-Present day, 2021-

"Mr. Joji Cujoh.."

The principal looked at the teen, who was roughed up from earlier. "It's been a while since you sat here in front of me with your mother."

Joji shuffled around in his seat in uncomfort as he could feel his mother's deadly glare burning him from the corners of her eye. She sat right next to him, and sitting across from them was Joji's principal. They had to meet here because of Joji getting into a fight during his lunch period, which had earned him the rest of the day in ISS. His mother, Jolyne Cujoh, knew that this wasn't his first rodeo, but always found herself being furious with the sixteen year old because of the same thing he always tells her when he gets into these sort of things.

'It'll never happen again, mom. I promise this time..'

The principal sighed and gave the boy a concerned look. "Joji, I had thought you could go a whole month without fighting. You were so close..." He shook his head. "Why the sudden change?"

The dreadheaded boy looked up, "I swear, this time it wasn't my fault! He pushed my buttons and I—" Joji started, but he was quickly interupted by his mother.

"It's always the same damn excuse with you, JoJo!" Jolyne exclaimed in anger, causing the room to drop down in silence again. Joji lowered his head again, which made his mother's face burn in embarrassment. "I'm—I'm sorry, Mr. Benatar." she apologized quietly.

Mr. Benatar nodded and looked at Joji, "Listen, Joji. Your mother is tired of dealing with you getting into so many fights. From what I hear, you've been in many fights since your middle school year." He explained. "Can't you see the stress you're putting on her?" He asked.

The boy remained quiet, afraid that his mother would shout at him again if he even dared to defend himself. All he did was nod and sit back in his chair, looking his principal in the eyes. "Yessir.."

Mr. Benatar turned to Jolyne, "Now, Ms. Cujoh. I can recommend your son a few months in juvenile detention. We'll be sure to send schoolwork for him to do during his time there."

Jolyne shook her head immediately, "Nope. Nuh uh. There's no need for any of that." She declined. "I know JoJo can be a little rough at times, but he doesn't need to go to any detention center. He's a good kid despite all of the fights he gets into."

The principal quickly looked at the teen and rolled his eyes before turning back to Jolyne. "Well, you should look into it if more problems arise." He said blankly. "However, if these fights keep happening, I will have no choice but to send him there."

The sound of it made Joji's heart jump in slight fear. Being taken away from his mom, his friends, and sent to a place where the bad kids go when they can't be tamed by the teachers, nor their parents. Where they wouldn't even change, they'd just become worse. He wouldn't survive there, no ordinary kid would at least.

Jolyne looked at Joji, "I'll think about it." She then stood up and hoisted her purse over her shoulder. "C'mon, JoJo."

The teen exhaled, knowing exactly what was going to happen once the two of them got into the car and nodded. "Yes m'am." He waved at Benatar, "See ya around." Just before following his mother out of the office.

-Cujoh Residence-

"Are you fucking kidding me, JoJo?" Jolyne shouted, her voice echoing throughout the house. "It's like you do these things to get a rise outta me!" She argued.

"I told you in the car, it wasn't my fault!" Joji argued back. "Why won't you believe me?!"

The woman groaned angrily, "Because it's never your fault with you! It's always the everyone else's fault! And I'm sick of it!" She yelled. Jolyne sighed and rested herself on one of the chairs in the dining room. "I didn't raise you like this, Joji." She said softly.

"What happened to my sweet little Joji?" She asked, looking up at her son with a sad, tired smile. The teen moved some of his hair out of his face, "He's still here, 'Mama JoJo'." He replied, calling his mother by a name he used to say all the time when he was younger. The boy sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets and walked past his mother, heading towards the door, "I'm going out for a bit." He announced. "I'll be back before you and Auntie Ermes leave for work tonight."

And without another word, Joji left the apartment. Jolyne groaned, "Yare Yare..." and trudged towards the couch and plopped down. She grabbed for the TV remote and switched on the television. The older woman kicked her feet up and sighed.

Coming in from her bedroom, Ermes yawned and eyed the sulking woman on the couch. "Another fight?" she asked.

Jolyne gave a tired laugh, "What made you guess that?"

Ermes popped her neck a few times and walked into the kitchen, "You two woke me up with all that damn yelling. But, I can't get mad anymore since I'm used to it by now." She said as she reached into the fridge and pulled out a bottle of beer. "You know, you and him are so much alike."

Jolyne laughed, "Really, like how?"

"Annoyingly stubborn, for one." Ermes started, "I swear, sometimes I feel like I'm living with two Jolynes. Except one is a teenaged boy." She sighed before taking another swig.

Jolyne gave sighed and smiled, "I guess he really is my son. Besides, he almost got sent to juvenile hall." She said, causing Ermes to cackle.

"See what I mean? Next thing you know he'll get caught-" Ermes started, only to be stopped by Jolyne, as she knew exactly where Ermes was going.

"I thought I told you we'd never talk about that ever again!" Jolyne shouted, her face blushing a dark red. She exhaled, "Yare Yare Dawa..."

Ermes shook her head and took another swig, "Joji will be alright. He's a good kid, but he just does a lot of dumb shit." She said, walking back towards her room. "He'll grow up eventually."

Ermes then shut the door to her room, leaving Jolyne alone in the living room. She sighed and looked up at the ceiling, "I hope you're right, Ermes.." she muttered to herself.

-El Dino, Florida-

After leaving his house, Joji decided to head down the street to pick up one of his friends from school so that they could hang out. After a few minutes of walking, he approached a two story, pastel blue house which was about five houses down from Joji's own house. He walked up the steps, rang the doorbell and waited for someone to answer the door. A few seconds passed and the door swung open and he was greeted by an energetic teenager, "Yo! Joji!"

Greeting the boy at the door was Javen Zeppeli, one of Joji's best friends since their middle school days. He had long, blue hair and he wore a black bucket hat with a white Nike logo. However, he was still in his school uniform.

"'Sup.." Joji sighed, nodding at Javen wearily.

"Aw damn, did the meeting with Benetar go bad?" Javen asked. Joji waved towards himself, "C'mon, I'll tell you as we walk to the park."

As the two walked to Evanesca Park, Joji explained everything that happened at the meeting, including his arguement with his mom. Javen shook his head, "Damn man, I can't believe you almost got sent to juvie."

Joji sat down on the bench, "I know right, over something I didn't even start." He looked up into the evening sky, "I fucking hate that school. Nothin' but a bunch of lowlife assholes and sleazy adults for teachers."

Javen shook his head and chuckled, "Some people say that the guy you beat up was part of 'D-12'". He said, which made Joji look up with a confused look. "The hell is D-12?" Joji asked plainly.

"You've never heard of 'em?!" Javen gasped in shock. Joji sighed, "Obviously I haven't if I'm asking you!"

Javen quickly sat down by Joji and took a deep breath, "D-12 is a gang that's well known throughout the school. Nobody even dares to fuck with these guys, especially their leader."

"Their leader?" Joji asked, raising an eyebrow. "What's so special about him?"

"Well, their leader, Guccio Armania, is the toughest out of them all! Some say that he got shot in his face and lived, and he wears a mask to hide his scar." Javen explained. "And those who asks about his scar get pummeled into dust. It doesn't matter who it is!"

Joji chuckled, "Oooh, what a total badass." he snickered sarcastically. "Sounds like a wannabe tough guy to me. Him and his gang of idiots." The teen stated and his stood up and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Joji, I'm tryna warn you about these dudes!" Javen said in a panicking tone. "The next week of school might be your last! You're my only friend and if Guccio and his boys get to you-"

"Javen!" Joji shouted, which made the other boy quickly quiet down. The teen pat Javen on the shoulder and smiled. "I'm telling you, I'll be fine. I don't even have beef with this Guccio guy, anyways." He said, which made Javen give a small sigh of relief. The two of them started to walk towards the entrance of the park.

"It's gettin' late, I promised my mom that I'd be back before she left for work." Joji explained, "I'll catch you at school tomorrow."

"O-Okay." Javen nodded. The two had then went their separate ways.

-The Next Day-

January 24, 2021

El Dino High

It was the afternoon of the next day. Joji and Javen had the same lunch period, and the two decided to eat outside to avoid any attention from possible members of D-12. After they got their lunches, they ventured out towards the baseball field to eat in peace. Joji felt weird having to hike all the way away from the school, but Javen suggested that it's the only way to avoid trouble. They sat on the top row of the bleachers and eat their lunch in silence, only listening to the chirping of the birds.

"Look man," Joji started. "I know you're trying to look out for me, but I feel like a total pussy right now." He admitted. "I mean do we HAVE to eat lunch ALL the way out here?!"

"Joji," Javen chuckled nervously. "I know this seems a bit out of the way, but D-12 is more spread out than you think. I-I mean you can't go anywhere in there without running into a member of D-fucking-12!" He explained.

Joji took a sip of his orange juice and shrugged, "Like I said, If they start shit with me, I'll just kick their asses. And if Guccio's got a problem with it, I'll beat his ass too."

Javen looked around and shushed Joji, "Shut up!"

"What! Why?" The teen asked.

"They might hear you!" Javen exclaimed in a whisper. "These dudes are everywhere!"

Joji rolled his eyes, "Bro, look around us! We're the only ones here!" He said. But, next they heard a sudden voice break through their conversation. "So, I heard you were talkin' shit."

Joji and Javen paused for a moment and looked around. No one in sight. Joji shot a glare at Javen, "Aye nigga—are you fuckin' with me?" he asked. Javen shook his head, "What?! Hell no! I didn't say nothin'!"

Joji looked around again, "Then who the hell is out her-" interrupting his thoughts was a huge fist that blindsided him and sent him flying off of the bleachers, with Javen calling out to him. "Joji!"

Joji rolled down each row of the bleachers, eventually hitting the sand covered baseball field down below. It felt like every part of his body was broken, his body ached and throbbed. The boy stumbled back up to his feet and brushed the sand off of his uniform. He felt a warm, stale taste of blood in his mouth and spit on the ground. His vision was a bit blurred, everything happened so quickly.

"Wh—What the FUCK was that all about?!" Joji shouted as he looked around with his fists balled up. He then looked up at Javen and growled, "You asshole! Did you push me?!" He shouted again.

Javen shouted back. "Why would I push you off of the bleachers?!"

Joji huffed and gently caressed his swelling cheek, "Come to think of it, that was more of a punch." His eyes shifted into a cautious gaze and he looked around the field. "Alright, where the hell are you, asshole?"

"Over here." The voice from earlier answered, just before a large shadow had casted above Joji. Acting quickly, Joji slid out of the way of a large fist slamming onto the ground and he turned to get a look at the attacker. Standing before him was a boy who about the same age as him. He had a medium sized build and wore the same dark purple school uniform, only it was slightly modified. He wore a trench coat, with the words 'GUCCIO' running down both of the sleeves. He had baggy pants and wore a Gucci designer belt. The boy wore a matching dark purple hat and the lower part of his face was hidden by a black bandanna with the design of a set of sharp, white teeth.

The masked boy stood there, menacingly. "What's good? You Joji Cujoh?" He asked, looking as the boy with a focused, but deadly glare. Joji scoffed and spat at the ground, "Who's askin'?"

The masked boy gave a soft snicker and shook his head, "Who's asking? Don't you even realize whose in your presence right now, nigga?" he asked, raising his voice slightly.

"OH SHIT!" Javen shouted from the top of the bleachers. "Joji! It's the leader of D-12!"

"The leader of-" Joji had then gasped in realization. "OHHH! You're that masked pansy my friend was talking about!" He laughed. "The fuck do you want?"

"Allow me to properly introduce myself," The masked boy said, clearing his throat. "The name's Guccio Armania, I'm the boss of the Dirty Dozen, the gang that runs El Dino High!" Guccio lowered his hat, "And I've to come to confront the man that put one of my men in the hospital."

Joji retained his menacing glare and smirked, "Oh, that guy? He messed with me, it's not my fault he ended up in the hospital." The boy shrugged, "Now, I should violently beat you into the ground for punching me, but I promised to stay outta trouble." He then turned and towards the bleachers, "Now get lost."

Guccio scoffed and his glare had sharpened, "You pussy!" He shouted angrily.

Just as Joji was starting up the bleachers, an invisible force sent him flying back onto the sandlot. The teen quickly regained his footing and summoned his stand, Wrathchild, behind him. He looked over at Guccio and pointed, ordering Wrathchild to dash towards the boy and throw and flurry of punches at him. "SORARARA!"

A green aura appeared over Guccio and he shielded himself with a stand of his own. "Camo Assassin!" appearing in front of the boy was a large, chameleon-like stand that had a scaly, camouflage design all over his body and bared large claws. Camo Assassin had blocked Wrathchild's rush of attacks and knocked it back with a large backhand, which sent the stand and it's user flying back.

Joji planted his feet into the ground and came skidding to a halt, "I knew it. This guy's a Stand user." He muttered to himself. The boy called Wrathchild back to him, "You've got a Stand too, huh?" He shouted at Guccio.

Guccio nodded, "I call it Camo Assassin. It's got the power to manipulate the light and become invisible by blending into it's surroundings." He explained. "Of course that explains why I was able to attack you so easily, Cujoh!"

Javen, on the other hand, only watched from the bleachers and secretly wondered why those two were dodging air and shouting at each other. "What the hell is going on down there?!" he said to himself as he looked on.

Joji pointed at Guccio, "Look, I don't have any sort of beef with you! So why don't you stop while you're ahead before you really get hurt!" He warned him in a loud tone.

Guccio laughed, "You fucking idiot! You beef with one of us, you beef with ALL OF US!" He then charged Joji, "I won't be satisfied until I see you gasping for air in the pool of your own blood, Joji Cujoh!"

"Ah, crap!" Joji sighed as he charged at Guccio, "Mom is gonna be pissed if she finds out about this!"