JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: House of Cards

Glory, Glory

A handful of men sit around a table, playing cards. They're wearing various attires. A black suit, a blue short sleeve buttoned shirt, and faded green fatigues. A man with a checkered suit walks through the door. "Gentlemen, I have news." He says as he sits down and picks up his cards. "What is it, Sir?" asks the black suit. "Weston, it seems the deputy and the detective have gone against you. They were present at the radio station, and they helped kill Captain Horner. They're working with Jony Curtis and Leonard Banker." The checkered suit says to the blue shirt. "Alright. We'll get to that after we finish this hand." says the blue shirt. "Of course. Honestly, its quite simple for you, Paul. Some, if not all of our issues are going to an area known as 'Dead Man's Curve' to look at some rock and a car crash. You know what to do." The checkered suit says to the fatigues. "Enough talk, show your damn cards." says the blue shirt. None of the cards mattered, as the checkered suit laid down all four Aces, and a King of Clubs. "Now, lets get to business." The checkered suit states as he stands up and walks off. "Man, how do you even get that many?" The blue shirt mutters as the rest of them follow.

In the days since the radio station, a few additions had been made to Jony's shop. A big closed sign draped over the front door, and the large window has been draped with a sheet. Inside, a cork board lies next to a blackboard against the wall, and various chairs circle a table. The group slept, ate, and lived in the shop, due to it also serving as Jony's personal residence. Decoration aside, the group had large plans for today. Juno was to observe the chief of police, Weston Jay, and mark any suspicious behavior that could lead to him being The Club, Leonard was to hold fort and tidy up, and Max and Jony were to head to Dead Man's Curve to investigate why Jony and Leo gained stands after their near fatal car crash. The group had a brief lunch and set off with their respective tasks.

The car door slammed as Jony and Max set foot on the road that led to Dead Man's Curve. The vast forest that he had been lost in lie before him. The Romantics cast its sweeping arm to toss aside any plants or trees that stood in their way as the two head down into the valley of the forest.

The two approached what was left of Jony's ride at the bottom of Dead Man's Curve. A small glint of metal shone from the cliffside. Jony and Max heaved and lifted and dug until they wedged the rock out. It was an iridescent hunk of metal with strange carving on its side. The strangest of all, was that the rock kept changing shape and the carving depicted different events as time passed. On one side, Jony receiving The Monkees. On the other, Jony and Leo's first encounter with an enemy stand user. As new carvings began to inscribe themselves onto the rock, Max noticed something happening above them.

Two trees, growing near the top of Dead Man's Curve. Rapidly. Whatever it may be, no tree should grow that fast, and Max knew it. "Jony, go to the top of the Curve and check out those trees." Max ordered. He and Jony placed the rock back down and Jony sprinted off. Max began to walk back to the car before sensing something being off.

The trees were dying, the grass was wilting. The soil went soft, and puddles began to form. There was no rain. It wasn't good. "You ever been in a war?" A voice calls from the distance. "Back the fuck off or I'll kill you." Max states back at the voice. "Heh. With your little 1911? Doesn't work no more. But let me get back to what I was saying. War is cruel. I'm sure you've heard it before. From world war I, to II, to Korea. War is awful. In fact, I was in one. Me n my two best friends. Rich and Mikey. We were all in the same platoon, and we were all in the same boat on D-Day. Mikey, poor bastard, nothin was left of him by the time we had a foothold. They sent him back in a bag." The voice explains. "Shut the hell up and get lost, man. I ain't here for some bum's stories." Max shouts, drawing his M1911, the one Juno had just given him.

"Man, I'm tellin you, your little pop gun ain't gonna phase me. And now I'm gettin back to my story. We established a base on the beach, and they started training and preparing, and assigning. Me n Rich were re-assigned to the 101st Airborne. I was thrilled, since if I died, I knew I'd be remembered as a badass for jumping out of a plane. Rich was scared as hell, and when we first got on the plane to practice jump, I told him 'Settle down, Rich. It ain't like the chutes gonna fail!' And he calmed down. So we went on with the training, and everyone jumped and was doing fine. I was coastin in the air when Rich finally got to jump. And I see the chute. It's all fucked. He's fallin, and I know the chute had failed. I heard the most ghastly scream ever. A man who knew his death. I could tell from his voice. He accepted it, but still fought it. He was a mess when he hit, and they boxed him up. It was if he was fated to go that day."

By this time, there were no trees for a good 50 feet. It was all mud, and water, and filth. A man wearing faded military fatigues stood in front of Max. He kept a clean cut up top, but he had a sizeable beard on his chin. He was scarred, his eyes sunk. He was like a walking corpse, but he was built like a brick shit house. Max pulled his pistol and fired, but the gun blew apart in his hand. "What'd I tell ya? What did I tell ya?" The man asks, laughing. Max stares at the gun parts on the ground. Before he knows it, the man has tackled him into a mud pit.