//------------------------------// // 2 - Menacing // Story: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Friendship is Magic // by Paulli //------------------------------// Bleecker Street - Local theater - The bus had just skid to a halt just in time on the nearby stop on Bleecker street. It opened, allowing a surplus amount of passengers to make their exits and walk about the street, heading to their ways. Joseph Joestar and his grandson, Jotaro, came out relatively last. "Old man. Josuke is waiting for you in the theater. Go on.", Jotaro ordered. "Sheesh. Even though I'm already circling the drain, my own grandson still orders me around. Oh, what can you do to a frail old person like myself.", Joseph complained. "You can rest off when you get your ass on the theater with Josuke. I'll catch up with you later. You might as well hold off your complaining.", Jotaro chimed back as Joseph left him with arms shrugged heading towards the theater where Josuke waits. As Jotaro disregarded his grandfather's further complaints, he thought back a bit on himself. Josuke Higashikata was a student in the Japanese town of Morioh, together with Jotaro, they were able to track down the maniacal serial killer Yoshikage Kira, and unlocking the mystery behind the Bow and Arrow. He has graduated years ago and as of late, wanted to spend more time with his father, Joseph, by attending a movie theater. But it was not Josuke that Jotaro has been going in his mind... It was the mysterious flicker. The Spark. The point of light that shone in front of his view when he was at that bus. He kept denying over and over in its existence, that it was just an illusion created by his head. Yet... He kept thinking about it over and over. The speck that uproared a small amount of interest from him. Though that speck was small, seemed banal and is nothing much to be concerned, Jotaro had a feeling that it could have something to do with him, maybe, his grandfather, no, Josuke, no... With his family. And so he asked for himself. What the hell was that? Was that a speck of light I saw? I know I always say that my mind often plays tricks on me. That I was proven wrong time and time again. Back to the time I thought Star Platinum was an evil spirit, the old man proved me wrong. I've seen some weird shit and snafu all my life around here. And with this speck. I think it looked nothing. Just something I should just shrug off and be on my way. But why am I even thinking about it? Why am I a bit concerned about that thing when it's just a little light and I can just swat it off no sweat? But I had a feeling... Something's definitely fishy going on here... And when I found out... "Ugh!" Jotaro's deep train of thought was abruptly cut off when he swiveled his head to his left side, and that he saw was... ゴゴゴゴ "The... The speck? T-that's strange. I just saw it swung away from the bus out of my sight. It did. How did it get here? Something really is cooking up here." He stared on the mysterious ball of light for a while. Stared on for a couple moments, his eyes narrowing like a slit. Jotaro couldn't think of anything else about it. For once, he thought that the speck he saw back in the bus was just nothing short of a product of his imagination. That he shouldn't mind it, just ignore it. It was nothing of importance or concern to him, as he's seen situations and things weirder and more ominous than this. But why didn't he turn back? His curiosity only escalated higher, high as a rocket reaching escape velocity in the realm of space. It seemed too much... Too much for the likes of a tough, unwavering person like him to overcome... To just ward off. Clear his head of it. And with this curiosity finally overwhelming his person, Jotaro Kujo let go of his stare-off with the ominous object. He, with all caution, kneeled down on the sidewalk. Close to the Spark. Close to whatever it holds discreet. It may hold unpredictably impossible powers one could dream so much. Or it could be a gateway leading to the flames of hell where the Devil awaits, punishing and torturing all who plunge in the blazing lake. Whatever the case, with sweat tenderly but quietly pouring down the sides of his head, Jotaro slowly lay out his right arm, his hand closed into a fist, with only his index finger sticking out of it. He is attempting to touch the point of light. Intent on finding out what will happen if his finger contacted the ball of light. Whether it will unleash an extraordinary power or send him plummeting to his death. If the latter's the case, Jotaro would be a fool to make a grave mistake such as this on his part, that touching this looming light would mean suicide. But Jotaro put all his anxiety aside. For once in his life did he never pull himself away from situations that he did not understand or comprehend. In the end, he always managed to come out on top. And this shouldn't be any different. This shouldn't pose too much of a problem for him. Though he didn't understood what he was looking at, he will still manage to give it a bit of a tweak, and though he was a little anxious, he still pushed on. As his finger made a slow, careful approach towards the coruscating light, it was made clear that whatever happens to him, is on him. And by the time his finger made a slight impact with the gleaming violet light, it suddenly burst. "Ugh!" ドドーン! An immense shockwave of violent, howling light suddenly swept across the surrounding urban landscape of New York, followed by an ear-splitting roar that could probably be heard hundreds and thousands of miles. Objects were blown, thrashed about or are utterly annihilated as the light continues to grow more radiant and even more violent than before, which is an extreme contrast to its relatively harmless, miniscule state of form. People were affected just the same. They had utter toil of keeping themselves from the potential harm that may be caused by the dangerously growing light. Some held on to whatever objects they find as they hold on for dear life, for the epicenter of the explosion seemingly pulled all of them in, like a black hole in a region of space. Women held down their dresses to kept their parts from being exposed. Objects were sucked into the light, their fates unknown, but are likely obliterated by the excess energies of the light. And for Jotaro Kujo, the man responsible for apparently triggering the Speck's explosion, apparently seeing himself as a fool for daring such an act borne off curiosity. It seemed he made a great mistake laying his finger on the speck of light that time. A decision he would probably regret, as he'll know well that he is the person who put the lives of innocent people in danger due to what he just did. "Shit. I shouldn't have touched this damn light. I don't know what it's doing but something tells me it's not doing any real good!" As for the Speck. It was a drastic and complete transformation. The explosion triggered by the touch of his finger did not do to destroy it. Instead it has transitioned into a completely different form. It was a vortex. A vortex that resembled something of a maelstrom that stormed about in stormy, chaotic waters. And yet this maelstrom spins at breakneck velocities and instead of water, the same energy from the former speck powers it. It emanated with intensity. Its center glowed a fierce violet and it continued to glow out from here on there. As Jotaro, knocked off his feet by the explosion, finished contemplating on his mistake, he has only one thought circulating in his mind and soul. One thought only. Escape. However. That came a little bit too late, as Jotaro suddenly felt his foot being dragged into the raging vortex. Noticing it and wincing from the force pulling him against his will, Jotaro tried to get back up on his feet and make a full blown sprint out of it. Instead, he found himself being lifted aloft by the air, his feet completely off the solid concrete, as the vortex refused to let go of its prey. It will swallow all who dares escape its deadly pull. It won't let him go. Finding himself hopeless to escape the spinning whirlpool of violent, purple energy, Jotaro could only find some little hope for himself in the form of a nearby pole across the street. He wasted no time and grabbed hold of it. As the vortex resiliently kept up its time and its force ever increasing to pull the man off his tight grip over the pole, Jotaro was resilient all the same, closing his grip as hard and as firm as he could, hoping that the storm would die down and he would just do away. Except it didn't. The force only grew more violent and more stronger. Having ran out of strengh and willpower to keep his grapple on the pole. His hand slipped off. And Jotaro is hopelessly being dragged into his impending doom, to whatever's inside the vortex is waiting for him. He would face a form of eternal punishment for the foolishness he did in incuring the wrath of the vortex by his finger, that he would put innocents and counting in further peril. Except, he was not. He found his dangerously increasing momentum suddenly stopped by something. A hand actually shot up and grappled the pole in Jotaro's place. This is no ordinary hand however. With the familiar black gloves and those golden studs, and eventually revealing itself as the body who held firmly on the pole. It was none other than Star Platinum. The Stand of Jotaro Kujo with the abilities of unsurpassed strength, speed as well as precision. With a grimace that showed signs of struggling, it is trying to save its master from being pulled into his doom in the violet vortex. Jotaro grabbed hold of Star Platinum's black boot, holding it as tightly as his Stand is to the pole. As Star Platinum tightened its grip on it for as strong as it could muster with all its power, and much like Jotaro, also waited off for this light vortex to cease its pulling both entities into it. It was a tug of war that felt like could last for a few hours or so. They held on dearly for some time. However, the force of the vortex finally climbed up to them. The pole could no longer stand the force facilitated by the vortex's ever strengthening tug. It broke off his foundations, disorienting Star Platinum and finding itself being instantly shot back into the vortex in blinding speeds, like a bullet. With no more obstacles to keep both Jotaro and his Stand away from it, the vortex proceeded to suck in the man into its brilliant, bulging nucleus. And Jotaro Kujo disappeared. Vanished from the face of the world. The world of the living. He disappeared just like the portal that collapsed upon itself, shrinking into a pinprick sized point, having returned to its original state from before. And it too, vanished... And everything was silent. - The theater - A massive line of people waiting to get their tickets to see the latest movie lying away from them. It was a long and painfully slow movement of people. As usual, nobody is premitted to cut in the line. First line. First serve. Joseph Joestar was among the line of people. Having waited several minutes tiredly alongside his son, Josuke Higashikata, as the it gets them closer to the ticket booth, as cumbersome as it is, so he can finally obtain one as well as finally rest on his rump on one of the theater seats inside. However, a twinge of anxiety suddenly struck the old Joestar across his face, a deadly chill running down his spine. He suddenly winced, eyes a little wide, but eyebrows narrow. It caught Josuke his attention. He turned to his father and asked, "Uh, Mr. Joestar. What's the problem? Anything happening?" "Mr. Joestar?" And he suddenly broke his seconds-worth of silence and proclaimed in a fearful tone. "Jotaro." And without any underlying thoughts, he dropped his cane. And with a surprising amount of vigor for his age and andrenaline aiding him, Joseph Joestar stormed out of the theater. "Mr. Joestar! Wait for me! Uuugh, he always doesn't tell me the time when to start running.", Josuke complained as he set out to go after Joseph, pushing his way out of the line of people and pushing open the doors as he set out into the street. Joseph Joestar gave it his all... even at a not-so-tender age of 97, and his senility still present in him... he's not going to let his age-related dilapidation get his best person. Each paddle of his feet relentless, and powered by whatever willpower he can muster in his body. That, combined with his growing worry for whatever happened to his grandson, pushed his own self as fast as his weary old legs can carry him. He didn't stop. He never did. He is surprisingly fast. Though not as much as fast as his prime, but nevertheless his pent up speed was all he needed so he can catch up in the nick of time for his grandson. Whatever it is that happened to him. He hoped it's not something worse. "Damn it. If I would've known sooner. I already told him a few times to stick close with me all the time. That Jotaro... he can be a bit of a pighead sometimes. If something bad ever happens to my grandson. I... I would... It doesn't matter. I have to get to him and quick. Don't fail me now, body." Finally arriving at the same spot where Joseph last left Jotaro, with Josuke lagging behind and catching up to him. It was too late... Jotaro... his grandson... gone. Gone from thin air. Without even a trace of his figure left on the street. The only thing present on the sidewalk where Joseph stood on is silence... Only silence... nothing but cold, windy but ominous silence. "OOOOOOOOOOOH MYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!" Joseph bellowed out, destroying all semblance of eerie around his surroundings, the voice so loud, it can be heard for a few meters, which is again, an acknowledgable feat from the 97-year old Joseph. "J-Jotaro! Keeh!! He's gone! Josuke-kun! Jotaro's gone! OOOOOH NOOOO!!" While Josuke once thought that his father had suffered another bout of his senility many years ago when he actually discovered an invisible life-form, an infant Stand user, and was proven wrong about it. Today, while just staring there, jaw hanging a bit, he once again pondered if Joseph had yet been crippled by his illness once more, and he'd be disgruntled that he thought that he'd get a little better, even by a small chance, of his illness. But now's not time to ponder about the old man in question, Josuke returned to reality. Whether his "nephew" was missing or just went elsewhere, he couldn't just stand idle while the old man frantically searches for his grandson, calling him his name to no avail. "Mr. Joestar. Let's split up. We'll look for Jotaro. I'll go search that street. You'll search there. We have to hurry. We need to find him.", Josuke ordered. "Ah. We'll search everywhere." They then split up as said, Josuke going to the southern street while Joseph searches the northern one. They both continue to bellow out Jotaro Kujo's name. With his whereabouts unknown, they searched every corner of the city, hoping to find even a sort of clue as to why he disappeared. Jotaro! Jotaro! Jotaro! Jotaro.... He thought he was dead. He thought he had embraced the curse that the ill-fated family had so befell numerous times his damnedest history... He thought. It would be the end of a man... whose adventures have a tendency to be over-the-top and above all else... bizarre. Only he didn't... Jotaro Kujo opened his eyes. His vision had returned from the dark... and the first thing he ever had seen since his awakening was... green. Just green. Jotaro narrowed his eyes to a slit to investigate. There, he realized that the very color displayed in front of his eyes. Grass. A field of fresh, green grass. And he was falling right for it. Jotaro quickly realized his situation. And out of instinct, Star Platinum emerged forth his body. Before he plummeted into the solid soil, it slowed his fall by plunging its fist deep under the ground, with the other hand holding its master in the back. Jotaro's descent slowed to a halt at once, his narrowly even touching a blade of grass, aloft some feet from it. If it weren't for Star Platinum's incredibly sharp precision and strength, Jotaro would've really been a goner for sure. It was then that the Stand faded away into his person and Jotaro made a soft landing in the soil. He landed face-first into the earth, his hat and jacket mostly concealing his person. The green, oxygen-providing grass providing him some comfort and warmth for a time. Tapping against the rough soil, Jotaro managed to pull himself up, finally resting on his rear on the solid, warm surface. Catching his breaths and recomposing himself, and a few tired huffings, Jotaro heaved in some much needed fresh air and took his time to lay down for a bit. As Jotaro opened his eyes in order to check any signs of injuries, he went for his hands first. However, by the time he pulled out his eyelids to check on his hands to see. Instead of hands, he saw... "W-what the...?" Stubs. What used to be located are his hands, Jotaro instead saw a pair of stubs in his hands. He was utterly shocked by what happened. He couldn't even fathom or explain in a concise manner on what happened to his hands. He wiggled them about waywardly, unable to decipher what had happened on his fall. "My hands. What the hell happened to my hands?" He scoffed. As he left all semblence of concern from his hands and began examining his surroundings, swiveling his head around all directions, and from many miles into the horizon, he could see a mountain range. "Mountains. Strange. Why do they look like that? I've never saw mountains of that shape." Mountains. The mountains here are of a disproportionate shape compared to what Jotaro had read or saw in his own life. They looked a lot like steep hills or gigantic bumps capped with snowlines. This put him off a bit, but he still regained his composure, and he thought a bit to himself that he either is crazy or has gone to heaven or whatever scenario he can think of himself in Setting that aside, he lifted his head above to see the bright, blue sky. But the sky itself did not catch his interest. It's the clouds. The clouds. Much like the mountains, the clouds he saw also appeared in an odd assortment of shapes. Some resembled generic comulus clouds drawn by pre-school children. Some look curly and twisty in shape and form, resembling the clouds Jotaro saw in one of those cartoons he watched on TV. Or so he thought. And Jotaro returned his focus on his own body. At first he thought that he lost his hands, reduced to stubs because he thought the Spark, the one he presumed responsible for sending him into this mysterious world, obliterated his hands, causing him to lose the use of his grasping organs. But even Jotaro doubted that. He began probing his eyes around his body. Around his jacket, his pants, and his back. It was then when his eyes become trained into one peculiar spot. He winced. He discovered something that had flabbergasted the usually cool-headed man. He saw at the back of his jacket, below his waistline. It was a bush. Or so he thought... Having no time to ask what it is, Jotaro inspected this strange object that emerged out of his jacket. At first, he thought it was just some bushel of dead grass or skin he was sitting on. But no. Instead, by the time he attempted to pull it with his stubs... "What the... a tail?!" Yes it is! It is a tail, the anatomical structure of most vertebrae. It is indeed a complete mystery for how Jotaro suddenly developed it just as he landed on this bizarre world. "OK, I'm already freaked out by this shit. First I lose my hands and become stubs. Kch. Now I have a frickin' tail of all things? Damn it. I wish I'd say that this was the work of some enemy Stand or whatever, even that stupid speck who sent me falling here. I must be outta my mind. I gotta find a way to get outta here or-" And his sentences were abruptly cut off, when his very eyes have paid a tweak to his left sleeve to his jacket. It had drooped off while he was pondering about the odd changes in his body. It revealed what lied beyond his stubby arms. He gasped in a gruff tone. He discovered that the color of his left arm seemed a lot peculiar. He chimed in... "Blue? What is this? My arm... it's blue? Tsk. How could this happened to me. I haven't even remembered dying my own hands blue. This is just getting even more ridiculous. Yare yare. Just what more crazy shit this world's gonna throw at my face, huh? If my arms have become blue, that could mean-" And there he is, his suspicions starting to escalate like a rocket, Jotaro began to prod his own body with his stubby blue arms. He prodded his way until he eventually reached his own face. And by the time he began to prod his own face, right at the nose area, he discovered... "Ugh!" And that shocking revelation just happened. For that Jotaro Kujo, the usually silent and above-all else fully reserved individual, has broken some restraints of his cool-headed demeanour. When he felt his stubs touch his nose, though he was not fully sure about what he felt. He didn't want to believe what has become of him. But by the time he felt his nose, did he realize that, his face, too had suffered the same change as did his arms... and his color. He actually felt a tiny bit of cold by his side. Like a block of ice smacking on his skull, whole molten water trickled down his spine, has Jotaro had felt so astonished, and yet so confused at the same time. His eyes reduced to the size of pinpricks. He then emitted a series of groans from his voice as he finally asked to himself, in pure bewilderment. "What... the hell did I just become?" 友 情 は 魔 法 で す --To be Continued-->