The Forgotten Stardust Crusader

Crawl Away

"A boat! Look, over there!"
The girl shouted, pointing to a large freighter. The crew paddled the lifeboat to the freighter and boarded the ship, accompanied by the sailors from the last ship. They made their way up to the deck.
"There's no crew up here,"
Kakyoin noted.
"Alright, let's split up. Kakyoin, Jotaro and Sid, search the lower decks. Avdol, Polnareff and I will search the upper decks. We meet back here as soon as we're done. Got it?"
Joseph stated, everyone agreed and got to searching. The girl stayed with Joseph and his group. They moved to the control room.
"Is that an orangutan in a cage?"
The girl questioned.
"Yes, but we need to find its owner."
Joseph replied. Within twenty minutes both groups had returned to the deck.
"There's no one down there. Just shipping containers. No signs of an escape, as the lifeboats are still here. No signs of a murdered crew, unless their bodies were stuffed into shipping containers but, even then you'd be able to smell a dead body. From what we saw, absolutely no signs that anyone, besides us, has ever stepped foot on this ship."
Sid noted. Just as Sid finished talking, a hook impaled one of the sailors in the head.
"Who touched the controls to the crane?"
Joseph asked.
Everyone denied it, saying it moved on its own. He instructed the sailors and the girl to go to the cabins.
"Where's Anne? She was with you guys, right?"
Sid questioned, motioning towards Joseph, Avdol and Polnareff.
"Wait, is Anne the girls name?"
Polnareff questioned.
"Yes, where is she? She's not on deck."
Sid sounded exasperated.
"I think I saw her heading towards the shower room."
Avdol chimed in.
"In a ship where we can't find any crew members and a man was just killed by a runaway crane hook, you let a child, who can't be older than ten, go off on her own? I'm surrounded by irresponsible dumbasses."
Sid frustratedly questioned. Jotaro separated from the group. While going, he noticed that the orangutan was let out of its cage. 10 minutes after Jotaro left, the ship started moving in places that, normally it wouldn't be able to. A steel floor dipping in certain areas and pipes twisting, seemingly on their own. About 15 minutes later, Jotaro emerged from the control room and onto the deck with Anne. The ship was slowly collapsing around them.
"The orangutan was the stand user and the ship itself is the stand. We need to get back to the lifeboat, now!"
Jotaro instructed while shouting. Everyone ran to the lifeboat and made it on time. They watched as the ship collapsed and turned into a lifeboat just as their own.
"Well, the circle is complete, we're back on the lifeboats."
Sid sounded matter of fact and sarcastic at the same time.
"We're not very far from the shore, we should be able to drift and be there within the next few hours."
Joseph added, hoping to avoid the wrath of his angry daughter.
"Alright,"
Sid calmly replied. Except for Jotaro, who mostly remained expressionless, everyone's faces were riddled with confusion.
"Yo- you didn't start ranting at me. Sid is starting to accept me as her father."
Joseph loudly raved.
"Don't get the wrong idea, I'm just too tired to start anything."
Sid's voice was flat from exhaustion.
"Might as well,"
Sid muttered to herself. She took out the pack of cigarettes Polnareff gave back to her and lit one up. She motioned with the pack in her hand to ask if anyone wanted one. Jotaro took one and lit it.
"They don't sell Marabolros in Japan."
Jotaro remembered aloud.
"Learn something new everyday."
Sid replied, her voice slightly muffled from keeping the cigarette in her mouth. Like it was their strange way of saying thanks and you're welcome. Until they got to Singapore, they were silent, except for the occasional polite conversation.
Once they got to Singapore they made their way to the closest hotel. They walked into the hotel lobby.
"Ok, before we get to the desk, how many rooms do we need?"
Joseph asked.
"Jotaro and I can share a room, it makes sense since we're both students."
Kakyoin added, Jotaro nodded in agreement.
"I'll share a room with Avdol... so that leaves, Sid and Polnareff."
Joseph concluded.
"I don't mean to be rude but, Polnareff is older than me and... well... I don't know him that well yet."
Sid nervously added.
"You saying I'm some sort of creep?"
Polnareff angrily asked.
"No, we just haven't talked that much. I promise it's not anything personal."
Sid replied.
"Whatever makes you happy,"
Polnareff shrugged. Sid felt a twinge of guilt but, decided to stand her ground.
"Sid could room with us if she wanted to."
Kakyoin interjected, Jotaro nodded in agreement. Jotaro was slightly disappointed but, didn't let it show. Sid was shocked by the showing of kindness after basically insulting their comrade.
"Um, yeah, sounds good. Thank you."
Sid was still in shock. Joseph went up to the desk and got their rooms and keys.
"Before we do anything else, I need to go to the store and replace my things. I don't know how I'm going to get them but, I need new documents as well."
Sid noted, she looked around and found a map of the city with all the businesses marked on it. Sid turned around to leave the hotel.
"Hey, get back here."
Joseph shouted, Sid spun around to face her father and crossed her arms.
"What?"
She snapped.
"You're still technically a prisoner so, you're not going alone. Jotaro, go with your aunt to the store. I'll stay here and call the Speedwagon foundation to get you new travel documents."
Joesph stated.
"Why do I have to go with, I hate shopping."
Jotaro replied.
"I'll go with, I need a couple things as well."
Kakyoin added. Jotaro took the room key from Joseph and everyone was given a small paper with everyone's room number on it. Kakyoin and Sid left the hotel. Sid took out the map she found.
"Says the store should be about point 805 kilometers (half a mile) that way."
Sid claimed, pointing to the right of them. They started walking, they were silent for about 10 minutes.
"I hate to interject my opinion where it may not be wanted but, I think you should give Mr. Joestar a chance."
Kakyoin politely broke the silence.
"I'm hard on him because he got to live out his rich lifestyle while my family lived paycheck to paycheck. Because in all 18 years of my life, he doesn't reach out until he needs someone to fight for him and this family that I didn't know I was a part of. Because my genetic relation to him got my mom killed. Because his better half has no clue that I exist and therefore he gets to live in domestic bliss. It seems like his wife has no clue he has the tendency to have extramarital affairs. He gets to have his cake and eat it too, which is a large part of what pisses me off so much."
Sid rambled, feeling embarrassed for saying so much.
"I can see how you're related to Jotaro. Always angry, but you talk more than he does."
Kakyoin noted, letting out a slight chuckle.
"Sorry if I talked your ear off."
Sid apologized.
"No, don't worry about it. I didn't know that he never spoke to you before this. I understand why you're angry now. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry about your mother... the Joestars can be secretive at times. But, I think you should know that Jotaro's mother, your half sister, is very ill. She didn't have the strength to control her stand, which made her very ill. It could be deadly if we don't defeat DIO in time."
Kakyoin added. They went in the store. Kakyoin felt bad and didn't want to follow Sid around the store.
"I'll go grab my things and meet you at the front."
Kakyoin told Sid.
"Ok, I might be a bit though."
Sid replied.
"Don't worry about it, I don't think we're in any rush."
Kakyoin explained. Sid went to the clothing section and started rifling through the racks.
"If I run now, how far could I get before he realized I was gone?"
Sid pondered, grabbing a pair of pajama pants. Sid started walking toward the stacks of t-shirts.
"Right now isn't a good idea. He'll be expecting me to be at the front of the shop at some point. I don't know this area very well and wouldn't know where to run. Plus I don't have my travel documents."
Sid pondered, looking through the shirts to find her size.
"If they were to call local authorities or even search for me themselves in broad daylight, I'd be found."
Sid continued to ponder, grabbing a few shirts. She started to head towards the sweaters.
"I could slip out while everyone's asleep and head out a back entrance to avoid the hotel clerk."
Sid silently realized. Sid got the rest of what she needed and met Kakyoin at the front of the store. They got back to their hotel and knocked on their hotel room door. No one responded.
"Could Jotaro have been attacked by an enemy stand user?"
Sid inquired, sounding worried.
"Possibly, but before we jump to any conclusions, we should talk with Mr. Joestar."
Kakyoin concluded. Sid looked at the paper.
"Room 793, lets go."
Sid instructed, they got to the room and knocked on the door.
"Mr. Joestar, it's Sid and Kakyoin."
Kakyoin shouted through the door. Joseph opened the door for them.
"We can't find Jotar-oh."
Sid stopped after seeing Jotaro in the room. He was sitting on the bed, helping Polnareff patch up an ankle injury.
"Looks like you two missed all the fun."
Avdol joked.
"I guess so, what happened?"
Sid inquired, Polnareff winced in pain as Jotaro disinfected the wound.
"I was attacked by an enemy stand user."
Polnareff dramatically shouted.
"Oh yeah, Sid, you're travel documents should be here by the end of the day."
Joseph told her. Sid nodded in acknowledgment. Once Polnareff's wound was properly dressed, everyone helped Polnareff get back to his room and made sure he was alright, then went back to their respective rooms. Once they got back to their room, Sid took out a list of phone numbers she kept tucked away in her bra for safekeeping.
"Do you think the phone in here makes international calls?"
Sid wondered aloud.
"Wouldn't hurt to try,"
Kakyoin replied.
"Do you think there's a plug in for the phone in the hall?"
Sid asked. Both Jotaro and Kakyoin looked perplexed.
"Why?"
Asked Jotaro.
"Not to be rude but, I want my phone call to be private but, I don't want to kick you guys out."
Sid nervously stated.
"Calling someone special?"
Kakyoin jokingly asked.
"Mind your business,"
Sid sounded angry but her cheeks flushed red from embarrassment.
"We can go see if Polnareff needs anything. Just let us know when you're done because I'm starting to get tired."
Kakyoin added, letting out a small yawn. Both Jotaro and Kakyoin left the room with slight smirks on their faces. Sid picks up the phone and dials the number labeled, Charlie. The phone rings for a few seconds and a man answers.
"Burton residence, who is it?"
The man asks.
"It's Sid, is Charlie there?"
Sid asks.
"Yeah, one second, let me have her pick up the line."
The man responds. A moment later Charlie picks up the call in her room.
"Hey babe, how have you been? Since you're calling me, I guess you've been booked and processed and everything."
A girl, the same age as Sid asks.
"Funny story, hun..."
Sid went on to explain everything that happened. The Speedwagon foundation, the rich realtor guy who turned out to be her father, stands, what happened on the boats, everything.
"So let me get this straight. Joseph Joestar, the notoriously rich realtor, is your real father. Which you had confirmed by a DNA test, done by a foundation that your great grandfather's friend founded. But, you can't send me a photo copy of the test results because they were in your bag when a ship you were on blew up. The foundation also helped you figure out that what really punched your stepmom was an angry ghost created by your soul. But, it was commanded by you so, they're still sort of treating you as a prisoner. But, because of your ghost, you are on a journey to Egypt to fight your great grandfather's mortal enemy, who stole his body. And his mortal enemy happens to be a British vampire who's over 100 years old. And the people you're traveling with but, also fighting against, also have these ghosts. Including the evil vampire. Did I get that correct?"
Charlie sounded perplexed.
"The ghosts are called Stands."
Sid jokingly corrected Charlie. Sid's tone changed to a somber yet, joking tone.
"But yeah, pretty bizarre, isn't it?"
Sid let out a slight chuckle. There was a moment of silence. Sid interpreted it as a sign that Charlie didn't believe her.
"I'm supposed to get new documents by the end of the day. Once I get them, I can send them to you. The DNA test, the documents where my last name was changed to Joestar, the file's about the people I've been traveling with and their stands, everything. I'm not going crazy or lying to you, I promise. Once I get my documents and send a copy to you, I'm going to run. Once everyone is asleep, I'm going to run and find my way back to you. I love you more than anything."
Sid proclaimed. Sid heard a knock on the door.
"One second babe, I'll be back, don't hang up. Sid placed the phone on the nightstand. Sid walked over to the door and looked through the peephole. It was Jotaro and Kakyoin, she opened the door.
"We don't mean to interrupt your call but, your documents are here."
Kakyoin handed Sid a file folder and a passport. Sid looked at the passport.
"The imperial seal of Japan? I don't mean to be picky but, I'm from America."
Sid sounded perplexed.
"Mr. Joestar said you would be confused. He told me just to tell you to look at your documents."
Kakyoin replied.
"When's your phone call going to be done? I want to get some shut eye. You've been talking to this person for almost two hours now."
Jotaro asked.
"Should be done fairly soon, sorry for hogging the room."
Sid apologized, closed the door and went back to the phone.
"Sorry about that, I'm back and I have my files now."
Sid looked through the papers.
"Huh, this one wasn't here before. It says, due to your arrest and escape, if you come through US borders you will be arrested upon entry. Your crime wasn't serious enough to be extradited. You are able to be a citizen of Japan due to your relation to Jotaro Kujo."
Sid read off the paper.
"Shit, you can't come home... but, wait, we could meet in Vancouver, Canada. Just let me know when you're almost there and I can drive there. If you're willing to go to this length, I believe you and I love you more than anything. I hope you don't mind faxing me the information in case I ever need it for some reason."
Charlie requested.
"I will, I love you and I'll see you soon, bye."
Sid and Charlie said their goodbyes and hung up the phone. Sid opened the door and apologized to Jotaro and Kakyoin for how long the call took. Jotaro nodded and Kakyoin said not to worry and that he understood.
"I'm going to go to the bathroom and put my pjs on."
Sid said before rummaging through her suitcase. She grabbed a pair of fuzzy sweatpants that were a dark blue that matched her hair with a white star pattern. As well as a t-shirt with a breast pocket of the same color. Sid walked into the bathroom and closed the door.
"Who do you think she was calling?"
Kakyoin whispered.
"It's not like you to ask questions like that. You sound like a gossiping school girl."
Jotaro retorted.
"Normally, I don't but, when we were outside the door, they were both talking about how much they loved each other. The person Sid was talking to also sounded like a woman... we could tell her."
Kakyoin whispered, so Sid couldn't hear him.
"Who knows, we should see if she drops another hint. We could never be too careful."
Jotaro replied, Kakyoin's heart dropped but he nodded in agreement. A few moments later, Sid stepped out of the bathroom.
"Hope you guys weren't waiting for the bathroom, made the last minute decision to take a quick shower."
Sid apologized, Kakyoin and Jotaro were so wrapped up in their conversation they didn't even hear the shower turn on.
"Don't worry about it. We weren't."
Jotaro replied.
"Oh, I just remembered, I need to go to the office area and use their fax machine. Does anyone need to accompany me? Since I'm technically a prisoner."
Sid asked.
"I'll take you."
Jotaro answered. Sid grabbed her files and they both left the room. They started walking towards the elevator.
"Who were you talking to on the phone? I normally wouldn't ask but, I had to dance around the fact that you were on your own when talking to the old man."
Jotaro questioned Sid, she started to fidget with her hands and could feel herself going into a cold sweat.
"An old friend, she hadn't heard from me in awhile then, heard about my arrest and she got worried."
Sid stuttered, she started to sloppily braid a small section of her hair. A calming technique she had since she was a kid. Jotaro started to sense her unease.
"I was just asking, no need to get freaked out."
Jotaro remarked. They got to the fax machine, Sid typed in the number and started faxing papers as fast she could, worried Jotaro would stop her from sending them, because they were classified or something. In reality, he was sitting on the desk next to the machine, smoking a cigarette.
"Who're you sending them to?"
Jotaro asked, Sid got nervous again and started shaking.
"The same friend I was talking about earlier."
Sid stammered. Jotaro saw how nervous his questioning made her and considered stopping. He was fairly certain the two were lovers and didn't need to press it further. Sid finished faxing her documents and they went back to their hotel room. Sid put the documents in her bag. They went to bed and a few hours later, Sid was fairly certain that everyone was asleep. Sid looked at the clock from the pull out bed on the couch, 1:13 am.
Sid got up and grabbed her hoodie, which was distressed, red and had a large black star in the middle, that was hanging from the coat rack. The hanger snapped back and hit her in the finger which made a small clanging noise. Jotaro didn't let it show but, it woke him up. He pretended to keep sleeping as he heard Sid grab her bag and quietly slip out of the room.
She went down the stairs and on her way down, stopped to put on her shoes. She slid out the back exits. The pouring rain hit the ground so hard that Sid could barely hear her own footsteps. Sid let out a sigh and put the hood of her jacket over her head. Sid had no clue where she was going but, walked toward an area where she had seen a train station before.
Back at the hotel room Jotaro woke up Kakyoin and told him what happened. They quickly grabbed their shoes and ran down the stairs and took the same exit as Sid did. By this point Sid had only gotten to the street. She seemed indecisive as to where she was going and wasn't moving very fast. Kakyoin and Jotaro only had to walk briskly to catch up to her.
"So,"
Sid heard a familiar voice from behind her shout. She resisted the urge to turn around, she couldn't face Jotaro due to the embarrassment of being caught.
"When things get tough you're just going to run away to your girlfriend?"
Jotaro continued, his voice quieting down as he caught up with her. At that statement, Sid turned around to see Jotaro and Kakyoin. All of them were soaked from the downpour.
"I never wanted to be here, I was ready to serve a few years in prison and be done with it. Now I'm a Joestar and can't go back to the US without being arrested."
Sid remarked, there was a moment of silence, only broken by the rain.
"And you'd let DIO get away with killing your mother, you have no need for revenge?"
Jotaro questioned.
"I think I can rest easy knowing you're incredibly powerful Star Platinum is the only stand that can defeat DIO."
Sid mocked Jotaro, hitting a nerve of his she sensed from the beginning. Sid knew she was right when Jotaro's brows furrowed. Jotaro could sense himself getting pissed but, tried to calm himself down. He knew that Sid was a deeply troubled person who didn't know how else to express her emotions. Kakyoin knew that these two going back and forth would get them nowhere.
"I trusted you from the moment we met on the docks and we've thought about telling you something ever since. And we knew we could trust you with this since we figured out you have a girlfriend. Jotaro and I are in love."
Kakyoin confessed, Sid smiled.
"Is it true?"
Sid kindly asked Jotaro.
"Yeah,"
He replied, Kakyoin put his arm around Jotaro's.
"I appreciate you telling me this but, I know you said it now to try and get me to come back."
Sid mentioned. She couldn't help but be happy for her nephew and her friend.
"I'm glad to have gotten to know you guys but, I need to get back to the one who loves me. Jotaro, your mom still has hope but, mine is already dead."
Sid said, she turned around and walked away but, was stopped by Hierophant Green pulling on her luggage. Sid stopped but didn't turn around.
"To be honest, if you walked and didn't return to the US, you'd probably walk free. The only thing we'd have time to do is file a missing persons report with the local authorities. You've evaded police after petty theft's so, slipping out of town would probably be a walk in the park for you. I get to be with the man I love basically 24/7 on this journey. I'm lucky, but you, you lost your mother and your father and stepmother aren't even a real part of your family. From what I heard, they treated you like shit until your stand instinctively punched your stepmother in her nose because you were at the end of your rope with her. If I'm correct, you see Charlie as the only person you have left. If you walked, you could be with her for the rest of your life. But, if DIO found out about her, he could target her and you would be the only stand user there to protect her. The sooner we defeat DIO, the sooner targets are lifted off of us and those we care about. And, on a more selfish note, you and Jotaro and everyone else in the group have been the real first friends I've had. The first people I've met who can see my Hierophant Green."
Kakyoin explained, Sid let the rain pour over her for a moment and was ready to say something before Jotaro interjected.
"You come back with us now and we don't tell the old man."