behind Jolyne and blocked a punch from a green humanoid that almost resembled a grown version of the Green Baby. "What the hell is this thing?," Rainbow asked. The creature backed up, as if confused. "You don't get affected... Why? Why does gravity not affect you?" "What the heck is this thing?," Jolyne asked. "Call me crazy," Giorno said, "But I think we're looking at the manifestation of Pucci's new power." Rainbow sighed. "I would have thought you'd learn by now, Pucci. No matter what..." She let her wings unfurl to full span. "Nothing will stop me from flying!"

The final battle begins. Hope I did Pucci justice with the hamminess.

"This new power lets me reverse the flow of gravity," Pucci said through his new Stand, C-Moon, "Had you not stepped in the way, my attack would have had Jolyne turning inside out from the effect." "Oh great!," Jolyne called out, "One of those 'get hit once and the fight's all over' scenarios! But why tell us all that!?" "Rainbow is only one person," Pucci explained, "And her flight field can only expand to ten meters away from her. In other words, it's impossible for her to act as a shield for the entire group."

He made to attack again, causing the group to scatter. His punch landed squarely on Anasui, but he just chuckled. "Sorry but I have a defense of my own." Pucci noticed that the spot he punched only shifted slightly before subsiding. "Diver Down let's me rearrange whatever I please," Anasui explained, "I've even turned myself into a woman on occasion just to see what it felt like. In other words, I can shift my insides and my outside to compensate for the reversed gravity."

C-Moon then got attacked from behind by Stone Free. "Looks like we're in luck," Jolyne noted, "Attacking you won't create the gravity effect." C-Moon wiped away a bit of blood. "Jeez, this thing's more in sync with its user than any other Stand I've ever heard of," Ermes noted. "And I wouldn't say that one hit against us would end the fight," Atroe pointed out, "Only a vital area. If he were to hit something like our limbs, for example, that's hardly the end. And if we can get him to hit us a second time, that would put us back to normal."

C-Moon made to attack Jolyne again, doing a good job of dodging and striking. Jolyne noticed something as she did her best to avoid taking a bad hit. "This thing isn't just some automated Stand. It's attacks are too accurate. It's more like a remote-controlled Stand. Pucci is still talking and seeing through it, which means he has to be somewhere around the center. Somewhere close, where he can watch the fight." Ryusei considered the situation. "Me, Ermes, Gwess, and Emporio are the only ones who don't have natural defenses against this Stand's power. We'll go look for the priest, Jolyne! Keep it busy!"

Elsewhere, Kakyoin and Sanji were standing in a military complex, hearing reports about ground squadrons trying to reach to the Kennedy Space Center, only to get violently thrown back. The general grimaced as he heard the Jayhawks going silent. "I don't suppose you Speedwagon boys know anything about what's happening." "It's likely some sort of power that reverses gravity," Kakyoin suggested, "At least, that's the impression I get from the reports. It likely gets stronger the closer one gets to the Kennedy Center."

The general rubbed the bridge of his nose. He wasn't the closed-minded sort, so he was very receptive to the concept of supernatural powers. But even with these so-called "Stand users", the idea of a power on this big of a scale just seemed to defy all belief. Still, the evidence was there. "Can we even get anyone close to stop this?" "I think there already is someone there," Sanji assured him, "The question is if they can reach the source and out a stop to it..."

Pucci looked on as his new Stand fought against the team members that stayed behind. He could always retrieve his Stand if the ones that broke off got too close. But one thing puzzled him. Anasui could rearrange his body to avoid being turned inside out. Rainbow and Atroe were naturally protected from the effect thanks to their Stands. Rarity could outright block the effects, and Giorno could simply remove and replace affected tissue. And Wes, well he had plenty of options.

"But what about Jolyne?," he wondered aloud, "What defense does she have?" He then spotted something. His Stand being strangled by Jolyne's strings, held down by the weight of Anasui. C-Moon had tried to grab Jolyne's strings to turn them inside out and destroy them, but Anasui put a stop to that. And now Rainbow was moving in to finish the job. 'At this rate, they'll destroy it and revert it back to Whitesnake. I've no choice but to intervene directly.'

Luckily, getting there for him was as easy as walking. Since he was the center of gravity for his Stand's effect, he wasn't affected at all. Before anyone could react, he used the effect of center of gravity, focused on him, and caused Jolyne to rise into the air. "This is the power I have...," he said, "To overcome the Joestar bloodline!" And with that, C-Moon punched Jolyne right in the heart. But as she flew off, her body contorting, he felt something off about the situation. "That doesn't feel right..." He immediately dashed off.

"What does he mean!?," Anasui demanded. "It means Jolyne's not dead yet," Wes explained, "I can still feel her. Somehow she managed to counter the gravity effect." "Did he miss somehow?," Atroe asked. "I don't think so," Wes said, "She's still in a bad condition, unable to move. We need to hurry and get to her." They quickly started scaling after the priest, using their powers to hurry after him. If Jolyne was still alive, they had to get to her before Pucci did.

Pucci continued to run through the center, ignoring the people were begging for help. "Not quite the priest you're supposed to be," came a new voice. Pucci looked up, near a busted out building, to see Valentine standing on one of the window frames, his Stand close to him. "You're a new one," Pucci noted. "My name is Funny Valentine," Valentine said with a bow, "I'm not sure if you've heard of me, but that's not important. I too am a Stand user allied with the Joestar family."

"Then when I defeat Jolyne you'll be the next to go," Pucci said. Valentine smirked. "You think they are your only obstacle? How naive. Even DIO realized there might be others who would try and stop his plans. That's why he surrounded himself with allies. Yet both of you have a fatal flaw. When an ally fails you or has served their purpose, you remove them or cut ties with them. And even if you succeed, what makes you think the universe you plan to create will survive?"

Pucci paused. "What makes you think you know?" "Because of my Stand," Valentine explained, "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. It's a Stand that lets me traverse dimensions. You and DIO certainly understand the need for cooperation, but gravely misunderstand its purpose. It is meant as a survival instinct. A means for humankind to live longer. I could go on and on about these things, but I get the feeling my words would fall on deaf ears. Besides, I've already given Jolyne enough time to reach you."

Pucci gasped as he felt a hand grab at his face, then pull away. He turned in that direction long enough to see Jolyne's leg as it disappeared behind a nearby wall. Valentine smiled as Pucci made to go after her. "That foolish man. Our species was forged from disaster and hardship. The only reason we seek peace... Is because we have grown tired of war." Meanwhile Pucci hurried into the building and used various tricks to try and find Jolyne. He finally had a chance to damage her when she grabbed his throat from behind.

And that's when he got a shock. Instantly, as Jolyne's arms started turning inside out, her strings formed a Mobius strip. 'Damn... That's how she survived. A Mobius strip only has one side, so there's nothing to turn inside-out. Ryusei knew Jolyne could do this, that's why he was so confident letting her fight C-Moon.' Jolyne came out of hiding, her breath ragged, a giant Mobius strip running through her torso. "The band of infinity," Jolyne said, "I came up with this while trying to attack your Stand earlier. It's already inside-out, and there's only one surface to it. Your Stand is useless against this concept."

She stood up, surviving another punch from C-Moon to her throat by creating another strip. "Gotta love those Germans," Jolyne noted, "Sure the whole Nazi thing was kind of a dick move, although Grandpa Joseph did mention at least three that weren't so bad, but they do come up with some neat concepts. Like when 19th-century German mathematician August Ferdinand Mobius discovered the concept of an infinite loop that had no inside or outside."

Pucci said nothing, but started running around the room, using his gravity center to kick up whatever he could. He noticed Jolyne wasn't trying to follow his movements, but nonetheless waited for his chance. 'There's no way C-Moon can kill her in this state. Even if I target her brain, she'll just do the same thing to save herself. My only chance is... There!' He spotted a dead security guard and grabbed his gun, then aimed for Jolyne and fired. However, she vanished in a split second right before the bullets hit her.

"What!?," Pucci called out in shock, before getting impaled by something. He looked down and gasped when he saw it was tree branches, straightened and sharpened to become makeshift spears. "Gimme a break...," came the familiar voice of Jotaro, "You really think we're gonna let you kill our daughter." "You really are naive," came Fluttershy's voice. "Hey Pop," came Jolyne's voice, "You in the mood for some family bonding?"

Pucci didn't even time to put up a guard before Stone Free, Music in the Trees, and Star Platinum started striking at him, sending him flying out the nearby window. Pucci looked to see the family walking down a series of bushes created by Fluttershy. "You really screwed up a number of times," Jotaro said, "Me and Fluttershy were already set up here. Because of that, and because of what we learned about DIO's plans, we were prepared when gravity started getting weird."

Pucci just laughed. "It's a strange fate... Both those aligned with DIO, and the Joestars... Despite being enemies, they ultimately help each other get stronger." He suddenly started lifting into the air. "I understand now! I don't need to wait the remaining thirty-six hours for the New Moon! I already have the power within me!" "Shit," Anasui said, "He's just realized it... What he needs is to create a gravitational force equal to the New Moon." "Everyone hold onto something!," Jotaro called out. Before long, Pucci reached a new spot, and he started to emit a blinding light.

You guys all knew Made in Heaven was inevitable. We'll deal with the final form of Pucci's Stand next chapter. Keep an eye out, this is gonna be interesting.

Well guys, I moved recently. Luckily I was able to get my computer set up in the new place so I can keep my usual schedule.

The title here came from Black Lagoon, but I thought it was also fitting for Stone Ocean (though expect me to change it when Stone Ocean finally gets its anime adaptation).

Also, something I should say... Saying how you think my story will or should go is fine... But remember who's the author here.

That said, here's the penultimate chapter.

As Pucci found himself being filled with completeness of his new power, he realized something. 'They aren't trying to stop me. Have they finally given up? They must have finally realized the futility of standing in my way. No matter, they'll pay the price for doing so in the first place.' He smile as he saw C-Moon morph into a figure of a horse and rider, seemingly fused and pure white with a few accents. 'This is the power DIO sought... The power of Heaven. Maid in Heaven! It has been awakened!'

When the group was able to open their eyes again, they saw no sign of Pucci. The damage was still around them, but the news was coming back on and cell phones were getting reception again. After a quick check, the group was glad to see everyone was still around. "So," Giorno said, "What just happened?" "I'm not sure," Jotaro said, "I can still feel Pucci somewhere nearby." "So why did none of us try to stop him earlier?," Ermes asked.

"To prevent Pucci from truly completing his power," Valentine explained, "The one weakness in DIO's formula is the idea that the Will of Heaven and the Law of Man are two different things. But sometimes... It might be possible for them to be the same thing." A sudden rainstorm hit, but ended quickly. "As I thought," Valentine said, "It's not as powerful as it otherwise would have been." "Why, what happened?," Fluttershy asked. "Time accelerated for exactly five seconds," Valentine explained, "Then resumed normally. I was checking my watch the whole time."

"Strange," Pucci said as he observed the group, "It's complete, but not as strong as I thought it would be. Only five seconds... That's not enough time. I can probably improve it with practice, the same way DIO did with The World, but first I need to remove the Joestar Bloodline. Until I do that, I cannot claim victory. The trouble is... Jotaro has the same power DIO once had, and it's clear that he's been keeping his strength up. Plus, I saw it for an instant, when I passed Giorno. He has that special arrow. Not even DIO knew what it could do, but it always felt more complete than the others."

He felt his power start to refresh, and accelerated again. "The real downside, is that since I can only speed up time for so long, they'll be able to detect when I'm doing it. It will stand out, far more than if it was a sustained power. The only power I should fear right now is Jotaro's time stop, but the others could easily damage me once my acceleration ends." He took a moment to examine his power. "It seems from my perspective everything moves incredibly slow, while they experience things from an accelerated viewpoint. That could be my advantage."

Jotaro watched as Giorno got out the Requiem arrow. "That's the arrow Polnareff gave you, right?" "Yeah," Giorno said, "It fell out when I defeated Diavolo, but remained intact. I kept it safe, in case the time came when I would ever need it again. When I heard about how Pucci was enacting my father's plan, I knew this was that time." He, Jotaro, Jolyne, and Wes widened their eyes. "There!," Jotaro called out, "Star Platinum, The World!" Time froze in an instant, and Jotaro was able to get a good look at Pucci and his new Stand, Made in Heaven, as well as several knives being launched.

Jotaro noticed Pucci was about to go for the arrow Giorno was holding. "It worked. We drew him out. That was his last mistake." Jotaro swiped a finger across his hat, and smirked when he saw a bunch of knives around him. "Clever, Pucci. But I only need to hit you once. Star Platinum!" "ORA!" Star Platinum struck Pucci hard in the stomach, then started batting away the knives before time started again. He wound up missing one, but only barely, the blade cutting into his face vertically. Luckily, it was a shallow wound.

Pucci, however, got knocked back hard. With his time acceleration over, Giorno was free to stab Gold Experience with the Requiem arrow. Pucci got out and tried to straighten out his breathing. 'Damn it all... Something had to have gone wrong at some point, but I'm certain I completed the formula as written. No matter, there's still that age-old weakness of the Joestars... Their bloodline.' "Made in Heaven!" He accelerated again, then started running to where the rest of the group was located.

He stopped when he felt something on his shoulder. He turned around and gasped. It almost looked like Gold Experience, but more defined. "What... What are you?," Pucci asked, almost afraid to know the answer. "I am Gold Experience Requiem," the Stand explained, "My master stabbed me with the arrow, allowing me to take this form. In time it will subside and I will return to my normal form, but until then..." Pucci gasped when he realized time had stopped accelerating the moment Gold Experience Requiem touched him.

"This is requiem power," Giorno explained, "The gift of being able dominate all souls. In my case, it reduces everything to zero. Ah, one second." Gold Experience Requiem picked up a pebble and launched it, not at Pucci, but just past him, the pebble turning into a scorpion just as it went through the head of a man with long, red hair. "Not again...," the man muttered as he died and disappeared, "Damn, you Giorno Giovanna..." Pucci blinked. "What was that all about?"

"And that makes thirty-nine for me," Giorno said as he scratched something off on a notebook, "Still not ahead of Fugo, but we'll get there. Ah, I should explain. That man was Diavolo, the gangster I defeated in order to run Passione. By now he's wound up somewhere else, ready to die again. And again. Et cetera. You see, when Gold Experience Requiem attacks something, they are forever barred from reality. Basically it's removing the effect from the cause. I honestly don't know how many deaths Diavolo has had beyond the ones my friends and I have given him. But by now it's likely to be in the thousands."

Pucci started sweating. 'If that power hits me I'll suffer the same fate. But I still have a chance to escape it.' "Listen," Pucci said, "Your father's formula was meant to grant a world of eternal happiness to others. A world where everyone could know their fate, and what lies beyond it." "But without the ability to change it, right?," Giorno pointed out, "What sort of world is that, really? I honestly can't see people being happy with that. And really, from what I know of my father, he wasn't so altruistic."

He sighed. "It was in 1880 when Father first encountered the Joestars. Not as enemies, but as a family member. He would be given equal treatment, and was offered a loving home. It wasn't enough. He wanted more. He wanted the vast fortune the Joestar's had at their disposal. And when that avenue was closed to him, he chose to reject his humanity. He gained more power than a mere fortune could ever provide him. But even that wasn't enough. He wanted the world, he wanted beyond."

Giorno shrugged. "My father was a man driven by ambition that was fueled by greed." He pointed to Pucci. "Know this. While I am grateful to Father for giving me life, I identify more with the Joestar side of my blood, unlike my three brothers. And the path you're offering..." He smirked. "It's bad for my business." Before Pucci could react, Gold Experience Requiem struck Made in Heaven. "Now your power," Giorno said, "Will be reduced to zero. The reality of you reaching a new universe... It will never come true!"

Pucci screamed in agony as energy seemed to flow out of him, Made in Heaven glowing as it was reduced back to C-Moon, then quickly back into Whitesnake. The birthmark vanished from his body as his former appearance was restored. "No...," Pucci muttered, "This can't be... That arrow had the power to do this...?" "Father gave that arrow to Polnareff while he was under his thrall," Giorno explained, "And in time it made its way to me. Had Father kept it close, this might not have happened. And now, the new generation will have its chance to finish you."

Pucci gasped when he realized Jolyne and her friends were right behind him. "Looks like now we get the chance to correct a little mistake," Jolyne said, "We won't give you the chance to restart, Pucci." Anasui made his move and Pucci tried to attack. "Diver Down!" His Stand dove right into Pucci and started bashing him from the inside, causing the priest to spit up blood. The injuries he suffered got filled with plankton from Atroe, causing him further pain. "Have I mentioned that I'm glad I went on that little prison duty," Atroe said, "Otherwise I might have still been just another lackey coward."

Pucci then screamed as he felt the pain from a gunshot go through his lung. He turned to see Emporio, holding a ghost gun drawn from Burning Down the House. "That was for my mother...," he said. Pucci then noticed Emporio seemed to be getting taller. He soon realized he was actually shrinking. He then spotted Gwess' shadow as she loomed over him. "I owe you one for the coma, you bastard. Hey Jolyne! Ever play Kick the Can!?" Pucci grunted in pain as Gwess smacked into his tiny body with her foot.

He grew back to normal as he left Goo Goo Dolls' range, only to see he was heading right for Jolyne. "Stone Free!" Jolyne's Stand smashed Pucci right into the ground. Jolyne then felt her arm split, Ermes having applied one of her stickers to Stone Free's arm. "What the hell, Ermes!?," she called out. "Come on now," Ermes said dismissively, "He's getting back up." Jolyne sighed as she realized Ermes was just giving her an extra set of punches to work with, but she wasn't happy about it. "Fine..." Stone Free and Kiss, whose arms were also doubled, started wailing on Pucci.

"ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!" Pucci felt himself go flying, and soon realized he wasn't landing. He gasped when he realized Wes has conjured a tornado to keep him in the air. "You and I have unfinished business, brother," Wes said, "Rainbow, now!" "I'll Fly!" Rainbow flew right into the tornado, creating a pocket of normal breeze as she got ahead of Pucci before splitting from her Stand.

Energy crackled through her legs as she channeled her Hamon. She merged with I'll Fly again before launching herself at Pucci in a drill kick formation. "Tornado Overdrive!" The force of the tornado blowing him forward kept Pucci in place as Rainbow drilled right into his torso. He finally got released when Wes removed the tornado, causing Pucci to get launched across the space center. He landed quite a ways away from everyone. 'This is my chance...,' he realized, 'I can find a way to escape, try to start again... Even if it takes me another twenty years...'

Unfortunately for him, that's when Valentine appeared. "And so it appears the universe will remain as it was meant to. But first things first... You must be removed. One of the advantages D4C grants me is that I can interact physically with all the other versions of myself. You see, normally two identical beings from two alternate realities cannot exist in the same space. Oh, they can exist in the same reality, they just cannot have any sort of physical contact. Case in point... D4C!"

D4C conjured an American flag, which whipped about before conjuring another Pucci, looking very confused before landing on the first Pucci, causing both of them to start disintegrating. "That Pucci was taken from a universe where you were far more successful," Valentine explained, "Yet still failed right at the last moment. From the looks of it, it seems he was suffering from oxygen poisoning. Not sure how that happened, but it doesn't matter now." As he said this, the two Puccis completely disappeared, having completely destroyed each other.

Valentine explained what had happened to Pucci. With him gone, his ideals went with him. The group was packing up in a new RV Jolyne got from Jotaro. The only exception was Emporio, who was staying with Ryusei and Sunset. "I can't believe my brother got the idea that people knowing what their destinies were would create happiness," Wes said, "Maybe in the short-term, but before long people would start to realize how boring or terrible it could be."

"Personally I like to be surprised about what's to come in the future," Atroe said, "I mean, my fate was probably dying back in the marsh when the bracelet exploded. But I'm still here. Who could have predicted that?" "So what's next for us?," Ermes asked. "I think I'd like to get in touch with my real family," Wes said, "I've spent all this time with a mother who, loving as she was, wasn't my real mother at all." Rainbow smiled. "I just heard Scootaloo got out of the hospital. I'd like to check in on her, let her know everything's all right."

Jolyne looked through more of DIO's diary. "I guess my shot at destiny is over. But from the looks of these entries before DIO finished his formula, we're not done cleaning up his mess. But it'll probably go to the next Joestar that destiny calls. But wow, DIO sure was busy during the four years between when he finally woke up from his coffin and when Dad and the others went hunting for him. Guess he wanted to learn what he missed after all those years being asleep."

"Maybe while we're traveling," Anasui said, "We could start cracking down on criminal gangs as a hobby. We certainly have the power for it." "And maybe the rest of us girls could get some boyfriends," Gwess said, "It's kind of a reverse sausage fest here. A... Tuna fest? Is that a thing?" Wes and Rainbow had decided to start dating, while Jolyne made good on her promise to accept a date from Anasui. "Oh yeah," Jolyne said, "Wes, your birthmark disappeared when Giorno reset Pucci's power, right?"

"Yeah," Wes replied, "It looks like I'm no longer connected to the Joestar bloodline. Probably for the best." Before they could leave, Jolyne recognized Savage Garden flying over and let him inside. "Your mom wanted to leave this letter with you," he said, "Be sure to stop by occasionally. I'm sure your folks will appreciate it." Jolyne smiled. "I'll do that. Thanks, SG." Savage Garden flew off as Jolyne read the letter. "So what is it?," Rainbow asked. "Just some well-wishes for the future," Jolyne said, "And a photo to remember earlier times." She revealed a photo of herself when she was younger, along with her parents and her younger brother.

"Yes," Valentine spoke on the phone in his office, "Word of Pucci's failure is sure to reach any remaining followers of DIO. Some might try to retaliate, but only the most desperate. Those we can easily deal with. Most will realize how dangerous it is and return to the darker corners of the Earth. I doubt there's any need to seek them out." He listened. "Excellent. I'm glad that Valentine Motors can become a part of the Speedwagon Foundation. Our company's contributions will go a long way towards uniting humanity."

He continued to listen. "Future projects? Yes, I can come over to discuss them. My schedule is free for the next week." He nodded. "Excellent. The alternate universe that had similar events... The bizarre adventure of the Joestar family stopped at this point in that world. But here it seems it will continue for a bit longer. At this point even my knowledge has reached its limit. So I'm looking forward to learning just how different this universe is."

At a certain school in Japan, a group of men were discussing recent events. "There's been no sign of Pucci, and it's clear his plan failed." "Luckily DIO never put all his eggs into one basket. How are plans for Project Kamukura?" "Proceeding well, but I recommend we halt the project temporarily. Jotaro Kujo's son is soon to graduate from our academy, and once he does it will be safer to proceed." "Very well. We will wait until he is no longer a student here, then continue our plans. In the meantime, we can continue to scout good candidates for the project."

In a secret conference room, a number of men were meeting using holographic projectors. "Pucci's loss is our gain. Thanks to his defeat, our plans can proceed unhindered." "I wouldn't be too sure. Second Impact was not the disaster it was predicted." "A trivial concern. We still have all we need to create Instrumentality. Our schedule is simply altered, that's all." "More importantly, my part of the project must be done in greater secret. Passione has been cracking down hard on suspicious activity." "Rest assured we will assist in keeping your side of things undercover. Our goal of godhood is only a few years away."

In a secret room, a man lit a candle and sat in meditation. "Too many... The Joestars have taken too many of our allies. And Pucci was the strongest among us. But maybe this is a sign. I was DIO's messenger, but now I have a power all my own. Thanks to that Stand user, I know how to strengthen it. I'll bide my time, wait for others to fail, before I set my plans in motion. And when the time comes... I think I'll pick up where I left off..." He chuckled to himself.

Kakyoin looked at the report given to him by Rainbow. "This is an excerpt from DIO's diary," he noted. "What's it about?," Sanji asked. "It seems DIO was curious about the meteor impact site at Cape York," Kakyoin explained, "And while there, he felt the energy from twenty undetermined points, which he never got the chance to explore. This bears investigation." Sanji thought about it. "If that's the case, who can we send? We don't know what's down there, so we don't if we should send Stand users or Hamon users." Kakyoin snapped his fingers. "In that case, we'll ask for people who use both..."

A short chapter, but it serves a purpose.

The time of merely building off of Araki-senpai's work is over. While further foundations will be used, this is where I continue into my own universe.

Tomorrow begins the new arc, Spirit Tracks. Keep an eye out, and see if you can figure out some of the other crossovers that will be showing up.

The year was 2012, only a few short months after the defeat of Enrico Pucci. A Speedwagon Foundation expedition was in place in Cape York, the site of a meteor impact from thousands of years ago, known to have been the source of Stand power. A recent discovery of the diary of DIO Brando, the Joestar family's most dangerous enemy, revealed he had visited the site at one point, where he felt energy from twenty unique points. The exact details were unknown, as DIO was rather vague in his diary.

Stand users are rare among humans. It's estimated that each country has about fifteen to twenty percent of its population be Stand users. Hamon users are even rarer, only one in ten thousand humans can harness that power. So imagine how rare it is for a person to have both a Stand and Hamon. And two such people were approaching the impact site. One of them was a member of the Joestar family, George Joestar III. Though born in 1959, he looked much younger thanks to his Hamon training.

With him was his best friend, Gyro Zeppeli, the oldest of the Zeppeli siblings, born in 1945. In many ways, he blended the best of his parents, Caesar and Applejack. He too looked far younger than he should due to constant Hamon training. The two of them approached the site of the meteor impact. "So this is where it all began," George noted. Gyro nodded. "Hard to believe a simple virus could produce such powers. Even powers as mighty as Smile, Gold Experience, or your nephew's Stand, Star Platinum."

George's Stand was called Tusk, and it came in four Acts. Act 1 simply gave him the power to launch his fingernails as projectiles. The nails could be charged with Hamon to cut through almost anything. A secondary effect prevented him from feeling pain when the nails shot off, and they could grow back within a second of firing. Act 2 altered the nails to become effective close-ranged attacks, letting him do slashing damage. Act 3 allowed the nails to create wormholes in whatever they hit, which he could reposition at will or teleport through. Finally, Act 4 allowed the Stand itself to physically attack, its power being similar to other close-range attack types.

Gyro's Stand was Ball Breaker, which had the ability to rapidly age whatever it touched, be it organic or otherwise. He mostly used it against non-living objects, but he did have the option to use it against a living target. While normally a close-range Stand, its effect could be extended by using special spheres it could create charged with Hamon energy. In essence, both Stands were practically designed to work with Hamon. Gyro was born with his Stand, but George got his thanks to DIO's curse.

"Hey," George said as they reached the epicenter of the impact site, "Take a look at this. Doesn't it feel like there's far too much life force coming from the direct center of the crater?" "Yeah," Gyro agreed, "Almost feels like an entire civilization is around us." He reached out his hand, and felt it disappear into a crack in space. "Whoa!," he called out as he pulled his hand back, perfectly fine, "This wasn't here the last time someone examined this place."

George rubbed his chin. "The last time anyone examined this place was before Second Impact. While it only barely affected the world at large, it did cast out some weird energies, which might have interacted with the virus brought by the meteor. Either way, this might be where we can find those energy sources DIO observed." The two nodded at each other before entering the strange crack, expecting a new bizarre adventure to being on the other side.

They weren't the only ones to arrive through the crack. Years earlier a group of thirteen friends had also entered the crack and found themselves inside a vast tomb. They were all former servants of DIO, but had decided to do their own thing after his death. It was only the sudden appearance of the crack following Second Impact that drew them together again. The leader of this group, known only as Momonga, explored the throne room, where several young maids, a butler, and a beautiful woman with horns and wings were kneeling.

Over the last eleven years the friends had understood the purpose of the tomb. The inhabitants had been there in suspended animation for hundreds of years, and would only be released in the presence of a large amount of Stand energy. And all thirteen friends were Stand users. In fact, Momonga was traveling with his Stand, Undead. Undead cut an imposing figure, that of a skeletal lich draped in magician's robes that had an almost royal look to them.

Also in the room was Momonga's best friend, Touch Me. It was an odd name, but their aliases were actually taken from identities they had in their MMO and chatroom lives. Touch Me was encased in his Stand, Neon Knights. "Good to see you here, Momonga," Touch Me said, "I think I may be starting to understand what DIO was referring to in his prophecy. He somehow sensed the flow of energy from various points around this world, but I don't think he ever meant to make use of them. It was just an observation. However, it seems we may not be the only ones aware of it. Special devices in the tomb meant to detect Stand energy picked up two more user suddenly appearing."

Momonga looked surprised. "Who are the other two? Someone from this world." "No, the energy is too strong for them to have awakened recently," Touch Me explained, "It seems someone else found the crack." Momonga nodded. "We've had eleven years to develop our community within this tomb. The guardians have full trust in us. I think it's about time we show ourselves to the world. Let's start with surrounding settlements. At the very least, they will have knowledge of larger cities that are nearby."

Meanwhile outside the crack, Rusty Dashell, also known as Shining Armor, observed the work being done on the seven Stand arrows. One was broken due to being hit with a bullet, but it still seemed to be as viable as ever. "Keicho Nijimura feared the arrow would be useless if it was broken, but it seems nothing could be further from the truth." He then noticed something. The split arrow seemed to be mending. "What could this mean...?" The arrow was also starting to glow. Clearly something was happening.

The presence of a third Joestar with the name George was hinted earlier in the story, and now we get to see him right here. Also, hope you don't mind the extra Overlord crossover. There will be parallels, familiar characters, and story similarities, but don't expect it to be "Jojo in Overlord".

Also, we'll finally get to update the archives. Expect this regularly from now on.

So apparently people think Momonga and his crew are gonna be the bad guys here...

I had someone else in mind...

Regardless, enjoy more story... And more original Stands.

In the days when DIO was readying his rise to power, it wasn't out of the question for him to have his allies work in pairs. In Momonga's case, he always got paired up with Vanilla Ice, while Touch Me tended to get paired up with Johngalli A. It wasn't such a bad team-up. Undead could use darkness element to negate Vanilla Ice's Stand, Cream, by creating a counter-void so Momonga wouldn't accidentally get killed by Ice's rampages. Meanwhile Touch Me's Neon Knights was completely impervious to bullets, so he could easily stand in the line of fire from Johngalli and his Manhattan Transfer.

The real problem was their attitudes, always going on about DIO and extolling his virtues. It's not that either of them doubted DIO deserved to rule over all, he certainly had the power for it. "It was always just a matter of taking it too far," Momonga said. He sat up in his bed as he noted this. In bed with him was the succubus woman from the throne room, Albedo. "The sensors are rather weak in detecting the energy you're looking for," she noted, "There was once a great power running through the land that could have made it easier, but it seems to have vanished."

"We'll have to research how to restore it," Momonga decided, "It'll be good to work on a project with people I actually like being around. Even if it's just a pet project. DIO has long been dead, and his ambitions with him. Yet here, I may have the chance to become something greater, yet more humble. No god... But perhaps a king." The other twelve members of his circle saw him as their leader, and the beings of the tomb considered him to be a king. It would be interesting to be in charge for once, instead of being subservient to another.

Meanwhile, George and Gyro had managed to procure horses from a ruined village they had stumbled across. Using Hamon to supercharge the horses, the mounts were able to race for hours without tiring. The duo continued to find ruined town after ruined town until they found something new. A group of soldiers shifting through the ruins of a settlement. From the fact that they were helping survivors, George guessed they weren't responsible for what had happened.

What looked to be the leader of the soldiers, a rather large man with tanned skin and a full but short beard, spotted the duo. "I don't recognize those clothes," he noted, "But those horses were left from one of the settlements we spotted destroyed. I take it you stumbled across it?" George nodded. "Yes. It got us concerned, so we borrowed these horses and rode out following the carnage. We've been at it for an hour." "An hour?," one soldier asked, surprised, "It took us half a day to follow this. Is it some sort of Stand power?"

George looked surprised. "You know what Stands are?" The soldier nodded. "Yes. This world has many Stand users, most of whom work as adventurers or have high-ranking positions in the military." He nodded to his leader, indicating he too had a Stand. "Well, that simplifies a few things," George said, "But it's strange. Although I'm guessing the normal rules regarding Stands apply, it seems more people know what they are."

"We do have Stands," Gyro clarified, "But that's not what we used. We used a power called Hamon, which can amplify life force. Because of that, the horses could run for miles without need for food, water, or rest." The leader got off his own horse as the duo did the same. "My name is Gazef Stronoff," the man said, "Warrior Captain of the kingdom of Re-Estize." "I'm George Joestar III," George replied, "This is my best friend, Gyro Zeppeli." Gyro tipped his hat in greeting.

Gazef rubbed his chin. "I don't think I've heard of either of those two families." "No, you wouldn't have," Gyro said, "We entered this realm through a crack between dimensions. We came here to investigate a series of energy sources." "I think I know what you're referring to," Gazef replied, "However, those energy sources have not been active since the loss of the Spirit Tracks, powerful energy conduits emitted by the oldest of Stands in this realm, Down at the Station." He pointed to a strange sight in the distance behind them.

The duo turned and saw a giant tower, but in pieces, the pieces floating vertically above the base. "The Stand user is still alive," Gazef clarified, "But something is inhibiting Down at the Station's power. Because of it, the Spirit Tracks have been vanishing. The last of them connects to a settlement not far from here called Carne Village. We suspect whoever's been attacking settlements recently will head there next. But there's no way we can get there in time."

George narrowed his eyes. "Me and Gyro can. We'll go on ahead, try to protect the civilians and hold off whatever bandits are attacking until you show up." Gazef nodded. "Good luck, and be careful. These are no mere bandits that are attacking." George and Gyro got back on their horses and charged their Hamon. The horses immediately raced off like they were bullets. 'I still can't shake the feeling that someone is watching us,' Gazef thought to himself, 'My own Stand has been twitching for some time.'

By the time the duo reached Carne Village, an attack was already happening. Soldiers with crests different from the ones led by Gazef were attacking indiscriminately. George growled before aiming with his index. "Tusk Act 1!" A small pink creature with valentines attached to feelers extending from it appeared as George channeled Hamon into his nails, firing them off with his Stand's power, nailing several soldiers from the rate of fire, hitting them right through their armor.

Gyro got closer as they got the soldiers' attention. "Ball Breaker!" A short green humanoid with spirals for ears appeared and generated a translucent sphere that Gyro started channeling his Hamon into. It launched the sphere at the nearest soldier, surprising him as his armor started to rust almost instantly. "These people are Stand users!," one of the soldiers realized, "Inform the lieutenant!" George launched himself off his horse in a sitting position, nearing the now armorless soldier as he aimed his hand in a claw formation, causing the nails to shoot off in a manner not unlike a shotgun.

Another soldier tried to swing his sword to attack, but George was ready. "Tusk Act 2!" Tusk transformed into a larger form, with a more complete torso, actual arms, and a barrel-like appendage instead of legs. George's nails started spinning around his hand, acting like a gauntlet as he blocked incoming attack. He then punched at the soldier, his spinning nails acting like a shredder as he nailed the man's chin. Another soldier came in, but George rushed in an placed a hand on the soldier's armor. "Metal Silver Overdrive!"

The soldier got a shock as he was stunned by the surge of Hamon channeled by his own armor. Another soldier tried to attack, but got stopped when Gyro extended his arm using Hamon. "Zoom Punch!" The soldier was knocked off his feet. With no other enemies, the remaining soldiers having left to report to their lieutenant, Gyro and George looked at the two villagers lying nearby, a man and a woman. "The man's already gone," Gyro said sadly, "But the woman still has some life in her. Enough that we might be able to save her using our Hamon."

George nodded as he knelt down. "Alright. Channel a negative Hamon charge through her flesh. That should repair it. I'll channel a positive charge through her blood to draw it back into her body. That way she won't be harmed by the Hamon." Between the two of them the woman was soon breathing normally, her injuries completely healed. "T... Thank you... But my daughters..." "You and that man over there were the only ones we saw," George said.

The woman teared up at the sight of the man, who was her husband, but still looked relieved. "They managed to escape. I hope they aren't in anymore danger. We don't even know why we're being attacked. We're just a simple village settlement, one of many that's been attacked in recent days." "By now most of the carnage will have centered in the town square," Gyro noted, "We should head there and make sure no more innocent deaths occur." George nodded, and they hurried off.

Meanwhile, two young girls, Enri and Nemu Emmot, were running from some more soldiers. Before the men got close, a large portal of darkness appeared right in front of them. Out of it stepped three people. Two of them were Momonga and Touch Me, the third was another of their group called Herohero. "We caught wind of this horrendous attack through a viewing mirror," Momonga said, "To attack a village unprovoked for no practical reason... That is just despicable! Undead!"

The soldiers looked confused at first, since they couldn't see the massive skeletal mage that Momonga summoned. They soon learned what he was planning as electricity danced between his fingers. He pointed at one of them. "Dragon Lightning!" The mage copied the pointing motion before launching an electrical surge that was shaped like a serpentine dragon, striking down the first soldier. The second moved to attack, but Touch Me stood in his way. "Neon Knights!" In an instant, he was encased in his Stand, letting him easily tank the sword swing and counter with a strike of his own.

A third soldier had a bow and arrow and aimed for the two girls. Herohero quickly stepped in the arrow's path. "Chemical Romance!" His body was shrunk down and replaced by a slime version of himself, catching the arrow in its mass before shooting out and crushing the soldier with a powerful extending blow. The girls looked in shock. "You three are Stand users," Enri realized. Momonga looked surprised. "So even settlers know what Stands are. Yes, the three of us do possess Stands."

Albedo soon emerged from the portal in full plate armor. "Lord Momonga, forgive me for taking so long." She looked at the dead soldiers. "It would seem I have taken too long. May I ask what your next task is?" "Set up a defensive unit for these girls," Momonga said, "Then join me in the village. Doubtless there are more soldiers there." Albedo nodded. "As you wish." "Excuse me," Enri said, before she and her sister knelt on the ground. The three friends looked at her.

"Thank you for rescuing us," Enri said. "Thank you," Nemu also said. "May we... Ask your names?," Enri asked. Momonga grinned. "I am Momonga. This is Touch Me, and Herohero. We are three powerful Stand users of a clan called... Ainz Ooal Gown! Remember it well, for we are preparing to make ourselves known in this world. And protecting your village is just the first stop in our goals. But rest assured... We take this first step very seriously." And with that, the three newly christened Lords walked off to the village.

"Tusk Act 3!" George unleashed his Stand again, now in a more humanoid and somewhat mechanical form, resembling a beetle in many respects. He and Gyro were now in the village square, fighting against the remaining soldiers. George fired one of his nails into the ground, repositioning the wormhole near his heart just as a nearby bowman loosed his arrow, letting the arrow pass harmlessly through the hole. Nearby were was lieutenant of the soldiers, Belius, and his closest subordinate, Londes.

"Damn it...," Belius said, "We weren't actually prepared to fight a Stand user, just lure one out. And here we have two fighting against our forces. And decimating them, as one would expect." "Did you see how the first one uses his nails as weapons?," Londes noted, "And the other one seems to be able to age anything he can see. He's already caused the armor of several soldiers to rust. But what's really odd... Is that golden energy they also exude. It's clearly not part of their Stand power, but seems to work well with it."

Just then, the sounds of more of his comrades screaming was heard. He turned to see Touch Me, charging in with his shield out like a battering ram. Herohero landed in front of him before shooting out his Stand in multiple directions like spear-tips. The ground beneath their feet rumbled before erupting into rubble, taking the soldiers with it. Momonga stepped out among the rubble, unaffected by his own spell. Londes grimaced. "Just great... Now three more have shown up."

During the melee, Momonga managed to catch a glimpse of George and recognized the familiar birthmark. 'A Joestar... But I didn't come here to make them an enemy.' He then noticed Londes charging headlong at him. "Ball Breaker!" The sight of Gyro's Stand caught his attention as it launched an attack that aged Londes' armor to rust. Momonga smirked as Londes soon realized something was wrong. "Undead! Vacuum Blade!" He swiped at the air as his Stand mimicking the motion, creating a blade from air pressure that bisected Londes in an instant. The soldier was dead in seconds.

"Where are you going!?," he heard Herohero call out. He had spotted Belius running for it, and trapped him in his gelatinous form. "Momonga, I think this one should live to answer some questions." Momonga nodded, then turned to George and narrowed his eyes. George narrowed his in turn. While neither was sure if the other was an enemy, it was clear they both knew neither was working with these soldiers. But the tension was broken when the village chief approached. "Excuse me. I wish to thank all of you for saving us. However, may I ask what you plan to do with us now?" Momonga looked at the man and smirked. "Well, my friends and I were hoping to learn more about this realm."

By the time Gazef and his troops arrived at Carne Village, finding relief that the village was still intact, Momonga and George had gotten to know the realm quite well. When they were invited to meet the newcomers, George smiled. "Gazef! You missed the party!" Gazef smirked. "George! I thought you were gonna hold them off, not wipe them out!" The two of them discussed what they had learned from interrogating Belius. "So the Slane Theocracy made an attack disguising their soldiers as those from Baharuth," Gazef said as the group sat in the main hall, "I might have known."

"But why go to all the trouble?," Touch Me asked. "I can think of one reason," Gazef admitted, "They were requested to dispose of me by the noble faction of Re-Estize. It's no secret they despise the fact that a common-born like myself rose through the ranks to become what is essentially a general in all but name in the Re-Estize military, and possesses a Stand strong enough to warrant a name. Such a thing is supposed to be unheard of among the lower classes."

"In our experience beyond this realm," Momonga said, "It's not one's class that determines Stand potential, but how willing they are to evolve. By that logic there are bound to be plenty among the common folk who possess Stand potential, and only need the right trigger to awaken it." "Hey," Herohero said, "Looks like we got company outside. New soldiers, and these ones are more obviously from Slane." Gazef frowned when he saw the sight of the troops, largely dressed like mages with a troop of humanoid winged creatures with literal porcelain skin.

"Just my luck," he said, "It's the Sunlight Scripture. Their leader, Nigun Grid Luin, has a powerful Stand called Within Temptation that creates and commands angels." "It's still one Stand user versus six," Gyro noted, "How strong are the individual angels?" "It varies," Gazef said, "The smaller Affinities we're seeing are barely stronger than the average soldier, though rumor has it he has access to a more powerful angel capable of destroying whole cities."

Momonga met with Albedo outside the hall. "Send forces to the surrounding fields. We'll be dealing with Nigun and his scripture, and I want our forces ready to capture any stragglers that try to escape." Albedo nodded. "Of course." "So," George said as he approached, "We're going to war then." "A bit of an exaggeration," Momonga pointed out, "But take a look at their formation. They clearly intend to attack the village. And we just got done saving it. I think you can appreciate how insulting that is to me."

As the village finished burying their dead, and Enri and Nemu reunited with their mother Marian, the six warriors headed out to face the Sunlight Scripture. Albedo went them, wanting to see more of her Lords in action, especially Momonga. Nigun was a little surprised at the sight he saw. "Well Gazef, I expected you to finally step in the trap. But I wasn't expecting a few more mice to take the cheese." "Cheese doesn't suit a mouse's taste," Gyro quipped. George raised an eyebrow. "Wait a minute... I get that you were hunting down Gazef. But were you really destroying whole villages just to get that done?"

"He's a personal bodyguard to the king of Re-Estize," Nigun pointed out, "Drawing him out isn't as easy as it sounds. But we knew he'd come running for his fellow commoners." George sighed as he put his hands on his hips. "I'm starting to understand Robert EO Speedwagon's beef with guys like you." Nigun smirked. "I don't know who you speak of, but you'll soon learn just how superior we are. Affinity! Attack!" The angels descended to attack with their blade-tipped staves.

Momonga smirked. "Undead! Hellfire!" A blaze emerged from his Stand's fingertip, engulfing the angels and incinerating them. "Neon Knights!" Touch Me donned his armor before slashing through several Affinities. "Tusk Act 1!" George fired his nails off at rapid speed, easily striking through several angels. The ones that were killed quickly faded to dust. Nigun growled at how easily his angels were being dispatched. "Within Temptation! Come forth, Fairness!"

The crystal glowed before conjuring a four-legged angel that looked to be a cross between a dog and dragon. Gazef just smirked. "It may be stronger, but when it's one-on-one I can handle it easily. Dawn of Battle!" Brilliant light engulfed Gazef. When it subsided, he was encased in a brilliant white armor, though it kept the familiar X-shaped sigil from his regular armor. The Fairness launched a fireball at Gazef, who grinned as he easily tanked the burst of flame. "Not enough. Dawn of Battle prevents burning, and my body can regenerate while my Stand is active."

He rushed forward at unthinkable speed, before slashing his sword right through the angel, cleaving it in two easily. "I can also cut through any defense, and possess endless stamina thanks to my Stand's power." Nigun was getting irate. "Soldiers! Make ready to attack! I'll use my strongest angel to finish these fools here and now! Within Temptation! Come forth, Glamor!" At once, a giant serpent with bird wings and a marbled image of a human face near its torso appeared from a summoning circle.

The giant creature launched a massive beam of energy. George grinned. "My Stand's not the only thing at my disposal." He drew out a few strands from his hair. "A little trick from my dad! Hamon Hair Attack!" He channeled Hamon through the follicles, creating a wide barrier that easily deflected the beam. "Nice work," Momonga said, "You Joestars certainly know how to pull off the impossible. As for this angel... It's powerful, but I have a perfect attack for such dangerous beings. An attack so deadly even DIO feared it. Undead! Black Hole!"

His Stand pointed, and a singularity void appeared in front of the Glamor, expanding only slight as it sucked in the giant angel with little effort before dissipating. Nigun was left dumbstruck. "My... My strongest angel... How...?" The other soldiers were reluctant to attack at this point, as George drew close. "You've been attacking villages just to draw one man out. One man who, as far as I can tell, deserves everything he got in life. Know this... A Joestar does not forgive such evil." He narrowed his eyes. "Tusk... Act 4!" Tusk appeared, now looking complete with a full body, it's head mounted on its broad chest. Nigun gasped as the Stand made its attack.

"ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!" Nigun beaten to a bloody mess, but still alive. Later, Momonga and his friends returned to the village. "Momonga," Albedo said, "Was it alright to let those three take custody of Nigun?" "It'll be fine," Momonga assured her, "We have other plans to make. Gazef extended an invite to Re-Estize. We'll take him up on that, but we won't immediately approach the palace. Instead we'll gather information from the lower parts of the city. Our search for the sources of energy begins now."

Meanwhile Gazef and his troops were heading back to Re-Estize, George and Gyro with them. The two horses they had found seemed to have imprinted on the duo, and Gazef mentioned the horses were now their's by right. Gyro named his Valkyrie, while George decided to call his Slow Dancer. Nigun was being dragged along on a mule offered by the village. "How will you keep him contained to interrogate him?," George asked. Gazef held out Nigun's Stand. "It seems its nature makes it a tangible object, and Nigun can't access it while he doesn't have it."

George nodded. "We still need to find a way to get to that tower. If it holds the means of finding the energy sources we seek..." "There is one person who might be able to help with that," Gazef said, "She's a member of the royal family, and thus has permission to access the tower. Her name is Stella Lux Iumen Ryle Vaiself, eldest daughter of the king. Everyone who knows her calls her Starlight Glimmer. She is also a Stand user. If anyone could help you solve the mystery of what happened with the tower, she could."

Thus far we've yet to see the MLP character for this arc, but she'll be introduced in this chapter. By the way, take the first three parts of Starlight Glimmer's real name and run them through Google translators (Latin to English). See what you get...

"So this is it," Momonga said, as he approached the gates of E-Rantel, a border town on the edge of Re-Estize. With him was Nishikienrai, another of his clan, and Narberal Gamma, a doppelganger and spellcaster who acted as a guardian maid within the tomb. Narberal was going under the pseudonym Nabe, and had a traveler's outfit instead of her normal maid regalia. Momonga and Nishikienrai didn't have to worry, since they were relatively unknown and had plenty of traveling clothes thanks to their time with DIO.

"The writing seems similar to Sanskrit," Nishikienrai noted, "Our research shows the translation is identical. It's a good thing we've been here for so long. So what's our first move while we're here?" "We need to get buzz from the local populace," Momonga explained, "And that means local taverns and guild halls. In particular, we should get adventuring jobs for most of our group with more combat-oriented Stands and work our way up the ranks."

As they walked into a nearby tavern, they bumped into a woman dressed in leather armor. "Jeez, watch it!," she called out, "You made me drop my-- Huh?" She noticed the potion bottle she dropped had wound up back in her hand. "Sorry about that," Nishikienrai said, "We weren't paying attention." The woman blinked in realization. "You people are Stand users." "Not me," Narberal said, "I am a simple spellcaster. But my partners Momon and Nishi do have Stands."

A dark ninja with chains appeared by Nishikienrai. It was his Stand, Turning Japanese. This Stand gave him skills equal to any ninja, at least ones found in media. He had used his Stand to move at speeds the human eye couldn't track, letting him grab the potion before it hit the ground. "Thanks for saving my potion," the woman said, "At only an iron rank's salary it's difficult to afford the more high-end potions. I'm Brita, by the way." "You seem to be able to see my Stand," Nishikienrai noted, "Do you also have a Stand?"

"I'd say almost every adventurer does," Brita said, "But mine's a very basic one. Fly on the Wall, that's my Stand, can only let me keep track of any possible enemies when I'm fighting. Good news is I don't really need to start the fight personally, or see an enemy to tag them with my Stand. As soon as someone tries to attack me, my Stand goes off. It's like an early warning radar, so while it's nothing special as far as Stands go, it's far from useless. So, you three are looking to join the guild? No better time to."

"Why do you say that?," Narberal asked. "Lately the Star Princess, Stella, has been asking for strong or capable adventurers to partake in searching the remains of the tower that used to be the source of the Spirit Tracks. A few years ago they started disappearing, the only evidence of where they were being a strange demon train. That train is likely a Stand of some kind, since those who lack a Stand can't see it." "Have you seen it?," Momonga asked. Brita nodded. "Yes, a few times. It looked black as iron and armed like a fortress, a large demonic visage on the front of the engine." Momonga and Nishikienrai looked at each other. This certainly bore investigating.

Meanwhile at the palace in Re-Estize, two large men were meeting. One was Marquis Boullope, leader of the Six Great Nobles. With him was the crown prince, Barbro Andrean Ierudo Ryle Vaiself. "The capture of Nigun puts a wrench in our plans," Boullope noted, "We can't have him released without showing our hand too early. Nor can we have him deported back to the Slane Theocracy. By now they've already given up on him, and will likely execute him for failure."

"We'll find some use for him," Barbro assured his old friend, "His Stand has its uses, after all. I'm more concerned about the five additional Stand users that appeared from nowhere. Tell me, Boullope, when did the glorious power of Stands, that power offered by the gods themselves, fall into the hands of commoners so easily?" "We don't know enough about these five to assume they are commoners," Boullope pointed out, "For instance, Gazef noted one of them mentioned he was third of his name. That is not a practice commoners take."

Barbro rubbed his chin. "I suppose it is early to make assumptions about them. But I can't help think they might become obstacles in our plan, and experience has taught me that the lower class always tends to stand in the way of the elite on their way to greatness." His body glowed with the energy of his own Stand. "The last of the Spirit Tracks have just vanished thanks to your power, Boullope. Now we can unite this realm according to our ways, rather than that old fools."

George and Gyro were escorted to the room of Starlight Glimmer, the Star Princess of Re-Estize. "Your Majesty," Gazef said with bow. "Ah, I was told you returned," Starlight said as she stood up. George couldn't help but be awed by her beauty, especially her flowing indigo hair. "These two assisted me in stopping the attacks on the settlements," Gazef explained, "And now they wish to learn the secrets behind the tower." Starlight nodded. "If they could help you escape an obvious trap, they must be skilled."

She approached the duo. "Your assistance would be most welcomed. It has not been easy getting support to investigate the tower and discover the reason behind the disappearance of the Spirit Tracks, since I am not only a woman but an illegitimate child besides." George chuckled. "You and my younger brother Josuke would get along great." He still remembered when he and Holly learned about their younger brother. Unlike the rest of the family, they were eager to meet him, but George's nephew Jotaro insisted it would be too much family too soon.

Starlight giggled. "I'm glad you can understand my position. Fortunately, since I am still the daughter of the king by blood I do have some political clout, enough to rally strong or capable adventurers to aid me. I've been informed that the last of the Spirit Tracks has just disappeared, so time is of the essence. We'll be leaving for the tower at the end of the day. Gazef, I'd like you to come as well." Gazef saluted. "If Your Highness commands, though I fear for your father's safety in my absence."

Starlight chuckled as she shook her head. "Father's not going anywhere anytime soon. The Noble Faction isn't stupid enough to try political assassination, and despite his obvious age his health isn't fading. He's at least strong enough to walk about the castle without aid. My concern is for the kingdom at large. The Spirit Tracks are what united us, so I want to know why they have suddenly been disappearing. And if there is danger, it's best to have all the help we can muster. Understood?" "Of course," Gazef said. Gyro smirked. "Our fair princess knows how to get work done, right George?" He noticed George was still staring at Starlight and waved a hand in front of his friend's eyes.

You'll finally get to understand just what Down at the Station can do. Now I consider this to be the mightiest Stand ever conceived by anyone. You may disagree but that's your right as a human. I'm only giving my honest, albeit biased, opinion.

I should also mention, the alter verse that exists beyond the crack is a world of High Fantasy, where things like dragons, magic, monsters, and other fantasy elements do exist, in addition to Stands. Keep this in mind.

Several carriages traveled out to where the tower was located. "The base we are seeing is the true physical form of Down at the Station," Starlight clarified, "The rest is all forged from its power. I'm sure the Stand user will tell you more when we get inside." "And who is the Stand user?," George asked. "No one alive remembers his name," Gazef replied, "We only refer to him as the Ancient One, because he has somehow lived for almost 50,000 years, and his Stand is just as old."

"That coincides with the time of the meteor impact at Cape York," Gyro realized. "I'm guessing the place you refer to is where our realms converge," Starlight noted, "But your timeline is accurate. From all knowledge on the subject, it's very likely Down at the Station may be the first Stand to have ever existed." The carriages stopped outside the tower as Starlight emerged to greet the adventurers. She then noticed four she didn't recognize.

"Excuse me," she said to the obvious leader of the group, a young swordsman with blonde hair, "I don't think I recognize your group." "Ah," the man said, "Sorry, we're actually a group of workers from Baharuth. We were in Re-Estize for a bit when we heard about this job and thought it might be easy money. Name's Hekkeran Termite." A half-elf woman stepped forward. "I'm Imina." An armored priest nodded. "Roberdyck Goltron." A young female caster also approached. "And I'm Arche Eeb Rile Furt."

Starlight grinned. "Well, we're already here, so no point in having you turn back. But I'll have you keep close to me. That way I can keep you strong with the power of my Stand." She turned around, and George realized her dress had no back, leaving a tattoo completely exposed. The design and markings reminded George and Gyro of the Chinese concept of wu xing, or the five basic elements. "This is my Stand," Starlight explained, "Dove and Grenade. With it I can control the concepts of earth, fire, water, wood, and metal to either enhance or destroy, hence the name."

Inside the tower the group first noticed a large train centered on a rotary platform. "What is this?," Gazef asked. "That, my friend," came a voice whose tone suggested great age, "Was the Stand of my younger brother." The group turned to see an elderly gentleman standing there. His body still looked to be in his prime, but his face, beard, and white hair showed he was quite old. "You must be the Ancient One," Gyro surmised. "That is the name I go by these days," the Ancient One confirmed, "After so many millennia, even I have forgotten what my real name was."

"Then this is your Stand we're in right now," George said, "The others called it Down at the Station." "Ah, so you know of Stands then," the Ancient One replied, "It's a very powerful Stand, in spite of being completely useless for fighting. It is not a power meant to bring harm, or to curse others. It cannot heal, or cause anger, or even manipulate any facet of reality. What Down at the Station is meant to do... Is unite a realm." The words he spoke actually brought awe to all those present. "The power... To unite a realm...," Gazef muttered softly.

"But how does that work?," Hekkeran asked. "Simply put," the Ancient One explained, "Down at the Station extends the Spirit Tracks across the land. The tracks are made from Stand energy, but that energy is so powerful even non-Stand users can see it. Then any train can use the tracks, and even this very station, to move about the realm. The gratitude that comes with that unity travels back here, and makes the tracks more intricate. Eventually it gets to the point where a whole tower is needed just to keep track of all the trains coming and going."

"But what happened then?," Gyro asked. The Ancient One sighed. "A mysterious cabal forced its way into the tower using a deadly Stand that resembled a demonic train. They filled the upper floors of the tower with monsters, killed most my old workers, and caused the tower to come apart. This caused the Spirit Tracks to start to fade. They worked by breaking up the unity I had cultivated over centuries, just to weaken my defenses. But my actual Stand is not so easy to destroy. Normally I would have the means to repair the tracks, but the monsters are still on the upper levels. And as strong as I am, I am also old and outnumbered. Those few workers who still live fled months ago."

"That's why I came here with help," Starlight said, "How do we undo this?" The Ancient One smirked. "I see. Yes, with more Stand users it should be easy. We must travel to the upper floor of the station. There we'll find a rail map forged by my Stand. It will restore some of the tracks, enough that they can start to be rebuilt." He started walking up the stairs in the station, followed by several people, including George, Gazef, Starlight, and Gyro.

As it happened, Momonga and his team were also there. "Interesting," Nishikienrai said, "If this tower can lead to the energy sources, whatever they are, it's in our best interest to see the Spirit Tracks restored." Momonga nodded. "And we can make use of the unity created by this Stand to build a small power base within this realm." The three teammates traveled with the others to the upper floor. While up there, they discovered a group of metal armors.

"Strange," George said, "They all look identical." "The one who summoned them could only conjure a few different types," the Ancient One explained, "But then their leader used a power that seemed to replicate them endlessly." Many of the lesser adventurers seemed concerned, but Starlight smiled. "Dove and Grenade! Creation, wood feeds fire, fire creates earth, earth bears metal, metal collects water, water grows wood!" The outer circle of her Stand glowed as she chanted.

The adventurers gasped as their weapons, various swords and staves, glowed with energy. A strong warmth emerged from within them, encouraging them. The very ground beneath them seemed to give them strength. Several armors approached to attack. Gazef made the first offensive. "Dawn of Battle!" He clashed blades with one armor briefly before cleaving it in two. Gyro launched his own Stand's power. "Ball Breaker!" The sphere of energy hit another armor, reducing it to dust in seconds as rust overcame its form. He then blocked another blade with his Hamon. "Metal Silver Overdrive!"

Energy coursed through the armor, disrupting the magic that fed its life force and causing it to become a useless pile of scrap on the ground. George used his own Stand to block and cut through the armor creatures, while Starlight focused energy in her hand. "Destruction, wood parts earth, earth dams water, water douses fire, fire melts metal, metal chops wood!" The star within the circle of her tattoo glowed as she launched a sphere of elemental energy that spread out after hitting one armor to destroy several more.

Before long the horde was wiped out, letting the group reach a large chamber. The Ancient One approached a stone tablet on a pedestal in the center of the room. "This is where it all starts. This is a rail map that will energize my Stand's effect, allowing the Spirit Tracks to begin spreading. Now... Down at the Station!" The tablet glowed before turning into a ball of light that raced through the halls and back to the main station. Down below, the Ancient One looked at the map.

"It's already connecting several former stations," he noted, "Good. One last detail." "Wait," Hekkeran said, "What about the rest of the map?" "It's pieces lie on the upper floors of the tower," the Ancient One replied, "But we cannot access them until they are connected to four special magical reservoirs, which help feed magic through the line and allow trains to run without need for fuel. This is not entirely the power of my Stand, just a side-effect of its abilities. That is why the tower became disconnected, because its functions became temporarily obsolete."

He pointed to the large train. "But that train, my brother's Stand, is the exception. With it we can restore the full power of the Spirit tracks." "And where is your brother?," Gazef asked. The Ancient One sighed. "He's long been dead. However... This Stand has a unique property to it. It somehow merged with ore from the stone that creates Stand power, and thus can continue to exist without him. Every time its user dies, it waits patiently for the next one, a person with Stand potential but no Stand."

He then eyed Hekkeran. "But you... You were drawn here somehow. Most of the group here came from Re-Estize, but you appear to be from Baharuth. I wonder... Why not try it out for yourself?" Hekkeran, encouraged by his teammates, entered the train. Instantly, the train came to life, various functions activating. "As I thought!," the Ancient One said excitedly, "Once again, Ticket to Ride makes ready for the line!" Hekkeran smiled in excitement as him team boarded as well, Imina hugging him in delight.

"We'll be sure to make use of this gift you gave us," Starlight said. She, George, Gyro, and Gazef got on as well. The other adventurers chose to remain behind, ready for when the next level of the tower connected. Or at least most of them did, as Momonga and his team left while no one was looking. "We'll return to E-Rantel for now," Momonga noted, "Our adventures lie elsewhere, but I get the feeling we'll be running into those four several more times as we try to find out who this mysterious cabal is. They are certain to be a great obstacle."

"Hey did you hear?," came the scuttlebutt around the guild hall, "Some of the Spirit Tracks started reappearing." "That's good news. Maybe they just needed to do some maintenance on the tower." "Nah, the tower is made from Stand energy. It's supposed to be indestructible. I doubt it would suffer from wear and tear." "They sure seem excited," Narberal noted. "Naturally," Momonga replied, "After all, taking a train to their home settlements is more convenient than a long horse or carriage ride."

"Our main concern should be finding a new job," Peroroncino noted. He had joined the group after they returned to E-Rantel. "Hey there," came the cheerful voice of a young man. The group looked to see another troupe of adventurers. "You must be the new guys," the man who spoke earlier said, "My name's Peter Mork, and this is my team, the Swords of Darkness." A smarmy blonde male archer grinned. "Name's Lukeluther Volve." A young spellcaster, who Peroroncino recognized as a girl but for some reason was dressed as a man, spoke up. "I'm Ninya." Finally there was a heavyset male druid. "And I'm Dine Woodwonder."

Peter nodded. "We were actually in the middle of accepting an escort mission, but monster patrols have been stronger along the path, so we felt we need some more help. You guys look pretty strong, and you're obviously Stand users like we are." Momonga nodded. "Sounds like a good chance to get to know the local area. But why an escort? I've been hearing that the Spirit Tracks are slowly returning." "Slowly being the operative word there," Dine pointed out, "Plus even with the Spirit Tracks coming back, until the magic that runs through them is restored, trains can't run as efficiently as they used to. So escort missions are still viable for the time being."

Nishikienrai nodded. "Fair enough. So what's the job?" A young blonde man with heavy bangs walked up. "This is Nfirea Bareare," Peter explained, "He's a potent magic caster and alchemist. His grandmother owns the most prominent potion shop in the kingdom. But right now he has to take a delivery to Carne Village, which is still recovering after the recent attacks." "I have a friend there that I want to make sure is alright," Nfirea explained, "But the path has become dangerous as of late." Momonga nodded. "I see. I'm familiar with Carne Village. We'll gladly accept the mission."

Meanwhile, the Joestar Team had visited the settlement of Whittleton, a logging community. Mercifully it had completely avoided the attacks from Slane, though it likely would have been right in their sights had Sigun's forces not been stopped at Carne Village. The chief of Whittleton directed the group to a small sanctuary that was meant to be charged so as to energize the Spirit Tracks. Once they reached the location, Arche was able to energize the shrine with her magic. "Looks like it worked," Hekkeran said when he checked the map inside Ticket to Ride, "The tracks have extended to a nearby temple."

"That temple likely holds one of the magic sources needed to energize the Spirit Tracks," George noted, "But in all likelihood, whoever attacked the main station targeted the temple as well. There's bound to be plenty of enemies. Not to mention at least one Stand user." "And a powerful one at that," Gyro noted. "If you can drive them out of the temple," Hekkeran said, "I can finish them off. Ticket to Ride has plenty of firepower. And I don't need to be inside my Stand to use them."

Meanwhile, the two adventuring teams had run into trouble as a group of ogres accosted them. Narberal had no Stand of her own, but she did have powerful magic abilities. The others made good use of their Stands. "Undead!" Momonga launched a barrage of elemental strikes. "Turning Japanese!" Nishikienrai sliced through most of the horde faster than blinking. "Black Crow!" Peroroncino summoned his own Stand, a bird man with tan skin and two sets of wings.

The birdman Stand conjured a giant tornado from its fists that blew away several ogres. Peter smirked. "There's no way we're getting left behind! Metheny Group!" Three copies of Peter instantly appeared, each copying his sword strikes as he slashed through a group of ogres using his Stand's power. Lukeluther pushed his hair back. "My turn. Roundabout!" He took aim and fired at several ogres. The arrows instantly grew in size, turning black as they did. They seemed to seek out their targets, freezing them once they were hit.

"You're up Ninya!," Lukeluther called out. Ninya nodded. "Jodeci!" Around the frozen ogres, uniform glass shards appearing, spearing the ogres in short order. Dine flexed his muscles as the last of the Ogres approached. "Savage Garden!" The grass around the charging ogres started to grow exponentially and wrap around their legs to trap them, letting Dine finish them off with his gauntlets. "That should wrap it up," Momonga said, "But the sun is setting. We should make camp for the night."

"You guys are pretty strong," Peter noted, "What are you doing adventuring, anyway?" "I guess you could say it's a way to gather information," Peroroncino replied. He was going by the nickname "Peron" for the purpose of the team. "We wound up in this realm through unknown means and were cut off from the outside world for a while," Nishikienrai explained, "So for now we're just soaking up info." He looked to the other group. "What about you guys?"

"We have various reasons," Peter replied, "Our primary one is to live up to the legacy of a legendary hero who helped our realm a hundred years ago. A man by the name of Jonathan Joestar." Momonga raised an eyebrow. He didn't know how the old enemy of his former employer wound up in this world, but it would bear investigation. "Each of us also has individual reason," Peter noted, "Like Ninya who wants to find her sister. And Lukeluther..."

Lukeluther was busy trying to sweet talk Narberal. She smirked at his attempts. "Look, don't get me wrong," she said, "You're very attractive, like a beetle with a shiny carapace. But I prefer to get to know a man before I decided whether or not I'll let him in my skirt." Lukeluther blushed. "It's not like I was trying that right away! I respect women too much to try that!" "Then you're already much better than most men who lay eyes on me," Narberal admitted. That got the group laughing.

The next day, they finally reached Carne Village. But something was different from last time. "Hey," Peroroncino said, "Was that big fence here last time?" "No it wasn't," Momonga noted. Just then, several green-skinned humanoid creatures wearing light armor and wielding small arms appeared from the tall grass, eyeing the group warily. "Goblins," Dine noted, "As long as we make no sudden movements they won't attack. They're trying to decide whether we're a threat or not."

"But what are goblins doing at the village?," Nfirea asked. "What's going here?," came Enri's voice as she approached. "Oh, hey boss," said the lead goblin in a friendly tone, "We just saw spotted some newcomers and got a little wary, that's all." Enri noticed Nfirea and smiled. "Oh, Enfy. It's okay Jugem, this is a friend of mine. The others were likely escorting him." The leader, Jugem apparently, nodded. The villagers also recognized Momonga and welcomed him back.

"So you called these goblins?," Momonga asked. "It's part of a latent Stand that I have yet to fully awaken," Enri explained, "Ever since I was a little girl I've been able to command aid from goblins. Jugem and his troop heard my pleas for help defending the village when it was clear we couldn't survive if a second attack occurred." "Ever since we've been helping around the village," Jugem said, "Hunting in the woods, building up the defenses, and training the men-folk to fight."

"It's not uncommon for goblins and humans to live side-by-side," Dine noted, "Out of all the demi-human species, goblins are the friendliest to humans." Momonga nodded. "It'll be good for this village to have defenders until the full power of the Spirit Tracks is restored." He noticed a station just outside the wall that indicated the town already was connected. 'I wonder if George and his team will come here eventually. Well, for the time being we're heading down different paths, so it might be a while before I see him again.'

Since Enri's Stand isn't fully awake, it won't be going on the Stand archive. Yet...

As for how Johnathan wound up in the alter verse, I'll be explaining that soon enough.

Finally, I wonder if you guys can recognize the references I was making with the Swords of Darkness' Stands...

It was recommended to me that I not make the fights easy. Honestly, that'll depend on how many fights I have per chapter. For example, the fights you'll be seeing here are meant to be easy, one because it'll be an established regular, the others for the catharsis factor.

"This is supposed to be the place," Momonga said. His group had traveled all the way to the ancient temple, dedicate to the spirits of the forest, to solve a crisis the people of Carne Village were concerned with. The Wise King of the Forest, a mysterious beast that kept dangerous monsters away from the village, had gone missing. "Hey look," Peroroncino said, "That's the same train from Down at the Station. That means George and his team are here somewhere."

"The legendary train," Ninya said in awe, "Legend says that it chooses its conductor at will." "The legends aren't completely unfounded," Nishikienrai said, "The train is in fact a Stand, and one of its abilities is to accept a new user when its old one dies. The current user is a worker from Baharuth named Hekkeran." "What took you guys?," came the familiar voice of George. The group turned to see him on a balcony above the platform, the rest of his team with him.

"We were just about to explore the temple," Gazef said, "Somewhere inside is a magic well that will channel magical energy through the Spirit Tracks." "We're here looking for a wayward forest spirit," Momonga replied, "Our search led us here." Gyro looked at the four newcomers. "Friends of yours?" "We took a job together," Nishikienrai explained. After full introductions were made, the group started heading through the temple. Inside were numerous monsters, guarding a winding dungeon gauntlet.

It wasn't long before they reached a large room. Within was nothing more than a giant hamster, one with an unusually long and reptilian tail. The creature didn't seem to use this tail very much, however, instead merely charging and trying to run down the crew. "Something's wrong with its eyes," Narberal noticed, "They're glassed over. I think someone is controlling this beast." Arche landed after jumping out of the way of one charge. "I possess a talent that lets me see magic potential and Stand power. Let me see if I can detect something on this creature."

Her eyes began to glow. "This creature has a Stand of its own but I don't think it's using it." "Stands are tied to the soul of the Stand user," George noted, "So controlling their body using outside forces won't let you control their Stand. Whoever's doing this either doesn't realize that fact, or doesn't know this hamster is a Stand user." "There's definitely signs that something is controlling this poor beast," Arche said. Gyro stood in front of the hamster. "Then let's see if we can't negate that! Hamon Hypnosis!"

He charged his Hamon through his fingertips and placed them near the hamster's head. The effect was instant, the creature stopped trying to attack and looked around in confusion. "Where have I found myself?," it said in a high-pitched voice. "It speaks," Momonga noted, "So it's intelligent. Hamster, do you go by some name?" "Name?," the hamster replied, "To those in the forest I am known as the Beast of the South. To the humans in the nearby village I am called the Wise King of the Forest. But mere titles, these are. I do not have a true name."

"Then perhaps we can give you a name," Momonga offered. The hamster nodded. "Yes please. And perhaps some knowledge as to how I wound up here. The last thing I remember is an old human. She uttered a phrase that caused this king to fall asleep. Then I awoke within this temple. I recognize the feel of it. The ancient Forest Temple, it is." Momonga thought for a moment, then came up with something. "Why don't we name you... Hamsuke?" The hamster regarded the name. "Yes, that does sound pleasant. Then I shall henceforth be known as Hamsuke."

"What about your Stand?," George asked, "Does it have a name?" Hamsuke flexed its tail. "My Stand does indeed have its own name. I refer to it as Tiger by the Tail. A mere prehensile tail it is, but it is both strong and fast." Hamsuke demonstrated by smashing a few large insects that decided to attack. "And for the record, Hamsuke is a female, so please to do not refer to me as 'it'." George chuckled. "My niece-in-law would have a field day with her."

The growing group made their way through the temple, noticing large purple clouds that made Hamsuke fur rustle. "My instincts are telling me those clouds are dangerous..." "Poison perhaps," Momonga suggested, "Likely a natural defense of the temple, now turned against us." "Leave the cleanup to me," Peroroncino offering, "Black Crow!" A large gust of wind from his Stand cleared the clouds easily, eventually revealing a small pedestal.

Arche examined the pedestal. "This seems to be a major source of the magic flow from the temple through the Spirit Tracks, but it's not active right now. I've felt it since we entered. The magic of the temple has been drained somehow." "That bodes ill," Hamsuke noted, "If there is someone able to drain the temple of its magic, they are likely a fearsome and deadly foe. This one suggests caution." George searched out with his Hamon. "There is one other living being on the same floor as us, but behind a few walls, in a chamber we can't get to from here. We'll have to press on."

The group soon made their way to the chamber in question. Waiting for them was a figure in a black cloak. A sign of short-blonde hair could be seen, as well as armored leggings peeking from underneath. The subtle bulging near the chest of the figure told the group that this was a woman. "You'd better have more than leggings on," Starlight noted, "Otherwise that's rather indecent. Assuming you're not some prostitute hoping to seduce us."

The figure smiled. "Seduce?," she said, her voice confirming she was a woman, "I had considered that, but then I thought it would be so much more fun to torture." She threw her cloak off, revealing her full figure. The armor she wore was somewhat revealing, showing her naval and a decent amount of cleavage, but was otherwise seen as sensible. Lukeluther grimaced. "I've heard of this woman. It's the infamous Adventurer Killer, Clementine. They say her armor is lined with the plates of every adventurer she's ever killed."

"It's mostly copper plates," Momonga noted, "I think I can gauge your relative strength from that." Clementine chuckled. "Clever aren't we? You know, me and my boss had another job we were planning on pulling off, but we were hired for this little gig. Apparently, the one behind the demon train doesn't want people snooping around this old temple. Well, I couldn't care less. Personally, I never bothered leaving the capital, so what do I care what happened with the Spirit Tracks? But... A job's a job." She grinned maliciously. "And I just love my job."

She suddenly dashed at speeds so fast, the only reason George was able to counter was because of his Hamon. Clementine looked shocked at this. "You tracked me!?" "Your speed can't disguise your life force," he said cryptically, before launching his Stand power into Clementine's exposed stomach, causing her to wince. She dug out the sharp implement and blinked in shock. "Fingernails...?" She then saw the small imp floating around George and grinned. "I see... Well, as it happens I have a Stand too..." Her eyes turned solid black. "Throat Full of Glass!"

George suddenly found himself coughing up blood, and he quickly jabbed himself with a Hamon healing technique. "That Stand power... I took damage but felt no pain." Clementine smirked, but then screamed out as shards of glass cut through her exposed flesh. Ninya smirked, having used her Stand to attack. "When you stand still you're vulnerabilities are obvious." Behind Momonga, a black portal appeared. A middle-aged man, Momonga's friend Amanomahitotsu, stepped out of it. "Momonga. I've finished it."

Momonga grinned. Amanomahitotsu was speaking of something created by his Stand, Sabaton, a giant crab-like humanoid. The Stand tossed a couple of giant broadswords colored black, which Momonga caught easily. Clementine spat out a little blood. "Fine... You're next!" Lukeluther decided otherwise as he took aim. "Roundabout!" Clementine at first changed direction to avoid the arrows, but gasped when they continued to turn and move to track her. Her speed finally started to fail her as the Stand hit home, freezing her in place.

Momonga chuckled as he approached. "I'm sure you'd be a significant threat in a world without Stands," he noted, "But here, you're more what we'd call a jobber." To demonstrate what he meant, he swung his blade, easily cleaving Clementine in two. She was still mostly alive, and tried one more attack. "T-Throat--" "Jodeci!" Ninya proved faster, impaling Clementine's head with a giant shard of glass, cutting her off and ending her terror forever.

Ninya stretched out a little. "That felt cathartic. Clementine's killed several of our friends back at the guild. Glad to finally have her shut up once and for all." "There's still the matter of her boss," Nishikienrai noted, "Perhaps he can elaborate on their intentions before being tasked with guarding the temple." "If he is anywhere within these walls," Starlight noted, "It's likely the level above, just before the temple's shrine. And if Clementine had a Stand, he likely will as well."

The group spotted an old man in a black cloak and holding a staff like a walking stick, the disappointment evident on his face. "So you defeated Clementine. That will set my plans back quite a bit. She was an old friend of mine, you see, and a talented hired muscle for my cult. Taking that alchemist will be much harder now." "Harder still when we take you out next," Hekkeran bragged, "You're a necromancer, right? Well our two friends here..." He indicted George and Gyro. "Have powers custom made for dealing with monsters and undead."

The necromancer chuckled. "Is that so? Well even if that is the case, numbers may prove the better factor in this case. Ah, but I should introduce myself. I am Khajiit Dale Badantel. And this..." A small bone dragon about the size of a human appeared. "Is my Stand, Day of the Dead. It's power is meant to be the catalyst for my plans, but in the meantime it should prove efficient for dealing with you." The Stand opened a container on its chest, causing various skeletons to emerge.

"Not good," Peter said, "Looks like he's taken a trip to the Katze Plains, home to numerous undead." "A necessary stop," Khajiit replied, "There are so few dead beings to work with here in the Forest Temple. Fortunately, Day of the Dead can contain undead beings within itself to transport elsewhere. Now, go Day of the Dead!" Day of the Dead roared as the skeletons moved to attack. Hamsuke rushed in first. "Tiger by the Tail!" Her massive tail easily smashed a whole horde of skeletons to dust in just one swipe.

Khajiit grimaced. "So you broke the creature free from her control. That makes things more difficult. I'm told her Stand can only work on a monster once. No matter, I made sure to pack plenty of undead creatures, and Day of the Dead can always reanimate more if need be." To prove his point, he had his Stand release two giant bone dragons. "Great," Dine said, "Those things are immune to magic." "Not entirely," Narberal clarified, "Any magic that is seventh tier or stronger can affect them, but mere humans cannot use such strong spells."

Momonga grinned. "Allow me to demonstrate with a spell of my own. Undead! Chain Dragon Lightning!" The massive bolt rocked through the first bone dragon, reducing it to dust in seconds. Meanwhile George rushed at the second dragon, Peter using Metheny Group to clear a path through the skeletal horde. Once close enough, George channeled his Hamon through his Stand. "Sunlight Yellow Overdrive!" Khajiit watched in shock as George and his punch traveled up the bone dragon, causing fissures along its form until it collapsed from the light energy being channeled into it.

"That energy!," Khajiit realized, "Like the Turn Undead spell or revival techniques!" "You figured it out," Gyro said right behind him. Nearby, Starlight activated her own powers. "Dove and Grenade! Pure water, cleanse these undead!" A torrent of water splashed down on the skeletons, washing them clean and disrupting the magic that held them together without ligaments. "It doesn't look like you brought any more," Gyro noted, seeing his allies clean up the rest of the undead.

Khajiit noticed Ball Breaker creating a sphere in its hand. "What is that supposed to do?" "Oh this?," Gyro said, "Ball Breaker's power let's it age whatever it hits into dust. And with how old you are already, it shouldn't take long." Khajiit barely had enough time to gasp in shock as Gyro called out, "Ball Breaker!" The group looked as the only thing left of Khajiit was his dusty cloak. "So much for the interference," George said, "But your Stand scares me sometimes."

Just then, Momonga got a call via Message spell. 'We have a problem,' came Herohero's voice, 'Someone took control of Shalltear.' Shalltear Bloodfallen was one of the guardians of the tomb, a vampire that was centuries old yet still looked like she was in her twenties, petite but still with a decent figure. And much like Albedo, she had developed an attraction to Momonga. Momonga grimaced at the thought of one of his allies getting brainwashed. "Tell me what happened."

Prior to the journey to the Forest Temple, Momonga and his group were making plans. Once the Spirit Tracks were restored, they had their chance to stake their own claim on the world. To that end, they needed to learn as much of it as possible, beyond the use of Stands. That meant learning what other powers were possible, what was where, how the political scene worked, and what criminal elements existed if any. The most logical place to start was E-Rantel in the Re-Estize kingdom.

Herohero volunteered to infiltrate the higher society of the city as a wealthy merchant, using the rebranded gold from the tomb to show proof of his wealth. As part of that, one of the Pleiades, special assassins that dressed as maids, was chosen to pose as his wife. The one who volunteered was Solution Epsilon, a human slime who had gained an attraction to Herohero due to the possibilities his Stand presented to her as a woman. In addition, they would be aided by the loyal butler of the tomb, a dragonoid named Sebas Tian. Sebas looked like an old yet fit man, but was actually in his twenties.

It wasn't long before Herohero, going under the pseudonym Hiroshi Balba, learned of a group called the Death Spreading Brigade, and a mysterious individual who combined Stand power with something called Martial Arts, special techniques that could either enhance skills or deliver devastating blows. Curious, Herohero had summoned Shalltear as extra insurance. "Despite not having a Stand of your own," he explained, "Your strength may prove the tipping point when encountering him. Please keep in mind that we don't know just what this person's Stand might be, only rumors."

"Of course," Shalltear said, "To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure I'd be more useful with a Stand. Your former master, DIO Brando, gained a Stand after becoming a vampire yet was still defeated." They were being driven through the city by a man named Zach. Herohero had already pegged the guy as a member of the very group they were targeting and confronted him over it. Once they learned his backstory, that his sister had been sold into slavery while he was conscripted into war, they made him an offer. Betray the Death Spreading Brigade in exchange for assistance in finding his sister. Since said brigade never helped him, and they'd likely do unspeakable things to his sister if they ever did find her, Zach agreed.

For his first job Zach was asked to do what he normally did like nothing was wrong, single out rich folk for the brigade to do with as they liked. And here was a prize the group knew the brigade couldn't resist, a rich merchant with plenty of gold on hand and a flawless blonde beauty as his wife. Before long the group was ready to make its move. While at a local inn, Solution made a very vocal dislike about her meal and announced her decision to leave.

Zach was passed a small communication spell as he left to play his part. Inside their shared room, Solution kept a secret eye on the meeting. "He made contact?," Herohero asked. "Yes," Solution said, "He's making an impressive performance, but it seems he understands his place. Though he did make it seem like he's still with the brigands by asking to have his turn inside me. But the charm we slipped on him notes that he hasn't decided to turn on us last minute."

Herohero chuckled. While they did believe Zach's story, they were hardly naive. It would have been all too easy for Zach to double-cross them, so they made sure to have a few contingency plans in place. Later the group was being driven to the ambush site. With them Shalltear and two of her brides. "So Shalltear," Herohero said, "I don't think I've ever heard of a vampire being born." "Both my parents became vampires because of odd stone masks," Shalltear explained, "I was the result of their union."

'The same type of stone mask that gave DIO his vampirism no doubt,' Herohero thought, 'So some of them made their way to this realm.' 'Heads up,' came Zach's voice through the communication device, 'I've just sent the signal.' "Very good," Herohero said, "Shalltear, you head out first. It will get the brigands to lower their guard. The first one to approach will likely be the leader. Feel free to kill him, it will send the others in a panic. The rest must be captured to sort out back at the tomb. And above all, we need to find their hideout."

"Of course," Shalltear said. The carriage was quickly stopped and a gruff voice called out, "All right, come on out of there." Shalltear grinned as she complied. The brigand had a leering look as he spotted the pale beauty. "Well now. We weren't expecting extra company, but I won't complain. I trust you won't resist." He reached out to grab Shalltear's breast, only to gasp in shock and pain when his hand came clean off. "I'll thank you not to touch without permission," Shalltear said, slicing through the brigand leader's neck to decapitate him.

The two vampire brides emerged next. "Remember, the others are to be taken alive, but feel free to remove the odd limb if necessary." Zach watched from a safe distance as the brigands were corralled and captured. One spotted Solution and Herohero and made to run them through. Solution smirked as she stood in the way of the blow, but Herohero saw the blade was longer than it looked. "Chemical Romance!" Zach gasped as Herohero's body got sucked into a small sphere, only to be replaced by a gelatinous copy.

The brigand, having not seen this, thought he scored a victory, but gasped when he saw no blood coming from either target. "Lord Herohero," Solution said, "May I have this one? Please?" Herohero shrugged. "I suppose he deserves a harsh lesson for his arrogance." Zach watched in disgust as Solution's slime body absorbed and consumed the brigand, his screams quickly being drowned. "Glad I wasn't serious about wanting to be inside her," he noted, "It would not end well for me."

"Mistress," one of the brides said as she held up one of the captive brigands, "This one has knowledge of their base, where a powerful Stand user resides." "That would be Brain Unglaus," Zach said once he saw the melee was over, "Not only is he a Stand user, he has powerful Martial Arts. He was able to fight on equal level to the legendary Gazef Stronoff." "Gazef is a powerful Stand user in his own right," Sebas noted, "Lord Herohero saw his Stand's power first-hand. If this Brain can fight on equal level, he is one to investigate."

"Then with your permission Lord," Shalltear said, "I shall attend to this matter personally." "Very well," Herohero replied, "But remember that Brain must be kept alive. Keep in mind that even if he cannot handle someone of your power, that does not mean he is weak." Shalltear nodded. "Yes, I remember. It's all about the context. What of anyone else that may be inside the base?" Herohero shrugged. "We have plenty of subjects for experimentation right here. Feel free to dispose of anyone else you find." Shalltear smiled, then rushed off at surprising speed.

Brain was quick to hear about the vampire ravaging through their hideout and went to investigate. He gasped when he saw the young woman, having finished feeding on one of the other brigands. "You must be Brain Unglaus," she said, "I am Shalltear Bloodfallen. I've heard you possess some unique skills. I've come to test them." Brain chuckled. "So you came all this way just to see me. I gotta say, I'm flattered. But given you finished eating one of my allies I doubt you have any good intentions regarding me."

He placed a hand on his katana, and suddenly a field of energy surrounded him. "This is a Martial Art I developed on my own. It's a sword field that increases my perception to its utmost limit. I've learned a few Martial Arts over time, and can combine otherwise incompatible ones using my Stand..." A golden energy surrounded him. "Hybrid Theory!" Several flashes of color appeared, and Shalltear licked her lips as she felt his strength increase. "This should be fun. Allow me to test the limits of your skill."

She stepped into the field without fear, then began to quickly block a number of sword slashes that seemed to come from all angles at once, before blocking a more frontal attack with just her palm. She was pleasantly surprised to feel some blood seeping out. "That's impressive for a human. That Stand of yours means I actually have to try and defend myself." Brain backed off for a moment as he saw Shalltear heal herself. "Looks like I'm not strong enough yet."

Shalltear's nose suddenly twitched. "Seems there's interlopers outside. I must not be the only one to have ferreted out your little hideout. We'll have to continue this another time. But I will say this much..." She started to turn around. "You'll never get stronger simply preying on the weak. Your talents would be far better suited fighting those that are strong." And with that, she rushed outside. Brain sighed. "Something tells me she only showed a fraction of what she's capable of. Maybe I should take her advice to heart."

Back in the present, Herohero finished the story. 'The last thing we heard was Shalltear encountering a group of adventurers, likely tasked with removing the brigade on the payroll of Slane. One of them was the adventurer Brita, who explained that their handler, an elderly woman named Kaire, took control of Shalltear using her Stand, Calling All the Monsters.' "Likely the Stand that took control of Hamsuke," Momonga noted, "Where are they now?" 'She spoke of joining an ally at the Forest Temple,' Herohero explained.

Momonga nodded. "All right, thanks for the intel." He stopped the spell. "There are two Stand users waiting for us at the top of the temple, one of them has control of a valued friend. George, Gyro, I should mention this friend is a vampire, so..." "Relax," George said, "We'll aim for the one controlling her. Our Hamon should be able to pick them out. It's this other unknown Stand user that concerns me." They started to approach the top floor.

"Why bring this vampire here?," said a large humanoid figure. In front of him was the elderly Kaire, Shalltear next to her. "I thought our faction's leader could make use of such a powerful being. My Stand had yet to take control of a vampire, and I could not pass up the chance." "Our leader has more than enough muscle for our plans," the figure said, "In fact, he has no more need for you. Which is why I will be doing nothing to prevent your assassination." Kaire looked confused. "What assassination?" She then found herself frozen before several sharp nails ran through her throat.

As she lay dying, the figure smirked. "That assassination." Shalltear started to regain her senses as Kaire finished dying. "Good, you're feeling better," came a warm voice she was grateful to hear. "Lord Momonga!," she called out as she turned around, seeing the familiar armor of her master. Sobbing in relief, she ran to hug him. "I have no idea what's going on, but I realized that someone was trying to control me! Thank goodness you came to save me!" "Quite the reverse," Momonga said with a grin, "It's more like you were brought to me so I could save you."

"So much for allies," Hekkeran noted. The figure approached, revealing himself to be a lizardman. "That woman had been useful for gaining soldiers, but our leader can copy them endlessly with his own Stand." "Well," Peter said, "Now we have a clue as to what he does. So what of you? Why's a lizardman working in this project? If anyone needs the Spirit Tracks, it's your people." "They are not my people anymore," the lizardman replied, "I was exiled from my tribe because I backed a leader that encouraged cannibalism as a means to survive during a food shortage."

He breathed deep. "Now I, Stagnox, have been tasked with making sure this magic well remains closed. And so I shall... With the power of my Stand! The Beetle!" Instantly a suit of armor appeared over him, looking like an armored carapace seeping with poison mist, the horn looking like that of a stag beetle, and possessing wings as well. He rushed in to attack, prompting Hamsuke to make the first move. "Tiger by the Tail!" Stagnox found himself having to block to avoid damage, and even then he was sent flying across the room.

"Beware the mist!," Starlight called out, "It's poisonous, and likely a by-product of his Stand!" Stagnox quickly charged at her, but she was ready. "Dove and Grenade!" Her body became covered in metal, including a protective covering for her mouth and nose, as she used the added durability to stop Stagnox's charge. She then stomped on the ground, sending him flying when the earth erupted beneath him. Quickly he stopped himself in mid-air using his Stand's wings.

He quickly flew in with a diving charge, knocking Starlight over, where she was caught by George. "Thank you," she said, "But he hits hard, and his Stand provides solid defense." Stagnox charged again, this time slamming into Momonga, though Momonga's own armor and swords allowed for a stalemate, causing Stagnox to throw Momonga behind him using his horn. He then took to the air again as Peroroncino attacked with Black Crow. "There's no way you'll find the strength to overpower me!," Stagnox declared.

"Hekkeran!," George called out, "Now's the time to use your Stand's munitions!" "On it!," Hekkeran replied, "Ticket to Ride!" Stagnox looked surprised when the legendary train appeared and surrounded him with its tracks. "It has a new user?" He didn't have long to ponder this, as he found himself having to defend against the four powerful weapons that Ticket to Ride had on hand, especially it's powerful mortar launcher. As Stagnox plummeted to the ground, George ran to intercept him. "Tusk Act 4!"

The Beetle got slammed with Tusk's Hamon charged fist, and it just kept on attacking. "ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!" Stagnox got flung across the room, his Stand holding but showing signs of damage. He charged again, this time managing to slam into George, who only barely managed to put up a Hamon defense to prevent major damage. Momonga rushed in and batted Stagnox aside with his blade before calling on his own Stand. "Undead! Vacuum Wave!" A secondary wave of cutting air sliced through the room, nailing Stagnox as he put his guard up.

"George! Gyro!," Hekkeran called out, "We've got one more trick up our sleeve! Follow me!" He leapt onto Ticket to Ride, George and Gyro following. The train Stand sped up until it began to charge right at Stagnox, before opening its cockpit to allow the two Hamon users, mounted on their steeds, to shoot out at high speed. "Tusk Act 4!" "Ball Breaker!" Both of them launched their signature projectiles, charged with Hamon. "Complete! Twin Railgun Overdrive!" Stagnox was hit by both attacks, which finally broke through his defenses, striking him down.

"My only regret...," he said as he started bleeding out, "Is I never... Got to see my sister Crusch... Find a mate..." He collapsed, his Stand dissipating. Starlight then approached the magic well in the center. "Now... How do we activate this...?" Her answer came when the well seemed to activate on its own, glowing as a device rose out from its depths, before twisting like the gear it resembled, finally shooting a beam of energy that ran along the Spirit Tracks, returning to Down at the Station.

"That's created a few new tracks," Starlight noted, "Perhaps the Ancient One can explain how the magic well reactivated without us really doing anything." "We have our own plans to make," Momonga said, indicating his faction, "But if our paths cross again, we'll be willing to lend our aid. Good luck in your quest. May we all get what we desire from this venture." And with that, Momonga's group left. "We should head back to the station tower," George noted, "This mission has only yet begun."

I hope that makes things clear. Momonga and his team are not really with George and his friends, but they're not against them either. Also, I included a new paragraph from my original draft to highlight just how strong Stagnox could be, insuring the fight's difficulty didn't come solely from how durable he was. I hope the effect is what I wanted.

Just a little filler episode to wind down after a major battle. I'm actually planning on stopping my habit of writing ahead, just so I can try and take advantage of some of the constructive criticism I've received. Once I get caught up, I'll try and flesh out George's personality a little more. There is a major character point I did hit on when I heard that bit of criticism.

"I think half the kingdom saw that light," Boullope noted. He and Barbro had spotted the flash of light that indicated the magic well in the Forest Temple had reactivated. "Stagnox is dead then," Barbro said, "I had higher hopes for a prime example of the lizardmen's physical superiority. Or perhaps... He was simply overwhelmed." "And Kaire has been slain as well," Boullope said, "But that's of lesser concern. With your Stand's power, my prince, we no longer need her ability."

"Speaking of that," Barbro said, "Perhaps you should unleash a certain ability your Stand possesses, Boullope. With the Spirit Tracks returning, trains will start running again. Whoever defeated Stagnox is likely riding on such a train." He grinned. "But ordinary trains cannot stand up to your power. Our plans are not stymied just yet." Boullope smirked. "Yes... I believe a few terrors on the tracks should drive the point home. That our organization will not tolerate usage of those tracks, unless we permit them."

Gazef got a pleasant surprise when he noticed Brain sitting in a local tavern. "Hey," Brain said, "It's been a while." "I thought you joined a bandit troupe hoping to get more chances to fight." "Ah, it wasn't all it was cracked up to be," Brain explained, "Plus, just the other night I ran into a powerful vampire. She was crazy strong too. The only reason I even drew blood was because of my Stand's power. She left off the fight to deal with another issue, but suggested I stop trying to get strong by preying on those weaker than me."

Gazef chuckled. "It's strange times when monsters make sense. Then perhaps you'd be willing to offer some assistance. I don't know if you've heard this, but Princess Starlight is working to restore the Spirit Tracks." "Yeah, I saw a massive flash of energy travel along the familiar tracks as I entered the kingdom," Brain noted, "I heard some scuttlebutt about a collective intending on uniting the realm under their own terms, and needed the Spirit Tracks out of the way to enforce that."

"They'll find themselves hard pressed to enforce their will," Gazef said with a smirk, "Starlight has surrounded herself with powerful allies. And one of them even awoke the legendary train, obtaining a Stand called Ticket to Ride. I saw it happen with my own two eyes. As we continue on this endeavor, an extra blade would be appreciated, especially if it has a Stand behind it. You're probably one of the strongest men in the realm, and by now criminal elements may be at work to consolidate their holdings."

Brain considered it. "Why not? Being a bandit did nothing to improve my skills. Defending the kingdom can't do any worse. But from the sounds of it, there's some powerful political games being played even as we speak, and that concerns me." Gazef nodded. "No doubt. Even Starlight has her own reasons for needing the Spirit Tracks restored. But at the same time, she has not only the kingdom's best interest in mind, but the whole realm's."

Momonga had returned to the ancient tomb, which the clan had come to call Nazarick. "How are our goals proceeding?," he asked of Demiurge, the loyal demon who served the tomb and its masters. "Lord Herohero is looking into the matter of a group called Eight Fingers that operate within the Re-Estize Kingdom," Demiurge noted, "Lord Ulbert is aiding him. Lord Takemikazuchi is making ready to enter negotiation with the lizardmen tribes. With any luck we can get them united in time for the Spirit Tracks to reach them."

"The Ancient One said his power was to unite," Momonga noted, "But from the way he described his power, it's clear he cannot do so on his own, and must rely on the power and influence of others to spread that power. Knowing this, forces that desire to see the realm united once more will be working towards that. But what of the faction that had the Spirit Tracks erased?" "We're still investigating," Demiurge admitted, "Whoever they are, they likely have either great authority or great power. Likely both."

"And what of our protectorate in Carne Village?," Momonga asked. "That young alchemist convinced his grandmother to join him, having her business sold to our holdings," Demiurge replied, "The research Nfirea can accomplish is definitely worth the investment. We have Lupisregina Beta looking over the village. The goblins that were summoned have increased the defense of the town and begun training able-bodied members of the community to defend themselves, in the event of further attacks."

Momonga nodded. 'It feels strange, being in a position of power like this. I'm glad I have friends to share it with. This would likely be a trial on my own. In the meantime, I wonder how George and his group are handling things. We caught our mutual enemies off-guard this time, but we won't be so lucky now that one of the wells is restored.' "This journey has only begun," he noted, "And when the dust settles, the realm will be born anew. I look forward to seeing what sort of world gets created."

Hekkeran grimaced as he blasted another dark train. "They showed up out of nowhere. Guess we pissed off the one behind the demon train." "At least we're finally back at the tower," Starlight said, "Now we can continued our course." Inside, the Ancient One awaited them. "I sensed what had happened through the tracks. It seems someone had linked their life-force to the magic well, sealing it off. That's powerful, ancient magic. Not easy to come by."

"That explains why the well opened when Stagnox was killed," George noted, "And there's likely other such guardians working for whoever attacked the tower." The Ancient One nodded. "No doubt. But with part of the tower restored, I can begin to expand the Spirit Tracks further than before. Before long they will cover the entire realm once again. The next set of tracks should reach into the mountainous regions to the north." Starlight nodded. "Let's get moving. The sooner the tracks are complete, the better for everyone." She was followed by George, Gyro, and a group of other adventurers.

With me sparing Johnathan Joestar's life, the door is wide open for more stories about him. Trouble is, Phantom Blood is too short. I decided on this as I was coming up with the structure for Spirit Tracks. Expect some Black Butler references.

Besides, there's something important I need to explain...

The Swords of Darkness mentioned a time when Johnathan Joestar saved their world. How this came to be is an interesting tale, and one that must be told to understand. It was a day like any other in 1889. It was getting near the end of the year. The Joestar manor was back to its original splendor, and Speedwagon and Twilight had returned with some delightful news. While they failed to find Nathaniel Twilight's arrow, Speedwagon had stumbled upon a natural oil well that was unclaimed, making him a very wealthy man in his own right.

It wasn't long before the Speedwagon estate was officially founded, and before long the papers were calling him the Oil Baron of Britain. His holdings were modest, and having become used to getting many things himself he only hired a handful of servants. And he only hired any at all because the estate was so large. On this particular day Speedwagon and his wife Twilight awoke to greet the dawn as normal, followed by the exasperated sigh from their butler, a young man named Sebastian. "I do wish you'd allow me to do my duties, Master Speedwagon. This is only my first butlering job, and I'm something of a perfectionist."

Sebastian was by no means opposed to serving a man who once came from the streets, but that still meant he had to deal with Speedwagon doing plenty of things by himself. "There's no need to be so formal," Twilight said as she came back out from the divider, fully dressed, "After all, you have enough on your hands with the rest of the staff." Sebastian chuckled. "The rest of the staff is only three people. Anyway, I have your morning paper and tea."

Speedwagon took the paper and looked it over. "Baron Reinfelt opens another tea route... I believe we scheduled a meeting with him, correct?" "Yes sir," Sebastian confirmed, "Along with your friend, Master Joestar. I believe it is in regards to your new shipping routes." Speedwagon had been making some impressive investments with his newfound fortune, deciding that he needed to make good use of his sudden success to help others not so fortune as to have his luck.

Sebastian walked through the halls as the other three servants made preparations for the evening's dinner. Mey-Rin, the bubbly young maid, had just finished sorting out the laundry. "Ah, Sebastian!," she said in excitement, having harbored a crush on the young and handsome butler, "The laundry's just finished. Oh, and some of Master Speedwagon's friends from London are here. They offered these lovely flowers." She showed the basket that was provided.

"Wonderful," Sebastian said with a smile, "These will be perfect for tonight's centerpiece. It's a good thing I've yet to decide on the plating, but this will make the decision much easier." As he finished setting the table and heading for the greenhouse to fetch some more roses, he ran into the estate's teenaged gardener, Finnian, or Finny as he was often called. "I've got the roses all taken of, sir!," he said in a cheerful voice, "Oh, and some of Master Speedwagon's friends dropped this off." He presented a freshly caught pheasant. "I guess they did a bit of hunting on the grounds."

"Splendid," Sebastian replied, "This will make an excellent main dish. I'll have this brought to Bard. He should be able to make something rather delectable." He headed down into the kitchen, where Baldroy, or Bard as he was known on the estate, set to preparing dinner. "Got something lovely for the dessert too," he noted, "Some of Master Speedwagon's friends dropped off a few roasted nuts they came across on their way in from London, thought we might like to have them." Sebastian placed a hand on his chin. "Master Speedwagon's friends seem to hang around the estate quite a lot. I understand they mind their manners, but it's rather unusual for those in the working class."

That evening, Speedwagon and Twilight were joined by Johnathan and the Baron Reinfelt. "I was hoping Erina would be here as well," Twilight noted. "You'll have to excuse her," Johnathan said, "But our son, George II, was just recently born and Erina insisted on taking care of her own child." The group sat in discussion for a bit, but Speedwagon could tell something was off. His keen senses, developed from his time growing up on Ogre Street, told him there was a foul stench about Reinfelt. It was almost as bad as that of Dio, but not quite.

As the dessert was brought out, Reinfelt had a smile on his face. "You know, there are two things that always irked me. One is a soft-hearted noble who thinks the common-folk deserve a helping hand from our hard earned fortunes. And the other is an undeserving thug who just happened to catch a lucky break." The nearby clock chimed. "Eight o-clock! Time's up for both of you!" And with that, he dove under the table, leaving the others confused.

"Did we have something planned for eight?," Speedwagon asked. "I don't believe so, sir," Sebastian said, "Though I do find the baron's words rather curious." Reinfelt poked his head out, confused as to his surroundings. "Are you quite alright?," Johnathan asked. "Uh, yes...," Reinfelt said as he sat down. "Anyway, your words lack a bit of bite to them," Speedwagon said, "Why, everything that makes rich life worth living is made by the hands of the middle classes, so why not show appreciation?"

"Yes, and helping those less fortunate can only help the economy in the long run," Johnathan argued. "Take my old gang from Ogre Street," Speedwagon clarified, "After Johnathan helped them all find jobs, they chose to pay him back by keeping an eye out for his enemies. They also show there's still loyalty among us by doing the same with me. Hell, throughout the day they've been busy clearing the outer parts of the grounds from would-be assassins."

Reinfelt's eyes went wide. "It's the darndest thing too," Speedwagon continued, his smile dropping, "Some of them claimed to have been hired by you." Johnathan narrowed his eyes. "Baron Reinfelt, I may be a gentleman, and somewhat naive, but I can still tell when someone is after my life, and that of my friends." Reinfelt pulled out a gun and made to fire. "Time in a Bottle!," Sebastian called out. Everything around him slowed down, and he quickly caught the bullets that had fired long before they had the chance to reach Speedwagon.

"Glad to see you're still practicing your Stand," Twilight said, "But you do remember that I also could have-- Love is in Bloom!" She had spotted Reinfelt aim for her and activated her own Stand, causing the bullet to bounce off while Reinfelt's gun exploded in his hand, causing severe powder burns and deep cuts from the shrapnel. "As I was saying," Twilight said, "My own Stand is fully capable of deflecting a gunshot, so long as I can see the shooter." "Apologies, Madam," Sebastian said, "But it is my duty as a butler to protected those I serve. Shall I call the authorities then?"

As Reinfelt was arrested for attempted murder, the group met with the new chief inspector of Scotland Yard, Fred Abberline. "I realize it's strange to come in person," Abberline said, "But Her Majesty has heard of your supernatural powers and is making a request. By the by... She also mentioned you dealt with Jack the Ripper?" Twilight and Johnathan looked a little guilty, knowing Abberline had been on the Ripper's trail for months until they encountered him as a zombie and destroyed him.

Abberline sighed. "Guess that's one mystery the world will never know the answer too. A shame... Anyway, there's been several children being kidnapped right off the street, only to be returned days later, with no memory of the time they were captive. This is the only real lead we have in regards to this mystery." He presented Speedwagon with a set of tickets. "The Noah's Ark Circus?" "That circus is touring London for the next few days," Abberline explained, "They might have some knowledge as to why these kidnappings are occurring." The trio looked at each other, knowing a new bizarre adventure was waiting for them.

Back in the present, George and his group had found the map piece that allowed the Spirit Tracks to extend into the mountains. In addition, it opened up an extension to Ticket to Ride, which accepted Imina as its user. "This is Love Train," the Ancient One explained, "An extension of the legendary train that will prove useful. It can act on its own, or in conjunction with Ticket to Ride. Head for the mountains, and restore the temple there. Be careful, as there is likely to be opposition." The group nodded and hopped on the train.

Let's get back to the present, shall we?

Hekkeran finished docking at the capital of Re-Estize. The idea for the group was to get information in regards to the mountain regions, where the lizardmen tribes dwelled. In particular, Starlight wanted to know the reason why one of the tribes would need to resort to cannibalism just to survive. However, as she got off the train, she heard a cheerful voice calling out, "Sister!" She suddenly found herself glomped by a shorter girl with long, blonde hair. "Renner?," Starlight asked in shock, "What are you doing out of the palace? I thought you never leave."

"Who is this?," George asked as he disembarked. "This is my sister," Starlight explained, "Renner Theiere Chardelon Ryle Vaiself." "A pleasure," Renner said as she did a quick curtsy. "Anyway, about my earlier question," Starlight said. "It's not like she's out here alone," came another female voice. Approaching were six people, five women and one man. The man was young, but held himself like a soldier, and was dressed as such. One of the women was blonde and more relaxed, one was rather large and heavyset, and the other two seemed to be twins, rather short and dressed as ninjas. The last one wore a cloak and mask.

"I should introduce the others as well," Starlight said, "This young man is Climb, a brilliant young soldier of the kingdom." Climb nodded. "An honor, sir." "These other five are the members of the Adamantite group known as Blue Rose," Starlight explained. The blonde woman, the apparent leader, stepped forward. "Nice to meet you. I am Lakyus Alvein Dale Aindra." The larger, muscular woman grinned. "Hey there, name's Gagaran." The mask woman nodded. "Evileye." "Name's Tia," one of the ninjas said. Her sister replied, "And I'm Tina."

"Starlight, there is something important we must discuss," Renner said, "But not at the palace. Too many prying eyes working for the nobility. I believe a brisk trip to the countryside would be in order." "I see...," Starlight noted. She looked to Hekkeran, who nodded. Soon enough, the group was riding to Carne Village. "The energy of the tracks is not yet fully charged," Renner noted, "I suspect that the various main stations have yet to be recognized."

"Yes, that's true," Starlight said, "But we've no way to make those stations official." "We do now," Renner said with a smile, presenting a large book. George checked the book with his Hamon. "There's a powerful energy to this book." "It's linked to the magic that runs through the Spirit Tracks," Renner explained, "Smaller wells can be found in various locations along the tracks. When connected to this book, the tracks become anchored, and magic flows freely from the wells to the main station."

"A copy of this book was held in the palace archives," Starlight noted, "Father held a decree that it was not to be touched. But just prior to the Spirit Tracks disappearing, the book was removed. Marquis Boullope cited it was because such a musty old book would ruin the rest of the archive, even though the book was as pristine as they day it was bound." George and Gyro gave each other a bemused look. "Yeah...," Gyro said, "That's totally not suspicious."

"Father was similarly suspicious of Boullope's intentions," Renner noted, "And commissioned an identical book to be created. Luckily, the knowledge of how to make it had been passed through many generations for just such an occasion." "That's why we need to find the magic wells at each station," Lakyus explained. "Those must the energy sources we're seeking," George realized. 'We're approaching Carne Village,' came Hekkeran's voice over the intercom.

The group looked out and got a surprise. "The wall got a lot bigger," George noted. "Are those goblins patrolling the outside?," Tia asked. "Yeah, they got recruited to defend the village," Gyro explained, "They're surprisingly friendly, so long as you come in peace." Once they explained the situation, Jugem led the group to the monument in the middle of the village. "According to the instructions in the original book," Renner said, "All one must do is take the ink well from the monument and stamp it on an empty spot in the book. This will let the two magics interact and do the rest of the work."

She took the stamp and placed it in the book, causing it to glow. The monument also started glowing, launching energy through the tracks. "There's one more thing to consider," George said, "The Ancient One said he had people working at the station because of how expansive the Spirit Tracks were getting. Most were killed but others might have escaped. What do you think happened to them?" "They may be wandering the realm trying to find help," Lakyus suggested, "We should mount a search for them, in case they are targeted."

Near the mountain region, Warrior Takemikazuchi was traveling with the mighty Cocytus, an insect-like warrior from Nazarick. "The lizardmen value strength above all else," Takemikazuchi noted, "We show them our own strength, and it will open the door for negotiation." "Of course, Master," Cocytus replied, "And in doing so, we can find out where the nearby temple is." He breathed in to check the air. "It seems rather cold for this region. Too cold, perhaps."

"It might be why there was a shortage of resources," Takemikazuchi noted, "But the Spirit Tracks have begun to expand into the lizardmen's territory. If there is a station nearby, they can use it to open trade with the human settlements, insuring another conflict between tribes does not occur." "What of the unnatural cold in the region?," Cocytus asked, "Simple magic? Or is a Stand user involved?" "Hard to say," Takemikazuchi replied, "There may be magic capable of causing such long-lasting effects, with the right rituals. On the other hand, I've heard of Stands powerful enough to create such extreme weather effects. We'll know soon enough."

"Barbro may well be the one behind these events," Renner said, "In spite of my recently passing a law that outlawed slavery. However, most of the Noble Faction backs the criminal element that loves to take advantage of such laws. And... They also support Barbro's claim to the throne." "Who?," George asked. "Our brother," Starlight explained, "Barbro Andrean Ierudo Ryle Vaiself. He's the First Prince and Heir Apparent to the throne, but he does less politically then the rest of us."

"What would his motive be?," Gyro asked. "He likely saw what the Ancient One intended and wanted the same thing," Renner noted, "But under his own terms, with him as the leader of the whole realm. And it would not be good for anyone." 'The question is,' George thought, 'Would he then set his sights on our world? Well, even if he succeeded in finding his way, he'd find his forces completely overwhelmed by modern technology, that is if they didn't freeze to death in Greenland's frigid environment. But I won't even let get that far. My Joestar blood would not permit that...'

Now begins the journey to the new temple, starting with speaking with the lizardmen tribes. This should interesting. Fans of Overlord will recognize a few characters.

After dropping Renner off back at the capital, the group continued into the mountains. Work was already proceeding on locating the Ancient One's missing workers, and in the meantime a new discovery was made. An ornate archway standing in the middle of the fields, right over one of the tracks. "I've heard of these," Starlight said, "They are teleportation gates created to streamline travel across the Spirit Tracks. Once activated, they link to another gate elsewhere. It would be useful to activate them all."

Meanwhile, Takemikazuchi and Cocytus had been permitted by one of the lizardmen tribes, the Green Claw, to join them in an important meeting. This was accomplished when Takemikazuchi successfully defeated the tribe's leader, Shasryu Shasha, in honorable combat with the help of his Stand, Battlecry. Battlecry offered little in the way of defense, but was strong, fast, and could be projected far from Takemikazuchi to act as a noble samurai warrior.

Shasryu now sat next to his brother, Zaryusu. Zaryusu had a peculiar tattoo on his chest, which the others explained marked him as a traveler. This was not the same as an exile like Stagnox, as travelers were allowed to return to their tribe, although it was rare to do so. "Your arrival comes at a opportune time," the tribe's elder said, "We recently received an ultimatum from the feared demon train. It was invisible as the rumors say. At least... To all but Zaryusu."

He pointed to the icicle-like weapon at Zaryusu's hip. "That is no mere weapon," the elder explained, "But a Stand, a rarity among lizardmen." "I'm not surprised," Takemikazuchi said, "Stands are an extension of one's fighting spirit. For a traveler or chieftain to possess one is simply a matter of logic. So, about this ultimatum." "The owner of the train threatened us with genocide," Zaryusu said, "Apparently, we are supposed to be the second to fall. But that provides us with a chance to counter-attack."

"What my brother is suggesting," Shasryu explained, "Is that we unite all the different lizardmen tribes, thereby throwing off the demon train's perception of our strength." "Is such a thing possible among different tribes?," Cocytus asked. "It's happened before," Zaryusu said with a nod, "During the recent war over resources, our own Green Claw tribe made an alliance with the Small Fang tribe and Razor Tail tribe, fighting against the Yellow Speckle tribe and Sharp Edge tribe. Our combined numbers proved superior, and both tribes were dissolved, only to be absorbed by the Dragon Tusk tribe."

"If it came down to it," the head priestess said, "The Small Fang and Razor Tail tribes would agree to an alliance once more. But that leaves the Dragon Tusk and Red Eye tribe to convince. And those members of Dragon Tusk that once belonged to Yellow Speckle and Sharp Edge may hold a grudge." "Then your best bet is to begin with Red Eye," Takemikazuchi suggested, "From these talks, it seems clear that they found a way to stay out of the conflict."

"That brings terrible implications," Cocytus noted, "Stagnox mentioned that his tribe resorted to cannibalism because of low resources." "But remember that he was exiled for backing the leader who encouraged it," Takemikazuchi pointed out, "Clearly, whichever tribe he came from has a new leader." "The Red Eye is the only tribe that recently gained a new chieftain," the elder noted, "Zaryusu, your emblem marks you as being outside the jurisdiction of the tribes. Thus, you are the best choice as an ambassador to the Red Eye and Dragon Tusk tribes."

Zaryusu nodded. "I'll speak with the leaders on our behalf." Later, as Zaryusu saddled up his pet hydra Rororo, Takemikazuchi approached him. "So, how do travelers operate in this society anyway?" "We are meant to bring ideas from the outside world to our tribes to improve them," Zaryusu explained, "In my case, I learned of a means to farm fish for our tribe to live off of. It wasn't easy, and many mistakes were made. But luckily with my brother as chieftain, he insured I would be given my chance to perfect the technology."

"If you possess a Stand," Takemikazuchi noted, "Than your brother likely also has the potential. Has he shown such power?" "Not as of yet," Zaryusu replied, "But the elders say it's only a matter of time. Personally I would not be surprised if the current conflict awakens it." The trio headed off, soon reaching the territory of the Red Eye tribe. Word had already reached them, and they were permitted entry. "Our official leader is inside this hut," one of the members said.

"We are not meeting the chieftain?," Zaryusu asked. "For better or worse, our chieftain is a figurehead," the lizardman explained, "Our true leader is in here, but she cannot go out in the sun because of her mutation." "Sounds like an albino," Cocytus noted, "They tend to be more sensitive to sunlight." Inside, there was a single female, lithe and pure white. "Greetings," she said, "I was told to expect you." Zaryusu was rendered speechless at the sight of her.

The female chuckled. "I see. So even a legendary Stand user of the lizardmen people finds my appearance strange." She was quickly proven wrong, however, when Zaryusu took a few steps forward, before falling to his knees, and then unexpectedly uttering a high-pitched screeching noise. The sound of it got the female flustered, and suddenly Zaryusu snapped out of his stupor and got flustered himself. "S-Sorry! That just slipped out of me!" "What was that?," Takemikazuchi asked. "I believe it was a mating call, my Lord," Cocytus clarified.

Takemikazuchi cleared his throat. "Anyway, I don't believe we caught your name." "Sorry...," the female said, still embarrassed that any male, especially a stud like Zaryusu, would offer her a mating call, "I am Crush Lulu, acting chieftain of the Red Eye. I assume you are here about the warning from the dreaded demon train. We could not see it directly, but it sent an envoy, a horrid maneater." "An insect that dwells within a collection of skulls that it uses as a nest," Cocytus explained to his master.

Takemikazuchi nodded. "I suppose it makes sense. Normal beings cannot see Stands. Zaryusu, did this maneater appear to your tribe as well?" "Yes," Zaryusu said with a nod, "That leads me to believe whoever is behind the demon train does not know our tribes have any Stand users. That could be to our advantage." Soon enough Cocytus and Takemikazuchi left Zaryusu and Crush to discuss the alliance. "Momonga," Takemikazuchi called out using a Message spell, "It seems the cabal you uncovered is targeting the lizardmen tribes."

'That is something we cannot permit,' Momonga replied, 'We have some issues to deal with here in the capital, but by now George and his group will be heading for the temple's location. Meet up with them and deal with whoever you need to. I'll also send Bukubukuchagama and the twins to assist.' "Very well," Takemikazuchi said, and he cut the message. Zaryusu soon emerged, along with Crush, who was covered in a cloak of foliage. "Our alliance with the Red Eye is official," Zaryusu said. "And perhaps it might become more... Permanent," Crush suggested, a hint of blush on her scales.

"Well that's for you to work out," Takemikazuchi said with a grin, "But that just leaves the Dragon Tusk tribe. Still, with four tribes working together, I doubt the fifth will be against negotiation." They headed for the Dragon Tusk territory. Once there, it seemed there was a large party waiting for them. Among them was a lizardman male that seemed more crocodile than true lizard. "That must be the chieftain," Zaryusu noted. Sure enough, the male stepped forward. "I am Zenberu Gugu, leader of this tribe. Your envoys have already told us of your intention."

He grinned. "Considering you seem to have convinced the Red Eye tribe, I suppose it's wise to consider your offer. However, you'll have to prove this alliance can be strong enough." Takemikazuchi then noticed something. "You have the same mark as Zaryusu. So you were a traveler as well. Yet you lead your tribe?" "I proved myself in honorable combat," Zenberu explained, "So, which of you will face me know to prove your strength." The group considered it. "I think you should go Zaryusu," Takemikazuchi suggested, "These are your people after all, so it would be a more meaningful victory."

Zaryusu nodded. "You'll be facing off against me." "A fine choice," Zenberu admitted, "I'm told you possess a Stand. In that case..." He tossed his polearm aside. "I won't be needing this." He breathed deep and focused, channeling energy through his body. "So he's a monk-class," Zaryusu noted, "That makes things a little challenging." He picked up his Stand and took a fighting stance. As the two males clashed, it was clear that in terms of strength they were surprisingly even.

However, Zenberu had the edge in defense, until Zaryusu decided to pull out his trump card. "Cold Wind Blows!" He swung his Stand to attack. Zenberu made to deflect it, only to pull back as he felt a freezing sensation just from touching the blade. "So that's the power of your Stand," he realized, "It can freeze whatever it touches." "More than that," Zaryusu clarified, and he struck the ground with Cold Wind Blows, causing the area to turn into an arctic tundra.

The frost reached Zenberu's legs, freezing them in place. Zaryusu took advantage of this, racing forward with his Stand inactive, stopping a inch from Zenberu's throat. Zenberu chuckled. "Looks like I'll have to yield. You proved your strength, Zaryusu." Both fighters relaxed as the frost receded. "The Dragon Tusk tribe accepts your alliance," Zenberu said. As he said this, Ticket to Ride was seen rolling past. "Come to think of it," Zaryusu said, "There is a station at the edge of Green Claw territory." "Let's go meet our allies then," Takemikazuchi offered, "We have much to plan here."

At this point my upload schedule might become more erratic. I'm growing concerned with the rising number of dislikes (it's only one away from double-digits...) and I've been getting more suggestions on how to progress certain characters, which I think may work out. I'll try to keep the uploads frequent, but I think it might be best not to do the whole "one upload a day" thing.

That said, enjoy.

"They still won't lend us Six Arms?," Barbro asked Boullope. "Eight Fingers' holdings have been attacked by Blue Rose," Boullope explained, "The leadership of Eight Fingers needs the extra security." Eight Fingers was a criminal empire that worked within Re-Estize. It was named for two things. One was a legend that the God of Theft had eight fingers on each hand. The second was that they divided their organization into eight departments, slave trafficking, assassinations, smuggling, larceny, drug trade, security, banking, and gambling.

Because of their connection to the noble faction, Eight Fingers more or less ran the kingdom behind the king's back and without his knowledge. Barbro sighed as he heard Boullope's explanation. "It's not like we can command them to stop or it would paint a target on our backs that either Momon or Joestar would aim for. Still, with how they were able to defeat Stagnox I thought it necessary to gather stronger forces." "I'm not sure they qualify regardless," Boullope noted, "None of Six Arms are Stand users. And it takes a Stand user to beat a Stand user."

"Maybe so," Barbro agreed, "But I was of the mind that they could test the Stand powers Joestar and Momon's band possess. The more knowledge we have of these potential enemies the easier it will be to remove them. And then we can move to undo the progress they made in restoring the Spirit Tracks. And it must be done soon. Our agents have informed me that the Spirit Tracks have extended into the lizardmen's territory. If those dirty reptiles are once again permitted to have open trade with our fair kingdom, it could sully the thoughts of all involved about racial equality. This is the reason we worked to remove the tracks... To remind people that humans are superior to these demi-human races."

Elsewhere in Re-Estize, Sebas was busy on an errand for Herohero. With him was Touch Me, who went by the adventuring name Tucson to avoid awkward stares from his code name. Touch Me was acting as a personal guard for Herohero, not that he truly needed it but it was best to keep up appearances. Both men got plenty of adoring stares from various women in the magic shop they entered. Spellcrafting was such a simple task in the alter verse that most utility spells could be sold in bulk, the runes or incantations infused into parchment for this purpose.

The errand is question was that Herohero wanted to purchase a Floating Board spell, designed to carry large loads for projects, in the hopes that it could streamline future actions. However, he was busy acting in his role as wealthy merchant, which meant getting deep into the major trading districts. As such, Sebas and Touch Me were sent to make the purchase instead. With the scroll purchased, the duo started to return home. However, Sebas smelled something odd on the wind. "Copper...? No... More like blood..."

Touch Me got concerned. "That could mean someone is hurt badly." He turned to his shadow. "Inform Herohero that we will be a little late." A sudden shape dashed out from within the shadow and sped off. It was one of Nazarick's shadow demons, skilled messengers and spies that, as their name suggested, dwelled within various shadows, although that did not stop them from moving through light in the course of performing their duties.

The duo walked nonchalantly in the direction of the smell, and spotted a large sack in the middle of the street. "It's coming from there," Sebas noted. He raised his hand before waving it in such a way that a vacuum was created in the air which sliced the tied off part of the bag open. He was careful to aim in such a way as not to further damage whoever might be inside. He slowly approached, and got surprised when a young woman's hand suddenly grasped his ankle. "Please...," she said weakly, "Help... Me..."

Touch Me approached and carefully pulled away some of the bag, recoiling at the sight. It was indeed a young woman, perhaps around the same age as Sebas, but heavily bruised, bleeding, and that was just what he could see on the surface. "Hey!," a man called out as he came out of the nearby building, "What are you doing with her!?" "You know this woman then?," Sebas asked, in a rather angry tone. "Yeah, she's one of my employees," the man explained. "Then why was she so carelessly tossed out on the streets like this!?," Sebas demanded, grabbing the man by his collar and lifting him up a few inches off the ground.

"And don't try to feed us any garbage about taking her to the temple for healing," Touch Me pointed out, "Else you would not have gone back inside after dumping her here. Unless this is how you treat all your employees." The man's eyes shifted around, and it was clear Touch Me's words had backed him into a corner. He sighed. "The truth is... She'd gotten too banged up from one of my regular customers, and my boss decided she was useless. Bastard didn't even have the decency to stock healing potions. I was told to just dump her and not ask questions. I... Kinda thought that if I left her in the middle of the street someone would pick up the sack, take it home, learn what was inside and heal her up."

Sebas dropped the man. "So why bother us if you intended to pass her onto someone else?" "Well, I wasn't expecting you to actually open the bag," the man explained, "Now there's a chance we could get in real trouble from Eight Fingers. They're the criminal organization that runs this city." Touch Me tapped his chin. "We happen to be in good with the royal family of the kingdom, and I'm sure you know of Princess Renner and her passing laws to abolish slavery. If we offer to buy this girl's contract and have it destroyed legally, that would leave Eight Fingers no choice but to resort to drastic measures."

He smirked. "And I assure you whatever enforcers they possess are no match for us." The man noticed Touch Me's Adamantite plate. "I guess that's doable, but I'd still need protection until it's time to testify." "That can be arranged," Touch Me assured him. The man was sent via a Gate spell to a holding cell within Nazarick, where the best spies in all of Eight Fingers would never find him. As for the girl, Sebas carefully carried her back to the mansion where Herohero made his estate.

"I was wondering what was taking so long," Herohero said, spotting the poor girl, "We intended to find some way to handle Eight Fingers at some point. Criminal organizations tend to thrive when a kingdom is divided, so they would benefit from seeing the Spirit Tracks gone." He pointed to the girl. "So, what shall we do with her?" "I was hoping we could heal her damaged body," Sebas suggested, "Though her mind..." Herohero waved a hand dismissively. "Not a problem. Tabula Smaragdina has a Stand well suited to handling psychological trauma. Solution, we should get to work."

Solution nodded reluctantly. "If you wish." As Sebas brought the girl upstairs, Solution waited until he was out of earshot before adding, "But I don't understand his reasoning for this." "I thought you were well versed in the concepts of love and compassion," Herohero pointed out. "Yes, for those one knows well," Solution clarified, "But to show such things for a total stranger?" Herohero chuckled. "If one applies such things to a stranger, it is possible for that stranger to become a friend, or even more." Solution's face showed she came to understand Herohero's reasoning.

Later Herohero and Solution had laid the woman out on one of the beds. On Herohero's insistence, they contacted the head maid at Nazarick, a cu sith named Pestonya Shortcake Wanko, whose appearance was that of a beautiful woman with a dog's head. Despite her gruesome appearance, she was actually quite benevolent and even motherly. This made her despair as she assessed the woman's condition. "It's just gruesome," she noted, "The brothel where she was being forced to work clearly didn't care about their employees as much as their profits."

"What's the damage?," Herohero asked. "I can't say what her mental state must be in," Pestonya admitted, "But her physical state is a doctor's nightmare. At least three sexually transmitted diseases, one of which being syphilis, several cracked ribs and fingers, torn tendons in both her arm and leg. Her teeth have been forcefully removed, and I think you can imagine why. She also has an anal fissure, and there's evidence of severe drug usage, enough that it's likely she's been forcibly addicted to it."

"No regular doctor could repair all that damage," Herohero noted, "Luckily we have various healing spells and potions to do the job instead, but this will require removing much of the diseased and damaged flesh. Solution, I think you know how to dispose of it." Solution smiled. "It would be a pleasure to act as such, my beloved." Thanks to their assortment of magical healing items, it took about an hour before the woman was completely healed of all her injuries and illnesses.

Still, the extent of the damage sickened even Solution. "It was enough to sour the flavor of her flesh," she noted, "Whoever did this to her is enough of a monster to make those of us in Nazarick seem like saints in comparison." Shortly after the healing was done, Tabula emerged from the gate. "Is this the girl?," he asked, pointed at the woman, now sleeping, albeit fitfully. Tabula narrowed his eyes. "Looks like my Stand will have plenty to work with. Tears for Fears!"

A humanoid figure dressed in a cloak and having a head similar to a squid appeared, and was quickly drawn into the woman's head. Seconds later, her sleep became more sound, her breath becoming regular. "She'll remember what happened," Tabula pointed out, "But now it will only seem to be a horrible nightmare. The rest, should be left up to Sebas." He and Pestonya returned to Nazarick through another gate. "I guess that's it then," Solution said. "Not yet," Herohero said, "This is only the beginning."

The woman found herself waking in a comfortable bed, as Sebas came in with a tray holding a bowl of hot soup. "You seem to be feeling better," Sebas said, relief in his voice. "Yes," the woman replied, "I'm not sure why, but for some reason I feel as though all my horrible experiences were just a dream. I know they were real, but... Well, it's hard to explain." Sebas smiled warmly. "Here," he said as carefully placed the tray in front of her, "You must be hungry."

The woman tasted the soup, and suddenly couldn't stop herself from eating it. It was the first warm, delicious meal she'd had in months. "I don't think I've asked your name yet," Sebas noted. "Tuareninya Veyron," the woman replied. Sebas raised an eyebrow. "Do you... Happen to have a sister, by chance?" Tuare's eyes widened. "You know where Ninya is!? We lost track of each other during a previous war when my father..." Tears fell from her eyes. It was clear her troubles did not end with just slavery, that was merely the worst that had happened to her.

"I know where she can be found," Sebas assured her, "And she'll most likely be relieved to hear you were rescued." Tuare smiled. "Thank you. But... What happens when they come for me again?" Sebas grinned. "No need to worry about that. As it happens my master already took that into consideration. If they try force they'll find us fighting back with more muscle than they can overcome. If they try subtlety they'll find us far more clever. I assure you, you will be safe in our care." Tuare nodded, finding herself comforted by Sebas' words.

While this was happening, George and his group were traveling through a cave on the way to the sub-well that would allow the Spirit Tracks to expand to the Snow Temple, up near the mountains north of the lizardmen territories. Traveling with them was Zaryusu, Crusch, Shasryu, Zenberu, and the other two tribal chiefs, Kyuku Zuzu of the Small Fang, and Sukyu Juju of the Razor Tail. As the Green Claw's priestess predicted, neither tribe was opposed to an alliance with their old friends in Green Claw to deal with the forces of the demon train.

The group was now looking at the smoldering carcass of the maneater, which had attempted to ambush them in the cave. The skull nest was easy to crack open with Ticket to Ride's weapons, and Imina was able to utilize the offensive power Love Train had to offer once the insect inside the nest was exposed, the white-hot plasma launchers easily incinerating the creature. Kyuku snorted at the monster. "Insect not tough. Mere voice for demon train. Should not have bothered to fight."

"The sanctuary should be just past the cavern," Zenberu noted, "But there's something else to note. The area around the temple is covered in a massive blizzard." "I can feel our way through it," George assured him, "The real problem will be whoever is waiting to attack us inside the temple. At the very least, whoever was sent to keep the magic well inside the temple shut will be there." They got back on the train and hurried off, their path to the temple clear yet murky.

I'm back with a new chapter. I think I'll keep a weekly schedule so I can get onto other projects and give myself time to think about what I want out of this arc.

In the meantime I'll be introducing new OC characters, with a theme naming based on fantasy novelists.

The group stepped into the Snow Temple as Ticket to Ride came to a stop. Despite the large blizzard, George and Gyro had been able to guide the train along the Spirit Tracks by feeling out the large amount of life force from within the temple. "This part of the region has always been cold," Zaryusu noted, "But now the temperature is so low my Stand might be of little use." Just up the stairs was a young woman wearing all pink, alongside two prepubescent dark elves.

Gyro raised an eyebrow when he quickly realized one was a girl wearing boy's clothes, and the other was a boy wearing girl's clothes. "Why do you have two cross-dressing dark elves with you?," he asked the woman. "Oh sorry," she replied, "I should introduce myself. I'm Bukubukuchagama, and these are the twins Aura Bella Fiora and Mare Bello Fiore." "That... Didn't answer my question...," Gyro pointed out. "Bukubukuchagama is into 'gap moe'," Takemikazuchi explained, "And the twins look up to her like a big sister. Which is odd since they're both twice her age..."