Jinnah International Airport, 36 Days to Save Holly
"...So in essence, one of us is separating the harmful force with negative Hamon, while the other reforms and stabilizes the body with positive Hamon." The older Joseph sweats a bit as he explains. Jotaro listens intently, but it's clear that everyone present has their doubts…
"I'd offer to do it myself, but Hamon doesn't work on the body of the person who produces it. It just conducts it naturally." Still on his back on the tarmac, the younger Joseph has a playful tone in his voice. Though he seems to be in a lot less pain.
"Any reason you're not screaming anymore?" In response to his older self, Joseph reaches up with his prosthetic hand with a thumbs up before he speaks.
"Hamon is a GREAT painkiller. But the longer you take, the harder it's going to be, huh?" He sits up and looks at Jotaro and the older version of himself, beaming with a smile while pointing at them both. "So let's just get in there and get it over with!"
I know that tone and that look, you fool. It's just odd being on the other side of it…
Star Platinum appears beside Jotaro, staring at its fingers as Jotaro closes his eyes to breath. Faint crackling of Hamon appears in Jotaro's open hands, and even fainter crackles ripple through Star Platinum's hands.
He's just a kid. Why are you so eager to let him kill you? This isn't a learning experience…it's a trial by fire…
The Joseph on the ground looks at his older self with a smirk, then winks.
What the hell is that supposed to mean?
"Hey, Jotaro. I want you to give something a try for me."
"I'm listening."
"Breathe in Hamon, then release it on a punch. But try to focus it on Star Platinum's hands."
"…" Jotaro is silent, unimpressed by the idea, but the younger Joseph continues.
"And make sure to have Star Platinum yell with the punch. Trust me."
"Tch." The older Joseph crosses his arms. But Jotaro follows the younger one's instructions, breathing deep before readying his fist back. With full lungs, Jotaro plunges a fist towards the ground, while Star Platinum mimics the motion.
"ORA" In time with the yell, a massive amount of Hamon surges through Star Platinum's arm and through his fists. Despite not contacting with anything, the blow crackles and pops with energy, causing a burst of compressed air to tighten and then expand, nearly knocking both Joseph's down.
"Ha! Great work, Jotaro!"
"A force amplifier on Star Platinum's fist…" The older Joseph regains his footing after the blast of air, and strokes his chin. "Not sure how that's useful for the moment…"
"To be fair, I was expecting more negative Hamon, maybe this asphalt exploding. But hey, you're good on positive Hamon! Definitely a more powerful punching arm!" A bead of sweat drips down the younger Joseph's face.
Idiot. That was your gamble? I have no sympathy if you die from this.
Just then, the expression on the younger Joseph's face turns to one of extreme strain. He grips his prosthetic hand with his other, real hand, then starts to scream louder than before.
"WHY DOES IT BURN NOW?"
"Hm…" The older Joseph strokes his chin some more, "Probably Avdol. Cauterizing the wound maybe?"
"Yeah, well, I'd prefer it if he just knocked his damn head off! Damn this hurts!" Joseph rolls around on the ground a bit, before Star Platinum reaches out and pins him to the tarmac with one hand.
"Stop moving, Jojo."
"Alright, Jotaro. Me and you. Focus on your positive Hamon. If you strengthen Star Platinum, you should be able to conduct that through Joseph's body. You probably don't need the whole fist, if the Stand is within his brain…"
"AAGHAHGHGAGHH! Someone stabbed me in the foot!"
"And ignore his screaming, Jotaro."
"Got it…" Jotaro breathes in deep, while the older Joseph extends the many vines of Hermit Purple out. Star Platinum readies up its pointer and middle finger as Hermit Purple pulses with Hamon.
A foreign Stand somewhere in his brain…it's a good thing he opened my eyes on Jotaro's Hamon. It will be a lot easier for my Hermit Purple to seek out the Stand with my own negative Hamon…Jotaro just has to match my intensity…
"Hold still, now." The older Joseph kneels down and extends his arm to the pinned man on the tarmac. Star Platinum focuses as well, then shouts as its fingers lengthen towards the younger Joseph's temple.
"ORA"
Karachi, 2220 Miles from Cairo
"You…people…are…INSANE!" Steely Dan is still rolling on the ground from his earlier loss of a hand. Anne steps on the man's side as he writhes, with a displeased look on her face.
"Hey, so, Avdol, are all Stand users this weak and lame?" She digs her foot in as the man continues to clench his teeth and seethe at his stump of a wrist.
"Well, in the past week I have fought an insecure man with a sports car and an actual baby." Avdol closes his eyes to think, resting his pointer finger on his nose and his thumb on his chin, before opening his eyes, pointing, and exclaiming, "This is definitely the weakest one yet!"
"Why? Why my hand?" The enemy Stand user uselessly squirms under the small teenage girl's foot, causing her to dig her heel into his ribs further.
"Shut up. I'm working through some stuff and you seem like a pretentious, cocky asshole." With a flick of her wrist, she tosses her butcher knife up in the air and catches it, "You want a go, Avdol?"
"Hm, I think I'll offer a kindness, Anne." Avdol takes a few steps towards the two, Magician's Red still active. "You're right, Mr. Steely Dan. I was too cruel earlier, hurting you with my Red Bind technique. Let me fix you up with a much more common technique."
Steely Dan's face lights up a bit before immediately souring on seeing Avdol's grin. Magician's Red dips down close to Steely Dan's stumpy wrist, fire wreathed around its human-like fingers.
"Better seal that wound so it stops bleeding. Wouldn't want you dying of blood loss, now." Avdol stands straight up and points at Steely Dan's wound, "MAGICIAN'S RED!"
The flames gush from his Stand's fingers and straight onto the wound, cauterizing it. Steely Dan screams louder than before, and Avdol can almost hear some echoed screaming from farther away…
"Uh, Avdol. You bring some friends with you?" Anne points to a group of shambling bodies at the entrance to the little shop they are in.
"You're lucky, Mr. Steely Dan." Avdol straightens up a bit and turns to face the incoming crowd. "You've bought yourselves a few minutes before we drag you back to our friends and get some answers from you."
Dans l'aéroport, À la recherche de Jotaro
Polnareff stumbles a bit after standing, having freshly rolled away from a swiping zombie. Or rather a controlled corpse.
That damn witch… Just as rotten as her devil son.
The image of the hag with two right hands flashes through his mind. Rage boils up, but he trudges on. He had been swiping down every body that approached him, but the stabs from Silver Chariot had only created more of those wounds, and the zombies grew faster, more articulate.
Shit…The best I can try and do is outrun these things…Are all these people just victims? DIO…a monster who surrounds himself with monsters…
After a bit of running through the terminal area, he smells burnt petroleum and smoke. And he also hears an unfamiliar scream.
Well, that's either Avdol or Jotaro…but wasn't Avdol with Joseph?
Rushing to the source of the noise, he finds himself in a strip of stores absolutely brimming with shambling bodies. A thick wave of smoke hangs at the top of the high ceilings, while a thick fog coats everything else. Thankfully, the many blasts of fire make it easier to figure out where to go.
"Avdol! It's me, Polnareff! Are you okay?" Leaping up and over the crowd of bodies, Polnareff finds himself in what appears to be a little kebab restaurant. Or former restaurant. The place is utterly scorched as Avdol stands stalwart in front of a bored looking Anne sitting on…someone.
"We are doing just fine, Polnareff." Avdol smiles gently as he looks at Polnareff. "Crossfire Hurricane!"
An ankh shaped gout of flame crashes into the group of encircling bodies as Polnareff dives further into the little cut out of a shop.
"Anne? You came with Jotaro, where did he go?"
"Eh, he ran after Joseph, probably…" She sighs a bit, not an ounce of worry in her tone. "You sure I can't help, Avdol?"
"Hah, if they were actual zombies, then your Hamon would be very handy." Avdol clicks his tongue and wags his finger behind him, still facing the encroaching bodies. "Stabbing them will only help their Stand user. The little holes in their bodies would become handholds for that fog to manipulate them."
"Uh, I may be a bit out of the loop, but what's going on here?" Polnareff points curiously at the man underneath Anne.
"Enemy Stand user, we already beat him. Mostly. His Stand is in Joseph, slowly killing him." Anne pops the man on the back of his head as he yelps a bit. Polnareff notices the man is missing a hand while Anne explains, and that his wrist is very freshly seared.
"Shouldn't you have just killed him, Avdol? He could try and attack us more, like that guy with yellow blob Stan-"
"Oh, Polnareff, all I did was seal his wounds. Anne did most of the work." As Avdol finishes, Anne waves at Polnareff with an innocent look.
"Anne? His hand is cut clean off!"
"GET THIS MANIAC GIRL OFF OF ME!" The previously silent man screams, flagellating and wiggling his limbs from under the girl, knocking her off balance. His legs smash into the counter behind him, causing him to wince while countless little kitchen utensils go flying across the room.
"…" Polnareff pauses, trying to puzzle things out.
Wait, this girl knows Hamon…cut a guy's hand off…has utterly scared this man to death…Is she a Stand user? Or, or, is Jotaro a Hamon Master like his grandfather? Hm…
Polnareff paces a bit in thought as Anne pounces back on the Stand user, pinning him against the countertop with her foot. As he walks, he feels something poking into his shoe, more than likely a piece of wayward kitchen paraphernalia.
"Where's Kakyoin?" Avdol says as he fires another geyser of flame, finally making some headway against the dense field of bodies in front of him. Polnareff reaches down as he responds, trying to retrieve whatever was poking at him.
"We found a hostage, some Stand user. Kakyoin is convinced that it's Mr. Joestar's unreliable Stand user friend." Getting a hand on the mystery prodding object, he yanks on it while keeping his other hand on his shoe to pry it free. He wrenches it from his shoe, finding it to be a small metal skewer. However, he wrenches it a bit too hard and pokes himself in his other forearm with it.
"Hah, I highly doubt you'd think that if you saw him…I'm afraid our mutual unreliable friend is the last thing you'd think to be a Stand user. What did this one look like?"
"Hm…" Polnareff inspects his minor stab wound, a small hole in his right forearm, barely bigger than if he were stabbed by a splinter. He licks his finger and rubs it on the wound before he responds, "A blonde cowboy. Purplish white gun Stand."
Suddenly, Anne spins around with daggers in her eyes. She runs up to Polnareff and grabs him with incredible strength.
What the hell got into her?
"You just LET him be alone with Kakyoin? He has a GUN!"
"Kakyoin said he had him…we had to find Jotaro!" Looking past Anne, he sees the enemy Stand user that she had been tormenting. Instead of the prior fear in his eyes, a look of smug confidence is plastered on the man's face. He grins, looking Polnareff in his eyes.
"He's fine! He's Jotaro! But that man with the gun is-" Anne is about to continue chewing Polnareff out, but Polnareff pushes her aside and summons Silver Chariot. He rushes up to the smug man and shouts.
"What did you do?" Silver Chariot extends its right arm out, the tip of its blade resting right below the Stand user's throat.
"Careful, Polnareff, if you stab him-" Avdol turns to look at Polnareff, but stops halfway in shock at what he sees. A dense layer of fog had entered the shop, though Polnareff hardly notices. He clenches a fist tight, with one finger extended to mimic Silver Chariot.
"He did something, Avdol! The bastard is smiling like he's already won the prize!"
"Polnareff…" Avdol's voice takes a grim tone. He points at Polnareff's right arm, and quietly says "Don't you realize who you're pointing at?"
Craning his neck a bit, he follows the path of his right arm. It no longer points at the man on the floor by the countertop. Instead it pointed at Anne. Along with Silver Chariot's blade, which is barely two inches from the little girl's forehead.
END of CONVERGENCE 4