souljammed | MAY TEST DRIVE MEME.

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test drive

MAY TEST DRIVE MEME.

Test Drive Meme

Prompts

Arrival: So you've just arrived in Nyoi-Cho. Congratulations! You must be so excited about having your wish granted. Or maybe you're upset that the result wasn't quite what you expected? If that's the case, then that's too bad! There are no take backs and no redoes, so you're stuck with what you have! Maybe you should have been more careful about how you worded that wish...

Oh well. There's no use in dwelling on it. You're a magi now, and that means adjusting to a whole new lifestyle! Maybe one of the townspeople can help you out.

Only... they're acting a bit strangely, aren't they? They're all too happy to show you around, but there's something unsettling about the way they're behaving. Almost cheerfully dissonant. Any questions about the history of the town are met with blank stares and brief silence, before they plaster a smile onto their faces and change the subject. Any attempts to tell them about your duties as a magi or anything else that relates to the magical will get similar reactions.

Isn't there anyone normal here that you can talk to at all?

Home Improvement: The houses that the magi are given access to really are something, aren't they? There's almost no limit to what they can do! Why don't you create the house of your dreams, or maybe recreate and relive your favorite childhood scenes? Invite some spectators over to marvel!

A Corrupted Soul Gem: You neglected to take care of your soul gem, and now you don't feel quite yourself anymore. You feel like you're losing your sense of self - all you seem to be able to focus on is your old regrets and past failures. What's happening to you?

A Day in the Life: Everyday hero by day, magician by night! You've got a busy day ahead of you and no time to waste! Maybe it's school, or maybe it's work, maybe it's both! Being magical doesn't make you exempt from paying those shopping bills!

May Day: Uh-oh. This magical girl stuff looked easier on TV. You're in some serious trouble! Or maybe you see someone else who is! It's time to pull up your socks and show them what you have. Be the hero you've always wanted to be, or give in and be that damsel in distress. There's no shame in needing a little help now and then.

A Successful Mission: Congratulations! You met up with your first Nightmare, and you fought valiantly. You even mastered that tricky power of yours! As if in response to your masterful victory, you feel as though you've unlocked a new power. What sort of power did you get? Is it a useful one, or is it not so useful? Maybe you've mastered it beautifully, and now you're showing off to all of your friends. Maybe you're having a hard time keeping it under wraps, and now you're wreaking havoc across the town without meaning to!

A Dreadful Nightmare: You had an absolutely horrid day. As you drift off to sleep, your mind dwells on all the injustices you've had to endure. In response, your bed swallows you up, and your room shifts into a horrific Nightmarescape. What sort of Nightmare are you? What kind of Nightmarescape do you create? Hopefully your fellow magi can stop you before you cause too much damage!

Wildcard: Feel free to use any information from the FAQ or the World Info page to make your own prompt!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

...Okay. That sounds fair. [Kakyoin didn't look directly at Polnareff as he answered, focusing on the mechanical action of making coffee.]

You can start, if you'd like to.

--tell me about your Polnareff.

[Self-centered? Absolutely. But he wants to know what it is Kakyoin's expecting.]

He was...under Dio's control, when we met. We fought--well, actually Abdul took care of most of it. Jojo and I were still in rough shape from fighting each other, and Grandfather had just taken care of a different Stand user not too long before. Once the fight was over, I had Hierophant take out that...thing Dio put in his head.

The Polnareff I knew was...a little clueless, maybe. But he was incredibly brave and loyal to all of us, unbelievably so. I think he wanted to do the right thing, more than anything.

Edited 2016-06-04 06:09 (UTC)

[He huffed a laugh despite the worrying tightness in his chest, because-- well, yeah, that sounded like him, or at least a Kakyoin estimation of him. He wasn't clueless, thanks, just-- not always so observant. There was a difference.]

Sounds like me. Brave and loyal, yeah, that's about right.

[A smile-- which admittedly faded somewhat as he added:]

Abdul-- he, uh, yeah. He was the one I faced off against.

I guess it would be weird to expect every detail to be completely different. [Somehow, it was almost comforting to know it wasn't That...maybe this wasn't a complete stranger, just very close to it. Kakyoin didn't say much after that for a moment or two, carefully collecting his thoughts behind a perfectly calm mask before continuing.]

When we started catching on to J.Geil's trail, he tried to walk out and go after him on his own. I told him that was basically an invitation to get himself killed, and then he said...something stupid, I don't remember. I know it pissed me off, and I punched him for it. So we ended up fighting in broad daylight on the middle of the sidewalk until Abdul and Jojo broke it up.

[Beat.]

...Grandfather didn't really seem to care, but then again Grandfather didn't get along with Polnareff in general. Which isn't really a comment on you; Grandfather doesn't get along with most people.

[stay classy, caesar.]

Anyway--I didn't really understand where he was coming from at the time; back then, revenge like that wasn't something I could comprehend. I just didn't want him running off and dying like a goddamned idiot. But I guess I couldn't really prevent that forever.

Did Abdul nearly die?

[He had to know. It was a stupid point, maybe, and he was hyperfocused on the wrong thing, but Abdul was always on his mind these days.]

He, uh-- he did. In our-- in my world. He tried to stop me, and he nearly got shot for his troubles-- and then you hit me, yeah. Nearly broke my damn nose.

Huh? [He glanced up briefly, long enough to show honest confusion.] No--that didn't happen. A couple of us got scratched up and Jotaro took a shot from Emperor to the shoulder, but it was nothing that serious.

Good.

[He glanced down at the coffee pot, avoiding Kakyoin's eye.]

Anyway. It's your turn to ask something.

[There were hundreds of questions he wanted to ask, but two in particular stuck out. And of those two, there was one that bothered him more than the other.]

Is...Jojo must have been the one to end up fighting Dio, right? So is he...is he okay?

Yeah.

[He said it roughly, but it was the truth.]

Yeah, he's-- he's back in Japan. [A beat, and then:] It was his mother who got sick. Miss Holly-- I guess he's with her right now. Him and Jo-- his grandfather. They both went back to Japan. And he's-- physically, he's fine.

...'Physically'. [He echoed that with the edge of a bitter laugh, knowing better than anyone what that really meant. 'Okay' had been a stupid question to ask; Kakyoin understood 'okay' didn't exist after Cairo. 'Okay' was a distant memory and a pipe dream. But 'alive', that was something he could be grateful to hear.]

It's...good to hear that. I'm just glad he made it back.

Physically.

[He murmured the word, and didn't they both know what that meant.]

How-- how did you defeat Dio? How was it you instead of him?

...You won't like the answer. I doubt you know what Hierophant could really do--if any other Kakyoin knew about that power, I can't picture it being something very easily flaunted.

[He shook his head, folding his arms and leaning back against the counter.]

First of all, do you know what Hamon is?

Kind of?

[He'd heard Joseph mention it once or twice, but not in any detail.]

Something about sunlight, right?

[He tipped his head and-- well. It wasn't as if they weren't friends, right? So this was probably okay. Polnareff hopped up on the counter, sitting as if he belonged there.]

Basically, yes. It's the power to channel life energy in a form that more or less amounts to weaponized sunlight. My grandfather's amazingly skilled with it, and the ability runs in our family.

[Not commenting on Polnareff taking up space on his kitchen counter, Kakyoin shrugged with just his left shoulder and placed a hand over the now hidden birthmark there.]

Hierophant had a power I never used in front of anyone--it reminded me too much of Dio and what he did to people. My Stand had the ability to...to get under someone's skin and control their body. If I concentrated enough, I could probably have made someone do whatever I needed them to.

[He dropped his hand from his shoulder, not looking Polnareff in the eye.]

There was only one place safe from Dio's ability to stop time. I sent Hierophant to get a hold of him, and I stopped him cold. And the second I had a chance, I let what Hamon I could control run through my Stand and tore him apart in the process.

[Still looking away, a very dark scowl came across Kakyoin's face.]

No matter how bad that probably sounds, I don't care. It was still better than he deserved.

It doesn't sound bad.

[Not for Dio. That bastard deserved everything he got and more. But . . . odd, wasn't it, how no matter how it shook out, they ended up resembling Dio. Jotaro had spoken haltingly of his time-stopping abilities, on how the World and Star were identical in that fashion-- and he'd been horrified, yeah, but only to a certain degree. Because no matter how bad things got, no matter what happened, Jotaro was a thousand times better than Dio, and so any similarities were negligible.

That logic held for Kakyoin as well.]

Jotaro-- your Jotaro-- did he still have Star Platinum?

[Kakyoin gave a slight nod in response, not quite trusting his voice to stay steady. Of course Polnareff of all people would think nothing of it. Too nice for his own good, a hundred times over. Unsure over whether or not his hands would be shaking, Kakyoin opted to hide them in his pockets until something like composure came back to him.]

He-...said he'd had it for his whole life. Once in a while he'd do this...teleporting thing, moving from one place to the other like it was completely normal. Probably thought it made him look cool or something.

[...]

I never realized how he was really doing that until I'd fought The World myself. That's probably why Dio wanted him in the first place; Star Platinum's power was the same on a much smaller scale.

[Polnareff's gaze went sharp, and now he sought Kakyoin's gaze.]

He had it all his life?

[And then:]

When did you develop Hierophant?

What? [Startled off of whatever dark train of thought had nearly left the station, Kakyoin blinked and looked up. Was that-...no, something he'd said hadn't lined up correctly, had it?]

A week or two before we left Tokyo, maybe? Just before my mother got sick.

[For the first time, Polnareff began to think Kakyoin's theory of his universe being born from Kakyoin's might be true. This wasn't just the difference of a few minor details-- Kakyoin and Jotaro really had switched places.]

Not-- you and I were the ones who had it since childhood, where I'm from. You always-- you said Hierophant was your first and closest friend.

[Kakyoin glanced away again, occupying his hands by pouring out two cups of coffee. That did make sense, considering what the other Caesar seemed to imply about that other world neither of them comprehended. So the one destined to carry fate on their shoulder stumbled headfirst into becoming a Stand user, and the one supporting them would always have been one.]

[First and closest friend, huh?]

The first time we really talked, Jojo asked me what my Stand's name was. That was one of the first things he said to me as himself and not some puppet assassin, 'what's its name'. I had no idea--he didn't have one yet, so I told him as much. He just rolled his eyes and got...annoyed, I guess. As annoyed as he could look. 'You're just supposed to know', he told me like I'd said I didn't know what my own name was.

[How...incredibly lonely that sounded.]

...I was never quite sure what to think of Hierophant half the time. Least of all knowing he could do--well, that.

Edited 2016-06-05 04:53 (UTC)

He's you.

[Simply said, and what a strange thing it is, to say that to Kakyoin. Polnareff shrugged.]

And just because he can be put to a use like that doesn't mean he's bad. It's an ability. It's how you use it that defines you and him.

[That's how he regarded Chariot. Or Star, or Magician's Red, or any of their abilities. They all of them were capable of terrible destruction; what mattered was how they used them, and who they used them against.]

I know what he is. Was, I guess. Regardless, it's unnerving because I know the kind of things I'm capable of. The only thing that kept me from taking control of the more troublesome Stand users we fought and just killing them to spare the trouble was knowing what the rest of you would think of me.

[Kakyoin's voice was almost methodically cold, the tone of one simply pointing out what would have been the most efficient course of action. He slid one cup of coffee over to the counter where Polnareff was sitting, taking the other for himself.]

...I didn't even care about having lowered myself to Dio's level in order to win. It felt right. Justified. He killed my best friend. He almost killed my grandfather, and if he'd lived one day longer he would have killed my mother. He had to die, and I wanted to take him apart.

So how did that define us--this Kakyoin and his Hierophant?

[. . . well.

He can't say he's never had the urge to kill. He can't even say it's particularly uncommon-- but it had hardly pervaded him during every Stand battle. Geil, Dio-- he would have killed them a hundred times over in cold blood. But the rest--

He's killed others. But that was in the heat of battle, when it was him or them, when all you could do was stay alive and hope for the best. But he'd never stared at someone and viewed them as an inconvenience.]

I don't know.

[He admitted it. He wasn't good at this kind of introspection, he never had been.]

. . . but I think it makes a difference that you didn't kill them, no matter what your reasoning was.

[It was, in the end, an unfortunate 'them or us' situation all around. And the family legacy of the Zeppeli bloodline was not well known for patience. If someone threatened his life, his family's, his friends'...then obviously they couldn't be given the chance to go through with it.]

[(Fortunately for all involved, the party's actual body count was much lower than Kakyoin had mistakenly made it sound.)]

... [He took a drink from the coffee in his hand, the hardened frigid look of a soldier beginning to fade in the following silence.]

I lost track, but I'm willing to have considered that my question.

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