"Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap," asked Johan. "Other dimensions? Okay, this is starting to become a bit too much for me."

Joan Jett coughed up blood. "Now I get it. I didn't shoot at myself. This prick summoned an alternate version of me and tricked her into shooting me!"

"Yes," said Valentine. "That is the power of my Stand. I can bring alternate versions of anyone from any timeline. But, there is a catch, you see. No person can exist as 'two of the same person' in 'the same world'...except for me, with my Stand ability..."

"What do you mean," asked Anne.

"This. Dojyaaan," said Valentine, as Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap reached into one of the desk's drawers and pulled out...

"Holy frog, it's..."

"...me!" exclaimed the other Anne.

"Anne has a twin," said Sprig. "Sweet!"

"That's an Anne from an alternate world," said Marcy, almost excited. "What's it like? What changes were made? Do you have brothers in your dimension? Do you have a boyfriend?"

"MARCY!" shouted both Annes.

"You didn't answer Anne's question, Valentine," snarled Johan. "What happens when two versions of the same person meet?"

"A sponge," said Valentine, making everyone confused. "And another sponge. Overlapping...so the gaps intersect with the other gaps...and the two become one."

To everyone's shock, bloody, square shaped chunks of meat started to fall off both Anne's bodies, making them scream with pain. "If this Anne," said Valentine as he held onto the other Anne. "Does not return to her dimension, then they will both fall apart, merge, and then cease to exist. Of course, as the Stand user, I'm the only exception to that rule."

Everyone could do nothing but watch in horror. More of the Anne's flesh fell off, until Marcy shouted tearfully, "STOP IT! PLEASE, PUT HER BACK! STOP IT!"

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap pushed the other Anne back into the drawer and the current Anne's body started to reform itself, though she was clearly horrified by the experience. Marcy and Johan ran up to her and tried their best to comfort her. Sprig tried to free himself from the Valentine holding him and attack the present version, but he couldn't. Instead, he just glared at the newt and shouted, "Why are you doing this?!"

"Why? I suppose that is a good question," said Valentine as he held up two napkins. "Suppose that you were sitting down at a dinner table. The napkins are in front of you, which napkin would you take? The one on your 'left'? Or the one on your 'right'? The one on your left side? Or the one on your right side?"

Marcy looked at the two napkins. For a while, she tried to think. Then she said, "Well, I am right handed, so I would go for the right. But if I were left handed, I would go for the left."

"So it doesn't matter," said Johan. "They are both the right answer."

Valentine nodded as he set the napkins down. "Indeed. In a larger sense of society, none of it matters. Perhaps I could even substitute 'society' with the 'universe'."

"The universe?" asked Marcy.

"The correct answer is that 'It is determined by the one who takes his or her own napkin first.'" Valentine paused. "…Yes? If the first one takes the napkin to their right, then there's no choice but for others to also take the 'right' napkin. The same goes for the left. Everyone else will take the napkin to their left, because they have no other option. This is 'society'."

Polly turned to Hop Pop. "You understand what is going on?"

"I stopped figuring out what makes sense a long time ago," said the old frog.

Valentine continued, "Who are the ones that determine the price of land first? There must have been someone who determined the value of money, first. The size of the rails on a train track? The magnitude of electricity? Laws and regulations? Who was the first to determine these things? Did we all do it, because this is a monarchy? Or was it arbitrary?"

Valentine slammed his fist on his desk before anyone could respond and his voice became more unhinged. "NO! The one who took the napkin first determined all of these things! The rules of this world are determined by that same principle of 'right or left?'! In a society like a dinner table, a state of equilibrium, once one makes the first move, everyone must follow! In every era, this world has been operating by this napkin principle. And the one who 'takes the napkin first' must be someone who is respected by all. It's not that anyone can fulfill this role… Those that are despotic or unworthy will be scorned. And those are the 'losers'. In the case of this table, the 'eldest' or the 'Master of the Party' will take the napkin first…" He exhaled, calming down. "Because everyone 'respects' those individuals."

"And you want to be one of those respected individuals," asked Johan. "Is that why you took the box and destroyed the temples? So you can become king?"

"There already is a king," snapped Marcy.

Valentine scoffed. "I don't want to become king. That old painting tells of Amphibia's fate and I want to guide that fate in the right direction, the same way one would take the first napkin. Even someone who is at the head of the table will have to follow whoever took the first napkin."

BOOM! Valentine's leg suddenly exploded and he was sent flying out the window. Joan Jett chuckled. "Nice work, guys. You got him so distracted with his own speech, he didn't notice me put bombs on him."

"Uh, yeah, that's what I was thinking," said Johan. No, he wasn't. "Now what about them?" He summoned DARE, who proceeded to pummel the other Valentines who were holding onto the Plantars and Frobo. He finished them off with his gunblade before he grabbed the music box. "Come on! Grab Joan Jett and let's get out of here!"

Marcy and Anne grabbed onto Joan Jett's shoulders and helped her walk out of the office. Johan led the group armed with his gunblade, ready to shoot anyone who might try to stop them. Finally, they managed to escape the building. "Come on! We gotta hurry before..." POW! Johan didn't even get to finish his sentence before a fist slammed into his face and sent him into a wall. Everyone gasped when they saw who it was. "Valentine!"

"D-Damn it," muttered Joan Jett. "The bastard swapped himself with another counterpart!"

Johan got back up and readied his gunblade. "Everyone, run. No matter what happens, don't stop running until you get back to Wartwood."

"But, what about you, JoJo," asked Anne, not liking where this was going.

"As the boss of Passione, I have to defend my familia. And Joan Jett needs medical attention, but she can't have that if we're in this situation! And none of you are Stand users, so it has to be me!" Everyone hesitated. "GO, NOW!"

Valentine grabbed Johan and the two of them flew up into the air. "You're not ruining this for me," growled the former. "You're just a small cog in a machine that has been in place for thousands of years! I've taken the first napkin, and now, I control Amphibia's fate!"

"Would..." Johan summoned DARE, who proceeded to punch Valentine in the face. "...you..." And again. "...SHUT UP?!" And again. Then the two of them slammed into a forest.

They got back up and Valentine said, "Fine. I can blow off some steam." D4C appeared and slammed one of its fists into DARE, sending it and Johan flying into a tree. He said, "Gugh! This Stand is fast! Probably as fast as Jotaro's Star Platinum!" D4C appeared again and prepared to punch Johan again, only for him to dodge and make DARE punch D4C in the face.

In response, Valentine grunted before saying, "If I recall what I read in the newspapers, your Stand is weak in terms of strength, but it amplifies and dulls the five senses. Right now, I can feel my sense of touch intensifying to the point where the breeze on my skin feels like paper cuts. So, logically, I just have to keep your Stand from making contact with me and D4C. Dojyaaan..."

Suddenly, Johan was ambushed by two more Funny Valentines who took out knives and tried to stab him, but he took out the gunblade and fired, killing them both. The Valentine he was fighting then snuck up on him and D4C rapidly punched his body and sent him flying in the air. Valentine flew up, grabbed Johan and slammed him into the ground again.

Johan took out the gunblade and shot him in the head. "Pointless!" Another Valentine took his place and D4C prepared to punch him, but DARE appeared, caught its fist and gave it a squeeze. Valentine let out a yell of pain before DARE pulled him and D4C forward and Johan rapidly punched Valentine's face while DARE simultaneously did the same to D4C. Then D4C grabbed DARE by the head and slammed it into its knee, and Johan simultaneously felt the pain.

Valentine, feeling like his body was on the verge of going into shock, slit his own throat with a knife and was then replaced with another Valentine. Johan groaned in frustration. "How fair is this? Every time I feel like I'm beating him, he just replaces himself with another dimensional counterpart!"

Suddenly, a bullet barely grazed his ear and he turned to see another Valentine standing on top of a large rock and aiming a gun at him. He fired again and Johan dodged, shooting this Valentine in between the eyes. Only for the current Valentine to sneak up behind him and have D4C grab him by the head and slam him into the ground again. He then pressed his foot into Johan's head and said, "Why are you struggling? You know this is a losing fight. You can't beat my Stand."

Johan spat blood in Valentine's face. "Do you know how sick I am of hearing people say their Stand is invincible? Nothing is invincible if you know the weak spot! Sheesh! Why is that so hard to learn for you egomaniacs with delusions of grandeur?" DARE grabbed onto Valentine's leg and gave it a squeeze, once again sending Valentine's pain receptors into overdrive and making him yell in pain. This distracted him long enough for Johan to shoot him in the head, then did the only thing he could think of next: run away. "I don't stand a chance against him," he said to himself. "It doesn't matter how many times I kill him, that Stand is going to replace him with another counterpart! I gotta get away from him and get back with the others!"

Suddenly, he tripped and fell, and he found himself sticking out of the ground halfway. He looked up and saw someone looking down at him, confused. It was...himself? No, it was a Johan Shiobana from another dimension. D4C trapped him halfway between this dimension and the one he originated from. "You remember what I said," said Valentine as he walked out from behind a tree. "No person can exist as 'two of the same person' in 'the same world'...except for me, with my Stand ability..."

Johan gulped when he recalled what almost happened to Anne. Sure enough, he felt his body start to come apart, with the same thing happening to his counterpart. He tried to pull himself back into his own dimension to keep himself from dying, only to be stomped back in by Valentine. He slammed into a rock and Valentine placed a hand on his head. "The only reason you're not dead yet is because your role isn't over. Sasha Waybright hasn't been found and she needs to learn of her potential, just as Anne and Marcy must."

Johan, despite being a bloody mess at this point, still managed to glare at the newt. "Do whatever you want with me, but leave them alone."

Valentine stood up. "No." And the last thing Johan saw was the sole of Valentine's foot kicking him in the face.

Anne, Marcy and the Plantars dragged Joan Jett out of the City Hollow, ignored the chaos caused by the giant gingerbread frogs, and found the hiding spot in the woods, where Bessie was waiting. "What about JoJo?" asked Anne.

"He told us to get back to Wartwood," said Hop Pop. "Don't worry, he'll catch up."

"No, you're not going anywhere," said a female voice. Sitting on top the old snail's saddle was a female, slim, red newt with dark hair tied in a ponytail and wearing a dark bodysuit partially quilted on the legs and bearing several crown symbols on the arms and a short sleeveless dress with a multi-layered heart motif on the chest. She was pointing a gun at them.

Joan Jett groaned. "Oh, great."

"Who is this," asked Hop Pop.

"Scarlet. Valentine's wife. She got the jump on me earlier. She's not even a Stand user. Embarrassing, isn't it?"

"There is a cart nearby," said Scarlet. "The humans are to come with me."

Anne and Marcy glanced at each other then laughed as they activated their powers. "You think you can stop us with a puny gun? We got powers! Kneel before my..." Anne said, her blue powers taking the form of a tennis racket. "...my giant tennis racket! Shoot, that sounded better in my mind."

Marcy used the Spin on her die and, with it charged with her green powers, flicked it at Scarlet's hand and the Spin contorted her hand, making her aim the gun at her face. Scarlet dodged just before her finger was forced to pull the trigger. She dropped the gun and held her hand in pain. "The next one won't miss," warned Marcy.

"I don't need a gun. Not when I have this!" Scarlet held up something that made Bessie scream in horror. It was a salt shaker.

Hop Pop gasped. "You wouldn't dare!"

"You leave Bessie alone!" Sprig, channeling his Ripple energy into his sling shot.

"You messed with the frog family," said Polly as she took out her flail.

Scarlet, unafraid, tilted the salt shaker, spilling a little bit on the old snail, who shrieked in pain. "BESSIE!" shouted the Plantars.

"That's it!" shouted Polly with hate. "I'm gonna crush your head!"

"One step and I'll spill all its contents on your snail," warned Scarlet. "Surrender the girls, now!"

"Nuts to that," shouted Anne, about to charge at Scarlet, only to stop when the newt unscrewed the salt shaker and held it precariously above Bessie.

"That's better," she said. "Now, both of you will come with me and the snail and Plantars will live."

"No! We we won't let you," shouted Sprig. "You can't have Anne and Marcy!"

"Yes you will," said Valentine as he approached the group. "Otherwise..." He threw something on the ground. To Anne, Marcy and the Plantars' horror, it was Johan's gunblade, snapped in two. "Well, you get the idea. Did they give you trouble, dear," he asked Scarlet.

"Just a little," she responded, touching the spot her own bullet grazed her.

Valentine summoned Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, Joan Jett saw this and tried to summon Cherry Bomb again, but her wounds made her too weak. D4C then grabbed Anne and Marcy and slammed them into a tree, and they vanished. "This is how I get around without having to use any mode of transportation," said Valentine. "By using D4C's dimensional travel, I can go from one place to another."

Valentine took Scarlet by the hand and held her close. "This is not the end," he said. "As soon as all three Calamity powers become one, the prophecy will come to fruition." With that, he grabbed Scarlet and the two of them pressed their backs against Bessie's shell before D4C pressed them even more, causing them to vanish into the shell.

There was a moment's silence, then Sprig asked, "How did we even survive that?"

"Because he got what he wanted," said Hop Pop grimly. "All this time, he wanted Anne and Marcy. And now..." He choked back a sob. "Bessie and Joan Jett are injured and we don't know where Marcy and my adopted granddaughter are!"

Then Polly realized, "Wait! What happened to JoJo?!"

The sight of the broken gunblade made the other two Plantars remember and were about to search for him, but it seemed someone already did. A hooded figure in red armor stepped out of the forest, holding Johan's unconscious body. "He's surprisingly light," said the figure as they lowered their hood.

The Plantars gasped. "YOU!"

Johan let out a slight groan as he awoke in an unfamiliar room. It had pictures of frog doctors hanging on the wall, the ceiling had a vine pattern and the floor was wood. It took him a while to realize he was lying in a bed, his body wrapped in bandages. He tried to sit up, only to groan in pain. Then he remembered something that made him stand up despite the pain. Anne and Marcy! The Plantars! Joan Jett! Valentine! He quickly scrambled out of bed, and the pain made him collapse onto the ground.

The door to the hospital room opened and all Johan could see was a pair of red armored boots walking toward him. He looked up and his eyes became filled with shock, then anger. "You."

Sasha looked down at him and shook her head. "You really screwed up."

To be continued ➟

Stand: Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (D4C)

User: Funny Valentine

Power: A

Speed: A

Range: C

Durability: A

Precision: A

Potential: A

Ability: Allows different parallel worlds/dimensions to co-exist at the same time and/or in the same place. It also allows its user to visit these parallel worlds/dimensions and interact with them.