New Delhi, 1988
A knock on the hotel door sends a jolt through Joseph's sleeping body, almost causing him to flail off the couch he had been splayed out on. He squints his eyes at the door, and looks out behind him at the sun beaming into the room. The large glass window that would have filtered some of that light is still, unsurprisingly, broken. With a yawn, he stretches his arms high above him and cracks his shoulder as he goes to answer the door. He pulls on the door and only cracks it slightly, peeking his face through the opening. A slightly nervous front desk representative stands in front of the door, pulling at his collar, and clears his throat as he begins to speak.
"M-m-mister Joestar?"
"Yes, that's me. Can't a man get some sleep in his own hotel room?"
"That's the thing, sir, we had a complaint from the other rooms nearby about gunshots last ni-"
"And you're just bothering me now about it?"
"N-no, sir, the other gentleman staying here ran into me as he was leaving this morning and said to wait until later in the da-"
"Cowboy movie."
"E-excuse me?"
"We were watching a cowboy film late at night. Now stop bothering me."
"We also heard some people saw some broken windows up near the top floor." Joseph gives a deadpan stare through the crack in the door.
"You like your job, chap?"
"Pardon?"
"You like your job, huh? Bugging your penthouse suite patrons with pointless questions, that really sounds like a splendid job you're doing."
"I-I don't…"
"Listen, if there was a problem I would've called you already to fix it. Now run along and stop annoying us."
"That's what that guy said, too…" The hotel staff member sullenly hangs his head low and shuffles off, and Joseph closes the door as soon as he sees the man enter the elevator.
Hm, Jotaro's gone already? Where did he run off to?
On the other side of the living room, Joseph hears Anne open her door yawning as she heads towards the kitchen. Her eyes are still in a half-sleep squint, and she groggily pours herself some water. Just as she returns to her room, she yelps in pain and grabs her foot.
"What the fuck, you didn't clean up all this glass?" Anne hops on one foot over to the couch, and Joseph scratches the back of his head grinning in embarrassment.
That is a lot of glass everywhere, but I was so beat…
Joseph sits down beside her and notices a large chunk of glass in the bridge of her foot. He goes to touch it, but she squeals in pain.
"Jotaro would've cleaned that up already."
"Jotaro left already, you little witch."
"Well, he would've already gotten a bandage."
"I get it, you have a crush on my future grandson, now sit still." Joseph breathes deep, and channels some Hamon into her foot. Her tense, pained expression fades, and with a gentle pull Joseph removes the glass.
"Woah, my pains gone, what'd yo-"
"Hush, the doctor's still working." With more calm breaths, he puts his palm over the wound and pumps more Hamon in. Within seconds, the flesh the glass had pierced closes up, and Joseph goes to wash his hands in the sink.
"So that's your magic Hamon thing, huh?"
"It's not magic, Anne. It's some mystical ancient martial arts mumbo jumbo. Big difference."
"What? What the hell is the difference?" Joseph dries his hands, leans against the counter, and extends a purple vine to pick up the small shards of glass scattered on the floor while he talks.
"Well, magic's not real, and Hamon is. Speedwagon had always told me there was some order of Tibetan monks who trained in this stuff, but the only training I got was in Venice."
"So that makes it not magic?"
"I'm just channeling life force with my breath through my limbs. That doesn't sound like magic, definitely no rabbit in a hat sort of deal. Maybe a little like Superman…"
"Ah so it's like Dragon Ball."
"What the hell's a Dragon Ball?"
"Never mind, I forgot you're old as dirt."
"Wait a minute, look at me! Do I look old?"
"Old fashioned." She pointed at his beaten outfit, his ragged scarf, and his bloodstained pants.
"Listen, just because I haven't had a chance to do laundry ye-"
"No, idiot. You're out of place."
"Yeah, well, I don't change my style for anyone."
"I can see that…You ever gonna finish how you got here?"
I see, insult my style then butter me up with asking me for a story? Her cruelty knows no bounds.
Regardless, Joseph claps his hands together like he had actually picked up the glass himself, and heads to the couch to sit down. Anne curls up in anticipation of the story, and Joseph preens himself as he starts to explain.
Time passes…
"So, now you're here, after getting sucked through time by some random guy, almost getting killed by your own future grandson, and fighting a cowboy in an elevator."
"Did you really have to leave out all the cool moments I had?"
"Listen, I get you helping Jotaro with his mom and this DIO guy. But…how are you getting back?" Joseph goes to speak, but falls silent as the realization sends him into thought.
How indeed…
"If Miller is still alive, maybe doing something to his Stand will send me back."
"Yeah but it's been almost 50 years. Who knows if he's even alive."
"True…I wouldn't even know where to find him. From the sounds of it, the Speedwagon Foundation hasn't run into any vampires with mystery powers yet, so I'm guessing after all this time he hasn't gotten a Stone Mask."
"At least if was a vampire he wouldn't be dead yet."
"Eh." Joseph shrugs his shoulders and gestures flippantly with his hands, "It's not a problem yet, anyway. I can at least team up with these guys and smack down some measly vampire. I mean, my grandfather beat DIO fair and square, I think I can do it no problem."
"Isn't your Stand basically just a whip? This isn't Castlevania."
"You keep saying these things like I know what you're talking about."
"Jeez, Jojo! Play some video games and read some manga while you're here!" Anne kicks him in the thigh from her curled spot on the couch.
"What the hell is a manga? And besides, I don't plan on beating him with my Stand. I just gotta get close enough to pump some Hamon into him. Vampires melt against Hamon, they're no where as tough as Pillar Men."
"Well, what about his Stand? Don't you think a guy who can send dangerous assassins with powerful Stands has a Stand even stronger than the rest of them?"
"Maybe. Vampires do have super strength and speed, but who knows? I don't try to dwell that far ahead. We still have a ways to Egypt, huh?" Joseph stands at that last sentence, and stretches his arms above his head after telling his story for so long. He puts his leg on the coffee table, and lunges into a stretch as Anne eyes him suspiciously.
Hm. Too bad my Stand wasn't able to learn anything else about DIO on the plane. Intel seems like it's more important than ever, and from Granny Erina's stories it seems that this DIO guy might be smart enough to avoid any simple tricks and goading…
While he's lost in thought, the hotel door opens to reveal Jotaro, holding a small paper bag. He blankly looks at the stretching Joseph, and goes to stand at the edge of the room overlooking the city. Reaching into his trenchcoat pocket, he puts the small bag in and pulls out a cigarette, lighting it and smoking as he looks out the broken window.
"Did you really leave just to get cigarettes?" Joseph stares at Jotaro's back in confusion, but Jotaro simply pulls out a small note and raises it for Joseph to take.
"Hey, can I have one?" Anne speaks up and sweetly asks Jotaro. Both Jotaro and Joseph respond almost instantly.
"No." Joseph gets up and takes the note, reading through it.
"Mr. Joestar, just as you requested, we are informing you of another digsite with Stone Masks. We have begun preliminary excavation, here are the coordinates. We can have transportation on standby if you'd like to inspect."
"I went to arrange a visit."
"What? Don't we have to wait for your friends?"
"We have some time. Besides, isn't there someone you're looking for?" Jotaro takes another drag of his cigarette.
Damn, this kid is smart. Miller might be there.
"Fine. Where are we headed that would give us enough time to meet with the others."
"Tibet. We should get there by the end of the day, I got us a ride."
"Oh, can I go?" Both Jotaro and Joseph respond in sync.
"No."
"Aww, how come you guys keep trying to ditch me?"
"Because you're just a middle schooler." Joseph blows a raspberry and pulls down an eyelid at her, but Jotaro turns around and tosses his cigarette out of the window.
"Because you need to watch my things, we should be back in a few days. Enjoy the penthouse suite." Anne gleams in adoration, while Joseph deflates a bit. "Hey, and gramps."
"What?" Joseph responds flatly.
"Wash your stinking clothes and meet me in the lobby. We're not going far." Jotaro goes to his room, leaving Joseph standing there a little humiliated. He sniffs his pits a bit, before wretching.
"Yeah, yeah. I'll get a shower, too." As the men get ready, Anne reclines on the sofa and turns on the TV. The default channel is a news station, and the newswoman on the screen seems to be in the middle of a special report.
"Workers at the Le Meridien report seeing a suspicious American male leaving the hotel parking lot on a horse, but so far no other suspects have been identified. The hotel cameras seem to have been fried due to electrical failure, so no one has been able to identify the bodies of the two women found in the dryer. The only real known fact is a bullet wound on both the women, but the gruesome state they were found in is only a mystery."
Anne flips the channel as the newscast switches to the weather, and finds an Indian dubbed version of the Karate Kid. She sits crosslegged, hands clenching her feet as she watches, enraptured.
Time passes…
After a short cab trip and a long elevator ride, Joseph finds himself on a rooftop of another building standing next to Jotaro. In front of them is a helipad, and the wind batters both of them as a helicopter begins its descent down. Shouting over the noise, Joseph nudges Jotaro with arm.
"What the hell is that thing?"
"It's a helicopter. It'll drop us off just outside of Llasa. From there we'll need a guide." Jotaro hops onto the helicopter, and Joseph notices the Speedwagon logo emblazoned on the side. He follows suit, and carefully mimics Jotaro as they both buckle in. The pilot hops out wordlessly, and refuels as both Joseph and Jotaro sit expectantly.
"So, uh. What's up?" Joseph says awkwardly.
"Ugh." Jotaro pulls out the shopping bag from earlier and thrusts it into Joseph's hands. "It's going to be loud in here so don't get any ideas about trying to talk to me." Confused, Joseph opens the bag to see three small cassettes.
"Wow, good thing I brought that cassette thingie!" Joseph fumbles with the cassettes as he tries to juggle between them and the bag.
I wouldn't go anywhere without this magic music device.
Finally looking close at each, he reads off the first album as he switches the cassettes.
"Make It Big by Wham!" Huh.
The music starts up through his earphones, and a gentle poppy tune comes out.
"Jitterbug…Jitterbug"
Woah, this stuff kind of sounds like the stuff I listened to! Definitely doesn't sound like Wamuu though…
The helicopter blades spin to life as Joseph snaps away in tune with the song, Jotaro staring out the closed door at the midday skyline. He begins to close his eyes, but keeps them cracked as he shouts to the cockpit.
"Hey pilot, when we get there, wake me up-" Joseph is still flagellating in the seat beside him, and screams out with the song he's listening to.
"Before you go-go!" Jotaro sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. The helicopter zips away into the shining New Delhi skyline.
END of CHAPTER 10