My Little Pony: Friendship is a Bizarre Adventure
Part 2: ~Battle Festivity~
Episode VI: Il Mare Eterno Nella Mia Anima
That morning was hectic to say the least. Stroheim being in repair, cleaning the bodies of the dead soldiers, and Pinkie Pie searching the whole area from top to snow bottom. JoJo himself looed of into space before being pulled back to reality by Lisa Lisa.
"You two, hurry up! It's likely we found where Kars and Soul are hiding."
"Comin', c'mon Pinkie, we'll find that Element later. Most likely it was stolen."
"We have to get it bac as soon as possible!"
Handing over a pair of binoculars they found a large abandoned mansion. Lisa Lisa turned to everyone and pointed ahead.
"That building has the same address ACDC used to mail the Red Stone. This closed and deserted mansion is the perfect place for any undead."
Caesar huffed with a determined shift in his eyes.
"Kars and Soul must be waiting for Wham and Tezla, this is the perfect chance to strike!"
"I agree with Caesar! They can't come out during daylight!"
"Caesar and Messina both make good points, but what about you two? JoJo?"
"I... I disagree!"
"I'm with him, my Pinkie Sense is giving me a bad feeling. Think about it guys! These two have been living like this for thousands of years!"
"They've had to planned for this! In fact, after yesterday, they'll probably be even more alert! A frontal assault is more like suicide in this instance!"
"If we go in there like that, we're gonna be in a lot of hurt!"
"It'll be like a butterfly flying into a spiders web!"
Caesar chuckled for a small moment before giving an uncharacteristic glare, like someone else began took over him for a moment, before putting a small mocking smile on.
"Hey now. That doesn't sound like the Pinkie and JoJo I know. What're you afraid of?"
"Caesar you nitwit, I'm following Sun Tzu's Art of War! I only fight when I know I've won!"
"JoJo what's with you, for Christ sake, are you in a blue funk!?"
"A blue funk?! Caesar I'm thinking this shit through, clear headed! Even Pinkie agrees with me-"
"I usually agree with you."
"We'd best wait for the night to plan for an opening or some sneak attack, infiltration, any thing BUT suicide squading the front door!"
"You were talking of victory earlier, no? There's five of us, five, and only two of them! We've got numbers, skill, and Hamon on our side!"
"Ripple."
"Caesar, are you losing patience or something? Calm down and actually use that muscle in your blonde head. Their at a home advantage, they'll immediately know where we'll be if we just waltz in!"
"I am not losing patience! This the moment of truth, to break the family curse, the one of the Stone Mask stealing our grandfathers lives!"
"Break the curse?! What the Hell are you on about, bringing up some old guys from fifty years ago!?"
"W-What did you just say JoJo-"
"Who cares about stories of some ancient curse, dork! What would you win from getting killed for that, huh?!"
Caesar's face changed, a wild look in his eyes with a snarl escaping his lips.
"YOU WENT TO FAR, JOJO!"
A Hamon charged punch would have made contact with JoJo's chin had Pinkie not caught, and pushed the two away from each other, Messina holding Caesar back.
"Stop it the both of you! Crispy mackerels, what's gotten into you Caesar!?"
"I thought you two would understand! Pinkie, you said you knew the girl who fought with our grandfathers! What would she think!?"
"That you're acting like a big baby! I don't even recognize you like this."
"Let go of me! I'll go by myself!"
"Caesar wait, if you do that, you won't come back out!"
He kept going, but everyone was surprised by Pinkie Pie's words. She was always the one to meet everything with a smile, to hear her say something like that, it was surprising to say the least.
"I-I'll go with him, to see if I can bring him back."
"Pinkie wait- Ugh. We shouldn't be splitting up like this."
"JoJo, you're right. However we can't afford to simply wait either. Messina, go with Pinkie to help her bring back Caesar. JoJo, I'll tell you now why he acted this way."
"Huh?"
"You didn't just hit a nerve, you touched his most sensitive spot, his past."
"His past? What, is it all some big grudge!?"
"You could see it like that, yes. It began with his very own father, Mario Zeppeli, an ideal role model in the eyes of any Italian. A proud carpenter with a strong righteous sense of loyalty to his family. Even when his wife died young he stood strong for his children, with Caesar being the oldest and proudest. That is, until he simply vanished one day. The neighbors took them in with great kindness, and he left them with a good sum of money from his savings, until a seedy vile cousin from his mothers side stole it all without Caesar noticing. This alone is what made him the alert man we know today. Soon he became more violent, wandering aimlessly, eventually getting into fights. He alone was sent to an orphanage away from his siblings in fear he would attack them. Please keep in mind, the Social Services of the thirties were god awful. Thanks to all of this, Caesar began to hate his father. He fled the orphanage and raised himself on the streets. He became not just a common thug, but a daredevil in the criminal world, committing almost every crime save for murder. Never did he attack children or women. He became known for his signature skill at the time, before his Soap Bubbles, it was called Il Colpo Di Illuminazione or The Shot of Lightning. A punch filled with strange bolts that sent men into commas for a month."
"Hamon..."
"The Ripple, yes. He was sixteen by this time, four years ago, he had found his father back in the Naples. Following his father expecting to find him in a club or with a woman, he found him going to the Coliseum, to the resting place of the Pillar Men."
"Ah! Was he the one who sealed them away!?"
"No. He had trained in the Ripple, but they had been sealed long before. Caesar followed him down below and found them all imbedded in the statue. A strange jewel, or rather a shiny rock made for baiting, allured him closer. It was in the hands of Kars. Mario had found him in the nick of time, but did not recognize Caesar, saving him anyways from the trap. He wasn't aware of the Stone Mask, or the truth behind Mario's disappearance until that moment. In what little time they had left together, Mario had given him brief instructions to seek me out and leave the rest to me. Caesar was lost, his hatred turned into sorrow, than into a prideful passion... Any Italian man would be proud of their family, but Caesar held his near that of Heaven. With redemption for his life on his mind and heart he begged me to train him in the Ripple. As we can all see I clearly did not object."
"... I never knew. Kars killed his father, no wonder, and that look in his eye before he left. He knew just as well as me and Pinkie, he has a plan. Good Grief, now I giess we can't wait around. Master Lisa Lisa, let's back Caesar up!"
Caesar was only a few feet away from the entrance, stopping upon seeing footsteps to the already open door in the snow. Pinkie Pie grabbed him to his surprise and began to drag him away before he pulled back violently out of her grip.
"Don't try and stop me from avenging my family!"
"I'm trying to stop you from giving them another grave to fill!"
"You don't know what you're talking about!"
"My Pinkie Sense is never wrong, and right now it's letting me know you're not gonna-"
She stopped wide eyed at the door with Caesar following her gaze to a strange sight. As if something was moving in the wind blowing from the mansion rather than from outside.
"Wh-What?"
"You saw it too?"
"Yeah, and now I'm going to drag your sorry kiester back with the others!"
"Hold up for a moment, something is off."
"There!"
They looked at the entrance again, two strange outlines with the snow in the air barely making out the image, humanoid figures gracefully gliding in the air like ghosts.
"Caesar and Pinkie..."
"What?!" "Not now-"
The images dispersed into a small winter cloud. No trace aside from simple footsteps.
"What technique is this? Is it Kars and Soul?! Th-They shouldn't be able to move at all in broad daylight! Even as it is snowing, the Sun isn't covered up at all!"
"Having second thoughts? Good, let's get outta here!"
Right then Messina came by, and began to make his way over to them but stopped when Pinkie noticed him.
"No! Don't get any closer, something's hiding near the door!"
"Hiding? I don't see anyth-"
A soft crunch, a faint sound of something from the ground. Looking over at the step, and listening to the wind they looked up and found the figures again, above them all. The faces of the figures finally unveiling with their backs to the Sun.
"They jumped!?"
"Wait, it can't be, those two!?"
"Wham and Tezla!"
Without a moment's noticed, the two Pillar Men swiped down at Messina, Wham taking a hand, and Tezla barely missing his nose. His head would have been taken clean from his shoulders had Pinkie not tripped him. Even then her hair had been cut in the process of saving him. Still a great wind current pulled Messina inside the mansion as the two assailants vanished. All Caesar suffered was a minor scratch on his arm, barely dodging himself.
"Ugh! Master Messina!"
"This is bad, super bad! They can somehow walk in sunlight!"
"B-But how?"
"We need to get outta here-"
"They have Messina! We can't leave him!"
At that moment the figures returned, translucent, and standing in the shadowy doorway. Wham looked around as Tezla kept her eyes focused onto Pinkie.
"Where's that poser who talks wildly, the one called JoJo, he must have made some progress. I can feel it."
"I too am excited Master, to see how fast these two have dodged us, they have progressed significantly."
"Hm~? Pinkie Pie and Caesar! Indeed they are now worthy of dying by our hands!"
The two Hamon warriors did not listen to them, rather they studied and looked for anything on the bodies of the superior being, anything for the secret of their mobility. Small tubes of bone blowing wind from their bodies. A steam like whirlwind, a light refraction phenomenon, the truth behind their invisibility and mobility! They both then lunged at Caesar, who smiled wickedly.
"I've seen through your trick now! Your winds suit will be the demise of you! Soap Cutters!"
He swung his arms in a series of motions as the soap water in his gloves shot out disk-like bubbles, spinning at a high speed. The centrifugal force added with the wind from their bodies pulled them closer to the two, spinning faster and faster.
"What you thought was your shield turned out to be a vacuum for my cutters!"
One made it right through Wham's ear, their wind suit beginning to vanish as they made way for the mansion.
"This Hamon, it's far from our predictions and knowledge!"
"I WON'T LET YOU RUN!"
He directed his bubbles to follow them, the wind not disappearing entirely kept them on their tracks. Aiming for the legs Tezla flew right inside through the door before the bubbles could reach her, but Wham had been struck behind the knees, falling back. Caesar wanted this exact moment to happen and leapt to strike him. Thinking he would attempt to recover and panic. However Wham, fell back on purpose, and kicked Caesar with both of his feet. Caesar used his arm to block, a loud snap came from his arm, charged with weak Hamon. The amount used to repel the two away from each other. Wham crashed through the wall with Caesar crashing into Pinkie Pie, cushioning his fall.
"Agh!"
"Cae-Caesar! You alright?"
"I have them, Mama Mia, I have them on the ropes!"
"I-I saw, I also saw your arm break."
"That doesn't matter! What does your Pinkie Sense say about this now!"
"I-"
"We can't waste anytime! It's now or never!"
He leapt up and stalked his way inside with Pinkie following close behind. The décor and furniture were poorly attended to, it has been abandoned for years, yet the walls and structure itself were still sound. They found Messina still breathing placed on a cabinet. Upon coming across a large stairway, Wham leapt from the ceiling and landed on top while Tezla landed behind them. Going back to back each one rushed to their opponent. Tezla opened her mouth and sung softly as Pinkie heard a faint whistle in her ear, only to have her arm suddenly be shredded. She spun back and leapt forward, hearing the whistle again she leapt to the opposite side, her boot being torn apart, but still dodged the attack. She threw herself at Tezla with a punch, missing completely as the top half of her body shifted to the side. Yet this was Pinkie's plan from the start, Tezla seeing her free unscathed hand holding something, a wire. Her neck alone moved back but she felt something behind her and saw two clackers wrap come around. Pinkie sped up tremendously and wrapped the wire around Tezla's throat charging it with Hamon and stoning her throat and upper chest near instantly. It became like riding a raging bull, Tezla thrashing wildly. Pinkie began to knee the sides, slowly melting them away as she pulled tightly, the wires making their way through the stone. In a few moments Tezla would be headless, but she grabbed Pinkie by her hair and slammed her back into the wall before Pinkie's grasp began to weaken. Pulling her from her back she swung her to the ground and looked over to see her Master in trouble, Caesar leaping up to strike him as the cutters aimed numerous sunlight rays at Wham. She lifted a dazed Pinkie Pie up and aimed right for Caesar. Moments ago with Caesar and Wham, the Pillar Men had cleared away his wind suit as well and prepared to use his secret art.
"Holy-"
"Hold it Wham! Look around you! My cutters haven't popped due to the Hamon inside of them, and have now turned to lenses! That hole you made, is like a wide opened shutter of a camera!"
As he spoke the lenses spread the light, passing each reflection to another, not one getting weaker, many coming together and all of them aimed at Wham alone. He was trapped and couldn't move.
"You're stuck in that pose Wham! You're a photographic film! Let the Light expose and burn you up!"
"S-SYYYAAAHHHHH! ! !"
"I can see you about to use that damn wind suit, but I won't let you! I've won, take this Hamon and burn in Hell!"
He leapt up and aimed a kick for Wham's head, but he had leaned back. In that one moment, that singular second, that very instant he was covered by Caesar's shadow. It was all he needed to remind Caesar who was the true Fighting Genius.
"Holy Sandstorm!"
When JoJo and Pinkie had been hit by that attack they had some space between them, here Caesar was by all means point blank at range. Taking almost the entire full force of the attack and clashed with Pinkie in the air, both being caught in the lashing winds as they hit the ceiling. As they hit the ground Wham panted heavily as Tezla noticed the stony parts of her body began to peel and slowly melt away. Caesar was a bleeding mess, nearly torn to ribbons and barely in one piece, and Pinkie's hair had oddly become straighter as she laid there passed out. Tezla ran over to Wham and went to cut her wrist open, but he stopped her.
"These wounds are my own fault, as are yours, do not heal me my apprentice."
"Yes Master."
"Hehehe! They became quite powerful in such a short time indeed! I am satisfied, it's been so long since I've had such a fight. And..."
"Master!"
He faltered and almost fell over, caught by Tezla who was starting to feel weak herself. The Hamon was still stuck inside her.
"It was too close. Far, far, too close. If I hadn't used my Wind Mode, had you not thrown Pinkie Pie, I cannot think of any other way to have defended myself! What if..."
Clenching his fist he began to regenerate slowly, Hamon finally vanishing from his body as Tezla helped him stand.
"What if you fought Lord Kars and Soul? They would not have lost, but their condition, it would be far worse than both of us!"
"Master Wham, please, they have been dealt with. What?!"
Steps. Footsteps. Caesar walked up the stairs bleeding profusely, but still eager to fight. Wham stood on his own and looked down the stairs. Pinkie Pie was still out cold.
"What are you doing. You've nearly bled out just coming up here. My Holy Sandstorm tore your muscles and blood vessels apart."
"A... Ah... Ah!"
He slowly raised a fist, his face showing the pain he was in as he forced himself to throw it. Wham blocked it without trying.
"See? No Hamon, not even enough to repel us. You're already dead."
"Uh... Uha.. Uwhaa!"
Still he attacked, with Wham not even bothering to raise his arms, the blows bouncing right off of him.
"Stop it. The fight, is over."
He dodged a hook to his chin, Caesar slipping on his blood as Wham shook his head.
"Farewell, your life and all you once were have ended."
A light flicked in his eyes, Caesar received a second wind, and caught himself, lunging at Wham who was caught off guard. Caesar grinned as he took both of their lip rings, falling back rolling onto the steps and hitting the ground.
"The lip rings with the antidote. What do you think you are doing?"
Caesar was on his knees and kept his grin even as tears began to form in his eyes.
"She was right after all, but it doesn't matter, this is the choice I have made. I am not afraid to die, but I am a proud man of the Zeppeli famil-family... So you see, it's in my blood... Something like this, may mean nothing to you monsters..."
He coughed and looked down, his eyes feeling like iron. He couldn't speak at the moment but his thoughts raced.
'Father, he saved me without thinking, in his eyes he saved a boy, not his son, but it didn't matter. A noble man through and through. My grandfather gave his Hamon energy to save JoJo's grandfather and Pinkie's friend... It truly is tradition. I can't just die here, I HAVE TO DO SOMETHING, ANYTHING!'
He looked down at the rings in his hands and held them up, looking up to the Pillar Men, tears and blood pouring down as he shouted proudly past all the pain.
"This is the legendary power of the Zeppeli spirit, handed down from the past to ensure the future! It's The Human Spirit!"
The room was torn apart, and the ceiling began to fall apart right above him as he pulled off his headband, tying the rings with it and proclaimed to the world.
"PINKIE! JOJO! THIS IS THE LAST OF MY HAMON, TAKE IT FROM ME ! ! !"
A glorious golden light surrounded him, brightening the entire room, as if the sun shone from his body. A boulder closely resembling a cross fell upon him. The light dying down as all that remained of him was a small crimson bubble.
"He made a bubble out of his blood."
"He must have used every last bit of his Hamon to make it."
"Rather than use an all out last resort attack, he sacrificed himself for his friends."
He raised a hand as the wind began to drag the bubble over to him, but he stopped and turned away, walking off with Tezla clearly confused.
"Master!? You're going to leave it?"
"If you wish to break the bubble and regain the rings, then do so Tezla, but I am not sentimental. His talents as a fighter were extraordinary. I shall hold him in my memory forever, Caesar Zeppeli. A man as fleeting as the bubbles he conjured."
"... Father."
She looked at the bubble, then to Pinkie Pie, who had barely escaped the boulder falling on top of her. She walked down the stairs and took off her sandals and put them on her.
"You could have killed me with that wire, I had underestimated you heavily. Even then, as you spared R-Aria, you spared me. In any other situation I would be disgusted, but you, you are different. "
She turned away and soon followed her Master without looking back.
"If only we met under different circumstances."
As she left JoJo and Lisa Lisa entered the scene, shocked at the destruction of the room.
"What happened in here?"
"Wham's Holy Sandstorm no doubt! We found Messina earlier, but where's Pinkie and Caesar?! I know that was his voice!"
"..."
The bubble floated over to them, grabbing their attention, as did a groaning Pinkie Pie who wandered over to them.
"What... Happened? What's with this bubble?"
"Pinkie! What went on here? A-And why is there a red soap bubble with Caesar's headband!?"
"Huh!?"
She looked at it and reached with JoJo, worry on everyone's face. The Hamon energy coursing through them both, filling them with new life, but a sorrow so heavy came over them they couldn't revel in the power. In fact they hadn't noticed it in the slightest. JoJo looked around and began lifting and kicking large rocks and small boulders with Pinkie looking down at the headband in her hand.
"Caesar! CAESAR! C'MON SAY SOMETHING-"
"JOJO!"
He stopped and looked over to Lisa Lisa who had simply taken out a cigarette.
"None of us will grieve Caesar."
"What!?" "Huh-"
"You both heard me. There's only four of them, but from these bloodstains and Pinkie's condition, Wham and Tezla must be wounded heavily in someway. In a way this puts us on even ground. We're in enemy territory and must engage in the final fight. So take the antidotes you two."
JoJo gritted his teeth together, but stopped himself as he noticed something about Lisa Lisa, as did Pinkie who took it out of her mouth.
"Pinkie just let me smoke this-"
"It was upside down."
"...! ..."
"B-Besides! W-W-We don't have to grieve him! W-We've got a pie festival to go to! JoJo I think he was under that- Under. Under..."
She took a step forward and heard a stick squelch. The sound of stepping in something wet. She looked down, as did Lisa Lisa and JoJo, and found a running pool of shimmering blood. JoJo looked in shock as Lisa Lisa dropped to her knees holding back a sob.
"Blood... His blood. This is... Where he fell..."
"Caesar.. Oh my god."
"CAAAAEEEESAAAARR ! ! ! !"
Both JoJo and Pinkie fell, wailing loudly, calling out to their lost friend. They were on enemy ground, the Pillar Men hiding close by, but they couldn't control themselves. JoJo called out his name. Lisa Lisa's tears flowed freely. Pinkie Pie pounded against the rock hoping for a response, but knowing the bitter truth. However they did take solace in one thing. Although his body had died, his soul, would forever live on within them...
Rest in Peace, Caesar Zeppeli.
Luna had a weight on her heart as she looked at the crushed Caesar piece, as well as her new Pinkie Pie piece. She was stoic and cold looking, her hair straight and draped over her eyes. She never saw Pinkie Pie in such despair before. Mixed feelings and thoughts running through her head before she snapped to the clapping of the shadowed figure.
"B. R. A. V. O! B. R. A. T. I. S. I. M. O! E. N. C. O. R. E. E. N. C. O. R. E!"
Indeed the screen board began to rewind to the crying scene, as well as Caesar being crushed by the boulder. Luna snarled and fired a bolt at him, which to her surprise actually worked. The figure reeled back with a loud his as the pair of eyes laughed.
"Just. Move on, to the next one. It's my move."
She thought it couldn't get any worse than that, of course the screen changed to three in a room with the Pillar Men, and a hundred vampires hanging upside down on the ceiling.
AN: This was made in appreciation of reaching 2,000 and counting views. I really want to thank all of my friends and followers, and those who reviewed and supported this idea. I wouldn't have made it this far without the support, and we've still got a long way to go. Don't anyone ever be afraid to share ideas or ask any questions, and most importantly, all of you have a great time. Thanks -Deparde Quizno