Lamp Entertainment presents…
Chapter 11: Secret Service
Empire City Airport…
"Man, I'm beat!" Okuyasu yawned. He stretched his sore limbs. "How long were we even on that plane?"
"I don't know man, I lost track after the first three hours," Josuke said, rubbing his temples. "Ugh, I think I got a headache… Feels like my entire body went through a wringer… twice."
"Sixteen hours," Koichi said. Black bags clung to the underside of his eyes and his hair was sagging. "Sixteen hours between Sendai and Angel City, and then five hours between Angel City and Empire City."
Josuke and Okuyasu both groaned loudly. Their current mood could be described as either 'mangled' or 'beat up.'
"Look alive," Jotaro said. "We still have our ways to go before we reach Beach City."
More groaning.
"I swear, once this whole thing is over with, I'll walk home," Okuyasu muttered.
"Me too, buddy," Josuke said and patted his friend on the back. The normally tough teen winced from the contact; in his state, the pat was equivalent to getting hit with a baseball bat.
Jotaro scoffed. "You should be happy the flight went so smoothly."
"Smoothly? This guy…" Josuke kicked the enemy stand user Jason lightly on the leg. "…almost had everyone on that plane killed, including us. Koichi nearly had to crash the plane for heaven's sake!"
"The key word being 'nearly.' We traveled halfway across the world and only met three stand users. I'd call that a success," Jotaro said. "When I was your age, I had already crashed at least two planes…"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever gramps," Josuke laughed. "But, uh… What are we going to do with this guy?" He slapped Jason on the shoulder. The man in question was looking incredibly uncomfortable, surrounded by people he knew could beat his ass in less than a second. It was quite cathartic to watch.
"He didn't even have a fleshbud in him, so… it's probably not a good idea to leave him here," Koichi said. Jason twitched at the sound of the below average heigh teen's voice.
After Koichi had beat him, Josuke had quickly patched up everyone on the plane. Conveniently enough, To Heaven seemed to wipe everyone's' memory from the incident. Using some of his connections, Jotaro had even managed to get Jason a seat on the next plane. Hence, the man was here with them, at Empire City Airport.
"Hmph. Rotten to the core," Jotaro muttered and glared at the man. He glanced at his watch and mumbled something below his breath. "Stay here," he said and grabbed Jason by the arm. "I'll be back in a few minutes." And then he was off, dragging Jason with him into the crowd. The both of them quickly disappeared out of sight, leaving the boys alone.
"So, uh… where was he off to?" Okuyasu asked.
Josuke shrugged. "Who knows? That man is about as expressive as a brick wall." He started looking through his bag.
"He's probably going to meet with one of the Speedwagon Foundation's agents," Koichi said. "They would know how to contain stand users."
"Let's just hope they do a better job with that than with vampires," Josuke mumbled. "Ah, there it is," he said and pulled his phone from the bag. "I should probably call my mom and tell her we got here safe and sound," he explained to the others and pressed the 'On' button. "You know how she can get…"
"No problem," Okuyasu said, and backed off, giving Jouske some room. "I would call my dad, but he can't use the phone."
"Hey, where did you leave him?"
"Oh, in the house my brother bought. He can take care of himself, and Stray Cat keep him company. I asked Tonio to visit him every now and then…"
Josuke zoned out from his friends' conversation and focused on his phone. It was buzzing like crazy. One voice message from home, as well as five messages and three missed calls from Hayato.
"What the hell…?"
xxXXxx
Misfortune, it would seem, followed certain people all throughout their lives. Some people walk in broken shoes until the day they stop walking; Hayato Kawajiri got this dad killed, trapped in a time loop, and then kidnapped by aliens.
Yes, actual aliens. No, seriously.
Let's rewind a bit.
A few hours earlier, in Morioh…
The blue lady returned a few minutes later with an amused smile on her face.
"A very interesting human. Aggressive, but funny." She sat back in front of Hayato. "Unlike you," she said and nodded to the boy. "You're not much fun at all. And much better at holding on to valuable information," she sighed.
"As it turns out," she continued. "Josuke Higashikata is not home at the moment." She fixed her eyes on him. "Do you know where he is?"
Hayato shook his head. Not a lie; he really really didn't know where Josuke was. Which was a good thing, because that meant the blue lady couldn't press him for the information. But if Josuke wasn't at home… where was he?
"Hm… I suppose that makes sense," Lucky mumbled. "Of course; if you knew where he was, you wouldn't have gone to his home, you would have gone directly to wherever he is."
…
"So, um…" the red lady said. Toaster, Hayato thought she was called. "What do we do now?"
"We wait," Lucky shrugged. "I left my invisible friend there to see if she could find something useful. She'll be back in a few minutes, I think."
xxXXxx
Empire City Airport…
Jotaro cursed. Just his luck, he was already late. He pushed his way through the crowd, Jason practically dragged behind him.
"H-hey, hold on, where are we going? What are you going to do to me?"
"Shut it," Jotaro told him. "And if I as much as see one trail of smoke, I'll break your legs."
Jason shut it.
The two pushed and shoved their way through the thickest part of the crowd, leaving a trail of swearing and indignant people behind them. Once they emerged from the sea of people, they found themselves in a slightly less busy section of the airport. This particular corner was reserved for a few modern art pieces to look at while waiting for your plane. Though most people came here for a chance to sit down at one of the benches.
On one of the benches, a bench like any other sat two not very ostentatious people. A woman in a light beige trench coat and dark brown fedora, and a young man in a deep dark purple suit.
"You're late," the woman, Agent Kent of the Speedwagon Foundation, said and stood up.
"I know," Jotaro said. "Got held up in customs."
Agent Kent shook her head. "Really, I thought you knew better by now…" She nodded towards Jason. "That's the perp?"
"Correct," Jotaro said. "Jason Timbuktu. His stand is gaseous in nature. Makes people into violent savages if they inhale it. Very effective in crowds. 'To Heaven' it's called."
"I see… turned the passengers on the plane against you, right?"
"Yes. It works on stands too, so don't let your stand inhale any of it."
Agent Kent's raised her eyebrow. "I didn't know stands could breathe," she said. "How did you find that out?"
"That's not important right now," Jotaro said. He was not super keen on anyone learning of his stupid mistake. The blow to his pride was big enough as it was.
"If you say so," Agent Kent said and shrugged. She quickly scanned the surroundings, before grabbing Jason herself. "Sit," she commanded, and forcibly sat him down on the bench, next to the young man in the suit. From her trench coat, she produced a handheld tape recorder. She proceeded to press it uncomfortably close up in the man's face. "Good. Now summon your stand."
"Wha… but he said that…" Jason's gaze flicked back and forth between Agent Kent and Jotaro.
"Let me guess, he was going to break your legs, right?" Agent Kent asked. "Beleive you me, I can break more than your legs, and I'm telling you to summon your stand." She pressed the 'Record' button on the recorder.
Jason threw Jotaro one last look and gulped. "F-fine," he stuttered. "T-To Heaven!"
xxXXxx
At the other end of the airport...
"Um…" Okuyasu mumbled something. "What was it Jotaro was going to do again?"
"I, uh… I think…. maybe he was going to…" Koichi frowned. "I-I can't remember."
"I think… was there a stand user on the plane?" Josuke weighed in. "I think I might've healed a bunch of people?"
Okuyasu shrugged. "If we can't even remember it, then it was probably not all that important."
xxXXxx
Jotaro blinked. What was he doing here again? He remembered... something had happened on the plane… He was meeting Agent Kent…
"Yare yare…" he muttered. He really hated stands that screwed around with his mind.
"See, now that wasn't so dangerous, now was it?" Agent Kent smiled at the incredibly confused man in front of her.
"W-who the fuck are you?" he spat. "Where am I? What happened?" His breathing speed up. "What the hell is going on?" he said, nearly yelled.
"Tsk," Agent Kent sounded. "Agent Canon, would you…?"
The young man, who had been doing his best to not come off like he had been listening to things he had nothing to do with twitched to life. Behind him appeared a ghastly figure, pale like the moon, partially clad in black, with horns forming a sort of crown on its head. One word was written over and over again in stripes on its body. "GACT."
For one second, maybe less, the stand looked into Jotaro's eyes. Somewhere, deep within him, the marine biologist couldn't help but feel just a bit unnerved. Something about the stand's melting eyes…
The moment lasted only for a second before the stand turned its attention towards Jason.
"Wh-what are you…" The enemy stand user didn't get to finish his sentence. The stand exuded some kind of liquid from its hands. As soon as the white fluid touched him, Jason shut up. His eyes, seemingly, became heavy and closed. His body unconscious, he fell to the side, where the young man gently caught him.
"Freaky, right?" Agent Kent said."Let's go" She put her hand on Jotaro's shoulder. "We have about three minutes before we need to wake him."
The two agents took a few steps away from the bench.
"That's the guy that attacked us on the plane?" he said an nodded towards the currently sleeping man.
Agent Kent nodded. She held up her tape recorder.
"F-fine," came the voice of the enemy stand user form the machine. "T-To Heaven!" And with it, all of Jotaro's memories returned.
"Have I ever told you I hate when you dod that`" he asked his colleague, who snickered.
"Only every time I use my stand," she said. sHe put her recorder back in the inner pocket of her trench coat.
"Who's the kid?" Jotaro asked, nodding to the young man in the suit.. "A new recruit?"
"Yes. We call him 'Canon.' His stand can create some sort of acid that makes people hallucinate. Hence, we have to be quick, it takes less than three minutes for the acid to start digesting our perp."
Jotaro nodded. He couldn't help but feel like there was something strange about the guy's stand… but that would have to wait. For now, he had to focus on the mission. "Any new information on Santana?"
"Yes, actually," Agent Kent said. "You know the two scientists that were in the vault when he escaped? Mr. Bister and Dr. Bright?"
"They found the bodies?"
"More than that. They found them alive."
Now it was Jotaro's turn to raise his eyebrow. "Alive?" he said skeptically. That didn't sound like Santana, or any other vampire he had ever heard or fought before.
"Yep. A bit malnourished and missing some blood, but otherwise fine. Aside from trauma, of course."
"The pillar man wanted information, I assume?"
Correct," Agent Kent said. "Mostly about the power of the arrows, though he wanted to know about the stone of Aja too… he also kept asking about someone called 'JoJo.'"
Jotaro's hands formed into fists. "Joseph Joestar. Is he okay?"
"Yes, he is fine. We got two guards present at all times," Agent Kent said. "He's as safe as anyone can get with that thing out there."
Jotaro didn't feel much assured by her words. "Anything else you have to tell me?"
"Unfortunately not," Agent Kent said. "No news of mysterious disappearances or deaths, or unexplained occurrences from Beach City. I'm guessing the pillar man is laying low for now."
"Which is going to make it a pain to find him," Jotaro sighed. "I guess we should get back to your friend…"
Jotaro stopped when he saw Agent Kent hesitating.
"One thing," she said. "See, I…" she removed her thin glasses, and looked straight into Jotaro's eyes. "See, I actually live just outside Beach City. I left as soon as the news came, but… I have a son there. I realize it's selfish, but if you could take the time to just make sure he's okay, I'd appreciate it."
…
"What's his name?"
"Kevin."
"And he's not a stand user?"
"No. He… doesn't… have the right spirit."
…
"I'll see what I can do."
"Thanks."
xxXXxx
A Few Hours Earlier, in Morioh…
Said and done: A few minutes of waiting later, Hayato could feel the presence of something invisible moving past him and towards Lucky.
Something… was off.
Hayato starred at where he thought Lucky's stand ought to be… He had never been able to see stands before, only other stand users could. But he had been in the presence of several stands and seen their effects. This was… different.
He could have sworn he heard a faint whisper coming from thin air. And Lucky was listening.
"Mhm… I see… how unfortunate," she said to herself. She shook her head in disappointment and stood back up. "Bad news, Toaster," she told the small red woman. "Josuke Higashikata isn't at home, and won't be for a while. We don't know where he is, nor does the human in the house." She started looking for something in her cape.
"But… what do we do then?" Toaster asked.
"We go find him, of course!" Lucky said. She took something from her cape. Hayato wasn't sure what. A pen made from crystal? "Gamma, if you could come and pick us up, that'd be nice," she said to the small tool. Some kind of microphone?
She turned to Hayato. "I'm afraid you'll have to come with us," she told the boy. "Toaster, pick him up."
"Uh…okay," Toaster said. She grabbed the boy and hoisted him above her head.
Hayato struggled the best he could, but the small woman was stronger than anyone her size had any right to be.
"Help! Help me!" he yelled as loud as he could. On some level, he knew that there wasn't much anyone could do… not if the blue lady had a stand, but still. "I'm being kidnapped!" But no one in the sleepy neighborhood heard his screams.
"Oh, so now you talk," Lucky grumbled. She snapped her fingers. "Toaster make him quiet."
"Oh, uh…" the red woman placed her hand over Hayato's mouth, muffling his screams, at least a little.
"Listen here, small human…" Lucky stooped down to his eye level. "I would recommend you calm down. My companion here has a bit of an… explosive temper. She doesn't want to hurt you, but you humans are so fragile, she might by mistake. And that wouldn't be very good, for either of us."
Hayato looked into the blue lady's eyes. He stopped moving and screaming. A tear rolled down his cheek.
"Ah, good!" she said and clapped her hands. "Good to see we understand each other."
In the distance, a wooshing sound was growing louder and louder. Something was falling from the heavens.
xxXXxx
Tuttifrutta "Agent Kent" MacLeod
Supposedly the world's best secret agent. No one remembers who started the rumor.
Stand: Secret Service
Appearance: The stand is bound to an ordinary (if somewhat outdated in today's world) handheld tape recorder.
Notable Powers and Abilities:
•Memory Erasure-Secret Service is capable of erasing any memory it has recorded from any person who has the memory. For example, if Anna at accounting and Fredrik at Finances both saw Tuttifrutta taking the last piece of cake, which was reserved for Irene in Intelligence, Secret Service needs only to record one of them saying they saw the event order to erase it form both of their memory.
This ability is limited, however, as hearing about the erased memory will bring it back to the person hearing it.
•Secret Best- One sub-ability of Secret Service is that it can, by recording when a stand user summons their stand, make them forget all about their stand-even that they have one, and how to summon it. However, hearing the stand's name, or any mention that they might have a stand, or of any event involving their stand will bring the memories back, and with it, the stand.
Stats:
Destructive Power: None
Speed: N/A
Range: The average recording range of such a machine
Durability: Plastic
Precision: Depends on how specific the person is
Development Potential: E
Agent Canon
The newest recruit to join the Speedwagon Foundation's Special Operation Agents. Has a scary-looking stand, but is a polite and mild-mannered individual.
Stand:?
Notable Powers and Abilities:
•Illusion-Creates an acid that traps people in illusions. While useful to contain people, it has the downside that the acid will begin to digest the victim in less than three minutes unless the ability is canceled.
Stats:
Destructive Power:?
Speed:?
Range:?
Durability:?
Precision:?
Development Potential:?
xxXXxx
This Begins JoJo and the Crystal Gems part two: Battle Gem
—To be continued…
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So I saw Change Your Mind and GODDAMMIT! GODDAMMIT Crewniverse! Dammit Rebecca! D-do you have something against me and my fanfiction? When I for once have planned something ahead of time, do you have to go and ruin it in the next episode?
*mutters angrily*
Anyways, great episode/special/mini-movie/faux series finale, 10/10, will watch again.
The thing is, the thing that ruins my thing fit so well into the overarching story and themes of Steven Universe as a whole (and it had some neat animation too), that I can't even be angry at it.
*sighs*
So either it's back to the drawing board, or I'll have to live with contradicting SU cannon big time.
x
Agent Kent is inspired by a TV series I watched as a kid. Her stand, Secret Service is named after Robert Johnson and Punchdrunks' rendition of In Her Majesty's Secret Service (from the James Bond movie of the same name), which was used in the opening of Kent Agent.
Fifty good taste points if you can find the Cornelis Vreeswijk reference.
Something rather magical happened when writing this chapter… I finished, not on deadline, but like…. three days before deadline. I'm not sure what kind of dark magic is behind this, but let's hope it's permanent. Look forward to see the next chapter, Sweet and the Psycho out within the next two weeks. Until then, take care of the planet Earth, and remember that anything can happen in space!
