Failure, Part One

"Who are you calling a loser?" Dai Mubai demanded angrily.

"You, obviously. Are you going to deny it?" Jodio replied without a shred of courtesy.

"Your surname is Dai, and your martial soul is the White Tiger. Do I really need to say more?" Jodio continued.

Dai Mubai's anger caught in his throat. He suddenly realized Jodio was right. He was a loser: a pitiful coward, a fool with a lion hiding in his eyes who acted like a weakling.

"Dai Mubai, do you know what makes someone a loser and a failure in my eyes?" Jodio asked, slowly closing in again.

"To me, being beaten, failing, or losing doesn't make you a loser. Only three kinds of people are complete and utter failures."

"First, those who let an enemy beat the will to fight out of them. I, Jodio Joestar, have always believed that even if you lose a battle, you must never lose yourself. You can admit defeat, but you can't accept defeat forever. Your spirit must never crumble before your opponent. You must hold on to the conviction that you'll win next time, right to the end. Nothing disgusts me more than someone who loses all will to fight the moment they're beaten!"

"Even if all you can do is bear a grudge or curse him viciously, you must never surrender. Curse him from the shadows if you have to, but never admit that you're a failure before him. That is a defeat of the human spirit, and it is absolutely unacceptable!" Jodio declared, his voice ringing out.

"Second, those cast out of a group. Even primitive animals and Spirit Beasts mock such failures and look down on them. Someone completely expelled from their own group is the lowest of losers, a failure among failures. That is a social defeat, another way for a person to fail."

"Third, those who abandon their wives or lovers and run away alone. Even animals know they must fight for the chance to reproduce. Reproduction is essential to life. If someone loses that chance because they were defeated, no one can fault them for it. But even animals know to stand in front of their mates and protect them! Where's your lover? Where is she?!"

Jodio sent Stone Free lunging forward again. A heavy punch smashed into Dai Mubai's face, sending blood streaming from his nose and mouth. He flew into the ruins, rolled several times, and only then struggled to his feet. His head buzzed, and for a moment he could hear nothing. It wasn't just the blow that had deafened him. It was Jodio's words.

Jodio was right about everything. Dai Mubai was even worse than Jodio had described. The first point fit him perfectly. As for the second, he had left his group of his own accord, making him worse than someone forced out after a defeat. And the third went without saying. He had practically abandoned his fiancée with his own hands—abandoned his other half!

But who could understand? Who could feel Dai Mubai's heartbreak? The heavens did not understand! The sea did not understand! The earth was heartless, and so were the clouds! Ah! Dai Mubai's heart broke. Dai Mubai wept. Dai Mubai rose early. Dai Mubai was steeped in sorrow and pain.

"You've already admitted you're a failure. What are you still struggling for?" Jodio brought down another heavy punch, this time striking Dai Mubai's shoulder. His body seized, and the blow nearly knocked him to the ground.

"I will never tolerate cowardice!"

Jodio threw another heavy punch, a hook that sent Dai Mubai sprawling. Jodio was already an absurdly overpowered monster with no equal at his level. Beating Dai Mubai, who was only level 26, was almost too easy!

"Ooooooh!" Dai Mubai sprang up as if he had gone mad, flailing wildly in an attempt to fight back. But Jodio's precision far surpassed his. Stone Free nimbly dodged a few blows, then drove a rapid series of heavy punches into Dai Mubai's abdomen, blasting him back to the ground.

"Too slow! Too slow!" As though a follow-up attack had triggered, Jodio leaped beside Dai Mubai and slammed another fist into his ribs. This time, Dai Mubai could only answer with a muffled groan. Jodio glanced at the orchid behind him. He still had at least five minutes to spend. Was this really all Dai Mubai had?

"Your punches aren't fast enough, and they don't hit hard enough." Jodio stood and turned his back on him.

"You're nothing but a failure born into privilege."

"Yuhao, what should I give you and Xiao Dong when you get married?" Jodio, looking for all the world like DIO, asked from atop his horse. Huo Yuhao, who had been reading beside him, jumped in surprise. Then embarrassment washed over his face, and he had no idea how to answer.

"What do you have in mind, boss?" Huo Yuhao asked, turning the question back on Jodio.

"Well, education is the most important thing of all. Neither of you has any experience raising children, and I happen to be a few years older. How about I teach your kids to tell jokes? I guarantee they'll make you both laugh." Jodio sounded delighted with the idea.

"Make us laugh..." Huo Yuhao fell silent.

"Yeah. Don't you two always laugh when I tell jokes?" Jodio asked, genuinely puzzled. Telling jokes was nothing to be ashamed of. It was a great way to liven up the mood or start a conversation—an essential skill for anyone traveling the world. Why did none of them seem to understand that?

"Well..." Huo Yuhao fell even more silent. If he had any say in it, he did not want his future children following him around telling cold jokes all day.

"Speaking of jokes, I've got another good one. Want to hear the one I just came up with?" Jodio asked eagerly.

"Boss, how about we talk about your Ninth Spirit Ability instead?" Huo Yuhao asked with a forced smile, hastily changing the subject.

"What's there to talk about? Spirit abilities are great, but jokes are better." Jodio tried to gather his thoughts, only to find that his joke had vanished as inexplicably as a light drizzle during military training—or as thoughts of life's meaning that surfaced during bedtime entertainment and disappeared into the night. Damn that Ninth Spirit Ability. It had thrown all his ideas into disarray.

"Oh, right, Yuhao. What you did last time was right. Better than right, actually." Remembering something else, Jodio raised a finger.

"Protecting the one you love comes third, right after standing by your convictions and caring for your family. You were right to rush forward and push Xiao Dong away before that damned Old Tang could grab her. You took quite a beating yourself, sure, but a man's wounds are badges of honor!" Jodio said enthusiastically.

"What would you have done, boss?" Seeing Jodio get worked up again, Huo Yuhao quickly interrupted.

"Me? Your boss is the most perfect, outstanding, magnificent man, an Ultimate Lifeform, an Ultimate Douluo, and a Prospective God. Naturally, I don't need a wife." Jodio spread his hands indifferently.

"Though Xiao Wu is actually my type. How about I become your new father-in-law?" Jodio asked Huo Yuhao with a cheeky grin.

"Jo! Di! O!"

The furious shout swept down from the sky. Huo Yuhao went numb with dread, but Jodio burst out laughing—"Gurararara!"—then spurred his horse into a gallop toward the Star Dou Great Forest.

"Run, Little Huo! Your current father-in-law's lost his temper! Hahahaha!"

Blue light curled around Jodio's fingers. He looked at Dai Mubai lying on the ground but made no move to pull him up. He was waiting for the man to stand on his own and fight him again.

"Easy for you to say, you bastard." Gritting his teeth, Dai Mubai braced himself against the rubble with his hands and feet and struggled shakily upward.

"You didn't live through any of it! What gives you the right to judge me like that?" Dai Mubai roared.

...To be continued

Currently available information:

Level 30 Stand: Stone Free

Holder: Jodio Joestar

Spirit Ring: Yellow—400-year-old Great Rock Python

Destructive power: A; speed: B; range: C+; stamina: A; precision: C+; development potential: A (fully developed to its original extent)

Stand ability: The user can turn his body into thread and control it freely. The thread remains part of his body, however, so he is injured if it breaks. He can recover gradually.

The thread has a wide range of uses. In humanoid form, the Stand's range is only about 1.5 meters, and its range rating drops sharply to D.

As the Stand reaches full maturity, its six attributes may increase further as his Soul Power rises. It appears unlikely that any more special abilities can be developed.