Apologies if you find the scene where Joseph and Caesar meet Lisa Lisa somewhat different than in the anime, I recently purchased the Jojonium additions of Battle Tendecy so as to use them as reference along with the anime.
Enjoy!
Chapter Nine:
A New Master of Hamon, Lisa Lisa!
"It's incredible!" The doctor exclaimed, looking over all three x-rays before him "You all three really have rings wrapped around your aortas!"
Jonathan gasped and reached up to feel his chest, this action being parroted by Joseph and Caesar.
"Not to mention, it looks like they have begun to merge with the walls of the blood vessels! It's astounding, how in the world did this-"the man of medicine paused, seeing the looks of distress on his patient's faces, making him clear his throat "Pardon me, I seem to have forgotten my bedside manner."
Joseph could not contain his panic anymore and he huddled in his chair.
"Oh no! It's still a shock to hear it, but to actually see it!" Joseph cringed in his chair and covered his head. Caesar, gulped down his panic and managed to salvage his pride before asking.
"Is there really a poison inside the rings?"
The doctor rubbed his chin and examined the x-rays again.
"Well, it's hard to tell. There is a hallowed out point on each ring, but it is difficult to see if there is any sort of poison inside. As long as there is no injury in that area, it should stay put and remain whole."
Speedwagon sighed and took off his hat.
"Is there any way they can be removed?"
"I'm afraid not, at least not in this era of surgical techniques. Any attempt could resort in either releasing the poison or killing them before we even tried to remove them." He answered truthfully, making Speedwagon sigh again as he looked over the three hamon users.
"Thank you doctor, leave us alone now, please."
The doctor nodded and proceeded to leave, taking with him their last hope of an easy escape.
"What are we going to do?" Jonathan asked, silence answering him. Caesar stood up, tightening his fist.
"What else are we going to do? The only solution that is left, of course!" the blonde declared before turning around to face the two Joestars "We're going to defeat them before the thirty three days are up!"
This show of determination was admirable to Jonathan, who nearly voiced his agreement before Joseph cut him off.
"Are you crazy?! We all three got annihilated by Wamuu, how in the world are we going to take on all three at once?" he demanded, Caesar's unimpressed scowl not changing.
"You think I would make such a declaration without a plan? Honestly Jojo, how little faith do you have in me?"
Joseph crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.
"Oh yeah, and what is this plan?"
Jonathan observed as the young man stood silent for a moment before he walked over to a table, taking the jug of water that lay upon it and poured three glasses of clear liquid.
"Before you two are even ready to face them again, you'll need to, at the very least, be able to do this!"
In one swift movement, Caesar picked up one of the cups filled to the brim with water and quickly flipped it upside down, shocking the other three before they saw the water inside not moving at all, seeming to be frozen inside the glass as tiny sparks of hamon erupted from
"T-the water isn't spilling!" Jonathan exclaimed, mirroring Joseph's amazement. Caesar then picked up the other two cups and tossed them their way.
"Catch, Joestars! Try to keep the water inside!"
"Easy as pie!" Joseph yelled back as Jonathan prepared himself.
Both glasses landed in their hands and they began to channel their hamon into the cups. One second later, the water exploded out of Joseph's glass and while Jonathan managed to hold it in for just a moment longer, he too failed to keep the water inside, making Caesar groan. Joseph furrowed his brow and tossed the glass aside.
"What the hell does this have to do with the strength my hamon? It's just water in a glass!" he yelled, drying himself off with a towel Jonathan helpfully provided for them both "I've done all kinds of things with my hamon! I've blew up a cactus and blew the cap off of a soda bottle just to name a few, who cares if we can't keep water in some stupid glass!"
While Jonathan found these feats interesting and wanted to dig deeper about them, Caesar rolled his eyes and groaned again.
"It means that you cannot control your hamon, you idiot!"
"Are you picking a fight?" Joseph accused, jumping out of his chair before Caesar got in his face, glaring hard at him. This made the brown haired Joestar retreat back into his chair.
"Let me explain. The power of mine and your hamon is almost equal, while Jonathan's is almost twice as strong as both of ours. However, as we saw, it does not matter how strong it is." He stated, turning around and walking toward the window as both Joestars listened intently "You two always blast your hamon out of your palms all at once, wasting energy! That's why the water exploded.
He then opened the window, letting the morning sunlight flood the room.
"I, on the other hand made the hamon flow into a single point, my finger tips! The more you focus it into that single point, the more powerful it will be. Simple enough for you, Jojo?" he asked, making Joseph almost growl out a retort. Jonathan stood up, clearing his throat.
"I apologize for bringing him up Caesar, but Will Zeppeli touched upon that as well. Though, we did not have enough time to go in depth."
Caesar glared at the blue haired Joestar, but relaxed his gaze when he took a deep breath. He could not summon the energy to hate the older gentleman, at least not as much as he could before. After he barely managed to save Mark and after seeing both of the Joestars take on Wamuu to protect both him and Speedwagon, it allowed him to respect the both of them just a bit.
"It is fine, Jonathan. We all three have more important things to worry about." He said, turning back to a confused looking Joseph "We were all almost killed by Wamuu, and we must all learn to create much, much stronger hamon. Which is why we will go to train with my master!"
"Your master?" Jonathan and Joseph asked at once, causing the blonde hamon user to nod.
"Yes, my hamon teacher in Venice." He clarified, making Joseph sigh.
"We have to train, huh?"
"Yes, we have to do it."
"Is it going to be hard?"
Caesar sighed to himself and rubbed his forehead.
"Yes, Jojo. We are all going to die in thirty three days if we don't, so we are going to need to train hard!"
Jonathan nodded at this and looked over Joseph, who looked less than excited. In fact, he looked downright horrified.
"Oh no! The words I hate most are "train" and "hard"!
"Well you better suck it up, Jojo! All of our lives are on the line!"
Jonathan shook his head at the conflict and they later boarded a train for Venice, Speedwagon chose to stay behind, but was sure to voice his concerns.
"Are you sure you will be fine, Mr. Joestar?" he pried, his tone suggesting an inner conflict within him. Jonathan smiled and nodded.
"Do not worry, Speedwagon. We will all be fine." He said, Speedwagon's slow nod showing he would need more convincing. The blue haired Joestar put a hand on his friend's shoulder, smiling warmly at him. Speedwagon slowly returned the smile, pinching the brim of his hat.
"Be sure to tell Erina all that has happened, I would hate for her to worry about me."
Speedwagon laughed and tipped his hat at his best friend.
"I've been by her side for fifty years, I'll be damned if I'd let her worry for even a second!" he said, making Jonathan's smile widen. The two exchanged a few more words and laughs, then it was time for the train to leave. Jonathan had only been on a train once during his time at university, but comparing the two trains was like comparing a horse and buggy to the car. He and his class had to take a trip to a dig site in Scotland and the only way was by train. It had taken them almost three days to get there. It had only taken the three hamon users eight hours to travel almost half of Italy.
Venice, like Rome, looked as beautiful as it had looked in paintings to Jonathan and he found the use of boats to travel the river in the city very romantic, enough to where he began to think of taking Erina along with him next time to make up for their delayed honeymoon.
"Is this place big with tourist or something?" Joseph asked, eyeing up a passing boat that had a lone gondolier guiding it. He then turned to Jonathan when he did not get an answer from Caesar "Do you really think there is a hamon master here, gramps? I was expecting somewhere deep in the mountains or somewhere more isolated."
Jonathan nodded, seeing his point.
"Yes but I do not believe Caesar would lie to us, Joseph."
Joseph halfway nodded as he watched the gondolier he saw earlier steer the boat closer to the coast. Caesar smiled at the convenience and approached.
"Hey you, ready the gondola for us. We are going to Air Suplena Island."
His request must not have been heard, as the gondolier simply sat there in silence. Annoyed, the blonde Italian called out again.
"Are you listening, gondolier? I said we want a ride!"
This seemed to get the person on board's attention, as they turned around and stared at the three men on the shore. Their face was covered up by a strange looking mask.
"Is that a stone mask?" Joseph inquired, earning a shake of the head from Caesar.
"No, it's a masquerade mask for festivals, Venice is famous for them."
A long silence ensued, the person on the board eyeing up all three of them Jonathan noticed, rather oddly, that they seemed to stare at both him and Joseph the longest, almost making him question it. Before he could, they raised a finger.
"Hey, you! The big one in the middle, I don't like that face of yours!" they yelled, making Joseph recoil in confusion.
"What the hell? Where did that come from?" he asked, but did not receive any answer. The person then pointed at Jonathan, their words coming out later than they had with Joseph.
"In fact, you have an ugly face as well! I'll take both of you on!"
Jonathan reacted the same way as Joseph, recoiling back.
"Wait! I don't want to fight, maybe we can-"
His plea was interrupted when the gondolier's paddle landed in the water, followed by the stranger jumping atop it, standing perfectly straight. What surprised the three more was the fact that the stranger was only standing on their tip toes.
"H-He's standing on top of the paddle! Who the hell is this guy?" Joseph inquired. The masked man proceeded to put all of their weight on one side of the paddle, causing it to rise upward. In the blink of an eye, the oar swung around and smacked Joseph in the face, making him collide with Jonathan as they both flew into the water.
Almost in sync, Jonathan and Joseph caught themselves on the water, skidding across the surface as the channeled their hamon into their hands and feet. When they recovered, Joseph was more than happy to voice his anger.
"You asked for it! Hitting just me would have pissed me off, but no one hurts my family! I'll make you wish you never met me!" he yelled getting on his feet as Jonathan came to his side.
"Wait, Joseph!"
Both of them fell silent when the stranger removed their mask, revealing long, flowing brown hair, a pale face, red lips and beautiful blue eyes.
"So, they can control their hamon enough to walk on water. It's a start, anyway." She said, smiling at the two awestruck men.
"A woman!?" Joseph and his grandfather exclaimed in shock.
"Master!" Caesar yelled along with them.
The woman looked over the duo of Joestars before her, lingering her gaze on both of their faces. Jonathan noticed that, again, she seemed to be looking at him with a particular interest.
"Well, I don't care if you are a woman! No one hits me or my family and gets away with it!" Joseph yelled and went to approach her. His walk was stopped by a firm grip on the shoulder by Jonathan.
"I'm sorry Joseph, but I cannot allow you to do that. It is unbefitting a gentleman to hit a woman!" he said, feeling Joseph trying to squirm out of his grip.
"Don't you feel the least bit mad about her hitting you, gramps?" he pressed, the blue haired gentleman looking over at the woman, seeing the ripples she was making in the water.
"The last time a stranger hit me, he showed me things I never thought possible. I believe this may be the case for you as well." He said with an aura of amusement in his voice, his eyes locked with Caesar's coach. The woman giggled to herself.
"An old ideal such as chivalry will not get you far when dealing with the Pillar Men, if you want to learn hamon, you must be prepared to die for it!" She said, not giving them time for questions or retorts as she jumped, kicking the oar into the air. To Jonathan's amazement, two pillars of water formed parallel on both ends of the paddle, letting her use it as a high bar. The woman gracefully flipped off the oar after gaining enough momentum, almost seeming to glide closer and closer to them. When she was above them, she strapped on a strange device over Jonathan's mouth as well as Joseph's, surprising them both. Immediately, it felt someone had tied his mouth together with rope, as when Jonathan tried to breathe normally, it felt like his lungs would explode.
"W-what the hell is this?" Joseph gasped out, coughing in the middle of his sentence. Caesar's teacher landed beside her student after putting the mask on them.
"Jonathan and Joseph Joestar, you must spend the next month wearing that breathing correction mask."
Joseph gasped out again and started to cough.
"I-I can't breathe!"
Jonathan was having similar difficulties, his lungs feeling stressed from the lack of proper breathing. However, he remembered a similar exercise he did with Will Zeppeli. The old baron required him to sit underwater for nearly thirty minutes at a time, using a rock to hold his weight down to the river bed. Every time he would come to the surface early, Will would remind him that he would never be able to defeat Dio without properly controlling his breathing. This process repeated until the final few days where he had successfully managed to make the time.
When he recalled this lesson, his breathing began to steady and he finally felt his lungs relaxing themselves. Joseph, however, was not having such luck.
"You can breathe as long as keep a steady rhythm." She said apathetically as Joseph fell into the water after losing his concentration "However, if your breathing goes wrong for even a second, it will nearly suffocate you to death until the very last second."
Joseph quickly swam to the surface along with Jonathan, who had to help the poor man up as he tried to regain his lost breath.
"Who the hell are you, lady!?" Joseph demanded, a few quick gasp following soon after as he ignored a harsh glare from Caesar. The woman smiled down at him before answering.
"My name," she ran a hand through her shining brown hair "is Lisa Lisa."
