Work Text:
The scratching is starting to get really annoying. It had been going on for about 10 minutes now. At first, it wasn’t a big deal, but now he can’t concentrate anymore.
Jotaro accepts defeat as he gets up from his office desk to see what’s been so desperately needing his attention.
Upon opening the door, however, he can’t find a person, or thing for that matter, to focus on. No one was there, but the scratching didn’t stop until he opened the door. Whoever was causing that distraction couldn’t have escaped him so quickly, right?
He gets his questions answered when a soft purring noise comes from below. Tilting his head down, he finds a small yellow cat with distinctive white stripes. It’s almost like he knows this cat, but from where?
He doesn’t focus on the cat for much longer because the manilla folder under its paws grabs his attention.
Jotaro bends over, prepared to grab the papers, but before he can even reach them, the cat opens the folder and starts flipping through the pages. It seems as if it's found the page it wants Jotaro to see. Once the cat backs up, freeing the papers from under its paws, Jotaro picks it up to see what this cat wants him to know.
---
Naples, Italy; lead 268
Agent: None Polnareff, Jean-Pierre
Time and date: Unknown 7:56pm November 23rd, 2001
Stand user: Name unknown So Diavolo
Background Information: Locals claim to be feeling some sort of a time jump, a sense of dread following suit shortly after. Some have spotted a man carrying a long black briefcase before the jumps, with a few seeing a small golden spot where there seemed to be holes in it. A few other agents have tried to investigate similar occurrences but there’s been no luck in contacting them since departing on their missions.
---
“ That damn bastard’s going to get himself killed, and he never bothered to contact me...” he huffs.
There’s still at least a full page of information left to read, but he doesn’t need to see it. Jotaro’s upset not only because Polnareff is going on a suicide mission but also that the man didn’t even call his friend, whether as final words or to ask for help.
Jotaro takes a look at his watch and reads the date: November 23 rd , 11:24am
Factoring in time zones, he realizes he has a little over 16 hours to make it to Italy, considering he’s currently in Tokyo. The flight from Japan to Italy is 13 hours, the trip to the airport is at least an hour, and he’ll be lucky if there’s even a flight going to Italy when he makes it to the airport. Jotaro’s not going to have much time to find his friend and stop him from dying.
Dropping all his things, Jotaro grabs a briefcase and heads off to the airport. He doesn’t know where the cat came from, how it got its hands (paws?) on those papers, how it knew to bring them to him, or why it looks so familiar, but he’s just thankful for this coming all together.
Unknowingly to Jotaro, the cat is a stand user who’s stand can get him into all sorts of spaces and can do a lot more than fetch papers. His name is Charley and he’s been following the Joestars for a long time.
“Where is that damn bastard?” Polnareff whispers to himself while looking for any sign of Diavolo. He had been tracking him for a while, staying out of sight and hidden with no notable mess ups.
Finalement , a boy with pink hair shows up. This is it. This is his chance. He can finally find the location of the requiem arrow! He knows that Diavolo has been able to grab many arrows, but he won’t get this one! Now all he has to do is wait for the man to show up.
“Come out.” The boy says
Polnareff stays silent, waiting for Diavolo to arrive.
“I said come out. I know you’re there.”
Polnareff’s a little confused. Where’s Diavolo? And where’s the goods they’re supposed to be trading?
“Found you.”
Tout la coup, le garçon appears right next to him. There’s a... face sticking out of his... face?
Polnareff n’a pas temps penser about that when he realizes that this boy is a stand user and has been looking pour lui .
“ Vous! ”
“...what?” The Italian asks.
“So, you’ve known that I’ve been on your trail then.”
“What did you say at first-”
“ C’est temps pour vous mourir. ”
“.... w h a t?”
However, before being able to make a move or even take out silver chariot, the garçon avec pink hair disappeared. What was now in front of him, however, was scarier than he could ever imagine.
Another pink haired male, but this time, he was no longer a boy.
“Mon dieu...”
Diavolo.
And the stand, what even was it?
Summoning Silver Chariot, blocking is the only thing he knows he can do.
-----
Everything hurt. Diavolo would move around and get hits on him that Polnareff never saw coming. It was like he was teleporting, but it wasn’t that.
He would be looking down after one hit, and then all of a sudden, he was facing the ground with blood splattered all over
Polnareff’s efforts are almost becoming obsolete, he can’t hold on much longer.
“You were so much fun to play with. I can tell you’re a strong stand user.” Diavolo says while walking around the beaten up man. “However, you were never a match for me.”
“Votie vous en enfer.”
With one final attempt at attack, Silver Chariot launches at Diavolo, and just like before, he disappears.
Goodbye
6:00pm on the dot. That’s when Jotaro finally arrives in Italy. While this is bad, considering the fact that he had less than 2 hours to find his friend, there is also another problem. He needs to get to Naples. Right now, he has just landed in the Milan airport.
After finally finding the exit, Jotaro heads to look for a cab. However, there seem to be none around. Well, there is one , but the line is way too long.
“Hello! Are you looking for a cab?”
Jotaro turns to look at the person talking to him only to find a teen. This boy doesn’t even look like he can drive.
Sensing the suspicion from Jotaro, the boy speaks up. “I can assure you I am legally able to drive. Plus, my rates are much cheaper than everyone else’s.”
Jotaro can’t seem to shake the feeling that he isn’t up to any good. Also, this teen seems oddly familiar, but he can’t place his finger on it.
“No, actually. I’m not looking for a ride right now.”
The teen sighs. “Whatever you say, Mr.”
Resisting the urge to correct “Mr.” to “Dr.”, Jotaro leaves the airport entrance. He isn’t having any luck finding another taxi driver.
Soon, however, a taxi pulls up. Unknown to Jotaro, though, is that this driver is up to no good.
He doesn’t look Italian. I can scam him out of cash and begin my crimes again. What a perfect opportunity!
Jotaro goes to open the door, yet as soon as it’s cracked open, something slips into the car and starts attacking the driver. Whatever it is, Jotaro can’t really see it. It’s like this light gray blur. Well, light gray blur doesn’t really describe it. It’s more so a... transparent black?
Before he can continue pondering what’s attacking the taxi driver and why on that matter, he feels something tugging on his jacket. Looking down, he sees something he would’ve never expected.
“Meow.”
“You again? How’d you-”
The cat continues to tug, yet it’s getting more forceful. It then looks one direction and then back at Jotaro.
“You want me to follow you?”
The cat stops tugging and begins to head in the direction it was originally looking.
He doesn’t know why but he feels as if he can trust this cat with his life. He really shouldn’t, but it just... feels like all it wants to do is make things better. He shouldn’t follow, he’s not going to follow it. That would be a huge mistake. He’s not going to follow it.
.
He follows it.
“You lead me to another taxi?” The cat smiles and steps back.
Jotaro gets into the cab and the driver asks where he wants to go.
“The Naples Airport, and I need to get there fast.”
“I got it. By the way, is that your cat?”
Jotaro looks outside the window. He doesn’t have much time, Naples is far from Milan, and the cat gives him a look that says, “I’ll be ok”, but Jotaro decides that he needs answers.
“Yeah, thanks.”
The cat looks surprised by Jotaro’s statement but walks up to the cab. Jotaro opens the door, and once the cat is inside and the door is shut, the driver starts going.
The cat looks at Jotaro with a confused face. Jotaro looks back and decides that there’s no time like the present.
The cat's face shifts from confused to “please don’t kill me” scared when Jotaro summons Star Platinum.
Well, Jotaro’s figured out that this cat is a stand user, though it doesn’t seem to be malicious in any way. He knows it can read English, maybe he can start there.
Using the notepad in his coat pocket, he writes the alphabet on it and places it at his side like he was just placing it down. Of course, even if the driver notices something off, he can mind his own business, but Jotaro doesn’t want to cause any delays in getting to Polnareff. The only location he knows of his friend is the city Naples, and he can’t just go to “Naples” and find Polnareff, so the airport is the only guess as to where to start the search. He can’t afford to waste any more time.
The cat looks down and sees the notepad. It first steps on the letter “C”. Then, it moves its paw to the letter “H”. It continues this until it spells out the name “Charley”.
Now that Jotaro knows the name of the cat, he decides to get straight to the point. He picks up the notepad and writes a single word on it, placing it back down after.
The cat looks at the pad and sees “Why?”.
It thinks for a moment before summoning its stand. Moving its paw once more, it spells out “It cme to hep.”
Jotaro deciphers that as “It came to help.” Picking up the notepad another time, Jotaro writes “’It’ as in your stand?”
The cat looks at the question and nods.
Jotaro can’t deny that all the cat’s been doing is nothing but helpful. So, residing, Jotaro has only one last question to ask.
“You’re familiar.”
The cat nods. It spells out “Help wth joske”
Help with Josuke?
Then, it hits him. This was the cat that led him to stand users that were hurting Josuke. Maybe it really is here to help.
It takes about an hour for the taxi to arrive at the airport. Jotaro’s not going to ask how the driver took a 6-hour drive and cut it down by 5 hours, he’s just going to give the man a good tip.
During it, however, Charley decided to hop onto Jotaro’s lap and snuggle with him. He’ll never admit it, but it was nice.
-----
He’s now in the right city, but he’s got an hour until Polnareff faces a crazy stand user on his own. He knows the man is strong, but not strong enough.
He starts to run to places outside of crowded businesses and places in site of public view. Charley follows suit too, but this time, it can’t help. It doesn’t know where Polnareff could be.
Time’s ticking down, they don’t have much left to find him.
-----
Time is at his control. Diavolo has Polnareff right in his grip.
Ah yes, watching this menace falling to his death will be great. Today, he dies.
Epitath has always been such a help, but now, King Crimson shall skip forward time.
The world turns black, the ground now the only thing in view. Walking forward, Diavolo positions his hand right in front of the French man.
Reeling back, time is returning-
WHAT?!?!?
Time continues, gone from King Crimson’s control. In front of Diavolo is a tall black-haired man.
HE APPEARED OUT OF NOWHERE! EPITAPH SHOULD HAVE SEEN HIM COMING! HOW DID THIS HAPPEN-
Before Diavolo can continue ranting in his head, a full barrage of “ORA!”s comes at him, and he flies back hitting rocks far away from the fight grounds.
Jotaro’s breathing heavily, still not facing his friend. Only looking to the distance of where he sent the stand user flying.
Charley goes up to Polnareff and takes out its stand. While he doesn’t want this cat’s stand to touch him, he doesn’t have an option, due to the state Diavolo put him in. Charley, however, while it can’t heal wounds, makes the pain barrable.
“Oh... thanks...” Polnareff mumbles.
Charley smiles and meows a little.
Polnareff then shifts his focus to the friend that just saved his ass.
“J... Jotaro?”
“You could’ve died.”
“How did you find me?”
Jotaro turns around and walks to his friend. “You went on a suicide mission! If I didn’t step in, who knows what would’ve happened to you!” He takes out the files Charley had given him. He kept them stored inside his jacket pocket to make sure no one got their hands on them.
He throws the papers at Polnareff.
“And you didn’t even bother contacting me! What were you thinking?!?”
The white-haired man doesn’t respond. He doesn’t know how to. Jotaro’s right. Damnit, he’s so stupid-
Suddenly, Jotaro throws himself at Polnareff, wrapping his arms tightly around the French man’s body.
“Jotaro...?”
Polnareff barely catches it, but he hears his friend mumble.
“I can’t lose you too.”
Polnareff returns the hug, and they stay like that for a while. Luckily, even with all the battling going on, nobody was around.
When it finally ends, they both get up. Polnareff decides to ask the first question.
“How’d you find me? The paper just says “Naples, Italy”.
“I arrived at the Milan airport, made my way down to Naples, and combed the outskirts of the city, and found you.”
“Ah, I see.”
“What about that time skip?”
“Time skip? Oh yeah, that thing. I suspect that was his stand’s ability, but he also seemed to know all of my moves. Also, he was a boy at first.”
Jotaro doesn’t respond to those statements.
“I know it’s weird, but he shouldn’t be a problem anymore.”
“I wouldn’t count on it. He seemed to be a tough bastard.”
“I know that all too well.”
“Polnareff.”
“Yeah?”
“If you ever run into him again, do not go chasing after him. And contact me before
doing anything stupid.”
“Yeah yeah...”
Jotaro stares at Polnareff until the man finally understands the severity of their situation.
“Ok ok! I swear! I’ll contact you before I go chasing after him.”
Jotaro lets out an aggravated sigh and turns around. He starts to walk away.
“W-wait! I can’t walk that far!”
Jotaro stops, and after a brief pause, reluctantly turns around and grabs his friend’s left arm and props it over his own shoulder.
“Thanks.”
Jotaro mumbles and pulls his hat down.
“Haha, still the same as ever, aren’t you?”
He turns his head to the side.
“Say, who’s your new friend?”
“Hm?”
“The cat that’s been following us. He didn’t heal me but subsided the pain a bit.”
“He?”
“Yeah. Me and Sherry use take care of some stray cats for a while. Over time, it became easier to tell the gender of the cats.”
“Huh.”
“Well?”
“Charley’s a stand user who helped me with something back in Morioh. I don’t know what his stand does, but it seems as if he’s just here to help.”
“If you trust him, then I’ll trust him.”
They walk for a little longer before making it to a place where Polnareff can sit. Charley stays next to the injured man so he can keep the pain from getting too bad.
“You want to go to a hospital?”
“I... should be fine. I don’t want people to ask questions and honestly, I can’t deal with hospitals anymore.”
Jotaro hums in agreement.
“So, what’ve you been up to? Surely, you’ve been doing more than looking for arrows, right?”
“Not really. It’s been our main objective. Though, I have come across another possible Joestar.”
“Say what now?”
“His name is Haruno Shiobanna. It’s possible he’s the son of DIO.”
Polnareff stares blankly. What is he supposed to do with this information?
“I should have a photo of him. One moment.”
Sifting through his pockets, Jotaro pulls out a photo of a young, black haired boy.
“You know, looking at him now, I can see the resemblance...” Polnareff quickly backtracks, however. “N-not in a bad way! You’re nothing like DIO it’s just that-”
“Don’t worry. It’s Jonathan that you see, not that bastard.”
Polnareff could see the photo crumple a bit where Jotaro was holding it. Right after,
though, the stress on the picture is gone.
“I was thinking of sending Koichi to check him out. See if he’s a threat or not.”
“Oh, you don’t need to do that. I can help.”
“No.” Jotaro answers with no hesitation.
“What- why?”
“You’re not going to confront DIO Brando’s son. End of discussion.”
“Oh, come on, I can help!”
“I’m not going to put you in any danger especially after what happened today.”
“I-” Polnareff ponders for a moment. “I guess so. Though, don’t be a hypocrite if you ever need help, especially against a stand user, and decide not to call me.”
“Fine.”
The two sit in silence with a little bit of purring coming from Charley. Polnareff plays with him for a while and pets him. Eventually, Charley snuggles up between the two stand users.
Eventually, a taxi driver passing by spots the two males and decides to pull up, seeing if they need a ride.
“You two need a lift anywhere? The hospital perhaps?”
Polnareff looks down and remembers that he actually is really injured. “No, actually. It’s not as bad as it looks.” He looks at Jotaro, “Though a ride to my hotel would be nice.”
“I have to go to America anyway.”
“Wait, you’re leaving? And I thought you were in Japan-”
“I was going to leave for America soon which is why I had travel preparations already in place when I came here.”
“Ah. Should we go then, or do you want to keep staring at that same rock for a few more hours?”
Jotaro sighs, then looks at the taxi driver. “Grand Hotel Capodimonte, and then the airport.”
“You got it.”
Jotaro helps Polnareff into the cab and the driver starts off.
------
When they reach the Hotel, Jotaro helps his friend to his room.
“You’ll be ok on your own?”
“Aww, Joot is worried about me!”
A small blush of embarrassment forms on Jotaro’s face. “I told you not to call me that.”
“In public .”
“Would you like to have even more broken bones and no Charley?”
“Thanks for taking me to my room! Gotta go!” Stumbling out of Jotaro’s support, he
barely manages to get inside his room without getting more injured.
Barely.
Jotaro heads back to the taxi waiting for him and they head towards the airport.
The drive is silent. Jotaro’s not threatening Charley anymore and the cat is laying on his lap. It’s a nice comfort.
When they reach the airport, Jotaro gets out and leaves a tip for the driver. Before he could even enter the building, he’s met by a familiar face.
“Oh, hey there again Mr-”
“No.” And with that, Jotaro leaves the blond-haired kid alone while he catches a flight.
Giorno looks down in defeat and walks away. Despite that man’s cold demeanor, he kinda wanted to get to know him. There was just something so familiar about him.
~
Jotaro looks down to the cat at his side. Charley gives the older man a look that says “We’ll see each other again.”
Charley starts heading away and all Jotaro can do is watch. Once he’s out of sight, though, Jotaro heads for his plane.
1 year later, the beginning of
Part 5
Diavolo paces around his room, lost in thought.
My daughter’s on the loose, the man I tried to kill didn’t die because someone else stepped in, and now there’s three open ends, one of which’s power I don’t understand. Then there's the requiem arrow and there’s no sign of it! I have no leads on anything besides my daughter but my most trusted capo died! I just hope Bruno can take over and keep her from La Squadra, those traitors...
This is so frustrating! I can’t even find any sign of those two men! Gah!!
What was his name... that French man... Ah, yes. Polnareff. I could try tracking him down first. I’ve been so.. Stuck on this other man that I keep forgetting I actually know some things about that bastard!
While Trish is being taken care of, maybe I can find out more about Polnareff.
“ Jotaro.”
“What do you need?”
“I found the requiem arrow.”
Jotaro nearly spits out the coffee in his hands.
“Where are you calling from? What are you using?”
“I grabbed a stranger’s phone from France.”
“You’re in-”
“Neighboring countries, easy train access, keeps him off our trails.”
“Hm... Fine. Where’d you find it?”
“One of the digging sites in North Italy.”
“I thought all the arrows there were cleared out?”
“Apparently we missed one. An important one at that.”
“Where are you keeping it?”
“It’s in a safe at a rural farmer’s house that I’m staying out. Don’t worry, it’s my own and only I know the passcode.”
“Why.... are you living in a farmer's house?”
“Uh....”
Jotaro sighs. “Nevermind that. Is there anything you need?”
“No, I just wanted to make sure you knew.”
“Well, thanks.”
“No problem, Joot.”
“I will fly all the way to Italy this time not to save your ass but to kick it.”
“Bye Joot!” And with that, the call ends.
“Damnit.”
Jotaro puts the phone in his hand down. The week’s barely even started too. Haruno Shiobanna is actually Giorno Giovanna and he’s now blond and much taller than before. Polnareff also has the requiem arrow and who knows what’s going to happen with that man holding one of the most powerful relics on earth.
He just hopes Polnareff doesn’t get himself into too much trouble this time.
.
.
.
.
Wait.
…
…
...
Oh no.
The kids have been doing great so far. I’ve been able to doge Diavolo’s tracking, Trish is fairing fine, although confused, and they’re so close to finding out his true identity. I just wish I could show myself to them. Doing that would put me in jeopardy, though. I should be able to give Giorno the requiem arrow soon, though. As long as he can survive all of this, I know the arrow will accept him.
Polnareff looks down at the arrow in his hand.
I just hope it doesn’t fall into anyone else's hands. Even when it stabbed Silver Chariot, the outcome could’ve been so much worse. I can’t let that happen again, or else maybe some evil greater than that may occur.
Resuming his lookout at the cliffs, he watches Bruno’s team search for where to finally uncover their boss’s true identity.
Suddenly, Polnareff hears Narancia shooting something. Looking around, he finds a black and white man standing over...
No...
There’s no way that’s...
Polnareff can only watch as Aerosmith shoots down the tall man, avoiding Diavolo’s helper completely. The pink haired boy crawls away slowly, making his way down to the shore.
Looking down at the kids, he sees Abbachio getting closer and closer to the date found on that photo. He can’t let the boy reach them, at all costs.
-
It’s an unknown race to the bottom, but being that one of the stand users isn’t suffering from blood loss, Polnareff is able to watch everyone’s moves at a distance, yet close enough to step in when needed.
Soon, though, the other user makes it down. Behind a small section of cliff, Diavolo takes over control.
Finally, I can start wrapping up a loose end.
He slowly makes his way to a now-distracted Abbachio going to help bring down a soccer ball.
Once close enough, Diavolo unleashes King Crimson and goes for the goth.
-
Polnareff can sense the menacing aura as soon as Diavolo appears. He readies his stand and decides to try out something. Diavolo’s stand seems to just... skip through time. He doesn’t know this for sure, but he can test it out, right here, right now.
Diavolo is there. He doesn’t know where he is, but he knows that Diavolo is there.
Small drops of blood fall onto his finger. He waits.
.
.
.
.
.
.
There’s more drops of blood on the finger than a moment ago.
Looking up, Polnareff finds King Crimson about to stab Abbachio in the stomach.
No.
This isn’t happening again.
He won’t let it happen again.
He lunges Silver Chariot not at King Crimson, but at Abbachio.
The goth hits the ground and the stand’s fist brush right where he had been standing.
Diavolo starts to panic. That man is here but he can’t reveal himself! Neither of them
can.
He goes for another punch, but Polnareff drags Abbachio to the side.
Before the poor ex-cop can even try to get up for a second time, he’s dragged again, but this time to his own stand. When he finally is able to get up, he sees a flash of silver disintegrate.
Diavolo, meanwhile, is panicking.
Damnit! Not only did the French man read my moves, but now he knows my ability! And Bucciarati’s team is going to find out my identity! I need to get out of here, fast! I can’t take them all on, especially in this condition.
With that, Polnareff has protected the gang members and they now have a reference for Diavolo’s identity.
One step closer to achieving his dream and defeating an evil beyond his imagination.
Giorno can make it.
“Meet up at the coliseum? Who even is that man, how does he know about us, and what could he possibly give us to help defeat the boss?” Giorno asks his capo.
“I’m not sure, but he seems trustworthy enough. If it turns out he’s bad, we’ll kick his ass, ok?” Bruno reassures his friend.
“I guess... How’s Trish doing by the way? She’s seemed very tense after the event at the cliffs.”
“I think she’s doing ok. Her and Abbachio keep talking about how her fearful feelings lined up with the weird things that happened to him. Do you think...”
“It’s possible. Maybe that man is...”
“I think so. We know that the man has been keeping tabs on us, but there is no concrete proof that he’s been spying on us. There is a chance that he has, however. We’ll found out when we meet him, though.”
“Yeah. You’re right-”
“Giorno!” Narancia yells from outside of the turtle.
Fearful that something might’ve happened, Giorno hops out of Coco Jumbo and tries to find what happened to them. “What is it? Did something go wrong?”
“Look what I found!” Narancia pulls out a small green frog out from behind his back.
For a brief second, Giorno was mad at Narancia for acting like something was wrong, but all that anger went away when he saw this tiny froggy.
“:OOOOO”
“:DDDDDDD”
“:00000000 :))))))))))”
“Would you two stop fawning over a frog? We have to start heading for Rome.”
“No.”
“Never!”
Abbachio sighs and walks on ahead. Giorno and Narancia hop into the turtle, and so it’s only him outside.
Who was the person that saved him that day?
“Jotaro.”
“Polnareff? What do you need?”
“I wanted to let you know that I’m meeting up with a kid named Giorno Giovanna.”
Polnareff hears a little bit of rustling on the other side of the phone. What he doesn’t know is that Jotaro had almost dropped it and had to react quickly before it fell to the ground.
“Who.”
“Giorno... Giovanna?”
“Don’t go near him.”
“What- why? Also-I-may-or-may-not-have-been-spying-on-him-and-keeping-tabs-on-him and-making-sure-his-gang-didn’t-die”
This time there’s a thud, but Jotaro’s voice comes back.
“What do you mean you’ve been keeping an eye on him and his gang.”
“Well, he’s in the mafia but- don't- don't freak out please.”
There’s silence on the other end, but at least it isn’t dead.
“He wants to defeat Diavolo. I know I’m not a match for him, I don’t want to fight him again, but I believe giving Giorno the requiem arrow will be exactly what will accomplish everyone’s goals. The missing piece of the puzzle.”
“Do you know who that kid is?”
“He’s a kid with a golden heart. That’s why I’m meeting him in the Roman Coliseum. You should know this better than anyone, I don’t put my trust in people that easily.”
“You put your trust in DIO.”
Polnareff goes quiet for a second. He doesn’t want to remember that. Grieving for his sister made him so vulnerable, that’s why he fell for DIO’s trap.
That was a low blow. Even for Jotaro.
“Giorno isn’t DIO. Why are you so insistent on-”
“He’s his son.”
.
Both ends are silent.
Polnareff ponders for a moment, though finally finding the right words.
“Back when you saved me from Diavolo, you told me Haruno Shiobanna was Jonathan’s son. So now I’m putting those words back in your mouth. He has Jonathan’s compassion and heart. I see the DIO in him but he’s a Joestar through and through.”
Jotaro stays silent before the line dies.
Polnareff tsks. That stubborn man. I can’t believe him.
He looks at his watch.
I should get going. It’s almost time to meet up with them.
Giorno never wants to meet anyone like Cioccolata or Secco ever again.
He, Trish, and Mista, are right next to the coliseum but they can’t find Bucciarati. He said he’d meet up with them in the landmark after taking care of Secco, but Giorno doesn’t want to go in without him.
He looks at the turtle in his hands and sees the two friends inside. They seem to be recovering well from the effects of Green Day.
Giorno knows he has to go in, delaying it won’t make it any easier, but there’s just something so... uneasy inside.
“Giogio, we have to get going. Come on!”
Sighing, Giorno follows Mista and Trish into the Coliseum.
“I made it in time, that’s good.”
Polnareff pulls out his binoculars to see what’s happening in the distance.
“More of Diavolo’s lackeys, isn’t it? I should be able to get through it, though they’ve split up this time it seems.”
Polnareff looks over to where Bruno is, watching him fight the... ground?
Eh.
He’s seen weirder.
“You weren’t lying when you said you were spying on them, huh?”
Silver Chariot comes out in an instant as Polnareff turns around. However, Jotaro doesn’t flinch at all.
“Wh- how’d- why-”
He gets off from leaving on the wall and walks closer to your friend.
“I’m sorry.”
“You’re what now.”
Jotaro just looks at Polnareff with a stone cold face.
“Ok ok! Wait but how’d you get here-”
“I figured you’d get into some trouble again, especially once you said you had the Requiem arrow. So, I flew out and booked a Hotel in Rome.”
“And when the line went dead...”
“I was on my way here.”
Polnareff smiles and goes in for a hug. Jotaro doesn’t struggle but he doesn’t return it.
“I missed you, mon ami.”
Polnareff lets go and backs up a little.
“Also, you dropped this.” Jotaro holds out the Requiem arrow.
“I what now?”
“You left it on the stairs going up to this floor.”
“I-” Polnareff proceeds to rethink his life decisions.
However, before he can speak again, he’s standing behind a pillar barely visible while Jotaro’s hidden away from sight completely.
When they finally realize what just happened, they stay silent.
Neither of the two of them can shake the eerie aura surrounding them. It doesn’t help when a young male screams out.
“NARANCIA!”
Polnareff looks out, recognizing the name.
On the other side of the coliseum, Bruno Bucciarati stands, carrying a disguised Doppio. Despite his senses disappearing, he will always recognize a scream of sheer terror and sadness.
“My friend... That’s my friend! Mista, what happened to Narancia!” Bruno calls out. “Trish! Do you know what-”
When he looks to his side, however, Trish is no longer there. She’s... gone.
“Trish! Trish where did you go! TRISH!”
Abbachio recognizes Buccirati’s voice and goes to get him, trying his best to ignore what he’s seeing.
“Bucciarati! You’re here!”
“Abbachio! What happened?? And where’s Trish??”
“She’s been with us the whole time, but Narancia...”
Hearing the desperation in his voice, especially from someone like Abbachio, made Bruno disregard the fact what he had said about Trish.
Abbachio drags Bruno over to where Narancia was.
“I don’t get it... Where is he?” Bruno’s voice wavers. Narancia couldn’t have...
Abbachio tilts Bruno’s head up.
It’s silent. Jotaro and Polnareff watch the scene from afar. It hits too close to home for them.
Then, they spot it.
“He’s here. We need to get the arrow to Giorno!”
Jotaro hesitates for a moment before grabbing it back out of Polanreff’s hands.
“If you and Koichi trust him, I trust him.”
He gets to the edge of the floor before calling out for the blond haired Joestar.
“Giorno!”
As soon as the teen hears his name and turns his head, Jotaro freezes time. In the short time he has, he throws the arrow to the boy. In the last moment before time unfreezes, Jotaro sees a small tear on Giorno’s cheek.
.
This is Giorno’s battle. He’s not a Brando, he’s a Joestar.
Time resumes and Giorno watches as an arrow appears out of nowhere heading straight for him. He summons Gold Experience to try and stop it, but all it does is pierce the stand.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”
GE and Giorno mimic the same pain, and Giorno doesn’t know if he can take it. Who was the man that threw that arrow at him, why did he throw it, and why did he seem so familiar???
All those thoughts race through Giorno’s head as the arrow moves through Gold Experience.
Despite all the commotion, something finally clicks in Bruno’s head.
“Did you say that Trish was with you the entire time?”
Abbachio, not expecting this question at a time like this, answers very quickly, not knowing what’s going on. “Y-yeah?”
“We entered the coliseum together...” It finally clicks for him, but it’s too late. “WATCH OUT-”
The world turns black. Diavolo never really appreciated the world that becomes when he skips through time, but now, in this moment? He’s going to enjoy every last bit of this.
All of you. Especially you, newbie. You’ve been such a pain, but I’ll finally get my revenge! And, that man standing on the ledge.
Diavolo looks towards Jotaro.
I’ll get my revenge on you too. Just wait.
Diavolo returns his attention to the traitor in front of him.
That was close. If I had waited any longer, the arrow would’ve taken full effect. Unfortunately, it seems to like Giovanna, but I will get my hands on it and ruin them all!
King Crimson is summoned, and he prepares to gut the teen out. Pulling back, he punches.
.
Why isn’t my stand moving! He should be dead by now, but I can’t move!
Everything starts to reverse, undoing everything he had been planning.
No! This can’t be!
Time reverses back to where Diavolo had used King Crimson, and in front of everyone floats a Requiem Golden Experience
Terrified yet not willing to give in, Diavolo makes one last attempt to attack Giorno.
“YOU LITTLE PRICK! YOU’VE GOTTEN IN THE WAY OF EVERYTHING! YOU’LL PAY!”
He lunges, but as he nears Giorno, he is returned to his position before he jumped.
“This... this can’t be!”
Korega Requiem... Da.
Trying to find one last escape plan, Diavolo uses Epitath and dashes for the exit. Nobody tries to stop him, though.
Giorno touches the ground, and his teammates all surround him, wondering what’s going on and why he didn’t go after Diavolo.
Instead, however, he goes past to Bucciarati who has been standing still this entire time.
GER places a hand onto Bruno’s shoulder, and a yellow glow emits from the almost lifeless body.
.
Bruno breathes in. His skin is revised and he’s feeling a lot of pain, but he’s alive.
Bruno’s alive again.
Though, instead of welcoming his friend back to the realm of the living, he walks under where Narancia lays.
GER turns the bars into vines and Giorno catches his friend. Placing him on the ground, it turns around and places a hand on the fallen friend.
Nobody makes a sound while the glow surrounds the body. Giorno starts to look frustrated, and the glow is slowly fading out.
Then, Giorno stops. But, instead of being sad, he hugs his friend.
Arms wrap around Giorno’s back to return the hug. Everyone at that moment rushes to where the two gang members are, and they hug.
They’re all finally back. Their family is back.
-----
Watching from above, Polnareff celebrates a little. “Yes! He did it!”
Jotaro scoffs but he can’t help but smile. At least one Joestar didn’t have to lose any friends. He turns around to look at his friend.
The small smile doesn’t last for long, though.
It stops when pain shoots throughout his entire body as he’s lifted slightly off the ground.
“If I can’t get revenge on one of you, I’ll at least kill the other.” Diavolo states while looking at King Crimson’s fist through Jotaro’s body.
“YOU BASTARD!” Polnareff yells. He doesn’t know what he’s feeling, but it’s certainly not pleasant. “YOU’LL PAY FOR THAT!”
But before Polnareff can do anything, King Crimson retracts his fist and lets Jotaro’s body hit the concrete and smacks a just summoned Silver Chariot & its user away.
“You’ve been a huge menace to me, but I think it’s better if I let you live, being able to do nothing as your friend dies in front of your eyes.”
Polnareff looks over to his fellow crusader. He can see Star Platinum fading in and out, but it can’t do anything. Jotaro’s face down on the ground and blood seeps out from underneath his body.
Tears run down his face. Diavolo’s right. He can’t do anything. He’s as useless as he’s always been. Every time he tries to help, all he does is get himself into trouble and cause hindrances for his friends. This time, his actions got his best friend killed.
“Letting you go was a mistake.”
Diavolo turns around to see GER and Giorno over Jotaro’s body.
“What? You couldn’t let your friends die? Well, now you’re in the same situation! The man in front of you is dead. You may have had a connection to Narancia which helped you bring a long dead boy back to life, but you have nothing to do with these men. Either you can heal them, or you can kill me, not both.”
Polnareff looks wide eyed as he realizes what that statement means. Diavolo was never going to let him live.
He tries to talk to the boy before he dies, uttering out a small “get him”, ultimately however getting his head smashed onto the wall.
“That man even threw an arrow at you. Why would you even want to save them in the first place? I thought you wanted to kill me.”
Giorno stares at Diavolo before saying a single sentence.
“He’s family, and he’s his friend.”
“Sure, he is. And plus, even if he was, whatever did he do for you?”
“He spared my life and trusted me. He trusted me because his friend trusted me.”
“How do you even know this?”
Giorno looks at Jotaro’s back. He knows the star is there. He can feel it.
“You’ll never understand family.”
And with that, GER punches Diavolo. Despite the short fall, he shows no signs of getting up.
Diavolo is finally dead.
Kneeling down next to Jotaro’s body, GER places its hand over the circle wound. Slowly, it heals. Now, he just has to hope he wasn’t too late.
Giorno rushes to Polnareff and finds that he is not fully dead. GER heals him with no problem.
GER fades away and Giorno returns back to his gang while Polnareff props Jotaro onto one of the walls.
“What was that- are they dead- is the boss dead?” Narancia frantically asks.
“The boss... I don’t know. But I have a feeling we won’t be seeing him again.”
“And the two men...?” Mista hesitantly asks.
“Polnareff, I think that’s his name, will be fine. However, for the other...”
“You said he was... family, right?” Bruno wonders.
“I don’t know for certain, but I can feel it.”
“I’m sorry Giorno,” Abbachio speaks up.
Giorno looks at the goth and slightly smiles a sad smile. “Thank you. It means a lot.”
Mista looks over to find Trish curled up in a corner. He walks over to her to see what’s
wrong.
“Hey, is everything alright?”
She doesn’t answer.
“You can talk to me; you know that right?”
He didn’t realize it, but she was shaking. He puts a hand on her shoulder and sits down next to her.
“You’re not your father. You are brave, compassionate, sweet, and doesn’t want to kill everyone who causes you any trouble at all. Just because he was your family doesn’t mean you’re responsible for any of this.”
Trish doesn’t respond, but she leans her head on his shoulder and Mista can feel her shaking stop.
Polnareff leans on a wall next to his friend.
“I don’t know if you can hear me, alive or not, but thanks for saving my ass all those times. I'm... sorry I couldn’t do the same for you.”
He stares into the distance.
“You’re the only one I have left, too...”
.
“Damnit why couldn’t it have been me! First, I let Avdol die, and then I let him die a second time! And right after that, I let Iggy die! The only reason they’re dead is because of me !” Polnareff pauses to catch his breath.
“Avdol pushed me out of the way twice and Iggy saved me instead of himself. And now that I got myself wrapped up in this you had to come save me like you always do but then you end up getting yourself killed!”
Tears start to build up in his eyes. “I couldn’t even protect Sherry and I wasn’t even being threatened then! Damnit!”
Polnareff kicks the wall he was just leaning on and then writhes in silent pain.
He deserves this.
Everyone always died on him.
A little stubbed toe doesn’t compare to anything they had to go through.
He slides down a wall and tears run down his cheeks. It’s too much to handle. Why’d he even have to get involved.
“Damnit...”
“ Damnit...”
.
“ Don’t talk about yourself that way if you want the rest of the bones in your body to be broken.”
Polnareff looks up to find a standing and very-much-alive Jotaro. He quickly gets up to face his friend.
“You-you’re alive! D-Does it hurt anywhere, we could-”
“Relax, I’m fine.”
Polnareff looks at him in disbelief. Before hugging the younger man.
The taller man returns it.
“Thank you two for all your help.” Giorno says to the older men. “Also... Jotaro. Aren’t you that man I tried to give a ride a year ago...?”
Somehow, Giorno remembered that event. And after getting reminded of it, Jotaro rolls his eyes.
“How did you ever get any customers.”
“I have my ways.” Giorno smirks before pulling out Jotaro’s wallet.
Star Platinum is summoned in an instant and GER is summoned in retaliation. Polnareff steps in between the two Joestars before any fights get out.
“Now now let’s not fight over money. Giorno, give Jotaro his wallet back.” Polnareff looks at Gio with eyes that say please give it back. I don’t want to die another time.
Giorno relents and hands over the wallet.
“Anyways, of course Giorno. Glad we could help.”
Jotaro nods.
“You’ll be able to tell me about my father one day, right?” Giorno asks them.
“Not today, but later.” Jotaro responds.
“Oh, and I’ll be putting the arrow in the turtle.”
“The what now?” Polnareff asks while being very confused.
“The turtle.” Giorno says while picking up Coco Jumbo from right beside his feet. He then grabs the arrow from GER, and it returns back to Gold Experience. Giorno puts the arrow above the key and suddenly, it disappears. “In the turtle.”
While Polnareff is trying to figure out how the turtle works and why an arrow just shrank presumably into the turtle, Jotaro says his goodbyes.
“Call me and let me know when you want to learn about your father. However, I suggest you learn how to run a mafia first.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
Pulling a confused Polnareff with him, the crusaders leave to head to their homes.
Soon following them, however, they hear a soft purr.
“Charley!” Polnareff exclaims.
He picks him up, and they continue walking to find a taxi.
It’s been a long week; they need a break.