A/N: Let's get a few things out of the way before we can begin.
1. If you don't know by the summary, Part 6 does not exist in this universe, the only original character from Stone Ocean present in this story is Jolyne. So Dio never had a diary and whatnot.
2. I know that there are many returning characters from part 3, especially part 4, but this story isn't really about them. You'll see in future chapters that this story will really be about my own original characters and their own Stands, (I've made 20+ original Stands for this fanfiction).
3. This will be updated every Friday with no exceptions. Doesn't matter if it's a holiday or not. So expect a new chapter every Friday without any breaks until the story is finished. If I don't post on a Friday, then assume I'm dead. Or my internet's down. You choose.
4. Lastly, there is a bit of cursing in this fanfiction, but there will be no slurs or f words. Enough rambling, enjoy and feel free to comment, I will respond to all the comments I can, so feel free to ask questions.
...
Episode 41: Beyond The Wall Part 13
9:30 AM
"Pink Floyd's influence is absolute. Pink Floyd's will is absolute."
The words echoed throughout the black abyss of the pocket dimension.
"Your influence is absolute. Your will is absolute."
Everyone agreed.
"You belong to me. Your bodies are mine. Everything about you is mine." The Stand continued its chant as it led everyone through the dark border
"It's all yours. All of it."
They all agreed with seemingly anything the pink Stand had to say.
"We have arrived," it said, "With only five minutes to spare. Let's finish this quickly. We'll have to start in order. We've reached the end of the border. I need you all to come towards me one at a time in the order you saw the keywords."
Kenna was the first to step toward Pink Floyd, everyone else stood a few meters away, awaiting their turn.
"Kenna Fletcher," Pink Floyd said, "Your keyword is 'abandonment'. How does that make you feel?"
"It makes me feel very relaxed," Kenna said, not taking her eyes off the Stand.
"Good, that's just what I wanted to hear." Pink Floyd opened up its trenchcoat and let it drop its feet. Its entire body over its hips and under its collar was made up of bricks. Just barely under a hundred were visible surrounding its body. Kenna put her hand on Pink Floyd's chest and suddenly fell over, lifeless. Another brick appeared on Pink Floyd's chest.
"Another soul to my collection," Pink Floyd said, "Joanne Jones. You are next. Your keyword was 'bereave'."
"Yes, it was," Joanne stepped over Kenna's body and touched Pink Floyd's stomach, "It makes me feel so relaxed."
Joanne soon also fell over, lifeless, her soul becoming a new brick on Pink Floyd.
"Good," the Stand said, "Jolyne Cujoh. You're next. Your keyword is 'father'."
Jolyne nodded as she touched Pink Floyd's body and fell over, her soul added as a brick.
"Hozier Raine," Pink Floyd continued down the list, "Your keyword is 'Church'. Come join your friends."
Hozier nodded as he touched the bottom of Pink Floyd's belly, losing his soul in the process.
Portobello smiled as he saw this happen, patting Binns on the back, "Looks like you're up next, Beans! Break a leg!" He gave the SPW officer in front of him a small shove, "What are we doing here anyway? I've completely forgotten what's happened in the past twenty minutes. I remember seeing Dianne send those two guys' heads flying, but I seem to be blanking on anything that happened after that. Why is it so dark here anyway? And who's this pink man in front of us?"
Pink Floyd didn't seem to hear Portobello's talking as Binns came towards it.
"Henry Binns," it said, "Your keyword was 'Daughter'. Step forward and offer up your soul."
"Yes, of course," Binns responded, not paying attention to Portobello and touching Pink Floyd.
"So you're ignoring me but this big scary pink man has got your attention?" Portobello sounded offended, "I see where your priorities are now! I thought we were best friends! Oh, the betrayal!"
Binns fell over, now soulless, and Pink Floyd got ready to continue"
"Portobello Belle. You are next. Your keyword is—" The Stand froze, almost as if something had been erased from its mind. It stood still for several seconds before seemingly looking through Portobello and continuing on with the next person in line.
"Jotaro Kujo. Your keyword was 'Crusaders'. Step forth."
Jotaro stepped forward, nudging Portobello out of the way as he touched Pink Floyd's chest and fell over, his soul being added to the bricks.
"Hey! That was rude!" Portobello cried, "I can't believe you'd just push me aside like that and fall over like a ragdoll without me! You're no fun, Jotaro! And don't think you're any better, Mr. Pink Man! Hey, I'm talking to you! Don't ignore me!"
Pink Floyd, seemingly unable to hear Portobello, called over the last person in line, "Tenmei Kakyoin. You are the final one who has read the keyword. It was 'Uncle', was it not?"
"Yes," Tenmei said, "That was my word. It makes me feel so relaxed."
Tenmei soon touched Pink Floyd and fell over, his soul now a brick.
"My duty is complete. My task has been finished," Pink Floyd said, looking down at the lifeless bodies, "All in all you're just other bricks in my wall."
"Hellooooooooo?" Portobello waved his hand in front of Pink Floyd's face, "I'm still here, you know? And what's all this nonsense you keep talking about? What the hell is a 'keyword'? I have no memory of ever coming across one of those. Is that why you're not letting me join the fun? Because I haven't read a keyword like everyone else? I can change that! Give me a word, come on!"
Pink Floyd stood still, its task completed, leaving Portobello hanging. Just then, an alarm on Tenmei's watch which had been set the hour prior to signal the ending of Pink Floyd's time limit sounded off and Portobello found himself, along with the bodies of everyone else in a very bloody hospital room.
9:35 AM
...
9:25 AM
"Pink Floyd: Part 3 has now been activated," David said.
"And with ten minutes left to spare, right?" Dianne asked, "It's been fifty minutes since you activated Part 2, hasn't it?"
"Yes, it has," David said, "Don't worry, Dianne, I was never going to hurt you or Greta. Now, if you could please use Redbone to heal Elliot and Tankian, I would be very appreciative."
Dianne laughed, "Of course, how could I have forgotten!" Red Nightmare appeared next to her, "But what was that you said about never going to hurt me and Greta? Bullshit!" Her laugh turned into an angry scowl, "For four years you've been threatening us over and over. Constantly holding onto that picture of me and Greta, constantly threatening us. You were planning on getting rid of the two of us as well today, weren't you? The only reason Greta and I still have our souls is because you need me to heal you guys. What purpose will I serve once I heal you? What's stopping you from using pink Floyd on us again? You don't need us anymore!"
"Now, Dianne," David took a step back, and Elliot and Tankian did the same, their Stands ready, in case Dianne chose to attack, "My threats were just meant to serve as motivation. I wasn't actually gonna take away your soul. Just calm down. You don't want to do anything you'll later regret, right?"
Dianne sighed, "It is you guys who should regret what you've done. I'm the one who will hold no regrets."
Red Nightmare suddenly turned into Ruby Tuesday. The blood coming out of Elliot's shoulder spiked and painfully ripped out, sending Elliot falling to the ground in one direction, and his arm in the other. Chop Suey rushed towards Dianne, but Elliot's blood, which had been spilling all over the floor, turned into dozens of long, thin needles. The needles flew at Tankian, going all the way through most of his joints, making him and his Stand crumble to the ground.
Dianne, covered in blood, as Elliot and Tankian writhed in pain on the ground, slowly approached David.
"What were those words you said to me three weeks ago?" She asked, "You know, after you slapped me and punched me in the face? I believe you told me that I had no authority over you and that I couldn't do anything to you, but you could do anything to me. I wanna hear those words again, David. I wanna hear you say them now."
"D-Dianne!" David cowered back in fear, his Stand was already activated in the pocket dimension, there was nothing he could do to protect himself, "Dianne, I didn't mean any of the things I said, you have to believe me!"
"Are you scared, David?" Dianne said with a smile, "Are you scared that I'm going to kill you just as I'm going to kill these two?" she gestured towards Elliot and Tankian, who were screaming in pain, "You don't have to worry. You don't deserve to get off as easy as these two. At least their pain is going to go away within a few minutes once they've lost enough blood. At least they get to escape from me. You don't, David. You don't deserve it."
Greta watched this all happen, she wasn't repulsed by this behavior in the slightest. After how The Wall had killed her close friends four years ago and had been threatening her and Dianne to the point of tears for such a long time, she lost any empathy for them.
"After you killed Sebastian, Bono, and Karmiel, did you think I wouldn't eventually get my revenge on you?" Dianne asked, inching closer to a fearful David, "Did you think that you wouldn't eventually incur my wrath? Bono has already cursed you with his ability, why don't I use Karmiel's and Sebastian's abilities on you? At least then their souls can rest in peace, knowing that I've finally avenged them."
David was left speechless, a sweating mess that crumbled to his knees, unable to mutter out any words. Ruby Tuesday disappeared in a cloud of red mist. Dianne extended both her hands towards David and grabbed his face.
"Piece of Me," she called.
Red mist appeared on her skin as part of it tore off and turned into flesh-like monsters. "It's been a while since you've seen Sabbie's little homunculi, hasn't it? I think this one, in particular, will remind you of something."
The flesh homunculus that Dianne was referring to, slowly formed from the skin of her hand and wriggled its way onto David's face. It looked like the mix between a worm and some sort of squid. David froze in fear when he saw exactly what this flesh homunculus was.
"That's right," Dianne said, smiling, "I knew you'd recognize it. It's a flesh bud. The same type I had embedded in everyone at the mansion. Very similar to the ones that my father used."
Dianne held David's head firm as the flesh bud crawled its way onto and into David's forehead.
"Now," Dianne said, "Did you happen to know what happened to all those who had Dio's flesh bud after they died? I'm sure you've heard of what happens, Dio's DNA mutates the body and makes it immortal. Why don't we try that out? I'm sure I can replicate that. In fact, I'm really good at replicating that. So good that I could make it so that the flesh buds do it automatically if they hear certain words. Of course, we won't need to do that. I'll just activate it right now."
"Dianne, please—!"
David's begging was cut off when the flesh bud seemed to melt, merging with his cells and slowly, painfully, turning him into a green, disgusting creature, only faintly resembling a human.
"What the hell did you do to me?!" David's speech was full of groans and belches.
"Just sit tight," Dianne said, "Now the fun can begin."
Ruby Tuesday appeared next to her, accumulating the still screaming Elliot's and Tankian's blood before turning it into an axe and swinging it down on David, cutting off both his arms and legs.
"How does that feel?!" Dianne yelled, "Tell me, do you regret killing my friends and threatening me and Greta? I wanna hear you say it. Do you regret everything you've done?"
"Yes! Yes!" David yelled in pain, tears rolling down his face as his limbs were chopped off, and slowly regenerated, "I regret everything! Please turn me back!"
Dianne laughed, "Even if I wanted to, there's no going back. You're stuck like this forever, forced to live in eternal torment. This is your punishment, David Gil Moure. This is what you get for being such an asshole!"
The blood turned into a spear that Ruby Tuesday used to stab through David's mutated stomach multiple times, spilling his entrails on the ground.
"That's two down," Dianne said, "Two of my friends have just been avenged. I'm returning the pain they faced back to you. Now for the third one!"
The pain was so intense that David's mind was sent in a flurry, he couldn't see, smell, taste, hear, or even think, He could only feel intense pain shooting through his entire body.
Dianne waited for David's stomach to heal before turning more blood into a knife and using it to slowly gouge out David's throat, smiling as she did this.
"This is what you get for putting me through so much pain!" Dianne yelled, "This is what you get for killing my friends! I wanna hear it from you again, tell me how much you regret killing them!"
As soon as Dianne could see that David's throat was healed, she waited only a second for him to respond. When she didn't she grabbed one of his hands and slowly broke his fingers, one by one.
"I said I wanna hear it!" she yelled, "Tell me how much you regret killing them!"
David cried out in pain once more, failing to retract his hand from Dianne's grasp, "I regret it," he said through tears, "I regret everything. Please just let me die. Let me join my brothers in the afterlife. Please, Dianne…"
"You don't deserve that," she said, letting his hand go, "You're so pathetic, you know that?"
She finally let him be, allowing him to cry and wallow, opting to turn her attention to Elliot and Tankian, barely hanging on to life.
"Be lucky I'm more generous with you," she said as she looked at the two dying members of The Wall, "I'll let you both rest now."
Ruby Tuesday turned into another Stand, Uncontrollable Urge. The zombie-like Stand grabbed a bunch of scalpels, and after ingesting the two's blood, ate the scalpels as well. The scalpels appeared in Elliot's and Tankian's stomachs, cutting them open, and killing them. Two purple genie-like Stands appeared from the corpses.
"Hey there, Bono," Dianne said, "The day has finally come, your sacrifices have finally been avenged."
"Has The Wall finally been defeated?" Ultra Violet asked, "How long has it been since we last spoke, Dianne?"
"Not long at all," Dianne said, "This is the same morning. I've killed Elliot and Tankian. I used Sebastian's Stand to create a flesh bud and mutate David. He can't activate his Pink Floyd right now because it's currently in the middle of Part 3. Plus, there would be too much setup for his ability anyway, he'll never be able to trap me or Greta in his pocket dimension again. And then I used Karmiel's Stand to kill Elliot and Tankian."
"That's good to hear, Dianne," Ultra Violet said, "So only one more piece of my soul will remain after this?"
"That's right," Dianne said, "The one inside David. But I'm not gonna let him die. He'll pay for what he did to you, Sebastian, and Karmiel. I'll make sure of it."
Ultra Violet sighed, "And here I was, thinking that I'd be able to finally see Sebastian and Karmiel with my soul fully intact. But five out of six is good enough. Goodbye, Dianne, goodbye, Greta. I wish you the best of lives. I look forward to seeing you both in the afterlife eventually."
The two Ultra Violets rose up in the air before vanishing completely. Dianne turned to Greta, "I've burnt off my steam on David already, would you like to go at him?"
"As a matter of fact, I would." Greta walked towards David, groveling on the ground. She knelt down so she was face to face with him, "Too many times have I had to see my wife's face, bloody and tear-ridden because of you. Do you have any idea how powerless I felt? My Stand couldn't do anything to help her. All I could do was comfort her. You are a vile, despicable man, David. I have no room in my heart left for forgiveness."
She punched him in the face once, shattering his nose, before walking back towards Dianne.
"That's that," Dianne said, "Everything's finally over. The Wall is no more. Neither are the Joestars."
Almost as if waiting for Dianne to say this, Portobello, followed by the bodies of everyone else, suddenly appeared in the room. Tenmei's watch, which read 9:35, was ringing.
"Oh, hey there," Portobello said, waving, "Sorry to intrude. Do you know by chance what a keyword is?"
"Portobello Belle?" Dianne looked at him surprised, "How did you manage to make it out of Pink Floyd: Part 3's ability? That should be impossible!"
"I'm not quite sure what you mean," Portobello said, "But that pink man said something about a keyword."
"Portobello, did you somehow forget your keyword?" Dianne asked, bewildered before looking at David, "Will the effects of Part 2 be reversed if Portobello forgets his keyword?"
David, his nose fully healed, didn't respond, trying to escape from the hospital room.
"Don't try to get away from me," Dianne said, "I asked you a question! Answer me!"
Freakshow appeared next to Dianne before spitting out acidic webs at David. The webs hit his chest and dissolved all the way through his body, melting his lungs. David instantly fell to the ground, writhing in pain. Dianne walked over to him, waiting for his wounds to heal before Freakshow used its claws to stab through his shoulders and lifted him up so the two were face-to-face.
"Answer the question or I'll rip your spine out and use it to gouge out your eyeballs."
David shrieked with terror before answering, "I-if someone forgets about the keywords, then I suppose it's possible that Part 2's effect will be negated."
"I see," Dianne said, letting David go, "Stay back, Greta. Portobello's a powerful Stand user, I'll dispose of him." she looked at everyone else's bodies before turning back to David, "What about them? Have their souls been taken?"
"Y-yes," David said, "They're as good as dead. Pink Floyd has their souls."
"Good," Dianne now turned her full attention towards Portobello, "I'm afraid I'll have to kill you now, Portobello Belle."
"You know," Portobello said, "My memory isn't the best, but I swear this is the second time I've had to fight someone to the death in a hospital room. Isn't that odd?"
"What are you talking about?" Dianne asked.
"Those two, what were their names? The one who took control of Jotaro's mind. And that other gravity lady."
"Scallion and Stevana Pryce?"
"Yes, those two. They sounded very similar to you. All this talk about how they were gonna kill me and whatnot. They ended up failing to keep their word. Isn't that kind of sad?"
Dianne sighed, "I'll make sure I end up keeping my word, that's a promise, Portobello Belle, you will die today. You are the only one left in my way."
"I will warn you," Portobello said, Expresso Love, appearing next to him, "My Stand ability is way stronger than you think."
"I have yet to try it out," Dianne said, Freakshow turned into Expresso Love. The two Stands looked identical next to each other.
Portobello laughed, "It's like I'm looking in a mirror. But what are your clothes made out of?"
"My clothes? What do you—?!"
Dianne was cut off when Portobello rubbed his sleeves together, setting everything in front of him on fire. David, Dianne, and Greta were caught in this flame as the nitrogen erupted in the room.
"Greta!" Dianne turned Expresso Love into Redbone and had it stand in front of the two. Redbone opened up its chest and absorbed the flames, shielding Dianne and Greta.
The flames subsided, and a burnt David yelled in pain as his singed skin slowly healed. Portobello, both of his sleeves burnt off, and his arms heavily burnt as well, smiled.
"Hey, you survived that, that's impressive. I wish I could say the same about that ugly green guy."
"Be careful, Greta," Dianne said, "I'll keep you safe, no matter what."
"Be careful, yourself. You've already been through enough pain. I don't wanna see you hurt again."
Dianne nodded, looking back at Portobello, "How well can you dodge? Def Leppard!"
Redbone turned into the silver Stand and created a three-meter sphere of dense air before bursting it, sending the invisible air bullets toward Portobello and the other bodies. Expresso Love touched the ground, and it formed into a wall in front of Portobello and the others, protecting them as the air bullets crashed into the wall and made heavy indents.
"Wow, that was a close one!" Portobello laughed as Expresso Love touched his side of the wall. Spikes began to form on the other side and were shot out toward Dianne and Greta.
"Damn, he thinks fast," Dianne said, "Star Platinum: The World!"
Dianne froze time and moved the spikes away from herself and Greta. As the first second passed, she got ready to plunge the spikes into Portobello's head. As soon as the next second ticked, she felt her body tense up with fatigue.
Damn, she thought, my body's not used to stopping time yet, two seconds is my max.
Dianne soon found herself in normal time, sweating heavily. She quickly changed to Rocketman, using its rocket-propelled limbs to destroy the wall that Portobello had created. All the limbs propelled themselves and slammed into Portobello. Expresso Love used more of the hospital floor to use as a small barrier in front of him.
"You're very resistant," Dianne said, "But your Stand has a short range, doesn't it? Which will you choose to save, yourself, or one of the Joestars?"
Rocketman's fists redirected themselves towards Jolyne, ready to burst through her body. Without thinking, Portobello used Expresso Love to move his barrier in front of Jolyne, saving her from Rocketman's limbs. Unfortunately for him, this meant that the rest of the limbs were able to burst through Portobello's stomach and come out of his lower back.
"Well, that's unfortunate," Portobello muttered, looking down at his injury, "Sorry, Jolyne, but I couldn't let the only real person who had befriended me die."
He gave out a soft, pained, laugh before falling over.
"He was more resistant than I thought," Dianne said, "Expresso Love. What a useful Stand. He really was gifted to have such an ability."
Dianne turned back to Greta, making sure she wasn't harmed. As she was doing this, David grabbed one of the spikes that Portobello had created and made his way toward the bleeding-out man.
"Dianne!" Greta called, seeing this, "David's doing something!"
Dianne was too slow to react, and David plunged the spike into Portobello's heart.
What is this? Portobello thought, Is this what death really is? I tried my best to protect everyone… Their souls were already taken or something. Is it already too late? Are they already too far gone…? Was everything I did just now pointless? Still, I couldn't let Jolyne get hurt. I had to save her no matter what. If this is how it ends, then I'm glad I was able to protect my friends until the end. That's all that matters…
He just barely managed to turn his head towards Jolyne and the others, My friends… Are they my friends? Who are they? Who am I? I don't remember anything… I don't remember…
Portobello's memories left his body along with his life. The fatal wound had killed him.
"What did you do that for, David?" Dianne asked, "He was already going to die."
David smiled, raising his middle finger, "Burn in hell, Dianne."
His eyes suddenly turned white and his mouth opened wide. Ultra Violet made his way out of David's mouth and looked at him, "David Gil Moure. You have broken my edict. You were to not cause the death of any Stand user, whether it be human or animal. You have killed just killed one. You're well aware of your punishment."
David nodded, a small smile on his face.
"Very well," Ultra Violet said, "The Wall is no more. On behalf of the man I once was, I use my ability, Ultra Violet, to end your life. This is the consequence of breaking my edict."
Ultra Violet shot its electricity into David, numbing his entire body, heart included.
"The flesh bud will not impede my curse. My curse was set before your mutation. You will die, David Gil Moure. No matter what."
Ultra Violet finished sending electricity through David's body, killing him. He then turned to Dianne and Greta.
"Is it safe to assume that barely any time has passed since our last meeting?" he asked.
"Yeah," Dianne said, "It's been just over ten minutes."
"I see," Ultra Violet said, "I'm not exactly sure what's happened here. But I'm glad that The Wall is no more. They can all burn in hell now. My soul can no longer exist as a curse. I'm afraid I'll have to part from the mortal world permanently now."
"You're fine, Bono," Greta said, "Say hello to Karmiel and Sebastian for us."
"Will do," Ultra Violet said, "Enjoy a world without The Wall."
"Goodbye, Bono," Dianne said.
The purple Stand ascended for the last time, disappearing through the roof.
Dianne let out a sigh of relief, "That's that, then? I can't believe this is all over."
"Dianne!" Greta called out, "Pink Floyd!"
Dianne quickly turned around, seeing the pink Stand appear next to its user.
"You have killed my user," the Stand said, "I will disappear from this world soon. I am already fading away. All the souls within me will be able to move on to the afterlife. All the souls that don't have a body to go back to will ascend. But those whose bodies are still intact will return. I can't wait to see you in hell, Dianne."
Pink Floyd laughed before breaking apart, all the bricks that made up its torso turning back into souls. Most of them ascended, similarly to Ultra Violet, but a select few were able to return to their bodies.
"Shit!" Dianne sprang towards the bodies. Red Nightmare turned into Ruby Tuesday and created a scythe of blood. The Stand swung the scythe at the bodies, hoping to kill them. The blood from the scythe suddenly turned into spikes, and they were sent through Dianne's stomach.
"We're back!" Tenmei yelled, "I don't know how, but we've returned.
Before Dianne had any more time to react, a flurry of punches began to assault her.
"Ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora!"
Star Platinum punched her before throwing her to the opposite wall of the hospital room.
"The Space Between!" Binns called out his Stand before holding his breath.
"Stone Free!" Jolyne used her strings to propel Joanne and Kenna forward.
"Kono kono kono kono kono kono kono kono kono kono!"
"Usha sha sha sha sha sha sha sha sha sha sha sha sha sha!"
Dianne, taking an even bigger beating, felt her ribs crack and puncture through her lungs.
Damn it! She thought They're going to kill me! I can't activate Red Nightmare!
"Take me to Church!"
This last Stand call made Dianne's heart sink. If the mirror's cracks hit her in the right place, it would mean instant death.
Greta grabbed one of Portobello's spikes and threw it at Binns before intercepting Hozier's mirror. The spike stabbed Binns in the arm, causing him to yell out and exhale. On the other hand, Take me to Church's attack hit Greta as she jumped in front of Dianne, slicing off both her legs. Dianne didn't hesitate for a second and turned Red Nightmare into Redbone. The Stand sent the fire that it had absorbed from Portobello right back at the others.
"Star Platinum: The World!"
Jotaro quickly stopped time. There was no way to dodge this massive amount of fire. The only option he had was to take everyone else out of the room. The door was less than a meter away. He would be able to make it in time. In a flash, Star Platinum was able to get everybody out. With two seconds left to spare, Jotaro noticed Portobello's body. He also saw that the other corpses from within Pink Floyd's pocket dimension were also brought out. Beedul, Heatfield, Vitas, June, and Ally. He quickly grabbed Portobello's, June's, and Ally's bodies and took them outside the room as well.
"That's my limit, time may resume."
Time resumed as the fire hit the closed door. On the other side, with Jotaro and the others, the fireball had blown the door off its hinges. The fire began to spread through the hallway they were in as smoke filled the ceiling. The fire alarms rang as the sprinklers from above turned on.
Jotaro quickly dashed back into the room, but the fire was too much. He didn't find Greta or Dianne, all that he saw was a hole in the wall the two were facing. They had escaped.
"Yare yare daze."
"What happened?" Tenmei asked.
"I stopped time, I saved us all."
Jolyne noticed how red the floor was as she quickly saw the three bodies, "P-Porto…bello…?"
Jotaro walked over to her daughter and gave her a hug, "It's okay, Jolyne."
For the first time ever, Jolyne trusted her father enough to let her emotions out, she cried on his shoulder.
Tenmei also let out some tears upon seeing June and Ally, as did Kenna and Joanne.
"We won, didn't we?" Tenmei asked, "The Wall is dead. Why was the price so heavy?"
Jotaro sighed, "We haven't won yet. Not until Dianne is dead. She barely managed to slip past us. We have one target left. We owe it to everyone who's died to finish what they started.
Jotaro's attempt at motivating everyone else didn't work very well. Binns faced away from the others, not wanting to look at the corpses. Hozier buried his face in Kenna's pant leg, crying his eyes out.
Several doctors came rushing down the hall, having heard all the noise. All that they were met with was fire, bodies, and a group of Stand users, having won their toughest battle yet. But none of them felt like winners. The Wall had been defeated. The sprinklers rained down on the group. The water soaked them. It washed away all the dirt and sweat from their skin and clothes. However, the water failed at hiding their tears. It had been a long, difficult, morning for them, but the grief that they would soon face would be a hundred times longer and more difficult. This was the price for defeating The Wall.
9:50 AM
...
A/N: And that's chapter 41! Finally done with The Wall arc. I know this was long, taking up thirteen total chapters, but I hope it was worth it. Let's quickly begin with all the musical references. First is the chapter title, Beyond The Wall, named after Pink Floyd's "Beyond the Wall", the final song in their album, "The Wall". I find it fitting that the last chapter in The Wall arc is the last song in The Wall album. Two other musical references come with the character, Sebastian, only mentioned, and the Stand ability, Piece of Me, shown before, but never properly named. Sebastian is named after Skid Row's lead singer, Sebastian Bache, and Piece of Me is named after their song of the same name. Piece of me is the Stand that gave Dianne access to all the flesh buds. She mentioned beforehand back in chapter 20 that she created the flesh buds through her skin using a Stand. This is that Stand. Anyway, you'll gain more insight into who Bono, Karmiel, and Sebastian were in the next chapter because we're jumping back in time at the start of the fourth and final major story arc. We also got some important deaths in this chapter. The rest of The Wall died, so Elliot, Tankian, and David are no more, but Portobello, one of my favorite characters died as well. He was originally supposed to die way back in the Inner Disruption chapters, but I liked him so much, I decided to keep him alive for a little bit longer. Him dying in a hospital is an homage to his original fate. Anyway, sucks that this is such a downer ending, but that's the price of defeating The Wall. Speaking of, I hope I lived up to the hype presented. Anyway, that's enough rambling, this is already the second longest chapter so I'll leave it off here. See you all next week for the beginning of the final major story arc with Episode 42: Broken Bells Part 1!
