Capitolo Secondo: Ambizione (21)

We were close to the entrance of Oklahoma City.

The train had just to take the last meters so we could enter the station and start the usual process. Nothing strange on sight, everyone was relaxing as it was still early in the morning – too early for training – and I was reading a few concerning newspapers tied to the situation within the state. The ‘Boomer Movement’ was a group that came to be when unlanded settlers tried to exploit some clauses of the Homestead Act of 1862 to take over ‘unsettled land’ within native territory. Their legal standpoint increased when the natives of the area pledged support of the confederacy, thus giving reasons within the Reconstruction Treaties to see their territory severely reduced to favor this particular group. While I didn’t expect these ‘Boomers’ to be a threat for us due to their major interest tying up to legal ways, the same didn’t extend to the tribes living within the area. So I was partially surprised when we were attacked by a large force made by cavalry… while also getting targeted by cannons. The moment I heard the first volley struck the train, I felt dread as I knew the vehicle was resilient but far from strong enough to handle too many explosives at once. Dropping the newspaper, I rushed to check the wagons closer to the driving section. Some of the natives had entered inside, I could tell their intentions weren’t outright bad or malicious, but they were legitimately attacking the wrong people and everyone was fighting back, even the engineers.

“Dio,” Bhediya’s sharp voice erupted through the fighting. “The cannons-”

“I’m on it,” I proclaimed while I punched unconscious two of the warriors that tried to attack me. They weren’t resilient, but their number was indeed troubling and fairly distracting. Still, I managed to jump out of the nearby window up to the rooftop of the train, taking a moment to glance around to find where the cannons were. The second barrage struck, the noise being the telling sign as I finally got a proper sight on the dangerous batteries- and the approaching explosive shots. I couldn’t let them strike their targets, so I did the best thing I could think of on the spot.

“｢ACT 3｣! Toki wo tomare!”

Time stopped all around, giving me the time to pull some of the steel balls I had on myself and throw those with precision thanks to my Stand’s accuracy. As time resumed, the small projectiles impacted against the rounds and caused those to explode mid-air. A minor success, but the threat presented by the cannons still persisted, and I prepared two swift Spinning balls that soared through the air and exploded on the two medium-caliber cannons, putting an end to that kind of issue for good. The sudden lack of artillery support didn’t stop the assault from continuing. In fact, I was suddenly engaging in a brawl with ten natives that managed to get on the rooftop and started to attack me. Not an optimal place to fight in due to how unstable the footing was at times when the train rumbled quite intensely due to the punishment it recently received, but it wasn’t something I could change on the spot. Not with how much attention I was getting. Nothing too difficult but still distracting. So much distracting that I barely felt the sharp pain that suddenly erupted from my upper-left back. As I punched away the last of the foes, I felt the full extent of the attack, my eyes widening in shock as I noticed that I was having trouble using hamon to properly heal the injury. My breathing was fine and my body didn’t feel majorly different beyond that sudden wound. But I didn’t stay put to study it, not when it was clear that someone targeted me and could potentially strike me once again.

I entered the train from the same way I left it, finding that the entire assault had been beaten back for good. The various unconscious natives were all roped and restrained so that they could be given to the local authorities the moment we were at the station, putting a solid closure to this unexpected attack. Despite this good news, I still had some trouble with the injury. I just couldn’t use my Hamon to heal it, and even as I tried to call upon ｢ACT 3｣ to look at it properly, the Stand didn’t appear and comply to my request. Which further concerned me as it was clear that it was tied to this. I felt distinctly weaker in that moment, and I could tell something was very wrong about the overall situation. This wasn’t a lucky bullet or something of that kind. Something unnatural had struck me, and it had my entire body messed up to this unusual degree. Maybe an Enemy Stand? I left theories for later as I knew I had to make sure the worst was dealt with. So I asked for help from Bhediya since he had Hamon and so he could heal it if necessary. I walked up to him with a serious look, gaining his attention with my simple request.

“Bhediya, can you please check my back? I think I got hit but-”

“Hmm, one moment,” He muttered before helping me lift my shirt and checking right there and… frowning. At first I thought it was because the injury was worse than expected, but I quickly realized it was because he was skeptical about something in the area.

“Dio, there is… nothing there.”

That comment drew more dread out of me. Something should be there, even a light cut or some changes on my skin to highlight I was hit by something. The pain made it seem like there was a sharp object piercing through and I could tell that it was definitely there just from the intensity of that sensation.

“No cuts, no openings, no blood?”

“Nothing,” The young man confirmed, worryingly rising as he looked closer at it. “Why did you ask that? Did you get hit by one of them?”

I sighed. “While I was dealing with the cannons, something struck me there. It still hurts and I can’t use my Stand or even Hamon. Plus, it’s really starting to pick up in intensity.”

“How bad?”

“It’s bearable. But can you try to use some Hamon on that spot?”

There was a hint of reluctance on his face, but he still started to pump some hamon in my body. It gave me just the time to grow more cautious about the entire situation as I could feel the pain initially falter, but the same was for my own stamina. It wasn’t even a slow drain, it was one that suddenly saw me growing weaker by the minuted

“S-Stop-” I muttered, my voice growing tired, drained. I could tell that something was wrong with my body to the point where Hamon was actually doing the opposite of what it was meant to do.

“What is going on? Dio, are you-!”

I suddenly felt my legs going wobbly, forcing me to grasp on the werewolf as he kept me standing with a panicked look. He held me close and pulled me to the living quarters to have me sit by my bed. Derek and Speedwagon were there, and they rushed to see what was going on.

“Is he hurt? Wounded?” Robert asked, with Bhediya looking absolutely clueless on the entire development.

“H-he is not but-”

“A-An enemy Stand,” I muttered weakly. It had to be that, there was no other way for this kind of damage to effectively put me out of commission like this.

I would have said much more but I found it difficult to speak. After a while, I couldn’t even hear much and I felt my entire body growing numb and I would lose consciousness shortly after. I wasn’t pulled in my mindset like the usual, which had me more confused about how it was possible for a long-range Stand to have such an effective power and be able to use this so extensively. I remained sleeping for roughly an hour before waking up in one of the beds at the local hospital within Oklahoma City. I was mostly alone in that room, with a young woman chatting with the older-looking man wearing the standard medic outfit. They were looking at some document, and I could tell it was something really important about me since they were chatting about what I could only assume was my medical chart.

“Another one of them,” A nurse muttered nervously as the doctor checked my file. “The curse-”

“Is not real. Just some mind-game pushed by those Indians. I would suggest you keep your mouth shut in front of our patients.”

“What curse?” I asked, feeling better as the pain had dulled away and I felt my stamina being back. I could tell this was more caused by some painkillers or whatever medicine was used at the time to lessen the grasp of pain, but it wasn’t exactly my priority right now.

“Mr. Divino, it’s really nothing important-”

“I’m not trying to say medicine and science aren’t the things I favor, but I would like to know about this, doctor.”

…

“It’s… a rumor. Some guards at the local prison heard the natives mentioning how one of their brothers had prepared a curse to destroy our ‘malicious will’ over this land. Some think this is true because many of the visitors have been attacked and left with a strange illness that drains them of their… attitude, their fortitude leaving them before eventually leaving

“How… long does it usually take for this last phase to happen?”

“Twelve hours after being struck.”

A reversion of the Fighting Spirit that lasted roughly twelve hours? That ability looked actually reasonable, and tremendously deadly if it was really what this shaman had used against me.

“What about my friends? Those that brought me here?”

“They remained around for a few minutes, just to make sure you were taken care of. I heard they were going back to your train and… preparing things for later? Apologies, but I have to inquire about that curious young woman- Miss Aryoko, I think.”

“She is from Japan. Things are quite weird there and… still, did they say anything else?”

“Not that I know about but- Wait,” He looked surprised when I tried to stand up from my bed, reaching for my jacket and looking ready to leave. “Mr. Divino, you’re hardly in a shape of-”

“I’m not in the mood to listen to this, doctor. I’m still free to stand up and walk away if my sickness isn’t contagious,” I rudely pointed out. “I understand your concerns, but I believe this matter is way more important than it sounds. I’ll make sure that this sickness is gone for good. Still, I would request a favor.”

He raised a perplexed eyebrow. “What about?”

“My friends. If it could be possible, tell them that I’ll be back in a matter of a few hours.”

He stared tiredly at me, the nurse giving him a shocked look at the fact he was letting me be but… the man snorted.

“Fine. But I will tell them where I think you’re planning to go, Mr. Divino. That’s not a place for a civilian like you.”

I could only smile at that comment. I wouldn’t have imagined otherwise. There was no further effort to stop me, and I was allowed to leave the hospital for good. I thought about going back to the train, but I considered the overall situation. If I went there to organize the next steps to take, there was a chance I would just delay this for too long and get unable to fight properly. I knew it was the right thing to do… but it also wasn’t. What if this shaman was monitoring our progress somehow? Maybe keeping an eye out for the train’s activities? I wasn’t completely sure, but if it was someone hired by Vins, then I had to make sure that they were caught off-guard and not given any advantages for the long run. Plus, I was also worried of what would have happened if the rest of the group was struck by that kind of attack. I failed to perceive it despite my heightened sensor ability, so there was a fairly high chance that those attacks were all going to strike them too if they were part of that fight. I could already feel some regret when I nodded at the fact I had to be alone and do this on my own. Not just for pride’s sake, but also to avoid worse developments to actually happen due to this enemy’s Stand. Finding a horse was easy, renting it for a single day a little more difficult. I bought some rope, a grappling hook tied into it, and a few bars of dynamite. Explosives were good to use in case of extreme necessity to either clear up an area or break through any obstruction from rocks. Once I was done shopping, I took off and started to make my way to the area where the attack actually happened. I remembered the precise direction where the shot came from, so I managed to trail the path where the attackers came from and reach their presumed village.

I took a while to get a clear sight over the settlement, picking up which purpose some of the tents there had. Overall, the village had few people around, perhaps the band of warriors had left for another raid, thus giving me the chance to enter inside and see where the shaman was. Most of those that were there were women and children, but no one that could clearly speak English from the looks of it. Really upsetting, but not truly troublesome as I managed to still find out where the shaman was when some elders, wearing ceremonial tunics, entered a massive cave with a fairly noticeable entrance. I looked at it for a while and, even though I couldn’t feel anything since my hamon wasn’t available at the time, I could tell that this was where the shaman had been hiding and where I would put an end to this foe. Instead of entering from the main entrance since it was in the open and someone could have noticed me, I decided to use the grappling hook to enter a smaller entry point by the side. I was relieved when none of the village’s inhabitants noticed my climbing, taking just a calm breath before finally delving into the dark tunnel that led to the deeper side of the small mountain.

I was going to get my fighting will back, no matter the risks before me.

-----d-d-d-d----------d-d-d-d---------

The cave was unstable.

Now I could see why this Shaman decided to put its hideout here as it was a natural trap that could kill any intruder if he decided so. My infiltration had gone through quite smoothly, with no one noticing my intrusion for the time being and giving me the chance to use the element of surprise against my current target. There was darkness, and I was really leaning on the nearest wall to keep myself from tripping or falling for any pebbles I couldn’t notice. My pace was slow, I tried to keep my steps silent until I found where the shaman was. I soon started to hear loud voices echoing a sermon. It wasn’t in English or any other language I could recognize, but I could tell from the tune that it was religious in nature. Slowly, I made my way towards the singing, stopping only as I found myself staring through an opening to the religious chamber down below. The elders stood in a line, staring at the shaman as he finished to set down some tools on the rock-made altar.

A quick glance behind, he gazed at the old members of the tribe as they started to speak with him and… I quickly realized that this face was a familiar one, yet less ‘horrible’ as the Part 7 counterpart that I was aware about. This was this universe version of Mrs. Robinson, a Mexican tribesman that had an androgynous appearance and was hired by Valentine in the OTL. The major difference was that his body was unblemished of the many changes and modification that the ‘original’ Mrs. Robinson applied to himself. Without having to fear the Cacti rule from his village, I could tell that there was no reason for him to apply some disgusting changes to it. Still, now I knew who the Stand User was from the looks of it. The conversation that ensued wasn’t easy to grasp on, but I relied on the emotions put through each sentence. The shaman was annoyed, clearly irked by some frustration coming from the old men. They were expecting something? It sounded like they were getting quite impatient. The shaman then turned, shaking his head in a dismissive manner and… I knew this was a golden opportunity.

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While I did lose control over my Hamon and my Stand, my ability to use the Spin was still there since it didn’t rely on soul, but body and mind. And both were there in equal manners despite my current limitations. So, I charged up one of my spare spheres and… proceeded to try and kill my target from this safe distance. The Steel Ball soared swiftly, the precision put behind that throw majestic and clearly going to end in a head shot… if not for something invisible tearing through it and seemingly rushing at me. I pulled away, and I saw the invisible pellet slam onto the ceiling above my head, causing some of the rocks there to fall down and towards me. I rolled away, taking the first steps of running away from that opening… only to yelp in pain when something struck my back again, the origin being the smiling bastard already standing by the upper entry of the cave.

“Dio Joestar! I suspected your arrival, but I would have expected you to bring your friends… I really want to put an end to your little trip, so why waste my time and come here on your own?”

“I like to be a nuisance!” My yell was followed by another attempt to attack him with a Spinning ball, this one aimed on the ceiling and forced a large section of it to explode and collapse between us.

The pain was terrible, with my adrenaline pumping through my body and forcing me to bolt as fast as I could with my current physique. It was one of those moments where I was thankful for my past self for thinking about this possibility and driving me to get this kind of body. A body that could allow itself to take on this monumental strain with minimal issues. Still, I was suffering, the new ‘injury’ plus the re-opening of the old one had my attention span severely lessened and I quickly took a turn into one of the smaller caves on the side of the tunnel. I remained quiet, sat down and… forced myself to think. Through the pain, but also through some illogical fright I had over this fight. I considered the words of the doctor about the ‘curse’, how a single hit would normally take twelve hours to forcefully deprive men of their will to fight and… their will to live. Right now, the effects I had been feeling had doubled due to the second attack, effectively halving the available time I had. Another hit, and I was going to get close to death.

I had to trick the bastard into a trap. I remembered I had some TNT to use, and I knew that I could do something about it to kill him with that. I resumed my rush through the tunnel, hearing the mad chuckling getting close and forcing me to relocate quickly. Turning the corner, I saw several small holes on the floor and some pebbles nearby. The holes were big enough to facilitate the entry of the bars of dynamite, and I used the small stones to cover the distinct red color of the explosives. I slowed down in an effort to make my panic more evident as I wanted him to believe the effect of his Stand’s ability was working on me. It was as he turned the corner that I saw it, his Stand. Surprisingly enough, it wasn’t much humanoid, with its upper body like a dark-blue human being, with its lower section being made by a snake-like bit that latched strongly around its user’s waist. His face had a small blindfold that should technically hide its eyes away from others’ sight while his hands were glowing in energy.

“Found you, pale-face!”

The insult got a snort out of me, and I proceeded to deploy a quick-formed Spin ball at his feet. He jumped over it, foolishly mistaking my aim as sloppy… and failing to realize how my real targets soon detonated and propelled hundreds of small pebbles right onto his back. His eyes widened in realization and because he was soon propelled towards me. The pain born from feeling numerous burns and rocks now damaging his back was enough to disrupt his Stand’s manifestation and gave me the chance to deliver a solid hit on his face. His neck almost snapped as I punched him, the fist slamming his face first on the ground in a single action. A groan, and I knew I had a small chance now to end it. I formed another spin ball, cocked my aim right at his face and-

Then I froze in shock when I felt a sharp and horrible pain piercing through my heart. Unbelievable fear erupted and corrupted my brain. For the first time in a very long time, I was actually shivering and feeling tears form as my entire self was captured by a sense of unbeatable fear aimed at the smiling native. He fell backwards and on my lower back, crawling away from the foe as he started to laugh in amusement at this turn of events. He took a few steps towards me, looking ready to attack me once again.

“Look at you! That woman was so keen to say that your willpower was unbreakable and yet here you are cowering before me. Such a pity, I expected much more than this.”

Do I hear a villain monologue?

“You see, Joestar. I am a man that has seen how willpower can damn people and-”

Villain monologue. This- I have to snap out of this state of mind and attack him now.

A proper Spin attack would be impossible to dodge at this range, and I knew I could wrestle back control over my body once again. I had to fight for it, I had to claim what was mine and taken from his Stand’s effects. My body tried to fight back my resistance, but what was left of my willpower was keeping up and also beating back that sense of despair. I brought my hands together, trying to get the spin out of a steel ball but… the sphere fell and my palms were sweating. I was too nervous, my mind drowning in pure panic as I felt close to hyperventilate and pass out on the spot. My sight darkened, my sense of perception worsened and-

I have to make it work!

I bit my tongue, drawing some blood and more pain, both of which sharply took me out of that fake state of unconsciousness.

It’s not going to be enough.

It is.

You’re wasting time. He got the upper hand. You got handed the worst cards-

Not the worst. Just difficult.

Stop it. Stop lying.

Why?

Because he is beyond you!

...Beyond? Beyond me? Beyond my body? Beyond my mind? Beyond my soul? And… beyond them?

I could see their faces. All those people that were with me. Those that were probably worried right now for my decision to come here alone. Bloody, Speedwagon, Bhediya, Derek, Kate and Zephy.

I gritted my teeth in pure fury. The nerve of this despair! To limit what I’ve been fighting for years now. I refused. I just couldn’t accept it!

THEN I SHALL GO BEYOND!

A blink, I was standing, and I could tell it wasn’t something I did willingly. Anger, my willpower snapped out of the restriction, pushing through the pain and suddenly taking over. I didn’t have a sphere to work on, with the shaman eyeing me in confusion and then in shock as energy started to form around my palms. Slowly, steadily- I soon started to see more hands carefully cup that small orb of Spinning energy, giving it the proper adjustments, twirling it in the right direction, redirecting the input left and right. I felt breathless before the result. Silver turned Gold, and before me stood my own Golden Spin. But it wasn’t one born from a sphere as it should have been, but from pure air. It would be wrong to assume I did it out of nothing. Something had to spin, and that something were the molecules of a limited section of air which was suddenly forced to spin at a precise speed and create something out of ‘nothing’. A pure ball that adapted to best define the ultimate evolution of the spin. I could only gawk at the sight and… realize that the palms that started to shift around the ball were tied to my own Stand. ｢ACT 3｣ had manifested partially, just enough to aid me with this and… the Golden Spin acted as a sponge of sort. I wasn’t sure if this was a first or not, but I could feel my Hamon rekindled, my body regaining strength and my willpower fully established within my core.

“W-What is going on? You should be whimpering like the crybaby you really are, Joestar!” The shaman shrieked in shock and confusion. “N-Nevermind then, your soul is still withering, Dio Joestar. Your determination, your strength- all of it vanishing from your body and mind as you were judged by me and my Stand, ｢Dark Magus｣!”

His Stand delivered four fast attacks, and I noticed I could now see those. The blast kept a straight line which would have normally hit their target with ease. Yet, as they came fairly close to me, their trajectories suddenly shifted and they were all pulled into the Golden Spin, as if it was a tiny black hole meant to absorb it all.

“W-What? What is this?!”

I could feel this was the moment to strike. My Stand fully manifested, and I quickly saw the small novelty to its fists. There were small sphere-like elements over its knuckles that reminded me of what ｢Star Platinum｣ normally has.

“This! This is the truest display of willpower, one that can’t be beaten by mere tricks. It’s not something you can manipulate and break. This is destiny, this is ambition for the sake of others! I dub this power… ｢The World: Go Beyond｣!”

The Golden Spin soared as ｢ACT 3｣ threw it at our enemy with a strong ‘MUDA’, its speed twice than the normal spin and hitting the shocked Stand User right on his chest. He gasped, air pushed out of his lungs at the impact as the spin kept on drilling on him.

“N-NO, W-Wait!!”

“This… is for all those people you killed.”

My Stand formed two new Golden Spin over its palms and then threw those with its fists.

“MUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDA!”

Numerous gold-colored attacks slammed rapidly on the foe’s whole body, stopping their drilling and damaging him as soon as he collapsed on the ground dead. The barrage was way deadlier than the usual close-range beating, with the Spin being an endless drill on its individual use and the extent I used it making it a killing assault. With that done, I knew it was time for me to leave. Ignoring the corpse of the Stand User, I managed to make my way out of the cave through the main entrance only to find a large welcoming party only for myself. The elders had retreated out much earlier and had rallied all the people of the village, with the other warriors joining the group in a seemingly unwelcoming approach. But before I found myself embroiled in some all-out brawl to get out of there alive, I was surprised when one of the old ones took a step forward and bowed down to his knees. I was stunned by it, but I still decided to approach him. So I calmly walked up to him and… calmly patted his back. “There is no need to bow to apologize. Words would be fine too.”

“Thank you.”

I blinked. “What for?”

“T-The Shaman. He- He was forced to us. That woman, she- she said he meant well. He could help us.”

“Why did you attack me? Why the others?”

“W-Water.”

I blinked, looking around and realizing one thing I didn’t when it came to their warriors. These natives were clearly dying by dehydration. There was no source of water around, and I could tell that the old one was lost due to the recent land acquisitions. It was a savage situation but not one that couldn’t be solved without some helping hand.

…

“Do any of your warriors here speak proper English? Enough to get hold of a telegraph?”

Before the elder could answer, one of the younger men spoke. “I do.”

I looked at him, he gave me a confident look.

“Tomorrow morning, approach a city that doesn’t see your group negatively. Ask to be put on the telegraph with… ‘this’ company and ask them for assistance near Oklahoma City regarding your tribe. I will take some time today to prepare the nearest base of my business to be operative and send the much needed lawyers to solve this.”

“And what about the price?” Another elder asked.

“Your survival. You shall survive through this and that’s important for me. But since it’s a bit of a tough business, we can establish a trade deal where you can give up part of the products you produce from the fields for reasonable prices and start modernizing this place.”

“Our traditions wouldn’t allow us.”

“I didn’t ask you to give up your past. I’m asking you to build a future for your kids. Morality is just, but it can’t be used as an excuse to let others step on you like this.”

That seemed to put that argument down for good. Still, before leaving, I decided to leave them with something to solve the situation for the time being. I was taken to the main well of the village, which had been running dry for months now, and I used a large Gold Spin to turn some of the air in water to fill up roughly half the entire well. There was surprise at this and when someone tested how the water felt, they were surprised when it was proper and drinkable water. I left that village a failure as a hero in a sense, but I didn’t care. I could tell I had forgotten something important by tackling this issue on my own and I realized what the problem really was when I finally got back to my horse and had to stop when I saw a group of riding horses rushing towards me. I couldn’t grasp their features due to the dust raised by the swift pace they were going to. But I sure recognized that big fluffy mutt that was Bhediya’s dog form that bolted towards me and tackled me on the ground.

“You’re heavy, fuzzy guy,” I groaned awkwardly at the sudden attack followed by a slobbering session on my chin I really didn’t need.

“And you are in trouble, ‘little’ guy.”

I tensed up as I noticed Robert, together with Derek, Bloody, Kate and Zephy staring at me with some intense glares that just promised me some trouble for my little stunt.

Could I blame them? Not really. But could I regret it? No. I knew it had been a must for me to go through. Something about this event, this circumstance, was mine to solve on my own. But what led me to this? Pride or even a need to go beyond my own limits for once even as I was in my weakest possible?