World Tree MUSH

    In a different ward of S City stands the Nakamichi -- or 'middle path' -- mall, so named because it is a cultural fusion between American style malls and a Japanese shopping district. Josuke figured that would be the best place to meet for something like this. Besides, he's a teenager. Everyone knows late 90s/early 2000s teenagers are attracted to malls like moths to flame.

    He's actually skipping school for this too... and he's likely to get in some trouble when his mom finds out. But this is important! too bad he can't really tell her why it's important. But it's not the first time Josuke's had to take lumps for a greater purpose!

    He's not in uniform now, it's a bit too cold for that. He's got on a turquoise blue t-shirt with a thicker waist-length black coat over it, and a loose pair of black jeans. Of course he's always got on those Bally's loafers, though. And he has a pair of black gloves to keep his hands warm.

    Josuke leans against a wall near the front entrance ot the large, city block-sized mall, drawing a few distreet sidelong glances. Maybe it's not the style these days, but the image of a Japanese delinquent with a pompadour (or a 'regent', as it's sometimes called) hasn't been forgotten. Doesn't help that he's pretty big for a teenager, thanks to his dad being British/American... whatever country he wants to claim.

     Yes, this is perhaps the perfect place for their meeting, a symbolic accompaniment for the different worlds they come from. Not literally of course, not in the sense the World Tree usually lends meaning to, but a big city New York man who's traveled all over the planet and a small town Japanese boy who's likely never been more than a few miles from home couldn't be more different... or more similar, in some ways.

One of those being their height, as the elderly gentleman draws equally curious gazes for his tall, bulky frame. Sure, some of that bulk it helped by the thick padded red jacket he's wearing, accompanied by a cheetah print trapper's cap and beige khakis, but this is not the man Josuke met for the first time on the Red Hot Chili Pepper case.

"Hoh! Josuke, I was beginning to wonder if you ever change out of that school uniform." he greets his son with a chipper tone of voice, striding toward the teen as if he weren't already eighty years old. Well, he's still got a cane with him, but it's swinging from one arm instead of being used in its intended method. "Still sporting the hairdo though, I see. Reminds me of my youth, haha."

    The voice draws Josuke's attention, and he stands straight as he turns in that direction. He's silent for a moment, looking at Joseph with visible surprise. This is indeed not the frail old man that had appeared during the trouble with Akira Otoishi and his Stand, the aforementioned Red Hot Chili Pepper.

    He'd been told that Joseph's health had improved after he officially adopted Shizuka, but he didn't expect it to have improved this much! Could this be part of the whole thing with that ability the old man had...?

    Of course, the first thing Josuke does? Pout. He raises a hand to rub at the back of his neck as though he's not quite sure what to say. "Well..." he starts. "You're looking... better than last time." Probably not the best way to lead, but at least it's earnest! But he does admit quietly, "...I'm glad."

     Joseph stops just at arm's length from Josuke, setting the cane on the floor in front of him with his hands resting atop the handle. "You're surprised, aren't you? Me, eighty years old, and I look this good." he says with a small laugh, showing none of the reservation his son feels. Well... maybe a little, as he doesn't move any closer, not even to shake Josuke's hand.

"Alright, I know you wouldn't call me without it being something serious." Joseph soon follows up, his tone going from jovial to businesslike in mere moments. Giving Josuke another once-over, he quizzically remarks, "So what's it about? Some new Stand user roll into town trying to take over? I heard that Koichi boy had some business in Italy coming up. Is it related to that?"

    Yeah, the invisible wall is almost palpable. It's not just because Josuke's Japanese, either. He's just awkward around Joseph. Always has been. "Well, I mean... I'm just glad you've gotten better," he notes. "You seemed like you were going downhill pretty fast the last time I saw you."

    And of course he has to spin that he honestly was concerned into some reason he wouldn't be. Looking off to the side somewhere, he notes. "...You did adopt Shizuka, and she needs parents, right?"

    But... Joseph is no fool; he'll easily see through it. Josuke isn't looking at him. Which is something the teen does when he's trying to be dishonest to someone he doesn't like being dishonest to -- i.e., someone he cares about.

    Though Joseph's words of this being serious gets a nod. "Yeah. I guess you're pretty busy these days. Though no, it's not about Koichi." A pause, and his looking off to the side gaze falls on the seating area of an outdoor cafe. It's little used because it's getting a bit too cold to eat outside.

    Finally he looks back to Joseph and tilts his head in the direction of the seating area. "C'mon, let's find a place to sit down so we're not in the middle of foot traffic." Code for 'let's talk where other people would only overhear if they were trying to'.

     "Hmm? Heheh, yes, we did adopt Shizuka. Suzy's been ecstatic about hearing the pitter patter of little feet around the house again. Although, having an /invisible/ baby does present its own challenges..." Joseph says, his voice softening again briefly. It isn't long before he's back to business though.

"But I can tell you're trying to put off telling me something. I'm an old hand at deception, remember." he chides the boy, but simply nods when Josuke assures him it has nothing to do with Koichi. His gaze follows Josuke's toward the cafe though, and he nods again in understanding before the teen speaks a word. "Alright, sounds fine to me. I might be doing better now, but I admit my old bones still creak. Some hot coffee might help."

    Josuke nods. He can make small talk, and here it may be safer, at least for now. "How's Shizuka doing?" he inquires as he leads over to that table.

    Of course, the cafe is pleased to get customers on their outdoor area, so there's waitstaff over there in record time! It'll just be for menu delivery for now, though.

    So, once the menus have been left and the waiter flees, Josuke starts, "...Well, I guess I should ask you first, how involved are you with Speedwagon Foundation business these days? I know you weren't much in it the last time, but you weren't really in much condition to be, so..."

     Joseph is notably a little slower settling into his chair than Josuke, gently leaning his cane against the table and folding his hands on the tabletop. Of course, being him, he can't help but give a leery eye to one of the cute young girls among the staff... but only for a moment!

"Ah, Shizuka's doing just fine. Tons of energy, little bundle of curiosity. Suzy babyproofed the house of course- you can never be too safe with a child like that." he answers the first question, and it's pretty obvious what he means by "child like that". "I can only imagine how much of a handful she'll be when she's a teenager..."

But it seems Josuke has agreed that it's time to talk about the important stuff. Leaning back slightly in his chair, the old man takes a deep breath and lets out an equally deep sigh before continuing. "I've gotten back in contact with them. Mostly to check in on Jotaro; you know, being a good grandfather, making sure he's taking care of himself, that kind of thing. He's been his usual self of course, not very talkative. Something about dolphins?"

His eyes narrow a little, looking Josuke dead in the eye. "But that's not why you asked. Something's come up, hasn't it? Something only /I/ can help you with. You wouldn't ask me if there were anyone else."

    To his credit, Josuke does smile a bit when Joseph talks about Shizuka. Oh, he knows very well what Joseph means by 'a child like that'. It's hard to keep a child out of mischief when one can't SEE the child getting into mischief in the first place!

    On the subject of Jotaro? "Yeah, he's... definitely his usual self most of the time," he notes. Though it's fortunate that Joseph had gotten back in contact, since that's probably the only reason Josuke didn't have to go contact him himself!

    And then there's that astute observation. "...Yeah. I think so, anyway. Jotaro once mentioned that you fought these guys called Pillar Men? I know it's been a while, but what do you remember about them?"

     Joseph's eyes narrow further. He's not just suspicious now, he's dead certain. "The most dangerous enemies I've ever faced, apart from Dio. Dangerous, ancient beings from South America. Hibernated in stone, treated humans as livestock, damn near unkillable even with Hamon. Their leader took my hand, you know."

To emphasize this last point, he removes the glove from his left hand, laying the mechanical prosthetic out for Josuke (and anyone else nearby) to see in all its glory. "Cut it right off. Even in my prime, I was barely good enough to stop them from taking over the world. Hell, I'll admit it, I /wasn't/ good enough. It was only sheer, blind luck that pulled me through in the end."

After a moment or two of silence, he says in a low voice, "You are not to fight them under any circumstances, Josuke. Never. Leave it to the SPW, leave it to Jotaro, hell I'll even go out there myself." Another deep breath, a much shakier sigh. "Since we're all still alive and I haven't heard anything about it, it's obviously not Kars. He's probably out by Jupiter right now. Is it Santana, then? The SPW told me he was disposed of, but you can never be too sure with those wily bastards."

    Josuke... does not look surprised by this. He's pulled through far lesser threats through only sheer blind luck, so he knows how that feels. He is, however, surprised that Joseph would admit that he only got through via blind luck.

    He knew about Joseph's prosthetic hand, that he'd lost it when he was young, but how it happened wasn't something he'd known until now. "So that's how you lost it?" he notes, looking at Joseph again, looking up from the metal prosthetic.

    These names are familiar to him NOW, but only recently, since that's what he's been doing. "No, it's neither one," he notes. "They found another Pillar Man."

    A pause here, and he thinks a moment. "Well, I guess technically a 'Pillar Woman', since she's female," he replies. "Her name's Blackheart. But she's not the problem -- she's actually really nice, and doesn't want to hurt anybody. She said that Kars actually killed most of her people -- his own people, I guess -- because they tried to stop his experiments."

     "Yes. In that final battle with Kars, atop a volcano in the Pacific... after crashing a plane..." Joseph goes on a bit, trailing off as if he's hit on something he doesn't want to talk about. "Anyway, glad to hear it's neither of them. So what did you-"

"ANOTHER ONE?! OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!"

A man Joseph's size practically roaring at the top of his lungs like that is sure to attract some attention, especially as he slams both hands down onto the table and jumps up to his feet. "And you TALKED to her!? Boy, have you lost your MIND!?" he says, no longer yelling exactly, but voice still raised.

As Josuke continues to explain, however, the old man sits back down and stares at the tabletop, hands clasped under his nose in silent thought. After a few uncomfortable seconds though, he speaks again, his tone calmer.

"That's not... impossible. One of the Pillar Men I fought, Wham? Wamuu? Damn my old age, my memory fails me. But the important thing is that he was... honorable. A true warrior, noble in spirit and a man of his word. I still wouldn't be so quick to trust this... Blackheart woman, especially with a name like that, but it's possible she's telling the truth."

    Indeed, there are several people on the nearby street that pause, hearing Joseph yelling. Public shows of emotion, particularly that strong, tend to be... unusual. Though ultimately most decide to go their own way and not ask.

    Probably wise.

    Josuke winces a bit at it himself. "No, it's okay," he notes. "She went willingly to the Speedwagon Foundation, submitted to physical exams and interviews. So they've got all the information about her. They might be keeping her safe, in fact. She says she can't go out in the daylight."

    He nods. "I wouldn't instantly trust her, not after what I know about the others," he agrees. "But everything she's said and done since they found her has pointed to her being of the friendly sort." Here he gets The Joestar Frown. Yeah. That one. "But I think she said there might be others that went into hibernation to escape Kars. That's what I want to talk to you about. Partly."

    Josuke relaxes here, leaning back in his chair. "But it's not that. I don't know how much you know about the World Tree -- the Speedwagon Foundation's been trying to keep it quiet for the most part, to head off any panic."

    SPW knows it's inevitable that people are going to find out, but they've been trying to sort of 'slow-drip' the information -- a scientific study on parallel dimensions here, a portal studies there.

    Josuke nods. "Out there, there's lots of things that want to hurt people... including vampires," he continues. "I read about him too -- he was a vampire too, wasn't he? One of your ancestors fought him?"

     Joseph waves dismissively at the gawkers, as if to reassure them that there's nothing to see here, just an old man being old. "So they did all that, huh? That puts me a little more at ease, but I don't think I can ever fully trust one of them." he remarks, folding his arms across his chest. "The thought of there still being more is worrying too, especially if any of them share the same attitude toward humans as Kars's group did."

The mention of the World Tree prompts a quirking eyebrow. "I've only heard of it recently, from Jotaro. He thought it would be good for me to know, especially with another young Stand user in my care. You know how fate has a way of dragging people like us into trouble."

The mention of vampires gets a Joestar Frown from him as well. "So they exist in other worlds too? I shouldn't be surprised." He also knows exactly who Josuke is referring to. "Dio was a vampire, yes. He got cocky when he fought us, thought all he needed was his Stand to win, even after he'd drained my blood and restored his full power. If he had used everything at his disposal, I'm not sure if we could have won."

Another moment of thoughtful silence, then, "I think I see now. The reason you called me instead of anyone else. Pillar Men, vampires, something only I can help you with..." He looks Josuke square in the eyes again, lifting his hat slightly. "You want to learn how to use Hamon, don't you?"

    "That's what I'm worried about," Josuke replies. "I may not think Blackheart is a threat, but there's no telling what the circumstances of their hibernation might have done to any others' minds. Even if she said that Kars and his bunch were outliers, there's always the chance that one of the others, if more are found, might be hostile. So I'm not letting my guard down just yet."

    The teen nods, hearing Joseph's story about Dio. "Being arrogant seems to be a shared trait, too. Though I don't really have all the info. But yeah... there's plenty of things like that out there -- vampires, demons, things that have dark powers..."

    And there it is! Joseph hits right on the nub of the matter! Josuke raises a hand to rub at the back of his neck again, looking off to the side in a vague direction. "W-well, I mean... it makes more sense to try to look inside my own world for ways to fight back," he reasons. "There's no guarantee that I'll be able to use some holy sword, or icon of light, or magical powers from another world. And you already know that Hamon works against these kinds of monsters, so..."

     "Very valid concerns. I'm glad you're taking potential threats like this seriously, Josuke." Joseph says with a nod, then thinks a bit longer before speaking up again. "I don't know anything about magic swords or whatever, and there's no guarantee that Hamon will even work on those things from other worlds."

He takes another deep breath, but this time it's accompanied by yellow sparks emanating from his mechanical hand, dissipating before they go more than a few inches from it. "However! This power has more benefits than merely destroying those creatures that stalk the night. I'm sure you've heard of its healing properties, and you've even seen how well it works with myself as a prime example. Even out of practice, I was able to do some pretty amazing things with it."

The sparks fully dissipate as he releases the Hamon, apparently having only done it for the showmanship. "That being said, I am a natural, /born/ with Hamon talent. I lived with it all my life, and yet it still took weeks- yes, WEEKS!- of training to get to a level where I could effectively fight something like the Pillar Men. Not just any training, either, but the hardest, roughest training you can possibly imagine. It very nearly killed me, and I assure you I was no wimp."

Holding out his hand across the table, Joseph gives Josuke a devilish grin. "Once you say yes, it's do or die. You can still back out if you want to... but I have a feeling your Joestar spirit won't let you."

    Joseph may or may not have read about Josuke's exploits in Morioh, the cleverness coupled with the recklessness that connects him to Joseph closer than even Josuke himself wants to admit. But the teen has proven that he is indeed a Joestar, several times over.

    He draws back a little at the sparks, having never actually SEEN Hamon before -- Joseph is, as far as he knows, the only still-living practitioner. Despite its life-extending benefits, there's no way that the woman who trained Joseph is still alive -- she'd be well into her hundreds by now.

    "Whoa," he intones, blinking. "Was that... Hamon?" Despite the drawing back, he leans forward then, clearly not afraid. Surprised, definitely, but there's no fear of it. A good sign going into this, to be sure!

    And he nods to the mention of hard training. "I figured as much, yeah," he agrees. "I read up on it a little with the Speedwagon Foundation. The stuff in those reports... that's not stuff ordinary people can do." He has to admit that much, even if he doesn't want to stroke Joseph's ego too much.

    Well, Joseph can call it 'Joestar spirit' all he wants... but for Josuke, it's the desire to protect his town, and his family and friends... Combine that with being too bloody stubborn to let the old man get one over on him, and... yeah, that's Joestar spirit. But Josuke will be damned if he'll admit it! And so... Josuke nods, and reaches over to clasp the offered hand. That is not a wishy-washy handshake. That is the handshake of someone who's resolved to do what they feel is necessary. That... is a Joestar handshake.

    "It's not just about protecting Morioh now," Josuke says firmly. "Even if it was, there's too much out there that can be a threat. But it's more than that now. And if this means I have more ability to help people, then it's worth whatever I have to suffer."

    ...Yeah, that's a Joestar, delinquent punk or not.

     With a small chuckle, Joseph nods. "Yep, that was Hamon. Given who your father is, I have a feeling you'll have a knack for it. Even my grandfather, Jonathan Joestar, was naturally gifted with it. That won't make the training any easier, mind you." His grin grows a little wider, his eyes shining with pride. "But after that whole mess with Kira, I think you're up to it. Do you think you're up to it?"

And there it is. Josuke has taken the offered hand, and given his father the Joestar Handshake. The pride in Joseph's eyes is so bright now that it could shoot out as lasers if that were an actual thing he could do.

"That's my boy. I know you won't admit it, but that's exactly the hallmark of a real Joestar. Doing everything you can to help, even if it hurts. Now..." Giving Josuke's hand one more squeeze, a few more of those sparks trailing along the teen's hand for a moment, Joseph then lets go and settles back into his chair, looking around a little impatiently. "Where's that coffee?"