Joanne Sybella could clearly recall how she found out about her parent's drug abuse at the age of fifteen – the scars were an obvious clue, but her curiosity could not be sated. She had always assumed that her parents had no idea what she had pieced it together, or maybe they did not want her to worry about their health.
She had found empty syringes under their bed while they went to work, though she was not exactly sure what she could do. In school, she was always taught that people who were addicted to drugs should be admitted to a rehabilitation center.
Before Joanne could manage to convince her parents to at least attempt to drop their addiction to the liquid filth, they had been caught sneaking needles into their car by a police officer that had been making his rounds at the local supermarket the two had worked at.
Joanne still visited her parents no matter what, despite their addiction, she still loved the two of them with all of her heart. She had vowed to herself to somehow break her parents out of jail, even if it meant she had to break the law.
As stubborn as she was, she knew this was futile – not too long after her parents had been arrested, Dalimil Klement and Jovanni Joestar had met the young woman while she was buying groceries. After the two managed to stop a robbery, she had practically begged Dalimil to join them after she had learned that they were apart of War Machine.
Joanne's Stand awakened after she spoke of her determination to end the drug trafficking that had infected the city of Miami, she swore that Supernova would rue the day that they had dared lay a finger on not just her parent's lives, but on the lives of every innocent man, woman, and child in the city.
She would often revisit her old home in her dreams, watching as the police would drag her beloved parents out of the home while she begged and screamed for the officers to let them go – but her screaming always proved to be nothing short of futile.
Joanne felt a similar scream rise in her throat as she awoke from her deep slumber, her tired eyes wide with shock and her face pale. She panted heavily, her limbs shaking while she analyzed the room she had been placed in.
She had been lying on a leather couch with a ceiling fan spinning to the left and above her, though it seemed she was placed in what seemed like a family room. There was a lamp in the corner, a door near a window that had been covered with shades – though she could see a small bit of sunlight breaking through – and a leather chair in another corner.
Joanne sat up slowly, but she nearly froze when she heard calm footsteps make their way to the family room. Wherever she was, she was not sure if she liked it or not – but, it sure as hell beat a prison cell for the time being.
"Now now, dearie. You need all the rest you can get." The withered voice of an elderly woman broke through the tense air, prompting Joanne to peek toward the source of the voice. "You weren't looking too well…"
The woman had been dressed in a loose pair of blue jeans and a pink button-up dress shirt, her hair long, curly and grey. She sat in the leather chair and crossed one leg over the other, her faded blue eyes scanning Joanne.
"Who… who are you? I remember falling out of the apartment complex and…" Joanne ran her left hand through her hair carefully, her memory slightly hazy. "Did you take me in?"
"My name is Madelyn, but you shouldn't be worrying about that." Madelyn told her rather sternly. "I took you in because you were hurt. What happened to you, child?"
"Don't worry about it, it's nothing that you should really know about." Joanne said almost defiantly, her back throbbing as she stood up to stretch. "I feel a lot better than I expected and my back isn't as sore as it was. Thank you so much!"
"It was no trouble, but let me tell you one thing." Madelyn started, her eyes narrowing towards the wooden floor. "I found you near the apartment complex, where the shooting happened… are you getting involved in business that isn't yours?"
"You should ask yourself the same question, but you probably won't let me leave until I tell you something, huh?" Joanne asked, receiving a slight nod as an answer. "I thought so… you shouldn't get any more involved then, I have some business to take care of. You can probably guess what I mean, right? Are you going to call the cops or something?"
"Don't assume such a thing so quickly and irrationally, my dear." Madelyn said, a wide smile stretching across his wrinkled face. "Everyone in this world has a different sense of justice… I will not share my opinion, but you do what must be done."
"You're very kind." Joanne smiled gently and nodded, steadily walking towards the front door of the building. "I guess that means that you don't mind if I don't tell you my name, then, so… oh, wait, before I forget! Do you have my cell phone?"
"I did not touch it, I left your belongings where they were when I first saw you. It's in your right pocket in your pants." Madelyn informed her and Joanne merely nodded before she pulled the front door open. "I do hope that I'll see you again, in a better condition, and under better circumstances."
"You will, you can count on that!" Joanne replied enthusiastically before walking outside of the old woman's house, shutting the door behind her firmly. "Alright, let's see if they've tried to contact me yet…"
Joanne skimmed through her cellphone, noticing that she had missed several calls while she had been unconcious – she quickly dialed Dalimil Klement's number and pressed the phone to her ear while she walked down the street.
It took a few moments until Dalimil called, his speech almost incoherent as what could only be described as pure happiness fell from his lips.
"Calm down, old man! Where are you guys?" Joanne asked, attempting to not let her grin somehow effect her speech pattern. "Are you still with me? You aren't talking."
"Sorry, I, we… never mind!" Dalimil exclaimed, which seemed rather odd for the older man. "We're at Jovanni's house, the one he lived in back when he was a kid. Do you know where that is or should I give you directions?"
"No, I know where that is. I'll be there soon, but it might take a while because all I can really do is walk." Joanne said, though she allowed a sigh of relief to exit her lips. "I'm so glad that all of you guys are okay. You can fill me in on what's happened when I get over there, does that sound good to you?"
"Yeah, it's probably for the best so I don't overload your brain." Dalimil agreed, though he continued to speak. "We've all missed you, Joanne."
Joanne felt as if she was going to tear up at any moment. "I missed you guys, too."
The day had passed rather slowly for Parker Cunniffe, who had been attempting to contact several businesses so they could fix the busted iron bars on the cell in the front office of the police station – he had barely said a word throughout the entire day, and many of his fellow co-workers had not dared to ask him what happened.
But, that was until an officer had made his way to Parker's desk around six in the evening, only an hour or so after Joanne Sybella had left the kind old woman's house. Parker did not respond to the shadow that had been cast over him, however.
"Sir, I understand that you've been in a terrible mood, but a report came in not too long ago." The officer said, prompting Parker to look toward him with a slight glare. "Two of our officers have been murdered, do you want to hear the details?"
"Yeah, hit me." Parker replied before grabbing a handful of paperwork and shoving it into a drawer underneath his desk. "Today is just full of bad news, just my fucking luck."
"Their bodies were found outside the House Of The Rising Sun… the first one I saw had his head crushed, but the other one had what seemed to be a massive, clean hole in his gut. We're not really sure who or what could have done this, but we need you to come with us on patrol tonight. Do you think you can do that?" The officer asked.
Parker's dark blue eyes narrowed before he stood. "I'll come, I got nothing else to do tonight and I don't want to pull any more money out of my ass. What time do you think I should head out there?"
"Be at the House Of The Rising Sun in an hour, you, me, and two other officers are going to patrol the area. Inside, outside, in every nook and cranny we can find." The officer told him before making his way towards the front doors. "I'm going to go get a bite to eat before then, so I'll see you there, sir."
"Alright, I'll see you then." Parker said as the officer shut the door, his sore and throbbing hands running through his hair. "Jesus Christ, there's not a day where this job is easy."
Parker Cunniffe kept his promise and made his way to the House Of The Rising Sun with little trouble, since the traffic had practically been non-existent. He had assumed that it was because of the shootings the day prior, as Miami seemed to be less lively than usual.
One of the dead officers had a gut wound… that sounds like something only a Stand could do. I have to keep my guard up or I might end up just like those officers. Parker thought to himself, rubbing his chin absentmindedly as he parked his squad car next to the abandoned casino.
Parker pulled his Beretta M9 out from the holster on the left side of his police uniform, firmly gripping it while he made his way inside of the building after nodding to the two officers standing guard right outside the front doors.
He kept his walkie-talkie hooked around his pants as well, his Stand materializing by his side while he eased his way towards the steps that would take him to the roof of the casino. All of the bodies had been cleared out, but he could not help but mentally note that he could not help but feel as if someone was watching him or waiting for him – perhaps even both.
The lights had been shut off, though it was not hard to navigate since the sunset was breaking through the windows near the stairwell. He pushed on despite how decrepit the building had seemed, but it made sense because it was usually heavily populated every night before Atriark had been murdered.
Parker climbed the quiet stairwell, his footsteps echoing throughout the building as he slowly traversed, his mind only certain of one thing – he knew that whoever it was would come back, because killers could not resist the temptation of repeating their act.
He felt wind brush against his body once he made his way onto the roof, his dark blue eyes locking onto what seemed to be a masculine figure clad in sleek black and purple clothing. He held his M9 closer.
"What the hell are you doing up here?" Parker asked the man, who merely turned to him with a sly smile on his face. "No citizens are supposed to even be near this place, but more importantly, why are you on the roof?"
"For a public servant, you're a real asshole, aren't you?" Vladimir said with a sneer as he placed his hands on his hips. "I'm up here because I've been waiting for you for a few hours now, but let me ask you a question. What's your name and what's that Stand of yours called?"
"Damn punk, so you can see my Hangman, huh?" Parker frowned, but he would comply with the mysterious man's questions if it would give him the answers he had been looking for. "I'm Parker Cunniffe, a police officer here in Miami, but that's obvious. Now, tell me, just who the fuck are you?"
"My name is Vladimir Arkadi, and I work in several different departments that your kind are not too happy with." The Russian man grinned, his own Black Swan materializing beside him. "I'm the Stand user that put the Joestar brat in the palm of your hands and that petulant child, Abel November, down for good. Aren't you happy that I've been cleaning up the streets for you?"
Normally, Parker would have yelled at Vladimir that it was his job to clean up the streets of Miami, but something that would never happen was about to occur. Parker started to laugh.
"Ha! You really think you got rid of Jovanni Joestar? That kid broke out of a cell and managed to beat the shit out of me!" Parker laughed, wiping a tear from his eyes. "I fucking hate that kid, but he knows how to take a beating like a man! I don't know this November guy is, but I guess that's none of my business!"
Vladimir's deep hazel eyes widened, his hands almost shaking at the very mention of Jovanni Joestar making it out of that impossible situation alive – in fact, he felt his heart sink into his stomach.
"I underestimated that kid, this isn't good." Vladimir murmured to himself, pulling his twin desert eagles out from each of their respective holsters. "He's got my respect, that's for damn sure. I hope you know I'll have to kill you, now, though. I can't have you get the entire police force on my ass."
"Good luck with that." Parker replied, not daring to move even an inch as Vladimir pointed his weapons at the police officer. "Joestar told me what your ability is, but I'll be damned if I don't find a way around it!"
"That's such a shame, I love to play with my food." Vladimir sighed and placed his desert eagles back into their holsters. "I can't have the cops down below coming after me, either. Let's have a one on one, heart to heart fight!"
Black Swan pointed its knuckles at Parker, who merely looked confused as three nails shot out from its fist – though the first two merely scraped by his shoulders, the third nail managed to knock his Beretta M9 out from his iron grasp.
"Shit!" Parker grunted as Hangman pointed its index fingers towards Vladimir, two harpoons shooting towards him rapidly as Parker dashed towards him. "I'll just have to test your abilities until I find a weak spot!"
The harpoons shattered as they came into contact, causing Parker to stop in his tracks as soon as he entered Vladimir's range, the Russian man merely smirking as he delivered a swift blow to his face with his own fist.
"What a disappointing Stand!" Vladimir shouted as Black Swan's right leg delivered a swift blow to Parker's gut, causing him to topple over the edge of the casino. "That wasn't even worth my time… I'll have to do something about that Jovanni brat though-"
Vladimir felt a sharp pain enter his side, causing him to recoil and fall back a few feet – his eyes widened once he saw that Parker had managed to connect to his body through a grappling hook that extended from his Stand's finger and into his side.
Before he could activate his ability, he felt a hard punch crash against his mouth though he managed to shove the police officer away as he panted from the damage he had taken.
"You fucking pussy, you like surprise attacks, huh?!" Vladimir coughed, wiping his side despite the sickening feeling of fresh blood smearing across his once clean hand. "Pathetic, you're fucking pathetic! Fight me like a man!"
"You're one to talk… you have that ultimate defense of yours up at all times, but it seems like you can't block attacks if you're not aware of them." Parker panted, his Stand retracting the grappling hook from Vladimir's wounded side. "Pathetic, huh? When I was serving in Vietnam, there was no such thing as pathetic, you worm! We fought, we killed, no questions asked, so let me tell you one thing, you dumb piece of shit! YOU HAVE NO FUCKING CLUE WHAT IT MEANS TO SUFFER WHEN EVERYONE AROUND YOU IS DYING! THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS PATHETIC IN BATTLE, SO SHUT YOUR WHINY TRAP AND FUCKING FIGHT LIKE YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE!"
"A veteran, huh? I don't know what it means to suffer? You shouldn't assume so much shit when you don't even know the guy you're up against." Vladimir panted, his demeanor shifting from playful to sinister. "You're lucky I'm a merciful leader, or else this might not be too pleasant for you."
Parker chuckled and held up his walkie-talkie, pressing it to his ear which resulted in Vladimir's hazel eyes widening, his face turning pale as the veteran started to speak. Wait – he was describing his appearance to whoever was listening to him!
"This is my last order, comrades." Parker smiled defiantly at Vladimir. "Kill Vladimir Arkadi, no questions asked. He's on the rooftop of the casino… if you surround him, there's no way he can win. It was an honor to serve this country with you, my brothers."
A single nail shot through Parker Cunniffe's head once he finished speaking, his body slumping over but his smile would not fade.
Quickly, Vladimir Arkadi searched through his pockets and snatched the police officer's cell phone as he prepared to jump towards the closest building before the police officers could corner him.
"The bastard died for his country, which might as well be for nothing." Vladimir whispered to himself as he stood on the edge of the building. A small smile spread across his face.
"That Jovanni Joestar, though… I don't think I'm done with him just yet."