Chapter 10: The Man from Morioh part 2: Stand Proud
Thursday, 4/21/20XX, Early Morning
Jolyne was sitting at the bar in Leblanc, eating a bowl of curry Sojiro had prepared her for breakfast, Morgana in his bag in the seat next to her. As she was eating, her phone chimed, signaling a new message.
JH: hey jojo
JH: U at school yet?
JC: No, I'm about to leave.
JH: Ok
JH: tlkd 2 speedwagon. Ready 4 u after school
Jolyne could only roll her eyes as she deciphered Josuke's text message. After all these years, he still had yet to figure out how to text properly, no matter how hard she or Shizuka, Josuke's adopted sister who was around Jolyne's age, tried to teach him.
JC: Sounds good. Where do you want me to meet you?
JH: Will meet u n Shibuya after conference
JC: I'll see you there
JH: K
"Hey, quit texting and hurry up. You're going to be late again." Sojiro scolded from behind the counter.
"Yeah, yeah…" She grumbled, and quickly finished the meal he had prepared for her. A short while later, she was heading towards the Ginza line. However, as she followed the line to the ticket gate for her transfer, Jolyne heard a voice.
"Excuse me, pardon me, excuse-oof!" Followed shortly by something colliding into her. It didn't knock her down, but Jolyne saw binders and papers fly out of a bag into the air as well as the sound of something hitting the ground. Stone Free manifested behind her, and with astonishing speed, it grabbed the papers and the binders before they could go in every direction, neatly composing them back into a stack ad into Jolyne's hands as the Stand vanished. Jolyne looked down at the ground to see a girl with short brown hair and reddish brown eyes around her age in a Shujin uniform, only her blazer was replaced with a black halter top and a different kind of turtleneck, with a button on the top that indicated the girl was a third year.
"Hey, you ok?" Jolyne asked as she extended her hands towards the girl, and she nodded as she took Jolyne's hand.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry about that." She said as Jolyne pulled her off the ground.
"It's alright, we all have those mornings." Jolyne said, and handed the girl her binders.
"Thank you. Normally I should be at school a lot earlier, but I must have stayed up too late studying for entrance exams and overslept. Need to adjust my schedule…" The girl muttered, and that's when she really took in Jolyne's appearance. "Oh! I didn't realize it was you, Cujoh-san. My apologies." The girl apologized, and Jolyne sighed.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to try and mug you." Jolyne groaned, and the girl raised an eyebrow before realization donned across her face.
"That's right, we haven't had a chance to actually meet yet." Now it was Jolyne's turn to raise her eyebrow.
"Should we? You're a third year, aren't you?"
"Sorry, allow me to introduce myself." The girl said as she tucked the binders into her bag, and straightened her uniform. "Makoto Niijima, student council president. It's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance, Cujoh-san." Makoto greeted, taking a small bow, and Jolyne returned the favor.
"Nice to meet you two, Niijima-Senpai." Jolyne said, before something she had just said fully clicked in Jolyne's head. "Wait, aren't entrance exams not for another few months?" Makoto shrugged at Jolyne's question.
"It never hurts to get started early." She replied as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
"Right…" While Jolyne hadn't met the student council president, she had heard a few people muttering about how the Shujin class president was a bit of a perfectionist. Between this and the rumors about Kamoshida, Jolyne was slowly learning that not all the rumors around Shujin were complete bull.
"Cujoh-San-" Makoto spoke up, pulling her out of her thoughts. "-we should probably get going, or else on the way. We can talk on the way." The class president suggested, though there was something about the way she said it that made it feel more like an order to Jolyne.
"Uh, right." Jolyne said, and they began making their way to the Ginza line, passing through the ticket gate.
"How are you settling in here at Shujin?"
"It's alright so far. Once I started to tune out everything people were saying behind my back, it got a lot easier." Jolyne said, and Makoto winced when Jolyne mentioned the rumors.
"Allow me to apologize for that on behalf of the school. Your criminal record and probationary status were supposed to remain confidential, known only to the principal, your teachers, and myself. We have no idea who could've leaked that knowledge to the student body." Jolyne knew full well that Kamoshida had forced Mishima to leak her records online, but any dirt on Kamoshida was essentially useless until he came back from his 'leave of absence.'
"Don't worry about it. Believe me, I'm used to people talking behind my back." Jolyne said, and Makoto sighed as they boarded the train towards Aoyama.
"Well, if you say so…" She muttered, before putting her cheerful face back on. "Well, if you ever need assistance with your academics, or if you need advice on something, you can normally find me on the third floor in the library. Though lately, my afternoons have been spent dealing with the fallout of last week's…incident." Makoto lamented, and Jolyne gripped her bag as she thought about Shiho.
"What's your take on all that?" Jolyne asked, and Makoto's face fell.
"I'm saddened that Suzui-san choose to try and end her own life. I wish she had come to me or someone else and tried to talk through it."
"And what made her jump?" Jolyne asked, but Makoto wasn't taken off guard like she expected.
"You refer to the accusation made in the message to Coach Kamoshida on Tuesday, correct? That he was responsible for the suicide attempt?" Jolyne nodded, and Makoto sighed. This was clearly not the first time she had been asked about the calling card. "We have been aware of the rumors surrounding Coach Kamoshida's training methods for some time now. However, that's all they are: rumors. He simply…knows how to push his members to do their best." Makoto stated, but Jolyne noticed a tinge of hesitance in her voice. However, she didn't have the chance to pry further, as they arrived at Aoyame-Ichitome station. "Well, this is our stop."
"Looks like it. See you around, Niijima-senpai."
"And you as well. It was a pleasure to meet you." Makoto said, and with that, they were separated as they merged with the crowd of students heading towards Shujin.
"So, that's the student council president." Morgana spoke up from inside the bag, having been biding his time while Jolyne conversed with Makoto. "She doesn't seem too bad."
"Seems like it." Jolyne responded, though she could almost swear there was something…off about Makoto. Like there was something just under the surface ready to explode outwards. Still, Jolyne wasn't in a position to be too picky about her associates, and the young woman didn't appear to be openly hostile to the transfer student as the rest of the student body. So, for the time being, Jolyne shrugged it off as she entered Shujin Academy. Making her way towards her classroom, Jolyne saw Ann sitting at her desk with her arms folded on the desk. "Hey, Ann." She greeted as she passed Ann's desk, but the fellow Phantom Thief didn't seem to hear her.
"Lady Ann? Are you alright?" Morgana asked, poking his head out of the bag, and this seemed to bring Ann back down to Earth.
"Oh, hey, you two. Sorry, I was just…thinking about yesterday."
"About Shiho?" Jolyne asked, and Ann nodded.
"That too. If your uncle can do for her what he did for Ryuji, but he's not able to…" Jolyne put a hand on Ann's shoulder.
"He'll come through. Trust me, Josuke hates letting people down." Jolyne said, and Ann swallowed before smiling.
"Alright. I trust you." Ann said, and with that, Kawakami entered the room.
"Alright everyone, please take your seats." She instructed. Jolyne and Ann shared a glance, before Jolyne sat down at her desk.
After School, Shibuya
Josuke stood in the Underground Walkway of Shibuya Station, back against the wall as he watched the crowds. While Morioh was by no means a small town nowadays, it still didn't hold a candle to Tokyo. Every time Josuke was here, he had to just sit and watch the sheer chaos that was the big city. "Ah, are you people watching too?" A voice said, and Josuke looked to his right to see a tall, lanky young man standing beside him, with dark blue hair and wearing a white school uniform.
"I might be. What about it?" Josuke responded.
"My apologies, I did not mean to appear confrontational. I am just not used to seeing someone else partaking in this hobby." The boy said, his tone polite and sophisticated. Something about his voice reminded Josuke of Jotaro, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it…Josuke brushed it off, simply shrugging.
"Don't worry about it. I'm just doing this to pass the time while I wait for someone."
"I see." The boy said, and his gaze was drawn to Josuke's hair. "What an unusual hairstyle…" The boy muttered, and Josuke felt irritation and anger building…until the boy held his hands in front of him, the index finger and thumb of each hand almost forming a frame. "The unique style, the way the light catches it and accentuates your features…Japanese, English, and…Italian?" The boy muttered, before beginning to reach into his school bag. "Excuse me sir, but would you mind if I sketch you?" He asked, and that's when Josuke noticed a familiar hairstyle among the crowd.
"Maybe some other time, kid. Have a nice day." Josuke bid farewell to the strange boy, and made his way towards the familiar set of buns he had spotted through the crowd. "Hey, Jojo." He called out as he approached Jolyne, who waved at him. "So, how was school?"
"Boring. Where's this Speedwagon place?" Jolyne asked.
"Over in Bunkyo, not too far from Tokyo U." Josuke instructed, and the twi began making their way towards a nearby train directory.
"Let's see, to get to Bunkyo from here, we need to…oh gimme a break..." The thing that brought the 'uh oh' was the line that indicated the route from Shibuya to Bunkyo, and right above the dot for Bunkyo was the word 'CLOSED DUE TO ACCIDENT' in bright red kanji. "Damn, that must have been where that big crash was the other day." Jolyne said, and Josuke groaned.
"Well, that's great…" He groaned out, and tried reading the directory to find what would get them closest to their destination. "Man, this place is so big. I can't understand any of this. You?" Jolyne shook her head.
"Not on my own, no." Josuke sighed at his niece's answer.
"Guess we'll have to head topside and find a cab. C'mon, let's go." Josuke instructed, and they began making their way towards Shibuya Square. The two Joestars emerged from the Underground Walkway into the bustling square of Shibuya. As Josuke and Jolyne began heading towards the street, Josuke heard a small whirring sound above him, and looked up to see what looked like a small model plane based off of an American fighter plane from World War II flying around in a circle above them. "You see that?" He asked, and Jolyne looked up to see the plane flying in a circle above the street.
"Looks like one of those remote-controlled toys. Probably some middle schooler messing around."
"Yeah, probably." Josuke said, but as he and Jolyne looked down, Josuke noticed something: no one else around them seemed to notice the plane. While scores people glued to their phones while they walked wasn't out of place in today's society, if the drone was loud enough for Josuke to hear above the drum of the crowds, someone should have at least looked up to see what the noise was. But no one even seemed to acknowledge it, going about their days as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Josuke looked back up to see the small model plane had been joined by two others, circling over them in formation… before they began diving downwards, heading straight towards Jolyne and Josuke. Josuke cursed under his breath, and the air around him shimmered and shined. "Crazy Diamond!" The armor-clad Stand manifested behind him, and that's when the three planes began firing their guns.
"Dorarararararararararara!" Crazy Diamond unleashed a series of rapid fire punches, smashing most of the projectiles before they could reach him. However, one made it past the barrage of punches and pierced the pink flesh of Crazy Diamond's left shoulder, causing Josuke to grit his teeth in pain as he felt the injury appear at the same location on his body, causing his jacket to darken with a small splotch of red blood. The bright side of this was that the injury to his Stand confirmed his suspicions.
"What the hell?!" Jolyne asked as the planes pulled up, circling them once again. "What was that?!"
"It's an enemy Stand!" Josuke said, and Jolyne's eyes widened as she watched the planes circle them, almost like vultures circling fresh roadkill.
"Those things? Seriously?"
"I told you, Stands come in all shapes and sizes." Josuke said, and looked around as he evaluated their situation. "We're sitting ducks like this. We need to get off the street and-" Josuke started to say, when he noticed something else. Weaving it's way through the crowd at a high speed , expertly maneuvering around the feet of the people going about their day, was a small model formula car. However, Josuke saw the light glinting off the back wings, and his eyes widened. "Jojo, watch-"
"Stone Free!" Before Josuke could finish, Jolyne had turned towards the direction of the formula car and manifested her Stand as the car got closer to her. Josuke noticed that Morgana's head was poking out of the back of Jolyne's bag.
"Ora!" Stone Free launched its fist at the model car, only for it to turn on a dime and narrowly avoid the punch. It tried heading straight for Jolyne's leg, but she wouldn't let it. "Oraoraoraoraoraora!" Stone Free cried out as it launched a rapid series of punches, but the formula car dodged each and every one, maneuvering with an unnatural accuracy, before it sped away, retreating back into the crowd.
"What the hell is this thing?!" Jolyne asked.
"It's an ambush. Those things were waiting for us." Josuke said, and blocked out the pain from his shoulder.
"Ambush? By who?!"
"We'll have to figure that out later. Right now, we're sitting ducks. We need to get off the street before those things make another pass at us." Josuke instructed.
"Back into the station?" Josuke shook his head.
"If those planes follow us in there, there could be people caught in the crossfire." Jolyne cursed under her breath, and got an idea.
"What about an alleyway? There are a bunch of those around here." She suggested, and Josuke thought it over for a second.
"That could work. If they come at us again, we'll be able to tell what direction they're coming from and be able to deal with them."
"Then let's get moving." Jolyne said, and they began to move. They pushed their way through the afternoon crowd, heading towards Central Street. The two entered Central Street, and that's when the planes made their move, diving towards the Joestars once again. As the three planes began to fire their guns, Josuke and Jolyne ducked into an alley, Jolyne narrowly avoiding the bullets. However, two bullets struck her in the right thigh, going clean through the bone and muscles, and she let out a cry of pain as she collapsed into the alley with Josuke. "Ah! Shit!" She exclaimed as pain spread up her body and tears involuntarily welled in her eyes. Jolyne had easily taken worse hits than the bullets in the Palace, but that was the Meta Verse, where the lines between what was real or not tended to blur and her strength and endurance were enhanced by her Persona, but this was the real world. Everything hurt here.
"Damn!" Josuke exclaimed, and picked Jolyne off the groud and set her against the wall of the alleyway. Crazy Diamond manifested behind Josuke and placed it's hands on her leg. A golden aura seemed to surround the leg, and the wounds sealed completely shut, even repairing her uniform leggings without a scratch. "That better?"
"Yeah, thanks." Jolyne said as she wiped her eyes dry. "What are those things?"
"My guess? A remote-controlled Stand, one that's spread out across multiple objects to let the user control them. If that's the case, then-" Josuke answered, and looked out the alley at Central Street. He couldn't see them, but he could still hear the whirring of the planes above the street. Jolyne's bag, which had fallen on the ground, began to shuffle, drawing the attention of the two. However, rather than the Stand Josuke was expecting, out from the bag popper Morgana, who looked none the worse the wear, save for his fur being ruffle.
"Jolyne, are you alright?!" Morgana asked, though Jolyne knew Josuke could only hear meowing, and she nodded at him.
"Jojo, why is the cat in your bag?" Josuke asked, and Jolyne cursed under her breath. Morgana had spotted the formula car with the blades for wings racing towards them, which was the only reason neither of the humans was walking with a limp. However, she didn't think Josuke would accept that Morgana was really a magical creature that could talk and see Stands, so she had to come up with some sort of explanation.
"He…comes to school with me." She answered, and frantically searched for an explanation. "Sojiro doesn't want him in Leblanc during business, and he's…declawed, so I can't leave him outside." She could tell that Josuke didn't buy that explanation for a second, but he knew that now was not the time to press this. "What was that you were saying about the user?" She asked, causing Josuke to get back on track.
"As I was saying, if this is a remote-controlled stand we're talking about, then they could be anywhere in the city." He explained, and rubbed his chin. "But if this is a Stand that lets them have control of multiple objects at once, and still be able to have enough fine control to dodge our attacks, then the user would have to be closer. I'd say about...20 meters, max." Jolyne's eyes widened at this.
"20 meters?! Do you have any idea how many people there are in just 1 meter here? We'll never find the user!" She exclaimed, and Josuke unconsciously bit his lip in thought.
"Could it have been that kid? No, he was weird, but not that kind of weird…" Josuke muttered to himself, and that's when Jolyne noticed the wound on his left shoulder.
"Grunkle J, you're hurt!" She gasped, pulling Josuke out of his thoughts.
"What, you mean this? One of those planes hit Crazy D. It's just a flesh wound. Trust me, I've had worse." Jolyne's eyes widened at 'worse', but she pushed forward.
"Why don't you just fix yourself with Crazy Diamond?"
"I can't use it to heal myself. One of the drawbacks I mentioned yesterday." He answered, and Jolyne's brow worried in concern as she stared at the wound. "Don't worry about it. I can handle a little scratch. We need to focus on finding the-" Josuke started to say, when he almost saw a small light turn on in Jolyne's eyes.
"Let me see it." She instructed in a tone that suggested it was an order (something that reminded Josuke a lot of Jotaro), and Josuke obliged, shrugging off his jacket to reveal his yellow shirt was matted with blood. Without hesitation, Jolyne pulled down the collar of Josuke's shirt to expose the wound not even flinching at the sight. She held her finger up to the wound, and a string began emerging from her finger tip. Josuke slightly winced in pain as the string pierced his skin, but he watched in slight amazement as the string began to stitch the bullet wound. When the hole was completely shut, the string broke off where it had entered and returned to her finger. "There. Should hold together until we can get to a doctor."
"Well damn. Not bad, Jojo." Josuke congratulated as he put his jacket back on. "How'd you know to do that?" He asked, and she shrugged.
"If I could manipulate these things to pick locks, then I also figured that I could use them to stitch up wounds." Jolyne explained, causing Josuke to smirk.
Heh, she always keeps her cool, even under pressure. Just like her old man. Josuke thought to himself, before he turned back to Central Street. The doctor stuck his head out of the alley, and saw the planes flying around the street in a circle, and Josuke ducked his head back in before they saw him.
"What's it look like out there?" Jolyne asked.
"Those things know we're here, but they're not attacking. The User must be planning something." Josuke answered, and Jolyne frowned at this.
"If only I could use my Persona…" She muttered softly under her breath, to the degree that Josuke couldn't hear her, but Morgana could. His little mouth dropped as realization dawned in his eyes, and was about to speak.
"Come play with us!" Before he could say anything, a high pitched, almost childlike voice sounded out, and they all looked to see a familiar sight had appeared at the entrance of the alleyway: the bladed formula car, almost staring them down. "Come play with us! Come play with us!"
"Good grief, this thing again…" Jolyne groaned, and the two Joestars manifested their stands as they braced themselves. They all stood perfectly still for a moment, the alleyway almost quite save for the soft whir of the formula car's engines…until it darted towards them.
"Oraoraoraoraoraoraora!"
"Dorararararararararara!"
Both Stands unleashed a flurry of punches, but the formula car was simply too fast, narrowly racing past the punches. However, instead of swerving to slash their heels like the two were expecting, the car instead sped directly forward, breezing past a hissing Morgana. They all watched as the car raced past them, before stopping halfway down the alley and beginning to turn. But instead of turning all the way around and charging them, the car instead turned right and stood still. "Come play with us! Come play with us!" The voice called out from the car, and it sped forward, into the space behind the record store.
"The hell?" Jolyne asked, and Josuke was about to respond…when he heard whirring behind them.
"Come play with us! Come play with-"
"Dora!" As the three planes entered the alley and flew straight at them, Josuke spun on his heel and slammed Crazy Diamond's fist forward, destroying the lead plane's wing and causing it to spin out of control as it crashed to the ground, while the other two flew right past them and turned right where the car had turned. Josuke and Jolyne watched them vanish.
"The hell was that about?" Jolyne asked.
"My guess is that the User is in that direction, and they want us to come to them."
"They can't think we're actually stupid enough to fall for such an obvious trap." Jolyne spat, but from the way Josuke's eyes were narrowed, she got the feeling he didn't 100% agree. "You can't be serious."
"If we don't take care of them now, the User will just keep coming after us. And I don't think they'll be so considerate of others next time." Josuke said. Jolyne was about to argue, but the more she thought about it, the more her great uncle made sense. Whoever was controlling these things was obviously after them specifically, and if they came after her again, thered be no telling who'd get caught up in the crossfire. Sojiro, Ryuji, Ann…
"Alright. I see your point." Jolyne responded, and Morgana's eyes seemed to narrow with determination.
"I'm with you, Joker." He said, switching to her codename. Jolyne nodded, and she and Josuke began to head in the direction their attackers had gone, with Josuke making extra sure to stomp on the crashed plane as he passed it. Following the path the car and the planes had taken, the three saw a dilapidated building with boarded up windows a little bit past a gym, with the door hanging wide open.
"Come play with us…come play with us…come play with us…" The soft, childlike voices called from the door.
"That is…really creepy." Josuke commented, but he noticed Jolyne didn't seem fazed. In fact, there was almost something different about her. Josuke brushed it aside, and the three began to enter the rundown building.
The building they entered appeared to have been some kind of toy store or manga shop, judging from the shelves full of unopened dolls and action figures that lined the walls, as well as the tattered posters of various anime across the walls. Josuke's head was on a swivel, keeping an eye out for the user. However, save for the two Joestars and the cat, there was not a soul in sight. However, in addition to noting that the door behind the counter was cracked open, everyone's attention was drawn to a rather large, extravagant dollhouse on the counter, where the cash register should have been. "The hell is that thing?" Jolyne asked, and Josuke narrowed his eyes as his brain reached the only conclusion it could. However, before he could open his mouth, a single voice spoke out from behind the cracked door.
"Toy Story." The windows of the dollhouse began to glow an ethereal green, and the door swung open. Out shot about a dozen puffs of green smoke that shot out in every direction, shooting into several of the boxed toys that lined the walls. Josuke and Jolyne watched as the toys began tearing their way out of the boxes, getting back to back as the toys lept off the shelves. Jolyne noticed that several of the accessories, such as plastic swords and such, had been replaced with various bladed objects, such as razor blades, boxcutters, nails, and the like.
"Come play with us…come play with us…" The toys chanted out in their sing song voices, as they surrounded the niece and nephew. However, instead of pouncing on them, the possessed toys began circling them, almost like a predator circling its prey.
"Josuke, you're the expert here. What do we do?" Jolyne asked, eyes never leaving the toys for even a second. Josuke did the same, only he noticed a small, ethereal aura around each toy.
"Don't let your guard down. If these things are being controlled by the Stand itself, then that means they'll be able to injure out Stands. And since our Stands our extensions of ourselves, any injury inflicted on them also affects us. Which means-"
"If our Stands get too beat up, we die. And you can't reverse that." Jolyne finished for him, watching as a mecha and a Pheonix Ranger eyed her.
"Right." Josuke shot a quick glance towards the dollhouse. "That thing must be what the Stand is bound to. If we destroy that, then this'll all be over." As soon as Josuke said that, the voice from the door began to chuckle.
"Very astute, Higashikata. You're every bit as sharp as the stories say. You'll make a fine doll indeed~" The voice, which was high pitched and nasally, said, but before they could try and talk with him…the toys charged them.
"Crazy Diamond!"
"Stone Free!"
Both Stands exploded into existence as the toys charged them. Crazy Diamond began punching at a toy with a top hat and some sort of Mecha, but the toys dodged each punch. The Mecha jumped onto the right fist and used it as a launch pad, launching itself towards Crazy Diamond's face while raising the box cutter blade it used as a weapon. However, before it even reached the shoulder, Crazy Diamond's left fist smashed into it's plastic body, sending it flying off. At that moment, Josuke felt several small stabbing sensations in his left upper arm, and looked to see the Top Hat figure, which Josuke now recognized as Pink Dark Boy, and what looked like several Risette dolls climbing up Crazy Diamond's arm, using nail to create handholds in the pink flesh that appeared on Josuke's body. "Of course it'd be that one…" Josuke muttered out. Crazy Diamond's right hand took Pink Dark Boy in it's hand and flung it onto the ground, smashing it into pieces. He then began flinging around Crazy Diamond's left arm, trying to shake the idol dolls loose. While they did try their damndest to hang onto the nails dug into Josuke's arm, the speed and force was too much, and they were flung off in every direction.
Meanwhile, Jolyne braed herself as the other half of the Toy Army rushed her. "Oraoraoraoraora!" It fired off a series of lighting fast punches at the toys, but only succeeded in hitting one, a green Phoenix Ranger Featherman that was sent flying back and smashed against the wall. The other toys, which included the rest of the PRF cast, another Risette doll, and what looked like a plush of a white, humanoid snowman with two fangs and a blue hat with bells on it. They all rushed her feet, and Jolyne grit her teeth in pain as she felt them dig nails and razor blades into her Stand's legs, using them to create footholds as they climbed the pale blue humanoid.
"Come play with us! Come play with us!" They chanted out, and Jolyne began to bring Stone Free's hand down to swat them off her legs. However, at the last moment, one of the Feathermen tore out its nail and held the sharp end towards the fist. While the toy was indeed smashed, the nail tore through the hand, causing the flesh in Jolyne's right hand to rip apart as a nail sized hole appeared in the same spot.
"Dammit!" She grunted out, and the remaining toys reached Stone Free's torso. A quick thought entered Jolyne's head, and the toys lost their grips on the torso as Stone Free unraveled into strings from the chest up. They tried in vain to grab onto one of the whirling strings, but it would be in vain, and they began to fall. As they fell towards the ground, several of the strings began to reform into Stone Free's fists.
"Oraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraora!" The barrage of fists rained down on the possessed toys, smashing them into pieces as they impacted the ground. Jolyne panted as her Stand recomposed itself, groaning in pain as she felt the nails still imbedded in her legs. This was just as Josuke shook off the remainer of attackers, blood pouring down his left arm and darkening his white jacket.
"That…sucked…" Jolyne panted out, her knees beginning to wobble as she slumped against Josuke's back.
"Don't worry. It's almost over." Josuke said back to her, and he looked towards the dollhouse. With a sigh of relief, Josuke noted that it was within two meters of him, and prepared to smash the dollhouse with Crazy Diamond's good right arm…
When they both felt their heels being slashed, causing Josuke to collapse onto his knees while Jolyne got on all fours, trying her best to balance herself with her wounded legs. The two looked to see the model formula car from before racing from between their legs, blood on the bladed back fins. The voice from before began to chuckle, while clapping began to sound from before.
"That was simply marvelous!" A man's voice, high pitched and nasally, called out, the door swung aside to reveal a Japanese man in his early 40's, with unkempt greasy black hair, buck teeth that had a devious grin circled around them, and hazel eyes that had a demented glint in them. "At first I had my doubts, but you're every bit as incredible as the stories say, Josuke-san!" The man said, and Josuke glared at him.
"Who the hell are you?" He grunted out, trying to suppress the pain from his slashed heels.
"Well, considering how far into our playdate we are, I suppose introductions are in order. My name is Toshiro Matsumoto." The man, now identified as Matsumoto, said as he gave a bow, the planes from before circling around him. As soon as he was done with his bow, Matsumoto looked at Jolyne, who was glaring at him with anger in her eyes. "I have to say, I'm not familiar with your friend here. I didn't think you liked your women this young, Josuke-san."
"Eat shit, asshole." Jolyne spat, and Matsumoto simply shook his head.
"Tsk tsk tsk. Such a mouth on you." He admonished, and cupped her face in his hand, almost as if he was examining her. Jolyne responded by spitting directly into his face. "And an…unsavory disposition as well. Oh well, I'll remedy that shortly." Matsumoto said as he released Jolyne's face. While he was distracted, Josuke saw his chance, and Crazy Diamond manifested behind him, launching it at the dollhouse on the counter. However, just before Crazy Diamond could reach it and smash it, Matsumoto got up and planted a kick directly in Josuke's back, knocking him onto the ground and causing Crazy Diamond to miss, it's hand sailing forward and stopping just under a shelf, before slowly travelling back to Josuke and vanishing. "A good attempt, but in your condition, simply not enough." Matsumoto said, and picked up Jolyne by the collar of her blazer
"Let go of me, you asshole!" Jolyne shouted, beginning to writhe against him. However, with all the blood she had lost from her leg wounds and her heels being slashed, she was in no condition to fight, let alone summon her stand. Matsumoto pinned her arms behind her back, and began dragging her towards the dollhouse.
"What are you doing to her, you bastard?!" Josuke yelled, but Matsumoto simply shot him a grin.
"Giving you a demonstration of what awaits you." He said, and arrived in front of the dollhouse. Jolyne attempted to struggle against him, but Matsumoto simply shook his head. "Don't fight, sweetie. It'll only make it harder." The Stand User admonished, and the door of the mansion began to glow. "Toy Story!" The glow's intensity increased, and Jolyne almost felt like it was sucking her forward.
"Stop, please! Leave her out of this!" Josuke pleaded, but it was all for naught. Jolyne's body went limp, as a silhouette of her made out of green smoke was dragged out of her body and pulled towards the mansion door. For a second, Matsumoto noticed that the sillouhette was bizarrely dressed, wearing some kind of weird outfit and a mask, but before he could examine it, he heard a low growl coming from his right. Glancing in the direction, the man saw a pair of angry blue eyes glaring at him…
"Mroww!" Morgana shouted, jumping off of the shelf where he had been waiting with claws extended. Morgana dug his claws into the right side of the enemy user's face, and dragged them downwards, past the open right eye that had glanced at him. Matsumoto cried out in pain as his right eye was clawed out, causing the glow from the mansion to shut off. As soon as the light dissipated, Jolyne's silhouette went back into her body, causing her to take a big gasp of air. Matsumoto's grip had loosened enough that Jolyne could break her arms free, and she collapsed onto the ground. Watching all of this, Josuke smirked.
"Good kitty." He said, and he opened his right hand, putting his plan into action. Inside was a screw, one that looked like it was part of a shelf. The pass Josuke had made at the Stand hadn't been a failure, for her had never intended to hit the dollhouse. He knew he wouldn't have the strength to destroy it in one hit, not with his body in the shape it was. Instead, he'd used that outburst to set up his trap. Josuke clasped both hands around the nail, and the outline of Crazy Diamond's hands covered his. "Crazy Diamond!"
Meanwhile, Morgana was pulling the injured Jolyne towards Josuke, dragging her by the collar of her blazer with his mouth. Considering how he was just an average sized cat, and Jolyne was a full sized human, it wasn't easy. "Was wondering where you went…" Jolyne weakly muttered out, the blood loss finally starting to get to her.
"Hng nf thr, Jokr!" Morgana yelled out around the blazer, intending to say "Hang in there, Joker!" However, before the cat could reach Josuke, Matsumoto towered over them, his one good eye burning with fury.
"Screw this! No toy is worth this much trouble!" Matsumoto bellowed out, but before he could direct the planes to shred the cat, he heard what sounded like metal groaning behind him.
"Hey, nutcase!" Josuke yelled out, drawing his attention. "You're next line is…argh!" With that, the metal shelf behind the counter tore itself from the wall, seeking to be reunited with the nail Josuke had lodged firmly in his Stand-clad hands. The shelf knocked Toy Story off the counter and struck Matsumoto square in the back, knocking him onto the ground.
"Argh!"
Josuke grinned as he watched Matsumoto crumple to the ground, the shelf on top of him, while Toy Store clattered to the ground, yet strangely enough, it did not break. Josuke let out a sigh of relief. "What a pain…" He muttered out, and his grin faded as he turned towards Jolyne and Morgana. Morgana was still dragging Jolyne by the collar in his mouth, her wounds leaving a trail of blood as she was dragged. Jolyne had said he was declawed, but as evidenced by the state of the enemy Stand User's face, that was clearly not the case. Josuke shook those thoughts aside for now. He had bigger things to worry about. "Thanks, Cat." Josuke called out, causing the cat's head to turn to him as it let go of Jolyne's collar. Josuke saw something in it's bright blue eyes: not just intelligence, but concern and anger. The same emotions Josuke was feeling as he looked at Jolyne's injured form. Crazy Diamond's arm manifested around Josuke's arm, and the cat watched with concern as Josuke place its arm on Jolyne's shoulder, and the healing aura of Crazy Diamond flowed into the downed niece. Instantly, her leg wounds began to close, her slashed heels knit themselves back together, and much of the blood she had lost began to flow back into her body. After a moment, Crazy Diamond had done it's work, vanishing back into Josuke. "There we go. Good as new." Josuke said, and after a minute or two, Jolyne's eyes fluttered open.
"Owwwww…." She groaned out, slowly picking herself up off the ground. The transfer student looked around, taking into account the smashed toys and the unconscious attacker. "That…that was not fun."
"Trust me, this was nothing. Remind me to tell you about my fight with Kira sometime." Josuke said as she got up. "Still, for your first time? Not bad. You handled yourself well, Jojo." He complimented, and Jolyne looked at him.
"This kind of stuff happen to you often?" She asked as she extended her hand towards him, and Josuke nodded as he took her hand.
"Not as often as it used to, but yeah. You get used to it." He replied as she helped him up. Jolyne looked over at Matsumoto, still face down under the shelf.
"Why do you think this guy attacked us?" Josuke shrugged.
"Honestly, who knows with these people. For all I know he could've been doing it for shits and giggles." He answered, and Jolyne's brow furrowed.
"But he seemed to know who you were."
"Doesn't exactly mean much. Considering how few Stand users there are in the world, word about us travels fast. Especially about our family. He could've seen me walking around yesterday and decided to make a name for himself." Josuke explained, and began to pull out his phone. "I'll call the SPeedwagon Foundation, and-"
"You…" Matsumoto's voice growled, and his body began to stir, as did the pieces of smashed plastic and the downed toys that littered the shop. "Such ugly people….you'd make terrible toys…" he growled, and began to rise up. As he began to rise up, the broken pieces began moving towards him. The broken toys began piling up on one another. Soon, a figure began rising up behind Matsumoto, reaching all the way up to the ceiling. It was a towering behemoth, with the dollhouse that represented Toy Story making up the head. "I will destroy you! Make you wish you had never been born! Rip you limb from limb!" Matsumoto yelled, and he raised his hand into a fist, causing the figure to do the same. "And I'm going to start by ripping off that eyesores you both call hair!" He yelled, and both of the Joestars stopped. The room temperature almost seemed to drop, as an overwhelming feeling of dread began emanating from the two.
"Oy, asshole…" Josuke asked, a cocky, menacing grin appearing on his face as his hair seemed to spike up. "The hell did you just say about our hair?!" Matsumoto simply sneered, all logic leaving his mind.
"I said I will rip off those eyesores-"
"Dora!" Crazy Diamond's fist smashed directly into Matsumoto's face, causing him to falter. Stone Free manifested next to Crazy Diamond, cracking it's knuckles.
It was at this moment, that Matsumoto knew…he fucked up.
"W-wait! I-I didn't mean-"
"Dorarararararararara!"
"Oraoraoraoraoraoraoraora!"
One could almost mistake the sounds of the Stand cries as machine gun fire, and they wouldn't be exactly wrong, given the speed and ferocity with which both Stands unleashed their punches on the man, his body almost ragdolling under the barrage. After a few more seconds that seemed like hours to Matsumoto, Stone Free and Crazy Diamond both delivered a final punch to his face, one that sent him flying through the toy amalgam, smashing it back into it's individual pieces and sending green puffs of smoke flying out of the smashed plastic, and smashing through the counter to impact the wall.
Name: Toshiro Matsumoto. Stand: Toy Story. Status: Retired!
"Good grief, this guy was such a pain in the ass…" Jolyne muttered as Josuke retrieved his comb, fixing his hair back into his pompadour. Morgana stood behind them, staring at them with slackjawed terror/amazement.
S-so scary! He thought to himself, as Matsumoto slumped forward facefirst onto the ground.
Sometime Later
At the edge of the street, Jolyne and Josuke sat on the back of what looked like a black ambulance, while Morgana sat on the ground, with Josuke having his arm injuries being treated by a man in a white shirt with the symbol of a golden wheel on his sleeves. "These look like quite the nasty scratches, Josuke-san. You should really be more careful." The man said as he bandaged the arm, and Josuke rolled his eyes.
"Yeah yeah…" he muttered out, and Jolyne watched as another black van parked next to them. To her surprise, Jolyne saw the man with the strange teeth from Leblanc hop out of the van. As he walked towards them, he maintained an impartial face as he looked at Josuke.
"Rough day?" The man asked, his Japanese fluent but with an unmistakably thick Italian accent. Josuke shrugged.
"Eh, I've had worse. You should see the other guy." Josuke said, and that's when the blonde man noticed Jolyne, and she could see momentary recognition in his eyes. However, he didn't say anything to her, instead turning back to Josuke.
"And where is this 'other guy?'" The man asked, and Josuke pointed back towards the alleyway.
"Take a left at that gym, abandoned toy store." Josuke instructed, pointing in the direction, and the man nodded.
"Grazie." The man said, and walked off in the direction of the toystore.
"Who was that guy?" Jolyne asked as she watched him walk off.
"Hm? Oh, that was Gyro." Josuke answered, and Jolyne rolled her eyes.
"And Gyro is…?" She asked, and Josuke looked back in his direction.
"Let's just say our families are old friends." He answered. "If you ever need help, go to him."
"Alright." Jolyne responded, and the man in white patted Josuke's shoulder.
"There you go, Josuke-san. Just take it easy for a few days." The man said, and Josuke got off the bumper, groaning as he put weight on his feet. Jolyne had stitched his heels up with Stone Free, which should hold him together until he could get to another doctor.
"Oh yeah, that's not gonna be a problem." Josuke groaned out, and soon Gyro emerged from around the corner, dragging Matsumoto by a set of handcuffs with one hand and Toy Story tucked under his arm. Josuke had healed Matsumoto's wounds, but only to the point where he wouldn't die of his injuries, leaving the right side of his face mauled by Morgana…and also healing his arm bones in a way that his bones didn't fuse properly.
"What'll happen to him?" Jolyne asked, watching as Gyro loaded the man into the back of his black van.
"That depends. If it turns out he used his Stand to hurt people, like I think he did, then we take special precautions to make sure he doesn't hurt anyone again." Josuke explained, watching as Gyro drove off. Jolyne didn't like the implications of 'special precautions', but she didn't press for more details.
"Want me to give you two a ride ?" The Speedwagon nurse asked, and Josuke nodded.
"If you don't mind."
"Then hop in." The man beckoned, and they obliged, all three of them getting in the back of the van. The man shut the door, revealing the words written on the backdoors in English: Speedwagon Foundation.
Jolyne and Josuke sat in the back of the van, sitting among a collection of medical equipment. "So…the cat. Morgana, right?" Josuke said, getting Jolyne's attention.
"What about him?"
"He's not a normal cat, is he?" Josuke asked, and Jolyne dryly swallowed. "The way he waited for his chance to strike, then the way he started to drag you…it's pretty obvious that Morgana's a special kind of cat."
"…yeah, you're right. He's not a normal cat." She answered, and Josuke folded his arms.
"The way you handled yourself out there…you did it a little too well. At first I brushed it off as just being natural, but the more I thought about it, the more it seemed like you had done something like this before. Which shouldn't be possible, seeing as your Stand only manifested the other day." Josuke said, and sighed. "Jolyne…what's going on with you?" Jolyne felt a lump forming in her throat, beginning to cross her hands in front of her in uncertainty. Josuke leaned forward and placed a hand on his niece's shoulder. "You know you can tell me anything, right? You should know that by now. So please, just tell me what you're mixed up in." Josuke pleaded, and Jolyne sighed. She glanced at Morgana.
"Whatever you think is best." He replied, and Jolyne sighed.
"Grunkle Josuke…do you know what a Persona is?" Josuke's brow furrowed.
"Persona? No, I can't say I do." Josuke answered, and Jolyne leaned back.
"Then take a seat. I've got quite a story for you."
Matsumoto sat in the back of the van, regretting his life decisions. He couldn't see out of his right eye, his bones ached, his arms felt weird, and his collection…Josuke and Jolyne had ruined his collection, releasing all the souls he had accumulated since acquiring his Stand. How dare they? Didn't they know how hard he worked? "Toshiro Matsumoto…" A voice said, almost from nowhere, and Matsumoto went pale as he recognized the voice. "You failed me. You were supposed to defeat Josuke Higashikata and remove him from the board."
"W-wait! You don't understand! That Higashikata…he's a demon! And that girl, and her stupid cat…they're just like him! It wasn't my fault!" Matsumoto shouted out, and banging sounded from the wall that separated the driver's cab.
"Shut the hell up!" Gyro shouted, but the Stand user didn't pay him any mind.
"Please, I'm begging you. Give me another chance!" Matsumoto pleaded, and a dark figure began to appear, it's shadow darkening Matsumoto's face as tears began to well up.
"No more chances. I can't risk you exposing me just yet."The figure said, and began to raise it's hand.
"Wait, no! Please don't! You can't…AIEEEEEEEEEEE!"
A few minutes later, Gyro pulled into a parking garage, got out, and headed towards the back of his van. He grabbed the handles. "Hey, quit your screaming. We're here." Gyro said as he opened the door, revealing Matsumoto sitting in the van. However, for some reason, the man was looking around, a blank expression on his face. "Hey, you hear me? Get out here." Gyro barked, but Matsumoto simply looked at him, the same blank expression on his face.
"Who are you?" He asked, and Gyro rolled his eyes.
"I'm Peter Pan, here to whisk you away to Neverland." Gyro answered, but to his surprise, Matsumoto seemed to smile.
"Oh, really? I can't wait! What's Neverland, Mister Pan?" The man asked, and Gyro's brow furrowed. There wasn't anything mocking about Matsumoto's question, instead seeming…sincere. Almost childlike. But then, to further the Italian man's confusion, the Stand User seemed…comnfused. "Um, Mister Pan? Can I ask you something?"
"…sure."
"Who am I?"
Josuke and Jolyne sat in an extravagant, top floor office located in the Speedwagon Foundation building in Bunkyo. Josuke was silent, still mulling over everything Jolyne had told him. About her Persona, about the Meta Verse, about how she had come into conflict with Kamoshida and the actions they had taken. "So…" Josuke said, breaking the terse silence. "It sounds like you've had an…interesting…start here.: Josuke said, and Jolyne chortled.
"That's putting it mildly." She replied, and Josuke began to laugh.
"Just when you think you've seen it all…" Josuke said, and leaned back in the chair he was sitting in. "So, this Kamoshida guy. What happened to him?" Jolyne shrugged.
"He hasn't been to school since the day of. Morgana says the change of heart may take a few days to take hold."
"Sounds like the next few days are gonna be tense for you guys." Josuke said, and the door opened. In walked a man in his 50's in a three-piece suit with grey around the temples of his slicked back hair.
"Josuke-san, I'm sorry for the wait. Had to take care of some important business." The man said, and Josuke got out of his seat.
"It's no problem." Josuke said, rising from his chair and shaking the man's hand. "Jojo, this is Shuhei Ikari, head of the Speedwagon Foundation here in Japan."
"A pleasure to finally meet you, Cujoh-san. Jotaro-san has told me a lot about you." Ikari greeted, and Jolyne shook his hand.
"Nice to meet you too." Jolyne responded.
"I hear you two have had quite the interesting day. Do not worry. This Stand User will not trouble you anymore." Ikari said, and pulled a card out of his pocket and handed it to Jolyne. "In the event that another hostile Stand user comes after you, or you find yourself in need of anything, do not hesitate to call this number. This is a special phone line, set up specifically for you."
"…thanks." Jolyne said, taking the card and examining it. It was the same as the card Jotaro had sent her, but had a different number on it. "So uh, when you say 'anything'-"
"He really does mean anything." Josuke said, and Ikari took a small bow.
"'We shall provide Jonathon Joestar's descendants with whatever they need, no matter what that may be.'" Ikari recited. "That is the decree of our founder, Robert EO Speedwagon, made shortly before he passed away. No matter what you need, we shall do our best to provide it. I shall see to it personally." Jolyne turned the card over, before tucking it into her blazer pocket.
"Neat." She remarked, and let out a yawn. "So uh, I realize this may make me sound crazy but after today I'm looking forward to that paperwork." She said, and Ikari let out a chuckle.
"Understandable. I have the papers on my desk." Ikari said, and lead her to his desk.
Night Time
The bell above Leblanc chimed, and Jolyne trudged her way into the coffee shop. Sojiro was nowhere to be seen, having already gone home for the night. Locking the door behind her, she dropped the Morgana bag onto the floor, and collapsed into a booth. "Ugghhhhhhh…" She groaned out, as Morgana exited the bag.
"Today was certainly interesting." He said, hopping onto the table.
"So…much…paperwork…" The Phantom Thief groaned out. She'd had to fill out form after form, filling out stuff that she had no idea what it meant. The hell did 'Stand Potential' mean? Why did she have to circle "I cannot stop time" a million times. Why would that even be a question?
"After all that, you must be tired. You should to go to bed." Morgana advised.
"Can't. Too exhausted. Carry me." Jolyne ordered.
"Jolyne…"
"Fiiiiiiine." Jolyne groaned out, and pried herself out of the booth, shambling up to the stairs. She didn't even bother changing her clothes, instead collapsing face first onto her bed.
"Welcome back, Trickster." A familiar voice called out, and Jolyne let out a groan.
"Of course…" She mumbled, and began pulling herself off of the harsh cot, seeing that she was now in the Velvet Room, the sound of Igor's fingers tapping the desk thundering around the room.
"Welcome back, Inmate." Justine greeted, while Caroline had her arms folded, her single yellow eye glaring at Jolyne.
"What is it now?" Jolyne asked, and Igor chuckled.
"I simply wished to bring you here to congratulate you on surviving the events of the past few days. Not only did you topple he who let his lust run rampant, but you also awakened to your birthright, and gained knowledge of your family history." He said, and Jolyne scowled.
"And you couldn't tell me any of that…why?"
"It was not my place." He simply responded. "May we see it?"
"Yeah, I'll show it to you alright…" Jolyne muttered. "Stone Free!" The Stand manifested in front of her, and grabbed the bars in front of her. However, as soon as Stone Free grabbed the bars, blue flames enveloped her hands, and Jolyne had to let go as her hands were burned.
"Ah, this Stand is indeed a powerful one. To be expected, I suppose." Igor analyzed, and Caroline smacked the bars with her baton.
"Don't do anything stupid, Inmate. Just because you've gained power doesn't mean your standing here has changed!" She barked.
"Really? Why don't you come in here and we'll see who's in charge." Jolyne challenged, and Caroline growled.
"Sister, that's enough." Justine warned, and Caroline scowled.
"…fine." With that, Igor cleared his throat.
"Be careful, Trickster. Just because you have overcome your first hurdles does not mean your rehabilitation will be a 'piece of cake', as you mortals say." The Prison Master stated, his grin never faltering. "Many trials and tribulations still await you. I wonder, how exactly shall you prevail?" Before Jolyne could ask anything else, the bell chimed once more, and her vision tunneled as the Velvet Room vanished.