Joseph's POV
'Holy shit. This is fucking awesome.' the Joestar mused as he watched the Branwen leader fought the fall maiden.
A part of him says that it's probably his best interest not to interfere.
"Oh shit, that girl dead." his indifferent reaction upon noticing that Vernal passed away.
Cinder fall off the cliff. (Ha! Cinder fall, Cinder Fall.)
RING OUT!
And so the Branwen emerged victorious.
"Joseph." Yang greeted him.
"Holy... You scared me. Where's your arm?"
"I kinda lost it on the way here..." she shyly admitted.
"Don't worry, this JoJo has got you covered." he smirked.
"Crazy Diamond..."
Awkward silence.
"Wha-" she was suddenly cut off as her arm was floating towards her.
"Woah!" she recoiled in shock as it attached itself. She grinned at Joseph "You have some explaining to do."
"Ahh. Yang, Joseph. What a surprise." Raven interrupted.
"What the hell is your deal?! You told me to pr-" Yang cuts him off.
"I got this, Joseph."
Joseph nodded and walked to the corner inspecting the place, letting them have their privacy.
'Such bizarre architecture, the workers who did this place weren't payed enough, that's for sure.' Joseph stared at the edge of the platform where Cinder fell.
'To think that every huntsman and huntress can fight like that... It's a wonder how Grimms aren't extinct yet.'
(0)*
He heard a bird flapping away. He turned around to see Yang entering the vault.
"Yang..!" he ran after her as she held the relic.
"I took responsibilty... She's afraid, but I'm here standing with a bullseye mark as Salem hunts me." she showed him the relic, she fell on her knees and sobbed.
"Hey! Water under the bridge! Not under the eyes!" he hoisted her up and hugged her.
"It's not like I'd let her touch you anyway." he softly whispered as Yang continued to sob.
"You know... I won against your mom in a fight."
Her eyes widened in surprise. "Y-You did?"
"Yeah, how else did you think I got here? She would probably kill me if she was serious but hey, a win is a win. Anyways... She started it because she wanted to gauge my strength. I won. And before I entered her portal, did you know what she asked me to do?"
The blonde sniffed but was still silent, waiting for his reply.
"She told me to take care of you. She made me fight her to see if I can protect you. And damn right I can." he hugged her tighter.
"Now stop crying. She cares for you. And don't forget that you're not the only one holding the target mark. Because you're not alone. Salem wants you? She's gonna go through us all." he broke the hug and smiled at her. She rubbed her tears and smiled back. "You always know what to say." she held his hand gently as they exited the vault.
They walked back towards the surface.
"By the way, Blake is back."
"... BACK IN BLACK! I HIT THE SACK!"
Yang raised her eyebrow, amused but decided to sing along.
"Bet you know, I'm glad to be back. Cause I got loose, from the noose. That's keep me hanging about!"
(0)*
"Cinder will come back with the relic! she won't let us down." Emerald desperately yelled.
"CHUMIMIN!" Joseph screamed.
Everyone stared at the couple as Yang showed them the relic.
Victory.
"Blake! What's up?! We fucking missed ya! Is Sun with you?" Joseph yelled from the balcony, breaking the silence.
Emerald suddenly screamed as an image of Salem descended upon them shrieking.
"HOLY SHIT!" the Joestar screamed.
"W-What was that?" Ruby shakily asked.
"An illusion. But an accurate one. That... Was Salem."
Deafening silence. As everyone got a taste of things to come.
"Well, Weiss, I think she stole your title as the resident Screeching Banshee."
"Shut up, JoJo!"
He jumped down the balcony and hugged Ruby and Weiss.
"I'm just glad you're okay, you little idiots!"
He opened his eyes and saw Sun and Blake.
"Hey! The hell you two doing over there?! We're having a fucking group hug here! Join us!"
"Coming!" the monkey faunus screamed as he grabbed Blake's arm and ran towards them.
"I'm glad you and Casanova are still here, firecracker." Qrow smiled as he took the relic.
"Well... Guess I'll have to join the group hug." Yang smiled sincerely as she walked towards the bunch.
Sun just straight up jumped at the group hug while Blake stayed behind awkwardly.
Yang also hesitated.
"Blake uhh... What are you doing here?" Ruby asked.
"I could... Ask you guys the same thin- Whoa!"
Sun's tail suddenly pulled her, forcing her to join, much to her amusement. Joseph used Stone Free to pull Yang as well.
"There was a White Fang attack outside just to give you context." Sun told Joseph.
"Huh?! Then let's-"
"Don't worry. We took care of Adam and the others." the blonde faunus continued.
"Adam! I'm gonna fucking kill that guy." Joseph said. They all understood because Yang lost her arm to him and Joseph must know how it felt to lose a limb, that or they're dating.
"You... Know him?" Blake whispered as they broke the group embrace.
"Yeah, he was all over the news and he cut freaking Yang's arm!" he snarled.
Sun and Blake looked at each other.
(0)*
The battle is over, but the war is far from it.
Team RWBY is back and Team JNR are there to support them. For now, the dread they felt just grew, knowing that they were holding the relic that screams "hey, come get some."
But there is still one thing that flooded Joseph's mind as he sat outside in the night alone.
Jotaro and the corpse parts. Whatever the fuck those are.
All of a sudden, he remembered Professor Port's question.
"But will you say the same if the opportunity presented itself?"
Jotaro went out of his way to collect the corpse parts for him, and he couldn't just say no. This is it. He is finally going home. But the place that welcomed him, the friends he made and the love he shared, are going to be left behind as chaos looms over the horizon.
He asked himself "Was it... Really worth it?"
Giorno's POV
The stone mask... The artifact that made his father immortal. The thing that allowed him to have an 81 year old nephew. "So this is just merely Kars' invention, huh?" he uttered as he pricked his finger and dropped blood on it, watching it activate as spikes retracted.
"That is not even the most advanced one, master." GEROH adds as he placed the superior one beside it. One with a giant hole in it's forehead. Giorno's blood didn't activate it however.
"W-What's wrong with it?"
"It only responds to UV light, the sun or ripple will do." the stand explained.
"Interesting..."
(0)*
Back at Remnant.
"WHAT?!" was the heiress reaction when Qrow told them that they need to get the lamp to Atlas.
"Huh? Wh-" But before Jaune could finish, Weiss stood up.
"I spent the whole Volume trying to escape Atlas and now you're telling me that we need to get back there?" she stood up and huffed her chest.
"Woah woah, take it easy with the 4th wall breaking, kid. It's not like we have a choice." Qrow said as he set the relic down the table. Ren was currently unconcious, drained by fighting for too long. But now, they can finally catch their breath.
"Besides, we aren't moving til the day after tomorrow. Seeing as how everyone got fatigue on their sleeves."
"Hey Qrow. Why do they want this thing anyway?" Joseph asked as he inspected the relic.
"Probably the same reason Kars wanted that crimson stone. It's not rocket science, Joseph." the older man snarked.
"Well pardon my stupidity, I'm not a rocket scientist. I am not even any sort of scientist, nor am I a rocket." the brunette rebutted. "... You're a broscientist." Jaune lazily adds.
"... You got me there."
To be continued
Oh boy, brace yourselves on what's coming...
