Karaat flinched as he heard Kars shout, sighing softly. It had only been a few minutes since they got on the ship, but the moment they got inside, Kars was immediately asking them questions. They didn't start answering until they set the wounded man down, making sure he was as stable as he could be for his current situation. Once it was determined he didn't know what Kars was asking about, he had instead focused on the teens. He asked about several people that Karaat didn't know anything about. Luckily, it seemed they did, though they got him shouting at them in return for their knowledge. He felt bad for the teens being subjected to his loud shouting, but it's not like it would be wise to tell him to shop shouting at the teens. At best, he'd get hit, at worst, he would get eaten.
"What?! Joseph Joestar died?!" Kars roared in frustration. "What killed him? Cancer? What is... Bah probably some weird disease you humans found and caused to spread everywhere because it had one tiny benefit to your world or something!" He had waved off their explanation, as if that would offend him even more. He wasn't sure if the topic of cancer could offend an immortal being, but it was probably for the best that neither of them, even Karaat didn't ask. Fuming, he sighed and muttered, "Damn it all! After all this time, I was really hoping to put the Stone Mask on his face. Oh, the things I would make him do," He smiled, his expression more terrifying than Karaat wanted to admit. "Ah, the very thought of turning him into a vampire, having him start a reign of terror and eating humans before I ate him myself. The meal would have been truly wonderful!"
Karaat looked at the two boys, who seemed to want to stay out of most conversations, especially when it came to Kars. Unfortunately for him, he was constantly curious, especially since all of this was new to him. That and maybe he was trying to figure out the man's plan in a feeble attempt to find a way to stop it. So, after a moment he hesitated and muttered, "Uh, may I ask, what is this Stone Mask that you speak of? Wait, vampires? As in actual vampires?" He knew he shouldn't be surprised but this was all a bit too much. He wasn't sure if the vampires he was mentioning would be similar to the ones in movies. A part of him was almost afraid to ask, especially with the existence of stands.
"Well, yes in a sense," Kars said, turning to explain to Karaat. "The Stone mask is ancient artifact used in vampiric cults in the Aztec Empire. I was the one who designed them, you see. The design was to help grant my people the power to withstand the sun, since, much like your vampires that you humans know so well, we could not survive in it." Kars thought for a moment before chuckling. "Now that I think about it, maybe your world's infamous popular culture vampires have an aversion to the sun because of writings about us. Oh, now that would be amusing!" Kars chuckled at the thought for a moment, before turning to Jorge, the shortest of the four human men. Smirking, he shrugged and said, "You know, there is an ability to mess, or shall we say, tweak with humans' brains that can make them do anything. Why, I can even make this little one taller! He really is short compared to Joseph, it's a damned shame!" As he said this, he patted his head, ruffling the boy's hair while chuckling.
As Jorge scoffed, Kars apparently took that as a challenge. He reached into his brain, his fingers going through his skull as if there wasn't an ounce of resistance. Much to Jorge's horror and Karaat's and Narancia's shock, they watched as Jorge started to contort and grow until he was twenty centimeters taller than he was a moment before. Once Kars let him go and Jorge moved away from him, though from the demonstration of power, moving away from him probably wouldn't do anything but just delay the inevitable by a second or so, Karaat made a decision. Stepping forward, he looked up at Kars and said, "Could you pimp me up like you did Jorge? I want to be big and muscular!"
Kars only smirked and sure enough, barely a minute later, Karaat was in the corner, looking at his new form. He was taller and sure enough; he was had more muscles as well! He laughed in triumph, already excited to show this to his wife how much stronger he was. Despite his bad memories and dreams, they were very clearly in love with each other. She would definitely love his new muscles! Though it might mean she would ask him to lift heavy items more often.
As Jorge was adjusting to being stretched and Narancia watched the chaos, Kars laughed, amused by how excited Karaat was by his new change, especially about pleasing some wife that he was muttering about under his breath. "Humans are indeed a fascinating bunch. As much as I love to terrorize them and eat them, I do sometimes forget just how creative you all are. Even with the limited knowledge you all have, and your limited strength, your race never stops trying to expand, to learn more, to make new things. I'm almost envious."
"Envious, how so?" Karaat asked, finally recovered from the joy, and the weird sensation of having the man's fingers literally in his skull and adjusting things. He walked back over, making sure not to step on the man still on the floor, apparently named Enrico Pucci. He was, from what he could tell, alive. But he knew better than to step on anyone, alive or not. Walking was a bit odd, especially with how big he was. But he would adjust. Especially when he knew that once he showed Murasaki, she would be happier than she was before.
"My own race lacked ambition and creativity," Kars said, "They felt they were fine as they were, which I disagreed with. It led to a life of stagnation. I finally couldn't take it anymore, so I started to create the masks. It felt so thrilling, being able to create again! The risk of failing, the desire to learn more, it truly was amazing, almost like a drug! I didn't care if I was being scoffed at or ridiculed by my race, I was doing what I wanted and making something, actually making something! But they could not be convinced. Maybe I didn't want to convince them. I'm not even sure myself and it has been quite a long time since this happened." Shrugging, when he saw Karaat looking confused, he chuckled. "I slaughtered them, human. Annihilated them all and conquered the sun thanks to the mask. But that matters not, it's time to head back!"
Karaat raised an eyebrow. It was odd to hear a man not only talk about his race without pride, but then acknowledge that he slaughtered them without remorse. Maybe it was because it happened so long ago, but he highly doubted that. Something about the way he said it, showed that he probably hadn't had any remorse even moments after he had committed the act. Shuddering at the thought, all he could do was nod. Well, that and hope that they would survive the trip back without being eaten.
Jorge gulped as he listened to the horrible story. He knew he couldn't have a creature like this on earth. So many people would suffer and die, just for him to enjoy himself, possibly even feast! The thing was, even now, it was pretty clear that they would not be able to fight him. He was too strong and clearly had the advantage, especially with their surroundings. As he was trying to think of how to handle the situation, he looked over noticing Kars looking at Narancia's U-boat. He then pulled the shrunken down item into himself before pulling it out.
Kars was indeed fascinated with this technology and how they came to be inside the metallic hull. It was full of so many fun little things from guns to beds to even computers! Computers were fun little things, a whole world at a person's fingertips. And it had only been a few decades since the first computer was made, where a line of text typed out and shown on a screen instead of a paper seemed to be magical to the humans. And now, they could pull literal libraries worth of information up in only seconds. And their computers were getting smaller and smaller by the year! Even now, there were computers in their phones that had more power than the original computers had! Humans were truly a fascinating race.
Dismantling the control room, he noticed there was some kind of visual data stored. "Oh, and what is this that you have, human? Some sort of visual data, now this I must see." He glanced over at Narancia who looked confused for a moment before starting to realize what he meant. Before the boy could protest, he quickly found the computer's cord and plugged it into the palm of his hand. After a moment, he opened his mouth and much to Narancia's horror, and to the surprise of Jorge and Karaat, a beam of light projected from Kars' mouth and onto the wall across from him.
The images on the wall were clearly photos of a naked woman. She was quite beautiful, Karaat had to admit. Though, he would never dare say such a thing in front of his wife. Narancia, on the other hand was clearly mortified as he was begging for Kars to stop projecting the images. He even attempted to put his body in the way, but with most projections, it only warped the image slightly. Everything else was in clear view as the boy blushed and begged for the creature to spare him the embarrassment. "Damn it all, will you listen?" Narancia said, exasperated. "I'm begging you Kars, those are private. Private I tell you! Oh, I don't care who you are, you have to understand the integrity of not exposing one man's secret photos to another!
"I wonder," Kars muttered, clearly ignoring the frustrated and embarrassed Narancia, even as he tried jump to get his attention. "Are humans finally capable of making machines with their bodies? Now that would truly be fascinating. Imagine the technology and capabilities of such a thing!" Kars said, ignoring the boys' protests and threats, even as he was starting to go berserk from the shame of his photos being exposed to the people on the ship. It's not like the boy could really pose much of a threat anyway.
"Why, you... how dare you! Those are private! Private I tell you! I swear I'll kick your ass and destroy you!" Narancia was so pissed! Not only was he exposing these private photos but this bastard kept mocking them as if they didn't matter, as if none of the humans mattered! He couldn't, no, he wouldn't take it anymore! And even worse, the bastard was blatantly ignoring him!
Jorge paled, hoping that Kars didn't decide to just kill him right there for yelling at him. If they weren't careful, Kars just might actually kill them and eat them! Hell, he might actually eat them alive! And they did not need that. As he went to Kars to hopefully explain the way Narancia was shouting and screaming, he noticed Karaat was trying to calm Narancia down. Though, he doubted that would actually work, given it seemed more like Kars was amused at his sudden reaction.
"Uh, not really. We can't but it's probably best you put those away. It's clear he's really embarrassed and it's going to be hard to explain this whole machine thing you're talking about if he's shouting in the background." Jorge said, hoping he would get through to the man. Though, how did one reason with an immortal being that had a seemingly childlike wonder for technology?
"Hey, woah it's okay buddy. It's just pin up photos," Karaat said, looking worried as Narancia was clenching his fists. He felt for the kid, but honest, it was probably better some immortal being found the images and not a parent or something like that. "I mean, yeah, it's embarrassing but it's like when you're caught watching porn videos Ya know? It's a natural thing with guys. I'm sure I've accidentally caught or almost caught some of my students looking at nudes and things like that when they should be studying. Woah, okay, calm down. Shit, this isn't good!"
"Calm down? That was embarrassing, those were secret! Teacher or not, this isn't right and an adult like you should know that!" Narancia was blushing like crazy. How could anyone just brush that off? This wasn't right and he wasn't going to let this bastard expose him any longer!
Jorge sighed, moving his body to stand between the ranting and raving Narancia and Kars. If he understood, he did not want Narancia to be the first one to taste this creature's wrath. He carefully explained, "These are not machines. They're what we call a Stand." As Kars looked up at him, he cleared his throat. "I'll explain but could you put those images away, for Narancia's sake?"
"Hmm? Well, alright, if that's what's going to get me an explanation." Much to the boy's relief, he stopped playing the images, though Karaat had to admit, it probably didn't help that it stopped on quite a graphic image of the woman fully nude and her legs spread so nothing was hidden or teased.
Luckily, Narancia finally calmed down after a few minutes, though he was still blushing and fuming. Karaat, on the other hand, had heard the mention of Stands and turned to Jorge. "Wait, you know what stands are? Are you a stand user?"
"Stand user?" Kars looked confused, thinking for a moment. "And stands? Just what are you speaking of. You do owe me an explanation after all."
"The easiest way to explain it," Jorge said, "is the physical manifestation of a person's life energy. It's an entity physically generated by the person who is known as a stand user. From what we know, not everyone can have a stand and therefore not everyone can be a stand user. It usually looks something like an ethereal figure standing behind or around the user and possesses abilities beyond normal humans. Each stand has a different ability and each one has different strengths, speeds, requirements, things like that. It essentially comes down to being a part of someone's fighting spirit. Though, most people cannot see them, unless they are also a stand user, though I've heard of some exceptions to the rules. There are stands that are physically stronger than others and some stands are excellent for spying or healing wounds. It just really depends on the stand and their capabilities."
"Hmm, I see, very interesting." Kars muttered, actually not to upset about the boy's tirade. To him, it was more amusing than anything. Besides, he had something more important in front of him. The information that had just been given to him was giving him an idea and his curiosity was rising. "I wonder if I too can use a stand. After all, if it is based on someone's fighting spirit, well, I don't doubt that I have that," He chuckled, shrugging. "I clearly can see and even touch them. So, by your requirements, I am a stand user."
Jorge hesitated before saying, "I mean, you are considered the Ultimate Thing, so I don't see why you can't see and touch them. But that might not make you a stand user." Jorge explained, looking nervous. He really hoped that he wasn't one. They did not need that right now. He already had enough power, so a stand was not something Kars needed.
"Well, little human, I don't see why it wouldn't hurt to find out! Let's see." As Narancia, Jorge, and Karaat exchanged nervous glances between each other, Kars focused and sure enough, where Kars' hand was on his chest, a submarine started to form from within. It was a different design than the one from before, but it was a U-boat all the same. And most importantly, it was a Stand.
As the man laughed, all hope of even surviving left Karaat. This was not going to go well! Their chances of survival had already been slim but now that he revealed he could use a stand, they were absolutely screwed! He looked over at the two, merely just boys. He could see the fear in their eyes, the hopeless situation going from bad to worse in merely a few seconds. He would, of course, try to protect them if Kars used the stand against him. But he wasn't even sure if he could last long enough to help them. He had trained with his stand for some time, but this was something else!
"Impressive, quite impressive! It looks like I am a stand user," Kars declared, studying the stand and how it worked with morbid fascination. "Oh! Now I see why you know so much about these Stands!" He said, finally turning to Jorge and Karaat before glancing over at Pucci with a wild grind. "You're stand users too! Well, this is fascinating! Let's see if we do this." Suddenly, loud sonar sounds came from all three of their bodies, making all of them cringe and cover their ears. Ignoring their groans and protests, he chuckled before focusing on Pucci, slowly dragging his stand out.
The stand was humanoid and had a similar build to the owner, Enrico Pucci. The stand was barely clothed with a black mask that covered it's face until about where the bottom of the nose would been as well as having some peaks that rose above its head. To Karaat, the peeks around its head almost looked like a crown. The light skin had horizontal stripes, each about an inch thick. Each inch thick strip had some kind of writing which Karaat was pretty sure was the writing for DNA. Maybe it was an illusion, but to Karaat, it looked like its irises were melting.
As Kars was studying the stand, he got quite a greeting as the stand suddenly punched him. Karaat was trying not to laugh, but it was quite amusing. Suddenly, discs started to emerge from Kars' head, spilling out and onto the floor. This didn't stop Kars, though, as he laughed before saying, "Oh, I see! Why that is fascinating! Stands truly are an intriguing thing! Now I'm curious what all or your stands are like and what they look like!" Focusing, he ignored the people in the room, and if they bothered to protest, he didn't really acknowledge it. Soon enough, much to their horror, his own version of Whitesnake came from within him. "Perfect! Now, let's call this Whitesnake Ultimate!"
Damn it all! He really was way too powerful! Karaat really didn't know what to do or how to even react, even as yet another stand came out of Kars. It looked like no one else did either, though he couldn't really blame them. Even in this world, this sight was an odd one.
Unlike the original Whitesnake, Whitesnake Ultimate was a stand with three hands and six arms, very much like the statue of Asura that Karaat had read about a few times. The stand moved towards the original that it came from and with a swift motion, pulled the stand out of Pucci's body as well as several discs. This was not good; this really was not good! Karaat was frozen, pretty sure that they were not going to to make it through the trip. And if they did, they probably wouldn't last much longer after that.
"It's amazing, humans getting stands, these things are all so diverse and able to do so much! This really is amazing but also confusing. Ages ago, humans didn't have powers like these. I wonder how they started to get stands at all." He thought for a moment before approaching Pucci. "Let's see if he has any insight into this situation. We might find some answers from within him. And if not, it will at least pass the time while we travel back home!"
Crouching, Kars picked up one of the disks, studying it for a moment before projecting it on the wall like the previous feed. Luckily, this one didn't have any nude women. They watched as the disc showed that Pucci had gotten his stand from the Devil's Palm, a holy spot which resided in America. But it was known to move itself once in a while, which made it very difficult to find. Still, that doesn't mean people didn't try to find the location. If a human were to find the palm, they would either unleash their stand or die, depending on their abilities and what their body could stand. Not that interesting, at least to Kars. Scoffing, he shook his head and slammed the disc back into his head.
"Honestly, how dull. How do you humans make such fascinating creations but then your memories are so dull?!" Annoyed, he turned to Karaat, smirking. "Hmm, maybe it's just this human. Let's see if you're any different."
"Woah," Karaat moved back as the large man approached. "Listen, we can work this out. I don't want any trouble. You don't need to force it, just here, take my stand." As Jorge and Narancia tried to argue with him, he shook his head. "We didn't stand a chance against him before, we definitely don't now! And I'm not going to risk dying while he just wants to see how I got my stand, or at least I hope that's what he wants. Just whatever you do, don't pull it out of me."
"Hmm? Well, I guess, since you're being so agreeable, I can oblige. It seems you are smarter than your fellow men," Kars said, chuckling as he stood in front of him. He analyzed Karaat for a moment, before making his own version of Karaat's stand. Though it was clear he wasn't that impressed. "It is offensive focused but also focuses on hypnosis. Quite unfortunate. I was hoping for something a little bit better. Still, to you humans, this is probably very useful. Ah, yes, the memory disc." He took the disc, moving to show it. "Let's see how you got this little stand, shall we?"
Karaat wasn't sure what Kars thought of his memories, though to him, it was embarrassing and awkward. He found himself wincing as the images played on the wall. They showed a quick view of everything. The seven girls he always tried to forget, the cursed disc, the promise he made to help them pass on over what should have been a normal and boring summer, all of it. Even the bite mark was shown, Sakura's crying face as she ran away after realizing what she had done, her holding her cheek after the punch, the development of his stand, and even how Chiyako was able to manipulate spirits without a stand, which even had Kars looking confused.
"Interesting, she clearly doesn't have a stand and yet she's able to manipulate the spirits like a stand user would. That was quite a punch. Well, at least this memory was better than the other one. I was right to check for someone else, thank you, Karaat was it?" Kars said after the images stopped. The room was quiet for a moment as he thought to himself about what this new development could mean before Jorge spoke up.
"It's possible she had a wound." When everyone looked at him with confusion, Jorge hesitated for a moment before continuing with his explanation. "Wounds are similar to Stands, though they're not as easy to control. That and their main purpose is to stop the user's pain. Stands have various functions such as protection or even reconnaissance. Wounds can only just defend or attack. They also manifest from a different source. Their source is a person's repeated physical or emotional trauma such as torture or abuse, which is where they got the name."
Narancia frowned, shaking his head, "That's horrible! To have something similar like a stand but from torture or abuse."
"Hmm, indeed. And towards simple humans? They're not really worth the time of playing with. They're so feeble, it's just easier to kill them right away rather than playing with them and slowly killing them," Kars concluded, raising an eyebrow when they looked at him. "What?"
"Never mind the implications of that," Jorge muttered, continuing. "Wounds come from when a body is trying to heal from the trauma, either physical or emotional and the process creates an ability to protect itself from dealing with the same injury. Like stands, the abilities vary, but they're all defensive in nature, such as shedding one's skin. It's possible for Stands to gain wounds as well, through an item called the Arrow."
"So kind of like a scab but not," Pucci said, finally saying something. He had woken up a few minutes ago while everyone had been talking. He had managed to sit up, but it wasn't easy, especially given he was covered in wounds. Pucci was dark-skinned and slim, slightly taller than almost everyone except for Kars, which was understandable given what he was. He had a slim, yet slightly fit build and short white hair that had a shaved design that parted his hair in two hexagons near his scalp and temple. There were strands of hair that connected in a zig zag from the part and to his eyebrows. He was wearing what looked like a version of a priest's garb but with a giant cross on the chest and what looked like shoulder pads. As everyone looked at him, he sighed, clearly not happy with the current circumstances. "The person responsible was never named but it was believed to be made from a meteorite that had crash-landed on earth several tens of thousands of years ago. It was later discovered a few decades ago but it's believed someone else found it before that, by a man who took material from the meteorite to gain the power of a god. It's hard to find proof though, so most of that claim is speculation. Also, I'm not going to ask what the hell happened, so continue with your conversation."
"Humans and their fascination with being as powerful as a god," Kars muttered. "While I don't blame them for wanting more power, more often than not, their attempts to be similar to gods always end up blowing up in their face. It makes you wonder if there even is a point in trying to be that powerful."
"Given we have people like you around, might not always be such a bad thing. Though I have to agree with the blowing up in their face thing," Narancia said, flinching when Kars looked at him. Really not a good idea to piss him off, especially with his new stands. But he was right about the power and the usual end results. Luckily, Kars only smiled at him and he couldn't help but sigh in relief that he only did that.
"Yes, well," Jorge continued, "As Enrico was saying, the man took material from the meteorite and made arrows. The arrows weren't found until the eighties. Six were found, though there might be more, we're not sure. That being said, being stabbed by them can cause a stand to get a wound. They can also awaken a stand and it can go down bloodlines, activating stands for generations, which is most likely how the Joestar line got their stands."
"Unfortunately," Enrico said. "This might be a long trip so we might as well get comfortable. Or as comfortable as I can get. I would ask questions but I'm almost afraid to find out why we are traveling with him, how I'm still alive, and how the hell this guy comes into play." Pucci said, pointing to Karaat.
"Nonsense!" Kars exclaimed, smiling slightly. "Thanks to your memories," He motioned to Enrico, "Our trip, which would usually take six months can now be done in four hours. We'll be home soon enough! Ah, Karaat, let me put your disc back. You'll need it for when we arrive."
It was when the disc slid back in that Karaat was brought back to the present. Jolting once the disc slid into place, he muttered a thanks, grateful when no one asked him why he had been spacing out. He did not need that discussion or that explanation, though he was pretty sure it was painfully obvious what caused it, thanks to the images on the wall. Sighing softly, he moved back from Kars, not out of fear but just needing some distance. Luckily, the man didn't seem to mind. That, or there was something else on his mind as he turned his attention from Karaat to the priest.