The next day, Woodstock's team drives to a large prison outside of London. The guard at the gate of the prison, too lazy to check for proper ID, opens the gate. Jefferson drives the ambulance up to the back entrance of the prison and feels anxious. Right as Jefferson parks the ambulance, the backdoor opens. Three guards push out a man on a stretcher. The man wears an orange jumpsuit and has a shiv poking out of his stomach.
Jefferson jumps out of the ambulance and runs up to the guards "Thank god you got here so soon," one of the guards says. "Normally, we'd treat him in the prison infirmary, but every single doctor and nurse became deathly ill at the same time."
"What are the odds?" Jefferson mumbles.
The back doors of the ambulance burst open, hitting the two guards hard enough to knock them out. Woodstock and Sting jump out and start undressing the guards.
Jefferson places his hand on the injured prisoner and uses his Stand to heal the man's wound. Woodstock throws a jacket at Jefferson. "Come on, we're working on a time limit," she says.
The three Stand Users, dressed as guards, head into the prison. The security door meant to stop them from entering without typing a specific code, malfunctions and pops open right as they approach it. The guard watching the security feed, tired after his neighbor's dog spent an entire night barking at a squirrel, falls asleep in his chair. The other guards, distracted by prisoners yelling at them, turn around just in time to miss seeing the trio's faces. Without any resistance, Woodstock and her two followers walk through the prison to the solitary confinement ward.
"I have some objections to the basic premise of this endeavor," Sting says. "I am a police detective-"
"Former police detective," Woodstock interjects.
"-and I prefer to keep criminals behind bars."
"Maybe this Maxwell guy is innocent," Jefferson says.
Sting scoffs. "If he was innocent, he wouldn't be in prison," he says.
"Maxwell Silver is a powerful Stand User who is essential to my plans. That is why we are freeing him," Woodstock says.
Sting stops and crosses his arms. "Then I don't want to help you free him," he says. "I became a cop to punish evildoers, not free them."
"And you were fired from the police force for your failure to catch Johana Joestar and her crew. You agreed to help me with my search for the ultimate Stand User in return for me making you strong enough to kill Johana Joestar," Woodstock snaps.
"There are other people out there who can help me," Sting says.
"Wednesday, June 8th, 11:53 AM," Woodstock says.
"What?"
"That's the time when Maxwell dies. I can see the future, I know that he only has a few days left. We aren't freeing a monster, we're just making sure he does a little good before he dies," Woodstock says. "I also see that, if you free Maxwell, you will turn Johana Joestar to ash mere minutes after Maxwell Silver perishes. Is this future satisfactory?"
Sting nods. "Killing this Joestar person, being so casual about the idea of Maxwell Silver dying, this isn't right," Jefferson says. "I thought we were trying to help people."
"We are trying to save the world, Jefferson. My perfect world cannot exist without a handful of people perishing."
"But, isn't there a way we can accomplish your goals without killing people?"
"No."
Woodstock stops in front of a cell with a heavy metal door, different from any of the other solitary cells. A keypad sits next to the door. "This is a custom cell created by the Speedwagon Foundation to contain Maxwell Silver. It only opens when a 9-digit code is entered and a single, specific key is turned."
"Then, how are we going to open it?" Jefferson asks.
Woodstock types in the 9-digit code. "Oh. Did you learn the code from your ability to see the future?" he asks.
"I learned the code from my time working for the Speedwagon Foundation," Woodstock replies. "That said, being to glance ahead and see that my memory was accurate was beneficial."
"So, we have the code, but what about the key?" Sting asks.
"Check your pocket," Woodstock says.
Sting reaches into his breast pocket and pulls out a single silver key. "How'd that get there?" he asks.
"Through a series of coincidences too complicated for me to get into," Woodstock says.
"You don't see the future," Jefferson says. "You control it."
Woodstock chuckles. "There are countless possible futures, each separated by small chances and coincidences. With my Stand, I am able to both see all of these futures and control probability to select which one becomes reality. I cannot create impossible futures, mind you, but I can ensure I exist on an improbably beneficial timeline."
Sting turns the key and the cell door slides open. Behind it sits a thin man with silver hair stretching down past his shoulders. His arms are chained to a wall in a T-Pose. An IV filled with clear liquid drips is attached to his arm.
"All this for one man?" Jefferson says.
"This man is one of the most powerful Stand Users alive. So powerful, the Foundation sealed him away here and his Stand in the US, just to keep him from breaking out."
"So, he's the one you've been searching for? The godlike Stand User who will help create your utopia?"
"God no, Maxwell Silver is a moron who is destined to die in two days. Still, before then, he will push this city's Stand Users to their absolute limit and help separate the wheat from the chaff," Woodstock says. "Sting, be a dear and cut Maxwell down."
Sting holds out his hand and focuses on the chains. The chains melt away and Maxwell drops to the ground, landing on his knees. Woodstock tosses Jefferson the final silver bracelet. "Jefferson, heal him and put this bracelet on," she commands.
Jefferson helps the man up and treats his wounds. After a few seconds, the man groans. "My hammer, where's my hammer?" he mumbles.
"Currently, your hammer is locked up in a Speedwagon Foundation facility on a different continent. You can summon it, but it'll take around two hours for it to arrive here," Woodstock says. "And, because releasing you triggered the silent alarm, we don't have two hours."
"An alarm just went off?" Jefferson says as he clicks the bracelet on Maxwell's arm.
"By now, the prison is in complete lockdown mode. The doors are sealed shut. No one, not even the guards, will be able to get out until the lockdown is ended," Woodstock says. "If we want to escape, not only with Maxwell Silver, but with our lives, we need to make them open the doors."
"And how will we do that?" Sting asks.
"We force them to choose between locking us in and escaping with their lives. We burn the prison down. The guards, assuming they aren't suicidal fools, will let us out to avoid perishing."
"I can create fire, but not enough to burn down an entire prison," Sting says.
"You underestimate your own strength," Woodstock says. "Your Stand, Invisible Sun, does not merely create fire. It creates hellish flames that consume the souls of all they touch, growing stronger and stronger as they burn. As the prisoners perish, your strength will grow and your fire will become all consuming."
Sting smiles. "Why didn't you start with that?" he says.
"Hold on, let's all calm down for a minute," Jefferson says. "This is insane. We can't just burn down a prison and kill hundreds of people!"
"Kill hundreds of criminals," Sting corrects. "And, if it gives me the strength I need to get revenge on Joestar for ruining my life, I don't have any problem with it."
Jefferson switches to strength mode and chucks Maxwell at the door, knocking Sting and Woodstock over. "Well, I do have a problem with it," he says, cracking his knuckles.
He doesn't see the fire that Sting throws at him. But he feels the heat as it burns through his shirt and throws him against the wall. He's dealt with fire before, but Sting's flames are something different. They turn his skin to ash before he can even react.
The cell door slams shut as Jefferson frantically uses his healing to stay alive. From within the ocean of stone that is Maxwell Silver's cell, Jefferson hears the screams. Dozens of them, loud enough to pierce through the walls of stone.
He crawls to his feet. He isn't one hundred percent healed yet, but he doesn't have time to waste. He switches to strength mode and hits the door as hard as he can. His punch barely makes a dent.
He strikes the door again. And again. And again. Through his knuckles, he feels the heat on travelling through the metal. His skin begins to burn, but he keeps punching, because he knows the door will collapse soon.
After what feels like an eternity, the heat from the blaze weakens the door enough for Jefferson to punch it from its hinges. The flames burst into the solitary cell and consume him, but he's ready for them. He instantly switches to invincibility mode and walks through the fire, completely uninjured.
The prison is already completely consumed by fire. Every cell Jefferson walks past contains charred skeletons. There is no one left to save.
Eventually, Jefferson reaches the prison exit. The door is open, implying that a few people may have made it out in time. Jefferson isn't relieved by this revelation. Hundreds more surely perished to Sting's Invisible Sun.
Maxwell Silver is completely silent as the ambulance drives away from the burning prison. "So, Mr. Silver, what are you going to do now that you're free?" Sting asks from the driver's seat.
Maxwell sits in the back, contemplating, for an entire minute before speaking. "I will finish what I started," he says. "My master tasked me with killing a traitor's family and taking back something she stole. The Speedwagon Foundation stopped me. I will not fail again."
"Wednesday, 11:53 AM," Sting mumbles to himself.
"What are you whispering?"
"Nothing you need to be concerned about. Just a few words that will help me sleep at night. About your mission, how do you know that your master didn't send someone else to finish it for you?"
"He didn't," Woodstock says, pulling a cell phone out from the glove compartment. "In fact, the girl Maxwell wants to kill and the girl you want to kill currently live together."
"What are you doing with the phone?"
"This? I'll need it in a moment. By the way, you might want to look in your mirror."
Sting glances at the mirror and sees something approaching the ambulance, moving faster and faster. The object in the window comes closer and closer until it passes the ambulance.
"What was that?" Sting shouts.
"Our favorite wannabe superhero," Woodstock replies.
Jefferson comes to a stop a hundred meters in front of the ambulance. He switches to strength, jumps, and switches to invincibility. He crashes through the windshield of the ambulance and punches Sting in the face.
Jefferson punches Sting again and rips off the steering wheel. Sting throws Jefferson out with a burst of flames, but the damage is already done. The ambulance swerves and flips over, rolling several times before landing upside down.
Woodstock, Sting, and Maxwell crawl out of the back of the ambulance, all completely fine. A coincidence, to be sure, but then again those tend to occur around Woodstock.
Jefferson runs up to Sting in speed mode and elbows him, taking him out. In strength mode, he rips a door off the back of the ambulance and smacks Maxwell with it, knocking him away from the ambulance.
Woodstock backs away as Jefferson approaches her. "My oh my, you sure seem angry," she says.
"You killed hundreds of people," Jefferson says, practically frothing at the mouth.
"Let's all calm down. No reason to do anything unheroic."
"Really? Because I'm feeling pretty unheroic right now."
Woodstock, seeing what is about to happen, jumps back. Before Jefferson can react, the ground explodes. This explosion is not the result of a bomb or an accidentally lit patch of gas. No, this explosion is a shockwave. The type of shockwave created when a metal sledgehammer, moving faster than the speed of sound, crashes down into an asphalt highway.
Jefferson survives, thanks to his invincibility. Maxwell Silver holds out his hand and the hammer flies to him. He strikes it down on the road and the road transforms as to slabs of stone rise up and slam into Jefferson.
"This is my Stand. Hammer," Maxwell says. "With it, I can rearrange the atoms of any object I strike."
The stone slabs are thrown away by Jefferson as he rushes towards Maxwell. Maxwell dodges a super strength enhanced punch and hits Jefferson in the arm with his hammer. In an instant, Jefferson's arm turns to dust.
Jefferson grits his teeth and switches to invincibility. Maxwell hits him again, this strike hitting him in the stomach. The hammer blow bounces off, but Jefferson feels weird after being hit.
Maxwell jumps and brings his hammer down on Jefferson. Jefferson blocks the blow with his arm. At least, he tries to. The second the hammer touches his arm, it turns to dust.
Jefferson, now armless, screams. "That little invincibility trick won't work on me," Maxwell says. "My hit on your stomach took your invincibility away, and the second hit removed an arm. Two more hits and you'll be dead."
Maxwell swings his hammer at Jefferson's legs. Jefferson jumps over the hammer and kicks Maxwell in the face. Before he can celebrate, a blast of invisible fire hits him and throws him to the side of the road. There he lies on his stomach, armless, injured, hopeless.
"Give up, Jefferson. You can't beat one of us, much less three," Woodstock says as she, Maxwell, and Sting approach Jefferson.
"You're right, I can't," Jefferson says. "But I can throw a monkey wrench into your plans."
He flips over, revealing that his arms have regenerated. He dashes forward with his superspeed and strikes Woodstock in the forehead. The force of the blow knocks the glowing sphere out of Woodstock's forehead.
Jefferson rips the arrow out of the sphere. "I don't know how exactly your powers work, but you need this arrow to see the future," he says. "I can't beat the three of you at once, but I'm willing to bet I can beat one of you in an ambush. An ambush you won't see coming without this thing."
Without another word, Jefferson runs off, leaving Woodstock's team in the dust.
To be continued in
Chapter 50: Defying Gravity, Part 1
