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.