P H A N T O M B L O O D

"Cause to lose all my senses is just so typically me. Oh baby, baby."

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You sprint away from Zeppeli and Speedwagon, running further into the stone pillar maze of a landscape. Tarkus is running behind you, covering a lot more ground with his massive legs.

The brute keeps swinging his sword at you- as if running isn't hard enough on its own, you have to dodge the lethal weapon slicing and cutting everything it touched.

"I'm gonna squish you like a bug!" The tremendous zombie yells as you circle and dodges the massive sword he holds, "I'm gonna rip you in half like a twig!"

"You can try, you unripe piece of ass!" You yell, slamming your feet down and bending the rest of your body backwards to dodge under a particularly effective swing, your outfit swaying out in a particularly cool animated way, "There's a reason your Queen got captured you know*!"

Tarkus roars like he's been taken classes from a throat singer and twists the sword vertically, bringing it down onto your awkwardly bent body. With no other option, you use the stolen knife to push up against the sword.

In yoga terms, you're attempting quite a bold bridge with blades involved, in other terms, you're fucked.

Against the brute's vast strength, both the knife and your arm begin shaking and pushing your weight down, bending your body further towards the ground.

Your back hits the rock below you and you're laying in a triangle shape with your feet still on the ground. Thank goodness for the flexibility you have from posing all the time, being a Jojo character has its perks.

Being pinned to the hard floor with a massive sword above your head is not such a perk.

"I'm gonna kill you, driggle-draggle!" Tarkus yells and you wouldn't be surprised if he spat on you. Driggle-draggle? What kind of insult is that? Gods the 1600s were rough, and that's coming from a victorian. Poor Tarkus.

Sike, fuck this guy.

"Kill me? Maybe I should've worn red," You keep up the smug, distracting act and surprise the Zombie by sending Hamon up the two blades, "Oooh, something brown would match your decaying get-up*."

The effect of the Hamon doesn't seem to do much more than make Tarkus cringe like he ate something sour, the massive knight backing up and momentarily dropping his huge sword, giving you enough time to stand up and well, back the fuck up.

'Have the others killed Bruford yet?' You think, there's no way you'll be able to kill this Tarkus guy all alone. Can you regroup yet? Is Jojo safe?

Not like that matters, you're about to give this bastard the fight of his life- death?- if it'll allow the others to help Jojo. It would suck to go to hell for something so morally righteous but oh well, for Jojo you'd take on The World.

You hear the scattered noises of Tarkus picking up his sword and focus once again on the rising colossus. You raise your curved blade and just in time too as Tarkus leaps forward and attempts to stab you, "Let's dance Tar-Tar, what says you to La Volta*?"

The giant ignores your words but the momentum of the sword colliding into the knife forces Tarkus to back up slightly. It wasn't enough to completely throw off the giant, however- so you use Hamon to kick at the sword, sending it and Tarkus barreling to the left.

Ha, that's what he gets for having a sword big enough to kick.

He's strong but so are you after years of trying to work out at the same pace as 'Hercules reborn'.

Though you shouldn't underestimate the supernatural powers of the zombie.

Within seconds he's already swinging the sword towards your left side, attempting to slice you in half.

'What a horrible way to die. Not me bitch.' You think, jerking back and receiving only a slightly breezier outfit from the sword. This only seems to anger Tarkus.

"Time for your squishing mortal," Tarkus snarls in his caveman-like voice. Turning fully and running forward with the sword aimed to stab you. Or kebab you on the gigantic blade more accurately.

You feel fear run down your spine for the first time since you decided to him. You grip the curved knife with one hand and quickly pull out your outfit's complimentary umbrella with the other.

You hold the umbrella far out in front of you, opening it in the nick of time as Tarkus stabs it instead of you. You act quickly, lunging forward and attempting to stab the giant as you close the umbrella and temporarily trap the sword in the mechanisms.

The curved dagger is filled with Hamon, which luckily manages to wound the giant as the actual metal is stopped by his heavy armour.

You take a moment to breathe as out of nowhere a wave of exhaustion washes over you. You take too long.

"You'll pay for that!" Tarkus snarls and before you can pull away he grabs the dagger, ripping it away from you. You bring the umbrella back to you in the hope it'll block any more attacks but the giant ignores it and kicks you back.

Like way back.

You're sent flying back to the cliff edge, ruining all the distance you'd put between him and your group. You roll slightly as you meet the hard stone ground and Tarkus has jumped in front of you in an instant.

"F-fuck you, Tar-whatever-your-name-is," You curse, raising your head only for it to be met by a now-familiar boot. The asshole kicks you in the face, sending blood flying from your mouth and your body flowing through the air once again.

You see the stars for a moment but then you're crashing back down to earth.

Your limp form is sent whistling into Bruford's rusty remains, shock rushing up your spine at the impact with the ancient armour. You're surprised you didn't bounce like some beat up, well-dressed ball.

That's what you get for being kickable.

"(N/N)!" Jojo gasps, because well, you had suddenly fallen from the sky and crashed in front of him. Tarkus is behind him and Speedwagon is yelling about such. But that's not what scares him.

He'd never seen anyone as injured as you live for very long without a doctor.

But you're (Y/N), and (Y/N)'s the strongest person he knows, so you'd be fine right? You can't leave him now, right?

Of course not.

'Golly that hurt.' You think, coughing up more blood and pushing yourself onto your arms for more support. Your whole body seems kind of foreign and you can vaguely feel the world turning in your aching bones.

You stand up off the armour, stumbling over to Jojo and the supporting cast. It takes another minute or two but you manage to take the few steps needed to be beside your friends in the flowery field.

Jojo takes a moment to glance at you and you nod at him. You're okay. He had bigger things to worry about. The Joestar turns to glare at Tarkus.

"You villain! That was the armour of a steadfast friend and comrade!" Jojo's angry, yelling at a grinning Tarkus as you, Zeppeli and Speedwagon stand around him, "He died with honour and dignity!"

"He died like a spineless dog! He was too clever by half!" Tarkus barks out, "Liked winning his fights with thinking! I just hit them until they fall to pieces!"

'I was really out here risking it all huh? Good for me.' You think, trying to block out the pain of the two kicks but ultimately you give up when the image of Tarkus in front of you starts swimming and blurring.

You sway slightly but Zeppeli steadies you by placing an arm on your shoulder. You're grateful and you try to tell him that but both of your attention ends up snapping back to the idiot knight who's still talking.

You were really starting to wish this guy would fuck off.

"What use have I got for clever? I carry a sword as tall as a man! None of you will get an easy death!" The zombie roars and lifts his massive sword, bringing it down onto the ground and cutting into it like it was cake.

The ground instantly starts to shake and you all start wobbling as the turf becomes too unstable to stand on. As the shaking worsens, Jojo has to grab Poco before he became No-co.

"Jojo, nice catch!" Zeppeli says. He's a really supportive guy.

"The cliff is crumbling!" Speedwagon yells and luckily you're all on the same sinking patch of ground. Less luckily, you're all on a sinking piece of ground with a bloodthirsty zombie chasing you.

"Hm, these dead leaves," The baron mutters thoughtfully before turning to his students, "(Y/N), Jojo!"

"Yes sir!" You both yell, using the week of Hamon training and teamwork to vaguely guess what he wants you to do when you all start channelling Hamon into the leaves.

Oh right, Hamon. Breathing would be a lot easier if a zombie twice your size hadn't sent you pummeling, back first into a jagged pile of hard metal armour.

You end up coughing some more blood before focusing on the sunshine magic flowing through your veins.

Now for the cool teamwork: deep breath, move your arms kinda funny, touch the leaves, in sync and yell, "Life magnetism overdrive!"

The Hamon shooting through your palms like overly passionate rave lights flows through the leaves, dragging them together like flawless, golden glue.

The Hamon lessons the pain of your injuries too. Good.

Tarkus roars and leaps at you but luckily the Hamon's done its job and you three have a huge leaf sky glider to fly away with.

"Hurry Poco, Speedwagon jump on!" Jojo yells, Poco jumping on his back and Speedwagon jumping onto Zeppeli's.

You kinda wish you had someone to carry around but that might not be a good idea with your weakening condition.

Weakening? Shit, using the Hamon to fly and heal yourself is draining your remaining strength. Why couldn't you have just been really cool and killed Tarkus earlier rather than getting kicked? Damn mortality.

Nonetheless, the group's taken off, using the leaves to soar safely away from Tarkus' crazy sword-swinging mania.

As you're just trying to enjoy flying and maintaining the Hamon, Poco decides to moon Tarkus. Ruining the peaceful vibe and making your poor Victorian brain explode at the indecency and rudeness of the small child.

"We're flying! I can't believe it!" Poco says enthusiastically after happy disrespecting Tarkus, "I bet your magicians huh? You'd have to be right? How did you learn to do all these neat spells in the first place?"

"Damn good question! I've been watching them do it and I still pinch myself!" Speedwagon says from his relaxed position of clinging onto baron Zeppeli.

"You know, I've been doing it and I still don't fully understand how you'd learn this," You say, voice coming out shakier than you'd like, you hope no one notices, "Oi Teach, what's the story?"

"Yeah, we're not going anywhere! How on earth did you pick up all this mumbo jumbo?" Speedwagon continues and you glance over at the Zeppeli. For the brief moment before the flashback visuals appear he seems... Really serious? Especially for someone so eccentric on the regular.

"Many years ago my travels took me to India where I discovered a mysterious man. He called himself a doctor though he was very young and lacked all the tools for the trade. Little did I know, he was more potent of a medic than I'd ever encountered," Zeppeli begins, voicing over the scenes of his past.

You were glad you could see these fourth wall types of things because without the flashbacks the story would be a lot less interesting. Er, no offence to the Baron's storytelling skills.

"He took a gangrenous limb in his hands and healed it with light from within. That was the day I learned of Hamon," Zeppeli continues dramatically, "I'd been looking for something for which I could fight the stone masks evil and in Hamon, I had found it."

"Eager to learn, I crossed into Tibet and up the Salween River, in search of he who had taught the young healer. His name was Tonpetty," The Baron stops his story there, going solemnly quiet. The flashback continues but you can no longer see it, only the great cavern and rocky landscape of Windknight's Lot. Was the flashback hiding something from you? That's never happened before.

"Baron?" Speedwagon asks, concerned like the sweetheart he is. Before Zeppeli can respond you all hear a weird whistling noise coming from the wind, "So that sound? That's part of Hamon doing its thing, yeah?"

'Ah shit.' You think.

"Hardly!" Jojo angrily says as you turn to the massive knight attempting to fall on top of the leaves.

"Look out it's Tarkus!" Poco yells and oh no, are Zeppeli and Jojo not able to see him from the front of the leaf glider? That's not good.

"He's insane! Leaping from that height just to chase his foes!" Zeppeli yells, apparently encouraging Tarkus, who claws at the leaves.

The giant manages to break away the particular leaves you're dangling from, fuck. You grab at the leaves but they keep breaking away in your hands, "Uh guys-"

Tarkus roars and pushes off from the leaves, drowning out your cry for help.

"There's a goodly amount of Hamon holding these leaves together, you brute," Zeppeli says to the zombie, "Painful for the touch to the undead!"

At this point, you're barely able to resist gravity. The Hamon at your fingertips not helping you stick to the leaves whatsoever.

"Um I'm kinda falli-" You're cut off once again by Jojo who looks forward and gasps.

"What's that?" He asks, throwing the group's attention to the odd fort structure built into the ravine and away from your struggling.

"That's where the knights used to train in the olden days," Poco informs.

'Fucking shit fucks.' You think, eyes widening. At this point, you begin rapidly falling from the sky without any Hamon leaves to stick to, "Can someone help-"

"Leap to safety everyone! Before we get swatted out of the sky!" Jojo exclaims and if you weren't rapidly losing a fight with a deadly fall you would have facepalmed.

"Funny you should say that, Jojo!" You yell, for once catching everyone's attention as you finally pick up speed and plummet.

"(Y/N)!" They all yell as they safely land on the odd structure, watching as you descend even further down the ravine like there's nothing they can do to help. You'd surrounded yourself with idiots.

You think you hear a dramatic 'noooooo' or two but the wind rushing in your ears and the distance between you and the group drowns them out.

Were you about to die?

Who the fucks gonna look after your friends if you die? They obviously can't look after themselves. Oh no, what about Jojo and Erina? Who would give them flowers every day? Certainly not your rotting corpse-

Actually, let's look on the bright side! It's not like you've hit the bottom of the ravine yet.

Nevermind.

Okay on the bright side, at least you haven't died on impact. Instead, you've just been suspended awkwardly above the ground because of this conveniently placed rock impaling you.

Is this karma for the whole mansion burning, vampire being stabbed by a statue, leaving him to die thing?

'Oh golly, is all this blood mine? That's too much blood.'

You shakily reach towards the part of the rock sticking out of you and exhale super loud when those hands are quickly covered in blood. Try as you might to get a better look at the wound, you can't really move anything other than your arms and face muscles.

Okay, time for panicking. And screaming. You scream so loud in fact that your loyal comrades dozens of feet above you think you've just met a bloody end.

Jokes on them right?

Oh fuck, what's that falling from the sky? It's Tarkus's helmet... Crashing into you.

OH GOOD HEAVENS.

The rock you're on is crushed, sending you spiralling into the stone ground. You can look at the wound now.

There's a massive hole in your stomach.

But you can move now. That's the important thing.

You take a self-care moment for yourself to rive about in pain before you even consider standing or anything though.

But your friends and lover are in danger so you have to get up. You've got to save them from the big bastard and Dio. You... Oh wow, that stings.

You sway and stumble as you stand up, clutching the ravine walls for support. The stone structure your friends jumped onto isn't even visible from this far down.

If you can't even stand up easily, how are you supposed to climb back up to them?

'Bugger me this hurts,' You glance around the bottom of the ravine and realise you're gonna have to escape by going along the ravine until it opens out onto the surface rather than just climbing out.

Looking forward you notice the ravine doesn't open up for miles and when it does, you'll be outside the ominous castle Dio has taken for himself.

You'll have left everyone behind. You'll have left Jojo behind.

You sigh and hobble forward. Ignoring the heavy trail of blood-forming behind you and the group of zombies following behind you.

You'd meet up with Jojo at the castle.

Yeah. That'll work.

Hopefully.

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Did I write the Tarkus vs (Y/N) fight because I was too lazy to type out the Bruford and Jojo fight?

Yeah.

Either way, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Here are all the little historical digs you make at Tarkus explained if you want to read them.

* "There's a reason your Queen got captured you know!"

Reference to when Mary Queen of Scots met an Army at Carberry Hill on 15th June 1567 but was more or less captured without a battle because a lot of her forces deserted her during negotiations.

* "Kill me? Maybe I should've worn red."

Reference to Mary's beheading where she removed her dark outer garments to reveal her red petticoat and crimson brown sleeves, the colour of martyrdom in the catholic church.

* "Let's dance Tar-Tar, what say you to the La Volta?"

La Volta was apparently the favourite dance of Queen Elizabeth I, the same Queen who had Mary killed. The dance was considered really scandalous at the time.

Anyway, this is a day late so I could get it out on Jonathan's birthday!! Woo!!