Joel yawned.
Class was boring as usual, but he didn't really mind it too much. The sun was shining beautifully on the world outside the classroom window and the light projected into the room from the sunshine made the cream colored walls of the room glow slightly, filling him with a warm feeling.
He couldn't help but feel like someone or something was watching him, though, making him uneasy. Looking over his shoulder he saw that guy from earlier; Saul. He just sat there in the back of the classroom, staring hard at him like he was trying to figure him out. Joel sighed nervously and started tapping his fingers on his desk, putting his hand on his forehead as he wished for this class to end quicker.
It's days like these where Joel found himself stuck in his own thoughts.
Who was he? What was the point in all of this? Though he wasn't depressed, he still wondered what his point in existing was. He didn't really have a family or any close friends. Nobody was ever really wondering about him or looking forward to seeing him. So, what is he even here for?
He ended up raising his hand. "Um, excuse me, can I use the restroom?" He asked the teacher.
The teacher groaned and made a gesture for him to go. It was the end of the year anyways, so there wasn't really anything substantial left to learn in the class. It was just instruction on how to pick your classes for Junior year over summer so you don't have to scramble to pick up your classes.
Nodding, Joel stood from his desk and left the room, headed down the hall to go outside and breathe some fresh air. Feeling tired, he willed for his back to feel lighter. What was up with that Saul guy? He just kept staring at Joel like he knew some dirty secret about him.
Going back inside, Joel actually decided to use the bathroom and wash his hands so it looks like he did need to go and he wouldn't get hassled. The water was warm and the feeling of it cascading over his hands was pretty relaxing.
That was when he heard the bathroom door swing open. Looking over his shoulder at who entered he felt his heart jump. It was Saul.
"What are you doing here? Why do you keep staring at me like that?!" Joel finally asked, raising his voice. This time he returned the glare at Saul.
"You don't need to play dumb. I know who you are and the power you have. I've been fighting your kind since I could walk and my parents have too." Saul told Joel with a death glare. "You took them from me and you've been trying to kill me for years, and I'm telling you now that you won't be any more successful than the one that came before you, or the one after."
Joel's eyes went wide and he began to back away from Saul, grabbing onto the sink instinctively for stability. "Wh-what are you even talking about!?" Joel shot back.
Saul's glare intensified as a scarlet glowing aura surrounded his body. "You're a stand user. Like me." He told Joel as the aura started to separate from his body. "And I'm not going to die today."
The aura manifested into a physical entity about the same height as Saul. It was humanoid and mechanical in nature, with gunmetal armor and plant life growing at the joints. Like Saul, the being had a belt of bullets, though these were 50 caliber. It wore what looked like cowboy boots with rose shaped spurs. On its chest grew two symmetrical blood red roses, two more growing from the shoulders. On its face was a wicked toothy smile made from iron bars and over its eyes were a pair of aviator shades, dreadlocks made from AUX cords hanging from its head with a tophat that had roses growing above the brim. Most threateningly, though, were the revolvers it had holstered on its hips.
"This is my stand, Guns and Roses." Saul revealed, threateningly as he leaned his head back, putting an open hand in front of his chin with the other running through his hair, a slight bend in his knees and a backwards lean in his spine. "And I'm going to kill you in the name of my mother and father, Lianne and Solomon Morello."
Before Joel could even react, Guns and Roses drew a pistol and fired a shot into his shoulder, wounding him painfully. As it fired, Joel swore he heard it shout "Mangi!" (Pronounced "Mahn-Jee") in a voice like Saul's with a metallic reverb.
Joel began to hyperventilate. He'd just been shot by a spirit-ghost-thing. A stand!? Is that what- All of his thoughts halted as he felt something moving in his wound. Slowly turning his head to look at the bullet wound he noticed a rosebud beginning to sprout from the wound. His heart began to race faster and his breathing grew more intense as he scrambled away from Saul, hitting the floor and scooting back until he was back against the wall. All the while, the rose was growing and growing.
"Why haven't you shown me your stand yet, Jones? Don't you want to live? Don't you want to kill me?" Saul taunted, his stand taking aim again and firing into Joel's knee, making him howl in pain as another rosebud sprouted from his wounded kneecap.
Gritting his teeth, Joel glared back at Saul. He'd never had to fight like this before, but he wasn't going to to die like this in a public bathroom against some stranger's stand. Slowly dragging himself up the wall until he stood, Joel stared daggers at Saul. "You want to see my stand, as you call it? Fine. I'm not gonna take any of this lying down! Under Pressure!" He shouted, a green aura surrounding and bursting out of him.
Under Pressure was a mechanical and organic hybrid stand, humanoid in appearance. Its metallic arms and legs were a forest green colored metal with silver spade designs ingrained into the shoulders, elbows and hips. Its body, under arms and inner thighs were a slate grey color with a green fishnet over it, silver spades splattered randomly, and a large green spade shaped plate on its chest. Built into its forearms were what looked like shock absorbers. Its face had eyes like headlights, the helmet it wore somewhat resembling a british soldier's from World War 2 with the way it belled out, over its mouth and nose area was a respirator without any goggles.
As the stand burst from Joel's body, it shouted "TORA!" in Joel's voice, delivering a hard punch across Saul's face, then a quick kick to his gut sending him flying back into a sink that broke, water beginning to leak everywhere.
"I… see…!" Saul muttered as he panted on the floor, looking back at Joel. "Your stand is a short range power type, isn't it?!" He growled, trying to get up but finding that his hands slipped across the floor. "W-what..!?"
Joel began to walk towards Saul, holding onto the sinks to his right as he approached, the floor now covered in water and soaking his shoes. "My stand can do more than throw punches, you know." Joel said through labored breathing. He could feel the roots of the roses planted in his body spreading around, sucking away at something in his muscles, making his movements rigid.
"Get these roses out of me and I'll leave you alone, Saul." Joel offered, his stand hovering behind him as he limped towards him, his seeded shoulder pointed at Saul and his right hand crossing his chest to point at him, a bend in his right knee that had been shot as the rose continued to bloom and grow.
"To hell with you, Joel Jones!" Saul shouted, pointing his finger at Joel with his hand in the shape of a gun. The outline of his stand appeared, shadowing Saul's hand with its gun in hand as it fired another shot at Joel, getting him in the stomach.
Joel bent forward, holding his gut and losing his grip on the sink, his legs sliding out from under him as he started coughing blood and he felt something growing in his stomach, starting to crawl out of his wound and most alarmingly up his esophagus. He was going to choke! This caused his heartbeat to increase in fright.
That's when he noticed it. His heart rate.
Bang!
Before he could continue that train of thought another shot landed in his ear, planting another rose. It started growing alongside his heart rate, its roots netching themselves into his skull, at this rate they would affect his brain!
Shouting loudly, Joel did the only thing he could think to do at that moment. Under Pressure drove its hands into his gut and the side of his head, gripping the roses at their base and attempted to rip them out.
The process was painful; probably the most painful thing Joel had ever done, but the roses were ripped out and his blood began to pour onto the ground, mixing with the water.
Saul's eyes went wide. "Unbelievable! Are you freaking stupid! You're going to bleed out and die!" He shouted at Joel as he tried to stand up, but kept slipping.
Joel gritted his teeth, have his stand once more reach into his body in spectral form, grabbing onto his heart to stop it for a short time. The roses in his body quickly began to wilt as he used Under Pressure to return the traction of the floor and stand up. "You…!" He bellowed at Saul, an intensity in his eyes and voice he's never carried before, "I'm gonna kick your ass!"
Saul broke into a terrified sweat as he scrambled to his feet. This guy had a resolve unlike anyone he had fought before. He sprinted out the door, turning around to summon Guns and Roses to fire at the walls around the door. At shots landed, plantlife smattered with roses began to grow around the doorway, sealing it up as Saul backed away from it until his back was against the wall behind him.
Joel on the other side had finally let his heart start beating again. The roses in his body had died and his movement was no longer restricted. Looking around, he found shards of the broken sink and some toilet paper, then stuffed the toilet paper into his wounds to absorb blood while using his stand to make the pieces of sink stick over it to hold it in. It wasn't ingenious, but it had to work for now. He gritted his teeth as his stand stuck the plastic fragment to the side of his head where his ear used to be.
Saul was breathing hard outside the bathroom, his back against a set of lockers. Should he run and hide? No, this guy would come after him. Besides, he wanted to kill this guy; he was with them. Those bastards that killed his parents. There are no good stand users in this world; stands were a mark of evil.
And Saul didn't think he was any different.
Boom!
A loud crashing sound was heard from the other side of the bathroom door.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Saul gripped his arm and stared nervously at the door. It went quiet for but a moment before-
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM-
"-RARARARARARARAAAA!"
Soon enough the rose covered door was smashed through, with a pissed off young man with two toned hair, bullet wounds and a stand with its fists raised limped through the destroyed doorway, an emerald aura surrounding them both with determination in Joel's eyes.
Saul tried to move but found that his back was stuck to the locker and his feet were stuck on the ground. He couldn't move away! So, he summoned Guns and Roses and just started firing shots into Joel. The collarbone, the gut again, the thigh, the bicep, the left pectoral.
Joel just drew closer and closer, his heartbeat completely steady as small rosebuds formed in his wounds again. He crossed the hallway with his stand mirroring his steps, "I said I would kick your ass, didn't I?" Joel growled, blood dripping from his lip. "You nearly killed me, Saul." He continued.
Saul had genuine fear in his eyes. Was this the end of him? "Are you going to kill me, Joel?" He asked solemnly, holding his gut where he had been kneed. He could feel that his lower ribs had been broken and his sternum was loose; possibly going to puncture his organs.
"No, Saul." Joel told his adversary across from me. "I'm better than that. Better than you." He hissed. "I'm not some murderer who's hunting you down. I don't even know who you are."
Saul's eyes widened. Joel wasn't part of that group that killed his parents? Then what-
"But I'm not better than this!" Joel shouted, the roses on his body flaring to life without him caring at all, his stand rushing forward-
"TORARARARARARARA-"
Blow after blow was thrown at Saul at every part of his body. Not a section of his face, chest, arms or legs had not been punched as Under Pressure rapidly fired punches at the young man, breaking bones and leaving him black and blue all over, welts the size of baseballs forming all across him.
"-RARARA! TORYA!"
At the end of it all, Saul was left a bruised, broken, bleeding heep on the ground of the hallway. Joel stood in front of him, the roses the had blossomed on his body wilting instantly and withering away, falling to the floor.
Joel gasped, then hit the floor. He'd succumbed to his wounds and fallen unconscious.
"-ake up…" Joel heard, a light patting feeling on his cheek before he came to, "Wake up!" He heard a girl shout at him.
His eyes fluttered open and he noticed he was in a hotel room with a girl who had a beanie and red rimmed sunglasses and a guy with a-... a pompadour...
Joel groaned in the bed, looking around. Saul was in the bed on the other side of the room, still unconscious with all of his wounds seemingly healed. Joel looked down at his own and noticed the same healing had been done to him.
"Man, Josuke, we came for one and we ended up finding two duking it out." The girl spoke in Japanese, Joel completely unable to understand her.
The man, called Josuke just kept staring strangely at Joel with an uneasy look on his face. "He does kinda have my face, doesn't he?" Josuke commented in Japanese as well, before sighing and scratching the back of his head. "What would Jotaro do or say here?" He asked.
"Where am I, and who are you people!?" Joel shouted, rather alarmed by his predicament. He sat up in bed, only for a gentle hand of the girl with sunglasses to be placed on his chest.
"Calm down Joel." She spoke in perfect english. "We're not enemies. We're the ones that healed you. Well, he is, but I'm with him so you don't have to worry about me either." She said calmly.
Josuke nodded. "As for who we are? Well… That's a bit complicated." he lamented. He looked incredibly uncomfortable being in the room. "I'm Josuke Higashikata and she's Shizuka Joestar. You see, we might be your family." He revealed.
Joel just stared at them blankly for a moment. "What?" He asked.
-To Be Continued-/|-
Queue ED: "Pepper" by Butthole Surfers
Well, I hope you enjoyed part 2 of the prologue! I finally got to crank out a stand battle and I hope it was entertaining and badass as I planned it to be. It's rather hard to describe poses and get across the fabulousness of JoJo through word alone, since JJBA is a very visual experience and I'm no Araki when it comes to art.
I hope you like the stands and their abilities. I might make stand cards for them that describe their powers and stats at the end of chapters. ANyways, I hope you enjoyed and I'll get the next chapter out soon!
