A/N: I have a LOT of new questions... so I might as well answer them.
Why can they see Star Platinum: Well, not EVERYONE can see Stands. as you may have noticed. I plan to have a chapter explaining why later down the road, however, so please stay tuned until then.
Jotaro being OOC when Akame said 'Follow or Die': Jotaro isn't a coward, yes, but he's not stupid. Anyone in their right minds, no matter how strong they are, doesn't want to piss off an assassination group. If Jotaro refused and ended up having to kill someone from Night Raid, they'd all be after him. And this time, Jotaro doesn't have the rest of the Stardust Crusaders backing him up.
No one use any VS Debating examples for this, please. I want reviews, not arguments.
Jotaro Killing: Yes, while it is true that Jotaro, 90s Anti-Hero that he is, doesn't kill unless its necessary. If anything, several of the characters he beats the shit out of simply have their fates ambiguous, with the exception of Dio. I plan to work around that. As you noticed, Sayo and Ieyasu are still alive, so I will be changing several of the character deaths that happen throughout the story, including those of the antagonists. While Jotaro will kill if necessary, he won't do it all the time, like Giorno and Johnny would.
More JoJo characters: You know, I might as well reveal this now. Yes, there WILL be more JoJo characters showing up in the story. I am planning to have 5 more JoJo characters to show up in the story. As for who they are, I'll leave up to your imagination. But here are some hints.
There will be 2 characters from Part 1-2.
There will be 2 characters from Part 3-6.
There will be 1 character from Part 7-8.
Feel free to guess who they could be. You can leave your guesses in the reviews, and I'll say how many got it right.
That's enough for now. Here's the next chapter.
"This is the base of your operations, eh?"
After the assassination of the sadistic family, the assassins had effectively brought Jotaro and the others to their headquarters. The rest of the assassins already went back much earlier, with the exception of Leone as their guide.
"Eyup!" Leone said with a grin. "Home sweet home!"
Jotaro pushed up the brim of his cap to shade his eyes from the sunlight, before looking at the building. It was built directly under a huge cliff, and its overall appearance reminded Jotaro of a castle (in fact, a little too much like Dio's Mansion). The idea of hiding it under a cliff seemed to be intelligent, but due to the huge size of the building, anyone strolling by would be able to spot it in no time. The building did look fairly old and beaten down on the outside, however, so it could pass as an abandoned castle.
"Impressive, but this place is pretty damn close to the Capital." Jotaro noted.
"And you guys are kinda in the open." Tatsumi noted.
"Oh no worries. I'll explain more on that later." She said. "Right now, we're going to introduce you to the rest of our members."
Leone led them inside the base, but Jotaro could already tell that it was going to be a long day.
Their first stop of the 'tour' was the Meeting Room. It had an overall majestic appearance, with carpet and marble. There was long wooden table, and several marble pillars with lights on them.
At the table was a young woman with purple hair and glasses. She was wearing a sleeveless lilac cheongsam and was reading a book when she noticed the others come in.
"Oh, hello Leone. Have they decided yet?"
"Nope. I can't speak for the big guy, but the other three are a bit hesitant. So, Shelle. I was wondering if maybe you could give them some words of encouragement?" She said, putting a hand on top of Tatsumi's head.
Shelle put a finger on her chin in thought. "Well... since we showed you the location of our hideout..." She turned to look at them, glasses shining. "If we can't convince you to join the team, you'll be dead."
Tatsumi, Ieaysu and Sayo all sweatdropped, half out of incredulity, half out of fear for their lives.
"Uh... was that supposed to be encouragement or a threat?" Tatsumi said weakly.
"Just think over it, okay?" She said with a smile, before she went back to read her book. They happened to see the cover, and they could feel even more sweatdrops. Thankfully more of incredulity this time.
'One Hundred Ways to Cure Being an Airhead'... Seriously? Ieyasu thought.
Sayo and Jotaro on the other hand, thought of several people who could use the book.
I'll convince her to lend it to Ieyasu later. Sayo thought.
Polnareff could have definitely used that. Jotaro thought, recalling his French friend's antics. Would have made a lot of our close calls non-existent.
"Hey!" Yelled a voice. "What the hell!"
Walking in from the doorway was a girl that was...pink. She had pink hair, pink eyes and was in a pink dress.
"You let them into the hideout, Leone?!"
"Well, they're going to be one of us now."
She stepped up to them, and looked long and hard.
"Nope."
"Huh?!" The three of them asked in confusion. Jotaro's eyes were shadowed.
"No way that they'll be able to work with us." She said. "I don't think they have the ability to work with us professionals, just by looking at their faces."
"Hey! My mom says I have the face of a professional!" Ieyasu said.
"Dude... not helping your case." Tatsumi deadpanned.
"Sorry guys, that's just Mine's way of saying hello." Leone said, before she turned to her friend. "Mine, can't you give them a chance?"
"Even if I did, they'd probably screw it up. Besides, they don't have the air of an assassin, and they'll probably die on their first mission. And then there's the fact that training them would be a huge hassle, and that it would be a waste of time for all of us. And then there's the problem of them actually choosing to join us or not, which they haven't done yet, and even if they did, the boss would probably refuse them. And then-"
"Shut the hell up! You're damn annoying!"
This outburst from Jotaro silenced everyone. The normally stoic teen, now with an expression of mild irritation on his face, had his eyes narrowed at Mine after stunning her into silence. Both Tatsumi and Ieyasu moved towards the wall in dread of the possible fight between Mine and Jotaro...
But to their unbelievable shock, Mine didn't retort. She simply took one step back and had a notable blush on her face. And it wasn't just her, the rest of the girls all had similar reactions, all of them surprised and blushing.
"Good freaking grief." Jotaro said, pulling down on his hat. He turned towards the and left.
And with that, Jotaro exited the room, taking the tension with him. Tatsumi and Ieyasu let out breaths of relief, while the girls were all still quite stunned.
Holy crap... Mine thought, heart beating a million miles per hour. What the heck was that?
"Come on, let's follow him." Leone said, blush still on her face. "He was heading the way I wanted to show you guys next."
Jotaro walked through the halls of Night Raid's base. He thought to himself as he explored.
Not even a day here and someone's already annoyed me. I really hope that not every assassin here is a nutcase.
Jotaro was brought out of his thoughts by the sounds of something whipping through the air. He opened a door that led outside to a clearing. There, he saw a muscular man training with a staff. He was whipping it through the air with so much force and intensity that it was causing wind to kick up dust.
Huh, not bad. His speed and skill is quite impressive, sorta like Polnareff. His hair kinda reminds me of that Josuke kid too...
"I see you've found the next person I wanted to introduce." Leone said, walking up with the other three. "That's Bulat. As you can see, he's already up and training."
"Whoa, he's awesome!" Ieyasu said.
Bulat finished his workout, before turning around to see them. "Oh, you're the group we picked up last night, aren't you?" He asked.
"Last night?" Sayo said. "I don't remember you."
"Oh right, I was wearing my armor." He said. "Makes sense you wouldn't recognize me."
"Oooh." They said, realizing.
"Nice to meet you all." He said, holding out a hand. "Pleasure's mine."
"Oh uh, yeah." Tatsumi said, shaking his hand.
"And by the way, he's gay." Leone added, causing Tatsumi to quickly let go. Ieyasu took a few steps back as well.
"Oh come on now." Bulat said, blushing slightly. "They'll get the wrong idea."
Jotaro merely pulled his cap down and sighed.
A young man with green hair was seen crawling on a cliff right above a bathing area.
"Heh heh heh. It's almost time for Leone's bath~" He chuckled perversely. "I'd give anything to see that body of hers!"
"In that case, why not two fingers?"
Leone managed to get the drop on him, before she pulled back on one of arms and started crushing his fingers.
"You never learn, do you?" She asked, annoyed. "Next time, I'll break your arm."
She turned back to the group, mood suddenly doing a complete 180. "This is Lubbock." She said. "As you can see, he's an idiot."
"Pervert." Sayo said to him.
Tatsumi and Ieyasu only had incredulous looks, while Jotaro felt like punching something or someone in annoyance.
Good grief, is EVERYONE here going to remind of Polnareff one way or another?
After Leone's little torture session, the group walked down the riverbank as the sun was setting.
"Come on. Last person." Leone said. "Though you already know her."
Coming into sight was Akame, sitting by a fire. But what was shocking was a huge bird that was stuck over the fire. While Leone and Jotaro showed reaction, the other three were impressed. Akame turned to face them.
"Leone, have some." She said, tossing a drumstick to her.
"Ooh, thanks!" She said, catching it.
Akame then just stared at the others. "Have you joined yet?"
"No." Jotaro said, bluntly.
"Then I'm not sharing." She said, turning away.
I don't think he wanted any. Tatsumi though, sweatdropping.
"Anyways, Akame." Leone said, finishing the drumstick. "Is it just me, or is everyone else a little jacked up today?"
"That's because the boss is back." Akame answered.
"Huh? The boss?" Tatsumi asked.
Leone moved to the other side of the roasting bird. "Ey! Boss!"
(A/N: No, I do not regret making this reference in the slightest.)
"Hey, good to see you, Leone." Replied a voice.
Jotaro and the others moved to the other side of the bird to see a woman in a black suit with short silver hair and purple eye. 'Eye' because she had an eyepatch on. And not only that, one of her arms was mechanical.
"Welcome back!" Leone said with a grin. "Did you get me something?"
"Now, why would I do that?" Najenda said. "I heard that a job that you finished three days late..."
Leone turned around on her heels and started running away.
This feels too familiar. Jotaro thought.
But his train of through broke as Najenda's mechanical arm shot off at Leone and grabbed her, dragging her back. "When facing a powerful opponent, it's unwise to get caught up in the fun." She stated as the arm reeled Leone in. "Shouldn't you know better by now?"
"Okay!" Leone choked out. "I get it!"
The old man could've used a hand like that. Jotaro thought. But knowing him, he'd only do stupid shit with it.
"Anyways." Najenda said, letting go. "Who are these four new faces?"
"Oh, right!" Leone jumped up to her feet. "These four are gonna join us!"
"Huh?!" Sayo said in surprise.
"Wait, hold on, we haven't said anything yet!" Ieyasu stated.
"Can you quit doing that?" Tatsumi asked.
Jotaro said nothing as he stuck a cigarette in his mouth and pulled out a lighter.
"Do they show promise?" Najenda asked.
"They do!" Leone insisted. She gave Tatsumi a slight nudge. "C'mon, just give it a try!"
Najenda stood up. "Akame, get everyone in the meeting room. I want to hear every last detail of what happened."
"Understood." Akame said.
Eventually, all of Night Raid had gathered in the meeting room. Najenda sat on a chair as she listened to the recap of the mission. Jotaro stayed leaning against the wall, still smoking his cigarette. He had his eyes closed, so it was hard to tell if he was paying attention.
"I see then." Najenda said, after hearing the story. She then held her prosthetic arm out. "Tatsumi, Ieyasu and Sayo. Would you like to join Night Raid?"
"Aren't we dead if we decline?" Tatsumi asked.
"No, you won't be killed if you decline, but we can't exactly let you go." Najenda said. "If you do decline, you can work for us in the factory."
"Well..." Tatsumi clenched his fist. "We want to make enough money to save our capital from starvation. But... the Capital wasn't anything like I thought."
"Tatsumi." Bulat said. "Corruption in the capital is creating mass poverty all over the countryside. Don't you want to uproot all that corruption at the source, like a man would?"
"Bulat was originally a soldier in the Imperial Army." Najenda explained. "But he joined us once he saw the corruption in the capital."
"If we don't do something about the scum terrorizing the capital, it's never gonna get cleaned up." Bulat continued. "So it's our job to take out those bastards whenever we can."
"That's cool and all, but will taking out a few bad eggs here and there really make a difference?" Ieyasu asked.
"It won't really help villages like ours." Sayo said.
"And that's why Night Raid is the perfect fit for all of you." Najenda said.
"Why is that?" Tatsumi asked.
"There's an anti-empire group called the Revolutionary Army that has a hideout south of the capital."
"The Revolutionary Army?" Sayo said. "First time we've heard of it."
"Not surprised. They started as a small group, before they grew into a large-scale organization. As they grew, they needed a group specifically for covert operations such as recon and assassination. And thus, Night Raid was born." Najenda proudly exclaimed. "We're only taking out a few fires at the moment, but when the Revolutionary Army makes its move, we take out the cause of this entire mess; the Prime Minister."
"So... you're going to kill him?" Tatsumi asked.
"Only then, will this country change."
"So, if this happens, and our nation has a new start, will this make people happy again?" Ieyasu asked.
"I'm certain." Najenda said confidently.
"We... get it now." Tatsumi said, a smile making its way onto his face. "It's awesome, you guys are taking out all the problems this country has."
"Your effort truly is admirable." Sayo noted.
"Yeah!" Ieyasu added. "It's like you guys are assassins of justice!"
At those words, everyone else was silent... before they burst out into laughter. The only ones that didn't were Akame and Jotaro. Akame simply stared at them, expression not changing, while Jotaro took the cigarette out of his mouth and blew out the smoke.
"Good grief." Jotaro said. He got off the wall and walked up to the group, flicking his cigarette into Mine's hair.
"Hey! What was that for?!" She yelled at him, though Jotaro ignored her.
"You three are ridiculously ignorant if you think this is what they call justice." Jotaro said, eyes shadowed by his cap.
"Huh? Why?" Ieyasu asked as the others finished laughing, before their expressions changed back to serious.
"Listen you three, no matter how you look at it... we're murderers." Leone said.
"There is no justice in that." Sheele stated.
"Everyone here... could receive retribution and die at any moment." Bulat said.
"I don't get it." Ieyasu said. "You guys are taking out the corrupt bastards. How is that not justice?"
"I'll spell it out for you." Jotaro said, holding up a finger. "There are different kinds of evil in this world. You got the simple and petty thugs that don't do anything but steal, kill or worse. Their evil is simple and dumb. They might not have a choice, but what they do is wrong. Then there's the evil we do because we can't see far ahead. Bastards like me."
He put his hand down and clenched his fist.
"But then there's true evil, those that use the weak for their own gain, and crush them underfoot when they're through. But killing them? The furthest thing from justice. When I took out a bastard that had been plaguing my family for years, did I feel happy or satisfied? No, I just felt anger."
Everyone was silent after Jotaro finished speaking, though he wasn't done.
"If that didn't get through your thick skull, let me spell it out easier. The Empire is the worst of the worst. Night Raid is nowhere near their level of evil, but they still are."
...
...
...
"I'm sorry, but how old are you?" Lubbock asked. Jotaro simply glared at him.
"Jotaro Kujo, was it?" Najenda asked. "If you don't mind, can you tell us about yourself?"
"Humph. Fine."
Jotaro had prepared a fake story in preparation for any interrogations. The real story they would never believe, or at least at the moment, so he would tell the real one when the time was right. Though, the fake story is technically correct, but not in the normal sense.
"My name is Jotaro Kujo, and I come from a country overseas known as Japan."
This part was easy, since he really was from Japan.
"Only a few months ago, I discovered that an old enemy of my bloodline was continuing to antagonize my family."
This was also true. Just under 2 months ago, was when it all started for him. When he discovered his stand, and went on the quest to take down DIO.
"So I went on a journey with some allies to defeat him... and I succeeded. But... everyone else died."
They did manage to defeat DIO, but there wasn't a cost. Avdol, Iggy and Kakyoin all died. And then when he later fought Heaven Ascension DIO... everyone else was killed, not just his revived friends. Heaven Ascension DIO also killed every single Joestar in both past, present, and an alternate timeline, as well as their allies. For all he knew, he was the only one that was still alive.
"I then wandered the Earth, before I happened to come across Sayo and Ieyasu. The rest is history."
Well, he technically only wandered for around 5 minutes, but he still did.
"And that's my story."
Night Raid was silent when he finished.
"And to answer your question." Jotaro said, turning to Lubbock. "I'm seventeen."
This got a different reaction. Everyone was stunned that the towering muscular man was one of the youngest, if not the youngest, one among them.
"Well then, Jotaro." Najenda started, pulling herself back together. "Can you tell my about this ability you possess?"
Jotaro nodded, and materializing behind him, was Star Platinum.
"This is my stand, Star Platinum." Jotaro stated.
"It's very manly." Bulat noted, looking at the stand's bulging muscles.
"Badass." Leone commented, though she did remember how it threw her like a ragdoll last night.
"You keep saying 'stand', could you explain what it exactly is?"
"Oh give me a break." Jotaro said, annoyed. "Wasn't expecting to give a damn lesson about these, but I might as well."
Night Raid listened intently as Jotaro gave the lecture.
"Stands are a manifestation of one's fighting spirit. They're usually passed down through bloodlines, though there are artificial means of obtaining one. A stand will follow their user's wishes and desires, essentially like a double of yourself that you can control. Stands can only be hurt or seen by other stands or stand-users."
"Wait, only by other stands or other stand-users?" Lubbock asked. "Then how the heck can we see it?"
"Beats me. Might be that you all have the potential, or that none of you have truly awakened your stands."
It really is odd they can see Star Platinum... it's probably because this world has different rules. This might prove to be problematic...
"Wait, then why did you say I can't have a stand?" Ieyasu asked. "You said that there are artificial ways to get stands?"
"I only said that because I wanted you off my back." Jotaro bluntly stated. "Besides, all artificial methods of gaining a stand now are lost to history."
That is... unless the Stand Arrows are here as well.
"When a stand takes damage, said damage will get reflected upon the user, and as such, if a stand dies, so does their user, and the other way around as well. Every stand has their own abilities and ranges. For example, Star Platinum is a close-range stand, with a range of 2 meters away from me."
"Special abilities?" Tatsumi asked.
Jotaro reached into his pocket and pulled out a rifle round.
"Looks like I got one left." He looked up at Night Raid, who were confused. "Come to the training ground. It's easier for me to just show you."
(JoJo's Bizarre Adventure OST - Platinum Fists)
Jotaro stood at the far end of the training ground. All the way on the other side, was a wooden post. On top of the post was a grape. The distance between it and Jotaro was about 50 meters, the length of a Olympic-sized swimming pool. Next to Jotaro was a wooden training dummy.
"What it he doing?" Mine asked.
"I think he's gonna try and hit the grape from this far away." Lubbock responded.
"Pfft. Without a scope, not to mention, without a gun? No way."
Star Platinum held the rifle round in one hand, and was looking at the grape.
"I can do this with small iron balls as well. Rifle rounds are just more effective."
And with that, Star Platinum flicked the base of the bullet with its finger. To Night Raid's shock, the bullet fired with just as much intensity if it was fired by an actual gun. It flew straight through the air and hit the grape dead on.
"Whoa!" Tatsumi said, impressed. Jotaro turned back to the group.
"Superb precision is Star Platinum's main ability. My stand has enhanced vision, and can even perform medical surgery even the most well trained surgeons can't do. I once pointed a gun inches away from my own head, and it caught the bullet right out of the air." Jotaro explained. "And precision isn't all that my stand has."
He then turned to the training dummy, and pointed at it.
"Star Platinum!"
The stand reared its fists back before it unleashed the barrage.
"ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORA! ORA!"
With its flying fists, Star Platinum destroyed the training dummy, reducing it to nothing but mere splinters.
Leone could feel sweat drip down her brow. So that's the power he's packing. Man, good thing he didn't unleash it on me or Akame.
"Star Platinum has incredible strength and speed, as it just showed you. It's strong enough to smash through diamonds." Jotaro said. Well, teeth as hard as diamonds, but it has the same effect.
Night Raid was impressed at Star Platinum's abilities, but Akame didn't seem satisfied.
"That's not your true power, isn't it?" She asked.
Night Raid turned to her, confused by the statement. Jotaro simply tilted his hat down.
"Good grief." He said. "I'm impressed that you were able to deduce it, but it's still annoying."
"Yeah." Ieyasu said. "When Sayo and I first met you, you did something to that Earth Dragon. It suddenly broke down in less than a second."
"And when you fought me, you suddenly jumped to another spot." Akame remembered. "That didn't seem to be super speed, or the ground would have been disturbed by your movement."
"Good detective work." Jotaro said. "Fine, since I'll be joining you, I'll tell you my true power."
"Oh, you're gonna join us?!" Leone said, ecstatic. "Swee-!"
Mine elbowed Leone in the gut, because she was being disruptive.
"Well, Star Platinum's true power is... this is going to be hard to believe."
"Hit us with it man!" Lubbock said. "We can take any info you give."
"Star Platinum's true ability... is that it can stop time."
...
...
...
"You're joking, right?" Lubbock said.
Jotaro's glared at him, before he suddenly jumped forward.
No, he didn't even jump. He just appeared right in front of Lubbock. He had made no notion to move. One second he's far away, the next he's right in front of them.
"So." Najenda's eye narrowed. "You can stop time?"
"Yes. I can stop time for three seconds from my point of view, but for all of you, no time will have passed."
"That's a powerful ability." Najenda noted.
"But it doesn't come with it's drawbacks. Every time I do it, it has severe drawbacks on my body. And if I don't use it often, it'll slowly lower itself from three seconds to two. But if I use it more, it'll eventually become four and so on."
"What a very complicated ability." Najenda stated. "And you want to join us?"
"Yes. That damn capital is full of corrupt shit, and I'm not sitting around doing nothing." Jotaro said, fists clenched.
"But, are you willing to kill?" Najenda asked.
Jotaro was silent for a while, before finally speaking. "Killing is something I have done, but I prefer just beating the shit out of my enemies. I only kill if it's bastards that really deserve it."
"Then you'll be killing a lot while you're with us." Leone quipped.
Jotaro sighed and pulled down on his cap.
"Regardless." Najenda held out her hand. "Good to have you with us, Jotaro."
Jotaro stared at the hand for a while, before he took it and shook hands with her.
Good grief. Never thought the day would come that I join an assassination group. Things just took another bizarre turn...
The soft clops of a horse could be heard as it cantered through the forest. On the back of the horse was a young man.
"I've almost made it out of the forest. Hopefully the Capital isn't far."
Once he made it to a clearing, he stopped his horse. He could see several stone walls and people entering. Tightening his gloves, he ordered his horse to continue moving.
"Finally. But knowing humanity, this place will be no different than the dirt beneath my feet."
TO BE CONTINUED.
A/N: I actually managed to write a 3rd chapter for once, this is a new record. But then again, I got exams coming up soon, so I finished this up faster. The next chapter might not be until July.
So Jotaro and the others officially join Night Raid! Will this change the fates of Night Raid?
Hopefully the explanation about the stands was done well enough.
And who is this mysterious figure on horseback? He will be revealed soon enough.
Leave a review and tell me how I can improve. See you all next chapter.