-Ten Years Earlier-

After being released from prison due to good behavior, Jolyne had decided to get a job at a local bar close by. She had also gotten an apartment together with Ermes and lived as roommates. Everything seemed to be normal for a while, until one rainy day in October. That morning, Ermes had taken the day off due to being sick and Jolyne still had to work. She was running late and was sprinting to work in the pouring rain, trying to get to the bar before she was extremely late. But soon, she had came across something that made her forget all about that. Her heart had sunk at what she had seen before her.

In the alley, cradling in a small cardboard box was a small boy who looked to be about six years old. He was tan skinned and had nappy, black hair. He was barely being sheltered from the rain, and his box was quickly becoming soggy and cold. But that's not what surprised Jolyne. Cuddling with a boy, was a humanoid stand with a slender build with had four arms and possessed scar-like patterns on it's arms and legs, with a huge X-shaped scar on it's chest. With closer inspection, she saw that It had dreadlocks for hair with a small, red crown-like headwear on it's head and a small star-shaped mark on it's forehead, with scars coming down from it's eyes on both sides. The stand was emitting a redish-pink glow around both itself and the boy. The boy was shivering, which made his Stand tighten it's hold around him in an attempt to keep him warm.

She couldn't just walk past the boy, especially if he was homeless and had no place to go. Jolyne approached the boy and his stand and knelt down to his level. "Hey,"

The boy looked up at the young woman with innocent eyes, shivering due to the cold with his stand also looking up at Jolyne. Upon closer inspection, Jolyne notice a dark purple star-shaped birthmark on his cheek. She put her umbrella under the shivering boy, repelling the rain off of him and asked him, "Where's your mom? Has she left you here?"

The boy shook his head, "Sh-She left to go find some food for us, but she hasn't come back for a long time." he explained. "It's been nearly a month now."

"A month?!" Jolyne exclaimed. "You've been out here, all alone for nearly a month?"

The boy flinched and looked away from Jolyne as her angry tone had frightened him. Realizing that she startled the boy, she exhaled and went to pick him up. "Wha—What are you doing?"

"You can't stay out here in the rain. You'll get sick." Jolyne said as she held her umbrella above them and started to walk out of the alley and then the opposite direction of the bar. "To hell with work. This is a lot more important."

Once Jolyne arrived back at the apartment, Ermes, who was sick and lying on the couch was surprised to see what her friend had brought home. She snickered, "Usually people bring in stray cats or dogs, but a kid?"

Jolyne sighed, "Shut it, okay? I found him all alone in the rain." The woman had then set him down on the floor and grabbed the house phone from the hook, dialing the number to her job.

"It's Cujoh—Yeah, I won't be coming in today, something important came up."

The person over the phone, her boss to be exact, had started to rant at her angrily. Jolyne scoff and gritted her teeth, "Look, I just said something important came up. You can deal with those drunk assholes today, me and Ermes aren't coming in." She then hung up and slammed the phone on the counter. "Yare Yare Dawa..." She said in an exasperated sigh.

Ermes laughed, "I hate that fucking prick. You could be vomiting up your organs and he'd still make you come to work." She said with a stretch before turning her attention to the little boy. "Hi there,"

The boy smiled shyly and waved, "Hello."

"I'm gonna go run some bathwater for him, and we need to have a chat." Jolyne said with a grunt as she picked the little boy up and walked back towards the bathroom. After ten minutes, she returned to the living room and sat at the table. Silence set in for a few minutes before Ermes spoke up. "So what's up?"

Jolyne looked over at Ermes with a serious look, "That boy is a Stand user."

Her words made Ermes gasp in shock, "Are you shittin' me?" She shouted. The other woman quickly shushed her, silencing her so that the boy wouldn't hear them. "Not so loud!"

"A Stand user?" Ermes repeated in a whisper.

"The damn thing with was cuddling with him, trying to keep him warm." Jolyne explained. "His mom abandoned him about a month ago, from what he told me."

Ermes sat up on the couch and pondered, "So, what do we do? Should we find him a home?" she suggested, causing Jolyne to make a face. She blushed slightly and chuckled, "Well—I was thinking we could let him stay here for a while.."

Ermes immediately detested, "Hell no! We can barely take care of ourselves, let alone some kid off of the street!" She argued. "Besides, neither of us has ever taken care of a child before."

Jolyne sighed, "Look, I know." She shook her head. "But he needs a place right now. He's probably been on the streets for a while now, so he most likely doesn't know how a warm bed or a hot meal feels like."

Ermes rubbed her temple, "JoJo.." She groaned.

Jolyne folded her arms and rolled her eyes, "Let's just let him stay here for a month. One month! And then we'll find him a real home." She proposed, "C'mon Ermes..."

The other woman groaned, "Fine. One month!" Ermes stated with emphasis. "After that, we take him to an orphanage or something..." She said, lying back down on the couch.

Jolyne nodded, "Alright, it's set then." She looked in the direction of the bathroom. "I'm gonna go finish getting him cleaned up, then we can ask him some questions."

After finished cleaning the boy up and getting him into some clean clothes, Jolyne brought him out into the living room and sat him down at the dining table. The boy wore an innocent smile on his face as he looked around the apartment.

As Jolyne was looking through the fridge, she looked back at the boy and asked, "You must be hungry, huh?" earning an eager nod from the boy. Jolyne couldn't find anything to eat for the boy in the fridge, so she looked into the cabinets and found a box of cup noodles and pulled from there. After quickly preparing the food for the boy, she handed him the cup noodles and a fork. And immediately the boy started to eat with haste, slurping loudly and making a mess on the table.

Jolyne sat across from him and watched in slight disgust as he ate, "Okay, I'm gonna ask you some questions." she started, but soon noticed that the boy was too focused on his breakfast he wasn't paying his guardian any mind. Jolyne raised her voice, "Hey! I'm talking to you!"

The boy stopped in his tracks, slurping up another noodle. "Oh, sorry." He chuckled, just before letting out a small burp. Jolyne shook her head, resting her fist under her chin. "I want to ask you some questions."

Her look hardened into a glare, "First off, do you have a name?"

The boy became silent and shrugged. "I dunno."

Jolyne looked back at Ermes, who shrugged, just before turning her attention back to the boy. "O-Okay..." she said with a nervous chuckle. "Your mother never called you by your name?"

The boy shook his head, "Well, she never really talked. She only held up a sign that asked people for money or food." he explained. "She was very quiet.."

Jolyne groaned, "Yare Yare—not only do we have a kid without a home. He also doesn't have a name!" She said, pinching the bridge of her nose. The boy looked down in response, he muttered in a small voice. "Are you mad at me?"

"Wha-" Jolyne flinched slightly. "No, no, sweetie. I'm just trying to process all of this." She exhaled again.

From the couch, Ermes hollered, "Just give him a name. Just don't let it be anything stupid, though." She suggested loudly. Jolyne snapped her fingers and smiled, "Yes! Perfect idea, Ermes!"

After thinking up a few names to call him by, one finally hit her. "Okay, I got it!" She smiled. Jolyne looked down at the boy, "How does 'Joji' sound?"

The boy smiled brightly and clapped, "I like that name! Say, do you have a name?"

"Me?" Jolyne asked, pointing to herself. "My name in Jolyne—but you can call me Mama JoJo from now on, okay?" She suggested. Jolyne then pointed over to Ermes, "And that mean old lady on the couch, her name is Ermes. But you can call her Auntie Ermes. Got it?"

Little Joji nodded, "Got it!" he cheered as he wore the same innocent smile from before. Jolyne couldn't help but smile at how cheerful the boy was, even in a serious time like this.

"Alright Joji, next question-"

A light blue aura washed over Jolyne and appearing from behind her was her Stand, Stone Free. "Can you see the thing standing behind me?"

Joji's face lit up in excitement, "Y-You have an imaginary friend too?!" He exclaimed, nearly bouncing out of his seat. Jolyne looked at Stone Free and back to Joji, "Imaginary friend?" she repeated.

"Yeah," Joji nodded, as a red aura washed over him and he brought out the Stand from before. Ermes saw the stand for herself and her eyes also popped out of her head. "Holy shit!" she exclaimed loudly.

"He's my bestest friend," Joji giggled. "His name is Wrathchild."

Jolyne rubbed her chin, dismissing Stone Free from behind her. "Wrathchild, huh? That must be your Stand's name." she said, coming to that conclusion.

Joji tilted his head slightly, "Stand?"

"You're too young to understand it," Jolyne started, "As you get older, you'll realize how much potential your Wrathchild has." She explained. "Do you know how you got this power?"

Joji tapped his chin, "Well—I remember me and my mommy were running from these bad guys one night. They were really scary." He started. "We ran and ran, until they had caught up to us! Mama tried to get away, but they pushed her down and was beating her up!"

Jolyne gasped, putting a hand to her chest. "Oh my god, were you guys okay?"

Joji nodded with a stern look on his face, "Yup! I swooped in to save my mommy! I went to go beat up the bad guys who tried to beat up my mommy some more and Wrathchild came out and pummeled them both! BAM BAM BAM!" Joji exclaimed dramatically as he told his story.

Erme groaned in pain, "JOJI!" she shouted, rubbing her temples. "Auntie's got an headache, so try to be a little more quiet."

Joji giggled, "Oh, sorry—Bam...bam...bam!" He repeated in a quieter tone. Jolyne became intrigued and smiled. She had thought it was interesting that a kid his age was able to effectively use his stand. "Go on,"

"Oh right," The boy gasped. "Then, before I knew it, the two bad guys were down for the count. They weren't moving at all! And then me, Wrathchild and mommy got away safely." He said, recalling those moments. "And me and Wrathchild have been the bestest most bestest pals ever since!"

Jolyne laughed, "So you used your Stand to save your mommy, that's so sweet of you." She said warmly. "It sounds like Wrathchild is a pretty strong guy, huh?"

"Uh huh!" Joji nodded with a smile. "Tougher than ever!"

Jolyne put a finger to her lips, "Look, let's keep your imaginary friend a secret, okay? You can't let anyone know you have a Stan—I mean—Imaginary friend. Got it?"

"You got it, Mama JoJo!" Joji smiled. The boy had then felt a yawn coming on, and he stretched. "I'm sleepy.." He announced, wiping his eyes.

"You must be tired, the cold rain must've been keeping you awake." Jolyne said as she went over and picked Joji up from his chair. "Why don't we go take a nap?"

The child yawned again and replied sleepily, "Okay.."

Later that night, Jolyne was in the living room peering out of the window. She thought about what she was going to do about Joji, and what was to become of him after the month was over with. Would he end up back on the streets, or orphanage? Maybe an abusive foster home? Or worse? She couldn't help but worry about his well being, or the whereabouts of his real mother. Her thoughts were soon interrupted by Ermes' voice from behind her.

"You seem to like him a lot," She said, coming from her bedroom. "He's a cute kid, but something needs to be done to that hair of his." Ermes said with a chuckle.

"Are we really gonna let him go after the month is up?" Jolyne asked, getting straight to the point. "I mean, what other options does he have besides staying with us?"

Ermes folded her arms, "Look JoJo, I know you like him. I do, too. But he needs better guardians." She explained. "Like I said, we can't take care of ourselves plus a kid."

"Then let's get better jobs," Jolyne exclaimed. "We can quit that piece of shit job at the bar and get a better paying job!" She shouted.

Ermes sighed, "Jolyne..."

"He's a fucking Stand user, Ermes!" Jolyne shouted again. "No one else knows about his Stand but us! Who else is gonna understand his power?!"

"JOLYNE!" Ermes shouted over the woman, forcing her into silence. After the house became completely silent, Ermes started to speak. "Look, the month isn't even over yet. Let's just talk about this more as the month goes on and then we'll see what happens."

Jolyne's mouth quivered and she looked away, "Fine.."

"Mama JoJo? Auntie Ermes?"

The sound of small feet tapping against the floor was heard as Joji came from out of the guest room, rubbing his eyes sleepily. He looked up at Ermes, "What happened?"

The two women looked at each other and then down at Joji. Jolyne walked over to the boy and picked him up, "Nothing, sweetie. You need to get some sleep."

"Okay," The boy yawned as Jolyne walked him back into the room. She turned to Ermes, "We will be talking about this tomorrow."

Later throughout the month, the two have raised and grown to care deeply about little Joji, and together they decided to adopt him after all. As the years came on, Joji had gotten older and his Stand became stronger through all of the fights he's gotten into in school and out of school. He was a known delinquent, and it seemed that trouble always followed him no matter where he went. But despite all of this, he was a good kid with a sense of justice.

Ten years later, after Jolyne found him in the alleyway with his Stand, Wrathchild, he was now sixteen years old and was a junior in high school. But even still, he always seemed to never stay out of a fight.