[center][h3][b]Chapter Seven[/b][/h3][/center]

	As Holly Joestar-Kujo flitted about her home, upbeat pop music bounced and echoed out from and beyond the Kujo estate. In the midst of her activities, Holly was stricken with a sudden and intense feeling, that of the presence of her son. Rushing over to a photograph of her son, she picked it up and hugged it tightly in her arms.

	"Oh! I just felt my son! He feels so close! What a special moment...Jotaro must be thinking about me at school."

	"No, I'm not."

	"Aaaah!"

	Jotaro stepped into the room, much to his mother's surprise. A bloodied and barely-conscious Kakyoin was hefted over his shoulder, groaning in pain. A horrified expression grew across Holly's face as she slowly brought herself to speak.

	"Don't sneak up on me like that! Why aren't you in school Jotaro? And who's that? He's covered in blood! Don't tell me that you..."

	"It's none of your business. Now where's the old man? This house is too damn big... Is he in the tea room?"

	"Oh yes, he's with Mr. Abdul."

	As Jotaro stepped off to look for his grandfather, Holly watched him, tears trailing down her cheek as she reflected on her son. [i]Oh Jotaro, you never talk to me about anything! I worry about you so much, but I can see right through you. I know you're really a good kid deep down.[/i]

	"Hey mom!" Jotaro called back suddenly, breaking Holly from her reflection. "You aren't looking too good today. Are you okay?"

	Holly's face shifted to ecstatic glee, nearly shouting her reply in excitement! "Yes son, I'm fine, thank you!"

	Jotaro reached the tea room, carefully laying Kakyoin on the floor, with Joseph examining him closely, as Abdul sat off to the side.

	Joseph spoke sternly as he finished looking over Kakyoin. "This is no good. It's too late, we can't save him. He'll die in a few days. You did your best, Jotaro. It's not your fault. Do you know why this young man would obey Dio, even to kill innocents? This is why."

	Carefully lifting up Kakyoin's hair, Joseph revealed a sinister pustulent embedded within the youth's forehead. It pulsed and writhed with an inhuman nature, the vile, almost necrotic flesh a stark contrast from Kakyoin's skin.

	Jotaro's face took on a look of heartfelt worry and concern at the sight of it. "What is that?! It looks like a spider...Or a piece of rotted flesh."

	At this, Abdul spoke up, gesturing to Kakyoin. "That...meat is of Dio. A sprout of his vampiric flesh in the boy's brain. The undead cells of Dio live within him, poking the very core of his mind."

	Joseph would step in with his own passionate remarks. "It stirs him, awakens a certain feeling far beyond his own control. Awe. Charisma. Appeal. The sheer emotive power that drives a man to follow someone like Hitler, put his faith in a corrupt cult, or swear loyalty to a monster like Dio. Once his control was in place, it was simple for Dio to order this boy to kill us."

	"Then take it out, Gramps."

	"We can't. The bud would rebel, thrash around in the brain. The pain would leave him in a state far worse before his death."

	At this, Abdul spoke again, his face taking an even sterner look than it usually carried. "Let me tell you what happened to me four months ago. I was in Egypt, in Cairo, when I met that creature Dio."

[hr]

	"It was a full moon. I had come back to my fortune-telling shop in Khan Kalili, when there at the top of my steps was a man like none I'd ever seen. He had eyes so cold it felt like he was invading my heart. Golden hair rest atop his head, and skin so pale it almost seemed transparent. But most of all, he carried a dubious sensuality, the kind you wouldn't expect from a man of his stature. I had already met Mr. Joestar, so I knew at once that this was Dio, the one who had been resurrected from the Atlantic."

	"He spoke to me, asking for a demonstration of my 'special ability' as he called it. Somehow, his words calmed my heart. That was what scared me the most, the dangerous sweetness of his voice. I ran for my life, and I was lucky to escape. Had Mr. Joestar not warned me about him, had I not been escaping into a maze of familiar streets, I would have been Dio's willing pawn too, just like this boy."

	"And like him, Jotaro, Abdul would have died in a few years, his brain eaten by the flesh bud."

	"Died? Let's not jump the gun. He's not in great shape, but he isn't dead yet! I'll pull it out with my Ripple!"

	Jotaro's fingers shone with the energy of his blinding white Ripple as they carefully hovered over the flesh bud, preparing to pinch and pull it out from Kakyoin's forehead.

	"Jotaro, wait!"

	"Back off old man! I'll pull it out fast, with no damage to the brain. My Ripple is easy to channel solely into my fingers, so it should be taken care of with no problem!"

	"But that thing is sentient, don't you see!? Even a skilled surgeon couldn't remove it! That's why part of it is outside the skin!"

	As Jotaro moved to remove the flesh bud, a strand of the necrotic meat embedded itself into Jotaro's hand, slithering its way up his arm and towards his brain.

	"It's gone into your arm! Let go of it, Jojo! It can infiltrate the brain of anyone who tries to remove it."

	As Jotaro carefully worked to channel the necessary Ripple energy to remove the flesh bud, Kakyoin regained consciousness, watching Jotaro with confusion and concern.

	"Don't move, Kakyoin! One mistake and this thing will destroy your brain."

	"Let go now, Jojo! It's reached your face!"

	"Hang on, Abdul. Look at Jotaro. His body is under siege from the vampiric flesh, but he's as calm as can be! He's moving more accurate than any machine! His hand isn't shaking one bit!"

	With a careful flick of his wrist, and the cry of "Ripple overdrive!", Jotaro ripped the flesh bud from Kakyoin's forehead and incinerated it with his Ripple in one precise maneuver. Once the bud was removed, Kakyoin slowly sat up, rubbing at his forehead and looking to Jotaro.

	"Why did you risk your own life to save me?"

	"Well...I don't think I have to answer that."