Singapore, 44 Days Remaining
Jotaro had stopped running ever since he saw the mystery man vault the wall ahead. Now, he is merely calmly walking towards the complex before him. A trap is waiting for him, without a doubt. However, the Englishman seemed weak, so there's no chance he would stand a chance against Star Platinum. No clues on what the enemy's stand was capable of, besides resembling Hermit Purple.
Two options, it's a mimic type with unknown powers, or it's just like Hermit Purple and useless in a fight. Either way, it's time to drag some answers out of this coward.
His footsteps stop short at the tall brick wall in front him. With a quick leap, he kicks off the brick wall and grasps the top of the wall above him. Star Platinum rises up from Jotaro's back and takes hold of the barbed wire blocking the way, and pries the coils apart so that Jotaro himself can clamber up. He straightens himself on his feet on top of the wall, surveying the complex before him. A dusty warehouse building with a broken window on the second floor is directly in front of him. Straight down, he hears a stammering voice failing to form any words. A Singaporean soldier is staring wide-eyed in disbelief at Jotaro's stoic figure, silhouetted by the high noon above him. The man's face is drenched in sweat, and a slight glare from the black-clad school kid sends the soldier running away, screaming in panic.
Jotaro hops down and tentatively takes a few steps into the complex, looking around for more soldiers. This appears to be a military base, but a fairly unkempt portion of it. No doubt the building before him was abandoned long ago, as the rust on the window frames and the worn bricks seem to be decades old.
I shouldn't cause too large a scene here, I don't want the hassle of fighting any armed soldiers this early in the day. Judging from the broken glass on the second floor, that man is definitely in here. I could just bust in, but…no. We don't need any more delays getting to DIO, getting held up by the military would lose us more precious time. Kicking down a door, however, shouldn't be an issue on this side of the complex.
Jotaro circles the building, being cautious but wholly unstealthy as he trudges his way across the weathered asphalt. His eyes aren't panicked in the slightest, but still diligently checking the corners of each building and pathway. The surrounding buildings seem like they're in similar disrepair, and devoid any of patrolling guards. The far side of the warehouse has a rusted double door, with boarded up windows adorning each side on both floors. He presses his ear against the door, only to notice the right door is slightly ajar. There doesn't seem to be any wires or any tampering with the door, the rust seemingly preventing it from shutting closed on its own.
Waiting outside is too disadvantageous. That scared soldier might spot me if I wait here, and that bastard seems like the type to function better with more prep time. Better to end this quickly and directly than let him get set up.
Without hesitation, Jotaro solidly kicks the door open near the decayed handle. The door swings wide, falling off the top hinge as it collides with the interior wall. Not halfway through the door's arc, a rather heavy looking metal rod falls down and clatters onto the concrete floor.
Setting up a trap on the door frame? He spent his time poorly. Good grief.
"Yare yare…" Jotaro mumbles to himself at the childishness of the supposed trap. He peers in as far as he can into the darkness, trying to get as much information as possible before stepping in. "I know you're in here. Give it up, you're not getting away again. Tell me where your master is or I'll crack your jaw with my fist." The warehouse is strangely silent, minus the occasional drip of water into a puddle.
A trap, or an alarm? Let's see if I can scare him out.
Jotaro slowly steps through the now open door, and sees rows of empty metal racking extending deep into the warehouse. The room is dark minus some light pouring in from the door behind him, some scattered holes in the worn ceiling, and the broken window on the balcony to the rear of the facility. His eyes scan behind the racking, but the darkness in the far corners veils a large section of the room.
Star Platinum manifests beside him, and with a quick snap of his shoulder grips and crushes a support to one of the rackings in front of him. A follow-up punch to the center of the heavy chunk of metal topples it towards the depths of the room. One racking collides with another, and they begin to domino their way in through the middle of the warehouse. Jotaro hears some clattering coming from the back left of the building, shoes rushing across concrete. He stands his ground, no need to rush in any further.
After a second or two passes, he sees a glint of light as something small careens towards him. Star Platinum easily swats it away with a piece of metal it wrenches from a nearby rack, but on contact the mystery object seems to electrify both the metal and Star Platinum's hand. Regardless, the projectile is deflected and embedded into a nearby wall. Jotaro's right hand begins to spasm in concert with his Stand's, but he shakes it off as he sees a figure materialize from the darkness about 15 feet in front and to his left. The man from earlier steps forward, one eye closed and finger wagging. "Didn't your mother teach you to not bite off more than you can chew?"
This bastard has a mouth on him. I intend to break it, before or after I get my answers.
"Shut up, you bastard." Jotaro's arm flexes as he clenches his fist in annoyance, and Star Platinum responds in kind by readying a blow. But before Star Platinum can lunge, the mystery man makes a small leap back and clicks his tongue tauntingly. "Nuh uh, none of that punchy business. As long as I stay this far away, you can't hit me, right?" Jotaro catches his gasp in his throat, and quickly examines the concrete at his feet. There are scratch marks in front of each set of racks, and the one he busted in the center was just a little closer than the scratch before the Englishman's feet. "Now we both probably have a lot of questions for each other, so how about we chat from a nice, safe, respectable distance, momma's boy?" Without even opening his mouth, Jotaro simply tightens his glare.
I'm breaking his other arm too. I'll pin him to the wall if I have to.
Star Platinum switches the grip on the metal it's holding from a baseball bat to a javelin, and chucks it straight at the man in front of them. The mystery man simply tugs his arm, and a purple vine yanks a rack to the left of him, falling in the way of the metal spear careening his way. His calm expression quickly turns to panic as Star Platinum's attack gouges through the metal and nearly stabs him in the gut. "Okay so, Plan B."
Singapore, 1988
"Okay so, Plan B" He had already laid out Plan B. It was 'Get The Hell Out of Here and Let the Military Handle This Monster'. As far as Joseph could tell, his enemy was no vampire, so Hamon is more of a stun gun. His Stand also has incredible strength and eyesight, as no normal kid could've swatted his clackers like that with so little effect. The range, aim, and power of what it throws completely negates his initial strategy of keep away until he got frustrated enough to leave an opening.
And sure enough, this guy is direct as hell. I thought I could buy a bit more time with him climbing the wall, but from the sound of it he just bashed a hole in it. I couldn't get that damn rusted plate open to get into the basement, I'll just have to run until I get enough distance to circle back. Though from the sounds of that panicked soldier we don't have much time before we get even more guests…
Air flows deep into Joseph's lungs, as he prepares a dive back towards the balcony. Jotaro takes a single step forward as Star Platinum wrenches another metal rod from the abandoned fixtures nearby, and Joseph takes a mad dive back into the darkness. Judging from the silhouette, he sees that both Jotaro and his Stand still have a bead on him. A flash of purple and a loud grunt accompanies what feels to be a sonic boom as another javelin is hurled at him. Joseph releases his Hamon into his left hand, and tosses the handful of hair he had hidden in his hand towards the spear. The energized hair creates a barrier, strong enough to hold machine gun fire at bay, but still fails to absorb all the force behind the throw. The recoil flays the metal on impact but imparts enough force to send Joseph tumbling towards the rear of the room.
Damn, really? Why the hell is this kid worried about assassins? Who thought it was a good idea to piss him off?
From behind the rows of racks, Jotaro steps slowly and deliberately closer, his Stand with a fresh new projectile in hand. Its purple gauntlets grip the rod hard enough to bend it in its grasp, and it tauntingly taps the racks beside it as it approaches. Joseph scrambles to his feet, crunching numbers as he scratch marks in front of him. He still has a few seconds to find a getaway plan, but that is far too short for him to sprint to the stairs up to the balcony.
No choice, I didn't get to practice it but here goes nothing…
Joseph readies into a sprinting stance, and darts to the right side of the warehouse. Jotaro simply stops and waits for an opening to nail him between the racks. He gets halfway across to the felled fixtures in the center, before leaping off of them and twisting around. A purple vine shoots from his forearm and grasps onto a bit of snapped railing on the balcony above him, tightening like a rope. Joseph thrusts his full weight into it, hoping to swing up top quick enough to avoid getting skewered. Sensing a murderous intent, Joseph holds out his broken prosthetic towards the wall his clackers were jammed in. They rattle a bit, but small amount of Hamon still in them resonates and pulls them back towards Joseph's arm. However, standing in between Joseph and his discarded clackers is Jotaro's imposing figure astride a fallen rack. Another ripple of air clips through the room as another spear flies, though the trajectory is thrown way off as the clacker collides with his back mid-throw. Instead of goring Joseph, the javelin crashes into the bottom of the balcony itself. The crash of metal against concrete balcony warms Joseph's heart a little. Until he sees the balcony beginning to crack and fall before he lands.
The whole of the partial second floor collapses from the impact of Jotaro's throw, and it slams onto the concrete below. Joseph twists around midair to look down and notice the base floor is also collapsing.
This whole place is a deathtrap! Looks like we won't be getting out of here without a tour of Speedwagon Labs.
Singapore, 44 Days Remaining
The concrete was crumbling beneath Jotaro's feet. Apparently there was a basement below, just as dilapidated as the rest of the place. A quick glance at the mystery man showed a face not of panic, but relief.
Did this idiot really plan this trap so far ahead?
Star Platinum reaches out for a handhold on the crumbling foundation and gets a firm grip, but after a few seconds a piece of the metal roofing crashes down and causes Jotaro to instead brace for impact as he falls. He descends for far too many seconds to only fall one floor.
Time passes…
Mounds of rubble and metal pin Jotaro to the cold metal floor beneath. A shallow layer of water soaks through the back of his trenchcoat, and he pries himself free to survey the new arena. The room itself is far deeper than he expected, as if he fell not into a basement but a sub-basement. Fallen cabinets and scientific equipment line the walls, and the roof above is a caved in metal covering. Not only that, but the room around him seems to be a part of a much bigger complex.
An underground lab? Reminds me of the sci-fi films Gramps dragged me to as a kid.
He could hear desperate sprinting of shoes on metal from another room. Shaking off the dust and moisture, Jotaro winds his shoulder and cracks it. He spots the object that nailed him in the back before he missed his throw. A small pair of black metal clackers, with 'Jo' embossed in gold on each individual ball. "Yare yare…"
END OF CHAPTER 2