The Ludicrous Escapade Pt.3

Mend

"Here, we still have some zombie horse string left." Gyro pulled a bunch out of his pocket and handed it over.

"Oh, we actually still have some?" You took the needle Wamuu held out to you. You were about to start sewing shut the hole in the side of Johnny's face when he woke up.

"(Y/N)!" The Joestar sat up and held on tightly to you arm. "I was shot by..." He took a shaky breath, feeling on the verge of passing out. "I was shot by..."

"I know, Johnny. I saw. Just stay still for a moment while I patch you up." At your words, he seemed to relax a little, and rested his head back on your thighs. "You have an extra hole your face, you know?" You tried to be as gentle as possible when keeping his head still to sew up the wound with zombie horse thread. It did its usually thing and began closing up the injury on its own. "But how do you feel, Johnny?" You brushed aside some of his hair to place a hand on his forehead. "Do you think you're well enough to keep riding? We could take a short break if you'd like."

"I dunno." Gyro stood up, looking away from the rest of you. "I feel there isn't much we can do anymore in the first place. The President has the entire corpse now. We're just lucky he didn't check to see if Johnny had actually died. Knowing when to give up requires courage too, doesn't it? With those wounds, we've got nothing more we can do. Let's just finish the race, take our prize money, and get out of this country."

Johnny sat up again, a determined expression on his face. "My legs moved before! I... I can't just give up now!"

"Your legs can move...?" Gyro crossed his arms, unsure if he believed the Joestar's claim.

"L-Let me show you..." He grabbed onto his own thigh and his leg twitched slightly. "See! They moved!" Johnny then began pushing off the ground, trying to will his legs with all his might to let him stand up. But they just buckled beneath him, and he fell back into your arms.

"Shit. Just a little more! Damn it!" Johnny gripped the back of your shirt tightly, bunching up the fabric. "I'm sure it's just a little more! I want to get my hands on that corpse no matter what! I don't care about living or dying or who's just and who's evil!" The wound in his hand began staining your clothes a deep red. "I don't even give a fuck about the corpse being a saint or whatever!! I'm still negative! I want to get up to zero! If I had known it would come to this, I would've rather not known about the corpse in the first place!"

"Johnny, it's not over yet." You pulled him away from yourself, a hand on both of his shoulders as you stared directly into his eyes. "We can still get the corpse and you'll have your opportunity to walk again. I'm certain there's a way. If we give up now, you'll never get that chance. I believe in you, Johnny. I think you have what it takes to defeat the President and take the corpse for yourself."

Johnny could feel tears beginning to well up in his eyes. "You really think so?" You nodded silently. He brought you into another hug. "Thank you, (Y/N)... For believing in me even when I don't believe in myself."

Gyro cleared his throat loudly. "This may not seem entirely related, but I promise you'll understand if you just listen for a moment." He walked over to Valkyrie. "Stirrups weren't invented all that long ago, speaking relatively, of course. Before stirrups, people would ride with their legs dangling. People have been riding horses for thousands of years, but they hadn't thought of riding a horse with your legs."

"The stirrups don't just give you a place to put your legs and help keep your ass from slipping." The Zeppeli took a seat on his own horse to demonstrate. "You absorb the horse's power from the lower half of your body and fight while mounted. It was invented for the sake of technique. The horse's power enters the rider's hips, and it's sent to the back and shoulders in a helix shape. Then it goes all the way to the arms to use technique with weapons! The ones that needed stirrups were the knights of the Middle Ages!"