PhantomKnightPercival: No one likes a third wheel.
DeathlyJazzHands55: Abbachio would be proud!
TheSBRDude: Nani? Two identities?!
Coolk: Yeah, Kyoka heard the whole thing. She is fully aware of what is going on. The Steel Ball Run will end a few days before All Might's final battle. Johnny will be done racing at that point.
"So...you and Jiro were getting pretty close there." Gyro said with a sly grin.
Johnny glared at him. "I don't like what you are implying."
They were still on the boat, heading back to America to complete the race. He and Gyro were currently near the guardrail, looking towards the sunset.
"Come on, Johnny. Emotions were high...it wouldn't surprise me if you two did a little tounge wrestl-"
"STOP!"
Gyro laughed and clapped his friend on the back. Johnny looked livid, clearly Gyro had struck a cord.
"Me and Kyoka are just friends...we were just a little too close to each other, that's all."
"Sure...although it wouldn't be such a bad match, you know? You're both snarky, and she's actually really pretty...what are you afraid of?"
Johnny furrowed his brow. "I told you...we are just friends, that's all we are."
"Friends hold hands?"
"Y-yes."
"Friends can't keep their hands off of each other?"
"You make it sound like I was groping her."
"No, but everytime I turned around I would find you two shoulder to shoulder, or hugging and shit."
"Friends hug."
"Not as often as you two did."
"As you said, emotions were high. Look, we hadn't seen each other in person since I lost my legs...would you blame me for wanting to spend time with her?"
"I'm not blaming you...I'm agreeing with you. You two were really close throughout that whole fiasco."
"Alright then..." Johnny's time indicated that the conversation was over. They made a lot of progress during the I-Island incident, but it looks like Johnny was still hiding in his shell. Gyro frowned. You're in denial Johnny. She means a lot to you, I can tell...
If we ever get out of this alive, I'm gonna be your wingman.
"So...what was going on between you and Yaomomo?"
"Oh, she's hot."
Johnny slammed his head into the guardrail, annoyed by his friend's bluntness. "...Yare yare daze..."
...
"Hey! Mini-Josuke!"
Kyoka turned to see Jolyne walking up to her. She had just got back from I-Island yesterday, the events still playing in her mind.
"Jolyne."
Kyoka blushed at the premise of being called "Mini-Josuke." Sure he was her mentor, but it wasn't like she had Crazy Diamond.
She really had to learn how to take compliments.
Jolyne slowed in order to walk beside her. "I heard about I-Island, you okay?"
"Yeah...I'm not going to lie, it was a bit scary, but Midoriya and JoJo had my back, so..."
Jolyne did a double take. "Wait...my BROTHER was there?!"
Kyoka turned to Jolyne, confused. "Yeah...the Steel Ball Run went through the island...you knew he was racing, right?"
Jolyne looked down. "No...I was...oh my God, I'm horrible."
"What?"
"I was...trying to get revenge on our mo-Susan, and I...I should've been supporting him...he must be going through so much right now, and I've been too focused on that stupid woman to be there for him..."
Kyoka frowned. Jolyne was trying to get back at Susan? She thought back to their fight with Civil War.
"Jolyne."
"Yeah?"
"I...well...you see, we were attacked..."
"Attacked?!"
"Yeah, enemy stand user. JoJo kicked his ass...but before that, the stand was playing around with our guilt, and our worst memories...and I tried to break JoJo free from it...and I ended up inside of his head...I caught a glimpse of what she did to him..."
"Which memory did you see?"
"You weren't in it. I think he was keeping it a secret...but she told him that...I can't say it. I refuse to have those words come out of my mouth."
"Jiro." Jolyne knelt down and put her hands on the other woman's shoulders. "I need you to tell me...I need to know how to help him."
"She said...God took the wrong son." Kyoka looked down, ashamed that those words even came out of her mouth. Jolyne's face was frozen with a stone cold glare. Her fury restoked but what Kyoka had just told her.
"Nicholas...that fucking bitch."
Kyoka looked at Jolyne, frantically waving her jacks. "I-I cheered him up, though. I-I told him that it didn't matter what Susan thought of him, because we all care about him. He-I think he believed me."
"He actually...you actually got through to him?"
"Yeah...?"
Jolyne pulled Kyoka into a hug, startling her. "I've been trying to do that for MONTHS...heh, you really are something Jiro. No wonder Johnny and my uncle took such a liking to you, you really are reliable."
Kyoka blushed, and then she continued. "I-I saw her hit him. I've never seen him so vunerable...except for when he lost his legs."
"She was involved in that too..."
"WHAT?!"
"She knew Johngalli A...she had him target Johnny on purpose, so she could try to ruin the family...don't tell Johnny, he has enough going on."
"Jolyne."
"Hm?"
"CRUSH HER."
"I will, Giorno is already working on it...but right now, I need you to tell me how I can watch this race."
"There's a link to a livestream I can send you...I'm sorry, it's all too much to process right now."
"Sorry...kind of dropped a bomb on you, didn't I?"
"You don't know the half of it..."
...
"So...how the hell did you convince the officials to let us get on the boat?" Wekapipo questioned.
"Well...I may have told them that we were Johnny and Gyro's coaches." Joseph chuckled, scratching the back of his head.
"Gyro is better than me, if anything I need to be coached by him." Wekapipo remarked.
"Well, best not to mention that in front of the officials then!"
"You are so full of mischief Mr. Joestar, it's a miracle you haven't talked yourself into a mess you can't get out of."
"Heh heh, I know. If you think I'm crazy now, you should've seen me during my younger days!"
Wekapipo had to smile. They had formed quite the team, Johnny was strong, despite his limitations, Gyro was basically the glue that held them together, Hot Pants was...well She was pretty stoic, but she has lightened up a bit since she had revealed her true gender. Apparently, she was a nun, and entering the race would have gotten her excommunicated from the convent...but it looks like she didn't care about that anymore. Diego actually turned out to be a decent fellow, once you got to know him, and Joseph always knew how to make people laugh.
He had finally found a group that he could belong to.
Wekapipo was always an honorable man, except for the brief hiccup when he tried to kill Gyro, he believed that honor and respect were key to living a meaningful life. He had set his sister up with the guy she had a crush on, and even gave them his blessing when they had decided to marry.
So when he found her beaten and bloodied at her husband's hand, the honorable thing to do was to challenge the man to a duel, for his sister. Wekapipo won the duel, killing his brother in law...
Only for Gregorio Zeppeli to exile him, and send his sister to be executed for aiding in criminal activities.
He had only ever tried to be honorable...but he was punished for it, he was punished for protecting his family.
He had wandered around with his steel balls, desperately searching for a new purpose..
A loud BANG! was heard, and Joseph fell backwards, blood flowing from the sudden wound in his side.
"OH MY GOOOOOOD!"
Wekapipo whirled around, activating a steel ball as he searched for the assailant. "Mr. Joestar, are you alright?!"
Joseph nodded and picked himself back up. "The bastard shot me!"
Wekapipo turned his sight toward the shattered window. "It came from the other boat! Keep away from the windows!"
Joseph and Wekapipo took cover, when Joseph pulled out his Tommy gun and began loading it. "Hold it Mr. Joestar! That might cause a disturbance!"
Wekapipo kept his eyes on the window, and his eyes widened as a shadow came through it.
A shadow with a top hat.
"Magenta Magenta..." Wekapipo muttered, and Joseph's eyes widened. "That's the guy who tried to kill Johnny at the USJ..."
"He was shot in the head...how is he still alive?"
"Who cares?! He's shooting at us!"
Wekapipo reached around the window to hurl a steel ball at the shadow's origin, only for a knife to come stabbing down at his face. Luckily, the knife broke off in his cheek.
"DAMMIT! Flimsy piece of shit."
Wekapipo ignored the gushing wound in his face and threw his steel ball, inducing Left Side Ataxia into his opponent. Magenta Magenta fell backwards, but caught the safety ladder with his right hand, dangling over the ocean.
"Leave, Magenta. I don't want to kill you."
The assassin glared daggers at Wekapipo. "You left me to DIE! To saddle up with the kid that I hate the most! YOU FUCKING TRAITOR!"
Magenta aimed his gun at Wekapipo, using his right hand. Shit! He's too close! I have to end this quickly!
Wekapipo hurled his Wrecking Ball directly at Magenta's head, intending to crush his skull, but Magenta activated 20th Century Boy, and it bounced off. Magenta's stand punched through the ladder and the assassin used the bent steel to swing into the room.
Only for a set of American clackers to wrap around both of his arms.
Joseph grinned as he yanked on them, pulling the assassin in and driving his knee into Magenta's stomach, causing him to spit. Magenta snarled, but Joseph twisted the clackers, as well as Magenta's limbs, and Magenta screamed as his arms began to bend at an unnatural angle.
"Sorry pal, you aren't going anywhere! Hit him Wekapipo!"
"Wrecking Ball!"
"RAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"
Magenta threw himself down, breaking his wrist in the process, and Wekapipo's steel ball slammed into Joseph instead. Wekapipo's eyes widened as Joseph crashed through the wall behind them.
"Mr. Joestar! Shit!"
Magenta rushed over and tackled Wekapipo out of the window, headbutting him on the way down. They landed on the deck below, startling the passengers. Wekapipo reached for his steel balls, only to find that he had unfortunately thrown both of them. I really have to ask Gyro how he gets those things to come back...I'm not very good at it.
Wekapipo picked himself back up, only for Magenta to lunch him in the face. Wekapipo grunted as blood flew from his broken nose, but he shifted his weight and kicked Magenta in the ribs, causing the assassin to double over.
Magenta took off his top hat and reached inside, pulling out a small handgun. He...he keeps a gun in there?! Wekapipo jumped out of the way as Magenta fired, taking cover behind a metal bench.
"I'LL KILL YOU, WEKAPIPO! AND THEN, I'LL KILL KUJO, AND I WILL MAKE HIS DEATH SLOW AND PAINFUL! I'LL MAKE HIM WATCH AS I TEAR HIS BALLS OUT, AND I'LL FORCE FEED THEM TO THAT FLOPPY EARED GIRLFRIEND OF HIS! I'LL KILL EVERYONE ON THIS BOAT!"
He's insane!
Magenta charged towards the bench, a crazed expression on his face. "NOBODY MAKES A FOOL OUT OF ME AND LIVES TO TELL THE TALE! NOT WITHOUT RETRIBUTION!"
...
"Johnny! Wekapipo's in danger!" Diego shouted.
"What?!" Johnny wheeled over to the side of the boat, a massive firefight broke out in the boat ahead of them. Wekapipo was running around, while...
"Magenta Magenta...why does that bastard keep coming back?!"
Diego squinted his eyes. "We have to help them."
"The boat is too far, and in case you didn't notice, I can't swim."
"But I can..."
Diego dove headfirst into the ocean, and partially transformed into a dinosaur, the added strength and endurance allowing him to catch up with the other boat.
Hurry up Diego...I hope Gramps is okay...
...
Wekapipo dodged another bullet, wincing as it grazed his shoulder. Magenta cackled as he began unloading his gun in the spin user's direction.
Then a tiny plesiosaur jumped out of the water and bit a chunk of Magenta's ear off. It was on the right side of his face, where his missing eye was, so he didn't see it comming. Wekapipo lit up as an idea popped into his brain:
He's missing his right eye! That's why he stumbled when I used the left side ataxia! He can only see from his left! If I can blind him...he'll be a sitting duck! I just need one of my steel balls...
Then, almost as if fate had decided today was Wekapipo's lucky day, one of said steel balls smacked the gun out of Magenta's hand as he was grappling with Diego's dinosaur. Wekapipo turned to see Joseph standing there, Wekapipo's other steel ball spinning in his hand.
"I believe you dropped these!"
Mr. Joestar...you truly are a man full of surprises...learning to use the Spin like that.
Wekapipo caught the steel ball as Joseph readied the other one, and they both threw, the satellites shooting off of them as Magenta screamed.
"DOUBLE WRECKING BALL!"
Magenta blindly swung his arms around, desperately trying to hit his attackers, when Diego kept from the ocean and planted a kick into Magenta's groin.
"MY CROWN JEWELS! THEY'VE BEEN SMASHED! WHOEVER DID THAT, I HATE YOU! "
"WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!" Diego roared as he uppercutted Magenta, sending the blinded assassin sprawling, tripping over the bullet ridden bench. Seeing an opportunity, Joseph grabbed some of the steel rigging from the ship and tied it into a lasso, throwing it around Magenta and sending Hamon through it, tightening the cables around him.
Wekapipo hurled a steel ball, the rotation causing Joseph's end of the lasso to curl around the bench, and another punch to the face from Diego was enough to send Magenta overboard. The assassin had one arm free, so he caught the guardrail, and hung there helpless as the three heroes loomed over him.
"D-don't...please..."
"Not so cantankerous now, are you?" Diego asked, a slightly creepy smile making it's way into his face.
"Mind repeating what you said about cutting off Johnny's balls?" Joseph said, grinning like a mad man as he began playing with Magenta's pinky.
"N-no, STOP IT!"
The weight of the bench was pulling down on the assassin, and his grip was starting to break. He would be pulled down into the ocean, never to see the light of day again.
"You've caused us quite a bit of trouble, Magenta. And, if I'm being honest...Mr. Instead makes a better partner than you ever did." Wekapipo said.
Magenta frantically looked around, trying to find some way of escaping, and his eyes made their way to the other boat.
Johnny was sitting there, smiling at him. Johnny plugged his nose and did the scuba move, before giving him the middle finger. He was holding a phone out, pointing the screen in Magenta's direction. If the assassin could see what was on it, he would've seen a purple haired girl with earphone jacks enthusiastically waving goodbye.
YOU FUCKER!
Then Wekapipo smacked Magenta's hand, and the villain who had terrorized Johnny and Kyoka at the USJ fell to the dark watery depths below.
...
Magenta Magenta felt the bench hit the ground, and he immediately activated 20th Century Boy.
He could breathe again.
Those fools! 20th Century Boy protects me from all harm! Even drowning! And once I escape...
...how the fuck am I going to do that?
Magenta watched as a shark swam by him. He was trapped down there...
Mr. Valentine will come get me, right?! His boat was nearby...there's no way he could leave me down here, right?!
But Magenta Magenta never got help...he never left the bottom of the ocean. He couldn't drown, he couldn't starve...he just sat there, waiting hopefully for his rescuer.
Eventually, he lost that hope...
Eventually...he stopped thinking.
...
"So...how do you feel?"
"I feel...I feel content." Kyoka said. "It's nice to get some closure...are you sure he won't come back?"
"He already sank too deep...and it's hard to break out of solid steel underwater, something tells me he's going to be down there for a while...like a makeshift prison."
Kyoka smiled. "Serves him right, how's the boat ride been, besides the mad hatter showing up?"
"Pretty good...although Gyro has been extra annoying now that he's met you guys in person."
"I don't doubt it...heh."
"What?"
"You were dancing...you're such an idiot."
"I wanted to make his last moments above the surface special."
Kyoka laughed. "Well, we're actually heading to training camp soon. Should be fun, although I really hope that there is something more than a wall separating the baths...you know..."
"Mineta."
"Fucking little pervert. Does he really think he can be a hero with that attitude? He's going to get so many sexual harassment charges, he'll be considered a villain."
"I can already see the headlines: The Grapist Strikes Again!"
Kyoka began giggling. "Grapist..." She muttered. "That's a good one...pfft HA HA HA HA! GRAPIST!"
Johnny had to join in. God dammit, her laughter is too infectious!
...
Joseph finished wrapping his arms in bandages, and made his way off the boat to meet with the others. He felt a tap on his shoulder, and he turned to see Gyro looking at him.
"Yes Gyro?"
"Can I...can you tell me about Caesar?"
Joseph blinked. "Of course...of course I can."
...
"And that's that. He was an ASSHOLE...but he was my best friend. He was noble, kind, and loyal to a fault. We had...a pretty nasty right before he left, and I never really got the chance to apologize. He...he still gave his life for me...and when I saw you were about to do the same for Johnny, well you know what happened. "
Gyro looked down. "What the fuck happened to us?"
"Hm?"
"The Zeppeli Family! Caesar was...he was a hero! How did we go from people willing to pay down their lives for the safety of the world, to COWARDS, hiding behind steel balls and hoods! It's...it's so frustrating!"
"Well...you aren't a coward, are you?"
Gyro looked at Joseph in surprise, as the old man smiled at him. "You're doing the same thing the Zeppelis before you have done...I mean, we're saving the world, aren't we?"
"Well, yeah-"
"And Johnny told me about saving that little boy...Gyro, don't loop yourself in with the Zeppelis that have abandoned their roots, because you are a return to form my boy! When I said Caesar would be proud of you...I meant it!"
Gyro smiled. "I think he would be proud of you too, Mr. Joestar..."
Joseph looked taken aback by this, but smiled. "Run off now, I'm sure Johnny's looking for you."
Tears brimmed in the old man's eyes as he watched Gyro catch up with the others. You really think he's proud of me...huh?
