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.