"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...