"Hold on! You can't do this to me!" Giorno yelped as Gappy tied him up. "Look at you, boy scout. Knowing different knots and shit." Johnny complimented his brother in law.
"Ironically, I learned this before I learned how to tie my shoes." Gappy replied.
"We're going to prepare you for the tournament, Giorno. Can you break free from those binds?" Jonathan asked.
"... No?"
"Then you are not ready." Jonathan said as he packed alot of foods in to the fridge.
"This is absurd..! No one can break these thick, ship ropes!" Giorno said but much to his surprise, Jonathan walked towards him and snapped the ropes in a single tug.
"Okay, lets make a deal. Take me down, if you can do that, you get to train here." Jonathan crossed his arms as he walked in the middle of the mat inside the gym.
"... But that would be impossible." Giorno slowly stood up.
"Then that means you give up." Jonathan smiled cheekily.
"Ohhh, are you gonna take that from that big blue haired polar bear?" Gappy tries to instigate and rile Giorno up.
"What the hell are you doing?" Johnny asked. "I'm urging him to hit Jonathan." The ex navy replied.
"Fine..! You want some?! Okay!" Giorno dashed towards his uncle and punched him hard in the chest "MUDA!"
But it wasn't effective.
"Hup." Jonathan replied with a nonchalant punch that sent Giorno flying across the room and to the wall.
"GAAHHH! FUCK!" Giorno grunted as he writhed on the ground in pain.
"Huh, that was nice." Johnny nods. "Can you move, Giorno?" Jonathan asked.
"N-No..! That punch got me..!" He coughed as he lay down the ground.
"Good, you look fine to me." Jonathan said as he turned his back on him.
"What part of this is fine to you..?!" Giorno yelped.
"To become as strong as a lion, you have to become the lion itself. Masutatsu Oyama, the founder of the karate Johnny is practicing trained in the mountains, it was a harsh, outdoor, brutal training. Where nature was his gym. When he returned to civilization, he became known as The Godhand. His punches are so strong that your bones will still break even if you block them."
"You hit the nail on that one." Johnny compliments.
Jonathan turned to his nephew "For everything you've lost, you gained something else. I know you didn't want to lose your father, but you must inherit his strength."
Giorno struggled to get up but he fell back down again.
"We are taking you to Mt. Asura with a fridge, and a cooler. We are going to come once a month to refill your food." Gappy crouched down and told the barely concious young man.
"I'm setting aside my feelings of kinship, Giorno. This is the only way. I have to push you until you can't move anymore." Jonathan's voice boomed through the walls.
"I... Already... Can't move anymore..." Giorno squeaked.
"Oh dear!" Jonathan said as they picked the boy up and patched him.
. . .
Giorno Giovanna.
Giovanna is the surname he went for because his father told him that Brando is a cursed and vile surname.
"Maybe make the Shiobana name from your mom western or something." He told him once. And so they came up with it.
Dio wanted to change his surname to that too but it would require alot of paperwork, alot of changes because he registered his passport, driver's license, attorney license with Brando so he gave up trying to.
But he urged his son to have that name.
Height: 5'8 feet or 172/173 cm.
Weight: 68.5 kilograms or 150.7 lbs
(Now you guys know my measurements, fuuu-)
Bodyfat percentage: 14.3%
The sun was setting, Giorno was still hazy but he got a dose of Green Day that immediately handled his injury.
"Mount Asura is 1,868 m (6,129 ft) tall. 10 miles (16.09 km) long. We are dropping you off at the far end. You are to trek that all the way to the Everglades wetlands." Gappy said. Giorno just nodded, he accepted his fate.
"There are also jaguars there, be careful." Johnny chuckled.
Jonathan remained silent as he continued to drive in the highway, the headlights activated.
"Can't you guys just drop me off in the morning?" Giorno asked tiredly.
The answer is no.
6 MONTHS UNTIL THE JUNIORS TOURNAMENT.
They finally reached the spot in the woods.
The handbrake creaks.
The four of them set up what would be Giorno's camp. The forest was cold and the young blond can see the large mountain in the horizon.
They build a small hut where a generator and a fridge was stored. A large chest was also there, as well as a knife, and an ax. A smaller chest that contains Giorno's clothes, some resistance bands as well.
"The food in your fridge might not be enough, there are protein powders in the chest, some first aid too. You're gonna have to hunt if you want more food." Jonathan told him.
"I'm not a big eater..." Giorno mumbled. "So far, you're the smallest competitor in the Juniors. You're gonna have to bulk up if you want to stand a chance." His uncle said.
Giorno's phone was confiscated, replaced by his father's.
"You're going to focus on training alone. Here, books so you won't get bored." Johnny tossed a couple of books from his bag inside Giorno's small hut.
"We'll deliver food here, don't worry." Gappy said as he sets up Giorno's lamp inside the hut. Now the sky has darken.
"I just... Don't know what the purpose of this is. It's just... Irrational." Giorno told them.
"Irrational? Like, a bad idea?" Jonathan asked as Giorno just shrugged.
"The world is build around bad ideas, Giorno. We are strong because we have the power to change ourselves through bad ideas." Jonathan patted his shoulder.
It was time to leave.
"Wait! Where am I gonna sleep?" Giorno asked.
"There's a river in the northwest." Gappy tossed a compass to the young man, it hit him in the forehead.
"Spartans used to pull reeds of riversides for blankets. Maybe you can make a mat out of it." The ex navy told him.
"Goodluck, kid. You're gonna need it." Johnny said.
Giorno stared at their retreating figure.
And just like that, they are gone.
He remained motionless, what's he supposed to do now?
He heard thunder as it was about to rain, he ran inside his shock as water poured from the skies.
Its cold, and unforgiving.
His teeth chattered as he puts out the lamp. The water can't come in but he has nowhere to sleep. He opted on gently pushing the fridge down and sleeping on top of it.
Thunder booms.
He tossed and turned on the hard metal he was on.
It was cold and lonely.
He wasn't in his house anymore, where it's cozy and noisy.
"DADDY'S BACK!"
He remembered hearing those words everytime his padre returns home. But now, he'll never hear that phrase again.
The forest is his battlefield, and tomorrow...
He will prepare for war.
. . .
Giorno looked at his shoes for a moment, they aren't running shoes.
"Should I run... Barefoot?" He thought about it for awhile, he removed them along with his socks and said "Barefoot."
Bringing his compass with him, he sprinted across the forest first thing in the morning.
"OAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" He screamed as the birds on the trees flew away.
MONDAYS: HIGH REP CALISTHENICS.
PUSHUPS 1000 reps, 5 sets.
ROPE CLIMB 20 feet high, 30 up and down.
Giorno pulled and make sure the branch he hung the rope from is sturdy, and started to climb.
1 HOUR NONSTOP SQUATS
"And... Go!" Giorno panted as he started the timer.
15 MINUTE PLANK.
HINDU PUSHUPS 250 reps, 4 sets
He faceplanted on the dirt as his arms were sore. Grunting as he got up "15 more..!"
Giorno aims to eat more calories than he burns. Making a bonfire was easy since he hadn't put out the lamp.
Roasting atleast 3 pounds of beef, preparing his protein shake, fish oil tablets and bread, he made a mental note that he has to eat 5 meals a day MINIMUM.
Scarfing down a loaf for carbohydrates, he listened to recordings of his father from his phone.
"Isometric exercises are where you hold the position, exerting maximum force without movement. Excellent for recruiting more muscle fibers for RAW FUCKING STRENGTH. Take Dennis Rogers, pound for pound the strongest guy on Earth, he was bald but not because he did 100 pushups situps and squats everyday, but because he did isometrics. And now he can bend steel bars and shit despite being scrawny like you."
Finishing the last of his meal, he rested for an hour.
"Never EVER! WORKOUT WITH YOUR STOMACH FULL. I've seen stupid fucks going out for jogs while eating protein bars, its stupid! The parasympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system prepares the body for restful situations and is often called the "rest and digest" system. It means what it means. The sympathetic division is basically opposite, where it works when you move and shit. Those two can't function simultaneously, which is why you won't digest your food if you keep moving your ass."
After resting for an hour, Giorno stood up and continued the rest of the day.
WALKING LUNGES 100 reps, 2 sets.
BURPEES 150 reps, 4 sets.
DIAMOND PUSHUPS 200 reps, 5 sets.
Giorno spent the afternoon carving a pull up bar by chopping down some sticks.
PULLUPS 200 reps, 5 sets.
"Ow!" He grunted as he had a splinter from the wood. "... What am I, a child? I'm a man!" He smacked himself in the cheeks and continued anyways.
JUMPING SQUATS 500 reps, 5 sets.
And as the sun was about to set, he sat down at the river to pull some reeds like Gappy said to get started making his bed.
He was sweating all over, wiping some off his forehead. The sun has set.
It was a tiring day, and its a great thing it did not rain.
Eating his last meal for the day whilst reading some of the books to amuse himself.
He read a joke book.
He wondered what would it be like if his father was still alive? How would he train him?
TUESDAY: MARTIAL ARTS.
His body was aching, the reed bed wasn't exactly very comfortable and he was so sore from yesterday. He sat up and dusted himself off.
He brought both his fists together and got on with day two.
NONSTOP SHADOWBOXING 1 HOUR.
"SHH! SHHH!" Giorno hissed as he threw punches and kicks to the air.
MAKIWARA TRAINING 1 HOUR, 3 MINUTE BREAK EVERY 12 MINUTES.
He placed a raggedy tarpaulin around a thin tree and wrapped a rope around it. Giorno stared at it before hitting it.
There was a pause.
"Agh..! Shoot!" He cussed as it hurts.
RESISTANCE BAND PUNCHES 500 REPS BOTH HANDS.
"These are the bands..?" Giorno mumbled as the bands were tire rubber, giving him the minimalist feel.
Tying them around a tree, he grabbed both of its end and started extending his arm, but he can't fully extend them as he was being pulled back by the elasticity.
He ate 6 meals throughout the day. It was noticeably less intense since yesterday was grueling.
It rained that night but he endured it as he read a book in the evening.
WEDNESDAY: CONDITIONING
BONE CONDITIONING: KNUCKLES AND ELBOWS.
KNUCKLE PUSHUPS 300 reps.
MAKIWARA TRAINING 30 minutes, Punches and elbows only.
BONE CONDITIONING: KNEE, SHINS AND FOOT
IRON ROLLS 15 minutes both legs.
Giorno grabbed an iron rod he found lying on the forest floor and started rolling it up and down his shins, wincing in pain.
MAKIWARA TRAINING 30 minutes, kicks and knees only.
Giorno kicked, gritting his teeth as he tried to ignore the pain. 'Jean Claude Van Damme did this... I can too!'
MUSCLE CONDITIONING: ABS AND CHEST.
LOG DROPS 30 reps, 3 sets.
"Ngr! Muda..!" Giorno grunted as he chopped down a log, wiping a sweat off, he tied some rope and slung it over a sturdy branch to have a pulley system. 'I could use this to train my back and triceps...' he notes.
Pulling it up, it was quite heavy. He lied down underneath and breathed heavily.
He lets go, the log fell towards his lying figure.
Thunk.
It landed on his torso. It was painful. "Ow..!" But he steeled his resolve and continued to do his reps.
MUSCLE CONDITIONING: THIGHS.
SQUAT HOLD WITH HAMMERFISTS, 30 minutes.
He held a squat position, then he started pounding his inner and outer thighs with hammerfists.
BONE CONDITIONING: FOREARMS.
FOREARM STRIKES 20 minutes.
Giorno found a thicker tree and started striking it with his outer forearms.
'The pork was tasty.' Giorno notes. He saw a squirrel scurry away.
Chugging on his protein shake, he decided to take a glass of Green Tea to help him recover faster.
THURSDAY: ISOMETRICS
PUSHUP HOLDS 30 seconds, 4 sets.
PULLUP HOLDS 30 seconds, 4 sets.
3 MINUTE PLANK
SQUAT HOLDS 30 seconds, 4 sets.
TREE PUSH 30 seconds, 4 sets.
Placing both his hands on the tree, Giorno pushed the immovable object, exerting a great amount of force with zero movement.
TREE DEADLIFTS
He chopped a small dent on a fairly tall tree, placing his hands at the dent, he tried to knock the tree down by deadlifting it.
"Grrrrr!" He growled as veins showed throughout his arms and forehead.
HANDSTAND HOLDS 30 seconds, 4 reps.
HANDSTAND WALKS 50 meters, 2 sets.
Night came.
Giorno was a little bit alarmed as he saw a pack of coyotes running past his camp. But nothing else happened that night.
He did hear an unrecognizable roar from the other side of the mountain however.
FRIDAY: CARDIO
10 KILOMETER JOG
Giorno's aim is to be able to jog until he reaches the Everglades from where he was by Month 3.
3 KILOMETER SPRINT
MUD HIGH KNEES 5 minutes.
With his ankles submerged in the mud, he tried to do high knees. It was very exhausting.
He saw a single Florida Flamingo walking by near the base of the mountain, he used his father's phone to take a picture of it from far away.
BURPEES 3 minutes, 3 sets.
10 KILOMETER JOG
JUMPING JACKS 20 MINUTES
He read Gappy's book, much to his interest. It was a survival guide.
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY: MENTAL CONDITIONING AND STRETCHING.
He was incredibly sore for his first week. 'This isn't a rest day, training your mind is still training, right?' Giorno thought.
HOT MEDITATION 2 hours.
Stripping down to his underwear and finding a spot where the sun beams down. He sat down and closed his eyes.
Mosquitoes tried to pester him, he was wincing but he tried his best to focus. The sun started to burn but he kept himself composed. To help, he placed down his father's cellphone, to which he charged last night, and played random records.
He was surprised that he heard other voices.
"Giorno. I just wanna say... You'll be motivated in the first few weeks, but you'll lose your motivation at some point. Power through with it. Just remember the reason you started." It was Speedwagon. It was odd hearing him talk so calmly.
The blond's eyes remained closed, but he heard something was stalking him.
"A friend of mine used to tell me that no one knows where the tennis ball will fall after it tips the net. But you have to make sure its not on your side. Don't and never blame yourself for the things you can't control. But do whatever you can to live s life without any regrets." It was Johnny.
Giorno had enough as he got sunburned lmao.
He heard something scurry away.
COLD MEDITATION 2 hours.
"Wow..." he mused as he found a small waterfall at the edge of the river. Luckily, there are rocks underneath the falls. Placing the phone on the bank, he sat there and meditated.
The weight of the water falling on his head and back was heavy as his hairdo got demolished by the flow.
It was chilly.
"Eh." He heard Gappy's voice before a burping sound was heard. 'Classic.' He thought with a smile.
Noon came, he ate his food and continued his rather low intensity routine.
SIT AND REACH
SIDE SPLITS
FRONT SPLITS
SHOULDER STRETCH
TRICEP STRETCH
PEC STRETCH
BICEP STRETCH
It felt so rewarding and great to hold those stretches. His aching muscles were loosening up. He sighed in relief as he drank some water.
NIGHT MEDITATION 2 hours.
Tapping the phone to play the records once more.
Sitting down on the reed bed, he closed his eyes and cleared his mind.
"Greatness runs through our veins. You better do something today, that tomorrow's you will thank you for." Dio's voice told him.
He heard a growl in front of him but his eyes remained closed.
"My homie Luke 17:21..." he heard a familiar voice but he didn't expect this guy to be here.
'Why is Father Pucci here..?' He raised an eyebrow but his eyes remained closed as he felt the presence in front of him getting closer and closer.
"-Says the kingdom of God is within man! Not in one man nor a group of men! But in ALL MEN. IN YOU, YOU THE PEOPLE HAVE THE POWER! THE POWER TO CREATE MACHINES! THE POWER TO CREATE HAPPINESS! YOU, GIORNO HAVE THE POWER TO MAKE THIS LIFE FREE AND BEAUTIFUL! TO MAKE THIS LIFE A WONDERFULLY BIZARRE ADVENTURE!" The man preached.
Jonathan's voice was next "Never give up. The body can endure far more than what the mind believes it can."
The young man meditating can't deny that he was feeling a little bit hyped by the moment.
"Stand proud, Giorno Giovanna."
That was the last straw.
He opened his eyes to discover that he was face to face with an adult mountain lion, prowling towards his hut. But emotions are running through him like a raging fire.
He glared at the wild cat and stood up.
The cougar snarled but Giorno replied with a louder "WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"
The young man screamed as he beat his chest with his right arm, ready to commit animal abuse, PETA be damned.
The mountain lion became intimidated and scurried away.
In the jungle,
The mighty jungle,
THE LION WAS REBORN.
. . .
The callouses on his palms, feet and fists are evident. His mane longer and unkempt, it's almost a month yet he was already gaining so much power.
He gritted his teeth as he continued to pound the makiwara he build with his tired fists.
. . .
"72... 73..!" Giorno grunts as he performed one armed pushups.
His feet were strided, elbow tucked close to his body while his other arm resting on his back. Sweat dropped from his chin and to the forest floor as he performed another repetition.
. . .
His torso was wobbling but he maintaned the handstand. His core was burning but he has to keep on walking.
Step. Step. And another step.
His palm landed on a small sharp pebble and it hurts.
"OOHF!" He faceplants.
. . .
Slowly, but surely, he is getting there. His legs are tired but he was crawling like crazy. He needs to climb Mt. Asura in a day because he doesn't have any equipment with him, so he needs to descend in the same day.
He wasted no time. Shooing away bobcats and coyotes. He is close, and getting closer.
Giorno's teeth chattered as his dirty clothes dragged on the uneven ground.
The peak, he can see it.
And for some reason, all his exhaustion was gone.
"Just a little more..!" He crawled, like his life defended on it.
Dragging his exhausted, muscular body throughout the dirt. "I'm almost there! It's almost over!"
He reached it.
He conquered Mt. Asura vertically in a day. But he felt his body became lighter. Giorno mused at how he felt like he was refreshed.
He can stand up straight and walk like nothing happened.
Wind blew hard as it undid his already messy hairdo. The sight was breathtaking. He wonders what his other friends are doing right now. But he has to focus. Behind every victory are new challenges to be conquered after all.
At the summit of the harsh mountain, he was ready to let out a yell lf triumph, but he heard a...
Bark.
He quickly turned his head and saw a Golden Labrador wagging it's tail. Giorno rubbed his eyes to ensure that he wasn't hallucinating. Facing the dog as he dusts his dirty clothes off.
"What's a dog doing here..? On top of the mountain?" He asked no one in particular. "Are you lost?" He observed it and realized it was a male. "Come here boy!" Giorno whistled with a smile as he crouched down to welcome the dog, a bit happy that he might find some company. But the dog urged him to follow him.
Giorno stood up and blinked "O-Okay, lead the way."
The dog then ran as Giorno jogged after it. Forgetting that he was on top of the mountain for some reason, he slipped and rolled down the slope.
"AHSBSTAYEBSUAISHSYAYSBSBSTWGSNSUWH-"
The dog simply barked as it watched the man roll off the side of the mountain screaming.
. . .
Dr. Ciocolatta's supplements healed his injuries quite quickly. 'I know something is wrong with this, its just too good to be true.' Giorno inspects the canister of Green Day.
He heard another bark.
'The dog... Why is there a dog here?' The blond turned towards the dog. "Are you lost, boy?"
"arnoooold!"
He heard a feminine voice from far away, the dog scurried and left.
"W-Wait!" He stood up but his bruises ached.
He fell back down to the reed bed he made.
He wondered what everyone was doing. He was here for a month, alone. In isolation. No one would judge him if he took a day off, or jacked off.
No one will know, says the temptation in his head.
'I will.' He replied.
He wondered what Jolyne was doing, what she is up to. He didn't see any of his friends since the final match of Dio's gauntlet.
'I wonder what Trish is up to as well...' it was hard to believe they have just reconciled for 4 days but he felt like they were friends for a long time. What about Mista? Was his training going well? Or Josuke.
He was about to drift to sleep before realizing he heard SOMEONE call the dog back.
Which is impossible... Because he's alone in the woods. His eyes widened as he was now wode awake, on high alert.
Crickets creaked, the forest was silent... Until...
Giorno gasped as he heard a feminine giggle from a distance.
'No one should be here... Mt. Asura was closed down as a National Park, the trails are deemed too dangerous for hiking... Yet why...'
He sat up and looked at the dark horizon.
'Why do I feel like there is someone here with me..?'