"Well,well,well. Looks like these guys tried to hide themselves inside this turtle.",Cendrillion smirked as she turned the turtle upside down.
"ARRGHH!!! H-hold on!",Mista grunted as he struggled to hold on to the closet door which was made more difficult with Fugo holding onto his leg. Sheila E held onto the cupboards that are attached to the wall with all her strength, struggling to keep her grip.
"Look! They're holding on to the stuff inside! Hah!", Cararo chuckled as he looked underneath the upside down carapace of the tortoise.
"MIISTTAAA!!!!", the Sex Pistols yelled, still in captivity and unable to move under the influence of Cararo's stand.
"Shut up!"
"C'mon Cendrillion, crush them to smithereens together with that fuckin' turtle. These little shitstains is starting to get annoying!"
"Pshh. Fine."
"Mista! Do you trust me?", Fugo asked still clinging onto Mista's right leg.
"We don't have time for that Fugo!"
"Dammit! I have a plan! I want you to let go of the door!"
"Why?!"
"Just do it!"
Mista looked down on Fugo while biting his lip and hesitated before eventually letting go of the door.
"Mista! Fugo!" Sheila E yelled as she saw Mista and Fugo falling down the from their position.
"NOW, PURPLE HAZE!!!", Fugo yelled as his Purple Haze materialized outside the turtle.
"WHAT THE FUCKIN HELL IS THAT?!", Cararo stumbled back causing him to toss the turtle out of shock as he saw Purple Haze. The drooling and vile looking stand stood infront of them with Fugo and Mista at it's side. Mista caught the reptile and held it close.
"Ooh~ you got some savage looking stand there. Seems like our Intel was right. I suppose you're Pannacotta Fugo and that rabid looking stand is Purple haze. Is it true that your stand is a living virus?", Cendrillion mocked with her maniacal smile wider than before.
Fugo kept silent while Mista readied his gun with a frown.
Shit! I only have four bullets left! , he cursed to himself as he bit his lip.
"Sooo~ what are you guys waiting for,hm? Are we just going to stand here boys?", Cendrillion rolled her eyes as she materialized her stand beside her.
"pfft! hahahaha haha", Fugo laughed suddenly out of the blue. Mista and every one in the room looked at Fugo in confusion as he continued to smile.
"What's so funny huh?"
"Catch!"
Crack* Fshhh...*
Fugo threw one of Purple Haze's virus capsules towards Cendrillion while Mista timed Fugo's throw and fired all his remaining bullets towards Cararo's direction—not wasting the distraction that Fugo had created and with hopes that luck will be on their side.She stumbled a few steps away—the virus was released infront of her as her body slowly rot away. Her flesh was slowly consumed by the virus and it's only seconds til the effect fully end her life.
Fugo's observation of how far she is standing from him gave him the idea that she's playing safe and keeping a good distance away from Purple Haze. A straight up Checkmate...
The Sex Pistols were freed as Cararo's body lay on the floor. But... Something's not right? Is that it?
Fugo, Mista and the tortoise fled to the window as quickly as they could before the virus from the early attack got to them.
"Whoa, we've actually made it." Mista said.
"I know. But is that really it?"
"Yeah... Wait. Hey Sheila, you okay in there?", Mista looked inside the key and found Sheila E looking up at him with a scowl.,"Goddamit assholes! Please tell me what's the plan before free falling from the turtle next time, for the love of God!", she yelled towards them. Mista smiled gave a small chuckle.
"It still bugs me off that the fight is that easy."
"Yeah, by the way... Fugo? Fugo? Fugo?!",Mista looked around. "He's just here a while ago! Where's— When did—!"
"Huh? Fugo? Mista?Guys? What's happening?", Sheila E called out from inside the turtle but there is no reply. Sheila smelled a different scent in the air. It's not Mista neither it is Fugo nor the ones that attacked them. It smelled very odd... It's two unfamiliar scents. The first one smelled faint but this... This other scent is very strong.
It smelled sweet. Suffocatingly sweet. Suddenly her body felt heavy as she felt that she's starting to get somewhat suffocated. She felt that her lungs were like drowned under a crushing pressure and the air around her felt like sand paper when she breathed.
She tried to pull out her stand and to make her escape but the more she moved, the more her body felt like it's being squeezed from the inside—she can no longer stand and then Sheila E. collapsed on the floor with her struggling for air.
"dormi bene..."
(Sleep tight...)
"Giorno, I think that I should go back to Italy."
"Why?"
"Why?!" Trish suddenly blurted out loudly. She saw Giorno's expression unfazed while Josuke's looking at her with a worried face,"Ahem... I mean is that... I am really worried about them. What if they're being a target too? What if..."
Giorno sighed and grabbed Trish on the shoulders to gently settle her back to her seat. "Trish, calm down. I have trust in them. There's no room for jumping into conclusions if ever your gut feel is right then we must startegize and jumping right onto the fire is not an option. Remember, we are Passione."
Trish grit her teeth out of frustration and breathed out a heavy sigh. She hated to admit it but Giorno is right. The Famiglia will end if all of them were took out at once.
"Ah, Giorno, glad you made it on time." Dr. Kujo said as he walked out from his office.
"Yes, we're still adjusting on our new place though..", Giorno gave a weary smile towards Dr. Kujo.
"Is that so? Anyway, we will meet someone today. He's a colleague of mine and he's one of the foundation's professors. He handles the research related to your condition."
"Well then let's go.", Josuke said after standing from his seat.
"I'm afraid that Giorno is the only one needed. You and Ms. Una can wait for us in my office."
"But—", Trish tried to protest but Giorno tapped her shoulder with reassurance and gave her a glance.
"No, it's okay Trish. I'll go. Shall we go Dr. Kujo?"
Jotaro nodded and then walked away with Giorno following behind him.
Trish watched him and Dr. Kujo walk away with her eyebrows knotted in a worried manner.
"Ms.Trish? We should wait for them inside the office. It's more comfortable inside than in those benches.", Josuke peeked from the door.
"Uh, Y-yeah. I suppose you're right."Trish wearily smiled and went inside the office of Dr. Kujo.
Inside, she saw the woman from yesterday—Dr. Kujo's wife. She's sitting on an arm chair with some papers on her hand and a crossed expression, she seems busy reading and analyzing the papers. Beside her, the little girl that they met in the lobby sitting by the coffee table with a drawing book and a box of crayons sticking out of her mint green dolphin themed back pack.
The girl noticed Josuke and Trish then ran towards the two with a large grin. "Gruncle Josuke!!"
"Oh, Jolyne! High five!", Josuke crouched down and held his and to give Jolyne a high five.
"Hello to you too Ms. Rosehead.", Jolyne turned towards Trish with a smile.
"Don't call people names, Jolyne. That's bad." Josuke stood up with his hand on her hip with motherly tone on his words.
Trish smiled back,"No Josuke that's fine.", then she crouched at Jolyne's eye level. "Jolyne right?"
Jolyne nodded her head vigorously and then fumbled her fingers while having an enthusiastic look on her small face.
"My name's Trish. But Rosehead sounded cooler, don't ya think?" Trish said which made Jolyne grin wider and give out a small giggle.
"Why would you call her like that though?" Josuke asked.
"Because her hair looked like a rose and she's pretty!" Jolyne replied.
"Umm. Ms. Rosehead, Grunkle Josuke, where is Daddy and Mr. Rapunzel?"
"Pfft! Rapunzel...", Josuke laughed as Trish giggled at the nickname the kid gave Giorno.
"Why? What's funny?", the little girl asked with a pout with her head tilted on the side.
Josuke cleared his throat and explained that her father just have work to do with 'Mr.Rapunzel' somewhere.
The girl heaved a sigh and then went back to the coffee table where she sighed again as she sat on the carpeted floor with a glum expression.
Trish and Josuke exchanged glances before the two of them approached the child.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing..."
"Jo, you can tell Grunkle Josuke everything." Josuke said as he sat on the floor with Jolyne.
"I drew a picture of Daddy, Mama and me. I wanted to give it to Daddy so he'll never be lonely."
Mrs. Kujo heard what her daughter have said and put down her papers then give a sigh. "It's hard when you know you love him and you are the only one doing that.", Mrs. Kujo said as she stood from her seat and then sat beside Jolyne on the floor. "I'm Eilene nice to meet you, erm, Ms.?"
"Una, Trish Una. Nice to meet you too Mrs. Kujo.", Trish gestured with a tight-lipped smile.
"C'mon, Eilene is just fine. By the way I'm sorry if I bumped into you the other day.", the brunette woman with bluish green eyes beamed.
"Ah, that's fine. No worries, Mrs. Kujo.", Trish said as she lay sight on Eilene and Jolyne. She couldn't help but to feel for the mother and to her daughter. She remembered that time when her mother is still alive and the two of them is enough. She can't help but to show nostalgic eyes while looking towards them.
"I met Jotaro at College. A very stoic and mysterious guy. Not much of a talker—the silent type just like your guy.—",
"What? No. He's just my boss, we're just friends."
"Really? You two don't looked like it. But anyways, I remembered him confessing looking like a bashful junior high schooler as you can tell he's not good with words. Then, after we get our master's degree; he became a marine biologist while I became a doctor; we got married and after a while this little butterfly here came into the world. right, Jojo?"
Jolyne giggled as her mother lightly pinched her cheek. Josuke and Trish just watched Eilene and Jolyne with light smiles on their faces.
Ring* Ring*
"Oh. Excuse me." Eilene smiled as she stood up and got to answer her phone as she went outside the office.
"Giorno, I want you to meet, my colleague, Dr. Augustus Zeppeli. He, Dr. Narita and I are the head of research here at SPW."
"Ah, Dr. Kujo. I see that you're with our special guest. Hi, Dr. Augustus Zeppeli. Nice to meet you." said Dr. Kujo's colleague. He seemed very young for his status and didn't seemed to be someone on Dr. Kujo's level at first glance.
The brunette young doctor with green eyes took Giorno's hand and shook it with a big smile.
"Nice to meet you too. Dr. Zeppeli." Giorno smiled as he returned the gesture.
"Enough with the pleasantries, can you show Mr. Giovanna what we're working on here?" , Jotaro said as he placed the folders that he's holding on a large desk.
"Ah, yes. Mr. Giovanna right this way. C'mon."
Giorno was escorted inside the same metal door that he almost unconsciously tried to destroy when they first came to the facility. That odd feeling came over him again but he managed to remain controlled and calm. They walked on a long hallway were they end up on a heavier looking metal door. Dr. Zeppeli approached the door and typed a some sort of verification code after a finger print scan. The door opened and revealed a larger room with bustling people inside. The whole scene is a busy sight. Around 15 people were there in lab coats, a scene that looked like it came from a sci-fi movie.
Giorno saw that same mask from the photos on the center of the room contained in side a glass cube placed on a pedestal. Around it is a 3-meter safety line that surrounded the pedesta's radius. His blood ran cold as his mouth became dry at the sight of the strange mask.
"Mr. Giovanna, try and keep up please.", Dr. Zeppeli said peeking from a door. The blonde young man was snapped out of his thoughts and went towards the man inside another room that looked like a small office.
"Have a seat Mr. Giovanna." The young scientist gestured to him in which he complied and sat on the chair beside a desk.
"So. I assume you're now aware of your late father."
He felt quite cringed when the subject were brought up but managed to reply with a light nod and a collected composure.
"So, I'll just give you some background. That stone mask you saw outside is an ancient mask from Mexico. That mask and the mask that you've seen on the files were the same. After the stone mask was first destroyed our group managed to restore it. That mask is said to turn people into 'vampires'. My great,great great,grandfather Baron William Zeppeli and my great grand uncle Ceasar Zeppeli used an ancient technique to destroy these masks and its creators. Your father is one of the most infamous user of that mask and you are his only known descendant. And I suppose based on what Professor Kujo have told me you seemed to inherit the 'condition' of your father that he got from the mask."
"Yes, that is true. Can you help me? A cure for this curse?"
Dr. Zeppeli smiled and sat across Giorno on a chair. "That's why we're here. Our research is to find a cure and a possible use of the mask for the betterment of science and humanity. We need you because you are a rare case, a hybrid. We need your cooperation."
"I understand. But why do you want to fix that mask if it can turn people into monsters?"
Dr. Zeppeli sighed and stop from his seat. "Come with me, I have something to show you."
The two exited the office and went to another room just across, where Giorno saw a thin and deathly pale woman inside a cell made out of sturdy glass. She looked very unsettling with her being motionless in the corner of her cell. She's facing away, crouched at the corner with her long dark hair touching the floor. Suddenly, the woman twitched up and ran towards the glass as soon as Giorno's presence entered the room. Her crimson eyes stared at Giorno and her bony hands banging the glass which startled Giorno and caused him to too a step back a little
"She's my sister... She used to be an archeologist. She's the one who led the project to restore the mask but a freak accident happened and she became like that."
"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that Dr. Zeppeli."
"No, that's okay. Now that you're here I have a feeling that were going to find a cure." the doctor said as he turned away with a weary smile. Giorno followed him as they went further away from the glass containment of Dr. Zeppeli's sister.
They stopped at a cubicle were a syringe gun and some vials were laying down on a table. The doctor got the loaded syringe gun and then pierced Giorno's neck with it in a swift motion. "Agh! What was that?!"
"A suppressor that me and Dr. Kujo have developed. It will help you to manage the vampiric traits. Unfortunately this didn't work that much on my sister."
Giorno felt the slight sting of the needle and it's residual pain pulsating on his neck.
After a while, the two exited the research department and returned to Jotaro.
"Dr. Kujo, Mr. Giovanna had his first shot of the suppressor."
"Very well... I'll take him from here, Augustus. Thank you."
"No problem.. "
"Ms. Rosehead can I ask you something?"
"Yes? Jolyne?"
"What are those ghost things are called?
"Ghost things?"
"Yeah, ghost things. Daddy, You, Mr. Rapunzel and even Grunkle Josuke and that weird artist guy have those. I can see them and I saw yours yesterday. Mama can't see them and she says that it's just my imagination."
"Umm how can I explain this... So this ghost things were special abilities that some people have. They're like guardian angels."
"Really? I hope I can have one too someday."
Trish smiled and patted Jolyne's head. She scooted closer to her and peeked at Jolyne's drawing.
Josuke stood up and stretched his arms above—feeling quite bored about them being left and told to stay at Dr. Kujo's office. He walked around and decided to open the radio. After mindlessly pushing the buttons in search for a good radio station, Trish suddenly perked up and said,"No! I mean, Josuke can you turn it back? There's something on the news. Please?"
Josuke raised an eyebrow but did what he was told. Quite baffled about Trish's sudden reaction.
["BREAKING NEWS: Palazzo D'oro: On fire!
One of Italy's esteemed mansions was caught on fire. The Italian fire department received an unknown call reporting that the said property is on fire. Luckily, the authorities managed respond before it reaches the woods and the residential area nearby. The fire didn't seemed to have any casualties except for two burnt bodies that are found in the ruins of Palazzo D'oro...The Neapolitan police department is conducting further investigation towards what or who started the fire."]
Trish froze on her spot. Her lips were quivering and her body tensed as a storm of emotions raged inside her body: her blood running cold as her thought ran wild.
"No... T-that can't be right! That can't be right! We just called them yesterday! That can't be right! That can't be right... Right?"
"Is there something wrong Ms. Trish?", Josuke asked, still clueless of her reactions.
"No... Guido... Fugo... Sheila... Mr. Polnareff...", Trish mumbled,"Palazzo D'oro is where we live, Josuke. That is our home...", she said as she stood up and is trying to calm down herself.
"What about the Palazzo D'oro, Trish?", Giorno said coming inside the office. Just him. Dr. Kujo is at the lobby of the building discussing matters with his wife.
"The mansion... Giorno. Mista, Fugo, Sheila, Mr. Polnareff."
"Trish, calm down. Tell me what's happening. What about Guido and the others?", he said while holding both of her shoulders. Trish just looked at him in the eyes with a devastated and grief stricken look on her face. Realisation hit him as her expression told him what he needed to know. He removed his now shaking hands and balled his fists, inexplicable and extreme emotions coursing through him making every muscle and fiber in him tremble, his eyes shone fire but his face show quiet rage with his head quite lowered casting a slight shadow on his face. He bit his lip so hard that it bled through his teeth.
Josuke and Jolyne watched the two of them. It's the first time they all saw Giorno acting like this. His emotions were so odd that his silence is almost terrifying that it made Jolyne go beside Josuke and hold on tight on him. Giorno held his left fist with his other hand then put it close to his mouth and breathed with his eyes closed. He knew best that he must not breakdown,not now.
"W-what should we do?" Trish managed to stutter still devastated and shocked. Worry, grief, and confusion overwhelmed her heart.
Giorno opened his eyes and looked away. Trish saw rage, anger and frustration in his turquoise eyes. She reached out for his arm which made him look at her. His gaze softened a little but the fire is still there. He gave out a sigh and spoke,"We need a plan. We will go back to Italy soon. But for now let's think of a strategy. There's still hope as long as they're not confirmed dead. We will not go down that easy. Those bastards who did this chose the wrong syndicate to mess with."
"So what's the plan now? We have taken his guards, we also have taken care of the other subordinates. What's next?"
"Petta, Oral Cigarette's user didn't respond. Could he be beaten? Could he be dead?"
"Men, let's not be hasty. And on Petta's case? If he got beaten or if he really died then, we should forget about him. Let's just focus here on Italy for now. As long as the mafioso primo of the reformed Passione didn't have any moves or wareabouts against us, let's just focus on taking over his turf. Take everything and turn it against him. So when he tries to set foot back in Italy, he'd wish he shouldn't have come back.
Just like how wasps invade a bee's hive. We should take our steps one by one and destroy it from inside out. Capiche?"