"This is the best restaurant in town?" Johan asked skeptically. As a reward for giving Hopediah "the thrill of a lifetime so far", the old frog wanted to give him a treat at Stumpy's Diner. So far, he found the experience to be rather unpleasant. The restaurant was carved from a log and had a worn down roof and broken windows. The interior was even worse. Moss dangled from the ceiling rafters, there was a smell lingering in the air that reminded Johan of somebody's sweaty armpit on a hot summer day, the bar had mushrooms growing on it and there was smoke coming from the kitchen window.

"This is the best seat in the house," Hopediah said as he escorted Johan to one of the seats.

Johan sat down and felt something squish. He looked down and gagged at the sight of mold. "When was the last time the health inspector came?"

"Once. Three months ago. We haven't really heard from him since."

Non riesco a immaginare perché.

Stumpy, the owner of the diner, came out of the kitchen. He was a fat green frog with two hooks for hands and a peg leg. He wore a dirty white chef's hat and smock and had a cricket leg sticking out of his mouth. He spoke in a gruff voice as he handed them their waters, "Welcome to Stumpy's Diner, home of the..." He paused when he saw Johan and Hopediah. "Oh, you're that JoJo kid."

"Yes, sir. I hear this place is the best eatery in town." Anche se dall'aspetto di questo posto, potrebbero essere esagerati.

"You're too kind," Stumpy said. "What'll it be, Hopediah?"

"The usual," the old frog said.

"And what about you, JoJo?"

"Uh... I'll have what he's having."

"Suit yourself."

As Stumpy walked back into the kitchen, Johan said, "I noticed this place is a bit understaffed, Mr. Plantar. Doesn't anybody else work here?"

"This place has always been a family run restaurant," Hopediah responded. "Though Stumpy hasn't seen his family in a while now."

When Johan heard that, he took out his wallet and unfolded the photos. "I know how that feels. I wonder how PapĂ  is doing right now?"

"Is that him?" Hopediah pointed to the young man with blonde hair.

"Yep. He's the head of a family business of his own."

"What's the business?"

"Oh, investments. Sanitation, eateries, music, car companies, hotels, construction..." Spaccio di armi, prostituzione, contrabbando, contraffazione e rapina.

"That sounds a bit much."

"We're what you call a huge organization with multiple employees. Our company name is Passione, which means 'Passion'."

Hopediah gave him a suspicious look. Then he looked at the photos again. "Who's that?"

Johan glared at the photo of the man who looked an awful lot like his father. On the frame was a single word, DIO. "Damn. I forgot to get rid of that." He answered the frog's question, "He was my grandfather. We don't like to talk about him."

"Why not?"

"He was a monster. Let's leave it at that."

Hopediah decided not to press the subject further. "Uh, so... How's the business with Blue Oyster Cult?"

"Well, according to the Sheriff, they're still delivering Blue Pearls despite the fact that we destroyed the farm, the labs and killed that has-been musician. I've sent Ram Bamboo to ask around for intel."

"You sure that's a good idea? Wouldn't BOC try to kill her?"

"She's still got friends in the thieving ring. They won't betray her. I hope."

"So, there's been something that's been on my mind. After this BOC stuff is over, what will you do then?"

Johan looked down at his photos in thought. "Well, I'm going to keep looking for my friends here and pray that at least one of them still has that cursed music box that brought us here. After that, we'll find a way to get back home. In the mean time, I guess I could still work in the tea shop. It's the only way to make money right now."

At that moment, Stumpy returned with two plates with what looked like two blue basketballs. "Your appetizers. Hot, crispy pill bugs with extra salt." He sprinkled the salt on the bugs. "Mazel tov."

Johan sniffed his dinner. Hopediah opened his bug and smelled it with delight. "Oh boy!" He took out a straw made from bamboo and began slurping its insides. Johan's right eye twitched at the sight of it. Then he almost gagged. "Oh, here! Let me get that for you." Hopediah opened his bug and he dry heaved.

Tienilo insieme, Johan! Hai mangiato anguille vive a Venezia, puoi mangiare questo! Johan took the straw and began to slurp down the bug's innards. He struggled hard with his gag reflex just to swallow it. Then he swallowed another mouthful. Then he realized, "It's actually not that bad."

"Your dinner," Stumpy said.

It was a large bowl of steaming, mashed up caterpillars in a soup. The sight of it alone made Johan want to cough up his appetizer.

"Goliath worm stew!" Hopediah said with excitement. "I thought these were hard to come by!"

"Well, thanks to JoJo stopping Ram Bamboo's highwayman operation with BOC, we've been getting more ingredients."

Johan smirked. "I'm glad I did something to help this place out." Ora se solo potessi migliorare questo posto. An idea hit him like a baseball to the face. No, he felt something else. His head was hurting bad. "Stumpy, something's not right."

"I feel weird too," complained Hopediah. "And not in the usual way when I come here."

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that," said Stumpy. "I caught some weird guy messing around in the kitchen, but he didn't seem to take anything so I didn't bother."

Dannazione, sono stato avvelenato! Zio Mista mi avrebbe ammonito per essere caduto in una trappola ovvia.

"Wakey, wakey..."

"Oh, sono tornato di nuovo in questa situazione," Johan giggled as he awoke. "Where am I?" He could hear the sound of a wagon's wheels rattling and he felt like he was sitting on something wood. A log maybe? As he slowly regained his senses, he saw the interior had a blue shell design to it. Sitting in front of him was a salamander wearing a white suit with a blue shell on it.

"You are sitting with your betters, my friend. I wanted to see the face of this JoJo I've been hearing so much about. You are a peculiar creature, I'll give you that. What are you?"

"Who the fuck are you?" Johan mumbled. Whatever was in that food he ate was making him delirious.

"I'm the man whose property you stole and destroyed."

"Oops," Johan giggled.

"You need not dwell on your mistakes. You won't live to learn from them."

"That so?"

"I'm afraid it is," said a fat toad.

"Who the fuck are you?"

"They call me Mr. Bufo."

Johan just burst out laughing. "Well, listen, Buffalo! I don't care how fucked up your face is, I'm not scared of you or that other stronzo!"

"What's a stronzo?"

"Gentlemen, I'm through meeting my 'adversary'," the salamander said. "Please dispose of this trash."

"Yes, Mr. Samandarin," said a newt sitting next to Johan, who just laughed.

Johan laughed. "Did you hear that? That guy is named Salmonella... SHIT!" When the newt pulled a knife out, Johan grabbed him and forced themselves out the wagon. Johan got up from the ground and looked around. He was in some kind of forest. "This is a bad time to be fucked up..." A chittering sound made him turn around slowly and his eyes widened at the sight of a giant flower mantis. "A really bad time..."

"Hop Pop! Hop Pop! Wake up!"

"Stand aside. POLLY POWER DIVE!"

The feeling of something pounding into his gut instantly snapped Hopediah out of his stupor and he babbled, "Kazza gorba smotz chorzig glump! Froga! Froga!"

"He's speaking tongues! Sprig, get the sacred water!"

"I'm not possessed," Hop Pop yelled as he shoved Polly off him. "I'm just feeling a little woozy."

"Easy, Hop Pop," Sprig said as he helped the old frog keep balance.

"Whatever was in that soup had a lot of more kink in it than usual. Wait. Where's JoJo?"

"We don't know. We didn't see him."

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion outside. Felicia ran into the house and slammed the door behind her. "Where's JoJo?!"

"We were just talking about him," said Sprig.

"What's going on?" asked Hop Pop.

"It's BOC! They're in Wartwood! They want the ones who destroyed the shipments of blue pearls!"

Hop Pop groaned and face palmed. "I knew something like this would happen. Where are they?"

"Outside."

The older frog nodded. "Kids, hide in the cellar."

"What?! Hop Pop, we want to help," insisted Polly.

"Hmm!" Hop Pop grunted and pointed to the cellar door.

"Aww..." The kids whined as they went downstairs.

"Hopediah," said Felicia. "It's just me, the Sheriff and Ram Bamboo against at least twenty BOC and you're not a Stand user."

"Pbbth, I got something just as good."

They ran outside to see Leatherleaf and Ram Bamboo taking cover behind a rock while the members of Blue Oyster Cult open fired on them. Leatherleaf locked on his targets and used Good Bad Ugly to hit three of the gangsters before they returned to him. Ram Bamboo used Green Onions to create balls of gas that ignited when it threw them at the gangsters.

"What did we miss," Felicia asked as she and Hopediah joined the others. A bullet wizzed by her head so she summoned The Rose and it grew roots deep underground to grab the gangsters and throw them over the forest.

"Well, we got a bunch of BOC members pining us down and we're fighting them off with Stands and JoJo is missing," said Ram Bamboo. "Other than that, we're doing fine so far. It's like these guys forgot we're Stand users. Then again, it's not like they can see Stands."

"Not all of us," said Hopediah.

"You know that's a good point," said Leatherleaf. "Why are you here?"

"To put these sons of pond gack in their place. Watch." Hopediah stepped out from his cover.

"Hopediah Plantar, what are you doing?!"

"Easy shot," one of the gangsters shouted and they all fired at once at the older frog. But he stood where he was and breathed deep. An aura pulsed around them and gave the bullets a flick, sending the bullets flying back at the gangsters who fired them.

Ram Bamboo balked. "What was that? That wasn't a Stand, I could see it!"

"Heh, heh, well I'll be. I've never seen that in many years," Leatherleaf chuckled. "That's not Stand energy. It's an old Amphibia technique we call Ripples. It's a breathing technique that makes you harness the power of the sun. It fell out of favor once Stands became a thing."

"Wow, he really is old school."

"Hey, Ripple Effect is still hip as the kids say!"

"No we don't."

"Little whippersnapper..."

"Anyway, we managed to chase away the gangsters," said Felicia. "But we still don't know what happened to JoJo."

The sound of grunting made the group turn their heads to the right. And what they saw shocked them. It was Johan, dragging a large flower mantis behind him. He made a dopey smile as he said, "You have no idea what I've been through today. And look! I got us dinner!" And then he passed out.

"How are you feeling?" asked Felicia as she handed Johan his tea. He was lying on the Sundews' couch with a warm hot water bottle on his head.

"Like I got hit on the head repeatedly with a big stick. And my throat feels very dry. Thanks for the tea, by the way." He sipped his drink. "Well, this was one heck of a day."

"I knew something like this was going to happen," said Sylvia disapprovingly. "You brought those gangsters to Wartwood when you started a fight with BOC!"

JoJo groaned. "Not so loud. You're making my headache worse."

"So, what are we going to do?" asked Felicia. "They know you're here now."

JoJo sipped his tea again. "We stick with our goal. Destroy the last of the shipments of blue pearls and kill Bufo and Samandarin. There is another problem, though." The frogs tensed hearing that. "It's the angry customers that are going to come after us when they find out their precious blue pearls are gone. We need to make a product that we can sell to them that isn't as addictive as blue pearl, but soothing enough to keep them off our backs."

"One problem at a time," said Leatherleaf. "We need to destroy the last shipment first. But we don't know where it's coming and when."

At that moment, Ram Bamboo entered the room. "Well, I just got done interrogating what's left of those BOC members. Apparently, the shipment's coming in by boat at the river. We have to hurry. It'll be here in ten minutes."

"Well, shit, that was convenient," said Johan. "You guys can take care of that, right?"

"What?! Why us?"

Johan gestured to himself. "Look at me. I'm suffering from probably one of the worst hangovers in my life and I don't even drink! My mind's not focused enough to fight right now. Leatherleaf, Felicia, Ram Bamboo, you take care of the shipment. I'm just gonna stay here and try to sleep off this hangover. Then we'll focus on Bufo and Samandarin. Oh. That reminds me. Bring at least one of them alive to me. I want to interrogate him about their whereabouts."

The three frogs hid at the docks, waiting for the boat to arrive. "I thought you said ten minutes," said Leatherleaf.

"They should be here," insisted Ram Bamboo. "I know that pond gack wasn't lying. Wait. Listen." They heard it. The sound of a paddle boat coming. "Here they come, get ready Mrs. Sundew!"

As the boat got closer, Felicia summoned her Stand. The Rose threw seeds into the water and three giant lily pads burst up and flung the boat out of the water and onto land. The crew on the boat jumped out and started firing at the trio. "Green Onions!" Ram Bamboo's Stand appeared and sprayed an explosive gas at the boat.

"Good Bad Ugly!" Leatherleaf's Stand fired at the boat, creating a tremendous explosion that killed all but one of the BOC members. "Come here, you!"

Blood splattered the floor as Johan beat up the frog. "Where's Bufo?"

"What does it matter? You're gonna kill me anyway."

Johan walked over to the desk and pulled out a ball-headed club with a spike on it. "I'm in no rush," he said before he slammed the club into the frog's thigh. And because he was using DARE to amplify the sense of touch, the pain skyrocketed.

"YAAAAHHHH! Okay, I'll tell! He hangs around a shack in the forest."

Johan grabbed a map and handed him a pen. "You mark the spot and if I find out you're lying, I will come back and kill you."

"I'm not lying, I swear!"

Johan untied him and threw him out of the sheriff's office. "Get out of here before I change my mind."

Bufo waited next to a large mushroom when a snail-driven wagon pulled up in front of him. Samandarin hopped out and approached him with an ice pick. "You know why I am here."

"Of course."

Samandarin grabbed his head and stabbed the ice pick into his ear. Blood began to pour out. "I took no pleasure in this, my friend, but a price had to be paid for failure."

"Do not worry. I only need one ear to hear the whispers of the olms."

Samandarin put a hand on his shoulder. "I know you will make this right."