Hol Horse shot his pistol into the air, hitting a plant currently housed in a clay vase. It shattered behind him as he walked into the elusive mist. It surrounded this specific area of Egypt like a plague. But he knew it wasn’t any harm. It just confused some people who ventured into it. He tipped his hat down and took a drag of his cigarette. “It’s just lil’ old me, Kenny G. You can tone down Tenor Sax.”

“Hol Horse? You put away your Stand first.” The mist replied.

Hol Horse obeyed, and his pistol vanished into thin air as the mist vanishes and the mirage led him inside to a run-down bar. He makes his way through, but trips and falls. Hol Horse looks up to see an electrical outlet, which frightens him. “Lighten up, cowboy. It is just a normal plug, not my Stand.” A tan-skinned woman assures Hol Horse and helps him up before pouring a bottle of Bourbon into two glasses. “Can’t be too careful with you, Mariah.” Hol Horse assesses, staring at his reflection in the drink. “Aren’t you the ladies' man. Scared a possible catch would zap you?” Mariah drinks slowly, a scandalous grin on her face.

“You know me. Hol Horse is the most reaching in Egypt!” Hol Horse glances at one of the many watches he has on is right arm. “But I guess I’ll leave you alone. Speakin’ of, where’s your husband?”

“Kenny is hidin’, of course. He doesn’t like you.”

“Nobody dislikes Hol Horse! You insult me, Mariah.”

“You fear him. DIO.”

This makes Hol Horse stop. A thousand thoughts hit him at once. An eruption of memories. He looks at the white hair that frames Mariah’s face. He’s seen her face many times. They both worked under DIO until his defeat in 1999. Hol Horse shakes his head and tries to downplay his experiences. “Nah, I’m fine, Mariah.”

“You have like seven watches on your arm.”

“I like being punctual.”

“Or, possibly, you are paranoid over time because you missed that one prediction from the kids' book.” Mariah sips her bourbon before pouring more into the glass. The ice inside pushes against the glass due to the insertion of more liquid. Now that he’s a topic, Mariah continues about Boingo. “He’s been hiding out here,” She tells Hol Horse. “Creeping under a wooden crate. I need him out. He’s scarin’ Kenny.”

“No…”

Both Mariah and Hol Horse hear this denial. It comes from under the bar counter. Under a crate. The voice belongs to a young boy, likely in his pre-teens, wearing a hat that reads WOU in purple typeset. Boingo. “I don’t want to go. But I know I will. I must. I-I read it. It’s been decided for me.” Boingo weeps from under the crate. His Stand allows him to see the future using crude drawing. What’s seen in the book is fate. “What’d ya see?” Hol Horse asks.

“A boy with limited memories. But-but the bird is there. You’re after a bird, right, Hol Horse? The boy will aid you. The bubbles.”

“Bubbles,” Hol Horse scratches his chin and finishes his drink. “So, where’s the bird?”

Boingo stammers for a bit before finally answering

Morioh

“This place is pretty. Well, some cracked roads won’t distract from the beauty. I heard some earthquake a few months back rocked this area of Japan pretty hard,” Hol Horse says as he hops and skips off the plane, his hat flopping in the wind. “Sucks a lot for them. Ain’t that right?” But when Hol Horse turns around, his crate-lurking companion is nowhere to be seen. “F*ck. BOINGO!?”

Hol Horse wanders the streets of Morioh. Boingo, actually, isn’t in town. Not visible, anyway. He has walked (bringing his trust book and crate with him) to the TG University Hospital. He crawls to a workspace and just sits there with his back to the wall. He doesn’t want to be involved with more of Hol Horses hijinks.

Whilst searching for his ‘partner’, Hol Horse goes up to a woman and shows her a photo of Boingo. “Have you seen this boy?” Hol Horse asks. “About this tall, has a magic book, pretty docile and afraid.”

“No, but I think that man just took your wallet.”

Hol Horse turns to where the woman is pointing and sees a teenager with off-putting hair running away, chuckling, with Hol Horse’s wallet in his hand. “Dammit!” Hol Horse puts a hand on his hat so it stays on his head as he makes chase. As they turn the corner, a man in a sailor outfit and a girl with vibrant pink hair stand from their seats at a cafe. “JOSHU!?” The girl exclaims, identifying the thief. “SOFT & WET!!!” The boy shouts. Hol Horse stops in his tracks. He sees a figure appear beside the sailor and emit a flurry of bubbles that, once they pop, seem to take away Joshu’s eyes entirely, leaving the thief blind. Hol Horse sighs and remembers what Boingo said back in Egypt.

“Daaa~mit, JOSUUKE!! I’m gonna tell dad about this!” Once he regains his sight, Joshu stomps and runs away. Hol Horse approaches the duo and tips his hat in greeting. “Thanks for savin’ my wallet. The name’s Hol Horse. How ‘bout you two?”

“Josuke Higashikata.”

“Yasuho Hirose.”