No thoughts, head empty, just Jotaro’s First Meet With Diavlo.
It is. Fun to say the least :)
So imagine it. Everyone’s sitting and waiting outside by the boat for Bruno to eventually come back. They aren’t quite sure how long it will take, but they assume it won’t be long. Jotaro is ofc keeping an eye on Giorno who’s doing his fun Overthrowing The Boss planning.
Then the time jumps start happening.
And Jotaro is immediately on the defensive.
The last time he witnessed jumps like these was during his fight with Dio before he learned how to stop time. And while this doesn’t seem to be that, this does seem to be some kind of time-based Stand. The Boss was the clear culprit, he was supposedly the only one on the island and the time blips only began once Bruno went inside with Trish to meet with him. There’s also how, if Giorno’s tracer is accurate, the three are moving down instead of up like the instructions told them.
It’s a trap, he realizes. If the Boss took Trish like that, then clearly he didn’t want to meet her. He wanted to kill her. He was incredibly secretive, and a daughter? That could easily be traced to him.
And he remembers Egypt. Remembers how they had no idea what they were getting into, that the cost of their lack of knowledge was so very high. That in order to learn Dio’s ability, one of them had to give his life
And he remembers Morioh. Remembers how he had simply been trying to gather evidence but stumbled headfirst into finding the killer. How he’d been taken out so quickly in that fight, leaving a 15 year old child to keep him safe. How in order to learn Kira’s identity, said child so very nearly lost his life.
And right now, Bruno and Trish are the ones inside with no clue.
The pieces fall into place.
They might die and he would have done nothing to stop it.
He’s the power house. The fastest and strongest. He’s supposed to protect everyone. He’s supposed to keep them alive.
And he isn’t going to fail again. He can’t.
He jumps up from the boat, hitting the ground running with Star Platinum by his side and the energy of the time stop rushing through him. He needs to save as much time as he possibly can, so the second he’s forced back into regular time, he forces the ability back on to save a few more precious seconds.
By the time he gets into the basement, barely 8 seconds have passed.
And for a moment, he feels as though he’s trapped.
Bruno is in front of a red Stand with a haunty face.
And the Stand is already driving a punch into his stomach. Jotaro can see the bones beginning to bend, the skin beginning to tear, begin to see the fierce expression of someone who hasn’t realized they’re about to be placed on death’s door
He remembers Egypt, he remembers Morioh, Dio and Kira both with the same face and mocking words and he’s trapped he’s too far he can’t do anything useless useless USELESS-
Desperation grabs his mind in a death grip and before a plan has even formed in his mind he’s already grabbed Bruno and yanked him behind him.
And when time resumes, Jotaro can’t even feel the pain. He can see the crimson staining the ground, can see his hands holding his internals inside, but he couldnt feel any of it.
The punch didn’t even go all the way through, and he was still standing, so it was probably fine.
Naturally, next comes the Star Platinum Beatdown with the bonus of time stop to get more punches in.
But then the Stand disappears. It’s behind him now. And Jotaro barely has enough time to pause before it can land another blow.
He can’t fight him now, he realizes. Not while there are other people here who could die if he makes a mistake. And, now that he’s looking closer, neither Trish nor Bruno are unharmed. Trish’s hand has been cut off, and Bruno’s ribs are very clearly broken.
He needs to bring them to Giorno to get fixed. He needs to protect them. He needs to keep them safe.
So just as quickly as he’d arrived, Jotaro grabs the two of them and leaves.
He repeats his goal like a mantra in his head, trying to distract from the bloody trail he leaves behind, distract from the growing black at the edges of his vision, distract from the cold and numbness and exhaustion that’s beginning to set in as he forces time to stop again and again and again
By the time he returns to the boat, a total of 34 seconds had passed
The second he reaches it and the Gang spot them, he allows his grip on reality to slip.
And Jotaro Kujo slips into unconsciousness with a lullaby of screams filling his ears