Disclaimer: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and all equally bizarre concepts and characters belong to Hirohiko Araki. Original characters and other concepts (as noted) are copyright of me.
Despite the obvious warnings of the decaying structures around him and the continuous dragging of Starski behind him, Johnathan Joestar was adamant on confronting Dio this time. He had too long avoided a proper explanation for his deplorable actions, and regardless of the territory, Jojo was going to have it out with him, even a little. He was guided from behind by the nervous but upright Starski through the broken, unbuilt skeletal projects. There was a sense of urgency in the way Jojo walked, his back straight and his fists clenched, like he was seriously walking in to a potentially deadly situation.
"You ain't leaving, eh?" Starski said.
"No" Jojo replied.
"You can't let this go?" Starski asked, "not even for one day?"
"Dio won't wait one day" Jojo argued. "Now that he's this close to me, he'll want to take every opportunity to rile me. Besides, someone is threatening his life and he may not even know it. I may as well tell him so he can be prepared."
"Why do you wanna help him!?" Starski said. He suddenly started marching ahead and stopped Jojo. "I don't get you, man! Why, if this guy is the damn devil, do you want to give him a heads up!?"
"Anyone who knows Dio" Jojo very plainly began "knows how hard it is to keep him dead. It simply can't be done. If someone is making a move on his life it's because they can kill him...and anyone else they want. As a honorable person, I can't do anything that would bring harm to the innocent. If Dio knows someone is out to kill him then he will most likely stop them himself." Jojo walked past Starski and left him to think with his mouth open.
Shit Starski thought. Is this guy really that bad? I mean, this Johnny guy looks tough, even if he don't got a Stand. He could definitely take someone down if he need to. If he's this scared...shit! Starski retrieved his sunglasses and jogged ahead to keep pace with the quickly moving Jojo. Maybe I should be scared too...
"Hey boss" a guard said into the largest shack on the grounds. "Boss?"
"He's sleeping" Rosalisa said from the corner. The guard looked into the window and Rosalisa popped into view from the shadows. The guard was forced to his back out of shock. "I said, Dio is sleeping. What is it?"
"Uh..." the guard began, getting back up and brushing himself down, "someone's here. I think...it may be Joestar."
"I will meet him" Rosalisa said. She started moving for the door and had a guard inside open it for her. For once she was dressed normally, aside from her hair which was still up in a bun shaped like a rose. She wore a billowy light-blue sleeveless blouse that was popular and a short skirt with knee-high socks and heels. It was a very Latin style, and she carried herself down the stairs to encounter the distant Jojo with a swing in her hips. The lesser-educated grunts from the Lovebugs dared to whistle and gawk at her as she walked.
"Now those are legs!" they heckled. "Show us some ass!" Rosalisa, not one to emote very much, just waved her hand and the indecent noise stopped. The men who dared to jeer at her started palming their mouths and heaved breaths through their noses. Jojo kept his straight, serious business face up until he was within a few feet of Rosalisa. He was just far away that the guards became cautious, but not protective.
"Johnathan" Rosalisa greeted, "how is college? Is it living up to your expectations?"
"It is" Jojo answered shortly. "Where is Dio?"
"Sleeping" Rosalisa answered. "He was up all night claiming and patrolling this territory. Why do you need to see him?"
"I believe" Jojo began "that someone may be attempting a move to kill him soon. Speedwagon and I encountered a Stand user last night, a boy named Sue and the Stand Cash that absorbs water from its victims until they are completely dry. He manipulated the electrical circuiting of the campus lighting to spell out 'Dio Must Die', a message from his 'superiors'. There may be a gang or Stand user who is aware of Dio's presence that wants him gone."
Rosalisa took a few moments to herself, not moving or making any expressions of the disgust and anger inside her. "Alright" she softly spoke, "I'll warn him when he waked up. Threats like this are usually coupled with a soon-thereafter ultimatum. Are you sure that's all you know?"
"That's it" Jojo said.
"Thank you then" Rosalisa said. She spun around and started walking back with a hand on her hip. "Good bye." As she passed the invisibly gagged thugs their mouths became unbound and they gasped through them like dying fish.
"Wait!" Jojo shouted. "I need to ask you a question!" Rosalisa paid him no mind. She just kept marching to the steps that led into her temporary base. "I don't care why you're here, but what happened at the mall? What happened with MUSE?"
"MUSE?" repeated the voice of darkness. The door to the shed creaked open and a wave of fresh terror washed through the gathered guards. Starski refused to step back, as he had looked this death in the face just last night and ended up madder at that face than ever because of it. Jojo glared up the small steps to see the owner of that voice. A man of god-like figure, slouched down out of exhaustion wearing a blanket around his waist. "Jojo, don't tell me...you want to fight her with me...?"
Jojo just silently glared his intentions. Dio, a lifelong cancer of Jojo's, offered his rival a seat inside...
The shack was decorated, if that word can be used, sparsely. There was a sofa and a chair, both torn and dirt covered. There was a television, but the chances it worked in such a grim place were low. The floor was bare, exposing the finished hardwood floors below. The walls were peeling all over with most of the chipped studs visible. The ceiling was the beginning of what was to be another roof, but the scrapping of the city project cut the apartment down to only a few rooms that Starski used to stay in as the leader. Now each finished room belonged to Dio. Jojo sat patiently on the chair, hands neatly folded in his lap, while Starski sat sprawled out on the couch.
"You're a guard" Jojo pointed out to his lazy observer. "Shouldn't you be guarding me better?"
"You're a business student" Starski said lazily. "Should you really be walking around a gang hangout in the middle of the day?"
"Um...yeah" Jojo replied. "Good point, I guess."
"Tell me something" Starski said. "You seem like a decent kid. How'd you get mixed up with that...Dio?"
"We were kids" Jojo explained. "I can't really go into gross detail right now, because Dio's nearby, but when we were kids I sort of messed with him and he messed with me. Since then we've had a mutual understanding of 'pure hatred' and we vowed soon after that to kill each other no matter what..."
"Shit" Starski cursed. "What'd he do, kill your dad?"
"My father had already died by then" Jojo admitted.
"I'm sorry man" Starski apologized. "My dad died from a drive-by, so I get you."
"My father had cancer" Jojo said.
"Eh.." Starski grunted. Shit, this kid's making me nervous. I don't know why, but I really want that freak to break this up... At that moment, a door into the room from the adjoining hall opened and Dio stood in it. He had dressed himself sloppily with some worn jeans and a sweater-jacket he wore as a cape that clung lovingly to his shoulders. He switched on the lights, which flickered briefly before fizzling out entirely, and made his way across the room. Starski shot up out of the couch and gave it over to Dio. Dio, however, moved past the couch to a rocking chair in the corner, covered in dust, and pulled it over to sit as close to Johnathan as possible.
"I know you don't believe me" Dio began, "but it's good to see you again, Jojo." With an invisible flap of SoaD's wing, the dust cleared from the chair and kicked up all over the room. Starski ran over to the door and activated his own Stand to pump all of the dust outside. A huge cloud of gray covered the stoop of the building and the door slammed shut.
"I didn't tell you this before" Starski said, panting, "but I'm seriously allergic to airborne dust! I got a condition, I can't clear my nose like normal people can! I can only sneeze when I stare at the sun for too long, not when shit's all up in my sinuses!"
"How uninteresting" Dio said. He smiled and sat down, resting one leg atop the other and laying his still heavy head on the back of his fist. "So tell me, Jojo, what do you know about MUSE so far?"
"Not a lot" Jojo admitted.
"What of your Stand?" Dio asked. "May I see it?" Jojo decided, after a moment of uncertainty, to do what he could. He used all his mental strength and conjured the extremely feint echo around his hand. Dio could plainly see the silhouette of some huge and powerful looking hand. Above that, near Johnathan's face, he could see the white glowing eyes under an angled helmet. Jojo couldn't maintain it after that and let out a long breath. "Well, at least you have your Ripple power as of now."
"Yeah" Jojo said, staring at his hand.
"Have you chosen a name yet?" Dio asked, repositioning himself to cross his arms and lean back in his chair. "You know, it's bad luck to name a baby before it's born."
"It's called The World" Jojo said. "I didn't name it, Zeppeli did."
"How has he been?" Dio asked. Jojo glowered up from his hand into Dio's eyes and he smiled.
"Take it easy" Dio said, waving his hands. "You know I won't kill you like this, although I very well could. Tell me, why exactly are you here?"
"I already told Rosalisa why" Jojo explained. "Why not ask her?"
"Getting information out of her tends to be troublesome" Dio said. "I suspect because she is so good at getting information out of others. Just tell me one thing, do you like the territory that I've chosen for my new base? I think it compliments me much better than my Underworld theme." Jojo stomped his foot onto the floor and broke it. Dio's expression changed from amused to plain and neutral.
"What happened?" Jojo sternly asked. Dio continued to stare blankly. Jojo tensed his fist with his natural breathing and visible streaks of his Ripple crackled around his flesh. "Speedwagon told me that MUSE attacked. What happened?"
After a moment of looking down at Jojo's fist, Dio stood up and sighed. "You've been working too hard, Johnathan" Dio said, taking a hand to Jojo's shoulder. "You need to relax more." With a quick and mostly unheard growl, SoaD was summoned for a single, solid punch into Jojo's gut. The force of the Stand curled him over and knocked him out swiftly. Dio's hand held onto Jojo's shoulder and he tossed him onto the couch. Starski witnessed the whole event and could only act by backing into the wall for protection.
"He goes to Presley University" Dio declared. "Make sure he gets there safely."
"Sure" Starski replied. Dio walked out of the room and back down the hall to the apartment with the stolen king-sized bed in the main room. It used to be Starski's room, but now he just had to watch Dio leave and sigh at what he had lost. "Question, how am I gonna get this guy's giant ass back to college safely?" Jojo lay completely unconscious on the old couch, unaware of what events transpired within his deep spirit. That blow, Dio's single cheap shot, had unwittingly sped up the process of Jojo's Stand growth nearly a hundred fold! What would have taken months to develop should now only take days. Such is the power of a Stand, and the luck of a Joestar!