Ch. 4
The Stand rewinded to 09:22:49, a time before the Hero disappeared. It was then Abbacchio turned to the camera and continued talking.
"As we could see with Moody Blues's projection, the Pro Hero Manual put up a fight with the two figures, before one of them pierced the Hero's neck with two holes. Based on the way these holes were formed, they were not bullets, or blades, but rather fingers. I was asked to investigate DIO's connection to this, and seeing as though we heard one of the figures talking about turning Manual into a Vampire, there is credible evidence. So this investigation continues.
Now, judging by the size of the holes, it would seem that this is his smaller, less masculine self. I'll have Moody Blues shift into Dio Brando from the same time you currently have."
Moody Blues shifted itself to take Dio's shape, but maintained the same time on its top screen. The Stand then moved itself to the top of the building directly in front of Abbacchio and the cameraman. The figure Moody Blues transformed into was short, yet buff. Dressed in Victorian clothing, his yellow eyes started to glow bloody red, and the line that was heard earlier was played again.
"My, my. Get a look at this one. This is the 10th Pro Hero tonight! My older self said not to make them Vampires, but I wanna test out my technique on this one!"
After the second voice spoke, Dio jumped down from the roof with his hands in a claw position. After seeing that he missed. He landed on the ground in a kneeling position. From there it was a series of hand attacks, fingers perfectly aligned with one another. This went on for a few seconds before he retracted all but his pointer and middle finger on his right hand, and it seems Dio made impact, for he was stuck for a few seconds.
When Dio retracted his fingers from the Hero's neck, drops of blood could be seen before yelling:
"Now Compress!"
And with that, he turned around, hands on his hips while his hair was blowing in a wind reminiscent of yesterday's rainy and windy night.
Abbacchio continued speaking on the video.
"This proves that Dio Brando was involved in the kidnapping of Manual. And based on voice recognition and by the words of Dio, the man accompanying Dio was Atsuhiro Sako, otherwise known as Mr. Compress. You will find information on these two in files #AOD002 and #LOV005 respectively. This concludes the investigation of the disappearance of Manual. Upon handing this tape to the police, make sure certain information on #AOD002 is censored. This is Leone Abbacchio, signing off."
With that, the video concluded and Abbacchio turned around the group of Heroes. Many of them were pensive, thinking about what the next step is.
"I continued investigating off-camera", said Abbacchio, "trying to chase the whereabouts of Dio, but halfway through the trail cut off. DIO must have worked his magic to take care of that."
"Well, now what?" Giorno asked.
"For now, all we can do is wait," Jotaro responded, "But we have to get ready for any possible contingency. Have you turned over the censored tapes yet?"
"We have," Abbacchio responded, "Police will notify other Heroes, in case anything occurs."
"Why don't you tell them about Dio and the Vampires?" Bakugo responded.
"Pretend I'm an Investigative Officer," Jotaro said, "And you're a Hero that has only just shown up in the area. All of a sudden, I come to you saying a Vampire has kidnapped people off the streets, planning to turn them all to Zombies and invade the city. Now do you think they would accept what I say, or would they think I'm a crazy person who wants fame from little stunts like that?"
Bakugo was about to give a witty response, his finger pointing up in the air for rebuttal...but he couldn't find anything to say, so his grin turned to an expression of doubt and put down his hand.
"As I thought," Jotaro continued. "Anyway, you all brought your Hero Gear, right?"
Everyone in the group nodded.
"Very well. Suit up in the changing rooms and meet me at the Virtual Fighting Simulator. You'll get a taste of what we're most likely going to deal with tonight. Follow me, so you know how to get to the changing rooms."
The students made their way back to the conference rooms, grabbed their cases, and made their way to the changing room.
UA Dorms, 4:30 PM
The students recently finished their school day, and were sitting in the dorms, relaxing and working on homework. Some were watching TV, others were sitting down on the tables, drinking soda, lemonade, and water alike.
Many of the students walked out to the porch to watch the late afternoon sun slowly sink beneath the horizon. The deep blue sky soon faded into a collage of dusty oranges and reds. The news channel had reported earlier in the day that tonight there would be a blood moon in the sky.
Many others within the city watched the glamorous sunset, one of the most beautiful that had been seen in a while. And as the sun set, so too did the comfort and security anyone within the city would feel.
Joestar Agency, 4:30 PM
The students were changing into their Hero Gear, each clothing possessing its own style, accessory gear, and tactical advantages.
For Deku, his hero costume was covered in a dark shade of green, with streaks of black on certain parts of it. On his waistline sat a belt, colored red with small holders. The white gloves he wore went up past his elbows, blue lines wrapping around the top of them. He wore black knee guards which went down to his socks. His shoes were mixed black and red, insulated to support his kicking. Another notable feature was the grey respirator which hung around his neck, a lustrous silver with lines stretching across that looked like teeth.
Bakugo's hero costume was primarily black, suited for insulation in the winter. The chest covering had a large orange X, and lines of orange wrapped around different parts of it. There were silver knee guards and a black turtleneck sat around his neck. The two most notable features about it were a mask around his eyes which protruded near his hair to form a sparking flare shape, as well as the gauntlets around his arms, shaped to look (and act a bit) like grenades, as well as his black and orange gloves around it.
Josuke and Giorno's costumes were the same as the attire they appeared in their world as. The only noticeable difference is that the chest area Giorno's costume exposed had a black covering on it, to protect his chest from the cold.
"Wow, Josuke and Giorno, your costumes are really cool!" Deku commented.
"Thanks!" Josuke responded, "Although they don't have all the features yours do."
"That being said," Giorno continued the dialogue, "Our bodies aren't doing most of the fighting."
"Yeah, that's your little floating ghosts' job." Bakugo snarkily butted in.
As they made their way down the halls, the entrance to the main lobby was blocked by two men arguing, one old and one young.
"I told you, you shouldn't go on the street trying to stir up a fight!" the old figure yelled in a gruff voice. There was a glimmer in his marine blue eyes. His short gray beard connected with his rising gray hair on his chiseled face. His buff, masculine stature showed through his simple yellow T-Shirt. He also wore dark khaki pants, white gloves, and black wristbands. In one of his hands, he was holding a fedora, not wanting to let it blow in the wind of the dialogue.
"I mean are we just gonna stand here and wait for him to show up?" the young, hot-head yelled back. He too had a toned body, but not as much as the older man. His brown hair dashed to the side and spiked out, his eyes also growing a bright marine blue. Rather than a T-Shirt, he was wearing a dark green tank top, which exposed a part of his abs. His blue jeans, encompassed by her large, black boots, held onto his slim body with a small brown belt. His long green scarf draped down towards his legs behind him, the only item to keep him warm in the December cold.
"Was I always this impatient at a young age?" the older man muttered to himself before resuming, "Listen we don't know what exactly is going to happen! You going out on the streets is gonna limit the manpower we have to deal with the threats he plans on bringing."
As the students got closer to the arguing men, Jotaro came from the other side of the lobby, and broke up the fighting couple.
"Oi, Gramps, Joseph," he yelled, "Quit the bickering! We have guests." he pointed to the students on the other side.
"Oh," the old man said in realization, "Sorry about that, we didn't notice you."
The two men uttered the next sentence at the exact same time.
"MY NAME IS JOSEPH JOESTAR!"
As soon as that happened, the two men turned towards each other in the same angry stance they were in earlier.
"Wait, you're both Joseph Joestar?" Bakugo questioned.
"Correct," the old Joseph said, "This is the younger me when I was 18.
"And apparently this is me," said the younger Joseph, "When I'm a 69-year-old geezer."
"Well that's nice," Midoriya said, still in a slightly confused state
"With that out of the way," Jotaro continued, "I'm gonna take these kids to the VFS. Now if you two want to continue bickering, that's fine. But let the kids through."
"Oh sorry about that!" the older Joseph apologized, "We'll let them through."
The kids made their way past the two bickering Josephs and went towards the Virtual Fighting Simulator. They were excited to see what features this virtual experience would hold.
Chapter 4.5
The students entered into the VFS to find a very plain, yet large room. It was white with blue grid lines forming squares all around. Towards the top of the room were two glass panels, part of the control room. Inside the control room sat Jotaro and Jonathan, with headphones on.
Jotaro's voice entered the room via an intercom, "Ok, so here's how this is gonna work. The room around you will shift into an environment of some kind, like a forest, a city street, or a cliff. The ends of the room are insulated and soft, so you don't hurt your head if you hit the wall. There are no VR sets to put over your eyes, but you'll need to fight something. So we have these." Jotaro pushed a blue button that sat on his disk, and a hidden door within the actual room slid up, giving way to a dark corridor. From within that door, a plain, white mannequin walked out, with the same blue grid lines traced all over it. A few more mannequins of the same plain appearance began to emerge from the corridor as well.
"In addition to the room changing its environment," he continued, "Thes mannequin will also change its appearance to what we have on the monitor. We have access to data on most Heroes, Villains, and Vigilantes alike, and these mannequins can replicate their fighting styles. However, some people and powers had to be coded from scratch. You can thank the members of the Speedwagon Foundation for that. We'll start with what you'll most likely be facing tonight: Zombies and Vampires. Now do you all see the watches right underneath the window?"
The students turned their attention underneath the huge window panes which stood above them. Small wrist watches with vertical screens were hooked on small racks, each with different colors: green, orange, blue, pink respectively.
"These are what we like to call Stamina Meters. Per our request these were made by someone in your school's Support Class: Mei Hatsume. These watches are an indicator as to your condition during these simulated fights. In addition, this tells you heart rate, actual stamina, and even warns you of Quirk overusage."
"So they're basically fancy FitBits," Bakugo snarked.
"Sort of. Grab the ones which match the colors of your Hero costumes."
The students went to the front and grabbed the watches. After hitting the on switch, they were greeted with a screen that showed their Hero Name, simulation Stamina, actual Stamina, heart rate, and status conditions.
"These watches will alert you of anything that happens during the simulation. During the simulation, Jonathan and I will give you instructions. Now, we can let the simulation begin."
Jotaro then pushed a large green button with the word "START" written on it. The room around the Students began to change, the blue grids gaining more color and more dimension. When the room finished shifting, the landscape, or cityscape was clear: a cleared, black street in the middle of the night, the lights dimly lit. The mannequins that had entered the building also began to change shape. From a clean white they shifted into an ugly light green, their plain faces applying grotesque features. Two of the figures' mouths also grew sharp fangs, and though their faces remained a white, it was ghastly with sharp, red eyes.
"These are the Zombies and Vampires you'll be facing," Jotaro spoke, "Not only will they possess whatever Quirks the original person had, but they will also have added abilities, similar to those of the Nomu you all faced yesterday. Now show me what you can do."
And with punch after punch, kick after kick, the Heroes made work of these creatures of the undead. After many simulations, the Students had fought every Zombie and Vampire of every possible difficulty, beating them all with relative ease.
"Wonderful job!" Jonathan exclaimed over the intercom as the room and mannequins shifted back to the plain white their forms once possessed. "It seems the city is safe in your hands. Nice work!"
As the Students exited the Simulator, they took a break to enjoy some water and dry the little sweat which ran down their faces. Deku began another set of questions for his new friends, almost as inquisitive as an attorney.
"Oh yeah, I've been meaning to ask," he spoke, "What Hero Names did you two choose?"
Giorno was the first to speak up to answer Midoriya's question. "Oh that was easy," he said, "I chose the name Golden Wind."
"What's the significance?"
"Growing up in Italy, in a life full of darkness, my life was full of trash and despair at every turn. But when I saved the man on the streets from criminals, he helped make my life much better, a golden wind to erode the dark sands which corroded my life. Now, I want to be the golden wind which gives hope to others who are suffering in the world."
"That's such a cool reason! I'm sure Midnight would've loved to hear that!" Deku commented in excitement, before turning to his other new friend, "What about you Josuke?"
"Me? Well I chose Shining Diamond," Josuke remarked, "But Giorno's story stole all the coolness behind mine. Even when the serial killer ravaging my town had it caught in fear, we still had hope. Me and my friends were the diamonds in the rough that shined even in darkness."
"That sounds nearly identical to Golditlaian's spiel," Bakugo interrupted, a towel over his neck, "but that still sounds kinda cool." he admitted nonchalantly.
"Thanks Bakugo," Jouske remarked.
As Jotaro and Jonathan finished wrapping up and making their way down the stairs, the door entering the simulation lobby room opened, and Old Man Joseph was standing, fear dripping down his face.
"Guys, guys!" he yelled, "You gotta come see this!"
"What happened?" Jotaro questioned.
"DIO's Grand Entrance...it's about to begin!"