Chapter 4: Stands

The speedwagon foundation was buzzing with busy workers frantically moving from place to place, the news of Dio returning had already spread throughout he organization, especially with the events that took place at LAX airport spreading to news outlets around California. LeBron looked around the building, seeing all of the workers hustling around remined him of the media days at the beginning of the NBA seasons. "This Dio guy must be pretty popular in your organization," he said, "I wouldn't say popular, but important would be better," replied Jotaro. Jotaro led the two to an elevator and pressed the button to head to the third floor. "This will take us to the old man's office," said Jotaro, "he'll explain the situation with Dio for you," LeBron nodded and looked down, the previous day had been a happy day, he had one of his greatest accomplishments in his career, but then it was all destroyed by the foul Dio. LeBron clenched his fist, he would have his revenge.

Downtown L.A was a madhouse, the news of the tragedy that occur at LAX was spreading throughout the city, and people crowded around TVs to see what the news was. In the middle of the crowd was Dio. He walked through the crowd, disgusted by the sight of such inferior beings that surrounded him. "So fragile humanity is," he said, he pondered on his next move, "if I am to defeat Jotaro once and for all, then I am to unlock the power of the arrow," he pulled the arrow from his jacket, its true power was a mystery, even to Dio. "I see it," in the streets parallel to the one Dio was on, a hooded man took a picture of the arrow he was carrying. "That's the one, I'm sure of it, should I eliminate this guy?" "No, if he is possession of the arrow, he must be powerful, I want you to follow him, see where he is heading, and, invite him to dinner," "of course sir," the man hung up the phone and began to follow Dio.

"Old man! We have a visitor for you." Once entering the office, LeBron could finally see the old man that Jotaro was talking about, "this is Joseph Joestar, he is my grandfather and the owner of the Speedwagon Foundation," Joseph slowly walked up to LeBron and shook his hand, "it's a pleasure to meet you Mr. James," Joseph said, "I wish we could've met under better circumstances, but it is what it is," "the pleasures all mine," LeBron stated. Joseph led the three into a conference room with a large screen in it. "Please take a seat, this might take a while," Joseph stated, "115 years ago, our battle with Dio began, my grandfather, Johnathan Joestar, was killed by Dio, their battle took place on a passenger ship that sank in the Atlantic Ocean. While that could have been the end of the story, Dio was able to survive by stealing Johnathan's body and escaping in his casket for 100 years, in 2004, we discovered his casket, and went on a journey to finally end our fight with him." "But as I told you in the truck," Jotaro said, "we were unsuccessful in killing him, while we thought he was dead, six months, he was discovered in Japan by an associate of mine, we have spent those six months searching for him, but to no avail, that is, until today." LeBron stood up and scratched his head, "ok, it makes sense in a way, but why would he reveal himself now? Surely if he's as clever as you make him out to be, he wouldn't just recklessly show up." Jotaro and Joseph looked at each other, "you make a good point LeBron," Jotaro stated. Josuke stood and moved towards LeBron, "it is weird that he revealed himself to you though," the three looked at Josuke as he spoke, "and didn't you tell me in the truck that Dio knew who you were, that can't be coincidence." "But that doesn't make sense," replied LeBron, "a lot of people know who I am, and why would care about me," "perhaps," said Jotaro, "there's more to you then you know." Suddenly, LeBron remembered something, he had a flashback to something Dio said, "their fate doesn't change are arrangement." "Wait," said LeBron, "I remember, Dio told me that he had an arrangement with me." "There it is, he said Josuke, "now we know that Dio wanted LeBron for something, but, what could that something be?" The four all thought about what Dio could want, "well," started Jotaro, "LeBron is an international icon, your global influence could be beneficial to Dio," "that is true," replied Joseph, "Dio has a way with words, his influence could turn even the brightest souls to darkness." "But why me?" LeBron said, his tone getting more frustrated, "there are plenty of celebrities with larger influence than me, why would he specifically target me?" Jotaro moved near LeBron, "you said that Dio tried to stab you with a knife, correct? What did that knife look like?" LeBron tilted his head in confusion, "uhm, it was gold I think, and it had their weird symbols on it," "I thought so," Jotaro replied, "that wasn't a knife, it was a stand arrow, he was trying to awaken your stand!" "S-stand? What's a stand?"

Dio continued down the street, he knew he was wasting his time, he needed to figure out a way to get out of L.A and continue on his path to unlocking the arrow. He could feel a strange feeling, he could sense he was being followed by someone, why someone would follow him, he didn't, perhaps the wanted an early death. Dio purposely walked into an alley way, the man followed. "So, tell me mortal, how long did you think you could get away with following I, Dio?" Dio asked, leaning on a wall. "Don't worry mister, I'm not here to fight you," said the man, he took his hood of, "my name is Richter Spencer Prokes, I noticed you had a strange looking arrow on you, do you mind if I see it?" Dio cocked an eyebrow at this so-called Richter, "I don't think you know what this arrow is, it is greater then any mere mortal can comprehend," "well, I wouldn't say that I'm just any mortal," a shadowy aura formed around Richter, and a dark figure spawned behind him. Dio smirked, "ahh, so you're a stand user as well," "yes, my stand is named Insomnium, like I said, I don't wish to fight you, I actually would like to work with you," Dio laughed, "truly? And why would I, Dio, wish to align myself with you?" "Because I can help you unlock the power of the arrow, my boss knows about the secrets of the arrow, and he would love to meet you." Dio rubbed his chin, if this man was telling the truth, then his victory was closer then he expected, he smirked, "tell me more about this boss of yours."

Joseph led the three into a large room, in the middle was a strange chamber connected to many other machines. "This machine is called Motörhead, this will help to awaken your stand, if you have one." LeBron walked up to the machine and glanced around it, "how does it work?" He asked, "the machine will send strong telekinetic waves to your brain, if you have a stand, it will awaken due to the amount of energy your brain is using to process the waves." LeBron nodded, "ok, but what if I don't have a stand, this isn't going to fry my brain or something," "there is a specific amount of power that the machine will use to awaken a stand, if it doesn't happen after a certain amount of time, the machine will stop." LeBron sat on the machine as two Speedwagon workers set it up. "Are you sure this will work?" LeBron asked, Joseph put a hand on his shoulder, "well, I guess we're gonna find out." The machine began to come to life and a wirring noise could be heard, suddenly, two wires sunk into LeBron's arm, "h-hey!" LeBron said, "don't worry, its how we transmit the waves, I need you to concentrate your energy to you mind, the stronger you focus is, the stronger your connection with your stand will become!" A wave of energy began to enter into LeBron, he could feel the energy coursing through him, he shook in his chair, the energy beginning to surround him, the three looked at LeBron struggling, they could feel a force rising within him, "focus LeBron!" Yelled Josuke, "you can do it!" LeBron could feel a force crawling inside of him, it was clawing to escape. His mind began to flow free, he could feel the energy flowing through him, he could feel his stand awaken inside of him, they were now one. A figure began to emerge from Lebron's body, it was black with orange stripes running down its body. "There it is!" Jotaro exclaimed, "LeBron's stand has awakened!" The stand had fully awakened, it hovered close to LeBron, awaiting an order. "Turn the machine off," said Joseph, and the workers turned it off. LeBron stood up quickly and doubled over, he struggled to catch his breath after the energy leaves the body. "Well, well, it appears you really do have a stand," remarked Josuke, LeBron looked to his left, his stand floated next to LeBron, LeBron awed at the stand moving around it, "this, this is my stand? Th- that is awesome!" LeBron exclaimed, "how do I use it?" "Here, I'll show you," Star Platinum spawned behind Jotaro, LeBron pointed at it, "wow, that's your stand isn't it?" "Yes," replied Jotaro," I call it Star Platinum, stands are controlled mentally, the stronger your psyche is, the easier you will be able to control your stand, throw a punch at me." "What?" "You heard me," said Jotaro, "I want you to try and punch me with your stand," "o-ok, lets try this out," LeBron focused on the task, his stand began to swing his fist at Star Platinum, who quickly blocked, "good," said Jotaro, "a good start," LeBron's stand disappeared as he wiped his nose, "ya know, its not as hard as I thought." "You should give it a name," said Josuke, "giving a stand a name gives it a stronger connection to yourself." "Right, right," began LeBron, "lets see, lets see, oh I got it! You ever seen that movie with Michael Jordan in it," "I have, I have," "Yeah that's its name, my stands name will be, Space Jam!

To Be Continued