Twines of Fate
Me: I do love Speedwagon; yeah, I know all of us do, but I loved him enough that I knew he had to have a number of POV moments in this story, so...here's the first one!
Disclaimer: I don't own JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. I can only wish!
Chapter 2
Robert E.O. Speedwagon loved Josephine until his heart bled, but the girl's antics had never been kind to his heart and he found it was common sense to worry about her more than anyone else in his life. He'd taken Stazio's initial question about her health as an excuse to bemoan and rant about her...unique idea of how to extract him from a hostage situation on a plane, and didn't realize until too late why the old Hamon master had been prodding him about if she'd inherited her grandfather's powers...
A voice at the back of his mind, personified by Jonathan's gentle and reassuring tones, notes that he couldn't have stopped a Hamon User unless he'd wired the entire tunnel and caves with explosive, instantly burying them all alive. And even that might have just been a delaying action.
I'm sorry, Jonathan...I promised I keep her safe...!
He hadn't said as much to his beloved...friend's face; he'd found out via the newspaper what had happened to the ship, then from Erina's tear-stained letters what had happened that fateful evening in the ship's engine room. Afterward – after the months he'd spent in a haze, the aimless traveling, the days in which he'd wandered in grief and ended up stumbling over the oil that had given him his fortune – he had gone to join Erina, and swore over Jonathan's tombstone that he would keep Josephine safe and happy as long as there was breath in his lungs.
He loved that girl; he'd watched her grow from a baby into a beautiful, if spirited and boyish young woman who'd turned not a few number of his hairs gray. He'd tutored her, held her in his arms and walked with her to school, and he loved her as though she were his own.
That's why, despite being bound in a straightjacket and watching in horror and disbelief while the Third Reich toyed with awakening an ancient monster beyond even the power of that one, his mind is on Josephine in New York where Stazio had undoubtedly tracked her down to by now. The agony of not knowing whether or not she would survive the encounter made him almost welcome the Pillar Man's awakening and his almost certain doom.
I'm sorry Jonathan...
"Where did it go? It's gone!"
"Impossible! That chamber if fully sealed?"
Speedwagon watched with a strange feeling of serenity as the Nazis who had been overlooking the 'captured' Pillar Man while it devoured a vampire whole ran back and forth in a panic; he feels sorely tempted to drop a sarcastic 'I told you so'. Instead he tugs experimentally at the sleeves of his straightjacket. It was deeply unlikely he'd be able to run far if he managed to free himself – his injuries from Staizo's betrayal are still healing, after all – but if he could get to a phone, he could at least try to drop a warning to the Foundation before he was killed.
He watched the commanding officer go pale as a ghost; realizing too late what he'd unleashed and trying to discern its attack plan, no doubt. The Pillar Man – Santana – got out of the room, so there had to be some route for it to take. Considering what Speedwagon had seen the once-human vampires do, he suspects the mask's creators would push those abilities even further.
It took either the water system or the air vents.
The thudding sounds against metal echoing increasingly loudly all around them and sickening squelching noises over the recordings in the chamber suggested the latter to him.
"He wasn't struggling to figure out how to walk or speak while you were laughing like a fool," Robert informs the disturbed and panicked major coolly. "He was a creature, waking from a sleep so deep he needs to flex his muscles in order for them to work properly, taking the opportunity to observe you."
The man – Strohiem, hadn't he said that's what his name was? – whipped around to stare at him, what little blood that remained in his face draining away in an instant. Remarkably, he maintained his composure and did not panic, barking at his men to find the monster.
Of course, the monster found them first.
Robert didn't gag when The Pillar Man (Santana) gruesomely burrowed his way into one of the soldier's bodies, turning him into a grotesque borderline lump of flesh, though the temptation was there. The trails of his adventure with Jonathan those years ago had steeled his nerve to these twisted, gory displays. He isn't surprised when he was unfazed by the hundreds of bullets promptly fired upon it, mercifully killing the poor soul within before Santana bursts out of him like a horrifying metamorphasis.
Then Santana fires the bullets back through his fingers, slaughtering everyone in the room except for him and the Major.
"Fucking Krauts," Josephine growled, slamming the man's skull into her knee before tossing him aside like a sack of potatoes. "I don't have the time for this!" She knelt down and starts to strip one of the useful idiots of his uniform. It was going to be fairly loose on her – she wasn't built quite as bulky and broad shouldered as a man, after all – but she'd fit it perfectly well if she put the top pieces on over her current clothes.
The girls the two 'soldiers' had been harassing when she caught up with them hover at the entrance of the village, watching her with wide eyes. Josephine replaced her cap with the nazi uniform, but since her hair was drawn back in a ponytail beneath her shirt it didn't immediately reveal her to be a girl as it usually did. As she snapped the jacket on, she hears one of them sigh, and while that usually pleased her, she's distracted by the situation at hand.
"I don't suppose you fine ladies know where those fools report for duty?" She asked as she buttons the coat closed, walking over to them. The youngest girl blushed and promptly hid behind her sister/neighbor/friend, timid and shy.
"They came here months ago, chasing an old legend." The oldest said. There's a mixture of pain, anger and fear in her eyes. "Dozens of people from the city have disappeared into the military base, never returning..." She clutched her basket tightly. She must have known one of those people, Josephine thought with a stab of sympathy. "Are – are you with the army?"
"I'm here searching for someone," Josephine confessed; seeing their faces fall, she adds in a simple, confident tone, "But I suspect I'm going to have to carve my way through these krauts to get that person back, so I think I'll be helping you along the way."
The oldest girl stared at her for a moment, then turns and points to the center of the town. "You can't miss them; the complex is the biggest set of buildings here, and military vehicles are parked all around it. I..." She stalled them briefly grabbed Josephine's wrist as she started to walk past them. "Please be careful, sir."
Josephine turned to give her a confident smile before raising her hand to her lips and kissing it. "As you wish," she said playfully; she saw a pretty blush cross the girl's face before she pivoted on one foot and ran down the street.
The first thing she noticed was how few people were out and about, despite it almost being high noon; the town seemed practically abandoned as she wove down its street. What people she did see – other than Nazi patrols she used to test her disguise – were terrified, fleeing deep into their homes if they happened to spot her along the way. Josephine wasn't surprised, and the thought of her uncle being held by these scumbags pushes her to run faster.
She found the building soon enough; it was big and distractingly out of place. Smooth talking her way past the guards wasn't too hard, because they were weirdly jumpy and seemed eager to find somewhere else to be; Josephine knew there was big trouble when she managed to send a dozen guards off to the inventory with precious little prodding.
"Goddamn it, where are you, Uncle Robert...?" Josephine muttered in frustration as she checked the hospital wing and the prison ward, only to find both empty. She took a third turn in the confusing labyrinth of hallways, trying a different direction into an upper floor.
Fear coiled in her gut like a venomous snake, bubbling away beneath her fury and determination and the adrenaline pounding in her ears. She hated it, tried to shove it down, kick it under the metaphorical couch of her mind so she can't hear that little whisper of but what if you're too late, what if you find him broken, what if you find him just in time watch him slip away. Josephine hated helplessness, a feeling she learned when listening to her uncle and granny cry while pretending to be asleep.
She took that frantic anxiety and used it as fuel for her fire, and keeps running.
The sound of a bullet flying caused her to freeze up briefly; it's followed by a lot of desperate and terrified screaming. What the fuck is going on in here? Josephine spun around and bolted back the way she came, turned the corner toward the sound and chased the screaming and disgusting squelching noise to their source.
Josephine ran into the room and skidded to a halt a dozen or so feet in, eyes briefly widening as she took in the scene in front of her.
Her uncle is there – alive, frazzled but unbroken, strapped into a wheelchair and wrapped in a fucking straightjacket (she'll get rid of that as soon as feasibly possible) – one of a handful of people in the room still alive. The Nazi commander standing next to him is shaking like a leaf, staring past the corpse lying on the floor along with his dozen troops who all pointed their guns at the final individual in the room. ...Though, perhaps individual might be the wrong word.
It...looked human. He had the same shape and size, a long mane of hair, muscles that were a little exaggerated but otherwise perfectly suited to a particularly dedicated bodybuilder; he wasn't wearing much, his fingers pointed at the men in front of them. Including her uncle.
It shouldn't have meant anything. But something pings at the back of Josephine's mind; it screamed danger, move now! The brunette stiffened and, within a split second, took stock of the room. What could she use to her advantage? What tools are available to her? She feels Hamon pulsing beneath her skin, and in a second she drew up a plan and moved.
The Nazi kraut somehow still had the time and energy to be outraged when Josephine grabbed his hair from behind. "Scuse me, I'm gonna need some of this," She informed the sputtering man, before ripping out a handful. "Hang on a second, uncle!"
"What?" Speedwagon sputtered, whipping his head over toward her in shock. Josephine didn't have time to answer, however; she jumped in front of him and created a hamon barrier mere seconds before the creature across from them somehow used his fingers to open fire upon everyone in the room. The bullets slammed harmlessly into the golden energy; Josephine moved her arms to keep the wall steady as the grunts in front of it were cut down like wheat in a field. It doesn't even strain her. Once the shooting stops, she lets the barrier go and breaths out, tossing the helmet aside and glancing offhandedly at the Major.
"You really need a better shampoo," She said nonchalantly, keeping the creature in her vision. "You'll go bald at this rate."
"J...JoJo..." Her uncle managed after a few seconds while the other man just sputters. "How – how did you get here?"
"I flew. Then I drove." She deadpanned, resisting the urge to turn around and glare at him. "Seriously Uncle, what are you doing here? You're too god-damned old to be getting into these situations...you scared Granny out of her wits, you know!"
"W-Wait! JoJo...is a woman?" The Major sputtered after a second, like his brain had just rebooted after processing the somewhat deep but still distinctly female voice that had been uttered by the figure he had assumed this whole time to be Speedwagon's nephew.
"Seriously?! That's the first thing you thought warranted commenting on, you dick?!" Josephine demanded indignantly as she watched the Pillar Man slowly get to his feet.
The creature briefly examined the strand of hair that had fluttered to the ground in the aftermath, then slowly raised his head and looked at her. His expression is mostly neutral, and a little bored, but there's an underlying sharpness as he takes her in. Josephine gets the distinct feeling she's being analyzed for a minute, and grimaces.
"Hey uncle...what are the chances if I take you and leave, he isn't going to follow us?" She asked mildly, pointing at Santana. He was still content to stand in place, seemingly, staring at them without making a sound.
Speedwagon sputtered incredulously. "Leave?! JoJo, the monster in front of us-"
"So this is that JoJo?" Strohiem interrupted, somewhat regaining his equilibrium after the initial shock passed. "And here I thought you had to be a boy, the way Speedwagon talked about you." If the situation was any less dire, he would have responded very vitriolically to the middle finger the impudent young girl gives him in response; but the fear of God and more had been put into him, and with what he knows. "Listen up, girl! The creature in front of you is one of the Pillar Men! The creators of the Stone Mask that your grandfather destroyed!"
He saw the girl visibly twitch at that, but otherwise her body language seemed to be deeply contemplative rather than a preparation for battle.
"JoJo," Speedwagon starts anxiously, "This being-"
"-is something the krauts dug up and stuck in an observation chamber to do who knows what to," Josephine pointed out, nodding at the broken windows to her right. She scoffs when the Major gawks at her. "He's got some justification to hold a grudge, doesn't he? What does it have to do with us? I'm here to bring you home, not bail out every idiot I happen to trip over."
Her uncle gave her a look that was half despairing, half exasperated; he still doesn't always understand how his niece's mind works. He did notice, however, that she was pointedly standing between him and Santana. Acting as his protector...just like she had when she was twelve.
"Put the book down, brat!" the hijacker shouted furiously. Robert swallowed nervously as he looked between the armed goons, his frightened pilot and the twelve year old sitting seemingly unbothered in the seat next to him. He had gotten careless...it had been so long since the last time he'd been faced with a kidnapping, he'd let his guard down.
Foolish of him.
"Why?" Josephine asked irritably, only briefly glancing at the man pointing a gun at her head before she returned her attention to her copy of Pride and Prejudice. It was the only romance novel she'd ever admitted to reading, and insisted that the only reason was because she liked Elizabeth's witty dialogue. "We're not going to land anywhere for hours. I've got nothing to do but just sit here, so why not let me read in peace? This has got nothing to do with me, anyway – I'm just along for the ride."
Robert squeezed her wrist frantically, silently begging his impulsive niece to take this seriously; sure enough, the man was furious at being talked back to by a little girl and struck her in the face with the butt of his gun despite Robert's attempt to cover her.
Josephine grunted as she was thrown back against Robert. She groaned and shook her head; some blood trickled down her nose, splashing onto the sweater Erina had made for her. She noticed this instantly and was not amused.
"You son of a bitch..." She snarled. "Granny spent hours on this for me!"
"What was that!"
Josephine darted out from her seat, dodging around the first man and kicking one of his kneecaps from the side, sending him to his knees and making him drop his gun. "So you want to be flown somewhere, huh?" She demanded, tossing her spiky brown hair over her shoulder. "We'll see about that!"
She nonchalantly ducks around the second goon, then bolts past the third to stand behind the pilot seat. Robert's eyes widen as a familiar flare of golden light erupts from her hands. That's Hamon...! Josephine smirked when her powers put the pilot to sleep; the plane suddenly took a nosedive now that no one is at the wheel.
"W-What the-?!"
"What happened to the pilot? We're in free fall!"
Josephine grabbed the pilot and dragged him past the now frantic and panicking hijackers with strength that belied her small, young frame. "Uncle, grab him for me okay?" She snapped hurriedly, glancing at the window. Then she ripped a seat right out of its bearings.
Falling through the air without a parachute was ten terrifying seconds that ended abruptly when they landed hard yet safely on a cliffside. Josephine rolled off the seat, grunting slightly and watching the plane fall from the sky and land with a sickening crash. Robert could see her knuckles turning white as she clenched her fists.
"JoJo...why do you play with your life so recklessly?" He asked somewhat plaintively. "What if you had gotten shot?"
"What else could I do?" Josephine asks brashly, even though her tone was subdued. "I think things through plenty – especially when I gotta keep you and Granny Erina safe." She tilted her head to look at him; her green eyes are sad. "You're all I have, after all..."
She has his spirit, but she's far more of a wild spirit than her grandfather... Robert pondered, unable to come up with a response to that. He knew that Jonathan would have loved her, even as he endlessly panicked over her antics, and he wished that he could have lived to meet her.
"JoJo, listen to me..." Speedwagon entreated, wishing he could grab her arm. "That creature there is to vampires what vampires are to normal humans!"
"Huh; is that right?" Josephine mused, looking over at Santana. "...He looks pretty dopey and harmless from where I'm standing." She trotted up to the creature, then reaches up and lightly taps him on the nose, giggling playfully. "You pull of the stern-stoic look really well, you know! You'd make a killing on the runway."
The Major makes a noise like a dying animal of some kind, while Speedwagon just hung his head in helpless despair. She's even making a joke out of a situation like this...!
He thinks she'll win. No, he's confident she will. But not before she drives him to the edge of a heart attack more than once.
End Chapter
I think Joseph would be really jealous of Josephine's ability to effortlessly pull off crossdressing, even though if he thought about it he'd realize that she's got a much easier build to pass for a guy than him as a girl.