Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: A New Universe
Chapter 94: A Crazy Encounter
Previous Chapter Next ChapterAfter 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.