Chapter 4 – 『Secrets of the Joestar Family』
Dipper looked worriedly at Mabel who was sitting by the window never taking her eyes from the dirt road outside. She was obviously waiting for Joseph's return.
"Mabel, you know you are waiting in vain, right?." Despite the teen giving his word to come back today, Dipper knew that the probability of his return was slim.
"But he promised." Mabel reminded trusting the departed boy's words.
As a pragmatist, he remained unconvinced, "I don't know exactly what sort of information he got from the Journal, but if it was enough for him, he might never come back."After all what other sort of reason would that guy have to come back?
"He was worried, Dipper."She said turning her gaze away from the window and towards her brother, "As if he had found out some sort of big that was been kept secret from him."
"And what makes you so sure of that?" He asked skeptical.
"BECAUSE… I could see it his eyes! I am observant like that." Said the girl that didn't noticed her boyfriend was in fact a bunch of gnomes, but Dipper refrain from reminding her of that for now. "I'm sure that once his done with this personal issue of his, he'll come back and answer all of your nerd questions."
"I wouldn't bet on it."Dipper loved her sister but sometimes she willfully only saw the good side of things and people. It was a quality that made her who she was but that way of thinking would land her in trouble sooner or later.
"Be a Negative Nancy all you want, but I got a good feeling about this. I bet you that Jojo will come back from that road any second now."And lo and behold a car drove up the road towards the Mystery Shack. Mabel jumped up and down excited that her prediction had come true in record time.
Unfortunately, her celebration was cut short the instant that instead of the English boy it was a family of tourists stopping by to check out the many "wonders" inside of the Mystery Shack. Soon after, Grunkle Stan voice cut through the air. "Kids, to your positions! We have clients coming up."
Like any other brother in the word, he teased his sister for being wrong. "I guess you owe me a soda." Causing Mabel to groan.
『x-x-x』
Exiting their Hotel, both English men walked towards their parked vehicle to go and fulfill a promise made by Joseph the day before. Speaking of yesterday, Joseph had forgone his fancy clothes he wore to meet the Northwest family, and instead he wore black t-shirt underneath an brown aviator jacket and dark blue pants. Meanwhile Speedwagon dressed in a sharp suit as always.
"Jojo, are you sure about this?" Speedwagon asked hoping for the boy to reconsider.
"I made a promise."The teen answered firmly. "Aren't you and Granny Erina always telling me to act like a gentleman? Well, gentlemen keep their promises, don't they?"
Speedwagon sighed in defeat knowing how stubborn Joseph could get once and idea entered his head. "Very well, but you have to be careful. You wouldn't want to put them and yourself in danger." He reminded.
"I think it is a little too late for that." Joseph got inside the car, prompting his uncle to do the same. "Come on, let's go."
The drive was a silent one, not even the radio was on and the only sounds filling the air were those made by the car itself. Speedwagon didn't try and talk him out of his decision and Joseph took the opportunity to contemplate back the conversation with his uncle the night prior.
『x-x-x』
"Jojo where did you…" Speedwagon wanted to know exactly what his charge went through and where did he saw about the cursed object.
"I'm asking the questions here! Tell me about the Stone Mask!" He wasn't going to allow for any sort of distraction in his quest for answers.
The old man remained silent for a few seconds before he let out a heavy sigh of defeat. "Jojo before I tell you about the mask I want you to know that I've kept the secret to protect you and Erina."
Joseph didn't doubt his words. He always knew his uncle had good intentions and whatever secret the stone mask held, it was surely a big one. "I know you have always been good to Granny Erina and me, but I need to know. I can't be kept in the dark any longer."
"Jojo, knowing about the Stone Mask will put you in danger." The tired old man insisted. "Erina already lost her husband and her son; she can't bear to lose you too." That was a low blow and the business man knew it, but he promised to take help and protect the Joestar family, no matter what.
"I love Granny Erina and I would hate myself if I ever hurt her," He was the only living family she had left and viceversa. And Erina had already suffured enough in her lifetime. "But I'm already deep into it, I can't back down now." Joseph remained determined. "I already know of existence of the supernatural and that the Stone Mask is dangerous. Being kept on the dark here would put me in even more danger."
"I should've known something like this would happen." Speedwagon sighed tiredly and took a seat in one of the room's chairs; being reminded of it all really made him feel all of his years. "Once you get a glimpse into the Supernatural it will slowly wrap itself around you and you'll never escape it." In his youth as a trouble maker in the streets of London, he never believed in fate, but after meeting Jonathan all those years back, he started to believe that the Joestar family was destined to struggle against tragedy. "When I discovered you were also capable utilizing Hamon, I was afraid you will follow the same fate as your family before you." Jonathan, Jonathan's father, his son George; they all lost their lives because of the supernatural. And now, Joseph appeared to be fated to follow upon his ancestors steps. All because of that accursed Stone Mask.
"Uncle Speedwagon…" Joseph eased back a little after seeing the look on his uncle's face. It was a face of tired sadness and regret.
"I don't know all of the details as to how the Joestar Family got the Stone Mask into their possession. But it all started with the tragic death of your great grandmother, Mary Joestar." What followed was a tale about the tragedies in the Joestar caused by the Stone Mask and the lust for power of a man named Dio Brando.
"The Stone Mask…it creates Vampires? How?" It was a hard pill to swallow. How did a carved piece of stone could transform a human into an undead creature? "And how does that relate to Hamon?" The Journal where he had read about vampires and the undead specified that their weakness was Hamon.
"By piercing the wearer's skull and pressing specific point in the brains that supposedly releases you from human limitations; similar to acupuncture but far more sinister." At least that was how Jonathan had expalined it to him; and the trade off for releasing that power was death and transforming into an undead creature. "As for Hamon…'
Speedwagon then went on about how Jonathan had learned about Hamon from a very mystifying man called Will A. Zeppeli, whose life and fate was also tied up by the curse that followed the Stone Mask. Apparently the undead powers came from the polar opposite of Hamon Energy and that is why Vampires and the Undead they created were weak against Sunlight which were the same as the ripples created with Hamon.
"I created the Speedgawon Foundation after coming to America and gaining fortune thanks to my Oil Company, I wanted to help create a better future for mankind and to achieve that, I funded a secret branch dedicated to find and destroy all existing Stone Masks." Otherwise, someone like Dio would come again and try to use the power of the mask to take over the world. "As the expeditions began, we found about the existence of the supernatural apart from the mask itself."
"So it is true, those rumors…" Hard to believe that those half-baked theories that people spew in the internet turned out to be true. Although that part about the Foundation working in conjunction with the Nazi was still a bunch of nonsense. "Tell me, exactly why did you came to Gravity Falls for? And who else here know about the Mask and Hamon?" With that the identity of the author of the journal would be revealed.
"My resons for coming here were entirely business related, but like you said before, through the Foundation I am well aware of the Supernatural Phenomena that often occurs in this place." The old man confessed. "It came to our attention many years ago, after many reports of strange happenings in the area, so an investigation was funded."
"Who lead the investigation, who were part of it, how many were they?"Joseph asked but Speedwagon went completely silent. "Speedwagon…?"
"I can't tell…"
"Rubbish! It was founded by your company and approved by the secret branch of your Foundation, you ought to know!" There was no way he couldn't know and playing dumb now would not help either.
"What you said is true but the investigation ended over 30 years ago and at the time I was too busy to manage every single thing the Foundation discovered or did." Speedwagon explained.
"You must have records or reports from the investigation team."
"Jojo, because of the dangerous and secretive nature of the missions, all paperwork is redacted accordingly. Even if I pulled out the documents and give them to you, you'll only find a lot of black bars." It was all done to prevent any sort of leak of information and to keep all sensitive data known to just a select few.
Joseph bit his lip in frustration. "You must now something! Something you remember, someone else, anything!"
Speedwagon kept quit for a few seconds with a very thoughtful look on his face. "Straizo."
"Uh? Straizo?" Somehow the name was familiar, but he didn't remember from where he had heard it before.
"He was an ally of Jonathan 45 years ago, and as a Hamon master I hired him to oversee expeditions made by the Foundation." A hamon user was usually sent alongside expeditions where the probability of finding something unnatural was very high as a precaution. Otherwise they would be sending those researches to their deaths. "He probably sent an acolyte to help with the investigation of Gravity Falls."
"Well then why don't we ask Straizo to tell us who that person was?" Maybe that way they could shed a light to this mystery. But Speedwagon only shook his head.
"After succeeding Master Tonpetty as Grandmaster Straizo retire back to their temple back in Nepal*. It's been years since I spoke with him and since they live frugal lives is not like I call them through the phone. The only way to truly know would be to send for him from Nepal."
"That would take time…" Joseph clicked his tongue frustrated, nothing but a dead end as to find the identity of the Author who wrote the Journal.
"I have answered your questions Jojo, now please answer mine."Speedwagon pleaded. "Tell me, what happened to you today? And where did you see the image of the Stone Mask?"
Since it was fair for answering his questions about the mask, in return Joseph told an abridged version of that afternoon's events. He skipped some details, and when it came to say where exactly he had seen the Stone Mask, he only answered that he found evidence of the existence of someone who knew about the mask, about Hamon, and the strange happenings of Gravity Falls; he abstained from mentioning the Journal since Dipper had wish to remain a secret and he respected that.
So having reached the end of his investigation, Joseph needed time to think what he was going to do from now on having learned what he did.
『x-x-x』
Joseph musings came to an end when the car came to a complete stop; finally arriving to their destination.
"Here we are." Speedwagon said not so enthusiastically. He wasn't really impressed by the run down look the Shack. The place certainly had seen better days. "Jojo, I know you feel like you have to keep your promise, but if you reveal the secret of the mask to others, you'll only be putting them in danger."
"I know." The boy said undeterred. "We better get this over with." He walked up to the Mystery Shack hoping to find the twins, and in doing so he missed the faraway look in his uncle's eyes.
"Knock, knock!" Joseph said as he opened the door to the gift shop. Instead of the twins he had been looking for, inside he found a teenage girl with long red hear and freckles leaning back on a chair with her feet on top of the counter next to the cash register while reading a magazine.
"Welcome to the shack…" The red head girl said in a bored tone not taking her eyes away from her magazine. If this was an example of how she usually performed her job, it made Jojo wonder why the owner bothered to keep her around.
"I'm looking for Dipper and Mabel Pines." The English boy informed and at the mention of the kids names, the cashier finally deemed him to be important enough for her attention.
"Yeah? Why are you looking…" The girl trailed off her eyes widen in surprise when she had to stretch her neck up to see the guy's face. "Wow, you are SO tall." The guys was like, 6 feet tall and looked very bulky even underneath that aviator jacket he was wearing.
"Aye aye, Captain Obvious." Joseph said sardonically. It seemed that wherever he went people would always comment on how tall he was. It didn't offend him or anything but it got grating after a while.
"Hey, no need to…" The cashier was about to tell the guy off for his sarcasm, when a high pitched scream interrupted her.
"JOJO!"The scream belonged to none other than Mabel who was standing at the door. "I was right! You did come back!" Mabel bounced towards the tall teen unreservedly ecstatic."Dipper! Come quick!"
"I heard Mabel, no need to scream." The boy said as he too entered through the same door as his sister, then he turned his attention to the guy who bailed on them without answering any of their questions. "What are you doing here?" There must be an ulterior reason for his return otherwise why bother to come back?
It was obvious in his voice that the boy didn't trust Joseph after yesterday's little 'betrayal'. Jojo understood where the boy was coming from and he didn't let his tone bother him. Instead he gave him a smile in return. "Why else? I promised I'd come back, didn't I? And Joseph Joestar always keeps his promises."
"See I told you, Dipper! We could totally trust him." She sang happily.
"So, you will answer our questions?" Dipper asked still sounding a little unsure.
"Ask away, little guy." He made a promise and he intended to keep it. Although he wasn't sure about answering the boy's questions in front of the red headed cashier, then again with how disinterested she was acting out earlier, she might chalk up their conversation as simple childish nonsense or something like that.
"Wait; is this the guy you two were talking about earlier?" The red head asked looking between the twins and the tall man. "You guys were right, he really doesn´t look like a teenager." The guy was over taller than many adults she knew and the bulkiness didn't help matters.
"I get that a lot."Seriously, enough about his height already. "I really am 15 years old."
"Well then," Dipper said hoping to finally get some answers. "I guess my first question for you is…"
"Whoa dude, is that a genuine Air Force Aviator Jacket?" The voice of a new arrival cut in before Dipper could finish his question. This new arrival was a stocky man wearing a brown cap and a large greenish shirt with a big question mark on the center. Joseph noted it was the same type of shirt that the Mystery Shack sold.
"Yes, it is genuine."Jojo answered impressed that someone noticed his jacket. It was a replica of the RAF Jacket used by pilots during WWII."Got it from my Dad; he was in the Royal Air Force." Well, more like inherited, but there was no need to mention that.
"Your dad flew planes?! That is awesome dude." The man exclaimed amazed. "I'm Soos by the way. Nice meeting you dude."
"The same." Joseph didn't know what to think of this guy or his name, probably just a nickname, but so far he seemed friendly at least. "I'm Joseph Joestar but friends call me Jojo."In fact he much preferred to be called that. Then he turned around and pointed at the red head cashier, "And what should I call you besides the she who state of the obvious."
The cashier slightly miffed by his jabs at her, defaulted to the typical teenager's response and just shrugged acted like she couldn't care less about it. "The name's Wendy."
"I should've known." Jojo nodded to himself before leaning towards her with a smug grin, "Yours is a face that could sell burgers."
Of course it didn't take much for Wendy to realize what he was referring to. "Hey!" she cried in indignation, finally showing more vigor than a sleeping sloth.
"I see you are making new friends, Jojo." Speedwagon who had been watching the whole scene in silence made his presence known. "Though it is very unbecoming of a gentleman to tease a young lady."
"Hey, who're you calling lady?" Despite been admonishing Jojo for his remarks against her, Wendy took slight offense to the term lady.
Before Speedwagon could apologize, another man entered the scene. "What it going on here?" It was an old man, around the same age as Speedgawon, dressed in a black suit and a maroon bow tie the same color as a fez he was wearing. Aside from his outfit, the most striking thing about this man was his comically large ears and long, droopy nose. "You know the rules, not playing around when there are customers to attend."
"Grunkle Stan,look!" Mabel said pointing at Joseph. "This is Jojo, the one we were telling you about."
"Fascinating…" Stan rolled his eyes not really caring, but when his eyes turned from the large teen towards the other adult in the room, Soos didn't exactly count as one, his face lighted up in surprise. "You…"
"Good morning, Good sir."Speedwagon took off his hat and held out his right hand as a very cordial and respectful greeting. "You must be the owner of this fine establishment. My name is Robert E.O Speedwagon, please to meet you and to make your acquaintance."
"Yeah, the pleasure is mine."Stan shook the English man hand almost in awe. "Say would you mind if we could continue our conversation in my office?"
"Of course." Speedwagon nodded and proceeded to exit the gift shop and into a hallway inside the shack, and before Stan followed the man inside, he turned towards his employees and barked orders.
"Kids, mind the gift shop."He said first to the twins, "Soos you take over the tours." That made the portly man gasp, "Wendy you help him."
"But Mr. Pines…"The redhead wanted to protest, but Stan was in much of a hurry.
"Unless the shack is burning I want no interruptions!" And with that he left the others looking utterly confused.
"Geez, what's up with Grunkle Stan?"Dipper wondered out-loud. "That was weird."
"He probably recognized my Uncle's name."Joseph pointed out not at all surprised since Speedwagon always got a strong reaction out of people.
"Your Uncle's name…?" Mabel repeated trying to think of an answer, "Well, it is a pretty nice name."
Meanwhile Dipper muttered the name under his breath multiple times. "Speed…wagon? Wait! You don't mean…?" He trailed off, his jaw hanging open upon the realization.
"What is it Dipper! Tell me!" His sister grabbed him and shook him a few times to get him to spill the answer.
"Yeah dude, don't keep us in suspense."Wendy also butted in, feeling curious as to what caused Mr. Pines to assign her even more work.
Dipper in turn looked up to Joseph and asked very carefully as if he was handling glass. "Is your uncle… the owner of SPW Oil and the founder of the Speedwagon Foundation?" If he was right, then that would mean…
"Yep. The very same."
That would mean that a man worth Billions was inside the Mystery Shack.
Alone.
With Grunkle Stan.
GOD help them all.
く==ToBeContinued==
『Xlivi evi qsvi wigvixw srpc Wtiihaeksr orsaw.』
Author notes:
Welp. More exposition, but on the bright side, Jojo got to meet Soos and Wendy this chapter.
* Because of the divisive politics regarding Tibet, I changed the location of their temple to Nepal.
Note: Use the SHIZAAAAAA! Cypher.