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The following is a fan-based

FICTION

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Chapter 15 - A Most Bizarre Memory (P1)

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Using the train to get to HeyLr City was infuriating. These old things were not meant for safe interdimensional trips, especially when they were so prone to cause accidents relating to black holes.

Mandy was not shy from making her displeasure known, but Grim was relatively dull through these interactions. He was distracted, curious, and Mandy couldn't blame him as she too had her mind set at a specific aspect of such a meeting. Still, it was going to take a while for the session to begin. And there were plenty of disgusting things to deal with.

Surprisingly enough, or maybe not, HIM had decided to dodge an early confrontation, holing HIMself in HIS hotel room until it was time to 'shine'. A clear sign HE was aware that any direct interaction this early on would end up poorly on HIS side.

Aku wasn't of this mindset. Already in his female form, the bastard looked smug and coy around them both. "Oh Grim, it's been a while. Would you fancy a visit to the bar?"

An elbow to the ribs stopped Grim, especially when said attack busted one of the bones in the process.

"I am afraid I am busy with da wife."

"Fair, fair... and Mandy?"

The blonde scowled, and yet 'Ikra' continued to talk as she turned to leave.

"You didn't tell me your brother was so yummy~."

...That motherfucker.

Seething but holding back from causing a scene in such a place, Mandy found her outlet by shredding the bed in their hotel room. Grim sat down by a chair, fixing the damaged rib while talking some sense into her.

"Mandy, you know Aku is a friend-"

"She wants my brother."

"But-"

"That's not happening, Grim. I can accept anyone that isn't part of hell as a whole- my brother is not becoming a bargaining chip to that mongrel!"

...

Grim sighed, seeing Mandy relax from her brutal demolition of the bed with her bare hands. She just sat beside him, staring aimlessly at the wall and then-

"What is HIM's plan?"

"Perhaps he wants to pressure Heaven to see Arthur as a threat. I am still unsure on what may have gotten dem to protect him but... it had to have been damn big."

And this said a lot and yet nothing to her. Mandy just couldn't get it: what happened to Arthur to the point of him being deemed Heaven's 'Golden Child'? Such a notion was already absurd due to the fact he didn't live a 'pious' life, and he definitely wasn't someone that appreciated angels. So no, it wasn't any of the classic stuff involved in the matter.

Patience was, however, with her on the topic. Ever since she 'fixed up' her mood, she was ready to tackle the matter with less emotional burden and more vicious and vitriolic retaliation. And that moment came roughly an hour into their stay at the hotel.

They were finally allowed to enter the Eternal Council's room. Mandy, at this point, had just heard of it from Grim. Recollections of the old era where this place was once used to define Hell in its reorganization. Mandy knew the basic history, but the room itself carried an air that could be described as 'unique' in its own presence.

The august chamber was gloomy to the core, rotten and spoiled by the hellish style of ancient ages, where demonic bones of mighty demons that had been defeated to carve Hell's realms were now columns for its foundation. Frames representing the various dark events that ultimately ended Hell's anarchy further gave a sense of authority to this place that forced respect from those that were bound to it.

And in that chamber, where most of Hell's rulers had rallied, two individuals that were not bound by Hell were sitting by 'guest chairs'. The first one was the 'harmless one' at first glance, but Mandy knew better than to discount someone like Archangel Michael.

Despite appearing as a simple individual with the classic features of a humanoid angel, the eldritch nature bestowed to him by God to become his 'second'-in-command in Heaven was meant to symbolize his true ascension to the role once presided by Lucifer before his rebellion.

In fact, the more 'rough-looking and menacing' thing that was the Redeemer felt like a minor foe. His power was fully displayed and it was very far from matching anyone in the room.

"I am glad that you could all make it. We have received news that the Walker of the Ghost Zone had been unable to 'depart his realm' due to some issues, but that he will accept any vote passed through by his colleague, HIM."

Curious powerplay, or maybe there was something else going on with the Walker. Mandy decided to keep an eye out for this sort of circumstance, but she wasn't pressed about it. In fact, the next bit was what stole her full attention.

"So, can anyone explain why we were summoned here? HIM, what are you cooking?" Hunson Abadeer, ruler of the Nightosphere, asked dryly, getting a snort from HIM.

"What is going on, Hunson, is that a human has been allowed to not only kidnap my beloved daughter, but also recently snatched the children of Bitch Queen Mandy. Something like that, I am sure you can all understand, is worthy of a major reunion."

"Not if there hasn't been an understanding prior to this invitation," Mandy quickly snapped. "You went out of your way to undermine my authority to press a claim that isn't even valid to yourself."

HIM blinked, and yet didn't reply on the spot. Rather, he turned to the Heavenly representatives.

"True, true. Yet, I think it's also worthy to bring up that my request to have Arthur Endswell hunted down had been forbidden by God Himself. To the point that he called him his... most faithful human."

Mandy quickly realized what was the play here. While the kidnapping had been the 'instigation' for this council, the true purpose was to question why Arthur had been shielded by this claim. And, truth be told, she could see why HIM had wanted this meeting to occur. As much as he lacked the authority to push an 'Order to Capture' Arthur, he could still dig into the reasoning behind why this was occurring- why Heaven had him protected.

"There is reason within that claim, one that Heaven sees no point in hiding," Michael assured flatly, confident despite his lack of numbers supporting him in an eventual brawl. "But the events leading to it have been classified as a 'Divine Secret' for good reasons as they were close to seeing the end of the world and that any potential display may cause individuals with bad intentions to... 'try and replicate' the events leading up to it."

"So, you would deny us - the official Rulers of Hell - the right to reclaim our own heirs?" HIM asked, and got a scoff from Redeemer. "Oh? You think this is a joke, puppy~?"

The insult was about to get a response, but Michael huffed. "Always the aggravating fellow, HIM. But no, your query lacks context and discipline. The former because you are firmly excluding the notion that your daughter was legally bound to be given to Arthur Endswell the moment you had her mother killed, and the events happening in the Endswell family are... private business, from our understanding."

Mandy slowly nodded and HIM sighed loudly.

"Still, why would a human be given that much reverence? If the world came close to being ended, it is our right to at the very least know why it came to be and why we weren't warned at the time."

Michael... grinned. "God was of the belief that such an event went beyond Heaven and Hell, which is why he imposed a Divine Decree of its secrecy with the lowest echelons of both Realms of the Afterlife. That's why. Still, your request has been... predicted."

"Was it?" HIM appeared surprised, but recoiled fast. "Then what is God's response?"

"The memory provided by Arthur Endswell in regard to the events leading to this peculiar circumstance," Redeemer answered strongly. "Of course, lacking thoughts and some emotions to avoid any major violation of his privacy."

"I thought- I thought that-"

"That you would have been denied?" Michael interrupted smugly. "You forget that God is very merciful, HIM. I suppose it's been so long since you have been blessed by such a topic."

The growl was a fair reaction, but it amused Mandy nonetheless. Still, the idea of being granted a glimpse of her brother's past that could answer her many questions pleased her immensely. And maybe it could give her a chance to... fix something. Maybe.

No one complained about this situation and soon the memory spell was prepared for all to see. A blind light erupted from the orb conceived by Michael in the middle of the table and soon all were pulled into it.

And soon, some answers were given to her. Starting with how Arthur got involved into the bizarre adventure that led him to what he was now.

New York, the Central Park. Many years ago.

The one place a 19 years-old Arthur Endswell could find peace after another crappy shift at his crappy job. It wasn't like he came here with the expectation of finding a solid job opportunity. Not when he was already packing enough money from Dexter to allow himself to go 'dark' for a while.

A simple and forgettable life. That was how he envisioned things to be from now on to the very day of his first and second death. Yet, as he rested and ate a sandwich he had prepared earlier that morning, the young man noticed a child standing near the bench, holding a ball.

"Wanna play?" The short-haired girl with orange sunglasses and a green dress inquired. She was tiny, kind of tomboyish and overall polite.

Still, it was confusing for Arthur. There were kids playing nearby so-

"Why don't you ask the other children?" He asked away, causing the girl to suddenly appear nervous.

"T-They told me that I am a creep because I look weird."

The hurt wasn't missed from her tone, but we could tell something was up with her odd details in those clothes of hers. A bit tacky for his tastes, but... it was far from what he had seen in my childhood.

"Heh, sure."

There wasn't much two individuals could do, but the child was relatively a nice change from the usual routine of just wasting time in his lonesome. Plus, the girl, who introduced herself as Shizuka Joestar. The girl was clearly a lovable individual yet one that lacked social skills and friends.

She told me that she was taken care of by 'Grandpa Joseph and Granny Suzy' since she was a little baby and that she had always been pampered by the old couple. The names were familiar as 'Granny Suzy' was the known charitable rich lady Suzy Q Joestar. Her name was just too unforgettable to the media that brought up her investments in good causes.

Her grandparents were busy picking ice cream as she wandered off to play, so Arthur prepared to handle some explanation on why she ended up playing with a stranger. After a while, I got a bit heated up after having a jacket on under this unforgiving warm sun. I went back to the bench to leave it folded there when-

"A-ARTHUR!"

The scream snapped my attention back to the sight of... a man grabbing Shizuka and running away from her. The young man was stunned by the sight but-

"HEY! LET HER GO!" Arthur yelled as he bolted after the kidnapper, eyes fierce and angry as he tried to catch up with the duo.

He was fast enough to eventually catch up to the bastard, pulling him to the ground and pushing Shizuka out of his grasp. He gave him a punch and-

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The bastard had a gun. The bullets struck him in the chest, around his left lung but failed to prevent Arthur from delivering two well-aimed sucker-punches that set the kidnapper into dreamland.

"A-Arthur, are you- Arthur!"

Bleeding profusely, Arthur fell to the side, holding against the bullets' holes with his hands. Shizuka was panicking, crying loudly as she tried to call for help and... he was dying. A bit earlier than Grim had predicted for him but-

He wasn't going to come back from that.

He was about to pass out when he suddenly heard footsteps rush towards them. Then, a strange feeling erupted in his chest as he felt the bleeding stabilizing, and the bullets leaving his body. Soon, he felt his strained self recover and he opened his eyes to... to find himself still alive.

"W-What happened?" For some strange reason, he felt his body energized in a way unlike anything he had ever experienced, with golden electricity playing around his chest and hands.

"You were close to dying," An old man said, standing over him while the old lady, whom Arthur deemed to be his wife, massaged his aching back. "So, I decided to help you by activating your Hamon."

...

"What?"

"Dear, I think you need to be a bit more 'exhaustive' with this young man. Not everyone can just handle your 'Oh, it is only Hamon' excuse," The kind-looking old woman remarked, causing her husband to appear... sheepish.

"...Fair, but you can't blame me for being a silly old man~."

Senile too from the looks of it.

Despite that, the small family took me out for lunch, thanking me by paying quite a hefty meal considering how miserable the sandwich had been compared to the good stuff prepared at some restaurants. I had a greater understanding of the family group and realized that something about the overall 'Hamon is spiritual sunlight' or something like that was just the tip of a bigger iceberg. And considering the fact I brought up my own 'supernatural' childhood, I could say they all had a reason to be trusting of me in talking about such topics.

In fact, as the meal was over, the old man, Joseph Joestar, took me to walk privately and... his demeanor shifted into something grim compared to the jovial mood of before.

"Arthur, I understand you don't wish to be pulled in anything supernatural due to your past but... the man that came to try and kidnap Shizuka was someone tied to an organization- to a cult that has been actively tried to conquer the world," Joseph explained, sounding quite serious in his tone. "Their leader died in Cairo in 1988, but his will persists through his agents. And we know for a thing that some have started to target other members of the family in recent times. I didn't expect them to come after Shizuka either."

"Why would they want to hunt you all down?" Arthur asked flatly. "Like, would it be fair to target those responsible for their leader's death?"

"There are many reasons- some of which we don't know and... I need your help, as an outsider," Joseph pushed forth. "I work for the Speedwagon Foundation, and while I would usually ask for their help about this sort of matters, I have reason to believe there are moles that have been working to sabotage this effort. I need someone with no connection with this matter, but experience in bizarre situations to- to find out what is going on. And I need you to keep an eye on my great-granddaughter, Jolyne."

"...I suppose I can give it a look. Where is she?"

"In prison."

The fuck did I just involve myself into?

AN

This is a two-part flashback. Sorta. Most of the details of this 'different JJBA Part 6 experience' will be skimmed through for good reasons. I don't want to bloat a chapter with details not many would find pleasant. Still, I will say one thing: the memory is not full. It's not a full one that covers Part 6 anyway and it will focus primarily on Arthur's infiltration in Green Dolphin Street Prison, his Stand's manifestation, him finding out about Pucci and... the final battles.

Also, there have been changes to my Pxtreon as I have decided to unlist/unpublish the Tier at 1$. There has been a poll with the Pxtrons and the large majority has decided to have me go through with this. In layman's terms, current 'Old Tier 1' Pxtrons can keep paying the same monthly thing of 1$, but new Pxtrons will be able to use the new lowest one which is at 3$. That being said, the New Tier 1 also allows Pxtrons to take part in the Monthly Suggestion Post which I create on the page for anyone wanting to advance suggestions of Story concepts. Yes, if you have a story idea and you want me to entertain it, you can post those on the monthly suggestion post and then it will appear in the weekly polls.