Joseph's murky eyes, for a brief moment, regained the sharpness of the past.
The hat he wore for warmth was blown away by the rushing wind as they sped forward, and his silver hair fluttered in the breeze.
He brushed his long hair back, and his hunched back straightened for the first time in many years. His whole body surged with Ripple.
"Old man…"
Jotaro looked at Joseph's side profile.
He couldn't remember how many years it had been since he last saw the old man with such high spirits.
Ever since coming back from Egypt, Joseph's body had been deteriorating year by year.
Dio had sucked Joseph's blood, and the duration of Time Stop increased from five seconds to nine. Those four extra seconds came from absorbing the life force in Joseph's blood.
That was also the reason why sixty-eight-year-old Joseph was still in his prime, still having a twilight romance with Tomoko Higashikata a few years ago, yet seventy-nine-year-old Joseph had already fallen into senile dementia, even trembling when he walked.
Now, Ryosuke had temporarily reactivated the power in Joseph's bloodline. The process could not last long, maybe one or two minutes, or maybe only ten-something seconds.
But…
Ryosuke and Yoshikage Kira, who had just stepped out of his home after breakfast, humming a little tune, locked eyes.
"To deal with you, it's enough!"
Ryosuke twisted his right hand all the way, the motorcycle's front wheel reared high, the engine roared with a "Vroom, Vroom" and on the rear of the motorcycle, the bosozoku flag with "Yoroshiku" written on it fluttered wildly in the wind.
Yoshikage Kira stood stunned in place.
He looked at the motorcycle charging toward him, then at the convoy chasing from behind. For a moment he felt dazed.
'Who am I?'
'Where am I?'
'Is Bites the Dust really… this "powerful"?'
In that instant of distraction, Yoshikage Kira suddenly snapped back to his senses.
Now was not the time to think about this. He had to dodge. A motorcycle at this speed, if it hit him head-on, would kill him outright.
Kira quickly rushed behind a telephone pole, the corner of his lips once again curling into a smug smile.
"Come crash then, Hayato. Heh… let's see who's harder, you or the telephone pole."
But at this moment...
"Hermit Purple!"
Purple vines lashed out, wrapped around Yoshikage Kira, and violently dragged him out from behind the telephone pole.
In Ryosuke's hand, the marble spun once again.
From the car riding with Jotaro, Koichi Hirose, kind at heart, saw this and worriedly asked, "Mr. Jotaro, are we really not stopping that kid?"
Jotaro's face grew solemn.
With his battle instinct, everything that had happened this morning reeked of wrongness.
Jotaro hesitated for a moment, but still nodded.
No matter how wrong it felt, they couldn't just watch the old man commit murder together with some mysterious child.
Jotaro was about to step in.
"Murder! Don't you see? I'm going to die, help me quickly!"
Bound by Hermit Purple, Yoshikage Kira shouted toward the chasing Jotaro and the others, "Jotaro, hurry and think of something with your invincible Star Platinum! Stop this damn little murderer!"
The moment those words left his mouth, everyone's eyes instantly went cold.
To know Jotaro, to know Star Platinum, he had to be a Stand user.
And since he was a Stand user, why didn't he summon his Stand to resolve the crisis?
In all of Morioh, every Stand user had either been fought by Jotaro or become his ally.
Only one Stand, he would never dare to reveal before everyone's eyes. That was, "Ah! I remember now! He's the man from the photograph!"
Rohan Kishibe stuck his head out of the car window, raising the photo he secretly took. In the middle, that side profile, it was clearly the current "Kawajiri Kosaku."
"No one's coming to save you."
Ryosuke and Joseph leapt together.
"Just like those innocent souls who died by your hands!"
Vines of Hermit Purple wrapped around Ryosuke and Joseph, the other ends hooked to a streetlamp above.
The riderless motorcycle smashed toward Yoshikage Kira. Following close behind was Ryosuke's marble, accelerated by the momentum of the motorcycle's charge,
"Cavalry Spin, Marble!"
On the flag trailing from the motorcycle, the four large characters "Yoroshiku" magnified in Kira's pupils, telling him in their own way, "Nice to meet you."
Yoshikage Kira clenched his teeth, unwillingness raging in his chest.
But… he couldn't wait any longer.
"Killer Queen!"
The pink big cat, in full view of everyone, separated from Ryosuke's pupils and leapt to Kira's side.
8:09.
Bites the Dust was undone.
All the deaths in all the loops were erased from fate at this moment.
Killer Queen swung its fists rapidly, smashing the oncoming motorcycle into fragments.
But among the countless fragments, a marble no bigger than a thumb, carrying terrifying Spin, pierced through the shattering steel parts and struck Killer Queen's jaw with precision.
"Ugh!"
Kira's body spun out of control, hurled into the air, twirling dozens of times before crashing to the ground, his head broken and bleeding.
"Damn brat!"
Kira painfully lifted his head.
"Killer Queen! Kill him for me!"
Killer Queen tore off its left-hand Sheer Heart Attack and hurled it toward Ryosuke.
This was why Ryosuke had to set up again and again.
Whether Ripple users or Golden Spin, with enough mastery, one could see Stands.
Just like Gyro from Steel Ball Run.
He could sense "strange things" on Stand users.
But Hayato couldn't. His body was too weak.
Ryosuke couldn't see the Sheer Heart Attack thrown at him. He could only tell from Kira's expression that the man wanted him dead.
"ORA!"
Star Platinum's roar rang out, throwing the Sheer Heart Attack back.
Jotaro Kujo "appeared out of thin air" before Ryosuke.
"You alright, kid?"
"I'm fine."
Hermit Purple released, Ryosuke landed on the ground again, staring at Kira and softly saying, "I've never felt better."
One by one, the cars came to a stop.
Kira, slumped on the ground, looked around.
Jotaro Kujo, Josuke Higashikata, Okuyasu Nijimura, Koichi Hirose, Rohan Kishibe, and…
That most hateful, detestable Ryosuke.
All of these people knew his identity now. Looking at them closing in, Kira felt his head heavy and his body as if submerged in a lake called despair, suffocating bit by bit.
"Sir, are you okay?"
A passing office lady walked up, kindly asking in concern, only to have Kira suddenly grab her hand.
"This is fate's favor for me!"
Kira held the woman's hand like a piece of art, studying it carefully,
"Your joints and skin are smooth, your white tender fingers are so cute… can I rub them against my face?"
The office lady froze.
Without waiting for her consent, Kira pressed her hand to his face, like a slug in heat, rubbing again and again. His face full of ecstasy, his crotch disturbingly bulging.
He muttered in intoxication, "Rubbing pretty hands against my cheek makes me feel so calm."
Between despair and pleasure… Kira got hard.
"What are you doing?!" The office lady tried to pull away.
But Kira gripped her hand tightly. "My name is Yoshikage Kira. Up to now, I've killed 48 women with beautiful hands, and you will be the 49th."
The condition to trigger Bites the Dust was despair, and to reveal his identity to a non-Stand user.
The current situation was a perfect match.
Killer Queen was already beginning to crawl into the woman's eye.
This was Kira's so-called "fate's favor".
Next, with everyone approaching, his despair would deepen until it reached the threshold of Bites the Dust. Everything before him would vanish into nothingness.
Clutching the woman's hand, Kira looked at the running crowd and burst into manic laughter,
"My despair has arrived, but this despair will soon be passed on to you. And this time..."
He forcefully twisted the office lady's body as a shield, blocking Ryosuke's line of fire, leaving only a pair of eyes peering at Ryosuke through the gap, "I'll kill you first!"
Jotaro was running, but he was too far away. Even with Time Stop, he couldn't stop Kira's detonation.
On the other side, with Kira using the woman as cover, Koichi also lost his line of sight to use ACT-3, 3 Freeze.
Seeing everyone's urgency, Kira laughed all the more arrogantly.
Suddenly, Ryosuke's steady voice came.
"Jotaro, during Time Stop, throw me forward with all your strength."
Jotaro didn't know what good it would do to throw Ryosuke, but at this point, he could only trust the child who had created miracles.
"Star Platinum, The World!"
Time stopped. Star Platinum grabbed Ryosuke and sprinted forward as far as it could. At the very limit, it hurled him hard.
Whoosh!
Ryosuke flew through the air.
"Useless! There's no way you'll hit me again!"
Kira shouted, half of his body shrinking into the woman's embrace.
He stared at Ryosuke's hand, trying to predict the marble's trajectory. Inside, his despair peaked. He was about to command Killer Queen to trigger Bites the Dust.
But… the marble disappeared.
"Gone?"
Ryosuke had already fired the Golden Spin.
"Where?"
Kira felt no impact.
Suddenly, stars appeared in his eyes.
'Am I seeing things? This woman's fingernails… they look like spinning stars.'
About to trigger Bites the Dust, Kira, bewitched by his own fetish, couldn't help but look a fraction longer.
But immediately, he realized.
'Not an illusion!'
Kira's pupils shrank.
This woman's nails really were spinning.
Only now did he see, the marble had struck her back.
The Spin's power, under Ryosuke's control, traveled through muscle and bone, spreading to her hand, and finally to her nails.
And since Kira had pressed her hand to his face, the spinning sharp nails were only a few centimeters from his eyeballs.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Several high-speed spinning nails shot out like bullets, at near point-blank range, piercing Kira's eyeballs and shredding his brain.
If only he had stayed a little farther from those pretty hands.
If only he hadn't indulged his fetish, wanting one last look at those lovely hands.
Then Yoshikage Kira would have already won.
But… there was no "if."
From killing for "hands," awakening his Stand, gaining Bites the Dust, and finally being killed by "hands."
Everything, all of it was...
Ryosuke walked over, supporting the unlucky office lady, and looking down at Kira's shredded pupils, softly said, "Your fate."
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