"An antidote is unnecessary. We only need to extract the toxins."
Shiratori Riku smiled at Lisa Lisa's words, walked to Joseph's side, and pointed at his heart and throat.
"All it takes is reaching in and removing the poison."
"Impossible. Wamuu said surgery cannot work."
"The poison is sealed in a fragile shell. Any external impact shatters it, and the venom spills."
"Then let it shatter. What matters is not whether the poison leaks. What matters is whether the big idiot dies."
Joseph, Caesar, and Lisa Lisa all froze. If it leaks, JoJo dies.
"Wait, you mean constrain the toxin so it cannot harm JoJo?"
Lisa Lisa caught on. "Can anyone perform control that delicate?"
"One slip and JoJo is finished."
"If you trust me, there will be no problem. If you do not, I cannot help."
"JoJo, do you want to try?"
Riku looked to Joseph. The choice held Joseph's life: gamble here, or chase Wamuu's antidote.
Everyone watched. Joseph tensed, then laughed boldly.
"I, Joseph Joestar, live to tell those who think they hold all the cards: no."
"Wamuu stuck poison rings in me to force a duel, but I will not play his game."
"Riku, do it. My life is yours."
He joked often, but when it mattered he was decisive. This was not impulse. He had thought it through.
"Your trust is enough, JoJo."
Riku was about to begin when Lisa Lisa stepped in front of him.
"Are you sure?"
She was iron-hearted in training, yet she could not help worrying now that JoJo's life hung in the balance.
"Riku, I know your skill, but this is JoJo's life. I need to ask again. Are you sure?"
Caesar joined, face grave.
They knew their questions added pressure, yet they had to ask.
"No problem."
Riku's gaze held no doubt, no wavering. Only absolute resolve.
He would succeed. Failure did not exist in his dictionary. He would not let pressure shake him.
He focused. Ripple slipped into Joseph's body.
He pinned down the two rings, pressed a fingertip to the spot at the throat, and sent a micro-vibration. tink - a sound so faint it might have been imagined, yet to the onlookers it cracked like thunder.
Joseph's heart pounded like a war drum, thump thump thump, betraying how tightly wound he was.
Caesar and Lisa Lisa watched with clenched fists and held breath, afraid even the smallest sound might disturb Riku's hands.
"Anshalina, lend me a hair."
Riku locked the vibration to a single point, holding the spilled venom in absolute stasis.
He glanced back to Lisa Lisa.
"Huh? Here."
She blinked, then realized he meant her. He had forgotten her name again.
She combed her fingers through, plucked free a strand, and passed it over.
"Will a fallen strand do? If not, I can yank one now."
"Either works. If my own were long enough, I would use mine."
He infused the hair. It stiffened to a thread-fine silver needle.
He slipped it into Joseph's throat, right where the poison waited. After a few breaths, droplets crept along the hair and out.
"First one done."
Seeing red instead of venom seeping, he knew the reservoir was empty. He drew out the hair and dropped it.
"I-it's really done."
Joseph felt at his neck. The pinhole had already sealed, and there was no pain.
"That was amazing."
He could feel the constraint at his throat vanish. He looked at the little puddle and the strand of hair.
"It is simple. Hold the toxin, then use Ripple's adhesion to wick it along the hair."
"In any case, we no longer have to worry. Without the poison rings, we do not need to risk a duel with Wamuu."
Joseph ignored Riku's modesty. He had learned that what Riku called simple was anything but. Just constraining the toxin was beyond most. As for extracting it without letting it touch any other tissue, he still had no idea how Riku managed it.
"Next is the one on the heart..."
"Here."
Lisa Lisa stepped up with another hair. Joseph had braced himself.
"Anyone want to try instead?"
"No, not us. You do it."
"Brother, quit messing around. Treat me properly."
"Fine. It really is simple."
Riku repeated the process, fixated the venom, drew it out, and removed the hair.
When it was over, Joseph looked down. Not even a red dot remained.
"We all study Ripple, but in your hands it becomes miraculous. In ours it is limp."
He could not understand. Same training, yet their use looked foolish next to his.