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madimpossibledreamerJojo's Bizarre Adventure/Buffy the Vampire Slayer AU
Chapter Summary: There's something wrong in the world of timestop.
Word Count: 1044
Note: HERE THERE PROBABLY BE BUFFY/JJBA SPOILERS
Xander is perfectly able to learn from his mistakes, despite popular belief. Oh, he can be as stubborn as the rest of them, to a fault, even, but he’s also survived this long by having the best street smarts, in a way, and knowing when to hightail it is a pretty useful skill when it comes to staying intact. Maybe he should’ve also taken that as a sign he actually was a Joestar and it wasn’t all just this...delusion, from Fitz or Wesley, way back at the beginning, but he’d still been groggy and dazed and the suspicion-thing had to have been affecting him as much as the others, just in a different way. He’d help out in the fight, but he’d probably only get in the way, and given that he can, beat for beat, predict Jotaro’s continuing on to say “The World!” he knows they’re headed straight into the frozen world of stopped time, which should help a lot. Even more, he realizes with a grin, when Willow’s wrapped Star Platinum’s hands in cloth and a whole lot of magical flame. It won’t be as effective as on a vampire, but it’s going to do something, even if that something is just burning Rush’s protective water coating away, and even a Pillar Man won’t be able to do much in reaction when he literally can’t move.
Time ticks down and stops abruptly, all the sound of the world being swallowed whole. That part is normal enough. But Jotaro—
Jotaro doesn’t let out the barrage of punches. No cry of “Ora!” breaks the silence, though he’s not silent. Tick. He’s hesitating. Johan’s not going to try to use Star Platinum: The World himself. Not again. He’s written that off as a bad idea mostly because it would kill him, just like trying to copy an eldritch being. He can muster enough to watch what’s happening, but that’s it. Tick. Concentrating on what he can do, rather than what he can’t, is what’s the most useful here. Whining about his abilities, his lot in life, that’s all rather pointless, isn’t it? Tick. Maybe it’s the situation that’s bringing out a mindset affected by DIO, but even the words of a snake hold a certain truth to them. Complaining does very little. Change is active, not passive. It requires effort. Tick. What he should be thinking about is Jotaro. Why isn’t he doing something? Something has him spooked. Jotaro, despite all appearances, is a cautious man. He’s far more observant and precise than Johan will ever be. That’s what makes him a good scientist. But Johan can at least think things through, follow the pathways to try to figure out what’s wrong—
Jotaro doesn’t have his watch. He couldn’t find it this morning. And if it had been in, like, a pocket or something, Jotaro of all people would have found it. The world of time stop should be mostly silent, aside from Jotaro or DIO. And the sound wasn’t coming from where he stands, examining the situation—it’s coming from Rush. Maybe the gears on the Stand? But that shouldn’t be making a sound—it’s silent now.
Without copying Star Platinum: The World, Johan can’t move. Even flinching might actually kill him before Rush can, if he doesn’t get healed in time. So all he can do is watch helplessly as Jotaro has only a moment to brace himself using Star Platinum before he’s going flying, smacking hard into the bell. Johan really doesn’t like that cracking sound or the blood (head wounds always bleed a lot, Jotaro’s fine, he’ll be fine, gramps is nearby and Crazy Diamond can fix this, as long as—Jotaro won’t die quickly, he wouldn’t). He can’t move. All he can do is watch Jotaro tumble down the stairs out of sight. The cap has come off, falling down step by step alongside Jotaro, which feels almost more wrong than whatever just happened.
Rush doesn’t look like he’s moved. Johan never thought he would eventually understand DIO’s panic at someone ‘invading’ the world of time stop, but the way this is playing out, the way this feels, he gets it.
But then he notices something else and realizes with hollow dread he’s wrong. Rush has changed a single thing. He’s not one step from where he’d been, and his hands, the water, his Stand, they all look like they’re in the same position as they’d been before. As far as Johan can remember, that is, as he desperately ransacks his memories of seconds ago. But he hadn’t been smiling before. That triumphant, gloating smile. Somehow he’d managed to do that much. That, and change his gaze from where it’d been trapped staring at where Jotaro had been standing.
The moment stretches. Johan’s going to hope that means Jotaro’s fine, that he’s holding out for as many seconds as he can to give his relative a chance to plan. Rush must have taken some lessons on being creepy from the Gentlemen, because his gaze turns slowly to fix on Johan, as if to say ‘you’re next’. Like that wasn’t obvious. The moment stretches, and then it breaks. The bell begins to ring. Ask not for whom it tolls, Xander’s brain suggests a little hysterically.
Johan doesn’t hesitate. Hesitation here will get him killed. Because he suddenly has an idea, thanks Dawn. “I’m not telling you about the Well,” he taunts, hurtling himself out of the clock window next to him. The glass bites just about as deep as the wind as the ground rushes up to meet him, but it’s better than being mangled by a Pillar Man. He does see Rush’s triumphant smile turn irritated, which, well, if there’s one thing he can do, it’s say annoying things to just about everyone. Rush wants to dismiss it as just a childish taunt, but he also hears the certainty in Johan’s voice, and his is a thorough mind.
And Johan’s not abandoning Jotaro to die, either. Rush is the type to double tap, just to make sure, but between the possibility of learning more and the yells of policemen beginning to enter the clock tower (some of whom glance up at him in shock), Rush will probably choose to follow.
Chapter Summary: There's something wrong in the world of timestop.
Word Count: 1044
Note: HERE THERE PROBABLY BE BUFFY/JJBA SPOILERS
Xander is perfectly able to learn from his mistakes, despite popular belief. Oh, he can be as stubborn as the rest of them, to a fault, even, but he’s also survived this long by having the best street smarts, in a way, and knowing when to hightail it is a pretty useful skill when it comes to staying intact. Maybe he should’ve also taken that as a sign he actually was a Joestar and it wasn’t all just this...delusion, from Fitz or Wesley, way back at the beginning, but he’d still been groggy and dazed and the suspicion-thing had to have been affecting him as much as the others, just in a different way. He’d help out in the fight, but he’d probably only get in the way, and given that he can, beat for beat, predict Jotaro’s continuing on to say “The World!” he knows they’re headed straight into the frozen world of stopped time, which should help a lot. Even more, he realizes with a grin, when Willow’s wrapped Star Platinum’s hands in cloth and a whole lot of magical flame. It won’t be as effective as on a vampire, but it’s going to do something, even if that something is just burning Rush’s protective water coating away, and even a Pillar Man won’t be able to do much in reaction when he literally can’t move.
Time ticks down and stops abruptly, all the sound of the world being swallowed whole. That part is normal enough. But Jotaro—
Jotaro doesn’t let out the barrage of punches. No cry of “Ora!” breaks the silence, though he’s not silent. Tick. He’s hesitating. Johan’s not going to try to use Star Platinum: The World himself. Not again. He’s written that off as a bad idea mostly because it would kill him, just like trying to copy an eldritch being. He can muster enough to watch what’s happening, but that’s it. Tick. Concentrating on what he can do, rather than what he can’t, is what’s the most useful here. Whining about his abilities, his lot in life, that’s all rather pointless, isn’t it? Tick. Maybe it’s the situation that’s bringing out a mindset affected by DIO, but even the words of a snake hold a certain truth to them. Complaining does very little. Change is active, not passive. It requires effort. Tick. What he should be thinking about is Jotaro. Why isn’t he doing something? Something has him spooked. Jotaro, despite all appearances, is a cautious man. He’s far more observant and precise than Johan will ever be. That’s what makes him a good scientist. But Johan can at least think things through, follow the pathways to try to figure out what’s wrong—
Jotaro doesn’t have his watch. He couldn’t find it this morning. And if it had been in, like, a pocket or something, Jotaro of all people would have found it. The world of time stop should be mostly silent, aside from Jotaro or DIO. And the sound wasn’t coming from where he stands, examining the situation—it’s coming from Rush. Maybe the gears on the Stand? But that shouldn’t be making a sound—it’s silent now.
Without copying Star Platinum: The World, Johan can’t move. Even flinching might actually kill him before Rush can, if he doesn’t get healed in time. So all he can do is watch helplessly as Jotaro has only a moment to brace himself using Star Platinum before he’s going flying, smacking hard into the bell. Johan really doesn’t like that cracking sound or the blood (head wounds always bleed a lot, Jotaro’s fine, he’ll be fine, gramps is nearby and Crazy Diamond can fix this, as long as—Jotaro won’t die quickly, he wouldn’t). He can’t move. All he can do is watch Jotaro tumble down the stairs out of sight. The cap has come off, falling down step by step alongside Jotaro, which feels almost more wrong than whatever just happened.
Rush doesn’t look like he’s moved. Johan never thought he would eventually understand DIO’s panic at someone ‘invading’ the world of time stop, but the way this is playing out, the way this feels, he gets it.
But then he notices something else and realizes with hollow dread he’s wrong. Rush has changed a single thing. He’s not one step from where he’d been, and his hands, the water, his Stand, they all look like they’re in the same position as they’d been before. As far as Johan can remember, that is, as he desperately ransacks his memories of seconds ago. But he hadn’t been smiling before. That triumphant, gloating smile. Somehow he’d managed to do that much. That, and change his gaze from where it’d been trapped staring at where Jotaro had been standing.
The moment stretches. Johan’s going to hope that means Jotaro’s fine, that he’s holding out for as many seconds as he can to give his relative a chance to plan. Rush must have taken some lessons on being creepy from the Gentlemen, because his gaze turns slowly to fix on Johan, as if to say ‘you’re next’. Like that wasn’t obvious. The moment stretches, and then it breaks. The bell begins to ring. Ask not for whom it tolls, Xander’s brain suggests a little hysterically.
Johan doesn’t hesitate. Hesitation here will get him killed. Because he suddenly has an idea, thanks Dawn. “I’m not telling you about the Well,” he taunts, hurtling himself out of the clock window next to him. The glass bites just about as deep as the wind as the ground rushes up to meet him, but it’s better than being mangled by a Pillar Man. He does see Rush’s triumphant smile turn irritated, which, well, if there’s one thing he can do, it’s say annoying things to just about everyone. Rush wants to dismiss it as just a childish taunt, but he also hears the certainty in Johan’s voice, and his is a thorough mind.
And Johan’s not abandoning Jotaro to die, either. Rush is the type to double tap, just to make sure, but between the possibility of learning more and the yells of policemen beginning to enter the clock tower (some of whom glance up at him in shock), Rush will probably choose to follow.
