Gyalzen POV
Caesar was dead. His life ended after brutal battle with the Pillar Man Wamuu. He was in this building right now. That much was certain, he must have been wounded, as there was a trail of blood that served as our guide.
The time for grieving had passed, now was the time for ACTION!
The entire hotel was shrouded in shadow, none of us were familiar with the layout of it. If it wasn't for the trail of blood Wammu had left, we'd likely have been lost. I silently thanked Caesar, it was clear that he hadn't gone down without a fight. Joseph pointed ahead and declared "We can't let Wammu recover! We're going in!"
The trail lead us to a set of double doors, it was obvious that Wamuu was beyond them. Joseph stepped forward and grasped the door handle only to suddenly recoil with a gasp. Lisa Lisa asked "What is it?"
Joseph responded "Well, this doorknob is grossing me out." I looked to where he was pointing. Sure enough, the doorknob resembled a HAND! Both of us leaned forward to look at it as I commented "I see. Yes, it does look strange."
Joseph grasped it again muttering "It feels like I'm grabbing some guy's hand." Suddenly a loud voice boomed throughout the corridor "I'M NOT A DOOR!" Both of us recoiled, looking around as the voice spoke again. "What're you looking for? I said I'm not a door!"
This turned our attention back ahead of us. This time though we were shocked to see a MAN EMERGING FROM IT! Lisa Lisa called out "A vampire! Look out both of you!" Joseph managed to defend himself but fell back in the process, I somersaulted backwards to evade the strike aimed at me.
The Vampire took a step forward, saying "It it weren't for that weapon, I'd have peeled your face clean off!" He chuckled and smirked as he introduced himself. "I am Wired Beck. I killed my lover but escaped from prison. Then Lord Kars made me a part of his gang with a mask. He has my loyalty. I'm not going to let you disturb Lord Kars' rest."
Image of Wired Beck:
It seemed Kars was wasting no time unleashing his curse upon humanity. I knew of the stone mask and its properties from Straizo's demonstration. Joseph slowly got to his feet as Wired Beck made a series of weird noises.
Joseph's expression went cold as he said "You're just a pawn, bound for hell. Here, let me give you a little push into the abyss." Before he could step forward though, Lisa Lisa drifted in front of us. This act made Wired Beck grin as he rambled "Beautiful! Magnificent!" He continued rambling vulgar things that only made me scoff in disgust.
Lisa Lisa bluntly replied "I'm in a bad mood. I don't want to hear from, or look at, a worm like you. But if you want to hold me, just try. It'll be the last thing you ever do." This caused the Vampire to laugh as spikes shot out from around his body!
Beck snapped "I don't like it when women make jokes about me." In an instant he lunged forward, screaming. Lisa Lisa simply made a gesture, Hamon channelling through her. Beck yelled out "I'll hug you to death!"
With a simple motion though, Lisa Lisa waved her scarf into the air and draped it around the Vampire's body. I understood her plan, the scarf could generate Hamon. She was using it as a weapon of sorts.
The Vampire was entirely clueless, laughing the action off. However Lisa Lisa ignored him and instead approached the door, instructing "Come you two. Let's move." We both just replied "O-okay."
As we stepped past him, Beck snapped "Hey! Don't ignore me!" Before turning to us and calling "Hey, you two! A woman like that has to be punished right?" I just raised an eyebrow as Joseph shrugged "Oh no friend, your time is up. You're the one who got punished." I added "You got a dose of Hamon. It may take a second."
As if on cue, Hamon began rippling from Beck's body. The spikes burst off as he let out a howl of pain. Soon, there was nothing left of him. Joseph triumphantly stated "She's got what it takes! I thought she'd be weak in a fight, but she's better than me!" I looked at him dumbfounded before asking "Is that serious? Are you okay?" Joseph just returned "Fine, why do you ask?" I sighed "No reason."
Lisa Lisa enquired about why Joseph didn't take the antidote left by Caesar. However he explained that he'd take it after defeating Wammu. It wasn't a promise to Wamuu anymore. But rather a promise to Caesar. All I could say to this was "I respect that." He offered it to Lisa Lisa, however she refused. What she said stuck in my mind.
"Who knows what might happen to me..."
Timeskip...
The blood continued lead the way, the further we got, the thinner this trail became. It wasn't the guide that was the problem. If there was less blood, it could only mean one thing, Wamuu's wounds were healing.
We came to another door and wasted no time pushing it open.
There he was, sat directly opposite us. Now I'd never met Wamuu before now, however I knew from the looks Joseph and Lisa Lisa gave him that this was him. Not to mention, I was already familiar with Esidisi and Kars' appearance.
Image of Wamuu:
His eyes opened as he slowly looked up directly at us before saying "I've been waiting. You've grown quite a lot." I asked the obvious "So, you're Wamuu?" The Pillar Man turned to me, giving a blank expression however he regarded me respectfully. "And you, you're the one who bested Esidisi. Gyalzen, I believe?"
I nodded as he said "From one warrior to another, you have my respect." Joseph snarled "Bastard, you killed Caesar!" He stepped forward only for Lisa Lisa to raise her arm and block his path, warning. "Calm down JoJo. Look at the floor."
Doing so, I began to notice footprints across the stone and carpet. Joseph had noticed them as well, assuring us his head was 'cool'. The fact that there were footprints weren't the problem. It was that there wasn't one set, but TWO!
Joseph exclaimed "That means Kars is here too! Where is he?! Show yourself!" Matters seemed bad enough in that moment, but then Lisa Lisa pointed out "I feel dozens of lungs breathing." Again, she was right, listening closer, you could hear faint breathing, but its origin was unknown.
Wamuu stated "It's her. I see. You're quite composed and perceptive, for a woman. I can see how JoJo and Caesar learned so much. I assume Gyalzen is the same, it would explain how he managed to overcome Esidisi." Raising his hand, he said "You can even feel slight breathing. You're among the finest Hamon masters."
With his hand, a gust of wind blew out towards a nearby fireplace. The fire began to blaze upwards, completely illuminating the room. The source of the breathing soon became obvious, the newfound light revealed hordes of VAMPIRES all clinging from the ceiling!
There had to be a hundred of them at LEAST! Joseph exclaimed "W-what the-?! You, you're all Vampires aren't you!" I'll admit, fear washed over me, I thought back to my fight against Straizo, as well as the stories I'd heard of Dio and Damian Brando. Were these vampires as powerful as them? I didn't know.
The Vampires gave no response, making the situation even eerier. Suddenly there was a bright light from the far-end of the room, for a moment I had to shield my eyes however I soon could see its source as Kars was revealed to be sat on a throne at the far end of the room.
Joseph called out angrily "KARS!" Though this was met with no verbal response, Kars simply glared back at us before reaching up and snapping his fingers. Upon doing so, one of the Vampires spoke up, declaring. "Lord Kars gave us, his chosen, eternal life! It's a hundred against three. When our master gives the order, we'll tear you three to shreds JoJo!"
We looked around, the whole ceiling was lined with Vampires, all looking down on us with malicious intent. Joseph finally spoke "T-this is bad. It's a hundred on three. Lisa Lisa, we can't win this one!"
I noticed Kars was preparing to give the signal to strike, however before he could, Wamuu's voice interrupted. "Wait, Lord Kars." This caught the attention of the leading Pillar Man, Wamuu continued "Back in Rome, we promised to fight each other. I want revenge for Master Esidisi, even if JoJo didn't destroy his body. I will deal with Gyalzen after that. Please, allow me to fight!"
Kars just glared, responding "I will not. Our goal is to obtain the red stone of Aja. Don't forget that Wamuu." Wamuu bowed, saying "Yes my lord." At this point, Joseph blurted out "That's right, we can't! I'm not in the mood anymore! I know I could beat you. But even if I did, all these Vampires are still here. Win or lose, I'd still die right? With odds like that, giving up is only natural. I'm throwing in the towel."
It was at this point I'd noticed something. As Joseph gave his rant, he'd been walking around the room, as he did so, a trail of string was being left behind him. I recognized this from our fight with Esidisi, it was what allowed me to ultimately gain the upper hand.
Though this time, it wasn't nearly as subtle, all the Vampires in the room stared at the string with blank expressions. Joseph remarked "Blast it! You all saw, didn't you? And I thought I could zap them all at once too." Joseph's distraction did give me an opportunity, subtly, I began rubbing my hands together, building up a generation of steam.
Kars just gave Joseph a look of disinterest as he raised his hand again, ordering. "Now, kill them!" Before the Vampires could even consider following said order, Lisa Lisa interrupted. "If you kill us, you'll never have the stone." This caused Kars to say "Hold!" Before looking at Lisa Lisa with a look of intrigue.
"What's this, woman?" Lisa Lisa explained, I didn't know if her words held truth. "I'm not stupid enough to be carrying the stone here. If one of us isn't in a certain place at a certain time, the stone will be DESTROYED!" She lowered her scarf to reveal, sure enough, she was no longer wearing the stone.
You can imagine that caught Kars' attention, he smirked, saying "Don't try to fool me woman." Lisa Lisa just asked "Do you think you'll be able to find it in time? The bomb is a small thing, but is enough to damage the stone."
My eyes widened, BOMB?! It seems Joseph was on the same thought pattern as me. Joseph exclaimed "Yeah, it's all true! If we die, BOOM! KABOOM!" Kars just stated "Even so, we can't let you leave here alive."
I pointed out "BUT! Are you willing to take the gamble?" This made Kars raise an eyebrow, I could tell we were getting in his head. Lisa Lisa stepped forward, "I have a suggestion. JoJo and Wamuu can fight one-on-one. And Kars, you and I will fight one-on-one."
I pointed out "What about me?" Lisa Lisa didn't respond, but she did acknowledge what I'd said. "Of course, there are three of us, so what about Gyalzen? Well, should either of you win against us, you can pick which one of you faces HIM one-on-one."
Both Kars and Wamuu got a look of intrigue at that, I knew Kars would be eager to settle the score. Finally, Lisa Lisa stated "And to the winner, goes the stone." This made us all shocked, however she continued.
"The victor, will win the stone, and the future. It will all be clear. Who will hold the stone? Us? Or you? Who will survive? The Pillar Men? Or humankind?" Kars spat angrily "Why you..." An aura of light surrounded him once more as he snapped to his ally, ordering "WAMUU!"
Wamuu just closed his eyes, saying "It's laughable Lord Kars." Kars smirked "You've got pluck, woman. Very well, we fight for the stone. But don't get cocky! You have no tomorrow!" Even with Kars' statement, I was left in awe at Lisa Lisa's actions.
She'd turned nearly impossible odds, into even chance. Joseph would face Wamuu, Lisa Lisa would face Kars, I'd face one that remained, if both won then they'd pick which one I'd face. I nodded and said "I agree to these terms." Joseph added "Alright then, let's do this!"
The Vampires above all chuckled as Kars stated "We'll need a proper time and place for the battle. Wamuu, your thoughts?" Wamuu looked directly ahead as he declared "We fight tonight, under the full moon. We will fight at Piz Berlina, 15km southeast from here. We meet at the Skeleton's Heel stone circle. Many warriors found death or glory in that place."
Lisa Lisa asked "A stone circle?" Joseph snapped "Hey, you can't just pick a place that suits your fancy!" Kars turned and said "Wamuu, I think that's a fine choice." To be honest, I actually found myself agreeing. "Indeed, it's thematically appropriate." Joseph looked at me exclaiming "Gyalzen you agree with them?!" I nodded and said "It's unknown what Wamuu stands to gain from fighting there. But it's relevant to the theme of our battle. I see no issue with his suggestion." My statement made Wamuu grin for a second before his face went back to being serious.
Turning back to us, Kars spoke again. "And now, the stone. JoJo, Gyalzen! Bring to stone to the Skeleton's Heel at midnight tonight! And be sure to remove the bomb. The woman stays here, as insurance."
In an instant, both Kars and Wamuu disappeared in a flash of light and a gust of wind. Leaving us stood alone with the Vampires. Joseph turned to Lisa Lisa. "Lisa Lisa!" I asked "Are you sure you're okay with this?"
Lisa Lisa responded "They don't want us to run. It's a reasonable request. Go and fetch the stone. Don't worry about me." There was no use arguing, instead I just bowed and said "Very well, Master. I'll see you shortly." Joseph agreed "Right, we'll see you at the arena. Trust us." Lisa Lisa turned to us, assuring "I do."
It was with those words we retraced our steps back through the old hotel. We soon arrived back in the room we'd initially entered to. The stone cross still placed on the floor, as we looked over it, Joseph muttered "Caesar..."
I ushered him "Come on, there's no time to waste." We found Messina and began carrying him on our shoulders. As we walked from the hotel, trudging through the snow, Joseph spoke once more.
"Until yesterday, I lived only thinking of myself. But a new feeling burns inside me now." I nodded and replied "I understand. The situation became very real all of a sudden. Not that it wasn't serious to begin with. We can't turn back now though."
Joseph snapped "Curse it! I just want to wreck those bastards! I'll do it for Caesar, Messina, Lisa Lisa and the rest!" For a moment, I just looked over him. I thought about how much my thoughts on Joseph had changed in the last few weeks.
When I first met him on the streets of Venice, I thought of him as nothing but an incompetent clown that didn't know when to keep his mouth shut. He was insufferable and frankly, I couldn't stand him.
But in those weeks of training, much like with Caesar, we became friends. I managed to tell him what lead me to Straizo in the first place. He'd helped against Esidisi. Time and time again, he'd left me surprised. And tonight, we would go-on to face our deadliest challenge yet.
The end was drawing near, I could feel it...
Author's Note: And that's it for this chapter, I really hope you enjoyed and as always, thank you for reading.