Butterfly Effect
Back in town with another chapter, after a long time again. Sorry about that, but enjoy the story now!
I do not own JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Chapter 30: Slow tactics VS Fast Stand
In the evening of this day, after a very useful and helpful Stand training and exploration session with Koichi, Jotaro had a talk with Mr. Higashikata about their upcoming confrontation with Otoishi. Fearing that [Red Hot Chilli Pepper] could attack them at night, sneaking in through the power net and electrical outlets, the Joestar advised turning off all electricity during night time by flipping the switches of the circuit breakers of the house's distribution board. He'd also give the same advice to the Nijimura brothers. As for Koichi, it would be pointless, since there's no way his parents would agree to turn off their home's electricity for seemingly no reason.
After that, he went back to his hotel room.
"Oh, you're back." Kakyoin greeted as he saw his partner open the door and walk through.
"Hey Kakyoin, did you find out anything about this Otoishi guy?" Jotaro asked right off the bat.
"I found out a lot of things, actually." Noriaki answered. "Where he lives, his phone number, the university he's attending, whether he has a criminal record…"
"Good." the Joestar said, walking over to the little table with the telephone, then getting himself a nice chair to sit on. "Give me his phone number, please."
"Wait, are you going to call him right now?" the redhead inquired, making a surprised expression. "Why?"
"Hear how reasonable as a person he is." Jotaro replied, his fingers already around the handset. "Maybe we can negotiate, perhaps come to an understanding. And if not, I can try to threaten him."
"Well, it's worth a try."
Kakyoin then told him Otoishi's phone number, which Jotaro then called after pressing the keys.
About 10 seconds after initiating the call, it was picked up by the other side.
"Hello?"
"Otoishi Akira, I presume? Kujo Jotaro speaking."
"…"
Otoishi was evidently surprised by this call. He didn't expect his enemies to call his home.
"That's quite the surprise, Kujo-san… What do you want?"
"Let me ask you, what would it take for you to peacefully hand over the bow and arrow?" the Joestar questioned in a calm, polite tone.
"…"
Even more surprised was Otoishi that Jotaro started off in a peaceful tone. He thought they'd chase him down and forcefully try to take away the bow and arrow. Hearing this non-confrontational, almost pacifist talk made him feel like his Stand was very powerful, and that he was in a strong and favorable position.
"Sure, if you fork over 100 million, no, 1 billion Yen! No, make that 1 billion Dollars!" Otoishi greedily offered, valuing the price for the bow and arrow highly. "Hand over the cash and I'll hand over the bow and arrow. Deal?"
"If you sticked with 100 million Yen, there would've been room to negotiate. But 1 billion Dollars? That's out of the question." the Joestar obviously refused, stupefied by Otoishi's greed.
What was he thinking?
"No? Too bad, then. No bow and arrow for you."
"Why do you need that much money, anyway?" Jotaro inquired, intending to find out about Otoishi's motives. "Are you struggling financially?"
"Kinda. Exams, getting a job, all that boring shit… I'm not into that stuff. I want to become a rock star. But the instruments, the equipment, recording, the advertising if you're independent, it all costs a fucking fortune. If I had that kind of money, I could dedicate all my precious time and resources into producing banger music, landing myself a contract, and then live the high life till the end of my days."
In a long, passionate rant and vision, the amateur rock guitarist laid open his goals. Lots of wishful thinking, and the greed was outright delusional.
"I see, but what does that have to do with the bow and arrow? You can't generate any money out of those alone, unless you sell them." the Joestar asked, seeking more information.
"You're right. I can't directly generate money with them, but they're a very useful tool to have. There's no reason for me to give them up, unless you guys pay me a billion Dollars."
"By the way, you mentioned you want to have some fun. What did you mean by that?" Jotaro questioned, trying to get information from another angle. "Do you intend to commit random chaotic crimes for your own amusement like Angelo? Or do you intend to shoot random people with the arrow like Nijimura Keicho?"
"No, I don't intend to do the same things as Angelo did. And no, I won't shoot RANDOM people with the arrow. Though random animals are on the table for practice and experimenting." Otoishi answered honestly, then changing his tone. "Anyways, you wouldn't understand my highly sophisticated way of having fun. So, if you want to buy my share of fun from me, pay up. Otherwise, should you and your ilk try to go after me without proper compensation, I'll have no choice but to kill you all."
Akira was growing tired of having to repeat himself regarding the money.
"Do you, perhaps, intend to use your Stand to spy on others? Enter homes and buildings through power lines and…" The Joestar wanted to narrow down the things that Otoishi would do, so as to get a profile on the man, which is why he asked this question. And while doing so, he figured out the answer. "…Wait, I get it. Don't know why you need the arrow, but you're using your Stand to trespass into places and STEAL things! And you will keep doing this unless you're stopped!"
"…"
That momentary silence from the other side of the phone said it all. Jotaro was right on the money. So right that it triggered Otoishi, pushing him into fury.
"Oh, you're so dead! Dead, you hear me?! Kujo Jotaro, I will make sure you'll regret ever having stepped foot in this town!"
Now not even the money would appease Otoishi. Because now that Jotaro figured out what Otoishi has been doing, he wouldn't need to pay any money to get the bow and arrow. Jotaro could ask Officer Higashikata if there were any reports filed for missing or stolen items. If yes, he could simply give an anonymous tip that Otoishi Akira is the culprit. The police would then search Otoishi's home with a warrant, find the stolen goods, arrest Otoishi and brand the man a criminal. To prevent this from happening, Otoishi would have to kill the police offiers, which would paint a bigger target on his back.
Otoishi Akira's life as a free man would be over, he could never become a famous rock star or even show his face freely on the street in that case. The Joestar really found out his weakness in just one call.
"Enjoy your time while it lasts! Because it won't last for long!"
After angrily declaring this, Otoishi ended the call. Curiously enough, he didn't blow up the phone like at Josuke's.
Still, Jotaro put down the headpiece quickly and distanced himself from the phone. "Hey, Kakyoin, did you hear that?"
"What part exactly?"
"He's out for blood. Now that we know that he breaks into homes with his Stand and performs theft, he'll make sure to shut us up." the Joestar elaborated. "Judging by this, his primary targets should be us two. Do you think he'll try something tonight, or will he wait until tomorrow?"
Noriaki made an L shape with the index finger and thumb of his right hand and placed it below his chin. "Hard to say. But one way of making dealing with the former, is by sleeping in shifts."
Neither of them was looking forward to it, but it was a necessary precaution.
"He really is a danger we need to take out fast." Jotaro seriously said, taking a few steps around the room. "Not unlike Angelo."
"That's certain." the redhead agreed, serious at first but getting a funny idea. "Hey, speaking of Angelo, why don't we have Josuke-kun fuse Otoishi with a giant tire? You know, because of the rubber?"
Shrugging, the Joestar chuckled a bit. "Well, that's quite sadistic. Not that he wouldn't deserve it."
"I've always been leaning more towards S than M."
"Okay stop it. It's inappropriate when 2 men are staying in the same hotel room." Jotaro pointed out, cutting off the humorous vibe.
"Yeah… right." Kakyoin noticed.
"…"
"…"
Awkward silence.
The Joestar was about to go to the kitchen and open the fridge, when the telephone started ringing.
*Ring Ring Ring*
"Kakyoin, can you pick up the call?" Jotaro requested.
"Sure thing." Noriaki accepted with a nod. He quickly walked over and picked up the receiver. "Hello?"
"This isn't Kujo Jotaro… You must be his partner."
From the other side of the line came the voice of Otoishi Akira. For some reason, he decided to call the Joestar faction himself.
"Otoishi?!" the redhead let out in surprise. From the kitchen, the Joestar turned his head around in reaction to hearing that name.
"Put the phone on loudspeaker mode." Otoishi ordered, just like at Josuke's.
Having Jotaro hear what the enemy had to say, Kakyoin activated loudspeaker mode.
"Gentlemen, in order for me to live my life for the fullest, you must die." the musician declared. "I have taken a hostage in this hotel, two floors below you. A woman staying on her own. If you don't get down here within the next 5 minutes and let me kill you, I'll take her life instead!"
"What?!" both men exclaimed at the same time, their eyes widened. Now that Otoishi took an uninvolved civilian hostage, they were given a severe handicap. Things became more delicate to deal with.
"Room no. 502" Otoishi simply said, not elaborating further. "Hurry up and get moving. Our final little exchange, we can have there."
"Otoishi, you-"
"Clock's ticking, bitches." the criminal interrupted, giving them an unfriendly reminder to hurry up. He promptly ended the call.
Jotaro and Noriaki, who put down the receiver, only briefly exchanged glances before they rushed outside their room, heading to the room with the number mentioned by Otoishi.
XXXXXXXXXX
Less than a minute later, the duo arrived in front of their destination. It was an ordinary hotel door, though they knew that a dangerous Stand loomed behind it. The redhead carefully touched the door handle, testing if they could just enter like that. Turns out they could.
Walking inside, and closing the door behind them, in order to not draw any attention from other uninvolved civilians, they encountered [Red Hot Chili Pepper], the yellow bird-like electric Stand. And with it, a literally electrified woman, still alive but her face frozen in fear due to being unable to comprehend what the hell was happening to her.
"You... what are you doing to this lady?!" Kakyoin demanded, furious about Otoishi taking a helpless, Standless civilian hostage.
"Nothing much, really. Once I release her, no harm will have been done to her body. She'll be just as alive as she was before this." Otoishi explained through the mouth of his Stand, assuring the hostage's safety. "And I will release her, I promise. After you two are dead, that is!"
Having spoken with a very cocky attitude, the musician was pissing off the two men.
The Joestar wondered what would happen if he just stopped time and let loose on [Red Hot Chili Pepper] with [Star Platinum]. What if he were to stop time and thoroughly destroy all electric outlets, including the cables in the walls? He was told that's how Keicho's body returned to normal. But in order to prevent the electric Stand from fleeing, he'd have to remove the connections very thoroughly. And within the short span of time [Star Platinum] was allowed to stop, that wouldn't be feasible.
"Jotaro" Noriaki telepathically called his friend. "I have a plan on how to defeat him and set free the woman. Can you try and win some time, please? Just talk to him and keep him distracted."
"Okay."
He didn't even need to ask what exactly the redhead's plan was. He casually trusted him to succeed and followed the instructions.
"Hey, Otoishi." Jotaro addressed the foe, calmly. "You don't have to do this."
"What?" Otoishi let out in surprise, then making a snicker which showed on the face of [Red Hot Chili Pepper]. "Heh… heheheh! Are you scared, man? Begging for your life already? Well, you absolutely fucking should be."
"No, literally. If you return the items you stole, you'll have nothing to fear. There won't be any obstacles in your path to become a superstar." the Joestar reasoned. "You can wash your hands off of crime and have a fresh start. Think about it."
"Huh?!" Dumbfounded, Otoishi didn't react as humorously as previously. "Are you retarded? Why would I settle for a solution where I lose everything and gain nothing, when I can keep everything and remove you two permanently?"
"If you kill us, you'll still have to deal with Higashikata-san, Josuke and the Nijimuras." Jotaro warned, still calm and collected in demeanor.
"Man, you're actually fucking retarded." Otoishi scoffed, spitting out profanities. "If I kill the both of you, do you really think they'll dare to come after me? They won't dare to get in my way, they'll be scared shitless of me. And if they're dumb enough to still try to instigate some shit, then I'll just kill them too."
"How can you be so sure that you'll be able to kill them?"
Fed up with the Joestar's talking, Otoishi got angry and snapped at him. "Enough! Shut the hell up, you're wasting my goddamn time!"
Knowing that he couldn't keep this up, Jotaro telepathically contacted Kakyoin.
"What now, Kakyoin? How much more time do you need for your plan to succeed?"
"I'm done with the testing, so you don't have to stall on your own anymore."
It seemed like Noriaki was ready.
"Hey, you!" Otoishi raised his voice, addressing the redhead.
"Me?" Kakyoin inquired, redundantly pointing at himself.
"Yes, you, you dipshit! I order you to take out your Stand and kill Kujo Jotaro!" Otoishi commanded in an irritated tone. "Do it fast, or this woman dies!"
"As you wish."
The next moment, Noriaki's body started glowing. It was Hamon, giving him a sparking yellow aura, almost identical to [Red Hot Chili Pepper]. And the following instant, [Hierophant Green] was manifested by his side. It too was coated in a layer of Hamon, glowing like its master.
[Hierophant Green] was directed towards the Joestar, its arms stretched forward. The Stand was clearly in an attacking position. In the stance made during [Emerald Splash].
"Kakyoin, what-" Jotaro was about to exclaim, but was silenced by just two telepathic words.
"Trust me!"
Turning his head towards the bird Stand, the redhead announced his intention of attacking his partner.
"I will now attack Jotaro with my Stand. Is there anything else that's needed to be said?" Kakyoin asked, stalling for the last reasonable few seconds he could earn.
"Nothing, just do it! Now!"
Insistent as he was, Otoishi allowed for no more.
"Here we go…" Noriaki muttered before yelling out his iconic attack name. "Emerald Splash!"
A flurry of emeralds was shot in the direction of the Joestar. The last time this happened was over 10 years ago, when the two were adversaries and not best friends yet.
"!"
Jotaro, in reflex, summoned [Star Platinum]. The Stand manifested in front of him, arms crossed like an X to guard him from the green jewels.
Upon contact, the emeralds either crumbled from the extremely strong guard of [Star Platinum] that allowed for no harm, or were deflected to the sides, into the wall.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Otoishi bellowed, sparking with rage. "You're supposed to allow yourself to be killed, not defend yourself!"
"It was by reflex." Jotaro attempted to explain, but was cut off by Otoishi immediately after.
"Shut the fuck up! You let yourself get hit by his attack, again and again until it kills you, got it?! If you guard yourself again next time, this broad will suffer for it!"
"…"
Begrudgingly, the Joestar said nothing back.
"I'm ready…"
Suddenly, the redhead spoke up, saying those few words in a very calm, collected but firm and resolute manner. The same resoluteness was visible in his determined eyes.
"…for the next attack."
"Execute it!" the electric villain ordered, wanting immediate results.
"I will attack him with [Hierophant Green]'s tentacles." Kakyoin added, not changing his tone or demeanor.
"Whatever, just kill him!"
"…"
This was the signal, and Jotaro got it. Noriaki wasn't talking to Otoishi, he was talking to him. Whatever preparations were being made, they were now finished, and the plan was about to be executed.
"Very well… Take this!"
From one instant to another, seemingly out of nothing, thick tentacles wrapped around [Red Hot Chili Pepper]'s wrists, ankles and neck. But that wasn't the craziest thing that happened, far from it. Two tentacles, also suddenly appearing out of thin air, pierced into the bird's eyes, destroying not only them but its owner's too.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Both [Red Hot Chili Pepper] and its master let out hellish screams of agony, experiencing great pain. Those screams wouldn't be heard by anyone inside the hotel save for two Stand users. The Joestar was taken aback, both by the loudness damaging to his ears, and by the sudden happening.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! WHAT THE FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!?"
"Otoishi Akira!" the redhead telepathically called out to the blinded man, the mental route being more certain to reach him, since his senses were preoccupied with pain. "If you release the woman this instant, I'll contact Josuke-kun and tell him to heal your eyes. If you don't, and kill her, I'll have [Hierophant Green] tighten its grip and snap your neck."
Kakyoin's voice and tone were unfazed, cold and serious. Against this enemy, for the crimes the villain had committed, he was being ruthless.
Otoishi, his brain having been reached by the threatening message, gave in immediately. He let the hostage go without any question or resistance, understanding the danger he was in. The woman he took hostage was set free, returning to her body of flesh and bone. However, she wasn't conscious, which actually wasn't a bad thing.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! MY EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!"
"Jotaro, can you punch him in the head and knock him out, please?" Noriaki requested, per telepathy, suggesting to end this fight quickly and abruptly.
Nodding in order to give a silent answer, Jotaro had [Star Platinum] deliver a quick but powerful punch to the yellow bird's head that lasted just a mere moment. And the next moment, it was down. The screaming stopped.
"Ah, what nice silence." the Joestar commented, off-handedly. In the following moment, his demeanor turned serious once more. "Now, what's next? Do we go to Otoishi's place to retrieve the bow and arrow? Should we call Josuke to heal him so we can capture him alive, or should we just let him die? It's not like he did anything with the bow and arrow yet."
"We should capture him alive to interrogate him about things other than the bow and arrow." the redhead voiced his opinion. "Jotaro, can you call Higashikata-san and tell him to go to where Otoishi lives, with Josuke? They can apprehend him and take back the bow and arrow, while we stay here and explain this woman what's going on when she awakes."
Sounded fine to Jotaro. "Alright, I'll give them a call right now."
Saying that, the Joestar walked over to this room's telephone, typed in the number of Officer Higashikata's cell phone and waited for him to pick up.
"Hello?"
It was picked up, but the one speaking wasn't Mr. Higashikata himself, but his grandson.
"Josuke? It's Jotaro speaking, can you give this phone to your grandpa?"
"Can't, he's driving right now. If you need to tell something, I can relay it to him."
That was fine too.
"You're driving? That's perfect, actually. Can you drive to Otoishi Akira's home?" Jotaro requested. "We've just fought him, and now Otoishi is seriously wounded. We need you to heal him, so we can capture him alive and apprehend him. And of course, while you're at it, please bring the bow and arrow with you."
"We figured. That's why we were already on the way. Currently, we're only one street away." Josuke told, greatly surprising both the Joestar and also Kakyoin, who was listening because the former activated loudspeaker mode.
"What?! How?"
"Grandpa's Stand suddenly picked up two strong signals, meaning there was strong evil intent coming from two places. So, he called me, suspecting those signals were popping off because of Otoishi, and said we'd go and drive to these places. On the way, we first stopped by Okuyasu and Keicho, picked them up and drove to one of these two places where the signals were coming from. The first place we were heading to turned out to be your hotel. We figured you were busy fighting his Stand, and he was alone controlling it from his home. So we turned around and headed for his house to ambush him." Josuke explained, making it all clear. "By the way, we've just arrived at our destination."
This explanation took long enough for this to happen.
"Ah, so the Nijimura brothers are with you too? Perfect." Jotaro spoke, proceeding to give instructions on how to handle Otoishi. "When you get to Otoishi, he'll be bleeding from his eyes. Heal him, keep him alive but restrain him in a way he can't get away. I'll give the Speedwagon Foundation a call to send a car. They'll then take him to a facility."
"Okay, got it." Josuke noted, nodding once. "Anything else?"
"Nah. Just don't forget the bow and arrow." the Joestar reminded. "We'll be seeing each other soon enough anyway. Take care."
"Take care."
With that, the pompadour ended the call, and his nephew initiated a new call, this time to the Speedwagon Foundation.
XXXXXXXXXX
During the night, Otoishi Akira was saved from the brink of death. But that didn't mean a turn of luck and good news. By four angry Stand users, he was intimidated and threatened in a really scary manner, that they, plus the two powerful Stardust Crusaders he attacked and lost to earlier, would chase him to the end of the world and end him, if he were to abuse his Stand powers again. To top it off, he was soon after picked up by a mysterious organization and sent to a special facility, where he'd be intimidated and punished further.
On the next day, an anonymous tip was sent to the Morioh Police, accusing the same Otoishi of serial theft. A warrant to search his home was issued, and to the police's surprise, they found excessive amounts of stolen goods. Though the accused wasn't around and to be reached by any means, that didn't stop them from issuing an arrest warrant, meaning a prison sentence as soon as he would turn up again.
The bow and arrow were also sent to another Speedwagon Foundation facility for safekeeping and research.
Bottom line was, a very dangerous Stand user was removed and neutralized. And Morioh got just a little bit safer.
To be honest, this isn't how I originally planned to write this battle. My first idea was Jotaro calling Otoishi, their negotiations going nowhere, the call and day both ending, the Joestar faction paying a visit to Otoishi's house a day later, RHCP greeting them and luring them away to another place, kicking off a chase (original chapter title was "Goose Hunt"), that other place turning out to be a power station, RHCP then harnessing that massive electricity and becoming disaster levels strong, pushing the Joestar faction to the brink of death until Kakyoin and [Hierophant Green] manage to bind him after secretly covering every individual power line with a thin tentacle and thus managing to instantly locate RHCP when it was moving through power lines. But then it came to my mind that Jotaro could file an anonymous tip and have the police conduct an investigation to search his house for stolen goods. Knowing he could do that, Jotaro could fuck up Otoishi's plans of living a fun life by making him a wanted criminal. Angelo wouldn't give a shit about that, but Otoishi wants to become a famous rock star. Otoishi couldn't afford that, so he'd want to stop anyone from finding out about his crimes and snitching to the police, giving him a criminal record and making him infamous. Thus, he'd want to silence Jotaro and Kakyoin immediately, and by any means necessary.
The chapter ended up more than twice as short as it would've been if I didn't come up with that convenient idea, but at least this means that this chapter will be published earlier, and the next chapters will also come out at an earlier date.
Though, I'll give you readers the chance to demand an alternative chapter. Basically, if a few of you leave a comment and desire an alternative version of this battle that follows the original script, then I'll write it for you.
By the way, when speaking about comments, how did you like the idea of Kakyoin using Hierophant's tiny tentacles in combination with Hamon getting to RHCP undetected by adapting to the electric field surrounding it, live and without delay? Personally, I think that was a clever solution. But what about you?
Feel free to rate and review if you like to
