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madimpossibledreamerJojo's Bizarre Adventure/Buffy the Vampire Slayer AU
Chapter Summary: Johan ascends the clock tower.
Word Count: 1181
Note: HERE THERE PROBABLY BE BUFFY/JJBA SPOILERS
Johan doesn’t expect much to happen. A Pillar Man with a Stand is a new kind of threat, and given that an Ascension ritual works for one the same way one works for an Ancient? Joseph didn’t realize how impressive his accomplishments really were, even if he’d bragged about them. There’s a chance, of course. He has absolutely no idea how a deity sits in comparison to a Pillar Man. Conventional wisdom would say higher in the hierarchy of predators and supernatural entities, but then Buffy had managed to fight a deity before and Pillar Men are apparently also known as actual Old Ones, so the fight might be a lot more even than his first instincts. As an announcer might say, it’s anyone’s fight.
That’s also assuming it’s the deity himself, rather than just a giant wasp follower. That’s a whole lot less even. Either way, fear or pain has panicked the Bug of Doom, because it’s still stinging wildly, incapable of complex thought or strategy. Going up against the Planner Extraordinaire, that’s probably not the best idea. The only exception is if acting chaotically is enough to make it hard for Rush to think of a counter-strategy. Or that’s the thought after all—a thousand stings might be a problem where one or two are no trouble at all.
Which is when the swarm descends. Locusts and more giant wasps, and they’re attacking indiscriminately. They do seem to be seeking out humanoids, so they’re not mere mindless bugs, but they’re also not thinking any more strategically than the first one is. The combatants all have to seek some kind of shelter, rather than continuing the fight. Pretender proves that he’s capable of punching straight through a giant insect, which is disgusting, but it’s easy enough for Johan in the clock tower. All he has to do is push the door shut. That doesn’t help if the structure has openings further up, or if the insects are determined enough to try to force their way in, but it at least gives Johan breathing room. He can try to open the door again to try to save the others, but at this point they’re closer to the sewers, the Administration Center or the Temple than he is, given that he’d been pushed back across the street by Rush’s water.
He spots a crate of equipment on the floor. It’s better than nothing. Just trying to push it out of the way proves that it’s heavy enough to serve as adequate door block. Pretender helps, and then they begin to ascend the stairs. Staying down here is fairly pointless. It’s better to get to higher ground and see if he can’t see what’s going on and plan his next move. Pretender stays alert, trying to copy Star Platinum’s reflexes as best he can.
The walls are mostly bare, not even painted, with only the intricate geometric patterns to break the monotony at all. It’s easy to lose track of how far he’s gotten with the unchanging walls, stairs, and railing, like he’s just trapped in an endless loop of walking up the same steps over and over. That is, until some colorful light breaks him out of the trance he’s falling into, and he tenses, only to release the tension and laugh at himself when he realizes what it’s coming from.
Stained glass. Not very Mayan, but Mexico had some nice examples, Xander remembers vaguely. So this is one of the areas where the people of Paxil could be considered more modern. Probably local artisans as well.
It’s really pretty, but is also somewhat unhelpful in some respects. Specifically, it’s a lot harder to see out of than regular glass, so Johan can’t quite make out the entire landscape out there. He does see movement—probably the insects, still swarming the area, but nothing comes toward him. That’s due to wasp eyesight, he remembers vaguely from Jotaro’s memories. Wasps don’t see well; they mostly use their memory, so trying to navigate in an unfamiliar area is much harder. And locusts have a good sense of smell, which isn’t helpful when he’s inside. Both could probably sense the light difference with him standing behind the stained glass if there was one, but they’re either blotting out the sun or Rush has done something with the water defensively to create fog or mist, because it might be midday but the light is very, very dim, now.
He begins to climb the tower again. No one has noticed him yet, but that doesn’t mean they won’t, and narrow clock tower stairs aren’t exactly the best location to be ambushed, if he’s going to be ambushed. In any case, he at least has a chance to see what’s going on if he gets to higher ground. He might even find something up there he can use—barrels, a chair, something that could help him as an improvised weapon if necessary.
It’s...ominous. Oppressive. Something about ascending has his heart racing. He brings out Pretender. Possibly no more than a comfort blanket, but it still makes him feel just that little bit better. Maybe it’s the ticking of the clock. He now knows, not just from Jotaro’s memories but from his own badly thought out attempt at recreating the power of Star Platinum and the World, that the ticking sound is just a part of it, before all sound vanishes entirely. It’s accompanied here by the mechanical turning of the gears, though.
“Johan!” he hears in his head. Willow. Now’s not the time to get all emotional and weepy about him actually calling him by that name, though. She’d hesitated; he’d heard that, but she wanted to reassure him that she didn’t care what he was called now, she was still his best friend. They’ve come so far.
“Willow! Magic, I presume?” She giggles at the faux-posh tone, which is what he’d been hoping. And from that he can gather the rest of her news, but he asks anyway. “Everyone else okay?”
“Your mom grabbed some of us, though Buffy’s even more ticked she’s having to go through the sewers again. When she got promoted to Head Slayer from no-longer-in-the field Slayer, she’d thought her days of sewers were done. She’s Miss Grumpy Gills about it.” So they didn’t grab everyone, but she’s trying not to worry about it, and the people they had grabbed are mostly fine.
He’s reached the top. The space is largely taken up by the gears, so much louder now that he’s right next to them. Some equipment is stacked neatly against the walls, but it’s otherwise fairly bare, and there’s still a lot more room to move around than there’d been on the stairs.
“But be careful. We lost track of Rush in all—” she begins. Before she can finish the sentence, he’s slamming into one of the walls. He can hear her cry out, frantically trying to talk to him, and his own yell. His shoulder dislocated. Pain. But he has to turn, to be ready for the next attack.
Chapter Summary: Johan ascends the clock tower.
Word Count: 1181
Note: HERE THERE PROBABLY BE BUFFY/JJBA SPOILERS
Johan doesn’t expect much to happen. A Pillar Man with a Stand is a new kind of threat, and given that an Ascension ritual works for one the same way one works for an Ancient? Joseph didn’t realize how impressive his accomplishments really were, even if he’d bragged about them. There’s a chance, of course. He has absolutely no idea how a deity sits in comparison to a Pillar Man. Conventional wisdom would say higher in the hierarchy of predators and supernatural entities, but then Buffy had managed to fight a deity before and Pillar Men are apparently also known as actual Old Ones, so the fight might be a lot more even than his first instincts. As an announcer might say, it’s anyone’s fight.
That’s also assuming it’s the deity himself, rather than just a giant wasp follower. That’s a whole lot less even. Either way, fear or pain has panicked the Bug of Doom, because it’s still stinging wildly, incapable of complex thought or strategy. Going up against the Planner Extraordinaire, that’s probably not the best idea. The only exception is if acting chaotically is enough to make it hard for Rush to think of a counter-strategy. Or that’s the thought after all—a thousand stings might be a problem where one or two are no trouble at all.
Which is when the swarm descends. Locusts and more giant wasps, and they’re attacking indiscriminately. They do seem to be seeking out humanoids, so they’re not mere mindless bugs, but they’re also not thinking any more strategically than the first one is. The combatants all have to seek some kind of shelter, rather than continuing the fight. Pretender proves that he’s capable of punching straight through a giant insect, which is disgusting, but it’s easy enough for Johan in the clock tower. All he has to do is push the door shut. That doesn’t help if the structure has openings further up, or if the insects are determined enough to try to force their way in, but it at least gives Johan breathing room. He can try to open the door again to try to save the others, but at this point they’re closer to the sewers, the Administration Center or the Temple than he is, given that he’d been pushed back across the street by Rush’s water.
He spots a crate of equipment on the floor. It’s better than nothing. Just trying to push it out of the way proves that it’s heavy enough to serve as adequate door block. Pretender helps, and then they begin to ascend the stairs. Staying down here is fairly pointless. It’s better to get to higher ground and see if he can’t see what’s going on and plan his next move. Pretender stays alert, trying to copy Star Platinum’s reflexes as best he can.
The walls are mostly bare, not even painted, with only the intricate geometric patterns to break the monotony at all. It’s easy to lose track of how far he’s gotten with the unchanging walls, stairs, and railing, like he’s just trapped in an endless loop of walking up the same steps over and over. That is, until some colorful light breaks him out of the trance he’s falling into, and he tenses, only to release the tension and laugh at himself when he realizes what it’s coming from.
Stained glass. Not very Mayan, but Mexico had some nice examples, Xander remembers vaguely. So this is one of the areas where the people of Paxil could be considered more modern. Probably local artisans as well.
It’s really pretty, but is also somewhat unhelpful in some respects. Specifically, it’s a lot harder to see out of than regular glass, so Johan can’t quite make out the entire landscape out there. He does see movement—probably the insects, still swarming the area, but nothing comes toward him. That’s due to wasp eyesight, he remembers vaguely from Jotaro’s memories. Wasps don’t see well; they mostly use their memory, so trying to navigate in an unfamiliar area is much harder. And locusts have a good sense of smell, which isn’t helpful when he’s inside. Both could probably sense the light difference with him standing behind the stained glass if there was one, but they’re either blotting out the sun or Rush has done something with the water defensively to create fog or mist, because it might be midday but the light is very, very dim, now.
He begins to climb the tower again. No one has noticed him yet, but that doesn’t mean they won’t, and narrow clock tower stairs aren’t exactly the best location to be ambushed, if he’s going to be ambushed. In any case, he at least has a chance to see what’s going on if he gets to higher ground. He might even find something up there he can use—barrels, a chair, something that could help him as an improvised weapon if necessary.
It’s...ominous. Oppressive. Something about ascending has his heart racing. He brings out Pretender. Possibly no more than a comfort blanket, but it still makes him feel just that little bit better. Maybe it’s the ticking of the clock. He now knows, not just from Jotaro’s memories but from his own badly thought out attempt at recreating the power of Star Platinum and the World, that the ticking sound is just a part of it, before all sound vanishes entirely. It’s accompanied here by the mechanical turning of the gears, though.
“Johan!” he hears in his head. Willow. Now’s not the time to get all emotional and weepy about him actually calling him by that name, though. She’d hesitated; he’d heard that, but she wanted to reassure him that she didn’t care what he was called now, she was still his best friend. They’ve come so far.
“Willow! Magic, I presume?” She giggles at the faux-posh tone, which is what he’d been hoping. And from that he can gather the rest of her news, but he asks anyway. “Everyone else okay?”
“Your mom grabbed some of us, though Buffy’s even more ticked she’s having to go through the sewers again. When she got promoted to Head Slayer from no-longer-in-the field Slayer, she’d thought her days of sewers were done. She’s Miss Grumpy Gills about it.” So they didn’t grab everyone, but she’s trying not to worry about it, and the people they had grabbed are mostly fine.
He’s reached the top. The space is largely taken up by the gears, so much louder now that he’s right next to them. Some equipment is stacked neatly against the walls, but it’s otherwise fairly bare, and there’s still a lot more room to move around than there’d been on the stairs.
“But be careful. We lost track of Rush in all—” she begins. Before she can finish the sentence, he’s slamming into one of the walls. He can hear her cry out, frantically trying to talk to him, and his own yell. His shoulder dislocated. Pain. But he has to turn, to be ready for the next attack.
