JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Thin Air

Chapter Thirty-Six: Dark Red (Part II)

"On it." Clapton said. He pulled Bryson towards him and Brooklyn Zoo, and in the blink of an eye, they found themselves inside a public bathroom.

"Seriously? A restroom?" Bryson said.

"A restroom? This is a bathroom. It's the safest place I could find. BZ only teleports to places that I or it have already seen, and we came here earlier."

"This is a restroo- oh yeah, you're British, that's what y'all call restrooms. Well, anyhow, what's our plan? We can't stay in here forever."

"Yeah, yeah, I understand. And as for our plan..."

Clapton stared at a wall as he thought. He needed to get another look at the situation again, but he had to do so discretely.

"Alright, I have an idea. Brooklyn Zoo, turn into a sparrow."

The Stand promptly began to morph and shrink rapidly until it reached the size and shape of the common passerine bird.

"What's that little thing going to do?" Bryson asked,

"Reconnaissance. It'll give us a good picture of what's going on out there, and then we can formulate a more comprehensive plan."

"Oh... gotcha." Bryson said.

Clapton opened the door of the bathroom just enough that the sparrow could make its way out to the corridors of the Galleria. It took flight and soared below the massive skylights of the giant building. It made turns as it subtly glided in the air, and it found what Clapton was looking for.

A crowd stood in one of the four wings of the building, mostly unmoving. The people in it were almost zombie-like as they all stood in one spot, swaying their arms ever so slightly, as if waiting to be commanded. In the middle of the group, a figure stood out from amongst the rest. Dark Red floated just slightly above the heads of the people, standing obediently behind its User. The sparrow could identify a part of its body that neither Clapton nor Bryson had seen before: a dual oxygen tank attached to its back, with two long tubes connecting to either side of its wrists.

The sparrow spotted Mira. She stood in front of a woman who did not appear to understand what was going on. It was like she was in a trance, just like all the others in the crowd. Mira pulled a knife out of her pocket and held its edge at the woman's throat.

"Come out and face me already, boys! Show me what true men do. Show me that you're responsible. You don't want this innocent civilian to die here, do you? I'll lower my knife if you come out. In fact, I won't even hurt you! All you need to do is tell me Shizuka Joestar's current location. Just an address, and I won't bother you two ever again. You can do that for me, right?"

The sparrow, being an extension of Clapton's consciousness, raced back to his location. It would not allow an innocent woman to die at the hands of one of their enemies. It knew just exactly what was going on. It could not afford to waste time.

"Okay... okay... I got it," Clapton said, as the sparrow returned to its base form. "Oh heavens, this is not good." 

"What did your sparrow see out there?"

"The enemy's taken a woman hostage. She said that if we didn't face her and tell her where Shizuka was, she'd kill the woman."

"What? Jeez, talk about a crazy shopping trip... what's our next step, then? What are we gonna do from here?"

"We're gonna free that woman." Clapton said.

"From inside here? If we leave, then we're gonna be trampled or even suffocated to death! Unless we beat our way through that crowd."