Walking through the now quiet airport, All alone
With gentle steps, Kakyoin solemnly walks through by the airport gates, one by one. Even as light as his stride is, the sounds of footsteps echo throughout the open airport. A stench of death wafted in through the window seams, the large glass panes revealing a clear, starry night.
Monsters…they're all monsters…
He turns to walk through one gate in particular. His hand traces the wall absentmindedly as he walks past a counter and into the jetway. Only a few steps in he finds what he was searching for. A collapsed body of an old woman lies facedown on the carpeted floor, her walking stick flung across the room.
Hm? I didn't think Hamon would-
Kneeling down, Kakyoin turns the body over. The old hag's face is contorted and frozen in pain, hands already stiff and locked as if grasping for something. A trickle of thin blood escapes the corner of her lip and dribbles to the edges of her outfit.
Dead? It should have just stunned her, from what Mr. Joestar explained…unless she was a vampire. Or…no, surely-?
With a trembling hand, he lifts the bandanna-like head covering that obscured her hairline. Underneath, the sight chilled Kakyoin to the bone. A hole, as if something small had been implanted there, then violently burned out. A flesh bud, presumably. Something Kakyoin shudders at the thought of.
So the Hamon pulsed through her via her Stand…and the flesh bud was so entangled that it destroyed her brain…
The twinkling starlight from the open end of the jetway and the wide windows of the airport gate flank Kakyoin in the darkness. He stands up, stumbling a bit as he retreats back to the airport.
That…that could have been me…
His footsteps fumble in the still dim jetway until he reaches the openness of the airport gate. He leans against the attendant's counter, hand clutching his forehead. His thumb circles a spot in the center of his hairline, barely healed at this point. An awful mix of scents swirl in his nostrils: the stomach curling aroma of burned flesh and jet fuel, along with the slightly sweet smell of dead bodies. The death reminded Kakyoin of back home. Fallen pears rotting in the summer sun around his family's house.
Such a vile person did this…
He gulps as his thoughts process.
I could have done this…I did do something like this. Those students, that nurse…Jotaro.
The corner of his mouth tightens as his eyes glaze over.
This…this could have been me. Hierophant Green, with its strings…
Manifesting before him, Hierophant Green simply hovers in front of the red-haired student. A reflection of self, perhaps; a glimpse in a mirror to ground oneself. Kakyoin looks into the slotted eyes of his Stand as he thinks.
The monster behind it all…DIO. He must be stopped. All of this senseless death…
A flash of a smile appears in Kakyoin's thoughts. Piercing eyes, one of the last things he saw before a time of servitude. Clouded thoughts, twisted values…all tied to that alluring smile he saw so long ago.
That vile creature…like the shine on a knife, the rush of bloodflow in your hands before a punch, the gleam of a coin left in front of you… if his influence led someone like me to gouge a man's eye out and attack a stranger… what would it do to someone truly evil and debased? Is this the limit of his cruelty or… could something more horrific come to light…
Waves of nausea rock Kakyoin to his feet, wobbling as he stands. But the arms of his Stand catch him and right him, the quickened pulse in his chest calming as he stands.
"Thank you, Hierophant Green…the one true friend who could understand me." Looking out the window, he sees Joseph Joestar and the other man from earlier attending to his companions, still unconscious and injured.
"Until now. Please be alright everyone. You're the closest family I've ever had." He turns, walking back to the ground floor as he mumbles a bit more. "You saved me from becoming this. Hopefully I saved you from succumbing to it…"
Jinnah International Airport, 1988
"So, uh, that was Kakyoin."
"Yeah. I guess he's tracking down the old woman. Better for us to question her, find out more about DIO's scheming." The older Joseph breathes, trying to heal up his friends as much as he can. Sadly, the gaping circular wounds across their bodies are stubborn, as if the flesh had been carved cleaned away. The younger Joseph also tries to heal up Anne and Jotaro, but the most he's accomplished is healing the bruises from those green stones.
Damn, knocked even Jotaro out with those. Seems like anyone hit dead on would be torn up...what a scary guy, that Kakyoin. His range must be incredible…
The younger Joseph stands up, stretching, having done all he could do. He takes a few steps forward towards his older self, but notices a certain blond cowboy slowly and not so subtly inching away on the ground.
"Your form is terrible Hol Horse. You have to sense when people are looking at you before you try and skulk away while playing dead."
"You know this guy?" The older Joseph turns, face entirely nonplussed as he looks at the pitiful cowboy on the ground. Hol Horse himself rolls over with an embarrassed yet frightened look, scratching his cheek lightly with his pointer finger.
"Uh, howdy."
"Yeah yeah. So it looks like you decided to follow up on my job offer."
"Jojo. Explain." The older Joseph rises to his feet, eyeing both of them suspiciously.
"Well, since you asked, my decrepit older counterpart, I guess I could explain. You see, this man is a very terrible assassin."
"Uh huh…" Hermit Purple begins to wind itself around the older Joseph's arm, crackling with Hamon. Hol Horse, meanwhile, gulps loudly as some sweat starts to pour from his temples.
"In that he helped me deal with another assassin, twice! Two different assassins, actually."
"Is this true, Mr. Hol?"
"Uh, just Hol Horse, please…Kakyoin kept calling me Mr. Horse, which uh, not an ideal thing." The cowboy stutters and stammers a bit as he sits up with one knee bent.
"Fine. Is this true, Hol Horse?"
"Uh…yeah. I guess." Hol Horse looks away a bit, as if embarrassed by the truth of the situation.
Suddenly, from behind them, Kakyoin appears and shouts in the distance.
"Oi, Mr. Joestar. I'm glad you're okay." As he approaches, he raises his eyebrows at both the younger Joseph and Hol Horse. "You two know each other?"
"Ugh…" The older Joseph sighs as looks at everyone around him. "I'm going to have to explain this again for Polnareff, but-"
Time passes…
"Then he nearly crashed another plane-"
Time passes…
"He taught Anne Hamon, for some reason…" As the older Joseph mentions this, Hol Horse sweats just a little bit more.
Time passes…
Kakyoin presses the middle knuckle of his index finger directly under his lip, in thought. He glances at the two new faces, then finally speaks.
"So you're the younger version of Mr. Joestar, dragged here by a Stand. You've been helping Jotaro on our journey to track down DIO, and this former assassin inexplicably keeps helping you. This time being the third time total."
Wait, didn't he hear about all the cool things I did? And THAT's what stuck with him?
The younger Joseph folds his arms behind his head and grins as he speaks.
"Yeah…basically. More or less. I mean, I did do some-"
"And you, Hol Horse." Kakyoin turns towards to face the still sitting and sweating Hol Horse.
"Yes?"
"I have a question for you." Both Joseph's squint their eyes, wondering what was going through Kakyoin's head.
"…Yes?"
"Did you also have a flesh bud in you?"
"Uh…"
"It would make sense. The sudden change of heart. And if Jotaro and Joseph were there, they could have extracted it. You seem rather absent-minded, Joseph. Perhaps you didn't know what you were dealing with?" Kakyoin asks inquisitively, looking at the both of Hol Horse and younger Joseph.
"I don't-" The younger Joseph speaks up, but Hol Horse quickly rises to his feet, hugs Joseph, and uses a finger to shush him.
"YES. THAT is exactly what happened."
"When did-" The younger Joseph attempts to speak, and is once again shushed.
"BUT! I had to keep a low profile so that hag wouldn't get me!"
"Was it when-" He struggles again, but Hol Horse makes one last shout.
"AND THAT'S where you found me, Kakyoin. She finally caught me."
"Hm." Kakyoin carefully considers the story, before turning to the younger Joseph. "Is this true?"
"I guess. It must have been right after I threw him out of the top floor window of that hotel…"
"YEP! Sure is." Hol Horse is practically shouting through gritted teeth, sweat pouring from his head as he glares at the younger Joseph.
That didn't happen, huh. Well, might as well play along!
"Oh yeah! I wondered what that weird thing was, so I yanked it out with my…uh…" The younger Joseph nudges Hol Horse with his elbow, who shouts in response.
"METAL HAND."
"Yeah, my metal hand. So…"
"SO it wouldn't burrow into you!"
"Yeah, so it wouldn't burrow into me. So I pulled it out of…"
"MY FOREHEAD."
"His forehead. And I Hamon chopped it!" Both the older Joseph and Kakyoin nod sagely as if this, as if imagining the sight perfectly in their heads.
"Yeah! No Jotaro involved! Or that kid! So they wouldn't know…"
"Strange," The older Joseph speaks up, "I thought only Jotaro would be precise enough to rip out a flesh bud…but it seems I was overestimating DIO."
"Indeed, Mr. Joestar. But," Kakyoin continues while extending a hand out to Hol Horse, "I, too, have been in thrall to DIO. And for you to protect our friends while keeping a low profile, I must commend you. Thank you, Hol Horse. You might have saved us all."
The younger Joseph can hear an audible gulp as Hol Horse hesitates a bit, before eventually meeting Kakyoin's handshake.
"One thing, now, Kakyoin." Hol Horse shudders a bit as he speaks.
"Yes?" Kakyoin narrows his eyes as he meets Hol Horse's gaze.
"Don't, uh, don't ever do that thing with your Stand again. It won't pleasant."
"No promises." Kakyoin chuckles as he breaks the handshake, his eyes turning to their downed comrades. "Let's get these folks to a proper hospital. We may need time to recuperate from all this…"
"It seems that way…" The older Joseph sighs, a weary and pained look in his eyes as the younger Joseph notices his older self's focus: Jotaro's unconscious body. "We can get some information from Hol Horse after we rest. Kakyoin, did you-"
"Dead. In the jetway."
"Hmph…I'll tell Speedwagon to hold her body for examination. Perhaps we can unravel more of this mystery before we proceed further." The older Joseph kneels down as he speaks, finally picking up Jotaro and slinging him over his shoulder as he finishes. "The rest of you, grab someone."
With a flash, the younger Joseph scoops up Polnareff and hoists him over his shoulder, while Kakyoin uses Hierophant Green to lift and carry Avdol. Hol Horse, a bit confused, finally snaps to attention and looks at the last person left. The younger Joseph can see him shudder a bit, as if in fear, before he gingerly lifts the unconscious Anne and gently carries her like a baby. A baby he seems to be very afraid to drop.
"She's tough, Hol Horse. A little fall won't kill her."
"I am fully aware." Hol Horse grits his teeth as he tries to walk as gently as possible.
"Well, either way, hurry up." The younger Joseph waves with one hand behind him as he practically jogs with Polnareff on his shoulder.
In response, Hol Horse whispers, almost inaudibly…
"This little hellion will gut me like a pig if she figures out I even so much as scratched her…"
END of CONVERGENCE 7