The world shifted again; Dio was now standing upon a road at night. Time was stopped and there were ginko leaves frozen from fluttering through the air. Ahead of him was a twisted pine tree growing out of the stony ground; a small cave was formed beneath its roots. To his left was a young child gripping a suitcase tightly as he sat on the ground.
Beyond that was a man with his head completely crushed by a boulder. Dio's throat tightened and he felt a sickening awareness of the man's identity, as if he were trapped in a dream and his subconscious was screaming the meaning at him. The two looked nothing alike, but—
"The Jonathan Joestar of another world," his double answered, confirming his suspicions. "He didn't even need your help in losing his head, here. Now, now," he said as Dio bristled with anger. "I am showing you this because if you truly want to change fate to serve your own ends, you need to know how to do it properly." He pointed at the boulder. "Your job is to prevent this from happening."
The world changed once more. "It shouldn't be too difficult for you," his double said. "If this were a real challenge, I'd have you save the Zeppeli. Now there's a family entangled in fate. But don't take this lightly. The consequences for failure will be severe. And the price of your victory…" He grinned, shrugged, and waved a hand dismissively. "Well, I suppose you'll see."
Something, or perhaps several somethings, were circling Jolyne. She could hear little hisses and clicks as they tightened their radius around her. She stood still as she let string out of her shoulder and sent it straight up. It eventually brushed against a beam; she wrapped the string around it and prepared to jump.
The reptilian chittering went ominously silent. Small footsteps pattered towards her. She zipped up the string just in time—or, almost just in time. A small, sharp mouth latched onto her leg. She grit her teeth and kicked at whatever it was. Her heel hit against a scaly surface and the creature fell to the ground.
She swung up to the ceiling beam of the barn and balanced atop it in a crouch. The wood above her seemed old and brittle; she punched at it and it easily broke. Sunlight poured through the hole.
She looked down and furrowed her eyebrows with befuddled surprise. Three small dinosaurs looked up at her and chirped. She waved her hand at them as if to shoo them away. They merely tilted their heads.
Jolyne tore off a few more panels of the roof to the barn. She stood up on the beam, lifted her head above the roof, and looked around. There was farmland around her, but it seemed to be in disrepair; there were large patches of mud and piles of rusted equipment overgrown with weeds. There was a pattern of semi-circular tracks in the dirt; she wondered if they were from a horse. She carefully turned, mindful of the narrow width of the beam, and she followed the tracks over towards the barn doors.
Well, there was the horse, and so was its rider. A man was hunched over his saddle and holding something in his hands; after a moment, whatever it was kicked out scaly legs and chittered. He briefly scritched it on the back of the head, said something, and then tossed it to the ground. The small dinosaur landed on its feet, wavered for a moment, and then dashed into the barn.
She squinted as the man sat back up and looked into the dark interior of the barn. The resemblance was certainly there, but the name nailed to the hat made it pretty damn obvious.
Jolyne broke off a chunk of wood from the rotten roof and threw it at him. It came close to clattering against his hat but he moved so quickly he seemed to blur; the wood careened past him and splashed into the mud. He twisted in his saddle to look up at the roof of the barn. She waved her arms. "Yo," she called out.
He peered up at her blankly.
"Dio, right?" she said.
"I suppose," he answered carefully. "And you are?"
"Jolyne Cujoh," she replied.
The dinosaurs chirped up at her. He tilted his head and gestured towards the barn. "Is this yours?"
"No," she answered. "But I'd super appreciate not being bitten by miniraptors." She slapped a hand against the roof of the barn. "You're telling them what to do, right? Let me come down."
He watched her for a few more moments and she felt an odd chill; the look was familiar, but not because it reminded her of the Dio she knew. It was more that it reminded her of Pucci. She could see the mental gears turning as he calculated the costs and benefits of continuing to speak to her.
He finalized his decision and he shrugged. "Go ahead."
She ducked back down into the barn and looked at the ground; where there had been three dinosaurs there was now a trio of very dazed looking raccoons. The fourth dinosaur remained, but it only stared at her and backed away.
Jolyne let out a corded string and she slid down it. The new Dio watched her carefully as she strode out of the barn. She crossed her arms and tilted her head as she considered him back.
"So," Diego said. "You don't live here." He sniffed. "There's no scent of another horse." Something about his posture shifted unnaturally; he leaned forward and his gaze roved over the rest of the barn. "There was nothing here," he said, but at this point he was talking mostly to himself. "You just… appeared."
"Yeah, you've got that right," she replied.
His gaze slid back to her; something about his pupils was wrong. "Are you with Valentine?"
"Nope," she answered. "No idea who that is."
"Now, even if you were trying to lie, that's just silly," he replied, and he lifted a hand to his chin. "Have you been living under a rock? You don't know who the president is? You sound American." He tapped a finger against his jaw; his nail looked sharp. "I suppose I am in the outermost fringes of civilization, here. But you don't quite look like a country bumpkin." He tilted his head. "What the hell are you wearing, by the way?"
"This outfit is very fashionable where I'm from," she replied flatly.
"What do you look like?" he asked as his head tilted a bit further, the angle becoming unnatural. "What am I being reminded of?"
"Well, you look like a weirdo," she retorted. "You turn your head any more and it's gonna fall off."
"I've got it!" Diego abruptly exclaimed. He lifted a finger to his own cheek and poked it. "Joe Kid. You both have baby faces." He inhaled and puffed them out with air for emphasis. "Chipmunk cheeks."
Jolyne frowned at him and he only laughed. "Yeah, there you go. Same angry little face, too. Just like him."
"Joe Kid?" she asked.
"Johnny Joestar," he replied.
Her eyes widened. "Oh boy."
"You know that name, but you don't know who the president is?" he asked with a smirk. "Interesting." He looked back up at the barn. "I think I will stop here."
Josuke had no idea what else to do so he began to walk. He knew that he was in a wide expanse of grassland, that the weather was pleasant, and that the wind was at his back; other than that, he was completely lost.
He scanned the horizon for any signs of life; he felt a growing tide of disappointment and worry as he saw nothing, nothing, nothing, but then he spotted a thin wavering column of smoke in the distance. He let out a sigh of relief and began to jog, but he faltered when he heard rustling in the grass ahead of him.
"Don't take another step," someone shouted at him.
He stopped in his tracks and peered ahead into the thick grass. As it wavered in the breeze he caught sight of two large shapes. They were horses, lying as flat as possible against the ground, and upon each flank was a metal ball spinning in place. Josuke blinked in confusion but then his attention was grabbed by more movement; there were two men lying on the ground, as well. One was looking out towards the distant smoke; the other was staring directly at Josuke and pointing at him as if his hand was a gun.
Josuke dropped to a crouch while also holding his hands up with his palms forward. If they were hiding like this, there must be a good reason. The look on the man's face was also too serious for his finger-gun pointing to be a joke. "Hello," Josuke said tentatively.
Johnny only squinted at him. "Gyro," he said. "Hurry up with those stitches."
"I'm doing what I can here," the other man replied. "Zombie Horse isn't the fastest thing." He pulled at his thigh and a thick cord followed; his hand dipped back down and he pierced his skin with a needle, looping the cord back through his skin as he closed up a bleeding gash.
"Do you need healed?" Josuke quickly asked. "I can do it."
Johnny raised his eyebrows. Gyro twisted around to look at him. "Who are you?" he asked.
"Josuke Higashikata," he replied.
"Higashikata?" Johnny asked. "You're with Norisuke?"
Josuke frowned. "Huh?"
"Maybe Higashikata's just a common last name in Japan," Gyro said as he pulled at the cord. "Like Smith or Jones."
"Listen, I think I just got teleported here," Josuke stated. "I don't want to attack you or anything. I can help you, even." Crazy Diamond shimmered into being and crouched at his side. Based on their expressions, Johnny and Gyro were able to see it. "Can I get closer?" he asked.
Johnny nodded but he kept his finger pointed right at him. "Don't get up. Just crawl over," he stated. "There's a Stand user about three hundred meters ahead of us. That's how he got hurt. If he can see you, he can cut you."
"Got it," Josuke replied. He crawled through the grass and Crazy Diamond followed. Gyro stopped stitching up the wound; he watched Crazy Diamond curiously.
Crazy Diamond set a hand upon the wound. The blood that hadn't yet dried slipped back in, the skin melded back together, and soon, the only evidence that anything had happened were the stitches Gyro had already made.
Gyro whistled. "Hey, kid. I think we're gonna kidnap you. That's a damn good Stand power to have around."
Josuke laughed nervously.
"We need to get to the user," Johnny said. He leaned against the side of his horse and nodded at Gyro. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Gyro grinned. "Josuke. Can you heal a man that's been cut in half?"
He grit his teeth. "If I get to them quickly. I can't bring someone back from the dead, if that's what you're asking."
His grin only grew wider. "Oh, this is gonna be good." Gyro reached out and pulled the spinning ball off of his horse; the horse whinnied and rolled so that it could begin to stand. "His ability will get stronger the closer we get, but it seems like he can only attack one person at a time," Gyro said as he slid onto the saddle. "You're gonna sit behind me and heal me if I get sliced. And you should be quick about it, because if he gets through me, he'll move on to you."
When Josuke hesitated, Johnny jabbed his finger at him. "Go," he stated. Josuke grit his teeth and clambered onto the horse.
"Get ready," Gyro said with a laugh, and he spurred the horse forward. Josuke grimaced and held onto him tightly; Crazy Diamond hovered around him and did the same.
In the distance, Gyro could see the silhouette of the user right beside the thin trail of smoke coming from their fire; he was standing still and looking directly at him. He held up his right hand, his thumb and pointer finger at a ninety-degree angle, and he held it in front of his face and adjusted the placement until Gyro and his horse were framed by his fingers. His glove-like Stand curled along his arm; he slashed his left hand through the air until it knocked against the vertex created by his right.
Gyro let out a choked sound and a gash opened up on his chest. Crazy Diamond immediately closed it. They weren't close enough to see the man's face, but his posture tensed with surprise and confusion. He swung his hand again. The gash reappeared and this time it was deeper. Gyro grunted in pain but Crazy Diamond immediately healed him.
The Stand user lowered their hand slightly. This time, the gash appeared across the horse's neck.
"It hit Valkyrie," Gyro shouted. "Josuke—"
"On it," he replied. Crazy Diamond held a hand against the horse's flank and the wound healed.
They were quickly approaching the Stand user, who was now panicking and repeatedly smacking his hands together. He backed away fearfully and almost fell into his own firepit. "What the fuck," he shouted. "Why isn't my Clipping working?!"
The gashes appeared, disappeared, and appeared again on Gyro's chest. It sliced severely when they were only a few meters away and Josuke heard bone cracking apart. Crazy Diamond kept Gyro in one piece. Josuke felt a bit faint from the strain.
Gyro brought his arm back and flicked his wrist. The steel ball spun in his hand. He swung his arm forward and the ball drove into the Stand user's chest. Bones crunched and he hacked out a cough.
"Johnny," Gyro called out. "Now!"
Josuke twisted to look behind him; he had been so focused on keeping Gyro alive that he hadn't noticed Johnny following them, his horse galloping at the exact same pace as Gyro's in order to mask his approach. Johnny slumped forward to steady himself against the horse's neck and he pointed at the Stand user. His fingernail flew off and shot right through the man's neck. The man gurgled and fell to the ground.
"You killed him," Josuke stated, and he immediately felt like an idiot for saying it out loud.
Johnny shot him an odd look. It wasn't quite cold but it certainly wasn't friendly, either.
"He would have killed us," Gyro stated. "You, too." He looked back at Josuke and lifted an eyebrow. "Do you have a problem with it?"
Josuke frowned. "You guys are a little scary, you know that?"
Gyro laughed. "Good!" He clambered off the saddle. "You seem like a good person, Josuke. If you hadn't been bothered, I would've been a little worried." He walked past the dead Stand user and searched through the grass; he picked up a few knapsacks of supplies. "There. We got our food back."
Johnny's horse lowered her head and he slid down to the ground. He looked up at Josuke, his stare intense. "You can heal things," he stated simply.
"I can," Josuke replied as he carefully made his way down from Gyro's horse.
"Johnny," Gyro said, his tone carrying a careful warning.
"I'm not getting my hopes up," Johnny snapped. He used his arms to pull himself forward, his legs dragged along in the grass, and Josuke hunched his shoulders as he realized what was wrong.
"I can try," Josuke quickly said, and he crouched at Johnny's side. Crazy Diamond set its hands upon his shoulders. Johnny had plenty of small scrapes and bruises; they disappeared and he inhaled sharply but then he furrowed his eyebrows and let out a noise of frustration. His legs did not move.
"I'm sorry," Josuke said without really thinking about it.
"Don't apologize," Johnny snapped. He took a deep breath and rubbed a hand against his forehead. "I shouldn't have expected it to work. I'm still in the negative."
"Can I…" Josuke trailed off and frowned. "I want to know why it didn't work. How long ago did this happen? If you were born with it, then that's why. I heal things by putting the pieces back together. I can't make new pieces appear."
"It was a while ago," Johnny said with a sigh. "Got shot. I'm sure I'm missing parts and it scarred itself over by now. They had to remove the bullet and anything that had died." When he looked at Josuke his gaze was finally a bit softer. "We're lucky you showed up. But I guess walking again will take a real miracle." He held out his hand; this time it was for a handshake instead of as a threat. "You're kind. That's rare out here. That jackass you kept in one piece is Gyro Zeppeli. I'm Johnny Joestar. Let's work together while we can."
Josuke clasped his hand in his own and his eyes went wide. "Joestar?!"
Johnny smiled, but it looked tired and vaguely annoyed. "What about it? You know my family or something? Then you know that I'm pretty much disowned."
"No no no," Josuke said quickly. "Johnny Joestar? Jonathan Joestar?" He pointed at him. "You're my great-grandpa from another universe."
Gyro laughed in disbelief. Johnny squinted. "I know you gotta be a little stupid to be this nice, but did you get hit on the head or something?"
"No, here, look. Do you have this, too?" Josuke asked and he tugged at the collar of his school uniform. He pulled away his shirt and jacket and showed Johnny his birthmark. Johnny stared at it with growing confusion.
"Wait!" Josuke let go of his shirt and clapped his hands to his cheeks. "Do you know a Dio?"
At that, Johnny's expression darkened. "Yeah, we don't like him much," he said plainly. "You don't seem like the type he'd hang out with unless he was trying to scam you. How do you know him?"
"He's why I'm here," Josuke replied. "Well, a version of him. There's like… three of him now if you know him, too."
Gyro snorted. "One Dio was already more than enough. What an asshole."
Jolyne sat on a stump and watched as Diego set up camp. The way he took care of his horse was considerate and almost gentle; Silver Bullet was given water, fed, and briefly groomed before he did anything for himself. The one remaining dinosaur had run off into the forest behind the barn, presumably to look for food.
Jolyne checked the bite on her leg. It wasn't too deep but it was bleeding. "You got any bandages?" she asked.
"Yes," Diego replied. "Not for you, though."
She shot him a glare. He merely blinked back at her. "I'm in the middle of a months-long horse race, here," he explained. "I can't afford the luxury of sharing. Everything I have I am going to need for myself. I'm not trying to be mean," he added when her glare only grew harsher.
"It was your raccoonasaurus that bit me," she retorted.
"I suppose," he replied, but he merely returned to attending to Silver Bullet.
Well, it wasn't as if she couldn't patch herself up. Most of the cuts looked as if they would scab over and heal themselves but a few looked as if they needed stitches. She pulled a string from her finger and pushed it through her skin as she grit her teeth. Who knew how many germs were in a raccoonasaurus's mouth; she hoped that the bite wouldn't get infected.
"So, what's your Stand?" she asked, talking to distract herself from the discomfort of stitching the bite shut.
He frowned at her. "I know that you were spontaneously manifested within a barn, but were you raised in one, too? That's a rude question to ask."
She shrugged and finished sewing one cut shut. "Well, I'm rude."
He frowned as he picked through his supplies. "Scary Monsters," he eventually replied. "You can know the name. You've seen some of how it works. The rest I would prefer to keep to myself." He narrowed his eyes and paid closer attention to what she was doing; the string pulled taut and the next incision shut. "Is that yours?"
"Weird," she said quietly. "Stands represent your spirit. I know another version of you that has a totally different Stand. For some reason, I thought you would have the same one." She glanced up at him and frowned. "Seems like you're just as much of a jerk, though."
He took a step back and gave her a wary look. "Ah. So you are with Valentine."
"Seriously, I don't know who that is," she said flatly. "I'm here because of another version of you sent me here."
There was that look again; Diego was doing some complicated internal arithmetic to decide whether or not she was to be talked to, ignored, or attacked. "Well, I suppose Scary Monsters isn't really my Stand," Diego eventually admitted. "I stole it."
Jolyne narrowed her eyes. "Oh, you've got a Pucci in this world, too?"
"The name doesn't ring a bell," he said with a shrug. "Someone used their Stand on me and I simply had the will to retain the effects after they were defeated. Anyway, you know Johnny? Are you his sister in the other world or something?"
"No," she replied. Her expression grew more curious. "What do you think of the Joestars?"
"What, just in general?" He pursed his lips. "No real opinion."
She leaned back and looked up at the sky. "Whoa."
"They're bloody rich, so it isn't as if I like them," he continued. "Johnny's a complete maniac, but I think it's funny how he's ruined his own life and yet still tries so hard to regain what he'll never have again. I'd call it endearing if it wasn't so sad. But he's likely to try to kill me the next time we meet, so..."
"Wait, he's trying to kill you?" she asked.
Diego shrugged. "Not actively," he answered. "Much like how I wouldn't go out of my way to kill him. It's just that we are both chasing after the same goal and only one of us will be able to claim the victory. Why, what was happening in your world?"
"Oh boy," she said as she leaned forward and pressed her fingers against her temples. "You really are the chill Dio from where Cairo didn't happen."
He peered at her inquisitively. "Cairo?"
"Long story," she said with a frown.
"Well, for once, I have time," he sighed. He sorted through the supplies in his pack again. "I'll trade you something for what you know. If there's someone else dropping people in from other universes, I'd prefer to know about it. It's become quite a problem here lately."
"Well, I don't need the bandages anymore," Jolyne said with a frown. "But all I'm running on right now is a chocolate chip muffin. What kind of food do you have?"
"Hm. Perfect timing." He glanced up just as the small dinosaur came scurrying out of the forest. Its jaws were clamped upon the neck of a dead rabbit. It ran up to Jolyne and dropped it at her feet. Diego watched her reaction closely.
She picked up the rabbit and looked it over. She knew he wanted to see if she was squeamish about it, but the fact that she had just stitched up her own bite wound should have answered that question. "Is it safe to start a fire or are you worried about smoke?" she asked.
He hummed thoughtfully. "You can cook it. I'll send that one off to keep watch." The dinosaur scurried away.
Jolyne gathered up dried wood from the barn and tried to remember what she had seen on survival reality shows and nature documentaries. She sorted the wood into a small pyramid with the larger boards broken up and propped up over a center of dry splinters. She situated one board flat and found a suitable stick; she wrapped string around it dozens of times, took a deep breath, and rescinded all the string as quickly as she could. The stick spun like a top and some smoke drifted out, but nothing happened. She repeated the process and a few embers glowed in the groove it dug out of the board. She quickly used dry brush and shredded wood to spread the flames. The fire grew and in her opinion she had a pretty damn good bonfire started.
Now for the rabbit. She frowned at it and idly ran a hand over the fur. She had no experience in preparing a dead animal for a meal. She didn't even have a knife. Maybe she could break a rock and sharpen an edge until it was good enough to cut—
"Just give me it," Diego said.
"I'm fine with cooking it," Jolyne stated defensively. "I just don't have a knife to get it started."
"Well, I don't even need a knife," he said smugly. "Just hand it over."
She rolled her eyes but tossed it at him. He caught it with hands like claws. With a few expert slices the fur was off, the offal was removed, and the rabbit was speared with a suitable stick. He tossed it back to her; she slammed two boards into the dirt astride the fire until they could stand vertically. She balanced the stick across them and the rabbit began to roast.
"You seem to know what you're doing," Diego stated. "What were you doing in the other world? Were you a part of the race?" He frowned. "Don't tell me you are Johnny, somehow. That would be obnoxious."
"I was in prison for murder," she replied, and now it was her turn to watch his reaction.
"Oh?" He was more amused than anything else. "Were you framed or should I be worried?"
"Framed," she answered, "but you should still be worried."
"You are a lot like him," he said after a long pause. "How odd."
"In my world, I guess I'm Johnny's great-great-great granddaughter," she replied with a shrug. Her expression grew more sly. "And you're my great-great-great-great uncle. A really shitty one, mind you."
Now the distant smugness finally turned to confusion. "You're from another world and the future?" Then, his eyebrows furrowed. "Wait, Johnny and I were brothers?"
She waved her hand dismissively. "You were adopted."
Diego looked both confused and disgusted, but he shook his head. "Then in your world… you said you knew me."
"Yup. You're a very highly-strung century-or-so old egomaniac vampire," she answered.
Diego stared at her blankly for a few moments. "This is nonsense to me. I'm beginning to regret giving you that rabbit."
"Well, there's another version of you that's basically a god," she said as she turned the rabbit on the spit. "That's the one I guess we really need to be worried about. He's how I got here. I think he evolved his Stand so hard it became a super-Stand and now he just does whatever he wants."
Now his look was a bit more avaricious. "How did he do that?"
"Hell if I know," Jolyne replied.
He tsked. "What a useless conversation. At this point, I think you owe me a rabbit."
Jolyne let out some string and pursed her lips. "Dunno if it would be worthwhile to make a snare for one, but I'd probably be really good at fishing."
"Do you at least know something about the race? Or about President Valentine?" he asked with a sigh.
"Not a damn thing," Jolyne replied. "Why don't you tell me?"
He made a pointed glance at the rabbit.
"Listen. Unlike some people, I'm not a toddler. I know how to share." She leaned forward and turned the spit. "But it's not my fault if you assumed that I knew about the President and stuff. You paid for it with this rabbit and it's mine now. I'll give you half of it if you tell me what's happening in this world. I need to find a way back to my own."
This was a gamble; he could easily grow tired of the facade of peace between them and just try to take the rabbit. Jolyne could tell that he was considering it. But once he was done adding up his thoughts, he only grinned. "I suppose you're right," Diego said. "My fault for falling for it."
"I wasn't trying to trick you," she said with a frown.
He merely shrugged and looked through his pack. Seemingly unable to find what he was looking for, he glanced around and then crouched. He pulled a few small stones from the dirt, brushed them off, and then ate them.
"Why," Jolyne said flatly.
"Gastroliths are good for you," Diego answered as he waved a hand dismissively. "Anyway. As far as I can gather, President Valentine uses this world as his dumpster. Whatever Stand ability he has allows him to take people from one world into another. Anyone he seems to have a problem with, he sends here. If they come in contact with the version of themself from this world, they die in quite a spectacular and awful fashion."
He frowned thoughtfully. "However, in my dealings with Valentine, I've noticed something odd. He does have an inner circle of confidants that he moves from time to time, but they don't seem to suffer from the effects of coming close to themselves. My current theory is this: the Valentine family obtained a set of priceless diamonds. The lucky few that he trusts receive one of those diamonds. The diamonds actually have a Stand bound to them. Run The Jewels gives you the ability to travel between worlds with him unharmed." He smirked at Jolyne. "Unless you can send an interworld telegram to whatever version of me threw you here, your best bet at getting home is asking President Valentine very nicely to take you back."
"Something tells me he wouldn't be the type to do that," she replied flatly.
"Exactly." Diego sighed. "There is another rumor about those diamonds. If you have them all at once, you could travel to another world on your own. The First Lady of this world tried it, once. It certainly didn't end well for her. If you believe the story, the true First Lady was executed for treason. The one living here now is simply a replacement."
"You want those diamonds, huh," Jolyne stated.
"Of course," Diego replied. "As far as I can tell, the President prefers another world. He merely uses this one to extract resources and get rid of his trash. This world grows smaller and more worthless by the day. Perhaps it is trite of me to say that the grass is greener somewhere else," he said, and his expression grew sharper as he stared into the fire. "But I feel as if there is nothing for me here. I want to find a world for myself."
A new world. A new Heaven. Jolyne frowned at him. "And what are you going to do there?"
"Surpass Valentine and live however I please," he answered. "This world is filled with useless and discarded people. They're all beholden to their own human habits. I'm sure it's the same in any world, but here it is especially so. I will go to a new one and make it mine." His expression grew more sly. "Though, if you are asking in the realistic sense, to get what I want I'll probably have to do some more scheming. Climb up the social ladder and all that nonsense. Lie, cheat, steal, and so on." He paused. "And grow older while doing it. What was it you were saying about a century-old vampire?"
"Stop that," she said as she pointed at him. "I did not come here to give you the same wild crisis about mortality you must have had in my world."
He sighed and crossed his arms. "I feel so silly about it now. I demanded that Valentine give me the mayorship of New York City when I first tried to make a deal with him. I should have known to set my sights higher. I wonder if he knows how to become a vampire."
"Just so you know, being a vampire comes with a ton of dumb weaknesses. Like, no sunlight," she said with a frown. "And part of how you do it involves literally putting holes in your skull. I'm convinced that it makes you dumber."
He squinted at her. "You can become a vampire by trepanning?"
She threw up her hands. "Basically! But the world needs another vampire Dio like it needs a hole in the head. As in, not at all. So how about you don't do that." She shook her head. "Listen, so far, you really do sound a lot like the you that I'm used to. I'm trying really hard to understand you, because otherwise…" She frowned. "Yeah. I'm still pretty pissed about Florida."
Diego frowned. "Now, I don't know what I did, but blaming me for something a different version of me did seems wrong."
"Let's just say that your actions have consequences," Jolyne replied flatly. "Try to keep that in mind or I'll end up having to make you remember it."
He tilted his head and his expression grew sharp, but he paused and fell silent. His head tilted further. "Someone is here," he said quietly. "Probably looking for easy prey. Supplies are scarce at this point."
Jolyne scanned the horizon; the sun had dipped low and the sky was glowing orange. The barn and surrounding structures were casting shadows across the ground. She couldn't see any signs of a person approaching, but it was possible that they were coming from behind the barn.
As she stood she noticed something odd about the dark shadows cast by the sunset. Most were normal but some shifted when she moved her head, as if they were three-dimensional instead of two. "Where do you think they are?" she asked Diego.
"Not sure," he stated. "My lookout is dead now, and neither of us can see them, so most likely on the other side of the barn."
As the sun dipped lower, the shadows grew longer. The flickering ones cast by the firelight were normal, but the shadow of a storage silo stretched out towards them and Jolyne could hear faint rumbling in the dirt.
The shadow was moving far too fast to be natural. She jumped up just as the edge of it approached the bonfire. The wood came apart with a clatter and disappeared into the darkness; Jolyne could see the embers of the flame falling into what seemed like an endless abyss. The rabbit fell and careened away into nothingness.
"The shadows," she said. "Keep away from them. It seems like it's only working on the ones from the barn or the silo."
She only heard a low, rumbling growl in response. The shadow veered forward again and she dashed back from it. Silver Bullet whinnied and shied back, but Diego ran to the horse's side and they grew calmer. He pulled at the reins, guiding the horse back and away from the approaching shadow.
The edge of the shadow abruptly changed. Rocks clattered as they fell into the resulting pit. Jolyne looked up towards the roof of the barn.
"The user must be on the roof," she said quickly. "They're moving the boards and that changes the shadow—" She inhaled sharply as the ground fell from under her feet. She plummeted and the air felt as if it grew more dense, the pressure of it crushing at her chest. She unfurled her arm and sent up string and she could feel the pull of the Stand's ability trying to keep it from reaching the top of the pit.
How far had she fallen? She felt an uneasy strain as more string reeled out. She sensed that the edge of it had reached the top of the pit but she didn't feel any relief just yet; she sent it out towards where she had seen the piles of rusted equipment. She just barely managed to wrap it around a heavy hunk of scrap and the string went taut. She grunted in pain but she did not fall any further.
Diego looked down at her, wide-eyed and surprised, but there was that damn calculating look again. He glanced up at the barn, then back down to her. This time, she knew exactly what his conclusion would be.
"You're going to leave me here?" Jolyne exclaimed.
"Well, yes," he replied as he looked back into the pit. "If I approach the barn, they'll shift the shadow and I'll fall in. I can jump quite a distance, but not that high and not that far. I suppose it's funny that you don't have any supplies. They're expecting to steal from you but they're going to find nothing. So, better you than me."
"Are you fucking serious?"
He nodded. "I'm not trying to be mean. I just have some more pressing priorities that I would like to attend to, and this," he added as he gestured towards the pit, "is very dangerous. So." He shrugged. "Bye." He retreated from the edge of the hole.
"You can't just throw me a rope or something?" she shouted.
He peered back over the edge. "I don't want pulled in," he replied. "I saw how difficult it was for you to send your own rope up here." He frowned thoughtfully. "And if you can't find a way to get out on your own, then I don't think you deserve my help."
"That's—" she interrupted herself with a frustrated noise. "You know that's total bullshit, right?"
He shrugged again.
Jolyne grit her teeth. "Just help, you asshole. It's the right thing to do."
"Hm." He pursed his lips. "Can't say I really care."
"I'd do it for you if you were stuck down here!" Jolyne shouted as she focused on slowly moving some of the string; not by bringing it back into herself to hoist herself up, but instead by lengthening it and gradually creating a wide loop on the ground above.
He quirked an eyebrow. "Then you're weird." He sighed. "Seriously. It isn't as though I hate you or anything. You're someone I only just met, you're a bit annoying, I have a race to win, and I have diamonds to find. So." He waved. "Bye." He walked away from the edge of the pit once more.
"You son of a bitch!" she shouted.
The footsteps paused, then tramped back. He peered over the edge. "I'll have you know that my mother was a delightful woman." He frowned. "Perhaps it would be more fun to cut this string."
"I'm glad you're just as much of a jerk in this world," Jolyne stated. "Grateful, even."
Diego squinted at her, but then shouted in surprise when the loop of string she had fashioned into a snare snapped taut around his ankle. He let out a reptilian hiss and reared back. Jolyne felt the crushing pressure relent incrementally as he backed away from the edge of the pit and pulled her up. She used the resulting slack to create a few more loops; even if he slashed at the string she had enough to simply ensnare him again.
Diego pulled himself away from the edge of the pit, the string around his ankle tight enough that he feared it would simply slice through and he would lose his foot, and the loops of the snare seemed to be multiplying. He brought a clawed hand to his mouth and whistled. Silver Bullet approached and he grabbed onto the stirrups.
Whatever Stand user was rearranging the shadows of the barn was not a problem. Jolyne was a problem. The coldly burning determination in her eyes did not bode well for him. Silver Bullet began to gallop away from the barn. The string cut harshly into his ankle.
Jolyne was pulled from the pit. She released the string from the pile of rusted equipment and focused upon Diego. He had managed to pull himself up onto the saddle, but he was at an uncomfortable angle and his leg was twisted back from dragging Jolyne along. His horse was fast; as he approached the forest and prepared to weave between the trees, the string went taut. He swung one clawed hand down and tried to snap the string.
She broke the snare and pulled the string back before he could do so. She was out of the pit, now; she didn't want to be dragged through the forest behind him as he tried to flee. She took a few deep breaths and staggered forward as her string returned to her. She looked back at the barn; the shadows no longer seemed to be moving. She could see the hunched-over silhouette of the Stand user watching her.
Jolyne picked up a hefty rock, wrapped it in string, swung it like a discus, and flung it towards the roof. It crashed through the wood and the Stand user yelped. Parts of the abyssal shadow fell apart and returned to being normal ground.
"Cut it out or I'll knock the whole thing down board by board," she shouted.
They held up their hands. "You ain't got shit to steal, right? I'm leavin'."
She picked up another rock, swung it around, and sent it flying towards the barn. More wood splintered apart. The Stand user yelped again, the shadows returned to normal, and after a few long moments she heard a horse galloping off in the other direction.
She sighed and looked off into the forest. She was alone now, but at least she knew what she had to find.
"And that is why we're all on this wild chase for the mummified corpse of Christ himself," Gyro finished explaining to an astounded-looking Josuke.
Josuke leaned forward and held his head in his hands, careful not to mess up his pompadour. Who knew when the next time he would be able to fix it up properly would be. "Heavy," he replied with a sigh. Gyro let out an odd little chuckle and patted him on the shoulder.
(as always, thank you for reading and I hope you are doing well!
this chapter has 3?! new Stands which are:
The distant-cutting Stand Clipping. which like another group on this list has a song about "what if the civil rights movement also had vampires/and/or/ghosts" and it's great
The shadow-of-a-building-becomes-a-death-pit Stand Carpenter Brut
And yeah remember how in D4C President Valentine yoinks a Hot Pants and Diego from a world where they're chasing after special diamonds? My city now. Run the Jewels.
And just in case it isn't totally clear: Jolyne is in the diamondheistiverse. Josuke is in the 'base' world with the corpse. Dio's location is yet to be revealed.)
