A New Bizarre Adventure

Chapter ???: Prologue

The peaceful Morioh Town was shrouded in darkness. The few streets illuminated by dim overhead lamps were devoid of life, all completely empty. Curtains were drawn and doors were locked as the residents slept unaware of the important meeting about to unfold.

With the defeat of one Yoshikage Kira occurring two years ago, Jotaro Kujo thought he'd never need to return to Morioh, yet here he was, preparing to leave after a brief stay. Jotaro plopped down on the couch in his hotel room and picked up the phone on the table across from him. He dialed in a number as slowly as possible and waited until he heard a faint click, signifying someone had picked up. "Hirose residence, Koichi speaking," a groggy boy croaked on the other end of the line.

"Koichi," Jotaro spoke into the receiver softly as if not to divulge much attention. "I need to ask a favor of you."

After a few minutes of talk, Jotaro placed the phone back down. Koichi Hirose would soon be on his way to Naples, Italy to inspect a person of interest, one Giorno Giovanna. Jotaro stood and hefted his single duffel bag over his right shoulder and cautiously walked out of his room, trying to be as silent as possible. As he passed by the front desk of the hotel, he dropped his room key as well as a rolled-up stack of Yen in front of the check-in area.

Jotaro walked down to where his rental car was parked; approximately half a mile away from the hotel. After dropping an envelope containing a few special contents off at the Higashikata residence, his next stop would be California, where he'd transfer on a flight to Texas, the location of the Speedwagon Foundation headquarters.

As Jotaro got his passport stamped and made his way over to the boarding area, he felt a light tap on his shoulder. He turned to see a young man, around thirteen or so, he guessed. "Are..." the boy's voice trailed off as his head tilted toward the ground. "Are you Jotaro Kujo?"

Jotaro faltered, wondering how this teenager, and someone he had never met before at that, had known his name. He took a few steps forward to gain a bit more height on the stranger. "You must have the wrong person," he spoke with a hint of tenacity in his voice. "I've never met, or known, anyone with the name of 'Kujo' in my life."

The boy pulled a small card out of his pocket and stared at it for a moment. "That's really odd," he responded, raising the card up to Jotaro's eye level, "because that's not what it says on your ID."

Jotaro faltered for a moment before reaching out to take the card back, but the teen pocketed it before it was within his grasp. "How did you get that?" Jotaro questioned as the two stared each other down. The boy reached up to the left side of his black jacket and blue T-Shirt. He gripped his collar and pulled down. The young man turned to show his the top of his left shoulder to Jotaro. "This," he stated bluntly as Jotaro stared in shock at the star-shaped birthmark the stranger had just revealed, "is better than any form of ID."

Jotaro's eyes stayed locked on the mark. It looked slightly more faded than his own, but it was definitely the real deal. This total stranger somehow had the same exact birthmark that belonged to every other member of the Joestar family. "How," Jotaro rephrased the question he had asked earlier, "did you get THAT?"

The boy returned his left hand to its original position in his pocket, letting his clothing conceal the birthmark yet again. "That's for you to find out. If you're interested, that is," he answered, picking up Jotaro's bag and hoisting it over the shoulder opposite the one bearing his own load. The teen strode past Jotaro and into the corridor that lead onto the plane. "We can talk more once we get to our seats," he called over his shoulder. "I don't know how much Joestar blood is running through my veins, but it's definitely there. That fact can't be ignored."

Jotaro reluctantly followed with his hands in his pockets. Seeing his bag was already in the overhead compartment of the plane, he quietly took a seat next to the teen. Having partially regained his former composure, he turned to face the boy, who was now pounding a can of Ginger Ale. "Um," he stated as the boy finished chugging, "you know my name. May I ask yours?"

The teen crushed the can and tossed it into the wastebasket a passing stewardess was carrying. "Alexander Joestar, but please call me Alex," he responded. "It pisses me off when people use my full name, with or without reason."

Jotaro silently sympathized with Alex, who was now trying to find a comfortable position in his cramped seat. "Damn," he cursed. "Not enough leg room. You sure it's too late to switch to first class?"

Jotaro ignored him and opened his mouth with more questions at the ready. "You're a Joestar, but your lineage, namely your parents, that's what's confusing to me," he stated. Alex leaned into his cushions, slightly arching his back like a cat. "My mother was a little all over the place," he clarified. "She was there one second, gone the next. Yet she raised me better than my father ever did. I was the result of a one-night stand. Heard I had a half-brother who was also born that way too."

Jotaro turned to face the runway as the plane lifted off into the sky. "Yare Yare," he muttered. "Your father was Joseph Joestar, wasn't he?"

Alex nodded somewhat grimly. "Yeah," he spoke with a slight quiver in his voice. "I... I can't forgive him for what he went and did with both Josuke and I, but that's not important. Something my dad did, when he was really young, it's falling on my shoulders to take care of it now."

Alex reached into his bag and carefully pulled out a mask fashioned entirely from stone. The black, soulless eye sockets seemed to pierce Jotaro's very soul. The face was slightly cracked, but the eerie mak could still be recognized as a piece of costume. "Not costume," Alex remarked, as if reading Jotaro's mind. "This... thing is anything but. This is one of the many Stone Masks that's haunted our family for generations. The kind that granted DIO his immortality, the kind that could make Pillar Men into perfect beings, the kind that has given me terrible nightmares for years. Nightmares that have unveiled a truth too startling for this world. Too startling for us."

Jotaro was taken aback by this statement, as he could see the fear deep down in Alex's eyes. He nodded in understanding. "Very well," he said. "Please continue."

Alex took a deep breath in and out again. "During his youth, Joseph Joestar, my father, battled and defeated the last four Pillar Men on Earth, but he only killed three."

The truth dawned on Jotaro as Alex' expression got more and more foreboding. "That's right," he confirmed Jotaro's silent fear for him. "That fourth Pillar Man, the one my father failed to kill, the one who just so happens to be under surveillance at the Speedwagon Foundation headquarters, the one by the name of Santana, he is going to break free and use a Stone Mask to become a perfect being and destroy us all."