Sorry for the wait. Clowns in my life don't seem to realize the circus is over.
Hol Horse summoned Emperor, doing some fancy Robocop tricks that involved flipping and spinning his pistol around his body like a ribbon. While he was busy showing off, however, the pair of Crusaders were heading in the other direction in a calm manner.
"You two've got some real nerve walkin' away when you know you can't beat us! Ain't that right, J. Geil?" Hol Horse said as he fired a round into a nearby bottle, causing the shards to land on the ground near the two. When they didn't stop he shot some windows and more bottles.
"Where's that piece of shit hiding at?!" Emperor asked. "Oh, please tell me that creep's dead."
"If he's dead we're screwed, Emperor!" Hol Horse said. He looked in the reflections but saw no Hanged Man.
"He's not here. He's too busy...burning in hell," Polnareff said, summoning Silver Chariot.
"Oh, thank the Lord above."
"Shut the hell up!" Hol Horse said to his Stand and his opponents. "Hanged Man is invincible! Just stop joking around, Pol Pol."
"No one cahlls heem zat but me," Chariot said, raising her sword.
"Calm yourself, Chariot. Now, Mr. Horse, your buddy's rotting corpse is just a few hundred meters away. Wanna go look?"
"SURE!" Hol Horse said, turning around and sprinting away.
"You yellow-bellied milk drinker! Why're you runnin' away?!"
'I can't beat them alone! You work better with other Stands; me and you are just support! Better to be #2 than #1!'
"If you don't turn around and open fire right now I'll-"
Before Emperor could finish a fist slammed Hol Horse in the face, knocking him to the ground.
Kakyoin and Polnareff finally caught up and saw it was Jotaro who had punched him, along with Joseph.
"We found what happened to Abdul. We buried him, but it was much less than he deserved. It should have been a proper burial," Joseph said. Jotaro's eyes were shadowed, and Polnareff could tell how much they were hurting.
"Though it was Hanged Man who ambushed him, it was Hol Horse's bullet that killed him," Kakyoin explained.
"Your Stand is the judge, right, Jotaro?" Polnareff asked, summoning Chariot. "What's your sentence?"
"The death penalty," Star Platinum said, giving the cowboy a thumbs down.
Before Silver Chariot could start her attack, something grabbed Polnareff's leg that threw him off balance.
It was the noblewoman that was with Hol Horse on the elephant, attaching herself to Polnareff's leg. "Run, my love! As long as you are safe, my life is forfeit!"
"Jotaro, Kakyoin, don't let him get away!" Polnareff said, using Chariot to force the woman off.
"Too late."
When Polnareff looked up, Hol Horse was hightailing it out of there on a horse that was nearby, Emperor shouting in anger.
"I will love you forever, my sweet!" Hol Horse shouted from a distance.
The girl latched onto Polnareff's leg again, and when the Frenchman tried to run after Hol Horse she still held on, scraping her bare arms along the harsh rock-filled dirt, scraping her elbow so bad blood leaked down her arm..
Chariot was about to use the pommel of her blade to force the woman off but Hermit Purple stayed her arm.
'We're not going to catch up, and she poses no threat. No need to harm a civilian.'
Chariot stayed her blade, though with hesitation.
"We're 15 days down, no need to waste time. Abdul's gone but we need to keep going."
Chariot tried to keep tears from coming out of her eyes as she disappeared without a word.
Joseph tried to heal the woman's arm with Hamon but for some reason it didn't work. "I guess I'm out of practice," he said as he took a handkerchief out of his pocket and wrapped it around her wound. Without anyone's knowledge a drop of the woman's blood landed on his arm.
"Come on, let's go. But let's stick together, or we'll be prime meat to enemy Stand users!" Polnareff said as he led the group, who followed him with relief.
The woman stared at the drop of blood on Joseph's arm and watched as it began to mutate and grow into a bud of flesh, almost like a tumor.
"Psst..."
"Hmm?" Joseph said, looking around. "Did someone say something?"
"Maybe you're hearing all of these damn annoying flies," Polnareff said, eyeing the several flies that followed them around.
"Could be..." Joseph said, flicking them away from him.
One landed on his arm near the bud of flesh and a mouth sprouted out of it, chomping the fly's head off and eating it.
Joseph heard something again and looked down at his arm, noticing the bud. "It's not just flies. It looks like something else bit me. It hurts!"
"It's better to leave bug bites alone in this case. Your Hamon will kill any pathogens it might have carried, then it's all up to your immune system to bring the swelling down," Hierophant Green informed.
The noblewoman opened her mouth, revealing a similar ball of flesh on her tongue. "Psst..."
Somewhere in Egypt, DIO's Lair
Enya wailed in emotional agony as she realized her son was dead through their Stand link, like how Jotaro and Joseph share one with DIO. "Such a noble warrior! I bet they used some dirty trick!" she screamed. She ordered her Stand to show her the wounds her son sustained.
'This will fuel your hunger for justice,' Justice said as holes appeared on her face, like stab wounds.
"Such wounds! My poor, innocent boy!"
'Shall we call for the Empress to carry out punishment?' Justice asked.
"Yes, call her! Empress works best at killing slowly. I'll watch as all of them slowly rot away into nothing! Hehehehahhahaah!" she laughed as she ran out of the huge double doors of their compound.
"Finally, she's gone," The World said, floating in the air cross-legged next to his master, who was currently in bed with a pillow covering his ears. "Why don't we just ice that old bitch?"
"Because, The World, she is our most reliable source of Stand information," DIO said as he sat up. She knows much more about this ability than anyone, even that fortune teller, Abdul. There's something she is so eager to teach me. During the day, I have dreams. Dreams about these strange objects, and I've written them down in my journal. There's even greater power I can attain, I can just feel it."
"Well, we know how powerful Jotaro is. The next time we see that priest, we should take a precaution. A backup plan is always good to have, no?"
"Yes...you're right. A backup plan. And I know just what we should do..."
A Bus to Varanasi
"Normally I wouldn't tell a beautiful woman like yourself to not follow us," Polnareff told the noblewoman, "but I can tell you wouldn't listen to me even if I told you. What's your name?"
"Nena."
"Listen, Nena," Polnareff said, "that man, Hol Horse, is a bad guy. He was just using you. Look, I know about these things."
Nena looked at him with a bit of confusion.
"When you're in love, your vision can easily go from this..." Polnareff made a spread-out motion with his hands in front of his eyes. "...to this." He put a hand on either side of his head and moved them forward in a straight line. "You get it? You need to stay objective. I know this from experience."
She still looked at him like a derp.
Polnareff sighed. "Just try to keep your thoughts calm, alright?" The Frenchman looked at his friends, all of whom were knocked unconscious. "I'm gonna take a nap too. That damn cowboy sucked all of the energy out of me. Wake us up when we get there, yeah?" he asked as he dozed off.
After about an hour, Silver Chariot emerged and saw that Star Platinum and Hierophant Green were already out, playing Rock, Paper, Scissors.
"How the hell do you do that?!" SP asked as he lost for the fifth time in a row.
"It's a trade secret. I can't just give it out to anyone, you know," Hierophant Green said, smiling under his mask.
Star Platinum noticed Chariot was awake and waved her over. "How are you doing, Chariot?" he asked.
"Naht good," Chariot said, sniffling. "Monsieur Red ees dead ahnd eet's my fault."
"It wasn't your fault," SP said, hooking his arm around her. "No one could have known that he was such a dangerous opponent."
"Truly," HG added. "You and Polnareff were just angry about your sister. No one here blames you or Polnareff, we promise."
"Zanks," Silver Chariot said, wiping her eyes. "My lahst wahrds to heem were so cruel, ahnd I'll nevair be ahble to ahpologize."
Star Platinum gently patted her shoulder and hugged her closer. "You knew him better than any of us. If he didn't forgive you, he wouldn't have risked his life for you. You know that, Chariot."
"Eef only Pol Pol believed zat. He's been beateeng heemself up ovair eet evair seence eet hahppened."
"Polnareff seems like an all-or-nothing kind of guy. Maybe you can convince him one day," Hierophant Green said. "But enough about the sad stuff. How about we play Standopoly?"
"It's gonna take the entire bus ride to get halfway through a game...I'm in!" SP said. "I pick the dolphin piece."
Several Hours Later, Veranasi
"I ween!" Chariot said happily, throwing her hands into the air.
"Damn it...how?!" SP said, sighing as he took off his headband and tossed it to Chariot. She put it on with glee and giggled. Their bet was that if she won she could wear it for the day.
"You even beat me, and I'm the one that made the game!" Hierophant Green said, tossing the board into the air as it vanished.
"Looks like everyone's waking up. Let's head back," Star Platinum said as the three disappeared.
'That was a nice thing you boys did,' Hermit Purple said.
SP and HG just smiled as they disappeared, just happy to see Chariot smiling for once.
As Joseph woke up he looked down to see the bud of flesh had grown huge. "It's getting worse," he groaned.
"Go see a doctor as soon as we get off," Kakyoin said.
"It looks like a face! Haha!" Polnareff laughed.
Nena smiled ever so slightly.
Veranasi, Doctor's Office
"I'm gonna have to remove it," the doctor said after finishing his examination. "It's a bacterial infection; it's only gonna get worse if I don't cut it out now! I'll give you some local anesthetic and we'll be done in no time."
"Can't you just put a cream or something on it and bandage it?!" Joseph asked.
"Trust me, I studied in England. I know what I'm doing." The doctor pulled out a scalpel, causing Joseph to cover his eyes and look the other way.
'Tell me when he's done, Hermit! I can't look!' Joseph told his Stand.
'Uhh...Joseph?'
'Is he done?!'
'N-not exactly...just look!'
'I can't!'
'Damn it, Joseph, he's dead!'
Joseph opened his eyes and looked at the doctor, only to see his face shredded up by the scalpel. The doctor screamed as he fell to the ground, dead.
"What did tha-"
"That poopy-head twied to get wid of me!"
Joseph looked down at the bud and saw it had a face! With eyes and a mouth, too.
"What the hell is that?!"
"I'm the Empwess, Daddy! My Card wepwesents the cweation of wife, whatever dat means!"
"What the hell is that?!"
'It's a Stand, Joseph! She's feeding off of you!' Hermit Purple explained.
Joseph grabbed a scalpel and stabbed at it, but Empress caught it in her teeth. "I caught it! We'ts play catch!" Empress flipped the scalpel over and caught the handle in her mouth, spitting it at Joseph. The Hamon user tried to catch it but it sliced through his prosthetic finger.
"I know what you're thinking, Daddy, but you can't huwt me. Why would you? I'm a pawt of you now!"
This thing spoke like a child, and it looks like it had just grown. Maybe it was as impressionable?
"But...you shouldn't hurt your daddy! I'm here to take care of you!" Joseph said.
"Weally? But Mommy says..."
"Don't listen to her. I'm here with you and she's not! Right?"
"I...don't know..."
A nurse knocks then walks in, seeing the doctor's dead body. She screamed in fear.
"I didn't do-"
"I'm sowwy, I did dat. Don't wowwy, he died quick!"
The nurse turned tail and ran. "There's a murderer!"
Joseph hid in an alley, peeking around the corner to see police officers running through the streets.
"They wanna pway tag! Let's go get Jotawo and evewyone else and pway!"
Joseph reared his arm up and attempted to slam Empress against a sharp piece of metal jutting out of a wall, but Empress suddenly sprouted arms and caught herself.
"Aww, c'mon, Dad, you can't be seriously trying to hurt yourself. At your age you have to be careful!"
'Her voice changed...did she just get older? She's constantly growing!' Joseph thought. He attempted to move but Empress wouldn't let go of the piece of metal.
"Mr. Police Officer! My dad did a bad thing! He's hiding over here!"
The officer drew his gun as he spotted Joseph. "Don't move, or I'll shoot!"
Joseph let out a deep breath and struck Empress.. "Hamon Overdrive!" However, it did nothing.
"Hehe, that tickled! But you did a bad thing, Dad, you can't just get away scot-free. Mom says that you're a bad man, and that I have to hurt you! But I don't want to...what do I do?!" she said, tears streaming down her cheeks.
'She's having mood swings!' Hermit Purple said, growing out of Joseph's arm to envelop Empress.
Empress was forced to let go after getting her arms squeezed. Joseph fell, barely avoiding a bullet. Joseph picked up a piece of tattered cloth and draped it over Empress as he turned and ran.
'People say I'm in good shape for my age but all this running's tiring me out. She must be draining my energy as she's growing...I can't go back to the hotel with this on me! I should have stayed with Polnareff!'
"Daaaaad, it's dark in here! If I say I'm sorry, will you let me out? I promise I won't hurt you any more. I don't want to do what Mom says!'
"Sorry, honey, but I can't right now. I don't want the sun to hurt your eyes," Joseph lied.
"Oh...okay. I'm scared, Dad. I don't want you to leave me. I feel like it's happened before...a lot. I'm so hungry..."
Joseph wiped sweat off of his forehead as he ran, barely missing Polnareff and Nena as two men moving a large carpet walked between them. Joseph ran through a market and heard chomping under the piece of cloth. He saw several nearly-completely eaten fruits and vegetables fall on the ground.
"I'm eating...*chomp*...I was hungry so I took some food," Empress said under the cloth. "I need to grow bigger."
Joseph saw blood fall, followed by a chicken head. "Damn it, kid, you can't go around stealing!" Joseph pulled the cloth off and grunted when a fist slammed into his cheek.
"How was that, Dad? Pretty good, eh?" Empress asked, spitting out a chicken bone.
"Why did you hit me? You said you were done doing what Mom said!"
"When I grow bigger, her voice grows louder. I don't want to do it but I really don't have a choice," Empress said. In her eyes, Joseph could see fear.
"I'm older, and I have more experience than you, kid. I'll stop you easy!"
'Now let's see if we can back that tough talk up," Hermit Purple mumbled, wrapping himself around Empress to bind her.
"Where's the damn user?" Joseph asked, looking around.
"Dad..." Empress said, "you shouldn't keep such a sharp eye on your child. You have to give them some freedom!" With a might chomp, Empress sunk her teeth into Joseph's shoulder.
"OH MY GOOOOD!"
'We need a camera to find her user, Joseph! If we don't kill her now, she'll take over our entire body!' Hermit said.
"I know you don't believe in me right now, Dad, but I'll prove to you! I'll earn my freedom!" Empress said, raising her arms, which were now long enough to reach his neck. She threw a punch and Joseph blocked it with the palm of his prosthetic hand, but she began to do a Stand rush on it.
"HA HA HA HA HA!"
Joseph was blown back into several pots of burning incense, causing ash to be scattered onto the ground. He got up and ran, dashing straight past Polnareff and Nena. Before the Frenchman could see his friend Nena grabbed Polnareff and turned him around to face her.
"I do like you, Polnareff. You're so reliable and strong..." Nena whispered, watching Joseph run by them without a second glance.
"Oh, brother..." Silver Chariot mumbled.
"You're getting father and farther away from my son-in-law, Dad. Weren't you gonna try to find Jotaro?" Empress asked.
"You think I don't know where I'm going? I know exactly what I want to find!" Joseph stopped in front of a barrel of tar, and dunked her inside of it. A few seconds later her arm jutted out, stabbing Joseph in the neck with a nail.
"I picked it up when you fell. I'll kill you and get my freedom, Dad!"
"You don't really want freedom, do you?" Joseph asked, not even trying to grab the nail.
Empress froze.
"Or are you doing what your mother is forcing you to do?"
"I don't have a choice!" Empress whispered, tears falling out of her eyes. "She said she'll let me live my own life if I kill you! I'm sorry!" She attempted to shove the nail in deep enough to kill him but found that she couldn't move. She looked at her body and noticed that the tar she was covered in was quickly hardening. "You put me in tar to stop me from moving!" Empress exclaimed. "How...how did you know it was there?"
'That would be me,' Hermit Purple said in her mind.
At the ashes, several men were looking at the pile in awe. "That foreigner...he made a map in the ashes!"
"The opponent gets cocky when they think they've won, when in reality they've already lost. That's the Joseph Joestar way!"
'Your mother wouldn't have let you go,' Hermit Purple told Empress. 'She would have just made you disappear to use you all over again. That's how her ability works."
Hermit Purple wrapped around Empress and then on a metal pole above them.
"I've never had to watch my child die...but this is the way it has to be. I'm sorry, Empress. Your next line is..."
"I love you, Dad."
Joseph closed his eyes and forced his arm down. Empress was silently ripped apart, painlessly killed in an instant. A single tear dripped down his cheek.
"To seal the deal," Polnareff said to Nena, "let's kiss! To show our love!"
'Vou hahve known her fahr ahpprahhxeehatley five meenuts.'
'That's more than enough,' Polnareff replied, leaning in for a kiss.
Nena suddenly vomited, her eyes going white. Her stomach began to jiggle and grow, until a huge woman burst from her, blood gushing out of her body as she fell over dead.
"That's the Empress' Stand user," Joseph said, walking up to them. "Such a disgusting woman, inside and out. She used her Stand to imitate other people. You were too naive, Polnareff."