Chapter 4

The Superhuman Tier Begins!

The Fool's Stunning Return

"The first match will be," two names appeared on the board, one of which shocked Jotarō Kūjo, "Iggy vs. King Chappa!"

Jean Pierre Polnareff, who had accompanied Jotarō to the room they were currently in, gaped in disbelief. "Hold on, he's not talking about our Iggy, is he, Jotarō?"

Jotarō gritted his teeth. "I've got a feeling he is." He admitted.

"But Iggy is dead, along with Avdol and Kakyōin." Polnareff pointed out before adopting a guilty expression on his face. "After all, Iggy and Avdol both died for me."

At that moment, several screens sprang up on the windows inside of their room. "For those of you wanting a better view of the match, we have screens up in the contestant boxes." Haika spoke up. "Now, let's see our two competitors enter the battlefield!"

The screens in their room then panned over to a black and white mutt that made both Jotarō and Polnareff gape in shock. "It…it is Iggy!" Polnareff explained. "What the hell is going on here? Iggy died fighting Cool Ice!"

Jotarō narrowed his eyes. "Is the Overseer capable of resurrecting the dead to compete in this tournament?" He wondered.

"Then this wish of his really is capable of anything." Polnareff realized.

"Can we please address the elephant in the room?" Joseph Joestar spoke up. "Why is a dog competing in this tournament?"

"Jotarō! Polnareff!" The two men in question turned to see the Joseph Joestar they knew frantically enter the room, having run all the way from his seat in the stands. For the sake of convenience, we shall refer to this Joseph Joestar as Old Joseph.

"Hey Gramps," Jotarō said, "looks like we've got quite the development on our hands."

"I'll say, Iggy's alive!" Old Joseph exclaimed. "Do you think that means Avdol and Kakyōin are here as well?"

"Hard to say, Mr. Joestar." Polnareff replied.

"Huh?" Jonathan and Joseph both gasped. "Mr. Joestar?"

Jotarō sighed. "What a pain in the ass," he muttered, "Polnareff, why'd you have to call him that?"

"Huh, I always call him that." Polnareff noted. "What's wrong?"

"Seriously?" Jotarō looked at him like he was stupid. "You do know how these other guys have introduced themselves, right? Put two and two together."

Unfortunately, Polnareff had been so mesmerized by the colosseum, he had neglected to notice that Jonathan Joestar and a younger Joseph Joestar were in the same room. And now, as a result, he had accidentally let slip that there was some odd time paradox going on between all of them. In other words, things were about to get even more bizarre.

"The hell are you two on about?" Old Joseph asked. "Jotarō, I know Polnareff's not the brightest bulb in the room, but that's no reason to be so harsh with him."

Jotarō heaved an annoyed sigh. "Just look off to the side at the two men next to you, Gramps." He said. "Then you'll understand why."

Old Joseph looked off to the side. "What…about…them…"

Old Joseph trailed off when he saw his younger self. His mouth slowly fell open. Joseph looked at his older self in confusion. "Er…what's wrong? Do I have something on my face?" Joseph inquired.

Old Joseph then looked at Jonathan and found himself remembering the pictures Granny Erina showed him when he was younger. And finally, he looked at the woman close to Jonathan, and quickly realized it was his Granny Erina, alive again, and also young. With all of this hitting him at once, it quickly became clear that this was a bit much for Old Joseph to handle, as evidenced by him slapping his hands to his cheeks and freaking out. "OH MY GOD!" He yelled.

Joseph screamed. "What? What the hell was that for?" He demanded.

Old Joseph pointed his prosthetic hand at Joseph, who looked at it in shock, recognizing it in an instant. "You, you're me!" Old Joseph exclaimed.

Joseph then did the same as Old Joseph. "Oh my God!" He yelled. "I turn into an ugly old man!"

Lisa Lisa, Joseph's Hamon Coach and mother, sighed. "Everyone ages eventually, JoJo." She said.

"Yeah, except you, Lisa Lisa!" Joseph found it a bit awkward to call the woman 'Mom' after all these years. "I thought Hamon was supposed to slow down the aging process! What the hell happened here?"

"This is all…very confusing." Jonathan spoke up after being stunned into silence for so long. "Are you telling me…you're all Joestars?"

Jotarō sighed. "I was hoping we could avoid revealing all this, considering the implications of time paradoxes and all that crap." He admitted. "But yeah, we're all Joestars."

Jotarō then gestured to Joseph and Old Joseph. "These two are your grandson, from different time periods."

Jonathan and Erina both blushed at the fact they had grandchildren, knowing the implications of such. "And I'm your great-great grandson," Jotarō continued. "I know it's a bit strange, but it's nice to meet you, Grandpa Jon."

Then, Robert E.O. Speedwagon, Jonathan's best friend whom had accompanied him and Erina, spoke up. "Hey, fellas!" He yelled. "That mutt's opponent is about to be introduced. Perhaps we should deal with this after the match?"

"Ah, yes, thank you Speedwagon." Jonathan regained his composure. "I apologize, Jotarō. This is a bit much to take in. I promise, we'll all have a nice chat after the match, as a family. You do want to watch your…umm, dog fight, right?"

Jotarō nodded and turned his attention back to the screens. They then panned over to the former Martial Arts Champion, King Chappa, who was looking at Iggy in disbelief.

Goku spoke up from his room. "Hey, I remember that guy. I fought him back when I was a kid at the Martial Arts Tournament where we met Tien and Chiaotzu. This should be fun to watch, I haven't seen that guy's techniques in awhile!"

Tien Shinhan shrugged. It might not be, he noted, we've all grown so far beyond King Chappa's level. Still, he shouldn't have much trouble against a dog.

On the arena's battlefield, King Chappa voiced his displeasure at fighting Iggy. "What the hell is this all about?" King Chappa demanded. "You expect me to fight a mutt?"

"He is your opponent, so yes." Haika responded.

"Is this a joke?" King Chappa demanded.

"Not really," Haika shrugged, "you can choose not to fight him if you think it's beneath you, but you will be disqualified."

King Chappa sighed. "Is animal cruelty simply not a crime in this world? In any other time and place, I'd be arrested for beating up this dog."

Iggy seemed to scoff at the notion, confusing King Chappa. "Well, if there are no objections, take your places, combatants." Haika ordered as a platform beneath her suddenly rose up. "Remember the rules and have fun!"

"Here we go, folks, the first match of the Multiverse Tournament!" Kaji gleefully exclaimed. "Iggy vs. King Chappa!"

"Iggy was a street dog in America before being discovered by the Joestar Corporation." Daisuke explained. "Don't let his small stature and the fact he's a dog fool you. He's every bit as dangerous as those he ended up allying with. He's fast, he's tough, and he's clever too. Little tip on fighting him folks, keep your eye on the ground."

"Meanwhile, King Chappa was a former World Martial Arts Tournament Champion!" Daisuke now did a quick rundown of King Chappa's background. "He has fallen from glory but now seeks to rise back to the top. He's a disciplined martial artist with a very fast and powerful secret technique."

"I don't know what you're thinking right now, dog." King Chappa addressed his opponent. "But I know you'll be feeling pain. I apologize ahead of time. Hurting animals isn't something I'm fond of, so I'll try to make this quick."

The dog seemed to scoff again, much to King Chappa's surprise. Am I being sassed by a dog?!

Old Joseph heard King Chappa's words over the monitors and frowned. "He has no idea what he's getting into." He noted. "Iggy's going to make short work of that fool."

"Oh, the dog's going to win, really?" Joseph frowned at his older self. "Is it because King Chappa's black? Don't tell me I grow up into an old racist!"

"What?!" Old Joseph exclaimed angrily. "I'll have you know I'm still good friends with Smokey!"

"I never thought I'd see two versions of someone arguing. This is already so weird." Polnareff muttered.

Vegeta, meanwhile, could not help but voice his own opinion on the matter. "His energy is so low compared to ours." He noted. "I wonder if he even knows what Ki is."

"I doubt he does." Goku admitted. "A lot of our opponents from back then were just really good at martial arts, kinda like Hercule."

"Still," Vegeta said, "even he should be able to beat a dog."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Gohan spoke up, "that dog is here for a reason."

"Are you saying that dog is actually something special?" Vegeta inquired.

"I'm saying we shouldn't underestimate him." Gohan replied. "Let's just watch the match and see what happens."

At that moment, Haika let out the signal. "Begin!" She yelled.

King Chappa was quick to close the distance between himself and Iggy. "This will be over quick!" He exclaimed, moving his arms about quickly. "Eight Arms Fist!"

The ground started to shake around Iggy as King Chappa seemingly created eight fists, when in reality, he was simply moving his hands so fast they were creating afterimages that created the illusion of six extra fists. Then, a horrifying construct that looked like a giant demon dog appeared beneath Iggy.

King Chappa gasped as his attack broke through the body of the beast, only to find himself stuck in what appeared to be earth of various kind. "What is that thing?" King Chappa demanded.

"And so, Iggy has summoned his Stand, The Fool!" Daisuke exclaimed. "Most people think of it as a construct made of sand, but it's also made from dust particles."

"Of course, we did add some sand to give Iggy a fair chance in this tournament, considering The Fool is a construct of sand rather than a psychic manifestation like most Stands." Kaji noted. "We've added a lot of cool surprises to give some of our contestants a fair chance they would not have otherwise."

"His Stand?" Izuku Midoriya was in disbelief as he watched this display before him. "Is it like a Quirk?"

"It's like Pixie-Bob's Quirk, but it almost appears as though that dog is directly controlling that thing." Shoto Todoroki noted before addressing Kōji Kōda. "Kōda, do you think you can use your Anivoice to communicate with him after this match? I think we all would like to find out more about these Stands."

Kōda, the quietest member of Class 1-A, was quick to wave him off with some hand signals that said: "Don't get me wrong, I want to, but the problem is, I'm in the same tier as that dog! I don't think he'd give me the information and I definitely don't want to lie to a cute little dog!"

Todoroki sighed. "I suppose that makes sense." He said. "Don't worry, Kōda, just focus your efforts on winning when the time comes."

King Chappa looked at Iggy, who was smirking down at him. The wheels on The Fool's feet then started turning as it barreled forward with King Chappa trapped inside of its sandy body.

"Damn it, I can't move!" King Chappa complained as he was swept off his feet. "Let me go, mutt!"

Iggy ignored King Chappa and used The Fool to drive the man straight into the wall. King Chappa gasped in pain from the impact. "Oh, and that's a nasty blow right there from Iggy!" Daisuke declared.

"King Chappa's going to feel that one in the morning!" Kaji added.

King Chappa groaned in pain as he tried to recover from Iggy's devastating first move. "I…didn't realize I would be dealing with opponents like this." King Chappa muttered.

Even so, I agreed to this tournament because my name has been synonymous with the phrase: "one and done!" The former champion thought to himself. Once upon a time, I was the best of the best, and then my fame and respect went away faster than I could blink!

It's not like I hold a grudge against those whose victories against me caused my respect to dwindle. That's just the way of the road; sometimes you win and get respect, sometimes you lose the fight, and with it, all the respect you had.

And when that happens, you do your best to win it all back! King Chappa declared with a surprising amount of resolve. With this victory, I will wish to be returned to my prime and return to the World Martial Arts Tournament a champion! And I won't let this dog stand in my way!

Roaring, King Chappa wrenched his arms free from the sandy trap he was in. Iggy looked at King Chappa with newfound interest. "Since you're no ordinary dog, I'm going to feel less bad about this!" King Chappa declared as he moved his palms forward with strikes so fast it once again looked like he had eight arms. "Eight Palms Fist!"

Iggy then surprised King Chappa by using The Fool to push away from King Chappa, avoiding his Eight Palms Fist. King Chappa panted, taking note of the marks on his chest from that push. "I don't know what the hell you are, but this ain't normal. Then again, neither were demons like King Piccolo and those kids of his."

Iggy seemed to smirk at King Chappa. "I have my pride as a champion martial artist, dog." King Chappa told him. "I will win this tournament!"

Iggy had The Fool rush King Chappa again. King Chappa narrowed his eyes. It's a four-legged creature, just like the dog. King Chappa noted as he crouched down to prepare a great leap. That means its weak point is above!

Iggy looked up in surprise as King Chappa leapt into the air above The Fool. "It's over, dog! This time, I won't miss!" King Chappa declared. "Eight Arms Fist: Death From Above!"

Old Joseph folded his arms. "The fool has left himself wide open."

"Just so we're clear, Gramps, you're referring to King Chappa and not Iggy's Stand, right?" Jotarō inquired.

"What do you think?" Old Joseph responded.

The Fool suddenly reared up. Iggy dug his paws into the sandy body of The Fool to stay on. The Fool then spat sand and dust at King Chappa, blinding him and taking him out of his attack. "Cheap shot!" Eijirō Kirishima of Class 1A yelled in disapproval. "That dog fights dirty! He's not very manly!"

"It's a valid strategy," Todoroki noted, "this is a tournament where anything short of killing goes, don't forget that."

"It's over." Izuku realized. "He's in midair and blind. He's wide open!"

The Fool then raised one of its large claws and swiped at King Chappa. King Chappa yelled in pain as he was struck by the claw and driven into the ground.

"Another nasty blow from Iggy!" Kaji yelled. "Damn, that dog is vicious with a capital 'V.'"

"It comes from growing up on the streets. Animals that aren't domesticated never forget their hunting instinct. And Iggy was definitely not domesticated." Daisuke pointed out. "The only question now is how will King Chappa respond, because that attack definitely did some damage to the former champion."

Then, much to Iggy's surprise, King Chappa was quick to get back up, even though he was bleeding from the blow. "Damn," King Chappa cursed, "how did I…not take that into account?"

King Chappa prepared his arms for another Eight Arms Fist Technique. "I…can't lose." King Chappa declared. "I need to…return to my former glory. What worth am I…if I'm not a respected champion?"

King Chappa then coughed up blood and fell forward. Is it just…not meant to be? He wondered as he hit his stomach and lost consciousness.

Haika immediately appeared next to King Chappa. She looked at his immobile form and made the call. "King Chappa is unable to continue. The winner is Iggy!" She declared.

The crowd went wild. Jean Pierre Polnareff was also quick to cheer for Iggy as well. "Wait to go you damn, alive dog!" He yelled. "You showed that guy what for!"

"I can't believe a dog won a battle in this tournament." Jonathan said in disbelief. "And just what in the world was that strange creature he summoned?"

"There's a lot you don't know about, Grandpa Jon," Jotarō told him, "I'll only tell you about it if you want to know, otherwise…well, I'm not really one to mess with the future, unless the future in question is a piece of crap."

Meanwhile, Izuku Midoriya got to his feet. "Deku?" Ochaco Uraraka inquired of her friend/crush.

"I'm going to find the people who's world has that weird power." Izuku told everyone. "I…I need to know just what we're dealing with here."

"And that's the first knockout of the tournament! A quick, but satisfying start!" Daisuke declared.

"I don't know if it was that satisfying, I mean, Iggy kinda had it in the bag." Kaji pointed out.

"Well, we don't like to write anyone off, but it was certainly true that King Chappa was at a distinct disadvantage." Daisuke admitted. "While he was a powerful martial artist once upon a time, his knowledge of tournament fighting was strictly reserved for fighting enemies who adhered to the same fighting styles he knew. Iggy, meanwhile, in spite of his species is an incredibly skilled user of his Stand. In fact, arguably, The Fool is one of the more dangerous Stands in existence because it is made entirely of sand. The only way to beat Iggy is to hurt his tiny little body, and you have to get past that behemoth first. And as we've just seen, its speed and strength are not to be trifled with."

"And not only that, but King Chappa just didn't have the endurance and power to adjust to fighting something completely different in Iggy." Kaji added. "Again, we don't like to write anyone off, but there was no way King Chappa could've beaten Iggy. Still, I'll give him credit, he did figure out what was arguably Iggy's only weakness: attacks from above. Most four-legged critters are vulnerable to attacks from above. That's why the birds of prey are such feared creatures in the animal kingdom."

"Ah, but we certainly cannot forget Iggy's victory over one such bird of prey." Daisuke pointed out. "With clever ingenuity and impressive guts, Iggy managed to win that one for all of the animals low on the food chain."

"Very true, in the end, King Chappa was taken on one trip to the beach he would rather forget." Kaji joked.

Daisuke paused, clearly awkward about that joke. "Noted. The winner is Iggy, who advances to the next round, where he will be joined by thirty-one other contestants."

"Don't go anywhere, folks, we'll be right back with the next match, once again, chosen at random. Stay tuned!" Daisuke declared.