Searching, sorting, salvaging the pieces of memories in the flame.
Clues are irregular words and sentences, breaking the yoke but still nowhere to go.
A sea of gray skies.
A transparent window.
And a little Cautus girl.
The heartbeat reverberated furiously, and the green pupils slowly revealed under these eyelids. And that's when that person can see something blurry.
"What the hell... is happening here?"
His voice spoke up, between the shadow around of him.
"Ah, is that you?"
That voice did not come from the light, nor did it come from the darkness. But, no matter where it came from, the one who has to listen and respond is still him.
"It's been a while since we've last seen each other. During this time... you've been teetering on the edge of a cliff."
He couldn't feel his legs, but, his body knew, he could, and must stand up.
"Who...?"
He tried to keep his eyes on the person standing in front of him, or rather, the eye outside the window.
"You mean... who are you?"
That sound resounded in his ears.
"You may not remember who you are, but just remembering your name is enough."
Name?
"ARRRRGGGHH!"
His head felt like it was slammed by a sledgehammer, pierced by hundreds of needles.
"...It's time. Don't linger here for too long. After all, you aren't my guest yet, nor should you even be here."
That voice continued to echo in the frame of his mind.
"She still needs you."
She?
Who is he that the 'She' needs him?
"December 23... Maybe you don't remember the meaning of this day."
December 23...
What the hell is that?
And why, just hearing this voice mention it, why, does it hurt so much?
"No... You must try to remember."
Remember what?
A place?
An event?
Or, his own name?
"Let it spin in the golden ratio, and that will give you the ability to find out the truth."
"Erm... Slanna, who's that man?"
A little girl looks back inside, where Joseph is being interviewed by someone. The girl's senior, known as Slanna, didn't seem to notice her junior's question.
"He said he was about 18... Where the hell did he get those muscle mass?"
"Nevermind..."
Meanwhile...
"Hey, look at these horns! Where did you get them, buddy?"
Scorpion is clenching his teeth. He didn't know if these words were being used to provoke him, or if this man in front of him had never seen a Sarkaz like him before.
"Ah... May I ask what's so funny?"
He clenched his fists on his lap, trying to control his anger, and asked a straightforward question. The man sitting opposite at the interview table, began to stop his laughter
"Um, other than some magic-powered Originium shit, or my Hamon, which you called an Arts. Don't know what it means. But, look at the map. I mean, literally, where is my home town Britain? Or the U. S of A?"
Joseph pointed to the map on the table, more specifically to the city of Chernobog, which, in Scorpion's words, was where they were located.
"Let me repeat, Mr. Joestar, this is not a joke-"
*SLAM*
"THEN HOW THE FUCK CAN'T I FIND THE FUCKING UNITED STATES OF AMERICA?!"
Joseph shouted as he jumped up from his seat and roughly grabbed Scorpion by the collar. Scorpion was a bit startled by this unreasonable anger, so the reasoning in his question was a little shaky.
"Eh, uhm, maybe you're from another world?"
Scorpion raised his hand and said the sentence unconsciously. Hearing that, after a moment of silence, Joseph began to let go of him, before chuckling lightly and stroking his hair.
"Yeah, it's like my handsomeness reaches out into space..."
.
.
"ARE YOU GODDAMN SERIOUS?!"
"I don't know, since everyone would ask me this question. Maybe I haven't seen someone from your race yet. Hey, Muddy, what race is he?"
Scorpion asked. In response to him, a figure emerged from the shadowed corner. She had a halo hovering on her head.
'The fuck? Did she just... walk out from the void? Is she a ninja? Also, is that a fucking halo on her head?' thought Joseph.
"I dunno, he doesn't have a second pair of ears, nor a halo, nor a pair of horns. I think we should call his race... Homo sapiens."
"Homo sapiens? The fuck is that?"
"Dunno, that name just flew over my mind. Oh, and..."
She leaned in Scorpion's ears, whispering something
"Oh, is that so? Let's get going then."
Scorpion stood up.
"Hey, Joestar, interview time's over. It's time to get going.
The two then proceed to leave the interview table, leaving Joseph alone.
"Huh, how mean."
.
.
*BEEP*
A small beep attacked Joseph's intuition, causing him to suddenly rise from his seat.
"The hell?"
*BEEP*
A second passed, plus another beep, this time, with his innate intuition, Joseph was able to see that this was not something trivial.
But what the hell is it?
*BEEP*
One more beep. And just like that, Joseph was able to confirm where the source of the sound. He immediately jumped back to where the source of the sound came from.
"Damn it! Are you here?!"
Joseph jumped back, trying to do something to mute the sound of the other thing. However, hitting his face was a flat wall, nothing but a layer of moldy paint.
*BEEP*
Again, it's coming from this wall. All right, if it wasn't coming from behind this wall, Joseph would have used something more convenient.
"Koooh..."
A stream of golden energy flowed under his hands. With a cautious attitude, Joseph raised his hand and sent a ripple of Ripple energy through the other wall. From what he could sense, there was an energy like gunpowder heating up behind this wall. However, he was still able to prevent this, by using Ripples.
And without thinking much, Joseph began to send a stream of Ripple energy through the wall-
*BEEP*
.
.
It was the last sound Joseph could hear, before he was blown back straight at the interviewtable with some rubble, crushing it with his body.
"What the hell...?"
Joseph struggled, using all his strength to say a broken sentence. His vision was hazy like a fog, his hearing was jumbled with the constant sound of gunshots, metal colliding... Until-
"Hey, wake up! Wake the fuck up, you idiot!"
Joseph shooted his body up and gasped for breath. Inhale and exhale, he looked around in all directions, only to hit his face with sparks glowing in the metal's friction.
"Get down!"
An arm pushed him to crouch behind a pile of rubble, dodging a bullet aimed straight at the back of his neck.
"Don't let the red dot land on your head. Especially if you are tall and buff."
A woman said, looking back at the battlefield
"Are you...?"
"SNIPER AT THE EAST, REQUEST BACKUP! OH WAIT, I'M THE FUCKING BACKUP!"
She yelled, loudly and sarcastically, as her sniper rifle shot its bullets with the speed of sound. Up to now, Joseph's brain has not been able to jump the numbers. Or rather, circumstances did not allow him to do so. What the hell is happening?!
"Damn! I can deal with the snipers though! But their vanguards is so fucking annoying!"
She grimaced, and brusquely removed the magazine from the machine gun, before looking back in Joseph's direction.
"Hey, show me your swordsmanship, will you?"
She jumped out of cover, letting her bullets fly across the battlefield, and left Joseph standing there helpless like a small child.
"Hey, what the fuck do you mean by swordsmanship?"
Joseph shouted, but-
"DIE!"
As he heard that word, Joseph instinctively barrel-rolled backward, dodging a blow aimed at his head. Okay, maybe now is not the time to sit down and analyze the situation.
"Hey, you guys have swords! That is cheating!"
He shouted loudly, of course, it didn't affect the other person much, but as if to add salt to the situation, a few more guys started to move forward to replenish their forces.
However...
"Next you'll say:-"
"Then what are you going to do? Tell your mom?"
They spoke simultaneously. Seeing that, Joseph showed a wry smile. Is it okay, with the power of Ripples, Joseph is confident that he can be confident that he will defeat these... masked men with these longhorns.
Well, he can't beat the shit out of them without getting closer. And neither can they.
.
.
.
Joseph felt like he had held out a fight with a Mongolian horde. He kept swinging his fists, while the girl was busy clearing the rows of snipers. Luckily, he's still kicking.
But with that said, the constant fighting had disturbed his breathing, most evident in his rapid breathing. If this continued, he would be as good as dead.
'Fuck, it feels like I was fighting Kars's zombies instead of some mercenarÃes. How nostalgic it is.'
*BANG*
This gunshot is the final gunshot.
From the ruins of the battlefield, a familiar figure stepped out. He looked up at the entire battlefield, the sniper rifle in his hand still emitting a small smoke.
Captain Scout has succeeded.
"...Tch."
The 'Sarkaz Mercenaries' gathered their weapons, clearly unable to be satisfied with the results they saw.
"You may have finished Garcin already. But don't think that this victory will save you from W's palm."
One of them said, before leaving a pile of rubble behind. When their silhouettes disappeared in the smoke and fire in the distance, Joseph let his legs lower slowly, until his back rested on a pile of rubble.
"Fuck, my legs are beginning to feel numb..."
Joseph began to correct his breathing, before ending it with a weary sigh.
"...Sorry for dragging you into this, JoJo."
The girl from before came forward and tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to look back a little dazedly at her.
"What's your name?"
He asked, making her scratch the back of her neck.
"Just call me Milim."
She said, before putting the gun back on her hip.
"Get up and run, Joestar-san. This is not something for you to do."
A little girl standing behind Milim said. Realizing that there was a person behind her, Milim almost jumped in shock and turned around.
"Hey! Mimi, don't startle me like that!"
Milim said, after looking back at the girl standing behind her. The little girl named Mimi after seeing such a reaction from her senior, only smiled lightly, as if she knew this would happen.
"Ehe, even though Milim-dono is not Feline, but her senses are really good!"
Milim's face turned red. But Joseph didn't care about this conversation between them, he just grunted and stood up from his seat.
"Where are the others? I thought there were ten other people besides the two of you and the guy with the sniper rifle?"
Milim and Mimi saw this and looked at each other for a while, before the sound of fast footsteps approached them.
"Well, here they are."
Standing in front of him were now twelve people. Twelve people whose faces he had seen, but who didn't exactly know the names.
Lyfa, Mimi, Thumbsack, Mary, Macron, Slink, Scorpion, Milim, Tipsy, Mudflower, Pter, Slanna.
All of them are present here. Despite their age difference in many cases.
And the leader is...
"Okay, gather up team."
Scout said.
"JoJo, run, try to do what you do best. From now, we'll go our separate ways."
A sentence that surprised Joseph.
"What? Are you going to disperse your team?"
"No, I mean you should get the fuck away. This is none of your business in the first place."
Scout spoke coldly. Joseph understood what he meant, but it still made him feel somewhat itchy.
"Hey, at least give me a damn explanation first? Also, why is there a little kid on your team?"
He dared raise his voice to this captain, something no one on Scout's team dared to do. But even so, Scout didn't bother looking back at the brunette's face.
"Hey, at least give me an explanation about what's going on first. Besides, why is there an elementary school kid in your group?"
He raised his voice to this captain, something no one on Scout's team dared to do. But even so, Scout didn't bother looking back at the brunette's face.
"Firstly, we don't have time to explain, all you need to know is that we have a contract. Second, you may call Mimi a little girl, but she grew herself on battlefields."
He turned his face to look at Joseph, who only stood silent. It's not clear what Scout was thinking, but that's probably why he looked back at Milim.
"Milim, did you just let him fight the mercenaries?"
Scout questioned her suspiciously, leaving Milim a little confused. However, holding this attitude for too long tired her out, and let out a sigh.
"Yes, captain. Without him, I would have a hard time clearing the enemies' snipers."
Milim stroked her nose, embarrassed by her words. She was ready for criticism from her superiors. But-
"...Good. Then we don't have to worry about this kid."
Scout said sarcastically.
"Don't get me wrong. The more you follow us, your fragile life will be extinguished in an instant, even if you can stop time."
Scout tries to advise because he knows that 'she' is hunting his entire squad.
"So what? I've almost died so many times, what the hell is this?!"
*CLICK*
In just a moment, a gun barrel was pointed directly between Joseph's eyebrows, startling Scout's team. But they didn't move, because the one doing it was Scout, their captain.
"Is that so, kid? So it's normal for your brain to turn into dead meat?"
Scout asked sarcastically, but also menacingly. But for a stubborn guy like Joseph, it was feeling like a joke. Thinking about the years of being an orphan, even outsmarting a literal GOD, this gun barrel is nothing more than a toy in his eyes.
"I don't know. If you don't mind, try it out for me, eh?"
Joseph crouched as if he was challenging him. Seconds passed, and each pounding of his chest resounded in him. In the end, that gun was retracted to Scout's back.
"Fine, fine, kid. But I'll say it first: our business is more life-threatening than you think, Joestar. Follow me, maybe you'll find your answer."
"Oh, is that so? Looks like I've run out of options when you just pointed a gun at me?"
Scout didn't say anything, but his teammate just let out a few chuckles at him. But Scout held out his hand, signaling the team to stop. Joseph remained silent, before picking up a greatsword at his feet.
"Are you going to use a dead man's weapon?"
One of them, and in response, Joseph put the sword on his shoulder, before revealing a mysterious smile.
"No. I feel like... Something is telling me I'll need this soon. Very, very soon."
Said Joseph, before he and Scout's team looked back at the smoky gray sky, heralding a bleak future.
A small After Credit.
"Captain, are you sure?"
Mary asked back in disbelief, as her fingers began to type the last lines in her report.
"Sure. I have proof."
He showed a picture of Joseph using a yellow energy source to heal an Ursus girl, and it was taken from above.
"I'm serious, captain. Just because the Arts he uses looks the same, doesn't mean the two are of the same type."
Mary stated her point, however, even though it's true, Scout just turns away.
"I know."
He said, before sitting down on a nearby chair. The sound of papers being printed out of the machine responded to those moments of silence.
"...But I have a feeling we'll all be dead in this city before team E0 gets out of Chernobog."
His chin rested on his bloodstained glove, thinking.
"I'm well aware of W's abilities, not to mention, both Hoederer and Ines are still in our lane, just waiting for us to rush in and die."
However, he still raised his face and looked back at his comrade.
"We just need to buy time, W and Ines have already agreed to concentrate all their power on hunting us down. Reunion's main force will get weakened in one way or another."
He tried to laugh a little laugh. Seeing this, Mary placed her hand on Scout's body, trying to create an atmosphere for conversation.
"Now, speaking of the Joestar family? What do you think of them first, captain?"
Mary asked.
"The Joestar family? Well, there isn't much to say about them, but they're one hell of a bizarre bloodline."