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Owner	Pose
Jonathan Joestar	It'd been several hours since the defeat of Ringo Roadgain, Mystery Tree, and Downer the Kangaroo. No one had made a decision just yet on what to do with the bodies, but in the meantime, Damocles had broken into the Taco Truck they came in for refreshments and food. Rather than partake, Jonathan had mentioned that he'd scout ahead and then return shortly. He still hadn't come back, but it wasn't /quite/ time to start worrying yet, right? Many of the workers were resting, now that the bulk of their duty had been finished. Aside from the ones who were drop dead tired and resting in their tents, the rest were all crowded around the strange, futuruistic -- from their perspective -- automobile for its foreign delights.     In other words, it might as well be Taco Tuesday.
Damocles	During the previous battle, Damocles claimed a taco truck for his own.  Supposedly this was just a move to cut off the retreat of the enemy, but in reality he had a much simpler reason for doing so:  Pure whim. Tzeentch would be proud.  Upon finding the truck fully stocked and functional, he set about cooking meals for people.  He'd never really been a cook, but he did find preparation instructions, so he was able to do a functional job there.  Once everything was cooked and served, he cleaned everything up, and then busied himself searching the truck for anything the previous owners might have left behind of interest.  Once that was done, he just sort of hung out.
Arcadia	The only thing better than tacos is free tacos. And the only thing better than free tacos is free tacos eaten in spiteful revenge. Arcadia totally ate her share and probably then some of tacos just to spite the now dead Mystery Tree and his dumb power that kept her from doing anything besides harass his cowardice. Now she was resting atop the truck, next to the tacky plastic taco 'sign', in the classic sphinx pose no less. Damocles claimed the truck, so she was guarding it. This has been your reminder that even a helpful and benevolent sphinx can be an arbitrarily cruel and petty monster when feeling spurned. Logic need not apply. Cats will be cats. Even cats that have wings and reach supersonic speeds.
Haguro	After the previous battle, Haguro's had to reassure a few of the crew that she wasn't hurt quite as badly as it seemed. Sure, she got shot in the chest, but she's a ship! She's made of sterner stuff than them, although she's had to change out of her work shirt to hide the bullet wound just to get them to quiet down. She probably should have waited until after eating tacos, but live and learn. She'll just have to deal with the salsa stains being there all day on her new shirt now.
Jonathan Joestar	There's not much of intrinsic value inside the vehicle; it seemed none of them brought much in the way of personal effects, besides a couple of spare suits and even more outrageous bling on Mystery Tree's part. Then again, Downer and Ringo seemed the more surly, live off the land type of fellows than their city-dwelling compatriot. There were variouos oils, rags, and brushes for cleaning guns and knives as well, kept towards the front and away from the food. "W...wow...do you think she's really a sphinx?" One of the workers murmur from the line to claim their own tacos. He seemed fairly young, no older than fourteen. The older man beside him, somewhere around his late teens or early twenties wags a finger at him. "Of course not! I mean ... I can buy that there are some unbelievable things in the world these days, but the resemblance has to be a coincidence. More over, listen up! No matter how cute they were, women are just like mangy alley cats, so don't get too attached, and don't stare too hard!" "Eh, but I ... " The two are interrupted briefly by another worker, an older gentleman with a handlebar moustache. "By the way, you two. The couple of us that've died ... it goes without saying, but stay on your toes unless you want to end up like the couple of us we've lost along the way. Before this, I was a sailor ... and I'm getting the same feeling you get before the kind of storm that could shipwreck you." "H..hey! Don't say scary garbage like that, old man!" The rowdier one exclaimed back, while the timid boy just shuffled his feet, his face as pale as a sheet.
Arcadia	Arcadia is inspecting her forearm and finding some salsa&lettuce dripped there. Uses two claws of the opposite handpaw to flick it off. It is TOTALLY COINCIDENTAL it got flicked in the direction of the grumpster trying to diss her presence and the 'mangy ally cat' remark. Honest. The cat is not listening and not caring. Its your own fault you were standing in the direction of flickage.
Revali	Revali's been here. He brought friends (other rito) and they've set up their own tent. ... Well, it looks more like a sun-blocking canopy than a tent, really. There aren't any walls on it, and while there's curtains that can be extended to block rain or sandstorms, they're not down now. The whole thing is very open-air. Someone also ran out to the warpgate and back for some good Rito delicacies that they're cooking, also. Not because Revali got jealous of Gilgamesh, that's just a coincidence. Really, it is.
Jonathan Joestar	"Eh...?" "Hey, who spilled their tomato sauce on me...?! Was it you, dumbass!" "Mind your own business, you rube." Inadvertently, Arcadia starts a small brawl. It doesn't get too out of hand, though. In the meantime, the unmistakeable sound of a propeller plane sounds overhead as a the beige colored contraption comes into view. The various workers have a tense look on their faces, and who can blame them? When something odd happens on this dig, it's almost always a touch with death. The plane comes lower, lower, and even lower until ... it finally begins to skid gently along the sand a ways away, slowing its descent. The occupants disembark and make their way to the dig site, about a mile and a half's distance ... which takes them roughly fourty five minutes. "Good morning! You might be wondering who this shady looking guy is ... " the first man starts, a checkered broom-top hat on his head, pointing a thumb at his own scarred face. "My name is Speedwagon! I came here to help Mr. Joestar ... I had a bad feeling about this dig, so I decided to bring some help. This is a Detective I found. He's a little odd, but if nothing else, I have an uncanny ability to determine someone's 'true nature'. That's why I know for certain that we can trust him." Robert Edward O. Speedwagon tips his hat and steps aside for Raphael.
Raphael Cousteau	A man in a green blazer, yellow pants, white shirt, and an -excruciatingly- obnoxious tie steps out of the plane. The Expression is in full force, that wide, obnoxious grin unmoving as he waves in what he is absolutely certain is an endearing fashion. [:][:.] It looks stilted and awkward. "Alright! I don't think I've met the lot of you. Inspector Raphael Ambrosius Cousteau." He tips a hat he isn't wearing. ENCYCLOPEDIA: In hot areas, wearing a widebrim hat can reduce your chances of sunstroke. LOGIC: Not wrong, but it would have been worth bringing up earlier. ENCYCLOPEDIA: It wasn't *time* then. Timing is important. "Oh, are those tacos?"
Revali	"... Speedwagon, huh?" Revali extends a feathered hand. "In my experience, people with scars are less shady - you've got your whole history written on your face. I wouldn't trust a man who's never been shot down." "Name's Revali. I'm our ace in the hole here." He glances over. "And I think I remember you from the radio," he says to Raphael.
Arcadia	Arcadia is amused by this result. Alas the time to enjoy it is short lived as an old fashioned aircraft passes over and comes for a landing. By the time it does Arcadia has left her perch atop the truck and landed near the touchdown zone. She squints, hard, at Speedwagon. Then at the Detective. Or maybe it's just at the horrendous tie the Detective is wearing she's leering at. Makes a mental note not to look at Cousteau with her UV viewer active. Her tail flicks a few times, the rings bound around the base of the tip jingling just faintly. "Forgive us for being.. wary after what has previously happened."
Haguro	It's some unfamiliar faces! They're.. Kind of strange looking, and Haguro can't help but stare a bit between Speedwagon and Raphael. More specifically, she's staring at their hat and tie, respectively. "... Er. Hagure, Vice Admiral of the Luthan Fleet. A pleasure to meet you both. I came to help Mister Joestar as well, although it's been rather dangerous already. Are both of you armed?" She asks, sounding vaguely concerned and vaguely still-having-taco-bits-in-her-mouth. "Nobody will hold it against if you choose to stay back, but the help would be appreciated if you know your way around strange... Er. Strangeness."
Jonathan Joestar	Speedwagon smiles, giving Revali a harty handshake. "Hah! Well, you're not wrong. It's good to meet you! Even I can tell you're an incredibly skilled fighter" He seems more or less undeterred by the Rito, but that was most likely just because the man had grown used to seeing rather bizarre sights. It was also clear that he wore his heart on his sleeve and had nothing to hide in regards to what he felt. The various workers look between themselves before looking at the detective. "He's...got a screw loose, right?" one of them mutters. Speedwagon nods in Haguro's direction. "I know my way around a fight, trust me." "That said, just where is Mr. Joestar at? He didn't go off alone, did he?"
Raphael Cousteau	Raphael shifts his blazer aside. There is absolutely a pistol in the holster. He is armed! Everything is fine. HAND-EYE COORDINATION: Absolutely fantastic for anything within arm's reach. VOLITION: Do not bring up your aim. Just don't. There's absolutely no reason to. Just keep your mouth shut on the subject. There's a protracted moment where he doesn't speak, still sort of idly fingering the leather holster with two fingers, lips pulled taut. "Yes. I'm armed. With a gun. Like a normal police officer would be," He finishes, "But this is an investigation, right? And I am *particularly* well suited to investigation," He declares. There's even an affirmative chest tap.
Damocles	Damocles stares at the pair as they arrive.  That sure is trustworthy.  With his hood up, his face is obscured save for a pair of glowing eyes, but those eyes narrow visibly at the introduction.  "Sure, sure.  That makes sense.  Say, did you want us to all line up so you could stab us one at a time, or would you rather keep it natural?" At the mention of their missing organizer, one of his eyes does raise a little bit.  Actually, come to think of it..."Yeah, he went off to go check something.  That was a while ago, though.  I thought he'd only be gone a few minutes.  Maybe we should go make sure he didn't go get eaten by a sarlac or something."
Crys Gattz	Where has Crys been? She's chilling out eating some tacos., Crys, if no one had stopped her would be looking into burring the enemy at the very least Downer, deserved a proper burial but she knows almost nothing about Australian other than it was infamous for Earth at being a very lethal place. Given Downer? She can only wonder about the stories she'd heard down there. If she were to ever go there she'd bring a team of elites at this rate. Otherwise, she was eating more tacos as why let it go to waste.
Arcadia	"Huh?" Arcadia turns her head to look back when Damocles points out Joestar is still absent. "You mean he didn't come back for tacos already??" The poor man.
Touta Konoe	Touta had been quiet still. Mostly continuing the trend with the occasional aid he'd provide to the non-elite staff who had come along. Even if he had been somewhat out of it, it seemed like to a certain degree he had been getting out of his funk. Speaking to the archeologists with a bit of intrigue here and there. Though when Speedwagon shows up, Touta ends up giving the guy a proper greeting, "Uh yo. Mmmm...Speedwagon...Mmm, feel like I've heard that one before. Well no biggie, name's Touta. Came here along with Jon too. As for where he went...I honestly he had just went to the 'Jon'.
Jonathan Joestar	"What?! How dare you ... you got a problem with me?!" Speedwagon was a hot-blooded man who made no effort to conceal his feelings; this also meant that it was unfortunately very easy to pick a fight with him. But before that could escalate further than him taking a marching stomp towards Damocles, Jonathan's situation is brought to his attention . "He went ahead ... that's not good, not at all!" Speedwagon grimaces, but he has to lighten up at Touta's joke. He thought it was clever, at least. "Well, if we catch him with his pants down, it'll serve him right for worrying everyone." Turning to Raphael, Speedwagon adjusts his top-hat. "It seems we'll be needing your services sooner than expected, officer! Mr. Joestar's somewhere in that ruin.." he says, pointing at the cavernous entrance to the underground chamber. "Let's head inside after him!" Crys, provided no one else objected, was able to give their enemies a trifecta of shallow graves. At least Downer and Ringo's were marked.
Revali	"Yes, let's," says Revali. Raphael having a gun isn't commented on. Revali always is armed, himself. Though just to be sure, before they go in... he takes to the skies and takes a quick glance around, to make sure that Jonathan isn't just... somewhere else nearby. Just to be sure.
Arcadia	Arcadia cocks her head back with an exasperated groan as it's confirmed that Joestar did indeed go off on his own and indeed did not come back yet. "Why must Escort Quests always be like this?", she laments to no one in particularly. The person that is suppose to be looked after always managing to slip off on their own. Revali is already making an aerial check, so that's handled. It would normally be her first action but as it's already being done the sphinx just heads for the gate of the ruins proper.
Jonathan Joestar	As far as Revali can tell, there's no one else nearby -- not Jonathan, or anyone else. As for the others who head inside ... the first thing they'll realize after the initial pitch black passage, are that a variety of sconces lining the walls have all been lit. Perhaps by Jonathan when he'd arrived? The room held a certain primal quality to it, despite having been made of gray stone and some form of bronze. There's an empty identation on the wall in the center of the room and two passages leading to the left and right, bending in a downwards spire. Naturally, there was also the passage directly behind them that they entered from, the exit. The gathered dust at the indentation has been disturbed, implying that someone had removed whatever may have been sitting in it, likely some kind of relief. "This place ... doesn't really feel Egyptian to me. But what do I know?" Speedwagon says, helpfully.
Damocles	Damocles impassively watches Speedwagon stomp towards him.  Then the man is suddenly distracted by the location of Jojo, and Damocles sighs softly.  "You know, nevermind.  I don't think you work for our enemy after all.  People tend to ramp *up* their efforts when the previous ones fail."  Damocles dismisses that for now.  Obviously the guy is easy to goad into a fight, so he decides to quickly shift gears.  "Anyway, let me see if I can contact our wayward leader.  One moment." He places a hand to his forehead, and concentrates.  The gesture isn't actually necessary, but magic is all about presentation, and this is magic, as he reaches out to try and telepathically contact Jojo. /Mister Joestar, you've been gone quite a while.  Please report your status, if you're able./
Revali	"What do you know?" repeats Revali. "I wouldn't know Egyptian from a hole in the wall." He says this as he's examining the indentation (literally the hole in the wall). He looks over the indentation, examining the dust, trying to see if he can figure out what it was that was sitting there. After a moment, he pulls an arrow out and puts it in the indentation, experimentally.
Haguro	Their assurances will have to do. Raphael's voice is familiar enough, at least, and Haguro's not going to turn down Speedwagon's help in all of this if he's offering. After getting her fill of tacos and helping Crys with digging the graves, she moves on to the next task: Finding Jonathan. "I've heard Egyptian pyramids could have depths going underground from all the sand building up around them, but considering we didn't really see one to start with..." She pauses at split in the path, pulling out a spade to carve a conspicuous L, R, and E onto the walls for each path leading to the left, right, and the exit. "I wonder... This couldn't be one of those Sumerian things or something older, could it? Or... Even something more recent than the Egyptians, if anyone else did this sort of thing?"
Raphael Cousteau	Raphael Cousteau does not prevent the digging of shallow graves. Why would he? INLAND EMPIRE: Zombies. It prevents zombies. You have to dig deep graves. Luckily for everyone involved, Raphael does not actually indulge that thought, following along into the chamber with Speedwagon and the others. He steps forward, holding his hands out in a vaguely mystical-seeming fashion as he moves towards the indentation. "...I feel like something goes in here," He says, usefully. "So..I'm going to take a flying leap and assume we're going to have to split up down these passageways," He indicates to both sides. "...So, if I stole whatever was in here, where would I go with it?"
Touta Konoe	Touta's very funny when he wants to be. Even if he himself wasn't apparently at his usual demeanor. Though when he hears that Jonathan might have actually gone by himself he can't help but scratch at the back of his head. "Man, even after telling us not to go it alone when those guys attacked he still heads in without without a buddy. But, I guess I can't totally blame him. Even I could tell he was stressing about this stuff and I was only really half-listening to some of the things he mentioned. Still..." As they start entering and take note of the paths it seems like it was a reasonable thought to have the team split up but... "Hey, Speedwagon think it's a good idea for us to split up to cover more ground? Last time we got attacked it seemed like they were trying to keep everyone from helping each other. Think something like that might happen again if we end up going separate ways?"
Arcadia	"He said he was only going to take a quick look around." Then Arcadia notices the indentation and lets out another huff. "Until something else caught his interest and he had to investigate farther..." She can't really fault JoJo for that.. because it's about the same as she would do. "There are numerous theories that ancient civilizations were visited from the stars," she remarks to Haguro. "And Joestar did say he thought the treasure was made from a meteor, so it wouldn't be that far of a logical jump." That said she activates her magitek visor, and flicks it over to Infrared imaging. This is her usual methodology when it comes to searching for something lost.
Jonathan Joestar	Damocles receives a worrying response, which is, none at all. There's a kind of 'fog' in the way, not a literal one, but rather, a natural phenomenon that creates interference inside of the ruin. As someone inclined towards the supernatural, the best he can determine is that it's likely a biproduct of the ruins itself rather than some form of enemy attack. There's some credence lent to this when Revali fires an arrow into the indentation. The arrow bounces off, repelled by its own force. Based on the indentation's shape, some kind of crest was supposed to be inserted there. Furthermore, there's a subtle stone line hinging along the inner edges, indicating that the object was part of some mechanism. Turning to face Haguro, Speedwagon smiles enthusiastically. "That's a great idea! Now, if we wind up backtracking through here, we'll know where to go ... as for the rest, I can't really say. I'm not really all that learned." he admits, rubbing the back of his neck before responding both to her and Revali, "All I can tell you is my gut feeling ... and my gut feeling is that this isn't an Egyptian ruin, nor is it one that can be dated by conventional means. That's all." Speedwagon crosses his arms, leaning up on one of the walls by the exit. "If there /is/ an enemy present, then I'd bet crumbs to cringles that they'd want to attacks us when we're split up. But, there's no way to be certain there's an enemy involved at all .. I mean, you guys were camped out by the entrance, right? So there shouldn't have been a way for one to sneak inside after Mr. Joestar, or a way for one to be inside beforehand." Arcadia sees something odd, as well. The lit braziers provide a heat source, one that dissipates almost instantly. Yet, whatever's sucking the heat in isn't leaving behind any kind of trail.
Revali	"My people deal with ghost attacks on a nightly basis... I wouldn't doubt anything of being able to sneak in here," says Revali. "It's safer to prepare for the worst, at this point." There's dust in the indentation - is there dust on the ground as well? Revali puts his scouting skills to use, checking for footprints or signs of someone going either direction.
Damocles	Damocles was only partly paying attention to the conversation of the others as he attempted to push through the fog and reach Jojo, but eventually was forced to give up.  He returns his attention to the others, and shakes his head a little bit. "It's no good.  There's something blocking my attempts to reach him.  No, it's more than that.  This whole location seems to be warded.  Some kind of isolation zone put over the entire ruin here.  If I were to guess, I'd say teleporting in and out of the ruin is also blocked." Damocles begins examining the walls, carefully looking for any writing that might indicate what exactly this place was made for.  "Whoever constructed this place definitely wanted to keep people out.  Or keep something else contained."
Crys Gattz	Crys Gattz is now heading down inside and is looking about. "If we see the walls covered in biomass I'm setting everything on fire." She notes is that a joke? Is she being serious? It's hard to tell she's also not alone a small almost forklift like drone of some sort if hovering at her shoulder tailing after her. "It might be something else, right? Earther civilization tend to build over the same spots because location is key, right? Same back where I'm from." Her one good eye on Haguro. "Nice thinking." She looks back to Revali. "Agreed." She doesn't pull a weapon just yet however.
Arcadia	"That doesn't mean there wasn't something down here already," Arcadia points out. That's just practical dungeoneering sense. "Creature that inhabit ruins tend to be incredibly long-lived." Or rampant breeders, but she's going to be polite and not point that out because everyone is going to be jumpy enough as it is. After a few moments of scanning the sphinx frowns. "Something is... interfering with heat distribution." She nods in congruence with Damocles. "I cannot track him thermally with this interference, either... Looks like we're going to have to explore the old fashioned way." With that said the sphinx proceeds warily, hovering just far enough off the ground she won't trip any pressure plates or the like. She's no longer trying to track Joestar at the moment, she's on the look out for traps and other dungeon type defense mechanisms.
Raphael Cousteau	> "Biomass?" ENCYCLOPEDIA: Biomass is a-- HALF-LIGHT: Yes. TEACH US OF THE NATURE OF THE THREAT. ENCYCLOPEDIA: Actually, I have -absolutely- no idea. Bio means life, though, and mass means a lump of stuff. So if the walls are covered in stuff, she's setting it on fire. Well, that's a hell of a thing. Raphael Cousteau shrugs, rotating his shoulder a few times, looking between the two paths. He rubs his chin. Arcadia has gone off one way, so there's only one rational thing to do. March down the other staircase. LOGIC: Hold up, what the fuck? The sphinx-looking lady seems incredibly knowledgable on how to avoid traps. > "And we're completely useless at it. Thus, if we go the same way she does, we're nullifying her advantage entirely." LOGIC: ... I hate this. I hate everything about this. Go, then. Be that way. INLAND EMPIRE: Descend, adventurer! The truth awaits! There. Do you follow the experienced adventurer, or the guy who keeps losing his pants? The choice got so much easier!
Rean Schwarzer	Rean is here, following the others into the depths of the ruins to look for Jonathan. Earlier, he paid respects at thir attacker's graves. Yes, even pineapple head's. Raphael is here with them now, alongside an older gentleman they dont know. He quickly stuffs a bit of taco into his face as they leave, igniting his sword when they pass into the darkened corridor. Plenty of reasons cross Reans mind as to why someone might pick Raphael over a more 'normal' detective, but on the other hand, why bring a detective at all? He asks a few questions here and there as they move forward. It's then he notices that his sword isn't giving off as much heat as it should, if any. 'Magic' fire or not, that's definitely weird. He squints at it or a moment, then turns to Aracdia. "Same here," he says, doing a head gesture at his sword. Rean hums quietly, and then closes his eyes, trying to see if he can sense Jonathan out. Probably wouldn't do much, but it was worth a shot. Regardless of the result, Rean follows after Raphael, since apparently they WERE splitting up. Someone had to give him his pants back when he lost them.
Haguro	So it's something older... Right, there'd be some kind of records if it was recent." Haguro pauses briefly. "Or... There should be. Unless...?" She shakes her head a moment later, looking down each path to try and guess on which way to go. "It won't help to speculate too much on conspiracy theories, anyway. The more important thing is finding out where Mister Joestar is so we can figure out what to do with... Um." She squints down each path briefly. "... Whatever it is we'll find here. If we have no sign of where he went, though, then..." Haguro smacks her cheeks simultaneously to psyche herself up, then stomps once while getting into a runner's pose. "Keep at least ten meters back at all times. If anything goes wrong, don't pull me out unless you feel you can do it safely." With Arcadia going down one side, that leaves Haguro to head down the right with Raphael. "Officer Cousteau, yes? I'm counting on you." For what, exactly? Probably for the investigative parts, because she's certainly not doing the sensible thing, books it down the right path at full speed. It seems she's fully intending to trigger everything on the way around herself before her companions can get themselves hurt!
Touta Konoe	And so the paths diverge and the group choose their fates. So that left a question left for Touta...Which way should he go. "Mmm..." Truth be told he wasn't really sure one way or the other which was better to take, he didn't really have that kind of skillset to help him choose a path. "Well, guess it's fine either way...Hey Rean! Wait up, I think I'll head over with you!" He shouts towards the young man and Raph alike. The small youth following after the two just as Rean's shutting his eyes to get more into the spiritual sensing mood or something of the sort.     Obviously Touta's outburst is great for that, including the chatting that comes up next. "Hey not sure you guys care or not but, you guys want me to take the lead going down? Might help you guys get the jump on something if we get ambushed." And like usual, Touta offfers himself as tribute. It made sense though, he was a 'meatmiracle' and rather hard to keep down. Plus, if Dio had any more tricks set up in here somehow...Would he really set up anything to fuck with a vampire?
Yuuki Kuran	Jonathan Joestar is missing. JONATHAN JOESTAR IS MISSING! There's a lot of details Yuuki Kuran is missing at this time. A lot of little things that'd probably be useful to know, useful to actually find Jonathan. All she knew was a very simple, very elemental fact: "Zero. Zero!" Yuuki calls into her vine bracelet as she jogs into the ruin, heel-sliding to a comedic stop at the fork in the path as the No Pants Paladin and his Minders all head right and a blur somewhat resembling a sphinx going left. Thus, Yuuki has a decision as she pages her bodyguard on the vineular phone. "Jonathan is missing! We have to save Jonathan!" She has no time for 'eenie meenie'. She just beelines left down the path into the ruins after Arcadia because, for what it's worth, she's aware that Raphael Cousteau is a very capable detective from the broadband, but Arcadia may get stuck at something that ISN'T a riddle, but she thinks is one. Yes, this is the right conclusion to draw.
Jonathan Joestar	TEAM RIGHT: Haguro's enthusiasm ensures the safety of her friends, relatively. Almost immediately after she takes off, she manages to trigger the trap barring them from the room they began in, spikes firing from the doorway and entering the ground to stop them from returning on that path. Unfortunately for Rean, he doesn't manage to detect Jonathan with his skill. The same 'fog' that interferred with Damocles is also skewing his sixth sense. The spire continues for some time, with nothing else triggered by Haguro's mad dash, oddly enough. Once they reach the next room, they find an odd grid lining the floor. Whatever was scribbled into them seems to have been marked after-the-fact with something more recognizable, numbers. They count from zero to nine. Closer inspection of the grid reveals each massive square is a pressure plate. The only hint is the image of a sun with a very, very stern face etched into it emblazened into the ceiling. However, there are certain...rough details of the face. A dot in the center. A perfectly round body. It might look familiar, in some ways.
Zero Kiryu	Zero Kiryu doesn't actually wait for an explanation. He /is/ her bodyguard after all, even if that idea is more-or-less a formality. He materializes at Yuuki's left flank, looking... characteristically grumpy, actually! Ok, well, it's uncharacteristic for how he's been /lately/, for the most part. He's wearing a t-shirt and loose cloth pants that are very /definitely/ pajamas, and is barefoot. It's a look that she's not entirely unfamiliar with, and one that Zero only really adopts in public when he has so few fucks to give that he just spends the day sitting underneath a showerhead until somebody realizes the hot water is terminal. "Yuuki." "Yuuki!" "We've both seen Jonathan Joestar. The man could fist fight a car. Why are we in a hurry?" He asks, trailing behind her either sleepily or lazily. It's hard to be entirely sure which.
Damocles	"Hmm," Damocles muses softly as he stops at a bit of inscription that is easily overlooked.  "There's writing here.  It seems to be some form of ancient Sumerian mixed with--"  He's cut off as he notices other people are just filtering down the paths.  WELL FINE THEN. He does stop to read the writing, taking a bit of time to struggle with deciphering it.  Once he figures his way though it, he makes a mental note of it, and then looks down the paths.  Well okay, he doesn't even know who went down which path, so he just shuffles himself down the side tunnel. Hopefully he'll catch up in time to do something useful.
Yuuki Kuran	"The ability to fistfight a car and the chance for them to be in danger has nothing to do with each other! Just because Jonathan could bench press a plane doesn't mean a somehow-larger super plane didn't take him hostage. You can't know with these servants of DIO!" Yuuki catches up with Arcadia, her long brown hair visibly just-post-shower wet. "Ok! Arcadia! Fill us in, what's the... The thing. Has Jonathan fallen into a hidden temple which is *actually* created entirely out of someone's power and trapped for all eternity unless we solve a puzzle?" "Did DIO send the son of a genie with power over wind to counter his ability with Hamon?!" "Is he being drowned by sand in an hourglass /right now/?!?!"
Revali	Revali finds footprints. Unfortunately, they're going both ways. So, arbitrarily, he heads left.
Haguro	Haguro eventually stops her charge forward when the spire leads to a strangely gridded floor, skidding a bit and stopping herself with a hand to a wall. She gives the grid an uncomfortable look as she tries to sort out what she's looking at, catching her breath all the while and waving her hand once it appears that nothing else is going to come down from the ceiling. "It's clear up ahead! There's a... Thing here." How descriptive. Squinting, Haguro checks out each plate, stepping around them carefully to look at the tiles and conclude that they are definitely tiles. This could take a while. "There's one dot up there. Maybe...?"
Raphael Cousteau	This is weird puzzle shit. Unfortunately, it's not the sort of weird puzzle shit that Raphael is directly equipped for. There's numbers from zero to nine on the floor. There's a sun on the wall, with a round face and a stern expression. There's a dot in the center of the stern face, and it's up on the ceiling. INLAND EMPIRE: Where fall the sands of time beneath the sands of the desert? ELECTROCHEMISTRY: Shit! I remember now! Encyclopedia! Back me the fuck up! They were saying you could eat honey out of the crypts of one of these guys, right? ENCYCLOPEDIA: Yes, that was mentioned on a couple of earths. Our world doesn't have those, because-- ELECTROCHEMISTRY: ANYWAY I was wondering if maybe there'd be some kind of priestly preserved herbs or something down here we could theoretically smoke. VOLITION: If there were not literally spikes in front of the door out, I would threaten to turn this Raphael around. Now. Does anyone have anything useful here? LOGIC: I'm assuming something *bad* happens if you get it wrong. VOLITION: Wow. We're sunk. Great. Does anyone have-- DRAMA: Verily, doth the sun peak at the stroke of twelve. ... VOLITION: Okay, listen, you're only a boat ghost in, uh, spirit, so please have the metal ship girl do any field testing, but.... Raphael adjusts his tie a moment. "Hey, crazy thought here. The sun's up top, what if we put in '12' for the time of day where the sun would be directly above us?"
Zero Kiryu	"We have a decent idea of the methods likely to be used to kill Jonathan. It will probably involve decapitation, since his body is a useful replacement in the event of Dio's current body expiring. A minimum degree of preservation and finesse is required." Zero replies to Yuuki, with a faint shrug. "They'll need the head to be removed at a specific point along the neck, you see." He explains. Zero doesn't actually keep up. He just takes to teleporting right back to Yuuki when he falls behind.
Arcadia	Arcadia holds up a hand, mostly to keep the highly excited Yuuki from barreling off ahead, and to a lesser degree everyone else. "We don't know for certain yet. Only that he did not come back from his what was suppose to be a brief scouting ahead." You know, while everyone else was distracted by tacos and getting over the last encounter's Weird Shit. Now we have to focus on this time's Weird Shit. "Hmmm." Arcadia looks at the dials, then at the items distributed around the room. "This is a more advanced mechanism than the one on the main gates..." Let's give everyone a chance to get their wits together and figure this out.
Jonathan Joestar	TEAM LEFT: Arcadia is careful, and with her presumed guidance, while their group travels slower they ultimately avoid triggering the trap that prevents them from returning up the stairway. She's joined by Yuuki, Zero, Revali, and Crys as they eventually come to a room with a massive dial taking up one wall, a smaller sun-dial in the center, and a lit brazier casting shadows over it. The dial is marked with arrows moving up, down, left and right in the cardinal positions, and numerals lining the outer edge, going clockwise. Lining the left and right walls of the room are a variety of clay objects; a vaguely shaped sword, some kind of boomerang like object, a bird, a bowl, and any other number of mundane things.
Revali	"... Well..." Experimentally, Revali picks up the lit brazier, and moves it about, trying to see if he can get the sun-dial to cast differently shaped shadows. "It's a sun-dial, right? But it's inside... Not going to have much function on its own, I'd think..."
Jonathan Joestar	TEAM LEFT: Revali is able to manipulate different shadows with the lit brazier. He notices in doing so that the dial is incomplete; it's only the face! However, there's no slot to place something in ... The shaows he makes interact strangely with the smaller dial. Subtle clicks can be heard, but nothing happens.
Crys Gattz	Crys Gattz has parted ways with those on the Right for Crys is heading down the left side following after Arcadia trusting Raph and the rest can take care of themselves. She falls in with her fellow constructed lifeform as she goes. "Humm got an idea there? Arcadia?" She says as she moves she looks to Yuuki, Zero and Revali and will do her best to keep n eye on Yuuki. It would not do for something bad to happen to her. She looks at the puzzle ahead and starts to think a bit. n She then will move to observe the room s Revail works. Crys' Mag, hovers along just kinda chilling out, though Crys is also keeping an eye out for things like pressure plates.
Yuuki Kuran	Thanks to Arcadia being an Excellent Dungeon-eer, Yuuki doesn't get smashed to a pulp by the various falling roller-rocks, the LEFT party gets into a puzzle room! A puzzle room! Yuuki *sucks* at puzzles. The setup to the room - and the sundial - is manipulated, someone points out it is a SUNdial... IN A CLOSED ROOM. Sundial...     Sundial...         SUNdial! Yuuki approaches the Sundial as Revali moves the torch, leans in close to crouch at her knees, and whisper to the sundial. "Koooh!" She attempts, once again having nothing like the broad, muscular chiselling of Jonathan Joestar and instead being drawn like a vaguely pale noodle. "Oh! Maybe we put... the things, on the dial? Like, to make the light happen Sun-dial'ey-er?" Yuuki stands by the dias. She's probably readying an action to 'Koooh!' again once someone places an object there. You know. Just in case.
Rean Schwarzer	"..." Rean's radar comes up empty. So yeah, no finding Jonathan THAT way. They run along the spire and evenrualy make it to a puzzle room. Also, they're trapped now. "So uh...What's the round dot in the sun supposed to be, you think?" Rean says, looking up at the ceiling. Maybe they were supposed to hit the tiles in order? Or match the tiles to the ceiling? Maybe the dot was a 1?
Arcadia	Arcadia tilts her head at the radio. "The Symbol of Heaven," she repeats from Damocles' comment. But what would be the symbol? Maybe one of the objects scattered about the room is a clue? She starts looking over those.
Zero Kiryu	Zero pauses in the chamber. There are plenty of other people working on the puzzle, so he doesn't interact with it /too/ much. But he does take an interest in something. Two somethings, actually. The first object of interest is the boomerang-like object-- he picks it up and turns it over in his hands, seeking an obvious gripping section. He's familiar enough with the concept behind it. These civilizations didn't have ritual boomerangs. It's probably a wand. But Yuuki does give him an idea. He sniffs at the air audibly, searching for any signs that Jonathan has passed through here or handled anything in the room more notably than anything else in it. Or if he's happened to bleed within a few miles of this place. That'd do the trick too. Make it a bitch to actually identify anything useful.
Haguro	"Either a one, or a ten, but..." Haguro starts, nodding at Rean a few times. "Since the body could be... Oh, but... Officer Cousteau has a point. High noon, the sun, that's..." She eyes the tiles, then walks over to the one. "Be prepared to duck just in case there's... Um. Neck-level spikes or something." With that warning issued, she nods towards Rean and Touta to make sure they're prepared as well. "Even if it turns out to be something else... Let's see what happens!" After another moment, Haguro steps on the ONE, then braces her arms at the sides of her head before stepping on the TWO!
Raphael Cousteau	Raphael paces. He's very clear on not pressing any of the tiles. But he's pacing. INLAND EMPIRE: Dead sun. To stand above the gods is to pass. ELECTROCHEMISTRY: Yeah, good luck on this one. You've been without a smoke for what, a solid week? Brain fog. One of the *deadliest* symptoms of nicotine withdrawal. ENCYCLOPEDIA: Nicotine withdrawal is not actually known to be deadly. ELECTROCHEMISTRY: Making stupid mistakes in a trap-filled pyramid is, though! VOLITION: Okay. Guys. /Guys/. No. Guys. CONCEPTUALIZATION: I feel like the sun needs an hour and and a minute hand on it. The dot just looks sad, alone, and empty without it. What kind of lameass clock doesn't even have hands? Zero out of ten. He has the cigarette in his hands, but the lighter...is out. He has run out of lighter fluid. The useless sparks that result barely even light up his hand, before fading. He casts his eyes down. [.][:.] -1 MORALE "This is *BULLSHIT*!" There is the sound, uselessly, of a man punching stone wall. And, also, the visual of a man punching a stone wall uselessly, wearing a stupid tie. Fear not, he does not have the strength to bring the building down. "Someone give me a *fucking* light so I can think for a *goddamn* second!"
Rean Schwarzer	Rean sighs, and reignites his sword. He then walks over to Raphael and holds it out for the detective to light a cigarette on. He's kinda just glaring at him like he didn't expect to become a glorified lighter today, but if it helps Raph do his job it's worth it. Probably.
Jonathan Joestar	TEAM LEFT: Unfortunately, Yuuki's limp breathing isn't enough to move the dial, but she does have a great idea that Kiryu and Arcadia follow up on. All of the objects are small enough to be handheld, and are also rather un-detailed. Zero is able to determine that Jonathan had been here some time ago through his sense of smell, and that the objects he handled most prominently were the sword, the boomerang, and a clay figure of a hollowed out ring.
Touta Konoe	Upon entering their path to the entrance is completely blocked. "Well, guess we could have seen that coming. . ." For the most part he's still not too panicked. Or if he was (he isn't) he'd have been hiding it really well. For the most part he finds himself in the backseat position. He's really not the best detective apparently. Even as he says his thoughts aloud it sorta feels like a whiff. But hey, he had to try right? Though as Haguro gives warning he prepares himself for the worst and hopes for the best. Though as he wathes them look around he can't help but mutter to himself, "Wonder what Jonathan would do..." With that thought in mind he just tries taking another look around the place. Anything that might have been missed the first time they looked.
Jonathan Joestar	TEAM RIGHT: The group shuffles about and tries to wrap their heads around the brain-teaser. Whoever made this puzzle must've been eccentric -- or rather, had a warped personality. Maybe they were just egotistical, making a puzzle that should be impossible to solve if you didn't know the answer beforehand? Haguro's attempts yield some measure of fruit. The pressure plate for 'one' clicks into place. It makes a strong, easily identifiable sound. The number 'two' however, makes a limp grinding noise as the 'one' resets itself to its previous position. In other words, 'one' was correct but 'two' was not. It also revealed to the group that getting whatever string of numbers necessary wrong would reset the pressure plates on the first wrong step. Raphael's hand feels a little colder after punching the wall.
Damocles	Raphael asks for a light, Damocles casually wraps his left hand around his right index finger, then snaps it out with a metallic 'klunk' of his armor snapping.  As it does, a bright blue flame, no larger than a candle's flame, flicks out, and drifts slowly through the air, like a mote caught on a breeze, towards Raphael.  It drifts at a leisurely pace, but is otherwise a normal flame, that slowly dims, and will extinguish itself within 10 or 20 seconds. He looks up at the face staring down at them within the sun, and frowns.  "Hmm.  One who stands over the gods.  Earlier he said that the sun was the symbol of heaven, and that frowny boy up there definitely looks like a stern, reproachful god.  So how do we get 'above' him, using numbers?"
Zero Kiryu	Zero takes the wand / boomerang, and moves over to seize the ring and the sword. He brings it all back 'round to the sundial that is only a face. He first attempts to secure the boomerang to the center on its own, to check and see whether or not that's possible-- if it isn't, he switches tacks, instead affixing the boomerang to the ring as best as it can be and then placing the combined object into the center of the face instead. Afterwards he just sort of looks at the sword, trying to place it in the rest of the room.
Raphael Cousteau	The flaming sword is not, perhaps, the most elegant way to light a cigarette. Raphael takes it appreciatively. There's an appreciative grunt. The smoke puffs. This isn't a well-ventilated trap chamber. It's a bit unfortunate for everyone. He takes a deep breath, looking up at the sun. Dot. Round circle. What else is a dot within a circle? CONCEPTUALIZATION: Well, a donut, I guess, but it's not large enough. He's interrupted, however. Damocles is also helping with a cigarette-lighting puff of flame, and... ELECTROCHEMISTRY: Shit. Well, can't waste it. Guess you're smoking two at once. Empathy, it'd be rude to make him choose, back me up. EMPATHY: I, uh, wait, why am I in this? A little? It'd be a *little* rude, I guess? But also second hand smoke and-- ELECTROCHEMISTRY: *Two cigarettes*. You'd think twice as good. It's science. Raphael...slowly holds out another cigarette. Does he look ridiculous smoking two cigarettes? A little. But the heat-draining qualities of the room frankly make it even out. The nicotine buzz is about normal, all said and done. "Divine numbers. Divine numbers..." ENCYCLOPEDIA: Hey, so, in mathematics, a ratio is a comparison of two or more numbers that indicates their sizes in relation to each other. A ratio compares two quantities by division, with the dividend or number being divided termed the antecedent and the divisor or number that is dividing termed the consequent! > The fuck does that have to do with *anything*? VOLITION: NOTHING. Focus! AUTHORITY: The warlock is trying to be a leader here! Stop him! PERCEPTION: It's kinda cold in here, isn't it? SUGGESTION: Hey, that, uh, that thing about ratios. You should say that, out loud, right now. That would be a great idea. You should say the thing about ratios, word for word. Just..a hunch. Raphael looks around, and tries to look as imperious as he can. "Hey, guys, so in mathematics, a ratio is a comparison of two or more numbers that indicates their sizes in relation to each other. A ratio compares two quantities by division, with the dividend or number being divided termed the antecedent and the divisor or number that is dividing termed the consequent." He pauses a moment. "Also, apparently, 'she sells seashells by the seashore'. Yeah. I don't get it either. I'm just going with it."
Raphael Cousteau	INLAND EMPIRE: You thought it was Suggestion telling you to do that, but it was I, all along. INLAND EMPIRE!
Arcadia	Arcadia pauses. "I just realized something." She stops and turns to point at the light Revali was using. "That light is acting upon the device like the sun would a sundial. The sun itself is often a symbol of divinity in many cultures; fire granted to or stolen by mortals from the gods. So using that to illuminate the device is like taking control of that divinity." She taps a claw to her cheek thoughtfully. "But that doesn't answer how using the objects that were handled to complete the rest of the puzzle. I mean, one could draw that the ring represents wealth, the sword represents combat or war, and the wand is magic? Wisdom?.. Or the sword could just be strength. Unless it's continuing the idea of such things being 'gifts' from the gods... I guess we need to find the right combination of things to hold the symbol of heaven over?" She's just sort of ramble musing at this point, as it's not really coming up with anything they haven't already started to figure out.
Haguro	Success! Sort of. When the two goes down the wrong way, Haguro's on the defensive, but she relaxes some once nothing tries to kill them. "It starts with a one. The next number...s? Not sure what the next ones could be. Any ideas?" She hits the ONE again in the mean time while puzzling over the next number. Damocles suggests some sort of divine number, and the cruiser has all but a moment to consider that right up until Raphael starts talking about math and ratios. "... Erm. Are you okay, Officer? Do you need to lay down for a minute?" She asks with a worried tone, then looks right back at the grid with a snap of her fingers. "Oh! Maybe... That number from that other story!" With the ONE depressed, Haguro steps on the ZERO, then the EIGHT.
Jonathan Joestar	TEAM RIGHT: Touta's search seems fruitless, but, there is something that sticks out to him. There's nothing on the walls. The floor is a grid. The ceiling is their only 'hint' as a mural of the sun. Haguro has also determined through experimentation that the 'pass code' starts with a 'one'. With that in mind ... Maybe the best idea was just to experiment with the numbers on the ground a little more, now that everyone knew there was no consequence to it? Haguro steps on 'one' and hears the success click. She steps on 'zero' and hears the failure click. When she steps on 'eight' she hears something that sounds kind of in-between? It doesn't stay locked in place, though. Maybe that meant that it was a correct number in the sequence, but not the right order.
Jonathan Joestar	TEAM LEFT: Zero is unable to find a way to affix any of the obects to the dial. There isn't anywhere in the room that the sword figure is capable of being placed at either, aside from its original pedastal. But ... Someone particularly keen, such as Revali, might realize that the shadow cast by the ring might be able to line up with the outer edge of the sun dial if the brazier is held over it at a certain angle, especially after all the helpful information Arcadia provided. And if that were the case, then the other objects could cast other necessary shapes onto the dial, too.
Crys Gattz	Crys Gattz looks to Arcadia and then to Revali for a moment. "That's true there are a few stories about how we first got fire back home. It makes sense to me." she thinks for a moment and then just stares art Arcadia. "It's better than I could come up with how about we give it a shot. We use the right order of items making the right shadows and it will either trip the puzzle or show us what we need to see." She'll pull a flashlight of some sort out of her gauntlet storage unit and will use it to help with casting of shadows onto the dial. Should anyone attempt that.
Yuuki Kuran	"Oh! I've got it!" Yuuki snaps her fingers. "Zero can hold the boomerang." It's not a boomerang. "And then slot the other objects to make a weird... sceptre thing!" That's not going to work. "Or... Crys can hold that one, and I'll hold the sword, and... Revali can move the brazier, and Touta--" "Hey, wait. Zero, does the *brazier* have any Jonathan on it? Did he interact with that, at all?" Yuuki points at the numbers. "And what do the numbers mean? Is it just how the brazier moves?"
Rean Schwarzer	Rean coughs, sheathing his sword and backing away from Rapahel who is now DOUBLE SMOKING. Maybe this wasn't a good thing to enable him on. But it seemed to be helping? Kind of...? He returns his attention to the ceiling, and says. "...Maybe the sun is a 0, because of the circle and the round body? ...No, that doesn't make sense, else just the 1 would be enough."
Zero Kiryu	"The brazier does smell like Jonathan, yes." Zero replies to Yuuki, ceasing to handle the objects as he had previously. He sprouts a series of vines that branch off of his body and erect a plant-based storage rack, where he replaces each of the items for ease of access. Immediately after he begins to stroll around the room, attempting to ascertain the broad movement pattern that Jonathan engaged in when he was handling the brazier.
Jonathan Joestar	TEAM LEFT: Zero ascertains that Jonathan mostly handled items with his back to the bigger dial, oddly enough.
Zero Kiryu	Zero waves a hand into the surroundings. A series of plant sculptures of human forms -- like mannequins -- adopt Jonathan's presumed trail through the room. Like a bizarre, sort of macabre presentation of evolution portrayed entirely through rather dangerous-looking plants. Experimentally, he situates each of the makeshift sculptures with one of the heavily scented objects, and then waves towards whoever happens to have the brazier at the moment. "See what happens when you provide a light source over those positions. Switch them around, if you like."
Rean Schwarzer	Rean stares at the circle on the ceiling some more, and after some discussion on the radio, he comes to a conclusion. If it's a perfect circle, perhaps it was the number for the golden ratio? Rean goes over to the tiles and taps out 1-6-1-8. Now to see if it works!
Arcadia	Arcadia looks at what Zero is setting up, and ahas. "So position the light so it casts shadows from the objects upon the dial?" She looks back at the device. "Presumably so they line up with the markings as well. So it needs to be both at an angle and at a certain distance from the device, as that are the two aspects that would influence where the shadows fall."
Jonathan Joestar	TEAM RIGHT: Rean receives four success clicks in a row before the room starts to shake. The wall at the room's front shifts, the center folding in one itself seamlessly before lowering into the floor and revealing a passage even further down. Success! Although...         There's an ominous feeling.
Raphael Cousteau	The cigarettes are doused. Besides, he's still probably good on nicotine for a bit. The cigarettes are /almost/ thrown aside. ELECTROCHEMISTRY: It would be environmentally irresponsible to simply drop those discarded butts on the ground. SUGGESTION: You're just hoping he'll smoke the rest later. ELECTROCHEMISTRY: Side benefit. At any rate, he dusts off his knuckles and blazer, striding towards the passage forward. Will Haguro probably rush forward and tank everything again? Yes. But this is a good way to ensure that Haguro does it, and that everyone moves forward.
Revali	Revali continues to move the brazier around, trying out various shadow combinations, seeing if he can get the shadows cast from the objects the others have placed...
Jonathan Joestar	TEAM LEFT: Holding the ring with one's back to the larger dial and casting the brazier light over it in the right angle causes it to cast a shadow over the edges of the smaler dial. This causes the dial to begin turning counter-clockwise. This action causes the larger dial to begin turning clockwise.
Haguro	Haguro lets out an intensely disappointed noise when 108 doesn't work. She worked really hard on recalling vague religious and/or literary stuff, too! One day, Haguro. One day. Thankfully, the solution is found, and the Cruiser lets out a relieved sigh even as the ominous feeling builds from their way forward being revealed. "Good work, everyone. I wouldn't have even thought about that..." Haguro comments while starting towards the stairs, building up speed once she sees Raphael going for it. She's not about to risk one of the more intellectual, if eccentric, members of the right-side team to traps! As expected, Haguro barrels her way down and, once again, tries and get any potential traps revealed around herself rather than risk the safety of the rest of the team!
Jonathan Joestar	TEAM RIGHT: Haguro, shockingly, is not attacked by further traps. It's almost as if the person who made the path did so under the belief it wasn't possible to access for anyone but himself. Either way, once they reach the bottom .. they find a relief! It's a mural that perfectly fits the indentation they saw earlier in the central room. It was made of solid gold and featured a human wielding a bow and arrow; however, there is an indentation where arrowhead should be. The relief is large and a bit heavy and would require either a very strong person, or two people of reasonable strength to carry. Removing it from its resting place opens a secret passage in the side of the room that leads back to the central chamber, where Speedwagon is waiting.
Arcadia	Arcadia abruptly claps her paws together. "It's reacting! That must be the position of the light... But what of the other two objects? Do they apply or were those false tests before he got it right..." Arcadia picks up the sword and starts fiddling with trying to hold it in a position that gets a reaction from the device as well. Experimentation! ".. Oh wait." Then she turns around, so her back is to the dial while doing so. "Remember the image at the front gate was a figure looking away from the sun? That might of been a clue all along. A man turning away from the sun because he thought he was better than the gods. That he stood over them."
Touta Konoe	Rean claims victory for team Right, proving they are the superior side. But in all seriousness he's glad he figured that out. If he hadn't...Well, he didn't feel like waiting for all eternity in here to figure it out. That'd be lonely don't you think?     "OH NO YOU DON'T!!!" As Haguro starts running towards the stairway Touta starts trying to beat her to it, he'll damn well hop over her on the staircase if he has to. He was the least helpful so he figured at the very least if there were gonna be traps he'd be able to trigger them. But...To his surprise nothing. "There's just a ...Hey wait, this look sorta familiar?" He'd point to the mural in question as take a moment to examine it's design.
Raphael Cousteau	Raphael Cousteau is capable of keeping up. Sure, he's not /as/ fast as Haguro or Touta, but they're absolutely not going to wind him, it turns out. Despite appearances. It's bizarre. "Wait. Wait, this doesn't make any sense. Why is there a relief here?" He holds up his hand. The *Expression* does not look particularly fitting, but that's just how it goes. "Because, if--" He taps his head. [:][:.] "If Jonathan Joestar had already been through here--was it to put these -back- where they were? Why would he do that? That doesn't make *any* sense."
Rean Schwarzer	Rean does a small fist pump, relieved that it worked. Instructor Mary would be proud of him, putting her art history lessons to good use. The floor opens up and while it's kinda ominous, it's their only way forward. So he heads on down after the others, where they find a relief! It's missing something, though... "Hmm... Maybe it's one of the entry murals, like before? There's no arrowhead, though. Maybe Jonathan took it?"
Jonathan Joestar	TEAM RIGHT: "Or maybe .... someone put it back!" A smooth voice cackles arrogantly from behind them. It'd appeared from seemingly nowhere, a robotic figure. The head is the most notable aspect, being larger than it should be and composed of many vertical, elipitcal discs pressed together. It wasn't hideous, but it was unsettling. "That idiot, Speedwagon, is already unconscious ...so don't expect any help from him.."
Haguro	Although Haguro's initial reaction is surprise to Touta's haste in trying to get past her, she eventually starts giggling and enjoys that little race between them as he pulls ahead. She breathes a sigh of relief when nothing tries to kill anyone, but she also seems... Disappointed? She had a pretty bad showing in the last room and the last fight against the Stand users, so it's not too hard to tell that she's been raring to flex on something to prove her worth! Opportunity comes in the form of a solid gold mural. "It does... He'd certainly be strong enough to, but if he had already come through here and taken it, then why would it still be here? Did he put it back? Or did someone else...?" She rubs the side of her head lightly, looking somewhat confused. "I... Maybe I'm just overthinking it." Haguro gives the thing an experimental nudge, noticing that it can be removed, but straightens up when an unfamiliar voice sounds out behind the group. Drawing her revolver, she takes aim at the figure, but refrains from firing immediately and instead opts to approach a few feet before stopping. "Are you responsbile?"
Damocles	"I really wasn't," Damocles remarks about help from Speedwagon as they're suddenly ambushed by a strange robotic thing.  It wasn't the ambush Damocles was expecting, honestly.  He really did think Speedwagon was just a legitimately awful double-agent DIO sent and would try and stab them in the back.  Guess he owes that guy a taco. Still, this guy seems about as threatening as the last couple ambushes, which means 'more dangerous than he looks'.  However, Damocles just can't bring himself to show respect despite knowing that this guy probably has weird and difficult to handle powers like the others. "So what are you about, diskhead?  Another one of DIO's flunkies tossed into the meat grinder?  Tell your boss if he keeps using us to dispose of his useless minions I'm going to have to start charging him a garbage hauling fee."
Rean Schwarzer	Rean sighs, drawing his sword. Well, he probably should've seen this coming. "I'm /really/ getting tired of you guys. Did you do something to Jonathan? What purpose is there to putting the mural /back?/" Rean asks, glaring down the disk head.
Jonathan Joestar	TEAM RIGHT: "What incredible wit. But, if you're looking for a fight, I'm afraid you're going to be sorely disappointed ... rather .... " he drawls. "I'm here to grant a favor. I granted Jonathan Joestar this same privilige when we ran into eachother earlier, but he turned me down; he's waiting in the final room, by the way. I, Civil War will bring someone back to life for you." He looks at them directly. If he could smile, he would. "....and you. Young man ... I can feel it wafting off of you. The burden inside your heart. The sin on your back. I'll relieve you of that burden, all you have to do is accept my proposal! You owe that much to the person you let down!"
Crys Gattz	Crys Gattz looks over to Yuuki askes a very important question. What did Mr. Joestar do here. She'll hold her light while it's needed and it seems the brazier does smell like Jonathan. Okay, that is useful as if Jojo got past following what he mucked about with the most might help them get through this. She watches as things start moving, progress. She holds where she is watching for the moment. "...hiding the answer in plain sight if one is beyond the gods they would be behind you, right?"
Raphael Cousteau	Well, everyone *else* can handle the dramatic threats. Raphael's just got his hands in his pockets, thumbs sticking out. He looks down a little, letting the initial threats come from the heavily armed people. He has some consultation to do, in the meantime. Internal consultation.
Touta Konoe	'Or maybe ... someone put it back!' Such a arrogant and unfamiliar voice causes an immediate heal turn from Touta, a blade raised up expecting the worst. "Oh great, another one? Seriously?! Alright so what's your gimmic-"     Touma stops immediately when the man introduces himself, but more than that he stay more silent as this person mentions a rather unique power. "...Bullshit...You've got seriously...Seriously bad taste guy..." He speaks as though to refute the man, and yet...For the first time since these fights, even with his face straight-laced...His blade shakes vehemently in his hand...
Jonathan Joestar	TEAM LEFT: Arcadia manipulates the sword in a variety of ways. It becomes more clear to her after getting into position that the sword creates a 'minute hand' similar to a clock. From that, it shouldn't be too difficult to determine that the smaller object, the 'boomerang' could be used to cast the shadow of an hour hand. And if the two puzzles shared a theme, then from that train of thought, they should also share a similar answer, although it would need to be converted into a corresponding time to cause the larger dial to move in the correct way.
Yuuki Kuran	"I finally get it!" Yuuki snaps her fingers again. The last time this happened, nothing useful occurred. "A sundial is a clock!" That's... ... been establishd. "So we should make a clock!" A sundial is a clock. "But with the firelight! Do the thing!"
Jonathan Joestar	TEAM RIGHT: "I speak nothing but the truth, I'll have you know. Or are you just afraid ... of what that person will say to you?" Civil War seems to sneer at Touta with nothing but his voice.
Haguro	"There's always a catch. There never isn't a catch for something like this, just like in those..." Haguro resists the urge to snap her fingers as she tries to recall the name of something, although she does glance over at Touta when it becomes more apparent that he's the intended recipient of Civil War's offer. "The wish-corrupting stories. Don't fall for it, Mister Konoe." She warns Touta, the revolver returning to Haguro's pocket as she leans forward slightly. "But now that he's revealed his true nature...!" The reason for putting the revolver away becomes clear as Haguro hurls herself feet-first at Civil War. Today's opening volley: A flying dropkick!
Damocles	Ooo, ask him to bring back The Emperor!  It'll be HILARIOUS! Probably not for me.  I don't think he's talking to us anyway. Damocles crosses his arms over his chest and taps his foot a little.  Suspiciously, the guy did not actually answer any of their questions about who he is or why he's here.  He does shrug his shoulders a little when Civil War berates his wit, though. "Look, I'm sorry you lend yourself so easily to a nickname that maps to 'Dickhead'.  Honestly if you don't want people to reach for the low-hanging fruit, maybe you should try wearing a hat or something."  He glances over his shoulder briefly, before looking back to Diskhead.  "So this isn't the final room, huh?  That's good to know.   You know, you look different from one DIO's flunkies, actually.  Do you work for him, or are you related to the guy who built this place?"
Arcadia	No, no wait, she's got a point. Arcadia moves to line up the sword shadow/minute hand, nodding to Yuuki's ramble. "Someone use the other object to make the other hand. We need to line the hands up to 4:18. That would be 1618 in military time format." She briefly makes a face, mostly at herself for not connecting the numbers sooner when the other groud figure out the Golden Ratio connection. "That is not the kind of clock face a sundial normally makes.... which means it's the perfect answer for a puzzle!"
Revali	"Huh..." ("Military time?") Revali mutters to himself as he moves the torch.
Jonathan Joestar	TEAM LEFT: One final click brings everything into place. The spinning dial behind them stops in precisely the right position and opens up in a way not dissimilar to the vault door of a bank. Inside is a path leading towards a stone mural etched into the wall of an archer wielding a bow and an arrow; the arrowhead seems like it can be removed from the mural, as scratching around the stone and the golden appearance of the object in question implies. If the arrowhead is removed, just as in the other room, a second entrance leading back to the central room is revealed.
Raphael Cousteau	Raphael looks over at 'Civil War'. He's offering to bring someone back to life. Apparently? LOGIC: He probably can't do that. INLAND EMPIRE: He totally can. It's a *mystical power*. Maybe you can bring back.... There is a long internal pause. It's even outwardly noticable. He's making hand gestures and mouthing an internal discussion. ENCYCLOPEDIA: OK, so we're settled on 'Dolores Dei', the Innocent? Can he do it from here? SUGGESTION: Alright. Now that we've had that long internal debate, I'd just like to remind everyone he was *talking to someone else*, the offer was not for--you know what? New plan. SUGGESTION: Prybar. There's an immediate reaction. Raphael's paying attention. PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT: I HEARD PRYBAR! WHERE IS THE PRYBAR? LOGIC: There ISN'T one, it came up for no reason. PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT: Well, where can we -get- one? Right now? I'm up for some prying. What's even going on right now? I got bored with all the math. LOGIC: That fellow over there is threatening us and also offering to bring back someone to life. PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT: He looks like a stack of those cheap compact discs for a head. Dischead. Something like that. Why aren't we punching him like that ship girl is? There we go. Raphael is back in action, starting to slowly sweep towards. Haguro will get the first hit to tease out The Gimmick, but the Inspector is ready.
Touta Konoe	There's an expression on Touta's face that those who know him well enough will notice he doesn't do often. He's scowling. His face is not of that happy go-lucky vampire, of the facaded face of someone trying to maintain his composure, nor even just someone wearing his saddened expression on his sleeve. There's legitimate unease in his eyes. There's anger, a grinding of those predatorial fangs of a vampire. The young man bites down so hard on his lap that there's an actual trace of blood seeping from it.     Hell, even the aura around Touta shows how discontent he is with being played with. An ominous black miasma slowly encroaching upon his body outwards from his lips slowly trying to creep up from his center. He has every reason to beat this man so brutally that he'll need to use such a wish on himself. And yet...Yet...Even with as much seething animosity towards this person he's got building up, he can't move. Something in him refuses his desires. The only thing actually fulfilling his immediate wish to slap this faker(?) is Haguro who tries to tell Touta the obviously. "I know...I know he is...I...I..."
Arcadia	Arcadia looks pleased with herself. "We did it! That was actually a challenging puzzle~" Even if some aspects of it were oddly out of place for the era the runes are supposed to be from... Or it was a trap. That would explain it. Welp. At least this was one she could actually help with, unlike the last fiasco. "No time for standing on laurels right now!" The sphinx takes off as soon as the pathway is open. Other people will have to figure out any deeper meanings to the mural, she's done playing puzzlemaster for the time being.
Jonathan Joestar	TEAM RIGHT: The diskheaded foe twitches before seeming to stare at Damocles. "Heh...hehehehehehe....you could say that 'I' work for him, sure.." Haguro smashes him into the wall with her blow. He makes no move to resist, the disks on his head cracking slightly as he gets up, impishly egging her on. "Ah. I see. Your heart, too ..is heavy with sin. You're drowning in all of that guilt. All of that conflict over your past ... yes, you fought in a war. I see. But if you don't confront it, it'll swallow you up." He turns his attention back to Touta. " ... your words mean nothing. Because I, Civil War have been spoken to by your hearts. Very well! I will grant your wish!" He spreads his arms and seemingly disappears with such a bombastic statement. Even if briefly, they're left alone. At least ... until she appears. Step. Step. Step. She comes from the shadows of the staircase they used to enter this room from the puzzle. The Lancer that Touta lost. Rynith stares at Touta Konoe, looking just like she did before he lost her. And in his heart, against his own will, it's as if he's living that moment again. All that feeling of weakness, every horrible thing he's felt regarding that event is all brought back at full force, all at once. That is the power of Civil War ... the stand which gives form to your own guilt. When did they get knee deep in water? The answer to that question becomes clear as dead sailors, or rather, dead soldiers rise from their shallow, watery graves to confront Haguro.
Revali	Revali hurries after Arcadia. On hearing there are possibly people to punch, he goes ahead and draws his bow. It always pays to be ready...
Crys Gattz	Yuuki has some very good insight, Crys will move a bit with her light source as needed should it still be so and watches Arcadia do her thing hopefully it gets them open she'll let someone with a higher pay grade go for the prize. While she keeps alert for any trouble, while her mag floats up and down around her shoulder. She pauses for a moment sighs and pulls what looks like some sort of high tech healing potion which the small thing devours like a hungry college student. She does take a closer look at the mural intending to come back later to get a look at it. For now it's time to follow after Arcadia and Revali as there are people to punch it seems.
Jonathan Joestar	TEAM LEFT: Civil War is waiting for them. Speedwagon is crumbled in a heap in the corner, having been beaten rather soundly by the entity. Waiting for the rest of the group to pile in, he cocks his head to the side. "Hm hm hm. You owe the dead a debt, you know .. "
Yuuki Kuran	"Oh! Cool!" The puzzle is solved. "I totally got it in the end!" She didn't. Yuuki is, as stated many a time: Totally useless at puzzles. Thankfully, she can say word-sounds and other people think they're very helpfully informative. Sweet! Because it is required, and also because she wants it for later, and since nobody else has taken it to move on: Yuuki takes the golden arrowhead from the wall, and stuffs it in a handkerchief, before stuffing that wad in her pocket. Then it's on to--A fight? "HEY! YOU! WHERE IS JONATHAN JOESTAR?!" She shouts at Diskhead. Civil War. "You forced me to do a puzzle! This is why I have Jonathan Joestars! To not have to do them!"
Rean Schwarzer	There's currently no one single person Rean wants to bring back from the dead, so he ignores the deal. But wait, which young man was he talking about- Touta is shaking. ...Oh. /Oh./ The other boy's previously withdrawn behavior suddenly makes sense now.  Staring longingly at that card, perhaps it was a memento of whoever he lost? "...It's your call, Touta, but...Do you think that person would want you to sacrifice whatever this guy wants to come back, or would they want to see you move forward without them?" Rean says. ...Then the room floods, and drowned soldiers start rising from the water. A woman appears on the stairwell as well, walking straight towards Touta.   "...Ah." Was that her? Was this guy creating illusions of the dead? ...Were they illusions? Rean takes a deep breath and starts striking at the zombie soldiers, trying to clear the way a bit as he heads for the illusory woman. "I'm not going to tell you to not feel guilty about what happened. It's...It's fine to. But we're here to help Jonathan! We're here to help someone who's still alive!"
Haguro	As she picks herself back up, Haguro narrows her eyes at the diskheaded thing. "Hn? I've already confronted my past! They're dead already, and I'd...!" She snaps at him, already rushing forward with a fist reared back until he disappears. She still slams a heavy fist into the wall behind where Civi War had stood, though, gritting her teeth while trying to sort out what just happened. "It... It's just an illusion. He's trying to screw with our heads. Don't let it get to...!" And of course, she lets it get to her as she sees the dead rising to confront her, drawing her revolver in one smooth motion. "Still...? I've already accepted this. We were both doing our jobs as weapons for our countries, and you just happened to die first!" She shouts at the zombies, firing on them in rapid succession and not aiming quite as well as she usually does. It's obvious that something's getting to her, and she's soon resorting to her fists once more. Hopefully, none of her allies are in the way of said fists, because the Cruiser is throwing big haymakers around!
Revali	"..." Revali tilts his head. "I mean, we're in a tomb, a debt to the dead, do you mean-" "... Wait, are you the person who was buried here? Is that what's going on?" "Your puzzles suck. I'm just going to be honest - I've seen some really good tomb puzzles - those weren't all that great." "If you ever get reincarnated you probably should pick out better tomb puzzle designers in your next life."
Arcadia	Arcadia lays sight on the figure with the weird head. "Not this time!" She doesn't bother looking longer than that and sends herself surging towards Civil War, claws bared. Which even not flying is really freaking fast. After the last two encounters with these weirdos she's going for what she should of done after the first one. Just get right in their face for the kill. "I've had it with the bullshit superpowers!" And would rather just not give him the chance to turn whatever the fuck it is he does on them.
Touta Konoe	Touta is a vampire. He is an immortal being. Someone that can live on in the Multiverse till it was eventually to fade away like all things in this world. He did not need to eat, or sleep, he didn't even need to breath. And yet, as he turns around back towards the staircase to see that person appear before him... "T-This isn't funny..." His breathing grows heavy. "I...It's not real..." It begins to get more staggered. "It's just a stand...It's just stand attack or something damn it!" He says that with his mind knowing it should be impossible, and yet feels something else in his heart. As though he was being submerged, pulled under water. As thought he was beginning to drown.     Yet...He hears voices..Just like then. "I know...I KNOW!!!" He knows she has to be an illusion. He knows this isn't right. But why does everyone have to keep reminding him? It's just like right after she had passed away. Everyone, even those who hadn't been there tried to give him advice. To tell him he needed to just move on, or respect her wishes. Wasn't he already aware of that though? Did it make it any easier? And yet..And yet..."I know...I don't need you all telling me this all over again...Just...Give me a sec...Rean, what're you about to do?"     He watches the young man heads towards Ryni- Lance- That illusion, and the look on his face seems...Concerned.
Zero Kiryu	Zero issues an exasperated sigh as the puzzle is solved. He observes it for a few long moments, before-- adjusting the plants he's assembled in this room to permanently adopt a shape that will keep the puzzle solved. His only thought as he departs from its presence is that whoever put that puzzle together was a colossal asshole. He draws an arm around Yuuki's shoulders as he goes, inhaling deeply as he goes. It's not the people that he's smelling, though. That isn't even really the sense he's focusing on most intensely. As Touta gets riled up, vampiric tendencies rising to the surface... He shines like a beacon in the face of Zero's mind's eye. The only person /beginning/ to shine brighter is Yuuki. Zero isn't certain when she'll turn off the angry shojo and start applying the scary vampire queen juice, but he can't imagine it's too far off. One of her pet projects is being threatened. Civil War's words bring him out of his hyperfocus. Prior intent to try to calm the angry cats down drains out of him all at once. "The dead are owed nothing but abstracts. That is why they are the dead." Zero says, dispassionately.
Damocles	Damocles does...nothing.  That's right, he doesn't involve himself with the drowned dead or the ghostly woman.  They aren't his problem.   He's got nobody he lost that he'd bring back.  None that he knows about anyway. He's put some people in the ground in his time, but nobody that he didn't think deserved it. He does look over to the mural though.  Diskhead there said that Jostar was in 'the final room', and confirmed that the passage here had been opened before.  Damocles goes for that.  Completely ignoring the robot seems to be what Jonathan did, so it'll what he'll do.  Instead, he goes up to the sun, and uses his considerable physical strength to try yanking the thing out, and opening up the passage.
Raphael Cousteau	Raphael trudges through the water. This is absolutely killing his 'violently rush in and jumpkick' urge, because he's simply not badass enough to trudge through water at full enough speed to make it work. And so, he settles down. His pumping arms settle down, and instead just sort of...awkwardly float in the air his hands contorted at weird angles. He's not feeling up to a friendship speech. Rean can handle that. He's got the sword /and/ the peppy youth for it. Instead, he's just going to...do his thing. INLAND EMPIRE: This man stands atop gods. SUGGESTION: Yeah, okay, so what you need to know about this guy is-- SUGGESTION: ...What you need to know is... Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Everyone else is fighting zombies. Raphael's not. He's busy having another discussion, waving his hands around in a strange, mystic fashion with his eyes closed. He's clearly working something out in his head, but it's not terribly relevant in the moment. Hopefully soon.
Jonathan Joestar	TEAM RIGHT: Damocles successfully pulls the golden mural of someone wielding a bow off the wall. This opens the passage back to the Central Chamber, for those wishing to escape the current room. They can even hear Civil War laughing from it. The soldiers being attacked by Rean and Haguro are all killed brutally, violently. They're not even really attacking, they're reaching out. But they're murdered. Viscerally, at that. And with each one she strikes down, Haguro slows -- it's easy to see why. A film is starting to form over her whole body, and those feelings that she'd repressed, almost moved beyond, even .. they were coming back. All at once. As if being touched by them was enough to place her where she was back then, reliving those moments over and over and over, all in an instant. The film on her body consitrcts. That same film is appearing over Rean, too, who struck at them. Rynith advances and places her hand over Touta's, making not a single aggressive motion. "I'm real..see?"
Damocles	Damocles pulls open the relief and opens the pathway to the central chamber.  Maybe it'll flood!  He figures probably not.  Flooding that would basically flood the whole compound, and that's a lot of water.  Diskhead there probably can't manage that.  But if that happens, they'll deal with it at that point, he reckons. He does hesitate before leaving, though.  And not just because the rest of his group seem intent on fighting the whatevers.  Actually, he turns his attention to Civil War again. "Hey Diskhead!"  He calls out, looking over his shoulder.  "Quick question before I go.  If you -could- actually do it...If you could bring back someone you'd lost...Who would you pick?  For yourself, I mean."
Raphael Cousteau	Raphael looks to Rean and Haguro. EMPATHY: Okay. So, what's going on there, then, is that Haguro's guilt is *physically* holding her back, and Rean's tied up in it. You should probably save them somehow. Maybe with the plan we're working out, here? The detective turns his head towards the two. He opens his mouth, as if to say something. RHETORIC CHALLENGE (Legendary): Say something brilliant and cunning that will shake Haguro out of her grief and guilt, saving her. ... [:.][.] RHETORIC: Come on! What do you *want* from me? She killed a bunch of people in a war! She's going to feel guilty about it! Everything there works out! EMPATHY: Sigh. Okay, putting things into words isn't the strong point. They're...going to have to fend for themselves for now. The path is open to go fight Civil War head to head with the rest. Get moving. And so Raphael breaks into his jaunty jog, fleeing for now. The detective just isn't equipped to save everyone. He'll have to accept that. He's headed to the central chamber. This is weird, talky plan, and he's going to have to handle it as carefully as his shattered, multifaceted psyche can handle.
Touta Konoe	He can feel that hand upon his palm. It's a similar warmth to what he once felt before. Yet he still tries to shut his eyes. He's trying to refuse such sweet words and feelings but something in him just wants to believe that something this bizarre, something that could end up being this cruel, could end up true.     "S-stop..." He tries to pull his hand away from that warmth, trying to refuse that person and being ensnared. "I can't...I'm not someone who'd fall for such a cheap trick! I saw you vanish...So how...How can you feel that warm still...Rynith?"     "Touta..." A voice can be heard from his blade. It's one that would perhaps be trusted the most amongst all those hear. One that could try to tempt Touta to work past this. But well...Even this blade knows this was something that couldn't just be overcome with words alone. Perhaps if Touma was at his best, his heart less susceptible. But it wasn't. Not in this moment. When confronted with something of such a realistic approach, only something with as much of a snap back to reality could do the same. Though what kind of reality could face up to such a powerful illusion.
Haguro	Although Haguro should notice that film slowing her down, she does't. She just keeps punching, kicking, hurling, occasionally smashing heads together. Why should she let this slow her down, anyway? "Y... Your trick isn't going to work, Civil War! We've already died once before! I've gotten stronger than I was back then, and killing anyone.. It's natural for weapons! That's why this..." Her yelling starts sounding more desperate as she feels that guilt weighing her down, that nagging feeling in the back of her mind that's never left even after all this time. Has it really gotten any easier? Has she stopped being able to care yet? Would it really be easier if she did? "It should be easier... So just stay dead alrady!" She shows no signs of stopping her lashing and swinging, not heeding the film at all in her wild strikes on those undead soldiers. Or maybe it's because of the film that she's behaving so rashly. If it's getting heavier, it must mean that she just needs to oppose it harder, right? She just needs to oppose that voice in the back of her head telling her that killing is still wrong, right? Right.
Jonathan Joestar	CENTRAL CHAMBER: Shaking its oversized head, Civil War sighs. "Ah, everyone's a comedian, is it? But, don't worry. Your hearts are speaking to me. Except ... you." He points at Zero. "How closely guarded ... frustrating, so very elusive! People like you lot are the worst. The worst kind of people .. who can move on and leave their regrets behind. How? Dragging that weight is impossible for a normal person. Well, whatever." Civil War throws his arms out, saying one last thing before disappearing again. "Jonathan Joestar is in the final room ... I have to go make sure he hasn't died to his own sins, after all! -- eh? So you found your way out. Who would I revive? No one. some sins can't be forgiven, you know." And with that, he's gone. And, moments later, from the very staircase she had came from, someone has appeared. Her red eyes stares softly into the back of her head.
Arcadia	Arcadia skids to a stop as Civil War pulls his disappearing act. "GET BACK HERE YOU CHEATING COWARD!" Stars above and hells below these people are so goddamn frustrating. "YOU THINK YOU'RE HOT SHIT BUT YOU'RE NOTHING WITHOUT THESE FREAK POWERS YOU PEOPLE HIDE BEHIND!" By this point she's just screaming at empty air, but that's the mood right now. She's tired of these weirdos that do this stupid manipulative bullcrap instead of manning up like a proper boss fight!
Jonathan Joestar	RIGHTMOST ROOM: Rynith smiles gently. "It's alright. Even though ... I died at that time, I forgive you." As if to reaffirm what she was telling him, Rynith reached up to wrap her arms around the vampire and hug him. She had the same kind of calm, caring demeanor she always did. But that was just what was so dastardly about this whole situation, wasn't it? Because the horrible emotion in his chest was forcibly amplified. His guilt, his feelings if weakness, became unbearable. And they become physical, as Rynith hugged him tight, he was covered by a membrane even thicker than Haguro's, even stronger. Even more suffocating. The more intense his feelings became, the more substance this Rynith had, the more strength was given to the membrane of his body. Her hands and chest were melding into it, almost as if she were trying to use straight into the substance coating him .. no, that is precisely what she would do. There's only one, single saving grace for Haguro, Rean, and Touta. That membrane can't appear below their knees.
Crys Gattz	Crys Gattz is hot on Arcadia's heels as she does back her up but it's not long before Civil War does their thing she glares hat him readying her phone sabre to striel, it's too late though, as she hesitates long enough to let him finish going on about Johnathan. She strikes a moment too late as he just blinks the heck out of there and her blad get nothing but air. "He's gone now, let go help Jonathan." They can deal with Civil War later.
Damocles	Damocles laughs a little at the response he gets.  "You know, I think I'm beginning to understand you a bit.  What a miserable existence you got dealt.  See you around."  He hefts the mural up and starts to carry it out, though he does stop and look over his shoulder at the others that seem stuck here. What should he do... Well, he knows what the voice of the Chaos God whispering to him wants, but that's probably bad. Instead, he just calls out, "Hey kids!  Aren't you two done yet?  You're not going to solve a lifetime of emotional trauma here in this ruin, you know.  Sometimes, you just have to look for the one trying to dredge up your past and use it against you, tell them to go suck a disk, and walk away."  He hoists the object up, and starts down the path, calling behind him, "I'll be waiting in the final room when you do."
Yuuki Kuran	"I won't have you belittling the journey Zero's taken with your cold smile and your smart words. Come back here!" Yuuki calls, extending a hand and 'chasing' the spectre for a few steps. Her pace hurries into a single, grasping leap into the air that Civil War had occupied. "Come back here and release Jonathan Joestar!" She calls, the latter set of words more an Order than a frantic demand. A honey-sweet thing that brooks little argument, but does nothing if the target *isn't there any more*. Yuuki collapses to her knees ungracefully, sprawling out and punching the ground with a light 'dap' of fist on stone. "This DIO... I'm going to get my revenge. Count every puzzle, remember every minion, and-- and!!" She heaves a sigh, looking up helplessly at the others from Team Left. "I'm really not. But I'm really annoyed. Let's get this over with and save Jonathan. Him being captured this long is unacceptable." Lifting herself up to her feet by leaning forward and pushing with her knees, toes, and hands, she spends a moment dusting off her now filthy lower legs. "Eugh, puzzle dust." All that's left is pushing onward!
Haguro	Haguro hears Damocles, and she drops onto one hand and knee as she struggles to stay upright. "J... Just about! I just need to... Finish up here!" Even now, she can't even bring herself to ask for help. She doesn't need help. She just needs to fight off all the corpses trying to drag her down. To their credit, though, their persistence is actually getting her closer to the knee-deep water, and Haguro's endurance isn't unlimited. She's just also being intensely stubborn about fighting them all and unwittingly bringing herself down even further. Still, all this is in the name of preparing herelf for when she inevitably has to continue her personal quest. Killing real people again can't be like this, or she'd really be screwed.
Arcadia	"This is totally not fair," Arcadia sulks after the others. "There's suppose to be an epic battle with the final boss after all those puzzles! This guy does -not- know how to properly run a dungeon at all." She pauses for a moment. "And what the hell is up with his head? Seriously. That's the second dumbest appearance I've seen." The first being the pineapple hairdo.
Zero Kiryu	"You have the wrong idea." Zero says to Civil War. He's speaking seriously, but it's almost comical. Here he is, standing in his pajamas, trying to usher Yuuki along and keep things under control. But he speaks of the dead and of regrets as if he was conveying himself in some dignified context. His expression changes for a moment, almost imperceptibly. A ghost of a miserable little expression, a spectre of the Zero-that-was surfacing as he remembers what he did to himself. "Most of my life, I..." "Hated me." He says, with a twisted little smile that suits him too well. "I wanted to avenge myself, and protect someone, and get out of life without dragging anyone down about my seemingly inevitable end. It was not without some effort that I extricated myself from my mistakes. Came to terms with them. Let people in, asked them to scourge away what I had done to myself." He raises his left hand to tap his index and forefinger against his temple illustratively, "This place that you cannot enter is no longer denied to all. You're just not on the guest list, burglar." "There are no dues for the dead," Zero says, "they cannot take your coin with them, whatever form it takes. It is only the memory of them, and their influence, that remains." "The coin of their influence on me is mine to give, and no one's to take." There is a flickering of matter when Zero discorporates and reappears at Yuuki's side as she... has a mild temper tantrum. It is only mild because he knows what a severe temper tantrum looks like from her, and a scythe or psychokinetic whirlwinds hasn't come into play yet. He looks /just about/ ready to say something, and then stops dead in his tracks and just lets it fall to the wayside. It's easy enough to notice, even if somebody wasn't paying attention to him that the time.
Rean Schwarzer	The zombie sailors keep coming back like an endless wave, and the more of them died, the harder it became to move. Literally tying everyone up in their own guilt. ...Yeah, that was familiar, wasn't it? Rean reaches out to grab the back of Haguro's shirt, and pulls, trying to get Haguro loose from the soldiers. He then returns his attention to Touta and Rynith. The plan was to just cut down the illusion and get it to stop aggravating Touta's guilt, but obviously that wasn't going to work. Besides, how much would it hurt Touta to see his friend die again? Would it just make his guilt worse? ...So he opts for something else. Rean sheaths his sword, and starts moving towards Touta, still hopefully holding Haguro's shirt with his other hand. He then grabs the back of Touta's shirt, and starts moving towards whatever exit Damocles went out of.
Touta Konoe	Heavy. He's no longer sure if those words describe his feelings now, or just how he feels as Rynith embraces him. He finds himself speaking up still, "I should have been able to stop it...I didn't think it would end that way...You...You deserved a life like them. Like Archer...Or Hime-chan...Or Gramps...You didn't...You didn't have to live just for this war..." Was it a blessing or a curse to be allowed a chance to vent like this. To be able to say things he wanted to tell her even if she may not be real? He wasn't sure. There was pain in his chest, but he continued to speak those words. As if that pain came from the voice in his heart screaming out. Screeching so hard till all it could say would and could. That was the kind of experience he was having.     The membrane wouldn't take long to form. In fact, something probably unique would occur. That membrane would be filled with his emotions and in turn those emotions let seep out that black miasma as always the two continuing to ever be so intimately intertwined. That said, did it really matter if this miasma couldn't reach his knees? After all, he wouldn't drown in this miasma, he'd just suffer. He'd just suffer eternally with this kind memory eating away at him. Wasn't that painful enough?     Yet, as heavy as those feelings, as he feels right now, he feels something pulling at him. Something taking his weight, and the weight of his burdens too. No, not just his...Haguro's too. Touta can't speak up from the Membrane even if he tried, but he didn't want this...He didn't want this person to carry him, not with such a horrible black miasma membrane slowly enveloping him. He didn't want his friend dragged into this...
Jonathan Joestar	Each death of a new soldier weighs on her, almost as if the very burdens they all felt, the shame of killing another human being, was being cleansed from them in her tirade of violence. As if she were absorbing it all into herself, becoming a focal point for the associated self-loathing. This was giving birth to something much, much more personal. For Haguro, who wanted to crush her love for humans due to the sting of a supposed betrayel, she could not do so without feeling guilty. "Why...?" It wasn't just soldiers she killed in battle, anymore. "Why do you hate us...?!" Stirred into a violent frenzy by her own assault, at some point, the phantoms had grown violent with her as well. Only now, they're not people she killed. They're people she perceived she'd wronged, even if not consciously so. The people she was supposed to protect, the same people who desecrated her corpse at the bottom of the ocean and refurbished her into the door of a bank vault. "It's not our fault, so what if someone else sinned?! It's..not fair....uooooh!!" Rean is being crowded out. He can't grab at her, not with her thrashing, and not with the rapidly multiplying 'zombies'. He can however, reach Touta, who has become covered from head to knee with a film so thick and tight he can't even see him. The only thing visible is Rynith's tear streaked reflection, the last expression on 'her' face before she fully fused with him. The result is death. Touta himself, is a vampire. His miasma fused well with the film created by Civil War's apparitions. Unfortunately for the boy, this only magnifies his suffering, as unlike any other person, he can't suffocate to death. He can't be crushed into paste, no matter how tightly his sin holds him. He has to suffer without the absolution granted by death, even as Rean drags him up the staircase, causing the film to rapidly grow down to his toes and engulf his whole body, Touta is left to suffer inside the coccoon of his guilt, a kind of purgatory itself. Haguro, in the meantime, is being mobbed. Her movements slowed and dilluted from her own film, rather than dragged down wholly into the water, she only makes it to her waist before she is pinned to the wall and beaten repeatedly by the vicious, animalistic phantoms wailing in despair. People she perceived to have wronged her and that she had wronged in return. Humans who had discarded her and were discarded in return. An eye for an eye left them all blind, smashing her head into the wall with strength they shouldn't possess.
Jonathan Joestar	CENTRAL CHAMBER: With the disappearance of the Stand and Yuuki's small tantrum, those in the room are left with little recourse but to attempt to reach the 'final room'. They all possess the necessary keys, it seems, the golden mural that fits the indentation in the room's front wall, as well as the golden arrowhead that fits into the golden mural.     How they proceed, however, is up in the air.
Revali	Revali grips his bow. "... The others seem to have things well in hand?" he suggests. "Or not. But we should make sure Jonathan is alright... and also make sure Dio hasn't gotten one step ahead of us to snag the treasure."
Arcadia	"I am really getting tired of these assholes and their cheating powers," Arcadia grouses still, but most of her temper was already vented and she's back to just being annoyed at the lack of a proper boss fight so far after all the work solving the damn puzzles. Much like Revali she remains ready for the next craziness to come, letting the people with the parts to the 'door' take care of getting it open.
Damocles	"If it means anything, I don't think Diskhead was with DIO," Damocles the Sorcerer remarks as he trundles in, hauling his team's half of the puzzle needed to open the final room. He trusts the kids in the other room to work out their own problems. It's the Chaos Way:  You rise by your own strength, and climb as high as you can carry yourself. As Damocles sets their giant mural in place, he explains, "If DIO had already gotten to the 'Final Room' I don't think he'd have reset the puzzle and set Disky there to test us.  I'm petting that guy was the pet of whomever built this place.  DIO probably decided he was going to sit back and wait for us to open the door and then attack with everything he's got left."
Haguro	"Hate...? That's what it should be, right?" Haguro starts laughing bitterlya s she chokes out another soldier, her movements slowing down far too much far too quickly as that substance continues building around her. "Everything would be so much easier if that was the case. Maybe this..." Even as she keeps lashing out, she's crying. There's nowhere for the frustration and anger to go beyond her fists, and even that isn't getting her anywhere fast as the film thickens to the point that she can barely move. "This is what I deserve now, isn't it? You... Stupid..." It doesn't stop her from fighting back. Getting mobbed and beaten into the wall isn't enough to keep her completely still or from trying to return those blows as hard as she's getting them. For each one that smashes her head into something, she claws, bites, elbows, and reaches out to tear off whatever she can reach. For each one that punches her, the Cruiser's rage and anguish grows, and she can feel something vile welling up inside her once again. It's been a while since she felt like this. It's not the worst feeling in the world.
Crys Gattz	Crys Gattz was pushing to the final room she would pause to deploy a different weapon a powerful claw attached to a gauntlet that went all the way up to her shoulder. It was a mix of heavy machinery and it looks like try clawed blade was intended to grab and get through tank armour from the looks o it. In her other hand appeared, a heavy pistol and she moves ahead towards the room She's on guard as she looks around for a moment. "There are far worse and 'cheating' powers like the sorts that jack your body. Let's move we don't want to dally." If they can't get the door to open by the intended mean she fully intends to force it open with the claw.
Rean Schwarzer	Grabbing Haguro doesn't happen, and Touta is just getting worse and worse now. "Ghhh...Come /on/--!" Rean shouts. He stops partway up the stairs, roughly tugging on the miasma filled film. Even as it started to cover his own body more and more, faster than when they were in the water, even past where his pants got wet.  Was it eating him now because he started to feel guilty about making this worse? Because he was pulling on it? ...Was it not waterproof? Rean quickly rushes back down the stairs and pushes Touta under the water. He then draws his sword again and starts cutting through the zombies again, trying to reach Haguro and pull her under the water with him. They were /all/ getting out of here, no matter what.  If not, well, Civil War would just have another target, wouldn't he?
Jonathan Joestar	Touta is submerged, but it's too late for him, in some ways. The miasma is making the film that has completely fused with his body stronger than it should be. It isn't dissolving; water is the element of absolution, but the weakness to H2O isn't helping Touta at this point. The rate of dissolution is slower than the rate of the film's 'growth', but submerging him into the water slowed the progress to the point it was barely 'growing' at all now. Rean's quick thinking is rewarded, as he cuts and dices his way through the phantoms. By the time he finds her, though, Haguro has been beaten to a pulp. Her head is a mushy mess of splattered brain matter. With no doubt, she'd been beaten to death by her own sorrows. Civil War is by its own nature not a Stand that can't kill unless there is no remorse. And its owner was a soft-hearted man who, more than all the others. sympathized with Haguro. For he too had been a soldier. And even the tiniest bit of guilt was all it took to activate Civil War's primary and secondary effects. Haguro, who was just violently murdered, is no longer dead. In fact, there isn't a scratch on her. And more over, all of that ugliness inside of her was gone, too. It was like someone had taken all her troubled feelings, all her troubled thoughts, all her anguish and her personal demons and simply removed them from her. Instead, they were transferred to her murderer. Civil War had willed itself in front of Rean in this moment, intercepting him as he slashes his way through to Haguro in order to submerge himself and her, yet there was no resistance. It was cut apart as easily as a zombie, wailing like a demon. Rean was now the 'murderer' and all of its owner's guilt, as well as Haguro's, were stuffed inside of Rean by force. That is the true power of Civil War ... it was a Stand that drew out the guilt of others and absolved them of it, by passing that guilt off to someone else.
Jonathan Joestar	CENTRAL CHAMBER: The dull red eyes staring at the back of Yuuki's skull walks forward. Its a near replica of her, but it's ... unsettling. It's more like a zombie than the things in the other room with its actions. It tries to reach for her, to latch onto her, but its slow. Lehargic. As if its very existence lacked the substance necessary to drive it into action, its moves are so obvious even a baby could outmaneuver it. Damocles successfully slides the golden mural into the indentation on the wall. There's an audible click, but there's still something missing. The golden mural has an indentation of its own, perfectly matching the golden arrowhead in Yuuki's hands. The doppleganger seems to be ignoring everyone in the room, only trying to reach the real deal and grab ahold of her.
Yuuki Kuran	CENTRAL CHAMBER: Yuuki smells the doppleganger more than she sees 'her', because she's helpless to ignore the mere presence of such a creature. One who is 'like her', but outside. A 'her' that she can't see out of the eyes of. A lost bit of herself. A jettison'ed memory. Something she had left behind. Shetill, her eyes shift down and away from the mural, running along the ground as if fleeing the scene. She knows the shape, and the staggering, unhealthy gait is heart-rending. "I'm sorry I've moved past you, 'me'. But we were killing ourselves, to live like that." Instead of interacting with her red-eyed and lurching doppleganger, Yuuki moves to the mural, and places the arrow into Damocles' cube, pressing firmly with index, middle, and thumb. "Even the 'me' that's you wouldn't slow down for a personal matter over helping someone important to us. So..." She trails off. Talking to the mirror hadn't ever helped her before. Her reflection was something she only recently had begun to tolerate again.
Zero Kiryu	There is no doppelganger or manifest guilt for Zero Kiryu to contend with of his own. But that doesn't mean there's none at all. A familiar-but-not presence radiates from behind, and he turns partway around to look towards it. In one word, he feels disgust towards it. It's not just that it is a pale imitation of Yuuki, but even with a passing glance towards the thing's mind, he can see the specific exchange that spawned it. All told, it wasn't that long ago. But even looking at it right now, he can't help but think-- What stupid kids we were. Vines surge out of his palms, disconnecting and winding their way out across the floor, expanding to begin covering everything. They rise up around the doppelganger Yuuki unless she does something quite potent to deter them, coiling up her form and restraining her. A brilliant array of blossoms begin to bloom across the vines, twisting open and gently releasing the same powder that had ended the last minion of Dio they had to contend with. The soporific pattern is numbing, encourages the victim to not give a shit what's happening to them. "... Yeah." Zero agrees with Yuuki, simply.
Damocles	Damocles passively acknowledges the doppelganger with a glance, before looking back at his part in the puzzle.  That is, the mural.  The arrow is set, so that should do...something.  He waits to see what the reaction is.  He does position his staff between him and the Yuuki double, just in case it gets too close. "Watch for an attack from the rear," he advises casually.  "If DIO is going to hit us, this would be about the time.  Oh, also the guy who attacked us in the other room said that Jonathan was in the chamber up ahead 'trapped with his sins' or something like that." He pauses a moment, and adds, "This place seems built on emotional trauma.  Would not expect that trend to end anytime soon."
Jonathan Joestar	CENTRAL CHAMBER: The doppleganger struggles limply, unable to respond verbally. It lacked the necessary substance to, after all, though the pangs it caused were enough to give it a little more 'life'. Ultimately, it was pointless. The red-eyed copy was restrained in a gentle cage of flowers and by the time the mechanisms of the wall were finished sliding into place, out of sight, it had already lulled off to slumber. It seemed that as long as they were gently detained and put away, the manifested guilt couldn't do anything. Yuuki, the real one, is able to examine the mural in all of its splendor now. It was made of solid gold and depicted a human wielding a bow and arrow, pointed upwards. The wall began to turn on itself, moving like a revolving door and stopping halfway to allow entry further in. The room that it opened up to was a second chamber decorated in far more luxury ... no, rather, it didn't look like the rest of the ruin at all. It was a mishmash of an English manor and a medieval castle. Jonathan Joestar was slumped before a statue of a proud and regal woman holding aloft a sword, a star carved onto her neck. There was another man there, too. He sat at one of the only parts of the room that look like it 'fit', as stress free and relaxed as someone on a sunday afternoon stroll. He was clad in the tattered garb of the American Confederate Army, with a little wooden box on his lap, humming to himself gently.
Touta Konoe	Rean does everything he can to pull Touta from the water and at the same time the strange film that continues to consume him. It seems to have the opposite effect of helping though. The apparition of the once Servant slowly forms into the film that would consume Touta, that would would absorb his despair in the form of that blackened Miasma and become stronger because of it. Yet for the young man, it simply still feels like the embrace of that person while being crushed by his own feelings. It's painful, it's cruel, it makes it hard for him to breathe and yet he still must live with all the things of this that make up his guilt.     The world around him is...red. The sensation of constantly being crushed over constantly devolves his form. In the brief moments when he's able to reform himself within this film though, as his eyes reappear that's all he can see is blood clogged water. He can feel the cool moist sensation after being flung by Rean who tried so valiantly to help his friend. He was a good person, and even if Touta ended up in an eternity of damnation like this...He wouldn't blame him. He had tried right?     So Touta would just simply have to continue like this, constantly in guilt, constantly without form? It was probably something that could be considered worse than death. Though there is something he sees. It's something that catches his eyes in the moment that they reform before being crushed again. A familiar card that had somehow survived destruction. How it was so he wasn't sure, but even in this form he found himself taking note of it. The shape, the symbols, everything about it...And he realized something...     The next thing that seemed to reform if only for a moment was his ears. He only knew this as he heard the mumblings from the water. Voices he was familiar with. He couldn't make out the words but he knew the voices. Rean...Haguro...Were they in trouble? What was going to happen to them? Would they die? He didn't want that. He didn't want them to die. A part of him tries to break free from the guilt but it continues to crush him, preventing him from even trying to reform himself in such a way. It was simple enough that one couldn't escape guilt so easily... But he wanted to help. He wanted to avoid feeling even more guilty than he already was. He didn't want to add to this burden that was crushing him anymore.     Touta simply couldn't absolve himself of this guilt. It was not something he could do in this moment. There was only one thing he could do. Accept it. To acknowledge his guilt, his mistakes, these painful feelings. To take them in and use them to avoid such guilt from accruing again. So Touta would do just that...Just as the film had taken to his miasma, he would do the reverse. His body would begin to reform from the crushed mush that the film had caused but unlike before...Touta's body would try forming with the film, sucking it up into the boy's body. To make that film and guilt not some shallow thin layer, but to be held within him. A guilt that he would internalize. That would be swallowed into the black void that made up the youth's immortality and have it spiral for eternity with the rest of the emotions that fueled him. Within the water this vampire would not be reborn, absolved of sin. He would just continue living while carrying this burden into eternity. That was the appropriate way for someone of his existence to handle such a cruel ability.
Revali	Revali focuses on the slumped figure. "Jonathan!" He runs forward, kneeling at the man's side to check him over... and also as a cover to get a better look at the other man. This other person is acting far too casually. Some conclusions can be drawn. There was no reaction to them arriving... suggesting he doesn't feel threatened? Or that he feels he's already won...? There's something more going on here. Revali focuses on getting Jonathan to his feet first, if he's in shape to do so.
Crys Gattz	Cry's thoughts go like this, Yuuki important to the Concord is a friend of Lady Priscilla. Also, to be honest Yuuki just seems so earnest of a person Crys would hate to see something happen to her and she will move to interpose herself between Yuuki and the Doppelganger. She knows she's muscle but she can do something here while the ore brainy sorts get them done here, so they can get the heck out. She doesn't think too much of the comments that were made by Yuuki it feels personal and she shouldn't ask about it. Zero is on the ball even more so as he does the vine thing. "Maybe I'm over kill here."
Arcadia	"Finally." It really wasn't that long, but everything that involves waiting to some degree seems long to Arcadia. The sphinx hops through the opening doorway as soon as there is enough room for her to do so. It leads to the next room, and the anachronistic mishmash is enough to make her briefly take pause. "Someone needs to pick one theme and stick with it!", she complains to no one in particular. But there's Joestar, slouched in front of a statue. And honestly, at first she thought, thanks to the cobbled together interior design, was just another statue or something sitting in the only spot that looks like it properly matches the ruins. It takes her a moment to realize it's actually a person clad in very out of era clothing... though that's arguably less weird than pineapple hair and disembodiment butler. When she does realize its an actual person Arcadia snaps an arm to point at him so hard it's almost a whipcrack. "You! Are you the wierdo in control of that diskheaded robot thing?" After the last two encounters she's not sparing the time to wait for the problem to introduce themselves on their own.
Damocles	Damocles takes the room in a quick glance.  Jonathan is down.  So whatever happened is tough, as that guy seemed to be able to handle himself well in a fight.  He's at the foot of a statue of a woman holding a sword.  So either the statue had something to do with it, or point 3 put him there. Point 3: Old man humming in a chair. Music happens to be a thing Damocles does, though, and he holds up a hand.  "Wait, wait a second...I recognize that song," he says with a slight perk in his voice.  "It's, um...Battle Hymn..something...Battle Hymn of the Empire?  Something like that." Damocles clears his throat, waits for the man's humming to loop around to the correct bar, and then starts singing, soft and deep and soulful, along with the man's humming. /`Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword His truth is marching on /`
Jonathan Joestar	CENTRAL CHAMBER: Jonathan isn't injured, but rather, he seemed like he was trapped inside some kind of terrible nightmare, covered in a thin but powerful film. His incredible willpower is the only reason he hadn't been crushed into paste yet. But Revali can tell that he's having trouble breathing through it. It's hard to tell how long it'd be, but with certainty, it couldn't be very far away from choking him to death. The man turns towards them, no longer humming. He smiles demurely, makeup lining the undersides of his eyelids and upper cheeks. But, it's clear, to everyone who looks at him. His eyes. They're empty, totally devoid of anything at all. They were the eyes of a man who'd died inside a long ago. Rather than Mariner, someone who'd been born without emotions, this was a person so thoroughly traumatized by their misfortunes that it squashed his soul. And it was only thorugh the power of Civil War he could look so otherwise relaxed. "I'm ... Axl RO." he introduces himself. The 'voice' of the Stand and Owner was the same, but the way they spoke, it was if they were two different entities, two different people. More specifically, he addresses Damocles. " ... you may have already figured this out, but I was a soldier." He looked to be about fifty, or so, although his face was unwrinkled. "My Stand, Civil War ... I take it you've met him."
Jonathan Joestar	WETROOM: It was awful. Sucking something like that into himself, into the spiral of his void ... he was opting to carry that on his shoulders forever and ever. In order to move forward, something had to be sacrificed ... that was the nature of absolution, as far as Civil War was concerned. This wasn't something that such an ability took into account. After all, wasn't in the nature of humans to seek forgiveness? To live without that burden? Many couldn't last with it. Yet, Touta was taking it with him into eternity. No matter what kind of mental growth he reached now, it'd always be a part of him to some degree, like poison in his veins. Like a hole in his heart that was never going to heal. But ... even if it didn't heal, a hole could be 'filled'. It could become something less than an eyesore. This is the 'absolution' Touta is baptized by as he finally comes up for air.
Damocles	Damocles nods a little, ending his singing when the man addresses them.  He sets the bottom of his staff to the ground, and inclines his head politely, actually respectfully to the old man. "Yes, I'd gathered.  Ancient Terra...Given the uniform, I'd say ancient United States of America.  You'll forgive me, for me, pre-unification Terra is especially ancient history, and I haven't studied it too much." He looks around, taking a slow, easy breath, stepping forward towards the old man.  "You're not one of DIOs.  Let me guess...This temple is yours?"
Revali	Revali is ready to open fire on Axl RO... but it seems like Damocles is trying diplomacy. Alright. Instead, he sees if he can't pull the constricting film off of Jonathan, or cut it off or something. Though he does keep 'opening fire' an option in the forefront of his mind.
Arcadia	"Fortunately it was a brief meeting," Arcadia retorts dourly. Her arm stays extended towards Axl RO, but her gesture changes from a point to curling her fingers around an orb glowing in her palm, charging. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't nuke you on the spot." It's not an empty threat... but at the same time, if there is one thing Arcadia has learned from previous encounters its that these people will usually tell you something important about their powers if given the right provocation. It's a bit more abstract, but it's still a pattern, and patterns are what she picks up and picks apart.
Crys Gattz	With the doppelganger no longer an issue, so long a the guilt gets detained they can't do much, this is good news to her. Yuuki is able to do her thing. The wall moves and soon she will find behind the door is an odd mix of manner and castle. There Jonathan slumped at the base of stature but there seem to be someone else there she looks at them in the tattered Confederate Army gear and she narrows her eye at them. She'll not rush to Jojo's side as Revali is on the job there. She looks at Axl RO. "Crys Gattz I'm a hunter." She brings up her pistol she doesn't shoot it yet. "You heard my friend, so got a reason for us to not pull the trigger?"
Zero Kiryu	Zero frowns at the way the doppelganger reacts. He didn't expect it to be that easy. He consolidates the plants around it as it disappears from conventional sight, temporarily focusing his mind's eye on it before returning to the physical here and now. He falls in to Yuuki's left flank again, quietly taking in the chamber that follows. This is... odd. Now, Zero's idea of a ruin is a little bit warped. The ruins that would be familiar to a modern day human have long been lost to his world. It ended, after all. Everything that might have been perfectly recognizable to a modern human disappeared ten thousand years ago. The anachronisms are reasonably obvious, but they also aren't entirely /unusual/ to Zero. They represent the state of a world that fell, recovered, and limped along with some reasonable approximation of past luxuries. This... is just somebody fucking with everybody, though. His eyes settle on Axl RO, a fair bit after practically everyone else has taken note of and reacted to the soldier. Ordinarily, he would exercise his own discretion, but this is a situation where Yuuki has expressed personal agitation. "How do you want this handled?" He asks her, flatly.
Yuuki Kuran	"Don't worry, Crys. You're not overkill. There is no such thing as 'overkill' when it comes to the safety of our Parters. We're here to get Jonathan. And, if you like traps and 'fun', then also that!" Yuuki smiles, but her eyes betray the truth. Yuuki does not like 'traps' and ''fun''. She in fact the-opposite-of-likes-them. She DIS-likes them. She also DIS-likes DIO. Thankfully, she has friends to handle some of the DIO. "Thank you, Zero. I really was a very foolish child, back then. I probably still am, but..." She laughs - at herself. "Well, I'll probably be one forever. It's my privelege." Damocles steps up to try diplomacy! An excellent start. "Ah, yes. We've met Civil War. I'm here to collect that man on the ground there: please release him to me?" She points at Jonathan. "Did you intend to make us all revisit our past, or is it your own past you're shackled by? On and on, forever and ever, living with your regret rather than finding a harmony of the you-of-before, and the you-of-now... It kills you." Yuuki looks sad for a moment spanning a dozen or so seconds. "Jonathan Joestar is mine. Servant of DIO or slave to the past, it doesn't matter. I've come to bring him home."
Jonathan Joestar	CENTRAL CHAMBER: "That's wrong. DIO did send me." he says, shaking his head. "My partner used his ability to use shadows as gateways to take us to the entrance ... of course, you must've realized by now that this temple is protected, so we couldn't just go straight for the prize." Axl RO calmly faces Arcadia. "If you'd like to, I can't stop you. Even if I brought Civil War here from where he is right now, I think you'd overpower him." Anyone particularly observant enough would notice that one of the foreign looking structures, a staircase, was built over a natural wall that was likely in the original room before these objects were apparated. It was a pedastal containing a magnificently decorated, wooden bow with gold inlays. Revali's attempts are ultimately fruitless. He's unable to pierce the film, nor pull it apart. Axl RO adjusts his cap so he can get a better look at Yuuki after she addresses him, "You're free to take him if you want. But .... if you haven't realized it by now, this room ... " Cryptically, he motions around them. "Well, either way, it's no longer any of my business."
Damocles	"Ah, I see," Damocles says cryptically, before glancing around again.  "So you aren't alone, then."  Axl doesn't appear much of a threat, but this other guy, the one who brought him here, is still hiding.  And Axl said something about using shadows.  Well, let's try flushing him out, then.  Damocles raises his staff and spins it slightly in the air.  As he does, a soft light pours from it, which grows brighter and brighter as he continues to generate it.  The light pours from the staff like water flowing upwards, and spreads out like a pool covering the ceiling.  It will take a minute or so, but his goal is to cover the entirety of the ceiling in bright light, which will shine from all angles and eliminate all the shadows in the room.
Arcadia	"What? We kill you and the room falls apart? Wouldn't be the first time that's happened either," Arcadia retorts sarcasticly, tilting her head a little. Make no mistake, she wants to shoot him. Strongly wants to shoot him. But the way he's so calm about it, and not just because he's a soldier, it puts her off for a moment. As does that bit about having a partner. Of course. Every other interference was in groups. Why would this time being any different. Especially now that DIO knew they were a collective force to be reckoned with. Damocles seems to be on a similar train of thought, choosing to lighten up the room. As much as she would like to shoot something Arcadia shifts her direction away from Axl RO, ready for whatever Damocles' tactic might uncover as a more immeadiate threat. Like hell was she about to be caught off-guard a third goddamn time by these weirdos and their weird powers.
Rean Schwarzer	Rean gets to Haugro too late, her body thoroughly beaten by her own sadness. Rean stops moving, staring at her dead body for a moment. He failed. He failed to figure this out quickly enough and now an ally was dead. It didn't sound like Touta was moving, so there might be two allies dead.   There's a flash of red in his eyes when Civil War teleports in his sword's path. It was the Stand's fault that this happened to begin with, that they all had to suffer through all this.  Didn't even have the courtesy to at least let them face it on their own terms. It was just at much at fault as he was, and needed to be /removed./ Of course, that's what the stand was counting on. All the negativity that Haguro and Civil War's owner had been carrying slammed into Rean, and he doubles over, clutching his chest as the film started growing all over him again. "You're gonna take me too...?" Rean murmurs, glaring at whatever might remain of the stand. Perhaps he deserved it this time, since his presence brought others misfortune as usual. Maybe it was better this way. Wasn't even strong or smart enough to figure this out before it was too late. He closes his eyes and waits to die, not even noticing, Haguro's revived.
Zero Kiryu	"Why are you collaborating with Dio?" Zero asks Axl RO, flatly. He begins shaping another set of vine furniture into /this/ room, but he doesn't seat himself. He just seems sort of resigned to letting this play out in some nonspecific way that apparently doesn't resolve particularly quickly in his head.
Haguro	Perhaps this really would be for the best. Her, a weapon, ready to use this opportunity to kil her heart in order to go on a killing spree to save herself... Wouldn't this be the best way to save everyone without having to kill herself to do it? No. Alas, the Cruiser isn't allowed to take that easy way out, as she sees something faintly above the surface of the water. The fact that she can see anything at all should be odd in and of itself, but when she pulls her head out of the water, she doesn't even feel that weight from being dragged down. That pain from being battered into paste. Instead, she feels lighter. She sees Civil War appearing in front of her, and she sees what it does to Rean as he carves a path through her to save her from that emotional void before getting sucked into the emotional void himself. "... I get it now. It all makes sense!" That's a bit of a stretch, but it doesn't have to make complete sense to her. It just has to make enough sense for her to know how to proceed. "If this'll save you... Then there's nothing to worry about!" Picking herself back up, Haguro springs forward as she leaps towards Rean with her arms outstretched as if ready to catch him in some kind of loving embrace. ... And then she goes for a sucker punch to his gut. "You're stronger than you look, so.. I know you'll be fine! Just bear with me for now!" The other hand grabs for his face to try shoving him headfirst into the murky water to... Drown him? Save him from the guilt assailing him now? Both.
Revali	CENTRAL/FINAL: Something... about this room. It falls apart? "Well, doing something unexpected, maybe..." Revali puts a wing to the ground, and focuses. And the wind starts to blow. It's a strong, swirling wind - coming on all at once with little to no buildup. The winds blow all throughout the chamber in a spiraling pattern, drawing inwards towards the center - towards Revali and Jonathan's location near the statue, and then coalescing into a stiff updraft towards the roof of the chamber, and then with nowhere to go the wind currents spiral back outwards and down, completing an entirely closed weather system. The effect is, largely, a sudden tornado appearing inside. Revali isn't sure what Axl RO has planned. But, hopefully, that'll get cancelled out by Axl RO not being able to plan for Revali's Gale!
Jonathan Joestar	WETROOM: Rean suffers. The memory of leaving his fellow soldiers to die -- yes. He, Rean Schwarzer, had dreamt of being a musician, hadn't he? But instead, he'd been drafted into the army. This conflict of interest, it had nothing to do with him, but he was forced into it anyway. His job was to act as a lookout during the night, stuck up in a tree. If he saw the enemy, he had to light the lantern to warn his comrades. Stuck there, day after day, night after night, all alone ... it was enough to drive him to drink. Until the fateful night came that the enemy approached. Of course, Rean knows that if he lights the lantern as he's supposed to and warns his allies, the enemy would notice him and he would be ruthlessly slaughtered. There was so much he wanted to do ... but even so, he'd made friends there. Everyone in town was counting on him, both the civilians and the soldiers. But Rean was afraid. He didn't want to die, and that fear paralyzed him. That fear unabled the Union to march right in and massacre everyone, they never stood a chance. And Rean, he just stayed hunkered down in his tree. It was that battle which would ultimately decide the outcome of the war, and it didn't take a genius to figure that out. It's all Rean's fault. If only he had the guts to light the lantern. If only he'd been willing to die for his fellows and loved ones. ..Yes. Rean was also a warship. He was a warship used to fight the Royal Navy, and he protected his people proudly. He was sunk in 1945. But ... those people he protected, even though he gave up everything, they kept taking. They took his corpse. They took his dignity, and his pride. Wasn't his life enough? But what hurt worse was that he still loved them. No matter how badly he tried to revile humans for what they did, to hate them, and to crush the feelings inside that drove him to fight in the first place, all it did was make him feel all the more responsible. Rean drowns in it. These personal demons were his now -- that was Civil War's power. To create a world where guilt is revealed and absolved through sacrifice.
Crys Gattz	Crys Gattz looks Axl down as he says his peace and she's more concerned about Jonathan's wellbeing than trying to cap this servant of Dio. After all, Jojo's been a very good employer all things considered. She looks at Revali's attempt to get him free of it. Don't get anywhere sadly. This has Crys flashback to things in her own past for a moment he eye narrows now. The mention of shadows? Okay she's some ideas now after the nerdiest space marine ever catches on tot eh shadows as well, she doesn't have the means to do anything about it, does it? She didn't have any flashbacks with her. The man's way too calm about dying, way too calm. He's calm almost the same way those who cheat or have a deal with death to get around it. "What the hell is Dio offering all you people to be minions? Every Stand user has been a formidable foe who could be a thing in their own right." Then she thinks about it she pulls that flashlight out and turns it on to full power.
Jonathan Joestar	CENTRAL CHAMBER: Squinting, the former soldier pulls his cap lower to help shield his eyes. "What a troublesome talent ... but, it's useless to use it now. He's already flown the coop." As if to enunciate his point, eliminating the shadows in the room didn't wind up revealing someone. But from what could be inferred, Damocles had the right idea of how precisely to counter the person's ability if he ever came across them. "DIO .. well, he takes care of us. Money, women, challenges, whatever. But for me .... he's the first person who was able to make me feel like I could forgive myself. I'm under no misconception, of course I know he cares nothing for me. It's just his 'charisma' .... like the President, or someone like that."
Yuuki Kuran	Yuuki is baffled, but not for her usual reasons. Ok, there's a usual reason: "Oh, please don't reveal we've fallen into another trap..." She laments, in the tone of someone who's had one too many puzzles on the night. "Becoming the new you happens every day you wake up. But if you're wondering whether or not I've noticed a secret plan, or a trap, or a hitch and a hook that you think you'll get me with... Well, I'm very stubborn." She steps, and the distance disappears between her and Jonathan Joestar. Falling to her knees deliberately at his side, she heaves him up lightly. "Jonathan, you're OK. Everything is OK. Just breathe, Jonathan! It's your strength, isn't it? What do you have to regret? The choices you've made..." Well, she's probably just talking to an asleep person, as she tries to rouse him quietly -- under Revali's massive tornado-gale. "Breathe, Jonathan... I need you. I'm so *terrible* at puzzles."
Touta Konoe	He was fine with this. Probably more fine he should have been. As if a part of him didn't want to forget the guilt that would now be part of his burden for eternity. Rather...He didn't want to end up a person who'd live so long that he'd end up feeling these emotions. Even if they were painful as long as they weren't numbed...It was something he could accept. At least, by his own strength he could accept this guilt, it would allow him to continue on.     Touta's body would finally reform as if some sort of chrysalis had been devoured itself only to spout out the young man. The boy returns in his entirety as if nothing had ever happened, and just like the beginning of his trip he returns holding that small card with his feet entrapped in the water...But he's able to put it away now seeing the events unfolding before him. He can only watch as not knowing the full situation but seeing Haguro fling Rean his way, no towards the water as well. His body slowly being consumed by film just like he had. Was that his fault? He wasn't sure but...Fault didn't matter now. The only thing that mattered now was action.     "Rean, sorry bout before buddy. I'll return the favor, but ye might not like it..." Touta pulled out his hoop as Rean gets thrown in. He's not sure how effective really is against this stuff, but Touta knows that at least his feet were kept from the film while he was submerged and while it didn't stop it, while he was submerged it seemed to have hindered it...Mildly. So he figures he's just got make this water more effective somehow. So using Revolution Touta would make a vortex from this water. He'd have it circulate and spiral like actual running water thinking that it'd be more effective in wiping away such grime as the film than if it were stagnant. And if that didn't work well...He had already taken in his own guilt, what would a little more be to him?
Jonathan Joestar	CENTRAL CHAMBER: Axl RO places his hands back over the wooden box. "So you can create windstorms. But, it's useless ... " Despite displacing quite a bit in the room, there was truly nothing to foil. What he saw was what he got, although it was strange for there to be windows in a room that for all intents and purposes, was underground. Proper modern ones too, for the 19th or 20th century that is. "There's no secret plan, rather -- " "He's just saying you're a dullard!" Civil War reappears by his master's side, speaking over him. "This room..the only reason it looks like this is because it's his regret! He's drowning in it! And the only way to save him is to absolve him of it...and take that sin onto your own shoulders. In order to move forward, a sacrifice is necessary!"
Damocles	"Not the bravest ninja in the clan, is your partner?"  Damocles gives a slight nod to the soldier, before heading over to help with Jojo.  "Maybe you can't forgive yourself," He laments as he turns his back on the soldier.  "Maybe it doesn't matter.  You're alive.  Become something better." He shrugs his shoulders a little, looking down at Jojo.  "Or don't.  Life's about the next choice, not the last one." He kneels down next to Joestar's form.  He doesn't touch him...He isn't sure what that film would do to him, but he does put a hand to his own forehead, and reaches out mentally once more.  //Joestar...This is Damocles.  The rest of us are here with you.  You're still alive, unlikely as that might sound.  But we've still got a job to do.  So it's time to stop wallowing.  Now take a breath, stand up, and let's -get to work-.//
Yuuki Kuran	"Oh. OK. I accept Jonathan Joestar's regret." Yuuki says, without a single second of consideration. "And dullard is quite a rude word. You're not allowed to call me that." She adds.
Zero Kiryu	As Axl RO delivers his answer, Zero shapes what is /very much/ a throne for himself. He sits down and crosses his legs, listening with sincere interest. He would look a /great/ deal more regal if he were wearing something a bit more decent than pajamas. Though, it might have just been to root him in place in the event of somebody, I don't know, summoning a tornado indoors. His eyes flick from Axl to Yuuki, lingering there for a long, long moment. "I am familiar with the phenomena, so I won't be too critical. But I will say that the Concord almost certainly has more for you than your Dio, and the results are a little more... long term." He gestures loosely towards Yuuki, "It may not be showing at this exact moment, but that is the sort of woman /she/ is." His attention slides from Yuuki to Civil War. "Sacrifices come in many different shapes." He remarks. Zero's gaze turns to Jonathan Joestar. An instant later he begins to speak through the mind-- his voice isn't subtle. It is too loud, not in the manner of someone who is 'powerful', but in the manner of someone who doesn't actually have volume control. JONATHAN JOESTAR, Zero's mental voice quakes, I, ZERO KIRYU, OFFER YOU THE POWER TO WEATHER THIS STORM. ACCEPT AND MY BLOOD WILL BE YOUR BLOOD. MY STRENGTH WILL BE YOUR STRENGTH.
Arcadia	"I see. That is why you showed no fear..." And that's when Arcadia actually lowers her arm. Her expression goes from being angry and annoyed to something less aggressive.. but arguably more cold. "You live, and yet you do not for it is a pitiful, unenjoyable existance. Your own personal cage." The sphinx turns away from Axl. "You already bear a fate worse than death." And there is nothing more to be said than that. Instead she walks over towards that staircase, and the wall that looks like it was actually a part of this structure. "Also thank you for pointing out the true nature of this decor." Her visor rematerializes, and shifts to UV mode to give her better visual clarity to help pick out the real tomb from the effects of Axl's self-engulfing guilt. There is still a treasure to find after all... Or confirm that it is no longer here.
Revali	The source of the tornado fades away, Revali dismissing it since it turns out it was never needed. There's still leftover wind blowing around the chamber, but all it's causing is dramatic effects, at this point.
Crys Gattz	Axl ro lays it out he give his answer she stares at him for a moment. Kill him? Take his sins upon yourself. She's not sure how to respond to that, it could be a trick it could be a trap. Before she can say a thing Yuuki says she'll do and then then Zero makes an offer and she's just left going this is so over her head for the moment.
Jonathan Joestar	CENTRAL CHAMBER:             ". . . " Axl RO contemplates what Damocles says, as the man in question tries to communicate with Jonathan through telepathy. Stuck inside his own head, Jonathan feels like he's dragging himself through molasses. He's suffocating, unable to draw in even a single breath as his deepest regrets drag him into the blaze. His burning home, or the ice cold water running through Windknight's Lot. He can't tell if its smoke or water filling his lungs. "W..what? That voice, is .. " Axl RO says nothing, allowing Arcadia to do as she pleased. In so far as she could tell, the Bow by the staircase was part of the original decor .. in other words, it was part of the set. Then where were the arrows? Unless ... Of course. The box in his hands had the same kind of wood that bow was made of. JONATHAN JOESTAR I, ZERO KIRYU, OFFER YOU THE POWER TO WEATHER THIS STORM. ACCEPT AND MY BLOOD WILL BE YOUR BLOOD. MY STRENGTH WILL BE YOUR STRENGTH. The encouragement from the first and the offer from the second left Jonathan twitching. He'd been reliving these moments over and over and over again, he knew. He'd also already determined Axl RO's Stand power as he'd triggered it himself, and accordingly knew that the only alternative was something he could never ask of one of them. And while the fact was ignorant to him, he'd never want to put someone as sweet as Yuuki through it, either. So instead, he'd put his trust into a vampire, something he'd slowly found himself able to do more and more as he gained experience in the multiverse. Zero was a good person, someone he'd grown to respect. And so, JoJo puts his trust in him. "So be it! I accept!"
Zero Kiryu	Zero raises a hand into the air and squeezes it into a fist. He breaks his own skin without difficulty, and a flow of blood begins to seep down his arm. The vital fluid runs down his arm and then seems to turn into vapor, rolling through the air in a cloud that seeps through the molasses surrounding him and insinuates itself into his body. There is a brief moment in which Jonathan perceives the coppery metallic flavor of blood-to-a-human, but it rapidly transforms into something... /else/. A flash of memory, and not a good one. There is a piercing pain at his neck, but it's not strictly physical. It is taking place in his mindscape, superimposed-- external. A woman is biting him. A feeling of filthiness briefly follows, and then disperses. The coppery taste yields to an altogether different taste. It has texture and dimension that blood shouldn't have, and it's too... /good/. It is like water after a thorough work-out, or a favorite dish perfectly prepared. Although the flavor goes away, a distant uneasiness that will soon register as hunger settles in. Sprouting before Zero Kiryu's throne is a tree. It looks like something out of a swamp, drooping and short. But upon a branch grows a fruit that is suspiciously shaped like a heart. Power and craving surges through Jonathan. Imminent death is suddenly understood to be a fleeting reality, something that will come, and go, and come again. But it isn't quite so permanent or threatening. Mental fortitude follows. It is less personal-- there is a feeling like a shadow standing overhead. Perhaps Jonathan will understand it is reflective of a Parent-Child relationship as vampires go. Whether he does or not, the looming presence that pushes back the curtain of viable mental invasion is the shadow of Zero Kiryu. He unsqueezes his hand and allows the wound to seal. The heart beats upon the tree. The mist that seeped into Jonathan is short-term-- the heart that beats on the tree is a more lasting offer, and it smells wonderful. Like a home cooked meal found suddenly in the desert. But it compels no more than ravenous hunger does. "Now," says the vampire aloud, "weather the storm."
Arcadia	It's not that Arcadia is ignoring the dramatics going on at the other side of the chamber. But there are plenty of people already involved in that, people arguably better suited for it. So she's gotten back on the task of the original quest they came here for and went through all this trouble finding. "Aha." Arcadia has found the bow! Then after a moment of realization utters under her breath. "... Wait a minute." This is only part of the treasure. Arguably the less important part. The sphinx turns back to the rest of the room slowly, eyes narrowing behind her visor. The UV vision picks up the same wavelength from the wooden box Axl is holding as it does from the bow's composition. Of course. Why else would he make no effort to stop her? Arcadia bursts into motion, surging towards Axl and attempting to grab the box from him before he realizes she's coming. Even if she can't fly fully indoors she is still exceptionally fast.
Rean Schwarzer	Rean Schwarzer, broken warship and cowardly soldier drowns in his(?) own despair. He failed to protect his people, and when he finally succeeded at protecting them,  they betrayed him by taking him apart. It stung, and it hurt, but at least someone as useless as him became useful in death. Someone shoves him into the churning water, knocking all the wind out of his lungs with a punch to the gut as well. And now he's actually drowning. ["You're stronger than you look, so.. I know you'll be fine! Just bear with me for now!"] ["Rean, sorry bout before buddy. I'll return the favor, but ye might not like it..."] It's hard to tell because he's currently underwater and his brain's a bit of a mess right now, but didn't he know those voices? Those shadows?  No, it'd have to be an illusion, weren't they supposed to be dead? Still, he nods. Some small part of him still wanted to be saved even if he didn't deserve it.
Crys Gattz	The deal is done whatever Zero has done hopefully it will help Johnathan through this trial. Meanwhile, she's keeping an eye on Axel RO. She's a direct fighter caught up in this but has enough brain cells to not just start stabbing or shooting yet. She doesn't quite know what Zero can do but whatever it is? Zero may have very well saved Jonathan Joestar from a gristly end. She turns her head to Axl RO keeping her pistol at the ready as she does so. Jojo should be okay and she falls in with Arcadia and will follow up her rush on Axl, she doesn't have super speed but she might make for a good second shot if he ends up avoiding Arcadia's attempt.
Jonathan Joestar	CENTRAL CHAMBER:             ". . . " The sensation was awful. Jonathan could relate to it, as well -- his brother had attempted to turn him into an Undead, and that was the closest feeling he could relate to what he was experiencing now. The pain in his neck. The sensation of something horrid. At that time, he'd manipulated his blood pressure to eject the poison and purified himself with Hamon energy, closing the wound in the process. But this time ... The phantom pain quickly turns to a euphoria. It felt like he was finally able to drag himself up for air, with the assistance of the 'shadow' forcing away the weights that dragged him down. In the real world, Jonathan's blue eyes snapped open, and the film coating his body began to evaporate. "Kooooooooh!" The moment his head is free he takes in a deep, powerful, and refreshing breath of air. Yuuki and the rest witness his body, previously pallid and asphyxiated near instantly regain its vigor, the ripple filling him up and revitalizing him within moments. "E...everyone....you're here..!" Arcadia manages to grab the box from him rather easily, as he makes no effort to defend it. " ... that's not fair at all." Civil War scoffs churlishly. "All you've done is bought him time. Maybe not today, but eventually, even if not from my power, that sin will come back to haunt you!" Axl RO looks at the palms of his hands. "The Concord, huh .... well, unfortunately, it's too late for me now." He knew, even if he hadn't seen it happen himself, that DIO had to have planted a flesh bud on himself as well.
Damocles	Damocles stands up when Zero moves in. The sorcerer only has words for this situation.  Chaos doesn't really 'help' people much, but it looks like others have more direct assistance they can provide.  Instead, he turns his attention to Axl again. The sorcerer draws himself up to his full height, flicking his shoulders back and motioning to the soldier with his staff.  When Damocles talks, there's a slight boom to his voice that wasn't there before.  A hard edge of a man talking business. "Alright, November Ra. We are whom we choose to be.  So choose!  Will you step out into the world and face the sun, or diminish to nothingness here among your ghosts?"
Yuuki Kuran	Yuuki is ready to strike the killing blow. To drive her hand into Jonathan Joestar's heart, and devour the regret there. To take it into her own self, and live with a regret she could never shake herself of. Someone else's burden. But she was ready. In this case, she was just melodramatically slow. She hesitated, right at the critical moment. As her ears played with Axl RO's words, the sincerity of his town and 'more than his tone', delving into his surface thoughts to find the truth that she had heard was real. And it was. But Zero Kiryu, on his throne of thorns, is faster and more decisive. He acts not as a floundering friend, but a powerful lord willing to lend aid. Perhaps that's just the difference between them, for now. That she had settled on the friend and he had settled on the lord. Jonathan is released as Zero solves by giving and not taking. "Jonathan!" She calls, as Joestar revives and breathes back in his powerful breath. "I was about to kill you! I'm so sorry! But it's fine, because... Wait, we can't attack him?" Yuuki draws herself back up to her feet, setting her jaw annoyedly. "After all that... This must be why DIO collects them. Not for their friendship, or their pleasing presence--" She levels an accusatory finger at Axl RO. "But because your powers all suck to deal with!"
Arcadia	Arcadia has the box by the time she stops, halfway across the chamber again. Civil War can say what he wants, and is probably correct, but she doesn't care. She got the prize without setting off the 'trap'. "Considering all the bullshit we've been dealing with, utilizing my superior speed is hardly cheating." Wonder if he has one of those cancer squids in his brain.... PRobably. It'd be a way for DIO to killswitch him without being in range of his Stand's effect. Oh well, not her problem. She goes back to grab the bow too, since they are a set.
Jonathan Joestar	CENTRAL CHAMBER:             ". . . " With its ability to influence JoJo gone, the anachronistic features of the room begin to fade away. Civil War makes a displeased noise as this happen, but Axl RO remains nonplussed. He regards Damocles thoughtfully. "I'm too weak to face the world. I'm too weak to face myself. ... I was a coward whose heart and soul was broken when he allowed the Battle of Gettysburg to happen as it did. But in some way, shape or form ... you all have shown me something that even DIO couldn't." Not just them, but the ones still struggling in the Wetroom, as well. Civil War whirled around, "W..wait...something about you has changed. Your mind's made up...stop it! I can't revive you this time!" "That won't be necessary," he assures Zero Kiryu as he draws his own service pistol. "Rather than allowing DIO's parasite to kill me, I'd rather part this world on my own terms ... and face my comrades in hell. Thank you, for showing me your strength. Farewell..!"     "S-STOOOP! I DON'T WANT TO DIE TOO!" But the cry of Civil War is for naught, as Axl RO pulls the trigger on himself, blowing a hole through his head that kills the writhing and wriggling flesh bud that had been about to claim his life itself.         WETROOM: The water disappears. The 'zombies' disappear too, and the film which had been strugglling to grow on Rean in the water disappears as well. Axl RO's 'burden' is not weighed as his own anymore, but the memory is scorched into his brain, as are Haguro's. They'll reside within his heart, a memento, but not one associated with himself.         CENTRAL CHAMBER: "Axl RO" Jonathan murmurs, before turning away from the corpse. The room now looks as it should, fairly barren for ceremonial purposes. There is a pedastal where the bow was taken, and another one under it for the box. But, Arcadia might notice ... that the box feels far lighter than it should.
Haguro	This plan sounded better in the heat of the moment, but now that Rean's been under for a good bit, she's feeling a little less certain. If not for Axl Ro's self-inflicted demise and the resulting end of Civil War, she'd probably be in a pretty bad spot right about now even with Touta around to potentially shove some of that responsibility onto for putting Rean through the wringer. Thankfully, there's nothing to worry about by then, and she stays nearby to hoist the swordsman onto his feet if necessary. "It... Sounds like the battle's over over there, then." She comments while looking towards the central room, sighing after a moment as she looks like the wind's been taken out of her. "But... We managed it." She chuckles after a moment, glancing between both Touta and Rean before starting towards the central room. "I heard Mister Joestar in there as well, so we should regroup with the others and... See where this all goes, I suppose." She still sounds troubled, but somehow lighter.
Revali	Revali stands up slowly. "..." He has a couple thoughts running through his head - ones that he leaves unvoiced. This is the second time since venturing outside of his home world that he's found himself shaken.
Crys Gattz	Arcadia has the box, odd Axl makes no effort to defend it, she'll move to break off from her run. She also gets, to get Dio's attention for being useful to him. Is serve or die pretty much. She also catches Jojo's warning to not attack so she needs to take another vector on this, then comes the Yuuki's revelation about why Dio targets those he does and it makes twisted sense she'll keep with. She then looks at Axl her normally mute expression gets sympathetic as she looks as he turns his gun on himself he's a war vet and it must have been a nightmare of a battle he was in. The squid is about to claim him or so it seems Civil War screams in protest but Axl does not care, Crys doesn't look away as Axl Ro ends his own life and she wonders will he be in hell? She doesn't know his fate, but there's no hate at least there. "So ends Axl RO." She now looks away but there's an urge she has she wants to burry this foe properly. "So got the stuff Arcadia?"
Damocles	"/`For all I've seen has changed my mind, But still the wars go on as the years go by With no love of God or human rights./`" Damocles softly sings a couple verses from the titular song for the villain as his body hits the floor, before putting his own staff to rest, tapping the bottom gently against the floor. He turns over his shoulder and looks at the group, saying evenly, "You shouldn't need me for this last part.  There's one more loose end I need to attend to.  I'll meet you outside."  With that, Damocles nods his head slightly, and moves back to the entrance.
Arcadia	"He accepted his fate and went on his terms instead of the one thing DIO held over him... Like a proper soldier." That's all Arcadia has to say on that. Whatever Axl did in the past to hold this burden, she could respect that he took the matter into his own hands in the end. Metaphorically and literally. But she's not going to ruin the moment with a dumb wisecrack like that. "Yeah, got the stuff." Arcadia starts to hold the box out to offer it to Johnathan.. but now that there's not a lot going on she notices something... feels off. So instead she tucks the bow under her arm and goes to open the box herself. Never know. It could still be booby trapped or something.
Zero Kiryu	Zero takes a deep breath and exhales slowly. The blip of Jonathan's existence grows brighter in his sight, shot through with red veins. He rubs lightly at the tattoo on his neck, where /he/ himself was bitten. The same spot that felt filthy to Jonathan a moment before, as a matter of fact. He rises from his seat, padding over next to Yuuki. His right hand rises, resting on Yuuki's head and... relentlessly, naggingly mussing her hair. The expression on his face is dulled, almost exhausted. But it still has that flat characteristic it does when he's messing with her in particular. "It's... fine. And now you have an answer to a question that I asked you." He says, sleepily. Violet eyes flick back towards Axl RO and Civil War. For a moment, Zero meets Axl's gaze-- and he understands, though he doesn't really approve. He might have had the strength to change that, too... but perhaps not quickly enough to thwart what Dio was about to do to him. The flash of the muzzle and roar of the gunshot doesn't even cause him to flinch. Neither, truly, does the blood and the gore. Zero separates from Yuuki, and plucks Axl RO's service pistol up from the ground. Zero takes it by the barrel and offers it to Jonathan. As he does so, he looks towards Arcadia. "No." "A proper soldier implements his commander's designs." "This man was defiant, at the end. As a soldier, he's a failure." "But it's fine, to just be a man."
Jonathan Joestar	CENTRAL CHAMBER:             ". . . " Taking a moment to stretch, as well as gently pat Yuuki on the head, Jonathan is just glad to be out of that nightmare. Although ... "Kill me? You mean ... to activate Civil War's power -- I ..." The man has a conflicted look on his face. "...Thank you. But ... please, don't ever do something like that to yourself." He's giving pause by Arcadia approaching with the box, and Zero with Axl RO's pistol. Grimacing, he accepts the weapon, reaching to place it in his backpack while Arcadia opens the box up to check it out. And when she does, Jonathan's worst fears are confirmed. "N....no..! That person must have taken the arrowheads and slipped out! It's empty!" And indeed, it was. They'd reclaimed the Bow, but Axl RO's accomplice was long gone. Distraught and, 'hungry' as it were, Jonathan turns away from the others, placing his hands against the wall. Particularly, he kept his back to Zero's fruit. "This is terrible! The only solace we can take is his range ... he has to hop from one shadow to the next. But even so, with how ahead of us he is...!"
Arcadia	Arcadia, on the other hand, is actually rather unsurprised by this. "Now we know why his 'partner' wasn't here to make our lives miserable."
Crys Gattz	Crys Gattz would crack her knucles at Aracdia's statment of intent however givne she's got that big darn claw it it owuld be unwise to do so. She then sighs a bit. "Well we have to keep moving forward. "Nothing wrong with being a man."
Rean Schwarzer	Axl RO's death stops Civil War's effect, returning Rean to being a teenager from the Erebonian Empire. He lets out a few coughs as he sits back up, and stares at his hands in his lap for a moment. Those memories were a lot to unpack and put away. For someone who might've gone on to be a soldier one day, Axl's memories were something to take note of. And Haguro...well, he kind of got the boat ghost thing a bit more. Haguro offers him a hand up and he takes it, pulling himself into a standing position. "Thanks." Rean says. He then looks between Touta and Haguro, Haguro especially since he just finished talking a walk in her rigging. "...You two ok? I mean, as far as you can be given...well, all that. If you two need to just vent about it or something I'm here. Especially since I got hit with some of Haguro's memories back there..."
Yuuki Kuran	After getting 2x COMBO HEADPATTED into a state not unlike an extremely fuzzy Sadako, with long brown hair falling all around her head nad totally obscuring most of her facial features. Her shoulders slump, and she exhales powerfully. It's too much. It's truly all too much. "Jonathan, I came to save you. Whatever price it was, I would be willing to bear that to bring you back. A little trauma would probably be well at home with me. Plus: I'm not helpless!" She pumps a fist at the elbow, her bicep hidden in her baggy sleeve. "I've got plenty of practice dealing with stuff. And I'm tough, to boot. But Zero had a better idea. And Damocles was right there with us. Everyone was here for you, not just for the arrows." The gunshot sounds, but her full reaction is hidden behind the hair. She doesn't flinch. "It's always a little sad when the right choice is an ending. But saying things like that makes me a terrible hypocrite. Either way..." Yuuki brushes her hair out of her eyes with a whisking of her hand. "We have to stop those arrows from reaching DIO. It'll be terrible if he gets the power to have an arbitrary number of Stand users!"
Haguro	"I'm... I'm okay now. I just need to work some things out and.. It'll be fine, don't worry." Haguro manages a weak chuckle in return, sounding rather obvious about hiding a whole lot of things. Despite Rean seeing exactly what's been bothering her, she still appears to be trying to distance herself from the matter rather than confronting it head on. Surely it won't come back to haunt her later, right? Right. After regrouping with the group in the central chamber, Haguro is furrowing her brow when the group discovers that Axl RO's partner has absconded with the arrows. "Loyal to the end... DIO's ability to get all these people working for him is looking more and more dangerous each time we run into one of these Stand users." She grunts lightly in annoyance, then rubs her forehead while trying to shake off some of that fatigue that's been building up. "Do we have any eyes in thesky or...?" Haguro shakes her head lightly, then taps a finger to her chin. "Well, if the power can only be activated through the Bow /and/ Arrow, DIO and his people will still have to come to us to retrieve that half of the set." The Cruiser punches her palm. "And that's when we can strike back on our terms. Meanwhile, we can have a second group tracking the arrows or... His location, perhaps?"
Touta Konoe	With the disappearence of Civil War, his effects would have vanished. His abilities clearing up with Rean along with the combined help of both himself and Haguro. Though it did raise the question on whether that film...That guilt had faded away along with Civil, or if it was more than that? It was hard to say. At the very least, he knew that being able to help Rean out. That was something that there was no way he'd need to regret.     He dusts himself off before looking like he's about to reach into his pocket again, though the young man stops himself with a smirk and a shrug. "Mmmm, I've been better. But I'll manage. Still, definitely think we got one pulled over on us huh?" It was true, really this part of the group had really ended up taking a hit on this part of the adventure. To the point that well... "Ah, yeah, we need to catch up to the others! You guys are good right?! Let's go!"     Without any other words he would also arrive back with the two, a look of relief on his face to see Jonathan was good but...Something definitely seemed off about him from the last time he saw him. He get a haircut in the last few hours while in the pyramid? Do something with his teeth? Hard to say. Though when they get informed about the bad news Touta's all the bummed out regardless. "Seriously? Jeez, this guy's got a plan for his plan..."
Jonathan Joestar	"M...Mister Joestar!" Speedwagon gasps, hobbling into the room. The back of his head was sticky with drying blood. "Speedwagon!" Jonathan exclaims, the scar-faced blonde muscling his way past Touta to check on him. The two share a happy reunion, despite the current circumstances. After catching his friend up on the situation, Jonathan uncomfortably engages in a conversation regarding just how DIO had been plotting around them. Eventually, he comes to one conclusion. No matter what, this would be true. "Yuuki's right. We can't let DIO just have the arrow ... we have to make haste! Speedwagon, I know it can't be easy to ask you to just drop everything, but .." The man shakes his head. "I'm with you all the way. The thought of letting that puke run rampant makes me sick, so let's go!" "Right! I know everyone's tired, but we have no time to waste. We have to head straight back to the Fishing Village. The workers should be safe for now and can return at their own pace, but if we use all of our abilities to go full tilt, we should make it there by nightfall." And true enough, some time later, as the sun sets ... the Fishing Village they first arrived to awaits them.         To be continued . . . .