White Noise: Emperor Of Time.
October 4th, 2034. 1:22 AM.
Tonaki, Japan.
Rain poured and thunder clashed above the small island of Tonaki, the citizens slightly worried by the severity of the storm; the captains of the ships that had been placed at the harbor were hesitant to leave despite being on urgent business, but they knew that the only shelter they had for the night were their incredibly small living quarters.
"Sir, we've managed to find a closed down shelter though the doors won't budge an inch!" One of the sailors ran up to their captain, the latter stroking his bushy mustache. "Should we force it open? We're going to catch death if we remain outside!"
"We will not run around this island like a bunch of barbarians," the captain replied roughly and adjusted his pair of rectangular glasses as he stared out into the storm, "Once this storm lightens up, we will set sail. Miss Joestar ordered us to deliver some much needed supplies to the Speedwagon Foundation in Osaka, and we will do that as soon as possible! Do you understand?"
"Yes sir," the sailor sighed and nearly jumped out of his skin as a flash of lightning lit up the inside of the massive ship, "Good lord! Let's just hope this storm doesn't worsen… fuck this, I'm going back to bed!"
"You do that."
It was a miracle that the sailors were unable to reach the underground shelter that they wished to reside in for the night, as there was something… no, someone, lurking deep beneath it. But soon one would turn into two as the night went on, perhaps this was something so much more terrifying than the storm raging outside.
The underground shelter was barely lit by the torches that lined the rocky walls, though it seemed to be enough for Augustus as he stood over a tattered and dirtied coffin; he had been wearing a black vest that covered his white dress shirt that fit perfectly on his broad shoulders, and the shirt had a black tie with several white rain drops scattered over it. Below that, he wore a pair of black slacks that matched with his black leather shoes.
"Now, your master Augustus commands you to arise," the sharply dressed man spoke rather smoothly yet commandingly, his hands moving away from the coffin as a shadowed figure stepped out from its former tomb, "Very good… I believe that your name is Fuma Yuzo, so forgive me if I am incorrect. You were once a very skilled warrior, which is why I have summoned you. Do you remember anything, my new humble servant?"
Yuzo looked both ways, staring at his clothed body before doing anything else; his clothes were tattered and dirtied, not as smooth as he once remembered. It covered him from head to toe mostly, though it was not like it mattered – his body was entirely blackened, and even the inside of his mouth was shrouded in darkness. If there was ever something that could be called a living shadow, that would be Yuzo.
"Star…" Yuzo spoke gutturally, his words strained as he winced slightly and it almost seemed as if he was in pain as he spoke; he turned to Augustus and tilted his head, rather confused as to what was going on.
"Hm? Star?" Augustus asked, perplexed by the one word that his new servant had muttered. Were his vocal chords broken? Did they crumble away while he was rotting in the earth? "I see, you cannot speak as well as I can. That should not prove to be a problem, but first, allow me to ask you one simple question. Do you have a Stand ability?"
"Stand… Revenge of Shinobi…" Yuzo grunted as he moved away from Augustus, the latter's eyes following him carefully; though he started to sweat profusely when Yuzo instantly appeared at the far end of the room.
"What did he just do? I couldn't see a Stand come out of him and I couldn't even track his movements…" Augustus whispered to himself, though he smirked and clapped his hands together lightly. "Very good, I see that you're either extremely quick or you have the ability to teleport. Now that your ability appears to be crystal clear, we can move onto other matters."
Yuzo turned slowly to Augustus, his shadow-like body slumped over as his ears perked up slightly while the vampire spoke to him; not much was running through his mind, though for now, he listened intently.
"Much like every other great man that has ever lived, I desire more than this wretched little island to feast upon and rule," Augustus started and walked towards the massive steel doors, "I want you to stow yourself away on a ship heading to Japan, there you shall begin my conquest so I may rule all human life! A great warrior such as yourself understands this, do you not?"
Augustus waited for Yuzo to respond, maybe with a low guttural growl – but no, he made no movements that answered his request. Instead, he felt his body being thrown across the room like a heavy stone, his back impacting the stone wall.
"Damn mongrel!" Augustus roared as a humanoid figure phased into existence, its slim body six feet tall and slouching over lazily. Its body was a sickly purple color, though random bits of its flesh seemed to crumble away slowly as it moved, its fingernails digging into its palms. Its face had no eyes, though it did have a mouth leaking what seemed to be saliva, and it also held several rotten teeth inside it. It had several pieces of thin string connecting to one another throughout its front body, most of them forming X's.
Next to Fuma Yuzo stood an incredibly tall and muscular humanoid figure, its white body had smoke around its joints, some of it even floating away from the monstrous Stand. Its face was pure white, its eyes having crimson red pupils and above them were two golden horns on its head. Its mouth dripped with saliva, and its teeth were long and incredibly curvy. Last but not least, its hands only had three digits, its feet sharing this trait.
"His Stand is slightly faster than Judas Decapitation, I could tell by how swiftly and direct it threw me across the room," Augustus grunted, though his eyes squinted as he witnessed a few flies gathering around him, "Disgusting… I have to do everything myself, it seems!"
Judas Decapitation shot forward as its user stood back, its feet grinding into the stone floor; as it did so, the stone chunks reshaped into rectangular bricks, dozens of them flying towards Yuzo who had Revenge Of Shinobi rapidly beat its fists against the rock which shattered into pieces upon impact.
"He's very precise, as well!" Augustus remarked, somewhat pleased by the show of power that this undead warrior had been showing. "His fighting prowess is incredible, he's far more precise than I imagined! Though, something seems off… if his Stand seems to be very physically able, it seems strange that its only other ability is teleportation. Or was that superhuman speed?"
Augustus felt his entire body freeze into place for what seemed like a split second, though it soon ended as his eyes looked over to where Yuzo once was; and now he was barraging the ancient vampire's body mercilessly.
Guttural screams filled the air as the final blow sent Augustus into the stone floor, his mouth spitting out two bloody teeth as he landed; he felt his bones crack as he looked up towards Yuzo, who only snarled above him.
"How in the nine hells can he move so fast? I can't even track his movements!" Augustus coughed as he rolled out of the way. Once he stood up he barred his fangs at Yuzo, who only moved forward rather slowly.
"Star… Joestar…" Yuzo groaned as his lifeless gaze focused on Augustus, who kept his Stand close and his back against the wall. "REVENGE OF SHINOBI!"
"I don't understand what he's doing completely, but I think I have an idea," Augustus murmured to himself as he ran to the other side of the shelter, the undead monster's eyes following every single movement he made, "He keeps whispering a name… Joestar? He may hold a grudge against someone with that name! But why is he attacking me, does he think I'm the enemy? Is he furious that I made an attempt to order him to do something he didn't want to do? Or is he just a stubborn idiot who will attack everything in his way to get whatever he wants?!"
Yuzo stood still as his blackened body suddenly straightened, a low snarl emitting from his dripping maw as a harsh scarlet aura emanated from his unintelligible frame; his Stand stood close to him as he made a mad dash for Augustus, whose Judas Decapitation ripped chunks of earth out from the ground beneath it.
"You'll keep your dirty paws off of me, mongrel! I'll tear them to shreds!" Augustus threatened as Judas Decapitation chucked the chunks of earth towards Yuzo, the dirt soon transforming into small but heavy boulders. "My Judas Decapitation has the power to manipulate all elements on earth. Stone, dirt, water, whatever you think of, it can manipulate. It can even turn the day to night, and the night into day! You cannot dodge forever, Fuma Yuzo!"
A split second passed before Augustus felt the cold touch of a katana slide into his throat, his eyes widening as he looked down to see Yuzo below him, his steady hands sinking the blade further into the vampire's neck carefully. After this, Yuzo moved the katana to the right and completely severed his opponent's head from his body with a clean slice.
With a loud grunt, Revenge Of Shinobi smashed its fists against Augustus's severed head, effectively smashing it into a bloody mess that left nothing for the vampire to regenerate. His body had fallen over, completely lifeless and his Stand had faded away.
"Hmph." Yuzo grumbled and walked towards the set of enormous steel doors, his Stand forcing them open with ease. Without hesitation he walked out into the storm, his katana sliding back into its sheath as he stepped into the outside world.
As cold wind blew into the seemingly empty shelter, Judas Decapitation phased back into existence and it stood straight as it walked away from its user's beaten corpse. It steadily made its way into a smaller, much more cramped room; not much was in this room aside from what appeared to be a peculiar bow and arrow hanging on the wall.
The bow itself seemed rather normal, but the arrow had a strange design. It seemed to be made out of solid gold ,the outer lining of it glowing like silver, and the head itself was a dark navy blue with intricate shapes made by gold. Though, what really stood out was the strange insect popping out of it.
Judas Decapitation snatched it off of its hook, holding it tightly within its hands as it stared towards the shelter's exit. It made a strange, discernible sound as it walked like a noble warrior would, its mouth slightly ajar as it made its way outside.
Over a year and a half had passed since Akiko Mikami's defeat, and Josiah Joestar had used his reward money to buy a new home, though he did work at a new office job. That was just how he liked it, boring and simple! After he and Jin Kovich had started dating, she had moved in with him and had given her old home to Warut Mizushima, who was now known in the public under his new identity, Alexander Knight.
Josiah Joestar was now twenty three years old, as his birthday was sometime in the passing summer. He had changed into a much more positive person, living every moment to its fullest with his friends despite how dull it could be without much to do.
"Jesus Christ, it's cold as shit in here!" Josiah whined as he tucked his arms away, his tall frame shivering despite the dark navy blue sweatshirt he had been wearing; on the front of the sweatshirt was an olive branch that circled around his torso, each end stopping at his left and right shoulders. Stitched on the back of the sweatshirt is the word 'JUSTICE' in a sky blue color, the word starting out at his left shoulder and ending near the bottom right corner of the shirt.
Josiah walked throughout the hallway of his home as he continued to shiver, his ears perking up when he heard his cellphone ring in the family room.
"I'll get it!" Jin shouted as her footsteps moved quickly across the house, though they came to a quick stop. "Hello, Joestar residence! Who is this?"
Josiah made his way to the family room to see Jin with a bright smile on her face as she held the cell phone to hear ear, but she quickly turned to him and handed the cell phone over.
"Huh? Who is it?" Josiah asked.
"It's my dad, he wants to talk to you!" Jin smirked and pushed the cell phone into her boyfriend's hands, leaving him quite confused.
"Uh, hello Mister Kovich. Is something wrong?" Josiah asked almost like a robot, though he was met with hysterical laughter. "What's so funny?"
"I'll never get enough of how nervous you act around me, kid! Just call me Frantz, alright?" Frantz Kovich held back his remaining laughter as he spoke. "I just wanna know how everything's going! Are you taking good care of my Jin?"
"She's taking care of me if anything," Josiah laughed, leaning against the wall which allowed him to see that Jin was peeking out of the corner and staring at him as he spoke, "She's spying on me right now to make sure I don't break something, I'm pretty sure."
"I'll take that as a yes!" Frantz responded cheerfully, laughing loudly immediately after. "Don't let my calls throw you off, Josiah! Besides, you're gonna marry her, right? So you better get along with me!"
"Excuse me, what?"
"Nothing!" Frantz chuckled. "Anyway, I'll let you get back to whatever you were doing! I'll talk to you later!"
"Yeah, uh… talk to you later."
Josiah ended the phone call and moved it towards his pocket, but he nearly jumped out of his skin once he heard the obnoxious ringing pierce his ears; in a rush, he answered it and sighed.
"Huh? What is it?" Josiah spoke in a rush, taking a deep breath right after. "Sorry about that, Joestar residence! Who is this?"
"Josiah, it's your mother," Irene spoke in a concerned voice, "Do you have a few minutes? Something really important has come up, and I need you to take care of it for me while I'm away in the states."
"Uh, alright," Josiah walked towards the window on the east side of the room, staring outside as several dark rainclouds passed over, "You sound really worried. Is that big of a deal?"
"There's a police investigation at Osaka Bay," Irene started, "When the Speedwagon Foundation ship arrived at the port last night, most of the crew was dead, each of them with horrible wounds, even some of their heads were completely sliced off. The captain was barely alive and bleeding out when the staff member that found out reached him, but he died soon after… while I'm gone, I want you to take part in the investigation. When can you go check out the scene?"
"I get off work around eight tonight, so I'll do it then," Josiah replied, though he could not shake off the nagging feeling in the back of his head, "They haven't caught the guy who did it? Do you think they could be a Stand user?"
"They haven't caught them, and I don't think we can assume that yet," Irene said, her voice slowly becoming more calming, "It's why I'm sending you in to help. Clark Kubrick will come tomorrow to help with the investigation and potentially hold off the culprit. I'm sorry for throwing this into your lap, but I don't have many choices."
"That's fine, it won't take too long," Josiah assured her, "You just sit back and relax while Clark and I take care of this, alright? I'll give you an update later tonight. Talk to you then."
"Right, bye."
Josiah slipped his cell phone into his pocket and looked at Jin, who was now looking at the man with a curious look in her seafoam green eyes.
"What was that about? Do you have to go now?" Jin asked, clearly confused.
"A lot of Speedwagon Foundation employees were found dead on a ship that arrived in the port just last night," Josiah explained, "I have to go to Osaka Bay immediately after work, so don't worry if I'm not home for a few hours."
"Alright, just be careful when you're driving back tonight!" Jin said before walking over, giving him a small kiss on the cheek. "Have a good day, okay?"
"I'll try," Josiah nodded and walked towards the front door, shielding his sky blue eyes as the sun broke through the screen door, "See ya, then!"
"I can't believe I let Tsubasa keep me there for twenty more minutes," Josiah groaned as he drove through the darkened streets, speaking absentmindedly to himself while he did so, "I get paid a bit, but still, I told her I had important business tonight! She even kept me until the sun set, my boss knows I hated riving at night… oh well, I should stop whining. I'm almost there."
Josiah drove for a few more minutes before pulling his car over to the side of the road, only holding a flashlight as he made his way towards the port. It felt like a scene in a crime show, he could see several police cars scattered throughout the port, as well as many lights dazzling across the area.
He shivered despite the fact that he had pulled his dark brown aviator coat over his body, the left side of it having the letters D and O conjoined together in a sky blue color, the coat also having the letters W and N conjoined together as well in the same color on the right side.
When Josiah Joestar had arrived at the scene, he was stopped by two officers. One of them seemed a bit abrasive, his hands squeezing the young man's shoulders, and the other was simply standing to the side and keeping watch.
"Who might we have here? Why are you out here so late at night, citizen?" The officer asked, raising an eyebrow as Josiah slipped his ID out from his wallet.
"I'm Josiah Joestar, Irene's son," Josiah said without attempting to break free from the officer's strong grip, "If you need any proof, we can call her right now. She asked me and Clark Kubrick, who hasn't arrived yet, to investigate the ship. May I?"
"Yes, you may." The officer nodded, feeling rather silly as Josiah stepped towards the ship that had been resting at the dock.
Josiah ignored the many police officers that stared at him as he passed through, which was understandable; a citizen stepping into the scene of the crime was not something that was normal around here, but they must have assumed he was important if they did not stop him from moving towards some of the covered, mangled bodies.
"May I see the condition of some of the bodies, sir?" Josiah asked the man that had been watching over the bodies, the latter soon turning in surprise.
"Huh, Josiah? What are you doing here?" The man asked as he turned around, soon revealing himself to be Gustavo Alcide. "Did your mother call in sick or something?"
"Oh, long time no see! I guess they put you on this job, makes sense considering what I heard," Josiah started, somewhat relieved that it was Gustavo and not a stranger, "Mom's on vacation, I thought she would have told you… actually, now that I know you're here, has your Stand picked up anything out of the ordinary?"
"Yeah," Gustavo answered and nodded slowly, "At first, I thought these bodies were rotting away more quickly than I thought they would, but, well… there's something far more disgusting in that ship, I'll tell you that much. It's like the murderer took a dead man's guts and rubbed them across the floors and the walls. That's what it smells like, and… it smells even a bit sinister. You wanted to see the bodies too, right?"
Josiah wanted to answer, but Gustavo slowly peeled away the thick cloth; the mere sight of the mangled body's was nearly horrible enough to make the young men vomit.
There had been two men, one of their faces completely ripped apart and the left side of his abdomen had been removed from his body entirely; the other man's head was missing, the cut disturbingly clean and there had been no other sign of injury on his body.
"Good god," Josiah mumbled as he held himself back from vomiting, "Whoever did this, they really didn't care about making a mess. Wait… why is that guy's head cut so cleanly off, but the other one is missing a part of his body in a bloody mess?"
"I have no idea," Gustavo admitted with a sigh, "It's possible that the killer is a Stand user, but we can't rule out that they just have a strange method of murdering people. I don't know if that smell that Sixty Minute Man picked up is still in the ship, but be careful. I have to help take the bodies back to the lab so we can analyze them further and so they don't make a mess here. I'll see you later, Josiah."
"Yeah, see you later." Josiah shuddered and made his way towards the Speedwagon Foundation ship, his stomach uneasy as he made his way inside.
The ship was rather large, having the words SPEEDWAGON FOUNDATION on the side. It was not nearly the size of a cruise ship, but it was nothing to sneeze at.
He nearly gagged as a putrid stench hit his nostrils, and he figured that this is what Gustavo meant. But, he did not think that a few smears of blood could smell so horrible.
First, I'll go check out the living quarters to see if anything was dropped. With Downplay's precision, I can probably spot a few things that the officers didn't, and maybe even something that Gustavo couldn't see either. Josiah thought to himself as he made his way throughout the ship, the rotten smell becoming slightly more intense the further he went inside.
Josiah felt his heart skip a beat when he heard a low growl coming from below where he was standing, sweat profusely pouring down his face as he did not dare move. Was the killer still here, was it a guard dog?
After a minute or two, Josiah continued to move towards the stairs, his curiosity now piqued thanks to the strange sound; this led him to the ship's cargo hold, and thanks to the brightness he could take a good look at the entire room.
"I can't see anything," Josiah whispered to himself as Downplay's act two form materialized next to him, "Let's see if they missed anything…"
"… Shinobi…"
Josiah nearly screamed when he heard someone speak in a guttural tone, his entire frame whipping around to look beneath the set of stairs; he felt frozen in place when he managed to spot what seemed to be a being completely shrouded in shadows.
"What the hell is that thing?" Josiah asked himself and took a few steps backwards, his fists clenched as the figure shambled towards him. "It just said something… shit, should I move?"
"JOESTAR!" Yuzo screamed and charged towards Josiah, who quickly crossed his Stand's arms in front of him to guard the incoming attack; the latter gasped as he felt a hard, burning force bash Downplay's guard, sending him several feet back.
"That hurt like hell!" Josiah brought Downplay's arms down, able to see that smoke had been rising from them; that was the least of his worries however, since when he looked over at Yuzo, he could clearly see what he could only recognize as a Stand next to him. "Goddamn it, that's just my luck!"
Yuzo wailed unintelligibly and dashed towards Josiah, his Stand's fist rapidly colliding with the young man's body; the last blow sent him across the room and into the wall, Josiah's body falling through it halfway.
"Goddamn it, I have to get out of the ship!" Josiah pulled himself up and stared at Yuzo, who had quickly tossed what appeared to be a shuriken towards his face. As he moved away, he felt it cut his left cheek slightly, but luckily he had managed to dodge for the most part.
Yuzo's Stand attempted to bombard Josiah in the front with its fist, though it only managed to strike him in his left side; the latter coughed as Revenge of Shinobi kicked him towards the staircase, resulting in two of the steps cracking.
Josiah would not let this stop him despite the pain wracking his frame, his feet pushing him up the stairs but that did not seem to do any good – Fuma Yuzo chased him relentlessly as he jumped out of the boat.
"EVERYONE, GET OUT OF HERE!" Josiah shouted as Yuzo jumped behind him, his dark body almost blending in with the night; in what seemed like an instant, Josiah felt his body skid across the hard concrete, his coat slightly torn as it grated against the ground.
"Huh? When did he get over there?! And what the hell is that thing?!" The gruff officer from beforehand shouted, pointing his now drawn handgun towards Yuzo, who had paid him no mind.
"Joestar… JOESTAR!" Yuzo shrieked in primal rage, his nearly invisible body shot across the concrete, his katana drawn. "REVENGE OF SHINOBI!"
"Keep it down, you'll wake up the whole neighborhood!" An unfamiliar voice penetrated Yuzo's ears, which resulted in him turning around – well, at least he would have if it was not for the fact that a bullet shot through his right leg, which resulted in him falling over.
"Huh?" Josiah looked towards the top of the Speedwagon Foundation ship, sighing with relief and then smiling brightly once he realized who it was, since they had been holding a sniper rifle. "Clark, you're here early!"
"I pulled a few strings, so I made 'em go faster!" Clark jumped down from the ship with the help of Voltaire, who held onto him tightly. "Is this the freak that killed all those crew members?"
"Yeah, I think so," Josiah answered as Clark set his rifle gently on the ground, his free hand pulling out his python revolver, "I don't know what the hell it is or what it wants, but it really doesn't like me."
"It isn't like it matters any more." Clark shrugged and fired three times towards Yuzo, who quickly regained his intense scarlet aura; after feeling like he had been dragged into an ocean, Clark could see all of his bullets shatter instantly in midair. "What the HELL?!"
Clark watched as Yuzo ran from him, his katana raised in the air as he attempted to swing it down onto Josiah. The old man aimed his revolver towards Yuzo again and fired, though he could not help but stare at the remnants of the bullets that he had fired just a moment ago – the strange creature had managed to duck under Clark's fire when he attempted to cut Josiah down.
"Down stinger!" Josiah shouted and watched as four wires shot out from Downplay's wings, every single one of the wires embedding themselves into Yuzo's chest; the monster cried out in irritation and pain, soon using its Stand's hands to yank the wires out.
Yuzo screamed once more before Josiah could counterattack – within what seemed like a split second, the shadowy figure had completely disappeared, leaving no trace of his existence.
"Where the hell did that thing go?!" The officer shouted, pointing his handgun to the left and then to the right. "Joestar, what in God's name did you find down there?!"
"I wish I knew," Josiah answered and turned to Clark, who had pocketed his python and was carrying his rifle close to his chest, "Thanks a lot, Clark. That thing would have killed me if you didn't get here early."
"It's no problem, but I did notice something… but first, let me ask you this," Clark started with a worried look on his face, "What did you think his Stand ability was? Did he seem to move incredibly fast to you?"
"Yeah, I couldn't even keep my eye on him and Downplay barely hit him!" Josiah said, dusting his coat off as he winced. "He kicked my ass… what did you notice?"
"When I fired at him with the python, he used that ability you think is super speed," Clark continued, walking towards the shattered remnants of his bullets, "But they all broke apart at the exact same time, do you really think that monster could move that fast by itself? The Stand it had didn't seem to be able to move that far away either."
"What are you implying?" Josiah asked, getting somewhat of an idea on what Clark was speaking to him about. "What do you think he's doing?"
"There's only one solution to this question, and it's a bit terrifying," Clark replied, wiping sweat from his brow, "I don't know how long he can do it, but that beast must have been able to freeze the flow of time!"
"What?! But, Clark, you have to know that's a pretty big assumption! I mean, I don't know what else it could be, but," Josiah spoke in a rushed tone as his heart sank into his chest, "Shit, how are we meant to beat it if that's true? And why wouldn't it just use it nonstop?"
"It can probably only stop time every so often, so that would explain it," Clark said, his hand on his chin as he examined the shattered bullets, "If we look back on what happened just a minute ago, it's clear that it can't stop it for very long, but it was able to destroy all of these bullets before they could even touch it. I'd say it can stop time for seven to ten seconds."
"I hope you're wrong," Josiah mumbled and shook his head, "But we need to tell Irene about this, it's a pretty big deal. We need to find out what the hell it is and why it kept calling me Joestar, like it knew me."
"That's strange," Clark shook his head and stepped towards Josiah, "I'm going to do some research at the library. Before I do that, did it do anything or have anything that might help me find out what it is?"
"Uh… it threw something at me. It's still in the cargo hold, though." Josiah told him, which led to Clark turning back towards the ship.
"You head home, I'll go check it out." Clark said and made his way towards the ship, his muscles still tense from the encounter. "Before you say anything, I can handle myself if that thing comes back. I'll call you in the morning."
"If you're sure." Josiah replied, making his way back towards his vehicle as he winced in pain. "That motherfucker hit me really hard… hope Jin isn't too worried."
Josiah jumped out of his bed and nearly screamed once his phone went off. Scrambling for it, he weakly opened his tired eyes and pressed it against his ear once he answered it.
"Who is this and why are you calling so fucking early?" Josiah asked, his voice slurred as he climbed out of his bed. Somehow his outburst did not wake up Jin, who was still sleeping soundly.
"Josiah, something bizarre is happening. I was just informed by the Speedwagon Foundation about something that's going on in the middle of the ocean." Irene spoke rather hurriedly.
"Well, spit it out. I hope it's important enough for you to wake me up this early."
"Cut the shitty attitude Josiah, this is important!" Irene barked. "Do you remember my old friend, Jaiden Malakai? He helped you track down Firestart."
"Yeah, why?"
"He's been working with us for the past few months, and while another one of our ships were heading for Osaka's port, he saw some kind of Stand walking on a path of stone that's leading to this town, and it seemed to be holding the bow and arrow! Not only that, but people who aren't Stand users can see the stone. The Japanese government declared that they're going to start investigating it soon. On top of that, I think it could be related to what Clark told me about what happened to you last night at Osaka Bay."
"The bow and arrow? But doesn't that Speedwagon Foundation already have two of them in its possession? I don't think it's that thing's Stand, though. Did you hear his theory on what it might do?"
"We do, its baffling to think that there might be even more sets out there. But, yes, he told me. If its Stand can really stop time, then you may be in trouble. Can you give me any other information besides what I know already? We know that it has a Stand, that it can stop time, and it apparently threw a very old shuriken at you while you were fighting."
"It kept calling me Joestar. What do you think that's about?"
"I had a theory that it may hold some sort of grudge against you, but now I think I know why. Judging by its appearance, its similar to the monsters that Dion Brando sent after me and my friends when we went to destroy her. On top of that, it seems to be much older than her. A long time ago, we had ancestors that came to Japan. I don't know why, but it must hold a grudge with our bloodline. Mainly, you. You may look similar to whoever must have put it down in its original life. For reference, the undead cannot be out in the sunlight or they'll die. He must be hiding somewhere dark."
"Great, it wants revenge for something I never did." Josiah said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Thanks for the information, but, what do you think we should do, then?"
"I would put that thing down as soon as possible. It's only going to put more innocent people in danger the longer it lives."
"Yeah, you're right. I'll try to put it down as soon as possible. I'll talk to you later, mom."
"Yeah. Bye."
Josiah quietly tiptoed out of his bedroom, his ears perking up slightly once he heard a distant 'thud' emanate from his kitchen.
He continued to make his way towards the kitchen, sighing as he recognized the sound of someone picking through his refrigerator. Josiah flipped the light to his kitchen on, the light-bulb illuminating the entirety of it to see a familiar young man sorting through his food.
"Taiga, I thought I told you to cut this shit out." Josiah sighed, clearly disappointed.
"You didn't say I couldn't take shit if I was hungry!" Taiga protested loudly, pulling out a banana from the refrigerator. "Did I wake you up or something? You don't look too good."
"I have to talk to you about something important, so come into the family room with me." Josiah said, moving towards the mentioned room so he could explain to Taiga what exactly had happened.
"So, that's why you look like you got the shit beat out of you?" Taiga asked, munching on the banana as she spoke. "An undead guy who can stop time, and a Stand without a user is carrying another bow and arrow… you know this sounds really fucking crazy, right?"
"Yeah, I'm aware." Josiah replied in a yawn.
"Well, I'm just gonna have to take your word for it!" Taiga grinned, giving Josiah a hard pat on the back. "So, how do you think you're gonna beat this guy, anyway?"
"Hell if I know." Josiah admitted, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'm gonna go see Warut today and tell him about it, but I need all four of you if we're gonna do this. We can't just wait for him to come to us. If he kills more people while looking for me, then that's more weight than I'd like to carry. We need to stop him before he can hurt anyone else."
"Well, we're going to really have to surprise him if he can stop time." Taiga added. "How do you think we're gonna find him?"
"He's probably hiding somewhere underground, but I can't really say for now." Josiah said, standing up a moment later. "I'm going to go take a shower, get a bite to eat, and then go get Warut. Do you wanna come with me?"
"Sure, but what about your girlfriend?" Taiga asked curiously.
"I don't want to worry her more than I already have. She can come with me if she wakes up, but otherwise, I don't want to bother her." Josiah said, making his way towards his bathroom. "I'll be out in a bit, the fridge is yours to raid."
"Sweet!"
Josiah yawned as he drove down the somewhat busy roads of Osaka, every single bone in his body becoming increasingly tired as he continued. Jin sat beside him quietly, though Taiga sat in the backseat and continued to attempt to make conversation.
"I'm still trying to process the fact that we're after an undead ninja that wants you dead because one of your ancestors probably kicked his ass." Taiga said, unable to stop herself from chuckling at how ridiculous that had sounded. "Do you still not have any idea on how you're gonna find him?"
"I could ask Gustavo for help, but he's way too much of a perfectionist. He won't let me go after this fucker unless he's completely sure that it's him." Josiah answered, turning the steering wheel to the left for a moment. "That might be the only way, though."
"Gustavo is investigating it, there's no way he won't have trouble finding this monster!" Jin added encouragingly, smirking all the while.
"I think the worst part of this might be finding it," Josiah started, wiping sweat from his brow as he focused his eyes on the road. "If it can really stop time, then we might not stand a chance at all. I don't know how to counter something like that, and I don't even know if it's possible to reset him to before he stopped time."
"You might as well try, you don't really have a choice!" Taiga teased as Josiah pulled into a parking spot. "You going in by yourself?"
"Yeah, I'll come back with Warut." Josiah said as the car's engine ceased roaring, pushing the car door open and then slamming it shut. "Hope he isn't too busy…"
Josiah opened up the door to Warut's workplace, the wooden floors clear of any dirt or dust. He was glad that it had not officially opened for the day yet, as he wished to talk to the man without any interruptions.
"Oh, hey there!" Warut's familiar voice called out from a dark hallway, his muscular frame becoming visible as he stepped into the lobby. "What do you need, Josiah?"
Warut's face had a bush blonde beard, his body covered with a sleeveless sweat jacket with red tribal patterns on the back and on the sides of the waist. Under the jacket was a white spandex shirt with the word Akashita in kanji on both of his forearms. On the shoulders was a vector drawing of an enormous maw extending from the face of a demon that seems to be formed from smoke. He wore black track pants, and the section where the lining would be are vertical curvy Aztec patterns. On his feet he wears white ReeBok "Big Hurt" sneakers.
"Do you have a few minutes? I need to talk to you about something important."
Josiah took a few minutes to explain the situation to Warut, who had seemed rather taken aback by what his friend was describing to him, but soon came to an understanding.
"Uh-huh, I got it." Warut nodded, grinning as he cracked his knuckles. "So all we gotta do is track down this fucker and take him out before he can hurt anyone? Sounds like a good idea to me! Ya gonna call Gustavo, too?"
"Yeah, that's the only hope we have of tracking down this thing." Josiah said, shoving a hand into his left pocket so he could grab his cellphone. "Alright, let's see…"
Josiah quickly dialed Gustavo's number, tapping his feet impatiently as he awaited an answer from the man. Luckily, he would not have to wait much longer.
"Hello, this is Gustavo Alcide, how can I help you?"
"Hey, this is Josiah. Look, I don't have a lot of time but do you have any idea on where that murderer might be hiding? I have some information on him that might be useful to you."
"Oh, yes, please! I may have some information that could be of use, as well."
"Well, first off, my mom told me that the thing we fought after you left was undead. Have you heard of anything like that?"
"So my co-workers weren't overreacting… but, uh, Miss Joestar would tell me stories about fighting them on her journey to defeat Dion Brando. That must be the reason for the horrible smell. He's just a corpse."
"Yeah. Also, he has a Stand that can stop time it seems. Clark managed to figure it out, and he can only do it for a few seconds. Do you have any idea what kind of weaknesses this thing might have? My mom might have glossed over some things."
"I know that they can't stand the sunlight, and Sixty Minute Man was able to figure out he's hiding out somewhere in the dark thanks to its smelling ability. Are you sure you want to go after something with that kind of power?"
"I don't have a choice, so hurry and tell me everything you know!"
"Alright, just calm down! Sixty Minute Man was able to find out that he's hiding out somewhere in the subway, probably in one of the maintenance rooms. He's probably murdered anyone that's come down there, too. It's really cramped, too, so you might want to be careful with how many comrades that come with you. I recommend two, that part of the subway is cramped and you would just be tripping on one another. He'd kill you all with ease. Again, it's still dangerous. Are you sure?"
"It doesn't matter if I'm sure, I have no choices left. Thanks, Gustavo!" Josiah thanked him hurriedly, ending the phone call before turning to Warut. "Are you ready to fight?"
"Hell yeah! Let's go kick this demon's ass!" Warut cheered eagerly as he stepped out of the building with Josiah, who slid his cellphone back into his pocket.
It only took fifteen minutes for Josiah to arrive at the subway, every bone inside of his body almost rattling in fear. He had told Jin and Taiga beforehand that if they did not come back in five minutes then they should help out or assume the worst, which had admittedly left a bad taste in his mouth.
Josiah and Warut descended into the nearly empty subway, the citizens sitting around not paying the two of them any mind as they made their way towards the maintenance room.
Chilled air brushed across their skin as their eyes continued to meet with the dull grey walls, their fingers twitching as they curled their hands into readied fists. They could definitely smell something rotting down here – and if that didn't make it clear enough, then the blood strewn across the floor would assure them that Yuzo was indeed here.
They stopped in their tracks before they traversed the hallway, the sound of a lingering creek penetrating their ears.
"Did you-"
Then, suddenly, a familiar feeling overcame Josiah. It was like it happened in an instant – he saw Yuzo's blackened fist strike Warut's face, sending him flying towards the metallic wall with a loud 'BANG' when he collided with it.
"WARUT!" Josiah shouted, his Stand suddenly throwing its arms up in front of his face – just in time too, he could feel a hard punch collide its arms. "Not again, you don't!"
"ORA!" Downplay cried as it lowered its arms, one of its fists rocketing through the air which allowed Josiah to get a good look at the monster he had been hunting.
Yuzo snarled unintelligibly as his own Stand's fists collided with Downplay's, stopping its fist from moving forward. Downplay let out another battle cry, its other fist narrowly avoiding Revenge Of Shinobi's.
This exchange resulted in Revenge Of Shinobi's fist meeting with the left side of Downplay's face, the latter's fist meeting with the aggressive Stand's gut which resulted in Josiah chuckling as he moved away.
"YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT, ASSHOLE!" Warut shouted angrily, his fog-like Stand wrapped tightly around his body as he lunged towards Yuzo.
The strange beast muttered angrily as he attempted to yell out his Stand's name, though nothing seemed to happen from his perspective. While in his confused state, he looked towards Warut who seemed to have a copy of himself flying next to him.
"Thank god for the dim lighting!" Warut shouted as he flew around Yuzo, planting his foot against the back of the undead creature's head. "How does it feel to get a taste of your own medicine, you freak?!"
"It sure looks confused." Josiah chuckled, his Stand guarding him as he continued to speak. "I had Downplay reset the next thing its Stand was going to do, so it was unable to stop time. It looks like you have a limit, so I'd say that's around ten seconds! You can stop time for seven seconds and then you need to rest for ten in order to do it again!"
"Revenge of Shinobi!" Yuzo shouted, clearly angered by Josiah's explanation – maybe it could understand him after all. It threw its fist towards his gut, attempting to ignore Warut who flew back around to try and deliver another blow to the head.
Josiah made sure to guard his gut with Downplay's arms, though something was different about this punch. His ears started ringing once a small explosion went off, forcing him several feet back as he brought down his Stand's guard – there was smoke rising off of them.
"What the hell did it just do, Warut?!" Josiah asked, wincing in pain as he stared right at Yuzo, who seemed to be chuckling lowly now.
"When it landed a punch, it set off an explosion! Be careful, Josiah!" Warut warned him as he pointed his mist covered index finger at Yuzo.
The beast narrowly avoided the small bolt of lightning that shot towards him, his Stand raising one of its legs to successfully kick Warut in the neck. With this, it quickly landed a hard punch on his gut, sending him towards Josiah.
"Fuck!" Josiah coughed as Warut's body collided with his, leaving him to stare at his approaching doom. "Goddamn it, how is he this strong?!"
"Joestar… JOESTAR!" Yuzo screamed as he prepared to make a mad dash for Josiah, but for some reason, he stopped in his tracks which had left Josiah and Warut fairly confused.
"The hell is it doing?" Warut murmured, watching as the strange creature sniffed the air for just a few moments.
"Job… not done…" Yuzo whispered as it jumped towards the duo, only to make its way towards the stairs. "WORK NOT DONE!"
Warut picked himself off of Josiah, Stratovarius wrapping around his muscular frame as he flew up the stairs to follow the now rampaging beast. Josiah took a deep breath, shaking his head as he followed suit.
Jin's eyes widened as what was a sunny day just moments ago turned into a dark night, the sun had set within a matter of seconds and now there was a full moon that made the sky its home.
"Taiga, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Jin asked, her seafoam green eyes almost quivering in uncertainty as she stepped out of the car, Taiga following.
"Yeah, this is really weird… this has to be a Stand ability, right? Can that thing change day to night? I don't get it." Taiga murmured, watching as several bystanders in the streets stopped and looked at the sudden night sky.
"I think we have a bigger issue!" Jin declared as Erratas phased into existence, its fists clenched. She tried to get a good look at what she was staring at, which was the shadow-like figure that Josiah had told her about. "That's what Josiah was warning us about! Where is he and Warut, though?!"
"Let's take it out, we don't have time to worry!" Taiga yelled and grabbed the car door with her metallic hand, a crimson aura overcoming it for a few moments before a second one appeared in her grip.
"REVENGE OF SHINOBI!" Yuzo screamed gutturally as it charged towards the two women, Revenge Of Shinobi's fists meeting with the incoming car door, ripping it in two with ease.
Yuzo's Stand managed to grab each side of the car door as it was ripped in two, tossing them both at Taiga before he went to throw a punch at Erratas.
Jin grunted as Erratas's fists collided with Revenge Of Shinobi's repeatedly, though she did not expect Yuzo to take a hard blow to the head just so it could land a decent hit on her gut – with this, it grabbed her arm and tossed her towards the automobile, her body crashing through the windshield.
"JIN!" Taiga shouted and pulled out her switchblade from one of her pockets, quickly copying it and tossing it towards Yuzo – but oddly enough, she felt a hard fist come in contact with her face, sending her to the hard concrete below her.
"What do you think y-you're doing?" Jin grumbled, pulling herself out of the windshield while she ignored the several shards of glass sticking out of her pierced skin. "You keep your dirty hands off of her!"
Erratas launched itself towards Yuzo, its fists colliding with Revenge Of Shinobi once more. Jin managed to dodge a punch meant for her nose, her own crashing down onto the enemy Stand's right arm.
Yuzo coughed and spat out black liquid onto the concrete below him, Revenge Of Shinobi's leg soon meeting with the right side of Erratas's face. Jin grunted, her Erratas's hand grabbing the monstrous Stand's leg and forcing it away from its face.
"I'll protect this place no matter what! YOU WON'T STOP ME!" Jin shouted, Erratas landing a fierce blow on Revenge Of Shinobi's face. "FUCKERS LIKE YOU NEVER LEARN!"
Yuzo growled as he took the hit to the face, biting down on where its bottom lip would be as it charged forward, one of its hands grabbing onto the collar of Jin's t-shirt.
As if it happened in a mere moment, Jin felt several punches connect with her abdomen which sent her skidding across the concrete, her jeans ripping slightly before her body came to a stop.
"HEY! WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING TO HER?!" Yuzo whipped around to see Josiah and Warut, standing shoulder to shoulder. "YOUR FIGHT IS WITH ME, LEAVE HER OUT OF THIS!"
Josiah attempted to charge, but he stopped as the ground beneath him began to quake. He stared over at Yuzo while worried screams filled the air, but the undead creature seemed to be taken off guard as well. Warut quickly took this as an opportunity to strike, flying towards Yuzo with a single fist outstretched.
"REVENGE OF SHINOBI!" Yuzo shouted as the ground split beneath him, his harsh scarlet aura surrounding his shadowy frame. He dashed away, leaving the other four to pick themselves up as the ground shook.
"YOU AREN'T GOING ANYWHERE, ASSHOLE!" A familiar voice broke through the confusion, a single bullet penetrating through the air and embedded itself into Yuzo's left arm.
Josiah looked in the direction from where the voice came from, seeing that it was indeed Clark Kubrick, holding his bulldog revolver close.
"Sorry I'm late, but Gustavo didn't give me the location until I convinced him I was fine." Clark said, aiming his revolver at the injured Yuzo. "Josiah, do you remember what your mother told us about that Stand carrying the arrow?"
"Oh, you know about that too?! Yeah, what the hell is going on with that?!" Josiah asked, watching as Yuzo quickly dashed away, narrowly avoiding two more shots that came from Clark's bulldog revolver.
"Fucking hell!" Clark scoffed, putting that weapon in exchange for his python revolver. "It's already here! My guess is that it has the power to control all elements of the earth since as soon as it arrived, this earthquake started! It must have the ability to change the time of day, too!"
"What the hell could it possibly want?!" Josiah shook his head, his sky blue aura covering his body as he made a mad dash in the direction that Yuzo had went. "Enough with this, I'm taking this asshole out! People are gonna die if he gets near them!"
Without another word, Josiah dashed as his heart thumped wildly in his chest. He could see Yuzo's harsh scarlet aura come into focus, though he noticed that Yuzo seemed to be climbing onto a rather large office building as the shaking earth slowed.
Josiah looked to the left and then to the right, seeing what his mother had described to him just the other day. There was indeed that strange Stand that seemed to be emotionless, the ground cracking beneath it as it walked slowly, a bow and arrow in its grip.
"I don't have time to worry about that!" Josiah shook his head and ran towards the fifteen story building, his Stand wrapping its arms around him as it flapped its wings, shooting upward as Yuzo hurriedly climbed it.
Just as Yuzo made it to the top of the building, Josiah had arrived as well. Downplay set him down on the roof, the man staring down at the monster in front of him.
"I'm the one you want, right?!" Josiah shouted, clenching his fists as the building shook ever so slightly. "My friends are of no concern to you! GOT IT?!"
"JOESTAR!" Yuzo screamed and lunged towards Josiah. Four wires shot out from Downplay's wings, breaking through the undead ninja's blackened skin, though this did not stop him despite the electric shocks coursing through his shadowy frame.
"What?!" Josiah looked at Yuzo with an aghast look on his face. A hard punch met with his Stand's gut, smoke rising off from it as he was pushed off the building. "Oh fuck no!"
Like a guardian angel, Downplay quickly grabbed its user before he could reach the ground, circling around the building before it landed behind Yuzo.
"ORA ORA ORA!" Downplay cried as it set its user down, its balled up fists beating against Yuzo's back mercilessly, shoving his face down into the roof. Yuzo attempted to stand back up, but he felt a cold hand grab his face.
"You wanted a Joestar, right? You made a mistake the moment you decided to try and kill someone who did nothing to you." Josiah shook his head, his hold on Yuzo's face tightening. "Does feeling helpless feel good to you?!"
"Joestar… JOESTAR!" Yuzo screamed, black blood leaking out of his mouth as his Stand grabbed Downplay's hand, forcing it off of him as his fist connected with its enemy's head.
"DOWN STINGER!" Josiah shouted as several wires shot out from Downplay's wings – but before they made contact with Yuzo, time had already frozen.
Yuzo grabbed each individual wire and jammed them into the still Josiah, and if it could be seen the demon would definitely smirk at what he had done.
Before time resumed, he jumped back to where he was and watched as Josiah screamed, his body writhing in pain as electrical currents ran throughout his tall frame.
"Goddamn it!" Josiah spat onto the roof, his Stand quickly pulling out each wire as its user slowly stood back up, his hand gripping his shirt as he panted heavily. "What a cheap trick…"
Yuzo grabbed Josiah by the throat and slammed him into the roof, Revenge Of Shinobi's fists beating against his abdomen as the foundation of the roof began to crack. Despite the fact that Downplay had attempted to ease the blow, Josiah screamed as the roof gave in, Yuzo's grip locked tightly.
Josiah felt layers of concrete break against his back. How many floors had he been thrown through? Four? Five? He could barely even bother to count as Yuzo let go of his throat, leaving him to desperately gasp for air.
Yuzo quickly picked up Josiah by his throat once more, pinning him against the wall as several employees made a run for the stairs.
"Talk about overkill…" Josiah murmured as Yuzo snarled, his own blackened fist striking him in the face again and again and again. He vomited blood as time seemed to skip once more, and he could hear an explosion go off once it had resumed.
The wall behind Josiah gave out, sending him to the outside world. Quickly, Downplay grabbed him before his knees would shatter against the hard concrete – just in time, he set his user down on his feet.
Josiah rubbed his throat, watching as Yuzo jumped down from the floor that he had been tossed out of with the help of his Stand.
"Fuck!" Josiah coughed, prepared to make a counterattack. But he froze. It did not feel as if Yuzo had stopped time.. He heard an inhuman screech emit from somewhere behind him, so he looked over to see the strange Stand staring straight at him.
Judas Decapitation aimed the bow and arrow at Josiah, who quickly threw up his Downplay's arms to guard the incoming blow – but it did not matter, he felt blood gush out of his left arm as the arrow slid inside of Downplay's arm completely.
Josiah groaned as light emitted from Downplay's arm, the arrow ripping through its flesh. It was as if the sun was growing out from his Stand, and he was forced to cover his eyes. Yuzo had done the same, confused as to what was happening.
As the light faded, Josiah looked towards his Stand – he was unsure as to what he was seeing. It was if it was replaced by thousands of particles of light, though this soon vanished from his sight, though Yuzo still looked fairly confused.
Downplay remained a humanoid figure, though it retained its height it had become somewhat less muscular. Its body turned into a sleek black color with white lines circling around it, resembling whirlpools that stretched throughout its body, some of them connecting. It had three white antennae sticking out from the top of its head which fused together the further they extended. Its face had two golden orbs that resembled the headlights on a car, though smaller. It also had a flat mouth, which remained perpetually shut.
"You have met the requirement to use my abilities to their full extent." Downplay stated in a monotonous tone, turning to Josiah who looked rather shocked. "You have selflessly risked your life to save others, and for that, I shall reward you. Downplay Requiem is at your disposal. I have gained the ability to reset anything you wish."
"Requiem? Is this what happens when the arrow hits Stands?" Josiah murmured to himself, looking towards the flabbergasted Yuzo. "Alright, let's see what you got!"
"REVENGE OF SHINOBI!" Yuzo bellowed, extending his arms towards the air. However, nothing seemed to change for Josiah as the world around him turned into a dull grey. The ground had stopped shaking, and he could easily move.
"You will never escape from your fate, monster." Downplay Requiem said, its unblinking golden eyes now glaring at Yuzo. "Fate is your guide, you cannot escape the flow of time."
Yuzo stepped back, taken aback as Josiah stepped towards him. The latter stopped, cracking his knuckles before pointing at the undead man who had been backed into a corner.
Josiah opened his mouth, his sky blue eyes boring into where Yuzo's would be.
"It must feel so safe here, in your frozen world. That's probably what death felt like, huh? Nobody could have reached you, nobody could have touched you, nobody could have hurt you. I can see why you'd like it here. But even in a world where time doesn't move, things change and evolve... but that goes for the outside world as well, but you like to run from your fate, don't you? Cracks start to develop in your dominion, and your shoddy shelter opens itself up to the common people you tried to keep away. Those common people are the reason why I've made it this far, and doesn't that just piss you off? But now I'm here with you, in your world. I'm the only one that can reach you, the only one that can touch you, and I'm the only one that can hurt you. And now, as your world comes to an end, so will your damned existence."
Once Josiah finished speaking, he did not budge an inch once Yuzo came charging at him – that was his cue to put an end to this once and for all.
"ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!" Downplay Requiem shouted, its fists colliding with Yuzo at absolutely blinding speeds. The world of grey dissipated as time resumed, the final punch sending Yuzo back towards the edge.
"GUH!" Yuzo screamed, launching himself towards Josiah once again. This effort proved to be fruitless as Downplay Requiem slammed its sleek black knee into his face, blood gushing out from his mouth and his nostrils.
"Your Stand can't do anything, so you should give up. I don't want to do anything that I don't have to do." Josiah said, though he sighed once Yuzo spat at his feet. "Fine, be that way!"
Josiah charged, letting out a battle cry as Downplay Requiem delivered a swift punch to Yuzo's chin, the latter being able to feel it crack. Yuzo could feel the evolved Stand's lightning fast punches bombard his body, the final blow meeting with his nose.
Yuzo clenched his chest, panting heavily as a strange feeling washed over him. It felt oddly pleasant, and he was unsure of what was happening. He could feel his heart pumping in his chest, his lungs filling up with air.
Yuzo muttered unintelligibly, his black skin reverting back to a peach color. His hazel eyes stared up at Josiah, who only shook his head in response to what was happening. He had reset Yuzo back to his normal state.
He wore the same tattered clothes, his short black hair a complete mess. Yuzo stared at Josiah and fell to his knees, attempting to speak.
"My name is Fuma Yuzo. I do not know what you have done to me, but I thank you. When I was brought back to life, all I wanted to do was to take revenge on the Joestars. I see now that I was wrong. Thank you, young man." Yuzo spoke, sliding a dagger out from his clothes and pointed it to his gut."I must atone for what I have done. I can die in peace... goodbye, Joestar."
"Hey, wait!" Josiah shouted, but it was too late. Yuzo dug the sharp blade into his stomach, blood spilling out from his mouth. In only a matter of seconds, Yuzo had fallen over, finally dead.
Several minutes had passed before Josiah had regained the strength to call the Speedwagon Foundation, and he noted that the strange Stand from before had disappeared. Along with this, the arrow fell out from Downplay Requiem's arm, effectively returning it back to its original state.
Josiah handed over the requiem arrow to the Speedwagon Foundation, confident that he would never have the need for that kind of power again. He also firmly believed that no human should possess such strength.
Clark Kubrick had plans to return to America once again, thanking everyone for helping with the battle and the investigation. Though, he still refused to take a break.
Fuma Yuzo was buried under a cherry blossom tree that had not bloomed yet, as this was Josiah's request for him to rest peacefully. Life was expected to return to normal, but, Jin wanted to discuss something with Josiah quite desperately.
10:45 PM.
Josiah Joestar's house.
Josiah and Jin sat next to each other on their sofa in silence, simply enjoying one another's company as they rested from the day's battle. Jin was luckily bandaged up and could go home early.
"Hey, JoJo?" Jin started, sweat dripping down the side of her head as she scooted closer to him. "Uh, Taiga told me that we have her blessing. So did Warut and Clark."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Josiah asked, oblivious as to whatever she was implying.
"Well, they both thought we were getting, uh..." Jin coughed, gulping afterwards as she stared up at Josiah with an intense blush on her face. "What I'm saying is... do you want to get married? We've been together for over a year, and, well, uh..."
"Of course I do, you don't have to be so nervous about it!" Josiah replied, planting a kiss on her forehead before pulling her closer. "If you didn't ask, I would. Today's been really intense, but... I don't mind it ending like this."
"Oh!" Jin buried her head in his chest, smiling gleefully as she did so. "I love you, JoJo! Even if something like this happens again, I'll protect this city with you."
"I love you too, Jin." Josiah smirked, ruffling her hair as he did so. "Yeah, I'm not too worried about this place any more..."
"Yeah, it's just been intense and kind of weird sometimes. But I think that's why I love you, all of our friends, and this place so much."
Josiah smiled, his sky blue eyes shining as he opened his mouth one last time.
"Yeah. What a bizarre adventure."
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure D2X Part 1: White Noise, End.
[The following day...]
The Saturday morning hours within Osaka would be uncomfortable in its vacancy for a foreigner, it is however standard. The calm before the storm of people, where the winds are louder than the roar of casual conservation, breathing its ambiance into the calm aura of the autumn dawn skies, blue with weak luminescence giving great size of the shadows of the towers, with only the worthy bathing in the sun's light.
Within the strip of businesses within Kita-Ku, five people are present mostly distant from each other, estimated to be about a few yards apart all wearing heavy clothes, have nothing to do with each other.
One in particular was a Japanese Business woman, about in her 40s, walks unnaturally. Without close examination, it isn't unusual, but she walks very steadily and carefully like an elderly woman would. She has a pale flesh, which wouldn't be odd for a Japanese woman, however it's a sicklier pale, and with her lack of make-up, a non-Asian foreigner would even recognize her experienced age. One would assume she is ill, a superstitious person with a keen eye would suggest otherwise as she is holding her brief case tight, the bone structure on the back of her indicates the tightness of her grip, that person of superstition would assume a ghoul.
The business woman approaches the D.D House building, a very catching mall due it being more pushed and having a more modernistic look than the walls of square business complexes. When she enters the mall, the loud rough buzzing of the janitor's equipment echoes with in the mall even overpowering the more "easy-listening" sub-genre that's also prevalent in J-Pop. A Mall security guard calmly patrols the complex with a fast-food restaurant cup of coffee, startles a bit when he sees the business woman passing by, but immediately assuming the woman is ill, and patrols with much more widened eyes. Most wouldn't care where the business woman heads to, it is however fascinating when she enters in "Media Café Popeye". It doesn't really have anything to do with Popeye, though one could guess that the name might be associated with the fact the café sells Japanese graphic novels. Only two young men are at the computer section of the café.
She approaches to one of the men, puts her hand on her shoulder. The young man looks at the woman, startles and has a look of fear when he sees skulls in the woman's iris. The eyes turn black, and then his, taking the luggage. Their eyes revert to normal one the young man took the luggage. The woman looks around the café confused, and runs out of the café in a panic.
She almost bumps into an employee, startling him briefly, looking at her run out, and then looks at the other direction seeing the young man in a distance taking out a motherboard of some kind from his luggage. The employee is confused taking in on those two things, shakes his head and takes out his phone, tapping on it, calling someone.
The motherboard has wires connecting around the CPU section. The ends of the wires are connected to one wire, with a USB on the end. The young man connects the USB on the back of the system unit. He exits out his game, and goes to the net to download Tor Browser. He puts his hand on the system unit, which suspiciously increases the download speed. After going through the setup, he launches Tor and writes in a long and seemingly random string of characters followed by a ".onion" in the address bar. The page leads to a hyperlink of random characters. The man clicked on it and it initiates a download of an executable file. A security guard enters in the café and approaches the young man with the motherboard.
As the guard gets close his radio starts playing the classical tune "California, Here I Come." The young man grins, the skulls in his pupils showing.
To Be Continued...
Author's Note
And just like that, White Noise has truly come to an end. It was an insane ride, and again, I thank every single one of my friends for helping me with this! My friend PurpleVision helped me write Josiah's speech, and TenguHans wrote the epilogue!
Make sure to check out JoJo D2X Part 2: Eidolo Borrado by TenguHans, which will be published on January 6th, 2017!
Until next time!
- JawshGray.