A/N: Yeah, Another fic! I swear I have a system of balance! I just... don't always use it. Anywho, while I get Guardians of the Galaxy for the PS4, which might tie my hands from writing for a bit, enjoy!
Episode 1: Rebirth
The ancient being grimaced at this turn of events. After being alive for so long, seeing the births and deaths of so many universes, trying to craft the perfect Champion for... well, that's for later – he had thought nothing else could surprise him. But to lose that of all things!?
Stroking his pet dogcan (canine-bird hybrid, FYI), his frown only deepened. "That damned artifact... this might be as bad as that damn mask getting loose in New York. Left unchecked, that entity could cause untold havoc! I need to contain this, but who could I subjugate to such a temperamental-!"
Like lightning, a golden idea strikes him! There were a few warriors that had faced the power of that thing. While the living ones would be preferable, they had already faced their destinies, and subjecting them to even more of its shenanigans was far too cruel.
"However... there are two who fell in that conflict. Maybe..." His thoughts are interrupted by his pet ruffling its feathers and nipping at his sleeves, whining. "You're worried about the options? True, one of them can be very simple, easily swayed when unaware. He has heart and spirit though, and when he's sure he's right, his determination is unshakable.
"And the other one... he was used, possessed, cast away. This does not take away his sadistic streak, nor his violent temper born for the protection of his other-self. One does not simply walk in shadows without becoming accustomed to the dark.
He hums thoughtfully, taking out a two-headed coin, one side scarred with acid. "What will work in this situation? Light or dark? Even I cannot foresee this outcome. Maybe, in this instance, blind fate might be necessary for the best choice..." With that decision, the shady elder being flips the coin into the air…
Narancia opened his eyes. Looking around, he found himself in a very familiar spot: the restaurant he and his comrades had called their headquarters! 'Huh? What's... going on? My head feels... weird. My tongue tastes all coppery. What was I... doing again? Bucciarati was... he wanted us to meet someone? No, we were in Sardinia... or was it Rome? I can't...'
"You might want to take it easy on the whole thinking thing," a comforting deep baritone spoke from across the table. "Coming back from the dead can really mess with the thought process."
'Huh!? That voice...' Narancia knew that voice! Could it be-!? "Bucciarati!" he tried to say, but it came out "Mu-mah-mah!" as he swiveled his head... to find a broad-shouldered stranger sitting in his old capo's spot, drinking from some stone cup.
Let it never be said that Narancia was the most level-headed in certain situations. Weird man sitting in Bucciarati's seat, not even worried he's sitting in what should be known as Passione territory. However, even with his thoughts more jumbled than usual, the sight of such a composed man made him nervous for some reason. Nervous enough that he was willing to wait and see what was going on before jumping in...
"Muh-rah, hmmm hm hmm? Hun-na oh? Cer pu-pu? Jawa? Tarnog? Hmmm henny, so tho tera dully? (Alright, what's going on? Who are you? Where's Bucciarati? Giorno? Trish? Why are you here, and what was that about coming back from the dead?)" He asked.
"Again, I urge you to be patient, young one, for it seems you are still transitioning from there to here," the man spoke, before sipping from the chalice. "As I was saying, you, Narancia Ghirga, have returned from the dead. Tell me, what's the last thing you remember? Think clearly before speaking."
Narancia gave the weird man a puzzled look. 'What's the last thing I remember? Of course, it's-!?' Suddenly, Narancia's thoughts all came back to him. The Coliseum, the talking turtle, promising to go back to school and to see Fugo again, then... nothing. What had happened after that? He was speaking then... something happened to time. 'Only one Stand could do that... Holy shit. I think I died.'
"I deeply apologize for dropping this news on you so callously, but there are more pressing matters to discuss," the figure went on, frown at Narancia's pale complexion now. "You need to think on that memory more. Why were you there? What were you searching for?"
'Wha... what was I- no. What were we searching for. Giorno. Mista. Trish. Bucciarati. We got a tip, an ace to defeat King Crimson. We were there for-'
"The Arrow," the man spoke at the same time Narancia thought it up. "One of many created with the sole use to give others fantastic powers. Stands, like your friends have and you had. Arrows that, as you learned, could make Stands even stronger when said Stand is pierced."
Narancia's mind sharpened at the mention of that Arrow. That had to be it. They were in Rome for a secret technique to stop the mafia boss of Passione. But... what happened after they entered the Coliseum?
For a minute, the boy strains his whole body, urging it to obey him, until- "B-buc... Bucciara... ti. Did he... did they... get that bastard? For... Abbachio? For... Trish?" The effort wore him out and gave him a migraine, but he said it now. The question that was most important right now. The only thing that mattered right now.
"You may rest your mind, young man- ah, I mean bambino. Your group succeeded spectacularly. The user of King Crimson, Diavolo, was defeated. You, nor anyone, will ever have to see him again." The only answer the cryptic man gave was another sip of tea.
"However, our main concern is not your past, but your future. I did not rouse you for idle chatter, young man." As the man snapped his fingers, the scene of the familiar restaurant faded away... to reveal a scene of utter carnage and destruction. For miles around, there was nothing but lava and hollowed-out buildings.
"Wha-?" Narancia gasps before coughing at stressing his throat.
"What you see is a world ravaged by an invader – an entity that should not exist in it naturally," the man spoke disdainfully. "As you have experienced its effects first hand, and were the one I deemed with the most potential, I have a favor to ask. Go to this parallel Earth, bring the Entity that was lost and I will give you a wish in return!" the man announced in a grand manner.
Maybe this grinning guy was expecting Narancia to fall over himself for some no-strings-attached reward, but Narancia, whether he noticed or not, had gotten a little smarter as he and the others traveled across Italy. And something about this... deal didn't sit right with him.
"So... you're like... some sort of genie? Or is it... some sort of Stand?" the revived youth mused lightly... before sharpening his gaze at the man. "That's such... bullshit! You expect me... to believe that... you'll grant... any wish? Like... Hell! There has to... be some kind of... trick! And if... could do that?" Narancia continued, wheezing with every breath but steadily getting stronger, "then why the hell... do you need me? Either you... can't beat this... freaky entity, or... you can and choose to sit on... your ass!"
The man does not frown or even look upset. In fact, he seems almost proud that you had said all that. "Impressive. Only just been brought back alive, and already thinking critically! I was worried the process would slow you down, but this is exceptional! You are perceptive, Narancia Ghirga. You deliver a fair question; if I can do something as impossible as raising the dead or sorcery that breaks the laws of the known universe, why can't I just snap my fingers and bring this Entity to heel?
"The truth of the matter is, young man, that this Entity has the gift of strengthening others. After immediately slipping through my fingers, someone came into contact with it. This Entity immediately gave this man the power to hide from even my senses." The man's smile grows fainter as he looks upon the young man. "The reason I cannot handle this myself is, the minute the Entity escaped, he created a being strong enough to illude me. If I were to go head-to-head against now, I suspect what was left of this world would cease to be."
"Are you... kidding me!?" Narancia's voice got stronger as his breathing became less labored. "I couldn't even beat the Boss... but you expect me to beat someone stronger than him!? Screw that! Fugu once told me... that if you can't find something... find where it's not! Maybe not exactly how he said it, but... if you're really that powerful, couldn't you find where this guy is... but looking where he's not!
The enraged and recently-resurrected young man stood up on shaky legs, yet still stood firm, even through labored breath. "Either you're stronger than him or not! Either you're scared of him or screwing with me! I can't see it any other way! Either you're sending me after a guy you can't face because you're scared, or you can't be bothered to clean up your damn mess!"
The minute he finished, Narancia keeled over, leaning on the table and coughing as if his life depended on it. The man pushed some water his way, which he hesitated for only a moment to drink, before swigging it down. Once he drained the glass, the man spoke up. "Your conclusions are correct. If I was serious about this, I could have come up with any number of other ideas but to handle this dilemma. However, I found this option most advantageous because the Entity is this-"
With a snap of his fingers, a ghostly image formed... into a very familiar shape of an unpredictable Arrow. Narancia chokes, glad to have finished drinking. "T-that's-!"
"And the world he fell into was his," the man turns to the destroyed landscape, and Narancia is forced to follow as the smoky image flies through the air and vanishes and reforms into a battered and burned man standing in ground zero of the wreckage. "Narancia Ghirga, this is Cole MacGrath. To know what is happening, you must know his story."
As the man began to speak, the smoke responded making images. Cars, buildings, and the same burned-up man from before, perfectly fine, as he pedaled his bike through traffic. "Cole MacGrath was much like you, young Narancia – full of passion and determination, wanting to stretch out past his family's pull. In a bid for his independence, he became a courier, delivering goods all around Empire City. Until... destiny arrived for him, sooner than expected."
Cole arrived at the same place as before, but still intact. He pulled out a box that had instructions to be opened at that spot. He did so, and pulled out a large glowing orb... that pulsed and glowed before bathing the world in light and noise! "His last package had much more... explosive contents. A Ray Sphere, capable of spreading incredible amounts of a most potent radiation across the whole of the metropolis! The young man may have survived, but he was forever changed!"
The scene changed to Cole in a hospital bed. As he sat up suddenly, electricity arced from his hands and blasted the lights and the walls, causing his nurse and doctor to hit the floor or risk being fried! "As you see, Cole was a Conduit, a select few individuals with the power of the cosmos at their fingertips. Sound familiar? In the following weeks after his change, Cole faced challenges on many fronts: gang wars between at least three different factions, betrayal from his closest allies, and above all else..."
The scene showed various figures fighting each other, as well as a man and a woman looking sad and facing away from the fighting. Standing above it on the rooftop, was an old man, with glowing eyes and a face that spoke of much tragedy. "Kessler, a version of Cole from a dark future. In a bid to make his past self stronger, Kessler traveled back in time to train Cole to make harder choices and fight smarter than he had. His reason came a few weeks after a climactic battle between the present and future."
As the world changed, Narancia was forced to look up... and nearly shat himself at the giant monster looking down on him! "A creature held together by purpose and will, practically made of Ray Energy– The Beast. In order to battle it, Cole pushed himself to his very limits! When he wasn't trying to keep the peace between Conduits and Humans, he was forging new bonds and new powers. In the end, it took everything Cole had to topple The Beast, and though he fell, he left a better and stronger world for it."
The next scene showed Cole charging up a different but similar orb, before releasing the energy. The scene faded, The Beast screaming as the energy tore it apart and Cole, wearing a content but sad smile. The forms were replaced by three figures, one with firing smoke from his hands, a girl launching a laser beam, and above them, a towering winged figure, a small boy standing in his hands.
"While most of society still shuns Conduits, many during and after Cole's time have only perpetuated the idea that all people, human or otherwise, deserve to be treated equally. Unfortunately, ten years have passed for those individuals, and a threat they cannot handle is upon their world."
"That is where you come in," the mysterious old man wrapped up, the wisps dispersing and blowing away into nothing, so they were back in the restaurant. "I am not a Stand user, and while your own power of Aerosmith is not available to return, I was able to return your eyes." Narancia was unsure how his eyes were important, but was too engrossed in hearing everything else to think too much on it.
"I've also equipped you with some Conduit powers, as compensation for the loss of your wings. With these tools, and the uncanny ability Stand users have to attract other users, I have every confidence you can handle this. Once you find the Entity, immobilize its chosen defender, and safely secure it, I will grant you any boon in my power, and that includes a second chance at life with your friends in your home dimension. Now, will that suffice, or do you still think I should still 'do it my damn self?'" the being finished, his smile glowing at full force.
To say Narancia was struck dumb was an understatement. Maybe he had been expecting the man to cave on demand, or at least act like a shitty bastardi so he could pummel him. But this? This was not what he was expecting… "You... you really brought me back to life? And you can really grant wishes?" A cold sweat broke out on the mafioso's skin. "What the hell even are you!?"
At that outburst, the man gave a soft chuckle. "Now, now. I have to keep some secrets to myself."
Narancia nodded unconsciously, deciding that was a question he could shelve. "So, I can't use my Stand, huh?" He looked down at his hands and swallowed. Aerosmith had been like a part of him; Fugu explained Stands to him, but all he remembered is it's supposed to be part of your soul… Shaking off those dark thoughts, he looks up again. "But you said I had powers. So, what can I do?"
"Well," the old man looked thoughtful before answering. "I was waiting until you woke up there, but I can still explain it to you. Due to what you'll be facing, I decided to give you the Thunderstorm package."
"Thunder... storm?" Narancia looks at the man puzzled. "So, I can find storms?"
"Ah, no, dear boy. You will have the combined powers of electrokinesis and smoke."
"Electro? Kin? Smoke? So, I can make an electric family member from smoke? Still sounds like you're describing Stands…"
"...Maybe a demonstration would be best." With no warning, the wicked creep threw a knife at him!
"Whoa shit!" was all Narancia could say as he held his hands up to block-
BZZZT!
And watched as lightning leaped from his fingertips, blasting the knife away. Narancia's eyes widened as he looked at his smoking static-generating hands, the smell of burning ozone in the air. "Whoa... I... I can shoot lightning!" Narancia's awe quickly turned to anger though. "And that's how you tell me, you cazzo!?" Without thinking of the consequences, he chucks more Arc Lightning at the grinning man-
Only for him to appear at Narancia's left side with an arm draped around his shoulders. The lightning had long since stopped, a small scorching of the wall was the only proof of its existence. 'T-the hell!? That was-!'
"Your next line is, 'Time Stop!? I thought you weren't a Stand user!'" the man said idly, as he checked his nails. The very calm reaction not only served to piss the new Conduit off but gave him a sense of nagging chill... He yelled the first thing to come to mind-
"Time Stop!? I thought you weren't a Stand user- huh!?" The man could only laugh at Narancia's perplexed face.
"My apologies, young man, I did not mean to scare you! But I must rush you, as our time grows short." Narancia barely had any time to wonder about that, as he was led to the front door of the restaurant. "Everything you need to know will come to you, once you've Woken Up. You have my utmost confidence."
"W-what!? Hey, but I never agreed-!"
"Now I understand your trepidation, but I'm afraid the steps to put you in the one place I can be sure you will attract the most attention have already been taken. This has all been formality, to make sure the process of resurrection didn't have any... nasty side effects." As the boy got closer to the door, the room around the pair got dimmer, so only the door was visible as they continued toward it.
"W-wait!" Narancia called out. "How do I even find this bastard!? What the hell am I looking for!?"
"Don't worry, I have every confidence you will find him," the (annoying) man (unhelpfully) supplied. "Just be yourself, trust your gut, and don't be afraid to use your head now and then. Until then, mind the drop."
"Mind the- shit, fuck!" The door swung open to reveal a swirling, silver miasma, surrounding the door in a tornado of ethereal energies.
"Sorry about the surprise!" the 'genie' called over the haunting and powerful winds. "The Astral Realm can be a bit unsettling! You won't have to see it long, so just forget anything you see!"
That was all the warning Narancia got before being shoved out into the literal ether! "I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS WHEN I'M DONE WITH THIIIIIIIS!" was all he could yell as he tumbled ass over teakettle down into the depths of somewhere, all the while planning on finding a way around time-like powers… and how to shove a thousand g $damn knives into said time manipulating bastardi!
Narancia opened his eyes. Looking around, he found himself in… some room he did not recognize. It had a bed, which he was now sitting up in, a mini-fridge, some movie posters on the wall, and a desk. As he carefully gets up, he tries to think about the strange dream he had last night… Something about… the beginning of Conduits? "Must be all that studying for History or something. Feels like it's giving me a headache." His hand reaches for his knife, but there's nothing in his pocket. "Huh? Wait… where did I…" He looks over to the poster for the Godfather. "Oh yeah! I forgot!" He walks over to the poster, feels behind it, before pulling out his butterfly knife.
ECU has a strict no-weapons policy, what with crime in the greater area bad enough already. Any student caught with one could with faced with a suspension from the current semester or expulsion altogether. Narancia was warned about it before coming, but this was his favorite knife! No way he was going to leave it all the way in Keystone City! After stowing his knife in a pocket only he could find it, he frowned at how dry he felt his throat was. Wandering over to the fridge, he opened it to see not much in it, but a few bottles of water, and a sticky note on the freezer side. 'Important! Class is at 10 am! Don't be late! Again! -T'
"Huh? 'T?'" He frowned; who was T again? Maybe it was short for T.A.? Frowning at his unhelpful memory, he wanders over to the desk. While his laptop and phone were expected (although, they looked… tough and more expensive? The hell?), the mouthpiece and fist-sized cylinder were not there last night… "Oh, right! That's my rebreather and biocapacitor! How'd I forget?" Narancia laughs at his silly memory! Of course, he had a rebreather and biocapacitor! He'd need it for… for-! In a flash, Narancia's memories hit.
He was a college student in Empire City, which due to the high crime rate, lack of governmental assistance (which was a word that Narancia was shocked to learn he knew the definition of!), and poor urban development since The Beast leveled the place, meant that housing, tuition, and gas were cheap.
Third-generation Italian American, Narancia Ghirga was doing his best at Empire City University, doing moderately well in school and living his best life. At least until his Conduit powers activated – and both Smoke powers and Electricity at that! This wouldn't be a huge problem if he weren't living in a city that had been tormented by powerful Conduits, and was basically a refuge for humans who would sooner shoot a 'bioterrorist' than shake hands with them.
But he was living in Empire City. That was known for just that. Meaning Narancia now had to go to class, avoid blowing normal people up, find an Arrow that was probably as powerful as the one in your world in the hands of one really powerful asshole, avoid becoming a statistic (another new word!) in some random mugging, and not garter enough attention to gain a lynch mob.
"Maledetto stronzo!" Narancia yelled, his scream scaring birds and people miles away from campus. This was going to be a long year for Narancia Ghira, former mafioso, interdimensional traveler, student, and Conduit.
To Be Continued...
A/N: So, thoughts? Feel free to leave any comments - I'm open to constructive criticism! Have a nice day!
