Butterfly Effect
Well, hey there. It's been a long time, hasn't it? Well, as I am writing this, I'm pretty busy academically. But nonetheless I pour my free time into writing this. Because I can't bring myself to make you wait too long. So please accept this humble apology and enjoy this chapter.
I do not own JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Chapter 17: Born with one
Because of Joseph and Caesar just not coming out of the hotel, the others decided to go on their own.
Walking down the street, Kakyoin, Polnareff and Avdol noticed a weird man behind them. That man was very weird, spotting an unattractive horizontal haircut with bells hanging from them and wearing granny glasses. He certainly looked unusual.
And suspicious, since he averted eye contact and put up a clumsy act the second the crusaders noticed him.
"Uh… Hm… Er… I dropped my change… I wonder where it went…"
The three didn't need to communicate telepathically to decide whether this man was trailing them or not, it was that obvious.
"Hey, idiot, who do you think you're fooling?" Noriaki asked in disdain, pointing at him.
"We can tell you're following us, I can notice the malice in your eyes." the egyptian informed, crossing his arms.
That man, Alessi, continued to put up a bad clumsy act. "Uh… Were you gentlemen talking to me? I… I'm not sure what you're talking about, m- malice? These are the eyes my parents gave me. …And I found my change."
Having enough of that stupid act, the frenchman quickly decided to put an end to this, drawing out his Stand and pointing it at the man. Though he did not consult this with his friends. "Oh really? Then prove it… prove that you're not a Stand user!"
Alessi had been waiting for this. A weird shadow with actual eyes manifested in front of him. That wasn't an usual shadow as it was his Stand [Sethan], though the logic of shadows being 2-dimensional and only appearing on the surface of something still applied to it.
"Huh?" the three crusaders reacted, jumping out of the way in the air when it rapidly expanded on the ground towards them.
"Tch! That was close!" the redhead called, his fighting senses kicking in.
"I knew you were a Stand user!" Polnareff exclaimed, getting ready to fight.
"That settles it, let's take him out!" Avdol joined in, narrowing his eyes.
Those three were ready to fight, having their Stands manifested. Though the instigator wasn't, Alessi quickly withdrew his Stand, turned around and ran away.
"Huh?" The cherry boy didn't know what to say, reacting to that. 'Did we just encounter our most cowardly enemy yet?'
"He's running away…?" the egyptian observed, surprised by that move.
"What's the deal with him?" the frenchman wondered, staring at the man's back in contempt.
Though neither of them were willing to just let him run. They'd chase him after informing Jotaro about the enemy so he too would be prepared too for the case he encountered Alessi.
"Oi, Jotaro!"
"It's the enemy!"
"We've found him!"
Hearing those separate voices, the young Joestar turned around, reacting to them. But there wasn't anyone he recognized at all. "Huh…?"
"And guys, where did you go?" he wondered in confusion, turning his head to the sides a few times. He really didn't see anything.
Part of the reason was that the trio chased after the enemy Stand user, sprinting after him. He was unusually fast. "Stop, damn!"
They turned corners and followed him with great dedication, but Alessi was getting farther and farther away.
"Shit! He's fast! I can't believe how fast he is, he's so far ahead of us!" the cherry boy complained, getting exhausted.
But running any further was useless, not only because they couldn't catch up, but also because they had to forcibly stop. Polnareff accidently crashed against another person, someone who appeared ridiculously tall.
"Ouch!"
He fell on his butt, catching a glimpse of the shoes he was wearing. "Huff… What's with these shoes? They're really big." It confused him.
That man he crashed into then opened his mouth. "Hey, be careful. You're going to get into an accident if you keep running in the streets. You're lucky it wasn't a car."
The frenchman didn't take these words kindly, insulting the man. He wasn't in a good mood anyway. "Shut up, you idiot! Don't lecture me with that big mouth of yours! Now move it, I'm chasing someone!"
With an irritated expression on his face, that man proceeded to grab him by the collar and lift him. Strangely, there was nothing Polnareff could do against this.
"Huh?"
"Huh?" Avdol and Kakyoin also reacted in bewilderment, watching that scene. "What's going on? Who is this guy?"
"What do you think you're doing, hey?!" the frenchman was really flustered, overwhelmed by his senses. A strong grip too strong for his body, a grip from a seemingly very tall man with big hands lifted him up high with only one hand. That had never happened to him before.
"Hey, you little wise-ass!" he addressed Polnareff again, this time significantly angrier. "I'll teach you not to talk that way to adults!"
"Huh?"
And then the man slapped the frenchman away with a powerful, overwhelming palm. Polnareff was almost sent flying.
"Argh!"
"You think you're a grown-up because you're wearing grown-up clothes? Hmph, what a little punk!" The man grumbled, then switching his gaze to the other two crusaders. "The same goes for you too. Talk to an adult like that and you'll get the same treatment."
This entire experience was weird for Noriaki, but he mostly didn't like how his friend was treated. He stepped up to the man who was walking away and questioned him. "Hey, what do you mean little punk? Do you think you're an adult and we aren't because you're taller than us? Show us some respect!" he daringly called in his most adult tone possible.
Granted he was technically 17 and not an adult, but that man did treat them like they were children. And now that he mentioned it, both Polnareff and Avdol over there looked unusually young today.
Said man turned around again, this time focusing on the redhead. "Respect? Don't make me repeat yourself, little runt! You're not adults who can talk like adults! Go look into a mirror, or better yet, reality!"
The egyptian then decided it was enough and prepared to stop the argument. "Sorry for the trouble, Mister. We'll leave now." he apologized, bowing his head.
Seeing how this one was reasonable and acted with respect towards grown-ups, the man decided not to further continue the matter. He just shot a slightly disdainful glance at them and walked away for good this time. "What's becoming of the youth these days…"
As the cherry boy wasn't hurt, Avdol approached Polnareff and helped him stand up. "Are you okay?"
"Nrgh, yeah…" the frenchman muttered, getting back up and putting on his oversized shoe he lost when that man picked him up. "That stupid bastard…"
"He said we should look into a mirror." the egyptian spoke up, quickly bringing up the next important topic. "I think we should really do that, since things have become weird since we met that weirdo. Like, you look far too young, and your clothes have become oversized. This isn't normal, I'm actually worried."
"Me too." Kakyoin joined in, nodding. "Changes have obviously occurred, and it worries me."
They now all had serious looks on their faces. All different in a distinct way, mixed with characteristic emotions and expressions of the three for each, but all serious about a fact that they acknowledged: Their situation was far from normal, and that for the worse.
Quickly rushing towards a shop with a large glass storefront, between people who looked like giants, the crusader trio wanted to see themselves in the reflection.
When they finally got there, they couldn't believe their eyes. With widened eyes they were staring at their own appearances. Child-like appearances.
"Wh- what the…?!"
Sweat built up on each of their young faces. Sweat of a weird crisis.
"I'm a kid!"
"This can't be…"
"I've turned into a kid!"
Shock and panic were written all over their faces. Noriaki then pointed at Avdol and Polnareff. "A short while ago you already looked young to me, but not this young! You look even younger now, truly like kids!"
"I could say the same about you!" the frenchman retorted, feeling great mental discomfort. "Why have I… Why have we changed so much?"
Even the usually most mature one of them, the egyptian, felt flustered a lot. "It must be because of that weirdo! 100%! There's no other way!"
That made sense to the other two, who felt very uncomfortable in their situation. "That creep! This is bad, real bad…"
"Ah!" Polnareff then made a loud sound, noticing someone familiar walk past. Someone he knew but now kind of didn't, someone he knew could help them. A tall and muscular boy with a black school uniform and weird black cap.
In the redhead's mind, a similar thought flashed as well. 'This guy… I kind of know him, yes I do! What was his name again, tho? Jo… Jo…'
"Jo… Jo…" His thoughts became words and he reached forward with his open palm, a gesture calling for help.
Luckily that boy noticed the three of them. But when he looked at them, the kid trio could only blankly stare back with an open mouth and stammer.
"…"
"Uh…"
"Jo…"
Anything further than that was not possible for the mind of the three.
'Damn it! I can't remember his name! I know him and he can help us, but I can't remember his name!' the three thought in frustration and despair, pressing their palms against the sides of their faces.
"Hey, you kids." The familiar boy spoke up, reacting to the presence of these kids. "Have you seen three guys with about the same haircuts as you three around here?"
Knowing whom he mentioned, literally them, the young crusaders nervously but unconvincingly answered his question.
"That's…"
"That's us!"
"Yeah, it's us!"
They pointed at themselves and each other, hoping their familiar would recognize them. But he didn't, turning around and leaving while letting out a remark.
"Yare yare daze, it's my fault for asking kids."
"Ah, wait!" The kids felt new despair when their familiar who they knew was very strong doubted them and left, shouting at him to stay with wide and scared eyes.
And gone was he. The premise was stupid especially in this particular case, but not all things are logical. With Jotaro not believing their words, they were left behind.
"Drat!"
"Now what?"
Now came the time for the sketchy man from earlier to reappear, with a good opportunity having come. He'd been watching the scene from behind a street corner, waiting to step out of hiding and make his face visible again.
When his face peeked out of that corner, the kids gasped wide-eyed upon seeing his face only a mother could love again.
*Gasp!*
"Heh heh heh heh heh… You're all kids now, body and mind. Soon you'll lose all your memories of being grown-ups." He said it with malicious intent, what a creep. "Heh heh heh heh… I guess it's about time to pick on the weak. Oh I love that, what a good boy I am."
It was natural that the boys felt the creeps, silent gulps and a lot of sweat followed those gasps. This man was dangerous, and not only because of his Stand ability.
"Kuh kuh kuh kuh… I can't say this too loud, but I just love picking on weak things. I like it a little too much." the dodgy man confessed, even his gaze looking not alright. "Hee hee hee hee… I think I'm a little sick in the head, but you know what they say… 'If you think you're crazy, then you probably aren't.' That must mean I'm okay…"
Perfect logic. Who came up with that?
"And it feels good to know that I can't lose to kids."
'Really?' the cherry boy thought, having a bit of hope. He was scared of Alessi, whose name he didn't know, but he still had some hope that with the three of them, they could at least get away, even if they couldn't defeat him.
"R- really? Mister, I don't know your name, but there's 3 of-"
He got cut off when Alessi kicked him upwards into a wooden balcony, breaking the lattices. Not only that, he was also stuck.
"Guh! I'm… I'm stuck!"
The sudden kick shocked not only him but also Avdol and Polnareff. "What?!"
"It doesn't matter how many of you are there. My mission is to kill you, and you kids won't stop me!" he claimed, revealing that he had a holster with a gun hidden below his shirt.
Taking out the gun, Alessi even equipped it with a silencer, showing he was no amateur assassin. "Too bad I don't have time to drag this out… make it fun!"
When DIO's agent pointed his gun at his head, Kakyoin felt fear, knowing the man would shoot any second. There was genuine dread in his eyes and voice. "Unnhh…"
*silent Bang*
*silent Bang*
*silent Bang*
*silent Bang*
Luckily it was this fear of death that saved him from becoming a victim. An entity that was with him since birth manifested, countering with the first ability known to Noriaki.
Emerald Splash
Alessi's bullets were deflected by the little but many emeralds coming from the other side. Narrow as it was, the bullets still missed his body. Lucky for him.
"Eh?" Everyone was surprised about what just happened.
"That's… [Hierophant Green]…" DIO's man observed, a little impressed. "I guess it's possible that he was able to summon his Stand as a kid…"
Meanwhile, the redhead was glad that he survived the attack, but there was something else that bothered him. Something that caused him to raise his voice in disbelief.
"AHGGHH! H- [Hierophant]! Even [Hierophant] is a kid!"
[Hierophant Green] was but a miniature version of its usual self. Seeing him, the frenchman and the egyptian also figured the same thing happened to their own Stand as well.
"Hmph." Alessi assumed a serious look in his eyes. He didn't like that he had been countered when he thought he'd easily win. "I guess only a Stand can defeat another Stand. But that's no issue, watch this!"
Below his shirt had not only been a holster with a gun, but also an axe. A sharp metal axe he gripped with his right hand. And because his Stand [Sethan] was a reference to his own shadow, a shadow axe also formed on [Sethan]'s right hand.
"But still, because your Stand is also a child's Stand, it is now in a weaker state. With MY stronger adult Stand, I shall strike the finishing blow."
There was truth to his words. Comparing only these 2 Stands, things looked dim for the cherry boy. But he wasn't alone. The other Stand users wouldn't even let DIO's agent get close to their ally.
"As if we're gonna let ya!"
Polnareff was the first one to attack, stabbing Alessi in the leg because of his short stature. But even if the leg wasn't a critical spot, and even if the damage output was not at its greatest due to the current state of [Silver Chariot], the attack still hurt. And the leg bled a lot.
"GNYAAAAAH!" the malicious adult screamed in pain, holding his leg.
"Take that, stupid!" the frenchman yelled at DIO's man, clenching his teeth.
"Owww! Owww, it hurts!" Alessi was clutching his leg in pain, but it wasn't going to end there. Someone hadn't had his turn yet.
"As much as I wish there was more I could do to you, I have to settle with this for now. Suffer, you scum!"
A small [Magician's Red] shot a small fireball at DIO's agent, causing his pants to be on fire. Though the thing with fire was, even if it started small, it'd grow more powerful with time. So Alessi had additional, more painful trouble.
"Waaaaaah! My pants! My legs! FIRE! AIEEEE!"
Meanwhile, Kakyoin managed to free himself from his disadvantageous position with the help of his Stand, returning back to the ground. He fell harshly but stood up fast, as he couldn't waste time. The crusaders then ran away together.
Noriaki also huffed while running away, while Polnareff and Avdol were fine. They ran past a corner, quickly getting out of their enemy's sight.
Running, they encountered a young and beautiful local lady just walking out of her entrance. Her eyes immediately fell on the redhead with substance on his body just as red. She seemed worried, seeing a little kid like him with those injuries.
"Are you alright, little boy?" she caringly asked, interest and willingness to help visible in her eyes.
Though the hectic boys ignored her and ran past her. At least until she opened her mouth again.
"Wait, little boy. You're hurt, what's wrong?" she inquired, this time a little more insistent.
Thinking it'd be rude to keep ignoring her, the cherry boy stopped in his tracks, because of that his friends also. Though now that he acknowledged her, he'd have to explain why it was hurt. Which was the difficult part, as a normal person wouldn't believe that an assassin was after them, not to mention the existence of Stands.
"Uh… Well… Uhm…" Kakyoin didn't manage to properly answer, only making awkward sounds while sweat appeared on his face.
But he didn't even need to answer after all, as that woman just half-assertively half-worriedly grabbed his hand and prepared to take him with her. "What are you mumbling? You need someone to look at and clean your wounds! I'll do it in my house, come with me."
"Wagh!" Noriaki let out as the pull was sudden.
She then extended the invitation to the other two kids next to him, whom she guessed were his friends. "You two are also free to come."
Looking at each other, the frenchman and the egyptian raised their eyebrows, then simultaneously switched their gazes to the young lady and nodded.
"O- okay."
"We'd be glad to."
'We have to defeat him or else we won't be able to turn into adults again. But he won't attack us while we're with her, so we can surely come up with a plan in the meantime.' was more or less their thought process.
Involving civilians in Stand user business was a dangerous matter not to be taken lightly. But they had a point when thinking that they needed a plan to defeat Alessi. And they were sure he would not interfere while an adult was present.
About that last topic, time would make them find out if their belief was true or not.
XXXXXXXXXX
A steamy warm bath had been prepared in the nice lady's bathroom. The bathtub was big enough to hold an adult and a couple of kids.
Looking outside the window, the three crusaders secretly whispered to each other.
"I don't see that guy…"
"Looks like he isn't coming after us then."
"That's reassuring, isn't it?"
As the bath was getting ready, the woman took off her clothes. "Come here, little boy. We're going to take a bath, take off your clothes. And you too, you're also covered in mud. Let's clean you up and put some medicine on you."
She didn't only mean the redhead. Polnareff too wasn't quite clean, as he was slapped onto the ground during the encounter with that big man who was big only in POV.
"Hm?"
"Eh?"
Hearing them being addressed, the crusaders turned around, only to notice the very well developed body of the woman who invited them. Tan skin, voluptuous proportions, light pink underwear most likely from silk… good to stare at, which they did. With open eyes and mouths, shocked about the very mixed reactions inside their brains. Some were more innocent and child-like, others were less innocent remnants of their grown-up minds. One thing that was certain was that they didn't complain about what they were seeing.
"What are you staring at?" she said jokingly and caringly, drawing closer with a faint and gentle smile. "Fine… I'll undress you. Here, let's take off your pants.
"Uwaaahhh! This is… this feels wrong!" The cherry boy almost felt like screaming in embarrassment, his eyes and mouth unusually wide at that moment. It was a strange feeling powered by his younger and older mind together.
Polnareff ogled the lady undressing his friend wide-eyed, almost drooling from his mouth. "To think I'm next…"
Even Avdol, the most reserved when it came to those kinds of thoughts, became affected by his younger, less self-restraint having self. After all, more important than not having fantasies or preferences was self-control to restrain those. "Can… Can I… join the bath too?"
The young lady approvingly turned her head to the third boy. "Actually, sure. Why not?"
'Yes!' the egyptian thought victoriously, though well aware that this somehow wasn't how he'd 'normally' act.
Soon all boys were naked and ready to bathe. But getting naked they each noticed the immense change to the area usually hidden from sight. The saying that men become more of a man with age universally held true in that regard.
"And… And… And…"
"Aieeeek! My willie! It's… tiny!"
"I don't know why, but I'm getting sad about this!"
With that aspect not being exempt from shrinking, they felt like crying.
But this feeling immediately went away when washing time came. Kakyoin especially, the one with the biggest need of care, got to experience bodily closeness. His head even went between the other gender's couple part, though the motion wasn't initiated by himself. Certain body mass pressing against his cheeks, steam came out of his nose.
"Oooooohh!"
Noriaki wasn't the only one, the more perverted frenchman watching also let out that sound of surprise and joy.
"Is… Is it really okay if I do this?" the redhead asked, nervous and very embarrassed about what he could do.
"Of course it is. If we don't clean your wounds, they'll get infected." she innocently reassured.
'Clean him faster!' Polnareff inwardly demanded full of anticipation. If it were him in that position, he'd make even weirder faces.
"Oh, you even have dirt on your wee-wee."
"OWAAAAHHHH!" That was the first time the cherry boy had ever made such a face.
'Best bath ever!' Avdol thought, content with it even knowing he'd get less 'attention' than either of his friends.
"Hehehe, I don't know why I'm so happy! Maybe because I'm a kid I don't understand it, but this is the best!" Polnareff spoke with a wide smirk, absolutely feeling content.
This lady liked to see these kids so happy, she got along with them well. Incidentally, she also changed the topic correspondingly.
"Fufu, we're getting along well, aren't we?"
"Y-Yeah, we do…"
"Ehehe, that's right."
"How could we not get along with a nice lady such as you?"
"That's so great." she responded with her kindest smile. "By the way, what are your names?"
'Our names… our names!'
At that moment it came to the mind of the crusaders that they'd forgotten each other's names. While they did know they were friends and allies due to their common enemy, and they did know each other's names even during the moment they'd forgotten Jotaro's, they didn't know all of their names. A good impulse from the woman, now they could get to know each other again.
"Ahm… My name is Kakyoin Noriaki."
"Uh… I am Jean Pierre Polnareff."
"And I'm Muhammad Avdol. We three are good friends."
"Yeah, good friends!" Kakyoin repeated, wanting to emphasize that connection."
"Fufu, I see. Well, that's good. Isn't it great that you are such close friends, especially at your age already?"
"Totally." the frenchman awkwardly smirked, remembering something not in his memory but in his soul. "We… have so much in common. And it feels like… we've been through a lot together."
In their own souls, his crusader friends could comfortably verify this. It was a truth beyond just memories that connected them together.
"By the way, what's your name?" the egyptian then asked, reciprocating the type of question.
"Me? My name is Malea." she kindly replied, giving her name.
"Okay, nice to know you, Ms. Malea." Noriaki said with a small nod. "Thank you for helping us so far."
"Yes, thanks for having us over." Avdol spoke, smiling narrowly.
"Yeah, thanks for… the bath." Polnareff corrected himself, thinking it'd be bad-mannered to mention his partially adult thoughts. "We're super clean thanks to you now."
Malea smiled at their gratitude, though corrected the third boy. "I appreciate it, but the bath isn't over, you know. Turn around and let me wash your hair."
"Fine." The three complied without complaints, letting her apply shampoo on their hair. She soon drove her fingers gently through their hair, intending to wash everything clean.
"Does the shampoo sting?"
"Yeah, it sure does." the frenchman told, firmly having his eyes closed.
"Really? It doesn't sting in my eyes." the egyptian said, wondering which one was normal.
"With me it only stings a tiny bit." the redhead gave the third answer, all of which differed a little.
"Then, can you wash your hair by yourself?"
"Uh huh, I can." Polnareff responded, wanting to boast just a little that he wasn't unable to do so himself.
"Oh? You're such a good boy…"
"…!"
It took a few seconds for the crusaders to realize that a tone this creepy couldn't possibly have come from the mouth of the nice Malea. When the realization hit and their eyes opened wide, all the comfort they felt with her vanished completely. All that was left was fear and repulsion from being naked in a room with a total creep.
"Ukyekyekyekyekyekyeh!" the returned Alessi laughed like a maniac, standing behind his targets as his eyes looked crazy. "Let me say it again, such good boys…"
All the alarm bells went off in the crusaders' brains, turning around in immense disbelief and shock. "Aaaaaaghh! T- That's impossible!"
They simply didn't expect the enemy. But he came, sneaking behind with the same axe from earlier. And that axe was swinging downwards. Danger!
The frenchman, his Stand also possessing a sharp weapon, called forth [Silver Chariot] and immediately tried to intercept the attacking weapon.
"[Chariot]!"
Though due to the difference in strength between adults and children, as mentioned earlier, the knight Stand couldn't defend well. The overwhelming strength and therefore sharpness of the shadow axe almost immediately cut through the silver Stand's armor, also causing a bloody cut on Polnareff's wrist.
"PAMI~!"
"Uwaaaaaaghh!" For such a young kid to have such a wound, it hurt like hell. The frenchman's eyes and mouth were widened by pain to the max.
And while the cherry boy and the egyptian also watched the one-sided power exchange with shock, they were surprised about something else. Something perhabs even more troublesome.
'Th… The nice lady is gone! Ms. Malea… where did she go? She was just here! She didn't even scream… What did he do to her?'
'WHERE IS SHE?!'
"Polnareff…" DIO's man focused on the boy who stabbed him in the leg. He grabbed him tightly with his adult hands, overpowering his resistance. "You said the shampoo stings, right? If it stings this bad…"
He submerged Polnareff in the bathtub, intending to drown him. "THEN WASH IT OFF! VERY THOROUGHLY!" he exclaimed very sadistically, fully enjoying the suffering he inflicted on the young frenchman.
Bubbles of air came out of Polnareff's mouth, one after another. His hands desperately splashed water around, showing his intense struggle. His life was in actual danger, so he was as frantic as he could get.
Avdol certainly wouldn't just watch and wait. He summoned [Magician's Red] right away. "Hands off him, you creep! Or I'll set fire on you again!"
Alessi had nothing to be worried about in this situation, though. "Oh, really? Then I'll just get inside this bathtub to put out the fire and bury Polnareff beneath me. That would be the death sentence for him, wouldn't it?"
Hearing this rebuttal, the egyptian's eyes went wide for a split second but narrowed just a little later. He also clenched his teeth, finding out that there was nothing he could do. "Damn you…"
"That aside, what did you do to the nice lady?!" Kakyoin demanded, aggressively pointing at DIO's agent. Even if he couldn't help his friend that easily, he had to find out about Malea. He couldn't Stand an innocent person like her having done something to her by a villain like Alessi. "Where is she, what did you do?!"
Reacting to the venomous hissing directed at him, DIO's man got cocky. He really looked down on kids he could easily bully and hurt. "Heh heh heh… What do you think I did? Mind to take a look at what's left of her?"
What's left of her? Only her skimpy bathing dress, unworn on the floor. Both Avdol and Noriaki, highly suspicious and having a bad feeling, approached the lone dress. Sweat, lots of sweat appeared and increased on their faces the closer they got to the piece of clothing. Something was just ominous about this. And Alessi just loved those worried and scared expressions on their faces, scared of finding out something nasty.
But they closed in and dared to take a peek, discovering the hideous truth of what this creep had done to her. As they saw the small and undeveloped shape of Malea's fetus state, paired with weak, utterly helpless fetus sounds, the two got creeped out in shock. The horror of the thing Alessi had done to her, it made their sweat grow colder and colder. They were now so disturbed and disgusted of this particular agent of DIO.
"N… No way… T-This can't be happening…"
"Ms… Malea…"
"Anyone who touches my Stand, [Sethan], will grow younger and younger. You three jumped out of the shadow rather quickly, which is why you only gradually aged back to 7 or 8 years old. But SHE touched the shadow for over 10 seconds! That's why she reverted back into a fetus!" he explained with an evil grin, then even making fun of his innocent victim. "Ukyekyekyekyekyekyeh! She's still alive, but she'll die soon enough because she's not in her mother's womb. But this woman, she got what she deserved for helping you. What a fool."
"Uuuugghhh!" the egyptian and the redhead cringed out loud, having grown to feel intense disgust for this man. Their hatred was clearly shown in their faces. "Y- You SCUM!"
"Hehe! Hoho!" DIO's man sure thought nothing of their outburst, he found it rather funny.
Though not so funny after all was the frenchman stabbing him in the hand. Alessi's expression changed within the fraction of a second once he noticed the sudden pain. "Ha-? Aaaaaaggghhhh!"
While he got distracted making fun of Malea and looking down on the other two crusaders, Polnareff secretly pulled the plug, allowing him to breathe again before drowning. And as the despicable man was still screaming, he rapidly jumped out of the bathtub, breathing heavily to regain the air and composure that was robbed of him.
"Arrgh…! You goddamn little…!"
"I've heard everything, you bastard! You're gonna pay for this!" The frenchman was even angrier than his friends due to the additional torture. He wouldn't forgive him no matter what.
Alessi too had enough of this, realizing his mistake of being careless and underestimating these children. Because even though those three were children, they were still Stand users. If in their current ages the crusaders were able to resist him that much, he had to make them even younger.
Motivated even more by his own anger, DIO's agent extended his shadow once again.
Seeing the danger, the crusaders jumped out of the way, evading better than last time. Though their short legs made them unable to jump far and fast, so they still touched the shadow for a moment.
"D- Damn it, son of a bitch!"
What's more, they had to be extra careful to prevent the shadow from touching Malea any further at all costs. So technically they had yet another disadvantage.
Avdol was the one to pick up the top holding Malea inside. With great panic him and his friends bolted out of the bathroom, though the creepy Alessi chasing them down just a moment later.
"Ha! Can you already feel your bodies shrinking? Now you're all about 4 years old!" he shouted, gleeful again about the disadvantages of his enemies.
Said enemies, even though how desperate they were, worried less about themselves than the innocent lady caught up in the Stand battle. 'She tended us, was so kind to us without even knowing us… We have to hurry! We have to save her fast!'
Making frantic facial expressions of insane nervosity and pressure, they did their best to protect Malea. Thanks to being an adult, DIO's man was closing the distance no doubt, but the three were running at speeds beyond kids of their age, forcing their bodies to the limit. They even jumped around and ran in zig-zag lines so that [Sethan] wouldn't just catch them all in a swoop and de-age them together again.
"Tch! What are you runts doing, holding onto a dying fetus? I'll turn YOU into fetuses as well!" Alessi madly mocked, showing how little care he had for living beings.
The speedy crusaders ran past one more corner. Finally an exit was visible, an open door they could close to lock out their pursuer. He was coming closer, but not close enough to stop them from setting up that barrier.
A slight feeling of relief brightened up in their young minds. Setting foot past the doorframe, the little crusaders slammed the door shut and turned the key, locking out the bothersome enemy.
DIO's agent pressed down the handle as soon as he reached the door as well, but it wouldn't open. He pressed down hard, but violence didn't break the lock. "Huh?"
While Alessi sounded annoyed, the boys were already trying to escape. The redhead pointed at a window with steel bars that was low enough for them to climb out. "I can already see that even though we're little kids, we can't slip through the bars. Polnareff, can your Stand cut off the steel bars?"
"Uhh… I'll try!" Polnareff nervously called in an unnerved manner, his wide eyes staring at the steel in doubt.
"Ah hah hah hah!" came the creep's distrupting and sneering laugh, telling the crusaders that the danger was still extremely close. "Locking me out isn't gonna stop me!"
"EEK!"
Alessi, peeping through the keyhole, could see in what a hectic, frenzied state the kid crusaders were. If not for the door, they'd be trapped with him and unable to escape any further.
"DO IT!" the cherry boy pressed in a hurry, greatly worried about the time.
"Ugh… [Chariot]!" the frenchman let out, too worn out to hesitate and thereby waste time. He swiftly made his Stand swing its little rapier at the bars thicker than the sword itself. The impact only created a small dent though, not nearly enough to cleave forth an opening.
Even the Stand looked disappointed. "Ngh…"
Cursing inwardly, the crusaders had no choice other than to sweat intensely and be tense all around. Their and an innocent lady's lives were at the stake.
"Heh, I guess your [Chariot] has become like a toddler too! It can't even cut through the bars and is much slower too!" DIO's man observed with a wicked smirk from the keyhole, adding more mental pressure to the boys drenched in sweat. "Anyhow, HERE I COME!"
Breathing heavily, the trio pressed their backs against the wall when they heared a loud crash and wood splinters fall on the floor, on their side of the room. The shape of a weapon they had seen before also became visible again. This truly looked like the end of the line.
Hacking and slashing the door with his axe, Alessi even stuck his face into a gap large enough for it to fit through. It was like a horror film when he showed the creepiest side of him yet.
"Perororororopeperoropero~~~! I'm coming in, my little friends!" he said with his tongue stuck far out and rolling. That wasn't a face an adult should be showing kids.
Having been forced to watch this guy's disturbing and nasty face, the three felt a sense of utter repulsion. What's more, the first instant they all felt extreme fear, with eyes bulging out in fear and their hands in front of their open mouths.
But when they realized the tough and harsh emotions they were feeling were useless, they suddenly felt no need to be scared anymore. Because being scared or not, they were already cornered. All the items in the room could effectively hide one of them at most, but not all of them. So when they came to the conclusion that this was the end of the line, feeling scared of him had become useless.
Because if that was going to be the end of them, they'd rather go down with resistance.
Kakyoin was the first one to lose his fear. His body stopped being tense altogether. He only stretched his hand forward, his gaze facing in the same direction. "So… this is the end? If that's it, then I'll at least make him pay before he gets me. I won't die without at least hurting him a strong bit."
Polnareff then gulped, trying to muster his courage. Due to his more bubbly and comical personality, he was easier to scare. Though that didn't matter anymore, since the fearless goal was now the same. "Same… Let me stab him just a few times where it really hurts…"
Avdol too had enough. He possessed faint memories of himself being very collected, but if he was going to end up a victim to that bastard, he wouldn't hold back an ounce of his inner hatred. "For what he did to us… and the nice lady… I can never, ever forgive him."
Until they'd inevitably have to exchange blows, the resolute and vengeance-lusting crusaders thought of ways to resist him longer and inflict more pain. The frenchman and the egyptian mimicked Noriaki's gesture, holding their fists forward. And finally, they exchanged vows, dishing out the worst words they'd learned at their age.
"My name is Kakyoin Noriaki, and I'll make this bastard pay."
"My name is Jean Pierre Polnareff, and I'll give this asshole pain."
"My name is Muhammad Avdol, and I promise to plunge him into hell."
DIO's agent soon destroyed the lock, becoming able to enter.
Once he entered, he was overjoyed to finally finish off his defiant targets, about to mockingly insult them once more before attacking. But then he noticed that only 2 of his targets were in front of him, the third was hidden.
"Huh? What the…?" From where he was standing, he turned his head around a few times, to all sides. But he couldn't find the missing crusaders. "Where… where is Polnareff?!"
He focused his attention on the redhead. He thought he could kill him anytime, but he first wanted to know where the missing frenchman was. "Hey, you! Tell me where Polnareff is hiding!"
The order was spoken with quite a forceful voice. Alessi hated how close he was to victory, but a meddling factor remaining nevertheless.
Raising his head, the cherry boy defiantly looked DIO's man in the eye. "Come and attack me first. Polnareff will show up if you do that."
Upon hearing those words, Alessi had conflicted feelings. On the one hand he severely disliked the way Kakyoin defiantly talked to him, on the other hand he believed this was an opportunity to kill 2 birds with one stone. Take care of one brat and the other shows himself.
"Don't blame me, 'cause that's what you wanted." the assassin scoffed, raising his axe as he looked down on Noriaki and stepped forward for a killing strike. "Die, Kak-"
Alessi stopped speaking and the descent of his axe when he felt something touch his leg. Something very thin, like an extra thin wire. Though the moment he felt it, it was already too late. More and more, unbelievably long and thin wire wrapped around his entire body and lower upper body, restraining especially his legs. Losing mobility, he lost his footing and fell face-forward. "Gyaaaaaaahhh!"
His nose and glasses even broke, spilling blood over the carpet. Due to this, and the fact that he couldn't properly move his body due to his bindings, DIO's agent genuinely got pissed. Barely able to lift his head, he tried cursing at the redhead. "Oh, you l- Gwaaaahh!"
Another painful mishap happened to him, when suddenly a mirror had been thrown at him. It shattered upon impact, the shards stabbing into his flesh.
"OWWWW! WHAT IS IT NOW?!" Alessi screamed in complaint, the entire hunt turning out to be a total disaster.
Just as predicted, the frenchman than made himself visible, jumping out of the fish tank he was hiding in. He was wet and naked, but the heat of the anger he felt towards their creepy enemy could turn that water into steam if it was literal.
"Finally, EAT SHIT!"
[Silver Chariot] manifested in midair, intended to use the gravity of the jump to add extra speed and power to the blade.
DIO's man did notice Polnareff. He did notice the child executing a jumping stab attack. Under any other circumstance, [Sethan] could've saved him and counterattacked. But not in his current pathetic state. In the end, Alessi got to receive his own medicine: scared shitless of his enemies different in age and size.
"No… GWUGH!"
The rapier of the young knight Stand stabbed the man in the right side of his lung, causing a disturbing and painful sound. DIO's agent spat out a large amount of blood immediately. Even worse for him, the shock was so great that he couldn't even cry out in pain.
But the frenchman wasn't done yet. Now that he was in the position of power, he put a lot of thought into how to extract revenge from the guy who physically and mentally tortured them so much.
"You… forced us to run, run, run…" Polnareff remembered, huffing in fury. "Let's see what you can do if you can't run!"
Pulling out his small but still sharp and dangerous weapon, the frenchman had his silver Stand perform two more deep slashes, both deeply severing Alessi's Achilles heel.
"HIYAAAAAAAAGHH!" Now DIO's man suddenly found his voice again. He'd never been in this much horrible pain before, but he could perfectly imagine how similar these pain levels were to those of his victims he tortured and killed up to now.
Polnareff shot one final brief glance at the disgraced enemy before turning his head away and walking away from that body, his face hardened. He'd never look at that man ever again.
"Now… my turn." Avdol hadn't attacked yet… or did he?"
Seeing how Alessi was writhing in pain, turning around and around while having the worst time of his life, the egyptian approached the carpet. He scornfully eyed the suffering creep, feeling no sympathy whatsoever.
"This is all your fault. From the moment you almost killed the innocent nice lady, you didn't deserve anything less than this."
In the meantime, the cherry boy undid the thin tentacles constraining DIO's agent. Now that his Achilles heels were severed, they weren't necessary anymore. Though the main reason he moved his Stand away was because of the following reason.
When earlier nothing was there, the carpet with Alessi on it suddenly ignited. The instant the hot flames appeared, the according pain was felt by the burning man.
"RYAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" DIO's man screeched, too late for him to regret anything.
Avdol watched the great scene of revenge, muttering final words of parting. "For the justice of everyone you ever did bad things to, Hell 2 U!"
[Magician's Red], due to growing much younger, had a much reduced initial flame output. But fire was still fire. Even if small, it could still grow large. So by hiding the visibility and heat of the flames by controlling it with his Stand when he first lit the fire, the egyptian allowed the fire to spread first. Only when the entire carpet was technically alight, would he make visibility and heat return to normal.
"HRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"Let's go." Kakyoin said, ignoring the screams that might as well be from the deepest pits of hell. He just didn't want to associate with Alessi anymore, who was undoubtedly and overwhelmingly defeated. His two friends silently nodded, walking out of the room with the broken door together.
XXXXXXXXXX
"…"
Rubbing her hair and eyes, Malea awoke. She'd been in a deep sleep since… how long? The young woman didn't remember much, though she felt like she's had a weird dream about bathing together with 3 young boys.
She even woke up in that same bathroom, though naked. As if someone took off her clothes.
It was embarrassing at first when Malea briefly hid her breasts with the pink top, looking around to see if there were spying eyes. Though no one was there. All of it was confusing, she had no idea what to say.
'…Why does this dream feel so real? I really felt like they all were protecting me and fighting against a grown man… It really felt like the truth. They were so brave and manly too…'
Standing up, Malea noticed that her house wasn't quite orderly, so there were signs pointing to the truth. Searching further, she even noticed the destroyed door and how one carpet of hers was gone. But no sign of any of the people involved.
"…"
'Did… no, where did they go?'
Having made up her mind that her dream was real, Malea rapidly dressed up and ran outside, hoping she could meet them outside. She believed her heart.
Finally outside, she saw four young men talking to each other. A red-haired foreign teenager in green, another foreigner but with silver hair with a black top, a local dark-haired man wearing a brown robe, and yet another young foreigner with black clothes and a weird hat.
"…and the grown-again [Magician's Red] reduced all physical remains of him into nothingness, he was basically never there." She overheard the local man say.
"E… Excuse me…" Malea spoke up, approaching the group from the side. "Did you see a few boys leave my house?"
To her question, 3 of the 4 men reacted with hesitant, conflicted expressions. Quiet, but not quite content deep inside. Sad, but longing for something.
When they made eye-contact, she quietly noticed their inner dissatisfaction. That they wanted to keep quiet for the most part, but didn't for a much smaller part.
"Excuse me, good Sirs, but… Have we met before?" Malea herself didn't like that unnatural silence, as she herself needed to know the truth. So she broke it.
Kakyoin, Polnareff, Avdol. Individually or together, they could've told the truth. But they merely turned their heads away in a hesitant but dry manner, soon facing away.
"No…"
"We didn't see…"
"Any boys…"
Jotaro, having heard of the events and knowing their feelings, just seriously began walking forward, gesturing for his friends to follow. "Come on guys, let's go."
"…"
Neither of the 3 really liked it, but morally they knew it was the right choice. To not get attached to someone who could get pulled into their exclusive conflict.
Malea herself didn't like it either, for those interesting people to leave without giving a properly-meant answer, but she had no proof that those interesting and familiar people were related to those she was sure to have met before.
"I guess it was just a dream…" she breathed into the wind, not hearable for anyone other than herself.
To sum it up, none of those involved came out of the situation with a content mind, for something was left bothering them. But all of them had their own truth in their heart, knowing that even though the outcome wasn't satisfactory, they'd hold those truths dear.
Now, now. First things first, I do owe you readers an explanation and apology. The entire February had been a month of exams for me. Of course, starting even from late January I had little to no time to write this chapter. But once I finished writing them all and relaxed a few days, I got back into it fast. Because the less time you wait, the better it is for you. So once again, I'm terribly sorry for the long wait.
That aside, this chapter needs some explanations regarding the writing. Some of you are wondering why Polnareff didn't lose his earring for Malea to remember. I have 2 reasons to explain this. One, because Polnareff, Avdol and Kakyoin were fighting together, both the individual and cumulative damage to them done by Alessi decreased. Kakyoin and Avdol took a bit of damage meant for Polnareff in canon, so the "missing" damage included losing the earring. And two, because of equality. The point of this chapter was to highlight that these three were unified by the fact that they are born Stand-users. As three, they took a liking to Malea, and she took a liking to each of them too. If Polnareff alone lost something for her to remember, the three of them wouldn't have equal footing. For the same reason I didn't change it to Avdol or Kakyoin losing something either.
Most importantly though, I really need to say something about the psychology of this chapter. Specifically the part where the kid crusaders stopped being scared of Alessi and turned ruthless. The first one is actually easier to explain, it's like some animals going wild and on the offensive when they're cornered by a predator and stop giving a fuck. They thought they had nothing to lose, so dying with resistance and fighting back would be more honorable than dying in fear and defenselessly. As for the second part, children's brains work differently because they're less developed. They're infinitely more susceptible to feelings and the environment than adult brains. If raised right, children learn and memorize the concepts of kindness and conscience to others. But if raised intentionally cruelly, they can grow up to be some of the most heartless adults later. So experiencing all the trouble and cruelty Alessi did, not only to them but also the innocent lady they all liked as a person very much, they came to the conclusion that Alessi is irredeemably evil and could be stopped using whatever dirty and violent means. Though I admit that the brutality against Alessi was due to my own personal input as well, since I believe that he got away far too lightly in canon. Some people forget that he isn't a first-time assassin, but an experienced one who's sadistically killed who knows how many people (as children!) before meeting the crusaders. But there you have it, my super long reasonings for my writing this chapter.
Feel free to rate and review if you like to