The two figures who had just entered the house were just as much strange as Shizuka, but at that point, Brendan wasn't even surprised anymore. The last day was probably the weirdest day of his entire life and he was pretty sure that things were about to become even more bizarre.

They were sitting at the table having some tea, while Shizuka explained with details all the past events, from their meeting to the encounter with Big Jack.

- I thought that we had captured all the Stand Arrows, Mr. Jotaro. - Josuke said, after a while. Jotaro took a sip of his mug before answering.

- 1986, the man named Diavolo recovered six arrows and sold five of them to Enya Geil. The one he kept was later destroyed. Of these five, one was given to Nijimura Keicho and one to Yoshihiro Kira. We managed to recover the one that Keicho had, but the other with Kira disappeared, possibly was destroyed with him. Polnareff recovered one on Egypt, and it's currently under the care of Giorno in Italy.

- So, there are two Arrows that are unaccounted for, then? – Shizuka asked.

- One. Of these two, one of them was used by Enrico Pucci to develop his own Stand and create the Stand Discs. Apparently, he kept that Arrow hidden by orders of Dio and avoided using it to attract attention. We found it hidden in the church where they both met for the first time. – Jotaro said.

-What? When? – Shizuka sounded surprised

- Two weeks ago. That arrow is currently at a Speedwagon Foundation facility in Europe.

- And that leaves us with one missing Arrow. – Josuke said, cleaning his glasses.

Brendan looked at that conversation with a lot of confusion in his head. Shizuka told him the basics of how the Arrow worked and how it has been a protagonist of many situations around the world.

- Well, I would definitely remember If someone had shot me with an Arrow. So I'm pretty sure that happened differently with me. – he said. Jotaro looked at him.

- You don't need to bit hit with the entire Arrow to develop a Stand. A shard can be enough to activate the entire process.

- It has been many years already, and we couldn't trace what happened with the fifth Arrow. And we can't be even sure if there was another arrow retrieved before Diavolo. There are many possibilities here. – Shizuka said, scratching her head.

- If we consider the possibility of the person using a shard instead of the proper Arrow, then it's more complicated than before. We are grasping at straws here. – Josuke said. – Until now, at least.

- What do you mean? – Shizuka asked, surprised.

- Brendan Jones. If we manage to discover where his Stand came from, then it will be a matter of time for us to track whoever is doing this. – he replied.

- But… - Shizuka started again, but Jotaro interrupted her.

- The biggest issue is to discover when he was hit by the Arrow and for how long his Stand remained dormant. Obviously, he may not even remember when that happened, but fortunately, he won't need to. We brought someone who can.

Jotaro opened his briefcase on the top of the table. Brendan saw that there was a machine inside that was similar to a computer, with a screen, a small keyboard and a pad that he guessed it was for handprint reading.

- What is that? – Shizuka asked.

- This is a remote prototype that is connected directly to the Printer. We didn't want to take the risk of bringing it outside its housing station and attracting the attention of those who might be interested in acquiring its technology. I'm assuming that you remember that time when we had an invasion on the facility of people who were after the Printer. – Jotaro said while typing some credentials and password access on the system that was booting up.

- Yes, I remember. Ever since that, the Printer has been hidden in a special hideout, under surveillance and monitoring 24 hours per day. – Shizuka replied while looking at Brendan. – But are you sure that this will work?

- Well, it's our best shot. Let's hope that Joseph Joestar can be helpful enough in this situation. – Jotaro said, also turning to Brendan. – Now, I want you to put your hand into the reading pad, but try to do it with your Stand as well. This is still a prototype, so we will need all the accuracy possible.

Brendan put his hand on the pad, just like Jotaro said. He focused for a while and could see the hands of his own Stand overlapping his own as if both of them were touching the reader at the same time and space. A couple of orange lights flashed on the machine, and a voice came in from the computer.

- The readings are positive, Mr. Jotaro. The Printer is working on its usual so far. – Heit was the voice of a man, apparently one of the engineers that were managing the Printer on the other side.

- Good, keep an eye on it, Nile. Now, Brendan, I want you to try and focus as hard as you can on your Stand and your memories. Ask yourself where did it came from, and look around your life experience for events that you think that might have been connected to your Stand.

Brendan closed his eyes and tried to ask those questions to himself. But with all the events of the past days, he could barely concentrate on memories from five or ten years ago. On his mind, there was only confusion and an uneasiness from this possible enemy that was hiding in the shadows and sending killers after him.

-We have no response, Mr. Jotaro. – the voice said, from the computer.

-Keep monitoring it, Nile. Brendan, focus.

-Try to stay calm. – Shizuka said while watching. Josuke leaned over and looked at the screen, where only a lot of big data was running across a grid.

- It's not calibrated enough. The Printer might be connected, but the effects won't reach him if there isn't a common access. – he said.

Brendan could hear them speaking, but was trying to look over his memories as much as he was capable of. He could feel a few drops of sweat running over his face, but that was all that he had. The flashes from his fight Big Jack kept appearing over his head again and again.

- Mr. Jotaro, the lights! – Josuke suddenly said. Brendan opened one of his eyes and noticed that one of the lights that were orange before now had suddenly gone purple. There was a static noise coming from the screen.

- We got readings! – Nile shouted from the other side.

- Keep at them! You are doing good, Brendan! – Jotaro said.

Brendan looked at his hand on the pad, and for one second, he thought that he saw a purple tendril with thorns wrapping over his hand. Although his first reaction would naturally be to remove his hand, he was sure that it was going exactly as it was supposed to be.

- You are doing great, Brendan! – Shizuka said.

- The questions, focus on them. – Jotaro said while keeping his eyes on the screen with Josuke.

Brendan closed his eyes again, and tried to ask himself many times about what his Stand was and where did it come from. He was unsure if that could work like that, but he carried on anyway.

- What the…!

It was only when Josuke said those words that Brendan suddenly felt dizzy. He opened his eyes and saw the purple thorns where climbing his arm as if they wanted to reach his head. He could hear his heart beating really fast and his breathing going heavy.

THRUUUM

Although he wasn't sure about how that happened, he could see the hand of his Stand pulsating and sending the entire machine on the air. It all happened in a second and he couldn't understand why. His eyes saw the moment that the computer went into the air and was about to crash on the floor.

- Star Platinum: The World!

Brendan looked over the floor, but there was no sign of the computer in there. Instead, it was back on the table, right in front of Jotaro, who was trying to turn it on again.

- Huh? How did it…– he mumbled, confused. – I'm sorry, I don't know how that happened.

- That is ok. It was probably just your Stand trying to defend you. After all, the connection with the Printer's Stand worked. – Josuke said, pointing to the monitor.

Brendan and Shizuka moved themselves to be able to watch the screen, and both got really surprised with it. Despite having a lot of noise and filter, there was a small clip playing on a loop on it. It wasn't really clear, but there was an image of a small kid holding his arm and crying room.

- Is that…? – Shizuka started.

- Me. That's me. – Brendan said. After seeing that, he suddenly remembered that single event that was completely forgotten from his mind this whole time.

- What is this place? And why you were crying? – Josuke asked.

- Well, I can't remember properly. But I know that this place was the orphanage where I grew up before moving here. I probably was four or five years old on this. – he said, trying to remember without success.

- Wait, there is more. – Jotaro said, and everyone looked on the screen. He managed to stop the image on a certain frame, which led Shizuka and Brendan to gasp. There was a silhouette of a man in a black suit close by a black box, which appeared to contain a lot of tubes.

- The man in a suit! – Shizuka said. Brendan put his hand over his head, trying to remember. That was a traumatic day for some reason, but he wasn't sure how. Back to his head, he now was clearly able to remember seeing a man with a black briefcase and suit on the orphanage that day, but he didn't know why.

- What is the meaning of this? – Josuke asked Jotaro, who was keeping its eyes fixed on the screen. When Brendan looked at them, he could see that Jotaro's Stand was leaning right behind him, with its eyes also fixed on the screen.

- There is a symbol. A small insignia on that black box. – Jotaro said, scribing it on his smartphone. – I don't know what is its meaning, but I know someone who might know it.

Jotaro stood up while closing up the briefcase.

- I think this might be more dangerous than what we expected. I will need to meet with a contact that might know the meaning of this symbol. Meanwhile, you guys better keep yourselves in low profile.

- Wait, you are already going? – Shizuka said, a bit surprised.

- Yes. We have no time to lose if the enemy is already making its moves. And I can't risk having this information going off, so it's better to do it personally. Don't worry, I will contact you as soon as I have answers. – he said while walking towards the door.

- I will stay here for a while, Mr. Jotaro. – Josuke said while sitting on the chair. – We better not leave them alone, especially now that they are targets.

Brendan felt a bit insulted by that. He always has been able to take care of himself, and the last thing he would like is to have a babysitter to watch over him. But the situation was so messed up that he wouldn't mind having an ally close, especially in the case of another incident like Big Jack.

- Very well. Take care, you all – Jotaro said, without turning back to them. He opened the door and walked outside, but not before saying another thing. – Shizuka.

- What?

- The old man would be proud of you.

And so, the three watched as he walked away and got inside a taxi. Brendan noticed a twisted smile on Shizuka's face, as well as a single tear in her face. After that, they got inside and started discussing their next moves. Brendan would go back to work on Monday, while Shizuka and Josuke would stay at home and keep an eye at any possible new event.

During the night, while having dinner, they talked about all kinds of subjects and Brendan was simply stupefied by all those stories they were talking about. Hunting down a serial killer, the Italian mafia, and other bizarre things.

- So, this guy, Dio. Was he really a vampire? As in the books and films, with fangs, cape and the turning into bat thing? – he asked.

- Well, not exactly. But yes, he was a vampire indeed. All of this started because of his evil doings in the past, and the Joestars faced the consequences since then. – Shizuka said.

Brendan was so involved on those stories that he didn't even notice his arms movement and accidentally dropped his glass on the floor.

- Shit! Not again.

- Don't worry. – Josuke said. – Crazy Diamond!

The small shards started to float in the air and formed the glass again. Josuke fetched it and left it on the table.

- Your Stand is so cool, Mr. Josuke. – Brendan said.

Josuke simply laughed at him.

- Speaking of which, you haven't told us the name of your Stand yet.

- I don't think he even thought about it yet. – Shizuka said, now focusing her attention on the film that was going on the TV.

- Actually, I thought of one. – he said.

- And what is it? – Josuke asked.

Brendan wasn't sure how that thing worked, but there was a name that came to his head when he saw his Stand for the first time. And now, thinking about it, he was sure that it was the best name he could give to it.

- War Machine.

[TO BE CONTINUED]