Jovanni Joestar's body was sprawled out across his old bed, his feet hanging off the edge while he stared at the ceiling that had been lit by the hot summer sun. He had spent sixteen years of his life surrounded by these four walls, but he felt even more trapped now than he did as a teenager.

He felt his cellphone vibrate in his pocket, his hand moving to take it. He stared at the screen, noticing that whoever was calling was certainly no one that he knew. How did a complete stranger obtain his phone number? Well, there was only one way to find out.

He pressed the 'call' button and pressed the phone to his ear, his face remaining almost expressionless until he frowned out of annoyance. No one had said a word, so maybe they had the wrong number. He decided to speak regardless.

"Hello? Are you gonna say something or what?" Jovanni said rudely, rolling his eyes as he had yet to receive an answer. "If you're not gonna give me a straight answer, then I'll just hang up. You're really getting on my nerves."

"Don't be rash now, Jovanni Joestar." Vladimir Arkadi replied, the sound of his voice practically forcing Jovanni's muscles to tense up. "I heard about how you survived and what you did to that police officer, Parker Cunniffe. I'm impressed, I have to admit that I didn't think you would go that far."

"What the fuck do you want?" Jovanni asked, his stomach twisting as he spoke. "How the hell do you know about that? You better answer me, dipshit!"

"He came after me, so I taught him a lesson. Is it really all that surprising that I would kill him? You know who I am." Vladimir answered truthfully. "What I want is simple. Today, two hours before midnight, I want you to meet with me in an abandoned hotel so we can settle this. It used to be called the Monolith Hotel before it shut down. I'm sure you know the story about how a woman and her children were murdered, then her husband made damn sure it would stay down."

"Why should I? I can't get past that Stand ability of yours, so you know it's a lost cause in the first place!" Jovanni argued, a low chuckle emitting from the phone. "What are you laughing at, you dumbass?"

"I just think you're a funny guy, Jovanni Joestar." Vladimir responded. "It's your choice if you want to come here or not. But if you don't, I can promise you that I can find you and every one of your precious friends. You wouldn't want anything horrible to happen to them, now would you?"

"You're a total asshole, but you're not wrong." Jovanni grit his teeth as he sat up straight on his bed. "I know where the place is, so I'll be there tonight."

"Thank you for listening to my request, Jovanni Joestar. I'll tell you now that if you want to bring any friends with you, then you can. You'll need all the help you can get." Vladimir recommended. "I'll see you tonight. Goodbye for now."

Vladimir Arkadi ended the phone call, prompting Jovanni to shove it back into his pocket. What was he going to do? He had to fight or his friends would die because of his cowardice, but if he went alone he would surely lose.

In his mind, there was only one solution that he would truly consider.

Jovanni had decided that it was best to talk to Dalimil Klement about the phone call instead of making a mess of the current situation, as he knew that his mentor would definitely remain calm no matter what. It was better than each of his friends losing their minds because of the call.

Jovanni leaned against the kitchen counter, his lips barely meeting with his coffee mug. He watched as Dalimil poured a cup for himself as well. His amber eyes shifted to the left and to the right as he took a swift drink from his mug, setting it down on the counter.

"I'm glad you went out and got us something to drink, otherwise I'd be dying of thirst by now. Heh." Jovanni joked nervously, though Dalimil seemed rather unamused. "What do you think I should do?"

"That's entirely up to you, I have no right to say what you should do." Dalimil said firmly, grasping his coffee mug tightly. "I want to go with you, but that might just put extra weight on your shoulders."

"You aren't helping me out as much as you think you are." Jovanni retorted and placed his cup on the kitchen counter. "I need guidance. I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place to put it lightly, so tell me what the fuck you would do!"

Dalimil frowned and stared into his mug. "Well, in that case, I don't want you to go. I would rather stand my ground and fight the bastard, but I know you would never risk something like that. I'm right, aren't I?"

"I don't want to admit it, but yeah." Jovanni sighed heavily, smiling solemnly. "I guess I don't have much of a choice. I think I'm gonna take the time today to talk to everyone, because, well… you know what will probably happen if I go to fight the bastard."

"I get it, but I don't think you'll lose." Dalimil commented, his eyes shifting towards Jovanni. "You should get on that, though. Everyone is probably worried about you, since you've been quiet all damn day."

"Yeah, I'll go ahead and find them. Thanks for talking to me, old man." Jovanni gave Dalimil a quick nod before he walked towards the kitchen's exit. "I'll do my best to come back alive, I'm not down and out just yet."

"I know." Dalimil smiled warmly, a hint of pride shining through it. "Now go and talk to your friends, they're waiting for you to say something."

"Yeah. See ya later."

Jovanni made his way to the back in an attempt to find his four remaining friends. He pulled the door open to see Joanne sitting outside with her legs crossed, the bright summer sun beating down on her slender frame.

"Hey, you got time to talk?" Jovanni asked her as he plopped down next to her, his hands in his pockets. "You sure your back is better?"

"I told you, it's fine, JoJo." Joanne rolled her eyes, but she could not help but grin. "I missed you a lot while I was gone… I'm even more worried about you, too. You told me what that bastard did to you, so why are you out of bed?"

"My hands are fine, Joanne. A little sore, but they're healing up really fast." Jovanni assured her, his amber eyes staring towards the bright blue sky. "I never really noticed it until now, but the sky is really calming."

Joanne shifted her gaze towards Jovanni for a moment, her grin transforming into a disapproving frown. "Okay, what's up? You never talk to me like this unless there's something serious on your mind."

"The guy I told you about, Vladimir… he killed Parker, and I guess that old shithead put my personal information on his phone. He called me, and, well… I either go to fight him or he kills all of you. I don't have much of a choice."

"You're not going alone, are you?! I won't let you do that!" Joanne protested, her sharp fingernails suddenly sinking into Jovanni's shoulders, a stinging pain resounding through them. "You're not that much of a shithead, are you?!"

"What kind of man would I be if I let you come with me, Joanne?" Jovanni interrupted her while he winced in pain, he grasped her wrists gently and moved them away from his shoulders. "It's me or all of you. I'm not telling you where I'm going, because I know you'll follow me. Do you understand where I'm coming from?"

"You're such an asshole sometimes, JoJo." Joanne sighed exasperatedly, crossing her arms as she turned her head away from the man. "I get it, yeah. But… if you don't come back to us alive, I'm going to kick your ass. Do you hear me?"

"Yeah, I hear you. I wouldn't want to get my ass beat, so I guess I have no choice." Jovanni said, deciding to play along though he stood up a few moments later. "I'm gonna go ahead and talk to everyone else, so I'll see you later."

"Jovanni." Joanne started as she stood as well, her back facing him as she only looked towards her two feet. "You're not going to just die, are you? You can't just be like my mom and my dad… and you can't just let this piece of shit kill you, like those Russians did to your…"

Jovanni wrapped his arms around her tightly almost instantaneously, and even though he would not admit it, he felt as if he could burst into tears at any moment but he refused to do so. He had to keep up the facade that he was under control, so that no one would worry about him.

"Hey, don't think about stuff like that." Jovanni murmured, his amber orbs noticing that her fingernails had been digging into her palms. "And don't do that to your hands, either… I can't promise anything, but what I can promise is that I'll give that bastard a punch for every single person he killed. Can you trust me with that responsibility?"

"I don't have a choice when you put it like that, you jerk! But… I have a little request before you go." Joanne started, prompting Jovanni to raise an eyebrow in confusion. "Can we stay like this, for a few more minutes?"

Jovanni blushed lightly, but he nodded in response. "Of course, just for a few more minutes."

"Thank you."

Jovanni left ten minutes later and searched for Walker Porcelli, who had been sitting on the front steps of the old home.

Walker turned to Jovanni, his hands shoved in his pockets. "Hey, I've been wondering where you've been all day. Something wrong, man?"

"I'll keep it short and sweet since when I told Joanne, she freaked the fuck out." Jovanni stated rather bluntly, taking a deep breath before he started to explain. "Well, here's the deal…"

It only took Jovanni a minute or so to tell Walker the entirety of the situation, as well as the severity of the choice that had been set before him. Walker nodded as he explained, but he spoke not even a moment after his comrade had finished his explanation.

"Well, since you're not giving me a choice, then maybe I'll get a shot at the motherfucker if you bite the dust." Walker joked, but he continued. "But, you know… you can't just tell a rookie that you're going to fight a losing battle. You're not as confident as you usually are, either."

"Can you blame me? I feel like I'm walking into a death trap, which is exactly what this shit is. I only know how to be honest." Jovanni groaned, running his hands down his face. "Walker, you joined War Machine because you were sick of these assholes acting like they own the place, because they were stealing and murdering without anyone to stop them, right?"

"You're right, but what does that have to do with anything? You're not making any sense to me, Jovanni." Walker said with honesty, his head tilting slightly.

"That's why I joined. After my parents died, I didn't know what else to do with my life besides get rid of the fuckers that caused me so much pain." Jovanni started, his hands falling to his sides. "I guess I didn't realize it until now, but meeting people like you is what made me realize is that my problem is just a small bit of pain that Supernova threw this city into. At first, I just wanted revenge, but now I just want to stop these motherfuckers from killing anybody else."

"I've never heard you speak so eloquently." Walker taunted him, half-joking. "Well, you've taught me that nothing is impossible, since you pretty much survived being crucified. Hell, Abel has a fucking robot arm now. If that can happen, I'm sure that you can kick this guy's ass."

"You're starting to sound like me, rookie." Jovanni chuckled, opening the front door all the while. "I'll do my best, that's all I can really promise."

"Ha. At least you're honest."

Jovanni had managed to find both Abel November and Thomas Lowell in the family room, the two of them staring straight at him as if they had seen a ghost.

"Uh, are you guys okay?" Jovanni asked as he sat down onto a chair that was on the opposite side of the room, the two of them leaning back into the couch. "Guys?"

"We heard everything, Jovanni. You really like to talk loudly, huh?" Thomas admitted. "Do you really think you can handle Vladimir on your own? You told all of us what he's capable of."

"I'm not letting you guys come with me, okay? You'll die if you come with me, I don't trust him at all." Jovanni argued, his hands balling up into tight fists. "It's better if only one of us has to die!"

"What kind of friends would we be if we let you die alone?" November interjected, his voice stern. "You're the first person in years who even managed to inspire something in me, who managed to teach me what it means to have friends. I'm sure that if you didn't catch me at the Arrow, I would be drinking myself to death right now. So, hell no, we're coming along! You won't die as long as we're around, JoJo!"

"November speaks for me, too." Thomas said, his eyes locked onto Jovanni's. "We met at the fair, and we've been fighting together ever since. I know what you're fighting for, and you know what I'm fighting for. We're brothers in arms until the very end, so I'll be damned before I let you leave before you let us lend a hand when you need it the most."

Jovanni sighed deeply, his body shaking as he felt a lump form in his throat. Like hell he would let this get a rise out of him, but they were persistent. There was no way to shake them off or to convince them not to follow, they were in it until the very end just like they had promised.

"Okay… okay. There's no point in trying to convince you, so alright. Fine… but if you get yourselves killed, it's going to haunt me for the rest of my life." Jovanni stood up and walked over to his comrades, who only nodded understandingly. "You know that this is our final stand, right?"

"Right, but not even someone like him can stand in our way if we work together!" Thomas exclaimed enthusiastically, raising his fist up high. "We'll kick his ass and come back here after a job well done, guys!"

"Yeah, that asshole can't get away with what he's done any more. We won't let him manipulate anyone else!" November vowed, throwing his fist up into the air as well. "Ultimate defense or not, we'll find a way past his Stand's ability!"

"You guys are so optimistic, it hurts, but I have to agree with you!" Jovanni threw his fist up as well, all three of their fists touching now. "This is really fucking cheesy, but we'll make sure that Supernova never threatens this city ever again when they see their leader's body hanging from a rooftop!"

The trio cheered, soon waiting for the clock to strike nine before they would head out. Jovanni's plan was very simple but it could be seen as foolish: all three of them would meet in the hotel and attempt to wear him out, but they were almost completely sure that he would bring other Stand users to subdue them if they were too much for him to handle. However, all they could do from this point on was wait and see what would happen.

At exactly nine o'clock at night, the three had gathered outside and prepared to make their way towards the Monolith Hotel, which was only forty five minutes away. Thomas called his wife and told her that he would be late tonight because he wanted to work overtime, which she luckily believed.
"Next time you see us will be in the next few hours, guys." Jovanni said as he watched Dalimil, Joanne, and Walker wave goodbye to the three volunteers. "If anything happens, just know that we tried our hardest to beat the asshole. You'll take care of this place for me, right?"

"Stop talking like that, you asshat!" Dalimil shouted in protest, a wet tear rolling down his face as he insulted the young man. "If you die, I'll kill you! So stop talking like this is the last time we'll ever see each other!"

Jovanni nodded, turning away as he felt a familiar wetness stain his cheeks. "Right! See you guys by morning, then!"

And so, Jovanni and his two comrades marched towards the Monolith Hotel, their handguns held tightly in their hands. The only thing that Jovanni could rely on now was the trust that his friends had handed over to him so casually, and he would try his hardest to prove that he was worthy of it.

The golden heart moved forward, towards his destiny.