Singapore, 1988
The fall wasn't particularly gracefully, but Joseph is still able to dust himself off, having rolled his way from the path of most of the falling debris. He may be safe, but the lab has obviously seen better days. The room he's in now has an inch of warm water coating the bottom, lit up only by a few remaining emergency lights that lined the wall near the ceiling. The eerie green lights glow intermittently, leaving a few seconds of darkness between each slow flashing period.
Joseph took note of the demolished tables and the rusted ladder that stopped short of the facility's inner roof, either from age or the recent addition of a warehouse's worth of concrete. One wall was completely shredded by that impact, and the hints of a door frame remain. He hears some shuffling from the other room, no doubt the unstoppable monster teenager ready to pursue him some more.
Thankfully, unless his Stand can make dynamite he's going to have to find another way around. I was hoping this place was still in operation, but I'm still not convinced there's nothing to find here. If I can root around a bit without that kid finding me, I might be in business. There should be at least a couple of files strewn around, maybe some possible places for Miller to be hiding, or at the very least a radio. The Speedwagon Foundation has a frequency I can reach…
"Well, if I remembered to write it down…" Joseph grumbled to himself as he started his quick escape out of the room he fell into. There is another opening to the north, the door having long since fallen off of its hinges. The green lights illuminate his path as he runs down sprawling hallways, splashing the water around as he dashes. Doors dot the halls, but most are jammed or blocked. However, after a about ten minutes of trying doors to no avail, one falls in on itself as Joseph yanks on the handle. A few hesitant steps in, he sees a small radio on a table under the glowing emergency lights.
"Jackpot! Now let's see if I can get in contact with anyone in this weirdo dimension, or wherever I am." Joseph fiddles with the dials, to find that the battery it was hooked into had long since corroded. "Damn, did that bastard send me like a hundred years in the future? " In frustration, he slams his fist down onto the inert radio, only for some purple vines to latch onto it as his fist connects. The radio whirs to life, spewing static. "Oh, you're good for more than some unbreakable rope, huh? Aren't you some good little vines, aren't you?" Joseph pats the vines as he would a pet dog.
Before he can touch any dials, the radio static begins to warp into piecemeal voices, garbled messages with distorted tones as if the radio was trying to spit out five channels at once. While Joseph stands there, squinting and trying to make out the noises, they gradually clear up to five voices speaking in unison.
"DUCK…DUCK…DUCK"
Puzzled, Joseph begins to squat in thought in front of the table, the vines releasing as he retreats his hands. "Duck? What the hell? Is this a sign, maybe that Miller's Stand is actually a-" And before he can finish speaking a piece of concrete goes whooshing where his left arm was and smashes into the metal wall behind the table with the radio. Joseph's eyes go wide as he slowly turns, and standing in the doorway is Jotaro and Star Platinum, blocking the way. Star Platinum is holding another chunk of concrete and tossing it up and down as Jotaro glares at Joseph as the green light illuminates his face.
"Ah. Duck. So, uh, Jotaro. So nice to see you." Jotaro takes an intimidating step forward, and Star Platinum stops playing with the concrete, ready to throw it. Joseph quickly rises to his feet, and waves his hands in an attempt to calm him down, "Y'know you are so convinced I'm an assassin, and you don't even know my name. For all you know I'm an innocent bystander." Jotaro looks him up and down, his stare almost choking Joseph with its intensity. After a tense few seconds, Jotaro flatly speaks, "Then tell me before I make your arms symmetrical."
An opening, this is a gamble but there's no other way. This kid is way too persistent for me to find anything while he's in here. If I can just sneak out of here and find a way to get in contact with anyone, I have a hope of catching that Miller guy. Though if I am right, and this is the future, did he already succeed in finding another Stone Mask?
"Spit it out." Star Platinum cocks his arm back, its eyes locked onto Joseph's left arm.
Oh god he's serious about my other arm. It's hard enough to service this thing on my own, imagine having to fix both with just a screwdriver in my mouth!
"Okay, fine." Joseph leans back, resting his hips on the table behind him and his arm in the center. "Since you want to know so badly." He takes a long deliberate pause at the end of each sentence. "My name is almost as important as my great deeds. You see, I saved the world once, even shot a guy to space all by myself." Joseph shoots a cocky glance at Jotaro, only for Jotaro to bark back "Name. Last chance." He shifts his arm back further onto the table and casts a worried look behind him, before finally speaking up again. "Jeez, talk about impatient. My name is Joseph, although my friends call me-" and once again, before he can finish speaking, a garbled voice on the radio cries out:
"THE RIGHT WALL, PLEASE, THE RIGHT WALL"
Without a second's delay Joseph dives towards the wall to his right, seemingly a plain metal wall like the rest of the building. Looking at Jotaro, Joseph notes some hesitation in his eyes before he shakes it and has Star Platinum chuck the concrete at its target. The brief moment's delay sends the trajectory of the concrete a little high, however, and it smashes into the wall behind it. A gushing spout of scalding water comes spraying out of the remaining hole in the wall straight at Jotaro's torso, knocking him back a bit to the left of the door frame despite Star Platinum absorbing the heat. Taking his shot, Joseph kicks off the bottom of the wall with a deep breath of Hamon, launching him in a low arc through the now unobstructed doorway.
As he begins to sprint his way back to the room with the ladder, he notices the radio dangling from his arm from the purple vines extending from his palm. "Okay crystal ball, any other suggestions?" His splashing footsteps echo through the halls as he madly dashes away from the surely enraged powerhouse he left behind.
Singapore, 44 Days Remaining
Jotaro gains his composure after he steps out of the way of the jetting water from the wall. He barely had time to process the man's name. "Joseph…" He takes a few steps into the hallway to see Joseph madly dashing away and talking to himself, more than likely trying to escape the place altogether. Something nagged at Jotaro's thoughts, but he can't quite formulate what.
We have three options. That's my grandfather, but young and somehow dumber. Or, that's my grandpa from the past, and he used to be much more of a coward. Finally, the most likely option…He's playing me. DIO knows all about Joseph, and it's not out of the realm of possibilities he's just trying to confuse me. I had my suspicions about Kakyoin earlier today, and I don't doubt that a Stand can create two copycats. I'm sure Avdol, Gramps, and Polnareff can handle Kakyoin if he's a fake, but I'll be damned if I let this one go without getting any information on DIO.
Having made up his mind, he sprints to pursue this 'Joseph'. The slowly pulsing green lights still gleam off the splashes of the man's feet ahead of him.
Singapore, 1988
On second thought I'm very glad this place is crumbling. Looks like the steam pipes keeping this place at an even temperature have rusted enough to almost flood the whole lab if they break. I just wish this damn radio wasn't so stingy with its advice.
Joseph smacks the radio he has cradled in his left arm with the metallic mess of parts that used to be his right hand. Almost simultaneously, it screams out in a static-y voice:
"JUMP NOW. J-J-JUMP NOW"
He panics briefly but nevertheless does an extended hop mid-stride. He feels something whoosh under his feet as the lights dim just as the projectile passes under him. No doubt, Jotaro was waiting until the lights dimmed before trying to slow him down, with whatever that was obviously aimed at Joseph's legs. Squinting further down, Joseph sees that he's only about forty feet from the way out. He concentrates his breath, and on his next stride begins to run across the water coating the floor instead of plunging his feet down into it. He closes his eyes, concentrating on the ripples behind him from Jotaro's chase.
Thirty feet from the door, he's twenty behind me. The wall beside him is trembling, seems like he's reloading.
Sure enough, the radio whirs to life, but before it can say anything Joseph hugs the left wall. The radio hushes immediately, and another rush of air passes Joseph on his right.
Twenty feet from the door, he's now twenty five feet behind. Good thing this hallway is so narrow. I can't feel Star Platinum, but it has to scrape whatever it's throwing against the wall to make a clean throw at me.
Another vibration in the metal beside him, and another chunk of metal flies by Joseph, this time to his left. Joseph's remain closed as he starts to sprint as fast as he can.
He has to be frustrated by now. Ten feet from the door. He'll probably stop and aim right at the center now, but if I'm right, he should be…
Joseph's eyes spring open and eye the lights passing him by. They glow to their fullest, and just as they are about to dim, Joseph leaps and delivers a powerful Hamon filled kick to the wall on his right. He drains a majority of Hamon with the blow, but the energy pulses and arcs from the metal wall to the water covering the floor. He hears a pained groan and a splash as he rounds the corner through the open doorway.
Okay, that bought a bit of time. Any normal kid would be rolling around with numb legs and a stinging arm after that but…
A large crunch echoes through the lab as another projectile slams into the doorframe, lodging itself at shin height. Joseph gulps as he turns to look at the dilapidated ladder rising up through the crunched in roof above him. Just finding a rung to safely grasp onto might take a bit…
Singapore, 44 Day Remaining
This bastard sure can run. He dipped into that room with no hesitation; he knows where he's going. This is feeling even more like a trap, but he was barely dodging my throws earlier. If I can corner him again, I'll just hold him down so he talks without running off. I have no idea what his Stand did to me, but it felt like a stun gun. It looked like it conducted off of the metal and water, I should keep an eye out.
Jotaro approaches the door, stopping short to eavesdrop a bit before entering. He hears a long static sound echoing out from within, and some impatient splashing of water. Peering in, he sees 'Joseph' sitting on a pile of rubble, with the radio in his lap and his arm propping himself up on the ruined wall behind him. His gaze is firmly on the water below watching his feet splash around, looking incredibly bored. The man glances up and sees Jotaro in the light, smiling nonthreateningly. "Took you long enough! I've had a change of heart, I want to chat." Suspicious, Jotaro has Star Platinum in front of him as he steps into the room. He scans the room with every rise of the lights, and sees a nearly demolished ladder extending into the ceiling.
So he knows he's cornered. But still, he could've ambushed me right here. What's he playing at?
"How about this, Jotaro? Step on in and we can chat about your assassins and my Miller problem. Fair trade?" The man's smile is cloyingly sincere, but so far this man has been nothing but a silver-tongue. "I'll stay right here. Explain yourself." Jotaro firmly stands his ground. He hasn't seen any traps set up, but he can't be sure. 'Joseph' stymies his smile a bit, before tauntingly saying "Suit yourself, Mafia Boy. So, what do you wan-" The man stops himself short before squinting dramatically at Jotaro, or rather, right above Jotaro. With a sudden start, he screams at Jotaro, "Get down you idiot!"
Faster than he can move, Jotaro hears a hiss come from his right. He turns to see a cap on a steam pipe that was embedded in the wall start to launch itself at high speeds right at Jotaro's forehead. Whatever had happened to the door to this room had left the innards of the wall exposed, but regardless Star Platinum effortlessly plucked the cap out of the air while Jotaro tucked and rolled into the room to avoid the incoming hot water. He finds himself in the center of room, looking up at 'Joseph'. The man has a worried look on his face, and has pulled his hand from the debris to offer a lift off the floor. "Hey, will you listen to me now? I'm not trying to kill you, I swear." Jotaro just looks at the outstretched hand, and stands on his own.
"Your full name. Now." Jotaro is only a foot and a half away from the man's seat on the concrete rubble. Waving dismissively, he speaks up "God, why is that so important to you, anyway? My name is Joseph Joestar. My friends call me Jojo. And yes, your name is Jotaro, now we intimately know each other or whatever." Jotaro narrows his eyes, and then flatly responds, "My name is Jotaro Kujo, son of Holly Kujo, and the grandson of Joseph Joestar." If there was a sound of a man's jaw dropping slack, you would've heard it from Joseph in that moment.
END OF CHAPTER 3