1988, 40 Days to save Holly

Joseph's eyes jerk between the rolling waves in front of him, the battery meter by the wheel, and the compass in his right hand.

Hm. We should be okay by morning. The motor will be running hot all the way there though…

Gripping the wheel, Joseph silently curses at himself for overlooking a detail. The water of the Indian Ocean is particularly warm this time of year, even at night. Twenty four hours of running might have worked without a hitch in the cold Atlantic waters, but-

"Mr. Joestar, another 4 hours until sunrise."

"Thank you, Kakyoin."

We may have to stop when sunrise comes…and who knows where the current will take us. I don't want any more delays to reaching Jotaro but we may not have a choice.

Looking behind the captain's area and at his passengers, Joseph sees Polnareff failing to fight off sleep. The silver haired Frenchman's head bobs up and down as his eyes fail to stop themselves from closing. Looking over at Avdol, Joseph can see the exhaustion in the man's face. He had been keeping up his Life-Sensing Compass Rose for at least 7 hours now.

"Oi, Polnareff, hurry up and take your nap now."

"Mr. Joestar, I don't think he needed permission…" As Kakyoin responds, Joseph hears some accompanying Polnareff-sounding snores.

"Hm…"

When are they going to attack…

Time passes…

"Kakyoin." Joseph says in dead seriousness. "Time 'til sunrise."

"2 hours, Mr. Joestar."

"Avdol, anything on the Compass?"

"Mr. Joestar…I think he passed out. The reading was from right on top of us before he passed out, though…"

"Damn…"

"What's the-" Kakyoin goes silent as he approaches the front of the boat. They both look ahead as their boat speeds forward.

How in the hell…

An intense heat wave hits the boat as it crests another wave. In front of them, a massive ball of heat and light hovers over the ocean, as if the sun itself had dropped itself east of India. Joseph checks the compass and, sure enough, they're still heading due north.

"They picked their time to attack, Kakyoin."

"I've been looking at the map, there's no islands nearby."

"Then they must be hiding somewhere in the water like Deep Blue Moon."

"Couldn't they be on a boat?"

"Not with this heat. They'd be stranded-" A loud popping noise crackles out from the rear of the boat. "-just like us. The heat threw our motor out. We'll have to defeat this foe before we can keep moving."

"I suppose at a time like this, Jotaro would say 'yare yare daze'."

"I suppose so, Kakyoin. Let's hurry this up. I want to hear it from my grandson next time."

?

"Lali-ho!" Another scythe swing. Polnareff tucks and rolls to avoid it, but gets caught on his left calf.

Shit. I can't keep doing this all night. How did I not remember this clown fuck when I woke up?

"Oh, Polnareff. I think I just put a stop to all your running." The clown-faced specter floats menacingly towards Polnareff, who has found himself with his back against a large Ferris Wheel.

"If you're the baby…" Polnareff wracks his brain to stall his assailant, "Then how the hell did you get on the boat?"

"Trying to stall?" Polnareff grits his teeth and tries to stand on his other leg, arms hoisting himself up with the frame of the wheel behind him. "No matter. My partner is handling the rest of your sad, pathetic group."

"What?"

"While Mr. Joestar is kept busy, I can pick off each of you before you can get to shore." The clown laughs boisterously, before swinging its scythe again, scraping up sparks against the frame as Polnareff ducks the blow.

"How-" Polnareff scrambles over as his cut leg gives out, now desperately crawling away.

"Polnareff, you thought that idiot woman took me away? Learn to check your bags, you dunce!" Polnareff drags himself further, cursing himself silently.

Damn, he fooled us. But wait, Avdol was-

"Don't worry, I'll kill you now. I'm tired of playing with you. Avdol should be next, I can't wait to carve up that bastard for kicking me." Death 13 raises its scythe once more, ready to strike. Polnareff's crawling has slowed, blood running from his leg. He closes his eyes, anticipating a sharp blow to his back.

"Hey, you funhouse disaster!" Polnareff pauses as he recognizes the voice. "If you're looking for someone to fight, come at me."

"Av-"

"AVDOL!" Death 13 practically spins on its non-existent heels as it hears Avdol's voice. Avdol stands proudly about 30 feet away, hands on his hips as he grimaces at the Stand.

"Yes, I am." Avdol clicks his tongue as he speaks, then winks at Polnareff, who had turned to see his friend. Before he speaks, he clambers onto his good leg and raises a hand-

"Avdol, how-"

"You, you idiot!" Death 13 just looks in rage at Avdol. "You think you can save your friend? I'll kill him now, then see the blood drain from your face!" The specter lifts its scythe high, then swings it down while turning.

"Thank you, Avdol." Polnareff shouts as he scrambles into the seat of one of the Ferris Wheel cars.

"What the-" The scythe collides with the concrete below while Polnareff flips off the clown-faced Stand.

"Keep your eye on the prize, you stupid baby." Now almost a quarter of the way through the cycle, Polnareff shouts down to Avdol. "Do you have a way out of this?"

"Of course, Polnareff. I don't think I could ever be beaten by a mere child."

"Just a child, huh?" The Stand floats in place as it looks at Avdol with pitch black eyes. "Underestimating me will be your death! I'll kill you both before the others can wake you!" Avdol doesn't move, simply standing in place.

"Try me."

On a speedboat in the middle of the Indian Ocean, staring down The Sun with Mr. Joestar

Kakyoin squints in the face of the massive ball of fire. Something with this much power means that the user should be fairly close. Yet there's only open sea around them. Their unconscious friends seem to twitch in their sleep, what Kakyoin can only asleep is pain at the stifling heat.

We can't last long in this heat…we have to end this.

"Hierophant Green!" Kakyoin's faithful Stand appears before him, before slithering off into the water around the boat. A few burns manifest on his arms, but thankfully the pain is temporary. "Mr. Joestar, be careful around the water. It's at scalding temperature."

"Noted." Joseph mumbles as he scratches his chin. "Kakyoin, I think I figured out where to find our attacker."

"In the sea?"

"Yes, in the sea." Joseph grumbles a bit, the heat getting to him slightly. "Smartass. He's under the water a good ways. Either he's rich enough for a submarine or…"

"A snorkel."

"Really, Kakyoin? You think DIO's henchman would be so unprepared they'd bring a snork-" Kakyoin wags his finger, then points about 30 feet away from the boat behind them. Sure enough, there's a top of a snorkel tube slowly bubbling and bending with the hot water above it.

"I'm not sure our attacker expected us to go by sea."

"Hm."

"Mr. Joestar, I have a slight suggestion."

"Yes?"

"Target practice." Kakyoin chuckles a bit, which causes Joseph to bust out in laughter. Kakyoin then raises his hand, as does Hierophant from beneath the water. Closing his eyes, he can see the somewhat portly enemy Stand user, desperately paddling with flippered feet. The man had noticed Hierophant.

"Emerald Splash!" A rush of liquid forms between Hierophant's hands, causing a spray of gems to rush out and bombard the large man all across his body. A few streaks of blood float away from his mouth as he twitches in pain. He seems to go limp a bit, before floating to the surface.

"Nice shot, Kakyoin!" Joseph slaps Kakyoin on the back while laughing, while The Sun behind them fades. The unconscious man seems to wake up immediately on touching the scalding surface of the ocean, and begins to madly paddle his way in the opposite direction of the boat. Soon, the rolling waves topple him in the distance and the man is out of sight.

"I feel like he defeated himself…" Kakyoin muses as Hierophant comes aboard holding a rope. The Stand chops it off, seemingly attached to the rudder of the boat. Joseph comes up and holds the length of rope before tossing overboard.

"Ah, so that's how he tracked us. What a cheap trick. You're right, I guess taking a speedboat across the ocean wasn't something they anticipated!" Joseph starts to laugh once more, but quiets down after looking at his sleeping companions.

"You're right, Mr. Joestar. We should let them rest. Who knows when Death could attack?"

?

"Is that all you have?" Avdol jumps back as another scythe swing crashes down where he stood.

"You can't even summon your Stand here, you have no way of harming me!" The clown once again goes to swing, but freezes in place.

It was a lucky guess, but-

"Magician's Red!" Avdol's Stand springs from his chest, flames licking the dream bricks below him.

"How?"

"Must be pretty cramped in that bag or you must be as dim as I thought." Avdol grins as he points at Death 13. "Now, are you prepared for the main course?" The clown-faced specter shivers in the air.

Clearly this thing hasn't experienced a real fight yet. Just a lowly assassin.

"You…don't take me for a dimwit!" Death 13 rushes at Magician's Red, but gets bombarded by lashes of flames. The fiery bird whips its arms out wildly towards the enemy, lighting popcorn carts, tents, and stands on fire as the foe tries to dodge in vain.

"Go, Avdol! Take that freak down!" Polnareff yells from the top of the Ferris Wheel. Death 13 cranes its head around to scowl at the man, but only gets cold cocked in the back of the head by the approaching Magician's Red.

"What, Death? Aren't I too much for you already?" Avdol clicks his tongue again, "I'm sure even Polnareff could defeat you."

"Why you-"

"Too slow! Crossfire Hurricane!" An ankh-shaped fiery blast slams directly into Death 13, knocking it back and causing it to writhe in pain.

"Aaagh!"

"What's that? No 'Lali-ho'?" Polnareff laughs as he dances in the Ferris Wheel car. Avdol goes to retort, but finds the world around him distorting and shouting overtakes his ears.

Indian Ocean, 3808 Miles from Cairo

"Oi, Avdol, wake up!"

"Avdol, below you!" Avdol rubs his eyes and opens them, feeling a heat behind his calves. He looks down to see that Polnareff's bag is on fire.

"Polnareff, wake up." With a solid kick to the shin, Polnareff springs awake and draws Chariot, only to look at Avdol with frustration.

"Why the hell did yo-"

"Your bag, Polnareff." With a slight tilt of his head, Polnareff notices his rucksack has a bit of fire on it.

"Oi, get out of the way Avdol! Why did you do that!" He scoops up his bag and slaps it onto the water off the side of the boat, trying to douse the flame.

"Careful, Polnareff." Avdol smiles and stretches as he speaks, only to hear a shriek from Polnareff.

"Aagh what the hell, why's the water so hot!" He tries to wipe off his face after some water had splashed him, only to drop his bag in the water. It drifts off into the waters behind them.

"Sorry, Polnareff…" Kakyoin pats the man on the back. "We just got the motor fixed before you two woke up. Suddenly your bag caught on fire, I should've just kicked it out."

"No worries, Kakyoin. I'll buy you some new clothes myself, Polnareff." Avdol guffaws and slaps his leg, only for Polnareff to look at him with deadpan eyes.

"This was just a prank, wasn't it, Avdol? I was having a good dream, too."

"I as well, friend. And no, Polnareff. No prank, just me being friendly."

"I'm not sure I like this friendly Avdol…"

"Oi, one of you get up here and steer. Kakyoin and I need some sleep, too. We have a long ways to Calcutta. Who knows when Death will attack us. We defeated Sun while you slept."

"I'll steer, Mr. Joestar. All three of you can sleep. I feel we shall have a rather peaceful journey until we arrive." Kakyoin goes to interject, but Joseph suddenly laughs to drown him out.

"As you say, Avdol. I trust you figured something out."

"That I did, Mr. Joestar. Take your nap and I'll tell you about it later."

"Man…" Polnareff grumbles, "My bag had my snacks in it…"

END of INTERLUDE 8