College and Overwatch are one heck of a distraction, sorry guys.

Enjoy!

Chapter Fourteen:

The Last Throes of a Monster!

The morning sun slowly made its presence known by shining its rays into the humongous mansion Jonathan had called home for almost a whole month. The new dawn refreshed the memories of the battle that had taken place barely five minutes ago, but the part that stood out the most was the loss of instructor Loggs. The blue haired gentleman's eyes went to the ground as he reminisced the last conversation they had had just an hour prior to the fight. It had been a light-hearted debate over whether or not his Chamomile tea was superior to the Belle Classic tea Jonathan had been drinking. The debate was settled when Caesar and Joseph volunteered to taste both, with the results being a tie like he expected. Loggs gave a smirk and declared that he would make the best tea he could next time. Such fateful words obviously had to have doom attached to them, like they always did when he was around.

"Gramps, you okay?"

Jonathan raised his head and realized that he had stopped walking, with Joseph having taken a few steps ahead.

"I'm sorry Joseph, I was pondering the past." He said simply, raising his head as he continued to walk "Come, we must not keep Master waiting."

Joseph nodded, obviously not over the state of his grandfather, before continuing along with him. The walk was silent aside from their echoing footsteps until Joseph let out a groan.

"Damn, my shoulder is killing me." He said, stopping in his tracks to flex his currently sore shoulder, wincing slightly from the pain.

"Really? Would you like me to heal it with hamon?" Jonathan offered, knowing that his grandson's own hamon would probably take care of it in about ten minutes. Joseph shook his head.

"Nah, I think I'll head off to the bathroom. May just be pent up adrenaline or stress."

Jonathan nodded, smiling at the young warrior.

"That is fine, I will relay the message to Master Lisa Lisa myself."

With a confirmation nod and one last complaint from Joseph, the two parted ways with Jonathan barely remembering where the route to their Master's room was. When he came upon it, he ascended the spiral staircase that led up to her chambers and, rather ridiculously, felt a sense of anxiety for going into a lady's room uninvited. He knew it was foolish, but the his gentlemanly upbringing would not let him forget the lessons his father preached to him every day, even during a time like this.

When he reached the top, he was not too surprised to see the maid of the mansion, one Ms. Suzie Q, gently shutting Lisa Lisa's door behind her. She looked surprised to see him, however.

"Mr. Jonathan, just the man I wanted to see!" She said, her voice as cheerful as ever as she skipped toward him "Ms. Lisa Lisa wanted to see you, Jojo and Caesar. She said it was important!"

Jonathan smiled down at her and nodded

"Thank you, Suzie Q, I was on my way to meet up with her myself." He said, taking a step forward before the blonde woman gasped and tugged at his sleeve.

"I'm sorry Mr. Jonathan, but she is currently taking a bath. She should be out in half and hour." She said, giggling when she saw the giant of a man turn red.

"Oh yes, thank you Suzie Q." He said through an embarrassed smile, nodding a goodbye to her as she descended the stairs. With nothing to do but wait, he leaned against the wall and looked down at the docks below though the huge window beside him. The dawn light reflected off of the endless blue of the ocean, painting the stone dock a light orange as the delivery boat came over the horizon. He smiled as he imagined getting another letter from his beautiful wife, wishing the threat of the Pillar Men would end so he could hold her in his arms once more instead of just exchanging letters. While he could not write as often as he wanted to, something she sometimes pointed out in her own letters, he always made sure to make every one that he could write something she would hold dear as she hoped for him to get home. Speedwagon had been writing to him and Joseph as well, pouring out as much support for the two as he could as per usual. He had even received a letter from Alvaro, strangely enough. The lad had found his parents and had somehow found out where he went, he told him not to "sweat the small stuff" when he brought up it up. Either way, he was happy for the child.

He reached up to scratch his chin as thoughts of a certain blonde Italian man meshed along with the subject of letters. Caesar had never received any letters from anyone, as far as he could tell anyway. While he was not one to pry, he wondered if the young Hamon user had family troubles or if they even knew where he was.

A loud yawn shook these thoughts away as he saw his tired looking grandson ascend the stairs, the young man looking surprised when he saw his grandfather outside their master's chambers.

"What's going on gramps? Did you tell her the message yet?"

Jonathan shook his head, gesturing toward the door.

"I'm afraid not. Master is taking a bath at the moment, so I have just been enjoying this wondrous view until she gets done." He responded, looking back out the window as Joseph joined him on the other side of the window. Jonathan then perked up when he looked at the trickster's shoulders, remembering his complaints "Is your shoulder pain gone?"

"Yeah, but it's weird. It just disappeared after I talked with Suzie Q on the way here." He said, pressing a finger to his head before smirking at his grandfather "She is really cute, don't you think so gramps?"

Jonathan chuckled before nodding

"Yes, she is quite cute, I'll admit." He said before donning a small smirk of his own "Something tells me you like her, Joseph."

Joseph laughed as well at his grandfather's polite teasing before waving him off.

"I've always been a 'any port in a storm' kind of guy, it'll be a while before a woman tames my wild beast." He said while flexing his brows, making Jonathan roll his eyes after chuckling again. The blue haired gentleman peaked out the window and saw the subject of their conversation standing on the dock below as she handed something to the boat's captain. The man looked the letter over and nodded at whatever Suzie Q had said, getting in the boat and taking off into the horizon.

Strange, maybe that wasn't the delivery boat then?

"Nice!"

Jonathan looked out for a moment more as the blonde maid walked back toward the mansion before turning toward Joseph after hearing his strange comment. Or he would have if his grandson had still been by the window. When he saw where the roguish man was now, he let out a loud gasp.

"Joseph, what in the world are you doing?!" He almost yelled, barely able to keep his voice down in the face of such debauchery. Instead of backing away in shame or cooking up some excuse, Joseph kept looking through the keyhole, seeming to be focusing on something that Jonathan would rather not know.

"Joseph this behavior is-"

"Gramps, did you see Suzie Q walk in here at any point?"

Jonathan's gentlemanly anger sizzled away somewhat upon hearing this genuine inquiry and shook his head, crossing his arms afterward.

"No I didn't, why do you ask?"

Joseph did not answer, a wet squelch sound coming from Joseph hand as he pulled it away from the door knob. The golden knob appeared to be covered in some sort of green, sticky substance.

"What the hell?" Joseph questioned as he rubbed the substance in between his fingers.

"It looks like some sort of mucus." Jonathan observed, placing his finger on the door knob to feel the strange, sticky material. Both men's thoughts were interrupted by a yell from within the room.

"Who are you and what have you done with the Red Stone!?"

"Master Lisa Lisa!" Jonathan yelled, going to open the door. However, he once again found himself in conflict with his upbringing. It was only for a moment however, as his Master's life was at stake from the sound of things.

With a twist, he opened the door and reached one of his arms up to cover his eyes, much to the amusement of Joseph.

"Master, is everything okay?" he called out, only to be interrupted by a familiar voice he never thought he would hear again.

"Look at me, reduced to nothing but a brain without a body!" He said, his voice mixed with that of Suzie Q's. Confusion gripped Jonathan as he slightly uncovered his left eye, seeing that the kind maid had been given a horrid makeover. Her face was covered in black veins, her body violently twitching from the erratic movements of the Pillar Man inside of her. Her eyes, on the other hand, were without pupils "However, even in this form I'll still kill you all!"

"You just don't quit, do you Esidisi!" Joseph yelled, stepping further into the room. Jonathan barely uncovered his right eye and was thankful when he saw that Lisa Lisa was now wearing a towel. Esidisi ignored the call out and instead continued to speak.

"I put the Red Stone on the boat at the docks! I'm here to stope you before you can find it again!" He declared, his new body contorting more and more from his movements. "If Wamuu wasn't dumb enough to leave early, then the stone would have reached Kars by now!" Jonathan gritted his teeth as he recalled seeing the possessed maid earlier, chastising himself for not being more observant.

"Joestars!"

Both men with the star birthmarks turned to see Caesar, who looked perplexed as to what they were doing in their master's room.

"About damn time you got here Caesar, what took you so long?" Joseph asked, barely taking his eyes off of Esidisi.

"I saw you two fighting the Pillar Men, did you get your antidotes?" He asked quickly, getting a nod from Joseph.

"Yes he did, but Wamuu got away before we could finish him." Jonathan somewhat lied, keeping his earlier thoughts of redemption for the warrior to himself. Joseph seemed to pick up on the lie judging from the quick look he gave his ancestor, but he thankfully remained focused on the current task at hand.

"Wait a minute, what are you two doing in Master's room?" Caesar questioned before gasping. Standing not too far away from the two musclebound men was their master, a towel covering her bare body. Jonathan seemed to pick up on the growing heat of anger emanating from the blonde man.

"Calm down Caesar, we are in here because Esidisi came back to kill Master Lisa Lisa!"

"Came back? What the hell do you mean?" Caesar inquired, his rage not tamed by the gentleman's words. Joseph sighed and pointed to Suzie Q, who was now sitting on a nearby pillar crying softly.

"He means that Esidisi survived as a brain and possessed Suzie Q with his veins." He said before pausing and rubbing the back of his head "Or something like that."

The whimpering Suzie Q looked up from her tear soaked arm at the still confused blonde Hamon user.

"Please help me Caesar, they're trying to kill me! I don't know what's going on!" she said in between sobs. Jonathan outstretched his hand, pointing it mightily at the wolf in sheep's clothing.

"Do not listen to him Caesar, he is trying to deceive you!" he yelled, doing his best to come up with some sort of plan to counter this wicked scheme while Lisa Lisa said something to Caesar. He knew that if he tried to use his Hamon on the monster, he would kill Suzie Q by overloading her heart with the solar energy.

"Caesar, go find Meshina and chase down that boat!" Lisa Lisa yelled. Caesar nodded and turned to run out the door. In that split-second turn, Esidisi had propelled himself over the three men and had tangled his vine like veins over the door, blocking their way out.

"You hamon users always stated your plans aloud, it's almost like you wanted us to kill you!" Esidisi said, mad laughter following afterward "By now the stone has already been loaded up on the train, maybe even already intercepted by Wamuu! If you want to find out, you'll need to kill this woman to escape!"

Jonathan winced and tightened his fist, cursing his lack of forethought once again for not backing up toward the door while Esidisi was busy trying to trick Caesar. Of course that would mean leaving Joseph, their master and Caesar alone with the maniacal Pillar Man, and he would rather be trapped with them instead of running away to save himself.

"Do you really want to tempt me, Esidisi?" Joseph said darkly, taking a step forward "I mean, you're talking about the fate of the world here. You think I won't kill a single girl to stop you?" he declared as he came face to face with unflinching Esidisi.

Jonathan reared back, shocked by the words that came from his descendent. His grandson said and did things he disagreed with, some more heavily than others, like the trickery in battle, the arrogance, the deceit and the insults he would hurl at others. All these things were unbefitting a gentleman, but it was not his place to force the young man to conform to his gentleman code. Murdering a civilian, one who was not even aware of their actions no less, was too far.

Joseph's speech to the hanging Esidisi was halted as he raised his hand to charge it with hamon, the hand being grabbed by Jonathan. Joseph looked back to object but was shocked to see that his grandfather's eyes had changed. The gentle blue which was like a calm spring in the middle of winter had been replaced by a flame. A bright, burning flame that made clear his intentions.

"Joseph, I am afraid I can't allow you to do this." He said, his voice like icicles stabbing into Joseph's spine.

"N-No gramps, you got it all wrong!" He said quickly, smiling nervously at the blue haired gentleman as he tried to free his strangled wrist "I-I was just bluffing, okay? I would never even consider hurting her, you know that right?"

The blue washed away the red of the flame, making Jonathan realize what he had done. He slowly let go of his grandson's wrist, his mind reeling after what had just happened.

"I'm terribly sorry Joseph, I don't know what came over me." He said, staring down at his palm in shock. He had doubted his grandson, he had doubted the inherit goodness in all of humankind. He knew it to be true, Blueford was the best example he could think of, but this was no undead knight who he had read stories about when he was a lad. This was his own flesh and blood and he had the gall to doubt him.

"At least you finally admit it for once!" Esidisi laughed, his head facing the ground "But I've had enough of this!"

With this, his head jerked upward, a part of Suzie Q's cheek bursting and sending a splash of blood toward the brown haired Joestar.

"Oh shit!" Joseph yelled, barely avoiding the splotch of blood as it hit the marble floor, instantly melting through the beautiful stone floor.

"The stone has probably already been loaded onto the train by now!" Esidisi said with a laugh, reached up to Suzie Q's black vein covered face to dig into her face, peeling away the skin and muscle as his boiling blood flew everywhere. "I'm going to make extra sure you won't be able to get to it, by blowing up this woman and covering you all in my blood!"

"Suzie Q's body won't take much more of this!" Lisa Lisa exclaimed, looking to her three students before taking a step forward "I'll kill her, it's the only way we'll survive."

All three men looked back at her, mortified.

"But Master, there has to be another way!" Caesar yelled back, Esidisi's screaming overriding every noise on the island as the gears started to turn in both the Joestar men's minds. It was then that Joseph snapped his fingers.

"That's it! Caesar, gramps, we need to focus our hamon into her body, like Hell Climb Pillar!"

Caesar looked dubious for a moment, turning toward Jonathan who still looked deep in thought. A second later, Jonathan smiled and nodded.

"Of course, it is risky but it is the only chance we got!" he said, earning a slow nod from Caesar but not before he voiced his doubts.

"If we all three attempt it, it could throw off the balance of the hamon and still kill her." He said, looking back at Jonathan who nodded back. Joseph put a finger to his chin and looked back at Caesar.

"Alright, guess it's you and me Caesarino." He said with a smirk, earning an eye roll from the blonde in question. Jonathan stepped forward, nodding at both of them.

"I will at least restrain her, making it easier for you both to hit your marks."

Joseph was about to disagree, but every second lead to more boiling blood spilling from the helpless maid's body and if they did not act now, they would all be dead within the minute.

"Alright, everyone go!" Joseph yelled, all three Hamon students charging at once. Jonathan rushed forward, some of the blood getting onto his arms as he shielded his face. The pain was horrible, like getting stabbed by a recently forged blade, but he grunted through it and was soon within range. He spread out his arms and gently squeezed the woman's body against his own, the boiling blood leaking from her wounds and onto his shirt, melting through the fabric iand his skin nstantly. Not soon after, Joseph and Caesar found their marks, placing both of their fingers in calculated positions before pumping two types of hamon into her body.

Joseph pumped negative hamon into her feet and chest, the type that would kill any creature born from the stone mask. Caesar sent positive hamon into her spinal cord and head, the type that would heal any wound the user desired. Esidisi struggled, but he could not escape the grip of the battle hardened Jonathan Joestar and pretty soon it was over. All three men jumped back as Esidisi screamed again, the voice changing slowly back to Suzie Q's as the brain of Esidisi slithered out of an opening at the base of her spinal cord. The parasite who used to be a Pillar Man leaped onto Joseph shoulder, making everyone gasp.

"Joseph!"

"It's fine you guys, it's over now."

The morning sun that streamed into the room was enough to disintegrate what little remained of the eccentric warrior. The brain writhed its tentacle like veins for a moment before falling off of the trickster's shoulder and landing in his palm, turning to dust and drifting into the breeze.

Caesar sighed, wiping the sweat off his brow.

"Good, that monster is finally dead." He said, walking over to his master who was currently looking over the unconscious body of Suzie Q.

"He may have been a monster, but damn if I don't respect him." Joseph said, looking out toward the horizon where the ashes of his opponent floated on the breeze "He was willing to give his life for his allies. If that isn't valor, I don't know what is."

Jonathan was stunned to hear these words, but smiled as he walked over to his downcast grandson and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. The brown haired Joestar returned the smile, nodding back at his ancestor.

After all of the conflict, only the quiet of uncertainty remained. All they had to do now was find the stone.

How they were going to do it was still a mystery.