Kaiser wipes off the dust on his suit jacket. "A fight in a men's room. Exactly how I wished to spend my afternoon," he says.
Nero charges forward and jabs at Kaiser with his Stand. The old man side steps Nero's punch, smacking Nero in the back of the head with his cane. Viva La Vida rips its arm from the wall and hooks a punch at Kaiser. Kaiser jumps back, slipping out of the way. Viva La Vida opens its fist, revealing part of a metal pipe, ripped from the wall and sharpened into a knife by carefully decaying. The broken pipe shard flies forward, thrown by Viva La Vida at the apex of its punch, aimed straight for Kaiser's skull.
Milliseconds before the shard can strike Kaiser, the yellow of his Stand appears, knocking the pipe out of the way. Nero switches to a boxing stance. But before he can throw even a single punch, Kaiser's Stand strikes him in the stomach, closing the distance in an instant.
Nero coughs a mouthful of blood as he stumbles backward, tripping and banging his head on a porcelain sink. Nero wipes the blood from his forehead as Kaiser walks to the door. "Where are you going?" Nero shouts.
"I am going to go finish my meal, in peace," Kaiser says.
Nero crawls to his feet and cracks his knuckles. "No, you are not," he says.
Kaiser sighs and rolls his eyes. He drops his cane and it rolls away. "I'd advise standing down, Mr. Zeppeli," Kaiser says.
"No, I do not think I will do that," Nero says.
"Suit yourself," Kaiser says.
A loud crack fills the room as all of the sinks and toilets shatter, spraying geysers of water that fill the restroom. Nero's glances at the exploding sinks for a moment, taking his eyes off Kaiser. This is his undoing. By the time Nero's eyes dart back to Kaiser, the old man has moved, and is now less than half a meter away. Nero refuses to be caught off guard and swings a hook at Kaiser's skull.
He hears a crack as Kaiser's Stand strikes his elbow, shattering his right arm. Nero ignores the pain and swings with his left. Again, Kaiser breaks his arm before Nero can even react. A slight smile covers Kaiser's face seconds before Nero's knee, launched from the ground with his Stand's strength, strikes Kaiser directly in the nose.
The old man stumbles back as Nero rises up. Nero floods his arms with Hamon. There isn't enough time for him to heal the bones, but then again that isn't what Nero's going for. The Hamon numbs the pain enough for Nero to lift his broken arms over his head and slam them down again like a hammer.
An uppercut comes out of nowhere, striking him below the chin before his fists can smash Kaiser. Nero falls backwards, landing in the shallow pool of water, unconscious.
"So, uh, you have backup," Salvatore says.
"Yes," Johana says. Johana punches her fist and Twisted Sister does the same.
"That's great," Salvatore says. He glances over his shoulder. "How long do you need?"
"Thirty seconds," Santiago says.
"I can buy you thirty seconds," Salvatore says.
A path of white bricks, pieces of Camellia Floyd's The Wall, forms in front of Johana. Johna runs across it, charging her way towards the open window. The largest of Salvatore's birds flies out and grabs Johana by the shoulders, attempting to drag her off the brick path. Kelly shoots the bird's talons with his Stand and Johana slips from its grasp. Another of Salvatore's birds, this one thin and angular, flies straight for Johana's stomach, trying to pierce her with its pointed beak. A hole appears on Johana's stomach, created by The Doors, and the bird passes through it without doing any damage.
Johana leaps back into the restaurant and backhands Salvatore with her Stand. Santiago backs up as Johana walks towards him. "The one I just smacked can summon metal birds, what can you do?" she asks.
Santiago tries to run but Twisted Sister grabs him by the arm, hoisting him off the ground. While this is happening, Salvatore lies on the ground by the window, clutching his broken nose. Salvatore's final bird flies at Johana. Twisted Sister pulls its fist back for a punch. The third bird flies between Johana and Santiago and opens its crystalline eyes, creating a bright flash that blinds Johana. Santiago slips out of Johana's grasp and runs for the window. Johana steps back, blindly reaching for him.
Johana hears a click. A second later, the ground beneath her explodes, throwing her halfway across the restaurant. She slams into the bar, sending dozens of bottles of liquor crashing to the ground. Santiago reaches his brother at the window as Salvatore's birds fly back to him.
"I've got the restaurant covered," Santiago says. "Any attempt she makes to approach us will end with her being blown up."
"And I can wear her down with my Eagles while she stands there, unable to fight back!" Salvatore shouts.
A nail strikes him in the shoulder and he yelps in pain. He turns around just in time to see Kelly Zuko leap into the restaurant through the open window and elbow him in the face. The blow knocks him off his feet. "Mother-" he begins to scream. His curse is interrupted by a click and a boom.
The area in front of the broken window explodes, the force of the blast knocking Kelly and Salvatore out of the restaurant. "Brother!" Santiago shouts.
The bird with the crystal eyes flies to Salvatore and grabs onto his shoulders, stopping his fall. He flies up to the window, his Stand now functioning as a twisted pair of angel wings. "Okay, not my best moment, I acknowledge that," Salvatore says.
"It takes a few blasts from my Fortune Family to kill someone, so you should be fine. Still, you could hurt yourself if you step foot into this restaurant again," Santiago says.
"That's fine, I'll just deal with Joestar's friends while you deal with her," Salvatore says.
Kelly crashes down onto one of Camellia's floating brick platforms. "Hey Kelly, want to come help Johana out, they say. It'll be fun, they say. You totally won't be thrown out a window and land on a platform made of bricks, they say," he mutters. "I mean, they didn't say that last one, but they totally would have because they're all dirty liars."
"You okay, Kelly?" Kan asks as her platform floats over to Kelly's.
"I'm great!" Kelly shouts.
"Okay, I want to believe you, but your tone implies that you aren't actually great," Kan says.
Kelly stands up and wipes the dust from his leather jacket. He pulls a fistful of nails from his pocket and surrounds them with lightning. "Let's just get this over with so I can go home," he says.
Salvatore flies down next to their platforms. The bulky bird and the pointy bird fly back to him landing on his shoulders. "Before I kill you, could you please explain who the hell you are and why the hell you're messing with my assassination?" he asks.
"I have literally no reason to tell you anything," Kelly says.
"I'm Kan and this is my friend Kelly," Kan says.
"Oh my God," Kelly says, placing his hand on his hand.
"I am Salvatore, and these beautiful birdies," Salvatore says, gesturing to his metal birds, "Are my Stand, The Eagles."
"I like them," Kan says. Her Stand appears on her shoulder. "This is my Stand, The Doors. Or Dora, for short."
Salvatore looks at Kan's tiny hummingbird and laughs. "A fight against another bird trainer, one with such a tiny Stand?" he says. "Oh, this will be fun."
The pointy bird flies towards Kan, its pointed beak aimed at her stomach. Before the bird can hit Kan, a hole appears beneath her. Kan drops through the hole, dodging the bird, and hoists herself back onto the platform as the bird flies past.
Kelly jumps in front of Kan and throws a fistful of nails at Salvatore. The bulky bird flies in front of Salvatore, blocking the nails. Kelly throws another set of nails. This time, a flaming hole appears on the bird moments before the nails hit. The nails pass through the hole, hitting Salvatore in the chest.
The pointy bird turns around, flying back towards Kan and Kelly. Kan quickly types something out on her phone. Right before the pointy bird reaches Kan, the brick platform rearranges to feature a wall right in front of Kan. The pointy bird crashes into it face first.
"I'll make you pay for that!" Salvatore shouts, clutching his nose.
Kelly throws another fistful of nails and Salvatore dodges them by flying higher. The bulky bird and the pointy bird fly back to Salvatore as he flies up the side of the building. The birds dig their talons into the glass tower as the fly upward, ripping out shards of glass and raining them down on Kelly and Kan.
"Get us a roof, Kan!" Kelly shouts.
"I'm working on it!" Kan shouts, frantically typing a message out on her cell phone.
She hits send and the white bricks reshape, creating a roof floating over Kan and Kelly that blocks the falling glass. "I can't see bird guy anymore," Kelly says.
The bulky bird flies down, headbutting Kelly in the chest and knocking him from the platform. Kan tries to text Camellia and ask her to make a new platform for Kelly, but she isn't fast enough. The heavy bird grabs Kelly by the arm and smashes him into the tower. Kelly disappears from sight, thrown through a glass window into a lower floor of the shard.
The pointy bird flies into Kan, slashing her across the chest with its sharpened wings. The phone slips from Kan's hand as she falls back, stumbling off the platform and barely grabbing its edge.
To be continued in
Chapter 44: Fortune Family and the Eagles, Part 4
STAND STATS
Name: The Eagles
Dub Name: The Birds
User: Salvatore Spaghetti
Namesake: "The Eagles" (American Rock band)
Appearance: Three birds made out of silver metal. Desperado has a thin angular frame, Outlaw Man is large and bulky, and Disco Strangler has a balanced form. Disco Strangler also has eyes resembling a crystal ball, which are usually kept closed.
Abilities: The Eagles takes the form of three metal birds that Salvatore controls. These birds are named Desperado, Outlaw Man, and Disco Strangler. Desperado is the fastest of the three and has blade-like wings and beak. Outlaw Man is the largest of the three and is primarily used as a shield or battering ram. Disco Strangler usually stays close to Salvatore, holding onto him and acting as a sort of jetpack. When Disco Strangler opens its eyes, it releases blinding flashes of light.
Stats:Power-C, Speed-A, Range-B, Durability-B, Precision-B, Potential-D