Remember how I was probably gonna make this a breather chapter? I changed my mind. I couldn't do it, no matter how much I tried. I needed the action. And I'm sure you guys want it, too. So I had to go back, rewrite a bit, and scrap my original idea completely. And for the better. While I'm not too fond of this chapter, it's a lot better than before. I hope you guys enjoy, and sorry for taking so long on this one.

Ch. 31
Hungry Eyes

JANUARY 9TH, 1989
17:01
EDFU, EGYPT

Back when she was little, Della Brown had fractured her finger in an accident. Her adoptive father accidentally closed a door on her hand, to which he profusely apologized for as he drove her to the hospital. It was a short visit, but a rather impressionable one for her. The environment was clean and welcoming, and doctors who took care of her were kind and gentle mending her finger. She wasn't eager for another visit, but she certainly held hospitals with high regards.

Which was why when her friends were admitted to a hospital a few days ago, she was certain they would receive the best of care.

As per the norm of their journey, Jojo, Joutarou, their grandfather, and Jean Pierre ended up in a battle against two different Stands. Both were unique in that they had no true user, and resided within an ancient sword and a book. Dio stole them from a museum and gave them to some disturbed historian, who planted the sword to be found by one of them. She then followed Jojo and Joseph to a temple and used the book to summon dead warriors to fight them.

Naturally, these stolen relics were destroyed. But with their victory came extensive injuries. Joutarou needed surgery on his stomach and Jojo had several broken bones and major blood loss. He had fought two of the dreaded Pillar Men, the same ones who Joseph told stories about (and whom one had led to her grandfather's death). She was amazed that he survived the encounter, but worried about the amount of bones broken in the process.

"It's only fourteen bones," she remembered Jojo nonchalantly saying once he was awake. The blood loss had knocked him unconscious, and a transfusion was the first thing he received upon arrival. "I'll be fine. It might take a few days, but I'll be okay."

With his rate of his and Joutarou's recovery, it would take them six days before they could walk out. It felt too long, but she was reassured by him that they would make up the time. Mohamed said they could all take a train from Luxor straight to Cairo, which would take less than a day to reach. Of course, their safety wouldn't be guaranteed. It never was, given what kind of journey they were on. Until then, they had to wait for the brothers to recover.

Today, Della and the others were visiting Jojo and Joutarou. She had propped a chair beside him, Iggy resting on her lap, while Jean Pierre, Mohamed and Joseph sat between the two beds. They were all spending the day as they usually would outside a hospital, talking away idly and enjoying one anothers' company.

"You know, this is the first time I've been admitted to a hospital," admitted Jojo, whose arms were in casts and chest was bandaged from the battle. "I've gotten into so many fights and took care of my own wounds, but I've never had to go in for shit like this."

"You mean to tell me you've never had your bones broken before," asked a bewildered Della.

"I did once, but I managed to heal it up with my hamon. How do you think I figured I could do that?"

Joutarou chuckled quietly in the other bed. For once, he had his gakuran removed, and his stomach was bandaged up. But he still insisted on wearing his cap. "I've been in the hospital before, too," he said with a small smile. "Dislocated my arm because of some punk messing with some students. Course, he got it worse. He was nearly unrecognizable."

"Please tell me you didn't go to jail for that," Della said with slight exasperation.

"No. I was defending myself. If anything, I just got suspended. The bastard got expelled."

"That's my brother," said Jojo proudly. "Taking no bullshit from bullies. I used to do that, too, suspension included." He turned to his grandfather and asked, "What about you, Abuelito? Any severe injuries that landed you in a place like this?"

Joseph shook his head before answering, "Nope. However, I did have to recover for two weeks from the injuries I sustained fighting Kahz. A slow, boring process…" He then chuckled and took his fedora off. "No, I can't say it boring. I got to marry Suzie around that time. And I got my prosthetic hand. German-engineered. The Speedwagon Foundation has the schematics to make them, albeit improved."

"Mohamed, you?" The fortuneteller shook his head. "Jean Pierre, you had any injuries growing up?"

The Frenchman blew a raspberry and waved his hand dismissively. "Nothing a first-aid kit couldn't fix. I've always been careful not to get any broken bones, even when I trained my Stand. But I almost got my legs crushed by a rock during one training session. Silver Chariot pulled me away just in time. A second later and I probably would have ended up in a wheelchair."

"Hey, if that happened, you could have adopted your Stand's name. You'd be a literal Silver Chariot!"

It was a crummy joke, but everyone laughed at it. Even Joutarou and Jean Pierre were amused. Moments like these were what Della loved the most. She would always pray before the night was over that they could share more once Dio was gone for good.

When the laughter had died down, Jojo reached over for Iggy, who Della immediately gave to. "Yeah. It was a pretty crazy fight. Stands imbued into artifacts… They must be pretty rare, right Mohamed?"

"The ones you described to me are extremely rare," said Mohamed with his usua calmness. "These types of Stands are those with strong wills that can allow them to persist even through their user's death. Some, like Anubis and Nephthys, can be transfered into object upon the time of death. I have only ever heard stories of these Stands, but have never encountered them."

"You boys were lucky to have survived," said Della greatfully as she scratched behind Iggy's ears. "I just wish I could have met that girl. The way she acted sounded… gross…"

"It really was," said Jojo with a shiver. "She was just straight-up uncomfortable. But she's out for the count and Standless. She's not gonna be a problem anymore. Speaking of which, we've been doing great so far. Five out of those nine gods have already been taken out. Dio's getting sloppy. But…"

There's that dreaded "but" she thought, knowing where that was going. When the battles had been relayed to Mohamed, he made a rather unnerving revelation. Three of the Stands they encountered, Thoth, Knum and Anubis, were not a part the Ennead, which the Nine Glorious Gods of Egypt were based on. According to him, there was Geb, Nut, Nephthys, Shu, Isis, Tefnut, Atum, Osiris and Seth. Which more than likely meant that Dio had hired more than just nine Stands to go after them.

"He did hire Stand users who aren't based on the Egyptian Ennead…" He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, wincing from the pain of moving his arm. "We know so little about these guys. Just possible names. If we had an idea of how many there truly were and what they could do, we might stand a chance…"

"The names of their Stands should be a hint to their powers," added Mohamed calmly. "Both Anubis and Nephthys are deities of death. The Stands named after them persisted after death, one even resurrecting the dead in a matter of speaking."

"But then there was Geb," Della pointed out. "That one was named after the god of earth, but it's water-based."

"Correct."

"Either way, we'll have no problem with them. So... does anyone have any plans after Dio? I mean, with everything that's happened, do we go back to our normal lives?"

"Certainly. I plan to continue my fortunetelling business while keeping the peace here in Cairo. We must bear in mind that cutting the weed will not stop it from growing. Evil will continue to persist in this world long after another has been eradicated. There will come a time when someone with a far more powerful Stand than The World will arise. And when it arrives, I will burn it asunder with my Magician's Red."

Della and the others agreed wholeheartedly. And like Mohamed, she would be prepared for any evil after Dio. Of course, she prayed that it wouldn't come sooner than it should. In the meantime, everyone's lives would return to normal. Joutarou (and Noriaki for certain) would return to school, Joseph would continue running his business, and Jean Pierre would resume his search for the Stand/drug surge in Europe. And as for Iggy…

"I say we let him go back to New York," said Jojo, glaring playfully at his grandfather. "As much as I would love to care for him, he's always been a loner. It just seems right. Course, we could keep tabs on him to keep him out of too much trouble."

Which brought her to what she would be doing and Jojo would be doing. Admittedly, Della wanted to kick-off her writing career. She had two books just waiting to be written. After all she had been through, she knew exactly how to write her stories. Not to mention that she had ideas for another book, though she would have to wait and see how everything ends before she even begins it.

"I first wanna go back to New York," Jojo started, "get my stuff, and then move. I… don't wanna stay at that apartment anymore. Where I'll go, who knows. Maybe Japan. Maybe somewhere else in Queens. I mean, I know I got Mom's place, but… now that I think about it, I'm a grown man. I should at least have my own place to live in. After that, I wanna do some travelling." His hand found Della's and squeezed it gently. "And I'd love to do it with you"

"Aw, Jojo," she said, touched by his words and his growing smile. "You really mean that?"

"Of course. You, me, and Anne. I did promise her I'd take her. We'd go to Italy first." Her heart soared. He knows that's where I'd love to go. "And maybe… Just maybe… I wanna do something about my hamon."

"What do you mean," asked Joseph. "Do you want to train yourself further?"

"Yeah. I mean… The more I learn about hamon, the more interesting it seems. The history, its applications in martial arts… It's incredible. And… I don't wanna just master it completely… I… I actually wanna bring Sendou back into today's society. Make it recognized as an actual martial arts and not just this exclusive power to fight the undead.

"So…" Joseph smiled. "You want to teach Sendou?"

Jojo nodded, smiling wider than before. "I've always wanted to teach. I figured that I would one day teach others how to box and defend themselves. Part of why I used to fight in New York was to inspire others. And it worked. I've had people come to me, even former opponents, wanting to learn how I fight. And a lot of them asked me how I could use my hamon. I'm taking it as a sign that this kind of career was meant for me."

She had never given much thought to what he would have wanted to do in life. It was never a topic that came up in their conversations. Teaching an ancient martial art to the public sounded like something Jojo would do. The question was not if he would be a good teacher, she knew he would have it in him, but rather how popular would it become. Knowing her boyfriend, it wouldn't end up as just a trend.

"Well, that's one hell of a path to take," proudly said Joseph, rising to his feet. Jean Pierre and Mohamed followed suit. "I'd be proud to see you fulfill your dream. So, I'm going with the others to pick up some food. Will you all be okay?"

"We've got Della and Iggy here to protect us," said Jojo confidently. "Plus, Joutarou and I can still kind of use our Stands. We're not entirely useless."

"Hm. Never said you were. Just don't break another bone while we're gone."

"I'll make sure he doesn't," reassured Della as Joseph and the others walked out. With them gone, she turned to Jojo and carefully asked, "Hey, have any of you two… tried calling Holly?"

The last they had heard, she wasn't doing so good. With all the time that's passed since they received that news, Holly must have undoubtedly grown worse. Della wished it was the opposite, but she knew she'd never get better unless they complete their mission. Even still, she had wondered if her two sons made any attempt to contact her.

Joutarou slowly shook his head, then Jojo, who mournfully said, "No. Honestly, I don't think I have the heart to talk to her. She's miles away, and there's nothing I can do for her. Plus… I don't think I could hold it together if I hear how weak she's gotten."

"Same here," admitted Joutarou solemnly. "But… she's still our mom. As much as I might want to break something hearing her voice, the least we could do is call her to let her know we're okay." Della liked seeing the younger brother's soft side. It always showed that there was more to Joutarou than what he would want people to believe. "Maybe we can call her after dinner. It might be late, but she wouldn't mind since it'd be us."

"Yeah, she definitely wouldn't mind…" He then cracked a smile. "She'd love that. I'd imagine she'd be cheery through the sickness. And speaking of sick, right on time, nurse!"

He had referred to a young nurse, who had appeared at the doorway with two medicine cups filled with small pills and a wide smile on her face. "Mr. Trejo and Mr. Kujo," she addressed them formally, "it's time for your evening medicine."

"Ah, thank you. That's helping a lot more than I'd like to admit." As he took his medicine, Della noticed something strange with the nurse. Her legs were rubbing together, almost as if she needed to use the bathroom. And her eyes looked rather strange as she stared at him. When Jojo noticed, he asked her, "Is everything okay?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Trejo," she said with trained formality, "but I have never met such handsome men in my life. Both you and your brother. Forgive me if that sounds a bit forward coming from a nurse."

"A bit. But it is flattering, thank you." Joutarou grunted in response, which Della took it as him not caring.

Her lips trembled in response. "Which is why… I need you!"

And then, the nurse flung himself at Jojo and kissing him full on the lips. It was so shocking and unexpected that everybody was caught off guard. Except Iggy, who yelped from being squished and bit her arm. The nurse screamed and let go immediately, right before Della rose to her feet and slapped her from across the bed. But the attacks did nothing to change the now lustful gaze and smile on her face.

"Oh, Mr. Trejo," she moaned hungrily as she undid the buttons on her blouse. "I don't care if you're my patient or that you're injured… I want you to fan my flames and make me your bitch…"

"You stay away from my boyfriend," growled Della, who summoned the insect-like All My Love and fired a bubble from her fist. It burst square into her face and knocked her unconscious. She then turned to Jojo, trying to control her anger. "A-Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah," he muttered, looking over at the fallen nurse. "Well, that was pretty weird. How much do you wanna bet that was part of a Stand attack?"

"It definitely was… Damnit, why do we have to be attacked here, of all places? There's too many innocent people here, all of them weakened. Whoever's attacking us, they were probably waiting to strike while you both were injured and the others left…" She had to hand it to the assassins, they were certainly getting smarter. Not like that's any comforting… "Damnit… I don't think this nurse is gonna be the only one…"

Joutarou eyed her curiously and asked, "Are you planning to go out there?"

She nodded in response. Given their condition she was the only one who could stop this attack. "I'm gonna have to. You boys stay here. I know you can use your Stands protect you, even if it's limited. But you also have Iggy here. I won't take long."

"Y-You're seriously going out there," asked Jojo worriedly. "We don't even know what's going on. All that happened was I was attacked by a horny nurse. Sure, it could be a Stand attack, but-"

But Della silenced him with a finger to his lips. She looked down at her boyfriend with both seriousness and care in her eyes, the kind that would take no arguments. "I'm willing to take that risk for you boys. You're both injured and the others… I don't know when they'll be back. I'd rather something be done about this now than waiting for them… That's why I'm going."

"But… you're not afraid?"

"Of course I am," she admitted, her voice almost a whisper. "Every time I come across one of these lunatics, I feel fear in my heart. But I overcome it through my love for you. I get my courage from you and my will to protect you all. Like we all said back near Pakistan. 'To know courage is to take fear and make it your bitch'. That's what I've done since India. I'm not gonna let fear make me her bitch."

She knew that deep down, Jojo didn't want her to fight. Of course, she also knew that he felt pride whenever she fought, which also made her feel proud in herself. Della wanted to fight. It was something she promised to them all, that she would fight for them no matter the circumstances. And Jojo himself knew he couldn't stop her.

He sighed and then said. "Just promise that you'll be safe."

"I can't promise that," she said with a smile and a quick kiss. "But I can promise I'll fight my hardest." As she and All My Love walked out of the room, her Stand enveloped herself in a shroud of bubbles. They detached from her body and stuck to the door frame, blocking off entry. These should stop anyone else from getting in. If they try and touch any of these bubbles, they'll get knocked out. I just hope this is enough…

Out in the hallway, things were relatively normal. Some nurses were walking by, some glancing and waving politely to her. There was nothing out of the ordinary at all, which made the attack on them all the more unnerving. Maybe we're just blowing things out of proportion, she thought. Maybe it was just some crazed nurse and not a Stand attack. But… It's better to be safe than sorry…

She caught the attention of one of the female nurses and asked her, "Excuse me. Um, this may seem like an odd question, but have any of the other nurses here been acting strange recently? Like… like they've become lustful?"

"Lustful," she asked with a raised eyebrow. "Well… not really. Everyone I know has been acting quite normally. Why do you ask?"

"Well, my boyfriend who's been admitted here was attacked by one. And I was just worried that something was-"

Her sentence was cut off by a man screaming down the end of the hall. She and everyone in the hall turned to the noise o see a frazzled male nurse scrambling from down the stairs towards them, eyes wide in shock. "Hey, what's going on," asked Della, fearing the worst."

The man didn't stop running as he screamed, "THE WOMEN! THEY'VE GONE NUTS! ALL OF THEM! ON THE UPPER FLOORS! THEY TRIED TO RAPE ME!" And with that, he disappeared down the other end, undoubtedly to warn the lower floors. As he had left, several women had descended from where he had fist appeared. Some of them were nurses. But all of them were in only their undergarments, and all of them had the same look at Jojo's lusty attacker.

Now there was no doubting that this was a Stand attack.

The small group ran straight for her as well, or rather for their escaped prey. With All My Love still out and invisible to all but Della, she fired off several concussive bubbles to render them unconscious. She didn't know how long they would stay down, so she really had to work fast. Her attention turned to the shocked nurse and said, "Warn the facility. Lock up all the doors in the lower levels and all exits until this blows over. I'm gonna go find the source of this chaos and put it out."

She could only nod as she reached for a nearby phone. Della simply walked over the women and towards the stairs that would lead to the pandemonium above. Whatever lied up there, she was prepared for it.

"You got this, Della," she spoke to herself as reached the stairwell reserved for employees and ascended as quick as she could. "It's just another Stand user. Can't be too difficult to take down, right? You're Stand's pretty strong. You got this. Everyone's counting on you…"

And when she opened the door to the next floor and stepped into the hall, she could see it. Hear it. Women running around naked and grabbing the nearest man they could, the sounds of laughter, moans and screams filling the air. Some of them were already in the throes of sex on the floor, willing and otherwise. It was an insane orgy that Della wanted no part of.

Standing at the very end, looking her dead in the eye, was what looked like a green cactus on limbs, bumpy and covered in seed-filled holes rather than spines. It looked rather motherly, plump with large breasts discretely covering by pink lotuses. One was perched precariously atop her head, which had expressionless holes for eyes. Both Della and this creature, undoubtedly the Stand causing the insanity that separated them, stood stock still and staring at each other as if measuring them up.

All of a sudden, there was a beep above them. The P.A. blared on and issued out a male voice. "Attention third, second and first-floor staff. Please lock all residents doors and all exits. Do not interact with the female staff. The fourth floor and above is off limits. I repeat, do not go up to the fourth floor and above."

"You're a lot smarter than I thought, Ms. Brown," said the plant-like Stand in a high, feminine and polite voice. It had no mouth at all. "But why didn't you bring that cute little dog with you to sniff me out? It would have been a smarter thing to do then approaching me alone."

"I left him to protect my friends," answered Della confidently. "I have faith in him. Besides, I can handle a Stand user on my own. I've done it before."

"Oh, how brave of you!" And it sounded like she meant the compliment." But here's one little problem. My Stand isn't exactly the kind you wanna touch at all. She's as deadly as the seeds in her body. If you even try to touch me, you'll burst these seeds and release a cloud of pheromones that'll make you and as horny and sex-driven as every girl in this building. It's a shame I can't do it to the men. If you were any of your other friends, then I'd be in big trouble.

"You already are for doing something like this." She and All My Love approached her slowly. "My friends are here recovering, and we can't even do that without having to fight another one of Dio's crazed Stand users… On top of that, look around you. Look at the pandemonium you're causing. There are men here who are being raped because of you." As she passed one of the nurses, All My Love knocked her off her prey with a concussive bubble.

The enemy giggled. "Why should that be a big deal? These men should be enjoying this once-in-a-lifetime experience. They're the kind who would kill to make love to such beautiful nurses."

"Do you even hear yourself?! Not everyone is like that! Look at some of these men you're putting this through!" The man she had saved grabbed his pants and ran off in a panic. "They don't want this! On top of that, you're subjecting women to do this unwillingly as well! They're not even consenting to this shit themselves! It's rape no matter how you look at it, you bitch! Or are you such a sexed-up maniac that this doesn't even faze you?!"

Her response was another giggle. It was starting to get on Della's nerves. "But it's fun. My Stand, the Goddess Isis, is meant to give people a good time. So why don't you stop this silliness and take a seed from her. Burst it in your hand and inhale it's scent. Then go back downstairs and make sweet love to that handsome boyfriend of yours. Surely he won't mind being ridden by someone as aroused as you would be, even if you are quite unattractive."

That was the last straw. Della had has enough of her. She and her Stand rushed at their foe with a roar, a bubble-infused punch flying straight into the face of the Stand. But it was grabbed both of them being twisted and spun in the air. One of the seeds dislodged itself from an arm and burst right before her eyes, a yellow cloud of smoke hanging in the air. Luckily, as Della was landing, she formed a bubble around her head, providing her both air and safety from the dangerous fumes.

Both her and her Stand jumped back and began punching the air. "AMORAMORAMOR," roared All My Love as a barrage of bubbles shot at the seed-filled Stand. Isis avoided them all rather gracefully for a heavyset spirit, laughing as the walls crumbled upon being touched by the concussive stream. One of the bubbles managed to nick the enemy's leg, destroying a small part of her thigh in and making several seeds on there burst into another cloud.

"Ooh, that stings," growled Isis playfully as her thigh slowly regenerated. It did not have the holes anymore, but rather small dips where they were supposed to be. "I'm kind of seeing why Melania lost to you."

"Melania," asked Della, not having heard the name before.

"She's the one with the minotaur. Greek, I think."

An image of a blue, bull-like Stand with its skin breaking apart like stone flashed in her mind. Melania… that's that Stand's user, she realized with a shiver. She hated remembering that day, despite it being the same day she became more courageous. "Let me guess, you saw the condition I left her in?"

"Oh yes! You did an amazing job! All bloody and missing some chunks of her skin, it's like seeing the aftermath of a zombie attack or something!" She giggled and patted the new skin on her thigh. "But unlike her , my Stand can regenerate its lost skin. It'll take an hour to get some seeds back. Not like I'll need to wait that long to really get this hospital in a panic."

"What're you talking about..?"

Isis strode toward her, swaying her hips as if hoping to seduce her. All it did was disgust her. She stopped right in front of her and cupped the bubble around her head. And while there was no mouth, Della could make out the smile on the Stand's face. "Think of it as a gassing that would make Hitler proud."

Della took advantage of the closer distance to strike the Stand again, but she swung at air. Isis had jumped backwards and laughed giddily as she ran past her to the stairwell. She wasn't going to let her get away, not after she just revealed her plan for everyone. One of those seeds has the potential to kill this entire hospital, thought Della, determined to save not just her friends, but the entire hospital. She's probably gonna head for the roof… There's no way I'm gonna let that happen.

Sure enough, she saw the quivering plant skipping up the stairs, ignoring a door that lead to the next floor. All My Love shot a bubble straight at her to hopefully knock her down, but it was easily avoided. "You can't catch me," sang Isis with glee, echoing through the well. Another bubble was shot, shattering some of the stairs in front of the enemy. All it did was make her pause for a moment before bounding over the gap.

"Oh, you cheeky son of a bitch," screamed Della as she continued the chase. She didn't know how many stairs she climbed. But what she did know was that they eventually stopped with one last door, which Isis had burst through. She wasted no time going through, finding herself and her enemy on the hospital's rooftop overlooking the city. It was Far Away Eyes over again, only there was no cowering Stand user awaiting her this time.

And this time, there would be a fight.

Isis simply looked behind her, where an AC vent rested, and then back at Della. "You know, I wasn't exactly expecting to fight you at all, Ms. Brown" she said idly, still sounding polite despite the situation. "I had ended up in an accident the other day, and I thought I'd just recover and forget about my mission for the time being. But then I saw that Polnareff boy, and I realized you all had to be here! I didn't want to miss an opportunity to attack you all."

"So why didn't you go solely after us rather than turning the hospital into an massive orgy," spat Della, her fists clenched so hard they were shaking.

"Well, I figured that keeping this place in a constant state of euphoria would be enough to keep your group busy. And buy me some time to pick you off one by one while you were all busy having sex like the rest of the building. Like I said, it's a shame men are unaffected. If the building wasn't locked down, then surely some of the nurses would have kept your friends occupied.

"You're just sick…"

"Maybe. But… I do have my little secret weapon. I'm sure you've guessed what I was planning, right? A mass gassing that will break down everyone's body into a nice, pulpy mush. The whole sex thing was a little diversion to make everyone's last moments worthwhile. It's too bad you can't be down there to comfort your boyfriend one last time before I end your lives in the most horrific way possible. Unless you want to go do just that? I'm willing to spare you for now if you want that."

Della couldn't believe how casual she could talk about killing without wanting to throw up. She could never understand. And it angered her as much as it repulsed her. "What is it with you all," she shouted, unable to contain her self. "Why are you all so comfortable with wanting to kill so many people?! Just so you can kill one group of them! What could you possibly hope to achieve in massacring innocent lives?!"

"For some of us, it's money. For others, it's recognition. And then there's people like me, who just want to have fun with their powers. You know how amazing it is having a Stand and using it with no repercussions? And with the powers I have… I can't tell you how many times I've done this at clubs, and nobody's been able to pinpoint who killed them!"

"Is that why you pledge loyalty to Dio?! Just so you could fulfill your sick kicks?!"

"Pretty much. Does that rile you up, little Ms. Brown?"

"As a matter of fact, yes!" She was done talking. There were no more words to waste on this dirty Stand. She needed to be put down. All My Love punched the air and shot her usual barrage of bubbles once more, all of them dodged with the grace of a fat ballerina. And the more she missed, the more annoyed Della grew. It didn't' help that her foe was giggling like a little girl.

"You can never hit me, sweetie," shouted Isis playfully. "And even if you did, I'll always regenerate! You'll have to destroy every last bit of my Stand if you wanted to beat me!"

She didn't need to destroy her. Killing someone was not something she wanted to do to any of Dio's men, no matter how evil they were. Except for Dio himself. Simply retiring her opponent was all she needed to do. She just needed to get a good shot in and cripple her. But she was so nimble. How was she going to hit her? Come on, think, Della… What else can you do besides shooting bubble and making walls with them? Unless...

As she was thinking and firing her bubbles, she noticed that Isis had swollen up like a big balloon ready to burst. Her seeds look ready to shoot out. But then, to her surprise, they opened up and revealed thorns as long as those on a large cactus. What her enemy had planned, she knew it was going to hurt.

A lot.

"Try and dodge this, Ms. Brown," shouted Isis. "Lotus Needle!"

The thorns shot out at an incredible speed in every direction. Della had all My Love create as many bubbles as she could, only stopping a good handful of them. But the ones that got through pierced both her and her user, making them yelp in pain from the sharpness and how deep they managed to break the skin. Her face was protected by the bubble around her head, but the pressure of the multiple needles made it pop and leave her defenseless.

This didn't worry her as she staggered and tried to pull some out.. She was more concerned about the fact that Isis had swollen once more and fire a second wave of needles. And she hadn't any warning or time to defend herself properly. More of them snuck through and pierced her harder. The pain forced a shaky, whining Della to drop to one, mercifully-spared knee . She didn't want to give her the satisfaction of seeing her suffer, but she couldn't control herself. It stung so badly.

Isis was beside herself with glee, skipping her way to her fallen prey and giggling. "Oh, what a shame," she crooned as if to a baby, grabbing All My Love by the neck and choking her and her user by extension. "What a poor, poor shame. Far Away Eyes couldn't do the job right. None of them could. They would have given you a quick death. But not me, Ms. Brown. I'm gonna make you suffer, just like everyone else in this hospital. But first, a little kindness from me to you. "

She plucked one of the seeds and brought it to her prey's nose, ready to pop it. "I'll send you back down there, influenced by my aphrodisiac. You can have as much fun with your boyfriend, maybe even his brother… By the time you reach them, I will have released a few more seeds into the vents and infect the entire hospital. After that… After a few minutes…" She reaches a finger into one of her eyes and carefully takes out another larger, black and shriveled seed. "Massacre."

Dio truly knew how to pick his assassins. If they weren't lost souls who were tempted by his grandeur, then they were the worst type of scum in the world. Rapists, cold-blooded killers, and complete psychopaths. This woman fit the criteria of all three, and it made Della's blood boil like it never had before.

In response to this, she spat into the mouthless face, even though it simply phased through her. She hated everything about this Stand, and she was not afraid to show it. She would have punched her with All My Love, but that was too risky without her bubble helmet. Not like it mattered, for her Stand's cheeks were pushed by Isis's fingers and her mouth was forced open. The aphrodisiac seed was dropped.

"You know what," said Isis, all her joy and politeness now replaced with annoyance, "forget it. I was going to give you a chance to enjoy your last moments on Earth, but you fucked it up, you little ungrateful bitch. I'm going to kill you. The others can wait. You can take the full brunt of my exterminating seed and suffer like everyone else will soon. And trust me, you'll experience a greater pain than they will…

"Nobody disrespects the Goddess Isis and gets away with it. Not even a pasty, bushy-haired bitch like you, Della Brown!" But as she was about to shove the black seed into her mouth, she screamed and let got of her. Della looked up and saw her would-be-killer shaking her undamaged leg and howling in absolute pain.

That's weird, she thought as another bubble enveloped her head. The seeds aren't bursting or anything. I didn't hit her either… Is her user getting a charley horse or-

"GET OFF ME," Isis yelled at nothing, breaking her thoughts. "GET OFF ME, YOU STUPID DOG! PLEASE, YOU'RE BREAKING SKIN! THAT'S MY CALF! STOP!"

There was her answer. Somehow, somewhere below them, Iggy had somehow snuck out of the room he was supposed to guard and found the Stand user. Perhaps he sensed she was the one cauing the chaos, or perhaps she managed to anger him in some other way. But whatever the reason, his attack left Isis absolutely vulnerable to a all-out attack. Ignoring the needles all over her body, Della rose to her feet charged at Isis.

There wasn't even a moment to say anything before All My Love silence her with a continuous cry of "AMORAMORAMOR!" and a flurry of bubble-coated fists breaking apart her plant-like body with each consecutive impact. The seeds burst and covered them both in a thick, yellow cloud that neither could see out of. But it didn't matter. Della knew where she was hitting. With one loud "AMORE!" and a powerful punch, Isis's body shattered into countless pieces and faded into thin air.

The gas that surrounded them disappeared as well, leaving Della all alone with the needles and the returning pain. With the battle over, her only concerns were patching herself up and making sure that, with Isis's defeat, the orgy has somehow ended. I did beat her, so wouldn't that negate the affects of her aphrodisiac? It was part of her Stand, it would make sense if it did. If not, then clean-up is going to be a bitch…

Sighing a breath of relief, she went back into the stairwell and descended as quick as she could without agitating her injuries. When she saw the first door she came upon, she poked her head in to check for any more sexual activity. Luckily, there was none to speak of, the women inside buttoning their blouses and as utterly embarrassed as the men were mortified. It seems her hunch was right. Now all she needed to worry about was her friends, and herself. Not to mention finding the user.

She didn't have to wait long to find her. When she returned to her hall, she saw Iggy trotting out of a room that clearly wasn't theirs. There was a scrap of a hospital gown in his mouth covered in flecks of blood. It clearly belonged to the Stand user.

"Good boy, Iggy," she said as she approached him, who dropped the fabric and smiled at her. "I got it from here. Give Jojo a kiss for me." And he bounded off, leaving Della to enter the room of the woman who was sent to kill her. She was laying in bed, a woman as plump as her Stand with beady eyes and short, green hair all spiked up like a cactus. Her whole body was covered in blood and welts, her arms were unnaturally bend and her nightgown had been torn along her leg.

"Hello, Isis." Della approached her, the user groaning in exasperation when she saw her. "You got another name I can call you?"

"Carmen," she croaked in a mix of pain and regret..

"Carmen. Well, I'm glad you're alive, because I've got some questions for you." She gingerly sat directly on her bitten leg, causing her to whimper from the weight and undoubtedly excruciating pain. The pain she felt was only minor, almost numb compared to her. "First thing's first… The Nine Glorious Gods of Egypt. You're a part of them, right?"

"I-I am, can you-"

But Della interrupted. "How many of them are you?"

"Nine, it's in the-" But Della started to bounce herself on the leg. Carmen yelped in response.

"How many are there? We have a fortune teller who has some knowledge about the Ennead, your little group's basis. We fought three Stands who have nothing to do with them. So tell me. Did you replace some of the gods or is there more of you? I'm not gonna get off until I get an answer." When she stood silent and shook her head, the bouncing grew harder. She was screaming now. "Not the answer I'm looking for. Talk, or I get Iggy to bite you again!"

"T-There's more," she gasped, unable to push her off if she wanted to. "There's more of them! I'll talk, I'll talk!"

The bouncing weight was lifted off her leg, leaving Carmen whimpering again and close to tears. But Della didn't have any sympathy to show her. This interrogation was as merciful as she was going to get with this scum. Not after what she said and did. "Then spill it," she spat."

"O-Okay..! I'll talk..!" She took a moment to compose herself before speaking again. "D-Dio found nine… nine very powerful Stand users with unique powers… He renamed them after the Ennead… I was one of them… We were just the Nine Gods of Egypt then… But then, he found several more Stand users like us... And rather than replace us… he kept the newcomers and renamed the group the Nine Glorious Gods of Egypt..."

"It was meant to be a ruse… to catch your group off guard…"

So Jojo and Mohamed were right, she realized. But… That leaves the question of…

"How many of you are there in total," Della finished out loud.

"I'm never…" But when Carmen saw her ready to bounce, she hastily answered her. "F-Fourteen..! There's fourteen of us..! But... I'm sure it's less now that you've beaten several since you arrived… Right..?"

"We have. And we're going to continue beating them until we reach Dio and send him back to hell." Finished with her interrogation, she got off her injured foe and flashed her a smug smirk. "You can try coming back for us once you recover, but you'd only be dooming yourself to another humiliating defeat. I'd suggest rethinking your life up to this point. There's still a chance to redeem yourself, you know."

She was about to walk out of the room and leave the Stand user to recover, but she stopped at the door. Della did not look back as she spoke to her again, calmer than she was a moment ago.

"You know something… Before any of all this, I was just a normal girl. I had no powers or any experience in fighting. And I was scared. Even when I joined Jojo, when I promised not to let him go on his own to his doom, I was scared deep down inside. I had no idea how I would be able to help him or the others. My biggest fear was that I would fail them, or that I would end up dead. And trust me, there were times where I felt this.

"But you know what I did to overcome this? I learned to be brave, to never give up and fight for my friends. Oh, I may feel it again every now and then, and I still sometimes worry about my fears, but that won't stop me. It will never stop me. If there's anything that these past few months have taught me is to never let my fear control me." She finally turned to Carmen, who looked as if her words might have moved her wicked heart. "You shouldn't let your fear control you, either."

"But I'm not afraid of anything," Carmen said slowly.

"Yes you are. All of you are. And you're serving it."

And she left her, but not before seeing the doubt set in those beady eyes.

~+JO*JO+~

Three mornings later and the Joestar brothers were cleared with a clean bill of health. Joutarou's stomach now had a scar on it and Jojo was able to punch freely without even wincing. Della managed to heal up as well, her puncture injuries not at all extensive. With everyone all healed up, it was time for the group to finally leave Edfu and make their way to their next destination.

"So you have her word that she won't come after us," asked Jojo to Della as they walked out of the hospital. She had visited Carmen one last time last night to make sure she wouldn't follow them. When she only answered with a nod, he then asked, "Are you sure you can trust her? I mean, she did threaten to kill everyone."

"Not to mention she plunged the hospital into a sex frenzy," added Jean Pierre, who was disgusted at what the happened in his absence.

Della chuckled and reassured them, "Guys, it's gonna be okay. She's not gonna follow us. I mean, you saw the condition she was in. She'd have to be really foolish to try, especially considering her power only works on women. On top of that, she was pretty sincere about it. I guess what I told her after I questioned her had an affect on her. But, either way, we've got nothing to worry about. We can handle anything that comes our way.

"Damn straight," said Joseph as they approached. He had been waiting with Mohamed for not only them, but the taxi he had ordered for them. "So, is everyone ready?"

"Lead the way, Abuelito," said Jojo with his usual smile.

"Then let's get a move on." He dusted of his fedora before resting it back on his head. "Next stop, Luxor. Our journey continues from there.

~CARMEN: RETIRED~

STAND TIME

STAND USER: Carmen (カーメン)

STAND: Goddess Isis (アイシス女神)

POWER: B, SPEED: C, RANGE: B, DURABILITY: B, PRECISION: C, POTENTIAL: E

ABILITIES: Divine Isis's characteristic holes are filled with seeds, with regenerate within a matter of seconds. They can either be filled with a powerful, gaseous pheromone that will bring an insatiable lust to whoever inhales it or an annoying cactus needle. Both can be shot out by accumulating air in her large body. She also carries a seed in her hollow head that can wipe out an entire nightclub in a devastating, flesh-eating cloud. Despite her weighty appearance, she is extremely nimble, and also has the ability to regenerate. The only downside to this is that it takes an hour to restore the lost holes on her body to generate seeds.

So to give you guys a better idea about Isis, look up the Lepotitsa from Resident Evil 6. I based her design off of that, but less grotesque. Like a mix between a cactus and a lotus seed pod. I think I nailed it here. IAs for my original idea, it basically involved phone calls to families and a sympathetic Stand user. Which felt very unlike most of Dio's henchmen. So I had to change things up. Anyways, thanks for reading thus far, and look forward to more!