Hello, King Spike Rules here and here is the next chapter to Lonely Wars. We learn about Mary's Stand, who they're fighting, and why they need to stop them.


Chapter 16: Debriefing.

Mary sat on the bed inside her and John's room, with the others looking at them from around the room. Franky leaned against the door, and Doc lay sullenly by the window, fingers still moving as though holding his guitar. John and Keith sat with their heads against the second bed. Sitting on that bed with a serious expression, Kite gazed at Mary. His mind was filled with questions, and he was expecting nothing but the right answers from her.

"Okay Mary, let's start this off easy," Kite said with his fingers intertwined, taking a deep breath before continuing, "Why not just have a task force take out this 'Major' if he's such a threat to the country?"

"How can I explain the threat? I looked, and to my knowledge, I'm the only CIA officer who has a Stand," she replied, looking at Kite, who crossed his arms as he mulled it over. He supposed her way of thinking was reasonable; at the very least, it didn't sound like she was lying.

"Alright, makes sense. Now, how about your Stand?" Kite prompted, looking at her and waiting for her to explain just what her Stand was capable of. He glanced at his arm, silently wondering what the Stand had done to heal their wounds.

"Her name is Birmingham," she said pointedly, looking back at Kite. She let out a long sigh before bringing out Birmingham, the humanoid making its appearance known as it stood next to her.

"You...named it after a town in Alabama?" Franky asked her with visible confusion at her bizarre choice.

"Not that Birmingham. It's a type of house," Kite said, not taking his eyes off the Stand, watching it float in front of him and waiting for Mary to continue her explanation.

"Yes, and her ability allows me to return a person's body to a previous state. That is, so long as I've seen them before, either in real life or in a photo, in whatever state it is that they want to return to," she explained. The others looked back at her with confused looks on their faces, seemingly trying to make sense of what she had told them.

"So, say I lose an arm," John spoke, getting everyone's attention as he continued his question, "Since you've seen me with that arm, you can restore my body so that I have both arms again? Just like that?"

"Yes, that is what my Stand can do to you," she said, hanging her head down and letting out a long sigh before saying, "But using it is like sending out a flare to the enemy."

"Wait, what do you mean?" Kite asked her, concerned at the thought. She rubbed her arm, looking away from them as she thought it over.

"Another Stand is attached to mine and when I use her powers, he knows where I am," she explained to them. All five of them straightened, raising their guard to look for an incoming attack. Seeing them act this way, she added, "He's not here. He's one of the top officers of the Major and almost never leaves his side." Hearing this, the group visibly relaxed, a few letting out small sighs of relief.

"Well, with those two things out of the way," Kite said, making a point of looking her right in the eye as he continued. "What's up with this Major guy? Why is he so dangerous?" Mary looked back, and for a few moments, they just stared into each other's eyes. Mary was the first to break eye contact as she glanced at her suitcase.

Watching this, Kite simply nodded and said, "Keith." Instantly understanding, Keith stood up, walking over to the suitcase and grabbing it by the handle. He gently placed it next to her on the bed before returning to his place to watch. Mary rummaged through her bag for a few moments, finally pulling out a small black rock.

"This is why he's so dangerous," she said, holding it out to them and they all looked at it closely, confused as to what it was. Noticing this, Mary continued, "This is coal, which is used to help fuel factories and trains that help connect the country all over."

"Yeah, so what's the problem?" Doc asked, looking at the coal in her hand and wondering what she was getting at, just as most of the others were doing.

"It's not mined," Kite realized, as he took the coal. He looked it over, before turning to his friends and continuing, "There aren't any strikes or cuts, which would be clear if this had been taken from a coal mine." The others nodded, understanding what he'd said, only for Mary to add some new information.

"Yes, and there has been a large flux in coal stock with a vast amount of it coming from the West." she paused taking out a folder and handing it to Kite, who took and read the content as she continued, "And one company seems to make a killing in it. But oddly, that company owns no mines."

"So, they're committing some fraud," Kite said dismissively, flipping through the papers until his eyes suddenly widened. As he processed what he was seeing, Mary nodded at him.

"You see, the stock market is starting to notice something is wrong," Mary began solemnly. "Prices are falling fast. And if it isn't stopped-"

"-that could start a second Great Depression," John concluded and she nodded, looking at them as all five soaked in what they had just been told by Mary and thought it over.

In particular, Kite's mind was in full gear as he shifted the papers in his hands. With all that information, he was slowly putting this plan together, and he didn't like it. "Once we're in an economic crisis, the Major will rise up out of his little hiding place and take back all the excess coal. Spin it the right way, and the masses would probably think of him as some savior. He might even become the president in the election later this year."

Mary nodded. "I was suspecting something before all this, so I did some recon on the ground and found out what they were planning," she said, looking at them all. As she remembered that time, she hung her head.

"But you were caught," Kite said, met with only a nod. Kite put his hand to his chin, thinking it over as his mind filled with possibilities, none of which meant well for them.

"Yes, and now they are out to silence me for good," Mary confirmed, as they all looked at her in silence themselves and wondered how much farther the enemy could do to take them out.

"That makes no sense though," John chimed in from his spot next to the bed. his statement seemed to leave the others wondering just what he was thinking about.

"What do you mean?" Mary wondered. She and the others looked at him, wondering what was going through his head.

"Brett said he wanted to get rid of us, not you." John pointed out. Thinking back to their last opponent's exact words, he continued, "With the way he fought and talked, he was desperate to win and get you back to the Major. But why would he do that if he wanted to kill you? He must want you alive for something."

Mary and Kite's eyes widened in shock, both of them realizing what he had figured out. John nodded to them as Doc, Keith, and Franky all looked confused when Kite looked at them.

"If the Major needs a Stand like Birmingham...then he must be severely injured, or even dying. He needs her to make sure his plan works out." Kite explained to them. All three gasped, looking at the Stand still floating by Mary. Kite turned back to Mary while he announced, "If you're so integral to his plan, you'll have to head back to DC, and we will continue on to California."

"What?" she yelled out. She was shocked, even furious, at what Kite had just said. "There is no way I'm being benched on something like this!"

"This isn't a game," he barked at her and stood up, looking down at her. She didn't let him, however, and stood up herself, bringing them to eye level.

"I'm the officer here! I know this isn't a game, but I'm seeing this through to the end," she spat back. The two stared each other down, both of the tempers flaring up. The others watched, worried at the possibility that the argument could come to blows.

Thankfully, John stood up, placing himself between them. "We need her." he said, both of them turning to him as he continued. "First, she can heal us from nearly any injury. Considering we barely survived the last two days, she's needed to keep us going. Plus, we have no idea if the Major has allies in DC. For all we know, they could capture her there and bring her to him, making our trip pointless."

Kite was silent, thinking over everything John had pointed out to him. After a few seconds of thought, he sat back down with his arms crossed.
"Alright, I see your point. And I guess I can agree to letting her continue with us to California." Kite said, with eyes closed and his arms crossed. He quickly added, "But two of us must be with her at all times, understood?"

As they nodded, Mary beamed at them, seeing that they were willing to continue on with her. Even after all that's happened, and even after she kept secrets from them, they would let her keep going. A honk of a horn caught all of their attention and Mary smiled.

"That must be the van," Mary said, getting up only to have Kite put a hand out in front of her. With a cautious expression, he nodded to Franky, who nodded back to him.

"Graceful Door," Franky whispered-shouted, summoning his Stand and punching the door. A smaller door formed inside the first, and he peeked through. A few seconds later, Franky stepped back and gave them a thumbs up to show them the coast was clear. They collected their things and opened the door, seeing two men in suits with a van like the one they had lost the day before.

"Mary, we got here as soon as we could," the men said, looking at her. She smiled back at them as she accepted the keys to the car.

"You guys did great. And the add-on I asked for?" she asked one, who nodded. Still smiling, she walked to the van's back doors and opened them to show a brand new guitar in it. Doc gasped and ran over, taking it and looking it over before looking at her with a big grin spread across his face.

Mary smiled back, saying, "You fought to protect me, so I owed you one. Thought this would be a good way to start."

"Thanks a lot," he cried enthusiastically, hugging her before climbing right into the back to start tuning his instrument. The others piled in, with John and Franky in the front. Franky turned the key and drove off, leaving the men from the foundation alone. As the men headed back to their own car, both were unaware that a figure was watching them with a radio in hand.


/

In an unknown location, a figure was sitting in a chair with a book in their hand. A glass of whiskey on the rocks sat on a table next to him. A young man walked into the room and stood in front of him, saluting as the Major took a sip from his whiskey.

"At ease," he said, placing it back on the table before looking at his subordinate. "I trust you have a report?"

"Yes sir," the young man said, putting his hand down and looking the Major in the eye. "We have word that the private forces have all been taken out by the enemy. The Corporals are ready to take them out on your orders."

The major remained silent, flipping through his book for a few moments. The young man waited patiently, until he finally received his response.

"Let it be so."

With that, the Major returned to reading his book without a second glance at his subordinate. Despite that, the young man saluted him, accepting his answer, then headed out to repeat the order.

TBC.

/


That is it for this chapter and I hope you enjoyed reading it. The fights will get more interesting as we move on and learn more of our heroes. I have on vote on the poll as yes.