The battle with DIO has finally concluded and the Phantom Thieves must pick up the pieces.

Ren was the first to wake up, a noisily chirping bird stirring him from what felt like a warm nap in the sun. To his right was Ryuji, drooling onto his shoulder, while Akechi sat to his left in what seemed to be fitful slumber.

With a sigh equal parts relief and sadness, he leaned his head back. "It's over," he said.

"Somebody say something?" Ann mumbled, apparently stirred from her own sleep. Ren's head snapped to her voice, his friend indeed alive and scratching her eyes while Futaba lay curled in her lap while having an apparently interesting dream given how much she was squeezing something with her hands. "Wait, where are we?"

"Leblanc, from the looks of it," Yusuke said, having woken up across the street. "But...how did we get here?"

"Wait, more importantly, I thought we were..."

"Can't a guy get some sleep around here?" Morgana bemoaned, walking up without having realized what had happened.

Ryuji began to wake, too. "Dude, what happened? Did we win? Er, did we dream it? Can I go back to bed?"

"Huh? Is everyone..." Makoto looked around, noting Haru sleeping peacefully beside her. "Did we...make it?"

"Looks that way," Jotaro said, rubbing the sides of his head with one hand. "Don't ask me how, though. No freaking clue what happened. Last I checked, I died."

"Then I guess our last attack did it," Akechi said as he keyed into the conversation upon waking. "We...actually defeated DIO."

"What's Akechi doing here?" Ann asked, unsure if she should be ready for a fight or not and pinching Futaba's cheek to wake her up just in case."

"He switched sides at the last second," Jotaro explained. "Actually came in pretty handy at the end there."

"Just trying to make up for what I've done," he said.

From off to the side, Haru finally stirred. The first thing she saw was Makoto's face, thinking it must be just a dream. As her vision cleared, though, she quickly understood it to be reality. All attempts at speaking were rendered failures, unable to contain her tears for more than a few seconds as she hugged Makoto as tight as she could.

"There's no need to cry," she said, proving herself a hypocrite as she started to do the same. "We made it."

"I-I saw you...and you...and I...I tried to...but..." Haru only made herself cry harder, in turn tightening her hold around Makoto.

"It's okay," she told her as she held her close. "It's over now." Wiping Haru's eyes for her, she said, "Do you remember what I said before? The insurance?" They both laughed, leading into a very long-awaited kiss.

"Hey, that reminds me," Ryuji said as he stood up. Stretching both his shoulders, he walked over to Akechi and punched him as hard as he could straight in the nose. "Damn, that felt good!"

"I deserved that!" Akechi shouted as he fell to the ground, not wanting anyone to get the wrong idea.

As Ryuji patted himself on the back for that, Ren tapped his shoulder. "Oh, uh, right." His embarrassment was immediately clear. "I mean, I guess that, too, but you can totally back out, man. Like, it was a joke, remember? I said that. I ain't gonna be upset."

With a sigh, Ren grabbed him by the collar and pulled him in for a their promised kiss, leaving him in a stupor. Ren pushed up his glasses, a smug smile forming on his lips as Ryuji tried to babble his way into saying how it was no big deal.

"You guys mind if I call Shiho?" Ann said, the massive outpouring of love following their near-deaths having shaken something inside her.

"Kind of," Futaba said. "I'm going to be the only one who's still single if you do that!"

"I don't have anyone to kiss," Yusuke said, almost sounding disappointed.

"Hey, me either!" Morgana shouted.

"I'm going to go ahead and assume no one wants to kiss me," Akechi said while plugging his nose, receiving a loud, "Yes!" in response.

"Good grief," Jotaro said. "You kids just saved the entire planet. Is this how you react to that?"

"Should we be acting some other way?" Makoto said, temporarily pulling her face away from Haru's.

Jotaro adjusted his hat. "On second thought, whatever. I'll tell you if I ever figured it out for myself."

The door to the cafe opened, Sojiro stepping out and saying, "Who's making all that-" He froze in place. "Oh. You made it back." He looked to each of them, stopping on Jotaro with an apologetic smile. "All of you did."

Suddenly, he noticed Akechi. "Hey, aren't you the Detective Prince? Weren't you trying to kill everyone last year?"

"It's a long story," he sighed. "While everyone's here, though, I want to truly apologize for what I've done to you. The fact I was tricked doesn't change anything. Like I said before, I'm going to turn myself into the police and face justice for all my crimes."

"That's what you deserve," Futaba said with a scowl.

"Not just for us, but for everyone," Morgana agreed, Akechi nodding along.

With a sigh, Ryuji realized he'd have to be the dissenting opinion this time around. "That's still all true, but...kinda be a shame if he missed the after party. You know, since he did help us beat DIO."

"After party?" Akechi said, puzzled as to what he could mean.

"I mean, we are havin one, right? That cool with you, Boss?"

"Sure," he said. "You can have it here after we close. Curry, right?"

"You remembered!" Futaba shouted.

Akechi was still just as baffled. "You would...actually want me there?"

"'Want' is a strong word," Makoto said.

"But it is true we wouldn't have been able to defeat DIO without your help," Haru told him.

"And I guess there's not really a difference if you turn yourself in today or tomorrow," Ann agreed.

"What we're tryin say is..." Ryuji scratched his head. "If you're not gonna be a dick about it this time, maybe a second chance wouldn't be so bad." He looked to the others, receiving a nod from each of them. "Right?"

Akechi began to laugh, shaking his head. "You all really are a bunch of fools. But I suppose that would make me the biggest fool of all."

"Enough of this sappy stuff!" Ryuji said, stomping his feet. "We've gotta go get stuff for the party! And this dude needs some new clothes."

"Me?" Akechi asked in disbelief. "What's wrong with my outfit?"

"You look like a total weirdo!" Ann said, wondering if he got dressed in the dark every day and just never had access to a mirror.

"Seriously," Morgana said. "What are those pants even for? They don't make sense, and I don't even wear pants!"

"The aesthetics of your outfit are questionable, to say the least," Yusuke agreed.

"Alright, I understand," he said, raising his hands in surrender. "Does anyone have some I could borrow? I think the police may have seized everything I owned at some point. I also have no money."

"Are you for real?" Ryuji said, shaking his head in disbelief. "We'll figure somethin out. Let's grab the food first."

As the Thieves ran off to the market down the alley, Sojiro approached Jotaro. "They all made it back," he said, correcting himself, "plus one more."

"I couldn't protect them," he said. "You wouldn't be saying this if you knew how badly things turned out before."

"What's important is that you're all here now," he told him. "I spoke without thinking before. Sorry. It can't be easy throwing yourself into danger like that all the time."

"I still should have been faster," Jotaro said, adjusting his hat.

"If we blamed ourselves for everything she should have been able to do, I don't think either of us would still be here right now." He nudged his shoulder. "Come on. You look like you could use some coffee."

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Sae said to Akechi as they stood outside the police station.

He nodded. "I've run from things for too long. Right now, I just want to to end things. A part of me still believes in justice, you know."

"Everyone thinks you're dead. You could easily set up somewhere quiet under a fake name. I'm sure you know how to acquire the right documents for that."

"It's hard to believe a former prosecutor would even suggest something like that," he laughed. "More to the point, I'm not sure why you're accompanying me. I'm prepared to face the full extent of the law for my crimes."

"Call it a professional courtesy," she said. "For when we used to work together. I'll represent you during your trial if nothing else. Besides, Makoto won't admit it, but she still has hope for you. They all do."

Akechi sighed. "They just won't give up on me."

"You look good, by the way. Short hair suits you."

He touched his head, giving a nervous chuckle. "Takamaki-san cut it for me yesterday. She did...her best."

"No use stalling any longer," Sae told him. "Whatever happens, I want you to know that what you're doing is for the best."

He nodded. "It's finally time to stop running."

"...and I sat outside her room for two hours trying to get her to explain the joke to me, but she just kept laughing! Honestly, do you know what 'updog' means?"

"No clue," Jotaro said. "Sort of reminds me of the time Jolyne colored in a bunch of my books, but she wouldn't admit it even when I showed them to her."

"Futaba did that to a cookbook once when I was watching her for Wakaba. She kept telling me it was fine since I didn't need it to make her favorite curry."

"Sojiro, I'm hungry!" Futaba said as she walked through the door of Leblanc. "Make curry, quick!"

"See what I mean?" he said with a chuckle.

"What are you guys doing?" she asked as she took a seat at the counter next to Jotaro.

"Just a couple of old men talking about our kids. Where have you all been today?"

"Went to talk to Akechi while he's in lockup," Ryuji said as he slumped into a booth.

"He's taking it pretty well, all things considered," Makoto said.

"Apparently, he plans to start a blog reviewing prison food once the trial is finished," Yusuke said. "It almost sounds interesting."

Sojiro nodded as he served up a plate of curry for Futaba. "At least things aren't all doom and gloom anymore. Maybe he'll get out sometime in the next 40 years and we can throw another party."

"We'll probably be waiting for that for a while," Ann said. "We sat there for three minutes while he listed off everything they were charging him with."

"I almost felt bad for him," Futaba said as she shoveled more food into her mouth.

"Then I guess things are kind of back to normal," Sojiro said with a nod.

"Isn't there something we still need to consider?" Haru asked.

Jotaro nodded. "I'm still here," he said. "The Speedwagon Foundation building disappeared this morning, but I haven't."

"I mean, you can just hang out with us if you want," Ryuji shrugged.

"There's worse things I could do with my time, but I'll probably lose my job if I don't get back to work soon. No idea what I'm going to do to explain all these vacation days." This seemed to be the moment Philemon was waiting for, as the world suddenly became drenched in shadows as it came to a halt.

"What's going on?" Haru asked, everyone beginning to panic.

"Seriously? Already?" Ryuji was just about done with all this bullshit.

"You have nothing to fear," Philemon said, flying between the group as a glimmering blue butterfly.

Jotaro stood up, sighing. "Good grief. I take it you're the guy who sent me here in the first place?"

"That's correct," he said. Sorry for the inconvenience.

"Well, it was DIO, so I guess you didn't have much of a choice. Are you taking me home now?"

"Yes," he replied. "You've all done good work here. You've earned your rest."

"It's kind of sad," Futaba said. "We only knew you for a little bit, but it's still going to feel weird when you're gone."

"You never did model for me," Yusuke joked.

Jotaro smiled, putting his hands in his pockets. "You all turned out to be pretty reliable allies. If you ever need help again, I'll find a way to come back."

"Same here," Ryuji told him.

"The Phantom Thieves will always come to help," Ren said, the two nodding to each other. A single flash of light was all it took for Jotaro to vanish, leaving only the group's leader in the darkened space with Philemon.

"I'd like to thank you personally, Trickster. Without you, Nyarlathotep and the Cognition he created would have won this fight and life would be no more. My associates and I will continue to support you and your allies in any way we can. I expect great things from you and the rest of humanity."

He nodded to the creature before him. "We'll keep working to change the world." Another flash of light returned Ren to his friends. Normalcy restored once more, they could enjoy the rest of their summer vacation without issue.

We've finally reached the end. Their journeys might be far from over, but this small part of it has come to a close.

In typical fashion, we need to end on an American pop song, so I nominate Ocean Man for that job. Both for its memeability but also because it's a good song that has an appropriate feel to play over a montage of, like, Jotaro going to see his ex-wife and Jolyne, Ren/Ryuji and Haru/Makoto on a double date where Ryuji starts stomping on a table at a fancy restaurant because he thinks the waiter's being a prick, Yusuke forcing Morgana to wear a tiny replica of Jotaro's outfit to sketch (that he wasted all of his money on), Futaba staying up for four days to catch up on all the stuff she missed, Ann and Shiho being all Lesbian Sheep at each other, Sojiro's regulars all coming at once to show their appreciation that he's open again, Sae visiting Akechi in prison, etc.

Got to show my appreciation for the weekend citrus bloke for commenting on basically every chapter of this mess. Kept me motivated when the evil thoughts of, "Maybe I can just have, like, five ongoing stories at once without a problem, and also start working on this one about Shizuka teaming up with Giorno and Mista to go find her birth parents in Morioh to explain why Passione didn't help fight Pucci," started creeping in. You're the real The World Over Heaven-disguised Nyarlathotep here, in that you prevent me (DIO) from making incredibly bad decisions based on vanity and The Drama as you plot in the background.

If you're looking for more Joey JoJo, I've also got Blood of the Phantom coming close to its end about how Jonathan became a vampire and Dio had to learn Hamon to fight him. Also got one about how I think Jotaro meeting his wife would have gone down called In Our Lifetime? (where the ? is part of the title, not me questioning my own title and being unable to click a button to go to my own page). Got a couple of goofy one-shots about Josuke and one kind of sad one-shot about young Joseph, too.

More Persona stuff only comes in eXtra large (again, part of the title and not me not knowing how to spell). Violet Poppy Rebirth kind of poses the question, "Hey, what if Joker was actually kind of a bastard?" in the form of a new protagonist in a story I completely just made up that'll probably carry on for a good 50 chapters or more, so that's a task.

If, for some inexplicable reason, you're thinking about Silent Hill right now, I've got one of those, too. In the same vein as Persona eXtra, Cinder's about a new person's journey through the town and coping with past trauma and repressed memories in the form of hell creatures and fire. Only got two chapters right now, but I'll probably start writing it more frequently now that my schedule's getting clearer.

And since I was a 90's kid who had no friends, also got lots of Yugioh. One that came out of me joking with someone else about how there is no conceivable way Duel Academy has as many students as you see in group shots, so most of them are some kind of hologram or spirit or three monkeys in a coat (or Monsters of Academia as the case may be). Also got one called The King's True Rival about ARC-V Jack Atlas trying to find ARC-V Yusei who never appeared in the show, plus the predictably named Luster that I wrote for someone who really liked the lesbait characters in ARC-V before one got written out of the show and the other got hit with the hetero-stick that sent her into the fridge.

Last is the thing that made me get an account in the first placed called Reda, which is seemingly named randomly but in traditional Yugioh spinoff fashion actually has a meaning to decode. About a spunky lesbian who wants to be the best like no one ever was, except I'm writing this story and I saw Madoka once. That one actually updates on a monthly schedule.

I'm doing all this shilling because I have nowhere else to advertise my stuff.

The most important thing of all is that you all know I appreciate you as readers. I Rohan these chapters out for the satisfaction of knowing my work is being read by other people, so there'd be no stories without all of you. This is a thank you akin to seeing the, "And you!" in the credits of a video game. If you want to give back, just share what you like with a friend so I can get more people seeing my nonsense.

That's all we've got here. Maybe we'll see these crazy kids again one of these days. Always remember to appreciate the people around you.

Also, wrote this one-shot for FMA if anyone's interested. About Heathcliff from the one OVA who makes friends with Mustang and Hughes but gets shot in the war. Wanted to give him a proper ending since no one else cares about him.