Last Call For Babylon



At first, there was nothing.

And then, there was more nothing.

Ken Nard was alone. With yet more nothing surrounding him. Everywhere he looked, the void occupied. So this was death, huh? An eternity to think back on the mistakes made. Well, not mistakes, in Ken's case. He had only made one mistake.

He gave up.

In his anger, he was demoralized. He couldn't face himself. Couldn't face those who gave him any respect, not when he didn't give himself respect. That was his mistake. One stupid bout of pride that ripped him from where he belonged, and dropped him here. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Ken reached his arms up to the top of the void, and grasped at the clock above him fruitlessly. Grasped at the… Wait, what.

Ken looked up once more. There was… something up there. A digital clock? But there were only two numbers, 1 and 0. And there was some text above those numbers? Ken jumped, getting no closer. He couldn't just jump… He needed to Jump! The air around Ken shimmered. He wasn't alone, never alone. He had his stand! From out of the void, Jump! appeared, the big smiling rabbit giving its user a thumbs up. Ken stepped onto the platform formed by Jump!'s hands, and rose up with the punchghost, rising to meet the digital clock. Now, the numbers read 0 and 8, and he could read the text.

CONTINUE?
08

Jump! Reached the peak of its height, holding its user so close to the face… But he still came up short. Damnit! Nothing he did was enough, and the clock ticked on, 07, 06, 05.

But he wasn't giving up. He wasn't giving up on himself, nor on Jump!! He wasn't giving up on Buffalo Soldier, the silent guardian of the team! He wasn't giving up on Rory, who had learned to trust him despite his fear! He wasn't giving up on Amaki, who he could confide in! He wasn't giving up on Otraz, who always appreciated Ken's humor! He wasn't giving up on Thela Hun or Steppy, who, despite their different views on the path for the team, were supportive of every teammate! All of his friends and allies were there, raising him up closer to the face in the sky! Soichi was there also.

With the support of all his friends and Soichi, Ken managed to reach the face, slapping the Continue button! The lights on the side of the face flashed, white lights overwhelming the nothing, and then-















Ken was coughing heavily. It was like having phlegm in his throat, but worse. "Easy now, easy," a voice coaxed him from above. To hell with going easy, Ken roughly coughed a big glob of something entering his mouth. He spat it to the side. It was red.

"What's the rush, you're ok," The voice above him continued. He couldn't see well, his eyes filled with a blinding light, but he was adjusting gradually.

"Adams? What are you doing here?" He asked, starting to sit up. That was a bad idea, a pain shooting through his side. Ken laid back down. "Why am I laying down on the sidewalk?"

"You're all right, don't worry," She repeated, pressing a hand to his side. It stung like hell. Ken hissed in pain, and looked down. There was blood. A lot of blood.

"Oh God… I was shot!" Earlier events flashed before his eyes. The car. The two occupants staring at him. Ken sat up again, head jerking left and right. The car was gone.

"You weren't shot. Well, you were shot at… But they just grazed you." Adams corrected, her hand still on his side. The stinging sensation was getting duller now.

"Like hell I wasn't shot. They put a hole in- Me- What." Ken moved Adams' hand and looked at his side. There was a lot of dried blood, but where there was pain, there was no wound. "That's not possible. I was shot. I Died." Ken emphasized this. He was so sure of it. He looked Adams in the eyes. Standing over her shoulder was the face, the digital clock whose face read CONTINUE.

Adams followed Ken's eyes, seeing that he saw the stand. "So, you can see it, huh? I didn't know you were a stand user."

"You never asked." Ken detected no aggression in her or her stand. If she wanted to fight, she wouldn't have been helping him. "So, I really was shot, yeah?"

"Yeah. You got shot. You were dead when I got here. Thankfully my stand, [I.Am.Will] specializes in fixing recently killed people. Figures that someone with a stand has the amount of willpower needed to accept it's power."

"I don't have that kind of willpower, well, not alone at least. Are you done fixing me up yet?"

"Yup. You're going to need some new clothes, I can't fix the hole in your shirt and jacket, but you're right as rain."

"Great," Ken slowly helped himself up. He picked up his jacket, and stuck a finger through the bullethole. That was his body a few minutes ago. Spooky.

"So tell me about your stand. You're the only other person under Mr. Jones to have one. We can really help each other out, our little secret."

"Yeahhhhh, as much as I'd like to stick around, I really can't. You see, I realized something back there, something I should have realized a while ago."

"And what is that?"

Ken swung his jacket over his shoulder. "I've got a bus to catch."

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