MAANANTAI 18. SYYSKUUTA 2000, 01.37 CEST

MILANO, ITALIA

VIA ALESSANDRO SCARLATTI

Kyuwa clenched his hands into fists. The military training from the mandatory conscription back home had better come in handy.

But against a cannon?

Don't panic, he told himself. If you panic, you die.

Because it really was a matter of life and death now.

Survive.

Find Leone and Aïda.

No matter what.

"I think you seem to get the idea as to what For Those About to Rock is capable of," Russo said nonchalantly.

Kyuwa rolled his eyes. "Yeah. It's a cannon. I get the idea."

"First of all, it's a howitzer," Russo corrected. "Cannons are different."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. It blows stuff up at long range. Who actually gives a shit about what it's called?"

"ME!"

"You're pretty much the only one who does," one of Russo's pals commented. The other guy who had accompanied them nodded in agreement.

"Well, neither of you two can see Stands, so you don't have room to talk!"

Kyuwa groaned. "Oi! Larry. Moe. Curly. I think I have a right to know why you idiots are trying to kill me!"

"Do you happen to have a girlfriend, by any chance?" the previously silent third assassin asked out of the blue.

Kyuwa raised an eyebrow. "Uhhh...no. I'm single." He folded his arms. "Why? You tryin' to ask me out or something?"

The three assassins looked at each other, muttering something in Italian before looking back at the international student.

"Okay, it's pretty obvious now that you're not the jackass I was looking for," Russo remarked, switching back to English. "Tell you what: You seem to know who this guy is. Give me his name, and I'll send you on a one-way trip back to Finland."

Kyuwa scoffed. "Yeah. In a fucking body bag. I'm not an idiot."

"Valid," Russo conceded. "But seriously. What's his name? I don't have time for this shit."

"Neither do I," the international student retorted. "And I'm not telling you anything."

"Pity. When we're done with you, your corpse will be hidden so well that no one will ever find you. It will be a message to others not to fuck with us."

"Well, don't fuck with me, first of all," Kyuwa spat. "You don't want to know what my Stand is capable of."

Okay. I'm bluffing at this point.

But that's irrelevant.

"Time to fuck shit up, Mr. Roboto," Kyuwa told his Stand in Swedish.

The Stand saluted him.

One advantage of a language barrier: he could strategise without the enemy understanding what he was saying.

A disadvantage? It worked for both sides in this situation, as Kyuwa was only beginner-level proficient in Italian.

Russo's brow furrowed, a confused expression suddenly taking hold on the enemy Stand user's face. "Okay. What's your Stand doing?"

Kyuwa frowned, puzzled. "The hell are you talking about?"

Russo pointed to somewhere behind the international student.

This had better not be some sort of distraction.

Kyuwa slowly turned around, eyes widening.

Aïda's and Leone's avatars walked towards the international student, acting as more than just mere reproductions at the moment. Kyuwa got a good look at Aïda, no longer able to visually identify which gender the Italian was. Her-no, their, since he didn't know for certain-features were both masculine and feminine, jet-black bob cut and bangs swaying in the breeze. Oceanic blue eyes gazed piercingly at the scene. Even if they were an echo, Aïda looked as though they could take someone down easily in a fight.

So did Leone.

Kyuwa turned to Mr. Roboto, switching momentarily to Finnish. "I hope you know what you're doing."

"So do I," the Stand responded.

Great. Just...great. The international student sighed. "Tämä on perseestä."

This really is shit.

But there's no getting out of this one.

He almost missed the shot that rang from the howitzer.

Mr. Roboto tackled his user to the ground, and the round sailed through where Kyuwa had been standing a few seconds earlier, colliding instead with a sedan that was parallel-parking several hundred metres away. He could hear the car alarms blaring in the distance, but he didn't care about that at the moment.

The student's eyes widened as he realised how close he'd come to ending up like a donut-or, if not killed, seriously hurt. "Vittujen kevät ja kyrpien takatalvi," he breathed, horrified.

"Tell me about it," Mr. Roboto responded. "Please try not to get us killed."

"What the fuck do you THINK I'm trying not to do?!"

Stand and user got back on their feet. Kyuwa looked at the avatars, seeing a not-so-human expression on Leone's and Aïda's faces. It was the same expression, almost...robotic.

Dehumanised.

But Kyuwa knew that he couldn't rely solely on his Stand abilities.

Not if he wanted to get back home alive.

Remember what you learned in basic training.

The international student schooled his expression into something nearly as robotic as the one currently present on the avatars' faces, walking towards Russo.

If the historical weaponry For Those About to Rock looks like is anything to go by, there's a good chance that this particular Stand isn't very maneuverable. Which means it's using higher destructive power to compensate for the lack of speed.

But it doesn't look like there's a reload…

The enemy Stand fired again. Kyuwa saw the howitzer round this time and dodged, the shot once again going wide and into a vehicle. More car alarms went off.

Leone's avatar unholstered twin pistols, opening fire on the enemy party. Despite being made of phone signals, those rounds actually did some damage, as demonstrated when one of Russo's lackeys ended up taking a technological bullet to the shoulder. Aïda grabbed their own pistol, firing on the enemy as well. Kyuwa took the opportunity and decked the one Leone had shot.

The lackey got back up.

For Those About to Rock trained its barrel on Kyuwa again, and the student retreated behind a bush to avoid the howitzer's shell.

"Kyuwa-sama."

He looked up, seeing that his Stand had moved beside him. Out of the corner of his vision, he saw Leone and Aïda were still shooting at the enemy.

"I've got an idea," Mr. Roboto said.

Why don't I like the sound of that? "What are you doing?" Kyuwa asked sharply.

"Buying us time," Mr. Roboto responded.

"Against a fucking howitzer?! Seriously?!"

"Just trust me."

Mr. Roboto pressed a button on one of his wrist gauntlets, pointing directly at Russo and his possé. The energy composing Aïda's and Leone's avatars redistributed itself, causing the two to disappear. The energy instead snaked towards the enemies like the charge from a massive taser, giving all three of them what may literally be one of the biggest shocks of their lives. They screamed for a good couple of seconds before collapsing onto the ground, sparks of electricity still running across the surface of their skins.

For Those About to Rock disappeared.

Thankfully.

"That's one way to do it," Kyuwa conceded.

Mr. Roboto nodded, approaching the enemy party. Kyuwa gave his Stand a quizzical look. "Whatcha doing?"

"Checking their vital signs," Mr. Roboto responded.

"And?"

Mr. Roboto straightened after a moment. "Well, they're not dead, but they'll be out like a light for a while."

The international student gulped. "Noted."

"Now might be a good time to run," Mr. Roboto advised.

Kyuwa nodded. "I agree." He withdrew his Stand, fleeing down the street.

That Russo guy was probably fucking with me. He more than likely knows about Leone, regardless of my silence, but he didn't count on Mr. Roboto.

But now I've got a price on my head as well.

That doesn't matter at the moment. Okay, scratch that, it kind of does.

Where can I go? If I leave the city, Leone and Aïda are as good as dead. More and more assassins will come. But, if I don't leave, assassins will come after them anyway.

Them, and me.

Who even are these guys, anyway?

What are they so afraid of that they want to kill both me and Leone because of our Stands?

What do they have to hide?

He didn't dare look back. Kyuwa saw a taxi at the end of the street, and he flagged it down. The student climbed in, paying his fare.

The cabbie was an elderly gentleman with a complexion that reminded him of Father Christmas. The long, white beard cinched the resemblance.

"Where ya headed, Signore?" he asked.

"Club Galassia," he responded, thinking of the first place that had popped into his head. It was a nightclub that he, Ramone, and Carina had gone to a few weeks ago, and it was one of many places that he'd taken refuge in during the past few days.

The Father Christmas cabbie chuckled. "Ya lookin' to get lit, eh? Good place to do it, too."

"Yep," Kyuwa agreed.

Not looking to get lit this time around, but it's as good a place as any to blend into.

They drove off, heading for the international student's requested destination. Kyuwa leaned back against the seat, knowing just how close he'd come to getting killed.

He could only hope that Russo and For Those About to Rock weren't awake and following the taxi.

Okay, there was no "could." Kyuwa was actively doing the thing.

He hoped.

He prayed.


FOR THOSE ABOUT TO ROCK

User: Dante Russo

Stats

I. Destructive Power: A

II. Speed: D

III. Range: C-A (7m away from user; maximum effective range of ammunition approx. 686m: the same as an American Revolutionary War howitzer)

IV. Persistence: B

V. Precision: D

VI. Development Potential: E