Note: This is a story set in the Paradise City universe after the main storyline. It is highly recommended that you read the rest of the threads and the blogs containing the conclusion before reading this.
Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, a few weeks after Final Countdown.
Nicholas sat there, floating, above the ocean’s surface. He had headed out here to think, the occasional freaked out sailor didn’t bother or disturb him.
He was holding the arrow in his hands, floating facing the water’s surface, staring at it, he looked remorseful, but of course no one was there to see him. His Stand floated alongside him, expressionless and still.
“If… if I had used it sooner… If I hadn’t lost it, I could’ve finished this… everyone could’ve lived.” he said, to no one in particular, staring down his reflection in the water.
Nicholas grasped the arrow tighter, the reflection in the water shifted a bit, slightly resembling the Stand that had been brought out that day.
“You could’ve done it, couldn’t you?”, Nicholas spoke in a somber tone.
“You could’ve saved them, fixed all of this… What even are you? Are you truly part of me, or not at all?”
There was no response.
“You claimed to be exactly what I needed, you did what had to be done, yet nothing more.”
He contemplates out loud.
“But why? Why was that your power? Why was it only then?”
He floats up higher, righting himself and looking over the vast ocean before him.
“In that moment, I held the power to end all of this before me, and yet I was still powerless to change things.” he lamented.
“But I won’t let that stop me.” Nicholas said, looking at the arrow.
“I will discover your secret, hopefully it will lead everyone to a better end than theirs.”
Though he seemed sad stating this, a fire burned in his eyes, with this arrow he could build the future he had envisioned and he would do so no matter what.
And so, with newly reignited motivation, Nicholas took to the skies once more, in less than a millionth of a second, he had returned to his home. A house, built by himself with the help of his Stand, located on a remote hillside, after all, it didn’t matter to him how far away he was from civilization, as a bonus, he could work and think in peace, undisturbed by any others.
He entered the house, placing the Arrow back in its sealed container and returning to work on his comprehensive analysis of Stands.
He hadn’t slept in 3 days, but it didn’t bother him, he just kept pushing onward and onward.
“To think I once insisted Michael not do something like this alone.” Nicholas said to himself, laughing slightly.
After a few hours passed, Nicholas got up from his chair to get a drink. As he was getting up, he felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him, nearly passing out, only stopping himself by having his Stand catch him and shake him awake.
“...maybe I should rest sometimes after all.”
“Right, that meeting’s soon. I should get some sleep after all.” he said to himself again, before stumbling over to his bed and falling asleep in seconds.
Waking up in the morning, Nicholas gathered his notes and headed out. He was going to meet the people that sanctioned his investigation in the first place, the CIA.
Nicholas made his way to Langley, Virginia. His arrival was less conspicuous then he usually acts, making sure that no one that did not need to, didn’t see him.
Making his way through the headquarters, he was greeted with some strange looks due to his choice of outfit.
He found his way to nondescript door in front of which stood a security guard.
“Nicholas White, here for the… well you know.” he said.
“Head right inside.” the guard answered.
He entered, finding himself in a room with a large table and many seats, occupied by all manner of people, mostly those from various branches of government.
Laying down his papers, he started recounting, from the nature of Stands to the people he’d met and what he’d seen, to the future of his research. There were many surprised faces as a result, but any doubt was alleviated by them witnessing what appeared to them as floating papers, but were indeed the work of Don’t Stop Me Now.
The meeting went successfully, Nicholas had not only completed the job he was hired to do, but had been granted significant funding for his further research into the phenomenon. Soon, he headed back home, taking to the skies once again.
“How naive I was back then, thinking this would just be a simple job.” he thought to himself.