False Confidence ; Jotakak

Tell Me Again About How it Hurts, Being Awfully Loud for an Introvert

CW¬ Blood, Violence (not graphic)

By mid-day, we made it to Karachi. We delivered the nice man to his residence; he thanked us for our kindness and informed us he would use our fair to buy himself a motorcycle, perhaps even an automobile, if he could find a place to park it. We wished the man well before venturing further into the city. The last time we'd ate was at the airport yesterday morning, which Jotaro had missed. We were starving. The first restaurant we saw, Mister Joestar, pulled up at. His eyes glittered at the sight of the turning spit of doner in a kebab-shop window. As the older man haggled the price down on our lunch, I felt a tingle in my spine. I could feel an unfamiliar stand user's presence. I looked over at Jotaro to see if he was thinking the same thing, but he just stared at the floor.

As Mister Joestar returned with our lunch, we heard the shopkeeper clear his throat. "Oh, by the way--Mister Joestar, I should introduce myself." The man dropped the kebabs in shock, as we all camera to the collective realisation that the figure was not who he seemed. As the man took off his disguise, I saw the light behind his eyes that gave him away. I couldn't see his stand anywhere, but there was no doubt in my mind he was a user. "I'm afraid your journey ends here, gentlemen." He smiled.

Four against one? And he didn't even have his stand out and ready to fight? Was this guy joking? "Threats like that won't go ignored," Polnareff said with great seriousness. "If you are here for a fight, then let's get it over with." The man ignored him and casually wandered over to a table outside to restaurant he was guarding and began sipping tea. I frowned.

"Is there a problem?" I muttered. I was getting impatient. I was tired; I was hungry. The last thing I wanted was to play games. The man continued to ignore us.

"Hey, jackass. Stop acting so fucking cool and get up and fight. This is going down whether you like it or not." Jotaro scowled.

The man cleared his throat. "Alright, as you wish. But know you won't be able to lay a finger on me--" Jotaro interrupted the man's monologue with a powerful strike to the chest with Star Platinum. The stand user was sent flying through the restaurant window and laid in a bloody heap amongst boxes and shards of broken glass. As cool as it was, I was distracted by the mirror image happening behind me. Mister Joestar's body met the same fate, but he flew twice as hard and fell twice as heavy on the dirt road. He coughed blood as he struggled to sit up. Polnareff and I ran to his aid.

"Holy, shit! What happened?" I panicked. I pulled the older man into a sitting position as he caught his breath. 

"Oh god," He moaned

"You idiot!" The stand user called from the window. "You're impatience almost cost your grandfather his fucking life." He brushed himself off and stumbled over to us. The user, Steely Dan, explained that his stand had climbed inside Mister Joestar's brain and was camping in his central nervous system. Any force we used against him would be replicated at least twice as hard on our mentor. My head ached as I realised how serious this was. And Jotaro's growing frustration was making things worse. I watched my friend experience a rage I'd never seen before. I caught the sight of his fist clench as we went to take a swing at our opponent. I realised Heirphant to hold him back. I'd never been strong enough to restrain him without it. Once Polnareff saw, he jumped in too.

"Jotaro, seriously. Think about this!" I hissed.

"Shut up! I'm going to kill this guy so fucking quick he won't even have time to feel pain." He growled in response. 

The stand user giggled. 'Really now? Well, come on, Jotaro, do it! I'd love to see how that works out for you." Jotaro grabbed the man around the collar, releasing only when he noticed his grandfather's choking as his grip strangulated him. As Dan was dropped back to his feet, he continued to tease Jotaro, mocking him in a humiliatingly ridiculing voice. I watched as Jotaro's knuckles grew white, his whole body buzzing with a soft vibration as he tried to keep Star Platinum at bay. He was hardly breathing, his face growing hotter with every second. Dan fetched a rock from the side of the road and dared Jotaro to beat him to death with it. I predicted the outburst that followed; Polnareff and I used all our strength to hold Jotaro back as he began to reach for his tormentor.