Tibet's Temple, 1988

Joseph fiddles around with some of the toppled worklights in the central chamber of the temple, as he impatiently waits for the massive avalanche to cease above them. Jotaro leans against the wall, hands deep in his pockets. Lifting his head a bit, Joseph sneaks a glance at Jotaro.

Jeez, that kid's still shivering? It's not even that cold in here…

"Hey, Jotaro."

"What?" Jotaro replies flatly, but quickly.

"Tell me, did I teach my daughter Hamon?"

"No."

"What? What if a zombie, or a vampire, or god forbid another Pillar Man showed up?"

"They didn't."

"But still."

"You settled down, lived a happy, peaceful life with your wife and child."

"But-"

"Were you hoping your kid grew up to a world like this?"

"No, but-"

"Tch, your daughter doesn't have a violent bone in her body." Jotaro looks away as he says this. Joseph tries to respond, but his words fail him.

Where's the adventure? The excitement? My journey just…ended after that? And my daughter, she grew up happy…

"…DIO's curse got to her, too?"

"She's no fighter. Her Stand will kill her."

"And how-"

"Forty days."

"You keep track, huh?" Joseph replies with concern tinging his voice, but Jotaro is merely silently glaring away to the other side of the room. "Well, I'm glad my grandson was raised right, he really loves his mother."

At that, Jotaro's eyes flare up and he takes his hands out of his pockets, bundled in fists. On contact with the cold, though, he bites his lip and goes back to leaning on the wall.

Hates being called a momma's boy, huh? Better not touch that nerve again. I like my head where it's at right now.

"So, Jotaro, since my old, less handsome, crotchety self failed to teach you Hamon, how about a short lesson?" Joseph stands at this and goofily grins as he offers his hand out. Jotaro furrows his brow at Joseph silently for a moment before responding.

"No."

"What?"

"I said no."

"Oh c'mon, its not that bad. I've been channeling Hamon since middle school."

"Yeah, and I haven't. I'd rather not waste my energy right now."

"Oh, you see, the Hamon will help you with that!"

"Waste my energy?"

"No!" Joseph slaps his hands against his forehead in exasperation. "It'll give you some energy. You ever wonder why I can just waltz around up here with no sleeves? That's Hamon, baby!" He snaps his fingers and points at Jotaro. "Whaddaya say?"

Jotaro breathes in heavily and sighs, before stepping away from the wall and walking towards Joseph. They're only about eight inches apart, and Joseph bends backwards a bit to make some space. Jotaro looks him deep in the eye with a glare, before finally speaking.

"No."

"I-" Joseph is about to protest, but he catches himself. An image comes into his mind's eye, an image of flowing pulses radiating from a person's center.

Well, if I die here I at least might get a statue…

And with a deep breath, Joseph appears for a moment to be ready to argue with Jotaro some more. Instead of words, though, Joseph channels Hamon into his right fist, extends his pinky, and jabs it straight into Jotaro's solar plexus. The blow lands dead on and Jotaro goes flying straight back into the wall behind him. The stone cracks a bit. Joseph can see the rage in Jotaro's eyes as he looks up at Joseph.

Alright, 1988. Good show, pack it in.

"What the-" Jotaro tries to straighten himself and breathe, but finds himself coughing as he does so. Joseph nervously takes a few steps towards the double doors, and as he does he notices the rumbling above them has stopped.

"Alright, Jotaro, I'm going to start digging our way out! Take your time, walk it off!" And, before he even finishes his sentence he has already left the room. Behind him, Joseph can hear faint Japanese cursing and coughing.

And a massive shudder in the floor as he hears an "ORA!" from the central chamber.

Speedwagon Foundation Dig Site, 40 Days Remaining

Goddamn that bastard…

The pain in his chest is immense, and the sharp stabbing sensation resonates through his body. Star Platinum hovers behind him, freshly done punching the floor in front of him. He clenches his teeth and stands, still struggling to breathe. Just as he steadies himself standing, he notices the impact of his Stand's blow hit a few feet in front of him, in the center of the room.

What is-

Although the stone had been torn up from the hit, he sees a faint ripple of electricity seem to travel on the edge of the engraved slab in the center, following the engravings. It peters out after a fraction of a second, but he definitely saw something.

Hm.

As he puts an arm on the wall beside him, he calms himself and focuses. The pain in his chest subsides as he takes a metered breath, gently pushing the air in and out of his lungs. When the pain fully disappears, he stops for a moment. Closing his eyes, he takes a deep breath and visualizes pushing the breath through his arms and legs. He can hear a faint crackle of electricity, and a surge of vitality roll through him. Even the fatigue from his earlier fight seems to fade. But soon, the fatigue returns, and the crackle he heard fades.

Jotaro takes a few steps towards the double door leading out, and examines his palm. He pictures electricity rolling through the lines in his hand, how it would feel to push that energy through a punch. And for a moment, the thought entices him.

He shakes his head a bit.

"Hey, idiot. Get back here."

Outside Tibet's Temple, 1988

It's almost sunset as Joseph sits exhausted in the snow. At Jotaro's direction, he had been trying to dig up where one of the tents was prior to the avalanche. But it seems at this point that the tent and contents thereof are probably a few miles down the mountainside. Even the river thousands of feet below them looks to have a hill's worth of snow and stone blocking it.

"Jotaro, I don't think it's in here. I think 4 hours of digging by hand is enough."

"Tch." Jotaro seems to clench his teeth and look towards the cliffside where he had launched Miller.

I know, I know, you wanna be sure. A couple hours to dig us out, and more than enough digging this lump of snow up should suffice, though…

"Hey, he's probably dead, y'know. I mean, I'd be dead."

"I hope he's not."

"I mean you hit him like you wanted him dead…"

"Stand users don't die so easily. Better Stand users than you can use their Stands as shields inside their body."

"So…"

"He's probably alive, though by how much in that avalanche…I'm not sure."

"Hm…"

"I don't feel right not knowing if we took care of him."

"And what would a picture show me, huh?" Jotaro just glares off the cliffside, shivering a little less than he was earlier today.

I mean, it seems like any electric thingie could work. If only I had a radi-hold on!

"Jotaro, you genius kid, you!"

"…What?"

"We had the tools to find out all along! You're a good gift giver, huh?"

"What are you blabbering about?

"The tape player! Come in close!" Joseph produces the tape player from his pockets, and the somewhat beat up headphones as well. He pulls on the edge of the band to expand the headphones large enough for both of them, and grins as he points to the extra space beside his head as he dons them.

"Jiji…"

"C'mon! He might say something in Japanese!"

"Fine…" Jotaro squeezes his head in so that the headphones go over Joseph's right ear and Jotaro's left. The pressure on both of their ears hurt a bit, but Joseph almost chuckles at his bright idea instead of giving away any sign of discomfort. "Hey, hurry up, idiot."

"Here goes, let's listen in on Miller…" Joseph extends the purple vine from his hand into the tape player. Dead noise starts to play and persists for about ten seconds. "Hm…not looking good…"

And then, in a crackling, muffled voice, Joseph can hear what sounds like an old woman's voice through the headphones.

"Ohohoho…I see you, too, have been wronged by the Joestar bloodline. Master DIO has a use for you…"

Joseph squints hard at nothing, then speaks up as the sound fades away.

"Miller's voice sounds a bit different than I remember." Jotaro takes off the headphones and smacks Joseph on the back of the head. "Hey, hey, I was kidding!"

"Looks like DIO got an ally out of the deal."

"That's not so bad."

"What's 'not so bad' about letting DIO have another Stand user to help him?"

"It means I have even more reason to help you track this bastard down, besides the obvious one!"

Jotaro simply sighs in frustration, and begins to walk down towards the avalanche covered mountain path. Grinning, Joseph tags behind him.

Don't worry about me so much. Getting back home isn't my goal right now…helping my wonderful grandson and saving my daughter is.

He looks down at the tape player in his hands and smiles.

1988 isn't so bad either. And…I lived a happy, peaceful life right? I can have a few more adventures…Now where was I with this one…

The music starts up in the headphones as he adjusts them back to their normal width. A relaxed electric guitar starts up, and the vocalist starts singing.

"Let the good times roll…let them knock you around…let the good times roll…let them make you a clown…"

Man, I wish the real Kars was this relaxed…

He pictures the flowing hair, half-bird man jamming out on a guitar as he soars off into space.

That'd be awesome…

END OF CHAPTER 15