"Why didn't you tell me it was going to be cold? WHY?!" Hanna was not enjoying herself. It was snowing in the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik, and boy was it cold. Teemu seemed to be the only one completely unaffected, but everyone else had to wrap up warm. Vahid brought out a nice warm beige scarf and a black jumper, while Sergio opted for a long sleeve hoodie in contrast to his usual short sleeves among other things. Konstantin had himself an old worn out hat and some black gloves which had seen better days, but he didn't seem bothered. Poor Hanna just wasn't suited to the cold though. "I thought you'd know. It's called 'Iceland' for a reason." Vahid countered. "Just be thankful I bought you all those gloves and tights." That was of little consolation to her, as she continued to shiver getting off the boat. "Ich hasse der Kalte, ich hasse das, ich hasse das..." Over and over again.
Once off the boat, there remained a good question. "So what do we do now?" Sergio asked. Vahid shrugged. "We'll be here a few hours while those guys refuel and restock our boat, making sure we're okay to go." He explained. "Wanna go for a walk?" He couldn't help but feel somewhat pitiful towards Hanna though, who was just straight up not having a good time. "Are you still cold?" He asked, in a warm voice. She nodded, unwilling to speak. "Awww," He smiled. "I know what'll fix that." Without further warning he embraced her in the kind of way that only- "GET OFF!" Her face went bright red, hot enough to melt ice. Well, maybe not that hot, but it did stop the shivering.
"On a serious note, I think we should get something to eat. I'm kind of hungry." Teemu suggested. Agreeing that it was a good idea, Teberhel set off in search of a place to eat. Unbeknownst to them though, was a man watching from the shadows. With short black hair that seemed to take a litre of hair gel in order to keep shiny and in position, a violet coat with purple shirt underneath, as well as purple pants and black shoes. He rubbed his hands together. "Just you wait and see, Lord DIO. I will do you proud!"
San Francisco had been hit hard. Following a series of refugee crises during the 60's and 70's resulting from nuclear arms tests by Korea and Soreja and the imperial conquests of the Khmer Rouge, illegal immigration had become a major problem. Koreans, North Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Cambodians, all sorts of people who were fleeing their homes in terror. The trouble was, much of this was unrestricted and dealt with poorly. San Francisco became a gateway for people with no other choice, and it showed. The city had expanded rapidly, and there were many reports of criminal gangs moving in to take advantage of desperate people in many ways. There was evidence to support this, such as the abnormally high drug addiction rate, high homicide rates and the amount of people living below the poverty line. Those who thought Detroit was bad had no idea what living in San Fran was like. However, that didn't mean that there weren't parts of the city that were kept nice and plush for tourists or potential investors.
"Finally, back in America!" Joseph stretched his arms as they disembarked. "Back to real coffee and sleeping on proper beds from here on!" Jotaro fixed his hat to cover his eyes as he left. "Yare yare, do you want everyone here to know that, old man?" Varo had never been to America before. She hadn't ever really been far outside of Italy, only to Switzerland once on a skiing trip, then to Libya for...family business. But still, she was quietly excited for seeing another country, though remaining focused on her own personal goal.
Abdul remained conscious of the risk of enemy stand users lurking around every corner. It was on all their minds of course, but he in particular was wary. Once they had all gotten into San Francisco proper, the first course of action was to look for somewhere to stay. The bright city lights in the night sky marked an amazing change in landscape for the Stardust Crusaders from the island hopping they had been doing for the past few days. Joseph had money, but he was careful not to waste it on a luxurious hotel in the middle of San Fran. Eventually they settled on a hotel not too far away, which was still quite nice but definitely gave off the vibe that Joseph wasn't trying to draw attention to himself.
Once in there, there came a dilema. "Who's rooming with who?" Jotaro asked. "Well, here's the people the rooms are rented out to." Joseph said, handing him a list. '528, J. Joestar M. Abdul, 529, N. Kakyoin J. Polnareff, 530, J. Kujo V. Zeppeli.'
Jotaro didn't really care. "Suits me." It didn't, but it was better than throwing a strop. "Hey lady, you're with me." He informed her, unlocking the door. "I told you, it's Varo." She reminded him. "Or Zeppeli or Miss or whatever, just don't call me 'lady' like a caveman." Jotaro ignored her as they both entered the room. Jotaro didn't have much on him at all unlike Varo. It seemed all he had was his clothes and cigs, as well as a ball he would bounce occasionally to stop himself dying of boredom.
"So what is it that you do?" Jotaro found himself confounded by the question. "What?" Varo rephrased. "I mean, in general. Your hobbies, friends, interests. Things like that." Jotaro shrugged. "Why do you care?" He asked. "Because, I feel like we should try to get along. I've been over this before." Jotaro remained as stubborn as ever though. "Besides. You handled yourself extremely well on that ship. Better than I would have, I would probably say." She confessed. "I want to know about that stand of yours as well." Jotaro answered to that at least. "Look, I know about as much about Star Platinum as you do. I don't know why I have it, or what it means, and the only reason I'm on this little expedition is so my mother doesn't die. I couldn't give less of a shit about DIO, or what your gripes with him are." Varo was trying to use Heart to see what Jotaro was really thinking and feeling, but...she couldn't. That boy was an enigma. "At least we know you can talk." She muttered to herself, seeing that she was getting nowhere.
In reality it was looking like a disaster, no matter how much Varo tried to paper over the cracks. Her allies were some senile old man who was trying to relive the past which Varo had no connection to, a French pervert, a strange kid with a fetish for older women, and of course, Jotaro. Abdul was alright. She needed something strong to calm her nerves, which was how she found herself down at the bar. Even here in a supposedly safe place there was no shortage of scumbag types to be seen. Varo ignored them though as she prepared to drown her worries in a sea of whiskey.
At a table not too far behind, there was a group of men having a good time, seemingly innocent, although one of them was looking at Varo out of the corner of his eye. He had this really strange haircut where his bleach blond hair stuck up in columns on top of his head, but for some reason he had a perfectly clean shaven strip in the middle. It looked awful to tell the truth. Not that he seemed to care, he had the same cut for a long time. More notably he was mixed race. Half Oriental, half European. "Tell us, Jack, how did you get us this job?" One of his friends asked. "Just had to pull a few strings. You know what mom's like." He explained. They all nodded. "Ms. Wong is a real life saver. We needed this bad. So tell us, who are we working for?" Jack smiled. "Ever heard of Zheng?" They were in disbelief. "Hey now, I appreciate this money, but are we really sure we want to associate the Clean Bandits name with communists?" Another asked. "Wherever the money comes from." He replied. "At least, that's what dad says. You guys all seem to love him so much." Luke Patterson was the leader of the Clean Bandits syndicate before his son, Jack took over. "So what are we doing then, boss?" Jack put down his drink and signalled for them all to huddle together. "Stand Users. There's some of them that Mr. Zheng doesn't like, and he wants them gone." They were all admittedly a little nervous. "Any idea what they look like?" He shrugged. "Didn't give details. Except for the fact that one of them was a blonde chick, European." That was when eyes were drawn to Varo.
"There's no way it's her." One of the goons whispered. "That would be way too freaky of a coincidence." But then they saw Heart being brought out. Trying their best not to react suspiciously, they collectively realized their target had been acquired.
Varo, on the other hand, decided to put her binge session on hold, sensing something was seriously up.
"Hello there young man," Vahid had been approached by an old lady, who was seemingly looking for directions. "Could you please show me where the train station is?" He looked at the map she was holding, and pointed to the train station. "It's right there." He said. "Thank me later." He was met with a slap to the back of the head from Hanna. "Aren't you a model citizen?" She hissed. "I'll help. Come on." She began walking with the old lady. "Hey wait, what do we do?" Sergio asked. Hanna shrugged. "Do what you like, as long as your back at the boat when you're supposed to be." She replied.
Of course, this was a mistake. Máni Svavarsson, yet another of the stand users sent to kill the Stardust Crusaders, had taken a massive step towards murdering one of the members. But there was one problem, and it might have derailed his entire plan. Hanna wouldn't notice for the time being, but there was always the risk that his stand could fail him. "We aren't too far away now." Hanna told 'her'. "Ah, how lovely." The old lady hummed.
"Hey Máni!" Shit. Máni felt sweat beginning to roll down the back of his neck. "Who's the girl, Máni?!" Hanna looked over. "Are they talking to you?" She asked. "Why no, there must be someone else they're referring to!" He tried his best to make sure he wasn't sweating. He was doing a good job, but if his friends didn't shut up then there was a chance Hanna would figure out exactly what was going on.
His stand, Master of Disguise, allowed him to change his appearance perfectly, to be any other human in the world. Granted, he didn't know what person he was going to be every time he used his stand, but it was effective. The only trouble was that it was only effective against other stand users. Non-stand users would see him as he normally appeared, which was a massive downside. He tried to hurry her up before she was provoked, which judging by the look on her face wasn't going to be long. He could see her getting agitated, something which he decided to address. "Now dear, I have a train to catch and I can't afford any time wasted. So don't you mind those young men at all!" It seemed to satisfy her for the time being, although Máni could tell she was a powder keg waiting to explode.
Luckily they arrived at the train station shortly after that, giving him time to put the next phase of his plan into action. "Oh, young lady, would you be so kind as to help me in the restroom?" He asked. Hanna looked at the old woman. "Are you serious?" She then took a look at the saddened look on the old woman's face. "Fine, I'll help you out." They walked towards the women's restroom, getting several strange looks off bystanders. "What the hell are they all staring at?" Hanna asked herself, helping the old woman into the bathroom. "Right, I'll wait outside. Let me know when you're ready."
Máni reached inside his pocket and pulled out a dagger, smiling to himself. Now all he had to do was kill her, plain and simple. Standing outside, Hanna heard a cry for help inside. "I've fallen!" The old woman cried. "Oooh, the pain!" The German slid under the door and looked at the old woman. She was on the ground, holding her hip. "It was my fault, I should have looked where I was sitting..." Hanna was in no panic though. "Alright, I'm going to call an ambulance," She told Máni, incredibly nonchalant. "You can um, wait...here." Máni almost started laughing as she realized the cruel irony of her words. "No, wait!" He called out. "Please, help me up!" Hanna rolled her eyes, unlocking the door. "Fine. But I really think an ambulance would be more help."
Máni was already preparing to stab her, knife at the ready, when another woman appeared behind Hanna. She screamed. "A man!" She pointed to Máni. Now he was in trouble. "Hm?" Hanna turned around to her. "Well? Are you going to stand there or help out? Call an ambulance!" She was so intimidated that she ended up running out anyway, leaving Máni to try again. "Here. I'm going to sit you back up on the toilet, alright?" He nodded, getting ready as she tried to pick her up. "Fuck." She swore. "Give me a minute. I need to take off my gloves." She began biting at them to take them off. "Please hurry dear! It hurts so much!" Máni pleaded. "I said I need a minute!" Hanna retaliated. "Can't you afford a caretaker or something?!"
Taken aback by her rudeness, Máni's expression hardened. "Well, I never thought you'd be so rude! I should have expected more from the bitch that murdered Cameo!" Hanna froze. "How do you know that?" Sweat began to pour down his head. "Well, I-uh, y'know I-you have his likeness." He tried to explain. Well, that was complete bullshit. She pulled her gun on him and demanded answers. "So, care to explain how you knew?!"
The door then swung open. Hanna immediately put away her gun and Máni his knife. Another woman looked at Hanna, before Máni seized his opportunity and ran. "Hey, stop her!" But she could barely react as Máni pushed past her and out of the bathroom. Scooping up her gloves, Hanna gave chase. Racing out into the train station, she could see nobody. She then stopped a man and inquired. "Hey. Have you seen an old lady just running out of the women's restroom?" She asked. The man shook his head. "I saw a man running up the stairs, but that's all. No old ladies." Hanna seemed disappointed, but ultimately accepted that she had lost the trail.
"Yo Hanna!" It was Sergio, and the rest of Teberhel. "Everything alright?" Hanna nodded. "Fine. Except just a few moments ago. I feel like that old lady was a stand user, or a hitman or something." Vahid raised an eyebrow. "It looked like an old lady to me." Hanna ignored him and explained herself. "She knew my name. I feel like she could have been a stand user, but I didn't see a stand anywhere." Teemu thought about it for a minute. "Maybe we should split up and look for her around here." He suggested. "Maybe she wouldn't try it in a public location." As much as Hanna was having serious doubts as to the Finn's competence, he had a sound idea. "Fine then. We'll do that. Report back here with the stand user if you catch-If you don't stop acting like fucking retard I'm going to shove both my boots so far up your ass that they will never come out, do I make myself clear?" She threatened Vahid, who was helpfully looking in a trash can. "I'm only trying to help. Besides, you wouldn't have those boots if it wasn't for me." He muttered.
But nonetheless, he figured the train station was far too small to be the only place an old lady could be hiding. He walked up the stairs and out into the open streets, and decided to stop the first person he saw, a burly construction worker wearing dungarees and a white shirt, who appeared to be out of breath. "'Scuse me," Vahid tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to spin around. "Y-yes!" He boomed, eyes wide. "I'm looking for an old lady hitman or something, do you know where I could find one?"
"No, not at all!" He dismissed the notion. "What on earth is something so silly anyway?!" Vahid looked as though he realized that himself. "Yeah, I know. But Hanna won't be happy..." Hold on a second! This buffoon was the guy from earlier, and he was all alone! "Hold on there!" He called out. "I saw an old lady not too long ago, maybe I can show you where I found her!" Vahid immediately perked up. "That would be extremely helpful, thanks."
'He's following along like the fool that he is...' Máni thought to himself, as he led Vahid far away from where anyone would notice him. Down a dark back alley, where no one would even think to look. "Now, I think I saw her here." Vahid squinted. "Are you sure?" He asked. "Yes, just keep looking!" Máni called out, with his knife out and ready to stab the Iranian in the back as he slowly advanced down the alley. He then plunged the knife, straight down towards Vahid's back-
Only for him to trip over something and fall down. Máni's swing missed, and he ended up tripping, and cutting himself. "Shit!" He gritted his teeth, careful not to make a scene. He would obviously get suspicious if he saw that. "Damn it!" Vahid swore. "I knew I should have tied my laces!" Thing was, he wasn't wearing laces. Máni could clearly see he was wearing slip-on shoes. "Are you alright?" He asked, feigning concern. Vahid nodded. "Yeah. How about you?" Through the pain, the Icelandic assassin nodded. "Good, good." Vahid looked around. "Anyway, I don't see her here." Now, Máni was trying to take advantage of the idiot's limited thinking capacity. "How about checking under those crates?" He suggested, pointing to a barrel of all things. Not that Vahid cared. "Good idea." He was beginning to look in the barrel, leaning way too far in, as Máni raised his knife yet again, this time trying to come down quickly on Vahid.
"Oh shit!" The panicked shout from the oil baron startled Máni, and even more so as Vahid flung him to the ground and lay on top of him, looking around. "L-l-listen! I can explain everything!" Máni began blubbering, dreading what was to come. Vahid sighed in relief. "That was close. I could have sworn there was someone with a knife just there. Could have killed us both!" Máni didn't know how to react. Should he cry, should he laugh, what should he do? Count his blessings, perhaps.
"Look buddy, it isn't safe here. I'm going to take you back to the train station to meet up with the rest of my team. Seems like that old lady hitman might be out to get all of us." Vahid ordered. Not wanting to look suspicious, Máni complied with the demand, not wanting to seem suspicious, but the walk back was spent in his own head, gathering his thoughts. His heart was racing. He had murdered people in the past, but that was only when working with Lord DIO's other servants. But at the same time, how close had he been on his own? Oh man, if he managed to take out the Stardust Crusaders...
"Hey!" Vahid snapped him out of his thoughts. He had to run back across the street to get Máni, who was too engrossed in his own thoughts to notice he had crossed. "Are you alright?" Máni nodded. "Just...scared about the murderer." Vahid nodded. "It can be scary having to kill someone, can't it?"
He froze.
"Wh-what?!" Vahid leaned in close, to make sure he was heard. "I'm not an idiot. I know it was you, and I also know that you were the old lady. I don't know what kind of stand you have, but buddy, I see right through you. So," Vahid was already slipping on some knuckledusters. "I'm giving you five seconds to start running."
Máni screamed and ran for the train station, just as Vahid slipped off his knuckledusters. "Hey buddy, watch the step!" Too late. Máni slipped in a conveniently placed, small puddle of oil, and was sent crashing down the hard concrete steps. Looking down, Vahid could see a crowd gathering at the landing zone, where Máni had probably broken several bones. The important thing was that he was definitely going to be out of commission for a while, one less stand user to worry about. He headed down the steps, where the rest of Teberhel looked on. "Jesus. What happened that guy?" Vahid asked as he walked up to them. "He fell down the steps. Poor guy, looks like he could be seriously hurt."
Vahid looked over one last time before turning back to the group. "Anyway, no luck finding that stand user. But it doesn't matter anyway, we should get going. The boat will be ready to go soon." So without another word, Teberhel was back on the road, having shaken off one more stand user, but perhaps awakening something far more dangerous...
"Have you seen the news?" Zheng asked Chouma. "One of my loyal soldiers was captured." He tossed her the newspaper, showing a picture of a rather sad looking Chloe Lavache. Chouma of course, couldn't read, but understood very well the consequences of such an event. "So much for your plan then. Wait until those dogs find out you were trying to sabotage them!"
Zheng chuckled. "I was hoping you would ask about that. I have a little trick up my sleeve to make sure she will do nothing of the sort."
Maximum Security Prison, undisclosed location, France.
"Let's see. Petru Jelihovschi?" He stepped forward. "That would be me." The guard showed him the way forward. "Mind what you say. I should remind you that we won't hesitate to arrest you if we think you are an accomplice in this crime." Petru seemed offended.
He looked the part of a lawyer, despite not being such. He had jet black hair, slicked back and with the sides shaven, as well as a perfectly clean shaven face. His brown eyes were captivating to say the least, and that wasn't just because of their beauty. He wore a white suit, and a white collar shirt with narrow navy vertical stripes, and a red tie. He was young, but looked like he had all the experience in the world at the same time.
As he sat down, Chloe had no idea what she was in for. "Yes?" Petru smiled. "I just came in to say hello." He informed her. "So, how is prison?" Chloe spat. "How do you think it is? Idiot." The Romanian drummed his fingers on the table. "Did someone set you up to this?" He asked. "Do you think I would do something like this myself? Of course I was set up!"
Petru shook his head. "Are you sure you didn't do this yourself?" Chloe shook her head. "I'm going to bring everyone involved down with me." Petru chuckled. "I'm sure there would be many people unhappy with that." He said.
No one quite knew what happened after that, but all they could hear was a loud bang. Chloe began screaming and pounding on the screen, having to be restrained by guards to make sure she didn't harm anyone. A shocked Petru quickly backed up before being escorted out by police. "What happened?" They asked. "I don't know!" He answered, still somewhat shocked. It wasn't long before he was outside. "We'll let you know if there's any change in her behaviour. Is there an address we can send a letter to?" Petru nodded, giving his address. "I'll be seeing you." With that, he left.
Looking around, he began to smile again. That was one more loose end tied up.
Author's Note
Petru Jelihovschi is the name of one of the founding members of O-zone, who are most famous for 'Dragosta din tea'. They're actually Moldovan but in this story, Petru is Romanian. As for the other music reference, Clean Bandit is the name of a band, in case you didn't know, Jack Patterson is one of the members, so is Luke, and the mother mentioned, Ms. Wong is an unrelated Chinese musician, Faye Wong.
I feel like people will get the Robbie Rotten reference without me spelling it out (the name is taken from Lazytown's composer, if you want to know) but yeah, poor guy. But how will Dio react? Also, seems like the Clean Bandits got the wrong guy too. Or gal.
San Francisco in this universe is inspired by the Legation Cities in the Hoi4 mod Kaiserreich which I have been playing loads of recently, so expect plenty of run ins with criminal underworld scum over the next few chapters.
That's all for now, see ya next time!
