38. Killer Queen Part III ~Another One Bites the Du...
Miguel waited near the benches.
"Hey!" shouted a woman from the distance.
A woman hugs Miguel as Miguel smiled and hugged back.
The woman then softly kisses Miguel on the lips.
It's Jessica.
Jessica gives off a big smile.
"Let's go home, darling!" she smiled softly.
Later...
"My name is Miguel JoJo. My father was killed for an unknown reason sometime after I was born. I am the User of this mysterious Stand I never figured out what was for. It's called Star Platinum," Miguel goes home to his cabin and hugs someone.
"Hello, sweetie!" smiled the beautiful but older woman.
"Hey, Mom," he smiled back.
"I am Miguel JoJo, and I'm just a regular human Stand-User."
Before...
Jessica sat on the bench alone on a summer day. It was rather hot. The trees around her had leaves rustling. Dried leaves fell to the ground. Small bugs like ants crawled around and took the leaves and dead insects.
"EW!!!" shouted Miguel, stepping on those ants. "UGH!!! GROSS!!! DISGUSTING VERMIN!!!"
"You okay there?" she asked, turning to Miguel.
"Oh, I'm fine," replied Miguel, as he scraped his shoe on the pavement. "Gross! Yuck! Bleugh!"
Jessica began to giggle.
"Oh, it's you," smiled Miguel. "Hey!" he laughed, rubbing his hair. "I heard what... Anne did-..."
"It's fine..." said Jessica. "I'm sorry for what I did to you... for all those years."
"Don't mention it," he sighed.
Miguel sat beside her.
"Can you not-?"
"You want me to leave?" he asked.
"N-No..." she said.
"Do you want to leave?" he asked again.
"No..." she said.
"Then you can't do anything right now," he laughed.
The two spoke for a while...
"Why did you like me?" asked Jessica. "Is it because I'm beautiful? I'm sexy? I'm popular? I'm rich? I'm strong? I'm athletic? I'm fit? I'm the best of the?"
"Nah," said Miguel. "You're pretty normal to me."
Jessica sighed. "Did you like me to get Anne back to you?"
"No," said Miguel. "I liked you because you didn't care."
"You like me... because I didn't care...?" asked Jessica.
"All my life I was bullied by the likes of you," said Miguel. "I didn't like that you bullied people, too.But you're kinda like Anne, actually..."
"How come?" asked Jessica.
"Whenever people tease you and Anne, you guys just laugh it off like it weren't a big deal," said Miguel.
"It isn't a big deal," said Jessica. "They're jokes."
"Well," said Miguel. "Those jokes felt like big deals to me."
"So... why do you like me?" asked Jessica.
"Because I admired that side of you," said Miguel. "I tend to think that everything is utterly useless... I tend to think that there is no meaning... But you find meaning despite all that."
The two stared at things around them silently. A ball is being bounced around. A man walking his dog. More ants. Ice cream on the ground with even more ants.
Someone's steps could be heard approaching them... then a soft thud.
A rustling could be heard behind them.
"What do you mean by, 'meaning', Miguel?" asked Jessica.
"Purpose," said Miguel. "I want to know if anything has the purpose to be there."
"That's not it," said Jessica. "Again... What do you mean by 'meaning?'"
Behind a bush, it is revealed that Anne is there... listening.
"Why do people... do bad things?" asked Miguel. "I don't understand why bad things happen... to me..."
"Are you an atheist?" asked Jessica.
"No," replied Miguel.
"That makes it much harder to answer," replied Jessica. "I still don't get what you mean."
"Uselessness..." said Miguel. "Futility... Impossibility... These words are the only things that make sense to me. I know why, and I won't tell you. But I want to... disprove... that side of me."
"That nihilistic side of you?" asked Jessica.
"Yes," said Miguel. "If that makes sense... I want to prove myself wrong..."
"What are you? Some kinda guy with multiple personalities?" laughed Jessica.
Miguel chuckled softly.
"My whole life... I've been searching for meaning... for myself..." said Miguel. "Who am I? What am I? What do I mean?"
"Self-discovery," said Jessica. "My advice for you? Keep searching for whatever you're searching for."
Jessica turned slightly red.
Now...
Miguel had some regular dinner with his mother. It's Pakbet. Jessica ate some Pakbet. His mother did so as well. They each had one serving of rice.
"I never really had friends in my school," said Miguel to himself. "It was just me, my mom, and Jessica. I'm just a Stand-User, but I never figured out how my Stand worked. I never even awakened my Stand yet. All I know is that my Stand is dormant. My mom told me stories about my father and his adventures."
*click*
"KUYA!!!"
"NOOOO!!!"
W̷̛͔̻͙͖͓̮̤͖̥̮̱͍̙̎̐̒͗͋͛̉h̸̬͇̮͉͔̩̤͑͐̌̆̆͠a̷̫͖̦̙͔̰̠͋̾̇͋̏͌͒̓ţ̷̺̳̰̙͔͎͚͇̱̫̮̼͈̂̈́̃͛̋̄̈́͜'̶̧̧̗̩̱̣̱͈͎̼́s̸̛͓̦͚͎͈̼̰̳̝̓͐͝ͅ ̷͓͇͇̞̠̝̓̋̊̑͊̋͊͛̉͠͝ͅţ̸̡̛̫̺̗͕̞̮̬̳̜̈́̈́͑͛͌̋h̸̢̡͈̹̖̭̰̞͙̱̜̻̹̟̩̆̅͌͆a̸̱̗̣͙̱͎͖̞͂̌̽͗͂̇̽͛̆͆̕͝t̴̡̲̜͔̥̙͉͇̥̣͍̖͙̐͒̈́̏̑͗̅?̵̨͙̹̹̭̮͚̅̅͐̓̃̈́͝͠ ̴̙͕̥̦͔͚̺͙͆͛́̎͐̒͗̃͒̅̍̑͝T̸̛̜̈́̎̀̓̉h̸͈̋̈́͑̑͌̅͌ͅa̴̧̱͔̥͔̖̤̳̘̘̟̬̦̎́̋ṫ̵̡̞̞̣̖̞͎͉̼̣͗͋́̓͆̏͘͜ ̴͔͍͇̝̰̽n̵̗̻̊ẽ̷͔̙̲̗̤̩̣̅̍̿͠͠v̵̡͚̖̲̫̮̬̀̓͂̐̇̊̊͊ē̸̞̞̲̳̪͈̫̄̇͗̒̃ͅr̷̖̝̙̟͋̋͛̀ ̷̙͚̟̬̠͓̲̼̿͐̃̈̊ḣ̸̢̡̜̻̻͉̥̫̟̲͙͚̔̂͆̂͂̊͆͜a̴̢̹̥̙̮̯̮͓̔̈́͌̀p̴̢̧̹͖͇̙͚̋̂̏p̸̟̆̽́̆͂̽͘e̶̪̙̬͌͂̐͘̚͜n̷̠͙̱̩͔̪͔̠̠̦̟̈́̓̐̏̚͝ͅe̵̞̦̐͆̌͂́̿̔̆d̷̛͍̩̜̜̺͔̺̞̯̐̋̍̓̚͠͝?̸̛͈̳̮̺͍͎̳͓͂̂̓̔̕͜ͅ
"I never had any siblings. Just my mom and I..."
"Miguel," smiled Jessica, as Miguel looked up to her.
"Let's get to bed," she smiled.
"KUYA!!!"
Miguel wakes up in the middle of the night, gasping for breath. Jessica is beside him. He stands up and limps away. He runs downstairs and tries to understand what's happening.
"Tch-!" he whispered. "What am I searching for?"
"ANNE!!!"
"Anne?" asked Miguel. "Who's Anne? Who's Kariel? Who's Jedan?"
Jessica walked downstairs.
"Miguel?" she asked, calmly approaching him.
Miguel freaks out. He gasps for breath as he begins to hear the world distortedly. His heart starts to race. He starts to see things.
"Yare yare daze."
"I'm Batman."
"I, Giorno Giovanna..."
"Just your friendly neighborhood-!!!"
Miguel gasps for his breath once more.
"What's happening to me?" asked Miguel.
Jessica gives him a big hug. "Sweetie, you're just having a panic attack."
Miguel's vision becomes tunneled. Sweat begins to pour out of his pores.
He begins to hallucinate. Jessica's face melts slowly.
"No, no, no! Jessica! This isn't real!" he shouted. "I didn't want this! Where is she?" asked Miguel, looking around.
"Where is who?!" asked Jessica, beginning to freak out.
"ANNE!!!" shouted Miguel.
Jessica's smile disappeared.
"So..." said Jessica. "It really has to be 'her', huh?"
"What... What are you talking about?" asked Miguel.
Jessica's Silver Chariot slowly emerged from her body.
"OH MY GOD!!!" shouted Miguel. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!!!"
"A surge of Speed Force Energy should get you up and running again," said Jessica.
Jessica charged Chariot's left hand with Speed Force energy and electrocutes Miguel in the head.
"Y-You..." Miguel stuttered.
The memories of all the good times they've had together return to his head.
"You made me think this is real..." said Miguel, as Star Platinum slowly emerged.
"You bitch," said Miguel.
"ORA!!!" shouted Star Platinum, as his fist approached Jessica's face.
The shockwave blasted on her face, but it barely hit her.
"Were you just gonna stand there and take it?" asked Miguel, gritting his teeth.
A tear falls from Jessica's eyes.
"You were terrible, too," sobbed Jessica. "You manipulated me... though... unintentionally... You still did it..."
"Jessica, where are we?" asked Miguel.
"Stop it," she whispered.
"Jessica... WHERE ARE WE!!!?" shouted Miguel, greatly angered. "IS THIS EVEN REAL?!!! IS THIS SOME SICK ILLUSION SALVI TOLD YOU TO CREATE?!!! TRAITOR!!!"
"You're in an alternate timeline," said his mother, walking down the stairs.
Jessica sat on the floor and sobbed.
"Miguel... you two survived because you two are temporally aware..." said his mother. "We were going to tell you... Jessica decided that nothing could stop..."
His mother shook her head.
"What?!" asked Miguel. "Mom... what's wrong?" he approached her.
"She can't think of her or her name," said Jessica, slowly standing up. "If you do, you get erased from the timeline... and again... this timeline resets... Nobody in this world can survive the resets except me, you, and Salvi."
"We were going to tell you, but Jessica refused to tell you... about..." his mother stopped again,
"Why'd you do it? For Salvi?" asked Miguel, turning to Jessica.
"HORA!!!" shouted Silver Chariot, striking Star Platinum's shoulder.
Star Platinum punched Jessica in the face.
"Both of you stop it!" shouted his mother.
"Why did you do this?" he asked calmly, as Star Platinum gave an ORA Rush, striking Jessica over and over again.
"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!!!" shouted Jessica. "Ever since on that bench... You were... different... from the other boys in our school... You didn't look at me like the other boys did..."
"Ah... yes... that bench..." said Miguel. "A symbol of each romantic relationship I've ever had."
"THIS IS SERIOUS!!!" shouted Jessica.
"Do you know why this just makes it worse, Jessica?" asked Miguel. "Do you know why I just hate you even more now?"
"WHY?!!" asked Jessica.
"You allowed Jedan, my own father, my brother, and Anne to stay dead just so that you can stay with me. You allowed each of them to bite the dust to get what you want," said Miguel. "That is by far the most selfish-..."
"For a moment, I didn't remember them!" shouted Jessica.
"But you ended up remembering them in the end, right?" asked Miguel. "But you made sure they stayed dead."
"And what?!" asked Jessica. "You'll kill your mother in exchange for them?"
"Fuck you," said Miguel, approaching her. "You made me sleep with you," said Miguel, disgusted by Jessica.
"HORA!!!" shouted Silver Chariot.
*BONK*
Miguel's mother bonks the both of them.
Both of their Stands became immobile, and therefore, they themselves have become immobile.
"Look," said Maria. "If you two don't work together, Salvi achieves Heaven. This Universe is doomed anyway. It's best to just reset the timeline and work together by putting aside your differences."
"M-Mom... How a-are you-?"
"This is my Stand Ability... Love Love Deluxe," said Maria. "I can control Stands. Now... I'm going to let go... and you two better put aside your little high school drama."
The two softly nod.
She lets go and the two drop to the ground.
"To the bunker," said Maria.
"Where is she?" asked Miguel to Jessica.
Maria turns on the surveillance and reveals where she is. She's in her house enjoying a cup of tea with her hand.
Maria looks away from the screen as Miguel and Jessica observed.
"Ew," said Miguel. "Why does she have a hand?"
Yoshiko then starts kissing the dismembered hand she has.
"Oh, my, God..." said Jessica.
"Is... Is that why she had been serial killing?" asked Miguel.
Maria nodded.
"Why haven't you exploded, yet?" asked Miguel.
"Because I'm not looking at the screen. I don't know what she looks like and I don't know her name," explained Maria.
"So how come that we're still alive?" asked Miguel.
"Salvi needed you alive, Miguel," said Jessica. "She must've made sure that there was a logical way for you and Salvi to stay alive. So... she made a fail-safe. Temporal Stand-Users are spared from The Bites the Dust Event?"
"What's the Bites the Dust Event?" asked Miguel.
"It's a conspiracist's fictional event that says that people around the world vanished from an unknown event. He somehow remembers everything..."
"His name, mom?" asked Miguel.
"Ryle Karne," said his mother.
"Jesus," said Miguel.
"Yep," said Jessica.
"What do we do?" asked Miguel.
"You need to find her Stand-Arrow undetected," said Maria. "We have to figure out first where her Stand Arrow is so you won't have to deal with another fight."
"Can't we just go there and have you disable her Stand?" asked Miguel.
"Your mother could only control up to two Stands at a time," said Jessica. "Kira has about four Stands."
"Jessica, you just run there and-..."
"She'll know that there's something wrong with this timeline," said Maria. "If Jessica zooms in there, she'd sense you with Bites the Dust. Bites the Dust activates automatically regardless if you're a Temporal or not if you approach the User. We have to find a way for her to disable Bites the Dust. She can only disable Bites the Dust if she enables her other three bombs."
"It has to be me," said Miguel. "She can't kill me because Salvi will dispose of her. If I'm there, she has to disable Bites the Dust. I'd have to distract her while Jessica takes the Stand Arrow."