Steel Ball Run

"This story relates how I got up on my feet. Not in the physical term, but how I went from adolescence to adulthood."

- Johnny Joestar, SBR Chapter 3

Steel Ball Run (スティール・ボール・ラン) is the seventh part of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump in 2004 and in Ultra Jump between 2005 and 2011.

Set in the U.S. in 1890, the story follows Johnny Joestar, a paraplegic ex-jockey, and Gyro Zeppeli, master in a mystic art named the Spin, as they compete with a vast number of others in the Steel Ball Run race: a mad-dash across America for a grand prize of 50 million dollars.

The Steel Ball Run Universe
Steel Ball Run describes a new continuity apart from that detailed in Part 1-6 of the series.

On top of core features to JoJo such as Stands, the story is marked by many references to the original series.

Transition to Ultra Jump
After Chapter 23, Steel Ball Run transferred publication from Weekly Shonen Jump to seinen magazine Ultra Jump.

In the monthly Ultra Jump, chapters are much longer. Perhaps coincidentally, between those chapters included in Volumes 7 – 8, Araki's style takes on greater realism.

Press Conference
The Steel Ball Run: Press Conference

For keeping English literature, Sandman is forced to flee his tribe. He mysteriously outpaces his pursuers on horseback and escapes up the hills thanks to a mysterious power. Sandman meets his sister who chastises him, and he explains that he took the books when someone left them in the hills after having mysteriously made many spherical holes on the side of a rock. He shows his sister a newspaper headline regarding the imminent Steel Ball Run race, with a grand prize of $50,000,000.

Meanwhile Steven Steel, main promoter of the event, holds a press conference, giving the race's basic rules. Corroborating several substantial cash prizes; starting September 25, 1890, there, on the Pacific San Diego beach; the race's goal is New York, at a distance of ~6000 km, and a projected duration of ~70 days. The rules include that changing horses is not allowed; and though crime is not, weapons may be kept.

Gyro Zeppeli is introduced as he registers his entry. A man reaches and touches a Steel Ball at Gyro's waist before he is somehow forced to the ground, and it is revealed that he had taken $20 from Gyro's entry fee.

Gyro Zeppeli
The emancipated Pocoloco has been predicted a period of good luck and decides to try it during the Steel Ball Run.

Meanwhile, Gyro challenges in a duel the man who tried to steal money from him. Throwing a Steel Ball at his opponent's shoulder and makes him shoot himself. Interested, a man in a wheelchair tries to touch the still spinning Steel Ball in its holster, and suddenly momentarily stands up. That man's name is Johnny Joestar.

Johnny Joestar
Johnny reflects on his past as a genius jockey, reminiscing the time when during a petty fight, someone shot at his spine. Paraplegic, Johnny's career and life have been ruined.

In the present, Johnny is amazed at the miracle the Steel Balls just performed and insists that Gyro explains what has happened. Gyro shoos him away, but Johnny is determined to learn about them.

3 Hours to Start
After some final preparation, Gyro witnesses Johnny trying without success to mount a horse he just bought. Despite being hurt and battered, he persists, picking Gyro's interest. Gyro then meets Sandman and indicates him where to go to subscribe to the race. Sandman subscribes to the Steel Ball Run claiming he will run his way to victory.

The last preparations for the race begin. Steven Steel presents to the crowd the Steel Ball Run trophy, and all the 3,652 riders align at the start line. Just before the start, Gyro and Johnny meet again. Despite being still unable to mount, Johnny is still determined to follow the Italian. Impressed Gyro gives Johnny a hint about the Spin; getting the hint, Johnny manages to make his horse, Slow Dancer, lower its head and rolls backward on the neck, mounting just in time for the start.

First Stage: 15,000 Meters
The Steel Ball Run begins.

Steven and special guest board a train to follow the first stage. As the racers begin to move, Steel explains that the race is divided into nine stages separated by checkpoint cities.

Gyro quickly goes ahead of the group, followed by Urmd Avdol. The Italian uses his Steel Balls to lure his pursuer into a cluster of cacti, causing him to fall off his camel and be disqualified from the race.

The Dried-Up River; Diego Brando
Diego is the next racer to challenge Gyro's first place. Despite Diego's superior ability as a jockey, when both cross a bridge, Gyro uses the Spin to stimulate his horse Valkyrie's legs, making it leap forward beyond the normal capacity of a horse, getting ahead once again and destroying the bridge. Diego falls behind as other racers get past him by going down the dried up river instead.

Meanwhile, Pocoloco wakes up and realizes that he's late to the race. As a silver lining, Pocoloco notices that his ride is made easier by the smooth ground that thousand of horses have stamped.

Pocoloco and Sandman
Reassured by random strokes of luck, Pocoloco meets Sandman who leaps across a ravine. Emboldened, Pocoloco makes his horse take the risky shortcut and narrowly avoids falling at the bottom.

At the 6,000 meters mark, Gyro takes a shortcut through a forest nearby at the risk of colliding with the trees and branches. Pocoloco and Johnny, as well as a group of racers, follow Gyro into the forest. As they enter it, Pocoloco closes his eyes and accelerates.

Crossing the Forest
Several horseriders are thrown out of their horses, but Johnny and Pocoloco remain unharmed. However, Johnny's superior horseriding skills allow him to get ahead. Disturbed by a sound, Pocoloco opens his eyes, only to have a branch apparently dismounting him. Yet, Pocoloco, only partially dismounted, is being dragged on the ground, and his horse navigates all the more easily within the forest without its rider on it. He then manages to get propped back on his horse. Pocoloco challenges Gyro as they begin to go down a slope.

Long, Long Downhill
The steep slope naturally forces any horse rider to slow down for fear of their horses tripping. Yet Pocoloco accelerates, confident in his luck and beginning to see his stand Hey Ya!. His horse does trip, only to land on a cow's corpse, and sliding down the slope on it. Since Pocoloco is now ahead and is preserving stamina which will be crucial in the final stretch, Gyro tries to cause a rockslide by throwing his Steel Balls at a cliff near Pocoloco to stop him. He fails, and also makes Sandman nearly trip, as the Indian suddenly appears ahead of the group climbing down the cliff. Another turnabout ensues as now Sandman takes the first place in that stage.

2,000 Meters Left
Sandman is the frontrunner, going at a speed comparable to that of a horse, and using his superior mobility in rocky terrain to take shortcuts. Now at the 3rd place, Gyro decides to make his horse sprint well ahead of the recommended distance, 1,500 meters from the finish line, surprising Pocoloco and taking second place.

Near the finish line, the front runner's group forms itself. Johnny is caught up by Diego.

1,000 Meters Left
Diego stays close to Johnny, using his horse as an air pressure shield, but Johnny forcefully breaks away from him, using his horse to throw rocks at Diego while accelerating.

The race is now a mad dash in which only the horse's power counts. From the rocky hills emerges Sandman, visibly tired but well ahead of the rest of the racers, who nonetheless catch up. Counseled by Hey Ya!; Pocoloco drifts to the left, using a branch as a springboard and leaping ahead of the group. Still, Gyro inexorably catches up to then seizes the first place, using his cape as a sail to catch the Santa Ana wind as a rear wind. The first stage finishes, a triumphant Gyro crossing the finish line first, in 18 minutes and 7 seconds.

(Bonus) How the Race Got Started
Steven Steel's colorful past is explored. It is revealed that the Steel Ball Run race was first imagined by Lucy Steel, then a young girl who suggested the idea to a down-on-his-time Steven. Waking up from a drunken stupor, Steven was then approached by a group of sponsors who were interested in the event and proposed to finance it, making Steven rich again. Grateful for Lucy, and realizing she looked like his first love, he subsequently married her.

Disqualified from Victory
The first stage ended, Gyro suddenly receives a penalty due to having endangered Sandman's life earlier in the race. He is relegated to the 21st place, receiving no points despite his victory. After exacting a petty revenge by ruining Steven's party, Gyro accepts to have Johnny follow him and teaches him the first lesson of the Spin: what matters is the Steel Ball's Spin.

Meanwhile, Steven and his wife Lucy are brought to a crime scene, where three racers were violently eviscerated in the middle of the first stage. The Steel Ball Run's prize money has made the race a dangerous endeavor as an unscrupulous racer seems to target rival horse races in order to win.

Sheriff's Request to Mountain Tim
The local Sheriff has called Mountain Tim, a bounty hunter, to help. A short investigation leads Tim to suspect that the murderer didn't employ any ordinary method to kill the victims, and identifies their horseshoes.

The second stage of the Steel Ball Run begins, this time, the racers have to cross 1,200 km of nothing but desert, where they will face the temperature and dehydration. Gyro diverts from the expected path, instead choosing to cross 150 km of desert bypassing the first of the indicated water sources in order to win. Johnny has no choice but to follow him. The duo is then followed by fellow racer Mrs. Robinson.

Across the Arizona Desert
In the middle of the Arizona Desert, Gyro and Johnny are stalked by Mrs. Robinson. Without any reason to think he's hostile, they let him be. Suddenly Gyro and Johnny are attacked by chollas, explosive cacti which can propel their thorns at high speed. Slowly cornered by the attack, Johnny is dismounted and Gyro confronts Mrs. Robinson, defeating him promptly with the same chollas.

After finding Mrs. Robinson's horse, Tim sees that he isn't the murderer as the horseshoes don't match.

The Desert Born Outlaws
Marco's history is revealed, he was a humble servant caught when his lord was arrested and is to be executed for false charges of treason.

At night, Johnny and Gyro make camp. Johnny manages to reproduce the rotation with the cork then accidentally discovers newspapers linked to Marco's execution. They are approached by Andre Boom Boom, who claims he's been bitten by a poisonous lizard and needs help. When Andre apparently dies, Gyro kicks his knife away. They are soon joined by Andre's father and brother Benjamin and L. A., and Gyro realized that his leg was magnetized by the stand Tomb of the Boom. After a brief fight, Gyro and Johnny manage to flee but are sprayed with Andre's blood.

Benjamin disguises himself as Johnny Joestar, confronting Mountain Tim who reveals his Stand Oh! Lonesome Me. Benjamin successfully plants some of his blood on Tim and pushes him to think Johnny is the murderer.

The Devil's Palm
Mountain Tim catches up to Johnny and Gyro, and the three of them realize that they are affected by the magnetism. Tim presents his power he calls a Stand, which he acquired by stepping into a Devil's Palm, a moving phenomenon granting people Stands. Benjamin Boom Boom uses his Stand to immobilize them and kill them. But Johnny then awakens his own Stand, Tusk, as they were in the Devil's Palm without realizing it. Johnny kills Benjamin and incapacitates L.A., who reveals that they were hired to kill Gyro and is promptly left in the desert.

At Johnny's insistence, since Gyro reveals his past. He is a citizen of Naples, who has learned the Spin from his father and has worked as an executioner.

Gyro Zeppeli's Mission
Gyro objected at Marco's execution since he was unrelated to the crime, but couldn't do anything. One of the counselors he knew proposed him to participate to the Steel Ball Run race, as winning could bring Naples enough glory for the King to proclaim a general amnesty, otherwise the prize money was enough to pay for Marco's appeal. Gyro accepted.

Oyecomova arrives at a relay village where the racers are supposed to register themselves. He learns that Gyro, Johnny and Mountain Tim have arrived before him and breaks into their room. Mountain Tim confronts Oyecomova but is incapacitated by his Stand Boku no Rhythm wo Kiitekure's explosive power. Oyecomova reveals then that he is after Gyro's head.

The Terrorist from a Faraway Country
Oyecomova's past is discussed: he was a terrorist from Gyro's country and managed to escape to America. Upon hearing that Gyro would enter the race to represent Naples, he began to chase him down. The fight becomes a race toward the Zombie Horse, a healing item sent for Gyro. After a long pursuit up a river, a combination attack from Johnny and Gyro manages to take Oyecomova down, and the duo continues the race.

Interlude
The exact circumstances leading Gyro to want to appeal to Marco's execution are unveiled. After a prisoner revolts and Gyro was forced to restrain her, Marco took his pouch and tried to fix it, at the other executioner's anger but Gyro realized that Marco didn't deserve his sentence, leading him to him participating in the Steel Ball Run race.

In the present, Gyro and Johnny retrieve the Zombie Horse and heal Gyro's leg injury with it.

Tusk
A flashback presents Joseph of Arimathea, a man who descended Jesus Christ from the Cross. Joseph of Arimathea drew a map depicting an unknown land and several points of interest, said map remained hidden in an abbey until it was stolen during the 16th century and its whereabouts became unknown.

Johnny and Gyro are attacked by Fritz von Stroheim, who is quickly disposed of. Johnny, appalled at the frequency and violence of the attacks since the money prize alone cannot justify these, suddenly realizes that his left arm contains a mummified arm. Meanwhile, Steven Steel discusses with Funny Valentine, President of the United States. Joseph of Arimathea's Map is in his possession, Valentine covets the relic known as the Saint's Corpse.

About to reach Monument Valley, the duo is attacked again. Gyro, then his horse and his bags have been attacked by two hooks springing from falling feathers and Johnny is soon targeted too.

Pork Pie Hat Kid, one of Valentine's henchmen, is revealed. He steals Johnny's bags and concludes that the left arm is with Johnny. Tusk appears to help Johnny escape the hooks one time then tells him the enigmatic phrase "Movere Crus", before disappearing. Johnny realizes the Steel Ball Run's true purpose.

Johnny manages to crawl near Pork Pie Hat and shoots his spinning nails through some feathers, wounding the enemy. However, Pork Pie Hat hooks Johnny through Gyro, incapacitating both. Johnny is forced to give Pork Pie Hat the left arm, but the latter realizes too late that Gyro made the arm's nails spin too, killing him for good.

Johnny subsequently diverts his attention on the Saint's Corpse and convinces Gyro to help him.

Scary Monsters
During the final dash of the second stage between the top racers, Johnny discovers the location of the next Corpse Part. He distracts Gyro with it, leading to Diego taking the 1st place, Johnny the 2nd place, Sandman the 3rd place, and Gyro the 4th. Gyro's angry, but the race immediately moves on to the third stage: 517 km through the Rocky Mountains.

Meanwhile, Valentine discovers that Johnny had the limb he searches. He reveals the Corpse's Heart within him, seen Lucy Steel unbeknownst to him.

Gyro and Johnny meet with Diego who acts strangely since an earlier fall. As night falls the three of them take shelter in a village. But soon, Diego transforms into a raptor and attacks Gyro and Johnny. His kinetic vision gives him an edge against Gyro and Johnny's projectile based attacks, and they can only flee, only to discover the whole village has been transformed too. The duo manages to hide in a sewer and decide to go take the next Corpse Part.

Diego's backstory is revealed. Diego spent his youth working on a farm with his mother, but the bad treatment they received, notably the staff letting her mother die of an infection, made Diego resentful of humanity and ambitious. His talent led him to search for glory in the Steel Ball Run.

In the sewer, Johnny and Gyro are marked by small dinosaurs, setting the whole village on their trail. They realize that Gyro is slowly transforming into a dinosaur, and only the next Corpse Part's influence can counter the transformation. Johnny and Gyro jump over the ravine to the other side, discovering a Stand holding the Corpse's Eyes but Diego catches up to them and seizes the eyes before them.

Johnny is the only human to face Dr. Ferdinand who explains that his Scary Monster was controlling every dinosaur so far. Unexpectedly, Johnny abandons his Left Arm and partially transforms to toss one of the Eyes at Gyro, who is then cured and acquires the new ability Scan. Both manage to incapacitate Dr. Ferdinand, who's eaten by cougars he transformed into raptors. However, Diego escapes with the Left Eyes and retains his dinosaur abilities.

Later Gyro and Johnny join the top racers in yet another final rush to finish the third stage.

(Bonus) The Story of F. Valentine
A flashback reveals some of Funny Valentine's past. After surviving a trip into the desert, Valentine became a politician, and while serving in the Congress, discovered Joseph of Arimathea's map. The map indicated the whereabouts of the nine Corpse parts: the Torso, the Heart, the Left Arm, the Right Arm, the Spine, both Eyes, both Ears, both Legs and the Head. Becoming President of the United States, he sponsored Steven Steel's race to secretly seize every Corpse Part the racers would come across

Third Stage: Canon City
During the final dash, three ways present themselves, one a safe one alongside a lake, another alongside the rocky cliff on the other side of the lake, the last being through the lake itself, the shortest but which will exhaust the horses. Gyro chooses to cross the lake with Diego on his trail.

Johnny having known Gyro for a certain amount of time, declares that Gyro lacks a proper drive for the race and will lose here. Gyro angrily rebukes Johnny, but despite his best efforts, Diego stays ahead. However, another racer, Hot Pants, has already crossed the line. Defeated, Gyro admits that he does lack the drive to win, relying too much on the power of the Spin alone.

A Man's World
The fourth stage begins; 1250 km from the Colorado river to Kansas City. At 650 km from Kansas City, Gyro and Johnny meet Hot Pants in a forest. They briefly fight over an allegedly stolen cow; Hot Pants revealing his "flesh spray" Cream Starter and Gyro managing to scan Hot Pants' back, seeing the Corpse's Spine and the world "Turbo", and leading Gyro and Johnny to locate the next Corpse's part in Kansas City.

Johnny defuses the situation and the three eventually have a truce to get out of the forest from which they can find the way out. They eventually meet the gunslinger Ringo Roadagain beside a derelict house who kills their fellow racer Gaucho in a duel and claims that only his death will free them. Despite continuous efforts, Gyro, Johnny and Hot Pants finally confront Ringo who reveals his Stand Mandom, which rewinds time but not memories by six seconds when he winds up his wristwatch, having confused the trio since their entry in the forest. A shootout ensues in which Johnny and Hot Pants are apparently fatally shot, leaving only Gyro alive. Ringo takes Johnny inside but spares the Italian. But Gyro realizes that Johnny's wound isn't fatal.

Ringo Roadagain's backstory is revealed: he was once the sick youngest of an ostracized and impoverished family. One night, his mother and sister were killed by a bandit and he saved himself by shooting the deserter. Ringo's sickness disappeared and he became a gunslinger seeking challenges to purify himself. Finally, Funny Valentine employed him to retrieve the Corpse part from Johnny.

Chasing away the last doubts within him, Gyro clearly formulates his goals in this race: to discover whether Marco deserves his death sentence, and to discover the truth behind the Corpse. Gyro challenges Ringo again and uses Mandom to his advantage by going through a first loop then lead Ringo into a falling splinter of the roof while impales the gunslinger. Acknowledging his defeat and Gyro's growth, Ringo honors him and is finished off by Gyro.

The Green Tomb
After his duel, Gyro heals Johnny and Hot Pants. Johnny discovers that Ringo has sent a message to Valentine and also that Hot Pants is a woman, choosing to keep it secret. Near Kansas City, the duo crosses path with Pocoloco and Sandman. They exchange information, making Johnny realizes that Diego has found the location of the next Corpse Part.

Meanwhile, witnessing Ringo's pigeon arriving on the roof, Lucy infiltrates the governmental building under the pretense of giving Steven his meal box and steals the message it carries. Almost surprised by Valentine and his henchman Blackmore, Lucy tries to hide but is soon cornered Lucy has no choice but to call Mountain Tim for help and they both escape incognito. Lucy then goes to retrieve the Spine at a local landmark known as the Green Tomb.

Blackmore follows the call to Tim and will the cowboy with his ability to control to surrounding raindrops: Catch the Rainbow. He then discovers that Lucy was most likely the culprit, and rushes toward her location as she uncovers the Spine.

As Diego, Johnny and Gyro ride toward the Green Tomb, Lucy is discovered by Blackmore.

Catch the Rainbow
Blackmore takes the Spine from Lucy. Distracted by a vision of Jesus Christ, he is shot by Lucy who escapes with the Corpse Part. Exalted by the miracles around him, Blackmore seals his fatal wounds with raindrops and pursues Lucy.

Meanwhile, Gyro and Johnny are unable to get ahead of Diego. In the tempest, they struggle to find the optimal path while Diego's enhanced senses help him. Nonetheless, Gyro's growth expresses itself when he manages to catch up to Diego. After a brief fight, Silver Bullet hurts its leg, throwing Diego out of the race.

The duo then meets Lucy and Blackmore almost at the same time and a fight ensues. Catch the Rainbow immobilizes Johnny and Gyro, but the latter manages to throw a Steel Ball on Blackmore by evaporating some raindrops. Blackmore dies from his wounds, and the Spine enters Johnny's body as the weather calms itself, and the next Corpse part's location reveals itself to the duo.

Silent Way
Johnny and Gyro reach the finish line in Kansas City. The winner of the 4th stage is Norisuke Higashikata, a Japanese racer. Gyro and Johnny witness Diego quietly finishing the 4th stage, certain that he hasn't abandoned the race just yet.

Earlier, Johnny, Gyro and Lucy see the next three Corpse parts' location. These are the Ears, the Right Arm, and the Legs. They decide to send Lucy to steal the President's Heart, Gyro abandoning his Right Eye to enable this.

In the present, Diego meets with Valentine's henchman. After Diego reveals that he knows about the traitor within Valentine's entourage, and how to find him, Valentine reluctantly cooperates with Diego and presents him an unknown Stand user.

The 5th and 6th stages begin the Illinois Sky Line and the Michigan Lake Line which are 780 km from Kansas City to Chicago and then 690 km to Mackinaw City.

Near the Mississippi, Gyro and Johnny are attacked by a combination of Diego's dinosaurs and a strange power which produces effects like cutting or burning whoever touched an affected object. The duo has to flee to the river.

Johnny reminisces his youth, notably how he blames himself for his brother Nicholas' death due to a stray mouse, and how his father never loved Johnny as much as Nicholas. Considering that the universe is making him pay for his assumed unwitting murder, Johnny loses hope as his Stand proves ineffectual.

An angry Gyro reminds him that Johnny isn't close to master the Spin and introduces the Golden Rectangle, a natural and ubiquitous proportion which is used as a model to form a perfect an infinite rotation. However, Gyro stubbornly lets Johnny figure out the secret of the Golden Rectangle without help. Sandman reveals himself as the true enemy and inexorably corners the duo, even slicing Gyro's legs. On the brink of despair, Johnny realizes that the Golden Rectangle is present in the environment and upgrades Tusk to ACT2. ACT2 makes his nails spin around his finger like a drill, augmenting their penetrative strength but also the holes caused by the nails can target the enemy. Sandman is surprised by the new power. A shootout ensues, Johnny trying to kill Sandman before he runs out of nails and Sandman rushing toward Johnny to kill him. A gravely wounded Sandman is then shot in the neck with a steel ball Johnny made from Gyro's belt and dies.

Johnny is victorious, but Hot Pants appears and knocks him out. She steals all the Corpse Parts save a fraction of the Spine.

(Bonus) Untitled Stand Chapter
The bonus chapter is an explanation of Stands and their rules. Araki links the spontaneous apparition and dispersion of particles as a potential in the universe. Humanity fulfills that potential by materializing their spiritual energy into Stands. Some of the property of Stands, such as their possible appearances and the rules they are subject to are explained.

Lastly, Araki explains that items and techniques such as the Stone Mask, the Ripple, or the Spin were tools who emulate the power of the Stands.

Sugar Mountain
At the beginning of the 6th stage, Gyro notices that 11 horses are nearing them with unnatural synchronization. They also meet Sugar Mountain, a young girl residing inside a giant tree who submits the duo to a trial of honesty. Gyro manages to obtain the Ears plus various precious goods. However, Sugar Mountain warns the horse racers that they have to spend or exchange fairly everything they have before the sun sets lest they are absorbed into the tree and will serve as guardians of the tree, liberating the next imprisoned people which happen to be Sugar Mountain's parents. Gyro and Johnny decide to head to the city and acquire the Right Arm.

In the city, the duo has difficulty spending everything and the Eleven Men are closing on them. Gyro decides to spend everything in a shady casino. Their game is interrupted by the 11 men who initiate a shootout. They all wield the same stand which allows them to transfer themselves between each other's bodies. Johnny's ten nails and Gyro's two Steel Balls aren't enough to overcome all Eleven, but Gyro gets them out of their predicament by paying the gangsters they were playing against for protection, which costs them all of their money and goods.

The sun sets and Gyro suddenly transforms himself into branches, Johnny realizes he has to give the Corpse Parts away. He gives the Corpse Parts to the sole surviving member of the Eleven Men for a bottle of wine, spending everything whilst weeping at such an unfair trade. Defeated, Gyro and Johnny have a toast to the next Corpse part and victory.

Tubular Bells
Near the Michigan Lake, Diego meets with Mike O., head of Valentine's security staff. Still recovering, Diego reveals that the traitor is most likely a woman, causing the questioning of every woman associated with the government and the Steel Ball Run race.

Lucy sees that the search is closing in on her, and takes the initiative by approaching the First Lady Scarlet Valentine. With soporifics given by Hot Pants, Lucy manages to approach Valentine while he's asleep, but the heist goes wrong when Scarlet discovers Lucy.

As Hot Pants come to the rescue, Lucy is discovered by Mike O. and a fight ensues between the two Stand users. Mike O. is infected by Cream Starter and finally, his throat explodes. Lucy is forced to disguise as Scarlet while Hot Pants departs with the Ears and Heart, leaving the Right Arm which was too big for her escape.

Wrecking Ball
Two agents of the US Government are introduced watching over the frozen straits which separate the two sides of the Michigan Lake.

Wekapipo's past is explored: once a member of the royal guard of Naples, Wekapipo broke his sister's marriage on the premise that she was beaten blind. Furious, the husband forced him into exile; having heard of his sister's death, Wekapipo enters Valentine's service a broken man.

Johnny and Gyro try to cross the frozen strait, a wolf following them for seemingly no reason. In the middle of the strait, they are attacked by Wekapipo and Magent Magent whose Wrecking Ball and 20th Century Boy can make their victim not perceive anything to their left and make Magent invincible while kneeling respectively. Wekapipo isolates the duo from the Golden Rectangle and manages to uncover the Legs from the wolf.

Using one of Magent's pistol bullet against the former, Gyro is able to take him out of the fight, however, Gyro and Johnny's Spin energy are inferior to Wekapipo's, giving him the edge in the battle. Johnny eventually runs out of nails, and Gyro must face Wekapipo with effectively one Steel Ball and no Golden Rectangle. At the last moment, snowflakes appear before Gyro and he is able to use them to reproduce the Golden Spin, winning the duel. Gyro explains that his clinic has been taking care of Wekapipo's sister, and enlists his help to find Lucy.

The Victor's Rights
The chapter's first part describe Johnny and Gyro's daily routine in the Steel Ball Run and how they race across different weather condition and landscapes. The description transitions into the last dash of the 6th stage, in which Johnny and Gyro are racing against Pocoloco. Hey Ya! guides him out of the way of a rift, but Gyro and Johnny cooperate to cross it directly with a makeshift steel rope made from a ball, effectively beating Pocoloco's luck.

Gyro finishes the 6th stage at the first place and Johnny at the 2nd place.

Meanwhile, Magent Magent, who was left for dead in the straits, crawls back to civilization. Having overheard Wekapipo and Gyro's conversation, he knows that the traitor is Lucy Steel.

Civil War
A flashback details the discovery of "Lucy Steel" 's body from the Fox River. A distraught Steven Steel sees her corpse but is convinced that the woman before her isn't Lucy.

145 km West of Philadelphia, Gyro and Johnny are lured by Hot Pants to a local garbage dump inside a building. Gyro and Johnny are attacked simultaneously by various objects they have left behind throughout their lives, who fuse with them and covering them both with a membrane. Hot Pants is then completely covered in the membrane and disappears.

A flashback exposes Hot Pants' past, in which having secretly let her brother being devoured by a bear deeply traumatized her and made her covet the Corpse to absolve herself of her sin.

Johnny is warned to purify himself with water to dissolve the membrane and manages to escape the first attack. Suddenly, Johnny witnesses Jesus telling "not to shoot if he doubts, then a new path will open to him". A puzzled Johnny realizes that his legs are twitching and goes back to the garbage dump.

Axl RO, an agent of Valentine, uses his Civil War to materialize the objects of their guilt, including the specters of several people. Johnny is on the verge of being overwhelmed by the specters of his father and brother when Gyro warns him of Axl RO's location thanks to a Steel Ball, and Johnny manages to fatally shoot Axl RO through the garbage. However, Axl RO resurrects because of the last property of Civil War; his sin of letting entire town and garrison perish because he failed in his watch is transferred to Johnny. Dismembered by the apparitions of soldiers, Johnny realizes that he has to shoot himself and unlocks ACT3.

A Dream of Gettysburg
Combining the penetrative property of his shooting nails and the Spin, Tusk ACT3 creates a space within the hole in which Johnny can travel through, widening the ways he can attack. Axl RO has nonetheless reconstituted the Holy Corpse save from the Head and the Eyes, having stolen Johnny's Legs and the remnant of the Spine. Thanks to ACT3, Johnny grabs the Corpse from afar and tries to wrestle it out of Axl RO's hands, forcing him to stab Johnny in the throat. Johnny is then absolved of his sins.

Suddenly, Axl RO is shot in the chest, and Valentine reveals himself. The President seizes the Thorax, the Heart, the Spine, both Legs, both Arms, and both Ears and departs before Johnny can attack. Diego having the Left Eye, and the Head's whereabouts being still unknown, Valentine deduces that the traitor who infiltrated his residence is still alive with the Right Eye.

Both Sides Now
Gyro and Johnny enter Philadelphia and finish the 7th stage at the 6th and 7th place. Seeing that Diego is at the 1st place, they decide to confront him and steal the Left Eye from him. The 8th stage begins, a 140 km race from Philadelphia to New Jersey.

A little before 2:45 PM, Steven Steel ruminates in his coach. Comparing recent photos of Scarlet and Lucy, he discovers that somehow she disguised herself as Scarlet Valentine. However Magent Magent appears and shoots Steven because he's no longer useful to Valentine. Soon after, Wekapipo intervenes to protect Steven and a fight ensues with the two on the coach's roof, riding across the city

A flashback details the past of Lucy Steel née Pendleton. Her father was a farmer who indebted himself with the mafia. The mafia had the policy to take only one thing from his clients and the father chose to sell them a then 12-years-old Lucy. At the same time, Steven Steel came before him and proposed Lucy in marriage. Being told that Lucy was the Mafia's property, Steel proceeds to bluff them by telling them he took her virginity already and marries Lucy at the price of a small scandal about their age difference. Grateful, Lucy developed a deep emotional yet platonic bond with Steven.

Meanwhile, in the Independence Hall, Valentines makes a lengthy motive rant to his "wife", who has let the Right Eye slip on the ground and has tried to distract the President. Aroused, Valentine tries to rape his wife's impersonator, but when Lucy reveals herself, Valentine is stunned and is stabbed in the throat with a knife. Agonizing in pain, Valentine suddenly disappears when a chair falls over him and mysteriously reappears unharmed, to Lucy's horror.

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
Lucy tries to hide from Valentine in the next room, and accidentally finds the Corpse, which fuses with her. When Valentine breaks into the room, he realizes Lucy is the host for the Head.

Meanwhile, Wekapipo and Magent's fight continues. When Magent Magent tries to blow himself up, both are thrown into the Delaware, hurting Wekapipo but not Magent thanks to his powers. However, Magent is tied up by Spin-imbued cables, and sinks at the bottom of the river, unable to move since he would drown. Wekapipo having seen a dinosaur come out of Magent's clothes, realizes that Diego will learn of Lucy's identity.

Seven Days in a Week
Gyro tells Johnny a joke, reciting the days of the week while acting progressively crazier, at Sunday, he regains his calm. Johnny notes the jokes and comments that it's really good.

Chocolate Disco
Beside a park south of the Independence Hall, Johnny and Gyro spot Diego and Wekapipo following him. While Gyro tries to sneak on Diego and Johnny watches from afar, Johnny sees that Gyro, at the corner of a building, is being surrounded by both President Valentine and his henchman D-I-S-C-O. Johnny tries to warn Gyro but suddenly, Johnny is shot by an unknown party and barely escapes in the sewers with Tusk ACT3.

Gyro notices Johnny's absence and tries to go help him. D-I-S-C-O confronts Gyro and his power Chocolate Disco allows him to teleport any object within a grid on the ground, putting Gyro at a disadvantage.

D4C (Part 1)
Using different layers of air as a lens, Gyro manages to evade D-I-S-C-O's attack and quickly disposes of him. Gyro has no idea of what happened, and the witnesses alternately point Diego, Wekapipo or Valentine as the culprit.

A flashback details the life of Jesus Christ after his crucifixion, resurrected under the care of Joseph of Arimathea, Jesus drew a map of America with the general location of his future Corpse's parts on the ground then traveled East, until he died on the American continent, his relics scattered across the continent until the Heart was found by Valentine.

A series of flashback reveal that Valentine's Stand, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap or D4C, can make parallel universes coexist in the same plane, explaining everyone's confusion during the last minutes. Diego and Wekapipo decide to cooperate just as Valentine attacks Diego from above. D4C can also make people travel into alternate universes if they are placed between two objects, the President thus drags Diego through the flag, and Diego is now on a street of a parallel universe, facing himself and another Wekapipo. Diego is immobilized because his legs are on the other side and Valentine steals the Left Eye and both Diego's body begin to disintegrate in Menge sponges.

In the parallel universe, Valentine is shot by Johnny, who was guided by Diego's dinosaurs in the sewers. Gravely hurt, the original still escapes with the Left Eye when he closes a door on him. Before disintegrating himself, Diego lures Wekapipo near the flag who still functions as a portal between universes, when he drags one in the other's universe. As both disintegrate into Menger sponges, Diego gets away in the universe hosting the Holy Corpse. Theorizing that his universe is the only one hosting the Holy Corpse since otherwise, Valentine would have looked for it in other universes, Diego confidently pursues Valentine.

Ticket to Ride
In the Independence Hall, a heavily pregnant Lucy is contacted by a mysterious voice compelling her to get away. Due to a series of coincidences, her guards are all incapacitated or killed, allowing Lucy to escape with a wounded Steven.

Meanwhile, Gyro asks Johnny to abandon the chase for the Corpse Parts, considering that they've lost. However, Johnny stands up briefly, showing the evolution of his legs, and reaffirms his will to get hold of the Corpse. Gyro accepts to help him and reveals the last level of the Spin, which can be used only by the most skilled horse riders, harnessing a power which can beat Valentine. Unable to locate the Corpse Parts, they resolve to chase Lucy's trail instead.

Meanwhile, Lucy guided to the river by the voice she hears but to her horror, she realizes the voice was Valentine's and that he lured them to the U.S.S. Blue Hawaii.

D4C (Part 2)
Lucy is forced to embark with her husband. She and Valentine are to go to the last "X" mark on Joseph of Arimathea's map. However, she manages to rip a piece of her clothes and ends up on the dock. Diego and Hot Pants coincidentally meet and when she promises to tell Diego where his father is, they decide to cooperate. The two manage to find Lucy's cloth and follow its trail, themselves followed from afar by Johnny and Gyro. Diego and Hot Pants arrive at a trainyard in which a departing train shelters Lucy, Steven, and Valentine.

Diego and Hot Pants give chase and although Valentine throws out alternate versions of the two to slow them, Diego uses D4C's power to his advantage and slams both between a door and a wall, sending them back. A vicious fight ensues as Diego and Hot Pants try multiple times to kill Valentine before he can travel to an alternate universe and switch himself, culminating in both being thrown out of the train a Valentine narrowly surviving while Diego is cut in half by the train's wheels.

Meanwhile, Gyro and Johnny notice that strange space distortions keep happening around them. In the train, Hot Pants contemplates a metamorphosing Lucy Steel, who is becoming the Corpse. The same space distortions cause Hot Pants to fuse with miscellaneous object converging toward her heart and killing her. Valentine concludes that everything is drawn toward Lucy and then declares the Corpse as his ally, which is manifesting a new ability.

D4C -Love Train-
Valentine uncovers the true nature of this power: there is a pocket dimension, a gap into space in which only Valentine can enter and manipulate.

Gyro and Johnny catch up to the locomotive but Valentine has half-imprisoned the driver inside a mirror, making it impossible to stop the train.

A shootout between Johnny and Valentine ensues. Despite Tusk's power, Valentine, who has entered inside the dimensional wall is now invincible as "harm" itself is being redirected to random places in the world. Gyro throws a Steel Ball, to seemingly no effect. Inversely, D4C inflicts wounds that move to vital spots. The duo can only separate Valentine's wagon from the locomotive and retreat temporarily.

It is then that Gyro exposes some hair attached to the Ball he's thrown. If they harness the rotational energy of their horses when they run according to the Golden scale, Gyro and Johnny can use an energy which will reach Valentine. Both then face the wagon and charge it, in which Valentine is perplexed at them not fleeing. The President hides in the gap between space and pursues Johnny who tries to reproduce the Golden Scale with his horse but at the crucial moment, his head crashes on nearby tree branches and Valentine cuts his left hand.

Johnny falls off his horse and is held by the throat by D4C, forcing Gyro to waste a Steel Ball to distract Valentine a moment. Fortunately, Steven Steel transports Lucy out of the train and entrusts her to Gyro in order to get her away from Valentine, whose proximity seems to harm Lucy. Valentineis forced to pursue Lucy and Gyro, who is riding toward the Atlantic Ocean. Meanwhile, Johnny manages to transfer the wound with his Spin holes away from his heart, and picks up Gyro's Steel Ball. He sees Valentine's ear stuck on it, and realizes that Valentine didn't notice his wound.

Near the Atlantic Ocean, Gyro sees that the ocean beginning to surround him because of Lucy. He plans to corner Valentine on the slim area of ground both will be as Valentine can still drown in the water, and hit him when he's got nowhere to escape. A wind gust makes Valentine realizes that he's missing his ear, and as Gyro rushes toward him, the President finally takes measures the scope of the danger the Spin. He changes his strategy and decides to aim at his horse.

Ball Breaker
Valentine disappears on the ocean floor, while Gyro harnesses the Super Spin with Valkyrie. Despite several decoys, Gyro manages to find the real target, bound to be beside D4C. It is hit by the Steel Ball imbued with the Super Spin. The Ball hits the dimensional wall, and Gyro's new stand Ball Breaker passes through the wall with the Spin energy. Ball Breaker induces senescence in Valentine's cells, while Gyro is shot in the stomach. Unexpectedly, Valentines survives.

Out of options, Gyro passes on to Johnny a mysterious speech, his lesson n°5:

"The shortest route was a detour. It was a detour that was our shortest path."

Valentine then explains that his victory was a stroke of luck: an infinitesimal part of Gyro's Steel Ball was scraped off by the dimensional wall, and the sphere became imperfect, saving Valentine. Gyro dies and falls off his horse. Johnny is paralyzed in shock, unable to cope with Gyro's death as Valentine draws close to him.

Valentine empties his revolver on Gyro's corpse just to make sure and attacks Johnny. Johnny nearly wastes all of his nail bullets in his rage and Valentine manages to cut Slow Dancer's throat, unhorsing its rider. Valentine closing in on Johnny, he ponders on Gyro's last words and understands. Using the Steel Ball on Slow Dancer's leg, Johnny makes himself get kicked into the air in a Golden Scale leg movement and is imbued with the Super Spin. In midair, Tusk ACT4 appears beside Johnny. As Johnny's last fingernail hits the dimensional wall of the gap between space, Tusk ACT4 forces the wall open and goes into the dimensional gap. Tusk then pummels D4C with enough force to form a crater on the ground at the bottom of which Valentine nonetheless escapes. The President soon discovers that the Super Spin is following him no matter which dimension he flees and realizes that he will be buried alive in the hole forever.

A flashback details a young Funny's meeting with his future father-in-law Captain Valentine. The soldier narrates the story of Funny's father, which resisted a year of torture thanks to a handkerchief he was hiding in his eye socket, that handkerchief was embroidered with Funny's birth date and the soldier praised the father's patriotism, a lesson which deeply engraved itself into Funny. Holding that same handkerchief, Valentine recomposes himself.

In the base world, Johnny has regrown five nails. Valentine reappears but admits his loss, and proposes Johnny to bring back Gyro Zeppeli.

Break My Heart, Break Your Heart
The Holy Corpse begins to extract itself from Lucy. Meanwhile, Valentine begins his parley, exposing how Gyro Zeppeli will be there with Johnny, that he is motivated by his patriotism and wants to secure the Corpse from unworthy people, countering each of Johnny's arguments. At the end, the jockey is nearly convinced.

Johnny nonetheless throws the gun Valentine emptied earlier back at him, daring him to pick it up as a test in order to see if he isn't hiding an alternate revolver. Valentine's plans are foiled. A final shootout ensues between the jockey and the President, which Johnny wins. Johnny witnesses a final apparition of Gyro's ghost and says his farewell. He then puts a final nail bullet in Valentine's head, killing him. Valentine's body is dragged underground by the Spin, and all traces of him disappears.

High Voltage
After healing Steven, Lucy, and himself, Johnny contemplates the end of his search for the Holy Corpse. Suddenly, Johnny realizes that the Corpse has been stolen by a last unknown enemy, identified as at least a Steel Ball Run contestant. Johnny pursues his final foe. The final stage is in sight: the Manhattan Rhapsody, a 15 km dash through New York's streets.

Johnny catches up to the mysterious culprit, and confronts Diego Brando, alive and well, now wielding a time-stopping Stand called THE WORLD. A flashback reveals that Valentine continuously searched for a Stand user he could entrust the Corpse to, and who could beat the Super Spin and met Diego. Convincing him to follow him to the base world, he hid the jockey underground.

After a brief exchange of blows, both realize what the other is capable of, and aim to devise a plan which will counter the other's power. Johnny finishes the 8th stage in 5th place, and as the announcer declares that even at the last stage, anyone among Johnny, Diego, Pocoloco and Norisuke Higashikata can seize victory. Disembarking, Johnny meets with his father George, and they silently reconcile. It is a Johnny with renewed will who pursues Diego.

Another shot of the Super Spin nails throws Diego off, who sees that the time stop doesn't completely affect Tusk. The advantage switches between Diego and Johnny until Johnny joins the rest of the racers on the Brooklyn Bridge, for one final attack. Johnny shoots his Super Spin nail as Diego stops time.

The World of the Stars and Stripes
In the stopped time, Diego positions himself and THE WORLD in order to attack from two directions. Diego shoots Johnny in the neck as The World punches him out from Slow Dancer. Diego then rides his own Stand, only leaving one leg touching the ground as the remaining Spin Energy converges toward THE WORLD. As THE WORLD's leg being invaded by the rotation, THE WORLD cuts it and throws it at Johnny who's imbued with the rotation. Incapacitated, Johnny cannot do anything as Diego wins the Steel Ball Run and head to the safe in which the Holy Corpse will be put.

Stars and Stripes - Outro
In the shelter Diego meets with Lucy. Held by THE WORLD, Lucy reveals that she had been waiting for Diego. Before the end of the 8th stage, Lucy learned of the culprit's true identity and went to the train tracks to recover Diego's head. Giving it to Diego, Lucy kills Diego by fusing his head with the original head.

At the same time, Steven rescues Johnny by taking him on his horse, so that Johnny can shoot himself.

After a brief narration of the after effects of the race, Johnny embarks on a boat to give Gyro's corpse back to his family, in which he meets his future wife Rina Higashikata. We last see Johnny giving one last prayer, and smiles as he goes to Europe to bury his friend.

Minor Characters

 * See also Minor Characters § Part 7: Steel Ball Run and Unnamed Characters § Part 7: Steel Ball Run

Trivia

 * Part 7 marks the first time since Battle Tendency that a Zeppeli is featured.
 * During it's initial serialization in Weekly Shōnen Jump, Steel Ball Run was categorized as a different series without the JoJo' Bizarre Adventure title. The change was a request from the editorial department in an attempt to attract reader attention by introducing a "new series." This was undone when the series moved to Ultra Jump in 2005.
 * Araki has mentioned that, despite the name alternation, he wrote Steel Ball Run as the seventh part of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure from the start.