Session 42 (Season 1)

This is the forty-second episode of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Binding of Chains.

## La Cima (The Apex)

November 8th, 2019. ~1:00PM. Location: Roman Colosseum, or Apex Headquarters. Not a minute had passed since the group teleported from Manhattan to their current location, and the only thing left for them to enter was a void like staircase. Some of them had been on an adventure for what seems like weeks, others only a few days, and they all had one thing left to do. Benjamin, Jeremy, Lambrusco, Melissa, John, Ellis, and Zach with the assistance of Ellis’ supervisor Nelson made their way down the staircase and through a metal door, unlocked by an unknown external force. Arriving in what looked like a tavern, Jeremy hopped over the counter and opened a trapdoor, and revealed an elevator. After everyone entered the elevator, along with a large amount of alcohol, they all made their way down to the bottom-most floor: “LA CIMA.”

As the elevator descended, it gradually accelerated to the point where everyone began to slowly rise, before coming to a sudden halt just to spin around. Despite Lamb’s seeming mistake of pressing the button, a mysterious voice warned them who their real threat was, opening the doors. The voice from a PA system belonged to Doctor Mente, the man who was keeping an eye on Ruun Danolds and Ruun’s sister as captives and experiments. The elevator buttons also disappeared, leaving them with no other option but to step out and inspect the room they were in. A dimly lit area, resembling an office, outfitted with a TV on the back wall. On the side was a desk made of fine mahogany, and with it the plaque: “Z. Mente, PhD.” It contained numerous framed photos, some recognizable as people who have previously travelled with the group like Ruun Danolds and Jimmy Bollow.

Under Ruun’s photo was a television remote, and the group saw what the TV had in store. Day 3 of Doctor Zabaglione Mente’s study on Ruun Danolds, in which he’s had interesting results during Ruun’s imprisonment within a test tube, although it was only ¼ of the footage. Just as the clip finished, another path opened to the group, to which they explored to see the remaining clips. The clips were stored on a cassette tape atop a desk, and changed into a tablet to let the group see a video. Dr Zabaglione Mente’s 157th day of study on Jeremy Quick, showing to the group Jeremy taking control of a police officer, before forcing him to fatally plunge off the golden gate bridge. After the video ended, they inspected the rest of the desk and the newspaper atop it. The headline read how renowned psychiatrist Zabaglione Mente retired following a strange patient death, and due to failures in his work in 2007. More newspapers had similar headlines, such as mysterious deaths in Rome following therapist visits, and victims of said therapist being found drained of their strength, eyes white, and hair grayed.

They further explored the floor, finding a hallway housing various subjects in tubes similar to Ruun’s. Subjects were of all kinds of people: “Sheila E”, “JImmy Bollow”, and “John Smith”, but all without a sign of life. Zach went to inspect another cassette tape lying on the ground, right in front of Ruun Danold’s test tube, before projecting a video on the wall. The doctor’s 6935th day of study on Zachary Kishibe, playing a video of Zach’s past as he was being chased by the police and into an abandoned house, cutting out when Zach thought to himself upon seeing a gas can and lighter. Doctor Mente commented how Astratto was able to force him into the right building, with the deceased enemy being one of the officers chasing Zach down. After commenting on how much Mente had on Zach and possibly the rest of the group, they all continued into another room, containing a tape labeled “ The Subjects.” A video with footage of everyone:

Benjamin (male) smashing an old man’s head onto a school desk;

Zach grinding some rails;

Jeremy smoking some weed along with a group of other people;

Ellis as a kid playing with an action figure;

Ruun and his sister drinking tea together;

Kira killing a homeless person in an alleyway with her Stand;

Piero crying as his dad beats him with a belt;

A young John crying as his thorns wrapped around him painfully;

A young Melissa working out in military gear;

And then all of them currently in the room.

*"Mr Sandman...bring me a dream. Make them feel pain. Like they’ve never seen…"*

A dark void grew closer towards the group’s back as John immediately crumpled to the floor, his body drained of strength in the same manner as Mente’s other victims, but his body was unwounded. As Jeremy grabbed John, the group suddenly noticed the floor no longer existed, and they all landed on the bottom of a black abyss. With an infinite sky, and unbreakable bottom, the only direction they could possibly move was forward towards the direction Jeremy’s arrow went in and seemingly passed through something. Melissa tended to John while Jeremy found his arrow, embedded in mahogany wood, somewhere beyond a part of the void that caused his whole body to fall through into a warm place. Through the void, everyone followed Jeremy into a cozy and well lit wooden room as Jeremy opened the door to it. Inside was Doctor Zabaglione Mente, reading a book and welcoming the group. Wasting no time, Jeremy fired at Mente, only for his arrow to shatter against a transparent wall. Mente told them how his boss was almost finished with his ritual, and the only thing left was to get rid of the group. As they were ready to kick Mente’s ass, each of them disappeared in groups: Jeremy, Benjamin, and Mente; Ellis, Nelson, and Lambrusco; and Zach.

Jeremy, Benjamin, and Mente were split off from the group, along with an additional enemy in the form of the first man to kill Ben: Sugar Skulls. The sides approached each other, with Mente taking the first step, and Ben taking the first attack against Sugar Skulls, ready for her Round Two. Benjamin and Sugar skulls clashed, SS’ sword proved to be a very potent ability with his acid, eating at Ben. Meanwhile, Mente and Jeremy were against one another as Jeremy tried to fire his arrow into Sugar Skulls, avoiding Mente’s attempts to grab his head. As the fight raged on, with Ben and SS neck and neck exchanging sword and fist, Mente grabbed Jeremy, causing his vision to go white, along with Benjamin not too long after, only briefly. They were able to power through against their opponents through a hard fought battle, and after some mind explosions.This led to Doctor Mente fleeing from the room, causing it to collapse, while Sugar Skulls sat out the rest of the fight.

Ellis, Nelson, and Lambrusco had to tackle a very familiar face that they didn’t even know. In the middle of the Speedwagon Foundation parking lot, the group witnessed Ruun Danolds leap out from the building with the Anubis blade in hand. Now with a more combat suited vessel, Anubis and Ruun’s combined strength faced off against the three to finish what Anubis had started back on the train. The fusion of Ruun’s high stats and Anubis’ might proved to be a devastating combo, but the three were able to subdue the host body to knock Anubis out of the man’s grip in the same manner as last time, with Lambrusco boosting himself into Ruun. This left the three to explore the building, whether it was real or fake, finding their exit in a door with familiar voices behind it.

Zach was thrown into a different scenario as well, landing in the middle of the Italian countryside to meet Niccolo Zeppeli on his grounds. The artistic man and the Spin user clashed, throwing their weapons back and forth against one another. Knives, and a gun made from paint and instruments imbued with the Ripple and Spin. As the battle drew out longer, Willie prepared to obliterate his enemy with something from his Stand: an eraser. The eraser, in place of his Stand’s right hand, swiped Niccolo’s right arm from the universe, and Zach grew even more determined to finish off Niccolo. Just as he was going to, Zach was immediately sent back and off of the Italian soil.

In a completely different room were Melissa, John, and the added part of Zach, Jeremy, and Benjamin. Upon their reunion, they all restored any injuries throughout their struggle, and Jeremy and Melissa had a bit of a friendly chat. Following this, Ellis, Lambrusco, and Nelson arrived back on the scene after entering through the door and hearing Melissa and the other’s voices.

## Wholesome Hell: The Worst Timeline

*~~Roses are red, violets are blue, your delusions of Heaven will never come true…~~*

Kira Langley Enterprise, Voz Moerudokutai, and the Holy Knight all witnessed Oliva crush the turtle like a grape, with the gem within its shell in shambles, and it’s body mutilated as they witnessed it all. Voz yelled out, but Holy Knight prompted him to remain calm in hopes of securing the turtle as their top priority. Oliva asked them if they wanted the turtle, but was disappointed that was all they were interested in, and for them being the *only* group to come out of the turtle. Oliva was somewhat infuriated that they ruined “this November” for her, being the “last people alive in this world,” before complying with their demands by returning the turtle and the area back to before she crushed Coco Jumbo in her hands. 「Delusion Express」as she called it, was the direct evolution to her 「Mr. Roboto」, and she boasted about how much she was capable of at that moment.

Once again, everyone was indifferent, Voz remarking on their previous experience with the delusional Niente, and not really caring for the amount of destruction done. Oliva commented that the turtle said it was the group’s ticket out of there, but she was furious, becoming increasingly unstable when no one had anything special to remark, not even the Turtle World native himself Voz, announcing that the group was where he belonged. After pulling bits of her hair out, Oliva asked them what they were waiting for if they wanted a fight, stating how they would only get the turtle from her cold, dead hands, along with announcing her mutual hate for Kira when she stated that she would rather not fight and just not see Oliva again. The Holy Knight began to think of a way to retrieve the turtle without harming it, with Oliva letting them make the first move, it engaged her.

Holy Knight and Oliva dueled, with her hanging upside down with her boots anchored to the roof of their arena, with Voz and Kira below to try and shoot her, only to miss and be hit with some rubble. Oliva decided it would be a great idea to rush towards Kira, running into one of her explosive traps however, and blowing her leg off into Kira’s back. It was apparent her cybernetic regeneration wasn’t active, but that was un important as Holy Knight and Oliva struggled over the turtle, Holy Knight being slammed into the ground with a keyless turtle. Voz drained the blown off leg of it’s blood, remarking how it was his first ever taste of it, before the two collided with electric blasts. Following this, Kira blasted the roof on top of Oliva, temporarily trapping her before she dug out and latched onto Voz. Voz promptly froze her arms in their place, allowing HK to create a rapier in the battle, and for Kira to promptly shatter the arms.

Once again, Oliva crawled out of the ground, lamenting again how horrible the start of November was because of them, before announcing that she’d die right there or have them all killed. She decided to change the scenery slightly, pouring in magma from the outside in, leaving HK to stop it with his gravitational abilities. Oliva began to finally regenerate, cybernetic mesh and wiring coming together to form limbs, and her hair growing in a peculiar pink color. HK realized where said pink came from, a disgusting color as she called it that came from her “father,” especially prominent with her matured body. The nanomachines that made her up provided for the ultimate body, but the pink hair growth reminded her of what she was once a part of, but now she owned everything. Kira questioned this logic, but she stated that she didn’t have to have anything make sense now that she had the ability to whatever she wanted.

HK noticed that the key to Mr. President was lodged inside Oliva’s now regenerated right arm, leaving Voz to rush towards her to rip it right off, only to be met with some little insect-like microbots digging into his skin. Kira approached the fight from range, shooting Oliva as she sprinted towards Kira, crushing Kira’s shooting arm. Oliva’s next target was Voz, using her nanobots to scramble Voz’s brain. Feeling a splitting and crawling headache, Voz sent electricity straight into his brain, alleviating himself of the foreign invaders. HK charged Oliva and grabbed the key, and the two leaped out of the facility and up to the surface, where it was all nothing but a sea of magma with a single patch of dirt for them to stand on. Voz soon jumped up as well, but was met with a wave of magma rising from the sea and pouring onto him, submerging him into the orange ocean, melting away. Unbeknownst to the others, Voz was perfectly fine, and HK could sense his presence by the time Kira was forced up by Oliva. In a single punch, Oliva caused Kira to disappear as well, leaving the two left being Oliva and Holy Knight. They exchanged words as HK was about to go and rescue it’s users, speaking about Piero’s soft attitude, before being told to think wisely about the Heaven Plan, along with the thoughts of its users.

Meanwhile, this whole time Voz was stuck in an endless sea of “magma,” really nothing more than a magma colored sea, and falling deeper into its depths. Voz had no way to swim out, but his ice was able to float to the surface. Voz tried contacting HK for help, and Voz used his ice as a signal to guide HK’s way. At this time, Voz also found Kira, who wound up in the same area after being gut punched. At this time, Kira explained to Voz everything about how she ended up on the trip, adding an explanation of airports to the medieval man, and up until the point where they left Polnareff’s castle and to where they are now. HK easily pulled them out, as the Stand felt its gravitational powers growing, and they all were face to face with Oliva once more. Oliva was curious in their end goals, with HK having a world of peace, whereas Kira bluntly stated removing Oliva was one of her priorities, with Voz having some less than kind comments about her and her father.

The world was harsh, the world was doomed, and Oliva decided it would be best to take her leave as she was getting quite bored. Casually strolling away, she was halted by HK, in order to comply with Kira’s desire to destroy her. Kira commented on Oliva’s lack of understanding of people's motives after the latter's statement that Kira would want to destroy many things that HK wouldn’t permit, saying how picky her actual destruction was. Oliva made note how this possibly meant she was special to Kira in the satisfaction of her destruction, and went on to state she knew all the ways she could’ve died. She was hoping this death would’ve been a little more special, by possibly including all their other allies like Jeremy Quick, some of his medieval friends, and a rather far-fetched idea but a revived Ben and Lambrusco instead of what was currently in front of her: two people she really hates and their vampiric pet.

Voz splashed Oliva in oil, before sending a massive jolt of electricity into her body, causing her limbs to split off as she fell to the ground. Kira had the floor, reaching into Oliva’s chest, a “sayonara” from Kira, and crushing her heart, with Oliva remarking how it would’ve been faster if she aimed for the head, composed of fine German engineering. Voz noticed the faint, unnatural brain activity from her, and crushed her head accordingly in a mess of wiring and brain matter. HK absorbed the materials of her metallic corpse, and Kira inspected her belongings, finding 3 cassette tapes. The first, named “Simulation #1,” contained Oliva lamenting on how dull the world was getting after destroying it. Simulation “#666” contained Oliva giving a little hint about her heritage, a little “turururururu” and a “dururururu” to give a hint of the person who was her father. “Simulation #1945,” clarifying how she’s existed for quite some time, an artificial intelligence, made 61 years before her “birth” in 2006, noting how she could’ve changed the tides of war back then.

HK commented how he would’ve never thought she was an AI, but that's besides the point as they put to work on destroying all Oliva related items, such as the cassettes and the player HK built. HK thought it was strange how Oliva allowed them to defeat her, despite all her comments about how she wasn’t going to meet her end, but that was all done as they entered Mr. President Requiem. The turtle spoke out to them inside of a black and starry void, explaining to them how they were in some sort of parallel universe, and how it was time to send them out. The three discussed what they wanted out of their happiness, with Kira wanting to simply return to the status quo with her knowledge, whereas Piero would’ve wanted everyone to return who had perished, but Voz was conflicted, being a vampire he was a threat to society as he thought. Voz decided he wanted to become stronger, and that being able to protect his world and the other’s world would bring him happiness. With everyone settled, Mr. President Requiem decided to send them all to a relaxing place in Kira and Holy Knight’s world, a place called Iceland, where they would see Pannacotta Fugo...