378. Ego ~Holding Out For a Hero~

Shizuka, the valedictorian, is called upon by the principal.

She walks up into the stage and tries to speak.

She sees the chair in the front line where Jotaro is supposed to be, only to see an empty seat.

"I ended up memorizing that chair... That exact spot... I tried talking, but no one paid attention... and they started talking to each other... taking pictures of each other...I never felt truly alone... until that moment..."

Shizuka had... a panic attack...

Shizuka never told her speech...

A woman desperately tries to kick away a Marauder with her legs over and over, crying and shouting for help.

The Marauder tears off her clothes and drools all over her.

"NO!!! PLEASE-!!!"

"CHU~I!!!"

A hole is bored into the Marauder's chest... by... Achtung Baby.

Later...

Kenneth follows after Bill, who angrily takes out the Arks he stole from Rick's basement. "Sir... what about the JoJos!? Shouldn't we be worried about-!?"

"SHUT UP!!! JUST, SHUT UP!!! GOD!!! I'VE BEEN STUCK IN RICK'S MIND FOR LONG ENOUGH!!! THAT PLACE OF GODDAMNED HORRORS...!!! I NEED TO GET OUT!!!" yelled Bill. "GOD!!!"

"Sir, you're being careless."

"I'm not... It's all part of the Goddamned plan!"

"Sir, you can't see anything! How do you trust-!?"

"I have faith in it... AND I WILL HAVE IT!!! ALL LIFE WILL THANK ME AFTER THIS!!! THEY WILL!!! THEY WILL!!!RAUGH!!! RAUGH!!!"

"Sir, calm down."

"I will save the world whether you or anyone likes it or not... SO GET OUTTA MY W̷A̷A̴A̵A̶A̷A̷A̷A̶A̵A̷A̶A̶A̵Y̷!!!"

"Bill... Please..." said Kenneth. "You can't just do things out of-..."

"It's scheduled today, right!? It's scheduled today! IT'S SCHEDULED TODAY!!! SO LEMME DESTROY THE ARKS AND DESTROY REALITY!!!"

Bill uses his telekinesis to bring out Giorno Giovanna from the cave.

Giorno hisses at Bill.

"Hello, GioGio," said Bill.

Bill turns on the screens. "HELLO, EVERYBODY!!! IT'S ME!!!B̸i̵l̸l̴ ̶C̸i̷p̷h̶e̴r̶.̷.̵.Hi! Hello! Just wanted to show how I saved your world... LET THE PARTY BEGIN!!!"

"Now, Giorno? Please reset the Ark to zero.C'mon, Giorno... We've had a deal..."

Giorno is about to cry. "You're the only being I can't kill with GER... other than the man who shares the blood that flows within me... But... I won't..."

"If not... I'll kill the entire Jump Force..." said Bill. "It literally took me an entire month until I've struck that deal with you..."

Giorno coughs out blood. "For those of you who don't know... I've struck a deal with Bill... That I reset Earth-777's Ark to zero if he takes away Jotaro's illness... I'm so sorry... I didn't know what I was in for... He told me that he has a job for me... I was an idiot... Jotaro... I'm sorry..."

"You heard it all here, folks... The Joestars have failed you... and caused your death... NOW... WATCH AS I-!!!"

"We're not airing," said Kenneth.

"Ex-... Excuse you...!?" asked Bill.

"That whole speech wasn't aired."

The screens are hacked... by Paisley Park... and suddenly, everyone watches something else.

"WHAT!?" asked Bill. "I CAN'T-!!! NO!!! PEOPLE HAVE TO SEE THIS!!!"

"Wh-... Why!?" asked Kenneth.

"SO THAT THEY'D LOSE HOPE OVER THE JOESTAR FAMILY BLOODLINE!!! HAVE YOU NOT BEEN LISTENING!? WHERE ARE THEY!!!?"

"Hi..." said Shizuka. "I am Kujo Shizuka." She's in a graduation get-up. "Originally, this speech was supposed to be about how much I hate all of you, and that I won... so you lose... because I'm... a valedictorian in my high school despite all the bullying and no one paying attention to me... But it's not going to be about that. I want to tell you about something... Something that had affected our choices our entire lives..."

This is also aired in Maharlica's nations.

"This thing... This evil thing forever affects our choices...This is our ego...When we do things like...Doing things for the wrong reason...Being a coward in a dire situation where the world needs you...Killing an evil Aswang King for revenge...Giving in to our instincts...Becoming a bully in our schools...Thinking that we deserved a better past and taking it out on relatives like our brothers...Trying to find something where we already have that thing right in front of us...Destroying multiple worlds because we believe that we can solve everything...Trying to join the world together even though the world doesn't wanna join together...Trying to destroy the universe so people could love you...Trying to live up to what our parents were...Or...Doing something selfish to get what we want while also hurting others...Or based on my experience...We even do things like hating our dads... or hating our sisters... or breaking our families' hearts... or trying to be the perfect hero... or accepting that we've lost and stayed on the ground... or blaming ourselves for the stupid things we've done...But when we do these things... it's because of our egos. When we hurt ourselves... When we hurt others... When we break our own and each other's hearts... It's because of our arrogance... Our egos... make us do these things... We hurt ourselves because we think we've hurt others... We also hurt ourselves because we were hurt by their egos... Humanity's weakness is its own ego. But... but when we put aside our own selfish desires... Our own rude treatment of our fellow people... Supernatural or not... Maybe we could be one people... One people who are true and genuine to each other. Whatever the heck Miguel JoJo was trying to do... And whatever the heck Gabrielle JoJo tried, but failed in doing so... Maybe it wasn't all for naught. We just have to learn to respect, understand, and love each other. And we do this by putting aside our ego. It's not bad in having an ego. But it's bad if it lets us control every decision in our lives..."

Shizuka begins to have a panic attack.

Lol. Yeah, every protagonist I've created and used for this series had their biggest decisions affected... by ego.

Everyone in the multiple worlds looks at each other with hope in their eyes somewhat.

Jotaro, who is in the Reapercave with her, mouths some words. "1... 2... 3... 4..."

Shizuka follows the pattern as she breathes in and out.

"Right now... our enemies? They always try to squeeze into our heads... trying to make our egos make us do bad things... They want to break our egos... So that we'd be the worst version of ourselves... So... all the things that you did to me? I'll forget about it. Because I know... that you're going to make us do very bad things in the future. And I know you're going to keep doing it. But we'll pick ourselves back up after, and knock you all down.We... will never... ever give up... and we'll always stand proud..."

Suddenly, the whole house above them explodes while a giant Bill hovering above the Reapercave picks up their house and crushes it with his hand.

"GABBY!!!" sobbed Anne. "No... I'LL KILL YOU, YOU EQUILATERAL-!!!"

"Silence, Anne... You've betrayed enough people to the point where you should ALREADY KNOW YOUR PLACE!!!"

Bill grabs Shizuka from the ground as everyone is strangled down by Kenneth.

"You... will all... die... for that..." said Bill. "ALL OF YOU... WILL DIE FOR THAT!!! I may not be able to kill you, Shizuka... because of my deal with Rick..."

He places Shizuka before Kenneth, who takes out his scythe as he prepares to swing it toward Shizuka's neck.

"But I can have these idiots do it for me... AH HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! PAIN IS HILARIOUS!!! AH HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! NFTS ARE AWESOME!!!"

Suddenly...

*THWAP!!!*

*CLONK!!!*

Kenneth drops to the ground, knocked out.

A stick had struck his head.

The stick then flies back into...

Miguel Ibarra's hand...

"Miguel!" smiled Gabrielle and Anne.

Miguel has Gabby next to him. He opens a portal and puts him in the HTR. "Prismo. Keep my kid safe."

"You got it," said Prismo.

The portal closes.

"EXCUSE YOU!?" asked Bill. "Your spirit was broken... I BROKE YOUR SPIRIT!!! I HAD RICK TELL THAT LITTLE BITCH-!!!"

"Well... a wise woman taught me to never ever give up and to always stand proud... And boy... Fuck... you, man! You cray-cray!" said Miguel. "And don't call my girlfriend a little bitch you equilateral downgrade."

"Heh..." said Anne. "That was what I was gonna say... I'm still your girlfriend?"

"We've been fine for ten years... I think I can learn to trust you again..." said Miguel, smiling.

"Where's Felix?" asked Miguel.

"We don't know..." said Shizuka.

"Huh..." said Miguel. "As I've expected... Well! Anyway! Kenneth? Could you please let my fam go?"

"MABUS!!!" yelled Bill.

A reluctant MABUS appears before Miguel.

"Bill... I told you, I'm retired!" yelled MABUS.

"KILL HIM!!!" yelled Bill.

Miguel clenches his fists and frowns... But he closes his eyes, his face softens, and he takes in a deep breath then breathes out slowly, doing zen breathing. He has calmed down. He does a backward stance.

"Come at me," said Miguel.

MABUS turns to Bill. Bill frowns. MABUS shakes his head as he takes out...

Star Platinum and The World.

"Remember!" smiled Bill. "This man's the bio father of your kid! So... K̴̼͐ḯ̸̖l̶̄ͅl̴̳͝ ̴̠̂ä̷̗s̸̔͜ ̵͂͜m̵̹̃u̷̟̚c̵̠̑h̴̡͒ ̸͚̾à̸̪s̷̼͘ ̵̢̒y̵̲̌ŏ̴͉u̸͙͊ ̷̗̀ḽ̵͊i̴̲̚k̸̞̆e̴̼͒.̶̹̅.̶͙̎.̵̖͌"

"(Don't give in to ego, Miguel... Don't...)" he whispered to himself.

Yeah... Don't...And... I'm rooting for ya, kid...

Yeah. Me, too. I legit don't know what happens after this...

Bill then tosses a claymore toward MABUS, who catches it. It's red and its handle is crested with two horns with a flame in between.

MABUS points the blade at Miguel.

"Devil's Claymore..." Miguel whispered with widened eyes.

"A claymore dipped in the flaming pools of Hell. A fatal injury from this and an immortal like you will stay in Heaven... forever..." laughed MABUS.

"Yeah... and I have... Fists! And sticks!" yelled Miguel. "One hit from each of these and you'll get knocked down so fucking hard."

"ORA!!!"

Miguel blocks MABUS' Star Platinum's punch.

"ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA-!!!"

"MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA-!!!"

*POW POW POW BANG BANG BANG BANG*

"WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!"

Miguel angrily blocks all of the attacks.

Miguel senses that MABUS is having doubts.

"Feeling doubtful?" asked Miguel.

MABUS angrily uses The World to kick Miguel away.

MABUS then lifts the claymore up and prepares to strike Miguel down, who blocks it with his stick.

Miguel opens a portal and grabs MABUS' face. "VIBE CHECK!!!"

He pulls MABUS in the portal and bodyslams him into the ground.

MABUS then switches into several Stands.

He erases time with King Crimson.

He blasts an Emerald Splash with Hierophant Green.

He stabs Miguel with Silver Chariot.

He zips Miguel's arm off with Sticky Fingers.

He then takes out Gold Experience and gives Miguel's shoes two pairs of wings that force him to go upside down.

He then takes out Purple Haze and begins to poison Miguel with its fumes.

MABUS then prepares to hammer Miguel's face with the claymore's blade.

Miguel bows his head, realizing that he had lost.

*CLANG, CLANG!!!*

The claymore is dropped to the ground.

"No..." said MABUS. "I won't fight you..."

"Neither..." said Miguel. "Neither will I..."

"KILL HIM!!!" yelled Bill.

"No," said Miguel.

"KILL. HIM!!!"

"NO!!!" yelled Miguel.

"Then... you will die...CHEAPSHOT!!! OFFER RETRIBUTION TO YOUR NEPHEW FOR RUINING YOUR LIFE!!!"

The members of JoJoCorps become worried about Miguel.

Cheapshot picks up the sword and passes by MABUS. "Traitor. Why am I not surprised? You're still my bitch of a nephew."

First, Cheapshot slashes Miguel's arm with the claymore. Cheapshot then tosses several knives at Miguel's body over and over.

Miguel sobs, as he drops to the ground and is injured over and over as the whole world watches.

"You think that people love you...No... No one loves you...Because you'll die as you lived... Alone... As you should be..."

*SHING!!! SPLAT!!! SHING!!! SPLAT!!! SPLAT!!! SPLAT!!!*

"You were never even supposed to be born. Your parents never loved each other. You're an accident. A mistake. It wasn't until your sister was born that your parents actually loved each other.So... pathetic..."

Miguel looks up to Cheapshot. "I don't care... if no one in this world cares about me... Because I'll save this world... And in my next life... I'll save this world a thousandfold... Because I love this world... No matter how much this world hates and ridicules me... Because that's who I am. That's my drive. And... I've finally accepted that. And no one... Not even people like you can take it away from me."

Cheapshot then prepares to decapitate Miguel.

"Godspeed, St. JoJo."

*SHING!!!*

Paisley Park punches Cheapshot in the face, knocking him down.

"KENNETH!!!" yelled Bill.

"Forgive me, my Master," said Kenneth.

Suddenly, the former Disciples' Stands all stand proudly before their former leader.

"What the hell is this!?" laughed Bill. "Look... Okay... I don't know how you're able to get your Stands out of Kenneth's gravity attack-..."

"Because of me..."

Kariel JoJo, AKA The Ranger, appears next to the group.

Kariel uses gravity to pull the blood out of Yurielle's ears.

Kariel sighs. "Hay Naku... Geez... Honestly... Do realize that you're all going to have to die for all that you've done... And you're going to lose for sure...C'MON TWINKLE!!!"

All-Star ACT 4 appears. "ORA!!!"

"Who-?"

"Raphael and the Society of the Blind Eye called us..."

"'Us?'" asked Yurielle.

Suddenly, several portals appear behind them.

The Ape Westerners led by Cornelius, The Quiet Storm led by Michelle JoJo and Michelle Ibarra, The Iron Reaper, Steve, Alex, The Autobots led by Optimus Prime, Heroic Diego Brando, The Crusaders (along with Raphael and Iggy) led by Kuta II, Batman, Spider-Man, and the Steel Ball Runners led by Kariel, rise up and include themselves to battle against Bill Cipher's apparent army.

Several people who once berated Miguel appear. The ones who are now being attacked by the Marauders appear behind the portals and take out weapons from the ground like sticks, pipes, guns, grenades, etc.

"God, that was cheesy. Also, you're a fucking simp..."

"Shut the fuck up..." said Cheapshot. "Shut THE FUCK UP!!!"

"You are. Because you blame me for everything you little bitch... You're a fucking twat. You are nothing but a pathetic, lonesome weakling who blames his heartbreak on his nephew... Because it's all on you, idiot."

"RAUGH!!!" Cheapshot tries to chop off Miguel's head, but Kariel shoots the claymore with his gun as it falls to the ground.

"Yoink!" smiled Shizuka, grabbing it. She then throws the sword toward Giorno.

"MUDA!!!" Giorno resets the sword to zero, erasing it from existence.

"C'MERE!!!" Bill puts Giorno into his grip. Bill summons an army of Dark Gems led by the Agents of Chaos. "ATTACK!!! RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!!!"

The Dark Gems scream, charging toward Miguel's army who charged back as well...