June was only three days away. And JoJo was also nearing its end.
Ryota, preparing for his final exams before graduation, had finally closed his textbooks for the night. For a break, he picked up the latest issue of Echo Shroud. He had only started JoJo's Bizarre Adventure recently, and though he hadn't expected much, he found himself pulled into the chaos. The series had reached its climax, and he wasn't ready to let it go. Still, knowing Mizushiro's style, if the story was ending, then it was truly ending. There would be no dragging it out for the sake of profit.
The previous chapter had left off with Kars becoming the ultimate lifeform. Even sunlight no longer harmed him. Ryota had been waiting all week to see how they would defeat him, the thought lingering even while he was supposed to be studying.
Now, Ryota turned the page to today's chapter.
The allies were broken, their hope gone, until JoJo stood up.
"I have a plan," he declared.
He handed the unconscious Lisa Lisa to Speedwagon and walked toward Kars. The words alone pulled Ryota in. His heart raced. What could JoJo possibly do now?
Then JoJo picked up the Red Stone of Aja and shouted, "Nigerundayo!"
Ryota almost laughed out loud. "Really, JoJo? What was I even expecting…"
The tension broke in a way only Mizushiro could pull off: ridiculous, yet perfectly in character.
Kars sprouted wings and pursued. JoJo leapt from a cliff, seemingly cornered, only for a fighter plane to swoop into view, with JoJo at the controls.
At that point, Ryota gave up resisting. JoJo would never be normal.
"Okay," he muttered, shaking his head, "this is JoJo."
The chase only grew wilder. Kars couldn't match the plane's speed, wings beating furiously. JoJo steered toward the nearby volcano, a desperate gamble.
An earlier projectile from Kars's attack, which had struck the plane, began to transform into various animals and destroyed the engines. As the plane went down, JoJo bailed out with a parachute, drawing Kars closer. At the last second, it was revealed to be a decoy. JoJo had tricked him. Behind him, the crippled plane swung toward Kars, dragging both itself and him straight into the volcano's maw.
As the impact came, Kars tried to escape. That was when a mechanical hand grabbed him — Stroheim, revealed to have hidden inside the plane.
"GERMAN ENGINEERING IS THE BEST IN THE WORLD!"
Ryota roared with laughter, nearly tipping his chair over.
From the other room, his mom's voice rang out, half-annoyed:
"If you're done studying, go to sleep already! And what are you shouting at this late? You're not reading something weird, are you?"
Flustered, Ryota shouted back, "It's just JoJo!"
The volcano consumed them all. Stroheim shielded JoJo, sacrificing his mechanical legs as they shattered from the crash, while Kars was swallowed by the magma. His body began to melt.
Ryota flipped immediately to the next chapter.
The eruption shook the island. Lava poured from the crater. JoJo, bloodied, carried Stroheim on his back. Then from behind, Kars struck again, slicing JoJo's hand clean off.
Stroheim watched in horror. Kars had survived by creating a protective bubble within the lava, layering it again and again as each burned away. He had bought himself time to endure.
The backstory unfolded: Kars, the genius of his kind, the one who had sought perfection for over 100,000 years, now wielded every advantage.
JoJo attacked again, but even Hamon failed. Kars had adapted. His counterattack nearly killed JoJo, until instinct made JoJo raise the Stone of Aja. The blast resonated with the volcano itself, triggering a massive eruption that launched both of them skyward.
Kars spread his wings to stabilize himself, but JoJo took control of his severed arm and clamped down from behind, holding him in place.
JoJo said, "So this was your plan all along."
Kars repeated, "Was this all your plan all along, JoJo?"
Distracted for a split second, he never noticed JoJo's final move. Using the amplified Hamon channeled through the Stone of Aja, JoJo unleashed one last desperate strike.
The platform beneath them began to catapult stones, hurling Kars into the endless void above.
"Was this… all your plan all along…?" he echoed again, his mind fraying.
JoJo smirked faintly. In truth, it had all been luck, but Kars not knowing would drive him mad.
Kars drifted into the cold of space. He tried to adapt, but his body began to freeze. As he expelled air to push himself back toward Earth, even that froze. Slowly, his entire body crystallized, leaving him still alive, yet drifting through empty space forever.
JoJo plummeted back toward Earth. Hours later, Stroheim reappeared at the base of the volcano, broken but alive, reporting that JoJo had died.
The chapter ended there.
Ryota shut the magazine slowly, his chest tight.
"He's… really gone?"
For a long moment, he still didn't believe Joseph was dead. There was still one chapter left. He was sure Joseph would come back.
Online, the fandom exploded at once.
"That ending was insane. Sending Kars to space is peak JoJo madness."
"I screamed Stroheim's line out loud. GERMAN ENGINEERING!!"
"I can't believe both JoJos died in both parts. Mizushiro, how could you??"
"I don't think JoJo will die. I think he'll survive somehow. It's JoJo. There's always an asspull."
"Wait, so is JoJo ending? I heard rumors this was the end of Joseph's story. Will we get another time jump?"
The chapter pushed JoJo to number one in Echo Shroud, overtaking Fullmetal Alchemist and Dream World. With Dream World entering a major arc climax, the rankings continued to shift week by week. Right now, Dream World, Fullmetal, and JoJo are pulling in nearly 40% of Echo Shroud's readership. Even if that drops back toward 30% later, it's still a scale unmatched by most of the top seven publishing houses, achieved by just three series, two of which haven't even been running for a full year.
Haruki also received the news. JoJo had reached number one again, earning him another S-rank lottery. He couldn't use it yet, so he didn't pay it much mind.
Then June 1st arrived.
Yuuya had watched the Code Geass trailer at least twenty times, breaking it down piece by piece. Each time, he noticed something new — small details, possible hints, even gossip fueling speculation. His excitement hadn't faded. He was a big anime fan, usually spending at least two hours a day watching. But for the past two months, following Mizushiro and this new Code Geass, he could tell it was going to be the biggest anime of the 21st century.
And with the premiere just minutes away, he couldn't contain his excitement.
That evening, he rushed home from work, barely taking time to freshen up before grabbing dinner. The world premiere of Code Geass would air at 8:00 PM, and by the time he sat down, only ten minutes remained. To set the mood, he played the trailer one more time, heart racing as the countdown began.
59, 58, 57…
3, 2, 1—
The video started to play.
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