-
The moon marked the time to be about 9:00 PM.
It was the last glimpse of the outside desert until you had completed your journey across the Red Sea.
If they were going for secrecy, they were going to get it.
There was nearly no other place in the world that you loved as much as the Red Sea.
It was beautiful, and living on it for time in your life taught you how fruitful and important it was to everyone else who lived on it.
You climbed onboard, Jotaro following behind. You take a seat at a table near the front of the ship.
Avdol sits down at the control board in the front.
"Wait a minute," Polnareff grabs the back of Avdol's chair and leans over him. "You're telling me you can steer this thing?"
"Yes," he replies. "It's not a problem for me whatsoever."
Polnareff looks shocked, "Wow!"
"And he's not the only one!" Mr. Joestar interjects.
"NO!" You and Jotaro yell in unison.
"Don't even think about it," you say.
"You're not putting us through another crash," Jotaro adds.
Mr. Joestar puts his hand on his hip, "you two sure seem to be in foul moods."
"So this is a submarine," Kakyoin's eyes investigate every detail of the ship. "I have to say, I'm surprised. I thought it would be more, well, militaristic."
"Me too," you agree.
"It's nice, right?" Mr. Joestar boasts. "It's what rich folks use when they need to escape for a while. They take vessels like these and use them to explore the sea floor for pleasure."
"Mm-hm,"
About an hour later, everyone but Mr. Joestar was gathered around the table, gossiping.
You listen for a moment, catching the conversations about Mrs. Joestar.
"So are you saying that-" Kakyoin gets cut short by Avdol.
"She doesn't know a thing."
"Mrs. Joestar has no stand, and she doesn't know a thing about them," you intervene. "She thinks Muhammad and I are Mr. Joestar's business associates, and she doesn't know a thing about her grandson being on the trip."
"There's no need to worry her unnecessarily, especially not about things she wouldn't understand," Avdol picks up.
You hear Mr. Joestar ask for Rosas.
"Who's Rosas?" Polnareff asks.
"Mr. Joestar's Speedwagon Foundation attendant," you inform. "But to Mrs. Joestar, he's just a butler. Rosas acts currently as a key communicator between Mr. Joestar and the Speedwagon Foundation, mainly on things surrounding money."
After that, you all wait, listening in on the conversation until Mr. Joestar hangs up.
He doesn't turn around, instead staying still with his hand on the phone.
"I'm sorry you have to do that, Mr. Joestar," Kakyoin speaks first.
"But rest easy, because we're right here behind you," Polnareff reassures. "We'll be in Egypt before you know it."
"We must defeat DIO as soon as possible," Avdol says. "To save Holly from his curse. I've returned from the brink for this very reason."
You rest your hand on Jotaro's leg underneath the table.
"I was only here originally because it was my duty," you say. "If I didn't, my contract would be ended and I'd go to jail. But now, I feel that my soul is obligated to help, no matter the cost. Contractually or emotionally, this is my duty. We'll kill that limp dicked vampire, and save your daughter."
"Thanks, you guys," Mr. Joestar turns around. "Really, I mean it."
Small conversations take over, Mr. Joestar seems preoccupied with monitoring the route. Avdol steers, talking with Polnareff.
Somehow, Polnareff ends up in the captain's chair. You could have sworn you felt some turbulence after that.
You couldn't help but look around and think.
Not all of you were going to make it out of this, we're you?
Yet you had heard no one saying anything about it.
Was it just you and Avdol thinking about it?
Which ones of you would live?
Would you all live? Would you all die?
If you weren't the only ones, then why had no one else acknowledged it?
The threat of death had always hung low above your head.
Everything you did could kill you. Overindulgence, constant fighting, the essence of your being was dangerous.
What would even happen if you died?
You wouldn't be around to know.
But what would happen?
You lay your head back down on the table and close your eyes.
You were too young to be thinking about what you have to write in your will.
You'd survive, you all would. You had to.
Just as you began sit down you felt it.
A stand presence, approaching quick.
You lift your head up, and before you speak, you hear the sound of metal clanking, coming from the back of the ship.
"Polnareff!" Avdol reprimands, "what are you doing!?"
"It wasn't me, I swear!" He defends, "you've gotta believe me!"
You stand up.
"Muhammad, he's right."
"What do you-"
"Another stand user is present aboard," you warn. "I felt them approach, then the 'clanging' happened. I'm going to investigate."
You bring out your stand and walk down the hall.
No one stops you, but you hear Jotaro follow behind you.
He says nothing, neither do you.
You both search around the ship, not finding a thing out of place.
"I don't get it," you scoff. "There's no place of entry, unless they decided to politely shut the door behind them."
"I'm not thrilled that this is my first time in a submarine," he sighs. "I do like it down here, but not when my life is being threatened."
"You like it?"
"Yeah, it's quiet. Peaceful. Well, until now that is."
"Yeah," you sigh, rubbing your eyes.
"Are you sure you're not just exhausted?"
You think. Usually, you'd say no quicker than you could think through and actual answer. The last time you actually slept was at the hotel. And with the emotions you had to process, who was to say?
However, it wasn't impossible for someone to be down here with you.
You thought it was impossible for someone to be hundreds of kilometers in the air with you too, but see how that turned out.
You look at him defeatedly.
"Maybe I am, but that doesn't erase the fact that it's more than likely someone's down here with us."
"Yeah, yeah, We'll cross that bridge when we get there."
Well, you were already at the bridge, waiting at the foot prepared to cross it.
And your time would come sooner than anyone had expected.
-
You re-emerge back into the control room, Jotaro no longer holding onto you.
The sound of Polnareff's tired complaining fills your ears.
"Hurry up and make the coffee, man!" He yells at Kakyoin, "I want it now!"
"Why don't you make it yourself!" Kakyoin snaps.
"Quiet down you big baby," you reprimand.
"Akira," Avdol speaks. "Did the two of you find anything?"
"Yes," you say, "and no. Nothing concrete, but there's definitely a stand presence aboard. It's a big ship, sure, but it's not so big that they won't come for us. Not to mention, we're dangerously low in the water. If we had to abandon ship, we all could die."
"I see," Avdol sits down. He pulls down a handle from the roof, presumably connected to telescope at the top of the ship.
He sighs, looking puzzled before he gasps. "Good news! I've just spotted the coast of Africa! We'll be there soon."
"Finally," sit down, throwing your head back and putting your legs on the table.
"Akira, can you explain the coastal passage to them for me?"
"Aye aye, captain," you half-heartedly salute. You grab a map from near the front of the room. "Nothing I love quite as much as underwater oceanography."
You lay the map on the table.
"So basically," you begin. "There's a coral reef here, an area where the sea has eroded the rocks to the point of creating an underwater tunnel. A natural shortcut. The exit of this tunnel is about two hundred meters further inland, which puts us as close to the shore as we can go without running the submarine aground. As soon as we exit, we'll be in Egypt."
"At long last," Mr. Joestar smiles. "We've finally made it."
"Took long enough," Polnareff scoffed.
"You guys are about to experience one of the best countries in the world. There's no place quite like Egypt. You two," you point at Kakyoin and Jotaro. "You two are coming out with me, you both need a little spice in your lives."
"As if this trip hasn't been 'spice' enough," Kakyoin smiles.
"We do have a more serious goal, Akira," Avdol reminds.
"Right, We defeat Dracula, save Mrs. Kujo, and then drink like there's no tomorrow."
Polnareff laughs.
"What's so funny?" Avdol asks.
"Nothing," he looks down, before looking back up. "I'm just feeling sort of happy. It's been a while since the six of us were all gathered together like this."
"Yeah, you're right."
You roll up the map, returning it to its original spot by Avdol. Kakyoin sets down cups of coffee on the table.
"Hey, Kakyoin," Jotaro calls out. "Why did you put down seven cups of coffee? There's only six of us."
"That's peculiar, I could have sworn I-"
And that's when you saw it, Mr. Joestar reached for the cup, but the cup moved. It wasn't a cup.
You quickly reached out and grabbed it, throwing it across the room.
As you did, it transformed into a furry brown blob.
One that, just as quickly as it changed, jumped into the wall. With a scream, it popped bolts out of the wall, sending them straight for you and Mr. Joestar.
Not thinking you pushed him down onto the floor, and put your arm up to guard your face.
The bolts punctured and landed in your arm and the wall behind you.
You didn't react in pain, instead you called for your stand.
"The Universe"
Just as quickly as the bolts fired out at you, they fired back into the wall, leaving holes in your arm.
The others on looked in horror, not moving.
The stand jumped out from the wall and landed on the table in front of you.
Without thinking, your stand punched the stand on the ceiling,
Jotaro hit the stand into a monitoring station across the room, you watched as it transformed into a gauge.
"This isn't good," you observe. "If the stand could control the bolts from the wall to send them flying, it could probably just as easily control this ship and crash it, or worse."
Polnareff ran to the window.
"Look, it's the coral reef. We're only a few hundred meters from Egypt."
"Muhammad," you grab his attention. "The ship is already on course to sail into the tunnel, correct?"
"Yes, it would be too late to change course."
"Shit," you curse. "We need to abandon ship."
"Abandon, we can't! We're hundreds of meters below the ground!"
Polnareff shakes his head.
"We don't know what this thing is capable of," you warn. "Heading into this tunnel could create a death trap. We need to leave before it's too late. There's gotta be dive suits, or at least oxygen tanks onboard, right?"
"There is," Avdol nods. "I'm not sure how many, but they should be near the emergency exit."
"We need to leave," you say.
"Mr. Joestar was knocked unconscious when he fell," Kakyoin informs.
"Great, add that to the list."
Just as you sigh, the phone rings.
"Who could be calling at a time like this?" Polnareff looks around.
"Ignore it," Kakyoin yells. "We have to stay focused."
"It's the High Priestess!" Avdol announces. "The enemy uses a stand in which the name is derived from Major Arcana card two, the High Priestess."
"Just like the card states," you sigh. "She's definitely tenacious."
"You know her, Avdol?" Jotaro questions.
"I do," he nods. "Her name is Rose. She can control her stand from far away, so she's most likely on the coast right now."
"What about power?" Kakyoin hoists Mr. Joestar onto his back, struggling under the weight.
"She can control any object as long as it's made from some kind of mineral. Plastics, metal, glass, vinyl, you name it."
"Being underwater in a metal submarine means that we're screwed," you notify.
"Her transformations are perfect, meaning there's no way to recognize it until she attacks."
"The only reason I could is because I saw her slip up and move. If I hadn't, Mr. Joestar would be in condition tenfold of what he's in now."
The phone continues ringing in the background.
"That's freaky, but how did it get down here in the first place?" Polnareff asks.
Just as he finishes speaking, a gauge on the ceiling breaks. The metal behind the was gone too. Water began flooding into the ship at a rapid rate.
"We found the point of entry," you look to Polnareff.
Avdol and Kakyoin run to check the meters at the front of the ship.
"She damaged the Ballast tanks, we're sinking even faster," Avdol says, voice becoming frantic.
"Not to mention we're losing oxygen," Kakyoin's eyes search the gauges, looking for something good that he wouldn't find.
The phone stops ringing, only to start again.
"Mon dieu!" Polnareff cries. "Ils ont choisi le pire moment pour appele. r!"
("My god! They picked the worst time to call!")
"There aren't many people who have this number, so it has to be important. Everyone leave, quickly and quietly. I'll take one for the team here," you walk towards the phone. "Get ready to abandon ship, find the tanks."
"Be careful, anything you touch could be the stand."
You nod, picking up the phone.
Polnareff, Avdol, and Kakyoin run out of the room with Mr. Joestar.
Jotaro stays behind with you.
You put the phone to your ear.
"Hi again, Joseph!" You'd never been so glad to hear Mrs. Joestar's voice. "It's me!"
"Hey, Mrs. Joestar, it's actually Akira. Mr. Joestar is unfortunately preoccupied at the moment."
You shoot Jotaro a look of confusion.
"Oh! Akira, dear! How's it going? I hope all the business talk isn't boring you too much."
"No, ma'am, not at all. You could say I'm having the time of my life."
You gained eye contact with Jotaro.
"I'm so glad! It's been so long since I've last heard your voice!" She gasps. "Did you meet my grandson?"
"Jotaro? Yes, I did."
"Did you two get on well? I told my husband to give you two some time to yourselves, I thought you might make a great couple."
You were just lucky she hadn't noticed the background noises.
"Hey, Mrs. Joestar, could you hand the phone to Rosas? I'll make sure to tell Mr. Joestar you called, I know he'll call you as soon as he can."
"Of course, I'll talk to you soon!"
She made a kissy noise over the phone.
A masculine voice comes over the line.
"Hello?"
"Rosas, it's me. Leave the room, quick."
"I already have."
"Good. We've got a bit of a situation. A stand infiltrated and attacked the submarine. It's not looking good. The vessel is taking on water and going down fast. Mr. Joestar is unconscious. Call in backup to the eastern shore line, about two kilometers north of Al-Marsa Alam. Medical staff specifically. You know I can't make my own flesh. Mr. Joestar should be fine, I was the one that knocked him unconscious. Our current location is about two hundred meters from the shore, however we're rapidly approaching a tunnel, and if we make in there we're screwed. This won't be pretty, I can tell you that much."
"I've got all of it, focus on survival."
"As always, thank you, Rosas. Do whatever you can to keep Mrs. Joestar in New York. I know you're just a man, and I'll keep the mister at bay in case you can't."
"You've got it. Please, be safe."
"Of course."
You put the phone on the receiver.
The water was up to your knees.
"Your grandmother wants to set us up."
"I'm not opposed."
I'm grabbing his arm as you run out of the room.
"How're you holding up?"
"The adrenaline is losing it's magic."
"Not good."
You see Avdol and the rest of the group standing by the door looking for oxygen tanks.
"Great, you're here."
"We are," you nod. "Mrs. Joestar was on the line. I got the chance to talk to Rosas. Help will be waiting for us on the coast after we defeat the High Priestess."
Avdol looked out the window.
"Brace yourselves people, we're about to hit the bottom!"
Polnareff screams and cries, latching onto you.
"Oh my god!!"
You make impact with the sea floor, landing less fifty meters away from the underwater tunnel.
You all stumble, Polnareff falling off of you and back into a wall.
"This always happens!" He yells, "why does every single vehicle we enter end up crashing!?"
"I'm never riding in a submarine ever again," Jotaro grunts.
Polnareff grabs Mr. Joestar off of Kakyoin as you all re-enter the control room.
Jotaro inspects the meters at the front of the room.
"Kakyoin," he calls out. "Did you happen to see which one of these gauges the stand merged with?"
Kakyoin walks beside him and points to a gauge.
"From what I could tell, it looked like this one."
"Guys, the air is getting thin in here." Polnareff breathes heavily.
"I guess we better find those oxygen tanks then, huh?"
You head out into the hallway.
You wandered down the hall, opening every door and closet you came across, only to find the oxygen tanks sitting neatly stacked in an already open cabinet by the door.
You noted that it was weird, but you'd found them. You needed to tell the others.
You ran into the room, only to discover Kakyoin kneeling on the ground, blood seeping from his neck.
The High Priestess was on the ceiling, once more taunting Jotaro.
The stand disappeared back into the wall.
Avdol commanded everyone to run for the exits.
"The stand is traveling machine to machine, there isn't a good chance for survival if we stay in here any longer."
You helped Noriaki up, looking at his neck.
"It's not too deep, you'll be alright. You can get it treated on shore."
He nods.
"We'll leave through the door and seal it in here," Avdol grabs the door, which you could have sworn you never shut.
"Muhammad! Get back!"
You were too late, the stand had materialized as the door.
"Theres's no way..."
Star Platinum materialized and grabbed it, right before it could slice through Avdol's hands.
"Now that we got it, what should we do with it?"
"I call first dibs, The Universe is gonna curb-stomp her into tomorrow."
"Show no mercy!" Polnareff eggs you on.
Jotaro holds the stand in place as you walk over.
You summon your stand, only for the High Priestess to escape Jotaro's grasp and come flying for your face. The Universe punched her away just in time.
"Damn it!" Jotaro yells. "She turned into a razor and cut me!"
At some point, Polnareff dropped Mr. Joestar, who had regained consciousness.
The High Priestess sits on the ceiling, looking down at you and laughing.
"She's not quiet like the name sake, but she's quick," you look back.
"Quick and powerful," Avdol adds.
"I can't believe it's outsmarted all of us," Kakyoin observes. "What an enemy."
"What the hell is going on?" Mr. Joestar looks around at all of you. "I'm not sure what exactly is going on here, but it seems like we're in a pinch!"
"Shut up, old man," Jotaro reprimands.
"Like I've been saying for the past twenty minutes, we've gotta get out of here! I found the oxygen tanks, we can swim to the shoreline from here!"
You open the door, watching as the water floods into the hallway. Everyone shuffles out.
Jotaro is last. He stays standing in the room, staring at the ceiling.
"We can get her later," you call out to him. "But for now we have to focus on getting out of here."
He nods and follows you out. You shut the door behind you, sealing it closed.
You all run down the hallway.
"Mr. Joestar," you grab his attention. "I, Akira, talked to your wife, she called looking for you. I fear she's becoming suspicious. I talked to Rosas, he's keeping her at bay, distracting her with whatever he can throw at her. She still thinks we're on a business trip. I'm just hoping he won't crack under pressure."
"We can discuss this later," Polnareff grabs your attention.
"Yeah," Kakyoin agrees. "I'm afraid this she-devil of a stand is playing a game with us, and we're losing."
"As long as we're here, we're sitting ducks because of all the machinery," Avdol pants.
"Then you guys better pick up the pace."
"You guys are forgetting that we're forty meters below sea level," Polnareff says. "How exactly are we supposed to get out of here."
"Put on your oxygen tanks, take off your shoes, and float to the surface," you instruct. "You don't want to swim, no matter how tempting it is."
"How would you know?!" He shouts back, "you don't even know how to swim!"
"Shut up, ass hat! Anyone can float, and unless you want to break your face by swimming upwards into of tons of pressure, then I suggest you float!"
That shut him up.
"How will we get to Egypt when we surface?" Kakyoin asks.
"We'll have to figure that out."
-
To be continued...>