Chapter Text
Over… It was finally over. Months of traveling all over the world meeting all kinds of strange people, finally to find this man, no, this monster, to finish what had started a century ago.
Jotaro was tired. He was exhausted. In his 17 years of life, he had never expected anything like this. It happened so quickly. First, this “ghost” appeared to him with seemingly no one but himself able to see it. And a mission given to him handed down by his great-great-grandfather who he never gave any real thought to. He knew he was rich and English, as well as some kind of noble. It was so weird to think about, a Japanese delinquent like him coming from a noble English bloodline.
He looked around. The sun had risen and DIO’s clothes laid on the ground in front of him, the only evidence of the man who for the past hundred years had taken so many lives.
So many…
Jotaro clenched his jaw. He didn’t want to think about this now. He still had one last thing he had to do, then this would be over. Really, truly, over. This bizarre adventure would finally be behind him.
He left the bridge walking back to the empty streets of Cairo, a city he never thought he’d find himself in even in his wildest dreams. He returned to the spot where he had last seen his grandfather. He had been bloody and unmoving on the ground and somehow miraculously came back to the world of the living. As much of an old geezer that he was, he had some balls. Though Jotaro makes a mental note to kick him around a bit for that little prank he pulled. Or at least pull his own little prank. Maybe something involving cows…
Returning to the task at hand, Jotaro took out the notebook that had once belonged to a man named DIO. He reached into the back pocket on his pants to pull out his Zippo lighter which was settled next to a nearly empty box of cigarettes. He only had one more left. He had half the mind to quit, but only after having one last smoke session with Polnareff.
He flicked open the Zippo, lit it, and held it under the pages of the worn journal. Once he was satisfied with the small flame that was beginning to grow, he tossed it to the ground to burn. As he watched the small blaze devour the words of the man turned monster, he heard a voice reverberating in his head.
“What I need: My Stand. A friend I can trust. The souls of at least 36 people who have committed the Ultimate Sins. The 14 Phrases. Courage. My decaying stand will gather up the souls of 36 Sinners, absorb them, and give birth to something new. The last thing I need is a place. Go to the Lattitude 28° 24’ north, Longitude 80° 36’ west… And wait for the next New Moon… The Time of Heaven…”
Jotaro snapped back to reality. What? What was that?
‘Time of heaven..? New moon?’
He looked into the sky, still a deep purple as the sun slowly came to bring a new day that Jotaro thought he might never see. Despite the sun coming to relieve it of its duty, the moon hung stubbornly in the sky, low and glowing blue, feeling more like a threat than a source of comfort. Like an angry god ready to fight for its last moments of power.
“Jotaro! There you are!”
Jotaro turned away from his thoughts, since when did he become so introspective?
Joseph walked up to him, looking just as alive as he had when they left on this journey, if a little scuffed up.
Good.
Jotaro didn’t know how he could explain Joseph’s absence to his mother.
“The hospital contacted me. Looks like Jean’s woken up. We should go see him.”
‘Great,’ Jotaro thought, ‘one less casualty.’
A grunt was his only verbal response.
“Hm? What’s wrong?” Joseph asked.
Jotaro briefly thought once again about the ghostly voice in his head, it’s ominous message ringing one last time
‘...the next New Moon… The Time of Heaven…”
He turned back towards the ashes on the sidewalk which was beginning to warm in the Egyptian sun’s first rays.
“Oh, nothing.”
He lifted his right foot and ground the cinders under his shoe. It felt like one last little victory, though it was hollow.
As they left, three figures stood menacingly in a shadowy alley watching their departure. One of them chuckled, just loud enough for their companions to hear,
“I found you, Kujo Jotaro, and your Star Platinum.” The one who had spoken shifted their weight to one side and looked thoughtfully.
“It’s no wonder the Noble One told me to dispose of him…”
They glanced at the taller figure and continued, “He possesses a Stand with unrivaled power. But…”
A grin slowly spread across their face, empty of any mirth, their eyes full of cruelty.
“He’s still no match for our Stands…”
The two shared a knowing look and turned to make their leave. Before following, the smallest of the three moved forward and took one last look at Jotaro and Joseph’s retreating figures, and then turned to scurry away to catch up with their partners.
----
After retrieving Polnareff from the hospital and some much-needed rest, he, Jorato, and Joseph made their way to Cairo International Airport. Standing in the terminal, the friendly voice of the
female announcer rang over the speakers.
“Yjb ‘an yantaqil rukkab alrihlat raqm ‘ithnan watiseun ‘iilaa baris ‘iilaa albawwabat alththaminat eshr… Passengers for flight number ninety-two to Paris should proceed quickly to gate eighteen… Fēi wăng bālí…”
Joseph was the first to break the solemn silence between the three of them.
“...Why go back to France, Jean?” He looked at the younger man with a seriousness in his eyes. “You don’t have any family left there, right? Why don’t you come and stay with me in New York?”
Polnareff looked at Joseph with a thoughtful smile.
“Mr. Joestar… I may not have any more family in France, but it’s still my homeland. I have many fond memories attached to my hometown. Wherever my traveling takes me, I always end up back there.”
His small smile turned big and goofy,
“If you ever need me, don’t hesitate to call! I’ll come running across the entire earth if I have to!”
But despite his words and grin, there was still remorse hanging at the corner of his eyes. Joseph looked away and tilted his head down, covering his eyes with the brim.
“...Well, I’ll miss you.”
Polnareff’s face fell, seemingly taken off-guard by Joseph’s vulnerability. Jotaro was also taken aback but hid it behind his usual steely gaze. Once Polnareff recovered, he returned Joseph’s honesty with his own.
“We’ve had our share of troubles, but… I had a really good time. Being able to travel with you guys is what made it worth it.”
“I feel the same way…” Joseph replied, “From the bottom of my heart.”
At this point, all the emotion was starting to make Jotaro squirm. Not that the feelings weren’t reciprocated, but all he could find in himself to add was a brief and slightly uncomfortable hum in agreement.
True to the stereotype of the French’s tendency for physical affection, Polnereff moved forward to grab Jotaro and Joseph and pulled them into a tight hug. Joseph followed quickly, encouraging Jotaro with a slight tug to join them in their last goodbye. And if Joseph and Polnareff felt Jotaro slowly relax and melt into the embrace, neither of them took the opportunity to point it out.
After a few moments, Polnareff lifted his head with a challenging smile and a playful fire in his eyes.
“Right, I’m off! Listen up, you old curmudgeon, you better not go dying anytime soon, you hear me?!” Polnareff’s gaze shifted to Jotaro, “You and that heartless grandson of yours! You’d better not forget me!”
Joseph met Polnareff with the same intensity, taking his hand off of their shoulders and pointing right at Polnareff’s face.
“We’ll meet again! Unless you’ve had enough of me… you blasted fool!”
Jotaro let a smile slip onto his face, he couldn’t help it. He had become so fond of these idiots over the past months. He obviously had known his grandfather his whole life, even if distance meant that he couldn’t see him frequently, but he never had made bonds so quickly and as strong as he had with Polnareff and the others.
“I couldn’t forget a character like you, even if I wanted to…” at that thought, his smile grew a little wider. Looking at Polnareff, Jotaro offered a quick wave and a grin. “Well… Take care now.”
Polnareff returned the smile. As he turned to leave, he looked over his shoulder, taking once last glance at the men he had shared countless perils with and who had saved his life in turn.
“...Later!”
Not a goodbye, but a promise that they would see each other again someday and, hopefully, under better circumstances. He turned and slung his duffle bag over his shoulder as Joseph and
Jotaro watched him make his way to the gate.
Once he had disappeared from view, the two stood there for a long minute staring at the last place they had seen their friend for the foreseeable future.
“...Are you ready to go? Our plane will be boarding soon as well.”
“Yeah,” Jotaro replied gruffly. The tender moment was over and they began to walk off. “And I’m thanking God that you won’t be flying this one.”
“Hahaha! Don’t count yourself too lucky! I just might convince the pilot to let me sit in the cockpit with him!”
“Good grief…
Just as they had reached the exit of the terminal, a commotion came barreling down the nearby hall that led to the other departure locations. Jotaro and Joseph looked at each other puzzled but continued on their way until said commotion stopped them in their tracks. A man in a dark purple jacket and a black bowler hat burst his way out of the hall and skidded to a stop in from of the two.
“There they are! At last!”
“Huh?” was all Jotaro could muster. He had seen some strange characters over the course of his adventure, and this man was far from the strangest, but he was still an odd one. His sweater matched the color of his jacket perfectly, he was wearing knee-high Nappa leather boots and his thick, wavy blond hair reached almost to the middle of his back. On top of that, if Jotaro thought his grandfather’s English accent was noticeable even after spending the past 40+ years living in New York, this man’s was absolutely absurd. Instead of being what you’d expect to hear in the movies, it sounded less posh, more like the lead singer of that punk band Jotaro had listened to a couple of times. The Clash, he thinks he remembered it being called.
Jotaro glanced at his grandfather to see if he had any answers but he looked just as perplexed as he did.
“Heh heh heh.” The strange man continued, “It all makes eighteen pence now. Kinda… makes me want to laugh!” And he did, very loudly. People were starting to stare.
“You’re both so buff… I knew at first glance that you’re both descendants of Mr. Joestar!”
After fixing the stranger with an irritated glare, Jotaro turned to Joseph.
“Jiji, is he a friend of yours?”
“No, I don’t know who he is.” He looked like he was getting annoyed with the stranger as well. The two of them shared a deliberative look before finally turning to address the man.
“You’re right though.” Joseph began. “I am a Joestar… And who might you be?”
“Oh, please excuse me! I’m-” But he was interrupted by yet another disturbance that was approaching from behind.
“Mr. Joestar! Jotaro!”
The two turned around in a rush to find Polnareff frantically stumbling his way in their direction, gripping his left bicep.
“Jean?!” Joeseph’s confusion was mounting. “What’s wrong? Why are you injured? What’s going on?!”
Polnareff straightened himself up, his eyes looked frenzied and confused.
“I-I have no idea… Not the slightest… goddamn… idea…”
He steeled himself and turned towards the direction he had just run from and squared himself up, clenching his fists.
“Enemies! They’re coming for us!!”
Not a moment later, two figures emerged from the gate. A tall and broad man and a small scruffy looking dog.
“Avdol?! Iggy?!” Joseph was in shock. Not thinking, he began walking towards the pair.
“Them! They’re the ones! Watch out! They’re going to attack!”
Jotaro and Joseph looked at Polnareff bewildered. Before Joseph could overwhelm him with a volume of questions, the man who appeared to be Avdol spoke up,
“Magician’s Red!”
Avdol’s Stand appeared behind him, the huge red bird man looked exactly as it did before they lost him. Iggy followed suit, the Boston Terrier growled as his own Stand, The Fool, materialized behind him as well. The shock had still not left Joseph’s system.
“I… I thought you were both dead… What in the hell…”
All Jotaro could do was stare. He had not been there when they were killed, but why could Polnareff lie… Why would they be here? And why would they be attacking them?
Joseph snapped Jotaro out of his daze,
“I don’t know what’s going on, but we can’t fight here! There are too many innocent people around! Come on! Quickly!”
Before the supposed Avdol and Iggy could begin their assault, Joseph, Jotaro, and Polnareff fled the scene with the assailants in hot pursuit.
The odd British man who had fallen to the back of their minds watched them retreat with confused irritation.
“W’at the?! They’ve already caught up with me?! Bloody… The clock’s ticking! I need to ‘urry!”
----
Once they were satisfied with the distance they had made, the trio stopped on a rooftop, once again on the city streets of Cairo.
Catching his breath, Jotaro turned to Polnareff, ready to get answers out of him.
“Good grief… What’s going on, Polnareff? What is this?”
He looked indignant, like Jotaro asking him was somehow accusing him of the situation.
“I have no idea! When I tried to get on my plane for Paris, they suddenly appeared and came at me!”
They stared at each other for a moment, both trying to relax their racing hearts. Joseph interrupted, looking up at the rooftop of the building next to them.
“Ugh… They caught up with us…”
Avdol and Iggy looked down at them showing no signs of familiarity. Polnareff spoke up,
“Should we keep running??”
Joseph looked from him to the ground. He paused and thought for a moment.
“No,” he said decisively, “we’ll stay here, and take them head-on.”
Avdol seemed pleased with the answer. He lowered his chin, smiling cruelly at the small group before him and hummed.
“Good. Because for you, there is no escape.”
Avdol continued, “Fools who dare to bring harm to the Noble One! I, Mohammed Avdol, will burn up every last piece of you!”
Jotaro stared back into callous amber eyes. Even at his worst, Jotaro had never seen Avdol look as cruel as he did now. But something he had said caught his attention.
“...The Noble One?”
Something about that struck a chord with him. He briefly flashed back to that moment under the full moon as he watched the old notebook burn.
Joseph scowled at the man standing before him. A mix of anger and fear was starting to boil in his veins, mixed with what he wasn’t sure was disbelief or denial.
“Don’t fuck with us! Are you really Avdol? Or…”
“Hold on, Jiji.” Jotaro stepped in front of him, still facing their pursuers, “I have no idea what’s going on here, but there is one thing I know for sure…”
His mouth turned into a tight line before he continued, “They are really trying to kill us.”
Joseph grimaced. He knew that. Everything leading up to this proved it but…
A lump began to build in his throat.
At that, Polnareff stepped forward. His fists were clenched and his eyes were hard.
“Mr. Joestar, let me deal with them.” He knew all three of them cared for the two deeply, but for Polnareff, this was personal. He had been there. Had been with them both before the end. And whoever was masquerading as his friends, or whatever had brought them back and was forcing them to do this, they were going to pay.
Avdol spoke,
“I’m done with the chit-chat.” In an instant, Magician’s Red appeared behind him. A huge fireball flew in their direction and the three of them barely had time to react. They dived out of the way, half thanks to their quick reflexes and half due to the force of the flames exploding in the spot where they had just been standing.
Polnareff stumbled and barely caught a glimpse of the sand forming around him. He swung around in time to see a massive mechanic beast form, it’s user, Iggy, snarling at him from beneath it. It lunged at him and he just managed to summon his own Stand in order to defend against the attack. Silver Chariot slashed at The Fool’s front legs and managed to slice through one of them
making it revert to the sand it was made up of.
Joseph and Jotaro were still dealing with an onslaught of deft flames. From the initial attack, a flurry of smaller flames pursued the two of them. Joseph tried his best to avoid them, but one hit him directly in the right shoulder.
Jotaro was able to dodge the worst of the attack, though the intense blaze left him singed. He saw his grandfather struggling and prepared himself for his next attack.
“Star Platinum: The World!”
Everything froze. Magician’s Red’s remaining flames hung motionless in the air. Iggy and Polnareff were fixed in the middle of their contest, Silver Chariot preparing another swing as The Fool’s front right arm finished restoring itself.
He only had five seconds.
Acting quickly, Jotaro grabbed his grandfather and ran towards Avdol. Once on the other roof, he swung around and situated himself and Joseph behind him. Jotaro took Joseph’s hands and placed them on Avdol’s back and restarted time.
As time began to move again, the sounds of battle returned and Jotaro shouted at his grandfather,
“Jiji! Hermit Purple! Now!!”
For a moment, Joseph’s eyes widened in shock, but he heard his grandson’s voice and acted instantaneously. Thorny purple vines snaked their way around Avdol’s body, he barely had time to looked surprised before he was completely immobilized. A moment of hesitation flashed across Joseph’s face but before he could let it take hold, he let energy shoot through his hands and fill Hermit Purple with his Hamon.
Avdol cried out, trying his best to remain on his feet, but the shock of electricity made him fall to his knees. Struggling to look over his shoulder, he tried to send more flames in the two’s direction, but Star Platinum delivered a swift kick to the side of his head and sent him to the ground.
With Avdol taken care of, Jotaro looked over to the ongoing battle between Polnareff and Iggy.
Polnareff was trying his best to defend himself, but his reluctance to take down his opponent was obvious. His hits were landing, but they lacked the tremendous speed they usually possessed. His face was twisted with effort, but there was reluctance in his eyes.
Jotaro knew Polnareff couldn’t give the final blow, his grief wouldn’t let him. Jotaro watched Iggy and the next time The Fool charged, he sprung forward, Star Platinum punching the dog to disable him.
Iggy stumbled and whimpered for a second, before collapsing and lying still.
Polnareff looked distraught and ran over to the small terrier, but relaxed when he saw him breathing, but only for a moment.
“What now?” He looked up at Jotaro, “If we sit here and wait for them to wake up, this will start all over again!”
“I don’t know. But right now, we still have no idea who or what they are. Jiji.”
“Right, I know. Bring Iggy here, I’ll-”
Before he could finish, purple light surrounded the unconscious figures. The three of them stopped in their tracks and a moment later Avdol and Iggy had disappeared with a flash.
“Avdol! Iggy!!” Polnareff yelled and collapsed to the ground to the place Iggy’s body had been moments ago.
“They-they just… What the hell were they??” Joseph stuttered.
Polnareff stopped his fruitless search and sat back on his legs.
“They are who they appeared to be, Mr. Joestar.” He looked up at the older man, “I fought both of them. I’m sure of it. They were the real Avdol and Iggy.”
“Don’t be absurd! There’s no way that’s possible…”
Jotaro felt a sensation of crawling on his back. It felt like someone was watching him. He turned with a step, ready to defend himself once again.
“Hey! Who’s there?!” But he didn’t have to look for more than a second to recognize him.
The figure was in a green school uniform. He stared down at him, with what could have been distaste if his eyes hadn’t been so empty.
“I’m impressed.” He addressed Jotaro, “There aren’t many people who could fight those two off.”
The shock was rattling Jotaro’s head. They cry fell from his lips before he could stop himself.
“K-Kakyion!”
Kakyoin scoffed,
“Why are you surprised? It’s just the same with Avdol and Iggy…”
This was too much. Jotaro could hear his heartbeat pounding in his head. How could this be real? How could all three of them…
“I swore my allegiance to the Noble One.”
Jotaro ground his teeth and his eyes were wide.
“Which means…” Kakyion paused, “I must kill you!”
“Kakyion!” Polnareff shouted, “You too?! What happened?!” Despite himself, he began moving towards the image of his fallen friend.
“Stand back Jean!” Joseph thrust his arm in front of him to stop his approach. Joseph stared up at Kakyion and pointed a finger in his direction.
“I won’t let you get away this time. Hermit Purple will make you cough up everything!” But Jorato was already behind Kakyion. As fast as Hierophant Green’s Emerald Splash was, it was already established that it couldn’t outpace The World. Jotaro shot out his arm and wrapped it around his friend’s neck, the other arm wrapping around his middle and pinning his arms. Kakyoin’s eyes widened and he instinctively summoned Hierophant Green. But Star Platinum was already ready, grabbing it in a bearhug and pinning it to the ground.
Kakyoin choked against Jotato’s iron grip. But he was shorter and smaller so the struggling got him nowhere.
“Jiji.” Jotaro’s face was blank, and the brim of his hat covered his eyes. “Get over here. Get it over with already.”
“R-right-”
But a loud slam interrupted him. A familiar man stood rapidly panting in the open doorway that lead to the stairwell of the building.
“Merde- Another one?! Who the hell are you?!” Polnareff exclaimed.
But Joseph and Jotato recognized him, he was the same man as the one who had stopped them at the airport. Polnareff must have been too distracted to notice him.
“Joseph my friend, this is a problem your powers can’t solve. Just leave it to me!”
He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out… Something. It looked very old. Dry flakes fell from the strange object as the man revealed it.
“With the power of the ‘oly Corpse, I’ll bring your friend back to normal!”
“What’s that now?” Joseph raised an eyebrow looking at the man bewildered.
Without answering, the man walked over to where Jotaro was still holding a struggling Kakyoin. With his airflow restricted, he was losing energy, but his stubbornness kept him kicking.
The object in the man’s hand began to glow as he approached and by the time he had reached the two, Kakyoin had stopped squirming.
He slumped in Jotaro’s hold, just barely keeping himself up. His head dropped and for a second Jorato was worried.
Kakjoin groaned, “Ugh… Where am I…?”
He noticed the arms around himself as if he had hadn’t known they were there in the first place and looked up to see who his captor was.
“Jotaro?”
Jotaro released him, the tenseness he had been holding inside of him melted away and he let out a soft sigh of relief.
“And Mr. Joestar… and Jean?” He looked at the three of them one by one, clearly bewildered.
“Have you come to your senses now, Kakyoin?” Jotaro asked. To someone who didn’t know him, he would have sounded irritable or even rude, but there was a degree of concern and softness in
his voice, at least for Jotaro.
At that, Kakyoin startled. He whirled around and grabbed Jotaro’s arm and began to talk frantically.
“I just remembered! DIO! DIO’s ability! I figured out what his ability is!”
“Calm down now, Kakyoin.” Joseph held out a hand to calm him. Kakyoin spun his head around to look.
“The battle with DIO’s over now. And you,” Joseph turned to address the mystery man to try and finally figure out his identity. “Who are you? How do you know my name? What did you do to Kakyoin? What the hell is going on here?!” Aggravation was mounting as he spat out his questions.
“Wait! ‘old on! You need to calm down too!” The man put his hands up defensively. “I’m sorry it’s taken so long to introduce myself. My name is Robert E. O. Speedwagon. I came ‘ere to make a request of you!”
Joseph did calm down and looked thoughtfully at the ground. He crossed his arms and placed his chin in his hand.
“Speed...wagon?”
“That’s the name of the founder of the Speedwagon Foundation!” Polnareff offered. “I got it! You’re an amateur conman!”
A few silent moments passed before Joseph yelled-
“OH MY GOD!!!”
The outburst startled everyone and Jotaro grimaced at his grandfather’s loud disturbance.
“No Jean… I can hardly believe it, but I remember now. It really is him… You look just like that photo I saw of Speedwagon when he was young!”
“You’ve seen me before? Good, that should make things quicker.”
The man who was now known to be Speedwagon held out the old flakey object.
“This is a part of the ‘oly Corpse.”
“A holey corpse?” Polnareff replied dumbly.
Speedwagon ignored it and continued with his explanation.
“To put it simply, it’s the mummified dead body of a great man who must have died a very long time ago. The ‘oly Corpse ‘as guided me through many ‘a different era of ‘istory. As we speak, our world is falling into an incredible crisis… Which ‘as given birth to all kinds of strangeness. Just like what ‘appened to that Kak-yo-in guy there.”
Looking for clarification, Joseph asked,
“You’re saying that Kakyoin, Avdol, and Iggy came back to life because of these anomalies?”
Speedwagon looked at Joseph and gave a very serious nod.
“Wow…” He stared at the ground for a moment until looking up at Kakyoin obviously concerned.
“Don’t worry about me, Joestar-san. My memory cuts off at the point when DIO attacked me and I was flung into the water tank…”
But his voice was not very reassuring. It was tinted with nervousness and though he tried to look confident, anxiety crept its way through his smile.
Jotaro and Polnareff looked at each other. The fact that the last thing Kakyoin remembered were the moments before his death was upsetting, to say the least.
“But then,” he Kakyoin continued, addressing Speedwagon, “why did Avdol, Iggy, and I attack you three?” He looked at his companions, “I want to know the truth…”
Jotaro was happy to change in subject. Kakyoin’s death and his unexpected revival was not something we wanted to dwell on.
“Kakyoin.” he began, “Who is the Noble One that you were talking about before? Is he connected to the crisis that Speedwagon mentioned?”
Kakyoin’s eyes narrowed in thought.
“I… I don’t know…” He looked up apologetically, “I can’t remember anything at all…”
“So,” Joseph spoke to Speedwagon, “what is this request of yours?”
Speedwagon put the corpse part back into his jacket, he was clearly fired up.
“I’ll tell you w’at! I want you to ‘elp me gather up the ‘oly Corpse parts! There are nine in total.” He counted them off on his fingers as he spoke, “And they have bizarre powers… If we can build them into the full corpse and unleash its true power, then, we’ll be able to fix all the anomalies and avert the crisis!”
He looked away and said more quietly, “At least, I think we will…”
“You ‘think’ we will?!” Polnareff shouted indignantly.
“Truth be told, I don’t really know myself.” Speedwagon said a bit too confidently. “Since I came into possession of the corpse, I’ve been ‘earing voices whispering in my ear. That’s w’at lead me ‘ere.”
Jotato’s scowl deepened. This guy better be who his grandfather believes he is, otherwise, they’ll be following a complete lunatic on a wild goose chase. But at this point, so much had happened that none of them could explain, and they really didn’t have much of a choice but to trust him.
“Hold on!” Polnareff exclaimed again, “Are we sure this guy’s all there?”
“Wait, Jean. Let’s hear him out.” Joseph had more confidence in this man than Jotaro and Polnareff did combined.
Speedwagon seemed thankful for his trust. But his brows furrowed with worry.
“The era I belong in was thrown into total chaos by those anomalies. But I can’t do anything about it by myself.” He placed his hand on the pocket where he had the mummified body part. “The ‘oly Corpse led me ‘ere so that I could meet you. In other words, you must be the ones who are capable of stopping the crisis that threatens our world! ...I think…”
Polnareff threw his hands in the air, “Alright! That’s it!” He turned to leave before Speedwagon continued hastily,
“I know this is coming out of now’ere! But I’m begging you! Please fight alongside me!”
Joseph rubbed the side of his head perplexed. Even the believed that Speedwagon was who he said he was, he was still apprehensive.
“Talk about surreal…” He held his chin in his hand again and studied Speedwagon intently. “I’ve been through all kinds of bizarre adventures, but this is really a cut above the rest.”
He looked from Jotaro to Kakyoin to Polnareff.
“Well? What do you all think?”
“...I think it’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard… Good grief…” More than anything, Jotaro just wanted all of this to be over.
Polnareff pointed a finger at Speedwagon but looked at Joseph.
“I can’t understand a thing he says, and I don’t trust a word of it either!” He crossed his arms, “But, he really did bring Kakyoin back to normal…”
“I trust him.” Kakyoin chimed in, “I don’t really see any other choice.”
“Hmm…” Joseph went back to scratching his short beard in thought, “There’s no disputing the fact that Avdol and Iggy really did attack us…” He lowered his hand and folded his arms. “Okay, the verdict’s in. Listen up, Mr. Speedwagon!”
He paused for a moment.
“No, that sounds weird… Okay, Speedwagon!” He pointed a finger at him, “We’ve decided to help you out!”
‘That doesn’t very much sound like the verdict we came to,’ Jotaro thought, but Speedwagon looked ecstatic, practically jumping up and down.
“Thank you! W’at a relief.”
A soft pulsing glow began to emanate from his pocket.
“Hm? Now what?”
“Look!” Speedwagon said instead of answering Joseph’s question. He took the corpse part out of his pocket revealing that it was the source of the light.
“The ‘oly Corpse is resonating. That means there’s another part nearby! Lets split up and find it!”
----
After a while of searching the roofs of Cairo, Jotaro and Speedwagon, who Jotaro had partnered up with reluctantly and at the insistence of Joseph, Jotaro spotted a glow very similar to the one that was emanating from Speedwagon’s pocket.
“Look.” Jotaro walked up to the grate where the light was coming from. He reached inside and felt around before pulling out a crusty object that vaguely resembled the shape of a child’s torso.
“You found it!” Speedwagon walked over, “Remember, this part of the corpse chose you. Be sure you don’t lose it!”
Chose him? He had just happened to find it and drag it out of a city drain. He examined the body part. It was unpleasant at best. He grimaced, sighed, and placed it in the pocket of his school uniform jacket. Whatever it took to get this over with…
Footsteps approached them from behind and they turned to see Joseph joining them with Kakyoin and Polnareff not far behind.
When they reached Speedwagon and Jotaro, something strange began to happen. Glowing cracks began to appear on the ground in front of them. The cracks made no noise as they formed and began to glow with similar light to that of the corpse parts and a short beam grew upwards out of it.
“What’s that?” Joseph asked.
“It looks like a gap… like a rift made out of light…” Kakyoin offered.
Speedwagon gestured to the rift and began to explain.
“These are created by the ‘oly Corpse parts. Anyone who steps inside the light can travel to a different era.”
A different era… Jotaro had dealt with his fair share of time magic, but time travel? This is just too strange…
“Right then!” Speedwagon clapped his hands together, “Off we go, follow me!” He stepped into the beam and disappeared in a flash of light.
The four crusaders hesitated, staring at where the odd man had disappeared.
Polnareff chuckled awkwardly, and Joseph turned to face him.
“What’s so funny, Jean?”
Polnareff looked slightly embarrassed, the laugh had slipped out involuntarily.
“I was just thinking… Ya know, if this all goes well, Avdol and Iggy might come back to life! Just thinking about that made me smile…” He looked nostalgically at the other three and smiled softly, “I didn’t expect to go on another journey so soon…”
“Yeah, me either…” Kakyoin muttered, but he seemed more anxious than anything.
“I’ll say.” Joseph agreed.
Jotaro looked from Joseph to Polnareff and then stared at Kakyoin. Seeing him standing in front of him again brought many emotions, ones he did not want to think about for too long.
“Good grief…”
Deciding not to dwell on it too much, they walked into the rift and vanished.