A Kieran's Challenge: The Sun Part 2

As Nico walked through the desert with snowing falling around him, all while not knowing where he was supposed to go, or where he currently was. But, he did know that it was better than staying in one place waiting for the group of four to possibly find him.

"Fucking desert! Fucking sand! Fucking bullshit start to my challenge!!" He kept saying while frustrated to no one in particular. Even though he's been walking for what seemed like hours, he was still annoyed by his predicament. Even with his snow cloud following above him, he still felt like it was too hot, which just added to his bad mood.

He could have used his XLR8 DNA to run to the nearest city, or his mutant parrot wings to soar through the sky to get out of the desert faster. But, something in his gut told him that if he did that he would miss something important, though, he still hasn't found what that 'important' thing is.

"Eve didn't even tell me what a Stand actually looks like, or what the people I'm supposed to get along with look like!! For all I know I could be walking over their corpses!! Or in the middle of Stand already!!!" With each frustrated word he yelled out the snow he had been producing start to seem like they were embedding themselves into the sand and grow into small stems similar to how a flower would in fertile soil.

"AND WHY THE HELL HASN'T THE SUN GONE DOWN!?!? IT'S BEEN FUCKING HOURS!!! ALSO WHY ARE THERE FOUR RANDOM CAMEL'S IN THE DISTANCE LAYING ON THE GROU-..... four camel's??..." Nico stopped in his tracks as he saw four camels laying in the sand over a mile away from him, while looking like they were dying of dehydration. Which is an odd sight, since camels should rarely get to this point, even in the desert.

"Are those four nearby?! Wait. Better question, what's that green looking thing heading towards the- OH SHIT!!" He yelled out as it seemed like the sun suddenly shot beams of light near where the camels were, and where Nico himself was.

He quickly manipulated the snow and pieces of ice around him to create a shield, even going as far as to use his snow cloud in it too, as his absorption rate wasn't fast enough to absorb a moving target like that while he limited himself. Though, when he created the shield to block the attack, he could finally feel it, the ungodly heat that was around him that he didn't feel before because of his snow cloud. It was as if he had just been thrown into a furnace that was fueled by the sun itself!

"What the fuck is this shit!?!" Nico yelled out as the beams of light tried to break his shield. He didn't understand how the situation suddenly changed as soon as he saw those camels, he didn't even fully understand how someone was using THE FUCKING SUN as a weapon like this, and he's seen an alien that could remake a universe!

"I don't know what's going on here! But..... I DO KNOW THAT WHOEVER'S DOING THIS IS PRACTICALLY BEGGING FOR DEATH!!!!" He yelled out as whoever decided to attack, actively chose to bring him into whatever is going on, and this only added to his already rotten mood.

Nico dispersed his shield and layered the entirety of his insides with Limax DNA. If this was the work of a Stand, then Nico should be able to absorb it, possibly kill the user and get a new power in one fell swoop.

"TIME TO KILL A SUN!!! .....My life is so weird..." He ran towards the direction of the sun, that still tried to shoot him down, while using ice to create pillars to help him go higher and higher into the sky to get closer to it.

As he dodged the beams by the hair of his chin he ended up looking over at where the camels were, and saw what looked like a man-made pit with an old man with binoculars and three other guys in it. Looks like those are the people he was supposed to meet, but right now that wasn't his focus, as he needed to focus on his opponent.

"How high is this bitch!?" Nico yelled out as he jumped to the right while making another pillar under himself, as the one he was on before got shot down by the sun.

He kept dodging, jumping, and making new pillars to stand on, it seemed like he was already reaching 100 meters in the air, and it felt like he wasn't half way there yet. This entire process would have been faster if he used wings to fly, but if he did that his wings would be an easier target to hit due to their size.

"Fuck it! I should be far enough to not kill them!" Originally Nico had planned on absorbing the Stand directly, but since he couldn't touch it, he would need to settle for his second plan. Absorb all the surrounding heat, including the heat this sun Stand is making!

"This is going to hurt!!" He jumped off the pillar towards the sun, while the sun shot another beam that grazed his shoulder, causing some of his flesh to burn, before being repaired by the Limax part inside him.

****

"What in the hell is going on!?!" Joseph yelled in confusion as he saw what looked like a teenage boy start to run towards the Stand that had attacked them, while jumping on pillars made of ice to get closer to it.

He was already confused by how he couldn't see the Stand user of The Sun, even though the Stand itself seemed so powerful, and had forced them to hide in the hole his grandson made. But, seeing a young Stand user(?) come out of nowhere and make ice like it was as natural as breathing, while dodging the attacks from the enemy Stand, was probably the most shocking thing he's seen in a long while.

"I thought the only Stand user's we'd meet would be our enemies. So why is that kid attacking The Sun?!" Looking through the binocular's he even saw that the kid in question seemed to be not much older than his own grandson. And yet, he was able to dodge the attacks easier than Hierophant Green, who was almost as fast as Star Platinum!

"Old man, what's going on over there?" Jotaro, Joseph's grandson, asked from a bit further in the hole he made, before coming over to his grandfather's side. He wanted to know what had gotten the old Joestar to react so loudly while they were basically hiding from the enemies attacks.

"Jotaro, look! There's a- what in the!?" Joseph yelled out as he saw the teenager jump off his last ice pillar, before it started to look like The Sun's attacks were beginning to grow weaker and dimmer, almost as if the energy from them was being siphoned off.

"Mr. Joestar! What's going on, is it the enemy- What the hell is happening?!?" Polnareff yelled out, because as soon as he got close to the opening he what looked like The Sun's attacks being drawn to someone who looked like he was floating in the air. He even swore he could see The Sun itself being drawn to the mysterious person.

"I don't know! But, I think we might have another ally on our side!" Although Joseph wasn't sure about the goals of this teenager, but he at least knew that they considered The Sun their enemy, and the enemy of his enemy is his friend.

****

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!! I knew this was going to hurt, fucking dammit!!!" Nico yelled out in pain as he continued to absorb the surrounding heat, as well as the attacks from the Stand. Which, the Crusader's couldn't hear from their position, thankfully.

You see, it turns out that even with Limax DNA mitigating the pain of the heat entering his body. It still couldn't get rid of the feeling of pain he got from trying to absorb what is essentially the soul of someone that was trying to fight back for the first time.

Just like when he first tried to absorb heat, it seems that his body will need time to get used to this energy. Though, Nico knew that the heat caused him pain because his body was used to the cold, so maybe absorbing a Stand was similar to a animal trying to eat a prey that wouldn't go down without a fight.

But, at this moment, his curiosity didn't matter, what did matter was finishing the job so his body can adapt to the energy in peace!

"Fuck you! Fuck yo mama!! Fuck yo daddy!!! Fuck yo grandma!!!! And... FUCK YOUR SHITTY ASS STAND BITCH!!!!!!" Nico grit his teeth as he put his all into absorbing the Stand before him, not limiting himself anymore at this point from fear of going insane.

Because he stopped holding back it became very clear to the Crusader's that he was absorbing the Stand in its entirety. Even with its distance from Nico, it was still being taken into his body at a rate that made the user scream in pain from his hiding place.

As more of the Stand went into his body, so too did the heat that surrounded Nico, making it colder and colder, to the point clouds formed over him and began to produce snow purely from the sudden temperature drop. It was as if a god of winter had appeared and was actively changing the environment to suit his desire's.

If it weren't for the distance between Nico and the Crusader's, they would have died almost immediately, because he would have absorbed all their body heat, and made them die of hypothermia in the desert.

"DIE!!!" Nico let out one last yell before the last remnants of the Stand were absorbed into his body, and the screams of the user suddenly died out. And with that the sky went from its original daytime scenery, to the cold and cloudy night, with the addition of the snow Nico helped produce.

"And don't come back you ball of gas piece of shit...." As his body began to slowly fall to the ground.

His body ached as it was actively trying to adjust to the heat and unfamiliar energy that was coursing through his veins. Seems Eve was wrong to a certain degree, the energy that a Stand was made from was similar to life energy, but it also felt completely different at the same time.

As his body descended further to the ground, and he heard the sounds of rapid footsteps heading towards him, the challenge card flew out of his bag to show him something. Seems this card could also be used to update him on his progress in this world.

Looking at the card, Nico had noticed that the look of it had changed, before it was just descriptions of his challenge's and rewards, but now it looked similar to an RPG layout.

[Challenger: Nicholas Levi Kieran/Tennyson

Race: Demigod/Osmosian/Necrofriggian

Number of Challenge's Started: 1/3

Number of Challenge's Completed: 0/3

Enemies Faced: 1

Abilities Gained From Most Recent Enemy: Sunshine - The user can shoot out rays of light from the palms of their hands, or fingers, for a small focused attack that can melt most metals, or turn themselves into a temporary visage of a small sun for a large area attack that will melt their surroundings and kill any undead in a matter of seconds. This ability also has the potential to allow the user to gain more potential in Hamon, however this requires the absorption of more life energy.

NOTICE: Using the secondary ability of Sunshine will take time and will expend the user's internalized heat, so it is not advised to use it if the user has little internal heat.]

"The fuck is Hamon??..." While Nico was happy with his newest power, but he was curious as to what Hamon is. Was it another power system that this world had that Eve forgot to tell him about? How useful was it? How was it related to Sunshine? These were only a few of the questions he had on his mind at the time while his body softly landed onto the fresh snow that covered the desert sands.

"Hey, kid! You alright over there!?" A worried aged voice yelled out to him, followed by the younger, yet equally worried, voice that followed it. "Mr. Joestar! We don't know if he could be an enemy too! For all we know they could have both been sent to attack us and had a falling out!"

Looking in the directions of the voices Nico saw four men, the old man he saw with binoculars earlier, a teenager with black hair in a japanese school uniform that looked like he was related to the old man, a man with white hair like his sisters that wore a strange outfit, and a red haired man that looked a bit injured, most likely from the earlier attack from the Stand.

"Or he could be a kid that just got caught in the middle of our business, Kakyoin! The least we can do is make sure he's alright! And who knows, maybe he'll join us! His Stand seems pretty powerful." The old man yelled out to the red head, who was apparently named Kakyoin, while he continued to run to Nico's location.

"I can hear you ya'know!" Nico yelled to them as he sat up from his laying position, albeit slowly due to his body still aching. "So, don't talk about me like I'm not here!"

"Ah! Right, sorry kid." The old man said as he scratched the back of his head once he got close enough to the demigod, before whispering under his breath. "Why am I getting a sense of déjà vu?"

"My name isn't kid it's, Nicholas Kieran, but most people call me Nico. Now, who are you, old man?" The Osmosian hybrid said as he stood up, remembering his sister's request to introduce himself as a Kieran.

"Nice to meet'ya, Nico! I'm Joseph Joestar! The kid with the black hair is my grandson Jotaro, the kid with the red hair is Kakyoin, and the frenchmen with white hair is Polnareff!" The old man, now identified as Joseph, said joyfully, seems he's the type that has a penchant for trying to make friends.

"Mr. Joestar, remember! He could be a potential enemy." The red headed Kakyoin said, seems he was on edge after Nico's display of power by absorbing a Stand that they couldn't even touch.

"Chill out, if I wanted you dead we wouldn't be talking right now. Also, here, you should patch up those wounds." Nico said as he reached into his messenger bag and tossed a first-aid kit to the red head.

"Umm, thanks, I guess." Kakyoin said as he caught the kit, seems he wasn't expecting Nico to give him one.

"No prob, now, if you guys don't mind, I'll be leaving as I want to get to the nearest town before day break." The hybrid said as he began to walk in random direction, though, a bit stiffly. But, he didn't actually intend to part with the group this soon, he just wanted them to ask him to join them, or else they might be suspicious.

"Hey! You can't just leave after making such a display like that!" The man, that Nico remembered was named Polnareff, said as he stepped in front of him. This man seemed a bit arrogant and blunt to Nico, which confused him as to why he was with the protagnist of this world. Was he the comedic relief or something?

"I don't care, I just want to get out of this desert my sister threw me in as soon as possible." Nico said as he brought out a tub of coffee ice cream from his messenger bag, as he was in the mood for something sweet.

"Your sister threw you out here?? Wait! That doesn't matter right now! What was that thing with the enemy Stand earlier? And where did you get that ice cream from!?" Seems Polnareff was also the curious type. This could be beneficial for Nico as he could try getting more info this world from him, if he confuses the frenchmen enough.

"For your first question, my Stand ate that annoying thing, and for your second, I pulled it out of my bag here, where else?" He said while bringing out a spoon, a table, and a chair out of his bag too. He then proceeded to sit on the chair and eat his ice cream.

"What! How could a Stand eat another Stand!? And how are you pulling all these things out of that little bag?!" Polnareff looked like he was ready to pull out his hair with how nonchalant Nico was being with all this.

"Good grief, Polnareff, calm down, he's just messing with you, and it looks like that bag of his is a Stand too." Jotaro said while shaking his head, seems he's probably the most observant out of them.

"What? But a person should only have one Stand!" Kakyoin said as he finished tending to his wounds with the first-aid kit that Nico had given him earlier.

"Hm? Judging by that display earlier, I'd guess his real Stand has something to do with Thermal Energy, while that bag he's holding is someone else's Stand and it can hold a lot more than it would seem." Jotaro analyzed Nico's 'Stand' based off of what he's seen so far, which cemented the hybrids perception of him being the most observant of the group.

"Seems whatever your mom fed you as a kid wasn't just to make you too damn big. You're right, this bag is called Bag of Holding, and it was once someone else's Stand." Nico refused to stop using his bag as it was extremely convienent, so he might as well act like it was a Stand he took.

"That raises another question! How did you take someone's Stand!?" Polnareff asked, seeming to still be frustrated with the teenager in front of him.

"Killed the user, the bag was still there after I killed him, so I took it, simple as that. Now, stop yelling before I use Equinox to freeze your lips shut." Nico was getting pretty annoyed with the yelling of the frenchmen as it didn't let him focus more on enjoying his ice cream. And he might as well call his 'Stand' Equinox, as he did just absorb a Stand that gave him Sunshine.

"So, I was right about your Stand, you use it to lower the temperature of the moisture in the air to make ice, and can use it to absorb heat, which is how you had it eat, or more likely absorb, the enemy Stand." Jotaro explained as Polnareff backed up a bit from Nico because of the threat.

"You definetly have protagonist energy, man." Nico had a blank stare while he ate another spoonful of ice cream. At this point, he found it strange how this guy wasn't in a detective type show or some shit, because he would probably find a killer after looking at a dusty desk for a couple of minutes.

"Quick question, Nico, do you have a place to stay?" Joseph asked after seeming like he had something on his mind since Nico said his sister threw him in the desert.

"Depends, are we in America?" You see, Nico didn't actually know where he was, other than in a random desert, so asking this question would help him figure that out. Though, its more a question out of pure curiousity, rather than something that could help him, as that info wouldn't effect his plans at all.

"Um, no, we're in the Arabian Desert. Why do you ask?" The old Joestar asked, curious as to why the teenager in front of him asked that question.

"Because it looks like the portal my sister made dropped me very far from home." Nico said as he finished off his ice cream, and put the chair and table back in his bag.

"Oh! Well in that case! Why don't you join us on our journey for the time being?" Joseph suggested, while not really paying attention to the fact that a strange old man asking a teenage boy that question, would give any normal person a mountain of red flags.

"Sure, I don't see why not." But, since Nico wasn't a normal person, and this was what he wanted, he didn't have a problem with what the old man suggested.

"Then it's settled! Welcome to the crew, Nico!" Even though Joseph did want Nico to join them, it was more to making the battles with the enemies easier until they get to Dio. After that he intended to get the teenager a cab to an airport, so he can head back home, he didn't want to have to make this kid help in facing Dio.

But, little did he know, that this teenager was going to end this curse on the Joestar family single handedly. And probably traumitize them, and possibly this world, to the point where the name, Kieran, will make them do their best not to anger him, or his family, at all cost.