Entering the Contract

Karter began to laugh heartily.

“Well I certainly didn’t expect the guy that stayed back and watched as someone intruded his home to willingly sign up for a tournament to the death,” he said, trying to calm his laughter, “I know I’m supposed to be recruiting people for this, but are you really sure you want to do this, kid? I mean, no matter how good your stand is, there’s always at least one that could counter it”

“When it comes to my stand, I beg to differ,” replied Josiah, “It’s quite versatile”

“Is that so? And here I thought it was a stand that relied on a cheap trick that you needed to keep hidden. Otherwise I would’ve discovered it’s secret during my time here”

“I don’t like to use my power in unnecessary situations”

“So, what, are you entering this game so you can put your stand to good use or something?”

“Not quite,” replied Josiah, “I actually see it as an opportunity to observe the stand’s that I fight against, though testing the limits of my stand along the way doesn’t seem like a bad idea”

“All in the name of curiosity, huh?” said Karter, “Guess I shouldn’t be surprised. In that case, come over here so I can—“

“Wait a second,” interrupted Josiah, “I have a condition—you have to give me that stamp first”

“Excuse me?” exclaimed Karter, “You know I can’t do my job without this, right?”

“I know,” replied Josiah, “but what if I told you that along with stamping myself, I will also stamp two other stand users capable of combat?”

“Would you now? And who are these stand users?”

“My younger siblings,” answered Josiah, “and they’re natural-born stand users, in case that information’s relevant”

“You’re selling out your siblings just so you can have this stamp?” Asked Karter, “Why Exactly do you want it that badly?”

“Same reason as I’m entering this death tournament,” replied Josiah, “curiosity”

“Well then, assuming you’re keeping your word, then I can’t pass down this offer. Stand users are hard to come by, but you’re basically offering me three for next to no effort”

“Exactly”

“But the thing is, why should I trust you, Joestar?”

“Because you know my motives already, that’s why”

“Can’t argue with that, I guess,” replied Karter as he tossed the ink stamp to Josiah, “go ahead and stamp that on yourself as proof of our little deal”. Josiah obliged, opening his shirt, revealing his bare chest. He then used the stamp on his left pec, marking it with a “31”.

“By the way, I get a certain amount of money for each stand user I’m able to stamp,” said Karter, “If anyone screws me out of money, I make a note to kill them. Keep that in mind, Josiah Joestar”

“I figured that was the case anyways,” replied Josiah, “Don’t worry, those siblings of mine will be more than enthusiastic about this once they hear what it entails”. As he said this, Karter turned his back and began to walk away.

“One last thing, Joestar,” he said, “I hope you don’t believe this is the last we’ll see of each other”. As he said this, he pulled his jacket back to reveal a number “13” on the back of his neck.

“I do hope to face you and that ‘versatile’ stand of yours”. After saying that, Karter disappeared from Josiah’s line of sight.

• • •

Jasmine woke up in an unfamiliar bed a few hours later. As soon as had regained consciousness, Jasmine tried to get up, only to be hit with a massive headache. She looked about the room. It was a small room, but it was more “cozy” than “cramped. Next to her bed was an empty chair and a small table with medical supplies atop it. On the wall nearest to Jasmine was a window with exquisite curtains drawn back. She could see that it was still daytime.

Slowly but surely, Jasmine’s headache subsided and she was able to get herself to sit up. Once she did, she began to collect her thoughts. Jasmine then remembered what had just transpired before she had been knocked out. She looked at the back of her hand, trying to confirm to herself whether it had actually happened. And, as she feared, there was a number on her hand stuck on with ink.

As this happened, someone entered the door to Jasmine’s room.

“Ms. Carrey, how are you feeling,” Asked Denver.

“That doesn’t matter right now,” she replied hastily, “where is Josiah?”

“Right this way,” said Denver, gesturing into the hallway.

• • •

“I have some news to break to you, Ms. Carrey,” said Josiah as soon as she entered his office, “I made a judgment call while you were unconscious”

“Please tell me it wasn’t anything stupid”

“I willingly entered the tournament”

“WHAT!?” exclaimed Jasmine, “Are you brain dead? You know it’s my job to stop that thing from happening, right? The more people that join, the closer it is to starting!”

“I expected as much,” calmly replied Josiah, “but when I thought about it, I realized that entering the tournament may be the best way to stop it”

“And what do you mean by that?”

“It’s your job to prevent the tournament so that innocent stand users don’t get killed, and to do so, you need to prevent the tournament from starting, correct?”

“And what of it?”

“Well the thing is, as it currently stands, Denver’s ability won’t be able to track the user”

“What do you mean by that?”

“In the past we’ve been able to track down stand users by locating the effects of their abilities, then cross-referencing that information to find likely suspects. After that, we investigate those suspects to find out who the true user is”

“Wait, are you saying that his ability doesn’t tell him who a stand user is outright?”

“Exactly”

“Are you kidding me?” sighed Jasmine, “what a pointless stand”

“In his defense, his ability to track stand users is only an alternative application of his actual ability,” said Josiah, “but I can tell you’re not going to feel any better about this with that explanation”

“You’re right, I don’t feel better”

“Anyways,” continued Josiah, “the more places that someone’s stand is active, the harder it is for his stand to locate them. And with the current number of contestants, which is at least thirty-one, it will be nigh impossible to track the user”

“So what do we do about it, then?”

“We enter the tournament and get to the second round,” answered Josiah, “By doing that we’ll be able to track the effects of the stand better and we can begin investigating”

“You really must be stupid,” replied Jasmine, “you do realize that half of the people involved will have to die if we do that, right?”

“Indeed they will,” answered Josiah, “but your job isn’t to simply prevent deaths, it’s to prevent innocent deaths. And do you really believe that everyone in this tournament will be innocent?”

“That’s even worse! That means that more than half of the innocents may die in the first round, if not all of them!”

“If that happens then you could have the chance to purge the world of the ones that aren’t innocent. I mean, isn’t it your job to hunt down criminal stand users?”

“Yes it is, but protecting the good ones comes first!”

“That’s not what I read in your file”

“Huh?”

“It said you have a pretty set-in-stone philosophy: purging evil, even at the cost of some good, will better the world in the end,” said Josiah, “Don’t tell me you’ve somehow gone through a change of heart?”

“I haven’t, but” started Jasmine, “recently I lost one of the members of my team. His philosophy was the opposite of mine, helping the innocent even if it meant allowing some evil to exist. I just wanted to honor his memory by following his philosophy for just this mission”

“So it’s love, huh?”

“What made you jump to that conclusion?”

“A woman like you would only break her ideals for something like love”

“And since when were you an expert on stuff like that? You’re just some stuck-up intellectual who spends his time in the country”

“Exactly, and during that time I’ve done plenty of reading on psychology”

“Ah, whatever,” said Jasmine, “It’s not like you’re wrong. But so what?”

“I also believe a woman like you wouldn’t react like this because of unrequited love,” replied Josiah, “and if you’re able to respect his philosophy, then I’m sure he respected yours”

“What’s your point?”

“My point is that he probably wouldn’t want you to change your morals just because he died”

“And how do you know that?”

“I don’t,” answered Josiah, “but whatever, it’s not like I require your permission to go through with the plan”. Josiah held up his hand, revealing the gold-encrusted ink stamp he had Ben holding.

“How did you get that?” Asked Jasmine.

“Karter have it to me,” answered Josiah, “In exchange, I agreed to stamp myself and two other people with it”

“Two more stand users? There’s a stand user other than you and Denver here?” asked Jasmine. Just then, as if to answer her question, a boy’s voice chimed in.

“JoJo Nii-Sama, what do you need?” said a silver haired boy as he entered Josiah’s office.

“Again with the Japanese phrases, Sam?,” replied Josiah with a sigh, “is Sofia with you?”

“Yeah,” replied Sam, “Hurry up, Nee-San”

“Coming, Nii-San,” replied a girl’s voice. Soon after, a silver haired girl entered the room.

The two children were very similar in appearance. They both had silver hair, green eyes, a small nose, and thin lips. Despite the house they resided in, they both chose to wear casual clothing. The brother, Sam, opted for a black and neon-blue pullover hoodie, black jeans, and a pair of black ankle socks. The sister, Sofia, wore a black tee with a neon-green design, a black hoodie with a green design that she left unzipped, a black skirt, and a pair of thigh-high black socks. They both looked no older than thirteen.

“Sam, Sofia, come over here,” said Josiah, “I have a proposition for you two”

“Wait, you’re getting kids involved!?” exclaimed Jasmine.

“What kind of proposition, JoJo Nii-Sama?” asked Sam, ignoring the Speedwagon Foundation agent.

“This ink stamp is a part of a stand,” started Josiah, also ignoring Jasmine, “If I stamp you with it, you will become apart of a fighting tournament consisting of stand users”

“So it’s a real life shounen tournament arc?” asked Sofia, excitedly.

“I guess you could put it that way”

“Please use that stamp on us, Nii-Sama!” exclaimed Sofia and Sam simultaneously, extending their hands out.

“Now I should warn you, each fight is to the death,” said Josiah. Upon hearing this, the two siblings looked at each other for a second before looking back at their older brother.

“Please use that stamp on us, Nii-Sama!”

“Wait a second!” exclaimed Jasmine, “You’re not seriously going to let these kids join a damn death tournament?”

“Oh, it’s alright, ma’am, we won’t get killed,” said Sofia.

“She’s right you know,” said Josiah, “their stands are as versatile as they come”

“Are you serious right now!?” asked Jasmine.

“Entirely,” replied Josiah.

“Fine then,” said Jasmine, “Just let them throw their lives away”

“Like Nee-San said we won’t die,” said Sam before he and Sofia stretched their hands out again. Once they did, Josiah promptly stamped both their hands.

“Well I didn’t expect this,” said Josiah.

“What do you mean, Nii-Sama?” Asked Sofia.

“Well, I expected two different numbers, but you two...” said Josiah, trailing off. Curious as to what he meant, Jasmine looked at the two children’s hands. When she did, she saw that they both had the number “32” on their hands.

“Please tell me this means you used the wrong stamp,” said Jasmine as she looked back up towards Josiah.

“No, it does not,” said Josiah, “and while I’m not completely sure what it means, I have a pretty good idea—“

As he said that, he was interrupted by an intense pain coming from where he had stamped himself earlier. He looked about and see that the other three in the room were clutching their hands out of pain. Josiah could also see that their numbers were glowing, and upon pulling back his shirt, he saw his was too. The glowing ink began to peel off, flying off to a single spot in the room. Within the whirlwind of ink, a humanoid form began to take shape.

Once the whirlwind settled, the shape became fully visible.

“No need to theorize, Mr. Joestar,” spoke the form, “for I, the stand known as「imagine」can explain”