Hey! Sorry I've been away for so long, but when one has writer's block on all fronts... well, making a new story seems to help me get past it!

Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Edit: I rewrote this chapter a bit, mostly because I wasn't a fan of how I started this. So, I started over.

My otaku of a friend eagerly welcomed me into his apartment, herding me towards the couch while the timer on the microwave went off. I sat down as he rushed over to it to take out the finished popcorn and put in another bag.

"So, we're going to binge the weekend away again?" I asked with a smirk.

"You know it!" He laughed as he turned the microwave back on and brought a huge bucket of popcorn over, setting it down on the table in front of us.

"Alright... Diamond is Unbreakable this time, right?"

"What, you think I'd make you watch Battle Tendency again?"

"Well, after last time..."

"Hey, I thought we agreed never to talk about that again!"

We glared at each other for all of thirty seconds before bursting out laughing. It took a minute before I was able to talk again without wheezing.

"Alright, just... just put it in and let's get to the binging already." I said as I wiped tears from my eyes.

My friend, still laughing, did so and hit the play button before sitting down beside me.

The intro to the series began to play, before rapidly dissolving into static and randomly-colored pixels. I frowned and stood up.

"Did you get a dodgy copy from some guy in an alley again?"

"Hell no, I got this online! Completely fresh; opened it myself!"

"Well, maybe the player is acting up again..."

I leaned down to try and inspect the device before an arm, made of varying shades of grey, rushed out of the TV screen and grabbed the front of my shirt.

"What the f-" was all I had time to yell before I was yanked forwards... and through the screen.

"Hey, I think he's waking up!"

"Cool! The boss isn't dead after all!"

"Hooray!"

Those were the voices I awoke to; my vision swam in and out of focus, my head spinning as I tried to focus on something, anything.

"Just take it easy, boss."

"The dizziness should stop soon."

"Hopefully."

The voices again; they sounded... sort of like a recording of my own voice, if muffled a bit by metallic ringing. I couldn't help but imagine Alphonse from FMA; his voice had the same qualities.

The alley - because that's where I was, apparently - slowly stopped spinning, allowing me to finally stand up.

"Here, let us help you with that."

A cold, firm hand held my shoulder and helped steady me until the dizziness had fully passed. Once the urge to vomit had passed, I turned to look at the ones who had helped me.

I found myself staring at a steel helmet, the pointed visor shaped like the beak of some bird of prey. The shoulders, arms, and knuckles were decorated with short, studded spikes.

It was also worth mentioning that the entire armor was empty.

"You alright there, boss?" It asked, its voice still ringing metallically.

"Wha... What the hell?!" I yelped, brushing its hand off my shoulder and backing up against the alley wall. The armor seemed to stare for a moment before abruptly laughing.

"Sorry, where are our manners?" It spoke, giving me a salute. "Nerves of Steel, reporting for duty, boss!"

"I've gone crazy, that's the only explanation for this..." I muttered to myself.

"Nope!" This 'Nerves of Steel' responded chipperly, still saluting. "You're still sane... er, well, not any crazier than you usually are, anyway."

"There's still no way this is real... this has to be a dream..."

The armor seemed to consider for a moment before reaching out and flicking my forehead with its metal finger. While I yelped indignantly at the pain, it tilted its head. "Believe us now?"

I froze as I realized what it was hinting at. If I felt pain... this had to be real. Not a dream, but real life.

I turned and ran down the alleyway, Nerves of Steel calmly following me as I rushed out onto the street and looked around. It didn't take me long to discover a map of my surroundings, at a kiosk near what looked to be the town square.

The town I was currently in?

Morioh.

Holy. Shit.

It took me quite a while to adjust to this new existence of mine. Especially with the revelation I know had a Stand in the form of a suit of armor... with each and every single piece containing its own mind, apparently. Certainly explained the plurals it always used when describing itself.

I was lucky enough to cut a deal with a local restaurant owner; I work in the restaurant as a dishwasher and busboy, in return the owner lets me stay in the attic he'd renovated for me. I was more than thankful for his kindness - though I was a little worried when he demonstrated how strict he could be when it came to kitchen etiquette. I'd made sure to wash my hands every time I passed the sink, even if I just so happened to be walking through, after the first time he went off on me.

I mostly just worked evenings, though, as the owner was nice enough to understand that I'd likely be out exploring the town - I was playing the 'drifter looking for a home' card for all it was worth; I made up for this kindness by making sure I didn't slack off during my work hours.

Having an extra set of hands in Nerves of Steel was quite useful, though I did my best to try and hide its presence from the owner's gaze. I didn't really want to explain why floating plates were cleaning themselves.

During my free time away from work, I did my best to look for answers as to how and why I came here. Unfortunately enough, my searches didn't seem to be turning anything up.

It was during one of these searches, however, I had my first encounter with the Joestar family.

For those of you wondering about Nerves of Steel's stats:

Power: C

Speed: B

Range: C

Durability: B

Precision: C

Potential: D

Abilities: Self-Assembly and Self-Disassembly