JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 9: Silver Soul

Whole Equestrian Part 3

Josuke watched Jolene disappear behind the bushes to look for the supposed hole in the wall. She said she would be back soon. All she had to do was get into the apartment's front lawn through the hole in the outer wall, and open the front gate from inside. A simple enough process that would take minutes at the most.

Josuke did not have minutes. Every second spent out in the open meant one more gamble to not be recognized and pursued by rivals or their guns for hire. It could be considered a paranoid mindset but he wasn't blind to the target painted on his back. He only hoped that unsavory individuals wouldn't notice, but given the stones on his face, that would be unlikely.

He looked to the outer wall with its rugged texture, wet surface and the metal spikes adorning the top. A simple enough process. With a wave of his arm, he called for his stand. Soft & Wet manifested itself from the empty air and hovered around Josuke, climbing up the wall while he followed. It gripped the metal spikes and bent them with ease. In one quick motion Soft & Wet hoisted Josuke up onto the wall and dropped down with him to cushion his fall.

No roundabout entrances were needed, only a simple solution. He looked around for Jolene. She was nowhere to be seen. That's computer types for ya, he figured. Always hunting for clever workarounds, they fail to notice the simple and obvious. It's their blessing and their curse.

A little nagging scratched at his mind as he walked around the lawn. He should have waited for her, he knew that she wanted to show her capabilities but he needed to stay out of sight for as long as possible. Besides, if all went well she wouldn't have to involve herself in any kind of fight. She would stay with her friend until Josuke settled her case, then Jolene would hand over all the data she had accumulated and finally they'd part ways. Josuke didn't need her help with anything dangerous.

A security office stood nearby and once he approached it he could read the sign "Out to Lunch!". He tried the door thinking that it should be locked but the knob turned with zero resistance just as he expected. Why people did not lock offices hidden behind locked gates was beyond him.

The door to the security office scraped against the floor as it opened, revealing the mess of a room inside. Who lives like this? Josuke started sifting through trash and papers looking for a tenant list. He flung receipts, wrappers and invoices from five years ago until finally he found it. Three papers stapled together and folded in exactly the wrong direction for hiding contents. The landlord left a tacky zippo lighter on top as a useless paper weight.

Picking up both objects, he read through the papers. Nothing on page one nor page two, or three, or four, or five, or...six? Wait what?

A vibration ran through his other hand. Shocks crawled up his arm. From under his fingers the lighter pulsed in a gradient of colors, it even shimmered like metal glitter. He tried opening his hand but he only caught a glimpse of the spiral engraving on the zippo before his finger clasped shut entirely on their own.

Is this a stand attack? How was he discovered so easily?

He saw a figure in the doorway. His vision blurred and he couldn't make out their features. It looked like a woman wearing a hat? It seemed like the brim was wider than one would expect? He struggled to make her out.

"Jolene?" he said.

"Of course not, Fruit Man", chuckled the silhouette from the door. "But I bet you really wish she were here right now". Her voice held a supernatural resonance, it vibrated like a viola.

Josuke rubbed his eyes and tried to open his hand again as the woman sauntered over to him. He could vaguely begin to make out her features. A flat cowboy hat, hair that fell to her shoulders, a thin smile on her face.

"W-who are you?" He stammered, fighting to move his lips.

Josuke struggled against his body which had begun to hunch over. His head forced itself upwards to meet the face of his attacker.

The woman looked down on him and answered, "The name's Whole Equestrian...".

...and I'm here because word's gotten out that some idiot from japan has been prancing around town with a wallet that's too heavy for its own good.

Josuke shuddered at these thoughts invading his mind. This must be the work of her stand, it let her into his head. He needed to get rid of the lighter.

It's no use Mr. Fruit Man, this is the power of my "Let Her Dance". Once I'm inside, you can't pull me out. Her voice echoed in his head and his ears.

He summoned Soft & Wet but it merely stood to the side waving to him as he tried in vain to control it.

Whole Equestrian held Soft & Wet by the hips.

"He's my toy now and I know who I can try him out on," she said.

Josuke had already fallen to his knees. His consciousness started flickering and slipping. He tried to articulate a 'No' but he lost control of his mouth long ago. His mind would soon follow.

Besides this can double as a trial. Who knows? Maybe she's handy with that stand of her's. You need her, to save your ass now don't ya?

"Yes", Josuke said. His eyes stared into nothing.

If she can't get through you to get to me then she won't stand a chance against whoever comes next right?

"Yes". Her words twisted as his brain unscrambled her voice. What she said made sense to him, it compelled him to act. His doubts were fading, all of them, even the sensible ones. He could only struggle against the power of Let Her Dance.

Jolene had to prove herself. Whole's words told him to not hold back against his kin. Future enemies wouldn't hold back.

Josuke's consciousness faded as his body walked out of the room with a resolve that was not his own. He would crush Jolene, for her own good.