The Ludicrous Escapade Pt.3

Falling Flat

"Kuah!" Gyro clutched a paper listing the second stage results, still not quite able to believe that he had gotten fifth place. "Great! Just wonderful! Although there's no mistake that I'll finish first in the third stage... That'll give me 100 points, meaning I'd have 131 points in total..."

"You should've just ignored Johnny until you crossed the finish line." That's pretty much what you had done. It wasn't like the newspaper would suddenly vanish.

"No! You and Johnny promised that you'd finish after me! You're both promise breaking betrayers!" Gyro pulled at his hair. "This can't be happening!"

"Guys, look!" Johnny was peering down the edge of the mountain path. "Dio's sitting down over there! That's Dio's horse! But it's strange... they're off course."

Gyro watched the Brando through his opera glasses. "Looks like he fell." The Zeppeli internally squealed for joy. If Diego had to quit the race from his injuries, it'd give himself more of chance at winning the Steel Ball Run. "He's bleeding from his cheek."

"I don't think it's just his cheek, though." You had taken Johnny's spyglass. "There's blood on the inside of his hat that fell off. If he really hit his head, it's possible he might have a concussion." You looked up to the sky, not seeing any hot air balloons that could potentially alert the SBR medic team.

"Dio actually fell?" Johnny found it hard to believe that the pro jockey would just fall off the path.

"Well, this is the mountain course. Maybe he and his horse aren't made for this type of land." Gyro watched as Dio fell over and curled up in the fetal position.

"Let's just go." Johnny started turning away.

"Ah... I didn't know know you were that kind of person, Johnny." Gyro did nothing to hide his smile. "I'm the type that laughs at others' misfortunes. And it'd be great if he didn't get any points in this stage. But it might be a life threatening wound."

"It's best that you stay away from Diego Brando, Gyro." Johnny didn't trust the jockey one bit.

Gyro's grin only widened, "Come on, where's your compassion?"

"He can't be trusted." Even if it was just to joke around, the Joestar wanted to be as far away from Diego as possible. "Dio is Brtain's honorable genius jockey, but he will do anything for money and to win. That's what people say. There are many shady rumors. For example, when he was 20, he married an 83 year old widow to inherit her fortune. The widow died half a year later. It's rumored that Dio killed her." Johnny gestured to the wounded Diego. "He might be trying to trick us like that. And in this situation, it's possible that he's connected to the terrorists!"

"Maybe if you were about to beat him, but he's ranked first! Why would he do that?" Gyro waved you along. "Come on, (Y/N), his bleeding is getting worse. Let's go check."

"Why do I have to go with you?" But you followed along anyway. "The ground around here is sharp, so maybe that spooked his horse?" You unmounted at the same time as Gyro.

"Hey, Dio! Are you all right?!" The Zeppeli threw the bloodied hat at Diego. "If you want the rescue team to come, just say so! I'll call them!"

Dio lifted his head off the ground. His left arm looked like it was cracking, but he hid it out of sight before any of you could get a real good look at it.

"Get lost, you three!" Diego glared at all of you. "In the end, I'm the one who's going to pass you up!"

"Nyo ho!" Gyro jumped back onto Valkyrie. "Looks like he's fine! Whether it's a trap or not, he's too healthy! That's great! ...Let's go."

You watched as Diego let out a few shallow breaths before falling back onto his side. "Just wait a second..." You noticed something like a bone protruding from the ground. So you decided to investigate as Johnny protested.