I needed a chapter focusing almost exclusively on Jonathan, but of course a dip into his backstory was unnecessary since anyone curious could just read A New Universe, since this story takes place in that story-verse. Disclaimer: I don't own Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, the Fate series, Lupin III, Ni No Kuni, or My Hero Academia.
Chapter 22: A Jojo Fights Against Evil
Iris yawned as she walked into Jonathan's room. He was in the middle of some serious research, most of it focused around the tales of Gilgamesh and Iskandar. "Planning an attacking Archer or Rider?," Iris asked. "Perhaps," Jonathan replied, "I'm sure you felt Lancer's death recently. He chose to attack Archer just a day after trying to kill Lupin. A foolish action, considering Archer is not simply boasting about his superiority. At the same time Lupin was at the Matou manor rescuing young Sakura from being subjected to the magecraft of that family." Iris felt ill, having heard of that Matou magecraft from her father. "Yeah… I can see why Lupin would be upset by that."
"Well, that magecraft will be dying out soon," Jonathan said, "Zouken Matou is dead, once and for all." Iris then noticed something else in Jonathan research. "You're also looking into the Court of Owls?" "They have designs on the Grail War, that much is clear," Jonathan explained, "Too much is at stake to let them manipulate events to their will. I've managed to narrow down possible hideouts to an abandoned mansion purchased in the late 70s by a 'Dorian Wilde', possibly a pseudonym. I was planning on investigating the manor at a later time."
Iris looked impressed. "Did you do this much research before fighting DIO?" "No," Jonathan admitted, "Much of that research was done by my Hamon teacher, William Zeppeli. I did, however, do similar research during my encounter with the Order of Ecclesia. I've also discovered something odd. Somehow, they've concocted a drug that supposedly can even affect Servants. Normally the only thing that can harm Servants are either weapons wielded by other Servants, or tools of exorcism. And I've received information that they recently have influence in the Association, something that could only be possible if they themselves know magecraft, which is odd for an underground criminal organization."
Iris thought for a moment. "I think you need a break, Jonathan. Perhaps we should get some breakfast." Jonathan considered it. "Very well. I wasn't really planning on doing much until Lupin was ready to make a move on Archer. It would do me some good to rest and prepare. Perhaps get back into my meditations." 'And with how destiny seems to favor my bloodline, perhaps something will come along that will allow me to obtain further information on the Court of Owls. Right now all I'm hitting are dead ends.' He grabbed his jacket before following Iris out.
As it turned out, Jonathan was right. Zenigata had been informed by a patrol that Iris and Jonathan had been sighted at a cafe and he and Akimi went to talk to them. Iris didn't mind letting the two detectives sit down with them. "I was told you learned everything about the War," Iris said, "The mediator of the War mentioned you had gained a Stand recently." "I thought I felt a familiar energy," Jonathan noted, "So then you know who I really am." "To be fair, you chose your alias well," Zenigata admitted, "Jonathan's not really an uncommon name, and it wasn't until I remembered your late wife that I realized the connection to the name Pendleton."
"We weren't told just what the Holy Grail really is, though," Akimi noted, "Only that it can grant wishes." "It does have that function," Iris admitted, "But it's main purpose is to lead the way to the Root of all knowledge, Akasha. Every magus seeks that Root. The true Grail resides in an alternate reality, but can manifest as a Lesser Grail for the purpose of holding the prana from defeated Servants. So far two Servants have been lost, Caster and Lancer." "Caster was Ryuunosuke's Servant as I recall," Akimi said, "Originally Gilles de Rais. What about Lancer?"
"Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, otherwise known as Lancer, was the Servant of Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald," Jonathan explained. "The Celtic myth about the hero cursed with a Love Spot that could infatuate any woman," Zenigata explained to Akimi, who nodded in understanding. "Not any woman," Iris said, "Those with special magical protection can avoid being affected. I myself have such protection, for example. Not that it matters anymore." "There's something else you should know," Jonathan said, "Apparently, outside forces are trying to manipulate the War to their advantage."
"I think Father Risei mentioned as much," Akimi noted. "They must have a base somewhere within the city limits," Zenigata reasoned. "I think I may have found where that is," Jonathan offered, "An abandoned manor in the Miyami District. It was bought under what I believe to be an assumed name back in the 1970s, and hasn't been used since." "That's as good a place as any to start looking," Zenigata agreed, "We'll check the place out." "If it's all right with you, Inspector," Jonathan said, "I'd like to join you in this regard. I was planning on investigating the manor myself at some point. This is simply a good time to get it over with." Zenigata nodded.
"Oh my," Iris said when they arrived, "Most of the houses are abandoned here." "This is what happens when people can't pay their taxes," Zenigata noted, "They get forced out of there homes." "It reminds of the situation in Ogre Street back in my youth," Jonathan said, "Back then Speedwagon and his gang were lucky if they could get a decent roof over their heads. Small wonder they turned to burglary to get by." Akimi was surprised. "Wait, Robert EO Speedwagon started as a gang leader?" "He didn't come into money until he stumbled upon an unclaimed oil well in Texas," Jonathan explained, "That was some time after he first met me."
They pulled up to the manor in question. "Akimi, stay here with Iris and make sure nothing happens to her," Zenigata ordered, "Me and Jonathan will check out the manor." Akimi nodded. Once inside, it was clear the place had no signs of anyone having lived there, which was way too suspicious. Zenigata placed a hand to his Stand. "Badge!" His eyes started picking up things better, but it was still incredibly dark. "Allow me to provide a light source," Jonathan offered, "Ra!" The eagle-headed Stand appeared and created an orb of light in its hand, illuminating the room.
Eventually the search led to the sun room. Here Zenigata was finally started to pick up something. "That closet over there… My Stand is marking it as important." Jonathan's keen senses noted one side of the closet did seem bigger than the other, and a quick test using a dust trail confirmed it. "There must be a secret passage behind this closet," Jonathan suggested, "The Joestar manor has similar secret passageways in out-of-the-way locations." "Then there should be a switch somewhere on the closet that opens the passage," Zenigata noted.
Getting a closer look allowed Badge to narrow down what was important about the closet, letting the area where the switch was contrast with the rest of the closet. "Here we are," Zenigata said, hitting the switch and letting the closet swing open like a door, revealing a stone passageway lit by electric lamps. Just above the doorframe was oil painting of a black owl, wings spread out and talons outstretched to grab some unseen prey. "The symbol of the Court of Owls," Jonathan realized. "So they're back again, huh?," Zenigata said, "Those bastards should have picked cockroaches as their symbol. They're just as hard to kill, after all."
The stairs led down to a well furnished room. Unlike the manor above, this place had definite signs that someone was living here, perhaps recently. "Looks like your research was right on the money, Jojo," Zenigata noted, "Those Owl bastards are definitely using this place as a hideout of sorts." Jonathan noted a serious of film reels along a nearby shelf, with a turned-off projector in the center. The reels were labeled from the 40s to the 80s. "And it looks like they've been keeping record of their actions. Perhaps these will answer some questions I've been having regarding them."
"There's definitely plenty to go through here," Zenigata noted, "Turns out these people have been to Eulenspiegel. That place is like a second Chernobyl. What was Luis Yu Almeida doing here?" "Perhaps some of these will answer those question," Jonathan said, taking out a reel marked with the date September 6, 1951. On the wall where the projector was pointed came the familiar image of Count Almeida himself. Zenigata knew of him, of course, as did Jonathan. The images were, quite frankly, disgusting. Almeida was reveling in the disturbing experiments he performed using a concoction called Fraulein Eule, which was derived from a plant he learned about from an Italian solder.
"Why didn't the Einzberns know about this?," Zenigata asked, "Surely they would have heard of a flower seemingly blessed by a goddess." "The Third Holy Grail war," Jonathan explained, "It was a complete disaster, and during the fallout the Einzbern family was struggling to save face, so they cut ties with the German government just as the Nazi party was rising to power." He switched out the reels. This time a new man was sitting bound in a chair. Almeida spoke with the man, revealing said captive to be a member of the Association, which Almeida seemed fascinated by.
By the end of it, Jonathan understood everything. The captured magus had revealed everything he knew, and had promised to bring more lower families into the fold in exchange for power. "So this is why the Court of Owls knows about the War, how they infiltrated the Association, how they could have a compound able to affect Servants." "And they're hoping to infiltrate the War as well," Zenigata noted, "Trying to get the Grail for themselves. My guess is they intend to take the Command Seals of one of the current Masters and gain control of their Servant. But to what end…?"
Jonathan's sharp ears then picked up the sound of footsteps, at least two people. He drew his sword. "Inspector, I think we have company." Zenigata nodded, and drew his revolver. They heard one pair start to come down. "Hold on…," Zenigata said, "Where's the other one?" Jonathan sensed something, and blocked an incoming strike with his sword. The figure blew something into his face. He coughed. "The Fraulein Eule…," he realized. The figure chuckled. "Dizzy, dizzy?" Jonathan simply touched his finger to his temples, flooding his mind with Hamon to clear his head. "I think not!"
The figure backed off in shock. "But how…?" "Guess Hamon has all kinds of practical applications," Zenigata noted, firing off a shot. The figure deftly dodged the bullet. Both men dodged as the second figure leapt out of the stairwell. They were both female, their voluptuous figures covered by black leather which even hid their faces. "We are the Eulen Kuken," they said as one, "The price for trespassing on Owl territory is death." Jonathan picked his sword back up. "Death is hardly a fear for one who has already died."
The two figures leapt at him, only to get blasted by Ra's power. Zenigata narrowed his eyes. "They don't have supernatural powers… They got blindsided by Ra's ability." "They must be hopped up on Fraulein Eule," Jonathan realized, "Enough to increase their speed and reaction time. But not their strength." One of the Kuken rushed at Zenigata, who managed to avoid the attack. He was really glad his Stand brought back his prime, he doubted he could have dodged otherwise. This gave him the perfect angle to shoot the Kuken without her being able to dodge. The assassin writhed in pain as her body hit the wall with three slugs in her belly. Zenigata walked over and finished the job with a bullet to her brain. Several, in fact, just in case.
Jonathan managed to stun the other Kuken by flooding her body with Hamon, throwing off her sense of direction as the side effects of the drug got dragged to the forefront, rendering her vulnerable. Jonathan then slammed the woman into the nearby wall. "Let's see who's under the mask." He pulled off the thick leather and gasped. The face resembled Fujiko Mine, Lupin's lover. The difference was she had blue eyes, pale skin, she was completely bald, and wires were holding her eyes open. Seeing this, Zenigata pulled the mask off of the other women, and found she was the same, with darker eyes and tanned skin.
Jonathan saw the woman he was holding go for something on her belt. Quickly he grabbed Luck and Pluck and stabbed her arm. He then directed Ra to blast her with its full light power, disintegrating the body. Zenigata quickly made sure to disarm the other woman's detonator, just in case. "We need to hurry!," he called out, "Get as much evidence from this room as we can! Guaranteed whoever's in charge of the Court this time will set of the explosives in this room remotely! We need to make sure to relocated this evidence!" Jonathan nodded and gathered up all the reels he could carry, while Zenigata quickly picked up all the research papers.
They made it out the room just as explosions went off behind them. By the time they reached the car, the whole manor was up in flames. "Inspector what happened!?," Akimi asked, concerned. "Just had a run-in with some old enemies," Zenigata said, "Make a call to the fire department. We need to make sure this fire doesn't spread to all of Fuyuki." He started placing the papers in the trunk, Jonathan doing the same with the film reels. "Luckily we were able to gather all this before the place lit up," Zenigata noted, "But this is only scratching the surface."
Later, as the fire department was dowsing the blazing manor, Jonathan walked over to Zenigata. "Inspector, why would the leader of the Court want to remodel women to look like Fujiko?" "Why wouldn't they?," Zenigata replied, "Fujiko is a well-know beauty. Anyone who's ever heard of her wants her. Most men fall in love with her at first sight. Hell, even the Loch Ness monster was charmed by just her singing. Over the years her beauty has drawn both good and bad attention. Some, like Almeida, would go so far as to remodel other girls to look like her, especially if she seems too out of reach for them."
Jonathan shook his head. He wondered what Lupin even saw in that woman. Sure, her beauty was comparably to Erina, but their personalities were on completely opposite spectrums. In fact, it was Erina's kindness that had attracted him to her in the first place. In any event, Kiritsugu would certainly be interested to learn more about the Court of Owls, and what they were experimenting on. The seemed invincible at first glance, but they weren't omniscient, they only had so many magi on their side, and their assassins could be overcome. It wouldn't be easy, but the Court had proven less than invincible. Jonathan was sure about that.
Evan already showed how easily a Servant could overwhelm the assassins the Court of Owls has, even with their superhuman reaction speed. And since Zenigata is aware of what is going on, Jonathan is free to cut loose and show just how overmatched the Kuken really are. Read and review.