Marshall winced a little as he tested out the mobility of his leg after the doctor had patched it up with superglue and butterfly bandages. It was definitely going to be an issue moving forward but in the short term it was at the least usable. He pushed himself off the bed holding back a small cry of pain as his leg began to hold his body weight. It certainly wasn't the worst pain he had ever been in, that went to the grenade that put him in the hospital. Then of course there was MK-Ultra 908 that he had been convinced to take, based on the promise of returning him to combat, but all it had accomplished was getting him a medical discharge and a stand. He snapped out of his memories as the door clicked open and the bandaged form of Joy and the bruised frame of John walked in. His eyes followed Joy as she dropped down into a chair and winced and he turned to John when his voice broke the silence. "How are you holding up?"

Marshall put some more weight on his leg and held back a wince, "I'll be able to work with it."

Joy suddenly spoke up," Sorry to jump into this, but what the hell are we doing next?"

There was an awkward silence as Marshall just paused for what felt like a minute. John reached for the cigarettes in his shirt pocket but quickly remembered they were in a hospital and stopped halfway, and then Marshall spoke up," We are just going to make our way to the next address and prepare for combat."

Joy looked confused, but in Marshall's head it was the only viable option. Despite how it had turned out with three of them suffering a not so small amount of injuries, they had still taken down three of his subordinates. He had also had a fair chance to take down Mortis, but he had taken bad information on what Mortis's stand was capable of. So if they were to engage again, he would certainly pull out everything in order to get closer to winning. Marshall went to speak again but John cut back in," Despite how we ended up, three subordinates went down and we were able to learn and deal some damage to Mortis."

Marshall continued the idea," As he said we were able to shake things up, but also there really is no other option. We have no backup to rely on and if we take too long Mortis will accomplish the second project and disappear into one of the other branches. So the only way to really remove Mortis is to get him now, when he is fully focused on completing the project and down several subordinates."

Joy adjusted her posture before giving a slight nod as the logic set in. If they took too long and he succeeded he would just disappear into one of his organizations other branches, like drugs or small arms dealing, and probably leave the country as well. It was something Marshall couldn't accept, a complete failure of an operation. His main dilemma was how much danger he was putting Joy in, but at the same time she had agreed to put her life on the line, He took a breath to wrangle his nerves," Let's look at everything we know before making a plan."

John jumped in first," Well, it's an address in Bath. Belongs to One Medical Manufacturing, which was one of the companies that had been funneling from the group that hired me."

Marshall leaned against a wall and thought over the information, slotting it into place like a puzzle. First off the company had to have ties to Mortis in some way, which would explain some of the medical equipment, but also it told him that this wasn't a surgery location. This was based on conjecture, but the fact that John was able to recall that the company was manufacturing focused made it sound as if it was simply a holding warehouse for materials. That begged the question of why Mortis would stop there when he has a group of people on his heels, which meant it was essential. " It's likely that he has to stop there for something necessary which means that Mortis will be down in numbers, and now we know what his ability is."

Joy grunted before interjecting," That's great and all but I have questions about that Free guy."

Marshall sighed since he had figured that this was coming. Joy hated being beaten and even more so hated pity," Based on the name you gave It seems that when I got you out of Green Dolphin Street they transferred another inmate in. Free was that inmate but according to prison records he died in the swamps after an attempted prison escape.``

"I guess he didn't get eaten alive, but how the hell did he end up with Mortis? I mean that psycho seemed to only recruit failed gangsters and other violent assholes." Joy commented thinking back to Owen Spring, Priest, Leen, and even that Rob guy.

John cut in, beating Marshall to it," I think it was for a different purpose , I mean I found traces of him and Leen when I investigated the missing medical supplies but nothing really about Mortis until...well."

Marshall picked up as John trailed off," Mortis recruiting him for his connections makes the most sense, it most likely benefited the smuggling group with being able to fence goods."

John seemed to accept the info and was ready to move on, but Joy cut back in," Wait, this just hit me now, why the hell are we going for Mortis? I mean all the other parts of the organization are basically independent, so what does putting him away do?"

Marshall responded immediately," The total organization may be segmented in their operations and personnel, but the one thing keeping each division from going independent and falling apart is the total fear of Mortis."

He trailed off and Joy continued the thought," If Mortis goes they'll start cannibalizing each other."

John spoke up suddenly," I wonder if we'll be able to use that with Free, since it seems like he's playing the middle."

Marshall found some merit with the point, especially since there was little other reason for him to leave Joy and Seth alive otherwise. The pragmatic part of Marshall understood it as the best possible tactic for somebody with almost no options; Since he can't leave Mortis despite the insanity of his project he'll let them keep fighting until he can feel out the odds. The only issue with thinking about that is-"We just need to hope that no one manages to sway him over," Joy commented.

Free walked into the warehouse in a slightly good mood, mostly due to the fact that he had managed to shave two hours off the eighteen hour drive. Really just being out of an enclosed space with that psychopath put him in a better move. He snapped out of his thoughts and kicked the door shut, making sure the security lock actually clicked into place. He turned back around and quickly made his way after Mortis, who was homing in on the far corner. He was actually able to recognize some of the crates as things he had stolen, mostly firearms or drugs but a few pieces of art as well.

He stopped walking as Mortis dropped to his knees, quickly summoned his stand and had it rip apart the vent. Free was confused as Mortis reached his arm into the vent, but it quickly alleviated as a golden gun came out. He winced slightly as phantom pain raced through his chest, a grim memory of his induction into this mess. He snapped out of it when Mortis suddenly shot up holding the gun with an odd look in his eyes. He expected his boss to say something, but Mortis suddenly spun around and pointed the gun directly at him.『SMOOTH CRIMINAL』exploded to life and Free was moving almost immediately, but Mortis just chuckled before commenting, "It's like it wants to shoot you….interesting."

『SMOOTH CRIMINAL』disappeared as Mortis tucked into his waistband and Free responded dumbly," What?"

Mortis ignored the question and walked past him into the maze of crates and medical equipment snapping him out of his 'shock'. Free quickly caught up with a few long strides and began to glance around the warehouse. He actually was able to recognize a few of the crates as things that he had stolen, most of them coming from jobs he had done with what they called a narcotics division. He felt a little annoyance overcome him at the mere thought of those morons but he squashed it as Mortis paused to examine one of the stacks. Mortis cast him a side eye before asking, "Free, what exactly do you know about the gun?"

"It's what allows you to make stands," Free knew it was an awful answer, but that was all he really knew about it. Most of what he did was just hunt down equipment and valuable things that the organization could use, so he never really paid attention to what Mortis did. Hell, all he actually knew about what Mortis current goal was that it involved creating artificial stands, which even he could tell was slightly insane but he had few options. It was really either work with Mortis and his massive criminal empire, or try to outrun said empire that he didn't like his odds against. In fact, those FBI schmucks were lucky that they were so spread out compared to normal, mostly due to a small group reeking destruction in Mexico.

Mortis chuckled before turning to another pile of items," In 1978 there was an official report detailing a meteorite with a virus that seemed to only exist to kill humans, however a look into history...well mythology rather, reveals the use of these things to achieve the power of the gods-"

Free warily followed Mortis as he continued to speak-no continued to rant about the mystic history of the weapon. He zoned out a little bit for the history lesson and a worrying amount of fantasizing over somebody whose name he never said, but he came back into it when Mortis suddenly brought up how the arrow...gun….fuck it, gun operated;"-also depends on the will of the person, and it seemingly attracts to those with strong wills almost bending gravity to make these events happen."

Free raised an eyebrow at the concept but just sort of accepted it, something he had been doing often since he had gotten a stand. Hell, Mortis could manipulate corpses somehow. It was honestly just easier to accept whatever was happening and just find a way to deal with it.

Mortis suddenly stopped and began to examine one of the piles, before gesturing for Free to clear it off. He obliged and started before asking," What exactly is this, because all you said was that it was something we had to get."

Mortis chuckled as Free struggled with one of the smaller crates," It's called MK-Ultra 908 and it was a failed effort to make a powerful mind altering drug."

He moved the last of the things on top and Mortis walked over to open it, revealing over a hundred vials. "All the drug seemed to do was cause the taker to suffer intense pain, hallucinations, hot flashes, vomiting, and muscular dystrophy leading to a fairly high mortality rate." Mortis picked one up and held it to his eye," However, due to the use of a specific virus….thirty-nine percent in the initial testing survived and then manifested a stand."

Free couldn't help but stare wide eyed at the vials, while his mind ran through the possibilities. Having control over the drug brought forward new possibilities in regards to recruiting new stand users. Especially since this lead to a more controlled application and delivery as well as being significantly easier to control. He grabbed a vial and felt the weight while a single thought ran through his head, 'Consider me swayed.'

Mortis turned away from Free and let out a small sigh. It hadn't been his first plan to show Free the MK-Ultra, but he was in a position where he needed full dedication. He found it rather unfortunate that his most loyal members were preoccupied with other tasks, but it was the only way to ensure his criminal enterprise didn't fall apart. He did take solace in the fact that Free was still unaware of some of the other facts about the drug; They had managed to raise the success rate to forty-five but there were persisting health issues. But in the scheme of things it was still annoying to reveal his major bargaining chip.

The sound of the door unlocking caught both their attention, but Mortis made sure that Free placed the vial he had been examining back into the crate before turning to face. He wasn't greeted with anything but the grating sound of a jaunty whistle, which gave him all the information he actually needed. A few seconds of annoyed silence between Free and himself later and around a corner came Jet.

Mortis had to hold back a growl of annoyance as he took in the wrinkled and unkempt police uniform, though he didn't know what he expected. Jet was a member of the narcotics group but proved himself problematic by killing several hostages because 'they pissed him off' among multiple other incidents. The only reason Mortis hadn't killed him in a fit of rage was because Jet had a useful stand and was still somewhat useful as a guard dog. Mortis leveled a glare as Jet spoke up," Well, if it isn't the boss and the great left hand. What brings you to my neck of the woods"

Mortis reached into his coat and pulled out a file giving the statistics of both Marshall and the girl, and then his conjectures on the large man and the other one. " Two simple jobs, Idris will be showing up in five minutes and you need to make sure that the MK-Ultra transfers with no issues-"

"Sounds easy enough to handle," Jet cut in while grabbing the folder.

"Second I need you to...deal with a group that's in pursuit of us. The folder contains some observations and descriptions of their abilities," Mortis continued after the interruption.

Jet grabbed the folder and looked at it disinterestedly before asking," So where exactly are you guys heading?"

"Somewhere I'm not willing to tell you," responded Mortis smoothly.

Jet let out a childish sigh," You can't let me have any fun can you?"

Suddenly his stand appeared; a humanoid figure colored blue and gray with what resembled sunglasses covering the eyes. Though the most interesting part was the x's that covered the 'mouth' and skin. Mortis shook his head and just walked right past him towards the door with Free following right behind. Mortis felt the stand watching him as he exited, but he wasn't too worried. Jet's stand worked best when you didn't know how it worked and were susceptible to its ability, but since Mortis knew that and 『CREEPING DEATH』could easily overpower it…..He knew he was safe.

Free and he exited the building and made it back to the truck before Free spoke," So why the hell are we trusting him, and not getting anyone else?"

Mortis wondered that a little himself, but really couldn't recall any operatives without weakening any of the other groups. The narcotics group was very understaffed, smuggling was dealing with a yakuza group in Japan, and pulling Idris away from the enforcement group crippled their ability to efficiently handle some of the hits they received. Truthfully he had worked himself into this corner, but he still had useful pawns in Free, Valentino if he wakes up, and maybe he could contract with Lulu for enough money if things got desperate. The only benefit to having Jet deal with it was that his back was 'against the wall'…" Jet is an awful operative, but at the least he is an excellent guard dog. Especially with his ideal 'cushy life' on the line."

That was really why Mortis despised Jet the most, aside from his utter inability to work within a larger group; His complete lack of motivation. Jet was content with just having a secure and wealthy style of living. He had no drive or incentive to better his station or even better the organization and that lead to his impulsive decisions, since they didn't impact his station. At the least everybody that worked under him wanted more, which meant they indirectly bettered the organization with their drive. Even Free, despite playing both sides, was responsible for an increase in their overall control because he was able to get into places and steal important documents and goods. All Jet ever did was ensure that the pace remained the same and that really grated Mortis the wrong way, since he constantly kept going forward.

He snapped out of his thoughts when the truck started up and they pulled into the road, heading off towards the final part of his life's work.

Joy jogged off the tarmac wincing at the soreness in her body. They had decided to charter a plane in order to make up the time….again. Though she really couldn't focus on the moment at hand, mostly since her mind kept going back to the beginning. That damn smirk was burnt into her mind along with the shine coming off that damn gun. It honestly was still infuriating to this day that she couldn't do anything. She had always been bigger and taller than most kids her age and tended to make use of her size to both get what she wanted and to be useful. Having all that power ripped out from under her made her feel very small and useless, kind of how she was feeling right now.

She couldn't help but flash back to the most recent fight with Free and how thoroughly she had been dominated. She had managed to get a few shots in with her new style of chain, but in the end he was able to endure it. It really made her wonder if this was the end of her stand's potential, but some part of her felt like she was standing on the edge of something. It was like when she first got her stand and thought that 『ALICE IN CHAINS』was only able to make chains out of metal, but then she found she could use other solids instead. With the recent development of being able to use things like water and air, it really felt like she still had room to push her stand farther. She rolled her shoulders and winced a little as her birthmark burned, something it had only started doing it in 1988. It was a curious little issue but it wasn't something she was too worried about…since there were more pressing issues. She snapped out of her musings when Seth cut in," So I need to ask, What exactly are we expecting going forward? I mean the kid, Leen, and whoever Marshall faced were taken down?"

Joy had to hold back a snide comment about 'that fucker Free', mostly to save her own ego, and listened to Marshall," Realistically we are probably going to have to deal with some of the narcotics group...though that is all conjecture since those are the members we know the least about. But the enforcement group is always busy and we have confirmed intel that the smuggling group is overseas."

Joy vaguely recognized the groups listed from reading one of Marshall's' heavily detailed packets that she had skimmed, but even then she never really thought about how large the criminal empire was. She had only really focused on Mortis himself and let the rest stay to the side, but it did make sense given how much money and sway Mortis seemed to have. An awful part of her respected the ability of Mortis to build this American crime empire, but that was quickly squashed down by the human side of her. Suddenly John cut in getting her attention," Is it possible he could have overseas help or something?"

It was something Joy hadn't considered, but given what she knew of Mortis it was impossible. Marshall echoed her thought process," Mortis is too paranoid of somebody outside his control learning his process. It's also the reason why he only informs few of his operatives of where the other groups are operating."

"Like that kid with the car and the convoy," Seth answered."

Joy cut back in," Yeah it's why he actually talked with me instead of immediately attacking me."

She thought back to that moment and for some reason his name jumped back into her head; Zieger. She honestly felt bad for him in a way since Marshall had gotten a file on him from a field office. She had read over it and learned that he had a history of street racing and some illegal modifications. She guessed he got into stealing cars and had stolen the wrong one and gotten Mortis eye, which now meant that he had a death sentence. She wondered if maybe she could get him a more lenient sentence and maybe parole because it didn't seem like he killed anybody or handled anything else really bad for Mortis. She figured part of it was seeing somebody who had been dragged into this like her, but maybe she could offer him a hand to get out of it, to redeem himself.

Rob Zieger cracked his neck as his handcuffs clinked and jangled in the back of the transfer bus. This was his second transfer today on the orders

of the FBI Special Circumstances Unit, which he didn't know even existed until an agent showed up and told him what was happening. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised that there was an FBI group dedicated to investigating stand based crime or what not, but it really took him for a loop when the agent brought up his stand. He leaned back against the wall of the transport and sighed, 'Not sure if it's going to do anything when Mortis guns it for me.'

He honestly wasn't sure what was worse; the constant threat on his life from Mortis or the fact that he was looking at life in prison and because of his association with Mortis….which was going to be a short life. Personally he thought it was bullshit because he wasn't even aware of half of what Mortis was doing. Hell, when the agent brought up some sort of Project Living Colour he had thought they were talking about some new movie or something. He opened his eyes and looked towards the front and felt a spark of joy as the divider between the front and the back was open. He glanced around and moved forward when he realized that nobody else had been loaded in the back. 'Like hell I'm going down without a fight."

He squeezed his arms through the divider before working his shoulders through. He heard voices approaching and pushed a little harder getting both hands around the steering wheel. The familiar transformation started as Rob took the shifting to get his entire body into the driver seat. He immediately slammed his foot down and took off as the voices in the background screamed in surprise. As he floored it he couldn't help but reflect on the stupid crash tht got him here. He had been trying to drift around a corner but he had lost it and slid into a white van that happened to be owned by Mortis. That psycho had been pissed and had shot him with that damn golden pistol, but he had lived somehow and then found himself employed by a complete psychopath with a gun to his head. Now though his only option was to run and hope that Mortis was taken down. He somewhat hoped that girl he had encountered was able to get it done...but he wasn't going to get his hopes up.

-STAND STATS- 『?』

User: Jason Jet

Strength:C

Speed: C

Range: D

Durability: A

Precision: B

Potential: A

『?』is a humanoid stand that consists of a human body. The torso resembles a ballistic vest colored a deep navy blue that flows into a slightly lighter calf area. The arms, face, and leg from the knee down are all colored metallic gray. Where the mouth should be there are a series of x's that pattern along the grey colored parts. For its ability…..to be determined

User History: Jason Jet was a street punk who jumped ship on his original gang to join up with the narcotics group. There he was a mid level member who did half of his job, but he fell out of favor when the narcotics group started to expand. Mostly due to his insistence on keeping the group small in order to keep his life simple and easy, something that went against the rest of the members. He then ruined three simple operations by acting out without actually thinking, and nearly got himself almost killed by Mortis before he was put on permanent guard duty in order to keep the stands ability for interrogations.