Joseph strutted down the streets of New York with his trusted son by his side. They'd been following a floating tooth for quite a few minutes at this point. They had to shove past a few confused civilians every now and then, but they were making good time. The tooth was flying slowly due to Josuke's increased control over Crazy Diamond's ability. Still, the men had to maintain a slow jog in order to keep up. As they followed the trail, Josuke decided to bring up a sensitive topic.
"Hey Joseph?" He asked quietly. "Is there another reason you're avoiding using Hermit Purple? I know that the city is disrupting its accuracy, but there are other ways we could use it."
Joseph knew he'd been found out. He could have come up with any number of quick-witted lies, but there wasn't really a point. He huffed as they jogged along the sidewalk. "Ever since I got my youth back, I've felt incredible. My back doesn't hurt, I barely get tired, and I haven't needed to eat for days… I've never felt this great in my life."
"Shouldn't that mean your Stand is stronger too?"
"That's the thing… Every time I use Hermit Purple, I feel like a part of me is dying. Hamon is the embodiment of human vitality. It's supposed to be rejuvenating to use, like bathing your soul in spring water. It's never felt negative to use for me."
Josuke frowned. "I don't understand…"
"Blondie used Pillar Man cells to restore my youth… At first, I didn't realize how big of a catch there was. Every time I use Hamon, I'm killing more and more of those cells. Eventually, they'll all be gone." Joseph admitted.
"Does that mean you'll go back to being old?" Josuke shouted.
Joseph covered his cheek with one hand, hiding his eyes behind it with a smirk. "C'mon, why do you have to use the word 'old?' I'll still be strong and handsome."
The son frowned, looking down at the sidewalk as he jogged. "I guess I just liked having a younger Dad… You were already in your sixties when you had me." He mumbled.
"I know, son." Is all he could say. There wasn't a way to make Josuke feel better at the moment. Hell, there wasn't a way to make himself feel better. He just had to ignore it. "There's a silver lining, though. Blondie must be struggling with this, too! She used my Hamon blood to counteract the Pillar Man DNA just like I did. She may be experiencing the effects slower than I am, but I think a hearty overdrive might speed up the process."
"That's the plan, then? Fill her with Hamon and melt her youth away?" Josuke grinned.
"Along with my own. One of you youngins will need to shove her down the stairs for me when I'm done. Let's hope she's not wearing a Life Alert." Joseph snickered.
They bounded around a corner and stopped upon seeing the tooth slipping right into a subway entrance. Joseph held his breath for a moment, watching the tooth wisp above the heads of distracted New Yorkers and into the fathoms below. This was bad. Was it going to go onto the tracks? They wouldn't be able to follow it at that point!
"Does your tooth really wanna take a train?" Joseph joked. "We're getting our cardio in!"
Josuke looked serious as he analyzed the situation. "It wouldn't take a train… That must mean Blondie's in the subway right now. We just need to go down and look for her."
"That makes me feel much better… That's where I want to fight Blondie, underground and surrounded by innocent people."
"I see where I got my tendency to whine." Josuke grinned, marching toward the entrance to the subway.
"Oh, he got me good." Joseph admitted, following close behind.
After about thirty minutes of awkwardly following a frog around town, the kids eventually ended up inside the New York subway station. Ezra crouched down and carefully scooped the frog into her hands. She held it against her chest and prevented it from jumping away. Marina raised her brow.
"Aren't we following the frog? Why'd you stop it?"
"The frog doesn't know about potential traps…" Ezra mumbled. "It's gotten us this far. Shizuka is in this subway station. We shouldn't follow it any further, though. We need to move with caution."
Shirlie hugged herself with exhausted eyes as she stood beside the rest of the group. She was shaking and looked sickly pale. Pepsi placed a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm the girl down.
"Being deeper in the city is giving me a real headache, guys." She mumbled.
Pa-Pa-Power had gone away for the time being, which was very rare. Shirlie didn't even have the energy to keep him out at the moment.
"You still don't have any trace of Shizuka?" Ripley frowned. "Hang in there, Shirlie…"
Marina stepped up to Ezra with both hands in her pockets. She sighed, looking around the crowded subway. "Any of these people could be enemy Stand Users." She mumbled to the woman.
"I know." Ezra narrowed her eyes. "If we step deeper into the station, we could get killed before we even knew we were under attack."
"Do you really think Shizuka came all the way here on her own?" Marina frowned. "Or do you think she was… taken here?"
"...I don't know." Ezra admitted.
Marina hung her head and sighed. "Me either."
Eventually, they'd have to brave the unknown waters and go deeper into the station. Ripley was the first to drift a few feet away from the rest of the group. She was acting very casual as she meandered over to a nearby support pillar and leaned against it. The woman stared down the station in both directions in an attempt to spot anything even remotely suspicious. She narrowed her eyes, leaning a little further as she saw two men walking from behind.
"Wait a minute…" She mumbled. "C'mere guys!"
They quickly made their way over to Ripley.
"What?" Ezra tried to see what the woman was talking about.
"Those men over there… The tall one, and the one with purple hair." Ripley mumbled. "You don't think…?"
Marina's eyes widened. "My God, that's Gramps! I'd recognize that ass anywhere."
Everyone stared at her in absolute disbelief.
"What!? I'm a lesbian, but I have daddy issues."
"More like grand-daddy issues." Pepsi muttered.
"Fuck off and start running, okay?" Marina growled.
"Wait!" Ezra put her arm out and stopped the others from pursuing the Joestars. "This is too convenient. We're looking for Shizuka and we just so happen to stumble upon your friends? What if this is a trap? That might not be the real Joseph and Josuke."
Just as she finished speaking her piece, a pair of women were walking past the group. They were mumbling amongst themselves, but one part was very easy to hear.
"Were those guys chasing a floating tooth? I wish I had my camera." One of the women laughed.
"Okay, that's bizarre enough for me to believe it's them." Marina nodded, sprinting through the station in pursuit.
The others were close behind her as she tried to catch up with the men. "Joseph! Josuke!" She shouted at the top of her lungs.
Joseph froze in place, looking to see if Josuke followed suit. They exchanged knowing glances before turning around and assuming combat stances. Marina ground her heels into the pavement and stopped herself from slamming directly into them. "Whoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" She screamed, driving Bubblegum Bitch's bat into the ground to help her stop.
"Marina!?" Joseph shouted in disbelief.
"Gramps!" She laughed. "We finally caught up to you!"
"What the hell are you doing here?" Josuke demanded. "We left you in California for a reason."
"Oi." She growled, pointing a finger right at Josuke's nose. "I've already bonked one pig with my bat tonight, don't make me hit you."
Ripley and the others caught up after that.
"Mr. Joestar!" Ripley panted. "I'm sorry! There's way too much to explain! We're tracking Shizuka with a frog! It led us here!"
"Frog!? Shizuka!? Here!?" Joseph tried to keep up.
"We're tracking Blondie with a tooth, and it led us here!" Josuke asserted.
"Get an original arc, then." Pepsi shrugged.
"Pardon me, you're using a frog!?" Joseph ignored the teen's comment.
"Oh yeah, way more ridiculous than following a tooth." Marina crossed her arms.
"If you're following Shizuka, and we're following Blondie… Does that mean they're both here?" Josuke mumbled.
"What the hell is going on out here?" Jotaro stepped out of the turtle and appeared beside Josuke. He noticed the kids and shook his head. "Yare yare… What are they doing here?"
The frog squirmed uncontrollably in Ezra's hands, managing to wriggle its way out of her grip and plopping onto the floor. It hopped toward a maintenance door about twenty feet away. The silver-haired woman gasped. Shizuka must have been close if the frog was struggling fervently to get to that door!
"The frog!" She shouted, pointing toward the green boy as he hopped across the bustling station.
"The tooth wants to go that way too!" Josuke 'fixed' the tooth once again and allowed it to float toward the door.
Just as they were about to head over to the door, a familiar voice cut through the busy station and caught all of their attention. It wasn't a welcome one.
"What in tarnation!?" Hol Horse shouted at the top of his lungs, resting one hand on his hat while he pointed the other at the group.
"It's the Joestars!" Fugo gasped.
Things were getting very complicated. Jotaro stopped in his tracks and motioned for the others to do the same. Star Platinum appeared beside him and raised its fists defensively.
"Hol Horse?" He growled. "I knew you had something to do with this. Shizuka mentioned you being in the hotel."
"Yeah, you're right." Joseph stepped forward and pointed at the cowboy. "How much did Blondie pay you, huh? You're the same as ever!"
"Paid me!? Jotaro, I bet there's nothing under that hat of yours but hair! And I don't even know who the handsome one's supposed to be!" He pointed at Joseph in anger.
Fugo was silent. Normally, he'd be yelling at Hol Horse for making things worse with his combative nature, but he couldn't find his voice. He wasn't looking at the Joestars, nor was he paying any mind to the cowboy. Fugo was staring a thousand yards into space as he tried to understand the sight before him.
"Ezra…?" He whispered.
This caused the woman to avert her eyes, stepping to the side in an attempt to hide behind Jotaro.
"Ezra Dawn!" Fugo put his foot down.
"What?" Hol Horse seemed surprised.
"The guy from Passione knows Ezra?" Pepsi was the first to put it together.
"Wait a minute… Yeah! I recognize him from Italy! What was his name? Pansexual something?" Marina snapped her fingers as she tried to remember the strawberry blond's name.
"It's Pannacotta Fugo." The man stomped his foot.
"Fugo!?" A woman called from inside the turtle. Trish stepped out of Mr. President and into the subway station. She stared at the man in disbelief. "What are you doing in America!?"
"Trish?" Fugo slapped his palm against his face. "You're caught up in all of this too!?"
"Guys, why does Fugo know Ezra?" Pepsi shouted this time, demanding everybody's attention.
Everybody looked at Ezra in confusion. The woman had been trying to shrink into the crowd, but she couldn't accomplish that anymore. She shrank into herself, unsure of what to say.
"I thought you were dead." Fugo panted.
"I'm sorry," Ezra still wouldn't look him in the eyes.
Things were out of control at this point. Pepsi knew it wasn't a coincidence that they all ran into each other in this station. It was part of Blondie's scheme… That's when they noticed a familiar figure walking toward the very door they needed to go through. The man's mask was the same as in Germany, and Pepsi would never forget it. He walked through the door, kicking the frog and swiping the tooth out of the air.
"The man from Germany is here! He just went through that door!" Pepsi pointed across the station.
"The one we fought in the cafe?" Joseph gasped. "That means we're close!"
Jotaro didn't wait one more second before sprinting toward the door. He could deal with this annoying reunion later. He didn't care about Ezra or how she knew Fugo. He didn't even care about Hol Horse. All he cared about was finding Shizuka and making Blondie pay. If one of her henchmen was right beyond that door, he'd start there. It'd be a good way to gather some information. Jotaro swung the door open and bolted down the hall.
Mortimer arrived at Blondie's side just in time. The woman hissed with joy, parting her crimson lips and dragging her tongue along the bottom in anticipation.
"Tell me the exact time to detonate it, Mortimer." Blondie instructed.
"Yes, Ma'am. I'll wait until the damage is the worst it can be before saving the event."
Jotaro bounded around a corner and saw the two standing at the end of the hall. There was a crossroads in the middle of the corridor that likely led to other parts of the station. He had her in his sights. Finally, after weeks of waiting he'd have another chance to punch Blondie into orbit. He heard the others rushing in behind him, but it barely mattered. Jotaro was so angry at that moment, he could barely think. If he'd taken just a moment to assess the situation, he'd realize how blatant Blondie's trap really was.
He ran down the hall and prepared to stop time. Blondie might be able to kill him with a single touch, but Jotaro could destroy her head in frozen time. If she died instantly, she wouldn't have any time to retaliate with Rapture. That was his plan. He'd cleared about half the distance between them.
"Jotaro!" Joseph shouted in anger. "What the hell's gotten into you!?"
"He's gonna kill himself!" Josuke gasped.
Blondie ran her hand up her body, taking care to squeeze herself just right as she waited for Mortimer to give her the signal. She was practically on the edge of orgasm from sheer anticipation alone. Jotaro Kujo was about to be no more… That, and the rest of the meddlesome Joestars. Speedwagon was wrong to put so much stock into this dramatic family. Blondie knew from the beginning that her mentor's love for Jonathan blinded him… She would be objective enough for both of them…
"He doesn't care if he dies…" Shirlie whispered with a hand over her mouth. "His emotions, they're screaming. What's gotten him so angry?"
"Somebody's gotta stop him!" Josuke started to run after him.
Joseph grabbed his son's shoulder and kept him still. "No, Josuke! You can't run into a trap just because Jotaro's being reckless! We need to think about this!"
"Uhm, guys…" Ripley mumbled. "I think we already ran into the trap…"
Jotaro was almost upon Blondie now. She gave Mortimer an annoyed scowl, but the man didn't respond. She waited, absolutely confident in Boston Foreplay's ability to time this perfectly. Her hand rested on the wall as she grinned at her opponent. Finally, just as she was about to swear at him, Mortimer shouted.
"Now!"
Blondie let out a wicked laugh, slapping both hands against the wall and summoning Rapture from thin air. The avian Stand threw its head back and let out a piercing screech. Its eyes began to glow amber as the wall resonated to the Stand's touch. Jotaro stopped in his tracks, but it was too late. The walls began to explode! Blondie must have lined the entire corridor with some kind of explosive compound! It swept across the hall in a corkscrew pattern, spinning from the ceiling to the floor repeatedly. Jotaro's eyes widened, and he barely had time to react.
"Star Platinum! THE WORLD!" He flexed his arms and took a deep breath.
Time rippled and distorted all around him as Star Platinum roared into action. Jotaro saw the burning flames in front of him and knew there was no time to help the others. His skin was already burnt from the blast. If he waited around any longer, he'd be killed. The man let out an angry cry and punched a hole in the wall beside him. He managed to jump through the shattered wall and take cover just before time resumed.
The explosion continued its way down the hall, and the others weren't able to pause it on a whim. Josuke stepped in front of the group and readied his Stand. Crazy Diamond spun out of his back and clenched its fist with a scowl.
"Crazy Diamond!" He screamed, punching in the direction of the explosion with all his might.
It had some effect, but not nearly enough! This wasn't a single explosion, but a chain reaction that spread through the hall like a wildfire. Josuke couldn't "fix" them all into place at once. He needed to focus on one or two. The rest of the blasts blew past him.
Joseph only had a split second to think. He grabbed the two people closest to him, which happened to be Trish and Ripley. With that, he shoved them into the turtle before entering the Stand himself. They slammed into the floor with a loud thud! Joseph threw his gaze up to the outside and saw a blazing inferno overcoming the world around them. Would the turtle even survive? Would they die if the Stand deactivated with them inside? His plan certainly wasn't outstanding, but he didn't have flashy Stand abilities like his descendants!
Fugo watched as the blast grew closer by the second. The heat was already burning him, and he knew it would be over in a flash. Josuke was blown back by another explosion, landing right beside the others as he struggled to think of a solution. He noticed the turtle standing on the ground and acted as quickly as he could. Crazy Diamond KICKED the turtle as hard as it could, making sure to fix it at the same time. The poor turtle bounced multiple times off the walls and bounded down the hall in the direction of the explosions. It would be able to pass through safely and end up on the other side.
Josuke noticed Pepsi, Shirlie and Marina right in front of him and grabbed them with his Stand. He slammed a hole in the wall with his Stand and hurled the teens through it without second thought. He gave a passing glance to the others, but deemed them too far away to help. All he could do was dive through the hole he created and close it back up with Crazy Diamond.
Fugo and Hol Horse felt like the last ones left out high and dry. That is, until Ezra stomped in front of them both. She drove her feet into the ground and tore the mask from her face. This gave her a moment to take a few deep breaths before summoning her Stand with a roar.
"GOLD EXPERIENCE!"
She screamed at the top of her lungs, ripping the scarf from her neck and transforming it into a thin layer of organic protection. She spread the scarf so thin that it wasn't even a centimeter thick, though it easily covered her entire body as the explosions grew closer.
"Get behind me!" She shouted at Hol Horse and Fugo.
The men obeyed quickly, hiding behind the smaller woman. As soon as they got close, she extended the skin-tight layer of protection onto them by transforming her shirt into more organic matter. This left her wearing nothing but a bra and pants, but she was able to protect her allies from the blast.
Fugo closed his eyes and prepared himself for the worst. There was simply no way that a thin layer of organic material would protect him from the incoming explosions! He made peace with the universe and said one last goodbye to Passione in his heart. That's when he felt the blast wash over his body and met its impossible heat. Despite being able to feel it in all its intensity, Fugo didn't feel like he was burning to death. Yes, it was hotter than he'd ever been, but it sure didn't feel like death. He'd read about powerful enough flames being able to instantly destroy a human's nerve endings and render them incapable of feeling pain. That always gave him comfort as a child when he feared dying in a house fire, but this wasn't like that at all! He could still feel everything! He felt the heat, the sweat on his skin, and the stinging in his chest as he breathed in all of the fumes. He just wasn't burning!
His eyes finally opened, and he was met with a surprising sight. The layer of organic matter was almost completely on fire at this point! It burned a bright orange like the final cinders in a dying campfire, but it stayed completely free from his skin! Was he only feeling the residual heat that was emitted from this organic matter? How the hell was this happening? He glanced at Hol Horse and saw the cowboy was experiencing a similar sensation.
Ezra Dawn stood her ground as the organic material burned all around her. She grimaced, feeling the death of a billion organisms at her fingertips, but she didn't falter for even a second. Eventually, the fires ended… The hall began to collapse as large pieces of the ceiling fell all around. Fugo caught his breath, noticing Ezra was struggling to stand. He grabbed her, frantically searching for a way out.
"Hol Horse, we've gotta get her out of here!"
"Who's she, anyway!? Your girl?" Hol Horse questioned.
"Oh absolutely not." Fugo grinned. "But I am devoted to her. You're stronger than me! Carry her back to the subway!"
"Can-do, Captain!" He grabbed Ezra in one arm and slung her over his shoulder. With that, he sprinted down the hall and left the collapsing corridor. Fugo noticed the turtle, but didn't have time to grab it. Rubble and concrete were collapsing all around the area. He'd be killed if he didn't leave immediately. The blond sprinted down the hall after Hol Horse, narrowly escaping a slab of rock that landed right behind him.
Blondie stood behind a protective barrier created by Rapture. She snarled in disgust, knowing full well that a few of the Joestars managed to get away. The woman yawned, taking a sip of her wine.
"Was that the best iteration, then?" She asked Mortimer.
"Yes, Madame. It didn't go better than that." He sighed.
"Alright then…" She dropped her glass and allowed it to shatter against the concrete. The woman turned on her heel and walked into the dark hall behind the barrier. "Kill the stragglers. Use her if you must."
Mortimer took a deep breath and nodded obediently. Good lord, that could have gone wrong in so many ways. Blondie was really lucky to have a Stand like Boston Foreplay among her elite ranks. Still, he couldn't ensure a single confirmed kill. There could be quite a few stragglers running around the maintenance tunnels… He wouldn't be surprised if the boss let "her" out to play.
At the very least, he'd successfully separated the group. They'd be much weaker now. It wasn't like they were a very comprehensive team to begin with. They didn't stand a chance against what was coming for them. He almost pitied them… Sabella didn't leave much to bury, after all…
Josuke was coughing out a lung as he lay on the cold concrete floor. It was very dark, and he had no idea how many people actually made it out of that disastrous ambush. He tried to rub his eyes, but it was still so dark.
"Kids! Are you okay!?" He coughed.
Marina was the first to chime in. She was gasping for air at the moment. "F-Fucking hell… What a crazy bitch. She went and blew up a subway station just to kill us…"
"It didn't work." Josuke assured himself. "What about the twins!? Are you both alright?"
"Shirlie isn't moving." Pepsi mumbled.
Josuke followed their voice and found the twins with ease. "Don't worry, okay? I can heal her. I'll heal all of you. Just c'mere."
Crazy Diamond placed its hand on Shirlie and fixed anything that was wrong with her. There was a brief glow that showed everybody a general idea of the others locations. Soon, he'd healed all three of the teens and let out a sigh of relief. He had a few wounds himself, but there wasn't anyone around who could fix that for him.
"That was really smart." Pepsi mumbled. "They must have known we'd find ways to track them down, so they led us right into a bottleneck. That could have killed all of us."
"The trap isn't over." Marina growled. "We're not dealing with grunts and mooks anymore… This is the last level. I'm sure we're still right where they want us."
"I'm afraid you're right." Josuke frowned. "They had to know a few of us would survive that. Which means they'll have somebody hunting the survivors… Right now, that's us. We need to get moving."
"But… where the heck are we?" Shirlie mumbled, staring into the pitch black around them.
Jotaro waited for the explosions to finish before he lifted his head and looked around. When he turned to face the hole he created in the wall, he was greeted with a pile of rubble that almost completely obstructed the way back. Even if he could get back through that hall, what would be waiting for him? He didn't want to shred rubble into powder all day. There had to be a simpler way around. He'd find the others, then he'd kill Blondie…
How had he been so stupid? He wasn't naive, Jotaro knew Shizuka was most likely dead. That blood in the church was probably hers, and she could've easily gotten a good blow in on Blondie's tooth before going down… That's why he'd lost his cool. The idea of that horrible, wicked woman killing a little kid like that made him feral. He didn't just want to stop Blondie anymore. He wanted to make her hurt. He wanted to make her bleed… He'd punch holes through her augmented body until it stopped patching itself up, then he'd burn the remains. That's what he'd do…
The man struggled to his feet with a groan. He wasn't getting any younger, and stopping time always did a number on his stamina. If he practiced, it was a bit easier, but he'd never consider it something "easy." Jotaro walked over to the nearest door and pushed it open. He found himself in an identical hallway as before. This must have been some kind of maintenance network for the subways. If he didn't take the right path, he might stumble around for miles.
"Yare yare daze…" He groaned, limping down the dark hall. He'd find the way eventually.
First, he went left. That's the general direction the rest of his friends must have gone if they lived. He had to assume they survived that little stunt. Blondie must have known that a simple explosion couldn't kill all of them. Not if she wanted to leave the city in one piece, at least.
The police would be arriving within minutes. An explosion in the subway wouldn't be taken lightly by anybody. He'd have to be careful, otherwise he might be pinned as the bomber and arrested. The more distance he put between himself and the explosion site, the better.
As he trudged down the hall, Jotaro tried to make sense of the attack that just took place. It seemed odd, but he was having trouble keeping the sequence in order. Maybe he was seeing red with rage, but he should've remembered it clearer than he did. If he didn't know any better, he'd say the explosion happened multiple times. It's not that he remembered multiple explosions, no, it was even odder than that. It was sort of like déjà vu… He couldn't say why, but he had a feeling of repetition in his gut when he remembered the events in the hall.
As he turned another corner, the sensation happened again. It stopped Jotaro in his tracks. The man stood there and patted himself in confusion. Had this happened before? He had the uncanny feeling that he'd turned that corner multiple times. He couldn't recall doing it more than once, but the feeling was unnerving.
His keen senses alerted him of danger in the nick of time when he caught a knife out of thin air with Star Platinum. His eyes widened, and he looked at the knife with the same confusion as before. When he caught the knife, he felt like it was the twentieth time he'd done it! This was too consistent to be déjà vu… He was being messed with.
Star Platinum's enhanced eyes stared into the dark hall for any sign of danger. He spotted a hooded figure walking through the shadows. Stat Platinum threw the knife with lightning speed and killer precision directly at the shady figure. To Jotaro's amazement, the figure managed to deflect the knife with another weapon. He saw a spark of light as the weapons clashed together. Just as he witnessed the flash, Jotaro got the sense that he'd seen the deflection a hundred times before…
His head was starting to ache. Why did he feel such a potent sense of déjà vu over a simple toss of a knife? How did his opponent manage to deflect a knife thrown by Star Platinum? He didn't even see a Stand. It was just a human body that did the deed!
"Who are you?" He called down the hall, his voice echoing off the pavement.
Jotaro was met with a long pause. He felt a shiver run up his back as he stared at the vaguely defined shadow in the distance. Something wasn't right… Even by the standards of his battles, this was odd. He couldn't shake that sense of déjà vu, even though the situation was so dire! Didn't he have better things to think about at such a time? He'd always trusted his instincts, and rightly so. They'd gotten him this far, after all.
"My name is Mortimer." The shadow finally murmured.
"Mortimer, huh? Bit of a classic. Were you named in the last century?" Jotaro grinned, trying to keep himself calm.
"I was born in 1974." The man droned. "I'm getting really tired of this conversation. Can we skip to the part where I kill you?"
Tired of it? They'd only exchanged a few words! When Jotaro actually thought about it though, he was pretty tired of the conversation too. It felt like it'd been dragging on for an eternity! Why was he feeling this way? It had to be the work of Mortimer's stand. Jotaro tried to think back on all the oddities that had occurred up to that point, but there wasn't much to work with. The man managed a very good catch, that was about it.
Despite the impending danger, Jotaro couldn't help but smile at the threat. He was well aware of his unnatural love of fighting. It was certainly a character flaw, but he'd indulge in it for the moment. It would only be much later when he regretted it…
"Kill me? You can try it. I'll give you a fair warning, though." He pointed at Mortimer as he leaned his head back. "Stronger men have tried."
"You're talking about Dio, right?" Mortimer took a few steps through the darkness. "Or maybe you mean Yoshikage Kira? Perhaps you're talking about the rat that caused your flesh to melt into a grotesque abomination with poison darts? These are all enemies you had to resort to freezing time to defeat, am I mistaken? Not many Stand Users can push you to the edge… In fact, you actively avoid freezing time during battles because it drains you so easily."
Jotaro let out a low growl. The worst part of being betrayed by the Speedwagon Foundation was the sheer amount of intel they had on him. He knew nothing about this Mortimer punk, but it appeared the enemy knew everything there was to know about him.
"You're a stoic guy, Jotaro… Aside from the occasional one-liner, you stay pretty quiet during fights. Although… I think I know of one way to force you out of your calm shell. You're known to act very irrationally if you're angry. That's why you stormed your way down the hall, isn't it? You were so angry that you couldn't even stop to think if it was a trap?"
Jotaro just clenched his fists and imagined how good it would feel to pummel Mortimer through about ten layers of concrete.
"You're right, you know? Your anger was justified." Mortimer mumbled.
The man's eyes widened when he heard this. Jotaro felt a heavy weight pushing against his chest. He shook his head ever-so-slightly.
"Shizuka's dead. I moved her body here myself… We knew your group had enough abilities to track her down. To be honest, we didn't expect the whole gang to pile down the hall at once, though. You really outdid yourselves."
Jotaro gnashed his teeth together as he stared at the floor. He felt the wrath of his fighting spirit threatening to overcome him and take control. The man's fists trembled, and soon he felt Star Platinum roaring out with an echoing battle cry.
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRA!"
The Stand screamed at the top of its lungs, driving its fist into the wall and causing an explosion of concrete and rubble to fill the hall. Before Jotaro even realized what he was doing, Star Platinum had gathered half a dozen shards of concrete and readied itself to throw them. He gritted his teeth, nodding as his Stand lobbed the rocks at an impossible speed down the hall. Its eyes saw Mortimer clearly in the dark, and its aim was true. This was going to hurt.
Just as the first shard of concrete was about to meet its target, Jotaro was shaken by an undeniable sense of déjà vu. It pierced through the thick veil of rage that currently had a hold on him, causing the man to hold his breath for a moment. He'd felt like things were happening over and over again since he first laid eyes on Mortimer, but this was different. As he watched the slabs of concrete hurdle through the air, he felt like he'd seen this very sight hundreds of times!
While he was busy feeling sick to his stomach from the sense of repetition, he didn't even notice Mortimer stepping closer toward him in the hall. Jotaro felt like his heart might stop when he noticed the man was completely unharmed. How did he do that!? His unbridled rage from before was replaced with a sense of total confusion.
Soon, Mortimer was close enough to be seen by Jotaro's own eyes. There wasn't much lighting in the dim hall but a few overhead lights flickering every ten feet or so. He finally got a good look at his opponent in the flickering light as his eyes strained to adjust to it.
Mortimer was an odd sight to be sure. He wore a pair of ripped purple jeans along with a pair of old sneakers. His dark blouse was tucked in, though one of the straps of his suspenders hung down below his waist. He didn't seem to care enough to adjust it. He wore a long scarf covering his neck, and a pair of old leather gloves over both hands. Considering the mask, all of Mortimer's skin was covered except for a few shadowy glimpses through the rips in his jeans.
The mask was the strangest part of the outfit. It had two dark, mysterious holes in the eyes, though Jotaro couldn't see through them. The rest of the mask was almost like a clock. It had a hand for the minute and hour slowly ticking away as the man stood there ominously. Did the mask have a battery? Who would want a damn clock on their face?
"I'm curious, Jotaro…" Mortimer mused to himself. "Do you feel anything odd? I've always wondered if you'd be able to sense my ability somehow."
So it wasn't normal to be feeling these things in his presence? Why would Mortimer think Jotaro was any different? Unless… No, that couldn't be it. All logic pointed toward it, but Jotaro simply didn't want to entertain the idea.
Did Mortimer have dominion over time?
Jotaro was only aware of three people that had time abilities other than himself. Dio, Yoshikage Kira, and an Italian man named Diavolo… They were all incredibly dangerous individuals who could cause unprecedented devastation to the world if they wished. All three of them were dead. He was of the belief that dominion over time was simply too dangerous for anybody to possess with impunity. If Mortimer could control time, Jotaro needed to put him down.
"Do you feel anything when I stop time?" He answered the question with another question.
Mortimer grinned, knowing Jotaro had caught on. "I do. There's this little tickle in the back of my mind. I know something's off. It's a little jarring though, because you vanish before my eyes half the time."
Jotaro's eyes drifted to the shattered bits of concrete that sprawled around the floor beside him. This would be a good opportunity to take the bastard by surprise. That's when he felt déjà vu yet again.
"Oh, and before you waste the effort, throwing things at me in frozen time won't work." Mortimer sighed.
He knew exactly what Jotaro was going to do! Jotaro tried to think up all the different abilities that might explain Mortimer's odd behavior, but he was coming up short. It had to have something to do with time, and it needed to explain the déjà vu! Star Platinum and The World had the ability to stop time at will. Killer Queen's Bites the Dust could rewind time to a particular point in order to undo the discovery of Kira's identity. King Crimson could skip past undesired moments in time to protect the user and place him in a more advantageous position. What did Mortimer's Stand do!? Where did it fall into all of this?
Pause, rewind, or skip forward? He felt like certain events had taken place hundreds of times before. In fact, he had an almost uncanny sense for the amount of times a given action had been repeated. His stomach sank as it hit him.
Mortimer had the ability to rewind time and attempt an action as many times as he wanted!
That didn't make sense. What would happen if Jotaro managed to kill the man? Would it end the cycle, or would it simply rewind time yet again? He felt sweat forming on his back as the implications of this ability really set in. Something like that couldn't possibly exist, could it? How could someone even defeat an ability like that? There had to be something he was missing! Otherwise, he and the rest of the world were doomed.
"Why would someone like you be working for Blondie?" He broke the silence.
Mortimer didn't show any signs of emotion with his body language, and that mysterious mask kept his true feelings hidden.
"I believe in her mission."
"Bullshit." Jotaro crossed his arms. "Her mission is insane. The odds she'd find someone as powerful as you who also agrees with her batshit worldview are effectively zero. Why don't I try this again? Tell me why you're working for her."
"I don't think you're the one calling the shots here, Jotaro." Mortimer took another step forward. Still, he was well outside Star Platinum's effective range.
"Okay then… Let me ask a followup question. If you're as strong as you're implying, how am I even alive?"
"We're in the middle of a conversation, aren't we? I'm not rude." Mortimer took another step.
"How many times have I killed you during this conversation?" Jotaro demanded.
Mortimer stopped in his tracks. The way he held himself implied that he was slightly shocked, though his tone would be one of amusement.
"Twelve." He admitted.
"Well then… I guess I'm the rude one." Jotaro cracked his knuckles and rolled his neck around. "But in my defense, it's rather impolite to be alive when someone's killed you twelve times. You think you'd learn to take a hint."
"Thirteen."
Jotaro's heart practically stopped. He had a plan to kill Mortimer, but to learn it succeeded and then was immediately undone really took the wind from his sails. This wasn't as simple as a rewind button. Mortimer's ability worked even during death! That meant Jotaro couldn't just crush his brain in frozen time and call it a day! He needed to find a way to make Mortimer's death permanent! He also had a massive disadvantage, because he couldn't remember any of the ways he'd managed to kill the bastard. How could he know what would even work?
"I see why Blondie sent you after me." Jotaro nodded. "You might be a bigger threat than she is… Guess I'm lucky I caught you on my way to finish her off. Today's shaping up to be pretty damn productive."
Mortimer let out a low chuckle under his mask. "You've done the impossible before, Jotaro, but I doubt even you could manage that."
"How about you take that mask off? It's muffling your voice and really getting on my nerves." Jotaro growled. "You know so much about me, and I'm not even allowed to see your face?"
"Unfortunately, you'll never get to see my face. In fact, I doubt you'll be seeing much of anything soon."
Jotaro's eyes fixed on Mortimer's hand as the man reached into his back pocket. His draw was so quick and true that it even managed to surprise Jotaro's sharp eyes. Mortimer fired six rounds out of his revolver before Jotaro even realized what was happening. Star Platinum lunged forward, catching five of the bullets expertly as they launched through the air. His Stand's reflexes were worlds faster than his own reaction time. Still, he could see through Star Platinum's eyes and process the world around him in a supernatural sense significantly faster than his normal eyes would allow. He noticed the sixth bullet wasn't taking a regular course. In fact, he'd already caught the sixth round fired. He was looking at the fifth bullet from the chamber as it bounced off of the concrete wall and ricocheted directly toward Jotaro's chest.
His eyes widened, but there wasn't any time to act. The bullet lodged itself right into his chest and sent him tumbling onto the floor. Mortimer stepped slightly closer as he watched a deep red pool of blood staining the inside of Jotaro's shirt. A wicked grin came across his face when he saw the results of his shot.
Yes, Mortimer had tried that volley of gunfire about one-hundred times to get it just right! He needed to fire four bullets at Jotaro before bouncing the fifth off of the wall and firing a sixth in its place. This fooled the arrogant man just as Mortimer had hoped! He didn't have time to process the unreal speed of the bouncing bullet! If Mortimer wasn't mistaken, Star Platinum didn't even have a chance to stop time!
This was good! Jotaro might not be dead, but a gunshot to the chest was an outstanding start! Mortimer used his ability to "save" his progress right at this point. There was no escaping this bullet for Jotaro anymore. Reality had merged back into one timeline, and Mortimer had locked all of his progress into time for good. Not even he could go back anymore!
That's when he heard the booming sound of a bullet.
Mortimer's eyes widened as he fumbled to do something, but there was no time. A bullet slammed into his mask, fracturing it instantly and sending him back a few feet. He didn't lose his footing, but the impact nearly broke his nose! What even happened!? It didn't matter! He'd just reset to his save point!
Reset.
Mortimer smiled, his mask was once again in pristine condition! Before he had time to gloat, the bullet rammed into his forehead yet again! He cursed as his body was thrown back by the force. A bit of blood trickled down his face after the second round. He'd been hit even harder that time! That simply wouldn't do! He could fix this! He could dodge it!
Reset.
The very moment he regained control in the previous timeline, Mortimer swung his head to the side in an attempt to dodge the bullet. This time, the bullet blew his left ear clean off.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" He screamed in agony, blood gushing profusely from the gaping hole in his head. He nearly threw up from the pain… It wasn't very often that someone landed that clean of a blow on him! It wouldn't be long, though!
Reset.
Mortimer tried to duck this time. This only caused the bullet to miss his forehead and graze its way across his entire scalp. This caused him to bleed uncontrollably, and he worried that it might've even cracked his skull! He didn't even take the time to process the pain before moving on.
Reset.
Jotaro felt the déjà vu setting in once again. In fact, this one felt worse than ever before! He recalled the last second taking place hundreds of times! He lifted his head and watched as Mortimer stumbled back with a large crack making its way through his mask. Jotaro grinned as a bit of blood slowly trickled onto the man's scarf.
"I knew you'd try something like that…" He spat, sitting up as blood pooled on his stomach from the gunshot. "I wanted to test your ability, and now I'm certain of its limits… You might be able to rewind time, but you can only go back to a certain point! I theorized that you set that point manually whenever something happens that you want to save."
He pushed the bullet out of his chest with Star Platinum, revealing that the wound was only surface level. His Stand had caught the bullet after all!
"I just had to give you something juicy enough to save right away. Then, I timed my attack to hit you right when you saved. I flicked a bullet right at that stupid mask of yours… Looks like it's about to fall apart." He grinned.
Mortimer felt the mask splintering as Jotaro gloated. The cracks branched in multiple directions, threatening to break the mask into multiple pieces at any moment. He growled, reaching up and pulling the mask off his face with a snarl.
Mortimer was a sight for sore eyes. His skin was wrinkled and blotchy like an old man's, and his eyes had some serious bags underneath them. His expression was certainly a surprise to Jotaro. He'd expected an angry scowl or a sinister grin, but Mortimer had neither. No, the man just looked absolutely spent. He was more exhausted than Jotaro had ever seen a man. It wasn't an issue of physical endurance. Instead, Mortimer's soul looked tired. It was obvious in his eyes.
"Wow, I'll be." Jotaro pulled himself to his feet with a grin. "You're fuckin' ugly, pops. I thought you said you were born in '74? You're younger than me! I gotta say, you don't look a day over ninety."
Mortimer was clearly enraged by the mocking nature of Jotaro's words, but there was also a great deal of shame on his face. He looked almost like a beaten animal as his eyes darted all around. He wasn't used to looking his opponent in the eyes, that much was clear.
"Hey, old man." Jotaro snapped his fingers. "Look at me when I'm talking to you. I'm not finished."
Jotaro flicked the blood from his fingers with a sigh.
"I think I've pieced it all together. Let me know if I'm missing anything." He took a breath. "You can go back to your save point whenever you want. If you're killed, you're automatically sent back to it? That seems unbeatable, but knocking that mask off your ugly mug gave me the last piece of the puzzle. I believe that you were born in 1974, but you look older than sin. That's because you keep aging during all of your resets, don't you? You've been using this ability of yours to cheat at life for how many years? Enough to look like this, I imagine."
Mortimer let out a low growl. "Watch your mouth, Jotaro."
"I'll take that as a 'yes.' That completes this little puzzle." Jotaro grinned.
He lifted both of his index fingers and held them about a meter apart.
"This is your save point." He wiggled his right index finger. "This is your death." He wiggled the left. "All I have to do is take your save point and put it so close to your death that all you can do for the rest of your life is die by my hands. Then, you'll wrinkle into a raisin and die of old age instantly." He pushed his fingers together. "That, or you can prevent your ability from saving you, sparing you from years of painful death. The choice is yours."
Mortimer cast his mask aside and let it shatter against the floor. Steam was practically blowing from his ears at this point, he was so angry.
"It's pretty bold to tell your enemy your plan right at the start, Jotaro." Mortimer spat. "I hope it doesn't bite you in the ass."
"This is as simple as telling a cow I'm going to eat it someday." Jotaro shook his head. "You might not like it, but there's nothing you can do to stop me."
For the first time, it really seemed like Mortimer was losing his cool. The man's teeth were almost chattering as he twitched his jaw repeatedly.
"I'd like to see you try, Jotaro." He growled. "I think I'm going to enjoy your death about a dozen times before I finally save it… I'll tell you every time, basking in the feeling as the number gets higher and higher. How hopeless will you feel when I tell you that you've died fifty times, I wonder?"
"Big talk for a man who won't approach me." Jotaro smirked.
"You can't beat the shit out of me if I don't come any closer." Mortimer fired back.
Jotaro couldn't help but laugh. "You're standing just beyond my effective range for a reason! What's it gonna take to convince you to take another step toward me? I give great hugs." The venom in Jotaro's voice was palpable.
"I'm fine with standing here all day, Jotaro. You'll find that I'm much more patient than most." Mortimer licked his lips.
"If that's true, I might have to deploy my secret technique." Jotaro mumbled.
"There's no such thing as a secret the Speedwagon Foundation doesn't know about! What are you considering? Star Finger? Maybe you'll stop your own heart so I'll think you died of a heart attack? You don't have anything that can surprise me?"
Jotaro actually smiled, shrugging his shoulders and placing his hands in his pockets. "This technique is a secret among the Joestar bloodline… We don't ever talk about it, not even with the Speedwagon Foundation."
"You're bluffing." Mortimer warned.
"You don't have this on your records. It's a Joestar family tradition." Jotaro lifted his eyes, glaring sharply into Mortimer's gaze.
"Wait… Are you…?" Mortimer mumbled.
"Star Platinum, THE WORLD!"
In a blip, Jotaro was already halfway down the hall. He'd blown right past Mortimer and showed no sign of stopping. Jotaro sprinted as fast as he could, swinging around the corner and making a hard right out of Mortimer's view. His shoes continued to click against the damp concrete floor of the subway maintenance halls, leaving Mortimer in the dust.
"I'm too old for this…" The old man growled, slowly making his way down the hall after him.
Joseph, Ripley and Trish were all struggling to regain their balance after the turtle was launched halfway down the hall by Crazy Diamond's kick. They waited for the explosions to finish before they even considered exiting the turtle. After giving it another minute or two to be sure, Joseph peeked his head out of the turtle and slowly crawled outside. He stretched his arms, letting out a groan as he waited for the women to follow him.
"That heartless woman! How many people does she plan on killing to get what she wants!?" Joseph clutched his fist.
"Heartless woman? Try crazy bitch! She could've taken the whole subway system down!" Trish swore as she stepped out of the turtle.
"Ripley! How're you fairing?" Joseph looked down at the turtle.
The agent stepped out a moment later. "I'm okay, I'm okay… Did anyone see what happened to the others?"
Joseph shook his head solemnly. "Josuke's with them. If anyone's hurt, his Crazy Diamond will fix 'em right up." He gave the woman a thumbs up and a flashy white smile.
Ripley knew Joseph was just trying to keep spirits high, but she appreciated it nonetheless. "The police will be here soon." She sighed, looking around the damp tunnel. "Nobody's gonna miss an explosion in New York's subway. I'd give it thirty minutes before we have homeland security crawling all over the place."
"They'll probably think it was an act of terror." Joseph rubbed his chin. "The whole city's been a little twitchy ever since 9/11. You're probably right. It'd be best for us to be gone before any white knights show up."
"Where are we meant to go, then!?" Trish sighed. "The whole hallway caved in behind us. I'm not moving all that by myself."
They all turned to look down the foreboding hall before them. Joseph cleared his throat, grabbing a pen from his breast pocket. He took a few calculated breaths, causing golden sparks to emit from his fingers. Purple vines coiled around the pen, and Joseph quietly muttered,
"Hermit Purple."
He dropped the pen onto the floor. It rolled for a moment before spinning wildly in all directions. After about ten seconds, the pen settled in a direction around two-O'clock in front of them.
"Blondie is this way." Joseph concluded. "She needs to be stopped; even if it's just the three of us."
"I know." Ripley nodded. "I'll use the entire city's electricity if I have to. She'll pop like a balloon."
"Man, you guys are kinda hot." Trish mumbled, causing the other two to stand up a little straighter.
"Uh, thanks?" Ripley cleared her throat. "Let's go!"
Mortimer eventually tracked Jotaro to a room filled with various sewage pipes. The smell caused his stomach to rise, but he tried to focus on his objective. The room was rather enormous with pipes coming from all sides. It was almost like a labyrinth of plumbing as Mortimer tried to navigate it all. His heart pumped, and he knew Jotaro was going to get in one good blow. After that, he'd revert to the save point he set upon entering the room and catch the man by surprise. He crept through the maze of copper and listened carefully for the hulking Joestar around every corner. Sure, he could always just scream at the top of his lungs and pinpoint Jotaro's location, but he'd rather avoid being beaten by Star Platinum even for a second if it was possible.
He walked around a bend carefully and was met with Star Platinum's shining fist directly to the face.
"ORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRA!" The Stand cried in rage.
Mortimer felt his skull being rearranged as his Boston Foreplay reset the timeline and returned him safely to the entrance of the room.
Reset.
He took a sharp breath, closing his eyes for a moment as he tried to cope with the fear and adrenaline still coursing through his body. He'd never admit it to the man, but Jotaro Kujo was absolutely terrifying. That didn't matter anymore! He knew exactly where the man was. That meant he could get the jump on him. If he could approach from a different angle, he'd be able to get a better look at Jotaro's surroundings. The man had trapped himself in the middle of a copper tomb! Mortimer might be able to cause some pipes to collapse. He carefully made his way through the room and took a sharp left instead of heading right.
Mortimer had an impeccable sense of his surroundings at all times. He always loved to make maps as a child, and could always find a way to any place he'd already been. All he had to do was take the long way around and avoid entering Jotaro's sight lines. The room was quite loud with the noise of rushing water and rumbling pipes, there was no way Jotaro would be able to hear Mortimer's footsteps.
According to his mental map, all he had to do was head down this straight line for another three rows of pipes, and then he'd be at the perfect spot to-
"ORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRA!"
His heart stopped. Jotaro wasn't supposed to be there. He was meant to be on the other side of the room. Mortimer had a flawless mental map of the area! Jotaro wasn't there! He simply wasn't! So why was his head being crushed in by Star Platinum's ruthless fist?! It didn't make sense. It just didn't make any sense!
Reset.
Mortimer nearly collapsed in the doorway as he violently gasped for air. He held himself against the door frame and coughed a few times. This likely gave away his position, but he didn't care. He needed a moment to compose himself! How the hell had Jotaro moved to a different part of the room? His position was predetermined! Mortimer already knew where he was hiding! He was supposed to get as many tries as he needed to kill the man!
It was probably just a fluke, a one-in-a-million offshoot of probability that caused Jotaro to relocate for one reason or another. Mortimer would reset once again and head right for where Jotaro was the first time! Then, he'd verify that the man wasn't moving between timelines. Jotaro did not have the ability to do that! Star Platinum had the ability to stop time. Nothing else.
Reset.
The old man quickly made his way through the pipes with a desperate fear in his chest. He silently crept through the dark, making sure not to do anything that might alert Jotaro of his presence and cause the man to move around. Soon, he arrived at the spot where he was first attacked. His heart sank to the bottom of his stomach when he saw that Jotaro was nowhere to be found… How could this be? How was Jotaro managing to do this? He couldn't help but think about the debriefing Jotaro had given after his mission in Egypt all those years ago.
"I realized it was the same type of Stand as Star Platinum… After that, all I needed was a little bit of time to practice."
Was Jotaro practicing at that moment? Was Boston Foreplay "the same type of Stand as Star Platinum," whatever that meant? He'd never thought too much about it, but now that he took another look, it was a little strange how Jotaro was lucky enough to have the exact same ability as Dio! Mortimer felt his chest heaving uncontrollably as he thought about the ramifications of this revelation. Was Jotaro's Stand Ability even greater than he initially thought? What if he had a larger grasp on time than he even knew? What if Mortimer revealed a new aspect of Star Platinum to the dastardly Joester!?
"You're freaking out, aren't you?" Jotaro's low voice broke the silence from behind Mortimer.
"How many times has it been now? Three? Four? I'm losing track… It's just that fun to break your old, wrinkled face into pieces."
Mortimer felt like his soul was shattering into a million little pieces. Ever since he was a young child, he'd always had the ability to try anything for as long as he wanted. Difficult tests, conversations with pretty girls, he could retry them until he got it just right! Every single day was like a level in a video game, and he didn't have to lock in his progress until he was completely satisfied with his work! After thirty-five years of this, it was all being ruined by this horrible man!
Tears welled in his eyes as he turned around and met Jotaro's stoic gaze. They weren't tears of fear, or even sadness. No, these were tears of frustration. He couldn't believe how angry this intrusion made him feel. All he wanted was to make Jotaro pay, but how could he do it? Boston Foreplay didn't even have a physical form! It couldn't attack or defend, it could only make save points! The rest was up to Mortimer's human body. He couldn't possibly stand up to Jotaro Kujo's freakish strength!
Was this how Dio felt when he died? Totally helpless and confused? For the first time in his life, Mortimer pitied that man.
"That's four wins for me. Let's keep going. I love hide-and-seek." Jotaro adjusted the rim of his hat.
"ORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRA!"
Reset.
Mortimer screamed in the entrance to the room. What was even the point of masking his location? That bastard Jotaro could remember everything anyway! He slammed his foot against one of the pipes and began to curse incoherently.
"Fuck! Fucking, fuck! Goddamn fucking fucking fuck! God-fucking-dammit! God fucking FUCK!" He kicked the pipe time and time again.
"Gimme a break…" Jotaro's dress shoes clicked against the concrete as he walked out from where he was hiding. "I only crushed your head four times and you're already giving up? I thought higher of you."
Mortimer was fighting back even more tears as Jotaro revealed himself. "F-Fuck you, Jotaro! How could you possibly understand!? You've had everything in your life handed right to you! Your mother's the heir to the Joestar fortune, and even then she married a wealthy musician for good measure! You grew up in a house the size of a football field and never had to try at anything in your life! You disgust me!" He screamed.
"Wow." Jotaro paused. "To think I respected you until now. I thought you were one tough son of a bitch. Now I understand why you developed this ability in the first place…" He lifted the rim of his hat and stared Mortimer down. "You wouldn't be able to function without it."
"Shut the hell up! You don't know a single thing about me, Jotaro! I had to fend for myself, you know? My dad left when I was born, and my mom was never around to take care of me! I had to solve every problem in my life on my own! Without friends or parents, I spent all my time playing video games. I'd always choose the hardest difficulty possible. People shied away from the tough games like Castlevania or Ninja Gaiden, but I mastered them! It was so simple to me! Nothing's hard if you get infinite tries! I loved solving every difficult situation the game presented to me like a puzzle! It made me who I am today! As time went on, I played every video game I could! Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, Turbografx, everything! I always picked the absolute hardest games on the list and beat them into submission! That's when I realized my potential… I could live like this in the real world too! I unlocked my natural-born Stand Ability and took my seat at the top of the world! Nobody could tell me what to do anymore! Nobody was my master! You're no different! This is just another difficult boss battle for me to overcome!"
Jotaro stood there absolutely dumbfounded for a solid ten seconds before hiding his eyes under his hat. "Yare yare daze… You made it sound like you grew up poor, but your mom bought you every gaming console you asked for? It seems like you had a ton of games, too. Excuse me if my heart isn't breaking for you."
"I didn't have anyone growing up, you bastard!" Mortimer spat.
"Lots of people grow up with absent parents. They don't all join death cults. For such an old man, you sure have some growing up to do." Jotaro shook his head.
Mortimer hung his head for a moment in defeat. "I don't believe in Blondie's vision."
Jotaro's eyes sharpened a bit. "Is that so?"
"I joined the Speedwagon Foundation when I was a teenager because I had nowhere else to go. I used my ability so much that I was already physically twenty by the time I hit ninth grade… At first, I worked for the surface level of the organization. When Blondie realized how helpful my ability could be, she brought me down below…"
"Am I supposed to pity you?" Jotaro raised a brow. "If she asked me to join her, I'd tell her to fuck off."
"I didn't realize what she was asking of me! She painted such a beautiful picture of a world without pain or conflict! If everyone was powerful, the world would fall into a natural meritocracy. I assume she intends to stand on top." Mortimer sighed.
"What happened when you thought about it, then?"
"I tried to kill her." Mortimer admitted.
This honestly took Jotaro by surprise. He didn't expect to hear that one of Blondie's elite Stand Users betrayed her in the past.
"Tried?"
"You're right to make fun of my face… I'm only thirty-five, yet I look like I should be on social security. I really blew through the years when I was younger, but I learned my lesson. I slowed things down after that."
"So how did you end up like this?"
"My fight with Blondie." He snarled through clenched teeth. "She always told me that I could try to kill her anytime I liked… I think she got off on it. One day, I got fed up with her. I'd been realizing how demented her worldview was for quite some time at that point, and I decided it was time to take her up on her offer."
"How'd it go?" Jotaro asked.
"Look at me…" Mortimer gestured to his face. "I tried to kill her for thousands of resets… Eventually, it became tens of thousands of resets. Finally, it was hundreds of thousands. No matter what I did, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't win. I couldn't beat her. I aged twenty years in a single day. I'd take breaks, of course, regaining my strength and plotting for weeks at a time. But I'd always jump back to that point in time and try again. At certain points I wanted to give up. Then I looked at myself in the mirror and realized how much I'd invested already! That was the sunk cost fallacy, though. After years and years, I finally came to my senses… It wasn't worth the rest of my life just to kill one woman."
Jotaro almost didn't believe it. Twenty years? Mortimer invested so much time into killing Blondie? Of course, it wasn't an exact measurement. It's not like Mortimer could keep count. Still, he was pretty old. He was probably telling the truth.
"What'd she think when you suddenly aged before her eyes?" He asked.
"She never looked happier..." Mortimer hung his head. "I'll never forget that expression. It's the most sinister smile I've ever seen on a woman. She just pursed her lips, leaned in and said, 'Have you gotten it all out of your system?' I felt like a child who had just thrown a twenty-year temper tantrum."
"Christ…" Jotaro huffed.
"After that, I knew my place. I did what Blondie said whenever she said it." He bit his lip, anger clear on his face.
"Why?" Jotaro asked.
"She told me that she'd kill me if I didn't… It'd be easy for her. I'd have to fight her for decades, and she'd only have to attack me once on her end. I knew I couldn't beat her. That's why I'm here, Jotaro. That's why I have to kill you."
"Wow… You're my least favorite kind of asshole." Jotaro shook his head with a scowl.
"W-What!?" Mortimer asked in shock.
"You keep using terms like 'that's why I'm here,' and 'I had no choice.' That's bullshit and you know it. You could've run away. How would she catch you with an ability like yours? I understand giving up on killing her, but helping her end the world isn't something she's forcing you to do. You just blew up my family, who made you do that?"
"S-She did." Mortimer bit his lip.
"Coward!" Jotaro roared with his booming voice. "Take some accountability! You can stop anytime you want!"
"If that's true, then I've really wasted my entire life!" Mortimer shouted right back.
"Not all of it." Jotaro shook his head. "Get the hell out of here. Don't ever show your face around me again, and stay away from Blondie too. Go win the lottery and disappear. You could do it so easily."
Mortimer looked down at his gloved hands. He removed one of the gloves, staring at his pale, wrinkled skin. How much life did he even have left? He had no idea how old this body was anymore. One day, he'd drop dead. That was the rule he lived by. It'd been his philosophy for years. Could he really just walk away? Was it as easy as saying "enough is enough?" The man closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh.
"Money won't matter soon… Blondie's going to kill you all and take what's hers. Then, she'll use her new power to change the world. Even if I run, there won't be a safe place from her in a matter of weeks." He shook his head.
Jotaro knew he was losing him. "And what if you stay? Do you really want to live in that world?"
"At least I'll be at her right hand! She might even grant me my youth again! I could get it all back, don't you see?" He sounded delusional, but even he knew that.
"She'd never give you immortality. You'd be completely unstoppable if you couldn't age. Don't you see that? She keeps you around because you're not a threat."
"You are the enemy, Jotaro Kujo! Talking to you was a mistake! I have to defeat you no matter what!" Mortimer shook his head in anger. "You're just telling me what I want to hear because you're…" He trailed off mid-sentence, eyes widening in realization.
"Wait a minute…" He gasped. "You sly dog… I can't believe it."
"What are you talking about?" Jotaro asked.
"You can't remember my resets… You were tricking me!" Mortimer shook his head.
"Wait!" Jotaro reached out to Mortimer.
"I'm done listening to you, Jotaro! It's time to deal with you!" Mortimer shook his head and stepped back.
Reset.
Mortimer blinked, and then he was back in the doorway. Just like that, none of it really happened. Jotaro was trying to trick him, but it wouldn't work! It would never work. He shook his head, composing himself before he called into the dark room.
"Come out, Jotaro! I know what you're doing!" Mortimer spat. "You can't remember what happens during the resets! You're just using the sense of déjà vu to figure out how many resets have happened! All you remember is the number!" He threw his head back with a manic laugh.
"You probably picked a bunch of different places to hide and assigned them numbers, didn't you!? That way you could hide in whatever spot corresponded with the number of resets! That's what I'd do! I have to admit, you're clever, Jotaro! But being clever can only get you so far!"
After a moment, Jotaro walked out of the shadows with his hands up. "You caught me." He admitted.
"Of course I caught you! I can try things infinitely, you moron! You're just another challenge in my way!" Mortimer growled, pulling the gun out of his pocket and aiming it at his enemy. "I don't have your power or speed, but anyone can win if they're determined enough! I want to win! That's my real power! It's my tenacity!"
Jotaro kept his hands raised, as if that would do anything to protect him. Mortimer grinned wickedly as he aimed the gun directly at the man's head, pulling the trigger once. A bullet zipped through the air, but before Star Platinum could even catch it, Mortimer had dragged his revolver up and fired a round toward the ceiling. Jotaro caught the first bullet, but his eyes darted up a moment later.
One of the large copper pipes caught a bullet directly in a weak point and broke into two pieces instantly. The larger piece swung down toward the floor on a collision course with Jotaro. His eyes widened, and Star Platinum prepared to catch the pipe.
"Let's see how far déjà vu gets you now!" Mortimer laughed, firing the gun four more times at Jotaro's exposed side.
The Stand was about to catch the hefty copper pipe, leaving Jotaro completely vulnerable. Not even Star Platinum's reflexes were fast enough this time! It caught the pipe with no issue, causing four bullets to tear through Jotaro's abdomen. Mortimer noticed three clanks against the wall behind his target. Perfect! Three of the bullets went all the way through! No more trickery! No more lucky saves! Jotaro Kujo would die right there at that very moment!
The man groaned in pain as he slumped onto the floor. With the amount of blood pouring from his body, Mortimer knew the shots were real. This wasn't like last time. The man grinned, taking a step closer. He needed a better look! There was no way he'd set a save point without being sure that Jotaro was dying! Only then would he begin to gloat!
Mortimer towered over Jotaro with a shit-eating grin plastered across his face. He bent down, leering over the man with both hands in his pockets. "Jotaro Kujo… I'm going to watch you die until the sight of it bores me… Get ready, because your first death is just around the corner."
Save.
Jotaro's eyes slowly drifted shut, and he went limp. Was that it? Had Mortimer just witnessed the death of Jotaro Kujo?
"Y'know…" Jotaro grumbled with his eyes closed. "Real life isn't like Castlevania."
Just as the implications of that struck Mortimer, the man was also struck by a bullet through the stomach. At first, it whizzed through him like he was made out of paper. Then, he felt the blood beginning to pool inside his dark shirt. Mortimer's eyes practically bulged out of his head as he held his stomach in agony. Still, he couldn't help but dwell on what Jotaro had said. Castlevania…?
Jotaro remembered.
He had pretended to fake his ability to remember the rewinds! It was all a part of his plan! He let Mortimer think he had outsmarted him only to sweep the carpet out from under his feet a moment later! Mortimer felt an immense amount of blood loss and fell onto one knee. His head was foggy, and he knew the bullet had struck a vital.
Reset.
The moment Mortimer reset, the bullet plowed through his stomach from behind once again. He felt the unbelievable pain just the same as before! It was no more bearable the second time. His eyes blurred, and once again he found himself on his knees. He fell onto all fours, gasping desperately for air. The hole in his stomach caused a whistle to escape his body as he heaved. That's when his eyes drifted to something so innocuous that he was amazed he even noticed it at a time like this…
The three bullets that went all the way through Jotaro weren't covered in blood.
Why!? How!? It didn't make any sense! He'd fired the gun four times into Jotaro's body and three of them went all the way through! He watched them clank against the pipes behind the man! Still, they were in a pristine condition… He knew they hadn't torn through anyone's body. At that moment, he lost consciousness.
Reset.
The bullet pierced him yet again. This time, he got onto his knees through his own volition. Jotaro slowly sat up, grinning at Mortimer with tired eyes.
"Confused…? So was I… I had a plan, y'know? To pretend I could remember your resets? I focused as hard as I could on every tingle of déjà vu in my body until I could pinpoint it the moment it occurred. That's when I noticed something… If I paid really close attention, I could vaguely remember the very last reset… That was it. I could only remember one reset back."
The blood left Mortimer's head, and he once again collapsed.
Reset.
Another ping, another groan of pain, and another thud as Mortimer hit the floor with his knees.
"I can only remember a single reset back… Lucky for me, I'm a pretty consistent guy. I know what I'm likely to say or so. That's why I caught the first three bullets you fired at me in frozen time… I let the fourth go a few inches into my body in order to produce a lot of blood. You wouldn't believe I was dying otherwise…" The man grinned.
"Then, I flung the other three bullets into the pipes behind me to really sell the story… What'd I do with the fourth one, you might ask? Easy… I froze time and gave it to you."
Reset.
Jotaro didn't even wait for Mortimer to hit the ground before he began.
"I froze time and flicked the bullet into a pipe on the other side of the room. It bounced around for a little while before ending up right behind you… I know what you're thinking, that's an incredible shot! Even his Star Platinum shouldn't be able to make that in one try!"
Mortimer coughed up a great deal of blood, eyes widening as his internal bleeding was made painfully obvious.
"Lucky for me, I didn't have to do it in one try. I could only remember the most immediate attempt every reset, but that was enough for me to get a feel for the ricochet. You're the one who gave me that idea in the first place… Normally, I'd never try something so reckless."
Reset.
"But if I've learned anything today, it's practice makes perfect." He grinned.
Mortimer held his gut in disbelief. Had he really been defeated? The beginning of the reset gave him no opportunity to dodge the attack. He was struck instantly the moment his ability sent him to his save point. Did Jotaro do it…? He'd put Mortimer's save point and death so close together that all he could do for the rest of his life was die by Jotaro's hands?
"I…" Mortimer heaved with a raspy breath. "I can't believe it…"
Jotaro sighed. He never enjoyed watching someone writhe and bleed on the floor. Well, maybe if they were a particularly heinous bastard, but Mortimer wasn't anywhere near the worst man Jotaro had put down.
"Are you gonna give up? If I were you, I'd deactivate that ability of yours and let the bullet kill me."
This actually got a laugh from the dying man. "You… d-don't… get the ability I have… if you're the type to give up."
Jotaro seemed genuinely surprised.
Reset.
The bullet pierced Mortimer just the same as ever. He fell to his knees with a twisted smile. "I'm terrified of death, Jotaro…" He admitted. "I won't do it… Not until there's no other choice."
"There is no other choice." Jotaro reasoned.
"Wrong." Mortimer closed his eyes and smiled. "I have a few more years in me…"
Jotaro was amazed by the man's conviction. Surely he'd see the light eventually, right? What kind of life would it be, dying for years and years?
"You're one crazy son of a bitch." He admitted.
Mortimer chuckled, blood slipping through his clasped hands as he applied pressure to the wound.
"You would know, Jotaro… I feel like we're not that different… We both have dominion over time. You can grind it to a halt in order to maximize your terrifying strength and speed… I can reset it to erase my stupid mistakes…"
"There aren't many people like us…" Jotaro admitted.
"That's because we're broken." Mortimer grinned. "It wasn't until I met you, but now I'm sure of it… The only way you can have dominion over time is if you're one messed up son of a bitch… Think about it. Dio? Kira? Can you name a single person who has a time ability that doesn't need to be put down like a dog?"
"Me." Jotaro answered sternly.
Mortimer laughed, shaking his head. "Right… Because you're such a standup guy. Remember when you put your wife in the hospital?"
Jotaro was at a loss for words.
Reset.
After Mortimer fell to his knees, he licked his lips. "Face it, Jotaro… We're all a special kind of messed up. We have dominion over time because we're obsessive freaks who need to have control over everything. You can stop time and do whatever you want! Why would you develop an ability like that?"
"I had a psychic link with Dio." Jotaro mumbled. "I always assumed it caused us to develop similar abilities."
"Hah! Get real! You're the same as Dio! That's why you have the same Stand!" Mortimer laughed.
Jotaro felt like he was getting weaker. He fell forward slightly, barely catching himself with one hand. This caused Mortimer to cackle weakly.
"I guess you've reached your limit, huh…? Influencing time takes an enormous toll on your body, right? Your ability granted you a thin look into my world of resets… but now you're about to slip."
Jotaro nodded, gritting his teeth.
"Go ahead and see yourself out, Jotaro… You've made this bed for me. I'm going to enjoy it for a while before I sleep forever." Mortimer smiled. "Remember what I said, though… Only the bad guys have dominion over time…"
Jotaro shook his head, but it took an enormous amount of physical and psychic strength to endure through the resets. Even remembering the most recent reset was nearly enough to push Jotaro over the edge. This wasn't his ability, after all. He was just peering through the veil and visiting a similar Stand. Time Abilities were extraordinarily rare. Would he ever encounter one again?
He hoped not…
Jotaro faded from consciousness. Eventually, his eyes would slowly flutter open. He was still in the dark maintenance tunnels of the New York subway system, but this time he felt alone. The man groaned, lifting himself up with a hand on a nearby pipe. He looked around curiously, pausing when he saw the body before him. Jotaro sighed, lowering the rim of his hat over his eyes.
"Yare yare daze… The crazy bastard really did it."
Mortimer's corpse looked to be over a hundred years old! His body had atrophied and wrinkled into a nearly unrecognizable pile of skin and bones. He had shrunken in his old age, his clothes barely fitting him anymore. His cheekbones seemed incredibly sharp, like they were threatening to poke through his skin at any moment. Jotaro had met some old people in his time, but Mortimer looked sickly and worn. It was as if he used every ounce of energy his dying body had left before finally giving into oblivion.
"Mortimer… You're fucking nuts." Jotaro took a cigarette and placed it between his lips. He lit it with Star Platinum, closing his eyes and taking a long drag. "In a way, I can't help but respect that kind of conviction… I'd have given up way before you did,"
He flicked the cigarette onto the floor and stomped it out with his shoe. Jotaro huffed out a cloud of smoke, putting his hands into his coat pockets. "Then again, you gave up on living in the real world a long time ago…"
Jotaro stepped over Mortimer's corpse, glancing over his shoulder one last time.
"I hope you found peace." With that, he slammed the heavy metal door and left the corpse in total darkness.
To be Continued...