Chapter 4 – White Diamond
It had been a fairly long time since Josefumi had almost drowned. Hell, he'd almost forgotten about the doctor who'd saved him, up until he met her son. He hadn't even known she'd been married to his father, a long time ago. It was kind of a bitter reality to acknowledge- the woman who could have been his mother was not, and instead, he'd ended up with a pathetic mom who nearly let him die. Who just didn't fucking care.
Was it any wonder he wanted to help Doctor Holly Kira? For the time being, her treatment was being paid for by her son Jotaro (a brother Josefumi never even knew he had, due to his useless mom and never present father.) But that treatment wasn't fixing the problem, just delaying her downward spiral. Her issues couldn't be fixed by any medical technology, or even Quirks, and everyone knew it. It was a doomed endeavor.
Up until Josefumi and Yoshikage got that message from Jotaro. A Stand-wielding villain named Whitesnake with the ability to take and give Stands had been in contact with some other villain, one who'd been severely maimed at some point. Due to a mutal contact (whom Jotaro had slain a long time ago) the two had become good friends, and Whitesnake had promised to heal his extensive injuries. This meant, of course, that Whitesnake had, somewhere in his collection of Stands, something capable of some extreme form of bodily restoration.
Jotaro had gone to confront the villain at his lair in America, but lost the encounter. With their brother in a Stand induced coma, the task of handling Whitesnake had fallen to Josefumi and Yoshikage. They kept an eye on his movements, and tried giving aid (in the form of information and occasional funds) to his opponent, an anti-villain named Stone Free that Jotaro had some connection to.
But then Stone Free had sent them some damn important info. Whitesnake was coming to Japan. And he had a minion with a healing Stand in tow.
They knew where Jotaro's safe house in Morioh was, so it was simple to take the arrow he'd kept there. And from there?
"He has quite a bit of trust in this plan of his." Yoshikage always had some criticism.
"Oh ye of little faith. It'll work out great! Whitesnake's supposed to be a total hound for Stands, right? It's how he builds a power base. So, if he had the chance to create 'em and then harvest 'em, he'd leap at the opportunity!"
"Yes, I agree. That's not the part I have issue with. This is a major risk. If he wins, then he'll have the arrow. And then who could possibly stand in his way? He'd have an on demand army of Stand users. We should use the rumour of the arrow as bait, not the arrow itself."
"Absolutely not. If he realises he's being played his guard'll go right up! And boom, we miss our window. We need that Stand. It's gotta be all or nothing."
"Well, what do you think? You're the pro here."
Across the room, Higashikata Norisuke held the arrow in his hands, turning it this way and that, as if a new visual angle would grant him the insight necessary to choose the right side. Finally, he set it aside.
"Ultimately? I agree with Kujo. It is a risk, and I don't want my grandson to live in a world shaped by this Whitesnake character. But I do want him to live, and for that, we need to be certain we get that healing Stand."
"Very well. I see I'm outvoted." Yoshikage heaved a dramatic sigh. "So, how do we get this to his attention?"
Enrico strode down the Morioh harbour, Crazy Diamond following behind him. All for One hadn't been pleased to hear of the diversion at first, but once Enrico explained what the arrow could do… well. His friend was a patient man. He had waited some time for Enrico to heal him before, and with the promise of such a powerful artefact? He could wait a little longer.
The museum flyers boasting about the newest exhibits had been in the Tokyo airport, right by the door leading outside, a picture of the arrow taking up a large portion of the page. And if that wasn't enough, the billboards on the streets had been more than noteworthy. Enrico was nearly certain it was the will of God that had led him to see this. But he hadn't survived this long, and overcome so many obstacles by being reckless. He didn't think there were any Stand using villains in Japan at the moment, other than the four Enrico had brought with him, but if there were he was almost certain they'd have seen the advertisements. He would need to be prepared, so as not to run afoul of any competitors.
He'd broken into the museum at night. It was rather easy- the lock had already been melted. Evidently, there was some other Stand using villain in Japan, and they had come for the arrow themself. The heat was clearly a result of either this rival villain's Quirk or Stand. Perhaps it was even a Standless adversary, who hoped to gain power through use of the arrow. Enrico couldn't truly know, and he didn't care to find out.
Rather than wander about looking for the arrow and thus finding himself in the centre of an ambush, he made a beeline for the administrator's office. A quick application of Red Hot Chilli Pepper let him access the computer without a password, and the logs confirmed it- while not in the museum proper, the arrow was being shipped to the museum aboard a cargo ship. A donation, along with a number of other far less valuable trinkets, from some wealthy benefactor. Enrico didn't recognise the name of the donor.
Higashikata? If he were telling the truth, Japanese names tended to blur together in his mind. Even if he understood the language now, having loaned Heaven's Door to a subordinate, and making them write the knowledge into him. He hadn't stopped with Japanese, either. Heaven's Door was a stunningly useful Stand, once one considered all of the possible uses for it. Enrico now spoke Latin, Ancient Greek, Hebrew, Spanish, Modern Standard Arabic, Mandarin and French. When learning a language was as easy as writing a single phrase into yourself, how could you ever stop at just one? He'd briefly considered adding extensive knowledge of literature, history and sciences as well, but he'd shelved that idea. He considered himself a scholar- how could he ruin his intellectual pursuits by removing any need to study?
Well, regardless of whether he knew of this Higashikata or not, he now knew for certain the arrow really was within his reach. With the name of the ship in his possession, he logged out of and shut down the computer. It wouldn't do for his snooping to be discovered.
Enrico continued onto the ship. Without the boarding plank extended, he had to wait for Crazy Diamond to pull himself onboard with the use of his extended sludge arms, before the muddy henchman could extend a hand to pull his boss aboard. Once situated on the ship, Enrico had to pull a handkerchief from his pocket, and wipe his muddied hand.
Highway Star wasn't really the Stand best suited for this task, but it was the only tracking Stand he'd brought with him. Frankly, it was better served dealing with people, and thus largely ineffective at picking out the exact location of the arrow amongst the cargo. Perhaps somewhere in the starboard section? But there was a valuable side effect: with the sense of smell it granted him, he was quickly able to determine that he was in fact, being followed. He let them believe him unaware, however.
Sending his subordinate down to pull the cargo manifest from the captain's quarters, he walked (calmly, so as not to tip off his pursuers) down a particularly tall section. And right after he turned, and was thus out of sight, he hid himself in the shadow of a box, and waited.
It became apparent the jig was up when Whitesnake stopped moving. He might think he'd been slick, hiding behind that crate, but Higashikata's King Nothing was, frankly, a fantastic tracking Stand, if not particularly useful in a combat situation. He'd known immediately when their quarry hid, and with a quick, pre-practiced hand motion, signalled to Yoshikage, and then pointed towards the box.
Josefumi couldn't help but grin when Killer Queen touched the villain's hiding place.
The explosion wasn't lethal of course- they weren't certain that sludge guy was the one with the healing Stand, and couldn't risk killing Whitesnake until they were sure. But damn if wasn't brutal. The villain was thrown backwards, the air knocked out of him in a gasp when he slammed into the crate behind him, his left arm severed. The broken bone peeked out from behind hanging strips of flesh as the blood gushed from the limb, slowly dyeing the priests shoes and pants red. He called his Stand in an instant, but it served him little when he found himself blinded by Soft and Wet, as Josefumi's bubbles took away his sight.
Higashikata walked over to the man and with his Quirk, affixed him to the crate he'd crashed into.
"Pardon the intrusion, Father Pucci, but I'm a pro hero, and I'm searching for something rather specific. I believe you can help me. Would you happen to know of a Stand with a particularly strong healing ability?"
Whitesnaked coughed up a bit of blood.
"I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage..."
"I'm afraid I do. The Stand, Father, if you'd be so kind."
"Ah, yes, that. It seems I have little choice. Well… since you've been so polite… There's a disk, in my front right pocket. That is the Stand you seek. But I'm rather disorientated; you can reach in there if you like."
Yoshikage and Josefumi glanced at one another. No one was that gullible, especially not a pro.
"Well, luckily enough, that pocket is right by the one arm you still have left. Therefore, if it isn't too much trouble, would you be so kind as to take the disc out and hand it to me?"
"If I must."
The proffered disc was held out blindly, and Higashikata was careful to keep an eye on the Stand Whitesnake (which, worryingly had yet to be dismissed) as he reached for the disc. This was, after all, the one time the villain would be able to determine Higashikata's location.
But just before he could touch the disc a light flashed, and the sludge villain who'd been following Whitesnake appeared, looking every bit as surprised as the rest of them. And then all hell broke loose. The sludge villain summoned his Stand, while Whitesnake punched the crate it's user had been stuck to, shattering it and letting said user take off running in the opposite direction, disc still in hand.
"Dammit! A warp Quirk and a Stand that steals Stands- how strong can one guy be? Kujo, get after him, Kira and I can deal with this guy. Get that disc!"
He didn't need to be told twice. Josefumi took off down the aisle, following the trail of blood leaking from Whitesnake's stump. Whenever he was about to make a turn, he used his Quirk on the corner crate- shrinking it in case the enemy had hidden behind it for an ambush.
It turned out to be for naught, however. The ambush didn't come from behind a corner- it came from behind.
"Don't let it hit you, we've no idea what it does!" Yoshikage snorted. Higashikata should change his hero name to Captain Obvious.
"Ah, but the reverse is true too! He'll be blindsided by the invincible power of your King Nothing!" Thankfully, Higashikata caught on.
"Ha, that's true. I'll finish him quickly, so that we can deal with his master." The sludge villain's eyes shifted to look at the pro hero. Honestly, this was too easy. Yoshikage slipped a paper clip out of his pocket, touching it with Killer Queen, and then throwing it directly at their distracted foe.
Despite the mud scattering everywhere, the enemy Stand remained. As Yoshikage expected- some aspect of the villain's Quirk let him survive at only a fraction of his full body.
"Quick, find something to trap him with, before he can counter! I'll keep him occupied!" Higashikata, for all that he could be annoying, was certainly quick to react. King Nothing materialised and began to smash apart numerous cargo crates, sending t-shirts and coffee cups flying through the battlefield.
The enemy Stand moved, throwing a punch straight for Yoshikage's head. Amateur- he'd be more likely to land a blow by attacking centre mass. Dodging the blow, Yoshikage pulled a paper clip from his pocket. Immediately, the Stand backed off, the villain not willing to repeat what happened with the first one. That was fine though- he just need his opponent to think the paper clip was the weapon.
When it was tossed to the left, the Stand dodged to the right. Right next to the crate Killer Queen had touched while the villain had been recuperating. Again, they didn't know if this Stand was the healing one, so the explosion wasn't fatal. Just enough to stun.
"Here, catch!" Higashikata called, and Yoshikage grabbed the object flying towards him (a water bottle that had been emptied, presumably by Higashikata.) Well, when your opponent was liquid…
"Track JoJo, alright? We need to catch up and help him." He said, scooping the sludge villain into the bottle. "And as for you. Dismiss your Stand- I've turned this bottle into a bomb, and won't hesitate to kill you if you hinder our mission." A lie, but the villain had no way of knowing that.
Once the enemy Stand had disappeared, Yoshikage and Higashikata went running down the aisles, chasing after King Nothing's trail of puzzle pieces. How away far had Josefumi gotten? They passed by tiny crates, evidence of his passing, and blood spatters (hopefully Whitesnake's) lining the ground.
They were halfway across the ship, when a flash of bright light filled the bottle he was holding. When it went away, the trapped villain had gone with it.
"Damn! Guess that means Kujo caught up with Whitesnake. Come on, we gotta get there now!" Yoshikage grimaced. He really didn't need this old guy telling him obvious things. But Higashikata continued. "That guy won't be stopped until his master is. Whitesnake'll just keep warping him whenever we catch him, and we can't knock him out because of his mutation type."
"Someone has to keep him occupied until the other two bring down Pucci, is what you're getting at."
"No, that wouldn't help. He'd just warp him back to his side again, and then the two fighting him would be at a disadvantage, waiting for the third to catch up. No, what I'm saying is this: we can't get bogged down fighting the sludge guy. That's a war of attrition we can't win. Instead, we need to collect Kujo and make a beeline for Whitesnake."
"How would we keep the other guy off us?"
Higashikata grinned. "Use of environment, of course."
It had been nearly a full minute, practically forever in a combat situation, before they finally caught up to Josefumi. As they'd expected, the sludge villain was there, his Stand punching wildly as though it were blind. On closer inspection, he realised that was the case- at some point Josefumi had sent Soft and Wet's bubbles at his assailant, briefly taking away it's sight. But the villain must have take him by surprise. His legs had been fused together, and he was having to prop himself up against the row of boxes.
Yoshikage's paperclip struck the villain in the back and exploded, scattering mud everywhere. They ran straight by while he reconstituted himself, only stopping briefly as Higashikata used his Quirk to affix Josefumi to his back. Then they were off again, as King Nothing picked up a new trail.
"Wait, stop! We have to take down that sludge guy!"
"No can do, Kujo. We can't deal with him until we get his master squared away."
The villain had apparently recuperated, because he was starting to catch up to them. He crashed into crates on both sides, his eyes still unseeing as a result of Josefumi's attack. But even without knowing exactly where they were, he brought his Stand out in preparation. Yoshikage glanced behind him, and when their pursuer was at just the right location, he set of the explosion. The bottom row of crates in the wall next to broke into pieces, and the rest toppled down, entrapping the muddy mutant. It wouldn't take it too long to free itself, but without it's sight, it had no hope of catching up to them in time.
"We have to go back! You don't understand! His Sta-"
"No you don't understand, JoJo. We don't have a method of defeating him right now. That reconstitution ability and Whitesnake's warp Quirk are too strong a pair. We have to disable Whitesnake before we fight the other villain."
"That'll be soon, at least. He's just around this corner." A white arm came through the side, in the space between the crates forming the wall, its fist aimed for Higashikata's centre mass. The pro hero didn't see it, but apparently Josefumi did, because Soft and Wet sent a fist of it's own careening into the outstretched arm.
With a snapping sound, the arm bent, and from around the corner they heard a pained cry. Yoshikage took the opportunity for what it was.
"Whitesnake! Surrender, you're surrounded and severely injured. We just want the healing Stand. Give it to us and we'll leave."
"Fine. Fine, dammit. Hold on, I'm coming out." The cornered priest stepped out from behind the boxes. The stump constituting the remnants of his severed arm had been tied with some rope- which had certainly been pilfered from the cargo- in order to stop the bleeding. His other arm was now bent awkwardly. Yoshikage thought he see a bit of broken of bone peeking out, red from the blood covering it. The white disk they were after was clutched awkwardly in the one (broken) arm he still had. His eyes were fixed, apparently Josefumi's attack had worn off at some point. "Here… if I give this to you, can you heal me, and let me go? I'll leave you to your business, just fix me and go away."
"It's a deal. Hand me the Stand." Yoshikage stepped forward, one arm reaching out for the disk, the other holding his last paperclip. He couldn't afford to take his attention of Whitesnake for one second. He just knew the priest would try something again.
But to his surprise, he let the disk go with no trickery whatsoever. Yoshikage paused, waiting for a flash of light to indicate the other villain's arrival. Nothing came.
"We're still good, Kira. But use the disk, confirm that it's the right Stand." Higashikata's voice came from behind. Yoshikage didn't look back- he couldn't risk taking his eyes off of the priest for a second.
But he inserted the disk. And instantly his alarms went off, as the priest gave a smug smile.
"I'm glad the two of you were so focused on me. If either of you had looked back, you'd have realised why your compatriot was so quiet." From behind him Yoshikage heard Higashikata's surprised shouts.
"He- there's a disk coming out of his head! He's completely unconscious!"
The Stand Whitesnake held up another disk. "These are that boy's memories. When he broke my arm, I was able to touch him, and then take this disk from him."
"Kira, you need to take him down- right now! Why aren't you moving?"
Yoshikage's limbs wouldn't respond, and he could feel something moving on his back. Whitesnake touched his head, and then took a disk from him.
Norisuke watched, horrified, as a small humanoid Stand appeared on Kira's back, and started to peel it open.
Whitesnake held the disk he'd taken from Kira aloft, examining it.
"This Stand of yours seems impressive- that explosion when we first met could have killed me. There's no sense in letting that power go to waste. Cheap Trick, jump to that hero who saw his back." So, that's how the Stand functioned? Don't let anyone see your back. Well, that's was straightforward, but impossible.
Norisuke gritted his teeth as he felt something squirming on his back, followed by wet breath on his neck. There was the sound of sloshing and squishing somewhere behind him. It was a hopeless situation. Luckily, he had a plan.
"I think I can guess what you're thinking right now. With that boy's body stuck to your back, no one will be able to see it, and thus Cheap Trick won't activate. Is that about it? But how long can you hold him there? You certainly won't be able to walk around like that in public."
"Actually, that's not what I was thinking at all." He spun around, and let go of his Quirk, dropping Josefumi from his back. He reached a hand around to smack the disk still sticking halfway out of Josefumi's head back inside, bringing some light back into his eyes. And then he felt tearing at his back, as Pucci laughed behind him.
"So, you thought you'd transfer that Stand to me? What a noble sacrifice. But observe what a foolish idea that was." Whitesnake touched it's user's forehead, and pulled a disk out. "Now, Cheap Trick has been rendered inert, but it's still far too late for you."
Norisuke couldn't feel his body anymore- the Stand's attack had broken his spine.
"That's still wrong! I'm not attacking you, Whitesnake- I'm attacking your minion!" Indeed, the sloshing sound he'd heard coming up behind had been the sludge villain. It had finally caught up to them, it's sight having been restored when Kujo's Stand had been brought of his body.
Hearing Norisuke's proclamation, it summoned it's Stand, and launched a fist straight towards him.
"No, stop! He's bluffing, don't hit him!" Whitesnake's warning came too late. The Stand's attack tore through Norisuke's chest, and smashed through his back as well.
"I figured out what Kujo was trying to tell us. The reason his legs had been fused during that fight with your minion… this guy is the one with the healing Stand. Or rather, it's ability is some form of extreme matter reformation, activated upon landing a blow." And with that, Norisuke stood up. His torso felt weird, like his organs were in different positions. Reaching down a hand, he felt a steady heartbeat, thumping away where his stomach had been before. Well, that was fine. His internals didn't need to be in the right place for him to win.
He glanced at Kujo. With his Stand disk back in him, he seemed healthier. But without any memories, he'd be useless in this fight. He wouldn't even know who his enemy was. But Norisuke leaned down and whispered in his ear regardless.
"Hey, don't listen to him!" Pucci shouted. "Whatever he's telling you, it isn't true. Can't you see how I'm injured? He's a madman, going around attacking people. Get away from him or he'll hurt you!"
Kujo stood, in a sense- one hand on the ground to support his fused legs- and began to back away from Norisuke, towards Pucci. The sludge villain seemed take that a cue to rectify the mistake he'd made, launching an attack towards Norisuke's head. King Nothing raised a hand to take the blow, and the enemy's ability took effect, warping his arm. But that was fine too. It was still usable.
The mutant's Stand was lightning fast, but Norisuke was a pro for a reason, and he'd already used the first attack as an opportunity to close distance. He ran straight for the villain, bearing down with his shoulder and crashing straight into him. His opponent flowed around him, binding his arms with mud.
"Was that seriously how you thought you'd fight me? Oh man, that's rich! Haven't you figured out how my Quirk works by now?"
"Yes, I have." Norisuke responded, using his own Quirk to stick the mutant to himself. "King Nothing!"
The Stand reached out, grabbing Norisuke's leg, and pulling him and the villain across the floor. It dragged them to the side, and with a heave, tossed them both overboard. As they hit the water, Norisuke let go of his Quirk. The villain had already loosened it's grip on him in an attempt to free itself, and he used this chance to swim back up to the side of the ship.
Yoshikage was shocked. This was… this was an existential crisis if ever he'd heard of one.
Whitesnake's attention had been drawn by Higashikata's antics, and he'd used the opportunity to do as the man instructed. He'd taken the disc from… from his own corpse, and put it inside his, or rather, Josefumi's head.
He had to fight. He knew that, but it was so hard to move past his own death, and strange new existence. What did he do? Did he take Josefumi's memory disk from Whitesnake and put it in his head? Would that merge the two of them? What did he do with his body?
No. He needed to calm down. Compartmentalise, and deal with this later. With a quick application of Josefumi's Quirk, he shrunk his corpse and stuffed it in his pocket. That healing Stand. If he could use it to fix his body, and then put his own Stand and memories back into it, he'd be able to survive. That's it. He had a path forward, all he needed to do now was win.
He called forth Soft and Wet.
It was a strange feeling, using another person's Stand. He felt the familiar tug at his soul, but instead of the feeling of heat deep in his bones that came with Killer Queen, he felt something more akin to a sort of slickness, like a rope covered in oil, slipping around in his gut.
As Higashikata clambered back up the side of the boat (through the use of his sticking Quirk, no doubt) Yoshikage crawled behind Pucci. Soft and Wet's fist crashed into his side, lifting and throwing him straight into the railing, and knocking the breath right out of him.
Higashikata finally made it back onboard, and stuck Whitesnake to the railing.
"Rifle through his pockets, old man. Get my Stand and JoJo's memories back." With that, Yoshikage pulled himself onto the railing, looking down at the sludge villain.
"You going after the healing Stand?"
"Yeah. I'll be back." In his own body.
He crashed into the water, immediately sending Soft and Wet's bubbles to blind the mutant. He didn't really have a way to imprison the villain, but he didn't think he needed one any more. When he'd been fighting Whitesnake, he'd come to a realisation. He'd already been dying when his disk had been taken, which means the disk ability wasn't contingent on the victim still being alive. The Stand that had been given to the sludge villain, it was borrowed. If the villain were to die, the disk would come straight out.
So, all he had to do was kill this guy. In terms of Quirks, his opponent had a clear upper hand on land. But in this ocean, he'd begun to diffuse. Blinded, and losing control of his body, the mutant was able to offer barely any resistance as Yoshikage grabbed his head and pulled him along towards the shore. His fused legs acted almost like a tail, making him swim even quicker through the ocean water.
They soon reached dry land. Yoshikage crawled up onto the shore, and then to the right, into the forest, transferring his hold on the mutant to Soft and Wet's hands. At some point his foe had stopped struggling. It'd probably lost consciousness after losing so much of it's body. But for now, Yoshikage need a plan to kill it.
Enough of the villain was near solid that he could grab him. He'd been able to fit the mutant into a bottle earlier, but it wouldn't be able to live as a pure liquid organism. It likely had some sort of vaguely gelatinous skull, housing a similarly malleable brain. It could contort and conform to new shapes, but it wouldn't be able to withstand direct blunt force.
This meant it could be killed if he were to smash its head in with a rock. He brought his corpse out of his pocket and laid it down, returning it to normal size, and began rooting through the forest.
Focused as he was, he was totally unprepared for the punch that came slamming into his side. He felt his ribs rearrange themselves as he looked back. The mutant's Stand was out. Of course. The unconsciousness was a ploy. Obvious in retrospect.
Yoshikage crawled, trying to get away from the Stand, and calling Soft and Wet to him, in order to defend. The enemy, still blinded, was lashing out wildly, warping trees and boulders into unnatural shapes with each misdirected blow.
But this could be useful, anyway. He made it to his body, and lifted it with Soft and Wet's hands, before tossing it loudly against a tree. The enemy Stand was on it in a minute, and the fatal wound on the corpse's back was healed by the punch. The lure was successful, in two ways. Now the Stand's back was vulnerable, as he crept up behind it.
But his attack was sidestepped, and he tripped as he overextended himself, so that he fell on top of his body.
"I had to let you think you had me cornered to draw you out… I've come so close to losing this fight already." The mutant said. "I hadn't really considered it before, you know? Just as a vague, distant event that wouldn't really ever come. But I've come so close, in these past few minutes… And I realised I'm fucking terrified of dying."
It blindly sent an attack flurry into him, fists crashing at random into Kujo's body and his own. With each strike, he felt himself twisting, and merging with his corpse. As he died, two disks came out.
AN
1. I went with Part 4 Killer Queen over Part 8's, which blows exploding bubbles, because Part 8 Josuke's Soft and Wet is a mixture of Josefumi's S&W and Kira's Killer Queen, but that's not how it works in this story. Plus, it makes Killer Queen fit in with the theme of the Stands Pucci has amassed in this fic, specifically that they all come from Part 4
2. I realise that in canon, Whitesnake's disks don't come out of an affected target when they die, but they do in this, because the plot just needs it to be that way