Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: A New Universe
Chapter 177: Memory of DIO
Previous Chapter Next ChapterThings 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.