"I'm relieved." Speedwagon said out loud, to no one in particular. "After hearing about that explosion..." The tears fell down his face freely. "I'm just so relieved Jojo and Erina are alright after all."

Getting up from where he was sitting he went back outside. In a way, Speedwagon had been adopted into the Joestar family, or at least made one of its heirs. The mansion had burned down some time ago, courtesy of the fight between first fight between Jojo and Dio as a vampire, but it was being rebuilt. And once it had been, Jojo had promised Speedwagon a place there, in the meantime, he lived alongside the workers rebuilding the family manor. It wasn't required of him, but all the same he wanted to feel useful, and so he helped in the construction as well.

As the days passed, he got word that Erina had returned to Britain via a passenger ship, and rushed to the port to meet her.

"Ah, sir Speedwagon, it's been so long!" She said cheerfully, holding a small child.

"Madam." He said, tipping his top hat. "Um, where's Jojo?"

He felt a chill as he saw Erina look away sadly. "He was injured in the explosion, worse than I. In fact, it was because of him that I and the baby escaped uninjured."

"I was going to ask about that." He said, slightly embarrassed.

"She's the only other... survivor of the wreck. Her parents both died in the explosion, so I'm hoping to find out where the rest of her family is." She smiled sadly, and looked back to Speedwagon. "Jonathan wasn't quite ready, physically or mentally to go on a boat ride so quickly."

"I see..."

"I'd like to tell you more details, in private." She said, glancing around the docs. "It has to do with your and Jojo's bizarre adventure. I'm not sure how much I should say about that in public though."

"I got you." Speedwagon said with a nod. "I know a few private corners around here where no one ever keeps an eye out."

"Lead the way, Mister Speedwagon."

They walked a short distance to a secluded corner of the doc between a great number of shipping containers waiting for their ship. "No one is going to overhear us here. So, how much has Jonathan told you?"

"Mostly the basics... but I saw enough myself."

"Oh no."

"Dio, Jojo's horrid brother... his head survived whatever happened in Windknights Lot."

"Oh dear god... Jojo... he beat him, right?"

"Yes, but..." Erina looked down sadly. "...Dio bit a great number of people on board, the entire ship had been reduced to zombies. The only survivors were me, this child, and Jojo. But Jojo had been mortally wounded-" Speedwagon turned pale and made to sit down, the lady supporting him and lowering him to make sure he didn't fall.

"Is he dying, Miss Erina? You can tell me, I need to know."

"No. But, Jojo had been mortally wounded, and to destroy Dio, he set the boiler of the ship to explode. He was going to sacrifice himself, and I was going to go with him, but he saw the baby and told us to get to safety inside, of all things, a coffin. I didn't see what happened next myself, but Jojo grabbed Dio to prevent him from escaping... but Dio escaped anyway, and forced him to let go..." she watched Speedwagon's face nervously, and bit her lip before continuing. "by turning Jojo into a vampire."

Speedwagon turned another shade paler and began to shake. "No! It can't be! Not more of them-"

"...But Jojo has kept his conscience. Mister Speedwagon, he's not a monster. He hasn't killed anyone, he hasn't tried to conquer a town. He won't even let me touch him until he's sure he can control himself. He's a vampire, but he's still our gentleman Jonathan Joestar."

"...is, is that true, Erina?"

"I promise you. He's just as noble as ever... he just seems, strained, fighting against the vampire inside him. But he'll conquer it, and return within a year. He promised me himself."

He seemed to be rejuvenated, he got back up, and laughed nervously. "Just what I'd expect of him! Jojo could never be a monster."

"However... there is one thing that frightens me about the whole situation. Jojo's kept Dio alive."

"WHAT."

"He's having Dio teach him how to control his vampire abilities. For now, Dio's been doing what Jojo tells him, but all the same, you should know."

"..." He looked conflicted, but he sucked in a breath and smiled. "Well, I suppose we'll have to trust Jojo, won't we?"

The two vampires sparred almost faster than the eye could see. The two jumped from building to building, exchanging rapidfire blows and attacks that seemed impossible. As it was a 'friendly' duel, there would be no lasers, ice, or Ripple involved.

"You know Dio, soon enough, you won't be able to blame your new body for all your losses." Jojo said, grinning.

"Just you wait Jonathan, I'll learn plenty of new tricks to make up for it." He said, a cocky smile on his face. "That said..." he gripped the roof below his feet, and with a shove, launched himself through the air at Jojo fast enough to let the air whistle around him. The larger man caught Dio in his arms, and attempted to slam him backwards toward the street, but found Dio had split his arms open and had wrapped his own muscles like ropes around Jojo's chest. Jojo's own momentum sent the two of them falling in the direction he meant to throw Dio, but the blonde vampire simply untied himself from Jojo and used him like a springboard, landing safely on the roof while Jonathan crashed into the pavement. "...And count that the first of a new winning streak."

Dusting himself off, Jojo quickly climbed back up and looked at the horizon. "It will be daylight soon enough. We should get back inside."

"Alright." Dio said, stretching. "I've found a suitable manor a little ways into the country. I'm sure I could charm my way into getting us a room for the night, if you still won't even let us take out a few knobs."

"That'll be fine." Jojo said, smiling. "It's been a few days since I've had a proper bath."

The two took to the streets, and ran for the country, legs pumping much faster than a horse's. "I've missed this, you know." Dio said, grinning. "Truly, it was when we were fighting that I was the happiest."

Jojo glanced at his brother. "It was really only when we were beating the hell out of each other that I felt some kind of connection with you. I suppose you were alright while we were in school, nothing like a well-stocked library to mellow you The rest of the time you were simply horrible to everyone around."

"Putting you in your place, you mean. Imagine the spoiled snob you would have become if I hadn't pushed you so hard every day."

"...Pushed me?" Jojo asked incredulously. "I still haven't forgiven you for Danny."

"Danny?" Dio asked, honestly confused. "Was he one of those useless Ripple users you brought to Windknights?"

"He was my dog." Jojo said, annoyed. "You killed him and had him cremated."

"Oh."

That killed the conversation then and there. The rest of the run went by in silence, and soon the manor appeared, and the two brushed themselves off, trying to look gentlemanly. It wasn't difficult, truly, both had it come naturally, having been trained from childhood. Dio greeted a maid who had come to the door with a charming grin, free of fangs "Hello, my dear miss. I apologize for the inconvenience at this early hour, but my brother and I are tourists here in these beautiful Isles, and I was wondering if you might permit us to stay here for the day? We've been overzealous, and ended up walking all night."

Jojo nodded. "We're dead tired, really. Would you permit us to spend the rest of the night?"

The maid blushed at the sight of them, and smiled nervously before saying "Well, I'll speak with the lady of the house, I'm sure she'll accommodate two British gentlemen such as yourselves."

She ran off and returned soon enough. "Right this way, sirs."

"Brothers?" The lady of the house asked.

"Indeed." Dio answered. "Well, we had different mothers. A tragic accident befell my brother's mother shortly after his birth, my own died from a weak constitution when we were children." He said, shaking his head sadly.

"Oh you poor dears..."

"I'm sorry, we didn't mean to leave our sob stories on your shoulders, Madam." Jojo said, "It's been a long time." He took another bite of his food, and had the brief unpleasant thought that it wasn't as satisfying as blood. "The food is delicious." he said with a smile. "Is the cuisine local to the islands?"

"Indeed." She said proudly. Glancing upwards, she lifted her eyebrows. "Oh, I've almost forgotten!" She said cheerfully. "I meant to watch the sunrise with the two of you, seeing as you're still awake."

Dio and Jojo shared a look. In the brief moment, the two had a fierce and fast nonverbal argument. The lady of the house had gotten up, walking toward one of the large expensive curtains.

Kill! Dio emoted in his eyes.

No! Jojo ordered.

We must

no

sunlight

run, hide, go

When the woman pulled apart the drapes, and let light flood the room, she turned around to look at her guests, only to stare in surprise at the empty table seats.

Down the hall, hidden in a secluded part of the servants quarters, two men sat and stared at Jojo's hand. "Dio, it burns!" Jojo hissed quietly, staring at the slowly crumbling dust of his hand. The two had rushed for the hall, where it was darker, but a beam had managed to get Jojo. "This pain..."

"Now you know what Ripple feels like, Jojo." Dio said savagely, a smug grin on his face. "You'll learn from this, I take it."

Blowing on it, and rubbing away the dust, no, the ash, he stared at the glowing stump of his arm. "Dio, this pain is like nothing I've ever felt!"

"Want to go kill the lady?" Dio asked. Ever the tempter, Dio was constantly trying to corrupt Jojo, just as the other was trying to redeem his brother. "She robbed you of your hand, and you're going to need more than a few sips to regenerate a wound of this magnitude caused by sunlight."

"No." Jojo said sharply. "I'll grow it back slowly, if need be."

"It will hinder your training." Dio said innocently.

"Then we'll go back to the prison." Jojo said, a compromise. "But if it will take a long time to grow back from mere sips, then we'll just have to wait a long time."

"Fine." Dio said, "It's already been a month, and your control has been getting better and better. We might be able to draw a bit of blood from every prisoner in that place in one night, at this rate."

"Let's go as soon as it gets dark. For now, let's find the cellar in this place."

Dio licked his lips. "I'm sure the madam wouldn't mind if we sampled her wine, if only to ease the pain she accidentally caused."

"Elizabeth Jam." Speedwagon read. "Born four months ago."

"Lisa." Erina said kindly, looking down at the baby girl. "Lisa Lisa."

"Does she have any family?" He asked, walking alongside her through the park.

"Not any willing to take care of her. Only a single pair of grandparents, who aren't healthy enough to raise her." She smiled sadly. "They've turned her over to the Joestar family."

"Hm. Well, I'm sure Jojo will get along with her when he comes back."

"I should hope so... my, I didn't think that we would be raising two children so soon after getting married."

"Wait, two?" At Speedwagon's confusion, Erina merely smiled slyly. "You aren't-" the man blushed, and readjusted his hat. "Well! Congratulations are in order! Does Daddy know?"

"Not yet. I'm debating whether or not to surprise him, based on what he said, he'll come back just in time for the birth."

"Well, if it were me, I'd want to know." Speedwagon said. "I mean, he'll love it when he finally comes back to you all the same. But if he found out you were in pain without him knowing, it'd hurt him."

"Alright. I'll tell him in my next letter then."

Speedwagon and Erina walked quietly for a while, until Lisa Lisa began to cry, and they made a small picnic while Erina fed the baby from a bottle. "Has there been any word from Straizo and the others?" Erina asked. "They sent us off on our Honeymoon, but I haven't seen them since."

"...I've been putting off on calling them, especially since Jojo is nervous about them. Their entire order exists to fight vampires, right? Their entire form of martial arts. I mean, even if Jojo's himself, and he can prove that, who's to say they won't kill him just in case?"

Erina sniffed in annoyance. "I refuse to believe anyone could kill Jojo now. But you're right. Either way, it can't hurt to wait until Jojo's here to speak for himself."

"Master Tonpetty." Straizo said, bowing down before the ancient Tibetan monk.

"Yes Straizo?"

"We have concluded from our search that the Stone Mask possessed by Dio is in fact not anywhere in Windknights Lot." He said, and, with some hatred in his voice, "I have inclination to believe, because of this evidence, that Dio Brando may in fact still be alive."

Tonpetty frowned. "This is serious..." He closed his eyes. "Have you kept in touch with the Joestars?"

"No, Master." Straizo said, raising an eyebrow. "I have heard of their brush with death though. I thought to go and investigate, but both sent me letters saying they were fine. Jonathan is resting in the Canary Islands, and Erina returned to Britain. Dio was not mentioned."

"...Even if he was not mentioned, if you believe the vampire to yet walk the earth, then it is very likely there was foul play, it may be that he had attempted to assassinate the Joestars."

"I shall contact them immediately."

"Good. But before you go, did you deliver the unfortunate news to Mario Zeppeli?"

"I did... he asked to join our order. He wishes to continue his father's quest."

Tonpetty closed his eyes, feeling for the future. "...He will aid us greatly. Straizo, you are the greatest Ripple Master of anyone I have trained. Stronger than Zeppeli, stronger than Dire, and, now past my prime, stronger than me. You are the future of the Ripple Tribe."

"M-Master?"

"I am going to die soon, Straizo. Ripple can preserve your body, but you will age all the same. Ripple improves your life, but does not lengthen it as such. From what I sense, the future lies in the heart of Italy. Go there, and begin your own school."

"Then... who will watch over the temple here?"

"I will spend my remaining year of life, in fact, searching for its proper guardian." Tonpetty rose from the floor, and offered his hand to Straizo. Grabbing the hand, Tonpetty pulled Straizo up and into his embrace. "Go on, my student, and fulfil your potential."

"I... I shall, master."

"If Dio lives, or rather, if the Stone Mask remains in this world, your work will be hard. I trust you will be able to handle it."

"Then I shall make for Britain, and then Italy."

References: Lisa Lisa's full name comes from two places: Elizabeth is stated as her real name in the manga, and the last name of "Jam" comes from the band "Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam".