Gladius POV

My anticipation only increased the longer I waited. I had no idea who'd return, Polnareff or J.Geil. True Kakyoin was also there, however I had no idea if they'd figure out Hanged Man's weakness between the two of them.

I remained silent as I waited, Hol Horse tried striking conversation. However I either only gave quick and simple answers or remained silent altogether. Instead my focus was on the road ahead and it was soon, my answer as to the victor presented itself.

Surprise filled me for a moment when I saw that it was Kakyoin and Polnareff that returned! Kakyoin seemed virtually unharmed while Polnareff certainly looked like he'd seen better days, blood covered his body.

I nudged Hol Horse to catch his attention before pointing towards the pair. Hol Horse grinned and muttered "Well well, it seems our prey have returned. Guess now's our chance right?" I nodded and said "Exactly. Follow my lead."

With those words we approached the pair, currently they had their back to us so I contemplated striking them unsuspectingly from behind. However before the thoughts could even cross my mind, Hol Horse blurted out. "HOLD IT! Finally caught up with you."" 

This caused the pair to stop in their tracks and turned to face us. Upon noticing me, Kakyoin's eyes widened. "So, you are here." I just smirked "Glad to know you remembered me." Polnareff glared at me before asking.

"So what, you're working with these two now?" I gestured to the still-grinning Hol Horse responded "No, I'm working with Hol Horse here. As for the one you just fought, I have zero interest in helping the likes of him."

I revealed a knife and spoke coldly "Now though, there's no escaping for either of you." Hol Horse grinned even more as he agreed "That's right, soon you two will be meeting your dear friend Avdol." Polnareff shot back. "Oh yeah?! Who's running?!" With that, all of us went silent for a moment. Until...

"ACE OF SWORDS!"

"SILVER CHARIOT!"

"HIEROPHANT GREEN!"

"EMPEROR!"

All four of our Stands became active and the battle commenced! I lashed out by summoning a handful of knives which I threw towards Polnareff's head! Silver Chariot was quick to counter. Displaying speed that matched my own as it swiftly sliced at each knife, knocking it out of the way.

Hol Horse opened fire with Emperor, calling out "You allowed yourself to get distracted Polnareff!" However before his bullet could collide with its target, Kakyoin yelled out "EMERALD SPLASH!" Firing a cascade of the green gems, causing the bullet to crash into the floor.

I had Ace of Swords summon a rapier, similar to Chariot's own and said "Seems your Stand is pretty fast. Let's make this fair then, shall we?" Before Polnareff could answer, Ace of Swords stabbed the rapier forwards, giving Chariot barely enough time to react.

Nevertheless, he did parry and from there our Stands duelled. Hol Horse sought cover, ducking behind one of the stalls and shooting towards Kakyoin who tried to dodge only for the bullets to curve. He once again had to counter with his Emerald Splash.

I had an idea, summoning a series of knives I threw them into the air and ordered "FIRE!" Hol Horse understood the order and used Emperor to hit the knives in mid-air. It was just like when we met, the knife bounced off the bullet.

This time though, it hit at an angle so that the knives shot downwards towards Polnareff's feet, he barely managed to hop back, causing the knives to jam into the floor before vanishing altogether.

I gave the order "Stay out of this Hol Horse! Only attack if either of them try to run!" Polnareff raised an eyebrow at me, asking "What, you think you can fight us by yourself?" I answered honestly "I don't know. But I owe Kakyoin a defeat and I am always open to testing myself."

Kakyoin muttered "You're mad..." My expression remained serious though as I said. "Perhaps." With that Kakyoin ordered "Hierophant, go!" My eye twitched and I leapt back to avoid one of Hierophant's tendrils shooting up from the ground under where I'd been stood.

I snarled and in a quick moment, summoned a sword that I used to slash at the tendril, causing Kakyoin to grunt. "Fool, I already know how your Stand functions from our last encounter. Nothing you can do will surprise me Kakyoin." In response, Kakyoin smirked.

"And I know exactly what to expect from you Gladius. Polnareff, NOW!" In that instant, Polnareff's Chariot darted forward and thrust its rapier out in a barrage of stab attacks. Several of which actually hit their mark.

A cut appeared across my cheek, another sliced my side and another hit my right leg. It didn't help that almost straight away, Kakyoin used this chance to yell "EMERALD SPLASH!" The projectile shot out and would have hit if it wasn't for quick thinking.

I used Ace of Swords to summon a SHIELD! A large one that covered my Stand's entire body, all the was visible with the collar of my Stand's cloak as well as the top had, both sticking out from the top.

Thanks to the shield though, the cascade of emeralds collided with it and what would have done notable damage, only bombarded the shield itself and caused no damage to me whatsoever. This angered Polnareff who snapped "You crafty bastard!"

Chariot darted forward, attempting to break through the guard. To no avail though, even as Chariot tried working his way AROUND the shield, I'd just mirror it with my own Stand's speed. If I was to assume, it would take a Stand with considerable destructive power to break through the shield and neither Hierophant nor Chariot had that.

All Polnareff did was play directly into my trap. He was so focused on trying to break through the shield, that when I suddenly got rid of it and had my Stand move upwards. Chariot thrust its blade forward and missed, leaving it vulnerable for a split second.

And it was in that second that I made my move, the next weapon I summoned was a flail which I swung downwards. I wasn't aiming to HIT Chariot though. No, you see this flail had a notably longer chain.

One that wrapped around Chariot's rapier wielding arm and with a firm tug from Ace of Swords forced Polnareff's Stand to act as a makeshift shield to replace my old one. Chariot tried turning and attacking however I kept evading, ensuring that he was always between me and Kakyoin.

I laughed "Would you look at this Kakyoin, it seems I've got you in quite the predicament. Any attempt to attack me now will only result in pain coming to your friend here!" Hol Horse burst out into hysterical laughter. "Oh, I love it! Excellent thinking Gladius!" 

Polnareff scowled "You gutless coward! Try THIS!" He swung the blade upwards only to be caught in the chain. I pulled tighter on the weapon in an attempt to stagger him however at this Polnareff's anger was replaced with a grin.

I didn't have time to react as Chariot's sword slashed outwards, cutting right through the chain! The flail vanished instantly due to this damage and straight away Polnareff called out "Kakyoin, now!" Kakyoin yelled out "EMERALD SPLASH!" Once more and fired out the green gems.

Just like our confrontation in Singapore however, I countered by throwing a handful of knives that collided with the emeralds and caused them to ricochet off one another and miss their mark completely.

Polnareff's Silver Chariot once more attempted to land a stabbing attack, but I evaded and parried with a sword of my own managing to land a blow that knocked both Polnareff and his Stand back.

Now we just stood, both me and Polnareff were breathing heavily. Kakyoin was stood just behind him, Hierophant over his shoulder, ready to strike. I was racking my brain, thinking of my next move when Hol Horse approached and spoke once again.

"This is priceless! You can't even beat Gladius alone Polnareff! You need Kakyoin to back you up. No worries though, once Mr J.Geil makes his move, even together you won't stand a chance against our triple threat! Isn't that right Mr J.Geil?" He summoned Emperor and shot at a nearby glass on a stall counter, making it shatter.

Polnareff and Kakyoin both looked at him with a blank expression. I sighed as Hol Horse called out "Come at us now with everything you've got! Show us your guts boys! Right Mr J.Geil?" He shot once again, this time at some nearby windows, making them shatter.

The two in front of us didn't flinch though, instead Polnareff simply stepped on a shard of glass and spoke "I don't think he's listening anymore cowboy. He's a little busy right now. Carrying out his sentence in HELL!" Polnareff once again summoned Chariot.

Hol Horse didn't seem to take the hint however with a grin, he leaned forward. "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Don't try to pull that nonsense! Bluffing won't work on me." It was at this point I spoke up. "They're telling the truth Hol Horse."

The cowboy looked at me surprised. "Don't tell me you're believin' these two now? There's no way J.Geil could lose to the likes of them! Even I wouldn't try my hand against that monster." I gave him a sideways glance and explained "Remember what I told you earlier? Whoever returned would be the victor in their skirmish. And I would pick-off what's left of them."

Pointing to Polnareff and Kakyoin, I continued "The fact that these two are here confirms it. I also said Hanged Man may have a glaring weakness which if I'm not mistaken, these two figured it out as well. You partner is dead Hol Horse, just admit it."

 Polnareff added "He's right you know. Two hundred meters that way, is the bastard's corpse. 'Case you want to look." He pointed over our shoulder down the path. Both me and Hol Horse looked down the path. For a moment there was silence until.

"Don't mind if I do!"

Before I knew it, Hol Horse took off running. Causing me to exclaim. "What the hell are you doing?!" Hol Horse shouted back "What does it look like?! Getting out of here!"

Hol Horse POV

I don't stand a CHANCE against them! Time to hightail it out of here and wait for a better chance! Or better yet, wait till I find another partner in crime. It's all about being number two. That's the motto I like to live by! Wait-.

CRAP! Damn it! In my panic I'd entirely forgotten Gladius was there! I should have asked him to team-up with me! Our Stands were similar enough, firing one of my bullets at one of his knifes would deflect them and improve the impact of both weapons. A flawless combo!

Looking back, I saw him giving me a look of shock and anger. Well, too late for that now, I'd stood him up and he'd likely try to kill me if we crossed paths again!

Key word being IF. All going well, we wouldn't be meeting anytime soon...

Gladius POV

I just watched Hol Horse get further and further away, my eye twitched in anger. I realized now that his whole schtick was having a partner to leech off of. He was virtually useless on his own. But I was here. Why did he run?!

My train of thought was broken when Hol Horse tried to round a corner only to be met with a punch to the face. I heard Polnareff call out "Mr Joestar, Jotaro!" The two made the mistake of running past me to regroup with their friends leaving me scowling.

"So, the whole party is here. No thanks. Time to repay the favour Hol Horse." Everyone seemed so focussed on Hol Horse that they didn't notice me leaving. Not out of cowardice, but out of strategy. Did you expect me to throw myself at all four of them? Not likely.

As I fled the scene I began thinking. Now that it occurred to me, Hol Horse may have had a point, working in a pair may be the most efficient method to go about this. I had no clue if Hol Horse would get away. So if I was right. 

The left only Empress and Wheel of Fortune remaining...

Author's Note: And that's it for this chapter, next up, we're moving into the Empress arc. I hope you enjoy and as always, thank you for reading.